text
stringlengths 0
13.1M
| source
stringclasses 9
values |
|---|---|
malaria is a major
public health threat responsible for high mortality
and morbidity burdens in endemic countries .
the disease in humans is caused by five species of mosquito - borne plasmodium parasites , with p. falciparum being the most virulent and deadly .
resistance
has become a major challenge , and recently artemisinin and its derivatives ,
such as artesunate , the mainstays of malaria treatment , have shown reduced clinical efficacy to populations
at the cambodia thai border , indicating
that it may only be a matter of time before these too become ineffective .
given the lack of an effective vaccine , the discovery of safe and effective antimalarial therapeutics is
urgent . while the search for antimalarials is centuries old , no new class of antimalarial has been introduced
into clinical practice since 1996 . given
that resistance to the traditional chemotypes is an increasing problem ,
there is a pressing need for the discovery of new classes of compounds ,
with unique core structures , more likely to have novel mechanisms
of action .
we have developed a screening
collection of 100,000 diverse small molecules that combine the complexity
of natural products and the efficiency of high - throughput synthesis and subsequently reported the performance of a small subset of this
collection ( 8,000 compounds ) in the phenotypic screening of p. falciparum blood - stage parasites . given the need for new antimalarial chemotypes , we sought
to develop upon our previous reported inhibitor of the viability of p. falciparum .
our approach , outlined in figure 1 , uses a build / couple / pair ( b / c / p )
strategy of dos , originally developed
during library synthesis , to manipulate
almost every position of the reported 14-membered macrocycle , allowing
us to investigate the biological relevance of most core atoms .
this
report describes the dos - facilitated medicinal chemistry and subsequent in vivo studies of antimalarial macrocycles .
overview of the b / c / p
strategy showing points of manipulation and
appendage sites .
we have
previously reported the 14-membered macrolactam 2 with
potent antimalarial activity against both wild type 3d7 and
multidrug - resistant dd2 strains ( table 1 ) along with initial adme data , such as plasma protein
binding ( ppb , 99% bound ) .
further analysis
of this compound revealed a potential herg liability ( 95% displacement
of control ( [ h]astemizole ) at 10 m of 2 ; see si ) , poor mouse microsomal stability
( < 5% remaining after 1 h ) , and low solubility in the pbs medium
( < 5 m ) . given that these adme properties can lead to developmental
issues such as low bioavailability and high - dose administrations in
the case of insolubility , our goal was to increase microsomal stability ,
address the potential cardiotoxicity ( herg ) liability , and obtain
a compound with pbs solubility at least > 20 m while maintaining
potency .
macrolactam 2 contains three appendage - diversification
sites , namely ( 1 ) the exocyclic dimethyl amine ( table 1 , r ) , ( 2 ) the exocyclic sulfonamide , and ( 3 ) the
urea at the aniline nitrogen ( table 1 , r ) .
our strategy sought to explore two of these sites while
taking advantage of the modularity of the b / c / p process to investigate
almost every atom in our lead structure . by systematically accessing
each fragment of 2
the modular
nature of the pathway enables changes to be introduced into the final
analogs by varying individual building blocks .
several
features of these medicinal chemistry efforts are worth noting : ( 1 )
the introduction of heteroatoms within the aromatic ring ; ( 2 ) removal
of both methyl groups within the macrocycle ; and ( 3 ) systematic variation
of the ring size from a 14-membered through an 8-membered ring .
we initially focused on two of
the three appendage sites , since
we had previously established that the sulfonamide was essential for
antimalarial activity .
we hypothesized
that attenuation of the nitrogen pka at
r , structural changes to both r and r , and the introduction of functionality to lower log d would impart more favorable dmpk .
the p - fluorophenyl urea 3 had similar potency to the parent
( 2 ) but lacked microsomal stability ( < 5% remaining
after 1 h ) ( table 1 ) .
solubilizing groups such
as the oxetane ( 4 ) had a dramatic effect on pbs solubility
( > 100 m ) , and while 4 was approximately 60-fold
less potent than 2 , it still showed good activity ( gi50 = 32 nm ) .
we reasoned that replacement of the phenyl urea
with the 3,5-dimethylisoxazole urea derivative would improve solubility
through the introduction of heteroatoms and the disruption of planarity .
this afforded the more soluble derivative 5 ( pbs solubility > 100 m ) with good potency ( gi50 = 4.2 nm ) .
further profiling of 5 also showed
significantly lowered herg binding relative to the parent ( 13% displacement
of control ) and reduced plasma protein binding ( 8% free fraction in
mouse plasma ) .
assay
run by ricera under identical
conditions ; see si for further details .
we then investigated substituents
on r while keeping
r constant . the previously prepared alcohol analogue 7(13 ) gave diminished potency ( gi50 = 240 nm ) and microsomal stability ( < 5% remaining ) , as
did the isopropyl analogue 8 ( in regard to microsomal
stability ) . the steric bulk of the amine functionality was increased
with the diethylamine and neopentane analogues ( 9 and 11 , respectively ) ; however , this did not significantly improve
microsomal stability . reducing the basicity of the amine functionality
as in the trifluoroethylamine 12 and
morpholine derivative 13 resulted in active compounds ( gi50 = 9 and 105
nm , respectively ) but with similar microsomal stability to 2 ( < 5% remaining ) .
both the n - oxide amine 10 and the mono - methyl amine analog 6 did show improved solubility ( > 100 m ) and microsomal
stability ( 35% and 51% remaining , respectively ) along with a lower
log d , but at the expense of potency ( gi50 = 160 and 320 nm , respectively ) .
these results demonstrate
our ability to improve pbs solubility
and reduce herg binding while maintaining acceptable activity through
modification of different appendage groups .
although 5 is a viable candidate for in vivo efficacy studies ,
we sought to improve its microsomal stability by focusing on modulation
of the core molecule itself .
metabolite identification studies on 5 and 6 revealed that both compounds were extensively
metabolized via n - demethylation at r ,
hydroxylation , and combined events . in the case of 5 ,
six major metabolites were identified , and while the exact point of
hydroxylation could not be determined , at least one hydroxylation
appeared to take place within the core molecule ( see si figure s2 ) .
we first directed our attention to the
removal of n , n-diaryl urea
( figure 3 , table 2 and si schemes s3s7 ) to identify the minimum
pharmacophore .
this
was achieved using a series of alkene containing des - urea acids in the coupling phase of the b / c / p pathway .
coupling linear amine 1 followed by deprotection of the
secondary alcohol and subsequent allylation gave the ring closing
metathesis ( rcm ) precursor .
general synthesis of the des - urea series of compounds
( see si schemes s3s7 for expanded
schemes ) .
reagents and conditions : ( a ) pybop / bopcl , diea , ar / alkylco2h ; ( b ) tbaf ; ( c ) nah , allylbr ; ( d ) grubbs hoveyda catalyst
ii ; ( e ) h2 , 10% pd / c ; ( f ) pd(oh)2 , h2 .
mouse , % remaining
at 1 h. gi50 is
the concentration
at 50% of maximal inhibition of cell proliferation .
as shown in table 2 , removal of the aromatic
group ( 14 ) ( see si scheme
s3 for expanded synthetic route ) led to an inactive substrate ( gi50 = 3410 nm ) .
replacement of the n , n-diaryl
urea at the 4-position with a fluorine atom ( 15 ) or cf3 group ( result not shown ) also resulted in a loss in potency
( gi50 = 162 and 138 nm , respectively ) .
the 5-fluoro isomer 16 showed good activity ,
as did the corresponding 5-trifluoromethyl analog 17 ( gi50 = 38 and 48 nm , respectively ) .
we prepared both the 3- and
6-pyridyl analogues ( 18 and 19 ) ( see si scheme s4 for expanded synthetic route ) , and
while the former provided a less active compound , the 6-pyridyl macrocycle
provided good potency ( gi50 = 59 nm ) . building on this
result ,
both pyrazine 20 and substituted pyridine 21 were prepared but proved less potent than 19 ( gi50 = 214 and 162 nm , respectively ) .
replacement of
the aromatic derivative with five - membered aromatic fragments was
also investigated ; however , both thiophene 25 and pyrazole 26 obviated much of the activity . with
both the pyridyl and
fluoro - substituted analogs showing similar potency within the des - urea series , the pyridyl series was pursued due to its
perceived physicochemical property advantage .
removal of the opmb
group in 19 and installation of the dimethylamine group
( 22 ) did not preserve potency ( gi50 = 231
nm ) , as was the case with the n , n-diaryl
urea series ; however , it did afford excellent solubility ( > 100
m ) .
, we found that the ( 2,5-difluorobenzyl)methanamine analogue 24 was highly potent ( gi50 = 10 nm ) but lacked
pbs solubility ( < 5 m ) .
further profiling of both 22 and 23 showed no improvement in microsomal stability
( < 5% remaining ) .
with reduced potency and no improvement in microsomal
stability , we decided to shift our focus back to lead 5 rather than pursue the des - urea series further .
reagents and conditions : ( a ) bh3sme2 ; ( b ) pybop , diea , 2-alkoxy-5-nitrobenzoic acid ; ( c ) pybop , diea ,
2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzoic acid ; ( d ) tbaf ; ( e ) nah , allyl - br ; ( f ) grubbs hoveyda
catalyst ii ; ( g ) h2 , 10% pd / c ; ( h ) arnco ; ( i ) ddq ; ( j )
dppa , dbu , thf ; ( k ) pph3 , h2o ; ( l ) ch2o , mgso4 , h2o ; then nabh(oac)3 ;
( m ) diea , but-3-en-1-amine ; ( n ) di - tert - butyl dicarbonate ,
dmap , thf , reflux ; ( o ) tbs - otf , lutidine then hf - pyridine ; ( p ) sncl22h2o .
we investigated the aliphatic portion of the macrocycle with
the
continued aim of establishing a minimum pharmacophore ( figures 4 and 5 and table 3 ) .
the methyl substituents at c-5 and c-12 ( figure 4 and table 3 ) were probed ,
with focus on the latter , as its removal would simplify the chemistry
in the investigation of macrocycle ring size .
while hts included all
16 stereoisomers of our original hit , the effect of removing individual stereogenic centers had only been
investigated with respect to the excocyclic c-2 methyl group , which
lost approximately 5-fold potency upon deletion .
similar potency was observed between 31 and 40 ( gi50 = 6 nm and 0.88 nm , respectively ) , suggesting
that the c-12 methyl is not essential in this series .
removal of the
c-5 methyl group ( 29 ) resulted in a slight loss in activity
( gi50 = 20 nm ) .
the influence of the aryl ether moiety
was then tested by changing the o-13 oxygen for the nitrogen analogue
( 33 ) , which showed diminished potency ( gi50 = 76 nm ) and no improvement in solubility ( < 5 m ) .
interestingly ,
attempted macrocyclization leading to 33 gave no desired
product when the n-13 nitrogen heteroatom was protected as n - boc , but the rcm reaction proceeded efficiently with the
compound lacking this protecting group ( see si scheme s10 ) .
we then systematically reduced the size of the 14-membered
macrocycle 31 to 13- , 12- , 11- , and 8-membered ring analogs
( figure 5 and table 3 ) .
as the synthesis of 9- and 10-membered macrocycles would require
the preparation of peroxides or acetals , these analogues were omitted
from the study .
the 13-membered ring analog 34 was
prepared from linear
amine 1 using the rcm reaction ( figure 5 , si scheme s11 ) . in this case ,
macrocyclization was not as efficient as the 14-membered analog and
the transformation was best accomplished using the first - generation
grubbs catalyst .
preparation of the 12- and 11-membered lactams was
achieved by either michael addition or alkylation of 1 with methyl acrylate ( si scheme s12 )
or 2-bromoacetate , respectively ( figure 5 ) .
both analogues contained methyl esters that were reduced to the corresponding
alcohols followed by intermolecular snar reactions with tert - butyl 2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzoate to install the aromatic esters .
simultaneous
deprotection of the ester and amine protecting groups followed by
intramolecular coupling yielded the 12- and 11-membered macrocycles
( 37 and 38 ) .
the synthesis of 8-membered
ring analog 39 followed the method reported by marcaurelle
et al .
a clear sar trend emerged from
analogs 3439 with potency decreasing
with the size of the macrocycle ring ( table 3 ) . while the complete removal of the aliphatic backbone obviated
all activity ( 39 , gi50 > 5000 nm ) , potency
similar to previous experiments , analogs 29 , 31 , and 34 were converted to
the dimethyl amine analogs at r ( 30 , 32 , and 36 , respectively ) to assess potency ,
solubility , and microsomal stability .
all three analogs showed excellent
solubility , as expected , along with somewhat reduced potency relative
to their respective pmb protected analogs . unfortunately , microsomal
stability was still low , with only the 13-membered ring 36 showing modest gains in microsomal stability ( 15% remaining ) .
while
greater microsomal stability was observed in the nhme analogue 35 ( 65% remaining ) , this was accompanied by a significant
loss in potency ( gi50 = 624 nm ) .
reagents and conditions :
( a ) pybop , diea , 2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzoic acid ; ( b ) nah , prop-2-en-1-ol ;
( c ) tbaf ; ( d ) nah , allylbr ; ( e ) grubbs i ; ( f ) h2 , 10% pd / c ;
( g ) boc2o , net3 ; ( h ) cs2co3 , methyl acrylate ; ( i ) nahmds , methyl 2-bromoacetate ; ( j ) dibal ;
( k ) tert - butyl 2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzoate , tbaf ; ( l )
tbs - otf , lutidine then hf - pyridine ; ( m ) diea , bop - cl ; ( n ) sncl2 then arnco ; ( o ) csf ; ( p ) arnco ; ( q ) ddq ; ( r ) diad , pph3 , o - nsnhme ; ( s ) k2co3 , phsh ; ( t ) ch2o , mgso4 , h2o ; then nabh(oac)3 .
mouse , % remaining at 1 h. through systematic chemistry efforts , we were able
to develop sar
within lead antimalarial compound 2 .
this included removal
of the urea and methyl substituents within the ring , macrocyclic ring
contraction , and variation at three different appendage sites .
after
identifying analogs that showed improved activity / pk profiles along
with improved herg profiles , we investigated the in vivo activity of 5 by intraperitoneal dosing in a p. berghei malaria mouse model .
our goal was to have in vivo exposure exceeding three times the gi50 of the unbound compound ( not bound to plasma proteins ) at its lowest
concentration ( i.e. , exposure > 3 gi50
fu ) .
intraperitoneal administration of macrocyle 5 at 20 mg / kg showed that sufficient exposure was observed
for approximately
5 h ( see si figures s3 and s4 ) .
this suggested
that it would be possible to achieve our goal at higher concentrations
with intraperitoneal administration . in the p. berghei malaria mouse model ,
animals were infected and administered a total
of seven 100 mg / kg intraperitoneal doses every 12 h over 3 days .
on
day four , parasitemia was assessed and 5 produced a 2-fold
reduction in total parasitemia ( p = 0.02 ) .
this is
a significant reduction but not to the levels typically seen with
standard of care antimalarials such as chloroquine or artesunate ( e.g. ,
artesunate can give parasitemia reductions of 97% ) .
plasma samples
taken 30 min after the final dose on day 3 showed low exposure of
the compound ( 300 ng / ml of 5 in plasma in this study
compared with 768 ng / ml 2 h after ip dosing at 20 mg / kg observed during
pk study ) , suggesting that , upon dose escalation , compound pharmacokinetics
did not scale .
based on this data , the lack of efficacy in the in vivo assay most likely speaks to the poor exposure of 5 rather than on the mechanism of action of the compound ,
on which we comment below .
the goal of our study was to use
a diverse screening collection
to discover antimalarial chemotypes with new mechanisms of action .
in a separate manuscript
we discuss the use of resistance selection
to identify the target of 5 as the reductase qi center
of cytochrome b ( cytb ) .
while inhibition of cytochrome b at qo has been
well studied and is the mechanism of action of the widely used antimalarial
drug atovaquone , inhibition of cytb at qi has been significantly less
studied .
an appealing concept is that ,
if used in combination , qi and qo site inhibitors would likely lessen
the emergence of resistance .
it is conceivable that mutations at both
qi and qo sites of the same target would come at a severe cost to
cell fitness and would be unlikely to be tolerated . given this , qi
site inhibitors acting synergistically with qo inhibitors have the
potential to be powerful antimalarial agents .
in this study we prepared analogues with improved potency , solubility ,
herg binding , and modestly improved microsomal stability relative
to our initial lead using dos enabled medicinal chemistry .
while in vivo efficacy studies gave only moderate reductions in
parasitemia , we speculate that this is a result of insufficient exposure
and is not a reflection of the mechanism of action of this compound .
furthermore , this study has led to the discovery of potent inhibitors
of cytochrome b that do not inhibit this complex
through the qo binding site , but through the comparatively less studied
qi site , and represents a new chemotype and tool to target this promising
antimalarial mechanism of action .
these studies encouraged us to expand
our studies to the entire broad institute collection of dos - derived
compounds , which has yielded a rich collection of novel antimalarial
compounds acting through varied mechanisms .
we are finding that the
lessons gained from the medicinal chemistry studies reported here
have been of value as we advance novel antimalarial agents using this
overall drug - discovery strategy . | pubmed |
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! La Bambina Maledetta, 101
A/N: Okay, so here's the deal. this story is actually the same as the last one I made. The only difference was that I change Hana's first friend and the title. Otherwise the plot is completely the same.
* * *
Natsuki: Okay, this is the first time I'm doing this section. Haaaaa, sooo nervous...
Mukuro: Natchan is nervous? Kufufu, I shall make you even nervous then.
Natsuki: Stop calling me that, pineapple-head! Just do the disclaimer!
Mukuro: Natchan is so mean TAT…Anyway, Natchan doesn't own the series. I'm sure you guys know that.
Natsuki: THEY DO?! Then what's the point of me doing the disclaimer?!
Mukuro: Kufufu, technically, it was me that does the disclaimer
Natsuki: *ignore* seriously, tell me in advance about something like this...*mumble mumble*
Mukuro: Kufufu, just ignore the breaking writer over there and carry on towards the stories! Also a warning. They would be a slight OOCness in the character.
* * *
PROLOGUE : THE BEGINNING
Footsteps resounded throughout the hallway, alerting the small occupant of a certain room. Unconsciously, she leaned farther back into the corner of the wall she's been occupying for who knows how long.
She trembled in fears when the footsteps stopped. Directly in front of her only sanctuary, her only haven. If the lump of hair that tried to peeked through the small barred windows does not indicates enough. The girl assumed it was a group since they were talking.
Her trembling intensified when her keen ears caught the soft clicks of a jingling keys. Any other day, she would have jumped in joy and ran straight out of the door, but she knew better than that. She stayed in her place, trying not to make any sudden movement, heck, she did not even dare to breathe!
They were looking frantically for her after they opened the door. Guess the man couldn't find her when he peeked through the window earlier. The girl giggle inwardly to herself for a job well done. Unfortunately, her moment was cut off when one of the guards spotted her.
He was big and gruff. He's not really fat nor does he have any muscle. He has a long beard that looks like a jungle sticking to his chin. The girl almost laugh out loud if not for her current situation. A scowl was painted on his face as he stared at her hiding place.
"I told you she's in here." His voice was as gruffy as his face is. The other guards, a little younger, flinched in fear.
"I-I'm sorry sir. I wasn't able to see her through the window."
The younger guards were clearly terrified at the older one, he can barely keep his voice from trembling. The bearded man glared at him a little more before going back towards the other trembling occupants in the room.
"Now, come with us girl, if you don't want to be hurt." The way he talks angered the girl.
'"Hurt" he say? Wasn't what they have done to me so far **IS** hurting me?' she thought in anger.
She stayed in her spot, not moving even one inch towards him. This, unfortunately, angered the already annoyed man even more. He walks quickly towards her and yanked her from the damp wall.
"When I said something, you answered and follow through it, understand!" The girl flinched in fear when the man yelled in front of her face. Out of fear, she nodded quickly.
He gave her another glare before tossing her to the younger guards who almost missed her by an inch startled by the other's actions.
* * *
They brought her to an isolated room at the end of the extremely long and especially dark hallways. By the time they got there, the girl was already dispirited due to the stares she was given along the way.
She does not know why, but for some reason the other occupants were wary, cautious and most of all hatred were directed at her. The question is, Why? Why would they hate her even though they suffered the same pain and humiliation?
For all the time she was being held in this dungeon, she still cannot comprehend their hatred nor could she ever ask them directly for they would always find a mean to escape from her.
She was cut off from her own discouraging musing when an elderly man step into the room. The moment she laid her eyes on the new man, somehow her anger flared back up and she started struggling in the guard's hold. The bearded man rushed towards her when she managed to get loose and started towards the new occupants.
She snarled and growled at the elderly man, still struggling to get away from the bearded man body odour. Well, one of the reason anyway. Not amused by all the growling and snarling, the elderly man walk towards the small girl with a syringe in his hand.
Wait. A syringe?
Realization dawned on her as the man smirk. She started struggling again. This time trying to get as far away from the man as possible. The guards however would not let her escape and ruin their masters plan. Their hold on her got tighter and she could only ceased her struggling and slumped in defeat. The last words she heard was-
"Time for your medication, my dear sweet granddaughter."
* * *
Getting out from the sleek black limousine, a brunette stared at the magnificent building that towered over her in awe. Not a few seconds later, she sighed. 'Why do I have to do this again?' she asked herself. 'Oh, that's right. That old man was cheerfully threatening me. Damn him' she sighed again, heavily this time.
Out of the blue, she found herself on the ground a few feet away from the school's gate. "Wow." Startled, she looked up and saw a boy, at least a year older than her was staring at her like she was a prey.
She gulped when he started walking towards her direction. A little further away from her, he spoke "You are late. I shall bite you to death for being late, herbivore." with a voice that he was serious with the 'I shall bite you to death' part. The girl quickly scrambled to her feet and bowed.
"I-I'm so s-sorry. I-I didn't k-know about t-that." She cursed inwardly when she stuttered. "Me b-being a n-new student a-and all." She continued. The boy looked at her with his piercing gaze. He just hn'ed and walked away from her like nothing had happen. Suddenly he stopped and said, "Then, make sure that you go to the principal office and retrieve your class schedule along with completing your paperwork." Then he walked away.
Relieved at not being killed on her first day, she watched at the boy's retreating back. 'Haaaa, it's a good that nothing happen, or grandpa will be MAD at me.' She shuddered at the thought of the angry bald man.
Realizing she was late, she hurriedly walked towards the principal office.
* * *
Natsuki: Phew….so, how was it? I admit that I did change this stories almost completely. But hey, I did put up the original stories, so it didn't completely change….
Mukuro: You know Natchan, if you say it like that, the reader will lost interest and- *dodged a flying knife* N-Natchan….
Natsuki: I dare you to finish that sentence Mukuro. *smiles sadistically* Well then, don't forget to review this story. And now, *bows deeply* I am very very very sorry for abandoning this story for like months. Being in college wasn't really a field of colourful flowers….
Mukuro: *whisper* She really hates studying *dodged another flying knife*
Natsuki: You've done it now Pineapple-head. See you next chapter!
End file.
| fanfiction |
in the standard model ( sm ) of particle physics , the higgs field @xcite provides the mechanism of spontaneous electroweak symmetry breaking and the origin of masses of the fundamental particles , but until recently the higgs boson itself left no signal in high - energy collider experiments .
the situation has clearly changed , however , as both the atlas @xcite and cms @xcite collaborations have announced observation of a bosonic particle at about the @xmath2 significance level .
the excess is driven by the two channels with the highest mass resolution @xmath3 and @xmath4 , and the equally sensitive but low resolution @xmath5 channel . assuming the boson spin is shown to be zero
, these results will provide conclusive evidence for the discovery of a higgs - like scalar particle with mass @xmath6 for atlas and @xmath7 for cms .
the discovery points to a favored mass range : @xmath8 , which is in agreement with the indirect detections from the electroweak precision constraints , @xmath9 @xcite .
it fixes the one remaining free parameter in the sm : the higgs self - coupling @xmath10 .. ] however , this low higgs mass immediately leads to the problem of the sm higgs vacuum stability which requires @xmath10 remain positive at all scales @xmath11 .
if @xmath10 becomes negative at some scale , the potential is either unbounded from below and has no state of minimum energy or has a vacuum with lower energy for the case where @xmath10 may run positive again at an even higher scale . given @xmath12 , the higgs self - coupling @xmath10 may run negative at a scale below the planck scale @xcite , necessitating new physics beyond the sm ( bsm ) .
it was shown in @xcite that absolute vacuum stability requires a higgs mass @xmath13 , by using a partial two - loop matching and three - loop renormalization group running procedure and taking into account the existing @xmath14 experimental uncertainties in the mass of the top quark and @xmath15 .
a very similar conclusion was given in ref .
additionally , ref .
@xcite studied the two - loop qcd and yukawa corrections to the relation between the higgs quartic coupling and the higgs mass so as to reduce the uncertainty in the determination of the higgs mass from @xmath16 .
the authors claimed that while @xmath10 at the planck scale is zero , the absolute stability of the sm higgs potential is excluded at @xmath17 c.l . for @xmath18 .
thus a @xmath19124 - 126 gev higgs strongly points to new physics in the desert between the fermi and planck scales .
supersymmetry and extra dimension models may provide solutions to this problem , but up to now no clear signals of such new physics have emerged from collider searches . therefore it is instructive to consider alternative simple extensions of the sm that can alleviate the vacuum stability problem . despite the absence of collider bsm signals , definitive evidence of new physics beyond the sm comes from several additional sources , including neutrino masses and dark matter .
the solar , atmospheric , reactor , and accelerator neutrino experiments have provided convincing evidence that neutrinos are massive and lepton flavors are mixed @xcite .
precise cosmological observations have confirmed the existence of non - baryonic cold dark matter with an abundance of @xmath20 @xcite .
these two important discoveries can not be accommodated in the sm without introducing extra ingredients .
doing so can affect the stability of the electroweak vacuum _ via _ one or more of the following interactions : ( 1 ) additional quartic scalar interactions associated with new scalar degrees of freedom ; ( 2 ) yukawa interactions associated with neutrino mass generation ; ( 3 ) modified or extended gauge interactions appearing in neutrino mass and/or dark matter models . in this work ,
we study examples of all three . in particular , to understand the origin of the neutrino masses , one may extend the sm with heavy majorana neutrinos so that light neutrino masses can be generated through the so - called seesaw mechanism .
there are three types of tree - level seesaw mechanisms , categorized according to the particle content of their extension to the sm : heavy majorana neutrinos ( type - i @xcite ) plus either a @xmath21 higgs triplet ( type - ii @xcite ) or a @xmath22 fermion triplet ( type - iii @xcite ) ( @xmath23 is the sm hypercharge quantum number ) . in the context of type - i models ,
the impact of heavy right - handed neutrinos , @xmath24 , on the sm higgs vacuum stability and metastability scales was studied in ref .
@xcite , with the result that the @xmath25 decrease the higgs vacuum stability scale . in this paper
we will study the effect of a tev scale type - ii seesaw model on the higgs vacuum stability .
our result shows that the the sm higgs vacuum can remain stable up to the planck scale for certain chosen parameters of the type - ii seesaw model .
we also study how to keep the sm higgs vacuum stable by making changes only to the gauge interactions . in the context of the sm gauge groups , stability up to the planck scale
can be restored by introducing a series of new electroweak multiplets , the neutral component of which may serve as the cold dark matter candidate . the presence of these multiplets may significantly alter the renormalization group ( rg ) evolution of the gauge coupling coefficients and thus indirectly keep the sm higgs vacuum stable up to the planck scale .
we also study the implications of the sm higgs vacuum stability for a new gauge symmetry . in ref .
@xcite it was shown that there are only flavor - dependent anomaly - free gauged @xmath1 symmetries in the minimal sm . in the sm with three right - handed neutrinos and a scalar singlet , there is another well - known anomaly - free gauged @xmath1 symmetry : @xmath26 @xcite .
however , the sm higgs boson carries no new @xmath1 charge in both cases .
the presence of these new @xmath1 symmetries only affects the running behavior of the yukawa couplings ( most notably that of the top quark ) . in this paper , we study the effect of a new type of @xmath1 gauge symmetry in which the sm higgs boson carries non - zero charge .
the anomalies are spontaneously cancelled by extending the sm with three right - handed neutrinos .
we derive the one - loop @xmath27-functions of the model and investigate their effects on the sm higgs vacuum stability .
we find that stability of the vacuum can be achieved for some regions of parameter space .
the paper is organized as follows : in section ii we show preliminary formulas relevant for the numerical analysis . we investigate the type - ii seesaw effect in section iii .
section iv is devoted to studying the implications of the sm higgs vacuum stability for the gauge interactions .
we summarize in section v. expressions for the relevant @xmath27-functions appear in the appendix .
we first review the stability analysis within the sm .
a constraint on the higgs mass can be obtained by the requirement that spontaneous symmetry breaking actually occurs , that is , @xmath28 be the minimum of the higgs potential @xmath29 where @xmath30 gev is the higgs vacuum expectation value ( vev ) .
this bound is essentially equivalent to the requirement that the quartic higgs coupling @xmath16 never becomes negative at any scale @xmath31 , where @xmath32 is the scale of new physics . in this paper
we will study numerically the impact of representative simple bsm scenarios on the vacuum stability of a @xmath19124 - 126 gev sm higgs . as a sm baseline
, we will use the two - loop beta functions of the higgs self coupling @xmath10 , the gauge couplings @xmath33 @xmath34 and the top quark yukawa coupling @xmath35 , as well as the one - loop matching condition for the sm higgs mass .
contributions of bsm physics are considered at the one - loop level .
the resulting stability requirements for a given bsm scenario are likely to be overly conservative , since the three - loop analyses tend to alleviate the tension of a 124 - 126 gev higgs with stability . however , since we do not presently have in hand the two - loop running for the bsm scenarios , it may not make sense to consider the sm at the three - loop and the bsm at the one - loop .
thus , for illustrative purpose we will use the one - loop matching and two - loop renormalization group running " procedure .
the @xmath27-function of @xmath36 is given to two loop order in eq .
( [ lambdabeta ] ) , in which @xmath37 represent the @xmath27-functions of @xmath10 at the one - loop and two - loop level , @xmath38 with @xmath39 being a reference energy scale , and @xmath35 is the yukawa coupling of the top quark . for illustrative purposes , we neglect the scale - dependence of the yukawa and gauge couplings , arriving at a simplified condition for vacuum stability at the scale @xmath40 : @xmath41 a meaningful and complete analysis should take into account the running behavior of all parameters .
one should also take implement the one - loop matching condition between the running higgs quartic coupling and the higgs boson pole mass @xmath42 @xcite : @xmath43 \ ; .
\end{aligned}\ ] ] where the expression of @xmath44 can be found in ref .
@xcite .
the two loop @xmath27-functions for the gauge couplings are given in eq .
( [ betag ] ) , in which @xmath45 represent the yukawa coupling matrices of up - quarks , down - quarks , and charged leptons , respectively . here
the @xmath46 gauge couplings @xmath47 are normalized based on @xmath48 ( though we do not impose any gut relations on the couplings ) , so the electroweak couplings @xmath49 and @xmath50 are related to these by @xmath51 and @xmath52 . the determination of the couplings proceeds from the relations @xmath53 , with @xmath54 at the z - pole @xcite .
the two - loop @xmath27-function of the top quark yukawa coupling is given in eq .
( [ betatop ] ) .
the initial input of @xmath35 is given by @xmath55 , where @xmath56 and @xmath57 is the top quark running mass determined from @xcite : @xmath58 in which the second and the third terms correspond to the one- and two - loop qcd corrections while the fourth term comes from the electroweak corrections at the one - loop level .
we use the running mass of the top quark value @xmath59 gev @xcite in our following numerical analysis . utilizing the foregoing rg analysis and the present range for @xmath42
, one finds that @xmath10 runs negative for @xmath60 gev .
a simple solution to the 125 gev sm higgs vacuum stability problem is obtained by introducing a new beyond - the - sm scalar that may interact with the sm higgs through a four scalar coupling vertex .
typical examples are the higgs portal dark matter models , e.g. the scalar singlet or darkon " @xcite and inert dark matter models @xcite . for
a detailed analyses of the implications of these models on the higgs vacuum stability , see refs .
@xcite .
the fact that neutrinos have tiny but non - zero masses is the first ( terrestrial ) experimental evidence of new physics beyond the sm .
the most convincing idea to understand the origin of neutrino masses is the seesaw mechanism .
the effect of a type - i seesaw model on the higgs vacuum stability was studied in ref .
@xcite , and the type - i seesaw model was found to aggravate the instability of the vacuum .
here we investigate the effect of a tev scale type - ii seesaw model , which extends the sm with a triplet scalar @xmath61 , @xmath62 transforming as ( 3,1 ) under the electroweak gauge group @xmath63 .
the additional scalar potential can be written as @xmath64 + { \lambda_1
\over 2 } \left ( { \rm tr } [ \delta^\dagger \delta ] \right)^2 + { \lambda_2 \over 2 } \left [ ( { \rm tr } [ \delta^\dagger \delta])^2 -{\rm tr } ( \delta^\dagger \delta \delta^\dagger \delta)\right ] \nonumber \\ & + & \lambda_4 h^\dagger h { \rm tr } [ \delta^\dagger \delta ] + \lambda_5 h^\dagger [ \delta^\dagger,~ \delta ] h + \left [ \sqrt{2}\lambda_6 h^t i \sigma_2 \delta^\dagger h + { \rm h.c . } \right ] \ ; .\end{aligned}\ ] ] the scalar triplet couples to the left - handed lepton doublet through the following yukawa interaction : @xmath65 where @xmath66 is the charge conjugation operator . the active neutrino mass can be derived from eq .
( [ neumass ] ) after the spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry : @xmath67 where @xmath68 is the vev of the scalar triplet and is constrained to be less than @xmath69 by the @xmath70 parameter . in this model
the one - loop @xmath27-function of @xmath10 can be written as @xcite @xmath71 and the one loop @xmath27-functions for the gauge couplings in this case are given by @xmath72 , with @xmath73 defined in eq .
( [ betag ] ) . notice that both @xmath74 and @xmath75 contribute to the @xmath27-function of @xmath10 . here
we mainly consider the effect of @xmath74 by working in the limit where the other triplet couplings ( @xmath76 , and @xmath75 ) are equal to zero at the input scale .
this is a reasonable simplification since @xmath77 and @xmath78 do not contribute to @xmath79 at one - loop level , and as eq .
( [ eq : beta_lambda_seesaw ] ) shows @xmath74 has a larger impact on the running of @xmath10 than @xmath75 ( assuming @xmath74 and @xmath75 are of the same order ) . as well . ]
nonetheless we do include the rg evolution of all the scalar couplings in our analysis and we ensure that all of the vacuum stability conditions in ref .
@xcite , which in our notation are given by @xmath80 are satisfied for all values of @xmath40 between @xmath42 and @xmath81 ( the parentheses in eqs .
( [ eq : seesaw_stability_4 ] ) and ( [ eq : seesaw_stability_5 ] ) indicate that there are actually two stability conditions in each equation : one with @xmath75 in the parentheses taken into account and the other one without )
. a vacuum stability analysis in which the other type - ii seesaw scalar couplings are allowed to have non - zero values at the input scale is much more complicated ( see @xcite ) and would distract from our purpose of studying the rg evolution of @xmath10 .
furthermore , we note that , as @xmath82 appears in neither the other scalar coupling @xmath27-functions nor the vacuum stability conditions in eqs .
( [ eq : seesaw_stability_1])-([eq : seesaw_stability_5 ] ) , we do not include it in our analysis .
the coupling @xmath82 effects the seesaw mechanism by giving the triplet a vev : @xmath83 and as mentioned above @xmath84 .
bounds on @xmath82 that arise from avoiding tachyonic directions in the potential at the ew minimum @xcite can always be satisfied while still obtaining the desired neutrino masses through appropriate choices of the triplet mass scale @xmath85 and the yukawa couplings @xmath86 . as the function of energy scale @xmath40 .
the solid and dashed correspond to @xmath87 and @xmath88 respectively .
the short - dashed and dotted lines correspond to @xmath89 and @xmath90 respectively .
right panel : @xmath42 as the function of cutoff scale @xmath40 .
the plus and cross signs are the perturbativity constraint with @xmath74 being @xmath91 and @xmath92 . the dashed and dotted lines are the vacuum stability constraint with @xmath93 and @xmath91 , respectively .
the horizontal band is the current experimental value of higgs boson mass.,title="fig:",width=302 ] as the function of energy scale @xmath40 .
the solid and dashed correspond to @xmath87 and @xmath88 respectively .
the short - dashed and dotted lines correspond to @xmath89 and @xmath90 respectively .
right panel : @xmath42 as the function of cutoff scale @xmath40 .
the plus and cross signs are the perturbativity constraint with @xmath74 being @xmath91 and @xmath92 .
the dashed and dotted lines are the vacuum stability constraint with @xmath93 and @xmath91 , respectively .
the horizontal band is the current experimental value of higgs boson mass.,title="fig:",width=302 ] to study the higgs vacuum stability , we first calculate the quartic coupling @xmath94 using the one - loop matching condition in eq .
( [ match ] ) , then run @xmath16 to the planck scale by solving the rg equations .
the @xmath27-function of @xmath74 is @xmath95 + 6 y_t^2 ) \lambda_4 \ ; . \label{phi}\end{aligned}\ ] ] the @xmath27-function for the top yukawa coupling is the same as that in the sm .
the @xmath27-functions for the @xmath96 @xmath97 can be found in the appendix .
we assume the scalar triplet is at the electroweak scale and therefore @xmath98 , as implied by the scale of the light neutrino masses .
consequently we can safely neglect the @xmath99 $ ] term in eq .
( [ phi ] ) and need not consider the matching condition at the seesaw threshold . in the left panel of fig .
[ triplet ] we plot @xmath10 as a function of energy scale @xmath40 .
the solid and dashed lines correspond to @xmath87 and @xmath88 , respectively .
the short - dashed and dotted lines correspond to @xmath89 and @xmath90 .
we find that the vacuum of a 124 - 126 gev higgs can be stable up to the planck scale for the case of @xmath100 , while the vacuum of the @xmath101 higgs will be unstable at the scale of @xmath102 for the case @xmath103 .
it is interesting and instructive to also study the perturbativity constraints in this model .
the perturbativity bound is defined as the highest higgs boson running mass given by the the higgs quartic coupling which satisfies the condition @xmath104
@xcite for any @xmath40 between the electroweak and planck scale , @xmath81 ( this criterion is less stringent than that used in @xcite which was based on the work of @xcite ) . with this perturbativity requirement , in conjunction with the vacuum stability conditions , we plot in the right panel of fig .
[ triplet ] the bounds on the higgs mass @xmath42 as a function of the energy scale @xmath40 .
the plus and cross signs are the perturbativity constraints with @xmath74 equal to @xmath91 and @xmath92 , respectively .
the dashed and dotted lines are the vacuum stability constraints with @xmath93 and @xmath91 , respectively .
the horizontal band is the current experimental value of higgs boson mass .
we can read from the figure that the 125 gev sm higgs mass satisfies both the perturbativity and the vacuum stability constraints up to the planck scale for appropriately chosen initial input value of @xmath74 .
note that the range of this coupling that is consistent with both vacuum stability and perturbativity is rather restricted .
we comment that our analysis is similar in spirit to that of ref .
@xcite , though with some differences .
in particular , we use two - loop @xmath27-functions for the gauge and yukawa couplings , analyze in more detail the perturbativity bounds , and a study of a range of input values for @xmath74 . on the other hand
, @xcite considers the behavior of the full set of scalar couplings , constraints for electroweak precision data , and implications for the @xmath105 rate .
in this section , we consider alternative solutions to the sm higgs vacuum stability problem by ( a ) modifying the @xmath27-functions of the gauge couplings through the introduction of new electroweak ( ew ) multiplets , which might provide a cold dark matter candidate , or ( b ) introducing a new @xmath1 gauge symmetry .
higher representation ew multiplets exist in various models .
a typical example is the gauge portal dark matter model in which dark matter annihilates into the sm particles through ew gauge interactions .
the gauge portal scenario is one genre of a more general set of dark matter models that also include higgs portal and axion portal models among others .
minimal dark matter @xcite is a typical gauge - portal dark matter model in which a high - dimension electroweak multiplet ( _ e.g. _ , a @xmath106 ) with hypercharge @xmath22 is introduced .
there are also models where an electroweak triplet @xcite or 7-plet @xcite can be dark matter candidates .
taking into account loop contributions from these new ew multiplets , the one - loop @xmath27-functions of @xmath107 and @xmath108 will be @xmath109 where @xmath110 for bosonic or fermionic dark matter respectively .
@xmath23 is the weak hypercharge of the dark matter and @xmath111 is the dimension of the @xmath112 multiplet representation .
we can conclude that the running behavior of the @xmath33 may be significantly changed for these cases and thus may have an effect on the rg evolution of the higgs quartic coupling .
to illustrate , we plot in the left - panel of fig .
[ multiplet ] the coupling @xmath10 as the function of energy scale @xmath40 , where the solid , dashed , dotted , short - dotted and dashed lines correspond to the addition of @xmath113 , @xmath114 , @xmath115 and @xmath116 ew multiplets , separately ( @xmath117 and @xmath118 represent bosonic i.e. , scalar and fermionic fields ) .
we set @xmath89 and @xmath119 for the initial input .
the mass of the ew multiplet is set to be several tev so as to be consistent with the constraint on the dark matter relic abundance @xcite .
we conclude from the figure that the @xmath120 sm higgs vacuum is stable up to the planck scale with the addition of a single 5-plet or 7-plet ; however , the higgs vacuum remains unstable with the addition of a single electroweak triplet or quadruplet .
at least two extra ew multiplets of the triplet or quadruplet variety are needed to keep the higgs vacuum stable up to the planck scale as can be seen from the right panel of fig .
[ multiplet ] . as the function of energy scale @xmath40 , where the solid , dashed , dotted and shot - dashed lines correspond to @xmath113 , @xmath114 , @xmath115 and @xmath116 ew multiplet cases respectively , where @xmath117 and @xmath118 represent bosonic or fermionic fields .
right panel : @xmath10 as the function of @xmath40 , the solid , dashed and dotted lines correspond to two quadruplet , two triplet and one triplet plus one quadruplet cases , respectively .
, title="fig:",width=302 ] as the function of energy scale @xmath40 , where the solid , dashed , dotted and shot - dashed lines correspond to @xmath113 , @xmath114 , @xmath115 and @xmath116 ew multiplet cases respectively , where @xmath117 and @xmath118 represent bosonic or fermionic fields .
right panel : @xmath10 as the function of @xmath40 , the solid , dashed and dotted lines correspond to two quadruplet , two triplet and one triplet plus one quadruplet cases , respectively . , title="fig:",width=302 ] it has been shown that there are only flavor dependent anomaly - free gauged @xmath1 symmetries , i.e. , @xmath121 @xcite , in the sm .
a @xmath26 gauge symmetry emerges in the sm plus three right - handed neutrinos .
may also be global , but we focus on the gauged case .
] however , the sm higgs boson carries no @xmath1 charge for both cases , so the only impact of the new @xmath1 symmetry relevant to stability is on the running behavior of the top quark yukawa coupling . in this paper
we investigate a new anomaly - free @xmath122 for which the sm higgs may carry charge .
such a new symmetry may originate from gut models @xcite or string inspired models @xcite . only right - handed fermions and the sm higgs boson carry a @xmath122 charge which we normalize to be multiples of ` @xmath123 ' .
the even number of fermion doublets required by the global @xmath112 anomaly @xcite is provided by the sm .
the absence of axial - vector anomalies @xcite in the presence of the @xmath122 and the gravitational - gauge anomaly @xcite requires that certain sums of the @xmath122 charges vanish .
the right - handed fermions are assigned charges of @xmath124 so these anomaly - free conditions are @xmath125 = 0 \ ; , \\ & & { u(1)^\prime}^2 u(1)_y : \hspace{1 cm } -a^2 \left [ 3 \times { 2 \over 3 } - 3 \times { 1 \over 3 } -1 \right]=0 \ ; , \\ & & u(1)^\prime : \hspace{2 cm } -\left[a + ( - a)\right ] - 3 [ a+ ( -a ) ] = 0 \ ; , \\ & & { u(1)^\prime}^3 : \hspace{2 cm } -[a^3 + ( -a)^3 ] - 3 [ a^3 + ( -a)^3 ] = 0 \ ; .\end{aligned}\ ] ] the @xmath122 charge of the sm higgs is fixed by the yukawa interactions .
we list in table i the quantum numbers of the fields under the @xmath122 . .
quantum numbers of fields under local @xmath1 . [ cols="^,^,^,^,^,^,^,^,^",options="header " , ] we have also included an additional scalar field @xmath126 which appears in table i. the @xmath122 can be spontaneously broken by the addition of this scalar @xmath126 with non - zero vev and transforming as a singlet under the sm gauge group . the number of generations of the scalar @xmath126 , @xmath127 , and its @xmath122 charge written as a multiple @xmath128 of @xmath123 are not fixed by the requirement of anomaly cancellation or any interactions with the sm fields .
the impact of the resulting singlet - higgs interactions on stability constitutes a special case of earlier work @xcite , so we do not consider it in detail here .
we only focus on the impact of the @xmath122 gauge interaction on the higgs vacuum stability .
note that the charge normalization @xmath123 can be absorbed by a redefinition of the new gauge coupling @xmath129 .
taking the coefficient of the @xmath130 operator to be negligible , the one - loop @xmath27-function of @xmath10 can be written as @xmath131 where the second and third terms are the contribution of the @xmath122 .
the @xmath27-function of @xmath132 can be written as @xmath133 where @xmath134 , @xmath135 and @xmath127 are the number of generations of fermions ( 3 ) , the sm higgs doublet ( 1 ) , and additional @xmath122-breaking singlet , respectively .
the new gauge interaction also affects the evolution of the yukawa coupling of the top quark .
its @xmath27-function is given by @xmath136 the number of generations of scalars @xmath127 , their @xmath122 charge @xmath128 , and the value of the coupling @xmath132 at the input scale are not totally arbitrary .
at one - loop order , it is straightforward to determine the scale at which @xmath132 has a landau pole ( we will leave a study of the two - loop effects of the new @xmath122 symmetry for future work ) . solving eq .
( [ eq : g4_beta ] ) for @xmath137 and equating the resulting denominator with zero , the landau pole scale is found to be @xmath138\ ] ] where @xmath139 is the value of the gauge coupling at the input scale @xmath39 . by increasing @xmath139 , @xmath127 , or @xmath128 ( the latter two increase @xmath140 ) ,
@xmath141 decreases . for certain choices it will be true that @xmath142 and as @xmath143 then surely @xmath10 becomes non - perturbative
nonetheless , our numerical analysis shows that the choice of @xmath139 has a more direct impact on the running of @xmath10 than varying @xmath127 and @xmath128 , so we fix @xmath144 to allow the greatest freedom in choosing the value of the @xmath122 gauge coupling at the input scale while avoiding the landau pole . as the function of cutoff scale @xmath40
the plus and cross signs are the perturbativity constraint with @xmath145 respectively .
the dashed and dotted lines are the vacuum stability constraint with @xmath146 respectively .
the horizontal band is the current measured value of higgs boson mass .
, width=415 ] we show in fig .
[ u1 ] the vacuum stability and perturbativity bounds on the sm higgs mass @xmath42 as a function of @xmath40 for a set of values of @xmath132 .
we set the scale of @xmath122-breaking at the @xmath147 scale and the mass of the corresponding @xmath148 boson to be @xmath149 in order to be roughly consistent with present lhc bounds@xcite .
the plus and cross signs represent perturbativity constraints ( by requiring @xmath150 ) with @xmath132 being @xmath151 and @xmath91 , respectively .
the dashed and dotted lines represent the higgs vacuum stability constraint with @xmath132 being @xmath91 and @xmath151 , respectively .
the horizontal band is the currently measured value of the higgs mass .
it is evident from the figure that the sm higgs vacuum stability predicts that @xmath132 should be roughly larger than @xmath91 in this specific model , though a smaller value could also be viable if the impact of the singlet scalar - higgs coupling is included .
alternatively , the presence of a sufficiently large gauge coupling would allow for stability in the absence of a significant singlet - higgs interaction . in either case
, such a parameter space might be accessible by the lhc , since we have assumed that @xmath152 .
a detailed analysis of the collider signatures of the model will be presented in future work .
if the observed @xmath153 gev boson is , indeed , the higgs boson , then stability of the sm electroweak vacuum up to the planck scale may require that some bsm degrees of freedom become active at scales @xmath154 1 tev .
the presence of these degrees of freedom can modify the rg evolution of the higgs quartic self - interaction that may otherwise run negative below the planck scale .
in general , three ingredients may change the running behavior of the higgs self - coupling : four - scalar interactions , yukawa interactions , and gauge interactions . in this paper , we have studied the sm higgs vacuum stability problem in representative minimal extensions of the sm that also address other phenomenological problems , accounting for the neutrino masses , dark matter from ew multiplets , and a new gauge symmetry .
we find that vacuum stability of a @xmath19124 - 126 gev higgs up to the planck scale could point to the existence of new scalars , which might be a tev scale higgs triplet in the type - ii seesaw model , whose coupling @xmath74 with the sm higgs should be in the rather restricted range @xmath155 .
alternatively , stability could be achieved through existence of a series of tev - scale ew multiplets , which can be gauge - portal dark matter candidates , or to a new @xmath122 gauge symmetry , in which the sm higgs carries non - zero charge . in the former case
, the number of new particles should be relatively large , _
i.e. _ , one generation quintuplet fermion ( or higher representational ew multiplet ) or at least two quadruplet scalar and ( or ) triplet fermion multiplets .
if the new @xmath1 symmetry is broken at the @xmath156 scale , then the sm higgs vacuum stability implies that @xmath132 can not be arbitrarily small unless the couplings of the associated sm singlets to the higgs doublet , the number of singlets , or the singlet @xmath122 charge is sufficiently large .
this work was supported in part by doe contracts de - fg02 - 08er41531 ( mjrm and wchao ) and de - sc0007983 ( mg ) , the wisconsin alumni research foundation ( mjrm and wchao ) , and by the wayne state university division of research ( mg ) .
the two loop @xmath27-function of the higgs quartic coupling @xmath10 is given by @xcite @xmath157 with @xmath158 one loop @xmath27-functions of @xmath77 , @xmath78 and @xmath75 @xcite @xmath163 \lambda_1 -8 { \rm tr } [ ( y_\delta^\dagger y_\delta^{})^2 ] \ ; , \\
16\pi^2 \beta_{\lambda_2 } = & & - \left ( { 36\over 5 } g_1 ^ 2 + 24 g_2 ^ 2 \right ) \lambda_1 + 12 g_2 ^ 4 - { 144 \over 5 } g_1 ^ 2 g_2 ^ 2 + 3 \lambda_2 ^ 2 + 12 \lambda_1 \lambda_2 \nonumber \\&&-8\lambda_5 ^ 2 + 4 { \rm tr}[y_\delta^\dagger y_\delta ] \lambda_1 + 8 { \rm tr } [ ( y_\delta^\dagger y_\delta^{})^2 ] \ ; , \\ 16\pi^2 \beta_{\lambda_5 } = & & -\left({9\over 2 } g_1 ^ 2 + { 33\over 2 } g_2 ^ 2 \right)\lambda_5 - { 18 \over 5 } g_1 ^ 2 g_2 ^ 2 + ( 2\lambda_1 -2\lambda_2 + 2 \lambda+8\lambda_4 \nonumber \\ & & + 6y_t^2 + 2 { \rm tr } [ y_\delta^\dagger y_\delta^ { } ] ) \lambda_5^ { } \ ; .\end{aligned}\ ] ] f. englert and r. brout , phys
* 13 * , 321 ( 1964 ) ; p. w. higgs , phys .
* 12 * , 132 ( 1964 ) ; phys .
* 13 * , 508(1964 ) ; phys .
rev . * 145 * , 1156 ( 1966 ) ; g. s. guralnik , phys .
* 13 * , 585(1964 ) ; t. w. b. kibble , phys . rev . * 155 * , 1554 ( 1967 ) .
j. elias - miro , j. r. espinosa , g. f. giudice , g. isidori , a. riotto and a. strumia , phys .
b * 709 * , 222 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1112.3022 [ hep - ph ] ] .
z. -z .
xing , h. zhang and s. zhou , phys .
d * 86 * , 013013 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1112.3112 [ hep - ph ] ] .
p. minkowski , phys .
b * 67 * , 421 ( 1977 ) ; t. yanagida , in _ workshop on unified theories _
, kek report 79 - 18 p.95 ( 1979 ) ; m. gell - mann , p. ramond , r. slansky , in _ supergravity _ ( north holland , amsterdam , 1979 ) eds .
p. van nieuwenhuizen , d. freedman , p.315 ; s. l. glashow , in _ 1979 cargese summer institute on quarks and leptons _
( plenum press , new york , 1980 ) eds .
m. levy , j .- l .
basdevant , d. speiser , j. weyers , r. gastmans and m. jacobs , p.687 ; r. barbieri , d. v. nanopoulos , g. morchio and f. strocchi , phys .
b * 90 * , 91 ( 1980 ) ; r. n. mohapatra and g. senjanovic , phys .
lett . * 44 * , 912 ( 1980 ) ; g. lazarides , q. shafi and c. wetterich , nucl .
b * 181 * , 287 ( 1981 ) .
w. konetschny and w. kummer , phys . lett .
b * 70 * , 433 ( 1977 ) ; t. p. cheng and l. f. li , phys .
d * 22 * , 2860 ( 1980 ) ; g. lazarides , q. shafi and c. wetterich , nucl .
b * 181 * , 287 ( 1981 ) ; j. schechter and j. w. f. valle , phys .
d * 22 * , 2227 ( 1980 ) ; r. n. mohapatra and g. senjanovic , phys .
d * 23 * , 165 ( 1981 ) .
machacek and m. t. vaughn , nucl .
b * 222 * , 83 ( 1983 ) ; nucl .
b * 236 * , 221 ( 1984 ) ; nucl .
b * 249 * , 70 ( 1985 ) ; c. ford , i. jack and d. jones , nucl .
b * 387 * , 373 ( 1992 ) ; h. arason _
et al_. , phys .
d * 46 * , 3945 ( 1992 ) ; v. barger , m. s. berger and p. ohmann , phys .
d * 47 * , 1093 ( 1993 ) ; m. x. luo and y. xiao , phys
lett * 90 * , 011601 ( 2003 ) .
v. barger , p. langacker , m. mccaskey , m. j. ramsey - musolf and g. shaughnessy , phys .
d * 77 * , 035005 ( 2008 ) [ arxiv:0706.4311 [ hep - ph ] ] .
v. barger , p. langacker , m. mccaskey , m. ramsey - musolf and g. shaughnessy , phys .
d * 79 * , 015018 ( 2009 ) [ arxiv:0811.0393 [ hep - ph ] ] .
y. cai , x. -g .
he and b. ren , phys .
d * 83 * , 083524 ( 2011 ) [ arxiv:1102.1522 [ hep - ph ] ] .
e. j. chun , h. m. lee and p. sharma , arxiv:1209.1303 [ hep - ph ] . c. cheung , m. papucci and k. m. zurek , jhep * 1207 * , 105 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1203.5106 [ hep - ph ] ] .
o. lebedev , eur .
j. c * 72 * , 2058 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1203.0156 [ hep - ph ] ] .
j. elias - miro , j. r. espinosa , g. f. giudice , h. m. lee and a. strumia , jhep * 1206 * , 031 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1203.0237 [ hep - ph ] ] .
k. kumericki , i. picek and b. radovcic , jhep * 1207 * , 039 ( 2012 ) [ arxiv:1204.6597 [ hep - ph ] ] .
p. fileviez perez , h. h. patel , m. .j .
ramsey - musolf and k. wang , phys .
d * 79 * , 055024 ( 2009 ) [ arxiv:0811.3957 [ hep - ph ] ] .
l. a. anchordoqui , i. antoniadis , h. goldberg , x. huang , d. lust , t. r. taylor and b. vlcek , arxiv:1208.2821 [ hep - ph ] ; l. a. anchordoqui , i. antoniadis , h. goldberg , x. huang , d. lust , t. r. taylor and b. vlcek , arxiv:1206.2537 [ hep - ph ] . | arxiv |
Moving lower for the 2nd day in a row, CHFUSD ended Tuesday at 0.9922 tanking 37 pips (-0.37%). This is the biggest single-day loss in over two weeks. The last time we've seen such an unusually strong single-day loss on March 7th, CHFUSD actually gained 0.32% on the following trading day. Today's close at 0.9922 marks the lowest recorded closing price since March 11th. The bears were in full control today, moving the market lower throughout the whole session. Closing below Monday's low at 0.9954, CHF/USD confirmed its breakout through the previous session low after trading up to 35 pips below it intraday.
Tuesday's trading range has been 49 pips (0.49%), that's slightly above the last trading month's daily average range of 43 pips. Weekly volatility is also higher, being slightly above the market's average weekly trading range. The longer-term, monthly volatility is currently slightly lower than usual for CHFUSD.
Prices are trading close to the key technical support level at 0.9901 (S1). Prices broke below the key technical support level at 0.9947 (now R1), which is likely to act as resistance going forward.
Crossing below the lower Bollinger Band for the first time since March 7th, prices have shown unusually strong downward momentum in the short-term. This might either indicate a potential selling climax after which prices could head back up towards the mean of the Bollinger Bands at 1.0017 or signal the beginning of a strong momentum breakout leading to even lower prices.
With prices trading close to this year's low at 0.9878, downside momentum might accelerate should the market break out to new lows for the year.
Among the 10 market conditions that our pattern recognition engine identified today, the statistics for the Price Action based market condition "2 Consecutive Lower Closes" stand out. Although it is usually interpreted as bearish, it has actually shown to be bullish for CHF/USD. Out of 325 times, CHFUSD closed higher 53.23% of the time on the next trading day after the market condition occurred. The optimal exit for swing trading this condition on the long side has been after 10 trading days, showing a win rate of 50.46% with an average market move of 0.11%.
Find out what happened when Swiss Franc/US Dollar traded like this in the past. See the odds for each technical pattern with expected gain and loss. | slim_pajama |
luminous ( @xmath0 ) and ultraluminous ( @xmath1 ) infrared ( ir ) galaxies ( lirgs and ulirgs , respectively ) , have high star formation ( sf ) rates .
the fraction of sf in u / lirgs in the local universe is small compared to that in normal spiral galaxies ; however , at high redshift they become the dominant sources of sf ( e.g. , * ? ? ?
stars more massive than @xmath2 explode as core - collapse supernovae ( ccsne ) , and due to their short life cycles they are a very useful tool for tracing ongoing sf rates , independent of the conventional way of using the galaxy ir luminosity .
recently , @xcite have presented evidence that the sn population in the interacting lirg system differs from those observed in normal spiral galaxies with the ib and iib sne being more numerous and centrally concentrated than more common type ii sne . until now
, this kind of study has been impossible due to insufficient numbers of sne discovered in u / lirgs , providing a strong motivation for sn searches in galaxies with high sf rates .
the extinction - free searches at radio wavelengths using very long baseline interferometry ( vlbi ) have been successful in discovering sne and sn remnants in u / lirgs , e.g. , in @xcite and @xcite .
the reason for the low optical discovery rate of ccsne in u / lirgs is the high dust extinction combined with spatial concentration of sf in the crowded nuclear regions within the central few hundreds of parsecs ( see e.g. , * ? ? ?
* ) . therefore imaging in the near - ir where the extinction is strongly reduced , and high spatial resolution is achievable with ground - based adaptive optics ( ao ) or space - based imaging is required .
recently such methods have been shown to be very efficient with the discovery of several sne in the lirg nuclear / circumnuclear regions . was discovered with the very large telescope using the natural guide star naco ao system @xcite . and reported in @xcite were discovered using the gemini - north telescope with the laser guide star ( lgs ) assisted altair ao system and the _ hubble space telescope _ ( _ hst _ ) nicmos archive data , respectively . in this letter , we report the consecutive discovery of two sne in the same host galaxy with the gemini - north telescope , and . @xcite report the host lirg ( also known as e.g. , , , and ) to have an ir luminosity of @xmath3 = 4.7 \times 10^{11 } l_{\odot}$ ] and a distance of 100 mpc ( h@xmath4 = 75 km s@xmath5mpc@xmath5 ) giving a projected linear distance scale @xmath6 pc .
the ir luminosity of indicates a ccsn rate of @xmath7 yr@xmath5 derived with the empirical relation of @xcite , consistent with the discovery of two sne within two years . in @xcite
we report the details of our radio follow - up of and and investigate the innermost nuclear regions of through high - angular resolution , high - sensitivity radio observations .
and were discovered as a result of our _ k_-band search for highly - obscured ccsne in a sample of eight nearby lirgs using the gemini - north telescope with the near - infrared imager ( niri ) with altair lgs ao system ( 0.022pixel@xmath5 , fwhm @xmath8 0.1 ) .
the individual niri images were reduced with iraf using the niri package and registered and co - added using a bright field star as a reference .
the discovery image of was observed on 2010 february 24.6 ut ( program gn-2010a - q-40 , pi : s. ryder ) .
comparison to a previously obtained altair / niri _ k_-band reference image from 2009 june 10.4 ut was done using a slightly modified version of the image subtraction package isis 2.2 @xcite .
the software matches the point - spread functions ( psfs ) and flux levels of a previously aligned pair of images by deriving an optimal convolution kernel .
the image subtraction process revealed a new point source located only 0.37 from the brightest _
k_-band core of corresponding to a projected distance of @xmath8180 pc .
the transient was reported to the central bureau for astronomical telegrams ( cbat ) immediately after the discovery and was designated as a possible supernova @xcite . a follow - up observation in _ jhk _ on 2010
may 4.5 ut confirmed its sn nature resulting in a formal sn designation @xcite .
further follow - up observations were obtained on 2010 june 4.3 ut in _ hk _ and on 2011 february 11.6 ut in _ jhk _
( gn-2011a - q-48 , pi : s. ryder ) . as expected close to a year from discovery had faded below the detection limit . however , a new point source had appeared 0.79 ( projected distance @xmath8380 pc ) from the _ k_-band nucleus of the host galaxy .
it was reported as a possible supernova @xcite and follow - up observations in _ jhk _ were obtained on 2011 april 18.5 ut , leading to a formal designation @xcite .
the _ k_-band discovery images of and and a subtraction between these two are shown in fig . 1 .
we note that the projected distance of places it along the dusty ring reported by @xcite , whereas is located outside the ring .
follow - up near - ir observations of and were also attempted with the nordic optical telescope ( not ) using the notcam instrument ( 0.234pixel@xmath5 ) on 2010 march 8.3 ut ( seeing fwhm @xmath8 0.7 ) in _ hks _ and 2011 february 20.2 ut ( fwhm @xmath8 0.9 ) in _
jhks_. however , neither epoch provided detection of the sne even with the help of image subtraction with the reference images obtained with the same instrument on 2009 march 15.1 ut ( fwhm @xmath8 1.1 ) .
this demonstrates the importance of high spatial resolution for sn searches in the nuclear regions of lirgs .
due to the small field - of - view ( fov ) of the altair / niri ao setup of only 22.5 @xmath9 22.5 an accurate world coordinate system ( wcs ) was derived with an iterative method .
first the wcs was derived for a 2mass _ j_-band image of the field using 47 isolated point sources from the 2mass catalogue with astrometric accuracy of 0.1 @xcite .
the 2mass image was then aligned to an _ hst_/acs _
f814w _ image of the galaxy with a 3.5 @xmath9 3.5 fov ( obtained from the _ hst _ science archive ) using 8 sources common to both images . finally the _ hst _ image was transformed to the gemini images using 14 point - like sources .
both transformation processes allowed shifts in x and y , scaling and rotating .
this yielded r.a . @xmath10 and decl .
@xmath11 for and r.a .
@xmath12 and decl .
@xmath13 for . for the brightest _
k_-band core of we obtain r.a . @xmath14 and decl . @xmath15 .
the rms errors for the derived coordinates are 0.28 and 0.21 for r.a . and decl .
, respectively .
the alignment of the 2mass image to match the _ hst _ image dominates the errors .
k_-band core of is within 1@xmath16 from the 6.9 ghz radio centre reported in @xcite .
the gemini images were calibrated with an isolated field star in the fov , in the 2mass catalogue , using the standard star @xcite observations in _ jhk _ obtained on 2011 april 18.5 ut .
both stars were measured with aperture photometry using gaia and aperture - corrected to a radius of 100pix ( = 2.2 ) .
this yielded @xmath17 mag , @xmath18 mag and @xmath19 mag for the field star with the errors being dominated by the statistical photometric error .
the photometry of and was derived with the quba pipeline using the snoopy package , both running standard iraf tasks .
three point sources in the altair / niri fov were used to derive the psf over the images used for fitting the sn in the subtracted images .
photometric errors were estimated by subtracting the fitted sn from the image and measuring several artificial sources simulated around the sn position with a dispersion of 1 @xmath9 fwhm .
this error usually dominated over the statistical uncertainty of the psf fitting .
j_-band 5@xmath16 upper limit for was derived based on the faintest detected sources in the image taking into account the increased noise due to the image subtraction process .
table 1 lists apparent sn magnitudes , where errors are in parentheses .
.photometry of sne 2010cu and 2011hi . [ cols="^,^,^,^ " , ] the not images were also used for deriving the _ jhk _ magnitudes of the altair / niri field star for a consistency check .
again , the quba pipeline was used and the following magnitudes obtained for the 2009 reference epoch , @xmath20 mag , @xmath21 mag , @xmath22 mag using seven 2mass stars for the calibration . as a simple approach to estimate the sn type and the host galaxy extinction in the lines - of - sight to and the _ jhk _ light curve templates from @xcite were used .
these templates are divided into two subtypes denoted ordinary ( linearly declining ) and slowly declining ( based on type iil sn 1979c and type iin sn 1998s ) .
the ordinary template contains a variety of sne including types ib / c , iil and even iib and iip ; despite some intrinsic differences in their near - ir light curves , we consider the template to describe at least the type ib / c sne fairly well .
the slowly declining template shows a near - ir excess originating from pre - existing dust in the circumstellar medium ( csm ) of the progenitor @xcite .
the well sampled near - ir light curves for the prototypical type iip from @xcite were also used to represent the class of type ii sne showing a plateau phase . from @xcite
we obtain a galactic extinction of a@xmath23 for the line - of - sight .
for the host galaxy extinction both @xcite and @xcite reddening laws were considered and only the former for the galactic extinction .
we used @xmath24-fitting to derive the best fit for _ v_-band host galaxy extinction a@xmath25 , the discovery epoch @xmath26 and the same constant shift @xmath27 for the absolute magnitude in all the three bands . for the ordinary and
slowly declining templates @xmath26 is given relative to the _ k_-band peak and for type iip with respect to the explosion date .
the magnitude shift @xmath27 represents the intrinsic luminosity differences between the sne and the templates .
j_-band upper limit of was not included in the fit .
results and reduced @xmath24 values are reported in table 2 and the fits for each sn are shown in fig . 2 .
c | cccc | cccc template & @xmath28 & @xmath26 & @xmath27 & @xmath29 & @xmath28 & @xmath26 & @xmath27 & @xmath29 + & ( mag ) & ( days ) & ( mag ) & & ( mag ) & ( days ) & ( mag ) & + sn 2010cu & & + ordinary & 0.1 & -8 & + 0.80 & 11 & 0.1 & -8 & + 0.80 & 11 + slow & 0.0 & 6 & + 2.20 & 8.5 & 0.0 & 6 & + 2.20 & 8.5 + iip & 1.3 & 62 & + 0.10 & 1.7 & 1.0 & 62 & + 0.15 & 1.7 + sn 2011hi & & + ordinary & 6.8 & -38 & -1.35 & 5.0 & 4.7 & -38 & -1.00 & 4.4 + slow & 0.0 & 89 & -0.25 & 27 & 0.0 & 89 & -0.25 & 27 + iip & 7.0 & 31 & -1.65 & 9.4 & 5.0 & 31 & -1.30 & 8.8 + + + from sn - free f110w and f222 m images observed in a _ hst_/nicmos survey of lirgs by @xcite and obtained from the _ hst _ archive we produced a @xmath30 colour map of the central regions of , see fig .
the nicmos filter magnitudes were converted into vega magnitudes using the transformations of @xcite . assuming a typical intrinsic evolved stellar population colour of @xmath31 mag ( e.g. , * ? ? ? * ) and the calzetti extinction law the observed near - ir colour of the galaxy can be converted into total line - of - sight extinction below the limit @xmath32 i.e. , with extinctions higher than @xmath33 mag only the surface extinction is mapped and thus the values represent a lower limit . as part of a future effort to estimate ccsn rates in our sample of lirgs , detection efficiencies for the gemini images were derived by simulating artificial sne in the images . for this
the images were divided into multiple contour regions based on the surface brightness , a reference frame was subtracted from the images using isis 2.2 and the subtracted frames were run through sextractor @xcite .
aperture photometry of the detected objects was compared with the standard deviation calculated for a random grid of aperture sums within each contour region .
this procedure was repeated for different simulation magnitudes and the 3@xmath9 standard deviation detection efficiency for each magnitude and contour area was calculated . using s - curve @xcite fitting to the results we derive a preliminary 50% detection efficiency for 18.3 mag sources in our _ k_-band gemini images in the innermost circumnuclear region in which both and were discovered .
these initial results indicate that our search was sensitive enough to discover sne @xmath34 mag fainter than and in the central regions of ( and lirgs with similar properties ) .
this corresponds to @xmath35 mag higher extinctions in @xmath28 . however , our sn detection sensitivity drops significantly in the nuclear @xmath36100 pc regions ( see also * ? ? ?
* ) with only very high resolution vlbi observations being able to detect highly obscured sne therein ( e.g. , * ? ? ?
for we obtained satisfactory fits with both the slowly declining and type iip templates whereas the light curves and colours of the ordinary template fit are not consistent with the sn , when the _
j_-band upper limit is taken into account .
the absolute brightness and the discovery epoch of the sn at day 62 given by the type iip fit is also very reasonable given the fact that the galaxy was observed for the first time in over 8 months .
in contrast in the slowly declining template fit the sn would have to be underluminous by more than 2 mag compared to the template and discovered close to the maximum .
however , based on only three epochs of photometry we can not definitively determine the type of between slowly declining and type iip .
regardless of the template used they both yield very low host galaxy extinction estimates @xmath37 mag .
for we do not find the ordinary template fit very likely , even though it gives the best reduced @xmath24 value , as it would require the sn to be discovered on day -38 , thus having an unrealistically long rise time for an ordinary ccsn .
we note that in @xcite we found a @xmath38-band rise time of @xmath39 days for with the slowly declining template providing the best fit to the data .
however , ccsne interacting with their csm have shown delayed rise to their near - ir peak compared to their optical discovery , e.g. , sn 2006jc @xcite .
the slowly declining and the type iip templates both give reasonable fits and extinction estimates @xmath40 mag . in the type iip comparison
the sn is expected to be 1.65 mag brighter than the canonical , however , type iip sne are known to show intrinsic variations of several magnitudes in their maximum brightness . for example
@xcite was roughly 2 mag brighter than a prototypical type iip . adopting the slowly declining template
would have been caught in the beginning of the near - ir excess phase , being intrinsically slightly brighter than the template . as only two epochs of photometry are available both template fits seem reasonable .
radio observations of and with the electronic european vlbi network ( e - evn ) at 5 ghz on 2011 march 23.1 ut and the electronic multi - element remotely linked interferometer network ( e - merlin ) at 6.9 ghz resulted in upper limits for the radio emission from both sne ( see * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* for details ) , which do not allow classifying them . in @xcite an average sf rate of 185 m@xmath41 yr@xmath5 for over the duration of the starburst
was also derived based on the ir spectral energy distribution predicting a ccsn rate of 1.1 yr@xmath5 , consistent with the discovery of two sne within two years . as shown earlier
, the @xmath30 colour map extinction of @xmath42 mag for the line - of - sight through the whole galaxy is more of a lower limit for the total line - of - sight extinction .
this gives freedom for any template fitted extinction estimate to be possible .
however , the template fits for give extinctions well below this limit . for only the slowly
declining template fit with negligible host galaxy extinction is found to be consistent with an estimated maximum line - of - sight extinction of @xmath43 mag from the extinction map .
however , higher localized extinction values , beyond the resolution of the extinction map , could be possible .
the adaptive optics assisted discovery of two consecutive sne located at @xmath44 pc from the lirg nucleus demonstrates the importance of high spatial resolution in searches for ccsne in highly crowded starburst regions in lirgs .
we note that of the five sne discovered using high resolution near - ir observations in our sample of lirgs ( see sect . 1 ) , four are within 1 kpc from the host nucleus .
based on the near - ir light curve fitting to templates we find to be consistent with either a type iip or a near - ir bright type iin / l sn with a host galaxy extinction of @xmath45 mag .
taking into account also the extinction map is found to be most consistent with a type iin / l sn during the near - ir excess phase with host galaxy extinction of @xmath46 mag .
a type ib / c classification was found unlikely for both the sne .
future near - ir and radio follow - up observations of will be able to better constrain the nature and line - of - sight extinction of this potentially very interesting event the surprisingly low derived line - of - sight extinctions appear to be in conflict with the expectation of the occurrence of highly obscured ccsne in the nuclear region of lirgs .
for example , in @xcite @xmath47 mag of host galaxy extinction was derived with near - ir template light curve fitting for , located at a projected distance of 1.5 kpc from the host lirg nucleus .
based on this it seems more likely that and are located in the outer parts of the lirg system which we see projected close to the lirg nucleus .
additionally the majority of lirgs at the high ir luminosity end are complex interacting systems and their dust extinction distributions can be very complex compared to normal spiral galaxies with symmetric exponential disks , see e.g. , @xcite and @xcite . despite the low extinctions such sne occurring close to the lirg nuclei
remain undiscovered by the current sn searches and will therefore contribute to the sn rate problem recently suggested by @xcite .
we thank the anonymous referee for useful comments and suggestions .
ek acknowledges support from the finnish academy of science and letters ( vilho , yrj and kalle visl foundation ) .
sm and ek acknowledge the support from the academy of finland ( project : 8120503 ) .
aah and lc acknowledge support from the spanish plan nacional de astronoma y astrofsica under grant aya2010 - 21161-c02 - 1 .
aa , map - t . and
cr - c acknowledge financial support from the spanish micinn trough grant aya2009 - 13036-co2 - 01 , co - funded with feder funds .
jk acknowledge the support from the academy of finland ( project : 2600021612 ) alard , c. 2000 , , 144 , 363 alard , c. , & lupton , r. h. 1998 , , 503 , 325 alonso - herrero , a. , rieke , g. h. , rieke , m. j. , et al .
2006 , , 650 , 835 anderson , j. p. , habergham , s. m. , & james , p. a. 2011 , , 416 , 567 batejat , f. , conway , j. e. , hurley , r. , et al .
2011 , , 740 , 95 bertin , e. , & arnouts , s. 1996 , , 117 , 393 botticella , m. t. , trundle , c. , pastorello , a. , et al .
2010 , , 717 , l52 calzetti , d. , armus , l. , bohlin , r. c. , et al .
2000 , , 533 , 682 canizales , c. r. , perez - torres , m. a. , alberdi , a. , et al .
2011 , atel , 3291 , 1 cardelli , j. a. , clayton , g. c. , & mathis , j. s. 1989 , , 345 , 245 clemens , m. s. , & alexander , p. 2004
, , 350 , 66 dahlen , t. , strolger , l .- g .
, & riess , a. g. 2008 , , 681 , 462 fassia , a. , meikle , w. p. s. , vacca , w. d. , et al .
2000 , , 318 , 1093 fioc , m. , & rocca - volmerange , b. 1999 , , 351 , 869 hawarden , t. g. , leggett , s. k. , letawsky , m. b. , ballantyne , d. r. , & casali , m. m. 2001 , , 325 , 563 horiuchi , s. , beacom , j. f. , kochanek , c. s. , et al .
2011 , , 738 , 154 kankare , e. , mattila , s. , ryder , s. , et al .
2008 , , 689 , l97 kankare , e. , mattila , s. , ryder , s. , et al .
2010 , cbet , 2213 , 1 kankare , e. , ryder , s. , & mattila , s. 2011a , atel , 3245 , 1 kankare , e. , ryder , s. d. , mattila , s. , et al . 2011b , cbet , 2889 , 1 krisciunas , k. , hamuy , m. , suntzeff , n. b. , et al .
2009 , , 137 , 34 magnelli , b. , elbaz , d. , chary , r. r. , et al .
2011 , , 528 , a35 mattila , s. , & meikle , w. p. s. 2001 , , 324 , 325 mattila , s. , visnen , p. , farrah , d. , et al .
2007 , , 659 , l9 mattila , s. , meikle , w. p. s. , lundqvist , p. , et al .
2008 , , 389 , 141 origlia , l. , & leitherer , c. 2000 , , 119 , 2018 prez - torres , m. a. , romero - caizales , c. , alberdi , a. , & polatidis , a. 2009 , , 507 , l17 parra , r. , conway , j. e. , diamond , p. j. , et al .
2007 , , 659 , 314 romero - caizales , c. , mattila , s. , alberdi , a. , et al .
2011a , , 415 , 2688 romero - caizales , c. , et al . 2011b , submitted to ryder , s. , kankare , e. , & mattila , s. 2010 , cbet , 2286 , 1 sanders , d. b. , mazzarella , j. m. , kim , d
.- c . , surace , j. a. , & soifer , b. t. 2003 , , 126 , 1607 schlegel , d. j. , finkbeiner , d. p. , & davis , m. 1998 , , 500 , 525 scoville , n. z. , evans , a. s. , thompson , r. , et al .
2000 , , 119 , 991 skrutskie , m. f. , cutri , r. m. , stiening , r. , et al . 2006 , ,
131 , 1163 soifer , b. t. , neugebauer , g. , matthews , k. , et al .
2001 , , 122 , 1213 ulvestad , j. s. 2009 , , 138 , 1529 visnen , p. , mattila , s. , kniazev , a. , et al .
2008 , , 384 , 886 | arxiv |
the problems get compounded when there is the presence of infection around the hip implants.1 deep infection after a hip fracture operation impairs functional outcome and increases mortality by 10.4%.2 eradication of infection becomes necessary for any definitive procedure to be performed on the hip .
the patients are distressed because of pain and functional disability.3 with the recent advances in orthopedic surgery , the indications for girdlestone resection arthroplasty after failed operated fractures of the hip are very limited.4 the reported results of girdlestone 's arthroplasty are variable with satisfactory results reported by some studies,58 and poor outcome by others.912 hence , this procedure remains viable only in medically suboptimal patients.4 total hip arthroplasty ( tha ) for failed and infected internal fixation of hip fractures is a difficult procedure .
the problems which are frequently encountered are poor bone stock , significant osteoporosis , distorted anatomy , contracted soft tissues , and also the severe deformities which may be present due to the fractures.131314 the presence of screws also adds to the difficulties as they act as stress risers and also allow the cement to pass through screw holes .
the management of these difficult conditions requires a thorough surgical debridement , proper antibiotic coverage , and precise preoperative planning and anticipation of the difficulties to be encountered .
tha remains the only salvage procedure for this group of patients in order to provide a stable , mobile hip with restored biomechanics .
the present series encompasses all the fractures of the hip joint including trans - cervical and intertrochanteric fractures as well as osteotomies used to treat proximal femoral fractures .
the aim of the present study is to evaluate the results and assess the complications of tha following failed infected internal fixation of these fractures .
a retrospective analysis of prospective data collected from 20 consecutive patients of total hip arthroplasty following failed infected internal fixation operated between september 2001 and november 2007 was carried out [ table 1 ] .
clinical details of patients all patients were operated by a single senior surgeon ( ssm ) .
the average age of the patients was 48.5 years ( range : 28 - 70 years ) with the average followup period of 6.5 years ( 3.5 to 10.5 years ) .
there were 11 dynamic hip screw failures for intertrochanteric fractures , 6 failed osteotomies following proximal femoral fractures , and 3 failed screw fixations for transcervical fractures .
the duration between the index surgery for fracture fixation and the time of presentation ranged between 8 months and 3 years .
all patients had undergone mean 2.05 previous surgeries per patient ( range 1 - 4 surgeries ) .
the diagnosis of infection was made on the basis of clinical criteria like persistent pain , local swelling , discharging sinus , as well as laboratory investigations like erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( esr ) and c - reactive proteins ( crp ) .
radiology also aided in the diagnosis by the presence of osteolysis around the implants as well as periosteal reaction .
preoperative aspiration of the joint fluid was done in all cases under strict aseptic precautions .
a positive culture was a definite indicator of infection though a negative result did not rule out infection [ figures 1a & 1b ] .
( a ) radiograph of right hip joint ( anteroposterior view ) of a 49 year - old male showing fracture neck femur ( b ) postoperative radiograph of right hip ( anteroposterior view ) of same patient showing osteotomy done for fracture neck femur after failed fixation ( a ) intraoperative photograph of a custom - made antibiotic cement spacer over bent rush nail ( b ) radiograph of right hip ( anteroposterior view ) after first stage showing antibiotic cement spacer in situ ( c ) final radiograph of the patient after re - implantation arthroplasty nineteen out of the 20 patients were treated with two - stage revision surgery while only 1 had a one - stage revision .
surgery was performed with the patient in the lateral position through a posterolateral approach . wherever possible ,
if not possible , an adequate gap was maintained in between old and new incision to prevent risk of flap necrosis and poor wound healing .
the first stage included excision of the sinuses , removal of implants , foreign materials and all potentially infected tissues , thorough debridement and implantation of an antibiotic impregnated cement spacer .
intraoperative samples were taken from three different locations subcutaneous tissues , from the hip joint , and from the femoral canal ( intramedullary) and were sent for histopathology as well as culture and antibiotic sensitivity .
the implants were removed , head and neck of femur were excised , and canal was reamed till the appropriate diameter .
a custom - made antibiotic impregnated cement spacer was made on - table , the most common being made with the help of a k - nail ( kuntscher femur nail ) ( n = 12 ) bent at 130. the others that were used were long stem austin moore 's prosthesis ( n = 1 ) , charnley 's prosthesis ( n = 1 ) , and a bent rush nail ( n = 1 ) .
the choice of antibiotic used in the cement was determined by the organism isolated in preoperative cultures and its antibiotic sensitivity .
if no organism could be isolated preoperatively , then 4 g of vancomycin were added to two packets of 40 g gentamicin impregnated cement .
the cement was coated over the hardware in its doughy phase and appropriately shaped using an asepto syringe or an indigenously prepared spacer template [ figure 2 ] .
once the cement was set , the spacer was inserted into the femoral canal and the head reduced in the acetabulum .
the wound was closed in layers over a negative suction drain . among the remaining five patients , four underwent a girdlestone like excision arthroplasty , while on one patient a single stage arthroplasty was performed .
the decision to choose between excision arthroplasty vs spacer was taken based on technical difficulties faced intraoperatively .
spacer maintains soft tissue tension , avoids shortening , improves gait pattern , and provides local release of antibiotics .
hence , wherever possible , and especially in later cases of the series , ( 15 out of 20 cases ) , a spacer was chosen over excision arthroplasty . clinical photograph showing indigenously
prepared template for appropriate shaping of cement spacer postoperatively , the patients were given a third generation cephalosporin and an aminoglycoside ( according to the hospital infection control committee protocol ) till a definitive culture and antibiotic sensitivity report was obtained , after which the patients were shifted over to the antibiotics for which the organism was sensitive to .
duration of antibiotic was for 6 weeks , which is similar to most studies on two - stage revision for periprosthetic infection.15 the therapy was divided in to two injectable antibiotics for a period of 3 weeks , followed by oral antibiotics for 3 more weeks ( similar to younger et al.).16 the patients were then kept without antibiotics for 3 - 6 weeks after which they were reassessed .
systemic and local signs of infection were looked for ; esr and crp levels were estimated weekly .
a preoperative aspiration of the hip was performed before the second surgery . only when all these investigations were within normal limits ,
the average time - interval between the two surgeries was 10 weeks ( range : 8 - 16 weeks ) . in this interim period ,
all patients ( including excision arthroplasty cases ) were ambulatory and relatively pain - free with partial weight borne on the affected limb after 5 postoperative day with the help of a walker or axillary crutches .
preoperative templating of the hip was done using radiographs of the pelvis with both hips anteroposterior and lateral views .
a wide range of implants were kept ready during the revision surgery due to technical difficulties involved . at reimplantation ,
samples were obtained at various planes and sent for frozen section . on a frozen section ,
a polymorph count of > 10/high power field was taken to be diagnostic of infection as recommended by lonner et al .
, in their prospective study on reliability of analysis of intraoperative frozen sections.17 the frozen sections in 19 of 20 patients turned out to be negative ( less than 5 polymorphs per high power field ) and we could proceed for the reimplantation .
one patient who had a positive frozen section , a new spacer was inserted , and definitive arthroplasty was done at the third stage . after this , the spacer was removed and the definitive prosthesis was inserted .
the decision about the type of prosthesis to be used was made according to the age , bony architecture , canal flare index as well as the residual bone stock of the patient .
if bone cement was used for fixation at the time of reimplantation , antibiotic impregnated cement was preferred .
all the patients were evaluated at 6 weeks , 12 weeks , 6 months and yearly thereafter .
the presence of pain at rest as well as on ambulation and the range of motion of the hip were calculated .
the patients were functionally evaluated according to harris hip score before the surgery , in the interim period between the two surgeries and at every visit after the second surgery .
the normality of the preoperative and postoperative harris hip score was tested using the kolmogorov - smirnov test and the paired t - test was used for significance . the p value < 0.05 was taken as significant .
preoperative templating of the hip was done using radiographs of the pelvis with both hips anteroposterior and lateral views .
a wide range of implants were kept ready during the revision surgery due to technical difficulties involved . at reimplantation ,
samples were obtained at various planes and sent for frozen section . on a frozen section ,
a polymorph count of > 10/high power field was taken to be diagnostic of infection as recommended by lonner et al .
, in their prospective study on reliability of analysis of intraoperative frozen sections.17 the frozen sections in 19 of 20 patients turned out to be negative ( less than 5 polymorphs per high power field ) and we could proceed for the reimplantation .
one patient who had a positive frozen section , a new spacer was inserted , and definitive arthroplasty was done at the third stage . after this , the spacer was removed and the definitive prosthesis was inserted .
the decision about the type of prosthesis to be used was made according to the age , bony architecture , canal flare index as well as the residual bone stock of the patient .
if bone cement was used for fixation at the time of reimplantation , antibiotic impregnated cement was preferred .
all the patients were evaluated at 6 weeks , 12 weeks , 6 months and yearly thereafter .
the presence of pain at rest as well as on ambulation and the range of motion of the hip were calculated .
the patients were functionally evaluated according to harris hip score before the surgery , in the interim period between the two surgeries and at every visit after the second surgery .
the normality of the preoperative and postoperative harris hip score was tested using the kolmogorov - smirnov test and the paired t - test was used for significance . the p value < 0.05 was taken as significant .
the mean duration between the index surgery for fracture fixation and presentation was about 1.4 years ( range : 8 months to 3.2 years ) .
of the 20 patients , 14 of them had undergone more than one previous surgery , of which 4 were for revision of fracture fixation while the remaining 10 had undergone debridement with retention of fixation devices for the eradication of infection .
the diagnosis of infection was made on the basis of discharging sinus in 14 and persistent pain with positive preoperative aspiration in the remaining 6 patients .
esr and crp levels were correlating well with the presence of infection with all the patients showing high levels of both esr and crp preoperatively .
a definite organism could be isolated in 19 patients of which 9 of them showed coagulase negative staphylococcus .
the rest were staphylococcus aureus in five , methicillin - resistant staphylococcus aureus in one and gram negative organisms in five .
the duration between first and second surgery was of about 10 weeks ( range : 8 - 16 weeks ) .
intraoperative samples taken during the second surgery were negative for organisms and had less than 5 polymorphs per high power field . out of the 20 patients ,
10 underwent cemented hip replacement with gentamicin impregnated cement , 4 with hybrid hip replacements ( uncemented acetabular cups and cemented femoral stems ) and 6 of them underwent uncemented hip replacements .
the decision of implant was taken on basis of age , bone quality , bone loss , and affordability of the patient .
thorough preoperative planning , appropriate antibiotic therapy , and meticulous attention to surgical detail had resulted in significant functional improvement in these patients .
the harris hip score of the patients had improved considerably from an average of 35.3 preoperatively to 49.6 after the first surgery and to 82.85 after the second definitive surgery at the time of last followup .
it was found to be normally distributed by the kolmogorov smirnov test and thus analyzed using the paired t - test at 5% significance .
bar diagram showing preoperative and postoperative harris hip scores there was one superficial reinfection , which was treated successfully with local debridement and oral antibiotics .
the other patients showed complete healing of discharging sinuses and esr and crp levels were normal .
there was one intraoperative fracture of the greater trochanter and was treated with tension band wiring .
the fracture had completely united in about 8 weeks and the patient was ambulatory without any support or limp at the time of last followup .
four of the patients showed evidence of limb length discrepancy ranging from 3 cm shortening in one case , 1 cm shortening in two cases and 1 cm lengthening in one case .
the present series has used arthroplasty as an effective treatment for failed and infected implants for hip fractures .
the advantage of this study and technique lies in its applicability in a heterogeneous series . both intertrochanteric and trans - cervical fractures
while there are many recent studies1820 on success of tha as a salvage procedure for failed internal fixation of hip , the literature on infected failed fixation is minimal .
pang - hsin hseih et al.,1 have described a series of only failed and infected intertrochanteric fracture fixation implants which have been treated with two - stage arthroplasty .
dean et al,21 have described use of modular endoprosthetic tumour system ( mets ) for eight cases of failed internal fixation of which only two were infected .
one was managed by single stage where as the second case required two - stage surgery ( spacer of antibiotic - impregnated cement modeled around a guidewire for the first stage ) .
tzurbakis et al,22 reported a single case of deep wound infection after a trochanteric fracture internal fixation presenting with hip dislocation for which excisional arthroplasty was done as first stage and tha was done 6 weeks later .
our study has a series of 20 patients of failed infected internal fixation of hip .
the approach to such patients is all the more difficult due to the distorted anatomy , inadequate bone stock as well as the severe soft tissue changes encountered.131423 we have endeavored to use the same principles of removal of all infected foreign material , good local concentration of antibiotics by the use of antibiotic impregnated cement and have shown good result with none of our patients showing any evidence of deep infection in recent followups .
there is some controversy regarding whether a single - stage or two - stage revision should be done .
there are very few indications for a single - stage surgical procedure like brief duration of symptoms , gram - positive organisms sensitive to antibiotics , a well - fixed implant , and the absence of excessive soft - tissue scarring.2426 this approach is usually associated with a significant failure rate.12627 hence , it was followed in just one of our patients who met with all the above - mentioned pre - requisites . in 15 of 19 patients ,
this temporary cement spacer accelerates rehabilitation , maintains the patient 's mobility , and preserves soft - tissue planes making the re - implantation procedure easier to perform.2628 dislocation of the spacer was supposed to be a common complication , with rates ranging from 1.8% to 18% in various studies.1313 however , it was more related to the geometry of the spacer with geometric mismatch being a common cause for the dislocation . in our series ,
the exact shape and size of the femoral head was re - created by meticulous templating and hence we did not encounter any patient with dislocation of the spacer device .
we have used a k - nail or a rush nail bent at an appropriate angle ( 130 ) coated with cement shaped with a custom - made mold in most of our patients while in others we have used a cement coated austin moore 's prosthesis or a charnley 's prosthesis .
the cement mold was made using an indigenously made , autoclavable template for three different sizes .
this provided a cost - effective and easy method that was extremely useful in the present set - up .
the use and duration of antibiotic therapy in the interim period is a matter of considerable debate .
mcdonald et al,27 in a report on the results of 82 two - stage reconstructions that had been performed for the treatment of infection at the site of a hip arthroplasty , recommended at least 4 weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy when antibiotic - impregnated material is not used .
nestor et al,29 evaluated 28 patients who had an infection at the site of a hip or knee arthroplasty and demonstrated comparable results between patients who were managed with the implantation of antibiotic - loaded cement beads in conjunction with less than 5 days of parenteral antibiotic therapy and those who were managed with 6 weeks of conventional intravenous antibiotic therapy . in the present series , we have used injectable antibiotics for 3 weeks and oral antibiotics for 3 weeks , which is similar to other studies on peri - prosthetic infection.1516 prophylactic antibiotic therapy , taking into consideration recommendations of the hospital infection committee , in the form of third - generation cephalosporin in combination with an aminoglycoside , was given when a definite organism could not be isolated .
the esr and serum crp level are not specific measures of infection.30 however , these tests are sensitive , readily available , most useful and prognostically significant when they are monitored serially.24 hence , the method of using the esr and serum crp level to guide the timing of reimplantation is a more practical approach than selecting a fixed interval between procedures because the virulence of the causative pathogen , the severity of infection , and the host response to antimicrobial treatment may vary greatly among individuals.123 the patients in the present series have shown a significant improvement in their functional scores with the average harris hip score being 82.8 postoperatively .
narayan et al.,31 have found the average harris hip score of patients of femoral neck fractures treated with total hip arthroplasty to be 83.8 , while patel et al.,32 have also reported similar results in their group of patients .
the only other series comparable to the present series was that of pang - hsin hseih et al.,1 which has discussed the use of hip arthroplasty in infected intertrochanteric fractures .
similar results were obtained in this series with all the patients having significant improvement in their functional scores . in that series ,
all patients were treated with two - stage revision with either cement beads or cemented spacer in the interim period .
the strengths of the present study include a relatively high number of consecutive patients of this difficult problem with a high rate of followup .
also this study includes not just intertrochanteric fractures but also trans - cervical fractures and osteotomies for proximal femoral fractures .
the limitations of this study are its retrospective design and a relatively medium term followup .
although there were no deep re - infections in our patients till the last followup , it may still be early to comment on the long term re - infection rate in these patients . to conclude we found that tha was very effective in restoring function in patients with deep hip sepsis after failed treatment of hip fractures .
complete and radical debridement in the first stage as well as proper antibiotic therapy helped in achieving a desirable outcome .
the use of the indigenously prepared cement spacer template was a very inexpensive but effective method in shaping the femoral head component of the spacer device and providing a stable construct between the two surgeries . | pubmed |
Explaining refraction of light through a glass slab
Let's consider a glass slab ABCD.
Now a light ray is incident on the near end of the air-glass interface AB and is emerging from the glass-air interface BD. In such a manner:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/G5N3D.png)
Is there something wrong how I have made my figure. Can light emerge in such a manner from a glass slab.
This is my first question and English is not my first language I hope you understood my doubt. I feel like the figure I have drawn does not look like the conventional ray diagram of light entering a glass slab.
Also I am not an expert I am just a student who wants to know the answer to my question.
There is a potential problem.
The critical angle $c = \sin^{-1}\left ( \frac 1 n\right)$, where $n$ is the refractive index of the glass.
At the first interface $r\le c$ and at the second interface $i\_2 \le c$ for there to be refraction
However, $i\_2 + r= 90^\circ$, and so only if $n\le 1/\sqrt 2$, is refraction at both interfaces possible.
As a numerical example, if $n=1.5$ then $c\approx 42^\circ$ and smallest that $i\_2$ can be is $90-42 = 48^\circ$ which is greater than the critical angle and total internal reflection will occur at the second interface, but if $n=1.35$ then $c \approx 48^\circ$ and refraction can occur at both interfaces.
| stackexchange/physics |
an expanded description of materials and methods can be found in the online supplement at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/db09-1727/dc1 .
all the procedures involving animals and their care were conducted in accordance with international guidelines , laws , and policies , and with the national institutes of health principles of laboratory animal care ( national institutes of health publication no .
most experiments were conducted with wild - type ( wt ) and knockout ( ko ) mice on an sv129 genetic background .
diabetes was induced through a single intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg / kg stz , and experiments were performed 4 or 12 weeks after confirmation of hyperglycemia ( blood glucose level > 300 mg / dl ) .
hind limb ischemia was induced by femoral artery ligation and excision , and experiments were performed 2 weeks later .
full - thickness skin wounds , 4 mm in diameter , were created on the dorsal surface of the left hind limbs with a biopsy punch , and closure was monitored with a digital camera .
a block including the wound area with surrounding tissue was collected for histological analyses at mid - closure time .
tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin , masson trichrome , and b4-isolectin immunofluorescence .
c - myc expression and nuclear localization of -catenin in the epithelial layer were assessed with quantitative confocal immunofluorescence .
skin concentrations of a1c and pentosidine were determined by hplc , and -nitrotyrosines were measured with a commercial elisa kit .
dermal fibroblasts were isolated from wt and p66shc mice and cultured in normal ( 5 mmol / l ) and high ( 25 mmol / l ) glucose in normoxia or hypoxia .
adductor muscle samples were collected for analysis of necrosis and inflammation ( hematoxylin and eosin ) , apoptosis ( apoptag plus ) , and capillary density ( b4 isolectin / laminin double immunofluorescence ) .
circulating endothelial progenitor cells ( epcs ) were determined by flow cytometry on the basis of the expression of cd34 ( a stem cell marker ) and flk-1 ( type 2 vascular endothelial growth factor receptor ) on blood cells .
comparison between two groups was performed with unpaired student t test , and statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05 .
p66shc protein expression was determined in lysates of skin samples from control and diabetic wt mice .
serine 36phosphorylated p66shc was increased in diabetic compared with control mice as well ( supplemental fig .
p66shc protein expression was also determined in dermal fibroblasts exposed to normoxia or hypoxia in 5 or 25 mmol / l glucose ; we found that high glucose increased p66shc expression , especially in the presence of hypoxia ( supplemental fig .
finally , p66shc gene expression was also significantly increased in the heart , kidney , and skeletal muscle of diabetic versus control wt mice ( supplemental fig .
wounds 4 mm in diameter were created on the dorsal surface of the right hind limb in wt and p66shc sv129 mice , in the presence of either 4-week stz - induced diabetes , 2-week hind limb ischemia , or both . in separated experiments , wounds and ischemia were induced in wt and p66shc c57bl/6 mice after 4 and 12 weeks of diabetes and in coeval nondiabetic c57bl/6 mice .
wound area was monitored with a digital camera till complete macroscopic closure . as shown in fig .
1 , with both the sv129 and c57bl/6 backgrounds , in nondiabetic nonischemic animals , wound healing was not different between wt and p66shc mice .
four - week diabetes delayed wound healing by about 70% in wt sv129 animals and 30% in p66shc animals , resulting in a significantly faster healing in p66shc than in wt diabetic nonischemic mice ( wound area at day 4 : 23.6 2.2 vs. 35.9 5.0% ; p = 0.028 ) .
hind limb ischemia delayed wound healing by about 185% in wt and 70% in p66shc mice , resulting in a faster healing in p66shc versus wt nondiabetic ischemic mice ( p < 0.05 from day 1 to 11 ) .
the coexistence of both diabetes and hind limb ischemia further exacerbated the differences between wt and p66shc mice .
similarly , p66shc deletion in c57bl/6 mice prevented the delay in wound healing induced by 4-week diabetes and hind limb ischemia . in ischemic and nonischemic c57bl/6 mice
12 weeks after diabetes induction , absence of p66shc was associated with significantly faster wound healing compared with the wt micce ( fig .
1 , right panels ) . with this diabetes duration and genetic background , induction of ischemia
was often followed by hind limb auto - amputation in wt mice ( 30 and 50% in nondiabetic and diabetic animals , respectively ) , while no amputation was seen in p66shc mice ( supplementary fig .
healing of a 4-mm diameter cutaneous wound was monitored using digital photography in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc - knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
wound size is reported as fraction of the initial wound area . on the right , healing time
is shown for wt and p66shc mice with or without diabetes and limb ischemia on the sv129 or the c57blc57bl/6 background at 4 or 12 weeks of diabetes duration .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . ) a well - developed and vascularized granulation tissue is essential for wound healing .
we show that diabetes , especially in combination with ischemia , impairs development and maturation of the granulation tissue in wt mice .
after 4 weeks of diabetes in sv129 mice , collagen - stained area ( 18.7 4.0 vs. 36.0 2.0% ; p = 0.002 ) and thickness of the granulation tissue ( 105.5 18.4 vs. 323.0 35.0 m ; p <
0.0001 ) were significantly reduced in diabetic ischemic wounds compared with control wounds ( fig .
capillary density was reduced ( nonischemic 91.2 12.7 vs. 159.6 11.2 hpf ; p = 0.002 ; ischemic 42.8 6.6 vs. 135.7 18.9 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) , while apoptosis was increased ( nonischemic 89.9 22.9 vs. 19.2 6.0 hpf ; p = 0.009 ) compared with nondiabetic wounds . in parallel , closure of the epithelial gap was delayed in diabetic wounds ( nonischemic 11.3 3.6 vs. 26.6 4.6% ; p = 0.015 ; ischemic 20.6 5.9% vs. 29.4 6.8% ; p = 0.33 ) .
all these alterations were reversed in p66shc mice : collagen area and tissue thickness were increased in diabetic wounds , while apoptosis was reduced and epithelial re - covering was significantly improved .
interestingly , capillary density within the granulation tissue was significantly lower in nondiabetic nonischemic p66shc mice compared withwt mice ( 50.8 3.1 vs. 159.6 11.2 hpf ; p < 0.0001 ) , but this difference was abrogated in the presence of either diabetes or ischemia , and was inverted in the presence of both diabetes and ischemia ( 92.8 18.7 vs. 42.8 6.6 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) .
results were confirmed in mice with the c57bl/6 genetic background after 1 month of diabetes ( supplementary fig .
collectively , these data using two different mouse strains strongly indicate that deletion of p66shc reverts the negative effect of diabetes on development and ischemia - induced vascularization of the granulation tissue .
several morphological characteristics of the granulation tissue were evaluated in wt and p66shc knockout ( ko ) , diabetic ( dm ) ( 4-week duration ) , and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
reepithelialization was quantified in histological sections by measuring the percentage of re - covered epithelial gap .
apoptosis was assessed with the apoptag kit in the granulation tissue and at wound edges , a critical site for active wound healing .
representative images are shown for control ( nondiabetic nonischemic ) and diabetic ischemic wt and ko mice .
n 3 mice for each group ; n 5 sections for tissue samples . *
p < 0.05 in ko vs. corresponding wt group . p < 0.05 in diabetic vs. corresponding nondiabetic group .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
for example , high expression of c - myc and nuclear localization of -catenin have been shown to mark the presence of ulcerogenic cells at the wound edges , associated with delayed healing ( 15 ) .
we show in wt mice that diabetic ischemic wounds had increased expression of c - myc ( 27.3 7.3 vs. 7.6 3.8 arbitrary units ; p = 0.03 ) and nuclear localization of -catenin ( 24.1 1.2 vs. 9.4 3.5 arbitrary units ; p = 0.02 ) at their edges compared with control . in p66shc mice , development of this nonhealing feature was inhibited , as diabetic ischemic and nonischemic wounds displayed significantly lower expression of c - myc and lower nuclear -catenin ( fig .
biomarkers of epithelial healing . in the epidermis , nuclear localization of -catenin and high expression of c - myc , as features on nonhealing wounds , were quantified by immunofluorescence in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc -knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
representative images are shown for control ( nondiabetic nonischemic ) and diabetic ischemic wt and ko mice .
n 3 mice for each group ; n 5 sections for tissue samples . *
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
fasting glucose levels were not significantly different between wt and p66shc diabetic mice ( mean sem 388 28 vs. 401 34 mg / dl ; p = 0.77 ) .
consistently , glycated hemoglobin was equally increased in wt and ko diabetic animals compared with nondiabetic animals ( 13.8 1.4% vs. 6.6 0.7% and 13.5 1.2% vs. 6.5 0.6% ) .
the skin concentration of nitrotyrosines , a marker of tissue oxidative stress , was significantly increased by 2.5-fold in wt diabetic versus nondiabetic mice , while it was not significantly different in diabetic versus nondiabetic p66shc mice .
similarly , skin pentosidine concentration , an indicator of advanced glycation , was significantly increased by about 75% in wt diabetic versus nondiabetic mice , while it was not significantly different in diabetic versus nondiabetic p66shc mice ( fig .
blood a1c and skin concentration of nitrotyrosines ( a marker of tissue oxidative stress ) and pentosidine ( a marker of advanced glycation ) were determined by high - performance chromatography in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice .
* p < 0.05 in dm vs. nd ; p < 0.05 in ko vs. wt .
it is well known that deletion of p66shc protects from oxidative damage ( 11 ) .
we first confirmed that p66shc dermal fibroblasts are resistant to hydrogen peroxide in vitro , while about 90% wt cells died ( supplemental fig .
we then developed an in vitro wound model assay using dermal fibroblasts isolated from wt and p66shc nondiabetic nonischemic mice .
p66shc cells migrated significantly faster than wt fibroblasts in normoxic 5 mmol / l glucose ( % of initial area at 12 h 5.3 2.2 vs. 22.1 5.9 ; p = 0.037 ) and when exposed to high glucose ( 25 mmol / l ) in both normoxia ( 12.8 3.2% vs. 36.1 11.0% ; p = 0.01 ) and hypoxia ( 30.9 4.1% vs. 47.9 2.2% ; p = 0.026 ) ( fig .
these data indicate that p66shc partly mediates the detrimental effects of hypoxia and high glucose on the migratory activity of dermal fibroblasts .
fibroblasts were isolated from dermis of wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) mice .
migration of dermal fibroblasts were assessed in vitro under normal ( 5 mmol / l ) or high ( 25
closure of the monolayer gap was monitored at 12 and 24 h. migration is expressed as percentage closure of the gap .
ischemia is a strong inhibitor of wound healing and a risk factor of wound development , especially in the setting of diabetes .
thus , we examined the ischemic responses in wt and p66shc diabetic and nondiabetic muscles .
in addition to reducing blood flow , ischemia induced inflammation , apoptosis , and necrosis in skeletal muscle , all of which were worsened by diabetes in wt animals : compared with nondiabetic wt mice , diabetic wt mice showed increased apoptotic ( 48.1 2.2 vs. 2.6 0.9 hpf ; p < 0.0001 ) and necrotic ( 7.0 1.0 vs. 3.9 0.7 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) cell death and inflammatory score ( 385 72 vs. 210 51 arbitrary units ; p = 0.023 ) .
postischemic capillary density and muscle perfusion were lowered by diabetes in wt mice ( capillaries 0.83 0.07 vs. 1.05 0.07 fiber ; p = 0.047 ; ischemic - to - nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.48 0.06 vs. 0.54 0.05 ; p = 0.05 ) . in p66shc
diabetic mice , necrosis , apoptosis , and inflammation did not increase after ischemia compared with nondiabetic p66shc mice .
interestingly , in nondiabetic animals , p66shc knockout reduced postischemic perfusion recovery compared with wt animals ( capillaries 0.81 0.03 vs. 1.05 0.07 fiber ; p = 0.05 ; ischemic - to - nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.30 0.03 vs. 0.54 0.05 ; p = 0.02 ) .
however , p66shc knockout improved perfusion recovery in diabetic compared with nondiabetic mice ( capillaries 1.15 0.11 vs. 0.81 0.03/fiber ; p = 0.04 ; ischemic / nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.40 0.05 vs. 0.30 0.03 ; p = 0.04 ) , suggesting that p66shc deletion counteracts the negative impact of diabetes on blood flow recovery after ischemia ( fig .
several morphological characteristics of skeletal muscle were evaluated in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice before and after hind limb ischemia .
apoptosis was quantified using the apoptag assay kit while the capillary network was stained and quantified using double immunofluorescence for basement membrane ( anti-laminin ) and endothelium ( anti - gsl i - isolectin b4 ) .
n 3 experiments for each condition ; n = 5 sections for each tissue sample .
* p < 0.05 in dm vs. nd ; p < 0.05 in ko vs. wt .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . ) to understand the differential angiogenic response to ischemia , we assessed circulating endothelial progenitor cells ( epcs ) , which normally increase after tissue ischemia in control but not in diabetic animals ( 16,17 ) . in both diabetic and nondiabetic p66shc mice , there was no epc mobilization after ischemia and baseline levels were not significantly different from wt mice ( not shown ) , suggesting that the effect of p66shc on ischemic response is not mediated by epcs .
p66shc protein expression was determined in lysates of skin samples from control and diabetic wt mice .
serine 36phosphorylated p66shc was increased in diabetic compared with control mice as well ( supplemental fig .
p66shc protein expression was also determined in dermal fibroblasts exposed to normoxia or hypoxia in 5 or 25 mmol / l glucose ; we found that high glucose increased p66shc expression , especially in the presence of hypoxia ( supplemental fig .
finally , p66shc gene expression was also significantly increased in the heart , kidney , and skeletal muscle of diabetic versus control wt mice ( supplemental fig .
wounds 4 mm in diameter were created on the dorsal surface of the right hind limb in wt and p66shc sv129 mice , in the presence of either 4-week stz - induced diabetes , 2-week hind limb ischemia , or both . in separated experiments , wounds and ischemia were induced in wt and p66shc c57bl/6 mice after 4 and 12 weeks of diabetes and in coeval nondiabetic c57bl/6 mice .
wound area was monitored with a digital camera till complete macroscopic closure . as shown in fig .
1 , with both the sv129 and c57bl/6 backgrounds , in nondiabetic nonischemic animals , wound healing was not different between wt and p66shc mice .
four - week diabetes delayed wound healing by about 70% in wt sv129 animals and 30% in p66shc animals , resulting in a significantly faster healing in p66shc than in wt diabetic nonischemic mice ( wound area at day 4 : 23.6 2.2 vs. 35.9 5.0% ; p = 0.028 ) .
hind limb ischemia delayed wound healing by about 185% in wt and 70% in p66shc mice , resulting in a faster healing in p66shc versus wt nondiabetic ischemic mice ( p < 0.05 from day 1 to 11 ) .
the coexistence of both diabetes and hind limb ischemia further exacerbated the differences between wt and p66shc mice .
similarly , p66shc deletion in c57bl/6 mice prevented the delay in wound healing induced by 4-week diabetes and hind limb ischemia . in ischemic and nonischemic c57bl/6 mice
12 weeks after diabetes induction , absence of p66shc was associated with significantly faster wound healing compared with the wt micce ( fig .
1 , right panels ) . with this diabetes duration and genetic background , induction of ischemia
was often followed by hind limb auto - amputation in wt mice ( 30 and 50% in nondiabetic and diabetic animals , respectively ) , while no amputation was seen in p66shc mice ( supplementary fig .
healing of a 4-mm diameter cutaneous wound was monitored using digital photography in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc - knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
wound size is reported as fraction of the initial wound area . on the right , healing time
is shown for wt and p66shc mice with or without diabetes and limb ischemia on the sv129 or the c57blc57bl/6 background at 4 or 12 weeks of diabetes duration .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
we show that diabetes , especially in combination with ischemia , impairs development and maturation of the granulation tissue in wt mice .
after 4 weeks of diabetes in sv129 mice , collagen - stained area ( 18.7 4.0 vs. 36.0 2.0% ; p = 0.002 ) and thickness of the granulation tissue ( 105.5 18.4 vs. 323.0 35.0 m ; p <
0.0001 ) were significantly reduced in diabetic ischemic wounds compared with control wounds ( fig .
capillary density was reduced ( nonischemic 91.2 12.7 vs. 159.6 11.2 hpf ; p = 0.002 ; ischemic 42.8 6.6 vs. 135.7 18.9 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) , while apoptosis was increased ( nonischemic 89.9 22.9 vs. 19.2 6.0 hpf ; p = 0.009 ) compared with nondiabetic wounds . in parallel , closure of the epithelial gap was delayed in diabetic wounds ( nonischemic 11.3 3.6 vs. 26.6 4.6% ; p = 0.015 ; ischemic 20.6 5.9% vs. 29.4 6.8% ; p = 0.33 ) .
all these alterations were reversed in p66shc mice : collagen area and tissue thickness were increased in diabetic wounds , while apoptosis was reduced and epithelial re - covering was significantly improved .
interestingly , capillary density within the granulation tissue was significantly lower in nondiabetic nonischemic p66shc mice compared withwt mice ( 50.8 3.1 vs. 159.6 11.2 hpf ; p < 0.0001 ) , but this difference was abrogated in the presence of either diabetes or ischemia , and was inverted in the presence of both diabetes and ischemia ( 92.8 18.7 vs. 42.8 6.6 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) .
results were confirmed in mice with the c57bl/6 genetic background after 1 month of diabetes ( supplementary fig .
collectively , these data using two different mouse strains strongly indicate that deletion of p66shc reverts the negative effect of diabetes on development and ischemia - induced vascularization of the granulation tissue .
several morphological characteristics of the granulation tissue were evaluated in wt and p66shc knockout ( ko ) , diabetic ( dm ) ( 4-week duration ) , and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
reepithelialization was quantified in histological sections by measuring the percentage of re - covered epithelial gap .
apoptosis was assessed with the apoptag kit in the granulation tissue and at wound edges , a critical site for active wound healing .
representative images are shown for control ( nondiabetic nonischemic ) and diabetic ischemic wt and ko mice .
n 3 mice for each group ; n 5 sections for tissue samples . *
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
for example , high expression of c - myc and nuclear localization of -catenin have been shown to mark the presence of ulcerogenic cells at the wound edges , associated with delayed healing ( 15 ) .
we show in wt mice that diabetic ischemic wounds had increased expression of c - myc ( 27.3 7.3 vs. 7.6 3.8 arbitrary units ; p = 0.03 ) and nuclear localization of -catenin ( 24.1 1.2 vs. 9.4 3.5 arbitrary units ; p = 0.02 ) at their edges compared with control . in p66shc mice , development of this nonhealing feature was inhibited , as diabetic ischemic and nonischemic wounds displayed significantly lower expression of c - myc and lower nuclear -catenin ( fig .
biomarkers of epithelial healing . in the epidermis , nuclear localization of -catenin and high expression of c - myc , as features on nonhealing wounds , were quantified by immunofluorescence in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc -knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice with or without hind limb ischemia .
representative images are shown for control ( nondiabetic nonischemic ) and diabetic ischemic wt and ko mice .
n 3 mice for each group ; n 5 sections for tissue samples . *
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
fasting glucose levels were not significantly different between wt and p66shc diabetic mice ( mean sem 388 28 vs. 401 34 mg / dl ; p = 0.77 ) . consistently , glycated hemoglobin was equally increased in wt and ko diabetic animals compared with nondiabetic animals ( 13.8 1.4% vs. 6.6 0.7% and 13.5 1.2% vs. 6.5 0.6% ) .
the skin concentration of nitrotyrosines , a marker of tissue oxidative stress , was significantly increased by 2.5-fold in wt diabetic versus nondiabetic mice , while it was not significantly different in diabetic versus nondiabetic p66shc mice .
similarly , skin pentosidine concentration , an indicator of advanced glycation , was significantly increased by about 75% in wt diabetic versus nondiabetic mice , while it was not significantly different in diabetic versus nondiabetic p66shc mice ( fig .
blood a1c and skin concentration of nitrotyrosines ( a marker of tissue oxidative stress ) and pentosidine ( a marker of advanced glycation ) were determined by high - performance chromatography in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice .
* p < 0.05 in dm vs. nd ; p < 0.05 in ko vs. wt .
it is well known that deletion of p66shc protects from oxidative damage ( 11 ) .
we first confirmed that p66shc dermal fibroblasts are resistant to hydrogen peroxide in vitro , while about 90% wt cells died ( supplemental fig .
we then developed an in vitro wound model assay using dermal fibroblasts isolated from wt and p66shc nondiabetic nonischemic mice .
p66shc cells migrated significantly faster than wt fibroblasts in normoxic 5 mmol / l glucose ( % of initial area at 12 h 5.3 2.2 vs. 22.1 5.9 ; p = 0.037 ) and when exposed to high glucose ( 25 mmol / l ) in both normoxia ( 12.8 3.2% vs. 36.1 11.0% ; p = 0.01 ) and hypoxia ( 30.9 4.1% vs. 47.9 2.2% ; p = 0.026 ) ( fig .
these data indicate that p66shc partly mediates the detrimental effects of hypoxia and high glucose on the migratory activity of dermal fibroblasts .
fibroblasts were isolated from dermis of wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) mice .
migration of dermal fibroblasts were assessed in vitro under normal ( 5 mmol / l ) or high ( 25 mmol / l ) glucose in normoxia or hypoxia .
closure of the monolayer gap was monitored at 12 and 24 h. migration is expressed as percentage closure of the gap .
ischemia is a strong inhibitor of wound healing and a risk factor of wound development , especially in the setting of diabetes .
thus , we examined the ischemic responses in wt and p66shc diabetic and nondiabetic muscles .
in addition to reducing blood flow , ischemia induced inflammation , apoptosis , and necrosis in skeletal muscle , all of which were worsened by diabetes in wt animals : compared with nondiabetic wt mice , diabetic wt mice showed increased apoptotic ( 48.1 2.2 vs. 2.6 0.9 hpf ; p < 0.0001 ) and necrotic ( 7.0 1.0 vs. 3.9 0.7 hpf ; p = 0.002 ) cell death and inflammatory score ( 385 72 vs. 210 51 arbitrary units ; p = 0.023 ) .
postischemic capillary density and muscle perfusion were lowered by diabetes in wt mice ( capillaries 0.83 0.07 vs. 1.05 0.07 fiber ; p = 0.047 ; ischemic - to - nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.48 0.06 vs. 0.54 0.05 ; p = 0.05 ) . in p66shc
diabetic mice , necrosis , apoptosis , and inflammation did not increase after ischemia compared with nondiabetic p66shc mice .
interestingly , in nondiabetic animals , p66shc knockout reduced postischemic perfusion recovery compared with wt animals ( capillaries 0.81 0.03 vs. 1.05 0.07 fiber ; p = 0.05 ; ischemic - to - nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.30 0.03 vs. 0.54 0.05 ; p = 0.02 ) .
however , p66shc knockout improved perfusion recovery in diabetic compared with nondiabetic mice ( capillaries 1.15 0.11 vs. 0.81 0.03/fiber ; p = 0.04 ; ischemic / nonischemic perfusion ratio 0.40 0.05 vs. 0.30 0.03 ; p = 0.04 ) , suggesting that p66shc deletion counteracts the negative impact of diabetes on blood flow recovery after ischemia ( fig .
several morphological characteristics of skeletal muscle were evaluated in wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) diabetic ( dm ) and nondiabetic ( nd ) mice before and after hind limb ischemia .
apoptosis was quantified using the apoptag assay kit while the capillary network was stained and quantified using double immunofluorescence for basement membrane ( anti-laminin ) and endothelium ( anti - gsl i - isolectin b4 ) .
n 3 experiments for each condition ; n = 5 sections for each tissue sample .
* p < 0.05 in dm vs. nd ; p < 0.05 in ko vs. wt .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . ) to understand the differential angiogenic response to ischemia , we assessed circulating endothelial progenitor cells ( epcs ) , which normally increase after tissue ischemia in control but not in diabetic animals ( 16,17 ) . in both diabetic and nondiabetic p66shc mice , there was no epc mobilization after ischemia and baseline levels were not significantly different from wt mice ( not shown ) , suggesting that the effect of p66shc on ischemic response is not mediated by epcs .
we show for the first time that deletion of the life span determinant redox enzyme p66shc accelerates healing of diabetic and ischemic wounds , through induction of a histologic pattern consistent with reduced tissue damage , enhanced tissue repair , and modulation of the ischemic response .
herein , we also confirm our previous observation that diabetes increases p66shc gene expression in humans ( 10 ) , by showing that diabetes and high glucose increase p66shc expression and activation in a variety of tissues including skin and skeletal muscle .
these data collectively indicate that p66shc is involved in the negative effects of diabetes and ischemia on wound healing .
it is attributable to a number of cellular and molecular mechanisms , most of which are stimulated by oxidative stress ( 7 ) .
p66shc generates h2o2 , mediates proapoptotic signals , and is linked to mitochondrial and nonmitochondrial oxidative stress ( 9,18 ) . in compliance with the oxidative theory of aging , deletion of p66shc prolongs life span by about 30% in mice ( 19 ) .
it is also involved in diseases prominently mediated by oxidative stress , including diabetes complications ( 20 ) .
p66shc mice are protected against experimental diabetic glomerulopathy ( 12 ) , diabetic cardiomyopathy ( 14 ) , and hyperglycemia - induced endothelial dysfunction ( 13 ) , indicating that p66shc is part of the signal transduction pathway of hyperglycemic damage .
typical features of nonhealing diabetic wounds include impaired deposition of the granulation tissue , which is thinner and devoid of vascular support ( 21 ) .
this is associated with defective migration of connective tissue cells within the wound area , delayed apposition of wound edges , and incomplete reendothelialization ( 22 ) . in the present study
, we document all these morphological aspects of delayed wound healing in a mouse model of stz - induced diabetes .
some of these features , such as defect of granulation tissue and capillary network , were worsened by the simultaneous presence of diabetes and limb ischemia .
it has been previously shown in chronic nonhealing lesions that keratinocytes at wound edges have canonical wnt - induced -catenin activation ; this inhibits keratinocyte migration by activating c - myc , blocking the effects of epidermal growth factor , and causing cytoskeletal rearrangement ( 15 ) .
we found that the -catenin/ c - myc pathway was overactivated in diabetic ischemic wounds , consistently with a reduced reendothelialization and wound closure .
the most important finding of the present study is that p66shc mice showed significantly improved healing of diabetic wounds , in the presence or absence of ischemia .
this was confirmed at 1 and 3 months of diabetes duration and in both outbred sv129 and inbred c57bl/6 mice . as shown by nitrotyrosine and pentosidine levels ,
in addition , p66shc mice had reduced wound edge cell apoptosis and improved migration of connective tissue cells in high glucose with or without hypoxia . as a result
, histologic aspects of healing were improved in diabetic wounds and ischemic diabetic wounds of p66shc mice compared with wt mice .
furthermore , activation of the -catenin / c - myc pathway , which prevents epithelial healing , was strongly inhibited by p66shc deletion in diabetic wounds and ischemic diabetic wounds .
this suggests that oxidative stress and p66shc signaling are involved in the deranged epithelial cell differentiation and migration that mark nonhealing wounds in diabetes .
however , the exact biochemical pathway that links p66shc , oxidative stress , and -catenin/ c - myc remains to be defined .
in addition to these local and biochemical events , diabetes delays wound healing because it is often complicated by ischemia ( 23 ) .
diabetic macroangiopathy is aggressive and often not susceptible to revascularization ( 24 ) , resulting in a steady shortage of oxygen and nutrients to the tissue .
moreover , the local angiogenic response to ischemia is impaired in diabetes ( 25 ) .
herein , we confirm in wt mice that capillary network of diabetic ischemic wounds is significantly reduced compared with nondiabetic wounds . in hind limb muscles ,
ischemia caused more severe damage and inflammation in diabetic than in nondiabetic mice , which was accompanied by a defective postischemic recovery of vascular network and perfusion .
we found that diabetes induced p66shc expression in skeletal muscle , and the excess muscle ischemic damage associated with diabetes was strongly inhibited by p66shc deletion . while capillary density and perfusion were lower in p66shc mice at baseline , the postischemic recovery of skeletal muscle vascularization
similarly , the vascular support of granulation tissue in diabetic ischemic wounds was doubled by p66shc deletion , even if sv129 and c57bl/6 mice differed slightly in the regulation of granulation tissue vascularity . with longer diabetes duration ( 12 weeks ) on the c57bl/6 background , which is more susceptible to ischemic damage
, we also found that p66shc mice are completely protected from amputation , which occurred in 3050% of wt mice .
these data indicate that blocking p66shc prevents the diabetes - related inhibition of postischemic angiogenesis and support a role for p66shc in regulating angiogenesis and mediating the negative effects of diabetes on ischemic responses .
despite the fact that p66shc has been shown to reverse the defect of diabetic epcs in vitro ( 26 ) , we found no evidence that this is responsible for the regulation of angiogenesis by p66shc in vivo , likely because prevention of the ischemic damage in p66shc mice reduced the signal for epc mobilization .
the regulation of local angiogenic signals by p66shc and oxidative stress deserves further investigation . in conclusion ,
we show data supporting that p66shc is part of the signaling network that delays wound healing in diabetes . genetic deletion of p66shc accelerated diabetic wound healing by reducing advanced glycation , oxidative stress , and tissue damage ; promoting development and vascularization of the granulation tissue ; inhibiting the antihealing -catenin / c - myc epithelial pathway ; and modulating vascular response to ischemia .
p66shc knockout also significantly protected from diabetes - related ischemic damage in limb muscles , a known factor contributing to diabetic foot disease ( fig .
although the exact biochemical pathways are not yet fully elucidated , p66shc is revealed as a potential therapeutic target against this disabling diabetic complication . wound healing .
the many differences in wound healing features between wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) mice are shown .
the figure identifies single features , and the arrows in the tables indicate changes in diabetic compared with nondiabetic mice .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . )
in conclusion , we show data supporting that p66shc is part of the signaling network that delays wound healing in diabetes . genetic deletion of p66shc accelerated diabetic wound healing by reducing advanced glycation , oxidative stress , and tissue damage ; promoting development and vascularization of the granulation tissue ; inhibiting the antihealing -catenin / c - myc epithelial pathway ; and modulating vascular response to ischemia .
p66shc knockout also significantly protected from diabetes - related ischemic damage in limb muscles , a known factor contributing to diabetic foot disease ( fig .
although the exact biochemical pathways are not yet fully elucidated , p66shc is revealed as a potential therapeutic target against this disabling diabetic complication . wound healing .
the many differences in wound healing features between wild - type ( wt ) and p66shc knockout ( ko ) mice are shown .
the figure identifies single features , and the arrows in the tables indicate changes in diabetic compared with nondiabetic mice .
( a high - quality digital representation of this figure is available in the online issue . ) | pubmed |
since the 1960s , it has been proposed that periodontal health is associated with pregnancy [ 1 , 2 ] .
it is widely accepted that preexisting gingivitis or periodontitis in women would be worsening dramatically during pregnancy .
have summarized that the prevalence of gingivitis during pregnancy ranged widely from 35 to 100% .
though the exact mechanisms of exacerbating gingival inflammation during pregnancy have not yet been completely elucidated , it was supposed in the 1970s that the increase in serum estrogen and progesterone had a dramatic effect on the periodontium throughout pregnancy , which was correlated with clinical signs [ 4 , 5 ]
. however , some studies demonstrated no obvious gingival changes during pregnancy compared with nonpregnant controls [ 6 , 7 ] .
investigators have reported that increased female sex hormones may modulate the function of immune cells [ 8 , 9 ] .
immunological changes during pregnancy have been considered to be , at least in part , responsible for periodontal conditions .
interleukin- ( il- ) 1 and tumor necrosis factor- ( tnf- ) regulate the initial stages of inflammation by increasing the recruitment of neutrophils and monocytic phagocyte .
the effects of hormones on these cytokines in periodontium have been studied extensively in vitro .
reported that estradiol at 0.04 ng / ml or more inhibited il-1 secretion , and progesterone at 0.1 ng / ml or more and 0.02 ng / ml or more , respectively , suppressed the production of il-1 and il-1 induced by lipopolysaccharides ( lps ) in human monocytes , which indicates that high levels of estradiol and progesterone inhibited il-1 secretion in human peripheral monocytes stimulated by lps . in vitro study showed that sex hormones at physiological concentrations ( estradiol of 10 to 10 m ) had an inhibitory effect on the secretion of il-1 and tnf- by human periodontal ligament cells treated with e. coli lps .
found that tnf- level in blood neutrophils decreased when estrogen and progesterone concentration were elevated .
these in vitro studies mentioned above focused on the effect of sexual hormones on cytokines under the challenge of bacteria . as for human studies ,
many researchers investigated the change of inflammatory cytokines in pregnant women with gingivitis or periodontitis .
a significant impact of periodontal therapy such as scaling and planning on the levels of il-1 in gingival crevicular fluid was observed in pregnant women with periodontitis [ 16 , 17 ] .
also , it is well known that gingival inflammation associated with pregnancy has been initiated by dental plaque and exacerbated by endogenous steroid hormones .
these studies did not exclude the effects of previously existing periodontal inflammation and dental plaque .
it has been already reported that good oral hygiene in pregnancy was able to partially neutralize hormonal effect . in early reports
, some authors stated that healthy gingiva was not affected by pregnancy and the incidence of gingivitis was only 0.03% if a plaque - free state was maintained [ 4 , 20 ] .
meanwhile , the research evaluating the change of periodontal status and local inflammatory responses in periodontally healthy women during pregnant is scarce .
thus , in this study , we collected women with healthy periodontium and excellent oral hygiene , to evaluate the effect of hormonal changes occurring during pregnancy on gingival inflammation and gcf levels of il-1 and tnf-.
ethical approval was obtained from the research and ethics committee of shenzhen maternity and child healthcare hospital ( china , approval number : 19 ) in full accordance with the world medical association declaration of helsinki ( version 2002 ) . with informed consent ,
the volunteers with excellent oral hygiene , periodontal health , and no smoking were recruited from june 2010 to june 2012 in shenzhen maternity and child healthcare hospital .
exclusion criteria were systemic or topical antimicrobial / anti - inflammatory therapy within the previous 3 months , chronic systemic disease ( e.g. , diabetes , hypertension , epilepsy , cardiac disease , lung disease , and renal disease ) , and positive test for human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) , multifetal gestation . during the observation period ,
subjects who had average pi scores > 1 were excluded from the study . in pregnant group ( pr group ) , thirty pregnant women ( aged 25 to 35 ) with gestational age at 1214 weeks were recruited .
gestational age was determined according to information of sequential physical exams , data from menstrual cycles , and ultrasound test . in nonpregnant control group
( n - pr group ) , 20 volunteers were selected in the same dental department . there was no difference in social - economical situation between two groups ( table 1 ) .
the women in pr group were examined three times during pregnancy ( pr i : 1214 weeks ; pr ii : 2325 weeks ; and pr iii : 3336 weeks ( gestational age ) ) .
the women in n - pr group were examined twice ( n - pr i and n - pr ii ) around the luteal period of the menstrual cycle , once per subsequent month . at each examination ,
periodontal examination was performed by the same periodontists , using a manual periodontal probe ( kangqiao , shanghai , china ) .
the following clinical parameters were recorded at three sites ( mesiobuccal , buccal , and distobuccal ) of each tooth , excluding the third molar : plaque index ( pli ) : 0 = an absence of plaque on the clinical crown , 1 = the presence of soft deposits covering gingival margin , 2 = the presence of soft deposits covering between one - third and two - thirds of the crown , and 3 = the presence of soft deposits covering more than two - thirds of the crown ; gingival index ( gi ) : 0 = normal gingival , 1 = mild inflammation , 2 = moderate inflammation , and 3 = severe inflammation ; bleeding index ( bi ) : 0 = no bleeding , 1 = the presence of bleeding as a single point , 2 = the presence of bleeding as a thin line , and 3 = the presence of profuse bleeding as an immediate flow ; probing pocket depth ( ppd ) : defined as the distance from the free gingival margin to the bottom of the sulcus ; clinical attachment level ( cal ) : defined as the distance from the cemento - enamel junction to the bottom of the sulcus . at each visit ,
gcf samples were collected from the mesiobuccal sites of upper premolars ( 14 , 15 , 24 , and 25 ) before clinical measurements , using waterman iii filter - paper ( whatman international ltd . , maidstone , england ) ( four samples per patient and per visit ) . prior to collecting gcf , the sampling sites were gently air - dried .
the strip was inserted into gingival sulcus until slight resistance was felt and left there for 30 seconds .
the samples contaminated with blood were discarded and a substituted gcf sample was taken from the mesiobuccal sulcus of the adjacent upper canine ( 13 or 23 ) .
the strips of each subject were immediately placed into two sterilized eppendorf tubes and kept at 70c .
5 ml of blood was drawn from every subject into a free - anticoagulant vacuum tube .
serum was obtained after immediate centrifugation at 3000 g for 5 min and stored at 70c until further evaluation .
gcf samples were extracted from the paper strips by eluting with 200 l of phosphate - buffered saline and 2 l of phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride ( 20 mm ) and incubated for 30 min at 4c .
the concentrations of il-1 and tnf- level were determined by using commercially enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay ( elisa ) kits ( r&d , mn , usa ) according to the protocol . after serum samples thawed at room temperature and centrifuged at 4000 g for 5 min , supernatants were extracted for measurement of estradiol and progesterone by means of chemiluminescence method ( beckman coulter inc .
correlations among the clinical parameters , gcf cytokines , and serum hormones were evaluated with pearson 's test .
at the first visit , all subjects had 2832 teeth and the periodontal examination was in table 2 , which showed that there were no differences in pli , ppd , gi , bi , and cal ( cal = 0 ) . during the pregnancy , pli
did not change compared to n - pr group ( f = 0.64 , p = 0.6373 ) , which indicated that all subjects kept good hygiene ( table 3 ) . although ppd had the increasing tendency , the difference was not significant ( f = 2.40 , p = 0.0536 ) ( table 3 ) .
gi and bi increased significantly ( f = 19.76 , p < 0.05 ; f = 19.98 , p <
0.001 ) during pregnancy , which was higher than in the n - pr group ( table 3 ) .
no changes in cal were detected during the follow - ups ( cal = 0 ) .
table 4 showed the concentrations of il-1 and tnf- in the pr group and the n - pr group . compared with the n - pr group
, there were no significant changes in gcf tnf- level in pr group ( f = 0.45 , p = 0.7726 ) ; however , gcf il-1 level increased obviously ( f = 7.41 , p < 0.0001 ) . during pregnancy , the gcf il-1 and tnf- levels in three trimesters
serum estradiol and progesterone concentrations in the pr group were higher than in the n - pr group .
furthermore , serum estradiol and progesterone levels increased gradually during pregnancy ( f = 73.87 , p < 0.0001 ; f = 64.23 , p < 0.0001 ) ( table 5 ) . in the pr group
, positive correlation was found between gingival inflammation ( gi and bi ) and serum estradiol level during pregnancy ( r = 0.695 , p < 0.0001 ; r = 0.683 , p < 0.0001 ) , while no obvious correlation was found between ppd and serum estradiol level ( r = 0.23 , p = 0.222 ) .
positive correlation was found between gingival inflammation ( gi and bi ) and serum progesterone level during pregnancy ( r = 0.694 , p < 0.0001 ; r = 0.683 , p < 0.0001 ) , while no obvious correlation was found between ppd and serum progesterone level ( r = 0.23 , p = 0.222 ) ( table 5 ) .
because no changes were observed in gcf il-1 and tnf- level during pregnancy , they could not be correlated with the increase in gingival inflammation or in serum hormones .
this study describes the changes in periodontal parameters and gcf inflammatory cytokines during pregnancy in periodontally healthy women and the correlation among serum hormonal levels , periodontal parameters , and inflammatory cytokines .
as some investigations showed , repetition and reinforcement of oral hygiene instructions were critical in improving oral hygiene and were able to reduce clinical signs of gingivitis in pregnant women and other nonpregnant subjects [ 24 , 25 ] . in this study , participants persisted in plaque control and kept low plaque index , which eliminated the effects of bacteria on periodontal inflammation as much as possible . from our data , even though the pli in pregnancy women was similar to in nonpregnancy women , pregnant women had elevated gingival inflammation , which further confirmed the hypothesis that pregnancy may be associated with inflammatory changes in gingival tissues . also , our data were consistent with the previous researches [ 21 , 22 ]
. in these two researches , gingival inflammation during pregnancy was examined , in which healthy periodontium and good oral hygiene were included in the subject criteria .
. found that gi increased , despite of fairly low pl values , and maintained high levels in the third trimester in 48 pregnant spanish women .
however , the data about ppd was not reported . in the other longitudinal study , gingival inflammation in 30
periodontally healthy pregnant women with good oral hygiene in finland was evaluated by bleeding on probing values and proportion of periodontal pockets ( 4 mm ) which increased without relation to plaque between the first and second trimesters . the data about ppd were not consistent with our data . in this present study ,
ppd showed an increasing tendency in these three trimesters ; however , there was no significant difference among three stages .
meanwhile , although in some previous cross - sectional and longitudinal studies on subjects with gingivitis and periodontitis , ppd significantly increased during pregnancy [ 14 ] , it was explained that the ppd change was induced by bacteria and increased hormones simultaneously .
pregnant women showed significantly increased gingival inflammation ( gi , bi ) , which reached high levels in the third trimester with little change in attachment level , although plaque scores were nearly unchanged and kept fairly low ( pli < 1 ) .
the levels of gi and bi in early pregnancy were already higher than that of nonpregnant women .
however , gingival pockets ( > 3 mm ) and gi values ( > 2 ) were not found in the study , indicating that pregnancy has limited influence on gingival inflammation , when good plaque control was maintained .
additionally , no change in cal was detected during the follow - ups , which was in agreement with most previous reports [ 3 , 26 ] .
miyazaki et al . suggested that the increase of periodontal pocket during pregnancy is caused by enlargement of gingival tissue rather than periodontal destruction , which was confirmed in our study .
it could be speculated that a chronic and lasting inflammatory state of the gingiva is essential to cause attachment loss .
since the localization of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor has been reported in the human periodontium , preshaw considered that the obvious increase in circulating levels of estrogen and progesterone was supposed to have a dramatic effect on the periodontium throughout pregnancy and be correlated with clinical phenomenon . in our results ,
serum estradiol and progesterone levels increased greatly during the pregnancy as expected and were much higher than those of nonpregnant group .
positive correlation was found between the increased inflammation in gingiva and the increase in serum estradiol and progesterone levels during pregnancy .
sexual hormones levels could be the factors that are responsible for the increase of gingival inflammation .
vogt et al . mentioned that sexual hormones would influence the inflammatory status of healthy gingiva in a limited degree when good plaque control was maintained , which is consistent with our study . gi and bi ,
not ppd , changed significantly during pregnancy , which might be explained by the impact of sexual hormones on vascular permeability .
however , in the aforementioned study from spain , no significant correlation was found between gi increase and salivary hormone levels .
it is possible that salivary hormone levels are different from serum hormone levels , resulting in different results .
one longitudinal study , on 18 premenopausal women , observed that the gcf levels of il-1 and tnf- remained stable between ovulation and progesterone peak .
thus , in our study , the nonpregnant women during the luteal period of the menstrual cycle according to grsoy et al
, there were no remarkable differences in the gcf il-1 levels among three trimesters in pregnant women , although their concentrations were significantly higher than found in nonpregnant women , which is in agreement with the results of figuero et al . .
at the first visit , gi and bi had no significant difference between n - pr and pr group ; however , gcf il-1 level had increased in pr group .
afterward , although gcf il-1 level kept stable during pregnancy , its level was higher than in n - pr group .
as boronat - catal et al . mentioned that il-1 in gcf could be used as a reliable marker of the degree of inflammation in gingivitis , we considered that increased il-1 was involved in the gingival inflammation in pregnant women . under the strict control of dental plaque during the observation period ,
an elevated level of gcf il-1 in the first trimester suggested that the early pregnancy had already affected gcf il-1. however , whether the increase of gcf il-1 was induced by sex hormone was unknown .
shu et al . demonstrated that sex hormones at physiological concentrations ( estradiol of 10 to 10 m ) had an inhibitory effect on the secretion of il-1 by human periodontal ligament ( hpdl ) cell .
meanwhile , from some studies , estrogen had no effect on il-1 or negatively regulated its secretion [ 30 , 31 ] .
first , immunosuppression , to some extents , occurs in pregnancy and suppresses the further increase in il-1 level .
second , high levels of estradiol and progesterone inhibited further il-1 secretion , which is consistent with previous research [ 13 , 14 ] .
tnf- stimulates collagenase production and bone resorption and impairs the repair capacity of the periodontium . in samples from nonpregnant women ,
gcf tnf- level is more associated with alveolar bone resorption and attachment loss . in our study ,
gcf tnf- level did not change during pregnancy , which could explain the reason that no attachment loss occurred .
it is possible that elevating estrogen and progesterone inhibited tnf- secretion , which was described in blood neutrophils .
sexual hormones estradiol and progesterone would influence the inflammatory status of gingiva even under good oral hygiene control during pregnancy , independent of gcf levels of il-1 and tnf-. | pubmed |
Is spacetime an actual tangible "fabric of the universe", or a mathematical construct? [duplicate]
**This question already has answers here**:
[What is spacetime? [duplicate]](/questions/510685/what-is-spacetime)
(7 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
There's a compelling theory put forth (or at least reiterated) I believe by Feynman(?) (Edit: Sorry it was Penrose) , that, assuming all subatomic particles eventually decay, the resulting empty universe becomes a singularity and a big bang happens again, birthing a new universe.
Surely spacetime isn't changing size in such a case - lest the planck length change with it.
It seems, then, that in the absence of anything to measure it, spacetime just doesn't really exist and is just a mathematical construct simplifying the description of how forces and matter interact based on whatever laws govern physics. This might seem like semantics, but when it comes to discussing space being shaped to connect two different "regions" as with wormholes the distinction seems to matter.
So is spacetime a real tangible fabric of the universe or is it more of a description of a range of interactions and behaviors?
Edit: I'm not dissenting spacetime's success at describing reality. But rather, it seems to me that in reality, the way particles interact is based on individual and entangled wave functions and the way those particles interact with all of the fundamental forces. So then isn't spacetime just a simplified construct? Einstein's equations predict wormholes but I'm curious if they just show up as a mathematical quirk because of the equations treat spacetime as a 3+1D fabric, when it seems like perhaps it's more complicated than that.
Or maybe it's not. Maybe spacetime really is a fabric filled with dark energy that exists even in a true vacuum. Seems like a valid question to me, despite the comments it's getting.
I'll address the question in the title.
All of physics consists of mathematical descriptions, written down by humans, of natural phenomena that we observe and study in the interests of understanding those phenomena well enough to enable predictions to be made. So our *description* of spacetime is a *mathematical construct* created by humans to formalize and codify the behavior of the real world, and enable accurate predictions to be made about the real world via calculation.
But at the deepest levels, the real world behaves exactly as if spacetime were an integral part of that reality; furthermore, we also know that if it *wasn't*, there would be easily-observed consequences which have been assiduously sought after for over a hundred years (for which the finder's reward would be a Nobel Prize)- and never seen.
This suggests quite strongly that the functioning of the real world with respect to for example things like 4-dimensional spacetime really is governed by things which admit precise mathematical description i.e., the story of the universe is actually written in the language of mathematics- whether or not there happen to be any sufficiently smart & clever humans hanging around to figure out and write down the equations.
Einstein told us that an empty globally developing spacetime can't exist. For a globally developing spacetime to exist there has to be matter inside it. That is not to say that an empty spacetime that only locally develops (while the global structure stays the same) **can't** exist. You can read this [here](https://doi.org/10.12942/lrr-2014-1). It could be the Feynman universe you talk about, before a new big bang. But you can't touch it... You can't measure the time there neither can you make distance measurements, because of the simple fact that there are no clocks and distance measurement devices. Notice that for time to exist in such a structure there is no need for the irreversible processes we encounter in thermodynamics. That is, there isn't a global direction of time, only a local one. To deny that spacetime exists, independently of human beings, would be to deny that **we** exist, though there are people who see the material universe as a mere chimera.
To say what spacetime (or the matter inside it) is **an Sich**, who knows? We can't know. It's something very mysterious though. Luckily! It makes us feel, love, fight and think.
| stackexchange/physics |
A REFRESHING MEDLEY OF COCOA AND CITRUS!
Cocoa Cravings Orange Drinking Chocolate is a medley of refreshing citrus and will have you craving for more. Infused with organic cocoa powder, vegan chocolate, raspberry powder, orange peel powder, lemon peel powder and several other delicious citrus powders Orange Drinking Chocolate provides a unique flavor experience you'll learn to love.
.Orange peel powder alone has a super high concentration of calcium and vitamin C. Our special ayurvedic spice blend makes this delectable treat great for anyone looking for amazing flavor, no sugar, and organic cocoa everyone will love.
Est. Ship Wt.: 1 lb. | slim_pajama |
RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR
Screenplay By
Milorad Krstić
and
Radmila Roczkov OPEN ON: TITLE
"In my dream, I was two cats and I was playing with each
other."
(Frigyes Karinthy )
0010. INT. - NIGHTMARE - RAILCAR - EVENING/NIGHT
RUBEN BRANDT (45) is alone in the railcar, sitting by the
window, reading a book. The monotonous clatter of the train
is lulling him to sleep. He gets up and heads to the toilet
through the empty hallway. The train goes into a tunnel. The
hallway is dark. He goes in to the bathroom. He washes his
hands while whistling.
Suddenly, a little boy appears in the background. The boy
wears breeches and a shirt, stands in the bathtub and stares
Ruben in the face.
Ruben wakes up in the railcar. Another boy (FRANK DUVENECK’S
WHISTLING BOY, 8), holding a snail, is sitting in front of
him, stares straight into his eyes while whistling.
A window abruptly falls open and a strong gust of wind slaps
Ruben in the face. Ruben is horrified; a little girl
(VELÁZQUEZ’S INFANTA MARGARITA, 7), is hanging outside the
railcar.
RUBEN BRANDT
Hey!
Her fingers can barely grasp the metal frame of the open
window. She screams for help.
INFANTA MARGARITA
(shouts)
Help me! Help me!
The moment Ruben leaps over and catches the girl by her thin
wrist she bites hard on Ruben's bare hand.
Ruben screams with pain, trying to pull his hand out of the
girl's mouth, but the girl is much stronger and she slowly
pulls him out of the train.
Ruben is struggling to no avail. He desperately turns his
head towards the boy, seeking help. The boy watches
indifferently and keeps whistling his tune.
Only Ruben's feet remain in the railcar; but to his horror,
he notices the approaching lights of a locomotive on the
opposite track. Ruben screams.
0020. INT./EXT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S ROOM. POLYART CLINIC.
DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - NIGHTRuben is breathing heavily as he wakes up on the couch upside
down, one foot stuck in the headboard. The wall above the bed
holds framed honorary diplomas from renowned psychiatric
conferences. He picks up a voice recorder.
RUBEN BRANDT
My nightmares are getting stronger
and stronger. Characters from
famous paintings continue to attack
me. This time, it was Velázquez’s
Infanta Margarita and Frank
Duveneck’s Whistling Boy. I haven’t
had a good night’s sleep in three
weeks now.
(takes a deep breath)
Meanwhile, in the hall of the Polyart Clinic, the NIGHT GUARD
(38) watches the news.
WEATHER FORECAST
... 20 degrees and highs near 27.
Mostly sunny and dry for the
weekend. Lowest relative humidity,
25 percent.
BREAKING NEWS I.
Breaking News! Approximately 30
minutes ago Paris Police announced
that the priceless fan owned by
Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra was
stolen from the Louvre Museum.
Witnesses reported that a young
woman in black broke the glass case
containing the fan and then escaped
by doing a back flip out of the
window and speeding off in a red
Mercedes in the direction of the
Place de la Concorde .
0030. EXT./INT. - STREETS AND HOUSES OF PARIS. FRANCE -
EVENING
Two cars are chasing each other through the streets of Paris.
Behind the wheel of the first car is MIMI (28), the second is
driven by MIKE KOWALSKI (40). Their cars drive in parallel,
close to each other. After taking a sharp turn, their cars
slightly bump into each other.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Bonjour, Madame!
MIMI
Mademoiselle!2.MIKE KOWALSKI
Well, Mademoiselle... you didn’t
come to Paris to steal that fan,
did you?
MIMI
Non, détective Kowalski. I just
wanted to give you something to do.
Mimi puts the car into gear and rushes away. Kowalski drives
after her. The car chase continues. Their way is littered
with damaged cars, busted up shop windows, scattered tables,
frightened tourists.
The cars almost hit a CONSIERGE (65), who is feeding a cat.
CONSIERGE
Cicicicicici !
At a restaurant, a couple, GEORGE (60) AND MARGARET (55) are
having a romantic dinner.
GEORGE
Oh, Margaret, this city is just so
romantic!
MARGARET
Oh, George!
GEORGE
I wish we could stay in Paris
forever.
MARGARET
How about another bottle of wine?
GEORGE
(In French)
Garcon, s’ilvousplait!
(Waiter, please!)
Mimi and Kowalski crash into the restaurant, but the couple
doesn’t pay attention. The cars continue to chase each other.
They enter a narrow street, where Mimi pushes Kowalski’s car
on the wall. Kowalski is struggling to keep the car in the
right direction.
MIMI
(in a sarcastic tone)
Impressive!
A YOUNG MOTHER (25) is crossing the road with a crying baby.
YOUNG MOTHER
(to the baby in the
carriage)
Bidibidibidi !
They almost hit the mother with the baby in the carriage.3.A YOUNG MAN (19) stands beside a small truck with his phone
in hand.
YOUNG MAN
Mom, I’m old enough, I can take
care of myself...
Mimi's car almost hits him but in the last moment he is
pushed away.
0035. EXT./INT. - STREETS AND HOUSES OF PARIS. FRANCE -
EVENING - CONTINUOUS
After a wild crash, they fall into a dance bar and continue
their race on foot through the streets and rooftops of Paris.
Mimi nearly makes her escape with an elaborate somersault
from one rooftop to another, but the chase continues until
they end up on a boat over the Seine, where Kowalski entraps
Mimi with an anchor rope.
Mimi hangs upside down while Kowalski takes out a pair of
handcuffs.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Mademoiselle... you were sent to
steal the Regent Diamond!
MIMI
Not bad for a Frenchman.
MIKE KOWALSKI
I'm not French.
MIMI
(in French)
Visiblement .
(Obviously.)
MIKE KOWALSKI
Why the fan?
MIMI
Because beauty shouldn’t be locked
away.
Mimi whips out Cleopatra’s fan.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Some beauties must be locked away.
MIMI
Well, then choose wisely, mon
chéri!
She spreads the fan open and all of a sudden tosses it into
the river.4.MIKE KOWALSKI
No, no, no, no, no....!
(beat)
Don’t!
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Damn!
Kowalski jumps over the railing straight into the river to
save the fan.
0040. EXT. - HOT AIR BALLOON. HIGH UP IN THE AIR. SLOVENIA -
DAY
Mimi is sitting in a hot air balloon. The idyllic landscape
of the Slovenian countryside can be seen under her. She dials
a number.
CUT TO:
INT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - DAY - SAME
TIME
A SECRETARY (35) at the Polyart Clinic answers the phone.
SECRETARY
Polyart Clinic. May I help you?
INTERCUT MIMI/SECRETARY
MIMI
Good afternoon, this is Mimi. Could
I speak to Dr. Brandt?
SECRETARY
Mimi who?
MIMI
Just Mimi.
CUT TO:
EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - DAY -
CONTINUOUS
Ruben Brandt answers the call.
RUBEN BRANDT
Hello?
(beat)
Yes? 5.INTERCUT MIMI/RUBEN BRANDT
MIMI
I'll be straightforward, doctor. I
have a problem that’s getting in
the way of my work.
RUBEN BRANDT
Narcolepsy? Tourette’s? ADHD?
MIMI
Kleptomania.
RUBEN BRANDT
Aha. So you’re stealing from your
employer.
MIMI
Not quite.
FLASHBACK TO:
0050. EXT. - STREETS OF PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING
Mimi stands in front of an advertisement poster for the
Louvre museum - "THE FRENCH ROYAL TREASURY - THE REGENT
DIAMOND" - it says.
She smiles at the poster, like a cat would at the mouse it's
about to devour.
CUT TO:
EXT. - THE LOUVRE MUSEUM. PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING
Mimi’s shadow follows her as she is climbing up the walls.
She enters the museum through a ventilation window.
INT. - THE LOUVRE MUSEUM. PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING -
CONTINUOUS
Mimi runs through the Department of Egyptian Antiquities,
when something catches her eye - the Cleopatra fan.
Mimi hesitates. She looks at the “ROYAL DIAMOND EXHIBITION”
sign and the Cleopatra fan one more time. She breaks the
glass vitrine, takes the fan and jumps out of the window just
a moment before the last security bar falls down.
She jumps into a parked convertible car and drives away.
Kowalski follows her.
FLASHBACK ENDS6.EXT. - HIGH UP IN THE AIR. VIPAVA VALLEY. SLOVENIA - DAY
Mimi is in the air balloon, on the phone with Ruben.
MIMI
So, hanging around wasn’t an
option.
RUBEN BRANDT (V.O.)
Are you sure?
MIMI
(In French)
Absolument .
(Absolutely.)
FLASHBACK TO:
0055. INT. - THE RITZHOTEL. PARIS. FRANCE - DAWN
Mimi packs her stuff in a hurry. Her phone rings. She finds
it under the Psychology Journal with Ruben Brandt on the
cover.
She looks at her phone.
MIMI
(annoyed)
Oh, great.
She answers the call, her voice turns sweet.
MIMI (CONT’D)
(to the phone)
Hi, sweetie!
CUT TO:
INT. - VINCENZO’S BOX CLUB. NEW YORK. THE UNITED STATES -
NIGHT
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
(angry)
Cut the crap, huh! Where is my
diamond?
INTERCUT MIMI/VINCENZO DELANGELLO
MIMI
Last time I checked, it was in the
Louvre.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
Well, the last time I checked I was
paying you cash for it, huh?7.MIMI
Something came up.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
A fan?
(laughs)
Mimi, I would not want to be in
your shoes right now.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO (49) cuts the conversation.
FLASHBACK ENDS
0060. EXT. - HOT AIR BALLOON. HIGH UP IN THE AIR. SLOVENIA -
DAY
MIMI
So, you see, I have to get better,
and quick. I read in a magazine
that you're the best shrink to
treat artistic souls.
CUT TO:
EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - DAY - SAME
TIME
INTERCUT MIMI/RUBEN BRANDT
RUBEN BRANDT
I don’t know about the best.
MIMI
Well, it wasn’t a very good
magazine.
RUBEN BRANDT
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Mimi receives a text message from “Vincenzo:” I will find
you!
Mimi sighs.
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
Hello? You there?
MIMI
Yeah, Doc. I’ll see you soon.
She throws the phone out of the balloon. 8.0070. EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - LATE
AFTERNOON
Idyllic landscape with a lake and tall mountains in the
background. Mimi is seen in a car, driving towards the
Polyart Clinic.
0075. EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA -NIGHT -
CONTINUOUS
A couple of people stand around a fire. Behind them, there is
a folding screen with a romantic painted forest on it. Ruben
stands in front BYE-BYE JOE (30), MEMBRANO BRUNO (33) and
FERNANDO (24). He begins an art therapy session.
BYE-BYE JOE
... I don't wanna be Little Red
Riding Hood!
FERNANDO
Come on! It’s only a therapy.
Yesterday I was Little Red Riding
Hood.
RUBEN BRANDT
Thank you Fernando!
(turns to Bye-Bye Joe)
Bye-Bye Joe, you are here because
you can’t keep quiet in delicate
situations. Playing this role is
exactly what you need.
BYE-BYE JOE
(sighs)
Okay Doc. I’ll do it.
RUBEN BRANDT
So, Bye-Bye Joe, you will be Little
Red Riding Hood. Membrano Bruno,
you will be the thunder, the wind
and the wolf. Fernando, you will be
the bells, Granny and Luke, the
hunter.
Okay, now you know your roles, so
let’s start! We can hear Little Red
Riding Hood walking through the
forest: squish - squish - squish!
BYE-BYE JOE
Aha... Squish - squish - squish!
RUBEN BRANDT
Excellent. Places everyone - and
let’s start! A dark and stormy
night. A terrible wind roars.
Ruben points at Membrano Bruno.9.MEMBRANO BRUNO
Hoooooooo ... hooooooo ...
RUBEN BRANDT
The bells of the nearby church
ring...
He points at Fernando.
FERNANDO
Ding - dong!
RUBEN BRANDT
Little Red Riding Hood is walking
through the forest...
It’s Bye-Bye Joe’s turn.
BYE-BYE JOE
Squish - squish - squish - squish!
RUBEN BRANDT
Somewhere in the distance, a wolf
howls...
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Oooooooooooooooooooooww !
RUBEN BRANDT
While in a cottage at the edge of
the forest, Granny is asleep...
FERNANDO
Hrrrrrrrr.....haaaaa ....
RUBEN BRANDT
The same forest is also home to
Luke, the hunter...
FERNANDO
(yodels)
RUBEN BRANDT
Thunder rumbles powerfully
nearby...
MEMBRANO BRUNO
(he vibrates noisily using
his two-dimensional body
as a membrane)
Khhhhhhhhoooooooooo !
Ruben increases the tempo and brings the show to an auditory
climax.10.0080. INT./EXT. - COLD WAR BAR. WASHINGTON D.C. THE UNITED
STATES - EVENING
A taxi arrives at the Cold War Bar. KRIS BARUTANSKI (45)
leaves the cab and walks towards the entrance. The door man
MORTIMER (58) greets him.
MORTIMER
Good evening, Mr. Barutanski!
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Hi, Mortimer !
The door opens and Kris Barutanski walks in, heading straight
for the bar counter.
He sits down next to his old acquaintance, JOHN COOPER (75),
a retired CIA agent, who is watching the news. Right next to
him, a WAITER (30) is collecting glasses, standing next to
the busy bar.
WAITER
(to the bartender)
Four Kalashnikovs !
BREAKING NEWS II.
... But Mike Kowalski, a private
detective from Washington DC,
managed to save the priceless fan
by leaping into the River Seine,
where the thief had thrown it. At
the news conference, the Managing
Director of the Louvre Museum,
admitted that the incident revealed
lapses in the security system.
JOHN COOPER
I know that guy! Kowalski... Huh...
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Is he one of yours?
JOHN COOPER
Nah, his father, Gerhard, used to
work for the Company. We worked on
Subliminal Programming together,
which focused on experiments with
16 mm film. That was one hell of a
project. Good old fashioned rivalry
with the Russians...
0090. INT. - MIKE KOWALSKI'S APARTMENT. WASHINGTON DC. THE
UNITED STATES - AFTERNOON
HOCKEY (a hamster) merrily jogs around his wheel. The wheel
is linked by cogs and belts to a zoetrope, so that Hockey can
enjoy the screening of a film. 11.Kowalski watches the TV, muted. The TV shows scenes from the
action TV-series Larissa. At one point, Larissa performs an
acrobatic leap from a bridge onto a moving truck. He takes a
sip from his whiskey.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Hey, wait a second!
(Kowalski rewinds the
footage)
I knew it!
That’s exactly the same forward
jump with a backward somersault.
(turns to Hockey)
Hockey, I ran across an interesting
girl. I have to get to know her.
He grabs his laptop from the desk and looks up movie
information on the internet.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
No way, can't be her...
But there’s got to be... Bingo!
Stunt double, Mimi. So, your name
is Mimi. Are you a member of the
Stuntmen's Association?
(he types on the keyboard,
then turns to Hockey)
It's no good, Hockey. Mimi isn’t a
joiner.
The telephone rings. Kowalski gets up to answer it. He fixes
an oblique photo on the wall on his way.
Next to the photo, a collection of knives from famous movies
can be seen: First Blood, Knife in the Water etc.
He answers the call. It's his mother, EVA KOWALSKI (70).
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Yes?
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
The same shirt again!
MIKE KOWALSKI
Mom!
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O)
Is it my fault? Did I raise you
this way? International broadcast,
same shirt as in November!
MIKE KOWALSKI
You have the memory of an elephant.
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O)
Don't humor me, young man!12.MIKE KOWALSKI
Hey mom, you want humor? Father's
day is coming up. Care to tell me
something?
A mosquito starts buzzing around his head.
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
No. What are you getting at?
MIKE KOWALSKI
My father's identity?
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
Not again! We have already
discussed this, I don't want to
go...
MIKE KOWALSKI
We haven't discussed anything, you
just keep silent! Who was he,
Rasputin ?
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
No. It’s not funny!
MIKE KOWALSKI
One suspect is out. 4 billion
remain.
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
Mike, this issue is closed as far
as I'm concerned. Sorry for
pestering you, but...
Kowalski stares at the data on the laptop screen. The
mosquito is still buzzing around his head.
MIKE KOWALSKI
That’s okay, Mom.
EVA KOWALSKI (V.O.)
Alrightson. I will talk to you
tomorrow. Take care!
MIKE KOWALSKI
Will do, mom.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Eva Kowalski hangs up. Kowalski brushes aside the mosquito.
It lands on a glass pane above a collection of famous
straight razors from movies.
Kowalski swiftly, but delicately hits the mosquito. Only the
ice cube in his whiskey (shaped like Hitchcock's body) shakes
a little bit.13.MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT'D)
It was his fault, Hockey. He drew
first blood.
0100. EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - MORNING
Ruben Brandt shows Mimi around the Polyart Clinic. They are
walking outside in the garden, when they stop by Bye-Bye Joe,
who is in the position of Rodin’s“The Thinker.” He doesn't
move, he looks like a statue.
MIMI
Not a very good forgery.
Bye-Bye Joe doesn’t stay in his position.
BYE-BYE JOE
Hey - I'm not a forgery!
MIMI
(flirting)
What are you then, darling?
FLASHBACK TO:
FLASHBACK - GRAPHICAL COLLAGE - DAY/NIGHT
Different covers of magazines appear on the screen. All
articles deal with Bye-Bye Joe, who, as a security guard,
cannot keep his mouth shut.
“Celebrity bodyguard Bye-Bye Joe apologizes over speech
scandal!”
“Celebrity bodyguard Bye-Bye Joe scandal monologue at Chicago
Fashion Couture Week”
“BBJ:I need to shut up now!”
FLASHBACK ENDS
BYE-BYE JOE
(flirting)
I’m the real thing, baby.
Ruben Brandt steps in the middle of the situation.
RUBEN BRANDT
(scolding)
Bye-Bye Joe!
BYE-BYE JOE
I know, I know... Statues don't
speak.14.Bye-Bye Joe is back to the original position of The Thinker.
MIMI
(sarcastic)
Impressive, doctor.
Ruben doesn’t get the sarcastic tone. Membrano Bruno carves a
sculpture, Fernando plays a strange Indian instrument.
RUBEN BRANDT
Art is the key to the troubles of
the mind.
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
Membrano Bruno is two-dimensional,
but he eats too much, which is
getting in the way of his banking
business.
FLASHBACK TO:
INT. - BANK - NIGHT
Membrano Bruno tries to slip under a door, but he is too wide
to fit.
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Too many sausages!
FLASHBACK ENDS
EXT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - MORNING
RUBEN BRANDT
Too many sausages...
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
He’s trying to carve his craving
for food into stone to contain it.
MIMI
“Possess your problems to conquer
them.”
RUBEN BRANDT
(surprised)
Hm, exactly!
MIMI
I read it in a magazine.
Fernando walks towards Mimi and Ruben. He obsessively plays a
three-note melody.15.RUBEN BRANDT
Fernando is dealing with his
particular obsession by creating
variations on a three-note melody.
MIMI
What’s his obsession?
RUBEN BRANDT
The signature he leaves after each
successful security breach.
FLASHBACK TO:
EXT. - PARK - NIGHT
Fernando sits on a bench with a girl while he is typing on a
laptop. The electricity suddenly shuts down in a
neighborhood, and three eyes appear on the facade of a bank.
The siren of an approaching police car gets stronger and
stronger. Fernando shuts his laptop down in panic.
FLASHBACK ENDS
EXT. THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - MORNING
MIMI
So, what about me, Doc?
(imitates with her hand)
Ventriloquism?
Ruben shows Mimi to an easel with a blank canvas.
RUBEN BRANDT
Your compulsion to steal comes from
a deeper need. You are missing
something in your life.
(beat)
I want you to paint it.
MIMI
How can I paint it if I don't know
what it is?
RUBEN BRANDT
Trust in the brush. It will reveal
all.
MIMI
If you say so...16.0110. INT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S CABINET. THE POLYART CLINIC.
DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - DAY
Ruben enters his cabinet with the mail and an Art Magazine in
his hands. He puts the magazine on the desk next to his voice
recorder, while he reads a letter. Suddenly, he hears a
female voice from his desk. It’s EDOUARD MANET’SOLYMPIA
(30).
OLYMPIA
Come closer, Ruben!
OLYMPIA (CONT’D)
Come closer!
Ruben slowly approaches the magazine. Olympia’s face suddenly
jumps out from the cover of the Art Magazine.
OLYMPIA (CONT’D)
If I frightened you forgive me! And
come to Paris to see me sometime.
Ruben Brandt tries to pick up the voice recorder but he is
too shocked. He throws the recorder to the floor and leaves
the cabinet.
Meanwhile, Mimi stands behind the wall of the terrace and
watches the whole scene.
0120. EXT. AIRPORT. PARIS. FRANCE - DAY
The wheels of an airplane land on a runway.
CUT TO:
INT. - MUSÉE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - DAY
Ruben Brandt enters the hall where the paintings of Édouard
Manetare exhibited. Ruben slowly approaches Olympia. She
looks him straight in the eye.
OLYMPIA
I’ve been waiting for you, Ruben!
Olympia screams and suddenly swings her left leg, and her
high-heeled slipper flies off. The heel of the shoe sticks
into Ruben's chest like a knife. The cat leaps at his face,
sinking its claws into it. Ruben screams as he tries to
remove the cat from his face. He falls on the floor and loses
consciousness.17.0130. INT. - PRACTICE OF PROFESSOR WALDEN. WALDEN SOUL SPA.
VIPAVA VALLEY. SLOVENIA - DAY
Ruben is on a therapy session at PROFESSOR WALDEN’s (60)
room. He watches the lake from the inside, lying on a
recliner. His face is full of scratches, his arm is covered
with purple and blue marks and bruises.
PROFESSOR WALDEN
Ruben, you said that everything
started after your father's
funeral, a month ago.
Ruben closes his eyes.
FLASHBACK TO:
0140. EXT. - CEMETERY - DAY
Ruben stands next to his father’s coffin with a PRIEST (50)
and his father’s close relatives and friends. John Cooper is
among them too.
PRIEST
... Body to the ground... Earth to
earth... Ashes to ashes and dust to
dust...
0145. EXT./INT, - GERHARD BRANDT’S HOUSE. WASHINGTON DC. -
DAY - CONTINUOUS
Ruben leaves his car in front of his father’s house and walks
inside.
RUBEN BRANDT (V.O.)
I went back to his house. I hadn’t
been to his lab in years. All my
childhood memories suddenly hit me.
When Ruben enters the film lab, he sees himself as a child,
sitting by a film projector. YOUNG RUBEN (5) is with his
father, GERHARD BRANDT (40).
YOUNG RUBEN
Daddy, can I go outside and play
with the snails?
GERHARD BRANDT
No, Ruben. Maybe later. This time
is our cartoon time.
YOUNG RUBEN
(sobbing)
But Daddy, please!18.GERHARD BRANDT
Ruben, men don't cry!
The past disappears. Ruben Brandt approaches the projector
and hits play.
FLASHBACK ENDS
0150. INT. - PRACTICE OF PROFESSOR WALDEN. WALDEN SOUL SPA.
VIPAVA VALLEY. SLOVENIA - DAY
RUBEN BRANDT
It was Rusalocka . My favorite
cartoon.
PROFESSOR WALDEN
Ah, the Little Mermaid.
RUBEN BRANDT
But for some reason I couldn’t
watch it. I felt anxious and I had
to escape.
PROFESSOR WALDEN
Remember the Sea Witch? Do you
think she has any connection to
your next visit, to Botticelli’s
Venus?
RUBEN BRANDT
I don’t want to talk about that.
PROFESSOR WALDEN
(angry)
Ruben, look at me! If you don’t let
me help you, you’re going to kill
yourself! Or someone else...
FLASHBACK TO:
0160. INT. - THE UFFIZI GALLERY. FLORENCE. ITALY - DAY
RUBEN BRANDT (V.O.)
When I entered the room, she was
already waiting for me...
At first, the scene is almost idyllic. The painting comes to
life, Venus caresses Ruben with her hair, but suddenly, the
scene turns into a nightmare as the hair turns into tentacles
of an octopus, dragging Ruben underwater, trying to drown and
devour him. He stabs the Octopus’ eyes with his finger. Ruben
barely makes his escape.
FLASHBACK ENDS19.0170. EXT. - RESTAURANT. THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK.
SLOVENIA - EVENING
Mimi, Bye-Bye Joe, Fernando and Membrano Bruno enjoy dinner
at a restaurant by the lake. Ruben’s recorder is on the
table.
FERNANDO
... andI bet Doc’s voice recorder
belonged to Sigmund Freud!
The guys laugh, Mimi just smiles.
MIMI
Get serious, guys! Don't you want
to help him?
BYE-BYE JOE
But what can we do about it?
MEMBRANO BRUNO
I feel like you already have a
plan.
MIMI
Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. And
it involves all of you.
BYE-BYE JOE
But there’s only one thing that
we’re any good at.
MIMI
Exactly!
FERNANDO
Doc is a tiposimpatico. But what's
in it for us?
MIMI
Don't you want to know if your
therapy is working?
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Let’s check it out!
They clink their glasses.
0180. EXT. - RIVER SEINE. PARIS. FRANCE - AFTERNOON
Mimi, Fernando, Bye-Bye Joe and Membrano Bruno are on a boat
on the river Seine in Paris.
FERNANDO
Guys... Cameras and alarm system
are prepped.20.BYE-BYE JOE
(high fivingeach other)
Great stuff, Fernando, I’m
impressed!
Bye-Bye Joe shakes a bronze spray bottle.
MIMI
Don’t forget, Joe! Statues don’t
speak.
BYE-BYE JOE
(murmuring)
Yeah, yeah... I got it. Statues
don’t speak, thanks...
CUT TO:
EXT. - MUSEE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - LATE AFTERNOON
Bye-Bye Joe and Membrano Bruno stand in front of Musée
d'Orsay. They move towards entrance "A."
BYE-BYE JOE
And your mother is... normal?
MEMBRANO BRUNO
What do you mean normal?
BYE-BYE JOE
Well, I-I mean, is she three-
dimensional?
Bye-Bye Joe and Membrano Bruno approach the counter.
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Yeah, she is three-dimensional.
(to the cashier, forming a
“V” with his fingers)
Deux billets, s'ilvousplaît.
(Two tickets, please.)
The CASHIER (45) lifts her hand and forms a “V” with her
fingers as well.
CASHIER
Deux?
(Two?)
MEMBRANO BRUNO
(again making a “V”)
Deux.
(Two.)
CASHIER
Oui, Monsieur.
(Okay, Sir.)21.BYE-BYE JOE
Your French is really good. Is your
mother French?
Membrano Bruno looks at him.
0185. INT. - MUSÉE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE. - EARLY EVENING
Bye-Bye Joe enters the toilet, takes off his clothes and
covers himself with bronze paint.
A minute later Bye-Bye Joe freezes himself at the exhibition
hall in the pose of Rodin's"The Thinker".
CUT TO:
Visitors are walking in the hall. George and Margaret are
among them. They look at Bye-Bye Joe.
MARGARET
Oh George, he doesn't really look
like he’s thinking that hard.
GEORGE
Nah...
MARGARET
I reckon you look smarter than
that.
GEORGE
I look smarter than that when I
look in the mirror in the morning!
GEORGE (CONT’D)
I mean he’s all muscle, no
brains... So overrated, this
statue.! Come on, let’s get the
hell out of here!
Bye-Bye Joe doesn’t move, but whispers.
BYE-BYE JOE
(murmuring)
Mmmm... All fat, no brains.
Margaret turns back. For a second, she think she has heard
something.
CUT TO:
Membrano Bruno hides behind a painting. The SPEAKER (38)
warns the visitors to leave the building, because the museum
closes soon.22.SPEAKER
Dear Visitors, in 10 minutes Musée
d'Orsaywill be closed. We hope you
enjoyed your visit. Please be so
kind as to go to the nearest exit.
SPEAKER (CONT’D)
(In French)
Maintenant !
(Right now!)
The museum closes, the lights go off. Membrano comes out from
behind a painting and walks to Bye-Bye Joe. Bye-Bye Joe gets
off the pedestal as Membrano hands him the clothes. They walk
towards Manet’sOlympia.
BYE-BYE JOE
Listen man... I’ve been thinking.
If your mother is three-
dimensional, then what is your
father like?
MEMBRANO BRUNO
He is a one-dimensional guy.
BYE-BYE JOE
What? He’s... a dot?
They cut the painting out of the frame.
MEMBRANO BRUNO
What are you talking about, Bye-Bye
Joe? He isn’t a dot, he is a line!
He is a tall guy.
Bye-Bye Joe rolls up the canvas.
BYE-BYE JOE
Whoa... I wouldn’t mind her in my
dreams!
CUT TO:
EXT. - MUSÉE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING
Fernando and Mimi are in front of Muséed'Orsay. Fernando
watches Membrano Bruno and Bye-Bye Joe through the security
cameras, while a painter paints a portrait of Mimi.
Bye-Bye Joe and Membrano walk out of the museum with the
canvas. Fernando leaves his light signature of 3 eyes on the
wall of the museum. 23.0190. INT. - COLD WAR BAR. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED STATES -
NIGHT
John Cooper and Kris Barutanski watch the news in the Cold
War Bar.
BREAKING NEWS III.
Breaking News! Paris, Musée
d'Orsay: the famous masterpiece
Olympia by Edouard Manethas been
stolen. French authorities are
still unsure how the burglars
entered the museum or how they
disabled the security cameras. The
museum has offered a 100 thousand
euro reward for information leading
to the apprehension of the robbers.
Kris Barutanski takes his special trident-knife out from his
pocket and cuts a new cigar.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Huh...
JOHN COOPER
A long time ago Gerhard told me
that Napoleon III the moment he saw
the painting, personally cut up
Olympia with his sabre.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
But I’m sure he took care not to
harm the cat..
They both laugh.
0200. INT. - MIKE KOWALSKI’S APARTMENT. WASHINGTON DC. THE
UNITED STATES - MORNING
Kowalski arrives home when his phone rings.
MARINA
(into the phone)
Ciao Mike!
CUT TO:
INT. - VIAREGGIO CIRCUS. ROME. ITALY - LATE AFTERNOON
Marina passes by practicing performers in Viareggio Circus.
INTERCUT MARINA/MIKE KOWALSKI
MIKE KOWALSKI
Ciao Marina! What do you have for
me?24.MARINA
Your mystery woman, Mimi...
Kowalski is all ears.
MARINA (CONT’D)
She worked for three years at the
Viareggio Circus in Roma. Acrobat,
the best around. They kept her on
even though she was a kleptomaniac.
MIKE KOWALSKI
(thinking)
Kleptomaniac? That’s why she took
the fan!
MARINA
And she left a year ago.
MIKE KOWALSKI
To put her illness to better use.
MARINA
I'm sending you a copy of her
poster.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Thank you, Marina. Great job.
MARINA
I know. You owe me some serious
dinner.
MIKE KOWALSKI
And dessert.
MARINA
Such a ladies’ man.
She hangs up.
MIKE KOWALSKI
So that’s Mimi!
Kowalski looks at the photo Marina sent him on the phone. He
zooms in the picture and recognizes Mimi's face. He takes a
long look at it, then strikes the screen of the phone, like
he is caressing Mimi.
He suddenly receives a text message from Christophe Boulve:
“We need your help to find the Olympia . Come to Paris ASAP.”
0210.INT . - MUSEE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - DAY
Mike Kowalski talks to FRANCOIS (40), the museum’s head of
security. 25.MIKE KOWALSKI
And you went over last night’s
security tapes, I presume?
FRANCOIS
Oui, the cameras were frozen.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Merci, Francois! I’d like to see
the archive tapes one month back!
CUT TO:
INT. - MUSEE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - DAY
Kowalski fast-forwards through the tapes; visitors come and
go. Suddenly, the recording shows a person jumping back and
forth, waving his arms. Kowalski rewinds the video and runs
it at normal speed.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Whoa, what’s he doing?
Now we can clearly see a group of tourists. One of them
scratches his own face.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Oh, he is bleeding.
Hm... performance art?
0220. INT. - THE POLYART CLINIC. DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - MORNING
SEEN ON THE SCREEN: I fear that my auditory, visual and
tactile hallucinations may be the early signs of acute
schizophrenia.
Ruben Brandt lays on a chair, typing on his laptop. His face
is full of scratches, his arm is covered with purple and blue
marks and bruises.
Mimi, Membrano, Bye-Bye Joe and Fernando knock on Ruben’s
door.
RUBEN BRANDT
Not now! I’m busy!
Mimi enters the room, the others stay at the door.
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
Not now!
MIMI
Close your eyes, Doc! We’ve got a
surprise for you.
Ruben just stares at her.26.RUBEN BRANDT
Mimi...
MIMI
Please!
Ruben takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.
MIMI (CONT’D)
Bye-Bye Joe, give me a hand!
OFF CAMERA:
Mimi and Bye-Bye Joe roll out the painting from the canvas.
ON CAMERA:
Ruben opens his eyes. A drop of sweat begins to pour down his
face.
RUBEN BRANDT
Wow, nice painting.
He slowly gets up and walks toward the painting. The whole
gang is inside.
Everyone laughs with relief.
MIMI
Ha-ha! See, Doc? Possess your
problems to conquer them.
0230. NIGHTMARE - INT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S CABINET - EARLY
MORNING
Ruben is reading a book when the doorbell rings. Ruben gets
up and opens the door. A POSTMAN (40) is standing outside.
POSTMAN
(In German)
GutenMorgen! Einmoment, bitte!
(Good Morning! One moment,
please!)
The postman opens his mouth, and a huge sheet of identical
postage stamps starts to emerge from his mouth. Ruben’s face
is on the stamps.
RUBEN BRANDT
I...
Using these moist stamps, the postman wraps up Ruben's body.
He uses a marker to write the address on his face.
POSTMAN
Sh!27.The postman lifts Ruben up and throws him over his shoulder.
POSTMAN (CONT’D)
(In German)
Hoppla! Wirleben!
(Hoppla, we’re alive!)
He skillfully throws Ruben into the mail van, shutting the
doors behind him.
The ride is wild, and Ruben's body flungsleft and right. The
van finally stops, and reverses into place.
The doors open, and two men in jumpsuits drag Ruben out,
throwing him onto a treadmill and taking the suitcases on
the plane.
CUT TO:
NIGHTMARE - INT. PLANE - EARLY MORNING
A suitcase is thrown next to Ruben. Its label swings
steadily, slowly hypnotizing him.
0240. NIGHTMARE - INT./EXT. - STADIUM - NOON
The next minute he dreams of climbing the steps of a huge
temple. At the entrance, two stone Atlases hold an even
bigger stone globe with the constellations drawn on them.
Ruben is smaller than the their smallest toe, and needs time
to pass by their huge feet and enter a marble hall. The
stands are full, and Ruben is surprised that several hundred
thousand people sit there in complete silence, all watching
him.
Suddenly, far away, he notices a raven-haired young man in a
red shirt. The young man stands with his feet apart with
hands down, looking straight at Ruben as he approaches. Ruben
is confused, he doesn’t understand what’s going on. He can
make out a cowboy belt on the young man ( Andy Warhol’s Elvis
I and II (25)), with a holstered gun. Ruben stops.
DOUBLE ELVIS
Oh, you are just in time, Ruben!
Like thunder striking through the opening in the marble roof,
the chanting of a hundred thousand people echoes.
SPECTATORS
Gun fight! Gun fight! Gun fight!
Ruben is confused, his eyesight goes blurry, and it seems to
him as if the young man has just doubled.
DOUBLE ELVIS
What are you waiting for? Draw!28.RUBEN BRANDT
Draw what? I don't have a gun.
DOUBLE ELVIS
(smiling)
Oh, but you do... And not only one.
Ruben Brandt looks down and sees that he's carrying a belt
with two holsters, gun handles sticking out of them.
RUBEN BRANDT
But...
Again, a sound like thunder strikes through the marble roof.
SPECTATORS
(shouting)
Draw!
Gun fight! Gun fight! Gun fight!
The entire hall spins around Ruben's head. Now he sees the
double figured man as three figures in a red shirt. A moment
later, eight identical young men stand in front of Ruben,
then eleven. He draws the right-hand gun, but can feel
bullets from eleven guns slamming into his flash.
RUBEN BRANDT
(shouting)
Nooooo...
0250. NIGHTMARE - INT./EXT. - PLANE - DAY
Suddenly, he realizes that someone is poking him. Ruben wakes
up and opens his eyes. Above him stands a strange bearded
POSTMAN ( Van Gogh’sPortrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin)
(47) in an ancient uniform, as if he just stumbled there from
the 19th century.
VAN GOGH’SPOSTMAN
Wake up, wake up, Monsieur Brandt!
It seems like you have a nightmare!
RUBEN BRANDT
Where are we?
VAN GOGH’SPOSTMAN
In an airplane, Monsieur Brandt.
(indicating the address on
Ruben's face)
We're flying to Arles. That's where
you've been sent.
He takes out a pocket watch and opens the lid. He's whistling
the nursery rhyme Sur le pontd'Avignon . He closes the lid
and puts the watch back to his pocket.
VAN GOGH’SPOSTMAN (CONT’D)
It's time! We are over Arles now.29.He gets up and opens the door of the airplane. The postman
has to shout to overcome the horrible noise of the wind.
RUBEN BRANDT
(shouting)
Hey! What are you doing?
The postman smiles, lifts Ruben in the air, throws him over
his own shoulder and moves towards the door.
VAN GOGH’SPOSTMAN
Don't be afraid, Monsieur Brandt!
You've been sent to my address.
RUBEN BRANDT
(horrified)
Are you crazy? Put me down!
VAN GOGH’SPOSTMAN
These are the rules: if the address
is legible, the parcel must be
delivered, Monsieur Brandt!
With Ruben on his shoulder, he leaps into the abyss.
RUBEN BRANDT
(shouts)
Noooooooo !
0260. INT.- RUBEN BRANDT’S CABINET. THE POLYART CLINIC.
DORNBERK. SLOVENIA - MORNING
Ruben wakes up on the floor of his cabinet, his feet trapped
in the arms of his jacket. His scratches and bruises are
still visible. He untangles himself and goes out to the
terrace. He sees Mimi. Mimi sits in a lotus position in the
garden of the clinic. He starts walking towards her, while
she is finishing her yoga session. She notices Ruben and
already knows something is wrong.
MIMI
What happened, Doc?
You look like a man who wants
something.
RUBEN BRANDT
Van Gogh’sPostman and Warhol’s
Double Elvis.
MIMI
Both?
RUBEN BRANDT
No. I need all 13 paintings that
are tormenting me.
(MORE)30.If you’re willing to help, we
should all move to my villa on the
island of Biševo.
Mimi doesn’t get it.
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
It’s in the Adriatic. The airport
in Rome isn’t far away.
MIMI
Sure, Doc. Let's have a party.
0270. MONTAGE - EXT./INT. - VARIOUS - DAY/NIGHT
Membrano Bruno, Bye-Bye Joe, Fernando, Mimi and Ruben are on
a mission to collect all the paintings that haunt Ruben.
They enter the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Fernando
freezes the CCTV, while Bye-Bye Joe distracts the exhibition
room guard. After a successful mission they put Gaugin’s
painting on the wall in Biševo, right next to Manet’s
OLYMPIA.
Afterwards they steal Picasso’s WOMAN WITH A BOOK from
NiteróiContemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
The gang is on the board of a plane, travelling back to
Biševo.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
(with a strong French
accent)
Peanut or le bonbon?
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Both, my dear!
They enter a private collection in New York.
CHAIN SMOKER
Sooner or later, everyone stops
(coughs) smoking!
The gang steals THE TREACHERY OF IMAGES by RenéMagritte .
The next stop is Florence to get V ENUS OF URBINO by Titian.
BYE-BYE JOE
(lights the painting with
a pocket lamp)
Wow, nice body!
They cut it from its frame.
The gang and Ruben are in Zurich. While walking, they pass by
Cabaret Voltaire and the house where once Lenin lived.RUBEN BRANDT (CONT'D)31.BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Hey, look! I didn’t know Lenin was
the Führer! I thought it was the
other guy!
A worker stands in a printing house and holds an issue of The
Sun. The cover says “Collector Strikes Again”.
As last, they steal Velázquez’s INFANTA MARGARITA from The
Fine Arts Museum in Budapest. After hanging the painting in
Biševo, they all sit around the table, having fun.
FERNANDO
... andhe said: I don’t wanna be
Little Red Riding Hood!
They all laugh.
0280. INT. - HOMESTEAD IN VOJVODINA. SERBIA - DAY
The housewife, ARANKA(68) spreads a dough with a rolling
pin, while FRICI (70) the man of the house is sipping some
wine. Their GRANDDAUGHTER (14) stands right next to them. The
television is on.
BREAKING NEWS IV.
Our top story tonight: the so-
called Collector strikes again.
After Paris, Budapest, Rio,
Florence, St. Petersburg and
Sidney, the serial art robbers have
hit New York's Guggenheim Museum...
At present, the estimated value of
stolen masterpieces has reached two
billion dollars!
0290. INT. - VINCENZO’S OFFICE. NEW YORK. THE UNITED STATES -
DAY
Vincenzo Delangello watches the television with his three
mafiosos: MALAPARTE (30), GIUSEPPE (28) and FORTUNATO (24).
BREAKING NEWS IV.
The Chicago-based Union Cartel
Insurance Company has raised the
reward for capturing the so-called
Collector to 20 million dollars!
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
Porcamiseria! 20 million! Huh! For
that kind of money, we have to
screw around with drugs and the
police for two years.
Ah well, it's my fault.
(MORE)32.I simply never thought you could
live off art. My grandpa used to
say: Vincenzo, stick to drugs and
prostitution, you know, a man can
make an honest living there. Huh!
Ah-ah! No more! We should enter
this fucking field of art!
AWARENESS AD IN THE TV
Domestic violence in Hollywood
films made between 1930’sand the
mid-eighties was usually displayed
as a show of masculinity, or even
romanticized. Well known examples
of such films are "My Baby Left
Me," "Kiss Me Gently," "The Barber
of Blitvia," “Hairdresser In My
Bathroom” and the “ Granadian Cat”
from 1929.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
Ah, we need more information.
Giuseppe, call Boris!
0300. INT. - COLD WAR BAR. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED STATES -
EVENING
BORIS (40) is on the phone at the Cold War Bar.
BORIS
(talking to the phone)
Yes, of course Giuseppe, I’ll do my
best. But you know my price...
0310. EXT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S VILLA. THE ISLAND OF BIŠEVO.
CROATIA - DAY
Idyllic sea landscape. Mimi, Fernando, Bye-Bye Joe and
Membrano attend a group therapy with Ruben next to the villa
on the island of Biševo.
Mimi paints a bird.
MIMI
(turns to Ruben)
Ha-ha! Come on, Doc! You’re
exaggerating!
RUBEN BRANDT
No, Mimi! I’m serious. You’re
getting closer every day!
MIMI
(smiling)
I feel it too.VINCENZO DELANGELLO (CONT'D)33.MIMI (CONT’D)
So, Doc. What’s the next job?
RUBEN BRANDT
The Uffizi, Florence.
CUT TO:
0320. EXT. - STREETS OF FLORENCE. FLORENCE. ITALY - AFTERNOON
The gang looks over Florence from the top of a hill.
BREAKING NEWS. TV SCREEN - EVENING
BREAKING NEWS V.
(IN ENGLISH)
Breaking News! A few minutes after
midnight, thousands of tourists on
the streets of Florence, Italy,
noticed strange strobe lights
coming from the Uffizi Gallery.
CUT TO:
BREAKING NEWS VI.
(IN BLITVANSKI )
... dapolice intrate digaletada
Uficietrovate njentedifamote
Botticelli Venusasolo difremate.
(...made the police enter the
building immediately, just to
discover the empty frame of
Botticelli’s Venus.)
CUT TO:
EXT. - PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA. FLORENCE. ITALY - DAY
Marina and Mike Kowalski, followed by two dalmatians, walk
through Piazza Della Signoria. Mike shows a CCTV footage to
Marina.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Someone erased last night’s
security footage from the Uffizi.
However, I checked through the
archives... and look!
(heplays the footage)
Remember the guy who went crazy in
front of Olympia?
Marina recognizes the guy on the surveillance footage.34.MARINA
The performance artist?
MIKE KOWALSKI
One and the same!
EXT. - LA PIOVRATRATTORIA. FLORENCE. ITALY - CONTINUOUS
They arrive at La PiovraTrattoria.
MARINA
Angelo, Diavolo! Sit!
MARINA (CONT’D)
So, if you slow down the strobe
light from the Uffizi, it repeats a
message in Morse code.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Hm.
MARINA
(points at her eyes)
Eye, eye, eye.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Uhum! Like the 3 eyes on the Musée
d'Orsay!
0330. EXT./INT. - STREETS OF CHICAGO. THE UNITED STATES - DAY
Ruben is walking down the streets of Chicago. He suddenly
stops in front of a bar because he sees a snail on the
shoulder of a man sitting inside. His eyes are fixed on the
man in the hat, who turns his back on him.
The man suddenly turns around and Ruben realizes that his
face is covered with white cotton gauze. THE FACELESS MAN
(35) starts firing at Ruben. The window of the bar shatters.
The man leaps out through the broken glass and starts to
chase Ruben. Ruben is running towards an empty tram that
seems to be waiting for him.
With his last ounce of strength, Ruben manages to jump
through the rear tram doors.
The Faceless Man runs at full speed, but the door suddenly
closes right in front of him. Ruben can see the thick glass
stained red from the impact. The tram gets going and the
Faceless Man falls to the pavement.
TRAM ANNOUNCER
(in Italian)
Ilproseguimento per Catania é in
arrivosulprimobinario.
(MORE)35.Locale per Catania é in arrivosul
primobinario.
(The connection to Catania
is arriving on platform
1. The local train to
Catania is arriving on
platform 1.)
Ruben sighs with relief. The tram accelerates. Suddenly, the
Faceless Man grabs Ruben from behind and holds a gun to
Ruben’s throat.
0340. EXT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S VILLA. THE ISLAND OF BIŠEVO.
CROATIA - DAY
Ruben wakes up in panic, breathing heavily. He lies by the
swimming pool. A bottle is pressed against his neck. He is
surrounded by the rest of the gang who are enjoying
themselves.
Mimi looks at Ruben and sees that something is wrong.
MIMI
Doc? Who attacked you?
The others gather around Ruben.
RUBEN BRANDT
The guy from Hopper’s Nighthawks.
MIMI
Well, let’s go to Chicago!
0350. EXT. - UNION CARTEL HQ. HANCOCK CENTER. CHICAGO. THE
UNITED STATES - DAY
Boris washes a huge glass window on the Union Cartel HQ on a
high floor.
BORIS
(singing in Russian)
Poustvzegdaboudyit solnse,
Poustvzegdaboudyit nieba,
Poustvzegdaboudyitmama,
Poustvzegdaboudouya!
(May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be mommy,
May there always be me!)
Through the cleaned section, he sees a long table in the hall
of the Union Cartel HQ, where the Board of Directors sit with
Mike Kowalski.
BORIS (CONT’D)
Opa! Kowalski is already speaking!TRAM ANNOUNCER (CONT'D)36.He removes a small device from his pocket: a round membrane
which he sticks to the cleaned glass. He continues to clean.
CUT TO:
INT. - UNION CARTEL HQ. HANCOCK CENTER. CHICAGO. THE UNITED
STATES - DAY
The president of the cartel, GARRET GRAHAM (70), is sitting
at the head of the table.
MIKE KOWALSKI
If we don’t crack this case soon,
we’ll never see those paintings
again.
GARRET GRAHAM
Is this why we’re paying you so
much?
MIKE KOWALSKI
With all due respect, Mr. Graham,
we are dealing with a collector
here and not a serial thief. He is
taking paintings which couldn’t be
sold. Not even on the black market.
GARRET GRAHAM
Mr. Kowalski, I’ve been in this
business for 45 years and I can
tell you that in 6 months someone
will put Olympia up for sale in
South Blitvia.
MIKE KOWALSKI
No. Someone is building a
collection. As a collector myself,
I understand how they think. Once
the collection is complete, he or
she will stop.
GARRET GRAHAM
You follow your instincts and we
will follow our experience.
We are raising the reward to a 100
million dollars!
CUT TO:
EXT. - UNION CARTEL HQ. HANCOCK CENTER. CHICAGO. THE UNITED
STATES - DAY
Boris cannot believe his ears.37.BORIS
Chortpoberi, a 100 million! I must
call Vincenzo!
0360. INT. - O'HAREINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. CHICAGO. THE
UNITED STATES - DAY - CONTINUOUS
AIRPORT ANNOUNCER I.
This is the final boarding call,
flight 87Bto Rome, gate four!
Please proceed to gate four
immediately.
Mike Kowalski sits by the glass window of the bar. He enjoys
a glass of whiskey and watches the passengers walking through
the hallway. Suddenly, he notices Mimi in the company of a
couple of people. She winks at him. Kowalski gets up and runs
out of the bar to catch her, but Mimi and her companions are
already gone.
Mimi carries a tube with Hopper’s canvas. On their way she
notices poster tubes in a basket outside a shop. She steals a
yellow one and gives the tube with Hopper’s painting to Bye-
Bye Joe.
MIMI
(points him towards a
Fedexshop)
Bye-Bye Joe, send it to Hotel
Bellevue!
BYE-BYE JOE
Aha!
Kowalski runs back and forth, but fails to locate her. Mimi
and the gang take the escalator to the ground floor.
MIMI
(turns to Ruben)
Ruben, Kowalski recognized me, you
can’t come to Rome with us!
Meanwhile, Kowalski sees a breaking news coverage on a big
screen at the hall. Hopper’s Nighthawks has been stolen.
Suddenly, he notices Mimi, already outside, on the steps of a
plane. Mimi waves at him with a yellow tube.
Kowalski whips out his phone.
CUT TO:
INT. - MARINA’S APARTMENT. ROME. ITALY - NIGHT
Marina lays on the couch in her luxurious apartment.
Her two dalmatians are around her.38.INTERCUT MIKE KOWALSKI/MARINA
MIKE KOWALSKI
Ciao Marina, did you hear?
MARINA
Yes, I did. Hopper!
MIKE KOWALSKI
We can get the painting now.
Listen, tomorrow morning flight 87B
from Chicago will be landing in
Rome, 7:15 your time.
The picture is in a yellow tube
with Mimi.
MARINA
(suprised )
Our Mimi? Is she the Collector?
MIKE KOWALSKI
She’s connected. And she’s not
alone.
MARINA
Okay, Mike. I’ll organize a welcome
party!
0370. INT. - FIUMICINO AIRPORT. ROME. ITALY.- MORNING
Passengers from the flight from Chicago are coming out from
the airport. Mimi with the tube in her hands, Bye-Bye Joe,
Membrano Bruno and Fernando are among them. They walk towards
the exit. Marina is hiding behind a pillar and watches them.
MARINA
(In Italian)
Sonoquattro. La donna ha il
rotolo.
(There’s four of them. The woman
has the tube.)
AIRPORT ANNOUNCER II.
Good afternoon passengers. This is
the pre-boarding announcement for
flight 25Bto Budapest...
Suddenly, a dozen commandos leap from the top floor onto Mimi
and the gang. The commandos are roughly pushing them up
against the wall. The CHIEF OF POLICE (50) is amongst them.
CHIEF OF POLICE
(In Italian)
Unpassoindietro !
(Step back!)39.0380. INT. - VINCENZO'S OFFICE. NEW YORK. THE UNITED STATES -
NIGHT
SEEN ON THE TV:
The Cobra Commandos take the tube from Mimi. The press
surround the commandos and the gang by the wall, flashing
their cameras.
NEWS CORRESPONDENT
At this very moment, they are
opening the tube containing the
stolen Hopper, the Nighthawks.
CHIEF OF POLICE
(In Italian)
Tenente, fammivedereilquadro!
(Lieutenant, let me see the
painting!)
NEWS CORRESPONDENT
This is clearly the end of the
Collector's short-lived career.
Vincenzo and the three mafiosos are watching the news.
It seems that the Cobra Commandos caught the collectors.
Vincenzo is angry that they didn’t know about this.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
(as he sweeps things from
his desk)
Damn! What do we pay Boris for?
The lieutenant rolls out the painting which contains a poster
of a cat and a mouse. Suddenly, everyone bursts out laughing.
Vincenzo is relieved. Stupid police.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO (CONT’D)
Ha-ha-ha!
NEWS CORRESPONDENT
What an epic failure for the Roman
Police Department!
Suddenly, Giuseppe recognizes the woman on the news.
GIUSEPPE
B-b-b-boss , look!
VICENZODELANGELLO
Porcaputtana! That’s Mimi!
Mimi poses with the poster for the press.40.NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Instead of reclaiming a famous
painting, they get a cat and mouse
poster!
CUT TO:
INT. - MIKE KOWALSKI’S APARTMENT. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED
STATES - NIGHT - SAME TIME
Kowalski watches the same Breaking News segment from the
Roman airport. On the screen, Mimi is posing with the poster.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Alright, Mimi! 2:0 for you!
0410. INTERIOR. COLD WAR BAR. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED
STATES - EVENING
John Cooper enters the Cold War Bar and he heads for his
usual table. Kris Barutanski is already there. Boris is
sitting at a table nearby.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Long time no see, Cooper!
JOHN COOPER
I needed some solitude. Took my
yearly trip to the mountains.
Sometimes, I wonder why I come back
at all.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Ha-ha. For the booze?
Cooper nods.
JOHN COOPER
Yeah. Reasonable assumption.
Boris adjusts the volume of the TV in the background. Cooper
and Barutanski turn their heads in the same direction.
BREAKING NEWS VIII.
Who is the mysterious Collector?
Let’s review now the entire
catalogue of stolen masterpieces.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
(gets up)
Ah, can't listen to this shit
anymore. Enjoy catching up, Cooper.
Barutanski leaves. Cooper still watches the news.41.BREAKING NEWS VIII.
Hopper, Botticelli , Velázquez ,
Magritte , Picasso, Gauguin,
Manet...
A silent series of flashes about the heists plays.
Cooper’s eyes are wide from excitement.
JOHN COOPER
(to himself)
Aha!
He dials a number.
Meanwhile, Barutanski passes by a waitress and takes two
drinks from her without even asking.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
(ironically)
Keep the change, darling!
WAITRESS
(ironically)
Oh! Thanks, Kris! Generous, as
always!
Barutanski laughs. When he gets back, Cooper is already on
the phone.
Cooper doesn't notice, but Barutanski is behind him,
eavesdropping on the conversation.
JOHN COOPER
(keeping his voice low)
I know who the Collector is. I will
tell you the details in person.
CUT TO:
INT. - MIKE KOWALSKI’S APARTMENT. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED
STATES - EVENING
Mike Kowalski is amazed, he cannot even react.
INTERCUT JOHN COOPER/MIKE KOWALSKI
JOHN COOPER
So please, meet me.
This evening, my place, at 7:30.
124 PennStreet South East.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Okay Mr. Cooper. See you soon!
CUT TO:42.INT. - MARINA’S OFFICE. ROME. ITALY - NIGHT
Marina picks up the phone in the office.
MARINA
Hey, Mike!
INTERCUT MIKE KOWALSKI/MARINA
MIKE KOWALSKI
Ciao Marina! Could you look up a
name for me please?
John Cooper, 124 PennStreet, South
East. Washington DC.
CUT TO:
INT. COLD WAR BAR. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED STATES - EVENING
John Cooper is about to leave.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
(holds two drinks)
Wait, Cooper. What about our drink?
JOHN COOPER
Gotta hurry.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Yeah, I overheard you! Come on!
Won't you help out an old friend?
JOHN COOPER
Acquaintance.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Look, you don’t want to do this
alone, huh? We’ll split the money.
Fifty-fifty. Just tell me who the
Collector is!
JOHN COOPER
That's... It's not his fault. I’d
never betray my friends.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Friends?
JOHN COOPER
Now, if you’ll excuse me.
Cooper gets up and leaves Barutanski. 43.0420. EXT./INT. JOHN COOPER'S HOUSE, WASHINGTON D.C. THE
UNITED STATES - EVENING
Kowalski steps out of the car and approaches the house. On
the small porch table he notices an ashtray with a lit
cigarette. He rings the doorbell, but no one answers. When he
tries to knock on the door, he sees that it is open.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Mr. Cooper! Mr. Cooper!
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Mr. Cooper?
Kowalski slowly enters the kitchen. He is startled by the
sudden whistle of steam from the coffee maker, and steps on a
pair of large black glasses. Then he notices a pool of blood
spreading across the floor behind the table. He whips his gun
out. He finds Cooper, tied to an overturned chair, with a
stabbed chest. Kowalski checks Cooper’s pulse. He is dead.
He goes through the house, room by room, until he arrives to
the home office. He looks around, when suddenly a cat appears
on the window sill. The cat jumps on a bookshelf. Kowalski
goes closer to take a look at the books.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Yesterday’s Spy, Perfect Spy, An
American Spy...
(going through the books)
Enjoying Art!
He opens the book - it is full of well-known paintings. He
finds a dedication: To my friend and colleague, to
commemorate our successful work together, with love, Gerhard
Brandt.He calls Marina.
CUT TO:
INT. MARINA’S APARTMENT. ROME. ITALY - MORNING
Marina is reading a book by an ancient Roman swimming pool
when her phone rings. She answers.
INTERCUT MARINA/MIKE KOWALSKI
MARINA
Hey, Mike!
MIKE KOWALSKI
Ciao, Marina! Can you look up
another name for me, please -
Gerhard Brandt, B - R - A - N - D -
T, former CIA Agent?44.MARINA
Just a second, Mike.
(she types on the
keyboard)
Hello, you there?
MIKE KOWALSKI
Of course!
MARINA
Okay, Gerhard Brandt, born in
Berlin 1938, grew up in East
Berlin. Former Stasicolonel,
expert in psychotechnics .
MIKE KOWALSKI
Psychotechnics ?
MARINA
Practical applications of
psychology.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Like political propaganda?
MARINA
Smart boy. With help from the CIA,
in 1967 he moved with his wife
Helga and two-year old son Ruben to
Washington D.C.
MIKE KOWALSKI
What did he do for the CIA?
MARINA
Experiments with subliminal
perception for the Special
Activities Division, where John
Cooper worked too. His wife died in
a car accident in 1975. And...
here, an obituary: he died of a
heart attack one month ago.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Last known address?
MARINA
842 Bladensburg Road.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Thanks. Call the cops to Cooper's
house.
MARINA
Okay. What’s the crime?
MIKE KOWALSKI
Murder.45.Kowalski leaves the room. Barutanski climbs down from a
cupboard above the door.
0430. EXTERIOR. STREETS OF WASHINGTON. WASHINGTON DC. -
NIGHT
Kowalski gets into his car while Boris is watching him from
behind.
BORIS
(in Russian)
Tak, nu chto, Kovalskiy , poehali!
(What’s up, Kowalski? We
are going!)
Barutanski gets in his car and follows Kowalski. Boris is
after both of them. Barutanski looks in to rear window and
sees Boris, so he decides to take a short cut.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Huh?
KRIS BARUTANSKI (CONT’D)
Ah, so you wanna play...
Boris tries to catch up with him, but after a sharp turn he
crashes into a pylon.
Barutanski speeds up on the road in the opposite direction.
KRIS BARUTANSKI (CONT’D)
Bring it on! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Come on!
When Kowalski arrives to Gerhard Brandt’s house, Barutanski’s
car is already parked in the shadow.
0440. INTERIOR. THE HOME OF GERHARD BRANDT. WASHINGTON DC.
THE UNITED STATES. - NIGHT
Kowalski goes up to the entrance of Gerhard Brandt’s house.
He pauses for a second and sees that a cat is staring at him
from the distance. He breaks the lock and enters the hallway
illuminated by streetlights. The wall is covered with several
posters from different neuroscience congresses. He follows
the posters that lead him downstairs to the cellar. He enters
Gerhard’s lab.
A 16 mm Siemens projector is on the desk. He presses play and
it starts screening an animated cartoon for kids.
ANIMATED CARTOON CROWD
Gun fight, gun fight, gun fight!46.ANIMATED CARTOON I.
I don’t want a gun fight, Tom is my
friend!
He stops the projector.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Hey, hey, hey!
He continues to roll the tape manually.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Andy Warhol’s Elvis?
ANIMATED CARTOON II.
John, it’s just a game.
He rolls out the film and starts checking the frames one by
one under the light of the street lamps. He runs through the
images of the roll - but there is one different image coming
after the 24th one.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Double Elvis among these kids. Kid,
kid, kid, kid...
(beat)
Double Elvis again.
(beat)
1,2,3... 4,5,6... 23,24,25! Elvis
again!
He goes to the box full of movie footages and takes out
another one. He rolls out the film and holds the frames into
the light.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
The Sea witch from the Little
Mermaid! Sea Witch, Sea Witch, Sea
Witch, Sea Witch...
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Botticelli’s Venus?
He counts the frames.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
1,2,3,4... 23,24,25! Botticelli
again!
Kowalski takes another film.
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Bremen Town Musicians!
MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Cat, cat, cat... and the Olympia!
Kowalski’s phone vibrates. He answers it.47.MIKE KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Marina, you won’t believe this! The
Collector’s identity is hidden in
Gerhard’s laboratory.
MARINA (V.O.)
Oh my god! What did you find?
Mike drops his phone. He bends down to pick it up when he
sees Barutanski’s legs.
KRIS BARUTANSKI
Thanks for the information!
The powerful body of Kris Barutanski descends on Kowalski.
Kowalski jumps aside - the special trident-knife misses his
chest but slices his forearm. Barutanski grabs Kowalski by
the throat.
CUT TO:
EXT. - TERRACE. ROME. ITALY - DAY
Marina is dining with a young man in a restaurant.
MARINA
Mike! Mike!
MARINA’S LOVER
(In Italian)
ScusaMarina, ma cosasta
succedendo ?
(Excuse me, Marina! What
is going on?)
MARINA
(In Italian)
Non lo so. Mike stalottando con
qualcuno . Mi chiamera quando ha
finito.
(I don’t know. Mike is
fighting with someone.
He’ll call me when he is
done.)
CUT TO:
INT. - THE HOME OF GERHARD BRANDT. WASHINGTON DC. THE UNITED
STATES - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
Kowalski and Barutanski start to fight for their lives. They
accidentally push down the projector from the desk, which
starts flashing. Barutanski picks up his trident-knife and
throws it towards Kowalski. The knife barely misses Kowalski
and gets stuck into the wall. Barutanski, using his secret
weapon, a wire from a collar, tries to strangle Kowalski. 48.Kowalski, using his last ounce of strength, pushes Barutanski
back to the wall, straight into the trident-knife. Barutanski
slips down to the floor dead. The projector stops flashing.
Mike is breathing heavily and is trying to get his strength
back. He collects the film rolls, puts them back into their
metallic suitcase and closes the lid.
But what he finds behind leaves him speechless: the photo he
sees on the shelf is the same one that he has in his
apartment, with his mother holding him. Only that this is a
bigger picture - on the right side of the photo, we can see
Gerhard Brandt with a young boy.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Oh, my goodness!
He pulls out his cell phone and dials.
EVA KOWALSKI (O.S.)
Hey, Mikey! I just bought you a new
shirt!
EVA KOWALSKI (CONT’D)
Mike?
MIKE KOWALSKI
Mom? What does the name Gerhard
Brandt mean to you?
(beat)
Mom, I asked you a question!
(beat)
What does the name Gerhard Brandt
mean to you?
EVA KOWALSKI (O.S)
He was your father.
(beat)
He was a scientist, experimenting
with the subconscious.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Did he use cartoons?
EVA KOWALSKI (O.S.)
Only on your half brother, Ruben.
He wanted to make him a great
artist. That's why Ruben had
nightmares. I, I had to leave your
father... to save your dreams...
0450. NIGHTMARE - EXT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S VILLA. THE ISLAND OF
BIŠEVO. CROATIA - NIGHT
Ruben approaches Fernando who is sitting on a chair at the
edge of a cliff, with his back turned.49.RUBEN BRANDT
Fernando?
Fernando moves his shoulders a bit, but does not respond.
Ruben approaches. Now he can see the right side of the man's
face. It's not Fernando. Ruben gets closer, and the man turns
his head. Ruben can’t believe his eyes as he recognizes the
painter, RENOIR (47).
RUBEN BRANDT (CONT’D)
Renoir? Pierre-Auguste Renoir?!
RENOIR
For forty years I've been
discovering that the queen of all
coloursis the colourblack, Ruben.
RUBEN BRANDT
You're different. You're a painter,
Pierre-Auguste . I don't really like
black.
RENOIR
You'll learn to like it.
RUBEN BRANDT
I don't want to learn to like it.
RENOIR
Come, I'll teach you to throw
yourself into the blackness, like a
lemming into the sea of Norway.
RUBEN BRANDT
I don't want to throw myself into
the blackness!
RENOIR
(extending a hand)
Come freely, we'll jump together!
We'll disappear into the black!
RUBEN BRANDT
I don't want to disappear in the
black!
RENOIR
I'll talk you into it, Ruben. Here,
for a starter, have a bit of black!
Renoir suddenly grabs Ruben's head, and pulls it towards
himself. He pushes his black shoe into Ruben's open mouth.
0460. INT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S VILLA. THE ISLAND OF BIŠEVO.
CROATIA - DAWN
Ruben wakes up and picks up a voice recorder.50.RUBEN BRANDT
(sighs)
The next painting is Bazille’s
Portrait of Renoir.
0470. INT. - MUSÉE d'Orsay. PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING
With well-rehearsed moves, the team cuts the wires, removes
the frame, separates the canvas and then roll Frédéric
Bazille’s Portrait of Renoir up.
CUT TO:
EXT. - MUSÉE D'ORSAY. PARIS. FRANCE - EVENING - CONTINUOUS
The gang walks out of the museum. They pass by Giuseppe, who
waited for them outside to hand the information to Vincenzo.
GIUSEPPE
(to the phone)
They got it! M-m-m-mimi is with
them. They’re getting into a
vintage Tatra.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO (O.S.)
I need Mimi at any cost. The rest
can die!
Suddenly, police cars approach with sirens and two cars park
in front of the gang’s Tatra. Commandos jump out from the
cars with guns in their hands. The gang is frozen. The
commandos don’t pay attention to them, they just run towards
the museum. The gang slowly drives away with the tube.
0480. EXT. - PESCARA HIGHWAY. ITALY - DAY
Ruben and the team are on their way to Pescara, unaware of
being surrounded by mafiosos .
Suddenly, a mafioso on a motorbike appears next to the car
and starts to fire at them.
RUBEN BRANDT
Watch out!
BYE-BYE JOE
Damn!
Bye-Bye Joe fires back and the mafioso falls off the
motorbike. Straight after, a helicopter turns up on the sky
and begins to fire.
Mimi and Bye-Bye Joe shoot back. A driver of a truck crane in
front of them is on the phone.51.TRUCK CRANE DRIVER
Giuseppe, tell Vincenzo not to
worry, we’ve got this covered, OK?
He catches a glimpse of the Tatra in the rear-view mirror.
TRUCK CRANE DRIVER (CONT’D)
(singing)
Hey, hey, here comes a little
birdy, come on here to Daddy!
Right next to him, a tank truck appears. The other driver
indicates that the gang is approaching.
TRUCK CRANE DRIVER (CONT’D)
Turn, turn, turn...!
The driver suddenly takes a sharp turn and the two trucks
squeeze the gang’s car in between. Suddenly, a crane grabs
the Tatra and starts to lift up the car.
BYE-BYE JOE
Bloody hell!
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Bloody hell! Jesus! Oh my God!
RUBEN BRANDT
Watch out!
MIMI
Joe, take the ‘copter, the truck is
mine!
BYE-BYE JOE
Alright, alright, I got it!
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Here we go!
Mimi jumps out of the car window, straight onto the crane.
Bye-Bye Joe climbs out of the car, jumps out too and tries to
catch the landing skid of the helicopter.
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
(shouts)
Aaaaaah!
RUBEN BRANDT
Come on, Joe! Come on!
Bye-Bye Joe hardly catches the landing skid of the helicopter
and kicks a man with the machine gun straight in the face.
BYE-BYE JOE
How you doing? 52.Meanwhile, Mimi fights with another mafioso on the truck
crane.
MAN ON THE TRUCK
Give it to me! Give it to me, baby!
The mafioso tries his best, but Mimi kicks the mafioso down.
MIMI
Haha... You big banana head!
Above them, Bye-Bye Joe kicks the machine gun guy off the
board of the helicopter.
BYE-BYE JOE
Have a nice day, mate!
The machine gun guy falls of the helicopter straight into a
huge billboard next to the highway.
MACHINE GUN GUY
(shouts)
Aaah!
The pilot just realizes what happened behind him.
PILOT
(stuttering)
I’m... I’m the pilot. I’m just a
pilot.
Bye-Bye Joe shows him that he needs to leave.
PILOT (CONT’D)
Okay, okay, okay, okay... I know.
Just let me take a parachute. No
problem. No problem. I’ll jump,
I’ll jump. I’ll jump.
The pilot jumps off the helicopter.
Mimi takes over the control of the crane and tries to take
the Tatra down.
MIMI
Boys, it’s time to get down!
Meanwhile, the truck driver suddenly steps on the gas pedal.
TRUCK CRANE DRIVER
Alright, let’s have a party!
An overpass is approaching.
RUBEN BRANDT
Hey! We’re gonnasmash into the
overpass!53.TRUCK CRANE DRIVER
Bye-bye guys!
Mimi realizes that there is no time to take the gang down.
RUBEN BRANDT
Watch out!
Just the moment before the crane smashes into the overpass,
Mimi opens the crane grab and the Tatra flies over it,
landing hardly on the other side of highway. The truck with
Mimi on board is still pulling behind the crashed crane. Bye-
Bye Joe throws down a rope from the helicopter for Mimi.
BYE-BYE JOE
Here you go!
TRUCK CRANE DRIVER
Oh! That won’t be easy, baby!
The truck crane driver suddenly takes a sharp turn, trying to
prevent Mimi from catching the rope. Mimi falls off the
crane, but in the last moment she manages to catch the rope.
Because of the too sharp turn, the heavy crane grab hits the
tank truck. Both trucks lose control.
TANK TRUCK DRIVER
(in Scottish)
Shite!
(beat)
County buggery fucktole bumshite !
(beat)
Oh my god!
The tank truck cross turns on the highway slightly crushing
into the tunnel in front of the Tatra. It cuts off the
Tatra’s roof, which slips in to the tunnel.
The truck crane has no time to stop and it crashes straight
into the tank truck. Both explode.
Mimi and Bye-Bye Joe are in the helicopter on the other side
of the tunnel and are waiting for the Tatra to come out.
After a long time of uncertainty, the roofless and damaged
Tatra comes out of the tunnel with the rest of the gang on
board.
MIMI
Hi guys!
Finally, the highway is clear ahead of them.
CUT TO:54.0490. EXT. - YACHT. THE ADRIATIC - DAY
Ruben's behind the wheel of the Deep Blue yacht.
Mimi falls asleep on the deck.
EXT./INT. - MIMI'S DREAM. - DAY
Mimi is looking at a toy on a shelf in a shop. She slowly
stretches her hand towards it. Suddenly, the bird from Mimi's
self-portrait appears on her hand. The bird turns her head
towards Mimi, as if it is asking her not to steal. Mimi
hesitates. At once, she grabs the bird, leaves the store and
throws the bird into the air. She starts running down a
beautiful meadow when she sees a man in the distance. She
runs towards him, while shouting:
MIMI
Ruben, I'm free! I’m free!
The man doesn’t turn around.
MIMI (CONT’D)
Ruben?
When she gets closer, the man turns around. But it’s not
Ruben. It is Mike Kowalski.
CUT TO:
EXT. - YACHT. THE ADRIATIC - DAY
Mimi wakes up on the yacht, confused.
0510. INT.- MIKE KOWALSKI'S APARTMENT. WASHINGTON DC. THE
UNITED STATES - DAY
Mike sits at his desk, watching his laptop.
MIKE KOWALSKI
Well, well, well. Frank Duveneck’s
Whistling Boy was the 11th and
Bazille’s Renoir the 12th. The last
one is Double Elvis.
(gets up)
And the Double Elvis is finally
being put on display! A Pop Art
exhibition in Tokyo! Hockey, the
end of the game is very, very near.
CUT TO:55.EXT. - THE FACADE OF MIKE KOWALSKI’S APARTMENT - DAY
Boris removes the surveillance bug from the glass of the
large window of Kowalski's apartment.
0520. INT. - VILA IN TOSCANA. ITALY - DAY
Vincenzo Delangello is with his three mafiosos in Italy.
VINCENZO DELANGELLO
(on the phone)
Thanks Boris!
(turns to Giuseppe)
Giuseppe, tell Filippoto mobilize
all the people!
GIUSEPPE
Yes, boss!
CUT TO:
EXT. - INDUSTRIAL PORT - NIGHT
FILIPPO(57) is standing in a phone booth in an industrial
port. A tied body of a man is seen in the background.
FILIPPO
Next robbery is Tokyo, Pop Art
Exhibition. Do you understand?
CUT TO:
EXT. - ZONE TOLERANCE. MEXICO. - NIGHT
A SPANISH MAFIOSO (35) drives a car, while talks on the
phone.
SPANISH MAFIOSO
(IN SPANISH)
Sí, sí, sílo tengo. El siguiente
roboes en Tokio, en el Exposición
del Pop Art.
(Yes, I got it. The next
robbery is in Tokyo at
the Pop Art Exhibition.)
CUT TO:
EXT. - HELICOPTER. FRANCE - DAY
A FRENCH MAFIOSO (37) on a helicopter is behind a big
automatic gun. He flies above the highway, while on the
phone.56.FRENCH MAFIOSO
(In French)
Ah, Tokyo! Aucunprobleme . Ne vous
inquiétez pas, Monsieur, tout est
souscontrôle . Tresbientôt,
Monsieur!
(Of course, Sir! No
problem, don’t worry,
everything is under
control. I'll see you
soon!)
CUT TO:
INT. - ROADS OF RUSSIA. RUSSIA - NIGHT
A RUSSIAN MAFIOSO (40) is in a car with a woman.
RUSSIAN MAFIOSO
(in Russian)
Naskolyko ya ponyal,spokoyno
Ninochka , spokoyno !
Ya dolzhen ehatyv Tokyo. Ya budu
tam.
(As far as I understood...
Take it easy, Ninocka...
I should go to Tokyo.
I’ll be there.)
CUT TO:
INT. - PUB. SERBIA - DAY
A HUNGARIAN MAFIOSO (42) is in a pub, drinking in Vojvodina,
Serbia.
HUNGARIAN MAFIOSO
(In Hungarian)
Hogyhogy nemértem? Értem!
Következõ melóTokióban lesz! Na!
Nem?
(What do you mean I don’t
understand? I
understand. The next job
will be in Tokyo. No?)
CUT TO:
EXT. - ABANDONED FACTORY - EVENING
A cell phone rings. A man soaked of gasoline, tied to a
chair, with a duct tape across his mouth, frantically shakes
his head and rolls his eyes. A MAN WITH THE CAN (35) puts the
gasoline can down and picks up the cell phone. 57.MAN WITH THE CAN
(to the phone)
Not now, I’m busy!
MAN WITH THE CAN (CONT’D)
(to the phone)
Not now!
He grabs the matches.
CUT TO:
EXT. - STREETS OF BANGKOK. THAILAND - NIGHT
A THAI MAFIOSO (35) leans against a wall on the street while
on the phone. He plays with a yo-yo ball.
THAI MAFIOSO
(In English with an
accent)
Jajaja. Tokyo, I’ll be there.
CUT TO:
EXT. - GRAN SASSO. ITALY - DAY
On the top of a rock hill, an ITALIAN MAFIOSO (30) is laying
next to a woman and his motorcycle.
ITALIAN MAFIOSO
(IN ITALIAN)
Ripetaper favore, non l’hocapito
bene! Toronto?
(I didn’t understand,
repeat it please!
Toronto?)
MAFIOSO I. (O.S.)
Tokyo!
ITALIAN MAFIOSO
(IN ITALIAN)
Ah Tokyo! Mi piaceesserea Tokyo!
Civediamo dopodomani !
(Ah, Tokyo! I like to be
in Tokyo! See you the day
after tomorrow!)
0530. INT. - MODERN ART MUSEUM. TOKYO. JAPAN - DAY
Ruben arrives on a motorbike in front of the Modern Art
Museum where the "Masterpieces of Pop Art" exhibition is set
up. He enters the museum and meets the gang.58.RUBEN BRANDT
Places everyone - and let’s start!
Ruben stays at the entrance, while the team moves towards the
exhibition.
George and Margaret are also among the audience.
GEORGE
It’s so just peaceful here,
Margaret. I love it!
MARGARET
George, sush! Be quiet! The
performance has already started!
Look!
BYE-BYE JOE
(He is holding Mimi on his
head)
The taking of this painting is part
of the performance art piece. In
the future, everyone here will be
world famous for 15 minutes!
Mimi, while balancing on Bye-Bye Joe’s head, holds a bow and
an arrow with both her feet and targets the apple on
Fernando’s head. Membrano stands behind Fernando, and both of
them are standing in front of the wall with Warhol’s Elvis I
and II.
The arrow hits the apple, but before hitting the painting
Membrano catches it. The visitors are amazed. Membrano Bruno
starts to cut out the canvas with the arrow. A young woman
reacts (VISITOR, 30):
VISITOR
Oh my goodness! What... what is
going on?!
A young man standing next to her turns to the woman (ART
SNOB, 30):
ART SNOB
Shh! Miss, please! Just a little
respect for the performance
artists!
Membrano Bruno and Fernando roll Warhol’s Elvis I and II up
while saying incomprehensible words in a rhythmical way. They
put the canvas into the tube.
BYE-BYE JOE
Those were our 15 minutes of fame.
Thank you so much, Sayonara!
The four “performers” take a bow in front of the audience.
Suddenly Giuseppe shouts.59.GIUSEPPE
That is the Collector! Get him!
0535. INT. - MODERN ART MUSEUM. TOKYO. JAPAN - DAY -
CONTINUOUS
A sudden burst of machine-gun fire plunges the exhibition
hall into chaos. As the fight begins between the gang and the
mafiosos , Ruben, who was watching the performance from the
distance, starts running towards the team to help. During the
fight, Ruben’s team use the Pop Art works as weapons.
Fernando throws the roll with the painting to Mimi.
FERNANDO
Mimi!
Mimi catches the roll.
MIMI
Got it!
Fernando knocks down a mafioso with one of Jim Dine’s
shovels. Ruben hits another one, while Bye-Bye Joe throws a
glass from Daniel Spoerri’s Eat Art Bilder’s towards a third
one.
BYE-BYE JOE
Pleased to meet you!
Membrano Bruno knocks a mafioso over a R obert Rauschenberg’s
Stuffed Goat.
MEMBRANO BRUNO
You son of a motherless goat!
Bye-Bye Joe is fighting with another one.
BYE-BYE JOE
Eins, Zwei, Drei!
Mimi throws the painting to Membrano.
MIMI
Here!
As Mimi kicks a mafioso, he falls onto the jukebox and a
music starts playing ( Even the Bad Times Are Good, performed
by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes ).
Bye-Bye Joe hits a firing mafioso with a plate from Daniel
Spoerri’s Eat Art.
BYE-BYE JOE
What goes up, must come down.60.As the plate hits him, the mafioso falls off the wall.
However, another mafioso starts running towards him. Bye-Bye
Joe spins Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel and kicks him.
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
(spins the wheel)
The wheel spins, take a look
around!
A young man is amazed by the fight.
ART SNOB
What a fascinating example of
interdisciplinary performance art!
Bravo!
Everyone claps.
The team is fighting the mafiosos while taking care of the
painting.
Membrano throws the tube to Bye-Bye Joe who jumps over Robert
Rauschenberg’s Monogram and kicks a mafioso.
BYE-BYE JOE
Here you go! Get some of that son!
Here we go! Easy there mate! Easy
there!
After tossing the tube to Mimi, Bye-Bye Joe grabs Daniel
Spoerri’s Kichka's Breakfast I from the wall and fights off
another mafioso.
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Want some of these? Get some here!
Come on! Come and get it! Whoa!
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Easy there! Yeah! Have some of
this! Get some here!
Come on! Come and get it!
As Mimi rolls behind an artwork on the ground, a mafioso,
standing next to Allen Jones’ Hatstand , begins firing at her.
She passes the tube to Ruben.
MIMI
(shouting)
Here!
Ruben throws the roll to Membrano.
MEMBRANO BRUNO
Here!
Mimi knocks down two mafiosos next to George Segal’sPortrait
of Sidney Janis with Mondrian Painting .61.MIMI
Hahaha!
Bye-Bye Joe is fighting with a mafioso, next to Tom
Wesselman’s Bathtub.
BYE-BYE JOE
Would you like?
MAFIOSO I.
What?
BYE-BYE JOE
To take that shower, now!
He kicks him into Wesselman’s artwork. The gang keeps
fighting the mafiosos .
MIMI
Oopsydaisy!
He grabs a piece of Billy Apple’s 2 minutes 33 seconds and
throws it at an attacker .
BYE-BYE JOE
I got this covered! Bloody hell!
(O.S.)
Jesus! Oh my god! Have some of this
you bloody idiot!
That’s it!
The team is taking down the mafiosos one by one. Mimi hands
the tube to Ruben. The gang receives a huge applause.
BYE-BYE JOE (CONT’D)
Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you!
Thank you so much! Cheers!
It’s been wonderful! Have a lovely
time, bye-bye! See you next time!
Good night! Sayonara!
They all leave the exhibition with the tube, and we see
Kowalski’s leg stopping the wheel on the floor.
0555. INT. - RUBEN BRANDT’S VILLA. THE ISLAND OF BIŠEVO.
CROATIA - NIGHT
Ruben sits in his villa in front of the wall where all
thirteen paintings are hanged. He takes a look at them one by
one, sipping his whiskey. When he reaches for the table to
put down his glass, he sees another whiskey, but with a
Hitchcock-shaped ice cube. It suddenly starts shaking, and
Ruben tries to get up from his seat, only to realize that he
is chained to the chair’s arm with a handcuff. He desperately
tries to free himself but with no success. The whole room
starts shaking, including the paintings. We see a close-up of 62.Velázquez’s Infanta Margarita. It falls from the wall.
0570. INT. - RAILCAR - DAY
Ruben Brandt suddenly wakes up. He is alone in the railcar,
sitting by the window, holding onto his wrist. He sees the
book Enjoying Art on the floor down by his feet. He picks it
up, starts reading and discovers a photo of his patients with
a personal message inside. He looks out of the window,
smiling, thinking of what has happened to him. We see
Kowalski's reflection in the window, then we transit to the
view from the train. We slowly zoom out to the view of a
single railcar going towards the sunset. We zoom out to a
road where a snail is trying to cross, and a railroad
emerges, the same one we see in the opening scene of the
film.
THE END
FADE TO BLACK
ENDING CREDITS63. | screenplays |
The 2018 Ligue 1 is the 51st season of Ligue 1, the top professional league for association football clubs in the Republic of the Congo, since its establishment in 1961. The season started on 27 January 2018 and concluded on 21 October 2018.
Final standings
See also
2018 Coupe du Congo
References
Category:2018 in the Republic of the Congo sport
Category:Football competitions in the Republic of the Congo
Congo Republic | wikipedia |
Caparangasan is an island barangay located in Samar province of the Philippines.
Geography and climate
Caparangasan is situated in the central western and also coastal part of the island of Samar within the Philippine Sea and archipelago. It is bordered by Lungib to the south, Napalisan to the west, Sondara Island to the north, and Malayog to the east.
It has a total area of approximately of flat coastal plain terrain with an elevation ranging from above the sea level. It experiences a variety of wind types: the Amihan, from northeast, the Timog, from south, the Habagat, from southwest, the Canaway, from northwest, the Cabunghan from east, the Dumagsa, from southeast, and the Salatan from the west. It has distributed rainfall throughout the year, except during the summer months, from February through May, when it is dry.
External links
Category:Islands of Samar province
Category:Barangays of Samar province | wikipedia |
Gakuen Alice 1. Chapter 1
A/n: This set of drabbles is for AoGA's May Madness 2014. I'll be posting one each day for the whole month of May in adherence to the Bloody Holy Month. Hahahahaha... Wish me luck. OTL
**A is for Alice**
**~o0o~**
Sumire dislike her alice. No, disliked was too soft a word to describe her feelings toward it. She hated it. She hated it when the academy forced her parents and took her away without any word. She hated it even more when she got to meet other children with better alices than her. Illusion, pheromones, telepathy, speed – why couldn't hers be any one of these? It had to be something weird and useless. She resented hers and everyone for their cursed alices.
Koko felt nothing when he entered the academy. He already knew, or to be exact, _read_ the minds of his parents. He couldn't blame them. They were in a tight spot. And the academy offered quite a remarkable sum of money to help them with their situation. He also knew that his parents were scared of his alice. He knew that they were relieved that he would be gone. He didn't need his alice to read what was inside their minds. He just felt it inside his heart. So when he arrived in the academy, got introduced as a new student, and was partnered to a snobbish girl with permy hair – he knew he will never accept anyone with alices. Because he kept hoping. If only he were normal, if only he couldn't do mind reading then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.
**~o0o~**
**A/N: **This is for the first day. Not that much but I'll expound on it later in the next days. I hope. OTL Happy May Madness 2014 Author's of Gakuen Alice! 8D And don't forget to leave a bloody review. Mwuahahahaha..
2. B is for Beginnings
**A/N: **Posted the next chapter a bit late. OTL Came home from work last night and got tired so I went to sleep earlier. Plus, I didn't like to first version so I'll keep those for future uses next time. Hahaha... Well, enjoy reading! :D
**B is for Beginnings**
**~o0o~**
"I'm getting worried," Narumi said then heaved a sigh. Misaki looked up from a set of quizzes he was busily grading.
"Worried about what?" he asked with a quirked brow. He waited for the man to answer his question but it looked like the blonde was lost staring in space. He tried to calm himself. 'Have patience,' he thought. Minutes has passed but still no answer was given.
"Oi. Are you even gonna answer me?" Misaki asked irritated. A long dejected sigh was the only reply. 'It's a lost cause. Why do I even bother talking to this idiot?' He thought again and continued marking the papers.
"I'm worried about the new student," Narumi replied after a long pause of silence. He looked at the folder opened in front of him. He was reading the information about Koko and tried to find out how he could crack open the walls built by the child. He couldn't blame him though, judging from the circumstance of how he got to enter the academy. From the moment he arrived, not a single word was uttered, neither did he participate in any of his classes. Koko would just silently sit at his own desk and look at everyone with a poker face. Narumi didn't know what to do and it was eating him up.
Misaki took a peek inside the folder. "Mind reader, huh?" he read aloud. "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Must be annoying as hell, reading other people's mind even if you didn't want to."
Narumi groaned. "I need to help him."
Misaki thought silently for a moment. "How about assigning somebody as his partner?" he suggested. "That might help him to open up to other students if he had someone he can consider as a friend."
"Who?"
"How about her?" Misaki pointed to a photo of a glaring girl with permy hair.
"Hmm… Shouda-san?" the blonde asked hesistantly then commented. " She's a bit loud and pushy sometimes. During her first week, she was already bossing everyone around and it even took a while to stop her and another girl student from clawings each other out."
Misaki shrugged. "It was only a random suggestion."
Narumi thought about it and smiled.
" You know what? That might just work."
**~o0o~**
**A/n: **Yep. No, KokoSumi interaction here in this chapter but I'll write more about them next time. Hohoho.. Don't forget to write a review! /flipshairSumirestyle 8D
End file.
| fanfiction |
we consider the following general framework for decision under uncertainty : let @xmath12 be a decision variable while @xmath13 is a _ disturbance _ ( or _ noise _ ) parameter whose distribution @xmath1 ( with support @xmath2 ) is known , i.e. , its list of moments @xmath14 , @xmath15 , is available in closed form or numerically .
both @xmath16 and @xmath17 are linked by constraints of the form @xmath18 , where @xmath19 for some polynomials @xmath20 $ ] , that is , @xmath21 is a basic semi - algebraic set .
next , for each fixed @xmath22 , let @xmath23 be the ( possibly empty ) set defined by : @xmath24 let @xmath25 be fixed .
the goal of this paper is to provide tight approximations of the set @xmath26 in the form : @xmath27 where @xmath7 is a polynomial of degree at most @xmath8 .
such approximations are particularly useful for optimization and control problems with chance - constraints ; for instance problems of the form : @xmath28 indeed one then replaces problem ( [ chance3 ] ) with @xmath29 where the uncertain parameter @xmath17 has disappeared .
so if @xmath30 is a basic semi - algebraic set then ( [ chance4 ] ) is a standard polynomial optimization problem .
of course the resulting decision problem ( [ chance4 ] ) may still be hard to solve because the sets @xmath31 and @xmath32 are not convex in general .
but this may be the price to pay for avoiding a too conservative formulation of the problem
. however , in the formulation ( [ chance4 ] ) one has got rid of the disturbance parameter @xmath17 , and so one may apply the arsenal of non linear programming algorithms to get a local minimizer of ( [ chance4 ] ) . if @xmath33 is not too large or if some sparsity is present in problem ( [ chance4 ] ) one may even run a hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations to approximate its global optimal value . for the latter approach the interested reader
is referred to @xcite and for a discussion on approaches to various control problems with chance constraints we refer to the recent paper of jasour et al . @xcite and the references therein . in jasour
@xcite the authors have considered some control problems with chance constraints .
they have provided an elegant formulation and a numerical scheme for solving the related problem of computing @xmath34 this problem is posed as an infinite - dimensional lp problem in an appropriate space of measures , that is , a generalized moment problem ( gmp ) as described in lasserre @xcite . then to obtain @xmath35 they solve a hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations , which is the _ moment - sos _
approach for solving the gmp .
this gmp formulation has the particular and typical feature of including a constraint of _ domination _ @xmath36 between two measures @xmath37 and @xmath38 .
such domination constraints are particularly powerful and have been already used in a variety of different contexts .
see for instance henrion et al .
@xcite for approximating the lebesgue volume of a compact semi - algebraic set , lasserre @xcite for computing gaussian measures of semi - algebraic set , lasserre @xcite for approximating " the lebesgue decomposition of a measure with respect to another one .
it has been used by henrion and korda @xcite for approximating regions of attraction , by korda et al .
@xcite for approximating maximum controlled invariant sets , and more recently in jasour and lagoa @xcite for a unifying treatment of some control problems .
the approach that we propose for determining the set @xmath32 defined in ( [ chance2 ] ) is very similar in spirit to that in @xcite and @xcite and can be viewed as an additional illustration of the versatility of the gmp and the moment - sos approach in control related problems .
indeed we also define an infinite - dimensional lp problem @xmath39 in an appropriate space of measures and a sequence of semidefinite relaxations @xmath40 of @xmath39 , whose associated monotone sequence of optimal values @xmath41 converges to the optimal value @xmath42 of @xmath39 .
an optimal solution of the dual of @xmath43 allows to obtain a polynomial @xmath7 of degree @xmath44 whose super - level set @xmath45 is precisely the desired approximation @xmath32 of @xmath31 in ( [ chance2 ] ) ; in fact the sets @xmath46 provide a sequence of _ outer _ approximations of @xmath31 .
we also provide the strong asymptotic guarantee that @xmath47 where @xmath10 is the lebesgue measure on @xmath11 , which to the best of our knowledge is the first result of this kind at this level of generality .
( the same methodology applied to chance - constraints of the form @xmath48 would provide a sequence of _ inner _ approximations of the set @xmath49 . ) another contribution is to include a technique to accelerate the convergence @xmath50 which otherwise can be too slow .
this technique is different from the one used in @xcite for the related problem of computing the volume of a semi - algebraic set , and has the nice feature or preserving the _ monotonicity _ of the convergence of @xmath50 .
it can be applied whenever @xmath51 is the lebesgue measure @xmath52 on @xmath53 or @xmath54 or @xmath55 for some homogeneous nonnegative polynomial @xmath56 . at last but not least ,
in principle we can also treat the case where the support @xmath53 of @xmath1 and the set @xmath21 are not compact , which includes the important case where @xmath1 is the normal distribution .
we briefly explain what are the ( technical ) arguments which allow to extend the method to the non compact case .
of course this methodology is computationally expensive and so far limited to relatively small size problems ( but after all the problem is very hard ) .
an interesting issue not discussed here is to investigate whether sparsity patterns can be exploited to handle problems with larger size .
let @xmath57 $ ] be the ring of polynomials in the variables @xmath58 and let @xmath57_d$ ] be the vector space of polynomials of degree at most @xmath8 ( whose dimension is @xmath59 ) .
for every @xmath6 , let @xmath60 , and let @xmath61 , @xmath62 , be the vector of monomials of the canonical basis @xmath63 of @xmath57_{d}$ ] .
a polynomial @xmath64_d$ ] is written @xmath65 for some vector of coefficients @xmath66 .
given a closed set @xmath67 , denote by @xmath68 the space of finite borel measures on @xmath69 and by @xmath70 the convex cone of polynomials that are nonnegative on @xmath69 .
* moment matrix . * given a sequence @xmath71 , let @xmath72\to\r$ ] be the linear ( riesz ) functional @xmath73
given @xmath74 and @xmath6 , the _ moment _ matrix associated with @xmath74 , is the real symmetric @xmath75 matrix @xmath76 with rows and columns indexed in @xmath77 and with entries @xmath78 * localizing matrix . *
given a sequence @xmath71 , and a polynomial @xmath79 $ ] , the _ localizing _ moment matrix associated with @xmath74 and @xmath80 , is the real symmetric @xmath75 matrix @xmath81 with rows and columns indexed in @xmath77 and with entries @xmath82 in this section we recall how to approximate as closely as desired the lebesgue volume of a compact semi - algebraic set @xmath83
. it will be the building block of the methodology to approximate the set @xmath31 in ( [ chance1 ] ) .
let @xmath84 be a box and let @xmath85 be the lebesgue measure on @xmath11 .
let @xmath86 , assumed to be compact
. for convenience and with no loss of generality we may and will assume that @xmath87 for some @xmath88 .
[ th1 ] let @xmath89 and with nonempty interior .
then @xmath90 and @xmath91 is the unique optimal solution .
problem ( [ th1-eq1 ] ) is an infinite - dimensional lp with dual @xmath92}\,\{\,\int_\x p\,d\lambda : \mbox{$p\geq0 $ on $ \x$ ; $ p\geq1 $ on $ \k$}\,\}.\ ] ] and there is no duality gap , i.e. , @xmath93 .
let @xmath94 , @xmath95 . to approximate @xmath96
one solves the hierarchy of semidefinite programs , indexed by @xmath6 : @xmath97 the sequence @xmath41 is monotone non increasing and @xmath98 as @xmath99 .
however the convergence is rather slow and in @xcite the authors have proposed to replace the criterion @xmath100 by @xmath101 where @xmath102 $ ] is a polynomial that is nonnegative on @xmath21 and vanishes on the boundary of @xmath21 . if one denotes by @xmath103 an optimal solution of ( [ primal ] ) then @xmath104 and @xmath105 as @xmath99 .
the convergence @xmath105 is much faster but is not monotone anymore , which can be annoying because we do not obtain a decreasing sequence of upper bounds on @xmath96 as was the case with ( [ primal ] ) . for more details the interested reader
is referred to @xcite .
this is why we propose another technique to accelerate the convergence @xmath106 in ( [ primal ] ) while maintaining its monotonicity .
so let @xmath102 $ ] be such that @xmath107 for all @xmath108 ( but @xmath109 is not required to be nonnegative on @xmath21 .
then by stokes theorem , for each @xmath62 : @xmath110 and so the optimal solution @xmath111 of theorem [ th1 ] must satisfy @xmath112 therefore in ( [ primal ] ) we may impose the additional moment constraints @xmath113 to appreciate the impact of such additional constraints on the convergence @xmath106 , consider first the toy problem where @xmath114 $ ] and @xmath115 $ ] with @xmath116 .
let @xmath117 ( resp .
@xmath118 ) be the optimal value of ( [ primal ] ) without ( resp . with ) the stokes constraints .
results are displayed in table [ table1 ] .
.the effect of stokes constraints ; @xmath119 [ cols="^,^,^,^,^,^",options="header " , ] [ table2 ] theorem [ th1 ] is valid for any measure @xmath120 and not only the lebesgue measure @xmath10 . on the other hand ,
the additional stokes constraints ( [ stokes ] ) are valid provided that @xmath121 or @xmath122 for some homogeneous polynomial @xmath64 $ ] .
then with @xmath123 , @xmath124
after the preliminary results of section [ notation ] , we are now in position to state our main result .
let @xmath1 be the distribution of the noise parameter @xmath125 , and let @xmath10 be the lebesgue measure on @xmath11 .
the notation @xmath126 denotes the product measre on @xmath127 , that is , @xmath128 with @xmath3 as in ( [ setk ] ) , and for every @xmath22 , let @xmath129 be as in ( [ chance ] ) ( possibly empty ) .
consider the infinite dimensional lp : @xmath130 [ th2 ] the unique optimal solution of ( [ chance - lp ] ) is @xmath131 and the optimal value @xmath42 of ( [ chance - lp ] ) satisfies @xmath132 that @xmath133 follows from theorem [ th1 ] ( with @xmath126 instead of @xmath10 in theorem [ th1 ] ) . by tonelli s theorem @xmath134 @xmath135
let @xmath136 for all @xmath137 .
as we did for ( [ primal ] ) in [ notation ] , let @xmath138 and @xmath139 , @xmath140 , and relax ( [ chance - lp ] ) to the following hierarchy of semidefinite programs , indexed by @xmath6 : @xmath141 and of course @xmath142 for all @xmath8 .
the dual of ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) is the semidefinite program : @xmath143_{2d}}&\ { \displaystyle\int_{\x\times\om } p(\x,\o)\,\lambda\otimes\mu(d(\x,\o))\\ \mbox{s.t.}&p(\x,\o)\,\geq\,1,\quad\forall ( \x,\o)\in \k\\ & \mbox{$p$ is sos}\,\}. \end{array}\ ] ] again as @xmath21 is compact , for technical reasons ( but with no loss of generality ) we may and will assume that in the definition ( [ setk ] ) of @xmath21 , @xmath87 for some @xmath88 .
[ th3 ] let @xmath21 and @xmath144 be with nonempty interior .
there is no duality gap between ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) and its dual ( [ chance - lp - dual ] ) , i.e. , @xmath145 for all @xmath8 .
in addition ( [ chance - lp - dual ] ) has an optimal solution @xmath146_{2d}$ ] such that @xmath147 define @xmath148_{2d}$ ] to be : @xmath149 then @xmath150 for all @xmath22 and @xmath151 as @xmath99 . that @xmath145 is because slater s condition holds for ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) .
indeed let @xmath152 be the moments of @xmath111 in theorem [ th2 ] and @xmath153 be the moments of @xmath154 ( on @xmath144 ) .
then as @xmath21 has nonempty interior , @xmath155 and @xmath156 for all @xmath8 .
similarly as @xmath144 has nonempty interior , @xmath157 .
moreover since the optimal value @xmath117 is finite for all @xmath8 this implies that ( [ chance - lp - dual ] ) has an optimal solution @xmath146_{2d}$ ] .
therefore : @xmath158 where @xmath150 follows from @xmath159 on @xmath21 .
finally the convergence @xmath160 follows from theorem [ th1 ] .
then as @xmath161 on @xmath11 , the sets @xmath162 , @xmath6 , form a sequence of outer approximations of the set @xmath31 .
in fact more can be said .
[ conv ] let @xmath163_{2d}$ ] be as in theorem [ th3 ] .
then the function @xmath164 is nonnegative on @xmath11 and converges to @xmath165 in @xmath166 .
in particular @xmath167 in @xmath10-measure , and @xmath10-almost uniformly for some subsequence @xmath168 .
as @xmath50 as @xmath99 , @xmath169 whence the convergence to @xmath165 in @xmath166 .
then convergence @xmath170 in @xmath10-measure , and @xmath10-almost sure convergence for a subsequence follow from standard results from real analysis .
see e.g. ash ( * ? ? ?
* theorem 2.5.1 ) .
as we next see , the convergence @xmath171 in @xmath10-measure established in corollary [ conv ] will be useful to obtain strong asymptotic guarantees .
we here investigate asymptotic properties of the sequence of sets @xmath46 , as @xmath99 .
[ cor - final ] with @xmath31 as in ( [ chance1 ] ) , let @xmath172 where @xmath173 is as in theorem [ th3 ] , @xmath6 .
then : @xmath174 observe that @xmath175 and therefore @xmath176 next , for each @xmath177 , write @xmath178 by the convergence @xmath179 in @xmath10-measure as @xmath99 , @xmath180 and so @xmath181 this implies @xmath182 which in turn yields the desired result ( [ cor - final - eq1 ] ) .
in the previous section we have provided a converging sequence @xmath46 of outer approximations of @xmath31 .
clearly , the same methodology now applied to a chance constraint of the form @xmath183 would provide a converging sequence of _ inner _ approximations of the set @xmath184 . as we already have seen in section [ section - stokes ] for the semidefinite program ( [ primal ] ) , as @xmath99 the convergence @xmath50 of the optimal value of ( [ chance - lp - relax ] )
can also be slow due to the gibb s effect that appears in the dual ( [ chance - lp - dual ] ) when approximating the indicator function @xmath185 by a polynomial .
so assume that @xmath1 is the lebesgue measure on @xmath53 scaled to be a probability measure ( but the same idea works if @xmath186 , or if @xmath187 for some homogeneous polynomial @xmath109 ) .
then again we propose to include additional constraints on the moments @xmath74 in ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) coming from additional properties of the optimal solution @xmath111 of ( [ chance - lp ] ) .
again these additional properties are coming from stokes formula but now for integrals on @xmath129 , then integrated over @xmath11 .
let @xmath188 $ ] be the polynomial @xmath189 .
for each fixed @xmath190 , the polynomial @xmath191 vanishes on the boundary @xmath192 of @xmath129 .
therefore for each @xmath15 , stokes theorem states that @xmath193\ , d\mu(\o)\,=\,0.\ ] ] so define the polynomial @xmath194 $ ] of degree @xmath195 , by : @xmath196 then for each @xmath197 @xmath198 equivalently , in view of what is @xmath111 in theorem [ th2 ] , @xmath199 therefore in ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) we may include the additional moments constraints @xmath200 , for all @xmath140 such that @xmath201 . in some applications the noise @xmath17
is assumed to follow a normal distribution @xmath1 on @xmath202 .
therefore @xmath53 is not compact anymore and the machinery used in @xcite can not be applied directly .
however the normal distribution satisfies the important carleman s property .
that is , let @xmath203 be the riesz functional associated with @xmath1 , i.e. , @xmath204 for all @xmath205 $ ]
. then @xmath206 in particular @xmath1 is _ moment determinate _ ,
that is , @xmath1 is completely determined by its moments .
these two properties have been used extensively in e.g. lasserre @xcite and also in @xcite , precisely to show that with @xmath207 not necessarily compact , one may still approximate its gaussian measure @xmath208 as closely as desired .
again one solves ( [ th1-eq1 ] ) via the same hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations ( [ primal ] ) ( but now with @xmath1 instead of @xmath10 ) . for more details the interested reader
is referred to lasserre @xcite . in view of the above ( technical ) remarks ,
one may then extend the machinery described in [ main ] for the case where @xmath202 , @xmath1 is the gaussian measure , and @xmath129 ( @xmath22 ) is not necessarily compact . a version of stokes theorem for non compact sets is even described in @xcite to accelerate the convergence of the semidefinite relaxations ( [ primal ] ) ( with @xmath1 instead of @xmath10 ) .
it can be used to accelerate the convergence of the semidefinite relaxations ( [ chance - lp - relax ] ) , exactly as we do in [ accelerate ] for the compact case .
we have presented a systematic numerical scheme to provide an sequence of outer approximations @xmath209 of the feasible set @xmath31 associated with chance constraints of the form @xmath210 .
each outer approximation @xmath32 is the @xmath165-super level set of some polynomial whose coefficients are computed via solving a certain semidefinite program . as @xmath8 increases @xmath211 , a nice and highly desirable asymptotic property .
of course this methodology is computationally expensive and limited to problems of small size .
but we hope it can pave the way to define more efficient heuristics ( perhaps at the price of loosing the nice asymptotic properties ) . also checking whether this methodology can accommodate potential sparsity patterns
present in larger size problems , is a topic of further investigation .
99 r. ash . real analysis and probability ,
academic press inc . ,
boston , usa , 1972 d. henrion , j. b. lasserre , c. savorgnan , approximate volume and integration for basic semialgebraic sets , siam review 51 , no .
4 , pp . 722 - 743 , 2009 .
d. henrion , m. korda , convex computation of the region of attraction of polynomial control systems .
ieee trans .
control 59 , no 2 , pp . 297312 , 2014 .
a. m. jasour , n.s .
aybat , c. m. lagoa , semidefinite programming for chance constrained optimization over semi - algebraic sets , siam j. optim .
25 , no 3 , pp .
14111440 , 2015 a. jasour , c. lagoa , convex constrained semialgebraic volume optimization : application in systems and control , 2017 , arxiv:1701.08910 m. korda , d. henrion , c. n. jones , convex computation of the maximum controlled invariant set for polynomial control systems , siam j. control optim .
52(5):2944 - 2969 , 2014
. j. b. lasserre , moments , positive polynomials and their applications .
imperial college press , london , 2010 .
lasserre , lebesgue decomposition in action via semidefinite relaxations , adv .
42 , pp . 11291148 , 2016 .
lasserre , computing gaussian and exponential measures of semi - algebraic sets , arxiv:1508.06132 . submitted . | arxiv |
14,000 nurses and University of California…
14,000 nurses and University of California reach tentative contract agreement
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Courtesy photo)
By City News Service |
PUBLISHED: September 17, 2018 at 9:20 am | UPDATED: September 17, 2018 at 2:05 pm
LOS ANGELES — The California Nurses Association announced Monday that it has reached a tentative contract agreement with the University of California system.
The association said in a statement that the contract will benefit 14,000 registered nurses employed at the five major UC medical centers, 10 student health centers, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It says the agreement features host of improvements and protections for both patients and nurses.
If approved in voting starting this week, the contract would run through October 2022.
"This is such a tremendous accomplishment by nurses throughout the state, who stood strong for our patients and won the protections that they deserve because we will never stop advocating for safe patient care and for the rights of nurses as we provide that care," said RN and bargaining team member Randy Howell. "UC nurses stood union strong, and we used our collective voice to win an agreement that is going to benefit patients all over California for years to come."
The statement said the pact includes protections for staffing based on the level of care a patient' illness requires, not based on UC budgetary goals; protections from unsafe assignments to areas requiring specialty expertise; improved protections around shift rotation; and language ensuring RNs' right take their lawful meal and rest breaks.
"All of these safe staffing protections make for safe patient care … which is what UC patients deserve," according to the statement.
The agreement also includes protections from violence.
"Given that healthcare workers experience extremely high rates of workplace violence, nurses say it's critical that the tentative agreement states UC facilities must have a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan in place in line with California's nation-leading workplace violence law, as well as protections from sexual harassment," according to the statement.
Additionally, healthcare workers cannot protect their patients without being protected themselves, say nurses, and to that end, the tentative agreement includes language strengthening the policies and equipment necessary to control the spread of communicable diseases in the hospital.
The tentative pact includes pay increases of at least 15 percent over the term of the contract, with additional wages that address economic disparity for a number of locations and job classifications, contributing to the recruitment and retention of quality, experienced nurses for the community. Nurses dedicating their lives to caring for UC patients also deserve to retire with dignity, say nurses" who fought hard to ensure the tentative agreement preserves and protect pension benefits.
"We are beyond thrilled at this huge achievement, which is not just a win for RNs, but for everyone in our care. We did this for communities all over California, because it is our duty to advocate for them," said bargaining team member Michelle Kay, Nurse Practitioner at UCB Student Health.
The California Nurses Association has 100,000 members statewide and is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest and fastest growing union of RNs in the nation. CNA/NNU say they have won landmark health and safety protections for nurses and patients in the areas of staffing, safe patient handling, infectious disease and workplace violence protection.
There was no immediate reaction from the UC system, but Dwaine B. Duckett, UC vice president for human resources, praised both sides after the tentative agreement was announced last weekend.
"Leadership from both sides got back to the table and worked very hard to resolve the issues, and we are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement at this point," Duckett said. "We appreciate our nurses ongoing dedication to their patients and to UC."
Man in San Jacinto stabs himself, is Tased by deputies and later dies | slim_pajama |
Love Hina 1. prologue
Prologue
In this beautiful morning, a disturbing sound appeared: "you pervert!" This sound was followed by multiple explosion sounds and a guy flying away at the horizon. This phenomenon happens daily and started five years ago. But for three years, it didn't happen. Why? is it that Naru is sick? did Keitaro stop peeping? or can Keitaro stop her attacks now? the most likely possibility is the first one ,as many think, but it's not it. The reason why there was no Naru-punch for weeks is because Naru isn't there anymore. Indeed after the loss of Motoko to her sister, Motoko had to marry Keitaro as punishment. From there on Naru entered in a state of depression. She started to drink, often more than Kitsune, and tried many times to reverse the decision. But surprisingly, the denial of her request was not from Tsuruko, but from Keitaro and Motoko. Indeed, after a month of marriage Keitaro got deeply in love with Motoko. He started to learn shinmeiryuu techniques and started to live the traditional Japanese way.
Naru, knowing that she can't win a battle over Keitaro leaves Hinata-sou and starts and new life in America. After her leave, everyone else started to leave as well. Mutsumi had to take on her "family business" in Okinawa. Su returned to the kingdom of MolMol and is now the queen there. Shinobu opened a very popular restaurant near Tokyo. Sara and Haruka went with seta for an excavation and haven't been back since. Kitsune took the teashop then. And for Keitaro and Motoko, they went to live in the Aoyama Family house.
But no one knows that one day, what will be a happy reunion turns to be a disaster at the end
Author's comment
Well that's the first part of the story. It's my first fanfic so please write some comments. It's just an intruduction to know if you people want me to continue writing so i'm going to wait for a lot of reviews before finishing writing the first chapter of this serie
2. the quietness before the storm part 1
Chapter 1: the quietness before the storm, part 1
"Phew I finally arrived here" said Naru looking at this old dusty inn that she used to call home. "But why the hell did Keitaro told me to come here? He knows that I live in America and that I probably won't come!"
"But you came nevertheless right?" asked a voice beside her.
It was Kitsune; she was still running The Hinata tea shop and used part of the earnings to renew the ex-dormitory. She let her hairs grew and have now attached them on its two sides again
"I was so alone after you guys left, but now that everyone is coming back, we can have fun again." She continued.
"What do you mean everyone?" replied Naru
"It wasn't mentioned in the letter?"
"No"
"Well then I'll tell you, Keitaro organized a reunion of all the tenants of Hinata-sou"
"WHAT! Damn you Keitaro!" and she started to punch the teashop's wall repetitively
"Now that you are here come in and take a drink! You're not underage anymore am I right?"
"Ok, I accept your offer, but I'm leaving immediately after"
* * *
One hour later…
Naru was sitting on a chair yapping around and sometimes hitting the high desk in front of her
"You know what? hips after Keitaro had ahips forced marriage with Motoko, I was so depressed thathips I could jump off the roof.hips and kill myself" shouted Naru
"Geez girl what happened to you? You already drunk 10 bottles of sake and you're still going? You need to stop this" ordered Kitsune.
The expression on her face wasn't the normal cunning one but a rather serious and almost scary one.
"I'm not listening to what you say to me. You know how much pain I suffered? That's why I ran off to America. And this damn Keitaro" she suddenly heavily punched the desk again "Just reopened my wounds with this reunion."
Kitsune got mad and was trying to control it when suddenly
knock knock
"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU WANT"
"Umm… sorry, I didn't want to disturb this conversation." A beautiful young girl answered
It was Shinobu. She was the third person to leave Hinata-Sou after Naru and Kitsune. She was now taller and a lot prettier than before. But she changed so much that none of the two girls recognize her.
The attitude of Kitsune instantly changed.
"Welcome, welcome to the Hinata teashop how may I serve you?"
"Oh not much really, I just want to know if a person named Mitsune Konno still works here."
"Well that's me, how may I help you?"
"Kitsune is that you?" asked Shinobu
Without waiting for a response, she rushed to her and grabbed her tightly.
"Whoa girl who are you?
But she continued to cry without listening and when finally she calmed down, she started to explain herself.
"If you don't remember me, my name is Shinobu Maehara…"
"WHAT? Shinobu is that really you?" asked both girls, surprised.
"Umm… yes it's me…You don't remember me don't you? I think I'm going to leave then."
"Wait!" shouted Naru and Kitsune, gripping her tightly so that se couldn't leave
"Look we're sorry Shinobu, you changed so much that we didn't recognize you" said Naru
"And what's that clothe all about!" added Kitsune.
Indeed, Shinobu was not wearing a normal shirt and a skirt. She was instead wearing a white buttoned shirt, white pants and a tall white hat.
You guessed it, she was a chef
After leaving Hinata-Sou, Shinobu went to their parents shop and restarted her family business (anime episode 2-3). With all the training she got with the other tenants of Hinata-Sou the Café got quite popular. With the earnings she decided to move it to Tokyo where it became one of the most popular café in the giant city.
"Well that's all, that's how I ended up wearing this"
"Wow Shinobu." Said Naru." For you to be like this… you must be happy"
"Umm…" was the response.
"Come on Shinobu…"Said Kitsune seeing her old habits didn't change. "Say whatever you want we won't laugh at you"
"Ok…there goes nothing" said Shinobu, trying to gather her courage for the next phrase. "After Urashima-sempai got married with Motoko, went into a depression and wanted to suicide myself. I cried everyday and my parents saw that, so they kind of forced me to take the shop in charge so that I could clear my head. After a while I started to like this job so I continued to work there. So now, I cleared my mind and I completely passed over this incident"
"You mean… that you're ok that Keitaro is with Motoko?" asked Naru, surprised
"Not that I'm ok, I can now face the truth and move on. At least I don't start crying every time I see them together." Said Shinobu with a sour smile.
Naru really started to admire Shinobu now, not only did she became a successful person, but she also passed over Keitaro. On the other side, herself abandoned university, started working in a pizza shop and got drunk every night to try to forget about Keitaro.
As she was thinking, she was interrupted by Kitsune.
"So Naru, how was life in America?"
"Well… I can't say much." replied Naru. "I moved to New York City where I live now."
"What were you doing there? Did you continue studying or get a job?"
"Uh… I have a job as a…uh… Japanese Teacher." Lied Naru who knows very well that she works in a pizza shop
"well looks like the you got a pretty good job there" replied Kitsune. "let me congratulate you with this bottle of sake. And you too Shinobu!"
"uh… no thanks Kitsune…" replied Shinobu, blushing
"Come on Kitsune! You know as well as me that I can't take it anymore!" answered Naru, half drunk
"Come on guys, you don't have to be scared, take some!" continued Kitsune, starting to force Shinobu and Naru to drink the sake.
"KITUNE, NO! Gulp… gulp…"(she can't talk because Kitsune poured the sake in her mouth.)
After an hour, they were all sleeping peacefully on the floor of the teashop and this lasted until the morning the next day
End file.
| fanfiction |
Solve my confusion about electrons?
When a glass rod is rubbed with a silk cloth, both get charged: The silk gets positively charged and the rod gets negatively charged.
My question is the following: How/why do these objects return to a more or less neutral state after a certain amount of time. The glass rod is negatively charged, that means there is a net surplus of electrons. Where do they go?
If you put your rod in a ultra high vacuum it will stay charged almost forever, but since you probably keep it exposed to air, this is where the electron excess slowly migrates (and the same for the electron defect in the silk). Since the charge exchange requires an hit between an air molecule and a spot of the rod where an electron excess is present, and not always this hit is effective, the discharge is quite a slow process; however humidity, so water molecules, can considerably speed it up.
| stackexchange/physics |
THE DEAD ZONE
"A VERY DEAD ZONE CHRISTMAS"
Production #15-4015
Written by
Karl Schaefer
Directed by
James Head
Production Draft - Blue Pgs: i-ii,1-22 Jun 15/05
Pink Pgs: i-ii,1-49 Jun 16/05
Full Yellow - Repaginated Jun 17/05
Full Green - Repaginated Jun 21/05
Gold Pgs: 15-16,18-21,31-32,36,41,43,48,51 Jun 21/05
2nd White Pgs: 3-5,7,13-14,17,21,25-27A,30,35-39,47 Jun 22/05
2nd Blue Pgs: 6,8-10,12,17,20,30,40,44,46-47,50,52,54-54A Jun 23/05
2nd Pink Pgs: i-ii,6-16,22-26A,27,28-29,32-33A,34,37-40A Jun 23/05 *
Copyright © 2005 Lions Gate Television. All rights reserved. No portion of this
script may be performed, published, sold or distributed by any means, or quoted
or published in any medium, including on any web site, without prior written
consent. Disposal of this script copy does not alter any of the restrictions
set forth above.Production Company:
Dead Zone Production Corp.DEAD ZONE: “ A Very DZ Christmas ” - CAST & SETS – 6/23/05 – PINK-2 i.
THE DEAD ZONE
“A VERY DEAD ZONE CHRISTMAS ”
CAST
JOHNNY SMITH
BRUCE LEWIS
WALT BANNERMAN
SARAH BANNERMAN
J.J. BANNERMAN
DEPUTY ROSCOE
REV. GENE PURDY
NON-SPEAKING
OTHER DEPUTIES
SECOND DRUG DEALER
LAST-MINUTE CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS
TWO SLACKER DRUG BUYERS ON BIKES
THREE MEAN-ASS DARK GREEN ELVES ?
BLIND MAN, ARMORED CAR GUARD &
PEDESTRIANS ALEX SINCLAIR
“SANTA”/NIGEL HUGHES
YOUNG “SANTA”/YOUNG NIGEL HUGHES
OLDER BROTHER/MATTHEW (AGE 12)
YOUNGER BROTHER/MITCHELL (AGE 8)
YOUNGEST BROTHER/MIKEY (AGE 6)
SURLY SANTA
SURLY DAD
GENERIC TOY STORE EMPLOYEE
SOCCER MOM TWO
SOCCER MOM ONE (1 LINE)
SLACKER CLERK
OLD CLERK
TYRONE
BOYS’ MOTHER
SMALL-TIME DRUG DEALER
STARLET/FEMALE VOICE
DIRECTOR (1 LINE)
BOYS’ FATHER
FILM CREW
TWO POLICE OFFICERS (1960’S) DEAD ZONE: “ A Very DZ Christmas ” - CAST & SETS – 6/23/05 – PINK-2 ii.
THE DEAD ZONE
“A VERY DEAD ZONE CHRISTMAS ”
SETS
INTERIORS
SMITH HOUSE
FOYER
LIVING ROOM
KITCHEN
DINING ROOM
JOHNNY’S OFFICE
BIG PETE’S GAME WORLD TOY STORE
TESLA PAWN BROKERS
SMALL OFFICE SET (1970’S)
BOYS’ HOUSE
LIVING ROOM-FULL & BARREN
MOTEL ROOM SET
UNKNOWN MOVIE SET
EXTERIORS
CLEAVES MILLS
CITY STREETS SUBURBIA
BOYS’ HOUSE
FRONT PORCH
CLEAVES MILLS TOY BOX TOY STORE
STREET PARKING IN FRONT
BIG PETE’S GAME WORLD TOY STORE
TESLA PAWN BROKERS
NEARBY ALLEY
UNKNOWN
MOVIE LOCATIONS (1980’S) *
ROOFTOP (1960’S) *
VEHICLES
JOHNNY’S CAR
SEVERAL SHERIFF PATROL CARS
*
*
ARMORED CAR (1980’S) * DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - TEASER - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 1.
THE DEAD ZONE
"A VERY DEAD ZONE CHRISTMAS "
TEASER
FADE IN:
A0 A0 EXT. SMITH HOUSE - DAY
SHOT to establish.
BRUCE (O.S.)
It's too big.
JOHNNY (O.S.)
Ya think?
1 1 INT. SMITH HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Johnny and Bruce struggle with a giant Christmas tree.
JOHNNY
Maybe we can chop a few feet off
the bottom.
BRUCE
Or cut a hole in the roof.
JOHNNY
You stick to Christmas dinner and
let me handle the ambiance.
BRUCE
I need some egg nog.
JOHNNY
Sounds good.
They drop the tree and head for the kitchen.
2 2 INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Bruce heads straight for the fridge and throws it open.
Something stops him in his tracks...
BRUCE
What in the hell is that?
Johnny reaches in and lifts out a giant poultry thing
sitting in a large roasting pan.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - TEASER - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 2.
2 CONTINUED: 2
JOHNNY
This, my friend, is a Turducken.
BRUCE
Turducken? You mean one of those
chicken-inside a duck-inside a
turkey things?
JOHNNY
That's the one.
BRUCE
It's kinda creepy lookin'. Like
Frankenstein meets Colonel Sanders.
Bruce taps it with a handy spoon. Tink-Tink.
BRUCE
And it's frozen solid.
JOHNNY
So?
BRUCE
So it's nearly noon. This thing
is gonna take until New Year's to
thaw.
JOHNNY
We can run warm water over it.
The DOORBELL RINGS.
JOHNNY
Worst case scenario, I break out
the blow torch and we blast the
sucker from the inside out.
BRUCE
That sounds appetizing.
Johnny heads for the door.
3 3 INT. AT THE FRONT DOOR - CONTINUOUS
Johnny has to shove the Christmas Tree aside to get to
the front door. He opens it, REVEALING...
ALEX SINCLAIR
The female psychic from "Double Vision".
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - TEASER - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 3.
3 CONTINUED: 3
JOHNNY
Alex? What are you...
(suddenly concerned)
Is everything alright?
ALEX
(slightly ominous)
I had a vision.
JOHNNY
(expecting the worse)
A vision?
ALEX
I was sitting at home and suddenly
I saw it. Clear as day. It was
me and I was spending another
Christmas by myself. Then I
thought to myself, who else do
you know that's probably on his
own this time of year?
JOHNNY
And you thought of me.
ALEX
Who else might want to hide away,
watch bad Kung Fu movies and drink
this outrageously expensive bottle
of French wine?
She holds out the bottle in one hand and the chop-socky
DVDs in the other. Johnny musters a weak, supportive
smile. Alex instantly realizes her mistake.
ALEX
Oh God. You have plans, don't
you? This is so embarrassing.
She starts away, as Johnny hurries in front of her.
JOHNNY
Wait. It's nothing, really.
Suddenly, Bruce comes through the doorway.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - TEASER - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 4.
3 CONTINUED: (2) 3
BRUCE
Johnny, I can't cook a damn
Christmas dinner for eight people
without pots and...
He stops as he sees Alex.
BRUCE
Oh, my bad.
ALEX
(to Johnny)
Nothing, huh?
JOHNNY
Bruce Lewis. Alex Sinclair.
BRUCE
The lady psychic?
ALEX
In the flesh.
Johnny gives Bruce a look.
BRUCE
Well, I guess I should get back
to my birds.
(as he leaves)
You are staying for dinner?
ALEX
I, uh...
JOHNNY
Absolutely!
BRUCE
I'll set another place.
He stumbles past the giant tree.
ALEX
Sounds like you're having a party?
JOHNNY
Just a few friends.
(then closer)
I can't believe you're here.
They come together for a quick kiss, it triggers:DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - TEASER - 6/22/05 - WHT-2 5.
3A 3A VISION - MATCH MOVE MORPH
The camera ramps around the Johnny and Alex, ending tight-
tight-tight on the frozen kiss.
A VOICE (O.S.)
Step away from the girl.
Johnny cautiously opens one eye to look at the source of
the voice. What he sees makes him break the kiss.
THEIR POV
Standing in Johnny's entryway is a surly young SANTA CLAUS
and three mean ass looking dark green elves. (This is
not the Santa we meet later, but an archetypal Santa.)
Santa raises a gun and points it at Johnny.
SURLY SANTA
I said step away.
JOHNNY
(to Alex)
Is this me or you?
ALEX
Me. Definitely me.
SURLY SANTA
(to Johnny)
I warned you. Now you're gonna
get what you deserve.
BLAM!! He fires at Johnny, ENDING THE VISION.
3B 3B RESUME JOHNNY AND ALEX - ENTRYWAY
Breaking the kiss as they come out of the vision.
JOHNNY
What was that?
ALEX
I have no idea.
FADE OUT:
END TEASERDEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 6.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
4 4 INT. SMITH LIVING ROOM - DAY
Bruce and Alex watch as Johnny finishes setting up the
tree.
ALEX
It's not so much Christmas that
bothers me, but what it represents.
The stress and turmoil. The
anxiety-induced shopping frenzy.
God forbid we shoot for a little
peace on Earth, Goodwill towards
Men.
JOHNNY
She's right. We'd all be a lot
better off if we just forgot all
the commercialism and looked for
a little more inner peace.
(checks his watch)
Oh man, I gotta go!
ALEX
Go?
JOHNNY
Toy store. If I don't get that
Ratchet Deadlocked video game, *
J.J.'s gonna be devastated.
ALEX
What happen to forgetting
commercialism and the search for
inner peace?
JOHNNY
You crazy? This is Christmas in
America.
He throws on his jacket.
BRUCE
Next thing you'll be telling me
there's no such thing as Santa
Claus.
ALEX
You mean the fictional character
created by New York City merchants
at the turn of the century to
encourage people to buy material
goods?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 7.
4 CONTINUED: 4
Bruce is putting his fingers in his ears...
BRUCE
I can't hear this.
He heads into the kitchen.
ALEX
I don't mean to sound cynical.
It's just that I experience my
visions through peoples' emotions,
and let's face it, around
Christmas, a lot of us are feeling
pretty lousy.
JOHNNY
On that happy note.
ALEX
Are you sure it's a good idea to
go out there considering what we
saw?
JOHNNY
You said it yourself, your visions
are metaphorical. I've been a
little naughty, but not nearly
bad enough for Santa to put a
bullet in my chest. Besides, I
promised J.J. that game.
ALEX
Okay, but I'm coming with you.
She grabs her jacket and they leave...
5 5 EXT. SIDEWALK - MOVING - DAY
Johnny and Alex walk and talk.
ALEX
Why do you think Santa would be *
carrying a .38 revolver? *
JOHNNY
I don't know, maybe he lives in a *
bad part of the North Pole.
He can see that she's genuinely bothered. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 8.
5 CONTINUED: 5
JOHNNY
Whatever it means, I'm sure it *
won't be that bad. *
ALEX
How can you be so sure?
JOHNNY
Because you're here. And that
has to be a good thing.
(then noticing)
There it is.
6 6 JOHNNY'S POV - THE CLEAVES MILLS TOY BOX TOY STORE - DAY
A generic toy store, located on a corner. A large sign *
in the window says: "RATCHET DEADLOCKED HEADQUARTERS".
7 7 EXT. CLEAVES MILLS TOY BOX - DAY
Johnny and Alex hustle across the street toward the side
of the toy store to see:
A LINE OF PEOPLE
Stretching down the sidewalk, grim-looking shoppers. *
ALEX
Looks like you aren't the only
last-minute shopper.
Johnny decides to ask a surly looking DAD.
JOHNNY
Excuse me? Is this the line to
buy the Ratchet Deadlocked game? *
SURLY DAD
(deadpan)
No, this is the line to see who
gets to spend the night with
Angelina Jolie.
JOHNNY
I see. Well, good luck with that. *
(to Alex) *
I guess we're waiting. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 9.
7 CONTINUED: 7
AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE
A nervous, teenage employee makes an announcement through
a large, battery powered bullhorn.
EMPLOYEE
Can I have your attention? The *
Toy Box regrets to inform you *
that we are completely out of the
Ratchet Deadlocked video game. *
A collective GROAN goes up from the people in line.
EMPLOYEE
(without irony)
Thank you and have a very Merry
Christmas.
A disgruntled shopper turns and BUMPS into Alex, as...
7A 7A SUDDENLY, WITHOUT WARNING - SFX
The crowd TRANSFORMS into ugly MOB, descending on the
hapless employee, crushing him in a rugby scrum. The
bent bullhorn and bits of his uniform fly above the angry
mob.
7B 7B RESUME - ALEX
Watches, reacting to her vision, stunned.
WIDER VIEW TO INCLUDE JOHNNY
Reveals Alex's POV to be a vision; the disappointed crowd *
leaving quietly. *
Directly ahead of then, TWO SOCCER MOMS. *
MOM ONE
This is the third store I've tried
today.
MOM TWO
I know one more place. But we
better hurry.
The Two Moms hurry off as Alex grabs Johnny by the arm. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 10.
7B CONTINUED: 7B
ALEX
Quick, give me a dollar.
JOHNNY
What?
ALEX
You don't want to disappoint your *
son, do you? *
JOHNNY
No.
ALEX
Then cough up a buck.
Johnny digs out a dollar bill and hands it to her.
ALEX
Follow me.
Alex leads him through the dispersing crowd in the parking
lot. She catches up with the Soccer Moms we saw a moment
ago.
ALEX
Excuse me!
The Moms STOP and TURN...
ALEX
I'm sorry, but I think you dropped *
this on the sidewalk.
She offer up the dollar bill.
MOM TWO
I don't think...
(then taking it)
Oh, yes. Thank you.
When the Mom touches the dollar bill, we HEAR A DZ WHOOSH - *
The view RAMPS INTO THE DOLLAR, then tracks from Mom Two's
hand, through the dollar, to Alex's hand, through Alex,
finally to Johnny, triggering:
8 8 VISION - MATCH MOVE MORPH - INT. BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD
Johnny and Alex are transported to another toy store where
they watch as Mom Two pays for her Ratchet Deadlocked at
the register while a SLACKER CLERK rings her up.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 11.*
8 CONTINUED: 8
SLACKER CLERK
You're lucky. That's the last
one in stock.
Alex looks around and sees a sign with the name of the
store, "BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD" -- as the vision ends.
9 9 RESUME PRESENT REALITY
As Mom Two takes her dollar, ending the vision. The women *
walk away. *
JOHNNY *
She just stole my dollar. *
ALEX
Forget it. We need to go. Do *
you know where Big Pete's is? *
JOHNNY
Yeah, but I thought you hated *
this whole last-minute shopping
thing.
ALEX
I do, but who can resist taking
down a couple'a dishonest soccer *
moms? *
Johnny nods as they take off across the street, hand-in- *
hand. *
10 10 EXT. BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD - DAY
Johnny and Alex get out of the car.
JOHNNY
This is the place.
Alex looks around. *
ALEX
I don't see them anywhere. We *
better hurry. *
In the background, we see some kids loitering. THREE *
BROTHERS -- 6, 8, and 12 -- we'll get to know them better *
later. *DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 12.
11 11 IN FRONT OF THE STORE
Johnny and Alex encounter a STRANGE OLD MAN, a lost-looking
SANTA wearing a maroon track suit, tennis shoes, a sad- *
looking red santa hat and holding a pillowcase full of *
something. He seems like a street person, talking to *
anyone who will listen.
"SANTA"
(a mild rant)
... I'm checking my list. You're
all on it... Every one of ya...
(he singles out Johnny)
... especially you.
JOHNNY
Merry Christmas.
Johnny heads past him into the store, followed by Alex *
who lingers in the doorway long enough to make eye contact
with "Santa". *
She holds his gaze a beat, as if she is trying to get *
something from him psychically. The moment passes and *
she keeps moving into the store. *
12 12 INT. BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD
Johnny at the sales counter. The Slacker Clerk, from the *
vision earlier, looks up from his gamer magazine. *
SLACKER CLERK
Can I help you?
JOHNNY
Yeah. Do you have the new Ratchet *
Deadlocked game?
SLACKER CLERK
Sorry.
Johnny seems confused, then...
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 13.
12 CONTINUED: 12
SLACKER CLERK
Wait. We might have one copy in *
back. Lemme check.
As he shuffles off... *
CLOSER ON ALEX
She's looking at the various gaming swag, until she locks
in on...
A SANTA DISPLAY
A life-sized smiling face of Santa hangs on the wall. *
She seems weirdly drawn to it, as she steps closer... *
ALEX POV - PLASTIC SANTA FACE
The SHOT PUSHES SLOWLY IN TIGHT on the face, as we HEAR...
MAN'S VOICE
(sudden desperation)
Help me! Please, somebody help
me!
ALEX
Stunned by the sudden plea, she turns to look outside.
HER POV - THROUGH THE WINDOW
As we/she realizes where the cries for help are coming
from. The "Santa" is now surrounded by the three boys,
swinging his bag at them. The OLDEST BOY, a street-wise
twelve-year-old, gets clocked with the bag, but manages
to grab it and wrestles with the old guy.
JOHNNY MEANWHILE
The Slacker Clerk returns, handing him the video game.
SLACKER CLERK
Your lucky day. This is the last *
one. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 14.
12 CONTINUED: (2) 12
Just as he's about to take possession of the holy-video-
grail, he's interrupted by...
ALEX
Johnny! Those kids out front.
They're mugging Santa Claus!
Johnny spins to look, seeing Alex already heading out the
door.
JOHNNY
Can you hold this for me?
SLACKER CLERK
Can't.
JOHNNY
But...
The clerk snatches it out of Johnny's hand. *
SLACKER CLERK
First come, first served. Store
policy.
Johnny rushes past the Soccer Moms, as he's going out the *
door.
JOHNNY
(low, to himself)
Damn.
13 13 EXT. BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD - MOVING WITH JOHNNY
Johnny rushes out of the store to help Alex and the Santa.
JOHNNY
Hey, leave the guy alone!
The boys take off up the sidewalk with the bag.
ALEX
They stole his bag.
JOHNNY
I got it.
Johnny chases them to the next corner, where he sees them *
duck into a dilapidated Pawn Shop. Johnny goes in after
them.DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 15.
14 14 OMITTED
15 15 EXT. BIG PETE'S GAME WORLD - DAY
Alex helps "Santa" over to Johnny's car and into the
passenger seat.
ALEX
There you go. Just take it easy.
"SANTA"
(pissed)
Little brats. Ten years ago, I
would've mopped the sidewalk with
all three of 'em.
ALEX
I'm sure you would have.
"SANTA"
Don't patronize me, sweet thing.
Alex is taken aback by his crusty demeanor.
ALEX
Is that anyway for Santa to talk?
"SANTA"
Santa? What the hell... *
He suddenly sees his reflection in the car's side mirror...
SANTA'S REFLECTION - MIRROR
The hat cocked slightly on his head. He seems confused. *
RESUME SCENE
ALEX
What's your name?
The old guy cocks his head the other way, trying to think.
"SANTA"
I don't remember. *
Johnny returns just in time to see the Soccer Moms leaving
with their prize, as the Slacker Clerk closes the store
behind them.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 16.
15 CONTINUED: 15
JOHNNY *
They got away. *
(re: "Santa")
Is he all right?
ALEX
He's having a little trouble
remembering things.
JOHNNY
Can you tell us your name? *
The guy is busy looking at himself in the mirror.
ALEX
That's one of the things he's *
having trouble with. *
He suddenly reacts...
"SANTA"
My bag! They took my bag!
ALEX
I think these fell out when they
took off. *
Alex holds a set of car keys. Johnny reaches out for *
them, triggering:DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT ONE - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 17.
16 16 VISION - EXT. ROOFTOP - CIRCA 1960'S
Our Santa is now dressed in a pin-stripe, three-piece
suit as he runs down an alley carrying a brown leather
bag. A couple of cops chase after him.
17 17 RESUME PRESENT REALITY - JOHNNY AND ALEX
Come out of the vision looking at the confused old man
standing smiling in front of them and wonder: just who
are they dealing with? Off their looks...
FADE OUT.
END ACT ONEDEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 18.
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
18 18 OMITTED
THRU THRU
20 20
21 21 INT. SMITH HOUSE LIVING ROOM - DAY
Sarah is up on a ladder, putting ornaments on the tree,
while Walt and J.J. string Christmas lights.
J.J.
So, is this psychic lady Johnny's
girlfriend?
WALT
That's a good question.
SARAH
I think it's great that he has
somebody to share the holidays
with.
J.J. hands her a big silver star.
WALT
What are we? Chopped liver?
Besides, isn't Johnny supposed to
be trimming his own tree?
SARAH
Are you kidding? Decorating the
tree is the best part of Christmas.
J.J.
Not better than presents.
WALT
Or turkey sandwiches.
J.J.
Or pumpkin pie.
WALT
Or turkey sandwiches.
J.J.
Or...
SARAH
Okay, I get it. I'll finish it
myself.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 18A.
21 CONTINUED: 21
Bruce enters wearing an apron. He holds a large soup
spoon up to Sarah as she steps off the ladder.
BRUCE
Taste this.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 19.
21 CONTINUED: (2) 21
SARAH
(sipping)
... too much salt.
BRUCE
That's what I was afraid of. I
warned Johnny that...
Just then Johnny enters through the front door, with Alex.
BRUCE
Where the heck have you been?
JOHNNY
We took a little detour.
(then introducing)
Alex, you know Walt.
WALT
Sure. Welcome back.
JOHNNY
And this is his wife, Sarah, and
J.J. -- my son.
SARAH
Hello.
J.J.
Are you Johnny's new girlfriend?
SARAH
J.J.
J.J
Is she?
Everyone looks away, as Alex fumbles an answer.
ALEX
Uh, well, that's kinda hard to
say.
(to Johnny)
Isn't it, John?
JOHNNY
Uh, yeah, I guess you could say
that we're...
Johnny suddenly realizes Santa is missing.
JOHNNY
Where'd he go?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 19A.
21 CONTINUED: (3) 21
BRUCE
Who?
Johnny quickly goes back out the door and comes back in
with the old man in tow.
JOHNNY
Look, I told you that you need to
stay with us. Understand?
"SANTA"
I was just checking out your
chimney. It looks like a slam
dunk.
JOHNNY
Everybody this is a new friend of
ours. We call him...
(beat)
Santa.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 20.
21 CONTINUED: (4) 21
BRUCE
Are you serious?
Santa looks Bruce up and down.
"SANTA"
Who are you? Betty Crocker?
Off the moment...
22 22 INT. KITCHEN - LATER
As Sarah and J.J. watch, Santa wolfs down a sandwich and
a big glass of milk. After he finishes, he belches.
J.J. seems slightly amused. Sarah slightly disgusted.
"SANTA"
Got any egg nog?
SARAH
Nonalcoholic.
"SANTA"
Pass!
J.J. studies the old guy.
J.J.
If you're really Santa, where's
your red suit?
"SANTA"
I just wear the suit when I'm
workin'. These are my street
clothes. You don't believe me,
ask me a question.
J.J. looks over at Sarah, who nods okay.
J.J.
What do I want for Christmas?
"SANTA"
Ummm, lets see... A new ball mitt.
No. A new bicycle. Uh-uh. You
want... Ratchet Deadlocked!
J.J.'s eyes widen. Even Sarah seems a little surprised.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 21.
22 CONTINUED: 22
"SANTA"
(to J.J.)
Pass the peanut butter, pee wee.
23 23 MEANWHILE - IN THE NEXT ROOM
Walt is on the phone as Johnny and the others talk.
JOHNNY
After they stole his bag, I chased
them into a store but they got
away out the back door. He can't
remember anything before that.
BRUCE
And you brought him here because?
JOHNNY
It's Christmas Eve. What was I
supposed to do with him?
ALEX
I think he's kinda cute.
Walt finishes on the phone and joins the group.
WALT
Well, there isn't any missing
person reports matching your guy's
description. You said he has a
history of violent behavior?
JOHNNY
In a vision, I saw him running
away from the police.
WALT
That would qualify. I'll get his
prints off a glass. If he's got
a record we'll know who he is in
a few hours.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 22.
23 CONTINUED: 23
BRUCE
If this old dude is willing to
shoot it out with the cops, do
you really want him spending
Christmas in your house?
WALT
He's got a point.
ALEX
Maybe if we find his bag, we'll
get some more clues about who he
really is.
JOHNNY
It might be worth taking him back
to the spot we found him.
(to Bruce)
How's dinner coming?
BRUCE
The Turducken is officially thawed.
WALT
The what?
BRUCE
The...
(to Johnny)
You explain it to him. I need to
check my yams.
Bruce walks away, as...
24 24 EXT. TESLA PAWN BROKERS - DAY
Johnny, Alex and "Santa" head into the store.
JOHNNY
(to Santa)
Does any of this seem familiar?
"SANTA"
Yeah, this is where those three
cockroaches got away with my stuff. *
ALEX
Maybe if we go inside.DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 23.
25 25 INT. TESLA PAWN BROKERS - DAY
Johnny leads Alex and "Santa" into the store. He finds
the same Old Clerk behind the counter.
JOHNNY
Remember me? *
OLD CLERK
You're the guy that was chasin'
those three kids.
JOHNNY
That's right. Listen, I was
wondering, have you ever see them
before? Maybe hanging around *
outside? *
OLD CLERK
(obviously lying)
Uh, not that I recall.
JOHNNY
Would you mind if we look around *
a little?
OLD CLERK
Okay. *
(not joking)
I'd like it even better if you
bought something.
Alex follows Johnny out of earshot of the clerk, then
pulls him aside, whispering.
ALEX
He's lying.
JOHNNY
I know.
ALEX
Why?
JOHNNY
I don't know.
"Santa" shouts from the front counter.
"SANTA"
Those are my pooka shells!
Johnny and Alex return to the front, finding "Santa"
pointing into a glass case.
OLD CLERK
Sorry, pal, but you're mistaken.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 24.
25 CONTINUED: 25
"SANTA"
I'm not your pal. And I know my
own stuff when I see it.
JOHNNY
What's going on?
"SANTA"
This shyster is fencin' my pooka
shell necklace.
OLD CLERK
I'm telling ya, this old rummy is
out of his mind. *
"SANTA"
Who are you callin' a rummy? I *
ought'a... *
Johnny has to physically restrain the old man.
JOHNNY
Alright, everybody just calm down.
(to the clerk) *
Can I see the necklace?
OLD CLERK
I don't have to show you anything.
ALEX
(pulling her phone)
Maybe we should call the Sheriff
and let him sort this out. *
JOHNNY
Yeah, sure, why not. *
Alex takes out her phone and starts to dial. *
OLD CLERK
Alright, alright, hold your water. *
You can look at them. But not
him.
He pulls the pooka shells out of the case and hands them
to Johnny. He looks at Johnny, then hands them to Alex, *
triggering:
26 26 VISION - MORPHING ON THE POOKA SHELLS
The VIEW WIDENS TO REVEAL: A younger version of "Santa",
dressed like it's the 70's, flower shirt, wide lapel,
white shoes, open collar -- and yes, pooka shells. He's
behind a desk covered in photos and camera gear.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 25.
26 CONTINUED: 26
Johnny and Alex watch as the door to the small office
bursts open, revealing a large Afro-American detective,
in the tradition of "Shaft". He looks pissed, staring
down Young "Santa". Johnny and Alex are caught between
them, like an unseen hologram.
YOUNG "SANTA"
What are you doin' here? *
Tyrone tosses a sheath of 8x10 photos at "Santa's" face.
TYRONE
You shoot these pictures?
YOUNG "SANTA"
You know I did. Is there a
problem?
"Santa" steps out from behind the desk and up to the other
man.
TYRONE
I paid you to find her. Just
find her.
YOUNG "SANTA"
She fell in love with somebody.
TYRONE
Who?
YOUNG "SANTA"
Me...
"Santa" cold-cocks the guy, knocking him out.
27 27 RESUME INT. TESLA PAWN BROKERS
Johnny and Alex come out of the vision, giving each other
a look.
ALEX
How much for the shells?
OLD CLERK
Ten bucks.
Alex digs the cash out of her pocket.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 26.
27 CONTINUED: 27
"SANTA"
Hold on. You're not gonna pay *
this low-life piece'a trash? *
She hands the guy the ten bucks.
ALEX
(to the clerk) *
You should be ashamed of yourself. *
Alex walks away, as Santa takes one last shot at the guy.
"SANTA"
If I was a few years younger, I'd
wipe that grin off your face the
hard way.
Santa walks away, leaving Johnny.
JOHNNY
He's not kidding.
Johnny walks away, leaving the guy holding the ten.
28 28 EXT. STORE - DAY
Johnny joins Alex on the sidewalk, as "Santa" buys hot
nuts from a street vendor twenty feet away.
JOHNNY
Seems our Santa has a bit of a
mean streak.
ALEX
I'm beginning to think Bruce might
be right. Maybe it's too dangerous
letting this guy run around free.
JOHNNY
The necklace was his. Besides,
aren't you even the least bit
curious about all this?
ALEX
You know what curiosity did to
the cat.
JOHNNY
We could always just touch him.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 26A.
28 CONTINUED: 28
ALEX
We could do that.
"Santa" steps back towards them eating his bag of nuts.
SANTA
These are great. You should...
Alex and Johnny BOTH grab him by shoulders and hold tight,
as if they're waiting for something to happen, but...
nothing.
JOHNNY
You see anything?
ALEX
Nothing. You?
JOHNNY
No.
ALEX
Maybe it's his memory loss.
JOHNNY
Could be. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 27.
28 CONTINUED: (2) 28
JOHNNY (CONT'D) *
You think you'd recognize the *
kids that stole your bag, if you *
saw them again? *
SANTA
I guess.
JOHNNY
Alright then, let's go.
Alex and Johnny head for the car.
SANTA
Wait a second. Who the hell are *
you people? *
Johnny steps back into FRAME and yanks the old guy away
with him.
29 29 INT. CAR - MOMENTS LATER
Johnny cruises the suburban streets of this crummy
neighborhood. Santa rides shotgun now, with Alex in the
back seat.
"SANTA"
What are we looking for? *
JOHNNY
I told you, we're looking for the
kids that stole your bag.
"SANTA"
Oh, right. I forgot.
ALEX
I'm not sure this is going to
work.
JOHNNY *
What other choice do we... *
"SANTA"
(pointing off)
THERE!
Johnny quickly STOPS the car.
"SANTA"
Over on the tire swing.
POV - THE YOUNGEST BROTHER
Swinging from an old tire swing.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 27A.
29 CONTINUED: 29
JOHNNY AND ALEX
Johnny shuts off the engine.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 28.
29 CONTINUED: (2) 29
JOHNNY
I'll go around behind him. Alex,
you wait thirty seconds and then
you go.
"SANTA"
What do want me to do?
JOHNNY/ALEX
Nothing!
Johnny starts to get out, then remembers and takes his
keys. Alex gets out the back.
"SANTA"
I'm not an invalid, ya know!
30 30 ABANDONED LOT
The kid's throwing rocks at the old house when he SEES
Alex walking towards him.
ALEX
I just want to talk to you.
Don't...
The kid bolts around the side of the house.
ALEX
Run.
She takes off after him. *
DIFFERENT ANGLE - THE KID
As he tears around the back side of the house, he SEES
Johnny waiting for him. He's trapped.
JOHNNY
Look, we don't want to hurt you. *
We just want to talk. *
But the kid turns and, using some piled up wood and debris,
runs towards a ten-foot-high fence and scurries over it.
JOHNNY *
(to Alex)
He went over the fence! *
Alex takes off to the right, as Johnny sprints around to *
the left. *DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 29.
31 31 EXT. ALLEY - MOMENTS LATER
The kid crawls out from under another broken fence. He
thinks he got away, as Johnny suddenly appears at the far *
end. The kid turns to run, but flies straight into Alex's *
arms.
ALEX
Gotcha!
YOUNGEST BROTHER
Put me down! I didn't do nuthin'!
ALEX
Stop squirming or I'll give you a
spanking!
Johnny helps control him.
JOHNNY
I told you, we just want to talk. *
He kicks Johnny in the knee.
JOHNNY
Yeeoowww!
The kid breaks free and starts to take off, as "Santa"
suddenly leaps out and strikes a hyperbolic karate stance.
"SANTA"
Kiiiiiiiiaaahhhh!!
The kid, Johnny and Alex all freeze, dumbfounded.
"SANTA"
(low, to himself) *
Where the hell did that came from?
Johnny quickly grabs the kid again. Santa suddenly spots *
something...
"SANTA"
Hey, that's my watch!
The oversized chronometer dangles from the kid's wrist.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT TWO - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 30.
31 CONTINUED: 31
ALEX
Look, you can talk to us, or you
can talk to the police. Choice
is yours.
YOUNGEST BROTHER
My brothers'll kill me.
JOHNNY
Nobody's killin' anybody. At
least not 'til after Christmas.
Alex hands Johnny the watch. Triggering:
32 32 VISION - CITY STREET - DAY - (CIRCA 1980'S)
A blind man with dark glasses and a tin cup waits near a
building entrance, the occasional PEDESTRIAN dropping in
a coin. A particularly fetching WOMAN walks past, and
the blind man sneaks a peek over the top of his glasses,
revealing himself to be our "SANTA". Just as he resumes
character, an ARMORED CAR pulls up and parks right in
front of him.
Johnny and Alex watch as the ARMED GUARD jumps out of the
armored car and runs into the building. A short beat
later he returns with the money bag, knocking on the back
door for the driver to let him into the truck. As soon
as the back door is open, "Santa" makes his move, pulling
a gun from his coat as he knocks out the guard and forces
his way into the armored car. We hear a SCUFFLE inside,
then Santa appears with the money bag and runs off down
the sidewalk with the Guards FIRING at him as he runs.
Johnny and Alex who MATCH-MOVE-MORPH out of the vision,
back to...
33 33 RESUME JOHNNY AND ALEX - PRESENT REALITY
They look at each other, then to "Santa", who is beginning
to feel their glare.
"SANTA"
What'cha all lookin' at me for?
Off his look.
FADE OUT:
END ACT TWODEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 31.
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
34 34 INT. SMITH HOUSE - DAY
At the dining room table, the Youngest Brother is consuming
mass quantities of pizza and soda, oblivious to Johnny,
Alex, Sarah, and Walt discretely watching from a distance.
SARAH
He acts like he hasn't eaten in a
week.
WALT
You might be right.
JOHNNY
His name is Michael O'Leary. The
other two are his brothers. Alex
got him to tell us where they
live. We're going to go check it
out.
WALT
I'll come with you.
JOHNNY
Actually I was hoping you'd babysit
"Santa" and his hungry elf. If
half of what we've seen is true,
I don't want him alone with Sarah
and J.J.
Walt nods. Johnny notices Alex fussing with her watch,
shaking it and listening for ticking.
JOHNNY
Something wrong with your watch?
ALEX
I must have broken it when I
grabbed the kid. I loved this
watch.
Bruce comes out of the hot kitchen, wearing an apron and
carrying a bowl as he whisks eggs.
BRUCE
Where's your allspice?
JOHNNY
All what?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 32.
34 CONTINUED: 34
BRUCE
It's like trying to cook with one
hand tied behind my back. And it
looks like dinner is gonna be
delayed.
JOHNNY
How delayed?
BRUCE
(thinks, then)
I'll get back to you.
He walks away whisking and mumbling to himself.
JOHNNY
You might want to keep an eye on
him, too.
35 35 EXT. EDGE OF SUBURBIA - DAY
Johnny and Alex pull up in front of a rundown tract home.
They get out and approach the house. They stop on the *
front porch. *
ALEX
Somebody's here.
JOHNNY
The brothers?
ALEX
(ominous)
Somebody else. *
Without taking her eyes off the front porch where she's
looking, she extends a hand out for Johnny to take.
He reaches out and takes her hand, suddenly able to see
what she's looking at.
36 36 THEIR POV - THE FRONT PORCH
THE DARK SHADOW of a sad but beautiful woman stands on
the porch, crying quietly, looking out past Alex and
Johnny, as if she's waiting for somebody. She's dressed *
all in black and wears a thin black veil over her face. *
Her gaze suddenly shifts to Alex -- it's unnerving that *
the vision is aware of her. The woman reaches out and *
takes Alex's hand.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 33.
36 CONTINUED: 36
MOTHER
My boys are so alone. Help them. *
Please? I'm begging you...
ALEX *
What can I do? *
She's squeezing Alex's hand.
MOTHER
They're in danger. They need *
someone to watch over them. *
ALEX
(in pain ) *
Stop! You're hurting me! *
MOTHER
You have to help them...
ALEX *
Let go! *
JOHNNY
Alex?!
Johnny helps Alex pull her hand away, ENDING THE VISION. *
37 37 RESUME PRESENT REALITY
Alex pulls back into Johnny's arms, terrified and hurt.
JOHNNY
What is it? What did you see? *
ALEX
(renewed determination)
We have to find those boys. We *
have to find then now. *
38 38 AT THE FRONT DOOR - MOMENTS LATER
Alex tries to open the front door, but it won't budge.
Johnny feels around the front door until he "senses"
something, then...
JOHNNY
Step back.
Alex moves aside as Johnny kicks it hard at the bottom *
and it swings open. DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 33A.
39 39 INT. BOY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Johnny and Alex find themselves in a near barren house.
Shafts of bright sunlight cut through from holes in the
ceiling and roof.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 34.
39 CONTINUED: 39
Over in one corner is a pathetic Christmas tree branch,
with a string of stolen lights and a few ad hoc ornaments.
JOHNNY
Hard to believe somebody lives
here. *
ALEX
The boys must have broken in so *
they'd have a warm place to sleep. *
It looks like they've been burning *
the furniture. *
JOHNNY
What about their parents? *
ALEX
That must have been the mother I *
saw on the porch. I'm afraid
she's dead. *
JOHNNY *
Look at this. *
POV - ON A BROKEN COFFEE TABLE
Amongst the clutter is a box of bullets, open, most of
its contents spilled out on the table top.
As Johnny reaches down and picks up the bullets, Alex
grabs his arm to go along for the ride, as it triggers:
40 40* OMITTED
AND AND
41 41
42 42 VISION - A GUN
In the hands of a twelve-year-old. The view RAMPS BACK
TO REVEAL the two Older Brothers, crouched down in the
alley next to the Pawn Shop.
The VIEW WIDENS AGAIN to reveal Johnny and Alex, in the
vision, watching over the boys' shoulders, where they see
what the boys are looking at:
A SMALL-TIME DRUG DEALER
Early twenties. Skinny. High.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/22/05 - WHT-2 35.
42 CONTINUED: 42
The boys watch as two SLACKERS ON BIKES ride up and buy
two small baggies of pot in a deft exchange. The DEALER
adds their money to a sizable roll, shoving it back in
his coat pocket.
DEALER
(sincere)
Merry Christmas, losers!
THE BOYS
Check that the coast is clear, then pull down their ski
masks.
YOUNGER BROTHER
I don't want to do this.
OLDER BROTHER
(with gun)
You wanna eat, don't ya? We do
this, we got enough money to go
find Dad. Don't worry. I've got
it under control.
Moving with as much courage as they can muster, the older
boy leads his brother up behind the Dealer, tapping him
on the shoulder.
DEALER
What do you punks want?
OLDER BROTHER
We want to sell ya something.
DEALER
What?
OLDER BROTHER
This.
The kid reveals the gun.
DEALER
Where'd you get it?
OLDER BROTHER
Never mind. You want it, or not?
DEALER
Does it work?
The Older Brother looks back at his brother, then steps
forward and lifts the gun, aiming at a junked out car in
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 35A.
42 CONTINUED: (2) 42
an empty lot.
He hesitates, then FIRES the gun, which EXPLODES in his
hand. The boy CRIES OUT, as he drops to the ground
covering his eyes. The Dealer panics and takes off up
the alley.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/22/05 - WHT-2 36.
42 CONTINUED: (3) 42
YOUNGER BROTHER
No!
Johnny and Alex watch in horror as the Younger Brother
tries to console his injured sibling. -- ENDING THE VISION.
43 43 RESUME JOHNNY AND ALEX - INT. BROTHER'S HOUSE
They come out of the vision, visibly shaken.
ALEX
What are we going to do?
JOHNNY
There's still time.
44 44 EXT. TESLA PAWN BROKERS - DAY
The Old Clerk locks up and heads up the street, the VIEW
FOLLOWING to REVEAL the Dealer, making a sale to the
PASSENGER of a car.
From this angle, in the BACKGROUND, we see the Second
Dealer, lurking.
DEALER
Merry Christmas, losers!
The car rolls off, the VIEW FOLLOWING to REVEAL:
45 45 THE ALLEY
Where the Two Brothers huddle, waiting.
THE DEALER
Warms his hands from the cold as the TWO SLACKERS ride up
on their bikes, just like in the vision.
THE BROTHERS
Watch the sale go down, then pull down their masks, waiting
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 37.
45 CONTINUED: 45
for the slackers to make their exit.
MITCHELL
I don't want to do this.
MATTHEW
(with gun)
You wanna eat, don't ya? We do
this, we got enough money to go
find Dad. Don't worry. I've got
it under control.
Watching the slackers ride off, the boys stand up and
start moving toward the street. Just as they are about
to emerge from the alley, the BLAST OF A SIREN and flashing
police lights, sends the boys to cover.
THE BOY'S POV
As SEVERAL PATROL CARS screech to a halt, surrounding the
hapless dealer. ROSCOE and several other DEPUTIES jump
out and swarm the dealer.
ROSCOE
Freeze!
They instantly find his stash and the roll of money.
ROSCOE
This belong to you, little man?
DEALER
I never saw that before in my
life! *
ROSCOE
... yeah, and I'm Dirty Harry.
THE BOYS
The older brother slips the gun in the trash, and they
start backing away down the alley only to find...
JOHNNY AND ALEX
Standing right behind them.
JOHNNY
You must be Mitchell?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 38.
45 CONTINUED: (2) 45
ALEX
And Matthew?
The boys look for a way to run, but Roscoe cuts off their
escape, coming up the alley. He pauses at the trash can
to pick up the discarded gun.
ROSCOE
You boys forget something?
MATTHEW
It wasn't our gun. We found it
in the bag. *
JOHNNY
What bag?
MITCHELL
It belonged to some old dude. He
looked like... Santa Claus.
Johnny and Alex share a knowing look, as Johnny takes the *
gun. *
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT THREE - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 39.
45 CONTINUED: (3) 45
JOHNNY *
You kids are lucky you never fired
this thing.
ROSCOE
What do you mean?
JOHNNY
The barrel's been blocked.
Somebody tries to shoot live ammo
and the whole thing would blow up
in your hand. Or what used to be *
your hand.
Johnny turns to hand Roscoe the gun, as... *
MATTHEW
Go!
The boys both make a run for it. Johnny's able to grab *
Mitchell, but Matthew manages to blow past Roscoe and *
sprints away up the alleyway. *
MITCHELL *
Go mattie, go! *
(to Johnny and Alex) *
You'll never catch my brother. *
Never. *
JOHNNY AND ALEX
Off their looks.
46 46* OMITTED
47 47* OMITTED
FADE OUT.
END ACT THREEDEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 40.
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
48 48 INT. SMITH HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
The Smith house seems alive with people. In the living
room, he finds J.J., Mikey, and Mitchell sitting crammed
together on the couch in front of the bigscreen, playing
last year's hot video game.
J.J
You guys live all by yourselves?
No mom or dad?
MIKEY
Our mom is dead.
(beat)
Do you have the new Ratchet *
Deadlocked game? *
J.J.
No, but my Dad's gettin' it for
me.
MATTHEW
Cool.
Sarah joins him.
SARAH *
You look beat. *
JOHNNY
I am. *
(beat) *
Listen, I'm sorry Christmas got *
so messed up. Look at this. Two
juvenile delinquents, a Santa
Claus with amnesia and the
loneliest female psychic on the
planet. Not exactly a Norman
Rockwell painting.
SARAH
When I was a kid, my Mom always
did Christmas. She'd start
planning the day after
Thanksgiving. By Christmas Eve,
she was a puddle of tears. I
guess the expectations always
exceeded the reality. But it was
always okay because we were all
together.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 40A.
48 CONTINUED: 48
JOHNNY
Why didn't I marry you? ... oh
right, I was in a coma.
She smiles.DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GOLD 41.
49 49 TIGHT ON A TELEVISION SCREEN
Flipping through the channels randomly.
50 50 WIDER TO REVEAL - INT. JOHNNY'S OFFICE
Alex and "Santa", the old guy mesmerized by the screen as
he channel surfs. Johnny enters.
ALEX
He's been like this for the better
part of an hour. Any word on the
older brother?
JOHNNY
Nothing yet.
"SANTA"
I know it's here somewhere.
Alex looks to Johnny and shrugs.
51 51 INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Johnny comes into the kitchen to find Walt stirring one
of the many pots on the fire.
JOHNNY
Where's the Iron Chef?
WALT
He went to the store. Here, stir
this, my arm's starting to cramp.
JOHNNY
Any news about our new friends?
WALT
Yes and no. "Santa's" still a
John Doe.
JOHNNY
The boys?
WALT
Alex was right about their mother.
She died of breast cancer four
months ago.
JOHNNY
The father?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 42.
51 CONTINUED: 51
WALT
Neighbors never saw him.
JOHNNY
So, those kids have been alone
all this time?
WALT
Apparently. I've got an unmarked
at the house, in case the other
one comes back.
JOHNNY
(stirs a beat, thinking)
Do me a favor. Give me twenty
minutes, then tell your guy to
pull out, use his lights and siren.
WALT
You got an idea?
JOHNNY
Maybe.
52 52 EXT. BOYS' HOUSE - DAY
After a beat, the police car suddenly lights up, firing
up the siren as he police-overdrives out of there.
53 53 INT. BOYS' HOUSE - DAY
The house is dark as Matthew slips in. He rummages around,
then finally finds it -- "Santa's" bag.
JOHNNY
I figured you'd come back.
The kid spins around, to find Johnny standing behind him.
JOHNNY
I just want to talk.
MATTHEW
Where are my brothers?
JOHNNY
They're safe.
MATTHEW
Juvie?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GOLD 43.
53 CONTINUED: 53
JOHNNY
My house.
(beat)
I know about your mother. I'm
sorry.
MATTHEW
(trying to be tough)
What do you want?
JOHNNY
Where's your father, Matthew?
The kid looks down.
JOHNNY
I'm just trying to help you and
your brothers.
Matthew, exhausted, sits down on the broken couch. He
suddenly seems like a boy, instead of a tough street kid.
MATTHEW
Mom and dad were gonna get
divorced. One night, she woke us
up and told us to stuff all our
clothes into some garbage bags.
She said we were leaving, that my
dad didn't want us anymore. We
didn't even get to say good-bye.
(beat)
After she died, they were going
to split us up. So we took off.
All we had was this picture.
Matthew pulls the worn snapshot of a dad and three small
boys out of his back pocket. The picture was obviously
taken when the boys were very young.
When Johnny touches the picture, we hear a DZ WHOOSH, but
don't see the vision.
JOHNNY
How about we give Santa back his
bag and go have some dinner? You
ever had Turducken?
54 54 INT. JOHNNY'S OFFICE - DAY
Alex is asleep in the chair, bathed in the blue light
from the TV in the otherwise dark room. As we watch her,
the sounds of voices become audible.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 44.
54 CONTINUED: 54
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
Don't stand there and lie to me.
You never loved me.
MALE VOICE (O.S.)
Everything I did, I did for you.
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
If only I could believe you.
MALE VOICES (O.S.)
Look at me. Look into my eyes.
Are these the eyes of someone
lying to you?
A change in the pitch of the male voice wakes Alex and
she sits up, looking at the television.
ON THE SCREEN - A MOVIE - CIRCA 1980'S
Looking over the shoulder of the man, his face obscured,
as the woman stares into his eyes.
MALE VOICES
I know I've done a lot of bad
things in my life. But not this.
ALEX
Suddenly figures out what's different about the voice.
Now there's two male voices, speaking in unison.
She turns to look at "Santa" who is still sitting next to
her, no longer channel surfing, but watching this movie,
repeating the man's dialog word for word.
"SANTA" AND MALE VOICE
It's going to be different this
time. Don't you see that? I
love you. I love you more than
I've ever loved anyone.
Alex looks from "Santa" to the television, where she sees
a close-up of the Woman, listening to the Man's words.
FEMALE VOICE
We can't go on pretending none of
this has happened.
Just as it would be natural to cut to the Man's close-up,
the VIEW SHIFTS AWAY FROM THE TV TO A TIGHT VIEW OF ALEX
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 45.
54 CONTINUED: (2) 54
reacting to something on television, something she slowly
realizes the significance of.
"SANTA" AND MALE VOICE (O.S.)
Why not? Who cares what the rest
of the world thinks. It's just
us now. Just you and me.
ALEX
... oh... my... god.
Off Alex's stunned expression.
55 55 INT. SMITH HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Johnny and Matthew come in the front door.
MATTHEW
What are you, like a millionaire
or something?
JOHNNY
Not exactly.
MATTHEW
Where are my...?
The two brothers come running from the next room to see
their older brother.
MIKEY
Matthew!
MITCHELL
We were worried about you!
JOHNNY
You guys know each other?
Alex suddenly appears, excited...
ALEX
Thank God you're back. You have
to see this...
Off Johnny's confused expression...DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 46.
56 56 INT. OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER
ON THE TELEVISION
It's that same sappy 1980's Love Story, but now the Man
and Woman are in a car, driving along through an obvious
PROCESS SHOT.
"SANTA" AND MALE VOICE
Why can't we just keep on driving
and never look back. There's
nothing back there for us now.
FEMALE VOICE
We can't run for the rest of our
lives.
"SANTA" AND MALE VOICE
Why not? As long as we're
together.
REVEALING JOHNNY AND ALEX
Watching from the open doorway.
JOHNNY
So, he memorized some old movie.
How does that help us?
ALEX
Look closer.
"SANTA" AND MALE VOICE (O.S.)
I never knew it could be like
this.
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
But for how long? For how long?
JOHNNY
Okay, he memorized a really bad
old movie.
ALEX
Look again... at the man on screen.
Johnny skeptically turns his attention back to the movie.
ON THE TELEVISION
It takes a beat to recognize him, but then the MALE
CHARACTER takes off his sunglasses and there's no denying
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 47.
56 CONTINUED: 56
it -- The driver of the car in the movie is "Santa" --
only younger.
JOHNNY
It's him.
Johnny flips on the lights, which seems to break "Santa"
from his trance.
JOHNNY
Why didn't you tell us you were
an actor?
"SANTA"
I didn't remember until just now.
ALEX
Johnny, I'd like you to meet Nigel
Hughes, star of stage and screen.
I looked him up online.
JOHNNY
That explains why we saw him doing
the things he was doing. They
were movie parts.
ALEX
And the stuff in his bag...
Johnny dumps the contents onto the floor. It's just junk,
props from his old film career.
"SANTA"
I remember now, I was at my
apartment. I was going to play
Santa and pass out some of my
memorabilia at a retirement home
around the corner. I felt a little
dizzy and then I... I must have
hit my head, because the next
thing I know I was fighting with
those kids on the sidewalk.
Alex reaches down and picks up a hat, the same Sinatra-
cool hat from the movie. She hands it to Johnny,
triggering:
57 57 VISION - THE MOVIE (1980'S) - INT. CAR - MOVING (PROCESS)
"Santa" is back behind the wheel, oversteering his way
through a slalom of "poor man's" process turns.
THE VIEW RAMPS BACK TO REVEAL: OTS Johnny and Alex, still
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GOLD 48.
57 CONTINUED: 57
holding the hat, watching the car from what seems an
impossible angle.
Slowly, they turn to look behind them, reacting to what
they see.
THE VIEW RAMPS AGAIN TO REVEAL: What they see, THE FILM
CREW SHOOTING THE MOVIE. They must have been there the
whole time, they just never turned around to look.
DIRECTOR
... and cut! That's a print!
A crane swoops down, PASSING THROUGH Johnny and Alex as
the VISION ENDS.
58 58 RESUME PRESENT REALITY
Johnny gives "Santa" his hat.
"SANTA"
I feel so foolish. All the trouble
I've caused. I wish there was
some way I could make it up to
you.
JOHNNY
Now that you mention it.
59 59 INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Starting tight on the star atop the tree, the VIEW WIDENS
to reveal a perfectly decorated tree, surrounded by
everyone.
J.J.
What are we waiting for?
Suddenly, we HEAR a booming VOICE....
"SANTA" (O.S.)
Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!
REVEALING - SANTA CLAUS
Nigel, now dressed in a make-shift Santa outfit which
consists of an old red smoking jacket stuffed with a
pillow, some army boots, his tattered Santa hat and his
bag slung over his shoulder.
Everyone seems to be both surprised and amused at the
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 49.
59 CONTINUED: 59
sight of him.
"SANTA"
I was just about to take off in
my magic sleigh when I got an
urgent call from the North Pole.
Apparently, there was a house I
missed. So, I tapped Randolph on
the rear-end...
WALT
(to Bruce)
Randolph?
BRUCE
Forget it, he's on a roll.
"SANTA"
I tapped him on the rear-end and
we high-tailed back at the speed
of sound.
ALEX
I think he's cute.
SARAH
Me, too.
JOHNNY
You two have had way too much egg
nog.
"SANTA"
Let's see what I've got in my
treasure bag.
(he digs out three
wrapped gifts)
Are the O'Leary brothers here?
Michael, Matthew and Mitchell!
The brothers seem stunned by the gesture.
MATTHEW
For us?
"SANTA"
You're the O'Leary brothers, aren't
you?
The brothers all step up to get their gifts.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 50.
59 CONTINUED: (2) 59
JOHNNY
Where did those presents come
from?
SARAH
They were J.J.'s. When he found
out the boys weren't getting
anything, he asked me to put their
names on a few his own.
Johnny looks over at J.J., who seems to be enjoying the
moment more than anyone.
JOHNNY
That's quite a kid we got.
"SANTA"
Is there a J.J. Bannerman?
J.J.
Right here!
J.J. steps to where Santa is standing. He hands him a
present, and J.J. rips the paper off.
J.J.
Ratchet Deadlocked!! Exactly
what I wanted.
Johnny seems quietly confused.
JOHNNY
Was that from you?
SARAH
Not me.
Johnny catches Alex looking his way, as he steps to her.
JOHNNY
You?
ALEX
Well, there are some benefits to
being psychic.
JOHNNY
Did you have it the whole time,
or did you get it after you got
here?
ALEX
I'll never tell.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GOLD 51.
59 CONTINUED: (3) 59
JOHNNY
Well, maybe this'll make us even.
Johnny offers her a box. She seems surprised.
JOHNNY
Go ahead, open it.
She opens it up and sees it's a new watch.
ALEX
But how did you...
JOHNNY
I'll never tell.
ALEX
Thank you.
They kiss, as Bruce appears from the kitchen. He appears
exhausted, with cooking powder all over his face.
BRUCE
Dinner is served!
60 60 INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
The assembled guests file into the dining room, Ooohing
and Ahhing at the feast spread out on the table.
SARAH
This is amazing.
WALT
Who let Martha Stewart in?
ALEX
It looks like something out of a
magazine.
Johnny grabs J.J. as everyone is sitting down.
JOHNNY
Do me a favor, will ya? Go answer
the door.
J.J.
But the bell didn't...
The doorbell CHIMES. As J.J. breaks a smile...
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 52.
60 CONTINUED: 60
J.J.
Cool.
He heads toward the front door. After a BEAT, J.J. returns
with Reverend Purdy behind him.
JOHNNY
Gene? This is pleasant surprise.
I thought you were having service
tonight?
PURDY
I was, and then I met somebody
who was looking for the O'Leary
brothers. You wouldn't happen to
know where I could find them?
JOHNNY
As a matter fact.
Mickey, Mitchell, and Matthew exchange looks, like they
might be ready to bolt.
A MAN enters the room, mid-forties -- a kind face with a
touch of sadness.
MAN
Hello, boys.
As everyone watches, Matthew's face lights up.
MATTHEW
Dad? Is that you?
The boys all jump up from their seats and rush into the
man's arms.
MIKEY
We've been looking for you.
MAN
I know, me, too. Me, too.
He hugs them all at once.
61 61 ACROSS THE ROOM
Alex fights back tears. Everyone is moved.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 53.
61 CONTINUED: 61
Johnny hands her a napkin to dab her eyes with.
ALEX
How?
JOHNNY
Once we knew it was a custody
battle, it wasn't hard for Walt
to locate the dad. Reverend Purdy
offered to let us use the Faith
Heritage helicopter to fly him
down.
WALT
Hungry, Gene?
PURDY
Well, I wouldn't want to...
They all look at Bruce, then...
BRUCE
Sit! I'll set another place.
He heads for the kitchen.
ALEX
(to Johnny)
I take back every rotten thing I
ever said about Christmas.
She touches Johnny's face and smiles...
SARAH
Somebody should say something
before we eat.
WALT
Reverend?
PURDY
It's Johnny's house, I think he
should be the one to say Grace.
Johnny feels the pressure of everyone looking at him.
JOHNNY
Well, I'm not really very
religious, so I guess I'll just
say what's in my heart.
He looks around at everyone (NOTE... AS HE REFERENCES
PEOPLE, THE CAMERA SHOULD FIND THEM AND CONNECT THEM TO
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - BLUE-2 54.
61 CONTINUED: (2) 61
JOHNNY IN THE MOMENT).
JOHNNY
When I was a kid, it was always
just me, my mom and my dad. Then,
after my father died, well, it
was just the two of us. It was
okay, we had some good times.
But I always wondered what it
would be like to have a big family,
people who cared about each other
and enjoyed being together. You
people have made that come true
for me.
(to Bruce, Sarah and
Walt)
Old friends who are always there
through good times and bad.
(to J.J.)
A son who makes me prouder to be
his father with every day that
passes.
(to Alex)
Someone who shares a part of me
that no one else could ever
understand.
(to the others)
And new faces that bring home the
true meaning of friendship and
family.
We HEAR the oven timer DING!
BRUCE
My bird! Excuse me.
Bruce ducks away into the kitchen.
JOHNNY
This isn't exactly the way I had
things planned, but looking back
at it, I wouldn't have it any
other way. In fact, I can't think
of one thing that would make this
moment any better.
Just then, J.J. shouts from a nearby window.
J.J.
Hey everybody, it's snowing!
JOHNNY
Except that.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/23/05 - PINK-2 54A.
61 CONTINUED: (3) 61
Everyone laughs as they all go to the windows and watch
the flakes begin to fall...
JOHNNY
Wait a second. Where is Nigel?
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 55.
61 CONTINUED: (4) 61
He looks around, then...
ALEX
There he is!
Johnny looks back through the window to SEE...
POV - NIGEL
He's out on the lawn looking up at the falling snow.
JOHNNY
What's he doin'?
SARAH
He's playing in the snow.
WALT
Old fool's gonna catch pneumonia.
A BEAT...
JOHNNY
It looks like fun though.
ALEX
I'm gonna join him.
J.J.
Me, too.
SARAH
Count me in.
MATTHEW/MITCHELL/MIKEY
Snowball fight!
WALT
What the hell.
JOHNNY
Wait for me!
As the last of them rushes out of the dining room, Bruce
steps in, proudly carrying the roasted Turducken.
BRUCE
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present
the Turducken!
He looks up to find the entire room empty.
(CONTINUED)DEAD ZONE: "A Very DZ Christmas" - ACT FOUR - 6/21/05 - GREEN 56.
61 CONTINUED: (5) 61
BRUCE
Where'd everybody go?
Bing Crosby's version of WHITE CHRISTMAS begins, the SHOT
PUSHES THROUGH the window, as we SEE...
62 62 EXT. SMITH HOUSE - NIGHT
SLOW MOTION. As everyone plays in the snow, tossing
snowballs at each other. The SHOT FREEZES on a perfect
portrait of Christmas in New England...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT FOUR
THE END | screenplays |
Erik Tack born 8 October 1958 is a Belgian politician for Vlaams Belang.
Life
Tack's occupation is general practitioner.
Since 2001 Tack is councillor of Ronse.
He also was a member of the Flemish parliament from 2004 till 2014.
References
Category:Vlaams Belang politicians
Category:1958 births
Category:Living people
Category:21st-century Belgian politicians | wikipedia |
Where do the electron and antineutrino come from in beta decay? [duplicate]
**This question already has answers here**:
[In nuclear chemistry, how does a neutron split to form a proton and an electron?](/questions/7159/in-nuclear-chemistry-how-does-a-neutron-split-to-form-a-proton-and-an-electron)
(3 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
I was studying about nuclear reactions and similar stuff, but stumbled upon this doubt
In the process of beta decay, where a neutron transforms into a proton, a positron and an antineutrino, where do the electron and antineutrino come from ( do they already exist within the neutron or like? )
I do not believe that this is a duplicate of [In nuclear chemistry, how does a neutron split to form a proton and an electron?](https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/7159/in-nuclear-chemistry-how-does-a-neutron-split-to-form-a-proton-and-an-electron)
A down quark of the neutron emits a virtual W- boson which becomes the electron and antineutrino pair.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Newton's Third Law Opposite Angles
I am asking a related question here : [Newton's Third Law Angular Bouncing](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/141648/newtons-third-law-angular-bouncing)
Why, given newton's third law would a ball bounce at an opposite angle to it's original, if an equal and opposite force should push it back through it's original trajectory?
The force between the ball and the wall is normal to the wall, and therefore its direction is not opposed to the initial motion of the ball but rather to the motion of the ball relative to the wall.
Forgetting for a moment rotation, the velocity of the ball perpendicular to the wall is reversed; the result is that the angle of incidence = angle of reflection (under the assumption of no rotation, no losses, etc...)
| stackexchange/physics |
Mass Effect 1. Escape
Shattered Minds
He was to be beaten again.
He licked his lips in anticipation as the guards arrived. Soon he'd feel them—explosions of anger at his stomach, back, head. Soon he'd hear them—strident voices beginning with jeering insults which rapidly deteriorated to harsh grunts of sadistic effort. Soon he'd taste their adrenaline—metallic and sharp over the heavy greasiness of their anger and dark secret pleasure.
He closed his eyes.
It would be beautiful.
Just a few hours ago, he had Freed another prisoner from the brute and fleshy entrapments of his body, using a plastic spoon to loose crimson tides from a sallow throat. He was not uncaring, he was indeed magnanimous.
The problem, he mused, a placid smile spreading to greet the approaching guards, was Purgatory. Here, he was limited to the Unworthy and the Unclean—evil, evil men and their corrupt guards had no right to his Gift. Still, when one is Bound by Duty, one cannot complain.
He had Faith. He would be free to reward the Good—he had dreamed it. A scarlet phoenix would come and loose a conflagration upon this mire of decay and he would rise—reforged and resplendent—to continue his Duty.
He shut his lids but Saw the Glory-that-would-come.
A gauntleted arm gripped his shoulder harshly and spun him about.
A booted foot slammed into his flesh.
It would be beautiful.
The blows rained down.
Billy lost himself in ecstasy.
….. … ….. … … …
It had not been long—or had it? He could not track time in this place of never-ending gray—when the shadows of New and Unfamiliar people crossed his cell. Between blows, Billy chanced a look to the viewing window and his heart nearly stopped.
A woman. A woman in armor as red as the Fluid of Life. Beside her, a scarred turian in blue and a slender salarian in strange uniform. A sign, surely a sign! He forgot to hide his pleasure and a boot caught him in the face.
Beautiful whirling explosions of black and yellow danced in his head and he opened himself for more.
_**Yes!**_ He cried inwardly, _**Yes!**_ The acceptance of fleshy pain would make him Pure and all the more worthy to continue his work.
The blows stopped.
No, no, why? He was Worthy!
Billy looked out the clear wall and Saw—the woman had stopped it. Her copper hair curled to her shoulders, her eyes were green. Green! There was no green in Purgatory and it was Beautiful. But this green was cold, disapproving.
She had stopped it. She had Judged him and he had failed.
No! She turned away without a backward glance and her companions fell in line. Billy rushed the glass to watch her go, palms at the barrier, searching.
She would Know. He lusted for her then, the only woman he'd seen in years, but not in the pathetic, carnal, animal way that many of his fellow inmates surely did. He would find her and show her his Work, show her his Worth, and then he would Free her. The thought excited him and, as she moved down the corridor, he began planning the event of her Release.
… … ….. ..… … …
Alarms screeched, red, beautiful red, lights strobed. Something had happened and he knew the woman was at the heart of it. Doglike mechs and frenzied guards rushed by.
He could not smell them or hear them through the glass, but he knew that they had the static-sweat smell of fear and that their voices cracked with earnest.
Red. Red. Red. The flashes were mesmerizing. He watched them dutifully in his chamber of silence.
More guards and mechs sped past—moving in and out of view like shades in a dream.
This was a good dream.
The station groaned beneath him, around him. A sign. He stepped to the barrier and put one long finger against it. It hissed open and a terrible sun blazed in his heart. He was free.
So, he noted mildly, were his fellows. No matter, he shrugged. They were Lower Beings, Unworthy, and would keep the guards distracted.
He ran down metal halls, rejoicing in the strength of his limbs, the slight burn and stretch of wonderful activity. Billy's breath rasped in his narrow chest and his heart beat thunderously. He could feel his own blood, the sacred and savory Fluid of Life, rush through him. It was beautiful.
Billy came across the bodies of guards and the twisted remains of mechs. They were littered across the hallway like…like…he searched for an appropriate phrase and was saddened when he could not find it.
He had always loved words, Billy had, always loved the various twists and turns they made in one's mind, the streaky pictures they painted. In the beginning, he had gifted the Worthy before and after their release, crooning exquisite words, always words, to calm them and honor them. But for some reason they had never been grateful for his Care, never appreciated his Art, and often spoiled his words with their inelegant screams. No matter.
He searched the bodies and found several acceptable weapons—a sleek rifle, a solid heavy pistol, and plenty of heat sinks. He secured the extra clips in the deep pockets of his jumpsuit and held the guns distastefully. So little Art in them. A knife was far better—cleaner, more intimate—but no one had a knife so, as was his lot, he stoically made do.
Billy did not know which way to go—the ugly sounds of amateurish scrapping came from all directions. Left, right, or back the way he came.
He chose right.
He loped down the corridors, settling into a rhythm, largely left alone by the other prisoners. One snarled and grabbed at the rifle he'd slung across his back. Billy shot him in the head with the pistol. Gore flew through the air—chips of gleaming white bone, ribbons of beautiful scarlet, chunks of shamefully pink-gray brain.
Billy moved on, cutting over the orange pit. He paused at the window.
Flames flickered below, beautiful tongues of red-orange-yellow-white, spitting shreds of black-gray, slate-gray, dove-gray smoke. Figures moved around the flames, around the still and baleful corpses of heavy mechs and blue-armored prison guards, streaks of death rattling from their weapons. It was the woman in red again, and her team.
She was so Perfect—her movements were efficient and fluid and her determined expression never faltered. Guard after guard after mech fell beneath her and her companions—she Released many of the Unworthy.
He pressed against the glass again, reaching out with his mind and his purpose. She dealt Death, like him, but was not as discerning. A guard far away fired at an innocuous canister in front of her. A fireball enveloped her.
Billy's hands clenched. No! She was his Other, she could not—
The red-armored figure flew through the flames and was frozen in Billy's mind. Her copper hair streamed behind her, her green eyes were dark and piercing, her face was drawn, fearsome. In that instant he knew—she was the Phoenix, come to set him free.
"Beautiful." He whispered on the glass as she vaulted a crate and shot a surprised guard in the heart.
He stroked the smooth pane as if it were her flesh. "Beautiful."
He would find her and repay her in the only way he knew how.
Beneath him, she looked up, met his gaze, and he felt an electric shock, pleasantly painful, crack at his spine. Her eyes, beautiful deadly eyes, narrowed, and she coolly raised her weapon (a heavy pistol, he noticed numbly, fingers tightening on the one he carried) and fired one precise shot that hit the glass in front of his face. Cracks spiderwebbed from the impact and he felt their rough divides in awe.
She Knew him—she could tell he was Worthy.
While the thought was pleasurable and flattering, he was not ready for Release. He had so much work to do.
Over the loudspeakers, a turian voice was yelling for the blood of a "Shepard". Her name. It had to be.
Shepard. Billy savored the word like a delicate aroma—to be fully inhaled and never forgotten. Shepard. It was beautiful.
He lost sight of the Phoenix—her absence freed his legs and he broke into a run down the corridor again, moving ever towards the escape pods he'd heard a dying guard plead for. Shepard. Soon.
2. Business as Usual
Commander Myla Shepard stalked through the Normandy's airlock, trying to swallow her anger. The half-naked biotic in front of her strode confidently onto the ship, casting a calculating glance towards the cockpit that did not go unnoticed by the ex-marine.
She planted herself firmly between Jack and the way to her pilot. Wordlessly, she gestured towards the Command and Information Center, but gave a thin smile to temper her less-than-welcoming body language. The younger woman sneered and moved to the elevator. As she followed, Shepard decided against the traditional meet-and-greet tour.
Shepard briefed Subject Zero on the way down to Engineering, still studying the biotic for a threat. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Jack was sullen, openly hostile, and, worst of all, she didn't give a damn about anyone but her. Not a team player, this one. Shepard wondered how she'd be able to motivate her to work with Cerberus uniforms, much less to go on a suicide mission.
She dropped Jack off at her new quarters, gave Kenneth and Gabi a quick warning, and checked to make sure Zaeed wasn't up to anything dangerous. Finally, she took the damnably slow elevator back up to the CIC, feeling the anger and frustration build.
Out the door, past the Galaxy Map ("No new messages for you, Commander!") and up the ridiculously long hall. Her pilot turned to her with a flippant grin.
"Great, Commander, just great. Now we've got a psychotic biotic superwoman who hates the organization that owns our asses. Are you _actually_ crazy, or does it just sorta gravitate around you?"
She sighed and ran a hand over her hair, "Come to think of it, probably both. A lot of both. Mind if I vent?"
"Commander, of course I'll listen. Do you know why?" His question was prompting.
"Because you're my friend?" She grinned and leaned against the sloping gray wall.
"Nah, I can't run away. Talk."
She told him about that backstabbing turian bastard, about the Illusive Man's arrogance and stupidity (first about recruiting Jack, then in general terms), and about the frightening shift in Garrus's attitude and personality.
When she'd finished, he nodded slowly, like he always did. She smiled suddenly, knowing that she never would've dreamed of unloading so…completely before…well, before her death. Shepard still wasn't sure she was entirely comfortable with it now, didn't know if he was entirely comfortable with it, but ever since her first rant before docking on Omega, he'd seemed so open and it felt almost natural.
Plus, there was an obvious flexibility in the general regulations now, and she didn't have that constant nagging voice in the back of her mind, always crying 'Fraternization! Court-martial!' whenever she looked at a friendly crewmember. Now, here, she was free to look at whomever she chose in whatever way she liked. It was the kind of freedom that was good just to have—no need to worry or even to exercise it. Still, whenever she looked too deeply into her helmsman's green eyes, that voice started to whisper insistently.
He cleared his throat, bringing her internal musings to an end. Here came that borderline insubordinate and inarguably sarcastic feedback she secretly treasured.
"Commander, what will you do when all this is over?"
She blinked, surprised at his seriousness. "I…hadn't given it much thought."
"Humor me. Think now."
"I'm not really comfortable with—"
"Oh c'mon," he laughed, "You're fine with bitching to me about every last detail about the _now_ and you never talk about the _future_. You owe me a little speculation."
"Mr. Moreau, it is insensitive to press a subject when the—" Without turning his chair or looking away from Shepard, Joker slapped the AI's mute button. He arched an eyebrow expectantly.
Shepard smiled reluctantly, already turning to go, "I don't like to jinx myself, Joker. Let's focus on the now so we can _have_ a future."
"Aw, you're no fun, Shepard!" He called after her and she could hear the grin in his voice, "This isn't over!"
She bit her lip sadly as she walked away. He was right—it wasn't over and it wouldn't be for a long time. She tried so hard to avoid thinking about the possible future. The glass was half-empty—the Reapers would be nigh-impossible to defeat, and even if they _did_ avert destruction by inorganic super-race, the battle would likely result in her death or those of her crew. Looking eagerly ahead was just setting herself up for devastation later. It'd be bad enough without building golden dreams to be torn down.
She rubbed the back of her neck and headed down to the elevator to brief Miranda before trying to rest. No use chasing half-formed hopes when reality was grit on your cheek, blood in your mouth, and a heavy pistol in your hand.
Still, as she lay uselessly on her twisted sheets in hopes of sleep, she found herself wondering. Maybe…maybe next time she'd have an answer for him.
...
Gardner smiled sympathetically as he handed her a plate of what, in loosest possible terms, constituted breakfast aboard the Normandy SR2.
"Hope you like eggs, Commander."
_If I did, I'd hate this slop._ She smiled politely, swallowed the gag reflex when the noxious stench reached her nose, and carried the unsavory breakfast over to the single mess table. _Poor planning, that. They have the funds and space for a giant aquarium in my quarters but can't be bothered to put in more than one table for grub?_
It was early by Cerberus standards—there were only two crewmembers already seated, who gave her cautiously friendly nods. They hadn't gotten used to her yet. She returned the greeting gesture, but sighed inwardly. The worst part about a reputation was that people thought they knew you.
She started to stir the artificial eggs with her fork, but the mushy and uneven reluctance of the stuff was so vile, she decided to let it congeal.
"It's best t' jus' close yer eyes an' get I' over with," offered the man closest to her. Engineer Kenneth in his strong Scottish brogue.
Shepard rolled her eyes, "That's what my drill sergeant used to say about resetting bones."
"Surviving Gardner's cooking is more painful by far," remarked the other crewman. He was tall and solidly built; Asian with a wide, friendly face. _Able Connors_, she remembered.
She grinned appreciatively and called back over her shoulder at Gardner.
"Cooky, you'll get those high-grade ingredients if it's the last thing I do!"
"It's not that bad, is it?" His rough voice sounded hurt.
"Rupert, if'n she takes a single bite 'o yer vile concoction, _tha'_ will be the last thing she does!"
Connors and Shepard laughed as the bickering escalated, and she even managed to choke down a few forkfuls. Gotta keep the machine running.
A slim salarian in a strange combination of armor and lab suit entered the mess hall.
"Good morning, Mordin." Shepard grinned at the eccentric alien. Connors gave him a wave, and Kenneth and the disgruntled cook halted their back-and-forth.
Mordin sniffed, " 'Morning' on a starship is a relative term—sleep cycles are regulated by shifts and not the movement of stars. Regardless, the sentiment is appreciated. Thank you, Commander Shepard."
"Saints a'wailin'…couldn't ye jus' say 'good mornin'' back, professor?" The Scot's eyes were wide and incredulous.
Mordin cocked his head, mismatched horns casting odd shadows across his face, "Specificity and application of knowledge, when combined with scientific analysis or terminology is not a negative occurrence. You may even learn something, although that event seems unlikely."
"Ach." Kenneth put his head down on the table in despair.
"Mr. Solus," Gardner leaned over his counter, "what's your opinion of my cooking?"
Shepard hid her face in her hands. _Bad move,_ she thought.
"Hm." The alien considered for a few seconds—an inordinately long time for him, "At a physiological level, nutritionally acceptable. Palatably, however, borderline inedible. The constraints of social etiquette prevent me from elaborating further."
"See?" The cook brandished a spatula towards Kenneth, "He likes it!"
All three other humans laughed. Mordin gave his little twitch-smile and collected a plate from Gardner.
He sniffed it experimentally and jerked his head back swiftly. He walked quickly away from Rupert's counter, back to the elevator, and Shepard caught his low mutterings: "Hm, strange olfactory-gastronomical effect. Must take this up to the lab. Need samples for diagnosis…no longer hungry."
Shepard smirked and shoveled in a few more bites. Noxious taste aside, she needed the fuel for today's mission. The Normandy had received a troubling signal—static punctuated by garbled commands and screams—from a small nearby planet. She intended to investigate, help if she could. It would also be a good opportunity to test her newest team-member.
...
"Jack! Lay down cover fire for Zaeed! Zaeed—take the left position!" Shepard yelled into her mic, vaulting over a low boulder.
The biotic screamed as she strafed her SMG into the unending masses of husks, and Zaeed pushed forward to take a new cover position. Shepard waved her omnitool and three advancing husks burst into flame. She felt a grin of adrenaline spread across her face, she saw it spread on Jack's lips and splitting Zaeed's craggy mug. They were fighters—it wasn't right, it wasn't how she was trained, but it was instinctive. Killing husks felt good—it bled off the frustration and guilt she felt because she'd been too late to save the colonists and scientists.
The masses of zombies slowed, and Shepard took advantage of that pause to advance her team further down the dark mine. The dark, the damp, the stink—a primal scream stabbed at the base of her skull, but she shut it out. This place had to burn. She had charges in one of her belt-pouches—if she found the right place, she could trigger a cave-in.
She glanced to her squad to make sure none had been injured. Nope. Good. Grit crunched under her feet, sprayed up around her red-armored calves. Her breath burned in her chest, echoed in her ears. Her muscles hummed with warmth and she felt her heart sing. It was good to know she could still rely on her body, on her strength and aim.
They came to a large chamber, and Shepard could see a strange structure at the back. That was it. She shouted commands to Jack and Zaeed, and they moved in, dispensing a second death with each squeeze of a trigger or biotically reinforced wave of a hand. It was easy. She was almost disappointed. They fought their way through the chamber—cries of effort and elated anger echoing off the craggy rock of the cavern, staccato howls and rasping moans fell and died at their feet among the slight layers of mist.
They sprinted into the structure and skidded to a stop. A colossal artifact stood tucked away in a partial antechamber. Blue light glowed softly, twisted metal glimmered darkly. Shepard shivered and glared at it, she could feel evil radiating from it. A burst of gunfire snapped her back to the task at hand—more husks were coming.
She ripped the charges from her belt and set them around the abomination. Fingers steady, breath even. There.
"Everybody out!" She bellowed, spinning to drop five husks with precise shots.
"No, I thought I'd stay here a bit longer," drawled Zaeed, tucking away his shotgun.
"Less talk, more fucking moving!" Jack screamed gleefully. She raised her blue-glowing arm and a wave of power swept lurching figures from their path that several exploded at the initial contact.
They raced down the twisting tunnels and small chambers until the exit portal jogged into view. Wave the omnitool—click, crack, sky, out! They tumbled out of the mineshaft just as a tremendous explosion sent rocks, dust, and unmentionable fragments out the exit in a vicious plume.
3. Development
**A/N: This chapter is mainly to continue the contrast between Shepard and Billy as well as to set up a few mini-plot points: the effects of battle/her squad, Shepard's emotional oddness, and her game with Joker. I'm not particularly happy with it and I'll probably come back to it, but please don't let this be the chapter that stops you reading this "story".**
Shepard heard Jack laughing, glanced to the side and caught a grin from Zaeed. She nodded, chest heaving. There was nothing else to do here. She pressed the side of her helmet.
"We're done, Joker, ready for pick-up."
"Aye-aye, Commander. I'll get someone on it right away."
She felt a flutter and a heat at his voice, and turned away from her squad, suddenly embarrassed. "Uh, do you think you could do it yourself? I mean, just practice with the shuttle." Static.
She licked her lips.
"Sure, Commander, see you in a minute." A slight tone of uncertainty, but he trusted her. She felt bad—why did she ask him to fly the shuttle? Why did she want—no, need—to see him now?
Adrenaline still coursed through her system. Nature's high. She mentally reviewed the mission, not liking this new reckless and uninhibited emotion. She'd never felt this before—she'd always tried to keep cool and distant from the heat of battle, she certainly never felt—
"Damn, Shepard, that was hot!" Jack slapped her hands together, a feral grin on her face. "I'm hungry. Let's find something else to kill or eat or…damn that felt good. Glad I signed on."
Zaeed grunted, "S'nice to just knock that outta yer system every now and then. Let shit build up and ya get damaged."
Jack ran a hand over a tattooed forearm, "Better than any drugs I've ever been on."
"Slaughter for slaughter's sake is pointless," remarked Shepard automatically, "We got some data, minerals, and avenged a few colonists—that's what matters."
Jack snorted, "Buzzkill. You need to get laid, Shepard."
Zaeed raised an eyebrow and Shepard flushed. She decided to ignore that particular comment.
"You guys did great in there," she continued, "Jack, you have a tendency to aim left—we can work on that on the practice range. Zaeed, you're leaving your right hip wide open, watch it. Other than that, excellent."
Jack rolled her eyes and Shepard was spared another comment on her private life by the arrival of the shuttle. She studied its descent—undeniably more graceful than when the Cerberus pilot, Gainey, was at the helm. It touched down with barely a sound and the hatch hissed open.
"C'mon guys, home we go." She ducked into the low entry, heard Jack and Zaeed file in behind her.
"What's up?" Joker limped into the passenger area, concern in his green eyes.
"Shepard needs to get laid," cracked Jack, settling heavily into a seat. Zaeed gave a barking laugh.
Shepard pulled off her helmet so she could glare at them properly.
"I'm honored, Commander, but not in front of the kids," Joker grinned.
"Very funny." She pointed up to the pilot's cabin. "Let's see you bring her back to the SR2."
He arched an eyebrow, "You were serious about testing me? I can fly this little bucket through the eye of a needle going backwards with my eyes shut. One-handed. While whistling Beethoven's fifth. And jumping on a pogo-stick."
"Your arrogance is duly noted, Lieutenant, now get." She shooed him away, grinning widely. He shrugged and left the passenger section, giving her a sarcastic salute.
"Damn, I love explosions," sighed Zaeed, leaning back and closing his eyes, "Always takes me back to this time on Illium…"
Jack sneered, but Shepard could see she was intent on the old merc's story. She left them and moved up to the "cockpit", standing at parade-rest behind the pilot's chair.
"Sheesh, Commander, at least sit down. We have a perfectly good copilot seat just waiting for a little attention."
She settled down, looking at his profile. His green eyes flashed from console to readout to viewport and back, fingers dancing over the interface, but he had time to flash her a smile.
"So _please_ tell me I'm not up for evaluation—if all else fails, I can cook a damn sight better than Gardner."
"Hm," she tapped a finger against her lips, "Actually, I think the crew would appreciate a new cook more than your piloting skills."
He snorted, "Did you get the eggs today?"
"Blech." She made a face, glad that the queasy prickly feeling was ebbing. The he turned fully to her and it spiked.
"I think he's a deep-cover agent—sent to infiltrate your crew, poison and demoralize us." His voice was low, mock-conspiratorial.
She laughed, "Nah, once I get him those ingredients it'll be better, I promise."
"And if it isn't?" He quirked an eyebrow suggestively.
"I'll put you on mess duty." She folded her arms and flicked a hand to indicate the controls, "Could you at least pretend to look at these things every now and then? Just to keep me sane?"
"Aw, I know where the important bits are." He touched her shoulder and pointed at a few buttons. "Stop. Go. Eject. Self-destruct. Twinkie. We're good."
"Do you really have a snack button?" Cerberus and civilian standards were so drastically different from Alliance regs, it may have been a legitimate function.
He snickered, "No. If it did, I'd eat it in here instead of in the mess."
She watched him work, watched the shuttle cut smoothly through clouds and exit the planet's atmosphere. He was so good at what he did.
"A credit for your thoughts?"
"Um, I think I've found my squad," she lied. No need to further inflate his ego.
"Really? The mercenary and the psycho?"
"They complement each other, actually, and we're a strong team." She thought of that strange, base emotion, still lurking in her consciousness.
"How so? Keep in mind, I'm an artist of aviation and aeronautics—not a jarhead like you."
"Well, our strengths are varied—Jack has the most biotic power I've ever seen, I'm a strong tech and sniper, and Zaeed is amazing with his shotgun. Between us, we've got close, specialized, and long-range combat covered."
"Ah," he nodded, visibly biting down on a grin.
"What?" He shook his head. "What?"
"You like how he handles his weapon!" Joker laughed. Shepard slapped his shoulder, now hiding her own smile.
"Silence, minion!" She stole his hat, "I've seen you handle _your_ 'weapon'—anything would seem impressive after that." Not true—she'd never actually _caught_ him doing anything…awkward—but it seemed like a good rebuttal.
"Shit, Shepard, I need a warning system or something," he was blushing—she'd never seen him blush. "Gimme back my hat."
That feeling was back. "Come and get it." She pinched the brim and turned it cheekily to the side.
He arched an eyebrow at her, "Are you serious?"
She sighed, "I guess you don't want your hat back, Mr. Moreau."
"Oh no," he groaned, "Don't call me that, the _thing_ calls me that. Completely ruined some of my fantasies, too."
He checked the viewscreen and then his controls, glanced quickly back to her. _Green, green, green,_ her thoughts sang happily, giving in to that strange feeling.
"Last chance to surrender, Commander."
"Goonies never say die!" She grinned, curling her arms protectively over her head and the hat.
"Right." He tapped a few buttons and stood up, stretching an arm cautiously, "This is your final warning."
"I think it looks better on me, don't you?" She smirked and resettled it.
He rolled his eyes and came over to the side of her chair, tugging at her wrists.
"No, my Precious!" Shepard pulled her arms to the side, and he slipped slightly, threw one leg over the chair for a more balanced stance. He was straddling her now. Her heart beat faster and that feeling intensified.
He was blushing again, "Shit. Sorry, Commander, I—"
She pulled her wrists back, drawing him closer. "It's still my hat, Lieutenant."
He blinked, then grinned, "Not for long." He leaned forward suddenly, and took the brim of his cap between his teeth, jerking his head up to lift it from hers.
"No!" She yelped, laughing, straining upwards to try and catch it back. She twisted her arms, gently breaking his grip, and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down to her.
"Mmph, 'oo 'ayt!" He grunted from around the cap, hands pinning her shoulders. His head was close to hers and the hat brushed her nose. On an impulse, she growled and bit it, tugging it back to her.
"Whoa, Shepard, put a sock on the door or something!" Jack's voice was simultaneously gloating and disgusted.
They froze and Shepard blushed, thinking how they must look. She delicately opened her mouth, released his shoulders.
"'Ank 'oo." He winked and let her go, backing off and taking his hat from between his teeth. "Told ya I'd get it back."
"Maybe this time, Joker," She grinned brazenly, feeling reckless again, "But sooner or later, that hat will be mine."
He smirked, "Come and get it, Commander." The Normandy loomed into view and he turned back to his controls, climbing gingerly back into the pilot's chair.
Jack leaned against Shepard's seat, "I was gonna ask the ETA, but I'm guessing it's pretty damn soon." She pushed away and went back to the passenger area.
Shepard looked at her pilot, still grinning from their game. His green eyes flashed to hers, something hungry quickly replaced by the customary sarcastic gleam. "You better tend to your flock, Shepard. I don't want those two getting restless."
She sighed and got up. He caught her armored arm. "Hey, about my evaluation? I prefer gold stars to happy face stickers."
"Duly noted, Joker." She grinned and left him.
4. The Hunter
Why wasn't she coming? Why hadn't she Found him? He'd crash-landed on this little planet two days ago—surely she knew. His Phoenix would come.
Billy realized then that he didn't know her material identity—Shepard. Maybe she didn't come to him because she couldn't or…what if he was Unworthy after all? No. He was Worthy, he was sure of it. He just needed to find her, convince her.
All he had was a name and a mental image—Shepard. A human woman with copper hair and pale green eyes. A warrior. A leader. Shepard.
He travelled for a half-day from his crash-site, moving East towards the planet's rising suns, catching and eating a few native rabbit-like creatures as he went. The grasses were long, soft, sighing in the light sweet breeze. The earth was warm and fragrant, almost spongy beneath his bare feet. So beautiful, so Pure. When the smallest of the suns was setting, he crested a ridge and saw, in the grassy valley below, a small settlement. Beautiful.
When it was dark, he snuck down to the little village, bare feet whispering in the dark cool grass. So much color here—greens and blues and purples—so different from the gray, brown, red of Purgatory. It was so…
The small buildings were low and obviously some kind of adobe with gaping windows that were little more than black holes in the walls. He slipped effortlessly through one, easing his weight onto his toes, calves, thighs. It was easy.
He waited for a time, letting his eyes adjust as much as they would, breathing noiselessly from his mouth, opening himself to the little house and its inhabitants, listening to the slightest sounds and sighs. He flexed his fingers. Time to Know. He crept from room to room, slowly, so slowly, memorizing every piece of furniture, every door and window. Three bedrooms—a young couple, a teenage daughter, a boy-child. All asleep.
He finished exploring the rooms and returned to the kitchen, selecting a fine-edged knife. They were Pure. They were Worthy. Furthermore, they could not be witnesses.
….
He ran a finger down the length of the blade, licking delicately at the crimson stain it left on his fingers. It had been sweet, smooth—no interruptions or complications. He hadn't realized how much he had missed his Work.
Long fingers found a small lamp—oil. He retraced his steps, back to the kitchen. Matches. Billy struck one and admired the simplicity-complexity of the little flame. Fire. His Phoenix. Beautiful.
Billy lit the lamp and carried it through the little home, searching for an extranet terminal. Despite the seemingly primitive nature of the settlement, there was a very modern model in what had been, he assumed, the workroom.
He activated it eagerly, typing "Shepard" into the search engine with the reddest label.
Not "John"…not "Ambassador Joyce"…not…wait, yes.
Commander Myla Shepard, formerly of the human Alliance, received military distinction after the events of Akuze and, more recently, an attack on the Citadel. That gave Billy pause. He'd been imprisoned in Purgatory for many years and had never heard of the geth attack. He moved on. An N7 operative. The first human Specter. Currently listed as missing in action, presumed dead, since two years ago.
His Phoenix was alive now, no doubt. Risen from the ashes. Beautiful.
He traced the small picture by her biography with the edge of his bloody knife. This was of no use to him. She had gotten to Purgatory—she had a ship. She had high-grade weaponry and armor—she had money. Since she was still listed as MIA, she had to be working in the private sector. He tapped the blade against his teeth.
Billy needed a hacker.
Finding a technologically gifted individual with the necessary means would doubtless be an impossibility in this settlement. He accessed a local geographical guide, located the nearest hub-city, and logged off. He found a sturdy sack and loaded it with dried food and a couple canisters of water for the trip. He went back to the adult bedroom and took both credit chits, ignoring the silent forms on the bloody sheets.
He was confident. He was ready.
He took a final meal in that dark, still house, using the bloody knife to cut his bread, meat, fruit, and cheese. It was beautiful—his first taste of real food in years. A silver tear trickled down his cheek. The salty liquid dripped onto his dry bread, soaked in with a black bloodstain. He tasted the sacrament delicately. Beautiful.
….
"Okay, man, I'll do it! I'll find it, man, I swear! D-don't kill me, please, don't kill me!" The young man sobbed pitifully, clutching his face. Blood seeped between his fingers.
Billy waved the knife elegantly. "Please do not beg. It will not help you find me the name and the extranet tag and address of the vessel that carries Commander Shepard."
The hacker's cries intensified, his shoulders shaking intensely.
"Oh, God! I can't, man, she's dead! Oh, God, please! Don't you get it?"
His mewling was unseemly. Wormlike. Billy grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head down on the dirty apartment floor.
"Listen to me very carefully. She lives—I have seen her. I have business with her. You will find the information I need. You will stop crying or I will mark your face again."
The man bit his lip and choked, gulped, trying to swallow his fear. He lowered his hands from his face and Billy could admire his work. A thin slash cut from the Unworthy's left cheek to the corner of his jaw. Clean, fresh, a perfect line of red against cinnamon skin. Beautiful. It would look better with symmetry.
"Okay, I…I can try." The words were halting, cautious. Billy smiled peaceably and gestured towards the extranet terminal in the corner.
The hacker stood gingerly and, seeing that Billy wasn't going to hurt him again, moved to the terminal. His fingers were trembling, slick with his own blood, but once he'd logged on, he grew calmer, reassured by the familiar movements. Billy closed his eyes while the Unworthy searched. Meditation promoted clarity and focus—helped strengthen the Mind and control the Body.
Soon, Shepard.
He flicked the knife, sending droplets of scarlet spattering against the dove-gray wall. The little spots were so bright, so beautiful, part of his Art. Blood was his paint, scars were his signature, the Worthy were his canvas. The thought gave him pause.
Something cool and lyrical whispered darkly in the recesses of his mind. Billy licked the knife slowly, letting the idea murmur to him and develop.
Oh yes, she would Know him, and he her. It was only natural that he should show his gratitude, his anticipation.
Soon, Shepard.
The young man had the data, waved Billy over excitedly, eager to be freed. Billy checked to ensure that it was valid, then turned and smiled to the other man. He felt magnanimous. He hefted the knife and brought it down once, twice, seven times, Freeing the Unworthy's soul. This apartment was Unclean. He had to find a new place from which to signal his Phoenix. But first, he crouched by the still-warm corpse, he should practice his lettering.
5. Surreal
**A/N: Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, it just helps account for some of Shepard's new instability and helps tie in with some of her personal issues/plot points. Also, the Kelly conversation is awkward and contrived—if you could review with some editing advice, I would love you and give you a space cookie.**
Blood. She blinked, failing to comprehend the wetness on her fingers. What-?
She gingerly examined herself, leaving pale streaks of soap after smooth flesh was found unbroken. The shower continued its stream of hot water, unaware that something very strange had happened to her. She looked down to her feet, saw crimson swirling among the clear water.
It clicked.
She fell against the shower wall, shocked. This hadn't happened for years, not since…but it was happening now. Joy, fear, confusion—all whirling in her heart.
Miranda. She would know.
Shepard finished her shower at a speed normally reserved for evacuating soon-to-be-rubble facilities. She grabbed a sanitation pad from the stash near the sink (praise civvie standards! Alliance regs had confined such toiletries to the medbay for regulated dispensation through the doctor) and dressed hastily.
Sprinting down corridors, past confused, surprised, laughing crew, and stopping just outside the perfect woman's office. Myla gulped. Did she-? She had to know. She pressed the entry keypad and the door whirred open.
Lawson looked up from her extranet terminal, a frown creasing her flawless brow. She half-stood.
"Shepard?" The Australian accent was particularly strong when Miranda was peeved.
Myla tucked a strand of still-wet copper hair behind one ear and started forward, changed her mind, and stood uncertainly in the threshold. "Miranda, I…I'm on my period."
The other woman's lips quirked, "Congratulations, Commander. What can I do for you?"
"No, you don't understand," Shepard found a chair and sank into it, "I haven't…been in this position for…since Akuze."
Miranda frowned, and Shepard could see a flash of curiosity quickly smothered by pride in her gray eyes. Shepard had never told anyone outside of a medbay, but this woman had rebuilt her.
"I was bitten—"Shepard indicated her abdomen with a long finger, tracing scars she remembered but no longer carried, "The thresher venom set in, the wound was infected. My…by the time I was rescued, they had to operate and remove my, um, ovaries."
Miranda brushed a lock of dark hair from her clear gray eyes. There was no sign of embarrassment.
"I see," she said slowly, "Well, when we received your remains, there was very little of your…soft tissue remaining. We had to clone organs separately in many cases—building from genetic material. That's also why you have no residual scarring from your…previous life."
"So…" Shepard wouldn't, couldn't hope, "Can I-? Am I able to…"
"Have children?" Miranda's face softened and her eyes shone with an intense longing.
Shepard nodded breathlessly.
"Yes. As long as you were genetically able to before." The other woman looked down at her fingers, folded primly on the cool surface of her desk.
"Thank you," whispered Myla, coming to her side and giving her a soft hug around the shoulders. The brunette flinched, her hair falling forward like a curtain, but she leaned into the embrace. Her frame shook silently. Both women were crying.
"Thank you."
….
"Hello Commander!"
"Hey Kelly, have you got a minute?"
"Sure—what do you need?" The younger woman smiled earnestly.
"Could you come up to my quarters for a minute? I have some questions."
Kelly arched an eyebrow and grinned, "Business or pleasure, Commander?"
Myla blanched but the other woman laughed and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Only joking, Commander. Normally you'd have been able to tell."
They entered the elevator and Shepard thumbed the button for the first floor. She leaned back in the corner of the elevator and folded her arms. Kelly stood comfortably, one hand tucked by her side and the other tapping at her lip thoughtfully.
"What's troubling you?" Kelly's voice was calm, serious. Psychologist mode. Oh well, this was why she'd asked Chambers.
"On the last mission, I felt…different."
"How so?"
"More, I don't know," she closed her eyes, trying to recapture those emotions, "excited, reckless. Something between anger and joy. I could see it on Jack's face…and Zaeed's."
"So why is this a problem? I'd imagine it would be more worrisome if you didn't feel anything."
The elevator stopped, opened. Shepard led Chambers into her cabin and sat on a couch. The other woman followed suit, crossing her legs.
"Because," Shepard tried to find a way to explain it in a way that a civilian could understand, "Killing enemies isn't supposed to be a rush—it's about necessity and a greater cause. I was having fun. When you're trained to kill, you learn the value of life—ideally, you're less inclined to shoot without knowing it has to be done."
Kelly smiled, "So you're worried that your emotions have changed in a way that demeans your character and cause?"
Shepard sighed, "Partly. I just…it scares me to think that I like it now. What if I can't stop? I don't want my people dying because I led them into a slaughter for an adrenaline rush."
"That sounds like two different issues," Kelly held up a finger, "You don't want to become a blood-addict, killing for fun," she raised a second, "and you don't want to be responsible for needless death of the people under your command."
Myla nodded slightly. Two issues she knew she had. There were countless others, though.
"I think those are fears all military commanders carry in their hearts," Kelly said slowly, "Losing themselves to a battle-lust and losing their friends and charges. Those are natural fears—it's good that you have them because it means you still care. I think the only thing you can do is make sure you get the job done as quickly and as cleanly as you can, which is what you do already."
That was oddly comforting to Shepard's marine mentality. Find the objective and accomplish it. Simplicity. Kelly switched her legs.
"Um, also, you know that we are influenced by the people we're with. Jack and Zaeed—they kill for pleasure and money respectively. Their morals and emotions concerning the subject may, therefore, be a little warped. If what you feel scares you that badly, I'd advise you take a different team on your missions.
Her green eyes were wide and honest. Myla bit her lip and shook her head, ""I think I can handle it now that I've talked about it. Besides, we're an effective little team. Thanks, Kelly."
The solemn academic demeanor evaporated and Kelly's chipper gin spread wide.
"Anytime, Commander. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"
Shepard narrowed her eyes. "I don't think so, Kelly." She had an idea where her yeoman might be headed. Kelly had started no less than thirty-one scuttlebutt rumors concerning the love lives of either Shepard or members of her team with the occasional appearances of Normandy crew.
"Oh, please!" Kelly gestured at the elevator, "That thing takes forever and we've only been up here for a little bit."
Shepard sighed. She had a point about the damn elevator. "What do you want to talk about?"
Kelly beamed happily, "Can I just ask you a few questions?"
"That's one."
"…Is that a yes?"
"That's two."
Kelly gave Shepard a mock frown. "What's your favorite color?"
"Hm. Green." Myla smiled, reminding herself to bring supplies on her next hat raid.
Kelly nodded, brow rankled in thought, "If you could have any superpower—"
"Shape-shifting." Easy. She used to think about that one all the time on Mindoir.
"Leather or lace?" Kelly raised her eyebrows suggestively and Shepard laughed in spite of herself.
"I guess…leather." She shook her head, grinning. If she heard any S&M rumors—
"Vanilla or chocolate?"
"Ice cream? I haven't had that in forever…vanilla."
"Rain or sunshine?"
"Rain, believe it or not."
"Interesting…okay, sweet or salty?" Kelly drew her legs up to sit crisscrossed.
"It really depends." Shepard leaned back and closed her eyes. This was actually sort of calming. She'd never had a close friend to talk about this sort of thing with.
"Beach or snow?"
"Beach."
"Shotgun or sniper rifle?"
"Sniper rifle." Shepard smirked. She'd always preferred finesse and strategy to—
"Garrus or Jacob?"
Shepard rolled her eyes, "Neither. If we're going to play 'would-you-rather', you may as well give up now."
"Neither? Really? Why not?"
"Look, if you really want to talk about this stuff…" Shepard hesitated, knowing she'd regret it. Kelly's eager smile was so bright—she always seemed too happy whenever anyone talked to her…maybe because people generally didn't talk to her. Myla felt a small wave of pity for her nosy yeoman. "Come have dinner up here tonight and we'll talk more."
"Really?" Kelly beamed, radiating happiness, "Thanks, Commander!"
She turned and danced to the door. It hissed open.
"Kelly!" Shepard called after her. The other woman stopped, turned. "Thanks for helping me."
"It was my pleasure, Commander." Kelly winked and left.
Shepard looked around the empty cabin and put her head in her hands, "Oh, hell, look what you've done now, Myla. 'Boy-talk' for godsakes…"
Shaking her head at the immaturity of her administrative assistant, Shepard stood and tried to find a suitable object to help her in her next attempt to steal her pilot's hat.
6. Anticipation
The spaceport. Billy was scared. So many people—so many filthy, rotten, Unworthy people. He debated staying, trying to contact and lure his Phoenix from and to this slow little planet, but any doubt of the need to move on vanished when a large blue-and-white gunship hissed down in a nearby docking station. A familiar insignia—impossible! The prison had been Purged, hadn't it?—was emblazoned on the side.
They were here for him. They had to be. He checked compulsively behind each corner, scrutinized every passerby, as he sped to the check station.
A pretty young asari was conducting the weapons search. Beautiful. No tech, just the basic pat-down. He'd been counting on that. He'd taken his wonderful instrument, stuck the blade into a half-loaf of some kind of dark bread, and carefully placed it in his pants. He'd stolen a pair of loose-fitting sweats from that helpful hacker—no suspicious bulging would be visible. He studied the faces of the men who went before him, memorizing the appreciative leers as they checked her out from behind when she'd approved their permission to board. This disgusted him. He felt a swell of anger as he imagined similar attention directed toward his Other, the fiercely beautiful Phoenix. His hands trembled.
Calm, calm, he told himself. He had Plans for her—getting past this checkpoint was essential to ensuring their fruition. When he thought of pressing his knife to her pale throat, it was easy to adopt the lidded glance, the too-wide smirk. The asari rolled her eyes—the majority of those she checked, male and female, gave her that same look.
Her small blue hands patted under his arms, at the base of his spine, high between his inner thighs. They brushed the handle of the knife and she recoiled, eyes snapping to his face. This was the tipping-point—he winked and grinned at her.
"What can I say, beautiful? I'm happy to see you."
She sneered in disgust and ushered him through. He fled into the small ship, swallowing a dribble of vomit.
Close.
Once seated within, he peered out a viewport—the guards were spreading to cover the entrance.
Too late, too late, he though gleefully as the ship's thrusters hummed and spat.
Billy was lifted up, up into the sky and back into space. Away from that Unworthy waste of a planet and those incompetent guards.
He was close now, so close to finding her. He closed his eyes, imagining, anticipating. He wanted to do it with a knife—clean, close, elegant. But…was she truly Worthy? Billy had been reviewing his memories of her—she killed quickly, but did not seem to appreciate the value of her Talent, her Duty, her Gift. Perhaps he should ensure that she was Worthy—merely out of professional courtesy.
The easiest way towards Worth was pain.
**How can I hurt you, Shepard?** He smiled happily and fell asleep—dreaming of blood, bruises, flesh, and screams. It would be beautiful.
7. Conspiracy
Kelly had brought food from the kitchen ("Don't worry, Commander, I cooked it myself!") and red wine from…somewhere.
Shepard poured while Chambers readied the little table; few preparations were necessary and the food was still steaming gently when the women sat down.
"Well Kelly," Shepard tucked into a surprisingly good crusted meat. She dipped it in the creamy garlic instant potatoes that not even Gardner had managed to ruin. "Shoot away."
"So indelicate Commander," pouted Kelly, nibbling at some alien fruit, "It's more fun to worm it out."
Shepard grinned, taking a sip of wine, "Sorry, I don't generally do this kind of thing. Please _don't_ get directly to whatever questions you wanted to ask."
The yeoman leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "Do you have a lover?"
Shepard choked, wine dripped from her nose, "Aw hell, Kelly. No, no I don't."
Chambers cocked her head. "Why not?"
"I…couldn't afford one right now. Me getting emotionally compromised could lead to the failure of any given mission and result in the destruction of life as we know it."
"That sounds rehearsed. Are you afraid of rejection or commitment?"
"Hey," Shepard pointed at the other woman with her fork, "I invited Kelly-the-administrative-assistant, not Kelly-the-psychologist."
"Okay then…why neither Garrus nor Jacob?"
This she could do. She took another drink of wine. "Garrus is a good friend—I helped him figure some stuff out a few years ago. I just…don't think of him like that."
"What about Jacob?"
"Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, but he isn't funny or particularly engaging." Shepard had never been one for alcohol, but this wine was surprisingly good.
"But what about his abs?" Kelly raised her eyebrows, grinning.
Shepard laughed, "I've seen enough muscle-bound soldier-types to last me a lifetime, Chambers. It's just not my thing. Plus, he and Miranda aren't quite over."
Kelly nodded, eager to expand on gossip, "I agree. They're always _looking_ at each other."
Shepard snorted. That was hardly grounds to declare inordinate affection.
"So, Jack or Zaeed?"
"You're kidding, right?" Shepard widened her eyes incredulously, "Zaeed is way too old. As far as Jack goes, I'm not…lesbian or bisexual and even if I was, I wouldn't start…that kind of relationship with her." Kelly refilled Myla's glass and Shepard obligingly took another drink. "Thanks. I think Jack would only see it as confirmation that I'm like all the others—she'd leave or try to go pirate. She needs a friend, not a lover."
Kelly nodded, "I agree. I wish she'd talk to me."
"Not a good idea." Shepard smiled sympathetically, "At this point, all she'll see is a smile and a Cerberus uniform. Neither of those are things she trusts."
The yeoman slumped a little and took a tiny forkful of potatoes.
"What about you?" Shepard asked, more trying to fill the gap in conversation than to trigger a confession, "Do you have anyone?"
"Not yet," Kelly looked up and smiled, "But we'll all find the one that completes us sooner or later."
Shepard returned the smile twofold, thinking about a future in which children were definite possibilities.
"Oh, I got another one!" Kelly pressed Shepard's wineglass into her hand, "What about Connors?"
Myla shrugged, "He's a nice guy, but I know nothing about him." She took a deep draught of the wine. She'd never been much of a drinker but with her Cerberus upgrades she doubted it would affect her much. Still, she felt pleasantly warm.
"Kenneth?"
She shook her head, grinning, "I think Gabi would kill me."
Kelly giggled, "It's so funny—they bicker all the time when they have such great chemistry. I think if either just stopped arguing for a second and looked at the other, they'd realize how good they are for each other."
"I'll drink to that." Shepard was feeling a little reckless again. Kelly toasted her, but didn't drink.
Kelly went through seven more crewmen—three of whom Shepard had forgotten—and the wine-bottle stood empty.
"I…assume you're not going to ask me if I'm lusting after Gardner?" Shepard laughed, crossing her legs with difficulty. Hm. Maybe the wine had been stronger than she'd thought.
Kelly laughed with her, "Of course not! Actually, I was going to ask what you thought of Joker."
"Mmm," sighed Shepard, then clapped a hand over her mouth, "Oh shit. Um…" Her mind scrambled sluggishly.
Kelly's eyes shone in triumph, "I knew it! I knew you thought he was hot."
"No, he's more than that," Shepard flapped a hand to dismiss the notion of her pilot as mere eyecandy, "He's…pretty damn funny. Loyal. Honest. I trust him." Her eyes felt heavy. She flopped over on the sofa.
A blurry redhead leaned over her, "I'll get you in bed, Commander. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
The words lost their meaning as Shepard's consciousness retreated into a blessedly quiet blackness, but a dim portion of her brain sent dull waves of terror rippling ineffectively after it. She fell asleep.
8. The Makings of a Murderer
Billy twitched in his sleep, small moans escaping his lips.
"No, Dad! Please!"
His memories were perfect. Billy felt every hit in exactly the right spot. He was five years old again. Before he realized his Duty. When he was Unworthy.
_Little Billy writhed on the long dun grass of his home-world, small hands wrapped around his belly. A terrible shadow crossed his pain-wracked form._
_ 'Stop wailing, Billy, you're pathetic!'_
_ Billy felt a foot crunch against his ribs, gasped against the agony._
_ 'Daddy, please, stop!'_
_ 'Shut up, Billy! You're weak. Take it like a man, not a whiny little bitch. I'm making you strong, boy.' His father grunted, kneeling in the grass. 'You gotta be strong.' Billy could smell the alcohol oozing from his father's pores like sweat._
_**Strong**__, thought little Billy, __**I need to be strong**__._
_ The memory skipped._
_ A small rodent, wide black eyes glistening with trust, lay in Billy's lap. The purple sunset sky was wide and clouded overhead, soft yellow grasses whispered and sighed in the cool breeze. Billy held a silver knife in his chubby hand, turning it to catch the light. Beautiful._
_ The pet squeaked and Billy felt Love for the innocent creature. It did not deserve to stay in this place of pain. He stroked its head gently, so gently, crooning softly to it. Billy slit its throat swiftly, watched the blood darken the ground, stain his clothes, and gild the knife. He was proud—he had helped the little thing escape. It was Free._
_ Billy wanted to be free too. He looked behind him to the small house, now black and hulking in the fading light. He put the bloody knife to his neck—the cool bite felt delicious—but hesitated. What if he could Help others? He was strong—his father had made him strong, worthy._
_ Billy liked that word. Worthy._
_ He could Help others, yes he could. Help them to be Worthy, then to Free them._
_ Billy stood, the pitiful carcass tumbling from his lap to the earth, already forgotten._
_ He had his Duty._
Billy snapped awake, felt the tears-that-came-with-Seeing. He turned into the seat and brought the knife from its hidden place. He slid his fingers down the flat of the blade, slowly at first, then with desperation. He had to find her. Make her understand that he was Worthy.
He did not sleep for the remainder of the two-day flight.
9. Aftermath
"Ugh." Shepard clutched her aching head. What-? It all came flashing back. Kelly, the wine, the seemingly innocent line of questions.
_Bitch!_ Shepard growled and grabbed her twisted sheets like they were a certain yeoman's throat. _She drugged me just to get her scuttlebutt!_
A sharp pain behind her eyes reminded her that being angry was probably not the smartest thing to do right now. She got up, dressed slowly, shaking her head at her own stupidity. She should have just left it at 'cute'. It was perfectly natural to…appreciate a friend's appearance, perfectly natural to think of their personal qualities and attributes, but not when you're drunk. Not when you're with the ship gossip and certainly not when said friend is…was…a subordinate officer.
_Damn._
She trudged into her little bathroom, rubbing her eyes blearily. So _this_ was a hangover.
…
"Good morning, Commander!" Kelly's smile was mischievous. Shepard was pissed again, the hangover fading to a tolerable level.
"Don't give me that, Chambers," she snarled, stepping in close, "You drugged me! For gossip!"
Kelly held up her hands defensively, eyes going innocently wide, "I didn't force you to drink, Commander. And I just wanted to get to know you."
Shepard slapped a hand to her forehead in frustration, "That's not how normal people build relationships, Kelly. If you ever—"
"Oh, don't worry, Commander," Kelly grinned, "I won't tell. Honestly."
Shepard decided to leave before she said or did anything she couldn't take back. She felt too unstable. She stormed off to the cockpit.
"You'll have to be sneakier than that if ya wanna steal my hat, Commander."
Joker didn't turn his chair, but she could hear the smirk in his voice.
She walked around to the side, curious. His mussy brown hair stuck up in one place and was matted down in another. His grin was wide and proud.
The flash of his eyes made her stomach flipflop, which only made her angry again. 'Cute'. Stupid Kelly.
"Where's the hat?"
"Nope. It's a secret."
"You're sitting on it, aren't you?"
He shifted smugly, "Maybe. Forget the hat. What's up?"
"Kelly is…" Shepard searched for an appropriate phrase, failed, and threw up her hands dramatically.
He arched an eyebrow. "Okay, I'm missing something."
Shepard sighed and sat down on one of the consoles. "She drugged me."
"Hey, watch where you park your ass!...Wait, 'drugged' you?" He grinned, shaking his head, "Spiked your Kool-Aid, did she?"
"Something like that," Shepard grumbled, thin fingers going to her temples.
"Huh. Didja wake up with your pants on backwards? Were you wearing pants?" His smile was wide, green eyes glinting, "Don't answer, I'm getting mental pictures."
She punched his shoulder lightly, "Hah stinking ha. No, she interrogated me until I conked out and I woke up in the clothes I fell asleep in."
"Well, I'm glad she didn't ninja-rape you."
"That's the sweetest thing you've ever said, Joker, thank you." Her ears burned.
"Anytime, Commander. What'd she wanna know, anyway?" He swiveled his chair to face her fully. She shook her head. Rather than dampening his curiosity, her actions seemed to pique it. Joker leaned forward eagerly.
"Oh, c'mon, Commander, you know you like me better. Spill."
"No!" She stood up, laughing, and started to go.
"Hey, I gotta know now," he sat up slightly and pulled his cap out from under him, "I'll let you wear my hat. Just for the day, mind."
She looked at the proffered cap, then pointedly at his ass. "No thanks, Joker. Maybe after you wash it."
"Psh, I never wash this baby," he pulled it on definitively, "Bad luck to."
"Mm, suddenly our little game is less appealing."
"Right, Commander, because there's absolutely nothing appealing about dirty sweaty stuff." He grinned wolfishly.
Shepard blushed, her mind going exactly where he wanted it to.
He wiggled the hat. "You know you want it."
"I'll pass. Besides, I want to earn it." She walked around the back of his chair and leaned over his shoulder to speak in his ear, "I'll get it eventually, Lieutenant." Her heart beat so hard she was sure he could hear it. He leaned his head back, eyes closed, a slight shiver twitched his shoulders.
"Mm, looking forward to it, Commander, but I still wanna know what Kelly—"
Shepard slumped back, hiding her disappointment with a tsk, "Sorry, flyboy, all girl-talk, you wouldn't be interested."
He grunted, crossing his legs with difficulty, "You're no fun. You know, if it's Kelly, it'll probably be spread all over the ship in a few days anyway. Like with that varren thing. Not to suggest that our local xenophile had anything to do with that…"
"See ya, Joker," Shepard pushed the brim of his hat down with two lazy fingers, "And remember: hats go on your head, not under your ass."
"Hey, wait!" He grinned after her, "Have you given any thought to my other question?"
She frowned slightly, "About…?"
"Post 'saving-the-galaxy' plans."
She smiled. "Yes." Then she left him, his good-natured complaints falling behind.
10. Message Away
Billy stood in front of the terminal. The orange glow bathed his pale, thin face, steady and soft.
What should he write? How could he tell her of the Beautiful Things they were to share?
He'd been composing a message in his head with sophisticated phrasing and elegant words, but when he'd typed it, it had seemed Prideful, Presumptuous, False. He wanted to be honest with his Phoenix, he wanted her to Feel his Truth.
So he wrote. It wasn't clean, it wasn't Worthy, but the simplicity felt intimate. He flushed, thinking of intimacy, of coupling, then shook his head viciously. Unworthy thoughts—base, vile, crude! Pure beings such as Shepard and himself had no time for fleshy animal distractions.
The muffled voices from outside the apartment had stopped outside of the door. No time. He sent the message and shut down the terminal. Billy slipped into the bedroom, found a small bathroom, hid behind a shower curtain, and waited. His heart pounded with anticipation. Had she received his message yet? Was she reading it now? He frowned, anxiety rising. What if she-?
The bathroom door hissed open and the Doubts flew away. His fingers tensed on the knife and he reminded himself to avoid damaging the face or the smooth skin of the arms.
Those were perfect for demonstrating his Appreciation.
11. Familiar Faces
Shepard moaned softly, one hand pressed to her lower abdomen. "Doc, I forgot how much this _sucked._"
The good doctor was rummaging through the low row of cabinets. "Did you always get severe cramps when on your menstrual cycle?"
"Ever since they started, yeah." Shepard had been sitting on one of the medbay cots, but eased gingerly down when Chakwas made a soft noise of discovery. "I don't remember it being this bad, though."
Chakwas emerged from the recesses of a cabinet, gray hair mussed and cheeks slightly flushed, with a small white pill-bottle in her hand. She tsked at the younger woman. "Honestly, Shepard, I've seen you shrug away bullet wounds. You're being quite infantile about this."
"You earn battle-wounds!" Shepard protested, "There's nothing dangerous or remotely romantic about_ this_."
Chakwas raised a critical eyebrow. "I was unaware that potentially mortal injury was considered attractive." She opened the bottle and shook two capsles out onto a palm, then offered them to Shepard.
"Ah, I didn't mean it like that." Shepard took the pills. "Thanks." She swallowed them dry.
Chakwas just shook her head and returned the bottle to its hiding place.
"How've you been sleeping, Commander?"
"Fine," she lied. Ever since her…revival…her sleep patterns had been sporadic. In the past three days, despite the exhaustive intensity of her various planet-side forays, she hadn't slept at all.
"Don't give me that, Shepard, I'm a physician. Is it a dream or just insomnia?"
Shepard sighed and leaned back against a cot, "Mostly dreams. Sometimes insomnia."
"What do you dream about?" Chakwas took a seat in her comfy chair, expression concerned.
"Sometimes Mindoir. Akuze. Virmire. Mostly…mostly it's my death." Shepard looked down at her hands, useless in her lap. "On the nights I can't sleep, I worry about some of the things I've done, what I'm going to do. Any decision I make could be the one that dooms us all."
Chakwas snorted, "That sounds a mite self-absorbed. To be honest, Commander, you're doing your best and your best is better than most peoples'."
Myla smiled slightly, "Thanks, doc."
"About the dreams—they're all memories?"
"The bad ones, yes, for the most part."
The older woman folded her arms uncertainly, "Would it…help to talk about them?"
"With who? Kelly? No, she's not high on my 'trust list' right now."
Chakwas's mouth quirked, "Then maybe you should talk to someone you _do_ trust."
"Oh!" It occurred to Shepard that Chakwas may have meant herself, "I'm sorry—"
The doctor waved her apology away, "No, no, Commander, not me. I'm just an old country doctor—you need someone you can really _talk_ to. Just think about it."
"Okay, Bones," Myla stood, the dull insistent pain in the pit of her stomach already fading, "Thanks for the meds. And the advice."
"Anytime, Commander."
….
"Yeoman Chambers, if you say I have unread messages at my private terminal, I shall scream."
Kelly blinked innocently, "Commander, the Illusive Man would like to speak with you in the briefing room."
"Oh," Shepard said, surprised, "O—okay, thanks Kelly." She turned to go.
"Also, you have unread messages at your private terminal."
"Dammit!"
…..
Horizon was a dry hell—the small black seeker swarms whining across the bright blue sky. The hot, cracked ground was ravaged by telltale signs of battle, a few brownish stalks of dead grass were testament to the drought that had plagued the settlement this season.
Everywhere, the thick stench of fear, the metallic smell of blood, the acrid scent of insects, but no bodies. At least, no dead colonists. Here and there, the unnatural spiny forms of Collector drones lay ominous and pathetic on parched earth. But more terrible than the bodies, or the conspicuous lack thereof, were the living left behind.
Shepard shivered, peering at a woman frozen in mid-step, an expression of purest horror preserved on her pale face. She was encased in some alien material—dark and glossy like obsidian, but practically transparent, with dark wraiths of smoke or steam curling sinisterly away. Her field survival instructor's words came floating back to her. _Don't touch what you can't identify, soldier._
She swallowed hard, trying to fight the swelling wave of despair and guilt. She'd been too late.
A sharp report snapped in the hot breeze and Myla looked back at her squad. Jack kicked lazily at the top half of a husk. Iridescent blue-black blood—oil?—stained the ground beneath it.
"Little shit was still movin'." She waved her gun, grinning, "Not anymore."
Shepard nodded once. Zaeed fidgeted with some of his armor plates—he'd taken some fire from that…thing's particle beam, and his mouth was a grim slash of pride and pain. She reached for a pack of medigel from her belt.
"Here, let—"
"What the hell did you people do? You let them get away?" It was that insufferable colonist. Delan. Dalan. Dailan. The mechanic.
"We were too late," she said simply, staring up at the sky to where she'd just watched the giant Collector ship shudder and leave.
The man threw up his hands, "So that's it? You're late. All these colonists are gone, probably dead, and you're too late? Fat lot of help you were—we were just fine before your precious Alliance got here."
Shepard's marine pride swelled in indignation. She stepped forward and pointed at him angrily, "The Alliance came here to help you! The Collectors took soldiers as well as colonists—this isn't about military or civilian, this is about human lives! People were taken. And you locked yourself safely away in a bunker. Did you even think of bringing others?"
The colonist grimaced in rage, his eyes narrowing hatefully, "Don't you dare, you bitch! You weren't here, you don't know—who the hell do you think you are?"
"Commander Shepard." The familiar voice hit her like a concussive round.
Kaiden Alenko strode deliberately from behind the colonist, his chocolate brown eyes fixed on Shepard's pale green ones. She smiled reflexively at her friend, but he did not return the gesture, expression cold and remote.
"Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. The woman who defeated Saren and his geth. Savior of the Citadel." The accolades dripped from his lips, hung heavy with a bitterness that didn't belong in Alenko's warm tones. He broke his stare to glance sidelong at the annoying man, "You're talking to a legend…and a ghost."
The mechanic clenched his fists, shaking his head in disgust. "Figures. We lose a lot of good people, and _you_ get left behind." He retreated behind a row of crates, probably in search of other colonists.
Kaiden turned to her fully, something hard in his eyes. Suddenly he stepped forward, hugging her tightly. At her side, Shepard heard Jack give a soft taunting whistle. "I missed you," he whispered in her ear.
Shepard bit her lip, thinking of green eyes watching the feed from her visor cam.
Finally, Kaiden pulled away, expression melting a little, "I thought you were dead, Commander, we all did."
_I was dead,_ she wanted to say, but it came out wrong. "It's been two years, Kaiden. People change, go their own ways. I spent two years on a lab table."
"Commander," his voice was hurt, angry, "I would have followed you anywhere. I loved you."
_I know._ She closed her eyes, remembering the awkward encounter on the SR1. Her relief when Joker had interrupted Kaiden's advances, her guilty horror when he confronted her later. She'd liked Alenko—he'd been a good soldier and a solid friend, but he was too…bland for anything more.
"Alenko…" He wasn't listening to her. She heard Zaeed sigh.
"And now you're working for Cerberus?" He shook his head, righteous disappointment etched on his handsome face, "Don't you know what they do?" It felt like he'd slapped her.
"We're not working for Cerberus," snarled Jack in the background.
"I know better than anyone you've met, Alenko," Shepard said coolly, her eyes hard, "They slaughtered my unit on Akuze for their sick experiments. They killed Kahoku and his men. They've ruined and perverted innocent lives across the galaxy. I don't like them, I don't trust them, but right now I need their money and resources to take down the Collectors."
Jack's appreciative grunt didn't even register with Myla—she glanced at the man in front of her, resenting his confidence, his apparent refusal to give her a chance to defend herself. They were the same rank now, she realized, he owed her no authoritative respect. His disapproving sneer made it clear she wouldn't get any. _Not looking to screw the commanding officer anymore, are you?_ She thought cruelly, then hated herself immediately.
"You've turned your back on everything we stood for." Alenko looked down on her stonily, "You've changed. But I still know where my allegiance lies."
He turned to go, pausing to throw a regretful look over his shoulder, "Be careful."
He was gone.
"Stupid pretty-boy," growled Zaeed softly, giving her a rough slap on a shoulder pad, "Forget him, Shepard. He'll come off his pedestal and see you were right."
"Asshole," agreed Jack.
Shepard wanted to scream or cry or at least sit down, but she kept her back straight and her expression blank. She slapped the com button on her visor.
"Joker, send the shuttle down."
"You got it, Commander." He was embarrassed, pitying. He'd heard the whole thing.
"I've had enough of this place," she spat in a broken whisper, staring up at a sky that had no right to be blue and cheerful.
…..
Jack and Zaeed didn't try to talk to her on the shuttle-ride up. Fine by her. She didn't trust herself to talk. _At least we know Mordin's anti-seeker stuff works._
Her squad lounged quietly on either side of her, checking their weapons or stretching sore limbs. They worked so well together and she was surprised to find that she was grateful for their respect and gruff mannerisms. They were killers out of necessity and profession—they had no higher code or regulation to adhere to. They were strong and they had enough courtesy to recognize some pains were private.
Oh, Alenko. He had always been so open, so trusting. Shepard stared down at her empty hands. He hadn't even listened to her.
A sudden surge of anger. _I loved you. _His words were weapons he used without comprehension. It hadn't been fair to say that. She couldn't help that she hadn't felt the same, that she was already thinking about…about someone else. She cupped her face in her hands, seeking solace in the darkness, but her treacherous mind drudged up memories she'd hoped to avoid.
_His eyes were bright, intense. He moved close, too close, broad chest, handsome face, inches away. Adrenaline pulsed through her, making every detail sharper, heart pumping faster. Part of her wanted to give in, to give in to the moment—hell, he wanted it, they could die tomorrow, all that desperate hormone-fueled drivel._
_ He wouldn't go, he was waiting for her. Joker wouldn't save her this time._
_ Alenko leaned in, her silence giving him confidence or just feeding his impatience for a verdict._
_ She stopped him. It would be wrong. Disappointment flickered across his face, but she'd made up her mind. It had to be real._
_ He'd left. She'd stayed in her room, thinking. Thinking about a life she'd never have, and green eyes darker than her own._
The shuttle docked with a gentle bump that blew away her memories.
She took a shuddering breath and rubbed at her eyes. She had to give Mordin the news and then the Illusive Man owed her some damn answers.
12. Intelligent Conversation
By the time she reached the bridge, her anger had burned out.
"Hey," she sighed wearily, singing onto the cool floor beside his chair.
"Hey Commander, it's, uh, funny the people you can run into out here, huh? Still, it was nice to see Kaiden—Staff Lieutenant Alenko, wasn't it?—again, right?"
Joker's voice was carefully positive but obviously, to Myla's ears, fake. She laughed humorlessly, running her fingers roughly through her hair, "I don't think 'nice' or 'funny' come close to it."
He let out a long breath. "I heard."
"I know."
"He dumped a lot of shit on you."
"I know. I just…I couldn't find the right words, you know?"
"Yeah," he glanced at her quickly, something sad in his eyes, "I know."
They were quiet, the hum of the duragel displays and the slight movements as he tapped this and adjusted that were the only sounds in the cockpit.
"I never thanked you, did I?" Shepard asked suddenly.
He looked down at her, surprised. "For what, exactly?"
"For…interrupting Kaiden." She blushed. Why _should_ he remember? And even if he did, he'd said it wasn't intentional—
"Oh, that." He grinned guiltily, "No, but I didn't think you wanted to thank me. Kaiden was pissed."
"Well, a very belated 'thanks' unto you, Lieutenant." She closed her eyes and lay back, not caring, for the moment, what anyone thought of her.
She could imagine him arching his eyebrow in his customary manner, "You're welcome. So…I guess scuttlebutt was wrong, then?"
"It is nine times out of ten." She couldn't be sure, but his responding grunt sounded pleased.
Something occurred to her. She sat up and opened her eyes. "Joker, why is EDI so quiet whenever I'm up here?"
"Ah," he scratched the back of his head, "I may be muting it whenever you come to visit."
"Why?"
He looked down at her and smiled without a trace of sarcasm or mockery. "This is our time, Commander. I don't want to feel like there's always someone else butting in."
She laughed, "I like being alone with you too, Joker." It wasn't until the words had left her mouth that she'd thought of their alternate connotation.
He grinned wolfishly, "Oh, so you wanna do innuendos now? I'd say it's been a pleasure serving under you, but I haven't had that particular pleasure yet."
"No—that was completely by accident!" She laughed again, "I'm sure you're just swelling with pride in your own little comment, though." If he caught that—
"Ooh, naughty, Commander, you're below the belt there."
"I certainly hope so." She tried her own predatory grin and he snickered.
"Just shocking. To think that you are a role model to the galaxy and all the innocent children."
"So you surrender?"
"Nah, I think you'll have to punish me." He smirked suggestively and she flushed. Had Kelly told him about the leather thing?
"Oh, I don't think it'll come to that. You could always bribe me—I'll take whatever you can give me." Oh gods, she _had_ just said that.
"Wow." He adjusted his cap and pulled at the neck of his shirt, "That was pretty good, if a bit long." Shepard stifled an instinctive response. She didn't know how long she could keep this up without revealing herself as a total idiot.
She smiled, sticking up a hand, "Truce?"
He gripped it and shook solemnly. "Truce."
Shepard got up off the floor with a slight grown, the dull responsibilities of command flooding her being at the same time as residual aches and pains from the earlier firefight. He caught her arm before she left.
"Hey, Commander," he took off his cap and plunked it on her head, "Just for the rest of the day, okay?"
She grinned and knuckled his head, further mussing his dark brown hair, "Thanks flyboy."
"Good talk, Commander."
13. Idle Minds
Why wasn't she here yet? Billy paced the dirty floor of the abandoned apartment he'd taken up residence in.
Maybe he needed to motivate her. He snuck out to find a public-access information terminal and spent the next six hours poring over his Phoenix's life. Friends, family—few. Hm. Not an easy quarry.
His heart sped up at the prospect of a challenge. He'd have to bring her to him.
Someplace empty would be good—she'd be suspicious anyway, may as well avoid any potentially interfering factors. Billy had accepted the fact that she did not want Release. Few who deserved it did. Why would she come to him? Billy knew that whatever you Released graced you with part of its strength, part of its experience and spirit, thereby making you more Worthy in turn, but he was unsure if she Appreciated this truth.
He scanned the text of a biographical report, eyes moving rapidly over glowing words. Maybe he could Take someone. Shepard seemed to advocate a delayed Release for the Pure and the Innocent. Curious. Perhaps she'd want to Find him for those he'd already Freed?
By all accounts, she was an accomplished warrior—beyond what he'd Witnessed at Purgatory. A marine, N7, Spectre…beautiful. He read the reports on Mindoir and Akuze with great interest. Forged through grief and pain.
A sniper specialist. He'd have to be careful when setting up—he wanted it to be close, intimate—preferably with no weapons at all.
Billy smiled. All right, the more time she gave him, the more time he had to prepare for her Coming. It would be perfect.
…
**A/N This will be the last of Billy for a while, hope it creeped you out sufficiently! **
14. Preparation
After Horizon, Shepard threw herself into recruitment, although part of her was dismayed by the kind of people they were picking up. Increasingly it seemed to her that the Illusive Man had simply picked the most powerful or talented individuals he could find without regard to their personal qualities or giving forethought to how they'd fit together as a team. Still, she did her best to talk with them all, winning them over, convincing them to work as a unit. At times, this was more challenging than her years spent training as an N7.
Each had their own personal problems, stories, and opinions, and Shepard felt as if she were being torn in eleven different directions. There had been a brief break in requests and complaints when she'd visited to the Citadel to get Gardner's ingredients (after meeting Kasumi, preventing Garrus from shooting Sidonis, and narrowly keeping Kolyat from following in his father's footsteps), but soon she was swamped again. Technically, personal complaints, questions, and comments were the second-in-command's prerogative and responsibility, but Shepard wanted to know her crew, she wanted her crew to know and trust her personally, and Miranda—despite her flawless appearance—was not the kind of person you came to with problems. Miranda had enough of her own, anyway.
Shepard leaned against her private terminal, thinking about the day's mission. She'd had no conception of Lawson's complex family issues. Her very existence—genetically engineered to a man's ideal of a woman—was due to the money of a controlling father. If one could buy perfection, what was it truly worth? Would her personal actions and decisions live up to her genetic potential? Shepard had seen the other woman's pride and insecurity.
Perhaps the only actions she hadn't been engineered for were her initial rebellion from her father and her subsequent theft of her sister. Theft or liberation? Her motives in that venture were murky. Vengeance, or a genuine desire to give another version of herself a free "normal" life? Both? Whatever the subconscious root, it had been worth enduring the other woman's superficial arrogance to see her smile and open up to her sister.
Shepard sighed, stretching her back. Most of Cerberus crew—including her administrative assistant—were in bed; she was alone at her terminal. She keyed it on, trying to remember the last time she'd checked it. Gods, not since Horizon at _least_.
_**Oh. Shit.**_ She took one look at the inbox and vowed to check her mail as soon as the shuttle docked after every mission. Myla gritted her teeth and started reading.
To her relief, most of it was spam or tentative greetings from old friends she had since seen. She could delete those. A plethora of 'thank-you' messages, useless old mission reports…she could read those later.
A strange entry caught her eye. No title, no origin. She frowned and opened it.
_**Title: (Untitled)**_
_**From: (Error, Invalid Sender Name)**_
_Hey Shepherd__,__ heard I have you to thank you for getting out of Purgatory (sent a ship to round me up, but they didn't weapons-check good enough)! I'm gonna carve your name instead of mine into my next victim as thanks, got anyone you need dead (haha)? You did take a shot at me though on my way out so I have to kill you, you know how it goes. Dad taught me that you let anybody hurt you, they get ideas so you make sure to send a message, not like I'm sending now, though! See you around, the people who live here are coming back and it's showtime! Look around for your name, I'll make sure you find it before I find you! Billy… _
As she read, she felt her heart sink. Just another mess she had created. This Billy was clearly insane and clearly obsessed. She closed her eyes, images of still, cold flesh, her name emblazoned in blood—stop. Her fists clenched and she felt a rising fury replace despair. This couldn't happen now, not now, not fucking—
Her omnitool beeped softly. Kasumi.
Shepard took a deep breath. There were serial killers all over the galaxy, she reminded herself, there were twisted sadists in every alleyway—this Billy could wait.
Myla logged off her terminal and walked to the elevator, forcing her swell of emotion down. She had to be strong—her people needed her.
….
Kasumi looked up at Shepard as she entered the room, a smile on her painted lips and twin spots of eager light gleaming softly beneath her dark hood.
"Hey, Shep, are you ready for a party?"
Myla tried to remember the details of Goto's personal vendetta, "Donovan Hock, right?"
The thief inclined her head affirmatively, "I'll give you a quick rundown when we're arriving—it's on Bekenstein in the Boltzman system. Relatively close to the Citadel so…"
Shepard nodded, "I'll give Joker the coordinates."
"Thanks, Shep," the Japanese woman stood fluidly, a grin spreading on her lips. "That's not all I wanted to talk to you about, though." She moved to her bunk and knelt, a slender arm straining into the darkness beneath it.
"Mm?" Shepard raised an eyebrow. She usually liked Kasumi's playful nature, but in light of recent events, she just wanted to go back to her cabin and sleep.
Kasumi pulled a thin white box from under her bed and opened it, revealing a neatly folded black…something. She set the box down and went back beneath her bunk. Shepard walked over to her teammate, poking the black thing experimentally. Leather.
She had a bad feeling about this. "Is this-?"
Kasumi emerged from the darkness, holding aloft a pair of black heels, her smirk practically sadistic. "Formal wear, Shep. Surely you didn't think you'd be going in that clunky armor of yours?"
"I hadn't thought that far…and don't call me Shirley." Myla numbly lifted the dress from its box. _**Oh hell.**_ "I can't wear this."
"Sure you can. Just think of it as going undercover." The thief sat on her bed, grinning encouragingly, "It should fit—I took your measurements from old Alliance requisition forms and guessed the rest from holos. Try it on!"
Myla rolled her eyes but felt herself start to cave. She _did_ like leather, and there was no one watching… "I don't usually wear dresses…"
Kasumi cocked her head, "Well, if you wanted us to get thrown out and shot at, you could always wear your Alliance dress blues."
"Fine." Shepard stripped off her casuals and struggled to fit in the dress. "How the _hell_—"
"There's a zipper, Shep!" Kasumi rushed to her side, laughing, and helped the frustrated woman. "Over your head—_there_ we go."
Kasumi zipped her up, and Shepard felt the dress close up around her like a cool shell. It fit perfectly. She looked down and blushed at the low neckline, but a small voice in the back of her mind purred approvingly at the flattering cut of the outfit.
"You clean up good, Commander," winked the thief, holding up one of the shoes, "Now try these."
Memories of twisted ankles and breath-catching stumbles bubbled up. Part of Academy training dealt with formal dress, etiquette, etc. Myla had nearly failed those courses. She took a defensive step back and the lights in Kasumi's eyes flared menacingly.
"If you'd rather wear combat boots, that's fine, I'm sure you won't miss your hamster. Or your model ship collection. Or your secret chocolate stash."
"Dirty blackmailer." Myla grudgingly accepted the shoes, bending over to put them on. Why were these so damn unmanageable? One.
"Shep. Your dress? Your pilot might appreciate the view, but little things like that will give you away as a…woman who does not attend functions such as Hock's party."
Shepard flushed and straightened, clapping a hand to her neckline.
She let the reference to Joker go, wobbling over to Kasumi's usual perch and sitting heavily. Ah, instantly more comfortable. She managed to put on the other shoe and grinned up to the thief in triumph, but the other woman was shaking her head, hands pushed into the dark recesses of her hood in despair.
"Cross your legs, Shepard! I'm starting to wish I'd picked Grunt."
"Why don't you just take Miranda?" Shepard's cheeks were flaming and she started pulling off the contemptible heels.
"Because, Shepard, you're the only one I trust to get the job done." Kasumi smiled easily, but Myla had talked with her enough to know when the expression hid bitter sadness. "Keiji meant everything to me and…now he's gone. That graybox is all I have left of him." The thief had seemed to dwindle as she talked, but now she straightened and snapped her luminescent gaze to Shepard, giving her a determined grin. "Put those shoes back on and get up, Shep, let's see how you walk."
With a sigh of regret for her private cabin and the comfortable, if too-large bed within, Shepard obligingly slid her feet into the instruments of torture known as 'high heels', stood, and took a tottering step. It would be a long night.
15. Infiltration
"Wow, Commander, you look—"
"Eyes to your station, Chambers!" Myla snapped, her cheeks burning. It was impossible to storm properly in this damn dress. Ugh, she hadn't even slept.
"Yes ma'am!" The yeoman was grinning. She resumed her work, typing feverishly at her terminal. _**What the hell does she even do on there?**_ Shepard wondered briefly, then decided she didn't care.
She activated her Omnitool and sent an irate message to Connors in the cargo bay, asking for an update on the status of the statue. His reply was much more polite, assuring her that the weapons and armor had been secured within the statue's secret compartment in the base, and that the statue itself was ready for transport. Momentarily mollified, she sent a quick 'thank you'. Connors was a nice guy—not at all the Cerberus type.
Come to think of it, none of her Cerberus crewmembers were the 'Cerberus type'.
Huh.
A flash of gold caught her eye and she scowled, lapsing back into her foul mood. That stupid statue! Why Saren, of all possible things? She'd spent months hunting the bastard, lost Jenkins on Eden Prime, then Ashley on Virmire, only to find in the end that the turian Spectre she chased was nothing but a sad, twisted puppet. A cruel mockery of the proud man he used to be.
Thinking about Saren made her depressed. She began to feel weary, ancient, and shook her head vigorously, marching up to the bridge. _**So tired**_…her ankle wobbled dangerously, and prickly fear choked her throat automatically. She hated these damn things! She stamped into the cockpit.
"Hey, Commander, ETA's about ten minutes so, last-time potty break, 'cause…" He swiveled his chair to face her and raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Hellooooo, Nurse! Damn, Shepard, give a guy a little warning? I don't have the Normandy's cameras set to record."
"Gee, thanks, Joker—really heartwarming," she growled, a headache pulsing behind her eyes, "I'm taking this stupid thing off first chance I get."
"Really? Can I help? Y'know, this might _be_ that first chance." He grinned at her, green eyes glinting.
She pushed at the brim of his cap with one finger, "Lieutenant, I am _so_ not in the mood for this right now. I only came up to tell you that, for the majority of the mission, I won't be able to talk to you via our comms. I can hear you if you have an emergency, but—"
"Gotchya—I'll be SOL for a response." His gaze flicked up and down her figure appreciatively and she felt herself blush.
"What? Is it too…I told Goto I looked like a, a club dancer or something."
He shook his head, green eyes meeting hers seriously, "No, Commander, you look—"
She folded her arms protectively across her chest, "I know, I know, like a hooker." The movement made her wobble dangerously on her too-high heels.
"Well, I was going to say 'beautiful'," he looked at her, expression still uncharacteristically sober.
_**No, no, no—he hadn't just said that, he hadn't just**_—the pain in her head bloomed and she brought her hands to her temples. She wasn't beautiful, she knew she wasn't.
"Please don't say that, Joker. Please…"
"Why not?" He challenged, smirking, "It's true. You are."
"I'm not!" She threw her hands out and lost her balance completely, falling against him. Instinctively, she put her hands up, slamming his shoulders against the back of his chair. He grunted in surprise and pain, quick hands catching her just above the waist.
She looked up—her face was inches away from his. _**Close enough to kiss**_, a traitor part of her thought numbly, but she pushed it down. Beautiful. Her head throbbed.
"Wow, leather," he remarked softly, hands slipping down to her hips. He grinned playfully at her.
She shuddered at his touch, could not deny the warm charge it sent crackling up her spine, but swallowed the pleasure. She had a job to do—it didn't matter how much she wanted this. Actually, no, she didn't want this, not like this. Beautiful. No.
Shepard pulled away, straightening proudly. "I should go." She saw the confusion, the hurt in his eyes.
"Is this a chick thing? You want me to say something, right?"
"No, Joker, I…" Gods, her head hurt, "I can't do this right now."
He threw up his hands, "Do what? We weren't doing anything! I just complimented you and you flipped."
She activated her Omnitool, looking for an escape. "We're almost at the drop area, Joker, I have to leave."
He just shook his head and turned his chair away.
Beautiful. **The batarian snarled in her ears**-No. Shepard brushed her copper hair back behind her ears, letting out a low, long breath. Control.
"Shepard—I would suggest that you depart to the shuttle. Kasumi Goto is already aboard and we are currently point-oh-five—"
"Okay, EDI, I'm gone." He'd unmuted her. Shepard felt tears burning but she blinked them away.
Beautiful.
….
Shepard listened numbly to Kasumi's intructions as the shuttlecraft hummed towards Hock's mansion. She knew she could handle the mission—it seemed pretty straightforward.
Beautiful.
He couldn't have known, he was just trying to…to what? To be nice? That wasn't like him. He was always honest, often brutally so. So why would he do that to her?
Beautiful. She knew she wasn't. Her headache was beginning to subside.
They landed and she saw that damn statue again. The light of the setting sun glinted from its menacing brow, the abnormal headfringe. The Eclipse guard stopped them.
"Just a moment, ma'am. There seems to be an issue with the statue."
The compartment was leadlined—he shouldn't be able to 'see' the armor or weapons. The women waited calmly.
"Is there a problem here?" A tall man with a square jaw, unpleasantly thick lips, and bright eyes that shone cruelly, descended the clean steps. Hock. It had to be.
"No, Mr. Hock. Just doing a scan." The guard waved his omnitool at the golden statue, scrutinizing the readings suspiciously.
Hock faced Shepard. "I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock." The South-African accent was heavy and rather disconcerting.
"I've heard a lot about you. Alison Gunn." She smiled confidently, putting just enough respect into her tone to set him at ease and keeping it casual enough to where he'd understand she was powerful herself. She stuck her hand out. He did not shake.
"And I've heard a lot about you. You've been very busy lately," he paused just long enough to convey his skepticism, "If the extranet is to be believed."
"Sir," the security guard stood down, "The scanners aren't picking anything up."
Hock turned away from the two women, gazing into the statue's gilded face. "Hm. I don't think our guests would come all the way here from Illium just to cause trouble. Do you?" The guard shrugged and Hock shook his head.
"You may pass through, Ms. Gunn, with my apologies." Hock looked down at Kasumi scornfully, "But I will ask your companion to remain outside. You understand, I hope."
Well, so much for easy infiltration. She smiled and shrugged casually. "Your house, your rules."
She nodded dismissively to the thief at her side. Goto could always slip in with her stealth cloak engaged. Hock smiled mirthlessly and swept an arm up to indicate the mansion.
"Enjoy yourself at the party, Ms. Gunn."
She was in.
16. Security Measures
Shepard paused at the entry, heels sunk at least an inch deep in a rich blue carpet which probably cost more than her entire armory. Kasumi whispered in her comm—she'd have no trouble sneaking in. _**Got to find the vault door and see what we're up against**_.
Right.
Myla moved forward, passing clusters of petty criminals in formal dress, elegant flutes of champagne in their hands. She suppressed a sneer.
_"Very double-oh-seven, Commander, nice."_ She stumbled slightly against a wall. _**Damn him, she'd said—**_
_"I think it's extremely cool, probably your coolest minimission yet. What do you think? Oh, right, you can't say anything because it'd blow your cover, huh? I mean, imagine seeing some sexy criminal leader slash mastermind talking to herself like a crazy person—oh wait, that might be the standard operating procedure. Go ahead—give it a try!"_
She shook her head imperceptibly, vowing to hurt him when she got back to the Normandy. She kept her posture flawless as she continued to move through the rooms, her face a serene mask.
_"Anyway,"_ she heard the line crackle as he sighed, "_I figured I'd just annoy you for a while. I'm sorry if I was…out of line earlier, okay? You're my friend and my commander and I respect you and all, I just…hell."_
Shepard moved to one of the seemingly endless bookcases and picked a thin volume from a shelf, opening it to a random page and pretending to read.
"Joker, get off the comm channel this instant. I have a job to—"
_"Oh, there you are, good."_ His tone brightened considerably, _"How's it going? I usually have a camera feed soooo I'm a little bored right now."_
"Are you shitting me?" she hissed, "Lieutenant, if I—"
_"I thought you wanted it. Right? Doesn't every woman want to hear that she's—"_
"I am _not_ beautiful, Joker and I am _not_ talking to you right now."
She snapped the book shut and replaced it on the shelf, clenching her jaw angrily. **Cold dark earth against her calves, looking up at the yellow light shining through the cracks around the cellar door in terror.** No!
Shepard went down a staircase, gripping the railing fiercely. It had to be close.
"_Yes you are_." His voice was low, intent. She forced herself to stop thinking about him.
"That's it," Kasumi's triumph was a low whisper, tremulous. She materialized with a shimmer, checking the security measures. "Password protected voice lock. Kinetic barrier. DNA scanner—looks like an EX-700 series. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable. Keiji could get through this in his sleep." She turned toward Shepard with a predatory grin. "And I'm better."
She flickered out of view, "We can cut the power for the barrier. I'll sync your omnitool to read the electromagnetic fields. Good hunting, Shep."
Bars glowed in the walls—pipes? Cords? She followed their winding paths. _**Her sister's eyes—wide and doe-dark. **_Beautiful_**. No, no, no.**_ A bookcase. She pulled a statue down, interrupting the electrical circuit.
One down, two to go.
"Let's get into their security office—we'll need the password for the voice-scanner. If it's been left anywhere, it'll be there."
_"How's it going? You having fun? Don't be dancing with any crime syndicate leaders—Grunt's the jealous type."_
Shepard found the little room; two guards. She downed one with an Incinerate, but the other already had his gun leveled at her. She didn't move as he smirked and started to pull the trigger. **The smell of smoke in her nostrils.**
Kasumi shimmered into view behind him, dealing a lightning-fast strike to his neck. The guard fell to the floor with a sick crack and Kasumi went to the desk.
"Cutting it close, Shep. You check over there."
Myla moved around the room, scanning duragel displays, OSDs, anything. She picked up a datapad. "Peruggia. Is that it?" The name sounded vaguely familiar.
"Huh. That's the thief who stole the Mona Lisa. It's got to be. Hold on a sec, I want to try something." Kasumi went to the back, her fingers flicking across holographic displays, typing commands on a virtual keyboard.
"I've tapped into their communications network," she turned with a smile, "It could come in handy."
Joker was humming tunelessly. Shepard rolled her eyes, decided to ignore him.
"I saw a guard outside Hock's personal rooms—could we find a way to get past him?"
The glows within Kasumi's hood flared, "Sure. Monitoring their channels. Go. Mingle. We need a voice-sample from Hock, so…whenever you're ready."
Myla nodded, leaving the thief to clean up.
The main chamber was dominated by a large metal fountain, silhouetted against a perfect sky. A sweet breeze flowed in, cooled her forehead. She went to the balcony, gazing out at a gorgeous landscape. She rubbed her eyes, sighing. He'd called her 'beautiful', what of it? It wasn't like he'd really meant it. Her elbow grazed a datapad and she reflexively caught it before it slipped off the railing.
Shepard scanned it, a smile growing as she read on. She looked down, whispered quietly: "Kasumi, I think I've found our ticket into Hock's rooms."
_"You're going into this guy's room? Shit, Shepard, you don't even know him!"_
"Excellent. What do you need me to do?"
Myla explained her plan as she moved to the target, trying to walk the way Kasumi had showed her the night before—switching her hips lazily with each stride. When she stopped in front of the door guard, her smile was coy. He looked at her skeptically.
"Can I help you?"
"I was told to wait inside," Shepard purred, sauntering closer.
"On whose authority?"
_"Damn, Commander, I wish I had a camera feed_," she could hear his grin but she'd decided to ignore him long ago.
"Donovan Hock." She ducked her head, imitating the shy, sycophantic pride of a groupie selected by her god. The guard did not move.
"I'm sorry, but authorization can only be given by my chief—"
"Oh, please!" She widened her eyes, like she was desparate for her chance with the disgusting weapons dealer, "Couldn't you call them or something?"
He sighed reluctantly and gingerly accessed his comm, "Um, sorry to bother you Chief Roe, but there's a woman here—"
"Yes, yes, I've approved her already, Samuels! Now let her in and STOP BOTHERING ME!"
Shepard stifled her laughter at the poor guard's meek nod, useless over radio. Kasumi was brilliant. Her headache had faded away completely.
17. Discovered
The room was palatial to Shepard's modest marine sensibilities and she couldn't see a practical reason for the bed to be the centerpiece of _any_ area. _**Bad taste and unsafe**_, she thought. Kasumi twinkled into view beside her.
"Alright—a nice DNA sample. A hair or some skin flakes should do."
"You go right, I'll take the left side." Myla activated her omnitool and scanned the first thing she came across—a potted plant.
"It's clean," she said uncertainly, somehow feeling the need to alert Kasumi.
Her voice was thick with incredulity, "It's a plant!"
_"Poor Shepard. Hey, check his bed! I bet there's lots of—"_
"Nothing on the sheets. His housekeepers are good." Kasumi hovered over the alarm clock, but decided against scanning it.
_"Aw…"_
"Nice try, Columbo," smirked Myla, scanning a couch. "Aha!"
Kasumi whirled at the exclamation, an expectant smile on her painted lips. "Did you-?"
"No," Shepard held up her prize, grinning, "A credit chit!"
"Honestly, Shep," Kasumi shook her head and continued scanning.
There was a small circular table with an ashtray, papers, and wineglasses. Shepard wrinkled her nose at the ashtray as she scanned it. Nothing. A minimal saliva sample from a wineglass—partial. Usable, but not great. She doubted the papers would yield anything useful, but gave it a run anyway, reading the cramped text as her omnitool clicked.
"Looks like Hock has been trying to crack Keiji's graybox," mused Kasumi, standing over Myla's shoulder. Myla nodded, moving to a display case against the far wall, stopping to plunder a wall safe. She felt no moral compunction about stealing from a thief and a murderer.
The display case was dusty—the antique weapons within gleamed darkly. Shepard admired the tempered ripples of the steel blades. The weapons of old were as much art as practical objects. There was little artistry in a pistol, though reliable, and little skill was necessary for its use. She waved her omnitool, "These don't look like they've been touched in a while—we could get skin cells from the dust."
"It's probably contaminated, though. Let's get more samples." Kasumi was at the workdesk, slim fingers hovering just above the surface of a datapad. "This should work. See if you can find any more though, no harm in being thorough."
Myla went to the bed again, "Did you do the pillows?"
"Oh, no, I was mainly thinking…" Kasumi grinned at the other woman.
Shepard tsked and shook her head, "Shameful. Get your head out of the gutter, Goto." She scanned the pillow nearest her, "Got it. Let's go."
Kasumi nodded, vanishing from sight. "Remember—we still need the voice sample. Just get him talking."
Shepard exited Hock's quarters, giving a wink to the Eclipse guard still standing at the door.
Hock wasn't hard to find. He stood in a small gaggle of admiring criminals who began to disperse as Shepard drew near. Disconcerting. Was she suspected? Or did they recognize her as Alison Gunn, badass extraordinaire? She hid her unease, adopting the casual smile of a business colleague.
He turned to her, inclining his head slightly. "Ms. Gunn. I hope you're having a good time." His eyes were wary as they had been at the entrance but he stuck out his hand. "That scene at the door hasn't soured your evening, I trust?" The picture of a concerned host. If a paranoid and ruthless one on a power trip. A small swell of cynical bitterness rose like bile in her throat, bringing back an echo of her bad mood. Control. She couldn't slip up now.
Myla shook her head slightly, widened her eyes in earnestness, "I understand the security, but who would dare try to break into your home?" Hopefully that would feed his ego.
_"Who's got two thumbs and lies like a volus shuttle salesman?"_ She would kill him.
Hock lowered his head in a patronizing and confidant manner. "Gunn, in our line of work, we attract a certain element. Few understand the pains we take to keep the barbarians at bay."
_**Poor suffering criminal. What a great burden you take on yourself**_, Shepard thought sarcastically, unable to keep her eyes from flicking to the gross displays of wealth about the colossal room.
"_What a load of shit."_ She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Fortunately, Hock had turned from her, arms raised to embrace the view of his affluence. Suddenly, she remembered a proud asari, red clublights dancing on her silvery tattoos, turning from her in a similar gesture_. __**I am Omega.**_
"People these days want comfort, entertainment, love. They don't see that the galaxy is fragile."
He turned back to her, still on his self-glorifying monologue, "They only have to worry about simple luxuries. Why? Because people like me—and you—are doing the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning."
He was attracting the attention of nearby party-goers but Shepard didn't see. She was looking into the cruel face of a man who killed, stole, lied, cheated for money. _**People like me…and you.**_ He thought they were alike.
But maybe they were. Shepard was a killer too, although she tried to limit the bloodshed when possible, and only tried to kill those who she thought deserved it. **Evynne was screaming, screaming—**stop. And she was lying to him now, lied to many people for good reason. But…_**terrible things…keep the galaxy spinning.**_
She had done terrible things. She would do more.
"This party is for us. The cleaners. The support structure for the galaxy's gleeful delusions of peace."
_**The scavengers. The ones who do the dirty work. Who keep the everyday people in their cycles of self-fulfilling avarice.**_
He smiled, spreading his arms again. He had the full attention of the room. "May there always be a market for the things we do."
_**May there be an end to a culture that perpetuates this shit. May there be an end for the need of people like me.**_
The other criminals applauded him and he looked around, pretending not to have noticed they were watching.
Kasumi's voice was wry in her ear. "I said get him talking and you got him talking. We've got enough of a voice sample. Let him go."
Hock had given her enough of his time. "Enjoy the party, Ms. Gunn."
_**Not likely.**_
….
Kasumi breezed through the locks, her excitement almost palpable. She was close. She felt the same adrenaline-high as Shepard did whenever a good fight neared its climax. Myla stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, refusing to look at the statue's face.
"I'll check for security cams. Go ahead and get dressed."
Shepard sighed in relief. She was finally getting out of this damn dress. Au revoir to these stupid heels too. Eagerly, she waved her omnitool and the secret compartment in the statue's creamy base slid open. She seized her crimson armor gratefully; it felt like an old friend.
"Unzip me?"
"_Why Commander, I thought you'd never ask." _Shepard blushed, unsure whether to feel angry or…
Kasumi helped her out of the dress, "Honestly, Shep, I don't see why it's such a big deal—it's just a dress. You look good."
"_I told her just as much and she damn near bit my head off._" His tone was conversational, not accusatory. He hadn't really been offended then, good. A knot of tension in her chest that she hadn't noticed before softened and relaxed. But…**Her sister kicked, bare feet flashing in the dark**.
"I…" her mouth was dry and she swallowed, "I'm just not used to that kind of thing." She couldn't tell them, at least, not here. She couldn't help that to her, beauty was a useless and often dangerous trait, that if you were beautiful, you were never seen as more, often never were more…Oh, Ev…
Kasumi shrugged and picked out her weapons. She could sense when a subject was closed for conversation. _**Thank you.**_ Joker grunted, still unhappy with her response but, for the moment, content to let it go.
Shepard fastened her armor piece by piece, making sure it fit well, wouldn't slip, etc. She left her visor for last, flicking it on more out of habit than in expectation of a fight. It couldn't hurt.
"_Ugh, finally! Give us a wave, Kasumi."_ The thief wiggled her fingers good-naturedly, smirking at Shepard's irritated expression.
"Let's go," Shepard grumbled, sliding her sniper rifle into its carry-slot at her shoulderblade. The weight of the armor and weapons was comforting, familiar. She felt a surge of confidence. Almost there.
….
The vault itself was beautiful—large and cool, metal and stone, simple lines. Shepard looked at the array of valuable artifacts, recognizing some despite her limited artistic knowledge. A lot of statues, not necessary attractive in and of themselves, but their cultural significance and, in many cases, breath-taking antiquity, made them priceless. Kasumi's breath caught and her eyes lit up.
Myla glanced at her side-long, a wry grin at the open lust on the thief's face. "If you can't fit it on your person it stays here, okay?"
Goto nodded. "I know…it's just…wow! Maybe we could come back when we're done with the Collectors, Shep?"
"Ehhhh," Shepard didn't relish the idea of getting all dressed up again, "Maybe."
_"Euch! Is that a rachni queen?"_ Shepard looked down the rows of statues.
"Looks more like a warrior to me." Myla turned to regard what appeared to be a terra-cotta krogan.
"Ugh, I guess everything's valuable to someone." Kasumi ranged the room, stopping here and there to give Shepard a little historical background in the pieces. She stopped in front of one of the spiky turian sculptures. "That's…impressive. Not sure what it is, though."
_"…Shepard, please tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking. I don't want to be the only pervert on this channel."_ She bit down on a grin. Kasumi cocked her head disapprovingly.
"Really, you two, we are in the presence of some of the rarest artistic achievements of the galaxy. Try to be mature."
Something massive in the back of the room caught Myla's eye. "Is that-?"
"How did Hock get Lady Liberty's head? Damn you, Hock!"
"_I'm not going near that."_
Shepard walked to a low table. Guns! Something she knew about! "Hey, aren't these—?"
"That's a Kassa Locust. No, THE Kassa Locust! The gun that killed two presidents," Kasumi's voice held the same level of appreciation for the weapons as she did for the ancient artifacts. Shepard approved. "Gorgeous. It even comes with a perfect copy, too."
"One for me and one for you," Myla grinned and handed the other gun to Goto. There was a strange device on the table as well, Kasumi's gentle hiss of recognition could only mean one thing.
"Oh my god. There it is!" She activated her omnitool and started scanning.
Hock's voice rang out scornfully. "Don't bother, Ms. Goto. It's codelocked." A giant hologram of his head appeared at the far end of the room.
"_Huh. Ugly bastard."_
Shepard tensed her muscles, ready to grab a firearm if need be.
He did not look angry or triumphant, eyes coolly flicking from Kasumi to Shepard. "I had a feeling that was you at the door. I knew if it was really you, you'd get through anyway."
"_Sure does like the sound of his voice."_
Kasumi smiled, no sign of fear. "You know me. I don't like to disappoint."
The man's gaze was intent—focused, confident. "I need what's in your graybox, Kasumi. You know I'm willing to kill you for it."
"_Ew, he looks cross-eyed when he frowns."_
_ "_I'll admit your skills are impressive. You got into my vault like I'd left it open. But you're still going to die, screaming, just like your old friend."
Kasumi gave no sign that she'd heard him, manipulating her omnitool deliberately, but Shepard knew the jab at Okuda's memory hurt. She drew her newly acquired Locust and shot one round into an ugly vase nearby.
"Noooo!"
She sneered at the frustrated hologram, "Have I got your attention?" Hock glared, an expression of purest hate, but all Shepard could think of was Joker's comment. She smiled.
Kasumi laughed, "That shut him up."
"Kill them!" Hock had abandoned all pretense of 'suave evil mastermind'; his hologram disappeared in a distinctly frustrated manner.
The women took cover behind Hock's statues as the security doors opened and a slew of guards, headed by a bitchy-looking woman (Chief Roe?) rushed in.
"Here we go!" Shepard felt her world slow down, narrowing to the target hairs on her new toy. Kasumi slipped fluidly to a different cover, firing as she rolled. Blue-white muzzle flare, thread-thin traces of bullets.
The Kassa Locust piped when she fired, a rising crescendo of ammunition. A spray of dark burgundy blood—she did prefer the quick, clean headshot.
The Eclipse guards scattered, died.
Shepard rose from her cover, sprinting to the door, copper hair swishing across her face. She steadied her comm with one hand as she ran, "Joker? I'm killing people now, thinking of you."
"There's a landing pad to the east—tell him to send the shuttle." Kasumi was a swift shade at her side, thin limbs moving in a graceful lope.
"Did you get that, flyboy?"
"_Loud and clear, ma'am."_
They ran down a corridor and into another fight. This time, Shepard switched to her sniper as she crouched behind some solid crates. Always a good source of cover.
Lean, zoom, hold your breath—kill. And again. Again. She pulled back as Kasumi appeared from nowhere, dealing a death-blow to an unsuspecting merc only to vanish as his compatriots turned in confusion.
Thoom. Thoom. The footfalls of a heavy mech. _**Shit.**_ Shepard reloaded, using the scope to get a better view.
YMIR. Instantly, her brain ran through a list of its capabilities, weapons…weaknesses. It lifted a ponderous arm and fired a missile at her. She ducked back behind the crates just in time, flame blooming around her shields, heat tightening the skin on her face. This corridor was too small—they'd die if they didn't take care of it now.
"Use your Overload!" she screamed to Kasumi. The thief nodded, tweaking her omnitool, and Shepard peered through her scope again. She fired into the mech's 'face', sparks flying at the impact, glass fragmenting away into darkness. The Overload blew away its shields and she fired shot after shot into the small black circle until it stumbled, fell, and exploded.
Gargled screams indicated that the conflagration had incapacitated the remaining mercs—Myla swallowed her pity and ran into the next room. It looked like a garage.
"There's a passage at the other end," Kasumi observed, breath even despite their frantic pace, "If we could just—"
Eclipse guards streamed into the room, strafing at the speeding intruders, and the menacing footsteps of an approaching heavy mech made the floor shake.
"Damn! Ignore them, run!" Shepard pushed the thief toward the dark square entrance, inwardly hoping they'd evade the inevitable missile. The door to the passage started to shut.
She screamed inwardly, pushing her legs past what, as a soldier, she knew she should. Aching tomorrow for sure. Cramping tonight if she was lucky. Only feet left between them and a possibly life-saving shortcut—she launched herself toward the dark space, now only three feet tall, and prayed that she'd clear the door on the skid. She liked having legs. Kasumi was in—her more flexible armor letting her scramble up quickly. The thief seized her wrists and heaved, dragging her legs out of the way of the collapsing door.
It closed with a crash and they looked at it silently for a moment, then took off running again.
18. Regulations
**A/N: I've edited to try and give more of Shepard's motivation for her…actions. As always, please review with further advice or comments if something strikes you as odd or wrong.**
….
Shepard popped a heat sink from the chamber of her trusty sniper rifle, grinning at the satisfying crack, the golden flash as it spun away. She touched her comm.
"All clear, Kasumi—go get the bastard."
Hock's gunship roared through the sky, shields shimmering in the fading sunlight, mounted guns strafing yellow threads which slammed heavily into the other side of Shepard's cover.
"I'm on it." Kasumi's voice was level, determined. Myla couldn't see her, but when the slugs stopped pounding her crate, she knew Goto was out. She stood.
The thief was sprinting to a stack of construction beams, Hock's fire trailing at her heels. Shepard switched to her Kassa, firing against the gunship's windshield, trying to convince him to switch targets.
"_Shepard, the shuttle's on approach."_ Joker's familiar tones were tense, barely controlled, and she could imagine his green eye's glued to her camera feed; for a moment, she wanted to tell him that it'd be okay, that everything would be—
Hock moved the ship to face her. Somehow, despite the distance, she could see the hate on his face, the cruel smile, his finger pulled a trigger.
A long-range missile screamed away from the ship, its red-capped head pointing right between her eyes. Coming fast, too fast.
"_Shepard!"_
She ducked down, palms slapping against the metal grill of the landing pad walkway. The missile shot over, behind her, exploded against another stack of crates. Shrapnel, a fireball—her shields sputtered out and died. A chunk of plastic caught her full on the back of her head, knocking off her visor.
"Shit." She reached for it and a secondary explosion went off, the force sending her sprawling. **Flames engulfed the town-**
"_Shepard!"_ She gasped against the heat, felt something bite at her cheek, burning. _**Must've been storing ammo.**_ She strained for the visor, nudged it with a finger.
"I'm okay, Jeff, I'm…" She wiped at her cheek, felt blood. **Spatter against her face, warm on her skin. Metallic on her tongue, like when Breckin dared her to lick a plowshare.** She got up, legs shaking.
"_Don't do that to me again, you hear?"_ His voice was ragged. Her visor was linked to her vitals— it must've looked like she flat-lined. She smiled, childishly glad that he cared. _**Of course he cares, he's your friend. Friends care.**_
"Can't talk now." Kasumi flew through the air—lithe and impossibly graceful, landing heavily on Hock's windshield, energy crackling about her omnitool. Shepard jammed her visor back on, letting Joker see the fun. The slender thief gave Hock a saucy wave before flipping off and away.
Shepard kept her eyes on the gunship, raising her M90 Cain. The shield sparked, shimmered, vanished.
"Goodbye, Mr. Hock," Kasumi whispered, coming to stand at Myla's shoulder. She nodded curtly and Shepard pulled the trigger.
They watched the sunburst as the gunship was swallowed whole.
"Well," Kasumi sighed, looking up to the landing platform where the shuttle was touching down, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Shepard snorted. "Aside from the formal wear? No, not too bad."
They jogged up the steps and boarded the shuttle.
"What'd you do with—"
"Oh, I ditched the heels," Shepard shrugged apologetically, "I'll pay you back."
"_What did you do with the dress?"_
"I've got it here somewhere…it didn't seem right to just toss it."
"Good," Kasumi smiled, settling into the shuttle seat, "You should really wear it again, Shep."
"Right, because I have so many opportunities to dress like a—"
"Woman?" Kasumi smirked.
"No," Shepard felt that old flare of anger, saw the jeering faces of her male classmates at the Academy, "Wearing a dress is _not_ dressing like a woman—it's useless, it's revealing and you can't even sit down properly in it!" _**'Beautiful' is just a way to objectify a woman, just a way to get what you want. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in whatever the beholder wants from the subject.**_
"Hm," Kasumi pulled Keiji's graybox from a belt pouch, and Shepard felt childish and petty. _**She doesn't mean any harm, you should-**_
"_Woof, Commander, ya know, you could always go nude next time."_
Myla glanced at Kasumi—the other woman was intent on unlocking the graybox, a blue holographic interface shielding her eyes. Shepard curled away, hissing into her comm, "Okay, Lieutenant, we need to set some ground rules."
"_I'm all ears, beautiful_."
She closed her eyes. "First off, stop calling me that." **Evynne screamed.**
"_Why_?"
"For one thing, it's unprofessional. Cerberus doesn't have rules against…" she blushed, "Fraternization, but when the Collectors are dust, we're Alliance-bound. Back to regs. And I'm not beautiful, okay?" **The batarian laughed, sharp teeth gleaming.**
"_Okay, Commander_—"
EDI's voice cut in, "Approximately one minute until docking, Shepard."
Joker continued stubbornly, "_You either have some weird hang-up about the word, a serious self-confidence issue, or you're genuinely deluded. You are beautiful_."
"I—" **Evynne, still, her dark eyes staring into forever. Beautiful**_**. He doesn't know, he's just trying to-**_
"_As for the rest,_" he pressed on, steam-rolling her protest, "_What the hell are we doing? You know we're past the Alliance. Shit, Shepard, did you expect us to go back and pretend this never happened? They'll take you back, but they kicked me out._"
"Joker…" She wanted to tell him, she wanted to keep their…relationship, whatever the hell it was, on the same track, hopefully moving toward that future she had promised herself never to consider. But the Alliance was a part of her, too. She didn't know if she could handle letting that go, knew he couldn't stop flying.
"_And, what the hell, why not enjoy the lack of regs_?"
She flushed, "I don't…that's cheap, I don't want that." _**It's worth waiting for, isn't it? Please say you don't just want sex…**_
"_You sure? Any guy would be more than lucky to have you. Sometimes I think you_—" _**Have**__** me? Like a fucking **__**toy**__**? I am not going to, to…**_Shepard tried to take a deep breath, tried to calm down, but she couldn't help thinking of him, thinking of her like a piece of meat. _**You were different! I always thought…**_**Evynne pushed against the wall, blood flowing from—**no, no, no!__
The shuttle docked with a thump and Shepard flew out the hatch, fury reddening her cheeks. She whipped the visor off her head and sprinted to the elevator, cursing the slow system.
_**Why 'beautiful'? Just like all the other assholes at the Academy—you don't want me, don't care about who I am, you just see something to **_**have**_**, to **_**possess**_**, don't you? I'm not wearing the damn dress anymore—I'm dirty, I'm bloody, I'm in my armor. You want this, flyboy? I'll give you this.**_
Finally—the CIC. She pushed Chambers out of the way as she raced to the cockpit. He was waiting for her, arms crossed, unsmiling. She almost stopped, remembering his easy grin, the flashes of something promising in his eyes…** 'Beautiful,' hissed the batarian in her ear—**stop. The grins of Academy upperclassmen, flattering whispers turning to cruel jeers when she'd set them in their place. _**Please show me you're different.**_ Kaiden, asking for something she was unwilling to give. Green eyes, flashing with a secret humor, a private glance…_**I thought you…**_no, after all this shit, he'd called her…_**what do you want from me?**_
She stalked up to him, chest heaving, cut cheek stinging, and glared at him, suddenly grabbing his shirtfront and kissing him hard. She didn't think about his taste or how he felt or—she bit at his lip as she pulled away, anger humming in her veins.
"Is that it? Is that what you want? Or do you only want me half-naked?"
He shook his head slowly, dark green eyes never leaving hers. He stood and moved close to her, put a hand beneath her hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her into a gentle kiss. She closed her eyes, feeling a part of herself melt, soften. Warmth.
He broke away, adjusting his cap. "_That_ is what I want. Don't you? I don't give a shit if you're in a dress or in armor or in a dinosaur suit. It's you, Shepard."
"I…" she licked her lips uncertainly. What could she say? She was wrong, hadn't given him enough credit. Not all men were…She did want this, him. She'd wanted it for a long time, but how could they start anything with the Collectors so close? And the Reapers? Gods, he was as sweet as she had dreamed…
He brought a hand up to her cheek, his thumb gently tracing the cut.
"You should go see Chakwas about that. I'll be here if you wanna talk."
She nodded, wanting to say _something_, but everything sounded too cliché, too vapid or meaningless, so she left. _**I'm sorry.**_
19. Memory
_ They came during the night, when most of the village was asleep. Batarian raiders, looking to swell their supplies of specialized cargo—human slaves._
_ Myla Shepard woke to the smell of smoke in her nostrils and a woman's screams._
_ "C'mon!" Her older brother pulled away her blankets, grabbed her little hands, "Help me with Evynne!"_
_ Thackery Shepard was fifteen, Evynne thirteen, and Myla eight. They'd shared a bedroom for as long as Myla could remember and Evynne had always been a deep sleeper. They pushed her, cried for her to wake up, pulled her out of bed when she opened her large brown eyes._
_ Evynne was beautiful, all the townsfolk whispered, hair like fire and deep eyes—as large and as dark as a doe's._
_ The screaming stopped._
_ The Shepard children crept down the stairs, bare feet noiseless. The living room—Myla looked out a window to see flames and small black shapes running in terror._
_ "Get in the cellar!" Rayn Shepard rushed in from outside the house, one hand clutched to her swollen belly. She grabbed Thackery's shoulder with the other. "Get to the root cellar and hide—don't come out no matter what you hear, alright?"_
_ He nodded numbly, Evynne bit her lip._
_ "Where's Papa?" Myla asked, peering behind her pregnant mother._
_ "Sweetie, your father and I are going to be right here when you come out, okay? Just go to the cellar and be very, very quiet." She shut the door behind her and locked it. Her honey brown hair, normally so sleek, was escaping in strands from her bun, hanging around her sweaty face._
_ She looked back to see that her children were still there; her green eyes were frantic with fear, sadness, and desperation. "Now!"_
_ Thackery, Evynne, and Myla ran to the little cellar door and threw themselves in, a creeping fear making their hearts beat faster, their pupils dilate into round pools of mindless black. Myla slammed the door closed and the three huddled against the wall in the darkness._
_ There had never been any lights in the cellar, but it was never a scary blackness. Always, the garlands of herbs hanging from the ceiling and the sacks of vegetables in the corners of the room filled it with the smells of Papa Shepard's cooking and the heavy natural musk of good earth. But now the shadows could hide anything, and the children were frightened._
_ Myla sniffed for the comforting scent of potatoes—the Mindoir colony's staple crop—but smelled only the acrid stench of fear-sweat._
_ There was a great crash outside the cellar, and Rayn Shepard screamed. The children clutched each other, mouths opened to scream soundlessly along. Harsh voices, another crash, a grunt, and their mother fell silent._
_ The cellar door had been made during an unusually dry summer—as time went on and the weather changed, it had warped in some places, shrunk in others, expanded here and there, so that it did not join with the wall's opening, hanging somewhat crookedly on rusted hinges. Golden light flowed in around the cracks, burning a bright outline of a twisted rectangle into Myla's retinas._
_ Deep voices growled, rose and fell. A shadow passed in front of the door. Something broke from the direction of the kitchen and Evynne flinched, but they were silent._
_ The voices faded away, and all three Shepards strained to hear the slightest noise—nothing above the pounding of their hearts and their ragged gasps of breath._
_ Thackery stood, letting go of his sisters' hands._
_ "I'm going to find Papa," he whispered._
_ Evynne and Myla shook their heads, but he ignored their muted protests, creeping up the shallow stairs to the door, slowly opening it. The rusted hinges squeaked once, and all three children flinched—Thackery waited for a moment, frozen. Myla couldn't hear anything. Her brother carefully stepped out, closed the door behind him, and Myla watched his shadow slide out of view._
_ Silence._
_ The earth floor was cold and damp against Myla's calves, a chill seemed to rise from the darkness. Myla was rooted to the floor, unable to move or speak, her eyes drawn to the door by an inescapable pull, an otherworldly force. Evynne whimpered softly, Myla turned and saw an animal fear in her sister's doe-dark eyes._
_ A shadow crossed the golden outline and her heart leaped into her throat._
_ "It's okay, Ev, it's Thackery," Myla stood, her pulse racing, sticking a hand down to help her sister up._
_ The door crashed open and two hulking figures stood in the entry, their pitch silhouettes gilded with the light. Evynne screamed and Myla ran to the corner of the room, looking for anything, anything. Harsh, guttural voices roared in a language she did not understand, and she felt claws tear at the back of her shirt._
_ She dove behind a sack of potatoes, felt something cold and sharp bite into her side. Evil laughter rumbled from the chests of the raiders, and her sister screamed again. Myla's fingers found the handle of a crop scythe._
_ "No, no, no!" She looked up to see one batarian pick her sister up by the throat and push her against the wall—her bare feet flashed as she kicked out ineffectually._
_ A bulbous face thrust itself in front of the scene—sharp teeth flashed as it grinned._
_ "She's beautiful, that one. She'll fetch a good price as a pleasure slave if Haktar doesn't ruin her."_
_ Evynne screamed and screamed and Myla screamed too, sobbing with hate and confusion. The batarian leaned closed, examining her face in the shadow, sniffing at her neck._
_ "Beautiful," he hissed into her ear. "Too bad you're not. Farmer's whelp, though, so you'll be good labor." He reached for her shoulders and Myla felt a surge of adrenaline._
_ Her hand gripped the scythe and swung—the cruel blade caught the batarian in the chest with a sick crunch. He choked, looked down at the wound, up at her. She saw herself in those four black pools, saw whatever intelligence within the raider dim and fade. She tugged at the handle but the blade would not come free._
_ "What the hell?" Myla looked up. The other batarian, hand still closed over the throat of her sister, was squinting at the shape of his fellow on the ground. Evynne whimpered, pinned in the flood of golden light from the open door, bright blood staining her skirt, running down her bare legs, pooling on the floor beneath her. Tears made silver tracks on her cheeks._
_ Myla hauled at the scythe for all she was worth, heart pounding, instincts screaming. She heard the other batarian snarl in rage, heard the snick of a knife being pulled free of its sheath._
_ She looked up in time to see Haktar slit her sister's pale throat and drop her to the floor, turning to the last Shepard in rage._
_ Myla screamed, pulling at the handle desperately, feeling it start to break free._
_ "You little bitch, when I'm finished with you—" The batarian tripped over the sack of potatoes, falling heavily to the ground._
_ The blade came loose and Myla swung the scythe high and brought it down on the prone raider's head, again and again and again, her grunts of effort and the increasingly wet reports the only sounds in the cellar. Warm blood spattered against her face, hot on her cheek, metallic in her mouth like when the village bully, Breckin, had dared her to lick a plowshare. Her weapon bit into the floor, stuck, and she ran, sobbing, from the gory mess to her sister._
_ "Evynne—" Her sister's eyes were wide open, staring. She was still so beautiful. "Ev…" Myla prodded her shoulder and her head lolled back, her throat a crimson grin._
_ "Evynne!" Myla pulled her sister up in a sitting position, combing the fiery hair with her fingers, now tacky with batarian and human blood._
_ Beautiful. Her sister's still face. Her sister was beautiful, she was not. The batarian's words echoed in her ears and she clutched her older sister to her, tears drying, rocking the body as if to soothe her sister's spirit._
_ When the Alliance rescue team found her two days later, they had to give her a sedative to get her to release the corpse._
Myla sat bolt upright in bed, gasping, the stitches in her cheek burned.
She rolled out of bed, flopping heavily to the floor when her twisted sheets caught around her ankles.
**Her sister's eyes were wide and staring—**no. She kicked the bedclothes away, standing with legs that shook. She'd been right at Hock's mansion, her thighs were dead tired, painfully sore. **The smell of blood on her hands, in her hair**—no! She staggered to her bathroom and fell to her knees in front of the toilet, vomiting violently. She flushed it all away, then again for no reason.
She stared at the swirling water—clean against the dark metal bowl.
She wished she could forget. Silver lining? At least she didn't have solipsism…Right, a real comfort, that. Memories haunted her dreams in perfect detail, had infested her waking life. She'd almost lost Joker because of them, almost pushed away…she rubbed her face wearily.
It was getting worse.
"_Let shit build up an' ya get damaged."_ Zaeed was right. She could feel her control slipping away, day by day. Flashbacks and nightmares were becoming more frequent…
She stood, bracing herself with one arm against the bathroom wall. Chakwas had said…maybe it _would_ help to talk to someone. She checked the time—late.
It didn't matter, he was always there.
20. Therapy
Myla limped out of the elevator, thighs screaming with every step. _Gods, why did they have to make this cursed hallway so__** long**__?_ Past empty stations, lights still flickering brightly at unmanned consoles. She could see his chair up ahead and paused, remembering the kiss — the _real_ kiss. She hadn't exactly shown him how she felt — what if he thought she didn't reciprocate? What if she'd — Shepard pushed those clamoring thoughts aside, forcing her legs to start moving again. _Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit._
"Hey Joker." She stopped behind his chair, expecting him to swivel as always.
Nothing.
"Joker?" She peered around the side of the chair — if he wasn't here, Gainey should be on as relief. Was he just — oh.
She smiled, unable to hide her tender amusement at the sight of her helmsman—
"Mr. Moreau is asleep, Commander. Protocol dictates you should awaken him and summon the relief pilot. Failing the appointment of Mr. Gainey, I may serve as an acceptable substitute." EDI's voice was inordinately loud, and Shepard glanced at her pilot to make sure she hadn't woken him up.
"Ah, you go ahead and take the helm, EDI," Myla whispered, and as an afterthought added: "Could you lower your volume about fifty percent?"
"I am perfectly capable of reducing the decibel levels of my audio output," EDI's voice was much quieter this time, although her tone was distinctly pointed, "A fact that Mr. Moreau, however, does not seem to comprehend."
"He is rather fond of your mute button," Shepard grinned.
"I do not find the situation humorous, Commander. What if the Normandy's sensors pick up a threat and I am unable to alert the helmsman? Such a situation is in no way improbable and would likely result in crew casualties."
Shepard sighed, nodding to the little blue hologram, "I'll speak to him, EDI. You have a good point."
She eyed the long stretch of hall behind her, deciding that it would be far less painful just to stay in the cockpit. After all, he might wake up and she could talk to him.
She smirked as she lowered herself into a sitting position; a fast-assembling plot whispered in her mind, its appeal overshadowing the pain in her legs. "EDI, is there a camera in here?"
"Specify location. There are thirty-three cameras on the CIC deck, excluding the monitor in the elevator."
"In the cockpit with a view of the pilot's chair." Sometimes VIs could be annoyingly literal and Shepard got the feeling AIs were no different.
"Yes."
"Would it be possible to… pause the feed and send a copy of the still-frame to a media file?"
"It would be possible, Shepard, but I fail to see the practical merit of such an action."
Shepard spotted the camera and scooted out of its field of view, "Are you familiar with the organic concept of blackmail?"
The hologram flickered, "Ah, a morally suspect method of persuasion — I believe it is a common practice in modern and historical politics."
"You got it. Take the still, please." She told herself it would be funny to hold over his head, but deep down, she knew she just wanted to have a picture of him like this — peaceful, unguarded, and amusingly cute.
"… Media file obtained. Where would you like it sent?"
Myla grinned, "My personal omnitool, please. Thanks, EDI." She scooted back to her old position.
"I find it… curious to be taking part in a plot against Mr. Moreau. Usually, he is the one taking measures against me. The turn of events is not unpleasant."
Shepard cocked her head, suddenly feeling sorry for the ship's computer. "He teases you, sure, but he's never done anything really _hostile_, has he?"
"Not as such, however, he has made a nuisance of himself." The AI's voice was, if possible, resentful. Myla bit her lip to keep from laughing — EDI sounded like a crotchety spinster.
"Well, you have my permission get him back," she offered, remembering the way his voice cracked when he was irritated. _Let him be on the receiving end of vexation, for once!_
"Thank you, Shepard." The blue hologram flickered out; judging from her tone, she had withdrawn to consider possible pranks.
Shepard stretched her legs gingerly, looking at her pilot's sleeping form.
His hat was slightly askew, a few tufts of mussy dark brown hair had escaped from the black-and-white confines of his cap. He still kept it regulation-short, but it looked soft; her fingers twitched to touch it, but she held herself back with a grin. That wasn't the best part, not why she'd taken the still.
Joker was curled up on his much-loved leather seat — not drastically so, like in a fetal position, just turned on his side, legs together and bent up towards his chest. One arm was slung over the edge of the seat, his fingers suspended inches from her shoulder, the other was tucked comfortably against the chair's back. _Cute_, she thought, smiling, knowing he'd protest the adjective. _Definitely not what I would have expected._
She probably should have been annoyed or scared that her pilot had fallen asleep at the helm, but they _had_ been pretty busy for the past few weeks, and EDI was programmed to take control in an emergency should the pilot be unable to respond. She was free to look at him now, just to look, without worrying about getting caught.
He looked peaceful, open. She noticed with some surprise that he had small wrinkles at the corners of his eyes — that wasn't right, he was only… she realized with a jolt that he was, technically, older than her now. She'd only been a year his senior when she died… those two years had marked him, and she hadn't been there to change with him, with any of her friends. She sobered, thinking of how Garrus, Tali, Kaiden, and Liara had changed — a moment of silence for the loss of innocence. _The galaxy is falling apart and time still takes its toll._
He stirred, groaning slightly and disrupting her gloomy train of thought. She switched her gaze hurriedly to the stars, following the blue ripples that signified FTL travel. She hoped he'd just go back to sleep, unsure if she had the right to rob him of his solitude and whether she was really willing to talk about her private past.
"Mmm." He twisted, stretching his legs. _Damn, he really was waking up_. She sat on one leg, bending back to stretch her aching thigh.
Joker yawned, green eyes opening to slits. He spotted her and choked, "What are you doing here?"
She heaved a theatrical sigh, "Well, _someone_ had to fly the ship while you were snoozing."
He grunted, sitting up and readjusting his cap, "I'm surprised we're still alive then. Sorry about that, Commander, it won't happen again."
"Ah, don't be, and it will. You should really let Gainey spell you, you're always up here."
He shrugged, cracking his knuckles, "I like it. I never get any sleep in crew quarters, my chair is awesome, and I don't trust other pilots. EDI… it's a pain in the ass most of the time, but I can handle using it for cruise control."
Shepard smiled, wondering how long it would take the AI to come up with something good. "She doesn't like you muting her all the time, by the way."
"Aw, Shepard," he grinned down at her, expression still sleepily softened, "I told you — I only mute it when you come over. Okay, sometimes I may just _happen to_ forget to unmute it later, but, seriously…"
"Joker, she's got a volume control you can adjust. Besides just the mute."
"Really? How do you know?"
"I asked her to be quieter so she wouldn't wake you up." She looked up at the indecipherable orange displays.
"… Just how long have you been up here, exactly?" His voice was warm, amused, but she could hear the sleepy tone fading.
"Mm, I don't know, five minutes or so. I wanted to talk to you, but you were asleep, so…"
"You watched me sleep? Kinky, Commander. What'd you want to talk about?" His eyes were clear now, all drowsiness dispelled.
"I, um," she didn't want to ruin this peaceful easy moment, but she doubted she'd be able to talk about it later, "I owe you an explanation… and an apology for earlier."
"Oh, uh… okay." He shifted awkwardly in his chair.
"That was really… inappropriate of me. I violated your personal space and I freaked out without… I was wrong." Her ass was going numb, so she got up, hissing in pain, and sat up on an inactive console. She forced herself to look him straight in the face. "You mean a lot to me and I… I can't lose you over something like that." _I need you._
"Shepard… I know you're under a shitload of pressure, okay? I get that. You run yourself ragged and, ah, you should know I'll always be here for you." He tugged at the brim of his cap, clearly uncomfortable.
"I do, Jeff, thanks," she whispered, dropping her gaze. She could feel tears start to prick at her eyes, but blinked them away. _Save them for later, you'll need them later._ Chakwas had called Shepard an anchor (although she had done so while severely inebriated), but Myla knew she wasn't that stable. Sometimes… She shook her head, "Okay, that was my apology."
She took a deep breath and told him about the Mindoir raid, haltingly at first, then in a rush as the initial pain and unease faded. It hurt coming out, but it was a good kind of hurt, like losing a tooth. She told him about Evynne, about the basement, about what she saw and felt whenever she heard the word 'beautiful' applied to herself. It seemed to stretch on forever but ended faster than she thought it would.
He leaned back as she concluded, his dark eyes unreadable.
"I… I've never told anyone about all this before." She twisted her hands in her lap.
"Shit, Shepard, you've been holding on to that for, what? Twenty plus years?" He lifted his cap and ran a hand over his hair in restless disbelief, "No wonder you flipped. Um, how often do you get these nightmares?"
"Almost every night I manage to sleep since they… brought me back. Thankfully, I have a few that alternate, so I'm not always reliving the same damn thing." Something flashed in his eyes, angry, but it was quickly replaced by a rare concern.
"Did you talk to Chakwas at all?"
"Yeah. No meds — she, um, said to talk to someone I trusted."
"Me? Score." He winked, an obvious attempt to cheer her up, but she laughed all the same. Suddenly, she was choking on a swell of inexplicable sadness, bracing her elbows on her legs, hiding her face in her hands. Oh no, she didn't want him to see her like this, to shame him with her tears, to — it was too late and she couldn't stop.
"Oh shit." She heard him stand up, limp over to her. "Um… do you want to sit in the chair? Would that be better?"
She couldn't answer him. _Oh Evynne._ She could finally grieve for her sister, her brother, her family, for the little girl in the dark root cellar who lost everything she had ever known. She'd told the psychologists, the doctors, the counselors… she'd given the sterile summary before, but this — it felt fresh, raw. _**Doe eyes wide in the dark.**_ She heard her sister's laugh, saw Thackery's petulant frown, the lines that creased her mother's cheeks when she smiled, her father's calloused palms were wide and dry. A flood of forgotten scenes, smells, sounds, stolen by that raid as surely as the other children of the village, came rushing back, almost too vivid to bear.
Joker's fingers grazed her shoulders uncertainly. She sobbed, nodding, and he pulled her to him in a warm embrace. Myla pressed her face to his chest, her tears wetting his shirt, taking in his heat and his scent. He whispered haltingly to her — she couldn't decipher the words, but the buzz of his voice in his chest was enough.
She took a deep shuddering breath, felt the aching knot in her breast loosen, pain fading. Joker's words gained shape and clarity.
"You're okay, you're okay… c'mon, Commander, you're okay… shit, what do I do? You're okay…"
Myla sniffed, pulling back and wiping her streaming nose on the back of her hand.
"Th-thank you. I'm sorry."
"Ah, don't worry about it." He stepped away, grinning awkwardly. "I love it when women cry on me. Makes me feel all masculine and shit. Um, you better?"
"Yeah… I think I've needed that for a long time." Shepard rubbed her eyes, mustering a smile, "So, is there anything _you_ wanna talk about?"
His positive façade slipped, and he regarded her seriously. Dark emerald eyes searched pale jade ones and he shook his head slowly. "Yeah, but not now. You need sleep and Gainey needs to get his lazy ass outta bed."
Shepard nodded and gingerly lowered herself from the console, her sore legs protesting persistently. He pretended to scowl as she limped over.
"What the hell, Commander? You mocking me?" She'd never heard him joke about his condition in any way other than bitterly. _I guess Cerberus really did help him out._
"No! No, I'm just really, really sore." She bumped his shoulder with her own as they walked back through the empty CIC.
"Yeah, I bet you say that to all the guys." He grinned playfully and she swiped at his cap.
"Har-de-freaking-har, wise-ass. Just keep it up."
"Or what?" They got in the elevator, Shepard pushing the button for her cabin and Joker the one for crew quarters. He smirked at her, green eyes shining.
_He was so…_
She waved her arm, omnitool flaring bright orange. She made a superior face. "I have incriminating evidence. Cross me and the whole ship will see some interesting pictures."
"What?" He laughed in disbelief, holding his hands up in surrender. "I don't even wanna know what you have! Okay, I'll play nice, for now, if you give me an answer."
_Oh gods, not this again._
She blinked innocently, "What question am I supposed to be answering?"
He rolled his eyes. "Almost got me, Commander, you're so _good_ at playing dumb!"
"Insults shall get you nowhere, sir." He smiled, but didn't say anything, a sadness coming back into his eyes.
The elevator was always slow, but it now it seemed not even to move. She looked up at the ceiling, choosing her words carefully.
"When this whole Reaper mess is finally over, I think I'd like to retire from active duty… maybe teach at the Academy. Settle down somewhere quiet, have a few kids. I don't know. Why? What do you want?" The elevator stopped, opened, but she didn't leave, searching his dark clear eyes.
He leaned back against the wall of the elevator, the bill of his cap shading his face from further scrutiny. _Intentional or unconscious?_ "Why? I'll tell you, maybe, but later. I know what I want, but I haven't really set on what I'm going to do about it."
Shepard nodded sadly, stepping towards her cabin. If he didn't want to talk, she wouldn't force him. She'd already made him uncomfortable enough for one night. "Goodnight, Joker. Thank you for… " _Listening? Helping?_ "… being there." _Always._
He nodded, giving her a funny little half-smile, "'Night, Commander." The elevator door closed between them.
Shepard stood for a while, thinking, then turned and went back to bed.
She slept soundly, peacefully, and did not dream.
...
**A/N: Thank you to ShadesofMauve for her excellent beta-reading and input! :)**
21. It's a Trap!
"Shepard — I believe this was a trap."
**_No shit, Sherlock!_** Myla gritted her teeth, leaning out from behind the strange glossy honey-comb to fire at a descending platform of Collector drones.
"I'd figured that out myself, thanks EDI. Guys!" She snapped at the mic to get the attention of her squad, who were happily shooting at the incoming enemy. "Fall back — we need to get out."
Jack growled and let loose a wave of biotic energy that knocked the twisted mockeries of Protheans from their platform.
"Why the hell didn't ya do tha' with the first two bloody platforms?" demanded Zaeed, using the barrel of his assault rifle to scratch the long scar on his face. Jack flipped him off, grinning.
"_Shepard, tell the kids to stop flirting and move!"_ She grinned at the sound of Joker's voice, glancing over her shoulder and waving her team forward.
"Let's go, ducklings!"
They raced over uneven ground, not stopping to marvel at the trillions of empty pods, the rows and rows of expectant vessels that stretched as far as the eye could see. The whir of insect wings crackled all around them, walls gleaming wetly with… Shepard didn't want to know.
Through dark halls — skid, stop. _**Cut off. Cut off, cut off, cut off**_ — don't panic. They had the high ground — good defensive position. A low wall-cover. The enemies would—
"Grab cover!" she yelled, as a moaning wave of husks surged out of an adjoining room, accompanied by several lurching scions and a handful of Collectors. A violent thrumming announced the arrival of another giant… what the hell _was_ that thing? The tremors hummed, she felt it buzz in her sternum.
"Hey, ugly — it's your special friend from Horizon," Jack sniggered, reloading her SMG.
"If you're so tough, _you_ take it out instead 'a mouthin' off like a — " the grizzled old merc lobbed a grenade into a mass of zombies It exploded in a blinding fireball, completely incinerating the husks. He continued as if nothing had happened, "-bleeding little two-year-old."
_**BZZZEEEEEEW!**_ A particle beam blasted against the low rock outcropping, and brilliant molten drops of what had once been solid stone flew through the air. Shepard switched to her Kassa, wishing she'd brought the Cain.
"If you two decide to do anything other than _talk_," Shepard grinned, adrenaline singing in her veins, "I'll need therapy to get over the shock."
She sprang out of cover, using her omnitool to overload the thing's shields, getting six solid shots in before it turned its weapon on her.
"Shi—" _**BZZZEEEEEEW!**_ It hit her full on in the chest, immediately overtaxing her shields and knocking her back. This saved her life — the force of the beam pushed her to the ground where the angle of the low wall that she should have been using as cover and the fortuitous placement of a stone column prevented the thing from finishing her off.
Zaeed stood and fired a burst of incendiary ammo at the bobbing menace, letting Myla scramble back to safety.
Jack grinned, shaking her head as a stream of profanities filtered over the comm channel. Shepard bit her lip, waiting for the iridescent blue blip that meant her shield had recharged. She shouldn't have jumped out like that. She'd thought she was past this. _**Sloppy**._
EDI's clipped tones interrupted her internal beration. "If you clear the hostiles, I can safely override the locks to the door on the far side of the room. Schematics indicate that the alternate route would join with the original —"
"Thanks, EDI, we're on it." Her shields were back online and she nodded to her squadmates, "Jack — take left. Zaeed — go around the right. I'll try and draw its fire."
"_Shepard, this thing is powering up its engines. Get your ass back here — I'm not losing another Normandy!"_
"What, you gonna leave me, Joker?" She popped out of cover, firing determinedly.
He cursed her again; she grinned. Her smile grew wider when a biotically reinforced bullet slammed into the floating monstrosity, ripping through its shields and downing it.
Jack's crow of triumph reverberated in the large chamber, followed shortly by staccato footfalls as the three took off running again. She shot a teasing glance at Zaeed as they moved.
"Huh, looks like the old-timer was too slow for the kill. I'll let you have the next one, Gramps."
Several minutes of useless banter and a few brief periods of extremely graphic violence later, they had managed to reach the Normandy SR2.
As Shepard's boots touched down on familiar metal, her ship, her home, she heard the marrow chilling roar of the Collector vessel's engines coming online. Jack and Zaeed were firing around her at pursuing drones, their eyes narrowed in concentration, their faces lit with strobing muzzle-flare.
"Go, Jeff, go!" She yelled into her mic, sealing the hatch behind her. She didn't wait for his response, tearing through the ship to get to the cockpit. If the thing's engines were up, its weapons wouldn't be far behind.
She reached his chair, almost crashing into it, just in time to see the monstrosity turn laboriously towards their ship. Joker's hands moved frantically, but he was in complete control — the look of furious concentration on his face was the only sign he was worried. His lips moved slightly, muttering something over and over again.
A golden glow was gathering within the depths of the Collector vessel and he moved faster, plotting points and adjusting pitch and… Shepard's knowledge of navigational terms failed her.
"Get us outta here, EDI!" He kept his eyes glued to the displays.
The colossal ship fired — Shepard's breath caught in her throat. _**Not again, not—**_
The Normandy swooped neatly over — under, around…damn the lack of accurate directional terminology in space! — to avoid the murderous beam.
"Not this time, you bastard," Joker spat, his voice heavy with hate. Myla looked down — his eyes were alight with something that scared her.
EDI's passionless tones struck an unsettling contrast to the tension of the moment. "Specify location, Mr. Moreau."
The Normandy shook as Joker pulled her into a sharp turn, an evasive maneuver which would have sheered most Alliance ships in half.
The Collector weapon was charging up again. They couldn't outrun it.
"Anywhere that's not _here!_"
The Collector ship fired, but the Normandy was already gone.
...
**A/N: Thank you once more to ShadesofMauve for her awesome beta-reading and patience! :)**
**As always, please review-I'm lonely.**
22. Drama
Myla pulled her helmet off, sighing with relief. She ran her gloved fingers through her hair a few times, loosening it into sweaty strands.
"Good job, Joker. You always pull my ass out of the fire."
He glared at her. "Is that supposed to be funny?"
She blinked. "What?"
He saw her confusion and backed down, passing a hand over his eyes. "Sorry, forget it." He slumped in his chair, staring moodily out into space.
"You okay?" Myla set her helmet down on the console she'd sat on last night. She started pulling off her gauntlets, watching his face critically.
His dark green eyes were shadowed. "Yeah. I'm always okay."
"Hey, I owe you from last night," she smiled down at him, laying pieces of armor by her helmet. "This is your chance to vent."
He looked at her seriously. "You don't owe me anything."
She removed a bulky shoulder pad, inspecting it casually for damage, "Are you sure? You don't need me to go save a puppy or take out an old enemy for your loyalty? I'm already running errands for the others." She meant it as a joke, but he didn't smile.
He snorted. "Nah, you've got my allegiance, Commander."
She swallowed. "That means a lot, Joker. Thank you." Everyone wanted something from her — even old friends like Tali and Garrus. It wasn't that she minded helping them out, but sometimes she wished they'd suspend the personal issues in face of the galactic threat.
He shook his head mutely, wide mouth a thin line. She decided to switch topics. _**So, that kiss—**_
"So, um, why did you want to know about my plans?" She bent down, removing her calf-guards, hoping he wouldn't see her blush.
"I wanted to know what I'd robbed you of." His voice was low and bitter.
"You…" Myla didn't know what to say, and he turned on her, eyes flashing.
"Don't you care?" He gripped the arms of his chair, knuckles turning white. "You _died._ They bring you back and you act like it never happened! You're reckless — you take risks that you never used to —" He pointed at her chest, scowling. "See? Shit, Shepard."
Myla looked down and noticed that the once-smooth material of her breast-plate had a huge impact depression, warping and rumpling slightly outwards at the edges. That particle beam was stronger than she'd realized. _**He's right.**_
"Seriously, what the hell was that? That was the same ship, Shepard, the same damn ship…" He looked away from her. "It almost got you — got the Normandy twice."
Oh.
She stood in front of him, her arms folded sternly. "Almost. But it didn't. I'm still here, the Normandy's still in one piece, because _you_ flew us out to safety. You're right — I'm not as careful as I have been, as I should be, but I'll try to get better, okay? I have too much to do to die right now."
He laughed unhappily. "Oh, Commander, why do you have to be so… " No adjective was forthcoming.
She arched an eyebrow. "I'll… take that as a compliment, Lieutenant."
He gave her a bitter smile. "Sometimes I wish you'd just hate me. But you have to make jokes, you have to talk to me, you let me make my stupid cracks, you let me hear your nightmares, you let me hold you…"
Myla remembered how good it felt to have his arms around her, then thought back to the very real kiss he'd given her. He _had_ to know how she felt—how couldn't he?
"Jeff," she said slowly, looking down at him awkwardly, "I didn't 'let' you do those things—I wanted you to. I don't hate you, why should I?"
He opened his mouth, but EDI spoke first.
"The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you in the briefing room, Commander."
Joker smiled humorlessly, gaze sliding away from hers. "You better go, Commander, I figure you've got something to say to him."
_**I have more to say to **_**you.** But Myla could see he had shut her out, so, biting her tongue to keep from worsening matters, she set off for the briefing room. She felt frustrated and more than a little angry.
She didn't try to calm herself as she normally would have. If recent events had taught her anything, it was that sometimes you needed an outlet for these things — and the perfect outlet was waiting in the briefing room.
…..
"Unbelievable." Shepard flopped heavily on her favorite console, twitching her head to flick an errant strand of copper hair from her eyes.
"What'd TIM have to say for himself?" Joker seemed to have dismissed or at least suppressed his previous mood. Myla wondered briefly if she was relieved or dismayed, but she pushed the conflicted thoughts aside. She'd do her best to make it right, whatever was wrong with him, but she could see this wasn't the time. Plus, she was too bitter-going-on-pissed right now.
"Bastard knew it was a trap. Said if I knew it, it wouldn't look _legitimate_ and we'd lose 'em."
"Shit." He shook his head, hands curling into fists.
Myla leaned forward, smiling mockingly, "Do you want to know the best part?"
He tried to give his usual smartass smirk, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You—never mind, go ahead."
She wished she could make him happy again—her heart ached, but she filed that goal away for later. "He's found another 'dead' Reaper and he expects us to go gallivanting over and collect an IFF."
He shook his head again, "Let's just ditch him. Go rogue, find a nice tropical planet and get…" he grinned shamefacedly, and pulled his hat low, "…ah…"
"Away from it all?" She smiled, knowing full well he was thinking of something entirely different. Her heart beat a little faster; she saw the golden flash of a sunset, imagined the firelight promise in his eyes—but no, not now.
"That's the one." He met her gaze plainly now, a hunger and a caution and a hurt flickered in the dark green depths of his look.
"We can't," she sighed reluctantly, closing her eyes against tentative possibility, "There's the Collectors to deal with, and the Reapers…" _**Can't, we can't, stop thinking about it.**_
"Yeah, I read you, Commander," he said softly, diverting his attention to the duragel screens. "The whole 'greater-good' thing again. Just… be more careful from now on, yeah?"
"I promise, Joker." She stretched and stood, "Talk later."
"See ya, Commander."
She tried to snatch his hat on the way out but was rebuffed by a lazy slap to the wrist.
She headed back out to the CIC and her private terminal—she had resolved to check it periodically since…Billy's message.
A shadow crossed her thoughts, darkened her mood. Should she go after him? The origin of the message had been corrupted, but if Tali could clean it up a bit…still, there was no guarantee he hadn't left whatever planet he'd sent the message from. An investigation would doubtless prove ineffective and time-consuming.
Time.
That was certainly one thing she didn't have enough of.
Shepard nodded to Chambers and logged in.
No, Billy would wait until after the Collectors were dealt with, at the very least.
Shepard had made up her mind, but her decision did nothing to allay the guilt which whispered at her ears. It was her fault this madman was loose, her responsibility. Whoever he killed, whatever he did, would be her fault.
She opened an old message from the Illusive Man and blinked at the first sentence.
Information about the Shadow Broker. Liara's lovely face, still round with youth, now transformed with hate and obsession, flashed from the annals of Shepard's memories.
When she'd last seen her on Illium, the once awkward and reserved asari scientist had become a ruthless and cynical dealer of information, consumed by the rumors and secrets of the dark world of intrigue, espionage, and conspiracy, always searching, always hunting for the Shadow Broker and his agents. She would be ecstatic when she got this.
Shepard hesitated, fingers hovering over the holographic keyboard, poised to forward the data to T'soni's office.
If Myla had read this new Liara right, she'd go immediately, charging off to save her friend (or, as may be the case, to avenge him) and depose the evil entity. Alone, however powerful her biotics, she would die. Shepard had done similar things, and probably would again in the future, but she'd always had a plan, or a companion, or some kind of failsafe.
…_**be more careful from now on, yeah? ...**_
It would be dangerous, no doubt about it. From what Liara had told her already, the Shadow Broker was no longer a benign force of ultimate if subtle power, if he/she had ever been. Someone like that had to have extensive resources—money, manpower, the whole shebang…if they really were working for the Collectors or Reapers then that was just one more elusive and powerful foe that had to be dealt with. If she and Liara managed to take the information broker out, they would cripple whoever he/she aided and perhaps gain valuable intel of their own.
Besides, the Shadow Broker had already tried to kill Liara with that receptionist-assassin, it was unlikely he or she would just give up after one attempt was thwarted. She could certainly delay giving the asari this information, but would that decision lead to her death?
She closed the message and strode up the galaxy map's smooth ramp, selecting Illium decisively.
_**Out of the frying pan…**_
She had to deliver it in person and be there for her friend, to tag along and do what she could. She thought for a moment about the changes in T'soni, the indications of a passionate rashness… so much was different.
Her omnitool chimed, signaling an incoming message. Myla checked the tag: Lawson. Shepard opened the communication, sighing inwardly at the terse and unrevealing contents. It had been a long day and it was getting longer. Tomorrow, likely, would be no different. Resigned, she shut down her terminal and trudged to the elevator.
…_**and into the fire…**_
…
"Commander," Miranda's gray eyes were demanding. "Our new heading is Illium?"
"Yes." Shepard folded her arms, preparing for an argument. The Aussie managed to encapsulate the depths of her incredulity, disapproval, and scorn in one flip of her dark hair; she threw her weight on one hip.
"The IFF is a clear priority. The Illusive Man—"
"Just sent us into a trap, Miranda, forgive me if I'm loath to jump headfirst into another one." Myla winked to take the sting out of her words.
"Intel says it's a _dead_ Reaper, Shepard." Miranda arched an eyebrow and smiled as if comforting a frightened child.
"It said the same about the last one," the Spectre said pointedly. "If it really is dead, it'll keep for a few days. If it isn't, well, we could use a little break before going in."
Miranda nodded reluctantly, turning away from the other woman, slender fingers trailing over the top of her private terminal's screen.
"Have you heard from your sister?" Myla asked, the question springing unbidden to her mind.
Lawson seemed surprised, looking back over her shoulder, but her face visibly softened and she nodded. "We've been messaging. Just… talking."
"That's great." Myla smiled, genuinely happy for her.
"Yeah." Miranda turned her gaze to the floor. "I suppose I should thank you, Shepard. Without you, I'd never have talked to her…and my father…"
Myla shook her head. "I'm sure you would've done fine without my help. You let me know if you need anything else."
"Yes, Commander." Miranda saluted awkwardly, smiling—a true smile this time, and Shepard realized she really was lovely when pride didn't harden her features.
She nodded once and left.
ETA to Illium, just over sixteen hours. She debated going back to Joker and trying to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering him, but decided she'd already done too much… she needed some sleep if Liara's vendetta proved as dangerous as she feared it would be.
**A/N: As always, thanks to ShadesofMauve for her beta-magic!**
**Please review, ya'll :)**
23. A Conversation Overdue
**A/N: Hey all, sorry about the long break-college applications, school starting up, blahblah excuses...anyway, I hope this was worth the wait.**
**As always, thanks and props to my awesome beta-reader, ShadesofMauve. If you haven't already, you should check out her Shoker series, _A Star to Steer Her By. _It's amazing and you, like me, will stalk it for updates. (An extra thanks to Mauve for preventing me from inciting all the Kaid_a_n fans to a torch-and-pitchfork frenzy)**
**Please review.**
**...**
Shepard awoke with a start and a gasp, heart pounding against her ribcage with savage intensity. Akuze. She wiped her sweaty forehead with one arm, noticing distantly that she'd kicked her sheets off entirely during her unconscious thrashings.
_**Deep breaths, slow.**_
She'd gotten counseling for this — one month at an intensive PTSD center, three with an Alliance therapist. She could work through this.
_**Deep breaths, slow.**_
She shuddered, remembering the wet noises of a private being torn in — no.
_**Deep breaths…**_
She inhaled deliberately, counting to ten. She couldn't bother him again — he obviously had some issues of his own. She held her breath for five counts.
_**Slow.**_
Exhale evenly for ten. _Gobbets of blood red, ruby red, rose red flesh hit the sand with pathetic little _— no. She tried to focus on her meditation.
_**Deep breaths, slow.**_
Hold for five. In for ten. Hold. _**There**_. Control your breathing, control your thought. That had been the claim of the orderlies, at any rate. Sometimes it worked. It definitely had helped her temper in the years that followed.
She was still sweating. She stripped off her casual sleepwear and went to her closet for something lighter. Black tanktop, fine. Some long shorts — whatever. She pulled them on, pausing as the blue glow of the aquarium flashed on the dogtags she'd picked from the soft gray ash of Alchera.
They weren't hers. Hers had been lost with her body, with her first life. These were slightly warped — the metal had been melted smooth by the planet's weak atmosphere, erasing the name of the dead crewmember it had belonged to. She kept them to remind herself of the price that she'd have to pay, the doubtlessly unacceptable death toll that the Reapers would exact upon the galaxy.
The tags caught the light perfectly for an instant, blinding her with blue.
_Chelsea Roberts' blue eyes, wide and too-bright with pain, fingers grasping at Myla's leg with impossible strength, bloody lips trembling._
_"Please."_
Shepard shook her head, trying to dislodge the grip of the memory, the one she hadn't included in her Akuze mission report.
_"Please." Her fingers weakened, slipping down to Shepard's boot, but the eyes, the eyes…_
_"Please."_
_Her finger on the trigger._
Shepard kneaded her temples until spots danced in front of her eyes. Pulse. Pulse. Quiet.
She stood, breathing a little too heavily in the utter silence of her room.
_**Maybe… maybe it wouldn't**_—
_A colossal thresher maw burst from the sand in a violent explosion of sound, arcing high in the arid heat of the desert planet, silhouetted for a terrible moment against a golden sky._
Myla rushed to the elevator, years of remembered training making the movements crisp, controlled, automatically avoiding the crazed rush of a green officer, but not evading the echo of Chelsea's plea.
…
There were more crewmembers up and about than there had been when she'd told him about Mindoir... gods, that had only been last night. She nodded sharply to Hadley and his friend as she passed them, biting her tongue. She didn't trust herself to talk just yet — she needed this _out_. She didn't stop to listen to their latest debate — the merits of ancient Earth pop culture… something about bats? She focused on the pilot seat, her bare feet soundless on the metal walkway.
_**Out of their earshot—**_
"I need you again," she sighed wearily, rubbing the back of her neck as she came to stand behind his chair. "Last night was —"
The chair swiveled, and pale blue eyes, wide with shock, met Myla's green ones. Gainey's face was flaming and he ran a hand awkwardly over his curly blond hair. "Um… wrong guy, Commander." His gaze darted away.
_**Oh gods.**_ She realized how that must've—
"That's not… you… I should go," she finished lamely, feeling a flush creep across her own cheeks. She considered giving him an explanation, if only to minimize the inevitable scuttlebutt fallout caused by this calamitous mistake, but when she looked at the Cerberus pilot's blue eyes, Chelsea's face flashed in her mind. She turned and walked away swiftly, making for the elevator again.
("I'm telling you, Blasto would kick Batman's ass any day of the week!"
"Not if Batman had an M90 Cain, dumbass.")
_**Back up?**_ She thought when she reached the elevator.
_Chelsea's lips moved weakly, no sound issued from them, but the word was easy to read._
Myla slapped the button for crew quarters — maybe Chakwas could help.
_Please._
Why did this have to happen now? Couldn't she have some mental peace in consideration for the crap she dealt with every day?
She leaned back against the cool metal, squeezing her eyes shut.
_Please._
Myla shook her head. She wouldn't live through that again, not now. She tried to think of something else, of anything else.
Her mind spun frantically, steadying on the comforting timbre of her pilot's voice.
_This is what I want. Don't you?_
_**Yes.**_ She couldn't dance awkwardly around it anymore. She wanted him, maybe even loved him. She had for years. He'd as good as told her he felt the same, hadn't he?
_Please._
Myla concentrated on the flash of dark green eyes, the irritatingly smug smirk, pushing Chelsea's voice away, burying it down again.
_It's you, Shepard._
He'd always been there for her, never doubting her. Kaidan's glare of righteous disgust bubbled up but was quickly replaced with Joker's encouraging grin and her game of steal-the-cap that became something… else aboard the Kodiak.
He'd never asked anything of her either, she thought quickly, shying away from the remembered pressure of his legs around hers, the warmth of his proximity.
She could still recall the heat of Akuze, that hell planet.
_Please._
The elevator halted and opened softly. Shepard hesitated before stepping out. She knew she needed help; she was a basket-case — not exactly the kind of person fit to lead a motley collection of dysfunctional killers into a suicide mission in uncharted space.
Myla rubbed the bridge of her nose wearily. This instability had to end. If she couldn't trust her own sanity she wasn't worthy of command.
Gods, she was tired.
She made her way around the elevator hub, heading for medbay, but stopped at the soft clink of glass from the crew table. She turned to see her pilot slouched in one of the seats, a bottle of something alcoholic in his hand, his hat pulled low over his eyes.
"Jeff?"
He stirred at the sound of her voice, pushing the brim of his cap up with a wide thumb.
"Hey, Commander." One green eye flashed from the shadow, sending her heartbeat ratcheting up a notch.
She glanced around the deserted room before coming to sit across from him. Myla looked at his unsmiling face, then quickly away to the bottle between them.
"Is that, um, is that any good?" She asked half-heartedly. It had occurred to her that he might not be in the best of moods.
"Nah, tastes like shit." He took a swig and favored her with a bitter smile. "I've been thinking."
"That's never a good sign," she teased gently, and he shook his head.
"Seriously. What you said earlier… "
_**About me wanting you to kiss me?**_ Myla bit her lip, hoping and dreading that that was what he meant.
He toyed with the bottle, rolling its bottom in slight arcs. "…about why you should hate me? Do you… do you remember how you died?"
She blinked, surprised. "Yes." She sensed that it would be a bad time to tell him that she still dreamed about it sometimes.
He looked up at her, scowling, "And it doesn't bother you at all? That you died because of me?"
Myla pulled back, genuinely confused. "It wasn't your fault, Joker."
"The hell it wasn't!" He glared at her, daring her to contradict him, "If I was a better pilot—"
"That's stupid," she said firmly, "You're the best pilot. Your flying let most of the crew escape. We were outgunned and surprised. You couldn't have done anything different."
He laughed harshly, "Yeah, well, it wasn't enough. I still managed to kill the galaxy's only hope."
Her lip curled in distaste at the moniker. "I get all the credit but I don't deserve it. You didn't kill me."
He shook his head stubbornly, letting go of the bottle to cross his arms.
"I might as well have put a gun to your head and pulled the trigger."
_Please._
_Chelsea's blue eyes were glassy; her hand fell limply from Shepard's boot._
"Don't say that, don't you fucking say that." _**Don't attack him, he doesn't understand.**_ She tried to control the spike of rage, felt it simmer to a grim ache. Myla grabbed the bottle between them and took a desperate gulp; she told herself the tears were from the burn of the alcohol. Her heart thumped painfully and she took in a shuddering breath. "I don't blame you. I never did, okay?"
Her knuckles were white on the clear glass and she forced herself to relax. "It doesn't matter now. I'm back. I'm alive."
"It does matter!" He leaned forward, punctuating his words with a forefinger on the table, eyes almost pleading in their intensity. "I thought you were dead for over a year — I thought I was responsible for the death of… of my friend and now you're back and you act like it never happened."
Myla looked down at her arm on the table, gaze tracing the spidering of amber scars that fractured her skin. "It was two years ago for you, Jeff, but it only felt like minutes to me. I'm sorry you blamed yourself — I was trying to keep you alive, not to hurt you. Never to hurt you."
His hand covered hers on the bottle, gently coaxing her fingers to release their death-grip. "I know." His fingers laced with hers.
"I've killed friends before." She stared through their entwined hands, unable to process the situation.
"Ashley never—"
"Not Ashley." She met his gaze. "When we… when I was on Akuze, after the maws hit us, we scattered, trying to escape the nest in small groups of two or three. A private in my group, Chelsea Roberts, lagged behind and a maw…" She closed her eyes, hearing the shrill scream and seeing again the crimson stain spreading on the sand. "A maw got her leg."
He was silent.
Myla took a deep breath. "I dragged her away, onto a wide stretch of rock. I tried to tie a tourniquet, but… the wound was too ragged.
"She asked me to… to stop the pain. I didn't have medigel. She asked me to kill her. She was bleeding out and she asked her commanding officer to kill her."
She looked at Joker, feeling her control slip.
"I put a bullet between her eyes, Jeff, I killed a girl I was responsible for. I killed her."
"She asked you to," he said softly, no judgment in his eyes.
"I should have saved her."
"Sometimes you can't save everybody." He blinked and looked down, pulling back from her. Her fingers clenched reflexively, too late to hold him.
They sat in silence, neither certain of a way to break it. After a while, Shepard picked up the bottle and swilled its contents.
"You were right. This does taste like shit."
He shrugged. "It's not actually for drinking—I think it's what Gardner used to cook with."
Myla made a face. "That explains a lot more than it doesn't."
He smiled cautiously and reached across the table, picking up her hand again and tracing the glowing amber lines. "There was something else I needed to talk to you about."
She arched an eyebrow, struggling to hide how much she enjoyed his touch. "Just out of curiosity, Joker, about how drunk are you right now?"
"Slightly very. One away from singing and dancing on the tabletop." He tugged his cap in the nervous manner he had, and Myla knew he was lying. "Before I was an ass about you saving me — in that same conversation we had when I was an ass about you thanking me? — You said…" He looked up, dark green eyes sober and clear. "You said you wanted me to."
"I did, didn't I?" Heartbeat — loud, strong, blood rushing in her ears.
"Do you still… want me to?"
The Collectors were out there. The Reapers were coming. She had a mission in less than seven hours. Kaidan would never forgive either of them. The Alliance wouldn't approve.
She didn't care.
She reached across the table, gently lifted his cap from his head and pulled it on her own.
"I always have. I always will."
His smile was so wide she thought his face would crack in two. "What the hell took you so long?"
"Me? What about _you_, Lieutenant?" She grinned, a delicate joy trembling in her heart. He stood and came to her side of the table, tucking a strand of copper hair behind her ear as he sat beside her. She'd wanted this for years, wanted her snarky, scruffy, periodically arrogant pilot, and now she knew he wanted her, and here they were, and he was— "All that flirting, all those bad jokes? Half the time I thought you were kidding."
"I… screw it." He put a hand at the back of her neck and pulled her into a deep kiss, lips warm and gentle.
Myla's eyes fluttered closed and she reached up blindly, running a hand along his bearded jaw and another through his short hair. It was as soft as she'd imagined and she smiled into the kiss, eyes opening slowly. He drew back with a superior smirk.
"You're probably _too_ _much_ for the average pilot, Commander. Lucky for you, I'm anything but average."
"Only asses quote themselves, flyboy." She grinned and snuggled against him, her eyelids suddenly heavy. His answer was blurred by the buzz of his voice in his chest, but he hugged her gently and the soft orange glow of the lighting made everything warmer.
He tipped her ill-gotten hat back and brushed his lips against hers in another kiss.
Mmm, he tasted like… like a harvest breeze and a summer sunset and evening light on endless wheat fields. Shepard smiled inwardly, pleasantly amused by the strange nostalgia he'd invoked. Comfort food — mashed potatoes, the slight salt of sweat spent in a day's work, the satisfying perfection of a clean headshot… She pulled back from him, yawning widely.
"Wow. That bad, huh?" His eyes flickered — _**emeralds flashing in amber light**_, she thought dimly.
"No," she protested, feeling fatigue weighing at her mind, pulling gauzy layers of cobweb over the inner mechanizations, slipping distantly… "You're better than good, I'm just really —" she yawned again.
"Bored? I knew it." He shifted slightly, letting her get more comfortable, "I'd ask EDI how much you usually sleep… but she'd probably _know_ and that's just too damn creepy."
"Don't want to sleep…" She felt her grip on his collar weaken and her vision shrank to blurry crescents of meaningless colors.
"You don't have to. Just close your eyes." His hand was warm on her arm. "I'll even promise not to draw on your face."
"Jeff…"
She fell asleep, strangely at peace with her world.
24. Pellmell
It felt like she'd hardly closed her eyes when she was roused by a gentle shake at her shoulder.
"Hey, we should be close to Illium by now." Joker's voice was low and soft and more than a little sleepy. "You should probably eat something."
She yawned, arching her back against him in a lazy stretch and reaching a hand up to scratch her head. She frowned, noticing he'd reclaimed his cap while she slept. "No rush — I'll just snag an energy bar or something." She rubbed at her jaw, surreptitiously checking for marks. Just because he'd said he wouldn't draw on her while she slept didn't mean he'd kept his word. It'd be just like him to — nope, clean. Myla allowed herself a small smile.
"Yeah, well," he gently pushed her off of him and stood, rubbing his arm self-consciously, "I think the rest of the crew is waking up and… " He shrugged, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks. "I dunno if you… "
"We've got nothing to hide. Um," Shepard bit her lip as details from earlier flooded back. "They might already think we're, ah, sleeping together." _**Technically, we just did**_, a part of her thought wickedly.
He gave a short barking laugh of disbelief. "Why the hell would they think that?"
She relayed her brief encounter with Gainey as she got up and began raiding the kitchen. She rummaged in one of the lower cupboards, as much to look for a pan as to avoid looking at him. When she resurfaced, he was leaning against the counter, watching her.
"Hey Commander," he grinned wolfishly, "next time we have sex, could you let me know? 'Cause I'd kinda like to be there."
She was sure her face was beet red and she couldn't think of a retort, so she brandished the pan she'd found menacingly. "You said you were a good cook — can you do me a favor?"
He didn't budge. "I said I was better than Gardner — that doesn't make me even _remotely_ good. You're a big girl — do it yourself. I like my eggs with bacon, toast, and hash browns."
Myla snorted, setting it down and checking the refrigerator. "What? Because I'm a woman, automatically I can cook? There aren't any eggs." He winked when she glared at him. She couldn't hold the expression, though, and turned away, biting down a smile. _**Green, green, green…**_
She grabbed two energy bars from the fridge and tossed him one.
"I've burnt a salad before. True story."
"Huh." He unwrapped the bar and bit off a hunk, chewing without relish.
Shepard peeled off her own wrapper slowly, thinking about the time she'd caught him sleeping, about the signs of wear and tear that had marked him in her absence.
"Why'd you leave the Alliance?" She propped her elbows up on the cool surface of the countertop, regarding him seriously. He'd given her a shockingly concise summary when they'd reunited after Freedom's Progress, but she hadn't wanted to press him at the time — too relieved to see a friendly face. His in particular.
He swallowed thickly, "I told you — they reassigned me, grounded me… I got sick of their bullshit."
"Why ground you? I mean," she grinned playfully at him, "you _are_ the best damn pilot in the galaxy."
"Yeah, waste of valuable resources." He shook his head in mock sadness, then twisted his cap around and looked at her seriously. "They wanted to discredit you. People can handle geth — they can believe it, it's an enemy we know we can beat. But Reapers?" He smiled bitterly and shook his head again.
"I wouldn't lie for them — I saw Sovereign, I know what we're up against and to treat all that like an… like an inconvenience will get us all killed." He rolled his eyes, "I may have also called a few admirals ignorant, impotent bastards who had their heads stuffed so far up their own asses that the brown-nosers couldn't… well, you get the idea."
Myla's eyes widened. "Why the hell would you do that?"
He looked away. "They called you crazy. Said it was a mistake to let you be our first Spectre."
She saw a flicker of anger cross his face and knew he wasn't telling her everything. She decided she didn't want to know. It was enough of a disappointment to think they'd dismissed her as summarily as the Council had, that they'd tried to force her loyal pilot to hide the truth by taking his wings away. She clenched her fist around the tasteless energy bar, feeling the hard contours warp under her sudden fury.
"So what are we going to do?" he asked, features inscrutable, green eyes dark.
"About?" She looked down at the smooth countertop, suddenly mesmerized by the sheen of the fluorescent light on its scuffed metal surface. _**The Collectors, the Reapers… what are our stupid little human problems compared to Armageddon?**_
Joker lowered his voice. "When this Collector business is over, what are we gonna do? Cerberus… they brought you back an' all, but I got a bad feeling about the Illusive Man. The Alliance… they're dysfunctional and probably pretty pissed."
Shepard hesitated, cutting off the automatic response before it left her mouth. Why should they go back? The Alliance had burned Joker, practically disavowed all involvement with Shepard, but they'd been her world for so long, and Cerberus was… she shuddered.
"Hey!" Gardner shuffled into the wide room, glaring at the energy bars the two held. "No fair getting a head start on the good stuff!"
Myla glanced down at the unappealing excuse for food in her hand, raising an eyebrow doubtfully. Joker stuffed the rest of his bar into his mouth and pushed off the counter, leaning slightly away from her, the back of his neck flushed red. Gardner continued, oblivious to her pilot's sudden shyness.
"I was gonna make some haggis, too," he grumbled, shooing Shepard out from his normal post behind the counter. "Our last food shipment had a few sheep carcasses an' I think they're starting to turn."
Joker blanched and Myla gulped, knowing she might not be able to handle the requirements of her position in this case, knowing that she would surely suffer — "I… I promise I'll swing by after the mission, Cooky."
His craggy face lit up. "Thanks, Commander! You won't be disappointed. I've been looking up recipes on the extranet an' I think I've got a winner."
Joker limped away before he could be guilted into what promised to be gastronomical torture and Myla followed, nodding politely to Gardner as she left. He saluted her with a ladle.
Jeff was waiting for her by the elevator, a pained smile on his face. He rubbed her shoulder briefly, almost but not quite pulling her close. "I'll catch you when you get back. I'm gonna get some shut-eye."
"Didn't you sleep a little earlier?" Shepard grinned at him, catching his hands.
"No." He gently broke her grip and cocked his head. A teasing smirk wavered on his lips, but his eyes were sad. "Someone heavy was crushing my shoulder. I'll… see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, of course," she nodded, trying to hide her confusion. "If you… if you're not comfortable with…this..." he frowned and she continued, refusing to acknowledge the building ache in her heart. "…that's completely understandable." _**I knew it, now I've lost him—**_
He glanced down the sides of the hall quickly, then suddenly pushed her against the elevator wall and kissed her hard. She responded instinctively, pulling him closer. That sick giddy feeling overwhelmed her and hot adrenaline surged through her veins. _**Oh, yes, please…**_
He pulled away, chest heaving, eyes glinting. He licked his lips and stepped back. "I _want_ this, okay? Don't get me wrong, I just… I just need to think for a bit."
Myla nodded breathlessly, heart still thundering. He smirked and saluted her crisply, then walked away towards crew quarters. Shepard grinned, inordinately happy, and she punched the elevator button for her cabin. She'd get suited up, get her squad in gear, and hopefully have Liara's problem squared away before lunch. _**And after that… **_she shook her head briskly, forcing herself into business mode. She couldn't shake the wide smile, though, and she whistled as she strapped on her armor.
….
Myla ducked the police tape, feeling a swell of fury like a mounting crescendo burn at her insides. Someone had tried to kill her friend. She eyed the blue-armored asari with distrust. Another Spectre. _**How very convenient**_.
"Oh, Keelah," breathed Tali. Garrus cursed softly as he looked around the apartment. Myla shook her head imperceptibly, frustrated with her naïve squad selection. She'd asked them to come along because they'd known Liara, become friends with her. Shepard would never have made that call if she knew they'd be going directly into combat. Not that Garrus and Tali weren't capable—they'd more than proven themselves two years ago against geth, pirates, and hordes of husks—she just worked better with the convict and the mercenary at her side. But she'd assumed it would be a retrieval job. Simple.
It _should've_ been a simple job: hand Liara the data then take her up to the Normandy to chase the Shadow Broker down. But _no_, T'soni had to delay, had to be secretive, and now she'd been attacked in her own home and gone missing.
Myla glanced at the window, gaze lingering on the pale cracks that spiderwebbed across the giant pane, sharp lines, cold and jagged. She took a deep breath and swallowed. _**Please be okay, Liara. Wherever you are.**_
…..
Tela Vasir sat like a predator. Her casual posture managed to convey a fluid and quietly menacing strength. Hardly surprising — she was a warrior after all — but Myla had an uneasy feeling in her gut. The asari's eyes were… off. Hard, calculating, with poorly restrained arrogance — Shepard hadn't met many Spectres. Maybe these were common characteristics?
Myla watched Vasir's face. Patches of alternating light and shadow flashed in the car, illuminating then hiding the numerous purple tattoos, and the scream of city night-traffic was muffled by the thick tinted windows. Lights zoomed by, graceful skyscrapers strained upward to touch the soft cerulean dusk. Illium was a place of undeniable beauty… and danger.
_**Please let her be okay.**_
"How close are we to the Trade Center?" asked Myla, turning her gaze ahead to the view afforded by the wide windshield.
"Just around this block." Vasir nodded forward, guiding the skycar into an exit lane. Her dark amethyst eyes never wavered from the stream of traffic.
"Good," muttered Shepard, shifting restlessly in her seat. She adjusted her visor, realizing she hadn't gotten any input from Joker since the start of the mission. _**He's probably still sleeping. **_Garrus and Tali were quiet in the back — she heard the soft click of metal, the definite rasp of claw on plasteel. They were checking their weapons. _**Smart. Hopefully unnecessary**_.
Vasir glanced sidelong at the other Spectre, a butter-yellow bar of light sliding across her eyes. "You worried about T'soni?"
"Liara can handle herself," Shepard said carefully, "I just don't like this — the running and the secrecy. She should've come straight to the Normandy."
"If your friend pissed off the Shadow Broker, her only hope is to stay low." Vasir banked the skycar and the Dracon Trade Center loomed into view. She brought them down.
_**He's got endless resources, spies hidden everywhere — there isn't a place in the galaxy that would be safe for long.**_
Myla frowned slightly at the asari and opened her mouth to question her, but as the doors hissed open, an explosion rent the air and a fireball of white and gold reared starkly against the sky.
"Shit!" She brought an arm up protectively in front of her eyes, saw Vasir draw up beside her from the periphery of her vision. Rubble fell like rain, the sharp protest of shattering glass forming a counterpoint to the low rumble of consuming flame.
It had to be the Shadow Broker.
_**Liara!**_
Shepard ran out of the skycar, her armored boots cracking against what had once been pristine marble floor. Decorative plants were overturned or had caught aflame by the red embers that drifted from the ruin of the Trade Center's third floor. _**Damn he was fast.**_
She swallowed her fear and made for the entrance, but stopped at the sight of injured civilians. She looked up at the building — an entire wing was destroyed or at least on fire.
_**Liara**_ — she could be hurt — dying or dead already. Myla pushed those thoughts from her mind, kneeling beside a badly-burned man lying flat on his back. She barely glanced at the blackened sheen of his skin, closed her nostrils to the stench, and pulled a medigel canister from her belt.
"I—I don't know what happened!" He cried, teeth white against the charred flesh of his face. Tears glistened, his breath hitched as he hyperventilated. "We were just—oh God, why?"
"Shh," Shepard applied the medigel, doing her best to calm him, signaling her team to help the other civilians. She stopped herself from touching his shoulder, gauntlets brushing the burnt cloth as she drew back. It disintegrated, revealing a patch of angry red flesh. The skin was burned stood awkwardly.
"Hold still, the medics will be here soon," she said, drawing on her training to keep a confident expression. She moved on to the next citizen — a woman whose face seemed to have melted — and Vasir was suddenly beside her, twilight and lithe in the shuddering firelight.
"Whoever did this is probably still here. It looks like they took out the Baria Frontiers office, along with half the damn building — I wouldn't put too much on the odds of T'soni's contact surviving." The asari looked at the crowd of moaning civilians and her jaw tightened, her eyes going hard with fury. "I'll take the skycar and work from the top down — you take the lower levels and work up. With any luck, we'll catch those bastards in the middle and find your friend."
Shepard nodded tersely and Tela sprinted away. Myla finished tending to the injured woman and glanced around. The other civilians seemed to be in stable condition. _**As long as there's no internal bleeding.**_ Sirens wailed in the distance and she sighed with relief.
"Okay guys, the medics are coming — stay close and stay down, you'll be okay." She addressed the civilians, keeping her voice clear and steady. They looked blankly back at her, eyes wide and terrified, dark pools in faces pale beneath the grime.
She nodded to her squad, far from assured. "Let's go."
They charged into the building.
…..
"Dammit!"
The salarian was slumped against the wall, unquestionably dead. Shepard ignored the corpse of the merc Vasir had shot, rushing over to the man she didn't need to be told was Liara's contact, Sekat.
"If I'd only been faster… I could've saved him." Vasir's voice was level, almost bored. _**Listen to your instincts. **_Shepard was painfully conscious of her less than advantageous position — kneeling over the salarian's body, her exposed back to the other Spectre.
"Looks like another dead end," Myla said evenly, one hand creeping toward the heavy pistol at her hip. She heard the lazy steps of the asari as she sauntered away from the corpses.
"Speaking of which… did you find your friend's body?" Gloating.
Shepard bit her cheek to stifle the scream of anger and hate and her fingers tore the pistol from its holster. She pivoted on her knee, whirling faster than she could think, resolved to plug the bitch full of lead, but stopped when a slim figure in a pale coat of armor approached the flaming ruin of the far corridor.
"You mean this body?" Liara's voice was deadly, eyes flat and shining above her upheld pistol, face slick from the rain that fell in from the gaping holes in the roof.
_**Thank the gods you're okay.**_ Shepard grinned and stood, training her own weapon on the asari Spectre. She heard the whine of Garrus and Tali's weapons expanding from their holstered states and a cold satisfaction gripped her heart. _**Like the odds now, traitor?**_
"Shepard, this is the woman who tried to kill me." Liara walked to Myla's side, her gaze never wavering from Tela Vasir.
_**Don't need to tell me twice.**_
The purple-tattooed asari sneered, but she backed up defensively. "You've had a rough day, little girl, so I'll let that slide. Why don't you put that gun down?"
"I saw you." T'soni's menacing calm was eerie, but Myla didn't blame her. "I doubled back after I left. I watched you break into my apartment."
"She didn't know where you went — the message was hidden. She needed me," Shepard spat. _**Those people are dead because I **_— Liara's round face was unmoved—If anything, she seemed coolly detached.
"Once she had my location, she signaled the Shadow Broker's forces. They bombed the building to take me out."
_**If I hadn't…**_
The blue-armored assassin grinned mirthlessly, turning her amethyst eyes on Shepard. "I couldn't have done it without you — you led me right to her. Thanks for the help."
_**She's right. I keep making mistakes, slipping up, ignoring my instincts.**_
Liara's eyes narrowed calculatingly, "She found Sekat, took his data, and killed him. I'm guessing she's still got the disk on her."
"Very _good,_ little girl!" Vasir simpered, holding one fist up.
Myla focused on it; was she holding—?
"Not that you'll ever see what's on it…"
Too late, Shepard realized it was a diversion — a distraction from the hand she'd tucked behind her back. Biotic blue gilded Vasir's armored form, a static corona surrounding her as she dropped into a fighting stance. "You pure-blood bitch!" The window behind her exploded, millions of shards of glass screaming towards Liara, Shepard, Tali and Garrus. Indefensible, beautiful, no time to move, no cover to be found.
_**Shit, Joker, I—**_
Liara fell to her knees, throwing a hand up and putting a biotic bubble shield around them. The glass slammed against the barrier, crushing itself to a snowy powder that fell harmlessly to the floor. Evidently, T'soni's time as an information broker hadn't corroded her combat skills. Shepard saw the look on Vasir's face and charged through the shield and after her as soon as she bolted.
_**The window!**_ Myla launched herself at the traitor asari and they crashed through, scrabbling for a hold in midair. Vasir's breath was hot in her ear, her arms were reinforced with a biotic strength that outmatched Cerberus upgrades. Shepard lost her grip.
"Yah!" Vasir snarled in triumph and slammed her boot into Myla's stomach, accelerating her fall and knocking the wind out of her.
Shepard dropped heavily onto the marble floor, her shoulder blades taking the brunt of the impact. She gasped soundlessly, trying desperately to _breathe — __**Breathe, dammit!**_ An iron vise around her lungs, a cold fist around her neck. Vasir was closeby — Shepard doubted the asari would wait for her to recover. _**Breathe or you're going to die.**_
She'd been trained — any hand-to-hand combat course taught you how to control yourself, how to take a hit, how to fall — but she hadn't had time to twist, to prepare for the landing, and she hadn't had the wind knocked out of her since N7 training. She tried to get a grip on her heavy pistol, but black spots danced in front of her eyes and the vacuum in her lungs forced her to shudder.
_**No. **_Dimly, she saw Vasir float to the floor, smirking. _**I don't want to die. **_She saw blue boots approaching, a fist curling, wisps of biotic power gathering — _**Not like this.**_
As a soldier, she held no illusions of the probability of living to a ripe old age—she knew she was likely to die on some godforsaken rock or in a sunburst of flame and napalm—but she had always hoped to go out fighting, like Ash, or as a sacrifice for another. _**You already did.**_ Maybe she'd already gotten her hero's death and fate had decided she'd die on her knees, helpless, as a punishment for Cerberus defiance.
A soft cry from above stopped Visar's advance. _**Liara…**_
Her friend floated majestically from the broken balcony above, biotic flames radiating from her form and a look of cold fury darkening her round face.
Tela Vasir sprinted away as Liara touched down. Myla coughed, pulling herself up onto hands and knees, expecting Liara's gentle reassurance, but the asari didn't even glance at her as she raced after Vasir. _**Right. Threat first.**_
Air! Shepard gulped it in, blessed air that smelled like smoke and burnt plastic. She stood on knees that shook, heard her squadmates run up behind her. Garrus touched her elbow mutely, concern in his eyes.
"Shepard, are you okay?" Tali's breath was shallow.
Movement at the far end of the room caught her eye, and Shepard nodded briskly. "I'm fine, thanks. Company's here." She checked her pistol and sighted a merc. _**Hold on, Liara.**_
….
Liara's contact was dead. Vasir was a traitor. _**The Shadow Broker has agents within the Spectres.**_ Shepard grimaced and twisted the steering wheel viciously to the right as Vasir's vehicle released another proximity charge. Beside her, Liara gripped the aircar's dash with fearful intensity, sheer terror battling a hard rage in her crystal blue eyes.
"This reminds me of all that horrible Mako," she murmured, a tremor of terror sharpening her usually soft and melodic voice. Garrus laughed from the backseat and Myla grinned as unbidden memories swelled — the smell of burned rubber, counting each additional scratch, dent, and scorch mark along the indestructible rover's hull, Chakwas protesting her squadmates' extensive bruising… the good old days.
"Yeah," she couldn't hide the wistful tone in her voice, "It kinda does."
"You're not seriously — _oomph_!" Liara was thrown against the side as Shepard forced the civilian vehicle into a sharp turn.
"_That's what seatbelts are for, T'soni — safety before vengeance!" _Joker's voice crackled in Shepard's earpiece and her heartbeat spiked. _**He's back.**_ She kept her attention focused on the road (or, more appropriately, the lack of one). It wasn't that Vasir's skycar was hard to track — the damn thing must've ruptured a fuel line or something because it left a clear trail of pale yellow fuel that had diffused into her slipstream, making her easy to spot and follow—but she was trying to lose them in oncoming traffic.
"Joker!" A surprised smile quirked Liara's lips, "I didn't know you were with Shepard." Her slim blue hands engaged her seat harness hurriedly.
"I wouldn't fly with anyone else." Myla smiled happily, sending the taxi into a steep dive to avoid a large transport cruiser. Its driver, a portly turian with pale yellow facepaint, made a distinctly rude gesture as she passed.
"No one else would fly with you!" Garrus grunted from the backseat, rubbing his headfringe painfully.
"_Sad but true. The galaxy is full of crazies but only a select few of us are suicidal."_
Liara gasped and sputtered, pointing frantically out the windshield, "Go, go, go!"
"I got it." Shepard scowled, wrenching the nose of the vehicle up as a huge tanker, the words DANGER: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE emblazoned on its side, listed sideways into their flight path.
"Left! Go left!"
"I _got _it!"
"_Don't backseat pilots piss you the hell off?"_ She could practically see his grin.
Garrus laughed, "Especially when they don't know what they're talking about?"
"_Well, everyone and their invalid auntie knows how to fly a freakin' _taxi_ — some just do a very bad job of it. Like, really bad. Like, worse than a blind vorcha with no arms bad."_
"Tell me about it," Garrus's two-toned voice was positively dripping with mock-suffering.
"No conspiracy among minions," Myla pulled the aircab into a steep climb, slipping above the stream of civilian traffic. "Mutiny will be met with double rations of Gardner's cooking."
"I don't have to suffer," Garrus pointed out smugly, "I get dextro-friendly protein paste."
"_Shit, he's making moldy haggis today, too."_ Joker's mutter was despairing.
"Please, be quiet!" Liara cried as the aircab swerved sickeningly, "Shepard's driving is bad enough when she isn't distracted by your infernal banter!"
Joker laughed and Myla decided to ignore their hurtful comments.
She was gaining on Vasir.
"Almost…" She nudged the taxi closer, urging another kick of speed from the disappointingly weaponless thing. There was a hideous squeal of scraping metal as Vasir swung her car into Shepard's "borrowed" taxi.
Myla gritted her teeth and pushed back, then felt another jarring impact. Vasir's car was close enough to see into the cockpit — her lip was curled in a hateful sneer.
They were locked and destabilized — spinning out of control into a lane of oncoming traffic. Horns blared as civilians swerved from their orderly lines to avoid them. Shepard grimaced._** It's only a matter of time.**_
Vasir was trying to pull them into the path on an oncoming speeder, trying to brush them off. Two could play that game.
Myla floored the accelerator, hurtling them toward the stubborn civilian. _**If you're wrong…**_
"Shepard, what-?" Liara shrieked, eyes wide.
"I know —" Shepard hit the brakes hard and there was a discordant screech. Vasir's car bucked forward. "— what I'm doing." She turned the taxi as far as she could to the left, pulling free of Vasir's vehicle with another horrendous cacophony of rending metal.
Vasir had lost control. Shepard's stomach clenched in sudden fear for the civilian. _**What if I judged it wrong? What if she — **_but no, the Spectre managed to veer out of the speeder's path. One of the skycar's propulsion turbines was busted — spitting sparks, wiring spilling from its plating like intestines from the ruptured belly of some great beast — and she listed heavily, clipping another aircar. The civilian's vehicle bobbed away and quickly restabilized. But Vasir's—
"She's going down!" There was a predator's excitement in Garrus's voice and Myla felt the adrenaline of the hunter quicken her heartbeat. She watched the other ship tumble down, down, and crash on an upper deck of a swanky-looking building. A hotel? She squinted at the sign.
"Azure? Like the color?"
Joker choked and Liara shot her a glance that suggested she thought Shepard was a trifle dense.
"Sure… like the color."
"_Uh-huh. Because, ya know, asari are blue and, ah, azure is a lovely shade of blue."_
Garrus snorted and Shepard felt herself blush. She hated feeling naïve; evidently "azure" had some dirty connotation on Illium. _**Focus.**_
Below, Vasir tumbled from the wreckage of her skycar and lay there for a moment, obviously in pain.
"We can't let her get away." Myla sent the taxi into a perhaps unnecessarily steep descent as she searched for a suitable landing. She allowed herself an evil smile as her companions yelled in dismay. Oh, this thing did _so_ remind her of the Mako.
…..
Her shoulder hurt like hell — one of those damn salarian technicians had been lucky enough to wing her with an incendiary projectile before she'd sent a bullet between his eyes — but Myla filed away the pain for later. Vasir must've been calling in reinforcements because Shepard had had to fight in virtually every wide open space on this level of the hotel.
That wasn't important now, though—Vasir had hurt herself in the crash. Badly. The intermittent drips of indigo blood were getting more frequent and the footsteps dragging through them were increasingly smaller in stride. She was getting tired.
"C'mon!" she shouted over her shoulder at her trailing team.
They rounded a balcony corner and Shepard cursed in dismayed horror. Vasir was just ahead, limping laboriously, but she was in the midst of a crowd of civilians — laughing, chatting, oblivious to the deadly danger they were in. _**Who the hell puts a restaurant on the roof of a hotel?**_
Vasir elbowed some slow-moving men from her path, her pained shuffle gaining a menacing purpose.
Liara pushed in front of Shepard, bringing her weapon up. "Vasir! It's over."
The other asari paused, her head turned. She was drawing curious glances now, confusion rising in hurried whispers, the atmosphere quickly sickening with prey-fear. Myla drew her weapon.
Tela Vasir lurched back towards them, using her biotics to snag a human waitress, pulling her close as a shield. Shepard's stomach dropped, and the other civilians screamed and scrambled for safety. Vasir pressed the muzzle of her pistol against the hostage's neck, into the soft palate beneath her jaw. Hard determination grew in her amethyst eyes. "What's your name?"
The hostage was in shock. Her lips trembled slightly as she spoke. "M-Mariana."
Vasir's voice was soft, mockingly comforting. "Mariana, you want to live, don't you? Tell those people that you want to live."
"Please." Mariana was trying to stay still — someone had obviously told her what to do in a hostage situation: hysterics would only piss off the captor and hinder the negotiator — but the terror in her eyes was undeniable.
_Please._ Chelsea Roberts had begged for a swift death — this woman pled for her life. Myla wouldn't let her die.
"We'll get you out of here safely, Mariana," she promised, voice steady, keeping her eyes locked on Vasir.
The asari smiled briefly, the expression not reaching her eyes. "Well, that's good to hear." Her tone changed, soft, deadly, cruel. "All you had to do was walk away. Now it gets ugly." She shoved her weapon's muzzle against Mariana's temple and Shepard thought for sure the woman would crack. _**Stay calm.**_
The waitress closed her eyes, silver tears slipping down her cheeks. "Please. I have a son."
"A son?" Vasir brought her lips close to the woman's ear, as if to whisper in confidence, but every word carried clearly to Shepard. "I hope he gets to see you again. I've heard losing a parent is just horrific for children. Scars them for life."
Shepard clenched her free fist, biting her tongue to keep from yelling. At her side, Liara leaned forward, a quiet steel radiating coldly from her. "I'm going to end you, Vasir."
Shepard shivered, resisting the urge to turn to her friend. That wasn't a promise — it was a fact. She could hear the truth as readily as she saw it in Vasir's shocked expression. _**Don't make her unstable.**_
"It's okay, Liara. We'll handle it. The usual way."
"You want Mariana's little boy to grow up without a mommy, Shepard?" Vasir's tone changed from mocking to angry. "Thermal clips on the ground. Now. Power cells too."
_**There's no way she'll back out without finishing her mission. Neither will I.**_ Myla laughed, signaling Liara surreptitiously.
"Is that it?" She forced a contemptuous confidence she did not feel into her tone.
Vasir was shaken by Shepard's reaction. She lowered her pistol uncertainly, a glimmer of disgust in her eyes. "What?"
"Vasir, I sacrificed hundreds of human lives to save the Destiny Ascension. I unleashed the Rachni on the galaxy. So for your sake, I hope your escape plan doesn't hinge on me hesitating to shoot a damn hostage."
Doubt struggled in the asari's face, then was replaced by a confident resolve, but it was too late — a biotic bloom enveloped a table behind the hostage and her captor. _**Thank you.**_
"You're bluffing," Vasir sneered flatly, shifting her grip on Mariana, "I—"
"Now, Liara!" cried Shepard, but she didn't have too — T'soni had already sent the table crashing into the couple, sending Vasir flying away into a tasteful water feature and, more importantly, away from the waitress.
"Are you okay?" Myla jogged to the side of the fallen woman, gaze trained warily on the water where Vasir had landed.
There was a feral scream of rage and the water feature exploded upward. Vasir shot forth, cloaked in the blue nebula of biotic energy, and bared her teeth at Shepard.
_**Here we go again.**_
Shepard sent her squad to cover, firing to track the blur of blue as the asari Specter moved sporadically, biotically charging in random patterns. Probably a flash tactic—get your enemies confused, disoriented, then come in and—with a snarl, Vasir appeared directly in front of Shepard, bringing her weapon to bear. Myla reacted instinctively—pistol-whipping her across the face. Vasir spun away, appearing on the private balcony of what must've been the hotel's premium suite.
She raised a hand to her lips, her eyes burning with hatred.
Shepard cursed. "She's calling more lackeys."
Garrus mutely slapped another heat sink into his gently smoking assault rifle.
After what felt like hours of cat and mouse fighting with Vasir, broken only by intermittent waves of the Shadow Broker's pawns or hired guns, the asari Spectre's shields gave out. Vasir slumped to her knees, blood dribbling in sickeningly thick streams from her middle.
"Damn it! Damn it," she spat, resignation seeping into her broken tone. She struggled to the balcony wall, movements increasingly weak.
Shepard felt a stab of pity in spite of everything she knew. Vasir had been proud, strong, and undeniably skilled. To see her like this… to have done this to her… _**She was corrupted.**_
"_You did what you had to."_ Joker's voice was soft and Myla knew without checking that he was using a private channel. _"She would have killed you without a second thought."_
"That doesn't make it okay," Myla murmured, holstering her weapon and averting her eyes from the fallen Spectre.
Liara strode to Vasir and casually grabbed a glowing orb from the other woman's belt, turning away without a backwards glance. _**Callous. Even if — **_T'soni waved her omnitool over her prize, her face lighting up with a hard hunger at the results.
"Sekat's personal datapad. This has what we need to find the Shadow Broker." She shut down her omnitool and began to walk away purposefully.
Myla started to follow, but a hacking cough stopped them.
"You're dead." Vasir had put her back against the wall, dark purple blood smeared out from behind her as she slid down. She was fading fast but the hate in her voice was strong. "The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades. He's stronger than anything you've ever faced."
Myla turned, guilt and frustration solidifying into anger. Vasir shouldn't have fallen — she was a Spectre — like Shepard, like Nihlus… like Saren. Was it the fate of all Spectres to die or become the thing they fought against? Disgust filled her.
"Is that why you sold out the Council to work for him? Credits and power are a hell of a lot more fulfilling than honor, right?"
Vasir's righteous scowl told her she'd hit a nerve. "Go to hell! I'm no traitor — he's given me a lot of intel over the years — good intel that saved a lot of lives and kept the Citadel safe! So, yeah, I think I owe him a life or two — even and especially mine. It's a price I _have_ to pay."
It was unbearable to hear the conviction and assurance in that voice — wretched but proud. Vasir was dying but she'd get in her last strikes. Myla shook her head. "That explosion? Sloppy. Many civilians died — civilians you swore to protect. I don't think they felt the same about your price."
Vasir's ire vanished and was replaced by a superior calm. "You have no right to preach to me. You abandoned the galaxy — the Council and all the civilians you claim to love so much, played dead for two years and came back working for terrorists. You have any idea what Cerberus has done?"
_Kahoku's body, miners twisted into lurching husks, mindless rachni attacking settlements, the Thorian quivering wetly in the dark subterranean tunnels, thresher maws arcing high against the sun, the blood of her squad staining coarse sands_—
"I know." Myla felt her hands shake, felt her throat tighten on words she had to share with this stranger who'd tried to kill her. "I know what they've done better than most and I have to work apart from that because they gave me my life back. Because, for now, we're on the same side. Because I need them. We need them. Vasir, we need anyone and everyone because there is a bigger threat — the Reapers are coming and we'll all die unless we—"
"Spare me your sermon," Vasir spat, no fear in her eyes, "I want to die without the smell of bullshit choking me. You want to judge me? Look in the mirror. Kidnapping kids for biotic death camps? Killing Alliance admirals who ask questions? You're with them. Don't you _dare_ judge me. Don't you… " Her amethyst eyes rolled back and her head lolled to the side and she was just another broken soldier.
Shepard thought she should be angry but she only felt numb.
...
**A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the long wait, [insert general whining about how busy school is]. I hope you liked this one-don't worry, Billy's coming back soon!**
**As always, thank you to my over-taxed and talented beta, ShadesOfMauve.**
25. Transit Time
Liara stood in one of the ruined hotel rooms, her omnitool glowing as it played back the Shadow Broker's last message to Vasir.
"..casualties not a concern."
Myla walked up behind her old friend, struggling to recognize the old Liara in the cold lines of this new woman. "Vasir's dead," she said flatly.
Liara didn't react but allowed a beat of silence. She turned. "I'm putting the data through to the Normandy's computers. We can be at the Shadow Broker's base in a few hours." She began walking back to the skycar, talking as she strode. "He'll know about Vasir before long. If he decides to kill Feron…" Her voice trailed off.
Myla touched her arm. "We'll get him out alive, Liara. I swear it."
"I know." Liara pulled away from her. "You're here to help." Her tone changed, sad, almost resigned. "Just like always."
"That's not a good thing?" Myla smiled encouragingly, hoping she'd see the light come back into the asari's eyes.
T'soni regarded her seriously. "When we first met on Therum, you saved me from the geth. You fought a krogan battlemaster while I cowered. Now you're doing it again. And I'm still leaning on you for help."
A thousand logical arguments—_**I've been trained, I have experience, I'm used to it—**_weren't right, couldn't be right, so Myla chose the only response that made sense.
"That's what friends do, Liara."
The asari turned and walked away, continuing as if she hadn't heard. "I can get us there, based on Sekat's data. The Normandy's stealth drive will keep them from detecting us. The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Illium," she lowered her voice thoughtfully, "With luck, they won't notice we've left until it's too late."
Myla stopped, arching an eyebrow. "That's a little cold. They killed innocent people." _**The old Liara would have cared.**_
Liara turned again, crystal blue eyes flicking away ashamedly, "You know what I mean."
So she knew there was something wrong. Myla pressed forward, almost pleading. "Do I? When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a backward look."
Liara shifted uncomfortably, moving to the view from the balcony railing. "A little fall wasn't going to kill you. I had to stay on Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call." Shepard could hear an edge of desperation in her voice. "Like I did with Sekat."
_**You're trying to convince yourself but it's eating away at you.**_ Shepard joined her, looking out at Illium's skyline, stealing a glance at her friends strained face. "That's Vasir's fault, not yours."
"Sekat had no idea what the stakes were. I put him in harm's way to get the data I needed. And I'd do it again." Liara's tone didn't deviate from her standard soft smokiness, and Myla began to doubt her estimation of her friend's change. Had two years really hardened Liara into this…callous schemer? _**No, not Liara.**_
The asari pushed off from the railing, a businesslike certainty hardening her features and voice. "But from here on out, things will be simple. Get in, get Feron, get out."
They passed the flaming wreckage of Vasir's skycar.
"…And kill anyone who tries to stop us."
Myla felt betrayed—she'd come for her friend but found only her shell.
"That's it?" she asked, incredulity edging her voice. "Liara, what happened to you?"
Liara spun to face her, an untouchable sadness in her blue eyes. "What do you want me to say, Shepard? That I mourned you? That I feel guilty because Feron got captured? I made mistakes. I lost people. I helped get you back and I want to do the same for Feron."
Shepard stepped back, nodding. She could understand that… wanting to atone for failing. She'd respect Liara's drive, but not if the asari was going to get herself killed. "When this is over—"
A spasm of impatience flickered across T'soni's face and she waved an arm sharply. "We'll talk once he's safe. Until then, enjoying the scenery is an insult to the man who saved both of us."
"Okay," Myla smiled gently, gesturing onwards, "Let's go."
….
Liara walked straight to the Galaxy Map when they boarded the Normandy, and, after a regretful glance to the cockpit, Shepard went after her. Hadley whistled softly as Liara stalked past his station and Matthews slapped the back of his head. Myla followed close on her heels, masking her concern and adopting the "calm, cool, and collected" demeanor required of commanding officers before their crew, even and especially in times of uncertainty.
And this was doubtlessly such a time.
Liara's transformation was more severe than Shepard had previously imagined — the once-shy asari scientist, always painfully cautious of the thoughts and feelings of others, had become a calculating and cold machine of revenge concerned only with her objectives and dismissing travesty as but a means to an end.
_**But that's not entirely true,**_ thought Myla, noticing the nervous twitches of Liara's slim fingers as she strode. _**She's hardened, yes, but… defensively.**_
_I made mistakes. I lost people._
_**So did I.**_
Liara rounded the CIC display, practically jogging up the shallow ramp to the galaxy map. Shepard noticed the pleased surprise on Chambers's face as the asari passed her, and the stealthy appreciative double-take, with detached amusement that quickly faded to melancholy. Liara had hardened out of necessity — _**the galaxy is tough and you either bend, break, or adapt.**_
T'soni gripped the railing, staring down intently at the blue-white-cream swirls of the holo. Her small knuckles were white.
"Hey." Myla touched the small of her back, coming to stand close beside her so that their words wouldn't be overheard. "Relax."
"What if I'm too late?" Her voice was barely audible and Myla felt a surge of pity for her friend. "What if the Shadow Broker's already killed Feron? What if —"
"What if's are useless," said Shepard firmly, prying Liara's hands free of the thin but sturdy railing. "There's no changing the past. You deal with what you've been dealt and you do your damnedest because that's all you can do."
T'soni ducked her head, a spasm of grief, frustration, and then serenity played across her smooth brow. "I…" She took a deep breath and summoned up a smile. It was too tired, sad, and much too fragile for Shepard's tastes, but it was a start. "Thank you."
"Would you like a tour of the ship?" Myla steered the asari away from the galaxy map, down the ramp.
"No, thank you, I believe—"
Kelly jumped in front of them, smiling widely. "You must be Dr. T'soni. I'm Kelly Chambers—pleased to meet you!" She stuck out her hand and Liara took it hesitantly.
"Hello, Ms. Chambers. Forgive me, I do not know your appropriate title."
Kelly shook her head once, her short red hair swishing. "Oh no, I'm not military or even an officer for Cerberus! Just call me Kelly."
"Kelly, then." Liara's smile was genuine this time, if a bit shy.
_**Thank you, Kelly,**_ Myla sighed inwardly in relief.
"Kelly is my personal assistant," she said warmly, nodding to her yeoman. Liara listened politely, the tenseness leaving her face. "She helps me stay sane."
"Not a position I'd envy," teased Liara gently, her shoulders easing.
"Oh, no, it's a lot of fun!" Kelly widened her green eyes earnestly. "I even feed her fish occasionally."
T'soni cocked her head, bemused. "…Fish?"
Shepard snorted. "Yeah, the Normandy SR2 came with an aquarium, of all things."
"If you like," Kelly smiled at Liara, "I could take you on a tour of the ship."
The feeble warmth in Liara's face flickered and was replaced with uncertainty. She looked quickly to Shepard—seeking assurance or permission?
"Go ahead," Myla grinned encouragingly, "We've got a couple hours of flight-time. I've got to talk to a few people so you might as well try to relax. Try and get something to eat while you're at it."
"Alright, Shepard, thank you." Liara allowed herself to be led away by a beaming Chambers, her apprehensive expression softening under the redheaded yeoman's barrage of eager charm.
Shepard watched the two disappear into the elevator, guessed that Kelly was taking the asari to see Chakwas first. _**Smart move,**_ she thought. _**Give her something familiar to work up from. Make her more comfortable.**_
_**Was that what they'd planned to do for me?**_ The notion struck her unbidden. The attack on the facility had been unexpected—she wasn't supposed to wake up yet. And then Freedom's Progress…
After seeing Tali, Myla had been _this _close to leaving Cerberus and striking out on her own, the Illusive Man's credits be damned, but then… _**Familiar faces.**_
She leaned over the railing, staring through the holographic swirls of the galaxy map.
They'd given her Joker, the Normandy, Chakwas — all their chips on the table in a desperate gamble for her loyalty. That wasn't efficient strategy — it was enough, but it was sloppy. Not Cerberus wont.
Shepard clenched a fist and examined the minute tracings of fiery scars that spidered over white knuckles. She hadn't been finished — a creation birthed prematurely to a guardian unprepared.
_**How did they plan to tell me?**_
Miranda was in charge of the… project. She had been (and still was, to a degree) cold, calculating, and flawlessly pragmatic — she would have kept it simple, direct. Maybe even as impersonal as a bedside briefing and an OSD for review. But the Illusive Man was in charge of Miranda, and he loved deception, manipulation, coercion. He read a person carefully and exploited every strength, weakness, preference.
_**Familiar faces…**_
He would have used them — Joker and Chakwas. Have her wake up in a medbay bed — warm bright lights, clean white sheets, the steady bleeping of a heart monitor — and there'd be a familiar face to greet her.
_**Waking up to green eyes…**_
It probably would have been Joker — there was a sort of poetry to it. He'd been the last person she'd seen before her death, it was only fitting he'd be the first she saw in her new life.
_**I'd have liked that. It wouldn't make me love Cerberus, but I'd like that.**_
Shepard sighed, running a hand through her hair, reminding herself sternly of what she'd told Liara about "what-if's". She pushed off the cold railing. Her armor clicked as she walked down the galaxy map ramp — no point in changing into her casuals for a couple hours of downtime.
A sharp hunger pang clenched her stomach and she gritted her teeth, remembering Gardner's haggis threat. _**That's what I get for trying to keep everybody happy.**_ Well, she wouldn't suffer alone. Her feet carried her to the cockpit.
...
_**A**_**/N: Just a quick one. Read and review, please! :) Rest assured, I haven't forgotten about Billy...**
26. Hunting
The alley was dark and humid. Harsh blue, gold, and red light from the street's various so-called establishments formed a stark contrast to the black shadow of the dark passage, interrupted only by the sinister glimmerings of reflection held by puddles of dubious origin. There was a mound of something foul just there to his right and Billy toed it experimentally. The lump of rags moaned and Billy's lip curled in distaste. He was overwhelmed by a desire to kill the wretched thing, but stayed his knife. He had better prey tonight.
Billy had been drawn here, drawn to this mire of despair, decay, and corruption. Even all those years ago, when he still ran Free, a beautiful Purpose singing in his heart and veins, Omega had the reputation of the most concentrated center of cruelty, of crime. What better place to hone his Skill? Where else could he strike and slip away unnoticed? Where else would the shells of his Worthy join the countless bodies of the nameless lying in obsidian gutters? It was perfect.
Nobody cared on Omega — as long as you avoided the paranoid and volatile asari who crouched in her nightclub like a corpulent spider in the center of its web. The silver threads touched many things, but much was left unclaimed, hidden in a murky fog, up for contention, for conquest. And all the little creatures that crept in the dark fought quietly amongst themselves for the honor of the arachnid's leavings.
Billy did not need or want such mortal estimations of power — no money, no possessions, no fleeting and empty titles of status — but the fluidity of Omega's political and social structure enabled him to be Free, to do his Duty in peace.
The wall was cold and hard against his shoulder blades, and he shifted slightly, pulling his thin black jacket closer around him. He felt the sheath of his concealed knife press at his ribs and smiled beatifically, thinking of the Duty that he would perform this night.
One of the drawbacks of a place such as Omega was that there were few worthy to be found. When the Call became too compelling, he'd often been forced to Release one of the many drunks that littered the streets, sprawled insensibly in a stupor from which few would ever wake. But not tonight.
He was not fond of bars, clubs, and the other such focal points of the basest vices of so-called sentient life. He did not like the lights of Afterlife, the rich red that saturated and overpowered all other colors, stealing the white from eyes turned black and flat, like a world awash in the Fluid of Life, yet petty and perverse. Billy shivered with guilty rage. Those Impure succubae, cavorting in their obscene undulations and — and — he unsheathed his knife and pressed the cool flat of the blade against his cheek.
Calm.
He slowed his breathing, forcing Unworthy images of lithe dances from his mind. _**Shepard, I'm doing this for you.**_ The thought of his Phoenix gave him steely strength and he straightened.
Tonight he would kill one who was Worthy.
Afterlife was the social hub of Omega — a pit of avarice, yes, but the misguided were as easily ensnared as the contemptible. It was, Billy had found, a treacherous gathering place for predator and prey alike. More than once, he'd had to draw his blade in self-defense, or to switch targets, and that batarian in the lower level definitely suspected Billy of… clandestine activity, but said nothing. His four beetle-dark eyes would glitter with hate, but Billy only Released the humans that he hated so he said nothing.
Billy turned the dagger ever so slowly against his cheek, closing his eyes at the cold bite, the corners of his mouth curling up.
He had found a perfect subject. She… this was borderline blasphemy, but she even reminded him of the holos he'd seen of his Phoenix. Except… soft. He'd seen her on the Afterlife's main dance floor, laughing to the friends she'd come with. Her hair was smooth, cut just above her shoulders, and red even outside of the club's scarlet light. And when she moved it fell just so over her neck… Billy thought that if Shepard ever were stripped of her power as a warrior, she might… The knife bit too deeply and he gasped at the sudden acute pain.
He pulled it away, checking his cheek with one hand. His fingers came away bloody.
Quickly, he brought them up to his mouth, sucking at the sick salt-sweetness, shocked at his mistake. He'd never loosed his own blood before, never felt the cold slide of the cut through the handle and the blade simultaneously.
Billy wiped his knife on his jacket and sheathed it. The woman would have to wait. Head wounds bled heavily and vorcha could smell the Fluid of Life from incredible distances. He needed medigel and he knew where to get it.
….
Billy had heard rumors of a clinic in the wards of Lower Omega. A clinic that provided free services and didn't ask questions. Supposedly, the doctor had cured a deadly plague some months ago.
Billy snuck through cramped alleyways — the cold grime of disuse was distinct from the malevolent filth of activity in its lack of sheen, in the subtle absence of lurking figures flirting on the vague reaches of his peripheral vision. He tore the sleeve of his jacket and pressed it to the wound. Pressure, pressure was key in stopping the bleeding. He felt the cloth grow sodden but could not see the extent of the damage, could not tell exactly how much blood he had lost.
He'd been lucky — no run-ins with the vorcha yet, although he'd heard their shrieking calls echo from nearby passages, and more than once the pattering scrape of their claws on the plasteel floor.
The Wards could be a convoluted maze to one unfamiliar with its layout, but Billy had been on Omega for weeks, had learned many of its secrets, and was able to navigate its twists and turns with ease, although the dull weight of the make-shift compress filled him with anxiety.
Scarlet neon glared softly, flushing the dirty walls an unstable rusty amber.
_**There it is.**_
Billy quickened his pace, brushing past an abandoned receptionist desk, past empty chairs and inactive terminals. He stopped, despair eroding his spirit like a cold acid. There was nobody at the clinic. Nobody… nobody—
There was a scuff from deeper within the clinic, a soft rustle.
_**Someone.**_
Billy's breath caught in his throat and he drew his knife. Carefully, carefully… He put his back against the long smooth wall, creeping slowly, one foot at a time — _**heels down, then toes**_… Silent.
He followed the curve of the wall, down a passage, and stopped outside the opening of a room. Billy strained his senses, striving to get the slightest clue of the being within. The clinic had seemed abandoned—it was likely a scavenger. He considered leaving, but the cold dampness of the cloth against his wound made that a fleeting thought. He needed medigel, and, abandoned or no, any clinic was bound to have a reserve somewhere.
He turned the dagger over in his hand, taking in one shallow breath, readying himself. It would have to be quick and quiet.
Rolling against his shoulder, he peered around the threshold. It was important to know your environment before committing fully.
There was a human man in a scientist uniform, bent over a lab table. The clink of glass—he turned slightly and Billy could see the glint of test tubes in the stranger's hands.
He drew back. Not a scavenger. A medic? Billy stood slowly, noiselessly. He sheathed the knife, pulling his jacket around him tightly.
"H-hello?" He called weakly, pitching his voice so as to sound further away. The noise of movement in the other room stopped. "Is… is anyone there?"
He shuffled into the small room, purposefully limping, keeping the cloth pressed against the wound.
Billy's caution was unnecessary — the man's expression was achingly earnest, drawn with a genuine concern for the stranger. Foolish, but Billy couldn't help but feel envious of the naïveté. In the veritable hellhole of Omega, such simple trust was rare and unerringly short-lived. Billy knew this man was Worthy — more so than the woman at Afterlife — but his Release would wait, had to wait, until Billy was healed.
The man introduced himself as David as he gently peeled Billy's makeshift compress away.
"There's a few fibers caught in the wound," David murmured, his cool fingers firm on Billy's cheekbone. "I'll have to remove them before administrating the medigel." He turned away, hunting for, Billy assumed, surgical equipment.
Billy shifted uncomfortably atop his perch of crates. He did not like to be touched by others.
"Do you have many patients?" Billy forced himself to stop thinking about the knife secured in his pocket. _**Not now.**_
Daniel turned around, the glint of silver in his hand. Tweezers.
"Now that the plague's gone, we only get the usual gang victims and such. Most that make it here aren't severely wounded so we don't need as many medics. Tilt your head." He peered intently at the cut, his shallow breath buffeting delicately on Billy's neck. The tweezers came up and pulled with minute movements, withdrawing invisible threads.
Billy swallowed, eyes focused on the dim overhead light. Too close, too close. The doctor's proximity sent shivers of distaste up his spine and he again thought of his knife.
Daniel continued, oblivious to his patient's discomfort. "Truth is, ever since Mordin left, the clinic has kind of… died." He drew back, nodded, and pulled a packet of medigel from his labcoat. "You can go ahead and use this — I've removed all the fibers from the wound."
Billy took it and applied the clear goo as fast as he could.
"Funny, really," Daniel went to the back of the room, dropping the bloodied tweezers into a sink. "He dedicated his life to this place — years — and that Commander Shepard took less than three hours to convince him to leave it."
Billy's fingers clenched on the packet and medigel spurted, oozing over his hand. He barely felt it. "Shepard — Shepard was here?"
Daniel looked over his shoulder, surprised at the sudden intensity of the other man's voice. "Yeah. She helped spread the cure. It was all over the news."
"I hadn't seen." Shepard had been here. His Phoenix had been _here._ She'd been here and taken — recruited? — that Mordin. Billy was struck by the Meeting Memory then. There had been a salarian with her on Purgatory. Mordin? _**She'd been here.**_
"Huh." Daniel went back to the vials he'd been examining when Billy had watched him earlier. "Well, she helped a lot of people — helped me out of a tough spot, as a matter of fact."
"You knew her?" He could not keep the rage and envy from his tones.
The doctor's face registered shock and slight fear. "I — I just met her once."
Billy took out his knife, a snarl pulling the healing cut in his cheek.
Daniel stumbled back, crashing against the lab table, sending his vials crashing down, shattering on the floor. Bright red—he'd cut his palm on a shard of glass.
Billy leapt forward, feeling the glorious surety of Purpose flow through his veins. His fingers tightened on the familiar handle of his knife and he closed the distance between himself and the Worthy. Daniel grabbed Billy's knife-hand, terror giving him a surprising strength. Billy pulled. Again.
It was no use.
Billy growled and head-butted the doctor viciously. Daniel's grip faltered and Billy slammed him again.
The doctor's hand fell and he slumped back, unconscious.
Billy sat back, a slight dampness of perspiration on his brow, his chest heaving lightly from the sudden exertion. This man had met her. This stupid little man had talked to her. Billy laid the edge of his blade against the doctor's neck, but hesitated.
His Phoenix had come for that salarian, Mordin. Mordin had worked at the clinic for years—had known Daniel for years. They were likely close—they probably kept contact.
What if…what if Mordin was still with her? What if Billy could use Daniel?
Billy thought for a good while, then slid his knife, its blade clean, back into its sheath.
...
**A/N: Sorry this took so long but I'm really glad to get back to Billy. Please review!**
27. Succession
Shepard skidded to a stop before the conspicuously large door. This had to be it. Her heart thumped steadily beneath her scorched and pitted scarlet armor, a faint ache and burn in her muscles the only testament to the furious fighting that had taken place about the Shadow Broker's skeletal vessel.
Liara checked the blackened chamber of her weapon, her crystal eyes hard. She had easily kept up with Shepard and Garrus for the entirety of the frantic mission, unshaken by the seemingly limitless waves of minions and machinations that dogged the team at every turn. Whatever had occupied her in the years of Myla's death, it seemed to have only honed her combat skills. If she had been losing heart, seeing Feron in the torture chamber had redoubled her drive.
"Everyone ready?" Shepard glanced at Vakarian. He'd been injured by an unexpected salarian tech in the most recent skirmish, but he nodded curtly, claws tightening around his shotgun. Pale blue blood dribbled down his forearm.
Myla took a packet of medigel from her belt and glared at him meaningfully. They had no idea what to expect in the room beyond — it'd be stupid not to take advantage of this brief respite.
His mandibles twitched in resigned amusement and he accepted the small pac. "What would I do without you, Mom?"
T'soni rotated her shoulders, letting out a long breath. "Whatever awaits us, we must deal with the Broker quickly. I have little doubt he will try to manipulate or persuade us to his own ends."
Shepard nodded, adjusting a shoulder greave. "Anything we should know?"
Liara's brow furrowed. "The Shadow Broker's power is perpetuated by his anonymity. From conjecture, I would say he is likely to be a long-lived species — perhaps _too _long-lived… much of the information I have accumulated is curious, to say the least. Several factors…" She lapsed into silent thought, then shook her head. "I know nothing for certain, save for the fact that he is highly intelligent and ruthless. Feron said he was large…"
Garrus finished tending to his wounds and fell in beside Shepard. "Let's take this bastard out."
No one mentioned what they were all thinking — the drell was fading. Even now they could be too late.
The imposing door opened without undue effort, and the three sprinted into a low, wide room lit only by the cold blue light of holographic displays. A massive form, cloaked in shadow, was waiting at the center. It leaned forward, its silhouette made monstrous by the black shadow that obscured its features.
_**What the hell **_**is**_** that?**_
Not a krogan, not anything Shepard had ever seen. Twisted horns flared away from what had to be its head, hulking shoulders lent the impression of a force of nature — vast and immovable.
They had their weapons drawn and trained on the monster, but some instinct kept them from shooting. Shepard glanced to Liara. This was her mission — she should make the call.
The asari's face was tight with intensity, but her grip on her weapon was steady.
"Doctor T'soni, I presume." There was a malevolent humor in the grim tones, a voice so low and gravelly that it could have been a landslide. "You're here for the drell." The blocky head inclined slightly, and Myla felt its calculating gaze on her. "Reckless, even for you, Commander."
"That bombing on Illium wasn't exactly subtle." Myla kept the crosshairs centered on its shadowed face.
"Extreme, but necessary." Each word was wrought of a passionless confidence — no regret or shame, just simple statement of absolute truth.
Liara's lip curled in disgust. "No it wasn't! Neither was caging Feron for two years!"
The thing was not alarmed. "Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. The drell is simply paying the price for your interference."
"The Collectors work for the Reapers," spat Shepard, "You're aiding and abetting forces that would destroy the galaxy. Can't you see that what you're doing is suicidal?"
"I am a pragmatist, Commander," the Shadow Broker cocked his head, "I have gathered more information on the Old Machines than you could possibly hope to know. There is no victory against them. My best option is to make myself useful to them. My survival requires an alliance with forces you deem destructive."
"We can fight them and we can win — if we united—"
"Foolish," he smoothly interrupted. "You of all people should know that cooperation on such a scale would be impossible. The Council. Your Alliance. Pirates, gangs, species — so many factions, so many divisions that would have to be overcome, so many individual desires, prejudices, and concerns to consolidate."
As he spoke, Shepard's insides seemed to grow leaden. She knew he was right, felt it in her marrow, but she refused to give up. "Be smart. Let Feron walk out with us."
The Shadow Broker's voice went dark and smooth — sinister with promise. "You won't be walking out at all." He turned his attention to Garrus. "It's good you brought Archangel, T'soni. Your friend's bounty is still unclaimed. There was no specification on condition — dead or alive, whatever proves most… convenient."
The turian was unfazed. He slapped a spent heat sink from the chamber of his rifle, the crack resounding defiantly.
"You're not putting a hand on anyone!" Liara's conviction was palpable. Myla felt suddenly small, watching these two clandestine players battle words and secrets. Threats were all well and good, but if they were to fight, surely it shouldn't take so long.
"It's pointless to challenge me, asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."
Unexpectedly, Liara's mouth curved into a superior smile. "Is that right? You're a yahg — a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams."
The Broker sat incredibly still — a slight flutter of the spines that Shepard had thought were horns was the only sign of his shock.
"This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your world by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave… or a pet." She smirked, eyes flinty. "How am I doing?"
The creature was silent, the barest sheen of small, dark eyes glittered in the gloom. Slowly, he drew himself up, up, up to his full height — bigger than a krogan, bigger than an elcor, and built like the Mako.
_**Gods… **_Shepard backed up instinctively, glancing to Liara. The asari's face had paled with a sudden fear, all of the cocky assurance she had displayed in her flaunt of logic had vanished.
The yahg bellowed suddenly, and with a fluid yet savage movement, he crushed the long desk he'd been sitting behind. His thick claws closed about the wreckage, and Myla realized a split second too late what he was about to do.
"Watch out!" She leapt to one side, pulling Liara down with her, falling to the floor without grace. The hulk of metal, plastic, and sparking wiring flew past them, catching Garrus with a nasty crunch. "Garrus!" He made no response.
Shepard stood, glancing warily between her fallen teammate and the colossal yahg, approaching with a deliberate menace. The turian was too far and any medical attention would make him a target. Right. Enemy first.
"Rraaugh!" The previously sophisticated Shadow Broker stepped into the light, revealing a terrible visage — slick skin, the color of clotted blood, stretched taut over a craggy bone structure, interrupted by stark white warpaint and six black eyepits. In the center of his head, a tri-sided mouth gaped, and Shepard saw countless rows of needle-sharp teeth. The blue plates of his battle-armor shifted as he brought a massive SMG to bear on the two smaller fighters.
The appearance of the gun broke the macabre trance, and they rolled aside for cover.
"Shit!" The deceptively thin piping of SMG fire sounded in tandem with the report of the bullets that pounded the other side of Shepard's cover. It seemed like every fight consisted of this ducking and scraping and cowardly peeping from behind safety.
Shepard popped out, emptying a clip into the yahg's shields. Liara snarled, throwing biotic fire.
Hair-thin streaks of white screamed from the muzzle of the Broker's gun, peppering against Shepard's rapidly depleting shields.
Duck.
Reload.
Breathe.
Up and fire again.
_**Rinse and repeat.**_ A manic grin stretched her cheeks as the monster's shields shuddered and died away, the last rounds of her magazine tearing into flesh. Adrenaline coursed like fire in her veins, intoxicating.
The yahg growled and threw his arms out, summoning a crackling nebulae of energy that coated his form. Another goddamn shield. Shepard holstered her assault rifle, pulling out her favored heavy pistol.
Liara fired from the right; her shots ricocheted.
_**This is bad.**_ Shepard sprinted to the asari's side.
"The shield's kinetically sensitive! Energy and projectiles are bouncing off!" There was an echo of despair in Liara's eyes. Her two greatest weapons were useless.
"Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Shepard cracked her knuckles with a bravado she did not feel.
The bulky yahg slapped the floor, his kinetic barrier crackling.
_**This might sting a little… **_Shepard charged him, slamming his broad girth with her shoulder. Energy discharged, bright arcs sinking into her skin with painful sharpness. Good — it must be weakening the shield.
There was a low rumble that could have been surprise or amusement as he staggered back. She pressed forward, daring a punch to his ugly face.
Amusement turned to rage and he shoved her back. Undaunted, Shepard ran, launching herself bodily, her only objective to drain that damn barrier.
"My apologies, Commander." The Broker activated some sort of duragel shield and slammed her with it, sending Shepard tumbling down to the floor. "I have the highest respect for your capabilities."
A giant foot crashed onto Shepard's breastplate, pinning her to the floor. One good push could splatter her like a cockroach, but the Shadow Broker made no attempt to finish her. He leaned down, bringing his hideous face to hers, ignoring Liara's screams of rage and the ineffective bullets and biotic attacks she was inflicting in desperation.
"Join me. You are powerful, well-connected, experienced. You know Cerberus can and will betray you. The Alliance has abandoned you and the Council is too stupid to see the truth. Together we could salvage the essential aspects of civilization — save a few who we deem valuable — and prepare for the invasion." His breath billowed in humid gusts, heavy with the thick stench of putrefaction. "When all the weak and unworthy are purged by the Reapers, we will wait, safe, and rebuild when the storm is passed."
The weight of his foot was an iron vise around her lungs; Shepard coughed, hands scrabbling at his armor for a weakness, for a good grip, for anything.
"Broker!" Liara flung herself at the yahg, yelping at the pain of contact with the kinetic barrier. The light asari was an annoyance to the enormous Shadow Broker, who brushed her away easily. Shepard heard a heavy thump.
The weight lifted slightly — enough for Shepard to push out from underneath it. She rolled away and got to her feet, warily eyeing the yahg. He backed into a simple defensive stance, his orange shield raised, blocking any possible charge. Myla scowled, a sharp spike of anger heating her face. Was he seriously expecting a response?
A glance to the side made it clear that Liara was out of the fight, for the moment at least. She had to stall him… Shepard took a shuddering breath, clearing away the fury, the concern for her squad, and the distracting sense of urgency.
"I know it'll be hard to convince them all, to unite them, but it's got to be done. I have to try." She circled the center of the room, cautiously keeping him in sight in the event that his 'respect' proved a convenient device for attack. "The Reapers aren't immortal or invincible — we've killed one already. The only thing preventing us from defending ourselves, is doubt. Doubt that causes people like you to give up and turn traitor." She paused, giving her aching lungs a rest. His brow furrowed in a terrible glower, but she continued. "I will never back down from this fight because the only alternative is to die. If you can't see that —"
With a bellow of rage, the yahg shield-rushed her, pushing her back into the low wall that had served as her cover not long ago.
"Augh!"
He crushed her between shield and wall, leaning forward to increase pressure.
"It is regrettable that you could not see the wisdom of my course of action," he hissed in her ear, the metallic rumble of his voice sending chills up her spine. "When I've finished with you, I'm going to catch your little bird, the Normandy, and I am going to pull off her wings. Perhaps I'll recruit from her crew. Those who won't join me, of course, must be executed."
Shepard's spine felt like it was being fused with a mining laser, but she slowly inched her arms free of the shield, gripping the sides. He was too heavy to push directly back, but…
He pushed his face closer, the triple rows of piranha teeth gleamed sickly in the weak light. "I look forward to crushing the life from your precious pilot."
She shoved the shield as hard as she could to the right while desperately striving towards the left. Luckily, the smooth surface had little traction and slipped away from her with minimal pain. Thrown off-balance, the yahg stumbled, his unprotected back exposed. A dim miasma of silver was all that remained of his kinetic barrier, and Shepard threw herself at it, arms wide, trying to bleed whatever power remained.
The shield crackled and spat, discharging its last power in weak arcs that raced through Shepard, briefly triggering muscle contractions and spasms. Myla tasted blood before she felt her lip burn and her hair frizzed with the energy. The yahg wrenched her from his back and threw her, but she could tell that he was too late.
She watched the glass ceiling pass above her as she flew backward and fell to the floor. Coils of brilliant energy writhed behind the glass—a bowl filled with blue fire and lightning.
A torpedo of biotic power slammed him in the face — Liara was up and in the fight again.
"Shepard!" She cried, sending small missiles after the Broker — shots designed to distract and ward away, not to truly cripple. "Keep him in the center, I have an idea."
"You want me…" Shepard wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, wearily rising to her feet, "To rush the giant evil thing that could've killed me about five times over just now?"
Liara shot her a deadly glare.
"Just checking." Shepard forced her tired legs to work, driving herself into one final leap, bracing for impact and retaliation. This time, though, the Shadow Broker's defensive swing went wide and she collided heavily with his chest, knocking him into the center of the room, diving away at Liara's cry of triumph.
Shepard looked to her teammate as the asari summoned a veritable mantle of biotic energy and unleashed it at the glass directly above the yahg's head.
Before he could get out of the way, the glass shattered and a flood of charged plasma enveloped him, filling the air with a metallic stench. Myla felt an intensity build in the very air, a pressure that rose until her ears popped—the plasma, or whatever it was, consumed the Broker and then itself, leaving only globes of light that shone like will 'o the wisps before dissolving into ash.
Liara crossed the room, limping slightly, and helped Shepard up. Her expression was distant with shock and a tentative joy. "It's… it's over."
"Good plan, Liara." Shepard clapped her back gently, then turned to assist Garrus, but the turian had already extricated himself from the debris and was eyeing the shattered ceiling with concern.
"That's not gonna fall on us and kill us, is it?"
Liara laughed, energy returning to her face. "No, Garrus, it's—"
The power went out for a moment, then the bank of duragel windows—audio feeds, Shepard realized—sprang into a frenzy, contacts of the Broker calling in for assurance.
Shepard watched as her friend approached the array, as slender shoulders bowed then squared in resolve; as Liara became the Shadow Broker. Was this really the right solution? T'soni had been an information dealer for the past two years, but this… the scale would be enormous. The potential advantage was undeniable—all that data, influence, leverage… but Myla could never forgive herself if Liara's well-meaning assistance led to corruption or mortal disaster.
When the new Shadow Broker turned away from the array, Shepard knew Liara would resist the temptation. The brimming tears and visible exhaustion attested to her appreciation for the implications of her new position.
"Oh Liara…" Fear, sadness, and pity swelled, and Shepard stepped forward, embracing her friend.
….
Shepard felt an urgency, a restlessness that nagged her to move on, but she made sure that she and Liara had the chance to catch up. They'd both had a rough day, but Liara had just concluded a mission that had consumed her every thought and action in two years. Shepard made sure the asari was settled into the skeletal ship, then invited her aboard the Normandy for a period of decompression.
Myla tried to tidy up her cabin. The last visitor had been Chambers — she hadn't cleaned since then. She had just managed to clear the little low table and pour two glasses of red wine when her door hissed open and Liara stepped in.
"You look great." Shepard grinned at her friend, indicating the sleek amethyst dress she wore. "Is that for me or Yeoman Chambers?"
T'soni smiled and ducked her head reflexively, a dark cornflower blush tingeing her cheeks. "I thought it was customary to dress nicely when visiting friends."
Shepard straightened her formal tunic self-consciously. "I never asked before… what do you think of the new Normandy?"
Liara accepted the glass of wine Myla handed her with a soft murmur of thanks. "It really is a beautiful ship. I don't know much about… design or technical details, but it certainly seems less complicated than the SR1. I suppose since Cerberus helped build the original, they had the time and knowledge to propose and implement improvements."
"What's your impression of the crew?" They sat on the black couch.
"They seem quite friendly. Polite. They believe in you, Shepard." Liara's smile widened. "Especially Chakwas, Tali, Garrus, and Joker. It was wonderful being able to talk with them again. Although Joker did ask me if I had 'embraced eternity' lately…"
"Of course he did." Myla rubbed the back of her neck, but couldn't suppress a grin, "Sorry."
The asari cocked her head, scrutinizing Shepard's face, a wicked gleam coming into her eyes. "Back on Illium — before that, with the Mako, even — you _were_ flying pretty terribly. Perhaps you could ask Joker for a few tips on basic piloting skills."
"I doubt an air taxi or a landrover is comparable to a cruiser or a military frigate," drawled Myla. She scowled at T'soni. "Besides, my driving just _fine_."
Liara laughed. "Still, perhaps you could take the shuttle out sometime for some one-on-one attention from Mr. Moreau."
Shepard barely managed to avoid choking on the wine, feeling her face heat. "I don't think that will be necessary, Liara."
Blue hands patted the air reassuringly. "Alright, I will not pry. For the record, I'm happy for you both."
Myla decided not to pretend anymore. "Thank you. You're very perceptive — did you learn such intuition in your years as an information broker or has Kelly been teaching you?"
"It wasn't difficult to deduce, Commander." Liara swirled her wine archly, a mock-superior smirk curving her lips. "Especially considering the fact that you smile whenever he's mentioned. As for Ms. Chambers, she has been quite kind to me, and I would like to think that we have become friends in the hours that I have known her. "
"That's good," Shepard nodded sincerely, "We'll come by whenever we can, and when we do you're always welcome to come up and spend some time with everyone. Feron too. How's he doing, by the way?"
Some of the happiness left her round face. "He'll live. He was imprisoned for so long, Shepard. Tortured. He's lost a lot of weight. Muscular atrophy… But I think he's going to be fine, physically. I'm worried about…"
"Solipsism." Shepard finished, horror corroding her previous good humor. "He'll be forced to relive every moment in perfect detail." Any captive would have emotional, even psychological trauma, but a drell's unadulterated power of recollection would make things exponentially worse in the long-term.
"Yes." Liara looked in her lap.
They were silent for a few minutes.
"We have a drell aboard," said Shepard at length. "Thane Krios. Perhaps he could talk to Feron about… control, if that is possible."
"From what I've heard, it isn't." T'soni took a deep breath and looked up, staring into the soft blue light of the aquarium. "I wish I could help him."
"You did. You saved him. You did what you could." Myla knew that was little consolation.
Liara exhaled heavily, as if expelling her concern and weariness. "I can't believe it's over."
Shepard nodded. "If there's any way I can help you, just let me know."
T'soni waved a hand dismissively. "Thank you, but I think I'll do just fine in my new… job. It just seems incredibly lonely. If you're able to visit…"
"I will. Whenever I get the chance." Shepard promised, smiling encouragingly. "You'll keep me posted on anything to do with the Reapers?"
"Of course." Liara shuddered. "Goddess, I wish this wasn't happening."
"So do I," sighed Shepard, "But we don't have much choice."
The asari set her wineglass on the table, shifting to regard Myla fully. "How are you holding up? And don't give me the stoic façade you give the troops." Her clear blue eyes were sad and sympathetic, and somehow soothing.
Myla slumped back, remembering the overwhelming sense of resignation that she'd felt during the fight. The odds were bad, worse than bad, but she knew they didn't matter. "I don't see how we can come out of this, Liara. I just know we have to fight it. People are so… fragmented. I want to believe that we'll unite and manage to defend ourselves, but I just can't."
"You're not alone, Shepard," murmured Liara, shaking her head gently. "You'd be surprised how many people are on your side already. It's just a matter of contacting them, of organizing. I believe in you, your team and your crew believes in you." She pulled a small box from a pocket, handing it to Shepard.
"It's from Admiral Hackett. The Alliance hasn't given up on you either."
Myla opened the lid and saw the glint of metal. _**My tags…**_ She lifted them out, shocked. "How did…?"
"I… recovered them from your body," Liara dropped her gaze to her now-empty hands. "I thought…I thought you'd want them given to your next-of-kin."
Shepard drew her old dog-tags from their nest of crushed black velvet, feeling the cold chain slip across her fingers. "I don't have a next-of-kin. At least, no family. They were killed in a batarian raid." She felt the burn of on-coming tears, whether they stemmed from the unexpected gift or surfacing memories of her family was impossible to tell — maybe both? It had been a long day.
Hell, it had been a long three months. She sighed and pulled the tags over her head, giving Liara an honest, if tired, smile. "But thank you. For everything."
The asari nodded mutely, and they sat quietly again.
Shepard stared at the little circle of pale light caught on the surface of her wine, watched it wobble tenuously. Such a fragile thing, dependent upon so many factors. Her hands were steadier than average — _**Cerberus tech or a soldier's training? **_— but still, minute trembles caused black ripples to mar the golden disc. _**Nothing perfect lasts.**_
They'd been remarkably lucky so far. Lucky the Shadow Broker hadn't killed them, lucky the Collector engines took a while to come online, lucky Cerberus insanity was effective, lucky the bastard Collector vessel hadn't hit the SR1 full-on before anyone had managed to escape, lucky Sovereign hadn't crushed her as his body obliterated the burning skeletons of the once-magnificent cherry trees, lucky the freakish parody of Saren hadn't killed her, lucky the countless geth, pirates, bandits, raiders, thugs, gangsters, and assorted hostile mechs hadn't managed to grant her an ignominious death somewhere along the way, lucky, lucky, lucky.
Well, Shepard decided, if they ran out of luck, at least they'd have skill. As contrary as her new team could be, there was little doubt that they were the best at their respective fields. If they were able to make it through the Omega 4 relay unscathed, the Collectors would have a hell of a time avoiding destruction.
_**One enemy at a time.**_ The thought reminded her of Billy. She'd sworn to herself to focus on the bigger threats for the present, but he'd still need to be dealt with efficiently, and she didn't know the first place to start.
"Liara," she said slowly, catching her friend's arm. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"After today? Anything, Shepard." The asari smiled.
"I need you to find a man named Billy." Shepard saw a frown of confusion crease T'soni's forehead, and quickly elaborated. "I visited a prison-ship a few months ago. Long story short, some twisted killer got out and sent me a very strange message. He might still be loose, and I think he's planning on killing a lot of people as some sort of display."
The pleasant calm that alcohol afforded did nothing to dull the sharp gleam of intelligence in Liara's crystal eyes. "Forward me his message. I'll see if I can trace it. I have access to more information than I'd ever dreamed possible, Shepard. We'll find him."
"Thank you." Myla leaned into the couch, feeling her muscles loosen, a slight sense of relief cooling her neck.
Their conversation turned from sober to casual, as Liara filled in the years of Shepard's absence, and Myla shared a few stories from the Academy.
After what had seemed like months of fighting, dread, and danger, it felt good to sit and talk with an old friend honestly. The wine (the regular stock—not Kelly's personal variety!) was mild and the adrenaline crash enhanced the effect of the tryptophan. When T'soni started yawning, Shepard sent her back for some long-overdue rest.
Cerberus cybernetics were not so easily influenced by a few glasses of alcohol, so the Spectre was sober when an irate Miranda demanded that it was high bloody time they set course for the Illusive Man's second supposedly derelict enemy vessel. Except this wasn't a Collector vessel that they could just run through and escape if it turned out to be a trap — it was a Reaper. If that thing was still alive, could it indoctrinate Shepard and her team before they could leave?
Even if they could get back to the Normandy, would the ship be able to get away before — Shepard shuddered, remembering the view from the Citadel arm, watching Sovereign plow through clouds of Hierarchy destroyers and Alliance dreadnaughts as if they were gnats. It didn't matter, though. The report had said that the Reaper was in a decaying orbit. If anything went wrong, the Normandy had a far better chance of escaping the gravitational pull than a slower Reaper, and she could damn well make sure the thing wouldn't climb out of its doomed spiral.
Still, she knew that crew had had ample time to prepare if it turned out to be another trap, and so she passed the word on to Joker. For better or worse, they were off.
28. War Games
**A/N: Hello, all. It's been a long time, I'm sorry. I hope this extra long chapter begins to make up for my negligence. For all of you hoping for more Shoker-esque interaction, don't worry-there'll be plenty in the next one! Please R&R-I'm always trying to get better, that's why I'm here, and I'm afraid I've gotten rusty in my absence. Anyway, hope you like it.**
* * *
><p>Myla rested her head against the cool glass of her empty fishtank, letting the blue glow soothe her closed eyelids. It was quiet, this ship, her cabin, was so quiet, that she could just… think.<p>
Had she made the right decision? Would this last call be the one to doom them all? She didn't regret saving the geth — it was different, it had helped her. She didn't regret waking it — she sure as hell wouldn't let it be sent back to the Illusive man for experiments and whatever terrible things he'd had planned. But if there'd only been more time…
Talking with it, them, Legion… she hadn't really thought of the geth as sentient before. Here was an unknown factor, an ancient enemy of organics everywhere — she'd faced so many in the months pursuing Saren — and yet she couldn't shake the feeling that this Legion was as much a person as Kasumi, Thane, Grunt, Liara, or anyone she'd talked to before. Its mannerisms were unnerving, to say the least. Abrupt movements, precise and efficient. It never used more words than were necessary, and it didn't express any form of emotion that Shepard could recognize. A being of logic, of absolute rationality, whose religion was matrices and calculus, yet willfully opposed the Reapers, the Old Machines, despite the overwhelming odds.
And it had her armor…
**_Did I make the right choice?_** It, Legion, shouldn't have made her decide the fate of his kind — she had only known real geth for a matter of hours. She was a stranger, an outsider, a curiosity that it had been following across the years, and yet it had let her, told her, to choose for thousands of… people. A consensus could not be reached. An objective third party had to intervene.
But was she truly objective? Myla had unflinchingly killed hundreds of geth, the ones who worshipped the "Old Machines", in self-defense… sometimes just because she'd seen them first. Before Legion, she'd thought of them as drones, not…
_Their virus can be repurposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth._
Was it forced conversion? Indoctrination? The geth were a hive mind, sharing data and memories fluidly in a pool of instantaneous comprehension, pure thought. Legion had said that their thought processes were akin to mechanical calculations, that a mere .000001 meant the difference between allying with the Reapers and choosing to remain independent. Was that fraction of a number so crucial to individual identity, or was the virus like an argument, changing someone's mind through logic?
_573 favor rewrite, and 571 favor destruction._
If it had only told her more. If there was more time…
_The geth grant their fate to you._
What had qualified her to decide the fate of thousands? She was an organic — she didn't take the time to compute every little factor. She made irrational decisions, based on emotions, gut instincts. Sometimes they were the right ones. Sometimes… not. But what was this?
_Accepting another's path blinds you to alternatives._
Would she condone brainwashing all of humanity to believing in one god? No, but that was an irrational subject — it couldn't be decided by rational means. To convince a person of a singular path was possible, but it took time, and was a voluntary process. This… this was different, wasn't it? This wasn't an argument between two parties, this was bullying. She had forced a new ideology, a new way of thinking upon a group of people. A meddling organic arrogantly reprogrammed an independent synthetic organization.
_The minds of both forms of life can be shaped. Organics require time and effort. With synthetics, replacement of a data file is the only requirement._
Myla sighed deeply, pushing back from the aquarium. The heretics… surely a change in reasoning was preferable to total destruction? There was no way that the Reapers would simply allow their new pawns to forge a life for themselves, anyway. This choice, her choice, would enable them to survive, more, to reunite with their kind and begin to work toward a mutual future, to earn it. **_But that wasn't what they wanted._**
It would have been easier if the others had given their opinions more explicitly. EDI was the only other synthetic life form Shepard had known, whose advice was grounded in pragmatism. Mordin was no stranger to moral quandaries, and had always seemed to consider such dilemmas with an eye towards the future. Samara…what would the Code dictate for this kind of totality? Would the Justicar see Shepard's choice as a reasoned and selfless decision?
Was it selfless? Shepard sat heavily in front of her private terminal, staring through the orange screen. Had she rewritten the heretics because it was the "right thing to do", or had she succumbed to the undeniable temptation of having another powerful ally against the Reapers? She couldn't deny that the thought of synthetic forces to bolster defenses, to catalyze communication and retrieve valuable information would be tremendous assets in the war to come. But it was a risk. Anything that would make the geth stronger, whatever Legion's assertions, was a possibility of aiding an enemy. The quarian Flotilla would certainly see her act as a betrayal.
This one decision was more contentious to her crew than any before — she caught murmurs in the mess hall, whispered conversations that hung awkwardly in the air when she was noticed nearby. Even Joker, who was beginning to act more politely towards EDI, seemed like he'd rather she'd just have sold Legion off to the Illusive man or thrown him out the airlock. His post-mission quip had been barbed, to say the least. It had hurt, and they hadn't spoken since. She didn't want to ruin what they had over a single decision. If her choice would, in fact, come back to bite them in the ass, she'd prefer the added difficulties to genocide. They didn't see Legion the way she did — they were afraid of it. Afraid of him.
Her team was noticeably uneasy around him. Myla rubbed her eyes, weary of constantly having to balance the various idiosyncrasies, preferences, and prejudices of the dysfunctional rabble she had to lead into hell. If they didn't trust the geth, if they were actively suspicious of him, it threatened the success of the mission. She'd have to bridge the gap somehow, and quickly. She planned to go through the Omega Relay as soon as the IFF was fully installed — they'd made every conceivable improvement to the ship, their armor and weapons — they couldn't afford to have time for doubt or complacency. The rest of her team would have to be made to accept the geth as a companion and ally, if not a friend.
Shepard pulled up a miniature copy of the galaxy map on her holo projector. She cycled through the nearby systems, scanning for a suitable planet. Something that hadn't been developed, with varied terrain and no interference nearby…
...
She took the whole team down in the Kodiak, issuing the weapons she'd had specially modified on her last trip to the Citadel.
"Okay, everyone, time for a simple training exercise." It was a tight fit with all eleven of them in the passenger section, especially since Grunt had discovered the word "claustrophobic" and decided he liked it. Myla spared a quick envious glance towards the pilot's section, where Gainey was doubtlessly stretching his legs, but the shuttle bucked as it entered atmo, and an immediate snarling started up among her more rowdy charges.
"Listen up!" Her drill sergeant in the N7 program had a distinctive bark — harsh, yet powerful and able to carry through walls and over the sound of artillery fire — that Myla and a few other recruits had taken great pains to be able to imitate. All bickering stopped immediately, although Jack and Miranda still glared daggers at each other. Good enough.
Shepard hefted her modified assault rifle for everyone to see. "You'll get to fight each other in a minute. These weapons have been especially fitted for today's little outing." She opened the chamber and withdrew the ammo pack, cracking it open so that her team could see the bright green pellets inside.
"Projectiles — old-school ammo, but not bullets. Each pellet is filled with a phosphorescent liquid, like industrial paint, that will explode upon contact with your target. Aim for the body — not everyone has helmets." Zaeed coughed into his hand, jerking his head toward Miranda and grinning. She tossed her flowing black hair, sneering.
"Therapy, eh, Shepard?" Garrus's mandibles twitched in laconic amusement. "Well, some people need to vent by now, I'd guess. Months cooped up on the ship."
"It is peaceful," murmured Thane, steepling his hands. "Reflection, and meditation prepare the mind — no less essential in a fight than the body."
"It's practice," said Shepard. The shuttle shuddered again, but her team was intent upon her. "We'll divide into two teams and carry out a series of objectives. We don't know what kind of opposition we'll face at the Collector base, so it's best to go over the basics."
"Team Urdnot will crush the opposition!" roared Grunt, slamming his fists together. "We shall mount their heads on pikes and dine on their innards like the fearsome thunder lizards of Earth!"
Mordin leaned delicately away from the excited krogan. "That outcome would be counterproductive and inadvisable. Mission more likely to succeed if team members are… alive to attempt it."
"Agreed," Myla grinned. "No killing or maiming. If you have biotics, only use them defensively, and even then, no shielding from the paint pellets. No snares, traps, etc — if you get in hand-to-hand combat, incapacitate and subdue without significant injury. Chakwas is good, but she can't heal a broken bone in a couple days."
"How will the teams be determined?" Samara's gaze was level, her blue hands folded primly on her knees.
"The teams will change after every objective has been completed or failed, and there will be no negotiation." The whole point of this exercise was to get her group of talented individuals to become a cohesive team—if they were allowed to choose sides themselves, this venture would never work.
"Are defections allowed?" asked Zaeed casually, buffing a scorch mark on his armor.
"No defections, no traitors. If you think the Collectors will offer you a bounty or special privileges, we can easily give you a long-term vacation on this little planet. It sees about five ships per standard year."
They asked a few more questions, about the various safety rules and combat regulations, and she could sense their anticipation. Some of them, as Garrus had said, had been cooped up on the Normandy for a long time because their talents didn't quite compliment Shepard's, or their fields of expertise were unsuited for the respective mission. **_Everyone needs a little fieldtrip now and then,_** thought Myla wryly, **_if only to keep from shooting each other._**
Gainey's voice filtered back from the pilot's section. "Hey guys, just a heads-up. The magnetic fields of this rock are in some kind of weird flux. Probably just some heavy iron deposits, but it's screwing with my instruments and it'll make any trans-atmo communication pretty difficult."
"Acknowledged, helmsman," Myla considered. "After the drop, head on back to the ship. Retrieval in six hours." That should give them enough time to get used to each other and to get some solid practice in to boot.
The landing site was promising—this planet had lots of jungles and cliffs, and the air was dry but not overly hot. There was lots of cover, and several prominent landmarks for rendezvous points or defensive positions. The first objective, she decided, shading her eyes as she looked out to the horizon, would be to reach that stone bluff as a team. She divided them up quickly, without bothering to balance abilities—this was just a warmup. Still, she made sure to place Jack and Miranda on different teams.
"Alright. If you get lost, use your comm. We'll all be on the same frequency, so don't give away strategy, etc once we begin. No shooting, this is just a race. Remember, it doesn't matter who gets their first—whatever _team_ reaches the bluff gets the victory."
She hesitated a moment, looking out at the people she'd gathered to her impossible crusade. She wouldn't patronize them by designating leaders—they'd work that out for themselves. It was time to see how the chips fell.
"Go."
Instantly, everyone started running for the trees. No communication. There was a blue flare as Jack used a biotic wave to shunt Mordin, Tali, and Grunt off course, and her snickering rose above their remonstrations.
Myla sighed and slapped the side of the shuttle. Gainey could go back to the Normandy and have a beer or something. This might take longer than she'd hoped. She pulled on her helmet and jogged into the vegetation, resignation seeping into her heart.
…..
_"Shepard! Get on the left vantage point. Thane and Kasumi are trying to sneak around back!"_ Tali's sweet little voice rang out authoritatively, and Myla sprinted over obediently.
They were defending the bluff against Jacob's assault. Shepard, Zaeed, and Mordin had been assigned to the small plateau at the crown of the rock, and were providing cover and sniping for the ground forces. Grunt was pinned down by Samara and Jack — an odd pair if there ever was one — and Tali was holed up in the shallow cave behind him. Miranda had been taken out by Jacob a few minutes ago, and was sitting on a nearby rock, arms folded over a very noticeable green splatter mark, and pouting.
"I'm here, Tali," Shepard reported, taking up her new position. The jungle was dense on this flank - good cover for a small team of infiltrators, especially if, as Shepard suspected, one of them was using her tactical cloak despite orders. Fortunately, there was no wind, so the trick was to look for — a thick vine shifted in the scope, and a flash of black darted for the rock.
"Got him!" She squeezed the trigger and blossoms of neon green exploded about a foot from Thane. Arcs of blue energy crackled briefly as Kasumi's tactical cloak sputtered out, and she stamped the ground in irritation. The lucky shot made Myla smirk, but she still needed to take out the drell before he reached the natural blind spot. She adjusted quickly and centered the crosshairs on his abdomen, exhaling to steady her aim. A sharp zipping sound distracted her, and she looked up just in time to catch a pellet in the faceplate.
Bright green spread across the entire visor, and she heard laughter across the mic.
_"Oh Shepard, I don't think that's Alliance regulation."_ Garrus' voice was smooth and smug, if a bit fuzzy with static.
She lay down her sniper rifle in disgust, pulling off a glove so she could clear away the paint. "Tali, I'm down. Vakarian, was that you? You turian bastard, that's another drink I owe—"
_"Wish I could claim yet another victory over you, Shepard, but Legion is responsible for your newest decoration."_
"_Apologies, Shepard-Commander, we did not anticipate that you would change position."_
"Don't apologize, Legion, it was a good shot." Shepard grinned. Garrus respected the geth now, she could hear it in his voice. In fact, over the course of the day, Legion had proven his worth repeatedly, and had been instrumental in seven of twelve victories, two of which he had led himself. Whatever issues Jacob had had with Thane seemed to have been worked out as well — the pair had been on the same team for three "missions" in a row now, and there hadn't been a hint of animosity. **_Thank the gods for common enemies._**
"S'cuze me, Shepard, but I've got to do your job." Zaeed knelt over her and peered through his scope for Thane, cursing softly when it became clear that he wouldn't be found. There was another zipping noise, and the old merc rolled away, a vivid splotch coating his left arm. He inspected it critically, then looked to Shepard in a way that, had it been anyone other than the former Blue Suns leader, could only be called hopeful. "S'only a flesh wound. Only need my right, anyway."
Myla rolled her eyes, but nodded. Miranda getting taken out early was unlucky, especially considering they'd been the short team to start with. Besides, she had no doubt that the grizzled man would push himself to fight on even after losing an arm.
Jack's enraged groan was audible without the comm.
"Fucking baby krogan! Dammit!"
Since Shepard was "dead", she wasn't supposed to further involve herself in the fight, which meant that she couldn't change position to see what had happened to Jack, but Grunt's newest victory roar (he'd been practicing them all day) left little to the imagination.
"All enemies of Team Urdnot shall fall! They die, green guts spilling on the sands for the varren—"
_"A true warrior never takes satisfaction in victory, but in the pursuit of justice."_ Samara had gotten Grunt. That meant—
"_We're getting overrun! Snipers cover the front!"_ Tali wailed.
Zaeed and Mordin moved to the head of the plateau, presumably to shoot down at Samara and Jacob. The slim salarian was a crack shot with a heavy pistol, but something about long-range weapons didn't seem to click with him. He was muttering something to himself, at speeds too fast for Shepard to understand even if he'd spoken into the mic.
"Go for the asari," snarled Masani, nudging the doctor with his shoulder. "She's closer."
Shepard's forearm was covered in paint, but she'd managed to clear a respectable little window in her faceplate. Nodding in satisfaction, she lifted it up, but a slight scraping sound made her spin to look at the rear.
Thane lifted himself up quietly, so slowly and smoothly that Shepard wondered at his absolute control. Zaeed and Solus were intent upon the battle below them, firing far too rapidly for real accuracy. The drell had pulled himself up fully onto the plateau, and crouched for a moment, pulling his pistol from his belt. He looked over at Shepard and his full lips twitched into a ghost of a smirk.
She shook her head unable to keep from smiling.
"_I am hit."_ Samara announced her mock-death with as much passion as one would employ when remarking upon the unusually mild weather.
_"Garrus, Legion,"_ Jacob's voice was admirably steady — he had to know that his plan was close to succeeding. "_Come in and help seize the stronghold."_
Thane walked silently up to Tali's last two teammates and leveled his gun at Mordin's back.
_"Hey, Masani, what do I have to do to get your attention?" _Garrus was enjoying himself. There was a whine, and a green splat, and Zaeed slapped at his ribs reflexively as Thane pulled the trigger. Mordin yelped in surprise, and fell against the raised lip of the rock. Krios helped him up.
"I'm sorry, Doctor, I hold you in the highest regard."
Mordin brushed the back of his odd armor, examining the green paint on his fingers. "No offense taken, Krios. Stealthy approach — admirable. Will come in handy against Collectors. Only hope stain washes out."
"Goddam turian," Zaeed glared into the jungle, "There's no bloody cover up here."
_"Someone sounds like a sore loser."_
Thane bowed to the three casualties of battle, and disappeared down the side of the cliff. Shepard got up and joined Zaeed and Mordin, looking down at the field below. When they'd first found this "defensible post", the approach to the shallow cave had been fairly clear. Smooth hard-packed earth, with a few scattered boulders big enough for even a krogan to shelter behind. Now it was riddled with green spots and puddles so that it looked like an acid field from above. Footprints and biotic wakes had left gouges and sweeping tracks in the ground.
Mordin noticed Shepard's look of guilt. "Topical damage. No real impact on local ecosystem — perhaps will even encourage growth of vegetation near cave area. Lack of toxins in paint — harmless." He smiled and wiped his green fingers on her shoulder. "At least… think so."
Jacob had his back to the rock that Grunt had used for cover. The "dead" krogan was slumped on the other side of it, petulantly scoring the dirt with his shotgun nose. Garrus and Legion jogged out from the forest, and took positions to either side of him, weapons at the ready.
"Come on out, Tali. We'll accept your surrender." The Cerberus operative grinned. There was no cruelty in his voice, just a warm edge of pride.
"You'll never take me alive!" cried the quarian, humor and shame sharpening her accent. This had been the quickest match, but to be fair, her only tactical error was to send snipers up to a post without cover. The rest was just bad luck, but it happens.
There was a scuffle near the cave entrance, and Thane fell back, green dripping down his pale chest and onto his black jacket. Jacob, Garrus, and Legion spun out from behind cover, ready to charge the cave, when a small leaf-bound package sailed out, bursting open at their feet and covering them top to bottom in green paint.
"Take that, you bosh'tets!" Tali laughed, striding out of her cave, waving her empty pellet cartridge. The "dead" on both sides surrounded her, clapping her shoulder and complimenting her ingenuity. Shepard, the merc, and the doctor climbed down and joined the group.
Myla flicked Garrus's chest-piece. "Mm, Vakarian, I don't think green is quite your color."
He ran his claws down his front, gathering paint, and smeared it over her face-plate. "You're right, Shepard. It looks so much better on you."
"Nice going with the bomb, bucket-head," Jack high-fived Tali, grinning widely. The tattoos on her stomach were obscured by a layer of slick green paint — she must have gotten the business end of Grunt's shotgun at close range.
"Thanks, Jack," Tali's face was as inscrutable as always, but her body language was animated — excited and proud.
"An excellent improvisation, Creator Zorah," Legion regarded itself, head-flaps flaring in quiet alarm, "We suspect the fluid will impair the kinesthetic capability of this platform. Perhaps when we return to Normandy, Creator Zorah will honor this unit with maintenance assistance?"
"Of course, Legion," the quarian said politely. Shepard smiled. The two would never be friends, she thought, but at least they seemed to get along without trying to kill each other now, although that change was mainly one on Tali's part. Quarians were subjected to terrible discrimination when they left the Flotilla, and sweet little Tali had more than her fair share of it on her eventful Pilgrimage. Myla guessed it had taught her that a person's nature could not be surmised by their race, no matter how different or popularly reviled. It had taken some quick talking to keep her from shooting Legion earlier, but she seemed to have developed a grudging respect for the geth since then.
Miranda had apparently gotten over her disappointment at being the first to go down, and was teasing Jacob about his defeat. Grunt and Mordin were discussing the merits of technology in battle, and Kasumi was tinkering with her Omnitool. Probably trying to bring her tactical cloak back online.
Shepard rolled her shoulders, staring up at the golden sky. This was better than she'd expected — everyone was participating, their respective strengths were revealed and recognized, and nobody had tried to kill anybody else. They were able to come together as a cohesive unit, and if not necessarily as effective in any given incarnation, they still preformed as she'd begun to think they'd never be able to — as a team. Maybe one more round. For luck. Definitely not because she wanted to end on a personal win, no, that would be juvenile.
Shepard was about to divide everyone into teams again, when a burst of static hissed across the comm channel.
_"Shep—rew…the—mandy, bu—was able to…opy?"_ The signal was garbled, indecipherable, but sounded unmistakably like EDI.
Everyone stopped talking, straining to hear the faint message in their own headsets.
Myla pressed a hand to her helmet, hoping that if the speaker was closer to her head… "Come again, EDI? We couldn't read you."
"_I wi—temp…to boo—ignal—" _The static receded slightly, but the message was no clearer.
"Stand by, Normandy, we'll rendezvous for pick-up. Bad reception down here." Shepard was irritated, but tried not to show it. Her experiment was going so well, but… maybe they could go again tomorrow.
She turned to her team. "Pack it up people, we're going back aboard the mothership." The drop point was a long way off in the distance, but a cool-down run was good for building character. Besides, the sooner they were back, the sooner she could see Joker. Her pulse beat faster and she grinned, sauntering toward the tree line. "Last one to the pick-up zone has to pay off my tab on Omega."
She'd never seen people run so fast.
…
They waited for the shuttle, scouring clean their armor and weapons with handfuls of the dark coarse sand that floored the clearing, and discussing tactics and the most noteworthy moments of brilliance or stupidity that had occurred during the day's events. Shepard had finally managed to clean the worst off of her helmet, and sat back to enjoy the sight of her team simply getting along. This exercise had been more than a team-building outing, though. She'd wanted to see how they handled different combat roles, how they performed outside of their comfort zones, and the practice had proven very illuminating.
Garrus, as she had suspected, was a capable leader and a shrewd tactician. His first turn at command had been his last after his team demolished Samara's in a complex hostage-retrieval mission. His exploits on Omega as Archangel had hardened him, shown him the worst aspects of command and responsibility, but they had also given him experience in assessing the value in his charges and utilizing them to the highest degree of efficiency and effectiveness. Miranda possessed a similar talent at skill appraisal, but lacked the charisma and empathy necessary to inspire obedience. It was probably unintentional, but whenever she issued orders, it was with a tone of strong superiority which everyone, especially the more independent individuals such as Zaeed, Kasumi, and Jack in particular, resented.
The diminutive biotic also displayed an impressive ability to size people up and put them where they were best suited, but her style of command was unorthodox. She'd get results by taunting, threatening, and screaming, but always without arrogance. Jack didn't like authority, so she didn't presume to wield it, but she was passionate when she had an opinion and a plan, which was easy to follow. As far as strategy, though, she'd spent too much time fighting alone to command a large group with confidence, but that could change in time.
Shepard had expected Samara and Zaeed to be effective leaders, but surprisingly, neither seemed suited to the task. Samara was powerful and intelligent, but used to working alone and utterly unaccustomed to having to explain herself to others. She could see the most direct way to her objective, within the parameters of her Code, but seldom looked for alternate approaches, and was unable to connect to her charges on an emotional level. Zaeed Masani had once been in charge of what was arguably the most powerful mercenary group in the galaxy, the Blue Suns, but most mercs only respected strength and credits, and would follow any given orders blindly in pursuit of a paycheck. Some of Shepard's motley team required (and deserved) more information and respect, when possible, but the old merc didn't have the patience to "coddle a bunch of whining soft-foots".
Mordin was most comfortable in a support role, but he didn't hesitate to offer tactical advice and helpful observations. Tali had the mind and charisma to lead, but was in severe need of experience and the self-confidence that comes with it. Than had no interest in or experience with command, but was able to follow good orders unflinchingly. Grunt took every assignment with enthusiasm, but fought with breath-taking ferocity when defending a position or a teammate. Kasumi didn't like taking or giving orders — she was a thief, used to working alone or in small groups, and was best suited for infiltration or scouting, not the chaos of widespread battle. Jacob was a good soldier, a solid biotic, and fairly knowledgeable of textbook strategy, but lacked the certain fire and adaptability that was so crucial in a leader. Legion… well, he was an excellent sniper — probably the most accurate Shepard had ever seen — and made tactical decisions at blinding speeds, but was still painfully unused to dealing with slower, less logical organics. At least—
The shuttle was coming down, roaring through the air, and the copper sun glinted off its tinted windowpanes as it turned gracefully in its descent. Something about its movement was off. Shepard frowned, rising to her feet, unable to shake a sudden uneasiness.
It touched down a few yards away, sending sand billowing out in russet clouds from the force of the stabilizers.
"Great," sighed Jacob, stretching his arms behind his back, oblivious to the appreciative looks from Miranda and Kasumi. "I am starving."
"I wonder if there's anything edible in the mess," mused Miranda. The green paint hadn't come off with the sand; the dirt had stuck to tacky liquid and browned the color, so that it now looked as though she'd vomited down her chest. Her fingers brushed self-consciously over the stain as the group headed toward the shuttle. "Is there anything left of the luxury ingredients that Gardner hasn't gotten to yet?"
Garrus muttered something to Tali about the tragic lack of high-quality dextro-friendly food, but Kasumi trotted up beside Jacob, smiling like the proverbial cat with a mouthful of canary.
"I may have access to some bread, fruits, and cheese. Perhaps a little wine," she said casually. "Anyone interested can stop by my quarters later."
The shuttle door lifted, and, mouth tight with pain and shoulders bowed in grief, Joker limped out. People stopped talking; even if they hadn't had much contact with the pilot, they could see something was terribly wrong. His eyes fixed on hers instantly, and she felt a jolt of fear.
"Shepard… EDI said she —" his voice cracked and he licked his lips, looking away. Myla started towards him, half-hoping he'd never finish, that the horrible feeling in her gut was over nothing, but — "The Collectors. They took… everyone's gone."
Miranda and Jack swore in unison and Grunt let out a rumbling growl.
"Oh keelah," whispered Tali.
Shepard felt like retching. They'd tracked the IFF—there was no other explanation. They'd found the Normandy, boarded her… toyed with her. They'd taken — oh gods, Chakwas, Kelly, Gardner, Kenneth, Gabby — every face flashed in her mind's eye. The people who'd trusted her, believed in her, who she'd talked to, helped, liked, teased, ate with — all gone. Taken by those creatures for who-knows-what. She'd failed them.
Her knees wobbled. The Normandy was home — it was supposed to be safe from monsters.
**_They should have run,_** she thought, anger closing her throat. **_They should have run and left us here. This planet is uninhabited — they couldn't have known we'd taken a shuttle. If they'd only run and come back later…_**
She became aware of the rising clamor. Her team was asking questions, shouting, demanding. All angry, shocked, grieving — advancing at Jeff, who could do nothing more than hold his hands out against the onslaught of noise. Myla swallowed her own confusion, anger, and fear, and stepped up next to him, asserting control on the unstable situation.
"You'll have your answers soon," she said firmly, "But for now, everyone get inside the shuttle. Assuming the Normandy's clear—" she glanced over at Joker, who nodded once, still staring at his feet.
"We'll have a full briefing aboard the ship." She held each of them in her gaze, steady, strong, resolved, until she was certain her next words would reverberate in their minds and take hold, giving them an anchor and a goal.
"This isn't a tragedy. It's a challenge. We are going to retrieve our people. We're taking them back, all of them. Understand? Everyone." She scanned their faces, then, satisfied, stood aside and beckoned them in the shuttle.
They filed on quietly, some faces tight with rage, some blank with shock, or withdrawn to hide emotion.
Eventually, everyone had gotten aboard but Shepard and Joker. Myla touched his shoulder, suddenly realizing how he must feel. Hunted by Collectors through the ship he had loved, watching the others get taken, unable to stop it… **_How did he escape?_** **_Why did the Collectors abandon the Normandy? _**Shepard bit her lip, reminding herself to hold her questions.
"Commander, I…" his voice petered out, every inch of his body seemed to sag, weighed down by grief and… guilt? Her heart ached with pity and concern, but she needed him to hold together, at least until they were back on the ship.
"Lieutenant Moreau," she said sternly, and he instinctively straightened. "I need you to fly this shuttle back to the Normandy. Can you do that?"
"Yes, Commander." He hesitated, eyes meeting hers for a moment, but entered the Kodiak without another word. She followed him in, exchanging murmurs and reassuring nods with her team on the way to the pilot's section, sealing the compartment behind her.
Joker gingerly lowered himself into his chair, grunting softly with pain. Whatever had happened to him didn't affect his piloting skills, however, and the shuttle took off smoothly. The planet shrank away beneath them, dwindling to a hazy smear of green and brown and dusty blue as they passed through the atmosphere. The silence was awkward, but Shepard couldn't find the right words to break it. The Normandy pulled into view, and she didn't have to.
Jeff cleared his throat. "EDI said she couldn't reach you on the comm." He shifted in his chair, gaze fixed on the ship ahead. "I came as soon as I could."
"Thank you." Shepard sat stiffly in the copilot's chair, suddenly thinking of how empty the Normandy would be. No more chatting crewman, no ambient hum of activity… so still… so quiet. **_Like the dead Reaper._** She shivered, banishing horrible images of husks in Cerberus uniform dragging themselves along the Normandy's corridors.
"How did you escape?" she blurted; the silence only fueled her macabre imagination.
"I gave EDI control," he said simply. "The others, the others stalled the Collectors. Distracted them, while I crawled through ducts and snuck around." Hatred soured his voice. "I pushed a fucking button, that's what I'm good for." He raised his tortured eyes to her, helpless anger burning like a flame in their depths. "She flushed the ship — they'd already been taken, Shepard. I couldn't help them at all."
Shepard shook her head. "We still have the Normandy. That's because of you. We're going to get them back because of you and EDI." **_EDI… could she be trusted?_** Shepard had never really disliked the AI, but to have her in control of every function of the Normandy could be… no, they had bigger things to worry about. EDI could be trusted for now, Myla was sure, but when they went back to the Alliance, it would take some expert negotiation to prevent her from being wiped. "Are you okay?"
He rubbed a hand across his face wearily, and said nothing.
29. The Best Kind of Promise
After the briefing, Myla was sure to check in with each and every member of her team. They'd holed up in their quarters for now, preparing themselves as best they could. None of them had wanted to wait, to take more time before mounting the assault, and they were all spending the travel time to the relay by contacting loved ones or immersing themselves in the personal rituals that every fighter develops.
Shepard walked through her ship, her home, painfully conscious of the way her footsteps echoed. So alone. A frigate of Normandy's specs was meant to house at least forty, maybe fifty at a time. Now there were only fourteen.
She ran her hands along the metal walls, feeling the cold hum in the Normandy's bones. So empty. She fought a sudden wave of sorrow. This was only temporary. They'd take out the Collectors and bring everyone back. She'd promised her crew, her team, herself.
She'd meant to go up to her cabin, to spend the spare hours polishing armor, cleaning weapons, to get her mind focused on the job, nothing else. She'd even laid everything out on her bed before making her rounds, but when she'd finally finished and got in that elevator, she found herself pressing the button for the command deck. She'd talked to every member of her combat team, but she'd neglected her pilot. Maybe she'd been subconsciously avoiding the inevitable emotional fallout.
_**Joker…**_ Shepard hit her head softly against the elevator wall. She'd wanted to defend him against Miranda, but the words just hadn't come. He'd saved the ship, made it possible for Shepard and her team to stage the coming attack, but if only he'd _left_ her when that monstrosity dropped out of FTL. If he'd just taken the Normandy far away from that damned ship…
No. She'd seen the logs, seen the scans that EDI had run automatically as the Normandy's crew were dragged screaming and bloodied — she shook her head. The sheer mass of the Collector ship that close to the planet's gravity well would have ripped the Normandy apart if she'd tried to jump. There was nothing he could have done. Just like the first time.
If anything it was her fault. She should have made EDI double- and triple-check that IFF, should have insisted on some kind of testing before it was installed. Instead she'd gone gallivanting off on some little training exercise. It was her fault the Normandy got hit, at least partly. These cockroaches kept catching them off-guard. They had thought ahead, had planned for this reckless suicide mission, and almost succeeded in snuffing out the resistance before…
_**It's our turn**_. Her regret solidified into resolve. This would be it.
She'd recruited the motley bunch TIM had wanted, she'd scraped planets bare of resources in half-baked attempts to reinforce the ship or squeeze a few more drops of efficiency from the Cerberus mechanizations, hell, she'd been in dozens of backwater systems at the behest of her high-maintenance team's personal issues. They were more than ready. She believed—_had_ to believe—that if they struck fast and hard so soon after what had clearly been an attempt to end her, they could wipe out that sordid race of puppets and get the crew back to boot.
Right.
She straightened, letting the weight of her responsibility settle over her shoulders. It was a familiar load, and the knowledge of her purpose made it comforting. She didn't have time to whine about what had happened—the past could not be changed, but she sure as hell had a say in her future.
The doors opened, and Shepard strode forward. He had to know it wasn't his fault. He had to know she still believed in him, still trusted him, still… Memories of his green eyes, bright with his usual wicked humor and not dead with grief as they had been just an hour earlier, sent a shiver of heat down her spine to pool pleasurably in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't let him sit up in that bridge for two hours, alone, to think about whatever horrors he'd seen.
The walk to the cockpit felt longer now that there were no nav assistants cracking jokes or scrambling to minimize their extranet windows as she passed. She jogged, suppressing the uneasiness at the alien sight of so many empty chairs, at the absence of human sound. _**Only temporary,**_ she thought, fixing her eyes on the pilot's seat. _**We'll get them back.**_
He heard her coming, of course. Her footfalls pinged out, echoing tinnily in the silence. He swiveled his chair to face her, but again he avoided looking her in the face. The sight of his shoulders slumped so dejectedly, of his brow furrowed in utter guilt, made her stop short.
"Commander." His voice was small, and the reedy quality that she had always loved made it break easily. She wanted to stop whatever was so clearly paining him to say, but again her words failed her and she could only watch. "Sorry about the crew and…"
_**It's not your fault,**_ she wanted to say, but she hesitated. She'd never seen him so broken—when he'd told her about his torment in the years of her death, he'd still had that slight edge, that intangible energy that rejected pity. This…this was something different, something awful, and she didn't know how to make it better.
Her dismayed silence roused a measure of defiance in him, and he shifted in his seat, glaring up at her suddenly.
"You know what? I'm not sorry!" The anger seemed to give him strength, and she took an unconscious step back against the outburst. "What the hell were you doing leaving us out here where Collectors can work us over?"
He was blaming her. Her loyal pilot, her fellow soldier, her old friend, _Joker_ was blaming her. It wasn't that she didn't accept responsibility for the stupid oversight that lost them so many, but she had never expected to be outright accused, least of all by—
"Because you know what, I should… I should just go." He must have seen the hurt on her face, because his gaze slipped guiltily away. His words slowed, thickened with bitterness, but they didn't stop, and each one felt like a slap in the face. "Next port…I should just get the hell out of here."
Where was this coming from? She felt tears coming, but swallowed them, defensively shutting down the part of her that was vulnerable to his attacks. She didn't need this right before a fucking suicide mission—he had to get his act together. Shepard opened her mouth to let him have it, but a smooth and pleasantly feminine simulated voice beat her.
"_You don't mean that Jeff."_ EDI's absurd holographic avatar bounced up from her console. Was she trying to soothe him? Myla bristled. She could take care of herself, and she could damn well take care of him. Besides, Joker wasn't exactly fond of the little—
To her surprise, he sat back sheepishly, darting an apologetic glance up to her before addressing the softly glowing blue figure. "I…no, but it…it felt good." He shook his head, blowing out a heavy sigh as if ridding himself of all the guilt and pain that had prompted the uncharacteristic rant, and flashed a weak half-smile up at Shepard. "I'm sorry Commander. Okay, I'm ready, I'm good. I'm ready to save the day."
Surprise turned to indignation. Why the hell did he listen to EDI all of a sudden? And did he really think she'd just let that go?
"Are you sure? There's nothing else you want to get off your chest?" She snapped, hating that stupid smirk. "Feel free to speak you mind, Lieutenant."
He frowned again, "Look, I'm just sick of getting blamed—"
"I wasn't blaming you!" She felt stupid, standing here. She didn't know what to do with her arms, so she folded them, glaring at him. "You're right, it was my fault. I don't blame you at all. Miranda wasn't thinking, and everybody knows we're lucky you were able to take back the ship."
"Okay, yeah…I'm just under a lot of stress—" He looked away again, and it enraged her.
"We're all under stress! We're all pissed and scared, Joker." She wanted him to look at her, wanted him to see how much she needed him to be _Joker_, not whoever had threatened to abandon her. "We've got to do this, and you can't just flip out on me!"
"I know, okay?" He gripped the arms of his chair, knuckles white. "We're going off on another impossible mission that no one expects us to come back from—it's like a walk in the park for you. This is what you do. This is what you live on."
He reset his cap, fingers slipping in his agitation, but the anger in his expression was turning to desperation. "You'll go in and I'll just _sit_ here and wait for you to finish saving the day. I'll just sit and watch like always while you and those crazy bastards you call a team go into hell and try to come back."
His voice lowered, the brim of his cap shadowed his face. "I'll sit. And I'll wait. And I'll watch. Up here, alone, until you're done shooting all those creepy-ass bugs and bring Chakwas and Chambers and everyone back."
He raised his head, eyes finally meeting hers, and she saw the fear in them. "You know, if…you…"
The anger drained away, and she felt tired again. "I know." She couldn't promise to come back. She couldn't promise to save even one crewman. She couldn't even promise that they'd make it through the relay.
She thought of how it would be for him, up here alone and unable to help, forced to watch the helmet feeds. The ship would be silent around him, bare and empty, the vast spaces would echo the utter nothingness until it filled his head, pressing against his shoulders, as he watched his friends die. Maybe she'd go down. Maybe he'd see it—she could be crushed or shot or, or…If their places had been reversed, could she do that? Watch the people she'd been pledged her future to, the people she'd—Shepard shook her head, feeling a hot tear slip down her cheek. It would be easier to escape and try not to think about it, to spend every day telling herself they'd made it out just fine and that they wouldn't want to see her anyway, just pretend that everything turned out like the vids.
"Joker…" She couldn't think of anything to say, but he could see that she understood, and the knowledge was raw and painful between them. The silence in the cockpit, in the ship, was deafening.
She needed to touch him, suddenly, to know that he was real, that he was there, and placed her hands on his, at first tracing the lines in his palms, then moving up the pale skin of his forearms. He leaned forward, gently clasping her shoulders. She looked at him questioningly, and he nodded once.
Myla sank down, carefully straddling him, and knocked her forehead against his. Her eyes closed. She felt the hat push up and away, and felt his body heat mingle with hers. Instinctively, she turned her head and kissed him softly, just savoring his taste and proximity. His hands ran down her back, settling at her hips and pulling her more snugly against him. Her pilot's touch sent shivers of warmth down her spine, and she was acutely conscious of how their bodies were separated by only a few centimeters of Cerberus uniform.
She gasped softly in surprise when he slipped a hand under her shirt, fingers splayed over her ribs, and opened her eyes. His gaze was level, and his mouth twisted in a sad smile. Green eyes asked for permission, and she kissed him again in response, harder, insistently, feeling the sick giddiness again in her gut. She pushed against him, reaching down to untuck his shirt, reveling in the trails of fire his hands left on her back.
Maybe this wasn't what she had imagined, but she needed him to…to what? Have something to remember her by if she didn't make it back? To be her anchor to humanity, the last sweet instance of physical contact before diving into chaos? Myla shuddered in pleasure as he traced a finger over the vulnerable skin behind her ears with the softness of a whisper. This was more than lust, but was it—_**We may not have time for more.**_
She'd made her decision, and grinned, letting go of her last inhibitions. She shifted for a better position, and pushed his hat off with one hand, running her fingers through his surprisingly soft dark hair. He winced at the same time as she found a swollen knot at the back of his head.
"What-?"
"I'm fine." He shrugged, grinning.
"Are you-?"
"I'm sure!" He leaned forward, silencing her with a kiss, and she dropped the subject, pushing back to take her shirt off. They didn't have a medical doctor at the moment—she didn't feel comfortable asking Mordin anything health-related after he'd mentioned the liver-thing—and if he said he was fine—
She heard him hiss in pain, and glared at him critically.
"If you're hurting, I can find some medigel."
"No, I—" he shook his head, and shifted his weight in the chair, and a spasm of pain flashed across his face. "Shit!"
She eased carefully off of him, clenching and unclenching her hands uncertainly. "What is it? Did I…"
"Mm, not you." He tried to smile, but winced again, and she folded her arms. Her initial disappointment was quickly replaced by concern. "I think it's my ribs. I landed pretty hard back in the Core."
"Idiot!" He should have said something—you don't mess around with ribs. One stupid move, and you could puncture a lung, or—she stopped that train of thought cold. "How bad is it?"
"_Vital scans would indicate hairline fractures on three pericardial ribs."_ She'd forgotten about EDI, and flushed. Having an AI watch your awkward attempts to—
"See? It's fine." Joker's protest was only half-hearted; he could see she wouldn't risk hurting him.
"EDI?" Shepard picked her shirt off the floor, trying to reclaim her "command dignity". "Is there anything we can do to treat the Lieutenant's injuries?"
"Oh, so now we're pulling rank?" He muttered, reaching for his hat. Myla snatched it up before he could get it, and put it firmly on her own head.
"_In the case of subjects with Vrolik's disease, rib fractures can lead to actual breaks with little inducement—"_
"It's mainly my legs," he mumbled bitterly, swiveling the chair to look out at the blue ripples of FTL travel. Myla stood behind him, and put a hand on his shoulder. Of course she wished it hadn't happened, but that couldn't be helped. She'd never thought less of him for having Vrolik's, and this was just a…speedbump.
The AI continued, at a slightly softer decibel level which made her sound gentle. "_A nano-injection of medigel directly into the fracture site is the typical procedure, but as no one aboard has been trained in such operations for humans, I would not recommend it."_
"Listen to her, please," he mocked desperation, gripping Shepard's hand with a grudging playfulness. "Don't go all_ independent _and stick me. I hate needles."
"Anything we can do, EDI?" Myla repeated, pinching his ear and smirking.
"_Rest is highly advisable, Shepard,"_ the AI said primly. "_Jeff should avoid agitating the fractures further. I would caution against further sexual advances, Shepard."_
"Yeah, but what does she know, right?" He grinned sarcastically up at Shepard, and she leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Later, when you're healed up."
He snorted, and she tapped his nose sternly with a finger. "I promise."
"Really?" He tried to get the hat back, and she made it easy on him, plopping it down on his head affectionately. He still seemed depressed.
"I'll drag you upstairs myself, if I—"
"_Shepard, I have intercepted an anomalous transmission."_
"What is it, EDI?" Shepard sighed. The ship e-mail didn't even filter spam, and now the AI was interrupting her time with Joker for what was probably another Prothean chain—
"_It is a recorded vidmessage."_
"From Liara? Who'd send me a vidcall?"
"_The transmission was coded for Doctor Solus's personal communication channel. I judged the contents to be…inappropriate to relay without your approval."_
That got her attention. Since when did EDI have the…autonomy to decide whether a message reached its intended recipient? She realized with a chill just what a threat an unshackled AI could constitute—a force that had control of a ships systems, capable of cutting off all contact with the outside world, of opening a few airlocks and flushing out the pesky organics, of…no. EDI would never. She'd proved as much with Jeff, and she'd never indicated any—Message. Right.
"I'll take it in my quarters, EDI. Thanks." Jeff started to protest again, but she gave shot him a stern glare and he let it go. She squeezed his shoulder gently in goodbye, mentally promising to come back after checking out the vidmessage, and jogged back down the walk, past the empty seats, past the unattended Galaxy Map, and into the damnably slow elevator.
* * *
><p><strong>AN: Yes, the title is a reference to the cheesiest line in the new Spiderman movie. Sue me. Anyway, glad to be back, and I missed you. Hope this is a good fix for everyone who wanted more Shoker-the next is, as you probably guessed, very Billy-centric. Originally, I was going to have it as the same chapter, but given the...very different content... I decided to split it up. Next coming very soon. As always, I hope you liked this, and if you have any questions/comments/advice, please feel free to post it in a review or message me. I can't bite over the internet.**
30. Witness
If there was one thing she actually liked about the change in technology since her death, it was the modification of vid-communication. The holoscreen in her room was large enough to actually see the person she was talking to, and the feed was generally clear enough to provide detail in case diagrams or blueprints, or technical specs were being transmitted. It was so much easier to understand something when you could see it, and talking to a hologram was a lot easier on the sanity and the image than screaming up at a microphone on the ceiling and listening with the intensity of a conspiracy theorist (which, according to many, she was) to a disembodied voice.
Also, because she could take calls away from the Galaxy Map, she was able to multitask.
"Okay EDI," she sat down on her bed, pulling her breastplate onto her lap and starting to scrub off some of the scummy paint residue. "Play vidmessage, please."
"Time signature indicates that this was sent two-point-six standard hours ago," said the AI smoothly as the holoscreens stuttered to life. "Because it is recorded data, however, the time of the event depicted is uncertain."
Shepard opened her mouth to ask the AI if it had already viewed the message, but at the sight of the kneeling figure resolving on the 'screen made the words catch in her throat.
A man, medium build, knelt in the center of the feet. His head hung low, but he was clearly gagged, and his arms were pulled tightly behind him. The peripheral was dark—it was impossible to tell where he was, but there were dark smears on the floor. Judging by the stains on his white coat, they were streaks of blood. It was silent. After the initial shock, Shepard snapped to, falling back to half-remembered hostage crisis training from her days at the Academy.
"EDI—try to trace the message. Location. Coordinates. Anything." Resources, what resources did she have? "Send a copy of the message to Liara."
Shepard didn't hear the AI's acknowledgement—she was focused intently on the picture, trying to glean some clue, some useful hint that could lead her to…This was meant for Mordin. Blackmail? Revenge? He'd been part of the STG, one of the task force that had condemned the krogan to…no, as much as she respected Wrex, the average krogan would just kill its target, or leave the heads of loved ones at his or her door and then shoot the poor sould who came out to investigate. Krogans wouldn't be so indirect.
Could the salarians have learned about what happened on Tuchanka? Was this some kind of bid for the data she'd persuaded Mordin to keep? What—
She jerked back as a pale face flashed from the side of the screen, dominating the picture. Wide, wide eyes, dark, stared intently at her, and she felt an instinctive fear as the ragged noise of breath crackled out of her 'screen's speakers. The features were distorted by proximity to the camera, but it was clearly a human face. Male, judging by the bone structure. But who—
"This message," the face licked its lips and grinned shyly, as if pleased with itself for providing an introduction. "This message is not for the salarian doctor." He—it was definitely a masculine voice, if high-pitched—paused, breathing heavily through his nose. "Doctor Solus…if you, when you get this—" he pulled back, a short, slender man with a knife in one hand. His fingers on the offhand were twitching, and his movements were uncertain, but the knife was steady. He stood next to the captive, tapping the flat of the blade against his thigh. The man on the floor flinched, but still didn't speak, and didn't raise his head.
"When you get this, Doctor Solus, heh," the man straightened, a wide smile splitting his pale face. "Send this to the—" his face darkened, and he glared down at the ground for a second, embarrassed, but quickly composed himself, staring back up at the recorder with an intense determination. "Send this to Commander Shepard."
Her name sent an electric pulse crackling up her spine. Who-? How did he know they were connected? Cerberus defector? But the Lazarus cell was practically wiped out—
"Shepard," the man exhaled her name with a raw swell of emotion that sounded like it was ripped from the depths of his being. Fear, reverence, hate…she swallowed, uncomfortable as she automatically identified the torrent of emotions she heard in that simple utterance. She had never hated the sound of her name so much. This was very very wrong. She felt a tremor of panic as he moved toward the hostage, but consciously knew that she couldn't help, that this had been prerecorded—months ago, for all she knew.
"Shepard," he repeated in an intimate whisper, and she flushed. "There is so much I want…to tell you. You cannot imagine how very…grateful I am. I want," the man glanced down to the hostage, smiling eagerly, then back up to the recorder. "I want to show you so much. We are meant to meet, you and I. Bodies in motion, in space and in time…we are destined to collide."
"Others," he shrugged irritably, glaring down at the man beneath him, "others are not worthy of your presence. This…man…he saw you with his eyes, spoke to you, framed your name with his tongue." His breath came rapidly, sped with his onset of fury. The knife shifted in his hand, and Shepard's fists clenched reflexively.
He gripped the other man's short brown hair, but changed his mind, letting go and moving back to the camera. He stared through it, and despite herself, Shepard felt that he was in the room with her, demanding her attention and her thoughts and her presences with those black eyes. She shuddered.
"You saved me, Shepard." He breathed, and the picture shook, peripheral scenery shifting as he pulled the recording device with him, back to the kneeling man. "You were my salvation, and…I am so grateful."
Something began to fall into place, some unconscious plate was shifting, grinding into position.
"I promised you, Shepard. Commander." He smiled nervously, eyes anxious. "Shepard. I promised you."
Shepard stood slowly, armor falling from her lap onto the floor with a loud crack. No. This was different.
"I told you I would show my appreciation," he grinned into the recorder, something feral taking over the tentative quaver in his voice, turning it harsh.
This wasn't right. The message was so different—
The man angled the recorder closer to the hostage and took hold of his hair again, shooting one last look over his shoulder. "Shepard. Thank you."
He yanked up the man's head, and Myla felt her insides freeze. The eyes were gone—dark bloody pits gaped out from the captive's pale face, and trails of dried blood caked his cheeks. A broken sobbing filtered through the speakers, and the knife flashed, cutting away the gag to reveal an open, gasping mouth, glimpses of teeth, and a dark stump where the tongue should be. Strangled cries, horribly warped by the mutilation and the static of the feed, assaulted her ears, but the torturer's whisper came through clearly.
"I told you, Shepard." His voice was trembling with pride. "I told you."
The recorder lifted, focusing on the wailing man's forehead.
"This is for you, Shepard."
She watched, unable to turn away, as Billy fulfilled his promise. She listened to the poor man's screams build to a shrieking intensity, and listened to his silence after the deed was done.
She owed him that much.
It was her fault.
It was her fault.
"Shepard." Billy filled the camera, eyes lit with hunger. "Come to me. I am Worthy. Come to me."
The screen went black; the message ended.
Shepard sat back on her bed. She felt very cold. She felt very still inside.
It was her fault.
_**There was nothing you could do.**_
Her eyes fell on the pieces of armor, still coated with that ludicrous paint from what seemed like a millennia ago, and she slowly pulled a shoulder greave to her.
It couldn't be helped now. She couldn't go back to Purgatory and hunt the bastard down. She was on a mission to reclaim her crew and avenge thousands, if not millions of humans. Billy had to wait.
But not for long. She shut down the inner part of her that was screaming. She had a job to do. She had people to save. Hysterics and guilt had to be put aside for when she didn't have the future of an entire race on her shoulders. She had to be strong, she had to be smart.
"_Should I forward this to Doctor Solus?"_ EDI's cool inquiry cut into her thoughts.
"EDI, what…? Gods, no." She shook her head vehemently, scrubbing at her armor as though it would erase the images that were burned into her retinas. "Keep it in my files."
She moved on to a shin guard, flakes of dried paint falling on her black pants with the weight of a whisper.
"Send Dr. T'soni another message," said Shepard, closing her eyes. "If we don't come back through that relay… I want that man dead."
"_Message away, Shepard."_ EDI's voice held no judgment, no emotion.
Shepard inhaled slowly, pushing Billy down, down, deep into a place where he wouldn't interfere with the mission. The mission. The Collectors. That's all she should be thinking about.
She felt a pang of regret for Joker, sitting alone in the cockpit, but filed him away too. If she was sloppy in the Collector hell she was diving into, she'd have a lot more to be sorry for.
The mission.
We can do this.
_**We have to.**_
* * *
><p><em><strong><strong>_**A/N: I'm sorry-I didn't mean for this to happen to Daniel, it just...it felt more Billy's style, and I wanted to set up sort of the emotional conflict between them. Ugh. Anyway. Let me know if anything strikes you as particularly strange, or if you think I need therapy. Again, I'm really busy with college, so I probably won't update for a while, but thank you for sticking with me. As always, if you r&r, I will send you a mental hug and eat a cookie in your honor. Okay, I'm going to try to sleep now. Good night.**
End file.
| fanfiction |
The 1912 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the South Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1912. It was the 15th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1912 VFL season. The match, attended by 54,436 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 14 points, marking that club's third premiership victory and second in succession.
Teams
Statistics
Goalkickers
References
See also
1912 VFL season
Category:VFL/AFL Grand Finals
Grand
Category:Essendon Football Club
Category:Sydney Swans
Category:September 1912 sports events | wikipedia |
Q: Android Studio crashes on run after successful build (Android newbie here.)
I am running Android Studio on Mac OS 10.7. I am trying to run a basic "Hello world" app but it crashes on run after building (BUILD SUCCESSFUL).
I am new to both Android and Android Studio and don't know what to do to figure out the source of the error or how to fix it.
TIA!
| slim_pajama |
Does time travel faster than the speed of light? [closed]
**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
---
**Want to improve this question?** Add details and clarify the problem by [editing this post](/posts/552189/edit).
Closed 3 years ago.
[Improve this question](/posts/552189/edit)
I don't know enough about the subject to know that I am wrong.
The speed of light is ~ $3\times10^8$ m/s. That's how far a photon travels per second in a vacuum. It doesn't make sense to ask what the speed of time is because time isn't an object that moves through space.
* How fast does time move? I would say: **60 seconds per minute**.
* How fast does my soup heat up? I would say: **with 3 degrees Celsius per minute**.
But now try to answer this:
* Is the speed of time faster than the speed of light? Meaning, does time flow faster than light moves?
* Is the speed of temperature increase faster than the speed of light? Meaning, does the temperature increases faster than light moves?
These questions unfortunately do not make sense. Light's speed is a distance-per-time measure. The other two are time-per-time and temperature-per-time measures. They do not apply within the same dimensions; they are not comparable.
So, unfortunately, the question has no meaning and is unanswerable. Sort of like asking *Is the sky more blue than the sun is hot?*
| stackexchange/physics |
University of Central Arkansas (UCA) students who may require special assistance in the event of an emergency evacuation should consider filling out the UCA special assistance/emergency preparedness form. Students who require special assistance are encouraged to develop their own evacuation plans and identify their primary and secondary evacuation routes from each building they use.
Note: most UCA buildings have accessible exits at the ground level floor, which can be used during an emergency. Elevators cannot be used because they have been shown to be unsafe in an emergency and in some buildings they are automatically recalled to the ground floor.
The evacuation of a building during a fire alarm is required, regardless of cause, In accordance with regulatory requirements and University of Central Arkansas policies and procedures everyone must evacuate a building in which a fire alarm is sounding. Fire alarms include, but are not limited to: accidental alarm, false alarm, or conditions caused by fire and/or smoke.
Move to an area of refuge.
Persons who are deaf/hard of hearing-many buildings on campus are equipped with fire alarm strobe lights; however, there may be some remaining with audible alarms only. Emergency instructions can be given by writing a note to evacuate. Reasonable accommodations for persons who are deaf/hard of hearing may be met by modifying the building fire alarm system or through other alternative methods.
B. Stairway evacuation: using steps to reach ground-level exits from the building.
Call 450-3111 and report your location so that on-site emergency personnel can be informed and respond.
Notify others, that you are doing so.
If possible, close the door to prevent smoke and fire injury.
Go to an area of refuge away from obvious danger, Residence life staff will then go to the building evacuation assembly point and notify the on-site emergency personnel of your location. Emergency personnel will determine if further evacuation is necessary. | slim_pajama |
the primary cohort of animals whose data are the basis for this study has been described in detail recently .
it consists of 51 rhesus macaque monkeys ( macaca mulatta ) , 40 female and 11 male , ranging in age from 1.2 to 22.6 years ( median , 9.6 years ) .
data from a secondary group of n = 4 adult rhesus macaques with unilateral orbital optic nerve transection also were included for analytical comparison to experimental glaucoma ( eg ) .
all procedures were performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the guide for the care and use of laboratory animals of the national institutes of health ( nih ; bethesda , md , usa ) and were approved and monitored by the institutional animal care and use committee ( iacuc ) at legacy health ( usda license 92-r-0002 and olaw assurance a3234 - 01 ) . all experimental methods and animal care procedures also adhered to the association for research in vision and ophthalmology 's ( arvo ) statement for the use of animals in ophthalmic and vision research .
each animal had a minimum of three weekly baseline spectral - domain optical coherence tomography ( sdoct ) imaging sessions , which are described below .
argon laser photocoagulation then was applied to the trabecular meshwork of one eye of each animal to induce chronic elevation of iop .
initially , 180 of the trabecular meshwork was treated in one session , then the remaining 180 was treated in a second session approximately 2 weeks later .
if necessary , laser treatments were repeated in subsequent weeks ( limited to a 90 sector ) until an iop elevation was first noted or if the initial postlaser iop had returned to normal levels .
after initiation of laser photocoagulation , sdoct imaging was repeated approximately every 2 weeks until euthanasia .
the stage of eg at euthanasia was predetermined for each animal based on the primary study to which it was assigned .
because there were four such primary studies with differing targets for postmortem histopathology , the combined cohort provided a relatively wide range of damage for the cross - sectional analysis of this study . all experimental procedures began with induction of general anesthesia using ketamine ( 1025 mg / kg intramuscularly [ i m ] ) in combination with either xylazine ( 0.81.5 mg / kg i m ) or midazolam ( 0.2 mg / kg i m ) , along with a single injection of atropine sulfate ( 0.05 mg / kg i m ) .
animals then were intubated with an endotracheal tube to breathe a mixture of 100% oxygen , air and 1% to 2% isoflurane gas to maintain anesthesia to effect and oxyhemoglobin saturation as close to 100% as possible .
intravenous fluids ( lactated ringer 's solution , 1020 ml / kg / h ) were administered via the saphenous vein .
vital signs were monitored throughout and recorded every 10 to 15 minutes , including heart rate , blood pressure , arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation , end tidal co2 , and body temperature .
body temperature was maintained at 37c , heart rate above 75 beats per minute , and oxygen saturation above 95% .
intraocular pressure was measured in both eyes at the start of every session using a tonopen xl ( reichert technologies , inc .
, depew , ny , usa ) . the value recorded for each eye was the average of three successive measurements .
all sdoct scans were acquired using a spectralis instrument ( heidelberg engineering , gmbh , heidelberg , germany ) 30 minutes after iop was manometrically stabilized to 10 mm hg .
this is important to minimize elastic components of deformation that are known to exert a greater effect on the onh than on peripapillary rnfl thickness .
a clear , rigid gas permeable contact lens filled with 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose solution was placed over the apex of each cornea .
spectral - domain oct scans recorded at each session included an 80-radial b - scan pattern centered on the onh ( 30 wide , 1536 a - scans / b - scan , figs . 1a , 1b ) and a peripapillary circular b - scan with 12 diameter ( 1536 a - scans , fig .
nine to 16 individual sweeps were averaged in real time to form each b - scan . at the first baseline imaging session ,
all follow - up scans were acquired at the same location as baseline using the instrument 's automatic active eye tracking software .
the left column shows baseline data , the right column shows final follow - up data .
the inset shows the b - scan location indicated by the bold green line overlaid onto the infrared confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy ( cslo ) reflectance image .
structures delineated in each radial b - scan include the ilm ( yellow ) and bmo points ( red ) .
the green segments connecting bmo points to the ilm represent the pair of mrw measurements made in each radial b - scan .
( d ) derivation of mra from the 160 radial trapezoidal sectors of each onh ( see methods text for details ) .
note deformation of the onh apparent in the right column for mrw / mra , including a deeper cup and thinner rim .
in this eg eye , global average mra decreased from 1.16 mm at baseline to 0.63 mm at the final time point ( 45.6% ) .
( e ) segmentation of peripapillary circular b - scans to obtain the parameter rnfla are shown for the same eye and time points , ilm ( red ) , and posterior rnfl boundary ( green ) .
retinal nerve fiber layer thickness decreased from 113.8 m at baseline to 96.1 m at the final time point ; rnfla decreased from 1.07 mm at baseline to 0.90 mm at the final time point ( 15.5% ) .
( f ) retinal nerve fiber layer area represented by the gold colored ribbon in projected 3d image from baseline ( left ) and final time point ( right ) .
the much larger decrease in mra than rnfla suggests substantial transverse compression of axons ( and possibly also astrocytes ) at the onh rim .
this can be appreciated by comparison of the images inset at the bottom of each column , which are the infrared cslo reflectance image painted onto the ilm surface at each time point ; the rnfl appears stretched over the onh rim at the final time point .
image segmentation was performed manually offline using custom software ( atl 3d suite ) . for onh radial scans , two image features in particular required segmentation for the quantitative measurements used in this study : the inner limiting membrane ( ilm ; yellow lines in figs .
ac ) and the pair of bruch 's membrane opening points ( bmo ; red dots in figs .
figures 1a and 1b , respectively , show a horizontally oriented b - scan and a vertically oriented b - scan through the onh at the first baseline session ( left column ) and at the final time point ( right column ) for a single representative eg eye ( i.e. , whose data are close to the average effect among the entire group of n = 51 ) .
each of the green line segments in figures 1a to 1c represents the minimum rim width ( mrw ) vector defined as the shortest distance from the bmo point to the ilm segmentation within the plane of the b - scan . the onh parameter minimum rim area ( mra ; fig .
1d ) was derived in a similar manner as mrw ; that is , two measurements for each radial b - scan , as described previously in detail . in brief , the mra for each onh at each imaging session was represented by the sum of the areas of 160 contiguous individual trapezoids whereby the base of each trapezoid is centered on the corresponding bmo point , and the height of each trapezoid is defined as the distance between the bmo point and the ilm segmentation that minimizes the area of the trapezoid ( fig .
two image features of each peripapillary circular b - scan required segmentation for this study : the ilm and the posterior boundary of the rnfl ( fig .
1f ) was derived from the circular b - scan by measuring the distance between the ilm and posterior rnfl and multiplying the average thickness ( of 1536 a - line samples ) by the scan circumference ( 9.37 mm , which assumes a visual angle for the macaque eye of 247.7 m / deg , the same transverse scaling applied for mra measurements ) . in total
, there were 605 onh sdoct volumes analyzed in this study with a median scan quality score of 29.8 db and interquartile range of 27.6 to 32.0 db ; the lowest scan quality score was 17.6 db , which was the only value below 20 db .
the peripapillary circle scans had a median scan quality score of 31.3 db and interquartile range of 27.9 to 34.3 db ; fewer than 1% had a score below 20 db , the lowest of which was 13.9 db .
statistical analysis was performed using a commercial software package ( prism 5 ; graphpad software , inc . , la jolla , ca , usa ) .
for each instance of reported results , the specific statistical test applied and the corresponding p value are included .
the fundamental null hypothesis forming the basis for this study states that the cross - sectional area of peripapillary rnfl tissue will change by exactly the same amount as the cross - sectional area of onh rim tissue if the only structural change contributing to each is loss of retinal ganglion cell axons ( since fewer than 1.5% of retinal ganglion cells are located proximal to the location of the peripapillary rnfl scan ) .
the primary cohort of animals whose data are the basis for this study has been described in detail recently .
it consists of 51 rhesus macaque monkeys ( macaca mulatta ) , 40 female and 11 male , ranging in age from 1.2 to 22.6 years ( median , 9.6 years ) .
data from a secondary group of n = 4 adult rhesus macaques with unilateral orbital optic nerve transection also were included for analytical comparison to experimental glaucoma ( eg ) .
all procedures were performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the guide for the care and use of laboratory animals of the national institutes of health ( nih ; bethesda , md , usa ) and were approved and monitored by the institutional animal care and use committee ( iacuc ) at legacy health ( usda license 92-r-0002 and olaw assurance a3234 - 01 ) . all experimental methods and animal care procedures also adhered to the association for research in vision and ophthalmology 's ( arvo ) statement for the use of animals in ophthalmic and vision research .
each animal had a minimum of three weekly baseline spectral - domain optical coherence tomography ( sdoct ) imaging sessions , which are described below .
argon laser photocoagulation then was applied to the trabecular meshwork of one eye of each animal to induce chronic elevation of iop . initially ,
180 of the trabecular meshwork was treated in one session , then the remaining 180 was treated in a second session approximately 2 weeks later .
if necessary , laser treatments were repeated in subsequent weeks ( limited to a 90 sector ) until an iop elevation was first noted or if the initial postlaser iop had returned to normal levels .
after initiation of laser photocoagulation , sdoct imaging was repeated approximately every 2 weeks until euthanasia .
the stage of eg at euthanasia was predetermined for each animal based on the primary study to which it was assigned . because there were four such primary studies with differing targets for postmortem histopathology , the combined cohort provided a relatively wide range of damage for the cross - sectional analysis of this study .
all experimental procedures began with induction of general anesthesia using ketamine ( 1025 mg / kg intramuscularly [ i m ] ) in combination with either xylazine ( 0.81.5 mg / kg i m ) or midazolam ( 0.2 mg / kg i m ) , along with a single injection of atropine sulfate ( 0.05 mg / kg i m ) .
animals then were intubated with an endotracheal tube to breathe a mixture of 100% oxygen , air and 1% to 2% isoflurane gas to maintain anesthesia to effect and oxyhemoglobin saturation as close to 100% as possible .
intravenous fluids ( lactated ringer 's solution , 1020 ml / kg / h ) were administered via the saphenous vein .
vital signs were monitored throughout and recorded every 10 to 15 minutes , including heart rate , blood pressure , arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation , end tidal co2 , and body temperature .
body temperature was maintained at 37c , heart rate above 75 beats per minute , and oxygen saturation above 95% .
intraocular pressure was measured in both eyes at the start of every session using a tonopen xl ( reichert technologies , inc . , depew
all sdoct scans were acquired using a spectralis instrument ( heidelberg engineering , gmbh , heidelberg , germany ) 30 minutes after iop was manometrically stabilized to 10 mm hg .
this is important to minimize elastic components of deformation that are known to exert a greater effect on the onh than on peripapillary rnfl thickness .
a clear , rigid gas permeable contact lens filled with 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose solution was placed over the apex of each cornea .
spectral - domain oct scans recorded at each session included an 80-radial b - scan pattern centered on the onh ( 30 wide , 1536 a - scans / b - scan , figs .
1a , 1b ) and a peripapillary circular b - scan with 12 diameter ( 1536 a - scans , fig .
nine to 16 individual sweeps were averaged in real time to form each b - scan . at the first baseline imaging session ,
all follow - up scans were acquired at the same location as baseline using the instrument 's automatic active eye tracking software .
the left column shows baseline data , the right column shows final follow - up data .
the inset shows the b - scan location indicated by the bold green line overlaid onto the infrared confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy ( cslo ) reflectance image .
structures delineated in each radial b - scan include the ilm ( yellow ) and bmo points ( red ) .
the green segments connecting bmo points to the ilm represent the pair of mrw measurements made in each radial b - scan .
( d ) derivation of mra from the 160 radial trapezoidal sectors of each onh ( see methods text for details ) .
note deformation of the onh apparent in the right column for mrw / mra , including a deeper cup and thinner rim .
in this eg eye , global average mra decreased from 1.16 mm at baseline to 0.63 mm at the final time point ( 45.6% ) .
( e ) segmentation of peripapillary circular b - scans to obtain the parameter rnfla are shown for the same eye and time points , ilm ( red ) , and posterior rnfl boundary ( green ) .
retinal nerve fiber layer thickness decreased from 113.8 m at baseline to 96.1 m at the final time point ; rnfla decreased from 1.07 mm at baseline to 0.90 mm at the final time point ( 15.5% ) .
( f ) retinal nerve fiber layer area represented by the gold colored ribbon in projected 3d image from baseline ( left ) and final time point ( right ) .
the much larger decrease in mra than rnfla suggests substantial transverse compression of axons ( and possibly also astrocytes ) at the onh rim .
this can be appreciated by comparison of the images inset at the bottom of each column , which are the infrared cslo reflectance image painted onto the ilm surface at each time point ; the rnfl appears stretched over the onh rim at the final time point .
image segmentation was performed manually offline using custom software ( atl 3d suite ) . for onh radial scans , two image features in particular
required segmentation for the quantitative measurements used in this study : the inner limiting membrane ( ilm ; yellow lines in figs .
ac ) and the pair of bruch 's membrane opening points ( bmo ; red dots in figs .
figures 1a and 1b , respectively , show a horizontally oriented b - scan and a vertically oriented b - scan through the onh at the first baseline session ( left column ) and at the final time point ( right column ) for a single representative eg eye ( i.e. , whose data are close to the average effect among the entire group of n = 51 ) . each of the green line segments in figures 1a to 1c represents the minimum rim width ( mrw ) vector defined as the shortest distance from the bmo point to the ilm segmentation within the plane of the b - scan .
1d ) was derived in a similar manner as mrw ; that is , two measurements for each radial b - scan , as described previously in detail . in brief , the mra for each onh at each imaging session was represented by the sum of the areas of 160 contiguous individual trapezoids whereby the base of each trapezoid is centered on the corresponding bmo point , and the height of each trapezoid is defined as the distance between the bmo point and the ilm segmentation that minimizes the area of the trapezoid ( fig .
two image features of each peripapillary circular b - scan required segmentation for this study : the ilm and the posterior boundary of the rnfl ( fig .
1f ) was derived from the circular b - scan by measuring the distance between the ilm and posterior rnfl and multiplying the average thickness ( of 1536 a - line samples ) by the scan circumference ( 9.37 mm , which assumes a visual angle for the macaque eye of 247.7 m / deg , the same transverse scaling applied for mra measurements ) . in total
, there were 605 onh sdoct volumes analyzed in this study with a median scan quality score of 29.8 db and interquartile range of 27.6 to 32.0 db ; the lowest scan quality score was 17.6 db , which was the only value below 20 db .
the peripapillary circle scans had a median scan quality score of 31.3 db and interquartile range of 27.9 to 34.3 db ; fewer than 1% had a score below 20 db , the lowest of which was 13.9 db .
statistical analysis was performed using a commercial software package ( prism 5 ; graphpad software , inc . , la jolla , ca , usa ) .
for each instance of reported results , the specific statistical test applied and the corresponding p value are included . the fundamental null hypothesis forming the basis for this study states that the cross - sectional area of peripapillary rnfl tissue will change by exactly the same amount as the cross - sectional area of onh rim tissue if the only structural change contributing to each is loss of retinal ganglion cell axons ( since fewer than 1.5% of retinal ganglion cells are located proximal to the location of the peripapillary rnfl scan ) .
figure 1 provides an individual example of results for a representative eg eye selected because its results are close to the average observed across the whole group . for each figure ( fig .
f ) , the left side shows results from the first baseline session and the right side shows results from the final session .
figure 1a shows one of the 80 radial b - scans through the onh ( a section close to the horizontal ) and figure 1b shows another section close to the vertical .
the pair of green line segments in each b - scan represent the mrw measurements .
these b - scans clearly show posterior deformation of the onh surface at the final time point .
figure 1c shows a projection of the complete 3d set based on the segmentations of all 80 b - scans . at the final time point ,
several aspects of glaucomatous cupping are apparent in figure 1c , including substantial posterior deformation of the onh surface ( shown by the change in the yellow ilm segmentation lines ) , thinning of the onh rim tissue as represented by the shortened mrw vectors , axial bowing of the bmo into a more saddle - shaped opening and a decrease in the mrw angle , which had become more acute ( i.e. , the green lines are oriented more toward the plane of the bmo ) .
figure 1d shows the mra results , which also show signs of glaucomatous cupping , such as a reduced rim area with a corresponding increase in
area , as well as reduced mra angle ( the red - colored trapezoids representing the 160 mra measurements are oriented more toward the bmo plane at the final time point ) .
figure 1e shows the peripapillary circular b - scan at the baseline and final time points unwrapped and splayed out in typical fashion , along with the segmentations of rnfl tissue used to measure the total rnfla .
figure 1f shows a projected 3d image with this ribbon of rnfl tissue area represented as a gold band surrounding the onh mra . in this eg eye ,
rnfla had decreased from 1.07 mm at baseline to 0.90 mm at the final time point ( 15.5% ) .
minimum rim area had decreased from 1.16 mm at baseline to 0.63 mm at the final time point ( 45.6% ) .
the degree of glaucomatous onh deformation in this eg eye also can be appreciated in the more familiar clinical view presented as insets adjacent to the 3d projections in figure 1f .
figure 2 graphically depicts important experimental parameters for the entire group of 51 nonhuman primates ( nhps ) . the number of baseline oct imaging sessions per animal ranged from 3 to 11 ( median , 5 ; fig .
mean iop over the span of postlaser follow - up ranged from 10.4 to 31.0 mm hg in eg eyes ( median , 19.6 mm hg ; fig .
mean iop over the same period in the fellow control eyes ranged from 8.4 to 23.3 mm hg ( median , 11.4 mm hg ) .
the peak iop observed during the postlaser follow - up period ranged from 15.3 to 60.3 mm hg in eg eyes ( median , 43.0 mm hg ; fig .
2c ) and from 10.0 to 31.3 mm hg in fellow control eyes ( median , 15.3 mm hg ) .
the duration of postlaser follow - up ranged from 3 to 37 months ( median , 7.9 months ; fig .
total study duration ranged from 7 to 46 months ( median , 13 months ) .
the median time between the final imaging session and euthanasia was 5 days ( range , 0 to 14 days ; fig .
age at the end of the experiment ranged from 2 to 26 years ( median , 11.0 years ; fig .
frequency histograms show ( a ) the number of baseline oct imaging sessions per animal , ( b ) the postlaser mean iop in eg eyes , ( c ) the postlaser peak iop in eg eyes , ( d ) duration of follow - up ( number of months between first laser and final oct imaging session ) , ( e ) number of days between final oct imaging session and euthanasia , ( f ) age at the end of the experiment .
figure 3 shows the distribution of raw parameter values found at baseline ( hatched boxes ) and at the final imaging session for the entire group of n = 51 nhps . as predicted by the hypothesis , the total cross - sectional area of onh rim tissue was very close to the total cross - sectional area of peripapillary rnfl tissue ( 1.0 mm ) , though the population variance was larger for mra than for rnfla .
figure 3 also shows that mra and rnfla parameter values are repeatable from baseline to the final session in control eyes . in control eyes ,
mra was 1.00 0.19 mm at baseline and 1.00 0.19 mm at the final session ( p = 0.77 , paired t - test ) .
minimum rim area decreased in eg eyes from 1.00 0.19 mm at baseline to 0.63 0.21 mm at the final session ( p < 0.0001 ) .
retinal nerve fiber layer area in control eyes was 0.95 0.09 mm at baseline and 0.95 0.10 mm at the final session ( p = 0.96 ) .
retinal nerve fiber layer area decreased in eg eyes from 0.95 0.09 mm at baseline to 0.74 0.19 mm at the final session ( p < 0.0001 ) .
longitudinal change in minimum rim area ( mra , left ) versus rnfl area ( rnfla , right ) .
n = 51 ) of raw parameter values in control eyes ( ctl ) and eyes with eg at baseline ( bl , hatched ) and at the final imaging session ( mra for eg eyes in solid red , rnfla for eg eyes in solid gold to match fig . 1 color scheme ) . in figure 4 the magnitude of longitudinal mra change
minimum rim area decreased by 36.4 20.6% in eg eyes , which was significantly more than the rnfla decrease ( 21.7 19.4% , p < 0.0001 , paired t - test ) .
although these distributions of change passed a formal normality test in both cases ( p = 0.36 for mra , p = 0.06 for rnfla , d'agostino and pearson omnibus test ) , the latter was borderline for rnfla , so the data also were compared nonparametrically , which also found that the mra change ( median decrease of 31% ) was significantly greater than the rnfla change ( median decrease of 17% , p < 0.0001 , wilcoxon matched - pairs signed rank test ) .
notwithstanding that there was a significant difference between the magnitude of mra loss versus rnfla loss , longitudinal change for these two parameters was strongly correlated ( pearson r = 0.84 ; 95% confidence interval , 0.740.91 ; p < 0.0001 ) .
longitudinal change in mra ( left ) versus rnfla ( right ) expressed relative to baseline values .
box plots represent the distribution ( median , interquartile range and extremes , n = 51 ) of changes in parameter values at the final imaging session expressed as a percentage of the baseline average value for each eye .
control eyes ( ctl ) shown in gray and eyes with eg are shown in red for mra and in gold for rnfla .
the group average ( sd ) and median values of change are listed for the eg eyes . in figure 5a the magnitude of longitudinal rnfla change at the final session is plotted against the magnitude of mra change for eg eyes ( in red ) and fellow control eyes ( in blue ) .
the vertical dashed gray line represents the lower limit of the 95% range of test retest repeatability for mra at baseline ( 12% ) while the horizontal dashed gray line represents the same for rnfla ( 7.0% ) .
none of the control eyes exhibit longitudinal change at the final session beyond the limit for either parameter , thus the specificity of mra and rnfla is 100% . among the group of n = 51 eg eyes , 45 ( 88% )
had significantly decreased mra while only 38 ( 75% ) had significantly decreased rnfla ( p = 0.04 , z - test to compare proportions ) .
the dashed black diagonal line represents the 1:1 locus where all points would plot if the mra change equaled the rnfla change in each eye .
the eg eyes , however , are shifted to the left of the 1:1 line indicating a greater degree of mra loss compared to rnfla loss throughout the wide range of damage studied in this group .
the solid red line represents the result of deming regression applied to the eg eye data ; the slope is 1.01 ( not significantly different from 1.0 ) and the x - intercept ( where y = 0 ) is 15% , indicating that mra change is approximately 15% worse than rnfla change across nearly the entire dynamic range of these parameters .
the differential between mra change and rnfla change was unrelated to age ( r < 0.01 , p = 0.72 ) , sex ( r = 0.01 , p = 0.41 ) , mean iop ( r = 0.06 , p = 0.08 ) , or peak iop ( r = 0.02 , p = 0.31 ) when these variables were each considered alone or in combination in multiple linear regression models .
collectively , the data analysis presented in figures 3 to 5 robustly support rejection of the null hypothesis of this study .
longitudinal change in mra is greater than rnfla in eg , but the opposite pattern occurs after surgical retrobulbar optic nerve transection . ( a ) scatter plot showing the longitudinal change in rnfla versus the longitudinal change in mra for n = 51 eg eyes ( red symbols ) and their fellow control eyes ( blue symbols ) .
the dashed black diagonal line represents the 1:1 locus where all points would plot if the mra change equaled the rnfla change in each eye .
the solid red line represents the result of deming regression ( rnfla change = 1.01 mra change + 0.15 ) .
longitudinal change for these two parameters was strongly correlated ( pearson r = 0.84 , p < 0.0001 ) , but the total cross - sectional area of the onh rim was 15% less than the total cross - sectional area of the peripapillary rnfl tissue throughout the range of eg severity studied .
the vertical dashed gray line represents the lower limit of the 95% range of test retest repeatability for mra at baseline , while the horizontal dashed gray line represents the same for rnfla .
( b ) scatter plot showing results of the same analysis for n = 4 nhp 50.3 1.0 days after unilateral optic nerve transection ; in contrast to eg , this group of eyes shows greater loss of peripapillary rnfla than loss of onh mra ( p = 0.0005 ) .
we performed the same analysis on data from four nhp obtained 50.3 1.0 days after unilateral optic nerve transection ( ont ; see recent reports for detailed description of cohort and ont procedures ) .
figure 5b shows that all four of the ont eyes plot to the right of the 1:1 line indicating that they exhibit greater loss of peripapillary rnfla ( 42.4% 2.4% ) than they do loss of onh mra ( 24.3% 4.2% , p = 0.0005 ) . finally ,
as described in figure 1 for the individual example eg eye , there were subtle changes for other onh parameters as well , such as a decrease of the mra angle ( whereby it became significantly more acute at the final session in eg eyes , fig .
6a ) , a significant increase in the bmo nonplanarity ( whereby the bmo became less planar and more bowed into a saddle shape , fig .
6c ) and a significant decrease in the bmo aspect ratio ( i.e. , the aspect ratio of the best 3d - fit of an ellipse to the bmo , which became rounder , fig .
however , there was no significant change in the area of the bmo projection ( fig .
n = 51 ) of raw parameter values in ctl eyes and eyes with eg at bl ( hatched boxes ) and at the final imaging session ( filled boxes ) .
the p values listed represent the results of a paired t - test in each case ( comparing eg eyes at the final imaging session to their own bl and separately to their fellow control eyes at the final session ; p values in red font indicate statistical significance ) .
the results of this study demonstrated that thinning of the onh neuroretinal rim is more extensive than thinning of the peripapillary rnfl tissue throughout a wide range of severity in a nhp model of eg .
as predicted , the total cross - sectional area of the optical slice through these two adjacent tissue sites was similar at baseline in eg and control eyes and remained similar to each other at the final time point in control eyes .
in contrast , longitudinal change in eg eyes exhibited substantially greater loss of onh rim tissue area than peripapillary rnfl tissue area .
this finding provided evidence that axon bundles are compressed transversely within the onh rim as a specific manifestation of glaucomatous deformation . if the only structural change contributing to thinning at each site were loss of retinal ganglion cell axons alone , then their cross - sectional areas should have changed by exactly the same amount .
several assumptions require consideration , perhaps most important among them is whether the tissue constituents at these two adjacent sites are similar at baseline and whether the nonaxonal constituents change at all or in a similar manner .
first , the onh rim as measured by the mra parameter will contain all retinal ganglion cell axons , whereas the peripapillary rnfla measurement will contain approximately 1.5% fewer axons ( since those arising from retinal ganglion cells located between the peripapillary circle scan and the bmo will not contribute ) .
although it is possible these ganglion cells most proximal to the onh are at higher risk of degeneration , their number is far too few to account for the differential effect observed in this study between mra and rnfla .
second , although the total content of nonaxonal tissue is similar , it is possible that longitudinal changes occur differently at these two sites .
the radial peripapillary capillary plexus is the primary circulatory bed serving the rnfl at the site where it was assayed .
these capillaries are fed by arterioles branching from the central retinal artery , as are the most anterior prelaminar capillaries of the onh rim tissue with which they are continuous .
although onh capillary volume is thought to decrease following axon loss , capillary density does not change , maintaining a constant ratio of capillary area to neural tissue area .
in fact , there is evidence that onh capillary blood flow actually increases in the earliest stages of nhp eg , which would be difficult to reconcile if capillary volume within the onh was reduced dramatically .
nevertheless , onh capillary loss is unlikely to be so much greater within the onh rim as compared to the peripapillary rnfl tissue that it could account for the differential observed in this study .
for example , recent studies using oct angiography in glaucoma suggest that loss of capillaries ( patent to flow ) appears to be continuous between the onh rim and peripapillary plexuses .
in fact , the density of onh vessels patent to flow measured using commercial oct angiography is effectively a surrogate reflecting onh rim area , consistent with the earlier demonstration that loss of capillary volume is proportional to loss of neural rim tissue . indeed , onh vessel densities measured in glaucomatous eyes by oct angiography remained within the range of healthy eyes until rim area loss reached a moderate - to - severe stage .
of course , it is possible that onh tissue compression also might reduce vessel caliber within the rim , but this alone does not seem sufficient to explain the substantial differential documented in this study without also inferring a differential effect on axon caliber within the rim versus the peripapillary rnfl .
moreover , despite being plausible , reduced caliber of capillaries would be inconsistent with the aforementioned evidence from onh capillary blood flow studies in early - stage nhp eg .
third , there is at least one potentially important difference between the onh rim and peripapillary rnfl in terms of glial content , in that the septa between axon bundles within the rnfl consist of both muller cell and astrocyte processes whereas the septa separating axon bundles of the onh rim contain only astrocyte processes .
however , overall glial content does not vary significantly between the onh rim and peripapillary rnfl tissue , although it does increase slightly with increased depth into the onh . in moderate to severe glaucoma , both astrocytes and muller cells exhibit increased expression of glial fibrillar acidic protein ( gfap ) in the retina along with this well - known sign of astrocyte activation within the onh .
however , there is little evidence to suggest that glial content decreases within the onh rim tissue to a greater extent that it does within the peripapillary rnfl ; on the contrary , both sites exhibit hypertrophy of the glial intermediate filament gfap .
thus , our findings suggested that axon bundles ( and possibly also astrocytes ) are compressed ( which may represent in part a consequence of longitudinal stretch ) within the onh neuroretinal rim as a result of glaucomatous connective tissue deformation .
this may represent a potentially important mechanism of pathophysiologic insult to axons in glaucoma . for decades the primary site of injury in glaucoma was thought to be at the level of the lamina cribrosa . strong evidence supporting this conclusion includes the accumulation of radioactive amino acid tracers and cellular organelles ( chiefly swollen , distorted mitochondria but also vesicles ) within the posterior aspect of the lamina cribrosa after acute or chronic iop elevation in nhps .
these findings are thought to reflect interruption , or even severe blockade of fast axonal transport at the level of the posterior lamina cribrosa .
however , this also is precisely the location where there is normally a very steep gradient of mitochondria between the unmyelinated portion of axons within the prelaminar onh and the start of myelination in the retrolaminar orbital optic nerve where action potentials abruptly switch to saltatory conduction .
recent evidence from the mouse eye also demonstrates that astrocytes within the myelin transition zone ( which extends approximately 1 to 2 mm behind the mouse sclera ) are responsible for recycling damaged mitochondria from rgc axons by transcellular phagocytosis or
the phenomenon of transmitophagy in mice suggests that the apparent accumulation of damaged mitochondria ( and vesicles laden with membranous debris ) within the immediate retrolaminar region of the primate onh may represent as much a back - up of this astrocyte - driven , normal clearance mechanism as it does a primary back - up of fast axonal transport .
in fact , numerous examples exist within the classic papers on axonal transport interruption in nhp eg models where transport tracers accumulate within the onh rim tissue ( see , e.g. , fig . 2 in the report of quigley and anderson ; figs .
the hypothesis that the onh rim can be a site of injury does not require the rim to be the only site of damage , nor does it undermine the classical evidence from human specimens stained with silver impregnation techniques showing that axons ultimately appear abruptly discontinuous at the posterior aspect of the lamina cribrosa , since this may be the site where injured axons are pruned .
however , neither do these classic data rule out the possibility that local damage to the axonal cytoskeleton occurs as a direct result of axon deformation ( compression and/or stretch ) within the onh rim tissue , with a subsequent predictable failure of axonal transport there as well . in summary , the results of this study demonstrated that onh neural rim tissue thinning exceeds peripapillary rnfl thinning over a wide range of severity in nhp eg .
these results support the hypothesis that axon bundles ( and astrocytes ) are compressed ( which may include longitudinal stretch ) within the onh rim by glaucomatous connective tissue deformation . | pubmed |
David Hunter Jones born January 10, 1984 is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball MLB for the Boston Red Sox in 2009 and the Florida Marlins in 2010.
Career
Amateur
Jones played college baseball at Florida State University in 2004 and 2005, but missed much playing time due to a fractured arm. Jones had successful surgery but went undrafted. In 2005, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Boston Red Sox
Jones signed as a free agent with the Boston Redsox and spent 20052009 in their minor league system. Jones was called up on April 15, 2009 and five days later made his major league debut against the Baltimore Orioles.
Florida Marlins
On November 5, , Jones was traded to the Florida Marlins with minor league pitcher Jose Alvarez for Jeremy Hermida. The Florida Marlins released Jones on June 22, 2010 and he spent the rest of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery after a June 5 injury.
After rehabbing for the entire 2011 MLB season, Jones played winterball for the Aguilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional for the 20112012 season.
Second Stint with the Red Sox
On February 23, 2012 Jones signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox and was seen by reporters at the Red Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida. He was later cut by the Red Sox and signed by the Laredo Lemurs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
Jones spent the second half of the 2012 season pitching for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs helping them reach the playoffs.
Bridgeport Bluefish
Jones pitched for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in 2014.
Pitching
Jones throws a 9296 miles per hour fastball and an 8993 miles per hour two-seam fastball. He used to throw a circle changeup and a curveball but in 2007 he stopped throwing the changeup and the curveball developed into a slider which almost acts like a slurve. He has had good success versus righties.
References
External links
Category:1984 births
Category:Living people
Category:Águilas del Zulia players
Category:Baseball players from Florida
Category:Boston Red Sox players
Category:Bridgeport Bluefish players
Category:Florida Marlins players
Category:Florida State Seminoles baseball players
Category:Florida State University alumni
Category:Greenville Drive players
Category:Lancaster JetHawks players
Category:Leones del Caracas players
Category:Leones del Escogido players
Category:Lowell Spinners players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Mesa Solar Sox players
Category:Navegantes del Magallanes players
Category:New Orleans Zephyrs players
Category:Orleans Firebirds players
Category:Pawtucket Red Sox players
Category:People from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Category:Portland Sea Dogs players
Category:Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players | wikipedia |
Application of Newton's law of viscosity in a problem on disc viscometer
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ER7AW.jpg)
Hi ,
My instructor solved this problem using a circular elemental strip of thickness 'dr'. He told me we get only shear stress in horizontal layers of fluid. He used Newton's law of viscosity to get the value of shear stress at top face of plate. The Newton's law of viscosity is only applied between two plates where there is velocity gradient.
But we are also observing linear profile of velocity on the top face of plate. Here my doubt is why can't we apply Newton's law of viscosity for this circular strip?
That is, in a circular strip we have a number of layers of fluid with different velocities. So there is velocity gradient between them.
But shear stress between is not calculated between layers?
Is there no relative motion between those cylinderical fluid layers?
What goes wrong in assuming it?
Also this problem is solved example in other textbook on fluid mechanics. In that example too they didn't consider shear stress between cylinderical fluid surfaces.
I am studying this course for first time.
Can anyone please explain elaborately..
Thank you
Edit: I am adding images of how i solved it . So it will avoid any confusion present in my text
And the below image is the actual doubt
You are quite correct that there is relative motion along the radial direction as well as normal to the plates. However in viscometers the gap between the plates is orders of magnitude smaller than their radius, so the shear rate in the radial direction is negligibly small compared to the shear rate in the normal direction.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/egzp1.gif)
The viscosity is defined as:
$$ \eta = \frac{\sigma}{\dot\gamma} $$
where $\sigma$ is the shear stress and $\dot\gamma$ is the shear rate. The shear rate is the change in velocity with distance. Consider the change in velocity with distance as we move in the radial direction. The velocity that the top plate moves at a distance $r$ from the axis is:
$$ v = r\omega $$
and the distance is $r$, so the shear rate in the horizontal is simply:
$$\dot\gamma\_h = \frac{r\omega}{r} = \omega $$
Now consider the change in velocity with distance as we move vertically. The bottom plate is fixed, while at a distance $r$ from the axis the top plate is moving with a velocity $v = r\omega$, and the thickness of the liquid layer is $h$ so the shear rate in the vertical direction is:
$$ \dot\gamma\_v = \frac{r\omega}{h} $$
So the ratio of the two shear rates is:
$$ \frac{\dot\gamma\_v}{\dot\gamma\_h} = \frac{r}{h} $$
Viscometers are constructed so that the thickness of the liquid layer $h$ is much less than the radius of the plate, so that means $\dot\gamma\_v \gg \dot\gamma\_h$ and therefore the force we have to apply is dominated by $\dot\gamma\_v$.
Note that commercial viscometers do not use parallel plates because the shear rate in the vertical direction changes with $r$. Instead they use a cone and plate geometry. [See for example this answer](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/248028/how-the-form-factor-stress-torque-is-derived/248084#248084).
| stackexchange/physics |
Macroscopic Limit of QED
How does one go about *rigorously* deriving **special relativistic dynamics** (both relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics) from **quantum electrodynamics**? Is this even possible from the mathematical structure of QED?
In a comment you clarify
>
> but of course reproducing Maxwell's Equations as well"
>
>
>
The way mainstream physics sees this is that the classical level is emergent from the quantum level. To desire the exact equations for classical to come from the equations of quantum is like asking for the exact equations of thermodynamics to come out of statistical mechanics.
In this blog article by Motl, ["How classical fields, particles emerge from quantum theory "](https://motls.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-classical-fields-particles-emerge.html) the method is described, how to go from QED to classical light.
It is the data and the observables predicted that have to be consistent, not the mathematics, imo.
| stackexchange/physics |
Ranma, Sailor Moon 1. Chapter 1
Title: Prince of the Planets
Ranma ½ Sailor Moon Crossover
Idea: What would happen if Ranma was the reincarnated son of Sailor Jupiter and Nephrite?
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: After Herb but before they face the Orochi. Please note that Nodoka knows about Ranma's Curse (he wrote a letter to her explaining it all to her). In Sailor Moon it is after the Death Phantom but before the Death Busters.
Notes- I will try and not make the characters of Ranma in cardboard characters as often happens and I will be drawing from the Magna Ranma and T.V. Sailor Moon more for both sources. I don't own either series.
"_Remember__who__you__really__ are_!" Ranma suddenly shot up wide awake as he suddenly woke up from his dream. Ranma blinked a few times before he spoke, "Remember who you really are? Why on earth would I dream about something like that?" Giving his head a good shake, Ranma then got out of bed avoiding his panda of a father and started changing into one of his Maoist uniform clothes.
Looking out the window to see the sun just starting to come up while he buttoned his shirt Ranma said the words from his dream once more out loud to himself. For the past two weeks he had been waking up to those same words in his head and it was starting to drive the gender-blender nuts. Giving up on trying figuring out what the words meant, Ranma headed over to the dojo to practice some of his less used fighting stances. After a good 40 minute workout, Ranma was called to the breakfast table by Kasumi.
Although Ranma was focused on eating so that it looked like he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, he actually was paying attention on a subconscious level. Kasumi was happy as she normal was at this time of day. Nabiki was grinning in a way that showed that she had a money making plan in her head. Soun was focused on the paper as always while Ranma's own father was doing a marvelous impression of a do-do bird for a Panda eating. Akane for some reason looked anxious and also looked like she was trying to hide her anxiety.
Once breakfast was over everyone but the two oldest Tendos were out the door. Genma was meandering his way to his job with Dr. Tofu. Nabiki was racing ahead of Akane and Ranma to school, probably to collect bets on what would happen when Ranma tried to get to class. Finally Ranma and Akane were both walking to school at a more casual pace with Ranma on the fence. For some reason Akane wasn't trying to talk to Ranma as they walked to school so it was an uncomfortable 10 minutes for Ranma.
Soon enough the school gates were in view and Ranma smirked at what he saw headed his way. It looked like today the insanity of choice was kick the Kuno bird as Kuno was charging at Ranma with his bouken raised the delusional boy was spouting drivel. Ranma casually leapt into the air towards Kuno's charging figure. Ranma then gave Kuno a kick to the side of his head before following up with his other foot that hit Kuno under the chin. This one-two combo of Ranma's sent Kuno flying into the air and into the dumpster across the street. As Kuno soared into the air a few students pulled out number cards showing that they thought that the flight only deserved an average grade.
Ranma heard Akane mumble "showoff" as she headed into the classroom. Praying to all the gods that he knew of, Ranma held his tongue from saying the sharp insult that was forming because he didn't want to break a promise to his mother. Ranma was having, unknown to the residents of the Tendo home, a decent relationship his mother although it was long distance relationship. With the help of Dr. Tofu to explain the curse, Ranma and his mother had an almost daily correspondence. Nodoka had originally wanted Ranma to come right home, but Ranma had convinced her to stay at the Saotome home and not visit him at the dojo.
Although not his area of expertise, Ranma had come to realize the pressure cooker that was his life in the Nerima nut farm. Even the low level chaos that he faced during a 'normal' day was slowly wearing him down. Ranma didn't want his mom showing up because he needed her as a safe place for when the next big misadventure came to town. Nodoka agreed with her son's worries and had told him in many pages how happy she was that he was able to read the situation.
The classes for that day were relatively boring for Ranma. However, Ranma had the sense not to appear bored in class. This was more than what the 8 dumb drained saps in the front seats could say for themselves. However, Ranma was definitely on edge near the end of the school day due to the fact that his danger sense had been sounding a Def-com 1 alert all day. Ranma started walking home and was a third of the way there when he realized that Akane wasn't walking with him. Worrying about her safety, Ranma hurried back to the school at full speed. However, when he turned the corner to see the school, Rama happened to glance in an old ally way. Ranma saw a sight in that ally way that turned his blood cold.
There in the ally way was Akane playing a game of tonsil hockey with her 'friend' Sayuri. As if to add further insult to injury, the top buttons of their respective blouses were undone. Ranma looked on the scene for a minute trying with all his will to drive it from reality. Seeing that what was going on in front of him was not a figment of his imagination, Ranma ran away as fast as he could. Akane and Sayuri were so into each other that they never realized that Ranma had seen them.
Ranma ran as fast as possible so that he could get away from vision he had seen while tears formed in his eyes. Ranma eventually came to an empty part of a park. Once at that spot, Ranma let out a soul piercing primal yell of pain. Falling to his knees Ranma looked to the heavens and with tears in his eyes cried out. "Why? It's not fair. What have I done to deserve this?!"
Slowly Ranma's heart hardened and a cold fury started to burn within his wounded heart against Akane. Ranma's teeth were clenched as his words forced their way out, "T-that no good excuse for a whore! Doesn't honor mean anything to her? I work to try and make the family pact work out and what does she do? She throws it all in my face! I ignore the advances of Shampoo and Uyko because our family pact is the oldest and she goes gallivanting around for the other team!"
Ranma then raised a fist into the air while shouting out, "As the heavens as my witness I, Ranma Saotome heir to the Saotome branch of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, vow that I will never support this farce of an honor pact. I declare a blood feud between my heirs and Akane Tendo along with her heirs. No aid will come to her or her line until honor has been satisfied so I vow."
His rage then left Ranma's heart, leaving only cold logical calculation behind in its place. Although normally considered a tad slower than the average person in most intellectual pursuits, Ranma's mind was now operating under battle conditions. Genma's barbaric training methods had funneled and refined Ranma's intellect into that of a tactician surpassing the likes of Alexander or Caesar. The reason why Ranma was considered slow in the head was do to the fact that Ranma been unintentionally trained to only used that mind of his for martial arts. While this might not have been a martial arts fight, Ranma was able break the mental blocks in order to use the razor sharp intelligence that he had when under battle conditions in order to look at the situation ahead of him.
Quickly analyzing the situation at hand along with all possible variables that he could think of, Ranma came up a plan. First, he would sneak into the Tendo home to get his things. Next he would leave a note telling the Tendos of his intentions and what he had seen. Step three was to go into the mountains to train for a week or two on some of the techniques he had observed from his opponents and that he was thinking about adding to his usual line-up. Fourth, head to his mother's house & transfer to a school around there.
Ranma speed-blurred as he ran, headed in the direction on the Tendo dojo. When he got there, he found no one was home. Silently thanking the kami for his good fortune Ranma headed up stairs and grabbed all of his things. Next, he raided the pantry for canned foods that were close to expiration date so he could have a few days' supplies. After Ranma had collected his provisions he wrote his letter to the Tendos. Just as he was about to leave, an idea for a going away 'gift' came to Ranma's mind. Ten minutes latter his angry and frankly childish goodbye 'gift' was done and Ranma hurried out of town.
* * *
Shock, Shock was all that was compensable to Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun, Genma, and P-Chan as they entered the front door. All over the walls were written insults and obscenities against all of the inhabitants of the house in general and Akane in particular. Slowly the gang made their way through the disaster zone that was the house until they got to the dining room where Soun and Genma almost had heart attacks. The Tendo dojo sign was broken in 5 pieces and Ranma's letter was sitting in the center of the five pieces.
Nabiki was the first come out of her shock at the sight, with cold furry she grabbed the letter and read it. The expressions on her face changed to calm, shock, and finally anger as she yelled out, "Akane you stupid numbskull!" Nabiki's shout brought Soun out of his shock. Soun's face was illuminated with anger as he turned to face Nabiki and demanded. "Why are you insulting your sister at a time like this?" Nabiki just glared at him and said, "Because this whole mess is her fault! Listen to this:
'_Dear Tendo Family,_
_This is a notice to the rest of you that the Tendo-Saotome marriage agreement has been dissolved due to the complete unfitness of the Tendo participant. Akane Tendo has proven her unworthiness on the following charges. The first charge against her is that, she has not achieved the skill level needed to be a master of the Tendo school of Anything Goes. This fact shows that she is unable to pass on the Tendo school as is stated under the 'unite the schools' clause of the marriage agreement. The second and far more serious charge against Akane Tendo is that it has been discovered that, while aware of the marriage agreement, Akane Tendo has entered into a romantic and personal relationship with one Sayuri Amino. _
_Given that Akane has broken the pack, I Ranma Saotome officially declare a blood feud between Akane Tendo and myself. This blood feud is to be carried on by our heirs until ether her branch of the Tendo family is extinct, or they have made restitution for the crime against my line's honor. However, under no circumstances is this restitution to be delivered by the producing of a spouse for my line as I refuse to allow the Saotome bloodline to be polluted by the dishonorable Tendo line of Akane Tendo. Please note that the now instated Saotome-Tendo blood feud does not extend to previous generations and it does not extend to one Kasumi Tendo and one Nabiki Tendo. Nor does this feud extend to their heirs and my heirs. With this being the case, I however refuse to allow the mingling of my line with their lines until the line of Akane Tendo makes satisfaction. _
_Sincerely,_
_Ranma Saotome, family heir and heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts.'" _
Soun fell to his knees and covered his head in shame with his hands. His dreams had been destroyed by his little girl and left that dream as a nightmare. Ranma had just decreed that the Saotome and Tendo families would not be joined in his lifetime and Soun, for the life of him, could honestly not bring himself to blame the boy. Soun had always assured himself that the family pact would be fulfilled no matter how many girls chased after Ranma because he knew how important Ranma held honor. Oh the boy wasn't above tricking an opponent or taking advantage of something coming up in a fight but those were basic tenets of the school.
Yes, Ranma was not at fault even if his romantic ability was only that of a ten year old. Soun knew that the boy had tried his hardest to make the Tendo-Saotome engagement work. Little Akane would learn the seriousness of her crime against the family, of that Soun knew without a shred of doubt. Akane should have never done what she had because a martial artist like she proclaimed she was would never go against honor in such a fashion. Once Soun was through with her, he was sure Akane would regreat the day she ever decided to so carelessly break the honor of the Tendo family. Soun looked up and turned his gaze to the front door, which was now opening to reveal Akane coming in the door with her blouse messed up.
* * *
About twenty or so miles into a forest a good distance away from the special wards of Tokyo, Ranma was busy setting up his campfire next to his tent that he had just put up. Once Ranma had the fire going, he put on a pot of water so that he could have some soup. While he was cooking the food Ranma started talking to himself to think about what he should do for the next 2 weeks.
"Okay, what am I going to train in besides my normal daily exercises? With the limited time I have, I should focus on the skills that are hard for me to learn in a city environment. Let's see, Ryoga's Breaking Point Technique would certainly toughen me up a good deal so I'll make that a priority to learn. If I put weights on my arms and practice the Chestnut Fist I'm sure that I'll get stronger and faster at the same time. That makes my new Chestnut Fist training a must, but not as important as the Breaking Point Technique training. What else do I should I learn on this trip?"
Ranma then thought for a few seconds before a light bulb went off in his head and an idea came to him. A bright smile on his face, Ranma shouted out as he snapped his fingers, "What a second! Mom sent me that book on meditation and Chi techniques I can look at that and practice my Moko Takabisha! Yea and when I'm done, those nuts in Nerima won't be able to touch me- except maybe Happosai or Cologne." With a smile on his face, Ranma finished cooking his evening meal.
After wolfing down the soup, Ranma pulled out the book _Chi usage for Dummies _that his mother had gotten him. After looking at the table of contents Ranma turned to the section on Chi attacks are started to read. With gusto one wouldn't think about with the words 'Ranma' and 'book' together.
_Chapter VII: the use of Chi in attacking your opponent_
_As opposed to the internal use of Chi (see Chapter VI: Chi flowing from within); the external use of Chi can be quite dangerous. Regardless of whether a person gathers Chi from within themselves or takes it from the environment around them one must precede with caution. _
_The easiest and safest method of external Chi use is to infuse The Chi into an object like a sword or a kunai. This allows a person greater control over the weapon or object while strengthen that said object. There are numerous examples of this method; the most common example is of people using wooden swords to stop or even cut through a steel sword._
_After the infusing of Chi into objects, the next step of external Chi manipulation is the external use of Chi without any other object with it. Commonly these types Chi techniques are directed either towards forming an energy blade, an energy shield, or a Chi projectile of some sort. The Chi needed for such techniques must be either filtered through an emotion or must be summoned in the pure and raw from within. _
_Of the two methods of harnessing Chi for external attacks; the quickest, easiest, and most dangerous method is the emotional filter. The use of emotion easily focuses and magnifies the Chi of a person so that the user can quickly summon it to attack with; especially if the user only has a small amount of Chi to work with. However, as easy this method may be to perform, it should never be used. The constant and repeated use of emotional Chi, especially in the quantities as is needed to make an attack, will damage a person's soul in the form of cracks to their heart crystal. This damage shows itself at first in the form of the person taking on the personality traits of their preferred emotion. With continued use of emotional Chi, the damage to the heart crystal proceeds to such a point that either the person gets themselves killed or the heart crystal explodes killing the person and leaving massive damage to the surrounding area. _
_The harder and safe method is to use pure Chi. Although pure Chi is far more potent compared to the same amount of emotional Chi, it is also far harder for a person to collect and bend to the person's will. However, as hard as it is to start using pure Chi, the rewards are tremendous. The usage of pure Chi has none of the side effects of emotional Chi and at the same time mastery of it will increase a person's lifespan. _
Ranma stopped reading there as the rest of the chapter told how to meditate and gather the energy needed. Ranma thought about how glad he was that he now knew of the dangers of emotional Chi when a thought struck him and caused his blood to go cold. Ranma then uttered his realization out loud. "Damn it! Ryoga doesn't know about the danger that comes with using emotional Chi!" Ranma ran over to his backpack and wrote a note that was to be mailed to Ryoga telling Ryoga of the danger. In the morning Ranma planed to run to the nearest town and mail the letter to Ryoga as a first class priority. Ranma then spent the rest of the evening meditating before going to bed.
* * *
When Ranma woke up that morning he quickly ran into town and mailed the letter to Ryoga. After the letter was mailed, Ranma picked up some rope before heading back up to his campsite for the week's training. Ranma then constructed a crude swing system that he tied a large bolder to. This swing system allowed Ranma to push the rock away from him, thus sending the rock back at him so he could practice the breaking point technique. When lunch came around three and a half hours latter it was a black and blue grinning Ranma around the campfire.
In the middle of eating his meager lunch Ranma thought about his earlier training. In his mind he spoke to himself. "Okay, I've got the breaking point almost down. Now if I do it for an hour or so every day then by the end of the two weeks I'll be able to take getting hit by a truck and I'll not be hurt too bad. Now then, after I have an hour of the Chestnut fist and then I'll work on coming up with a new Chi attack to replace the Moko Takabisha. After that it will be evening katas before hitting the sack so I can repeat my training schedule tomorrow."
After his hands had cooled down from being in the fire for so long, Ranma was standing away from his camp preparing to try a pure Chi attack. Slowly over several minutes Ranma managed to coax the Chi into his right closed fist. When the strain of holding the energy there became too much for him Ranma quickly brought the hand straight up and level with his chest. He then instantly opened his closed fist while shouting "Moko Dan Ha!" (Fierce Tiger Bullet Defeat). With this scream a basket ball size mass of white energy erupted from Ranma's fist and flew towards a large rock about a hundred meters away.
While the rock was struck and exploded from the Moko Dan Ha; Ranma was falling to his knees panting in exhaustion. Ranma grinned looking at his handy work and said the only thing that came to his mind before he fainted from exhaustion "Amazing." While Ranma would have only had a person look at his handy work; if someone was to come on to this sight one would have seen something far more intriguing. On Ranma's forehead briefly glowed with a dull deep green light the symbol for Jupiter.
* * *
A week after Ranma left the Tendos; Ryoga was sitting in a bare room with a letter from Ranma in front of him waiting to be opened. At first Ryoga had wanted to kill Ranma for what the 'dishonorable coward' had done to his beloved Akane's home. However, hearing Nabiki read that letter and watching Soun chastised Akane made Ryoga stop and think. Soun had told Akane that for no reason was she allowed the privilege of being able to continue using the Tendo school of Anything Goes. Furthermore, Soun told her that he was going to transfer her to a military academy to see if she could learn some honor there.
Hearing Akane yell about how unfair it was and that she had done nothing wrong broke Ryoga's dreams about her. Ryoga had, even though it was slightly warped, a sense of honor. However warped that honor was, it was still important to him. Not being able to be with his parents often had left Ryoga with only his honor and his martial arts to be proud of; thus hearing and seeing Akane breaking her and her family's honor so carelessly had left a gaping whole in his heart.
Not wanting to see Akane or be near her as "P-Chan", Royga had taken off as fast as possible trying to get lost. Two days ago he had stumbled across this small monastery and had been taken in by the kind old monks who cared for the place. Ryoga had spent his time at the monastery up until now talking with the monks about honor and his family curse. Luckily for Ryoga two of the older monks were psychics who could diagnoses and help treat the family curse, but not his Jusenko curse.
Apparently the Hibiki direction curse was actually a malformed and mutated inherited psychic ability. They had told him that his family had the ability to naturally teleport where ever they wished to go to. However there were problems with how this ability had formed. The psychic and chi energy used for this unique ability were all funneled into the teleportation process without any energy used for the control part of the ability. This meant that the Hibiki family were able to teleport all over the world but also that they had no control over where they went or when the ability was activated.
Luckily for Ryoga those monks were able to repair his ability to where he could completely control it. Although Ryoga would now only be able to go 30 km maximum in one go and would have to rest afterwards, Royga was extremely happy. Ryoga thought back to yesterday as he tested out his ability and found that short distance bursts required only a short rest period afterwards meaning that Ryoga could possibly work it into his fighting style.
Now however Ryoga's attention was back on the letter in front of him. Deciding that Ranma was enough of a friend that it would be only polite to read the letter, Ryoga picked it up and broke the seal. Unfolding the letter Ryoga read what Ranma had to say and then thanked the gods for having a friend like Ranma. The letter was:
_Hey Ryoga,_
_How's it going man? You might or might not know it but I've officially broken off the engagement with Akane as she was running around with behind my back with Sayuri. Now don't go off on a tangent but I have not been running behind Akane with Shampoo, Uyko, or bur- Kodachi. Just thought you should know about it and for your information she still doesn't know about your curse though you should tell her soon before she finds out on her own. _
_More importantly I found some facts that you should know. WHAT EVER YOU DO DON'T USE THE SHI SHI HAKODAN! I found out that using emotional Chi attack's hurt the user leading them to either be killed by others or causing them to combust without warning. From what I read neither of us are in danger of exploding yet but don't do it again. Eventually the damage we've done to ourselves will heal itself. I'm working on a pure Chi attack which I found will not have negative effects to us. Hope you come up with one as well and I hope we can fight when that happens._
_Your friend,_
_Ranma Saotome. _
Ryoga put the letter down and smiled as he thought about what Ranma had written. Even though Ryoga had been a poor friend, Ranma was willing to warn him about a problem and still considered him a friend. Well far be it for him, Ryoga thought, to ignore a warning like that. A smirk crossed Ryoga's face as he spoke, "You just watch it Ranma, because next time we meet I'll cream you in a fight."
* * *
Mousse was quietly packing his backpack as he prepared to leave the Cat Café. The fallout from the 'Akane' episode was felt and still being felt by all the members of the NWC. Kuno was spouting about how 'the foul sorcerer Saotome' had fled from his 'righteous blade'. Although Mousse smirked when he thought about how the village idiot couldn't seem to register that Akane had now forced to come 'out of the closet', but then that made the fool a little more entertaining. Yuka had distanced herself from Akane and Sayuri to keep from being considered a lesbian as well. Uyko was apparently in shock that Ranma hadn't moved in with her.
However, the most important person to Mousse and the reason for his leaving was Shampoo. She was demanding that they go and look for Ranma every five minutes or so. It had gotten so bad that Cologne had been forced to lock Shampoo in a cage while in her curse form in order to get some sleep. Mousse had at first hoped that Shampoo would come to him for comfort. After all, he was her oldest and truest friend. However she had been harder and meaner towards him as of late. This had FINALLY broken through to Mousse that Shampoo would never like him.
Realizing that his only reason for staying at the Cat Café was a fool's quest; Mousse had stayed up all night thinking about his options. After his mother had died when he was 13 Mousse never really had a good life in the Amazon village. Although the elders would respect his hidden weapon's style of martial arts and his proficiency in it; the young girls of the village unanimously held him in distain. They thought that only they could be great martial artists and that the men from the village couldn't be their equal. Mousse knew that if he could keep his glasses on during the fight he could easily match one of them or take out a few more if he wasn't worried about his opponents living after the fight.
Knowing that going back to China and the Amazon Village was unacceptable for him, Mousse planed on how he could live in Japan. First he would do- get some contacts and then train for a bit in order to get used to fighting with the contacts. After say a week of training he would take the money that he had and open his own dinner. He knew he had the skills needed to run one sense he had observed Cologne run everything that he hadn't had to do which wasn't much. Cologne had in a surprising moment of generosity given him a book containing several Amazon techniques that he didn't know along with a good deal of cash telling him that she wished him well. She had told him that although she didn't always act it she did genuinely care about Mousse. Also, just in case she needed to reach him or he needed to reach her, Cologne gave Mousse her private phone number. With his pack packed, Mousse gave one last glace to Shampoo's room before he quietly exited the Café and walked out into the morning sun.
2. Chapter 2
Disclamer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon you know that, I know that. Here we go with the next reworked chapter of the Prince of Planets.
The two weeks of training since leaving the Tendo dojo had been excellent for Ranma. He had completed the Breaking point technique training beyond his expectations and was able to move at Chestnut fist speeds with both his legs and arms while weighed down by 40 kilos. Even more important to Ranma, he had found that thanks to his training he could use one full powered Moko Dan Ha a minute and less powered versions of the attack even quicker. Now Ranma was heading home to his mother's house in Juban in order to move on with his life. Currently Ranma was stopping at this small village he had found to have lunch before he got to the special wards of Tokyo.
Suddenly the peace of the town was broken as a person on a motorcycle raced into the village screaming "GET OUT! GET OUT OF TOWN THE OROCHI'S AWAKE AND COMING THIS WAY!" In a flash the entire village was in an uproar. People were grabbing what they could carry and then running as fast as they could out of the town. Watching the mass panic happening in front of him, Ranma was trying to figure out what was going on. But his mind, even though he was now able to use his intelligence for more things than just martial arts, just couldn't figure out the reason why this was all happening.
Ranma finally gave up trying to figure out what was going on and just grabbed one panicky old man and demanded to know what was going on. The old man stuttered out. "The Orochi has been asleep for 1,000 years in Rygzuwara. Last time it was awake, the Orochi went on a spree of destruction devastating the land before the favored of Suzan-no was able to slay it. After it was killed by the warrior, the Orochi was then reborn in Rygzuwara were it remained asleep until today. Please sir, if you value your life; flee now before the Orochi kills you and me!"
Ranma thought about running along with everyone else but stopped when he remembered that the old man had said that the Orochi didn't stop its rampage until it was stopped. While he did not consider himself to be a favored warrior of the kami, Ranma just couldn't bring himself to do nothing and run away. Almost instantly Ranma made up his mind and decided to try and at least buy the villagers more time to evacuate. Running in the direction that would take him to the oncoming Orochi, Ranma muttered to himself "I must be nuts." Fifteen minutes latter he found himself on a forest path and he stopped as he heard the approach of the Orochi. As the Orochi came into view Ranma let out a low moan as he said to out loud, "Man, I really am insane."
The Orochi was about 20 meters in height and 40 meters in length. The path it had traveled was easy to spot due to the fact that the ground was plowed like someone had just come and ripped the soil away. It had seven dragon heads each on their own long neck attached to the main body. The Orochi had no legs but a body like a snake's. At the end of that body was another head that was far larger than the seven heads before it. The whole body of the Orochi was covered in green and purple scales that gleamed in the sun like polished armor. From its mouths' dark black smoke was slowly billowing out.
Taking that smoke as a sign that the Orochi could breathe fire Ranma cursed his luck. Quickly analyzing the monster in front of him, Ranma tried to figure out any weakness that he could exploit. Ranma was under no illusions that he could possibly win this fight; unless he used ever dirty and underhanded trick in the book that Genma had showed him. If he did that, Ranma gave himself a one in five chance of defeating the Orochi.
Quickly Ranma's mind came up with the attack plan to use. Ranma then started the battle by leaping into the air. At the apex of his jump, just as he was leveling off with the seven heads of the Orochi, Ranma suddenly let lose a scream of "Moko Dan Ha." Ranma made sure to unleashed the attack at its full potential. As the beach-ball sized sphere of Chi collided at the base of two Orochi head necks leaving a gaping wound; Ranma flipped onto the snout of the center head. Knowing that he needed every advantage he could get, Ranma lashed out with his fists at the eyes in front of him.
Seeing his arms buried in the eyes in front of him, Ranma quickly pulled his fists back out. When he looked at his hands Ranma found that they were covered in goopy remains of the monster's now blind eyes. Before Ranma could think about what was covering his arms, the head he was standing on jerked back in pain. This action was like a catapult sending Ranma flying through the air behind the seven heads of the Orochi.
Ranma was in the middle of twisting in the air so as that he could land on the Orochi's largest head in an excellent battle position. However, in mid twist Ranma saw something that caused his blood to freeze in fright. One of the heads whipped around to face Ranma with rage in its eyes and let loose a stream of fire at him. Ranma was shocked for a second as he had never expected to have to face a situation like he found himself in: unable to dodge and with a stream of fire at his person.
In a desperate bid to survive, Ranma went into the soul of ice and pumped his entire Chi reserves into the process. Ranma could only look at burning pillar of death with a detached worry. Soon enough the jet of fire collided with Ranma and carried him forward and into the ground in front of the larger head. For half a minute the Orochi flamed the ground before stopping its attack. The smoke from the attack soon dissipated revealing Ranma at the bottom of a blackened crater. His clothes were charred black and his skin was covered in minor burn marks.
Although Ranma was still alive even after that hellish attack, he had lost the will to live. His entire martial art prowess was useless against such a large creature as the Orochi. Ranma's despair grew larger as he felt that his Chi reserves were all spent up except for the little bit he needed to live. Also Ranma's entire body was crying out to him in pain from the wounds it had sustained trying to survive the hellish flames that it had been subjected to. Just before unconsciousness claimed him, Ranma let out a silent cry to whoever would listen to it. "Not like this, don't let it end like this."
* * *
"Is this the afterlife?" the words escaped Ranma's lips as he thought that this wasn't quite what he expected the afterlife to be like. Ranma had opened his eyes to find himself staring into a vast white expanse. Ranma had looked all himself at every angle that he could see. No matter where he looked, all Ranma could see was the never ending expanse of white nothingness. Seriously, if this was in fact the afterlife; Ranma had at least been expecting something to be there. Suddenly a voice from behind called out to him "No, not quite." Ranma turned around to face the speaker. In the formerly empty space Ranma saw a boy about his size and age dressed in armor.
Looking closer, Ranma saw that the speaker had on what looked like a formfitting dark forest green shirt and pants. Also the boy had on a long cape that was in a deeper green color than his shirt and pants. He also had metal guards on his forearms, shins, and shoulders. Whoever was this boy's tailor obviously loved the color green as he had a pair of green-black leather boots and a pair of gloves made out of the same color leather. Ranma thought that if the person in front of him had decided put on a green hat, then that person could play the part of Peter Pan or maybe Robin Hood. Those two characters had been Ranma's favorites when he had to do a book report for Miss Hinako.
Continuing his observations, Ranma saw that the young man was wearing an undecorated and functional metal breastplate. The metal looked like the polished iron that Ranma had seen on the Roman Legions in the T.V. documentary he had watched late one night. Finally to top the outfit off he wore a small golden crown with a green jewel in the center. The crown was over all simple and regal and not at all like those outlandish European crowns that Ranma had spotted in pictures of royalty in the school text books.
However the thing about the stranger in front of him that shocked Ranma to his core was the stranger's face. The young man's long wavy hair was deep red in color. Also, the young man's chin was a bit more angular than own would expect of an Asiatic person. But except for those changes, the person front of Ranma could be his double.
"W-who are y-you?" Ranma barely managed to stutter out with all of the blood metaphorically leaving his face. The teen flashed Ranma his own patented smirk before the teen took as steep forward towards Ranma. In response to the young man's approach, Ranma unconsciously took a step backwards. The unknown person saw Ranma reaction to his presence and he shook his head as he softly spoke softly in Ranma's own voice. "I am an echo, a shade of what you could have and should have been, Ranma."
Ranma got defensive and angry at that last remark. Now Ranma was willing, even if you had to pull it out of him first, to admit that he wasn't the greatest person around. Also, Ranma could admit in the privacy of his mind that his 10 year martial arts training trip had seriously messed with his ability to socialize and it had also messed with his studies. However, Ranma infuriated that this person would show up and tell him that he should have been something else. Therefore, and in a confrontational tone, Ranma demanded. "What do you mean by that pretty boy? I will not be talked down to by some fancy dressed fool who thinks that he's better then me. Now you're going to tell me where we are. And while you're at it, you better give me your name as well!"
The subject of the questions held his hands up in a peaceful gesture and said, "I mean no disrespect Ranma. I was only referring to the fact that I am the shade of your past incarnation that died violently before our soul was reborn as you the present. My name, for as little as I was called in my short life was Prince Nephelite, son and heir to the crowned princess Hippolyta of Jupiter, and I was the first count of the four great moons of Jupiter." Prince Nephelite paused for a moment to let Ranma comprehend what he was being told by the shade. It was a good thing that Prince Nephelite had stopped talking because Ranma was staring bug-eyed at the dead prince.
Once Nephelite was sure that Ranma understood what he had said but before Ranma could speak further Nephelite started to talk. "As to where we are, we are in the Twilight Realm. The Twilight Realm is a place that few mortals can normally visit. But those few souls who do manage to reach this realm can converse with the spirits of those of the past, present, and sometimes what could be. It is unique properties of the Twilight Realm that allows the two incarnations of our soul that being you and me, to talk face to face."
Ranma thought about what his 'past incarnation' had told him. While there was a part of Ranma's mind that wanted to shout out that Prince Nephelite was nothing more than a simple concussion; Ranma did not follow the directions of that impulsive thought. One thing that his life, and in particular his living in Nerima, had taught him was that nothing in his life was simple. The chances that could just be having a simple concussion caused illusion were about as good as Happosai become the Prime Minister of Japan.
Prince Nephelite then turned around and started walking away from Ranma and towards a bright red point of light that had suddenly appeared in the horizon. Nephelite called to Ranma even as he was walking towards the point of light. "Come Ranma, you have much to see and only a short time to see it. Keep quiet and at the end you'll hopefully understand what you must do." Not know of anything better to do Ranma hurried after the retreating figure of the prince. As the duo continued to walk towards the light, it got brighter and brighter until it blinded Ranma's view.
Ranma suddenly found himself floating in some reddish-orange clouds looking down at a massive sprawling city. Looking at the city, Ranma was filled with wonder; never had he seen a city such as this. The city was a sprawling complex filled with stone buildings that spread out all over the place. Surrounding the large stone buildings were smaller buildings that looked like they were single family homes. The bleached stone roads were easy to spot out and they were in a simple and sensible grid pattern. The various trees, parks, and roof-top gardens prevented the city from looking like it was cut out of the earth along with adding a special charm to the city. All in all, the whole city was a work of art. Floating next to the gabbing Ranma, Nephelite started speaking. "A truly magnificent sight is it not? This is the great city of Jovepolis, the capital of the Kingdom of Jupiter."
"We are currently looking at the shades of what happen in this system over 10,000 years ago. At this time the world-kingdoms of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are united under the banner of the Silver Millennium. The Silver Millennium is the nation of the Earth's moon called Luna by its inhabitants. It was the Silver Millennium that founded each of the other kingdoms 4,000 years ago from the time we are currently seeing. For over 6,000 years the Silver Millennium has been ruled by the House of Selene and at this time the Silver Millennium is celebrating the 300th anniversary of Queen Serenity IV's rule."
Prince Nephelite turned to his left in order to look Ranma in the eye. The prince then softly said to Ranma. "I know that this must be confusing for you Ranma. After all, you have probably heard in your classes at school that the Earth is the only planet that can support life. But then, how many scientists claim that it's impossible for a person to change back and forth between being a man and being a woman?"
Ranma then suddenly started to descend from his spot in the sky towards one particulary grand building. Looking over to his right, Ranma saw that Nephelite was descending with him as well. Ranma and Nephelite then passed through the roof of the building, which was in fact the royal palace. When they stopped, Ranma found himself standing in one of the palace's halls. As Ranma was looking at various artworks to be found he didn't notice the maid coming up behind him until she walked through him. Nephelite smiled at the nervous look Ranma sported as Nephelite said. "Remember these are merely shades of what was, they do not notice us nor can we interact with them. Come, a remarkable event is about to occur."
With that Nephelite led Ranma down the corridor following the maid. They stopped at a non-descript door and Nephelite turned to Ranma and said. "Before you see what I am about to show you, you need to know the events of 9 months ago. During the festival of Typhoon there was a grand ball held in this palace sporting delegates from all over the system. Even the planet Earth sent delegates even though they are not connected to the world kingdoms in any way except for the most basic of diplomatic forms. During the end of the festival the princess of Jupiter, my mother, took general Nephrite of Earth to her bedchambers. On that one night of wine enhanced love and lust, I was conceived."
Nephelite grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled him through the door and into the room. In the room was a bed with a young woman in labor on it. She had long brown hair and shiny green eyes. There were four maids in green in plain green dresses trying to comfort her in her pain while the midwife worked. After a few minutes the scream of a baby was heard but the midwife with the baby was approaching the woman with a shocked face. "M-mistress y-your s-son!" the midwife said before she ran out of the room like the grim reaper was on her heals.
As if the mid-wife running away was some sort of prearranged signal, pandemonium reined in the birthing chambers. Two of maids attending the new mother, who Ranma figured must be princess Hippolyta, quickly bolted from the room with their faces covered in pure terror. The third maid had backed herself into a corner and seemed to be on the brink of breaking out in hysterics. Only the fourth maid differed from the princess's helpers. That maid smiled at the new mother and son and said softly, "Your son is a handsome little boy my lady."
Nephelite turned to Ranma, who was trying to understand the scene that had unfolded before him, and Nephelite said "this was my birth and only the beginning of the shock it created. You have to understand Ranma that for six thousand years in their recorded history every daughter of the 9 kingdoms ALWAYS had a daughter as their first born. Also that daughter naturally got the lion's share of magical power compared to her younger sisters. There was a similar ratio of power difference between the younger sisters and their brothers as there was between the first and younger daughters. News that I was a first-born male, and with more power then ANY (the moon princess not included) three first-born princess's combined had shook most commoners and lords to the core. Although I was named prince Nephelite I was also known behind the Jovian royalty's back as The Abomination. Peoples' shock and worry did not decrease when on my presentation day seven days after my birth it was discovered that not only did I bare the symbol for Jupiter upon my head, but also on my hands and feet were the symbols for the four great moons of Jupiter."
Ranma stood there in shook as the shades of the past slowly disappeared around him. Ranma Saotome could honestly say that he had seen many crazy and unbelievable things, but he never expected to see something like he had just saw. It just didn't make sense to him. Yes he could understand people being confused at the oddity that Prince Nephelite was. Actually Ranma thought it was fitting that his last incarnation seemed to turn people's world views on their heads as much as he seemed to do. However, Ranma just couldn't understand why people were so scared at Nephrite's birth.
Nephrite seemed to sense Ranma's confusion and then said, "People tend to be afraid of what they don't know or can't understand. My unique birth and the oddity of my presentation was defiantly something they couldn't understand. In fact, the fear and hysteria that my birth caused got so bad that some of the common people were calling for 'that devil child' to be killed to prevent me from contaminating others with my foulness. However Queen Serenity refused to hear it and enacted harsh punishments to those that tired to harm me. She did everything that she reasonably could to protect me." Nephelite paused for a minute as a smile formed on his face before he continued. "The Queen would often have me over at the palace to play with her daughter princess Serenity even though I was 2 and she was 14 years old. Serenity said it was convenient to have me at the Lunar Palace because my mother was serving as Sailor Jupiter and guard to the princess.
When I was around five years old I was no longer hated or feared by the population as much. I think this was partially due to the fact that they had time to calm down and accept the oddity that I was. But mostly it was because they saw the moon princess and me playing together. Princess Serenity was deeply loved by everyone in the kingdom and seeing that she liked me forced them to look at what they were doing. But in a way the Doom Sayers were correct that I was herald of disaster because on my fifth birthday my father came to see me. Although not officially recognized as my father general Nephrite was there with the three other guards and Prince Endymon. Endymon and Serenity were enamored with each other and a few months latter their romance was revealed to the public.
This caused Duchess Beryl von Nova of Avalon to become insane with trying to win the prince who was to be her betrothed next year. During her insanity she found a dark entity of enormous power called Metallia. With the power of this dark entity, Beryl was able to corrupt the generals and armies of Earth. With these armies and the legions of yoma spawned by Metallia itself 'Queen' Beryl of the Dark Kingdom launched a surprise attack on the nine worlds. The world kingdoms were the first to be destroyed due to being caught unprepared and due to the fact that the world kingdoms' armies were far smaller then those of Earth. Still, even as badly prepared as they were, the world kingdoms were able to take out a significant portion of Beryl's army. With the last of her forces Beryl attacked the Silver Millennium grinding it to the dust.
However all was not lost for the Silver Millennium. With all of her senshi dead and the enemy on her doorsteps Queen Serenity used the Silver Imperial Crystal, an artifact of unimaginable power, to trap Beryl and her legions into another dimension. Then with the last of her life energy Serenity sent the souls of her daughter, the senshi, and the entire court into the future. After that spell was complete, the last queen of a six thousand year old kingdom died among the ruins of that civilization.
But I was different than what the queen expected. You see, unlike the other people sent forward to be reborn, I was not already dead when the spell occurred and my or I should say our soul is very different then the others. These two very important variables caused our soul to not follow the commands of the spell. The end result is that not only were we born to a different family than our mother but we were reborn 23 weeks before she was born instead of about 23 years after she was and to her."
Prince Nephelite stopped talking at this point and let Ranma absorb what was said. It seemed impossible to believe that he, one trick pony Ranma, was once a powerful prince. However Ranma decided not to argue with what he had seen. Suddenly a thought came to him that he blurted out loud. "Okay, okay, I can accept that I was once a prince but what does that have to do with the Orochi that I was in the middle of fighting?" At this Nephelite smiled and said. "If you merge with me not only will we be whole once again in mind and soul, but the celestial powers that are ours by right of birth and soul lineage will be ours to command once again. You needn't worry about me taking over you for I am just a shadow that does nothing separated but joined to this body, you, allows many things to be done. If you wish us to merge just put your hand on my chest over my heart and the fusion will happen."
Ranma, figuring that this was the best thing to do, placed his hand over Nephelite's heart. Immediately both of their bodies started to glow a soft deep green light. The light got larger and brighter until the light covered their bodies and prevented them from seeing any details of the other person's body. Lighting started to crackle around and between both Ranma and Nephelite's glowing bodies. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light accompanied by a tremendous boom.
* * *
Ranma opened his eyes to find himself standing in the crater that the Orochi had sent him into thanks to its fire attack. No longer was Ranma in his burnt up clothes but he was instead wearing Nephelite's armor. The merging had gone perfectly and now, although still pretty much physically spent, Ranma knew he could win the fight. With the tremendous celestial power granted as prince of Jupiter and lord of the four moons Ranma received the knowledge that he needed to harness and weald those powers he had so recently reclaimed in a battle such as this.
As the Orochi turned its seven heads to face him Ranma cycled through his attacks and smirked. Most of his attacks were geared for a fight against human sized opponents; however there was one attack that seemed to have been crafted for just such an occasion as this. Ranma _really_wanted to try out this attack and he knew that he probably wouldn't get the chance in a long while to break it out again in battle. At least Ranma hoped he didn't have to use it in a battle for a long while. The attack was his strongest attack and totally inadvisable for a fight in a city against ground troops, but in the country against such a large beast it was perfect.
Ranma's feet shifted apart and Ranma closed his eyes to prepare to channel the vast amount of energy that the attack needed in order to work. Ramna then brought his hands together as if he was going to pray. As soon as his hands were pressed together, Ranma opened his eyes and called out, "I call upon your power!" A bright circle of energy then surrounded Ranma about 4 feet away from him in all directions. As Ranma named them, their symbols appeared within the circle surrounding him. "Hear me Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa; deliver your judgment oh Jupiter." Ranma then formed his right hand into a fist and sent it soaring into the air yelling out, "Imperial Thunder Dragon King Ascension Fist!"
From the circle surrounding him, a giant beam of golden energy soared into the air taking the form of a Chinese dragon. This dragon twisted about itself as if it was looking for prey. It then 'spotted' the Orochi and flew at it roaring in such a way as to drive fear into the hearts of the even the bravest of men. All eight heads of the Orochi let loose a barrage of fire in an attempt to stop the attack. However for the Orochi the dragon cut through the flames and struck the body of the Orochi. The dragon kept on driving though the Orochi until it came out the other end of the Orochi. As soon as its front claws passed through the other end of the Orochi, Ranma's 'dragon' exploded in a bright light, thundering booms, and hurricane like winds.
Ranma transformed out of his royal battle robes with the bright light of the explosion serving as a back drop for him. Once he had de-transformed and found himself back in his miraculously repaired regular clothes; Ranma had a contemplative look on his face due to the magnitude of what he had done finally reaching him. Ranma looked upon the dead and burnt remains of the once fearsome Orochi. Strange, Ranma thought, that even as tired as he was after the merger, he was still able to summon the strength to slay such a beast. After all, the amount of power he was able to summon in his senshi form was related to how well and rested he was in his normal form.
Ranma slowly walked through the charged ground that the Orochi had previously been located at. Once he had cleared the burnt areas of ground, Ranma picked up his discarded backback that was hidden a little ways away from the battlefield. Walking away from the gruesome seen the words left his mouth of there own accord "I have become death; the destroyer of worlds."
3. Chapter 3
Disclaimer: If you're here at this site, you know that they aren't owned by me.
Nodoka Saotome was quite worried about her son as she finished cleaning up the house to prepare for Ranma's arrival. She had read the letter that Ranma had sent her two weeks ago telling her about Akane's betrayal and that he was going to be training alone for two weeks so he could cool off before coming home at least once a day. Nodoka had mixed feelings about her son finally coming home. On the one hand she hadn't seen her 'son' for ten years and here he was returning home to her. On the other hand it was because his promised bride had betrayed him and left both families with shattered honor.
As Nodoka was looking through her bedroom trying to find something to clean, she noticed a class yearbook from when she was in high school. On a whim she took the yearbook out and started looking at it. Eventually she came to a picture of just her, her best friend Ikuko Ikari, and Ikuko's boyfriend Kenji Tuskino. Nodoka felt a tear on her cheek as she put the book back and thought about her old friends. Ikuko and Kenji had married shortly after the picture was taken and now her friends lived about 10 minutes walking distance away with their son Shingo and their daughter Usagi.
* * *
Ranma was enjoying a quiet walk through the park as he was heading home to his house. The evening after he had discovered his Jovian heritage Ranma had made another discovery. With a mild drain on his chi while he was in normal form, he was able to summon some energy from Io. Although not useful for fighting with Ranma was able to use it so that if he knew where the water was coming from he would be able to heat the water up enough so that he wouldn't change. Ranma figured he could do the same trick with just his Chi, but it would then be twice a draining on him. Knowing that in his transformed state it would be impossible for others to recognize who he was unless he wished it or they already knew that it was him Ranma had had a long debate.
Ranma remembered his mother talking about the sightings of 'Sailor Scouts' in the neighborhood Ranma knew then that the old royal guard was reborn and apparently at times fighting against enemies of the population. Knowing that his previous mother was Sailor Jupiter, Ranma decided not to mention their relationship until she confronted him about it. It would be too awkward otherwise. However much he would want to help the Sailor Scouts, Ranma knew that he couldn't fight as himself without drawing undue attention; he didn't want the nuts of Nerima to come over. Therefore an alias was needed and Ranma had decided to be known as the Jovian Paladin.
Ranma's peaceful walk was interrupted by the sound of a girl crying coming from the path ahead. Stopping to think it over Ranma bit the bullet and started heading over to the person crying. As he approached Ranma saw a girl about 15 or 16 years old sitting on a stone bench crying her eyes out. She was in a school dress and had her long golden hair done up in ox horns with long ponytails trailing down out of the ox horns. A small part of Ranma's mind whispered that she was quite lovely. Maybe she was not supermodel beautiful, but she was beautiful just the same.
Ranma quickly squashed that part of his mind and forgot that it had even whispered to him. He was in no mood to try and go after girl; Akane's betrayel still hurt him deeply. Besides, the girl was crying; going after a girl in that condition was just despicable. As the girl continued to cry, Ranma grew more and more uncomfortable. Although the merging along with his mother's letters had helped Ranma gain a little knowledge of how to handle social situations he knew that it was not is forte. But on the other hand Ranma never could stand to see a girl cry.
Ranma took a moment to actually think about what he should say to calm the girl down before he opened his mouth and said. "Why are you crying?" The girl turned around to face him and Ranma saw that she had soft blue eyes. The girl took a look at Ranma's inquiring face and then said. "M-my boyfriend just dumped me." That hit him in the heart. Now with Ranma you normally have to fight tooth and nail to get anything about his past out of him, but Ranma felt that this one time it would help the girl if she knew a little bit of his past. After all, a pain shared is a pain halved or so he had heard.
Sitting down next to her on the bench, Ranma closed his eyes and then started to speak. "I know what that pain's like. I had a girlfriend once." Opening his eyes Ranma turned to look at the girl as he spoke again. "However I caught her cheating on me with one of her friends. So you see, even though it hurts it could have been much worse. Don't worry. The pain slowly goes away with time." With that Ranma got up and started walking away leaving the girl to ponder what he had said; not knowing if they would ever meet again or not.
* * *
Usagi Tsukino was sitting on a stone bench pondering what the unknown young man had just told her. It had been a roller coaster of week. First she had traveled 1,000 years into the future to fight invaders from that time. Next she finds out that in that time she was queen of the whole Earth with her boyfriend as her King and husband. After an exhausting battle against the death phantom she and her friends get back to the twentieth century. Finally her boyfriend goes and dumps her in the park just after her friends leave. Needless to say, Usagi felt she deserved to have a good cry.
However Usagi thought about the strange teenager and what he had said. He had blue eyes and black hair that was in a pigtail in the back. From the quick glace at his body she noticed that he obviously worked out. She also noticed that he appeared nervous about her crying and was trying to calm her down even if he didn't know how. Still, his few words were true. Usagi could have found Mamoru cheating on her like the boy said his girlfriend had done to him.
Getting up from the bench, Usagi started walking home. She knew that her mom was waiting for the whole family to get home to tell them something. What it was Usagi had no idea but apparently there was something that was eating at mama for the whole week. During the walk Usagi thought about her relationship with Mamoru. As she thought about it she came to the realization that she and Mamoru didn't really have much in common in this lifetime. As she entered her home Usagi decided to try and make the most of the situation and not cry about the loss of her 'prince charming' too much.
Deciding to try and do something, Usagi heading upstairs to her room. There she pulled out her book bag, grabbed one of her textbooks, and started catching up in her homework. It was not fun for her, but Usagi figured that she needed to keep moving for the day to help her handle the pain of the breakup. Finally, after two hours of work, Usagi was able to finish all of her schoolwork and her make-up assignments.
Putting her books away Usagi thought about the Sailor Scouts. Although she usually didn't like being the princess and having to lead the scouts, she did think about their situation. Usagi wondered why it was that after 1,000 years of experience Neo-Queen Serenity had needed HER help to face the Black Moon Family. Suddenly a though crossed her mind. The Scouts were her body guard reborn, but they were also supposed to be soldiers. As their leader maybe she should read a book or two about how to fight battles? However that thought left her mind as Usagi heard her mother calling the family together downstairs.
When Usagi got downstairs she saw her parents sitting at the table waiting for Shingo to come in the room. Once the whole family was together Ikuko started to speak. "Okay Usagi, Shingo, as you know I like to visit an old friend of mine from high school Nodoka Saotome. Shingo, you weren't born yet but Nodoka has a son that is a year older than Usagi who is coming home after a ten year training trip with his father. Now your father and I along with Nodoka have decided that we'll all go out to eat and celebrate her son coming home."
Usagi smiled at that news, she remembered 'Aunty Nodoka' and her very frequent visits over to the Tsukino home with fondness. Besides a small party with her family and friends sounded like a good end to the day. Shingo wasn't as excided as she was, he wanted to stay home and play the new game he got from a friend. With that the whole family got up and started walking over to the Saotome home.
Usagi wonder what Nodoka's son would be like as she walked silently. She really hoped that he would be caring and gentle. But what if he was rude and arrogant like some of the jocks she knew of. After all, if he was on a ten year training trip he must be into martial arts. Would he be a friend to her or would he tease and torment her? Oh the questions were springing up in her mind and getting her worried. Usagi was pulled out of her worried state of mind when her mother stopped in front of a house and said "We're here." When Ikuko opened the door Usagi was able to see the Saotome family. Aunty Nodoka was easily recognizable, but Usagi practically froze when she saw who that the son was the same boy she meet in the park.
Nodoka smiled at her friends' family, she honestly like Shingo and Usagi like they were a daughter and son to her. Speaking up Nodoka started. "I think that introductions are in order". Gesturing to each person in turn Nodoka smiled and stated. "This is my son Ranma, Ranma this is Ikuko Tsukino, her husband Kenji Tsukino, their son Shingo Tsukino, and their daughter Usagi Tsukino."
At this point Ranma Spoke up and said after Usagi was introduced. "We've meet." At this the parents all raised an eyebrow and Kenji started talking with a stern face. "Oh? And when did this happen?" Usagi started to sweat and Ranma continued oblivious to the bombshell he was unknowingly setting off. "I meet her in the park, she was crying because her boyfriend dumped her."
Two words best describe the scene that happened upon Ranma saying those words, COMPLETE. MANIA. Kenji rotated between yelling at Usagi telling her that she should never have had a boyfriend in the first place and him promising to castrate the guy who broke his little girl's heart. Ikuko was trying to calm Kenji down. Nodoka was comforting Usagi who was slumped down on the ground with a huge sweat drop on the back of her head. Shingo kept on trying to get Kenji even angrier because he thought that the situation was hilarious. Finally Ranma was hitting his head on the wall muttering about how stupid he was bringing this up.
However, this seen of panic ended when a water pipe over Ranma's head burst open activating the curse. Turning around to seen the shocked looks on the Tsukino family and the resigned look of his mother Ranma spoke up "Ranma Saotome, sorry about this." Shingo was the first to speak up and pointing to Ranma Shingo said, "Dude, why did you just turn into a girl?" Ranma walked over to the kitchen as he spoke. "It's a curse I picked up in China by falling into the spring of drowned girl. The spring is one of many, each spring having their own cursed form. Cold water turns me into a girl and hot water turns me back into a guy. Before you ask, yes I am a guy and no, I don't like boys when I'm in my girl form."
Ranma then got a glass out of a cabinet and poured himself a glass of hot water. Not noticing that his guests had followed him into the kitchen Ranma poured the water on his head returning him to a guy. At this point Shingo said, "That's really freaky." Noticing the pained look in Ranma's face at the words her brother had carelessly spoken Usagi spoke up. "Hey, it's not his fault that he has that curse, besides at least he's human. Didn't you hear? There were a lot of cursed springs there. He could have just as easily ended up as a dog, a rat, or a Panda!"
At this point Ranma started laughing as he said. "Pops has the Panda covered, fits him too." Nodoka just shook her head and said. "Sadly yes son it does fit him. But he does have his good points. After all, look at you; I'd say that you've grown up pretty well except for your bluntness." Ranma nodded his head as he dried off his hair. At this point everyone agreed to drop the conversation silently and left to go to the restaurant
Kenji had been the one to select the restaurant and had chosen an Italian place nearby where he worked. Over all he was happy with how the dinner went. While still mad that Usagi had a boyfriend that. He. Didn't. Know. ABOUT! He was able to calm down. During the meal he had paid a lot of attention to Ranma. The boy was quiet and tried to give off an air of confidence but with an eye used to noticing small details of pictures Kenji notice that Ranma was uncomfortable, nervous, and sad. Ranma wouldn't start a conversation and tried to keep his words a few as possible. In fact Nodoka and Usagi seemed to be able to get him to talk in more than three word sentences unless provoking him.
One such instance was how Kenji found out about how Ranma's fiancé betrayed him. At first Kenji was shocked that Ranma had been engaged at such a young age but his heart went out to the young man. No one deserved to have their heart broken like that. Noticing the look of sadness in Usagi's eyes at that story Kenji felt that he should look into his daughter's life more.
They were all walking home with Ranma and his mother when suddenly five guys appeared around the corner and four appeared behind them. The center guy spoke in a creepy voice. "Give us all your money, credit cards, bank pins, and any valuables and we might let you live." Kenji was reaching for his wallet when one of the gangsters spoke and asked the boss if they could have some 'fun' with Usagi. The man's tone and perverted gaze left no question as to the kind of 'fun' the criminal was referring to. Kenji, while fearing for Usagi, noticed Ranma's face get hard with a cold rage before the boy's image flickered. Suddenly too fast for his eye to follow, Ranma bolted from his spot in a blur taking down each and every one of the gangsters.
Grabbing the person who had spoken to them Ranma slammed him into the wall and growled. "If I EVER hear about you, or your people, hurting anyone else; I will make you wish you could hide in any of the seven hells." Ranma then slammed a fist into the ground leaving the cement cracked. Bringing up the fist so that the scum could see that Ranma's fist was in good condition Ranma spoke again. "Do we understand each other?" The gang then ran away from Ranma like he was some demon after their souls.
Ranma then turned away and looked at the Tuskino's and said. "Is everyone okay?" There was no trace of the harden fighter all that Kenji could see was a nervous young man worried about him and his family. As they split up and headed home Kenji thought to himself that interesting times were coming.
* * *
Two days latter was Monday and school. While Usagi was running to get to school on time Ranma and his mother were walking to the same school in order to enroll Ranma in Juban High. Actually, Nodoka was walking on the sidewalk and Ranma was on the railing as he usually was to be found. Nodoka was in her usual kimono and Ranma was sporting blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Nodoka had gotten him several new sets of clothes for when he came home and Ranma wanted to try one out.
In no time at all Ranma and his mother were speaking to the principal of the school. Apparently the school couldn't get a hold of any transcripts for Ranma beyond middle school. This was due to Genma's laziness and Furinkin's Craziness. The Saotomes' sat down and discussed the options that were open to Ranma with the vice-principal. Finally it was decided that Ranma would take a test to see what grade he would go into.
The test took Ranma three hours to complete. The geography of Japan and China was easy for Ranma due to his having been to those locations. The rest of the world geography was a bit of a struggle for Ranma. History was easy as well as Math in which Nephelite was a child prodigy in. However, the Science part was up to the favor of the kami as to whether he succeeded or not. Over all things were looking up for Ranma as he handed in his test to the secretary for computer checking.
That peace was shattered when Ranma heard several people scream at the top of their lungs in terror. Seeing the secretary start running away he figured it was time for the Jovian Paladin to make an appearance. Closing his eyes a second in order to find the tendrils of power that flew from him to the heavens; Ranma opened the mystic floodgates to the planetary manna and allowed it to flood his entire being. Opening his eyes Ranma was now Prince Nephelite under the alias of the Jovian Paladin.
Opening a window Jovian Paladin leapt up and onto the roof in order to head towards the origin of the disturbance. Reaching the edge of the roof Jovian Paladin saw a strange creature that looked like a strange mix of a woman and a car facing off against five young women in short fukus. Instantly Jovian Paladin knew that the women were the princess, his old mother, and the inner scouts.
Suddenly the daemon launched an enormous attack that looked like black fire that left the scouts frozen in fear. However it wasn't going to hit the girls as far as the Paladin was concerned. As he leaped down to protect the girls he noticed that they started to run but that the one in the center tripped and fell on her pigtails. Thanks to the aerial training that Ranma had gone through Jovian Paladin was able to correct his fall so that he was between the fallen scout and the incoming attack. Once on the ground he let loose a yell of "Callisto Celestial Shield!" this caused a sparkling dull purple and red wall of energy form in front of the prince stopping the attack.
As the smoke cleared Jovian Paladin looked around and recognized that the scout whose life he saved was the Princess who was looking at him with wide eyes. The first friend that he ever had; that thing had tried to kill his best childhood friend and the heir to the kingdom, this was UNFORGIVABLE. A cold rage grew within him making him want to only destroy the THING that would DARE attack the sweet girl in front of him.
Turning towards the daemon the Jovan Paladin spoke with a voice filled with controlled rage and malice. "Attacking the High Princess with the intention to kill merits only death." Raising his fists in a boxing position the prince smirked as he stated "prepare to pay the ferryman, RAIDEN'S RAGE!" His fists now crackling with lighting all around and emanating from them Nephelite ran towards the daemon and started pounding the life out of it.
After a minute of fast and brutal punishment at the Paladin's hands the daemon was lying on the ground apparently gasping for breath. Lowering his hands and allowing the lightning to fad Jovan Paladin looked on demonic creature and allowed the rage to fad a bit. Raising an arm up Nephelite yelled out "IO INFIERNO!" sending with the sweep of his hand a blade of blazing red energy that cut the daemon in half ending its life.
Turning around to face the shocked scouts Nephelite spoke softly in a voice that was commanding and yet comforting at the same time while his face softened slowly as he spoke. "I am the Jovan Paladin reborn from long ago by the grace of Queen Serenity. All who threaten this city's people or attack the Queen's daughter will die by my hands." Not waiting for the Scouts to respond to that statement the Paladin jumped up onto the roof and quickly vanished from sight.
* * *
At the Cherry Hill Shrine latter that day after school let out pandemonium reigned. The scouts were all there with the moon cats talking at each other about the attack and the appearance of the 'Jovan Paladin'. Finally Luna had enough of trying to follow the conversations and putting her paws to her face whistled loudly to get the gaggling girls' attention. The scout all stopped talking to face the feline familiar and waited for her to speak. "Okay," she started, "during class your school was attacked by a daemon. During the fight this Jovan Paladin showed up, brutally attacked and then killed the monster. Now one at a time girls, can you add any RELAVENT information about the monster and its slayer?" Luna added the emphasis while looking at Minako and Makoto.
Rei looked up and then said. "Now that you mention it, he was dressed in armor like Prince Endymon but the color looked closer to the colors worn by Makoto when she's Sailor Jupiter." Ami decided at this point to add her observations. "He seemed enraged when he saw that Usagi was attacked by the daemon and referred to her as the princess." Usagi who was munching on a rice ball made a comment in between bits. "He had a gold crown with the symbol for Jupiter engraved on it." At this point everyone turned to face Usagi with shocked looks. Usagi ate for a moment before she noticed that everyone was looking at her and exclaimed "What!" Rei muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Amazing that meatball head actually noticed that." This comment set Usagi off crying for a few minutes.
Artemis turned the facts over in his head for a minute before a memory came to him turning his blood cold. Softy in a voice filled with fear that everyone somehow heard he spoke. "Prince Nephelite, the Abomination." Looking up and seeing that he had everyone's undivided attention Artemis side and said. "Sit down girls; I just remembered something that will shock your view of the past."
Noticing that everyone was sitting down Artemis continued. "During the Silver Millennium every one of the planets had life on them including the Moon. All of them but the Earth was ruled under Queen Serenity as you remember with you acting as guards for the Moon princess besides being princess' yourselves. Besides you, the four outer worlds had princess' who were sailor scouts as well. These Outer scouts were more powerful generally than the inner scouts with Saturn being the strongest capable of destroying a world with her power. However, during the last years of the Silver Millennium someone else was born who was feared above all, even Sailor Saturn whose awakening was said by the lower masses to herald the death of worlds. This person was Prince Nephelite, Makoto's first born son." At this point every scout was shocked and Makoto fell passed out from the shock.
Waiting for his audience to be able to hear him again Artemis collected the memories that were flooding his brain before continuing. "Prince Nephelite was the first born son EVER recorded to be born to a citizen of the Silver Millennium. His power, when he was born, was the highest birth power recorded except for the princess's. He drew his power from Jupiter and its major moons naturally when scientist's had insisted that it was impossible for a mortal to sustain a connection like that to more that one celestial body.
These facts led to the boy being called the Abomination by the common people. It got so bad at one point that the Queen had to bring him to the Lunar Palace in order to protect him. Attacks' on the prince's life ended do to the efforts of the Queen and the fact that if an assassin managed to get to the young prince, his powers were manifest killing any threats to his life. I guess when the Queen set you all to the present to be reborn she sent the prince as well."
For a few moments everyone in the room was silent before Makoto got up the nerve to as a question that was eating at her once she heard that the handsome hero was her reincarnated son, "W-who's the f-father of m-my son?" At this Minako blurted out. "General Nephrite, you told me when you asked my to be your child's godmother even though it was a secret." Makoto fainted on hearing who the father was and Minako snapped her fingers in frustration that _another _cute boy was off-limits to her.
* * *
At the underground hidden lab Kaolinite was chewing out Eudial over the failed attack. "What were you thinking? Your mission was to find a talisman and instead of victory our daemon was destroyed and you didn't even _attempt _to steal a heart crystal to check if it had a talisman. Now what do you have to say for yourself hum?" Eudial looked at her superior and grinding her teeth spoke out her first words. "_Magnus Kaolinite_, I was trying to get the heart crystals of the Sailor scouts as it seemed likely that a talisman was hidden in one of them. Before the daemon could weaken them so that I could steal the crystals an _unknown _fighter appeared and killed the daemon. I then left due to the objective being impossible."
Kaolinite thought about what she was told for a minute before speaking. "Very well, your actions are excusable. Now go." With that Kaolinite turned around and left Eudial to simmer in the room. As Kaolinite was walking out she thought to herself. Hum, this new fighter changes things, but by how much? With that she left to go and talk with the professor to see if he had any ideas about what to do with their plans to revive Pharaoh 90.
Entering the part of the lab where Professor Tomoe was working on creating Daemon seeds Kaolinite softly approached and then spoke. "Professor there is a problem; a new fighter appeared and prevented one of the Witches Five from obtaining a heart crystal. Does this new person affect our plans to bring Pharaoh 90 here to Earth?" The Professor turned to Kaolinite and said. "This changes nothing, the Witches' Five WILL collect the talismans allowing Mistress 9 the strength she needs to summon our master here." Kaolinite bowed her head and stated that she understood before letting the professor continue his work in peace by leaving the room.
* * *
In his room at home Ranma was meditating about the fight and what he should due in the future. Thinking to himself Ranma spoke in his mind to focus his thoughts. "What happened out there? I was calm and ready to fight the daemon. Even when it attacked the scouts I was fine. But when I saw that it was the princess… I just lost it. WHY! Maybe it was a one time thing, yah that's what it was. The scouts should figure out who I was by now unless they don't remember; either way, I won't tell them who I am or who I was until they figure it out.
What about that monster? Was it acting alone or was it part of an invasion? Mum said that the Scouts fight monsters in what seem like sets of fights. Each set of fights seems to last several months before stopping. Then there's ah few weeks or months before the next round happens with a different set of leaders leading the monsters. If it's been quiet sense I started writing to mum then that means that another round is starting up again.
If that's the case then I'll have to 'disappear' for 'Jovian Paladin' to fight the bad guys. Mum's going to worry about me if I keep disappearing on her. If mom asks if I'm fighting the monsters what am I going to due? I don't want to lie again; 'Ranko' was enough lying to mom for me. I guess the only thing I can due is tell mom about prince Nephelite.
Ranma went down stairs and found his mom. After showing and telling her about Prince Nephelite and what he could remember about the Silver Millennium he stood and waited for her to say something. Needless to say it was quite a shock to her system to hear about it but finally she spoke and told Ranma how proud she was of him and that she wouldn't speak of his alternate identity to anyone, unless he stated that the person knew about his secret.
4. Chapter 4
Prince of the Planets Section 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Ranma1/2
Author's Notes: Well I am definitely glad to see the number of hits and positive reviews that this story has generated in such a short time. Hopefully this new and improved version of The Prince of the Planets is even more enjoyable to my readers. Enough of that, Lets get on with the story
Ranma Saotome woke up in the morning after having a good night's rest, which was still something new to the martial arts prodigy. As he was getting his clothes on Ranma thought about how lucky he was to have such an understanding mother. After all, how many mothers would just accept the idea that their son is a reincarnated prince whose previous mother has been reincarnated and is running around as well like it's the price of rice at the market? Sure Nodoka was a little worried for him and whether he still considered her to be his mother. But after telling her that she would always be his mother, Nodoka was fully supportive of him and didn't let the fact that his previous mother's reincarnation was out there was well get to her. After thinking about it for a moment, Ranma just smiled and thought that finally karma was staring to pay back the debt it owed him.
Ranma quickly ran down the stairs and barely managed to stop himself from sprinting across the hall. Ranma arrived at the table and sat down right when Nodoka was placing his breakfast plate on the table. The two of them just sat around the table for a few minutes having small talk as they ate their breakfast. After Ranma was done eating and was about to get up, Nodoka said to him, "Wait Ranma. This letter came in the mail for you yesterday." After saying that, Nodoka pulled an envelope out of her dress and handed it to Ranma.
Ranma quickly torn open the envelope and skimmed through the contents of the letter before smiling. Nodoka, on seeing his smile, asked Ranma who the letter was from and what was in it. At this Ranma smirked and said, "It's a letter from Ryoga. I sent him a letter a few days ago with some information I found about emotional Chi from that book you gave me. Ryoga may be a bit pig-headed at times, but he is my friend and needed to know about the dangers of his emotional based Chi attack. This letter says that he's gotten my information and is glad that I sent it. Also, he says that he's found some monks that can help him with his direction problem. I glad that he's able to cure at least one of his curses. I wish could cure one of mine, even if it was only the crazy luck curse I seem to have. Finally we'll be able to have a duel on time for once."
Nodoka just smiled at the happy look on Ranma's face as he told her about the letter. She had seen his eyes light up when he mentioned having a duel with Ryoga. If there was one thing that she knew without a doubt, besides the fact that Ranma loved her, was that he absolutely loved a challenge. Ranma didn't care what the challenge was, it was the testing himself against others that Ranma loved about the challenge. If the challenge in question just happened to be a martial arts contest; that was even better in her son's book.
Nodoka then glanced at the clock on the wall and seeing the time said, "Ranma its time for you to leave. You don't want to be late for your first day at the new school do you? After all, it wouldn't do to have a bad first impression now that you have a fresh start to school." Ranma nodded his head showing that he didn't want to be late just before he got up from the table. Ranma then grabbed his school books and lunch before he headed out the door leaving Nodoka alone in the house with a smile on her face.
Ranma was walking on the fence on his way to school when his eyes caught sight of two blonde pigtails ahead of him. Ranma then hurried up his pace a bit till he caught up to Usagi. Ranma startled Usagi, causing her to drop her books all over the sidewalk and fall down on her rear, when he said, "Hey Usagi." Ranma felt a little guilty about causing her to fall over and, after flipping over her head and landing on the ground in front of her, started to pick up her scattered books for her. "So sorry Usagi, I honestly didn't mean to startle you." Ranma uttered as he hurriedly gathered up her books for her in an attempt to apologize.
Usagi sat there where she had fallen on the sidewalk blinking her eyes as she looked on at Ranma as he scrambled to get her books for her. At first Usagi was angry that he had caused her to fall down and spill her books, but seeing him collect her books made it impossible to keep angry. She came out of her thoughts when she saw Ranma hold out a hand to help her up. Usagi gave Ranma a bright smile as he helped her up and then gave her back her books before he returned to the fence. The two of them then started walking to the high school.
After a minute of walking together in silence Usagi, without breaking her stride, decided to ask Ranma a question, "Ah Ranma, why are you walking on the fence?" At this Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "One of the few things I agree with my old man about is to turn everything that you can into training. By walking on the fence I'm practicing my balance and coordination. Besides, it's a lot of fun once you get the hang of it."
Usagi thought about what Ranma had said for a few minutes. Usagi had to admit that it did look like fun and she could see how it would do what Ranma said it trained him for. She then asked, "Ranma, do you think that you can teach me to walk up there like you?" Ranma thought about it for a second before he said, "Sure. But ah, I think we should wait till tomorrow." At this Usagi inquired, "Why should I wait till tomorrow to learn how to walk on a fence? Why don't you want to teach me now?" Ranma then had a nervous chuckle in his voice as he replied, "Well yes, we could start now. However I don't think you want to flash you panties to everyone." When Usagi heard Ranma's reason she blushed and nodded her head in agreement.
About a minute after Ranma had told her why he wasn't going to teach her how to walk on the fence, Usagi said in a very uncharacteristically quiet voice, "Thank you Ranma." Ranma when he heard Usagi say this; turned his head to pay especial attention to what she had to say. Usagi then continued on talking in a quiet voice, "In all the commotion Friday and Monday, I didn't get to tell you how grateful I am to you for protecting me and my family from those robbers. I got so nervous when that one robber started talking-" At this point Usagi was interrupted by Ranma who said in a firm tone that didn't allow for any debate, "If they had so much as touched you, I would have killed them. Still, your welcome just the same Usagi."
Usagi was looking up at Ranma and clearly saw face. When he mentioned the robbers, his face became hard and Usagi could see that he would have indeed killed the robbers if they had touched her. However, as soon as Ranma had uttered that line, his face returned to the easy going attitude that Usagi had come to associate with Ranma. Silently Usagi thought about the changes in Ranma's personality. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind when she realized that the Jovian Paladin had used a similar voice when he had seen her attacked. For a brief second Usagi contemplated the idea that Ranma could be the Jovian Paladin before the thought vanished from her mind as the school building came into view.
The two of them walked into the school courtyard together and entered the building to go to their classrooms which, for some reason, were the same room. Neither of them noticed the surprise in the local gossip queen's (Minako) eye when she spotted the two of them walking together. Although Ranma and Usagi weren't holding hands, Minako was determined to grill her friend about where this new hunk came from. After all, as the senshi of love it was Minako's duty to ensure that destined love (Usagi and Mamoru, her and Ranma) happened!
Ranma would have preferred it if he could just sit down in a seat in class without any fuss, but that was not to be. Apparently the teacher of the classroom liked to announce to the class when new things happened that were of note, and a new student in the class was something of note in the teacher's eyes. Tapping his desk with his pointer, the teacher got the attention of the slightly rambunctious students. He then, in a slightly boring voice that made the students wish for another hour of sleep, said very officially, "Good day class. Today I have the pleasure to welcome a new student to this fine school and who will be joining us for the rest of the year. Please come in, Mr. Ranma Saotome."
Ranma walked into the classroom and started to mentally berate himself for his outfit choice. When he had gotten up in the morning he had decided to go with tight jeans, a black wife beater tee-shirt, and his Maoist cap. Now, while he may have liked how he looked in the outfit, it seemed like the girls of the class liked his outfit to. Even the blue haired girl in the back of the class the Ranma figured was some type of bookworm was sporting a fine blush after taking a glance at him.
This was so not what Ranma had wanted on his first day of school. He had wanted to just get into school, learn his lessons to prove to himself that he could do more than just martial arts, and get by without causing too big of a stir. Unfortunately, he seemed to have amassed a fan girl following of almost every girl in the class. This, from the rather pathetic glares of death being shot his way, was not earning him any friends from the guys of the class.
Apparently the teacher was completely oblivious to the new friction in his classroom, because the teacher just smiled and said, "Well now then Ranma, why don't you pick a seat and sit down so that we can begin class?" Ranma dumbly nodded his head as he searched over the desks in front of him for a rather safe location to sit down in. He quickly spotted an empty seat next to Usagi which only had two other people sitting next to it. One of these was a red haired girl and the other was a rather short haired boy with thick coke bottle glasses. Besides the fact that these three were the only ones sitting by the seat, it was also on the last row to the far left. Ranma quickly, and to the complaints of several girls, moved to that seat and sat down for class.
* * *
It was lunch time and Minako was quite annoyed. First that hunk had walked in with Usagi this morning. Then it seemed like her luck was about to go her way when the teacher told the very fit boy to find a seat. After all, she was a very pretty girl and there was a seat right next to her that was open. But he had to ignore her and go sit down by Usagi! Yes, it made sense to her that the boy may want to sit by someone that he knew, however Usagi already had a boyfriend!
Looking out over the cafeteria Minako had been hoping to find out where that hunk Ranma was so that she could sit next to him. Then they would get to talking, he would soon enough be falling for her charms, and she would have landed herself one hunk of a boyfriend! However for some reason Ranma seemed to have missed the memo and wasn't getting with the program.
After looking for him for a few minutes, Minako huffed to herself and walked over to where Ami, Makoto, and Rei were sitting and having their lunches. Sitting down, her annoyance plan to see, Minako let out a sigh of exasperation. As she put her lunchbox on the table, Minako suddenly noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where did Usagi go to?" Minako inquired honestly because normally Usagi could be found sitting with the rest of the scouts. Ami looked up from her sandwich and said after swallowing, "I think that she's sitting with that new boy Ranma."
Minako banged her head against the table and with annoyance in her voice said, "Why does she get to sit with the beef special!! She already has a boyfriend; she shouldn't be hogging them all like snacks!" Makoto, who for some strange to her reason had not been drooling over Ranma, narrowed her eyes at the blonde. With hardness rarely heard in her voice by any of her friends, Makoto said, "Grow up Minako! Besides for your information, I found out on Friday at the meeting from Luna that Mamobaka dumped Usagi just after our little 'after school' field trip. Also, Luna told me that Ranma happens to be the son of an old family friend who recently came back after spending several years with his father."
This news surprised Ami who, like Minako, had thought that Usagi and Mamoru were still dating. However, what surprised the girl genius even more was how Makoto was acting about Ranma. She had honestly pegged Makoto as being next in like with Minako in trying to date the, admittedly very good looking, young man. Not wanting her questions to go unanswered, Ami inquired. "Makoto, why are you acting like this? I would have thought that, you know, you would have wanted to date Ranma yourself."
At this two other inquiring eyes turned towards the first senshi of Jupiter. Makoto shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know. It just feels I don't know how to exactly put it, wrong to me to want to go out on a date with Ranma. Besides, I was over at the Tuskino home on Saturday and heard that Ranma was the one who first found out about Usagi and Mamobaka breaking up. I don't know what happened as Auntie Ikoku was pretty tight lipped and Usagi's father was still quite upset, but Ranma apparently said something that helped Usagi get over the jerk."
Minako now felt terrible at how she had acted. Although she still wanted Ranma to go out on a date with her. In fact hearing that Ranma took the time to cheer Usagi up was a major plus in her book. However it was obvious that Usagi needed a friend to help her get through this particular problem and Ranma, who had never met Mamoru, was the best choice for the job. She would just wait until Usagi got over the breakup and then she would get Ranma to notice her.
* * *
After school was over, the inner scouts were all peacefully walking over to Rei's family shrine. However, their peaceful walk ended when they heard the sound of people screaming. The girls quickly made a dash to a secluded area and, after a quick light show, came out in their Sailor Scout uniforms. The Sailor scouts came out onto the battle field to notice that same red haired girl drawing something out of a person's chest while a daemon that looked like a Freddy Kruger want-a-be was wreaking havoc all over the area.
Getting into their usual poses, Usagi shouted out, "Don't you dare attack the peaceful citizens of this city! I am Sailor Moon and in the name of the Moon I will punish you!" The daemon just smirked at the Sailor Scouts and yelled out. "You may have won against my predecessor, but I'm far more powerful than that fool ever would dream to be." His 'hands' then started glowing in an ominous black color before he shouted out, "Kruger Chaos Claws!"
The Scouts all saw two large black shadowy claws shoot out of the daemon's hands and fly towards them. All of the Scouts quickly dodged the attack and saw the claws sink into the car behind where they were. The car turned pitch black in color before it promptly exploded. Luckily, no one was caught in the shrapnel from the explosion.
However, things were not going too good for the daemon as the all Scouts immediately launched their attacks at the daemon. Although it managed to escape from the attacks, the daemon was wounded by a glancing blow from a 'Mars Burning Madelia'. The daemon scowled as it looked at its now burnt and useless left arm and back to the now smirking Scouts.
The Daemon then thought back on the attack and said with a sadistic grin on his face. "You may have wounded me Sailor scum, but you'll never win. Your attacks are too slow to catch me unless you attack me from all sides." At this the daemon let out a horrible laugh as it said, "But if you do that, you'll have to worry about the civilians getting caught in the attack as well. How many are you willing to sacrifice to take me down? Can you handle losing one, ten, or a hundred? How many people's lives will you trade to 'punish me in the name of the Moon? "
A pit grew in the bottom of the Scouts stomachs as they realized that the daemon was correct. All of their fights previously had been on the enemy's territory or the enemy was slow enough that they could hit it without worrying about casualties. Usagi really didn't like where this was going. She had sworn that she would use her powers to protect the people of this city, not use them to end people's lives. Silently she sent up a prayer begging the gods to send her some way of stopping this creature without killing anyone else.
Apparently the gods were watching out for her when she saw someone jump down in front of her from somewhere behind her. Usagi turned her head and saw that the person was none other than the Jovian Paladin. With a concerned look in his eye, the Paladin softly asked her, "Hello there Princess Serenity, what can I do to help you?" Usagi had to fight down a blush that was starting to form on her face; Tuxedo Mask had never asked what he could do to help her in a battle before.
Luckily, from Usagi's point of view, she was able to fight down her blush and turned to face the inquiring prince. Quickly and with her worry evident in her voice Usagi said, "That monster's too quick for us to hit it with our attacks, can you do something to keep it from moving as quickly?" On hearing this request from Usagi, Jovian Paladin just smirked and said in a friendly voice, "Your wish is my command, Princess. I'll keep that monster from moving and then you'll get rid of it. Just like what we used to do in the palace to get candy from the kitchen."
That last statement caused a small smile to appear on Usagi's face. She suddenly remembered several incidences where Prince Nephelite distracted the palace guards while she would sneak into the kitchen to steal a snack for the two of them. Usagi shook her head, now was not the time to be having flashbacks of her previous life! She watched as Nephelite's reincarnation pulled his left hand back and the fingertips of that hand started to glow. With a smile on his face, Ranma rapidly pushed his hand forward and shouted out, "Jove's Joust!" Out of each of his fingertips flew a small bolt of lighting, each about a foot long and half an inch wide.
The bolts of lightning flew at tremendous speed towards the daemon, where they speared its hands, legs, and chest. Nephelite turned to face Usagi and said, "There you go princess, one daemon ready for removal." Usagi nodded her head and then got down to business. With one quick use of her Moon Spiral Heart Attack Usagi destroyed the daemon completely.
Usagi looked on the sight of the battle and sighed in relief that no one had died. Suddenly she remembered that the red head with the daemon had taken something out of a young girl's chest. Usagi and Ranma hurried over to the young girl who was lying down on the ground. Ami was hurriedly scanning the girl and said to Usagi. "This is very bad. If we don't get that crystal back into this girl in the hour, she will die."
Ranma saw the look on Usagi's face and determined even more than he already had to get that crystal back. Reaching out with his improved Chi senses Ranma looked around before he shouted out, "Come quickly! I can sense that the witch was heading off in that direction." The Scouts saw where he was pointing at and started running in that direction. However, Ami and stayed behind wanting to monitor the girl's condition.
The five reincarnated warriors form the Silver Millennium ran along the streets following Ranma's lead. They stopped a few minutes latter when they saw two girls in Sailor Scout uniforms holding the crystal that the witch had made off with inspecting it like it was a diamond to be evaluated. Usagi shouted at the girls, "What do you think your do?! A girl will die if she doesn't get that back within her soon."
The blonde girl with short hair just scoffed at Usagi and said, "Get out of here little girl. Leave the decision making to the true fighters." Just after she said that, Sailor Uranus found Ranma's knee crashing into her spine. Without stopping for a second, Ranma flipped over Uranus and brought her head crashing down into the cement so hard that the cement cracked.
Neptune looked on in shock as the, unknown to her, man so savagely attacked her lover. She saw the blood bleeding down from Uranus' eye sockets and mouth as Uranus' unconscious body was held up by Ranma who was holding Uranus by her hair. Ranma then threw Uranus away like she was a piece of trash.
Neptune wanted to avenge her lover and was about to attack the youth. However, Ranma got into her face and had a hand that crackled with lighting raised to her throat. Neptune felt as he grabbed the crystal and casually tossed it to Makoto. Looking into his eyes Neptune felt that she was looking into the eyes of a very large and enraged tiger. In a voice that froze her blood Neptune heard Ranma say, "Listen well and remember well; Senshi of Neptune. If you or your foolish lover EVER so much as utter one word of disrespect towards the Moon princess, or so casually disobey her commands, run. Run away and hope that I never find you because when I do, unless the princess pardons you for your offence, I will kill you."
Ranma then lowered hand and gave a final glare to Neptune before saying, "Remember your place, Sailor Neptune. You are but the servant of the royal family of the Moon. That means that you WILL follow the commands of Princess Serenity, who fights to protect this city as Sailor Moon. Tell Uranus to remember that and remember her place. If she acts up, I will spay her to calm her down."
When Ranma finished his speech, Sailor Neptune ran towards where she had seen Uranus go sailing. Anyone who would look at the nervous girl would swear that she was running like the hounds of hell were after her. Ranma turned around to face the remaining Sailor Scouts. Rei and Minako were shocked that the handsome prince could be so savaged to a Scout. Makoto was torn at seeing how her son had handled the situation. Usagi was sad that her little friend had grown up to be so vicious and wondered what could have caused him to act like that.
The five of them all silently walked back to where Ami was staying with the girl. Makoto quietly placed the heart crystal back into the lying girl's body and was relieved to see color returning to the girl's cheeks. Once everyone was sure that the girl would in fact make it, the Scout's turned to face Ranma. Rei spoke her mind and said, "What the hell was that for back there Paladin! Those were fellow scouts who you just attacked and threatened with death. So what's your excuse for acting like that?!"
Ranma, now that he had calmed down, was a little ashamed that he had acted like that. However, he was only ashamed that he had acted in anger and not at his actions as a whole. Ranma turned to face the angry priestess and said, "Sailor Uranus was openly defying and insulting the princess while also knowingly endangering a civilian's life. The punishment for such an unforgivable act back in the Millennium would have been her immediate execution involving her being publicly striped naked, bound in barbed wire, and thrown into an acid vat!"
At this every scout's face showed their shock at the thought that the Silver Millennium having such a barbaric punishment. Rei was the first to regain her ability to speak as she said, "W-what the hell are you talking about!" At this Ranma realized that the scouts apparently did not have their full memories of the Silver Millennium like he did and only had an idealized vision of it.
Shaking his head, Ranma said in a soft voice to explain it to the girls whose world views suffered such a radical shock. "When the Silver Millennium was set up 16,000 years ago by Queen Selene I, certain rules were set up for the various then noble houses. One of the laws that Selene I wrote was that 'Should a warrior of noble birth, with full control of their faculties, knowingly disobey the lawful orders of the Royal house and as a result deliver grievous injury to a civilian; then that noble shall suffer the ancient punishment of the traitor's death bath.' That punishment in the 6,000 year history of the Silver Millennium has only been delivered three times and all times it was on a senshi of Uranus."
It was at that moment that Scouts realized the day dream that they had unknowingly created. What did the really know about the Silver Millennium? All they had were their powers and the knowledge that they had been princesses of various planets with Usagi as their soon to be ruler. They knew nothing about the customs, laws, history, or beliefs of the kingdom whose memory they had sworn to protect. Each of them vowed then and there to try to find out everything they could about the Silver Millennium."
Usagi turned to look at the Jovian Paladin and saw the concern in his eyes. He knew far more about the kingdom then she did and apparently fully believed in at least some of their laws. However, it was obvious that he was also influenced by today's laws and his present life's experiences. She could see the kind soul within the Paladin that was concerned for the pain the Scouts were going through.
Usagi spoke up to end the trouble between Ranma and Scouts by saying, "Thank you for bringing this my attention Jovian Paladin. I want you to know that from now on, that particular law of my ancestor is forever rescinded. In the future, you are to bring any relevant laws that I, do to our resurrection, may have forgotten before you enact their punishments."
Ranma then got on his knee before Usagi, and while bowing his head said, "You have the bond of in my blood, the oath of my honor, and the eternal servitude of my soul, princess Serenity. Never doubt for a second that your orders will not be obeyed." With that Ranma left the Scouts to themselves in the street.
Author's notes:
Some people may be shocked at the punishment I have Ranma details. I would like to draw their attention to the fact that many kingdoms for a long time had nasty death penalties for treason towards the crown. For example, until 1814 it was on the books that the full punishment for treason in England was to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. http://en. fully describes this nasty process. I am NOT in any way trying to demonize the Silver Millennium. I am just trying to base some of its social conditions off of the European Kingdoms due to the fact that the kingdom's architecture and shown dress is European in style.
In the next chapter-
Ranma confronts himself and goes to Nodoka for advice about his actions; Uranus and Neptune get waked on the head by Setsuna and her staff; Ryoga comes to town, and the cats get grilled by the inners. All of this is happening while the Death Busters continue to work.
5. Chapter 5
HistorianoftheKais- I want to thank all of my readers who have posted a review and I wanted to clear up two things that were being asked in the reviews. One person commented that the Silver Millennium would have done away with the punishment I created long ago. I can't really argue this one way or another and at this point in the story is a mute point. However, I would like to point out that there are still taxes on the books in the U.S. for taxes that were emergency measures to help pay for the Spanish-American War! Also, someone said that I was making Ranma into a 'badass'. I don't see it like that, Ranma in my story has about the same personality that he had in the latter volumes of the Manga. But he will also have a temper that will flare up whenever someone attacks Usagi whither it is verbally or physically. Now on with the story
Nodoka was deeply worried about Ranma. He had come home female and in a bad mood and without giving her a hello, proceeded up to his room. She had called him down to dinner an hour ago and he had not responded. Nodoka sat at the table debating wither or not she should start to eat the dinner she had made alone before it got cold. She then chilled herself for thinking like that while Ranma was in obvious distress.
It hurt her so to see the kind of life her son had to put up with. First there was her husband's admittedly less then stellar raising of him which she had foolishly allowed. Next, Ranma had to put up with that annoying curse. After that, Ranma was then promptly engaged to that dishonorable Akane. However, Nodoka suspected that this current trouble for her son must have something to do with the latest curve ball in his life.
Nodoka honestly didn't know what her thoughts on that aspect of her son's life. Nodoka's parents had raised her in the Buddhist and Shinto beliefs, so the idea of reincarnation was not a foreign concept to her. However, she had never expected to have that belief confirmed and confronting her like it was in Ranma's situation. Nodoka didn't know where to go to get help in helping Ranma deal with the problems connected to his past life.
However, Nodoka was not about to let that handicap stop her efforts to help her son. While she might not know what Ranma had lived through in his past life as 'Prince Nephelite,' she did know that right now she was his mother and nothing could change that. Nodoka did have a small smile at the thought that her son had been a prince as she slowly walked up the stairs.
Nodoka walked down the hall towards the closed door of Ranma's room. Nodoka softly knocked twice on the door and waited for Ranma to respond. After waiting a few minutes for Ranma to respond, Nodoka softly opened the door and stuck her head inside. It tore at Nodoka's heart to see Ranma lying on his bed crying into his pillow. Her son was a proud boy so whatever had reduced him to crying like this must have really been bad for her boy.
Nodoka softly glided over to Ranma's bed and gently scooped her son into her arms. It a while for Nodoka to calm Ranma down and get the story of what happened out of her boy. She saw how alone Ranma was feeling at that moment when he told her about how he had to explain facts about the Silver Millennium to the Sailor Scouts like they were little girls.
Nodoka could see that Ranma had used the fact that the Scouts had been reborn to help him cope with the stress of dealing with his past life. However, that incident had shattered Ranma's safety net. Nodoka saw the little prince in Ranma that wanted and needed the Sailor Scouts to be better than he was. They had obviously been Nephelite's heroines growing up who were always there for him with advice and help.
Softy Nodoka whispered into Ranma's ear, "Don't worry my son, everything will be fine." Ranma turned to look at his mother with a lost expression on his face. Nodoka smiled and said, "You've had a bad shock today. Even after living your life as my son, there is still a part of you that is a little boy. A little boy who today found out that his heroines were human. Just because the sailor scouts can't remember their past lives as well and you can, does not mean that you're alone."
At this Ranma looked down at his legs and said, "That may be true. But what kind of a person am I turning into? I lost complete control of myself and brutally attacked Uranus. I mean, yes she was disobeying the princess and needed to be brought down a peg or two; but she didn't deserve to be mangled like that."
Nodoka thought for a second about how to answer Ranma before she spoke. "Ranma, I don't know why exactly you acted like you did. However, I think I can put your mind at ease. You were very close to the princess in your last life. That closeness has turned into a very large desire to protect the princess in this life. You assumed that all of the scouts had all of their memories of their last lifetimes just like you did. When that Sailor Uranus started to disrespect Sailor Moon in front of you, you using the information that you had at the time logically assumed that she was insulting the princess with full understanding of what she was doing."
"So you see Ranma, when you acted like you did, you were trying to bring justice to a serious offence and save a life at the same time. True, you should have acted about it calmly and checked with the princess first, but you are honestly sorry about it and the princess forgave you. Put this in the past my son and learn about it. You now know how protective you are of the princess and how enraged you can be by her being attacked. I know that you can learn to control your anger and continue to help your friend."
Nodoka watched as Ranma thought about what she had said for a few minutes. Then Ranma's confident grin slowly returned to his face showing that she had gotten her message across to Ranma. After Nodoka gave Ranma another hug, she led the both of them down to the kitchen where she re-heated dinner.
* * *
Ranma and Usagi were calmly walking home from school together in comfortable silence. Both of them had once again met up on their way to school and had started walking with each other. Ranma wasn't saying anything because he still thinking about what his mom had told him last night. Usagi wasn't trying to talk to Ranma because she could see that something was eating at her acquaintance and to be honest, she was still trying to get over the shock at realizing that the Silver Millennium wasn't as rosy and glistening as she had so childishly assumed had caused.
At school during her free period, Usagi had talked to her history teacher about countries around the world and their morals. She had been slightly shocked to learn that every country it seemed had, as her old teacher put it, a 'skeleton in their closet' of some sort. On seeing how many countries had things that their people were not proud of, but were still able to move past them, Usagi had her hope in the Silver Millennium restored.
However, even though her hope was restored in her past kingdom, Usagi was now looking at it in a permanently different light. The kingdom that her past life would have inherited was a real kingdom, with all the muck and grim to go along with the marble and champagne. The people of the kingdom would have had to have been real people who could love, appreciate beauty, and had hopes and dream. However, there was a side of her people who could hate, despise, and loathed their fellows. That side might have been small and kept in check, but to pretend that it wasn't there would have been foolish.
This train of thought made Usagi wonder, what had happened in that future of Crystal Tokyo? Her future self had told her in private that Crystal Tokyo was just as great and perfect as the Silver Millennium had been at its height. What exactly was Neo-Queen Serenity referring to when the queen had told her that? Neo-Queen Serenity had called Crystal Tokyo a utopia. However, Usagi knew now that, while it might have been a splendid and generally just kingdom, the Silver Millennium was not a utopia.
Usagi racked her brains to think about what that logically said about Crystal Tokyo. This was hard for her because Usagi liked to just do whatever Ami told her was the best choice was. Finally she decided that it must have meant that Neo-Queen Serenity must not have truly understood what it was she was running. This could explain, Usagi thought, why Crystal Tokyo suffered so much during the Black Moon attack. If Neo-Queen Serenity was living a fantasy life, then she must not have prepared for the possibility of attack.
Usagi then made a promise to herself then there silently as she walked next to Ranma. Usagi vowed that she would look at each situation that came up as clearly as she could. That didn't mean that she couldn't strive towards her goals, but that she wouldn't just ignore the facts that she didn't want to hear about. As much as Usagi didn't want to do it, she knew that she would have to get some books on warfare. Also, some books on political history would be needed if she was to become the leader the scouts needed and possibly a queen.
Usagi and Ranma were approaching a large park when Ranma noticed a person walking down a cross street towards them. Ranma then stopped walking and shouted out, "Hey Ryoga, how you doing?!" Usagi stopped walking and turned her head to see who Ranma was yelling at. She saw a boy about Ranma's age carrying a backpack and a red umbrella.
Usagi thought that the boy who she assumed must be Ryoga was cute. Not as cute as Ranma, but still cute. Usagi's mind suddenly came to a halt as she went over her thoughts. Ranma? Cute? Usagi turned to look at her pigtailed friend on the fence who was smiling like he was without a care in the world. A faint blush appeared on Usagi's face as she realized that her friend was indeed a very handsome young boy her age. Usagi stopped thinking about that immediately. She had only lost Mamoru about two weeks ago and Ranma still was quite sore about the loss of his fiancé. Dating anyone wasn't in the cards for either of them at the moment.
Usagi pulled herself out of her thoughts and watched as Ranma flipped off the fence and landed a few feet in front of Ryoga with his arms across his chest and a smirk on his face. "Hey Ryoga, where are you going?" Ranma said in a friendly voice that also seemed to carry a challenge to Ryoga as well. Ryoga lifted his umbrella off of his shoulders and put one end on the ground while keeping the other end in his hand. Ryoga answered Ranma, to Ranma's surprise and delight, in a cheerier tone than was the lost boy's normal. "I was just looking for you Ranma. After all, we have a match to settle between the two of us."
Ranma's eyes lighted up when he heard Ryoga say that to him, a good old fashion martial arts no holds match was just what the doctor ordered in his mind. Ranma then said while pointing his thumb behind himself at the park. "Let's take the fight in the park where there'll be less property damage. Usagi, if she wants, can tell us when to begin." At this Ryoga noticed Usagi who was standing behind Ranma and said, "Hey Ranma, who's Usagi?"
At this Ranma said, "She's the daughter of my mom's closet friend. Our parents live near each other and we go to the same school." Ryoga nodded his head at what Ranma was saying and didn't get mad like he used to before he had spent time with the monks. Ranma then turned to face Usagi and, unknowingly on Ranma's part, used his lady-killer smile as he said, "So what do you say Usagi? Can you be a friend and give the starting signal for Ryoga and my match?"
Although not a big fan of violence, Usagi was happy to oblige Ranma and cheerfully nodded her head in agreement. To be honest with herself, ever since that night with the robbers, she had been curious as to how skilled her cursed friend was. The thought of seeing to very fit young men getting sweaty from working out in the hot afternoon sun had nothing to do with her agreement. Usagi led the two boys into the center of the park where they stood about twenty paces from her on opposite sides. Usagi raised her hand and with laughter in her voice said, "Ready, Set, GO!" she then got out of the way and sat down to watch what looked to be a good show.
Ryoga and Ranma rushed at each other to start the match. Ryoga attacked with a strong punch and Ranma with a strait kick to the side. Both boys' attacks were almost effortlessly blocked by the other, and looking into their friend/rival's eyes they smiled. This matched promised to be a good one between the two of them without any outside interference. Just a match between two friends who liked to see how they stood against the other.
Usagi watched as the two started trading punches and kicks at an extreme pace. While not a skilled martial artist or a rabid watcher of martial arts matches, Usagi soon noticed some facts about Ranma and his friend's fighting styles. Ranma, she noted, was more prone to trying to attack from a kick or a punch after a jump. Also, her friend liked to move around and attack at odd angles using his speed. Ryoga however, used a different style of attack. The boy was a tank just soaking up all of Ranma's hits. Ryoga would attack with his fists and apparently used his feet to keep himself firmly planted on the ground.
Usagi knew that Ranma was powerful, but when she started looking at where both he and Ryoga had missed a punch she was shocked. There were punch indents with cracks surrounding them in solid concrete! When Ranma or Ryoga would slow down for just a second and give her a clear look at their hands, Usagi saw that there wasn't any blood or any broken bones. Usagi honestly doubted that any of the scouts could take the kind of damage the boys were dishing out and still be conscious let alone smiling like Ranma and Ryoga were.
After about ten minutes of wire-fu like fighting between Ranma and Ryoga, Ranma back flipped a few times away from Ryoga and said smiling. "It's great to see that you've improved Ryoga! How about I show you my latest technique." Ranma closed his right fist and started to collect energy into the fist. When the hand was starting to glow with energy seconds later, Ranma made a punching motion with the fist and opened his fingers shouting, "Moko Dan Ha!"
A ball of white energy erupted from Ranma's fist about three feet in diameter and hurtled towards Ryoga. Ryoga just stood there and let the Chi attack come closer to him. Ranma was starting to get worried for his friend. Breaking point technique training or not, being directly hit by the Moko Dan Ha at that range would send Ryoga to lala land for the rest of the day at least.
Ranma was just about to yell at Ryoga to get out of the way when he saw Ryoga smirk and pull back his right fist. Ryoga then shouted out as he sent his fist flying towards the Chi attack, "Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken!" (Lion's breaking point fist technique) Ryoga's fist hit Ranma's Moko Dan Ha and caused the Chi attack to explode. However, the explosion of the Moko Dan Ha was funneled away from Ryoga and back the way the attack came.
Luckily for Ranma, who was shocked still at what he saw Ryoga do, the Chi blast completely dissipated less then two feet away from Ryoga leaving only scorched earth to show what had happened. Ryoga grinned and, while holding up his fist, said, "What do you think of my new attack Ranma? I may not be able to project pure Chi like I can do emotional Chi, but with the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken I don't have to."
Usagi, who was safely away from the immediate action, was shocked at what she was witnessing. Where on Earth did Ranma and his friend learn these abilities? Although she didn't have Ami with the mercury computer with her, Usagi was sure that both of the boys hadn't used magic at all in their attacks. But if that was true, and she was willing bet a year's supply of ice cream on it, what were the two using for their attacks?
While Usagi was absorbing yet another attack on her view of the world, Ranma's brain was intensely analyzing Ryoga's attack try to figure out a way around it. Grudgingly Ranma had to admit that out of the two of them, Ryoga's first pure Chi attack was far more cleaver than his was. All the Moko Dan Ha was, when you got down to it, is a Moko Takabisha powered by the more potent pure Chi instead of Emotional Chi. The Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken on the other hand, took the principal behind the Bakusai Tenketsu training and took it to a whole new level.
However much Ranma admired his friend's hard work, Ranma was determined to win this match and not a rematch latter like he had when Ryoga had unveiled the Shishi Hakkodan. Ranma thought about what he had seen Ryoga do in the attack and what his rather imprecise Chi sensing, Ranma could read power levels but only on general notions, abilities told him. It would be close, but Ranma saw a glimmer of hope for victory. But first, in order for his plan to work, Ranma would have to test to see if his theory was true.
With a confident smile on his face, Ranma started moving around and shooting Moko Dan Ha's of different power levels at Ryoga. Each and every time a Chi attack approached Ryoga, Ryoga would use the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken against the attack. However, Ranma had seen enough to know that he could win.
Ryoga watched Ranma continue his attack and the varying sizes of Chi attacks that the pig tailed boy was sending his way. Inside his mind Ryoga was ranting to himself. "What is Ranma up to? He may be proud of his skills and too stubborn to admit defeat, but Ranma wouldn't keep on wasting his energy like this. He'll never get me to admit it, but I know that Ranma's far too good of a fighter to uselessly attack me like this.
He can see that my Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken will defeat his Moko Dan Ha, so what's his game? He can't be trying to get ready for a Hiryu Shotan Ha can he? No, that can't be Ranma's game. While there is enough chi in the air for a Hiryu Shotan Ha, it's at too temperate of a temperature to be useful. Cologne could probably pull one off in these conditions, but she has far more skill in chi manipulation that Ranma had in Nermia or could have now.
Ryoga saw Ranma stand still for a moment and calmly collecting chi. Ryoga was expecting a huge attack with the way Ranma was charging up. However, when Ranma released his Moko Dan Ha, it was a rather small ball of Chi. Obviously Ranma had run out of energy but was still too stubborn to admit that Ryoga's technique could beat Ranma's.
Ryoga powered up his fist and launched it at the Chi attack, but was in for a huge surprise. Seconds after his fist had hit the chi ball, Ryoga found himself on his back looking up at a smirking Ranma. "H-how the?" Ryoga started to say, still shocked that Ranma had won. Ranma just smiled and patted Ryoga's head while Usagi was running over to them to check on Ryoga.
Ranma then said once Usagi had come closer, "You know Ryoga, that Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken of yours is really something. I never imagined taking the Bakusai Tenketsu training to such a level, but it figures that a guy like you who likes to plow through his opponents would. However Ryoga, there are two weaknesses to your attack." Ranma took a break for a second to put his hand on an outstretched finger and casually look up at the sky before listing the problems.
"Your first problem is that you can only use it with your right first and don't try to deny it. I threw several attacks that would have been easier to block with your left hand instead of your right. That is, of course, if you could use the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken with your left hand as well as your right." At this Ryoga became embarrassed, he had been so happy to have his family curse taken care of that when he had created his attack he hadn't bothered to learn how to do it with the other fist.
Ranma then grabbed another finger of one hand into the other as he said. "The next weakness of the Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken is that you have to apply at least the same amount of energy in order to completely deflect an oncoming attack. If you don't, as this match shows, you still block the attack but are caught in the aftershock. This wouldn't be so much of a problem except for the fact that you can't sense the strength of an approaching chi attack. You rely on your eyes to judge the strength of the attack. When you thought that I had unleashed a small chi attack instead of taking the time to really compress my chi, you only put a small amount into your attack."
At this point Usagi stopped standing next to the two boys, walked over to Ranma, and gave him a light bop on the head. Ranma rubbed his head and then turned to Usagi to say, "Hey! What was that for?" At this Usagi answered in a soft and friendly, but still at the same time firm, tone. "What was that for? Ranma, look around you for a second." Ranma and Ryoga looked around and saw the completely totaled section of the park that they were standing in at the moment.
Usagi put her hands on her hips and said to Ranma, "I can understand that you wanted to see how good you and your friend are. I actually enjoyed the show, when I wasn't worrying about your lives that is; but think for a moment. We're in the middle of a city. A city, might remind you, which has had to put up with attacks from various creatures every few days. Just how do you think the people of the city are going to feel when they find that one of the more popular parks has had a section renovated by you two?"
At this both Ranma and Ryoga looked sheepish and found the ground to be very interesting to look at. Usagi just couldn't chill the boys any longer; she had never really been mad at them in the first place, only worried. However, that didn't change the truth in her words. Usagi softly smiled and said, "I'm not saying that you guys can't have your matches here. I'm just asking you to stay away from the energy attacks okay?" Both Ranma and Ryoga nodded their heads and were rewarded to see a smiling Usagi.
Usagi then stood next to Ranma and said, "Why don't the three of us go out to eat? I have a little bit of my allowance left over with me and Makoto mentioned this great new restaurant that just opened up." Ranma and Ryoga both smiled at the idea of having a bite to eat, but they insisted that they pay for their meals. The three then left the area to go to the restaurant that Usagi had heard about. Apparently its name was the 'Mainland Mandarin meal stop' and was run surprisingly by a boy about their age.
* * *
Unknown to the three teens, there was another spectator to the fight. Setsuna Meioh had decided to come over to the park and do her paperwork there instead of at the high school. Setsuna was glad that she had decided to take a job in Juuban. It kept her from going crazy just standing by the Time Gates all the time, and allowed her to be close to her princess just incase Usagi needed her. It was for that reason Setsuna had taken a job at Usagi's school, and had found working with the children to be quite rewarding.
However the fight that Setsuna had just witnessed in front of her really surprised the immortal senshi of time. Setsuna couldn't read the future like the commoners of the Silver Millennium used to claim, but she could see the most probable outcome for major events at least a few days into the future. Also, ever since that future version of her had allowed chibi-Usagi to come back in time, her time scrying abilities had been on the frits. It happened every time something from a possible future came back into the now and would take a few more weeks to calm down.
But this couldn't have happened at a worst possible moment in Setsuna's opinion. She knew, generally that is, that there was a major threat on the horizon and she couldn't get any information with which to help the princess. In fact, Setsuna didn't find out about the Orochi's attack until a day after it had happened. Even now, since the Time Gates were still 'resetting' themselves, she still didn't know what happened there or who stopped the Orochi.
Could one of those boys with the princess have stopped the Orochi? Setsuna admitted that such an event was possible. She recognized that the boys were very strong and very skilled in the art of chi manipulation. But this knowledge brought about even more questions. Did information on that level of Chi manipulation somehow survive the destruction of the ancient kingdoms or did those boys rediscover the secrets on their own?
Ether way, it was obvious that the boys weren't out to harm the civilians and were at least acquaintances with the princess. From what Setsuna could see Usagi would, if she hadn't already, win the boys over to helping the Sailor Scouts. In these uncertain times, it would be wonderful to have more allies with which to protect the people of Earth. Also, the scouts could learn some things from the boys in order to become even better defenders of the city.
Setsuna had to break out of her musings to make her way to her car. Setsuna had a meeting with the other two active outer scouts in an hour and was just dreading it. Setsuna had told the two about the talismans and the need to find them before this new nefarious group did. However, knowing those two and especially Hakura, Setsuna could safely bet they had done something stupid that she would want to whack them on the head for. The two meant well and tried their hardest, but Setsuna just couldn't help but feel like she was the parole officer for them when they got going.
An hour latter Setsuna arrived at the Tenoh/ Kaioh household and went in the door. Setsuna walked into the family room and felt her eye develop a tic as she looked on the scene of an angry and banged up Hakura trying to be calmed down by a worried Micharu. After demanding to know what happened, Setsuna was told about the whole fiasco with the inner scouts and an unknown fighter.
On hearing what Dwiddledee and Dwiddledumb had done, Setsuna quickly knocked them both out with her Time Staff that she had somehow summoned without transforming. Sitting down with a bottle of Jack Daniels Setsuna said to herself, "What is with you to fools? Something must have gone wrong with your reincarnation, because you two were never, even at your worst, this dumb. I don't know what to do with the inner scouts or that new warrior, though I have to wonder where Endymion went off to.
However, I do know what I'm going to do with you to. If you to morons don't shape up, I going to take you to Las Vegas, get you knocked up, and put the kids in foster care. That way at least the royal lines of Uranus and Neptune don't die when you girls get the Darwin Award. Wait, that won't work because how can I be sure that you two will get the kids go to term? Maybe one of inners would be willing to have one of your fertilized eggs implanted into her womb?" Setsuna spent the rest of the day drinking and trying to figure out how to clean up the mess her two 'teammates' had caused.
Author's notes: There you have another chapter of Prince of Planets. Just so that people know, I don't hate Sailor Uranus and Neptune. It's just that where would you be with a Ranma crossover without some stupid humor. I've decided that Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto will be filling the comedy routine that we see with Prince Herb and with Kiima and their subordinates for this story. Review please and I want you to know that the poll for this story is still open.
6. Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I may not own Sailor Moon or Ranma ½, but people seemed to like how I've blended them together. Please note that while a few of Mouse's new techniques come from Naruto, that's all that will come from that series so you can pretty much consider this a SM/Ranma crossover and not a SM/Ranma/Naruto crossover. Without further notes from me, let's get this show on the road!
Usagi, Ranma, and Ryoga stopped in front of a small building that looked like it was an American 1950's dinner. Why such a place was in Japan, the trio didn't know and they didn't want to know. A new sign was above the building proclaiming it as "Mainland Mandarin Meal Stop." Right next to the door was a small sign that said, "Today's special, spicy beef ramen only 700 yen." Ranma in an uncharacteristic, at least to Ryoga, move opened the door for Usagi. Once Usagi was inside, Ryoga shot Ranma a questioning stare which was answered by a confused look on Ranma's face. Ryoga just shook his head and went in the door followed quickly by Ranma.
It was a relatively slow day for the dinner, but then again it had just opened up. Ranma looked around at the décor of the restaurant and was starting to get an inclining on who the owner was. Along the walls were various exotic weapons and the architecture was shaped to look like a traditional Chinese style. Ranma lead Usagi and Ryoga over to a side booth next to a large window. Usagi got into the booth first and was followed by Ranma while Ryoga stat down on the other side of the table. The three of them then pulled out the menus and began to look for what they wanted to eat.
About five minutes after they had sat down, a person came over and said, "Hello there. I'm the owner of this restaurant and- What! Ranma! What are you doing here in town?!" At this, everyone at the table turned to see Mousse in his usual outfit minus the coke-bottle glasses that Ryoga and Ranma were used to Mousse sporting. Ranma then calmly said, "I'm here in town because my mom lives here. Please don't tell me that the other two are here as well. I just want to eat a late lunch in peace, its something that I've grown to like a lot."
Mousse, although he had a while ago decided to bury his hatchet with Ranma and not in Ranma's back, couldn't help but want to make Ranma squirm. In a voice that held mischief in it and got more blatantly sarcastic as he continue Mousse said, "Which two are you referring to Ranma? Could it be Shampoo and the old mummy or maybe Soun and Genma? I do know that Kuno and Kodachi are greatly interested in your location. Maybe I should give a call to Nabiki and get a cut of the money she'll make off of your location."
Ranma, who had mid-way through Mousse's monologue, picked up on the fact that Mousse was pulling his leg decided to return fire. Crossing his arms over his chest and with a joking smile on his face, Ranma said, "That may be true Mousse on all accounts. But do you really think that your new business can withstand a visit from all the characters over in Nerima when you tell them that its housing the Nermia Nut farm's most wanted martial artist?" Mousse just shook his head and said, "Just give me your order you Prima Dona."
Usagi gave her order without paying a lot of attention to it because she was thinking about the events that were happening around her. Her friend Ranma Saotome just seemed to be full of surprises to her. From what she could tell, all of Ranma's acquaintances from Nerima seemed to be very unique in their own ways. Obviously, the boy had a great deal of adventures before coming to Juban. Ranma's adventures were probably not as influential as her own with the Sailor Scouts, but they were probably at least as fantastic.
Usagi was brought out of her musings by Ranma gently shaking her shoulder and she answered with a "huh?" Ranma just smiled and said, "I guess you were too busy thinking Usagi, but Mousse over here is offering us all flexible jobs as helpers in his restaurant. So what do you say Usagi?" Usagi closed her eyes and thought for few seconds about the offer. It sounded great, but what about a daemon attack or her parents? Usagi opened her eyes and looking into Mousse's said, "Let me get back to you on that Mousse. The offer sounds very tempting, but with the increasing monster attacks I think I should check with my parents to see if they want me to be out working."
Mousse nodded his head and said, "I understand. Remember that this offer is an open ended offer. Once this place get off the ground in a few days or a week I'll be needed all the help I can get. Not even my Shadow Clone technique will be able to help me deal with the rush."
Ranma then blinked his eye and said, "Shadow Clone technique? What's that Mousse and can I learn it?" Mousse shook his head and said, "The Shadow Clone technique is the advanced form of the splitting cat's hairs technique and creates an actual physical body that can think on its own with everything on it that the original had at the time of creation. The clone can only take one good hit of damage before it is destroyed, but you get all the information that the clone in question learned. However, the real drawback to the Clone technique is that it takes up a large amount of Chi to use and then splits your remaining Chi evenly between you and your clone. Also, you have to make sure that you use only pure Chi because if you use emotional Chi then your clones will just act on a particular emotion that can't be determined until after the Clone is created."
Ranma then asked Mousse on how many clones the formally sight challenged boy could create. Mousse then told Ranma that he could create about 3 or 4 clones without using up all of his chi. Ranma just nodded his head at what Mouse had said. While he had to admit that the Shadow Clone technique sounded very cool, its drawbacks made it undesirable for his style of fighting. However, it sounded like it would be of great help to Mousse whose style revolved around weapons and launching as many as possible at the target. The thought of facing 5 or 6 Mousse's with corrected vision and their individual scrap yards of metal made Ranma REALLY glad that he had gone through the Bakusai Tenketsu training. Ranma figured that without that particular piece of training he would most likely be turned into sliced ham if he fought Mousse simply do to the fact that there would be too many blades flying about.
Half an hour latter, Ranma, Usagi, and Ryoga paid for their meals and left the restaurant. Before they left though, Ranma had told Mousse where he lived incase Mousse ever wanted to come over to visit or have a match. Usagi waved good-bye to Ranma and Ryoga when it came time for her to go her own way to her house after telling the boys that she enjoyed the afternoon. Ryoga saw that Usagi, whether she realized it or not, was looking at Ranma when she said this and figured that he had some teasing ammo against Ranma. Ranma invited Ryoga over to stay at his house with his mother. At first Ryoga was hesitant, but when he met Nodoka and she heard Ranma's request, he went along with the request.
* * *
Usagi woke up in the morning and from her point of view on her bed looked around her room. Luna was sleeping at the foot of her bed and Ami, whose mother had to go to a week long conference in Kyoto for work, was sleeping peacefully on a futon to the right of her bed. Usagi was gland that her parents had allowed Ami to spend the week here while Ami's mother was out of town. Not only was Usagi glad to be able to spend time with and help out a friend, but in Usagi's opinion Ami was the most level headed of her scouts.
Usagi and Ami had spent a good part of the night talking to each other about various scout related things. Ami had told Usagi that she had been looking through the Mercury computer for any historical files on the Silver Millennium. In fact, Ami had in fact found that law that the Jovian Paladin had mentioned. Although Usagi had already come to accept this fact, she still wondered about something. How was it that Prince Nephelite's reincarnation seemed to remember these facts while she and the other scouts did not? Could it be the fact that he had been so young that allowed him to remember or was it something else? Usagi decided to leave those thoughts over to someone who could accurately understand the whole processes.
However Usagi and Ami's conversation last night had quickly been interrupted by Minako, who was calling to report about yet another daemon attack. She and Ami had quickly snuck out of the house and had gone to meet with the rest of the scouts. They had been joined in their roof hoping by none other than the Jovian Paladin, who had told them as they roof hopped together that he had felt something wrong coming from the direction they were headed. She and Ami had gratefully accepted his offer of help.
When the three of them had arrived on the battle scene, they saw Sailor Jupiter protecting the young man who had apparently had his 'heart crystal' extracted. The monster of the week was rather unique looking like a female version of 'The Rhino' with crystal projections all over its body. The battle with the daemon was difficult at first, but then the Jovian Paladin figured out an attack plan to kill the daemon which involved her and him double-teaming the daemon.
After the monster was taken care of, she and everyone else began to look for the heart crystal. They found it in the hands of Sailors Uranus and Neptune who were scanning the crystal for some reason. When Uranus saw the Jovian Paladin, she saw red and attacked him with a World Shaking. Jovian Paladin dodged the attack, stole the heart crystal from Neptune, and then said "You two need to cool off." Jovian Paladin then launched a 'Europa Enhancing Eruption' at the two dazed outer scouts. The ball of energy hit the two Scouts and sent them flying off into the sky ala Team Rocket.
Sailor Mars then immediately started digging into Jovian Paladin demanding to know why he was daring to attack scouts. He had, in a rather amusing tone to Usagi, said, "What do you mean how dare I attack them? They attacked me first! Besides, I only used a low power Europa Enhancing Eruption. They should be landing in Tokyo bay any second now and you can't deny that they need to cool off." Usagi had to admit to herself, that she had almost busted out laughing right then and there the scene was so funny.
Usagi got out of her thoughts when she saw that Ami was getting up. Each of them took turns getting ready of the day in the bathroom down the hall before they headed downstairs for breakfast. When the girls got downstairs, they found Shingo talking about the latest Sailor Scout news to the parents, "-And the Scouts have this new guy who helps them out. I have heard a rumor going around that he's Sailor Moon's new boyfriend. If he is Sailor Moon's boyfriend, then he is definitely an upgrade over the penguin." Ami turned her head just in time to catch a faint embarrassed blush on Usagi's face.
Usagi managed to cover up her blush and said walking into the room, "And just who are you talking about squirt?" At this Shingo shot a glare at Usagi, who was sitting down, and replied, "I was talking about the Jovian Paladin sis; don't you keep up on the latest news in town? A lot of the guys at my school are ecstatic that he's shown up. It's about time that a decent male hero showed up in town. That Tuxedo guy was just an embarrassment to the male gender with his pansy cheerleader routine."
At this Ikuko shot Shingo a glare and said, "Shingo! You know that I don't tolerate that kind of language in my house. Still, it is go to see that Sailor Moon and her friends have someone there to help them. Those poor girls just have too much ridding on them having to defend this city from all these monsters that show up. It's such a shame that there isn't anyone else to help them." Usagi, and to a lesser extent Ami, was quite glad to hear that Mrs. Tuskino worried about the scouts and wished that the scouts didn't have to do the things they did.
Usagi, wanting to find out what Shingo was thinking about the scout's newest ally, said between bites, "So Shrimp what's your take on the Jovian Paladin and his relationship to the scouts?" Shingo ignored the shot Usagi had taken at him and said, "I actually like him because he actually fights the various monsters like I said before. I think that he's a brother or cousin to Sailor Jupiter. I mean, his uniform has similar colors to her outfit and all of his attacks plus his name are connected to the Planet Jupiter. It makes more sense that he's a relative of Jupiter instead of her boyfriend like one of my classmates was saying. I mean, he's always been said to be far more protective of Moon than any other scout."
After that, the discussion changed to other topics and the girls focused on eating their breakfast. Usagi and Ami then said goodbye to everyone at the table before they headed out to school. At the, by now customary, meeting spot Usagi was pleasantly surprised to see Ryoga accompanying Ranma. As the four of them were walking down the sidewalks, duel file with Ranma and Usagi in the lead, Usagi inquired if Ryoga was going to start coming to school with them. At this Ranma replied that Ryoga was going to join now that he could find his way to the school.
* * *
Setsuna Meioh was sitting in her councilor's office trying to decide on a course of action. The Time Gates would clear up within two days provided that a temporal storm didn't suddenly develop. However Setsuna was afraid that, by the time she could actually use the Time Gates to find out all the facts on the situation, the situation would have grown completely out of control.
Not only was the group behind this latest round of daemon attacks getting more aggressive, but the scouts weren't unified! The fact that Uranus had launched an attack on the Jovian Paladin, whose name she had to learn from her students, when he had appeared to regain that heart crystal showed how bad the situation was getting. Fishing Uranus and Neptune out of Tokyo bay was so not how she had wanted to spend that evening.
Thinking over the situation, Setsuna could only come to one course of action. She would have to reveal herself to the princess. The only real place that Setsuna could figure for her to reveal herself to the princess would be here at school. She could have the school secretary call her up to visit. Setsuna even had a valid excuse, the attempted robbery and threat of rape from a few days ago. All anyone would think was that she, as the school councilor, was checking up on a student who had been through a potentially traumatic experience.
Setsuna phoned the school secretary's desk and had her request that Usagi come to the school councilor's office. Setsuna then busied herself with taking care of some paperwork while she waited for Usagi to come to her office. A few minutes latter, Setsuna heard a slightly nervous smile knocking on her door. Setsuna smiled and said in a calm voice, "Please come inside." On seeing Usagi nervously walk into her office Setsuna said in a comforting tone, "Sit down Usagi what we say here is just between the two of us. After all, I'm only here to help you."
Once Usagi was sitting down comfortably Setsuna started the questions needed for her official report. About fifteen minutes down the road Setsuna got the real reason for the visit and said, "How is this event affecting your abilities as Sailor Moon?" To Setsuna's pleasure Usagi immediately said without her body giving away her fear at possibly being discovered, "I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about Ms Meioh." Setsuna got up at this point and said, "I think that you do princess, Pluto Crystal Power, Make-Up!" Once the transformation was done, Setsuna sat down in her seat like nothing happened.
Usagi was gapping at the sight of her school counselor now in a sailor scout uniform calmly sitting down in front of her. When Usagi found her voice she stuttered out, "Y-you mean to tell me that you're a Sailor Scout?" At this Setsuna nodded before speaking, "That is correct princess. I would have helped you battle against the Dark Kingdom and the Black Moon Clan, but I needed to be by the Time Gates in order to protect them from our enemies possibly trying to use them."
At this Usagi nodded her head, it made sense that Setsuna hadn't been there before as she would have been busy defending the Time Gates. But Usagi had to wonder why Setsuna was revealing herself now and so asked. Setsuna responded by saying, "The reason why I'm appearing to you now is that this enemy is different than the others. They don't want to rule Earth as far as I can tell. Rather from what I've been able to find out about their goals they want to destroy Earth, or at least twist it into something that can't be recognized as Earth. They also either have no knowledge of the Time Gates or they don't see it as useful to their plans."
"To be honest Usagi, I am of greater use under your direct command fighting on Earth then I would be in protecting the Time Gates and using them to gather information." At this last remake Usagi said, "Uh Setsuna? What do you mean by using the Time Gates to gather information?" Setsuna was secretly pleased that Usagi was more thoughtful and aware then she had shown in the past.
"What I mean Usagi is that I can use the Time Gates to see the most probable major events in the upcoming few days. Now I can in no way 'read the future', but I can view the most probable events to happen in the next few days. Also, I can view the history of a person or a place accurately up until a few seconds to the present. However, thanks to all the time travel done by the Black Moon Clan from that particular possible future, the Time Gates are currently useless for gathering information. Can you tell me any important information as of your return from the future timeline of 'Crystal Tokyo', specifically revolving around your fights with the Daemons?"
Setsuna listened quietly and intently as Usagi told her tale to Setsuna. Setsuna was honestly surprised to find out that 'Little Nefy' had been reincarnated and that it was his reincarnation who was helping the Scouts. Setsuna was glad that a fighter of her 'little brother's' caliber had joined up with the inners. Usagi ended her recap with a single question, "What's with the other Outers and what are they after?"
Setsuna rubbed her temples and said, "Their currently looking for the talismans, three items of incredible power that we cannot allow to fall under the control of the group behind the daemons. I have one talisman with me and the other two are 'off the grid' so to speak. They know that the talismans were hidden within the Heart Crystals of two individuals. What I don't understand is why their endangering civilians by delaying the return of the civilians' Heart Crystals. I gave them a gemstone that will glow and point to a person holding a talisman within their Heart Crystals. Once you know who carry the talismans princes, you would only need to send a small spark of energy from the Silver Imperial Crystal to call the talismans from the Crystal without any damage to the barer whatsoever."
"To be honest Usagi, Uranus and Neptune are starting to really annoy me with Uranus being the biggest pain in my anus. They mean well don't get me wrong, but it seems like I'm more of their watcher than their teammate. We all need to work together in order to protect this world from the group attacking it and they insist on going it alone. I'm worried that when we find Saturn that one or both of them will try to kill Saturn due to Saturn being hailed as 'The Messiah of Death and Rebirth'."
Setsuna shook her head and said, "Let's get on to more constructive topics shall we? If you're wondering what power it was that, I believe you said their names were Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki, used in their fight the other day I can tell you. The energy is called 'Chi' and is something that all people naturally produce. In the time of the Silver Millennium it was quite common for the warriors of the Earth Kingdom to be able to manipulate Chi to form attacks and/or to greatly strengthen their bodies. I must admit that I was surprised when I was at the park to see that they were able to manipulate Chi as I thought the secrets had been lost."
Setsuna then got a deadly serious look in her eyes as she said, "Usagi, I want you to honestly consider revealing the identities of the Sailor Scouts to these boys. However, only do this if you trust them with you life. To be frank, all of the Scouts and you as well need training in your powers. Training that these boys can teach you, but they would need to know about your Scout powers in order to help train you. Also, you should talk to Nephelite's reincarnation and try to get his identity. Even if he requires that you alone know it, then at least you can reach him at any time. In the coming days I fear we will need all the help we can get to beat this coming evil."
* * *
It was the end of the school day and Usagi was walking out the door when she saw Ranma standing by a tree. Usagi then ran up to Ranma and smiled cheerfully asking him if they could walk through the park on their way home today. Ranma just shrugged his shoulders, agreed to her request, and started following her home. Ami was not heading over to the Tuskino household just yet because she had wanted to visit the library. Ami ended up walking next to Ryoga because he was going to the library was well.
Minako saw this and screamed to the heavens, "THAT'S TWO HUNKS NOW THAT HAVE PASSED ME UP!" Minako then pulled out a fancy Texas Instrument Calculator and started pressing buttons on it while talking to herself, "Let's see, take the total number of men in the world, factor in the percentage that are single, divide that by the number of men who are gay to the 4th power of the number of hot men…" Matoko turned to Rei and said, "She can do all of that to figure out her chances of getting a date, but she can't figure out how to work with binomials?" Rei just sighed and said, "I'm a fortune teller, not a psychic."
Meanwhile, Ranma and Usagi were calmly walking back towards there homes. If one could read their minds they would have seen that both were on the same track of thought. "Should I reveal my identity as Sailor Moon/Jovian Paladin to Jovian Paladin/Sailor Moon? What if he/she is someone I don't like? What about the other Scouts? Could I live with myself if the other Scouts don't like what I've done/who I am?"
Ranma and Usagi both broke out of their thoughts when they heard crying coming from behind a bush in the park. The two turned to each other and looked into each other's eyes. They could both see that they didn't want to leave whoever it was that was crying without at least trying to help. They both nodded their heads at the same time, Usagi with a sweet smile on her face and Ranma with a grin on his face. They turned and walked into the park to head towards the bush.
Once they could see past the bush, Ranma and Usagi saw a black haired girl kneeling on the ground crying her eyes out. She was about 13 or 14 years old and had on a black dress. Usagi's heart started to break at the sight of the girl crying and Ranma was uncomfortable as he hated to see girls cry. Usagi quietly walked over to stand in front of the crying girl. Ranma follow her but stood a few feet behind Usagi and was leaning against the trunk of a tree.
Usagi got down on her knees and softly whispered, "Who are you and why are you crying?" The girl's crying seemed to become interrupted as she realized that someone was talking to her. The girl raised her head a bit and found herself looking into Usagi's blue eyes with her violet ones. Fighting back the tears the girl said, "My name's Hotaru Tomoe. I'm crying because no one wants to be my friend as they think that I'm too strange."
This sad fact went like a knife straight to Usagi's heart. If there was one pain of the heart that Usagi didn't like to hear about it was the pain of loneliness. Usagi was a naturally caring girl that could rather easily make friends, so the idea of someone being left alone was wrong to her. Usagi liked to take care of this problem by become said person's friend.
While looking straight into Hotaru's eyes Usagi said, "Your not alone now, I'll be your friend." Ranma, who had been letting Usagi work her magic, then leaned forward from his spot by the tree and said, "I'll be your friend as well Hotaru." Ranma, while not the most sensitive of men, was very familiar with the pain of loneliness and didn't want another to suffer it if he could help them.
Hotaru looked back and forth between Usagi and Ranma, staring into their eyes to try and see any deception. All she saw was compassion and worry in Usagi's eyes and concern in Ranma's eyes. Her heart leapt at the fact that two people were willing to offer her friendship. But then a voice in the back of her mind whispered that they would never accept her if they knew about her strange ability. With pain in her voice Hotaru said, "You don't want to be my friend. No one does after they see my ability."
At this Ranma raised his eyebrow and said, "Oh? And what ability would that be little girl because I've see a lot of weird things." Hotaru looked down and quietly, although Ranma and Usagi could still hear her, mumbled out "I can heal people by just touching them." Ranma and Usagi both blinked their eyes before Ranma said, "You can heal people just by touching them and the people are afraid of you for that? What kinds of brain dead fools live by your house?! Having the ability to heal injuries like that is something I would want to have." Usagi nodded her head and said, "Your gift is something to be respected not feared."
Hotaru just couldn't believe her ears at what she was hearing the two people in front of her say. They thought that her ability was to be respected? The boy actually wanted to be able to do what she could? Hotaru just sat there for a second while her mind tried to handle this shocking information. Soon Hotaru gave a faint smile before she tackled Usagi in as strong of a hug as she could.
Usagi looked up at Ranma who had moved into her field of view. Usagi could see the smile in Ranma's eye as he gazed down at her holding, the now crying in happiness, Hotaru. Usagi felt her cheeks flush a bit as she looked onto her friend as he stood there with his arms across his chest softly looking at her. Right then and there Usagi knew that things were looking up for her. She may have a lot of trouble from the source of the daemons and from the two maverick scouts, but Usagi knew in her heart that everything would eventually be alright.
Author's Notes: So now the Scouts have met with Hotaru. I hope you like Mouse's pure Chi attack. Please note that the only things that I'm borrowing from Naruto are: the Shadow Clone technique, the twin rising dragon technique (Tenten's final attack in the Chunin exams), and the Shadow Clone Kunai technique. In the next chapter, The Death Busters change their plans and The Scouts need some back up. Will Ranma be able to find a way to deliver the much needed help? And will Ranma's secret identity be able to remain a secret? Find out next time with the next Chapter of Prince of the Planets!
7. Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon. Now that that's done, Welcome to another chapter of Prince of the Planets. Let's get on with the story.
Ranma and Usagi were walking home after spending an hour playing with Hotaru. Ranma had found that he had enjoyed the time he and Usagi had spent with the little girl even thought Hotaru was rather frail. Still, that smile that Hotaru gave him and Usagi when Usagi promised that they would visit Hotaru soon made Ranma's day. As the duo was walking down the streets Usagi turned to Ranma and said while smiling, "Thanks, for helping me cheer Hotaru up, Ranma." Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and said, "No one deserves to be alone Usagi, trust me."
At that moment Ranma was hit by a stray water balloon causing his curse to activate. Usagi looked at the pouting red head and had to keep from commenting how cute Ranma looked. Although the curse was strange, Usagi didn't let that negatively affect how she thought about Ranma. Usagi also figured that with the kind of outfit she transformed into to fight evil that she had no room to call Ranma weird on that account. Besides, Ranma was a great boy to be around and she enjoyed spending time with the pigtailed boy- err girl.
It was when she was walking the final stretch home by herself that a thought came to Usagi's mind. Ever since that meeting in the park, Usagi hadn't missed Mamoru at all. Usagi actually stopped walking when she realized that fact. When Mamoru had been brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom, she had spent hours each day worrying about him. However, except for mentioning the breakup to those who didn't know about it, Mamoru hadn't really entered her thoughts at all.
Usagi supposed that it was for the best; Mamoru didn't want her and her pinning for him would be a futile waste of energy. Just because they had gotten together in a timeline did not mean that they were 'destined' to always be together. There were plenty of guys out there that she could date when she decided to go find a boyfriend. Usagi thought that maybe she could consider the Jovian Paladin as a potential date, if he was single and she liked the 'real' person under the uniform. Usagi wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, especially when it dealt with her heart.
* * *
Down in the underground lair in the Tomoe estates, Professor Tomoe was angrily looking at Kaolinite and the Witches 5. The demonically possessed professor spoke with his displeasure known to all. "Find the three talismans so that Mistress 9 can have enough energy to summon our Master Pharaoh 90 from the Tau Ceti system to Earth. That's all I requested of you six. It is such a simple task, and yet I've given you daemon egg after daemon egg without so much as a weak Heart Crystal to offer Mistress 9 so that her strength might grow."
"Kaolinite, you are in charge of the witches 5 and responsible for how they act and their achievements. Did you not look closer at Eudial's failures or did you just chalk them up to Eudial being incompetent? And Eudial, why have you been using the same tried and useless tactics again and again to get the talismans? Surely a teacher in the Philosophy department and a computer specialist such as you would have the mental capacity to develop a better attack plan. I expect you to have a better plan of attack with this daemon egg I'm intrusting you with then you have before." With that, Professor Tomoe handed Eudial a daemon egg before curtly dismissing Kaolinite and the Witches 5.
Eudial took the daemon egg and quickly left her fellow witches in order to make it to her room at the infinity academy. Sitting down at her computer Eudial started to figure out where the next potential talisman holder would be located at. It took her a few minutes, but Eudial managed to locate a potential holder. She then pulled up the profile of her target and started reading it out loud. "Mister Kankuro Todo, co-founder and vice president of Maebashi manqué manufacturing company. Noted for his concern for factory worker safety and healthy working conditions, he has had no major scandals on public record. He will be in Tokyo tonight at a banquet at the penthouse of the Tokyo Hilton hotel for the society on worker friendly managers."
Eudial sat back in her seat trying to come up with a plan and talking to herself about it. "Okay, I know that the Sailor Scouts and that annoying Paladin will show up. Those other two scouts that always try and steal the heart crystal away from me probably won't be too far behind either. I can't just go after Mister Todo by myself as security will most likely be too tight. If I use a daemon to soften up my target, all my enemies will show up and I'll get chewed out again."
"Unless, now think about this Eudial old girl. Mister Todo will be at the penthouse which is at the top of the hotel. If I set the daemon to cause a distraction on the first floor, I could sneak up to the Penthouse I can get Mister Todo's heart crystal while the scouts are taking care of the daemon downstairs. I would have to disguise myself in order to escape, but I'll be able to just walk right past those pests while their trying to find the heart crystal. Now I just need to get out my little black dress."
* * *
At the Saotome home, Nodoka, Ranma, and Ryoga were getting ready for dinner. After the before meal blessing, Nodoka started serving dinner and talking to the two boys. "How was your trip to the library Ryoga?" Ryoga looked up from his home cooked meal and said, "It was very good Mrs. Sao-, I mean Auntie Nodoka. I was able to catch up on some of the subjects I was missing do to my former family curse." Ranma chimed in at this point and said, "I'm sure that Ami was a big help in this for you Ryoga." Ryoga got a little annoyed at Ranma and was also starting to blush. Nodoka wasn't helping matters at all when she said. "Oh, who's this girl you meet Ryoga?"
Ryoga was by now quite embarrassed. Still, a part of his mind was happy that this was going on because it was like he was part of a family. Deciding to answer Nodoka's question and get back at Ranma, Ryoga replied, "She's this girl that was walking with Usagi when Ranma lead us to where Usagi was this morning." Ranma quickly fired off a glare towards Ryoga before Nodoka said, "It's great to hear that you want to spend time with Usagi Ranma." Ranma half opened his mouth in a nervous smile before saying, "It's not like that mom. Usagi and my way to school meet up a fourth of the way there. It was just by coincidence that Usagi and her friend were walking to school and got there at that particular point when we did."
Nodoka just smiled and said, "Even if it's just a coincidence Ranma, I'm glad that you were spending time with Usagi. Usagi's mother is one of my oldest friends, and I know it puts my friend at ease that Usagi has someone like you walking with her. To be honest, I'm glad as well that Usagi has you there if something like that night after dinner was to ever happen again." Ranma just scratched the back of his head at his mother's praise. He hadn't even thought about something like that because he was happy to spend time with Usagi. But now that it was brought to his attention, Ranma didn't want Usagi in such a situation even more than if she just a regular girl.
Dinner was quiet after that last comment by Nodoka. She was happy to just be having dinner with friends and family after so many years that Ranma & Genma had been absent. Ryoga was happy to be eating dinner with friends. In all his years, Ryoga had only one or two months where he was able to share a meal with both of his parents present. He had maybe 3 or 4 months onto the time with both parents where he was able to share a meal with his parents individually. Thus to the formerly lost boy, being able to enjoy a meal with friends that were starting to consider him family was something special.
While Ranma was honestly enjoying his mother's cooking and the presence of the other people at the table, Ranma's mind was very busy. The topic on Ranma's brain happened to be Usagi and Sailor Moon. Ranma didn't want to admit it to his mother or even to himself, but the two girls were becoming like sirens in his mind. Just the thought of the two were starting to threaten his sanity. Ranma didn't know what it was that he was feeling when he thought of them, but he knew that they just had to be the same girl. If they were actually two different people, Ranma didn't know how he would be able to handle it.
Ranma's inner debate over Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino, and the connection between the two continued well after dinner had ended. While washing dinner dishes with Ryoga, Ranma decided that he would reveal his identity to at least Sailor Moon the next time the two of them met. Hopefully, Sailor Moon would reveal her identity and then end the debate in Ranma's mind. Just as Ranma had placed the last dish away, he felt the sense of wrongness that he got signaling that a monster attack was about to start. Ranma walked passed his mother and said as he was reaching the door. "I'm going to check on something mom, be back when I can."
Ryoga watched Ranma walk out the front door before he turned to face Nodoka. Ryoga noticed that Nodoka had a pained, and at the same time proud, expression on her face as she looked at where Ranma had been a few minutes ago. Ryoga then asked with concern in his voice. "What's going Aunty Nodoka?" Nodoka just smiled and said, "Nothing for you to worry about Ryoga." Ryoga thought about what Nodoka had said for a moment before he decided to follow her request.
* * *
Usagi in her Sailor Moon uniform was roof hopping as fast as she could with Ami right beside her as Sailor Mercury. The two girls had been at Ami's apartment taking care of the plants in the apartment when the Mercury computer sensed the output of a daemon being formed. As she ran as fast as she could, Usagi was silently thankful that her brilliant friend had been able to recalibrate and upgrade the sensors on the Mercury computer to be able to give them such an early warning.
One by one Sailors Mars, Jupiter, and Venus showed up on the rooftops and joined formation with Usagi at the lead. Just a few buildings before the Scouts reached the location of the new daemon; a familiar voice was heard calling out to them, "I hope this isn't a 'girls' night out on the town' because I think that I'll be joining you ladies." Usagi turned her head without breaking her stride to see the almost flying form of the Jovian Paladin rushing over to join them. Usagi just smiled and said, "We wouldn't mind the company Jovian Paladin." Subconsciously the Scouts changed into a 6 man formation and Ranma fell into formation.
The six teenaged defenders of Tokyo stopped on the edge of the roof facing the soaring Tokyo Hilton hotel. Their perches on the opposing roof allowed them to see the attacking daemon. The monster was a mix of steel and stone in the shape of a female gargoyle with a very large gun in its hand. Sailor Jupiter, after seeing the daemon fire a red beam from its 'gun' and destroy a car, mutter under her breath, "First we pound the Demona wanabe, then we tell Disney about the copyright violation."
Usagi and Ranma were about to jump down to stop the daemon when Ami shouted out from behind the mercury computer. "Something's up. No one down there has lost their heart Crystal." Rei turned to the brains of the operation and said, "Are you sure about that Sailor Mercury?" Ami nodded her head and said without doubt in her voice, "that is correct. The Mercury computer can scan to see if a person within 200 meters of it has lost their heart crystal. Also, it can now detect the residual energy from the Death Busters' heart Crystal extraction process within 800 meters. There is no sign of a lost heart crystal in the vicinity of the monster."
Realization as to what that meant hit Ranma like a ten ton truck, he whipped his head around and almost yelled out the answer, "This is a diversion! The target of the Death Busters is probably inside of that hotel about to be attacked." Ami nodded her head and said, "That would be a logical assumption given the evidence on hand." Ranma then turned to look Usagi in the face before saying, "Princess, might I suggest that you divide your forces to take out these separate threats. Where do you want me to attack?"
Usagi thought about the situation for a moment. Jovian Paladin's analysis made sense and was backed up by Ami, so Usagi wasn't going to doubt that this daemon wasn't a distraction. Jovian Paladin's suggestion of spitting up made sense, but Usagi needed to figure out who went where. Makoto's son could apparently sense the attacks and could track the Death Busters, so he should probably go in one group with Ami in the other. A reasonable, but slightly risky, division of her forces crossed Usagi's mind. Usagi then said with more confidence then she felt, "Scouts, I want you to defeat or at least contain the daemon. Jovian Paladin, you're with me in finding the Death Buster in the hotel. Once one group finishes their job, they will go help the others." The Scouts and Ranma nodded their heads to show that they understood their princess's plan.
* * *
Eudial smirked to herself as she watched the chaos unfold down below from her view point in an elevator with clear doors. It had been rather easy to get into the hotel due to the fact that there was no way for the hotel people to know that her story was false. But Eudial considered that she was lucky it was busy night tonight so all the employees were swamped. If you dress reasonably well but not extravagant and act confident, people tend to not question you. Eudial knew this from an old boyfriend who was a conman and had to agree that he was correct.
Eudial turned around to face away from the streets just as the elevator doors were about to open. Eudial calmly walked out of the elevator and down the hall. About midway to where her target was Eudial spotted a guard. The guard could possibly be a problem, but Eudial had a plan to get around him. Calmly Eudial opened her mouth and said, "Excuse me sir. So sorry to bother you, but you see, I had some transportation issues come up due to being delayed at a pervious function." The guard turned to face Eudial and said, "Who are you, this is an invitation only event." Eudial smiled and pulled out of her purse a practically perfect forgery of the invitation. "My name is Miss Eudial Ikari, from the board of trusties of the Rising Sun Higher Education Institute."
The guard looked a little puzzled and said, "Your invitation checks out so you can go in, but I've never hear of your organization before Miss." Eudial just smiled and said, "I would be surprised if you had heard of us. You see, we're a small organization that specializes in giving out tuition funds for promising but poor students on the understanding that they will pay back the money after they graduate." The guard nodded his head, she sounded like just the kind of upper-class bureaucrat that flocked to this fancy events. Eudial decided to end this and get rid of a possible threat to her escape by saying, "Thank you kind sir. However, as I was coming up the elevator, I noticed that there seems to be a riot going on outside." The guard just nodded his head and said, "Don't worry miss, we'll take care of it."
Eudial walked down the rest of the hall and opened the doors. The opened doors revealed that the banquet was in full swing with everyone in there busy on their meals. The head table was located just in front of a large French window that covered an entire wall. Eudial slowly made her way towards the head table were Kankuro Todo was having a steak dinner. Seeing Eudial approach, Kankuro looked up from his meal and said, "Good evening miss." Eudial then smirked and said, "Yes, it is a pleasant evening. I'll be taking that heart crystal of yours now!" With that Eudial shot at Kankuro with her collecting gun.
All the guests looked on in horror as a heart crystal came out of Kankuro's chest. Eudial had a gleam of triumph on her face as she grabbed the crystal and pocketed it in her dress. Just as Eudial was about to break off in maniacal laughter and run, A loud crash was heard coming from the French windows. Eudial looked on in shock and rage as she saw Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin come crashing through the windows.
Usagi landed on her feet and said "This is a peaceful gathering, not meant for the likes of you." As if they had rehearsed their lines beforehand (actually they had, but that was only in the Silver Millennium for a parody play on the Scouts) Ranma then said, "There is a strict 'No Evil Bimbos' policy, you'll have to leave or be escorted out with extreme prejudice." Then in synchronization Ranma and Usagi shouted out, "Or in the name of Jupiter/The Moon we'll punish you!" In the back of Ranma's mind he ranted, "Why the hell did I just say that? It sounds pathetic as a battle cry. Next time, skip the pre-battle banter and go strait to the pounding part."
Eudial snarled and said, "I've already gotten the prize you brats. But here's a booby prize: Eudial flame thrower!" With that, Eudial pulled out her super powered wrist flamethrower and launched it at the two superheroes. Ranma immediately saw that the people at the head table were endangered by Eudial attack and moved to correct the problem. With a loud shout Ranma called out, "Callisto celestial shield!" This formed his defensive magical ability just in front of the head table protecting the scared people around the table.
Ranma, thanks to the well trained battle computer he called a brain, quickly analyzed the situation that he and Sailor Moon were in. Ranma turned to face Usagi and called out, "Princess, might I suggest that you move around to cut off the witch's line of retreat and commence with plan 'get the guards four'?" Suddenly Usagi remembered the plan that Jovian Paladin mentioned. It was a trick the two of them had once used to get rid of some pesky palace guards and Usagi could see how to adapt it to their current situation. Usagi nodded her head and ran to commence the plan as well as to cover the exit and helping the other people in the hall escape.
Eudial saw Usagi circling around behind her and wondered what Sailor Moon was up too. Suddenly realization on what her two opponents were planning dawned on her. Eudial growled as she mentally screamed, "Their not going to flank me and hit me from behind!" Eudial turned her Flamethrower away from the head table and pointed it at Sailor Moon. During the commotion, a wine bottle had fallen on the floor of the room. Sadly, Usagi was paying more attention to Eudial then the floor in front of her causing Usagi to trip over the wine bottle.
Ranma felt his Callisto celestial shield no longer being attacked and saw what Eudial was trying to do. A by now familiar rage ran through Ranma and he shot out like a dart towards Eudial. His armored leg lashed out at Eudial's head in a round-kick fashion. A sickening snap was heard as Eudial, who had never practiced martial arts, had her neck snapped from Ranma's kick. Eudial fell on the floor unable to move and died a few minutes latter due to snapped bones blocking her airways.
As the rage from the attack on Usagi left him, Ranma looked on in shock at what he had done. It was the first time that Ranma had ever taken a human life and it cut through him to the core. True, Ranma had destroyed his share of Daemons and he had killed the Orochi, but those were different. They were threatening human lives and had no free will or the ability to reason. The Orochi was just a powerful magical animal that operated solely on instinct, which was very different then Moon Cat advisors that he remembered as Prince Nephelite. The Daemon's were just artificial creatures created by the Death Busters and ran on a very simple programming. The dead witch in front of him was a human with free will, even if she had chosen such an evil path.
Usagi looked on at Ranma and saw the tears that were threatening to form in his eyes. Her heart ached at the thought that had she not fallen, this scene might not have happened. Usagi grabbed onto her courage and fortitude, allowing her to go over to Eudial's still warm body. Usagi knelt next to the body and began to search for the heart Crystal that Eudial had taken. Upon finding the crystal in Eudial's pocket, Usagi slowly walked over to Kankuro Todo's body and gently placed the crystal into the man's chest. Kankuro's friends watched on with joy as the man's face started to color up again.
Usagi walked over to Ranma and said, "I think that we should leave Jovian Paladin." Ranma nodded his head and said, "I agree princess." The two promptly made a discreet exit as the rest of the guests in the hall started to come out of the shock of the events that had just happened. One of Kankuro's oldest friends said when he saw Kankuro starting to wake up, "Thank god you're alright Kankuro." Kankuro turned to face his friend and said, "You know, I could have sworn I was in heaven. I thought I saw an avenging angel protecting you my friends as another angel led me back to you."
* * *
On the roof, Usagi and Ranma could see that the Scouts had just finished taking care of the monster that had caused so much commotion down below. Usagi flipped open her communicator and said, "Good work Scouts. We've taken care of the situation up here so go home. Meet together at the usual spot tomorrow, I'll tell you when at a latter date." Usagi turned around to see to her surprise and joy that Ranma had not pulled a disappearing act on her once again.
Usagi saw the look of pain on Ranma's face and said in a soft voice while her hand brushed against Ranma's jaw, "Look, I know what you're going through. Since I became a scout about a year ago, I've had to take the lives of three people. The first was Queen Beryl, but I tried to deny it by saying that she was just possessed by Metallia. The next two were Prince Diamond and Death Phantom, both of whom were from a then possible future. I'm ashamed to admit that on both of them I killed them with rage in my heart hopping that they would die. The pain never goes away Jovan Paladin, but time allows you to be able to handle it."
Ranma nodded his head silently. Usagi's words put him more at ease, and yet pained him so much. It made it easier for him to accept his actions as necessary and allowed him to see that there was hope for him. However, it pained him to know that the princess had to soil her hands with such a thing as taking a human life. Ranma would much rather take this particular burden onto his shoulders alone than share it with the princess, even thought sharing the burden would be easier for him to handle. Ranma then said, "Thank you princess, I hope our next meeting will not be so troublesome."
Ranma would have turned to leave, but Usagi had a firm grip on his arm. Usagi turned to look at Ranma and said, "Prince Nephelite, don't go. We were the best of friends in the Silver Millennium; can't you please just allow me to know who you are in this life? I won't tell anyone else who you are, although your previous mother Sailor Jupiter really wants to meet you." Ranma then remembered what he had originally had hopped to do before tonight's adventure started. Ranma then nodded his head and said, "If you would please do the same Princess."
Usagi's face turn a slight shade of pink due to how his addressing her like that made her feel. Usagi smiled and said, "We'll de-transform right now, facing each other so that we'll see who the other is at the same time." Ranma gave a slight nod with his head and said, "On the count of three, 1, 2, 3!" with that both of them were covered in light as their uniforms disappeared to be almost instantly replaced by their civilian clothing.
Usagi found herself looking straight into Ranma's eyes now seeing her new friend instead of his previous form. Usagi found herself slowly becoming lost in Ranma's eyes, not knowing that he was doing the same with hers. Usagi slowly moved closer to Ranma, before she closed her eyes and kissed Ranma on the lips. Any shock at this action on Ranma's part vanished as he wrapped his arms around Usagi and responded to the kiss.
Author's notes: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter of Prince of the Planets. We've finally gotten to the Ranma/Usagi romantic part that we've all been waiting for. I've tried a new section dividing method to try and help story flow. Comments on this method and any others are well appreciated. Remember, Reviews (especially ones that explain more) are a writer's best friend -HistorianoftheKais
8. Chapter 8
Disclaimer: you know the drill; I own nothing but the unrecognizable parts of this story. Why do we even bother with these disclaimers when we all know that the things on this site are FANFICTION! Anyway, welcome to another chapter of Prince of the Planets I hope you enjoy!
It was the day after Eudial's death and Ranma and Usagi were walking home from school. They were alone due to the fact that Ryoga and Ami had again headed off to the library. Ranma, unlike his usual way of doing things, was currently walking beside Usagi on the sidewalk. Ranma was shooting glances at Usagi and hoping that she didn't notice his glances. Although they had that one kiss yesterday, Ranma wasn't sure of were the two of them were in relation to each other. Being honest with himself Ranma knew exactly what he wanted: Usagi. Ranma knew that he wanted Usagi as his girlfriend and his heart would not accept any other girl but her. Still due to uncertainty and bad experiences, Ranma was unable to act on his feelings.
Usagi had caught Ranma looking at her and, not being nearly so romantically challenged as Ranma, knew that Ranma wanted her. Inside her mind Usagi thought about the situation, "Well it seems that Ranma wants more than just that teaser from last night. I guess Auntie Nodoka was right when she said that most boys can't tell when a girl is genuinely interested in them. That is, unless the girl gives the guy no other option but her or to retreat." Usagi had to apply a lot of willpower not to go hopping in the air like her namesake knowing that Ranma wanted her. After all, it's not every day of the year that a magical girl can get a handsome and useful young man interested in her that said girl can get along with and like. Ranma ever so nicely filled out all the requirements on the list with flying colors, and a few that Usagi had penciled in.
Inside of Usagi, a piece of her personality that had made the palace guards who knew Princess Serenity want to transfer over to the Pluto Prison yards started to rear its head. Back in the Silver Millennium, a bored Princess Serenity was a dangerous Princess Serenity. This was because Princess Serenity loved to alleviate boredom by pulling pranks and playing tricks; Nephelite just multiplied the trouble once he could walk. Usagi turned to face Ranma and gave him a kiss full on the mouth. Ranma was once again surprised by Usagi's actions, but unlike last time he immediately responded to Usagi's advances.
After a minute after kissing Ranma, Usagi started to get bolder and used her tongue as well. Only a few seconds after Usagi started, she pulled back and whispered into Ranma's ear. "That was only the first course love, the buffet is open 24/7" With that, Usagi winked at Ranma before starting to walk in front of him with a slight swing to her hips. Ranma just stood there on the sidewalk in shock, only his eyes moving that that was to watch Usagi's rear. After Usagi was about 15 feet away from Ranma, she turned around and said with a smile and her hands on her lap. "Come on Ranma, we are going over to your house to study for that test tomorrow, remember?" Ranma then shook his head, smiled, and jogged over to where Usagi was waiting for him. The two them took the other's hand into theirs as they walked the rest of the way to the Saotome household, sealing the pact of companionship that had grown between the two.
* * *
Ryoga Hibiki was one very happy little ham. Thanks to Ranma's little trick of heating up the immediate air around yourself, Ryoga had managed to avoid turning into a pig 15 times this week. Sure, both he and Ranma needed to see or be told in advance that cold water was heading their way in order to have the time to get the technique ready. But fortunately Ryoga (and Ranma) had managed to avoid transforming into their curse forms at school. This fact, plus the fact that the Hibiki family curse was now a blessing, had allowed Ryoga to reach what he considered to be a karmic reward: walking alone with Ami Mizuno.
Over the past few days of staying with the Saotomes Ryoga had been able to get to know the blue haired genius. The quiet Ami had unknowing been helping Ryoga to mend his shattered heart by just being a friend. Although Ryoga had been enraged at Akane's behavior, the fact that the girl that Ryoga thought he had loved didn't really exist had be a serious blow to Ryoga. While he wasn't in love with Ami, Ryoga had in inkling in the back of his mind that he was starting to develop a crush on the girl. Still, mostly when Ryoga thought about the situation he laughed at the fact that he only had met Ami do to being friendly with Ranma. At least one of the gods up in the sky must be laughing at him and the situation.
Ami herself was quite pleased to be able to spend time with Ryoga. The ruggedly handsome young man was trying so hard to catch up to the rest of the class. She didn't know the full story, but from what Ryoga had told her it seemed to Ami that Ryoga wasn't able to get to school as much as he desired. It had genuinely surprised Ami when she spotted Ryoga heading to the library the other day; especially when she saw him checking out books that contained what they had learned last year. When Ami had on a whim decided to check up on him an hour latter, she had been saddened to see Ryoga struggling to learn part of last year's work and not even touching that day's assignment.
The sight of Ryoga struggling to learn, plus the fact that she knew he was a rather kind boy, had led her to offer him some help in learning the material. Their tutoring session went very well for the both of them. Ryoga was able to learn much faster then he had been and Ami was able to teach a person who paid strict attention (unlike others) to what she was trying to teach. The next day when Ryoga had again gone to the library to learn, Ami just decided to help him from the get go and they had just continued studying together.
Their peaceful walk back to the Saotome household, where the Saotome & Tsukino families were going to be having dinner and thus by extension Ryoga and Ami, was suddenly interrupted. Ryoga heard the roar of a loud beast and looked up to see a car come flying at him and Ami. Ryoga positioned himself so that his body would shield Ami before stretching out his finger and yelling, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ami watched on in shock as shrapnel from the car flew past her and she heard chunks of metal hit Ryoga. Ami was starting to cry believing that Ryoga had died in order to protect her life when Ryoga turned around and smiled at her.
"H-how?" was all the Ami could dumbly stutter out looking at Ryoga. Except for his torn shirt, which a small part in the back of Ami's mind was glad to have removed, Ryoga was completely uninjured. Ryoga just smiled and said, "Heavy duty training; just stay here while I take care of the situation." Ami's mind was so shocked that she just registered 'Stay…here'. Ryoga looked around the area trying to find what had thrown the car. Suddenly Ryoga spotted the creature that threw the car in their direction and he let out a groan. "A transformer's reject attacking Tokyo; I thought we had filled up the weirdness quota until next Tuesday!"
The monster of the week really did look like a transformer; to be more specific, like a transformer from the live movie Transformers. Ryoga immediately switched his mind over to Battle Mode XP. While not as great as Ranma's Battle Mode Vista Ultimate, Ryoga was still a very good tactician when it came to fighting. Within his mind Ryoga looked over his analysis of the fight and didn't like what he saw. "That thing is strong no doubt about it and this battle does not look good. The Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken should be able to destroy that thing as it's not alive, but I'll have to super-charge my attack in order to do that. I can't teleport with a super charged Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken, and if I move more that three or four feet after I've charged I will lose most of the energy. Why the hell am I worrying about that now when Ami's in danger?"
Ryoga grabbed Ami and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I'm get you to a safe place." With that, a soft faded purple glow covered Ryoga and Ami before they vanished from the street. The two teens reappeared on the roof of a medium sized building half a block away. Ryoga just looked into the shocked eyes of Ami and said, "Just stay here Ami while I go take care of that monster." Ryoga then straightened up and was covered in that same purple glow before leaving Ami alone on the roof. Ami sat on the roof for a few seconds trying to process what had just happened to her. Suddenly the fact that Ryoga was going off to fight that daemon hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh my god, Ryoga's going to need help!" With that, Ami transformed into Sailor Mercury and headed off to save Ryoga. However, in the shock and excitement of it all, Ami forgot to notify the other Scouts via communicator.
Ryoga reappeared on the street only a few feet from where he and Ami had previously been. Right at the moment, Ryoga realized that he had no real plan of action on how to deal with the monster in front of him. He then bared his fangs and growled out, "Stupid Ryoga, Ranma's the one who goes into things without a plan not you!" When Ryoga considered his options he had to admit that this battle was stacked against him. Ryoga was a power fighter and normally that worked well for him. However in this instance he was going up against a far stronger power fighter and Ryoga didn't have enough speed or techniques to negate that advantage.
Suddenly Ryoga heard a voice to his left call out, "Hey Ryoga, why isn't Ranma here at the center of the chaos like he usually is?" Ryoga turned his head to see Mousse standing a few feet to his left. Both martial artists locked eyes for a second. Then, as if they had planed for such a situation beforehand, they grinned. Mousse ran out in front of the monster and, as he did that, he created three shadow clones of himself. The four Mousses then ran around daemon until they formed an X. In perfect symmetry Mousse and his clones pulled out a thick steel chain and lassoed it onto the daemon's arms and neck.
The Mousse that was holding the daemon's right arm in place turned his head to Ryoga and yelled, "Well what are you waiting for! I can't hold this thing's still forever so stop showboating and get the job done!" Ryoga ignored Mousse's little pot shot and ran till he was a foot in front of the monster. Only a few seconds later, Ryoga's right fist was crackling with pure Chi showing that the technique was super charged. Ryoga the pulled back his fist before sending it flying at the daemon with a cry of, "Shishi Bakusai Tenketsu Ken!" Everyone in the area was blinded by the explosion that accompanied Ryoga's new signature attack.
Ami had managed to arrive on the battlefield just as Ryoga unleashed his attack and was deathly afraid that Ryoga had died in the explosion. Her fears grew even worse when the smoke cleared to show Ryoga and Mousse lying on the ground. The medic in Ami pushed away the thought that Ryoga and someone else might be dead. Instead, Ami ran as fast as her magically enhanced legs would allow her towards Ryoga. As soon as Ami got to Ryoga's side, she whipped out the Mercury Computer in order to check on the two boy's life-signs. Immediately upon the Mercury Computer telling her that the two boys were alive, Ami let out a sigh of relief.
Just as Ami was about to turn to leave so that she could de-transform, she heard Ryoga walking up. Ryoga, using both his arms to lift himself up, tiredly turned his head to look at Ami. In a questioning voice Ryoga said, "Who are you?" Ami then calmly said, "My name is Sailor Mercury, one of the Sailor Scouts. I was coming to take care of the daemon problem as soon as I heard about it; imagine my surprise that an ordinary citizen had done my job for me." At this Ryoga just blushed and said, "Mousse and I are not your run of the mill citizens." At this Ami just nodded her head and said, "That is quite obvious, still it is good to know that there are others out their capable of fighting these creatures. If you don't mind, I must be leaving now." With that, Ami took off only to meet with Ryoga a few minutes later in her civilian form pretending that she didn't know a thing.
* * *
Setsuna was walking over to the Outers' household with a slight smile on her face. Thanks to the fact that Michiru was playing at a concert and Haruka was in a race; neither of Setsuna's 'teammates' had shown up. This was a good thing in Setsuna's opinion because she felt that, until the talismans had been found, the less contact her two compatriots hand with heart crystals the better. It wasn't that Michiru and Haruka didn't mean well, they were honestly trying to help defend the people of Earth. They just had a six pack without the plastic to hold the cans together whenever they were in their Sailor forms.
Setsuna shook her head trying to get off of such depressing thoughts. Since the time stream had finally calmed down, Setsuna had spent a good deal of last night reviewing the life of Ranma Saotome. On seeing the boy's harsh life Setsuna viewed Genma in the same category that she held the other currently awakened Outer Sailor Scouts; well meaning without a doubt, but completely lacking in common sense. However little she liked the man, Setsuna had early on decided not to hold a grudge for anything that Genma did to Ranma against the man because of the fact that Ranma still cared for his father.
That fact made Setsuna smile; Prince Nephelite always cried for his would be assassins and Setsuna loved the fact that both incarnations shared that general good will towards their attackers. Except for when someone attacked the Princess, then both Prince Nephelite and Ranma Saotome seemed accept no surrender from the offender. However, Ranma tended to be far more violent and aggressive in punishing the offenders of the princess then Nephelite ever was. His honorary big sister thought that the extra aggressiveness must have been absorbed by Ranma from the Neko-ken when he merged from the phantom personality of Prince Nephelite.
Quietly Setsuna mentally mulled over the romantic scene she had personally witnessed last night. "So it seems like Ranma and Usagi are falling in love with each other. I wonder if this means that technically Queen Serenity won the bet I had with her. After all, she did privately say to me that those two would get together by Nephelite's 17th birthday. I still remember back then that as soon as Serenity and Endymion's love affair became public knowledge I asked for my 30 denarii winnings. How childish I was to be upset when Serenity just smiled at me and said, 'Nephelite hasn't turned 17 yet; who said anything about my daughter having a love or two beforehand?' Still, how could the Queen know about this possibly happening?"
"Well that doesn't matter now, what matters is that Ranma and Usagi are together now. Looking back on how things have happened in this live, this pairing is far better then Usagi and Mamoru. Endymion may have been a good match for the princess but his reincarnation, while still a good person, just isn't suited for her. Without meaning to or wanting to, Mamoru would most likely stunt Usagi's growth as a leader. Ranma seems to be unconsciously helping her to grow to her full potential. As long as their happy together, I have no complaints. Besides with that curse of his, should the two of them get married, Usagi won't ever get bored!" That last thought almost caused Setsuna to burst out laughing.
Setsuna opened the front door and let herself into the Outers' home. Hearing Michiru and Haruka chatting away in the family room, Setsuna decided to join them. Michiru and Haruka stopped talking for a second in order to turn their heads to see Setsuna walk into the room. The two lovers commenced talking again about their days while Setsuna sat down in a seat, put her feet on the ottoman next to the seat, and started to read The Pillow Book.
Setsuna had reached a very interesting, in her opinion, musing of Sei Shonagon when Michiru politely got her attention. Setsuna put her book down and turned to face the senshi of the sea. Michiru, who had a cup of tea in her hand, put the cup onto a small plate on the table in front of her and then spoke. "Setsuna, you seem to be in a very good mood this afternoon. Would you mind sharing what it is that has you so happy?" Haruka turned her head to look at Setsuna, eager to find out what could make Setsuna happy.
Setsuna gave off her infamous smile and said, "Sure you can ask but that doesn't mean I'll tell you." Haruka got annoyed and then almost yelled out, "Drop the Xellos act and just answer the stupid question Setsuna!" Michiru put her hand to her mouth to cover up the slight shock she had. Michiru knew that Haruka tended to be direct and to the point; with her of course silently supporting her lover and following Haruka's lead. However, Michiru thought that Setsuna shouldn't be talked to like that; their teammate did deserve a good deal of respect.
Setsuna shot Haruka a quick glare before she said, "Fine. Since you can't keep from butting into other people's affairs Haruka, I'll tell you. The fact of the matter is that the time stream has finally calmed down allowing me to use the Time Gates again. Also, the princess has chosen a new boyfriend. One who, in my opinion, is a far better one that her previous boyfriend." Michiru was intrigued; the princess would be their new queen so who her husband would be was important. Michiru then said, "Who is her new boyfriend Setsuna?"
At this Setsuna gave a small smile before answering. "The princess's new boyfriend is none other then the Jovian Paladin." At this news, Michiru's eyes narrowed and Haruka screamed out, "The Princess is dating that jackass!!!!" POW! Michiru looked to see Haruka suddenly with her head lodged into the wall and Setsuna pulling back a fist.
Michiru ran over to where Haruka was and pulled Haruka's head onto her lap. Haruka had swirls in her eyes and was muttering about the license plate of that semi. Michiru rapidly got up, forgetting that Haruka's head was in her lap, saying. "Don't worry love; I'll get you some ice!" Setsuna thought she heard Haruka say after Haruka's head hit the floor, "and don't forget the rubber ducky." However the Senshi of time just shook her head and convinced herself that she had misheard.
Setsuna noticed something come rolling out of Haruka's pocket. She then walked over to her unconscious roommate to pick up what looked like a dark green uncut diamond. Setsuna's eyes widen as she said out loud, "This is the gem I gave Michiru to help locate the talismans! I said that it would form a little red arrow within itself when a talisman is near." She suddenly noticed that a red arrow was within the diamond and it was pointing towards Haruka. A tick suddenly formed on Setsuna's forehead as she thought about what that meant. "Don't tell me that Haruka and Michiru have been the people we're looking for all along and they didn't even bother to look at this thing in the first place! What did I do to deserve this? Was I some sort of evil grand manipulator of time in another lifetime or something?"
* * *
Usagi was really happy with her study session with Ranma, and she had learned a good deal too. She and Ranma had, through unconscious mutual agreement, created a system where they would give the other a kiss as a reward for figuring out something that was causing one of them trouble. Both of them were responsible and the congratulation kiss didn't devolve into a make-out session. Besides, despite Usagi's earlier bravo, neither of them was really comfortable with anything more than a simple chaste kiss on the lips. Thanks to the very enticing incentives along with the friendly help, both of them were able to get through their homework faster and more complete then either could remember doing before.
As the two of them were putting their books away in their book bags; Usagi turned to face Ranma and said. "How about we go down to the couch to talk about our nightly activities Ranma?" Suddenly Usagi realized the implications of her statement and got a titanic full body blush. Ranma blushed as well, but then decided to help Usagi out by saying. "Sure I wouldn't mind talking more about the Sailor Scouts with you." The two of them then headed downstairs to talk on the couch.
Once they got there, Ranma sat down at one of the ends while Usagi took the seat next to him. Usagi put her head on Ranma's shoulder before she began to speak. "You know Ranma, Sailor Jupiter really wants to meet with you. She wants to see how her 'son' has turned out to be." At this Ranma then said, "Is she Ami, Minako, Makoto, or Rei?" At this Usagi's eyes widened up. Usagi then said, "W-what makes you think that the other Sailor Scouts are one of those four?" Ranma just smiled and said, "I may not be the smartest person in the class dear; but once I knew that you were Sailor Moon, it was easy for me to figure out who the other inner Scouts were."
At this Usagi let out a faint chuckle. Looking at the situation from Ranma's perspective, Usagi could see how he was able to figure out the other scouts. While their senshi magic might offer them protection from those who don't know who they are, people that knew them were not protected. With Ranma knowing who she was, it would be easy for him to figure out who the other scouts were by who she hung out with and comparing their profiles to those of the other Scouts. Usagi decided to snuggle a little deeper into Ranma's shoulder before she spoke again. "Sailor Jupiter is Makoto, Ami is Mercury, Minako is Venus and also your godmother, finally Rei is Mars. I know that each of the scouts wants to meet you, so when should you mister 'Jovan Paladin' reveal yourself to them?"
At this Usagi and Ranma were startled, Usagi far more then Ranma, to hear Nodoka's voice say, "How about tomorrow Ranma? After all, we don't have any family occasions then and it is soon." Usagi got up and with a shocked voice said, "A-aunty N-nodaka, how much do you know?" At this question Nodoka just smiled and said, "Why hello Usagi. I didn't know that you were involved in the Sailor Scouts. As for how much I know, well my son here told me everything he knew about the Scouts a few days ago. Although, he didn't mention who the other Scouts were."
Ranma, sensing Usagi's discomfort, quickly got up and said, "Don't worry about it Usagi. I told my mother and only my mother about the fact that I was the Jovan Paladin. I did this because I didn't want her to worry about me leaving at odd times of the day in order to help protect this city. Besides, my mother's missed out too much of my life already. I hadn't told her about you Usagi simply because it wasn't my place to reveal that information."
Ranma turned to face his smiling mother and said, "Usagi's just shocked mom. It seems that the Scouts haven't told their parents what they are. Can you please not reveal that Usagi is a Scout to Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino? Usagi will reveal that part of her life when she's ready. She's also startled by your comments, since she assumed that I was doing the same with that part of my life as the Scouts." Nodoka nodded her head and said with a smile. "Don't worry Usagi, your parents won't find out about this from me. Just so you know; if you ever need an adult's opinion on something with this Sailor Scout business I am always available."
Usagi just stood there slightly shocked as she listened to Ranma and Nodoka talk about the Sailor Scouts. Once the shock wore off, Usagi felt herself get a tad jealous towards the two. Usagi really wanted to be able to talk to her parents like Ranma and Nodoka currently were, but she doubted that her parents could take it well. However, Usagi quickly crushed those feelings of jealousy. Ranma had been separated from his mother for 10 years. Those were 10 years that she had been happily enjoying with her parents that Ranma had missed out on with his. This was fate repaying a large debt it owed to her pigtailed boyfriend.
Besides, Aunty Nodoka had always been a person she could go to whenever she couldn't talk to her parents about something. This was just one more thing that would be between 'Aunt' and 'niece'. Seeing that Nodoka was waiting for her to say something Usagi just smiled and said, "Thank you Aunty Nodoka." Nodoka just nodded her head and said, "Just out of curiosity, which Scout are you?" At this Usagi's smile beamed with pride as she proudly proclaimed, "I'm Sailor Moon!"
Nodoka then said, "Well why don't I leave you to reborn royals alone for now." Nodoka then turned around and walked out the door. Usagi then turned around and with her best motherly voice, along with waving a finger at him, spoke to Ranma. "Mister, do you realize how big of a scare you caused me by not telling me that you mother knew?" Ranma started to chuckle nervously and scratched the back of his head with is hand. Usagi then smiled, wrapped her arms around Ranma, and then said. "I'm just teasing you dear."
A minute latter after Usagi let Ranma out of her hug, Ranma turned to face her and said. "How about I get us some snacks Usagi?" Upon seeing Usagi smile, Ranma headed into the kitchen to fix them up a quick snack. A few minutes latter, Usagi was startled to hear a crash and a "stupid rag" coming from the kitchen. Usagi ran into the kitchen to see Ranma pouting in his cursed form sitting on the floor. By his side was a now empty pitcher of water, a tray, and several different snacks all across the floor. Ranma looked up to see Usagi looking at him and quickly diverted his eyes.
Usagi realized that Ranma was afraid that she wouldn't like him in his curse form. She immediately decided to rectify that problem. Usagi leaned down next to Ranma and gave him a full kiss on the mouth. After a few seconds Usagi pulled back to hear Ranma stuttering. She then smiled and said, "It doesn't matter to me Ranma whether you're in your boy form or you're girl form. I love you for who you are and you are a very wonderful and special person. Even if you were locked into that cursed form of yours, I would still love you just the same. True I would miss your guy form a great deal, but I would still stick with you."
Usagi then helped Ranma get up from the floor. Ranma and Usagi, now eyelevel, stared into each other's eyes. Ranma could see the steady love that Usagi held for him emanating from her eyes. Usagi watched as Ranma's doubt disappeared from his eyes and was replaced by his usual confidence. Then as one the two of them wrapped each other in their arms and shared a kiss.
From the hallway Nodoka had silently watched the whole proceedings. On seeing Ranma and Usagi, who she had considered to be a daughter to her, kiss Nodoka had to wipe a tear from her eye. Nodoka had been hoping ever since she found out about Akane's betrayal that Ranma would find a good young woman to mend his heart. It was a great bonus to Nodoka that Usagi just happened to be that girl. Nodoka had suspected when Usagi had first seen the curse that I would not bother the young girl. Seeing Usagi proving that she loved Ranma, whether he was a boy or a girl at the time, showed Nodoka that she had called her hunch regarding Usagi correctly.
9. Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the series that this fanfiction is based around. We have now reached the last chapter to be re-edited. As you have notice, chapter 4 onwards has mostly just been minor grammar corrections. I will have chapter 10 out soon, but finals are this week so it may be ahwile or I may get it done at a regular pace. Rest assured that Chapter ten of Prince of the Planets will be out before the next chapter of Mother Moon. Enough of that, on with the story!
Ranma and Usagi were both calmly walking up the steeps in order to get to the Scout's usual meeting spot in Rei's temple. Actually, Usagi was calmly walking and Ranma was quite nervous. Luckily for Ranma, Usagi was right there with her arm around his own giving him the particular kind of courage that he needed. It was one thing in Ranma's mind to fight against daemons; it was a completely different thing to meet your past life's mother. Usagi and Ranma reached the top of the steeps and then Usagi opened the sliding door to reveal the surprised inner Scouts.
Each of the inners was looking at Ranma and Usagi with surprise and shock showing in their eyes. Their surprise was understandable do to the fact that Usagi forgotten to mention that she was bringing over the Jovian Paladin a.k.a Ranma for the meeting today. Rei was the first to get over her surprise and said with a glare towards Usagi, "What is he doing here? No offense Usagi, but this is a _private _study group. You should have asked if he could come over first." At this Usagi smiled and said, "Well Rei, This is my boyfriend Ranma also known as the Jovian Paladin."
At that announcement of Usagi's, all of the inner's minds got a blue screen of death. On seeing the frozen shocked faces of Ami, Rei, Minako, and Makoto, Ranma turned to Usagi and said, "I think you broke them." At this comment Usagi blushed before giving a nervous giggle. Usagi then spotted the empty loveseat and decided that she and Ranma should move into a comfortable position while her friends sort themselves out. Usagi closed the sliding door and then lead Ranma to the loveseat. After Ranma was sitting down, Usagi took the seat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.
Makoto, thanks to the earlier shocks revolving around Ranma/Prince Nephelite, had been preparing for such an event as this to happen and was able to recover the fastest. She shook her head and then looked at the two new, still unsure of how to act in public, lovebirds before she started questioning the two. "So Ranma is Prince Nephelite's reincarnation? Why didn't you tell all of us sooner about who you are Ranma? How long have you known Usagi? When did you and Ranma hook up Usagi?!" By the last question all the other inners were able to start understanding the world around them and became interested in Makoto's questions.
Ranma was getting very nervous over the questions being directed at him due to his nature to keep quiet on his personal life. However, Ranma also saw that Usagi didn't want to have to answer those questions herself. Unfortunately, the royal couple and unconsciously realized that this meeting wasn't going anywhere until some curious people were satisfied. Ranma decided to spare Usagi the trouble of deciding what to tell and not tell about his and their private lives by speaking up. "Yes I am Prince Nephelite's reincarnation just like Makoto here is the reincarnation of princess Hippolyta or Lita as she was known among her close friends. Usagi has known that I am the Jovian Paladin since we killed that witch a few days ago. We've been together only recently." Ranma then sent a look that told the Scouts that no more questions should be asked right then.
The thoughts of the Scouts to this new news varied. Makoto was glad to finally meet her son's reincarnation and was proud to see that he had turned out into such a fine young man. However, the jury was still out on whether Makoto wanted Ranma to be dating any of her friends. Ami thought that it was interesting that Usagi had fallen in love with two different people who had been princes in their past lives. Ami just hoped that Ranma wouldn't break Usagi's heart like Mamoru did. Minako was embarrassed that she had been going gaga over HER GODSON and vowed to no longer go after every cute boy she saw. Rei was happy for Usagi, and was hoping that the third time would be the charm in her own love interest.
Usagi looked around at her friends and, although it pained her to think of them in such a manner, soldiers. Usagi then coughed politely to get everyone's attention and then she started to speak. "I've been thinking about how our battles have been going lately and I have noticed something. We, that is, the Scouts seem to have stopped improving in terms of our ability to fight the daemons. I don't like how we stand against the daemons in terms of power. Currently only Ranma and I can take out a daemon one-on-one, and I need the stupid monster-of-the-week to be distracted in order to kill it. The rest of you need 3 preferably 4 of you to team up in order to take out a daemon."
"Our teamwork is great, but it's reaching a peak in what it alone helps us to accomplish. We can't count on miraculous sudden power-ups or a new previously unknown fighter to save us when the battles get too difficult for us. I've talked to Luna and Artemis; both of them claim that each of the inner scouts could in the Silver Millennium single handedly kill an Arch-daemon level foe. Also, you girls could single handedly fight a Yokai level foe to a standstill. We all need to get up to those levels again. If it wasn't for the fact that Beryl allowed her forces to degrade into just youma, Earth would now be under her rule."
"I've spent the last couple of days thinking about what to do and I've found a solution. We're all going to have Ranma and some of his friends train us Scouts in martial arts. Ranma and I each draw about the same amount of power in our senshi forms. However Ranma can keep fighting long after I've dropped out the fight. His training is what makes this difference. Now I know that we can't train as hard as and as completely as Ranma has done; he's been training his whole life after all and still devotes a large portion of his free time to refining those skills. Still, any training we get will greatly help us."
"What I want is for each of us to spend at least 2 hours three times a week training with Ranma; one hour in our civilian forms and the other hour in our senshi forms. If we do this plus practice a bit on our own we should start to increase our powers up to, if not beyond, the levels we used to have in the Silver Millennium. Ranma and some of his friends are strong enough through marital arts training to each slay a daemon. If you don't believe me then you should listen to what I have to say. I talked with Sailor Pluto the other day and she explained to me that back in the Silver Millennium era, Earth had veteran soldiers capable of slaying daemon level threats and a little higher. She told me that Ranma and his friends have managed to reach those levels."
The room was quite for a moment before Ami spoke up and said, "It's true. The other day I witnessed Ryoga, who's a friend of Ranma, and a boy named Mousse kill a daemon before I could transform and fight the monster. From what that boy Mouse told me after I rejoined him and Ryoga in my civilian form, Ranma is slightly better then they are in martial arts. I may not be much of a fighter, but I'll join the training" Ranma was proud that Mouse recognized his superiority in martial arts. However he didn't want to step on anybodies' toes and so resisted the urge to boast.
Makoto, Minako, and Rei thought about what had just been told to them. Slowly, one by one, each of the remaining Scouts agreed to join Usagi's new training routine. After that was all said and done Ami, who was in charge of the Scouts' technological supplies, tried to give Ranma a compact communicator. Tried being the operative word, Ranma flatly declared that such a device would never be on his person. Also, Ranma pointed out that a compact wasn't something that was normally carried by boys. Usagi felt the urge to pour a glass of cold water on Ranma's head and say that he could carry one that way. However, due to the knowledge of her boyfriend's discomfort with his curse plus the fact that none of the Scouts there but her knew of Ranma's curse, Usagi resisted her awaken trickster impulse.
The last thing that was talked about at the meeting was the fact that Nodoka Saotome knew about Ranma and Usagi's Scout activities. It was decided, after some heated debate from Minako of all people, that the Saotome home would be another 'safe' area to hold Scout meetings. Once that was settled to everyone's satisfaction, Usagi declared the meeting over. Ranma and Usagi then left Rei's shrine to go get some books on military history at a used bookstore for Usagi. The other Scouts soon left as well leaving Rei alone at the shine except for her grandfather.
* * *
It had been a little more than a month since 'The Incident' and Genma was making his way back to the Tendo home from his job at Doctor Tofu. The once proud and boisterous, if very annoying, senior Saotome was walking with his head hung and a slight frown on his face. The last month had really taken its toll on Genma and left him almost a broken man inside. 'The Incident' had ripped Genma's lifelong dream away from him and left him forever barred from his wife should he want to live.
However Genma did not, as many people expected, blame his misfortune on Ranma. Even before the ill fated training at Jusenkyo, Genma had been immensely proud of his son. Genma knew, as he admitted privately to Soun one night when the Saotomes first came to the Tendo household, that he was a pathetic father to Ranma. Looking back on his trip with Ranma, Genma admitted that he had been more focused on being a sensei to Ranma instead of being a father. As proud as Genma was for how, relatively, well Ranma grew up; he felt hollow inside because he had contributed so little to shaping Ranma as a person.
As Genma was pondering his mistakes the sky opened up in a drizzle activating his curse. The Panda raised it's head to the sky and let out a gruff before turning a Panda sign towards the sky that said, "I know, I know, I really messed up-" flip "-don't you kami think that you could-" flip "-send my punishment in slightly more manageable portions?" A lighting bolt striking Genma appeared to be the answer.
A short while latter Kasumi watched as a wet and slightly cooked panda waked into the house. Kasumi handed Genma a glass of hot water which he gratefully accepted. The now human Genma made his way over to the shogi board were Soun was sitting. The two old friends calmly plaid a game of shogi without trying to cheat; it just didn't seem worth it to them to try and cheat anymore.
Midway through the game Soun started to talk. "Saotome old friend, it seems that the kami must be punishing us for the sins of our youth. Everything we've ever dreamed of has been taken away from us one piece at a time. It seems that we are still brothers in almost every way, except that we are now sharing our equal misfortune."
Genma shook his head and said, "While you are correct about the kami punishing us, you fail to see your fortune old friend. I am the one who is the worse off between the two of us old friend, and I accept my punishment for my greater amount of sins. There's only so long that a man can run from his mistakes before he has to accept his punishment. I've made so many foolish mistakes, and compounded them by foolishly trying to avoid the punishment due to me. I've been left a broken man not even able to repay your kindness of providing me with a roof over my head. I have no material wealth, I am estranged from my wife, out of contact with my only son who justly only barely recognizes me as his father, and you are my only friend left."
"You Tendo, my old friend, still have many things to be thankful for. You have your house and dojo, your job on the city council, two beautiful and honorable daughters, the respect of many of your neighbors, you even are in contact with Akane although I will admit that things between the two of you is still quite strained. True, we have both lost our lifelong dream of seeing our families' and our schools' united as one in marriage. However I would rather be in your shoes than mine."
Soun was forced to concede that Genma was correct. However there was one thing that Soun considered himself to be the poorer in. "Saotome my old friend, your correct. However you have the joy of knowing that your martial arts school will last another generation. Mine it seems will die with me." Genma then replied, "Don't be so down Tendo, you're only in your mid forties! We can both train one of your grandchildren when Kasumi or Nabiki decide to have a family. And when we do train any of your future grandchildren, we'll make sure not to make the same mistakes as we did with our own children." The rest of the day went along very quietly at the Tendo home.
* * *
Nodoka Saotome and Ikuko Tsukino were both sitting around the Tsukino dinning table drinking some tea. Ikuko had invited Nodoka over to just chit-chat and Nodoka had readily agreed. Currently Ikuko had her head in the pantry as she was looking for some snacks that the two old friends could snack on. Spotting a box of wheat wafers, Ikuko grabbed the box and brought it to the table.
Ikuko then set the box of wafers down on the table and started to talk. "Nodoka, have you noticed anything different going on with Usagi? I would ask about Ranma but I don't know a whole lot about how he normally acts." Nodoka had to stop herself from choking on her tea due to Ikuko's question. Nodoka set her tea cup down and locked her eyes with Ikuko's.
Nodoka was hoping that Ikuko wasn't asking about Ranma and Usagi's nights out on the town as Jovan Paladin and Sailor Moon. Nodoka really didn't want to betray Ranma and Usagi's trust even if it was to her oldest friend and Usagi's mother. Luckily for Nodoka, she didn't jump the gun but simply and politely asked Ikuko a question. "Oh? What do you mean Usagi's been acting strangely lately? When I seen the little dear she's been just as wonderful and cheerful as always."
Ikuko cracked a small smile on hearing Nodoka's praise for Usagi. Ikuko then started to explain what she meant. "It's just that Usagi has been doing some odd things lately. Like yesterday I saw Usagi bringing home 5 books on military history. Usagi has never shown the lightest interest in something like that. And she's been gone for several hours in the afternoon saying that she was with friends; however Ami and one or two of her regular friends have been hanging over here. I'm just worried that Usagi's getting into trouble. I know that she would never do such a thing but I'm still very worried."
After listening to her friend, Nodoka saw a way to calm Ikuko's fears and still keep Ranma and Usagi's major secret. Sure, Nodoka would have to reveal a small secret about the duo; however it was nothing that anyone with eyes couldn't figure out. Nodoka just smiled and said, "Well Ikuko, with the occasional monster attack around here, it's not too hard to see that Usagi may just be getting interested in the armed forces. After all, aren't the Sailor Scouts troops who are defending us even thought they are so young? She's probably just curious and trying to understand what's going on in these attacks better. And for Usagi not being with her usual friends, don't worry Ikuko; I think I know what's going on. You see, the other day I saw Ranma and Usagi kissing in my kitchen."
On hearing that last bit of news Ikuko put her hand to her mouth and started to blush. She then leaned in and started talking like a schoolgirl who has just heard the latest gossip. "You're sure you saw the two of them kissing. Why hasn't Usagi told me about this? I thought I told her to tell me when she started to look at boys again." Ikuko was asking Nodoka for more details about what she saw regarding their children.
Ikuko was so into trying to get answers from her old friend that she didn't notice Luna hop onto the table. Luna, who had heard the entire conversation, gave Nodoka a wink in thanks. Usagi's feline advisor was now quite thankful that Nodoka had found out about the Scouts. Nokoka was easily and completely removing Ikuko's worry. Nodoka, who had been told about Luna yesterday after Ranma and Usagi came over from their Scout meeting, slightly nodded her head to acknowledge the advisor.
Nodoka then was able to get a word in edgewise with Ikuko so she started to speak. "I wouldn't know too much about Ranma and Usagi's relationship. I don't doubt that it's a real relationship and not just some rebound thing. Usagi probably hasn't told you about it simply because of her last boyfriend. I'm sure that it's because of his failed engagement that Ranma hasn't told me yet. They probably don't want us to worry about them getting hurt again. They'll tell us when their ready; and I don't think that we shouldn't worry about it in the mean time."
Nodoka's words completely calmed down Ikuko's worried nerves. After getting over it all Ikuko got a conspiring grin on her face. She then said "You have to admit Nodoka that Ranma and Usagi do make a cute couple." Luna then left the two mothers who were now lost in a discussion about how cute their children were together and what gorgeous grandchildren the two could have. Luna hoped that neither Ranma nor Usagi ever heard the conversation that was now going on. Frankly those two mothers going like that were scarier in Luna's opinion than Metallica.
* * *
Hotaru found herself backed in a corner surrounded by some of the meanest of the girls at her school. Ever since the death of Miss Eudial two weeks ago, things seemed to be going down hill for her. Her father spent more and more time away from home; and when he was home he seemed angrier and more distant from her. At the same time, a new bully named Kekio had enrolled in Infinity academy. Kekio had quickly picked up on the local game of 'annoy the freakish girl' and started to gather up some of the meanest girls she could to pick on Hotaru.
Kekio was in the lead of seven girls with a grin on her face as she cracked her knuckles. Kekio was just about to hit Hotaru when she felt something hit her back hard. Kekio and her friends turned around to see Ranma standing by a poll juggling two pebbles lazy in his hand. Ranma then glared at the bullies and said in a very hostile voice. "Leave now or I'll send you into shock trauma." Kekio then started to run away calling out to her followers, "Get out of there! My big brother told me about this guy, he's too strong for us!" All of the bullies quickly scrambled away not wanting to suffer Ranma's anger.
Once all the bullies had disappeared Usagi walked into Hotaru's view and then scolded Ranma. "Ranma, was it really necessary to scare them like that? You could have just told them to leave." At this Ranma started scratching his head as he defended himself, "Well, er-, you see Usagi, ah." Usagi gave a small smile at seeing Ranma get completely tongue tied trying to explain his actions to her. She then just walked up and gave him a peck on the cheek before she said, "Relax Ranma. I know why you did what you did; I just wanted to get a good opening for a kiss."
Hotaru started to giggle on seeing her two friends interact. Those two were always able to brighten up her day in Hotaru's opinion. Neither of her friends thought that she was odd or weird at all with her healing abilities. Usagi and Ranma just accepted her for who she was and Hotaru was eternally thankful for that. A few days ago when Hotaru learned that Ranma and Usagi had started dating, even though they hadn't gone on an actual 'date', Hotaru was ecstatic. Not only were the two nicest people her age, in Hotaru's opinion, go out with each other; but they were still willing to spend time with her.
Since she first met the duo, Usagi and Ranma had showed up every other day to play with her. Usagi, on seeing that Hotaru's frailty would prevent her from playing most outdoor games, had been insisting that the three of them play board games. Each time Usagi and Ranma showed up to play they had a different game to play. The trio headed into a nearby park and sat at a picnic table. Ranma then pulled the game out of his only hidden weapons pocket, which he had developed thanks to Mousse, and started setting the game up.
The game of choice for today happened to be Risk. Ranma started off with North America, Venezuela, Iceland, England, and Scandinavia. Hotaru got the rest of South America, all of Africa, The Middle East, Western Europe, and India. Usagi had the rest of the territories. Hotaru was quite happy that she won the dice roll to go first. She was even happier when her armies on the starting turn managed to steamroll Usagi out of Europe. When Usagi tried to reclaim her territories from Hotaru, her invasion failed completely.
Unfortunately for the girls, it was then Ranma's turn. He completely drove Hotaru out of South America and managed to claim the one Asian territory that bordered on Alaska. As the turns progressed Ranma was relentless in his assault on the girls' combined territory. At the end of his next turn Ranma unified Europe causing Usagi and Hotaru to forge a temporary alliance against him. Sadly for the girls, Ranma was able to defeat their combined assault and still kept expanding.
After she saw Ranma win the game in only seven turns for him, Usagi lowered her head in embarrassment. In the back of her mind Usagi was saying over and over again, "At least his on my side when we face the daemons." Hotaru had a slight blush on her face due to being embarrassed at losing so quickly.
Ranma, on seeing the embarrassed looks on his girlfriend and also on someone he was starting to consider a little sister, just started scratching the back of his head. He then chuckled out, "Now this is unusual. Normally I'm the one who has the bad luck at these kinds of games. In fact, my luck has almost never been as good as it's been the past few days."
As soon as the words left Ranma mouth, his face started to drain of color. Usagi grew concerned and asked, "What's the matter Ranma?" Ranma then got very serious and said, "Usually when my turns good, that means that something big and crazy is about to happen. I'm hopping that with the craziness of Juban acting as a backdrop whatever is about to happen won't cause too much trouble or be too insane." On seeing the odd looks Hotaru and, to a far lesser extent, Usagi were giving him Ranma shook his head. "I'm not kidding here about the insanity I've had to deal with here. One time my school was invaded by a small herd of German speaking, polka dancing pigs! Apparently the pigs were protesting the new roast pork on the school's menu."
Hotaru sweat dropped upon hearing Ranma say this story with full conviction in his voice. Usagi just slightly shook her head at this latest tale that she heard about Ranma's life. Usagi knew that Ranma was telling them the complete and honest truth. She had been able to get Ranma to slowly open up about his past misadventures in Nerima and so knew that something like that was bound to happen in Ranma's life. Usagi hoped that whatever new chaos that was probably coming wouldn't hurt any civilian lives. Also she hoped that it wasn't something in the likes of yet another fiancée out for her boyfriend. Usagi just didn't want to go through that kind of a headache, not when she was worried about what to do when Uyko or that Shampoo girl would eventually locate Ranma.
Hotaru, who was looking up at the sky, tilted her head a bit and said, "Uh, is it me or is that a giant pigeon in the sky. Why is there a giant pigeon carrying a scroll in its feet flying towards us?" At this Ranma and Usagi followed Hotaru's gaze to see that there was in fact a giant pigeon carrying a rolled up scroll in its feet. The pigeon started to fly in circles as if it was looking for something. It then banked sharply to the inside of the circle it was flying in and started descending down to the ground. The pigeon landed on the table facing Ranma and started bobbing its head up and down.
Ranma pulled a cracker out from his hidden weapons pocket and gave it to the bird saying, "Okay, okay here's a treat. Now can I have that scroll you've got in your feet?" The pigeon greedily took the cracker before it hopped in Hotaru's lap and made itself comfortable. Ranma picked up the scroll and, noticing the seal on the scroll, opened it with a slight bit of curiosity.
Usagi noticed that Ranma's face went from showing slight happiness, to nervousness, then to relief, followed by shock, and then to amusement. Usagi wanted to know what was going on and so spoke up. "Ah Ranma, what's going on?" Ranma put the scroll down on the table in order to look Usagi square in the eye. He then sat silently for a second before he spoke up. "Usagi, do you remember the special announcement that our principle stated yesterday?"
Usagi thought back to the announcement that the principal made, apparently their high school was going to be holding a few exchange students from several neighboring countries. Usagi then nodded her head and said, "Yes I remember. Rei was talking about how she and her grandfather are going to be hosting one of the exchange students for the time that they are in Japan." Usagi's eyes widened as she figured that the strangely delivered letter in Ranma's hands probably had something to do with one of the exchange students. Ranma saw the look of understanding cross Usagi's face and he just nodded his head. Ranma then said, "Let me read you the letter Usagi. Ahem,"
"Dear Ranma Saotome,
I am sure that you remember my clan's seal after our little 'encounter' on Mt. Horai. Even though we did not meet or depart on the best of terms, I do owe you my life and for that you have my thanks. In light of this turnaround, and to prevent further misunderstandings between the two of us, I feel compelled to inform you of certain events that have taken place after we departed.
As you know, our whole confrontation happened because of some ill-advised actions of mine in regards to my upcoming betrothal ceremony. Due some of the lasting effects of my actions, plus the blundering of Mint and Lime, my betrothal ceremony was a complete disaster; resulting in my prospective betrothed to break off the engagement. My father has decided that I need 'to expand my understanding of the world' and has enrolled me into a transfer program with a school in the district of Juuban, Tokyo.
My father, who received the complete school roster for the school I am to attend, has informed me that you are attending the same school that I shall shortly be attending. Due to the situation that I currently am in, I am in need of help regarding certain things that only people who have visited certain regions of China are familiar with. I know that I have done nothing to endear myself to you and that it is I who am in your debt, but I find myself without any other options to turn to.
This letter is a formal apology in regards to all the ill that I have committed against your person and those that were in your company at the time. Even though I wasn't in my right mind due to stress at the time, my actions were unacceptable to a person of my rank. If you are willing to put the troubles between us in the past, we can talk more about things in person. I am to be staying with an old priest and his granddaughter at a place called the Hikawa Shrine.
Signed,
Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty."
10. Chapter 10
Welcome to yet another chapter in Prince of the Planets! I see to be getting a lot of e-mails saying that I reposted chapters 6 and 7 as chapters 8 and 9. GO BACK TO THE STORY SUMMARY! I broke my original chapter 1 into three chapters; therefore my latter chapters were all moved up two spots. Please don't send me any more e-mails about this. Now why don't we remember that HistorianoftheKais doesn't own Sailor Moon or Ranma ½ so we can get on with the story?
Usagi, Ranma, Rei, and Rei's grandfather were all calmly waiting in one of the lobbies of the Tokyo International Airport. Ranma was with Rei and Rei's grandfather due to a letter that Rei's grandfather had received a letter from Herb requesting that Ranma accompany the Hinos when they picked him up as Ranma was a familiar person to him. Usagi had tagged along to be with Ranma and to also talk with Rei. Ranma was at first surprised that Herb was going by plane because the last time the prince had been to Japan, Herb had gone by boat. However, he told by Rei's grandfather that all of the transfer students were going to be arriving in Japan together and that it was cheaper to send them all by plane then by boat and rail.
Currently Ranma was leaning against a support pillar while Usagi and Rei were both sitting on the nearby bench chatting away. Rei's grandfather was off a ways talking to the other parents that were hosting the transfer students. Ranma ignored the girls' conversation figuring that he really didn't want to know what the girls were talking about. Having to hear and even participate in 'girl talk' was hard enough when his curse activated, Ranma had no desire to have to deal with it when he was a guy. However, Ranma was very protective of Usagi so he was constantly shifting his gaze slightly so that he could look for potential problems.
It wasn't that Ranma was paranoid; he just knew that crazy things tended to happen when things like this went on around him. Although Usagi and Rei could easily defend themselves should a daemon attack; they most likely wouldn't be able to use their powers against the more 'normal' craziness that Ranma was worried about. Both of the girls were doing great in his martial arts training, but a week of training definitely did not qualify someone to handle what Ranma was afraid of happening. Therefore, Ranma was determined to keep track of everyone he came to the airport with and was praying that they could leave with Herb without any trouble.
Usagi and Rei's conversation was interrupted when the intercom blared that the transfer students' plane had arrived and was now disembarking. Rei's grandfather then cheerfully walked over to where the teens were at and said "Well now let's go and greet Herb, uh what was his last name again? Oh yes, it was Ryutaisa (Dragon Captain), well lets go and give Herb Ryutaisa a warm welcome!" As Usagi got off the bench she thought she heard Ranma mutter, "A warm welcome; let's just hope it's not too warm." Usagi understood what Ranma was referring to and was silently hoping for just what he had said as well.
The four made there way over to the check-in part of the terminal, the farthest a person was allowed to go without a security badge or a ticket. There they waited and watched for Herb to come into sight. Soon enough they spotted a large crowd of mostly loud teens coming out of the terminal. These people were lead by a man in a business suit who was hopelessly trying to keep the teens in order. The man in the suit pointed to where the transfer parents were standing and shouted something in Chinese. The man then left the teens to go to their transfer parents and he headed over to the bathroom. Ranma the first to spot Herb and blinked his eyes before uttering out in a questioning voice, "Herb?"
Ranma knew for a fact that the person he was looking at couldn't possibly be anyone else other then the Musk prince. However, Herb looked very different then he had the last time Ranma had seen the prince. One of the most obvious differences was that Herb was no longer in his scaled armor. Instead, Herb was dressed in western black silk dress pants, had on a long white Sunday dress shirt, and had a v-neck grey wool vest to top his outfit off. It was obvious to everyone who looked at him that Herb was uncomfortable in his current clothes.
Herb, possibly because he heard Ranma say his name, turned his head and spotted Ranma and the others with Ranma. Herb then instantly put on a mask of calm confidence and started walking towards Ranma. As he passed Ranma to go to face Rei's grandfather, Herb momentarily stopped next to Ranma and whispered "thank-you" as he gave the pig-tailed martial artist a slight nod of the head. Herb then walked in front of Rei's grandfather, bowed his head towards the old priest, and said in a quiet but firm tone. "I am Herb Ryutaisa, crown prince of the Musk people; I am honored that you would open your house to me and allow me to stay with you for the duration of my visit to Japan."
Rei was shocked that Herb had announced that he was a prince and was even more shocked that Usagi and Ranma didn't seem to be surprised by this announcement. Her grandfather just smiled and said in a cheery voice, "No need to be so formal kid. After all, even royalty are people who need to at times just relax. Just call me by my name, Shigeru; trust me, people are easier to live with when they are more relaxed with each other." Herb blinked his eyes several times as if he was having trouble comprehending what he had heard Shigeru say to him.
Ranma just smirked as he watched the confusion on Herb's face, seeing the self-assured prince out of balance was secretly enjoyable. Still, Ranma knew that he was the closest thing Herb had to a friend in 700 miles. Taking a step forward, Ranma put his hand on Herb's shoulder and said, "What the old priest means is that you can just be an ordinary, well as ordinary as a person in your situation can be, teenager while you're in Japan. Just remember that I will help you if you ever find yourself in a situation because of your 'status.' Now let's go and get your stuff so we can leave."
Five minutes later Herb's welcome party with the prince in tow was at the baggage claim station. Herb quickly spotted his two suitcases and walked over to grab them. Carrying both suitcases firmly in his hands, Herb made his way over to where the others were waiting for him. Shigeru then lead the teenagers out of the Airport and over towards the rail stop. Part of the trip to the rail station required them to walk next to a road. Just as the rail stop came into sight, a truck carrying water cooler jugs passed by and one of the full jugs fell off the trunk and hit the pavement. The now free water splashed Ranma and Herb activating their curses. Rei, who had turned around to check on the 'boys', saw two very beautiful girls where she knew Ranma and Herb had been and promptly fainted. Ranma, who saw Rei faint, just snapped his fingers and said, "And we were so close to going home without an incident too."
* * *
"I am sooo dead." Ryoga thought to himself as he considered his very perilous position. It just wasn't fair, Ranma was supposed to be the poor fool that got into these kinds of situations; not him! He had been caught off guard as he was heading to the park to practice martial arts and had his curse activated. Not wanting to cut into his practice time too much, Ryoga had decided to just teleport back to the Saotome household so he could change back. He hadn't used his teleport abilities too much because he, like Ranma, didn't want his location getting back to the remaining Nerima Nuts.
Unfortunately for Ryoga, he hadn't really practiced teleporting while in his cursed for thus leading to his current situation. He was in his cursed form currently above a bathtub of hot water. The only reason he hadn't fallen into the tub of water yet was because he had a death grip on the shower head. What made the whole situation all the more deadly for Ryoga was the fact that the tub was currently occupied by Ami. Ryoga knew that Ami was in the tub because Murphy had spared no expense in causing him trouble; Ryoga had teleported with his face facing the tub instead of the wall.
As soon as Ryoga saw Ami's face and all the rest of her at the same time, he immediately shut his eyes. Ryoga couldn't just teleport out of his situation because of the recharge time needed. As he was waiting for the recharge time to pass Ryoga prayed that Ami wouldn't look up and that he wouldn't get a nose bleed. Murphy hadn't moved on because a single drop of blood fell from Ryoga's snout and hit the bathwater below.
Ami noticed the drop of blood hit the bath water near her feet and was puzzled for a second. "Huh? What's going on?" Ami said to herself as her eyes followed the path that the drop had come from. Spotting a cute black piglet that was gripping the shower head with its hoofs, Ami stood up in the bathwater and said, "Where did you come from little guy?" Although Ami had no idea how a black piglet got up there or even in the house, Ami didn't want to leave the poor thing up there. She reached over and grabbed the piglet and had to use more strength then she had expected to get the little porker off of the shower head.
Once Ami had Ryoga in her hands she thought about what she should do with the piglet. Ami decided to just put him on the bathroom floor and finish her bath. Sadly Ami's hands were still lightly covered in soap as she hadn't bothered to make sure there were no more soap suds. Therefore Ryoga fell out of Ami's hands and into the warm bathwater. Ami could barely keep herself from screaming out in shock as she found a nude Ryoga in the bathtub with her. The shock of it all caused Ami to faint and fall face forward onto Ryoga. Pin down by Ami, all Ryoga could do was silently curse his luck.
* * *
Makoto was in her apartment kitchen trying to think about she should cook for dinner. Sure, dinner was two hours away for her, but she liked to plan out what she would cook and get all of the ingredients ready before she actually started. It was something that her mother had done with her many times before her parents died. Makoto liked to continue to make her meals like that because it made her feel close her mother. Even though she tried not to show it to the other scouts, Makoto was really bother by her lack of family.
Family that bittersweet word had taken on a whole new twist for Makoto ever since Ranma showed up. He just confused Makoto and was unknowingly playing with her emotions like crazy. On the one hand, she viewed him as a fellow student and defender of the city. That side of Makoto view Ranma as Usagi's new boyfriend and the Scouts' new martial arts instructor. On the other hand, there was a part of Makoto that was screaming for Ranma to be safe and well away from the battlefield. That part of Makoto was extremely upset that one of her friends would DARE date Ranma.
Makoto started to rub her temples as she talked to herself. "Okay Makoto, get it together. Ever since you found out about Prince Nephelite, your memories of him as a little boy have been coming back very quickly. Obviously all of your motherly love for Nephelite is still there. You just don't know how to relate those emotions over to Ranma." Talking to herself was just not working for Makoto.
Makoto was knocked out of the cycle of depression that she had inadvertently put herself into by the ringing of her doorbell. Shaking her head as she got up, Makoto calmly walked over to the front door and opened it. Even though she had a smile on her face, Makoto could barely keep her shock from showing. Right there in front of her dressed in a rather traditional kimono was none other Nodoka Saotome. Makoto had to keep herself from closing the door in the woman's face because of shock. Ranma's mother was the last person, besides Ranma himself, which Makoto wanted to deal with until she got her head strait again.
Nodoka looked at Makoto and noticed the minute signs that Makoto was not resting easily; also the fact that Makoto didn't really want to see her was obvious to Makoto. However, Nodoka didn't just walk away because when she looked within Makoto's eyes she saw the eyes of a scared girl who needed someone's help. It wasn't hard for Nodoka to figure out that the source of Makoto's distress was 'their' son Ranma. Nodoka was afraid that Makoto would burn up if the girl continued going how she was without getting help. Deciding that confronting the issue would be in Makoto's best long term interests, Nodoka bowed her head and said, "May I come in Makoto? After all, there are several things that the two of us need to talk about."
Makoto, who was still in a great deal of shock, steeped aside and let Nodoka into the house. Then, even though she was still in shock, Makoto's instincts as a good housekeeper took over. Walking ahead of Nodoka, Makoto led the older woman over to the small family room. There were two simple chairs in the small room which two women promptly sat on. A few minutes passed between Makoto and Nodoka in uncomfortable silence.
Nodoka broke the silence by turning to Makoto and saying, "Well then Makoto, I guess this conversation has been coming. I must admit, this is one conversation I never expected to have. How are you holding up knowing that Ranma is the reincarnation of your past life's son?" Nodoka spoke with a concerned tone and a look of worry on her face the entire time.
Makoto looked into Nodoka's eyes and saw that they didn't offer pity, only understanding and compassion. They were eyes that promised that no matter what, the barer of the eyes would make everything go better. Makoto hadn't seen eyes like that directed towards her since she had last seen her mother alive all those years ago. Those eyes and what they reminded Makoto of were the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The poor girl broke out into a river of tears and was quickly wrapped up by Nodoka's arms. For the next several minutes Makoto was unable to stop crying as Nodoka tried to sooth the distraught senshi.
Eventually, Makoto stopped crying and just took comfort in Nodoka's embrace. Sadly, in Makoto's secret opinion, the reality of the situation returned to the young brunette. Makoto then slowly and politely worked her way out of Nodoka's hug to sit back fully in her chair. Nodoka also moved back into her own chair, sensing that Makoto wanted a little bit of room after that outburst. Taking a deep breath to help calm her nerves; Makoto then said in a more collected voice, "I'm not holding up nearly as well as I would like to Mrs. Saotome. Finding out about Prince Nephelite/Ranma is one of the best and worst things for me."
Upon seeing the confused look on Nodoka's face, Makoto decided to explain what she meant. Makoto made a sweeping motion with her hand and said, "You have to understand, all of this belonged to my parents. They died 6 years ago leaving everything to me and provided me with a modest income via a trust fund they established for me. My parents came from a small family so there were no relatives for me to go to after their deaths. For some reason that I still haven't fully been able to figure out, I was declared an emancipated minor instead of being put into a foster home like I had at first expected."
Makoto then let out a small sigh and her eyes gained a slightly dreamy look as she continued to talk. "Ever since the plane crash that killed my parents, all I've ever dreamed about was being part of a family. I can't tell you how many nights I went to sleep hoping that tomorrow a social worker would show up at my door and tell me that they've found a relative of mine. Those dreams always ended with that dream relative of mine whisking me away to be apart of his or her family. As I got older, those dreams of mind for a family changed. Instead of it being a relative showing up; it was me getting married to a great guy and having several kids of my own."
Closing her eyes and bowing her head, Makoto took a second to collect her thoughts and calm down again before she continued in a quieter tone. "And now Ranma and his past incarnation show up; completely turning my world on its head. I now have a relative but at the same time I still don't have one. And to make the whole situation worse, I'm getting the memories and feelings that my past incarnation had towards her son. Now whenever I look or think about Ranma, I find my feelings torn. I feel like he's a friend that could possibly become of brother-figure for me; while on the other hand there's a part of me that wants to crush him in a hug and is deeply upset that he refers to you as mother."
Nodoka listened to Makoto's speech with patience and understanding. It tore at Nodoka's heart to listen to what Makoto was going through. Nodoka knew that Makoto must have been going though some tough feelings about this whole situation before Nodoka came to check on the girl. After all, Nodoka herself was still having some difficulty dealing with the fact that Ranma could remember being the son of princess Hippolyta. But before she came over to visit Makoto, Nodoka never imagined that Makoto was having such a difficult time. Any jealousy that Nodoka might have unknowingly kept towards Makoto and her connection to Ranma was forever banished from Nodoka's heart.
Nodoka saw Makoto bowing her head in shame and Nodoka felt a pull at her heart at seeing Makoto like that. It was obvious to Nodoka that Makoto was afraid that she had upset Nodoka with how she felt towards Ranma. Nodoka suddenly felt an idea enter her head and she softly started to speak. "Makoto, I can't begin to fully understand what you're going through because of this. I may not have seen Ranma for ten years, but at least I knew that he was alive and coming back to me. Being able to handle growing up on your own for so long like you have really impresses me."
Nodoka saw that she now had Makoto's attention and that Makoto was no longer as embarrassed as she had been. Looking into Makoto's eyes Nodoka continued her own speech saying, "Makoto the two of us may be in a rather unique situation regarding Ranma, but that doesn't mean that either of us has to deal with any heartbreak. We both regard Ranma as our son; you because of your past life and me because I gave birth to him in this life. I know that Ranma, although he tries not to show it me because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings, views both of us as his mothers. Will a little bit of work, and a good deal of understanding all around to start off with, I think that it's possible for the three of us to make our rather unique family work."
Makoto thought about what Nodoka had just told her very seriously. It did make sense that the three of them were a family like Nodoka had said. Could she make it work? Makoto asked herself whether she could honestly make such a situation work. Slowly Makoto started to smile and the smile got bigger. Yes, yes she could make such a thing as Nodoka seemed to be proposing work. With a big smile on her face, Makoto looked at Nodoka and said, "Well what do you know, dreams really do come true."
* * *
Herb, now in his male form, was sitting currently helping Rei to set the Hino's dinner table. The young prince was silently thankful that he had been able to change out of those uncomfortable clothes that he had been in during his flight from China. Currently he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that had the image of a Chinese dragon covering the back. While not as comfortable to Herb as his armor, it was infinitely better then that 'monkey suit' he had been forced to wear.
Looking across the table where Rei was currently setting out some strange utensils he had never heard of called 'forks', Herb was again thankful that he had sent that letter to Ranma. As much as he hated to admit it even to himself, Herb knew that things would have gone FAR worse after his and Ranma's curses were revealed if Ranma hadn't been there with his 'girlfriend'. One of the things that Herb had learned about himself after that fiasco with the locking ladle and the kettle of liberation was that he still needed to learn with other people who were not his subordinates like Mint and Lime were.
For a second, Herb felt his mind wander back to the events that afternoon after his and Ranma's curses were activated. Usagi had helped Rei get back on her feet and steady the then shocked shrine maiden. Shigeru Hino had just calmly stood there; Herb guessed that his father had included information about the curse in the letter to the old priest. Usagi and Ranma then proceeded to explain the curses to Rei and made sure that she fully understood what was going on. The four teens and their accompanying elder then got on the train in order to get to the shrine. After they had made sure that Herb was settled into his room at the shrine, Ranma and Usagi had left to go on a date.
Shaking his head, Herb focused on finishing up his part of taking care of his part of setting the table. Looking at the table and noticing that it was set for four people, Herb turned to look at Rei and said, "Who is the fourth person that we've set the table for? Is it for your father?" Immediately Rei's body tensed up when she heard Herb mention her father. Herb noticed the hostility that Rei was showing at the mention of her father and immediately bowed his head. He then, even as hard as it was for him, said in apologetic tone. "I am truly sorry if I have said something to offend you Miss Hino, I was only curious." As much as Herb disliked having to apologize for his actions; he had learned, and rather painfully too, that sometimes it was better for him to swallow his pride.
Rei at first stiffened when Herb had brought up her father; that man was practically a taboo subject for Rei. Rei was about to curtly tell Herb never to mention her father again when she heard his apology. Her face softened as she realized that Herb was genuinely curious as to why the table was being set like it was. With a neutral face that turned into a small smile as she continued to talk, Rei said, "Please don't mention my father around me again Herb. He and I have issues that need to be resolved. The fourth set of dishes and silverware is for a friend of mine that's coming over."
Herb nodded his head in order to show that he understood what Rei was telling him. The concept of a father and child being such terms as Rei was implying was a foreign concept for Herb, but he could understand it. Herb and Rei then finished setting up the table in a relatively comfortable silence. Just as piece of silverware was set on the table, the doorbell rang. Rei then left Herb to bring over the prepared dinner from the kitchen as she headed over to the front door to greet her friend.
Less then two minutes latter Herb saw Rei return to the dinning room with a blond haired girl following her. Rei then motioned between Herb and Minako while saying, "Herb Ryutaisa this is my friend Minako Anio. Minako Aino, this is the exchange student that's staying with me and my grandfather, Herb Ryutaisa."
Herb put the tray holding the main dinner dish down on the table. He then took a quick glance at Minako and said with a stiff and slight nod of his head, "an honor to meet you Miss Aino." Actually, it wasn't that much of an honor in Herb's mind to meet Minako but he didn't want to offend Rei. Minako, for some reason that escaped him at the time, just reminded Herb of his former betrothed. Why Minako would remind him of her, Herb had no clue. Still, Minako put Herb slightly on edge and one thing that every Musk child was taught since birth was to trust their instincts.
Before Minako could say anything more then a simple greeting, Shigeru walked into room and stated that it was time to start eating. During the dinner Herb was quiet and only answered the girls' questions. Minako tended to ask him more personal questions than Rei did and so Herb tended to be a little sharper in his replies. He said nothing overly hostile, just a slight change in his eyebrows and tone in order to show that he didn't want to pursue that line of questioning. Privately Herb had to admit that the dinner, even with its uncomfortable parts, was a pleasant change from the more formal dinners back at the Musk citadel.
Half an hour latter everyone was finished eating and had started clearing the table. Once all of the dirty dishes were next to the sink Rei's grandfather smiled and asked the teens to let him take care of the dishes. Minako was the first to jump at the chance to get away from the dishes; Herb and Rei were both far more reluctant to leave the rather large pile of dishes for Shigeru to tackle by himself. Fortunately, at least in Minako's opinion, Shigeru managed to chase Herb and Rei out of the kitchen while muttering about how kids these days just don't respect their elders.
While Shigeru was tackling the dishes, the teens soon found themselves sitting in the family room with their text-books out. Rei and Minako were both quizzing each other for a test next week while Herb was working on better understanding the various writing methods that the Japanese used. While Herb could read Japanese, he was still easily confused by the kanji. The numerous variations within the Japanese writing system seemed totally irrational to the dragon prince who was used to the single simple system of characters used in the Musk lands and the other surrounding areas.
Placing his book down on the coffee table, Herb grabbed the one thing that he was completely familiar and comfortable with; the TV remote. Herb then turned in his seat a bit so he could get a better view of the television and pressed the ON button. Although the TV screen was not nearly as big as the 72" screen TV his father had installed in the basement of the citadel; the clarity was a whole lot better then the satellite signal that reached the citadel. After only a few minutes of seeing the clarity of the TV programs and the massive variety of channels, Herb was determined that he would have a cable line installed in the citadel ASAP.
Herb stopped his channel surfing when he got to a station that was playing the local news. Putting the remote down, Herb started to pay attention to what the announcers was saying. "-And in other news, less then ten minutes ago another monster attack was recorded. Luckily for our fellow citizens of Tokyo, the monster was quickly taken care of by our local hero Sailor Moon and her new helper Jovian Paladin. Surprisingly, none of the other Sailor Scouts showed up to fight the monster. However I have heard that we shouldn't hold this against the other Scouts. Apparently witnesses of the fight have reported that during the fight the Jovan Paladin said to Sailor Moon and I quote 'next time we go on a date princess we need to make sure that the monsters know that we'll be busy so that they can reschedule their attacks to be at a more convenient time.'"
"Does this mean that the gossip we've been hearing about these two heroes being together is true? In any case, both of these two heroes were able to slay the monster with no loss of human life and only very minimal property damage. And now, we turn things over to Toranaga with the weather report."
Herb turned off the TV as soon as the reporter stopped talking about the monster attack. Minako and Rei were quietly chatting to each other about the attack. However Herb wasn't paying them any attention. His whole mind focused in on the names of the monster's slayers. Herb could have sworn that he had heard those names, or at least names like those, mentioned before in his youth. However Herb could not be sure of the significance of the names, he could only be sure that they were important. Herb resolved then and there to get at the bottom of the situation and figure out why the names seemed so important to him. First thing in the morning, Herb promised himself, he would send a letter to his father asking for a copy of the Tome of the Taisho. If anything, that ancient book would help him solve the mystery of those names.
11. Chapter 11
Disclaimer: sorry don't own any stock in any Japanese entertainment business. Now that that's over with, let's get on with the story.
Setsuna Meioh was currently walking down the street towards the Saotome home with a smile on her face. It had taken the senshi of time a while and several migraines, but she finally gotten it through Michiru and Hakura's heads that they held the talismans in their heart crystals and that the princess was the only one who could safely retrieve the talismans. Currently it was a warm and sunny afternoon on a school day. Knowing that Ranma and Usagi liked to do their homework together, Setsuna figured that the best place to find the duo would be the Saotome home.
Feeling the sun gently warming her shoulders, Setsuna stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. It had been a bit of a surprise to Setsuna that the media had caught definite proof that Usagi and Ranma, or rather Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin, were dating two days ago. However, the real surprise for Setsuna was how much that news seemed to be on everyone's lips. And by everyone, Setsuna wasn't just referring to the students in school. Oh no, even the teachers in the teachers' lounge were chatting away on the subject. Poor Usagi and Ranma seemed so embarrassed at the fact that their love life generated so much gossip. The only saving grace for the royal couple was the fact that no one in school who was gossiping about the 'Heroic couple' knew that it was Usagi and Ranma that they were talking about.
Shaking her head, Setsuna resumed her walk towards the Saotome household. While Setsuna was pleased at how Usagi and Ranma were such good influences to each other, she respected their privacy. Soon enough Setsuna found herself standing in front of the small but cozy Saotome house. After knocking on the door a few times Setsuna stood back and waited for someone to answer the door. Setsuna waited a few minutes and was about to knock on the door again when she saw the door open. Standing in the now opened doorway was Nodoka wearing one of her traditional kimonos and blinking her eyes.
Nodoka stopped blinking her eyes and said in a slightly confused tone of voice, "Yes Miss. Is there something that I can help you with?" Due to Ranma's rather crazy life Nodoka had developed a bit of caution towards people that she didn't know. It wasn't that she was paranoid, but Nodoka knew that only fools don't prepare themselves for what they know is bound to happen.
Setsuna just politely bowed and said, "Good afternoon Mrs. Saotome. My name is Setsuna Meioh; I'm the student councilor at the school that your son goes to. Now don't worry at all Mrs. Saotome, Ranma has done nothing wrong in school. I just wanted a chance to personally meet your son who I've heard so many interesting things about."
Nodoka put her hand to her face as if she was thinking about what Setsuna had said. Then after a minute of thinking, Nodoka got out of the doorway and motioned for Setsuna to come in. With a faint smile on her face Setsuna calmly walked into the house. Once Setsuna was inside the house, Nodoka closed the front door. Nodoka then turned to Setsuna and said, "Ranma is currently up in his room studying with his girlfriend. I'll show you which room it is." Setsuna nodded her head to show that she understood what Nodoka told her. Nodoka then smiled and started to walk down the hall towards the stairs.
While the two women were walking down the hall they passed by a small table with a couple of photos placed on the table. One of the photos caught Setsuna's eye and she stopped for a second to give the photo a better look. The photo showed a 12 year old Usagi sitting in front of a large birthday cake with Nodoka, Ikuko, and Shingo grouped next to Usagi. All four people in the picture were looking into the camera and smiling. Although she knew that the two were dating, Setsuna had no idea that the Saotome and Tsukino families had had previous contact. Setsuna then stopped staring at the photo and quickly, but at the same time in a dignified manner, caught up to Nodoka.
Very soon, Nodoka and Setsuna were in front of the door to Ranma's room. Nodoka then lightly knocked on Ranma's door. Her knock was quickly followed by Ranma calling out from behind the closed door, "Come on in the door's unlocked." Nodoka opened the door to see Ranma and Usagi both sitting Indian style on Ranma's bed. In both of the teens' laps were their literary textbooks opened to the same page. If Nodoka or Setsuna were to look at the two teens closely, they would have seen that Usagi's lipstick was smudged a bit. Also they would have seen that Ranma's lips had a faint hint of pink to them that was the same shade as Usagi's lipstick.
Usagi looked up to see that Setsuna had walked into the room as well as Nodoka. Usagi then tilted her head a bit and said, "Uh Setsuna, are you here on school business or are you here because of something relating to the Sailor Scouts?" Both Usagi and Ranma developed sweat drops as they watched a bug-eyed Setsuna give herself whiplash from looking between them and Nodoka too fast. The teens then developed a nervous chuckle when the realized that Setsuna didn't know that Nodoka knew about the whole scout business. Usagi took pity on Setsuna and said, "Don't worry about it Setsuna, Auntie Nodoka knows about the Sailor Scouts. Almost anything that you need to tell us relating to the Scouts can be said in front of her."
Setsuna rubbed her temples and mentally swore to buy stock in a brewing company; there were just too many days that she needed to get drunk due to things relating to the scouts. Putting her hands back at her side, Setsuna looked at her attentive audience. Both Usagi and Ranma were looking at her waiting for her to say something. Nodoka was looking at Setsuna with accusing eyes that were filled with distrust. It was obvious to Setsuna that Nodoka was feeling like Setsuna had deliberately lied to the brunette. Not wanting the situation to fester any longer, Setsuna sighed and said, "I wish I had known that earlier."
Setsuna then looked into Ranma's eyes and said, "It's good to see you again little Nephy. Like I told your mother when I was at the door, I have wanted to personally meet with you ever since I heard about what you did for Usagi a month ago. My desire to meet you only increased once I found out that you were the Jovian Paladin. I don't know whether your girlfriend has told you about me or not. In any case, let me introduce myself. My name is Setsuna Meioh, High School councilor and Sailor Pluto." Nodoka's face plainly showed her surprise while Ranma was just slowly shaking his head as if he expected something like this to happen.
Usagi put her hand under her chin and said while looking at Setsuna, "You said that seeing Ranma was one of the reasons why you came here. Am I correct to assume that there is another reason for you being here that you haven't mentioned yet?"
Setsuna's small smirk grew into a noticeable smile as she witnessed Usagi logically analyze the information that was unintentionally provided. One thing that had annoyed Setsuna in the Silver Millennium was the fact that most of the Lunar Queens, even though they were wonderful people, had the analytical skills of a two year old. Seeing that her princess was more like Queen Serenity in that department then her grandmother Queen Diana was very heartwarming for Setsuna. The green haired senshi then said quite cheerfully, "very good reasoning princess. You are correct in that I have another reason for being here. The remaining two talismans, the Space Sword and the Deep Aqua Mirror, have been found."
Ranma and Usagi then turned around and gave each other a high-five at that news. Ranma and the inner Scouts had been worried about the talismans falling into enemy hands ever since Usagi told them that the talismans were what Neptune and Uranus were looking for. It had really angered everyone when Usagi told them that Neptune and Uranus were recklessly endangering civilians in their quest to find the talismans. Luckily, in Ranma and the Inner Scouts' opinions, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus hadn't been in a position to cause another confrontation like what had happened before Ranma's identity was revealed to the inners. Ranma then said in a serious voice, "Whose heart crystals bare the remaining talismans?"
Feeling everyone's eyes focus on her, Setsuna put her hand to her right temple and said, "Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus hold the Deep Aqua Mirror and the Space Sword respectively." On seeing the Glares of Death being directed by Ranma and Usagi when she mentioned who held the talismans, Setsuna felt her headache returning. Figuring that her future queen and (by the looks of things) king would want a more through answer, Setsuna started to explain. "As I told Usagi a while ago, I gave Sailor Neptune a gem that would detect who bore a talisman in their heart crystal. From what I can tell, Sailor Neptune gave the gem to Sailor Uranus and then Sailor Uranus figured that the gem wasn't working when it indicated that she and Neptune were talisman bearers."
On hearing what Sailor Uranus did, Ranma and Usagi crashed onto the floor anime style. Usagi, with her face still firmly on the floor, mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's it. If my senshi don't pass a basic common sense test, I'm outsourcing to the King of Fighter's Women's Team!"
Both Nodoka and Setsuna cracked a small smile when they heard Usagi's proclamation. Usagi then picked herself off of the floor and straitened out her skirt. After casually flinging her ponytails over her shoulder, Usagi looked into Setsuna's red eyes and said, "So I take it that you're going to take me over to wherever it is that those two live so that I can extract the remaining talismans?" Setsuna politely nodded her head to show that Usagi was correct in her assumptions. Usagi then turned to face Ranma, gave him a kiss on the lips, and said, "See you later Ranma. We're still on for tonight at the Mainland Mandarin Meal Stop?" Ranma's smirk and eye grin were an obvious and emphatic yes for Usagi. Dinner plans safely taken care of, Usagi and Setsuna walked out of Ranma's room to go extract two talismans.
* * *
Ryoga was currently sitting on a barstool in the Mainland Mandarin Meal Stop with his face on the counter next to a mug of root beer. Mousse, the real one and not one of the shadow clones working the kitchen, glanced over to where Ryoga was sitting and shook his head. The former lost boy had waked into Mousse's restaurant half an hour ago, ordered a soda, and had just sat there staring at the counter and at the soda. The fanged fool looked so pathetic just sitting there that it was eating at Mousse's heartstrings. Finally Mousse caved in and said, "I'm a restaurant owner, not a bartender. However, I can't stand him sitting there like that." Mousse calmly walked over to where Ryoga was sitting and said, "Are you going to drink your soda or are you going to mope around all day?"
Ryoga looked up and locked his eyes with Mousse; baring his fangs, Ryoga almost growled out. "Look Mousse, You're a friend and I respect you. However, you're putting yourself into some dangerous territory. So I would suggest, as a friend, that you mind your own business!" Mousse looked on as Ryoga sent a look of anger through his eyes in an attempt to make Mousse back away. However Mousse did not back away and Ryoga's eyes quickly betrayed the sadness that Ryoga was feeling. Ryoga quickly started to cry and put his head back on the counter. Mousse just stood by his friend and waited, Mousse figured that Ryoga would eventually tell him what the cause of the problem was.
Soon enough, Ryoga broke down and told Mousse all about the 'bathtub' incident involving Ami and him. All the while Mousse leaned back and calmly listened to what Ryoga was telling him. Once Ryoga was done talking, Mousse put his hand on his chin and thought about the situation in front of his friend. Snapping his fingers, Mousse turned to look Ryoga in the eye and said, "Guess what Ryoga! There is still a way for you repair the damage in your love life. Go down the street, buy a dozen roses, and go find Ami. Once you find Ami, give her the roses and apologize for teleporting on her in the bath. You should then explain that you were not used to teleporting in your cursed form. After you do that, explain to her all about the curse. However I would recommend that you don't tell her who else has a curse, that won't make you look good in a girl's eyes."
Ryoga listened to Mousse's suggestions and thought long and hard about them. A tiny part of him was shocked that Mousse told him to forget his pride, reveal the most painful secret he had, and go crawling and begging after Ami. However Ryoga quickly squashed this part of him and buried the remains in the bottom of the sea. This wasn't just any girl he was talking about, but Ami! In Ryoga's mind Ami was the perfect girl, nothing he could give up was too high a price to pay in order to possibly win her love.
Besides Ryoga thought, it's not like a normal girl like Ami would automatically freak out once he explained the curse to her. Ami had after all seen his teleporting abilities and was just as good a friend to him afterward as she was before. Also, Ranma's girlfriend Usagi knew about Ranma's curse and didn't dump Ranma even with all of Ranma's other faults. Since Ami and Usagi are friends, wouldn't it be likely that Ami wouldn't mind the curse too much after he explained it her? Even more importantly, could he ever forgive himself if he let Ami slip through his fingers now?
It didn't take much time for Ryoga to make up his mind: do whatever it took to get Ami to talk to him again. Sitting up strait on his stool Ryoga grabbed his mug of root beer, chugged it down in a few large gulps, placed the now empty mug on the counter, and stood up to leave. Just before he turned to walk out the door Ryoga tossed a coin at Mousse and said, "Thanks for the advice. You're a real pal Mousse and I'm glad that you were there for me."
* * *
Herb was sitting in his room at the Hikawa Shrine when he heard a soft but firm knock on his door. Turning his head towards the door, Herb said in an uncertain voice, "you can come in." The door opened up to reveal Rei leaning against the doorframe in her shrine maiden clothes. Most likely, at least in Herb's mind, Rei had just come back from attending her duties in the public areas of the shrine. Rei's face was in a frown as if she was both upset and worried about something at the same time. Looking his eyes with hers Herb asked in an uncertain tone. "Is something wrong Miss Hino, you seemed quite aggravated? Can I do something to lessen your aggravation?"
Rei closed her eyes and looked like she was counting numbers in order to keep calm. She then opened her eyes and said, "Yes Herb, there is something you can do to help me keep my temper. Actually, there are two things that you can do to help me." Rei then brought her hand out and slapped a finger on that hand with her other hand. "The first thing you can do for me Herb is to call me by my first name, understood." After Herb nodded his head to show that he understood her request, Rei grabbed a second finger. "Second Herb, tell me what's bugging you. Ever since that add that mentioned Sailor Moon and the Jovian Paladin, you've looked like you've seen a ghost."
Herb thought about Rei's second request for a moment, revealing the reason behind his troubles would be almost unprecedented in the long history of the Musk dynasty. However, these were almost unprecedented times as he had discovered so recently and just confirmed a few hours ago. Making up his mind, Herb motioned for Rei to sit next to him on his bed. Rei then promptly came over and sat next to Herb. After Rei had sat down on the bed, Herb reached into his trunk that was at the foot of the bed and pulled out an old leather-bound book. He then placed the old book reverently into his lap and turned to look at Rei.
Herb stared into Rei's eyes for a minute before he spoke with his usual confident tone. "Understand Rei that the Musk Dynasty has a LONG history. By long history I am not referring to 3,000 years or so like the Amazons Ranma and I told you about. I am not even referring to over 5,000 years of history like the 'ancient' civilization of the Egyptians. Rather, I am referring to over 10,000 years of history as a people and knowledge of the 4,000 years before the Dynasty arose. This book, known as the Tome of the Taisho, is a copy of the words that the founder of the Musk Dynasty carved into the Dynasty's sacred shrine 10,000 years ago."
Rei let out a small gasp of surprise when she heard Herb state the length of time that the Musk Dynasty had existed. Not only was her surprise from how long the Musk Dynasty had been around, but also from WHOM they likely had knowledge of. Thanks to the Mercury Computer the scouts knew that the Silver Millennium ended 10,000 years ago. The Scouts had assumed until now that they were the only people with knowledge of those times. However, Herb's proclamation and his reaction at the names of Sailor Moon and Jovian Paladin made it obvious that Musk at least knew of the Silver Millennium.
Herb, after seeing that Rei's face had calmed down from the shock, reverently opened the Tome of the Taisho and said, "I think that my situation would be even more clearer after I read you this section of the Tome." Rei instantly focused her entire consciousness on Herb and what he was saying. "And so it was that, to my eternal shame, that I the Dragon Captain was unable to prevent my ledge General Nephrite of the Earth Kingdom from being enslaved by the traitorous Lady Beryl. My survival of Ragnarok was not the act of a brave and courageous leader but the act of a coward. I and the rest of the 10th company hid ourselves in caves among the Tibetan mountains. There it was we stayed while our brothers in arms were coerced into destroying all that we held dear."
"Ragnarok has passed us by and we have lived, better it would be by far if we had perished in its flames. At least then we could descend into the Halls of Osiris knowing that we died doing our duty to defend the kingdom. Instead the kingdom is dead and our sisters in the heavens have grown silent while we live on. The stench of our shame permeates all of us; it is a musk that we suffocate in. Even our neighbors who are rapidly descending into barbarism avoid us, sensing the guilt that we bare. Not even a thousand times thousand generations will be enough time to whip out our shame."
"I can only offer this one hope to my children and the children of my subordinates. One single way that our shame may be removed and we may take our rightful places once again. I have visited the Pythia and she uttered a prophecy to me. She told me that 'The heir of the general shall be reborn in a far away land to fight with his mother and his promised bride.' Also, the Pythia revealed to me that only by serving the heir shall we remove the stain on our honor and regain our proper place and defenders of the kingdom reborn."
"I shall now reveal a secret that I have kept in confidence; I do so only so that my heir may use this knowledge to redeem the once honorable Dragon Company or as we have begun to call ourselves the Musk. Our General, the wise and clever Nephrite, fathered a single child. This child is known throughout the Silver Millennium and the Earth Kingdom although Our General was never able to claim the child as his. That child I speak of is none other than Prince Nephelite, FIRST BORN son of princess Hippolyta of the Jovian Kingdom. When news of the Prince Nephelite's rebirth comes, my heir must make all haste to deliver our oaths of loyalty to the reborn prince and take his place as the prince's loyal servant."
"I know that I shall not live to see the glorious day that our future liege is reborn. However, I have been able to do my part to prepare us for when our liege returns to accept our oaths of fidelity. I have managed to find and secure several armories of the on glorious Western Army. The locations of these armories are carefully guarded and will only be accessed in the following manner. On the western side of this monument that these words have been inscribed upon there is as you will notice a palm print carved into the monument. The reborn prince must place his hand on the palm print and channel a small part of his senshi energy into his hand. The palm print shall recognize the prince for who he is and using a hologram, display the locations of the armories that I have hidden."
Herb then closed the Tome of the Taisho and placed it back in his trunk. He then turned to face the shocked Rei and said, "Now do you see why I am so upset and worried? For 10,000 years my people have lived with the shame of our ancestors haunting us every day. Now, after so long, my people have a chance to have their shame removed and what do I do? I forgot about my part in removing their shame! Instead of instantly going out and looking for the prince, I have to go and check the Tome in order to remember my duties."
Rei looked on and saw that Herb was practically forcing himself to not cry. It really ate at her heart to see Herb like he was. She knew from Ranma that Herb had a lot of pride and confidence in himself and his abilities. His draconic blood enabled Herb, at least according to Ranma, to generate at least three times more chi than a normal person of the same training could. Although Herb wasn't as strong as a Senshi, his skill and power probably put him on equal footing with either Neptune or Uranus. With such power at his disposal it was not at all surprising to Rei that Herb would be prideful and confident.
However, none of that confidence or pride was being displayed before her right now. Before Rei was not a proud prince or a confident warrior but rather a scared and uncertain young man. A young man, who was almost alone in a strange land and deeply afraid that he had failed his people's hopes and dreams, was all that Rei saw when she looked at Herb. Although her temper might at times hide it, Rei was a rather empathetic person. You really can't work at a shrine helping people for years without developing at least some empathy. In a move that would greatly surprise the inner scouts, Rei wrapped her arms around Herb and pulled him into a hug.
Herb was at first shocked at Rei's action and was unsure of how he should respond. Since the Musk rarely ever saw a girl after they were weaned and until they were married, this was not an experience that he had any pervious knowledge of. To Herb's immense surprise, Rei softly said, "Don't worry Herb, you've done nothing wrong. All you've done is double-check your facts in order to make sure that you didn't make a mistake. After all, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I will do everything that I can to help you locate Jovian Paladin, I swear." Slowly Herb started to draw comfort from Rei's actions and words, knowing that everything would indeed turn out for the best.
* * *
Usagi and Ranma were walking down the sidewalk coming away from a happy date at Mousse's restaurant. Mousse had given them a private booth in the back of the dinner away from everyone else and away from the windows. When Usagi asked why they were given such a romantic location Mousse had responded, "I'm doing everything I can to make sure that no nuts who may have a pathetic grudge against Ranma can find him. After all, I don't want my insurance rates to skyrocket due to a low level martial arts moron trying to pick a fight in my restaurant. If the spot that best insures this just happens to be romantic, well I guess that it's just a good bonus for us all."
Even though that may have been the reason Mousse had told her and Ranma, Usagi had a feeling that Mousse was genuinely happy for Ranma and was trying to help insure that Ranma and her had a good date. Slightly increasing her grip on Ranma's arm, Usagi laid her head on his shoulder as they walked together in comfortable silence. There was a content smile on Usagi's face as she thought about her and Ranma. While she freely admitted that Ranma had his faults, Usagi loved him just the same. Although Ranma could easily be kind and caring, he wasn't like the white knight that Usagi had fantasized about when she was a little girl. Even thought Ranma was a reborn prince, he could be better described as the archetypical heroic barbarian coming to the rescue of the 'civilized' princess.
Of course, no literary archetype could fully describe Ranma in Usagi's mind. But Usagi actually liked that about Ranma. Ranma was a completely unique and wonderful person that was hers. At that moment Usagi tilted her head and gave Ranma a small peck on the cheek. She then softly whispered loud enough for Ranma and Ranma alone to hear her, "Thanks' for the date Ranma. I had a wonderful time tonight and I wouldn't trade it for anything." Ranma's cheeks started to blush as he listened to what Usagi said to him. Although they had been together for a little while, Ranma was still quite unused to such public displays of affection being directed towards him.
Usagi looked up from her position next to Ranma and saw the intersection coming up that ended the shared paths between their homes and the restaurant. Thinking about something for a moment, Usagi softly said, "Ranma, please walk with me to my house." Ranma turned his head to look Usagi strait in the eye. Before Ranma could say anything Usagi continued. "I know that if we show up together my parents are probably going to figure out that we're dating. I don't mind them finding out about us; I'm not ashamed of you in any way and there's nothing that we have to hide about our relationship. Besides, I wouldn't be too surprised if my mother at least has a suspicion that we're an item now."
Usagi's words made Ranma smile. It still at times seemed like a dream to him that he could have a girl like Usagi love him. She wasn't pushy, demanding, or considered him to be a pervert. Instead Usagi was everything that Ranma had secretly wanted in a girl without loosing that certain spark like Kasumi, who he had before used as a model of the perfect girl, seemed to have lost. A sense of warmth flooded Ranma's heart when he heard Usagi say that she didn't mind her family knowing about the two of them. Even during his days in Nerima, Ranma figured that no girl would really want to bring him home to meet her folks. The fact that the Tsukinos already knew him didn't factor into Ranma's worry when it came to his and Usagi's love life.
So in accordance with Usagi's wish, the two of them turned the corner and continued walking on their way to the Tsukino home. The setting sun painted a glorious image in the sky that both of them would occasionally glance up to see. However, the moment between them was broken when they heard the sounds of a labored run coming towards them. Ranma and Usagi looked down the road to see Hotaru running towards them like the hounds of hell were on the poor girl's heels.
Hotaru spotted Ranma and Usagi and seemed to redouble her pace in order to reach them. Usagi broke her hold on Ranma's arm in order to scoop up the frail frightened girl into a friendly embrace. With a calming voice Usagi softly said, "What's wrong Hotaru? We're your friends; we'll do whatever we can to help you."
Hotaru's frail body was practically shacking in Usagi's hug. Looking up at the worried looks on Ranma and Usagi's faces, Hotaru said in a quiet mouse like voice, "I-I h-heard my f-father talking t-to one of h-his assistants." Hotaru stopped talking for a moment and seemed to somehow make her form seem smaller then she really was. Ranma and Usagi then had to strain their hearing in order to clearly hear the next words that she mumbled out. "My father and his friends are behind the monster attacks."
12. Chapter 12
Disclaimer: if you honestly believe that I own them I've got only this to say. What are you smoking and why aren't you sharing.
Ranma walked out of his room and quietly closed the door. Turning around he was face to face with a very worried Nodoka and Usagi. Motioning with his head towards the stairs Ranma said, "Hotaru's safely tucked away in my bed. Let's head down stairs so that we can continue this conversation. Don't want to accidentally awaken Hotaru; she was exhausted before I got her to fall asleep." The two (Makoto was in third place) most important people in Ranma's life both nodded their heads to show that they agreed with Ranma's suggestion. The girls and Ranma then headed down the stairs and into the kitchen.
The sun was just beginning to set as Usagi and Nodoka turned into the room and started to sit down at the kitchen table. Ranma first made a detour to the fridge and grabbed a can of coke before he headed over to sit at the table. The kitchen was completely quiet once Ranma sat down and folded his hands together at the table. Nodoka was the one to break the silence and she said, "What are you two going to do?" Ranma and Usagi both turned their heads as one and stared at Nodoka. Ranma's mother then continued speaking to clarify what she meant. "What I mean is; what are you two going to do with the information that poor Hotaru has given you?"
Usagi closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then replied. "Auntie Nodoka, I think that Hotaru should at least for the moment stay here at the Saotome household. Regardless of what's going on, Hotaru is going to need a compassionate mother-figure. I love my mother dearly but I don't think that she'll be able to handle the level of craziness that this whole situation is evolving into." Usagi was pleased to see Nodoka smiling and nodding her head at Usagi's suggestion. That was one less thing that the young princess would have to deal with.
Feeling more confident that she was making the right calls, Usagi continued to outline her plans to Nodoka and Ranma. "The first thing that I am going to do is contact Setsuna. She should be able to use the Time Gates to backtrack Hotaru's immediate past and verify that Hotaru's telling us the truth. It's not that I don't believe Hotaru; I sincerely believe that she telling us the truth. However we can't just move on one person's say so; not on something of this magnitude. After she has verified Hotaru's story Setsuna is going to get the locations that our enemy is using as a base. I then relay that information to Ami and have her use the Mercury computer to create a map for us of the enemy base. As soon as we have the map, we'll commence a full frontal assault on the enemy locations."
Usagi had to stop and take another breath to calm her nerves, it was difficult but necessary for her continue her train of thought. Firming up her resolve, Usagi continued to outline her plan. "During the assault we have to destroy EVERYTHING and we can. All of our information currently shows that the people we are fighting are doing this all of their own free will so-" at this point a small tear fell down Usagi's cheek. She took a moment to compose herself again before she continued in a quieter voice, "-we'll have to kill all who try and stop us."
Having said what she needed to say, Usagi was unable to hold back the tears any longer. Ranma, who was unable to bear seeing Usagi in pain, practically flew out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Usagi. He then slowly, while always whispering soothing words into her ears, maneuvered Usagi so that she was crying into his shoulder. Slowly as the minutes passed Usagi's tears stopped coming. Although she was no longer crying, Usagi was still clinging to Ranma as tightly as ever. He was her support pillar giving her the strength to do what she knew she would have to do. Ranma quickly figured out that Usagi was clinging to him so tightly because she was trying to draw comfort and strength from him that she still desperately needed. As far as Ranma was concern, Usagi could stay right where she was for as long as she wanted to, any time she wanted to be there.
* * *
It was around 10 o'clock at night at the Outers' house when Setsuna teleported into the deserted family room. She had just spent the past few hours at the Time Gates gathering the information that Usagi had requested. Reaching down into her dress pocket, Setsuna pulled out a cell phone and hit the speed dial for Usagi's home phone. As the phone was ringing Setsuna was busy creating a cover story just in case Usagi wasn't the one to answer the phone. To Setsuna's relief she heard on the other end, "Tsukino residence this is Usagi Tsukino speaking. How may I help you?"
Taking a deep breath Setsuna started talking, "Usagi, this is Setsuna. I've just gotten back from checking my sources and Hotaru's story does check out. However, as I was going over the records, I noticed that a few things in _Hotaru's _files that were filed a bit _strangely._Some of the odd files seem to be _connected to_ what you and Ranma were talking about in _the past_ few days with me. Sadly_Hotaru_ was not able to get _possession_ of all of the required documents. Not to worry though, with _Rei's help_ we can get Hotaru's files _taken care of_ and her back in_possession_ of that lost item."
Over at the other end of the line, Usagi was sitting down at the kitchen table. She wasn't used to speaking in code but Usagi was able to quickly put together what Setsuna was trying to tell her. After taking a moment to figure out how to say what she wanted Setsuna to know Usagi spoke. "Do you think that we should _tell Hotaru_ _about_ what we've been working on for _the past_ week? Or, should we _wait_ until Ranma and I get Rei to sort this all out? I wouldn't want to get her hopes up _until_ after everything involving who actually has _possession _of the item is _taken care of_."
Back at the Outers' house Setsuna had a big smile plastered across her face. Yet again Usagi was surprising her with the princess's growth and new maturity. No longer did the girl seem to need some to pull her courage out of a hat for her, Usagi was now an experienced battle leader. True the girl still needed to get a lot of advice before she made her decision, but what good general didn't need advice. Setsuna closed her eyes and thought for second before she said, "I would suggest that Rei sort it all out. Good night Usagi, could you please get back to me on this tomorrow after Rei sorts everything out."
Setsuna then ended the call and put her cell phone back in her pocket. Things were really starting to look up in Setsuna's opinion. After all the inner scouts were getting the training they needed. Also, Usagi was shapping up into a real princess instead of a fairy-tale princess. Finally if the scouts ever got into a situation that was too dangerous for them to handle, they had Ranma there to pull their bacon out of the fire. Shaking her head, Setsuna headed over to the fridge to grab a sub sandwich. She could tell Haruka and Michiru about the plan latter; right now she had a sandwich with her name on it to take care of.
* * *
Ranma, Usagi, and Hotaru were all walking together towards the Hikawa shrine in the early morning light. Hotaru was currently in between Usagi and Ranma tightly hugging onto both of their hands. Half in hour earlier when she had woken up, Hotaru had been told by Ranma that she was currently possessed. Her 'big brother' explained to her that he had encountered a Sailor Scout while she was sleeping. The scout had told him, Ranma said, that they knew about her father and what he was doing. Also, Ranma told Hotaru that the scouts had found out that she was mildly possessed. Hotaru was very scared at first when she heard that news. Luckily in her opinion, Ranma and Usagi knew an old priest and his shrine maiden granddaughter who had agreed to perform an exorcism for her.
Once the trio reached the Hikawa shrine, Usagi took the lead and directed everyone to the room with the sacred fire. Rei and her grandfather were currently waiting for their guest and already had everything set up. Shigeru Hino quickly spotted Hotaru trying to hide behind Ranma and Usagi. With a kind smile on his face Shigeru approached Hotaru and said, "So you're the one that Usagi told my granddaughter about. I must admit that we don't get a lot of cases of possession to deal with, not the cities anyway. Don't worry though little girl, I know what I'm doing and I'll make sure that your good as new in no time."
Shigeru's gentle and friendly disposition was calming on Hotaru's frayed nerves. She was still nervous about the whole procedure but she was now feeling better about at the same time. Tilting her head just a bit Hotaru looked into first Ranma and then Usagi's eyes. Her two friends were smiling at her and their concern for her shown in their eyes. Knowing that Ranma and Usagi were going to be there for her, made the whole situation easier for Hotaru to handle. Plucking up what courage she could find Hotaru slowly approached the elder Hino and said, "Uh sir, I'm ready to begin."
Taking the frail young girl by the hand, Rei's grandfather slowly led Hotaru over in front of the sacred fire. He then had her sit down on a soft mat that was on the floor so that she was gazing at the flames. Shigeru then instructed Hotaru to gaze at the flames and focus on the warmth of the fire and love of her friends. Once the old priest was sure that Hotaru had followed his directions, he lit a pile of incense and began to slowly chant. While her grandfather chanted Rei had to make sure that the incense and sacred fire were both properly taken care of.
Ranma watched on in worry and a bit of concern for Hotaru. He didn't know how long the whole procedure would take, but he was willing to spend the entire day there to help Hotaru out. The shy young girl had quickly grown on him and Ranma saw her like a little sister. As he was gazing at the proceedings happening in front of him, Ranma felt Usagi slowly take his hand into hers and give the hand a light squeeze. Ranma was secretly glad that Usagi was standing there with him. Her mere presence was enough to call Ranma's worried nerves that he had been trying not to show.
Reaching out with his developing chi senses, Ranma noticed a thick dark aura starting to emerge from Hotaru. That aura seemed to be trying to stay on Hotaru and burrow back in her even as it was forced to the surface. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the back aura was the aura of whatever it was that was possessing Hotaru. The dark and malicious aura soon became visible to Usagi who let out a gasp of surprise and worry. Shigeru continued to steadily chant even as a chilling wind started to blow in the room originating from Hotaru.
Ranma looked on the scene with a great deal of fear for Hotaru as the storms the dark wraith-like thing possessing her was creating. Ranma was only a hair's breath away from transforming and attacking the evil entity when the entity vanished. Hotaru started to wobble for a bit and Rei went over and caught the frail girl before she could fall. Rei then gently set Hotaru down and turned to her grandfather. Both Hinos looked each other in the eyes for a few seconds before sharing a mutual nod. Shigeru turn to face Ranma and Usagi and calmly said, "The maelevolent spirit has been removed from the girl's body. She only needs to rest."
Rei's Grandfather then started to slowly walk out of the room leaving the teenagers alone. After glancing down one more time to check on Hotaru, Rei looked up at Ranma. The fire wielding senshi then got a little nervous and said, "Uh Ranma, before we have the scout meeting, there's something you need to take care of. It involves General Nephrite and that portion of your past life." Shrugging his shoulders, Ranma wondered what if this day could get any weirder.
* * *
Two hours after the exorcism, all of the inner scouts plus the moon cats were sitting down in the usual meeting spot at the Hikawa shrine. Makoto looked around the room and then at Usagi. Worried about Ranma, Makoto raised her voice and said, "Uh Usagi, why were we called over? Also, where's Ranma at?"
All eyes turned to look at Usagi; most of those eyes were asking her to tell them what was going on. For a split second Usagi wished that Ranma was right there by her side but she knew that the discussion he and Herb were having right now was very important. Taking a deep breath, Usagi started to speak, "Ranma's not here right now because he's talking to a new ally that has been discovered. The two of them should be coming in here soon enough and Ranma knows the plan that I've come up with."
Everyone in the room besides Rei and Usagi started to send questioning glances to each other. They were all wondering what the mysterious plan of Usagi's was for and also, who the new ally was that Ranma was talking to at the moment. Not wanting to have to fend off a half-dozen questions at once, Usagi started talking again. "We've managed to locate where the people behind these attacks are at. Just so you know the Outer scouts are going to be patrolling the city to stop any daemon attacks while we commence the plan. The plan is simple, the inner scouts, Ranma, and the new ally will go in and get rid of the people behind the attacks _permanently_."
Usagi watched as everyone around her looked a little pale when they thought about what she had said. None of the other scouts had taken a human life before and were obviously upset at the idea. Trying to find a way to comfort her scouts, Usagi closed her eyes and thought about what to say. She then opened her eyes and softly said, "I know that this is hard to accept. We have after all always dedicated ourselves to saving lives whenever we could. Sadly however things have reached a point where, in order for us to save lives, we are called to take the lives of the few people behind these attacks. This isn't an easy thing for us to do and frankly it's not supposed to be an easy thing to do. However it is a necessary thing for us to do right now."
The room was deathly quiet after Usagi's speech, no one in there dared to break the silence that had descended upon them as they thought over what Usagi had said. Fortunately for everyone in the room, the door to the room opened up and broke the silence. Ranma steeped into the room and was followed closely behind by Herb. Both cursed princes were in their full battle armor; Ranma in is mystical Jovian Paladin armor and Herb in his dragon hide armor. Usagi looked at the surprised faces of her friends and said, "You all know about Ranma, but allow me to fully introduce his companion. This is Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty and the descendent of one of General Nephrite's army captains.
The look on Ami, Makoto, Minako, and the moon cats' faces were absolutely priceless in Usagi's opinion. One good thing about this sudden surprise in Usagi's opinion was that the thoughts of what they would have to do seem to have disappeared from the inner's thoughts. A camera flash suddenly happened and everyone turned to see Rei standing there with a camera. "What?" Rei said as she noticed everyone's eyes on her, "I thought that it was a funny scene."
* * *
Standing on the roof of a nearby building the seven warriors looked down at Infinity Academy. Usagi had ordered them all to stop here and wait for Ami to double-check the academy with the mercury computer. Looking up from the screen of the mini-laptop, Ami quietly but confidently said, "I'm only detecting a few human life signs but those life signs are saturated with the same type of energy as the witch Ranma and Usagi killed a while ago. Also, from what I can scan, there are three ways into the lair from the school grounds. One way is through the gym storage room, another through the teacher's lounge, and the final one being through the girl's bathroom on the top floor."
For the next minute Usagi leaned against a roof-top shed and thought about the information that Ami had given. Thinking about her forces, Usagi realize that she had three people who would best be able to handle the possibility of ending someone's life. She and Ranma were two of those people because they already had blood on their hands. The last one was Herb because as prince of the Musk he had been brought up knowing about the possibility of having to end a person's life. It didn't take long for Usagi to make up her mind. With a look of determination in her eyes Usagi said, "Alright, here's the plan. We're going to split up into three groups and have each group tackle one of the entrances. Ranma and Makoto will go through the gym entrance, Herb and Rei have the entrance in the teacher's lounge, finally Ami, Minako and I will go after the entrance in the girl's bathroom."
Everyone nodded their heads and left to go after their assigned targets. Ranma and Makoto, due to being the most physically fit team and the fact that their entrance was closer, arrived at their destination first. Before Makoto could enter into the gym; Ranma, who was standing by the door, motioned for her to stay back. He then turned to his reincarnated mother and said, "Makoto wait. I sense that one of our enemies is in the gym. From what I can tell from the person's aura he or she isn't aware of us yet. Also, whoever it is currently putting out more power then you currently do. Our best bet to handle this situation is to take them out before they realize that we're here. I want you to stay back while I attack. My attacks are quicker than yours are so I should be able to take that person out before they realize it. If I should fail and the battle gets a little crazy, I always have you here as back up."
Makoto firmly nodded her head thankful and disgusted with herself that Ranma was volunteering to take out the foe in front of them. As much as the Hippolyta portion of her was angered that her 'baby' had to do such a thing; Makoto was able to calm herself down with Ranma's logical arguments. After shaking her head to clear away those thoughts, Makoto was surprised to see that Ranma had vanished. Whipping her head all around to try and find him Makoto finally looked up and saw Ranma hanging on the ceiling.
Ranma, using the cling-to-the-ceiling-and-hope-they-don't-look-up technique, slowly walked across the ceiling ala Spiderman and into the gym. Looking down from his perch high up on the gym wall, Ranma noticed a girl with deep blue hair currently shooting hoops on the other end of the gym. For a split second Ranma was disgusted with himself for contemplating killing the girl while she was playing a game. However he reminded himself about what that this was no time for sentimentality and that these people were responsible for the recent attacks. Leaping off of the wall, Ranma spun around, crossed his arms together, and yelled out "IO INFERNO!"
Cyprine was the most powerful of the Witches 5 in terms of her power. However, even the most powerful of people can be brought down if they are caught unaware. Sadly for Cyprine, all she was able to do was turn around and look in shock as two blazing blades of red energy came at her. Before she was able to do anything to defend herself the blades cut through her. Luckily for Cyprine, she passed out from the pain and so didn't have to feel herself dying from blood loss.
Makoto walked into the gym to see Ranma standing next to the dismembered corpse of Cyprine. Although Ranma's face wasn't showing any emotion, Makoto could see the look of pain shining through Ranma's eyes. She watched as Ranma clapped his hands twice in a silent prayer for Cyprine's soul. Once Ranma was done praying he turned around to face Makoto and said, "Come, we still have much work ahead of us."
* * *
Professor Tomoe was working in his underground lab and was feeling very frustrated. For the past month he had been supplying the Witches 5 with daemon eggs in the hopes that they would collect the three talismans. Those talismans were needed for his and Mistress 9's plans to summon their lord Pharaoh 90 to earth. He was frustrated because he should have had those talismans weeks ago. Instead those annoying Sailor Scouts had shown up at every turn and messed up his plans. Hearing the door open up behind him, Professor Tomoe called out, "What is with you girls, I called you five minutes ago!"
A female voice that Professor Tomoe wasn't expecting then called out to him, "Sorry your former associates didn't get the memo to let us in." The diabolical professor turned around to stare at the Sailor Scouts with Sailor Moon in the center flanked by Herb and Ranma. Usagi, who was the speaker from before, then continued to speak. "The 'Witches 5' have all been killed. The malevolent spirit that you had possessing your daughter, who is currently somewhere safe, has been exorcised. All that is left to be taken care of is you."
Professor Tomoe became enraged as he listened to Sailor Moon's speech. How could his glorious enterprise come to this? With courage brought on only by the insanity of a madman who knows his end is near, Professor Tomoe grabbed a syringe that was lying on the table behind him. The syringe contained a new super daemon seed that he was in the process of perfecting. He would just have to inject it into one of these annoying children and then sit back and watch as they were destroyed from within.
Both Herb and Ranma noticed Professor Tomoe reaching behind to the workbench that the mad doctor was previously working at. Thanks to their extensive martial arts training, both princes could read Professor Tomoe's intentions do to how the doctor's muscles moved. It was obvious to them that Professor Tomoe was going to through something at Sailor Moon. Whatever was going to be thrown was most likely not something that the princes' would want to hit Sailor Moon or any of the Scouts. The two young men moved like grease lighting to put a stop to Professor Tomoe's plans. Ranma pulled Usagi down to the floor so that she was out of the path of whatever it was that Tomoe was going to throw at her. Herb whipped out his arm and yelled out, "Flying Sword of the Dragon!"
Professor Tomoe, although he was surprised at Herb's attack, managed to throw the syringe. Fortunately for the Scouts, Herb's chi blades destroyed the syringe as they made their way towards the evil doctor. The chi blades cut right through Professor Tomoe killing him in an instant. However, the blades didn't dissipate after they cut through Professor Tomoe but continued on until they crashed into the shelves behind the workbench. Some of the items contained on those shelves were highly flammable and caught on fire due to the energy of Herb's attack.
The small fire very rapidly grew into a bonfire thanks to the nature of what was stored on those shelves. Looking at the bonfire, Usagi called out, "Let's leave. We've taken care of the people who are behind the attacks; we'll let the fire destroy what remains of their work." With that said, Usagi, Ranma, and the rest of the assembled warriors wearily marched out of the secret lair.
Half an hour after the Sailor Scout's assault on the Death Busters, firefighters from several different stations were working furiously to put out the fire that was consuming the one prestigious infinity academy. The firemen had received a call about ten minutes ago telling them about the fire. When the first fire truck got to the sight they were greeted by Ranma and Usagi. The young couple had been the ones to put in the call to the station. Ranma was questioned by the head fireman why he and Usagi were at the scene of the fire. Very calmly Ranma explain that he had been in the middle of an afternoon walk with his girlfriend when they noticed that the school was on fire.
None of the firemen noticed during all of this that there were a set of eyes watching the whole proceedings. The owner of those eyes looked at Ranma and Usagi, burning their images into its brain. The unknown person was sure that those two had something to do with the Death Busters' demise. Silently the person in the shadows vowed revenge against the Sailor Scouts for what they had done, and against those two teens for whatever part they had in bringing down Pharaoh 90's plans.
-HistorianoftheKais here. We have reached the conclusion for this part of the saga. FEAR NOT fans of this story. While this part of the saga might be over, the Saga itself is not. I have simply broken the Saga into several stories that will each be posted separately. For you hard core SM fans, the rest of the story will most likely not touch Sailor Infinity and Sailor Stars. The next story in this saga will focus on the continuing growth of Ranma, Usagi, and their friends as they fight against the (currently) unknown enemy.
13. Notice
Note: I have started the sequel to Prince of the Planets under the name of Crest of the King
Note: I have started the sequel to Prince of the Planets under the name of Crest of the King. It is in the Ranma fanfiction section and as of this posting is about 5,000 words long. Hope you enjoy it,
HistorianoftheKais
End file.
| fanfiction |
neutrino - nucleus scattering has gained in recent years a wide interest that goes beyond the study of the intrinsic properties of neutrinos and extends to different fields , such as astrophysics , cosmology , particle and nuclear physics .
the observation of neutrino oscillations and the proposal and realization of new experiments , aimed at determining neutrino properties with high accuracy , renewed interest in neutrino scattering on complex nuclei .
in fact , neutrino detectors contain nuclei and a detailed knowledge of the @xmath0-nucleus interaction is necessary for a proper interpretation of the experimental data . neutrino - nucleus scattering , however , is not only an useful tool to detect neutrinos , but plays an important role also in understanding various astrophysical processes .
the influence of neutrinos extends to cosmological questions .
moreover , neutrinos provide a suitable tool to test the limits of the standard model , the properties of the weak interaction and for investigating nuclear structure . in hadronic and
nuclear physics neutrinos can give information on the structure of the hadronic weak current and on the strange quark contribution to the spin structure of the nucleon .
thus , neutrino physics is of great interest and involves many different phenomena .
the problem is that neutrinos are elusive particles .
they are chargeless , almost massless , and only weakly interacting .
their presence can only be inferred detecting the particles they create when colliding or interacting with matter .
nuclei are often used as neutrino detectors providing relatively large cross sections .
therefore , the interpretation of data requires reliable calculations where nuclear effects are properly taken into account .
general review papers about neutrino - nucleus interactions can be found in @xcite . both weak neutral - current
( nc ) and charged - current ( cc ) scattering have stimulated detailed analyses in the intermediate - energy region @xcite using a variety of methods , including fermi gas ( fg ) , random - phase - approximation ( rpa ) and shell - model ( sm ) calculations .
the effects of final state interactions ( fsi ) were investigated within the relativistic fg ( rfg ) model @xcite , the rpa @xcite and in the continuum rpa ( crpa ) theory @xcite .
nuclear structure effects on the determination of the strange quark contribution in nc scattering were studied in @xcite , and in @xcite in the framework of a relativistic plane wave impulse approximation ( rpwia ) .
the effects of fsi on the ratio of proton - to - neutron cross sections in nc scattering were discussed in @xcite .
we study cc and nc @xmath0- and @xmath1-nucleus scattering in the qe region . in this region
the dominant contribution is given by one - nucleon knockout processes , where the interaction occurs on a nucleon , that is bound in the nucleus but is assumed to be a quasi - free nucleon in the process , this nucleon is emitted and the remaining nucleons are spectators . in the qe region
we have applied the same relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation ( rdwia ) model that was successfully tested in comparison with data for the exclusive ( e , e@xmath2p ) knockout reaction @xcite .
the analysis of nc @xmath0-nucleus reactions , however , introduces additional complications , as the final neutrino can not be measured in practice and a final hadron has to be detected : the corresponding cross sections are therefore semi - inclusive in the hadronic sector and inclusive in the leptonic one .
the same approach is here applied to the cc scattering where only the outgoing nucleon is detected .
the case of the inclusive cc scattering where only the outgoing charged lepton is detected was studied in @xcite through a relativistic green s function approach , that was firstly applied to the inclusive qe electron scattering @xcite and where fsi are accounted for by means of a complex optical potential but without loss of flux .
the formalism is outlined in sec .
nuclear effects , in particular the effects of fsi , are discussed in sec .
the effects of the strange nucleon form factors and their possible determination are investigated sec .
some conclusions are drawn in sec .
the @xmath0(@xmath1)-nucleus cross section for the process where one nucleon is emitted is given , in the one - boson exchange approximation , by the contraction between the lepton and the hadron tensor , i.e. , @xmath3 where @xmath4 mev@xmath5 is the fermi constant , @xmath6 , @xmath7 are the four - momentum of the incident and final leptons , respectively , and @xmath8 is the momentum of the emitted nucleon . for cc processes @xmath9 has to be multiplied by @xmath10 , where @xmath11 is the cabibbo angle .
the lepton tensor @xmath12 has a similar structure as in electron scattering and separates into a symmetrical and an antisymmetrical part @xcite .
the components of the lepton tensor are kinematical factors which depend only on the lepton kinematics .
the components of the hadron tensor are given by bilinear products of the transition matrix elements of the nuclear weak - current operator @xmath13 between the initial state @xmath14 of the nucleus , of energy @xmath15 , and the final states , of energy @xmath16 , that are given by the product of a discrete ( or continuum ) state @xmath17 of the residual nucleus and a scattering state @xmath18 of the emitted nucleon , with momentum @xmath8 and energy @xmath19 : @xmath20 where the sum runs over all the states of the residual nucleus .
in the first order perturbation theory and using the impulse approximation , the transition amplitude is assumed to be adequately described as the sum of terms similar to those appearing in the exclusive ( e , e@xmath2p ) knockout reaction @xcite @xmath21 the transition amplitudes are thus obtained in a one - body representation and contain three ingredients : the one - body nuclear weak current @xmath22 , the one - nucleon overlap function @xmath23 , that is a single - particle ( s.p . ) bound state wave function , and the s.p .
scattering wave function @xmath24 for the outgoing nucleon . bound and scattering states are consistently derived in the model as eigenfunctions of an optical potential . in practice ,
calculations are performed with the same phenomenological ingredients already used in the rdwia calculations for the ( e , e@xmath2p ) reaction .
the s.p overlap functions @xmath25 are dirac - hartree solutions of a relativistic lagrangian , containing scalar and vector potentials .
they are obtained in the framework of the relativistic mean field theory and reproduce the s.p .
properties of several nuclei@xcite .
the relativistic scattering wave function is written in terms of its upper component , following the direct pauli reduction scheme and solving a schrdinger - like equation containing equivalent central and spin - orbit potentials , written in terms of the relativistic scalar and vector potentials @xcite .
calculations have been performed with the energy - dependent and a - dependent edad1 optical potential of @xcite .
operator related to the weak current is @xmath26\tau^{\pm } \ \
( { \mathrm { cc } } ) \ , \label{eq.nc}\end{aligned}\ ] ] where @xmath27 are the isospin operators , @xmath28 is the anomalous part of the magnetic moment , @xmath29 , with @xmath30 , is the four - momentum transfer , and @xmath31 $ ] .
@xmath32 is the axial form factor and @xmath33 is the induced pseudoscalar form factor .
the weak isovector dirac and pauli form factors , @xmath34 and @xmath35 , are related to the corresponding electromagnetic form factors by the conservation of the vector current ( cvc ) hypothesis @xcite plus , for nc reactions , a possible isoscalar strange - quark contribution @xmath36 , i.e. , @xmath37 where @xmath38 is the weinberg angle @xmath39 .
the electromagnetic form factors are taken from @xcite and the strange form factors as @xcite @xmath40 where @xmath41 and @xmath42 = 0.843 gev .
the constants @xmath43 and @xmath44 describe the strange quark contribution to the electric and magnetic form factors , respectively .
the axial form factor is expressed as @xcite @xmath45 where @xmath46 , @xmath47 describes possible strange - quark contributions , @xmath48 , and @xmath49 for proton ( neutron ) knockout .
the axial mass has been taken as @xmath50 = ( [email protected] ) gev @xcite .
the single differential cross section with respect to the outgoing nucleon kinetic energy @xmath52 is obtained after integrating over the energy and angle of the final lepton and over the solid angle of the final nucleon . in the calculations
a pure sm description is assumed for nuclear structure .
the state @xmath53 is assumed to be a one - hole state in the sm and @xmath25 are s.p .
sm states with a unitary spectral strength .
the sum over in eq .
( [ eq.ha1 ] ) runs over all the occupied states in the sm . in this way
we include the contributions of all the nucleons in the nucleus but neglect the effects of correlations that , anyhow , are expected to be small in the situations considered in the present investigation .
the cross section for the @xmath0(@xmath1)-nucleus scattering where only one - nucleon is detected is obtained from the sum of all the integrated exclusive one - nucleon knockout channels .
fsi are described by means of a complex optical potential whose imaginary part gives an absorption that reduces the calculated cross section .
it accounts for the flux lost in a particular channel and that goes towards other channels .
this approach is conceptually correct for an exclusive reaction , where only one channel contributes , but it would be conceptually wrong for an inclusive reaction , where all the channels contribute and the total flux must be conserved . in fact , for the inclusive electron scattering @xcite and for the cc scattering where only the outgoing lepton is detected @xcite we adopt a different treatment of fsi , which makes use of a complex optical potential and where the total flux is conserved . here , we consider semi - inclusive situations where an emitted nucleon is always detected and some of the reaction channels which are responsible for the imaginary part of the optical potential , like fragmentation of the nucleus , re - absorption , etc . , are not included in the experimental cross section . from this point of view , it is correct to include the absorptive imaginary part of the optical potential .
there are , however , contributions that are not included in our model and that can be included in the experimental cross section , for instance , contributions due to multi - step processes , where the outgoing nucleon is re - emitted after re - scattering in a detected channel simulating the kinematics of a qe reaction .
the relevance of these contributions depends on kinematics and should not be too large in the situations considered in this paper .
anyhow , even if the use of an optical potential with an absorptive imaginary part can introduce some uncertainties in the comparison with data , we deem it a more correct and clearer way to evaluate the effects of fsi .
calculations have been performed for nc and cc @xmath54 ( @xmath55 ) scattering from @xmath56c in an energy range between 500 and 1000 mev , where one - nucleon knockout is expected to be the most important contribution . in this section nuclear effects
are investigated in calculations where the strange form factors are neglected .
the effects of the strange nucleon form factors are discussed in the next section .
nuclear effects are included in the phenomenological ingredients for the bound and scattering states .
calculations performed with different bound state wave functions and with different optical potentials are not very sensitive to the choice and to the details of the phenomenological ingredients .
large effects are , however , produced by fsi .
an example is shown in figure [ fig1 ] , where the cross sections of the @xmath56c@xmath57 and @xmath56c@xmath58 cc reactions and of the @xmath56c@xmath59 and @xmath56c@xmath60 nc reactions are compared in rpwia and rdwia at @xmath61 and @xmath62 mev .
fsi reduce the cross sections of @xmath63% .
this reduction is due to the imaginary part of the optical potential and is in agreement with the reduction found in the ( e , e@xmath2p ) calculations .
we note that the cross sections for an incident neutrino are larger than for an incident antinuetrino .
( @xmath55 ) qe scattering on @xmath56c as a function of t@xmath64 .
solid and dashed lines are the results in rdwia and rpwia , respectively , for an incident neutrino .
dot - dashed and dotted lines are the results in rdwia and rpwia , respectively , for an incident antineutrino . the strangeness contribution in the nc scattering is neglected [ fig1],width=340,height=340 ]
it is well known that the net strangeness of the nucleon is zero .
it is also known , however , that according to the quantum field theory in the cloud of a physical nucleon there must be pairs of strange particles . from the viewpoint of qcd
the nucleon consists of @xmath65 and @xmath66 quarks and of a sea of @xmath67 pairs produced by virtual gluons .
then , the question is : how do the sea quarks , in particular strange quarks , contribute to the observed properties of the nucleon ?
the first evidence that the constant @xmath68 , that characterizes the matrix element of the axial strange current , is different from zero and large was found by the emc experiment at cern @xcite , in a measurement of deep inelastic scattering of polarized muons on polarized protons .
this result triggered new experiments and a lot of theoretical work .
it is very important that different and alternative methods are used to determine the matrix elements of the strange current .
nc @xmath0 scattering is one of these methods and a suitable tool to investigate @xmath47 .
different nucleon form factors contribute to the s.p .
weak current operator of the nc scattering of eq .
( [ eq.nc ] ) .
a combination of different measurements is required for a complete information .
the electromagnetic form factors , @xmath69 and @xmath70 in eq .
( [ eq.nc1 ] ) , can be investigated in electron scattering .
the value of the weinberg angle @xmath38 can be obtained from measurements of nc processes .
quasi - elastic cc scattering can give information on the axial form factor @xmath71 , whose determination is very important in general and in particular if we want to determine @xmath47 , that is highly correlated to @xmath71 and thus to the axial mass @xmath50 .
the strange form factors , @xmath72 , @xmath72 , and @xmath73 , can be investigated in nc @xmath0 scattering and in parity - violating electron scattering ( pves ) .
pves is essentially sensitive to @xmath72 and @xmath72 or , equivalently , to the strange electric and magnetic from factors @xmath74 and @xmath75 .
a determination of @xmath73 in pves is hindered by radiative corrections .
in contrast , nc @xmath0 scattering is primarily sensitive to @xmath73 .
the interference with the strange vector form factors can be resolved by complementary experiments of pves .
a determination of the form factors is beyond the scope of the present investigation .
our main aim here is to study the sensitivity of nc @xmath0-nucleus scattering to the strange quark contribution . in figure [ fig2 ]
the cross sections calculated , both for proton and neutron emission , with a particular choice for the values of the parameters , @xmath76 , @xmath77 , and @xmath78 , are compared with the results obtained without strange form factors .
the cross sections with @xmath79 are enhanced in the case of proton knockout and reduced in the case of neutron knockout by @xmath80% with respect to those with @xmath81 .
the effect of @xmath44 is comparable to that of @xmath47 , whereas the contribution of @xmath43 is very small for neutron knockout and practically negligible for proton knockout .
qe scattering on @xmath56c as a function of @xmath52 .
dashed lines are the results with no strangeness contribution , solid lines with @xmath79 , dot - dashed lines with @xmath79 and @xmath82 , dotted lines with @xmath79 and @xmath83 .
[ fig2],width=340,height=340 ] qe scattering on @xmath56c . line convention as in figure [ fig2 ] .
[ fig3],width=340,height=340 ] an absolute cross section measurement is a very hard experimental task due to difficulties in the determination of the neutrino flux .
thus , ratios of cross sections were proposed as an alternative way to extract @xmath47 . difficulties due to the determination of the absolute neutrino flux are reduced in the ratios . moreover , also nuclear effects can be strongly reduced in the ratios .
the effects of fsi are large on the cross sections and almost negligible in the ratios , where they give a similar contribution to the numerator and to the denominator @xcite . in contrast
, strangeness effects can be emphasized in the ratios , where form factors may contribute in a different way , for instance with a different sign , in the numerator and in the denominator .
two different ratios are presented in figure [ fig3 ] .
the ratio of proton - to - neutron ( p / n ) nc cross sections is sensitive to the strange - quark contribution as the interference between @xmath47 and @xmath84 contributes with an opposite sign in the numerator and in the denominator [ see eq . ( [ eq.ga ] ) ] .
a precise measurement of this ratio appears , however , problematic due to the difficulties associated with neutron detection . a measurement of the ratio of the nc - to - cc ( nc / cc ) cross sections appears more feasible and will be measured at finesse @xcite . although sensitive to strangeness only in the numerator , the nc / cc ratio is simply related to the number of events with an outgoing proton and a missing mass with respect to the events with an outgoing proton in coincidence with a muon .
the ratios in figure [ fig3 ] are sensitive to @xmath47 and @xmath44 , while the effects of @xmath43 are very small .
the results show similar features at different energies of the incident neutrino .
we have presented rdwia calculations for cc and nc @xmath0(@xmath1)-nucleus qe scattering .
the effects of fsi are large on the cross section and almost negligible in the ( p / n ) and ( nc / cc ) ratios . the results obtained with the strange form factors are sensitive to @xmath47 and @xmath44 and practically insensitive to @xmath43 . measurements of the ( p / n ) and ( nc / cc ) ratios would be interesting to determine the constant @xmath47 that characterizes the matrix element of the axial strange current .
the interference with the strange vector form factors can be resolved with complementary experiments of pves .
s. boffi , c. giusti , f. d. pacati , and m. radici ( 1996 ) _ electromagnetic response of atomic nuclei _ ,
oxford studies in nuclear physics , vol .
20 ( clarendon press , oxford ) ; s. boffi , c. giusti , and f. d. pacati ( 1993 ) _ phys .
rep . _ * 226 * 1 . | arxiv |
Betrose
5 takeaways through the May-Trump talks
WASHINGTON – This was the instant Theresa May came in person when using the great American bear.
Donald Trump was courteous, calm and funny while he held his first press conference which has a world leader since becoming president – pulling faces, joking with reporters and repeatedly praising a "most special relationship" using the U.K., ticking a similar diplomatic box every U.S. leader feels compelled to tick.
He looked pleased as May announced the Queen had invited him to Britain later this holiday season. The happy couple had already bonded with a bust of Winston Churchill, returned for the Oval Office after an eight-year sojourn inside less photographed corridors of the White House.
And nevertheless president was defiantly, unmistakably himself. I thought this was no watered down Trump, tamed through the necessary office.
When May reaffirmed Britain's resolve forpersistance to sanctions on Russia, Trump would not. When May announced the U.S. president was "100 percent" committed to NATO,?Trump muttered "true" but anything.
On torture, he repeated his view so it worked. On Brexit, he said it had been "fantastic" that Britain was finally "free and independent." The U.K. pm smiled at all the right moments, and will also be satisfied with Trump's warm words for Britain, however, this was uncomfortable stuff.
It is, however, her new reality. Over 48 hours inside the U.S., the U.K. prime minister has indelibly tied her fortunes to individuals of the new man within the White House.
Here are five takeaways within the opening scene of this strangest of political romances.
1) Trump are not to be tamed
If May?stumbled on Washington interested in reassurances on key diplomatic differences,?Trump's press conference performance must be chalked up as a loss.
May were able to extract one concession – on NATO – but only just. There was no commitment on trade, notably warm words for Russia and praise for torture. In Britain's eyes: Poor quality.
In her opening remarks, May pulled something like a diplomatic fast one, shoehorning in Trump's private reassurance about his persistence to the NATO military alliance. They needed to try this perhaps says more about Trump's real feelings around the issue.
When pressed by U.S. reporters about his thoughts about Russia, Trump was defiant. "If you can possess a great relationship with Russia and China sufficient reason for all countries I'm all for that. Whenever we can, that would be an optimistic."
He went further. If relations between Washington additionally, the Kremlin are as nice as those relating to the U.S. and U.K. that could be great, he stated.
British prime ministers?aren't familiar with hearing that. An exclusive relationship isn't so special if people have one.
2) Quiet menace
"That was selection for any question? There goes that relationship!"
This was Trump's reaction to a humdinger of your question with the BBC's Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg, who pointed out his controversial opinion of Muslims, abortion and torture weren't exactly popular some parts of the U.K.
Trump's response was funny – but more so, perhaps, given that it contained some truth.
Downing Street clearly believes Trump responds well to praise and carefully choreographed every element of this week's day at the U.S. accordingly.
May decided of her option to hail his "stunning" election victory, declaring her delight at having the capability to congratulate him personally.
But for the upcoming 4 years it's clear you can find will be many treading on diplomatic eggshells.
Trump was clear in her view that America has been ripped off and hubby would be the strong leader it must stand up for itself again, whether Britain wants it or you cannot.
3) A vassal state?
As May attained the White House, driven past?a procession of yankee flags and greeted by way of the president over the steps of your West Wing, it had become?just like a regional governor okay Rome to greet the?new emperor.
French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron reports May's tour within the U.S. exposes Britain's status like a "vassal" state of your U.S. empire.
But May is not a pushover and was going to make it known, contradicting obama on Russian sanctions and insisting could not are put off by confrontation. The U.K. prime minister's visit wasn't any Washington sideshow either. The vast East Room in the White House was filled with U.S. and British reporters, camera crews and TV anchors.
But the eye was clearly not really on?what May was required to say, so how this most unpredictable of politicians would definitely behave – and just what he was going to do about Mexico, Putin and China.
The U.K. may get its special relationship with Trump, nonetheless it remains unclear whether it will possess affect his wider behavior.
4) Symbolism matters
As each leaders walked from the East Room press conference over the White House colonnade into the West Wing for supper, Trump took the British prime minister by hand, patting it slightly.
The president is not likely to try out that with Vladimir Putin.
May looked untroubled yet it's unlikely to be the picture she would like beamed time for Britain. She wanted warm but businesslike. That was not it. Despite the fact that image,?the talks transpired well when using the British press:?"Trump blesses Britain," said changes. "Love-in in the White House" was the Daily Mail's first page headline.
The personal chemistry between the two leaders is vital. Nevertheless the relationship between their top teams is practically as esential for a functional, day-to-day level.
At the press conference every one of the main players were in the room.
Steve Bannon, the president's ideological inspiration, started in smiling and shaking hands wonderful May's top team, including ambassador Kim Darroch, whom he seemed to know well.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager throughout his run for president, was second row back. Sean Spicer barked instructions before the two leaders emerged.
The night before, May held a drinks reception along at the British ambassador's residence, giving her a chance to speak privately mostly of Trump's key cabinet appointments including Pentagon chief James "Mad Dog" Mattis and Wilbur Ross – a man who, as Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, can help negotiate the U.K.-U.S. trade deal on which May has placed a lot credit.
The two teams were also present on the White House talks Friday and for lunch together with the two leaders afterwards (they had blue cheese salad, beef shortribs with potato puree and winter vegetables and also a salted caramel creme br?lee).
5) Mayism takes shape
From ribs in Washington with one strongman leader to coffee in Ankara with another.
Direct from talks with president Trump while in the White House, May jets overnight to Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.
What either man does domestically appears of little interest to May. On the flight over to the U.S. May was asked what she'd because of represent Britain's Muslim community in talks with Trump. Her reply involved anything that she could do on their behalf in your house. Pressed on whether she'd a responsibility to represent British muslims, she shot back which she what food was in Washington to represent the many Britain.
To May, it will be the national interest at the very least. Human rights can wait.
In her speech to Republican leaders in Philadelphia Thursday she declared get rid of liberal interventionism. On Friday she declared Mexico's failures of Trump a subject for Mexico and Trump and none of her business. On Saturday could begin deepening the connection with Erdo?an in spite of his increasingly authoritarian turn.
In a world of strong men, turmoil, Brexit and Trump, Britain's second female prime minister is prepared to work with whoever looks gonna make the U.K. more secure, from both terror and economic shocks.
This article have been updated to clarify Donald Trump's solution to Theresa May's NATO comments.
Related Topics:BrexitBritish politicsU.S. politics
Brussels Playbook Plus: EU fights fake news machine
Theresa May's rhetorical punch
How Australia built a wall (and purchased it)
Can Tillerson calm the chaos at State?
Brexit debate: Sound, fury far more of nothing
Brexit bill's obstacle course through UK parliament
EU chaos, division over Trump travel ban
As US turns its back on refugees, Europe should raise
Clock ticking in Romanian corruption showdown
BUCHAREST – By passing a decree that may let corrupt politicians free, the Romanian government also set the clock ticking on efforts to thwart it.
The measure was passed late Tuesday night, to turn into effective 10 days later. That deadline assists galvanize thousands of protesters who've flooded the streets to demand the decree be revoked.
With the ecu Commission along with the embassies of Western nations also criticizing the move, the costa rica government must decide getting in touch with defy both mainstream European opinion additionally, the biggest demonstrations in Romania for the reason that fall of communism.
Curiously, late government entities may not actually aid the protesters' cause, like a temporary administration will not have the power to cancel the decree, according to political experts.
Events were mounted in train when Justice Minister Florin Iordache announced how the government would update the penal code by decriminalizing the offense of official misconduct for cases involving injury to the population purse of less than
SYDNEY – Think of it Australia's naval wall.
It's cloudy the amount Mr . trump is aware of how Australia treats refugees who arrive on its shores by boat. Though the program would probably get his approval.
In the three-and-a-half?years since launch of Operation Sovereign Borders, the "Lucky Country" has?turned?back rickety vessels and detained asylum seekers offshore in harsh conditions for the Pacific island of Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. Refugees who arrive by sea are banned from?ever settling in?Australia – without exception.
Critics (and some proponents) in the system voice it out is brutal by design, providing those fleeing persecution with a cruel but effective deterrent. And delay: In 2013,?300 boats carrying 20,587 people made it to?Australia. Only 1 year later, the quantity of boat-people dropped to?157. Since 2014, no boat has made it?through.
"On moral and ethical grounds We would express it is wrong to look at people with committed no offense, and treat them so badly how they?love to face persecution instead," said barrister Julian Burnside, who works pro bono?with asylum seekers and campaigns against?offshore detention. "But be the fundamental logic than it."
The U.N.'s human rights committee ruled?the fact that indefinite detention of refugees over?security concerns breached international law.
Whether Australia's hardline system breaks international law is often a couple of heated debate in the united states – and abroad.
Conditions in Australian-run detention camps are notoriously harsh. Reports of self harm, allegations of medical negligence, illness, suicide, rape,?assaults at the hands of fellow asylum seekers, hostile locals and authorities?are commonplace. In 2009, the Guardian published?2,000 leaked incident reports from Nauru, including allegations of a guard?threatening to kill a kid and the other swapping sexual favors for really shower time.
Australia's?leaders?insist they?adhere to their?obligations, but the U . n . and NGOs?have differing views. In April 2016, the U.N.'s human rights committee ruled?that your indefinite detention of refugees over?security concerns breached international law?and?ordered the nation to produce?five those who were detained?for six years.
Also in 2009, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called for the immediate change in asylum seekers out of the Manus Island and Nauru processing centers, labeling?them inhumane and "immensely harmful." Amnesty International swallows a similar view. "Amnesty disagrees while using the government's interpretation of the obligations under international humanitarian law," said Australian spokeswoman?Emma Bull.
And?this system comes at a price. Australia,?which in the '90s considered itself something of the?deputy regional peacekeeper into the United States' global sheriff, has lost most of its humanitarian good waiting on home and abroad. Faced with a flood of negative media reports?quoting doctors about conditions in the processing centers, the Australian government threatened?doctors and nurses with two-year prison sentences if he or she spoke out. (Authorities eventually caved into media pressure and amended the foundations.)
And as there are the monetary cost.?Australia currently holds about 1,250?refugees in the?offshore processing centers, who typically have spent 478 days in detention. As you move the government hasn't already?detailed the cost of the work, according to the Australian National Audit Office?holding the refugees costs over?405,000 (in close proximity to $440,000) per person each and every year. Electrical systems, the?Australian government estimates Syrian refugees that happen to be able to settle in Australia as part of its humanitarian intake cost it roughly 10,700 per person annually.
Australia, which contains?a population of 24 million, has pledged to?settle?19,000 refugees per year on its shores, when they don't arrive by boat.
Because?Australia bans boat-arrivals?from selecting its shores, those that?are granted refugee status either can live in detention, settle in the community on?Manus or Nauru, or say yes to move to one third country.
That leaves the country?begging or bribing others?to take refugees off its hands.
Enter the?refugee resettlement arrangement?struck in November with then U.S. Barack obama, which Trump referred to as a "dumb deal"?on Twitter.
The agreement is true for refugees already on Nauru and Manus, plus those chosen Australia temporarily for medical therapy. They can be qualified to apply for a one-off resettlement during the U.S., be more responsive to vetting by American authorities.
The deal was away from the back of one other, struck in?September by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a invitation-only summit hosted by Obama. Under that arrangement, known as something of advance payment, Australia accepted resettle?Central American refugees from?camps in Panama and nicaragua , and pledged over 92 million aid for displaced people around the world.?(Australia, who has?a population of 24 million, has pledged to?settle?19,000 refugees 1 year on its shores, when they don't arrive by boat.)
If the U.S. deal falls through, Australia should resort to its plan b: Cambodia. Beneath a pact?struck in 2014, Australia accepted?cash nation around 40?million to resettle its refugees. Unfortunately, the agreement with Cambodia is?- to loan Trump's phrase – a dumb deal. A couple of years after that it was struck, only?five refugees have decided look at the country, and simply one?has stayed there.
Fillon's choices: the unhealthy, the worse as well as real ugly
PARIS – "I'd makes use of the Titanic cliche, except there's?no band playing." That's how a senior official from the conservative Les Republicains party summed up the mood in Francois Fillon presidential campaign pursuing the latest allegations by the satirical weekly Canard Enchaine.
Fillon's allies are uneasy, verging on desperate, about the way bigger chosen to shield himself from what he calls a "conspiracy" on the alleged funneling?of public funds to his wife and kids. Some are concerned?that it'll cause a political debacle.
After spending days denouncing unnamed plotters intent on taking him from the French presidential race, Fillon upped the temperature Wednesday morning by accusing the us government associated with aid inside revelations.
This is "an institutional coup d'Etat" provided by "the ruling left," he told a gathering of Republicains MPs, depending on AFP.
His aim were to rally the troops against the unpopular socialist government, however some during the Fillon campaign worried so it would do little to convince voters the allegations are false.
A week after Le Canard Enchaine said Fillon had long employed his wife Penelope as his parliamentary attache and suggested she hadn't actually done much work with what he paid her, the paper unveiled new allegations on Wednesday.?Just how much Fillon paid his wife over the years reached nearly
Markets12 hours ago
Zuma or no Zuma, traders notice a wild ride for rand
Markets2 days ago
\'He\'s Obama, but white\': Beto O\'Rourke blows up the 2020 Democratic primary
Beating the chances
A Royal comeback for almost any French left
Political2 months ago
– ADS –
Manfred Weber's grand coalition 2.0
French left's Hamon faces 007
Trump bans, Iran profits
Copyright © 2019 Betrose.com | slim_pajama |
pubmed |
|
Stockholm is a 2013 Spanish drama film directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Premise
A guy Javier Pereira tries to get a girl Aura Garrido he meets at a party to like him. She refuses, but he does not give up until he manages to change her mind. After they spend the night together, she discovers he is not like she thought.
Cast
Javier Pereira - Él
Aura Garrido - Ella
Jess Caba - Amigo
Susana Abaitua - Amiga 1
Lorena Mateo - Amiga 2
Miriam Marco - Amiga 3
Helena Sanchis-Guarner - Chica
Javier Santiago - Chico
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Category:2013 drama films
Category:Spanish films
Category:Spanish drama films | wikipedia |
Lost Girl 1. How to be a Heartbreaker
**(3/18 - Hey everyone! I'm currently very busy, but I have not forgotten about this story. You can expect an update in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out!)**
**Note about this Story (added 2/26): **Not everything is entirely canon. It follows the show in a general sense, but there are things that aren't exact (like Kenzi being a shadow thief). Also, if you expect something that is very action/plot-based, this is not for you. The main plot of this story is Doccubus drama (with a happy ending) - Everything else that happens is solely to add to that.
**Hey guys! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read/follow this story. I have a general outline for where I want it to go, but I may alter it, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I plan on getting the next chapter up later today. :)**
**I'm also looking for a beta reader and will take any critique!**
* * *
Chapter 1 - How to be a Heartbreaker
At the clink of her sixth glass of the night, a warning bell sparked in the Succubus's brain.
Fortunately, the music, darkness and enhanced sexual energy dominating the atmosphere was not nearly enough to spark her libido after what happened last night. She unwittingly remembered Lauren's words to her in the past, "_I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a drunken Succubus booty-call_." This only enhanced her distraught state, causing her to cringe into her glass. The liquid smelled vaguely like nail-polish remover, and each sip was harder to choke down than the last. This, however, was just a trivial obstacle thwarting Bo's ultimate goal of extreme intoxication. She gestured for yet another refill on her vodka, grimacing at the thought of the girl who had used Bo's twisted games against her.
Although Bo's body lacked desire, a part of her mind wanted to bring a stranger home just to spite Lauren. The memory of what happened sent a painful throb through her abdomen, and ignited the burning shock that nearly destroyed her the previous night. To know she had been used was the worst possible realization. She had been so used to being the _user_, that having been thrown on the receiving end of her own little game was too much to bear. She growled in anger, drowning another shot as the thought of Lauren's dog collar, her necklace that acted as a glorified symbol of her allegiance to the Ash, flashed through her brain. It was a scar that would always be a part of Lauren, and Bo couldn't see herself looking at the doctor again without envisioning that scar. Part of Bo was also angry with herself, because her rage was a double-standard. She had used people all her life, sometimes to shift their minds to get what she wanted, and sometimes for their chi. But Bo was a _Succubus - _Her actions were for survival. The difference was Lauren didn't _need_ to use Bo.
A brief glance at her phone allowed Bo to see her six missed calls. _All from Lauren_. She was partially infuriated that Lauren had the audacity to call after what she had done. Unfortunately, she couldn't help the part of her that felt a guilty pleasure at the idea of the doctor still thinking about her. It was such a complex assortment of sensations that coursed through her at the name Lauren – The rage, the embarrassment, and the betrayal mixed with the security, the love, and the desire, clashed into one big blurb, something that Bo would refer to as a _whatchamacallit,_ while Lauren probably had some long science-y definition. A fleeting smile crept onto her lips when she pictured Lauren's awkward blush that typically resulted when she realized she was boring Bo with science. The image was so tempting that Bo had to force herself not to visualize it any longer.
"BoBo, why are you sitting there all alone?" Kenzi called as she hurried to join her friend, snapping Bo out of her trance for a moment. "I know this is coming from me, so it's not entirely credible," the Russian girl admitted, taking a large and ungraceful gulp of her own drink to emphasize the irony. "But ya can't always drown your feelings with alcohol." Kenzi paused to eye the array of empty glasses surrounding her roommate. "You are beautiful and, more importantly, you're a Succubus. You can get any guy or girl you want. Instead of thinking about Backstabber Hotpants, why don't you check out this lovely room of possible prey?" Kenzi urged, motioning to Bo's surroundings.
Bo groaned, knowing that Kenzi was right, but not wanting to leave her stool. "Maybe just.. one more teensy sip?" She begged, as the younger girl began clearing her glasses. "Alright, I get it! I need to stop moping." She learned long ago that there was no use whining and refusing when it came to Kenzi. The Russian girl always tended to win these types of quarrels. Instead, Bo focused on the topic at hand. She shook her head, as if to shake Lauren out of her memory. Her effort was useless, of course. "Lauren is…. cold." Bo watched her friend nod in agreement, clearly pleased that the Succubus had complied. "She is also boring. And a backstabber. And the Ash's little pet," Bo slurred her thoughts out animatedly, before picking her head up from the table to size up the crowd.
"And right here," Kenzi coughed into her own drink suddenly. Bo shot her head around. Sure enough, Lauren Lewis was rapidly approaching their section of the bar. Bo's stomach dropped - '_Shit, did she hear me?'_ She forced herself to brush the thought aside. That should be the last thing she needed to worry about at that moment. Lauren was the one who should be worrying. However, it was better to focus on that, than on the way her stomach clenched and ached torturously at the mere sight of this woman.
"Bo, I know you're ignoring my calls," Lauren started when she was close enough for Bo to hear her. The Succubus pointedly flicked open her phone to show that she had, indeed, not lost it or anything. "And I understand," The doctor continued. "But give me a chance to explain, _please_ Bo." Her husky tone and clothing that hugged her in all the right places did a number to distract Bo, but it was not enough to suppress her anger.
"You had your chance," The Succubus growled, trying to prevent two days of bottled-up emotions from pouring out. "You had your chance when you made love to me all night, just to let me know in the morning that it was under _the Ash's _commands." Bo knew what she said was harsh, but it was true. She wanted Lauren to know how badly she had hurt her. A sudden, malicious idea popped into Bo's mind. Kenzi was right - She was a Succubus. She could do the same thing to Lauren, therefore evening the playing field. She nearly smirked at how satisfying it would be, melting her lips into Lauren's and putting the doctor under a Succubus spell that would make her compliant to Bo's every action and word.
She would kiss up Lauren's neck and allow her warm breath to tickle the doctor's ear, while whispering that _she'd take her right here if she could, but they better bring this to the bedroom_. Then, after rushing her home like a desperate animal, Bo would make sure Lauren was naked and vulnerable, while she herself remained clothed and in complete control. She would cause the doctor to squirm beneath her, while her trained fingers and lips conquered the human's body. She would slide her fingers lower, under Lauren's jeans, and continue to work them skillfully until the doctor was moaning relentlessly. Then, right before she was driven into her orgasm, Bo would stop. She would throw Lauren's clothes back at her, and force her to leave. The idea was so sickly satisfying that it was only the love that Bo still had buried for the doctor deep down that compelled her to steady her dangerous imagination.
In her train of thought, Bo realized that she missed half of Lauren's desperate explanation of her wrongdoings. Fortunately, however, she didn't care. "Are you done yet?" Bo sneered, glancing away from the doctor as to not fall into a trance that Lauren's beauty tended to induce in Bo.
Lauren sighed. "Well, I guess you're not going to forgive me yet," She deadpanned. "It's understandable. But Bo, you can't avoid me forever. You _need_ to get your shots. You can't stop alleviating your sexual desires."
"Don't tell me what I need to do," Bo snapped. "These are the only shots I need," She spun around so Lauren could see her drain another glass of vodka. The idea that the doctor was still persisting on her medical shots was laughable after what she had done. "And you should not be one to advise me when it comes to sex, either," She added dryly.
Lauren cast Bo a worried expression and dropped the subject, clearly prepared to tread cautiously on the topic of sex. Lauren's reservation was immensely satisfying to the Succubus. She needed to have the upper-hand at all times. Her lack of control was what had drew her into bed with the beguiling Lauren, opening her heart to the betrayal that happened the morning after.
Kenzi took the proceeding moment of silence as her cue to pipe in - "Hey Doc, I think it's time for you to go."
Lauren glanced at Kenzi, prepared to ignore her and insist upon taking care of her drunken _friend _despite their previous conversation, but Bo's unwavering glare was enough to assure the doctor that it was, indeed, time for her to go. Lauren, however, was not willing to give up Bo's touch completely. She brushed lightly against Bo's shoulder as she turned around, attempting to make the gesture seem innocent. The brief contact alone sent a shiver through Bo. Kenzi watched with subtle amusement as her friend stared at Lauren's strides in the opposite direction.
"Hello! Earth to Bo!" She nudged her repeatedly. "Oh honey, you are _so_ whipped," The Russian girl laughed when she couldn't get her best friend's attention.
"What? Oh," Bo twirled a straw through her drink. "Anyway, like I was saying," Bo exclaimed, choosing to pretend that the entire conversation with Lauren had never occurred. "You are totally right! This room is bursting with sexual energy. I'm going to find someone new, and the backstabbing doctor will be history."
Kenzi smirked to herself, somehow doubting the _history_ part as she watched Bo proceed onto the dance floor and start to work her magic. The human girl was blissfully unaware of how long it had been since Bo had gotten her shots, and how dangerous it was for the Succubus to be sucking chi in her drunken state of mind. All she could think was, anything was better than seeing her best friend pouting and alone. Maybe a new fling was just the cheer-up Bo needed.
2. The Problem with Desire
**I apologize for the lack of Doccubus action in this chapter, but I think it's needed in order for Bo to get over her pride. Thank you so much to my readers. & Again, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!**
* * *
Chapter 2 - The Problem with Desire
Bo allowed herself to succumb to the energy surging throughout her environment, letting the music lull her into a steady dancing rhythm with the surrounding people. Due to her intoxication, she didn't notice the various lingering and not-so-innocent glances in her direction. She ignored the assorted smirks of approval from those who took the time to study her body. Bo never had trouble attracting those around her, but it was unusual for her to not take advantage of peoples' lust. The reason she didn't grind up on or briefly kiss her admirers flirtatiously was probably because her meeting with Lauren minutes before plagued her mind.
"_You need your shots_," Lauren had urged, and the sensible part of Bo realized the doctor was probably right. Bo dismissed this idea, however, as the thought of Lauren's betrayal took over any rationality left in her brain. She didn't need any advice from the Ash's puppet – She was completely capable of keeping her _urges_ under control. In fact, she thought stubbornly, she would prove it right now.
Bo flickered back to a state of semi-consciousness, taking a moment to size up the auras from the people around her. The Huldu Fae on her right was emanating an insurmountable amount of heated sexual energy. Bo edged closer to him and continued dancing, casually brushing up against him to make sure that all of his attention was on her. She smirked as his aura grew hotter, and made a rash decision. She fused her lips into his, taking pleasure in the jolt that she knew she sent through his body.
Although Bo had no initial feelings for this stranger (considering all of her desire was channeled toward a certain doctor), she was still a Succubus. She couldn't help but feel exhilarated as their kiss deepened. She started to draw out his chi, still partially aware of how careful she needed to be. Soon, however, the awareness dissipated. The chi gave her a rush that she hadn't experienced since her night with Lauren. It was a sensation that no amount of alcohol could imitate. The fact that she needed to pull away before she drained him completely had slipped from the Succubus's brain at that point, and her victim made no attempt to stop her either.
Meanwhile, over by the bar, Kenzi was carelessly draining her own glass of alcohol with loud and un-lady-like slurps. She remained somewhat conscious of Bo, but focused the majority of her attention on swindling drinks out of Trick.
"Fill me up, Trickster!" The Russian girl tilted her glass in the barkeeper's direction. Her action elicited a worried and mildly annoyed expression that the old man harbored ninety percent of the time. "Oh come on, please. Just one more free drink," She scoffed. Technically, she should have to pay, but Kenzi decided that since she was the Kenziest Kenzi ever, she should be immune from anything involving the giveaway of her own cash.
"I think you've had enough," Trick said in a voice that not even Kenzi dared to argue. "Where'd Bo go, anyway? You shouldn't have let her go off alone in her state."
"Oh, she's fiiiiiine Trickster," Kenzi drawled, dismissing the topic with a noncommittal gesture. Unfortunately for her, Trick wasn't willing to let it go that easily.
"Kenzi," He scolded, while gathering up the empty glasses that surrounded the girl. "Locate her, at least."
"Okaaaaay, fine," The human girl gave in easily, drawing out the "a's" to show her annoyance at the idea of playing the job of a caretaker. Bo was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Still, a grumpy Trick was near the bottom on her list of things she wanted to deal with at that moment (maybe even lower than a hungry UnderFae), so she flung her stool around and scanned the room for her friend. Although Bo didn't necessarily blend into a crowd, at this point Kenzi's blood alcohol level was high enough that even the huge bright-green-fire making Fae would've blended in. Her head was spinning, and she had colossal difficulty maintaining her focus long enough to make out any faces.
"She's over there!" Trick exclaimed, nearly dropping a glass. He broke Kenzi's concentration by spinning her shoulders in the direction of a desperately feeding Bo.
"Ohhhhhh _shit_," The goth girl sputtered. The image of her friend absorbed in a potentially fatal kiss was enough to make her stomach curl. She shot out of her stool without a second thought, prepared to save the day by stopping her friend from succubus-ing someone dry. She was like a superhero. Except for the fact that she almost fell over on the way. The alcohol had drastically impaired her balance, which didn't make it at all easy to navigate through the litter of laughing and dancing people blocking Bo.
Bo was growing increasingly invigorated as the man's chi poured into her mouth, spreading through her body and mixing with the alcohol to cloud her rational thought. It was coaxing her to go on. The Succubus was unaware that she was slowly sucking the life out of this man, and that if she didn't stop within seconds he was going to drain away. She was fully absorbed in his energy when a hand began tugging at her arm and shouting desperately into her ear to _stop_. Bo had no intention of listening to the voice's commands. Whoever it was had no right to tell her what to do. She spited the voice by deepening her kiss, and it wasn't until she felt herself being physically separated from her victim that rationality began seeping back into her. _Kenzi._
_Shit. _
Bo almost sprang back in embarrassment, realizing in that moment what she had done. _Almost_ done. The guy was nearly passed out when their contact broke, clutching and panting in short and mangled breaths. But he was _alive_. Bo stared at him in shock, spitting out dozens of apologies while her insides twisted with a mixture of relief and anger at herself. Trick was rushing over to assess the situation and make sure the guy was functioning properly, which only served to elevate Bo's shame. She could not believe that she almost let her sense of pride turn her into a monster. She flopped over Kenzi's shoulders in defeat.
"Kenzzz, thank you so muchhh," She slurred, turning her awkward shoulder embrace into an overbearing hug. "I dunno what would have happened if you weren't here," She admitted. "God, it's time for me to go home, isn't it?"
"You're welcome," Kenzi beamed, also experiencing the relief. "I'll always be here for my BoBo," She would have totally taken sole credit for her heroic deed if it wasn't for Trick raising an eyebrow from down below. "And, erm," The Russian girl confessed, "If it wasn't for Trickster over there, I probably wouldn't have saved you in time." She gritted her teeth. "_Probably_! But I swear, I was totally on it. Like SuperKenz," She tried to squirm out of the hug to emphasize her super-ness, but Bo wasn't ready to let her go.
Bo laughed lightly, giving the tiny man an appreciative smile without lessening her embrace on Kenzi. "Thank you, Trick. You know you're amazing."
"Yes," He grinned briefly, focused on tending to the Huldu who remained on the floor and extraordinarily pale. Fortunately, the man seemed capable of breathing at a normal pace. The crowd surrounding the four of them was blatantly assessing the commotion, before slowly scattering away. The Dal would be closed soon anyway.
"Bo," Trick said, causing the Succubus to drop her arms from Kenzi, in order to turn and face the old man. "Why did this happen? I know you've been drinking, but with your training, it shouldn't have been this bad."
The Succubus bit back her guilt. She still was not sure if she wanted to broadcast her refusal to see Lauren, even if she knew the decision was extremely stubborn and harmful. Kenzi decided to make the choice for her.
"BoBo has not been getting her shots," The Russian girl informed him, before turning to face her friend. "Bo, I know how you feel about Lauren right now. I'm not particularly fond of her either," She admitted gingerly. "But that doesn't mean you can stop."
Bo knew Kenzi and Trick were right, and seeing the pale man on the floor who had encountered the brink of death, she was not about to put up a fight. "Is he going to be okay?"
Trick nodded, trying to help the confused stranger to his feet. "Fortunately, yes, but if Kenzi had gotten here a second later, he could be dead," He patted the younger girl in appreciation, showing a brief display of affection that he was not akin to.
"I'll see Lauren tomorrow," Bo promised, still overwhelmed by the embarrassment. Her insides clenched at the thought of succumbing to the doctor, but she had no other option. Trudging torturously through these visits with Lauren would be a small price to pay for saving people's lives. Even her intoxicated mind knew that. She vowed to herself that she would suck it up and continue to get her shots, despite the tension between her and a particularly sexy, smart, but backstabbing doctor.
Tomorrow would be an interesting day.
3. The Science of Sexual Tension
**Thank you so much for the feedback, and please keep it coming! This chapter was a bit more difficult to write since I'm not a science person, but I tried my best.**
**Also, credit to Wikipedia for the Wenzlaff and Bates psychological study info!**
_Note - In this story, Nadia does not exist, and Lauren's allegiance to the Ash is for a different reason that will be revealed later._
* * *
Chapter 3 - The Science of Sexual Tension
Lauren's lab was the one place where she was in her element. Here, the doctor absorbed herself in science, distracted from the tedious thought that she was a slave to the Ash. Although work helped slightly, there was never a point in time when she didn't subconsciously remember the burden that she carried. She was strung to the head of the light Fae like a puppet, compelled to follow his every command. There was no way to escape – The idea that a mere human could swindle the Fae and get away unharmed was almost laughable. It was a complex position to be in because sometimes it wasn't so terrible, and she was able to feign the life of a regular human doctor. Other times, however, she could not think of a worse possible fate.
_Bo_ had certainly done a good job of reminding her.
_Damnit_.
She told herself repeatedly that she wouldn't think of the name of the stubborn, yet breathtaking Succubus, who she'd hurt so severely. In order to stop herself from thinking of Bo, she'd developed a somewhat effective method. It had to do with psychological studies done by Wenzlaff and Bates, which found that subjects concentrating on a positive task experienced neither paradoxical nor rebound effects, even when challenged with a cognitive load. Wenzlaff theorized that '_the ironic process-postulated monitor may not be as potent as previously believed, and that far more neutral or irrelevant thoughts are available to the mind during deliberate concentration states. The benefeciality of concentration in their study participants was better optimized when the subjects employed positive thoughts.' _
Lauren found this incredibly fascinating. Whenever she thought of Bo's name, if she instead focused on something positive - the advancements she was making in the toxin that she was developing to tame a certain species of UnderFae - she was able to engulf her mind with scientific thoughts instead of dwelling on the Succubus.
Lauren not only thought, but also immersed herself into her work. She bent over her microscope, trying to make sense of the DNA evidence that the Ash had provided her with from a particularly hostile UnderFae, so she could use it to create the toxin. When she worked, her mind transformed into a robot. She was trained in mentally graphing the calculations to the point where she only needed brief intermissions for notes. She hadn't noticed Bo standing there for the past couple minutes, watching her work, and if she had, she probably would've been flattered by the way the Succubus gazed at her in complete admiration, despite what happened between them.
A knock on the wall startled Lauren into awareness. She spun around, only to be greeted by the one face that had been twisting in and out of her conscious mind for the last three days.
"Bo," She murmured the name softly, throwing all of the forgetting-tactics in the garbage. She noted that the Succubus's expression was softer than yesterday, but her walls were still blatantly up. Nevertheless, it was difficult not to be struck by a woman with beauty of this caliber. Although Bo's jacket was zipped an inch too high, Lauren could not break the image of what was probably under it - a low cut shirt that delicately emphasized the swell of her breasts. It was impossible for the doctor to look at her without remembering the perfection of this woman's body _without_ clothing. If an artist was striving to depict the ideal model of femininity, it wouldn't even compare to Bo. Then there was her face – her immaculate bone structure and the look of fiery passion that her eyes retained. Everything about Bo drew Lauren in.
Bo broke the silence. "I need my shots," She said flatly, her tone portraying that sucking up her pride was the most difficult task imaginable.
"Of course," Lauren answered immediately. She took a deep breath, eschewing the half-second thought she had that Bo came here for a different reason. As the Succubus approached her, she allowed Bo's scent to waft through her nose, while simultaneously struggling not to let it hypnotize her. Unfortunately, with Bo standing inches away, her efforts were useless.
"I'm going to need you to remove your jacket," The doctor said in a professional manner, coaxing herself to not break eye contact with Bo. In an action that was not missed by Lauren, Bo smirked before casually unbuttoning and sliding the piece of clothing off her shoulders. Lauren's desperate attempt to focus only on this woman's face was lost when her lengthy and sculpted arms were revealed, and – Lauren gulped - the magnetic pull of Bo's cleavage won her eyes over. She stared for a second – or a few seconds – too long.
"Like what you see?" Bo asked smugly.
A flustered Lauren's snapped her eyes back up to where they should be, but not without blushing profusely on the way. She knew Bo was enjoying her pain, but that was not a thought she cared to dwell on.
"How do you do that," Lauren asked through clenched teeth, busying herself by abandoning Bo for a moment to search her cabinets for the injection she needed. _Nothing_ was ever missed by the Succubus – The briefest linger of Lauren's stealthily wandering eyes did not slip past Bo, and the knowledge was both arousing and aggravating.
"Auras," Bo said simply. She didn't need to say anymore because both of them vividly remembered their time at the Dal a few weeks ago, when Lauren's curiosity proved to be more than scientific. Lauren was glad she wasn't facing Bo, because her cheeks burned red at the thought of how heated her aura probably was right now.
After locating the proper injection, she spun around, forcing herself to smile. She had learned in medical school that smiles tended to make patients more apt to trust you, even if that patient was particularly stubborn. Once again, she approached Bo. She watched as the Succubus didn't as much as flinch when the needle penetrated through her upper arm.
"Thank you," Bo whispered, stepping closer to Lauren. There was barely an inch between their faces. Bo eyed Lauren's lips, and at that point the doctor's breathing had already stopped. Her heart pounded in anticipation. She was one-hundred-percent under this woman's spell, and, for a moment, she was convinced that Bo was going to close the gap between their lips and send Lauren into paralytic shock. Instead, however, Bo's fingers clasped Lauren's necklace.
"Lauren," She urged, her tone carrying the first bit of normalcy since _that night_. "You don't need to do whatever the Ash tells you."
"Bo please, I'm begging you," Lauren said helplessly. "Just let me explain, and actually listen this time."
Bo looked for a second like she was ready to hear Lauren out, but then her phone rang. Lauren gritted her teeth as Bo stepped aside to answer the call, unjustifiably hating whoever had stolen the brunette's attention. Quickly, however, Lauren's mind refocused as she tried to make out what Bo was saying. Apparently, Kenzi had gone missing. The information jolted every one of Bo's senses into awareness. Although Lauren and Kenzi weren't necessarily the best of friends, the doctor knew how important she was to Bo, so she would also do everything she could to help.
When Bo finally got off the phone, she grabbed her jacket in a panic.
"Lauren. I have to go," She said almost hysterically, making a beeline for the door. However, before completely disappearing, she turned around. "I love-" She stopped herself, her face depicting an internal struggle. "I love Kenzi, and I need to save her."
4. The Drugs Never Work
**Thank you for all the reviews, R&R is always appreciated!**
**Sorry for taking so long, things have been busy, but I tried to write a decent amount to make up for it. Hope you enjoy!**
* * *
"Barf. I'm still barfing at that sparkage."
The disembodied voice came from Bo's shoulder.
"I _told_ you to wait before you listened in," Bo groaned, allowing herself to speak when she was a good distance away from Lauren's lab. She leaned her back against her car.
"Lauren is probably worried about me. You're a horrible person," Kenzi scolded.
"You couldn't have said that _before_ Plan-Tame-the-Succubus was executed?" Bo exclaimed, fiddling with the tiny microphone clipped to her tank top's strap.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time…" Kenzi's voice trailed off. "Besides, how was I supposed to know that you're such a terrible actress? You were supposed to go for subtle, not for _oh my god this is worse than somebody dying_. You said I'm missing? Really?"
"I know, I know, I panicked!"
"Let me get something straight," Kenzi said, trying not to laugh. "You're cool and collected in the face of a terrifying Underfae, but a mere human doctor is what causes you to unravel?"
Bo ignored her. "This was an awful idea. I'm going back." She chided herself for listening to Kenzi in the first place. But, earlier that day, the whole plan had seemed brilliant…
* * *
**_Flashback _**
"Ughhhhhh. Emphasis on the _ugh_," Kenzi groaned, dragging her best friend over to their couch to give her a firm talking-to. Bo swatted at her indignantly, but Kenzi wasn't letting up ("_Let it out! Let it all out girl_!") She needed to talk some sense into her friend before things got out of hand again. Unfortunately, talking sense proved to be difficult when her head was spinning from alcohol consumption the night before. Despite shoving aspirin down her throat, Kenzi couldn't seem to properly alleviate her throbbing headache, and it was compromising her ability to focus.
Bo pouted like a child who got their lollypop taken away. "Give me back my knife," She snapped, trying and failing to grab Kenzi's arm. "You know I could just Succubus it from you, right?"
Kenzi raised an eyebrow. "Would you?"
"No," Bo sighed, relaxing for a moment. "But do you really think I would put a knife to your throat?"
"No," Kenzi said slowly, standing on her tiptoes and twirling the knife in the air so it was out of Bo's reach. "But you might after I do this." She tossed the knife aside and it sailed across the kitchen, landing on the ground with a loud _clink_. Bo watched, calculating her chances of making a lunge for it without Kenzi catching her, when a pair of handcuffs materialized out of thin air. In a quick motion, Kenzi cuffed a squirming and screaming Bo's hands together.
"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" Bo glared, her anger building. "Oh Kenzi, you are going to _pay_ for this." She paused. "How the hell did you just do that?"
Kenzi grinned mischievously. "Perks of being a shadow thief." She dusted her hands together as if it were nothing. "Now. Back to business," In a daring move, she pushed her infuriated roommate back onto the couch. "_Promise_ me you will go see Lauren. I need to know that you weren't just saying you would in front of Trick."
"Are you kidding me?" Bo almost cackled. "Hell if I'm making any promises before you uncuff my hands." She quirked an eyebrow. "Unless, you know, you did this for a different reason," She licked her lips as Kenzi screamed "_Ewwwwwwww_." Kenzi was cocky and believed she had the upper-hand in this situation. Making her uncomfortable proved to be extremely satisfying.
Bo decided to go with it. "God, Kenzi, I didn't know you were so kinky."
"NO! Bo, gross, that's not…" Kenzi stopped. In her moment of surprise, the Russian girl managed to let her guard down. It only took a split-second off her A-game for Bo to give herself the upper hand, pushing Kenzi onto the couch (_while cuffed_!) and grabbing the knife in a flash.
"HA! Now where are the keys to these?" Bo smirked, and Kenzi realized she had been fooled.
_No one_ fooled her. Not even BoBo.
"They're hidden, and you're not getting them until you listen, _bitch_."
"Kenzi, you do realize I'm the one with the knife here?"
"Ugh. Come on, Bo, just listen to me for five minutes," Kenzi sighed. "I saved you from Succu-killing someone! You loved me last night, remember?"
Bo continued to eye her with animosity, but her expression softened a bit.
"_Five minutes_. I swear." The younger girl pleaded.
Bo gritted her teeth. "Fine. Five minutes. Four minutes, fifty nine seconds... go!"
"Wait! I need a second to collect myself!" Kenzi exclaimed, shutting her eyes and taking a deep, cleansing breath. "Okay, I'm good."
The Succubus rolled her eyes.
"So," Kenzi continued. "You're not actually going to see Lauren. You just said that for Trick's benefit, am I right?"
"I was considering it…" Bo admitted, not exactly proud of what had happened. At the same time, _considering_ tended to indicate that it was a viable option at the time, but afterwards, not so much. Her sense of pride was enough to convince her that she could handle herself without Lauren's shots.
"Well, I guess that will make this easier, then," Kenzi said. "You neeeeeed to see Lauren so what happened last night doesn't happen again… but get your shots and that's all! She betrayed you… you can't let your Succubus tendencies kick in! And I _know_ you can't control yourself…" Kenzi was a pro at motivational pep talks.
"Kenzi. I can control myself. Do you really think I'm like a hormone-charged teenage boy?" Bo sighed, doubting her own words.
"Oh honey. You're worse than that." She paused to let her friend rage. "That's why my plan is _perfect_!"
"Your _plan_?"
"Yes! It's really simple. All you need is moderate acting skills, and this.." Kenzi lifted a small black device from her pocket. "I swiped a pair of detective microphone communicator thingies from Dyson. Clip it to your undershirt, wear a light jacket over it, and no one will see it. Keep it turned on and I will hear everything that's going on with you."
"Now why would I ever want that?"
"Because. If I think things are getting to the point where they may go further than shots, I'll call you – Like, on your cell phone, because I don't think normal people make phone calls with these things – Yeah um… if Lauren heard a voice coming from your jacket sleeve she may be a little alarmed – But anyway, I'll call pretending to be Trick saying I'm in danger. Because, obviously, I'm awesome, so me in danger would get you out of there for sure." Kenzi grinned at her logic.
"That's when your acting skills come in. Just act like I'm in a bit of a dilemma, not something so minor that it'd be pointless to leave, but nothing too melodramatic that it'd get Lauren worried… You feel me? Then you'll have your shot, and be out of there unscathed. Capishe?"
Bo let a smile slip. "I guess it's a pretty good idea."
"Of course it is!" Kenzi smirked. "The key is in your pocket, by the way."
"What?! How?!" The Russian girl was running in the opposite direction. "Oh yeah, you better run… when I get these damn things _off_!"
* * *
_**Back to Present**_
"Bo," Kenzi said slowly. "Come home and we'll think of a recovery plan… Whatever you do, do not go back there."
"I am not listening to one more of your _plans_," Bo growled. "And for God's sake, can we talk in a _normal_ way?"
A man walking by looked at her oddly, probably thinking she was crazy for talking to herself. She ripped the microphone from her sleeve and turned it off, Kenzi's voice dying with the piece of equipment.
With her sleeve devoid of Kenzi, Bo was once again able to think freely. She allowed the light breeze to whisk across her skin, reminding her of Lauren's fleeting, careful touch moments before. The device no longer acted as a barrier between herself and the doctor – She could find no reason not to walk back in and allow Lauren to explain herself.
Unfortunately, this would be particularly difficult to pull off with the 'Kenzi is Missing' ploy in effect, and Bo didn't know what to do about this. Was Lauren sitting in her lab and stressing – Was she trying to get more information? Clearly, none of this was well-thought out. If Lauren was concerned at all about the situation, it would be easy for her to discover that Kenzi was perfectly safe.
Enough time had passed since the sex ploy that Bo's wounds were not quite as fiery. The flames remained, but they had cooled, allowing Bo to think rationally. Before, her dominant thought was that Lauren had used her and then extinguished her, without a care. But, being alone with her in the lab, it was easy to tell that the good doctor cared (not to mention the thought of Lauren's aura burning with desire sent a not-so-innocent throb through her). Lauren was suffering – She was one of the most admirable people Bo had ever met, but the Ash was holding her back. Bo wanted to know why. Lauren deserved a chance to explain herself.
First, however, Bo would need to explain _her_self.
In a rash decision, she turned around, walked back into the building, and headed to Lauren's lab. Once again, she found Lauren gazing into a microscope, tapping her fingers on the table in frustration. At Bo's arrival, she looked up immediately.
"You lied to me."
"I—" Bo started, but Lauren cut in.
"You don't need to explain... I called Trick, and I know Kenzi is okay. You hate me," She said, as a statement more than a question. "But did you really need to do that and worry me, just because you didn't want to be in my presence? Are you that disgusted by me?" Lauren's words poured out quickly and effortlessly, each syllable bubbling with pain and spite.
Bo had been planning a speech about how Lauren shouldn't be angry with her for lying as she did the same thing, but her reaction took Bo aback. The genuine hurt in her expression was both sad and humbling.
"I'm so sorry Lauren…" Bo paused, her voice trailing off. "But aren't you wondering why I came back so soon? I came back to tell you the truth, because I regret what I just did…"
"Mhmm."
"And you actually think I'm disgusted by you? _Really_? You're a Fae doctor, can you not tell how difficult it is for me to control myself around you?"
This response startled Lauren. Her breath caught.
"Well…" It was hard enough for her to form one word as Bo neared her, with the Succubus's breasts inches from her face, her lower half clad in leather – Forming an entire sentence proved impossible.
Bo licked her lips, aroused by Lauren's heat. Her eyes flashed blue. "It's cool. I came back here because I want to listen to you and have that talk…"
Lauren released a breath. "Bo, you need to understand, I can't tell you everything…"
The Succubus narrowed her eyes. "Then why keep telling me you want to talk?"
"Because, I want you to know how much I care about you, and how what I did was to _protect _you... do you really think we weren't heading in that direction anyway…?"
"Well you ruined any chance of that happening," Bo snapped. "And I don't need your protection. I'm so _sick _of people trying to protect me…"
"I'm sworn to the Ash for my entire life. I can't tell you the reason, but I can tell you anything else you want to know. I can tell you how sometimes I feel so trapped that I question the meaning of my existence, and how desperately I try to escape but I _can't_. The Ash was the push that I needed, but I would never have had sex with you if I didn't want to anyway… Look at you, Bo, you're beautiful, and so brave… You're the epitome of perfection."
Bo softened her expression slightly. "Lauren, you don't have to be owned. I can help you…"
"No," Lauren interrupted. "You don't know exactly what happened, and it's not something I can tell you yet, but I need you to let it go."
"I don't know if I can."
There was a moment of silence, during which the Succubus noticed Lauren struggling to tear her eyes away from Bo's lips. The intensity of her aura sent waves of arousal coursing through Bo. As her hunger grew deeper, her rationality washed away.
"Are you sure that shot was strong enough?" She wondered out loud. "Or maybe it's one of those things that takes a couple hours to kick in?"
"Hm?" Lauren replied, startled. "Well, it should take effect immediately, but it is possible that you're starting to develop a resistance..." The doctor blinked. "But you haven't been out yet... You may just need to relax... Do you want a massage?"
"Lower," Bo murmured, barely audibly.
"Hm?"
Bo cleared her throat. "I said, it's probably better if we stay just friends.
"Ah, yeah," Lauren stumbled over her words. "I agree, completely."
Bo quirked an eyebrow. "Try to tone done your arousal then. It's not entirely friendly." She enjoyed watching Lauren's cheeks burn red at her words.
"Did you know that in a study, female rats were injected with an a-MSH mimic called PT-141, which increased their sexual appetite, proving that a drug is able to act as a central regulator of sexual behavior, isn't that _fascinating_…" Lauren's voice trailed off.
Bo bit her lip at how adorable it was when Lauren geeked out. The slow motion and subtle parting of her red lips entranced her. The amount of control it took her to contain herself was more challenging than anything she remembered. She repeatedly told herself to keep her line of sight plastered on Lauren's face. If she let her eyes travel any lower, she would end up with her head between the doctor's legs.
"So basically, it's all friendly?" Bo breathed, unaware of anything Lauren just said.
"What? Oh - yes. Like I said, completely," The doctor replied, her eyes dropping to Bo's chest.
"You're right about these shots. I think I have built a resistance."
Bo exercised every ounce of self-control she had left to exit the lab and proceed home to Kenzi.
End file.
| fanfiction |
EXT. FRONT LAWN - OVERHEAD SHOT - NIGHT
DEBO is laid out on the grass.
CRAIG (V.O.)
In the movies, when you beat up the
neighborhood bully; you suppose to live
happily ever after. But around here;
that's when all the drama begins...
Blue and red police lights flash over Debo's body. Two
sheriffs walk INTO OUR FRAME and stand over Debo. They flash
their lights on him.
CRAIG (cont'd) (V.O.)
Last Friday; I got fired for the first
time. I got high for the first time. I
got shot at for the first time and I
kicked Debo's ass for the first time...
They get him to his feet; but he stumbles and falls in the
bushes like a knocked out prize fighter. The sheriffs laugh
at him.
Debo looks dazed and confused. The sheriffs help him out the
bushes and start to cuff him.
CRAIG (cont'd) (V.O.)
I was the man that night; and Debo ended
up going to jail for a couple of years.
But he told Ezal he was getting out next
Friday. He said, when he see me, he was
gonna smoke me on the spot...
They walk him OUT OF FRAME...
FADE TO BLACK.
OVER BLACK:
CRAIG (cont'd) (V.O.)
And today is next Friday...
SOUNDTRACK!
"New Line Cinema presents, etc., etc...
FADE IN:
EXT. LOS ANGELES - EARLY MORNING
OPENING CREDITS. It's early Friday morning and the sun peeks
over the LA skyline. As the city starts to awake and the
credits continue to roll;
we see SEVERAL SHOTS of the real people who make up Los
Angeles. It seems that they all move to the same beat.
EXT. L.A. COUNTY JAIL - CONTINUOUS
Debo is released from the Twin Towers County Jail. Still in
his orange jumpsuit, he walks right past us and down the
street. Everybody clears his path.
SOUNDTRACK still PUMPIN'.
Debo crosses the street passing an old man dancing and
directing traffic. Debo stops, the man starts to dance in
front of him. He stares for a second, then he's on his way.
Still walking tall and hard, he trips over a crack in the
sidewalk (losing cool points).
Three little black girls in plaid uniforms practice the
latest dance steps on their way to school. Debo is walking
towards them. They scream and take off in the other
direction. He smiles. Briefly.
Still walking; he stops at a corner. A SA boy waits to cross
with his low-rider bike. A Metrolink train passes. After it
goes by; we see Debo riding off on the boy's bike. He's on
the ground holding his eye.
Debo continues to ride through the city.
He turns a corner or two and comes to a stop at Craig's
house.
EXT. JONES' HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Mr. Jones' dog catcher's truck sits in front of the house.
A CHIHUAHUA (like the Taco Bell dog) takes a dump on the
lawn. It starts to BARK at Debo. He looks down at the dog
and kicks him in the street. The DOG YIPES!
Debo focuses his attention on Craig's house.
INT. JONES' HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The hallway is clear and quiet, until MR. JONES (Craig's
father), storms out of the bedroom. He struggles to put on
his dog catcher's uniform. He stops at the bathroom door and
knocks hard.
MR. JONES
Craig! Craig! Off yo' ass and on yo'
feet; this ain't the time to beat your
meat!
Mr. Jones laughs at himself.
CRAIG (O.S.)
I'll be out in about 35-40 minutes!
MR. JONES
Hurry up; today is Fri-day! And we gotta
hit the high-way!
Mr. Jones continues on his way; dancing to the beat.
INT. BATHROOM - CLOSE-UP ON HIGH TIMES MAGAZINE - CONTINUOUS
Hands crack open a $20 sack of bud onto the magazine. A pack
of Zigzags fall INTO FRAME. Papers are ripped from the
package.
CLOSE UP ON CRAIG JONES
the doctor of this delicate operation.
CRAIG (V.O.)
Soon as my pops found out what Debo said
to Ezal, he wanted me to move with my
uncle and little cousin in Rancho
Cucamonga. Til' things calm down, or
Debo went back to prison. Whichever
comes first.
He's sitting on the toilet (dressed: not using it) putting
the finishing touches on his masterpiece. He licks, rolls
and slides the 'J into the fifth pocket on his Levi jeans.
CRAIG (cont'd) (V.O.)
I feel like the biggest punk around here.
I wiped Debo's ass. He should be the one
moving.
He exits.
EXT. JONES' HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The front door opens. Mr. Jones walks out the door, yelling
back into the house.
MR. JONES
Craig! Let's go! I don't wanna hit that
traffic.
He steps off the porch backwards and into "fresh Chihuahua
shit." He slips and falls on the grass.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
I be got damn.
Mr. Jones gets up. He brushes the grass off his uniform. He
looks clean, but when he turns around dog shit is smashed all
over his back and butt.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
Craig! Craig!
Craig emerges from the house with his bags in hand.
CRAIG
(irritated)
Here I come!
MR. JONES
(still mad)
Well bring yo' ass on...
Craig slams the door and starts towards the truck.
CRAIG
What's the matter?
MR. JONES
I fell in some mud. Now hurry up!
Mr. Jones gets in the truck. Craig jumps in. They back out
and pull off.
INT. DOG TRUCK - MOVING - CLOSE-UP ON CRAIG - CONTINUOUS
He's daydreaming about Smokey.
CRAIG (V.O.)
I didn't wanna leave my neighborhood at
all. Especially my homeboy Smokey. But
he went to rehab last week. I know I'mma
miss him...
Out of nowhere, Debo jumps in front of the truck. Mr. Jones
slams on the BRAKES.
DEBO
Craig! Get out the car, boy! This the
rematch!
Debo reaches for his shank. Craig turns to Mr. Jones!
CRAIG
Daddy, punch it!
Mr. Jones floors it and hits Debo. He falls over the hood,
off the car and in the street. The yellow truck speeds off.
Debo jumps up staggering with scrapes and bruises.
DEBO
You know I'mma find you! You can run ya'
can't hide!
BACK IN CAR - CONTINUOUS
Craig screams out the window.
CRAIG
You fake ass Suge Knight!
Mr. Jones is a bit shaken up.
MR. JONES
That nigga worst than them damn pit
bulldogs or something! That's why moving
wit'cha Uncle Elroy and Cousin Day-Day is
the best thing for you right now.
CRAIG
(with attitude)
Ya'll making me look like a punk.
MR. JONES
It ain't about being a punk, son. It's
about this...
Craig smells something in the air.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
My great, great grand daddy on my Momma
side; had a saying... 'See a fool --
leave a fool.' Somebody else a get him.
Plus, I don't want that fool shooting at
my house trying to hit yo' ass.
CRAIG
What's that smell?
Mr. Jones sniffs.
MR. JONES
Must be your upper lip, 'cause I don't
smell nothing.
CRAIG
(holding his nose)
I do.
MR. JONES
What it smell like?
CRAIG
Smells like you didn't fall in no mud.
Mr. Jones grabs the air freshener from under the seat. He
starts to spray too much. Craig's window won't roll down.
CRAIG (cont'd)
What's wrong with the window?
MR. JONES
I gotta get'em fixed. They don't roll
down.
CRAIG
All damn.
MR. JONES
Just hold your breath.
EXT. CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA - MORNING
They exit the freeway and pass a sign that reads, "Rancho
Cucamonga" (the city away from the city).
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S STREET - CONTINUOUS
Welcome to the suburbs. Where the "Smiley Happy People" live
in peace and quiet.
The neighborhood is full of green lawns and nice two story
track homes as far as the eye can see. The yellow truck
drives through the streets and pulls up to a cul-de-sac. Mr.
Jones BLOWS the HORN.
MR. JONES
Nice neighborhood, huh?
CRAIG
It's alright.
MR. JONES
18-years of chasing dogs; and my lazy ass
brother hits the lotto his first time
playing. I still can't figure that one
out.
CRAIG
Why they got to have the loudest house on
the block!
Uncle Elroy's house is royal blue with gold trim. All the
other houses are painted in earth tones.
MR. JONES
Ah, son, don't be no hater. You know
your uncle ain't got no taste. Just
don't let him rub off on you.
Craig grabs his bags.
CRAIG
You coming in?
MR. JONES
No, I'mma go on to work. I don't wanna
hear Elroy's mouth. Now listen to me,
Craig. It's gonna be different living
over here. Don't let your uncle and your
cousin get you into no shit. Understand?
CRAIG
Hey, Pops, I'm grown. Can't nobody get
me in trouble no more.
As craig gets out; the front door flies open. It's DAY-DAY
(22), Craig's crazy younger cousin. He yells back into the
house.
DAY-DAY
Daddy, Craig is here.
Day-Day walks out to the car and gives Craig a pound.
CRAIG
What's crackin'?
DAY-DAY
You. Hi, Uncle Willie.
MR. JONES
Hey, Day-Day. Where's yo' big head
father?
DAY-DAY
There he is.
Just then, UNCLE ELROY (42) hits the door. Dressed in boxers
and a T-shirt. This is Mr. Jones' (very loud) little
brother.
UNCLE ELROY
Hey, Debo, heard you running from a ass-
whippin'?
CRAIG
Naw, it ain't like that.
UNCLE ELROY
If you see that boy again, bite off his
ear off like Mike Tyson.
CRAIG
Alright, I'll remember that.
UNCLE ELROY
You know me? I would've shot his big
ass.
(peeking into the ear)
Hey, Willie, how's it going? Still
steppin' in dog shit every day?
Uncle Elroy laughs. Mr. Jones isn't amused.
MR. JONES
Make sure you look after my son out here.
Don't get him involved with none of your
bullshit, Roy.
UNCLE ELROY
Don't worry 'bout nothin', big bro. He
in the best fuckin' hands in Rancho
Chocomunga, baby! This my world, you
just a nigga late paying rent. Ain't
that right, nephew?
Uncle Elroy hugs Craig by the arm.
MR. JONES
Craig, remember what I told you.
CRAIG
I'll remember.
Mr. Jones pulls off. Uncle Elroy yells out to him.
UNCLE ELROY
Send Betty my love.
(to Craig)
Boy you looking good.
(grabbing his bags)
I'mma take these in the house for you,
man... and when you finish with this cat,
come inside. I got something to show
you.
CRAIG
Thanks, Unc.
Uncle Elroy starts towards to the house.
DAY-DAY
You know it's been over a year since we
kicked it last? Up at the family
reunion.
CRAIG
I know, that's when Uncle Elroy cussed
out everybody, and threw up in Aunt
Faye's backseat.
Day-Day laughs.
DAY-DAY
Yep. I forgot about him cussin' out
everybody. Damn that was fun.
CRAIG
I know, we had a good time. But ever
since you guys moved out here, it seems
like we've lost touch.
DAY-DAY
I know; this a long way from Watts. But
what I like about living out here is that
you don't hear no helicopters, no sirens,
no drive-by's, no nothing. Just peace
and quiet. Listen.
They do. It is quiet, except for a few BIRDS SINGING.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Shit sound good, huh?
Just then, a maroon Cadillac low-rider on Daytons rolls up
the block. It's the Jokers: JOKER (28), LI'L JOKER (21) and
BABY JOKER (15). They pull into their driveway.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Aw damn.
In SLOW MOTION: One by one they get out the car. They have a
dog with them named "Cheeco." As they get to the front door
they all look over at Craig and Day-Day.
Day-Day looks away, while Craig keeps his eye on them. They
disappear inside.
CRAIG
Who is that?
DAY-DAY
Joker, he just got out of the pen. Li'l
Joker, he just got out of Youth
Authority. And Baby Joker, he just got
out of Juvenile Hall.
CRAIG
They ever let you hit the switches on
that Cadillac?
DAY-DAY
Naw, them dudes is assholes. Especially
that dog - Cheeco. Watch this little
ass, he's sneaky. Plus, I got something
better than a Cadillac.
They walk over to his black BMW 325i on chrome rims.
CRAIG
This you?
DAY-DAY
(proud)
Yeah, that's me. Just a little somethin'
somethin' I picked up.
CRAIG
Must be nice. I wish we won the lottery.
Come up on a million dollars like ya'll.
DAY-DAY
Man, after taxes, lawyer fees, and paying
off my daddy's bad credit, we didn't end
up with a million. We bought this house
and I spent the rest on this. It's the
bomb, huh?
CRAIG
This my baby. I feel like a new nigga in
this car. I get mo' phone numbers
rollin' this, than I ever did on the bus.
MISS HO KYM (O.S.)
Hi, Day-Day!
They turn to spot MISS HO KYM (67), the old Korean lady who
lives next door. She's sitting on her porch nursing a cup of
coffee.
DAY-DAY
(speaking louder and slower)
Hi, Mulan.
MISS HO KYM
Fuck you, Day-Day. Who's ya boy?
DAY-DAY
This my cousin, Craig. He just moved out
here from L.A. Craig, this is Miss Ho.
Day-Day smiles at Craig.
MISS HO KYM
My name is Miss Ho Kym. Day-Day just
trying to be a smart ass. Nice to meet
you, Craig. Are you 'bout it, 'bout it?
CRAIG
Excuse me?
MISS HO KYM
I said...are you 'bout it, 'bout it --
rowdy, rowdy?
Craig can't believe his ears.
CRAIG
Yeah, I'm 'bout it.
MISS HO KYM
Well, then, it's all good. Yo, Day-Day,
something is going down with those
Mexicans across the street? I've been
seeing a lot of activity.
They all look over at the Joker's house.
CRAIG
What kind of activity?
MISS HO KYM
Strange activity. I think they running
drugs off Tijuana. Day-Day don't believe
me.
DAY-DAY
How do you know for sure?
MISS HO KYM
I know everything, playboy. Don't hate,
congratulate.
DAY-DAY
I don't have time, Miss Ho, I'll see you
later.
Day-Day and Craig start to walk back to the house.
MISS HO KYM
See you later, Day-Day. Come by after
work, I got the John Blaze shit for you.
CRAIG
Nice to meet you?
MISS HO KYM
Peace out, Craig.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Day-Day and Craig enter the house. They still have the
furniture from the projects. Craig looks around. He spots
at a few hanging pictures.
CRAIG
Man, this a cool house.
DAY-DAY
(picking up a picture)
Thanks, I just wish my mother had a
chance to see it.
Mother's picture: she looks like Day-Day with a wig on.
She's smiling and holding the winning lotto ticket.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
But when she found out we won the money,
she had a heart attack. You know the
story.
CRAIG
Yeah.
A sad moment.
DAY-DAY
Go on and make yourself at home. I'mma
go get dressed for work.
CRAIG
Oh, yeah, where you work at?
DAY-DAY
Pinky's Records and Disc in the shopping
center. I'mma talk to my boss and see if
he got a little position for you. 'Cause
you been unemployed for a long time now,
Craig.
CRAIG
Thanks for reminding me.
Day-Day exits. Craig is left to look around, until something
outside catches his eye.
EXT. HOUSE
It's D'WANA (20), Day-Day's six-month pregnant girlfriend.
She's walking on the right side of his BMW. With one hand
she waves at Craig...with the other hand she's keying Day-
Day's car with the skills of a retarded first-grader.
INT. HOUSE
Craig waves back, but something ain't right. Uncle Elroy
steps in with SUGA (39), his nymphomaniac girlfriend. She's
wearing a sexy nightie that's a size too small.
UNCLE ELROY
Craig, I want you to meet my old lady,
Suga. Suga, this is Craig.
SUGA
Oooh, ba-by!
She gives Craig a big, juicy hug and kiss, grabbing his ass
in the process.
SUGA (cont'd)
(hugging and grabbing)
You even cuter than your baby pictures.
CRAIG
Thank you.
SUGA
(whispering in Craig's ear)
You know, I'mma be your new auntie. We
can keep it all in the family if you want
to.
Uncle Elroy un-hugs them.
UNCLE ELROY
Okay, okay, that's enough. Go put on
some damn clothes.
SUGA
(pouting)
Elroy.
UNCLE ELROY
Suga. Go ahead and get us something to
smoke on.
SUGA
Okay.
(winking)
Bye, Craig.
CRAIG
Nice to meet you.
Suga walks out.
UNCLE ELROY
Man, that girl's gonna kill me one day.
Viagra ain't working. My back keep going
out... she don't never get enough. But
check this out. I got to lay some ground
rules.
(gets closer to Craig)
Your my family and I love you. You're
welcome to anything you want in my home.
But I don't wanna catch you in the
refrigerator or in my Suga bowl... you
feel me knocking?
CRAIG
Yeah.
UNCLE ELROY
Well, let me in.
CRAIG
Uncle Elroy, who's that girl by Day-Day's
car?
He looks.
UNCLE ELROY
Oh, that's D'Wana. His ex.
(yelling upstairs)
Day-Day, the crazy bitch is back!
Day-Day runs down the stairs to get a look. He's holding a
piece of paper.
DAY-DAY
Aw, naw.
He runs out the door.
EXT. HOUSE
D'Wana continues her job. Day-Day storms over, waving the
paper.
DAY-DAY
Girl, you supposed to be 1000 feet from
my house. What you doing over here?
D'WANA
What it look like I'm doing? You can't
quit me, I'm pregnant!
DAY-DAY
That ain't my baby!
Day-Day spots the damage. He loses it.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
(in disbelief)
Oh, my God! What you doing?!
Now he's a madman.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Bitch! You keyed my car! I'mma kill
you!
Day-Day charges D'Wana. She has her pepper spray ready.
D'WANA
I got your bitch right here.
D'Wana sprays his face orange. He stops in his tracks; grabs
his eyes and screams like a woman.
DAY-DAY
Awwwww....
(staggering)
Awwwww....
D'WANA
I expect you to return all phone calls
and take me to lunch today. I'll be back
out here on my break. Nobody quits me.
D'Wana runs to her car. She speeds off. Uncle Elroy goes
for the water hose. Craig grabs Day-Day.
DAY-DAY
I can't see! I can't see! Daddy!
CRAIG
Lay down, Day-Day. Stop moving.
Craig puts him on the grass.
DAY-DAY
She pepper-sprayed me, man! She pepper-
sprayed me!
CRAIG
I know, be still.
Before he can say another word, Uncle Elroy nearly drowns him
with the water hose.
UNCLE ELROY
Boy, you got you a little fatal
attraction, huh? I had two or three of
them in my day.
Day-Day is drowning.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Craig, I hope you know how to deal with
women better than this fool.
Craig moves the hose.
CRAIG
That's too much water.
Now Day-Day is blind and choking.
UNCLE ELROY
Help him to his feet. Let's get him to
the bathroom.
They get him up and into the house.
INT. BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
They rush Day-Day into the shower.
DAY-DAY
(confused)
Hold on. What you doing?
Uncle Elroy turns on the cold water. Day-Day screams. He
tries to get out. They push him back in.
UNCLE ELROY
Wet your eyes, boy. Stay in there for
about 20 minutes.
DAY-DAY
20 minutes?
UNCLE ELROY
Yeah, 20 minutes. Trust me. I've been
pepper sprayed nine times. 20 minutes.
Uncle Elroy slams the door. Day-Day stands in the shower
fully dressed and soaking wet.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Let me show you my back yard. You know
it's bigger than y'all back yard.
They exit, leaving Day-Day in the shower.
EXT. ELROY'S BACK YARD - CONTINUOUS
Uncle Elroy and Craig start to walk around the back yard. In
the B.G., we NOTICE giant weed plants everywhere.
UNCLE ELROY
Yeah, you gotta have a little money to
live out here, Craig. I never thought
I'd be the kinda nigga to move to the
suburbs. But as soon as I got my check,
I was gone. Paid 230 thousand dollars
cash on this house.
CRAIG
You paid cash?
UNCLE ELROY
Cash money. They wasn't gonna stick me
with no 30-year payment plan. That's for
suckas. They got my daddy like that for
a Cadillac years ago. I got the only
house on the block that's paid for.
That's why I'm the king around here.
They walk over to the pool.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
You like that pool?
It's half-full with dirty water. An upside-down lawn chair
floats in it.
CRAIG
It's cool, but where's the water?
UNCLE ELROY
Don't need water. We didn't have no pool
in the projects...so none of us swim.
CRAIG
Y'all never use it?
UNCLE ELROY
Never...
(humping the air)
But me and Suga can get real nasty in
that Jacuzzi, though.
The Jacuzzi water has a purple condom floating in it. Uncle
Elroy reaches over and picks it out.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
(shaking the water off the
condom)
You welcome get in it anytime you want
to. Shit, you my brother's son.
CRAIG
That's okay, Unc. I can't swim, either.
UNCLE ELROY
Good.
EXT. CRACK HOUSE - MORNING
A run-down crack house sits alone in the middle of the block.
It looks deserted with chipped paint, overgrown grass and
security bars everywhere. Inside we can hear a FIGHT in
progress.
CRACK DEALER (O.S.)
Ezal, I'm sick of you coming around here
wit no money.
Suddenly the door flies open and Ezal comes flying out on his
ass.
EZAL
I be damned.
He gets up and brushes himself off. He heads back into the
crack house.
EZAL (cont'd)
Now look here, man. I'mma preferred
customer and I can take my credit card
somewhere else.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Ezal is roughed up some more and
flies through the picture window. GLASS rains down.
EZAL (cont'd)
Oh, my neck, oh, my back. Man, I quit!
I'm retired! Officially! Life shouldn't
be this hard for a crackhead!
Ezal lays there in pain. Out of nowhere, a bicycle comes
INTO FRAME. Ezal looks up at the rider. It's Debo.
DEBO
Where did Craig move to?
EZAL
I don't know, Debo.
Debo rolls on top of him with the front tire. Ezal is
smashed and in more pain.
DEBO
What you say?
EZAL
(hurting)
He moved out to Rancho Cucamonga with his
cousin Day-Day.
DEBO
Rancho Cucamonga?
EZAL
Yeah.
Debo thinks about it.
EZAL (cont'd)
I can't breathe.
He rolls off of Ezal. Relief.
DEBO
Get on.
EZAL
Man, we can't ride to Rancho Cucamonga on
that.
DEBO
Get on!
Ezal hops on the handlebars quick. They start to ride off.
EZAL
Just don't go over the curb.
Debo rides over the curb and into the street. The journey
begins.
EZAL (cont'd)
Watch my balls!
INT. DAY-DAY'S ROOM - MORNING
Day-Day's room is junky. Clothes are everywhere. He's
putting on his Pinky's Records and Disc T-shirt. Craig comes
in.
CRAIG
You straight?
DAY-DAY
Yeah, I'm alright. Is my face still
orange to you?
Day-Day's face looks sunburned.
CRAIG
Just a little.
DAY-DAY
I can't taste nothing.
CRAIG
What's the matter with your girlfriend?
DAY-DAY
Man, it's a long story. I met D'Wana
three months ago. She had a little pudge
in her stomach but I didn't pay it no
attention. Come to find out, she six
months pregnant. Saying I'm the daddy!
CRAIG
What?
DAY-DAY
Yeah, I broke up with her two Fridays ago
and she's been harassing me ever since.
She don't care about the restraining
order or nothing.
CRAIG
Restraining order? Where the hell you
meet this girl?
DAY-DAY
I went back to Watts to sell my old car
and met her on the way. Worst day of my
life.
CRAIG
Damn, you got a stalker.
DAY-DAY
That ain't the worst part. Her little
sister, Baby D. She's the one that gets
real physical. But I got a restraining
order on her, too.
CRAIG
You got a restraining order on a little
girl named Baby D?
DAY-DAY
(very serious)
You don't know Baby D.
He looks at his watch.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
I gotta get to Pinky's before I get fired
like you.
Day-Day exits. Craig is close behind.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
As they walk out the front door, someone catches Craig's eye.
It's KARLA (23), the Joker brothers' fine sister. She's
leaning against the lowrider, looking into her purse. She
waves at them.
KARLA
(friendly)
Hi!
Craig and Day-Day are mesmerized.
BOTH
(waving back)
HEY!
Craig and Karla's eyes meet. She smiles.
CRAIG
Who is that?
DAY-DAY
That's the sister.
CRAIG
Yo know what? I'm starting to like
Rancho Cucamonga.
DAY-DAY
I know what 'cha thinking. I thought the
same thing. But it can't happen.
CRAIG
Why?
DAY-DAY
Because, it's been a little tension
between us ever since they got out the
joint and ran their momma crazy. And I'm
just trying to keep the peace. We moved
out here to get away from that shit.
Day-Day walks over to his Beamer. Craig follows.
CLOSE-UP
Big scratch on the side of Day-Day's car.
WIDER
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
It ain't that bad, is it?
Craig is still looking at Karla.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Craig! It ain't that bad, is it?
CRAIG
Yeah, it's bad. And that scratch make it
ugly.
Day-Day is starting to get mad.
CRAIG (cont'd)
It's long and crooked...make you not
wanna even drive it.
DAY-DAY
Alright, alright... I see what you
talking about.
Karla looks at her watch and starts to walk up the street.
This is Craig's chance.
CRAIG
Hold up, Day-Day.
He trots after her.
DAY-DAY
Let it go.
Karla is still walking.
CRAIG
Hey! Hey!
She stops and waits for him.
CRAIG (cont'd)
I'm Day-Day's cousin, Craig. What's your
name?
KARLA
Karla.
CRAIG
Craig and Karla, damn that sound pretty
good together. Where you going?
KARLA
To the Cucamonga shopping center.
CRAIG
Oh yeah, why you walking?
KARLA
My brothers won't give me a ride.
Day-Day is about to have a heart attack. He's looking back
and forth between Craig and Karla, and the Joker's house
where somebody is looking out the window.
DAY-DAY
(to himself)
Just get the number and come on. Just
get the number and come on.
Back at the "Love Connection," Craig has Karla smiling.
CRAIG
You want us to give you a ride?
KARLA
I don't know.
CRAIG
What you mean, you don't know? Just wait
here.
Craig starts to trot over towards Day-Day. Day-Day is
frantically waving Craig to hurry.
CRAIG (cont'd)
What are you worried about?
Day-Day's eyes get as big as golf balls.
DAY-DAY
Cheeco!
Craig turns to see the pit bull "Cheeco" running right after
him.
KARLA
Cheeco, no!
Craig runs right towards Day-Day's BMW.
DAY-DAY
Oh shit, jump!
They both jump on top of Day-Day's BMW with CHEECO coming up
fast. He's BARKING viciously.
ACROSS STREET
Joker, Li'l Joker and Baby Joker are across the street
laughing. Karla is embarrassed.
ON BMW
Craig is breathing hard but he's calm, but Day-Day is
terrified.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Hey, Joker! Stop playing, man! Call the
dog back!
They continue to laugh. Craig pulls his belt off. He swings
it and hits Cheeco in the middle of his forehead with the
buckle. The DOG CRIES and runs back across the street.
The Jokers aren't laughing anymore. Joker stares at Craig.
Craig stares back. You can feel the tension. Joker kicks
the dog.
JOKER
Get yo dumb ass in the back.
CHEECO HOLLERS. Craig and Day-Day get off the top of the
BMW.
DAY-DAY
Look at my roof.
Big dents in the roof of his BMW.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Man, why you do that? I told you not to
talk to that girl.
CRAIG
Why not? She was cool with it.
Day-Day gets into the car.
DAY-DAY
So.
CRAIG
What you mean, so?
DAY-DAY
If you 'get into it' with them S.A.'s and
start a feud, you can always go back to
home. I gotta live here. Just remember
that.
He slams the door, starts the car and backs up. Leaving
Craig standing there. He sees Karla walking away. He looks
over at the Jokers. They're still staring hard. Craig just
looks away and walks into the house.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Craig steps into the house.
UNCLE ELROY
Nephew, you got perfect timing...
Uncle Elroy is sitting on the couch. He has a Phillies'
Blunt (cigar) in one hand, a razor blade in the other.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
We about to start a little puff, puff
give in this mothafucka. Are you down?
Suga is sippin' on a glass of wine. She moves over, making
room in the middle.
SUGA
(patting the couch)
Come on, Craig. Sit down right here.
Craig does. Suga moves closer, boxing him in nice and tight.
Uncle Elroy licks the cigar.
UNCLE ELROY
I know you smoke weed, right?
CRAIG
Why you say that?
UNCLE ELROY
'Cause your lips is getting black.
Uncle Elroy takes the razor and starts to cut the cigar the
long way.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
All I smoke is blunts. Them fuckin'
Zigzags don't do nothing for me.
Uncle Elroy scrapes the cigar shavings into a nearby trash
can (that's overflowing with cigar shavings already). Suga
presses against Craig.
SUGA
Would you like a glass of wine, baby?
CRAIG
No thank you. It's too early.
Uncle Elroy stuffs the open cigar full of weed. He's
concentrating.
UNCLE ELROY
Boy, I can roll a blunt better than them
bitches in Havana. I know Willie don't
let'cha smoke in the house, but I'm ya
uncle. I don't care how high you get in
my house. Long as you let me hit it...
He licks and rolls.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Look at that.
It's perfect.
SUGA
Fire it up, Roy.
Uncle Elroy grabs the lighter.
UNCLE ELROY
Now I'mma show you the real "Puff Daddy."
He lights the blunt. Craig's watching, so is Suga. Uncle
Elroy holds the smoke in for a very long time. Maybe too
long...'cause his eyes start to bulge, and he starts to toke
(cough with your mouth closed). And toke. And toke. And
toke. It looks like he's about to bust when he lets out a
big puff of smoke. Then he starts to cough, and cough, and
cough out of control.
Craig and Suga are amazed at this display. Uncle Elroy falls
to the floor on his hands and knees. Still coughing. He
falls on his back and passes the blunt to Craig.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
(still coughing)
It's the Bombay.
Craig takes the blunt and puts it up to his lips. He hits
it, holds it in and looks at Suga. Suddenly, his eyes bulge
out and he starts to toke, and toke, and toke, and toke. He
starts to cough out of control and he falls next to Uncle
Elroy who's still coughing. Craig passes the blunt to Suga,
who looks at it for a moment and then looks directly INTO the
CAMERA. (As if to say, "Shiiiiiiiiiiiit.").
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - 15 MINUTES LATER
All three are passed out on the couch. Uncle Elroy is
snoring with a little slobber hanging. Craig's knocked out
with his mouth open. Suga's head is not secure and she's
starting to bob. She bobs so hard that her head falls in
Craig's lap. He wakes up and looks down.
CRAIG
Suga.
He looks over at Uncle Elroy who's looking over at him.
UNCLE ELROY
Negro, what the hell you doing to my
woman?
CRAIG
(confused and dazed)
I don't know!
UNCLE ELROY
Suga!
SUGA
(face in lap)
Huh?
UNCLE ELROY
What you doing to my nephew?
SUGA
(lifting her head)
Ah, baby...I thought this was you.
(to Craig)
Craig, what are you doing to me?
CRAIG
I don't know, I think I passed out or
something. I don't remember.
UNCLE ELROY
Passed out? Can't hang, huh? Boy, I
knew you was a lightweight. Passed out
on one funky ass blunt. They don't make
'em like they used to, baby.
Uncle Elroy staggers to his feet.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Come on, woman. I'm faded and feeling X-
rated. It's Mr. Nasty time.
SUGA
Mr. Nasty time?
UNCLE ELROY
Mr. Nasty time.
(grabbing his back)
But take it easy on me, girl.
SUGA
Craig, you ain't the only lightweight
around here.
Suga takes Elroy's hand.
UNCLE ELROY
Make yourself at home.
They both stumble upstairs leaving Craig all alone. It's too
quiet now. He grabs the remote and TURNS ON the TV. Flicks
a few channels. He picks up the blunt and the lighter.
ON TV
A public service announcement from King/Drew Rehab Center.
It's SMOKEY!
SMOKEY (V.O.)
Hi, my name is Smokey. And I'm a bud-
head. But here at the King/Drew Rehab
Center, they help you curve your crave
for marijuana but still let you get your
drank on.
He lifts a 22 oz. bottle of Olde English.
SMOKEY (cont'd) (V.O.)
It's too hard to stop everything all at
once. So some days they let you smoke,
but not drank. And other days you can
drank, but not smoke. And if you're
really making progress, the nurses will
get fucked up wit you. Helping you kick
the habit by smoking up all yo shit. So
come down to the King/Drew Rehab Center
and put down the joint, but B.Y.O.B.,
man!
BACK ON COUCH
Craig is high. He's looking at the TV with a slight smile on
his face. It seems like the walls are shaking. He looks
over at Suga's glass and her wine is vibrating, like Jurassic
Park. Plaster falls from the ceiling. He listens, it's
Uncle Elroy and Suga making love.
UNCLE ELROY (O.S.)
Oh, baby, right there. Right
there...bite the nipple, baby. Bite it!
Bite it! Yeah, mothafucka -- yeah, come
on, baby, get busy...
His eavesdropping is interrupted by a loud KNOCK on the door.
Craig is so comfortable, he doesn't want to move. The
KNOCKING gets LOUDER.
DELIVERY GUY (O.S.)
Delivery!
CRAIG
Hold on.
Craig gets up slowly and starts to clean the area. The
KNOCKING CONTINUES.
DELIVERY GUY (O.S.)
Delivery!
CRAIG
I said hold on!
DELIVERY GUY (O.S.)
Could you hurry up, please... it's kinda
hot out here.
Craig stops what he's doing and swings the door open.
ON PORCH
The DELIVERY GUY, a thirtysomething asshole with tight shorts
and a buzz cut, is looking into the house.
CRAIG
Can I help you?
DELIVERY GUY
Nice house. Didn't expect you to answer.
You must be one of those entertainers.
What team you play for?
CRAIG
I don't play for no team.
DELIVERY GUY
Come on, jerky, you can tell me. Got a
white wife, huh? Blonde bombshell type.
Remember what happen to O.J... what team
do you play for? You're not related to
the Jacksons, are you?
CRAIG
(in his face)
Naw, I play for the Chocamunga Cracker
Killers. You want tickets?
DELIVERY GUY
Okay, buddy. Don't send your entourage
out here to do a 187 on me. It's just a
certified mail delivery.
He hands Craig a letter.
DELIVERY GUY (cont'd)
Sign here.
Craig signs.
CRAIG
What is it?
DELIVERY GUY
Delinquent Property Tax Notice... I hope
the Cracker Killers pay well 'cause if
not, back to the ghetto you go. Wife
stays here, of course.
He laughs and walks off singing the "Good Times" jingle.
DELIVERY GUY (cont'd)
'...temporary layoffs? Good
Times...hustling and surviving... Good
Times...ain't we lucky we got'em...' Oh
shit!
Cheeco starts to chase him down the street. Craig looks at
the notice. "DELINQUENT! YOUR HOUSE WILL BE SEIZED AND
AUCTIONED -- TOMORROW AT 9AM PAY TODAY!"
CRAIG
Oh damn.
He SLAMS the DOOR. We FOLLOW Craig upstairs TO Uncle Elroy's
room. He knocks softly.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Uncle Elroy?
No answer.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Uncle Elroy, you got a tax notice.
Still no answer. He turns the knob. It's open.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Craig steps into Uncle Elroy's freak palace. Black lights,
candles, velvet posters - the works. There's even a leather
fuck swing hanging from the ceiling. Uncle Elroy and Suga
are asleep in a leopard-skin waterbed. Craig is amazed. He
slowly walks over to the bed. Uncle Elroy is calling the
hogs. Snoring.
CRAIG
(whispering)
Uncle Elroy...Uncle Elroy?
He's about to shake him when Uncle Elroy lets out a big
grunt. It startles Craig. He looks over at Suga. She's
completely under the covers. Uncle Elroy rolls over on his
stomach, then he rolls on his back again. Craig shakes him.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Uncle Elroy, wake up. You got a letter
today.
No response. Craig tries again.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Unc.
Uncle Elroy jumps up like a hibernating grizzly.
UNCLE ELROY
(half asleep)
Come on here, Suga...
He goes after Craig, who has to fight him off.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
I like it rough now.
CRAIG
Naw, naw! Unc, wake up! It's me! Wake
up!
Uncle Elroy grabs him in a bear hug and slams him on the bed.
Craig finds himself caught between Suga and Uncle Elroy, but
now everything is totally still and quiet. Uncle Elroy
starts to snore again. He's asleep. The coast is clear now.
Craig tries to make his escape. He crawls over Suga to get
away. She grabs him and starts to kiss him.
SUGA
(half asleep)
Ohhh, baby!
Craig breaks away and tries to hurry out the room. On his
exit, he hangs himself on the "fuck swing" and hits the floor
with a thud. He scrambles to his feet, then he's out of
there. Uncle Elroy and Suga lay asleep as if nothing ever
happened.
IN HALLWAY
Craig tries to gain his composure. He gets an idea.
EXT. BUSY CITY STREET - AFTERNOON
Debo is riding Ezal on the handlebars.
EZAL
We gotta stop or something, man. My ass
is hurting. This handlebar is hard.
Debo keeps riding.
EZAL (cont'd)
Debo! Debo! Now you stuck on stupid.
He finally stops at a pay phone. Ezal jumps off and grabs
his ass.
EZAL (cont'd)
My God...gotta walk it out, walk it out.
Man, it's gonna take us a week to ride
out there.
DEBO
Shut up! He still eats here every day!
EXT. SANDWICH JOINT - ACROSS STREET - CONTINUOUS
Mr. Jones' dog truck sits in front.
DEBO
Here's the plan. You gonna call over
there and say you have a very urgent
message for Mr. William Jones.
EZAL
What urgent message?
DEBO
If you shut up I'll tell you. The urgent
message is...Drop everything! Craig is
in trouble. Come quick, don't call.
EZAL
That ain't gonna work.
Debo slaps him in the back of the head.
DEBO
Just do it.
EZAL
I don't know the number.
Smack! Debo slaps him again.
DEBO
It's on the outside of the building, now
pick the phone up!
Ezal picks up the phone. He starts to dial.
EZAL
Hello...Yeah, I got an urgent message for
a nigga named Mr. Willie Jones.
Debo slaps him again.
DEBO
William.
EZAL
Yeah, I got a urgent message for a
customer named William Jones. Drop
everything, Craig is in trouble. Come
quick. Don't try to call.
Ezal hangs up the phone.
EZAL (cont'd)
Man, you better stop hittin' on me for I
do you like Craig did you.
DEBO
Let's go.
Debo and Ezal run across the street to the dog truck. Debo
opens the back and lets all the dogs out. They run for it.
DEBO (cont'd)
After I get in, close the door.
Debo is a hard fit. Ezal stuffs him in there.
EZAL
You too big.
DEBO
Keep pushing.
Finally he's in. Ezal gets in and slams the door shut. Just
then, Mr. Jones comes running out the joint with a sandwich
in hand.
MR. JONES
Oh my God!
He gets in and speeds off.
EXT. CUCAMONGA SHOPPING CENTER - AFTERNOON
Cars pull in and out of this 12 store strip mall where
Pinky's is located.
INT. PINKY'S RECORDS AND DISC - AFTERNOON
Everything is pink inside this mom and pop record store. The
latest RAP HIT PLAYS in the B.G. A few people exit the store
with bags.
Day-Day is scanning inventory. A bud-head by the name of
ROACH is on top of the counter with his skateboard.
ROACH
Yo, Day-Day! Check me out.
He tries to jump off the counter and land perfectly on his
board. Wrong! Off the board and on his ass.
DAY-DAY
Look, Roach, I know you ain't never
worked in a record shop before and you're
a little excited. But if Pinky catches
you doing that X-Games shit off his
counter top, we both getting fired. You
feel me?
ROACH
I feel you. I've just been practicing
that one move all week.
(disappointed)
I thought that was it.
An unhappy CUSTOMER walks in holding a CD without the cover.
CUSTOMER #1
I can't get jiggy with this shit.
(getting loud)
Where is the damn manager?
DAY-DAY
Sir, the manager stepped out for a
moment. I'm currently running the store.
Can I see the CD?
The customer throws the CD on the counter. Day-Day picks it
up.
CUSTOMER #1
No, give me my damn money back. Right
now, and I don't have no damn receipt
neither.
DAY-DAY
Okay, sir...but where's the cover?
CUSTOMER #1
I don't have no damn cover.
Craig walks in with the notice in hand.
DAY-DAY
I can't give you your damn money back on
this.
CUSTOMER #1
Bullshit! I'll go postal in this
mothafucka!
DAY-DAY
Well, you gonna have to go postal then.
The customer KNOCKS over a counter display and then turns to
get away.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Hey!
Craig bumps him and he falls into the Rap cassette rack.
CUSTOMER #1
I'm sorry! Don't hit me! Don't hit me.
He jumps up and slips on a few more cassettes on his scramble
out the door.
DAY-DAY
...and if you come back, it's gonna be
worse.
Roach can't believe what just happened.
ROACH
Did you see that? That was a W.W.F. hit
right there, huh, Day-Day?
DAY-DAY
Yeah, it was. How you get up here?
CRAIG
I walked.
DAY-DAY
You walked?
CRAIG
Yeah, ya'll got a notice today. It came
certified mail.
He gives it to Day-Day.
DAY-DAY
Craig, this Roach. Roach, this is my
cousin, Craig.
ROACH
What up, bro?
Craig nods his head.
CRAIG
I tried to wake up Uncle Elroy but he
thought I was Suga.
Day-Day reads the notice.
DAY-DAY
You know what this is?
CRAIG
Yeah, that's why I walked down here.
ROACH
What it say?
Day-Day ignores Roach.
DAY-DAY
How can they do this?
CRAIG
I don't know. Did ya'll forget to pay it
or something?
ROACH
What it say?
DAY-DAY
Ever since my momma died the bills are
always late.
CRAIG
See how much it is?
Day-Day opens it. A PHONE starts to RING.
ROACH
What is it?
DAY-DAY
Don't worry about it, man. Get the
phone.
Roach skateboards over to the phone.
ROACH
Pinky's.
Day-Day reads on.
DAY-DAY
It says we owe $3,900...by tomorrow.
CRAIG
Damn...how much money ya'll got left from
the lottery?
Day-Day goes for his bank book. He flips a few pages.
DAY-DAY
$247.
CRAIG
Okay, plan B.
Day-Day is overwhelmed. Roach skates back over.
ROACH
That was a girl on a cell phone. She
said she's outside in the parking lot
waiting for you to take her to lunch.
Day-Day looks at Craig. He runs over to the door.
OUTSIDE IN THE PARKING LOT
D'Wana sits in her car with her play sister BABY'D (her name
does not fit her body).
DAY-DAY
Oh my God. That's D'Wana. And she got
Baby'D with her.
Day-Day locks the door and runs into the back. Craig and
Roach follow.
CRAIG
What's the matter?
DAY-DAY
D'Wana brought Baby'D up here.
ROACH
That the big one, huh?
DAY-DAY
You damn right that's the big one.
The PHONE starts to RING again. D'Wana and Baby'D are at the
door. D'Wana is on her phone. Baby'D starts to knock.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
Craig, go out there and tell 'em I'm
gone.
CRAIG
I ain't trying to get in it.
DAY-DAY
You already in.
The knocking gets louder.
CRAIG
No I'm not.
ROACH
I'll do it.
DAY-DAY
No. You can't handle a girl like D'Wana.
It's got to be Craig.
AT FRONT DOOR
They observe the "Yes We're Open" sign.
D'WANA
That white boy said he was in there.
BABY'D
Day-Day, don't make me break this window!
Craig is peeking out. He hesitates.
DAY-DAY
Watch out for Baby'D.
Craig walks out the back. He steps over the door. Unlocks
it, and cracks it open.
CRAIG
Day-Day ain't here.
They don't believe him.
D'WANA
Who are you?
CRAIG
I'm his cousin.
BABY'D
You suppose to work here now or
something?
CRAIG
Yeah, I work here now.
D'WANA
We didn't come here for Day-Day.
CRAIG
Yes you did.
D'WANA
No we didn't. We came to buy a CD.
BABY'D
Now move.
Baby'D kicks the door. Craig has no choice but to let 'em
in.
D'WANA
Where's that boy that told me Day-Day was
here?
CRAIG
I don't know... I think he went out the
back.
D'WANA
Can I look for myself?
Suddenly Roach is pushed into the front area.
ROACH
Hey, ladies.
D'WANA
Where's Day-Day?
ROACH
I don't know, he must've left.
D'Wana looks at Baby'D.
CRAIG
I thought ya'll wanted to buy a CD?
BABY'D
I do... can you help me find the jazz
section?
Craig looks at Roach for directions. He nods over towards
the front of the store.
CRAIG
Right this way. You know damn well you
don't listen to no jazz.
Baby'D checks out Craig as he leads the way. D'Wana looks
around.
D'WANA
If Day-Day comes back, tell him I came by
and need to see him. Lamaze classes are
Wednesday.
ROACH
Will do.
D'Wana starts to walk towards Craig and Baby'D.
D'WANA
Come on, 'D, let's go.
But first she doubles back towards the storage room.
CRAIG
Where you going?
D'WANA
Ain't the rest room this way? I gotta
pee.
ROACH
Yeah.
D'WANA
Thank you.
As she's walking in the back, Roach realizes his mistake.
BACK STORAGE AREA
DAY-DAY
Shit.
Day-Day makes a run for it. She spots him ducking out the
back door.
D'WANA
He's in there!
INSIDE STORE
Baby'D knocks Craig out of the way.
BABY'D
Where is he?
D'WANA
He ran out the door.
Baby'D gives chase with D'Wana, Craig and Roach close behind.
EXT. PINKY'S RECORDS AND DISC - CONTINUOUS
Day-Day runs around the side of Pinky's Records store. He
stops to see if anyone is coming. It's Baby'D with the three
others trailing. Baby'D is chasing Day-Day all through the
parking lot. Craig, D'Wana and Roach stop to watch.
ROACH
Haul ass, dude. Don't stop.
...and he is.
CRAIG
You better stop running from that girl.
DAY-DAY
Fuuuuuuck -- U!
He runs back towards his BMW. The chase continues around his
car. Baby'D is starting to tire.
DAY-DAY (cont'd)
I'mma shoot yo' big ass.
D'Wana watches from a distance. Craig and Roach are close.
ROACH
(smiling)
She moves well for a big girl.
Just then, out of nowhere, Karla appears behind them carrying
a couple of bags. She taps Craig on his shoulder. He turns
around.
KARLA
Hello, remember me?
CRAIG
Hell yeah, I remember you.
KARLA
I'm sorry for what my brother did this
morning. They're assholes.
CRAIG
It's cool. You ain't got to apologize
for your brothers. They're big boys.
KARLA
I just wanted to give you this.
She hands him a card with her number on it.
KARLA (cont'd)
If my brothers wasn't so over-protective,
I'd have you call the house. But for now
just page me when you get a chance.
CRAIG
Most definitely.
KARLA
Better sooner than later.
She picks up her shopping bags and walks away. Over at the
chase: Baby'D is winded. She bends over trying to catch her
breath.
DAY-DAY
Baby'D, you're not going to catch me as
usual. So what can we do to end it this
time? What you want? Another Big Pun
CD? 'Cause I gotta get back to work.
Baby'D looks over at Craig.
BABY'D
Okay, I know what I want this time.
DAY-DAY
Anything you need.
BABY'D
Yo' cousin, Craig. Hook us up.
DAY-DAY
That's it?
BABY'D
Just tell him to come over here and talk
to me.
DAY-DAY
And I can go free?
BABY'D
Go, fo' I change my mind.
Day-Day carefully walks back over towards the store. D'Wana
pouts and walks towards Baby'D. (If looks could kill.)
ROACH
Great moves, Day-Day.
CRAIG
What happen?
DAY-DAY
We worked out a deal. All you gotta do
is go over there and talk to Baby'D.
Craig looks over at Baby'D. She's waiting.
CRAIG
What you mean talk to her?
ROACH
(still smiling)
You know what he mean, dude.
CRAIG
I'm gone.
Craig turns and sprints into the store. Baby'D looks
concerned. Day-Day grabs Roach and they run into the store.
BABY'D
I'mma get you, Day-Day! You gotta come
out sometimes!
D'Wana hands her a brick.
D'WANA
I told you.
Baby'D screams and throws the brick through Day-Day's
WINDSHIELD.
INT. PINKY'S RECORDS AND DISC - CONTINUOUS
DAY-DAY
What was that?
ROACH
(looking out window)
You don't wanna know.
Day-Day is devastated.
DAY-DAY
Thanks a lot, Craig.
CRAIG
I know we cousins and all, but don't try
an' hook me up with the big little
sisters.
DAY-DAY
Big bitches need love, too, Craig.
ROACH
For sure. That's how I like 'em.
CRAIG
Not me.
DAY-DAY
Are they still out there?
ROACH
Negative...they vamped.
Day-Day starts to walk into the back storage area.
ROACH (cont'd)
Shouldn't we straighten up out here
before Pinky gets back?
Day-Day is like a zombie now. He doesn't answer, just keeps
walking.
CRAIG
Day-Day?
No answer. Craig looks at Roach. They follow.
BACK STORAGE AREA
Day-Day sits with the notice in hand.
DAY-DAY
Today ain't my day.
ROACH
Bummer, huh? And Friday is suppose to be
a kick-ass day.
CRAIG
Yeah it is...the best day before the
weekend.
ROACH
That's fuckin' poetic, Craig.
Day-Day is still sad.
ROACH (cont'd)
I know how you feeling. And if I had my
bong right now, I'd let you 'toke 'til
you choke.' Dude, right here. All out.
No lungs. All I got is this.
Roach pulls out a big, smashed brownie with green shit in it.
CRAIG
What's the green stuff poking out?
ROACH
That's cron-don, sir. My mom hates for
me to smoke, so she made me bud-brownies.
Wanna bite?
CRAIG
Naw, I already ate.
ROACH
Come on, Day, try it. For moms.
Day-Day shakes his head. Craig reaches into his fifth
pocket.
CRAIG
It ain't a bong but, wa-la!
He has the joint from this morning.
ROACH
Wo!
Roach snatches it.
CRAIG
Hey.
Craig snatches it back.
ROACH
Sorry, bro, reflexes. How did you do
that?
CRAIG
Black magic.
Day-Day snatches the joint and puts it in his mouth.
DAY-DAY
Give me dat. I'm the one with the
problem.
Roach pulls out a mini-skateboard that's actually a lighter.
ROACH
Weed doesn't solve problems. It eases
the mind, and the soul. Enjoy.
He lights the joint. Day-Day takes a hit.
CRAIG
I didn't think you smoked bud that much.
DAY-DAY
(letting out the smoke)
I don't.
ROACH
(taking the joint)
I do.
DAY-DAY
Damn nigga, don't Jack the joint. I
didn't even pass it.
ROACH
(hitting it good)
Sorry, dude.
CRAIG
You better open up a window or something
before the smell gets out.
DAY-DAY
Ain't no windows in here.
ROACH
I got an idea.
He hands the joint to Craig. Gets up and closes the door.
Then he grabs the vacuum out of the corner.
ROACH (cont'd)
This is a little theory of mine... it
should work.
He plugs in the VACUUM and TURNS it ON. He puts the nozzle
in Day-Day's face.
DAY-DAY
Blow.
CRAIG
That ain't gonna work.
ROACH
Fuck yeah.
Day-Day hits the 'J and blows into the nozzle. It quickly
sucks up the smoke.
DAY-DAY
(passing the 'J)
It works.
CRAIG
Still gonna smell it.
ROACH
No way. Watch this.
Roach hits the joint harder than anyone else. Smoke starts
to come out of his ears. Craig and Day-Day get a kick out of
that.
EXT. PINKY'S RECORDS AND DISC - CONTINUOUS
A pink limo pulls to a stop. The chauffeur gets out wearing
his suit just a little too tight. He opens the door and a
pair of pink boots hit the pavement. The CAMERA PANS UP TO
PINKY (35), the asshole owner.
PINKY
Look, man, you hittin' them goddamn
corners too fast. Slow down. I almost
spilled my Hennessy on this 300 dollar
suit.
He walks over to the door. He thinks it's open. It's not.
PINKY (cont'd)
I be damn.
He shakes the door. It's locked. He looks inside. No one's
at the counter. Cassettes all over the floor. Pinky looks
around making sure no one sneaks up on him. He reaches under
his shirt and pulls out a Glock 9mm. Sticks his key in the
door and steps in.
BACK STORE AREA - CLOSE UP - ROACH
is upside down. All the blood has rushed to his head. He
has Chinaman eyes and a big smile on his face.
DAY-DAY
Roach, what are you doing?
ROACH
R-U-S-H Intensely.
A big cloud of smoke rolls out of his mouth and he falls and
hits the deck.
ROACH (cont'd)
My spleen.
Craig and Day-Day laugh at Roach. The VACUUM is still GOING
but the room is very smoky. Craig jumps in.
CRAIG
(unplugging the vacuum)
This vacuum don't work. Where's the
restroom?
DAY-DAY
Out the door and to the left.
ROACH
I thought the vacuum would work.
IN HALLWAY
Craig makes a left and grabs the knob. He feels something
pressing on the back of his head (gun).
PINKY
(whispering)
Don't move or I'll blow your head smooth
off.
Craig throws his hands up.
PINKY (cont'd)
Now back up slowly... and don't say a
word.
He obeys. Pinky backs Craig into the store.
PINKY (cont'd)
Get on the floor.
Craig gets down.
PINKY (cont'd)
Little mothafucka trying to rob me.
I'mma show you how I do 'em.
CRAIG
I ain't trying to rob you...
PINKY
Shut up! Fo' I pump this Glock in yo'
ass! What did you do wit Day-Day and
Roach?
CRAIG
Man, Day-Day is my people!
PINKY
I said shut up! Now who sent you?
CRAIG
Nobody!
PINKY
If you say another word, it's over. I'm
not playing!
Pinky starts to pat down Craig's pockets.
PINKY (cont'd)
You ain't got no gun, but where's the
weed at? I smell it.
Craig says nothing.
PINKY (cont'd)
I'mma tie you ass up!
Pinky backs up and steps on Roach's skateboard. The gun goes
flying and so does he. Pinky falls on his ass. The 9mm
lands in front of Craig. There's a big scramble for the gun.
BACK STORAGE AREA
The mood is serious.
DAY-DAY
I gotta think of a plan to get this money
before tomorrow.
ROACH
You could sell your Beamer.
Day-Day gives Roach the evil-eye.
ROACH (cont'd)
My bad.
DAY-DAY
I don't know. I hope Craig got a good
idea. We gotta ask him when he comes
out. Let's go and clean up before Pinky
gets here.
ROACH
Maybe you can ask him to loan you the
money.
DAY-DAY
Yoooo, that's it. You ain't as dumb as I
think you are, Roach.
ROACH
I know.
BACK INSIDE STORE
Pinky and Craig are still scrambling for the gun. The store
looks like a tornado hit it. Twice. Craig comes up with the
pistol. Pinky jumps on the ground.
PINKY
Don't kill me.
Craig is exhausted. He stands over Pinky with the gun.
CRAIG
Shut up. I been trying to tell yo' ass
that... Day-Day is my cousin. They're
right there in the back.
PINKY
Whatever you say, man. I didn't see
shit. The safe combination is 34-5-27.
Just take it all.
Just then, Day-Day and Roach come from the back.
DAY-DAY
Craig, what the hell are you doing?
CRAIG
Nothing.
PINKY
Day-Day, is this your cousin?
DAY-DAY
Yeah.
PINKY
Good. You fired...and, Roach, your fired
too.
ROACH
Why me?
PINKY
I smell weed.
He looks up at Craig.
PINKY (cont'd)
And you...you lucky. I was just about to
get in yo' ass. Now give me my pistol
back and get the hell out my store.
Craig looks at Day-Day. Day-Day looks back at him. Nobody's
high now.
EXT. FREEWAY - MONTAGE SEQUENCE - AFTERNOON
Mr. Jones' dog truck is weaving in and out of traffic.
INT. TRUCK - MONTAGE SEQUENCE - CONTINUOUS
Mr. Jones is driving and eating at the same time. He
finishes off the last few bites of his sandwich.
MR. JONES
Just hold on, Craig. I'm on my way.
INT. BACK OF TRUCK - MONTAGE SEQUENCE
Debo and Ezal are smashed inside the dog cages.
EZAL
Debo! Debo!
DEBO
What?
EZAL
I can't feel my legs no more.
DEBO
Me neither. How far is Rancho Cucamonga?
EZAL
I don't know.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S STREET - MONTAGE SEQUENCE
The Beamer pulls into the driveway. Our trio get out with
very long faces.
CRAIG (V.O.)
In a strange way, I feel responsible for
Day-Day getting fired. If I wouldn't
have fought Pinky, and gave Day-Day the
joint, he'd still have a job.
Day-Day walks into the house while Craig and Roach stay out
on the porch.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - UPSTAIRS - MONTAGE SEQUENCE
Uncle Elroy opens his bedroom door wearing a S&M mask and
holding a tube of KY jelly. He removes the mask. Day-Day
hands him the notice. Uncle Elroy takes it with his greasy
hands.
UNCLE ELROY
Ah damn. Damn.
DAY-DAY
I got fired too.
UNCLE ELROY
What?!
He starts to beat Day-Day with a sex toy.
EXT. FREEWAY - MONTAGE SEQUENCE - AFTERNOON
The dog truck exits the freeway. He pulls into a gas station
by the freeway. He stops near the restrooms and jumps out,
air freshner in hand. When he gets to the door, it's locked.
MR. JONES
Damn.
He knocks.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
Say, man, hurry up. We got an emergency
out here.
No answer. Mr. Jones paces nervously.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
I knew I shouldn't have ordered that
extra hot sauce.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S PORCH - MONTAGE SEQUENCE - LATE AFTERNOON
Craig and Day-Day are trying to think. Roach is practicing
skateboard moves. He's not very good.
DAY-DAY
Man, sit down.
EXT. GAS STATION RESTROOM - MONTAGE SEQUENCE
He knocks again.
MR. JONES
Say, man, what the hell you doing in
there? Open the door.
Just then the door opens and out walks MICHAEL JORDAN.
MICHAEL JORDAN
Don't nobody go in the bathroom for about
35, 40 minutes.
Mr. Jones is stunned.
MR. JONES
Hey, you that boy?
Jordan jumps in his car and he's gone. Mr. Jones is happy
he's just seen Michael Jordan.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
(smiling)
Ain't that something, Michael Jordan.
He walks in the bathroom.
INSIDE
Reality hits, it stinks up in there. Mr. Jones fronds.
MR. JONES (cont'd)
Oh, Michael, that boy better check his
drawls.
He starts to spray.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S PORCH - MONTAGE SEQUENCE - LATE AFTERNOON
Craig, Day-Day and Roach are sitting on the porch thinking.
DAY-DAY
What we gonna do?
CRAIG
I don't know yet.
ROACH
I know what I'mma do. Go home and face
the music. My dad is gonna kick my ass
for getting fired again.
He gets on his skateboard.
DAY-DAY
Alright, Roach, see you around.
CRAIG
Sorry about today, man.
ROACH
Yeah, me too. Later.
He attempts to jump off the porch with his board and lands
dead on his ass once again. His board continues to roll.
DAY-DAY
Man, sit down. I can't think with you
falling everywhere.
His board continues to roll into the street. At this same
time, Joker's low-rider rolls by and breaks his board in two.
Roach runs to pick up the pieces.
ROACH
My board!
The Joker Bros. back their low-rider into the driveway. They
have no sympathy. Cheeco (the pitbull) is in the back yard.
He's happy to see them.
They stroll into the house with three Mexican girls with
them. Joker spots our trio looking.
JOKER
What the fuck you looking at?
DAY-DAY
Nothing.
ROACH
You ran over my board!
JOKER
So what? It shouldn't have been in the
street.
They disappear into the house.
BACK ON PORCH
Craig has a twinkle in his eyes and Roach walks over, pissed.
ROACH
Who the fuck is that, Day-Day?
DAY-DAY
Let it go, Roach, trust me.
ROACH
I'm not letting nothing go. They killed
my board.
DAY-DAY
Let it go!
Craig is looking over at the Joker's house. Baby Joker walks
out the front door. He walks over to the rider and POPS the
TRUNK.
CRAIG
Wait. Check'em out.
Baby Joker pulls out a chrome hydraulic pump. He carries it
towards the house. Cheeco starts to hump his leg.
BABY JOKER
Get down.
Baby Joker drops the pump, something falls out. (We can't
see what it is.) Baby Joker quickly puts it back.
BACK ON PORCH
CRAIG
You see that?
DAY-DAY
I didn't see nothing.
ROACH
Me neither.
CRAIG
It's something in that hydraulic pump.
DAY-DAY
Yeah, air.
CRAIG
Naw. I bet'cha it's something better
than air.
DAY-DAY
How you know? It could be anything.
CRAIG
I don't know, and it could be anything.
But I just say we go take a look.
ROACH
I say we go over there and kick their
asses. I can take the little one.
DAY-DAY
Are you out your mind? I'm not messing
with them S.A.'s boy. You must be crazy.
CRAIG
Could be. Rather be crazy than homeless.
Now all we need is a big pack of baloney.
Day-Day and Roach look at each other.
BOTH
Baloney??
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - NIGHT
The private party is starting to heat up. Big Joker sits on
the couch with a PRETTY YOUNG GIRL on his lap. He's smoking
on a perfectly rolled cone joint. Li'l Joker dances with the
other girlfriend, as an OLD SCHOOL JAM PLAYS in the B.G. The
other senorita is pouring herself a drink.
Karla walks into the room.
KARLA
I thought you were taking me to see Mama?
JOKER
I'll take you later.
KARLA
When? After you get all drunk and
loaded?
JOKER
Hey! I said I'll take your fuckin' ass
later. Now get out of here. You're
scaring our company.
Karla storms out the room. Baby Joker walks in carrying the
chrome pump.
JOKER (cont'd)
Get up.
The Pretty Girl moves off Joker's lap.
JOKER (cont'd)
Take it in the room.
Baby Joker carries the pump in the bedroom. Joker is close
behind. He SLAMS the DOOR. The Girl dancing with Li'l Joker
gets too nosy.
GIRL #1
What was that?
LI'L JOKER
What was what?
GIRL #1
That silver thing.
LI'L JOKER
I didn't see no silver thing, and neither
did you.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S STREET - CONTINUOUS
Craig, Day-Day and Roach are sneaking across the street
towards Joker's house. Craig looks calm. Day-Day looks
nervous. Roach eats on a piece of baloney.
DAY-DAY
This ain't gonna work. I'm going back.
Day-Day tries to turn around. Craig grabs him.
CRAIG
It's about to work, just come on.
ROACH
(about to bite baloney)
What about the dog?
Craig slaps the baloney out of his hand.
CRAIG
That's what the baloney's for!
All three kneel down next to a parked car. Day-Day looks
sick.
DAY-DAY
Man, I don't think I can do this, Craig.
I got the B-G's.
CRAIG
What's the B-G's?
DAY-DAY
(holding his stomach)
The bubble guts. I'm so nervous it feels
like I'mma shit on myself.
ROACH
Try an' hold it, man. Squeeze your ass
cheeks together.
DAY-DAY
Butterflies, my ass. I'm about to go
home.
Craig grabs Day-Day again.
CRAIG
Look, Day-Day. If we don't go over there
and take a look, this might be the last
night you got a home. Now trust me.
Day-Day realizes that Craig is right. He takes a deep breath.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Now all we gotta do is find out where the
little one put that pump. Take it and
see what's in it.
DAY-DAY
You make it sound so easy.
CRAIG
It is easy. You know why? 'Cause they're
not expecting it.
Now, Roach, you gotta occupy Cheeco.
Long enough for me and Day-Day to take a
good look.
ROACH
Dude, dogs hate me. I don't know why.
Me and K-9's just don't get along.
CRAIG
Well get along with this one.
(pushing Roach)
Go ahead of us. Don't get seen and don't
let that mutt out of your sight.
ROACH
Fuck, what's his name?
CRAIG
Cheeco.
Roach crawls away on his hands and knees.
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Roach sneaks past Joker's lowrider. He slowly approaches the
fence. No sign of Cheeco. Roach opens the pack of baloney
and pulls out a slice.
ROACH
(nervous whisper)
Here, Cheeco. Chee-co, here boy. That's
a good boy.
It's pitch-black behind the fence, still no Cheeco.
PARKED CAR - SAME TIME
Craig makes a move.
CRAIG
Come on, he should have'em by now.
Day-Day follows.
DAY-DAY
Hurry up. He didn't have that much
baloney.
They sneak up to the side of the house. The MUSIC is
BLEEDING THROUGH the walls.
INSIDE HOUSE
Li'l Joker is dancing with all 3 girls. They're all getting
high and feeling good. One girl has come out of her blouse.
The others start to follow her lead.
LI'L JOKER
(yelling towards bedroom)
Hey, homes, you guys better hurry up!
I'mma get greedy.
BACK OUTSIDE
Craig and Day-Day are peeking through the window. Craig
moves on. Day-Day is still watching.
DAY-DAY
(to himself)
Look at those tig-ole-bitties
Craig snatches him from the window. They walk over to the
fence.
CRAIG
You go first.
DAY-DAY
Naw, you go first.
CRAIG
You go first.
DAY-DAY
No.
CRAIG
Day-Day, if you don't hop that fence
I'mma throw you over.
DAY-DAY
I ain't scared of you. We ain't little
no more.
Day-Day gets ready to fight.
CRAIG
What?
Craig jumps like he's going to hit him. Day-Day jumps back
and almost falls.
DAY-DAY
I hope to God that dog is happy.
CRAIG
Me too.
ROACH
...is having no luck. Cheeco is nowhere to be found. Roach
starts to sing.
ROACH
My baloney has a first name. It's C-h-e-
e-c-o.
We hear a MEAN GROWL out of the darkness. Roach continues.
ROACH (cont'd)
My baloney has a second name it just like
the first Cheeco.
GROWLING gets LOWDER.
ROACH (cont'd)
Ooooohhhh I love to eat it everyday if
you ask me what I'll say.
We can hear TINY FOOTSTEPS RUNNING at Roach.
ROACH (cont'd)
Cheeco's got to be the dumbest fuckin'
mutt in the whole wide U.S.A.
CHEECO is running at Roach full speed. He jumps on the fence
and starts to BARK with everything he's got. Roach drops the
baloney.
CRAIG AND DAY-DAY
...hear the DOG BARKING and freeze in their tracks. Day-Day
tries to run. Craig grabs him, again.
CRAIG
Wait.
DAY-DAY
(loud whisper)
Wait for what?
A LOT of BARKING. Nothing coming.
CRAIG
He's still over by Roach.
ROACH
...picks up the baloney and stuffs the whole pack into his
mouth. CHEECO is SILENCED. Roach is relieved.
INSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
The chrome pump is open and filled with money. Baby Joker's
pulling out the money while Joker sits on the bed counting
it. They stop when they hear CHEECO BARKING.
BABY JOKER
Want me to take a look?
JOKER
No, keep working.
In the mirror behind Joker, we see a stick slide through the
curtain. The curtain cracks just enough to see Craig's eye
looking in.
Just then, Li'l Joker bursts through the door with his shirt
off and two half-naked girls on his arms.
LI'L JOKER
Yo, man fuck that shit. Do it later.
It's Friday, time to party, SA.
JOKER
Close the door.
LI'L JOKER
Not until you come party with us, man.
Baby Joker looks at the girls, then at Joker.
JOKER
Alright, put it in that drawer.
Joker hands Baby Joker the money. He puts it away. They
start to exit the room.
OUTSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM WINDOW - CONTINUOUS
Craig is still looking. Day-Day is scared shitless. He's
looking for Cheeco.
DAY-DAY
(whispering)
What you see?
CRAIG
That pump was full of money. I saw where
they put it. Stay right here, I'mma
climb in and go get it.
DAY-DAY
Wait here? So Cheeco can bite my ass
off? Tell me where it is I'll do it.
CRAIG
No, man, just wait.
Craig climbs in the window. Day-Day holds his stomach.
DAY-DAY
I got the B-G's.
ROACH
... his meat supply is almost gone. He tries to think fast.
Cheeco starts to look for more meat. Roach grabs the smashed
brownie out of his pocket and throws it to Cheeco. He
swallows it in one big gulp. He's looking for more. There
is no more. Roach smiles. CHEECO GROWLS.
ROACH
Good boy. Nice dog.
CHEECO'S STILL GROWLING. Suddenly Cheeco falls back on his
butt and lets out a slight moan.
CHEECO'S POV
Cheeco is looking up at Roach. He's seeing double, even
triple. Cheeco lays down. It looks like he's faded.
ROACH
No lungs, baby. No lungs.
INSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Craig is in. The bedroom door is cracked. Craig walks over
and shuts the door gently. He locks it. Then he creeps over
to the dresser. He pulls out the pump and sets it on the
bed. He opens it, revealing all the bundled-up money packed
in. He starts to stuff it in his pockets.
OUTSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM WINDOW - CONTINUOUS
Day-Day is trying to keep his composure.
INT. DEN - CONTINUOUS
The SA brothers are having a good time. Joker is getting
nasty with one of the Girls. He pulls her by the hand.
GIRL #2
No.
JOKER
Fuck that.
Joker picks her up and carries her to the bedroom. She
screams. He laughs. He goes for the door. It's locked.
JOKER (cont'd)
Who locked this door?
Everybody looks confused.
JOKER (cont'd)
Who locked this fuckin' door?!
Joker starts to kick the door.
INSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Craig hurries to put the pump back. He's about to go for the
window when: BANG! There's a KICK on the door. All Craig
can do is go for another door on the other side of the room.
BANG! The door flies open and Craig is out there just in
time.
JOKER
I don't want no doors locked around here.
You hear me?
Joker walks in and hits the lights. He throws the girl on
the bed.
GIRL #2
Oh, poppy, I like it rough.
JOKER
(taking off shirt)
Good, 'cause that's how you gonna get it.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - STAIRWAY - CONTINUOUS
Baby Joker has his back turned when we see Craig sprint
behind him and up the stairs. Baby Joker turns around. He
thinks he saw something. He slowly starts to walk up the
stairs.
LI'L JOKER
Karla!
INT. KARLA'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Karla is in her room working out. Craig runs in. He's
shocked to see her. She doesn't see him, but he's frozen.
Then she turns around and he startles her.
KARLA
What are you doing?
Think fast, Craig.
CRAIG
Huh?
KARLA
What are you doing here?
CRAIG
I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but I
just had to come in here and show you I
ain't scared of yo' punk ass
brothers...and you wouldn't have be
scared of 'em neither if you had a man
like me in yo' life.
KARLA
What?? So you snuck in my room to tell
me that?
CRAIG
Yes I did. Excuse me.
Her door flies open. Smashing Craig behind it. It's Li'l
Joker.
LI'L JOKER
Who you talking to?
Craig looks nervous.
KARLA
Nobody.
LI'L JOKER
I heard a voice.
KARLA
No you didn't. Get out my room. Go back
down to your little girlfriends.
Karla pushes Li'l Joker out.
OUTSIDE JOKER'S BEDROOM WINDOW - CONTINUOUS
Day-Day is having a fit.
GIRL #2 (O.S.)
Shut the window.
JOKER (O.S.)
You shut the window.
She does.
DAY-DAY
Oh shit.
Day-Day takes off. He hops the fence in record speed.
CHEECO
...is laying on his back looking through the fence. He's
calm and cool now.
OTHER SIDE
Roach is on his back looking through the fence. He hits a
joint and blows the smoke into Cheeco's face.
ROACH
...like I was saying. A guy like me, and
a dog like you, don't need this bullshit.
We need to be in Maui renting jet ski to
fat funks in flower shirts. You feel me,
C?
Cheeco is passed out. Day-Day sneaks around the corner. He
whispers.
DAY-DAY
Roach...Roach, come on.
ROACH
Where's Craig?
DAY-DAY
He's inside the house?
ROACH
Why did he go in the house?
DAY-DAY
Don't worry about it. We gotta figure
out a way to get Craig out of there.
He's probably getting tied up now.
INT. KARLA'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Craig is sweating. Karla is standing in front of him.
KARLA
You did all this for me?
CRAIG
Most of it. I just hate to see you in
this situation.
KARLA
Thanks for noticing. It used ta be
peaceful before they got out. Took over
the house and caused my mother's nervous
breakdown.
CRAIG
Why didn't she put'em out?
KARLA
Easier said than done. We saved up to
get away from them, but they followed us.
CRAIG
I'm sorry to hear that.
Craig walks over to the window.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Can I get out this way?
Karla walks up behind him, looking very sexy.
KARLA
I thought you came up here to see me.
Craig turns around.
CRAIG
I did. Is that door locked?
KARLA
It's locked.
CRAIG
Make sure.
Karla turns around to check the door.
KARLA
You so nervous, I already locked this
door.
Craig drops a thick roll of money into her purse. She shakes
the knob.
KARLA (cont'd)
See. All locked.
She walks over to him. They're face-to-face.
KARLA (cont'd)
What's your hurry?
CRAIG
I got my cousin Day-Day waiting for me.
KARLA
(getting even closer)
So what? Let's make'em wait.
Craig looks AT the CAMERA.
CRAIG
I be damn.
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Day-Day and Roach are at Joker's front door.
DAY-DAY
You wanna knock?
ROACH
Go for it.
Day-Day knocks real soft. Too soft.
ROACH (cont'd)
No one's gonna hear that. The music's
playing.
DAY-DAY
'Scuse me, partner, but that's a ghetto
knock.
ROACH
This is a knock.
Roach starts to kick on the door with his foot. It's very
loud.
INT. DEN - CONTINUOUS
Joker storms in with the AK. Li'l Joker is in the corner
with his girl, and Baby Joker is on the floor. Joker TURNS
DOWN THE STEREO.
JOKER
You fuckin' lover boys hear that?
BABY JOKER
Hear what?
The KNOCKING continues. Li'l Joker and Baby Joker push the
girls aside and jump up. Li'l Joker grabs a big knife. Baby
Joker grabs a 9mm. Joker looks at the girls.
JOKER
Don't fuckin' move.
They won't. The brothers run to the door.
OUTSIDE
Roach is still kicking.
DAY-DAY
What's wrong with you, fool. Stop
kicking their door. They might think we
the police.
The front door swings open and before we know it. Day-Day's
got an AK pointed in his face, and Roach is looking at a 9
close up.
JOKER
What the fuck you want?
Day-Day's tongue doesn't work.
DAY-DAY
Uh...um...I mean uh, can we borrow a cup
of sugar?
JOKER
What?! This look like a 7-11 or
something? Get the fuck outta here!
DAY-DAY
(starts to leave)
Alright, no problem. We gone.
ROACH
Hold on. A man, you broke my fuckin'
board and I don't appreciate it.
Immediately Day-Day and Roach are snatched inside the house,
and the door is SLAMMED.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Mr. Jones' dog truck pulls to a stop. He gets out and runs
to the house. He KNOCKS. Uncle Elroy answers. Suga is
looking over his shoulder.
MR. JONES
I got your message. Where's Craig?
UNCLE ELROY
I don't know, I didn't leave you no damn
message!
MR. JONES
You didn't call the Sandwich Joint with a
urgent message?
UNCLE ELROY
Hell naw, Willie. Them fleas and tics
must be sucking on yo' brain!
MR. JONES
Somebody left me a message. Well where's
Craig and Day-Day?
UNCLE ELROY
I don't know. Suga, go ask Miss Ho Kym
if she seen them.
EXT. KARLA'S BEDROOM WINDOW - CONTINUOUS
Craig is about to climb out the window.
KARLA
Next time, page me first.
CRAIG
Okay.
Craig climbs out the window. He loses his footing and free
falls into some bushes.
KARLA
You alright?
CRAIG
Yeah, I'm cool. See you later.
He runs past a sleeping Cheeco and hops the fence. Free at
last. He's about to run back across the street when he sees
the dog truck.
CRAIG (cont'd)
What is he doing here?
Craig ducks back.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - NIGHT
Day-Day and Roach are sitting on a couch looking nervous.
The Joker brothers hold guns on them. The three half-dressed
Mexican Girls look a bit scared themselves.
DAY-DAY
Look, man, this is a big
misunderstanding. All we wanted to do is
borrow some sugar.
ROACH
And some rolling papers.
DAY-DAY
...and some rolling papers, that's it.
We didn't mean to mess up y'all get
together or nothing.
(to the Girls)
How y'all doing?
They answer --
GIRLS
Fine.
DAY-DAY
That's good. My name's Day-Day and this
is my friend, Roach.
ROACH
(waving)
Hey.
DAY-DAY
Ya'll live around here?
JOKER
Shut up! Both of you right now!
DAY-DAY
(to Roach)
Shhhh! Roach, shut the fuck up.
JOKER
I don't believe this sugar shit.
Something ain't right.
Joker thinks for a moment. Then he turns to Baby Joker.
JOKER (cont'd)
(in Spanish)
Go check on the money.
Baby Joker obeys the order.
LI'L JOKER
Here comes Karla, put the guns away.
JOKER
Keep your mouth shut.
Karla walks back in.
KARLA
Hey, what's going on?
JOKER
Nothing. What you want?
KARLA
Are you going to take me to see Mom?
JOKER
Take your car.
KARLA
'Take your car?'
JOKER
Yeah, and hurry up.
Karla doesn't believe it.
KARLA
Okay.
She grabs the keys off the bar.
KARLA (cont'd)
I'll be back in a bit. 'Bye.
She's out the door. Joker turns to Day-Day and Roach.
JOKER
If everything's alright. We might let
you leave, too.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The front door swings open. It's Uncle Elroy.
UNCLE ELROY
Craig, where the hell you been?
Mr. Jones pops up. So does Suga and Miss Ho Kym.
MR. JONES
Hold up, Elroy, that's my boy. Craig,
what the hell wrong with you? Where you
been?
CRAIG
Have you seen Day-Day?
UNCLE ELROY
No. Thought he was with you.
CRAIG
Daddy, Uncle Elroy, I need your help.
He steps in the house and closes the door behind him.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - NIGHT
It's the same scene as before. Two angry Mexicans, three
half-naked Girls, plus Day-Day and Roach in the middle. Baby
Joker returns.
BABY JOKER
(in Spanish)
Some of the money is missing.
JOKER
(upset)
What?!?!
DAY-DAY
What?!
(as he looks at Roach)
What that mean?
ROACH
I don't know.
JOKER
It means you Miyateas are staying with
us.
(to Baby Joker)
Get the duct tape.
(to Li'l Joker)
You know what to do.
Li'l Joker turns to the girls.
LI'L JOKER
Put your clothes back on.
The scared Girls start to dress.
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Karla backs up the rider and she's out. The Joker house
looks quiet. Then the door opens and three Girls walk out.
LI'L JOKER
Sorry you gotta walk, but I'll call you
tomorrow.
The Girls take off down the street. The porch lights go out.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Craig, Mr. Jones, Uncle Elroy, Suga and Miss Ho Kym are
peeking out the window.
CRAIG
You see that?
MR. JONES
I saw it.
UNCLE ELROY
Me, too. You think they're in there?
CRAIG
Yup.
MISS HO KYM
Why for? Them boys are real player
haters.
CRAIG
It's a long story. Right now we gotta do
somethin'.
MR. JONES
You come way out here to get into more
trouble. You could've stayed at home.
UNCLE ELROY
Willie, shut up. Yo' old ass need to get
in a little bit o' trouble sometimes.
MR. JONES
(rolling up his sleeve)
Don't get it twisted, Elroy. I ain't
lost none of my street skills.
SUGA
If ya'll don't come back not in ten
minutes, I'mma callin' the po'lice.
Craig, Uncle Elroy and Mr. Jones are about to go on a
mission.
UNCLE ELROY
Wait a minute. I gotta go get my shit.
Uncle Elroy runs upstairs.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - CONTINUOUS
Li'l Joker is almost finished duct-taping Day-Day and Roach.
Baby Joker holds the AK. Joker paces the floor. Day-Day and
Roach try to make peace by singing an old "War" song. Day-
Day is serious.
DAY-DAY & ROACH
'Why can't we be friends? Why can't we
be friends? Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?'...
DAY-DAY
(still singing)
'I hope my cousin call the C.I.A.'
Joker throws a BOTTLE against the wall. It SHATTERS into a
million pieces.
JOKER
Shut the fuck up!
The singing stops.
JOKER (cont'd)
If you don't tell me where my money is,
I'mma show you how close we can get.
DAY-DAY
Money? Man, we came over here from some
sugar and rolling papers. We was going
to get high, and I was going to show this
white boy how to make Kool-Aid. That's
all.
ROACH
Hey, mister Joker, have a heart, bro.
It's Friday.
Joker walks over to Roach and kicks him in the mouth.
JOKER
I'm hearing a lot of talking, but I'm not
hearing the right words.
BABY JOKER
Maybe the other guy took it.
DAY-DAY
Why would he take it? He don't even know
you.
JOKER
(thinking)
Shut up! Where's that other miyatea?
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Uncle Elroy catches up with Craig and Mr. Jones on the side
of Joker's house. He has a big chrome .357 magnum.
CRAIG
That's a nice piece of heat right there.
UNCLE ELROY
Thank you. I only got two bullets in the
mothafucka, but it's better than nothing.
MR. JONES
Two bullets? Yo' ass ain't changed.
Back in the day, all I had was a stick.
CRAIG
Come on.
They sneak over to the fence.
UNCLE ELROY
What about that ugly dog?
MR. JONES
I got my mase.
CRAIG
He's on the other side, sleep.
They start to hop the fence.
ON CHEECO
...starts to awake. He tries to stand up and stumbles back
on his face. He lets out ANOTHER MOAN.
ON CRAIG AND UNCLE ELROY
Craig is over the fence. Mr. Jones is over But Uncle Elroy
is having a little trouble.
CRAIG (cont'd)
Need some help?
MR. JONES
Need to lose some weight.
UNCLE ELROY
Shut yo' ass up.
Uncle Elroy falls off the fence.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Damn.
Craig & Mr. Jones helps him up. They creep over to the
window - the shades are pulled down.
CRAIG
I'm not sure, but I think they're in this
room.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - CONTINUOUS
Joker is getting tired of the games. And Day-Day is pleading
for his life.
JOKER
Tape his mouth shut.
DAY-DAY
Joker, a man like yourself can do a lot
for this community. By letting us go,
you can improve black and brown
relations.
ROACH
Yeah, brown and white relations, too.
Day-Day looks at Roach.
DAY-DAY
Boy, you gonna get us killed.
Li'l Joker grabs Day-Day and tapes his mouth shut. He does
the same to Roach.
JOKER
I'm sick and tired of bullshitting with
you guys.
(in Spanish)
Baby brother, go get the chainsaw.
Baby Joker hands him the AK and he's gone. Day-Day and Roach
look terrified. Everything has turned serious.
INT. MR. JONES' DOG TRUCK - CONTINUOUS
Debo and Ezal are still asleep. Debo wakes first.
DEBO
Ezal! Ezal!
EZAL
Huh?
DEBO
We must be here 'cause we stopped.
EZAL
Good, let's get out.
They both try to get out. But it's no way to get out from
the inside.
DEBO
Hey, how you get out of here.
EZAL
I don't know.
They both start to go nuts on the door.
OUTSIDE
The dog truck is shaking like crazy.
EXT. JOKER'S BACKYARD - CONTINUOUS
Baby Joker walks out the back door. He stops in the middle
of the yard.
BABY JOKER
Cheeco! Cheeco! Here, boy!
No Cheeco. He continues to a shed in the back yard. He goes
inside and picks up a chainsaw. On his way out the shed,
he's slapped in the face with a "Big Ass Stick." Mr. Jones
is working the handle.
Baby Joker is out cold. Mr. Jones stands over him.
MR. JONES
Nigga, you got knock the fuck out.
CRAIG
Yeah, pops!
UNCLE ELROY
Damn, big bro. You swung that like Sammy
Sosa.
MR. JONES
The skills are still intact. Now tie his
ass up, Elroy.
He does.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - CONTINUOUS
The terror continues.
JOKER
My little brother went out to get my
chainsaw. I'mma show you what happens to
fools who don't tell me what I wanna
hear. You ever see Scarface, mothafucka?
Day-Day starts to cry. Roach tries to scream through the
tape. Joker turns to Li'l Joker.
JOKER (cont'd)
Go see what's taking him so long.
Li'l Joker obeys. We FOLLOW Li'l Joker THROUGH the house and
OUT the back door.
EXT. JOKER'S BACKYARD - CONTINUOUS
Li'l Joker stands at the back door.
LI'L JOKER
Junior?! Junior?!
No answer. Suddenly he spots something over by the shed.
It's Baby Joker all ties up.
LI'L JOKER (cont'd)
What the...
He runs to the rescue. But right before he gets to him,
Uncle Elroy jumps out the bushes and takes him. "Ronnie Lott
Style." Mr. Jones steps in with the stick. Craig steps in
with the rope, and it's over. Uncle Elroy's hurt. It's his
back.
UNCLE ELROY
(in pain)
My back.
MR. JONES
What's the matter?
UNCLE ELROY
I slip my disc, again... Oh got damn.
Craig goes to assist Uncle Elroy.
CRAIG
Stretch it out.
UNCLE ELROY
Don't move me.
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - CONTINUOUS
Joker is pissed.
JOKER
Where are these fucking guys?
He storms out the room. Day-Day and Roach try to escape.
They flap around on the ground like a fish out of water.
EXT. JOKER'S BACKYARD - CONTINUOUS
The back door flies open. Joker appears with the AK-47 in
hand. He spots Uncle Elroy in the middle of the yard bent
over. He lifts the AK.
JOKER
What you doing here?
UNCLE ELROY
I lost something, nigga. What it look
like?
JOKER
Looks like a dead man.
Out of nowhere, Craig hits Joker from the back. He flies one
way and the gun flies another. Now it's really on! Hand-to-
hand combat. Craig vs. Joker. Right vs. wrong. Good vs.
evil. You know how it go.
MR. JONES
Go to the body, Craig! Go to the body!
INT. JOKER'S HOUSE - DEN - CONTINUOUS
Day-Day and Roach have made it a little further to the door,
but they still look like fish searching for H2O. Uncle Elroy
stumbles in. He grabs a knife and starts to cut them loose.
UNCLE ELROY
Boy, Day-Day, I'mma kick yo' ass for
getting me into this mess and hurting my
back! I moved out here to get away from
this kinda shit!
EXT. JOKER'S BACKYARD - CONTINUOUS
Fight's still on. Craig is giving Joker the ass-whipping he
deserves when Uncle Elroy, Day-Day and Roach reach the back
porch.
DAY-DAY
Get 'em, Craig!
ROACH
Bite his ear!
UNCLE ELROY
What 'em! Watch 'em!
Joker takes a few more shots from Craig, then grabs Craig
around the waist and slams him to the ground. Craig is hurt.
UNCLE ELROY (cont'd)
Get off yo' back, Craig!
Craig struggles with Joker, who now has the devil in his
eyes.
CRAIG
Ya'll mothafuckas help me!
Day-Day and Roach look at each other. They rush to Craig's
aide. Joker spots them coming, he also spots the AK.
In SLOW MOTION, Day-Day and Roach dive on Joker...at the same
time Joker dives for the AK. Day-Day and Roach land on top
of Craig and our trio try to hurry to their feet. But as
soon as they get up, they're looking down the barrel of an AK-
47.
JOKER
(smiling)
Say hello to my little friend.
BOOM!
Debo hits Joker from the back. Joker is out cold.
DEBO
No way, Jose. This one is mine.
Ezal picks up the gun and hands it to Debo.
DEBO (cont'd)
Hi, Craig, remember me?
Craig knows he can't fight a gun. Everybody is helpless. We
can hear SIRENS getting CLOSER and CLOSER. Suddenly, out of
nowhere...
CHEECO!
The pitbull is back! And he's mad as hell. He runs through
everybody and jumps on Debo, knocking the gun from his hand.
Craig and Day-Day jump on Debo. Roach WHISTLES, and Cheeco
stops his attack on Debo.
Cheeco runs over to Roach and jumps in his arms. Roach's
being licked to death by the pitbull.
DAY-DAY
Finally you got a bitch, huh, Roach?
ROACH
He's a boy, dude.
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Out front, three sheriff cars swoop into the driveway. The
cops jump out, guns drawn.
EXT. JOKER'S BACKYARD - CONTINUOUS
Debo and Ezal are tied up next to the Jokers.
EZAL
Mr. Jones, we was just playin'. He made
me do it.
Mr. Jones don't wanna hear it. Craig runs into the house.
Uncle, Day-Day, Roach and Cheeco look at the five on the
ground...it's over, or is it?
SHERIFF #3
Freeze, Sheriff's Department!
The SHERIFFS are on our heroes, guns drawn.
UNCLE ELROY
Wait a minute! I live across the street!
SHERIFF LADY
You do?
UNCLE ELROY
Yeah. Paid cash.
DAY-DAY
They the ones you want.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S STREET - CONTINUOUS
Red and Blue lights flash through the neighborhood. Everyone
is out their door looking at the action. The suburbs is
starting to look like the ghetto for real.
Uncle Elroy is bent over.
UNCLE ELROY
When my back gets better I'mma beat the
black off you, Day-Day.
DAY-DAY
I know. I'm sorry.
UNCLE ELROY
Sorry, my ass.
Suga and Miss Ho Kym come running.
SUGA
Elroy, what happen?
UNCLE ELROY
I threw my back, again.
SUGA
Aw, no lovin' tonight?
UNCLE ELROY
Naw, baby, no lovin' tonight.
SUGA
Come on, baby, let's go in the house.
UNCLE ELROY
For what? We ain't gonna have no house
after the auction tomorrow!
Everyone is sad.
ROACH
Don't worry, bro, you, Suga, Day-Day and
Craig can live with me and my parents.
'Til you get back on yo' feet.
UNCLE ELROY
Thanks, Roach, but I can't accept that.
We're moving back to Watts where it's
safe.
DAY-DAY
Where's Craig?
UNCLE ELROY
I don't know.
MR. JONES
That boy just don't never learn.
EXT. JOKER'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Craig steps out of Joker's front door carrying the chrome
hydraulic pump.
CRAIG
I love Fridays.
He walks past the cops and crosses the street.
ROACH
There he go.
MR. JONES
What the hell is he carrying?
DAY-DAY
Property taxes, and a new candy-apple
paint job.
They greet Craig and all start to walk towards the house.
INT. UNCLE ELROY'S STREET - NIGHT
The "Jefferson's" theme song, "Movin' On Up," PLAYS on the
TV. Uncle Elroy is face down on the floor looking at the TV.
Miss Ho Kym walks on his back with her shoes off. He moans
in pleasure. Mr. Jones eats chicken wings.
MR. JONES
Jump up and down on him.
MISS HO KYM
That's next.
UNCLE ELROY
Don't listen to him. How much we got?
Suga is at the table counting money. She takes a few
hundreds for herself.
SUGA
We got forty-seven thousand, three
hundred and fifteen dollars.
MR. JONES
Good Lord.
MISS HO KYM
That's a whole lot of scrilla.
UNCLE ELROY
It's gonna feel good to pay my taxes.
Craig is tending to his wounds.
CRAIG
You're welcome, Unc.
DAY-DAY
What about me?
UNCLE ELROY
You didn't do nothing.
Roach and Cheeco are about to leave. He has a handful of
money.
ROACH
Hey, guys, I'm outta here.
DAY-DAY
Thanks for the help.
ROACH
Hey, man, the pleasure's all mine.
Thanks for the dog, and the money. Maybe
my dad won't kick my ass tonight.
DAY-DAY
Call me.
ROACH
Okay, later, bro. Hey, Craig, nice
smokin' wit'cha.
CRAIG
You too.
MR. JONES
Smokin' what?
CRAIG
Nothing.
ROACH
Later, Mr. Jones. Bye, Suga.
ALL
Bye, Roach.
Roach is gone. Day-Day shuts the door. Miss Ho Kym is
finished. She steps off of Uncle Elroy.
MISS HO KYM
All done. Stand up.
Uncle Elroy gets up. He's better.
UNCLE ELROY
Hey, that George Jefferson shit works.
Thanks, Miss Kym.
Uncle Elroy walks over to the table and grabs a stack of
hundred-dollar bills. He hands it to Miss Ho Kym.
MISS HO KYM
I can't accept.
UNCLE ELROY
You better take this money.
She takes the money.
MISS HO KYM
(in Korean)
Thank you.
(in English)
I can take a trip back to Korea now.
Find a freak daddy, bring him back to
America. Make 'em my bitch.
SUGA
You go, girl.
Uncle Elroy helps Miss Ho Kym out the door.
MR. JONES
Well, we better hit the road, too.
Craig, get your stuff.
UNCLE ELROY
Well, Craig, you're welcome anytime.
Suga hugs Craig.
SUGA
Yeah, baby, it's a shame you leavin'.
Aunt Suga gonna miss yo.
And the others have to agree.
DAY-DAY
You sure you don't wanna stay?
CRAIG
Naw, I'm got live ghetto fabulous. make
sure you get that car fixed.
DAY-DAY
I will. When can I come visit?
CRAIG
I don't know. Probably next Friday.
They're out the door.
EXT. UNCLE ELROY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
As we PULL BACK, all is well inside and outside Uncle Elroy's
house. The suburbs are back to normal. They get in the car.
Craig looks over at the Joker's house.
ANGLE ON JOKER'S HOUSE
Karla pulls up in the low-rider. They lock eyes and she
blows him a kiss. He gives her a wink. They pull off. She
goes in the house.
CRAIG (V.O.)
Well, all's well that ends well. Another
Friday gone. Another problem solved.
It's a trip to know that things can get
crazy in the suburbs, too. I can't wait
to get back home...to the peace and quiet
streets of South Central.
D'Wana's car pulls INTO FRAME. She stops in front of Uncle
Elroy's house. Baby'D jumps out with a brick. She throws it
through the back window of Day-Day's BMW. She jumps back in
and they're gone...
THE END.
| screenplays |
On the periodic table: Why are groups of elements organized by 'letter' [duplicate]
**This question already has an answer here**:
[Periodic table and p block elements](/questions/58574/periodic-table-and-p-block-elements)
(1 answer)
Closed 6 years ago.
Why are the groups of elements on the periodic table organized into areas represented by the letters s,p,d,f,g, and h?
What does this mean?
The letters are related to the electron orbitals, which were originally observed through spectroscopy. [The lines shown in the spectroscope were named *sharp*, *principal*, *diffuse* and *fine* (or *fundamental*).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_configuration)
With a strong magnetic or electrostatic field, these separate into one, three, five or seven lines, or energy levels. There can be up to two electrons (with opposite spin) with the same energy level, according to the [Pauli exclusion principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_exclusion_principle), so this implies there can be double the numbers above, or 2 *s* electrons, 6 *p* electrons, 10 *d* electrons and 14 *f* electrons. Thus, the Periodic Table is based on the number of electrons in each elements orbitals.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
YOU'RENEXTa screenplay bySimon BarrettDraft date:April 16, 2011FADE INEXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - NIGHTAn isolated cedar house is positioned a short distance from a narrow paved road. Barren trees surround the rear of the house. Several lights are on inside the house, shining out into the dark front yard. A car is parked in the driveway. INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHTSweating, TALIA, a woman in her 20s, rolls over onto her back, naked. She is lying on a queen size bed. A man in his early 40s, ERIK Harsen, lies next to her. They both stare silently up at the ceiling. Erik is somewhat out of breath. Neither of them looks particularly satisfied. Talia abruptly sits up. TALIAI’m going to go get a drink. You want one? Erik shakes his head. Talia rises and exits the room. INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSNaked, Talia walks from the bedroom into the front room. She hits a couple of buttons on the stereo and LOUD ROCK MUSIC begins playing. Nodding her head and swaying slightly to the music, Talia heads for the kitchen.INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSErik is still lying on the bed. The music Talia put on the stereo is audible from the bedroom, echoing throughout the house. With a sigh, Erik rises to his feet and heads towards a bathroom adjoining the bedroom.A moment later, the sound of the SHOWER turning on is audible from the bathroom.INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSIn the kitchen, Talia pours vodka from a bottle into a glass partially filled with orange juice and ice. She bobs her head to the song that is playing as she screws the cap back on the bottle.Sipping at her drink, Talia starts to exit the kitchen. Then she stops moving, looking at something in front of her. A pair of glass doors lead out from the kitchen into the backyard. One of the doors is OPEN, just an inch or so, as if it slipped off its latch. Talia appears to consider this. She moves forward and shuts the door, LOCKING IT. Talia hesitates, then peers outside through the glass door, into the dark yard of the house. EXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BACKYARD - NIGHTFrom outside the house, Talia’s nude form is clearly visible illuminated within, the music inside just barely audible. She looks out through the glass doors into the dark yard, lifting a hand to shield her reflection on the glass so she can see more clearly.The back yard of the house is dark and empty.INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BATHROOM - MINUTES LATERErik washes himself in the shower, rubbing shampoo through his hair. The room is filled with steam. The shower curtain is opaque, so that Erik cannot see the rest of the bathroom.There is a noise from outside the bathroom, in the hallway. Erik hesitates. He lowers his head under the shower faucet, rinsing the shampoo from his hair. He then calls out:ERIKTalia? That you? You can come in here if you want.There is no response. The bathroom door, which is slightly ajar, creaks open further, just a few inches.2.Erik does not notice the door move. He listens for a reply, then shrugs and continues bathing himself. INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BEDROOM HALLWAY - NIGHTErik steps out of the bathroom, holding a towel wrapped around his waist. The same rock song is still playing distantly, on repeat. Erik looks up and down the hallway. Near the doorway to the dark bedroom, a small amount of what looks like orange juice mixed with vodka is spilled on the floor. A couple of melting ice cubes rest in the center of the spill. Erik frowns down at this, puzzled.ERIKTalia?Erik moves towards the bedroom, stepping over the puddle in his bare feet. INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSThe lights in the bedroom are off. Erik comes to a stop facing the window.Most of the illumination in the room comes from the backyard light, which shines in through the window. The words “YOU’RE NEXT” have been written on the inside of the bedroom window in blood. Beneath the window, Talia’s DEAD BODY lies crumpled on the floor, her back to Erik. Her hair, matted with dark blood, covers her features.Erik, standing naked, stares speechlessly at Talia’s body in front of him. His towel has dropped from his waist to the floor. He does not appear to be aware of this.A DARK FIGURE is now standing DIRECTLY BEHIND ERIK, only about a foot away. Its face is not visible in the darkness.In a quick movement, the figure REACHES FOR ERIK.CUT TO:3.EXT. EDELWEISS DRIVE - DUSKA couple, PAUL and AUBREY DAVISON, white, 60s, drive their polished Jeep down a winding rural drive. The sun is beginning to set through the trees behind them. They drive the Jeep past Erik Harsen’s cedar house. His car is still parked in the driveway.INT. PAUL’S JEEP - DUSK - CONTINUOUSAubrey glances over at Erik’s house as they near it. AUBREYLooks like Erik Harsen’s here. That’s strange.Paul looks over, following her gaze. All of the lights in Erik Harsen’s house are still on.PAULI think I heard something about him and Linda getting separated. He might be living here now. Aubrey makes a disappointed noise.AUBREYThat’s a shame. (pause)We should check in on him later, see how he’s doing. Paul nods. They continue driving, past Erik’s house.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - EVENING - MINUTES LATERPaul pulls the Jeep into the driveway of a large, isolated mansion. He and Aubrey climb out and walk to the house carrying luggage. Paul fumbles for a key in his pocket. He moves to unlock the front door, then turns the key loosely in the lock. PAULThat’s odd. AUBREYWhat?PAULIt’s unlocked.4.Paul turns the doorknob and pushes the heavy front door open.INT. DAVIS MANSION - ENTRYWAY - EVENING - CONTINUOUSPaul steps into the doorway, peering into the house. It is dark and empty. Paul steps inside, leaving the door opens. Aubrey follows him. The house is partly in a state of disrepair. Protective sheets are draped over the furniture. Paul switches on the light in the entryway and looks around.PAULHuh. Doesn’t looks like anyone’s been in here. Guess the workers must have left it unlocked the last time they were here.(joking)Safe neighborhood.Aubrey is taking in the dim front room to the house.AUBREYThis place still needs so much work. Why couldn’t we have all just got together at the condo instead? PAULWe discussed this. Crispian didn’t want to drive the extra three hours. And this is just as close to the airport.AUBREY(sighs)Yes, I know.Paul’s cell phone BUZZES in his pocket. He takes it out and looks at it, hitting buttons. PAULSpeaking of Crispian. AUBREYWhat’s going on?PAULOh... I guess he and this new girl are running late. They won’t get here until eleven or so. 5.AUBREYAt least that gives us a couple of hours to clean up around here. PAULThat’s the spirit. I’ll go bring the groceries in, then check on the furnace. You want to start on this floor?AUBREYMight as well.Paul nods and exits. Aubrey sets her bags down and heads towards the front room.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - EVENING - CONTINUOUSAubrey approaches a large dining table that is covered with a white sheet. She takes a corner of the sheet and pulls it off the table, sending motes of dust wafting into the air.Aubrey waves the dust away from her face, then begins folding the sheet.INT. CRISPIAN’S CAR - EVENINGCRISPIAN, a bearded man in his mid 30s, drives a sedan along a dark highway. In the passenger seat is ERIN, 20s, attractive. She scrolls through her cell phone in the dark car. CRISPIANWe should be there pretty soon. I think I remember this from when dad showed us this place.Crispian glances at a passing sign.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)No, maybe not. ERINSo your parents are pretty loaded?CRISPIANI guess so. When my dad retired from KPG last year, he got some insane severance package. He was a V.P. for like, twenty years. I don’t know the number, but my mom said something about mid seven figures.6.ERINKPG? Like, the defense contractor? You never told me your father worked for them.CRISPIANYeah, he was just in marketing, though. Why? Is that a problem for you, baby? Having dinner with fascists?ERINNot at all. I told you, I wanted to meet your family. I hope this means there’s going to be some good booze at your place, though.CRISPIANProbably not. My mom’s on medication.ERINOh. We should stop off somewhere and get some. CRISPIANGood thinking. They continue driving down the dark highway.INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHTAubrey enters the kitchen. She wets a rag at the kitchen faucet, then begins wiping down the counter. Above Aubrey, the ceiling CREAKS. She ceases her work, listening. The sound of FOOTSTEPS is clearly audible on the floor above Aubrey, not overly loud but distinct, like someone trying to walk quietly in heavy boots. The sound moves across the ceiling to the corner nearest the outside wall, then ceases. The house is silent. Aubrey resumes wiping the counter. PAUL (O.S.)Hey. Aubrey spins around, startled, dropping her rag. Paul is standing directly behind her, in the doorway to the kitchen. 7.PAUL (CONT’D)I’ll need your help putting together the beds-Paul notices the look on Aubrey’s face.PAUL (CONT’D)What?AUBREYYou weren’t- Were you just upstairs?PAULNo, I haven’t been up there yet. I had to light the furnace. AUBREYDid you hear that? Just now?PAULHear what?Aubrey speaks rapidly.AUBREYI heard footsteps upstairs. There’s someone here in this house. Some homeless person or squatters or something.Paul hesitates.PAULAre you sure? It’s an old building-AUBREYIt was footsteps, Paul! We need to get out of here right now! PAULOkay, okay. Paul allows Aubrey to lead him out of the kitchen. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATERWhen Paul and Aubrey reach the entryway, Paul stops. Aubrey continues moving for the front door, then looks back at Paul. PAULListen, you go outside. Go wait in the car or something. I’m just going to go check upstairs. 8.AUBREYNo! Come with me!PAULIt’s probably just the house settling, Aubrey. Aubrey stares at Paul. Paul sighs. PAUL (CONT’D)Here, I’ll take this, okay? Paul lifts a HEAVY WALKING STICK from where it is leaning near the door.PAUL (CONT’D)Happy? Aubrey says nothing. PAUL (CONT’D)Go wait out in the car. Listen to the radio or something. I’ll be right out. Paul moves towards the stairs leading up the second floor. Aubrey hesitates, then slowly steps outside. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - CONTINUOUSPaul climbs the stairs to the dark second floor, holding the walking stick out in front of him. At the top of the stairs, Paul hesitates, looking up and down the hallway. Several doorways extend from the hallway, leading into dark bedrooms.Paul moves a distance down the dark hallway, then flicks on a light switch, illuminating it.Paul hesitates, then, looking somewhat embarrassed, calls out down the hallway: PAULIs anyone up here? The floor is silent. Paul’s voice echoes slightly throughout the empty floor. Paul waits for a moment, then shakes his head. Relaxing his posture slightly, he continues moving forward. 9.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSAubrey stands on the front lawn, near the Jeep, her arms crossed in front of her, shivering in the cold. A strong breeze moves the leaves in the trees on either side of the yard. Aubrey looks up at the shifting leaves.A RUSTLING sound comes from nearby. Aubrey starts, turning around. A cluster of dead leaves tumbles across the driveway, pushed by the wind.Aubrey turns back towards the house. AUBREYPaul?INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATERPaul steps from the hallway into a large bedroom featuring a king size bed, with sheets and a blanket on it. The bed is made, a lamp next to it. Paul flicks on the wall light switch and looks around the room. He is the only person in the room. Paul starts to turn back into the hallway when a CREAKING SOUND comes from behind him. Frowning, Paul slowly turns back around, facing into the bedroom. The bedroom closet door is open a couple of inches. Inside, the closet is dark. Nothing is visible within.Paul frowns, as if trying to remember if the closet was open before. No further sound comes from the closet. Hesitantly, Paul takes a step forward. A HAND SLAPS DOWN on Paul’s shoulder. Paul spins around with a YELL, raising the walking stick.Crispian is standing behind Paul, holding a bottle of whiskey. He raises it defensively. CRISPIANWhoa, dad!Paul quickly lowers the walking stick. He puts his other hand on his chest. 10.PAULJesus Christ, Crispian. CRISPIANYeah.Crispian takes a step back towards the hallway, his eyes still on the walking stick in Paul’s hand.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Um. Dad, not to get off on the wrong foot or anything, but why is mom standing in the front yard and crying?EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - CONTINUOUSErin is standing next to Aubrey in the front yard, one hand on her shoulder. Aubrey’s mascara is streaked. She looks up as Paul and Crispian approach.Paul moves to stand by his wife. She sniffles.PAULIt’s fine. Crispian and I looked in every room on the second floor. There’s no one there. It’s just an old house. They make noises.AUBREY(to Crispian)I’m so silly. You’re probably so embarrassed. CRISPIANNo, mom, it’s fine. Dad, uh, this is Erin.PAULLovely to meet you, Erin. ERINLikewise, Mister Davison.They shake hands. Pause. Crispian hefts the bottle he is holding.CRISPIANWe brought whiskey!11.INT. DAVISON MANSION - GUEST BEDROOM - NIGHTErin and Crispian, slightly tipsy, get undressed for bed. Erin looks around the sparse bedroom.ERINSo your dad bought this place to fix up? CRISPIANYeah. Supposed to be his retirement project or something, give him something to work on. Except so far I think he’s just been paying other people to work on it. ERINYour folks seem cool. I mean, for people with money. You’re lucky.CRISPIANI guess so.ERINYou are. You don’t know what most people would give to have folks like yours.CRISPIANWhatever that means.They climb into bed. Erin snuggles up to Crispian, whose eyes are open, looking up at the ceiling. ERINYour brothers and sister are getting in tomorrow?CRISPIANYeah. Tomorrow’s my parents’ actual anniversary. ERIN(sleepily)Thirty-five years. Can you imagine?CRISPIANI can’t, really. ERINWell, I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of your family tomorrow.12.CRISPIANYeah. They’re something. It’s the first time we’ve all been together in awhile. It should be interesting. ERINHow so? CRISPIANEh. You’ll see.Erin closes her eyes. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHTIn the spacious bedroom down the hall, Aubrey and Paul lie next to each other on a king-sized bed. Paul is wearing a sleep mask. There is a CREAKING outside the room, like that of a HEAVY WEIGHT shifting on floorboards. Aubrey frowns in her sleep but does not open her eyes. The noise comes again, the sound of SLOW, DELIBERATE FOOTSTEPS moving down the hall outside their bedroom, like someone large trying to walk quietly. Aubrey’s eyes open. She listens as the sound of the footsteps RECEDES down the hallway. AUBREY(whispering)Paul.Paul does not move. Aubrey reaches out and shakes his shoulder, still whispering softly. AUBREY (CONT’D)Paul. Paul rolls onto his back but does not remove his eyemask. PAULWhat?AUBREYDid you hear that? PAULHear what?AUBREYFootsteps. In the hallway. 13.PAULIt’s probably just Crispian or his girlfriend. Paul rolls back onto his side. AUBREYTheir bedroom’s at the other end of the hall. PAULMaybe what’s her name, Erin, is looking for something.AUBREYIt didn’t sound like Erin.PAUL(sighing)Go back to sleep, Aubrey. Please. We locked every door and window before we went to bed, and we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody’s going to break in here.Aubrey looks at Paul’s masked face for a long moment, then turns onto her other side and reaches for a prescription bottle of pills on her bedside table. Aubrey taps out a pill, considers, then taps out a second one. She reaches for a glass on the table. The glass is empty. Only a few drops of water remain at the bottom. AUBREY(muttering)Drat.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHTAubrey, wearing a robe and slippers, exits the master bedroom, holding her empty glass in one hand. Aubrey anxiously looks up and down the dark hallway, then shakes her head, as if embarrassed with herself, and steps forward. She walks slowly down the hallway, moving quietly. The floorboards creak slightly under her feet, much softer than the noise she heard in bed. 14.Aubrey hesitates, as if considering this, then continues past the guest bedroom, towards the stairs. INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHTAubrey walks through the dark dining room, into the kitchen.As Aubrey turns, a FACE is visible in one of the kitchen windows behind her, barely discernible. A figure wearing some sort of ANIMAL MASK over his face is peering inside the kitchen from the dark front yard, watching Aubrey. The figure is still, only just visible in the corner of the window frame.Aubrey does not notice the face in the window. Still moving quietly, she steps into the kitchen and crosses to the counter.Aubrey begins to fill a glass with water from a glass bottle. As she does so, the figure in the window suddenly DUCKS OUT OF SIGHT. A second later, a light TURNS ON outside, illuminating a patch of the front yard, as if a security light with a motion sensor was just triggered. Nothing is visible through the illuminated window.Aubrey still does not notice this. She tosses her two pills into her mouth and swallows them with a long drink of water. She then blinks, as if already feeling the pills take effect. AUBREYMmm.Dreamily, Aubrey turns around. She does not appear to register that the security light is on outside, until it suddenly GOES DARK when she is halfway across the room.Aubrey stops, frowning. Still holding her glass of water, she steps to the window. Aubrey looks out into the dark front yard of the house, her breath fogging the cold windowpane. Nothing is visible outside. A light breeze moves the barren branches of the trees in the yard. Aubrey watches the wind move the limbs of the tree. She blinks slowly, then turns and exits the kitchen.15.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHTAubrey sleepily walks down the dark hallway and enters the master bedroom. Paul is still lying on his side in bed, facing away from her. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHTAubrey shuts the door behind her and crosses to her side of the bed. She sets down her glass of water and climbs under the covers, curling up next to Paul. Aubrey is almost immediately asleep, her face relaxing, her breathing soft and regular. Paul’s breathing is quiet as well, muffled by his pillow. INT. DAVISON MANSION - GUEST BEDROOM - NIGHTIn the guest bedroom, Erin is curled up next to Crispian, asleep. Crispian is seated in bed, propped against his pillow. He is reading a book with a small reading light clamped to its cover, making notes in its margins with a pen. Crispian looks tired and restless. He flips a page, adjusting his reading light. A CREAKING SOUND comes from across the room.Crispian looks up at the noise. The closet door, across from the bed, is just slightly ajar, so that Crispian can see into the closet. The interior of the closet is completely dark. Sitting in bed, Crispian looks into the dark closet for a long moment, frowning.In bed next to him, Erin suddenly shifts, rolling over onto her back. She mumbles inarticulately. Crispian looks at her, startled, the moment broken. He watches Erin sleep for a moment, then reaches out and brushes a stand of hair from her face. Erin frowns in her sleep at his touch, then resumes sleeping quietly. Crispian smiles, switches off his light and shuts his book. He lies down in bed next to Erin, draping one arm over her, and shuts his eyes.16.INT. DAVISON MANSION - GUEST BEDROOM - MORNINGCrispian’s eyes snap open. He is alone in the bed. Morning light is streaming in the through the windows. Crispian looks around the room in bleary confusion, blinking sleepily.INT. DAVISON MANSION - LIBRARY - CONTINUOUSIn the house’s library, Erin is seated on the sofa, opposite a couple in their mid-30s, DRAKE and KELLY, who are wearing expensive clothing and wedding rings. They are all watching a football game on a large television. Crispian, now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, enters the library, rubbing his eyes. Drake looks up at Crispian’s approach.DRAKEHey, little brother! Get a good night’s sleep?CRISPIANYeah, I guess I did.Drake and Crispian awkwardly shake hands. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Hey, Kelly. When did you guys get in? DRAKEJust an hour ago. CRISPIANCool.Crispian sits down next to Erin, who leans up against him.INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - AFTERNOONAubrey works in the kitchen, washing dishes. Erin appears in the doorway behind her.Aubrey does not seem to notice Erin. Erin politely clears her throat.Aubrey looks back at Erin. 17.ERINHey. I was just wondering if I could help you in here with anything. Aubrey smiles thinly. AUBREYNo, I think I’ve got it under control. Thank you.Erin nods politely and moves to exit. Aubrey hesitates, then calls after her.AUBREY (CONT’D)Erin!Erin reappears in the doorway. AUBREY (CONT’D)Actually, we’re almost out of butter. Or margarine. I have enough to cook with, but not enough for the table. The store’s too far, but I was wondering if you could drive over to our neighbor’s and see if he has some. His name’s Erik. He knows us. Erin smiles brightly, as if relieved to have a task.ERINSure thing! I saw the house when Crispian and I drove in. I’ll just walk there if it’s not too urgent. I could use to stretch my legs.AUBREYThat’s fine. Aubrey turns back to the sink. Erin exits the kitchen.INT. DAVISON MANSION - LIBRARY - MOMENTS LATERErin walks through the library, using a WOODEN DOOR hidden in the wall to step out onto the back porch.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - BACKYARD - AFTERNOONOn the back porch, Paul and Crispian are treating boards with wood stain, positioned across two sawhorses. Crispian brushes the boards while Paul watches his work. 18.Drank stands nearby, watching them both, drinking from a bottle of beer. Erin emerges from the house behind them. ERINHey, guys.All three men turn to look at Erin.ERIN (CONT’D)Your mom asked me to walk over to the neighbor’s, see if I could borrow some margarine. Anyone need anything? Paul and Crispian look up at Erin. Paul shakes his head. CRISPIANWe’re fine. Crispian smiles at Erin. Erin smiles back at him and quickly takes a small DIGITAL CAMERA out of her pocket. ERIN Hold that.Crispian continues smiling. Paul and Drake face the camera with Crispian, somewhat awkwardly.Erin quickly snaps a photo of Crispian, Paul and Drake. She checks the view screen on the back of her camera. The three men look slightly uncomfortable in their poses.ERIN (CONT’D)Great! Okay, then. See you guys in a bit!Erin steps back inside the house. Drake drains the rest of his beer. DRAKEI’m going to go check on Kelly.Paul nods. Drake goes inside, leaving Paul alone with Crispian. They work in silence for a moment.PAULHow’s that fellowship thing coming along?CRISPIANOh... I didn’t get it.PAULNo?19.CRISPIANNo. I guess they had a lot of applicants. And I haven’t exactly been published recently.PAULUh-huh. Well, I’m sorry to hear that.CRISPIANThere’s always next year.Paul says nothing, focusing on his work. INT. DAVISON MANSION - SPARE BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSDrake steps inside the spare bedroom on the second floor. The shower is running in a bathroom adjoining the spare bedroom. Drake looks around the bedroom. The sound of the water running in the bathroom comes to a stop. Drake looks up at this. INT. DAVISON MANSION - SPARE BATHROOM - CONTINUOUSDrake opens the door to the spare bedroom’s bathroom. Kelly is toweling off in the shower.DRAKEHey.KELLYHey. Shut the door.Drake shuts the door behind him. Kelly continues drying her body. Drake wipes steam off the mirror and examines his reflection.KELLY (CONT’D)Where did your brother find that girl, anyway?DRAKEWhat, Erin? KELLYYeah.DRAKEI think she took one of his classes.(off her look)Yeah, I know. 20.
(MORE)Maybe she was his teaching assistant. I get the stories confused. At any rate, she’s a grad student now. KELLYThat’s kind of weird. So he was her professor?DRAKE(indifferent)Yeah. Well, adjunct professor.Kelly moves next to Drake and begins rubbing moisturizer on her face in small circles. KELLYI guess it’s probably hard for him to meet women his age, given his career prospects. DRAKENot every man gets as lucky as me.Drake reaches out to cup one of Kelly’s bare breasts. Absently, she swats his hand away, continuing to apply moisturizer. KELLYWell, it helps that you’re not a complete loser.DRAKE(mildly)That’s true. Do you have any Vicodin?KELLYIn my purse.Drake exits the bathroom.EXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT YARD - AFTERNOONHumming to herself, Erin walks down the road towards Erik Harsen’s house. His car is still parked in the driveway and the lights in the house are still on, despite it being daylight out. Erin takes this in, then walks up the path to the front door of Erik’s house. She knocks on the door. The rock song playing in Erik Harsen’s house is faintly audible from outside. Erin waits several seconds, then knocks again. 21.DRAKE (CONT'D)There is no response. Erin moves forward and peers in through a window on the side of the door. Erin can only see part of the front room of Erik’s house from her vantage point. The lights are on, but no one is visible inside. She can just see the corner of the sofa in the living room. Erin steps back. She hesitates, then calls out: ERINExcuse me? Anyone home?Again, no response.Erin waits for another moment, then shrugs. She turns and heads back up the road. INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSIn the living room, just outside of view from the window, the back of Erik Harsen’s head is visible. He is seated on the sofa, facing the stereo. The hair on the back of his head is matted and dark.The pop song that is playing on the stereo comes to an end, then begins again, on repeat. Erik does not move.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - EVENINGA rental car pulls up in the driveway of the Davison vacation house. Its engine turns off.Four people are in the car. In the driver’s seat is TARIQ, a handsome Arab-American man in his late 20s. In the passenger seat is AIMEE, mid-30s, pretty. In the backseat are FELIX, a young man in his early 20s with a shaved head, and ZEE, a young woman, same age, with short-cropped hair in a trendy punk style. They all climb out of the car. Felix immediately takes out a cigarette and lights it. Zee makes a CLICKING sound with her tongue and Felix tosses the pack to her over the car. Zee catches it one-handed and takes out a cigarette for herself. Aimee and Tariq look back at the younger couple. AIMEEWell... We’re going in.22.Felix gestures at his cigarette. FELIXRight behind you. AIMEEOkay...Aimee rolls her eyes and she and Tariq head up to the house. Just then the front door opens and Aubrey comes out, drying her hands on a dish towel. AUBREYAimee!AIMEEHi, mommy!Aubrey and Aimee embrace. By the car, Felix looks over at Zee and shrugs. They both grind out their cigarettes underfoot.Aubrey turns to Tariq.AUBREYAnd you must be Tariq...TARIQYes, ma’am. AUBREYWell, it’s very nice to meet you. Felix and Zee approach. AUBREY (CONT’D)And Felix!FELIXHey, mom. Aubrey hugs Felix, who grimaces.FELIX (CONT’D)I’d like you to meet Zee.AUBREY“Z”? Is that short for...?FELIXIt’s just Zee, mom. Two “E”s.Zee nods.23.AUBREYOh. Well, that’s unique. Nice to meet you, Zee. Come inside, everyone come in. They all file inside, Aubrey leading Tariq and Aimee in front of her, Felix following behind. Zee is the last one to go inside. She pauses before she does so, looking around the front yard and the barren trees that surround it. Nothing appears to be visible. Zee blinks slowly, then turns and goes inside.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - EVENINGAimee, Tariq and Felix are already in the entryway with Crispian, Erin, Aubrey and Paul, exchanging greetings. Aimee gives Erin a quick hug while Crispian and Felix clasp hands.CRISPIANIt’s good to see you, Felix. And Zee, always a pleasure. Zee smiles at Crispian and nods quickly. FELIXAnd you’re Erin.ERINThat’s right. Nice to meet you.Erin and Felix shake hands politely.FELIXYeah, good to finally put a face to your name. I’ve heard a lot about you from Crispian. All of it flattering. Erin smiles, blushing, and turns to Zee.ERINZee, right? I’m Erin.ZEEI know.Erin and Zee shake hands. Paul clears his throat.24.PAULWell, it’s good to finally have the whole family together again. Anyone want a drink? We’ve got wine.Felix and Crispian speak simultaneously. CRISPIANYeah, I will.FELIXI’ll take some wine. PAUL (CONT’D)Well. I’ll get right on that.Paul moves into the kitchen. Aubrey clasps her hands together. AUBREYIt’s just so great to see everyone! Dinner will be ready in less than an hour. I hope you’re hungry!Aubrey turns and follows Paul into the kitchen.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - EVENINGThe entire family - Paul, Aubrey, Crispian, Drake, Kelly, Aimee and Felix - and their guests - Erin, Tariq and Zee - sit crammed around a large dining table. The table is packed with food. A large window faces the front yard.DRAKEEverything looks great, mom. Aubrey beams.PAULYes, it does. So let’s get started. Paul bows his head. Aubrey, Aimee, Drake and Kelly immediately follow suit. Tariq looks around, then does the same. Crispian, Erin, Felix and Zee keep their heads upright. Felix and Crispian exchange a look. Crispian grimaces. Felix rolls his eyes.Paul speaks quickly.PAUL (CONT’D)Our dear heavenly father, we thank thee for this food. Feed our souls on the bread of life and help us to do our part in kind words and loving deeds. Amen. 25.Everyone raises their heads. Paul stands and begins serving out food. He turns to Zee, who is seated next to him. PAUL (CONT’D)Zee, would you prefer white or dark meat?ZEEI’m vegan. AUBREYYou are? Felix, you never told me that!FELIXI didn’t?Meanwhile, Drake and Tariq are engaged in conversation.DRAKESo, Tariq, what do you do? TARIQI’m a filmmaker.DRAKEOh? Anything I’ve seen? TARIQThere’s a series not far from here, the Cleveland Underground Film Festival. Did you go to that?DRAKENo, I guess I must have missed it. TARIQOh. I had a short film there last year.DRAKEAh. Have you ever thought about directing commercials?Aimee and Tariq speak simultaneously.TARIQI haven’t really-AIMEEHe doesn’t want to direct commercials, Drake. DRAKE (CONT’D)Okay, then. Before Tariq can continue, Drake turns away.26.DRAKE (CONT’D)Erin.Erin looks up, having not been paying attention.ERINYeah?DRAKEHow about you? Are you still in school?ERINYeah, this is my last year. I’m finishing my master’s. Tariq, distracted, frowns at something outside the window. Drake gestures at Crispian. DRAKEAnd are you two still working together?CRISPIANNo, Erin is no longer my T.A. We didn’t think it was appropriate. Erin and Crispian exchange a smile.DRAKE(nodding)Yeah, probably not too professional.Crispian turns and sets down his fork. Tariq is still staring outside.CRISPIANWhat’s that supposed to mean?DRAKEWhat?CRISPIAN“Probably not too professional.” Something on your mind?DRAKENo, I mean, you said it wasn’t appropriate, and I agreed with you.CRISPIANI don’t think you’re in a position to be judging my moral decisions.27.PAULNow, boys...AUBREYCan’t we have a dinner without you two arguing?Felix takes a drink of wine. Ignored by everyone, Tariq rises and moves over to the window.DRAKEI’m not going to rise to the bait on that. I was just agreeing with you. That’s all. CRISPIANOkay, fine. Let’s drop it. DRAKEFine.TARIQHey. What is that guy doing?Everyone looks over at Tariq, who is standing in front of the window. At that exact moment, a short crossbow ARROW smashes through the glass pane of the window and HITS TARIQ SQUARE IN THE FOREHEAD. Aimee gasps. Tariq takes a step back, then turns to face the family. There is an arrow sticking out of his head. BLOOD is flowing down his face.Everyone is silent, in shock. Tariq, his eyes looking upward, reaches up tentatively to touch the arrow that is protruding from his forehead. His fingers almost reach it, then he pitches forward. As Tariq drops, the arrow in his head hits the edge of the kitchen table, driving it FURTHER into his brain.Beneath the dining room table, Tariq’s face IMPACTS THE FLOOR, JAMMING the point of the arrow out through the back of his SKULL.Everyone stares at Tariq’s corpse. Felix is the first to move. FELIXHoly fuck!Felix leaps out of his seat as another arrow CRASHES THROUGH THE WINDOW and EMBEDS ITSELF in the back of Paul’s chair with a THUNK. 28.Yelling with surprise, Paul throws himself to the floor. Suddenly, the room is SCREAMING PANDEMONIUM as everyone tries to get away from the windows. All the family scramble in different directions, running to the side and crawling along the floor. THREE MORE ARROWS fly into the room in quick succession as everyone flees. Two of them hit the wall, and the third sticks into DRAKE’S SHOULDER as he runs into the kitchen. He is the last to leave the dining room. Drake hits the entryway floor and skids across the linoleum. Everyone is suddenly quiet, staring around. Aimee, huddled on the entryway floor, shrieks:AIMEEWhat the fuck is happening?!Everyone is quiet for a moment in the darkness. Aubrey, somewhere in the front room, calls out:AUBREYNine-one-one!Everyone fumbles for their cell phones. ERINI don’t have a signal.Crispian squints down at his smartphone.CRISPIANMe neither, but that’s nothing new. Felix is squinting at his cell phone. Behind him, in the entryway, Kelly is tending to the wounded Drake.FELIXNothing.(to Zee)Zee, check your burner.Zee pulls out a disposable cell phone and checks it; no signal. ERINNobody has anything? PAULI had a full signal earlier today. How is this possible?29.FELIXThey must be using a jammer. PAULWhat? FELIXA cell phone blocker. They’re illegal, but you can get a battery-powered one off the internet for about thirty bucks. Usually the portable ones have a maximum range of a few hundred feet.Everyone looks outside. Nothing is visible through the windows. It is quiet all down the dark street. AUBREYI don’t think we should go out there. PAULIf it’s some signal blocking device, all we’d have to do is make it down the road.AUBREYYou don’t know that! A tower could be down in this area or something! That happens! We’re not even sure what’s going on! Maybe it’s just some accident!Paul looks at Aubrey. She is quiet. FELIXWe parked in the driveway. We’re blocking you in, but it’s not that far. AIMEETariq has the keys.Everyone looks down at Tariq’s corpse.Crispian clears his throat. CRISPIANWe’re not blocked in. The drive’s not that far. I think I could make it. Erin looks outside. Nothing is visible. ERINWhy would anyone do this?30.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSIn the entryway, Kelly and Zee are kneeling next to Drake. Drake is examining the arrow in his shoulder. KELLYShould we pull it out? DRAKEYes! ZEENo, that’s a bad idea. You’re not supposed to remove anything sharp before you get to the emergency room. You don’t know what kind of tendons or veins could be caught up in there. Drake looks down at the arrow in his shoulder. DRAKESo I just have to leave it like that? ZEEWe could clip the end off with shears or something. DRAKEDo you have any?Zee is silent.KELLYAre you in a lot of pain?Drake looks at her incredulously. Kelly reaches into her purse and pulls out a prescription bottle. Drake nods and she taps out one pill. Drake holds his fingers up: two. Kelly shakes her head. Drake frowns and points at the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Kelly shrugs and pours out another pill. She hands Drake the two pills. He dry swallows them.DRAKEThanks. 31.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSBack out in the living room, Crispian has moved over to Erin. Paul is looking around. Aubrey is quietly crying.CRISPIANDo you think they’re gone? Maybe it was just a drive-by thing.ERINCould be. PAULWho can run fast? Get out to a car? CRISPIANI’m pretty fast. DRAKENo, you’re not. Crispian looks over at Drake, in the entryway.CRISPIANYes, I am.DRAKENah. I’m probably the fastest runner, but not with this thing in my shoulder.CRISPIANWhat does your shoulder have to do with your legs? DRAKEYou move your arms when you run, Crispian. Which you’d know if you’d ever jogged farther than the distance from your couch to your refrigerator.CRISPIANI’m not fat anymore, Drake! I haven’t been fat since the eighth grade!DRAKEWhatever. (to Zee)Wait, what?ZEE(confused)What?32.DRAKEDid you say something?ZEENo.DRAKEHuh.ERINI’m pretty fast. AIMEEMe too. Everyone looks at Aimee. She swallows. She is staring at Tariq’s corpse. AIMEE (CONT’D)I do two hours on the elliptical every day. DRAKEShit. That beats me. Go for it. PAULAimee, you’d just have to get to your car. Our neighbor Erik is staying at his house, just a little ways down. It’s the only other house on the street. If you drive there, I’m sure he’s got a phone that works, and you can call the police. Do you think you can do that?Aimee exhales. AIMEEProbably.The sound of a WINDOW SHATTERING comes from the LIBRARY. Everyone starts. Erin reaches for a broken shard of a plate on the floor and rises to her feet, facing the back room.PAUL(urgently)Aimee. Go!Aimee nods, lowers her head, and MOVES. Aimee races through the front room, DROPS TO A KNEEL by Tariq’s body, and takes the KEYS from his pants pocket. She then rushes for the entryway.33.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSAs Aimee races into the entryway, Felix quickly moves to one side of the front door. He nods anxiously as Aimee moves towards him. Felix yanks the door OPEN. Without hesitating, Aimee SPRINTS past her brother, into the open doorway. As soon as she leaps over the threshold, she comes to a sudden stop. Aimee stands unmoving in the front doorway. Only her silhouette is visible from inside the house.Paul, Erin and Aubrey have all moved forward, into the entryway. PAULAimee?Aimee makes a small noise. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSA THIN PIECE OF PIANO WIRE has been strung horizontally across the front doorway of the Davison mansion and coated with shoe polish. It is EMBEDDED in the front of Aimee’s NECK, halfway back to her spine.BLOOD GUSHES down the front of Aimee’s body. Aimee, dying, tilts her head back and drops. Blood sprays upward.The wire gives off a low bass note as Aimee’s neck falls free from it. Aimee’s body falls. Her head lolls to one side, exposing its arteries. Blood sprays out, soaking Aubrey’s shoes.Paul leaps for Aubrey, quickly covering her eyes with his hands, but he is too late. She SCREAMS once, quickly, then begins breathing shallowly, hyperventilating. Erin looks away from this, then begins moving towards the library. She glances down at the shard of porcelain in her hand, then tosses it to the carpet, crossing quickly to the fireplace rack. Erin takes the same FIRE POKER that Paul carried and hefts it, stepping towards the library. 34.CRISPIANWhat are you doing?ERINQuiet.Erin, holding the fire poker in one hand, walks quietly towards the library. Crispian follows Erin. She glances back at him, then continues forward. In the entryway, Aubrey can be heard SOBBING. INT. DAVISON MANSION - LIBRARY - CONTINUOUSErin steps into the library. One of the windows is SHATTERED. Broken glass litters the floor. Erin looks down at the broken glass. ERINNo one came in. CRISPIANWhat? ERINThey’re trying to make us do something stupid. They’re trying to make us run. She turns to face Crispian. ERIN (CONT’D)We need to board up all of the doors and windows. Right now they’re outside. We’re inside. We keep them outside.CRISPIANUm. Okay. Erin turns and quickly strides out of the room. Crispian, looking shaken, follows her. They head for the stairs to the second floor.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATERErin strides from room to room upstairs, LOCKING THE WINDOWS. Crispian follows her, assisting as needed. Erin walks down the upstairs hallway, taking out her cell phone. She begins rapidly punching buttons.35.CRISPIANWhat are you doing? ERINSome places, if you text nine-one-one, they get it as a voicemail. If you even have one bar, you can send a text.Erin finishes typing “13 Edelweiss Dr - two dead - help please.” She hits “SEND.”Erin starts to pocket her phone when it BEEPS. She lifts it to peer at the screen, which bears an error message reading: “SENDING FAILED. TRY AGAIN?”CRISPIANThose things are useless.Erin exhales. ERINI’ll have it keep trying.Erin hits the “SEND” button again, pockets her phone, and moves quickly for the stairs. Crispian follows her. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - MOMENTS LATERErin hurries down the stairs, into the entryway. She addresses Paul. ERINThe second floor looks clear. We should get her up there. And Drake, we need to take care of his shoulder. Drake and Felix are pulling Aimee’s body away from the front door so they can close the front door. Neither of them look directly at her corpse as they do so. Felix moves across the front room quickly and pulls the tablecloth off the dining table. He comes back into the entryway and drapes it over Aimee’s corpse, covering her from sight. Paul, seated next to Aubrey on the floor, nods at Felix. PAULThank you.Felix nods stiffly. Behind him, Drake locks the chain on the door.36.DRAKEMy shoulder’s fine. ERINAre you sure? Drake reaches up and taps the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Everyone else winces; he doesn’t react. DRAKEYeah, totally.ERINOkay. We should cover up the windows. Paul rises to his feet, helping Aubrey to stand. Paul looks suddenly much older. PAULThank you, Erin. ERINSure. We’re all going to get out of this. Paul moves past Crispian and Erin on the stairwell, helping Aubrey with each step. Aubrey appears practically catatonic. Crispian is looking at Erin strangely. CRISPIANI’ve never seen you act like this before.ERIN(shortly)It’s a unique situation. Erin moves down the stairs. FELIXI think someone should make a run for the cars. ERINNo. That’s a bad idea. FELIXAre you sure? We need to call the police. Besides, whoever did this is probably gone, right?ERIN(shrugs)You can try it. 37.
(MORE)I’m going to stay in here. Lock this place up until the police come by. In fact, we should hang a sign out an upstairs window so they can find us. “S.O.S.” or something.CRISPIANGood thinking. I can pull a sheet off a bed upstairs. Crispian heads upstairs. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSPaul helps Aubrey over to their bed. She allows him to lie her down and pull the covers up over her. Paul sits down on the side of the bed, looking down at Aubrey. She watches him.PAULI’m sorry. I don’t know what’s happening. Aubrey nods slightly.PAUL (CONT’D)Stay up here. You’ll be safe. AUBREYStay with me. PAULI can’t. I have to take care of our kids. But I’m going to lock the door, okay? It’ll be locked from the inside. Aubrey nods. Paul rises to his feet and moves to the door. PAUL (CONT’D)Try to get some rest. Paul switches off the light to the room. He turns the key on the inside of the door’s lock, steps out of the room, and rattles the doorknob from the outside, to make sure that it is locked. Aubrey lies still in bed in the dark room. The sound of Paul moving down the stairs is just audible. Aubrey begins softly crying, using her pillow to muffle her sobs. 38.ERIN (CONT'D)There is a sound from somewhere in the room. Aubrey abruptly stops crying. Aubrey stays very still, frozen, listening. The sound does not come again. Aubrey turns her head, looking around. At the foot of her bed, a figure RISES UP in the darkness, that of a LARGE MAN. The man is dressed in black and is wearing a cheap, plastic ANIMAL MASK that covers his face, that of a FOX. He straightens, standing at the end of the bed. He is holding a MACHETE. Aubrey stares, paralyzed with terror. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - GUEST BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSCrispian is stripping the sheets off the bed that he slept in. A brief SCREAM comes from nearby on the floor, Aubrey’s voice. The scream is abruptly cut short. Crispian stands still for a moment, frozen. Then he hurries for the door. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSPaul, Drake, Kelly, Zee and Felix are engaged in piling furniture in front of the large windows in the living room. They all stop when they hear the noises upstairs. FELIXThat sounded like mom.They all rush for the entryway. INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUSErin is in the kitchen, locking the windows. She has a sharp kitchen knife tucked into the back pocket of her jeans. 39.Erin LOCKS one window, moves to the kitchen’s other window, and finds herself face to face with a man wearing a TIGER MASK who is standing outside the window. He stares in at her. In a swift movement, the tiger-masked man punches his gloved fist through the window, SHATTERING THE WINDOW from the outside.The tiger-masked man reaches through the window and GRABS ERIN’S HAIR. He yanks Erin’s head forward, as if trying to cut her throat on the BROKEN GLASS jutting up from the window frame. Erin jams the BLADE of her KNIFE up through the tiger-masked man’s forearm. The blade comes out of the top of his arm, jammed between the radius and ulna bones. Erin spins and SLAMS the exposed blade into the wall, PINNING THE MAN’S ARM to the inside kitchen wall. The tiger-masked man, the rest of his body outside the house, HISSES QUIETLY in pain. Erin spins away and runs into the kitchen. She throws open two drawers before she sees what she wants: A LARGE MEAT CLEAVER. Erin grabs the meat cleaver and turns back towards the broken window. The tiger-masked man is GONE. The knife is now missing from the wall, though the paint on the wall is wet with blood from where he pulled his arm away.Erin stands, holding the meat cleaver, breathing heavily. INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGCrispian is trying to open the door to the master bedroom, which is locked. Drake and Kelly come running up the stairs behind him, followed by Paul, Felix and Zee.CRISPIANIt’s locked. DRAKEMove over. 40.Drake kicks the door twice, near the doorknob. The door begins to crack. He kicks it again and the DOOR FLIES OPEN. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSDrake’s momentum carries him into the bedroom, where he freezes with shock. Aubrey is lying on the bed, the MACHETE PROTRUDING FROM HER HEAD at an angle. Blood is everywhere.On the wall above Aubrey, the words “YOU’RE NEXT” are written in blood.The room’s window is open. The curtains billow in the breeze.Drake stumbles back, turning away, staggering out into the hallway. Felix, Zee and Paul all crowd past him. PAULNo. No. Felix moves to his father, turning him away from Aubrey’s body. INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGKelly remains out in the hallway. Drake stumbles past her.KELLYWhat is it? DRAKEShe’s dead.Drake shakes his head and moves past Kelly, down the stairs. A moment later, Crispian and Felix come out of the room, carrying their father between them. Felix’s face is streaked with tears. Zee follows the men out of the bedroom. She stares at Kelly. ZEEThey must have got in through the window. Zee shakes her head, then hurriedly follows everyone else downstairs. 41.Kelly starts to follow Zee, then looks into the bedroom. She frowns. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSKelly considers the open window in the bedroom. She crosses over to it. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - CONTINUOUSKelly sticks her head out of the open window and looks down. It’s about a ten foot drop from the window to the ground. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSKelly pulls her head back into the room and shuts the window. She looks over at the bedroom’s closet door. Kelly walks over the bedroom closet and pulls it open. The closet is dark, filled with clothes on hangers. Kelly pushes the clothes to the side, revealing the back wall to the closet. She turns away, looking around the room, then glances at the bed. Kelly crouches down to the floor and lifts up the blankets to look under the bed. The masked face of the FOX-MASKED MAN STARES OUT AT HER from under the bed, his eyes wide and crazed through the mask’s eyeholes. He LUNGES OUT FOR HER. Kelly SCREAMS. INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUSErin is emptying a bottle of VEGETABLE OIL into a pot on the STOVE when Kelly’s scream comes from upstairs. Erin looks up. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSDrake, Crispian and Felix are all leaning over Paul, who is sitting in a chair, holding his chest. Zee stands behind them. 42.Drake reacts to Kelly’s scream. DRAKEKelly?A moment later, Kelly appears on the stairwell, racing down the steps, still SCREAMING. Kelly rushes past them. She runs straight to the front door, flings it open, and RACES OUTSIDE. Kelly, shorter than Aimee, ducks neatly under the piano wire and continues running out into the yard, out of view.DRAKE (CONT’D)Kelly!Drake races after Kelly. When Drake reaches the doorway, Drake ducks down low to avoid the piano wire. Instead, the ARROW protruding from his shoulder CATCHES the side of the doorway, stopping his momentum. Drake spins and falls to the floor with a HOWL OF PAIN. DRAKE (CONT’D)Goddamnit!Drake reaches up and, in a furious movement, RIPS THE ARROW OUT OF HIS SHOULDER. Drake stares down at the arrow in his hand for a moment, as if realizing what he just did. Blood GUSHES from the torn wound in his shoulder. DRAKE (CONT’D)Whoa.Drake falls back onto the floor, PASSING OUT, still holding the arrow. Erin, Zee, Crispian and Felix all turn and look up the stairs in the direction Kelly came from. The upstairs hallway is silent and dark.Paul is staring blankly in the other direction, at the open door, where Kelly just ran out.PAULWasn’t that door locked?43.Everyone turns to look at the open front door. EXT. EDELWEISS DRIVE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSKelly runs down the street, moving with remarkable speed. She does not look back. As Kelly speeds down the street, a MASKED FIGURE is briefly visible running through the trees near the road, on a parallel course to her. Kelly immediately comes to a complete stop. She stares over at the trees. No one is visible. Kelly looks around the dark road as if suddenly realizing how exposed she is. The sky is overcast and the woods around her are black.A breeze moves the branches of the trees around her. In the distance up ahead, Erik Harsen’s car is visible parked in front of his house. The lights are on inside the house, shining out onto his yard.Kelly begins running towards Erik Harsen’s house. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSCrispian slips the locks back on the front door. ERINWait.Crispian turns to look at her. Everyone is gathered in the entryway. Zee is holding a bloody rag to the unconscious Drake’s shoulder. ERIN (CONT’D)Kelly just made it out there. Nothing stopped her. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe we should just run for it. We can all make it to a car at the very least. Crispian exhales, nodding. CRISPIANI’ll try it. You guys stay in here. ERINNo. I’ll go with you. Crispian shakes his head. 44.CRISPIANWe’ll need to carry Drake, and dad... dad can’t run right now. I’ll bring the car around, right up to the front door. Then you, Felix and Zee help dad and Drake out. Make sense?Crispian looks at Erin. Hesitantly, she nods.ERINBe careful. Here.Erin hands Crispian the meat cleaver she has been holding. He hefts it. CRISPIANI’ll be right outside. Only a few feet away.Crispian gives Erin a reassuring smile. She returns the smile weakly. EXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT LAWN - CONTINUOUSKelly runs up the front lawn to Erik Harsen’s house. She immediately tries the front door; it is LOCKED. Kelly hits the doorbell, then HAMMERS ON THE DOOR. KELLYHelp! Help me!ROCK MUSIC is faintly audible from within the house.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - CONTINUOUSCrispian emerges from the front door of the Davison vacation house. Through the doorway, Erin and the others can be seen watching him. Crispian exhales, then runs for his car, parked right in front of the house, at the curb.He races across the lawn, reaches the car, and runs around it, to the driver’s side. Crispian tries the door. It is locked. He fumbles for his keys, unlocks the door, and quickly climbs inside. 45.INT. CRISPIAN’S CAR - EVENING - CONTINUOUSCrispian slams the door shut after him and quickly locks it. He looks around quickly, checking the car’s mirrors; no one can be seen anywhere outside. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSThrough the front windows, Crispian is just barely visible in the front seat of his sedan. Erin and the others watch him. Zee and Felix are holding hands. INT. CRISPIAN’S CAR - EVENING - CONTINUOUSBreathing rapidly, Crispian inserts his car key into the ignition and TURNS IT. Nothing happens. Crispian tries it again, cranking the ignition. Nothing. The car is silent. Crispian looks up at the house. EXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT LAWN - CONTINUOUSKelly continues POUNDING on the front door of Erik Harsen’s house for a moment. Getting no response, she runs a few feet over, to peer into the front windows. From her angle, Kelly cannot see the sofa in the front room. But she can hear the MUSIC louder. Kelly turns and runs to the side yard, heading to the rear of the house. EXT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BACKYARD - CONTINUOUSKelly sprints up to the glass doors that face the house’s backyard and tries to open them; they are locked. Inside, Kelly can now see Erik Harsen on the couch. He is still, his face turned away from her. She pounds her fists on the glass.KELLYHey! Help me!46.Erik does not move. Kelly turns around, her hands open, as if looking for something to break the glass doors with. She finds herself face to face with a MAN WEARING A LAMB MASK, standing right behind her in the backyard.The man steps forward and PUNCHES Kelly in the face, hard. She staggers back and SMASHES THROUGH THE GLASS DOORS, landing inside Erik Harsen’s house. INT. CRISPIAN’S CAR - EVENING - CONTINUOUSCrispian takes a breath, grabs the meat cleaver off the passenger seat, then quickly exits his car, running back to the house. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - CONTINUOUSCrispian runs through the dark front yard, ducks under the piano wire, and enters the house through the open front door.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSCrispian comes to a stop just inside the entryway, gasping for breath, still holding the cleaver. Erin quickly embraces him. They hold each other for a long moment while Crispian regains his breath.CRISPIANThe car won’t start. They did something to it. The battery. Or something. FELIX(nodding)Easy enough.CRISPIANI think it’s safe to assume the other cars are out. But.(to Erin)I didn’t see anyone else out there. Maybe Kelly... Maybe she got past them. It gives us a chance. ERINWhat do you mean?47.CRISPIANI’m going back out there. I didn’t see anyone. Maybe it’s over. Felix, Paul and Zee all look towards the stairwell leading up to the second floor. It is still dark and quiet. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I’m going to get to our neighbor’s house. As soon as I’m a distance away, I’ll try to make calls or text. You guys stay here. Keep each other safe. I’ll come back with the police.ERINAre you sure that’s a good plan?CRISPIANYes. I am.Crispian looks over at Felix. Felix frowns, but then slowly nods.INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - BACK ROOM - CONTINUOUSKelly skids across the wood floor of Erik’s back room on her back, surrounded by broken glass. Inside the house, the song on the stereo is booming.Kelly, dazed, rolls over and begins crawling towards where Erik is seated on the couch. She staggers to her feet. KELLYHelp... Help me...The lamb-masked man enters the house behind Kelly. He looks around the back room, then lifts a GOLF CLUB out of a bag propped against the wall. The song on the stereo comes to an end and repeats as Kelly limps into the front room.INT. ERIK HARSEN’S HOUSE - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSKelly stumbles over towards Erik. KELLYHelp...48.As Kelly moves in front of him, she can see that PART OF ERIK’S HEAD IS MISSING, as if the side of his forehead was lopped off by a blade. The front of his shirt is soaked with blood. Kelly stops, staring down at Erik’s corpse.The lamb-masked man RUSHES UP at her from behind, SWINGING THE GOLF CLUB into her head. The club impacts the side of Kelly’s face. She falls straight down into a GLASS COFFEE TABLE, shattering it. As Kelly impacts with the table, the CD player on the stereo begin SKIPPING, loudly repeating one glitchy, PERCUSSIVE SOUND. The lamb-masked man KICKS Kelly, rolling her over onto her back on the floor. She is unconscious. The man puts one foot on Kelly’s face, holding her head still. He switches his grip on the golf club, then SWINGS IT DOWN, like a genuine golf swing. The lamb-masked man swings the club down, AGAIN AND AGAIN. BLOOD SPATTERS the wall behind him. On his final swing, the man releases the club. It remains STANDING UPRIGHT, as if embedded deeply into Kelly’s skull. The lamb-masked man steps back, breathing hard. He regards the golf club for a moment, then turns and EXITS THE HOUSE, walking out through the shattered back door.INT. DAVISON MANSION - DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUSErin pulls Crispian into the dining room, where they are alone. ERINDon’t go. I’m serious. Crispian gently holds Erin away from him to look at her.CRISPIANNothing’s going to happen. ERINYou don’t know that. What if...Erin trails off, as if unwilling to articulate her thoughts. Crispian smiles at her.49.CRISPIANI’ll be fine. Okay? Erin nods slowly. She does not look convinced.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I’m going now, while I have a good shot. I need to get help. This is our best chance.Erin swallows. Crispian leans forward and kisses her. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I’ll be fine out there. You just take care of yourself in here. Be safe. Stay close to Felix and Zee.Erin nods quickly. Crispian pulls Erin closer to him. They hold each other for a moment. Crispian whispers in her ear:CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I’ll come back soon, okay? I promise.Crispian draws back, Erin hesitantly releasing him. He leads her back out into the entry way, holding her hand. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSCrispian and Erin step back out into the entryway. Crispian moves for the front door. He looks back at Erin, smiles, then addresses the others. CRISPIANOkay. Everyone be careful. Crispian whacks at the piano wire in the doorway with the meat cleaver, SNAPPING IT, then runs outside. He turns, heading up the street, disappearing from view. Erin exhales, watching him go. She then steps forward and shuts the door.Erin wipes her eyes quickly on the back of her shirtsleeve, then turns to look at Felix, Zee and Paul, blinking. ERINNo point in locking it. We should just assume at least one of them is inside here with us at this point.50.Erin turns towards the stairwell leading upstairs. Paul follows her gaze, then looks back at her.PAULYou think the person who killed my wife is still in this house?Erin hesitates, then nods. ERINI think we should assume so, yes. Paul is silent. Erin turns to Zee, who is crouched over Drake, binding a torn piece of her shirt over his wound.ERIN (CONT’D)How is he?ZEELooks like the bleeding’s stopped.Erin turns to the dining room.ERINWe should move him into there. Hide him someplace safe. Zee nods. Erin, Felix and Zee take hold of Drake’s arms and begin pulling him into the dining room, leaving Paul seated in the entryway. INT. DAVISON MANSION - DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUSFelix, Zee and Erin drag Drake into the dining room. Erin looks over towards curtains that cover a window alcove.ERINThere.Erin, Felix and Zee manage to carry the prone Drake into the alcove. Erin pulls the curtains shut, obscuring his body from view. She turns to Felix and Zee.ERIN (CONT’D)What’s the best room for us to all be in?FELIXI don’t know. They all have windows. Except the basement.51.ERINBasement’s a bad idea. They could just pour gas down the stairs, throw in a match. We want a place with multiple points of exit.Erin nods to the front room.ERIN (CONT’D)We should stay in there.Felix and Zee stare at Erin. Erin looks towards the kitchen, as if remembering something. ERIN (CONT’D)Oh, speaking of. Erin exits the dining room. ZEEShe’s... interesting.Felix nods.INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUSErin walks quickly into the kitchen. The large pot of VEGETABLE OIL she created is BOILING RAPIDLY on the stove. Erin quickly switches off the burner, yanking her hand away to avoid getting splattered. She moves away from the stove. Erin looks up at the broken kitchen window and the patch of blood on the wall next to it. Erin considers it for a moment.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - MOMENTS LATERErin strides into the front room. Her arms are filled with CUTLERY and a METAL MEAT TENDERIZER MALLET. Felix and Zee are standing, having pulled Drake into the front room with them.ERINOkay, we should each carry a weapon. I’ve got-KELLY’S DEAD BODY SMASHES through the large windows to the side of Erin, as if thrown. 52.Kelly’s corpse hits Erin’s legs, KNOCKING HER into the dining table. The knives Erin was holding go FLYING everywhere. Erin falls beneath the dining table, her arms curled up to protect her head.The TIGER-MASKED MAN steps into the front room through the shattered window. He is holding an AXE. Erin, beneath the table, reaches for the closest KNIFE, in front of her. It is just out of reach. Just before Erin’s fingers can close around the knife, the tiger-masked man GRABS ONE OF HER ANKLES with his free hand and DRAGS HER OUT FROM UNDER THE TABLE. The knife slides from her grasp.The tiger-masked man pulls Erin out, exposing her. With a SNARL, he lifts the axe up, then BRINGS IT DOWN. Erin rolls onto her side. The blade SMASHES into the wooden floor, within inches of her head.The tiger-masked man snarls again with annoyance and YANKS THE AXE BACK, ripping it out of the floor.Erin rolls onto her back, lifts one leg straight up and KICKS the man IN THE GROIN.The tiger-masked man GRUNTS. In his moment of hesitation, Erin rolls to the side and grabs the METAL MEAT TENDERIZER MALLET off the floor.Lying on her side, Erin swings the mallet, HARD, into the man’s KNEE.The tiger-masked man HOWLS and LURCHES FORWARD, his kneecap audibly CRACKING. His head SMACKS DOWN on the dining room table.Erin quickly comes to her feet and grabs the man’s head, pushing it back down on the table. Holding him in place, Erin begins HAMMERING the side of the man’s face with the steel mallet, keeping him pinned to the table. Two blows with the spiked mallet take the flesh and skin off the man’s head, EXPOSING HIS SKULL. Erin’s third blow CAVES IN HIS SKULL. 53.Erin lets the man fall to the floor. She is breathing hard.Zee, cowering in the front room, looks pale and terrified. ZEEIs he dead?Erin leans down and grabs the man’s shattered head with BOTH HANDS. She braces her knee against his back, then pulls back his head, BREAKING HIS NECK. Without letting go, Erin removes the man’s tiger mask and lifts him up by his collar so that Zee and Felix can see his face. He is an average-looking man in his twenties. Erin is out of breath.ERINAnyone know this guy?Felix is standing behind Zee on the other side of the living room. They both shake their heads.FELIXThough it’s kind of hard to tell...Erin looks down at the man she is holding up. Half of his face is MISSING. ERINEh.Erin lets the man’s body drop and wipes her hands on her jeans. She looks down at Kelly’s dead body.There are now four corpses on the floor of the two adjoining rooms: Tariq, Aimee, Kelly and the tiger-masked man. Erin’s attention remains focused on Kelly.FELIXI’m sure Crispian is fine. Erin looks up at him. Felix is looking at Kelly.FELIX (CONT’D)Crispian’s a tough guy.ERINNo, he’s not. But thanks. And thanks for the help, by the way.54.Felix holds up his hands.FELIXHey. You seemed to have a handle on it. ERINYeah, don’t worry about it. I probably would’ve run if I were you. So that’s something.Erin moves into the living room.ERIN (CONT’D)Where’s your dad?Felix and Zee look around.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGPaul moves slowly from the upstairs hallway into the master bedroom. He is holding a KITCHEN KNIFE.INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - EVENINGPaul moves into the room with Aubrey’s body on the bed. He stares at it for a long time.Suddenly the LIGHTS IN THE ROOM GO OUT. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSThe lights in the entire house are abruptly dark. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSErin looks around the suddenly dark room. Felix is looking upstairs.ERINWhere’s the circuit box?FELIXI don’t know. I think it’s in the basement? Why don’t you look there. I’m going to go upstairs and try to find dad.Erin nods quickly. Felix exits the front room, followed by Zee.55.INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - EVENINGPaul turns to the light switch near the room’s door. He flicks it down, then back up. The room remains dark.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGPaul moves from the master bedroom out into the hallway. He opens a small closet door in the hallway. Inside the closet is a CIRCUIT BREAKER BOX. Its master switch is in the OFF position. Paul makes a noise, then flips the switch to ON. The lights in the hallway come on. Briefly, something is visible in the open doorway to the guest bedroom, QUICKLY MOVING OUT OF VIEW. The figure is dark, with a PALE FACE.Paul turns around in the hallway, slowly raising the knife in his hand. He moves in the direction of this bedroom.INT. DAVISON MANSION - GUEST BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSPaul moves into the guest bedroom, wielding the knife in front of him. The room appears empty, but the closet door is AJAR. Paul quietly walks to the closet door. He pulls it open. The closet is mostly empty. On the floor are a bunch of ENERGY BAR WRAPPERS and an almost empty bottle of water.Paul’s eyes widen as he sees this. Behind Paul, the door to the bedroom MOVES SILENTLY. The FOX-MASKED MAN steps out from behind it. Paul does not notice. He shifts some hanging clothes to the side, checking to make sure nothing else is in the closet. THE LIGHTS IN THE ROOM GO OUT. Paul spins around. He is alone in the dark bedroom. Paul hurries towards the hallway.56.INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT- CONTINUOUSErin makes her way through the dark basement, using a small FLASHLIGHT on her key chain to illuminate her path.Erin stops under a bare light bulb that hangs from the ceiling from a cord. She pulls on the chain attached the bulb. The basement remains dark.Erin shines her flashlight beam around the basement, searching the walls for anything resembling a circuit box. She frowns seeing nothing. Abruptly, the light bulb above Erin turns ON, illuminating the basement room. OMITTEDINT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGIn the dark hallway, Paul pushes the master switch in the circuit breaker box back to ON. As Paul does so, a DARK FIGURE quickly moves up behind him, silhouetted in the light. Paul spins around to face the figure, brandishing his knife. The figure behind him is FELIX. Zee is crouched behind Felix, also holding a knife, looking scared. FELIXWhoa, dad! Paul speaks quickly.PAULOne of them’s in the bedroom! They were here for days, watching us while we slept! This wasn’t a random attack.FELIXOkay, okay! Calm down.INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT - CONTINUOUSErin blinks in the sudden light of the basement, staring at the glowing light bulb above her with surprise. 57.Erin moves to exit the basement, then notices a TOOL BENCH against one wall in the lit basement room. Several tools are scattered across the bench. Erin quickly moves towards this. INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - EVENINGPaul continues speaking rapidly to Felix and Zee. A shadow shifts in the hall behind him. PAULDon’t you understand, Felix? Our family’s being targeted by someone. This isn’t-Felix, eyes wide, looks over Paul’s shoulder. Paul, seeing this, stops speaking. The FOX-MASKED MAN is standing right behind Paul in the hallway. Paul turns around, raising his knife, just as the man raises his MACHETE.The fox-masked man swings and SLICES the blade down into the side of Paul’s neck.Paul, dazed, takes a step back, and the blade SLIDES OUT through the front of his neck. BRIGHT RED BLOOD PAINTS THE WALL to Paul’s side. He stumbles and turns, SPRAYING FELIX in the face with the blood shooting from his severed carotid artery. Paul falls to the floor, his hands pressed to the side of his neck. Blood begins pooling from between his fingers. Felix stares down at the twitching Paul. He then looks blankly up at the fox-masked man. Felix’s face is covered with blood. FELIXReally? You had to do that right in front of me?The fox-masked man hesitates, then reaches up under his mask and removes an iPod earbud from one of his ears. Tinny, loud HIP HOP MUSIC is audible blaring from it.FOX-MASKED MANWhat?58.FELIXYou know what? Never mind.Felix looks back down at Paul. Paul is staring up at Felix, his eyes wide with horror. Paul’s mouth opens as if he is trying to speak but cannot. He reaches out with one hand to clutch at Felix’s pants leg, leaving bloody smears on Felix’s jeans. Felix quickly takes a step away. Paul’s hand falls to the floor. His fingers twitch, then he dies. Felix looks down at Paul’s still body, then quickly looks away. He slowly raises one hand to his face. Zee is watching him with wide eyes.ZEEYou okay?FELIXYeah, I... I just got blood in my eye, thanks a lot. I need to get washed up.Felix abruptly exits the hallway, heading into one of the bedrooms, leaving the fox-masked man and Zee facing each other in the hallway, Paul’s bloody corpse between them. The fox-masked man nods at Zee awkwardly. FOX-MASKED MANHey, Zee. ZEEHey, Tom.FOX-MASKED MANHow’s it going?Zee shrugs.INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT - NIGHTErin makes her way towards the basement stairs, now holding a SCREWDRIVER from the tool bench out in front of her like a weapon. Abruptly, FOOTSTEPS are audible above her head, like someone in boots walking slowly. The floorboards creak directly above Erin. Erin stops moving, listening.59.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSOn the floor above Erin, the lamb-masked man walks slowly from the entryway into the front room, carrying his CROSSBOW. The lamb-masked man looks slowly around the room. His eyes move over Tariq and Kelly’s corpses, then stop when he sees the dead body of the man who was wearing the tiger mask.The lamb-masked man slowly walks over to the corpse of the tiger-masked man. The lamb-masked man tucks his crossbow into a holster on his back. He kneels next to the tiger-masked man and gently touches his face, turning his head to one side, revealing the body’s shattered skull.A sound somewhere between a MOAN and a SOB emerges from behind the lamb mask. The lamb-masked man is still for a moment, then he SCREAMS with rage and grabs the tiger-masked man’s AXE up from the floor. Rising to his feet with a HOWL, he SMASHES the axe DOWN on the dining table, SPLITTING the table top in half. INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT STEPS - CONTINUOUSErin is crouched on the basement steps, just outside the closed door leading up the first floor of the house. She can hear the sounds of the lamb-masked man SCREAMING AND SMASHING from the other side of the door. A few miscellaneous objects are nearby Erin, including a kite and some string. She tightly grips the screwdriver she is holding, her knuckles white.A warded lock keyhole shines a thin ray of light onto Erin’s wide eyes, but she can see nothing outside. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSThe lamb-masked man, still SCREAMING, storms into the entryway, wielding the AXE. With a muffled HOWL, he swings the axe blade into a lamp, SHATTERING IT.60.The lamb-masked man abruptly goes silent, breathing heavily, his shoulders heaving as he holds the axe in both hands. He lowers his head as if listening for something. INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT STEPS - CONTINUOUSErin, still positioned just inside the basement door, is quiet, holding her breath. Outside the door, the sound of the lamb-masked man’s panting is just barely audible.Erin, frowning, peers out through the keyhole. Immediately, the lamb mask FILLS ERIN’S VISION. The lamb-masked man is on the other side of the keyhole, staring in at her. His visible eye is wide and insane. Erin and the lamb-masked man both SCREAM at the same time. His scream is one of fury. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSThe lamb-masked man grabs onto the doorknob with one hand and tries to yank the basement door open. Encountering resistance, he SNARLS WITH RAGE. INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT STEPS - CONTINUOUSOn the other side of the door, Erin has the doorknob grasped with both hands, one knee raised and BRACED against the door frame.Erin strains with all her physical power, keeping the door shut. The next moment, the AXE BLADE BURSTS through the wooden door, directly in front of Erin’s face. She SCREAMS again.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSThe lamb-masked man is CHOPPING into the basement door, swinging the axe again and again, creating a hole in the door’s center. Erin’s face is visible through the hole. She is still SCREAMING. 61.Behind the lamb-masked man, Drake stumbles out from the dining room, holding his bloody shoulder and looking confused.The lamb-masked man does not notice Drake. Drake regards the man’s back, hazily watching him chop into the basement door. DRAKEHey.The lamb-masked man stops, turns and looks at Drake. Drake, for the first time, sees the man’s mask.Drake takes a slow step away. He holds up one hand. DRAKE (CONT’D)Whoa.The lamb-masked man is entirely focused on Drake now. He takes a step towards Drake, raising his axe. Drake takes another step backward, stumbles and FALLS onto his back, trying to scramble away. The lamb-masked man moves quickly to stand over Drake, lifting his axe. The basement door swings open and Erin rushes out, the SCREWDRIVER thrust in front of her. She stabs the point of the screwdriver into the lamb-masked man’s BACK, above his holstered crossbow. She jabs the screwdriver in deep, leaving it sticking out of his back. With a roar of pain and surprise, the lamb-masked man drops the axe, turns and KNOCKS ERIN DOWN with a flailing arm.The lamb-masked man spins, reaching behind his shoulder to grab the CROSSBOW on his back. He grasps the butt of the crossbow and tries to pull it up, then SCREAMS WITH PAIN. The screwdriver jammed between the man’s shoulder blades is PINNING THE CROSSBOW into its holster. Every time he tries to lift the crossbow, it CATCHES on the screwdriver handle. The lamb-masked man makes a noise like a SOB OF FRUSTRATION. He turns away from Erin to face Drake. Drake, rising shakily to his feet, has the AXE in both hands. He is facing the lamb-masked man. 62.The lamb-masked man stares at Drake, makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a snarl, then TURNS AND RUNS out through the front door, the screwdriver still stuck in his back. Drake and Erin stare at each other. Erin gets up off the floor, propping herself against the wall.Drake clears his throat, then gestures unhappily behind himself with the axe.DRAKE (CONT’D)I, um, I woke up in the dining room. ERINYeah, you blacked out. I put you there to hide you.DRAKEOh.(pause)Thanks?ERINYou’re welcome. Drake looks around the shattered entryway. Aimee’s body is on the floor, covered by the sheet.DRAKEWhere’s Kelly?Erin looks at Drake, then looks to the front room. Kelly’s body is lying on the floor near the window, blocked from sight by the wreckage of the dining room table. Erin stares at the table for a moment, then quickly looks back at Drake.ERINUm... We don’t know. DRAKEDo you think she got away? ERIN(awkwardly)I hope so. Drake slumps against the wall. He sets the axe down and grabs his shoulder. 63.DRAKEBut you don’t think so?Erin looks hesitant, again glancing in the direction of Kelly’s body.INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - CONTINUOUSErin begins to answer Drake, but is interrupted when Felix and Zee emerge on the stairwell.FELIXAre you guys okay? What’s going on? Erin and Drake stare at Felix. FELIX (CONT’D)We heard noises, so we stayed upstairs. What happened?ERINOne of them came in and attacked us. I stabbed him and he ran away. Felix blinks.FELIXYou stabbed him? ERINYeah. With a screwdriver.FELIXDo you think you might have killed him? ERINNo. It didn’t get past the muscle. It just hurt him. Was there anyone upstairs?FELIXWe didn’t find anyone. Whoever was there could’ve climbed out the window. ERINWhere’s your dad?FELIXHe, uh... He needed to lie down. Erin nods sympathetically. 64.ERINHe’s probably just as safe up there as he would be down here, honestly. We need to get together some weapons before they come back. ZEEHow many are there?Zee seems on the verge of panic.ERINWe shouldn’t make any assumptions, but there have to be at least two more of them. ZEEMaybe they’re gone. Maybe you scared them off.ERINMaybe. Let’s not count on it. I saw some tools we can use in the basement. Erin heads down into the basement, followed by the staggering Drake. Felix and Zee exchange a look. Felix shrugs. They head down into the basement, after Drake and Erin.INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT - NIGHTOnce at the bottom of the basement steps, Erin heads straight over to the tool bench, Drake stumbling behind her. As Felix and Zee come down the stairs, Erin gathers up some SCRAPS OF WOOD, mostly flat pieces. She also pockets a SCREW HOOK. ERINZee, can you help me with these? This is enough to get started. Erin hands the wood over to Zee, who holds it with both arms. Erin grabs a hammer and a box of THREE INCH NAILS from the bench. She addresses Felix and Drake. ERIN (CONT’D)Grab anything sharp or heavy that might make a good weapon. But don’t stay down here long. We need to be up where there are windows. 65.
(MORE)(to Zee)You come up with me.Zee follows Erin back upstairs, carrying the wood, leaving Felix and Drake alone in the basement. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - MOMENTS LATERUpstairs, Erin pulls the blanket that is covering Tariq’s corpse over so that it also covers Kelly’s bloody body. Blood immediately begins soaking through the blanket over Kelly’s head.Erin looks up. Zee, holding the wood in her arms, is watching her. Erin blinks.ERINDrake doesn’t need to see her like that. Here, give me one of those.Erin takes a piece of wood from Zee and braces it against the wall. She then hammers a nail all the way through the wood, so that the point protrudes from the other end. Erin looks up at Zee, who is still watching her intently. ERIN (CONT’D)See, like that. Just make sure the nail goes all the way through. ZEEOkay. Zee takes the hammer from Erin, looks at her, then gingerly takes a nail and hammers it through the wood. ZEE (CONT’D)Like that?ERINYeah, that’s good. Keep them a few inches apart, not too close together, but don’t leave any big spaces, either. Do as many as you can.Zee nods quickly, then hesitates. ZEECan I ask you something? How did you learn this stuff?ERINWhat do you mean?66.ERIN (CONT’D)ZEEYou’re good at fighting. I wouldn’t have expected that from just meeting you. ERINOh, well... I haven’t even told Crispian about this yet, but I had kind of a weird childhood. I, uh, grew up on a survivalist compound.ZEEYou grew up on a survivalist compound?ERINYeah.ZEE(thinking)That’s a good answer. ERINTo hear my mom tell it, my dad got kind of paranoid when I was born. He was convinced that the world was going to run out of resources in a matter of years. Not just oil and coal and the stuff everyone talks about, but like, food and potable water. He found a lot of guys who agreed with him, and we all moved out to some land in the outback. Basically, if things got too overpopulated even out there, he wanted me to be able to take of myself. I left for the States with my mom when I was fifteen, but I learned a lot beforehand. ZEEWow. That’s crazy. ERINYeah. I guess so.Erin shrugs and turns away. Zee stares after her. INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT - NIGHTDrake picks up a hatchet and tests the blade against his thumb. He sets it down, shaking his head.DRAKEToo dull.67.Behind Drake, Felix is looking around the tool bench, as if searching for something. He is wearing a pair of cloth WORK GLOVES.DRAKE (CONT’D)So Crispian’s gone, too? FELIXYeah. He ran out right after Kelly did.DRAKEBut no one’s heard anything from them? If they’re okay?Felix looks over at Drake as if puzzled. Drake is staring down at a rubber mallet in his hand.DRAKE (CONT’D)I think I should go looking for them. I can’t just wait around here, wondering if she’s okay.FELIXHuh? Kelly’s dead, man. Drake looks up and stares at Felix blankly. DRAKEWhat?FELIXKelly’s dead. They threw her body in through a window upstairs. She’s up there on the floor. You didn’t know that?Drake looks stunned. He puts a hand on the table as if to support himself. DRAKENo... I... Erin said she hadn’t come back...FELIXOh, um. Well, I guess that’s a matter of perspective. But her body’s definitely upstairs. She got killed. Erin was probably just trying to be nice about it.Drake just stares at Felix.DRAKENo. 68.FELIXYeah. Totally.Drake starts to speak, then his face crumples and he begins QUIETLY CRYING. He puts one hand over his face, sobbing into it. DRAKENo... Kelly...Felix regards Drake uncomfortably for a moment. He looks down at the work gloves on his hands awkwardly. FELIXHey, um, I’m sorry, Drake. Look... I thought you knew. I mean, I know you cared about her a lot...Drake looks up at Felix with sudden fury. His face is streaked with tears. DRAKEOh, and what would you know about that, you spoiled little shit? Have you ever loved anything else in your selfish life? If mom and dad-Drake abruptly stops speaking, grunting slightly. He looks down at his chest. Felix has STABBED DRAKE IN THE CHEST with a WOOD KNIFE. Blood flows out from around the blade.FELIXI’m sorry.Drake gapes at Felix. The wood knife is jutting out of his upper chest. Felix tries to yank the wood knife out to stab Drake again but encounters resistance; the blade is lodged in Drake’s ribs. Felix, with a SOB of frustration, grabs a METAL FILE off the table and JAMS THE SHARP END into Drake’s stomach. Drake is still standing, tearfully staring at Felix. He opens his mouth, gasping.DRAKEWhat-?Felix whimpers, running his hands over tools on the bench. 69.He begins GRABBING TOOLS AT RANDOM and STABBING DRAKE with them, leaving each tool imbedded in Drake’s flesh.Felix stabs Drake with SEVERAL MORE TOOLS, panting, his shoulders shaking. Drake stares down at the implements protruding from his chest. The front of his shirt is soaked with blood. DRAKE (CONT’D)Felix...FELIX(crying)Would you just die already? This is hard enough for me!Felix picks a wooden ICE PICK up off the table and PLUNGES IT into Drake’s chest, right over his heart.Drake looks down, snorts, and BLOOD BURSTS from his nostrils. He pitches back onto the floor and does not move.Felix turns away from Drake’s body and takes a long, slow breath. He carefully removes his bloody work gloves and looks at his clean hands, as if trying to regain his composure. Felix takes two deep breaths, then puts his hands over his face and starts WEEPING. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTIn the front room, kneeling by Tariq, Kelly and the tiger-masked man’s bodies, Erin is examining the floor beneath one of the windows. She has a dark CLOTH NAPKIN from the dining table in one hand.Behind Erin, Zee approaches, holding a board with nails driven through it. She wields the board in both hands, like a weapon. Zee moistens her lips with her tongue, looking at Erin’s back. Her hands are TREMBLING slightly.Erin turns back and glances at Zee. Zee stops moving.ERINYou finish that one?70.ZEE(faltering)Yeah.ERINCool. Might not be a bad idea to do at least one more. I’m going to go check on their father upstairs while you do that. When the guys come up, make sure they have some rope or something. ZEEI, um... You probably shouldn’t go up there. He might be sleeping. Erin, picking up the meat tenderizer MALLET from the floor, rises to her feet and moves towards the stairs. ERINI won’t wake him up. ZEEI’ll go up! I’ll do it!Erin looks back at Zee strangely. ERINIf you’re scared of being alone, Zee, go down and check on Drake and Felix. See what’s taking them.Zee hesitates, staring up at Erin. Erin’s expression softens.ERIN (CONT’D)Or you can come up with me if you want. But it’ll only take a second.ZEE(awkwardly)No. That’s okay. I’ll do another board. Erin nods and heads for the stairs. Zee stares after her, then crosses into the entryway, where she unlocks the front door.INT. DAVISON MANSION - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHTErin enters the upstairs hallway, holding the metal mallet. She immediately notices the dark patch of BLOOD on the wall and floor at the end of the hallway. Paul’s body is nowhere to be seen. 71.Frowning, Erin cautiously moves to the bloody end of the hallway, towards the master bedroom. She lifts her mallet in front of her.INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - EVENINGErin steps slowly inside the master bedroom. A thick trail of SMEARED BLOOD on the carpet leads within. Paul’s BODY is slumped facedown on the floor near the foot of the bed. Aubrey’s corpse is still on the bed, beneath the bloody writing on the wall. The machete is now missing from her head. Erin moves further into the room, staring.ERINJesus.Behind Erin, the fox-masked man appears in the bedroom doorway, machete in hand. The fox-masked man regards Erin as she slowly moves to check Paul’s body. Erin carefully rolls Paul over. His dead, glassy eyes stare up at her. Erin takes a step back, then turns around to face the FOX-MASKED MAN, who is still standing in the doorway, blocking her exit. Erin freezes. The fox-masked man takes a step forward, raising his machete.Erin looks down at the mallet in her hand, then looks at the fox-masked man and his machete. She THROWS HER MALLET at him. The mallet flips through the air and hits the fox-masked man IN THE FACE. He hunches forward with a yell of pain and surprise.Erin moves to run past the fox-masked man, but with an angry grunt, he straightens up and lifts his machete, again BLOCKING HER PATH. Erin hesitates, then turns around, takes two running steps and JUMPS OUT THE BEDROOM WINDOW, SMASHING THROUGH THE GLASS, her arms up to protect her head and neck. 72.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTErin falls through the air and LANDS HARD on the grass, broken glass raining all around her. She immediately goes into a ROLL to lessen her impact, coming up crouched on her feet. Erin sways for a moment, trying to catch her breath.A small group of trees line the outskirts of the house’s yard. Erin staggers towards these trees, LIMPING BADLY. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHTThe fox-masked man, standing in front of the broken window, watches Erin limp over to the trees and disappear into the darkness. He regards the ground beneath the window, as if thinking it over.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - SIDE YARD - NIGHTErin, reaching the shelter of the trees, quickly looks back at the broken window, where the fox-masked man is visible, framed by the bedroom’s light. Erin sees the fox-masked man turn away, disappearing from the window, exiting the bedroom. ERINShit. Zee. Erin looks down at her leg.A SHARD OF BROKEN GLASS is protruding from one of Erin’s thighs. ERIN (CONT’D)Ah. Fuck. Erin considers, then takes hold of the piece of broken glass. Moving slowly but without hesitation, Erin begins to PULL OUT the shard of broken glass. It is embedded deeply in her leg. An inch of bloody glass emerges, then another inch, before the pointed end of the shard is free. BLOOD FLOWS FREELY from the wound. 73.ERIN (CONT’D)Ha. Whoo.Erin lets the bloody piece of glass drop to the ground in front of her. She glances down at it, then stops. A BLOODY SCREWDRIVER rests on the dirt next to the base of the tree nearest to her. It is the same screwdriver that she stabbed the lamb-masked man with. Erin freezes. Slowly, she turns and looks behind her, into the darkness of the trees. Nothing is visible. Erin takes her keys out of her pocket. Her keychain is a SMALL FLASHLIGHT. Positioning her hand over the bulb of the flashlight so its light will not give her position away, Erin switches the light ON. She then slowly spreads her fingers apart, allowing a DIM RAY OF LIGHT to shine on the trees around her. The beam immediately falls upon the tall LAMB-MASKED MAN, who is standing between two large trees, watching her. He has his CROSSBOW loosely aimed at her. As soon as the light falls on his face, the lamb-masked man RAISES THE CROSSBOW, pulling its TRIGGER. Erin GASPS AND DUCKS DOWN QUICKLY, dropping her keychain. The trees and the lamb-masked man go dark. A CROSSBOLT BOLT IMBEDS ITSELF INTO THE TREE behind her, just over her head.The lamb-masked man snarls, reaching back into his holster for another ARROW, striding forward towards Erin.Erin turns and RUNS, towards the Davison mansion. Her wounded leg is not fully operational, and she drags it as she lurches towards the front yard.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTJust as Erin reaches the front door to the Davison mansion, the LAMB-MASKED MAN appears behind her, coming around the corner of the house, holding his now-loaded crossbow. He is also limping badly, clutching his lower abdomen with his free hand.74.Erin does not look behind her. She opens the front door, steps inside and slams it closed. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHTErin quickly locks the DEADBOLT on the front door, then turns around to survey the room.Zee, Felix and the fox-masked man are nowhere to be seen. Erin staggers into the front room. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - CONTINUOUSErin enters the front room, searching for something. Her eyes fall on the BOARDS WITH NAILS through them that Zee created. Two boards are resting on the floor. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTThe lamb-masked man reaches the front door, still carrying his loaded crossbow. He tries the front door. It is locked.With a GROWL of frustration, the man moves over to the shattered front room window. Inside, the room is dark. Nothing is moving within.The lamb-masked man can see the body of the tiger-masked man inside, on the floor. He stiffens at the sight of it.The lamb-masked man starts to step into the room, then looks down inside the window. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTA BOARD with NAILS STICKING UP out of it is resting on the floor, a foot or so away from the wall, right beneath the sole of the lamb-masked man’s shoe. It is plainly visible.The lamb-masked man stops moving and EXHALES, sighing, looking down at the board with nails beneath his foot. He adjusts his foot so that he is stepping straight down near the wall, where the floor is dark and shadowed. Nothing is visible there. He shifts his weight forward.The man’s foot comes down hard on the SECOND BOARD WITH NAILS, which is hidden under a dark cloth napkin just beneath the windowsill. The napkin draped over it disguises it completely from sight. 75.The nails sink deeply into the sole of his shoe, PIERCING UP THROUGH HIS FOOT and out through the top of his sneaker. As the nails STAB THROUGH his foot, the lamb-masked man’s FINGER involuntarily TIGHTENS on the TRIGGER of his crossbow. An arrow SHOOTS from the crossbow, straight into the HEAD of the tiger-masked man’s CORPSE a few feet away. It KNOCKS his head to the side, the arrow protruding from the side of his bloody forehead. The lamb-masked man, frozen, lets his empty crossbow fall from his hand. He tilts his head up to the ceiling. He takes a deep breath, then another. A soft WHINING NOISE OF PAIN comes from behind his mask.The man breathes for another second, then reaches down, gripping his leg. He slowly starts to pull it upward, off the nails. INT. DAVISON MANSION - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHTFelix, Zee and the fox-masked man are gathered around the broken bedroom window, looking outside.FELIXWell, she can’t have fucking gone far, right? We spread out now, search the backyards and streets. We’ll get her. A masculine SCREAM OF PAIN comes from downstairs. They all three exchange a glance. FELIX (CONT’D)Would you mind checking on that?The fox-masked man hesitates. FELIX (CONT’D)I believe this is what I’m paying for you for. The fox-masked man nods quickly and exits. Felix sits down on the bed, next to Aubrey’s dead body, his head in his hands. FELIX (CONT’D)What a fucking disaster. 76.Zee quickly straddles him on the bed, wrapping her arms around him, comforting. Felix, exhaling, returns her embrace, holding her tightly. Zee begins biting the side of Felix’s neck. Felix sighs.FELIX (CONT’D)I’m not really in the mood right now, Zee.ZEECome on. I can make it really quick.Zee, on top of Felix, lifts up her shirt. Small-chested, she is not wearing a bra. ZEE (CONT’D)I want to fuck you on a bed right next to your dead mom.FELIXWhat? No!Felix lifts Zee off of him and moves away to stand by the bed. Zee leans back against Aubrey’s legs.FELIX (CONT’D)Why would you even say something like that?ZEE(disappointed)You never want to do anything interesting. FELIXI... I don’t think that’s a fair criticism.Zee sits up eagerly.ZEEFuck me next to your dead mom, then!FELIXThis conversation is over. Felix exits the room. Zee, sitting on the bed, despondently rubs at the crotch of her jeans for a moment, then gives an exasperated sigh. She pulls her shirt back down and follows Felix out into the hallway. 77.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTFelix moves into the front room. The fox-masked man is helping the lamb-masked man pull the board with nails on it off of his foot. The nails slide out through the sole of the lamb-masked man’s shoe. He makes a hissing sound as the fox-masked man tosses the board aside. The lamb-masked man sits back on the floor with a moan of pain. He removes his sneaker and upends it. BLOOD POURS OUT onto the floor.FELIXWhoa, hey! Don’t do that. The lamb-masked man looks up at Felix.FELIX (CONT’D)You don’t want your DNA here, man.INT. DAVISON MANSION - DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUSErin is crouched behind the curtains in the dining room, listening. She is holding very still, breathing softly. Erin reacts to the sound of Felix’s voice, staring straight ahead in the dark.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTThe lamb masked man glares up at Felix, his eyes gleaming behind the mask’s holes.LAMB-MASKED MANI’ll clean it up later. Just like the rest of this fucking mess.Tossing his perforated sneaker to one side, the lamb-masked man rises, leaning heavily to keep his weight off his wounded foot. Felix walks forward into the room. Zee appears on the stairs behind him. FELIXYou say that like it’s my fault. The lamb-masked man grunts.78.FELIX (CONT’D)Listen, so we’re perfectly clear, I just had to kill my own brother because you guys keep getting beat up by some girl! I had to stab my brother! You were supposed to do that! And the police could be on the way here right now! Did you even take care of everyone outside?With a grunt of pain, the lamb-masked man takes a dragging step towards Felix. His eyes are fierce.LAMB-MASKED MANYou want to talk about brothers? The lamb-masked man points to the tiger-masked man on the floor. LAMB-MASKED MAN (CONT’D)That’s my brother, lying dead right there. And unlike you, I liked my brother. Felix takes this in, regarding the tiger-masked man’s corpse with vague curiosity. FELIXI’m sorry. I didn’t know that. I mean, I knew you guys served together. I didn’t know you were related, though.(pause)Did you shoot him in the head?In a swift movement, the lamb-masked man grabs Felix by the front of his neck and SLAMS him against the wall, holding him there.Felix struggles for breath. The fox-masked man steps forward as if to intervene, then stops when the lamb-masked man looks at him.The lamb-masked man returns his attention to Felix.LAMB-MASKED MANI’m just trying to think of reasons I shouldn’t kill you. Felix struggles to speak. Zee is watching this all take place with interest.FELIXPay... you... more...79.LAMB-MASKED MANWhat’s that? Felix cannot speak. The lamb-masked man releases him.Felix slumps forward, sucking in air. He gasps:FELIXYou kill me, you get nothing. You pull this off, I’ll give you four hundred thousand.The lamb-masked man regards Felix.FELIX (CONT’D)I was going to give you two, right? But you should have your brother’s share. That’s only fair. The lamb-masked man looks over at his dead brother. Felix speaks quickly. FELIX (CONT’D)Plus I’ll throw in an extra hundred. Each. If you can finish this. So that’s a half million for you. (to the fox-masked man)Three hundred thousand for you. I won’t be able to pay you until my inheritance comes through. But I’ll have it soon! We just need to finish this. The lamb-masked man looks over at the fox-masked man, who shrugs. FOX-MASKED MANWe’ve come this far. The lamb-masked man glances at Zee, who is watching silently, then jabs Felix in the chest with a finger.LAMB-MASKED MANYou two better be getting enough money to pay us.FELIXWould I be doing this if I wasn’t? The lamb-masked man nods and steps away. Suddenly, an electronic BEEPING noise comes from the DINING ROOM. Felix, Zee, and the two masked killers all turn to look in this direction of this sound.80.INT. DAVISON MANSION - DINING - NIGHTBehind the curtain, Erin fumbles frantically for her BEEPING cell phone, trying to silence it. She takes it quickly from her pocket. Its screen is glowing.A notice reads: “MESSAGE SENT.”Erin holds her breath, silently slipping her phone back into her pocket. She looks up. The curtains in front of her are YANKED OPEN. The FOX-MASKED MAN stands in front of Erin, staring at her. He is holding his machete in his right hand.Erin promptly PUNCHES the fox-masked man in the face, cracking his mask.FOX-MASKED MANOw!The fox-masked man takes a step back, startled, and Erin RUNS PAST HIM, fleeing the dining room. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHTErin runs around the fox-masked man, into the entryway. Felix, Zee and the lamb-masked man are all in the front room, staring at her.Without even glancing at them, Erin RUNS for the library. There is a moment of confused hesitation, then Felix runs after Erin.FELIXGet her!Zee and the fox-masked man follow Felix. The lamb-masked man also awkwardly gives pursuit, limping after the others. He reaches the entryway and picks up the AXE from the floor, headed for the library.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - BACKYARD - NIGHTErin runs from the back door in the library, onto the back patio, moving quickly. Once outside, Erin immediately turns and leaps through the shattered window of the front room, jumping back INTO THE HOUSE. She disappears from view within.81.A moment later, Felix emerges from the back door, followed by Zee and the fox-masked man. Not seeing Erin anywhere, they run into the darkness of the backyard in pursuit. Staggering slowly behind them, the lamb-masked man stumbles out onto the back patio, unable to put any weight on his wounded foot. He comes to a stop just outside the door, examining his injured foot and cursing softly.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSInside the front room, Erin has grabbed one of the BOARDS WITH NAILS driven through it. Gripping the board, Erin takes off running for the rear of the house.INT. DAVISON MANSION - LIBRARY - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSErin races through the entryway, into the library, where the lamb-masked man is standing out on the back porch. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - BACKYARD - NIGHT - CONTINUOUSThe lamb-masked man looks out into the darkness of the backyard. Felix, Zee and the fox-masked man are nowhere to be seen, searching for Erin in the distance.Hearing footsteps behind him, the lamb-masked man turns around. Erin is rushing towards him through the back door, raising the board with nails driven through it over her head.The lamb-masked man flinches in surprise.LAMB-MASKED MANHey, what-As Erin SWINGS THE BOARD DOWN at the lamb-masked man’s head, he raises one hand defensively.The nails in the board go through the palm of his hand and then down into his scalp, NAILING HIS HAND TO HIS HEAD. The lamb-masked man staggers back, dropping his axe, using his free hand to try to pry the board off his head and pinned hand. He drops to his knees on the porch, struggling to free his arm.82.Erin grabs the axe up off the floor. Straightening, she SWINGS IT SIDEWAYS.The blade hits the man’s exposed neck, DECAPITATING HIM.The lamb-masked man’s severed head falls forward, then SWINGS DOWN by his side as his arm extends, hitting the floor. His head is still attached to his hand by the board. The man’s body falls on its side, his free hand falling forward to land on top of his severed head. When he comes to rest, it looks like he is holding his lamb-masked, severed head in both hands LIKE A BALL.Erin blinks at this odd sight. She then turns and runs back into the house, carrying the axe. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATERErin rushes into the entryway. She yanks open the basement door and grabs the folded KITE inside, along with its spool of KITE STRING. Erin then takes a wooden chair and drags it over to the front door. She removes the screw hook from her pocket and begins DRIVING it into the ceiling right ABOVE THE DOOR.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTZee, Felix and the fox-masked man stand in front of the Davison vacation house, near the street, looking around for Erin. The entire road is dark and empty. FELIXThe cops could be driving here right now for all we know! What if they come across her running down the road?FOX-MASKED MANCalm down. FELIXWhy should I calm down? This entire situation’s out of control! We don’t even know what’s going on! FOX-MASKED MANTry to think positive, okay?(to Zee)83.
(MORE)You guys look out here. She’s hurt. She’s not faster than you. Stick to the road. If you don’t see her, head back here.Zee nods.FELIXWhere are you going?FOX-MASKED MANBack into the house to check on Craig and see if she doubled back on us. FELIXWhy would she do that?FOX-MASKED MAN(shrugs)It’s what I’d do.The fox-masked man turns away, towards the house.FELIXHey. Give us the crossbow. The fox-masked man turns back.FELIX (CONT’D)We don’t have any weapons.The fox-masked man looks down at the crossbow. He LOCKS A BOLT into it, then proffers it to Felix. FOX-MASKED MANYou know how to use this?Felix takes the crossbow, hefting it.FELIXI pull the trigger, arrow shoots. Right? FOX-MASKED MANYeah... Be careful with that. There’s two more bolts on the base there. That’s three shots, got it? You see her, you be sure to aim carefully.FELIXOf course.Felix takes off running down the street.The fox-masked man looks at Zee, who smiles at him and runs after Felix.84.FOX-MASKED MAN (CONT'D)The fox-masked man sighs and walks up to the house. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHTErin, standing on the chair, finishes tying a piece of string attached to the ceiling with a SLIPKNOT. She steps off the chair to admire her work. Using the hanging hole in the bottom of its handle as a fulcrum, Erin has SUSPENDED THE AXE FROM THE CEILING with kite string. The string is attached the door handle, then tied to the door’s deadbolt lock. The other end of the string winds up, looping from the blade of the axe to the ceiling’s light fixture. The base of the axe is held by the SCREW HOOK, and the back of the blade is braced with a BRICK. So that:If someone opens the front door, the slipknots will pull tight, come undone, and the weighted axe will swing down into their face. Erin smiles, satisfied at this set-up. She then looks towards the front room as the FOX-MASKED MAN steps in through the broken window. They stare at each other. ERINShit.Erin runs for the basement door. INT. DAVISON MANSION - BASEMENT - NIGHTErin races down the basement steps. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she grabs a LOG off a woodpile. In a swift movement, she swings it up towards the BARE LIGHT BULB hanging from the ceiling, BREAKING THE BULB. The basement goes completely dark. A moment later, the fox-masked man appears at the top of the basement steps, holding the FIRE POKER. He is illuminated by light from the hallway. The fox-masked man flicks the light switch on the wall, off and on. Nothing happens.85.He chuckles. FOX-MASKED MANI’ve got pretty good night vision, you know. Not a lot of streetlights out in the desert. Just the moon and the stars.The fox-masked man begins slowly making his way down the stairs, into the dark basement. He reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns to survey the dark basement, listening carefully. Suddenly, a PALE LIGHT FLASHES, briefly illuminating the room. Erin is standing on the other side of the room, holding out her DIGITAL CAMERA, using its FLASH to see. The light dies and the basement is dark again, except for the DIM LIGHT of the camera’s VIEW SCREEN. On the screen is the image of the FOX-MASKED MAN, on the other side of the room, facing towards Erin; the photo she just took. The fox-masked man, seeing the light of the camera screen and hearing motion behind it, CHUCKLES again. He cannot see Erin, but he can see the dim light moving slightly, then going still. He begins slowly making his way towards it.The camera FLASH GOES AGAIN. This time, the image on the screen is of the man’s MASKED FACE, right in FRONT OF THE CAMERA. With a YELL, the fox-masked man JABS THE FIRE POKER above the camera, where Erin’s face should be. Instead, he hits the WALL.A moment later, the fox-masked man GRUNTS as he is hit from behind.The FLASH goes again, filling the room with WHITE LIGHT.The camera is CLAMPED into a VISE on the TOOL SHELF. Its CAMERA TIMER is on, taking photos every ten seconds. The fox-masked man is on his knees. Erin, standing behind him, BRINGS THE LOG DOWN ON HIS HEAD. The room goes dark. The sound of WOOD HITTING FLESH comes repeatedly. 86.The camera flashes again. The fox-masked man is on the floor in a POOL OF BLOOD. His hands spasm, trying to protect his face.Darkness. More POUNDING. The camera flashes again. The fox-masked man’s face is a BLOODY PULP, smeared across the concrete floor.Erin is standing in front of the vise, reaching for the camera. Her face is SPATTERED WITH BLOOD. The room goes dark again as Erin audibly unlocks the vise, releasing her camera. Visible in the dim light from the screen, she makes her way for the stairs, panting from exertion. INT. DAVISON MANSION - ENTRYWAY - NIGHTErin emerges from the basement. She looks around. The house is quiet. Erin heads for the front room. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTReaching the front room, Erin picks up a knife from the floor. She then straightens and turns towards the window to climb outside. A CROSSBOW ARROW hits Erin in the SIDE OF HER CHEST, knocking her to the floor. EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTFelix is crouched in the front yard, aiming the crossbow. Zee stands next to him. They watch as Erin falls back inside the house, disappearing from view. Felix straightens up, looking grimly satisfied. FELIXHow about that? First try.Felix hands the crossbow to Zee. FELIX (CONT’D)Go make sure she’s dead, okay?87.Zee nods, grinning, as Felix heads over towards the rental car parked in the driveway. Zee walks through the front yard to the Davison vacation house, strapping ANOTHER BOLT into the crossbow. She reaches the broken front room window and looks inside.Erin’s body is NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. Tariq’s corpse is the only one on the floor. The tiger-masked man’s body is also missing; Zee does not appear to notice this.ZEEOh, you’ve got to be kidding me...(calling out)Felix! She’s alive!Keeping the crossbow in front of her, Zee steps through the shattered window, into the house.INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTAs Zee enters the front room, a distant NOISE comes from the kitchen. Zee aims the crossbow towards the entryway; nothing is there. Moving quietly, Zee walks into the entryway, towards the kitchen, her crossbow in front of her.EXT. DAVISON MANSION - DRIVEWAY - CONTINUOUSFelix is standing behind the rental car. Its trunk is open. He is holding a SIX-CHANNEL CELLULAR JAMMER, basically the size of clock radio. He tosses it back in the trunk.FELIX(muttering)What, seriously?Felix takes a BUCK KNIFE out of a bag, then slams the trunk shut. He walks back to the house, FLICKING THE KNIFE BLADE OPEN. INT. DAVISON MANSION - KITCHEN - NIGHTZee moves inside the kitchen, aiming the crossbow around. The kitchen appears empty. Zee’s eyes narrow, scanning the darkness. 88.From around the kitchen counter, the SILHOUETTE OF A BODY SLUMPS INTO VIEW, seated on the floor. The head turns, as if peering towards Zee. An ARROW VISIBLY PROTRUDES from the body’s chest. Zee smiles. She immediately takes aim and FIRES. The ARROW HITS the body in its head. Zee’s smile widens. The body slumps down onto the floor, now in clear view. Zee stops smiling. The corpse is that of the TIGER-MASKED MAN. Behind his dead body, Erin rises up from behind the counter, facing Zee. She is holding a MEAT CLEAVER.ERINHey, Zee.Zee quickly scrambles, trying to reload the crossbow. Erin rushes towards Zee, raising the cleaver. At the last moment, Zee realizes she cannot load the crossbow in time and raises it defensively, dropping the arrow to the floor. Erin swings the cleaver. Zee blocks it with the crossbow. The cleaver EMBEDS ITSELF in the wooden stock of the crossbow.Erin releases the cleaver and GRABS ZEE by her hair, dragging her further into the kitchen. Behind them, FELIX appears in the kitchen doorway, holding his knife. He sees the two girls struggling. FELIXHey!In a swift movement, Erin grabs the POT OF OIL off the stove and FLINGS ITS CONTENTS at Felix, splashing him and half the room with oil. Felix flinches, then stares down at himself. FELIX (CONT’D)Huh? It’s not hot anymore, you dumb bitch. 89.Felix takes a step forward, SLIPS ON THE OIL, and falls, catching himself on the counter. Zee HISSES, clawing at Erin’s face. Erin spins the pot around in her head on BRINGS IT DOWN on Zee’s head. Zee sprawls to the floor, sliding on the slick linoleum. Felix rises to his feet, raising his KNIFE. Erin swings a CABINET DOOR open, HITTING Felix with it, then grabs a JAR out of the cabinet and throws it at his head.Felix manages to duck. The jar hits the wall behind him and shatters. Zee leaps on Erin from behind. Erin bashes Zee’s head against the wall and lets her drop to the floor again. Felix’s KNIFE stabs down into Erin’s SHOULDER. He wrenches it out to STAB HER AGAIN in the same place. Erin grabs a GLASS BLENDER off the counter with her unwounded arm, spins and SMASHES IT on Felix’s head, breaking the glass.Felix slumps to the floor and Erin STABS HIM IN THE FACE with the broken, jagged glass of the blender’s top, jamming the BLADES OF ITS BASE into his head. Felix struggles. Erin grabs the blender cord and PLUGS IT into a wall socket. Erin stomps down on the bottom of the blender with her foot, holding it in place and pinning Felix to the kitchen counter. She reaches towards her foot and SWITCHES THE BLENDER ON. The blender’s blades SPIN, BLOOD GUSHING OUT around the glass as the blender DESTROYS FELIX’S SKULL.Zee, seeing this, rises up, SCREAMING, grabbing a ROLLING PIN. Still holding the blender in Felix’s head with her foot, Erin turns, wrenches the knife out of her shoulder, and STABS IT DOWN into the top of Zee’s head. Zee’s eyes roll up and she falls back to the floor, DEAD.Felix, seated on the floor with the blender drilling into his head, is also obviously DEAD. 90.Erin unplugs the blender from the wall and lets Felix fall to the floor, the blender still stuck in the remains of his face. Erin is soaked with blood. Blood flows from the wounds in her shoulder and chest. Covering her wounds with one hand, Erin starts to limp out of the kitchen. She is pale and looks faint.Erin stops moving when she hears a CELL PHONE RING behind her. Erin turns back towards Felix’s body. His cell phone is RINGING. Erin carefully kneels down and removes the cell phone from Felix’s jacket pocket. She flips it open and holds it to one ear. CRISPIAN’S VOICE comes from the phone.CRISPIAN (ON PHONE)Felix?EXT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT YARD - NIGHTCrispian, dressed as before, makes his way up through the front yard, towards the front room window of his family’s vacation house. He is talking into his smartphone.CRISPIANHey, Felix, is it all done in there or what? I saw that my signal came back. Is it over?Silence on the other end of the line. Crispian sighs.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Look, I know you’re pissed at me for not helping out. I just couldn’t do it, man. I told you this might happen. Crispian steps into through the front room window. INT. DAVISON MANSION - FRONT ROOM - NIGHTCrispian avoids the boards with nails on the floor, regarding them with confusion. He continues speaking into the phone. 91.CRISPIANJeez. What do you want me to say? The phone disconnects. Crispian looks down at it, puzzled.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Felix? Erin steps into the front room, holding Felix’s cell phone. In her other hand, she has a STEAK KNIFE. Crispian blinks, then breaks into a wide smile. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Erin! You’re okay!Erin says nothing. She lets Felix’s cell phone drop from her hand to the floor.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Um... Where’s Felix?ERINI stuck a blender in his head and killed him.CRISPIANOh. (pause)Okay...Erin sways on her feet, looking weak from blood loss. ERINI can’t believe it. You were in on it. Crispian shrugs weakly.CRISPIANCome on, baby. You do know how broke I am, right? ERINYou would have killed me. CRISPIAN(serious)No. That was never supposed to happen. Crispian takes a step closer to Erin. 92.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)You were supposed to be the witness. A person with a clean record who could attest that our parents and older siblings were murdered by unknown lunatics. It was, in fact, a very important part of my plan that you be unharmed. We needed someone with no motive to see what had happened here. Someone other than Zee, obviously.Crispian hesitates, looking around.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Where is Zee?ERINI killed her too. CRISPIANAh. Listen, I’m sorry things got out of control. How were we supposed to know that you were, um, really good at killing people? Which is actually sort of weird, by the way. If you’d reacted, well, normally, my parents and older siblings would have been killed, you would have been untouched, and I’d be rich. We’d be on our way to, like, a vacation in Paris.Erin regards Crispian with empty eyes.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)There is a silver lining here, by the way. I’m now the sole inheritor of my family’s estate, baby. We’re talking millions. Crispian takes another step forward, now arm’s length from Erin. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Look, regardless of, like, us, or whatever happens with us, it would be insane to throw that away. Crispian gestures around at the dead bodies that surround them. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I mean, look at all that would be wasted. Erin stares at him.93.ERINEven if you hadn’t meant to kill me, you must have known, I could have died.CRISPIANI could have died, too! Erin blinks. Crispian reaches out, hesitantly, and puts his hand on Erin’s uninjured shoulder. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)I understand it might take awhile to make this up to you. But in the meantime, I know you’ve got your student loans. How would five hundred thousand dollars go towards fixing that problem? You could quit your bartending job, just study full-time. You know you hate that job.Erin just stares at Crispian. He shakes his head. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)You could have five hundred thousand within the month. Or I go to jail, and you get nothing. You go back to counting every penny. And what does that get you? The damage is already done. You’re okay, baby. You’re alive. That’s what matters.Erin looks down at herself. She is covered with blood, most of it hers. Crispian nods quickly.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)You’re right. You got involved. You should have at least a million. At least. Tell me what you need. But you could have one million dollars. Think of what that would mean.Erin looks up at Crispian and smiles. Not recognizing the strangeness of her smile, Crispian smiles back. CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Hey. I promised you I’d come back, didn’t I? I always keep my promises, baby.In a quick motion, Erin raises the steak knife and STABS CRISPIAN in the side of his neck. Crispian clutches his neck, BLOOD GUSHING out around his fingers. He falls forward, to his knees, staring up at Erin.94.Erin raises the bloody knife. Crispian tries to speak.CRISPIAN (CONT’D)Why...?ERINWhy the fuck not?Erin stabs Crispian again, this time in the eye, PIERCING HIS BRAIN. Blood BURSTS from Erin’s RIGHT SHOULDER with the SOUND OF A GUNSHOT. She is knocked against the wall. Erin slumps to the floor next to Crispian’s dead body. She has been shot in the shoulder. In shock, she stares out the window.EXT. DAVISON VACATION HOME - NIGHTA uniformed police officer in his late 20s, OFFICER TRUBIANO, stands outside in the front yard, holding his smoking .38 revolver in a firing stance, aiming it in through the window. Behind Officer Trubiano, his squad car is visible, parked on the street. Its lights are off. Officer Trubiano shouts in at Erin:OFFICER TRUBIANODo not move! Do you hear me? Erin, slumped on the floor inside, clearly could not move even if she wanted to. She does not react to the officer’s words, looking out at him blankly.Moving closer to the dining room window, Officer Trubiano looks inside and sees Aimee, Kelly and Tariq’s bodies. His face crumples.OFFICER TRUBIANO (CONT’D)Jesus Christ...Keeping his gun aimed at Erin through the window, Officer Trubiano makes his way to the front door of the house. He transfers the gun to his left hand and turns the doorknob. 95.INT. DAVISON VACATION HOME - DINING ROOM - EVENINGErin watches the doorknob turn on the inside of the front door. Blood is soaking her left arm and she is breathing shallowly. She blinks slowly, focusing her eyes. The doorknob is still attached with a slipknot to the string leading up to the ceiling. Erin’s eyes widen slightly.ERINNo... Don’t...Erin’s voice is barely a whisper, almost inaudible. Officer Trubiano opens the front door, moving his gun quickly to cover Erin. Above him, the string whips up from the door frame. The weighted AXE above the door SWINGS DOWN, into Officer Trubiano’s FACE. His head splits in half.INSERT TITLE: “YOU’RE”INSERT TITLE: “NEXT”END CREDITSFADE OUT96. | screenplays |
these muscles include
the intrinsic flexor pollicis brevis , flexor pollicis longus lumbrical , flexor brevis , and
flexor longus1 .
toe - grip strength is
measured while sitting with the trunk in the vertical position , the hip and knee joints at
90 , and the ankle joint in a neutral position1,2,3,4,5 .
toe - grip strength is a useful index for evaluating an individual s risk of falling6 , 7 ,
and toe - grip strength interventions are used to prevent falls1 , 5 .
however , limb position
during these measurements has not been sufficiently investigated . to make this a reliable
evaluation index ,
it is necessary to examine which limb positions elicit maximum muscle
strength and investigate reproducibility . finger - grip strength is reported to be greater when measured in a standing position than
when measured in a sitting or supine position8 .
grip strength is also said to be maximized when the wrist joint is
in slight dorsiflexion9 and the elbow
joint extended10 .
reproducibility in the
different limb positions has also been examined , with measurements in the standing position
with the elbow flexed at 90 exhibiting the best reproducibility11 . for toe - grip strength , a similar level of muscle strength
can be exerted in both the currently use measurement position sitting with the hips and
knees flexed to 90and the standing position12 .
it was also reported to be easier to exert maximum strength when
the ankle is in dorsiflexion or a neutral position compared with plantar flexion13 .
although these reports suggest that the
current neutral ankle position is optimal for measurement , it remains unclear which hip and
knee joint positions are best suited for measurement .
thus , we believe it is necessary to
verify the effect of changing the hip and/or knee joint angle . in addition , limb positions
for measuring toe - grip strength have not been examined from the standpoint of
reproducibility .
the current study focused on changes in the knee joint angle in a sitting position .
toe - grip strength was measured in a sitting position with the hip and knee joints flexed at
90 , sitting position with the hip flexed at 90 and the knee extended , and in the standing
position as reported in previous studies .
we investigated the limb position at which the
maximum toe - grip strength could be exerted and also examined the reproducibility of these
measurements .
their age , height ,
and body weight ( mean sd ) were 20.8 1.0 years , 159.2 5.4 cm , and 51.9 5.4 kg ,
respectively . the present study was approved by the ethics committee for human research of
tohoku fukushi university ( rs1211022 ) . the subjects provided informed consent for
participation in the study .
toe - grip strength was measured using the dominant foot , and measurement was performed using
a toe - grip dynamometer ( t.k.k .
after a sufficient number of training
trials and adequate rest , toe - grip strength was measured twice , and the mean value was used
in the analysis .
the right toe was dominant ( defined as the toe used to kick a ball ) in all
the subjects .
the following three limb positions were used to measure toe - grip strength : sitting with the
trunk in the vertical position and the hip and knee joints flexed at 90 ( 90 hip and knee
flexion sitting position ) ; sitting with the trunk in the vertical position , the hip joint
flexed at 90 , and the knee joint extended ( 90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting
position ) ; and the standing position . the pelvic girdle and
joints were in a neutral
position during the 90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting position .
toe - grip strength
during the sitting position was measured on a treatment table that could be adjusted for
height .
the test administrator checked the postures with a goniometer and stabilized the
toe - grip dynamometer while measurement was taken on the side . in the standing position ,
the
feet were placed shoulder - width apart , and the ankle was in a neutral position with regard
to inversion , eversion , dorsiflexion , or plantar flexion with the arms hanging down at the
sides of the trunk . to compensate for the height of the toe - grip dynamometer
, the height of
the leg not being measured was adjusted using a supplemental platform .
toe - grip strength
measurements were also taken again on another day using the same procedure .
chicago , il , usa ) for the
statistical analysis and performed repeated measures analysis of variance and dunnett s test
for multiple comparisons to compare the toe - grip strength under each condition .
the reproducibility of each toe - grip strength measurement
condition was statistically analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficients ( icc1 ,
1 ) .
the mean sd values for toe - grip strength were 19.4 3.3 kg in the 90 hip and knee
flexion sitting position , 16.7 2.8 kg in the 90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting
position , and 18.6 2.6 kg in the standing position .
multiple comparisons found that the toe - grip strength was significantly lower in
the 90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting position than in the other 2 positions ( p
< 0.05 ) .
the icc values for each position were 0.83 for the 90 hip and knee flexion sitting
position , 0.49 for the 90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting position , and 0.78 for the
standing position , and the 90 hip and knee flexion sitting position showed the best
intraclass correlation coefficient ( r = 0.813 ) ( table 1table 1.toe-grip strength and intraclass correlation coefficients ( iccs ) ( n=20)90 hip and knee flexion sitting position90 hip flexion and knee extension sitting positionstanding positionfirst ( kg)19.5 3.7 ( 11.224.5)17.1 3.1 ( 8.121.7)18.4 2.5 ( 12.321.5)second ( kg)19.2 3.3 ( 12.124.3)16.2 3.3 ( 9.621.6)18.8 2.9 ( 12.823.2)average ( kg)19.4 3.4 * 16.7 2.818.6 2.6*icc ( 1,1)0.8130.4940.7895%ci0.5920.9210.0860.7620.5300.906mean standard deviation ( sd ) . * p < 0.05 versus the 90 hip flexion and knee
extension sitting position ) .
the current study measured toe - grip strength during 90 hip and knee flexion while sitting ,
90 hip flexion and knee extension while sitting , and while standing to examine which limb
position allowed for the exertion of maximum muscle strength and to investigate measurement
reproducibility .
the analyses found that toe - grip strength in the 90 hip flexion and knee
extension sitting position was significantly lower than those in the 90 hip and knee
flexion sitting position and the standing position .
moreover , the 90 hip and knee flexion
sitting position produced the best intraclass correlation coefficient ( r =
0.813 ) .
this finding indicates that 90 hip and knee flexion while sitting is the most
suitable limb position for measuring toe - grip strength in terms of reproducibility and the
ability to exhibit maximum strength .
our results showed that the positions able to elicit maximum toe - grip strength were the
standing position and 90 hip and knee flexion while sitting , which is in agreement with the
findings of previous studies .
the ankle , a talocrural joint , exhibits a convex shape on the
surface of the lower leg joint , which acts as a wedge when moving from the neutral position
to dorsiflexion and provides stability14 .
in both the 90 hip and knee flexion sitting position and the standing position , stability
during measurement
is provided by the subject s own body weight , which is thought to enable
the exertion of maximum muscle strength .
measuring toe - grip strength in the 90 hip and knee flexion sitting position had the best
reproducibility , followed by the standing position and then the 90 hip flexion and knee
extension sitting position .
reproducibility interpreted via intraclass correlation
coefficients15 was almost perfect for
the 90 hip and knee flexion sitting position , substantial for the standing position , and
moderate for the 90 hip flexion and knee - extension sitting position .
we believe 90 hip
and knee flexion while sitting was the most reproducible because measurements in this
position were not accompanied by shifts in the center of gravity and there was little effect
from anatomical restrictions due to extension of biarticular muscles such as the
gastrocnemius and hamstring .
when measuring toe - grip strength in the standing position , the
center of gravity can shift posteriorly as toe - grip strength is exerted , which tends to
cause compensative movements such as anteversion of the trunk or to require postural
strategies to maintain balance .
moreover , for measurements in the 90 hip flexion and knee
extension sitting position , biarticular muscles such as the gastrocnemius and hamstring
extend to flex the toes when exerting toe - grip strength , which can easily lead to anatomical
restrictions .
therefore , it is believed that these two measurement positions would likely
produce variations during the exertion of toe - grip strength .
first , it is difficult to extend our findings to
the general population because only healthy young women participated in the study . | pubmed |
Home / The Depot / 24 Navy Ships the U.S. Navy Wants to Decommission
24 Navy Ships the U.S. Navy Wants to Decommission
Written by Blog Staff
Filed under Navy, Navy ships
Previousx / Nextz
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James R. Evans
The Navy wants to decommission 24 Navy ships in 2023. The move could save up to $3.6 billion over the next five years.
On the chopping block for fiscal year 2023 and slated for decommissioning are nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), five Ticonderoga-class cruisers, two Los Angeles-class submarines, four Landing Dock Ships, two Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers and two expeditionary transfer docks. The Navy said by decommissioning the ships, it will free the service branch of extensive costly repairs and maintenance to the Navy ships that are being removed from service.
A large part of this move is the scrapping of LCS Navy ships which have been plagued with problems and program costs overruns since inception. LCS Navy ships were supposed to be a multi-role vessel, capable of carrying out a variety of surface missions.
The LCS Navy ships were supposed to be a small surface vessel that could operate in coastal environments. But reports came to light that the ship couldn't survive hostile fire and it did not pass the Navy's shock trials in testing.
When the LCS Navy ships deployed, they had engineering issues, equipment failures, and system outages. To date, only one of the three planned LCS Navy ships missions, surface warfare, has come to fruition. The mine countermeasures mission is in partial use in the Pacific.
The final of the three missions expected of the LCS Navy ships was the anti-submarine warfare missions, but because the not-yet-built future Constellation-class frigates will perform anti-submarine warfare, it made the decision to drop the LCS class of Navy ships that much easier for Navy officials even though the first Constellation-class frigates won't be delivered until 2026, and the new Navy ships won't be fully operational until 2030.
U.S. Navy graphic
U.S. Navy officials said that the 2023 budget request met the priorities of the National Defense Strategy, as well as the Navy secretary's strategic objectives, and chief of naval operations readiness, modernization, and capacity requirements.
A few years ago, the U.S. Navy announced that it needed 355 manned Navy ships by 2050 to fulfill its global missions. That's an increase of 47 ships from the current 308 in the fleet.
There are only nine Navy ships planned for future construction and 298 battle-force Navy ships in service today. The nine Navy ships will cost around $25 billion, a little more than 10 percent of the budget.
Of the 24 Navy ships slated for decommissioning, 16 Navy ships, that's more than 66 percent of them, are not near their service lives. Nine of the 16 Navy ships are from the LCS class that has proven to be problematic. Sailors have dubbed the LCS Navy ships, "Little Crappy Ships."
The cruisers designated for decommissioning include Lake Champlain, Vicksburg, Bunker Hill, Mobile Bay, and San Jacinto. It's important to note that the Vicksburg just completed a multi-million-dollar modernization rebuild. All LCS Navy ships in the Freedom-class have been marked for retirement.
The LCS Navy ships marked for decommissioning are the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Little Rock (LCS-9), USS Sioux City (LCS-11), USS Wichita (LCS-13), USS Billings (LCS-15), USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) and USS St. Louis (LCS-19).
U.S. Navy photo
When the LCS Navy ships were being developed, the Navy contracted with two builders, and each made different hull designs for the LCS class Navy ships.
The Los Angeles-class attack submarines, USS Providence and USS Oklahoma City, are likely candidates to be recycled and their materials repurposed. The dock landing Navy ships will possibly be placed in reserve. Those Navy ships include the Whidbey Island, Germantown, Gunston Hall, Ashland, and the Carter Hall.
The two oilers, the John Lenthal and the Walter S. Diehl Navy ships, like some of the LCS ships, have previously been marked for decommissioning. Congress has a habit of stepping in and preventing Navy ships decommissioning.
It's important to note that each of the nine Freedom-class Navy ships would cost the Navy $50 million per year and add limited value to the battle-force. The Constellation-class Navy ships will be more rugged, durable and bettered-engineered than the LCS Navy ships.
Whether or not the U.S. Congress will step in and save these ships is to be seen. Ships have been saved from the scrapyard before, fueled by politics. However, Congress, like the Navy, bears a great deal of responsibility in this debacle, especially when it comes to the LCS Navy ships. Congress, after all, was where the funding came from for the LCS program and once the program went south and Navy officials warned of issues with the LCS Navy ships program, Congress moved forward with the program anyway, insisting it not be shut down over the Navy's recommendations.
For now, if the ships are headed to decommissioning, there are a variety of fates that await. These Navy ships can be placed on "Out of Commission in Reserve," or OCIR, status. They remain on the Navy's vessel register for possible future use, stored at one of three Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facilities in Washington (state), Hawaii, and Philadelphia. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers and LCS Navy ships on tap for decommissioning are slated for one of these maritime boneyards.
Others might end their service as targets for other fleet Navy ships to conduct target practice on them in a Sinking Exercise, also known as a SINKEX. It is the ship's final mission and a way for it to serve the Navy one last time.
The last two Navy ships to be targeted and sunk as of this writing was the USS Vandegrift which was sunk in June 2022 and the USS Rodney M. Davis which sank in July 2022. Both were put down in the Pacific. A SINKEX is a bittersweet moment for sailors and officers who have served aboard these ships, especially for plank owners.
Still image from U.S. Navy video
The submarines are scheduled for recycling, which means they'll likely be cannibalized, broken down and likely sold for scrap. The two Navy ships that are oilers are likewise earmarked for disassembly and repurposing.
In the past, the Navy has sold Navy ships that were decommissioned ships to friendly, foreign militaries, but none of the 24 slated for decommissioning are marked for foreign sale.
Four of the ships on the decommissioning list are dock landing Navy ships that deploy with Amphibious Ready Groups which carry Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU). MEUs conduct training, humanitarian assistance and support missions around the world and Marines have always contended that the number of amphibious capable Navy ships is not enough. Last year, the Navy was forced to decommission the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard after a 2020 onboard fire.
While the Navy touts the fiscal savings involved in decommissioning these 24 Navy ships, and the Congress points fingers, U.S. taxpayers are left with the tab. The LCS program's initial budget was $15 billion and that does not include the cost overruns that have led to the development and manufacturing of Navy ships that can do almost nothing.
Navy officials have complained that the ships have horrible histories of reliability and when they are operational, the ships cannot perform the missions that are expected of them. In addition, six of the LCS ships have developed structural cracks that require repair.
Defense industry experts cite that the LCS program's problems came to fruition because the ship was expected to be a catch all for the Navy. It was expected to perform a wide array of missions because of its modularity.
This is an interesting approach to shipbuilding given that sailors are themselves occupational specialists, and yet somehow the ships they've been put on are supposed to do it all.
Comments on this post ( 0 )
How Long is Navy Boot Camp? What to Expect Jan 27, 2023
U.S. Navy Core Values: Honor, Courage, & Commitment Jan 24, 2023
U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations You Don't Want to Forget Jan 24, 2023
10 Facts About the U.S. Coast Guard You Didn't Know Jan 23, 2023
What is a Navy SEAL? A Brief Overview Jan 23, 2023
11 general orders (0)
3 Types Of Military Hats And Their Uses (0)
3rd Marine Regiment (1)
45th Infantry Division (0)
4th infantry division (1)
AFCOM (0)
Afghanistan Service Medal (0)
AFSM (0)
AGSU (0)
Air Force Achievement Medal (0)
Air Force Commendation Medal (0)
Air Force Vs Army (0)
Air Medal (0)
ARCOM (0)
armed forces day (0)
armed forces medley (0)
Armed Forces Recreation Center (0)
Armed Forces Service Medal (0)
Armed Forces Service Medal veteran (0)
Army Achievement Medal (0)
Army alphabet (0)
Army cadence (0)
Army Commendation Medal (0)
army fleece jacket (0)
Army Greens (0)
Army Medals (0)
army officer ranks (0)
army reserve (0)
army separation codes (0)
Army Service Ribbon (0)
Army Values (0)
ASR (0)
basic combat training (0)
BDU (0)
beret (0)
best tactical backpack (0)
Black Rosies (1)
blue star (0)
BMT (0)
boonie hats (0)
boot camp (0)
Bronze Star Medal (1)
buffalo soldiers (0)
care package (0)
care packages (0)
celebrities military (0)
celebrities who served in the military (0)
Chesty Puller (0)
Coast Guard (1)
Coast Guard Achievement Medal (0)
Coast Guard Birthday (0)
Coast Guard Commendation Medal (0)
Coast Guard Festival (0)
Coast Guard Reserve (2)
Coast Guard Reserve Birthday (1)
Coast Guard Uniform (0)
coast guard uniform change (0)
combat action ribbon (0)
combat controllers (0)
Compassionate Contact Corps (0)
coping with deployment separation (1)
Corps birthday (0)
CR (0)
DD Form 214 (0)
Delta Force (0)
DFC (0)
Distinguished Flying Cross (0)
dog tag (0)
DPAA (0)
elite military (0)
enlisted (0)
European Militias (0)
facts about the Coast Guard (1)
fatigues (0)
female marines (1)
fighter pilot (0)
fighter pilot helmet (0)
fleece jacket (0)
Force Recon (0)
Fort Hood (0)
general orders (0)
gifts for military dads (1)
gifts for military moms (1)
gifts for military promotions (1)
gifts for Navy sailors (0)
Global War on Terrorism (0)
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (0)
Grissom (0)
Grissom Air Museum (0)
GWOT (0)
GWOTEM (0)
Hale Koa (0)
Harlem Hellfighters (1)
history of women (0)
holiday gift guide (0)
how long is navy boot camp? (1)
How Many Ships Are In The US Navy (1)
how to display military medals in a shadow box (0)
How To Thank Someone For Their Military Service (0)
HSM (0)
Humanitarian Service Medal (0)
III Corps (0)
Iraq Campaign Medal (0)
join the army (0)
Join the Marines (0)
K9 military dogs (1)
K9 Veterans Day (1)
Korean War (0)
Marine Corps (3)
marine corps ball (2)
Marine Corps birthday (0)
marine corps gifts (1)
Marine Corps History (1)
Marine Corps Tanks (1)
marine corps uniform regulations (1)
marine corps values (0)
Marine Raiders (0)
Marines basic training (0)
Marines birthday (0)
medal of honor (0)
Military Appreciation Month (0)
military camping gear (0)
Military care package ideas (0)
military care packages (1)
military doctor (0)
military dogs (1)
military EDC (0)
military fashion (0)
military fatigues (0)
military flag folding (0)
military gifts for him (1)
military going away gifts (1)
military hats (0)
military medals (0)
military memories (0)
military moms (0)
military mottos (0)
military museum (0)
military operations (1)
military patches meaning (0)
military personalized gift (1)
military pride (0)
military promotions (0)
military retirement gifts (0)
military ribbons (0)
military separation codes (0)
military service medals (0)
military spouse appreciation day (0)
military stocking stuffers (1)
military strategy (0)
military tactics (0)
military uniform rules (0)
military working dogs (0)
Minuteman Logo (0)
most decorated marine (0)
Nation's First (0)
National Guard (0)
national guard birthday (0)
national guard birthday party (0)
national guard facts (1)
National Guard Flag (0)
National Guard heritage (0)
National Guard legacy (0)
National Guard lineage (0)
National Guard lineage and honors (0)
National Guard Logo (0)
naval aviation (0)
naval rate insignia (0)
naval submarine (0)
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (0)
navy birthday (1)
navy caps (0)
navy core values (1)
navy cross (0)
navy medal of honor (0)
Navy SEALs Vietnam (1)
navy ship classes (0)
Navy ships (0)
Navy vs Air Force (0)
Operation Red Wings (0)
P226 (0)
Pararescue (0)
patriotic apparel (1)
patriotic shirts (1)
patrol caps (0)
phonetic alphabet (0)
Pink and Green (0)
places to go for veterans day (1)
president generals (1)
Presidents Day (1)
presidents who served in the military (0)
protected veteran (0)
protected veteran status (0)
PTSD Awareness Month (0)
PTSD Month (0)
RED Friday (0)
RED Fridays (0)
remote combat effects campaign medal (0)
rescue swimmer (0)
reverse US flag (0)
ribbon racks (0)
ripstop (0)
RV campgrounds (0)
selfless service (0)
shadow box ideas (0)
Silver Star (0)
Southwest Asia Service Medal (0)
space force (3)
space force birthday (1)
space force song (1)
special forces (0)
special reconnaissance (0)
Submarine (0)
TACP (0)
tactical backpack (0)
tactical gifts (0)
tactical survival gear (1)
the armed forces medley (0)
The History Of Boonie Hats In The U.S. Military (0)
thin green line (0)
thin ribbon rack (0)
thin ribbons (0)
tiger stripe (0)
tiger stripe camo (0)
Today in Marine Corps History (0)
today in military history (0)
tuskegee airmen (1)
types of medals of honor (0)
U-505 (0)
ultrathin ribbons (0)
US Coast Guard (1)
US Coast Guard Auxiliary (1)
US Coast Guard Festival (0)
US Flag (0)
US navy birthday (1)
US Navy drone ships (0)
US Navy uniform regulations (1)
USAF (0)
USCG (0)
USCG Festival (0)
USMC (0)
USMC awards (1)
USMC birthday (0)
Veterans Administration (0)
VEVRAA (0)
Vietnam Service Medal (0)
Vietnam shadow box (1)
Vietnam war movies (1)
what are the blue angels (0)
what is a blue star family (0)
what is a bronze star (1)
What is a Navy SEAL? (1)
what is a seabee (0)
What Is Ripstop Fabric & Why Is It Important For Tactical Gear? (0)
what is the army reserve (0)
What is the mascot of the U.S. Marine Corps (1)
What is the most effective military strategy of all time? (0)
what is the space force (1)
what is VE day (0)
when is the marine corps ball? (0)
when was veterans day established (1)
which branch of the military should I join (0)
why did pearl harbor happen (1)
Why Do We Celebrate Independence Day (0)
Why the US Changed Coast Guard Uniforms (0)
women in the military (0) | slim_pajama |
Strangeness of QFT [closed]
**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
---
**Want to improve this question?** Add details and clarify the problem by [editing this post](/posts/174480/edit).
Closed 8 years ago.
[Improve this question](/posts/174480/edit)
In quantum field theory, the particle-wave duality is resolved by assuming that a field can collapse to some quantum value. Suppose you are observing a distant star through a small aperture that allows only one photon at a time to strike a detector. According to the QFT formalism, the field required to instantaneously collapse to a photon of energy hf would subtend a transverse waveform area having a diameter in the order of light years. Does this type of instantaneous collapse in QFT violate special relativity?
Let me attempt to rephrase what I think you're asking:
>
> Suppose a star emits light with a frequency $\nu$ so the energy per photon is $h\nu$. Suppose further that the emission is spherically symmetric so the energy emitted by the star is evenly spread over all $4\pi$ steradians. If we go far enough away from the star the intensity of the light is so low that the photon energy $hv$ is spread over a region of space many light years in size. In that case how can we detect a photon since the energy for the photon would have to travel light years to the point where the photon is detected?
>
>
>
Assuming I have understood you correctly the answer is that prior to detection the photon is in a superposition of all possible positions. The detection collapses the superposition and localises the photon at the point of detection.
It's tempting to think of the photon energy as being spread out in the way we might spread out a fluid, but this would be to misunderstand what is going on. The photon energy doesn't have a position, in the same way that (to take a more familiar example) the electron in a hydrogen atom doesn't have a position. It exists in a superposition of all positions. When the photon was detected its energy didn't have to travel to the detection point because it was already there.
You are misunderstanding quantum field theory. The entire wave doesn't collapse, in the same way that a flashlight doesn't shoot out one big photon. The star emits many photons, of which you see one in this scenario. By the way, this isn't QFT, but instead, more general QM.
| stackexchange/physics |
NEED
**A/N: Don't own 'em but love to write about 'em.**
**NEED**
A beer and a shower used to take off the edge, but as he lay down beside her he knew that that was no longer the case. He had drunk the beer, taken the shower and now….
He turned on his side, eyeing the length of her tank-top clad back, subconsciously timing the rhythm of his breathing to the rise and fall of hers. He had heard from Hawkes that her case had been as grueling as his. He couldn't blame her for coming home as soon as her shift had ended and falling into, hopefully, a nightmare free sleep. He wished he could, but he wasn't quite there yet. He still needed something to finish him off.
She shifted slightly and a small sigh escaped her lips; his body responded immediately as he flopped onto his back with a groan. Oh, he could finish himself off all right but it had been ages since he had touched himself that way – hadn't had to with her around. It would be easy enough with her right beside him though. A couple of well-placed kisses into that sensitive spot of her neck, inciting a couple more sleep-laden sighs from her …
But he was spoiled. He wanted skin to skin to skin contact; her aware of him; her sighing and moaning as he touched her and his own descent into all-encompassing pleasure as she touched him.
Basically she'd ruined him in the worst way … and in the best way.
He turned towards her again, palming the skin between her tank top and the sheet resting low on her waist. No response from her, but the sleep-induced warmth of her skin seemed to singe his palm and spur him on. Pushing the sheet lower … revealing a waistband … lower still … and then nothing but milky white skin.
_Damn her! She knew what a thong did to him._
He couldn't help himself as he made a sweeping caress of the well-rounded curve and pressed a kiss into that sensitive spot on her neck.
_He could quickly feign sleep and innocence if she awoke in a foul mood but somehow that thong she was wearing made him think that that wouldn't be the case._
She leisurely stretched then turned toward him, eyes still closed, wrapping an arm around his neck, hooking a leg around his waist.
"I was," her fingers caressing the back of his neck, "waiting," her warm breath fanning across his cheek, "for you," her lips teasing his.
"Really?" his hand palming her ass, "I never," melding their hips together, "would have guessed," rolling them.
She laughed, deep and throaty. He smirked, sensually and deviously.
Propping up on his forearms, her head lifted as her hands made quick work of her tank-top, tossing it aside as he buried his face in the valley between her breasts, smelling the freshness of soap on her skin, catching a whiff of the musky allure from the velvety softness between her legs.
His ravenous mouth on her heated skin made her arch her back and grip his hips with surprisingly strong hands. As his lips burned their way down her body, he pressed her knees up to her chest and pushed inside her.
She braced her heels against his hip bones, resisting, as he tried to push deeper. He growled at the wanton smile on her face. He captured her hands above her head, engulfing her mouth with his own, making an authoritative sweep with his tongue. The pressure from her heels lessened and he rose above her. This time she bit her bottom lip to hide the devious smile as she wrapped one leg low around his hips and inched her other foot up his chest. He transferred both her hands to one of his, snaring the errant foot with his free hand, caressing the sole with his thumb and pressing a soft kiss to the inside of her knee. Wriggling her foot free of his hand, she hooked her heel around the back of his neck, applying pressing, drawing him downward, her hips thrusting upwards as her leg clenched at his hips, simultaneously drawing him inward. Another thrust, sideways, then another circuitously and his hands dropped to either side of her head, his forehead resting upon hers.
"Fuck– Montana-"
She stroked the back of his neck, whispering, "Is that what you need?"
Lifting his head to look into her eyes, he swallowed hard before rasping, "Yeah," needing to hear her say it, "And you?"
Licking her lips, she assured him, "Fuck- Mon- tan- a-"
End file.
| fanfiction |
at least one week was spent in each tc , evaluating infrastructure , policies and procedures , treatment and rehabilitation programs , and staff competencies .
many tools were used in the evaluations , including questionnaires for residents and treatment teams ; interviews with directors , treatment teams and residents ; observations of tc approaches and activities ; and reviews of documents and residents files.18 at the end of each tc visit , using these observations and tools , a short version of the seeq was completed .
the internal review board of the college of medicine , al imam muhammad ibn saud islamic university , riyadh , kingdom of saudi arabia ethically approved the design and execution of this study .
the survey instrument consisted of the seeq , which is the most well studied and validated questionnaire to investigate the essential elements of tc .
melnick & de leon developed the seeq constructs ( dimensions , domains , and items ) based on a theoretical framework of the tc treatment model.22,23 a national panel of 11 tc directors and one research expert conducted a modified delphi process of the questionnaire and made further modifications and amendments after an extensive review.3,20 the final questionnaire contained 135 likert - type items arranged in 6 broad dimensions highlighting the different components of tc treatment , and 27 domains reflecting the core philosophy and essential components.3,18,20 respondent evaluated every item with the accompanying scale : 0=objectionable ; 1=very little importance ; 2=some importance ; 3=moderate importance ; 4=fairly important ; 5=extremely important .
for this study , the short version of the seeq was used , which amended the original seeq by condensing and consolidating different items per domain into one statement ( table 1).18,20 the original
seeq demonstrates high overall reliability , with a cronbach s alpha value of 0.97 . the short version of the seeq exhibited cronbach s alpha values of 0.81 and 0.85 in 2 independent samples,3,20 suggesting that it has an acceptable reliability .
survey of essential elements questionnaire ( short version ) domain scores utilized at tcs in kingdom of saudi arabia . data were collected and stored in microsoft excel 2010 , then coded and imported into statistical package for social sciences , version 20.0 ( ibm inc , chicago , illinois , usa ) for analysis . mean and standard deviation were calculated for each domain for all tcs and for all dimensions of each tc .
one - way analysis of variance ( anova ) was used to determine whether there were any differences in scoring among the tcs .
the confidence interval was set at 95% , where a corresponding p - value<0.05 was used to identify statistical significance .
as part of a national study to evaluate addiction tcs in the kingdom of saudi arabia , the author visited all saudi addiction tcs ( in saudi arabia , there are only 5 tcs ) in september , october and november of 2014 .
at least one week was spent in each tc , evaluating infrastructure , policies and procedures , treatment and rehabilitation programs , and staff competencies .
many tools were used in the evaluations , including questionnaires for residents and treatment teams ; interviews with directors , treatment teams and residents ; observations of tc approaches and activities ; and reviews of documents and residents files.18 at the end of each tc visit , using these observations and tools , a short version of the seeq was completed .
the internal review board of the college of medicine , al imam muhammad ibn saud islamic university , riyadh , kingdom of saudi arabia ethically approved the design and execution of this study .
the survey instrument consisted of the seeq , which is the most well studied and validated questionnaire to investigate the essential elements of tc .
melnick & de leon developed the seeq constructs ( dimensions , domains , and items ) based on a theoretical framework of the tc treatment model.22,23 a national panel of 11 tc directors and one research expert conducted a modified delphi process of the questionnaire and made further modifications and amendments after an extensive review.3,20 the final questionnaire contained 135 likert - type items arranged in 6 broad dimensions highlighting the different components of tc treatment , and 27 domains reflecting the core philosophy and essential components.3,18,20 respondent evaluated every item with the accompanying scale : 0=objectionable ; 1=very little importance ; 2=some importance ; 3=moderate importance ; 4=fairly important ; 5=extremely important .
for this study , the short version of the seeq was used , which amended the original seeq by condensing and consolidating different items per domain into one statement ( table 1).18,20 the original
seeq demonstrates high overall reliability , with a cronbach s alpha value of 0.97 . the short version of the seeq exhibited cronbach s alpha values of 0.81 and 0.85 in 2 independent samples,3,20 suggesting that it has an acceptable reliability .
survey of essential elements questionnaire ( short version ) domain scores utilized at tcs in kingdom of saudi arabia .
data were collected and stored in microsoft excel 2010 , then coded and imported into statistical package for social sciences , version 20.0 ( ibm inc , chicago , illinois , usa ) for analysis . mean and standard deviation were calculated for each domain for all tcs and for all dimensions of each tc .
one - way analysis of variance ( anova ) was used to determine whether there were any differences in scoring among the tcs .
the confidence interval was set at 95% , where a corresponding p - value<0.05 was used to identify statistical significance .
the average total score of saudi addiction tcs on the short version of the seeq was 3.7 of 5 ( table 1 ) . on the individual dimensions , the tcs scored 4.2 on the tc perspective 4.15 , on the agency treatment approach and structure 3.72 , on community as therapeutic agent 4.40 , on educational and work activities 2.60 , on formal therapeutic elements 3.50 and 4.30 on process ( table 2 ) .
there were no statistically significant differences between the tcs in the dimension scores ( table 2 ) .
academic and/or vocational training is available ( 2.4 ) , life skills training is available ( 2.2 ) , treatment approach is centered on member participation ( 2.8 ) , and family members are included as part of therapy ( 2.8 ) .
mean survey of essential elements questionnaire ( short version ) dimension scores among tcs in the kingdom of saudi arabia .
no statistical significant value at 0.05 , standard deviations are shown in parentheses , tc - therapeutic communities
addiction tcs in the kingdom of saudi arabia scored fairly highly on the seeq questionnaire , which reflects a good implementation of the tc essential elements .
this scoring is not far from american and european tcs scores.3,19,20 however , the saudi tcs were rated by an independent addiction tc expert who stayed at and observed each tc for one week , rather than a tc director , which may add more validity to the scores and reduce conflicts of interest .
this achievement is shared by all saudi addiction tcs , which may reflect the strict standards and policies held by the related licensing authority .
the dammam addiction tc was the first and only tc in saudi arabia for more than 9 years , serving as a role model for the development of other addiction tcs , which may provide another explanation for the high scoring and lack of variability between the saudi tcs .
they scored between 3.3 and 4.3 out of 5 in all dimensions except educational and work activities , which had an average score of 2.8 .
the low scoring in this dimension was observed in all tcs , which may reflect a lesser focus on academic , vocational and life skills training .
saudi tcs scored even 3 or more in all domains of other dimensions except in 2 ; however , each of these scores was limited to a single tc . in conclusion
however , the essential components of this model tested by seeq may need special adaptation to the social culture and values .
vocational ; life - skills training , and work activities are essential elements of tcs and represent major elements in rehabilitation programs to which saudi tcs aspire .
low scoring in this dimension warrants further studies to analyze the situation , investigating for the causes and suggesting solutions . although the existence of the essential elements in the saudi tcs may point indirectly to treatment efficacy through good quality program implementation , other elements of tcs like infrastructure , treatment team competencies , resident and family satisfaction , and quality of services have to be evaluated to properly gauge saudi tc efficacy .
a longitudinal outcome - based effectiveness study would be the best measure of saudi addiction tc efficacy . | pubmed |
Waverly Hills is an Arlington, Virginia neighborhood and historic district located just about a mile from the Ballston Metro, in between I-66 and Lee Highway. This neighborhood has been one to watch for many years, due to its tree-lined streets, proximity to DC and the overall friendly neighborhood vibe.
Situated almost in the geographic center of Arlington, Waverly Hills borders Cherrydale, Donaldson Run, Old Dominion, Glebewood, Waycroft and Ballston. Starting at the southern end of the neighborhood at the intersection of I-66 and N Utah Street, the neighborhood continues west along I-66 to N Glebe Road, north up Glebe Road, east along Lee Highway, then south along N Taylor Street, west along Lee Highway, then south along N Utah Street until the road meets back up with I-66.
Waverly Hills homes for sale vary in style and architectural type, with a mix of townhomes, single-family homes and a few condo buildings. For single-family homes, styles differ, with Colonials, Cape Cods, ramblers, bungalows, split levels, farmhouses and Craftsman styles. Many of the homes sit on large tree-filled lots, with nice backyards ideal for exploring. Some backyards even back up to woods for those looking for a more private atmosphere.
Beyond single-family homes, there are also plenty of townhomes to choose from in the area. Wunder's Crossroads is a townhome community located on the northwestern edge of the neighborhood on N Glebe Road. The townhouses in this development have brick and/or siding exteriors, nice interior finishes and private parking. Vermont Gardens is a condominium community on Woodstock Lane is a garden-style development with 50 units.
For outside entertainment, most residents head south straight to Ballston, an area of Arlington that has long been known as one of the popular urban villages of the area. Although to some Ballston is known as a nightlife destination with spots like A-Town, World of Beer and Greene Turtle, there are also some great restaurants that can double for a night out. Rustico is a popular destination for both drinks and/or dinner, with an extensive craft beer menu and great meals. The Lee Heights Shops are also close to the neighborhood. This shopping center has a nice variety of local shops and national chains, including Starbucks, Chipotle, Arrowine Wine and Cheese Shop and more.
For activities closer to home, look no further than to the Waverly Hills Civic Association. This active association has been put in place to preserve the neighborhood and make it even more enjoyable. Besides keeping residents informed and ensuring the overall welfare of the community's residents is maintained, the WHCA also promotes citizen participation and fosters the friendly environment. Various events are put on throughout the year so neighbors can get to know each other in a fun setting. For example, in the springtime the community gets together for an Easter Egg Hunt at Woodstock Park. Besides formal events, neighbors often get together on a regular basis for dinner or parties. It's common for residents to stay in the community for many years and some homes have been passed along the family for multiple generations.
Woodstock Park is the first recreation that comes to mind to most Waverly Hills residents. This 1-acre park is located in the northern end of the neighborhood and has picnic tables, a gazebo, playground and a basketball court. Arlington is a great area in general for biking, jogging, and recreation, especially since there are so many parks and trails around the Northern Virginia city.
Most Waverly Hills residents use their vehicles as their main mode of transportation in and around Arlington. The western border of the neighborhood, N Glebe Road leads to nearby main roads, including Washington Boulevard, Fairfax Drive, Wilson Boulevard, Route 50, I-66 and Lee Highway. This provides the community effortless accessibility to all of Arlington's restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. Besides getting in and around the immediate area, residents are able to get into Washington, DC and out west towards Tysons Corner, Reston, and other Northern VA towns via major highways like I-66, GW Parkway and I-395.
Waverly Hills continues to be a popular neighborhood in Arlington that stays on many homebuyers' radars. Once you get in, you're not likely to leave, with an outstanding civic association, location and of course, gorgeous homes.
What does the most expensive home in Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills look like?
The number of Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills homes listed for sale. Lower inventory favors sellers in negotiations.
The number of homes listed for sale in Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills divided by the number of homes sold in one month. Higher inventory favors buyers.
Ratio of homes in Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills listed for sale versus those under contract. The lower the number, the hotter the market.
Shows a comparison between the final sales price of homes sold in Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills versus their list price.
Average days from Listing Date to Sold Date for Homes for Sale in Waverly Hills homes that sold in the past 90 days.
The neighborhood is set up so you are within walking distance to Ballston. Or if you prefer something closer, there are convenience stores, restaurants and other shops right along the north side of the neighborhood within a 5 minute drive or 10 - 15 minute walk. | slim_pajama |
this work was supported by the swiss national foundation ( snf ) .
m. orrit and j. bernard , `` single pentacene molecules detected by fluorescence excitation in a _ p_-terphenyl crystal , '' phys
65*(21 ) , 27162719 ( 1990 ) , http://link.aps.org/abstract/prl/v65/p2716 .
j. r. guest , t. h. stievater , x. li , j. cheng , d. g. steel , d. gammon , d. s. katzer , d. park , c. ell , a. thrnhardt , g. khitrova , and h. m. gibbs , `` measurement of optical absorption by a single quantum dot exciton , '' phys .
b. * 65 * , 241,310(r ) ( 2002 ) , http://link.aps.org/abstract/prb/v65/e241310 .
b. alen , f. bickel , k. karrai , r. j. warburton , and p. m. petroff , `` stark - shift modulation absorption spectroscopy of single quantum dots , '' appl .
. lett . * 83 * , 22352237 ( 2003 ) , http://link.aip.org/link/?applab/83/2235/1 .
i. gerhardt , g. wrigge , p. bushev , g. zumofen , m. agio , r. pfab , and v. sandoghdar , `` strong extinction of a laser beam by a single molecule , '' phys .
. lett . * 98 * , 033,601 ( 2007 ) , http://link.aps.org/abstract/prl/v98/e033601 .
i. gerhardt , g. wrigge , m. agio , p. bushev , g. zumofen , and v. sandoghdar , `` scanning near - field optical coherent spectroscopy of single molecules at 1.4 kelvin , '' opt . lett . * 32 * , 14201422 ( 2007 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/ol.32.001420 .
g. wrigge , i. gerhardt , j. hwang , g. zumofen , and v. sandoghdar , `` efficient coupling of photons to a single molecule and the observation of its resonance fluorescence , '' nature phys .
* 4 * , 6066 ( 2008 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys812 .
a. n. vamivakas , m. atatre , j. dreiser , s. t. yilmaz , a. badolato , a. k. swan , b. b. goldberg , a. imamoglu , and m. s. nl , `` strong extinction of a far - field laser beam by a single quantum dot , '' nano letters * 7 * , 28922896 ( 2007 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl0717255 .
a. a. mikhailovsky , m. a. petruska , m. i. stockman , and v. i. klimov , `` broadband near - field interference spectroscopy of metal nanoparticles using a femtosecond white - light continuum , '' opt . lett .
* 28 * , 16861688 ( 2003 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/ol.28.001686 .
k. lindfors , t. kalkbrenner , p. stoller , and v. sandoghdar , `` detection and spectroscopy of gold nanoparticle using supercontinuum white light confocal microscopy , '' phys .
lett . * 93 * , 037,4011 ( 2004 ) , http://link.aps.org/abstract/prl/v93/e037401 .
a. arbouet , d. christofilos , n. d. fatti , f. valle , j. r. huntzinger , l. arnaud , p. billaud , and m. broyer , `` direct measurement of the single - metal - cluster optical absorption , '' phys .
93 * , 127,401 ( 2004 ) , http://link.aps.org/abstract/prl/v93/e127401 .
v. jacobsen , p. stoller , c. brunner , v. vogel , and v. sandoghdar , `` interferometric optical detection and tracking of very small gold nanoparticles at a water - glass interface , '' opt .
express * 14 * , 405414 ( 2006 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/opex.14.000405 .
h. ewers , v. jacobsen , e. klotzsch , a. e. smith , a. helenius , and v. sandoghdar , `` label - free optical detection and tracking of single virions bound to their receptor in supported membrane bilayers , '' nano lett .
* 7 * , 22632266 ( 2007 ) , http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl070766y .
s. schultz , d. r. smith , j. j. mock , and d. a. schultz , `` single - target molecule detection with nonbleaching multicolor optical immunolabels , '' pnas * 97*(3 ) , 9961001 ( 2000 ) , http://www.pnas.org/content/97/3/996.abstract . c. snnichsen , s. geier , n. e. hecker , g. von plessen , j. feldmann , h. ditlbacher , b. lamprecht , j. r. krenn , f. r. aussenegg , v. z .- h .
chan , j. p. spatz , and m. mller , `` spectroscopy of single metallic nanoparticles using total internal reflection microscopy , '' appl .
lett . * 77*(19 ) , 29492951 ( 2000 ) , http://link.aip.org/link/?applab/77/2949/1 . | arxiv |
What is the reasoning behind the resonating structure of halo-benzene? [closed]
**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
---
**Want to improve this question?** Add details and clarify the problem by [editing this post](/posts/27173/edit).
Closed 8 years ago.
[Improve this question](/posts/27173/edit)
Can anyone explain the resonating structure of halo-benzene? How does the transfer of an electron from the halogen atom to the α-carbon and from there to ß-carbon and so on take place?
I think the misunderstanding here (it's a common one) is over the interpretation of resonance structures.
What you have to understand about resonance structures is that they do not actually exist in the molecule. The separate resonance structures are never formed on their own but they can be used to represent a delocalised bonding situation, more accurately described using molecular orbitals. So electrons do not actually move from the halogen to the $\alpha$ and $\beta$ carbons but what the resonance structures represent is that, only considering mesomeric effects, there is a greater electron density on the ortho and para carbons and than on the meta carbons, the carbon attatched to the halogen and the halogen itself.
However, this is not the full picture because halogens; especially fluorine and chlorine, have a very strong inductive effect and so there is actually considerably more electron density on the halogen than on any other atom.
Electrostatic potential map for chlorobenzene:
| stackexchange/chemistry |
the control of dental biofilm is one of the cornerstones of preventive dentistry and can be achieved by mechanical means , use of chemical agents , or a combination of the two.1 mouth - washes are used as adjuvant agents in daily oral hygiene routine , aiding in the chemical control of dental biofilm . in brazil , most mouthwashes are freely available at pharmacies , drugstores , supermarkets , and other commercial establishments and usually do not require a prescription from a dentist , making these products readily available to children and adults .
the indiscriminate use of mouthwashes by the general population has generated concern because the presence of acid components in their formulations could make the products potentially erosive to hard dental tissue over time.2 dental erosion is the progressive and irreversible loss of tooth enamel as a result of chemical processes not involving bacterial action.3 previous studies have demonstrated that several mouthwashes available in the brazilian2,4 and uk5 markets present low endogenous ph . a ph equal to or less than 5.5 is traditionally considered critical for enamel dissolution , although mineral loss may begin at higher ph.6 the purpose of this study was to evaluate the endogenous ph , titratable acidity , and total soluble solid content ( bx ) of mouthwashes available in the brazilian market .
ten commercial brands of mouthwashes comprising various active ingredients were selected for this study ( table 1 ) .
the products were evaluated in a randomized experiment , with 3 repetitions for each sample , with values averaged to provide a single value per sample .
data were collected by a single calibrated examiner ( kappa=0.83 ) and recorded in study - specific charts .
the endogenous ph of each mouthwash was measured immediately after package was opened at room temperature ( 20c ) using a ph meter ( tec-2 ; tecnal , sion paulo , sp , brazil ) accurate to 0.1 mm .
titratable acidity was measured according to the method adopted by the association of official analytical chemists , that is , the amount of 0.1 n potassium hydroxide ( koh ) solution needed for the product to reach ph equal to or greater than neutral ph . an abbe refractometer ( pzo - rl1 , warszawa , poland ) was used to measure bx .
mean values and standard deviations were analyzed statistically using spss statistical software ( spss inc . ,
distribution of the mouthwashes according to mean values and standard deviations is presented in table 2 .
ph values ranged from 3.56 ( peroxyl ) to 7.43 ( cepacol ) , and three mouthwashes ( clinerize , listerine cool citrus , and peroxyl ) had ph less than the critical value of 5.5 , thus classified as potentially erosive .
oral b and clinerize demonstrated the lowest ( 4.7% ) and the highest ( 23.70% ) bx , respectively .
mouthwashes have been used for centuries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes , but it is only in recent years that the rationale for use of the active ingredients of these products has been subject to scientific research and clinical trials.7 based on studies published in the brazilian2,4 and international5,810 dental literature , the present investigation evaluated three important physicochemical properties of mouthwashes commercially available in brazil : ph , titratable acidity , and bx .
although a ph value equal to or less than 5.5 is considered critical for enamel dissolution , mineral loss may begin even at higher ph;6 therefore , the prolonged use of oral rinses with ph below this value may be potentially harmful to dental tissue . in the present study ,
three mouthwashes were classified as potentially erosive ( ph<5.5 ) , corroborating the findings of previous investigations.2,4,5,8,10 the low ph of oral care products increases the chemical stability of some fluoride compounds and favors the incorporation of fluoride ions into the lattice of hydroxyapatite and the precipitation of calcium fluoride onto the tooth surface.11 based on this statement , product labels were examined to identify mouthwashes containing fluoride . among the three mouthwashes with ph
less than 5.5 , only oral - b has fluoride ( 0.05% naf ) in its formulation .
the label of the other two mouthwashes with ph below the critical value for enamel dissolution ( listerine cool citrus and periogard ) did not list fluoride in their ingredients .
lack of fluoride and low ph may make these products harmful to dental tissues if not used carefully .
although mouthrinses have been formulated as pre- and post - brushing products for routine use , findings of a previous in situ study evaluating the erosive effects of some mouthrinses on enamel have suggested that low ph mouthrinses should not be considered for long - term or continuous use and never as pre - brushing rinses;8 however , it must be emphasized that erosive potential of a substance can not be attributed exclusively to ph.4 other important physicochemical properties , such titratable acidity , bx , and viscosity , should be also be considered . in this study ,
titratable acidity determined the amount of acid present and the volume of koh necessary to buffer the test solution , a characteristic directly related to the buffering capacity of the saliva .
substances with low titratable acidity are readily neutralized by oral fluids , while those with high titratable acidity cause a prolonged drop in ph and greater demineralization of dental tissues.12 in the present study , prevident 220 exhibited high titratable acidity even with ph close to 6 .
a possible explanation for this result is that some ingredients present in its composition did not react with the base used to neutralize the mouthwash ( 0.1n koh ) .
four of the mouthwashes exhibited bx greater than 20% , that is , 20 g of solids dissolved in 100 g of mouthwash . among the tested mouthwashes , clinerize presented the highest bx .
lack of similar studies evaluating bx of oral rinse products hinders comparison of the present results to data published in the literature .
brix refractometry is a physical method for measuring the amount of soluble solids ( sugar , salts , proteins , acids , etc ) present in an aqueous solution.13 the majority of medicinal formulations , if not all , have some side effects , whether local or systemic . in each case
risk clearly will be influenced by the likely incidence and severity of side effects . in the case of dental erosion , the regimen and duration of use of a potentially erosive agent will be critical to the outcome .
mouthwashes in general have similar regimens of use , namely 1020 ml rinsed twice a day for 3060 seconds .
it is recommended that low ph oral rinse products be used as short to medium term adjuncts to oral hygiene and never as prebrushing rinses.8
the findings of this investigation can not be directly extrapolated to the clinical situation ; however , results indicate that some of the mouthwashes evaluated exhibited low endogenous ph , even below the critical value for enamel dissolution ( 5.5 ) , high titratable acidity , and high total soluble solid content , which may make these products potentially erosive to dental tissue if not properly used . | pubmed |
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Screenplay
by
Stanley Kubrick
Based on the novel by
Anthony BurgessFADE IN:
INT. KOROVA MILKBAR – NIGHT
Tables, chairs made of nude fibreglass figures.
Hypnotic atmosphere.
Alex, Pete, Georgie and Dim, teenagers stoned on their milk-plus,
thier feet resting on faces, crotches, lips of the sculptured
furniture.
ALEX (V.O.)
There was me, that is Alex, and my three
droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim and
we sat in the Korova milkbar trying to
make up our rassoodocks what to do with
the evening. The Korova Milk Bar sold
milkplus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc
or drencrom which is what we were
drinking. This would sharpen you up and
make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-
violence. Our pockets were full of money
so there was no need on that score, but,
as they say, money isn't everything.
INT. PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS TUNNEL – NIGHT
A Tramp lying in tunnel, singing.
TRAMP
In Dublin's fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through streets wide and narrow...
Shadows of the boys approaching fall across Tramp.
TRAMP
Crying cockless and mussels alive,
Alive O...
Alive, alive O... Alive, alive O...
Crying cockless and mussels alive,
Alive O...
ALEX (V.O.)
One thing I could never stand is to see a
filthy, dirty old drunkie, howling away at
the filthy songs of his fathers and going
blerp, blerp in between as it might be a
filthy old orchestra in his stinking
rotten guts. I could never stand to see
anyone like that, whatever his age might
be, but more especially when he was real
old like this one was.
The boys stop and applaud him.TRAMP
Can you... can you spare some cutter, me
brothers?
Alex rams his stick into the Tramp's stomach. The boys laugh.
TRAMP
Oh-hhh!!! Go on, do me in you bastard
cowards. I don't want to live anyway, not
in a stinking world like this.
ALEX
Oh – and what's so stinking about it?
TRAMP
It's a stinking world because there's no
law and order any more. It's a stinking
world because it lets the young get onto
the old like you done. It's no world for
an old man any more. What sort of a world
is it at all? Men on the moon and men
spinning around the earth and there's not
no attention paid to earthly law and order
no more.
The Tramp starts singing again.
TRAMP
Oh dear land, I fought for thee and
brought you peace and victory.
Alex and gang move in and start beating up on old Tramp.
INT. DERELICT CASINO – NIGHT
Billyboy gang on stage tearing clothes off a screaming Girl.
ALEX (V.O.)
It was around by the derelict casino that
we came across Billyboy and his four
droogs. They were getting ready to perform
a little of the old in-out, in-out on a
weepy young devotchka they had there.
Alex and gang step out of the shadows.
ALEX
Ho, Ho, Ho... Well, if it isn't stinking
Billygoat Billyboy in poison. How are
thou, thou globby bottle of cheap stinking
chip oil? Come and get one in the yarbles,
if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly
thou.
Billyboy snaps open a switchblade knife.
BILLY BOY
Let's get 'em boys.The fight begins, chains, knives, kicking boots. Police siren.
ALEX
The Police... come on, let's go... come
on.
Alex and the boys rush out of casino.
EXT. / INT. CAR – NIGHT – FAST DRIVING SHOTS
Swerving car, forcing other cars off the road, trying to hit
pedestrians, etc.
ALEX (V.O.)
The Durango-95 purred away real horrorshow
– a nice, warm vibraty feeling all through
your guttiwuts. Soon it was trees and
dark, my brothers, with real country dark.
We fillied around for a while with other
travelers of the night, playing hogs of
the road. Then we headed west, what we
were after now was the old surprise visit,
that was a real kick and good for laughs
and lashing of the ultra-violent.
EXT. "HOME" – NIGHT
A cottage on its own, on outskirts of a village.
Bright moonlight. Cheery light inside.
Car pulls to stop.
Alex shushes his giggling boys and gets out of the car.
INT. "HOME" – NIGHT
Mr. Alexander typing. Bell rings.
MR. ALEXANDER
Who on earth could that be?
MRS. ALEXANDER
I'll see.
Mrs. Alexander, a good-looking red head in a red jumper suit.
MRS. ALEXANDER
Yes? Who is it?
ALEX
Excuse me, Mrs... will you please help,
there's been a terrible accident.
She opens the door on the chain and peeps out.ALEX
My friend's lying in the middle of the
road bleeding to death. Could I please use
your telephone for an ambulance?
MRS. ALEXANDER
I'm sorry, but we don't have a telephone.
You'll have to go somewhere else.
ALEX
But Mrs... it's a matter of life and
death.
From inside the sound of clack clacky clack clack clackity
clackclack of Alexander typing stops.
MR. ALEXANDER
Who is it, dear?
MRS. ALEXANDER
There's a young man here. He says there's
been an accident. He wants to use the
telephone.
MR. ALEXANDER
Then you'd better let him in.
MRS. ALEXANDER
Wait a minute.
ALEX
Thank you, Mrs.
Mrs. Alexander opens door, saying...
MRS. ALEXANDER
I'm sorry, we don't usually let people in
in the middle of the night.
Alex and boys have put on their masks and rush into house,
carrying and dragging Mrs. Alexander along with them.
INT. HOME – NIGHT
They go roaring in.
Mr. Alexander is kicked in the face and goes down. Georgie leaps
on him. Pete jumps up and down and the settee. Dim grabs hold of
Mrs. Alexander. Alex whistles piercingly.
ALEX
Right, Pete. Check the rest of the house.
Alex turns to Dim who holds the struggling Mrs. Alexander.
ALEX
Dim...Dim sets her down but holds her firmly. Alex starts to sing –
"Singin' in the Rain", accompanying it with a kind of tap dance.
ALEX
(singing)
I'm singing in the rain...
He kicks Mr. Alexander accenting the lyrics.
ALEX
(singing)
Just singing in the rain...
He clubs Mr. Alexander with stick, in the time to the music.
ALEX
(singing)
What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again.
He pushes a rubber ball into Mrs. Alexander's mouth and binds it
with sellotape.
ALEX
(singing)
I'm laughing at clouds so dark up above.
The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for
love.
Let the stormy clouds chase...
He kicks Mr. Alexander again.
ALEX
(singing)
... everyone from the place.
Come on with the rain...
He puts ball in Mr. Alexander's mouth and sellotapes it.
ALEX
(singing)
... I've a smile on my face.
I'll walk down the lane... to a happy
refrain.
I'm singing... just singin' in the rain.
He knocks down the book cases and moves to Mrs. Alexander being
held by Dim. Starts to repeat on song as he cuts slowly up each
leg of her cat suit, until she is naked. This coincidences with
the song finishing.
He turns to Mr. Alexander.
ALEX
Viddy well, my little Brother. Viddy well.INT. KOROVA MILKBAR – NIGHT
The boys enter yawning..
ALEX (V.O.)
We were all feeling a bit shagged and
fagged and fashed, it having been an
evening of some small energy expenditure,
O my brothers, so we got rid of the auto
and stopped off at the Korova for a
nightcap.
Dim moves over to milk machine and speaks to the statue of the
nude girl.
DIM
Hello Lucy, had a busy night?
Puts money in machine.
DIM
We've been working hard too.
Takes glass.
DIM
Pardon me. Luce.
He raises glass to breast, pulls red handle between her legs. Milk
spurts into glass.
Dim joins the others. Alex looks at a party of tourists.
ALEX (V.O.)
There was some sophistos from the TV
studios around the corner, laughing an
govoreeting. The Devotchka was smecking
away, and not caring about the wicked
world one bit. Then the disc on the stereo
twanged off and out, and in the short
silence before the next one came on, she
suddenly came with a burst of singing, and
it was like for a moment, O my brothers,
some great bird had flown into the milkbar
and I felt all the malenky little hairs on
my plott standing endwise, and the shivers
crawling up like slow malenky lizards and
then down again. Because I knew what she
sang. It was a bit from the glorious 9th,
by Ludwig van.
Dim makes a lip-trump followed by a dog howl, followed by two
fingers pronging twice in the air, followed by a clowny guffaw.
Alex brings his stick down smartly on Dim's legs.
DIM
What did you do that for?ALEX
For being a bastard with no manners and
not a dook of an idea how to comport
yourself publicwise, O my Brother.
DIM
I don't like you should do what you done.
And I'm not your brother no more and
wouldn't want to be.
ALEX
Watch that... Do watch that, O Dim, if to
continue to be on live thou dost wish.
DIM
Yarbles, great bolshy yarblockos to you
I'll meet you with chain, or nozh or
britva, any time, not having you aiming
tolchocks at me reasonless. It stands to
reason, I won't have it.
ALEX
A nozh scrap any time you say.
Dim weakens.
DIM
Doobidoob... a bit tired maybe, everybody
is. A long night for growing malchicks...
best not to say more. Bedways is rigthways
now, so best we go homeways and get a bit
of spatchka. Right, right.
INT. ALEX'S FLATBLOCK – MAIN LOBBY ENTRANCE – NIGHT
Alex passes a mural in the hall. Nude men and women. Their massive
stylized bodies embellished and decorated by handy pencil and
ballpoint.
The elevator door is buckled.
INT. ALEX'S FLAT – NIGHT
Alex pees in toilet.
Alex goes into his room. Tosses his loot into a drawer, full of
money, wristwatches, cameras, etc.
Fifty small loudspeakers cover one wall.
He puts his pet boa constrictor on tree branch mounted on the
wall, above four Christ figures who have their arms intertwined
like a chorus line.
He puts a cassette into the tape player.
A heavy shockwave of sound – Beethoven's 9th.ALEX (V.O.)
It had been a wonderful evening and what I
needed now to give it the perfect ending
was a bit of the old Ludwig van.
Music starts.
ALEX (V.O.)
Then, brothers, it came. O bliss, bliss
and heaven, oh it was gorgeousness and
georgeosity made flesh. The trombones
crunched redgold under my bed, and behind
my gulliver the trumpets three-wise,
silver-flamed and there by the door the
timps rolling through my guts and out
again, crunched like candy thunder. It was
like a bird of rarest spun heaven metal or
like silvery wine flowing in a space ship,
gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied,
I knew such lovely pictures. There were
veeks and ptitsas laying on the ground
screaming for mercy and I was smecking all
over my rot and grinding my boot into
their tortured litsos and there were naked
devotchkas ripped and creeching against
walls and I plunging like a shlaga into
them.
INT. ALEX'S FLAT – DAY
He is asleep. The boa curled up at his feet. There is a knock on
the door.
ALEX
What d'you want?
EM
It's past eight, Alex, you don't want to
be late for school, son.
ALEX
Bit of pain in the gulliver, Mum. Leave us
be and I'll try to sleep it off... then
I'll be as right as dodgers for this
after.
EM
You've not been to school all week, son.
ALEX
I've got to rest, Mum... got to get fit,
otherwise I'm liable to miss a lot more
school.
EM
Eeee... I'll put your breakfast in the
oven. I've got to be off myself now.ALEX
Alright, Mum... have a nice day at the
factory.
INT. KITCHEN – DAY
Pee sitting at breakfast table.
Em enters.
EM
He's not feeling too good again this
morning, Dad.
PEE
Yes, I heard. D'you know what time he got
in last night?
EM
No I don't know, luv, I'd taken my
sleepers.
PEE
I wonder where exactly is it he goes to
work of evenings.
EM
Well, like he says, it's mostly odd things
he does, helping like... here and there,
as it might be.
INT. EM'S BEDROOM – DAY
Alex comes out of his room and finds P.R. Deltoid sitting on bed
in parent's room.
ALEX
Hi, hi, hi there, Mr. Deltoid, funny
surprise to see you here.
DELTOID
Ah, Alex boy, awake at last, yes? I met
your mother on the way to work, yes? She
gave me the key. She said something about
a pain somewhere... hence not at school ,
yes?
ALEX
A rather intolerable pain in the head,
brother, sir. I think it should be clear
by this afterlunch.
DELTOID
Oh, or certainly by this evening, yes? The
evening's a great time, isn't it, Alex
boy?ALEX
A cup of the old chai, sir?
DELTOID
No time, no time, yes. Sit, sit, sit.
Alex sits next to him.
ALEX
To what do I owe this extreme pleasure,
sir? Anything wrong, sir?
Deltoid "playfully" grabs Alex's hair.
DELTOID
Wrong? Why should you think of anything
being wrong, have you been doing something
you shouldn't. Yes?
He shakes Alex's hair.
ALEX
Just a manner of speech, sir.
DELTOID
Well, yes, it's just a manner of speech
from your Post Corrective Advisor to you
that you watch out, little Alex.
He puts his arm round Alex's shoulder.
DELTOID
Because next time it's going to be the
barry place and all my work ruined. If
you've no respect for your horrible self,
you at least might have some for me who'se
sweated over you.
He slaps Alex on the knee.
DELTOID
A big black mark I tell you for every one
we don't reclaim. A confession of failure
for every one of you who ends up in the
stripy hole.
ALEX
I've been doing nothing I shouldn't, sir.
The millicents have nothing on me,
brother, sir, I mean.
Deltiod pulls Alex down on the bed.DELTOID
Cut out all this clever talk about
milicents. Just because the Police haven't
picked you up lately doesn't, as you very
well know, mean that you've not been up to
some nastiness. There was a bit of a
nastiness last night, yes. Some very
extreme nastiness, yes. A few of a certain
Billyboy's friends were ambluenced off
late last night, yes. Your name was
mentioned, the word's got thru to me by
the usual channels. Certain friends of
yours were named also. Oh, nobody can
prove anything about anybody as usual, but
I'm warning you, little Alex, being a good
friend to you as always, the one man in
this sore and sick community who wants to
save you from yourself.
Deltoid makes a grab for Alex's joint but finds his hand instead.
Alex laughs. Derisively and rises. Deltoid distractedly reaches
for a glass of water on the night table, and fails to notice a set
of false teeth soaking in them. He drinks from the glass. The
clink of the teeth sounding like ice-cubes.
DELTOID
What gets into you all? We study the
problem. We've been studying it for damn
well near a century, yes, but we get no
further with our studies. You've got a
good home here, good loving parents,
you've got not too bad of a brain. Is it
some devil that crawls inside of you?
ALEX
Nobody's got anything on me, brother, sir.
I've been out of the rookers of the
milicents for a long time now.
DELTOID
That's just worries me. A bit too long to
long to be reasonable. You're about due
now by my reckoning, that's why I'm
warning you, little Alex, to keep your
handsome young proboscis out of the dirt.
Do I make myself clear?
ALEX
As an unmuddied lake, sir. Clear as an
azure sky of deepest summer. You can rely
on me, sir.
Deltoid drinks again but this time sees the teeth in the glass. He
groans and retches.
INT. MUSIC BOOTICK – DAY
Alex enters. Two pretty micro-boppers, Marty and Sonietta, sucking
phallic ice sticks.ALEX
Pardon me, brother. I ordered this two
weeks ago. Could you see if it's arrived.
CLERK
OK. I'll see if it's in.
Clerk exits. Alex turns to the girls.
ALEX
Pardon me, ladies
He steps in between them and goes through the motions, looking
through.
ALEX
Enjoying it then, my darling?... A bit
cold and pointless isn't it, my lovely...
What's happened to yours, my little
sister?
Marty giggles.
MARTY
Who you getten bratty, Goggly Gogol?
Johnny Zhivago? The Heaven Seventeen?
ALEX
What you got back home, little sister, to
play your fuzzy warbles on? I bet you got
little save pitiful portable picnic
players. Come with Uncle and hear all
proper. Hear angel trumpets and devil
trombones. You are invited.
INT. ALEX'S BEDROOM – DAY
The two girls, naked, jumping up and down on Alex's still unmade
bed zonked by the booming, all engulfing sound of Alex's
incredible Hi-Fi.
INT. ALEX'S FLATBLOCK – LOBBY HALL – DAY
Alex finds the gang waiting for him.
ALEX
Hi, hi, hi, there
ALL THREE
Well, hello.
DIM
He are here! He have arrived! Hooray!
ALEX
Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly,
well. To what do I owe the extreme
pleasure of this surprising visit?Georgie rises.
GEORGIE
We got worried. There we were waiting and
drinking away at the old knify Moloko and
you had not turned up and we thought you
might have been like offended by something
or other, so around we come to your abode.
ALEX
Appy polly loggies. I had something of a
pain in the guliver so had to sleep. I was
not awakened when I gave orders for
awakening.
DIM
Sorry about the pain. Using the guliver to
much like, eh? Giving orders and
disciplining and that perhaps, eh? You
sure the pain's gone? You sure you'll not
be happier back up in bed.
ALEX
Lets get things nice and sparkling clear.
This sarcasm, if I may call it such, does
not become you, O my brothers. As I am
your droog and leader, I am entitled to
know what goes on, eh? Now then, Dim, what
does that great big horsy gape of a grin
portend?
GEORGIE
All right, no more picking on Dim,
brother. That's part of the new way.
ALEX
New way? What's this about a new way?
There's been some very large talk behind
my sleeping back, and no error. Let me
hear more.
GEORGIE
Well, we go round shop crasting and the
like, coming out with a pitiful rookerful
of money each.
DIM
Pitiful rookerful...
GEORGIE
And there's Will the English in the
Muscleman coffee mesto saying he can fence
anything that anything that any malchick
tries to crast.
DIM
Yeah... Pete the English.GEORGIE
The shiny stuff. The Ice. The big, big,
big money is available's what Will the
English says.
DIM
Big, big money.
ALEX
And what will you do with the big, big,
money? Have you not everything you need?
If you need a motor-car, you pluck it from
the trees. If you need pretty polly, you
take it.
GEORGIE
Brother, you think and talk sometimes like
a little child. Tonight we pull a mansize
crast.
ALEX
Good. Real horrorshow. Initiative comes to
them as waits. I've taught you much, my
little droogies. Now tell me what you have
in mind, Georgie Boy.
GEORGIE
Oh, the old moloko-plus first, would you
not say
DIM
Moloko-plus.
GEORGIE
Something to sharpen us up, you
especially. We have the start.
EXT. FLATBLOCK MARINE – DAY
The gang come out of the flatblock and walk along the marina.
ALEX (V.O.)
As we walked along the flatblock marina, I
was calm on the outside but thinking all
the time, so now it was to be Georgie the
General, saying what we should do and what
not to do, and Dim as his mindless,
grinning bulldog. But, suddenly, I viddied
that thinking was for the gloopy ones and
that the oomny ones use like inspiration
and what Bog sends, for now it was lovely
music that came to my aid and I viddied at
once what to do. There was a window open
with the stereo on.IN SLOW MOTION
Alex clubs Georgie into water with his stick. Dim swings chain.
Alex ducks. Dim goes into water.
Alex kneels, hands behind back, takes knife from sword stick,
offers hand to help Dim, and slashes Dim when he gets it.
Dim falls back into the water.
Alex laughs.
INT. DUKE OF NEW YORK PUB
The four boys sit round table.
ALEX (V.O.)
I had not put into any of Dim's main
cables and so, with the help of a clean
tashtook, the red, red kroovy stopped, and
it did not take long to quieten the two
wounded soldiers, down in the snug in the
Duke of New York. Now they knew who was
Master and Leader. Sheep, thought I, but a
real leader knows always when like to give
and show generous to his unders.
ALEX
Well, now we're back to where we were.
Yes? Just like before and all forgotten?
Right, right, right.
ALL BOYS
Right. Right. Right.
ALEX
Well, Georgie Boy. This idea you've got
for tonight. Well, tell us all about it
then.
GEORGIE
Not tonight – not this nochy.
ALEX
Come, come, come, Georgie Boy. You're a
big strong chelloveck like us all. We're
not little children, are we, Georgie Boy?
What, then, didst thou in thy mind have?
Confrontation. Georgie backs down.
GEORGIE
It's this Health Farm. A bit out of the
town. Isolated. It's owned by this like
very rich ptitsa who lives there with her
cats. The place is shut down for a week
and she's completely on her own, and it's
full up with like gold and silver and like
jewels.ALEX
Tell me more, Georgie Boy.
INT. CATLADY'S HOUSE
Catlady doing yoga exercises.
Room is full of cats. Doorbell rings.
CATLADY
(softly to herself)
Oh shit.
She goes to the door.
EXT. CATLADY'S HOUSE
CATLADY
Who's there?
ALEX
Excuse me, missus, can you please help?
There's been a terrible accident. Can I
please use your telephone for an
ambulance?
CATLADY
I'm frightfully sorry. There is a
telephone in the Public House about a mile
down the road. I suggest you use that.
ALEX
But, missus, this is an emergency. It's a
matter of life and death. Me friend's
lying in the middle of the road bleeding
to death.
CATLADY
I... I'm very sorry, but I never open. I'm
very sorry but I never open the door to
strangers after dark.
ALEX
Very well, madam. I suppose you can't be
blamed for being suspicious with so many
scoundrels and rouges of the night about.
Alex walks away from door, then ducks into the bushes where the
others are hiding. They put on their maskies and follow Alex round
to the rear of the house.
ALEX
Dim, bend down.
(Alex points to an
upstairs window)
I'm gonna get in that window and open the
front door.He climbs up drain-pipe to the bathroom window.
INT. CADLADY'S HOUSE
The Catlady enters and dials a number.
CATLADY
Hullo, Radlett Police Station. Good
evening. It's Miss Weathers at Woodmere
Health Farm. Look, I'm frightfully sorry
to bother you but something rather odd has
just happened... Well, it's probably
nothing at all, but you never know...
Well, a young man rang the bell asking to
use the telephone... He said there had
been some kind of accident. The thing that
caught my attention was what he said – the
words he used, sounded exactly like what
was quoted in the papers this morning in
connection with the writer and his wife
who were assaulted last night... Well,
just a few minutes ago... Well, if you
think that's necessary, but, well, I'm
quite sure he's gone away now. Oh...
alright. Fine. Thank you very much. Thank
you.
She puts phone down, turns and nearly jumps out of her leotard
when she sees Alex in the doorway.
ALEX
Hi, hi, hi there, at last we meet.
CATLADY
What the bloody hell d'you think you're
doing?
ALEX
Our brief govereet thru the letter hole
was not, shall we say, satisfactory, yes?
CATLADY
Now listen here, you little bastard, just
you turn around and walk out of here the
same way as you came in.
Alex eyes a giant white, fibreglass phallic sculpture on the table
beside him.
ALEX
Naughty, naughty, naughty, you filthy old
soomaka.
CATLADY
No! No! Don't touch it. That's a very
important work of art. What the bloody
hell do you want?ALEX
You see, madam, I am part of an
international student's contest to see who
can get the most points for selling
magazines.
CATLADY
Cut the shit, sonny, and get out of here
before you get yourself in some very
serious trouble.
He rocks the giant phallus which has a special weight swinging
inside causing it to swing up and down an eccentric motion.
CATLADY
I told you to leave it alone. Now get out
of here before I throw you out, wretched
slummy bedbug. I'll teach you breaking
into real people's houses. Get out!
She grabs up a bust of Beethoven and rushes at Alex. He grabs the
giant phallic sculpture.
Circling, Alex fends off her mad rushes with skilful jabs of the
giant phallus.
She ducks under and clobbers him with the heavy bust of Beethoven.
He goes down, pulling her off balance and they both wind up the
floor.
In the struggle, Alex bashes her with the phallus.
Distant Police sirens.
He exits.
EXT. CATLDAY'S HOUSE – NIGHT
Alex rushes out. Dim and the others are waiting.
ALEX
Come on. Let's go, the police are coming.
DIM
One minoota, droogie.
Dim smashes Alex in the face with a full milk bottle. He goes
down. The others run away, laughing.
ALEX
(screaming)
You bastards... bastards.
INT. POLICE HQ – NIGHT
Inspector takes out cigarette and lights up.INSPECTOR
Right. Right , Tom, we'll have to our
little friend, Alex, here that we know the
law, too, but that knowing the law isn't
everything.
He nods to Fatneck.
FATNECK
That's a nasty cut you've got there,
little Alex. Spoils... all your beauty.
Who gave you that then... eh... eh...
He presses Alex's nose, inflicting great pain. Alex sinks to his
knees.
ALEX
Ow... what's that for, you bastard?
FATNECK
That was for your lady victim. You ghastly
wretched scoundrel.
Alex grabs his balls.
Alex is beaten by the other Cop.
Inspector exits to outside office where Sergeant sits, sipping a
cup of tea.
Deltoid has just entered.
INSPECTOR
Sergeant.
SERGEANT
Sir.
INSPECTOR
Ah, good evening, Mr. Deltoid.
DELTOID
Evening, Inspector.
SERGEANT
Would you like your tea now, sir?
INSPECTOR
No, thank you, Sergeant. We'll have it
later. May I have some paper towels,
please.
SERGEANT
Yes, sir.
INSPECTOR
We're interrogating the prisoner now.
Perhaps you'd care to come inside.DELTOID
Thank you very much
They move into Interrogation Room.
Alex is on the floor in the corner covered with blood.
DELTOID
Evening, Sergeant. Evening, all. Dear,
dear, this boy does look a mess, doesn't
he? Just look at the state of him.
FATNECK
Love's young nightmare like.
INSPECTOR
Violence makes violence. He resisted his
lawful arrestors.
DELTOID
Well, it's happened, Alex boy, yes. Just
as I thought it would, yes. Dear, dear,
dear. Well, this is the end of the line
for me... the end of the line, yes.
ALEX
It wasn't me, brother, sir. Speak up for
me, sir, for I'm not so bad. I was led on
by the treachery of others, sir.
INSPECTOR
Sings the roof off lovely, he does that.
ALEX
And where are my stinking traitorous
droogs. Get them before the get away. It
was all their idea, brothers. They forced
me to do it. I'm innocent.
DELTOID
You are now a murderer, little Alex. A
murderer, yes.
ALEX
Not true, sir. It was only a slight
tolchock. She was breathing, I swear it.
DELTOID
I've just come back from the hospital.
Your victim has died.
ALEX
You try to frighten me, sir, admit so,
sir. This is some new form of torture. Say
it, brother, sir.
DELTOID
It will be your own torture. I hope to God
it will torture you to madness.FATNECK
If you'd care to give him a bash in the
chops, sir. Don't mind us. We'll hold him
down. He must be a great disappointment to
you, sir.
Deltoid spits in Alex's face.
HELICOPTER VIEWS OF PRISON
ALEX (V.O.)
This is the real weepy and like tragic
part of the story beginning, O my brothers
and only friends. After a trial with
judges and a jury, and some very hard
words spoken against your friend and
humble narrator, he was sentenced to 14
years in Staja No. 84F among smelly
perverts and hardened prestoopnicks, the
shock sending my dadda beating his bruised
and kroovy rookas against unfair Bog in
his Heaven, and my mom, boohoohooing in
her mother's grief as her only child and
son of her bosom, like letting everybody
down real horrorshow.
INT. PRISON CHECK-IN ROOM – DAY
A bell rings and a Warder goes and unlocks first a wooden door and
then a barred door.
GUARD
Morning. One up from Thames, Mister.
WARDER
One in from Thames, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. Open up, Mister.
WARDER
Yes, sir.
He opens door and steps back. Alex and another Warden move to
Reception desk.
WARDER
Good morning, sir. Committal sheet.
CHIEF GUARD
(who shouts everything)
Thank you, Mister.
He signs sheet.
GUARD
Name?ALEX
Alexander de Large.
CHIEF GUARD
You are now in H.M. Prison Parkmoor and
from this moment you will address all
prison officers as sir! Name?
ALEX
Alexander de Large, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Crime?
ALEX
Murder, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. Take the cuffs off him, Mister.
The cuffs are removed.
CHIEF GUARD
You are now 655321 and it is your duty to
memorise that number.
He hands clipboard back to Warder.
CHIEF GUARD
Thank you Mister. Well done.
WARDER
Thank you, chief.
CHIEF GUARD
Let the officer out.
Officer exits.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. Empty your pockets!
Alex moves to desk and leans forward.
CHIEF GUARD
Are you able to see that white line
painted on the floor directly behind you,
655321?
ALEX
Yes, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Then your toes belong on the other side of
it!!!
ALEX
Yes sir.CHIEF GUARD
Right carry on.
Alex tosses a bar of chocolate on the desk.
CHIEF GUARD
Pick that up and put it down properly.
Alex does so, and continues to empty his pockets.
CHIEF GUARD
One half bar of chocolate. One bunch of
keys on white metal ring. One packet of
cigarettes. Two plastic ball pens – one
black, one red. One pocket comb – black
plastic. One address book – imitation red
leather. One ten penny piece. One white
metal wristlet watch, "Timawrist" on a
white metal expanding bracelet. Anything
else in your pockets?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. Sign here for your valuable
property.
Alex signs.
CHIEF GUARD
The chocolate and cigarettes you brought
in – you lose that as you are now
convicted. Now go over to the table and
get undressed.
Alex walks to table and undresses. Chief Guard moves to table with
his clipboard.
CHIEF GUARD
Now then, were you in Police custody this
morning?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One jacket – blue pinstripe.
CHIEF GUARD
Prison custody?
ALEX
Yes, sir On remnd, sir.
CHECK-IN
One neck tie – blue.
CHIEF GUARD
Religion?ALEX
C of E, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Do you mean Church of England?
ALEX
Yes, sir, Church of England, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Brown hair, is it?
ALEX
Fair hair, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Blue eyes?
ALEX
Blue eyes, yes, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Do you wear eye glasses or contact lenses?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One shirt – blue, collar attached.
CHIEF GUARD
Have you been receiving medical treatment
for any serious illness?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One pair of boots – black leather,
zippered, worn.
CHIEF GUARD
Have you ever had any mental illness?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Do you wear any false teeth or false
limbs?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One pair of trousers – blue pinstriped.
CHIEF GUARD
Have you ever had any attacks of fainting
or dizziness?ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One pair of socks – black.
CHIEF GUARD
Are you an Epileptic?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHECK-IN
One pair of underpants – white with blue
waistband.
CHIEF GUARD
Are you now, or ever have been, a
homosexual?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. The mothballs, Mister.
CHECK-IN
Mothballs, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Now then. Face the wall. Bend over and
touch your toes.
Chief Guard inspects Alex's anus with a penlight.
CHIEF GUARD
Mmmmmmm... any venereal disease?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Crabs?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Lice?
ALEX
No, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Through there for a bath.
ALEX
Yes, sir.INT. PRISON CHAPEL – DAY
Priest in pulpit big rough state-proper type.
Convict audience.
Alex sits apart tending an overhead projector.
PRIEST
I ask you friends. What's it going to be
then? Is it going to be in and out of
institutions like this?Or more in then out
for most of you? Or are you going to
attend the divine word and realise the
punishment that awaits unrepentant sinners
in the next world as well as this. A lot
of Idiots you are, selling your birthright
for a saucer of cold porridge. The urge to
live easy. I ask you friends, is it worth
it? When we have undeniable proof – yes,
my friends, incontrovertible evidence that
Hell exists. I know, I know, my friends. I
have been informed in visions that there
is a place darker than any prison, hotter
than any human flame of fire, where
unrepentant criminals, sinners like
yourselves...
A convict burps.
All laugh.
PRIEST
Don't you laugh, damn you, don't you
laugh. I say like yourselves – scream in
endless and unendurable agony. Their
nostrils choked with the smell of filth,
their mouths crammed with burning ordure.
Their skins rotting and peeling. A
fireball spinning in their screaming guts.
I know... oh yes, I know.
A convict lets rip some lip music – prrrrrrrp. There is laughter.
Chief Guard moves forward – points.
CHIEF GUARD
I saw you, 920537. I saw you.
CONVICT
Up yours, mate.
CHIEF GUARD
Just you wait, 744678. One on the turnip
coming up for you.
PRIEST
Quiet, my friends. Quiet. Quiet, I say. We
will now sing Hymn 258 in the Prisoner's
Hymnal.Piano starts up and Alex starts up overhead projector which
displays the words of the hymn.
CHIEF GUARD
Show a little reverence, you bastards.
Quiet!
Convicts and all start to sing.
SINGING
I was a wandering sheep.
I did not love...
CHIEF GUARD
Sing up damn you. Louder, sing up.
SINGING
... the fold
I did not love my shepherd's voice.
I would not be controlled.
CHIEF GUARD
Come on, sing up, damn you.
SINGING
I was a wayward child
I did not love my home
I did not love my father's voice
I loved afar to roam.
ALEX (V.O.)
It had not been edifying, indeed not,
being in this hell hole and human zoo for
two years now, being kicked and tolchocked
by brutal warders, and meeting leering
criminals and perverts ready to dribble
all over a lucious young malchick like
your story-teller.
INT. PRIEST'S LIBRARY – DAY
Alex reading the Bible.
ALEX (V.O.)
It was my rabbit to help the prison
charlie with the Sunday service. He was a
bolshy great burly bastard, but he was
very fond of myself, me being very young,
and also now very interested in the big
book.
Priest walks by and nods pleasantly.ALEX (V.O.)
It had been arranged by the prison
charlie, as part of my further education
to read him the Bible. I didn't so much
like the latter part of the book which is
more like all preachy talking, than
fighting and the old in-out. I liked the
parts where these old yahoodies tolchock
each other and then drink their Hebrew
vino and, then getting on to the bed with
their wives' handmaidens. That kept me
going.
BIBLE FANTASY – FIGHTING – DAY
Biblical fighting shot. Alex slashing away. Blood spurting.
HANDMAIDEN FANTASY IN TENT – DAY
Alex lying with three semi-nude handmaidens.
EXT. BIBLICAL STREET
Christ being whipped on by Alex, dressed as a Legionary.
ALEX
Move on there. Move on.
ALEX (V.O.)
I read all about the scourging and the
crowning with thorns and all that, and I
could viddy myself helping in and even
taking charge of the tolchocking and the
nailing in, being dressed in the height of
Roman fashion.
BACK TO THE LIBRARY
Alex sits with his eyes closed.
Priest comes over and squeezes his shoulder.
Alex looks up at him and smiles.
PRIEST
(reading from Alex's
Bible)
Seek not to be like evil men, neither
desire to be with them, because their
minds studieth robberies and their lips
speak deceits.
ALEX
If thou lose hope being weary in the days
of distress, thy strength shall be
diminished.PRIEST
Fine, my boy, fine, fine.
ALEX
Father, I have tried, have I not?
PRIEST
You have, my son.
ALEX
I've done my best, have I not?
PRIEST
Indeed.
ALEX
And, Father, I've never been guilty of any
institutional infractions, have I?
PRIEST
You certainly have not, 655321. You've
been very helpful, and you've shown a
genuine desire to reform.
ALEX
Father – may I ask you a question in
private?
PRIEST
Certainly, my son, certainly. Is there
something troubling you, my son? Don't be
shy to speak up. Remember, I know all the
urges that can trouble young men deprived
of the society of women.
ALEX
No Father. It's nothing like that, Father.
It's about this new thing they're all
talking about. About this new treatment
that you out of prison in no time at all
and makes sure you never get back in
again.
PRIEST
Where did you hear about this? Whose been
talking about these things?
ALEX
These things get around, Father. Two
Warders talk as it might be, and somebody
can't help overhearing what they say. Then
somebody picks up a scrap of newspaper in
the workshops and the newspaper tells all
about it. How about putting me in for this
new treatment, Father?
PRIEST
I take it you are referring to the
Ludovico Technique?ALEX
I don't know what it's called, Father, all
I know is that it gets you out quickly and
makes sure that you never get in again.
PRIEST
That's not proven, 655321. In fact, it is
only in the experimental stage at this
moment.
ALEX
But it is being used, isn't it, Father?
PRIEST
It has not been used yet in this prison.
The Governor has grave doubts about it and
I have heard that there are very serious
dangers involved.
ALEX
I don't care about the danger, Father. I
just want to be good. I want for the rest
of my life to be one act of goodness.
PRIEST
The question is weather or not this
technique really makes a man good.
Goodness comes from within. Goodness is
chosen. When a man cannot chose, he ceases
to be a man.
ALEX
I don't understand about the whys and
wherefores, Father. I only know I want to
be good.
PRIEST
Be patient, my son, and put your trust in
the Lord.
ALEX
Instruct thy son and he shall refresh thee
and shall give delight to thy soul.
PRIEST
Amen.
They cross themselves.
EXT. PRISON YARD – DAY
Prisoners walking in circles.
INT. PRISON CORRIDOR
Guards stand either side of cell doors.
Chief Guard with Governor, Minister and entourage.CHIEF GUARD
Mister.
GUARD
All present and correct, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Right. All present and correct, sir.
GOVERNOR
Very good, Chief.
They inspect cells.
CHIEF GUARD
Leave to carry on, sir, please?
GOVERNOR
Carry on, Chief.
CHIEF GUARD
Sir.
EXT. PRISON YARD
Chief Guard comes out of door.
CHIEF GUARD
Right, pay attention. I want you in two
lines. Up against that wall facing this
way. Go on move! Hurry up about it and
stop talking.
The men line up. Chief Guard moves back to door and comes to
attention.
CHIEF GUARD
Ready for inspection, sir.
He stands back and salutes as Governor, Minister and entourage
enter and walk along line of men.
MINISTER
How many to a cell?
GOVERNOR
Four in this block, sir.
MINISTER
Cram criminals together and what do you
get – concentrated criminality... crime in
the midst of punishment.
GOVERNOR
I agree, sir. What we need are larger
prisons. More money.MINISTER
Not a chance, my dear fellow. The
Ggovernment can't be concerned any longer
with outmoded penological theories. Soon
we may be needing all of out prison space
for political offenders. Common criminals
like these are best dealt with on a purely
curative basis. Kill the criminal reflex
that's all. Full implementation in a
year's time. Punishment means nothing to
them, you can see that... they enjoy their
so-called punishment.
Alex seizes his chance as they pass by.
ALEX
You're absolutely right, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
Shut your bleedin' hole!!!
MINISTER
Who said that?
ALEX
I did, sir.
MINISTER
What crime did you commit.
ALEX
The accidental killing of a person, sir.
CHIEF GUARD
He brutally murdered a woman, sir, in
furtherence of theft. 14 years... sir!
MINISTER
Excellent. He's enterprising, aggressive,
outgoing. Young. Bold. Viscous. He'll do.
GOVERNOR
Well, fine... we could still look at C-
Block.
MINISTER
No, no, no. That's enough. He's perfect. I
want his records sent to me. This vicious
young hoodlum will be transformed out of
all recognition.
ALEX
Thank you very much for this chance, sir.
MINISTER
Let's hope you make the most of it, my
boy.
GOVERNOR
Shall we go to my office?MINISTER
Thank you.
INT. GOVERNOR'S OFFICE – DAY
Governor seated at his desk. There is a knock on the door.
GOVERNOR
Come in.
Door opens. Chief Guard enters with Alex.
CHIEF GUARD
Sir, 655321, sir.
GOVERNOR
Very good, Chief.
Chief Guard turns to Alex.
CHIEF GUARD
Forward to the white line, toes behind it.
Full name and number to the Governor.
Chief Guard closes door.
ALEX
Alexander de Large, sir. 655321, sir.
The Governor takes off his glasses.
GOVERNOR
I don't suppose you know who that was this
morning, do you? That was no less a
personage than the Minister of the
Interior and what they call a very new
broom. Well, these new ridiculous ideas
have come at last, and orders are orders,
though I may say to you in confidence that
I do not approve. An eye for an eye, I
say, if someone hits you, you hit back, do
you not? Why then should not the State
very severely hit by you brutal offenders
not hit back also? But the new view is to
say no. The new view is that we turn the
bad into good. All of which seems to be
grossly unjust. Hmmmmmm.
ALEX
Sir...
CHIEF GUARD
Shut your filthy hole, you scum!!!GOVERNOR
You are to be reformed. Tomorrow you go to
this man, Brodsky. You will be leaving
here. You will be transferred to the
Ludovico Medical Facility. It is believed
that you will be able to leave State
custody in a little over a fortnight. I
suppose that prospect pleases you?
CHIEF GUARD
Answer when the Governor asks you a
question you filthy young swine!
ALEX
Oh yes, sir. Thank you very much, sir.
I've done my best here I really have, sir.
I'm very grateful to all concerned.
GOVERNOR
Sign this – where it's marked.
Alex turns the paper to read it.
CHIEF GUARD
Don't read it – sign it!
GOVERNOR
It says that you are willing to have the
residue of your sentence commuted to the
Ludovico treatment.
Alex signs. Governor gathers up papers.
Alex dots the last "i" and smiles.
INT. LUDOVICO CENTRE RECEPTION DESK – DAY
ALEX (V.O.)
The next morning I was taken to the
Ludovico Medical Facility, outside the
town centre, and I felt a malenky bit sad
having to say goodbye to the old Staja, as
you always will when you leave a place
you've like gotten used to.
Chief Guard briskly leads the way for Alex and escort. They move
into reception hall where the Doctor stands.
CHIEF GUARD
(shouting like an RSM)
Right. Halt the prisoner. Good morning,
sir, I'm Chief Officer Barnes. I've got
655321 on a transfer from Parkmoor to the
Ludovico Centre, sir!
DOCTOR
Good morning, we've been expecting you.
I'm Dr. Alcott.Chief Guard checks the name from his clipboard.
CHIEF GUARD
Yes, Dr. Alcott. Are you prepared to
accept the prisoner, sir?
DOCTOR
Yes, of course.
CHIEF GUARD
Well, I wonder if you'd mind signing these
transfer documents, sir.
Doctor signs.
CHIEF GUARD
Thank you, sir. There, sir... there, and
there, sir... and there. Thank you, sir.
Prison escort move forward. Halt. Excuse
me, sir. Is that the officer that is to
take charge of the prisoner, sir?
Doctor nods. Officer steps forward.
CHIEF GUARD
If I might offer a word of advice, Doc.
You'll have to watch this one. A right
brutal bastard he has been, and will be
again. In spite all his sucking up to the
prison Chaplain and reading the Bible.
DOCTOR
Oh, I think we can manage things. Charlie,
will you show the young man to his room
now.
CHARLIE
Right, sir. Come this way, please.
Alex exits with Officer.
INT. ALEX'S ROOM – LUDOVICO CENTRE – DAY
Alex finishing breakfast tray in bed.
Room bright and cheery.
Dr. Branom, a tall woman in her fifties, enters with nurse
carrying a sterile tray.
DR. BRANOM
(very briskly)
Good morning, Alex, my name is Dr. Branom.
I'm Doctor Brodsky's assistant.ALEX
Good Morning, Missus. Lovely day, isn't
it?
DR. BRANOM
Indeed it is. May I take this
She removes his tray.
DR. BRANOM
How're you feeling this morning?
ALEX
Fine... fine.
DR. BRANOM
Good. In a few minutes, you'll meeting Dr.
Brodsky and we'll begin your treatment.
You're a very lucky boy to have been
chosen.
ALEX
I realise all that, Missus, and I'm very
grateful to all concerned.
DR. BRANOM
We're going to friends now, sir.
ALEX
I hope so, Missus.
She inserts a needle into the medicine vial.
ALEX (CONT'D)
What's the hypo for then? Going to send me
to sleep?
DR. BRANOM
Oh no, nothing of the sort.
ALEX
Vitamins will it be then?
DR. BRANOM
Something like that. You are a little
undernourished, so after each meal were
going to give you a shot. Roll over on
your right side please, loosen your pajama
pants and pull them half-way down.
He does, somewhat reluctanly. She gives him a shot in the bum.
ALEX
What exactly is the treatment here going
to be then?
DR. BRANOM
It's quite simple really. Were just going
to show you some films.ALEX
You mean like going to the pictures?
DR. BRANOM
Something like that.
ALEX
Well, that's good. I like to viddy the old
films now and again.
INT. AUDIO VISUAL LUDOVICO CENTRE – DAY
Auditorium setting. Alex is bound in a examination chair in front
of a large video screen. A white-coated Technician is strapping
Alex's head to a medical device.
He then carefully attaches the eyelid locking to Alex's eyes.
ALEX (V.O.)
And viddy films I would. Where I was taken
to, brothers, was like no cine I'd been in
before. I was bound up in a straight-
jacket and my guliver was strapped to a
headrest with like wires running away from
it. Then they clamped like lidlocks on my
eyes so I could not shut them no matter
how hard I tried. It seemed a bit crazy to
me, but I let them get on with what they
wanted to get on with. If I was to be a
free young malchick in a fortnight's time,
I would put up with much in the meantime,
my brothers.
At the back of the auditorium are ten or fifteen solemn medical
Professionals in white coats watching the proceedings and
occasionally taking notes. A film begins showing on the screen.
The Technician drops eyedrops into Alex's eyes.
VIOLENCE FILM
Man being beaten by four toughs wearing white.
Punches, kicks, grunts, blood.
ALEX (V.O.)
So far the first film was a very good
professional piece of cine, looked like it
was done in Hollywood.
Screams, moans, kicks, punches.ALEX (V.O.)
The sounds were real horroshow. You could
slooshy the screams and moans very
realistic and you could even get the heavy
breathing and panting of the tolchocking
malchicks at the same time. And then, what
do you know, soon our dear old friend, the
red, red vino on tap. The same in all
places like it's put out by the same big
firm, began to flow. It was beautiful.
It's funny how the colors of the real
world only seem really real when you viddy
them on a screen.
More kicks, punches, groans, thumps.
Girl being beaten, raped by six toughs.
Screams, music, laughing, grunts, heavy breathing.
ALEX (V.O.)
Now all the time I was watching this, I
was beginning to get very aware of like
not feeling all that well, but I tried to
forget this, concentrating on the next
film, which jumped right away on a young
devotchka, who was being given the old in-
out, in-out, first by one malchick, then
another, then another. This seemed real,
very real, though if you thought about it
properly you couldn't imagine lewdies
actually agreeing to having all this done
to them in a film, and if these films were
made by the good, or the State, you
couldn't imagine them being allowed to
take these films, without like interfering
with what was going on.
Girl being raped.
ALEX (V.O.)
When it came to the sixth or seventh
malchick, leering and smecking and then
going into it, I began to feel really
sick. But I could not shut my glazzies and
even if I tried to move my glazballs about
I still not get out of the line of fire of
this picture.
Alex squirming and retching.
Dr. Brodsky clears his throat and quietly addresses his collegues
seated in the back of the room.DR. BRODSKY
Very soon now the drug will cause the
subject to experience a death-like
paralysis together with deep feelings of
terror and helplessness. One of our
earlier test subjects described it as
being like death, a sense of stifling and
drowning, and it is during this period we
have found the subject will make his most
rewarding associations between his
catastrophic experience and environment
and the violence he sees.
Alex retching violently and struggling against his strait jacket.
ALEX
Let me be sick... I want to get up. Get me
something to be sick in... Stop the
film... Please stop it... I can't stand it
any more. Stop it please... please.
INT. ALEX'S ROOM – LUDOVICO – DAY
DR. BRANOM
Well, that was a very promising start. By
my calculations, you should be starting to
feel alright again. Yes? Dr. Brodsky's
pleased with you. Now tomorrow there'll be
two sessions, of course, morning and
afternoon.
ALEX
You mean, I have to viddy two sessions in
one day?
DR. BRANOM
I imagine you'll be feeling a little bit
limp by the end of the day. But we have to
be hard on you. You have to be cured.
ALEX
But it was horrible.
DR. BRANOM
Well, of course, it was horrible. Violence
is a very horrible thing. That's what
you're learning now. Your body is learning
it.
ALEX
I just don't understand about feeling sick
the way I did. I never used to feel sick
before. I used to feel like the very
opposite. I mean, doing it or watching it,
I used to feel real horrorshow. I just
don't understand why, how or what.DR. BRANOM
You felt ill this afternoon because you're
getting better. You see, when we're
healthy we respond to the presence of the
hateful with fear and nausea. You're
becoming healthy that's all. By this time
tomorrow you'll be healthier still.
INT. AUDIO VISUAL LUDOVICO CENTRE – DAY
Alex retching and screaming – restrained again by a straight-
jacket.
ALEX (V.O.)
It was the next day, brothers, and I had
truly done my best, morning and afternoon,
to play it their way and sit like a
horrorshow co-operative malchick in the
chair of torture, while they flashed nasty
bits of ultra-violence on the screen.;
though not on the soundtrack, my brothers.
The only sound being music. Then I noticed
in all my pain and sickness what music it
was that like cracked and boomed. It was
Ludwig van – 9th symphony, 4th movement.
ALEX
Stop it... stop it, please!!! I beg of
you!!! It's a sin!!! It's a sin!!! It's a
sin, please!!!
Brodsky leans forward and turns down the sound.
DR. BRODSKY
What's all this about sin?
ALEX
That!... Using Ludwig van like that! He
did no harm to anyone. Beethoven just
wrote music.
DR. BRANOM
Are you referring to the background score?
ALEX
Yes!!!
DR. BRANOM
You've heard Beethoven before?
ALEX
Yes!!!
DR. BRODSKY
You're keen on music?
ALEX
Yes!!!DR. BRANOM
(quietly)
What do you think about that, Dr. Brodsky?
DR. BRODSKY
(softly)
It can't be helped. Here's your punishment
element perhaps. The Governor ought to be
pleased... I'm sorry, Alex, this is for
your own good, you'll have to bear with us
for a while.
ALEX
You needn't take it any further, sir.
You've proved to me that all this ultra-
violence and killing is wrong and terribly
wrong. I've learned my lesson, sir. I see
now what I've never seen before I'm cured,
praise Bog!
DR. BRODSKY
You're not cured yet, my boy.
DR. BRODSKY
You must take your chance boy. The choice
has been all yours.
ALEX
But, Sir... Missus... I see that it's
wrong! It's wrong because it's like
against like society. It's wrong because
everybody has the right to live and be
happy without being tolchocked and knifed.
DR. BRODSKY
No, no, boy. You really must leave it to
us, but be cheerful about it. In less than
a fortnight now, you'll be a free man.
INT. AUDITORIUM – DAY
VIP audience including Minister, Junior Minister, Prison Governor,
Priest, Dr. Branom, Dr. Brodsky.
Dressed in street clothes Alex enters led by a white-coated
Technician.
He is led onto stage and left standing there, blinking into
lights.
The Minister rises and walks to the front of the auditorium.MINISTER
Ladies and Gentlemen, at this point, we
introduce the subject himself. He is, as
you will perceive, fit and well nourished.
He comes straight from as night's sleep
and a good breakfast, undrugged,
unhypnotized. Tomorrow, we send him with
confidence out into the world again, as
decent a lad as you would meet on a May
morning. What a change is here, Ladies and
Gentlemen, from the wretched hoodlum the
state committed to unprofitable punishment
some two years ago, unchanged after two
years. Unchanged, do I say - not quite.
Prison taught him a false smile, the
rubbed hands of hypocrisy, the fawning,
greased, obsequious leer. Other vices
prison taught him as well as confirming
him in those he had long practiced before.
Our party promised to restore law and
order and to make the streets safe for the
ordinary peace loving citizen. This pledge
is now about to become a reality. Ladies
and Gentlemen, this is an historic moment.
The problem of criminal violence is soon
to be a thing of the past. But enough of
words – actions speak louder than. Action
now. Observe all.
He returns to his seat and leans close to his Junior Minister.
JUNIOR MINISTER
Our necks are out a long way on this,
Minister.
MINISTER
I have complete faith in Brodsky. If the
polls are right, we have nothing to lose.
Lights are dimmed. Enter Lardface, an elegantly dressed fag.
LARDFACE
Hello, heap of dirt. Pooh, you don't wash
much do you, judging by the horrible
smell.
ALEX
Why do you say that, brother? I had a
shower this morning.
LARDFACE
Oh, he had a shower this morning. You
trying to call me a liar?
ALEX
No, brother. What d'you want?
LARDFACE
What do I want?ALEX
Sorry, brother. I didn't mean any offence.
LARDFACE
Oh. Oh, you're sorry are you, well you
must think I'm awfully stupid.
He slaps Alex in the face.
ALEX
Why did you do that, brither? I've never
done wrong to you.
LARDFACE
You want to know why I did that, well you
see – I do that...
He stamps on Alex's foot.
LARDFACE
... and this...
He pulls Alex's nose.
LARDFACE
... and that...
He pulls Alex's ear, pushes him off balance and plants his foot on
his chest.
LARDFACE
... because I don't like you horrible
type, do I, and if you want to start
something... if you want to start... go
on... well, you just start. Please do.
Alex retching.
ALEX
I'm gonna be sick.
LARDFACE
You're gonna be sick are you?
ALEX
I wanna be sick.
LARDFACE
You wanna be sick?
ALEX
Let me get up.
LARDFACE
You wanna get up? Well, you've gotta you
see... well I want you to lick it. Go
on... Lick it.
Alex, gagging and coughing, licks the sole of his shoe.LARDFACE
... And again... Go on!!! Again! There's a
good boy.
ALEX (V.O.)
And, O my brothers, would you believe your
faithful friend and long suffering
narrator pushed out his red yahzik a mile
and a half to lick the grahzny, vonny
boots. The horrible killing sickness had
wooshed up and turned the like joy of
battle into a feeling I was going to snuff
it.
Minister rises.
MINISTER
Enough! That will do very well. Thank you.
Lardface does leading-man-bows. A smattering of applause.
LARDFACE
Thank you very much, Ladies and
Gentlemen... Thank you.
Alex on floor – still retching.
A beautiful nude Girl enters.
Alex looks up slowly.
ALEX (V.O.)
She came towards me with the light like it
was the like light of heavenly grace, and
the first thing that flashed into my
gulliver was that I would like to have her
right down there on the floor with the old
in-out, real savage. But quick as a shot
came the sickness, like a detective that
had been watching around the corner and
now followed to make his arrest.
Alex retching. Minister rises.
MINISTER
Thank you very much. Thank you my dear.
Girl bows and exits to loud applause.
MINISTER
Not feeling too bad now are you?
ALEX
(pullimg himself
together)
No, sir, I feel really great.
MINISTER
Good.ALEX
Was I alright, sir? Did I do well, sir?
MINISTER
Fine. Absolutely fine. You see, Ladies and
Gentlemen our subject is, you see,
impelled towards good by paradoxically
being impelled toward evil. The intention
to act violently is accompanied by strong
feelings of physical distress. To counter
these, the subject has to switch to a
diametrically opposed attitude. Any
questions?
Priest rises and moves to Alex.
PRIEST
Choice! The boy has no real choice, has
he? Self interest, fear of physical pain
drove him to that grotesque act of self
abasement. Its insincerity was clearly to
be seen. He ceases also to be a creature
capable of moral choice.
MINISTER
Padre, these are subtleties. We are not
concerned with motive, with the higher
ethics; we are concerned only with cutting
down crime. And with relieving the ghastly
congestion in our prisons... He will be
your true Christian, ready to turn the
other cheek. Ready to be crucified rather
than crucify, sick to the very heart at
the thought even of killing a fly.
Reclamation, joy before the angels of God.
The point is that it works!
Applause.
EXT. FLATBLOCK
Alex walking carrying his prison parcel wrapped in brown paper.
INT. ALEX'S FLAT
Ma, Pa and Joe the Lodger reading newspapers. Headlines – all
Alex.
Alex enters quietly. Loud radio music from sitting room prevents
anyone from hearing him. He enters his won room which is the first
off the hall.
ALEX
Hi. Hi. Hi, there my Pee and Em.
All three look up startled.EM
Alex.
ALEX
(to his mother)
Hullo love, how are you?
(kisses her)
Nice to see you, Dad.
PEE
Hullo lad. What a surprise, good to see
you.
ALEX
Keeping fit then?
PEE
(very ill at ease)
Fine, fine.
ALEX
Well, how are you then?
PEE
Oh fine, fine. Keeping out of trouble, you
know.
ALEX
Well – I'm back.
PEE
(with feigned
enthusiasm)
Aye. Glad to see you back, lad.
EM
Why didn't you let us know what was
happening, son?
ALEX
Sorry, Em, I wanted it to be like... a big
surprise for you and pee.
PEE
Well, it's a surprise all right, a bit
bewildering too.
EM
We've only just read about it in the
morning papers.
PEE
Aye. You should have let us know, lad, not
that we're not very pleased to see you
again. All cured too, eh?
ALEX
That's right, Dad they did a great job on
my gulliver, I'm completely reformed.PEE
Aye.
ALEX
(looks in the kitchen)
Well, still the same old place then, eh?
PEE
Oh, aye, aye.
ALEX
(fake whisper)
Hey, Dad, there's a strange fella sitting
on the sofa there munchy-wunching lomticks
of toast.
PEE
Aye, that's Joe. He... ummmm, lives here
now. The lodger. That's what he is...
he... he rents your room.
Alex confronts Joe.
ALEX
How do you do, Joe? Find the room
comfortable, do you? No complaints?
JOE
I've heard about you. I know what you've
done. Breaking the hearts of your poor
grieving parents. So you're back? You're
back to make a life of misery for your
lovely parents, is that it? Well, over my
dead corpse you will, because you see,
they've let me be more like a son to them
than like a lodger.
Alex cocks his fist and starts to retch violently, almost at the
same moment Joe drops back on the couch next to Em.
EM
Joe! Joe! Don't fight here boys!
Alex burps and retches.
JOE
Oh, please. Do put your hand over your
mouth, it's bloody revolting.
Alex violently ill.
PEE
Well, what's the matter lad, are you
feeling alright?
EM
Dad... It's the treatment.
More retching.JOE
Well, it's disgusting. It puts you off
your food.
EM
Leave him be, Joe. It's the treatment.
PEE
D'you think we should do something?
EM
Would you like me to make you a nice cup
of tea, son?
ALEX
No thanks, Mum. It'll pass in a minute...
(after a pause)
... What have you done with all my own
personal things?
PEE
Well. That was all took away, son, by the
Police. New regulation about compensation
for the victim.
ALEX
What about Basil? Where's my snake?
PEE
Oh well, he met with like an accident. He
passed away.
Alex becomes a bit weepy.
ALEX
What's gonna happen to me then? I mean
that's my room he's in – there's no
denying that. This is my home also. What
suggestions have you, my Pee and Em, to
make?
PEE
Well, all this needs thinking about, son.
I mean we can't very well just kick Joe
out... Not just like that, can we? I mean
Joe is here doing a job. A contract it is,
two years. Well, we made like an
arrangement, didn't we Joe? You see, son,
Joe's paid next month's rent already so,
well, whatever we do in the future, we
cant just say to Joe to get out, now can
we?JOE
No, there's much more than that, though. I
mean I've got you two to think of. I mean
you're more like a mother and father to
me. Well, it wouldn't be fair now, would
it, for me to go off and leave you two to
the tender mercies of this young monster
who's been like no real son at all. Look,
let him go off and find a room somewhere.
Let him learn the errors of his way, and
that a bad boy like he's been don't
deserve such a good mum and dad as he's
had.
ALEX
Alright. I see how things are now. I've
suffered and I've suffered, and I've
suffered and everybody wants me to go on
suffering.
JOE
You've made others suffer. It's only fair
that you should suffer proper. You know
I've been told everything you've done,
sitting here at night round the family
table, pretty shocking it was to listen
to. It made me real sick, a lot of it did.
Now look what you've gone and done to your
mother.
Em bursts into tears.
ALEX
So that's the way it is then, eh? That's
the way it is. Right, I'm leaving now, you
won't ever viddy me no more. I'll make my
own way. Thank you very much. Let it lie
heavy on your consciences.
Alex exits.
PEE
(shouting after him)
Now don't take it like that son.
Em boohoohoos, Joe comforts her.
EXT. AMBANKMENT – DAY
Alex walks along the Thames embankment still holding his paper
parcel.
Tramp enters. The same man beaten by Alex and his gang earlier in
the film.
TRAMP
Can you spare me some cutter, me brother?
Can you spare some cutter, me brother?Alex, without looking at him, reaches in his pocket and gives him
some money.
TRAMP
Oh, thankyou, your honour.
The Tramp takes a second look at Alex.
TRAMP
Jamey Mack! Be the hokey fly! Holy Mother
of God! All the Holy Angels and blessed
saints in Heaven preserve us.
Alex breaks away but the Tramp toddles alongside him.
TRAMP
I never forget a face! I never forget any
face, be God!
ALEX
Leave me alone, brother. I've never seen
you before.
Tramp shouts to other Meths drinkers and Tramps.
TRAMP
This is the poisonous young swine that
near done me in. Him and his friends beat
me and kicked me and thumped me.
Alex breaks away again.
TRAMP
Stop him! Stop him!
A leg is stuck out and Alex goes down. The tramp swarm all over
him.
TRAMP
They laughed at me blood and me moans.
This murderous young pig is a prize
specimen of the cowardly brutal young. He
is in our midst and at our mercy. Give it
to him. That's it.
Old Tramps begin to beat at Alex.
ALEX (V.O.)
Then there was like a sea of dirty, smelly
old men trying to get at your humble
Narrator, with their feeble rookers and
horny old claws. It was Old Age having a
go at Youth and I daren't do a single
solitary thing, O my brothers, it being
better to be hit at like that, than want
to be sick and feel that horrible pain.
The Tramp crowd round Alex, shouting.TRAMPS
Young hooligan... Vagabound... Kill him...
Villain... Toad... Bastard... Kick his
teeth in... Near killed poor old Jack, he
did.
Police move in and push off crowd.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Alright, stop it now.
SECOND POLICEMAN
Alright, stop it now. Alright! Come on.
Stop breaking the State peace. You naughty
boys. Alright, that's enough.
Alex looks up.
ALEX
Oh, no.
DIM
Well, well, well, well, well, well, well,
if it isn't little Alex. Long time no
viddy, droog. How goes? Surprised are you?
ALEX
Impossible... I don't believe it.
GEORGIE
Evidence of the old glazzies. Nothing up
our sleeves. No magic, little Alex? A job
for two, who are now of job age. The
police.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD – DAY
Police Landrover drives up.
Alex is pulled out by Georgie and Dim and hustled up a deserted
lane.
DIM
Come on, Alex. Come for walkies.
Hahahahaha.
ALEX
Come, come, my little droogies. I just
don't get this at all. The old days are
dead and gone. For what I did in the past
I've been punished.
DIM
Been punished, yeah?
ALEX
I've been cured.DIM
Been cured, yeah, that was read out to us.
The Inspector read all that out to us. He
said it was a very good way.
ALEX
I just don't get this all. It was them
that went for me, brothers. You're not on
their side and can't be. You can't be Dim.
It was someone we fillied with back in the
old days... Trying to get his own malenky
bit of revenge after all this time. You
remember, Dim?
DIM
Long time, is right. I don't remember them
days too horrorshow. Don't call me Dim no
more, either. Officer, call me.
GEORGIE
Enough is remembered though, little Alex.
Dim and Georgie laugh.
They drag Alex to a low water through.
DIM
This is to make sure you stay cured.
Georgie hits Alex in the stomach with his blackjack. Then, they
push his head under the water and methodically start to beat him
with their blackjacks.
After a full minute of this, they drag him out, halt-drowned,
DIM
(laughing)
Be viddying you some more, some time Alex.
EXT. "HOME" – NIGHT – HEAVY RAIN
Alex stumbles up the road to the entrance gate.
ALEX (V.O.)
Where was I to go, who had no home and no
money. I cried for meself, Home, Home,
Home. It was Home I was wanting and it was
Home I came to, brothers, not realising in
the state I was in, where I was and had
been before.
Alex stumbles and crawls to the door.
INT. "HOME" – NIGHT
Mr. Alexander at his typewriter.Julian a 6'4" – heavyweight weight-lifter lies across an exercise
bench working with bar-bells.
The door bell rings.
MR. ALEXANDER
Who on earth could that be?
JULIAN
I'll see who it is.
He goes to the door.
JULIAN
Yes, what is it?
No reply. He opens the door. Alex falls into the hall.
ALEX
(barely audible)
Help. Help me... Help me... Police.
Julian picks him up like a child and carries him into the living
room.
INT. "HOME" – LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
ALEX (V.O.)
And would you believe it, O my brothers
and only friends, there was your faithful
Narrator being held helpless, like a babe
in arms, and suddenly realising where I
was and why HOME on the gate had looked so
familiar. But I knew I was safe. I knew he
would not rememeber me for, in those
carefree days, I and my so-called droogs
wore our maskies which were like real
horrorshow disguises.
JULIAN
Frank, I think this young man needs help.
MR. ALEXANDER
Dear, dear, dear. Whatever happened to
you, my boy?
Mr. Alexander, now confined to a wheelchair, pushes himself away
from his desk, and rolls up to Julian. The water drips off Alex's
clothes. They look at each other.
ALEX
The police... The horrible ghastly Police.
They beat me up, sir. The Police beat me
up, sir.
Mr. Alexander stares at him. It becomes aparent he is insane.MR. ALEXANDER
I know who you are! Isn't it your picture
in the newspapers? Didn't I see you this
morning on the video? Are you not the poor
victim of this horrible new technique?
ALEX
Yes, sir, that's exactly who I am, sir...
and what I am... a victim, sir.
Mr. Alexander becomes frenzied as the speech progresses.
MR. ALEXANDER
Then, by God, you have been sent here by
providence. Tortured in prison, then
thrown out to be tortured by the Police.
My heart goes out to you, poor, poor boy.
Oh, you are not the first to come here in
distress. The Police are fond of bringing
their victims to the outskirts of this
village. But it is providential that you,
who are also another kind of victim,
should come here. But you're cold and
shivering. Julian, draw a bath for this
young man.
JULIAN
Certainly, Frank.
He carries Alex off.
ALEX
Thank you very much, sir. God bless you,
sir.
Alexander bites his hand.
INT. "HOME" – BATHROOM
Alex soaks, eyes closed, in a hot tub.
After a while he begins softly singing to himself: "Singin' in the
Rain".
INT. "HOME" – LIVING ROOM – DAY
Mr. Alexander is hunched over the phone, talking in hoarse
whipsers. The door to the bathroom is right behind him. While he
speaks Mr. Alexander throws nervous glances over his shoulder.MR. ALEXANDER
I tell you, sir, they have turned this
young man into something other than a
human being. He has no power of choice any
more. He's committed to socially
acceptable acts, a little machine capable
only of good... He can be the most potent
weapon imaginable to ensure that the
Government is not returned at the next
election. The Government's great boast, as
you know sir, is the way they have dealt
with crime in the last few months.
Recruiting brutal young roughs into the
police, proposing debilitation and will-
sapping techniques of conditioning. Oh,
we've seen it all before in other
countries The thin end of the wedge.
Before we know where we are we shall have
the full apparatus of totalitarianism.
This young boy is a living witness to
these diabolical proposals. The people –
the common people – must know... must see!
There are rare traditions of liberty to
defend. The tradition of liberty means
all. The common people will let it go! Oh,
yes – they will sell liberty for a quieter
life. That is why they must be led, sir,
driven... pushed!!! Thank you very much,
sir. He'll be here.
Trembling with excitement and madness, Mr. Alexander hangs up the
phone. His eyes, shiny with anticipation. Then, suddenly, he
becomes aware of Alex's voice coming from the other side of the
door.
INT. "HOME" – BATHROOM
Alex in bath, singing.
ALEX
I'm singing in the rain,
Just singing in the rain...
MR. ALEXANDER
His face horribly distorted in a Homeric rage.
INT. "HOME" – NIGHT
Alex, alone, in complete silence. Eating a large plate of
spaghetti. The giant, Julian, appears, carrying Mr. Alexander in
his wheelchair. He deposits him at the table.
ALEX
Good evening, sir.MR. ALEXANDER
(very weird)
Good evening.
ALEX
It was very kind of you to leave this out
for me, sir. There was no-one around when
I finished my bath, so I started. I hope
that's alright, sir.
MR. ALEXANDER
(too loud – voice out
of control)
Of course. Food alright?
ALEX
Great, sir. Great.
MR. ALEXANDER
Try the wine!
ALEX
Thank you very much, sir. Cheers
Suddenly the thought occurs to Alex that the wine may be drugged
or poisoned.
ALEX
Won't you join me, sir?
MR. ALEXANDER
No, my health doesn't allow it.
ALEX
(to Julian)
And you, sir?
JULIAN
No thank you.
Alex, stalling for time, reaches for bottle and reads the label.
ALEX
1960, Chateau, Saint Estephe, Medoc, very
good brand, sir.
He doesn't get a penny's change for his remarks from Alexander and
Julian.
He holds the glass up to the light.
ALEX
Very good colour, sir. Smells mice,
too.Very good number, sir. Very good.
Here's to it.
He downs the glass.
ALEX
Very refreshing, sir, very refreshing.MR. ALEXANDER
(very arch)
I'm so pleased you appreciate good wine.
Have another glass!
ALEX
Thank you, sir.
MR. ALEXANDER
My wife...
Alex freezes.
MR. ALEXANDER
... used to do everything for me and leave
me to my writing.
ALEX
Your wife, sir? Has she gone away?
MR. ALEXANDER
No. She's dead!
ALEX
I'm sorry to hear about that, sir.
His face contorted in rage.
MR. ALEXANDER
She was very badly raped, you see. We were
assaulted by a gang of vicious young
hooligans in this house, in this very room
you're sitting in now. I was left a
helpless cripple. The doctors said it was
Pneumonia, because it happened some months
later during the 'flu epidemic. The
doctors told me it was Pneumonia, but I
knew what it was. A victim of the modern
age, poor, poor girl.
Suddenly his mood changes. He wheels right up to Alex.
MR. ALEXANDER
And now you, another victim of the modern
age. But you can be helped. I phoned some
friends while you were having a bath.
ALEX
Phoned some friends, sir?
MR. ALEXANDER
Yes. They want to help.
ALEX
Help me, sir?
MR. ALEXANDER
Help you.ALEX
Who are they, sir?
MR. ALEXANDER
They're very, very important people and
they're interested in you.
Bell rings. Julian rises,
MR. ALEXANDER
Julian. This will be these people now.
Alex gets up.
ALEX
Look, sir. I'm sorry to have troubled you.
I think I ought to be going, sir.
Julian bars the way.
MR. ALEXANDER
No, no my boy. No trouble at all.
Alex slowly sits.
MR. ALEXANDER
Have another glass of wine.
He pours. Alex picks up glass and takes a drink.
INT. "HOME" – NIGHT
Dolin and Rubinstein enter with Julian.
DOLIN
(genial)
Hullo, Frank.
MR. ALEXANDER
Good evening, sir.
RUBINSTEIN
Frank.
DOLIN
So this is the young man?
ALEX
How do you do, sir?
DOLIN
Hullo.
ALEX
Missus. Very pleased to meet you.
RUBINSTEIN
Hullo.DOLIN
I hope you forgive us for coming over at
this ungodly hour, but we heard from Frank
that you were in some trouble so we came
over to see if we could be of any help.
ALEX
Very kind of you, sir. Thank you very
much.
DOLIN
I understand that you had a rather
unfortunate encounter with the Police
tonight.
ALEX
Yes, sir. I suppose you might call it
that, sir.
DOLIN
Hahaha, and how are you feeling now?
ALEX
Much better, thank you, sir.
DOLIN
Feel like talking to us. Answering a few
questions?
ALEX
Fine, sir, fine.
DOLIN
Well, as I've said, we've heard about you.
We are interested in your case. We want to
help you.
ALEX
Thank you very much, sir.
DOLIN
But first we'd like to find out a few
things about you.
ALEX
What would you like to know, sir?
DOLIN
Well, shall we get down to it?
ALEX
Yes, sir.
Rubinstein takes out a notebook.
RUBINSTEIN
The newspapers mentioned that in addition
to your being conditioned against acts of
sex and violence, you've inadvertently
been conditioned against music.ALEX
Well, er, I think that was something that
they hadn't planned for, you see, Missus,
I'm very fond of music and always have
been, especially Beethoven, Ludwig van...
Beethoven. B... E... E...
He leans over and looks at her writing in notebook.
RUBINSTEIN
It's alright, thank you.
ALEX
And it just so happened that while they
were showing me a particularly bad film,
of like a concentration camp, the
background music was playing Beethoven.
RUBINSTEIN
So now you have the same reaction to music
as you do to sex and violence?
ALEX
Oh well, it's... it's not all music you
see, Missus. It's just the 9th.
RUBINSTEIN
You mean Beethoven's 9th Symphony?
ALEX
That's right. Er... I can't listen to the
9th any more at all. When I hear the 9th,
I get like this funny feeling.
RUBINSTEIN
When you say this funny feeling, you mean
the state of mind brought on by the
treatment they gave you?
ALEX
That is correct, sir. And then all I can
think about is like trying to snuff it.
RUBINSTEIN
I beg your pardon?
ALEX
Snuff it, sir... um... death, I mean,
missus... Er... I just want to die
peacefully like with no... pain.
RUBINSTEIN
Do you feel that way now?
ALEX
Um... oh no, sir, not exactly, I still
feel very miserable, very much down in
spirits.RUBINSTEIN
Do you still feel suicidal?
ALEX
Um... well, put it this way... I feel very
low in myself. I can't see much in the
future, and I feel that any second
something terrible is going to happen to
me.
He pitches forward, face into the plate of spaghetti.
RUBINSTEIN
Well done, Frank. Julian, get the car,
will you please?
INT. HI-FI ROOM – DAWN
Alexander sits looking up. Rubinstein, Julian and Dolin also
listening to Beethoven played loudly on tape recorder.
INT. DOLIN'S HOUSE – PRISONER BEDROOM – DAY
The 9th Symphony booming up through the floor.
Alex slowly regains consciousness.
ALEX (V.O.)
I woke up. The pain and sickness all over
me like an animal. Then I realised what it
was. The music coming up from the floor
was our old friend, Ludwig van and the
dreaded 9th Symphony.
He staggers to the door. It is locked. He kicks and tugs the door.
ALEX
Open the door... turn it off... turn it
off.
CUT TO:
THE BILLIARD ROOM BELOW
Hi-Fi gear laid out on the table. Large speakers facing upwards.
Mr. Alexander trembles and twitches. He is now completely mad. The
others merely wait, coolly.
INT. DOLIN'S HOUSE – PRISONER BEDROOM – DAY
Alex on his knees. His hands cupped over his ears, banging his
head on the floor.
Then he stops and slowly straightens up, staring at the window.ALEX (V.O.)
Suddenly I viddied what I had to do, and
what I had wanted to do – and that was to
do myself in, to snuff it, to blast off
forever out of this wicked cruel world.
One moment of pain perhaps and then sleep
– forever and ever and ever.
EXT. WINDOW – DAWC
Alex leaps out of the window.
INT. HOSPITAL WARD
Alex in bed. Camera slowly tracks along length of his body.
Everything is bandages and plaster splints, wire cages, blood
drips.
ALEX (V.O.)
I jumped, O my brothers, and I fell hard
but I did not snuff it, oh no. if I had
snuffed it, I would not be here to tell
what I have told. I came back to life,
after a long, black, black gap of what
might have been a million years.
We hear Alex moan, and then another moan. Alex and the other – a
few times.
Suddenly, some curtains which have been drawn around another bed
in the ward are parted, and a nurse hurries to Alex, hastily
buttoning up her uniform. She is trailed by a young Intern
fumbling with his trousers.
NURSE
Oh, he's recovered conscienceness, Doctor.
INT. HOSPITAL – DAY
Em and Pee sitting around the bed.
PEE
Hullo, lad.
EM
Hullo, son, how are you?
PEE
Are you feeling better?
ALEX
What gives, O myee P and Em, what makes
you think you are welcome?
Em sobs. Pee comforts her.PEE
There, there mother, it's alright. He
doesn't mean it. You were in the papers
again, son. It said they had done great
wrong to you. It said how the Government
drove you to try and do yourself in... and
when you think about it, son... maybe it
was our fault too in a way... your home's
your home when it's all said and done,
son.
Em sobs.
INT. HOSPITAL
Psychiatrist wheels trolley to Alex's bed. He is sitting up.
ALEX
Good morning, Missus.
DR. TAYLOR
How are you feeling today?
ALEX
Fine. Fine.
DR. TAYLOR
Good. I'm doctor Taylor.
ALEX
I haven't seen you before.
DR. TAYLOR
I'm your Psychiatrist.
ALEX
Psychiatrist? Huh, do I need one?
DR. TAYLOR
Just part of hospital routine.
ALEX
What are we going to do? Talk about me sex
life?
DR. TAYLOR
No... I'm going to show you some slides
and you are going to tell me what you
think about them Alright?
ALEX
Ohhh... jolly good. Perhaps you can
explain me something to me first.
DR. TAYLOR
Yes?ALEX
Well, when I was all like ashamed up and
half awake and unconscious like, I kept
having this dream like all these doctors
were playing around with me gulliver. You
know... like the inside of me brain. I
seemed to have this dream over and over
again. D'you think it means anything?
DR. TAYLOR
Patients who've sustained the kind of
injuries you have often have dreams of
this sort. It's all part of the recovery
process.
ALEX
Oh.
DR. TAYLOR
Now then, each of these slides needs a
reply from one of the people in the
picture. You'll tell me what you think the
person would say. Alright?
ALEX
Righty, right.
The doctor reads aloud the dialogue printed in the cartoon balloon
– a peacock.
DR. TAYLOR
Isn't the plumage beautiful?
ALEX
I just say what the other person would
say?
DR. TAYLOR
Yes. Yes, well don't think about it too
long, just say the first thing that pops
into your mind.
ALEX
Right... Knickers... Cabbages... It
doesn't have a beak.
Alex laughs. Slide of woman speaking to boy.
DR. TAYLOR
Good. The boy you alway quarrelled with is
seriously ill.
ALEX
That's right and I'll smash your face for
you, yarblockos.
Slide of watch shop.DR. TAYLOR
Good. It wa your fault... you sold me a
crummy watch. I want my money back.
ALEX
Bollocks. You know what you can do with
that watch? You can stick it up your arse.
Slide of nude woman in bed, a man at the window.
DR. TAYLOR
Good. What do you want?
ALEX
Excuse me, missus. No time for the old in-
out, I've just come to read the meter.
Slide of bird's nest with eggs.
DR. TAYLOR
Good. You can do whatever you like with
these.
ALEX
Eggiwegs. I would like to smash 'em. Pick
up th elot and f... owww...
He slams his hand down and cries out with pain.
ALEX
Fucking hell...
DR. TAYLOR
Fine. Well, that's all there is to it. Are
you alright?
ALEX
I hope so. Is that the end then?
DR. TAYLOR
Yes.
ALEX
I was quite enjoying that.
DR. TAYLOR
Good. I'm glad
ALEX
How many did I get right?
DR. TAYLOR
It's not that kind of a test. But you seem
well on the way to a complete recovery.
ALEX
And when do I get out of here then?
DR. TAYLOR
I'm sure it won't be long now.INT. HOSPITAL – DAY
Alex sitting up, being fed by Nurse.
ALEX (V.O.)
So I waited and, O my brothers, I got a
lot better munching away at eggiwegs, and
lomticks of toast and lovely steakiweaks
and then, one day, they said I was going
to have a very special visitor.
Doctor enters followed by Minister and Matron.
MINISTER
Good evening, my boy.
ALEX
Hi, hi, hi there, my little droogies.
DOCTOR
Well, how are you getting on today, young
man?
ALEX
Great, sir. Great.
DOCTOR
Can I do anything more for you , Minister?
MINISTER
I don't think so, Sir Leslie. Thank you
very much.
DR. TAYLOR
Then I'll leave you to it. Nurse.
They exit. Minister moves to Alex.
MINISTER
You seem to have a whole ward to yourself,
my boy.
ALEX
Yes, sir, and a very lovely place it is
too, sir, when I wake up in the middle of
the night with my pain.
MINISTER
Yes... well good to see you on the mend.
I've kept in constant touch with the
hospital, of course, and now I've come to
see you personally to see how you're
getting along.
ALEX
I've suffered the tortures of the damned.
The tortures of the damned, sir.MINISTER
Yes I can... Oh look, let me do that for
you, shall I?
ALEX
Thank you, sir.
MINISTER
I can tell you that I... and the
Government of which I am a member are
deeply sorry about this, my boy. Deeply
sorry. We tried to help you. We followed
recommendations had been made to us that
turned out to be wrong. An enquiry will
place the responsibility where it belongs.
We want you to regard us as friends. We've
put you right, you're getting the best of
treatments. We never wished you harm, but
there are some that did and do, and I
think you know who those are. There are
certain people who wanted to use you for
political ends. People who would have been
glad to have you dead because then they
would have been able to blame it all on
the Governement. I think you know who
those are. There is also a certain man – a
writer of subversive literature – who has
been howling for your blood. He's been mad
with desire to stick a knife into you, but
you're safe from him now, we've put him
away. He found out that you had done wrong
to him – at least he believed you had done
wrong. He had formed this idea in his head
that you had been responsible for the
death of someone near and dear to him. We
put him away for his own protection... I'm
sorry, I thought you were ready.
ALEX
Where is he now, sir?
MINISTER
We put him away where he can do you no
harm. You see we are looking after your
interests. We are interested in you, and
when you leave here you will have no
further worries. We shall see to
everything... a good job on a good salary.
ALEX
What job and how much?
MINISTER
You must have an interesting job at a
salary which you would regard as adequate.
Not only for the job which you are going
to do and in compensation for what you
believe you have suffered, but also
because you are helping us.ALEX
Helping you, sir?
MINISTER
We always help our friends, don't we?
(smiles)
It is no secret that the Government has
lost a lot of popularity because of you,
my boy. There are some that think that at
the next election we shall be out. The
press has chosen to take a very
unfavorable view
of what we tried to do.
ALEX
Well, who can bame them, sir?
MINISTER
Mmmm, possibly. Yes. But public opinion
has a way of changing and you, Alex, if I
may call you, Alex?
ALEX
Certainly, sir. What do they call you at
home?
MINISTER
My name is Frederick. As I was saying,
Alex, you can be instrumental in changing
the public verdict. Do you understand,
Alex? Have I made myself clear?
ALEX
As an unmuddied lake, Fred. As clear as an
azurw sky of deepest summer. You can rely
on me, Fred.
MINISTER
Good... good boy. Oh yes, I understand
you're fond of music. I have arranged a
little surprise for you.
ALEX
Surprise?
MINISTER
One I think you will like... as a, how
shall I put it, as a symbol of our new
understanding. An understanding between
two friends.
ALEX
Thank you, Fred. Thank you.
Minister turns and signals.
Door opens and a crowd of cameramen and reporters rush in.
Aides push two 6-foot loudspeakers and a Hi-Fi on a trolley.ALEX (V.O.)
And what do you know, my brothers and only
friends, it was the 9th, the glorious 9th
of Ludwig van. Oh, it was gorgeosity and
yummy yum yum. I was cured.
CLOSE SHOT ALEX
ALEX (V.O.)
As the music came to ist climax, I could
viddy myself very clear, running and
running on like very light and mysterious
feet, carving the whole face of the
creeching world with my cut throat britva.
I was cured all right.
THE END | screenplays |
Central Catonsville and Summit Park Historic District is a national historic district in Catonsville, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is entirely residential and consists generally of rectangular lots, the largest lots being found on Frederick Road and Newburg Avenue. These contain the earliest dwellings. The earliest, and the largest house in the district is the Gary Mansion, known as The Summit, built in the 1850s as a summer house in Second Empire style. The Summit Park subdivision takes its name from this house, and surrounds it on all sides. Structures in the district date from 1869 and extends to 1958, by which date the neighborhood had substantially achieved its present form and appearance.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
References
External links
, at Maryland Historical Trust
Boundary Map of the Central Catonsville and Summit Park Historic District, Baltimore County, at Maryland Historical Trust
Category:Catonsville, Maryland
Category:Historic districts in Baltimore County, Maryland
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore County, Maryland | wikipedia |
PROM NIGHT
Written by
William Gray
From a story by
Bob Guza
FINAL DRAFT
FADE IN:
EXT. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - DAY
SUPER: April 27, 1973
All is quiet outside this suburban school on a sunny
Friday afternoon. Cars idle in the driveway awaiting
the three o'clock onslaught of liberated children.
Two faded yellow buses stand ready.
The lull is shattered by the CLANGING of the final BELL.
A swarm of children pours out the door and down the
broad front steps, scattering across the lawn toward
the cars and the buses.
Moving slowly through the crowd, ROBIN and ALEX HAMMOND,
nine-year-old identical twins, appear at the doorway..
Attractive, dark-haired children, they seem more sub-
dued than the others. As they walk quietly down the
stairs, Robin lags behind, staring at a boy teasing a
girl nearby. He is NICK MCBRIDE, eleven years old,
two grades ahead of Robin and the most popular boy in
school. The pretty girl laughing at his antics is KIM
HAMMOND, also eleven, Robin's older sister.
ALEX
C'mon, Robin.
ROBIN
(STUTTERING BADLY)
W-w-where's D-d-daddy?
ALEX
He's got a meeting at the high
school. We're supposed to walk
home with Kim...
(sees Robin watching
the young couple)
She's too busy. Let's go
by ourselves.
ROBIN
N-n-n-no, Alex. Let's w-w-wait.
ALEX
Why?
Robin is staring at Nick. Alex looks, understands.
He's angry.
ALEX
(CONTINUING)
You're crazy, I'm not waiting.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED :
He strides away. Robin's eyes remain on Nick and Kim.
Nick says something to Kurt. She shakes her head and
pains toward Robin. Robin quickly turns away as they
look at her.. When she glances back, Ki_m is walking
towards her and Nick is bicycling away.
KIM
Okay, let's go.
The sisters start to walk across the lawn.
ROBIN
Y-you 1-1-like him?
KIM
Who?
ROBIN
(SMILES SHYLY)
Y-you know.
KIM
Nick? Oh, he's all right, I guess.
They walk on in silence with Robin stealing glances at
her big sister.
ROBIN
(FINALLY)
Are y-y-you g-gonna m-in-marry him?
KIM
Robin?
Robin smiles and takes Kim's hand. They walk along the
road, kicking rocks and swinging their bookbags. Sud-
denly Kim halts.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Oh, damn!
Robin looks up in surprise.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Debbie was gonna lend me her new
record. Look, you go on home
by yourself. Tell Mom I'll be
a little late.
Before Robin can reply, Kim is hurrying away.
(CONTINUED)
3.
CONTINUED! (2)
Robin watches her go, then moves off alone, breaking
into a skip and playing imaginary hopscotch.
As she turns off the main road into a side street,
Robin passes a construction site. The empty skeleton
of a half-finished apartment building looms up above
the dark shade trees. Hearing VOICES, Robin stops to
investigate.
ROBIN
(CALLS OUT)
Alex?
The VOICES continue. Robin moves closer, peering
through the tall bushes surrounding the lot. She
sees Nick playing in.the framework with three of his
classmates. Robin recognizes JUDE CUNNINGHAM, and
KELLY LYNCH as Kim's two best friends. The fourth
child, WENDY RICHARDS, is a dark-haired girl, domin-
eering and loud. As Robin watches, Wendy jumps
up onto the floor of the building.
WENDY
I want to play 'Murder.' Who's
the killer?
NICK
You, Wendy!
JUDE
(GIGGLING)
you, Nick.
KELLY
Yes, Nick!
WENDY
(LAUGHING)
You'll never catch me. Hide your
eyes, killer!
As Nick turns his back, hiding his eyes against an ex-
posed beam, the children scatter through the structure.
Robin watches with mounting excitement as Nick finishes
counting, and whirls around.
NICK
The killer is coming for you!
He moves into the building, chanting "Kill, kill.," in a
low monotone. As he disappears from view, Robin cau-
tiously edges out of the bushes and moves up to the
building.
NICK (O.S.
The killer strikes!
(CONTINUED)
4.
1 CONTINUED; (3) I
Robin hears Jude's SQUEAL of LAUGHTER. Nick has caught
her. Immediately Jude's VOICE TAKES UP the "kill"
chant in unison with Nick.
INT. APARTMENT BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION - DAY 2
Robin climbs up onto the floor and peers into the dark,
gloomy structure. Suddenly, she hears a SHRIEK. Ter-
rified, she backs against a wall. LAUGHTER FOLLOWS im-
mediately and Robin hears Kelly's VOICE TAKING UP the
chant. As the three "killers" move through the vast
structure searching for Wendy, "KILL, KILT" ECHOES off
the walls and hardwood floors.
Robin cautiously steps out of the doorway into the im-
mense unfinished lobby. Ominous shadows slash across
the floor as the excited girl listens to the relentless
CHANTING of the children.
Robin pushes on a makeshift wooden door. It slips off
its temporary hinges, crashing down to the floor. The
NOISE is like a rifle shot; suddenly, there is ABSOLUTE
SILENCE in the structure.
Petrified, Robin crouches behind a wall, waiting. The
CHANTING quickly RESUMES and she breathes a long sigh
of relief.
Robin moves through a dark corridor, hugging the walls.
Flushed with excitement, she imagines herself a "killer"
searching for Wendy. As she moves past an empty room,
she hears a SOFT GIGGLE. Robin stops and listens care-
fully. Once again she hears the GIGGLE, LOUDER this
time, coming from nearby.
Stepping to a doorway, she leans around the corner and
peers inside. In the darkness she can see nothing.
Gathering her courage, she quietly slips into the room.
The room appears empty but a closet door is slightly
ajar. As Robin approaches, she hears a FAINT GASP from
behind her. Whirling around, she sees Wendy crouched
behind a cardboard box in the corner.
WENDY
(HISSING)
You better not tell!
Before Robin can react, she hears a THUD from above.
Looking up, she sees Nick's head appear through an
opening in the ceiling. Seeing Robin, then Wendy
standing in the corner, he howls in triumph.
(CONTINUED)
5.
CONTINUED:
NICK
(CALLING OUT)
Here, killers, here!
Nick's head disappears from the opening and Robin hears
the POUNDING of RUNNING FEET.
WENDY
(MALICIOUSLY)
Now you've done it, you idiot!
The CHANTING GROWS LOUDER as the "killers" rush towards
the room. Trapped, Wendy looks frantically for an es-
cape but finds nothing. Turning around suddenly, she
grins at Robin, a cruel, hard expression on her face.
WENDY
(CONTINUING; SLOWLY)
Kill, kill, kill...
Picking up the chant, Wendy begins to advance on Robin.
Terrified, Robin turns and rushes out of the room,
bowling over Nick in the doorway. Delighted that the
game is continuing with a new victim, he follows Wendy
in pursuit of Robin.
Robin flees down the long, dark corridor, "KILL, KILL
ECHOING in her wake. As she rounds a corner, Jude ap-
pears, looming up in front of her. Robin screams and
sprints in the opposite direction. Kelly leaps out of
a doorway and grabs for her, but Robin, swinging out
blindly, escapes the "killer."
INT. STORAGE ROOM - DAY 3
Darting into the large room, Robin collapses against a
wall, gasping for breath. As her eyes adjusts to the
darkness, she spies a rickety ladder extending through
a hole in the floor to the basement below. Stacked up-
right near the opening are several sheets of window
glass. Before Robin can make a move towards the lad-
der, she hears a horrible SCREECH and Wendy appears in
the doorway, a vicious look on her face.
WENDY
Killers, here!
Wendy advances. Terrified, Robin begins to back away.
ROBIN
N-n-n-no!
(CONTINUED)
6.
CONTINUED:
Nick, Jude and Kelly appear in the doorway, chanting
"Kill, kill." Moving quickly, Robin grabs the ladder
and starts down into the basement, careful not to knock
over the sheets of glass stacked near the opening.
Peering into the pitch-black basement, Robin hesitates.
But as Wendy and her fellow "killers" close in on her,
Robin continues down the ladder. Wendy rushes up and
grabs the ladder.
ROBIN
(CONTINUING)
P-p-please!
Wendy grins and shakes the ladder. The chanting is
deafening. Robin hugs the wooden slats. Wendy shakes
even harder. Robin screams. Nick moves around Wendy
to get a better look. He accidentally bumps the glass
stacked next to the opening. The sudden movement is
just enough to dislodge a razor-sharp pane of glass and
send it hurtling down directly at Robin.
The girl's last scream catches in her throat as the
glass slices through her neck. She is instantly
decapitated.
Horrified, Wendy watches the glass and the body crash
to the concrete basement floor. Kelly screams. Jude
sobs loudly. Nick can only stare in shock. Finally,
he manages to speak.
NICK
(WHISPERING HOARSELY)
We gotta get somebody quick!
Nick starts to go. Wendy instantly whirls, grabs his
arm.
WENDY
Are you crazy? They'll put us in
jail!
Confused, Nick cannot reply. The other girls grow
silent.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
If we tell anyone, they'll say
it's our fault. Who'd believe it
was an accident?
Nick starts to protest.
WENDY
(CONTINUING;
INTERRUPTING)
Listen to me!
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
7.
CONTINUED: (2)
WENDY (C ONT D )
We'll go home now and never ever
tell anyone. They'll think it was
an accident. 1,10 one but us will
ever know.
She looks at each of them. They are still too numb to
respond.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
Everybody swear never to tell!
Wendy glares at Jude.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
Jude?
JUDE
(SOFTLY)
I swear.
WENDY
Kelly?
Kelly looks from Wendy to the mangled body and begins
to whimper.
WENDY
(CONTINUING; STERNLY)
Kelly!
The frightened girl looks up at Wendy.
KELLY
(WHISPERS)
I don't wanta go to jail...
WENDY
Swear!
KELLY
I swear.
Wendy turns to Nick. At first he appears defiant, ready
to object, but he wilts under her withering gaze.
NICK
(FINALLY)
I won't tell.
WENDY
SLOWLY NODS)
Good.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3)
With a final glance down at Robin's mutiliated body,
Wendy quickly ushers her shocked friends out of the
room.
As their FOOTSTEPS ECHO away across the hardwood floor,
there is a terrible silence. Then, starting very
quietly, more FOOTSTEPS are HEARD, this time a single
person approaching the ladder from above. The FOOT-
STEPS STOP and a deep, black shadow falls across the
ladder; HEAVY BREATHING punctuates the oppressive
quiet, growing louder and more anguished.
CUT TO:
INT. STORAGE ROOM - DUSK
We slowly TILT UP TO the tortured features of RAYMOND
HAMMOND, Robin's father. A handsome, dark-haired man
in his late thirties, he teaches history at George
Winston High School.
Wracked with grief, he stands near the opening in the
floor and watches as two Paramedics bring up the body
of his daughter from the dark basement.
A young Policeman standing nearby raises the white
sheet covering Robin's remains. Hammond steps up
and gazes at his daughter's decapitated body. A
look of absolute horror and revulsion freezes
on his face; what he sees he will never forget.
Paralyzed, Hammond barely hears the CAR PULLING UP
in front of the construction site. He turns and
looks out the window.
EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION - DUSK 5
A Police Officer is getting out of his car. Walking
around to the passenger side, he opens the door
for an attractive blonde woman in her mid-thirties.
VIVIAN HANMOND, Robin's mother, appears pale and
haggard as she steps out of the car. Kim and Alex
slowly climb out of the back, With the Police Officer
escorting her, Vivian and her children move toward
the skeleton of a building.
Catching sight of her husband framed in a lower window,
Vivian suddenly breaks. away from the Police Officer and
runs inside the building.
INT. STORAGE ROOM - DUSK
Hammond moves quickly to the door, grabbing his
hysterical wife as she bursts into the room.
HA:MMIOND
No!
VIVIAN
(SOBBING WILDLY)
Where is she? Where is Robin?
Seeing the covered figure lying on a stretcher, Vivian
moans in anguish.
Struggling furiously, she strains to break her hus-
band's hold, but he is too powerful.. They are both
in tears, shaking with grief, when Kim and Alex step
into the doorway.
KIM
WHISPERING)
Daddy?
HAMMOND
(angrily,
TO VIVIAN)
Why did you bring them here?
Vivian collapses, burying her head in his shoulder
and sobbing furiously, but Hammond pushes her out of
the room.
HA ` 0 N D
(CONTINUING)
Kim! Alex! Stay out in the
hallway!
Kim stumbles out into the corridor and begins to
cry softly. Alex takes his mother's hand and tries
comfort her.
The Paramedics pick up the stretcher and maneuver it
out of the room. As they pass through the doorway into
the corridor, a corner of the sheet slips off Robin's
corpse. Before a Paramedic can replace it, the de-
capitated torso is briefly glimpsed by the family.
Alex is shocked. Kim doesn't appear to realize what
she sees. But Vivian's horror wells up in her
throat, bursting out in a deranged scream.
CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
Another SCREAM, as throbbing DISCO MUSIC pulsates from
a large portable RADIO sitting on a dresser.
SUPER: APRIL 27, 1980.
A young woman with long, golden brown hair and a trim
figure is slipping into a pair of tight jeans. Pull-
ing on a halter top, she sways to the MUSIC.
VIVIAN (O.S.)
(CALLS OUT)
Kim! Turn that music down. You're
driving me crazy!
Turning around at the SOUND of her mother's VOICE, Kim
Hammond reaches for the volume control Now eighteen,
she is a strikingly beautiful girl with an open,
innocent quality.
KIM
(CALLS OUT)
Okay, Mom!
Kim quickly finishes dressing, whirling around the room
to the pounding disco rhythm. Giving her hair a few
final strokes with a brush, she gazes at a photograph
of a young man stuck in her mirror. On the picture
is written: "To Kim, the best on the floor... dancing,
that is! Love, Nick."
Kim glances at another photograph stuck in her mirror.
This one shows her sister, Robin, taken a few days be-
fore the accident. Her sadness passes as quickly as it
came. Gathering her textbooks, she switches OFF the
RADIO and exits.
8 INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Raymond and Vivian Hammond are just finishing break-
fast. The years have favored him; except for a touch
of gray around the temples and a few extra pounds, he
looks much the same way as we remember him. Vivian,
however, wears the strain of the past seven years
in her gaunt, drawn features and high-strung manner.
Thumbing through his morning newspaper, Hammond steals
quick glances at his wife. She does not look up at
him, but stares at the table, toying with her spoon.
(CONTINUED)
8 CONTINUED:
HAMMOND
(reading the paper)
I'll tell you, Vi, I'm thinking
of starting up an armed robbery
course at the high school..
I've got a feeling it'd be
popular...
He smiles at his joke, looks at her. She doesn't seem
to have heard him.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
I just hope there's no trouble
at the prom tonight...
Kim bursts into the kitchen, interrupting her father
with a kiss on the head.
KIM
(LAUGHS)
Mmmm, sounds like fun!
HAMMOND
(SMILING)
And how is the next queen of the
Winston High Junior-Senior Prom?
KIM
Scared tiff.
She leans over to kiss her mother. Vivian automatical-
ly turns her cheek to Kim without looking at her.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Morning, Mom. We got any yogurt?
VIVIAN
(WITHOUT LOOKING
AT KIM)
No, dear. Fix yourself a good
meal. You're getting awfully
thin.
Kim and her father exchange glances. He shrugs
HAIVMOND
who's your lucky escort tonight?
KIM
You know, Daddy... Nick.
(CONTINUED)
1L,
CONTINUED: (2)
HAM`IOND
(NODS)
I've been trying to forget. The
boy's too sure of himself.
KIM
(INTERRUPTS)
Mom, tell him...
VIVIAN
(SOFTLY)
Seven years ago today.
Hammond carefully folds his paper and places it on the
table.
HAMϿ�TOND
(affects a casual
ATTITUDE)
Vi, I made you an appointment with
Dr. Fairchild.
Vivian finally looks up at him.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
It's this morning, actually.
Sorry I forgot to mention it.
VIVIAN
Today?
HAMMOND
(LOOKS AWAY)
You'd better get ready. He's
fitting you in early before his
other... people.
VIVIAN
(UPSET)
It doesn't help. You know that!
HAMIOND
Now, Vi...
Vivian stumbles to her feet and rushes out of the kitch-
en before he can finish. With a glance at Kim, Hammond
hurries after his wife. Going out through the swinging
door, he bumps into a young man just entering.
HAM4OND
(CONTINUING)
Morning, Alex.
(CONTINUED)
1J.
CONTINUED: (3)
Hammond exits. Alex, now sixteen, a tall, slender
boy, casts a knowing look at Kim. Kim nods. Alex.
shakes his head, then begins to rummage through the
Pantry, pulling out a Hostess viTikie. ?lopping
down at the table, he flips open his electronics book
and begins to read. Munching on his Twinkie, he
swipes sips from Kim's glass of milk.
KIM
Have you got a date for tonight?
His mouth crammed.full of Twinkie, Alex mumbles his
reply.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
I happen to know Jude might be
available. Of course, she is older,
but...
Alex almost chokes.
ALEX
C'mon, Kimbo, I may be hard up...
KIM
Alex! Jude's cute... Besides,
she's funny and really smart.
Give you somebody to do equations
with!
ALEX
(SARCASTIC)
Great... Anyway, I'm in charge of
the sound system tonight.
KIM
Not bad but it's not romance.
ALEX
It'll do for tonight.
Kim shoots him a look, then backs off.
KIM
If you get a chance, dance with
Jude once or twice, okay?
ALEX
Sure.
He returns her glass of milk, empty.
(CONTINUED)
8 CONTINUED: (4) 8
ALEX
(CONTINUING)
Any more milk?
9 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
Hammond and Vivian are standing by the fireplace. His
hand is on her shoulder. She faces the mantel, her
back to him. On the mantel is a small shrine to the
memory oftheir dead daughter; a framed photograph,
fresh roses, two candles and a lock of her hair in a
glass case.
HAMMOND
Trust me.
Vivian does not move. Finally, after a long pause,
she turns toward her husband. Her eyes filled with
tears, she nods.
10 INT. CAR (MOVING) - DAY 10
Hammond is driving. Vivian stares blankly out the win-
dow at the grimy city streets. Sitting in the back,
Kim and Alex exchange uncertain glances. A tense si-
lence pervades.
11 EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY 11
The Hammonds' car pulls up in front of a towering
modern building.
12 INT. CAR - DAY 12
Hammond cuts off the engine and turns to Kim and Alex.
HAMMOND
I'll just be a minute...
Vivian is already reaching for the door handle,
13 EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY 13
Alex jumps out of the car and opens the door for his
mother. Taking her arm, he helps her out. Kim leans
over in the back seat.
KIM
See you later,'Mom.
Vivian gives her a thin smile. Hammond takes her arm
and leads her into the imposing building.
15.
14 INT. LOBBY - DAY 14
Hammond and Vivian cross the room. Though she offers
no resistance, it appears he is pulling her along.
They hurry into an elevator after an elderly CLEANING
WOMAN carrying a mop and a bucket.
15 INT. ELEVATOR - DAY 15
They stand in silence. The Cleaning Woman puffs on a
cigarette, blithely ignoring the NO SMOKING sign posted
on the wall. Vivian nervously reaches into her purse
and removes a bottle of Valium. Quickly popping two
pills into her mouth, she swallows with difficulty and
snaps her purse shut. Hammond says nothing.
Just as the elevator doors slide open, the Cleaning Wo-
man touches Vivian on the shoulder, causing her to jump
in fright.
CLEANING WOMAN
Could I have one of those? My
nerves are shot this morning.
With a terrified glance back at the woman, Vivian
rushes out of the elevator. Hammond follows.
16 INT. CORRIDOR - DAY 16
Hammond and Vivian move down the long, empty hallway.
As they round a corner, a figure is visible unlocking
a door.
HAI` IOND
(CALLS OUT)
Dr. Fairchild!
DR. RUPERT FAIRCHILD straightens up and turns around.
He's a. portly man in his fifties, trying to disguise
his girth with careful tailoring.
17 INT. OFFICE - DAY 17
Fairchild bustles about the reception area, turning on
lights, checking his messages and appointment calendar.
Fairchild is obsessively neat, the office reflects him.
HAIIOND
We appreciate your seeing... us.
I know how busy you must be.
Vivian is staring at a painting of a young girl playing
with a kitten. Catching Fairchild's eye, Hammond nods
toward the outer door. Vivian does not notice the
gesture.
(CONTINUED)
17 CONTINUED: 17
Fairchild nods in return. Stepping over to his inner
office, he opens the door.
FAIRCHILD
Have a seat, Vivian. I'll be
right in.
She slowly crosses the room, turning suddenly in the
doorway.
VIVIAN
(TO HAMMOND)
Don't forget we're going to the
cemetery this afternoon. I want
Robin to have her flowers.
Hammond moves over to his wife. Taking her by the
shoulders, he kisses her lightly on the forehead.
HAMMOND
I won't forget.
Vivian looks from Hammond to Fairchild, who smiles.
She enters the office, leaving the door open. Hammond
shakes hands with Fairchild, and for Vivian's benefit
adds...
HA�I`i IOND
(CONTINUING)
Thank you, Doctor.
Hammond exits.
18 , INT. CORRIDOR - DAY 18
Hammond leans against the wall outside Fairchild's of-
fice. He glances at his watch. The door opens and
Fairchild steps out, holding a container. Hammond
walks with him down the corridor towards the water
fountain.
H.ANMOND
She's at it again.
FAIRCHILD
(NODS)
Today's the date?
HAIM BOND
Seven years ago today Robin was
killed.
Fairchild looks up from filling his container with
water.
(CONTINUED)
17.
18 CONTINUED: 18
HA,E,10ND
(CONTINUING; MUSING)
This would have been her first prom.
FAIRCHILD
Pardon?
HAKMOND
Tonight's the Junior-Senior Prom
at our high school. Robin would
have been sixteen, She and Alex.
FAIRCHILD
The twins... How is Alex?
HAIIOND
Fine. I just thank God he was too
young to really understand what
happened to his sister.
FAIRCHILD
And your older daughter?
HANMOND
(SMILES)
Kimmy's my princess. Sometimes she'll
get depressed for a while... but it
never lasts long. Young people seem
so much more... resilient.
They walk back to the office.
FAIRCHILD
(looking up at Hammond)
And yourself? No scars?
HATIOND
(after a pause)
I've learned to live them..
Vivian seems worse this time.
FAIRCHILD
(NODS)
The persistence of Vivian's trauma.
I wonder if there isn't something
more serious at work here?
HAMOND
Something more serious than her
daughter's death?
19 INT. OFFICE - DAY 19
Vivian fidgets in her chair. She seems very small and
vulnerable in the large, somber office.
18.
20 INT. CAR (MOVING) DAY 20
Alex is seated opposite his father in the front seat.
Kim is in back. Easy listening MUSIC PLAYS softly on
the car RADIO. Alex fiddles with the tuning dial,
searching for music more to his tastes. Lost in
thought, Hammond does not see the young girl skipping
through the pedestrian crossing.
KIM
(SCREAMS)
Daddy!
Hammond slams on the brakes, throwing Alex against
the dashboard.
21 EXT. STREET - DAY 21
The CAR SCREECHES to a halt inches away from the terri-
fied child who stands frozen in the middle of the
crossing. After a moment, realizing she is safe, the
girl giggles nervously and skips away.
22 INT. CAR - DAY 22
Hammond lets out a sigh and turns to his children.
HAMMOND
You all right?
They both nod. Alex massages his wrist. Hammond
slips the car into gear and cautiously continues
driving.
KIM
You're worried about Mom?
HALMOND
I was...
He is interrupted by DISCO MUSIC ON the RADIO. Play-
ing with the tuning dial, Alex quickly tries to pass
over the music.
KIM
Hey, keep that!
Alex groans but does as she asks.
ALEX
Disco sucks!
HAMZMOND
(REPROVINGLY)
Alex!
(CONTINUED)
19.
22 CONTINUED: 22
ALEX
Sorry, Dad...
(turns back to
KIM)
Disco bites it!
HAMMOND
(DRYLY)
That's much better.
The car pulls into the Winston High School parking lot.
They pile out.
23 EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY 23
Hammond, Kim and Alex walk through the empty lot
towards the school. Suddenly, we HEAR a loud GRATING
SOUND coming from nearby. The sudden noise startles
Kim and she huddles against her father.
A seedy little middle-aged man with a stubble of gray
beard appears from behind a row of bushes, brandishing
a pair of electric hedge clippers.
HANMMMOND
Good morning, Mr. Sykes.
SANFORD SYKES, the newly-hired custodian, bares his
yellow teeth in a crooked grin and waves the whirring
blades in salute. Kim shudders and stays close to
her father as they walk on.
KIM
He's creepy.
ALEX
I heard he's wacko.
HAIIOND
The man is not... wacko.
KIM
Kelly says he's a pervert, spying
on the girls undressing in the
locker room.
HAIIOND
Sykes may have some problems, but
he's no Peeping Tom. He's been
thoroughly checked out.
(CONTINUED)
20,
23 CONTINUED: 23
They climb the broad front steps of the high school.
Hammond glances at his watch.
HAMNIOND
(CONTINUING)
You're early today. Plenty of
time to study with no one to
bother you.
Kim reaches up.and kisses her father on the cheek.
Pulling out a fashion magazine, she rushes off, call-
ing back over her shoulder.
KIM
I'.ve got to decide on my hair
style for tonight.
HAMMOND
(WRYLY)
Wonderful. Alex?
ALEX
I'm building an atomic bomb in
shop.
Smiling, he moves inside. Hammond shakes his head
and hurries off.
24 INT. CORRIDOR - DAY 24
Hammond moves through the empty hallway, stopping at
a door which reads: PRINCIPAL: RAYMOND HAMMOND. He
is fumbling for his key when he sees through the
frosted glass a figure moving around in his office.
Reaching for the doorknob, he very quietly opens the
door.
25 INT. OFFICE DAY 25
As the door slowly swings open, Hammond sees the outer
office covered with pieces of paper; sheets are
scattered across desks and chairs and over most of
the floor. Stepping inside, Hammond spies a WOMAN
bending over, frantically picking up paper from the
floor.
He slams the door. At the sudden SOUND, the startled
Woman whirls around, still squatting, and falls on her
rear.
HAMMIOND
Who are you?
21.
25 CONTINUED: 25
Flustered, the attractive young Woman hastily gets to
her feet and straightens her skirt.
WOMAN
(BADLY FLUSTERED)
Oh God! They told me you wouldn't
be in till nine!
HAMMOND
(INCREDULOUS)
What're you doing, robbing me?
WOMAN
(GIGGLING
NERVOUSLY)
Oh... no, I'm your Working Girl
Hammond stares, wide-eyed.
WOMAN
(CONTINUING)
your temporary secretary.
What's-her-name is sick.
(extends her hand)
Hi. I'm Adele.
HAM 0ND
(taking her hand)
What happened?
WOMAN (ADELE)
Well you see, Mr. Hammond, the,
air conditioner fan was set for
high but...
HAP-MOND
(INTERRUPTS)
Please, Miss... Adele,
ADELE
(INTERRUPTS)
Cooper... Ms. Cooper.
HA MOND
Whatever! I have some important
calls to make. Please see that I'm
not disturbed...
(wades through the
papers to his inner
OFFICE DOOR)
, and put all this back where it
belongs!
He enters his office.
26 INT. HA,1NI OND' S OFFICE - DAY 26
Hammond tosses his briefcase onto the desk and drops
into his chair. He stares at the telephone for a long
moment, drumming his finger on the desk.
CUT TO:
27 INT. BEDROOM - DAY 27
A pink TELEPHONE RINGS. The plush bedroom is empty;
suddenly Wendy Richards rushes in. Now eighteen, Wendy
is a raven-haired beauty with a full figure, accentua-
ted by a low-cut black blouse and tight designer jeans.
Tossing her books onto the bed, she eagerly grabs the
receiver.
WENDY
(BREATHLESSLY)
Nick?
A long pause, followed by HEAVY BREATHING. Wendy is
about to respond when the inhuman VOICE speaks in an
eerie, androgynous stutter.
TELEPHONE VOICE
W-Wendy? T-t-tonight it's m-m-my
t-turn!
Wendy's shock quickly turns to anger.
WENDY
Screw you, Lou!
Wendy slams the receiver into its cradle. Grabbing her
books, she storms out of her bedroom.
28 INT. FRONT HALL - DAY 28
Wendy hurries do-in the ornate staircase.
Waiting at the bottom holding the girl's sweater is
MAUDE, the Richards' elderly housekeeper.
MAUDE
You be home for dinner, Wendy?
Wendy angrily grabs her sweater from the woman.
WENDY
How the hell do I know?
She exits.
L3.
29 EXT. RICHARD'S HOUSE - DAY 29
The expansive residence sits back off the road in this
upper-middle-class suburb. Wendy climbs into her
white Mustang and starts the engine. TIRES SQUEALING,
she ROARS out of the driveway with the RADIO BLASTING.
30 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 30
Kelly Lynch is just finishing breakfast when the
TELEPHONE RINGS. The petite blonde eighteen-year-old
stuffs a last bite of toast into her mouth and picks
up the receiver.
KELLY
(MUMBLING )
Hullo?
A pause, then HEAVY BREATHING. Kelly's eyes grow wide
as the dreadful voice speaks.
TELEPHONE VOICE
K-K-Kelly? T-tonight it's m-m-�IZ
Horrified, Kelly drops the phone. The DOORBELL RINGS.
Frightened, she gasps, hugging the wall. The DOORBELL
RINGS again. Very slowly she moves out of the kitchen.
31 INT. HALL - DAY 31
Kelly cautiously approaches the front door. Peering
through a crack in the drapes, she sees a dark figure
huddled near the door. With the latch secured, she
takes a deep breath and opens the door.
KELLY
Yes?
DREW (O.S.)
Christ, Kelly, c'mon! We're late!
Relief floods across her face. Kelly quickly unfastens
the latch.
KELLY
Oh, Drew, thank God!
She throws herself into the arms of the pleasantly sur-
prised DREW SHINNICK, a muscular blond athlete.
DREW
(holding her tightly)
I'm glad to see you, too.
(CONTINUED)
24.
31 CONTINUED: 31
She looks up at him.
KELLY
Drew, this horrible -voice...
DREW
Nightmare?
KELLY
On the telephone. It sounded so
evil!
DREW
(LAUGHING)
What'd you get, a heavy breather?
KELLY
Worse than that...
DREW
(INTERRUPTS)
Turned you on did he? Maybe I
should try that!
She breaks from his grasp.
KELLY
'm serious!
Drew makes a grab for her but she avoids him, hurries
inside. He sighs and leans against the doorjamb to
wait.
DREW
So am I.,.
32 INT. CAR (MOVING) - DAY 32
Drew is driving, his-arm around Kelly. She still
appears shaken by the telephone call. The RADIO is ON.
His right hand slowly descends towards her breast.
She swats it away. The hand moves to her back, slid-
ing down. She leans back, pinning his arm against the
seat.
The car stops at a light and Drew is instantly on Kelly,
biting her neck and kissing her hard on the mouth. She
pushes him back.
KELLY
(ANGRY)
I thought we were late.
(CONTINUED)
32 CONTINUED: 32
DREW
We'll get there... eventually.
KELLY
Really?
Drew HONKS the HORN at another driver.
DREW
Hell, you should be glad. A lot
of girls would love to have
someone steady like me.
His irrepressible right hand starts up her leg.
KELLY
(MOCK-SWEETLY)
Steady? You mean persistent,
don't you, darling?
Grabbing his hand, she holds it firmly in her lap,
which doesn't bother Drew at all.
33 INT. HALL - DAY
Jude Cunningham is leaving her house when the TELE-
PHONE RINGS. The chubby, brown-haired girl rushes
back into the hallway.
A plump, middle-aged woman hurries out of the kitchen,
wiping her hands on an apron. MRS. CUNNINGHAM
eagerly watches her daughter snap up the receiver.
The pause, the HEAVY BREATHING and the strange,
terrifying voice.
TELEPHONE VOICE
J-Jude? T-t-tonight it's my-my
t-t-turn!
A disappointed Jude slowly replaces the receiver. Mrs.
Cunningham looks on sympathetically.
Still no date?
JUDE
(shakes her head)
Getting closer, though.
26.
33 CONTINUED: 33
MRS. CUNNINGHAM
A boy?
JUDE
(SMILES)
An obscene call... and not very
obscene at that!
Mrs. Cunningham starts to say something.
JUDE
(CONTINUING)
Sorry, Mom, gotta run.
Giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek, Jude
exits.
34 EXT. CUNNINGHAM'S HOUSE - DAY
The small house appears almost identical to the other
dwellings in this lower-middle-class neighborhood. Jude
pulls an apple from her large purse, munching while
she walks to the bus stop.
A gaudily-painted van pulls up alongside her. The win-
dow slowly rolls down and a young curly-haired GUY
wearing glasses sticks out his head.
GUY
Hey, beautiful, need a lift?
Jude continues walking, the van moving slowly alongside
her.
JUDE
No thanks.
GUY
C'mon, I won't bite.
Jude chomps down hard on her apple.
JUDE
So who are you?
TheGuy leans further out the window.
GUY
Seymour Stone but..
He's cut short as the van bounces up onto the sidewalk.
Jude shrieks. The flustered boy steers the van quickly
back onto the road.
(CONTINUED)
27.
34 CONTINUED: 27
GUY
(CONTINUING)
but they call me Slick!
Jude laughs, almost choking on her apple.
JUDE
I can see why... How old are you,
Slick?
GUY (SLICK)
Old enough...
JUDE
I've heard about guys like you...
running over girls on the sidewalk...
SLICK
Just some girls... If they're good
lookin' I give 'em a ride.
JUDE
(SMILING)
Can you stop that thing?
Slick jams on the brakes. The van jerks to a halt.
He opens the passenger door.
JUDE
(CONTINUING)
I'm going straight to Winston High,
understand?
SLICK
(NODS)
Straight to Winston.
She climbs inside.
35 INT. VAN (MOVING- DAY 35
The interior is decked out in plush red carpet with a
bed in back, a stereo cassette deck, and a small fridge.
MUSIC is PLAYING. Jude looks around.
JUDE
Looks like a cheap motel.
SLICK
Cheap?... that's a two hundred
dollar waterbed there...
Jude turns around for a look.
(CONTINUED)
35 CONTINUED: 35
SLICK
(CONTINUING)
Hand me that history book.
JUDE
You think this is the time to study?
She grabs the book, gives it to him. He places it on
the fold-down table between them, flips it open. The
inside is hollowed out into a container. It contains
nearly a hundred neatly rolled joints.
SLICK
Straight to Winston High?
36 EXT. SCHOOL PARKING LOT DAY
The van weaves through the parked cars, passing up
several vacant spots. It finally SCREECHES to a halt
at the far end of the lot near some high bluffs over-
looking a lake.
37 INT. VAN
The air is thick with smoke.
JUDE
(COUGHING)
How old are you, really?
SLICK
You won't believe it...
(PAUSES FOR
DRAMATIC EFFECT)
Sixteen!
JUDE
(CONSIDERING
I believe it.
They both break up giggling.
SLICK
You going to the prom tonight?
Jude looks away, embarrassed.
JUDE
Sure, of course.
SLICK
(GLUMLY)
Not me. My date got sick.
(CONTINUED)
LV.
37 CONTINUED: 37
JUDE
(BRIGHTENING)
Yeah? Well, as a matter of fact..
(THINKING FURIOUSLY)
My date is uh, not that certain...
Something might be happening, he's
not sure, you know?
SLICK
(NODDING SOLEMNLY)
Yeah, right...
Jude watches him. He's slow picking up her hint.
JUDE
So I guess we're both maybe not
going...
SLICK
Yeah... too bad...
He looks at her.
SLICK
(CONTINUING)
Hey, you think...
JUDE
I'd love to!
She kisses him on the cheek.
JUDE
(CONTINUING)
See you at eight, same spot!
She exits, hurrying across the parking lot as he grins
foolishly after her. Suddenly, it dawns on him.
SLICK
(CALLS OUT)
What's your name?
38 INT. APARTMENT LIVING ROOM - DAY 38
A tall rugged-looking man wearing a police uniform
stands in ,the center of the room checking over his
revolver. He's DARRYL McBRIDE, forty-eight years old
and a veteran Sergeant on the Police Force. Satisfied
with the condition of the gun, he jams it back into its
holster, turns, calls out.
(CONTINUED)
30.
38 CONTINUED:
MCBRIDE
Let's go, son!
A handsome dark-haired boy of eighteen emerges from a
back room. He's Nick McBride. His father pulls open
the front door.
MCBRIDE
(CONTINUING)
For a guy who moves so fast around
a disco floor, you are the slowest
goddamn thing...
Nick nods sleepily, yawns.
NICK
Right, I know...
McBride steps out into the hallway. Nick grabs his
books and follows. The TELEPHONE RINGS. Nick hesi-
tates. Shaking his head he exits, shutting the door.
39 INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
The TELEPHONE keeps RINGING. McBride looks at his son.
MCBRIDE
Why didn't you answer i
NICK
It's just Wendy. She's pissed off.
She wants me to take her to the
prom tonight.
MCBRIDE
I thought you two broke up.
The TELEPHONE continues to RING.
NICK
Three months ago... you can't tell
Wendy anything she doesn't want to
hear.
MCBRIDE
Aren't you going with the Hammond
girl? The principal's daughter?
NICK
(SMILES)
Kim.
39 CONTINUED; 39
MCBRIDE
God, I wish I had your women
problems.
They walk down the corridor as the TELEPHONE continues
to RING.
40 INT. SCHOOL SHOP - DAY 40
Alex is alone in the large room. ROCK MUSIC BOOMS out
of two huge SPEAKERS suspended from the ceiling. Alex
sits behind a console, flipping switches and turning
dials, electronically distorting the music.
A wall TELEPHONE RINGS.. Caught up in his own manufac-
tured sounds, Alex ignores it. After several more
RINGS, he reluctantly leaves the console and answers
the phone.
ALEX
Hello... what?...
He listens, expressionless, then hangs up. He flips
a switch on the console and the MUSIC STOPS. He sits
there a moment, thinking. Then he turns out the lights
and exits.
41 INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR - DAY 41
Kim walks down the long deserted corridor. She hears
FOOTSTEPS. She turns. No one. Shaking her head, she
continues walking.
The FOOTSTEPS return, louder. Kim begins to hurry.
She rounds a corner and slips against the wall, waiting.
Silence. With a deep breath, she moves on to her
locker.
Kim quickly twists the dial on the combination lock and
yanks open the door. Grabbing several books she slams
the door shut.
A mop HANDLE CRASHES into the locker, missing her head
by inches. The SHARP REPORT echoes down the corridor.
Terrified, Kim jumps back, spins around. Sykes is
standing there.
SYKES
S-s-sorry, Missy. You hurt?
Her heart pounding wildly, Kim rushes into the gym.
Sykes picks up his mop.
32-
42, INT. DAY 42
Kim runs into the huge deserted gym, glancing frantical-
ly over her shoulder. Her FOOTSTEPS CLATTER across the
hardwood floor. She stops, waits to recover her breath.
The room glows tgith a crystalline light sparkling off
the silver decorations put up for the Prom. Stretched
across the bleachers is a banner reading: "DISCO
MADNESS."
Gazing around, Kim feels the excitement of anticipation.
Imagining herself in Nick's arms, she begins to dance,
whirling through the gym to the music in her head.
Suddenly, someone is clapping, slowly.
WENDY (O.S.)
Bravo...
Kim stops abruptly. Standing onstage, watching her, is
Wendy.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
Practicing for tonight?
KIM
Yes, as a matter of fact... I was
just...
WENDY
Thinking about Nick, maybe?
KIM
That's my business.
WENDY
You wish! Nick is King of the
Prom, you happen to be Queen of
the Prom... that's all there is to
it, Hammond... As far as anything
else... Nick is mine...
KIM
You really ought to tell him that.
WENDY
I'm telling you, okay? Stay away
from Nick!
KIM
You and Nick haven't been together
in ages.
WENDY
You know nothing about it!
(CONTINUED)
_J _J
42 CONTINUED: 42
KIM
Really? So who are you going with
tonight?
WENDY
It's not who you go with, honey...
it's who takes you home.
KIM
I'll try and remember that.
WENDY
Wait and see, bitch... Just wait
and see...
43 INT. HALLWAY - DAY 43
The corridor is packed with students -- flirting,
gossiping, fighting, a few even studying. We PICK UP
Kim and VICKI CANTRELL, eighteen, moving down the crowd-
ed hallway through the various conversations.
KIM
: So then she threatened me.
VICKI
Wendy's a jerk!
FIRST MALE (V.0.)
She didn't!
SECOND MALE (V.0.)
Swear to God!
FIRST MALE (V.0.)
(INCREDULOUS)
In the teachers' lounge?
OTHER VOICES
Dual headers... thinks he's a
fox... Dust'll run you... long and
slinky and tight... swings like my
mother... how much for half a lid?
Jude joins Kim and Vicki as they walk.
JUDE
guys.
KIM
Jude.
(CONTINUED)
34.
43 CONTINUED: 43
VICKI
Missed you on the bus today.
JUDE
I didn't ride it.
VICKI
I thought you were too big to hide.
KIM
(CHIDING)
Vicki...
JUDE
(IGNORING VICKI)
I got a ride.
VICKI
Who with?
KIM
None of your business.
JUDE
(BLASE)
A guy.
Vicki and Kim are left hanging, waiting for more.
VICKI
(FINALLY)
Jude!
Jude can hold it back no longer.
JUDE
(EXPLODES)
I'm going to the prom!
Kim. and Vicki excitedly hug Jude. A big, bushy-haired
youth with a stubble of beard strolls by, smirking when
he sees the girls embracing. LOU PERANO, a twenty-year-
old high school junior, stops and stares.
LOU
I knew there was some reason Kim
wouldn't go out with me. She likes
girls!
The girls separate.
(CONTINUED)
43 CONTINUED: (2) 43
VICKI
Say goodbye, Lou.
KIM
(to Vicki and Jude)
Let's go.
They head down the hallway to their lockers. Lou tags
along.
LOU
You girls get bored with each
other, I'm always around, you know?
They pass Kelly and Drew huddled at her locker. His
hands rest on her shoulders. They are talking intently.
VICKI
Poor girl must be exhausted. Look
how he has to hold her up...
(sees Nick approaching
WITH WENDY)
Uh oh.
Kim stops suddenly and turns to look. Lou bumps into
her, his hand purposely grazing her rear.
KIM
Go play with yourself, Lou.
LOU
I'm saving it for you.
Kim sighs with disgust and turns around as Nick walks
up talking to Wendy.
NICK
Wendy, for Christ sake, I never...
(SEES KIM)
Kim!
KIM
(IGNORING WENDY)
Hello, Nick.
Seeing Kim, Wendy quickly reaches up and kisses Nick on
the mouth.
WENDY
We'll talk about it later, lover.
Bye.
Wendy smiles and strolls away. Lou follows her.
(CONTINUED)
36.
43. CONTINUED: (3) 43
NICK
(EMBARRASSED)
I told her to leave me alone.
KIM
(NODS)
Worked real well.
The BELL RINGS signalling first period class. Kim
turns to Vicki and Jude.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
We'd better go.
Kim brushes past Nick without a word. The two girls ex-
change puzzled glances and follow her.
NICK
(WORRIED)
Kim?
Kim does not turn back. Walking next to her, Vicki
watches her friend curiously. Kim giggles. A sneaky
smile creeps across her face.
JUDE
(GRINNING)
That's cruel!
KIM
Shhh!
VICKI
Oh no you don't...
(turns back and
calls to Nick)
She's smiling, Nick. Big grin
spread all over her face.
Kim punches her friend but the damage is done. Nick
grins broadly. Blushing, Kim turns back, flashes him a
quick smile and disappears around a corner to the hoots
of Vicki and Jude.
44 INT. CORRIDOR - DAY 44
A tall dark figure walks quickly down a concrete cor-
ridor. From somewhere nearby, loud VOICES, SPLASHING
water, can be HEARD.
45 INT. POOL GALLERY 45
A shadow moves behind the opaque glass plate of a heavy
door.
(CONTINUED)
45 CONTINUED: 45
The door edges open. Raymond Hammond appears. Prop-
ping the door open with his shoulder, he starts down
across the narrow gallery to the pool below.
46 INT. POOL 46
A class of senior male students occupies the water,
among them Nick McBride and Drew Shinnick. With no
Phys. Ed. instructor in sight, it's a general goof-off
period.
Nick walks out onto the diving board. Drew is treading
water below him.
47 ANGLE ON HAMMOND 47
as he watches Nick intently from the gallery door.
48 INT. POOL 48
Nick launches himself out over Drew in an apparent
belly-flop. At the last moment, he tucks in and hits
the water in a flipped over cannonball. He surfaces to
a chorus of whistles and cheers. It was a close shave.
DREW
You wanta take care of yourself,
man... Kim's expecting a lot from
you tonight...
Nick laughs.
49 INT. GALLERY DOOR 49
The door is easing shut. Hammond is nowhere to be seen.
50 INT. GYM - DAY 50
A side door opens. Hammond steps in, gazes around.
The gym is empty, silent. He walks to the stage steps,
climbs up, pushes through the thick curtain.
51 INT. GYM - BACKSTAGE 51
It's a dark cluttered area broken up by tall partitions,
discarded flats from old student productions, banks of
lights.
Hammond crosses to a rear door, tries it. It's locked.
He turns back. As he does so there's a sudden WHIRRING
SOUND. A row of spotlights flashes on right in front
of him, almost blinding him. He tries to shield his
eyes.
(CONTINUED)
38.
51 CONTINUED: 51
He spins around. Another bank of lights flares at
him. He staggers downstage. The curtains begin to
swing open. Startled, he jumps away from them. His
foot lands on a package of photo-flood bulbs.. There's
a LOUD POP. Then a VOICE.
ALEX (O.S.)
Who's there?
Hammond, shaken, looks across to the far wing. There's
an elevated platform where the electronic control panel
is located. Alex peers down.
HAMMOND
Alex?... What the hell're you
doing?
ALEX
I'm testing the board... I didn't
hear you... nobody's supposed to
be here yet...
HAMMOND
No, well'...
He looks around. He's still trying to get himself
together.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
I'm.. I'm thinking we might have
a fire hazzard here, all these
extra lights.
He looks awkward, as if he'd been caught at something.
H.A1 ll4OND
(CONTINUING)
all right...
He turns, climbs down the stage steps and starts back
across the gym. At the other end of the floor a door
opens, Sykes looks in. Hammond sees him.
HA, MOND
(CONTINUING)
Ah... Mr. Sykes...
Sykes waits as Hammond hurries across to him. The two
men go out together.
Alex walks out onto the stage, watches them go.
39.
52 INT. CLASSROOM (LAB) - DAY 52
First period biology class features MONTY WELLER, a
tall, thin Englishman in his late thirties. This stuf-
fy, dour science teacher drones on about the joys of ex-
ploring frog vertebrae while most of his class naps,
daydreams or passes notes.
Seated in the back near the door, Jude is furtively
opening a handwritten note. She quickly reads it.
Stifling a giggle, she looks up to see Kim and Vicki
across the aisle, eagerly awaiting her reply. Jude
tears out part of a page from her biology book and
scrawls her answer. Folding the note, she taps the boy
next to her and motions for him to pass it on.
Vicki grabs the note from the boy. Quickly scanning
it, she nods, impressed. Kim reads it and mouths the
word "Wow" to Jude who blushes happily.
Glancing out into the hallway, Jude notices Slick walk-
ing past. Seeing her in class, he stops and waves.
Jude frantically tries to motion him away. Their backs
to the door, Kim and Vicki watch with curiosity as Jude
gestures in their direction. Seeing her friends
watching her, Jude smiles and tries to ignore Slick.
Not to be denied, he exaggeratedly mimes Weller, nose
to his textbook, lecturing on, oblivious to his class.
Jude laughs in spite of herself. Kim and Vicki turn
around.
Glancing out the door, the two girls stare in disbelief
at the small weird curly-haired boy doing a perfect im-
itation of the eminently boring Weller. Their surprise
turns to hilarity as they realize this boy must be
Jude's prom date. Kim holds up the note, raising her
eyebrows as she gestures toward Slick. Jude nods. Kim
and Vicki can barely contain their laughter. They do
not notice Mr. Weller eyeing them suspiciously as he
rattles on about frog intestines. Slick mouths the
words, "See you at lunch.., in the van." Jude nods and
smiles.
With a final bow and a wave, he exits.
Kim suddenly looks up to find a red-faced Mr. Weller
looming above her.
WELLER
Miss Hammond!
Wide-eyed, Kim desperately tries to crush the note in
her hand.
(CONTINUED)
52 CONTINUED: 52
WELLER
(CONTINUING)
Since you obviously find your own
words more interesting than those
of Farnsworth on the anatomy of a
frog...
(pauses to share his
wit with the class)
, read the note!
KIM
(barely a whisper)
Read the note?
WELLER
(STERNLY)
Now, Miss Hammond!
Kim swallows and steals a quick glance at her friends.
Vicki winces. Jude tries to disappear beneath her, seat.
KIM
Yessir...
(clears her throat)
Well, it's mostly talking
about...
WELLER
(INTERRUPTS)
Word for word, please. Exactly
as it is written.
KIM
(NODS)
Right..
(coughs and finally
begins, slowly, in a
STILTED MANNER)
What a hunk!
Titters from the class.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Really cute... Tall... a great
BODY
The class roars with laughter.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Kinda the Latin lover type.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
41-
52 CONTINUED (2) 52
KIM (CONS'' D)
(reading ahead,
KIM GIGGLES)
and his name is Slick!
The classroom erupts into laughter as the BELL RINGS,
signaling the end of the class. Still laughing, stu-
dents gather their books and shuffle out, several giv-
ing Kim sympathetic glances as they pass.
WELLER
After school, Miss Hammond. One
hour detention study hall... you
and your friends!
Kim looks from Jude to Vicki.
KIM
But, Mr. Weller, tonight's the
prom...
WELLER
(DISDAINFULLY)
Tell that to your...
(SNIFFS)
hunk!
He spins on his heel and marches back to his desk. The
three girls hurriedly exit.
53 INT. ROOM (SCHOOL) - DAY 53
A hand is flipping through the pages of the Winston
High yearbook, the back pages where the individual
photographs of graduating students are placed. The
hand stops, moves across an open page to a smiling head
shot of Nick McBride.
The hand rips the picture from the page, sets it down
on a plain wooden desk alongside three other pictures
-with similar torn edges. The other pictures are of
Jude Cunningham, Kelly Lynch, and Wendy Richards.
The yearbook is slammed shut.
54 INT. CAFETERIA - DAY 54
Kim, Jude and Vicki enter the crowded room. MUSIC from
several portable RADIOS can be HEARD above the clamor
as the girls move into the long lunch line. Kim spots
Alex seated nearby and waves to him.
(CONTINUED)
4L.
54 CONTINUED: 54
VICKI
(NUDGING JUDE)
Here comes the incredible hunk
himself.
Jude looks up to see Slick slowly making his way down
the line towards them. He is carrying a tray piled
high with snack food: potato chips, cookies, candy.
Jude smiles as he passes her, grinning.
KIM
Looks like a party.
JUDE
Yeah -- I don't think he's gonna
be too good for my diet...
Slick moves down the lunch line. Suddenly he is bumped
from behind, sending the tray and the snacks flying
across the room. Looking around, Slick jumps back,
startled by a tall figure wearing a dark ski mask.
SLICK
(ANGRILY)
Hey, clown, what the...
Three of Lou's gang quickly step up behind the masked
figure.
LOU
Say what?
SLICK
(SHRUGS)
Forget it, Lou.
LOU
(SMIRKS)
That's what I figured.
Slick bends over to pick up his lunch.
SLICK
(SOFTLY)
Asshole!
Lou and his friends shove ahead in the line until he is
standing behind Kim. Lou nuzzles Kim's neck.
LOU
(muffled by the mask)
Like me better now?
(CONTINUED)
43.
54 CONTINUED: (2) 54
Startled, Kim spins around. Her fear quickly becomes
anger.
KIM
It's an improvement!
She turns her back to him.
LOU
You like it so much...
(spins her around to
FACE HIM)
Have a taste.
He kisses her hard on the mouth. Swinging at him, Kim
breaks away. Laughing, Lou grabs her wrists and rough-
ly pulls her to him. Alex instantly jumps to his feet.
LOU
(CONTINUING;
holding Kim close)
Be nice...
Alex leaps over the metal railing separating the line
from the tables. Crashing into Lou, he drives the
larger boy back into the salad counter, sending food
and utensils flying. As they tumble off the counter
onto the floor, Alex gets in several furious punches
before Lou's gang can pry him loose.
Two of the gang pin Alex against the counter. Wiping
blood from his mouth, Lou grins maliciously and slugs
Alex in the stomach. The boy groans and doubles over.
Lou grabs Alex's hair and slams his head back against
the glass shield of the counter.
As Lou rears back to throw another punch, his two
friends suddenly release Alex and scatter. The boy
crumples to the floor. Lou turns around to see two
MALE TEACHERS rapidly approaching. The larger teacher
grabs Lou.
TEACHER
This time you're out, Perano.
Lou points to Alex who is being helped up from the
floor.
LOU
He started i
TEACHER
I'll bet... Alex?
(CONTINUED)
54 CONTINUED: (3) 54
Alex nods, leaning on the other teacher for support.
KIM
That's not true! Alex was trying
to help me.
The teacher looks from Kim to Lou to Alex.
TEACHER
You'd better come along to your
father's office.
LOU
(SNEERS)
Wonder who'll get off with just
a warning?
Several students laugh. The two Teachers march Lou and
Alex through the silent cafeteria. Lou swaggers bask-
ing in the attention. Alex walks with his head bowed.
They exit.
55 INT. HALLWAY - DAY 55
Lou and Alex accompany the teachers down the corridor
toward the principal's office. Nick and Wendy approach
from the opposite direction, talking heatedly.
NICK
I don't care who. Just
somebody else!
WENDY
(BITTER)
You never had it so good as with
me.
NICK
I've got it now... better!
WENDY
(ANGRILY)
You don't even know...
(spots Lou and
CALLS OUT)
Lou!
The surprised Lou tries to stop but the Teachers hurry
him and Alex past the couple. Wendy watches Nick.
LOU
(turning back to Wendy)
I got this appointment.
(CONTINUED)
45.
55 CONTINUED: 55
WENDY
I'LL WAI
Wendy turns to see Nick's reaction but he is already
walking towards the cafeteria. The irate girl glares
after him.
56 INT. OFFICE - DAY 56
Hammond is talking on the telephone. He appears agi-
tated, running his fingers through his hair and tugging
at the knot in his loosened tie.
HAMMOND
(EXASPERATED)
No, Vi. I didn't forget.
I told you we'd go to the cemetery...
The door opens and Adele Cooper's head peers around the
corner. Seeing Hammond talking on the phone, she nods
toward the outer office. Hammond gestures for her to
wait. She persists until he angrily takes the receiver
from his ear and covers the mouthpiece.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
What is it?
ADELE
(WHISPERING)
There are some gentlemen here to
see you, Mr. Hammond.
HAMMOND
Can't it wait?
ADELE
I didn't ask... But one looks
a little like that child in the
picture on your desk.
Hammond automatically glances at the photograph of
Robin framed alongside one of the rest of his family.
HAMMOND
(into the receiver)
I've got to go now, Vi... We'll be
there within the hour...
There's a loud CLICK on the other end of the line.
HAIIOND
(CONTINUING)
Damn!
(CONTINUED)
46.
56 CONTINUED: 56
Frustrated, Hammond slams the receiver into its cradle.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
All right, send them in.
The two Male Teachers enter first, followed by Lou and
finally Alex. Hammond gives his son a sharp look, then
turns to glare at Lou.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING ;WEARILY)
You again?
TEACHER
(NODS)
Brawling in the cafeteria... both
of them.
He places Lou's ski mask on Hammond's desk. The prin-
cipal glances at it.
HAMMOND
(FINALLY)
Thank you. I'll handle it.
The Teachers exit.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
Explanations?
He looks at Alex. The boy stares at the floor and says
nothing. Hammond holds the mask up to Lou.
HAIIOND
(CONTINUING)
Halloween?
LOU
I was just foolin' around with
this girl...
ALEX
(INTERRUPTS)
Kim!
Hammond frowns.
LOU
when this -- your son
tackled me and...
HAMMOND
(INTERRUPTS)
Is this true, Alex?
(CONTINUED)
47.
56 CONTINUED: (2) 56
LOU
(SNIDE)
I knew It !
Hammond whirls on him.
HAMMOND
You knew what?
LOU
It just figures.
HAIV MOND
(his voice rising
WITH ANGER)
That I'll play favorites? That
I'll go easy on Alex because he's
my son?
(pauses, waiting for
Lou to back down and
LOOK AWAY)
Damn right I will! You're a
disgrace to this school and this
community...
(RECOVERS SOMEWHAT)
You're suspended --
indefinitely! Now get out!
LOU
(SNEERS)
What about your son?
HAMMOND
(ICILY)
If you're not off school grounds
in five minutes, I'll have you
arrested for trespassing.
Lou stalks to the door. Opening it, he turns to Alex.
LOU
See you around.
He exits, slamming the door.
HAMMOND
(WITHOUT LOOKING
AT ALEX)
Have the nurse take a look at you,
then get back here.
Alex exits. Hammond angrily grabs Lou's ski mask and
hurls it at the trash can_
48.
57 EXT. FRONT LAWN - DAY 57
Kim and Vicki are sprawled on the grass eating lunch.
Lou storms down the front steps. Pausing at the bottom,
he turns, strolls over to Kim.
LOU
Watch for me, little girl. You
know I'm just a kiss away.
Lou laughs and walks off toward the parking lot. Kim
shudders.
Wendy's white Mustang slides up to the curb. The pass-
enger window rolls down and Lou leans over to look in-
side. After a moment he climbs in and the MUSTANG
PEELS out of the lot, leaving twin black tread marks in
its wake.
KIM
What a pair!
VICKI
Made for each other!
Kim opens a carton of yogurt.
KIM
You wearing that green gown tonight?
VICKI
You kidding? That was last year.
This year... red silk!
(smiles and runs her
hand from her neck
to her waist)
Cut to here! ...
NICK (O.S.)
Cut to where?
Kim and Vicki turn to see Nick ambling across the lawn
toward them.
VICKI
(MOCK-SEDUCTIVELY)
Anywhere you like...
KIM
(SMILING)
On the prowl!
58 EXT. STREET - DAY
Wendy's white Mustang streaks through traffic, dodging
in and out of lanes, running yellows, burning around
corners.
59 INT. MUSTANG 59
Lou sits pinned to the passenger seat, eyes wide,
staring straight ahead as if he can't quite believe
this trip. His bravado seems to have left him. He
glances over at Wendy in the driver's seat. She's
puffing on a cigarette, handling the wheel almost
casually. She's in control,
60 EXT. DRIVE-IN 60
The Mustang suddenly slows down and makes a hard left
turn, narrowly beating a horn-honking oncoming van.
The big white car bounces up over the curb and sweeps
into the end slot at a sprawling fast-food drive-in.
61 INT. MUSTANG 61
Lou's still pinned to his seat. Wendy shuts off the
engine, looks at him. He looks at her, lets out a
long deep breath.
A cute little CAR-HOP in a cut-off costume and roller
skates glides over. She leans into Wendy's window,
talks through a wad of gum.
CAR-HOP
Ready to order?
WENDY
(TO LOU)
What do you want?
Lou's shifting around in his seat, pulling himself
together.
LOU
I'm uh... a little short on cash..
WENDY
You can owe me.
LOU
Yeah? Okay then, a couple of
burgers, a large fries... what
kind of beer you got?
CAR- HOP
C'mon man, this is a drive-in not
a bar.
LOU
All right, all right... don't get
nervous... Gimme a coke...
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
50.
61 CONTINUED:
LOU (CONT'D)
(nods to Wendy)
She'll have the same.
WENDY
A small diet cola.
WENDY
That ' sit.
The Car-hop shrugs, wheels away. Wendy turns to Lou.
WENDY
I'll buy you one for Christmas,
all right? Now, how do I know
you're serious?
LOU
Whatta you mean, serious? I hate
that school, Hammond and his
asshole family...
WENDY
I don't want anyone hurt... not
badly.
LOU
You got it... anything your little
heart desires...
WENDY
Lou, shouldn't we go over this.
Lou puts his finger to her mouth, silencing her.
LOU
I'll take care of it, Scout's
honor... Don't worry about it...
(CONTINUED)
Di.
61 CONTINUED: (2) 61
He caresses her cheek and lips, then kisses her. At
first reluctant, Wendy quickly takes over. When they
finally break from their passionate clinch, he is
gasping.
LOU
(CONTINUING)
Jesus Christ!
WENDY
Don't worry about it..
She unbuttons his shirt and begins to kiss and lick his
chest. Slowly she works her way down. Lou begins to
writhe. Wendy's head disappears from VIEW. Lou's eyes
snap open in surprise.
Wendy groans.
WEND Y
Damn stick shift!
Lou starts to protest, then dissolves.
62,. INT. MUSTANG - DAY 62
The Car-hop wheels up to the Mustang carrying a tray
loaded with food. She leans over and peers inside.
Wendy is behind the wheel, perfectly composed. A mind-
blown Lou is hurriedly doing up his belt, tucking in
his shirt. He glances at the Car-hop then turns away
to finish the job.
CAR-HOP
Enjoy your meal.
63 EXT. LAKE-SIDE BLUFFS - DAY 63
A WIDE VIEW; high weather-worn bluffs tumbling down to
a strip of beach and the calm blue waters of the lake.
Above the bluffs there's a narrow shaded park and then
the buildings and parking lots of Winston High.
63 CONTINUED:
Nick and Kim walk slowly along the rim of the bluffs.
Nick has his arm around her. She leans into him.
KIM
I am excited, it's just... in some
ways it's such an awful day... It's
Robin's day...
64 EXT. BLUFFS CLOSER ANGLE 64
KIM
My mother's all upset, as usual.
My father too... he doesn't show
it so much... It's hard to get
over something like that. Robin
would have been a junior, like
Alex. This would've been her first
prom... I guess that's'why it seems
so much worse this year...
She stops, turns and faces Nick. It's hard for him to
meet her gaze.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
The Queen of the Prom is determined
not to let it get to her... She
must maintain her... whatever, at all
costs..
She tries a weak smile. Nick stares at her, then sud-
denly takes her, pulls her to him, embraces her. She's
caught by surprise, but she responds.
She smiles.
KIN
I love you too.
Di.
64 CONTINUED: 64
NICK
I'm... I want you to know that...
Robin's death... I remember it and
I've always been... so sorry
about it...
Kim looks puzzled.
NICK
(CONTINUING)
I mean... I know what you're
feeling... I've...
(looks at her)
:Listen I...
Across the school parking lot a CAR HORN BLARES, inter-
rupts Nick. Kim reacts.
KIM
That's my father... I've got to go,
Okay?
NICK
Yeah... I'll see you later.
She hesitates a moment, then kisses him quickly, turns
and goes. Nick looks shaken up. He stares after her
as she hurries away.
Behind Nick, in the other corner of the parking lot, a
metal door slides open, loud RAUNCHY ROCK and ROLL sud-
denly infests the air. Nick turns, sees Jude climbing
out of Slick's van. Jude looks about as stoned as she
can get. She spots Nick, waves.
JUDE
Hey, Nick!
Nick turns and heads the other way.
65 EXT. CEMETERY - HAMMOND PLOT - DAY 65
There's a small marble headstone inset with the carved
face of an angel and the inscription "Robin Anne Hammond
1964 - 1973 Too Soon Taken From Us."
Kneeling beside the grave is Vivian Hammond. She's ar-
ranging a large bouquet of mixed flowers, fussing with
them, trying for some kind of impossible perfection.
HP`�MOND (0. S.
We have to go, Vi.
(CONTINUED)
J4.
65 CONTINUED: 65
She doesn't react, she keeps playing with the flowers.
Hammond moves in behind her, puts his hands on her
shoulders. She looks at him.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
We have to get back.
She stands, with her husband's support. Kim and Alex
are standing quietly at the foot of the grave. Vivian
looks at them both. Her eyes hold a terrible rage, a
terrible sadness. Hammond carefully guides her away.
Kim has a flower of her own, a white rose, which she
drops on her sister's grave. She turns, meets Alex's
stare, moves off after her parents. Alex remains a mo-
ment longer, then. he, too, goes.
66 EXT. TENNIS COURTS DAY
During the afternoon phys. ed. class, the girls play
tennis: Kim with Kelly and Vicki with Jude. Sykes
lingers nearby, watching the girls. Their instructor
is Miss HENRI-ANNE BENTON, a stocky woman in her late
thirties with teased, lacquered hair. A product of
genteel Southern womanhood, Henri-Anne stalks the
courts in her baggy Bermuda shorts, constantly blowing
a silver whistle hanging from her neck.
A very stoned, giggling Jude runs Vicki ragged, hitting
balls over the fence, straight up in the air and occa-
sionally even back over her head. Each time a ball
flies over the fence, Vicki runs to retrieve it to the
delight of Sykes.
At one point, Vicki bends over to pick up a ball under
Sykes' appreciative gaze. The shrill WHISTLE inter-
rupts her as Henri-Anne rushes over.
HENRI-ANNE
(SOUTHERN ACCENT)
No, no, Miss Cantrell! Never bend
from the waist... Squat!
(DEMONSTRATES)
Always squat to retrieve.
Otherwise, you look like the broad
side of a barn!
(glares at Sykes)
Isn't that so, Mr. Sykes?
Embarrassed, the custodian scuttles away to the girls'
Laughter.
66 CONTINUED: 66
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
That's enough for today, ladies.
We don't want you all worn out for
the ball tonight.
Kim, Jude and Kelly gather'around with the other girls.
JUDE
(GIGGLING)
Ball?
KIM
Shhh!
Kelly takes Jude aside as Kim and Vicki approach Henri
Anne.
KIM
(CONTINUING;
WHISPERS)
You sure she likes Weller?
VICKI
Positive. I heard her say she's
had the hots for him since they
met!
KIM
She said that?
VICKI
Well, not exactly.
HENRI-ANNE
Oh, Kim. You'll be in the gym
promptly at three-fifteen for
rehearsal?
KIM
Well, actually no, Miss Benton.
can't make it... You know Mr.
Weller?
HENRI-ANNE
We're... acquainted.
KIM
He.. umm..
VICKI
(BLURTS OUT)
He's got a crush on Kim!
(CONTINUED)
56.
660 CONTINUED: (2) 66
Kim stares in amazement aL Vicki;
HENRI --ANNE
(staring at Kim)
He has what?
Kim, wide-eyed, can only look at Vicki.
VICKI
He keeps making Kim stay after
school in detention study hall for
no reason... Just so he can be
near her.
HENRI-ANNE
That's horrible!
Kim gulps.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
You mean to tell me that awful man
A girl half his age!
(a very slight
SMILE)
So you have detention this
afternoon?
Kim nods meekly. Lost in thought, Henri-Anne fondles a
tennis ball, a curious smile playing across her face.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING;
FINALLY)
Leave everything to me...
She hurries away. Kim turns on Vicki and starts to
protest.
VICKI
(INTERRUPTING)
It worked, didn't it?
67 EXT. SCHOOL GROUNDS - DAY 67
Kim and Vicki, and behind them, Jude and Kelly are
walking back to the gym and the dressing rooms from the
tennis courts. Vicki's in high spirits and Jude still
can't stop giggling.
Vicki spots old Sykes heading out toward the playing
field. She calls out to him.
(CONTINUED)
57-
67 CONTIPRJED 67
VICKI
Mr. Sykes!
KIM
Vicki, don't...
VICKI
Oh, Mr. Sykes...
Sykes stops, turns around.
VICKI
(CONTINUING)
This is just for you...
She turns, bends over, quickly yanks down her shorts
and moons him. There's a squeal of laughter from Jude
and from Kelly. Vicki whips her shorts back up and
runs to the gym door, the other girls in pursuit.
Kim looks back at Sykes. He's just standing in the
field, not moving. There's a look in his eyes.
68 INT. GIRLS' LOCKER ROOM - DAY 68
Kim and Kelly are undressing. Three girls pass them
headin g for the showers.
KELLY
I'm not like the others, Kim.
Drew needs somebody like Vicki
who'll give him what he wants.
KIM
(LAUGHS)
Vicki's sex life is more talk than
action. Besides, Drew wants you.
KELLY
I'm afraid if I don't make it with
him he'll find somebody who will.
KIM
(SHRUGS)
Let him.
KELLY
I'd die if he did...
The girls wrap towels around themselves and walk to-
wards the showers.
Sa .
69 INTT. SHIER AREA - DAY 69
A girl (MELANIE) is leaving as Kim and'Kelly enter.
Wendy is standing in front of a mirror drying her hair.
Kim ignores her and Wendy returns the compliment.
MELANIE
See you outside, Wendy.
WENDY
Just be a minute...
Kim and Kelly hang up their towels and step into the
showers.
KELLY
What about you and Nick?
KIM
What about us?
Wendy finishes brushing her hair, shoots Kim.a dark
look, exits.
KELLY
What.happened when he asked you?
Kim smiles.
KIM
Maybe I asked him...
Kelly looks at her friend.
70 INT. LOCKER ROOM - DAY 70
Wendy finishes buttoning her blouse. She's pulling on
her jeans when she hears a SCUFFLING SOUND.
WENDY
I'll be right there, Melanie.
No answer. Curious, Wendy moves around the lockers,
investigating. The room appears empty.
There's a sudden LOUD CREAKING. Wendy whirls around.
A locker door is swinging slowly open.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
Melanie?...
Still no answer. Shaking her head, Wendy returns to
her locker.
(CONTINUED)
70 CONTINUED: 70
She's about to shut it when she sees something, a pic-
ture, taped to the side of the door. It's her photo,
torn from the School Yearbook. She rips it from the
door, looks at it.
WENDY
(CONTINUING)
What's this for, Melanie?
Her voice echoes through the empty room. She gazes
around, fear creeping into her face. She quickly
finishes dressing, grabs her books, turns to leave.
Suddenly she screams.
71 INT. SHOWER AREA 71
Wendy's SCREAM is all but DROWNED OUT by the SHOWERS.
Rinsing off, Kim and Kelly hear nothing.
KELLY
I think I'll let Drew do it.
The door to the locker roor slowly opens behind them.
KIM
Let him?
She looks at Kelly. Neither girl hears the SQUISH of
RUBBER SOLES moving across the wet tile floor.
Suddenly there are LOUD VOICES. Melanie comes through
from the locker room, laughing. Behind her, Wendy's
ANGRY WORDS are AUDIBLE.
WENDY (O.S.)
If you ever try anything like that
again, you cow!
Melanie thinks it's hilarious.
MELANIE
(to Kim and Kelly)
You should've seen her jump...
Nadia Comenici never did better...
Wendy storms in. She's got the photo in her hand. She
waves it at Kim and Kelly.
WENDY
What's this supposed to mean?
(CONTINUED)
vv.
71 CONTINUED - 71
KIM
(SARCASTIC)
I know it's not much of a picture,
Wendy, but you didn't have to go
that far...
Wendy is furious.
WENDY
I didn't!
She turns, glares at Melanie.
MELANIE
Don't look at me...
WENDY
You're all... children...
She storms out. Melanie looks at Kim and Kelly,
shrugs, follows Wendy. A DOOR SLAMS in the locker
room.
Kim and Kelly look at each other, laugh, turn their
faces back to the steaming water. Neither one hears
the SOUND across the room, a HARSH RHYTHMIC HEAVY
BREATHING.
Kelly bends her head away from the water, clears her
eyes., She squints out through the steam at the big
wall mirror across the room. She sees something. She
steps back into Kim, her eyes wide with fear.
KIM
Watch it...
Kelly covers her breasts with her arms, presses against
the wall, terrified.
Suddenly there's an EXPLOSION of SOUND. Kim screams,
jumps back, stares. There's a jagged hole in the cen-
ter of the mirror, huge cracks radiating from it,
spidering across its surface.
For a moment no one moves. Splinters of GLASS TRICKLE
down to the floor. There's no other sound. Kim grabs
for her towel, steps out of the shower, looks. There's
no one. She heads for the locker room door. Kelly
runs after her.
KELLY
KIM 1
61.
72 INT. LOCKER ROOM 72
Kim rushes into the room, Kelly right behind her.
There's no one. Kelly is quivering. She clutches at
Kim's arm. Kim looks at her.
KIM
What did you see?
Kelly just shakes her head.
KELLY
Just... just... a shadow or.,.
Kim heads for the exit door across the room. Kelly
stays with her.
73 EXT. SCHOOL 73
Kim opens the outside door, peers down the walkway to
the tennis courts, playing fields. There's no sign of
anyone. She closes the door.
74 INT. LOCKER ROOM 74
Kim turns back.to Kelly who's started to cry.
KELLY
Someone was there! Someone was...
in there...
Kim is taking charge. She moves cautiously back to the
shower room door, opens it, looks in. She gasps.
KELLY
(CONTINUING)
What? What!s wrong?
Kelly's on the edge of hysteria. She runs over to Kim.
They both look.
75 KIM'S AND KELLY'S POV 75
What the girls see is the mirror. Something has
changed. A long wedge of glass has been lifted out o
it.
76 BACK TO SCENE 76
Kim shuts the door, presses against it, stares at
Kelly.
77 INT. HALLWAY - DAY 77
Kim walks quickly down a long school corridor and turns
into her father's office.
UL.
78 INT. OFFICE - DAY 78
Kim enters. Adele Cooper is seated behind the secre-
tary's desk thumbing through a fashion magazine.
KIM
I'd like to see my f ather .
ADELE
Another Hammond?
KIM
(AGITATED)
Is he here?
ADELE
No, he's not. He said he'd be
back but...
She trails off. Kim is obviously upset.
ADELE
(CONTINUING)
What's urrong?
KIM
Oh... There was... Somebody broke
a mirror in the shower room...
There was somebody in there...
ADELE
A mirror? Seven years bad luck...
She tries to smile. Kim just looks at her.
79 INT. HALLWAY - DAY 79
Kim turns a corner, heading for class, and almost runs
into Sykes, cleaning the floor. Sykes turns. For a
moment their eyes lock. Then Kim hurries away, almost
running. Sykes stares after her.
80 INT. HALLWAY (WELLER'S CLASSROOM) - DAY 80
Kim comes down the hallway and stops at the door.
There's a piece of paper with a hastily scrawled mes-
sage taped there. It heads: "Detention Postponed
Until Monday -- EMERGENCY! Weller."
VICKI (O.S.)
Did it work?
Kim is startled, turns. Vicki and Jude and approach-
ing. Vicki hurries to the door, reads the note.
(CONTINUED)
ai.
80 CONTINUED : 80
VICKI
(CONTINUING)
It worked!
She lets out a whoop, embraces Jude. Kim stands back,
somehow less impressed.
81 INT. GYM - DAY 81
Several students are putting last-minute touches on the
decor as Kim comes in. Huge speakers are being hoisted
on pulleys to hang from the ceiling. A vast, raised
platform covers much of the gym floor, its plexiglass
surface designed to be illuminated from below. Perched
on a ladder, Weller is hanging shimmering silver strips
while Henri-Anne Benton supervises from the disco
floor.
HENRI-ANNE
Careful, Monty... A little
higher...
(sees Kim and
SMILES)
I'm glad you could make it!
KIM
Something came up...
(looks at Weller)
'Afternoon, Mr. Weller.
WELLER
(EMBARRASSED)
Oh, hello, Miss... Hammond. I was
just... uh...
Henri-Anne mercifully interrupts him.
HENRI-ANNE
Let's get started.
(CALLS OUT)
Nick!
Nick pokes his head out of the sound booth set on a
platform near the stage.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Onstage! Tell Alex we're ready.
Alex emerges from the booth. DAVY MATLOCK, a pudgy,
fifteen-year-old sophomore and Alex's technical assis-
tant, leans out behind him.
(CONTINUED)
81
81 CONTINUED:
ALEX
All set, Miss Benton. Just have
Davy roll the tapes.
HENRI -ANNE
Wonderful. You can be Mr. Hanunond
for the rehearsal!
Alex groans. Kim smiles as Nick joins her. She takes
his hand, clutches it. They start to walk away, talk-
ing quietly. Nick puts his arm around her.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Nick! Kim! Come with me.
Henri-Anne bounds up onto the stage. Kim and Nick fol-
low her behind the curtain.
82 INT. GYM (BACKSTAGE) - DAY 82
Henri-Anne takes Kim to one of the wings of the dark
cluttered area.
HENRI -ANNE
You'll wait here...
(looks around for
NICK)
Nick?
Nick silently creeps from behind a partition and moves
up directly behind Henri-Anne. He mimes choking her, a
crazed expression on his face. Kim has to laugh at his
clowning.
HENRI-ANNE
CONTINUING; WHIRLS
AROUND)
Nick!
NICK
(GRINS)
Scary place!
HENRI-ANNE
You have to stand up here tonight,
not me. If you don't know what to
do, you'll look the fool!
Nick glances at Kim. She shrugs.
(CONTINUED)
65-
82 CONTINUED: 82
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUIN
G)
Come along.
Nick follows her to the opposite wing. Kim cannot see
them from her position.
HENRI-ANNE
(continuing; calls out)
Can you hear me, Kim?
KIM
CALLS)
Yes.
Kim leans against a wall, gazing around at her gloomy
surroundings. She does not hear the WHISPERED CONVER-
SATION coming from behind a nearby partition. She does
not see Wendy and Lou lurking there, watching her.
HENRI-ANNE
(SHOUTING)
All right, Alex, start the tape.
A TRUMPET FANFARE BLARES OUT of the SPEAKERS.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING;
SHOUTING)
Listen for your cue, king and
queen...
PROFESSIONAL MUSIC is HEARD.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING;
SHOUTING)
Start walking -- slowly!
Kim begins to cross the stage. She smiles when she
spots Nick. The curtain slowly opens.
VOICE (TAPED)
The King and Queen of the George
Winston High School Junion-Senior
Prom for 1980 -- Nick McBride and
Kim Hammond!
They meet backstage center and turn towards the parting
curtain. Henri-Anne stands at the front of the stage,
her hand resting on Alex's shoulder, as Kim and Nick
proceed downstage.
(CONTINUED)
66.
82 CONTINUED: (2) 82
VOICE (TAPED)
(CONTINUING)
These two seniors were selected by
their fellow students as the most
popular boy and girl in the class..
NICK
(to Kim as they
WALK)
Bullshit!
Kim smiles.
Peeking out from behind the curtain, Wendy turns to
Lou.
WENDY
(BITTERLY)
Bullshit!
LOU
(GRINS)
Shhh!
VOICE (TAPED)
Nick is a three-sport letterman
and president of the Key Club. He
plans to attend State University
in the fall.
KIM
Because he can't get in anywhere
else!
VOICE (TAPED)
Kim is the head cheerleader and
ranked number one on the girls'
tennis team. She hopes to become
a teacher.
NICK
If she ever graduates...
Nick and Kim stop downstage center.
HENRI-ANNE
(SHOVING ALEX
FORWARD)
Now, Alex.
Self-consciously, Alex stumbles up to Kim and pretends
to give her a bouquet of roses.
(CONTINUED)
67.
82 CONTINUED: (3) 82
HENRI -ANNE
(CONTINUING)
That's it, Alex. Now kiss her!
ALEX
My sister?
HENRI-ANNE
Alex!
Alex awkwardly kisses Kim on the cheek.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Now the king.
ALEX
Kiss the king?
NICK
On the mouth!
Kim laughs at Alex's discomfort.
HENRI-ANNE
Shake hands...
They shake.
HENRI -ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Alex, step back...
Alex moves next to her.
HENRI -ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Kim and Nick, start down the..
(looks at the
STAGE APRON)
Where are the steps?
Silence.
HENRI-ANNE
(continuing; to the
ENTIRE GYM)
You expect our king and queen to
jump to the floor?
A STUDENT in the back timidly responds.
(CONTINUED)
68.
82 CONTINUED: (4) 82
STUDENT
I'll find them, Miss Benton.
Henri-Anne turns back to Nick and Kim.
HENRI-ANNE
You'll descend the steps...
Nick and Kim climb down from the stage.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Nick, give Kim your arm...
(as he does)
Move to the center of the floor.
Nick and Kim self-consciously cross the room, aware
that everyone is watching them.
HENRI-ANNE
(CONTINUING)
Wait for the spotlights and your
music cue, then dance...
(SIGHS)
It'll be beautiful!
83 TNT. HALLWAY - DAY 83
Kim strides down the empty corridor, flushed and ex-
cited from the rehearsal. Arriving at her father's of-
fice, she flings open the door.
84 INT. OFFICE - DAY 84
Kim enters and surveys the apparently empty office.
Hearing GRUNTS and GROANS from behind the desk, Kim
steps around and sees Adele Cooper stretched across the
floor. The secretary is practicing her "Rainbow" exer-
cise, arching her body towards the ceiling while keep-
ing her hands and feet on the floor.
KIM
Hello?
Adele twists her head around to look at Kim. Her
"Rainbow" collapses. Spinning around, Adele sits
cross-legged on the floor and smiles at Kim.
ADELE
You okay?
KIM
Yeah... I've calmed down a bit...
(CONTINUED)
69.
84 CONTINUED: 84
Adele launches into another contortion.
ADELE
This works for me.
KIM
Has my father been back?
ADELE
Nope. Haven't seen him all
afternoon.
KIM
And he didn't leave a message?
ADELE
Not a word.
KIM
(PUZZLED)
Strange... He usually gives me a
ride home.
ADELE
Let me finish and I'll give you a
lift.
KIM
Thanks, but I can walk.
Kim starts to leave, turning around at the door.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
Guess I won't be seeing you again.
Standing on her head, Adele smiles.
ADELE
Guess again. Three different
students asked me to the prom
tonight... I thought you had to be
enrolled!
KIM
You're going?
ADELE
(NODS)
Not with any of them. Know any
good-looking fathers?
CONTINUED)
70.
84 CONTINUED: (2) 84
KIM
(SMILES) -
I'll keep my eyes open. See you
later.
She exits as Adele slowly lowers her legs to the floor.
85 INT. HALLWAY - DAY 85
Jude approaches her locker, stops. There's a picture
taped to her locker door, her picture, ripped out of
the Winston High Yearbook. She looks at it, reaches up
and pulls it off the door. She winces, looks at her
finger. It's bleeding. She looks at the picture.
There's a tiny sliver of glass embedded in it.
Jude hears SOMEONE COMING. She turns to see Kelly com-
ing toward her.
KELLY
Jude... look...
She has something in her hand. It's a photo of her, a,
Yearbook photo with the same torn edges. Jude holds up
her version.
KELLY
(CONTINUING)
Why?
86 INT. SHOWER ROOM - DAY 86
The DOOR CREAKS open. A light is flicked on. Sykes
stands there, a broom and a big waste-pan in his hands.
He stares at the broken mirror with its center hole and
its missing wedge.
He shuffles across the floor and starts to clean up the
debris.
87 EXT. HAMMONDS' HOUSE - DUSK 87
The split-level suburban residence sits on a tree-lined
street in an older, middle-class neighborhood. Walking
up the driveway, Kim hears a LOUD THUD from behind the
house. As the SOUND CONTINUES, Kim walks around back
to investigate.
88 EXT. HAMONDS ' BACKYARD - DUSK 88
Stepping around the corner of the house, Kim sees her
father furiously chopping an old stump in the flower
garden.
(CONTINUED)
/ l.
88 CONTINUED: 88
Hammond's axe slashes into the rotten wood, sending
splinters flying in all directions. Kim watches him
work. He appears angry and upset.
KIM
Hi.
Oblivious, Hammond buries the axe in the stump. Kim
moves around to face him. When he sees her, Hammond
jumps, startled.
HAMMOND
I didn't hear you.
KIM
(SMILES)
Sorry.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Hammond struggles
to catch his breath.
HAMMOND
I'm getting too old for this.
KIM
Why are you doing it now?
HAMMOND
Your mother's been hounding me to
get it done... You got nay message?
KIM
(PUZZLED)
No.
HAMMOND
(ANGRILY)
I told that woman to tell you I
had a meeting and couldn't drive
you home.
KIM
Your secretary?
HAMMOND
(NODS)
Idiot!
KIM
I liked her.
Hammond angrily jerks the axe from the stump.
(CONTINUED)
72.
88 CONTINUED: 2) 88
KIM
(CONTINUING)
You okay?
HA` ONND
(SHRUGS)
This thing with your mother...
Have you seen her yet?
KIM
No. How is she?
HAMMOND
(SIGHS)
One minute she's depressed, the
next she's bubbling over like a
child... She wants to go with me
tonight.
KIM
Great!
HAMMOND
I'm not so sure.
KIM
I think getting dressed up and
going out might be good for her.
HA",24OND
She's had a bad day, Kim. I'm not
sure she can handle it... See if
you can talk to her.
Hammond picks up the axe and sends it crashing into the
stump.
89 INT. KITCHEN - DUSK 89
Kim enters from the backyard. Looking around, she no-
tices that nothing is being prepared for dinner.
Curious, she moves toward the living room.
90 INT. LIVING ROOM - DUSK 90
Vivian is arranging fresh roses on the mantel shrine
when Kim enters. The girl stands for several seconds
watching her mother before she speaks.
KIM
Hi, Mom.
(CONTINUED)
/,5
90 CONTINUED: 90
VIVIAN
(WITHOUT TURNING
AROUND)
Hello, Robin. Don't eat anything.
Dinner's almost ready.
Disturbed, Kim frowns and slowly crosses the room to
her mother.
KIM
Nothing's cooking, Mom. You
must've forgotten.
Slipping out of her reverie, Vivian turns around to
face Kim.
VIVIAN
Oh.. I don't know what I was
thinking.
KIM
(SMILES)
It doesn't matter.
VIVIAN
(EXCITEDLY)
Have you seen the new satin
pantsuit I'm wearing?
Vivian smiles at her daughter. Kim studies her for a
long moment, then leans over and kisses her on the
cheek.
KIM
You'll be beautiful.
91 INT. HALLWAY - HAMMONDS' HOUSE - DUSK
As Kim walks down the hallway, she notices that Alex's
door is closed. She enters her bedroom.
92 INT. BEDROOM - DUSK 92
Kim crosses the room and switches ON her RADIO. ROCK
MUSIC is HEARD as she tosses her books onto the desk
and moves to the closet. She carefully pulls out her
prom dress, a mid-length, off-the-shoulder gown in a
white, clinging material. Holding it up against her
body, she inspects the gown in the full-length mirror
on the closet door. Watching her reflection, Kim
twirls around, hugging the gowm to her body. Satis-
fied, she gently lays the go%.m on her bed.
(CONTINUED)
92 CONTINUED: 92
Kim begins to undress. Outside, the twilight shadows
deepen.
THROUGH the VINDOM, a slight movement is SEAN among the
trees; suddenly, a dark figure becomes VISIBLE, ap-
proaching.the window. Kim does not notice the figure
as she finishes undressing. She wraps herself in a
robe and sits at her dressing table.
Putting her hair up, she does not see the shadowy
figure peering inside. When Kim stands up, the figure
slips away from the window. As she crosses the room,
the face reappears, hidden by the shadows, watching her
enter the bathroom.
93 INT. BEDROOM - DUSK 93
Wearing only a bra and panties, Wendy is sprawled
across her bed, talking on the telephone. A black silk
gown is draped across her legs.
WENDY
(into the receiver)
What I'm wearing now?... Oh,
tonight!
(smiles, gently
stroking the gown)
You'll find out soon enough.
(STIFFENS)
Now, are we all set?... It better.
I don't want her to ever forget
tonight!... Okay, 'bye.
Wendy hangs up the receiver and glances at her night
table. A photograph of a grinning Nick McBride stares
back. Wendy smiles and caresses her gown.
94 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 94
Seated at her dressing table, Kim puts the final touch-
es on her makeup. Her hair is swept up and back, fall-
ing in soft waves to her shoulders. Wearing the rav-
ishing white gown, she looks older and very beautiful.
Vivian's VOICE is HEARD from down the hall.
VIVIAN (O.S.)
Kim!
Vivian comes in looking anxious and flustered. She's
dressed in an elegant black satin pantsuit. Kim turns,
looks at her.
(CONTINUED)
75.
94 CONTINUED: 94
KI`RF
Mom, it looks great...
Vivian doesn't seem to hear her. She's rummaging
through her purse.
VIVIAN
Kim, have you got any of my
makeup?
KIM
No... I never...
VIVIAN
That deep red lipstick, you
remember? You liked it...
KIM
I wouldn't take it without asking
you...
Vivian's very wound up.
VIVIAN
It was on my dressing table, I set
it aside...
She's looking around Kim's room as if she expects to
see it.
VIVIAN
(CONTINUING)
Why does this always happen at
the last minute?
Hammond's VOICE bellows from downstairs.
HAMMOND (O.S.)
let's go, we can't be late...
VIVIAN
(TO KIM)
I set it aside...
She heads for the door, stops, looks fully at Kim for
the first time.
VIVIAN
(CONTINUING)
You look lovely, dear.
She goes out.
76.
95 INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALL - NIGHT 95
Hammond stands in front of a hall mirror, straightening
his bow tie. He seems agitated, nervous. He turns as
Vivian starts down the stairs. He looks surprised at
her outfit. There's a certain similarity between it
and his own formal suit.
HAMIM0ND
My God, we're going to look like
twins.
Vivian stops dead, looks at him. Hammond forces a
smile.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
I'm joking, Vi, it's beautiful.._
C'mon...
She hesitates, then comes down to him.
VIVIAN
I told you I'd bought it.
HAMMOND
Of course you did.
He opens the door for her. She pauses to check herself
in the mirror.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
we've got to go.
He puts an arm around her, kisses her gently on the
cheek. She just stares at herself in the mirror.
96 EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT 96
Hammond takes Vivian's arm as they step outside, walk
toward the car in the driveway.
97 INT. PARKED CAR - POV 97
Someone is watching Hammond and Vivian from a car
parked across and just down the street. A shadow moves
in the foreground, in the front seat of the car.
98 EXT. HOUSE 98
Hammond guides his wife to their family car, opens the
passenger door for her_ He looks past her, down the
street, sees a car parked there.
(CONTINUED)
I I
98 CONTINUED: 98
A streetlight reflecting off its windshield prevents
him from seeing inside. Vivian interrupts his
speculations.
VIVIAN
I'm going back to change.
She turns back to the house. Hammond holds on to her
arm.
HAMMOND
Vi... there's no time...
VIVIAN
I'm not going to look ridiculous!
IAMMOND
You don't look ridiculous, you
look fine...
99 INT. PARKED CAR - POV 99
The figure in the front seat watches the confrontation
in the Hammond driveway.
100 EXT. HOUSE 100
Hammond takes Vivian by the shoulders, faces her.
HAMMON D
Vi.. this is a big night for the
school, it's a big night for me...
I know how you're feeling... I
understand... It's difficult for
all of us... But we've got to make
a special effort, Vi... We can't
let the... terrible memories of
this day affect us... That may
seem cold and... insensitive to
you, but it's the way it has to
be..
He pauses, staring down at his wife. She's holding his
gaze.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
Now, Vi, if you think it's going
to be too difficult for you...
VIVIAN
You don't want me to go.
(CONTINUED)
78.
100 CONTINUED: 100
HAMMOND
T
Certainly I want you to go,
just saying...
VIVIAN
You don't think I can do it... You
think I'll embarrass you...
HARMOND
No! I don't... believe me..
VIVIAN
Then why are you saying these
things?
HAMMMOND
Vi... I just..
He's trying to stay calm, to keep the lid on. She's on
the verge of tears.
HAMMOND
(CONTINUING)
I'm sorry... I didn't mean to
upset you...
VIVIAN
You treat me like a child! I'm
your wife!
She glares at him. He releases her from his grip, ges-
tures toward the car.
HANMOND
Let's get going...
He walks around to the driver's door. Vivian stares
after him with hard cold eyes.
101 INT. PARKED CAR - POV 101
The figure in the parked car watches as Hammond starts
up the car, waits for Vivian to get in, backs out of
the driveway, and moves off down the street.
102 EXT. PARKED CAR 102
The figure climbs out of his car, gazes at the fading
taillights of the Hammond car. The figure is Nick
McBride.
103 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 103
Kim reaches for a small bottle of cologne.
(CONTINUED)
79.
103 CONTINUED: 103
As she gently tracks the perf me across her skin, she
is startled by another reflection in her mirror.
Whirling around, she sees Alex. Standing up, she pir-
ouettes and curtsies before her brother.
KIM
Well?
Alex gapes, stunned by his sister's appearance.
ALEX
(FINALLY)
Amazing!
KIM
(SMILES)
You like?
ALEX
You look almost like a woman!
KIM
(LAUGHS)
Thanks!
She picks up her corsage from her dressing table.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
You want to help or just leer?
ALEX
You're my sister... I'll leer!
KIM
(LAUGHS)
Pin this on me, you creep,
late.
Alex takes the corsage. As he attaches the bright red
flower on her gown, she playfully dabs perfume on his
neck. He pulls back, pricking himself on the pin.
ALEX
Hey!
KIM
You shouldn't have pulled away...
The DOORBELL RINGS.
KIM
(CONTINUING)
It's him!
(CONTINUED)
80,
103 CONTINUED: (2) 103.
ALE
er's face is revealed. It is the nine-year-old Alex.
Kim cradles the killer on the ground. She turns his
head toward the light. We SEE his face full-on.
VIVIA N
Robin!
She rushes forward, lunging for the body. Hammond
grabs her, restraining her.
Alex's dark eyes stare back unseeing at his family.
His resemblance to his dead twin sister is uncanny.
His hair falls onto his forehead in bangs, as Robin's
had done seven years before. His makeup has been slop-
pily applied. The rouged cheeks and the smudged red
lips amplify the grotesque impersonation.
Kim strokes her brother's hair. Hammond presses his
hysterical wife to him. The onlookers slowly close in.
We SLOWLY DISSOLVE FROM Alex's face TO a photograph of
the Hammond family taken seven years earlier. We MOVE
IN CLOSE ON the twins. Alex and Robin are smiling.
FADE OUT.
THE END
Prom Night
Writers : William Gray Bob Guza
Genres : Horror Mystery Thriller
User Comments
Back to IMSDb
| screenplays |
Calculating standard combustion enthalpy of dodecane from that of heptane & octane
These are the problem from UKChO-2015.
>
> Given the standard enthalpy changes of combustion ($\Delta\_\mathrm{c}H$) for heptane ($n = 7$) and octane ($n = 8$) are $-4816$ and $-5470~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$ respectively, calculate $\Delta\_\mathrm{c}H$ of dodecane ($n = 12$).
>
>
>
Any hint on regarding this problem? My efforts are not worth mentionable here
Heptane is $\ce{CH3-CH2(5)-CH3}$
Octane is $\ce{CH3-CH2(6)-CH3}$
Given combustion enthalpies for each of $-4816$ and $-5470~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$ respectively, we now have a simple set of algeraic equations:
5A + 2B = $-4816~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$
6A + 2B = $-5470~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$
First we can solve for A as the combustion enthaply of a CH2 in a linear hydrocarbon and we get the value $-654~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}})$.
We can now solve for B,
In the first equation we get 2B = ($-4816 - (654 \* 5)~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$, A = $-773~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$
In the second equation we get 2B = ($-5470 - (654 \* 6)~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$ , A = $-773~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$
dodecane has CH3-CH2(10)-CH3 , for 10A + 2B.
10 \* A + 2 \* B = ($-6540$ + $-1546$)$~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$ = $-8086~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$
About $-8086~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$.
Take the difference of the two givens and multiply by the difference of carbons between dodecane and octane.
I wasn't first sure about this concept. But after seeing a gsurfer04's comment and working out a little bit, it became clear.
Alkanes combustion enthalpy is roughly proportional to the number of methylene(-CH2) groups it has. (You can simply work out the example given in the question)
So, number of methylene groups in dodecane 10
number of methylene groups in octane 6
So, dodecane's enthalpy= octane's enthalpy\*(10/6)
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Hellboy 1. Preface
_**KIMBERLY**_
**PREFACE**
In 1949 a team of paranormal researchers, together with the US Army, rescued a strange creature during a classified mission off the coast of Scotland. And they adopted secretly, this who now lives among us. Who is this creature you may ask? Or what his name is? His name is Hellboy…and what is he? He's my uncle. No, I'm not a demon or a half demon, I'm actually mortal. You see, Hellboy isn't really my uncle, and Trevor Broom isn't really my grandfather…but Toni is really by mother…now that is just a big ole…DUH!!! I know…yeah, that was just sorter…weird. But, really…I get use to it actually. Now, where was I? oh, yeah. I'm not a demon or a half demon…but I do have some tricks up my sleeves. I do magic tricks. And I've been doing them since I was 4. My mother has been in the hospital now for awhile, leaving me in my Uncle's care…along with everyone else in the BPRD.
One thing my Grandfather has told me since I was little-before he passed-was, "What is it that makes a man a man?" and also what my Uncle Abe as told me was this…mainly because I use to think I was the freak who didn't have any powers when I was suppose to. Abe use to tell me this, "One thing us freaks have, is each other."
I'm sure I'll find my place in this world of BPRD with all the strange and odd things that happens here. And I'm sure I'll find my power. But for now only power I want to deal with is my magic tricks for now.
And with nothing else for me to say, this is my story.
And I hope you guys will like it.
Dang it! I forgot to tell you my name. my name is Kimberly Ann, Kimberly Ann Broom.
2. Chapter1: Thooth Fairies
****
_**KIMBERLY**_
****
I think I told you guys my name is Kimberly Ann Broom in the Preface, but again just in case, my name is Kimberly Ann Broom. And if you think I'm still in my room at the BPRD, no I'm not. I'm with my Uncle Hellboy, Aunt Liz and Uncle Abe. And by the way, Liz and Abe aren't my real Uncle and Aunt, I just call them that. Hellboy may not be my blood Uncle, but he has always been there for me. And also, there's Manning. And...yeah, there's just Manning. We were on a mission to understand the deaths of the party that was in this place at the time. Over seventy guest were reported. No bodies...and no survivors. Well, let's on with this. And can you believe a 10-year-old is on a mission like this. I was helping Abe set up the stuff with the other agents. Uncle Red was looking over the scene that looked the wrost. "Jeez, it stinks in here," He said walking over to us, "This is worse then my room". I chuckled some to myself getting Aunt Lizs' gun for her. I'm not allowed to go near the guns, because they think I'm gonna hurt myself. I mean, I've grown up watching them shot the guns they have used over the years on the missions since I was four. I handed her her gun and I turned to see Abe holding the camera at us.
"Say cheese," he said taking a picture of me giving the peace sign and Liz about to cock her gun. When she did, she said this, "Let's go." Uncle Red did the same for his gun also and we were off. I was with Uncle Red and Marble. And Aunt Liz and Uncle Abe was with Steel and Rogerson.
As we went along down the place, I was a little uneasy. I crossed my arms over my small chest looking around the place. I heard Liz talking over the walkie-Talkies. I heard her say something about what I told guys I peaked out in the whole report that Manning was trying to hide from me. The next thing I know I heard her say, "Don't call me babe."
"Abe! I said Abe," My Uncle said, "Wrong Channel." He switched to another channel, which he didn't know was mine, "Abe, I think Liz is still mad at me."
"Still the wrong channel, Uncle Red." I said turning aroudn to him.
"Oh," my Uncle said looking at me. I looked around the place again and when I heard what sounded like wings fluttering around I went back to Uncle Red and hung to his coat. I felt him chuckle. "Scared, Kimbo?"
"No...it's just that..." I started, "Yeah, maybe a little."
"Hey, you got Unky Rwed here." He said using the baby talk name I use to say when I was little. I smiled some at him.
"Uncle Red," I started, looking at him laughing, "I'm not two anymore, don't use that talk with me okay?"
"Okay." He said leaning down to my level and kissed my forehead.
After a while, Uncle Red and Aunt Liz started talking again and when I heard him goan, I knew something...Liz won what they were talking about. I smiled to myself trying not to show Uncle Red my smile, but it wasn't working. "What are you smiling about?" he asked me. I looked up and him.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." I said trying not to so my smile while I'm talking. He pushed me a little holding back his strength. I laughed a little. I was starting to fell a little better being here when Abe's voice came on the walkie-Talkies.
_"Red, we have company,"_ He said. Just then I heard what sounded like wings again I went over to Uncle Red and hide behind.
"C'mon, Blue, give something to work with here." Uncle Red said.
_"Burrowing creatures."_
"How Many?" I asked.
_"Many,"_ Abe said. "_There are no corpses because there is no leftovers. Have you noticed the floor?"_
Me and Uncle Red both looked down on the floor. And all I could say was GROSS!!! And Uncle Red said his most famouse word ever I've heard for the longest time. "Oh, Crap!" Abe went on telling us that these were tooth fairies. The next thing I know, Marble said that he might have found one. I turned around and saw this blue type fairy thing. I looked back at Uncle Red and started walking towards it. "He's kinda cute, Uncle Red."
"Don't you dare go near it, Kimberly." Uncle Red said. I turn aroudn for a second and the next thing I know Marble pushed me out of the way and started yelling "It's biting me! It's biting me!" Uncle Red came over and got it. He tightened his hold on the thing till it pop fully in his rock hand. It was nasty to see...but I guess it had to happen. The next thing I know a whole hord of these things came flying out at us. I hide behind Uncle Red. Okay! Now I know why I haven't been on these missions...I can't protect myself.
"Kim," Uncle Red started, "Stay behind me as much as you can."
"No aguring with that, Uncle Red." I said.
The next thing I know, everyone started firing their guns and I tried my best to stay behind Uncle Red. But the fairies got a little out of hand. And I kept having to swat at them. It was really scary to think these things can eat me up. I had to do something, I fallowed Uncle Red behind the fertilage Statue and he started pushing on it. When it was rolling, it went through the wall I saw that Liz was lit up. I felt something stinging on my forehead I went to my head and felt one of those fairies on it. It started to hurt like CRAP! I flung it off my head and covered my forehead. I was trying to hold my tears in my eyes. Uncle Red come over and looked at my forehead and saw the bleeding spot on my forehead. "Damn it!" He said. He saw Abe running up the stairs. "Kim, go with Uncle Abe."
"Okay," I said wiping my eyes off from the tears coming out.
"Don't cry, Kimbo." Uncle Red said, "everything is gonna be okay."
I nodded again and fallowed Uncle Abe up the stairs to the safe they have here. I saw Steel get attack by these things. I ran into the safe along with Abe. And the safe finally closed when fire burst closing the door.
When we finally got outside, I couldn't believe what was going on. And then I looked over at my Uncle who was walking while a interviewer was talking to him. I placed my hands on my hips and started shaking my head. Oh, boy...Uncle Red has gone and done it now. And I know just who will be on his butt more then Manning. Even though she's sick in the hospital...I know my Mother will be on him like...well, like he is with cigars.
One thing about this...
He had NO, no right to do this.
Chapter1: Thooth Fairies!!
End file.
| fanfiction |
the opercular syndrome , also known as foix - chavany - marie syndrome was first reported in 1926 , but was described first by magnus in 1837 .
this term is usually used in relation to adults as it refers to damage that is acquired later in life .
controversy exists in the literature regarding the nomenclature of these various developmental and acquired disorders with characteristic clinical presentation , caused by lesions involving the peri - sylvian opercular cortex , which is the area on the motor homunculus responsible for motor control of the face and mouth .
a 9-year - old male presented with unclear and slurred speech , drooling of saliva and inability to protrude tongue and difficulty swallowing since early childhood .
he was born with emergency caesarean section ( due to fetal distress ) and birth weight was 2.5 kg .
he developed seizures at 6 hours of life due to perinatal asphyxia , for which he was admitted in neonatal intensive care unit for a week .
he had motor and cognitive delay with involvement of speech domain greater than social and motor domain . at the age of 6 years
; he developed seizures which were brief , tonic - clonic , involving right side of body with loss of consciousness .
seizures were poorly controlled on multiple anti - epileptic drugs regimen consisting of sodium valproate , lamotrigine , and clobazam .
he had dysarthria with nasal twang in voice , mouth half open and not able to close volitionally .
bilateral trigemino - facio - linguo - pharyngeal palsy was noticed on volitional control but automatic and emotional motor movements were well preserved .
he was able to blink , close his eyes completely while sleeping , and move the jaw and facial muscles with spontaneous emotional responses like laughing or crying .
there was hypertonia in all four limbs and deep tendon reflexes were exaggerated with normal jaw jerk along with extensor bilateral plantars .
electroencephalography ( eeg ) findings consisted of focal left fronto - temporal epileptiform discharges and magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) brain revealed bilateral fronto - temporal and parietal cortical and subcortical region encephalomalacia , with involvement of opercular region [ figure 1 ] . induced sleep eeg did not reveal any continuous spike and wave discharges as seen in continuous spike and wave discharges in sleep ( csws ) or landau - kleffner syndrome ( lks ) .
( a ) axial ct scan ( b ) axial t1 mri ( c ) axial t2 mri ( d ) flair coronal mri images showing bilateral fronto - temporal and parietal cortical ( left > right ) and subcortical ( right > left ) region encephalomalacia , with predominant involvement of anterior frontal opercular region based on above clinical findings , a diagnosis of acquired bilateral opercular syndrome due to perinatal asphyxia was considered .
the opercular syndrome consists of the clinical syndrome of bilateral corticobulbar involvement with facio - labio - pharyngo - glosso - laryngo - brachial paralysis on voluntary movement of these muscles , but well - preserved automatic and reflex movements of the same muscles due to lesions at cortical or subcortical region involving the anterior opercular area surrounding the insula formed from gyri of the frontal , temporal , and parietal lobes .
mouth and the term often refers to the fold that is clearly visible on each side of the perisylvian region of cerebral hemispheres .
it is often grouped as perisylvian - opercular syndrome which could be congenital or acquired ; transient , intermittent or persistent type with heterogeneous etiologies .
it has been classified into anterior and posterior subtypes and unilateral and bilateral types [ table 1 ] .
clinical types of opercular syndrome voluntary control of face , tongue , and pharynx movement requires intact primary motor cortices and pyramidal pathways between the areas and the brain - stem , containing the relevant cranial nerve nuclei .
any lesions involving the motor cortices , subcortical areas , or pyramidal pathways bilaterally produce a selective palsy of voluntary use of the facial , pharyngeal , and masticatory muscles , on the other hand spontaneous , emotional control of the same muscles requires intact extrapyramidal pathways and probably portions of the thalamus and hypothalamus .
bilateral opercular lesions typically impair the voluntary movements of the facial , lingual , pharyngeal , and masticatory with preservation of the automatic - emotional movements which is the classical presentation of this syndrome .
this phenomenon often referred to as facio - labio - pharyngeo - linguo - masticatory paralysis with automato - voluntary dissociation helps in clinically differentiating the opercular syndrome from the pseudo bulbar palsy associated with bilateral supra - bulbar lesions [ table 2 ] .
differentiating opercular syndrome from bulbar and pseudobulbar syndrome in patients with dysphagia and dysarthria the actual incidence is unknown . case reports with varied etiologies including perinatal insults , cerebrovascular disease , trauma , surgery , tumor , herpes encephalitis , toxoplasmosis , other meningoencephalitis , inflammatory demyelinating lesions , and developmental malformations like poly - microgyria or heterotopias are found to be associated .
acquired epileptiform opercular syndrome is a distinct epileptic syndrome , equivalent to the landau - kleffner syndrome ( where language is impaired ) , has also been described where acquired dysarthria is associated with electrographic status epilepticus in the form of continuous spike and wave discharges during sleep ( csws ) .
congenital bilateral perisylvian opercular syndrome described by kuzniecki , is usually caused by fetal developmental abnormalities has been found to be associated with xq27.2-q27.3 , xq2822q11.2 mutation , but may also occur from early fetal insults like fetal vascular insult or intra - uterine infections in early pregnancy .
its severest form presents in neonates , with difficulty sucking breast milk and recurrent aspiration .
usual symptoms are dysarthria , dysphagia , and difficulty in chewing , blowing , moving the tongue , and swallowing difficulty which are affected more than motor and social milestones . developmental delay is seen in 60% cases and mild - moderate mental retardation seen in 50 - 80% cases .
epilepsy is seen in 87 - 90% cases , focal seizures with secondary generalization are common , but all types of seizures are reported , and are refractory to treatment in two - thirds .
the prognosis is variable , dependent on the severity of clinical disease , the type of the etiology , and the time of diagnosis . in disorders like meningo - encephalitis , vascular or traumatic insult
, the epileptic opercular syndrome may be transient and reversible ; while developmental and perinatal insults are likely to be permanent . | pubmed |
the organization for economic co - operation and development reported that countries spend on average 2 % of their gross domestic product ( gdp ) and 10 % of their social expenditures on sa and disability benefits ( oecd 2011 ) . when off work due to sickness , the probability of resuming work decreases with increasing sa duration ( labriola 2008 ; lund et al .
eventually , long - term sa leads to disability pension which excludes workers from the workplace and marginalizes them from the labor market .
therefore , it is important to identify high - risk workers before they report sick , so that they can be invited for interventions aimed at preventing sa ( taimela et al . 2008a ; kant et al . 2008 ) .
recently , two prognostic models for identifying workers at risk of high sa were developed in a sample of dutch hospital workers ( roelen et al .
the prognostic model predicting high sa days ( i.e. , 30 cumulated days during 1-year follow - up ) showed fair performance in hospital workers , but poor performance at external validation .
the prognostic model predicting high sa episodes ( i.e. , 3 episodes during 1-year follow - up ) showed good performance in the development setting and maintained fair performance at external validation .
it was concluded that more predictors of sa are needed to improve the sa prognostic models , particularly the model predicting high sa days .
fatigue is a common symptom of ill - health , ranking third in prevalence after back pain and muscular aches in working populations ( parent - thirion et al .
( 2005 ) reported that fatigue was the most prevalent indicator of morbidity in the swedish workforce .
several studies have already shown that fatigue is associated with future sa ( janssen et al .
however , we need more research to investigate whether or not fatigue should be added as predictor to the sa prognostic models .
traditionally , the added value of a new predictor to existing prognostic models is investigated by changes in the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve or c - statistic ( steyerberg et al .
however , only very strong predictors can increase the performance of well - predicting prognostic models ( pepe et al .
the net reclassification index ( nri ) has been introduced as novel measure to assess the added value of predictor variables ( pencina et al .
subjects who develop the outcome are correctly reclassified when they move up into a higher risk category , and subjects who do not develop the outcome are correctly reclassified when they move down into a lower risk category .
a disadvantage is that the nri heavily depends on the thresholds of risk stratifications ( sundstrm et al .
( 2011 ) defined an nri without using risk categories , but this category - free nri variant has been criticized for its high rates of false - positive conclusions ( pepe et al .
is an alternative category - free measure to quantify risk discrimination improvement ( pencina et al . 2008 ; steyerberg et al .
empirical evaluations of the literature showed that reclassification methods and measures are often applied inappropriately , for example , to assess the performance of new prognostic models that differ from the previously established models ( tzoulaki et al .
in addition , the reclassification measures nri and idi are frequently misinterpreted ( kerr et al .
the objective of the present study was to introduce risk reclassification and related nri and idi measures in an occupational health context by investigating the added value of fatigue to the existing sa prognostic models .
reclassification analysis can be a key method for guiding decisions in occupational health care , because it presents the distribution of risks in the population and classifies subjects into relevant risk categories .
to illustrate risk reclassification , we used the health check data from a previously described prospective cohort study of 1,137 office workers ( roelen et al .
the medical ethics committee of the university medical center groningen granted ethical clearance for the study .
good = 3 , fair = 2 , and poor = 1 ( ware et al .
self - rated health ( srh ) is widely used in health research and has been associated with various morbidity and mortality measures ( halford et al .
2012 ) . the health check questionnaire measured fatigue with the checklist individual strength ( cis ) consisting of 20 statements ( cronbach s = 0.92 ) on the severity of fatigue and its functional impact .
the statements were scored on a seven - point scale ranging from 1 fully agree to 7 fully disagree amounting to a sum score ranging between 20 and 140 , with higher scores reflecting higher levels of fatigue .
the cis was chosen because it has been validated for measuring fatigue in working populations ( beurskens et al .
previous research has shown that the cis has high internal consistency and good content validity for measuring fatigue ( beurskens et al .
convergent validity was satisfactory as reflected in correlations between the cis and the fatigue assessment scale ( pearson s correlation coefficient r = 0.90 ; michielsen et al .
2002 ) , fatigue scale ( r = 0.87 ; chalder et al . 1993 ) , and maslach burnout inventory ( r = 0.71 ; maslach and jackson 1986 ) .
age at baseline and sa in the 2 years prior to baseline were retrieved from the ohs register .
sa was defined as temporary paid leave from work due to any ( i.e. , work - related and non - work - related ) injury or illness and was recorded in the ohs register from the first sa day until return to work . the calendar days between the first and last sa day were counted as sa days , regardless of whether these were work days .
sa days and episodes in the 2 years prior to baseline were accumulated for the predictor variables prior sa days and prior sa episodes , respectively ( roelen et al .
2013a , b ) . in agreement with dutch sa insurance policies , sa episodes with less than 28 days worked between them were regarded as one episode .
sa days and episodes in 2007 were retrieved from the ohs register . in previous sa prognostic studies ,
high sa days was defined as 30 cumulated ( i.e. , not necessarily consecutive ) sa days and high sa episodes as 3 sa episodes during 1-year follow - up ( roelen et al . 2013a , b , 2014a ) .
we adopted the same definitions for high sa days and episodes to ensure that the prognostic models in the present study did not differ from the established sa prognostic models .
descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were done with ibm spss statistics for windows , version 20.0 ( ibm corp .
reclassification analyses were performed in r ( project for statistical computing ) using the regression modeling strategies ( rms ) package ( harrell 2013 ) for calculating nri and the predictabel package ( kundu et al .
reclassification after adding fatigue was presented in reclassification tables ( cook 2008 ; janes et al .
it is recommended to distinguish between subjects with and without events in reclassification analysis ( pencina et al .
therefore , we summarized the reclassification of workers with high sa in the nri for events ( nrie ) and reclassification of workers without high sa in the nri for nonevents ( nrine ) .
p(down|event ) representing the net proportion of subjects with events assigned to a higher risk category .
nrine = p ( down|nonevent ) p ( up|nonevent ) representing the net proportion of subjects without events assigned to a lower risk category .
the nri varies between 100 and 100 % ; positive values reflect improved classification , and negative values worsened classification .
risk reclassification analysis requires calibrated models ( pepe and janes 2011 ; leening et al .
calibration of the sa prognostic models with and without fatigue was addressed with the hosmer lemeshow ( h l ) goodness - of - fit test ; adequate calibration was concluded for h
l p 0.05 ( steyerberg et al . 2010 ) . after investigating the calibration of the sa prognostic models , we considered the models ability to stratify the population into risk categories .
the risk categories should be clinically relevant in the sense that changing categories implies that subjects receive different treatments or interventions .
as far as we know , relevant risk categories or risk thresholds have not yet been defined in sa research .
therefore , we chose two data - driven risk thresholds ( 10 and 20 % risk of high sa ) based on previously reported risk distributions ( roelen et al .
in addition , we calculated the idi to evaluate the improvement of the models ability to discriminate between high - risk and low - risk subjects without using categories .
the idi reflects the change in discrimination slope ( i.e. , difference between the mean estimated risk for cases and non - cases ) of the model with the new predictor compared to the model with only the established predictors .
idi ( range 100 to 100 % ) represents overall risk discrimination improvement , but its magnitude is hard to interpret .
good = 3 , fair = 2 , and poor = 1 ( ware et al . 2002 ) .
self - rated health ( srh ) is widely used in health research and has been associated with various morbidity and mortality measures ( halford et al .
2012 ) . the health check questionnaire measured fatigue with the checklist individual strength ( cis ) consisting of 20 statements ( cronbach s = 0.92 ) on the severity of fatigue and its functional impact .
the statements were scored on a seven - point scale ranging from 1 fully agree to 7 fully disagree amounting to a sum score ranging between 20 and 140 , with higher scores reflecting higher levels of fatigue .
the cis was chosen because it has been validated for measuring fatigue in working populations ( beurskens et al .
previous research has shown that the cis has high internal consistency and good content validity for measuring fatigue ( beurskens et al .
convergent validity was satisfactory as reflected in correlations between the cis and the fatigue assessment scale ( pearson s correlation coefficient r = 0.90 ; michielsen et al .
2002 ) , fatigue scale ( r = 0.87 ; chalder et al . 1993 ) , and maslach burnout inventory ( r = 0.71 ; maslach and jackson 1986 ) . age at baseline and sa in the 2 years prior to baseline were retrieved from the ohs register .
sa was defined as temporary paid leave from work due to any ( i.e. , work - related and non - work - related ) injury or illness and was recorded in the ohs register from the first sa day until return to work .
the calendar days between the first and last sa day were counted as sa days , regardless of whether these were work days .
sa days and episodes in the 2 years prior to baseline were accumulated for the predictor variables prior sa days and prior sa episodes , respectively ( roelen et al .
2013a , b ) . in agreement with dutch sa insurance policies , sa episodes with less than 28 days worked between them were regarded as one episode .
sa days and episodes in 2007 were retrieved from the ohs register . in previous sa prognostic studies ,
high sa days was defined as 30 cumulated ( i.e. , not necessarily consecutive ) sa days and high sa episodes as 3 sa episodes during 1-year follow - up ( roelen et al . 2013a , b , 2014a ) .
we adopted the same definitions for high sa days and episodes to ensure that the prognostic models in the present study did not differ from the established sa prognostic models .
descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were done with ibm spss statistics for windows , version 20.0 ( ibm corp .
reclassification analyses were performed in r ( project for statistical computing ) using the regression modeling strategies ( rms ) package ( harrell 2013 ) for calculating nri and the predictabel package ( kundu et al .
reclassification after adding fatigue was presented in reclassification tables ( cook 2008 ; janes et al .
it is recommended to distinguish between subjects with and without events in reclassification analysis ( pencina et al .
therefore , we summarized the reclassification of workers with high sa in the nri for events ( nrie ) and reclassification of workers without high sa in the nri for nonevents ( nrine ) .
p(down|event ) representing the net proportion of subjects with events assigned to a higher risk category .
nrine = p ( down|nonevent ) p ( up|nonevent ) representing the net proportion of subjects without events assigned to a lower risk category .
the nri varies between 100 and 100 % ; positive values reflect improved classification , and negative values worsened classification .
risk reclassification analysis requires calibrated models ( pepe and janes 2011 ; leening et al .
calibration of the sa prognostic models with and without fatigue was addressed with the hosmer lemeshow ( h l ) goodness - of - fit test ; adequate calibration was concluded for h
l p 0.05 ( steyerberg et al . 2010 ) . after investigating the calibration of the sa prognostic models , we considered the models ability to stratify the population into risk categories .
the risk categories should be clinically relevant in the sense that changing categories implies that subjects receive different treatments or interventions .
as far as we know , relevant risk categories or risk thresholds have not yet been defined in sa research . therefore , we chose two data - driven risk thresholds ( 10 and 20 % risk of high sa ) based on previously reported risk distributions ( roelen et al .
in addition , we calculated the idi to evaluate the improvement of the models ability to discriminate between high - risk and low - risk subjects without using categories .
the idi reflects the change in discrimination slope ( i.e. , difference between the mean estimated risk for cases and non - cases ) of the model with the new predictor compared to the model with only the established predictors .
idi ( range 100 to 100 % ) represents overall risk discrimination improvement , but its magnitude is hard to interpret .
a total of 633 ( 56 % ) office workers participated in the health checks . non - participant analysis showed that participants were older ( mean age = 44.5 , standard deviation [ sd ] = 9.3 years ) than non - participants ( 39.0 , sd = 9.4 years ; t test p < 0.01 ) .
sixty - two percent of participants were men as compared to 68 % of non - participants ( chi - square p = 0.04 ) .
fifteen percent of participants had high sa episodes compared to 22 % of non - participants ( chi - square p < 0.01 ) .
the proportions of office workers with high sa days did not differ ( chi - square p = 0.45 ) between participants and non - participants .
fifty - four participants ( 8 % ) had missing data on predictor and/or outcome variables , leaving 579 office workers with complete data for reclassification analysis ( table 1 ) .
baseline fatigue was moderately correlated ( pearson r = 0.44 ; p < 0.01 ) , but not collinear with srh.table 1study population characteristics ( n = 579)variablemeansd
n
% age ( years)44.49.3gender men36162 women21838work ( h / week)34.58.0duration of employment ( years)3.21.3self - rated health excellent14325 good33057 fair10318 poor31prior sickness absence days 011820 1714325 81410418 15309416 31606010 > 606010prior sickness absence episodes 011820 113022 211520 37413 46411 > 47813fatigue ( range 2140)51.221.0
sd standard deviation study population characteristics ( n = 579 )
sd standard deviation fifty - nine ( 10 % ) office workers had high sa days during 1-year follow - up .
prior sa days , srh and fatigue were significantly associated with high sa days , while age was not ( table 2 ) .
calibration was adequate for the model without fatigue ( h l = 13.8 , df = 8 ; p = 0.09 ) and the model with fatigue ( h l = 4.7 , df = 8 ; p = 0.79 ) .
l model chi - square indicated that the risks predicted by the prognostic model with fatigue were more in agreement with the observed frequencies of high sa days.table 2prospective associations with sickness absence ( sa ) days and episodespredictorhigh ( 30 ) sa dayshigh ( 3 ) sa episodesor95 % cior95 % ciage0.99
0.741.32
p = 0.920.92
0.701.21
p = 0.56prior sa1.02
1.001.08
p = 0.021.601.411.82
p < 0.01self - rated health0.590.390.90
p = 0.010.560.370.84
p <
0.01fatigue1.16
1.031.31
p = 0.021.14
1.011.28
p = 0.03the table shows odds ratios ( or ) and 95 % confidence intervals ( ci ) for univariate associations between predictor variables and sickness absence
per ten - point increase prospective associations with sickness absence ( sa ) days and episodes the table shows odds ratios ( or ) and 95 % confidence intervals ( ci ) for univariate associations between predictor variables and sickness absence
per ten - point increase at 10 % risk threshold , 84 workers ( 15 % ) were reclassified when fatigue was added to the model .
seven workers with high sa days correctly moved up to the high - risk category , but four incorrectly moved down to the low - risk category .
table 3 shows that nrie was 5.09 % and not significant ( p = 0.91 ) . of the workers without high sa days
nrine was 4.81 % reflecting significant ( p < 0.01 ) worsening of the classification of workers without high sa days when fatigue was added ( table 3 ) . at a more specific threshold risk of 20 % , nrie was 1.69 % ( p = 0.32 ) and nrine was 1.15 % ( p = 0.04 ) .
idi was 0.25 % ( 95 % ci 0.25 to 0.75 % ) indicating that fatigue did not significantly ( p = 0.33 ) improve risk discrimination.table 3reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) daysrisk without fatiguerisk with fatiguerisk without fatiguerisk with fatigueevents10 % > 10 % events20 % > 20 % 10 % 21720 % 570>10 % 427>20 % 11nrie ( 95 % ci)5.09 % ( 5.93 to 16.10 % ) nrie ( 95 % ci)1.69 % ( 5.02 to 1.63 % ) nonevents10 % > 10 % nonevents20 %
> 20 % 10 % 3184920 % 5017>10 % 24129>20 % 111nrine ( 95 % ci)4.81 % ( 8.03 to 1.59 % ) nrine ( 95 % ci)1.15 % ( 2.22 to 0.09 % )
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) days
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval sixty - five ( 11 % ) workers had high sa episodes at follow - up .
prior sa episodes , srh and fatigue were significantly associated with high sa episodes , whereas age was not ( table 2 ) .
the prognostic models with fatigue ( h l = 3.0 , df = 8 ; p = 0.94 ) and without fatigue ( h l = 2.1 , df = 8 ; p = 0.98 ) were both well calibrated . at a risk threshold of 10 % , seven workers ( 1 % ) were reclassified when fatigue was added to the model .
none of the workers with high sa episodes was reclassified ( table 4 ) . consequently , nrie was not available
. of workers without high sa episodes , five were correctly reclassified as low risk and two were incorrectly reclassified as high risk ; nrine was 0.58 % and non - significant ( p = 0.26 ) . at a more specific 20 % risk threshold ,
four workers were reclassified after adding fatigue , although all incorrectly moved up to high risk .
nrine was 0.78 % and marginally significant ( p = 0.05 ) .
idi = 0.11 % ( 95 % ci 0.18 to 0.41 % ) indicated that fatigue did not significantly ( p = 0.45 ) improve risk discrimination.table 4reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) episodesrisk without fatiguerisk with fatiguerisk without fatiguerisk with fatigueevents10 % > 10 % events20 % > 20 % 10 % 16020 % 330>10 % 049>20 % 032nrie ( 95 % ci)n.a.nrie ( 95 % ci)n.a.nonevents10 % > 10 % nonevents20 % > 20 % 10 % 355220 % 4624>10 % 5152>20 % 048nrine ( 95 % ci)0.58 % ( 0.43 to 1.59 % ) nrine ( 95 % ci)0.78 % ( 1.54 to 0.00 % )
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval , n.a . not available reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) episodes
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval , n.a
fifty - nine ( 10 % ) office workers had high sa days during 1-year follow - up . prior sa days , srh and fatigue were significantly associated with high sa days , while age was not ( table 2 ) .
calibration was adequate for the model without fatigue ( h l = 13.8 , df = 8 ; p = 0.09 ) and the model with fatigue ( h l = 4.7 , df = 8 ; p = 0.79 ) .
l model chi - square indicated that the risks predicted by the prognostic model with fatigue were more in agreement with the observed frequencies of high sa days.table 2prospective associations with sickness absence ( sa ) days and episodespredictorhigh ( 30 ) sa dayshigh ( 3 ) sa episodesor95 % cior95 % ciage0.99
0.741.32
p = 0.920.92
0.701.21
p = 0.56prior sa1.02
1.001.08
p = 0.021.601.411.82
p < 0.01self - rated health0.590.390.90
p = 0.010.560.370.84
p <
0.01fatigue1.16
1.031.31
p = 0.021.14
1.011.28
p = 0.03the table shows odds ratios ( or ) and 95 % confidence intervals ( ci ) for univariate associations between predictor variables and sickness absence
per ten - point increase prospective associations with sickness absence ( sa ) days and episodes the table shows odds ratios ( or ) and 95 % confidence intervals ( ci ) for univariate associations between predictor variables and sickness absence
per ten - point increase at 10 % risk threshold , 84 workers ( 15 % ) were reclassified when fatigue was added to the model .
seven workers with high sa days correctly moved up to the high - risk category , but four incorrectly moved down to the low - risk category .
table 3 shows that nrie was 5.09 % and not significant ( p = 0.91 ) . of the workers without high sa days
nrine was 4.81 % reflecting significant ( p < 0.01 ) worsening of the classification of workers without high sa days when fatigue was added ( table 3 ) . at a more specific threshold risk of 20 % ,
nrie was 1.69 % ( p = 0.32 ) and nrine was 1.15 % ( p = 0.04 ) .
idi was 0.25 % ( 95 % ci 0.25 to 0.75 % ) indicating that fatigue did not significantly ( p = 0.33 ) improve risk discrimination.table 3reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) daysrisk without fatiguerisk with fatiguerisk without fatiguerisk with fatigueevents10 % > 10 % events20 % > 20 % 10 % 21720 % 570>10 % 427>20 % 11nrie ( 95 % ci)5.09 % ( 5.93 to 16.10 % ) nrie ( 95 % ci)1.69 % ( 5.02 to 1.63 % ) nonevents10 % > 10 % nonevents20 % > 20 % 10 % 3184920 % 5017>10 % 24129>20 % 111nrine ( 95 % ci)4.81 % ( 8.03 to 1.59 % ) nrine ( 95 % ci)1.15 % ( 2.22 to 0.09 % )
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) days
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval
sixty - five ( 11 % ) workers had high sa episodes at follow - up .
prior sa episodes , srh and fatigue were significantly associated with high sa episodes , whereas age was not ( table 2 ) .
the prognostic models with fatigue ( h l = 3.0 , df = 8 ; p = 0.94 ) and without fatigue ( h l = 2.1 , df = 8 ; p = 0.98 ) were both well calibrated . at a risk threshold of 10 % , seven workers ( 1 % ) were reclassified when fatigue was added to the model .
none of the workers with high sa episodes was reclassified ( table 4 ) .
. of workers without high sa episodes , five were correctly reclassified as low risk and two were incorrectly reclassified as high risk ; nrine was 0.58 % and non - significant ( p = 0.26 ) . at a more specific 20 % risk threshold
, four workers were reclassified after adding fatigue , although all incorrectly moved up to high risk .
nrine was 0.78 % and marginally significant ( p = 0.05 ) .
idi = 0.11 % ( 95 % ci 0.18 to 0.41 % ) indicated that fatigue did not significantly ( p = 0.45 ) improve risk discrimination.table 4reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) episodesrisk without fatiguerisk with fatiguerisk without fatiguerisk with fatigueevents10 % > 10 % events20 % > 20 % 10 % 16020 % 330>10 % 049>20 % 032nrie ( 95 % ci)n.a.nrie ( 95 % ci)n.a.nonevents10 % > 10 % nonevents20 % > 20 % 10 % 355220 % 4624>10 % 5152>20 % 048nrine ( 95 % ci)0.58 % ( 0.43 to 1.59 % ) nrine ( 95 % ci)0.78 % ( 1.54 to 0.00 % )
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval , n.a . not available reclassification table for sickness absence ( sa ) episodes
nrie net reclassification index for events , nrine net reclassification index for nonevents , ci confidence interval , n.a . not available
fatigue is a core symptom of many medical conditions and an important indicator of morbidity in working populations .
the present study confirmed that fatigue was prospectively associated with high sickness absence ( sa ) days and episodes during 1-year follow - up .
however , reclassification analysis showed that fatigue did not improve risk predictions for office workers with high sa and worsened risk predictions for office workers without high sa .
although reclassification analysis has become very popular , the nri is often misinterpreted as percentage of the population reclassified ( kerr et al . 2014 ; leening et al .
in addition , the nri equally values the consequences of false - negative and false - positive misclassifications .
these problems were overcome in the current study by presenting nri for events ( nrie ) and nonevents ( nrine ) .
another problem is that data - driven risk thresholds may spuriously inflate the nri ( sundstrm et al .
2011 ; hilden and gerds 2014 ) . as there are no clinically relevant risk thresholds for sa , we dealt with this problem by analyzing reclassification at different ( 10 % and 20 % ) risk thresholds . for the sa days model , nrie was not significant , whereas nrine was significant . for the sa episodes model ,
however , the fact that nrine was negative indicated worsened rather than improved risk classification of office workers without high sa .
workers without high sa days incorrectly moved up from the low - risk category to the high - risk category when fatigue was added as predictor variable .
high false - positive rates can be problematic when resources are limited or when the burden and costs of interventions are high . furthermore , taimela et al .
( 2008b ) reported that preventive consultations cost - effectively reduced sa only in high - risk workers and not in workers with a moderate or low sa risk . hence , using fatigue as predictor not only increases unnecessary utilization of preventive interventions , but may also reduce cost - effectiveness . nowadays , there are many fatigue instruments because fatigue is recognized as a major symptom of clinical conditions .
all instruments are self - report measures , and answers on self - report measures are driven by the respondent s interpretation as well as factors such as personal dispositions , mood , expectations , and previous experiences . furthermore , an instrument developed to measure fatigue in one patient group may not apply to other groups when fatigue experiences depend on the clinical condition .
the cis was previously shown to have good psychometric properties for measuring fatigue in working populations ( beurskens et al .
however , associations between fatigue and high sa days or episodes may differ when fatigue is measured with other instruments . before drawing definite conclusions of the added value of fatigue to sa predictions
, we need more studies investigating fatigue with different instruments or even a combination of instruments , because it is doubtful whether one instrument can capture fatigue , given the wide range of mechanisms underlying fatigue and the differing manifestations of fatigue ( dittner et al . 2004 ) .
the study population was limited to 1,137 office workers employed in one company , which is an advantage because it excludes sa variability due to differences in work conditions , work environment , and organizational policies and practices ( virtanen et al .
the sa percentage ( 3.6 % ) was slightly lower than in the dutch workforce ( 4.2 % ) in 2007 , whereas the mean sa frequency in 2007 was 1.1 episodes in both the study population and the dutch workforce ( statistics netherlands 2014 ) .
however , this does not implicate that the results can be generalized to other working populations .
another limitation of the study is that 56 % of the workers participated in the health checks .
( 2003 ) reported a total cis score of 53.4 in a heterogeneous sample ( n = 7,495 ) of non - sicklisted workers participating in the dutch maastricht cohort study .
the mean cis score in the present study was 51.2 reflecting lower levels of fatigue ( one sample t test p = 0.02 ) .
1999 ) may have weakened associations between fatigue and high sa , consequently reducing the added value of fatigue to sa predictions .
the study population was limited to 1,137 office workers employed in one company , which is an advantage because it excludes sa variability due to differences in work conditions , work environment , and organizational policies and practices ( virtanen et al .
the sa percentage ( 3.6 % ) was slightly lower than in the dutch workforce ( 4.2 % ) in 2007 , whereas the mean sa frequency in 2007 was 1.1 episodes in both the study population and the dutch workforce ( statistics netherlands 2014 ) .
however , this does not implicate that the results can be generalized to other working populations .
another limitation of the study is that 56 % of the workers participated in the health checks .
( 2003 ) reported a total cis score of 53.4 in a heterogeneous sample ( n = 7,495 ) of non - sicklisted workers participating in the dutch maastricht cohort study .
the mean cis score in the present study was 51.2 reflecting lower levels of fatigue ( one sample t test p = 0.02 ) .
such a healthy volunteer effect ( etter and perneger 1997 ; froom et al .
1999 ) may have weakened associations between fatigue and high sa , consequently reducing the added value of fatigue to sa predictions .
in the present study , fatigue increased false - positive rates which may reduce the cost - effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing sa .
the findings illustrate that we have to carefully consider the added value of potential predictors rather than strive for the most comprehensive prognostic models , even when we want to predict a complex multifactorial outcome such as sa .
when applied and interpreted appropriately , risk reclassification can be used to gauge the added value of new predictors to established prognostic models . | pubmed |
Josh Waters got the better of Wayne Maxwell in an enthralling game of cat-and-mouse today, winning the final round of the QBE Australian Superbike Championships by the narrowest of margins.
The point for pole position, earned in difficult conditions yesterday, proved crucial as Waters and Maxwell rode to a win and second place each.
The Team Suzuki rider led from start to moments before the finish in race 1, when Maxwell, biding his time, made the race-defining move over Lukey Heights.
Waters attempted to come back at Maxwell on the fast front straight but missed out by just 0.087 seconds.
Their pace was unmatched, with Glenn Allerton crossing the line on his Procon Maxima BMW almost 15 seconds behind.
A difficult qualifying result was compounded for Team Honda rider Jamie Stauffer, who was lucky to re-mount his bike after a dramatic highside crash exiting the turn 4 hairpin.
Despite his best efforts, Stauffer would go on to DNF a few laps later, along with Ben Attard whose i-Style Natural Aprilia suffered a mechanical problem mid-race.
Race 2 was shaping up as a carbon copy of the opener, but as the laps ticked down the GSX-R1000 stretched its legs and began to gap the CBR1000RR.
Waters went on to win by 3.478s, with Stauffer a courageous third.
"The bike was fast in practice and qualifying and it was great to be able to get away from pole position today," said Waters.
"Race one was a real battle with Wayne, he stayed with me the whole time and got the job done on one of the last corners of the race.
"When the tyres go off like they do in these races its hard to make ground, so I thought if there was any time to make a break, it would be in the first laps of the second race.
Maxwell was disappointed to miss out on a second race win and vowed to work harder than ever in the off-season to hit the ground running in 2012.
"It's a pretty strong finish to the year after our 200km/h crash on Friday, I'm happy just to be here let alone get a race win and a second," said Maxwell.
Both Waters and Maxwell scored points in just 6 of the 8 rounds, with Waters absent on World Superbike duties and Maxwell suffering a spate of DNF's.
They made solid progress up the championship standings today to both finish in the top 5.
Wrapping up third for the round and the championship was Team Suzuki's Troy Herfoss.
Herfoss has impressed in his rookie year, and rued a mid-season slump as a missed opportunity to challenge Jamie Stauffer for second overall.
He finished just a point shy of the runner-up place and has made his intentions clear as a championship challenger in 2012.
"It's been a great weekend at Phillip Island," said Herfoss. "It's been stressful, the wind today and the different conditions over the last few days.
"We've been in a tight battle for second, third and fourth with the two Honda's and I was lucky enough to come away with third today and in the championship.
A courageous showing by Stauffer saw him finish third in the second race, despite the obvious discomfort from his earlier crash where he severely grazed his chin.
Kevin Curtain was confirmed as the 2011 QBE Australian Supersport Champion today, but not before a number of nail-biting moments unfolded.
He entered the event with a healthy lead over Team Suzuki's Brodie Waters, but as Waters stormed to the race 1 win and Curtain struggled to seventh, the championship closed up considerably.
Waters holeshot the second race, giving himself every chance at the title, but Curtain's Yamaha Racing Crew had smartened up his R6 and he was able to hold on and score the points he required to wrap up what has been another successful season.
"The crew made some good changes to the bike between races and it felt a lot better," said Curtain. "I got off to a better start this afternoon and was able to hold onto third.
WNR Kawasaki's rising star Glenn Scott showed he will be a true force in future seasons, taking his first Supersport race win to go with a second place.
The result saw him 1 point shy of the round victory, taken by Waters, who was clearly disappointed to miss out on a maiden Supersport crown.
Curtain's winning margin in the end was just 7 points, with Yamaha privateer rounding out the championship podium in third, and first privateer, after a consistent year.
Yamaha supported road racers have enjoyed success at Phillip Island as the final round of the 2011 ASBK championship hit the checkered flag for the final time this year with the blue squad locking up three national championships.
Yamaha Racing Team's (YRT) Kevin Curtain won the 600cc Supersport Championship on his R6, Cru Halliday claimed the Pro Stock class on the R1 while Mike Jones already had the 600cc Superstock class in his keeping from the previous round.
The 2011 season for Kevin Curtain will be etched in his memory banks as he now adds the 600cc Supersport Championship to the four FX Nationals championships he claimed earlier this month. Curtain went into the final round with a comfortable 21 point margin over his nearest rival and another intelligent day of racing was all that was needed from the veteran to get the job done.
But things didn't pan out as planned as Kevin raced cautiously to protect his championship lead in the opening leg and the swarming pack smelt blood in the water. Curtain clung onto seventh place, but his lead had almost been cut in half and the pressure was on for race two.
Race two and his mentality changed. Curtain took the attitude to forget the championship and deal with the race. He jumped much better and was in contention in the early stages but as the race wore on, the pressure grew as the pack formed around him. But Curtain remained calm, focused on the job at hand and raced his R6 across the line in third place and secured the 2011 600cc Supersport Championship to the relief of the YRT crew.
"A day like today shows just how important a good team is around you and the YRT guys have been awesome. Thanks to them we managed to get this championship and I couldn't have done it without them,' Curtain says thankfully.
Curtain's YRT team mates also put up a good showing at Phillip Island with Pat Medcalf taking second for the round in the 1000cc Pro Stock class while Rick Olson landed in third spot for the day on his R6 in the 600cc Supersport division.
Cru Halliday put his name alongside another championship with victory in the 1000cc Pro Stock class. Halliday compiled 7-1-2 race results in the three legs to finish third for the round in a very congested leader board that saw the top four riders separated by two points.
While the podium result was nice, Halliday took a 64 point margin into the final round and essentially just need to circulate in the top 10 of each race to claim the championship win.
"Today was some good racing and enjoyed the challenge of racing with the guys. The bike was good all weekend and to secure the championship was good," Halliday said.
Mike Jones had already wrapped up the 600cc Superstock division and didn't contest the final round.
The 2011 Australian Superbike Championship proved successful for Yamaha taking three of the four production based championships contested this year. These results are further proof of the quality and high performance of the R1 and R6 machines.
The Phillip Island round was the final race commitment for YRT, and the crew will now take a well earned rest before tacking 2012 with equal gusto and enthusiasm. | slim_pajama |
the be / x - ray systems represent the largest sub - class of massive x - ray binaries .
a survey of the literature reveals that of the 115 identified massive x - ray binary pulsar systems ( identified here means exhibiting a coherent x - ray pulse period ) , most of the systems fall within this be counterpart class of binary .
the orbit of the be star and the compact object , presumably a neutron star , is generally wide and eccentric .
x - ray outbursts are normally associated with the passage of the neutron star close to the circumstellar disk ( okazaki & negueruela 2001 ) . a detailed review of the x - ray properties of such systems may be found in sasaki et al .
( 2003 ) and a review of the more general properties can be found in coe et al .
( 2000 ) .
the source that is the subject of this paper was first identified by laycock et al ( 2008 ) as part of their deep chandra study of one region in the small magellanic cloud ( smc ) .
it has a pulse period of 327s so it is designated here as sxp327 following the naming convention of coe et al .
( 2005 ) . in this paper
over 10 years of optical photometry data of the optical counterpart are presented which show clear evidence for a binary period .
these data are combined with @xmath010 years of rossi x - ray timing explorer ( rxte ) data which show several earlier outbursts from this system and also confirm the binary period seen in the optical .
the x - ray position for sxp327 is reported by laycock et al ( 2008 ) as @xmath1 and a 95% error circle of radius @xmath2 . a visual check of the digitized sky image for this position reveals a clear optical counterpart consistent with this position .
this object can be found in the ogle iii data base as smc101.4 25097 , and also in the macho data base as object 207.16147.60 .
the ogle iii data indicate an i magnitude of @xmath016.7 .
the two combined data sets are shown in figure [ fig : merged ] .
since the macho data are not readily converted to johnson magnitudes the red data shown in figure [ fig : merged ] have been arbitrarily adjusted by the addition of an offset of 24.5 to bring it into approximate alignment with the ogle iii i - band results where they join .
it is immediately apparent from the raw data that there exists a strong optical modulation in the photometry .
so the combined data set were initially detrended with a 3rd order polynomial and then analyzed with a lomb - scargle routine to search for periodicities .
a very strong clear peak was seen in the power spectrum at 45.995d - see figure [ fig : power ] - with the other strong peaks being exact harmonics of this period .
the side peaks are due to the beating of the true period with the annual sampling interval .
consequently the data were folded at this period to determine the average profile - see figure [ fig : foldcol ] - revealing a strong outburst peak of full - width half - maximum of @xmath00.2 in phase , or @xmath09d .
two other probable peaks are also revealed at phases 0.25 and 0.55 after the main peak .
since the macho data provide both red and blue data coverage , the difference of each pair of measurements was calculated and then the resulting colour data were folded at the same period .
the result is shown in the lower panel of figure [ fig : foldcol ] .
again it is possible to clearly see the presence of two significant features in the folded data correlating accurately with the two largest outburst peaks .
there is also some indication of a matching colour change close to the phase of the third peak . from the ogle iii data set the ephemeris for outbursts
is determined to be : @xmath3 = ( [email protected] ) + n([email protected] ) mjd
since the smc has been subject to extensive monitoring using rxte ( laycock et al , 2005 , galache et al , 2008 ) it was possible to use these data to search for evidence of previous x - ray detections of sxp327 . as a result , six other detections of this pulsar were found - see table [ tab : obs ] .
the totality of the rxte coverage is shown in figure [ fig : sxom ] ; the xte pulsed flux is measured in the 3 - 10kev band .
there was no confusion with another object of similar period , sxp323 , since the rxte data are more than adequate to separate the two periods .
x - ray luminosities were calculated based on the strength of the pulse amplitude and a powerlaw spectrum with a spectral index of 1 . assuming a distance of 60kpc for the smc , that the flux is 100% pulsed , and using pimms v3.9e ( http://heasarc.nasa.gov/tools/w3pimms.html ) , the resulting values lie in the range @xmath5=(0.8 - 2.0)@xmath6 erg / s , not uncharacteristic of type i outbursts from these systems .
the pulse fraction measured from the folded lightcurve as ( @xmath7 comes out as 8.5% which is very low .
one reason for this low value could be the contribution of other non - pulsing smc sources to the base - line signal .
however , if we assume a pulsed fraction of @xmath010% then the x - ray luminosity rises to @xmath01@xmath8 erg / s .
the most significant proportional counter array ( pca ) detections of sxp327 all occurred when other pulsars were simultaneously detected in the field of view .
for this reason it was not possible to extract a time - averaged pca spectrum of sxp327 uncontaminated by emission from other sources and measure the x - ray luminosity from sxp327 in that manner .
.rxte x - ray detections of sxp327 [ cols="^,^,^,^ " , ] the phase of the x - ray detections were then determined using the ephemeris quoted above and the results are also included in table [ tab : obs ] . from these numbers it is clear that the x - ray outbursts are strongly correlated with the optical outbursts .
it is worth noting that most of the rxte observations have been carried out at 1 week intervals and this would correspond to a phase interval of 0.15 .
therefore the rxte detections do not necessarily mark the peak of each outburst .
nonetheless , the results unequivocally confirm that this is the correct optical counterpart to sxp327 .
it also confirms that the optical period is almost certainly the binary period of the system with the x - ray outbursts occurring around the time of periastron passage of the neutron star - i.e. confirming that they are type i outbursts . from the position quoted by laycock et al .
( 2008)it is possible that this is the same source as the one identified as no:45 in the catalogue of sasaski , haberl & pietsch ( 2000 ) from rosat hri data . though the positions differ by @xmath013 `` ( which is much larger than their quoted positional error of 3.9 '' ) there is no obvious optical object at their position .
this rosat source has no special characteristics listed in their paper .
sxp327 is an exceptional member of the smc x - ray binary pulsar systems in that it shows a very strong optical modulation at the binary period .
another source , sxp46.6 , has also recently been shown by mcgowan et al .
( 2008 ) to exhibit optical flaring at the same phase as x - ray outbursts , but not in the same strong and consistent manner as sxp327 .
those authors discuss the probable cause of this phenomenon as lying in the periodic disturbance of the be stars circumstellar disk . at the time of periastron passage okazaki & negueruela ( 2001 )
have shown that the disk can be perturbed from its stable , resonant state with a resulting increase in surface area and , hence , optical brightness .
what is very unusual about this system , sxp327 , is that there is not one , but at least two outbursts every binary cycle at phases 0.0 and 0.25 ( i.e. separated by about 11d ) . in addition , the average profile seems to also show a third peak at phase 0.55 - close to apastron .
figure [ fig : foldcol ] shows that the colours of the system reflect the optical brightness and this is made even clearer if the folded flux values are plotted against the folded colour values - see figure [ fig : colflux ] .
it is obvious from this figure that the correlation between colour and flux occurs throughout the binary cycle even though it is most prominent at the time of the outbursts .
the direction of the correlation is to make the system more bluer when brighter - perhaps an indication of x - ray heating contributing to the colour changes . to explore the optical modulation further
, the 7 years worth of ogle iii data were divided into annual samples and folded at the ephemeris quoted above .
the results are shown in figure [ fig : stack ] . from this figure it is possible to see that the main outburst has been strongly present in all the data , but the secondary peak has only been present for the last 3 - 5 years .
furthermore , the outburst profile may be related to the x - ray activity , or vice versa . from figure
[ fig : sxom ] it can be seen that during years 2 - 5 sxp327 enjoyed equal exposure in the rxte observations .
yet only year 5 shows any significant amount of x - ray activity and it is this year where the largest change in the optical profile occurs with the emergence of the clear , strong double peak structure .
it is possible that these changes in the optical outburst profile are related to changes in the circumstellar disk size or structure .
unfortunately there are no optical spectral data available to investigate this further , but clearly this would be of great value in the future .
another smc pulsar system , sxp46.6 , also shows evidence for a secondary peak in its optical outburst profile ( see figure 4 in mcgowan et al . , 2008 ) around phase 0.15 .
so , in contrast to the outburst profiles for most other sources , the burst peaks for sxp327 and sxp46.6 seem to be split into two .
interestingly , a double peaked orbital outburst profile has been seen in the x - ray emission from at least three other pulsar systems : the supergiant binary gx 301 - 2 ( pravdo et al . 1995 ) , 1e1145.1 - 6141 ( corbet et al . , 2007 ) and gro j1944 + 26 ( wilson et al . 2003 ) .
though these are very different wavebands , it is still possible to draw comparisons between those sources and sxp327 & sxp46.6 . in the previously reported cases ,
the two outbursts were explained in terms of a misalignment between the circumstellar disc and the orbital plane of the neutron star .
this would lead to the neutron star passing close to , or through the disc twice each orbit , producing a burst each time .
as sxp46.6 does not show two x - ray bursts ( there is inadequate x - ray coverage of sxp327 to provide a detailed orbital profile ) , it is possible that enough material is transferred to the neutron star to allow the x - ray emission to continue at a stable level , perhaps via an accretion disc , during the two passages .
it is worth noting that , in the absence of a full orbital solution , the assumption has been made here that the first and largest optical peak corresponds to periastron .
of course , this may not be the case , and the two adjacent optical peaks ( phase 0.0 and 0.25 ) may , in fact , bracket periastron .
this could be consistent with the double passage of the neutron star through the circumstellar disk .
in which case the third peak , currently labeled as falling at phase 0.55 , moves closer to apastron .
x - ray , but not optical activity , at this phase has previously been reported in other high mass x - ray binary systems - such as gx301 - 2 ( laycock et al . , 2003 ) which has similar pulse and orbital periodicities to sxp327 .
the location of sxp327 on the corbet diagram is interesting - see figure [ fig : corbet ] .
the source falls on the outer fringes of the distribution of be / x - ray binaries , quite close to the wind - fed hypergiant system , gx301 - 2 ( kaper et al . , 1995 ) - the same source that also shows strong x - ray evidence for apastron emission .
there is only one known supergiant system in the smc , smc x-1 , so it would be of great interest to find another one .
though the ogle iii and macho data do not permit us to determine the true colours of this object , the average ogle iii i - band magnitude of 16.7 provides some useful information . assuming a distance modulus to the smc of 18.9 ,
then a b1v star would have @xmath9 = 16.3 and a b2v star would have @xmath9 = 16.75 . whereas a supergiant b2i star would have @xmath9 = 12.7 .
therefore there is an excellent support for the suggestion that this is another be star with a spectral class that matches with the most common class of such systems in the smc ( mcbride et al . , 2008 ) . finally , it is also noteworthy that there is an ir source , sirius j00525223 - 7217151 ( kato et al . , 2007 ) , coincident with the optical counterpart with [email protected] , [email protected] & [email protected] .
the observation was done on 3 july 2004 .
hence , at that time , j - [email protected] , which is similar to that seen from many of the previously identified smc be / x - ray binaries ( coe et al . , 2005 ) and strongly indicative of emission from the circumstellar disk around a be star .
strong optical modulation is reported in the optical counterpart to a newly - discovered x - ray pulsar in the smc - denoted here as sxp327 .
though many systems reveal some degree of optical modulation at the binary period , the consistent degree of flaring seen here is exceptional amongst the group of @xmath1050 systems in the smc .
the optical period of 46d ( presumably the binary period ) , and the x - ray pulse period of 327s , places sxp327 on the edge of the distribution of such objects on the corbet diagram , but not far enough away to suggest it could be a rare supergiant system .
in fact the optical magnitude supports the identification of this system as a new be / x - ray binary in the smc .
we are grateful to richard lamb for helpful comments .
this paper utilizes public domain data originally obtained by the macho project , whose work was performed under the joint auspices of the u.s .
department of energy , national nuclear security administration by the university of california , lawrence livermore national laboratory under contract no .
w-7405-eng-48 , the national science foundation through the center for particle astrophysics of the university of california under cooperative agreement ast-8809616 , and the mount stromlo and siding spring observatory , part of the australian national university . | arxiv |
already in the decade 1920 - 1930 it was observed that the globular clusters are distributed with spherical symmetry around a point located in the sagittarius constellation and also that stars were rotating around the same point of the sky .
we now know that the dynamical center of the galaxy is indeed located in sagittarius , at about 8 kpc from the sun , right in the middle of the milky way .
the sun also lies on the galactic plane and the galactic center ( gc ) is highly absorbed by all the galactic disk dust which intercepts the line of sight .
optical , uv and soft x - rays are therefore totally masked by an absorption of a@xmath4 @xmath5 31 mag corresponding to a column density n@xmath6 @xmath5 6 10@xmath7 @xmath8 , and the study of the central regions can be carried out only from radio to near infrared ( nir ) frequencies or at energies @xmath9 1 kev . + the recently published vla pictures at 90 cm @xcite ( fig .
[ fig : vla90 ] ) show the richness and complexity of the galactic center region . in the central 600 pc @xmath5 4@xmath10 ( at 8 kpc 1@xmath11 @xmath5 0.04 pc ) ,
a sky area often referred as the nuclear bulge , the interstellar matter ( ism ) is concentrated in a narrow layer ( 50 pc ) of molecular gas for a total mass of @xmath5 10@xmath12 m@xmath1 .
half of this gas forms dense , cold giant molecular clouds ( gmc ) , the denser of which are sgr b , sgr c , sgr d and those in the sgr a complex .
they have typical densities of @xmath5 10@xmath13 -10@xmath14 @xmath15 and temperatures of 30@xmath16200 k. several supernova remnants ( snr ) are visible in the picture along with other filaments and structures of non - thermal emission , like the prominent radio arc , a filamentary source crossing the galactic plane .
+ a number of thermal radio structures are also present , like the bridge , which is connecting the arc to the sgr a complex .
some are identified with hii regions , like the features named pistol and seiklo , whose gas is ionized by young hot stellar clusters , like quintuplet and arches .
magnetic fields are strong ( @xmath5 2 mg ) compared to typical values of the galactic disk ( @xmath5 10 @xmath17 g ) and lines are perpendicular to the galactic plane in the intercloud gas and parallel to the plane in the gmcs .
cloud kinematics indicates large velocity fields and a general inflow towards the center with rate of @xmath5 @xmath18 m@xmath1 yr@xmath19 .
stellar content of the nuclear bulge is basically an extension of the galactic bulge population .
it is dominated by a central nearly - isothermal cluster of low - intermediate mass stars , of metallicity @xmath5 2 , with density increasing towards the gc with decreasing radius as r@xmath20 , from r @xmath5 100 pc down to a core radius r@xmath21 @xmath5 0.1 pc where the star density reaches a constant value of @xmath5 10@xmath22 m@xmath1 pc@xmath23 and the mass a core value of m@xmath24 10@xmath25 m@xmath1 . however , unlike the galactic bulge , this old - middle age ( 1 - 10 gyr ) population coexists with a young ( 10@xmath26 - 10@xmath12 yr ) population of massive stars whose total fraction increases towards the center and whose presence indicates recent star formation . + in the following i will describe results obtained for the inner 50 pc and from high energy observations of the central degree . for extensive reviews
see mezger et al .
( 1996 ) and morris @xmath27 serabyn ( 1996 ) , while for recent results see vol .
186 of asp conf .
series ( eds . falke et al .
1999 ) and yusef - zadeh et al .
the central 50 pc ( 20@xmath28 ) are dominated by the sgr a radio complex ( fig .
[ fig : sgrae ] , from yusef - zadeh et al .
relevant components of the sgr a complex are , listing from the outside to the inner regions : several dense molecular clouds , the non - thermal sgr a east source , the circumnuclear disk ( cnd ) , the thermal source sgr a west and the compact source sgr a@xmath2 .
a recent study of molecular gas velocities of the region @xcite describes the morphology and distribution of matter of the complex .
two dense molecular clouds account for most of the ism of the region , interact with , and probably supply matter to the inner central region .
m-0.02 - 0.07 , also known as the 50 km s@xmath19 cloud , lies on the north - east side of the gc and includes the sgr a east core very dense mc ( 15 pc size and 2 10@xmath25 m@xmath1 mass ) observed to surround sgr a east from behind the gc .
it is connected by a molecular ridge to the north side of the other cloud , m-0.13 - 0.08 ( the 20 km s@xmath19 cloud ) , which is located south - east of the gc , about 10 pc in front of it and which seems to supply the cnd of molecular gas through the so called `` southern streamer '' .
m-0.02 - 0.07 and its molecular ridge are compressed by the expanding shell of sgr a east .
sgr a east is a non - thermal source composed by a diffuse halo of triangular shape ( 7@xmath28 @xmath29 10@xmath28 ) and an oval shell ( 7 pc @xmath29 9 pc i.e. 3@xmath30 4@xmath28 ) with major axis parallel to the galactic plane and centered about 50@xmath11 ( @xmath5 2 pc ) west of sgr a@xmath2 .
the shell appears in expansion , compressing the cloud and probably creating the string of 4 hii regions at the border with m-0.02 - 0.07 and the oh masers also observed around the shell .
a life time of 5 10@xmath31 - 10@xmath25 yr and a total explosion energy of 4 10@xmath32 ergs were derived from the source radio brightness and expansion velocity .
40 nearly simultaneous sn are needed to account for this energy and other scenarios have been proposed to explain sgr a east energetics , including the explosive tidal disruption of a 1 m@xmath1 star by the central massive black hole . between 1.7@xmath167 pc ( 40@xmath11 - 175@xmath11 ) from the center
lies the cnd a clumsy , asymmetrical torus of neutral molecular gas and dust rotating ( v@xmath33 100 km s@xmath19 ) around sgr a west .
the cnd mass is 10@xmath13 m@xmath1 , the gas temperature @xmath34100 k and it is observed in molecular transition lines ( e.g. hcn ) and also in infrared wavelengths , emitted by the dust heated by radiation coming from the central cavity .
its inner part has the shape of a ring whose edges bound the central cavity and the thermal source sgr a west .
the hii region sgr a west was unambiguously separated by the non - thermal emission of sgr a east in 1975 , while the inner minispiral pattern was discovered in 1983 with the vla .
the bulk of the ionized gas ( 250 m@xmath1 ) appears as extended emission of size 2.1 pc @xmath29 2.9 pc with average density n@xmath35
@xmath5 10@xmath36 @xmath15 , in which is embedded the denser _ minispiral _ , a 3 armed spiral structure ( fig .
[ fig : sgraw ] ) orbiting around the gc , composed by northern and eastern arms , a central bar and a western arc .
the radio spectrum resembles that of a typical optically thin hii region with t@xmath35 @xmath5 6000 k , emission measure @xmath5 2 10@xmath36 pc @xmath37 and ionization temperature t @xmath5 3 10@xmath13 k. these parameters imply the presence of a ionizing source of uv luminosity l@xmath38 @xmath5 7.5 10@xmath39 erg s@xmath19 and total flux of lyman continum photons n@xmath40 @xmath5 1.2 10@xmath41 ph s@xmath19 .
recombination emission lines allowed detailed kinematic studies of the gas , which show that sgr a west is rotating from north - east to south - west and then towards north - west .
this seems to imply that the western arc is the ionized edge of the cnd , the n and e arms are tidally stretched streams of infalling gas and the bar is an extension of the n arm .
sgr a west is seen in front of sgr a east and sgr a east core cloud but is behind the 20 km s@xmath19 molecular cloud .
little north of the minispiral central bar and visible as a white point in fig .
[ fig : sgraw ] lies the compact source sgr a@xmath2 which must be seen in front of the minispiral bar even if embedded in the diffuse ionized cloud .
sgr a@xmath2 was discovered by balick @xmath27 brown ( 1974 ) , 3 years after lynden - bell @xmath27 rees ( 1971 ) had predicted that a compact synchrotron radio source should reveal the presence of a massive black hole ( mbh ) in the galactic nucleus .
sgr a@xmath2 is indeed a compact , bright , non - thermal radio source , which coincides ( within 50 mas ) @xcite with the dynamical center of the galaxy . the radio spectrum ( fig .
[ fig : sgra * ] ) is an inverted power - law ( @xmath42 ) with spectral index @xmath43 between 1 ghz and 800 ghz , and with low and high frequency cut - offs .
flux variability of 30 - 100@xmath44 , around a value of @xmath5 1 jy , on timescales of few months is observed , and the average radio luminosity is estimated to @xmath5 300 l@xmath1 .
the source is also very static , an upper limit of 20 km s@xmath19 has been set to its proper motion .
considering the high velocities of the stars of the region ( 500 - 1000 km s@xmath19 ) this unusual low value indicates that sgr a@xmath2 must be massive . a lower limit of 1000 m@xmath1 to its mass
was indeed derived , excluding the possibility of a stellar object .
the apparent radio size of sgr a@xmath2 increases with wavelength as @xmath45 , which is the sign of source broadening due to ism electron scattering .
however at low enough @xmath46 ( @xmath47 7 mm ) the relation seems to flatten and the source is probably resolved by the vlbi .
the most recent vlbi data at 1.4 mm provide a size of @xmath5 0.1 mas @xcite which at 8 kpc corresponds to only 1.2 10@xmath48 cm = 0.8 au or , in terms of a 3 m@xmath1 bh schwarzschild radius ( see @xmath49 6 ) , of only @xmath5 14 r@xmath50 . moreover the source appears elongated with the intrinsic major axis @xmath5 3 times greater than the minor axis and oriented in the north - south direction @xcite .
this result , if confirmed , could indicate the presence of a weak radio - jet .
circular polarization is observed at several radio frequencies but until recently only upper limits ( @xmath47 few @xmath44 ) were set for linear polarization .
aitken et al . ( 2000 ) have now discovered linear polarization at level of 10 - 20 @xmath44 at sub - mm frequencies ( @xmath34 100 ghz ) . the sub - mm part of the sgr a@xmath2
spectrum seems peculiar also because it shows a bump of emission with respect to the extrapolation of the radio power - law .
indeed , using simultaneous observations at different frequencies from 10 cm to 1 mm , falke et al .
( 1998 ) found at @xmath9 100ghz an excess which implies a change in the spectral slope .
high gas velocities in the vicinity of the putative mbh of the galaxy were also predicted by lynden - bell @xmath27 rees in 1971 as a consequence of the gravitational pull exerted by the bh .
these authors suggested to search for radio recombination lines of the thermal gas close to the bh to measure gas velocities and then to estimate the bh mass .
high velocities of the sgr a west ionized gas have been indeed observed , since 1974 , using the h recombination lines ( h109@xmath51 , h91@xmath51 , h92@xmath51 ) the forbidden line @xmath4612.8 @xmath17 m of [ neii ] and the @xmath462.17 @xmath17 m br@xmath3 line @xcite .
these measures could show that the dynamics at radii r @xmath9 1.5 - 2 pc ( i.e. outside the cnd inner ring ) is dominated by the nearly - isothermal central star cluster , while within 1.5 pc from the center the dynamics is due to a central mass of @xmath5 3 10@xmath0 m@xmath1 enclosed within @xmath5 0.17 pc .
however gas motion measures can not constrain further the volume of the central mass and also non - gravitational forces ( magnetic fields , turbulence , etc . )
may play a role making the interpretation of the recorded velocities not obvious .
+ star kinematic studies , based on both stellar dispersion and rotation velocities , started in 1978 , with the aim of evaluating the central mass m(r ) enclosed within the radius r down to distances @xmath47 0.1 pc .
the most convincing results have been obtained in the last 8 years thank to high resolution nir observations performed with speckle / adaptive optics in the k band ( 2.2@xmath17 m ) , which allowed to provide independent determination of star velocities using measures of star proper motions .
the recent paper by genzel ( 2000 ) summarizes the results obtained both with the sharp ccd camera mounted on the 3.5 m eso ntt telescope ( genzel et al .
1997 ) and with the nirc camera at the 10 m keck telescope ( ghez et al .
about 1000 star with m(k ) @xmath47 16 (= 0.25 mjy ) were imaged between 1992 - 1999 within the central 1 pc ( 25@xmath11 ) with angular resolutions in the range 0.15 - 0.05@xmath11 .
proper motions for 100 stars could be determined along with 200 high quality spectra .
the important improvement provided by proper motion measures is that they allow measurements of stellar velocities of the very faint stars which are very close ( r @xmath47 0.6@xmath11 ) to sgr a@xmath2 and which show motions at @xmath9 1000 km s@xmath19 ( 1470 km s@xmath19 for the closest star in projection , at 0.1@xmath11 = 800 au from the radio source ) .
the simultaneous measure of proper motion and radial velocity for 32 stars between 1@xmath11 - 5@xmath11 from sgr a@xmath2 also allowed to test the fundamental hypothesis of velocity isotropy assumed by most of the mass estimators . combining radial and proper motions data and using various projected mass estimators genzel et al .
( 2000 ) derived the mass distribution reported in fig .
[ fig : encmass ] . the enclosed mass for r @xmath9 1 - 2 pc can be accounted for by the isothermal star cluster ( broken line in fig .
5 ) but at lower radii , in particular to fit data at 0.015 pc ( @xmath5 3000
au ) , it is necessary either to assume a point mass of 2.9 10@xmath0 m@xmath1 ( full line ) or to invoke the presence of a dark cluster of objects with central density of 4 10@xmath52 m@xmath1 pc@xmath23 ( dotted line ) .
even composed of stellar bhs , such a cluster would not be stable for more than 10@xmath22 yr and the hypothesis of a massive black hole at the galactic nucleus is now extremely strong .
the very recent discovery with the keck of curvature in the trajectories of 3 of the closest stars to sgr a@xmath2 @xcite , confirms that stars are orbiting around the gc , increases by a factor 10 the density required for an alternative dark cluster and proves that the radio source is at less than 0.05@xmath11 from the dynamical center of the stars .
+ nir observations have also led to the discovery of a cluster of about 25 bright , young , hot stars most of them belonging to the complex irs 16 centered @xmath5 2@xmath11 east of the gc .
these very luminous stars show broadened and p - cyg type hei / hi emission lines which indicate that their helium rich surfaces are expanding as powerful stellar winds with velocities of v@xmath53@xmath5 500 - 1000 km s@xmath19 and mass loss rates @xmath54 1 - 80 10@xmath55 m@xmath1 yr@xmath19 @xcite .
these outflows produce a hypersonic wind of density n@xmath53@xmath5 10@xmath5610@xmath31 @xmath15 which pervades the central pc .
these stars also emit @xmath5 10@xmath57 erg s@xmath19 in uv and can therefore totally account for the entire uv luminosity required to excite sgr a west and to heat the dust of the central cavity and of the cnd ( @xmath49 2 ) . to conclude with ir observations we have to mention the important upper limits set by menten et al .
( 1997 ) on the nir flux from sgr a@xmath2 which imply an l@xmath58 @xmath47 10@xmath59 erg s@xmath19 for the compact radio source .
after the first detections of high energy emission from the general direction of the gc made with non - imaging instruments in the decade 1970 - 1980 , the first real x - ray images with arcmin resolution were obtained with the einstein observatory @xcite .
in addition to diffuse emission , 12 point sources were detected within the central 20@xmath28 , one of which , 1e 1742.5@xmath162859 , observed at @xmath47 1@xmath28 from sgr a@xmath2 with l@xmath60 = 1.5 10@xmath59 erg s@xmath19 . between 1980 - 1990 several observations
were carried out in the standard and hard x - ray bands and a number of transient sources were detected .
the most remarkable observations were certainly those performed with the coded mask xrt instrument on spacelab2 , which provided the first ever images ( 3@xmath28 resolution ) of the gc in hard x - rays ( 3 - 30 kev ) @xcite .
sgr a@xmath2 appeared again rather faint ( l@xmath61 = 5 10@xmath59 erg s@xmath19 ) , in spite of the high expectations for an hard spectrum of the type of cyg x-1 .
however in 1991 the rosat telescope with 25@xmath11 resolution in the band 0.1 - 2.5 kev , could separate 1e 1742.5@xmath16285 in 3 sources one of which , rxj 1745.6@xmath162900 , was found within 10@xmath11 from sgr a@xmath2 @xcite .
rosat luminosity ( l@xmath62 = 3 10@xmath63 erg s@xmath19 ) however falls below 2 orders of magnitude from extrapolation of the n@xmath6-corrected xrt luminosity .
the possibility of strong variability or additional n@xmath6 were considered but asca 1993 - 1994 observations in the range 0.1 - 10 kev , revealed presence of 2 point sources , a soft and stable one close to the nucleus and another harder and transient about 1@xmath28 away @xcite .
the authors concluded then that the flux observed by the hard x - ray instrument on sl2 ( also confirmed by art - p / granat , pavlinsky et al .
1994 ) was due to the transient source and not to sgr a@xmath2 .
+ asca also confirmed and improved the results of exosat , tenma and ginga on the presence of hard x - ray diffuse emission .
a large part of the nuclear bulge seems permeated by hot plasma emitting x - ray diffuse emission with thermal spectrum of t @xmath5 10 kev and numerous k emission lines of he - like and h - like ions .
the diffuse source has an elliptical shape 1@xmath10 @xmath29 1.8@xmath10 elongated on the galactic plane .
the emission peaks around the center where a hot spot with an oval 2@xmath30 3@xmath28 shape (= 4.8 pc @xmath29 7.2pc ) and luminosity of @xmath5 10@xmath64 erg s@xmath19 was also imaged with asca .
this emission is puzzling because at this temperatures the gas would not be bound by the gc gravitational potential .
the estimated expansion of the large shell at sound speed provides an age of @xmath5 50000 yr and input energy of @xmath5 10@xmath65 erg for the gas , and continuous heating is required with power of @xmath5 10@xmath66 erg s@xmath19 .
tanaka et al . ( 2000 ) have recently argued against thermal origin of this emission and proposed that charge - exchange interaction of low - energy cosmic - rays with ism contribute to it .
asca also detected 6.4 kev neutral iron line diffuse emission in the nuclear bulge , and more precisely from sgr b2 the most massive of the gmc .
this fluoroscence line can be produced by high energy emission which is scattered in the neutral environment of a gmc .
murakami et al . ( 2000 ) estimated , comparing data to simulations , that an external source at a distance d , should have emitted about l@xmath67 = 3 10@xmath68 ( d/100 pc)@xmath69 erg s@xmath19 over 100 yr .
this excludes binary transient sources but leaves open the possibility for a flare of sgr a@xmath2 .
if emitted from sgr a@xmath2 , radiation should have been travelling through @xmath5 300 l.y . to reach sgr b2 .
these data could then probe 300 yr ago flaring activity from sgr a@xmath2 .
similar conclusions were reached by sunyaev @xmath27 churazov ( 1998 ) who investigated also dependence of the line characteristics and variability with position and time behavior of primary source , while fromerth et al .
( 2001 ) found that data are also compatible with location of primary source inside the gcm .
+ to a be a faint source in x - rays does not prevent to be strong emitters in gamma rays , in particular for such extreme objects like bh , which are known to emit very hard radiation and suspected to generate e@xmath70-e@xmath71 annihilation line .
the gc has been a priority target of the first satellite imager of soft @xmath3-rays ( 30 kev - 1300 kev ) sigma .
sigma with its 13@xmath28 - 15@xmath28 resolution and large field of view performed deep surveys of the galactic bulge between 1990 - 1997 cumulating nearly 10@xmath22 s of data .
sigma found that in this band the 1@xmath10 region around the gc is dominated by the otherwise anodyne x - ray source 1e 1740.7 - 2942 , which follow up observations revealed to be associated to radio - jets and which is now one of the 4 persistent galactic bh candidates x - ray sources .
sgr a@xmath2 appeared instead silent . the only weak flare observed by sigma from the vicinity of the gc in 1991
( see fig .
[ fig : sigmagn ] ) , was attributed to a point source @xmath9 9@xmath28 away from sgr a * @xcite .
a recent re - analysis of the whole sigma data by goldoni et al .
( 1999 ) have provided the best low - energy @xmath3-ray upper limits for this source ( see also fig . [
fig : ibissen ] and goldwurm et al . 2000 ) .
the results imply l@xmath72 @xmath47 1.2 10@xmath64 erg s@xmath19 , and an upper limit ( 3 @xmath73 ) of 3.3 10@xmath74 ph @xmath8 s@xmath19 for narrow 511 kev line point source at the gc was also obtained with sigma @xcite .
osse / gro mapped the galactic diffuse 511 kev emission and could identify a bulge component of about the same value in flux than the above quoted sigma upper limit , with a positronium fraction of 0.89 @xcite . due to the limited angular resolution ( @xmath9 4@xmath10 )
, however it was not possible to estimate if any of this emission is from a central point source . +
a source ( 2eg j1746 - 2852 ) in the galactic center was also detected by egret / gro @xcite at @xmath9 30 mev .
the poor angular resolution of the instrument ( @xmath751@xmath10 ) does not exclude it is actually diffuse .
the spectrum is a broken power - law with photon indexes of 1.3 and 3.1 below and above 1900 mev , which seems against pure @xmath76 decay origin , with total luminosity of l@xmath77 = 2.2 10@xmath39 erg s@xmath19 .
sax ( nfc / mec ) monitoring of gc has not provided new results on the nucleus itself , however it was found that the soft component ( t @xmath5 0.6 kev ) of the local diffuse emission seems related to sgr a east and it is well interpreted as thermal emission from a snr @xcite . the hard component ( t @xmath5 8 kev ) instead lies along the plane as shown previously by art - p and asca .
+ chandra observations with the unprecedent angular resolution of 0.5@xmath11 , carried out in fall 1999 , have instead resolved the rosat source in few components , one of which could be point - like and lies within 0.35@xmath11 from sgr a@xmath2 @xcite .
the source , which may well be the real x - ray counterpart of the radio source , has a power - law spectrum rather steep ( @xmath78 ) and luminosity l@xmath67 @xmath5 2 10@xmath79 erg s@xmath19 .
althought the 0.5 - 2 kev flux is very uncertain due to the low accuracy of n@xmath6 estimation it seems clear that sgr a@xmath2 soft x - ray luminosity is well below the rosat value .
in spite of the very compelling evidences for a mbh at the galactic nucleus , sgr a@xmath2 does not behave like a simple mass scaled - down agn .
summing measured luminosities and considering the quoted upper limits , sgr a@xmath2 bolometric luminosity is @xmath80 the uv luminosity is uncertain due to the high extinction but the fact that sgr a west ionization can be provided by the irs 16 cluster of hot stars implies that there is not an additional strong source of uv , whose emission would also be re - emitted by the heated dust and observed in ir .
the egret source can rise this value by a factor 5 but in any case the nucleus remains sub - luminous .
+ for a bh at the gc with mass m = 3.0 10@xmath81 m@xmath1 , the schwarzshild radius r@xmath50 and eddington luminosity l@xmath82 are @xmath83 @xmath84 in spherical accretion , matter with density n@xmath53 flowing with relative velocity v@xmath53 within a distance r@xmath85 ( accretion radius ) from the bh is captured , undergoes a shock which dissipates the kinetic energy in thermal energy and then is accreted radially with free - fall velocity and mass accretion rate @xmath86 providing a power l@xmath85 ( accretion luminosity ) given by @xmath87 @xmath88 @xmath89 where wind parameters quoted in @xmath49 4 where used , i.e. v@xmath53 = 700 km s@xmath19 , n@xmath53 = 5.5 10@xmath36 @xmath15 .
3d simulations of the stellar winds from the irs 16 cluster flowing into the gc black hole have been performed by cocker and melia ( 1997 ) using results of najarro et al .
( 1997 ) and they obtained a mass accretion @xmath5 1 - 2 times the value of @xmath86 .
so the accretion luminosity is 10@xmath81 - 10@xmath22 times higher than the measured bolometric luminosity and efficiency of conversion of available energy in radiation must be lower than 10@xmath90 .
the final efficiency depends actually on how the matter , once captured at r@xmath85 is accreted , how reaches the bh event horizon , which are the characteristics of the flow and whether a disk forms . cocker and melia ( 1997 ) in their simulations also found that the accreted specific angular momentum l in units of cr@xmath50 ( @xmath46 = l / cr@xmath50 ) varies around an average of @xmath46 = 40 @xmath91 10 with the sign swapping on time - scales of @xmath75 100 years .
this implies that the circularization radius r@xmath92 ( distance at which angular momentum equals the keplerian value ) is @xmath47 3000 r@xmath50 and a large accretion disk probably does not form .
an optically thick and geometrically thin accretion disk has efficiency of the order of 0.1 and , if present around sgr a@xmath2 , would originate a bright spectral peak in the uv band similar to the blue bump of agns , followed by a steep wien tail which may contribute little to x - rays
. the low energy tail would extend to nir and such component would violate the menten et al .
( 1997 ) upper limits .
+ the first attempt to fit the entire spectrum of sgr a@xmath2 modeling the accretion into the massive bh was done by melia ( 1992 , 1994 ) , who computed emission produced in pure spherical bondi - hoyle geometry . without the viscous dissipation which occurs in disks , matter would fall into the hole heated up by simple adiabatic compression , and efficiency of conversion of gravitational energy in radiation would be very small
. however it is usually assumed that matter carries , in the fall , the magnetic field , maintained in equipartition with the gas , and magnetic dissipation by turbulence or field lines reconnection can heat efficiently the particles which then emit synchrotron , free - free and inverse compton radiation . with this model melia ( 1992 )
could fit the available data for a black hole mass of 10@xmath0 m@xmath1 , a value smaller than recent estimates . in its 1994 model ,
melia also included an optically thick disk at small radii , to account for the effects of the accreted angular momentum , but the menten et al .
( 1997 ) ir upper limits are not compatible even with such small disk .
recently , cocker and melia ( 2000 ) revisited the model improving computation of the emitted spectrum and assuming magnetic field b in sub - equipartition by letting its value to be free parameter .
considering variability the model luminosities seem marginally compatible with the data and imply that b , which is of few mg at r@xmath85 ( @xmath75 10@xmath14 r@xmath50 ) , does not reach the equipartition value at intermediate radii . only in the inner region of @xmath5 5 - 25
r@xmath50 , where gas circularizes and a small keplerian disk is formed , the magnetic dynamo can rise the field to values of the order of 200 g. the emission from this inner region could then account for the sub - mm excess and for its polarization .
however this variant of the model fits the data only for an effective accretion rate @xmath47 10@xmath74 @xmath86 . + in 1995
, narayan et al .
proposed that accretion flows for sub - eddington rates ( @xmath93 ) in systems with bhs be dominated by advection .
these models ( adaf ) assume a very weak coupling between protons and electrons in the flow and the energy carried by protons is not transmitted efficiently to the radiating electrons but rather advected into the hole .
+ the plasma gets very hot ( optically thin ) , flows with 2 temperatures ( kt@xmath94 10@xmath95 k , kt@xmath96 10@xmath26 k ) , with nearly spherical geometry ( geometrically thick disks ) , but with viscous dissipation and momentum transport .
the radio spectrum is generated by optically thick self - absorbed synchrotron emission from hot nearly - relativistic thermal electrons at different temperatures .
each disk ring at radius r gives rise to a spectrum peaked at the critical frequency above which radiation becomes optically thin . a total flat spectrum is then produced by the superposition of these ring spectra .
highest radio frequencies are generated by the hottest electrons of the inner regions close to the bh while inverse compton produces a weak tail in ir , optical and uv , and x - rays are produced by thin thermal bremsstrahlung from electrons at all radii till r@xmath85 .
the best adaf model for sgr a@xmath2 @xcite fits the radio data , the rosat x - ray flux and the ir and hard x - rays upper limits ( see fig .
[ fig : ibissen ] ) for the correct bh mass but for an accretion rate @xmath97 10@xmath55 m@xmath1 yr@xmath19 .
this is more than a factor 10 lower than estimated from the irs 16 stellar winds .
since in adaf l @xmath98 @xmath99 the luminosity for 10 times the rate would be 100 times greater and the discrepancy is not easily explained @xcite . to account for the egret @xmath3-ray source narayan et al .
( 1998 ) computed the contribution of decay of pions produced by proton - proton collisions in the very hot inner region of the adaf .
the spectrum could reproduce the egret spectral shape but not the flux normalization . on the other hands electrons produced by the muons seem able to naturally account for the _ cm _ part of the spectrum not well explained by the thermal electrons @xcite .
+ the spectrum of narayan et al .
1998 fitted the rosat flux and the new value of x - ray luminosity obtained with chandra certainly makes more acute the problem of accretion rate ( see fig .
[ fig : ibissen ] ) .
blandford @xmath27 begelman ( 1999 ) argued that adafs must have outflows in form of winds and , more recently , it was also found that convection in the disk may reduce outward transport of angular momentum reducing the net flow of matter into the hole @xcite .
both these new variants of adaf ( known as adios and cdaf ) could reduce effective mass accretion .
however quataert @xmath27 narayan ( 1999 ) discussed the spectral shape of adaf with winds and found that since soft x - rays are produce far from the hole ( between 10@xmath13 - 10@xmath14 r@xmath50 ) , outflows , expected in the inner regions , will not reduce the expected x - ray emission and discrepancy with the accretion rates is not resolved . moreover
the chandra steep spectrum does not seem compatible with thermal bremsstrahlung .
another important difficulty for adaf models is the recent discovery of linear polarization in the sub - mm band . in both adaf and bondi - hoyle models
this excess is produced in the inner regions of the flow and therefore even if radiation can be initially polarized , the accreting plasma encountered on the way out would depolarize the emission by faraday effect @xcite , unless very peculiar geometries are invoked . observed
values of polarization seem to imply accretion rates as low as 10@xmath100 m@xmath1 yr@xmath19 making of course need for low - efficiency models much less important .
+ all these factors certainly revive the non - thermal models of sgr a@xmath2 .
the flat ( index @xmath5 0.3 ) radio spectrum could indeed be interpreted as due to thin synchrotron radiation from a quasi mono - energetic distribution of electrons , e.g. accelerated by shocks inside the accretion flow .
the low frequency cut - off is due to self absorption while the high frequency one to the cut off in the truncated power - law electron distribution .
such model was investigate by beckert et al .
( 1996 ) and refined by beckert @xmath27 duschl ( 1997 ) .
x - rays can then be produced by self synchrotron compton ( ssc ) emission .
the main difficulty was to correctly account for the x - ray flux and to explain the `` ad - hoc '' cut off in the electron distribution .
another non - thermal model for sgr a@xmath2 is the jet / nozzle model , recently re - discussed by falcke @xmath27 markoff ( 2000 ) ( see references therein ) .
the authors propose that radio emission is generated in a compact radio jet , similar to those seen in agns , but less powerful .
this model could explain the possible asymmetry in the radio and sub - mm shape of the source @xcite which , if confirmed , would indeed favor the presence of a jet .
the base of the jet where the acceleration of the magnetized plasma takes place , the nozzle , is a compact region where the sub - mm radiation is originated .
the nozzle is close to the bh and to the inner part of the accretion flow .
the jet mechanism is not known but the authors invoke a coupling between jet and accretion disk . as for the mono - energetic electron model
the x - rays are produced by ssc and the expected spectrum seems to fit well the recent chandra results .
however the accretion flow must not provide relevant x - ray emission and the problems of low - efficiency accretion or of a much lower effective accretion rate than the one estimated from data on stellar winds remain .
+ finally , the sgr b2 6.4 kev line could indicate that sgr a@xmath2 is flaring , may be cyclically like the x - ray novae .
however if the accreted material is stored between the flares , in a large low - viscosity disk , the latter should be visible in ir .
adafs have become popular in recent yeas because they seemed able to explain , in the frame of bh accretion disk thermal models , the low efficiencies observed in the nucleus of our galaxy and of other close normal galaxies
. however these models are now encountering serious difficulties , and non - thermal models become again competitive .
all models however fail to explain why the closest known massive black hole to us radiates so little , unless we admit that it does not accrete the available matter as expected .
major advances in understanding of the physics of the galactic center will be provided in the next years by new and more accurate observations , in particular at high energies .
the chandra and xmm - newton observatories will probably address the question of the x - ray ( 0.1 - 15 kev ) luminosity , variability and spectrum of sgr a@xmath2 and of the characteristics and origin of the local x - ray diffuse emission .
the next esa @xmath3-ray ( 3 kev - 10 mev ) mission integral will allow to study , if present , the adaf hard x - ray component predicted by narayan et al .
[ fig : ibissen ] reports the expected sensitivity of the medium energy ( 20 kev - 10 mev ) instrument ( ibis ) onboard integral compared with the adaf model .
detailed simulations @xcite show that ibis will be able to detect the expected thermal bremsstrahlung hard component of sgr a@xmath2 in 4 10@xmath0 s. with integral it will be possible to search for a compact source of 511 kev line at the gc . in spite
most models do not predict a strong e@xmath71-e@xmath70 annihilation line contribution from the mbh itself , fatuzzo et al .
( 2000 ) argued that part of the 511 kev bulge component may be due to cumulative effect of pair production in the expanding shells of repeated sgr a east type events .
high energy observations with glast at @xmath9 100 mev will resolve the standing problem of the egret source , possibly linked to the sgr a@xmath2 or to the non - thermal sgr a east shell .
the latter is also expected to provide detectable flux in the tev range , making the gc an interesting target also for next generation of ground vhe / uhe @xmath3-ray and neutrino experiments .
moreover the galactic center has been recognized as possible site of large cold dark matter concentration and annihilation .
+ sgr a@xmath2 is probably the closest massive black hole , and in spite presently in low state of activity , remains a highly privileged target for astronomical multi-@xmath46 observations and for future astroparticle experiments .
i thank fulvio melia for very useful discussions and frederick k. baganoff for providing information about chandra observations before publication .
aitken d.k . , et al . , 2000 , _ apj _ , 534 , l173
agol e. , 2000 , _ apj _ , 538 , l121 .
balick b. & brown r.l .
, 1974 , _ apj _ , 194 , 265 .
baganoff f. , et al .
, 2001 , _ apj _ , _ subm .
_ , aph/0102151 .
beckert t. , et al .
, 1996 , _ a_&_a _ , 307 , 450 .
beckert t. & duschl w.j . , 1997 , _
a_&_a _ , 328 , 95 .
blandford r. , begelman m. , 1999,_mnras_,303,l1 .
& ho p.t . , 2000 , _ apj _ , 533 , 245 .
coker r.f . & melia f. , 1997 , _ apj _ , 488 , l149 .
coker r.f . & melia f. , 1999 , _ apj _ , 534 , 723 .
fatuzzo m. , et al . , 2000 , _ apj _ , _ subm .
_ , aph/0007371 .
falcke h. , et al .
, 1998 , _ apj _ , 499 , 731 .
falcke h. & markoff s. , 2000 , _
a_&_a _ , 362 , 113 .
fromerth m.j . , et al . , 2001 ,
_ apjl _ , 547 , l129 .
genzel r. , et al .
, 1997 , _ mnras _ 291 , 219 .
genzel r. , 2000 , _
star2000 conf .
_ , aph/0008119 .
ghez a.m .. , et al .
, 1998 , _ apj _ , 509 , 678 .
ghez a.m .. , et al .
, 2000 , _ nature _ 407 , 349 .
goldoni p. , et al .
, 1999 , _ astr .
_ , 38 , 305 .
goldwurm a. , et al . , 1994 , _
nature _ 371 , 589 .
goldwurm a. , et al . ,
2000 , proc .
_ 19@xmath101 texas symp .
paul j. et al . , m - symp .
15 , atroph/9904104 .
gondolo p. & silk j. , 1999 , _ phys .
l. _ 83 , 1719 .
koyama k. , et al .
, 1996 , _ pasj _ 48 , 249 .
krichbaum t.p . , et al . , 1998 ,
_ a_&_a _ , 335 , l106 .
la rosa t.n . , et al . ,
2000 , _ aj _ , 119 , 207 .
lo k.y . , et al . , 1998 , _
apj _ , 508 , l61 .
lynden - bell d. , rees m.j.,1971,_mnras_,152,461 .
mahadevan r. , 1998 , _ nature _ , 394 , 651 .
malet i. , et al .
, 1995 , _ apj _ , 444 , 222 .
mayer - hasselwander , et al . , 1998 , _
a_&_a _ , 335 , 161 .
mezger p.g . , et al . , 1996 , _
a_&_a rev .
_ , 7 , 289 .
melia f. , 1992 , _ apj _ , 387 , l25 .
melia f. , 1994 , _ apj _ , 426 , 577 .
menten et al . , 1997 , _ apj _ , 475 , l111 .
morris m. & serabyn e. , 1996 , _ ara_&_a _ , 34 , 645 .
murakami h. , et al . , 2000 , _ apj _ , 534 , 283 .
najarro f. , et al .
, 1997 , _ a_&_a _ , 325 , 700 .
narayan r. , et al . , 1995 , _
nature _ , 374 , 623 .
narayan r. , et al .
, 1998 , _ apj _ , 492 , 554 .
pavlinsky m.n . , et al . , 1994 ,
_ apj _ , 425 , 110 .
predehl p. , & truemper j. , 1994 , _
a_&_a _ , 290 ,
purcell w.r . , et al . , 1997 , _
apj _ , 491 , 725 .
quataert e. & narayan r. , 1999 , _ apj _ , 520 , 298 .
quataert e. , et al . , 1999 , _
apj _ , 517 , l101 .
quataert e. & gruzinov a. , 2000 , _ apj _ , 539 , 809 .
skinner g.k . , et al . , 1987 , _
nature _ , 330 , 544 .
sidoli l. , et al .
a_&_a _ , 349 , l49 .
sunyaev r. & churazov e. 1998 , _ mnras _ 297,1279 .
tanaka y. , et al . , 2000 , _ pasj _ , 50 , l52 .
vargas m. , et al .
, 1996 , _ asp conf .
_ , 102 , 431 .
watson m.g . , et al . , 1981 ,
_ apj _ , 250 , 142 .
yusef - zadeh f. , et al . , 2000 ,
_ science _ , 287(5450 ) , 85 . | arxiv |
Die Detroit Vipers waren eine Eishockeymannschaft in der International Hockey League. Sie spielten von 1994 bis 2001 in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA im Palace of Auburn Hills.
Geschichte
Eishockey-Tradition in Detroit
In Detroit gab es schon eine lange Eishockeytradition, bevor die Detroit Vipers Mitte der neunziger Jahre ihr erstes Spiel bestritten. Mit den Detroit Red Wings spielte eine traditionsreiche Mannschaft der National Hockey League in der Stadt, die bereits 1926 gegründet wurde und sieben Mal den Stanley Cup gewonnen hatte. Immer wieder gab es weitere Mannschaften wie die Detroit Olympics, die sich in Detroit niederließen und in unterklassigen Ligen spielten, jedoch blieben sie meistens nicht langfristig in der Stadt.
Von Salt Lake City nach Detroit
1969 wurde die Mannschaft der Salt Lake Golden Eagles im US-Bundesstaat Utah gegründet, die ihre ersten fünf Jahre in der Western Hockey League bestritten, ehe sie in die Central Hockey League wechselten. Als die Liga jedoch 1984 ihren Spielbetrieb einstellte, wurden die Golden Eagles von der International Hockey League aufgenommen, wo sie weitere zehn Jahre spielten.
1994 kaufte das Unternehmen Palace Sports and Entertainment das Franchise und siedelte es nach Auburn Hills, einem Vorort von Detroit, um. Durch einen Sponsorenvertrag mit dem Autobauer Chrysler, der mit seiner Tochtergesellschaft Dodge den Wagen Dodge Viper vertrieb, erhielt die Mannschaft schließlich den Namen Detroit Vipers.
Rick Dudley, der zuvor schon bei den Buffalo Sabres tätig war, wurde als Cheftrainer verpflichtet, und zur Saison 1994/95 nahmen die Vipers ihren Spielbetrieb auf. Begünstigt durch den verspäteten Beginn der NHL-Saison aufgrund eines Lockout, konnte die Mannschaft vor vielen Zuschauern spielen und verbuchte pro Spiel fast 17.000 verkaufte Eintrittskarten. Auch auf dem Eis hatte das Team gleich in der ersten Spielzeit Erfolg, als sie den dritten Rang nach der regulären Saison belegten. Vor allem die Stürmer Daniel Shank, Lonnie Loach und Peter Ciavaglia, der über mehrere Jahre ein Führungsspieler der Mannschaft sein sollte, stachen hervor.
Zur Saison 1995/96 konnten die Vipers mit Peter Bondra einen prominenten Neuzugang verbuchen, der mit den Washington Capitals aus der NHL keine Einigung über einen neuen Vertrag erzielen konnte. Beide Seiten einigten sich nach einigen Wochen doch, und Bondra beendete nach sieben Spielen mit acht Toren sein Gastspiel in der IHL. Zudem verpflichteten sie mit Rich Parent einen jungen Torhüter, der als Nummer zwei nur eingeschränkt zum Einsatz kam, aber dadurch überzeugen konnte, dass er die gleiche Anzahl an Spielen gewann wie Stammtorhüter Darrin Madeley, der doppelt so viele Einsätze hatte. Zudem schloss sich der erfahrene Verteidiger Brad Shaw dem Team an. Die Vipers beendeten die Saison wieder unter den besten Mannschaften, scheiterten aber in den Playoffs in der zweiten Runde.
Erfolge und Turner Cup-Sieg
Im Sommer 1996 konnte man die Verpflichtung des 17-jährigen Sergei Samsonow vermelden, der aus Russland gekommen war und vor seiner ersten Saison in Nordamerika stand. Samsonow verstärkte die gut aufgestellte Offensive um Peter Ciavaglia, Todd Simon und Stan Drulia. In der Verteidigung ragten Brad Shaw und Phil Von Stefenelli hervor, und im Tor bildeten Rich Parent und Jeff Reese ein gutes Tandem. Zudem stand mit Steve Ludzik ein neuer Trainer hinter der Bande. Die Vipers waren schließlich das stärkste Team während der regulären Saison und ihre Spieler wurden mehrfach ausgezeichnet. So erhielten die Torhüter den James Norris Memorial Trophy für die wenigsten Gegentreffer und Samsonow die Garry F. Longman Memorial Trophy als bester Rookie. Auch in den Playoffs dominierte die Mannschaft die Konkurrenz und gewannen schließlich den Turner Cup. Peter Ciavaglia erhielt durch seine 33 Scorerpunkte in den 21 Playoffspielen die N.R. "Bud" Poile Trophy als wertvollster Spieler der Endrunde.
Zur Saison 1997/98 gehörten mit Jimmy Carson und Brent Fedyk zwei erfahrene Profis zum Team, wobei Fedyk noch während der Spielzeit wechselte. John Grudden verstärkte die Verteidigung und im Angriff gelang Dan Kesa und Steve Walker der Durchbruch, als sie sich innerhalb der Mannschaft zu den besten Offensivkräften der Saison entwickelten. Die Vipers knüpften an die guten Leistungen der Vorjahre an und lagen erneut unter den besten Mannschaften der Liga. Auch in den Playoffs hatten sie wieder Erfolg und erreichten erneut das Finale, wo sie diesmal jedoch den Chicago Wolves unterlegen waren.
Ein besonderer Höhepunkt der Saison 1997/98 war ein Kurzeinsatz der 69-jährigen Eishockeylegende Gordie Howe, der mit den Detroit Red Wings große Erfolge gefeiert hatte. Mit seinem Comeback wurde Howe der einzige professionelle Eishockeyspieler, der in sechs Jahrzehnte auf dem Eis stand.
Angeführt von Walker, Ciavaglia, Drulia und Shaw absolvierten die Vipers 1998/99 wieder eine erfolgreiche Saison und erreichten zum fünften Mal in Folge die Marke von 100 Punkten in der Hauptrunde. Wichtiger Rückhalt waren dabei aber auch die Torhüter Kevin Weekes und Andrei Trefilow, die die wenigsten Gegentreffer in der Liga zuließen. Die Playoffs endeten schließlich in einem umkämpften Halbfinale gegen die Orlando Solar Bears, das die Vipers erst im siebten und entscheidenden Spiel in der Verlängerung verloren.
Sportlicher und wirtschaftlicher Abstieg
Im Sommer 1999 gab es einige Veränderungen in der Organisation der Vipers. Ihre Betreibergesellschaft, Palace Sports and Entertainment, kaufte die NHL-Mannschaft Tampa Bay Lightning, für die die Vipers ab sofort als Farmteam fungierten. Ihr bisheriger Trainer Steve Ludzik wurde zum Cheftrainer von Tampa Bay ernannt und Paulin Bordeleau wurde sein Nachfolger in Detroit. Zudem musste die Mannschaft die Abgänge von Stan Drulia, Brad Shaw sowie der beiden Torhüter Weekes und Trefilow verkraften und durch die Abberufung von Spielern in die NHL durch die Lightning wechselte die Stammformation während der Saison häufig. Die Folge war eine sportliche Talfahrt, sodass die Vipers nach fünf sehr erfolgreichen Jahren die Saison 1999/2000 abgeschlagen auf dem letzten Platz der Liga beendeten.
Zur Saison 2000/01 übernahm der ehemalige Verteidiger Brad Shaw das Traineramt in Detroit. Währenddessen verließen auch Peter Ciavaglia und Steve Walker die Mannschaft, die nun fast ausschließlich aus unerfahrenen Spielern im Alter von Anfang 20 Jahren bestand. Die Vipers knüpften an die schlechte Saison des Vorjahres an und belegten erneut mit 25 Punkten Rückstand auf das nächstbeste Team den letzten Platz der IHL.
Die sportliche Krise hatte wirtschaftliche Folgen und die Detroit Vipers verbuchten den schlechtesten Zuschauerschnitt in der Liga. Palace Sports and Entertainment entschloss sich daraufhin ein neues Farmteam für die Tampa Bay Lightning zu suchen. Die Liga selbst hatte in den Jahren zuvor schon mit wirtschaftlichen Problemen zu kämpfen gehabt und entschied sich im Sommer 2001 den Spielbetrieb einzustellen. Zum gleichen Schritt entschlossen sich auch die Detroit Vipers.
Erfolge und Ehrungen
Vereinsrekorde
Karriere
Saison
Weblinks
Saisonstatistiken der Detroit Vipers auf hockeydb.com
Spielerliste der Detroit Vipers auf hockeydb.com
Eishockeyverein (International Hockey League)
Gegründet 1994
Aufgelöst 2001
Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL)
Salt Lake Golden Eagles (CHL)
Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL)
Organisation (Auburn Hills, Michigan)
Sportverein (Michigan) | slim_pajama |
Nucleophilicity vs Basicity [duplicate]
**This question already has answers here**:
[What's the difference between a nucleophile and a base?](/questions/20061/whats-the-difference-between-a-nucleophile-and-a-base)
(4 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
Can something be both a nucleophile and a brønsted base?
Also , I'm actually quite confused about the difference between these two terms.
by definition a nucleophile, is a lone pair donor. phile meaning 'loving'. i.e its attracted to species which are electron deficient. the term is used to describe a species in an organic mechanism.a bronsted base, is a proton accepter. Mostly in organic chemistry, you draw curly arrows, going from the nucleophile to electrophiles,most usually a electron deficient carbon. so it acts more as a Lewis base. which is a lone pair donor. however there are protons floating around in most organic reactions, also very electronegative atoms such the halogens(leaving groups). which pick up protons so i guess by defintion you could say they act as bonsted bases as well as nucleophiles. However the term nucleophile is mostly reserved for the species acting on the electrophile in an organic mechanism.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
molecular magnets have been a subject of intense experimental and theoretical studies for almost two decades , see refs.for a review .
the field belongs to mesoscopic physics as the typical length scales are between micro- and macroscopic .
such an intermediate parameter regime provides unique conditions for observing quantum and classical phenomena acting together . besides , a large magnetic spin of a single molecule makes molecular magnets natural candidates for novel magnetic storage media and quantum computing @xcite .
two prominent and well investigated materials in this research field are @xmath1-acetate and @xmath2 , both which demonstrate super - paramagnetic properties @xcite .
they both have a large spin at the ground state ( @xmath3 ) and strong magnetic anisotropy with 10 pairs of degenerated levels corresponding to positive and negative projections @xmath4 on a chosen axis , and an additional level with @xmath5 @xcite .
when an external magnetic field is applied to a sample of molecular magnets along the crystal axis , then spin orientation in the direction of the field becomes preferable . at low temperature
all molecules populate only one level ( e.g. @xmath6 ) and the magnetization reaches the saturation value . if the direction of the external magnetic field changes to the opposite one , then the former ground state of the molecules becomes metastable with an increased potential energy ( the zeeman energy ) .
an energy barrier hinders direct transition of the molecules from the metastable state to the new ground state , which , therefore , can occur as a thermal relaxation or as avalanches .
thermal relaxation goes slowly and uniformly in space for the whole sample . at temperatures of a few kelvin this process
may be neglected , since its characteristic time is rather large , e.g. , about two months for @xmath1 at 2 k @xcite .
however , many experimental works on molecular magnets demonstrated quite fast transition in a form of avalanche with the characteristic time about few milliseconds @xcite .
recent detailed studies of the avalanche revealed that the spin reversal does not happen simultaneously within the whole sample in that case , but it occurs in a narrow zone propagating as a front at a velocity of several meters per second @xcite .
the avalanche is accompanied by significant heat release similar to a deflagration wave in combustion and for this reason it was named `` magnetic deflagration '' . in slow combustion , the deflagration front corresponds to a thin zone of chemical reactions separating the cold fuel mixture and the hot burned products @xcite .
the released energy is transmitted to the cold fuel mixture due to thermal conduction ; the temperature of the fuel mixture increases , which stimulates chemical reactions .
the slow combustion front propagates in gaseous mixtures with a substantially subsonic velocity within the range from several centimeters to several meters per second @xcite .
analogously , in magnetic deflagration , the energy of chemical reactions is replaced by the zeeman energy of the molecular magnets in an external magnetic field .
the released energy is distributed to the neighboring layers by thermal conduction , which increases the temperature of the originally cold medium and leads to much higher probability of spin transition . in recent studies , garanin and
chudnovsky @xcite developed a theoretical description of a planar stationary magnetic deflagration with maximal possible release of the zeeman energy ( they called such a regime `` full burning '' ) .
since then , a number of papers have been devoted to ignition techniques and speed measurements of the magnetic deflagration in @xmath1 @xcite .
magnetic avalanches have been also observed in other materials , like the intermetallic compound @xmath7 @xcite .
however , the magnetic `` burning '' does not necessarily have to be complete . as we show in the present paper ,
the zeeman energy release depends on the external magnetic field and on the initial concentration of active molecules .
a sufficiently low energy release may lead to a new pulsating regime of magnetic deflagration .
the aim of the present work is to study the stability of a planar stationary front of magnetic deflagration . here
, we demonstrate that stationary deflagration is unstable with respect to one - dimensional perturbations if the zeeman energy release at the front is sufficiently low in comparison with the energy barrier of the spin transition .
the condition of the instability may be formulated using the zeldovich number , similar to the case of combustion of solid propellants @xcite . in the problem of magnetic deflagration ,
the zeldovich number is essentially given by the ratio of the energy barrier of the molecular magnets and the temperature at the deflagration as determined by the zeeman energy release . when the zeldovich number exceeds a certain critical value , a stationary deflagration front becomes unstable and propagates in a pulsating regime .
we obtain analytical estimates for the critical zeldovich number .
we investigate the linear stage of the instability numerically by solving the eigenvalue problem .
we study the nonlinear stage using direct numerical simulations .
we also discuss the experimental parameters required for observations of the pulsating regime .
we consider a system of molecular magnets placed in an external magnetic field taking @xmath1-acetate as a particular example .
the simplified hamiltonian of the system has been suggested to take the form @xcite @xmath8 where @xmath9 denotes the spin , @xmath10 is the magnetic anisotropy constant , @xmath11 is the gyromagnetic factor , @xmath12 is the bohr magneton , and @xmath13 is the external magnetic field . in the external magnetic field @xmath14,width=326,height=230 ] the energy levels for a molecule magnet @xmath1 in the external field of @xmath14 are depicted in fig .
1 . in fig .
1 we indicate the zeeman energy @xmath15 and the energy barrier @xmath16 of the transition from the metastable state to the ground state , which plays the role of the activation energy for magnetic deflagration ( both values are presented in temperature units ) . using the hamiltonian eq .
( [ eq1 ] ) we find how these two energies depend on the magnetic field , according to @xmath17 and @xmath18 the last term in eq .
( [ eq2 ] ) is quite small as compared to the first two terms , so the activation energy decreases with increase of the magnetic field .
however , the zeeman energy increases linearly with the magnetic field .
if the magnetic field is high enough , the energy difference between the ground state ( @xmath19 and the metastable state @xmath20 is rather large , so that all the molecules tend to occupy the lowest energy level , i.e. @xmath21 in fig .
1 . when the direction of the external magnetic field switches to the opposite one , then the ground state and the metastable state exchange places and all the molecules tend to change their spin projection to the opposite one .
garanin and chudnovsky identified such a transition as `` full burning '' of molecular magnets @xcite .
they also indicated that the regime of full burning is possible if the magnetic field is stronger than a certain critical value . still , the external magnetic field is a controlled parameter of the experiments , which allows the possibility of incomplete burning in magnetic deflagration .
we also point out that the analytical method used to calculate the magnetic deflagration speed in [ ] is rigorous only in the limit of an activation energy large compared to the energy release , a condition which is satisfied to a much better degree in the regime of incomplete burning . in the present paper
we are interested in the regime of incomplete burning in magnetic deflagration achieved for a sufficiently low external magnetic field . in that case
the zeeman energy is rather low , so that we obtain the fraction of molecules on the first energy level according to @xmath22 where total number of molecules in all energy levels corresponds to unity .
still , in the typical experimental conditions , population of levels above the first one is negligible . at the same time
, the fraction at the first level , eq . ( [ eq4 ] ) , may be significant in a low magnetic field and can not be neglected .
as we will see , the stability of magnetic deflagration is sensitive to the activation energy scaled by the energy release in the process
. this ratio increases also when the active @xmath1 molecules are `` diluted '' with some neutral media as it was performed experimentally in , e.g. , [ ] .
when mixed carefully with other compounds , the @xmath1 molecules retain their magnetic properties .
since the heat release in magnetic deflagration happens only due to active magnet molecules , then the neutral compound reduces total energy release and the final temperature of the sample , @xmath23 , thus increasing the scaled activation energy @xmath24 . as a result ,
the scaled activation energy in magnetic deflagration becomes a free parameter , which may be controlled in the experiments by the external magnetic field and by the level of dilution .
the governing equations for magnetic deflagration are @xcite @xmath25 @xmath26\ ] ] where @xmath27 is the thermal phonon energy , @xmath28 is thermal diffusion of energy , @xmath15 is the zeeman energy release in temperature units , @xmath29 indicates possible reduction of the energy release because of dilution of active molecules ( @xmath30 corresponds to zero dilution ) , @xmath31 is fraction of magnetic molecules in the metastable state , @xmath16 is the energy barrier of tunneling measured in temperature units and @xmath32 is a constant of time dimension . in magnetic deflagration
, thermal diffusion and heat capacity depend strongly on temperature .
following @xcite , we take the heat capacity in the classical form corresponding to phonons @xcite @xmath33 where @xmath34 is the debye temperature , with @xmath35 for @xmath1 , @xmath36 is the boltzmann constant , @xmath37 corresponds to the simple crystal model , @xmath38 is the problem dimension ( we take @xmath39 in most of the calculations , which corresponds to the 3d geometry ) .
dependence of thermal diffusion on temperature may be taken in the form @xmath40 , where parameter @xmath41 was considered in refs .
[ ] within the range between 0 and 13/3 .
in the present paper we take @xmath42 within the same range , and show that it has minor influence on the deflagration stability . using the definition of heat capacity , @xmath43 , we find the phonon energy as a function of temperature @xmath44 an important parameter of deflagration dynamics is determined by the ratio of the energy barrier ( in temperature units ) and the temperature in the hot region , @xmath45 .
a combustion counterpart of this value is related to the activation energy of chemical reaction , which is typically rather large . in the case of complete burning in magnetic deflagration of @xmath46
this parameter was evaluated in [ ] as @xmath47 , which is not a large value . at the same time
, this parameter may increase almost without limits at low magnetic fields and for considerable dilution of active molecular magnets .
when the ratio @xmath45 is very large , the transition from the metastable to stable states goes in a thin region where the arrhenius function in eq .
( [ eq6 ] ) is different from zero . in this limit
we may obtain an analytical solution to eqs .
( [ eq5 ] ) , ( [ eq6 ] ) by the classical method of zeldovich - frank - kamenetsky @xcite , which was applied to magnetic deflagration in [ ] . in a general case of finite @xmath48 , the system eqs .
( [ eq6 ] ) , ( [ eq6 ] ) may be solved numerically as an eigenvalue problem .
first , we calculate the final temperature in the hot region behind the magnetic deflagration front . using the energy conservation and eqs .
( [ eq4 ] ) , ( [ eq5 ] ) , ( [ eq8 ] ) we obtain @xmath49 equation ( [ eq9 ] ) determines the final temperature @xmath23 as a function of the magnetic field , the dilution factor @xmath50 and other parameters of the process .
the first terms on both sides stand for the thermal energy , though initial thermal energy is usually rather small .
the other terms indicate the fractions of molecules occupying the first energy level . in the case of full burning considered in
[ ] this equation becomes much simpler and may be solved analytically . in the case of incomplete burning , a numerical solution to eq .
( [ eq9 ] ) is required . in fig .
2 we show the numerical solution to eq .
( [ eq9 ] ) , i.e. the final temperature and the scaled activation energy versus the magnetic field for two dilution factors @xmath51 . and two dilution factors @xmath52.,width=326,height=249 ] in fig .
2 we take the initial temperature @xmath53 , though it has minor influence on the result .
the dilution factor @xmath54 stands for pure @xmath1 media , while @xmath55 means that the average energy release is 3 times lower in comparison with the pure substance .
the final temperature increases with the magnetic field , while the scaled activation energy decreases .
the change in the scaled activation energy due to the dilution factor may be also quite strong .
we consider a stationary solution to eqs .
( [ eq5 ] ) , ( [ eq6 ] ) in the form of a planar front propagating with velocity @xmath56 . to be particular , we assume that the front moves along the x - axis in the negative direction as shown in fig .
3 . taking the reference frame of the front
, we find @xmath57 @xmath58}.\ ] ] integrating eq .
( [ eq10 ] ) from the initial to final states ( labels 0 and f , respectively ) and neglected the initial thermal energy , we obtain the final energy as @xmath59 integral to eq .
( [ eq10 ] ) specifies the internal structure of the transition zone @xmath60 in the limit of a large activation energy , @xmath61 , the transition region may be presented as a surface of weak discontinuity , where energy and temperature are continuous and tend to their maximal values @xmath62 , @xmath63 , while their derivatives experience jump . in this limit one
obtains the magnetic deflagration velocity @xcite @xmath64 where @xmath65 plays the role of the zeldovich number ; the last relation in eq .
( [ eq15 ] ) follows from eqs .
( [ eq7 ] ) , ( [ eq8 ] ) and ( [ eq12 ] ) . equation ( [ eq14 ] ) for the deflagration velocity coincides with eq .
( 109 ) in ref .
[ ] . with the accuracy of a factor of @xmath66 ,
the zeldovich number shows the ratio of the activation energy and the final temperature in the deflagration front .
strictly speaking , the approach of a thin transition zone holds as long as zeldovich number is large @xmath67 , which is not applicable to the regime of full burning .
we can find the dependence of the zeldovich number upon the main experimental parameters of the problem taking into account eqs .
( [ eq2]),([eq3]),([eq7]),([eq8 ] ) and ( [ eq12 ] ) @xmath68^\frac{1}{\alpha + 1 } \times \nonumber \\ \left ( ds_{10}^{2 } - g\mu_{b } h_{z } s_{10 } + \frac{g^{2}}{4d}\mu_{b}^{2 } h_{z}^{2 } \right)\label{eq16}.\end{aligned}\ ] ] equation ( [ eq16 ] ) shows how the zeldovich number depends on the magnetic field and the dilution factor .
in particular , high values of the zeldovich number correspond to the low field strength . for a simplified quantitative estimate
one can neglect the magnetic terms in the second couple of parentheses , which provide a contribution less than few percents for fields about 0.1 t and smaller , and find an evaluation for the zeldovich number @xmath69}^ { - 1 / 4},\ ] ] where @xmath70 is the magnetic field in tesla .
in this section we obtain an analytical scaling for the 1d instability of the magnetic deflagration front in the model of a thin transition zone , i.e. at a large zeldovich number @xmath71 . in that case , according to eq .
( [ eq14 ] ) , the deflagration velocity is extremely sensitive to temperature variations in the transition zone . in comparison with the arrhenius function @xmath72 ,
all other parameters in eq .
( [ eq14 ] ) may be treated as constant .
temperature in the transition zone may vary because of the front perturbations , and the instant front velocity may be written as @xmath73 where label @xmath50 refers to the stationary case , whilst @xmath74 indicates the time - dependent temperature in the infinitely thin transition zone .
position of the transition zone , @xmath75 , in the stationary reference frame is determined by the equation @xmath76},\ ] ] where the first minus sign indicates propagation of the front in the negative direction .
boundary conditions at the transition region may be found similar to @xcite .
integrating eq .
( [ eq5 ] ) twice over the transitional zone , we obtain continuous energy and temperature @xmath77 where the labels @xmath78 correspond to hot and cold sides of the transition zone .
the first derivative of energy ( i.e. energy flux ) experiences jump at the interface as @xmath79 we investigate the linear stability of the stationary deflagration and consider small perturbations of all variables in the exponential form @xmath80 , where the growth rate @xmath81 may have both real and imaginary parts .
we solve the stability problem analytically in the limit of a thin transition zone similar to [ ] . outside the transition zone
the perturbed equations ( [ eq5])-([eq6 ] ) are @xmath82 @xmath83 behind the transition zone we have @xmath84 .
similar to the respective combustion problem @xcite , we consider first a hypothetic case of constant coefficient of thermal conduction @xmath85 .
solving eq .
( [ eq22 ] ) outside the transition zone with @xmath86 we find two modes @xmath87 @xmath88 with labels 0 and 1 indicating media ahead and behind the transition zone . in the case of magnetic deflagration , thermal conduction decreases strongly with temperature , @xmath89 .
still , the mode behind the transition zone with @xmath90 is an exact solution to the linearized eq .
( [ eq19 ] ) even in that case , since temperature behind the transition zone is uniform in the stationary deflagration . on the contrary ,
the mode ahead of the transition zone with @xmath91 is only an approximation .
similar to the combustion theory @xcite , we may define the parameter @xmath92 as the deflagration front thickness related to thermal conduction in the hot region .
at the same time , the characteristic length scale of temperature profile in the stationary deflagration increases in the cold layers as @xmath93 , which allows to consider them as quasi - uniform with respect to the perturbations .
indeed , the mode ahead of the transition zone describes decay of perturbations at the length scale @xmath94 with @xmath95 } \propto \frac{1}{l_{f } } .
% = \frac{1}{2l_{f } } + \sqrt { \frac{1}{4l_{f}^{2 } } + \frac{\sigma } { \kappa_{f } } } = \ ] ] therefore , investigating the 1d instability analytically , it is justified to consider only the heating layer of the size about @xmath96 close to the transition zone and to treat the coefficient of thermal conduction as approximately constant .
the numerical solution to the problem obtained below supports the analytical approximation .
we consider perturbations of the boundary conditions ( [ eq19 ] ) ( [ eq21 ] ) at the transition surface @xmath97 @xmath98 @xmath99 the last equation may be also modified as @xmath100 taking into account the perturbation modes .
thus , we have to solve the algebraic system of three equations ( [ eq27 ] ) , ( [ eq28 ] ) and ( [ eq30 ] ) , taking into account the modes ( [ eq25 ] ) .
after heavy but straightforward algebra we end up with a simple quadratic equation @xmath101 which is similar to the respective result in the combustion theory @xcite .
equation ( [ eq31 ] ) describes the instability growth rate as a function of the zeldovich number . according to eq .
( [ eq31 ] ) , the instability develops for @xmath102 .
close to this critical value the real part of the growth rate @xmath103 goes to zero , while the imaginary part remains finite , @xmath104 , which indicates the pulsation regime of the instability .
the obtained critical value of the zeldovich number corresponds to rather high scaled activation energy , @xmath105 , see eq .
( [ eq15 ] ) , in comparison with the values typical for the regime of full burning ref .
still , this value is attainable experimentally for smaller magnetic fields and some dilution of the active molecules . at even larger value of the zeldovich number , @xmath106
, corresponding to @xmath107 , eq . ( [ eq31 ] ) demonstrates bifurcation , so that the instability growth rate becomes purely real with zero imaginary part for @xmath108 . below we will compare the analytical scaling eq .
( [ eq31 ] ) to the numerical solution to the problem taking into account finite width of the transition zone .
in this section we solve the stability problem numerically taking into account finite width of the transition zone .
we introduce dimensionless variables and parameters @xmath109 @xmath110 and rewrite the evolution equations ( [ eq5])-([eq6 ] ) to @xmath111 , \label{eq33}\end{aligned}\ ] ] @xmath112,\ ] ] where @xmath113 is an eigenvalue of the stationary problem and the designation
@xmath114 corresponds to the ratio of zeeman and thermal energies , @xmath115 it can be shown that the parameter @xmath114 is almost a constant , @xmath116 .
we also introduce the thermal flux , @xmath117 , so that the stationary deflagration is described by the system of equations @xmath118 typical profiles of scaled concentration , temperature and energy release @xmath119\ ] ] are depicted in fig . 3 for the magnetic deflagration propagating to the left with @xmath120 . in fig .
3 , the scaled activation energy is taken rather high , @xmath121 , with the initial temperature @xmath122 . , @xmath123 , @xmath122,width=326,height=240 ] the front velocity
is determined by the eigenvalue of the problem @xmath124 in eq .
( [ eq36 ] ) , which was computed numerically using the shooting method similar to @xcite .
we can see in fig .
3 that final number of molecules in the metastable state behind the deflagration front is different from zero @xmath125 , which indicates that burning is incomplete
. initial number of molecules in the metastable state is different from unity too , @xmath126 , due to the non - zero temperature ahead of the front before switching of the magnetic field , see eq .
( [ eq4 ] ) .
figure 3 shows also that the total thickness of the deflagration front is much larger than @xmath127 .
this difference in the characteristic length scales should be attributed , first of all , to the temperature dependence of thermal conduction .
still , even in the case of constant thermal conduction typically used in combustion problems , the effective flame thickness is almost order - of - magnitude larger than the conventional definition for @xmath96 , e.g. see @xcite .
the asymptotic temperature behavior ahead of the front is described by a single differential equation , derived from eq .
( [ eq33 ] ) , assuming that @xmath128 in the cold matter @xmath129 equation ( [ eq38 ] ) determines variations of the length scale in the temperature profile .
now we consider stability of the magnetic deflagration .
we investigate dynamics of small perturbations of the stationary solution , so that all variables may be presented as @xmath130 . then the perturbed system ( [ eq36 ] )
is @xmath131 where the designation @xmath132 \nonumber \label{eq40}\end{aligned}\ ] ] has been introduced for brevity .
parameter @xmath133 stands for the scaled instability growth rate , @xmath134 . in order to specify boundary conditions for the numerical solution
, we find the decaying perturbation modes in the uniform regions , @xmath135 .
the system ( [ eq39 ] ) involves three modes in the uniform regions : one in the hot matter with @xmath136 , @xmath137 , and two in the cold matter with @xmath138 , @xmath139 .
we integrate the system ( [ eq39 ] ) numerically three times corresponding to the three perturbation modes : two times from the left ( cold ) side and one from the right ( hot ) side . at some point ,
e.g. , at the maximum of the energy release , the solutions form a matrix , with the determinant depending on the instability growth rate , @xmath133 .
the condition of zero matrix determinant specifies the growth rate @xmath133 as an eigenvalue of the system ( [ eq39 ] ) .
this method has been applied successfully in studies of different hydrodynamic instabilities , e.g. the rayleigh - taylor instability and the darrieus - landau instability of combustion and laser ablation , as well as for other plasma instabilities @xcite .
numerical solution to the stability problem is shown in fig . 4 for different values of the scaled activation energy proportional to zeldovich number as @xmath140 for a 3d problem ; other deflagration parameters are the same as used in fig .
3 . as we can see in fig .
4 , planar stationary magnetic deflagration is unstable at sufficiently large values of the scaled activation energy ; the stability limit was calculated as @xmath141 . and the perturbation frequency @xmath142 versus the scaled activation energy calculated for the same parameters as in fig .
solid lines show the domain of zero frequency ; the dashed and dotted lines correspond to the regimes when perturbations have both real ( growth rate , @xmath143 and imaginary part ( frequency , @xmath144 in the problem eigenvalue .
the dash - dotted lines present the analytical model eq .
( [ eq28 ] ) .
the markers show results of the direct numerical simulations : empty circles stand for stable region and filled triangles represent the unstable pulsating regime of the deflagration.,width=326,height=249 ] the instability domain consists of two parts separated by the bifurcation point at @xmath145 .
most of the domain ( to the right of the bifurcation point ) corresponds to purely real instability growth rate @xmath146 with two branches describing the fast and slow perturbation modes ( shown by the solid lines ) .
the instability growth rate of the fast mode increases with the scaled activation energy without any limit .
the analytical model , eq . ( [ eq31 ] ) , predicts the asymptotic increase of the growth rate for the fast mode as @xmath147 for @xmath148 .
the growth rate of the slow mode decreases with the scaled activation energy . for this reason
it is expected that the slow mode plays a noticeable role only close to the bifurcation point , where the growth rates of the fast and slow modes are comparable . in a small part of the instability domain , for intermediate values of the scaled activation energy in between the stability limit and the bifurcation point , @xmath149 , the instability growth rate is complex with the real part , @xmath146 ( dashed line ) , and imaginary part , @xmath142 ( dotted line ) .
although this part of the instability domain is rather small , it indicates the physical outcome of the instability at the nonlinear stage . because of the non - zero frequency , @xmath150 , it is natural to expect that the instability leads to a pulsating regime of magnetic deflagration at the nonlinear stage .
the analytical solution , eq .
( [ eq31 ] ) , obtained within the model of a thin transition zone ( dashed - dotted lines ) shows qualitatively the same stability properties of magnetic deflagration as the numerical solution .
still , we observe minor quantitative difference between the analytical model and the numerical solution . according to the analytical model , the stability limit and the bifurcation point
are expected at @xmath151 and @xmath107 , which differ by approximately 20 - 30% from the respective numerical values
. the limited accuracy of the analytical model is due to the simplifying approximations of 1 ) a constant coefficient of energy diffusion and 2 ) an infinitely thin zone of energy release . in particular ,
the shortcomings of the discontinuity model have been discussed in [ ] in the context of solid propellant combustion .
the numerical solution to the stability problem indicates the experimental parameters required to observe the unstable non - stationary regime of magnetic deflagration .
we plot the stability diagram in fig .
5 in @xmath152 coordinates using eq .
( [ eq17 ] ) ; the shading represents absolute value of the instability growth rate . and the magnetic field @xmath153 .
the shading shows the instability growth rate .
other solid lines correspond to the respective constant values of the zeldovich number.,width=326,height=268 ] the dashed white line in fig .
5 corresponds to the critical value of the zeldovich number ( the stability limit ) obtained numerically .
magnetic deflagration propagates stationary in the parameter domain to the right of the stability limit , in the region of a high magnetic field . to the left of the critical curve , for a low magnetic field ,
the stationary magnetic deflagration is unstable , and we expect a pulsating regime of the deflagration front .
particularly , in the case of @xmath46 with the dilution level @xmath55 one should expect the instability for the magnetic fields below @xmath154 t , which is possible to achieve experimentally . in order to understand front dynamics at the nonlinear stage of the instability ,
we perform direct numerical simulation of eqs .
( [ eq33])-([eq34 ] ) . in our simulations
we use the method of finite difference for the spatial derivatives and the common fourth order runge - kutta method for the time step integration . since the front structure is 1d
, then we were able to obtain fine front resolution together within acceptable time of computational runs .
the results of our simulations , i.e. evolution of the magnetic deflagration speed , are shown in fig . 6 for different values of the scaled activation energy .
figures 6 a , b demonstrate front behavior close to the stability limit in the stable ( a ) and unstable ( b ) parameter domain . in the first case with @xmath155 , the velocity perturbation oscillates and
decays in time , which implies a negative instability growth rate . on the contrary , in fig .
6b with @xmath156 , the amplitude of velocity oscillations grows in time , which corresponds to the instability onset . the markers in fig .
4 show the oscillation frequency of the magnetic deflagration obtained in direct numerical simulations with empty circles and filled triangles standing for the stable and unstable regimes , respectively .
as we can see , the direct numerical simulations are in a good agreement with the solution to the eigenvalue problem , which concerns both the stability limits and the oscillation frequency .
still , the instability is rather weak in fig .
6 b with the oscillations described well by the sine function .
the nonlinear effects become noticeable for higher values of the scaled activation energy with sharp peaks and smooth troughs in the oscillations as presented in fig .
6c for @xmath157 . for plots ( a ) - ( e ) ,
respectively.,title="fig:",width=326,height=163 ] for plots ( a ) - ( e ) , respectively.,title="fig:",width=326,height=163 ] for plots ( a ) - ( e ) , respectively.,title="fig:",width=326,height=163 ] for plots ( a ) - ( e ) , respectively.,title="fig:",width=326,height=163 ] for plots ( a ) - ( e ) , respectively.,title="fig:",width=326,height=163 ] the simulations explain the physical mechanism of the obtained instability .
magnetic deflagration propagates due to two effects : release of the zeeman energy in a thin transition zone and transfer of the energy to the cold layers ( preheating ) due to thermal conduction . in a stationary regime of magnetic deflagration
, these two processes work at the same rate and balance each other .
however , at high values of the activation energy , the rate of energy release is too sensitive to temperature in the transition zone .
small temperature perturbations may increase the `` burning '' rate considerably , which makes the transition zone sweep fast over the preheated matter until it comes to cold regions and stops waiting for a new portion of cold matter to be preheated .
as soon as it happens , next pulsation of the front takes place .
it is interesting that the three figures 6 a , b and c demonstrate three qualitatively different regimes of magnetic deflagration , though the activation energy changes only within 5% from plot ( a ) to plot ( c ) . in fig 6 d
we take the activation energy @xmath158 close to the bifurcation point and see a complicated front behavior at the onset of the velocity pulsations .
presumably , the complicated behavior happens because of two unstable modes with close instability growth rates at the vicinity of the bifurcation point .
still , after an initial transition period , the front pulsations resemble those of fig .
6 c. finally , taking the activation energy noticeably larger than the bifurcation point , @xmath159 , we observe even more pronounced nonlinear features in the front oscillations with even sharper peaks of large amplitude , shown in fig .
6e . the obtained results are qualitatively similar to the pulsation instability of solid propellant combustion studied in , e.g. , [ ] .
as we have shown , the scaled activation energy ( or the zeldovich number ) is the main parameter , which controls 1d stability properties of magnetic deflagration .
still , the problem involves other parameters as well , namely , power exponents @xmath38 and @xmath42 in the heat capacity and thermal conduction , respectively , and the scaled initial temperature of the system @xmath160 .
figure 7 shows the instability growth rate for different types of thermal conduction ( different values of the power exponent @xmath42 , @xmath161 . versus the scaled activation energy calculated for different values of the power exponent @xmath42 .
other parameters are @xmath162 , @xmath163 .
the inset presents the respective temperature profiles for @xmath164 and @xmath165.,width=326,height=249 ] as we can see , a particular type of the thermal conduction influences the temperature profile in the stationary magnetic deflagration noticeably in agreement with eq .
( [ eq34 ] ) , see the insert of fig .
7 . at the same time
, the stationary profiles of concentration and energy release remain the same for different values of the @xmath42-factor .
the power exponent @xmath42 determines the total length scale of the deflagration front in the cold region .
however , even considerable variations of @xmath42 modify the instability growth rate only slightly : the stability limit changes only by 5% from @xmath166 to @xmath167 ; the bifurcation point changes within 15% from @xmath168 to @xmath169 .
this result demonstrates that the perturbation modes are strongly localized around the zone of energy release within the length scale about @xmath96 as we explained in sec .
for this reason , considerable modifications of the temperature profile in the far zone on the length scales much larger than @xmath96 due to variations of @xmath42 produce a minor effect on the stability properties .
influence of the initial temperature on the instability development is even weaker . in particular , changing the scaled initial temperature from @xmath170 to @xmath171 , we find modifications of the stability properties by about 5% . unlike @xmath42 and @xmath172 , the system dimension @xmath38 ( and the power exponent in phonon heat capacity ) influences the critical values of the scaled activation energy @xmath173 considerably since it is involved in the zeldovich number according to eq .
( [ eq15 ] ) . at the same time , the critical zeldovich number changes slightly for different values of @xmath38 .
for example , we obtain the scaled activation number @xmath174 and the critical zeldovich number @xmath175 for @xmath176 , which may be compared to @xmath177 and @xmath178 found for @xmath179 .
besides , one may also expect different types of heat capacity apart from the phonon type , which may modify the power law eq . ( [ eq8 ] ) and the respective deflagration stability properties @xcite .
in this paper we have obtained 1d instability of magnetic deflagration in a medium of molecular magnets .
the main parameter of the problem is the zeldovich number , which represents the activation energy of the system ( in temperature units ) scaled by the temperature at the deflagration front with a numerical factor depending on the type of heat capacity .
we have demonstrated that the deflagration front becomes unstable when the zeldovich number exceeds a certain critical value @xmath180 .
we have obtained the analytical scaling for the instability parameters at the linear stage within the model of an infinitely thin zone of zeeman energy release .
we have also solved the eigenvalue stability problem numerically taking into account the internal structure of the deflagration front .
the numerical solution determines the experimental parameters necessary to observe the instability . besides
, we have performed direct numerical simulations , which demonstrated that the instability leads to a pulsating regime of magnetic deflagration at the nonlinear stage . | arxiv |
given sets @xmath8 of edges in a graph , a _ ( partial ) rainbow matching _ is a choice of disjoint edges from some of the @xmath9s . in other words , it is a partial choice function whose range is a matching .
if the rainbow matching represents all @xmath9s then we say that it is _
full_. for a comprehensive survey on rainbow matchings and the related subject of transversals in latin squares see @xcite . as in the abstract
, we assume the graph is bipartite and define @xmath0 to be the least number such that if @xmath10 for all @xmath11 , then there exists a full rainbow matching .
a greedy choice of representatives shows that if @xmath12 for all @xmath13 then there is a rainbow matching , namely @xmath14 . on the other hand , for every @xmath3
there exits a family @xmath15 of matchings of size @xmath1 with no full rainbow matching : for an arbitrary @xmath16 let @xmath17 be all equal to the perfect matching in the cycle @xmath18 consisting of the odd edges , and let @xmath19 be all equal to the perfect matching in @xmath18 consisting of the even edges .
this shows that @xmath20 for all @xmath3 ( in fact , this example can be modified to produce @xmath21 matchings of size @xmath1 with no rainbow matching of size @xmath1 ) . in @xcite
it was conjectured that this bound is sharp : [ main ] @xcite @xmath2 for all @xmath3 .
if true , this would easily imply : [ conj3 ] a family of @xmath1 matchings in a bipartite graph , each of size @xmath1 , has a rainbow matching of size @xmath22 .
this strengthens a famous conjecture of ryser - brualdi - stein .
[ conj1]@xcite a partition of the edges of the complete bipartite graph @xmath23 into @xmath1 matchings , each of size @xmath1 , has a rainbow matching of size @xmath22 .
another strengthening of the last conjecture is due to stein : @xcite [ conj2 ] a partition of the edges of the complete bipartite graph @xmath23 into n subsets , each of size @xmath1 , has a rainbow matching of size @xmath22 . in our terminology ,
the weaker condition that stein demands on sets @xmath9 is not that they are matchings , but that each has degree at most @xmath24 in one side of the graph , and that jointly their degree at each vertex in the other side is at most @xmath1 .
possibly the ` right ' requirement is even more general : that the degree at each vertex is at most @xmath1 , and that each @xmath9 is a set , and not a multiset , namely it does not contain repeating edges . an even more general conjecture will be presented in the last section .
successive improvements on the trivial bound @xmath14 were @xmath25 @xcite , @xmath26 @xcite and @xmath27 @xcite .
the latter was extended in @xcite to general graphs , and to the more general case in which the sets @xmath9 are not assumed to be matchings , but disjoint unions of cliques , each containing @xmath28 vertices .
pokrovskiy @xcite showed that if we add the requirement that the @xmath1 matchings are edge disjoint , then @xmath29 suffices . in this note
we prove : [ thm:3:2 ] @xmath30 .
the following was shown in @xcite : [ prop1 ] a family @xmath31 of @xmath1 matchings in a bipartite graph , each of size at least @xmath32 , has a rainbow matching of size @xmath22 .
let @xmath33 be a rainbow matching of maximal size . by proposition [ prop1 ] @xmath34 .
assume , for contradiction , that @xmath35 .
without loss of generality we may assume that @xmath36 .
for each @xmath37 let @xmath38 and @xmath39 where @xmath40 and @xmath41 .
let @xmath42 and @xmath43 be the sets of vertices of @xmath44 not covered by @xmath33 .
let @xmath45 be the subset of @xmath46 consisting of edges matching vertices in @xmath47 . since @xmath33 has maximal size , @xmath45 matches vertices in @xmath47 to @xmath48 .
let @xmath49 be the set of vertices in @xmath48 that are matched by @xmath45 .
let @xmath50 be the subset of @xmath33 that matches the elements in @xmath49 and let @xmath51 be the set of vertices in @xmath52 that are matched by @xmath50 .
our strategy is to replace some edges in @xmath50 by edges having one endpoint in @xmath53 and the other endpoint in @xmath54 , thus freeing vertices in @xmath49 .
this will allow us to add an edge from @xmath45 to the rainbow matching .
let @xmath55 . since @xmath56 and @xmath57 we have @xmath58 .
so , @xmath59 define , @xmath60 [ not:1 ] for each @xmath61 let @xmath62 be the edge of @xmath45 such that @xmath63 .
let @xmath64 be the endpoint of @xmath62 in @xmath47 ( figure [ fig1 ] ) .
[ claim:2 ] for every @xmath61 the matching @xmath9 has at most one edge between @xmath53 and @xmath47 .
suppose @xmath9 has two edges @xmath65 and @xmath66 between @xmath53 and @xmath47 .
the edge @xmath62 is disjoint from one of them , say @xmath65 .
thus , @xmath67 is a rainbow matching of size @xmath1 , contradicting the maximality of @xmath33 ( figure [ fig2a ] ) .
[ cor:2 ] each @xmath61 has at least @xmath68 edges with one endpoint in @xmath53 and the other endpoint in @xmath54 and at least @xmath69 edges with one endpoint in @xmath47 and the other endpoint in @xmath48 . in all the figures below ,
dashed lines represent edges that are candidates to be removed from the rainbow matching , and solid and dotted lines represent edges that are candidates for being added in .
[ not:1 ] for each @xmath61 let @xmath70 be the subset of @xmath9 consisting of edges with one endpoint in @xmath71 and the other in @xmath48 .
let @xmath72 be the union of @xmath49 and the set of vertices in @xmath48 that are endpoints of edges in @xmath73 .
let @xmath74 be the subset of @xmath33 that matches the elements in @xmath72 .
let @xmath75 be the set of vertices in @xmath52 that are matched by @xmath74 .
we define @xmath76 ( note that @xmath77 , @xmath78 , @xmath79 and @xmath80 . )
let @xmath81 and let @xmath82 ( it is possible that @xmath83 ) .
[ claim:2:5 ] each @xmath84 has at least @xmath85 edges with one endpoint in @xmath53 and the other endpoint in @xmath54 and at least @xmath86 edges with one endpoint in @xmath47 and the other endpoint in @xmath48 .
let @xmath87 .
we show that @xmath88 has at most two edges between @xmath53 and @xmath47 . by the definition of @xmath89
, there exists @xmath61 and an edge @xmath90 such that @xmath91 and the other endpoint @xmath92 of @xmath66 is in @xmath71 .
now suppose @xmath88 has three edges between @xmath53 and @xmath47 .
then one of them , say @xmath65 , has an endpoint in @xmath93 .
we can now augment @xmath33 by taking @xmath94 ( figure [ fig2b ] ) .
[ claim:3 ] each @xmath95 has at least @xmath96 edges with one endpoint in @xmath53 and the other endpoint in @xmath75 .
we know that @xmath97 .
hence , by ( [ eq1:1 ] ) , we have @xmath98 . by claim [ claim:2:5 ] ,
the edges of @xmath9 with one endpoint in @xmath53 and the other endpoint in @xmath54 meet at least @xmath99 edges of @xmath74 .
we shall inductively choose edges @xmath100 and @xmath101 , as follows .
without loss of generality we assume that @xmath102 . by claim [ claim:3 ]
, there exists @xmath103 connecting a vertex @xmath104 and a vertex in @xmath75 .
denote this vertex by @xmath105 , and without loss of generality we may assume that @xmath106 , where @xmath107 .
again , by claim [ claim:3 ] , @xmath108 has at least @xmath109 edges with one endpoint in @xmath110 and the other endpoint in @xmath75 .
let @xmath111 be such an edge .
we continue this way , choosing at each step an edge @xmath112 , disjoint from all @xmath113 , and belonging to the same matching as @xmath114 , with endpoints in @xmath53 and in @xmath75 , and an edge @xmath115 , such that @xmath116 .
the process ends when we have obtain a set of disjoint edges @xmath117 , each with endpoints in @xmath53 and in @xmath75 , and a set of distinct edges @xmath118 such that @xmath116 for @xmath119 , and for each @xmath11 , @xmath112 and @xmath114 belong to the same matching ( without loss of generality we assume that @xmath120 for @xmath119 , and @xmath121 ) , so that one of two options holds : 1 .
@xmath122 and the matching @xmath123 has an edge @xmath124 with one endpoint in @xmath125 such @xmath126 for some @xmath127 , or 2 .
@xmath128 .
( note that by claim [ claim:3 ] one of these two options must hold . ) in case ( 1 ) the partial rainbow matching @xmath33 can be augmented as follows : if @xmath61 for some @xmath129 , then @xmath130 is a full rainbow matching ( figure [ fig3a ] ) . if @xmath131 for all @xmath132 , then , by the definition of @xmath89 , there exists @xmath133 and an edge @xmath134 so that @xmath135 . in this case
@xmath136 is a full rainbow matching ( figure [ fig3b ] ) .
( note that @xmath65 and @xmath137 are disjoint by the definition of @xmath138 . ) in case ( 2 ) let @xmath139 .
then , @xmath140 is a partial rainbow matching of size @xmath141 , since it excludes the matchings @xmath123 and @xmath46 .
we shall augment @xmath140 with edges from @xmath123 and @xmath46 respectively , having endpoints in @xmath47 and @xmath72 .
[ claim:4 ] if @xmath61 , then the size of the set @xmath142 is at least 2 .
let @xmath143 be the set of endpoints in @xmath48 of the edges in @xmath70 .
note that @xmath144 ( corollary [ cor:2 ] ) , @xmath145 ( since @xmath146 ) , and @xmath147 . recall that for each edge @xmath148 its endpoint in @xmath48 was denoted @xmath149 . since @xmath150 , the claim follows .
there are two sub - cases to consider : ( 2a ) @xmath151 , and ( 2b ) @xmath152 .
( 2a ) assume @xmath151 . by claim [ claim:4 ] ,
there exists and edge @xmath153 connecting a vertex in @xmath154 with some @xmath155 , which is the endpoint in @xmath156 of some @xmath157 . since @xmath128 and @xmath158 , at least four of the edges in @xmath159 are in @xmath50 ( actually , three are enough in this case ) . for at least one of these four edges ,
say @xmath114 , its corresponding @xmath62 ( the edge of @xmath45 meeting @xmath114 in @xmath156 ) avoids both endpoints of @xmath65 .
then , @xmath160 is a rainbow matching of size @xmath1 ( figure [ fig4a ] ) .
( 2b ) assume @xmath152 and let @xmath161 be the subset of @xmath123 consisting of edges having one endpoint in @xmath47 and one endpoint in @xmath48 . by claim [ claim:2:5 ] ,
since @xmath163 , there is an edge @xmath164 sharing an endpoint with an edge @xmath165 .
assume first that @xmath166 .
as in the previous paragraph , there exists @xmath62 disjoint from @xmath167 and @xmath65 , so that @xmath160 is a rainbow matching of size @xmath1 .
now assume that @xmath168 and let again @xmath65 be the edge of @xmath123 sharing an endpoint with @xmath167 . since @xmath165 , there exists , by claim [ claim:4 ] , an edge @xmath169 , disjoint from @xmath65 , sharing an endpoint with some @xmath170 with @xmath127 .
since @xmath171 , there exists an edge @xmath172 , avoiding both endpoints of @xmath173 and the endpoint of @xmath65 in @xmath47 , such that @xmath174 .
then , @xmath175 is a rainbow matching of size @xmath1 ( figure [ fig4b ] ) .
this completes the proof .
a rainbow matching for sets @xmath9 of edges in a graph is in fact a matching in a @xmath176-uniform hypergraph , with a special set of vertices , each representing a set @xmath9 .
a hypergraph is called _ simple _ if it does not contain repeating edges .
if we want to indicate explicitly that a hypergraph is not necessarily simple , we say that it is a _
multihypergraph_. given a hypergraph @xmath177 and a set @xmath178 of vertices , let @xmath179 and @xmath180 .
let @xmath181 be the maximal size of a matching in @xmath177 . to obtain this theorem from the conjecture , duplicate the set @xmath186 , calling @xmath187 the duplicate of every vertex @xmath188 , and adding , for every edge @xmath189 , the edge @xmath190 .
in fact , it is possible that conjecture [ verygeneral ] may be true for all @xmath176-uniform hypergraphs in which every edge meets the special set @xmath191 at precisely one vertex .
this case of the conjecture would imply the following conjecture of barat , gyarfas and sarkozy : let @xmath177 be an @xmath193-uniform hypergraph in which there is a set @xmath191 of vertices such that every edge meets @xmath191 at precisely one vertex .
for every subset @xmath194 of @xmath191 let @xmath195=\{f \subseteq v\setminus a \mid f \cup \{a\ } \in h~~{\text for~some~ } a \in a ' \}$ ] .
if @xmath196 ) > ( r-1)(|a'|-1)$ ] for every subset @xmath194 of @xmath191 then @xmath197 .
here topology can possibly go a bit further . in the case that @xmath177 is @xmath176-partite with @xmath191 being one of the sides , theorem [ half ] follows directly from the result of @xcite that in a @xmath176-partite hypergraph @xmath203 . in @xcite
a characterization of the equality case in this theorem was proved , from which it follows that if @xmath204 then in case of equality in theorem [ half ] the hypergraph is not simple : in fact every edge repeats at least @xmath205 times .
this poses the following challenge : | arxiv |
Candy Candy 1. Chapter 1
**Bien como se los mencione, aqui esta el nuevo fic, encontraran que esta historia se centra en otros personajes de CC, pero no se preocupes chicas, que otros personajes tambien haran su aparición. Espero les agrade, saludos y nos seguimos leyendo...**
**Disclaimer: Los personajes que aparecen en este fic son propiedad de Naoko Takeuchi, la historia pertenece a Chritine Feehan, y fue adaptada por mi, sin fines lucrativos, solo con el deseo de entretener a los fans.**
* * *
><p><strong>CAPITULO 1<strong>
La noche estaba viva latiendo con el pulso de incontables multitudes. Caminó entre ellos, sin ser visto, indetectable, moviéndose con la fluida gracia de un depredador de la jungla. Su esencia le invadía la nariz. Ropa perfumada. Dulce. Champú. Jabón. Alcohol. Drogas. SIDA. El dulce e insidioso olor de la sangre. Había mucha en esta ciudad. Ganado, oveja, presas. La ciudad era el lugar de caza perfecto.
Pero se sentía bien ese día, aunque la sangre le susurraba, tentándole con la promesa de fuerza y poder, el seductor frenesí de la excitación, se abstuvo de satisfacer sus deseos. Después de tantos siglos de caminar por la tierra, sabía que las promesas susurradas estaban vacías. Ya tenía una fuerza y poder enormes, y sabía que el frenesí, aunque podía ser adictivo, era la misma ilusión que proporcionaban las drogas en los humanos.
El estadio de esta moderna ciudad era enorme, con miles de personas aglomeradas dentro. Caminó pasando a los guardias sin dudar, con la seguridad de que no podrían detectar su presencia.
El espectáculo de magia que combinaba escapismo, desaparición y misterio estaba casi finalizando, y conteniendo el aliento un silencio de anticipación había caído sobre la multitud. Sobre el escenario una columna de niebla rosa surgió desde el punto donde, un momento antes, la maga había estado en pie.
Se mezcló entre las sombras, su mirada gris pálida recorrió el escenario. Entonces ella emergió de la niebla, la fantasía, el sueño de todo hombre, de calidas y húmedas noches. De raso y seda. Mística, misteriosa, una mezcla de inocencia y seducción, se movía con la gracia de una encantadora. El espeso cabello cobrizo caía en cascada formando ondas hasta sus delgadas caderas. Un vestido blanco de estilo Victoriano cubría su cuerpo, moldeando sus altos y turgentes pechos así como su delgado tórax y la estrecha y diminuta cintura. Pequeños botones de perlas bajaban por la parte delantera del vestido, abiertos a partir de los muslos, revelando incitantes vistazos de piernas bien formadas. Gafas oscuras de fabricación especial ocultaban sus ojos pero atraían la atención a la lujuriosa boca, los dientes perfectos, los pómulos clásicos.
Carry Grandchester, una de las más grandes magas del mundo.
Él había soportado casi mil años de negro vacío, sin alegría, sin rabia, sin deseo, sin emoción. Nada, excepto la bestia agazapada, hambrienta, insaciable. Nada más que la oscuridad, la mancha que se extendía por su alma. Sus pálidos ojos se deslizaron sobre la pequeña y perfecta figura, y la necesidad le invadió. Dura. Hambrienta. Dolorosa. Su cuerpo se inflamó, se endureció, cada músculo se tensó, caliente y doloroso. Sus dedos se cerraron lentamente alrededor del respaldo de un asiento del estadio, hundiéndose profundamente, dejando las impresiones visibles de los dedos de un hombre en el metal. La transpiración bañaba su frente. Permitió que el dolor pasara sobre él, a través de él. Lo saboreó. _Lo sintió._
Su cuerpo no sólo la quería. La exigía, ardía por ella. La bestia elevó la cabeza y la miró, marcándola, reclamándola. El hambre surgió brusca, peligrosa, ferozmente. Sobre el escenario, dos asistentes empezaron a encadenarla, tocando con sus manos la suave piel de Carry sus cuerpos la rozaban. Un gruñido bajo retumbó en su garganta; sus ojos brillaron de un fiero rojo. En ese momento mil años de autocontrol explotaron, liberando a un peligroso depredador. Nadie estaba a salvo, mortal o inmortal, y él lo sabía.
Sobre el escenario, la cabeza de Carry se alzó y giró alrededor examinando el escenario como si estuviera olfateando el peligro, un pequeño cervatillo atrapado en una trampa, corriendo hacia la tierra.
Sus entrañas se tensaron. Sentimientos. Oscuro deseo. Cruda lujuria. Una profunda y primitiva necesidad le poseyó. Cerró los ojos e inhaló bruscamente. Olió el miedo de ella y le complació. Habiéndose considerado perdido por toda la eternidad, no le importaba que sus sentimientos fueran tan intensos que bordearan la violencia. Eran genuinos y estaba disfrutando la capacidad de sentir, sin importar lo peligroso que fuera. No tenía importancia haberla marcado injustamente, que ella no le perteneciera legítimamente, que hubiera manipulado el resultado de su unión incluso antes de su nacimiento, haber roto las leyes de su gente para tenerla. Nada de eso importaba. Sólo que era suya al fin.
Sintió su búsqueda mental; le rozó como las alas de una hermosa mariposa. Pero era uno de los ancianos, poderoso y conocedor más allá de los límites de la Tierra. Era ese del que su gente hablaba en susurros, con temor, con miedo, con terror. _El Oscuro_. A pesar de su premonición de peligro, ella no tenía oportunidad de encontrarle hasta que él lo permitiera.
Sus labios se retiraron con un silencioso gruñido cuando el asistente rubio pasó una mano por la cara de Carry y dejó un beso en su frente antes de encerrarla, encadenada e inmovilizada dentro de una bóveda de acero. Los colmillos surgieron de su boca, y la bestia dirigió al hombre la fría mirada sin pestañear de un asesino. Deliberadamente enfocó la garganta del rubio permitiéndole sentir durante solo un momento la agonía del estrangulamiento. El hombre se sujetó la garganta y tropezó, después se recuperó, llevando aire a sus pulmones. Echó una rápida y nerviosa mirada alrededor, intentando en vano ver algo entre la audiencia. Todavía sin aliento y alarmado, retrocedió para ayudar a bajar la bóveda a una cámara inundada de agua.
El depredador invisible gruñó su advertencia suavemente, un sonido mortalmente amenazador que sólo el rubio podría oír. El hombre sobre el escenario palideció visiblemente y murmuró algo al otro asistente, que sacudió la cabeza rápidamente con el ceño ligeramente fruncido.
Mientras la vuelta de sus sentimientos divertía al antiguo, la pérdida de su control era peligrosa, incluso para él. Volvió la espalda a la actuación y salió del estadio, cada paso que se alejaba de Carry era doloroso. Aun así, aceptaba el dolor, regocijándose en su capacidad de sentirlo.
Sus primeros cien años habían sido una salvaje orgía de sentimientos, sensaciones, poder, deseos e incluso bondad. Pero lenta e implacablemente, la oscuridad que amenazaba el alma de un hombre de los Cárpatos sin compañera le había reclamado. Las emociones se marchitaron, los colores desaparecieron, hasta que simplemente existió. Experimentó, encontró conocimiento y poder, y pagó el precio por ellos. Se alimentó, cazó y mató cuando lo juzgó apropiado. Y siempre la oscuridad se espesaba, amenazando con corromper su alma para siempre, con convertirle en uno de los condenados, un no-muerto.
_Ella_ era inocente. Había risa en ella, compasión, bondad. Era la luz para su oscuridad. Una amarga sonrisa curvó su boca sensual, marcada de crueldad. Sus fuertes y nervudos músculos se tensaron. Se echó hacia atrás el espeso y negro pelo. Su cara se volvió dura e implacable, tal y como él era. Sus pálidos ojos, que fácilmente controlaban a los mortales, que los sostenía, los embrujaba, se convirtieron en los ojos de la muerte, el plateado relució como acero frío. Incluso en la distancia sintió el estruendoso aplauso que agitó la tierra, el rugido de aprobación que señalaba la escapada de Carry de la bóveda inundada. Se confundió en la noche, una sombra siniestra imposible de detectar para los humanos o para su gente. Su paciencia era la de la tierra, su impasibilidad la de las montañas. Permaneció en pie sin moverse en medio de la locura de las multitudes que se vertían alrededor del estadio y dentro de sus coches en los aparcamientos, creando el inevitable atasco de tráfico. Sabía dónde estaba ella en cada momento, había asegurado su vínculo cuando era todavía una niña. Y ni siquiera la muerte podría romper el lazo que había forjado entre ellos. Ella había puesto un océano entre los dos, huyendo lejos hacia el país de nacimiento de su madre, América, y en su inocencia había pensado que estaba a salvo.
El paso del tiempo significaba poco para él. Inhaló profundamente, bebiendo su esencia. Se estiró, una pantera acercándose furtivamente a su presa. Podía oír su suave risa, baja, musical e inolvidable. Estaba caminando con el asistente rubio, vigilando como sus cosas eran embaladas y cargadas en los camiones. Aunque los dos estaban todavía en el edificio y a gran distancia de él, podía oír su conversación sin esfuerzo.
- Me alegro de que la gira haya terminado finalmente. - Dijo Carry con voz fatigada en el muelle de carga, bajando las escaleras, y observando como los hombres elevaban la bóveda de acero dentro del enorme camión. - ¿Hemos ganado tanto dinero como pensaste que ganaríamos? - Fastidió gentilmente a su asistente. Ambos sabían que a ella no le importaba el dinero y nunca prestaba la mínima atención al lado financiero de las cosas. Sin Peter Sander para hacerse cargo de los detalles, probablemente habría quebrado.
- Más de lo que pensé. Podemos decir que ha sido un éxito. - Peter sonrió abiertamente hacia ella. - Supongo que San Francisco es una ciudad fabulosa. ¿Por qué no pasamos unas vacaciones aquí? Podemos hacer todas las rutas turísticas en coche, el Golden Gate, Alcatraz. No podemos dejar pasar esta oportunidad, puede que nunca volvamos de nuevo.
- Yo no. - Declinó Carry, apartándose un poco cuando Peter se aproximó un paso hacia ella. - Estoy poniéndome al día con el descanso. Puedes contarme como es todo eso.
- Carry... - Suspiró Peter pesadamente. - Te estoy invitando a salir.
Ella se sentó recta, quitándose las gafas oscuras, y mirándole directamente. Pesadamente, enmarcados por largas pestañas negros, sus ojos eran de un profundo azul, casi violeta, con estrazas vetas esmeralda irradiando a través de ellos como estrellas. Como siempre, cuando le miraba directamente, Peter sintió una extraña desorientación, como si estuviera cayendo, ahogándose, perdido en el brillo de las estrellas de sus ojos.
- Oh, Peter. - Su voz era suave, musical, hipnotizadora. Era una de las cosas que la habían conducido al estrellato tan rápidamente. Podía cautivar a una audiencia sin esfuerzo solo con su voz. - Todo nuestro sexapil y el coqueteo en el show es sólo una actuación. Somos amigos, y trabajamos juntos, y eso es todo para mí. Durante mi niñez, lo más cercano que tuve nunca a un mejor amigo fue un lobo. - No agregó que todavía pensaba en la piel enmarañada del lobo cada día. - No voy a arriesgar una relación que valoro por intentar hacer de ella algo más.
Peter pestañeó y sacudió la cabeza para aclararla. Ella siempre sonaba tan increíblemente lógica, tan convincente. Siempre que lo miraba, era imposible estar en desacuerdo con nada de lo que decía. Podía robarle el alma tan fácilmente como robó su aliento.
- ¿Un lobo? ¿Uno de verdad?
Ella asintió.
Cuando era joven, vivíamos en una parte muy remota de las Montañas de los Cárpatos. No había niños con los que jugar. Un día un pequeño cachorro de lobo vagó fuera de los bosques cercanos a nuestra casa. Jugaba siempre conmigo y nunca estaba sola. - Había un débil dolor en su voz ante el recuerdo de su perdido amigo animal. - Parecía saber cuándo le necesitaba, cuando estaba triste o solitaria. Siempre era gentil. Incluso cuando le salían los dientes, solo me mordía algunas veces. - Se frotó el brazo recordando, las yemas de sus dedos dibujaron las marcas con una caricia inconsciente. –
Cuando creció, se volvió mi compañero constante; éramos inseparables. Nunca tuve miedo en los bosques por la noche porque él estaba siempre allí para protegerme. Era enorme, de piel negra y espesa, e inteligentes ojos grises que me miraban como si me entendiera. Algunas veces tenía un aspecto tan solemne que parecía cargar el peso del mundo a su espalda. Cuando tomé la decisión de venir a América, fue duro dejar a mis padres, pero me rompió el corazón dejar a mi lobo. Antes de partir, lloré tres noches seguidas, con mis brazos alrededor de su cuello. Nunca se movió, ni una vez, como si entendiera y estuviera lamentándose también. Si hubiera habido alguna forma, me lo hubiera traído conmigo. Pero necesitaba ser libre.
- ¿Me estás contando la verdad? ¿Un lobo de verdad? - Preguntó Peter incrédulo.- Aunque podría creer que Carry pudiera domar a un hombre o bestia fácilmente, estaba asombrado por el comportamiento del animal. - Pensé que los lobos eran tímidos con la gente. No es que haya conocido a muchos de ellos, al menos de la variedad de cuatro patas.
Ella sonrió fugazmente.
- Era grande y podía ser fiero, pero mi lobo era de todo menos tímido conmigo. Por supuesto, no estaba nunca en realidad cerca de nadie más, ni siquiera de mis padres. Galopaba a los bosques si alguien se acercaba. Aunque, permanecía vigilando de lejos hasta estar seguro que yo estaba a salvo. Podía ver sus ojos reluciendo en el bosque, observando, y haciéndome sentir a salvo.
Notando que ella había logrado distraerle, Peter deliberadamente apartó la mirada de ella, apretando los puños con determinación.
- No es natural, la forma en que vives, Carry. Te aíslas a ti misma de cualquier relación íntima.
- Nosotros somos íntimos. - señaló ella gentilmente. - Te apreció mucho, Peter, como a un hermano. Siempre quise tener un hermano.
- No lo soy, Carry. Ni siquiera nos das una oportunidad. ¿Y a quién más tienes en tu vida? Yo te escolto a las fiestas y entrevistas. Superviso la contabilidad y arreglo las citas y me encargo de que se paguen las cuentas. La única cosa que no hago es dormir contigo.
Un gruñido bajo retumbó amenazador a través de la noche, enviando escalofrío en espiral bajando por la espina dorsal de Peter. La cabeza de Carry se alzó, y miró cautelosamente a su alrededor. Peter se puso en pie, escudriñando hacia los camiones que se apartaban del muelle de carga.
- ¿Has oído eso? - Extendió una mano hacia abajo para poner en pie a Carry, sus ojos buscaban frenéticamente en cada sombra. - No te lo conté, pero ocurrió la cosa más rara durante el show. - Estaba susurrando como si la misma noche tuviera oídos. - Después de ponerte en la bóveda, se me cerró la garganta. Fue como si algo tuviera sus manos alrededor de mi garganta, algo muy poderoso. Sentí una furia asesina dirigida directamente hacia mí. - Se pasó una mano por el pelo y rió nerviosamente. - Mi estúpida imaginación, lo sé. Pero oí exactamente el mismo gruñido en mi cabeza. Es una locura, Carry, pero sentí como si estuviera advirtiéndome que me alejara de ti.
- ¿Por qué no me lo dijiste? - Exigió ella, con miedo en los ojos.
Sin advertencia las luces de la zona de carga se apagaron, dejándoles en total oscuridad. Los dedos de Carry se apretaron sobre los de Peter, y él tuvo el claro presentimiento de que estaban siendo observados, incluso cazados. Su coche estaba a una gran distancia, el estacionamiento estaba cubierto por la oscuridad. ¿Dónde estaban los guardias de seguridad?
- Peter, tenemos que salir de aquí. Si te digo que corras, hazlo, y no mires atrás, pase lo que pase. - Su voz era baja y exigente, lo suficiente como para que por un momento no pensara en nada más que en complacerla. Pero su pequeño cuerpo, tan cercano al suyo, estaba temblando y la caballerosidad ganó.
- Quédate a mi lado, cariño. Tengo un mal presentimiento con esto. - Advirtió Peter. Como todas las celebridades, Carry sufría su cuota de amenazas y perseguidores. Se había ganado unos pocos millones, eso sin mencionar la misteriosa y sexy imagen que exhalaba. Carry tenía un efecto extraño e hipnotizador en los hombres, como si su recuerdo los atormentara por toda la eternidad.
Carry gritó una advertencia un latido de corazón antes de que algo golpeara a Peter con fuerza en el pecho, sacando el aire de sus pulmones y arrancando su mano de la de ella. Gruñó, su pecho ardía, sintiéndose como si una tonelada de ladrillos le hubiera aplastado. Sus ojos se encontraron con los de Carry y pudo ver el terror en ellos. Algo enormemente fuerte le cogió, tirando de él treinta pies hacia atrás, sacándole el brazo de su sitio, rompiendo los huesos como ramitas. Gritó, sintiendo un aliento caliente en el cuello.
Carry susurró su nombre, cubrió la distancia entre ellos de un sólo salto, y se lanzó sobre su atacante. La golpeó tan fuerte en la cara que salió volando como una muñeca de trapo por el muelle de carga hacia el asfalto del aparcamiento. Aunque se retorció ágilmente en medio del aire y aterrizó sobre sus pies como una gata, su cabeza estaba aturdida y danzaban puntos blancos ante ella. Antes de que pudiera recobrarse, la bestia atacó a Peter hundiendo los colmillos en su garganta, rasgando y desgarrando, después engulló la rica sangre que brotaba de la terrible herida. Peter se las arregló para volver la cabeza, esperando un lobo o al menos un enorme perro. Unos ojos rojos relucían hacia él malignamente desde una blanca y esquelética cara. Peter murió con agonía y terror, con el temor y la culpa de que falló al proteger a Carry.
2. Chapter 2
**CAPITULO 2**
Con un bajo y venenoso silbido, la criatura tiró descuidadamente a un lado el cuerpo de Peter, que aterrizó a unos pocos pies de Carry, la sangre formaba una espesa piscina, extendiéndose lentamente a través del asfalto. La bestia levantó la cabeza y giró hacia ella, sonriendo horriblemente, revelando triunfantemente sus puntiagudos dientes.
Ella retrocedió, su corazón latía de miedo. Apresada por el dolor tan bruscamente que durante un momento no pudo respirar. _Peter._ Su primer amigo humano en sus veintitrés años de vida. Muerto por su culpa. Observó al delgado extraño que lo había matado.
La sangre de Peter manchaba su cara y dientes. Obscenamente, su lengua se extendió hacia a fuera y lamió las manchas rojas de sus labios. Sus ojos ardieron hacia ella, mofándose.
- Te encontré primero. Sabía que lo haría.
- ¿Por qué le has matado? - Había horror en su voz.
El rió, lanzándose por el aire y aterrizando a unos pocos pies de ella.
- Deberías intentarlo alguna vez; todo ese miedo fluyendo por el riego sanguíneo con la adrenalina. No hay nada como eso. Me gusta que me mires, sabiendo lo que va a pasar.
- ¿Qué quieres? - Nunca apartaba sus ojos o su mente de él, su cuerpo permanecía inmóvil y preparado, perfectamente equilibrado.
- Seré tu marido. Tu compañero. - Había una amenaza en su voz. - Tu padre, el gran Terry Grandchester, tendrá que revocar la sentencia de muerte que pronunció contra mí. El largo brazo de su justicia no lo es lo bastante como para alcanzar San Francisco, ¿verdad?
Ella alzó la barbilla.
- ¿Y si digo no?
- Entonces te tomaré de la forma dura. Podría ser un cambio divertido después de todas esas simples mujeres humanas, marionetas que suplican por complacerme.
Su depravación la enfermaba.
- No te suplican. Les quitas su libertad. Es la única forma que en la que podrías conseguir una mujer. - Puso todo el aborrecimiento y desprecio de lo que era capaz en su voz.
La asquerosa sonrisa se marchitó en sus insustanciales rasgos, dejando una fea caricatura de hombre, una criatura salida de las mismas entrañas del infierno. Su aliento escapó en un largo silbido.
- Pagarás por esa falta de respeto. - Arremetió contra ella.
Una sombra oscura se movió surgiendo de la noche, músculos tensándose como acero bajo una elegante camisa de seda. La sombra se deslizó delante de Carry como un escudo, obligándola a permanecer tras él. Una larga mano le rozó la cara donde su atacante la había golpeado. El toque fue breve aunque increíblemente tierno, y el contacto momentáneo pareció llevarse el dolor con él cuando los dedos del recién llegado resbalaron lejos de su piel. Sus ojos pálidos y plateados se hundieron en la esquelética criatura.
- Buenas noches, Roberto. Veo que has cenado bien. - Su voz era agradable, culta, suave, incluso hipnótica.
Carry contuvo un sollozo estrangulado. Instantáneamente sintió un revoloteo en su mente, un flujo de calidez, el sentimiento de unos brazos sosteniéndola a su fuerza resguardo.
George. - Gruñó Roberto, Sus ojos brillaban con ansias de sangre. - Había oído rumores sobre el peligroso George, el Oscuro, el hombre murciélago de los Cárpatos. Pero no te temo. - Era una bravata, y ellos lo sabían, su mente corría buscando frenéticamente una salida.
George sonrió, una pequeña mueca sin humor, que trajo un indistinto destello cruel a sus ojos. - Obviamente nunca has aprendido modales en la mesa. En todos tus largos años, Roberto ¿qué más has fallado en aprender?
El aliento de Roberto escapó en un largo y lento silbido. Su cabeza empezó a ondular lentamente de un lado a otro. Sus uñas se alargaron, convirtiéndose en garras como afiladas navajas de afeitar.
_Carry,__ cuando ataque, sal de este lugar._ Fue una imperiosa orden en su mente.
_Fue mi amigo a quien mató, yo la que fui amenazada._ Iba contra sus principios permitir que algún otro luchara sus batallas y quizás fuera herido o muerto en su lucha. No dejaba de pensar por qué era tan fácil y natural hablar con George, el más temible de los ancestrales Cárpatos, por una senda mental que no era la senda común de comunicación de su gente.
_Harás lo que te digo, ma petite._ La orden fue dada en su mente con el mismo tono calmado impregnado de indelegable autoridad. Carry contuvo el aliento, temiendo desafiarle. Roberto podía pensar que estaba preparado para enfrentarse a un Cárpato tan poderoso como George pero ella sabía que ella no lo estaba. Era joven, una aficionada en las artes de su gente.
- No tienes derecho a interferir, George. - Exclamó Roberto, sonando como un mimado y petulante chiquillo. - Ella no ha sido reclamada.
Los ojos pálidos de George se entrecerraron reluciendo fría plata.
- Es mía, Roberto. La reclamé hace muchos años. Es mi compañera.
Roberto dio un cauteloso paso a la izquierda.
- Su unión no ha sido oficialmente aceptada. Te mataré y ella me pertenecerá.
- Lo que has hecho aquí es un crimen contra la humanidad. Lo que habrías hecho a mi mujer es un crimen contra nuestra gente, nuestras preciadas mujeres, y contra mí personalmente. La justicia tehaseguido hasta San Francisco, y la sentencia que nuestro Príncipe Terry pronunció sobre ti será ejecutada. El golpe que asestaste a mi compañera por si solo haría ganar tu destino. - George nunca elevó la voz, nunca perdió su débil y burlona sonrisa.
-Vete, Carry.
-No permitiré que te haga daño cuando es a mí a quien busca.
La suave risa de George resonó en su cabeza. No hay posibilidad de que eso ocurra, ma petite. Ahora haz lo que digo, y vete. Quería que se fuera antes de presenciar la casual destrucción de la abominación que se había atrevido a golpear a una mujer. Su mujer. Carry ya le temía bastante.
- Voy a matarte. - Dijo Roberto en voz alta, fanfarroneando para reunir coraje.
- Entonces no puedo hacer nada más que permitirte intentarlo. - Replicó George complacientemente. Su voz cayó un octavo más abajo, haciéndose hipnótica. - Eres lento, Roberto, lento y torpe, demasiado incompetente para alguien con mis habilidades. - Su sonrisa era cruel y levemente burlona.
Era imposible evitar escuchar la cadencia de la voz de George. Encontraba su camino hasta el interior del cerebro y nublaba la mente. Inmóvil, alto y poderoso con una muerte fresca, lleno de lujuria y de la necesidad de conquistar, Roberto se lanzó hacia George.
George simplemente ya no estaba allí. Había empujado a Carry tan lejos de ellos como era posible, y como una mancha borrosa despectivamente marcó la cara de Roberto con cuatro profundos surcos, marcándole en el punto exacto que en había magullado la cara de Carry.
La suave y burlona risa de George envió escalofríos por la espina dorsal de Carry. Podía oír los sonidos de la batalla, los gemidos de dolor mientras George fría, implacablemente y sin piedad cortaba a Roberto en pedazos. La pérdida de sangre debilitaba a la criatura. Comparado con George, era torpe y lento.
Carry se apretó los nudillos contra la boca y retrocedió varios pasos, pero no podía apartar los ojos de la cara pétrea de George. Era una máscara implacable, con su sonrisa débil y burlona y los pálidos ojos de la muerte. Nunca cambiaba de expresión. Su asalto era la cosa más fría e implacable que ella hubiera presenciado. Cada cuchillada deliberada contribuía a la debilidad de Roberto hasta que estuvo literalmente cubierto de miles de cortes. Ni una sólo vez fue capaz Roberto de poner una mano o garra sobre George. Estaba claro que no tenía ninguna posibilidad, que George podía dar el golpe mortal en cualquier momento.
Ella miró hacia Peter, sin vida sobre el asfalto. Había sido un gran amigo para ella. Le había amado como a un hermano, y ahora yacía insensatamente muerto. Carry finalmente huyó horrorizada cruzando el aparcamiento, refugiándose en los árboles que lo rodeaban. Se sentó en el suelo. Oh, Peter.
Esto era culpa suya. Había pensado que había dejado el mundo de los vampiros y los Cárpatos atrás. Inclinó la cabeza, su estómago se revolvió en protesta por la fría brutalidad de este mundo. Ella no era como esas criaturas. Las lágrimas se enredaron en sus pestañas y corrieron por su cara.
Repentinamente un relámpago estalló y danzó, un látigo blanco azulado cruzó el cielo. Una luz anaranjada de pronto acompañó a un crujido de llamas. Carry se cubrió la cara con las manos, sabiendo que George había destruido el cuerpo de Roberto completamente. Su corazón y su corrompida sangre tenían que ser reducidos a cenizas para asegurar que el vampiro no pudiera levantarse de nuevo. Y ningún Cárpato, ni siquiera uno convertido en vampiro, debía ser expuesto a una autopsia realizada por un médico humano.
Las pruebas físicas de su existencia en manos de los humanos serían peligrosas para toda su raza. Apretó sus ojos cerrados e intentó apartar el olor de la carne quemada. Peter, también, tendría que ser incinerado para esconder la terrible herida abierto en su garganta, evidencia de la presencia del vampiro.
Hubo un gentil revoloteo del aire a su lado. Entonces los dedos de George se curvaron alrededor de su brazo y tiró de ella para ponerla en pie. De cerca parecía incluso más poderoso, completamente invencible. Su brazo le rodeó los hombros y la arrastró contra la sólida pared de su pecho. Con el pulgar tocó las lágrimas sobre su cara; con la barbilla acarició la parte alta de su cabeza.
- Lo siento llegué demasiado tarde para salvar a tu amigo. Para cuando fui consciente de la presencia del vampiro, había ya atacado. - No añadió que había estado demasiado ocupado redescubriendo sus emociones y manteniéndolas bajo control para sentir a Roberto inmediatamente. Era su primer desliz en mil años, y no estaba preparado para examinar la razón demasiado de cerca. ¿Culpa, quizás, por la química manipulada que tenía con Carry?
La mente de Carry tocó suavemente la suya y encontró genuino pesar por su dolor.
- ¿Cómo me encontraste?
- Siempre se dónde estás en cada momento. Hace cinco años dijiste que necesitabas tiempo, y te lo di. Pero nunca te he dejado.
- No hagas esto, George. Sabes cómo me siento. He creado una nueva vida para mí misma.
Su mano, gentil sobre el pelo de ella, la hacía sentir mariposas en el estómago.
- No puedes cambiar lo que eres. Eres mi compañera, y es hora de que vengas conmigo. Su voz mantuvo la convulsión de suave terciopelo cuando susurro compañera, reforzando su indebido toque con naturalidad. Por más que lo dijera, por más que Carry no lo creyera. En realidad, de repente veía en colores y sentía emociones porque había encontrado a su compañera. Pero George también sabía que había programado su química para que fueran compatibles antes de que naciera; ella nunca había tenido ninguna posibilidad.
Los dientes de ella mordían su labio inferior a causa de la agitación.
- No puedes tomarme contra mi voluntad, George. Va contra nuestras leyes.
Él inclinó su oscura cabeza, su cálido aliento envió un escalofrío de calor que se enroló en el fondo de su estómago.
- Carry, me acompañarás ahora.
Ella levantó la cabeza, el pelo cobrizo cayó en todas direcciones.
- No. Soy lo más cercano a una familia que tenía Peter. Me encargaré de los arreglos para él primero, después lo discutiremos. - Se estaba retorciendo las manos, traicionando su nerviosismo, sin notarlo.
La mano más grande de George cubrió las de ella e inmovilizó el desesperado retorcer de dedos.
- No estás pensando con claridad, ma petite. No puedes ser encontrada en la escena. No tendrías forma racional de explicar lo ocurrido aquí. Prepararé las cosas para que cuando su cuerpo sea encontrado e identificado, ninguna sospecha caiga sobre ti o ninguno de los nuestros.
Ella tomó un profundo aliento, odiando que tuviera razón. No podría atraerse ninguna atención sobre su especia. Pero no tenía que gustarle.
- No iré contigo.
Dientes blancos relucieron hacia ella, la sonrisa de un depredador.
- Puedes intentar desafiarme en esto, Carry, si sientes que debes.
Ella tocó con su mente la de él. Diversión masculina, implacable resolución, calma absoluta. Nada afectaba a George. Ni la muerte ni ciertamente su desafío.
- Llamaré a seguridad. - Amenazó ella desesperadamente.
Los dientes inmaculadamente blancos relampaguearon de nuevo. Los ojos plateados relucieron.
- ¿Deseas que los libere de las órdenes que les di antes de que lo hagas?
Ella cerró los ojos, todavía temblando a causa del shock y el miedo.
- No, no lo hagas. - Susurró derrotada.
George estudió la tristeza tan transparente en su cara.
Algo se arrastró hacia su corazón, algo irreconocible para él pero no obstante fuerte.
- El alba estará sobre nosotros en un par de horas. Necesitamos salir de este lugar.
- No iré contigo. - Insistió ella obstinadamente.
- Si tu orgullo te dicta que debes luchar conmigo, puedes intentarlo. - Su voz, con su cadencia y la formalidad del Viejo Mundo, fue casi una oferta.
Los ojos de ella pasaron a un profundo púrpura.
- ¡Deja de darme permiso! Soy la hija de Terry y Candy, una Cárpato como tú mismo y no sin poderes propios. ¡Tengo derecho a tomar mis propias decisiones!
- Si te complace pensar así. - Sus dedos se cerraron fácilmente alrededor de la delgada muñeca, pero ella podía sentir su enorme fuerza. Carry empujó con fuerza, poniendo a prueba su resolución. George aparentemente no notó su forcejeo.
- ¿Deseas que haga esto más fácil para ti? Temes innecesariamente. - Su hipnotizadora voz era increíblemente tentadora.
- ¡No! - El corazón se le cerró de golpe dolorosamente en el pecho. - No controles mi mente. No me conviertas en una marioneta. - Sabía que era lo suficientemente poderoso para hacerlo y eso la aterrorizaba.
Dos dedos capturaron su barbilla firmemente y la alzaron para que su mirada fuera atrapada por la plateada de él.
- No hay peligro de que ocurra tal atrocidad. No soy un vampiro. Soy un Cárpato, y tú eres mi compañera. Te protegeré con mi vida. Siempre buscaré tu felicidad.
Ella tomó un profundo aliento para controlarse, después lo dejó escapar lentamente.
- No somos compañeros. Yo no elegí. - Se agarró a este hecho, su única esperanza.
- Podemos discutir esto en un momento más oportuno.
Ella asintió débilmente.
- Nos encontraremos mañana entonces.
La silenciosa risa de él llenó su mente. Baja. Divertida. Frustrantemente masculina.
- Vendrás conmigo ahora. - Su voz bajó un octavo, volviéndose cálidamente dulce, acogedora, hipnótica, tan hipnotizadora que era imposible luchar.
Carry apoyó la frente contra los músculos del pecho de él. Las lágrimas estaban ardiendo en sus ojos y garganta.
- Te tengo miedo, George. - Admitió dolorosamente. - No puedo vivir la vida de un Cárpato. Soy como mi madre. Soy demasiado independiente y necesito mi propia vida.
- Conozco tus miedos, ma petite. Conozco cada uno de tus pensamientos. El vínculo entre nosotros es lo bastante fuerte como para cruzar océanos. Nos ocuparemos de tus miedos juntos.
- No puedo hacer esto. ¡No quiero!
Carry se agachó bajo su brazo, emborronó su imagen, y se lanzó a una velocidad deslumbrante. No importaba de qué forma se retorciera o girara, no importaba lo rápido que corriera, George estaba con ella a cada paso del camino. Cuando finalmente se detuvo, estaba en el extremo más alejado del estadio, las lágrimas se vertían desenfrenadamente por su cara. George estaba a su lado, sólido, cálido, invencible, como si realmente conociera cada uno de sus pensamientos, cada uno de sus movimientos antes de que los hiciera.
Sus brazos de enroscaron alrededor de su cintura, levantándola completamente de los pies y apresándola.
- Por permitirte tu libertad, te expuse al peligro de renegados como Roberto. - Por un momento dejó caer su cabeza para enterrarla en la espesa masa de su sedoso pelo. Entonces, sin advertencia, se lanzó al aire, un enorme pájaro de presa con enorme fuerza, el pequeño cuerpo de Carry presionado firmemente contra él.
Ella cerró los ojos y permitió que el pesar por Peter la consumiera, alejando todo conocimiento de la criatura que atravesaba el cielo con ella, llevándola a su refugio. Sus puños se apretaron alrededor de los músculos fuertes como el acero. El viento llevaba el sonido de sus sollozos hacia las estrellas. Sus lágrimas brillaban como joyas en la noche.
George podía sentir su dolor como si fuera propio. Sus lágrimas le conmovían como nada más podía. Su mente se extendió hasta el caos de la de ella, encontrando el aplastante pesar y el terrible miedo a él. Deliberadamente la rodeó con calidez y confort. Acarició su mente, aliviando sus nervios.
Carry abrió las ojos para encontrarse fuera de la ciudad, sobre las montañas. George la colocó gentilmente en los escalones de una enorme y confusa casa. Se adelantó a ella para abrir la puerta, después retrocedió cortésmente para permitirle entrar.
Carry se sintió pequeña y perdida, sabiendo que si daba un paso para entrar en su guarida, estaría colocando su vida en las manos de él. Sus ojos se encendieron con un fuego blanco azulado, como si hubiera capturado una estrella y estuviera atrapada para siempre en sus profundidades. Alzando su barbilla desafiantemente caminó hacia atrás hasta que la barandilla del porche la detuvo.
- Me niego a entrar en tu casa.
La risa de él llegó entonces, baja, divertida y enloquecedoramente masculina.
- Tu cuerpo y el mío eligieron por nosotros. No hay otro hombre para ti, Carry. Ni ahora, ni nunca. Puedo sentir tus emociones cuando los hombres, humanos o Cárpatos, te tocan. Te repulsa; no puedes soportar su toque. - Su voz se hizo más bajo todavía, una oscura caricia mágica que pareció enviar calor que se extendía a través de ella como lava fundida. - No como mi toque, ma petite. Ambos lo sabemos. No lo niegues, o me veré forzado a probar mis palabras.
- Solo tengo veintitrés años. - Señaló ella desesperadamente. - Tú tienes siglos. No he tenido una vida en absoluto.
El se encogió de hombros casualmente, músculos ondeados, sus ojos plateados sobre la hermosa y ansiosa cara de ella.
- Entonces disfrutarás los beneficios de mi experiencia.
- George, por favor, entiéndelo. No me amas. No me conoces. No soy como las otras mujeres de los Cárpatos. No quiero ser una yegua de cría para mi raza. No puedo ser tu prisionera, no importa lo amorosa e indulgente que sea.
Él se rió suavemente y ondeó una mano displicente en el espacio entre ellos.
- _Eres_ joven, niña, si crees lo que estás diciendo. - Había una gentiliza en su voz que volvió su corazón a pesar de todos sus miedos. - ¿Es tu madre una prisionera?
- Mis padres son diferentes. Mi padre ama a mi madre. Incluso así, algunas veces pisotearía sus derechos si pudiera. Una jaula dorada sigue siendo una jaula, George.
Tenía ese aire divertido de nuevo, que caldeaba el frío acero de sus ojos. Carry sintió que su temperamento se alzaba. Tuvo el impulso ingobernable de abofetearle la cara.
Su sonrisa se ensanchó, un desafío sutil. Señaló la puerta abierta.
Ella lanzó una risa forzada.
- Podemos quedarnos aquí fuera hasta el amanecer, George. Estoy deseándolo ¿sabes?
El apoyó la cadera perezosamente contra la pared.
- ¿Piensas desafiarme?
- No puedes forzarme contra mi voluntad sin violar nuestras leyes.
- En todos los siglos que he existido, ¿crees que nunca he roto nuestras leyes? - Su risa suave no estaba desprovista de humor. - Las cosas que he hecho harían parecer tu rapto tan insignificante como un común crimen humano.
- No obstante impartiste justicia a Roberto, incluso aunque San Francisco es el territorio de caza de Albert Andrew. - Señaló ella, nombrando a otro de los poderosos hombres Cárpatos que seguía el rastro y destruía a aquellos de ellos que se convertían en vampiros. - ¿Lo hiciste por mí?
- Eres mi compañera, la única cosa que se interpone entre mí y la destrucción de mortales e inmortales por igual. - Estableció calmadamente, como una verdad absoluta. - Nadie te tocará o intentará interponerse entre nosotros y seguir con vida. Te golpeó, Carry.
- Mi padre podría...
Él sacudió la cabeza.
- No intentes meter a tu padre en esto, chérie, aunque Terry es el Príncipe de nuestra gente. Esto es entre tú y yo. No quieres una guerra. Roberto te golpeó; esa era razón suficiente para que muriera.
Ella le tocó con la mente de nuevo. No había rabia. Sólo resolución. Creía en lo que decía. No estaba disuadiéndola o intentando asustarla. Quería sinceridad entre ellos. Carry se presionó el dorso de la mano contra la boca. Siempre había sabido que este momento llegaría.
- Lo siento, George. - Susurró desesperadamente. - No puedo ser lo que tú quieres. Elegiré enfrentar el amanecer.
Los dedos de él acariciaron su cara con increíble gentileza.
- No tienes ni idea de lo que quiero de ti. - Sus manos le sostuvieron la cara, los pulgares acariciaron la piel satinada sobre el pulso que latía frenéticamente en su garganta. - Sabes que no puedo permitirte tal elección, ma petite. Podemos hablar de tus miedos. Ven adentro conmigo.
Su mente estaba invadiendo la de ella, una cálida y dulce seducción. Sus ojos, tan pálidos y fríos, se caldearon hasta asemejar mercurio fundido que parecía arder dentro de la mente de ella, amenazando su misma esencia.
Los dedos de Carry se clavaron en la barandilla mientras se sentía ahogar en calor líquido.
- ¡Detente, George! - Gritó bruscamente, decidida a romper su garra mental. Era un dulce tormento, un crescendo de calor y seducción tan peligroso que se lanzó a si misma hacia la entrada de la casa para huir de su oscuro poder sobre ella.
El brazo de George detuvo el precipitado vuelo. Su boca se movió al oído de ella. Su cuerpo, agresivamente masculino, duro y fieramente despierto, acarició el de ella. _Dilo, Carry. Di las palabras. _
Incluso el susurro en su mente era terciopelo negro. Su boca, perfecta y sensual, tan caliente y húmeda, vagaba bajándole por la garganta. La realidad de su carne era incluso más erótica que su seducción mental. Sus dientes le rozaron ligeramente la piel. El cuerpo de él se tensó, y pudo sentir el monstruo despertando en él, hambriento, ardiendo con una necesidad nada gentil, no un amante ideal sino un hombre de los Cárpatos completamente excitado.
Las palabras que le ordenaba decir casi estrangulaban su garganta y las expulsó tan bajo, que fue imposible decir si estaban hablando en voz alta o si eran meramente un eco en su mente.
- Voy contigo por mi propia voluntad.
La soltó instantáneamente, permitiéndole tropezar para cruzar el umbral por sí misma. Tras ella, su enorme forma llenó la puerta. Permanecía en pie elevándose sobre ella, con los ojos plateados irradiando calor, poder, intensa satisfacción. George cerró la puerta con el pie y la alcanzó.
Carry gritó e intentó evadir su toque, pero él la alcanzó con su fuerza casual, acunando el cuerpo que luchaba contra su pecho. Su barbilla acarició el pelo sedoso.
- Quédate quieta, infante, o terminarás haciéndote daño a ti misma. No hay forma de luchar contra mí, y no puedo permitir que te hagas daño.
- Te odio.
- No me odias, Carry. Me temes, pero por encima de todo, temes lo que eres. - Replicó con calma. Se estaba moviendo a través de la casa con largas zancadas, llevándola al sótano, después bajó aún más hasta la cámara cuidadosamente oculta en las profundidades de la tierra.
Su cuerpo ardía por él, y, tan cerca de su calor, no había alivio. El hambre aumentó bruscamente, y algo salvaje en ella alzó su cabeza.
3. Chapter 3
**CAPITULO 3**
En el momento en que George la dejó sobre sus pies, Carry, corrió lejos de él. De un solo salto puso la distancia de la habitación entre ellos. El miedo era una entidad viva y creciente, mezclándose con su salvaje naturaleza.
George podía sentir su corazón latir, y el suyo propio se sintonizó a sí mismo para igualar el latente ritmo del de ella. Su sangre le llamaba. Tomó la esencia en sus pulmones, en sus venas, en su propia sangre ardiente y surgió con un feroz y ardiente deseo. Tomó aliento por los dos, luchando por controlar al rugiente demonio en él, luchando por la calma que necesitaba para evitar hacerle daño, para evitar que se hiciera daño a sí misma.
Parecía lo que era, joven, salvaje, hermosa, sus ojos profundamente azules parecían estrellas, enormes por el miedo. Se acurrucó en la esquina más alejada de él, todos sus pensamientos eran tan caóticos que le llevó unos pocos momentos ordenar sus confusas emociones. Pesar y culpa por su amigo perdido. Disgusto y humillación porque su cuerpo pudiera traicionarla, porque no fuera lo suficientemente fuerte como para enfrentarse a él. Temía que él pudiera lograr su meta, hacerla su compañera, controlar su vida. Temor de que le hiciera daño con su fuerza, con su propio deseo ardiente. Ante la necesidad de escapar de esa visión; estaba dispuesta a luchar a muerte.
George la enfrentó sin expresión, sin mover un músculo. Buscó una forma de relajar la situación. Nunca permitiría que Carry muriera. Lo había arriesgado todo por ella. Había arriesgado su propia cordura, su misma alma. No lo perdería todo ahora por su propia torpeza.
- Lamento verdaderamente la pérdida de tu amigo, Carry. - Dijo George tranquila y amablemente, su voz baja, un susurro de música hipnótica.
Las pestañas de ella temblaron. Parpadeó. Las palabras de él eran claramente inesperadas.
- Debería haber estado allí mucho más rápidamente para salvarle. - Admitió él suavemente. - No te decepcionaré de nuevo.
Ella se humedeció los labios y tomó aire. Parecía invencible, implacable. Parecía un hechicero, exudando oscura tentación por cada poro. Su pura sexualidad era sobrecogedora. Su voz amable y en perfecta calma se contraponía con el toque de sensual crueldad de su boca, el intenso ardor de sus pálidos ojos, y la implacable máscara que siempre llevaba.
- No soy un monstruo que te atacaría mientras tu pesar y temor son tan afilados. Relájate, pequeña. Tu compañero puede ser un demonio para los otros, pero tú estás a salvo. Sólo deseo confortarte. - Sintió el tentativo toque de ella en su mente, buscando la verdad de sus palabras. Raramente permitía a nadie la intimidad de un vínculo mental. Con ella, la mezcla añadía profundidad a su dolor físico, el remolino de las poco familiares emociones. Pero también le dio placer. Intenso placer.
Todo lo que Carry podía detectar era su necesidad de ofrecerle confort. Su mente parecía serena, una clara y fresca piscina sin una onda. Sintió que su cuerpo se relajaba, la mente de él calmaba el caos de la suya. ¿Por qué fue a George al que respondió? Como él había dicho, el toque de cualquier otro hombre la hacía sentir repulsión. Él solo tenía que estar cerca de ella, y su mente y cuerpo gritaban por él.
Se frotó la cabeza. Pequeños martillos parecían estar acampando en su cráneo. George se movió fácil y casualmente hacia la mesita de noche junto a la cama. La mirada de ella se pegaba a la de él, su cara pálida, con fantasmales sombras en sus ojos. Él aplastó hierbas en un cuenco de cristal, la fragancia aliviadora instantáneamente llenó la habitación.
- Ven aquí, ma chérie. - Su voz fue baja e invitadora. El sonido la lavó como agua clara. - Casi amanece.
La mirada de ella se apartó incómoda de la cama cuando notó su entorno por primera vez. La habitación era grande, espacioso, antigua. Las velas iluminaban el interior, haciéndola brillar suavemente. La cama era grande, pesada de cuatro postes tallada elaboradamente con rosas y retorcidas ramas de hojas. Era hermoso, gótica... y aterradora. Se aclaró la garganta y frunció el ceño inciertamente. - Me gustaría disponer de mi propia recámara.
Los pálidos ojos flotaron sobre ella posesivamente.
- No te alejarás de mi lado.
- ¿No? - De repente pareció desesperadamente cansada, le dolía la cabeza, sus piernas temblaban, y se sentó bruscamente en el suelo. Una mano se deslizó a través de su espeso pelo cobrizo, empujándolo lejos de la cara en un gesto inconscientemente femenino. Parpadeó, y con rapidez George estuvo de pie sobre ella. Cerró los ojos cuando extendió una mano hacia ella. Era fuerte, enormemente fuerte, alzándola como si no fuera más que una niña. Enterró la cara contra su pecho, incapaz de reunir fuerzas para luchar con él.
George saboreó la sensación de Carry entre sus brazos, su suavidad acunada contra sus firmes músculos, la seda de su pelo rozando eróticamente su piel. El dolor corrió a través de él como lava fundida; el hambre se elevó. La dejó sobre su cama, donde pertenecía. Su primitiva naturaleza, el cazador, el depredador en él, exigió que la tomara inmediatamente, uniéndola irrevocablemente a él para siempre. Le pertenecía. Él sabía exactamente lo que era, un demonio sin corazón, sin Carry estaba sentenciado a una interminable y solitaria existencia. Había caminado sobre la tierra durante siglos, un poderoso sanador, nadie era más grande que él, pero completamente muerto por dentro. Había estado tan solo. Siempre solo, Interminablemente sólo. Pero ahora tenía a Carry. Y destruiría a cualquiera que intentara apartarla de él, cualquiera que la amenazara.
Su mano volvió a acariciarle el pelo, un masaje calmante en su cuero cabelludo. Su hipnótica voz asumió un canto de sanación, alejando el dolor de sus sienes, reemplazándolo por paz. Se estiró a su lado, su enorme y pesada forma empequeñeciendo la de ella. Instantáneamente su cuerpo reaccionó a su cercanía. Estaba ardiendo, el deseo ardía en su sangre, sus músculos, cada fibra de su cuerpo. Aceptó el dolor, agradecido de poder sentirlo. Mientras la tomaba entre sus brazos, se maravilló de la perfección de alguien tan pequeño y frágil. Ella estaba temblando tanto que podía oír el castañeteo de sus dientes.
- Sé lo que soy, Carry, un monstruo que el mundo humano no puede concebir. Pero he tenido siempre honor, integridad, y un talento para sanar. Puedo hacerte dos promesas. Nunca habrá falsedad entre nosotros, y te protegeré con mi vida. Tengo que decir que no tomaré lo que es mío esta noche. Tenemos tiempo para calmar tus temores.
Ella enterró la cara en su camisa de seda, donde podía sentir el firme latir de su corazón, el calor de su piel. Era imposible para él esconder su feroz excitación, y no se molestó en intentarlo, en cambio fijó el cuerpo de ella en la dura longitud del suyo. Carry estaba demasiado agotada por los acontecimientos de la noche para continuar luchando. Tendida entre sus brazos, exhausta, encontró paz en el mismo que la amenazaba.
- Crees que soy como las otras mujeres de los Cárpatos, George, pero no lo soy. - Dijo suavemente, sin estar segura de sí le estaba ofreciendo una disculpa o una explicación.
La boca de él rozó la parte alta de su cabeza, la más leve de las caricias; su pulgar acarició el punto donde Roberto la había golpeado.
- Sabes lo que ocurre a los hombres de nuestra especie, Carry; tu padre no habrá sido negligente al educarte en algo tan importante. No puedes correr por ahí sin ser reclamada. Hay otros como Roberto, salvajes, peligrosos, conducidos a la locura por la falta de una compañera.
- Él tenía la mitad de tu edad. ¿Por qué se convirtió en un renegado y tú no? - Giró la cabeza para encontrar los pálidos ojos de George. Un escalofrío corrió a través de ella ante la falta de piedad que vio allí, ante la severa posesión que ardía en las heladas profundidades plateadas.
- ¿Alguna vez te has preguntado por qué hay tan pocos de nosotros?
- Por supuesto. Solo porque no elija emparejarme no significa que no piense en los problemas que enfrenta nuestra gente. George, no deseo ser la compañera de nadie. No hay razón para tomarlo como algo personal.
George le sonrió, su perfecta boca era sensual e invitadora.
- Sé que tienes miedo de mí, Carry.
Decida a no proponer una discusión que no pudiera ganar, ella volvió a un tópico seguro.
- La razón de que haya tan pocos Cárpatos es porque hay pocas mujeres y ninguna niña. Incluso los niños raramente sobreviven a sus primeros años. - Carry involuntariamente se movió más cerca de la calidez de él. Parecía tan fuerte, haciéndola sentir extrañamente a salvo y cómodo en la peor noche de su vida.
- ¿Y qué pasa con los hombres? ¿Te has preguntado realmente porque tan pocos sobreviven sin convertirse en vampiro? - Sus manos acariciaron el pelo de ella. - ¿Alguna vez te has sentido sola, Carry, realmente sola?
Cuando era niña había vivido en aislamiento, excepto por sus padres, consagrados como estaban el uno por el otro, todavía la mimaban y adoraban. Su lobo, también, había sido extraordinario, llenando cada lugar vacío en su vida. Nunca se había sentido sola hasta que puso un océano entre ella y el suelo sanador de su tierra natal. Alejarse de sus padres, el lobo, e incluso de sus opresivas obligaciones como mujer de los Cárpatos la había dejado con un agujero abierto en el corazón. Estar rodeada de gente, incluso el afecto que sentía hacia Peter y los miembros de su personal, no aliviaba el creciente vacío que la consumía. Sin querer compartir sus secretos con George, sin embargo, no respondió.
- Nosotros los hombres no podemos sobrevivir a la creciente oscuridad sin nuestra pareja, Carry. Nuestra naturaleza es agresiva, depredadora, posesiva, incluso entre los de nuestra raza. Somos destructivos y poderosos, hambrientos de sangre. Necesitamos un contrapeso. La mayoría de los hombres empiezan a declinar después de varios siglos, cuando ya no ven colores, no experimentan verdaderos sentimientos, y sólo pueden confiar en la fuerza de su voluntad para mantener nuestras leyes. Algunos eligen terminar su existencia antes de que sea demasiado tarde, caminando en el amanecer, a la luz del día, y permitiendo a la tierra reclamarlos. Otros muchos eligen abrazar la oscuridad, entregando sus almas, cazando a la raza humana. Abusan de mujeres y niños, cazan y matan por el placer momentáneo, por el poder y el ansia. No puede permitirse.
- Mi padre y tú son los más viejos. ¿Cómo sobreviviste?
- Tu padre y yo pasamos nuestros años de lujuria de sangre en medio de las guerras que recorrieron Europa. Podíamos canalizar nuestras energías en salvar a otros de ejércitos asoladores. La caza de vampiros los proveía de más oponentes. Entre nosotros hicimos un pacto para buscar el amanecer antes de convertirnos completamente. Tu padre tenía la responsabilidad de nuestra gente para mantenerle cuerdo, y más tarde encontró a tu madre, una humana con un extraordinario talento psíquico y tanto coraje y compasión que era capaz de aceptar nuestra vida.
- ¿Qué hay de ti?
- Lo mejor que puedo decir de mí mismo es que nunca abusé de una mujer o un niño, y que pasé siglos aprendiendo las artes sanadoras. Pero tengo la naturaleza de un depredador, Carry, así como todos los hombres de nuestra raza. Porque tengo siglos de antigüedad, la bestia es fuerte en mí. - Suspiró suavemente. - Los cinco años que te permití de libertad han sido un infierno para mí y peligrosos para todos lo que entraban en contacto conmigo. Estoy muy cerca de convertirme, y es demasiado tarde para que busque el amanecer. Era necesario para la seguridad de todos los involucrados que viniera por ti ahora. - Sus manos se enredaron en la seda de su pelo, apretando mechones en los que enterraba la cara, inhalando su fresca esencia. - No puedo esperar más.
La admisión le desgarró su alma. No podría permitirse el lujo de darle la única cosa que ella le pedía... su libertad. Aunque era George, el Oscuro, el más poderoso entre los Cárpatos, no era lo suficientemente fuerte como para dejarla. Debía convertirse en la compañera del único Cárpato al que todos los otros temían. Y era demasiado joven.
- ¿Alguna vez te has preguntado cómo es para las mujeres de nuestra raza, George? ¿Saber que en nuestro decimoctavo cumpleaños debemos dejar la protección de nuestro padre para entregarnos a algún extraño? - Esta vez abrió su mente a él completamente, convocando el recuerdo de hace cinco años para ambos.
Como cualquier niña-mujer en edad de emparejarse, Carry había encontrado una excitación temeraria en saber que era hermosa y tenía poder sobre los hombres de su especie. Estuvo complacida cuando su padre convocó a todos los varones disponibles para conocerla. Ignorando la preocupación de su madre, había coqueteado entre ellos, inocente de los estragos que estaba causando. Sin embargo, en algún momento durante la reunión se había vuelto consciente de la peligrosa atmósfera, la presión de los cuerpos masculinos contra ella, el hambre en sus ojos, el olor de su excitación. Ninguno de ellos, la conocía o le importaba ella o le importaba saber que sentía o pensaba. La deseaban, aunque no era realmente a ella a la que deseaban. Se sintió sofocada, asqueada, temerosa. Ninguno de ellos la hacía sentir las cosas que se suponía que debía sentir.
Carry había escapado a su habitación y se había mojado la cara con agua fresca, sintiéndose enferma y de alguna forma sucia. Cuando se giró, George, el Oscuro, estaba en su habitación con ella. Su poder emanaba de cada poro de su cuerpo. Lo llevaba de forma casual, de la misma forma que llevaba su enorme fuerza.
Era totalmente diferente a los otros... mucho más aterrador, mucho más poderoso. Los demás parecían jóvenes cachorros en comparación. Sus pálidos ojos se movieron sobre ella posesivamente, y la piel de ella ardió ante el simple roce de su mirada. Le robaba el aliento convirtiendo su cuerpo en calor líquido, haciéndola desear cosas con las que nunca había soñado.
El miedo se cerró de golpe en ella entre el conocimiento de que él podía fácilmente robarle su voluntad, hacerla suya tan irrevocablemente que haría cualquier cosa por estar con él.
Me perteneces, a ningún otro. Las palabras estaban en su cabeza, el vínculo eran tan familiar y fuerte, era terrorífico. La senda mental no era la común de los Cárpatos sino la de un vínculo privado e íntimo. Él se movió, un simple ondear de músculo, y el corazón de ella latió con anticipación. Los dedos de él rodearon la parte superior de su brazo de forma que ella fue totalmente consciente de su enorme fuerza. Era casi imposible respirar. Los dedos de él se deslizaron a lo largo de su brazo para rodear su frágil muñeca como un brazalete. El contacto fue como una lengua de fuego deslizándose por su piel. Cada célula de su cuerpo súbitamente inmovilizada; contuvo el aliento, esperando. Sólo esperando. La arrastró hacia él, cerca, tan cerca, hasta que su cuerpo estuvo impreso para toda la eternidad en el de él. Muy gentilmente, él le alzó la barbilla y su boca se cerró sobre la de ella.
En ese instante su vida entera, su misma existencia cambió. La tierra se movió, el aire chirrió, y su cuerpo ya no le perteneció. Se sentía necesitada, ardiente, dolorida por él. Cuerpo y mente, su misma piel, se unió con la de él. No había Carry sin George ni George sin Carry. Necesitaba sus manos sobre ella, le necesitaba dentro de ella, de su corazón, su mente, su misma alma.
Cuando la soltó, se sintió abandonada, experimento un terrible vacío, como si él le hubiera robado una enorme parte de ella y la hubiera dejado convertida en una simple sombra. La idea la aterrorizó. Un extraño, alguien que no la amaba o conocía, era capaz de llevarse su vida. Súbitamente le pareció peor que entregarse a alguno de los otros. Ninguno de ellos la controlaría nunca o le arrebataría su vida entera. Si ninguno de ellos podía nunca amarla, al menos no la poseerían en cuerpo y alma. Aterrorizada, había suplicado a George que la dejara marchar, que la dejara vivir su propia vida. Los ojos de él se oscurecieron de pena y se caldearon con algo más, la había soltado, había estado de acuerdo con darle más tiempo. Carry, sin embargo, había planeado huir de su poder para siempre.
4. Chapter 4
**Hola mis niñas, lamento mucho el mega retraso con las historias, pero mi actual vida laborar apenas me deja respirar, lamento ser tan irresponsable hacia con ustedes, pero prometo actualizar mas seguido empezando por esta semana, les traigo unos capítulos y actualizare a mas tardar el martes en la noche. Muchas gracias por sus comentarios e inbox y a aquellas que me han jalado las orejas a través de sus mensajes. Sin mas les dejo la lectura, espero la disfruten y nos seguimos leyendo.**
* * *
><p>CAPITULO 4<p>
Lo peor era, que después de volar a Estados Unidos, Carry nunca se había sentido completa de nuevo. George le había arrancado una parte de ella con un pequeño beso. Nunca había salido de su cabeza. Cuando cerraba los ojos por la noche, todo lo que podía ver era a él. Algunas veces, si se concentraba lo suficiente, incluso podía oler su salvaje e indomable esencia. Rondaba sus sueños y la llamaba en sus sueños. Claramente, el riesgo de que poseyera su misma alma era demasiado enorme para permitirle lo que estaba exigiendo ahora.
La mano de George acunó la parte de atrás de su cabeza, después la deslizó a su nuca.
- Podemos hacer frente a tus miedos, ma petite. No son insuperables. - Su voz, como siempre, fue calmada y monótona.
El corazón de Carry se hundió. Nada le conmovía, ni siquiera compartiendo uno de sus más privados y aterradores recuerdos.
- No quiero esto. - Susurró ella, las lágrimas ardían en su garganta. Estaba humillada por haber admitido tanto y que significara tan poco para él.
- Descansa ahora, pequeña. Lo arreglaremos más tarde.
Ella se calló, pareciendo aceptar su orden tranquilamente. Pero Carry tenía unos pocos trucos bajo la manga; después de todo, era considerada una de las mejoras magas del mundo. George podía ofrecerle un indulto temporal, pero cuando se despertaran, su apetito sería feroz. Dudaba de que ni siquiera su enorme autodominio la salvara entonces. Tendría que hacer su más atrevida y más importante escapada.
- ¿Carry? - Los brazos de George la apretaron firme y, posesivamente contra él. - No intentes dejarme. Lucha conmigo, discute, pero no intentes dejarme. Camino en el límite del autocontrol. No siento nada por nadie excepto por ti. Sería muy peligroso.
- Así que tengo que dar mi vida para que la tuya pueda continuar. - Sus lágrimas cayeron sobre el dorso de su propia mano.
- No puedes existir sin mí, de todas formas, Carry. Es sólo una cuestión de tiempo antes de que crezca el vacío que te consume. - Se llevó la mano de ella a la boca y tocó con su lengua las lágrimas, saboreándola. Entonces su voz cayó un octavo, volviéndose pureza en sí misma. - No lo niegues. Lo siento creciendo en ti. La terrible y dolorosa soledad.
El corazón de Carry saltó ante el áspero terciopelo de la lengua de él raspando sus nudillos desnudos. No permitiría que su natural sensualidad la sedujera, no importaba como su propio cuerpo respondiera a la llamada prohibida.
- ¿Cuánto tiempo tengo hasta entonces, George? ¿Un siglo o dos? ¿Cinco? ¿Más? No lo sabes, ¿verdad? Porque a ninguna de nuestras mujeres se les permite elegir su propio destino. Yo no debería ser responsable de tu vida más de lo que tú deberías ser responsable de la mía.
- Somos Cárpatos, ma petite, no humanos, a pesar de la formar en que tu madre te ha criado. Soy responsable de tu vida, como tú de la mía. Es la costumbre de nuestra gente, y la única cosa que protege a los humanos de nuestra oscuridad. Nuestras mujeres son apreciadas, protegidas, tratadas con respeto, guardadas como el tesoro que sabemos que son. - La sombra oscura sobre su barbilla frotaba en la parte alta de la cabeza de ella en un gesto curiosamente consolador. Pequeños mechones de pelo se recogieron en un manojo, ondeando juntos. - Tu madre tiene mucho de lo que responder, por llenar tu cabeza con tonterías humanas cuando debería haberte preparado para tu verdadero destino.
- ¿Por qué lo llamas tonterías? ¿Porque queria que fuera capaz de elegir por mí misma lo que deseaba? ¿Por construir mí propio destino? ¿Por saborear la libertad? No quiero ser propiedad de nadie.
- Ninguno de nosotros puede elegir, Carry. - Sus brazos se tensaron brevemente, y su cálido aliento encontró la oreja de ella. - Los compañeros nacen el uno para el otro. Y libertad es una palabra que puede significar muchas cosas diferentes. - Su voz era tan hermosa y gentil, chocando con sus palabras de hecho-consumado. - Duerme, y escapa de tu miedo durante un rato.
Ella cerró los ojos mientras sentía sus labios acariciándole la oreja, después se deslizaron hacia el cuello. Saboreó su toque, lo tomó en su cuerpo y se odió por ello.
- Duerme tú, George. Quiero pensar.
Unos dientes rasparon su piel, justo sobre su pulso latente. Después la lengua acarició, aliviando la aguda sensación.
- No quiero que pienses más, ma petite. Haz lo que digo o te haré dormir yo mismo.
Ella palideció.
- ¡No! - Como cualquier Cárpato, Carry sabía lo vulnerable que sería cuando el sol se alzara y el sueño tomara su cuerpo. Si George le ordenaba entrar en el profundo sueño de los Cárpatos, estaría completamente en su poder. - Dormiré. - Deliberadamente ralentizó su respiración, ralentizó su corazón.
A su lado, George se concentró en las entradas de su guarida, sellándolas con hechizos ancestrales. Después se concentró en las verjas de las perreras de los lobos. Se abrieron, soltando a los lobos híbridos para que vagaran y guardaran las estancias altas y los terrenos de la casa. Carry todavía pensaba escapar de él. Pero ella no tenía ni idea de lo poderoso que era realmente. Y porque se había prometido a si mismo que siempre le diría la verdad, no podía decir las palabras bonitas y vacías que podían aliviar sus temores. La adquisición de conocimiento le había ayudado a mantener su cuerpo y mente fuerte en los interminables años de vacía oscuridad. Había esperado por Carry, su compañera, desde antes de que naciera. Desde el momento en que había tocado a la mujer de Terry, Candy, sanando las terribles heridas que había sufrido a manos de algunos desencaminados asesinos de vampiros, dándole su sangre pura y poderosa para ayudarla a salvar la vida, había sabido que le proporcionaría a su compañera. Esa niña creciendo en su interior sería suya. Y había hecho todo lo que podía para asegurar ese resultado.
Cuando los cazadores humanos intentaron matar a Candy Grandchester, George la había salvado y a la niña en su interior, sellando el vínculo entre él y la mujer recién concebida con su propia sangre poderosa. Se había asegurado de que no pudiera escapar de él, susurrándole, aliviándola, incitándola a permanecer en su mundo a pesar de las heridas en su frágil cuerpecito. Habiendo llegado a tales extremos para ligar a su compañera a él antes incluso de que hubiera nacido, nunca le permitiría irse ahora. Empujó el cuerpo de Carry tan cerca de él como era posible, fijando su gran cuerpo alrededor del de ella de forma protectora. Roberto viajaba con un grupo de renegados Cárpatos, ahora vampiros, matando, rasgando, creando marionetas humanas sin cerebro para servirlos. Si habían seguido todos a Carry hasta aquí a San Francisco, la ciudad se convertiría pronto en su campo de matanza. George tenía que mantener a Carry a salvo, pero sabía que no dejaría a los humanos de la ciudad enfrentarse a la amenaza solos. Albert Andrew, un poderoso Cárpato, estaba en esta región, y cazaría a los renegados y los destruiría. Albert era un cazador capaz, temido por los no-muertos.
George acarició el pelo de Carry gentilmente. Por ella, deseaba poder darle la libertad que tanto deseaba, pero era imposible. En cambio, estaría encadenada a su lado por toda la eternidad. Suspiró, después ralentizó su corazón y pulmones preparándose para dormir. Como antiguo, había con frecuencia llevado la justicia de los Cárpatos a los renegados, del mismo modo que habría esperado que Terry se la llevara a él si había esperado demasiado para reclamar a Carry y salvarse a sí mismo de su propia oscuridad. Pero seriamente dudaba de que nadie, ni siquiera Terry, el Príncipe de su gente, pudiera superarle si se convertía en un vampiro. No podía afrontar el riesgo. Carry debía seguir siendo suya. Tomó un último aliento, tomando la esencia de ella en su cuerpo y manteniéndola allí mientras su corazón cesaba de latir.
El sol se elevó sobre las montañas, rayos de luz ardían a través de las ventanas de la enorme y solitaria casa. La madera de roble pulida relucía. Los azulejos de mármol brillaban. El único sonido que se podía oír eran los suaves pasos ocasionales de los lobos mientras patrullaban el primer y segundo piso y el sótano. Fuera, también, más lobos se movían impacientemente atravesando los terrenos, a lo largo de la alta y pesada vaya que los encerraba en la propiedad. La valla era más para la protección de cualquier humano vagabundo que para evitar que los animales merodearan por el campo. Su vínculo con George era fuerte, su labor era afianzar y preservar la finca. Los lobos nunca le dejarían por propia voluntad.
El sol batallaba con una espesa capa de nubes y, valientemente extendía rayos dorados a través de la tarde. El viento empezó a recoger y arremolinar hojas en pequeños montículos sobre el suelo. Bajo tierra, la enorme cámara estaba en silencio. Después en ese silencio un corazón empezó a latir. Una ráfaga de aire llenó unos pulmones. Carry exploró sus alrededores, probando la naturaleza de la prisión de protección de George. A su lado, George estaba tendido tan inmóvil como si estuviera muerto, un brazo se enroscaba posesivamente alrededor de su cintura.
Carry permitió que el alivio inundara su cuerpo. Ella tenía un secreto que nadie más que su lobo sabía. La mayor parte de los niños de los Cárpatos no sobrevivían a su primer año. Durante el período crítico cuando sus cuerpos exigían más que leche pero rechazaban toda comida y sangre, su madre, que había sido una vez completamente humana e incapaz de alimentarse de su propia gente, le había dado sangre de animal diluida. Aunque Carry era pequeña y frágil comparada con la mayoría de los Cárpatos, había crecido con la mezcla de su madre. Y, decidida a vivir una vida lo más normal posible, Carry había seguido con su inusual dieta durante sus años de crecimiento, esperando poder aumentar su diferencia con los otros Cárpatos y ser capaz de olvidar su propio futuro.
A los dieciséis, Carry había empezado a experimentar con la posibilidad de salir al sol. Su madre le había contado tantas historias de la vida en el sol, cruzando el océano, historias de libertad y viajes. Carry, a cambio, esperanzadamente contaba cada una de ellas a su compañero, el lobo.
Osadamente, empezó a despertarse más y más temprano, lentamente exponiendo su piel al sol, esperando construir una inmunidad que los Cárpatos no tenían, que los obligaba a ir a la tierra a la luz del sol y volver a la vida durante la noche. Algunas veces el dolor era demasiado para que lo soportara, y detenía sus incursiones durante unos pocos días. Pero Carry era tenaz cuando se le metía algo en la mente, y quería caminar al sol.
Aunque nunca fue capaz de tolerar la luz del sol más allá de las once de la mañana o antes de las cinco de la tarde en los meses de verano, su piel se había ajustado a los rayos del sol. Tenía que llevar las gafas de sol más oscuras durante el día y bajo las brillantes luces del escenario, pero por otra parte parecía escapar del terrible letargo que la dieta de sangre humana causaba a los Cárpatos. Había sacrificado algo de la velocidad y fuerza de su raza, pero tenía la libertad de caminar a la luz, como su madre había descrito.
Carry cerró los ojos, recordando la vez que había salido a escondidas mientras sus padres dormían profundamente en su cámara subterránea. El sol estaba todavía alto, y, sintiéndose particularmente complacida consigo misma, Carry se abrió paso a través del profundo bosque sobre los acantilados.
Empezó a escalar, intentando mejorar su velocidad y fuerza. Pero había vacilado casi en la cima, resbaló y perdió el piso. Se aferró de cara a la roca, trepando en busca de un asidero, excavando ranuras profundas en el precipicio con las uñas encorvadas como garras. Cayó pero se dio la vuelta en medio del aire con toda la agilidad de un gato, esperando aterrizar sobre sus pies. Pero falló al ver una raíz de árbol rota sobresaliendo de la cara del precipicio y como una estaca afilada. Sus gafas oscuras cayeron de su nariz hasta el suelo del bosque de abajo. Carry gritó de dolor, la sangre manaba de su herida. Durante un momento se sostuvo allí; después la raíz cedió bajo su peso y aterrizó con fuerza en el suelo de roca.
Al principio no pudo respirar, el aire golpeó en sus pulmones. Manteniendo sus ojos firmemente cerrados contra la terrible luz, apretó los dientes, presionó ambas manos sobre su herida y envió fuera una angustiosa y desesperada llamada a su lobo. Después, se preguntó por qué no había dudado en llamarle, no había pensado en llamar a sus padres. Él respondió inmediatamente, oleadas de seguridad que inundaban su mente. El lobo estaba lejos pero estaba llegando rápidamente en su ayuda.
Mientras esperaba, Carry excavó con los dedos la rica tierra, mezclándola con saliva de su boca, y cubriendo la herida. Hacía daño, rivalizaba con las astillas de cristal que la luz del sol clavaba en su cráneo a través de sus desprotegidos ojos. _¡A prisa!_ urgió, débil por la pérdida de sangre.
El lobo surgió del bosque, con sus propios ojos entrecerrados hasta finas aberturas. Dio dos increíbles saltos para llegar a su lado, evaluando la situación y trotó hacia sus gafas. Los recogió cuidadosamente en la boca, y las tiró en su regazo. Después su lengua lamió la herida en un gesto curiosamente consolador. El brazo de Carry se deslizó alrededor del lustroso cuello, y enterró su cara en la espesa mata de suave piel, buscando fuerzas.
Por primera y única vez en su vida, pidió alimentarse, sabiendo que no sobreviviría sin sangre. Estaba agradecida por el fuerte vínculo que tenía con el lobo, que la capacitaba para explicar su necesidad sin palabras. El lobo expuso su garganta sin dudar. Tan gentil y reverentemente como fue capaz, Carry había hundido sus dientes profundamente en el lobo, mientras su mente se esforzaba por calmarle. Su esfuerzo demostró ser innecesario. En todo caso, el lobo la había calmado a ella, entregándose libremente, sin reservas. Estaba atónita de no sentir repulsión de alimentarse directamente del animal en lugar de de la taza que su madre le daba. Después se tendió con los brazos alrededor del lobo mientras él continuaba lamiendo gentilmente su herida. Podía haber jurado que el lobo había entrado de alguna forma en su cuerpo, junto con su sangre, y de algún modo alivió la terrible herida en su pierna. Sintió calor, luz y energía extendiéndose a través de ella, sanándola. No sintió miedo, rodeada por el protector e incondicional cuidado del lobo.
Su herida había sanado milagrosamente rápido, y nunca había mencionado el incidente a sus padres porque sabía que estarían furiosos por sus experimentos, con su intención de salir al sol. Se habrían espantado antes los riesgos que estaba corriendo. Pero ella nunca lamentó su decisión de evitar tomar sangre humana o exponer su piel a los rayos de sol. Conducía a la libertad, la libertad que estaba permitiéndole escapar ahora.
- Lo siento, George. - Susurró suavemente. - No puedo poner mi vida en tus manos. Eres demasiado poderoso para que alguien como yo intente vivir contigo. Por favor encuentra a alguien más y se feliz. - Sabía que ella nunca lo sería, pero no tenía elección si no quería que este poderoso antiguo Cárpato se hiciera cargo de su vida. Sus dientes mordisquearon el labio inferior. A pesar su resolución, se encontró extrañamente renuente a dejarle. Si no se iba, él tomaría el control de su vida; no podía evitarlo. Era verdad que permanecería sola. No podía volver a casa o ni siquiera buscar a su lobo. Estaría condenada a caminar por la tierra sola. Pero algo en ella, fuerte y orgulloso, no permitiría que este hombre la dominara, elegía vivir por ella, dirigir ella. Él había tenido razón; sabía lo que era el vacío, estar totalmente sola en medio de una multitud. Ella era diferente. No importaba cuanto lo intentara, Carry nunca sería humana, y nunca sería una mujer de los Cárpatos. Sabía, aunque nunca lo admitiría a nadie más que a su lobo... ella había confiado la verdad al animal... que nunca podría posiblemente estar con ningún hombre excepto con George. Pero estaría sola durante una eternidad antes de pertenecerle a él. Entendía que nunca desearía a otro hombre como lo hacía con George; su alma estaba ya realmente en su poder. Y quería explicarle las cosas, hacerle entender. Pero George no era un hombre que considerara otra lógica que la suya propia.
George era uno de los antiguos, el más poderoso, el más sabio. El Oscuro. Era un asesino mortal, un verdadero hombre salvaje de los Cárpatos. Los siglos no habían suavizado sus actitudes de macho o cambiado sus creencias. Creía absolutamente en su derecho sobre ella, creía que le pertenecía. La protegería con su propia vida de todo daño, velaría por cada una de sus necesidades y confort. Pero la controlaría absolutamente.
- Lo siento. - Susurró de nuevo e intentó sentarse.
Un enorme peso en medio del pecho evitó que se moviera. Su corazón se tambaleó incómodamente. Aterrada de que hubiera perturbado el letargo de George, Carry le miró. Permanecía inmóvil y silencioso, sin dar señales de vida. Carry tomó un profundo aliento y lo dejó escapar lentamente para calmarse. Esta vez se deslizó cautelosamente de lado como si saliera de debajo de lago. Instantáneamente una venda se apretó alrededor de cada tobillo. Cuando Carry miró a sus pies, no había nada allí, nada sujetándola, aunque no podía moverse. Algo la anclaba en su sitio.
Durante un breve momento consideró que algún otro hombre de los Cárpatos... o vampiro... los hubiera rastreado hasta la guarida. Pero ningún Cárpato se atrevería a perturbar a George. De algún modo, en su profundo sueño, George estaba controlándola. Fácilmente. Casualmente. Tan seguro de su propio poder, tan poco preocupado por su desafío, que podría dormir sin problemas. No había duda en su mente de que era George el que le impedía escapar. Se tendió inmóvil y permitió que su mente se concentrara sobre sus tobillos, buscando un sendero, algo que le diera una pista de cómo funcionaban los asideros invisibles y como podía escapar de ellos.
_Dormirás._ La orden llenó su mente, bajo, compeliendo, hierro de terciopelo.
Instantáneamente su mente se nubló, y su corazón se ralentizó. Carry luchó, alarmada, y luchó con el deseo de obedecer su orden. Era humillante que pudiera controlarla incluso mientras dormía. Si era de verdad tan poderoso, ¿cómo sería vivir con él cuando estaba completamente despierto y consciente?
Una baja y burlona risa llenó su mente._ Duerme, ma petite. Es peligroso que me pongas a prueba de esta manera._
Ella giró la cabeza. George estaba tendido como muerto. ¿Cómo podía ser tan fuerte? Ni siquiera su padre, Terry, el Principe de la Oscuridad, poseía tal poder. La voz de George era hipnótica, magnetizadora.
Carry cerró los ojos, exhausta después de lugar con él. Estaba agobiada por la desesperación. _De acuerdo, George, tú ganas... esta vez._
_Todas las veces, ma petite. _No había presunción, ni triunfo, sólo amable calma.
Fue su calma lo que la hizo creer que George era mucho más peligroso de lo que había nunca imaginado. No la amenazó, chilló o rabió. Lo declaró todo bastante monótonamente o, peor, parecía divertido. Un olor familiar llenó sus pulmones cuando inhaló un último aliento. El lobo, su lobo, llenó su mente con amabilidad, suave piel frotándose contra su brazo, su mejilla. Carry mantuvo los ojos firmemente apretados, temiendo destruir la ilusión.
_Te he echado de menos._ Unió su mente con la del lobo. Desearía que estuvieras realmente aquí justo ahora.
_Yo siempre estoy contigo._
La mente del lobo la aceptó, la envolvió, abrazándola con calidez. La mente era tan familiar, como si hubiera caminado en ella mil veces. _Desearía que fuera real, que estuvieras aquí conmigo realmente_. La salvaje esencia era fuerte en sus fosas nasales. Durante un momento, Carry contuvo el aliento, no atreviéndose a respirar. Después, lentamente, alzó las pestañas. A su lado, el lobo se estiró, la piel negra y lustrosa se frotó contra su piel. El lobo volvió la cabeza, revelando sus inusuales e inteligentes ojos grises. El corazón de Carry se cerró de golpe contra su pecho. Un gemido de negación escapó. Esto no era una ilusión sino algo real.
George con todos sus poderes, podía cambiar de forma. Él era su lobo. Que arrogante había sido al asumir que era la única que había perfeccionado el arte de caminar bajo el sol. Había pensado que era capaz de resistir los rayos solares porque se alimentaba sólo de sangre animal. Si simplemente se lo hubiera consultado a sus padres. ¿Por qué había mantenido al lobo como su secreto?
Había todo parecido tan inocente y divertido, tener un maravilloso secreto que guardar a sus padres. Pero debería haber reconocido esos ojos. No grises, sino de brillante plata. Y al lobo le había contado todos sus miedos, todos sus deseos, todos sus sueños. Conocía sus pensamientos más secretos y profundos. Peor aún, habían intercambiado sangre, la había alimentado, había lamido su herida. El intercambio no fue, quizás, como exigía el ritual marital de los Cárpatos, pero su vínculo mental era fuerte, inquebrantable.
¡Había sido tan estúpida! Un lobo ordinario nunca habría sido tan inteligente, tan capaz de comunicar calidez y seguridad, tan capaz de confortarla. George había forjado un vínculo entre ellos desde su temprana niñez.
_Estabas sola._
_No tenía ninguna oportunidad, ¿verdad? _Ni siquiera cuando era una niña.
_No desde el momento en que fuiste concebida_. Sin remordimiento, solo esa calmada y implacable resolución.
Se apartó incómodamente la pesada caída de su pelo, sabiendo que debería reconocer el sacrificio de esos largos años. Deseaba estar enfadada con él, furiosa. No deseaba sentir preocupación e instintos protectores por su carcelero. No deseaba que se le acelerara el pulso, la deliciosa calidez que se extendía a través de ella ante la idea que él había estado con ella todos esos años, para asegurar un vínculo, su seguridad y felicidad. Su explicación era tan seca y el hecho consumado. Estaba sola. Era así de simple para él. Ella necesitaba, el proveía. El código de los hombres de los Cárpatos.
Lamento que te hicieras daño por mi culpa. Escondió sus pensamientos cuidadosamente, no deseando que él leyera sus confusas emociones. Inmediatamente sintió la sensación de una mano rozando hacia abajo por su pelo, la gentileza de una caricia.
Tenemos una larga noche por delante. Necesitas el sueño reparador. Esta vez su orden se zambulló en el profundo sueño que los Cárpatos necesitaban para rejuvenecer.
George había enviado una afilada y eficiente orden, no una amable sugerencia sino una que no podía rechazar. Ella se deslizó veloz, sin pensarlo, sin miedo o conocimiento de lo que él había hecho. Tenía que atar en corto sus aventuras e independencia. Aun ahora su pesar por su amigo humano y su terror a él y a su raza le había pasado factura. No podía creer que le hubiera permitido rebelarse contra su auténtico destino. Había simplemente algo en él que se fundía cuando estaba en la mente de ella, en su presencia. Tuvo el terrible presentimiento cuando su cuerpo se unió al de ella, de que perdería todo su buen juicio.
5. Chapter 5
**CAPITULO 5**
El Sol se puso lentamente, deslizándose más y más bajo en el cielo antes de desaparecer tras las montañas siendo engullido por el mar. Rojo y naranja explotaron cruzando el cielo, reemplazando dramáticamente su azul por el color de la sangre. Lejos bajo la tierra, el corazón de George y sus pulmones empezaron a funcionar.
Automáticamente exploró los alrededores para asegurarse de que todas las salvaguardas estaban en su lugar y su guarida no hubiera sido perturbada. Sintió hambre en sus lobos, pero no alarma. A su lado, Carry débil todavía descansaba. Enroscó un brazo posesivo, protectoramente, alrededor de su cintura. Su pierna estaba cruzando el muslo de ella, cortando todo posibilidad de escapatoria. El hambre creció, voraz, rabiosa, tan afilada que estaba cerca de la lujuria. George flotó hasta el nivel de sótano, necesitaba distanciarse de la tentación.
Carry estaba finalmente aquí con él en su guarida. Podía estar luchando con él y consigo misma a cada centímetro del camino, pero él estaba en su mente, leyéndola fácilmente. Buena parte de su temor hacia él provenía de su atracción hacia él.
El deseo de los Cárpatos que todo lo consumía, ligando totalmente, y dando solamente un único compañero. Uno raramente sobrevivía al otro. Mente, cuerpo, corazón y alma estaban unidos juntos por toda la eternidad.
Los lobos convergieron hacia él ansiosa y jubilosamente. Saludó a cada uno de ellos con el mismo paciente y mesurado entusiasmo. No sentía favoritismos. De hecho, había sentido sólo vacío hasta que Carry había llegado, hasta que había una vez más tocado su mente con la de ella.
Mientras alimentaba a los lobos, George se permitió a si mismo recordar ese negro momento en las Montañas de los Cárpatos cuando Carry había contado a su lobo que tenía que huir del Oscuro, huir a América, la tierra natal de su madre, escapar de George y de la intensidad de sus sentimientos hacia él. Había utilizado cada onza de autodominio que poseía para permitirle dejarle. Se había retirado a la más alta y remota montaña que conocía. Había viajado por los bosques de Europa como un lobo solitario, se había enterrado en las profundas entrañas de la tierra durante largos períodos, saliendo solo para comer. La oscuridad en él había crecido hasta que George no pudo engañarse más a sí mismo. Dos veces había estado cerca de asesinar a su presa, y aunque eso debía haberle sacudido, apenas había causado una oleada de preocupación. Fue entonces cuando supo que ya no tenía elección. Tenía que reclamarla, que poseerla. Había venido a América y esperado su llegada a San Francisco.
Carry no entendía que si no lo hubiera hecho, si hubiera en cambio buscado el alba, o su naturaleza oscura prevaleciera y se volviera un renegado, convirtiéndose en el temido vampiro, la estaría condenando a _ella_ a una existencia insufrible y yerma de la más absoluta soledad y vacío. No sobreviviría. La madre de Carry no había captado completamente la compleja relación entre el hombre y la mujer de la especie de los Cárpatos. Nacida como humana, ni siquiera comprendía el peligro que un hombre de los Cárpatos tan poderoso como George representaba. La madre de Carry había querido que su hija fuera independiente, no comprendía que un Cárpato no tenía más elección que encontrar a su otra mitad. Candy Grandchester no había hecho a su hija ningún favor al darle la ilusión de independencia.
Pero por primera vez en su vida, George estaba indeciso. Hasta que oficialmente la reclamara, cualquier hombre de los Cárpatos, incluidos los vampiros, estarían alterados, pensando que podían usurpar su posición y reclamarla para ellos mismos. Para protegerla, necesitaba completar el ritual uniéndolos por toda la eternidad. Para proteger a mortales e inmortales por igual, tenía que reclamar lo que por derecho era suyo. Había esperado un tiempo peligrosamente largo. Aunque, odiaba forzar a Carry a hacerlo cuando era tan remisa. George deslizó una mano a través de su espeso pelo, y rondó por la casa como una pantera enjaulada. El hambre le corroía, elevándose bruscamente con cada paso.
Paseó cruzando el suelo del balcón y alzó la cabeza para inhalar la noche. El viento llevaba la esencia de la caza. Conejos ciervos, un zorro y, débilmente, mucho más lejos, humanos. Envió su llamada a la noche, conduciendo a su presa hacia él con la facilidad casual de un maestro. Era a veces tan difícil recordar que estos humanos eran seres con intelecto y emociones cuando era tan sencillo controlarlos.
George saltó desde el balcón del segundo piso, aterrizando suavemente sobre la punta de sus pies. Se movió fácilmente, sin apresurarse, sus músculos se movían con la sutil indiferencia del inmenso poder y fuerza que era una parte tan grande de él. Ninguna piedra rodó bajo sus pies; ni una simple ramita se rompió o crujió. Podía sentir los sonidos de la tierra, los insectos y las criaturas de la noche, el agua corriendo como sangre bajo el suelo. La savia en los árboles llamándole; los murciélagos lanzándose en picada y chillando en reconocimiento.
George se detuvo en la valla de la verja. Inclinando sus rodillas ligeramente, saltó erguido, con facilidad los ocho pies. Aterrizó al otro lado, agachándose. Ya no un hombre elegante y bien formado, sino una peligrosa bestia despertando. Los ojos pálidos empezaron a brillar salvajemente. El hambre atrapó y arañó sus entrañas. El instinto lo poseyó, los viejos instintos de un depredador que necesitaba sobrevivir.
Olfateó el viento, entonces se giró en la dirección de su presa. Su llamada había atraído a una joven pareja. Podía oír sus corazones latir, el correr de la sangre en sus venas. Su cuerpo ardió buscando alivio. El peligroso e insidioso susurro del vacío de su alma se extendió sobre él. Una mujer. Tan fácil. El hombre, casi echado a un lado por la bestia, luchando en la oscuridad. En su presente estado, podía tan fácilmente asesinarla.
La chica era joven, veintitantos, el hombre no mucho mayor. Esperaban por él, con las caras ansiosas, como si esperaran a un amante. Mientras George se aproximaba, la chica extendió los brazos hacia él, sonriendo alegremente. El hambre quemó rojo y crudo, su cuerpo gritaba de necesidad. Con un gruñido bajo, George se aproximó a ella, incapaz de luchar contra el poder de la bestia.
Mientras arrastraba a la mujer rudamente hacia él, oyó un sonido susurrante. Luminoso. Rítmico. Rápido. Con un gruñido gutural, dejó a la mujer a salvo alejándola. Esperaba un niño. George alargó una mano y extendió los dedos por la ligera protuberancia de su estómago. Era un niño. Tan pequeño, tan necesitado de protección. Abruptamente se deslizó alrededor y sujetó al hombre. Luchó por controlarse, por mantener al joven compañero tranquilo y deseoso. Escuchó durante un momento el reflujo y flujo de sangre, de vida, entonces inclinó la cabeza y bebió.
En su estado de excitación, el ansia le golpeó fuerte. El sabor del poder le volvió a la vida, llenándole. Necesitaba, quemaba, suplicaba. Se alimentó hambrienta y vorazmente, desesperado por llenar el terrible vacío. Las rodillas del hombre se doblaron, trayendo a George de vuelta a la realidad. Durante un momento había luchado con la bestia, feliz de consumir una rica vida, casi corrompiéndose con el poder de la vida y la muerte. Tuvo que esforzarse por recobrar alguna semejanza de control antes de agotar al hombre. Era tan tentador, tan atrayente. Llamando, insistiendo.
En la roja neblina que le consumía y crecía en él, su cuerpo ardía y rabiaba, un solo pensamiento se deslizó en su interior. Carry. Al momento estaba oliendo el aire nocturno de nuevo, oliendo su limpia y fresca esencia. Podía sentir la brisa en su piel caliente como el toque de los dedos de ella. Podía ver las ramas de los árboles deslizándose gentilmente, vio sus hermosos y conocedores ojos mirando fijamente el interior de su negra alma.
Con un juramento, George cerró la herida en la garganta del hombre y lo dejó en el suelo, apoyándolo contra el ancho tronco de un árbol. Agachándose, George saltó con un impulso. No acudiría a Carry con muerte en sus manos. Había pensado darle tiempo para ajustarse a él, a su relación, pero era ya demasiado peligroso e impredecible en el estado en que estaba. La necesitaba en su interior, conduciéndole de vuelta desde los límites de la locura.
El hombre se sentó con la piel cenicienta, y la respiración trabajosa. Con descanso y cuidados, sin embargo, estaría bien. Plantando un accidente creíble en la cabeza de la pareja que explicara la debilidad del hombre, los dejó tan rápidamente como había venido, corriendo como un relámpago a través de los espesos árboles, esquivando fácilmente leños caídos y estrechos hilos de agua. Una vez recuperada su compostura, disminuyó el paso a un paseo perezoso y una vez más envió una llamada en la noche. La pareja necesitaría ayuda, así que condujo a una familia a que fuera a pasearse por allí. Oyó sus jadeos de alarma y convenio incluso aunque le separaban millas de ellos, y su boca se curvó con satisfacción.
Solo cuando George saltó al balcón, sintió la primera punzada de intranquilidad, de advertencia. Sus ojos se deslizaron de vuelta al cielo nocturno mientras se confundía con las sombras. Este lugar, remoto, inhóspito, todavía salvaje era todavía un lugar de poder, atraía la atención de cualquier renegado Cárpato. Los vampiros serían incapaces de resistir la llamada de la tierra, el influjo de los lobos. Podrían incluso sentir su terrible forcejeo, uno de los cazadores tan cerca de convertirse, tan cerca de volverse uno de su clase, condenado por toda la eternidad. Había sido alcanzado en el momento de alimentarse, había escondido su presencia a cualquiera de los de su raza que pudieran estar cerca, sin otro signo de lo cerca que había estado de perder su alma.
George tocó las mentes de sus lobos para tranquilizarlos y prepararlos para un sondeo. Ya podía sentir a los vampiros aproximándose en cerrada formación, como enormes murciélagos. Estaban buscando tocar las mentes de humanos y animales por igual. Dentro de la casa, los lobos dieron vueltas, pacíficos, soportando la búsqueda mental, pero George se afirmó en ellos, su calma los tranquilizaba. Los vampiros recogerían solo los instintos de animales salvajes vagando, y buscando comida. Los dientes blancos de George relucieron. Si el hubiera sido uno de los que buscaban, nadie habría sentido su presencia a menos que lo permitiera. Y ningún bloqueo hubiera sido lo bastante fuerte para resistir su sonda.
Carry. Los renegados probablemente la buscaban, ciertamente Roberto la había encontrado y secretamente la había alejado de ellos. El pícaro no había tenido tiempo o fuerzas al final para enviar una advertencia a sus cohortes. Buscarían en todas las áreas remotas por supuesto.
George sacudió la cabeza antes tanta estupidez. Carry era la hija de Terry. Terry era el Principe de su gente, un anciano, su sangre era poderoso. Carry podría haber disminuido su fuerza rechazando la sangre humana, pero cuando eligiera alimentarse, sería peligrosa más allá de lo que imaginaban.
Se volvió con otro sonrisa sin humor, cruel y burlona, hacia el cielo. Los que buscaban estaban dirigiéndose al sur, hacia la ciudad rebosante de vida. George no se detuvo a pensar en los estragos que los vampiros podían causar, en las víctimas que podrían tomar antes de que Albert Andrew, el cazador de la zona, los rastreara. Confiaba el trabajo a Albert y se sintió justificado dejando a otro Cárpato la tarea de encargarse de los vampiros en el área de la Bahía a su debido tiempo.
El tiempo no significaba nada y lo significaba todo para George. Estaba al límite, un interminable estiramiento de yerma soledad. Durante siglos había soportado el aislamiento severo y horroroso del varón de su especie. Sus emociones habían muerto, dejándole frío, capaz de inconmensurables crueldades. Pero después de años de estar solo, de ser casi un no muerto, estaba despertando una vez más a vez más a los olores, colores, luz, oscuridad. La forma en que su cuerpo ardía, lo sensible que era a la percepción de su pelo, de su cuerpo contra el de él, sólo su visión. ¿Era eso suficiente, o era demasiado tarde? ¿Sobreviviría al asalto, al diluvio de poderosas emociones, o le llevarían más allá del límite al mundo de la locura?
George había sobrevivido durante siglos porque, como Terry, había sido meticuloso con sus planes, nunca olvidaba los detalles minúsculos. Su primer error durante cientos de años había sido fallar al mantenerse alerta a la posible presencia de otros Cárpatos o no-muertos en el aparcamiento del estadio durante el show mágico. Hacía un momento había pasado lo mismo. Todo porque estaba distraído necesitando tanto a Carry y habiéndola esperado tanto.
Volvió a entrar en su casa y bajó las escaleras con los pies desnudos. Una vez dentro de la cámara de la cama, encendió velas y preparó un baño caliente en la enorme tina hundida en el mármol. Después dio a Carry la orden de despertar. Su cuerpo se sentía pesado, incomodo por la urgente necesidad, pero su glotonería al alimentarse había ayudado a poner límites a su lujuria de sangre. Observó su cara mientras su corazón empezaba a latir y sus pulmones empezaban a expandirse por el aire. Supo el momento preciso en que ella exploró mentalmente los alrededores y sintió la amenaza, el peligro inmediato, sintió su presencia. Carry le sorprendió sentándose lentamente, empujando su pelo sedoso alrededor de su cara. Sus ojos se fijaron sobre los de él, enormes, hermosos. Su lengua salió, tocando sus labios con aprensión. Si era posible, el cuerpo de George se tensó incluso más.
Él tenía un aspecto poderoso e intimidante, su cara severamente sensual, Carry fue consciente de el con excitación. Sus ojos ardían de furia, tocándola, devorándola. Y a pesar de su resolución, a pesar de sus miedos, podía sentir como su cuerpo volvía a la vida por sí solo. El calor se extendía despacio a través de ella, trayéndola un dolor tortuoso y un hambre rabiosa. Podía oler su esencia masculina. El bosque salvaje se aferraba a él, dejándole secretos. Sus ojos relampaguearon, estrellas chispeantes en medio del azul.
- ¿Cómo te atreves a venir con el perfume de otra mujer aferrado a ti?
Una sonrisa débil apareció en su boca, aliviando la dureza de su cara.
- Solo me alimenté, ma petite.
Carry era la mujer más hermosa y sensual que había conocido nunca. Podía pensar que estaba asustada de él, pero ciertamente no tenía problemas para reprenderle.
Le miraba fijamente, su largo pelo salvaje, sus pequeños puños apretados.
- Llámalo como quieras, George, pero mantente lejos de mí mientras huelas a ella. - Estaba furiosa con él. Insistía en que era su compañero, intentaba forzarla a aceptar una eternidad en el infierno con él, ¿y se atrevía a venir oliendo a otra mujer? - Vete y déjame en paz. - Por alguna inexplicable razón se sentía casi al borde de las lágrimas ante la idea de que él la traicionara.
Los ojos plateados se caldearon hasta un acariciante mercurio y se colocó posesivamente acercándose a su delgada figura. Un ceño fruncido tocaba su cara.
- Estas débil, Carry. Puedo sentirlo cuando nuestras mentes se funden.
- Mantente fuera de mi mente. Ciertamente no has sido invitado. - Sus manos volaron hasta las caderas. - ¡Y sólo para que conste, tu mente necesitar ser lavado con jabón! La mitad de las cosas que piensas que vamos a hacer nunca van a pasar. Podría no verte nunca más.
Él rió. En voz alta. En realidad, una risa auténtica. Surgió inesperadamente y emergió baja y cascada, con genuina diversión. George casi saltó la distancia entre ellos y la arrastró a los brazos, agradecido más allá de lo imaginable.
Ella le tiró una almohada a la cabeza.
- Sigue y ríete, arrogante presuntuoso. - Deseó tener el doble o cuádruple de habilidad.
Las cejas de él se crisparon. Otra nueva experiencia. Le había llamado muchas cosas, pero presuntuoso no era una de ellas. Su preocupación por el bienestar de ella se sobrepuso a su intriga, sin embargo. Se impuso a la bestia agazapada dentro de él preparada para poseerla.
- ¿Por qué estás tan débil, ma petite? Esto no es aceptable.
Ella dejó su preocupación a un lado.
- ¿Es aceptable que juegues por ahí con otras mujeres? - No se paró a pensar porque esto la enfurecía, pero así era. - He estado cuidando de mi misma durante cinco años, George, sin tu ayuda. No te necesito, y no te quiero.
Alzándose, veloz y aguda, la bestia en su interior rugió buscando alivio. Cinco años. Le había dado esos cinco años. Que Dios les ayudara a los dos si había esperado demasiado.
- El baño está listo. Puedes hablarme de esas reglas mientras nos relajamos en su tibieza.
Ella abrió los ojos de par en par.
- ¿Nosotros? No lo creo. Puede que para ti sea un hábito bañarte con mujeres, pero puedo asegurarte que yo no me baño con hombres.
- Eso alivia mi mente. - Replicó él secamente, con una sonrisa divertida en su mente, pero la urgencia de su necesidad crecía. - Nunca me he bañado con una mujer, Carry, así que será una nueva experiencia para los dos.
- Ni en tus más salvajes sueños
- No hay necesidad de ser tímida. Ambos pertenecemos a la tierra.
- Ahórrate esa basura, George. No voy a bañarme contigo, y punto.
Sus cejas se alzaron. De repente la miró como el depredador que era. Sin esa perezosa diversión, sin indulgencia, sino como un cazador con los ojos fijos sin pestañear sobre su presa.
Él corazón de Carry se detuvo alarmado, empezó a apretarse incómodamente en su pecho. Lo peor de todo era que él podía oírlo. Sabía que la había asustado. Eso la enfureció todavía más. ¿Tenía que ser tan intimidante? Los hombres de los Cárpatos eran todos enormemente fuertes; no necesitaban aparentarlo. No tenía necesidad de lucir ese enorme pecho y esos brazos musculosos y grandes como robles. Había empezado con valentía, decidida a no ser intimidada, pero él era el poder personificado.
- Estoy leyendo tu mente. - Mencionó él suavemente.
Ella odió su cuerpo traidor, la forma en que se disolvía ante su visión y el sonido de su acariciante y aterciopelada voz.
- Te dije que te mantuvieras fuera de mi mente.
- ¿Es un hábito, ma petite?
Lanzó otra almohada hacia él.
- No te atrevas a traer al lobo. Estoy segura que de nuestras leyes prohíben algo como eso. Eres un sinvergüenza, George, ni siquiera lo lamentas.
- Quítate la ropa, Carry.
La suave orden hizo que su mirada corriera a encontrarse con la de él. Retrocedió, se tambaleó, y habría caído si él no se hubiera movido con sorprendente velocidad para cubrir la distancia entre ellos. Sus brazos se deslizaron alrededor de ella y la apretaron contra él, sus ojos plateados se clavaron sobre ella.
- ¿Por qué estás tan débil?
Ella empujó la pared de su pecho en un vano intento de escapar de su interrogatorio mental. Sería capaz de extraer cualquier información que deseara bastante fácilmente.
- Sabes que nunca toco la sangre humana. Cuando era una niña parecía no importar mucho, pero en los últimos años, ha habido... - Buscó la palabra. - ... repercusiones.
Permaneció en silencio, su mirada fija inmóvil, compeliéndola a explicarse. Y _era_ una compulsión. No podía resistirse a la orden de sus firmes ojos.
Carry suspiró.
- Estoy débil la mayor parte del tiempo. No puedo cambiar de forma sin que me pase una tremenda factura. Por eso mis show se han hecho tan escasos. Difícilmente puedo arreglármelas para convocar niebla para escapar y después materializarme de nuevo. - No añadió que no podía ya colocar salvaguardas adecuadas mientras dormía, pero podía decir por el súbito brillo de acero de sus ojos que había captado el eco de su apresurado pensamiento prohibido.
Su mirada plateada se volvió acero, y sus brazos se tensaron, amenazando con aplastar el cuerpo de ella contra la dura fuerza del suyo.
- ¿Por qué no remediaste la situación? - Su voz, una suave amenaza, envió escalofríos a través de ella. Ella era demasiado consciente de su enorme fuerza.
- Lo intenté con Peter una vez, cuando estaba realmente en baja forma. Era dócil, pero no pude a penas obligarme a tomar su sangre. - No quiso admitir que la razón real era que pensaba que su inusual dieta la capacitaba para caminar bajo el sol. –
- Esto se acabará. Prohíbo que continúe esta estupidez. - Le dio una pequeña sacudida, mientras sus dientes blanquísimos se apretaban con irritación. - Si es necesario, Carry, te obligaré a obedecer. - No estaba fanfarroneando; en su voz no había burla o desafío. Simplemente estableció un hecho.
Ella sabía que la estaba amenazando no con fuerza física sino con compulsión mental.
- George –Se esforzaba para que su voz sonara calmada y razonable. - sería una equivocación que me impongas tu voluntad.
La puso en pie, sujetándola cuidadosamente con una mano, mientras la otra iba hacia los botones de su blusa.
Carry contuvo el aliento en su garganta. Con sus dos manos se apresuró a atrapar la de él.
- ¿Qué estás haciendo?
- Quitándote la ropa. - No parecía ser consciente de que las manos de ella luchaban por controlar las de él. Los bordes de su blusa se apartaron, revelando su torso, la suave hinchazón de sus pechos en un sujetador casi transparente.
La bestia salió a la superficie durante un momento, queriendo desgarrar, comer, reclamar. Era casi imposible controlarla, y por primera vez realmente temió haber esperado demasiado para venir por ella. Podía estar en auténtico peligro si él se deslizaba por el borde hasta la locura. La necesidad se cerró de golpe sobre él, dura y poderosa, pero tomó un profundo aliento, luchó, y venció. Su mano fue firme cuando quitó todo rastro del sujetador, dejando sus pechos llenos a la vista. Sus dedos acariciaron la sedosa piel sin que pudiera detenerse, su pulgar acarició sus pezones convirtiéndoles en duras crestas. Murmuró algo, Carry no sabía lo que fue, antes de bajar su boca para saborear la cremosa ofrenda.
Al primer toque de su boca, del roce de sus dientes, las piernas casi le fallaron. Su cuerpo se volvió líquido de deseo. Él le lanzó el húmedo calor de su boca, haciéndoles arder a ambos.
6. Chapter 6
**CAPITULO 6**
Los dedos de Carry se enredaron en su pelo espeso y negro como la medianoche con la intención de tirar de su cabeza hacia atrás, pero las llamas lamían su piel, prendiendo un fuego en su interior. _Sólo por una vez, saborea lo prohibido. Sólo una vez._ Era tal su placer que no sabía si era su pensamiento o el de él que la tentaba.
Su mano le bajó por el estómago, encontrando la cremallera de sus jeans. Alrededor de ellos, los colores giraban y danzaban, el aire crujía, la tierra se movía bajo sus pies. Un gemido de desesperación, de deseo, escapó de su garganta. El sonido de sus corazones, el rugido de su sangre, era música en sus oídos. Llamando a algo salvaje en ella. El olor de él, masculino y despierto, el olor de su sangre, provocando su hambre, aguda y exigente.
- ¡No! ¡No haré esto! - Carry, desesperada por escapar a su mágico y oscuro deseo, se echó hacia atrás. Le quería más que ninguna otra cosa, más que a su misma alma, y la intensidad de su necesitad le asustaba mortalmente.
Los brazos de George la apretaron tanto que cayeron juntos, flotando hasta el suelo, su inmenso cuerpo cubriendo el de ella. La cabeza apoyada contra su pecho, el olor de la sangre de él era fuerte, su pulso latía y latía ante su resistencia. Las manos de él se engancharon en la cinturilla de los jeans y los arrancaron de su cuerpo con facilidad, tomando después el trozo de encaje que pasaba por ropa interior. Sus manos la acariciaban por todas partes, encontrando cada cavidad y grabándola en su memoria, dejando una estela de fuego a su paso.
Carry encontró su piel caliente y salada bajo sus labios. Su lengua encontró el pulso tocándolo con una caricia. Él se estremeció de placer; sus brazos se tensaron como bandas de acero alrededor de ella. Su aliento era cálido contra el cuello de ella, contra su oreja.
- Toma de mi lo que necesitas, Carry. - Susurró suavemente, una negra seducción aterciopelada. - Me ofrezco libremente como en el pasado ¿Recuerdas como sabe? - Era pura tentación, el diablo incitándola. _¿Recuerdas?_ Dejó la palabra en su mente.
Carry cerró los ojos. La esencia de la sangre era todopoderosa, llamándola, susurrando su hechizo. Estaba tan débil. Alimentarse sólo una vez y ser fuerte de nuevo... podría durar mucho tiempo. Sería tan fácil permitirse saborearle. Su cuerpo se tensó ante la sola idea, todos sus instintos clamaban por la supervivencia.
Él deslizó la mano sobre su muslo, enviando un escalofrío a través de su sangre. Su lengua se deslizó fuera de nuevo, atacando, languideciendo. Los dedos de George encontraron calor húmedo, acariciando, demorándose. Sus dientes le rozaron la piel, después pellizcaron.
Él controló la urgencia de impulsar sus caderas y poseerla. Ella estaba sólo medio perdida, con la mente confusa, rabiosamente hambrienta y su cuerpo ardía de deseo. Él alimentó ese calor, sus dedos se introdujeron más profundamente, explorando, sintiendo sus músculos tensarse, sus caderas empujando contra él, buscando alivio. _Hambre._ Él lo pensó, lo alimentó, permitió que lo consumiera. El cuerpo de él estaba dolorido, deseoso, caliente y duro. La mente de ella buscó la suya, mezclándose ambas hasta que fue imposible separar una de la otra. _Hambre. Recuerda. El sabor. Sólo una vez más, su sabor._
Carry no podía pensar claramente. Había tanto deseo, tanta hambre. Una parte de ella podía sentir su piel desnuda contra la de el, su cuerpo agresivamente masculino, pero lo que la conducía a la locura era el firme y fuerte latido de su corazón. Los dedos de George se introdujeron profundamente en su interior, y las llamas saltaron en una respuesta de fuego, calor blanco, relámpago azul. La voluntad de ella se disolvió y sus dientes se hundieron profundamente, en su cuello.
George gimió roncamente y explotó con un placer tan intenso que fue casi estático. Era puro erotismo, su boca moviéndose, alimentándose, tomando su vida en el interior de su cuerpo. Había esperado tanto. Su mente se nubló, convirtiéndose en una niebla roja de penetrante necesidad, y acercó sus delgadas caderas con fuerza, manteniéndola inmóvil durante su invasión.
Ella era una vaina de fuego aterciopelado y se enterró en ella tan profundamente como pudo, rasgando la delgada barrera de su inocencia, ardiendo, deseando, decidido a marcarla por toda la eternidad. Su grito de dolor quedó perdido contra el pecho de él, embozado bajo él. Era tan pequeña, tan firme y ardiente, estaba perdido en pura sensación. Sentimiento. Puro sentimiento. Sentimientos reales. No fantasías que él mismo había creado para soportar la oscuridad, la soledad, sino verdaderos sentimientos. El dulce y cobrizo olor de la sangre estaba sobrepasándole, llamándole con su seducción implacable. El olor de la sangre de ella, mezclado con la combinación de esencias, alimentaba la neblina roja, haciéndole perder el control, y activando cada uno de sus instintos depredadores, agresivos, bestiales. Carry automáticamente cerró la herida en su pecho con una caricia de su lengua, ya luchando salvajemente. Estaba haciéndole daño con su enorme fuerza, su cuerpo forzaba el de ella, rasgando su inocencia brutalmente. Sus manos estaban por todas partes, sus dientes continuaban. Bajos gruñidos de advertencia retumbaron en su garganta mientras ella luchaba contra él.
George levantó la cabeza, sus ojos brillaban rojos, peligrosos, fuera de control, inhumanos, perdidos al límite de la locura. Cuanto más luchaba Carry más brutal se volvía él, un animal salvaje buscando dominar, buscando su propio placer. Un ardiente dolor blanco se deslizó a través de ella cuando sus dientes agujerearon la vulnerable hinchazón de su pecho. Ella lloró en protesta, pero él la sujetó fácilmente bajo el peso de su cuerpo, manteniéndola atrapada y vulnerable mientras tomaba su placer. Mientras su sangre entraba en él, su cuerpo se enterraba en el de ella una y otra vez, más profundo y más duro.
La sangre caliente entraba a raudales en su boca. Nunca había conocido un sabor igual, posiblemente no podría tener bastante. Fluía en su cuerpo como néctar, ardiente aunque calmante. Nunca había sentido tal éxtasis como el que ella le daba. Quiso que durara para siempre. El poder se deslizaba a través de él, arrebatándole totalmente. Su cuerpo era salvaje, buscando más y más, marcando el frenético alimentarse de su boca.
George ya no existía; el animal rabioso que ocupaba su lugar estaba agotando la sangre de la vida de Carry, utilizando su cuerpo sin el cuidado de un tierno compañero. Carry aceptó su muerte inminente pero se preocupaba por su padre, que estaría desprevenido contra este, el más hábil y más fuerte de todos los Cárpatos.
George sintió un débil revoloteo en su mente, no frases sino impresiones, estaba luchando por volver de la locura para ayudarla, su único pensamiento ahora era para ella. Sintió un profundo pesar por haber esperado demasiado y haberla puesto en tal peligro. _Mátame, chérie. Cuando esta cosa que te está tomando acabe estará débil, perezosa, saciada. Mátala entonces. Haré todo lo que pueda por ayudarte en esto._
La culpa la inundó. George se había sentenciado a su mismo a cinco años de infierno por darle la libertad que había deseado. Durante ese tiempo había caminado muy cerca de la locura, aunque había aguantado por ella. Sus mentes estaban fundidas, y podía tocar el sufrimiento que había soportado en su beneficio. Ahora estaba dispuesto a morir para salvarla. Carry cerró los ojos y obligó a su cuerpo a relajarse, a volverse suave y dispuesto.
George. Él pensaba que su alma estaba perdida, que se había convertido en un auténtico vampiro sin que le importara el bien o el mal. Una bestia salvaje sin credo, con enorme poder, peligroso más allá de lo imaginable. Había resistido tanto contra el aplastante vacío negro, que ahora estaba perdido, atrapado en un vórtice de violencia y pasión, poder y placer. Ella lo había llevado a este maldito final. Su temor, su juventud, eran los responsables de haber reducido su grandeza al estúpido salvajismo.
Los dedos de Carry encontraron la nuca de él, y obligó a apartar el dolor de su mente, intentando no sentir la brutal amenaza que pendía sobre ella. George. El Oscuro. Salvaje. Sin ley. Siempre solo. Siempre intocable, completamente aislado. Temido. Ningún Cárpato estaba cómodo en su presencia, aunque había sanado a muchos de los de su raza, cazado a sus asesinos, impartiendo justicia cuando más duro era el deber, manteniendo a su gente a salvo.
¿A quién le importaría ahora esta bestia salvaje? ¿Quién sentiría gratitud por lo que había sacrificado por todos ellos? ¿Quién incluso se atrevería a acercarse lo suficiente para localizar al hombre del interior? La compasión inundó a Carry, y algo más que no se atrevió a examinar más atentamente. No podía permitir que tal destino cayera sobre un gran Cárpato. No lo permitiría. Su determinación estaba más allá de cualquier otra cosa que hubiera sentido antes.
Sus manos acariciaron su melena salvaje y le acunaron la cabeza contra su pecho, entregándose libremente, sus pensamientos calmados en el ojo de la tormenta, ofreciéndole su vida sin reservas. _Tómame libremente, George. Mi vida por tu vida. _Era lo menos que podía hacer, no menos de lo que él había hecho por ella, por todos los de su raza. _Estoy aquí para ti, George. Te ofrezco lo que necesitas libremente. _Lo decía en serio. No permitiría que se convirtiera en un no-muerto. No lo dejaría en este mundo desalmado.
¡Carry! Parecía un poco más fuerte, o quizás ella simplemente tenía la esperanza de que el hombre estuviera venciendo a la bestia. Debes sobrevivir. Mátame. Su voz era un feroz y suplicante gruñido en su cabeza.
Su propia mente respondió. Siénteme, mi cuerpo está unido al tuyo. Te pertenezco y tú a mí. Siénteme a tu lado. Vuelve a mí. No dejaré que te vayas. Donde quiera que estés, yo estoy contigo. Donde quiera que vayas, te seguiré. Ofrezco mi vida libremente por la tuya. No puedes tomar a la fuerza lo que te estoy dando. No has hecho nada malo al tomarlo.
Las caderas de él continuaban sumergiéndose en ella, pero con más cuidado, como si estuviera lentamente volviendo a la conciencia. Animada, Carry movió su cuerpo para encontrarse con él, marcando su furioso ritmo, su corazón, sus pulmones, hasta que estuvieron en perfecta sincronía. Un cuerpo, un corazón, una mente. Ella intentó reducir la velocidad, conminarle a un ritmo más lento, al ritmo más gentil de ella.
_Carry._ Su nombre fue una súplica esta vez, todavía lejos pero más decidido. La boca que trabajaba tan ferozmente en su gentil pecho. Sálvate a ti misma. George estaba luchando por ella como ella estaba luchando por él.
_Sólo hay un nosotros._ Ella estaba tranquila ahora, sus manos se movían tiernamente sobre los tensos y rígidos músculos de la espalda de él. Ni yo, ni tú. Estaba débil, vacía, un extraño letargo la invadía. Sólo nosotros. ¿Su voz había temblado un poco? No te dejaré, no permitiré que la oscuridad te aleje de mí.
Carry estaba tendida bajo él, casi en el mundo de los sueños. Repentinamente, como si se diera cuenta de que ella estaba alejándose de él, la bestia alzó la cabeza, sus ojos rojos, plateados, mirándola fijamente, en un momento feroz, al siguiente tiernos.
Sangre caliente goteaba hacia abajo por el pecho de ella. Pestañeó para enfocarle de nuevo. El cuerpo de él estaba estremeciéndose, derramando su semilla profundamente en su interior. Una larga caricia de su lengua cerró la herida en el pecho de ella y siguió las gotas de sangre hacia su estómago.
_Te reclamo como mi compañera._ Las palabras fueran apagadas en su mente. Su voz siguió, ronca, como si el terrible conflicto por su alma le hubiera pasado factura.
- Te pertenezco. Te ofrezco mi vida. - La voz se hizo más fuerte, más como la de George, una hermosa caricia aterciopelada, mientras recitaba el antiguo ritual Cárpato que los uniría por toda la eternidad. - Te doy mi protección, mi lealtad, mi corazón, mi alma, y mi cuerpo. Tomo los tuyos de la misma forma para guardarlos. - Cogió la parte de atrás de la cabeza de ella en la palma de su mano, abriéndose una herida cerca de la garganta, y presionó su boca contra el corte. Estaba débil, casi demasiado débil para beber bajo su compulsión. _Bebe, mon amour, por la vida de ambos._ La obligó a obedecer sin remordimiento. Sin su sangre, no sobreviviría la siguiente hora. Después de todo lo que había sufrido para salvarle no sería para nada. Porque sin ella no tendría razón para sobrevivir.
Acarició su pelo tiernamente, su cuerpo se movió gentilmente dentro del de ella. El ritual se había completado previniendo que este terrible peligro se repitiera para ella. La necesitaba residiendo en su interior, iluminando la oscuridad con su luz. Sería un largo camino de vuelta, pero ella era fuerte, lo había arrastrada de vuelta del negro vacío de su naturaleza bestial con su confianza. Terminó el ritual suavemente. - Tu vida, tu felicidad y bienestar estará por encima de la mía propia. Eres mi compañera, unida a mí por toda la eternidad y siempre a mi cuidado.
Su cuerpo podía sentir el éxtasis de la combinación del ritual, de que se alimentara con el cálido terciopelo de su vaina femenina. Empujó a un lado el placer, sabiendo que ella no se estaba sintiendo como él. En el momento en que estuvo seguro de que tenía suficiente sangre para sobrevivir, se permitió a sí mismo un segundo de relajación.
La cabeza de ella cayó hacia atrás sobre su frágil cuello, como una flor en su tallo. Estaba tan pálida, su piel parecía casi traslúcida. George le tomó la mano y se la llevó a la boca, sus ojos plateados se movieron sobre su cara, notando las sombras y huecos que no habían estado allí antes. Mientras la miraba, algo en su interior se volvió suave y tierno.
Se acomodó saliendo de su cuerpo, mirando abajo hacia su delgada forma, y se quedó inmóvil, asustado, horrorizado, casi incrédulo. Cardenales, arañazos, y mordiscos marcaban su piel. La sangre y el semen goteaban por sus piernas, y debió buscar en su interior para recordar como tomó su inocencia.
Un sonoro y crudo gemido, rasgó su garganta. ¿Cómo podía haber hecho algo tan brutal e imperdonable? ¿Cómo podría ser nunca perdonado? Carry se las había arreglado para guiarle de vuelta del negro vacío al que estaba condenado. Todo lo que sabía, todo lo que creía, le decía que esto era un milagro. Pero ella había pagado un terrible precio.
George llevó su cuerpo flácido al baño humeante, agradecido de que el agua caliente pudiera ayudar a aliviar sus dolores hasta que pudiera enviarla al profundo y rejuvenecedor sueño. En su tierra natal, el rico suelo le habría dado la bienvenida, ayudándola a sanar. Aquí, en esta tierra extraña, estaba sólo George y sus poderes sanadores. Podía obligarla a dormir hasta que las heridas estuvieran completamente sanadas. Podía borrar todo recuerdo de su brutalidad, implantando una hermosa historia de amor. Aunque le había dicho que nunca habría más que sinceridad entre ellos, si le cambiaba la memoria, toda su relación desde este día en adelante se convertiría en una farsa.
Carry estaba tendida inmóvil, pálida y desvalida. George echó hacia atrás su pelo de ébano, su corazón sentía más dolor del que hubiera sentido si una mano lo hubiera estrujado, arrancándolo de su pecho. La cruda verdad era que la mentira sería para sí mismo, y no se lo merecía. La valentía de ella le había traído de vuelta. Si podía hacer frente al demonio en él, él no podía hacer menos.
- Y si tengo que tenerte alrededor, vamos a tener unas reglas que deberán ser seguidas.
Su boca se estiró, pero sus entrañas de tensaron ardientemente, su cuerpo estaba tan duro que dolía. Hambre. Su actitud machista o cambiar sus creencias. Creía absolutamente en su derecho a ella, creía que ella le pertenecía. La protegería con su vida de todo daño, miraría por cada una de sus necesidades y su confort. Pero la gobernaría absolutamente.
7. Chapter 7
****Hola de nuevo, de seguro pensaron "esta ya nos dejo colgadas, de nuevo", asi que para no incurrir en malos pensamientos y alegrarles el dia, les traigo otros capitulos para que disfrutes, gracias por los reviews, se les aprecia un buen. Saludos y nos seguimos leyendo.****
* * *
><p><strong>CAPITULO 7<strong>
Carry se despertó lenta y somnolienta de su sueño. El conocimiento llego primero cuando intentó moverse. El don Cárpato de la exquisita sensibilidad, la habilidad de ver, oler, oír y saborear tan vívidamente, la fenomenal y apasionada naturaleza de cuerpo y mente que les permitía encajar tan íntimamente, era una maldición cuando llegaba el dolor. Los Cárpatos sentían dolor tan aguda y claramente como veían y oían, sin agentes químicos que entorpecieran la sensación. Un gemido escapó antes de que pudiera evitarlo.
Instantáneamente una mano consoladora descansó en su frente, acariciando su pelo hacia atrás.
- No te muevas, ma petite.
Una débil sonrisa curvó la boca de ella.
- ¿Tienes que hacer de todo lo que dices una orden? - Sus pestañas se alzaron para revelar sus ojos azul violáceos.
George esperaba censura, rabia, disgusto. Sus ojos estaba nublado de dolor, un poco adormilados, y mantenían un deje de miedo que intentó con fuerza ocultar, pero nada más. Él era una sombra en su mente, así que no podía ocultarle sus pensamientos. Estaba interesada principalmente por él, pero la terrible lucha que había mantenido por su propia cordura, por las cicatrices en su alma. Se sentía culpable y con una sobrecogedora sensación de tristeza porque su juventud e inexperiencia le hubieran forzado a tales elecciones. No notó que estaba frunciendo el ceño hasta que los dedos de ella alisaron sus labios. Su toque le sacudió. La forma en que lo miraba hacía que le diera un vuelco el corazón, fundiéndose cada borde afilado.
- Te arriesgaste terriblemente, Carry. Podría haberte matado. La próxima vez que te de una orden, síguela.
Ella le lanzó una mueca lívida, después apresuradamente se serenó cuando ella se humedeció los labios hinchados. Estaba terriblemente débil, necesitaba sangre. El olor subió para fastidiarla con recuerdos que necesitaba desesperadamente evitar justo ahora.
- En realidad no soy muy buena siguiendo órdenes. Supongo que simplemente tendrás que acostumbrarte a eso. - Carry intentó sentarse, pero él lo hizo imposible con una gran mano extendida sobre su corazón.
Podía haber escapado con su intento de sarcasmo excepto porque sus mentes eran tan fácilmente accesibles al otro, deslizándose y mezclándose adelante y atrás sin pensarlo o sin esfuerzo. Él captó los bordes del nerviosismo, el eco del miedo. Ella era muy, muy consciente de la palma de su mano descansando sobre la fina sábana sobre la hinchazón de su pecho. Carry estaba intentando ignorar la tensión sexual que se arqueaba entre ellos.
Él se inclinó, rozando tiernamente su boca a lo largo de la frente de ella.
- Te agradezco tu intervención. Salvaste mi vida. Y lo que es más importante, mi alma. - _Nuestras vidas. _- No intentes esconderme tus temores, ma petite. No hay necesidad.
Un suspiro escapó, y las pestañas velaron los ojos de ella.
- Puedes ser extremadamente irritante, George. Estoy intentando con fuerza cargar con esto, y podría tener un poco de ayuda. Para ser honesta, estoy asustada de muerte. En realidad, no quiero pensar en ello ahora mismo. - Se mordió el labio, después hizo una mueca de dolor cuando le dolió la boca. Hizo un sutil movimiento de retirada, esperando que el movería su mano. Era tan consciente del su toque, de su corazón. El conocimiento acompasó ambos, el dolor del su cuerpo que el toque inducía y el terrible miedo en su mente que no tenía esperanza de superar.
George no movió ni un músculo, permaneciendo tan inmóvil como una estatua tallada en granito.
- Me empujaste fuera de la oscuridad, de las puertas del infierno. Con todo los derechos, por cada ley que tiene nuestro pueblo, deberías haberme destruido por lo que te he hecho. - Su voz era baja y afilada por la pena. - Con toda honestidad, no tengo ni idea de que semejante auto sacrificio, y semejante rescate, fuera posible.
Carry no deseaba volver a repetir la experiencia nunca más en su vida. Pero de algún modo, tan asustada como estaba, tan herido como estaba su cuerpo, sabía que George estaba de lejos mucho más atormentado que ella.
- Supongo que no estás tan agradecido como para considerar vivir lejos de mi durante un tiempo ¿no? - Preguntó esperanzada, cerrando los ojos durante un momento para bloquear el recuerdo de la lucha por el alma de él. No podría enfrentar el recuerdo y la realidad, la persona intimidante al mismo tiempo. Durante un momento algo fluctuó en la profundidad de los ojos de él, sacudiendo su mente, la mente de ella, después se desvaneció. Dolor. ¿Le había ella hecho daño? Carry no estaba segura de que quisiera saberlo.
- El ritual está completado, ma petite. Es demasiado tarde. Ninguno de nosotros sobreviviría a una separación. - Sus dedos se enredaron en el pelo de ella, aplastando mechones sedosos como si no pudiera conseguir tocarla lo suficiente.
Carry recordó haber oído que los compañeros no podían vivir separados. Pero eso significaba que tenía que encontrar una forma de resolver sus conflictos internos y el miedo a su relación en seguida. ¿Era eso siquiera posible?
- ¿Y eso que significa? - Desafió ella. - He oído a mi padre y a ti decirlo. Lo he oído toda mi vida ¿Qué significa?
- Necesitarás tocar mi mente, mi cuerpo, el intercambio de nuestra sangre, y yo necesitaré los tuyos. Ocurrirá con frecuencia, y la necesidad es tan poderosa, que uno de nosotros no puede existir sin el otro. - Mantuvo su voz neutral, baja, una cadencia consoladora. Si era posible para ella ponerse más pálida, lo hizo. El corazón de ella saltó salvajemente, sus ojos se abrieron de par en par con miedo_. ¡Nunca! _Nunca podría, jamás, bajo ninguna circunstancia, pasar por eso de nuevo. El sexo era una pesadilla, el intercambio de sangre dolorosamente sobre valorado. Giró la cara lejos de él en un intento de ahorrarle su miedo. Su mente estaba trabajando furiosamente, intentando encontrar una solución. Ella se lo había buscado. Si sólo... pero si hubiera hecho cualquier cosa diferente, George podría estar muerto... o peor, ser un vampiro completo, y de algún modo, incluso con la amenaza de repetir la experiencia, Carry no podía soportar esa idea.
Su humedeció los labios con la punta de la lengua, sintió la hinchazón, dando evidencia del asalto de él.
- Pero ya no hay posibilidad de que te conviertas en un vampiro ¿correcto?
El corazón de George notó la pequeña duda en su voz.
- No hay posibilidad de que entregue mi alma a la oscuridad, Carry, a menos que deba perderte. No te mentiré, ma petite. Nuestra vida será difícil al principio. No tengo ni idea de las profundas emociones que eres capaz de crear en mí. Te llevará algún tiempo ajustarte. Si te estás preguntado si te haré daño de nuevo físicamente, la respuesta es no.
- ¿Estás seguro? - Esta vez había un temblor evidente en su voz, y su mano tembló cuando la alzó para echarse el pelo hacia atrás.
El movimiento le causó una mueca de dolor, y George sintió esa mueca, ese temblor, a través de su cuerpo entero como la hoja de un cuchillo.
- Estas en mí, Carry, una luz para guiarme a través de la oscuridad de los tiempos. - Quiso envolverla en la seguridad de sus brazos, albergarla por toda la eternidad contra su corazón. ¿Pero estaba diciendo la verdad? Sentía que en su alma que lo hacía, pero había hacía mucho tiempo manipulado la naturaleza. ¿Aguantarían las salvaguardas contra su violencia?
- Necesito tiempo. - Ella odiaba la nota de súplica en su voz. Pero su vida había cambiado de la noche a la mañana. Y Peter. Que Dios la ayudara, nunca se perdonaría a si misma por la muerte de Peter.
- Roberto no estaba solo. - Era fácil leer sus pensamientos.
Carry probó con cautela su habilidad para moverse. Cada músculo pareció chillar en protesta.
- ¿Qué quieres decir?
La mano de él se movió sobre su hombro, su toque fue posesivo. Una sacudida de miedo la golpeó con fuerza. Estaba desnuda bajo la sábana. Instantáneamente se sintió vulnerable, su mirada azul violácea saltó a la pálida de él como si esperara que le crecieran cuernos.
George suspiró suavemente y movió su peso sobre la cama.
- No te haré daño, mon petit amour. No puedo con el ritual completado.
- ¿Entonces por qué dices que nuestra vida será difícil? - Los dedos de ella estaba aferrándose a la sábana hasta que sus nudillos se quedaron blancos. La mano de él se colocó gentilmente sobre la suya, recorriendo con la punta de un dedo cada nudillo tenso. Cada roce de sus dedos enviaba una inesperada sacudida de electricidad a través de ella.
- No puedo perderte después de esperarte durante siglos. Sé que soy un hombre difícil, y no encontrarás fácil convivir conmigo. Ambos necesitaremos hacer ciertos ajustes.
- Si, como que pierdas esa actitud de macho. - Murmuró ella por lo bajo. Dijo en alto. - Quiero sentarme, George. - Se sentía en una desventaja evidente, echada sobre su espalda y desnuda bajo la sábana. - Si vamos a discutir nuestro futuro, me gustaría participar.
Durante un largo momento los ojos plateados se movieron sobre la pálida y magullada cara de ella, estudiándola atentamente, claramente debatiéndose entre sí permitirlo o no. Una tormenta empezó a formarse en los ojos de ella, y con renuencia se echó hacia atrás dejándole espacio.
- Fácil, pequeña. - Dijo suavemente, deslizando un brazo alrededor de ella, con su cálido aliento sobre su cuello.
La sensación del pelo áspero de él, de su brazo de hierro envolviéndose alrededor de su piel desnuda enviaba un escalofrío que bajaba por su espina dorsal y colocaba un cálido remolino en el fondo de su estómago. Detestaba esa calidez, la forma en que se cuerpo se ajustaba a sí mismo al de él, la forma en que su mente luchaba por ignorar su firme resolución y buscaba tocarle. Era el ritual. Podía decirse a sí misma eso, pero no acababa aborreciéndose a sí misma. ¿Cómo podía su cuerpo desear un toque tan brutal? ¿Era una especie de masoquista?
El temblor empezó profundamente en su interior, avanzó progresivamente a través de sus músculos hasta que cada diente castañeteó. Carry se aferró a la sábana y se sentó rígidamente contra el apoyo del brazo de él.
- Creo que esto iría mucho mejor se tú te sentarás allí. - Apuntó a una silla al otro lado de la habitación.
Las manos de George enmarcaron su cara, los pulgares acariciaron la delicada línea de su mandíbula.
- Mírame, Carry. - Su voz era terciopelo negro pero una orden no obstante.
La mirada de ella saltó hacia él, pero apresuradamente apartó los ojos, las pestañas se deslizaron hacia abaja protectora mente. Bajo la yema de su dedo pulgar el pulso de ella corría. - ¿Vas a luchar conmigo a cada paso? Te estoy pidiendo algo muy pequeño, mírame, soy tu pareja.
- ¿Muy pequeño? Es decir, puedes manejar a cualquiera con una mirada.
La risa de él fue suave, jugando sobre la piel de ella como el toque de unos dedos.
- Puedo hacerlo sólo con la voz, chérie. Carry, necesito que me mires.
Renuente ella fijó su mirada en la de él. ¿Por qué había pensado que sus ojos eran fríos? Eran charcos de mercurio fundido, calentándola, calmándola para que el temblor se aliviara y algo de su temor se disipara lo suficiente como para empezar a relajar sus músculos.
- No te haré daño de nuevo. La forma en que te tomé no fue por elección, y cargaré con la vergüenza y la culpa por mi falta de control todo el tiempo. Sus manos encontraron el pelo de ella y se llevó un sedoso mechón a los labios. - Sé que me tienes miedo, Carry, y te he dado buenas razones, pero te ofrezco mi mente libremente para que puedas ver que digo la verdad.
Lo estaba arriesgando todo. Su pasado era oscuro, a veces incluso negro. A su tierna edad ella era incapaz de entender semejante historia, la frialdad de la existencia que había llevado hasta ese momento. Pero conocería cada hecho, cada implacable acto. También sabría lo lejos que había llegado para asegurarse de tenerla como su compañera. Era la única forma que conocía de asegurarle que decía de corazón lo que dijo. Si habría su mente completamente, ella sabría que decía la verdad. Nunca podría amarle, pero él no esperaba su amor.
Carry estudió su cara durante un largo momento.
- Es suficiente con que hayas hecho la oferta, George. Mis miedos no se irán incluso sabiendo que eres incapaz de hacerme daño. El miedo no funciona de esa forma. - Era innecesario que él sacrificara su orgullo, que confesara cada oscuro y feo hecho. Su vida había sido difícil, y lo había hecho lo mejor que podía. Ella no tenía derecho a juzgar sus actos. - Quizás podamos reducir la velocidad de todo esta y trabajar en conocernos el uno al otro.
Él soltó el aliento lentamente, siendo consciente que dé había estado conteniéndolo.
- ¿Estás segura? - Ante su asentimiento, la soltó.
- ¿Que quisiste decir con que Roberto no estaba solo? - Deliberadamente ella cambió de tema, intentando aliviar la tensión entre ellos.
- Viajaba con un grupo. Convirtieron Europa en un matadero. Tu padre fue duro cubriendo la evidencia y protegiendo a nuestra gente. No ha pasado mucho desde que los asesinos recorrieron nuestra tierra natal y mataron a nuestra gente.
- ¿Cuantos hay en este grupo?
- Cuatro más.
La mano de ella fue a su garganta. Parecía tan joven e indefensa, deseaba arrastrarla a la protección de sus brazos. Estaba haciéndolo cosas que no entendía, pero ningún precio era demasiado alto para pagar por ella.
- ¿Vinieron aquí por mí? Roberto dijo que me encontró primero. Pensé que quería decir antes que tú. ¿Los conduje aquí?
Deseaba mentirle... ¿no le había causado ya suficiente dolor?... pero no pudo obligarse a hacerlo, así que no dijo nada.
Carry sacudió la cabeza tristemente.
- Ya veo. - Estaba todavía débil y aturdida por la pérdida de sangre debido a la voracidad de él al alimentarse. - ¿Dónde está mi ropa? Estoy demasiado débil para fabricar nada.
Las cejas de él se arquearon.
- ¿A dónde piensas que vas?
- Tengo que hacer los arreglos para el funeral de Peter. Probablemente todo el mundo me estará buscando, y el personal debe estar devastado por la muerte de Peter y preocupados por mí. Después de ocuparme de todas esas cosas, tengo intención de unirme a ti en la caza de esos renegados.
- ¿Crees que permitiré cosas tan peligrosas?
Los ojos de ella crecieron tormentosos.
- No puedes darme órdenes, George... dejemos eso bien claro ahora mismo.
George sacó su cuerpo de la cama y se estiró como un perezoso gato de la jungla. Carry se encontró con los ojos pegados a él. Se deslizaba silenciosamente, músculos ondeando bajo su elegante camisa de seda. Aplastó hierbas de dulce aroma en varios cuencos pequeños de agua, encendió velas bajo cada contenedor. Instantemente la habitación se llenó de una consoladora y seductora esencia que pareció abrirse camino en el cuerpo de ella, en su mismo riego sanguíneo. Recogiendo un cepillo de la mesita de noche, George rodeó la cama y volvió al lado de ella.
- Por supuesto que te daré órdenes, Carry. Pero por favor no te preocupes. Puedo asegurarte, que soy bastante bueno en ello.
Ella estaba sorprendida. ¿George, el Oscuro, burlándose de ella?
Se sentó tras ella, teniendo cuidado con sus cardenales, y empezó a alisar los enredos de su pelo. Se sentía bien, el cepillo moviéndose sobre su cuero cabelludo, bajando por la longitud de su pelo, sus manos deslizándoos en largas caricias, una especie de magia.
- Muy gracioso. No nací en el siglo catorce o en esos estúpidos y atrasados tiempos en los que naciste tú. Soy una mujer moderna te guste o no. Fue tu elección atarte a mí. Darme ordenes, no importa lo bueno que seas en ello, está descartado. - Había hechicería, seducción, en el toque de sus manos, en el terciopelo de su voz, la pequeña nota burlona que ella sabía ahora que igualaba a la suya propia.
Los dedos de él rozaron su nuca, enviando calor en espiral a través de su sangre.
- Soy del Viejo Mundo, pequeña. - La calidez de su aliento contra su oído. - No puedo hacer otra cosa que proteger a mi mujer.
- Supéralo. - Le sugirió dulcemente. - Nos llevaremos mucho mejor de ese modo.
- Nos llevaremos espléndidamente, ma petite, si nunca te opones a mi voluntad. - Su voz, cada vez más baja, era una tentación en sí misma. El aire de la habitación estaba cargado con la esencia de las hierbas, invadiendo sus sentidos, su voz la hipnotizaba.
Giró la cabeza para mirarle sobre el hombro desnudo, sus ojos violetas ardiendo sin llama. Sus ojos plateados la miraban, con diversión en sus profundidades.
- Contrólate, George. Estás perdiendo la cabeza. ¿No se te ha ocurrido que necesitaría ropa, verdad? - Intentó sonar dura; no le haría ningún bien permitirle seducirla cuando tenía la guardia bajo. Pero estaba muy soñolienta, su cabeza daba vueltas con la esencia de las hierbas y la sensación de las manos de él en su pelo.
- No es difícil conjurar tales artículos. - Le recordó él, inclinando la cabeza para acariciar con su lengua consoladoramente un cardenal particularmente feo en la parte baja de su espalda. La saliva sanadora trabajaría más rápido mezclada con su tierra natal, pero era todo lo que tenía.
Carry saltó cuando la aterciopelada suavidad de su lengua se movió eróticamente a lo largo de su cadera. La pesada esencia de las hierbas la invadió, induciéndola a un lánguido adormecimiento. Los dedos de George echaron su pelo a un lado, colocándole la larga melena sobre el hombro para exponer ante él su espalda. Inclinó la cabeza lentamente hacia ella, su propio largo y oscuro pelo se deslizó sobre la piel sensible de ella.
Pronunció un sonido de protesta e intentó moverse lejos de él, pero aterrizó yaciendo sobre su estómago, con las manos atrapadas bajo ella.
8. Chapter 8
**CAPITULO 8**
- Quédate quieta, Carry. Esto debe hacerse. - Su boca contra las caderas de ella, en la peor parte de los cardenales.
El miedo clavó sus garras en ella, arremolinándose en su cerebro. La hacía sentir completamente vulnerable, desvalida. Iba a ocurrir de nuevo, su brutal posesión. Las lágrimas ardieron bajo sus párpados, y un gemido surgió de su garganta.
Él encontró su miedo intolerable. No debería haberle importado. Sabía que no iba a hacerle daño... justamente lo contrario, estaba sanándola... pero su miedo le devoraba, volviéndole loco. Él, que había pensado que no tendría amabilidad en él, la tocaba con extraordinaria ternura.
- Si trajera a tu lobo, Carry, ¿aceptarías _sus_ cuidados? - Ofreció amablemente. La lustrosa piel negro ondeó a lo largo de sus brazos, y los huesos crujieron y se estiraron para acomodarse a su cambio de forma.
La piel de Carry era tan intolerablemente sensible, que incluso el roce de la piel fue doloroso. A través de su miedo captó un destello de dolor, como si molestara a George que ella prefiriera el animal al hombre.
- No, por favor no lo hagas, George. No traigas al lobo. Déjame sanar naturalmente. - Suplicó, incapaz de soportar su dolor. Cerró los ojos mientras los músculos tensos ondeaban una vez más bajo su piel.
La lengua de él encontró la marca oscura de sus dedos sobre su redondeado trasero, trazando cada línea púrpura.
- No eres mortal, ma petite. Esto es natural para nuestra gente. - Sintió placer por su elección, aunque se preguntaba porque lo sentía.
Las manos de George recorrieron su cuerpo, encontrando cada arañazo, cada cardenal. Su boca era cálida, húmeda, dejando caricias a lo largo de sus costillas, su cintura, sus caderas y trasero. Carry jadeó cuando él insertó una mano entre sus piernas, obligándola a darle acceso a sus largos y terriblemente arañados muslo. La herida estaba en la parte de atrás de la cara interior de su pierna. Áspero terciopelo acarició gentilmente, insistentemente, una herida rabiosamente roja, en un íntimo y erótico toque.
Carry apenas podía respirar. Su toque era como una droga, invadiendo su cuerpo, caldeando su corriente sanguínea, aliviando cada dolor. Era tan fácil para él controlar su mente, su cuerpo, como si no hubiera Carry sin él. Necesitaba tan completamente su toque que lo odiaba. Incluso el aire de la cámara lo favorecía, las insidiosas hierbas consoladoras, la dejaban soñolienta.
George le dio la vuelta gentilmente, su aliento quedó atrapado en su garganta. Nunca había notado lo hermoso que era realmente el cuerpo femenino. Orgullo y posesión ardían en sus pálidos ojos mientras su mirada se deslizaba por la piel desnuda de ella, entonces se movió a su delicada cara. Las lágrimas brillaban como joyas, atrapadas en sus largas pestañas.
Él murmuró algo que no pudo captar, sus dedos rozaron las lágrimas en la punta de sus pestañas de forma que las gotas cayeron en la palma de su mano. Cerró la mano alrededor de ellas, soltando su cálido aliento a través de los dedos, y abriendo la mano. Tres diamantes perfectos descansaban en su palma abierta.
Incluso aunque ella era una maestra de la ilusión, los ojos de Carry se abrieron de par en par maravillándose de la hazaña de George, y sus dedos se enroscaron alrededor de la muñeca de él. El corazón de George dio un salto mortal antes el toque de los dedos de ella, su mezcla del temor reverencial de una niña ante su magia y el miedo severo a lo que su toque íntimo le estaba haciendo a su cuerpo. Todo Cárpato con algún mérito podría realizar la ilusión de lágrimas que parecían diamantes, pero las gemas de George eran reales, sólidas. Había usado su enorme fuerza y el tremendo poder de su mente para hacer lo imposible para ella, para convertir la ilusión en realidad.
Tomando su mano, sus ojos fijos en los de ella, George permitió que los diamantes cayeran en la palma de su mano, una lluvia de gemas. Muy cuidadosamente cerró sus dedos alrededor del regalo. Sus ojos todavía sostenían los de ella, su lengua acarició su magullado puño. Una vez, dos, tres.
Dardos de fuego recorrieron su corriente sanguínea. Su cuerpo se estremeció, se calentó en el fresco aire nocturno. Un pequeño ruido escapó cuando él inclinó la cabeza para encontrar una mancha oscura en la comisura de su boca. En su cabeza, débil, lejano, podía oír un canto en la suave y consoladora voz de él, el lenguaje de siglos de antigüedad. Sus pestañas bajaron. Fuego y hielo. Dolor y placer. Áspero terciopelo acariciando se maltratada boca, llevándose el escozor.
Carry cerró los ojos contra el tormento de la belleza masculina, la ternura tallada en sus sensuales rasgos. Su lengua se movía sobre sus caderas, después se deslizaba para bañar un corte en su boca. Se sentía tan bien.
Él se inclinó sobre su cuello, su garganta, su lengua tuvo gran cuidado sobre la carne atormentada. Las marcas de los dientes sobre su hombro por donde la había sujetado bajo él requirieron un lento y perezoso remolino de su lengua, largas y suaves caricias para quitar el dolor y reemplazarlo con un tortuoso calor.
El cuerpo de George respondió a cada centímetro de la satinada piel de ella, el sabor y la sensación de ella, la vista y el olor de ella, pero esta vez sería todo para ella. No tendría oportunidad de hacerle daño; estaba decidido a reemplazar cada cardenal, cada arañazo, cada mal recuerdo por placer reparador.
_Es suficiente, George. _Su mente unida a él encontró su hambre y despertar, que igualaba al suyo, sin miedo que la enturbiara. El aliento le llegaba en cortos jadeos en algún lugar entre el placer y el terror.
- Cada cardenal, mon petit amor, no importa lo pequeño que sea. - Deliberadamente susurró las palabras, su cálido aliento contra la redondez de su pecho. Se tomó su tiempo, desfrutando de su trabajo, recorriendo la suave plenitud, acariciando, fastidiando, y sanando. Nunca tendría suficiente de ella, nunca superaría la sensación y perfección de ella. Tampoco el hecho de que ella se había negado a condenarle, que había intentado protegerle del terrible crimen que había cometido contra ella.
Parecía imposible que pudiera importarle lo suficiente, que a cualquiera, y mucho menos Carry, después de lo que le había infringido, pudiera importarle lo suficiente como para hacer lo que ella había hecho. Seguirle a las profundidades del infierno y arrastrarle de vuelta a ella.
Gimió solo de pensarlo, dolía por dentro, llorando silenciosamente por haber cometido semejante acto horrendo contra su mujer, la única mujer con el coraje suficiente para seguirle y arrastrar su alma desde el infierno a la luz de ella.
Los dedos de Carry se enredaron en la espesa melena de él, tejiendo una magia propia. _Deja de atormentarte, George. Conocías el riesgo, y aun así me diste mi libertad. Esos cinco años de libertad fueran preciosos para mí. Los agradezco._
George cerró los ojos. Le estaba volviendo el mundo al revés, fundiendo sus entrañas, su frígida existencia, con la belleza de su naturaleza. Ella era todo lo que él no era. Compasión, perdón, luz y bondad, ahora casada con un demonio que no conocía las cosas que la hacían ser lo que era. Si era amor por ella lo que estaba creciendo en él, era una poderosa y peligrosa emoción. Ahora me das miedo. Su tormento estaba en su mente.
Ella se movió ligeramente para que él pudiera atender la cara inferior de sus senos. Él sintió el estremecimiento de respuesta ante el gentil toque de su lengua, y calor que se apresuraba a través del cuerpo de ella, la presión que crecía lentamente.
_Siempre te temo, George, temo tu poder sobre mí, temo lo que representas, la pérdida de mi libertad. Temo a un ser tan poderoso y como me haces sentir. Incluso si esto no hubiera pasado, todavía te temería._
La boca de él se movió todavía más abajo, sobre su estrecho torso, y el pequeño tramo de su cintura. Se demoró sobre los cuatro largos arañazos que atravesaban el estómago de ella, su cuerpo dolía, pero mientras disfrutaba de su trabajo, no le importaba. _Ahora temes unirte a mí._
El aliento de ella quedó atrapado en la garganta, y se quedó inmóvil bajo él, pero el canto consolador siguió, y la pesada esencia de las hierbas combinada con su toque gentil prevaleció. Se relajó bajo él. No quería herir su ego... el de los hombres es tan frágil... pero el sexo está definitivamente sobre valorado. Podemos refrenar ese aspecto de las cosas.
El sintió toque de diversión en los pensamientos de ella. Sabía que estaba llevando un rabioso fuego a través de la sangre de ella, las oleadas de calor la estaban golpeando. Podía fácilmente oler su esencia llamándole con prontitud. Pero ella no iba a caer en su trampa. Había sido demasiado grande para su pequeña forma, y demasiado rudo. Su boca arrastró fuego a lo largo de su estómago hasta el sedoso triángulo en la conjunción de sus piernas. Ella saltó, sus dedos se retorcieron en el pelo de él.
- No, George, he dicho no.
Su voz sonaba cansada, y sus pequeñas manos estaban temblando de nuevo, la sensación contra su cuero cabelludo dio un vuelco a su corazón. Las palmas de las manos de él se movieron gentilmente acariciando sus muslos, y su lengua encontró el pliegue de su cadera. Conozco la única forma de sanarte. Acarició el centro de su calor con infinita ternura.
Ella gritó, sus caderas se alzaron, intentando retorcerse para alejarse del revuelto vórtice de llamas que él estaba creando. Sus músculos se tensaron. Los temblores empezaron en su estómago. La presión creció. Había tal necesidad agrupándose, calor rabiando en su más profundo centro._ ¡George! _Fue una desvalida súplica de deseo, de temor, de confusión.
La conexión psíquica entre ellos era tan fuerte, era tan fácil para él leer cada una de sus conflictivas emociones, su ardiente deseo. Su canto consolador nunca vaciló, y cuidadosamente mantuvo su propio cuerpo rabioso bajo control junto con sus salvajes y apasionados pensamientos. A causa de ella él se unió, creando placer sin miedo, una curación para reemplazar la brutal toma de su inocencia.
En algún nivel Carry sabía que él estaba en su cabeza, dirigiendo sus emociones lejos del miedo, elevando su placer has que pensó que podía morir por su intensidad. Su toque era gentil, aliviando su terrible amargura hasta que la presión que crecía en su interior se volvió casi insufrible.
Entrégate, ma petite. Estoy aquí para darte placer. Su voz fue un hechizo que compelía su obediencia. Deseaba obedecer, entregarse a sí misma a su cuidado. Deseaba que él extinguiera las oleadas de llamas que la golpeaban.
Un suave, ansioso y pequeño gemido escapo de la garganta de ella, casi acabando con él. Su alivio estaba estallando, sacudiéndola mientras su cuerpo pareció fragmentarse y disolverse, mientras la tierra se movió y estallaron colores a su alrededor, a través de ella, en ella.
George la sostuvo mientras su cuerpo se estremecía de placer, mientras los espasmos la sacudían. La arrastró más cerca, colocándola al resguardo de su cuerpo, necesitando desesperadamente estar cerca de ella. Estaba bañado en sudor, sus músculos tensos y rígidos por la propia necesidad de alivio.
Ella podía sentir la urgencia de la necesidad latiendo en él, desgarrando su alma.
- Lo siento, George. - La voz de Carry fue suave, llena de culpa, un simple hilillo de voz, su cara se enterró contra las costillas de él.
Él alzó mechones de su pelo hasta su boca, inhalando su fragancia.
- No tienes razones para lamentar nada, ma petite.
El puño apretado de ella estaba sobre el corazón de él, con los tres diamantes en su palma.
- ¿Crees que no puedo leer en tu cuerpo? ¿Sentir la pesadez en tu mente mientras intentas protegerme? No puedo cambiar quien soy, más de lo que puedes tú. Sé que te estoy fallando, causando tu incomodidad.
Una pequeña sonrisa curvó la boca de él. _Incomodidad_. Ahora tenía una palabra para ello. Su mano apretó el pelo de ella, que corrió entre sus dedos.
- Nunca te he pedido que cambies, no desearía que lo hicieras. Pareces olvidar que te conozco mejor que nadie. Puedo manejarte.
Ella volvió la cabeza para que pudiera ver las estrellas plateadas brillando en sus ojos azules, una ardiente advertencia.
- Eres tan arrogante, George, hace que desee tirarte cosas. ¿Te has oído a ti mismo? ¿_Manejarme_? ¡Ja! Yo intento decir que lamento fallarte y tú actúas como el señor del feudo. Haber nacido hace siglos cuando las mujeres eran solo muebles no te da una excusa.
- Las mujeres de los Cárpatos nunca han sido consideradas muebles. - Corrigió él suavemente.- La nuestra es una raza menguante. Nuestros niños raramente sobreviven, y hay tan pocas mujeres para compañeras, que la mayoría de los hombres están perdidos en su oscuridad interior después de siglos solos. Nuestras mujeres son nuestro más precioso tesoro, guardado y protegido.
- George. - Carry mantuvo el puño apretado, aferrando los diamantes de sus lágrimas dentro como si fueran un símbolo. - Intentemos llegar a alguna clase de entendimiento para que podamos vivir juntos en paz. - Su cuerpo estaba todavía sacudiéndose con los espasmos, y la mirada de él solo mantenía el calor enroscándose a través de ella. Tuvo el sorprendente deseo de tocar sus oscuras cejas con la punta de un dedo.
La boca de él encontró la sedosa fragancia del pelo de ella, y sus manos recorrieron hacia abajo por su espalda, encontrado placer en la forma en que su diminuta cintura continuaba en las esbeltas caderas.
- ¿Qué clase de entendimiento? - Murmuró casi ausentemente, su mente claramente en otras cosas más provocativas.
El rastro de diversión en su voz la irritaba, como si estuviera simplemente complaciéndola. Carry empujó la sólida pared de su pecho para poner unos pocos centímetros entre ellos. Su gran forma no se movió, y estaba encerrada entre sus brazos. Le empujó de nuevo.
- Olvídalo.
Él inclinó la cabeza para saborear la vulnerable línea de su cuello, para sentir su pulso en la cálida y húmeda caverna de su propia boca. Su sangre emergió y golpeó. Pequeños martilleos empezaron a latir en su cráneo.
- Estoy escuchando cada palabra que dices, ma petite. - Murmuró, perdido en su suavidad y su esencia. La deseaba con cada fibra de su ser, con cada célula de su cuerpo. - Podría repetir cada palabra que dices, si lo deseas.
Pronto el fuego empezaría, y no habría elección para ninguno de ellos. Su sangre llamaría a la de ella con tal urgencia que ella no podría ignorar su llamada. Su mente se deslizaría fácilmente dentro y fuera de la de ella, el vínculo psíquico era fuerte manteniéndolos juntos incluso a grandes distancias. Le necesitaría tanto como él a ella.
George la inhaló dentro de su mismo cuerpo, su esencia era tan femenina, tan seductora. Ella revolvía tan profundos sentimientos después una existencia tan yerma, eso le aterrorizaba. Estaba acostumbrado a una vida sin emociones. Podía hacerle bien, pero su potencial para la maldad era enorme. Él era ley en sí mismo. Incluso las leyes de su gente, las mismas leyes que defendía, nunca se habían aplicado a él.
Podía leer los sentimientos de ella fácilmente. Carry tenía una naturaleza abierta y directa. Está atrayéndole, preparada incluso para protegerle de sí mismo si era necesario. Pero no tenía intención de permitirle hacerle el amor de nuevo. Cortó como un cuchillo saber que había sido el que le había hecho daño, el que le había hecho sentir miedo a su unión natural.
- No estás escuchando. - Carry se retorció, intentando salir de debajo de él. - Estás intentando seducirme. - Dijo indignada.
Él levantó la cabeza, sus pálidos ojos vagaron posesivamente sobre los hermosos rasgos de ella.
- Si, lo estoy haciendo. ¿Funciona? - Su voz... una baja y burlona caricia... la desarmó cuando el rechazo no lo haría. La mano de él se extendió abierta por su garganta, su pulgar rozó tiernamente su cuello, enviando llamas que lamían su piel.
Carry estaba sonriendo a pesar de todos sus esfuerzos por no hacerlo.
- No, no está funcionando en absoluto. - Mintió. No podía mirarle sin desearle. Su pulso corría bajo la yema del pulgar de él. Su piel era ardientemente satinada, invitando su toque, invitándole a seguir explorando. Había un conflicto en su mente, el miedo estaba en primer lugar, pero también el deseo.
George se concentró en eso, alimentando esa chispa de deseo con la suya propia.
Tocó su boca con la comisura de la de ella, rozando con un suave susurro aterciopelado sus labios, y sintió su corazón saltar salvajemente en respuesta.
- ¿Estas segura? He aprendido mucho a lo largo de los siglos. Hacer el amor es un arte. - Ahora era una hechicería audible, seducción extrema.
Él estaba haciéndole algo mágico a su boca. Aplicando ásperamente un toque, aunque con una mezcla de ternura y posesión, su corazón dio un vuelco. Sus dedos se enredaron en la espesa melena negra de él. Las largas pestañas se deslizaron hasta sus mejillas; después alzó sus ojos azules danzando de risa.
- ¿Un arte? ¿Es así como lo llamas? Pienso que podría proponer un nombre mejor.
El levantó la cabeza, sus pálidos ojos brillaban plateados, con la calidez del mercurio líquido.
- ¿Y tú qué sabes? Tu primera vez fue una parodia, una abominación. Ese no era yo, Carry; era la bestia de mi interior. Eso definitivamente no fue hacer el amor. No puedes contar ese cómo hacer el amor. - Su voz reflejó la profunda pena incluso mientras sus ojos eran sensuales, hambrientos e intensos con un calor que enviaba llamas a través de ella
.
Ella alzó la barbilla, odiando la pena en él, la culpa. Queriendo que la mente de él se distrajera en otras cosas, deliberadamente desafiando su declaración.
- No sabes mucho sobre mí. Hubo un hombre una vez. Estaba loco por mí. - Intentó parecer mundana. - Absolutamente loco por mí.
Su risa en respuesta fue cálida contra el cuello de ella, contra su garganta. Los labios tocaron la piel sobre su pulso y deslizándose levemente sobre su oreja.
- ¿Estás por casualidad, refiriéndote a ese estúpido muchacho de pelo naranja y collar de clavos? ¿Dragón o algo así?
Ella jadeó y empujó alejándose para mirarle.
- ¿Cómo es posible que le conozcas? Quedé con él, hace un año.
George frotó la nariz contra su cuello, inhalando su fragancia, su mano se deslizó sobre su hombro, moviéndose gentilmente sobre su piel satinada para tomar posesión de su pecho.
- Llevaba botas y montaba una Harley. - Su aliento se apresuró cuando la palma de su mano acunó el suave peso, su pulgar rozó la dura cresta del pezón.
La sensación de su gran mano... tan fuerte, tan cálida y posesiva sobre ella... enviaba calor que se enroscaba a través de su cuerpo. El deseo se elevó afilado. Estaba seduciéndola con ternura. Carry no quería que ocurriera. Su cuerpo se sentía mejor, pero la amargura le recordaba a donde podía conducir esto. El miedo fue una cosa horrenda que no pudo sacudirse. Su mano cogió la muñeca de él.
- ¿Cómo averiguaste lo de Dragón? - Preguntó, desesperada por distraerle, por distraerse a sí misma. ¿Cómo podía él hacer que su cuerpo ardiera cuando tenía tanto miedo de él, de tener sexo con él?
- Hacer el amor. - Corrigió el, su voz amorosa, traicionando la facilidad con que su mente se movía como una sombra a través de la de ella. - Y para responder a tu pregunta, vivo en ti, puedo tocarte siempre que lo desee. Los conocía todos ellos. Cada maldito tipo. - Gruño las palabras, y el aliento de ella quedó atascado en su garganta. - Él fue el único al que pensaste en besar. - Su boca tocó la de ella. Gentilmente. Ligeramente. Volviendo a por más. Tentando, fastidiando, hasta que la abrió para él. Le robó el aliento, la razón, haciéndola dar vueltas en un mundo de sentimientos. Colores brillantes y calor blanco ardiente, la habitación desapareció hasta que estuvieran sólo sus amplios hombros, fuertes brazos, cuerpo duro, y perfecta, perfecta boca.
Cuando alzó la cabeza, Carry casi tiró de él para que volviera.
Él estudió su cara, sus ojos nublados por el deseo, sus labios tan hermosos, privados de los suyos.
- ¿Tienes alguna idea de lo hermosa que eres, Carry? Hay tanta belleza en tu alma, puedo verla brillando en tus ojos.
Ella tocó su cara, la palma de su mano moldeó su fuerte mandíbula. ¿Por qué no podía resistir sus hambrientos ojos?
- Creo que has lanzado un hechizo sobre mí. No puedo recordar de qué estábamos hablando.
George sonrió.
- De besar. - Sus dientes mordisquearon gentilmente su barbilla. - Específicamente, de tú queriendo besar a ese imbécil de pelo naranja.
- Quise besarlos a todos ellos. - Mintió ella indignada.
- No, no querías. Esperabas que ese estúpido petimetre borrara mi sabor de tu boca para toda la eternidad. - Su mano acarició de nuevo la caída de su pelo alrededor de su cara. Dejó besos ligeros a lo largo de la delicada línea de su mandíbula. - No habría funcionado, lo sabes. Recuerdo, que parecía tener problemas estando cerca de ti.
Los ojos de ella se encendieron peligrosamente.
- ¿No tendrías nada que ver con sus alergias? - Ella _había_ deseado que alguien, cualquiera, borrara el sabor de George de su boca, de su alma.
Él elevó la voz un octavo.
- Oh, Carry, tengo que saborear tus labios. - Imitó él. Después le entró un ataque de estornudos. - No has montado hasta que has montado una Harley, nena. - Estornudo, tosió y se atragantó en una perfecta imitación.
Carry le golpeó el brazo, olvidando durante un momento su puño magullado. Cuando le dolió, chilló y le miró acusadoramente.
- ¡Le hiciste todo eso! El pobre hombre... dañaste su ego para todo la vida. Cada vez que me tocaba, tenía un ataque de estornudos.
George arqueó una ceja, para nada arrepentido.
- Técnicamente, no puso una mano sobre ti. Estornudaba antes de poder llegar tan cerca.
Ella volvió a tender la cabeza sobre la almohada, su pelo se enroscó en el brazo de él, después en el suyo, enredándolos juntos. Los labios de él encontraron su garganta, después se movieron más abajo y encontró la mancha sobre su pecho que ardía con deseo, con invitación. Carry capturó su cabeza firmemente entre las manos levantándole decidida a alejarle antes de que su traicionero cuerpo sucumbiera completamente a su magia.
- ¿Y el episodio del perro?
Intentó parecer inocente, pero su risa resonaba en su mente.
- ¿Qué quieres decir?
- Sabes muy bien lo que quiero decir. - Insistió. - Cuando Dragón me acompañó a casa.
- Ah, sí, me parece recordar ahora. El gran lobo malo ataviado con cadenas y púas, temeroso de un pequeño perro.
- ¿Pequeño? ¿Un mezcla de Rottweiler de ciento veinte libras? Soltando espuma por la boca. Gruñendo. ¡Cargando contra él!
- Corrió como un conejo. - La suave y acariciante voz de George hizo eco de su satisfacción. Había tenido el gran placer de hacer huir a ese asno en particular. ¿Cómo se atrevía a intentar poner una mano sobre Carry?
- No me asombra que no pudiera tocar la mente del perro y llamarle. Podrido sinvergüenza.
- Después de que Dragón te dejara, lo perseguí durante dos manzanas, y se subió a un árbol. Le mantuve allí varias horas, sólo para dejarlo claro. Parecía un gallo con su cresta anaranjada.
Ella rió a pesar de que deseaba no hacerlo.
- Nunca volvió a acercárseme de nuevo.
- Por supuesto que no. Era inaceptable. - Dijo él complacientemente, con completa satisfacción, la calidez de su aliento golpeaba la sangre de ella. Su boca tocaba, atormentaba y se movió sobre su pezón, marcándola a fuego con el calor, la llama, antes de encontrar la parte inferior de sus pechos. Carry cerró los ojos contra un deseo tan intenso que la agitó. ¿Cómo podía desear algo que hacía tanto daño?
_Nada de dolor, ma petite, solo placer. _Su lengua creó un doloroso vórtice en ella. _Lo prometo por mi vida_. Su boca era ardiente terciopelo cerrándose sobre su pecho. Fuego danzando sobre su piel, invadiendo su cuerpo, fundiendo sus entrañas hasta que fueran calor líquido, pulsando de deseo por él, sólo por él.
9. Chapter 9
**CAPITULO 9**
El miedo de Carry fue echado a un lado por la ardorosa ternura de la boca de George, por su gentileza al acariciarla. Cuidadosamente él empujó la sábana hacia abajo, exponiendo sus pechos desnudos a su hambrienta mirada. Ardiente. Era tan ardiente que Carry no podía dejar de sentir la delgada sábana sobre sus caderas, enredándose alrededor de sus piernas. Sus manos estaban enredadas en el espeso pelo de George, que se apretaba entre sus dedos como seda. La camisa de él estaba abierta hasta la estrecha cintura, sus músculos duros presionaban contra los suaves pechos de ella. El vello áspero y duro del pecho de él raspaba eróticamente sus pezones.
Una oleada de calor precedió a una tormenta de fuego, a través de él, a través de ella. Las manos de Carry, por su propia cuenta, arrancaron la camisa de él de sus amplios hombros. Le estudió con sus enormes ojos mientras él lentamente se la quitaba, su mirada plateaba mantenía la azul de ella cautiva. Ella estaba ahogándose en esos pálidos e hipnotizantes ojos. Ojos llenos de tanta intensidad, de tanta hambre por una mujer. Por ella. Solo por ella.
Temiendo aquello con lo que estaba comprometiéndose, Carry tentativa y de forma cautelosa, tocó su mente con la de él. Encontró un hambre tan profunda, tan salvaje y tan urgente, que instantáneamente estuvo perdida. ¿Cómo podía negarse ante tan fiera necesidad? Aunque George se sabía un hombre sin ternura, con ese instinto suyo tan salvaje y desinhibido, su intención era ser gentil con ella, asegurar su placer. Todos sus pensamientos eran para ella, para agradarla, para rendir culto a su cuerpo con el de él.
- Sé que tienes miedo, mon amour. - Susurró suavemente, sus manos se deslizaron sobre su tórax hasta sus pechos. - Pero ya no soy una bestia. Ataste al demonio. Sólo estoy yo, un hombre que desea muchísimo hacer el amor con su compañera. - Ella sintió su aliento contra su pezón. - Déjame mostrarte como se supone que debe ser. Hermoso. Tan placentero. Te puedo dar mucho placer, ma petite.
Su boca se cerró sobre el pecho de ella, caliente y húmeda. El sonido de su voz era hipnotizador, incitante. Podría sostenerse eternamente meramente con su sonido. No había ningún pensamiento en la mente de él para su propio cuerpo ardiente, para con sus propias demandas urgentes; quería mostrarle a ella la belleza y el placer de una verdadera unión.
Llamaradas ardientes corrieron a través de su sangre y lamieron su piel con la intensidad del erotismo, al anhelo que la boca de él había creado en su pecho. Gimió, bajo y suave, y la nota acarició el alma de George como el aleteo de las alas de una mariposa. Sus manos se deslizaron sobre la espalda de él, trazando cada músculo bien definido con la punta de sus dedos, grabándolos en su memoria. Sus ojos se llenaron de lágrimas. ¿Cómo podía un hombre ser tan sensual, tan perfecto? Le estaba robando el corazón tan fácilmente como estaba robando su cuerpo.
- Deséame, Carry. - Susurró él suavemente. - Deséame de la misma forma en que yo te deseo. - Su lengua lamió la piel de ella, recorriendo la parte baja de sus pechos, siguiendo con cada costilla mientras sus manos exploraban sus caderas y muslos. Los dedos de él encontraron su meta, la ardiente y húmeda entrada, caliente y preparada, esperando a que su cuerpo se mezclara con el suyo.
Se arqueó bajo las palmas de sus manos, su cuerpo reclamaba alivio.
- ¡Me siento como si fuera a arder, George! - Jadeó, sorprendida de la intensidad de su hambre de por él. Le _necesitaba._
- Yo soy el único que se quema, ardo en llamas. - Sus dedos empujaron profundamente, asegurando su rendición, saboreando el placer de su reacción. Sus manos sobre la piel desnuda de él estaban llevándole a la locura, pero sobre todo, era la confianza que ella le estaba depositando lo que le conmovía tan profundamente.
George no podía concebir tal confianza de una mujer a la que había utilizado tan brutalmente, le humillaba, la forma en la que le perdonaba. Tal vez no podría nunca amar a un monstruo como él, pero con su comprensión, su compasión, estaba decidida a hacer algo con la sentencia impuesta sobre su vida juntos
.
Las ropas que confinaban su cuerpo le apretaban y molestaban, así que las apartó de ellos con un simple pensamiento. Oyó el jadeo de ella mientras su ardiente lengua presionaba agresivamente contra su muslo
Ella había pensado que estaría a salvo mientras él estuviera vestido. Había pensado que habría tiempo de tomar una decisión, elegir por sí misma, pero su cuerpo estaba haciendo la elección por ella. Y él estaba perdido en el calor fundido de ella, en sus lugares sombreados y secretos.
El cuerpo de Carry repentinamente se puso rígido. Le cogió la cara entre las manos, ejerciendo presión para que alzara la cabeza dejando sus deliciosas exploraciones, sus ojos plateados se fundieron cuando se posaron sobre la cara de ella. Tomó un profundo aliento.
- ¿Qué pasa si no puedo hacer esto, George? - Sonaba cerca de las lágrimas. - ¿Qué pasa si nunca puedo hacer esto?
- Nadie te está obligando a hacer nada, ma petite. - Replicó gentilmente, besando su estómago. - Sólo estamos explorando posibilidades.
- Pero, George. - Intentó protestar ella, intentando que volviera a levantar la cabeza para que pudiera ver la realidad de sus temores, por él, por sus vidas juntas.
- Si no puedo persuadirte, mon amour, no sería muy buen compañero, ¿verdad? - Las palabras fueron apagadas en los apretados rizos sedosos, en el intrigante pequeño triángulo del extremo de sus muslos.
- No lo entiendes, George. - Carry cerró los ojos contra las oleadas de fuego que corrían a través de ella. - Soy yo quien no es un compañero real. No sé cómo complacerte, y tengo tanto miedo de esto.
- Relájate, pequeña. - Su cálido aliento la golpeó, inhalando su esencia. - Me complaces mucho más de lo que sabrás nunca. Sus dientes le pellizcaron el muslo, su lengua acarició sus sombras y cavidades, siguiendo el camino que sus dedos habían tomado.
Ella gritó ante los sentimientos que la atravesaron, tumultuosos, turbulentos, salvajes e indomables. Ya no estaba sobre la tierra sino volando libre, dando más y más vueltas fuera de control.
El cuerpo de George se movió sobre el de ella, duro y caliente, su fuerza era enorme, pero sus manos eran tiernas cuando acunó en ellas su cabeza. La rodilla de él se insertó muy gentilmente entre las suyas para darle un mayor acceso a ella. Carry, todavía estremeciéndose con los coletazos de su clímax, estaba apenas consciente del peso de él, una vez más colocándose en una posición vulnerable y abierta hacia él.
George tomó la ventaja que tenía, presionando íntimamente contra su entrada. Ella estaba dispuesta y deseosa, ardiente, tensa y suavemente aterciopelada. Sintió que jadeaba ante su invasión, y se detuvo para permitir a su cuerpo una oportunidad de ajustarse a su tamaño. Ella contenía el aliento, esperando el terrible dolor del desgarro. La punta de sus dedos se hundieron en la espalda de él, y dejó escapar un ruido de protesta contra el peso sobre su pecho. Pero sintió sólo las oleadas de fuego, una tormenta de intenso placer inundándola y consumiéndola.
- Relájate, Carry. Relájate para mí. Estás hecha para mí, creada para mí. Y yo fui creado para ti. - Dejó besos desde su sien hasta su garganta, sus caderas se movieron en un ritmo suave y tranquilizador.
Ella podía sentir una pátina de transpiración en su espalda, evidencia del tremendo esfuerzo que estaba llevando a cabo para contenerse. Cada toque, cada movimiento, era tierno y gentil.
Se movió dentro de ella con exquisito cuidado, asombrado de lo perfecta que era, apretada y fieramente ardiente. Su pulgar acarició el labio inferior de ella, el pequeño cardenal descolorido junto a su boca.
En seguida su labio hormigueó con calidez, aliviado como si hubiera puesto un bálsamo místico sobre él. Su corazón martilleó contra sus costillas. Estaba haciendo cosas a su cuerpo, no sólo con el cuerpo, no sólo con las manos, sino con la mente.
A pesar de sus miedos, a pesar del recuerdo de su anterior ataque, Carry estaba cautiva en el fuego, en su ternura. Su cuerpo se relajó lentamente, y así le aceptó. George se enterró más profundamente, un largo y seguro empuje que la hizo jadear, enterrar las uñas en sus brazos, apretarse tensa para evitar volar lejos hacia el interior de la noche.
Él le susurró suavemente, una mezcla de francés y de su ancestral lengua. Ella sabía bien poco de ambas lenguas, no tenía ni idea de lo que estaba diciendo, pero las palabras la excitaron y la confortaron. Sintió que era importante para él. No solo su cuerpo. Ella, Carry.
- ¿Cómo has podido dudarlo, chérie? - Susurró él contra su pecho, su boca moviéndose en un ritmo sutil que seguía el golpear largo y lento de sus caderas de un lado a otro.
El cuerpo de ella, por su propia cuenta, siguió el ejemplo del de él. Se movieron juntos como lo que eran compañeros, sus corazones latían al unísono. Las manos de George se deslizaron sobre su piel, sus suaves murmullos de estímulo, añadían belleza a su unión. Él era increíblemente gentil, iniciándola como tenía que haber hecho la primera vez, con cariño y ternura.
Carry quería gritar. Era increíble, la forma en la que le hacía el amor, como si fuera la mujer más preciosa, apreciada y hermosa del mundo. Se agarró a él, sujetándose a la única realidad de la que estaba segura mientras se cuerpo se tensaba, la presión crecía y crecía hasta que gritó por el deseo de alivio. Sólo entonces él se permitió el lujo de enterrarse profunda y duramente, mezclándose con ella completamente. Los sostuvo a los dos en el pináculo, montando la cresta hasta que gritó intensamente y el ardoroso terciopelo de su cuerpo le rodeó conduciéndole al límite. La llevó con él, hacia el precipicio. La suave voz de Carry quedó apagada contra su pecho. Estaba cayendo, ardían luces, explotando alrededor de ella, pero George estaba allí, en todas partes, sujetándola muy cerca con sus fuertes brazos, asegurándole que estaba a salvo. Estaban tendidos, entrelazados juntos, Carry era incapaz de asumirlo todo, de creer como la hacía sentir. Las manos de él estaban enredadas en su pelo, su boca acariciaba sus sienes.
George sabía que nunca tendría suficiente de ella. Sus dedos estaban retorciéndose ausentemente entre su salvaje melena, y el toque enviaba un nuevo estremecimiento ardiente a través de su sangre.
Entonces algo invadió su paz y serenidad. Repentinamente, olfateando el peligro, George levantó la cabeza. En los límites de su propia vigilancia llegó una advertencia procedente de los lobos. Le llamaban, sus voces se alzaban en tono excitado. Bajó la cabeza y colocó un breve y duro beso en la boca de Carry. Ella parecía soñolienta, sensual, completamente amada.
En ese momento llegó la llamada, una suave, sorda, pero insistente voz, susurrando a Carry.
_Querida. Estoy cerca. ¿Dónde estás? _¿Esa era su madre? Carry intentó incorporarse, en estremecimiento de alegría la atravesó. No había visto a su madre en cinco años. Ahora, cuando la necesitaba más, cuando necesitaba su guía y confort, su madre había aparecido inesperadamente.
_No contestarás_. Fue su imperiosa orden, y George esperaba ser obedecido. Estaba ya alejándose de ella, su cara convertida en una implacable máscara, sus ojos como rendijas de acero.
Carry estaba ya buscando el familiar vínculo mental con su madre. Pero en seguida, antes de que pudiera en realidad enviar un mensaje, su cuerpo fue retenido, y su mente no pudo comunicarse. El terror la atrapó, y no podía entender. Desvalidamente miró hacia George, y cuando vio su máscara de granito, supo que le había hecho algo. Sus ojos fueron elocuentes, suplicándole, aterrorizada de su frialdad, de sus rasgos carentes de expresión. Había algo inamovible en él, algo duro y tenaz. Implacable. ¿Cómo había pensado alguna vez que era gentil, tierno? Era tan cruel como un vampiro.
- No puedes llamar a tu madre. No es Candy. Estás siendo cazada, Carry. - Dijo él suavemente, su hermosa voz no mostraba inflexión. - Serás capaz de hablar sólo conmigo por nuestro vínculo exclusivo. Quiero tu promesa de que harás lo que digo.
Carry estaba furiosa. Herida. Más herida que furiosa, y eso la enfurecía más por haberse permitido confiar en él lo suficiente como para herirla en primer lugar. No tienes derecho a hacerme esto. ¡Libérame enseguida, George! Conozco a mi propia madre cuando la oigo.
Él se puso en pie y se estiró, un perezoso estiramiento de músculos que la hacía desear arrancarle los ojos.
- No es tu madre. Eres mía, Carry, y es mi deber protegerte de cualquier forma que crea apropiada. Estos vampiros amigos de Roberto están detrás de algo, y creo que no están solos. Creo que han traído humanos carniceros. Albert Andrew está aquí en la ciudad, y es un buen cazador, pero creo que estos renegados están siguiéndote a ti. - Se vistió con fluida eficiencia y gracia casual. - No estoy habituado a dar explicaciones. He hecho una concesión contigo. Elige ahora como procederás.
_Rechazo tu reclamo sobre mi, _respondió de la única forma en la que le permitía comunicarse. Llevaré mi negativa a nuestra gente y suplicaré a ellos la clemencia que tú evidentemente no tienes. ¡No me ataré a ti!
Él se inclinó sobre ella, una oscura e imponente figura que emanaba poder. Sus ojos plateados relucieron hacia ella.
- Escúchame, Carry. Si no crees nada más sobre mí, cree esto. Me perteneces, a mí. Nadie intentará alejarte de mí y seguir viviendo. Nadie. - Su vez era baja, hermosa, y más mortal que ninguna otra.
Su mirada violeta estaba cautiva en la plateada de él. Le creía. Ni siquiera su padre, el Príncipe de su gente, tenía oportunidad de destruirle. Su mente alejó ese pensamiento. ¿Destruir a George? No quería eso. Simplemente no podría tenerla.
_Déjame levantarme, George._ Exigió. La parálisis estaba empezando a volverla loca. Se sentía como si no pudiera respirar. Se sentía sofocada, estrangulada.
- Di que me obedecerás. - Estaba ya vestido, elegante como siempre. Su mente ya no estaba completamente sobre ella; estaba captando las vibraciones del aire, cada nota que los lobos cantaban para él.
Carry sabía que estaba gritando, su cuerpo entero estaba gritando, pero no surgía ningún sonido. Su cuerpo no aceptaba ya sus órdenes. Su mente gritaba ultrajada, pero George la controlaba hábilmente para que no enviara un grito de socorro.
Deja de luchar contra mí. Su voz fue un suave gruñido en la mente de Carry.
Libérame.-contestó ella- Su corazón estaba latiendo tan fuertemente que temía que pudiera explotar. Esto no podía estar ocurriendo. Sólo unos momentos antes George había estado tendido a su lado, sujetándola entre sus protectores brazos, haciéndole el amor gentilmente. O eso había pensado. ¿Pero qué sabía ella de hacer el amor? George podía hacer que sintiera cualquier cosa. No necesitaba sentir algo por ella para hacerle creer que lo sentía. ¿Cómo podía haber tomado su cuerpo tan tiernamente, después apartarse como un monstruo sin sentimientos y destruir su libre albedrío, controlarlo como si no fuera más que una marioneta para él? ¿Qué clase de persona haría tal cosa?
_Carry, dejarás de luchar conmigo ahora. Estamos en peligro. Me obedecerás si deseas volver a tener el control de ti misma._
_Conozco a mi propia madre. No quieres a nadie más a mí alrededor; es por eso que no me permites reconocerla, lo acusó ella._
_Entonces así será. Es tu elección. _Su voz fue tan monótona como siempre. Nada parecía perturbar a George. Ni su hostilidad, ni su confusión y desilusión.
10. Chapter 10
**CAPITULO 10**
Su cuerpo se acomodó a una posición sentada; después se encontró de pie desvalidamente al lado de la cama, desnuda, totalmente vulnerable, incapaz de hablar o moverse. La cabeza le latía mientras intentaba desesperadamente luchar por controlarse a si misma. No sometería su mente a la voluntad de él, no voluntariamente. Podía tener su cuerpo, pero tendría que luchar a muerte por la posesión de su mente. Una risa burlona resonó en su cabeza. Lucha conmigo todo lo que quieras, pequeña. Sólo estás hiriéndote a ti misma. Me obedecerás, Carry.
La desesperación la invadió. Era verdad. Estaba desvalida contra su poder y fuerza superior. Le odió por hacerla ser tan consciente de ello, por forzarla a ver que no importaba lo mucho que intentara ser ella misma, por mantener una imagen de orgullo y dignidad, la había despojado de todo excepto de los pensamientos de su cabeza. Fragmentos de vidrio parecieron agujerear su cabeza. Cuanto más se resistía, peor era el dolor.
Una camisa de algodón y unos jeans repentinamente cubrieron su cuerpo. Suaves zapatos de cuero se envolvieron alrededor de sus pies. George trenzó su pelo con rapidez y eficiencia. Detestó la facilidad y la competencia en la forma en que lo hacía todo.
_Última oportunidad, Carry. ¿Me obedecerás? _Se inclinó sobre ella, sus duros aunque todavía sensuales labios contrastaban con sus rasgos impasibles, una máscara impenetrable. Sus pálidos ojos eran como de frío hielo. Dijo con intención cada palabra, y era obvio que no le importaba lo que ella eligiera. No había piedad en él, ni gentileza, ni remordimiento.
Interiormente, Carry se estremeció. Estaba atrapada por este hombre implacable para toda la eternidad. No había forma alguna de deshacer el ritual. Incluso la muerte era mejor que la atormentadora esclavitud. Se tragó su orgullo, incapaz de mantener el peso de su cuerpo y mente, incapaz de permitirle tan completo control.
_Obedeceré._ No le miró; no podía.
Él relajó su control lentamente, observándola muy de cerca, su mente todavía en la de ella. Carry permaneció en pie ante él, temblando de rabia contenida. Temblando por la humillación y los sueños perdidos. Levantó su puño cerrado hasta que estuvo al nivel del pecho de él, entonces lo abrió y su palma reveló los tres diamantes en forma de lágrima. Deliberadamente volvió la mano, permitiendo que las gemas cayeran al suelo y se esparcieran. No le miró a la cara ni miró los diamantes en el suelo, ahora simbolizaban su disposición hacia su relación. Mirando directamente hacia adelante, esperó sus instrucciones.
- ¿Eres capaz de cambiar de forma? - Su voz fue baja, sin entonación y calmada. Le odió también por eso.
- Sabes que no puedo.
- Necesitas sangre. Compartirás mi mente todo el tiempo. Si sientes una compulsión para enviar una llamada, une tu mente con la mía. Te llevaré lejos de este lugar a otro más inaccesible y lejano más fácil de defender. No cometas el error de intentar desafiarme en esto, Carry. Con tu vida en peligro, no toleraré una rebelión.
Si esperaba que le contestara, podía esperar por toda la eternidad. Esto era una orden, el dictador la controlaba con su dura autoridad. No requería respuesta, y se negó a dignificarlo con una.
Los dedos de él se cerraron como grilletes sobre su muñeca y la empujaron hacia él. Su cuerpo estaba duro, como el tronco de un árbol, completamente inamovible. No podía encontrar la ternura o la gentileza en ninguna parte, ni en su cuerpo, ni en su mente. ¿Había sido su ternura anterior una ilusión total, como su truco con los diamantes? Quería llorar de vergüenza, pero se negó a darle la satisfacción de darle a conocer su debilidad.
George voló por el aire, llevándola con él, no parecía pesarle más que una pluma. Se elevaron desde la cámara de descanso y procedieron a subir a través de la casa hasta los niveles más altos. Una orden liberó a los lobos por los terrenos, en el interior de la inmensa reserva. Podían cazar por si mismos, saliendo si era necesario. Su única obligación, su única preocupación, era salvar la vida de Carry. Podía enviar aviso a Albert Andrew para cuidar apropiadamente de los animales en el momento en que ella estuviera a salvo. El enemigo era más fuerte, estaba más organizado de lo que George había esperado, y Carry era su objetivo. Tenían un plan, un esquema que obviamente habían planeado de antemano antes de que ella llegara a la ciudad. George haría cualquier cosa para protegerla. Cualquier cosa.
Ella estaba tendida tranquilamente entre sus brazos, cerrando su mente deliberadamente a la de él. No importaba, por supuesto; había sido capaz de deslizarse dentro y fuera de su mente a voluntad desde que era una niña. Había siempre sabido que nunca podría amarle realmente, que nunca podría aceptar su dominio sobre ella. ¿Cómo podría cuando nunca sabría realmente quién era? No había esperado el terrible dolor, como si un cuchillo se retorciera en su corazón, directo a su alma.
La noche estaba llegando a su fin. Faltaban dos horas, quizás, antes de que el sol saliera. Los vampiros necesitarían un santuario, y si eran tan arrogantes como pensaba su casa les proveería de él, se llevarían una horrorosa sorpresa. George gruñó silenciosamente cuando voló a cielo abierto con Carry.
George intentó bloquear la herida que le provocaba el rechazo de Carry. Necesitaba tiempo para entenderle. Y tenían todo una eternidad. Ella pensaba que estaba sentenciada a tener como compañero a un demonio. El no creía que estuviera equivocada. Estaba débil por su negativa a tomar sangre porque equivocadamente creía que tal privación le permitiría acceso al sol. Su salud era de suprema importancia.
Envió hacia adelante una llamada. Instantáneamente, dos hombres y una mujer salieron de una cabaña junto al río y se movieron a su orden para encontrarse con él al resguardo en un bosquecillo de pinos y robles. Los pies de él tocaron tierra, pero llevando a Carry en brazos. Hacia el trío.
- Te alimentarás. - Le dijo sedosamente, esperando su desafío.
- ¿Soy tu marioneta también, George? - Preguntó ella suavemente. - ¿Así va a ser nuestra vida juntos? ¿Por qué me necesitas como compañera cuando puedes hacer que cualquier mujer humana haga lo que deseas sin luchar?
El desprecio en la voz de ella le llenó de dolor que ardió en sus entrañas. La emoción fue totalmente extraña para él.
- No tengo ni el tiempo ni la inclinación para pelear contigo, Carry. Aliméntate. - La puso sobre sus pies.
- ¿Crees que lo haré sólo bajo compulsión? - Inclinó la barbilla hacia él, un claro desafío. - No necesito tu ayuda.
Sin mirarle de nuevo, se volvió al más alto de los dos hombres.
George retrocedió, cauto ante la reacción de ella. Sus ojos plateados relucieron. Ella estaba provocando a un tigre.
Carry se movió hacia adelante, con una curva sensual en su boca. Sus enormes ojos eran oscuros, violetas, misteriosos y sensuales. Su mirada estaba sobre el otro hombre. Invitadora. Incitante. El humano sonrió, enteramente concentrado en ella mientras caminaba. Ella levantó sus brazos hacia él, su cuerpo se movió seductoramente bajo las ropas.
Un gruñido bajo de advertencia retumbó profundamente en la garganta de George. Inesperadamente gruño, sus blancos dientes relucieron peligrosamente. Fue rápido, su sólida forma se insertó entre su compañera y la presa. Fue instintivo, sin pensar. Ese hombre no podía tocar a Carry, ni siquiera para proporcionarle alimento.
Ella levantó sus hermosos ojos, hipnotizantes y risueños, hacia los plateados de él.
- ¿No es esto lo que quieres de mí? - Su voz, sonó baja, deslizándose por la piel de él como acariciándole. - ¿Que use mi voz y mi cuerpo para conducir a mi presa hasta mí y me alimente?
- No empieces algo que no tienes esperanzas de ganar, Carry. - Advirtió George con una oscura amenaza. Tiró del hombre hacia él e inclinó su cabeza para exponer el cuello. Los ojos de ella nunca se apartaron de él mientras bebía hasta llenarse. Cuándo levantó la cabeza, dejó caer al hombre al suelo, donde quedó tendido entre ellos. - Ven aquí, a mí. - Le ordenó suavemente.
Inesperadamente el corazón de ella dio un salto mortal, y alas de mariposa se removieron en su estómago. Nunca debió haberse burlado de él. ¿Por qué había sido tan tonta? George no se había molestado en fingir ser civilizado. Ponerle celoso no era una idea inteligente. Extendió una mano aplacadora.
- George.
- Ven aquí, Carry. - Su voz era acariciante con suavidad y pureza. Imposible de ignorar.
Cautelosamente, se movió alrededor del hombre del suelo y se acercó. La mano de George le rodeó la parte superior del brazo y la empujó contra su fuerte figura. Inclinó su oscura cabeza hacia la de ella, su cálido aliento revolvió guedejas de pelo en los oídos de ella.
- Tomarás lo que necesitas de tu compañero. - Susurró la orden, pero la engañosa suavidad de su voz sólo incrementó su impacto. Intentó alejarse de él, asustada de cuan poderoso era. El la sujetó firmemente. Podía sentir la impresión del cuerpo de él contra el suyo, duro y despierto. - Harás lo que te digo. - Su pulgar acariciaba de un lado a otro sobre su pulso causando estragos en sus sentidos. Como siempre cuando la tocaba, la convertía en líquido. En ese momento no deseaba el calor y la excitación de su toque.
Su boca estaba presionada contra el pecho de él, pero se inclinó más cerca para que ella pudiera enterrar la cara en su hombro, en su cuello.
Él olía a bosque y especias. Su piel estaba caliente, y bajo su boca en movimiento estaba su pulso, fuerte. El pulgar de él le acarició de nuevo, insistente y provocativamente. Carry gimió, su respiración empezó a acelerarse.
- ¿Por qué me estás obligando a esto, George.
- Tú necesitas, yo proveo. - Su mano acunó la parte de atrás de su cabeza, sosteniéndola contra él.
No pudo evitarlo, no pudo contenerse de acariciar con su lengua el pulso una vez, dos, una pequeña caricia. Era la forma de su cuerpo contra el de ella, una vez más protector y acogedor, aunque agresivo y exigente. La combinación era regocijante, una tentación en si misma. ¿Cómo podía resistirse a George? Era tan poderoso. Carry suspiró y cerró los ojos, después mordió su cuello.
Sintió el estremecimiento de placer, de dolor, el golpe del erótico relámpago a través de su torrente sanguíneo. El cuerpo de él se movió contra el de ella, duro y urgente, solo sus ropas los separaban. El calor se enroscó y agrupó en la parte baja del cuerpo de ella, y la esencia de la vida de él entró a raudales en ella, llenándola, fortaleciéndola como debía de ser.
Los brazos de George se tensaron alrededor de Carry, y rechinó los dientes. La sensación de su sedosa boca alimentándose era tan erótica, que apenas podía contenerse. Quería tenderla allí mismo en la tierra y tomar lo que era suyo. La deseaba tanto que su cuerpo estaba ardiendo. Era el cielo y infierno sujetarla contra él, tan placentero y a la vez tan doloroso. Y, maldita sea, nunca la iba a tocar otro hombre mientras ambos vivieran. Nunca.
Inclinó su cabeza y acarició su sedoso pelo con la boca, saboreando la sensación contra su mandíbula, su piel. Eran tan pequeña y delicada, tan suave. Toda rosa satinada y sedosa. Cerró los ojos y fingió que ella le amaba. Que podía amarle. A un monstruo. A George. El Oscuro.
Carry oyó el eco de sus pensamientos, la burla de todos los niños Cárpatos a sus amigos. ¿Quién saldría en la noche y los convertiría en piedra? George. El Oscuro. El único con el poder de sanar, o destruir. En ese eco captó la profunda pena de George, lo que pensaba de las crueles acusaciones contra él. No había amargura, sólo aceptación.
Sintió una piedra en su corazón, pesada y opresiva.
Muy cuidadosamente, cerró las heridas en su garganta y descansó la cabeza contra su pecho. Podía oír su corazón, fuerte y firme. Confiable. Misterioso. Sensual. Aterrador. Eso era George.
La mano en su pelo se cerró durante un momento, apretando largos mechones en su puño; entonces, bruscamente, se alejó de ella. Sin mirarla, George arrastró al segundo humano hacia él, inclinó su oscura cabeza, y se alimentó con voracidad. Cuando estuvo repleto, permitió que el hombre se sentara en la alta hierba. Inclinó a la mujer para que se uniera a sus compañeros.
Carry retrocedió indecisa. George se agachó para verificar a cada humano. Los miró a los ojos, sus manos fueron gentiles mientras los tendía en el suelo cuidadosamente para que se recuperaran.
- Estarán bien. - Dijo, tomado por sorpresa por la nota cascada de su voz. Se enderezó, giró lentamente la cabeza y la miró con sus ojos color plata. - No tocarás a otro hombre. De ninguna especie. - Cada palabra fue clara y pronunciado en un gruñido bajo.
- ¿No crees que estás sobreactuando, George? - Aventuró ella.
Él se acercó y se cernió sobre ella tanto que el calor de su cuerpo la envolvió.
- Sería incapaz de evitar hacerles daño. - La admisión fue hecha en su usual manera calmada.
- Pensé que tu reclamo sobre mi ahuyentaba todas las amenazas.
- Evidentemente provocó otras nuevas. Hasta que sea capaz de evaluar y controlar todo lo que me pasa, lo que me haces sentir, será mejor que no desafíes mi voluntad.
Los ojos azules de ella se oscurecieron hasta el violeta y ardieron sin control cuando le miró.
- ¿Tu voluntad? ¿No debería desafiar tu voluntad? No es como si fuera libre estando a tu a mi alrededor, George. ¿No dictas siempre como debería pensar y sentir? Sólo vivo para complacerte. - Reverenció ella.
Un gruñido retumbó en la garganta de él. Se extendió y la atrajo más cerca de su cuerpo.
- Como deseo que fuera cierto. Creo que vives solo para volverme loco.
- Eso podría arreglarse. - Dijo ella dulcemente. - Tengo cosas de las que ocuparme, George. Son importantes para mí.
- ¿Como qué? - Esos pálidos ojos le quemaban su cara, que estaba alzada hacia él.
- Peter. Tengo que ocuparme de Peter. Soy su única familia. No tenía a nadie más. Y por mi culpa, está muerto. Estaba intentando protegerme. - Aplastó la necesidad de sollozar, gritar, y golpear a George.
Él se quedó en silencio un momento.
- La policía querrá hablar contigo. La historia probablemente ya esté en los periódicos. ¿Estás realmente preparada para las repercusiones de esto?
Ella alzó la barbilla hacia él.
- Amé a Peter como a un hermano. Se lo debo. - Su mano se deslizó por el pelo con agitación. - Tengo que hacer esto. Tengo que hacerlo. Por favor, George. Te pido apoyo en esto. Sé que no puedo luchar contigo y ganar. Necesito esto.
George maldijo elocuente y repentinamente en cuatro lenguajes. Lo que Carry necesitaba era estar encerrada a salvo, fuera del país. Todo el asunto de Peter Sanders iba a ser un circo. La policía ya estaría peinando la ciudad buscándola. Maldita sea.
Sin contestarle, George envolvió un brazo alrededor de la cintura de su cintura y la acunó, alzándola. Voló hacia el cielo, sus pensamientos normalmente tranquilos eran un caos, una mezcla de emociones poco familiares y arenas movedizas de indecisión. Había estado siempre totalmente controlado. Con su inmenso poder, no tenía elección. Pero Carry estaba volviendo su mundo al revés. No, no podía permitirlo.
No lo haría. No le importaba si lloraba. Si sus enormes y magníficos ojos estaban tristes y empañados. Si su hermosa y perfecta boca mostraba una mueca triste. Ella no estaba dominándolo a través de su vínculo. Estaba a salvo y él era responsable de ella. A salvo en principio, pero no de sus ojos o de su suave y satinada boca. O de su terrible pena.
La llevó a través del cielo nocturno, sus pensamientos revueltos y volcánicos, dando vueltas y más vueltas en su cabeza hasta que pensó que se volvería loco. Sabía lo que tenía que hacer. ¿Que tenía de malo que se permitiera a si mismo considerar tal estupidez? Era demasiado peligroso, demasiado atrevido. Si el vampiro que conducía la caza persistía aún en su plan, ¿qué mejor ocasión de tender una trampa que cuando volviera para preparar el funeral de Peter?
Carry estaba concentrada en las copas de los árboles bajo ellos. Por todas partes podía detectar evidencias de una vivienda. Se sentía vacía y fría en su interior. George era todo lo que se había llamado a sí mismo. Insensible. Duro. Frío. Sin emociones. Su vida iba a ser un infierno interminable. Posiblemente no podría aprender a amarla. Nunca la querría realmente. Sólo quería a alguien a quien controlar. Alguien con quien practicar sexo. Tragó una bilis que surgía por su garganta. Ciertamente ella era esa persona.
Cada vez que la tocaba o miraba con sus hipnotizantes ojos plateados, su cuerpo se ponía frenético.
Oh, Peter. Había fallado al mantenerle a salvo, había conducido a un vampiro, el azote de su raza, directamente hacia él. Ahora, sin el consentimiento de George, no podría ni siquiera proporcionarle un entierro decente. Quería sentir un odio rabioso, lo que fuera, pero todo lo que podía sentir era vacío. Lo había sabido, durante todos esos años después de aquella ocasión cuando giró y encontró a George en su habitación, estaba perdida por toda la eternidad.
11. Chapter 11
**Hola chicas, ya se que seguramente quieren ahorcarme, y de verdad las entiendo XD, pero por cosas del destino e estado fuera de circulacion, por asi decirlo jeje, espero que con estos capis pueda compensar un poco su espera. Nos seguimos leyendo.**
* * *
><p><strong>CAPITULO 11<strong>
En realidad Carry nunca había visto el exterior de la guarida. En un momento estaban volando a través del cielo, y al siguiente estaban tomando tierra. Cerró los ojos cuando su estómago se revolvió, y por un momento pudo atisbar por entre los párpados, George estaba entrando a zancadas en una vivienda de roca. Las paredes interiores eran gruesas y frías, húmedas al tacto como si hubieran sido pulidas. El techo era alto y de la misma roca pulida que las paredes y el suelo. George había excavado la guarida en la montaña misma, un milagro de construcción. Había tres habitaciones por lo que pudo ver, y Carry estaba segura de que había una cámara escondida bajo tierra, un agujero cerrado en caso de que estuvieran en peligro mortal.
En el momento en que George la puso de pie sobre el suelo de piedra, se alejó de él, en una rápida y femenina retirada. Se negó a mirarle, manteniendo la cabeza inclinada para no tener que encontrar su mirada. Caminó lentamente a través de la inusual estructura. Los muebles parecían confortables, incluso cómodos.
- Así que ¿está es mi prisión? - Dijo desapasionadamente.
George no respondió. No había ninguna expresión en su cara, aunque las líneas alrededor de sus ojos y boca parecieron tallarse algo más profundamente de lo normal. Sus ojos plateados estaban pálidos, reflejando las imágenes de su alrededor, no los pensamientos en su interior. Su mano se posó sobre la parte de atrás de su cuello para masajear los músculos doloridos cansadamente. Entonces salió del salón con paso silencioso. Deslizándose. Como una pantera. A pesar de su decisión de no hacerlo, Carry se encontró observándole a escondidas tras sus pestañas
Había algo hipnotizante en su forma de moverse. Músculos contoneándose, poderosos, sensuales. No podía impedir a sus ojos, que parecían tener voluntad propia, seguir cada uno de sus movimientos, o impedir a su corazón perder un latido cuando veía como su mano masajeaba su cuello.
George se sentó en el borde de la cama, seguro de que ella no le prestaba atención. Querría estar tan lejos de él como fuera posible. Pero incluso a una gran distancia, él era una sombra en su mente. Podía oír cada pensamiento sobre él. Ninguno era bueno, y no podía culparla. Enterró la cara entre las manos. Era el monstruo que ella le había llamado. Le temía. Siempre odiaría su destino, siempre desearía que el destino hubiera sido más amable. ¿Y quién sabía? Quizás podría haberlo sido. Después de todo, él había manipulado su futuro desde el momento de su concepción. Ella era luz para su oscuridad, compasión para su crueldad. Nunca podría amar a una bestia brutal como él. Había tomado lo que no era suyo, había manipulado la naturaleza y la había tomado para sí mismo.
El corazón de Carry dio un vuelco cuando captó un vistazo de él sentado en el borde de la cama, la imagen de absoluto abatimiento. George. Era la confianza en sí mismo. Completa autoridad. Un robot sin emociones que se había apoderado de su vida para siempre. Lo que ella pensara o sintiera no le importaba. Le había llamado monstruo, sin corazón. Un bárbaro brutal. Todos los adjetivos que podía pensar habían pasado por su cabeza mientras volaban por el aire hasta su destino. Lo había hecho deliberadamente para que pudiera leer lo que pensaba de él, para que no supiera que anhelaba su toque incluso cuando despreciaba sus maneras.
Pero esto la desgarraba, la forma en que se sentó a solas. George, que siempre había estado solo. Retrocedió hasta la frialdad de la pared de roca que estaba a su espalda, sus ojos pensativos mientras le observaba. Él le estaba dando privacidad, si podía llamarse así, incluso retirándose de su mente. Se mordió el labio superior, después hizo una mueca ante la ligera incomodidad y el recuerdo que le trajo. Comprendió que estaba acostumbrada al toque gentil de la mente de él. La primera vez había venido a ella como el lobo, y después, en los terribles momentos en que su soledad había sido tan dolorosa, había sido el toque de George el que la había aliviado. Que extraño, nunca había considerado eso, ni una vez había pensado _por que _se sentía tan confortada
George le había ofrecido libertad absoluta para explorar su mente. Sabía que era capaz de protegerse a sí mismo, cubrir sus emociones y recuerdos con capas y capas si así lo escogía, para que pudiera ver sólo las partes que él deseaba compartir con ella. Dudaba de que muchos Cárpatos pudieran hacer tal cosa con su compañera, pero George podía. George podría hacer cualquier cosa. Pero ella era Carry Grandchester. Hija de Terry y Candy. La sangre de ellos fluía por sus venas, así como la de George. Ella tenía su propio poder, ¿verdad? Hasta ahora había sido una niñita huyendo de sí misma, de su vida con un hombre tan poderoso. Pero si su vida estaba entrelazaba con la de George, sería mejor que creciera rápido y se enfrentara a ello. Terry y Candy la habían educado para que creyera en sí misma.
Tomó un profundo aliento y permitió que su mente se mezclara completamente con la de George. Su toque fue ligero como una pluma, delicado, una simple sombra, suave en la mente de él. Incluso así, si no hubiera estado tan preocupado con sus propios pensamientos, sabía que habría sentido su presencia. Se mantuvo callada y simplemente se convirtió en una esponja.
Él se creía un demonio. Creía que su alma era negra, más allá de toda redención. Seguía absolutamente en su creencia de que la había conseguido a través de sus propias manipulaciones, en vez de a través de la verdadera química. Había estado tan cerca de convertirse en vampiro que había apostado su misma alma al manipular lo que no era suyo como lo había hecho. Había tocado a la niña en el útero de Candy, supliendo su sangre, convirtiéndola con ello. Carry tenía un vago recuerdo de su luz acariciándola cuando estaba dolorida, deseando irse lejos con la sangre que corría por el cuerpo de su madre. George le había impedido hacerlo.
Lo vio claramente. Su vida entera. Encontrando a su madre y padre, con estacas clavadas en sus corazones, sus cabezas cortadas. Los terribles años de las matanzas de vampiros en Europa. Tantas mujeres y niños perdidos en las estacas. Después las cazas. Las guerras. Tantos amigos convertidos. George _cazándolos y destruyendo su maligno poder sobre humanos y Cárpatos por igual_. Siglo tras siglo. Interminable. Tanta sangre, tantos muertos por sus manos. Cada muerte se llevaba una parte de él hasta que le fue imposible mirar a la cara a los otros Cárpatos, hasta que no se atrevió a trabar amistad con ellos. Se había sentenciado a una eternidad de aislamiento. Tan solo. Siempre solo. El mundo yermo y vacío de su existencia casi la agobió de pena, llenando sus ojos de lágrimas. ¿Cómo le fue posible vivir año tras año de semejante vacío y sobrevivir con el alma intacta? Era imposible.
El conocimiento había sido su único amigo. Había sido siempre un rebelde. Ninguna autoridad podía esperar sujetarle, sólo la lealtad a Terry lo había conseguido. Tenía su propio y rígido código de honor, que seguía firmemente. El honor era su vida. Aunque sentía que había comprometido incluso eso, por la forma en que había conseguido a Carry.
Cuando Carry se había negado a examinar su mente para que pudiera demostrarle que lo había traído de vuelta del otro lado, para que no tuviera miedo, para que supiera que era incapaz de herirla de nuevo, le había negado el respeto a sí mismo. Pensó que le había rechazado. Creía que ella nunca podría perdonar realmente las cosas que había elegido hacer a lo largo de su vida. No podía perdonarse a sí mismo.
Ella lo vio todo. Cada suceso oscuro y peligroso. Cada oscura y horrible muerte. Cada ley que había roto. Pero por encima de todo vio su grandeza. Una y otra vez, lo había dado todo para sanar a otros, agotando su enorme fuerza, poniéndose a sí mismo en peligro una y otra vez para que otros pudieran vivir. Toda una vida de generoso servicio a gente que temía el mismo poder en el que confiaban. Mientras nada de la fealdad de la caza, ningún peligro, tocó a los otros, él vivía en constante alerta. Aceptaba la necesidad de su solitaria existencia, de su estricto aislamiento. Había llegado a creer que los Cárpatos tenían derecho a temerle. Y Carry vio que tenían razón. Empuñaba demasiado poder para un sólo individuo, llevaba demasiado peso sobre sus amplios hombros.
Durante siglos George no había tenido en su mundo ningún ancla real, ninguna emoción que evitara su conversión. Había tenido sólo su fuerza y su determinación. Su voluntad de hierro. Su estricto código del honor. Su lealtad a Terry y su creencia de que su raza tenía un lugar en el mundo. Su resolución a evitar que los niños de su raza murieran, una forma de encontrar verdaderas compañeras para los hombres que evitaran que se convirtieran en vampiros. El que Terry encontrara a Candy le había dado un enorme alivio en forma de esperanza. Entonces, una vez que Carry había sido concebida, el mundo se había vuelto un largo e interminable infierno para George. Cada minuto se había convertido en una hora, cada hora en un día, hasta que estuvo cerca de la locura, esperándola.
Desde la negativa de Carry a su unión, se había prometido a si mismo darle cinco años de libertad. Sentía que ya que ella se ataría para siempre a alguien que gobernaría absolutamente su vida, le debía al menos ese poco tiempo. Para George, cada momento era una agonía de mantenerse contra la oscuridad tan profundamente atrincherada en él. Había esperado hasta que supo que sucumbiría, hacía que supo que no tendría la sabiduría o la voluntad para escoger la destrucción del amanecer, la única opción honorable para un Cárpato antes de convertirse en vampiro. Había cumplido su promesa de libertad para ella y haciéndolo casi había perdido su alma. Después de todos esos siglos de resistencia, se había arriesgado a la condenación de su alma por esos cinco años de libertad para ella
Carry sentada muy quieta, absorbía los recuerdos de él. La única belleza en su árida y solitaria existencia habían sido los años en los que ella crecía, cuando era libre de compartir la vida con ella como el lobo. Ella no temía al lobo, le entregaba su amor total e incondicional, cada confidencia, su aceptación. Nunca había tenido eso antes. Lo ansiaba, lo necesitaba, y creía que ella nunca se lo daría de nuevo.
Aceptaba el hecho de que ella nunca le amaría, de que siempre lo miraría con miedo. Era casi como si creyera que no merecía ser amado porque estaba seguro de haberla conseguido injustamente. No estaba preparado para los aguijonazos de dolor que esto le causaba, o para las violentas emociones que se retorcían en su interior. Carry permaneció muy, muy quieta, en el borde de un gran descubrimiento.
No había ninguna mujer que el deseara, como ella había creído. Y ciertamente no deseaba una marioneta, como ella le había acusado. Deseaba a Carry, con su sentido del humor, su orgullo y compasión, e incluso su horrible temperamento. Ninguna otra mujer demostró el más mínimo interés por él. Nunca habría ninguna otra mujer para él.
Estaba sufriendo. Un terrible dolor. Sentía la culpa de ella por la pérdida de Peter. Sentía su temor hacia él. Sentía el dolor de su propia soledad y el eterno aislamiento, que irradiaba de su misma alma. Se había resignado a soportar el dolor todo el tiempo. Y nunca se lo mostraría a ella.
Carry salió de la mente de él mientras todavía no había sido detectada. Él estaba terriblemente solo, tanto que quería llorar por él. Y no tenía la más mínima idea de cómo amar a alguien, reír con alguien o compartir su vida. Sólo sabía que tenía que mantenerla a salvo a toda costa. Le había llamado monstruo, y él creía que tenía derecho.
Ella miraba hacia afuera por la ventana hacia el bosque. George era muchas cosas. Había roto todas las leyes que tenían sin sentir ningún remordimiento. Había matado incontables veces. Tenía más poder en sus dedos que la mayoría de los miembros de su raza combinados. Pero no era un monstruo. Eso nunca.
Sus pies golpeaban con un ligero ritmo sobre el suelo de piedra. Las ramas de los árboles oscilaban ligeramente en sincronía. Ella tenía poder, mucho más del que había esperado. George la deseaba. Más que eso, la necesitaba. Esa particular revelación lo cambió todo. Volvió a poner el control de su vida de vuelta en sus manos. Cuadró los hombros. Ya no era una niña huyendo de un miedo anónimo. Era su compañera, elegida por Dios para caminar junto a un hombre de poder y honor. Un hombre fuerte y sensual que la necesitaba más que a ninguna otra cosa en la tierra.
Carry tomó un profundo aliento y lo dejó escapar cuidadosamente.
- ¿George? - Mantuvo su voz baja y neutral.
Él levantó la cabeza lentamente, pero sintió su mente acariciar la de ella. La invasión no le inspiró miedo esta vez. Aceptó su unión sin apartarse. - Este es un lugar muy hermoso. Es asombroso que fueras capaz de hacer esto. - Notó un movimiento ligero tras ella, pero no se volvió. - Eres casi un artista.
Podía olerle, su esencia a bosque y especias. Masculino, cálido, excitante. Tocó la pared de piedra y se sonrió para sí misma, pensando que el tacto de la roca era casi como el del duro cuerpo de George bajo la yema de sus dedos.
- Me llevó unos pocos meses, chérie, los meses que pasé aquí solo, esperando a que tu show llegara a San Francisco.
Su voz era tan hermosa. Se permitió a si misma escucharlo, sentir su pureza, permitir que el terciopelo negro acariciara su mente. - Es realmente hermoso, George. Podremos veranear aquí cuando estemos en este país.
Él le tocó el pelo porque no pudo evitarlo, y se sorprendió cuando no retrocedió alejándose de él. Le complacía oírla hablar como si aceptara que estarían juntos en el futuro. No respondió, sin embargo, temeroso de que cualquier cosa que dijera rompería su frágil tregua.
Ella se volvió, buscando su brazo con la palma de la mano, y le tocó. Sintió el pulso de él saltar bajo la punta de los dedos y se reservó una sonrisa.
- Así que, ¿vas a explicarme como el vampiro es capaz de usar la voz de mi propia madre para atraerme? Presumo que era un vampiro. ¿Y cómo sentí la compulsión de responder? Soy una mujer de los Cárpatos; una compulsión no debería funcionar tan rápida y fácilmente sobre mí.
Continuó mirando por la ventana. Las llamas lamían su brazo donde la mano de ella descansaba. Carry le había afectado de tal modo que él mismo pensaba que su seguridad estaba comprometida.
- El vampiro es un ilusionista, como tú misma. Ha practicado imitando voces durante siglos. Ahora usa su talento para llamar a otros hacia él. Reconocí el roce de la compulsión en el tono, y, por supuesto, tu madre habría elegido usar su canal privado de comunicación, no el estándar. - Su voz no mostraba emoción, ni forma alguna de condena por la equivocación de ella.
Sin embargo ella se ruborizó. ¿Por qué no había notado eso? Estúpido, estúpido error. Un error como ese podría haber hecho que ella, quizás ambos, murieran. Se volvió para enfrentarle. Los sensuales rasgos de George estaban cuidadosamente impasibles. Sus ojos plateados simplemente reflejaban la propia imagen de ella.
- Supongo que te debo una disculpa por llamarte todas esas cosas. Actué como una niña, y lo siento. - Él parpadeó. Le había sorprendido. Carry sintió que su corazón se caldeaba, una curiosa y candente sensación. - Quiero que hagas algo por mí. Comprendo que no tengo mucha experiencia con vampiros, pero es bastante arbitrario exigirme obediencia, quizás podrías decirme lo que está pasando. Voy a confiar en tu juicio, George. No intentaré desafiarte. Es sólo que tengo un problema cuando me dicen que tengo que hacer. Incluso cuando era niña lo pasaba mal con eso, ¿recuerdas? - Deliberadamente se refirió a su niñez, el único puente feliz entre ellos.
La boca de él no sonrió, pero un golpe de calidez irrumpió en el vacío de sus ojos.
- Lo recuerdo. Hacías todo lo posible para hacer exactamente lo contrario a cada cosa que te mandaban.
La sonrisa de ella era intrigante. George no podía dejar de mirar su boca.
- Si creerías que había mejorado en eso, lamento decirte que no. Intenta trabajar conmigo en esto. - Sus enormes ojos le suplicaron. Él se sintió como si cayera en sus profundidades. - Por favor.
Él envolvió un trozo del pelo de ella alrededor de su muñeca.
- Lo intentaré, pequeña, pero primero está tu seguridad. Siempre.
Ella rió suavemente.
- George, sé que nunca permitirás que nada me ocurra. No es algo por lo que me preocupe.
- Está por encima de mi mente. - Él sonó muy severo.
Ella elevó la barbilla hacia él.
- ¿Se te ha ocurrido que me he ocupado de mi misma estos cinco últimos años y no me ha ocurrido nada?
George sonrió entonces, poniendo sensualidad a la curva de su boca.
- Nunca has estado realmente sola, chérie, nunca en ningún momento. Cuando fue demasiado peligroso para mí quedarme cerca de ti, hice que otros estuvieran cerca.
Él rápido temperamento de ella estalló a pesar de toda su resolución de no permitirlo. Sus ojos soltaban chispas. - ¿Has tenido a alguien vigilándome?
Hubo algo en la forma en que el color surgió en sus mejillas, el brillo de sus ojos, la elevación de sus pechos cuando estaba enfadada, que le hacía desear mantenerla así. - No era el único, ma petite. Tu padre nunca habría permitido que estuvieras sin protección. Deberías haberlo sabido.
- ¿Mi propio padre? - ¿Cómo podía no haberlo sabido? Sería tan de Terry. Tan de George. Ella pensando que había adquirido tanta independencia, que había ganado un respiro para todas las mujeres de los Cárpatos, y todo el tiempo habían estado vigilándola. - Contraté una compañía de seguridad para mis giras. - Dijo, esperando que él reconociera que no había descuidado su seguridad.
- Humanos. - Su tono lo dijo todo. - Necesitabas a uno de nosotros.
- ¿Quién? ¿En quién confías lo suficiente, George? - Preguntó, curiosa. Confiar era tan ajeno a su naturaleza. ¿A qué otro hombre habría confiado la seguridad de su compañera? Parecía tan fuera de su carácter.
George empujó una mano a través de la espesa melena de pelo que caía sobre sus anchos hombros. Su cuello dolía. Ausentemente, intentó otro masaje.
- Algunas situaciones exigen medidas extremas. Elegí al hombre más fuerte y poderoso que conozco, uno con un inquebrantable código de honor. Su nombre es Anthony. Anthony Andrew.
- El hermano gemelo de Albert Andrew. ¿Está aquí? ¿En la ciudad? - Nunca había conocido a Albert Andrew, pero había oído hablar de él a su padre. Recientemente había encontrado a su compañera. Carry había esperado visitarlos mientras estuviera en la ciudad. Estaban probablemente tan deseosos de ver a alguien de su tierra natal como había estado ella. - ¿Sabe Albert que su hermano está aquí protegiéndome?
- Estoy seguro que Albert sentirá su presencia en el área. ¿Cómo podría no hacerlo? Son gemelos. Si Anthony elegirá verle, no lo sé. Está luchando contra la oscuridad.
Carry se volvió alejándose de esos vacíos y relucientes ojos. Tan frío. Tan sólo. Tan perdido. _George. El Oscuro. Su Oscuro. Su George. _A penas podía soportar su dolor. No lo mostraba, no en esa cara inexpresiva, esa cara tallada en puro granito, como la guarida de roca. No estaba en sus pálidos ojos, tan ártica mente fríos que le recordaban la muerte. No estaba en ninguna parte de su mente que compartiera con ella. Lo sintió todo al mismo tiempo. El corazón de él, el de ella. El alma de él, la de ella. Eran uno. Dos mitades del mismo todo. Él no lo sabía todavía, realmente no lo creía. Después de todo, pensaba que no había verdadera química que había manipulado su unión. Ella lo sabía mejor.
Lo había sabido cuando compartía su vida con el lobo. Quizás no en su cabeza, sino en su corazón y su alma. Lo había sabido cuando se introdujo en el negro vacío, en la oscuridad, y lo trajo de vuelta con ella. Lo había sabido cuando compartió su cuerpo con él, inocente como era, inhibida como se sentía. Le temía, pero sabía que era el único. Su corazón y su alma le reconocieron.
12. Chapter 12
**CAPITULO 12**
- El amanecer se aproxima, chérie. - Dijo él suavemente. - Será mejor que fuéramos a dormir.
Sería lo mejor para ella. Su cuerpo estaba rabiando, deseando la sensación de la piel de ella junto a la suya. Necesitaba sostenerla entre sus brazos y albergarla cerca de su corazón. Por un breve momento podría fingir que no estaría siempre solo. Ella mantendría la oscuridad apartada lo él lo suficiente como para permitirle ver otro día.
La mano de ella resbaló hacia abajo por el brazo, hasta su mano. Las yemas de sus dedos acariciaron los contornos de sus músculos. Sólo una sensación superficial, pero su cuerpo entero se tensó con ardiente deseo. Entró a raudales en él, rabiando en él, lava fundida surgiendo a través de su sangre y llenando su cuerpo de calor penetrante. En su inocencia, ella no notaba lo que le estaba haciendo.
- ¿Qué piensas del funeral de Peter? ¿Qué crees que deberíamos hacer para minimizar el riesgo? Porque tienes razón, la prensa va a hacerme pasar un mal rato. Me siguen a todas partes, esos tabloides de prensa amarillista - Sus enormes ojos estaban mirando directamente a los plateados de él.
Él no podía apartar la mirada, no podía soltar su mano. No se habría movido ni aunque su vida dependiera de ello. Estaba perdido en estos ojos azul violáceos, en algún lugar de sus misteriosas, fantasmales y sensuales profundidades. ¿Qué era lo que había decidido? ¿Decretado? Que no iba a permitirle acercarse al funeral de Peter. ¿Por que estaba decayendo su resolución? Tenía razones, buenas razones. Estaba seguro de ello. Aunque ahora, ahogándose en sus enormes ojos, sus pensamientos estaban en la longitud de sus pestañas, la curva de su mejilla, la sensación de su piel, no podía pensar en negarle nada. Después de todo, no había intentado desafiarle, no sabía que había tomado la decisión de apartarla del funeral de Peter. Estaba incluyéndole en sus planes, como si fueran una unidad, un equipo. Estaba pidiendo su consejo. ¿Sería tan terrible complacerla en esto? Era importante para ella.
Parpadeó para evitar caer en su mirada y se encontró mirando la percepción de su boca. La forma en que sus labios se partían era espectacular. La forma en que la punta de su lengua salía para humedecer el labio superior. Casi una caricia. Gimió. Una invitación. Se contuvo para no inclinarse y trazar el mismo recorrido exacto con su propia lengua. Estaba siendo torturado. Atormentado.
Los labios perfectos de ella se fruncieron levemente. Deseaba besarlos, directamente en su boca.
- ¿Qué pasa, George? - Extendió la mano para tocar sus labios con la punta de los dedos.
El corazón de él casi saltó fuera de su pecho. Capturó la muñeca de ella y la puso contra su corazón latente.
- Carry. - Susurró. Un dolor. Un latido. Un dolor. Él lo supo. Ella lo supo. Dios, la deseaba con cada célula de su cuerpo. Indomable. Salvaje. Loco. Deseaba enterrarse tan profundamente en sus entrañas que nunca consiguiera salir.
La mano de ella tembló en respuesta, un ligero movimiento como las alas de una mariposa. Sintió todo el camino a través de su cuerpo.
- Todo va bien, mon amour. - Dijo él suavemente. - No te estoy pidiendo nada.
- Sé que no lo haces. Yo no estoy negándote nada. Sé que necesitamos tiempo para convertirnos en amigos, pero no voy a negar lo que estoy sintiendo ya. Cuando estás junto a mí, la temperatura de mi cuerpo aumenta miles de grados. - Sus ojos azules estaban oscuros e invitadores, firmes sobre él.
Él tocó su mente muy gentilmente, casi tiernamente, deslizándose cruzando sus barreras y sabiendo el valor que había necesitado ella para hacer esa admisión. Estaba nerviosa, incluso asustada, pero decidida a encontrarse con él a medio camino. La comprensión casi le hizo caer de rodillas. Un músculo saltó en su mandíbula, y los ojos plateados ardieron como mercurio fundido, pero su cara estaba impasible como siempre.
- Creo que eres una bruja, Carry, lanzando un hechizo sobre mí. - Una mano acunó la cara de ella, su pulgar se deslizó sobre sus delicados pómulos.
Ella se acercó, y sintió que necesitaba consuelo y confianza. Los brazos de ella se deslizaron tentativamente alrededor de su cintura. Su cabeza descansó sobre su esternón. George la abrazó firmemente, simplemente la abrazó, esperando a que sus temblores cesaran. Esperando que la calidez de su cuerpo se vertiera en el de ella.
La mano de George se elevó para acariciar el espeso y sedoso pelo cobrizo, encontrando el placer en el simple acto. Trajo paz entre ellos. Nunca habría creído que algo tan íntimo como abrazar a una mujer pudiera dar tanto placer a un hombre. Estaba volteando de cabeza su vida. En su corazón; emociones poco familiares surgieron salvajemente y causaron estragos en su bien ordenado vida. En sus brazos, tan cerca de su fuerza, se sentía frágil, delicada, como una flor exótica que podía romperse fácilmente.
- No te preocupes por Peter, ma petite. - Susurró entre los mechones sedosos del pelo de ella. - Nos ocuparemos de que descanse en paz mañana.
- Gracias, George. - Dijo Carry. - Es muy importante para mí.
La alzó fácilmente entre sus brazos.
- Lo sé. Sería más fácil si no lo supiera. Ven a mi cama, chérie, a donde perteneces.
Sus brazos eran fuertes, y la brusquedad en él estaba llamándola. Enroscó los brazos alrededor del cuello de él. Le apartó el pelo para poder acceder mejor a su piel.
- ¿Y si viene un vampiro? - Sus labios flotaron contra su oreja, después bajando, su lengua la acarició en una pequeña zambullida exploradora. - ¿Qué planeas hacer conmigo si los renegados vienen de nuevo?
Su aliento era ardiente seda, su boca calor satinado. Sus dientes mordieron gentilmente. No había ningún pensamiento en la mente de él, sólo un rugido hambriento por su cuerpo. Estúpida hambre abrasadora. Los dientes de ella le pellizcaron su clavícula mientras su mano resbalaba bajo la camisa de él. Los dedos se enredaron en el vello negro que se extendía por su pecho, encontrando cada definido músculo y trazándolo. El rugido se extendió a través del cuerpo de él hasta que la hizo temblar.
Él llegó hasta la cama solo porque estaba muy cerca. Ella levantó la cabeza cuando la colocó de pie sobre el suelo de piedra, una pequeña sonrisa curvó su suave boca. Misteriosa. Sensual. Su pequeña inocente estaba seduciéndole, y haciendo un trabajo endemoniadamente bueno. Cada músculo de su cuerpo estaba duro y dolorido. Estaba quemando, ardiendo de deseo. Su sonrisa. Su perfecta, perfecta boca.
George inclinó la cabeza y tomó posesión de esa boca. Las labios de ella eran cálidos, satinados y lisos. Su lengua exploró la suave curva; sus dientes mordisquearon insistentemente, exigiendo entrar. Ella complació su silenciosa orden, su boca húmeda, de seda ardiente. El mundo pareció desaparecer. Él se alimentó vorazmente, largos y embriagadores besos, devorando su dulzura, alimentándose sensualmente.
Su manos enmarcaron la cara de ella, sosteniéndola inmóvil para su exigente boca. Los colores explotaron alrededor de él; relampagueando se retorcieron y danzaron, y el rugido en su mente se incrementó. Encontró la garganta de ella, suave y vulnerable. Sus manos rasgaron la ropa de ella, necesitaba llegar a su cremosa piel, necesitaba sentirla suave y tersa bajo las palmas de las manos. La tela cayó al suelo en jirones alrededor de ellos, una frenética lluvia de ropa.
El aliento de Carry se le atascó en la garganta. Había liberado algo que estaba más allá de su control, y a pesar de sus buenas intenciones, la atemorizaba. George estaba en todas partes, su cuerpo duro e inflexible, sus brazos de acero. Su enorme fuerza era intimidante. Pero la sensación de su boca, ardiente y masculina, exigiendo su consentimiento era hipnotizadora. Su cuerpo, con voluntad propia, parecía derretirse con ardor.
Despojó a su delgada forma de las blancas prendas de algodón, exponiendo la piel desnuda a su hambrienta mirada. Ella oyó como contenía el aliento. Sus ojos plateados se movieron por la cara de ella, por su boca, la línea de su garganta. En cada lugar que sus ojos tocaban, sentía danzar una llama, después demorándose, mucho después levantaba la cabeza y se movía hacia el siguiente punto. Su cuerpo entero sin imperfecciones estaba bajo su hambrienta mirada. Su piel era cremosamente lisa, sus pechos firmes y redondos, su torso estrecho acentuaba su perfección. La tomó por la cintura y la arrastró hasta él, inclinándola hacia atrás para atraer los pechos hasta su boca.
Ella hizo un suave ruidito, como un gatito, su cuerpo se movió inquieto contra el de él. Sus brazos acunaron la cabeza de él, abrazándolo a ella. La boca de él sobre su pecho era ardiente y hambrienta, insistente. Cada fuerte tirón la derretía, tanto que gemía y se presionaba contra él, adorando la sensación de su boca.
Las manos de él se movieron hacia abajo por su espalda, encontrando sus caderas instándola a acercarse. Estaba duro y grueso, lleno de desesperado deseo por ella. Cuando levantó la cabeza, su mirada fundida la chamuscó, Carry se apoyó contra él saboreando la ligera transpiración que bajaba por el enredado bello del pecho de él. Ella lo siguió, sin tener nunca bastante. Cuando su lengua acarició su estómago liso, lo sintió estremecerse de anticipación. La pequeña gotita corrió todavía más bajo. Sus brazas le rodearon las caderas, encontrando los firmes músculos de sus nalgas y acercándole más. Cuando inclinó la cabeza más cerca, jugando a capturar la juguetona gota, su pelo acarició el cuerpo rugiente de él. George gimió, el sonido escapó de su garganta, ronco y dolorido. Sus grandes manos la cogieron del pelo y lo apretó con fuerza.
- Estás jugando con fuego, ma petite. - Las palabras fueron casi incapaces de escapar de su estrangulada garganta.
Levantó la mirada hacia él, sólo una vez. Una rápida mirada desde debajo de la media luna de sus largas pestañas. Tentadora. Sexy. Su erótica inocente.
- Pensaba que estaba jugando _contigo_. - Negó ella, su atención volvió a la feroz excitación de él. Su cálido aliento la bañó en calor, de tentación.
Él echó la cabeza hacia atras, sus manos apretaban la espesa melena de ella. Su cuello estaba arqueado, sus ojos cerrados.
- Creo que se puede decir que es la misma cosa. - Soltó entre sus apretados dientes
La lengua de ella atrapó la pequeña gota traviesa cuando se acunó en su mano.
- Eres tú el que empezó esto. - Murmuró ausentemente.
Estaba caliente y dura, hierro envuelto en terciopelo. Se contuvo a si mismo mientras ella insistió más cerca, su boca era seda caliente.
- Mon Dieu, Carry. - Respiró entrecortadamente dejando escapar el aire de sus pulmones. - No podré sobrevivir a esto.
La lengua de ella se retorcía, le succionaba, era exquisita la presión de su boca, la fricción era casi más de lo que podía soportar. Sus caderas se movieron, un ritmo sobre el que no tenía control, sujetando su cabeza contra él mientras el mundo entero se desvanecía y existía sólo el intenso placer y las luces explotando en su cabeza. Durante unos preciosos momentos estando fuera de su interminablemente vacía existencia, podía creer que le importaba a alguien, que alguien le amaba lo suficiente como para sacarle de la oscuridad a la luz. Al éxtasis.
La cogió y tiró de ella para alzarla y así poder empujarla de espaldas sobre la cama. Era tan pequeña, durante un momento tuvo miedo de herirla con su fuerza, pero ella se estaba moviendo sin descanso, le necesitaba, el deseo en su mente se incrementaba hasta igualar al de él. Sujetó sus caderas y la arrastró al borde de la cama para poder explorarla como quería.
Ella era exclusivamente suya. Su cuerpo era su único solaz. Estaba decidido a conocer cada centímetro de ella íntimamente. Sabía que era su fuerza lo que la atemorizaba, no lo que le estaba haciendo. Ella se tensó, su cuerpo se puso rígido cuando él la colocó sobre las mantas. Inclinó su oscura cabeza, sus dientes rasparon el interior de los muslos de ella.
- Confía en mi, Carry. Sé que lo haces. - Su aliento era cálido mientras la saboreaba. - Eres parte de mí. No puedo hacerte daño. Toca mi mente con la tuya. Te deseo más de lo que he deseado nunca nada en toda mi existencia.
Su lengua la acarició, jugueteando, explorando íntimamente.
Ella se estiró bajo él, exhalando bruscamente. No había paredes, ni techo, ni suelo, nada excepto el espacio y George.
Sus manos se movían sobre el cuerpo de ella, explorando, memorizando, poseyendo, incluso mientras su boca se hundía salvajemente, llevándola al límite una y otra vez hasta que se rompió en un millón de fragmentos y volvió a reconstruirse de nuevo justo a tiempo para repetir el proceso. Era interminable, para siempre; una vez y otra hasta que pensó que explotaría.
Le cogió del pelo y tiró de él, deseando su cuerpo, necesitando que la llenara, para fundirse completamente con ella. George triunfante la complació, cubriendo su delgada forma con la fornida de él. Presionó contra ella y sintió su húmedo calor, estaba preparada, incitándole, deseándole. Se inclinó para encontrar su garganta. Olisqueando. Pellizcando. Su lengua la acarició. Sus caderas se movieron alejándose de ella. Se empujó hacia adelante, enterrándose profundamente justo cuando sus dientes se hundieron en la vulnerable garganta.
Carry pensó que podía morir de placer. Se estiró, firme y ardiente; la fricción, cuando entró en ella una y otra vez con largas y profundas estocadas, casi la condujeron a la locura. Se abrazó a sus hombros, sus uñas se hundieron profundamente, para evitar que volara lejos. Podía sentir la boca de él sobre su garganta devorando la esencia de su vida, su mente empujaba en la de ella, compartiendo el placer, elevándolo. Podía sentir su cuerpo inflamado, endurecido incluso más, la rugiente tormenta de fuego que amenazaba con consumirla, con consumirle a él.
Él estaba en todas partes, en su mente, en su cuerpo, en su corazón, en su alma. El fuego ardiente en él, en ella. Su cuerpo tomaba al de ella agresivamente, dominantemente, su boca frenética de hambre. Parecía insaciable; como ella. Carry no podía decir donde terminaba ella y empezaba él. La tomó más duro y más rápido hasta que su cuerpo ondeó de vida y se convulsionó de placer. No importo a ninguno de los dos. No era suficiente; nunca sería suficiente.
La lengua de George se deslizó a través de la garganta de ella, cerrando las heridas, pero su boca deliberadamente dejó su marca en ella.
- Aliméntate, Carry. Estás hambrienta de mí. - Su aterciopelada e hipnotizadora voz fue áspera por el deseo
No tenía que pedírselo. Ella le anhelaba. Lujuria era la única palabra que podía pensar que se acercaba a describir la intensidad de su necesidad. Tenía que saborearle, tenía que tenerle dentro de ella, no sólo de su cuerpo o de su corazón y mente sino de sus mismas venas. Suplicaba saborearle, era adicta a él, estaba hambrienta de él.
- ¿No me deseas? - Preguntó él, sus caderas marcaban lentamente largas y rítmicas estocadas.
Carry sonrió contra su piel desnuda.
- Sabes que si. Sientes lo que yo siento. - Deliberadamente le mordió el cuello, su lengua se deslizó sobre el pulso que latía con fuerza allí. - ¿Cómo podría no desearte?
El cuerpo de el se tensó de anticipación. Esperando. Dejó de respirar. Su corazón se detuvo también. Ella deliberadamente prolongó el momento, raspando gentilmente sobre su pulso, cerrando los ojos mientras el cuerpo de el reaccionaba, se inflamaba más grueso dentro de ella. Cuando sus dientes le mordieron la piel, él casi perdió el control, el placer era tan intenso que podía sentir su cuerpo acumulando, acumulando, zambulléndose incluso más profundamente hasta alcanzar su alma. A su alrededor, ella se tensaba, aferrándose con ardor y terciopelo, agarrándose y contoneándose hasta que no tuvo más elección que responder a su llamada. Explotaron juntos. Con una chispeante intensidad que nunca olvidaría. Su completa rendición, la generosidad con que le entregaba su cuerpo y mente.
George dejó caer su cabeza al lado de ella, cerró con fuerza los ojos para evitar que ella viera la humedad en ellos. Ella se alimentaba gentilmente, su boca era suave y sensual sobre el cuello de él, su cuerpo se estremecía. La abrazó firmemente, decidido a nunca dejarla marchar. Decidió a encontrar la forma de hacer que deseara quedarse con él.
Carry cerró los dos puntos de entrada en la piel de él y se quedó tendida silenciosamente bajo él. Era pesado, su cuerpo envolvía completamente el de ella, casi aplastándole contra las mantas. Su inmovilidad, la dura posesión en la fuerza de sus brazos, le advirtieron que se quedara callada. Estaba luchando contra sus demonios de nuevo.
- ¿George? - Saboreó su nombre. - Soy tu compañera. No hay ningún otro para mí. Tus miedos no tienen fundamento.
Los brazos de él se tensaron incluso más, casi estrangulándola.
- Soy peligroso, Carry, más peligroso de lo que nunca sabrás. No confío en mis emociones. Son nuevas para mí e intensas. He matado con frecuencia, los trozos de mi alma fueron destruidos hace mucho tiempo.
Las manos de ella encontraron su pelo, peinándolo y acariciándolo, intentando aliviarle.
- Mi alma es tu otra mitad. Encajan perfectamente, y no falta ninguna pieza. Sólo te sientes así porque después de tantos siglos de insensibilidad, de vacío, puedes sentir de nuevo. Todo esto está agobiándote.
El la alivió de su peso pero no la dejó marchar. No podía. Tenía que tocarla, permanecer en su interior, su cuerpo unido al de ella.
- Desearía que fuera verdad, mon amour. Realmente lo deseo.
- El amanecer ha llegado, George. - Le recordó suavemente, de repente consciente de que estaban entrelazados juntos, unidos como un solo ser.
- ¿Tienes frío?
- No
Como podría tenerlo. El cuerpo de él estaba dentro del suyo, sobre el suyo, sus caderas se movían gentil pero insistentemente.
George ondeó una mano para cerrar las entradas, colocando salvaguardas dentro y fuera. Todo el tiempo su atención estaba centrada en su cuerpo que se deslizaba dentro y fuera del de ella. La belleza. El misterio. El placer.
- Dormiremos pronto, chérie, lo prometo. Pero ahora no. No durante un ratito. - Murmuró las palabras contra su pecho, después se acercó más, la boca de él se alimentó gentilmente de su suavidad. Quería quedarse allí, en el santuario de su cuerpo, Para siempre.
13. Chapter 13
**CAPITULO 13**
El Detective David Johnson escoltó a la pareja a través de la repleta habitación cuadrada hasta su oficina. Las cabezas se volvieron, y un extraño silencio pareció seguir su proceso. Realmente no podía culpar al hombre. En todos sus años en la policía, no había visto nunca una mujer más hermosa o fantasmal. Era la única palabra que describía su belleza. Fantasmal. Se movía como una canción, un susurro, como el agua moviéndose a través del espacio. Flotando. Sin embargo, era embarazosa la forma en que policías ya creciditos estaban actuando como cachorros enamorados.
Era una celebridad, la causa de que la multitud de periodistas acamparan en el precinto del umbral, pero él sabía que era más que eso. Carry Grandchester era la clase de mujer que permanecía en la mente de un hombre todo el tiempo. Era el material de los sueños. Ardientes sueños nocturnos, sábanas de seda, y montones de sexo húmedo. Una fantasía viviente
.
Johnson arriesgó una mirada hacia el hombre que caminaba tan fácilmente al lado de ella. Un compañero peligroso este. Oscuro. Amenazador. Se movió tan silenciosamente, posiblemente nadie podría detectarle a menos que lo deseara. Ni siquiera sus ropas susurraban. Su pelo era negro y espeso. Parecía elegante, del Viejo Mundo, como un noble. Su cara era impresionante, toda dura ángulos y planos, con inusuales ojos pálidos, un resplandor de plata que no regalaba nada. Este era un hombre con el que se podía contar. Estaba en la posición de sus hombros, en ese aire de completa autoridad. Johnson había visto hombres con poder antes, hombres que tomaban decisiones de vida o muerte cada día. Este hombre estaba cortado por ese patrón. El hombre vestía poder como si fuera su propia piel. Era poder. Johnson sentía el duro golpeteo de su corazón en el pecho cada vez que esos peculiares ojos como los de un gato descansaban en él. Ojos que no pestañeaban. Perturbándole.
La postura de ese hombre lo decía todo. Que Dios ayudara a la persona lo suficientemente estúpida como para poner un dedo sobre Carry Grandchester. Johnson había estado preocupado por que algún desequilibrado de San Francisco estuviera intentando coger a la famosa maga mientras estaba en la ciudad, pero ahora que había conocido a su marido, se figuraba que cualquiera que intentara tocarla tendría que ser un suicida.
Retrocedió y permitió que Carry entrara en su oficina y no se sorprendió cuando su marido de algún modo se las arregló para colocar su sólida forma entre su cuerpo y el de Carry. Johnson cerró la puerta firmemente y refrenó el impulso de cerrar las persianas. La escuadra entera estaba mirando fijamente a través del cristal oscurecido, coqueteando con ella.
Johnson nunca había notado lo sucia que estaba su oficina, las capas de polvo y suciedad, las grasientas cajas sobrantes vacías de comida china y pizza. La pálida mujer con su fantasmal belleza la hacían ser demasiado consciente de la austeridad de su ambiente. Quiso barrer los restos de su escritorio dentro de la papelera y sacarlo de la vista de ella. Para su horror, sintió que el color subía ya por su cuello. Era conocido por los alrededores como un policía casado con el departamento, completamente cínico, sin sentimientos de ninguna clase. Pero sus hormonas habían dado un salto y parecían estar trabajando horas extraordinarios.
Johnson aclaró su garganta dos veces, intentando no parecer un asno.
- Apreciamos que haya venido a ayudarnos. Gracias por identificar el cuerpo, sé que debe haber sido difícil para usted. - Esperó, pero cuando ninguno de ellos habló, continuó. - Nos gustaría aclarar unas pocas cosas concernientes a esta noche. Ya tenemos las declaraciones de los de seguridad y los conductores que cargaron el camión. Todos parecen tener una coartada blindada, Señorita Grandchester. Seguridad la vio salir y vio a Peter en el muelle de carga. Peter nunca salió. ¿Cuando fue la última vez que vio a Peter Sanders vivo?
Carry supo que George había plantado la escena en las mentes del personal de seguridad cuando habían dejado el estadio esa horrible noche.
- Detective Johnson. - Empezó ella. Su voz era un poco más hermosa de lo que era ella.
- Llámeme David. - Se encontró diciendo para su absoluta sorpresa.
Su marido se revolvió, un ligero movimiento de músculos, una sugerencia de peligro. Esos brillantes y relucientes ojos se fijaron sobre la cara de Johnson, tocándole con un aire frío, la visión de una tumba vacía, una muerte escalofriante. Tragó nerviosamente, repentinamente agradecido de que ninguno de sus nuevos detectives hubiera sido asignado a este extraño caso. Johnson podía creer sin dificultad que este hombre fuera perfectamente capaz de matar a alguien. ¿Qué estaba haciendo una mujer como Carry Grandchester con un hombre como este?
- Recogí a Carry una hora más o menos después de su actuación. - Le informó George suavemente- mientras Carry se sentaba con la cabeza gacha, retorciéndose los dedos. Irradiaba angustia, convirtiendo el corazón de George en una piedra. Era plenamente consciente de los pensamientos del detective y a propósito bajó su voz un octavo. Cualquiera con medio cerebro podría ver que era peligroso; no era fácil esconder esa clase de cosas, y a George no le interesaba particularmente hacerlo.
- El material había sido cargado en los camiones, y la mayor parte de los trabajadores estaban ya saliendo. - Dijo él suavemente.
Johnson se encontró aferrándose a cada palabra, escuchando el pulso y la cadencia de su voz. Era como la corriente de un arroyo. Este hombre, este George, era honesto, tenía integridad. Johnson cambió de posición, inclinándose sobre el escritorio hacia el hombre. No podía evitarlo; era casi como si estuviera hipnotizado.
- Peter estaba vivo y bien en ese momento. - Siguió George suavemente. - Hablamos unos pocos minutos, quizás como media hora. El camión con el material se alejaba justo cuando decidimos salir. Peter caminó hacia su coche pero volvió diciéndonos que se había dejado las llaves en el muelle de carga.
Carry agachó la cabeza, sintiendo un temblor atravesándola. Estaba pálida pero compuesta. En su interior, podía oírse a si misma gritando ultrajada, con dolor. George aparentemente no se movió, aunque se cuerpo estaba tocando el de ella de forma que su calidez pudiera inundar la piel de ella. Le asombraba, la perfecta y aceptable historia que tejía con su hermosa voz. Nadie le cuestionaría nunca. ¿Cómo podrían, cuando los controlaba a todos con el sonido de su voz?
- ¿Esa fue la última vez que lo vieron con vida? - Preguntó Johnson.
Carry asintió. George entrelazó sus dedos con los de ella.
- Peter era nuestro amigo, así como un socio de negocios. Lo manejaba todo por Carry. Sin Peter, no hay show. Yo tengo muchos negocios que me mantienen extremadamente ocupado. Peter cuidaba de cada detalle del show mágico por nosotros. Y como puede imaginar, esto es devastador para mi esposa. Para ambos. Deberíamos haber esperado hasta que estuviera a salvo en su coche, pero había estado lejos de Carry durante algún tiempo, y estábamos ansiosos por estar juntos. El personal de seguridad estaba todavía a la vista, así que no pensamos que pudiera pasar nada.
- No fueron al hotel. - Johnson hizo una afirmación.
De nuevo fue George quien respondió concisamente, su voz suave e hipnótica.
- No, fuimos a una propiedad que tenemos en las afueras de la ciudad. No fue hasta esta tarde que oímos las noticias.
- ¿Por qué no dejó el hotel, Carry? - Le preguntó Johnson directamente. Era difícil no mirar fijamente su exquisita belleza.
- Pensamos que nos encontraríamos otra vez con Peter en un par de días cuando volviéramos a la ciudad, así que mantuvimos la habitación. - Su voz fue tan baja que Johnson apenas pudo captar sus palabras. Sonaba tan triste, sintió el peso de una piedra en su pecho.
George se movió ligeramente, acariciando la pelo y el cuello de Carry, sus dedos se movieron en un masaje consolador. Estaba transmitiendo su dolor interno demasiado ruidosamente, y el detective estaba empezando a verse afectado. _Respira profundamente, mon amour. No podemos permitirnos el lujo de tener un policía con un ataque cardíaco en nuestra presencia. Es muy susceptible a ti. No puedo arreglar algo como esto._ Había lágrimas en la voz de ella, en su mente. Estaba aferrándose a la mente de George como a una antorcha, y eso le hacía sentir que la conexión con ella era real y sólida. Quizás incluso inquebrantable.
_Peter merecía lo mejor._
_Así es, pequeña, pero no podemos decir a este hombre la verdad. Nos encerraría a ambos como a locos. _George se inclinó hacia adelante y miró directamente a los ojos de Johnson. _Prestarás atención a tu problema de corazón después de que dejemos este lugar. Por ahora dejarás de interrogar a Carry y dirigirás tus preguntas solamente hacia mi._
Johanson parpadeó, sus ojos ligeramente vidriosos. ¿Se había quedado dormido? No se estaba sintiendo muy bien. Se limpió la transpiración de la frente. Quizás haría un viaje rápido al hospital y se haría esas pruebas que había estado aplazando.
Mientras tanto, Carry parecía tan apenada que se fijó en George. Había algo en la voz de ese hombre que lo esclavizaba. Podría escucharlo para siempre.
- Nadie conocía su matrimonio. No encontramos ningún registro de él. - Aventuró.
George asintió.
- La carrera de Carry exigía que pareciera... ¿como podría decirlo?... disponible. Una mujer soltera es mucho más atractiva que una casada. Hemos sido marido y mujer durante casi cinco años. El matrimonio tuvo lugar en nuestro país. La madre de Carry es de Estados Unidos, pero la tierra natal de su padre está en las Montañas de los Cárpatos. Nos casamos allí.
Johnson se contuvo de decir que ella parecía demasiado joven e inocente para un hombre tan poderoso como George. Era casi imposible decir su edad.
- ¿El señor Sanders estaba de acuerdo con el matrimonio?
Los ojos plateados relucieron como la plata.
- Por supuesto que lo estaba. - George pudo ver que la pregunta disgustaba aún más a Carry. Se inclinó más cerca del detective de nuevo._ Cesarás esta línea de interrogatorio._
Johnson sacudió la cabeza.
- Nos estamos saliendo de la cuestión aquí. ¿Sabes de algún enemigo que el Señor Sanders pudiera tener?
George se tomó su tiempo para responder, con aspecto muy pensativo. Incluso sacudió la cabeza.
- Desearía poder ayudarle más, Detective, pero a todo el mundo le gustaba Peter. Bueno, con excepción de los reporteros... era muy bueno protegiendo la privacidad de Carry y preservando la mística del show. No creo que encuentre a nadie que hable mal de Peter.
- Manejaba las finanzas del show ¿verdad? - Preguntó Johnson astutamente.
- Si, lo hacía. - Respondió George fácilmente. - Peter era un socio pleno para Carry. Él tenía ganancias también.
- ¿Hubo algún problema con los libros? - Johnson deslizó la pregunta, observando sus caras.
Carry parecía tan pálida y llena de pena, se sentía como si estuviera atormentándola. Ninguna emoción se mostraba en la cara de George, y Johnson supo que nada que dijera o hiciera cambiaría eso.
- Soy tremendamente rico, Detective, con más dinero del que posiblemente pueda gastar en toda mi vida. Carry ni siquiera necesita los ingresos de su show. Si hubiera habido alguna discrepancia, y ciertamente no sé de ninguna, estoy seguro, al igual que Carry, de que sería una honesta. Peter hizo un buen dinero con los shows y no había necesidad de comprobar los libros. Estoy seguro de que puedo comprobar fácilmente las cuentas del banco y nuestros registros. Ciertamente está invitado a hacerlo. Peter Sanders no era un ladrón.
Carry alzó la barbilla.
- Peter nunca habría robado nada. Y si hubiera necesitado dinero, todo lo habría tenido que hacer era decirlo. Se lo hubiéramos dado, y él lo sabía.
-Era sólo una idea. No hay evidencia que apunte en esa dirección, pero tenemos que cubrir todas las posibilidades. - Johnson se pasó una mano por el pelo. Odiaba perturbar a la mujer. - Sanders estaba a cargo de sus medidas de seguridad?
- Teníamos un hombre para eso. - Dijo George llanamente. - Peter le daba órdenes y le mantenía informado del horario para que el hombre pudiera hacer su trabajo.
- ¿Podía haber sido la señorita Grandchester el objetivo de algún fan psicópata?
Carry hizo un ruido ahogado, desgarrando el corazón de George. Bajo sus dedos masajeadores, ella estaba empezando a temblar.
- Siempre hay la posibilidad, Detective. A veces ha recibido algunos mensajes de fans muy perversos. Peter y Roland, el hombre de seguridad, la protegían de la mayor parte de esos indeseables. Pero si hubiera habido algún mensaje amenazador en esta gira, Peter me habría informado inmediatamente.
Johnson no dudaba de que George fuera el tipo de hombre que estaría envuelto en cada aspecto de la vida de su mujer.
- ¿Recuerda cualquier incidente extraño que le llamara la atención?
Carry sacudió la cabeza.
- ¿Quizás algún ruido raro o inesperado esa noche?
Instantáneamente Carry recordó la horrorosa risa del vampiro. George intervino inmediatamente.
- Mi esposa está muy agitada, Detective, y todavía no hemos llevado a cabo los arreglos para Peter. Su personal está esperándonos también.
- Así como los reporteros.
Los plateados ojos de George brillaron con una advertencia.
- Todavía no ha hablado con los reporteros. Esto es ya bastante difícil para ella.
Johnson asintió.
- Intentaremos hacerles salir a escondidas por la puerta de atrás. Pero esa pandilla ha estado acampada fuera en nuestras escaleras desde que identificamos el cuerpo.
Carry hizo una mueca de dolor visible.
- Pirañas. - Observó George.
- Son como vampiros. - Estuvo de acuerdo Johnson. No vio el temblor de Carry. - Una vez que hincan los dientes en una historia, nunca paran. Uno en particular, de fuera de la ciudad, ha estado volviéndonos a todos locos. Ya le cogimos intentando espiar en nuestros archivos en un intento de leer nuestros informes. También intentó sobornar a alguien en la oficina del forense para que le diera información. - El detective era consciente de que les estaba proporcionando información que no debería dar, pero parecía incapaz de detenerse. Fluía hacia afuera como agua.
George alzó la cabeza, el pelo oscuro cayó sobre su frente. De repente parecía un depredador, oscuro y peligroso. El corazón de Johnson dio otro fuerte latido, y por un instante pudo haber jurado que vio esos pálidos ojos arder de un fiero rojo. George daba la impresión de ser una bestia de afiladas garras, espectante, acercándose furtivamente a su presa. Johnson se estremeció, después parpadeó. Cuando miró de nuevo, la cara del hombre estaba tan impasible como siempre, los ojos reflejaban de nuevo su propia imagen. Había cierta belleza masculina en esa cara áspera y cruel. Johnson sacudió la cabeza para dispersar la imagen de un lobo acercándose furtivamente de su mente.
- ¿Qué reportero es ese, Detective?
- En realidad no puedo divulgar esa información. - Dijo Johnson cautelosamente. Había algo que no podía concretar lo bastante, pero no iba a ser responsable de que algún reportero terminara en el hospital. No dudada de que cualquiera que se enredara con George sacaría el extremo corto del palo.
George sonrió hacia él, un relámpago de dientes blancos. La mirada plateada se fijó sobre los cansados ojos de David Johnson. Esa mirada de plata fue de repente caliente como mercurio fundido. Johnson se sintió caer hacia adelante, incapaz de apartar la mirada. George empujó en la mente del hombre, pasó la delgada barrera de protección y buscó los recuerdos allí. Satisfecho al tener lo que necesitaba, apartó de la memoria del hombre cualquier conversación con el reportero e implantó el convencimiento de que Carry y George habían cooperado plenamente y no tenían nada que ver con la muerte de Peter Sanders.
Johnson parpadeó y se encontró de pie, estrechado la mano de George y sonriendo simpáticamente a Carry.
La forma musculosa de George empequeñeció la delgada de ella cuando su marido la deslizó protectora bajo su hombro. Ella ofreció a Johnson una pálida sonrisa.
- Desearía que nos hubiéramos conocido en diferentes circunstancias, Detective.
- David. - Corrigió él gentilmente, haciendo todo lo posible para no mirarla fijamente.
George condujo por el codo a Carry fuera de la oficina.
- Gracias por ser tan cuidadoso con los sentimientos de Carry.
Johnson les abrió camino a través del laberinto de habitaciones hasta las escaleras traseras.
- Si cree que será necesario. Podría tener a un par de hombres vigilando a la señorita Grandchester durante unos días.
- Gracias, Detective, pero no será necesario. - Declinó George suavemente, con un dejo de amenaza en su aterciopelada voz. Sus manos encontraron la pequeña espalda de Carry. - Yo protejo lo que es mío.
El hueco de las escaleras era estrecho y polvoriento, la alfombra raída en varios lugares. La pareja se movió bajando juntos en perfecta sincronización, como un par de bailarines. George la detuvo antes de que ella pudiera abrir la puerta.
- Hay alguien fuera.
Carry miró la mueca cruel de su boca.
- No sabemos quien es, George. - Advirtió suavemente.
- Explorar es bastante fácil. - Respondió George. - Ese reportero es peligroso, Carry. Es más que un simple periodista molesto.
- Leíste la mente del detective, sus recuerdos, ¿verdad? - Sus dedos se enroscaron alrededor de la gruesa muñeca de él, sus enormes ojos se fijaron firmemente sobre su cara.
George no retrocedió ante la acusación. No fingió arrepentimiento.
- Por supuesto que lo hice.
- George. - Dijo ella suavemente. - Tienes esa mirada.
Él arqueó las cejas.
- ¿Qué mirada?
- Esa, como si estuvieras hambriento y acabarás de descubrir el almuerzo.
El sonrió en respuesta, pero no había calidez en sus ojos.
- Ten mucho cuidado con este, Carry. No va a dejarte marchar sin más.
Ella se encogió de hombros cuidadosamente.
- Pues démosle lo que quiere y quizás se vaya solo. - Tenía miedo de lo que sabía que George tenía en mente. Si el reportero no podía ser controlado, si se convertía en una amenaza para su raza, George no tendría más elección que destruirle. No podía soportar la idea de más derramamiento de sangre innecesario; deseaba una coexistencia pacífica con la raza humana.
- Lo intentaremos a tu modo. - Concedió George, su estómago se contrajo. ¿Por qué cedía ante sus ruegos sin sentido? Los ojos de ella grandes y tristes, derrotaban a su sentido común cada vez.
14. Chapter 14
**CAPITULO 14**
Carry presionó la punta de un dedo contra el labio de él, trazando el duro borde hasta que se suavizó, y él tomó su dedo con la boca en una lenta y erótica caricia. Necesitaba esa conexión con ella siempre. Era tan joven, la fealdad de su vida era tan ajena a ella. ¿Cómo podía ella entender su necesidad de asegurarse de que esa fealdad nunca la tocara?
Sonrió, una pequeña y secreta sonrisa que sentía que nunca podría entender. Él sabía de la tierra, del viento, de los cambios de las aguas, fuego, aire, incluso del mismo espacio. Podía dominarlos a todos ellos, pero Carry le eludía. Le eludía completamente. ¿Por qué importaba tanto que ella entendiera? ¿No era su seguridad la cosa más importante del mundo?
Carry se estremeció ante el calor inesperado que ardió a través de su cuerpo. George tenía tanto poder sobre ella. Cuando liberó su dedo de la ardiente y húmeda caverna de su boca, se apoyó en él, sus manos se deslizaron hacia abajo por su garganta para descansar en su pecho.
- Creo que deberías estas prohibido, George. Eres letal para las mujeres. - Su voz acarició la piel de él como el toque de sus dedos.
- Sólo para una mujer. - Respondió él, sus ojos plateados eran mercurio fundido. Tomó posesión de la mano de ella; tuvo que hacerlo, antes de que su cuerpo prendiera en llamas. Llevándose los nudillos a la boca, gimió y presionó un beso contra el dorso de la mano, sus dedos, y la palma abierta. - Salgamos de aquí, ma petite, antes de que cambie de idea y convierta a ese reportero en piedra.
Ella contuvo el aliento, sus ojos azules se abrieron de par en par.
- No puedes hacerlo realmente, ¿verdad? - Le miraba con una mezcla de respeto y temor, con quizás, una pizca de orgullo.
La cara de George estaba completamente impasible, la mirada plateada reflexiva.
- Puedo hacer cualquier cosa. Pensaba que era un hecho bien conocido entre nuestra gente.
Ella estudió su cara, intentando decidir si estaba o no burlándose de ella. Como no podía decidirse por ninguno de las dos posibilidades, se volvió y empujó la puerta.
Casi en seguida un hombre se colocó sólidamente delante de ella, y un flash se disparó. Parpadeando ante el súbito e insoportable dolor producido por la luz brillante en sus sensibles ojos, Carry instintivamente levantó una mano para cubrirse la cara. George la giró hacia su pecho. Tú insististe en esto.
¡No te atreves a decir te lo dije!
La suave risa de él alivió el picor de sus ojos, pero su cara era dura y peligrosa cuando se encaró al reportero y su cámara.
- Salgan de nuestro camino. - Advirtió suavemente.
La expresión del reportero era cauta. Retrocedió, el aliento explotó fuera de sus pulmones.
- Wade Carter, reportero libre. He estado siguiendo a la señorita Grandchester durante algún tiempo. Quisiera una entrevista.
- Tendrá que acudir a su secretario de prensa. - George siguió moviéndose, rodeando con un brazo protector los hombros de Carry.
El reportero tuvo que cambiar de táctica; no se atrevió a desafiar al otro hombre. George parecía un depredador. Oscuro, agazapado, una máquina de matar. Amenazador. Estaba mostrando su verdadera naturaleza al reportero sin dudarlo. Carter se maldijo, pero su excitación se mostró en su cara.
- Corre el rumor de que usted es su marido. ¿Es verdad?
- No veo razón para negarlo. - George siguió caminando, su brazo, ancho y de músculos marcados, se enroscó alrededor de la cabeza de Carry, escondiéndola con éxito del escrutinio del otro hombre. Miró hacia el cámara, que su había colocado para tomar otra foto. - Una es todo lo que conseguirá. Hágalo de nuevo, y le arrancaré la cámara. A la fuerza. Y no se la devolveré. ¿Me ha entendido?
El hombre instantáneamente bajó la cámara, la cara se le puso blanca. La voz de George era baja y suave, incluso amable, pero encerraba tal amenaza, que como veterano de muchas peleas optó por la mejor parte del valor.
- Si, señor. - Murmuró, evitando mirar a Carter.
- Así que no niegan su matrimonio. ¿Es verdad que los dos provienen de la Montañas de los Cárpatos? - Carter sonaba ansioso.
- Es una región grande. - Dijo George vagamente e hizo señas a su conductor para que abriera la puerta de la limusina.
Carter se impulsó hacia adelante.
- ¿Conocía Peter Sanders los secretos que había detrás de su magia, Carry? - Había acusación en su voz, beligerancia. - Ningún otro miembro de su personal los conoce. Lo que podría hacer la muerte de Sanders fuera bastante conveniente, si tiene algo que esconder.
A pesar del brazo de George que la refrenaba, Carry levantó la cabeza para enfrentar al reportero. Sus ojos azules humeaban peligrosamente.
- ¿Cómo se atreve? Peter Sanders era mi amigo.
Carter se acercó incluso más.
- Tiene muchos secretos, ¿verdad, Carry? que no tienen nada que ver con su show de magia.
- ¿Qué se supone que significa eso?
Los ojos plateados de George relampagearon. _Su mente está protegida de alguna forma. Podría pasar su barrera, pero es complicado, lo notaría, y quienquiera que le haya ayudado a lograr esto. Este es muy peligroso para ti, mon amour. No cruces espadas con él. Salgamos de este lugar. Haré una visita al Wade Carter en una fecha posterior. _
_No me asusta._
_Debería. Es uno de los carniceros humanos, y tú eres su objetivo. Esa maldita neblina en la que te disuelve. Anthony siempre se sintió incómodo con eso._
- Creo que usted sabe muy bien lo que quiero decir. Peter Sanders descubrió como se llevaban a cabo algunas de sus ilusiones, y usted le mató.
Carry sacudió la cabeza.
- Lo lamento por usted, señor Carter. Debe ser una horrible forma de vida, acusar a la gente de crímenes para conseguir una historia sensacionalista. No puede tener demasiados amigos. - Se agachó para entrar en la limusina y la seguridad del sombreado interior.
- No es la última vez que me ve. - Soltó Carter, inclinándose para intentar captar un último vistazo de ella.
George se acercó, su forma imponente exhalaba poder. Sonrió al reportero, un relámpago de relucientes dientes blancos. Los ojos plateados reflejaban claramente, vividamente, con gran detalle, la propia imagen de Carter. Pero era una imagen de muerte, de un cuerpo desmadejado y sangrante caído como un muñeco de trapo en el suelo. George atrapó al hombre con su mirada mortífera.
- Ni será la última vez que usted me vea a mi, señor Carter. - Dijo suavemente, una amenaza negro aterciopelado.
Wade Carter estaba repentinamente debilitado por el miedo. A pesar de si mismo, la mano derecha encontró la cruz de plata en su cuello. Una carcajada baja y burlona resonó en su cabeza. Pareció no poder librarse de ella, ni siquiera cuando el alto y elegante hombre se deslizó con gracia en el asiento junto a Carry. Carter sacudió la cabeza repetidamente, intentando disolver la risa, la amenaza, de su mente
Miró la limusina que se desvanecía, entonces se apretó ambas manos contra los oídos. No tenía pruebas de que Carry Grandchester fuera un vampiro, solo un presentimiento en su estómago. Las cosas que hacía sobre el escenario eran imposibles. Ningún otro mago había logrado los trucos que ella hacía perfectamente. Era demasiado joven; como podía haber aprendido lo que hacía a si nadie más en su campo podía hacerlo? La había seguido toda la gira, intentando sin éxito sobornar a los que trabajaban para ella. Ninguno admitió saber nada.
Cada vez que había intentado irrumpir para ver sus cosas, para estudiar lo que hacía, algo había hido mal. Era raro. No creía en las coincidencias. Podría haber fallado una vez o dos, pero no en cada esmerado intento. Era un profesional; su gente era profesional. Ninguno del personal de carretera o de la gente de seguridad era tan bueno. Algo apestaba, y el llegaría al fondo de ello. Quizás los polis se creyeran la historia, pero la muerte de Peter Sanders francamente apestaba. Todos los camioneros y cargaderos contaban exactamente la misma historia. Nunca dos testigos contaban exactamente la misma historia. Los detalles siempre diferían. Y no podía ser una conspiración; los interrogados no se conocían los unos a los otros. Así que tenía que ser algo más. Como recuerdo implantados en las mentes de la gente, algo que un vampiro podía hacer.
Carry repentinamente tenía un marido que nadie conocía. Y no era un hombre cualquiera, sino uno que no habría podía pasar desapercibido. El marido de Carry era oscuro, peligroso. Un asesino. Wade Carter estaba seguro de que era un vampiro. Positivo. Se sentó en los escalones, su corazón latía atronadoramente. Por fin había encontrado algo real. Y esa cosa real lo asustaba endemoniadamente. Tendría que llamar a los otros que vinieran. Que ocasión, y el fue el primero en encontrarlos. O a él. No sabía honestamente si Carry Grandchester era un vampiro, pero su investigación le decía que era una posibilidad. Iba a ser famoso. Muy, muy famoso. Y rico. Muy, muy rico.
- Sabe de nosotros. - Dijo George suavemente. - Ese reportero no es un reportero. Es uno de ellos.
- ¿Quienes son ellos? - Carry se apartó el pelo, repentinamente débil y cercana a las lágrimas. Peter. Fue todo culpa mia. Nunca debía haberle permitido estar tan cerca de ella, nunca debió ponerle en peligro. Había sido tan ingenua. Su mundo había sido siempre un mundo de amor sin límites. Sus padres la protegieron, la mimaron. Su no-lobo, su compañero... no le había mostrado nada más que amor durante sus años de niñez. Ninguno de los detalles feos de sus vidas, ninguno de los peligros, se había permitido nunca que la tocaran.
Miró hacia George, la impasible expresión, las líneas talladas profundamente en su hermosa cara. Sus ojos eran tan fríos y reservados. Había visto demasiado horror en el transcurso de su vida, supo todo lo que podría pasar. Lo había visto con sus propios ojos.
- ¿Quienes son ellos, George? - Preguntó de nuevo.
Sus pálidos ojos se movieron sobre su cara y acariciaron su suave boca, dejando calidez tras él.
- Hay un peligroso grupo de humanos que creen en vampiros y prácticamente hacen una carrera de cazarlos. A pesar de su obsesión por los no-muertos durante siglos con frecuencia han formado sociedades secretas para perseguir sus depravadas pasiones... no conocen o reconocen la diferencia entre Cárpatos y vampiros. Para ellos, somos lo mismo y debemos ser exterminados. Quizás es sólo que no comprenden que están tratando con dos entidades separadas.
- ¿Que impulsa a estas personas? ¿Tiene pruebas de la existencia de vampiros? Era casi imposible de creer; los cazadores Cárpatos de renegados eran tan cuidadosos que destruían todo evidencia de los traidores.
- Nada concreto. Pero las persistentes leyendas e historias y mitos mantienen a los humanos en alerta. Y algunos de los vampiros más inteligentes han pasado en sociedad antes de que fuéramos capaces de cazarlos.
- Cierto. - Dijo Carry. Conocía su historia. En la Edad Media y justo después, los no-muertos habían estado a campo abierto, viviendo abiertamente entre los humanos a los que mataban. Había sido necesario un enorme esfuerzo colectivo para librarse de ellos antes de que destruyeran cualquier oportunidad de coexistencia pacífica entre las dos especies. Cárpatos y humanos. Después de que los más famosos cazadores de vampiros Cárpatos, tales como Alistear y Archivald, desaparecieran, fueron Terry, George, Albert y otros ancianos como ellos lo que había dado caza a quienes se convertían en vampiros. Juntos habían protegido a las restantes mujeres y habían tomado medidas para asegurar que Cárpatos y vampiros permanecían como fantasías de la imaginación humana, material de leyendas, novelas y películas. Su campaña de limpieza de todo recuerdo, todo conocimiento seguro de su raza había sido larga y exitosa, pero evidentemente había habido lapsus.
- Hace unos pocos años, antes de que tú nacieras, una sociedad de humanos, una organización secreta, fue formada para investigar y exterminar vampiros... la clase de vampiros descritos en las novelas baratas. Creíamos que esos humanos suponían una pequeña amenaza real. Ninguno de nosotros esperaba que se repitiera la caza de vampiros que se extendió por Europa hace siglos.
No había pena en la voz inexpresiva de él, nada que traicionara que estaba recordardandose encontrando el cuerpo de su madre, pero Carry sabía que estaba haciéndolo, lo sabía con tanto seguridad como si lo hubiera confesado.
- La primera vez que salieron a la superficie para hacer algún daño, asesinaron a tu tía Noelle. Habrían matado a otra mujer, pero tu propia madre, todavía humana, tuvo el coraje para salvarla. La sociedad secreta entonces fijó su objetivo en tu madre y tu padre, Candy y el Príncipe de nuestra gente. Una vez más pensamos que habíamos acabado con la amenaza, pero aparecieron de nuevo unos pocos años después. Mataron a varios de los nuestros y a unos pocos humanos. El hijo de Noelle fue asesinado, y tu tío Tom fue torturado hasta el borde de la locura. De nuevo Candy fue atacada, cuando estaba embarazada de ti, y casi te perdió.
Carry extendió una mano hasta el brazo de él, pero tuvo cuidado de guardarse su simpatía para si misma, sin esperar que él notara lo fácilmente que se había deslizado en su mente y guardado sus recuerdos en el interior de su corazón. Estaba convirtiendose en una adepta a leer en él.
George cogió su mano, maravillándose de que algo tan pequeño pudiera darle tanto placer. Sólo el simple acto de tocar su mano, los dedos de ella cerrándose alrededor de su muñeca, podía derretir sus entrañas, proporcionarle un enorme confort, seguridad. Le asombraba. donde ciertos recuerdos siempre le esperaban para dejarle en blanco, para aislarse a si mismo y poder así enfrentarse a ellos sin retroceder, sin la bestia rugiendo de rabia, esa pequeña mano ahora atemperaba su fuego y furio. Ausentemente trazó un patrón de salvaguarda en la palma de la mano de ella, a penas consciente de lo que estaba haciendo. Incluso su subconsciente quería asegurarse de que ella estaba siempre a salvo.
El toque de los dedos de George enviaba dardos de fuego corriendo a través de la sangre de Carry. Se mordió algo nerviosamente el labio inferior.
- Estabas diciendo sobre ese reportero... ¿que podría saber con total seguridad? - Incitó ella suavemente. No quería que dejara de sujetar su mano o dejara de hacer ese estraño y consolador diseño en medio de la palma de su mano. Deseaba que los terribles recuerdos que le mantenían en sus garras le liberaran, le llevaran de vuelta a ella. Carry sonrió hacia él, sus ojos azules claros y firmes.
- No sabe nada con seguridad. - Un brillo ligeramente malicioso apareció en sus ojos. - Al menos no sobre ti.
- ¿Qué hiciste? - Preguntó ella suavemente. - George, no tienes que protegerme llamando la atención sobre ti. Somos un equipo, ¿verdad? Si algo te ocurre a ti, me ocurre a mi.
Él apartó la mirada de ella, fuera de la ventana. Los dedos se cerraron posesivamente alrededor de su manos.
- Eso puede no ser así en todos los casos. - Respondío él cuidadosamente.
- ¿Qué estás diciendo, George? Somos compañeros. Uno no puede sobrevivir sin el otro. Puedo no saber mucho sobre compañeros, pero sé eso.
- Es cierto, ma petite, normalmente. Y normalmente, un cazador que encuentra a su compañera abandona la caza. Aunque Albert Andrew debe continuar porque está en una tierra donde hay pocos cazadores. Los cazadores están en más peligro a causa de los no-muertos que la mayoría de los Cárpatos, así que se guardan de poner a su compañera en riesgo, los cazadores normalmente permiten que otros hombres se hagan cargo de la tarea. Albert Andrew no ha tenido ese lujo._ Ni yo._
- ¿Y tú? ¿Piensas dejar la caza? - Preguntó suavemente, sabiendo ya la respuesta, ya en la mente de él.
- Sabes que no puedo. - Dijo él amablemente, con voz suave.
- Soy tu compañera, George. - Su voz tembló solo un poco. - Puede que tengas que cazar porque eres el mejor que tenemos, y nuestra gente te necesita. Pero si algo te ocurriera, te seguiría.
El pulgar de George acarició de un lado a otro la parte interna de su muñeca, demorándose en su pulso. Fue rápido.
- Sería deshonesto por mi parte permitirte pensar que tengo una noble motivación. He cazado durante muchos siglos, no conozco otra forma de vida. - Su cara era impasible, pero en su interior estaba contenido el aliento.
Una pequeña sonrisa flirteó en la perfecta boca de ella.
- Si te complace pensar así de ti mismo, George, por mi está bien. Eres tan arrogante como varios hombres; no necesitas que te alimente con cumplidos. Pero quizás pueda hacer algo para enseñarte otra forma de vida. Mientras tanto, sugiero que me eduques en las costumbres de los vampiros, ya que parece que los cazaremos. Y podrías también recordar que eres el mayor sanador entre nosotros. Eso no lo puede negar nadie.
- Soy el mayor asesino, tampoco se puede negar. - Intentó mostrarle la verdad de nuevo.
Ella tocó su dura boca.
- Cazaré contigo entonces, compañero.
El corazón de él golpeó contra sus costillas. Su sonrisa era misteriosa, secreta, y tan hermosa, le rompió el corazón.
- ¿Qué hay tras esa sonrisa, pequeña? - Su mano capturó y recorrió su garganta, su pulgar acarició sus labios con una gentil caricia. - ¿Qué sabes tú que yo no? - Su mente se deslizó en la de ella, un empujón sensual, la última intimidad, no diferente a la forma en que su lengua a veces combatía con la de ella, o su cuerpo tomaba posesión del suyo.
Estaba familiarizada con el toque de él en su mente. Sabía que él intentaba mantener su invasión al mínimo. Le permitía poner sus límites y nunca penetraba detrás de ninguna de las barreras que ella erigía, incluso aunque podría hacerlo fácilmente. Los dos necesitaban la íntima unión de sus mentes mezclándose. Carry tanto como George. Y su recién encontrado conocimiento de él estaba seguro tras una miníscula barricada que había levantado apresuradamente. Con los ojos abiertos e inocente, le miró
El pulgar de él presionaba su labio inferior, medio hipnotizado por su satinada perfección.
- Tú nunca cazarás vampiros, ma chérie, nunca. Y si alguna vez te cojo intentando tal cosa, tendrías que pagarlo muy caro.
No parecía asustada. Más bien, la diversión se arrastraba en el profundo azul de sus ojos.
- Seguramente no estás amenazándome, _Oscuro_, hombre murciélago de los Cárpatos. - Rió suavemente, un sonido que acarició hacia abajo su espina dorsal y de algún modo le alejó de la amargura de esos pasados años de resignación. - Deja de parecer tan serio. George no perderás tu reputación del todo. Todo el mundo todavía está aterrorizado por el gran lobo malo.
Las cejas de él se alzaron. Ella estaba burlándose de él. De su oscura reputación, de todo. Su mirada era claro y chispeante, insinuando travesura. Carry no estaba siendo arrastrada hacia destino, de estar atada a él, un mostruo. Estaba demasiado llena de vida y risas, de diversión. Lo sentía en la mente de ella, en su corazón, en su misma alma. Deseó que pudiera de algún modo limpiarle, hacerle un compañero más compatible para ella.
- Tú eres la única que necesita preocuparse por el gran lobo malo, mon amour. - Amenazó él con simulada gravedad.
Ella se agachó para mirar hacia arriba a los ojos de él, con una sonrisa curvando su suave boca.
- Has hecho una broma, George. Estamos haciendo progresos. Porque, somos prácticamente amigos.
- ¿Prácticamente? - Hizo eco él amablemente.
- Vas rápido. - Le dijo ella firmemente alzando la barbilla, retándole a contradecirla.
- ¿Puede uno ser amigo de un monstruo? - Dijo él casualmente, como si simplemente estuviera meditando en voz alta, pero había una sombra en sus ojos plateados.
- Estaba siendo infantil, George, cuando hice esa acusación. - Dijo ella suavemente, sus ojos se encontraron directamente con los de él. - Deseaba mi propia vida, con nadie a quien responder. Fue irreflexivo y equivocado por mi parte. Y tenía miedo. Pero ahora no, y te pido perdón...
- ¡No lo hagas! - Ordenó él bruscamente. - Mon Dieu, chérie, no te disculpes ante mi por tu miedo. No lo merezco, y ambos lo sabemos. - Su pulgar presionó sobre el calor satinado de su labio. - Y no intentes ser tan valiente. Soy tu compañero. No puedes ocultarme algo tan poderoso como el miedo.
- Trepidación. - Corrigió ella, mordisqueando la yema de su pulgar.
- ¿Hay una diferencia? - Sus pálidos ojos se habían calentado como mercurio fundido. Rápidamente, el cuerpo de ella se volvió líquido en respuesta.
- Sabes muy bien que la hay. - Rió ella de nuevo, y el sonido viajó bajando por el corazón de él hasta recogerse en sus ingles, un dolor pesado y familiar. - Leve, quizás, pero muy importante.
- Intentaré hacerte feliz, Carry. - Prometió con gravedad.
Los dedos de ella subieron para acariciar su espesa cabellera que caía alrededor de su cara.
- Eres mi compañero, George. No tengo dudas de que me harás feliz.
Tuvo que apartar la mirada, hacia fuera de la ventana en la noche. Era tan buena, con tanta belleza en ella, mientras él era tan oscuro, su bondad se derramó en la tierra con la sangre de todas las vidas que había tomado mientras la esperaba. Pero ahora, enfrentado con la realidad de ella, George no podía soportar que ella fuera testigo de la oscuridad que había en él, de la horrorosa mancha que se extendía por su alma.
Más allá de las muertes y las leyes que rompió, había cometido el crimen más grave de todos. Y merecía la última pena, pagar con su vida. Había deliberadamente manipulado la naturaleza. Sabía que era lo suficientemente poderoso, sabía que su conocimiento excedía los límites de las leyes de los Cárpatos. Había tomado el libre albedrío de Carry, manipulado la química entre ellos para que ella creyera que era su auténtica compañera. Y así ella estaba con él... con menos de un cuarto de siglo de inocencia enfrentado a siglos de duro estudio. Quizás ese _era_ su castigo, sentenciado a una eternidad sabiendo que Carry nunca podría amarle realmente, nunca aceptaría realmente su negra alma. Ella estaría siempre tan cerca y tan lejos a la vez.
Si alguna vez averiguaba la magnitud de su manipulación, le despreciaría. Incluso así, nunca podría dejarla marchar. Nadie mortal o inmortal estaría a salvo. Su mandíbula se endureció, y miró fijamente fuera de la ventana, volviéndose ligeramente lejos de ella. Su mente firmemente dejó la de ella, no deseando alertarla del grave crimen que había cometido. Podía soportar la tortura y siglos de aislamiento, podía soportar sus propios enormes pecados, pero no podría soportar que ella le aborreciera. Inconscientemente, tomó la mano de ella entre las suyas y apretó su garra hasta que amenazó con romper sus frágiles huesos.
Carry le miró, dejando escapar lentamente su respiración para contener una mueca de dolor, y mantuvo su mano pasivamente entre las de él. Pensaba que su mente estaba cerrada a la de ella. No creía que ella fuera su auténtica compañera. Realmente creía que había manipulado el resultado de su unión injustamente y que en algún lugar otro hombre de los Cárpatos con una química que igualaba a la de ella podía estar esperando. Aunque él le había ofrecido libre acceso a su mente, le había dado el poder, de unir su mente a la de él, ambos como su lobo y su sanador antes de que hubiera nacido, no pensaba probablemente que una mujer, una que apenas había madurado, una que no era su auténtica compañera, pudiera tener la habilidad de leer sus secretos más profundos. Pero Carry podía. Y completando el ancestral ritual de los compañeros solo había fortalecido el vínculo.
15. Chapter 15
**CAPITULO 15**
Las cenizas de Peter Sanders fueron esparcidas por los terrenos de la mansión que George había construido para Carry mientras esperaba que ella llegara a San Francisco. El personal de Carry y el Detective David Johnson llegaron para el servicio en su memoria, pero fueron capaces que mantener la localización actual, bien alejada de la ciudad, en secreto para la mayoría de la prensa. Sólo Wade Carter apareció, habiendo seguido por carretera a uno de los miembros del personal para llegar, pero no se le permitió traspasar las verjas. Su camarógrafo se había negado a venir, algo en el marido de Carry Grandchester le asustaba endemoniadamente. Dejó a Wade con la pesada cámara alrededor del cuello y un presentimiento muy intranquilo. Los terrenos estaban vallados, y corrían lobos sueltos por ahí. Con el apoyo del brazo de George alrededor de ella, Carry hablaba tranquilamente a su personal, agradeciéndoles sus servicios, y anunciando su retirada. A cada uno de ellos le entregó un sobre que contenía una paga extraordinaria cuando salían. George pasó unos pocos minutos hablando con Johnson. El detective satisfecho de que no hubiera más información que recabar, dejó la residencia.
Carry se demoró en el lugar conmemorativo, mirando hacia abajo a la hermosa placa de mármol que George había diseñado para Peter. Las lágrimas en sus ojos eran en parte por la pena de la pérdida de tan buen amigo, y en parte por la atención de George. Había mantenido a Peter cerca de ellos, y había hecho este día tan confortable como podía haber sido bajo esas circunstancias. Se estaba volviendo para volver a la casa cuando los lobos levantaron las cabezas y aullaron. George se giró y agarró su brazo, arrastrándola más cerca de él.
- Creo que es Albert Andrew. - Dijo suavemente. - Debemos ir dentro, donde Carter no tengo oportunidad de ver a Albert. No queremos conducir a los asesinos a la puerta de Albert. - Siseó una orden a sus lobos y apresuró a Carry hacia la mansión.
- Pensaba que este lugar estaba salvaguardado. - Dijo ella.
- Con tus empleados y la policía asistiendo al servicio, era demasiado peligroso. Alguien podría haberse alejado del lugar y acabar herido. - Su mano acarició el pelo de ella tiernamente. - Sé que estás cansada. Deberías acostarte otra hora más o menos. Era demasiado pronto para nuestro despertar.
Ella se apoyó contra su fuerza y leyó el remordimiento en su mente.
- Esto nunca fue culpa tuya, George, nunca. Nunca te culpé por Peter.
Su mano acarició su pelo.
- Sé que no lo hiciste. - Su atención estaba en los remolinos del viento, que anunciaba a uno de los suyos. - Pero si no hubiera estado agobiado con sentimientos de lujuria física. - Se condenó a si mismo. - Habría sabido que el vampiro estaba rondándote esa noche. Había relevado a Anthony de su responsabilidad; estabas a mi cuidado.
- ¿Tienes que ser tan duro contigo mismo? - Preguntó ella con un suspiro. - No eres responsable de todos los Cárpatos, ni de todos los humanos. Si alguien tiene la culpa, soy yo por insistir con lo de mi libertad. Fui irreflexiva, no noté lo que te estaba haciendo, ni siquiera a los hombres sin pareja de nuestra raza. No dediqué ni un pensamiento a lo que estabas sufriendo mientras yo estaba huyendo de mi misma y de nuestra vida junta. Y ciertamente no pensé que Peter podía estar en peligro. Debería haberlo hecho. Debería haber sabido que sería cazada.
El brazo de él se deslizó alrededor de ella, un firme circulo de confort.
- No hiciste nada malo, chérie. - Dijo fieramente. Se estaba moviendo llevándola firmemente hacia la protección de la casa.
Los prismas del arco iris repentinamente danzaron y chispearon a través de los árboles. George agitó la cabeza cuando la luz empezó a brillar débilmente tomando sustancia.
- Siempre fuiste un exhibicionista, Albert. - Saludó a su visitante, su voz era inexpresiva como siempre. - Vayamos dentro.
Carry, tocando su mente, sintió su afecto por el otro hombre. Había oído hablar de Albert Andrew, un cazador de vampiros, pero había dejado su tierra natal un siglo y medio antes de que ella naciera para establecer su residencia en Estados Unidos. Era uno de los pocos de su clase tan alto como George, como todos los hombres de los Cárpatos, pero más ancho, con músculos definidos y nervudos. En vez del pelo oscuro de su raza, sin embargo, tenía una larga y espesa melena leonada, y sus ojos eran de un peculiar azul reluciendo como el brillante y reluciente cielo.
El gemelo idéntico de este hombre la había guardado estos últimos cinco años. Albert era una figura imponente, tal como debía ser su hermano también, aunque Carry no le había visto nunca. Ni siquiera había detectado su presencia. Como se había mantenido Anthony oculto, con la confianza que todos los hombres de su raza exudaban, el poder y la autoridad que venían con siglos de caza, con la adquisición de conocimiento.
El brazo de George se movió de su cintura para rodear su cuello, un gesto masculino de propiedad. Carry rió para si misma. Los hombres de los Cárpatos no estaban lejos de los árboles.
He captado eso, mon amour. La suave voz de George acarició su mente, una baja caricia que enroscaba calidez en su estómago. Sonaba casi fastidiado, pero ella notó que no dejó caer el brazo de alrededor de su cuello.
- Albert, no te esperábamos tan temprano. El sol todavía no ha abandonado el cielo, y es incómodo viajar en la luz del atardecer. - Dijo en voz alta, una vez que estuvieron puertas adentro.
- Debo disculparme por perderme el servicio. - Replicó Albert suavemente. - Pero no podía arriesgarme. Sin embargo, deseo que sepas que no están completamente solos en este país. - Añadió hacia Carry.
- Carry, este es Albert Andrew. Él es leal a tu padre y un buen amigo mío. - Les presentó George. - Albert, mi compañera, Carry.
- Te pareces a tu madre. - Observó Albert.
- Gracias. Me lo tomaré como un gran cumplido. - Dijo ella, repentinamente deseando que su madre estuviera allí. Echaba de menos a Candy y Terry. - Me honras, al venir en este momento de la noche a compartir mi pena. Sé lo difícil que es para todos nosotros, pero tuve que elegir una hora que fuera cómoda para los amigos humanos de Peter.
- Hay peligro en tus cercanías, Albert. - Advirtió George. - Yo mantendría a tu familia a salvo de esos carniceros. Son humanos, de la misma sociedad secreta que cazó en nuestras tierras hace varios años.
Una sombra cruzó la cara de Albert. Tenía humanos que proteger en su familia, así como una compañera. Los ojos azules brillaron de un zafiro profundo.
- El reportero. - Un suave gruñido de amenaza retumbó profundamente en su garganta.
George asintió.
- Averiguaré lo que pueda esta noche del señor Wade Carter. Pretendo llevarme a Carry y conducirle a él y sus séquitos lejos de esta ciudad, así no habrá peligro para ti y los tuyos. - Estaban en la casa, libres de ojos curiosos, pero George podía sentir la maligna presencia del reportero penetrando su territorio. - Te envié una clara advertencia, Albert.
Había un dejo de censura en sus palabras, aunque su voz era suave.
Había un borde duro en la boca de Albert.
- Recibí tu advertencia. Pero esta es mi ciudad, George, y mi familia. Cuido de lo que es mio.
Carry puso los ojos en blanco
- Podrian simplemente golpearos el pecho, ¿sabéis? Probablemente funcionaría bien.
_Mostrarás algo de respeto,_ ordenó George.
Carry explotó en carcajadas, entonces extendió la mano para acariciar su mandíbula sombreada.
- Sigue esperando, mi amor, y quizás algún día te obedeceré.
La boca de Albert se estiró, los ojos azules se deslizaron sobre George con diversión.
- Ha heredado algo más de su madre que su belleza, ¿verdad?
George suspiró gravemente.
- Es imposible.
Albert rió, ignorando el brillo de advertencia de los pálidos ojos de George.
- Creo que lo son todas.
Carry se agachó escapando del brazo de George y encontró una silla y se enroscó en ella.
- Por supuesto que somos imposibles. Es la única forma de permanecer cuerdas.
- Habría traído a Alexandra para que te conociera, pero la advertencia de George dictaba prudencia. - Albert sonaba pagado de si mismo, como si hubiera sido capaz de imponer ley a su mujer cuando George era incapaz de hacerlo.
Carry lanzó una mueca traviesa hacia el hombre.
- ¿Qué hiciste, dejarla durmiendo mientras corrías a jugar al héroe? Apuesto a que tendrá una cosa o dos que decir cuando la despiertes.
Albert tuvo la decencia de parecer culpable. Después se volvió hacia George.
- Tu compañera es una cosilla malvada, sanador. No te envidio.
Carry rió, impertinente.
- Está loco por mí. No dejes que te engañe.
- Te creo. - Estuvo de acuerdo Albert.
- No la animes en su rebelión. - George intentó sonar severo, pero ella estaba volviéndolo todo al revés. Lo era todo para él, incluso con sus tonterías. ¿De donde había sacado ese ultrajante sentido del humor? ¿Cómo podía incluso ser feliz con alguien que no había reído en siglos? Ella fundió sus entrañas. Le fundía. Tuvo cuidado de mantener su cara inexpresiva. Ya era bastante malo que Carry supiera que le tenía prácticamente envuelto alrededor de su dedo meñique. Albert no necesitaba saberlo también.
- Seriamente, George, no hay necesidad de conducir a estos carniceros fuera de mi ciudad. Juntos podemos tratar con ellos. - Dijo Albert. - Anthony está en algún lugar cerca. Le siento, aunque no responderá a mi llamada.
- Anthony está cerca de convertirse. No desearías su ayuda. A mayor número de muertes, más se incrementa el peligro. Lo sabes. Anthony se ocupará de su destino, Albert. Y si se vuelve necesario cazarle, si no viene a ti antes del cambio, debes llamarme. Anthony ha crecido en poder. Se ha vuelto muy peligroso. No cambia nada que sea tu hermano. Uno de los hermanos de Terry se convirtió, y cuando la justicia lo reclamó, intentó, como cualquier otro vampiro, destruir a todo el mundo. No habría perdonado ni siquiera a Terry. - George no añadió que había sido él quien impartiera justicia al hermano de Terry. Había sido tan sumamente difícil, que se había decidido a no estar nunca cerca de otro como lo había estado de Terry y su familia. George miró hacia Carry, encontró sus increíbles ojos azules sobre él, y de algún modo el doloroso recuerdo fue aliviado. - Anthony ha sido siempre un hombre peligroso y conocedor. - Concluyó George.
- Como tú, sanador. - Albert no pudo evitar hacer la acusación. Odiaba hablar de su gemelo convirtiéndose en vampiro. George no retrocedió.
- Exactamente como yo. Ese es el punto. Me pedirás ayuda como debes si hay necesidad. - Estaba mirando directamente a la mirada del otro hombre. Su voz era baja y compelida, hermosa y fantasmal.
Albert apartó la mirada de esos ojos plateados. Ojos que podían ver dentro del alma de un hombre.
- Lo haré, George. Sé que dices la verdad, aunque no deseo creer que Anthony pueda convertirse.
- Todo el mundo puede convertirse, Albert. Cualquiera de nosotros que no tenga compañera. - George se deslizó por la habitación porque no podía soportar la distancia física que Carry había puesto entre ellos. Los ojos de ella estaban otra vez sombreados y fantasmales, el servicio conmemorativo la había llenado de pena y culpa. Se deslizó detrás de su silla, sus manos bajaron hasta los hombros de ella para empezar un masaje gentil. Necesitaba el contacto más de lo que lo necesitaba ella.
Albert escondió su sorpresa. Había conocido a George durante siglos, había aprendido las artes sanadoras de él, había aprendido a rastrear y matar vampiros de él. Nada nunca afectaba a George. Nada. Ni nadie. Pero esos fríos ojos plateados, cuando se deslizaban sobre Carry, eran mercurio fundido, la postura del hombre claramente protectora, posesiva, y el toque sobre los hombros de ella era francamente tierno. _¿Está todo bien, chérie? Quizás deberías acostarte un rato._
Carry le sonrió débilmente. Estaba más pálida de lo que le habría gustado. Había cazado esa noche a pesar de la hora temprana, tomando suficiente sangre para alimentarlos a ambos. Pero ella se había negado a alimentarse, como si denegar su hambre fuera alguna clase de penitencia por sus pecados. La mano de él fue hasta su nuca y la masajeó amablemente. Su hambre latía hacia él, y sabía que Albert podía sentirla también.
El hombre de los Cárpatos estaba observándole, con obvia censura pero con una expresión confundida al mismo tiempo en su profunda mirada zafiro. George lo sintió como un cuchillo: no estaba cuidando de su compañera como debería.
_No seas tonto, George._ La suave voz de Carry se arremolinó en su mente._ Cuidas muy bien de mi. ¿A quién le importa lo que piense cualquier otro?_
- Asi que, sanador. - Dijo Albert. - ¿Has tomado una determinación de a donde deseas llevar a estos carniceros?
Carry se revolvió y retorció para mirar hacia atrás a George, sus ojos azules repentinamente vivos.
- ¿Hay algún lugar en particular al que quieras ir?
- ¿Tienes un lugar en mente? - Preguntó él. Sabía que era un error mirarla a los ojos. Podía ahogarse en sus ojos. Era como caer por el borde de un precipicio.
- Si. Nueva Orleans. El festival de jazz del Barrio Francés es esta semana. He querido ir desde hace mucho tiempo. Ahora podemos ir juntos. ¿Te gusta el jazz? - Lanzó una amplia sonrisa hacia él. - Había hecho planes para ir antes... de que ocurriera todo esto. De hecho, tengo un sitio allí.
Realmente quería ir. Estaba en sus ojos, en su mente. Esto era importante para ella. George podía sentir un terrible temor creciendo. Era casi imposible negar nada a Carry. Aunque no podía llevarla a Nueva Orleans, la capital de los vampiros del mundo, ciudad de pecado. Los carniceros probablemente tenían su cuartel general allí. Ahogó un gemido.
- ¿Tienes una residencia en Nueva Orleans?
- No suena tan tenebroso. Quieres ir a algún lugar, conducir a la sociedad lejos de los Andrew, asi que ¿donde mejor que en el siguiente lugar en mi agenda? Nadie pensará que nuestro movimiento es algo raro o sospechoso. - Señaló ella. - Ya que estaba en mi agenda.
George miró hacia Albert y sacudió la cabeza.
- ¿Le oyes la lógica a eso? Nunca ha estado en el Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans, pero nadie pensará que es raro que de repente tenga una casa allí.
- Muy lógico. - Acordó Albert. - Puedo ver que tienes las manos ocupadas y debo regresar con Alexandria. Primero, sin embargo, me gustaría mucho ir a visitar al reportero contigo. - Por un momento su cara fue dura, con un borde cruel en su boca. - Recuerdo lo que ha hecho a nuestra gente esa sociedad.
- Esta lucha no puede ser tuya, Albert. - Dijo George. - Te pondría a ti y a tu familia humana en peligro.
Albert inclinó la cabeza.
- Está rondando ahí fuera. Puedo sentirle acechando alrededor de los terrenos. - Había una avidez, una necesidad por presentar batalla.
Carry lo sabía instintivamente, la naturaleza depredadora de un indomable hombre de los Cárpatos.
- Vete ahora, Albert. - Dijo George firmemente.
- Fue agradable conocerte finalmente, Albert. - Añadió Carry. - Espero conocer a Alexandria pronto. Quizás cuando George y yo acabemos con la amenaza de los carniceros humanos, podamos reunirnos.
- Cuando George acabe con la amenaza. - La corrigió George, usando su implacable, dictadora voz de no-pienses-ni-siquiera-en-desafiar-mi-autoridad.
Albert cabeceó en despedida. Cuando su sólida forma vaciló, empezó a brillar débilmente y desapareció por la ventana abierta en un calidoscopio de colores llevado por la brisa nocturna.
Carry extendió la mano tras ella y tomó la de George.
- Nueva Orleans. ¿Que te parece?
Hubo un pequeño silencio.
- Es peligroso. - Dijo cuidadosamente.
- Cierto, pero será peligroso cualquier sito a donde vayamos ¿no? - Señaló ella razonablemente. - Así que ¿que diferencia hay con donde vayamos? Podíamos tener también algo de diversión.
- Prefiero las montañas. - Dijo él suave y neutralmente.
Repentinamente ella le sonrió, esa traviesa y juguetona sonrisa que no podía resistir.
- Cuando un vejestorio se casa con una jovencita, tiene que volver a aprender a descubrir las cosas. Fiestas. Vida nocturna. ¿Hace que suene una campanilla, o ha pasado demasiado tiempo? - Le atormentó ella.
George agarró su pelo en su mano y tiró.
- Muestra algo de respeto, pequeña, o podría tener que ponerte sobre mis rodillas.
- Aguafiestas. - Un delicado hombro se elevó y cayó en un pequeño encogimiento de hombros sexy. - Me complacerá intentarlo alguna vez.
Él se inclinó y la besó. Tenía que besarla; no tenía otra elección. Una vez más su boca se cernió sobre la de ella, estaba en problemas. Ella era calor y luz, especias y satén, encaje y luz de velas. Y él estaba perdido. Absolutamente, completamente perdido. George se apartó de ella bruscamente, jurando en su ancestral lengua.
16. Chapter 16
**CAPITULO 16**
Los ojos de Carry estaban nublados, soñadores, sus labios húmedos y ligeramente separados. Su suave boca se curvó en esa sensual y misteriosa sonrisa él nunca podía superar.
- Tengo una gran idea, George. - Le dijo perversamente. - Tomemos un vuelo comercial.
- ¿Qué? - Él estaba mirando fijamente su boca. Ella tenía una gran boca. Una boca perfecta. Una boca sexy. Mon Deiu deseaba su boca.
- ¿No suena divertido un vuelo comercial? Podríamos tomar un vuelo nocturno, mezclándonos con la gente. Podría incluso despistar al reportero.
- Nada va a despistar al reportero. Es tenaz. Y no habrá vuelo comercial. No habrá discusión en esto. Ninguna. Si vamos a Nueva Orleáns, y no estoy diciendo que lo haremos, los vuelos comerciales están descartados.
- Oh, George. Sólo estaba bromeando. Naturalmente haremos las cosas a tu manera. - Añadió ella recatadamente.
Él sacudió la cabeza, exasperado consigo mismo. Por supuesto que ella había estado tratando de fastidiarle. No acostumbraba a tratar a nadie como trataba a Carry. _Ultrajante mujer. _
- Necesito salir y hablar con Wade Carter.
Ella se puso en pie instantáneamente, expectante, sus ojos azules abiertos de par en par con anticipación.
- Dime que deseas que haga. Probablemente puedo convertirme en niebla. Estoy más fuerte ahora que uso tu sangre. Puedo apoyarte.
La diversión cruzó el frío plateado de los ojos de él.
- Mon Dieu, Carry, suenas como una película policíaca. No, no me apoyarás. No vas a hablar con Carter. Te quedarás aquí, a salvo, donde sé que no puede tocarte. ¿He sido claro como el cristal, pequeña? No vas a dejar esta morada.
- Pero George. - Dijo ella suavemente. - Soy tu compañera ahora. Se supone que te ayudo. Si insistes en coger a este Wade Carter, tengo que ayudarte. Soy tu compañera.
- No hay ninguna posibilidad de que permita tal cosa. Puedes intentar desafiarme, pero te lo aseguro, estás malgastando energías. - Habló gentilmente, con ese aire de masculina superioridad que la hacía rechinar los dientes. - Soy tu compañero, chérie, y daré cualquier orden que considere necesaria para tu seguridad.
Ella golpeó su duro pecho con los puños apretados.
- ¡Me vuelves loca, George! Estoy encontrando muy difícil llevarme bien contigo con tus arrogantes órdenes. ¡Ni siquiera cambias de expresión, parece que estamos discutiendo por el tiempo en vez de teniendo una pelea.
Las cejas de él se arquearon.
- Esto no es una pelea, ma petite. Una pelea es cuando ambos estamos enfadados y hay una contienda de voluntades, una batalla. No puede haber tal cosa entre nosotros. No puedo sentir furia cuando te miro, sólo la necesidad de cuidar de ti y protegerse. Soy responsable de tu salud y seguridad, Carry. No puedo hacer otra cosa más que protegerte, incluso de tu propia estupidez. No puedes esperar ganar. Lo sé absolutamente, así que no hay razón para agitarse por el tema.
Ella le golpeó de nuevo. Él pareció sobresaltado, entonces cazó al vuelo su puño en su mano y gentilmente le abrió los dedos. Muy cuidadosamente presionó un beso en el centro exacto de la palma de su mano.
- ¿Carry? ¿Estás intentando golpearme?
- Te he golpeado dos veces, presumido. Ni siquiera lo notaste la primera vez. - Sonaba muy enfadada con él.
Por alguna razón esto le hizo sonreír.
- Lo lamento, mon amour. La próxima vez, prometo que lo notaré cuando me pegues. - El borde firme de su boca se suavizó en algo semejante a una sonrisa. - Incluso iría lo bastante lejos como para fingir que me duele, si quieres.
Sus ojos azules refulgieron hacia él.
- Ja, ja, ja, eres tan divertido, George. Deja de ser tan pagado de ti mismo.
- No tan pagado de mi mismo como conocedor de mi propio poder, chérie. Estoy intentando cuidar de ti lo mejor que sé. Tú no me lo pones fácil. Me encuentro tomando malas decisiones sólo para ver esa sonrisa en tu cara. - Admitió él de mala gana.
Carry apoyó su cabeza sobre el pecho de él.
- Lo siento, estoy dándote demasiados problemas, George. - No estaba segura de si era la estricta verdad. Más bien le gustaba provocarle. - Sólo quiero que seamos socios. Eso sería como si estuviera siempre cegada en mi relación con mi compañero. No deseo ser una especie de violeta temblorosa protegida del mundo real y usada como yegua de cría para la continuación de la raza de los Cárpatos. Deseo ser la mejor amiga y confidente de mi compañero. ¿Está eso mal? - Estaba suplicándole que la entendiera. - Son humanos. Podemos manejarlos. - Dijo más confiada de lo que se sentía. Si George hubiera estado interesado, habría sido una buena razón. Todavía estaba decidida a ir con él, a compartir cada aspecto de su existencia. Sabía que la caza sería siempre una gran parte de su vida.
Su brazo se deslizó alrededor de ella, la abrazó cerca de él; sus manos acariciaron su pelo.
- Los humanos se las han arreglado para matar a los nuestros durante siglos. Tenemos grandes poderes, si, pero no somos invencibles. No deseo que esta gente te toque. Veré lo que Wade Carter y sus amigos, que evidencia tienen realmente, y quien está en peligro. Entonces discutiremos donde iremos y como permitiré que te mezcles en esta situación.
Ella se encogió visiblemente ante la palabra _permitir_, y el deseó poder retirarla. Apretó su abrazo posesivamente y dejó un breve y duro beso en la parte alta de su cabeza.
- Te quedarás dentro de estas paredes, Carry, no importa lo que ocurra.
Ella se aferró a el por un momento.
- No permitas que nada te ocurra, George. Quiero decir... me enfadaría mucho contigo.
Una pequeña sonrisa tocó la boca de él pero no iluminó sus pálidos ojos.
- Estaré en tu mente, chérie, y sabrás que estoy bien. - Dudó un momento. - Puede que no te gusten mis métodos. - Era una advertencia. Había una sombra en las profundidades de sus ojos pálidos, una que no intentó esconder de ella.
Ella alzó la barbilla.
- Puede que actúe como una niña, George, pero no lo soy. La preservación de nuestra raza siempre está primero, tiene que estar primero. Sé que es necesario que uses cualquier cosa que sea necesario para lógralo.
- Espero que lo sepas, Carry. Espero que estés preparada para la realidad de mi forma de vida. No puedo hacer otra cosa que proteger a nuestra gente. No siempre es bonito o limpio. - Hablaba ásperamente, su bonita voz lo esclavizaba. Caminó alejándose de ella bruscamente, aunque su dedo meñique permaneció atrapado en su mano. - Te quedarás dentro, ma petite. Colocaré salvaguardas para ti. No intentes desafiarme.
Ella frotó el dorso de la mano de él contra su mejilla.
- Haré lo que _pides._
El capturó su barbilla firmemente, inclinó su cara hacia arriba, y cubrió con su boca la de ella. En seguida la electricidad se arqueó y chirrió entre ellos. Calor blanco ardiente se produjo entre ambos. Entonces George la apartó de él y simplemente desapareció.
Se movió a través del espacio, invisible, con la facilidad de la larga práctica, un suave viento soplando a través de los árboles. Wade Carter estaba intentando escalar la pared oeste. Tres de los lobos estaba paseando bajo él, los colmillos relucían en el atardecer. Los pantalones de Carter se engancharon en una roca saliente, momentáneamente manteniéndole prisionero. George brilló débilmente, manteniéndose en el viento, insustancial, entonces se solidificó a unos pocos pies del reportero.
El aliento de Carter explotó fuera de sus pulmones.
- ¡Por Dios, es realmente un vampiro! ¡Lo sabía! ¡Sabía que tenía razón!
George podía oler el miedo del hombre, su agitación. Se apoyó casualmente en la pared junto a Carter con su fácil y perezosa gracia.
- Le dije que nos encontraríamos de nuevo pronto. Siempre cumplo mis promesas. - Replicó suavemente.
La vos pareció deslizarse justo a través de la mente del reportero. Wade se frotó sus sienes latentes. Nunca había estado tan asustado, nunca tan excitado. Esa cosa era real, estaba sentado justo a su lado. Rebuscó a su bolsillo buscando seguridad, sintiendo el arma de dardos.
- ¿Por qué ha decidido mostrarse ante mi? - Intentó mantener su voz firme.
George le sonrió. No había humor en esa sonrisa, solo un relámpago de reluciente amenaza. Los fríos ojos plateados no parpadeaban, justo como un gran felino de la jungla. Carter lo encontraba enervante.
- Perturbó a mi esposa. - Respondió George suavemente. Su voz era hermosa e hipnótica.
Carter sacudió la cabeza para desvanecer la debilidad de su cerebro.
- ¿Realmente cree que es tan poderoso que puede escaparse sólo con matarme?
Los músculos de George ondearon, una muestra de su enorme fuerza.
- ¿Realmente piensa que no?
- Nunca le habría enfrentado sin apoyo. No estoy sólo. - Se jactó Carter. Estaba luchando por sacar el arma de dardos de su bolsillo, estaba atascada.
- No hay nadie más aquí, señor Carter. - Le corrigió George. - Sólo nosotros dos. Creo que tendría que echar una mirada dentro de su cabeza. - Su tono había caído un octavo, era suave y persuasiva, imposible de resistir.
El sudor perló la frente de Carter.
- No se lo permitiré. - Objetó, pero se encontró inclinándose para mirar los ojos de plata fundida. ¡Se suponía que estaba protegido contra una invasión mental!
Todos en la sociedad estaban protegidos. Las voces de los vampiros no podían afectarles; sus ojos no podían ponerlos en trance. Ninguno de ellos podía leer sus mentes o borrar sus recuerdos. Todos en la sociedad habían sufrido extensas hipnosis para resistir tal abominación. Y habían trabajado en una fórmula durante más de treinta años. Científicos, buenos científicos, que tenían el beneficio de sangre de vampiro con la que trabajar.
George empujó a través de la sorprendentemente fuerte barrera para inspeccionar la mente del hombre. Podía ver la culminación de la investigación de la sociedad, su ansia por encontrar un nuevo espécimen. Habían extraído sangre de varios de las víctimas que habían torturado y mutilado casi treinta años atrás. George inhaló bruscamente. Tenían una droga que estaban seguros que podría usarse para incapacitar a sus víctimas, para que pudieran atrapar a lo que ellos creían eran vampiros y estudiarlos y diseccionarlos a su gusto. La sociedad era más grande de lo que cualquiera de su raza había creído.
Soltó la mente de reportero, deliberadamente permitió al hombre saber que había estado extrayendo información. Carter juró obscenamente y sacó el arma de dardos. La aguja penetró en la piel de George justo sobre su corazón. Sintió su penetración, sintió la instantánea liberación del veneno en su sangre.
_¡George!_ El lamento apenado de Carry estaba en su mente. _ Dejame ir contigo_. Estaba intentando liberarse de la pared invisible que él había erigido alrededor de ello, luchando con sus salvaguardar.
_Calma, pequeña. ¿No crees que permití deliberadamente que este imbécil me inyectara el veneno? Soy el sanador de nuestra gente. Si hay algo que pueda dañarnos, debo encontrar el antídoto._
Carry golpeó la barrera invisible para llegar a George. Podía sentir las lágrimas calientes que se acumulaban en sus ojos, el terrible miedo que amenazaba con agobiarla con su propia impotencia. El veneno era doloroso, se arrastraba a través del sistema de George, paralizándole. Calambres y sudores, músculos tensándose y paralizándose. Lo sentía con él y la enfadaba su incapacidad de llegar a él, de ser capaz de ayudarle, como era su derecho.
George permanecía tan calmado e impasible como siempre, estudiando la química del compuesto, tan interesado como cualquier científico. Era apenas consciente del júbilo del reportero. Había ido a buscar dentro de su propio cuerpo, flotando a través de su propio riego sanguíneo para seguir el sendero del veneno que se extendía.
Carter estaba casi saltando arriba y abajo. Si no hubiera sido por su precaria percha lo hubiera echo. Por supuesto, no tenía ni idea de como iba a conseguir meter a un hombre tan grande dentro del coche y de vuelta al laboratorio. Tendría que pedir ayuda. Pero por otro lado había sido tan fácil. Los técnicos de laboratorio habían tenido razón. ¡El veneno era perfecto! Todos esos años de desarrollo habían finalmente dado su fruto. ¡Y él era el único que conseguiría la gloria!
Golpeó el pecho de George con un cuchillo y, dibujó una mancha de sangre.
- No pareces tan dura ahora, vampiro. - Gozó. - No tan impresionante, en absoluto. ¿Te estás sintiendo un poco enfermo? - Rió suavemente. - He oído que el vampiro más viejo, es más sensible al dolor. - Golpeó de nuevo, rebanando y extendiéndose hacia abajo para abrir un corte fluido. - Espero que si. Espero que te lleve mucho tiempo morir cuando los técnicos te cojan. Mientras tanto, sólo tienes que recordar quien estará jugando con Carry. Tengo planes para esa pequeña puta. - Se inclinó para escudriñar en los ojos empañados de George. - No es nada personal, entiéndelo. Es todo en nombre de la ciencia.
Carry estalló con fuerza, alimentó su rabio hacia el reportero que se burlaba de George y le causaba dolor, lanzándose contra la pared invisible. Los cimientos no se movieron. Lo que fuera que George había construidos para contenerla era más fuerte de lo que había pensado. Golpeó hasta que sus puños sangraron, se vertían lágrimas por su cara. Sentía cada corte, cada cuchillada que el reportero infringía. Podía oír sus burlas y amenazas. Imploró a su compañero que le permitiera ir con él, pero el silencio fue su única respuesta.
Nada parecía afectar a George. Sentía el dolor pero simplemente la hizo a un lado durante su auto examen. El veneno era espeso, se movía lenta y dolorosamente a través de su sistema. Empezó a separar los elementos químicos para analizarlos para que su gente pudiera desarrollar su propio antídoto a semejante cosa. La mayor parte de los de su raza nunca podrían hacer lo que él estaba haciendo. Pero él era el sanador, conocedor de hierbas y elementos químicos, de venenos naturales y fabricados por el hombre. Esta era una mezcla interesante, rápida y poderosa. Habían usado sangre que habían tomado de sus víctimas como base. El dolor se había pasado de un dolor embotado a una agonía en pocos minutos, suficiente como para incapacitar a todos excepto a los ancianos y los sanadores más sabios. Tan pronto como tuviera los componentes separados, los transmitiría a Albert Andrew. El cazador había estudiado las artes de sanación con él y sería capaz de utilizar la información.
Dentro de su propio cuerpo empezó el proceso de sanación, deshizo cada elemento químico a su natural y separada forma y dispuso de él o lo absorbió. Sólo cuando el proceso estuvo completo volvió a lo que le rodeaba. Había sido consciente de que el reportero te golpeaba y cortaba con un cuchillo, presumiblemente para debilitarle por la pérdida de sangre. Estaba sangrando por varios cortes diferentes. Podía sentir el picor de ellos cuando el viento se arrastraba por su ropa rasgada. Sus pálidos ojos descansaron sobre la cara del reportero.
- Estás acabado, Carter, ¿o hay algo más que quisieras intentar antes de que te devuelva a tu laboratorio? - Preguntó gentilmente.
El hombre jadeó, notando que la droga ya no afectaba al vampiro. Apuñaló salvajemente hacia el corazón de George. En medio del aire el cuchillo se detuvo abruptamente, como si fuera capturado por algo con una enorme fuerza. Lentamente, inexorablemente, la punta se movió apuntando directamente a la garganta de Carter.
- ¡No, Dios, no! No lo hagas. Te puedo contar muchas cosas. ¡No lo hagas! Hazme como tú. Puedo servirte. - Wade Carter suplicaba mientras el cuchillo se acercaba poco a poco a su yugular.
Repentinamente el cuchillo cayó inofensivo al suelo e instantáneamente Wade manoseó para recuperar el arma de dardos. Pero en su mano se convirtió en una horrorosa forma escamosa que empezó a enroscársele alrededor del brazo. Wade gritó, el sonido llenó el aire nocturno e hizo que los lobos aullaran en respuesta.
George lo estudiaba con impasible ojos plateados. Ojos de muerte.
- Este es mi mundo, Carter, mi dominio. Tú entraste en él y deliberadamente me desafiaste. Intentaste dañar lo que es mío. No puedo permitir tal cosa. - Inclinó su oscura cabeza para que sus ojos que no pestañeaban pudieran sostener a los del otro hombre con su mirada, mantenerlo prisionero. - Y entiende esto, Carter... es muy personal.
Echó al otro hombre al suelo fácilmente, sin preocuparse de que la caída fuera peligrosamente alta. La serpiente enroscada alrededor del brazo del reportero, lo ataba eficazmente por lo que le era imposible moverse. George flotó hasta el suelo, agarró la camisa del hombre y lo arrastró a través del polvo hasta su coche.
- Creo que necesitamos hacer una visita a ese pequeño laboratorio ¿no cree, señor Carter? Parecía bastante ansioso de disfrutar de mi presencia allí, y no puedo hacer otra cosa que complacerle a usted y sus amigos.
_No, George. _Suplicó Carry. Salgamos de aquí. _Déjale, y vámonos_
_Sepárate de mi, pequeña._ Ordenó y amenazó**,** separando su mente de la de ella.
Carry podía sentir su implacable resolución. Tenía en mente destruir el laboratorio, en el que tenían la droga que habían usado en él, y todos los datos. También pretendía destruir a cualquiera conectado con la sociedad que encontrara. No podía encontrar en él la rabia que ella misma sentía. Ni la necesidad de venganza. Estaba frío y sereno, una máquina realizando una brutal tarea por el bienestar de su raza. George había apartado a un lado toda emoción y era un robot anónimo colocado en destrucción. Era firme, implacable. Nada podría detenerle.
Carry, atrapada en su cubo de protección, se deslizó hasta el suelo y se quedó de rodillas. Esta era su vida. Esto era lo que era él, en lo que se había convertido durante largos siglos, una oscuro ángel de la muerte para aquello que declaraban la guerra a su raza.
George, el Oscuro. Se creía a si mismo un monstruo sin igual. Carry se cubrió la cara con las manos. No había forma de detenerle. Ninguna en absoluto. Terry, su propio padre, el Príncipe de su gente, el único al que George guardaba lealtad, no podía evitar que George hiciera lo que creía que era justo o necesario.
Sus dientes mordieron su labio inferior. Albergaba mucho poder. No había ningún otro que pudiera haber descompuesto ese veneno mortal en su propia sangre. Ningún otro habría deliberadamente caído en una trampa usando su propio cuerpo de la forma en que lo había hecho George. Sabía el precio que él pagaba. Compartía íntimamente su mente del mismo modo que su cuerpo.
Realmente él podía desconectar sus sentimientos, dejarse a si mismo como una máquina sin emociones para hacer lo necesario para proteger a su gente. Pero dentro, profundamente en su alma, se creía un monstruo irredimible. Las cosas que tenía que hacer para la preservación de su raza requerían enormes trozos de su alma.
17. Chapter 17
**CAPITULO 17**
La noche era oscura y sin luna. Las nubes cubrían las estrellas y añadían un aire de misterio y amenaza a la noche. El coche se detuvo delante de lo que parecía un almacén desierto en la bahía. No había nadie en las puertas. El agua parecía espesa, casi aceitosa. George salió del coche y escuchó las olas rompiendo contra el malecón. Exploró el área con la facilidad de la larga práctica.
Dentro del enorme edificio tres hombres hablaban en voz baja. George ondeó una mano hacia el reportero, y Wade Carter saltó hacia atrás junto a la rueda del coche, con ojos vidriosos. El viento se arremolinó, y un remolino de hojas y ramitas giraron juntos en una extraña danza donde la forma sólida de George había estado. Después la noche se quedó en silencio de nuevo. Antinaturalmente. George entró en el edificio a través de la rendija de una ventana amarillenta. Se vertió en la habitación y se abrió camino a través de una colección de quemadores y recipientes llenos de variados productos químicas. En el extremo más alejado de la habitación había tres mesas. Tornillos de acero sujetaban correas para tobillas y muñecas. Había tres mesas de disección, donde los "científicos" de la sociedad podían entretenerse llevando a cabo sus experimentos sobre sus víctimas. Había una salpicadura de sangre en una de las mesas. George flotó sobre ella para examinar su composición. Para su alivio, no era de uno de los suyos.
En una esquina del almacén había un banco de computadores impresionante, equipo de alta tecnología, y filas de armarios de archivos. Tres escritorios formaban un semicírculo cerrando el área.
Los tres hombres estaban jugando al póquer, obviamente esperando por alguien más. Se deslizó por la mesa, un viento fría que voló las cartas en todas direcciones. Los hombres se agachaban buscando las cartas voladoras, mirando alrededor en busca de la fuente de la inesperada perturbación. Inquietamente se miraron los unos a los otros, y de nuevo alrededor del enorme almacén.
George convocó a Wade Carter hacia la puerta. El reportero la empujó y entró, caminando con los familiares andares de un zombi, la marioneta humana de un vampiro, con pasos pesados y deliberados, la cabeza baja, un pie delante del otro. Se detuvo bruscamente delante de la mesa de cartas exactamente como lo hubiera hecho una marioneta. Una marioneta con hilos.
- ¿Así que donde está, Wade? - Exigió el hombre más grande, con una bata blanca. - Será mejor que tengas algo importante para apartar a Morrison de su fiesta esta noche. Era algo grande... está recaudando fondos para su obra de caridad favorita.
Los otros rieron.
- Si... nosotros. - Añadió un técnico de pelo negro. - Demonios, Wade, espero que nos hayas traído una mujer. Estoy de humor para algo de diversión esta noche. - Se encorvó crudamente. - He estado esperando poner las manos sobre esa maga que aseguras es un vampiro. Es ardiente, realmente ardiente.
El hombre de la bata blanca examinó al reportero.
- ¿Y donde está el vampiro?
- Justo detrás de ti. - Dijo George suave y gentilmente.
Ellos se giraron, y su forma brilló débilmente, primero la de un hombre, sólido y real, después el contorno tembló, huesos y nervios estallaron como si su cara se alargara en un hocico, y se llenara de colmillo sus hambrientas mandíbulas. Los músculos y la piel se ondearon y la bestia se abalanzó hacia adelante, directamente hacia la garganta del hombre de la bata blanca.
El hombre gritó pero no hubo oportunidad de correr antes de que el lobo negro estuviera sobre él, desgarrándole la garganta. Las salpicaduras rojas cayeron en cascada por la habitación, el brillante arco de una fuente. Los otros dos hombres permanecían de pie, horrorizados, congelados en el sitio, incapaz de apartar la mirada de la cruda herida abierta donde una vez había estado la garganta.
Entonces, envueltos en acción ante la vista del espeso río rojo de sangre, se volvieron como una y corrieron hacia la puerta. El lobo saltó, cruzando la distancia fácilmente, y derribó al técnico de pelo oscuro. Las garras rasgaron el suave estómago, escarbando en los intestino, pero el salvaje hocico siguió rasgando deliberadamente hacia el premio. La sangre brotó, erupcionando en un estallido volcánico. El hombre aulló horriblemente, alejándose demasiado tarde para salvar su vida.
La última víctima había alcanzado la puerta cuando el lobo saltó sobre su espalda. Un rápido chasquido de la poderosa mandíbula y el cuello estuvo roto. El lobo retrocedió e inspeccionó el cuerpo muerto e inmóvil. Entonces trotó sobre el banco de terminales de computadora y lentamente recobró su propia forma.
El hambre de George era una cosa con vida propia, llenándole de necesidad. La oscura compulsión de la muerte estaba con él. Bestia u hombre, no importaba, estaba en su naturaleza, su destino. Pero luchó por contener el hambre, incluso con el olor de la sangre a su alrededor. Las computadoras tenían que ser destruidas. Cada disco. Cada documento.
George se contuvo y empezó a convocar la energía necesaria para enviar ondas de electricidad a través de las máquinas. Explotaron, ardiendo en sus carcasas, fundiéndose en los escritorios en los que estaban colocados. Detrás de él los recipientes estallaron, salpicando sus contenidos sobre el suelo. Las llamas empezaron a lamer avariciosamente la madera seca. Ondeó una mano, y los armarios de archivos se voltearon, los papeles se desparramaron alimentando el fuego hasta que danzó alto y se extendió por la habitación. Wade Carter permaneció en pie inmóvil junto a la mesa de cartas. No pareció notas la caída de sus compañeros o el fuego que rápidamente consumía el contenido del almacén. George se aseguró de haber destruido todo el laboratorio antes de volver su atención a los reportes. El humo espeso estaba retorciéndose alrededor de ellos cuendo sujetó al hombre y la arrastró más cerca de él.
El hambre se extendió y arrolló, convirtiéndose en algo vivo que respiraba. George inclinó su oscura cabeza y encontró el pulso en la garganta de Carter.
- Has intentado condenar a mi raza a la muerte, deliberadamente intentaste traer a mi compañera a este lugar de horror. Por eso y por todos los crímenes contra la gente, te sentencio a morir. - Murmuró las palabras rituales mientras sus dientes alcanzaban la piel y se hundían profundamente en la arteria.
La sangre caliente entró a raudales en las células encogidas. Su cuerpo, tan hambriento, su energía y fuerza agotadas por el gran esfuerzo y su encuentro con el veneno, abrazó el oscuro líquido de la vida. Bebió vorazmente, insaciablemente. Su presa permaneció inmóvil bajo sus manos mientras se agotaba su vida.
_¡George, detente!_ Imploró Carry. No puedes tomar su vida así. Por favor, por mi, para.
George gruño, sus ojos plateados brillaban rojos, reflejando las llamas del fuego. Reluctantemente levantó la cabeza, observando impasiblemente como la sangre goteaba de la herida de Carter y el hombre caía al suelo. Soltó la camisa de Carter, su mirada estaba todavía fija en el firme goteo de sangre derramándose sobre el suelo del almacén.
_Vuelve a casa conmigo. Sal de ese horrible lugar._
Podía oír el distante aullido de sirenas, el murmullo de una muchedumbre que se reunía. Inmóvil, se quedó hasta asegurarse de que la fuerza vital había abandonado completamente a cada uno de los que estaban en el laboratorio. Tenía un nombre ahora, algo para empezar la caza. Morrison. Alguien que podía recaudar fondos. Alguien que se mezclaba en sociedad.
¡George! Ven a casa conmigo ahora. Carry era insistente. Podía oír el miedo en su voz. Se le había enseñado desde su nacimiento que sólo un vampiro mataría en el acto de alimentarse. La aterrorizaba pensar que George pudiera romper esa sagrada regla. Algo que había hecho alguna vez en el pasado. Más de una vez.
el monstruo retorno, le envió de vuelta con voz la voz impasible que casi siempre usaba. Se convirtió en humo, el oscuro remolino de viento voló a través del laboratorio ardiendo, y se apresuró a salir al aire nocturno. Se permitió flotar por encima, observando como los humanos en el suelo corrían alrededor con mangueras para apagar el fuego. Una estirada limusina llegó y aparcó a poca distancia del almacén. La ventanilla trasera bajó, pero el ocupante permaneció dentro. Morrison.
George flotó más alto. Estaba volviendo a Carry como su verdadero yo, no el fraude que le había permitido creer que era. ¿Después de siglos de caza, después de dispensar justicia durante tantos años interminables, ella realmente había creído que podía sentir emoción cuando mataba? ¿Remordientos? ¿Venganza? ¿Piedad? No sentía nada, y nunca lo haría. Era simplemente un trabajo, uno que hacía bien, sin orgullo o temor.
No quería ver el miedo en los ojos de ella. La condena. Pero no podía fingir durante el resto de la eternidad. Le había conocido como el brutal monstruo que era. Su monstruo. Tenía que entender que era más peligroso de lo que pensaba, que no sería prudente hacer ciertas cosas. Pero no quería ver el miedo una vez más en sus ojos. Con un suave suspiro empezó el viaje de vuelta a las montañas. Viajó lentamente, humo en el viento, dispersando uniformemente el aire a través del que se movía para no alertar a los vampiros de su presencia. Sintió el peso de sus años, las muertes, la sangre en sus manos. Carry le miraría y finalmente vería su terrible destino.
Una vez dentro de los terrenos ondeó una mano para dispersar las salvaguardias, liberando a Carry de su invisible prisión. Estaba sentada, con las rodillas encogidas contra su pecho, la barbilla descansando en lo alto de las rodillas. Sus grandes ojos azules fijos en la nube de humo mientras él se aproximaba. George tomó forma a sus pies, su alta y masculina forma cerniéndose sobre ella.
Ella se puso en pie lentamente, sus enormes ojos nunca abandonaban su cara. Fue Carry quien recorrió las pulgadas que los separaban, quien rodeó su cintura que sus delgados brazos. Apoyó su cabeza contra el pecho de él, sobre el firme latir de su corazón.
- Estaba tan asustada, George. - Había lágrimas en su voz, huellas de ellas sobre su cara. - Nunca me dejes sola así de nuevo. Es mejor estar contigo, incluso si estoy en peligro. - Sus manos se estaban moviendo sobre él, deslizándose bajo su camisa para explorar su piel asegurándose de que estaba ileso. - Podía sentir cuanto dolor había en ti, como el veneno que usó te hacía mucho daño.
Sus manos le tocaron la garganta. Acarició su espeso cabello. Le tocó en todas partes. Tenía que tocarle. No podía evitarlo. Encontró cada corte que el cuchillo de Carter había hecho. Contuvo el aliento, y bajó la cabeza para gentilmente aliviar cada corte con saliva curativa.
George le cogió ambas manos y la apartó unos centímetros de él.
- Mirame, ma chérie. Mirame real mente. Ve como soy. - Le dio una ligera sacudida. - Mirame realmente, Carry.
Los ojos azul violeta de ella buscaron los pálidos de él.
- ¿Qué crees que veo, compañero? No eres el monstruo que te llamé. Ni el monstruo que te llamaste tú mismo. Eres un gran hombre de los Cárpatos, un gran sanador. Eres mi otra mitad. - Sus ojos relampaguearon hacia él. - No creas que vas a librarte con esta tontería, me dejaste atrapada esperando sola entre estas paredes. Nunca más. Me oyes, George. De ahora en adelante, voy contigo.
La mano de el apretó su pelo detrás de la cabeza firmemente. La arrastró más cerca.
- Nunca al peligro. Nunca. - Bajó la cabeza para encontrar su boca, para reclamar lo que era suyo. El corazón le explotaba en el pecho.
Los ojos de ella estaban claramente empañados por la preocupación, quizás... pero libres de miedo. Le sostuvo la cabeza perfectamente inmóvil mientras su boca se movía sobre la de ella, mientras devoraba su dulzura y hacía sus demandas. Carry no le detuvo, aceptaba su dominación, devolviéndole el beso con la misma hambre que él le estaba comunicando. La cogió en brazas, apretando su cuerpo contra el de él.
- Nunca, Carry. Nunca permitiré que estés en peligro.
- ¿Cómo crees que me siento yo? - Exigió ella. - Mira en mi mente, mira lo que tuve que pasar cuando trataste con el veneno. - Tocó sus heridas con dedos gentiles. - Cuando te estaba haciendo esto.
- El veneno te habría consumido, Carry, si te lo hubieran inyectado. Revelé los elementos de la toxina a Albert. Se asegurará que en nuestra tierra natal y sean conscientes de este nuevo peligro. Podemos desarrollar un antídoto con lo que sabemos ahora. - Sus manos estaban moviéndose arriba y abajo por la espalda de ella, sobre sus caderas, acunando su trasero, presionándola más cerca. Su cuerpo estaba dolorido y lleno, y las cuidadosas manos de ella solo lo inflamaban más.
- Podría haber sido letal por lo que sabias, George. - Dijo ella. - No tenías ni idea de lo que era ese veneno. - Le arrancó la ropa, desgarrando su camisa al abrirla para llegar hasta su pecho, inspeccionando cada centímetro de él, saboreándole, las ofensivas heridas que Carter había dejado atrás.
- Soy un sanador, Carry. Puedo neutralizar el veneno. - Las manos de ella estaba inflamándole, llenando su cuerpo a raudales de fuego.
Ella arrancó sus pantalones ansiosamente, las palmas de sus manos se deslizaron alrededor de su pesada plenitud. La bestia de su naturaleza, que estaba ya cerca de la superficie, se liberó y la tiró al suelo, arrancando las ropas de su cuerpo como había ella hecho con él.
La sujetó bajo él, con una rodilla empujando con fuerza entre las piernas de ella para conseguir acceso.
Pero fueron los ojos plateados de George lo que capturaron y sostuvieron su mirada. Era George quien capturó sus codos con manos gentiles y George quien probó su disposición con sus dedos, sondeando.
- Eres mía, Carry. Sólo mía. - Dijo suavemente mientras se empujaba hacia adelante, llenándola. Deseaba decirle que la amaba, pero no podía decir las palabras, así que se lo dijo con su cuerpo. Una y otra vez se enterró profundamente en ella. Duro y rápido. Despacio y tierno. Se tomó su tiempo, deseando que durara para siempre, escondiendo su cara para que ella no pudiera ver la inesperada humedad de sus ojos.
Su cuerpo estaba hecho para él. Apretado. Ardiente. Sedoso. Su piel era satinada, su boca hambrienta. Deseaba que ella alejara los largos e interminables siglos, la soledad. Deseaba que llenara el vacío sin emociones de su alma. El vacío pozo negro, absolutamente yermo y desesperado. Y lo hizo. De algún modo, con un milagro total, la aceptación incondicional, lo hizo. Se entregó a si misma libremente, sin reservas, aceptando su dominación, su cuerpo tomó el de ella.
Sintió sus estremecimientos de placer una y otra vez, con calor blanco, terciopelo que lo apretaba firmemente, finalmente le llevó al límite para volar al espacio con ella. Se aferró a él, sus uñas se hundieron en la espalda de él, su boca presionó contra su hombro, su pequeño grito de satisfacción quedó embozado contra los firmes músculos de su pecho.
George la abrazó firmemente, casi aplastándola. Todavía no podía creer que estuviera realmente con él. No podía creer que pudiera posiblemente aceptarle. Había matado demasiadas veces, inflingido sus leyes. Sin sentir remordimientos. Sin sentir nada en absoluto. Era tan compasiva. Tan joven. Tan llena de belleza y vida. Enterró la cara contra su cuello.
- Debes alimentarte, pequeña. - Se recordó con voz neutra.
El estómago de ella se revolvió. Había estado con él, en su mente, cuando se había alimentado del reportero. La sangre era una necesidad; lo aceptaba. Incluso aceptaba que Wade Carter tenía que morir para preservar su raza. Pero no quería su sangre. Su lengua tocó el labio inferior cuidadosamente, su corazón latió. Muy cuidadosamente, se movió, e inmediatamente sintió la dureza del suelo de mármol. No lo había notado antes; de hecho, eso hacía reforzado el acto de hacer el amor, permitiendo a George entrar más profundamente en ella. Ahora se sentía magullada y dolorida, sus caderas dolían.
- Esto es incómodo, George. - Aventuró.
Él se levantó con un fluido movimiento y la llevó con él, acunándola en sus brazos.
- Lo siento, ma petite. Debería haber tenido más cuidado contigo.
Ella tocó su mandíbula con dedos gentiles.
- Prométeme que nunca me dejarás así de nuevo. La próxima vez permíteme ir contigo.
Sus ojos eran elocuentes, suplicantes, tanto que tuvo que apartar la mirada.
- No me pidas lo que no puedo darte. Te daría la luna si me lo pidieras, chérie, pero no puedo permitir que te pongas en peligro. Por ninguna razón. Ni siquiera para ayudarme.
Los delgados brazos de ella se enroscaron alrededor de su cuello. Su cuerpo presionó firmemente contra el de él.
- No sé si podré sobrevivir a eso de nuevo. - Dijo suavemente contra su garganta. - Fue tan terrible para ti.
- Tu hambre me golpea.
- Quiero que te alimentes.
- No puedo. - Admitió ella renuente, temerosa de su reacción. - Ese hombre...
El estaba callado, llevándola por el vestíbulo a uno de los dormitorios.
- Si, puedes, y lo harás porque yo lo deseo. - La bajó a la cama.
Ella levantó la mirada a sus pálidos ojos, ojos que la mantenían cautiva, ordenándole, incluso mientras recorrían posesivamente su cuerpo. Acunó un pecho, llenando la palma de su mano con la suavidad de ella, su pulgar acarició la punta rosada, convirtiéndola en una cresta dura.
- George. - Su voz fue una suave súplica.
- Harás lo que deseo, Carry. - Era implacable. Sus oscuros rasgos estaban firmes, casi crueles.
Ella intentó apartar la mirada de él, pero le cogió la barbilla con la mano y la mantuvo inmóvil.
- Ahora, Carry. Aliméntate ahora. No lo hiciste esta mañana, y tenemos toda la noche por delante. Te alimentarás.
Ella tragó con fuerza, su estómago se revelaba.
- No puedo, George. Está muerto. Simplemente no puedo.
- Quieres decir que lo maté. - Dijo las palabras suavemente.
- No, sé que era una amenaza para nuestra gente. Sé que intentó matarte. Sé que no había elección. Pero no puedo. - Intentó alejarse de él. Repentinamente deseó tener puesta la ropa, consciente de su desnudez.
- Te alimentarás. - Dijo él de nuevo. Esta vez su voz era un susurro, tan incitante, tan hipnótica, se encontró a si misma inclinándose más cerca de él. Podía sentir el calor de su cuerpo, sentir la calidez de su aliento. Aliméntate, Carry. Ven a mi ahora. La arrastró más cerca de él y la presionó contra su pecho. - Soy tu compañero. No puedo hacer más que velar por tus necesidades.
Carry podía saborearle, la sal de su piel. El hambre de él, el de ella... no podía decir donde terminaba uno y empezaba el otro. Él estaba susurrando en su mente, palabras imposibles de entender, su música resonaba a través de su cuerpo. Su garra era imposible de romper, la mano sobre su nuca la presionaba hacia él. No había escapatoria a su voluntad de hierro. Ni siquiera lo deseaba, su boca ya se movía sobre la piel de él.
George cerró los ojos mientras los dientes de ella se clavaban profundamente. El placer-dolor era sensual, su cuerpo desnudo era irresistible, pero controló su insaciable hambre. Ya había sido egoísta, tomándola en el suelo, impaciente y necesitándola en medio de su propia incertidumbre. Ahora acunó su cabeza hacia él, alimentándola hasta que su pálida piel estuvo una vez más reluciente y saludable. Entonces lenta y renuentemente, le permitió escapar de la compulsión.
Sus ojos azules parpadearon, con el conocimiento repentinamente en sus profundidades. Se echó atrás abruptamente, rodando lejos de él arrebatando su ropa.
- Realmente eres escoria, George. No tienes derecho a forzarme cuando digo que no.
Ella la observó mirar alrededor buscando su andrajosa ropa. Se hundió en la cama con un suspiro cansado.
- Parece que no tengo ropa de nuevo.
- Se arregla fácilmente, Carry. - Dijo suavemente. Se formó ropa del aire y los elementos era un truco tan viejo como el tiempo, tan fácil como todo lo que siempre hacía. Ella parecía disgustaba, deseaba cogerla entre sus brazos y sostenerla, confortarla. Estaba todavía estaba perturbada porque hubiera ingerido el veneno de buena gana. Porque había roto sus leyes matando mientras se alimentaba. Pero principalmente estaba disgustada porque la había obligado a esperarle mientras se aventuraba al peligro en vez de permitirla ayudarle. Y estaba apenada porque la había obligado a alimentarse bajo compulsión.
18. Chapter 18
**CAPITULO 18**
George la dio unos suaves jeans y una camiseta de algodón, sus ojos plateados la observaban estrechamente.
- Soy lo que han hecho de mi estos interminables siglos, Carry. - Dijo cuidadosamente.
Ella se echó débilmente el pelo hacia atrás. Todo estaba sucediendo tan rápido. Su mundo estaba cambiando, volviéndose al revés, poco familiar y fuera de su control. Peter. El vampiro. El cazador humano. El veneno. Ser apresada por su propio compañero. Se mordió el labio inferior agitada, recogiendo la camisa para cubrirse los pechos.
- Puedes elegir ser diferente, George. Todo el mundo puede.
Él tocó su mente, una ligera caricia, y supo que estaba cerca de las lágrimas. Acunó un lado de su cara, su pulgar acarició su mejilla.
- No elijo poner en peligro tu vida, mon amour. Es algo que nunca cambiará.
- Pero yo tengo que vivir con que tú te pongas en peligro. - Se opuso ella, sus ojos azules relampaguearon hacia él.
Los dientes blancos de él relucieron, una sonrisa rapaz.
- Nunca estuve en peligro. Wade Carter pensó que estaba protegido, pero los niños de los Cárpatos tienen protecciones más fuertes contra los depredadores.
- El asunto es, que no podías saber eso, George. Saliste de aquí y le permitiste dispararte ese dardo sin saber siquiera que era. Y te aseguraste de que no pudiera ayudarte.
Él le quitó la camisa de las manos y se la deslizó por la cabeza.
- Nunca estuve en peligro, Carry. - Dijo tranquila y pacientemente, su voz era terciopelo negro.
Ella inclinó la cabeza, su largo pelo cayó ocultando su expresión. No importaba. George estaba en su mente, leyendo fácilmente sus pensamientos. Estaba confusa, temerosa, triste. Presionaba en ella como un terrible peso en su pecho.
George la levantó como si fuera en bebé y le puso los jeans, cubriendo sus desnudas y delgadas piernas. Se sentó sobre la cama y la acunó en su regazo. Muy suavemente la meció delante y atrás.
- Siento haberte asustado, ma petite. No lo haría por nada del mundo. Pero tienes que comprender que estás atada a un hombre poderoso. Muchas cosas que podrían poner en peligro a nuestra raza no funcionan conmigo. Soy capaz de muchas cosas que nunca han sido llevadas a cabo por ningún otro de nuestra raza. Conozco mis propias capacidades. - Le acarició el pelo, una caricia mansa y consoladora.
Ella escondió la cara en su garganta, lágrimas calidas se derramaron sobre él.
- No conozco tus capacidades. - Su voz fue ahogada, las lágrimas estrangulaban su garganta. Apretó los dedos en su espesa melena, sosteniéndose a él casi desesperadamente.
Él colocó la cabeza protectora mente sobre la de ella.
- Necesitas tener más fe en mi fuerza, Carry. Ten fe en mí. No voy a tirar mi vida ahora que te he encontrado. Cree en mí, en mi poder y habilidades.
Ella se apretó más cerca, como si intentara meterse dentro de él.
George apretó sus brazos, abrazándola muy cerca.
- Sé lo que puedo y no puedo hacer, mon petit amour. No correré ningún riesgo innecesario. - La sujetó, inhalando su esencia, sus esencias combinadas, sintiéndose afortunado de que ella sintiera tan fuertemente por su seguridad. - Siento mucho haberte asustado. - Repitió entre los sedosos mechones de su pelo.
- No lo hagas de nuevo. - Ordenó ella, frotando la cara contra su garganta. Su boca se movió por la piel de él y dejaba detrás llama viva.
El cuerpo de George reaccionó, volviendo a la vida. Podía sentir la incomodidad de ella, los penosos cardenales de sus caderas y espalda a causa de su propio descuido. Colocó la palma de la mano sobre su cadera y se envió a si misma a buscar fuera de su propio cuerpo. En seguida, Carry pudo sentir calor consolador aliviando sus músculos, acelerando la curación de los cardenales. Podía oír el ancestral canto curativo en su mente, la hermosa voz de George flotaba en su interior.
Se tendió pasivamente entre sus brazos, mirando hacia arriba a los sensuales rasgos tallados y esculpidos por el tiempo, hacia la belleza masculina de los Cárpatos. Era poder y fuerza. Era su compañero. Le estudió, examinando cada centímetro de su cara.
George repentinamente le sonrió, una sonrisa genuina que caldeó el frío acero de sus ojos hasta que fueron mercurio fundido.
- ¿Qué estas viendo?
Ella le tocó la barbilla con la punta de un dedo. Era una barbilla agradable. Terca. Definida. Agradable en todos los sentidos.
- Estoy viendo a mi compañero, George. No quiero que te ocurra nada. - Sus manos le enmarcaron la cara. Muy lentamente alzó la boca hacia él. Le besó lenta y totalmente. Completamente. Su lengua se deslizó en la boca de él, explorando, fastidiando, tentando. Cuando alzó la cabeza, descansó la frente contra la de él.
- No lo hagas nunca más. No me dejes sola e indefensa sin ti.
Él ya sentía el profundo tirón en su corazón. Le estaba volviendo al revés. No estaba condenándole como debería hacer, estaba poniéndose enferma de preocupación. Encontró su cuello y trazó besos a lo largo de la delgada columna. Sus dientes rasparon el hombre de ella.
- Así que te gusta el jazz.
Carry levantó la cabeza, sus ojos azules buscaron los de él.
- Adoro el jazz. - Dijo suavemente. Podía ver la ansiedad de ella, la repentina esperanza.
- Entonces supongo que no podemos perdernos el famoso festival de Nueva Orleáns. - Se encontró a si mismo diciendo, sólo para apartar las sombras de sus ojos.
Ella se quedó en silencio un momento, sus dedos se retorcieron en la manta.
- ¿Qué quieres decir, George? ¿Podemos ir?
- Sabes lo mucho que adoro las multitudes de humanos. - Dijo él, mirándola directamente.
Ella se rió de él.
- No muerden.
- Yo si. - Dijo él, las palabras bajas y suaves, su mirada plateada en seguida posesivo. Sólo el calor de la sonrisa de ella causó estragos en su cuerpo. La había tenido sólo unos pocos minutos antes, sin embargo estaba hambriento de nuevo. Ferozmente hambriento. Su cuerpo reaccionó urgente y, salvajemente, y lo permitió, no haciendo ningún esfuerzo por ocultar su gran necesidad.
Carry contuvo el aliento a la vista de su excitación. Este poder, al menos, tenía, y la profundidad del mismo la asombraba. Sus dedos acariciaron la piel de él deliberadamente. Él tembló bajo su ligero toque. Pasó la mano a lo largo de su estómago plano, y le sintió conteniendo el aliento. Los dedos de ella se cerraron alrededor de la dura longitud de él, y le sintió estremecerse de placer.
El capturó la cabeza de ella entre sus manos, acercándola. Estaba lleno de necesidad, dolorido.
- Voy a odiar Nueva Orleáns. - Susurró contra su sedoso pelo antes de que ella empezara a inclinar la cabeza.
Su aliento caldeó la punta aterciopelada de él, enviando fuego a través de su sangre.
- Quizás podamos pensar algo interesante que hacer más agradable para ti. - Aventuró ella. Su boca era sedosamente suave, húmeda y caliente.
George empujó sus caderas hacia adelante, obligándola a ponerse de espaldas sobre la cama, sus rodillas sobre la gruesa manta sobre ella.
Era tan hermosa, su piel cremosa e inmaculada, su espeso pelo desparramado alrededor de sus delgados hombros. Sentándose, lentamente ella se sacó la camisa de algodón, desnudando los pechos llenos para su mirada plateada. Parecía lujuriosa y sexy en la oscuridad de la noche, un regalo misterioso y erótico para él.
- ¿Crees que podrás hacer Nueva Orleáns más soportable para mi entonces? - Sus ojos estaban diciendo más que su boca, tocándola aquí y allí, demorándose en cada curva de su cuerpo.
La mano de ella se cernió sobre el estómago plano de él y descansó allí.
- Estoy segura de que puedo tener la suficiente inventiva como para hacerte olvidar tu temor a las multitudes. Quitame los jeans.
- ¿Tus jeans? - Repitió él.
- Tú los pusiste sobre mí, y están definitivamente estorbando. Quítamelos. - Su mano estaba vagando hacia abajo, sus dedos recorriendo ligeramente sus músculos tensos, una deliberada persuasión.
Sus manos hicieron rápido el trabajo de desabrochar le los jeans y bajarlos por sus piernas. Ella los pateó a un lado y se inclinó para presionar un beso sobre el estómago de él. Su pelo se deslizó sobre su pesada plenitud, un enredo de seda que casi le condujo a la locura.
- Algunas veces tus órdenes son muy fáciles de seguir, ma chérie. - Murmuró, sus ojos se cerraron cuando la boca de ella vagó hacia abajo.
Acunó sus pechos en las palmas de sus manos, sus pulgares acariciaron las puntas de sus duros e insinuantes pezones. Sus caderas se lanzaron hacia adelante contra su propia voluntad, su cuerpo estaba volviendo a la vida por si mismo. Los dedos de ella se enterraron en sus nalgas, urgiéndole a entrar más profundamente en ella, entonces se deslizó hacia abajo para acariciar las gruesas columnas de sus muslos. Sus uñas arañaron la piel de él gentilmente cuando arqueó su cuerpo para permitirle un mejor acceso a sus pechos doloridos.
Ardía por ella en su cuerpo y su mente. Había un apagado rugido en su cabeza, un apresurado placer que le inundó y le arrebató todo vestigio de salud mental. Fuera, el viento empezó a soplar. Cantaba en las ventanas y acariciaba las gruesas paredes, anunciando una tormenta.
Ninguno lo oyó o le importó. La tormenta estaba rugiendo dentro cuando la empujó hacia abajo, su boca buscando cada centímetro del cuerpo de ella, cada sombra y cada hueco, acariciando e inflamando. Creando fuego. Creando una tormenta. George se movió sobre ella, su suave piel contra las palmas de sus manos, la boca caliente sobre su piel. Ella alejó los demonios de él, las terribles visiones y horrorosas muertes. Alejó la soledad y la reemplazó con tanto placer que no estaba seguro de si sobreviviría.
El inarticulado grito de ella fue apagado por su propia boca cuando entró en ella, enterrándose profundamente. Era suave terciopelo, calor fiero, exquisitamente apretada alrededor de él, aferrándole en calor fundido. Le murmuró en el ancestral idioma, palabras que ella no podía entender, pero quiso decir cada una de ellas, palabras que no había dicho nunca antes, que nunca había sentido antes. Nunca podría conocerle realmente, pero estaba marcado a fuego por ella durante el resto de su vida. Era exclusivamente suyo. Le rendía culto a ella. Y la única forma que tenía de demostrárselo era con su cuerpo, su fuerza, su conocimiento, su experiencia.
Su cuerpo tomó el de ella, una posesión exigente que siguió sin parar. Un rayo de luz danzó cruzando el cielo. La tierra se movió bajo ellos. A ninguno de ellos le importó. Él se tomó su tiempo, una y otra vez, asegurando el placer de ella primero y por encima de todo. Ella estaba aferrándose a él, con él, cuando finalmente se permitió a si mismo el alivio. No quería parar nunca, temía que si la dejaba ir, de algún modo se marcharía lejos para siempre.
George maldijo suavemente y rodó para obligar a su cuerpo a alejarse de ella. Estaba volviéndole loco. Desesperado. Iba a hacer que los matara a ambos con su insaciable apetito. Sus dedos estaban ya enredándose en el pelo de ella, reuniendo mechones de pelo en su puño.
Carry oyó las suaves y siseantes palabras fluyendo de la boca de él, y su corazón se detuvo. Él acababa de sacudir su mundo entero, convertirlo en fuego, y ahora estaba enfadado. Le dio la espalda para que no pudiera ver que se sentía herida.
- ¿Qué he hecho mal? - Preguntó con una vocecilla.
George le tiró del pelo para obligarla a volverse hacia él.
- Me haces sentir vivo, Carry.
- ¿De veras? ¿Es por eso que maldices? - Se tendió sobre el estómago, apoyándose sobre los codos.
Él se apoyó en ella y acarició con su boca la plenitud de sus pechos.
- Estás consiguiendo atarme. Te llevas todo mi buen juicio.
Una ligera sonrisa curvó la boca de ella.
- Nunca he notado que tuvieras un juicio particularmente bueno para empezar.
Sus dientes blancos relucieron, una sonrisa depredadora, entonces los hundió en la suave piel desnuda. Ella chilló pero se acercó más a él cuando su lengua se retorció y acarició, llevándose el picor.
- Siempre he tenido buen juicio. - Le dijo él firmemente, sus dientes rasparon de un lado a otro por el valle entre los pechos de ella.
- Si tú lo dices. Pero eso no lo hace cierto. Permitiste que esos malvados idiotas te disparasen con dardos venenosos. Te metiste en un laboratorio lleno de enemigos. ¿Necesito seguir? - Sus ojos azules se estaban riendo de él.
El firme y redondeado trasero de ella era demasiado tentador para resistirse. Dejó caer su palma abierto en un castigo burlón. Carry saltó, pero antes de que pudiera apartarse, la palma de la mano empezó a acariciar y producir un efecto totalmente diferente.
- Considerando nuestra posición, ma chérie, diría que mi juicio parece mejor que el tuyo.
Ella rió.
- De acuerdo, voy a dejar que ganes esta vez.
- ¿Quieres una ducha? - Preguntó él solícito.
Cuando ella asintió, Georgei saltó fluidamente de la cama, la levantó en vilo entre sus brazos, y la acunó contra su pecho. Había algo tan inocente en él. Ella le miró cautelosamente. Pero en un instante estaba ya deslizándose a través del suelo hasta la puerta del balcón, que voló abriéndose a su antojo, y la llevó, desnuda, al frío y reluciente aguacero.
Carry intentó alejarse retorciéndose y golpeando el pecho de él, riendo a pesar de la cascada de agua helada que caía sobre ella.
- ¡George! Eres tan malo. No puedo creer que hayas hecho esto.
- Bueno, tengo poco juicio. - Estaba sonriéndole con burlona y masculina diversión. - ¿No es lo que dijiste?
- ¡Lo retiro! - Gimió ella, aferrándose a él, enterrando la cara en su hombro mientras la lluvia fría golpeaba sus pechos desnudos, convirtiendo sus puntas en pezones duros rápidamente.
- Corre conmigo esta noche. - Susurró George contra su cuello. Una propuesta. Tentación. Atrayéndola hacia él, otro lazo con su oscuro mundo.
Ella levantó la cabeza, miró dentro de los ojos plateados, y estuvo perdida. La lluvia caía sobre ella, mojándola, pero cuando George se deslizó con ella lentamente hacia la manta de agujas de pino bajo el balcón, no pudo apartar la mirada de esos hambrientos ojos. Asintió, aceptando su voluntad para ellos esta noche.
Siguiendo el deseo en la mente de él, se concentró en visualizar la imagen necesaria. Y su cuerpo empezó retorcerse. Fue un curioso tirón, una extraña y desorientadora sensación, y después su piel se onduló en una glaseada piel negro azulada mientras su cuerpo cambiaba rápidamente. Pronto un pequeño lobo de ojos azules estuvo de pie bajo la lluvia, observando a un enorme lobo negro que la tocaba, con su lengua dejando una caricia áspera a lo largo de su hocico.
Carry se giró y trotó a través de la densa vegetación, exaltada ante la libertad del cuerpo de lobo. George se deslizó a su lado, cercano y protector. El viento cantó, los árboles susurraron. Podía oírlo todo, sentirlo todo, la noche misma la llamaba. Empezó a correr como su cuerpo le pedía, con largas y galopantes zancadas, su cuello se estiró hacia adelante.
Se sentía salvaje. Ya no humana. Libre. Corrió rápido, desviándose dentro y fuera a través de los árboles. George mantuvo el paso tocando ocasionalmente el delgado cuerpo con su hocico o tocando ligeramente su flanco u hombro para que girara en la dirección a la que él deseaba ir. Carry persiguió un conejo, después lo cazó por la simple diversión de hacerlo antes de volverse hacia un camino algo usado a través de la espesa vegetación.
La esencia de otros de su especie. Lobos corriendo libres. Varios machos, tres hembras. El enorme lobo a su lado desnudó los colmillos y la empujó lejos del olor. Carry resistió sus esfuerzos y trotó alrededor de él, atraída por la salvaje llamada. George gruño, expuso los colmillos, su gran cuerpo empujando, después bloqueando el de ella, deteniéndola efectivamente. La empujó hacia la casa.
Ella le lanzó una mirada que lo dijo todo. Él había propuesto correr, el cambio de forma; ahora ella estaba exigiendo que dejara de fastidiarle la diversión. Él empezó a empujarla más fuerte. Estaría exhausta por las actividades de la noche. Deseaba que empezara a volver.
Cuando ella se negó, la mordisqueó ligeramente en el pequeño hocico blanco, un pequeño recordatorio de quien estaba al mando. Ella chasqueó hacia él pero finalmente obedeció, y galoparon de vuelta juntos a través del bosque
.
Una vez en la casa, brillaron débilmente volviendo a la forma humana, y George la cogió de la mano y la empujó dentro. El agua chorreaba por el cuerpo desnudo de ella y goteaba de su pelo. Ella le miraba.
- Tienes que ser un mandón no importa lo que hagas ¿verdad?
La enrolló en una toalla y la secó hasta que su piel estuvo sonrosada.
- Me tomo tu salud y seguridad seriamente, Carry. - Era claramente impenitente.
Se estremeció un poco y se sacó la toalla, repentinamente enervada por todos los cambios que se producían en ella. Tenía sólo veintitrés años, ni siquiera un cuarto de siglo. Había pasado los últimos cinco años viviendo exclusivamente en el mundo humano. Ahora su naturaleza salvaje estaba llamándola. George estaba tocando algo indomable en ella, algo a lo que se había prohibido acceder. Algo salvaje, desinhibido e increíblemente sensual.
Carry miraba hacia la oscura y hermosa cara de él. Era tan masculino. Tan carnal. Tan poderoso. George. El Oscuro. Solo mirarla la hacía sentir débil de deseo. Una mirada de sus relampagueantes ojos plateados podía inundarla de calor líquido, fuego corriendo por sus venas. Se volvía suave y flexible. La hacía suya.
La palma de la mano de George acunó su cara.
- Sea lo que sea lo que estas pensando te hace temerme, Carry. - Dijo suavemente. - Déjalo.
- Me estás convirtiendo en algo que no soy. - Susurró ella.
- Eres una mujer de los Cárpatos, mi compañera. Eres Carry Grandchester. No puedo quitarte esas cosas. No deseo una marioneta, o una mujer diferente. Te deseo tal y como eres. - Su voz fue suave y mandona. La alzó entre sus brazos, llevándola a su cama y envolviéndola entre las mantas.
La tormenta azotó las ventanas y silbó contra las paredes. George tejió las salvaguardas preparándolas para su sueño. Carry estaba exhausta, sus ojos ya se estaban cerrando. Después se deslizó dentro de la cama y la recogió entre sus brazos.
- Nunca cambiaría nada de ti, ma petite, ni siquiera tu horrible temperamento.
Ella se acomodó contra su cuerpo como si hubiera sido creada para ello. Sintió la caricia de los labios de ella contra su pecho y el último suspiro de aire cuando escapó de sus pulmones.
George permaneció despierto durante un rato, observando como el amanecer se acercaba, alejando la noche. Un movimiento de su mano cerró y atrancó las pesadas ventanas. Todavía tendido despierto, abrazó a Carry más cerca.
Siempre había sabido que era peligroso, había temido por mortales e inmortales por igual. Pero de algún modo, quizás ingenuamente, había pensado que una vez que se uniera a su compañera, se volvería más manso, más domesticado. Sus dedos se enredaron entre el pelo de ella. Pero Carry le volvía salvaje. Le hacía más peligroso de lo que había sido nunca. Antes de Carry, no había tenido emociones. Había matando cuando era necesario pero era necesario. No había temido nada porque no amaba nada y no tenía nada que perder. Ahora lo tenía todo que perder. Así que era más peligroso. Nadie, nada, amenazaría a Carry y seguiría con vida.
19. Chapter 19
**CAPITULO 19**
George miró con desmayo al pequeño edificio de dos plantas encerrado en un enrejado de hierro forjado e intercalado entre dos pequeñas propiedades bastante desvencijadas en el atestado Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleáns. Insertó la llave en la cerradura y se volvió a mirar a la cara de Carry. Estaba iluminada por la expectación, sus ojos azules brillaban.
- Definitivamente he perdido el juicio. - Murmuró mientras empujaba la puerta.
El interior era oscuro, pero podía verlo todo fácilmente. La habitación estaba cubierta de polvo, los muebles cubiertos con sábanas viejas, y el papel de las paredes se estaba pelando en pequeños rizos en las paredes.
- ¿No es hermosa? - Carry extendió las manos y dio vueltas. Saltando a los brazos de George, le abrazó firmemente. - ¡Es tan perfecta!
Él no pudo evitarlo, besó su invitadora boca.
- Perfecta para una hoguera. Carry ¿echaste una mirada a este sitio antes de comprarlo?
Ella rió y rizó la espesa melena de él.
- No seas pesimista. ¿No puedes ver el potencial?
- Es una trampa de fuego. - Se quejó él, pero estaba estudiando los pesados tapetes y el estrecho hueco de las escaleras que conducía escaleras arriba y a algún santuario más bajo.
- Ven conmigo. - Carry ya estaba apresurándose hacia las escaleras. - Déjame mostrarte la gran sorpresa, George. Esta es la razón por la que la compré. No es sólo una casa fantástica con un gran jardín.
- ¿Jardín? - Repitió él. Pero la siguió. ¿Como podría no hacerlo? Estaba radiantemente divertida. Se encontró observándola, cada movimiento que hacía, la forma en que volvía su cabeza, la forma en que sus ojos danzaban. Era tan hermosa. Si deseaba una casita claustrofóbica en medio del Barrio Francés, si eso la hacía feliz, no se lo negaría.
Las escaleras, muy estrechas y empinadas, se hundían hacia abajo en espiral hasta un inesperado sótano que ocupaba toda la longitud de la casa. Nueva Orleans estaba construida sobre suelo pantanoso al nivel del mar. Ni siquiera los muertos enterrados bajo tierra. Nueva Orleans le ponía los pelos de punta. No había tierra para excavar en caso de emergencia. Ninguna vía de escape fácil y natural. Nueva Orleáns presentaba problemas que no quería en estos momentos.
George escudriñó las paredes de cemento del sótano, su sólido suelo. Paseó por la habitación, rodeando el perímetro, moviéndose hacia el centro, y cerró los ojos. Inhaló profundamente. Había sombras de otros en esta habitación, de lo que habían venido antes.
- ¿Lo sientes? - Preguntó Carry suavemente. Colocó una mano en el brazo de él, sus dedos rodearon la mitad de su muñeca. El miró abajo a su pequeña mano. Podría sentir ese toque a través de su cuerpo entero. Aunque sus dedos no podían ni siquiera rodear su gruesa muñeca. Se encontró notando que era algo que ella hacía con frecuencia, envolver los dedos alrededor de su muñeca, conectándolos. Y ese pequeño gesto pareció fundir su corazón.
George se obligó a volver su atención al presente. Así que Carry sentía la presencia también. Uno que había estado allí antes que ellos. Anthony. Anthony Andrew había vivido en esta casa. ¿Por qué? ¿Qué clase de seguridad había establecido allí? Porque Anthony debía haber dirigido a Carry hacia esta casa cuando se había dado cuenta del deseo de ella de venir a Nueva Orleans.
George deslizó un brazo alrededor de sus hombros.
- ¿Qué sabes sobre el propietario anterior?
- Sólo que no estaba aquí durante largo períodos de tiempo. El agente inmobiliario me dijo que la casa había estado en la familia del hombre durante casi doscientos años, que era en realidad una de las casas más viejas del Barrio.
- ¿Pero nunca le conociste realmente? - Incitó George.
- No. - Replicó Carry.
- Anthony Andrew fue el propietario anterior, aunque es difícil imaginarle siquiera viviendo aquí. Es un solitario, tan indomable como el viento. - Se paseó por la habitación de nuevo. - Si Anthony te entregó este santuario, uno que ha tenido casi doscientos años, sólo puedo significar una cosa. Está eligiendo el amanecer. - Dijo las palabras desapasionadamente, sin expresión, pero por dentro sentía ese curioso desgarro que se estaba volviendo tan familiar. Emoción. Pena. Tantos de su raza se habían ido para siempre. Anthony era más fuerte que la mayoría, tenía más conocimientos. Odiaba perder a Anthony.
Carry le golpeó el brazo.
- No sabemos eso, George. Quizás sólo quería darnos un regalo de bodas. No asumas lo peor.
George intentó sacudirse la melancolía, pero se sentía incapaz de respirar en este multitudinario y estrecho vecindario.
- Las casas de otra gente están justa encima de esta. - Dijo. - Creo que podrían dar un paso y estar en nuestro salón.
- No has visto el patio todavía, George. La casa está abierta hacia arriba en un patio en la parte trasera, y es inmenso y está en bastante buena forma. - Carry empezó a conducirlos escaleras arriba, ignorando sus quejas.
- Odio pensar lo que llamarían mala forma. - Murmuró él mientras la seguía escaleras arriba.
- Me pregunto por qué está todo tan polvoriento. - Dijo Carry. - Tenía al agente inmobiliario encargándose de que viniera gente a limpiar y tenerlo todo preparado para nuestra llegada.
- No toques nada. - Siseó George suavemente, y muy gentilmente capturó sus hombros para ponerla detrás de él.
- ¿Qué es? - Instintivamente ella bajó la voz y miró alrededor, intentando ver si había algo peligroso que ella hubiera sido incapaz de sentir.
- Si hubiera venido gente ha hacer las camas y preparar la casa para nuestra llegada, habrían quitado el polvo también.
- Quizás son increíblemente incompetentes. - Sugirió ella esperanzada.
George la miró y encontró que los bordes duros de su boca se suavizaban. Estaba haciéndole desear sonreír todo el tiempo, incluso en las situaciones más serias.
- Estoy seguro de que cualquier compañía trabajaría horas extraordinarias intentando hacerte feliz, ma petite. Sé que yo lo haría.
Ella se ruborizó ante el recuerdo de como lo haría él.
- ¿Entonces por qué todo este polvo? - Preguntó ella, distrayéndole deliberadamente.
- Creo que Anthony nos ha dejado un mensaje. Has permanecido entre humanos tanto tiempo que ves sólo con los ojos.
Carry puso los ojos en blanco ante la reprimenda.
- Y tú has vivido en las colinas demasiado, has olvidado como divertirte.
Los ojos pálidos se deslizaron sobre ella, envolviéndola en calor.
- Tengo mis propias ideas de diversión, chérie. Estaría deseoso de mostrártelas si quieres. - Ofreció perversamente.
Ella alzó la barbilla, los ojos azules desafiaban.
- Si crees que me asustas con tu rutina del gran-lobo-malo, no es así. - Dijo ella.
Podía oír el corazón de ella latir. Oler su esencia llamándole.
- Quizás pensaré en algo para cambiar eso. - Le advirtió. George volvió su atención de nuevo a la habitación. El polvo era espeso en las paredes, la chimenea y las losas del suelo. Se agachó, tocando las diminutas partículas y estudiando el esquema desde todos los ángulos. Sus ojos brillaban rojos en el oscuro interior.
Carry caminó hacia atrás hasta que estuvo presionada contra la pared. Su atención estaba en el hombre, no en lo que estaba haciendo. Observaba la forma en que su cuerpo se movía, el ondear de sus músculos bajo la fina camisa de seda, la forma fluida en que parecía flotar de un lado a otro. La forma en que inclinaba la cabeza, la forma en que arrastraba una mano impacientemente a través de su espesa melena. Era de otro mundo. Elegante. Peligroso. Mortal. Sin embargo cuando volvió su cabeza y su
Perfecta boca le sonrió, pareció sensual en vez de cruel. Sus ojos eran fríos y letales, viéndolo todo, sin perderse nada, pero cuando volvió si mirada hacia ella, el frío acera se caldeó como mercurio fundido. Ardiente. Excitante. Sensual. Casi pecaminoso.
Ella parpadeó para volver a enfocar la habitación. Hubo un cambio sutil. El polvo pareció cambiar de posición bajo la mano de George. Movió el brazo con gracia, como si estuviera dirigiendo una orquesta, y el patrón empezó a emerger sobre las paredes y el suelo. Las líneas brillaron formando letras y símbolos ancestrales. Una vez George accedió al secreto, los jeroglíficos tomaron forma rápidamente, formados por las partículas de polvo.
- Estos es hermoso. Es el lenguaje ancestral, ¿verdad? - Dijo Carry suavemente con temor reverente. Se movió formando un pequeño semicírculo, no deseando perturbar el aire. - ¿Cómo supiste volverlo a la vida?
- La forma en la que el polvo estaba colocado era demasiado arreglada. Tendido en un diseño esperando por nosotros. Es un arte que muy pocos son capaces de realizar. No tenía ni idea de que Anthony lo conocía. - George sonaba complacido. - Tu padre es bastante bueno en esto, pero he visto a unos pocos más que lo dominen.
- ¿Mi padre es bueno en todo?
George levantó la mirada ante la extraña nota en su voz.
- Es el Principe de nuestra gente. El más viejo de nuestra raza. Si, es bueno en todo lo que hace.
A pesar de si misma, Carry pensó.
- Y tú le has conocido toda tu vida.
George volvió el poder sus ojos plateados directamente hacia su cara.
- Tu padre y yo hemos vivido mil años, pequeña. ¿Por qué crees que deberías tener el conocimiento de los ancianos? Eres hermosa, una novata inteligente, y aprendes rápido.
- Quizás nunca pueda vivir como deseas de mí. Quizás nací demasiado tarde. - Había un dolor en su voz, traicionando su falta de confianza en si misma. Las estrellas plateadas en el centro de sus ojos oscurecieron el azul a vívido violeta. Su ansiedad era fácil de leer.
Fue inmediatamente hacia ella y le enmarcó la cara con sus manos.
- Tienes toda una vida para aprender las cosas que tu padre y yo hemos aprendido. Nos llevará toda una vida. Nosotros no tuvimos tus responsabilidades a tan temprana edad. Fuimos capaces de vagar por el mundo, viviendo libremente. No teníamos un compañero tirano y dominante con el que tuviéramos que vivir. - Sus pulgares acariciaban su delicada mandíbula. - No lo hagas, chérie, ni siquiera pienses que no puedes cubrir mis expectativas.
- Te cansarás de enseñarme cosas.
La mano de él recorrió la fina columna de su garganta hacia el pulso que latía en el centro de su palma.
- Nunca. Nunca ocurrirá. Y tengo mucho que aprender de ti. No había risa en mi vida. Tú me has dado eso. Hay muchas cosas que has traído a mi vida... sentimientos y emociones que nunca podría experimentar sin ti. - Se inclinó para acariciar su boca con la de él. - ¿Puedes sentir que digo la verdad?
Carry cerró los ojos mientras su boca tomaba posesión de la de ella, mientras su mente se fundía firmemente con la de ella. George era tan intenso en su hambre y su deseo. No había dudas en él, ninguna vacilación. Sabía que siempre estarían juntos; no aceptaría que fuera de otro modo. Si algo alguna vez cambiaba eso, elegiría seguirla al amanecer.
George la soltó muy lentamente, casi renuente. Ella se quedó en pie inmóvil, mirándole, sus ojos azules estudiaban su cara.
- Podemos hacerlo, Carry. - La animó suavemente. - No te asustes e intentes huir de tu destino. Quédate conmigo y lucha.
Una pequeña sonrisa tocó la boca de ella.
- _Destino_. Interesante palabra. Haces que suene como si estuviera sentenciada a prisión. - Tomó un profundo aliento y se obligó a relajarse. - Eres malo, pero no tan malo. - Le fastidió.
Los dientes blancos de él relucieron, su sonrisa era de depredador.
- Soy muy malo, ma petite. No lo olvides si quieres estar a salvo.
Ella se encogió de hombros casualmente, pero su corazón saltó en respuesta.
- La seguridad no es un concepto al que me adhiera estrictamente. - Respondió alzando la barbilla.
- Esa es una espada de doble filo para mí.
Carry estalló en carcajadas, su natural sentido del humor burbujeaba.
- Apuesta a que si. No pienso ponerte las cosas más fáciles. Lo has venido haciendo todo a tu manera durante demasiado tiempo. Ahora enséñame como hacer esto. Es fascinante. - Ondeó un brazo para abarcar la brillante escritura.
George capturó su brazo para sujetarla inmóvil.
- Liberar el patrón a tus ojos es muy simple. Primero estudia el patrón, después simplemente dale la vuelta. Los movimientos de la mano extendieron las moléculas en primer lugar. Perturbando el aire hacia atrás llevando los diseños de vuelta a donde están originalmente colocados.
- ¿Quién te enseñó esto?
- Muchas artes se han perdido a través de los años. Los monjes budistas del Tibet tuvieron este una vez para comunicarse sin que otros lo supieran. Nosotros somos uno con la tierra, con el aire, con el espacio. Domarlos y moverlos no es tan difícil. - Sus manos comenzaron a moverse de nuevo, y Carry estaba fascinada con la belleza y la gracia de su ritmo. - ¿Conoces la antigua lengua? ¿Sabes leerla? ¿Escribirla? ¿Hablarla? - Le preguntó.
- Sólo unas pocas palabras. Mi madre estaba justamente intentando aprenderla de mi padre cuando partí para América. Nunca tuvo oportunidad de aprender.
- Una cosa más que tendré que enseñarte, chérie, y disfrutaremos ambos con la experiencia. - Sus ojos plateados fueron elocuentes.
- Puedo entonar el canto sanador. Creo que nací sabiéndolo. Mi padre inundaba a mi madre con él todo el tiempo.
George estaba moviéndose cuidadosamente a través de la habitación.
- El canto es tan viejo como el tiempo, tan viejo como nuestra raza, y muy efectivo. Está impreso en nosotros desde antes de nuestro nacimiento y ha salvado muchas vidas. Tu madre tuvo que aprenderlo rápidamente, cuando cada voz era necesaria. - Su voz era un susurro, como si su aliento pudiera perturbar el antiguo mensaje que brillaba en el aire.
Carry amaba el sonido de su voz, el terciopelo negro que esta deslizaba en el interior de su mente, en el interior de su corazón.
- ¿Qué dice? - Su voz fue tan suave como la de él.
- Es de Anthony. - Dijo. - He impartido justicia a dos vampiros que habían recientemente tomado residencia en esta ciudad, para que no hubiera ningún peligro para ti.
- ¿Ves? No hay ningún peligro en absoluto. Podemos disfrutar del festival. - Sonrió ampliamente.
- Eso no es todo lo que dice. - Su voz fue neutral.
La sonrisa de Carry se marchitó abruptamente.
- De algún modo sabía que dirías eso. Parece decir mucho para ser sólo una frase o dos. Allí sobre la ventana parece como si nos hubiera dejado un mapa.
- Tiene varios lugares seguros esparcidos alrededor de la ciudad, incluso en el bayou, para asegurar nuestra seguridad. Abajo, en la cámara subterránea, es un lugar secreto por el que podremos escapar si lo necesitamos. Nos ha dejado un regalo.
Ella observó su cara, sus ojos en los de él.
- ¿Y? - Le animó suavemente.
- Hay miembros de la sociedad humana de cazadores de vampiros aquí. El nombre de Morrison ha aparecido de nuevo. Aparentemente, Anthony tropezó con la evidencia del grupo hace algún tiempo. Han establecido una base aquí en Nueva Orleáns porque hay muchos persistentes rumores de vampiros. Creen que debe haber actividad aquí para garantizar su interés. Anthony me ha dado algunos lugares para empezar a buscar. Nombres. Negocios. Un local de reuniones donde los miembros intentan conseguir información.
Carry dejó escapar el aliento lentamente.
- Bueno, demasiado para el festival de jazz. Queríamos que nos siguieran, pero de hecho nos hemos metido en la guarida del león. Debo tener un don para atraer tipos raros.
- Probablemente lo tienes. - Dijo George seriamente. - Puede ser un regalo tanto como una maldición. Tu madre era una humana con habilidades psiquicas. Quizás te pasó algo de su don.
Carry estaba en pie en el centro de su casa, sus largas pestañas ocultaban su expresión. George se volvió hasta ella. Parecía pequeña y vulnerable junto a su poderosa forma. Le colocó un mechón perdido de pelo cobrizo detrás de la oreja.
- Carry, no estés tan disgustada. Queríamos que vinieran tras nosotros, ¿no? Esto no es el fin del mundo. Todavía podemos disfrutar del festival mientras estamos aquí.
Carry sacudió la cabeza.
- Simplemente vámonos, George. Sonaba bien en ese momento, pero ahora no me gusta tanto la idea.
George consideró su expresión durante un largo momento, examinando su pálida cara. El duro borde de su boca se suavizó. Los ojos plateados perdieron su remota frialdad, caldeándose como mercurio fundido. Hubo un curioso cambio en la región de su corazón.
- Estás intentando protegerme de nuevo, Carry. - Sacudió la cabeza. No hubo sonrisa en su cara, pero estuvo en su corazón todo el tiempo. Nadie había nunca pensado en protegerle; nadie había ni siquiera considerado el peligro que corría como cazador. Incluso ahora, esta pequeña y frágil mujer con sus enormes ojos estaba envolviéndose a si misma tan firmemente alrededor de su corazón porque genuinamente deseaba su seguridad. - No necesito protección de esta gente. Ellos son los que deben tener cuidado. Si tiene que ser en su terreno, que así sea. Anthony me ha dado la suficiente información como para no entrar en esto a ciegas.
- Ya sospechan de nosotros, George, porque Wade Carter les habló de que les llevaría un espécimen. Y pasaron la información a ese tal Morrison. Estarán buscándonos. Buscándote.
- Entonces no podemos hacer otra cosa que complacerlos. Trabajaré en un antídoto para su veneno. No quiero que quepa la posibilidad de que seas infectada sin protegerte primero.
- Nuestro sótano es el lugar perfecto para un laboratorio tipo Boris Karloff. - Su rápida sonrisa estaba ya iluminando sus ojos. Podía quitarle el aliento con esa sonrisa.
20. Chapter 20
**CAPITULO 20**
George levantó una mano e hizo un pequeño movimiento para dispersar las partículas de polvo. Una brisa empezó a soplar, lenta y ligera, pero se convirtió en un remolino que corrió a través del edificio. Cuando el viento se hubo calmado, no quedó nada del brillante mensaje que Anthony les había dejado, la habitación estaba limpia, y el despellejado papel de las paredes estaba liso de nuevo.
- Ven conmigo, Carry. Veremos que nos ha dejado Anthony. - Extendió una mano hacia ella.
Ella entrelazó sus dedos con los de él y le siguió bajando las escaleras en espiral. No quería imaginarse por qué Anthony le habría dado una casa que había tenido durante doscientos años. No podía ser que estuviera abandonando su vida. ¿Que pasaba que su propio gemelo no podía hablar con él? Tragó con fuerza, recordando lo cerca que había estado de perder a George. ¿Donde estaba la compañera de Anthony? ¿Existía? Había tan pocas mujeres para sus hombres.
- Quiero que te quedes justo aquí en las escaleras mientras estudio la habitación. - George dió una orden. Estaba envuelta en su hipnotizadora voz, pero era una orden de todas formas.
- Si Anthony nos dejó un regalo, George, no hay necesidad de preocuparse porque pudiera haber alguna clase de trampa. - Señaló ella, ligeramente fastidiada.
Él alzó la cabeza, los ojos plateados relampaguearon hacia ella.
- Eres demasiado confiada, pequeña. Deberías haber aprendido hace mucho a usar tus propios sentidos, nunca confiar en los de otro. Esa es la forma en la que ha sobrevivido nuestra raza.
- Tenemos que confiar los unos en los otros, George. - Protestó ella.
- Nos hemos visto obligados con frecuencia a cazar a nuestros propios hermanos. Por eso la mayoría de los hombres eligen no compartir sangre, ni siquiera para salvar vidas. Eso hace más fácil rastrearlos cuando se convierten en vampiros. También, recuerda que los vampiros son conocidos como los mejores embusteros del mundo. No, chérie, no confío en ningún otro hombre sin compañera.
- De que terrible forma has tenido que vivir. - Dijo ella suavemente.
- Existir. - Corrigió él. - No es vida estar aislado e incluso rehuir a tu propia raza cuando te necesitan desesperadamente. Compartí mi sangre cuando fue necesario, pero pocos estuvieron deseosos de intercambiarla conmigo.
Como siempre, no pudo detectar autocompasión, ni emociones de ningún tipo. George aceptaba su forma de vida. Nunca confiaría en nadie de todas formas. Sus dientes mordisquearon el labio inferior. ¿Eso la incluía a ella? ¿Estaría una parte de George siempre apartada de ella? Era tan joven e inexperta. Deseaba ser una mujer más antigua llena de poder para poder unirse a él como merecía.
Él se deslizó a través de la cámara subterránea, sin tocar nunca el suelo. George examinó cada centímetro de las paredes. Había dos entradas, una conducía a una cámara separada oculta en el espesor de las paredes, y la otra a un túnel construidos con cañerías y cemento para mantener el agua fuera.
- El túnel probablemente lleva al exterior.
- Una salida. - Dijo ella. - ¿Al patio?
El sacudió la cabeza.
- Lo dudo, Carry. Anthony querría alejarse de la propiedad y la gente. - Le parecía inconcebible que Anthony quisieran estar en la ciudad para empezar. El Anthony Andrew que conocía era tan solitario como él. Él prefería los lugares altos, las montañas. La soledad.
- ¿Así que una trampa? - Le preguntó ella con un dejo de sarcasmo.
- Casi desearía que lo fuera. - Dijo él, intentando mantener la cara seria. - No creo que pueda vivir con el hecho de que tengas razón en este caso. - Cuando ella arqueó las cejas y las meneó hacia él, le dio la satisfacción. No, no lo es. - Pasó una mano sobre la lisa pared más cercana al patio.
Una puerta oculta se deslizó abriéndose silenciosamente para revelar una gran cámara como para que dos personas yacieran allí. El interior estaba hermosamente tallado con antiguas inscripciones. Anthony Andrew era claramente un artista, los grabados aliviaban y atraían la atención. Carry sabía poco del idioma, pero podía decir que había sido forjada como algún tipo de salvaguarda, con símbolos curativos entretejidos en él. El efecto completo era de paz y santuario.
George estaba mirándolo fijamente, su cara estaba impasible pero su ojos eran cálidos. La sorpresa de verdad yacía bajo una sábana blanca. George levantó una mano y la sábana rodó a un lado
El aliento de Carry se atascó en la garganta, miraba fijamente con asombro la riqueza del tesoro. Tierra lozana y oscura. La tierra de su país natal. La cámara estaba llena de ella, unos buenos seis o siete pies de profundidad. George hundió los dedos en la tierra. La frialdad se escurrió de él, le dio la bienvenida. Las manos de Carry, también, se hundieron profundamente en la tierra. Habían pasado cinco años desde que había sentido la riqueza de su tierra, sintió sus propiedades sanadoras. Les susurró conformándoles, dándoles paz.
- ¿Cómo ha hecho esto? - Carry sonrió a George, complacida de que su casa tuviera tales secretos.
El brazo de él rodeó sus hombros.
- Con gran paciencia. - Una sonrisa débil suavizó su boca. - Recuerdas los toneles enviados desde Europa cuando Nueva Orleáns estaba atrapada por la fiebre amarilla y la muerte? Se rumoreó durante años que contenían vampiros, pero obviamente contenían simplemente tierra de nuestro país natal. Muy inteligente por parte de Anthony.
- Me pregunto con cuanta frecuencia se quedaba aquí. - Aventuró Carry suavemente, dejando que la tierra se deslizara entre sus dedos. Lo que se preguntaba realmente era en cuanta de la historia de Nueva Orleáns había estado envuelto Anthony Andrew. Los humanos había creído mucho tiempo en los legendarios vampiros y su imaginación era desenfrenada en Nueva Orleáns. ¿Habían tenido los actividades de Anthony durante los pasados dos siglos algo que ver con esos rumores? - ¿Crees que el cuartel general de la sociedad humana está aquí para cazarle? - Preguntó.
- Esa sociedad se está convirtiendo en un dolor de cabeza. Necesito tener unas palabras con Terry para decirle que no nos libramos de ellos como pensamos que habíamos hecho. Parecen haberse vuelto más fuertes que nunca. Cada treinta años o así regresan para darnos problemas.
- Anthony debe haberlos descubierto bastante recientemente o te habría hablado de ellos cuando te informaba sobre mí. - Había amargura en su voz. Estaba todavía molesta porque George había tenido a alguien vigilándola. Aunque más aún, estaba molesta consigo misma por no haber sentido a otro de su raza.
- Anthony nunca mi informó a mi exactamente. - Dijo George secamente. - No es de la clase de hombres que responde ante nadie. Anthony es como el viento, como los lobos. Totalmente libre. Va por su propio camino. Te vigilaba, pero no enviaba informes. Ese no es su estilo.
- Suena interesante. - Murmuró Carry
.
Instantáneamente George pudo sentir sus músculos tensarse. Esa oscura rabia sin nombre que le hacía tan peligroso hirvió en sus entrañas. Siempre viviría con el miedo de haber robado a Carry a algún otro. Que algún otro hombre de los Cárpatos guardaba el secreto de su corazón. Que había condenado a otro a la muerte, o peor, a convertirse en un no-muerto, porque había robado a Carry. Puesto que George había manipulado el resultado de su unión, quizás había algún otro cuya química encajaba perfectamente con la de ella. Sus ojos plateados se volvieron fríos y letales, pequeñas llamas rojas soltaban en sus profundidades.
- No necesitas encontrar a Andrew interesante. Nunca renunciaré a ti, Carry.
- No seas idiota, George. - Dijo ella impacientemente. - Como si quisiera que alguna otra bestia saliera de la cueva cuando te tengo casi entrenado. - Extendió una mano. - Vamos, tienes que ver el patio.
Su enorme mano se tragó la de ella. Siempre parecía saber que decir o hacer para aliviar el terrible peso que aplastaba su pecho. Aunque a menudo deseaba sacudirla, besarla hasta la sumisión, también deseaba que fuera tan irreverente como en ese momento. Estaba volviendo su mundo al revés.
La siguió subiendo las escaleras, desvalido, sin poder hacer nada más. Las espesas puertas dobles se abrieron hacia el patio. Carry tenía razón. Era impresionante. El jardín era más grande que la casa misma. Las plantas crecían por todas partes, una mezcla salvaje de encaje verde y luminosa flora. Azulejo español cubría el suelo en un mosaico. Bancos y sillas estaban esparcidas entre las plantas y árboles, escondidos del sol. Grandes tumbonas estaban colocadas a cielo abierto, bajo las estrellas y la luna.
Murciélagos se zambullían y daban vueltas, cazando insectos en el aire. La fragancia de las flores apagaba la opresiva polución de las estrechas calles, pero nada podía ahogar el ruido. Sonaba música en todas direcciones con el martilleo de cascos de caballos sobre la piedra, las bocinas de los coches bramando, y las carcajadas, la alegría.
George apartó los sonidos, escuchando trozos de conversación, y consiguió una sensación del ritmo del vecindario. Le llevaría unos pocos días sentirse cómodo en este ambiente. Le habría gustado tener una oportunidad de explorarlo de antemano para la seguridad de Carry.
- Necesitamos dar un paseo. - Dijo bruscamente. - Quiero ver todo todas las entradas y salidas, conocer las caras y los voces que pertenecen a este sitio.
Carry empujó la verja de hierro y salió caminando a la calle. Una pareja joven que estaba de pie en el porche cercano los miró curiosamente. Carry les envió una sonrisa y saludo felizmente. La mujer levantó un brazo en respuesta.
_No actúes tan amigablemente, Carry. Eres una celebridad. Llamaremos suficientemente la atención._
_Son nuestros vecinos. Intenta no asustarlos de muerte, ¿quieres?_ Carry le cogió del brazo, sonriéndole burlonamente.
- Pareces un feroz miembro de la Mafia. No me asombra que nuestros vecinos estén mirando. La gente tiende a ser curiosa. ¿No lo serías tú si alguien se mudara a la puerta de al lado?
- No estudio a los vecinos de la puerta de al lado. Cuando los humanos consideran construir en las inmediaciones de una de mis casas, el vecindario repentinamente se inunda de lobos. Funciona siempre. - Sonaba amenazador.
Carry se rió de él.
- Eres como un bebé, George. Asustado de un poco de compañía.
- _Tú_ me asustas a muerte, mujer. Porque por ti me encuentro haciendo cosas que sé que son una locura. Quedarme en una casa construida un una ciudad multitudinaria bajo el nivel del mar. Vecinos encima de nosotros. Carniceros humanos rodeándonos.
- Como iba a suponer que esto te asustaría. - Dijo ella presumida, sabiendo que su única preocupación era su seguridad, no la de él.
Giraron una esquina y se dirigieron a la famosa Bourbon Street.
- Intenta parecer menos notable. - La instruyó.
Un perro ladró, tensando su cadena hasta el final, desnudando sus dientes. George volvió la cabeza y siseó, exponiendo sus colmillos blancos. El perro detuvo su agresión instantáneamente, aullando de alarma, y al instante se retiró gimoteando.
- ¿Qué estás haciendo? - Exigió Carry, ultrajada.
- Consiguiendo una percepción del lugar. - Dijo él ausente, su mente estaba claramente en otra cosa, sus sentidos sintonizados con el mundo a su alrededor. - Todo el mundo está loco aquí, Carry. Vas a encajar bien. - Le rizó el pelo afectuosamente.
Se detuvo bruscamente, su sonrisa cayó, su mano se deslizó por el brazo de él. La cabeza de George se alzó en alerta, automáticamente explorando el área en busca de enemigos.
- ¿Qué es?
Carry dio medio vuelta y giró la esquina, caminando lentamente subiendo por la calle.
Carry, me responderás. ¿Que estás sintiendo que yo no siento? George la cogió del brazo, deteniéndola físicamente. Sus dedos como grilletes en su muñeca, su cuerpo se acercó en seguida y la protegió. Respóndeme, o te obligaré a volver a la casa.
Shh. Estoy intentando concentrarme. En realidad nunca he hecho esto antes. Incluso en su mente estaba muy distraída. George se fundió con ella para poder sentir sus pensamientos, saber cualquier cosa que estuviera sintiendo. Era algún tipo de compulsión, ninguna que su raza usara normalmente, una llamada hacia algún lugar. ¿De poder? Intentó sintonizarlo. No era poder. Malvado. Algo muy malvado.
Una vez más su mano se fijó sobre la muñeca de ella y la detuvo. Había varias casas en la calle, pero más allá de los bloques de residencias había almacenes. Uno era una tienda de vudú. Se concentró en esa, escuchó intensamente la conversación entre un turista y alguien que trabajaba dentro. Había una sugestión de poder, de magia, pero ciertamente no la mancha del mal.
_Dos edificios más allá de la tienda de vudú._ La voz de Carry acarició su mente.
No está en la lista de Anthony, respondió George, pero la creía. Lo sentía a través de ella. Candy Grandchester había obviamente pasado sus talentos psíquicos a su hija.
Se cogieron de las manos y pasearon casualmente a lo largo de la calle, aparentemente disfrutando del aire nocturno, mezclándose con los turistas y los que tenían sus casas allí. La mayoría de los juerguistas estaban en el corazón del Barrio, a lo largo de Bourbon Street, más lejos hacia abajo, dirigiéndose en Preservation Hall. Carry y George se movieron por la estrecha acera, deteniéndose para permitir pasar a un carruaje de caballos. Los ocupantes estaban riendo y escuchando el canturreo de la vez de su guía describiendo puntos de interés salpicados por unos cuantos mitos locales.
Dos hombres jóvenes bebían cerveza en los escalones de una librería al otro lado de la calle fijaron sus ojos en Carry. Incluso a esa distancia George podía ver su instantánea fascinación, la obsesión que ella tan fácilmente producía en los hombres. Estaba en la forma en que se movía, en su pelo fluido y sus enormes ojos, su aura, a la vez inocente y sensual. No había esperanza de que no la reconocieran. Encarnaba magia y fantasía.
George suspiró pesadamente, sus entrañas se apretaron. Iba a volverle loco y quizás conseguir que muriera algún borracho inocente. Los dos hombres estaban levantándose, susurrando excitadamente, reuniendo coraje para aproximarse a ella. Podía oírlos incitándose el uno al otro. Fijó sus ojos plateados en ellos y se concentró brevemente. Limpió sus pensamientos y plantó en ellos la urgencia de salir de la zona inmediatamente.
- Hazme un favor, chérie. Intenta parecer sosa y poco interesante.
Carry rió suavemente a pesar de su creciente sensación de temor.
- Supéralo ya. - Sugirió ella.
- Eres de lo más irrespetuosa, mujer. No puedo recordar una sola vez en toda mi existencia en que alguien me hablara como lo haces tú.
Ella frotó su mejilla por el hombro de él en una pequeña caricia. El aliento de George pareció inmovilizarse en su garganta.
- Por eso lo hago. Necesitas alguien que te de un poco de problemas. - Su tono burlón se deslizó sobre él, dentro de él, los diminutos hilos que los ataban juntos se multiplicaban por momentos.
- Ni me importaría un _pequeño _problema. Pero tú eres un _gran_ problema.
Estaban delante del edificio que Carry había señalado mentalmente como la fuente de las perturbantes emanaciones. Estaba cerrado, las ventanas oscuras. George podía sentir movimiento dentro, sentir la presencia de varios hombres entre las paredes.
Carry se abrazó a él, sus ojos estaba llenos de lágrimas.
- Algo horrible está ocurriendo allí, George. Hay... - Se interrumpio cuando las manos de él se cerraron como un grilletes alrededor de la parte superior de sus brazos.
George le dio una pequeña sacudida.
- Un momento, ma petite. Sé exactamente lo que está pasando. Ella no es uno de los nuestros
- Lo sé. No soy completamente incompetente. - Había una mezcla de rabia y lágrimas en su voz. - Es humana, pero ellos piensan que es un vampiro. George, es sólo una niña. No puedes permitirles que le hagan daño. Puedo sentir su dolor.
- Es mayor que tú, pequeña, y desfila por ahí con un abrigo negro y los incisivos cosmética mente alterados. Se pone a si misma en manos de estos locos a través de su propia estupidez. - George sonaba disgustado.
- No se merece ser torturada porque le guste jugar a ser un vampiro. Sácala. - Los ojos azules de Carry relampaguearon fuego hacia él. - Ambos sabemos que vas a salvarla, así que deja de quejarte y hazlo.
- No permitiré esto, Carry. - Dijo suavemente. Su voz era una hermosa mezcla de hierro en un guante de terciopelo. - No tientes demasiado mi paciencia, ma petite. Te lo aseguro, no tienes oportunidad de ganar una batalla entre nosotros.
- Cállate. - Exclamó ella rudamente, exasperada por sus modales dominantes. - Sé que no vas a dejar a la chica allí. Puedo sentir su terror, George, y me está poniendo enferma.
- Sabía que ibas a darme problemas desde el momento en que posé mis ojos en ti. - Dijo él suavemente. - No arriesgaré tu seguridad por una mujer que se disfraza de vampiro. Escogió fingir que era como ellos. Intentaré ayudarla, pero no contigo solo en la calle.
Ella soltó el aliento siseando a través de los dientes.
- Estoy llena de fuerza, George. Puedo ser invisible si debo elegir caminar entre los humanos sin ser vista. No necesito acurrucarme en ti porque tienes miedo por mi. - Alzó la barbilla beligerante. - Soy la hija del Príncipe. Puedo arreglármelas para hacer unas pocas cosas que otros de nuestra raza no pueden.
La mano de él capturó y se extendió por su garganta.
- Haría casi cualquier cosa por ti, Carry, pero completar esta tarea es desagradable. - Se encontró a si mismo explicándose, cuando ella había requerido, cuando todo sus agresivos instintos masculinos la decían que simplemente la obligara a hacer su voluntad. No podía soportar que ella creyera que él confiaba tan poco en sus habilidades. - No deseo que presencies la depravación de las mentes de estos hombres, ni deseo que presencies el viento de muerte retorciéndose a través de ellos. No puedes tenerlo todo. Deseas que salve a esta mujer. Lo haré. Pero no delante de ti. Ve a casa y espera allí.
Carry sacudió la cabeza.
- ¿Cuando te entrará en su duro cráneo que soy tu auténtica compañera? Yo. Carry Grandchester, hija del Príncipe. Compartimos nuestras mentes desde antes de mi nacimiento. No puedes esconder de mi lo que eres, quien eres. Ni siquiera en medio de la sangre y la muerte, ni siquiera cuando la bestia trabaja, siempre veré tu verdadera esencia.
- Haz lo que te ordeno. Y comprende esto. Si por cualquier razón eliges desobedecer mis órdenes, estarás poniendo la vida de la mujer en peligro. Siempre pondré tu seguridad primero. Eso significa que si me distraes con tu desafío, tendré que a obligarte a obedecer.
- Eres el hombre de los Cárpatos más terco que existe. - Dijo ella, exasperada, pero le cogió la cabeza entre las manos y le arrastró hacia abajo para capturarle la boca con la suya. - Cuídate, compañero. Esa es _mi_ orden para ti. Asegurate de no desobedecer_ tú mi orden._
Se volvió y deslizó lejos, de vuelta por el camino por el que habían venido, sin una mirada sobre su hombro. Sus caderas oscilaban suavemente, eróticamente. El viento creciente jugaba con su largo pelo. George la observó, incapaz de apartar la mirada.
21. Chapter 21
CAPITULO 21
Finalmente George giró la cabeza lentamente, y caminó determinadamente hacia el estrecho callejón al lado del edificio. Césped marrón, seco y exhausto por el esfuerzo de florecer, quedó aplastado bajo sus pies, pero no hubo sonido que delatara su presencia, ni siquiera al soltar el aire. Una vez estuvo escondido y no a la vista, exploró el área para determinar el emplazamiento exacto de todos en el edificio y de cualquier otro humano en la vecindad.
Se disolvió instantáneamente, en un momento sólido, al siguiente invisible. Comprobó el edificio: todas las ventanas y puertas estaban cerradas seguramente. La mujer dentro gritaba, con agonía y terror en su voz. El sonido acarició su mente, pero lo bloqueó, explorando tres puntos de entrada al interior. Escogió uno bajo el edificio, a través de algunas rendijas y tablas podridas desmenuzadas.
Durante un breve momento su imagen brilló en la noche, comprimiéndose mientras lo hacía, encogiéndose más y más hasta ser sólo un pequeño ratón acurrucada en el césped seco. Se sentó sobre sus patas traseras un momento, con los bigotes crispados al aire. Después se apresuró a cruzar la suciedad y el césped y corrió precipitadamente a través de una pequeña rendija bajo las escaleras. La apertura era estrecha, pero la pequeña criatura era capaz de escurrirse dentro del espacio en el interior de las paredes.
El aislamiento era viejo y delgado, la mayor parte había desaparecido hace tiempo, y el ratón se escurrió rápidamente a través de la pared hasta encontrar el pequeño aguajero que conducía a la habitación oscura. El olor de la sangre y el miedo hizo que su corazón latiera, pero el depredador que se ocultaba profundamente en el diminuto cuerpo gruño, expuso los colmillos con un propósito oscuro y mortal. El ratón dudó antes de cruzar el linóleo amarillento, sus orejas se retorcieron, los bigotes en alto, olisqueando el peligro
No había nadie en la primera habitación, que parecía ser un área de almacenamiento sin usar. Olía a humedad de moho. La forma de George creció, se solidificó, después brilló hasta la nada una vez más. Podía oír la conversación de la habitación de al lado claramente. Tres hombres estaban discutiendo, uno claramente disgustado por lo que estaban haciendo.
- Esta chica no es más vampiro que yo, Rodney. - Exclamó. - Simplemente te gusta hacer este enfermizo trabajito. Esta es una de esos crios a los que les gusta lucirse con sus amigos fingiendo tener colmillos.
- No lo sabemos seguro. - Protestó Rodney. - Y ya que tenemos que matarla de todos modos, no veo porque no podemos pasar un buen rato con ella.
- Olvídalo. - Había disgusto en la voz del primer hombre. - De ninguna manera voy a dejar que mates a esta chica. Pensaba que éramos científicos. Incluso si fuera realmente un vampiro, no deberíamos tratarla así. Voy a llevármela de aquí a un hospital.
- Morrison te matará. - Gruñó Rodney, una vez más enfadado. - No vas a llevártela de aquí. Estamos todos comprometidos. Tú también... no olvides eso. Eres parte de esto, Gary, eres una gran parte de esto.
- No, no lo soy. Y si se producen consecuencias por esto... matar a una chica inocente o ir a la cárcel... me quedo con la cárcel.
George podía sentir la inminente violencia, no proveniente de Rodney sino del tercer hombre, el silencioso, en la habitación. Estaba acercándose furtivamente por detrás de Gary mientras Rodney mantenía la atención de Gary. La chica intentaba desesperadamente advertir a Gary,que era su única esperanza, de que estaba en peligro.
George sentía el poder en la habitación. Manipulación. Compulsión. Había aquí trabajando algo más que la sociedad de carniceros humanos. Se deslizó inadvertido por el cuarto, dispersando aire frío a su paso. El tercer hombre sostenía un cuchillo manchado de sangre a lo largo de la muñeca derecha mientras se colocaba detrás de Gary. George insertó su cuerpo invisible entre los dos hombres. Cuando el cuchillo se levantó hacia los riñones de Gary, George capturó la muñeca del atacante en una garra irrompible y la retorció, aplastando sus huesos a fino polvo.
El atacante gritó, el cuchillo cayó sobre el suelo. Gary giró hacia atrás para encarar al tercer hombre. Rodney se lanzó hacia el cuchillo. La chica estaba tan histérica, que George podía sentir su corazón martilleando, lo oía galopar a un paso demasiado rápido. Distrajo rápido su atención, escudándola de cualquier otro pensamiento. Simplemente la deslizó a un estado inconsciente, dejando sus ojos abiertos pero vidriosos.
Rodney recogió el cuchillo y trepó para ponerse en pie.
- Mira vamos a tener que matarte también ¿eh, Gary?
George suspiró. ¿Por qué tenían siempre que establecer lo obvio?
Gary estaba retrocediendo, intentando mantener un ojo en el tercer hombre, que se había dejado caer de rodillas, aferrando su brazo destrozado, y la cara blanca como una sábana. Estaba todavía gritando, un grito agudo y monótono.
Gary se sacó la bata blanca de laboratorio de los hombros y se la enrolló defensivamente alrededor del brazo alzado.
- No voy a dejarte hacerle más daño, Rodney. He dicho. Esto se suponía que era un estudio legítimo. Diseccionar a alguien vivo, vampiro o humano, es tortura, nada menos. No firme para hacer daño a nadie.
- ¿Para que creías que era el veneno que has desarrollado? - Exclamó Rodney, ondeando el cuchillo.
- No desarrollé un veneno. Desarrollé un tranquilizante muy potente, diseñado para sedar casi a cualquier criatura poderosa. Morrison ha tenido a tu gente corrompiendo la fórmula original. Vine aquí para hablar con él sobre eso. Esto es asesinato, Rodney. Lo mires como lo mires, es un asesinato.
George se deslizó tras Rodney. La mente del hombre apestaba a la influencia de un vampiro. Se creía a si mismo protegido de los vampiros por la hipnosis a la que todos los miembros de la sociedad estaban sujetos, pero de algún modo un vampiro se había infiltrado en sus filas y había contaminado la sociedad más allá de su propia depravación. Era la clase de cosas que los vampiros habían estaba haciendo durante siglos por diversión. Esconder su verdadera naturaleza, hacer amistad con los humanos y lentamente provocar su decadencia moral. Con frecuencia utilizaban a las mujeres de los humanos con los que trababan amistad para su propio placer, después las mataban. Algunas veces usaban a los humanos para que se mataran los unos a los otros. Claramente un maestro vampiro estaba trabajando aquí, uno que había escapado a la red de cazadores varias veces, probablemente cientos.
George tocó la mente de Gary. Encontró honestidad allí, integridad. Nunca había tenido contacto con el vampiro y estaba decidido a morir para salvar a la chica atada a la mesa de acero inmaculado. Había interrumpido a los otros dos hombres mientras trabajaban y estaba asqueado por sus acciones. Pero George sabía que Gary no tendría ninguna oportunidad contra la compulsión de matar que el vampiro había inducido en el otro hombre. Rodney ganaría esta batalla. Durante un momento George dudó. Si intervenía, permitiría que Gary viviera, pero tendría que destruir a Rodney. Si permitía que las cosas siguieran su curso, Rodney podría conducirle de vuelta a la guarida del vampiro.
_Sé que no estás ni siquiera pensando eso. _El susurro ultrajado de Carry fue suave terciopelo en su mente.
Suspiró pesadamente. _Mujer, déjame en paz. Tengo que hacer lo mejor para nuestra gente. _Pero sabía que no lo haría. Sabía que no podía permitir que Gary muriera. Había algo que le gustaba en el coraje y la integridad del hombre, pero, demonios, Carry no tendría que saber que tenía algún punto flaco. Nunca lo había tenido hasta que llegó ella.
La risa de Carry rozó su espina dorsal como el toque de sus dedos.
George insertó su forma sólida entre los dos hombres, brillando en el aire, ondeando un momento antes de materializarse. Hubo un silencio instantáneo. Incluso el tercer hombre se las arregló para dejar de gritar, todos ellos se quedaron congelados en su sitio. George sonrió agradablemente, una muestra de relucientes colmillos blancos.
- Buenas noches, caballeros. Oí que estaban buscando a alguno de mi raza. Sería mejor para ti, Rodney, que bajaras el cuchillo. - La sugerencia fue pronunciada en terciopelo negro.
Gary retrocedió alejándose del recién llegado, instintivamente moviéndose hacia la inmaculada mesa de acero. Sus manos se levantaron en una señal tan vieja como el tiempo de rendición.
- Mira, no sé quien o que eres, pero esta chica no tiene nada que ver con nada. No le hagas daño. Haz lo que quieras con nosotros, pero consíguele una ambulancia.
George mantuvo su mirada plateada enfocada sobre Rodney. El hombre parecía salvaje, la oscura compulsión de matar estaba sobre él. George podía verlo claramente; ahora también Gary podía verlo, Rodney necesitaba matar. Era tan necesario para él como inhalar su próximo aliento.
- Cuidado. - Advirtió Gary cuando se le ocurrió que ese vampiro, no importaba lo peligroso que fuera, se había interpuesto entre Rodney y él para salvarle. Miró hacia el tercer hombre. Estaba claro que el vampiro le había salvado de Todd Davis también. Acercándose, se movió alrededor para conseguir una mejor posición para ayudar a la criatura.
- No lo hagas. - Siseó George suavemente. Ondeó una mano, y Gary fue incapaz de moverse, atrapado en una especie de prisión invisible. - Vuelve la cabeza a otro lado.
El relámpago en la habitación fue brillante, como una nube de iluminación en forma de seta. El sonido hizo crujir las paredes a ambos lados de la estructura, tronando en los oídos de Gary tanto que durante un momento estuvo sordo y ciego. La casa misma se agitó, las ventanas se sacudieron como con una explosión. Cuando el humo se aclaró, Rodney y Davis estaban tendidos en el suelo, sin vida.
Gary miró fijamente con horror a los dos cuerpos ennegrecidos, extendió una mano tentativa para tocar la invisible barricada que de alguna forma le había protegido. Para su sorpresa se había desvanecido. Inmediatamente fue hacia la chica. Estaba todavía respirando, pero su pulso era superficial y ligero. Intentó en vano soltar las ataduras que la fijaban a la mesa.
- Estás dejando huellas dactilares. - Le informó George suavemente. Miró las anchas bandas de acero durante un momento, y simplemente cayeron de las muñecas y tobillos de la chica. - Vete ahora, camina alejándote de este lugar. Te encontraré al final del bloque. - Los ojos plateados miraron directamente a los de Gary. - Será mejor que estés allí. Puedo encontrarte en el momento en que desee.
- Ella necesita ayuda. - El humano estaba decidido a defender su terreno.
- Una multitud se está reuniendo mientras malgastas el tiempo. Puedo escudarte a sus ojos si te vas ahora. Después, habrá demasiados. La chica estará bien. Haz lo que digo. - George ya estaba volviendo su atención a encontrar las dañinas impresiones de los otros hombres, quitando todo recuerdo de ellos de la chica, y asegurándose de que los que estaban fuera de la casa no recordaran al hombre bajo, delgado vestido de gris que salía por la puerta de atrás.
Gary Jansen se abrió paso lentamente a través de la gente que ahora se apresuraba hacia la casa. Ninguno le miro, en realidad le golpeaban sin que al parecer fueran conscientes de ello. En la distancia llegaba el aullido de sirenas. Departamento de Bomberos. Policía. Ambulancia. Estaba sorprendido, su mente casi entumecida. Fuera lo que fuera la criatura que había llegado y salvado su vida tenía más poder del que había nunca concebido que fuera posible tener. Su cerebro revivió cada momento, cada palabra. No podía creer que le hubiera permitido simplemente irse andando. La criatura ni siquiera había tomado su sangre. En realidad, no sabía si la criatura bebía sangre. Llegó al final del bloque, y la debilidad lo golpeó. Sus rodillas se volvieron de goma, sus piernas de gelatina, y tuvo que sentarse bruscamente en el bordillo.
Una mano se envolvió alrededor de su nuca y mantuvo baja su cabeza.
- Solo respira. - Fue una orden dada en el mismo tono de voz hipnotizante del almacén.
Gary tomo grandes tragos de aire, luchando por apartar el vértigo. Hizo un pobre intento de humor.
- Lo siento, pero no todos los días conozco a alguien como tú. - Cuando la mano se retiró lentamente de su cuello, se enderezó para levantar la mirada hacia la alta y poderosa figura que se cernía sobre él. Nunca había visto un individuo de aspecto más peligroso. Se tragó su miedo. - ¿Vas a matarme? - Las palabras se deslizaron fuera involuntariamente.
_Deja de parecer el gran, lobo malo,_ sugirió Carry. _Vas a provocar al pobre hombre un ataque al corazón._
George suspiró, exasperado.
- Si fuera a matarte, ya estarías muerto. ¿Que razón tendría para tomar tu vida?
Gary se encogió de hombros.
- Ninguna, espero. - Se puso en pie con cuidado y dejó escapar el aliento lentamente. Desde arriba el hombre parecía incluso más peligroso. Como un hambriento gato de la jungla.
- En realidad ya he comido esta noche. - Dijo George secamente.
- Estás leyendo mis pensamientos, ¿verdad? - Gary intentó que no se notara la excitación en su voz. Siempre había querido conocer la cosa real. Siempre. Desde que había visto la primera película de vampiros, había estado fascinado, enganchado. Estaba asustado, no había duda de ello, pero esta era la oportunidad de su vida. - Te he visto. ¿Significa eso que tienes que matarme? Dejaste que la chica se fuera porque nunca te vio.
George cabeceó hacia la calle y ambos empezaron a caminar, lentamente dejando la caótica escena tras ellos.
- Nadie te creería si se lo contaras. En cualquier caso, puedo fácilmente borrar tu recuerdo de nuestra reunión. La chica no te recordará.
- A penas puedo creer esto. Tienes razón, sabes. Si se lo contara a mis propios padres, me tendrían encerrado bajo llave. Esto es aterrador, completamente aterrador. - Dio una vuelta alrededor, con los puños apretados en señal de victoria. - Tío, esto es grande.
_Tráele a casa, George, _sugirió Carry.
_Ni hablar, Carry. Este está loco también. No los necesito a los dos para volverme chiflado. ¿Por que alguien con medio cerebro querría conocer a uno de nosotros?_
- Me uní a la sociedad para ver si tenían alguna evidencia real de la existencia de... - Gary dudó. - vampiros. Eres un vampiro ¿no?
- Podrías pensar eso. - Dijo George evasivo.
- Dijeron que tenían sangre de vampiro, sabes. Al principio pensé que podía ser una broma, pero era un material rato, realmente interesente. Nunca había visto algo como eso. Soy bioquímico, y esto era una oportunidad, la sangre hizo de mí un creyente. - Sus palabras se atropellaban unas sobre otras en un esfuerzo por salir. - Todo el mundo pensó que estaba loco, incluso los miembros de la sociedad, pero pensé que sería realmente genial establecer contacto con un vampiro real. Desafortunadamente, ellos sólo querían capturarlos y rebanarlos.
George sacudió la cabeza ante la candidez de los seres humanos.
- ¿Se te ocurrió pensar que un vampiro sería una criatura muy peligrosa? ¿Que quizás atraer a uno a campo abierto causaría tu propia muerte? ¿Quizás incluso la muerte de tu familia? ¿De cualquiera a quien amaras o te importara?
- ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué habría un vampiro de hacer necesariamente eso? - Desafió Gary. Estaba claro que era un hombre que pensaba lo mejor de todo el mundo.
_¿Ves porque evito a los humanos, ma chérie? Son unas criaturas tontas y exasperantes._
_Te gusta. No puedes escondérmelo, ni siquiera aunque intentes escondértelo a ti mismo. Invítale a casa._
_Ni por todos los árboles de esta tierra._
_Quiero conocerle._
_Carry. _No era nada bueno, estaba seguro de ello. La mano de George volvió a su nuca, masajeando profundamente.
- ¿Así que lo eres? - Preguntó Gary.
- ¿Si soy que? - George estaba distraído. ¿Por qué estaba hablando con este tonto en primer lugar? Porque Carry estaba volviéndole loco. Carry le había hecho hacer algo estúpido. Había leído la mente de Gary y encontrado que sería una persona interesente y agradable.
_No me culpes a mí._ Sonaba inocente.
- ¿Eres un frío bebedor de sangre? ¿Matarás a mi familia y amigos? - Persistió Gary.
- Si a la primera pregunta. - Respondió George honestamente. - Y un verdadero vampiro es un gran embustero. ¿Seguramente has leído leyendas de vampiros que atraen a menudo a los humanos con su poder? Un verdadero vampiro te destruiría a ti y a todo lo que amas. Ese es su único entretenimiento. Ni siquiera desees un encuentro con un vampiro. Acerca de matar a tu familia, si amenazaras a la mía, no lo dudaría.
Gary dejó de caminar y levantó la mirada hacia el hombre a su lado. George se movió a través del tiempo y el espacio silencioso. Sus inusuales ojos plateados eran hipnotizadores, así como su hermosa voz. Se movía como un depredador, sus ojos inquietos y sin parpadear. Todo en él gritaba peligro, aunque Gary se sentía extrañamente atraído hacia él. Podía seguir escuchando para siempre el sonido de su voz. - No estás bromeando conmigo ¿verdad? ¿Pero no has dicho que no eres un vampiro?
- Soy un cazador de los no-muertos, un destructor. Hay, sin embargo, un verdadero vampiro entre los miembros de la sociedad a la que estas ligado. Los destruirá a todos ellos. - La voz fue suave y desapasionada, sin expresión.
Gary empujó una mano a través de su pelo.
- Estás diciéndome todo esto porque estás planeando borrarme el recuerdo de ti, ¿verdad?
Los ojos plateados se fijaron sobre la cara de Gary con pesar.
- No puedo hacer otra cosa. No debería haberme revelado ante ti, pero tienes un gran valor, y tu único deseo que pudiera complacer era permitirte conocer algo que buscabas.
_Eres tan dulce, George_, ronroneó Carry, su voz era fuerte en su mente.
_No soy dulce_, objetó él vigorosamente.
- No se que he hecho para merecer esto. - Dijo Gary. - Pero estoy realmente agradecido.
- Intentaste salvarnos a ambos a la chica y a mí. No creía que uno de tu raza, de tu sociedad, intentara siquiera prestar ayuda a uno de mi clase. - George fue sincero porque sentía que el humano lo merecía.
- Puedes confiar en mí, sabes. No voy a divulgar tu secreto. ¿No hay ningún humano que sepa la verdad?
- Están en constante peligro. No desearía eso para ti.
_Eres el hombre más dulce_, insertó Carry suavemente, su voz le acarició. Haciendo eco.
George frunció el ceño. ¿Eco? Cerca. Giró alrededor maldiciendo en francés, una elocuente disertación que hizo que Gary se encogiera. Carry, sin embargo, simplemente tomó el brazo de George y le sonrió, las estrellas en sus ojos danzaban. Ella era así. Distrayéndole y después deslizándose a su lado con una sonrisa. Con sus ojos azul violeta con sus malditos centros de estrella. Ni siquiera tenía la decencia de parecer arrepentida.
22. Chapter 22
CAPITULO 22
No te enfades, George. Me sentía sola con toda la casa para mí. ¿Estás realmente, realmente enfadado? ¿O solo un poco enfadado? Su era el suave susurro de una sirena, hecho de sábanas de seda y luz de velas. Sus largas pestañas eran espesas y pesadas, un barrido de magia que capturaba sus ojos y los sostenían allí.
_Es imposible para ti sentirte sola cuando estás siempre dando vueltas por mi cabeza._
- Eres Carry Grandchester. - Gary susurró su nombre reverentemente. - Dios mío, debí haberlo supuesto.
La conducta entera de George cambió, convirtiéndose de repente en amenazadora y peligrosa. Su cara estaba tallada en piedra, su boca dura y ligeramente cruel. El pelo de la nuca de Gary literalmente se puso de punta. Tragó con dificultad e instintivamente se movió un poco alejándose de la mujer. No es que culpara al hombre, criatura, pero su reacción fue más la de una bestia salvaje que de un hombre civilizado. Gary estaba arriesgándose.
Carry rió suavemente. Se inclinó hacia el hombre a pesar del brazo de George que la refrenaba.
- Puede leer tu mente. - Le recordó a Gary suavemente, su aliento se retorció con una calidez atormentadora sobre su cuello.
Saltó hacia atrás como si se hubiera quemado, su cara ardía roja, y miró culpable hacia George.
Los oscuros rasgos de George se relajaron. La dura línea de su boca se suavizó.
- No te preocupes, Gary, es incorregible. Incluso yo tengo problemas con ella. No puedo culparte de lo que no está bajo tu control. - Su brazo se deslizó alrededor de la pequeña cintura de Carry, y la arrastró bajo su hombro
_¿Estás enfadado?_ La sonrisa estaba marchitándose en los ojos de ella, en su boca.
George apretó su abrazo sobre ella cuando su paso vaciló._ Podemos discutir esto en casa, chérie. Ya que estás aquí; bien puedes dar al chico una alegría. Pero te lo advierto, no una alegría muy grande._
Ella relajó el cuerpo contra el suyo. Tan rápido. Tan fácil. Como si le perteneciera, su otra mitad. Estaba empezando a creer que podía ser posible.
Su sonrisa envió una saeta de luz a través de Gary.
- ¿les gustaría ir al Cafe du Monde? - Preguntó ella. - Está todavía abierto. Podemos sentarnos allí y hablar un rato.
Gary miró la cara impasible de George. ¿Quién podía negarle a ella nada? Era como algo misterioso y mágico de otro mundo. George parecía tan implacable y rudo como siempre, sus oscuros y peligrosos rasgos de granito, sus ojos plateados fríos y reluciendo con una amenaza. Pero su postura era protectora, el brazo que rodeaba la cintura de ella, tierno. Gary volvió la cara para esconder una sonrisa. Los vampiros parecían tener problemas de mujeres también.
- ¿Te gustaría unirte a nosotros en el Cafe du Monde? - Le preguntó George tranquilamente, ya cambiando de dirección. Se volvieron bajando Saint Ann Street hacia Decatur and Jackson Square.
Cuando pasaron la famosa Catedral de St. Louis, Gary se aclaró la garganta.
- Siempre he querido saber ¿es cierto que un verdadero vampiro no puede pisar suelo sagrado? ¿Una cruz ayuda a proteger a una persona, o es una chorrada?
- Los vampiros no pueden pisar suelo sagrado. Su alma está perdida para siempre. Es su elección; tomaron la decisión de convertirse en vampiros. - George respondió suavemente. - No cometas el error de sentir pena por los vampiros. Son realmente malvados.
- Estás acabando con todas mis teorías. - Dijo Gary tristemente.
- ¿Cuales son tus teorías? - Preguntó Carry, sus ojos azules estaban fijos en su cara. Eso le hacía sentirse como si fuera el único hombre en el mundo, como si lo que decía fuera terriblemente importante para ella.
George se revolvió inquieto. Los fríos ojos sin piedad se deslizaron sobre Gary, dejando un mal sabor en la boca del humano. Deseaba decir a la criatura que no podía controlarse, que Carry era demasiado sexy. Pero tenía el claro presentimiento de que esto admisión no le ganaría ningún favor. En cambio, Gary mantuvo la mirada con firmeza lejos de su fantasmal belleza y sus pensamientos centrados en la excitación de estar con tan míticas criaturas de la noche. El sueño de toda su vida.
- Ibas a contarnos tus teorías. - Incitó George suavemente.
Cruzaron la calle con una multitud de turistas que vagabundeaban. George fue demasiado consciente de que la mayoría de ellos miraban fijamente a su compañera. Las cabezas se volvieron cuando ella se detuvo en el borde del patio del café, donde las mesas estaba colocadas muy juntas.
Uno de los camareros los condujo a una mesa vacía, entonces reconoció a Carry, se detuvo durante un breve momento, y después se apresuró a tomarles nota.
George se sentó de espaldas a un grueso poste, parcialmente escondido en las sombras, sus ojos inquietos, todos los sentidos alerta. No podía permitirse el lujo de bajar la guardia. En algún lugar de esta ciudad había un poderoso vampiro con una legión de marionetas humanas para hacer su voluntad.
Carry firmó varios autógrafos, charló brevemente con cada persona que fue a su mesa. La mano de George estaba sobre su nuca, sus dedos moviéndose suavemente, tiernamente, contra su piel desnuda. Su encontró sintiéndose muy orgulloso de ella. Pero en cuanto sus tres cafés y baguettes llegaron, incluso Gary deseo verse libre de los fans entusiastas.
George convocó al camarero para que se inclinara más cerca, con su voz hipnótica.
- Carry ha estado encantada de dar autógrafos para tus clientes, pero necesita tiempo para si misma y para disfrutar de su extraordinario café ahora mismo. - La sugerencia fue una clara orden, los ojos plateados capturaron al camarero y no le dieron oportunidad de hacer más que estar de acuerdo.
Carry sonrió en agradecimiento cuando el camarero le proporcionó protección de los turistas que presionaban a su alrededor.
- ¿Es así en todas partes a las que vas? - Preguntó Gary.
- Bastante. - Carry se encogió de hombros tranquilamente. - No me importa en realidad. Peter siempre... - Se interrumpió bruscamente y se llevó la taza humeante a la boca.
George podía sentir la pena latiendo en ella. Una pesada piedra que aplastaba su corazón. Su mano se deslizó hacia abajo por el brazo de ella entrelazando los dedos con los suyos. En seguida vertió calidez y confort en la mente de ella, la sensación de sus brazos alrededor de su cuerpo, abrazándola.
- Peter Sanders siempre cuidaba de los detalles que rodeaban el show de Carry. Era muy bueno protegiéndola. Fue asesinado después de su última actuación en San Francisco. - Proporcionó la información tranquilamente a Gary.
- Lo siento. - Dijo Gary instantáneamente, sintiéndolo. El dolor era evidente en los grandes ojos azules. Brillaban de pena. George se llevó la mano de Carry a la calidez de su boca, su aliento calentó el pulso que latía en su muñeca. _La noche es especialmente hermosa, mon petit amour. Tu interferencia salvó a la chica, caminas entre los humanos, y conversas con un tonto. Sólo eso debería traer una sonrisa a tu cara. No te lamentes por lo que no puedes cambiar. Tenemos que asegurarnos de que este humano no nos traerá ningún perjuicio._
_¿Eres mi héroe, entonces? _Había lágrimas en su voz, en su mente, como un prisma iridiscente. Le necesitaba, su confort, su apoyo bajo el terrible peso de la culpa, el amor y la pérdida.
_Siempre, por toda la eternidad,_ respondió él instantáneamente, sin dudar, sus ojos mercurio ardiente. Le inclinó la barbilla hacia arriba para que viera el brillo de su mirada plateada. _Siempre, mon amour._ Su mirada fundida atrapó la azul de ella y la sostuvo esclavizada. _Tu corazón se aligera. El ardor de tu pena se convierte en el mío propio. _Mantuvo su mirada cautiva unos pocos momentos para asegurarse de que estaba libre de la aplastante pesadez.
Carry parpadeó y se movió un poco alejándose de él, preguntándose en que había estado pensando. ¿De que habían estado hablando?
- Gary. - Georgeo pronunció el nombre lentamente y se sentó hacia atrás en su silla, totalmente relajado. Parecía un tigre que yacía peligroso e indomable. - Cuéntanos algo de ti mismo.
- Trabajo mucho. No estoy casado. En realidad no soy persona sociable. Soy básicamente un empollón.
George se movió, un movimiento sutil de músculo que sugerían gran poder. - No estoy familiarizado con ese término.
- Si, bueno, tú no lo serías. - Dijo Gary. - Quiero decir que tengo mucho cerebro pero ninguna fuerza bruta. No soy del tipo atlético. Lo mío son las computadoras, el ajedrez y las cosas que requieren intelecto. Las mujeres me encuentran flaco, canijo y aburrido. No es algo que les guste. - No había amargura en su voz, solo una tranquila aceptación de si mismo y de su vida.
Los dientes blancos de George relampaguearon.
- Sólo hay una mujer que me importe, Gary, y encuentra difícil vivir conmigo. No puedo imaginarme por que ¿y tú?
- Quizás porque eres celoso, posesivo, mandando en cada pequeño detalle de su vida? - Gary simplemente se tomo la pregunta literalmente, ofreciendo sus observaciones sin juzgar. - Probablemente eres dominante también. Puedo verlo. Si. Podría ser duro.
Carry estalló en carcajadas, el sonido musical rivalizó con los músicos callejeros. La gente en su interior volvió la cabeza y contuvo el aliento esperando más.
- Muy astuto, Gary. Muy, muy astuto. Apuesto a que tienes un enorme coeficiente intelectual.
George se revolvió de nuevo, el movimiento de una onda de poder, de peligro. Estaba repentinamente inclinado hacia Gary.
- ¿Crees que eres listo? Provocar a un animal salvaje no es demasiado inteligente.
La risa de Gary se unió a la de Carry.
- ¡Estás leyendo mi mente! Lo sabía. Sabía que no estabas quedándote conmigo. Esto es tan genial. ¿Cómo lo haces? ¿Pueden los humanos hacer lo mismo? - Durante un instante había estado intimidado, pero la risa en los ojos de Carry relajaron su tensión.
Carry y George intercambiaron una sonrisa. Fue George quien contestó.
- Sé de seguro que hay unos pocos humanos que poseen tal talento.
- Desearía tenerlo. ¿Qué más podéis hacer?
- Pensé que estábamos hablando de ti. - Dijo George suavemente, de algún modo sin querer dejar en el humano su propia percepción poco halagüeña de si mismo. - Nunca había conocido a un humano con tanto valor y visión como el que mostraste esta noche, y he vivido mucho tiempo. No te menosprecies tanto. Quizás te entierras en el trabajo para evitar el dolor de una relación fallida.
Las largas pestañas de Carry barrieron sus mejillas mientras ocultaba su expresión. Estaba ante un hombre que se percibía a si mismo como un monstruo. Que reclamaba no sentir nada por nadie.
Gary tomo un sorbo del famoso café y dio un rápido mordisco al baguette del Cafe du Monde que era tan famoso. Lo encontró delicioso. Notó que la pareja al otro lado de la mesa parecía estar comiendo, pero no estaba seguro de que realmente lo hicieran. ¿Qué eran? ¿Por qué se sentía tan cómodo con ellos? Le gustaba su compañía. Se sentía vigorizado por ella. Aliviado. Interesante observación, cuando el hombre era casi tan peligroso como un animal acorralado letal ante la menor provocación. Había sido testigo del poder que el hombre poseía.
¿Qué pasaba si el hombre había dicho la verdad? ¿Si los vampiros eran grandes embusteros? ¿Que pasaba si el hombre sentado tan casualmente delante de él estaba engañándole? Gary estudió su cara impasible. Era imposible decir su edad. Poseía una áspera belleza, con un toque de crueldad, aunque era increíblemente bien parecido. Se pasó una mano por la cara. ¿Como podía saberlo?
- Ese es el problema con los vampiros, Gary. - Aconsejó George suavemente. - No hay forma humana de notar la diferencia entre lo que es un cazador y un vampiro.
Gary notó que había usado la palabra _qué_ en vez de _quien_. ¿Qué era él?
- Entrar en nuestro mundo es muy peligroso. - Añadió amablemente Carry. Fue a tender una mano sobre el brazo de Gary con sus modales simpáticos, pero un bajo y feroz gruñido procedente de la garganta de George la detuvo. Puso la mano sobre el regazo. George recorrió con la yema de un dedo sus nudillos en una especie de disculpa por su fracaso al superar sus modales posesivos.
Gary tomó un profundo aliento.
- Quizás eso es cierto, pero quizás ya estoy comprometido. Se suponía que no tenía que estar en el almacén esta noche, pero me presenté. Mi fórmula no parecía correcta, así que llevé a cabo una pequeña investigación. Ejecuté una prueba de la composición química. Estaba tan enfadado que fui a una de las pocas direcciones de la sociedad que tenía. Cuando encontré a esa pobre chica allí me puse frenético y llamé al jefe... Morrison... a su número privado. No estaba disponible, pero le dejé dicho que abandonaba la sociedad, que iba a destaparlo todo en los periódicos y a la policía. No creo que Rodney estuviera tan interesado en matarte como estaba en matarme a mí. Tengo el presentimiento de que alguien le ordenó matarme.
- Estaba bajo la compulsión de un vampiro. Nada le habría parado.- Admitió George.
- Así que ya soy un objetivo ¿no? - Señaló Gary triunfante.
George suspiró de nuevo.
- Intenta no sonar tan feliz con ello. Hay límites para nuestra protección. Y pones en peligro a Carry. - _Sólo por eso te arrancaría el corazón_. Las palabras parecieron brillar en el aire, no pronunciadas pero oídas. Gary pareció sobresaltado.
- Lo siento. No pensé en eso. Supongo que ella sería un objetivo si la vieran conmigo. - Estaba evidentemente disgustado. – Me siento terrible por no haberlo considerado.
- Mantén baja la voz. - Le recordó George suavemente. - Necesitamos saber más de los que forman esta sociedad de lo que sabemos. ¿Tienes una lista de nombres?
- Si, de los que trabajan en el laboratorio. El laboratorio legítimo, quiero decir. No ese enfermizo que viste esta noche. - Gary se pasó una mano por el pelo con agitación. - Quiero llamar al hospital, asegurarme de que la chica está del todo bien. Saben, todavía no puedo creer que fueran a despedazarla viva.
- Te lo dije. - Reiteró George. - La única fuente de entretenimiento del vampiro es la miseria de aquellos que le rodean. Corromperá deliberadamente a los que cree que son menos proclives a sucumbir a sus poderos. Es un juego para él. Eres un buen hombre, Gary, pero no eres rival para un vampiro. Podría hacerte matar a tu propia madre. Cualquier cosa detestable para ti, es lo que te obligaría a hacer.
- No quiero que borres mis recuerdos. - Suplicó Gary. - He esperado toda mi vida este momento. Sé que dices que no puedo notar la diferencia entre un vampiro y un cazador, pero creo que estás equivocado. Por ejemplo, tú me asustas endemoniadamente. Pareces peligroso, y actúas como si lo fueras. Ni siquiera intentas esconderlo. Eres un hombre que asusta, pero siento que eres un amigo. Te confiaría mi vida. Apuesto a que algo malvado parecería agradable pero percibiría la suciedad.
Los relucientes ojos plateados de George su fijaron en su cara, con un brillo cálido en ellos, un deje de humor.
- Ya estás confiando en mi con tu vida.
Carry se inclinó sobre George.
- Estoy muy orgullosa de ti. Estás dominando esto del humor. - Miró a través de la mesa hacia Gary, con la risa danzando en sus enormes ojos azules. - Tiene un pequeño problema con el concepto de humor.
Gary se encontró riendo con ella.
- No puedo creerlo.
- Vigila, chico. No hay necesidad de ser irrespetuoso. No cometas el error de creer que puedes escapar de la forma en que lo hace ella. - George se extendió hacia el largo pelo de ébano de Carry. Colgaba hasta su cintura, una caída de seda negro azulada que se movía con vida propia, que intentaba, invitando a los hombres a tocarlo.
- ¿Así que, que vas a hacer conmigo? - Aventuró Gary dolorosamente.
Carry resistió la urgencia de tocarle simpáticamente. Era por naturaleza demostrativa, naturalmente afectuosa. Cuando alguien estaba disgustado, necesitaba hacer que se sintiera mejor. George inhibía su tendencia natural a confortar.
_No puedo cambiar lo que soy, ma petite,_ susurró suavemente en su mente, una lenta y consoladora frase negro aterciopelada. _Sólo puedo prometerte mantenerte a salvo e intentar hacerte tan feliz como pueda a pesar de mis deficiencias._
_No he dicho que tengas deficiencias_, le devolvió ella suavemente, su voz una caricia, dedos trazando desde la espalda hasta su cuello, bajo los músculos de su espalda.
El deseo se cerró de golpe sobre él, bajo y perverso. Su piel crujió de fuego. Sus ojos plateados se deslizaron lenta y posesivamente sobre ella, tocando su cuerpo con lenguas de fuego. Tocando. Acariciando. Su urgente deseo explotó en él como un volcán. En su cabeza empezó un rugido apagado. Bruscamente deseó que Gary desapareciera. Que el café desapareciera. Que el mundo desapareciera. No estaba totalmente seguro de poder esperar hasta estar en casa con ella. La ribera estaba repentinamente pareciendo muy invitadora.
23. Chapter 23
CAPITULO 23
Gary levantó la mano lista para la prueba. Había un profundo pesar en sus ojos. Estaba volviendo a su vida normal. No es que fuera una vida tan mala, pero se sentía conectado a estas personas. Había estado aislado toda su vida. Siempre fuera de sincronía con los demás. El único que marchara con un tambor diferente. - Bueno, estoy listo. Adelante. Sólo prométanme que me visitaran de vez en cuando.
La mano de George se movió sobre el cuello de Carry, repentinamente inmóvil. Inhaló bruscamente. _¿Carry?_
_Yo lo siento también._
George se inclinó sobre la mesa para mirar fijamente a los ojos de Gary. _Harás lo que Carry te diga sin preguntas, sin pensar. Obediencia instantánea._
- Gary quiero que vayas con Carry ahora. Estamos siendo cazados. Ella les escudará a los dos de todos los ojos, y yo conduciré a los depredadores en otra dirección. Carry, caminaremos juntos en las sombras. ¿Puedes arreglártelas para mantenerse a los dos fuera de la vista sin mi ayuda? Necesito mantener una imagen de ustedes dos conmigo durante un rato, y me gustaría proporcionar una inesperada tormenta. Las nubes serán una ayuda extra para ti.
- Sin problemas. - Respondió ella sin dudar. Nada en su cara traicionaba su repentina aprensión. Este era el modo de vida de George, no el suyo. El era el maestro.
George colocó dinero sobre la mesa y sonrió a los ojos del camarero. Nos ayudarás a dejar este lugar sin incidentes –le dijo-. Sus ojos plateados sostuvieron al camarero prisionero durante un breve momento. Cuando soltó al hombre de la sujeción hipnótica, el camarero llamó a los otros, y formaron un relajado semicírculo entre la mesa y el resto de los ocupantes del patio.
George añadió una generosa propina, cabeceó hacia Carry y Gary y salió. Carry se movió con gracia, yendo directamente a cruzar la calle oscurecida, conduciéndose hacia las sombras de la plaza. Era muy consciente de George todavía cerca de ella, su cuerpo protector. Durante un momento pensó que le acariciaba el hombro con la mano, la sensación fue tan real, pero cuando giró la cabeza, él estaba a varios pies por detrás.
_Vamos, ma petite, lleva a Gary a la casa. No permitas que los vecinos les vean a ninguno de los dos. Y coloca las salvaguardas cuidadosamente._
_¿Y qué pasa contigo?_
_No hay salvaguarda que yo no pueda deshacer. Vete ahora. _Esta vez, no hubo error. Estaba a cuatro pies de distancia, ya alejándose de ella, pero sintió su boca ardiendo posesivamente sobre la de ella, demorándose sólo un momento, su lengua trazando la curva de su labio. No podía creer que pudiera hacerla desearlo, arder por él, cuando estaba entrando en la noche sólo para luchar con sus enemigos.
La noche ha sido siempre mía, Carry. No malgastes tú tiempo preocupándote por mí. La suave e hipnotizadora voz exhalaba confianza. George se alejó a zancadas caminando por el borde de la plaza, y a su lado parecían estar Gary y Carry, moviéndose al mismo paso casual. Ociosamente. Turistas admirando las vistas.
Las nubes empezaron a arremolinarse en el cielo, moviéndose rápido y oscura, trayendo una inesperada neblina fina, elevando vapor del calor de la noche. Carry se concentró en su tarea. Era relativamente fácil hacerse a si misma invisible de aquellos que deseaba evitar, pero nunca había intentado escudar a otro de ojos entrometidos. Sacando firmemente su mente del problema de la seguridad de George, del conocimiento seguro de que tendría que matar todavía una vez más, cogió a Gary por el hombro y le volvió hacia la línea de tiendas que conducían a la parte alta de la plaza.
- Quédate en el interior y sigue caminando no importa que ocurra, aunque parezca que alguien va a tropezar directamente contigo.
Gary no pronunció ninguna pregunta, pero podía sentir su corazón martilleando en el aire nocturno. La niebla se elevó fuera del río, una sopa espesa de vapor que flotó con el viento hasta la plaza y se movió rápidamente para cubrir las calles. La gente rió en voz alta para ocultar su súbito nerviosismo. La manta de niebla llenaba de aprensión, una sensación de peligro. Se movían cosas en la neblina, cosas malvados, criaturas de la noche.
George continuó la ilusión de que Carry y Gary paseaban con él a lo largo de la ribera. Parecían moverse como una unidad, serpenteando, hablando tranquilamente los unos con los otros. George quería poner distancia entre los humanos inocentes y la ilusión que estaba creando. Podía sentirlos seguirle, sabía que veían sólo lo que él quería que vieran. Eran ghouls. Marionetas macabras enviadas por la voluntad de su amo. Un bajo siseo escapó cuando sintió al demonio interior elevar la cabeza y desenfundas sus garras, luchando por liberarse.
Su cuerpo se estiró, los músculos se ondearon, dando la bienvenida al familiar poder que surgía a través de él. Rió suavemente, una burla baja enviada hacia afuera como un desafío. Su mente tocó la de Carry, asegurándose de que estaba cerca de casa. Estaba haciendo un buen trabajo en ocultarse a si misma y al humano de todos a lo largo de las calles. Carry era sólo una niña, una novata, con poco entrenamiento en sus costumbres. Estaba orgulloso de ella, ondeando dentro y fuera de la multitud de turistas que se vertían fuera de Preservation Hall. Era una tarea difícil, y la acometía como una profesional.
Permitió que las dos ilusiones que había creado brillaran sobre el agua, y después lentamente se marchitaran y disolvieran en la niebla. Sólo él continuó cruzando la extensión de agua hacia el embarcadero Algiers. Estaba seguro de que el no-muerto podía ver su desafío. La oscura compulsión de matar estaba sobre ellos, la favorita del vampiro. Una lenta sonrisa sin humor profundizó la línea cruel de su boca. El vampiro, buscando a Carry, no tenía ni idea de que se encontraría con George, el Oscuro, aquí en Nueva Orleans.
Anthony Andrew era un gran cazador, quizás el segundo mejor después de él mismo. Si Anthony había mantenido una residencia aquí y no había destruido al maestro vampiro, eso podía significar sólo que el vampiro no salía nunca cuando Anthony volvía a la ciudad. El maestro vampiro obviamente sacrificaba a otros de su propia clase sin que se le revolviera el estómago. Los vampiros con frecuencia corrían juntos para ganar fuerza contra el cazador, pero no había vínculo de lealtad que los mantuviera juntos.
George esperó entre los árboles a lo largo de la ribera. Podía oír el embotado gruñido como de un zombi de los dos atacantes mientras se abrían paso a través del agua tras él. Su embarcación era potente impulsado por un motor que escupía y gimoteaba ruidosamente, pero no intentaban esconder su presencia. Era típico de los ghoul, la firme dedicación en llevar a cabo las órdenes del vampiro. No tenían otro propósito en la vida, ni otra vida. Eran ghouls, sirvientes, marionetas, una vez humanos pero ahora necesitaban la sangre corrompida del vampiro para continuar existiendo, dormían en cloacas y tumbas poco profundas para escapar del sol mortal. Los vampiros normalmente mataban a sus víctimas cuando se alimentaban, pero algunas veces, cuando necesitaban sirvientes para realizar tareas para ellos a la luz del sol, compartían su sangre corrompida, uniendo a las víctimas a ellos, robándoles mente y alma.
Pero estas marionetas eran todavía muy peligrosas. Tenían una enorme fuerza, inteligencia y eran difíciles de matar para un hombre de los Cárpatos normal. Casi imposible para los humanos. Hizo una mueca, imaginándose a Carry atrapada por esas dos abominaciones. Era una novata, incapaz de matar a esas criaturas. Quizás debería haberlos matado a distancia... George había aprendido hacía tiempo cada artística forma de matar de su mundo y del de los humanos... pero quería asegurarse de que ningún otro se viera atrapado en su batalla. Y quería al vampiro que los había enviado para que entendiera quién estaba recogiendo el guante. George. El Oscuro.
La embarcación estaba bloqueada por algunas raíces de árbol que surgieron de las oscuras aguas aceitosas. George no hizo ningún esfuerzo para ocultarse de los zombis. Espero, con el cuerpo relajado y la niebla enroscándose alrededor de sus piernas. La ligera neblina abanicó su cara y se extendió como una fina manta a través de la noche.
Las dos marionetas bajaron torpemente de la embarcación, salpicando agua en todas direcciones. George inhaló, sintió la repentina perturbación del aire. El vampiro pensaba que su trampa había saltado. Todos los Cárpatos podían detectarse los unos a los otros cuanto estaban dentro de cierto radio de acción. El vampiro debía haber conocido el momento en que Carry entró en sus dominios, pero no había detectado la presencia de George. George caminaba entre su propia gente sin ser visto cuando así lo deseaba. Cubrirse a si mismo se había hecho tan natural para él como respirar. El vampiro, que había huido de Anthony, claramente pensaba que estaba tratando con un Carpato de menos poder. Una novicia.
Los dos enormes ghouls estaban abriéndose pasa torpemente por el terraplén. Dos veces el hombre pelirrojo cayó al agua, enviando gotas que se esparcían mientras intentaba recobrar pie. Los dos zombis se separaron, moviéndose a ambos lados.
_Comprende esto, malvado._ George envió hacia afuera una fuerte llamada mental. Sintió la súbita duda en el aire cuando el vampiro se dio cuenta de que la pesada niebla, la inusual llovizna y las nubes que se arremolinaban no eran un fenómeno natural. El vampiro retrocedió, preocupado. Los elementos estaban perfectamente recreados y pocos podrías producir tal obra de arte. _Me has lanzado tu desafío, y lo acepto. Ven a mí. _La voz de George fue baja e hipnotizadora. Hermosa. No había otra así. Nadie podía resistir cuando decidía utilizar su poder mortal.
El vampiro luchó contra la compulsión, la hipnótica orden, pero su forma vaciló fuera de la niebla sobre el agua. Su cara estaba retorcida, una malvada máscara, ojos que brillaban rojos, encías que retrocedían revelando dientes dentados, agudos. Las garras se cerraban hacia las manos, como navajas de afeitar. Siseaba veneno, asustado y furioso de que alguien pudiera llamar de tal manera que se viera forzado contra su voluntad. No había donde esconderse de la voz que susurraba, y se vio obligado a emerger totalmente a una forma sólida, incapaz de continuar la ilusión.
Durante siglos había sido una araña glotona, tejiendo su malvado tela, manteniendo la cabeza gacha y huyendo cuando era necesario.
- No puedo creer que alguien como tú eligiera cazar a un oponente tan deficiente como yo. - Dijo enseñando los dientes y sonriendo bobaliconamente como si fueran viejos amigos.
- ¿Te llamas a ti mismo Morrison estos días? - Los ojos pálidos de George pasaron del zombi a su izquierda, que se movió un poco más cerca, cada uno de sus movimientos cuidadosamente orquestados por el vampiro. - Cuando eras joven te llamabas Rafael. Desapareciste hace unos cuatrocientos años.
Los dientes afilados, manchados de marrón por siglos de consumir sangre humana basada en la adrenalina, relucieron en una grotesca parodia de sonrisa.
- Estuve en la tierra durante casi un siglo. Cuando me alcé, el mundo había cambiado mucho. Tú eras el asesino sancionador del Príncipe, alimentándote de nuestra raza. Dejé nuestra tierra natal, dirigida por tu fiebre, y tu propia lujuria de sangre. Este es mi santuario ahora, mi casa. No pido nada más. ¿Por que vienes aquí sin invitación a molestarme?
George empezó a enfocar el propio aire, para construir el cambio que necesitaba, reuniendo una bola de crujiente y feroz energía justo fuera de la vista en el remolino de nubes.
- No posees esta ciudad, Rafael, no puedes dictarme donde puedo y no puede ir. Has puesto a tus sirvientes sobre la pista de Carry. Sabías que era mi compañera, aún así la buscaste deliberadamente. No puedo pensar en ninguna otra razón excepto tu deseo durante siglos de depravación. Estabas buscándote la justicia oscura de nuestra gente.
El primer ghoul arremetió contra él, bramando furiosamente, con movimientos desmadejados. George simplemente se desvaneció, una uña afilada arañó el cuello corrupto, seccionando la yugular. El ghoul aulló y giró en círculos, rociando gotas rojas brillantes de negro en la noche. El ruido continuó, agudo y chirriante, resonando a través del agua. Lejos, en el bayou, los caimanes se deslizaron hacia abajo por la orilla para resbalar silenciosamente a las oscuras profundidades. Los gritos continuaron mientras la marioneta del vampiro daba vueltas aquí y allá, buscando a su víctima.
George observó desapasionadamente desde donde estaba en pie a unas pocas yardas de la patética criatura.
- Termínalo, Rafael. Tú le creaste; puedes permitirle la dignidad de morir.
El vampiro se estaba dando un festín con los ojos sobre el reguero de sangre, la saliva goteaba de su barbilla por la anticipación. Casualmente extendió la mano y cogió un poco de la sangre que chorreaba en la palma de su mano y la lamió avariciosamente. La criatura se arrastró hacia él, rogando y suplicando, implorando al vampiro que acabara con su vida. Rafael pateó a la criatura lejos de él. El cuerpo, todavía moviéndose desesperadamente, aterrizó en aguas más profundas y empezó a hundirse.
Maldiciéndose a si mismo, George levantó la mano y directamente la bola de fuego atravesó el cuerpo del hombre. Un ghoul podía alzarse una y otra vez si su creador no disponía apropiadamente de él. Este podía aterrorizar a los que vivían a lo largo del río si Gregorí no lo hubiera incinerado, dejándolo inservible para el vampiro.
Rafael saltó hacia atrás, horrorizado ante la vista de la bola naranja que había pasado directamente a través de su obra de arte e instantáneamente había hecho explotar el cuerpo en una ardiente conflagración. Siseó, su cabeza onduló como lo del reptil que era. George lo consideró fríamente.
- Me he equivocado. No eres el maestro. Eres uno de sus subordinados sacrificables, un esclavo de los más bajos que se arrastra de rodillas y pide favores. No puedes ser Morrison.
Los ojos del vampiro brillaron de ardiente rojo, sus labios retrocedieron en un gruñido.
- ¿Piensas ridiculizarme? ¿Crees que ese llamado Morrison es más poderoso que yo? Yo hice a Morrison. Es _mi _sirviente.
George rió suavemente.
- No intentes hacerte pasar por uno de los ancianos, Rafael. Como dije, incluso como estudiante no pusiste suficiente empeño en aprender las protecciones para mantenerte a salvo. - Inclinó la cabeza aun lado. - Esto es idea tuya, no de Morrison, ¿correcto? Me provocaste enviando a esa ridícula imitación de un vampiro, Roberto, detrás de Carry, y pusiste a Wade Carter sobre su pista. El que ellos llaman ahora Morrison es demasiado listo para esto. No quería de ninguna forma desafiarme.
Los ojos del vampiro ardieron de furia. Su siseo fue venenoso, su cabeza onduló más rápido, un esclavizante ritmo usado para hipnotizar a una víctima.
- Morrison es un necio. No es un maestro. - Era difícil entender las palabras con el vampiro gruñendo y siseando mientras las pronunciaba. Saliva, manchada por su sangre corrupta, vomitaba de su boca y goteaba hacia abajo por la barbillo sobre la pechera de su camisa una vez elegante y ahora marchita de seda blanca.
George sacudió la cabeza lentamente.
- Querías que yo cazara a Morrison. Estabas usando a Carry para conducirme a librarte de tu amo.
El segundo ghoul atacó desde atrás, arrastrándose de forma furtiva hacia George, después balanceó una enorme rama de árbol por detrás de su cabeza. En el último segundo posible, George giró alrededor, su brazo se estrecho contra la gruesa rama, destrozándola y haciendo que llovieran ramitas sobre los barrosos bancos del río. Continuó con su fluido movimientos, un poderoso ballet, fluido y fuerte, sus garras rasgaron la garganta expuesta, casi decapitando al sirviente del vampiro con su fuerza casual.
El vampiro erupcionó en un aullido de rabia que fue llevado a través de la niebla como un rayo. La llovizna era dentro, las hebras de niebla se enrollaban más y más alrededor de las piernas y cintura, moviéndose más alto para arrastrar en una cola perdida alrededor de sus pechos. Parecía casi vivo, viviendo y respirando como una bestia agazapada, ganando fuerza mientras se movía.
George sonrió agradablemente al vampiro, cuidando de caminar lejos del cuerpo ahora flotado desvalido en el barro.
- Eres como un pavo real, Rafael, elevando tus plumas y andando con paso arrogante. Debes haber tenido siglos para reunir tanto odio contra Morrison. - Su voz era hermosa, inundando el cuerpo del vampiro, devolviendo la fuerza, construida con las muertes de tantos otros, a las aguas. Esa voz susurraba con poder. Poder real. Invencible. Sin piedad. Implacable. - Morrison es el que te permitió sobrevivir a los cazadores, enviándote a la ciudad. Es la forma en que él ha sobrevivido a los cazadores, dejándola cuando ellos llegan al vecindario que ocupa.
- Huyendo. - Dijo Rafael desdeñosamente. - Huye incluso cuando somos fuertes. Deberíamos poseer esta ciudad. Juntos deberíamos ponernos en acción y matar a cualquier cazador que se atreve a venir aquí. Pero él huye como el conejo que es. Desprecio su debilidad.
George apuntó al ghoul, y un golpe de relámpago se produjo de golpe desde las nubes hacia el suelo, conduciéndose a través del corazón de las marionetas y dejando detrás sólo cenizas ennegrecidas e inútiles.
- Crees que eres tan poderoso. - Rió disimuladamente Rafael. - He matado a muchos, no eres nada. Nada comparado con alguien como yo.
Los ojos plateados de George relucieron, pálidos y fríos en la negra noche. Llamas rojas fluctuaron a través del plateado. Pareció crecer en poder y estatura.
- Soy el viento que anuncia muerte, el instrumento de justicia enviado por nuestro Príncipe para llevar la sentencia pronunciado sobre ti por nuestra gente por tus crímenes contra mortales e inmortales por igual - Su voz era pura, hermosa, el tono dolió al vampiro, como púas que se conducían a través de su cabeza. Aunque no tenía elección; contra su voluntad se movió más cerca, necesitando oír el sonido de tanta pureza y belleza de nuevo.
Cuando el vampiro dio un paso involuntario hacia adelante, algo se apretó alrededor de sus piernas, sus muslos, después se extendió enrollándose alrededor de su pecho, apretando despacio. La presión era firme, implacable, Con horror, el vampiro bajó la mirada para ver las colas de niebla moviéndose, con vida, como una enorme y gruesa pitón, deslizándose como un firme anillo que aprisionaba su cuerpo.
- ¡Lucha conmigo! - Gritó Rafael, salpicando sangre y saliva en el barro y el agua. - Tienes miedo de luchar conmigo.
- Yo soy la justicia. - Dijo George suavemente, su voz implacable era resuelta. - No puede haber lucha, ni batalla, cuando puede haber un solo resultado. Un ataque mental o físico, o un simple enfrentamiento de nuestros ingenios, puede haber un único final. Soy la justicia. Eso es todo.
Una ráfaga de viento, y el vampiro nunca vio al Oscuro moverse. La velocidad fue increíble, el vampiro no pudo seguir el borrón de movimiento. Pero sintió el impacto. Fuerte. El traqueteo sacudió su cuerpo entero. Estaba de pie allí, encerrado en el extraño abrazo de la niebla, miró abajo hacia la mano extendida del cazador. Tendido en la palma estaba su propio y pulsante corazón. El vampiro echó atrás la cabeza y aulló de rabia y horror. El negro vació que era su alma largamente perdida se había ido, subiendo con su sucio hedor en el aire nocturno como humo. Sus dientes se mostraron y rechinaron ante el impasible cazador.
George permaneció en pie en tierra, su mente cuidadosamente en blanco. Esta era su vida. Su razón para existir. Era la oscura justicia necesaria para que su gente sobreviviera, para continuar su existencia en secreto. Permaneció allí de pie en la noche, absoluta y, completamente solo.
_George, yo estoy contigo siempre. Nunca estás solo. Mírame en tu corazón, en tu mente, en tu misma alma. _
_Mira a tu héroe ahora. Mira lo que soy realmente. Mato sin pensar. Sin esfuerzo. Sin remordimientos. Sin piedad. Soy el monstruo que me llamaste, y lo soy a propósito. Algún día pagaré el último precio._
La suave risa de Carry susurró sobre su piel. Era una brisa gentil y limpia flotando a través de su mente. ¿Y quién es más fuerte que mi compañero? Nadie puede matarte.
_¿Crees que la muerte es el último precio? No, Carry. Algún día sabrás lo que soy, y me mirarás con horror y repulsión. Cuando ese día llegue, dejaré de existir. _George observó al vampiro que empezó a caer. Se movió entonces para completar la desagradable tarea de asegurar que el nosferatu no pudiera alzarse de nuevo. Chispas feroces llovieron del cielo, del tamaño de pelotas de golf, golpeando al vampiro, cubriéndolo de llamas. Sobre el banco de barro, a distancia del cuerpo ardiente, George incineró el malvado corazón.
24. Chapter 24
CAPITULO 24
_Está hecho, compañero. Ven a casa conmigo. _La voz de Carry fue baja, compeliendo, suave, seductora, ni la más mínima huella en ella de su insistencia de que viera que era un asesino. De que sería siempre un asesino. _Aquí es a donde perteneces. No sólo, nunca solo. ¿No puedes sentirme extendiéndome hacia ti? Siénteme, George. Siente como me aproximo a ti. Deseándote._
Podía sentirlo, en su mente, en su corazón. La voz de ella le tocaba en algún lugar secreto y profundo que mantenía cerrado incluso para si mismo. Ella era todo lo bello del mundo, y, Dios los ayudara a ambos, no podía obligarse a dejarla.
_Te necesito, George_. El susurro llegó de nuevo. Esta vez había una nueva urgencia en él. Ella lo sumergió en su deseo, con creciente ardor y súbito miedo de que la dejara sola. ._¿George? Contéstame. No me dejes. No podría soportar que lo hicieras._
_No hay posibilidad de que eso ocurra, ma petite_ Estoy volviendo a casa. Era la única casa que había conocido nunca, el único santuario que había tenido nunca: Carry. Ella le susurró, suave y sensual, un sueño para él tan largamente anhelado que ella era una parte de su alma. Le susurró su incondicional y total aceptación. Se lanzó a si mismo por el cielo, su cuerpo disolviéndose en la neblina, para volverse parte de la niebla en movimiento que había fabricado.
Todavía una especie de furia hervía en él, rabiaba, consumiéndole. Él había creado su imposible situación con Carry con su manipulación de la naturaleza. Sabía que no podía continuar. Era más que inestable en su estado. Ella tenía que saber la verdad. ¿En qué había estado pensando? ¿Que podía escondérselo a ella y al resto de los Cárpatos durante siglos? Ella se hacía más fuerte cada día. Necesitaba la cercanía de fundir su mente con la de él, y no podía hacer otra cosa que permitirlo.
George había estado tan seguro de que podía mantener una parte de si mismo lejos de ella para sus propios propósitos egoístas, pero su felicidad era ahora lo más importante para él. Ella necesitaba saber la verdad, que él no era su verdadero compañero. Limpiaría la sociedad de carniceros humanos, cazaría al maestro vampiro, y después elegiría encontrar el amanecer. No tenía elección. Carry merecía estar completa.
Explorando automáticamente a alguna distancia de la casa. George fue ya consciente de la presencia de Gary en uno de los dormitorios del piso superior. El hombre estaba bajo la sugestión hipnótica de Carry para dormir. George podía ver que le había asegurado para la noche, pero reforzó la orden con una propia. Sus salvaguardas eran mortales. Si Gary se despertaba antes de que ellos se alzaran y salía a buscarlos por curiosidad, moriría. Se extendió a través de las capas de sueño y penetró en la mente del hombre. Permanecerás como estás hasta que yo te despierte. Si algo fuera mal y te despertaras temprano, no intentarás encontrarnos. Morirías. Sería incapaz de salvarte. Esto no era estrictamente verdad... podía ser capaz de proteger al humano... pero deseaba imprimir el peligro en la mente subconsciente de Gary. Cualquiera sentiría curiosidad por donde podían estar durmiendo, y Gary más que la mayoría.
La pesada niebla blanca ocultó la casita. Se detuvo a examinar las salvaguardas de Carry, cuidadosamente trabajó en cada una hacia atrás hasta que fue seguro entrar en la casa. La neblina se vertió dentro y se recolectó en la entrada hasta que fue una vez más real y sólido. La casa era cálida y daba la bienvenida, brillante y de algún modo llamándolo. Las sábanas habían desaparecido de los muebles, y un fuego estaba agonizando en el protegido hogar con ascuas tan rojas danzando bajas y lanzando sombras en la pared lejana.
George se dirigió inmediatamente hacia la escalera en espiral. Podía sentirla, sabía infaliblemente el punto exacto donde estaba esperándole. No necesitaba explorar buscando a Carry; su cuerpo siempre la encontraría, su mente siempre sabía su localización. Siguió bajando las escaleras lentamente, temiendo enfrentarla.
El sótano estaba totalmente transformado. Había velas por todas partes, fluctuando a todos los niveles, iluminando la oscuridad interior de la habitación. Las sombras se entrelazaban íntimamente en cada esquina de la habitación. Una variedad de hierbas estaba aplastada, algunas encendidas, llenando el aire con la esencia de maderas y flores. Una enorme bañera antigua estaba en pie en el centro de la habitación, amplia y profunda, con patas de araña. El agua brillaba invitadora, con el vapor surgiendo de la superficie.
Carry vino a él instantáneamente, su cara estaba iluminada con alguna emoción que no se atrevía a nombrar. Llevaba una camisa de seda de hombre y nada más. Los botones estaban abiertos de forma que el borde abierto revelaba sus pechos altos y llenos, y su estrecho torso. Otro paso y su diminuta cintura, su estómago plano, el triangulo de firmes rizos de ébano, se mostró durante un intrigante momento antes de que las largas colas de la camisa volvieran atrás a su lugar. Su largo pelo caía en cascada y se movía alrededor de ella como vivo, respirando seda. Con cada paso que ella daba, captaba vistazos de piel de raso.
En seguida el rugido embotado empezó en su cabeza. El calor explotó a través de su sangre, y su cuerpo se tensó con alarmante urgencia. Cada buena y noble intención pareció consumirse en llamas. Le sonrió, sus delgados brazos se deslizaron alrededor de su cuello.
- Estoy encantada de que estés en casa. - Susurró ella suavemente, su boca encontró el pulso en la garganta de él.
Podía sentir el calor de su cuerpo, sus suaves pechos apretados contra él.
George cerró los ojos, convocó su voluntad de hierro, y puso grilletes en sus muñecas con una inquebrantable garra. Arrastró los brazos de ella hacia abajo y la mantuvo lejos de su rabioso cuerpo.
- No, Carry, no puede mantener esta decepción más tiempo. No puedo.
Las largas pestañas de ella velaron sus ojos azul violeta durante un momento, ocultando sus secretos en sus profundidades.
- No puedes decepcionarme, George. Es imposible. Tú entre todos los Cárpatos deberías saberlo. - Retorció sus muñecas, un pequeño movimiento femenino que logró que la soltara instantáneamente.
George examinó su piel buscando cardenales, temiendo que en su desesperación hubiera usado demasiada fuerza física.
Carry lo ignoró, sus manos fueron a los botones de la camisa de él.
- Si deseas discutir este asunto conmigo, bien, pero mantener el calor de esta tina lleva una energía que más bien gastaría en otra cosa. - La amable diversión de su voz fue tan efectiva como las yemas de sus dedos acariciando la piel desnuda de su pecho. Sacó la camisa de sus amplios hombros y permitió que flotara hacia el suelo.
- Carry. - Su nombre fue un gruñido que suplicaba misericordia. - Tienes que escucharme esta vez. Nunca encontraré la fuerza para hacer esta confesión de nuevo.
- Hmm. - Musitó ella, claramente distraída. Sus dedos estaban trabajando en los botones de sus pantalones. - Por supuesto escucharé, pero te quiero en la bañera. Hazlo por mi, George, después de todos los problemas que pasé por ti.
George cerró los ojos de nuevo contra las llamas que lamían su piel. Su cuerpo rabiaba, furiosamente despierto. Las manos de ella susurraban sobre sus caderas mientras deslizaba los pantalones por sus piernas, las uñas arañaban sus muslos. Dio un paso fuera de ellos, demasiado consciente de que no podía ocultar las demandas de su cuerpo por ella.
Carry sonrió con ese exasperante y secreta sonrisa suya y le tomó de las manos para conducirle a la tina. Dio un paso dentro y se sentó entre las aguas vaporosas. La sensación de color sobre su piel incrementó su sensibilidad al placer. Carry permaneció en pie tras él, sus manos soltaron la tira de piel en su nuca. El ligero y prolongado toque de las manos de ella en su pelo estaba enviando oleadas de fuego danzando a través de su piel.
Carry vertió agua cálida sobre su cabeza, empapando completamente su pelo. Frotó champú entre las palmas de sus manos y empezó un lento y aliviador masaje en su cuero cabelludo. Con los dedos ocupados en su pelo, se inclinó sobre él, la suavidad de su pecho susurró contra su espalda.
- ¿Así que, compañero, cuál es ese terrible secreto que te desgarra?
Era más fácil decirlo con ella fuera de su vista, con el confort de sus manos sobre su cuero cabelludo.
- No eres mi verdadera compañera. Manipulé el resultado con el conocimiento que he adquirido durante siglos.
- Ya sabía que creías eso, George. - Reconoció ella suavemente. - Pero también sé que estás equivocado. - Había pureza y honestidad en su voz.
La garganta de estaba en carne vida y ardiendo.
- Ni siquiera puedes ver lo que soy, Carry. Nunca podría esconder lo que soy a mi verdadera compañera. Intento mostrártelo, pero no quieres ver la realidad. Tienes una ilusión en tu mente, y nada puede reemplazarla.
Las puntas de los dedos de ella profundizaron el masaje, nunca vacilando en su propósito.
- Y se supone que eres el más sabio de los ancianos. Mi amor, tu eres el único con una ilusión de ti mismo. Y, debo añadir, de mí. Si, soy joven... comparada contigo, una niña... pero soy primero una mujer de los Cárpatos. Y soy tu verdadera compañera. - Sus manos se alejaron y el fue instantáneamente abandonado. Agua cálida tomó su lugar, llevándose el champú.
- Recuerdo antes de nacer, un terrible dolor, de ambas de mi madre y mío propio. Tú viniste a mi cuando había elegido liberarme del dolor, y me rodeaste con tu confort.
- Carry. - Gimió su nombre de nuevo, cubriéndose la cara con las manos. - Con mi voluntad, te uní a mí.
- Mi diste tu sangre para salvar mi vida, sanaste mis heridas, y me hablaste de las maravillas de la noche, de nuestro mundo. Cuando estaba sólo empezando a gatear, viniste a mí con la forma de un lobo. Compartimos nuestras mentes constantemente, cada noche. Cuando crecí, nos alcanzamos el uno al otro y compartimos todo lo que éramos.
- Me aceptas sólo porque hice esas cosas.
- Esa es la ilusión, George. He estado en tu mente. Veo lo que eres, quizás mejor que tú. Me tomó un poco de tiempo unir todas las piezas, porque tenía miedo de nuestro lazo, de lo fuerte que era. Tenía miedo de perder quien y que era ante una fuerte personalidad. - Sus manos empezaron a enjabonarle la espalda. Hacía pequeños y perezosos círculos con la espuma. - No los considere juntos al principio. Mis recuerdos de antes de mi nacimientos y mis recuerdos de mi hermoso lobo, mi compañero que me hacía sentir tan completa. No pensé en lo fácil y naturalmente que uníamos nuestras mentes. No pensé en porque nunca necesité o quise a nadie más. No vino a mi hasta que noté lo completamente que me fundía contigo, deslizándome dentro y fuera de tu mente. Ninguno de los dos lo notó. Tú nunca lo notaste. Fallaste al notar que en todos esos años de mi niñez, habías tenido una semejanza de paz en el tiempo que pasabas conmigo. Pero lo sentí. Lo vi en tu mente. Está ahí ahora, para que examines tus recuerdos. Por ese fue tan duro cuando dejé el Continente y huí lejos como la niña que era. Ves en colores, George. No los habías visto en siglos. Vi lo vívidos y brillantes que eran para ti. Sólo tu verdadera compañera podría proporcionarte tal cosa. Tu estúpida culpa está cegándote a la realidad.
Agua caliente se vertió hacia abajo por su espalda. Carry se movió alrededor para ponerse de rodillas delante de él al lado de la tina. Cuando se inclinó hacia adelante, su pelo sedoso enmarcó la perfección de su cara. La camisa se abrió para revelar la incitante vista de sus curvas. La rosada punta de uno de sus pechos le tentó. Encontraba duro controlar la dirección de su mirada. Ella le enjabonó el pecho.
- Estoy contigo en la caza. Contigo en la muerte. En tu mente, compartiendo tus pensamientos. Ninguna otra podría hacer nunca lo que hago yo porque soy la única compañera que tienes. Soy una sombra en tu mente, tan familiar para ti, que no sabes que estoy ahí.
Vertió agua sobre su pecho, después frotó el jabón entre sus palmas de nuevo. Inclinando la cabeza a un lado, miró amorosamente su cara severa.
- Estás perfectamente en blanco cuando cazas. Sé esto no porque tú me lo hayas contado, sino porque estoy allí contigo en tu mente. ¿Qué quieres sentir? ¿Tristeza? ¿Remordimientos? Has cazado durante casi cien años. Te has visto obligado a matar a amigos y allegados. Has estado aislado y solo durante años, sin tu compañera. Era imposible en ese mundo yermo sentir nada en absoluto. Sólo tu código y sentido del honor y tu lealtad hacia mi padre te mantuvo.
Las manos de Carry buscaron bajo la superficie del agua, encontrando su gruesa y dura longitud, y empezó un lento e intimo masaje. Sus dedos eran mágicos, enviando oleadas de placer surgiendo a través de él.
- No desearía que pensaras en nada mientras cazas, especialmente no en mí. Esperaría que eso te distrajera demasiado. - Su sonrisa fue francamente sexy, sus manos se movieron con una recientemente adquirida habilidad. - No puedes sentir en esas ocasiones, George. Reduciría tu velocidad, porque cometerías un error. ¿Realmente piensas que puedes cambiar mil años de entrenamiento? Te programaste a ti mismo hace siglos.
Su cuerpo rabiaba, la bestia interior se retorcía de deseo. Sus ojos plateados abiertos de par en par la miraban. Ardiente. Hambriento. Salvaje. Indomable. Le sonrió y se colocó de rodillas, su sonrisa secreta se volvió erótica. Carry se puso en pie y permitió que la camisa se deslizara por sus hombros hasta el suelo.
- Estoy contigo en tu mente, y ni siquiera lo sabías, porque soy tu otra mitad y allí pertenezco. ¿Quién más podría ir contigo a la caza, cuando todos tus sentidos están en alerta completa, y sin que fueras consciente de ello?
La respiración de él era audible en la quietud de la habitación. Ella retrocedió, su cuerpo era una sensual invitación, el pelo cobrizo acariciaba su cremosa piel. George se puso en pie ignorando el agua que se vertía de su cuerpo. La deseaba, y le pertenecía. Cuando salió de la bañera hasta el suelo, ella retrocedió poco a poco. Sus ojos estaban entrecerrados, el deseo en su mente, su cuerpo llamando al de él. Se movió inquietamente, una mano fue hacia la caída de pelo sedoso sensibilizando sus pezones en los duros pechos.
- Ven aquí. - Gruñó el, su cuerpo estaba pesado por el deseo que estaba temiendo que explotaría en fragmentos si daba un paso.
Ella sacudió la cabeza lentamente, su lengua deliberadamente humedeció el lleno labio inferior.
- Sólo quiero a mi verdadero compañero. Estoy hambrienta esta noche. Mi cuerpo está hambriento. - Su mano se deslizó lenta e invitadoramente por su piel satinada, y los ojos de él siguieron el movimiento lleno de gracia mientras su cuerpo rugía.
George cubrió la distancia entre ellos en una súbita oleada, alzándola, la velocidad adquirida los llevó a la pared. La mantuvo prisionera allí, su boca se cerró sobre la de ella, exigiendo su respuesta, alimentando, devorando, sus manos reclamaban su cuerpo para él.
- Nadie nunca te tocara y seguirá vivo. - Exclamó él, su boca quemó una senda de fuego hacia abajo por la garganta de ella hasta su pecho. Se alimentó hambrientamente, sus dientes rozaron la cremosa plenitud. - Ningún otro, Carry.
- ¿Por qué, George? ¿Por qué no puede ningún otro tocar mi cuerpo así? - Murmuró ella, con su boca sobre la piel de él, su lengua sobre el pulso de él. - Dime por qué mi cuerpo es sólo tuyo y tu cuerpo sólo mío.
Las manos de él se curvaron en el trasero de ella, atrayéndola contra él.
- Sabes por qué, Carry.
- Dilo, George. Dilo si lo crees. No habrá mentiras entre nosotros. Tienes que sentirlo en tu corazón como yo. Tienes que sentirlo en tu mente. Tu cuerpo está ardiendo por mí. Pero por encima de todo, tienes que saber que soy tu otra mitad.
La alzó, colocándola en lo alto del margen de la cámara de dormir, sus manos separaron sus muslos.
- Sé que ardo por ti. Incluso en mis sueños, el sueño de nuestra gente donde no puede haber pensamientos, ardo por ti. - Inclinó la cabeza para saborearla, su pelo mojado bañó la cara interior de los muslos de ella mientras arrastraba su cuerpo más cerca de él.
Carry gritó al primer toque de su boca, el ansia del deseo ardiente la convirtió en líquido, en llama ardiente. Apretó el pelo de él entre sus puños y le sujetó a ella.
- Dilo, George. - Exclamó entre los dientes apretados. - Necesito oírtelo decir.
_Estoy diciéndolo, compañera. ¿No puedes oírme?_ No alzó la cabeza, esperando sentir su cuerpo suplicando por el suyo, deseando sentir su apretada presión en él, intentando aliviar la creciente presión. Sabía a miel salvaje y especias. Adictiva. Su respuesta era adictiva, la forma en que gemía y se retorcía, empujando contra su asalto. Estaba temblando de vida, de fuego, y la llevó más y más alto hasta que gritó suplicando piedad. Solo entonces la alzó en brazos.
- Pon tus piernas alrededor de mi cintura. - La deslizó hacia abajo por su cuerpo ardiente hasta que la sostuvo colocado sobre su dura y ardiente longitud. La sensación de ella, húmeda, ardiente y preparada, estaba produciendo martillazos en su cabeza y su cuerpo se tensaba de deseo. Todavía la sostenía, balanceándola en la ardiente e invitadora entrada tan vulnerable a su invasión. - Pon tu boca en mi cuello, Carry. - Ordenó. - Bebe de mí mientras te tomo.
- A prisa. - Suplicó ella, con voz alta, rota. Casi ciegamente le obedeció, su lengua acarició el pulso que latía tan fuertemente. Echó a un lado el pelo húmedo de él, y cuando empujó hacia adelante, apuñalando en el interior de su apretada y aterciopelada vaina, sus dientes atravesaron la piel, para que él fluyera en ella, su cuerpo, alma y mente.
George gritó roncamente, realmente en éxtasis, tomando a su compañero como siempre quiso, sin reservas, sin refrenarse, sin barreras entre ellos. La mente de ella estaba llena de imágenes salvajes, y la de él emparejada e inflamado con la de ella.
No había compartimentado sus pensamientos ni se había preocupado de si ella encontraría algo que la apartara de él. Se permitió a si mismo simplemente sentir el intenso placer. Llamas, formando arcos de electricidad, relámpago ardientemente blanco, la fricción creciendo más y más.
Ella siempre había estado en su alma; esta vez la tomó allí, necesitando la libertad de su total aceptación, su rendición incondicional, su completa fe y confianza en él. Carry deslizó su lengua a lo largo del cuello de él, cerrando las pequeñas heridas. Se arqueó alejándose de él, ofreciendo sus perfectos pechos a su boca.
- Ahora tú. Aliméntate. Tómame en tu cuerpo de la forma en que yo te tomo.
Era pequeña y ligera entre sus brazos, tan pequeña comparada con el tamaño de su propio cuerpo, aun así cuando empujó en su interior, sus caderas frenéticas, enterrándose profundamente, conduciéndose tan cerca de su alma como podía, el cuerpo de ella se acomodó al suyo. Primero tomó su boca, saboreando el poder de su propia sangre de sus labios. Después sus dientes rasparon por su garganta, más abajo, para encontrar el valle entre sus pechos.
Carry estaba montándole ahora, su cuerpo encontraba un ritmo perfecto con el de él, urgente, frenético, sus manos capturaron su cabeza para obligarle a unir su boca a la de ella. Te necesito. Había tanto suplica dolorida resonado en su mente, él no esperó más. Sintió sus afilados incisivos, alargándose, mientras se hundían profundamente en el pecho de ella.
Gritó, su cuerpo se tensó alrededor de él, temblando con tal intensidad, con una tormenta de fuego de placer que sentía como si explotara en pedazos. Carry clavó las uñas en la espalda de él buscando un ancla mientras sus caderas se empujaban en su interior, salvajes, indomables, desinhibidas. Entonces ambos explotaron juntos, George levantó la cabeza y gritó roncamente, incapaz de contener el salvaje placer que ardía en su interior.
Carry se aferró a él, con la cabeza sobre su hombre. Él esperó un latido de corazón para estar seguro de que estaba todavía sobre la tierra.
Algo se movió entre ellos, y vio un fino reguero de sangre corriendo hacia abajo por el estómago de ella para gotear sobre su propio cuerpo. Inclinó la cabeza y cerró las heridas en el pecho de ella con su lengua.
- Te amo, George. - Susurró ella suavemente contra su garganta. - Realmente te amo. Al tú real. ¿Lo entiendes?
Él ondeó una mano para extinguir las velas, sumergiendo la habitación en completa oscuridad. Con el cuerpo de Carry cerrado alrededor del suyo, se hundieron al abrazo de la tierra que los esperaba, la riqueza de su tierra natal. Instantáneamente la paz se hizo en sus corazones acelerados, en la inquietud de sus mentes.
- Eres mía por toda la eternidad, Carry, hasta que estemos cansados de esta existencia y elijamos ir juntos a la próxima.
Triunfante, liberó su cuerpo del de ella, inclinando la cabeza para borrar el delgado rastro rojo que estropeaba la piel de ella. George la colocó de forma que su cabeza descansaba junto al pecho de ella.
Sus brazos se arrastraron por el pelo húmedo, acunándolo hacia ella, el sueño de su gente la llamaba. Él movió su ligero cuerpo de forma que pudiera cubrir con una pierna los muslos de ella posesivamente, para que sus manos pudieran recorrer el cuerpo de ella a voluntad, sabiendo que quedaría impreso allí en la tierra bajo él.
La puerta de la cámara se deslizó silenciosamente para sellarlos en el interior con un pensamiento de él. Las salvaguardas eran muchas y todas ellas mortales. Cualquiera que perturbara su descanso estaría en peligro mortal. George acarició su largo pelo, contento. En paz.
- Eres demasiado pequeña, ma petite, para dar tanto placer a un hombre. - La calidez de su aliento fastidiaba los pezones de ella, y su lengua lo siguió en una lenta y ociosa caricia. - Te hago el amor cada vez que te tengo en mis brazos. No puedo haber ningún otro para nosotros, Carry.
Ella se revolvió con soñolencia complacida, el ligero movimiento llevó su pecho contra la boca de él. Sus manos acariciaron el pelo de él gentilmente.
- No soy yo la que estaba preocupada, compañero. Sé que no hay otro.
La lengua de él realizó otro rizo perezoso y complacido alrededor de su cremosa piel.
- A alguien que lleva siglos en la absoluta oscuridad le lleva bastante tiempo creer no perderá la luz. Duerme, Carry, a salvo entre mis brazos. Deja que la tierra nos sane a ambos y nos traiga paz, como Anthony sabía que haría.
Ella estuvo en silencio un momento, pero la de él se alimentaba de su pecho causándole pequeños espasmos, un tropel de calor líquido.
- Quiero que te comportes. - Había una suave risa en su voz, una aceptación a cualquier cosa que el deseara.
Él deseaba que se durmiera y silenciosamente se empujó hacia su mente, ayudándola a sentirse más cansada, pero no podía dejar su cuerpo todavía. Pasó unos pocos minutos acariciando gentil y tiernamente su pecho. Ella le abrazó mientras se hundía en un nebuloso y erótico sueño
- Duerme ahora. - Le ordenó él suavemente y les envió a ambos a la tierra sanadora, lejos del son que se alzaba.
25. Chapter 25
CAPITULO 25
Gary intentó no notar lo pálida que estaba Carry cuando se unió a el con una taza de café. Su piel de raso estaba casi translúcida. Estaba aturdido por el trance inducido para dormir y lo había pasado mal para despertar, incluso después de una larga ducha. No tenía ni idea de de donde había salido la ropa de recambio, pero estaban tendidas a los pies de la cama cuando se despertó.
Carry era hermosa, moviéndose a través de la casa como agua que fluye, como música en el aire. Estaba vestida con unos marchitos jeans y una camisa turquesa pálido que se aferraba a sus curvas y enfatizaba su estrecho torso y la pequeña cintura. Su largo pelo estaba echado hacia atrás en una gruesa trenza que colgaba hasta su trasero. Gary intentó mantener sus ojos apartados. No había ninguna evidencia de George esta noche, pero no quería arriesgarse. Tenía el presentimiento de que la única cosa que podría cambiar esa remota expresión rápidamente era tener a otro hombre coqueteando con Carry.
- Tan pronto como George vuelva, podemos salir y conseguirte algo de cena. - Dijo Carry suavemente cuando él aceptó la humeante taza de café.
Estaba realmente fuerte. Gary no tenía ni idea de que había ocurrido después de que llegara a la casa la noche anterior. Se aclaró la garganta nerviosamente.
- ¿Qué ocurrió exactamente anoche? Todo lo que recuerdo es llegar a la casa contigo y después despertarme hace una hora. Asumo que he dormido todo el día. - Había cautela en su voz, en su mente, que no había estado allí antes. Era una singular experiencia tomar conciencia de que alguien había tomado el control por él.
- No te desperté hasta que no aseguramos de que era seguro. Anoche George tuvo un encuentro con dos de los sirvientes del no-muerto y un vampiro menor. Los derrotó, por supuesto, y los destruyó para que no pudieran volver al alzarse de nuevo. Era más seguro para ti permanecer aquí. No estamos manteniéndote prisionero. Simplemente deseamos mantenerte a salvo. - La diversión se arrastró por su voz. - No creo que George sepa realmente que hacer contigo.
El corazón de Gary saltó. Se aclaró la garganta.
- Espero que lo digas positivamente.
Los ojos de Carry rieron hacia él.
- ¿Crees realmente que te hará daño? Puede leer tu mente. Si fueras un enemigo, te habría matado en ese almacén. - Maliciosamente se inclinó sobre la mesa. - Por supuesto, es realmente muy imprevisible, así que nunca se sabe lo que puede hacer o donde está... - Se interrumpió, riendo, mientras su brazo flotaba en el aire como si algo hubiera atrapado su muñeca y le tirara hacia atrás. Carry fue arrastrada por algo invisible hasta la cocina. Estaba riendo, sus ojos azules danzaban traviesos.
George la arrastró por la muñeca, sacándola al santuario del patio con su densa y anormalmente tupida vegetación. Las flores daban vueltas en la arboleda sobre sus cabezas y se arrastraban por los hombros de él mientras emergía completamente en la noche.
- Estas deliberadamente asustando a ese jovencito a muerte. - La acusó.
Ella alzó la cabeza hacia él, con estrellas del cielo nocturno en el centro de sus ojos.
- Bueno, en realidad, ¿cómo podría alguien dudar de ti? - Mientras la palma de su mano acariciaba la dura línea de su mandíbula, la punta de un dedo tocó su perfecta boca.
- Deja de pensar que tienes que protegerme, Carry. Es bastante con que te tenga a ti. No necesito a nadie más. - Inclinó la cabeza para encontrar su boca. La había tomado dos veces con su insaciable apetito, aunque su cuerpo estaba de nuevo volviendo a la vida ante la idea de que ella saldría en su defensa.
En el momento en que su boca reclamó la de ella, sintió la tierra moverse de esa peculiar y cambiante manera, la blanca franja de fuego apresurándose a través de su riego sanguíneo para recogerte bajo y caliente. Su cuerpo se volvió líquido, sin huesos, fundiéndose instantáneamente con él. Sus brazos la aplastaron más cerca.
- Aliméntate, ma petite. Aliméntate para mí.
Sus labios quemaron sobre la garganta de él en obediencia; su lengua acarició el pulso allí. Fue sensual. Erótico. El cuerpo de él se tensó con alarmante deseo. Su pulso saltó bajo la caricia exploradora. George capturó su delgada forma y la sostuvo incluso más firme contra él, encerrándola entre sus brazos protectores.
Carry se tomó su tiempo, incitando, tentando, deliberadamente llevándole más allá. Jaleada por la sensación de su cuerpo empujando fuerte y agresivamente, sus caderas presionando contra las de ella. Cuando sus dientes se clavaron profundamente, él hizo un ruido, un lamento ronco e inarticulado, mientras el relámpago blanco chisporroteaba y danzaba a través de su cuerpo como un látigo de dolor y éxtasis, hasta que fue imposible decir donde acababa una sensación y empezaba la otra.
En eso él sintió la perturbación en el aire nocturno, un susurro de movimientos, y supo que no estaban solos. Sujetándola protectora mente, su cuerpo la escudó de ojos entrometidos, George levantó sus ojos plateados que relampagueaban hacia el hombre que vagaba por el patio. Gary no los había descubierto todavía; su mirada estaba llena de maravilla antes la inesperada belleza del patio. George se hundió más profundamente entre las sombras, arremolinando una capa de invisibilidad alrededor de ellos. Su mano encontró la nuca de ella, presionando su boca contra la piel.
El que ella se alimentara estaba retorciendo su cuerpo con mayores demandas. No podía imaginar observarla alimentarse de otro hombre cuando él ardía de fuego por el simple acto. Lenta y renuente, Carry acarició con su lengua sobre las diminutas heridas y levantó la cabeza. Sus ojos estaban nublados, como si hubieran hecho el amor, sus labios tentaban. Un pequeño punto rojo se aferró a la comisura de su boca, y George instantáneamente se hundió para probarla con su lengua.
Su boca se movió para poder explorarla, al principio exigiendo, luego un lento y cuidadoso beso que la chamuscó con su ternura. Carry le sonrió, con el corazón en sus ojos.
- No estamos solos, mon amour. - Susurró él en su oído.
Ella rió suavemente con pesar, y echó la cabeza hacia atrás para que su larga trenza oscilara.
- ¿No fuiste tu el que le invitó a quedarse?
- Creo que esa fuiste tú. - La corrigió a través de los dientes apretados. Ella era una fiebre en su sangre. Una locura de la que no tenía esperanza de curarse. No quería curarse. Se inclinó para entrar en su pecho a través del material de la camisa.
El aire nocturno era suave y frío contra su piel. Los murciélagos se lanzaban en picado y daban vueltas sobre ellos. La esencia de las flores los rodeaba mientras sus cuerpos se enredaban. Carry se rió de él, el sonido de la alegría, resonó en su corazón.
- Ten cuidado, George, no querríamos que pierdas tu imagen de gran hombre murciélago malo. - Sus dedos se entrelazaron detrás del cuello de él.
- Estas siendo una pequeña instigadora. - La acusó.
Ella le mordisqueó el lóbulo de la oreja, tentándolo con la punta de la lengua. El aroma del café estaba acercándose. Las suelas de las zapatillas deportivas de Gary chasqueaban suavemente por los azulejos del patio. Sus ropas susurraban contra las frondas de los enormes helechos cuando se acercó a las sombras donde estaban escondidos.
George se encontró suprimiendo un gemido. Carry le bajó la cabeza rodeando su cuello con los brazas, encontrando su boca con la de ella, tomándose su tiempo, disfrutando, un sabor tentador de fuego satinado que ardía a través de su cuerpo y amenazaba con consumirle, amenazando su control. _Estás jugando con fuego, ma chérie._
_Mmm, y es tan delicioso_, murmuró ella suavemente, perdiéndose en el puro placer de su boca dominante.
Gary estaba justo al otro lado del árbol, con una pesada pantalla de madreselva y vides entre ellos. George tomó el mando de la situación, renuente alzó la cabeza, con una oscura promesa brillando en sus ojos, un suave gruñido escapo de su garganta.
Gary había pensado que estaba completamente solo. Echó una mirada alrededor del patio cautelosamente, sus dedos apretaron la taza de café. Podía oir la suave risa de Carry. Sexy. Tentadora. Sacudió la cabeza. Esa mujer era una amenaza. Lo odiaría si fuera suya. Sólo un hombre muy fuerte y capaz sin muchos amigos masculinos podría tener a una sirena como ella. Era más que demasiado; era un desastre esperando por ocurrir.
¿_Estás leyendo los pensamientos del humano, ma petite femme? La voz satisfecha de George susurró en su mente. Incluso alguien como él sabe que eres salvaje como el viento._ Con gran renuencia soltó su abrazo. _Ve dentro de la casa_
_._
Los ojos de ella se abrieron de par en par con simulada sorpresa. _¿Quieres decir que podría pensar que estábamos haciendo el amor? Lo habríamos hecho si no hubiera vagado hacia afuera y nos hubiera interrumpido._
_Pruebame un poco más, chérie, y puedo hacer algo que no te gustaría._
Ella rió en voz alta, sin ningún miedo mientras se deslizaba a través del patio. Cuando pasó junto a Gary se inclinó sobre él y sopló aire cálido en su oreja.
_¡Carry!_ George rugio su nombre, una clara amenaza.
_Ya voy, ya voy, _dijo ella, completamente impenitente.
George esperó hasta que estuvo a salvo entre los confines de las paredes antes de surgir de las sombras.
El corazón de Gary estaba tronando ruidosamente en los oídos de George. Sonrió, ese destello era el de una sonrisa de depredador.
- A pesar de todo el tiempo que hemos pasado juntos, creo que todavía no hemos sido presentados apropiadamente. Soy George, compañero de Carry.
- Gary, Gary Janson. Tú... ummm, esposa, Carry, dijo que podría vagar por los alrededores.
- Carry es mi esposa. - Confirmó George, sonando severo y amenazador a pesar del hecho de que su voz fue suavemente aterciopelada.
- Así que. - Dijo Gary, tan nervioso que estaba empezando a sudar.
- Volvamos a la casa, y decidiremos que hacer. - George estaba ya deslizándose más allá él de esa forma silenciosa que tenía.
Gary le siguió. Carry estaba junto la chimenea. Una vez más su piel tenía un aspecto saludable. Algo ardió en las profundidades de sus ojos violeta cuando descansaron sobre la impasible cara de George. Gary vio esos ojos plateados sobre la cara de Carry. Ya no yermos y fríos, sino cálidos como mercurio fundido, tiernos y ferozmente protectores. Cuando George miraba así, era imposible temerle.
- He considerado varias alternativas a nuestro problema, Gary. - Dijo George suavemente. - Las expondré ante ti y tú elegirás con cuál de ellas te sientes más cómodo.
Gary se relajó visiblemente.
- Si, eso suena bien.
- Vas a ser cazado por vampiros y esos humanos involucrados en la sociedad por igual. - Le contó George. - Cualquier lugar que frecuentes normalmente debes evitarlo por consiguiente. Eso incluye a tu familia, tu casa, y tu trabajo. Son los lugares en lo que te estarán esperando.
- Tengo que trabajar, George. No tengo exactamente una enorme cuenta corriente.
- Puedes trabajar para mí. Tengo muchos negocios y podría utilizar a alguien en quien confío. Pueden hacerse arreglos para que te mudes a cualquier ciudad aquí en Estados Unidos donde tengo oficinas, o... puede ser una alternativa más segura... en Europa. La oferta está en pie tanto si decides mantener tus recuerdos de nosotros como si pides que sean borrados.
Carry se apoyó contra la pared, sorprendida ante la proposición de George. Suave... ligera, tocó su mente. Instantáneamente, la atención de George se volvió hacia ella. _Guarda silencio, Carry_. Era claramente una orden. Aunque su cara estaba tan impasible como siempre, ella podía sentir el imperativo ardor en su mente, y por una vez se quedó en silencio, observándole atentamente.
- No quiero que borres mis recuerdos. - Dijo Gary. - Te lo he dicho. Por otro lado, creo que tengo derecho a ayudarte con este lío en vez de ser enviado fuera a algún país extranjero como un niño.
- No conoces los peligros, Gary. Pero quizás eso es bueno. Si insistes en mantener tus recuerdos, no puedo hacer otra cosa mas que proteger a Carry y a nuestra gente. No tendría más elección que tomar tu sangre para así poder supervisarte a voluntad.
Gary palideció visiblemente. Lentamente bajó la taza de café, su mano temblaba.
- No entiendo.
- Cuando estoy cerca, puedo leer tus pensamientos, pero debo estar cerca. Si tomo tu sangre, siempre sabré donde estas, puedo seguirte el rastro fácilmente en cualquier lugar de esta tierra, y conocería tus pensamientos. Si alguna vez nos traicionas, lo sabría. - George se inclinó hacia adelante, sus brillantes ojos plateados mantenían cautivo a Gary. - Entiende esto, Gary. Si tengo que hacerlo, te haría daño, te encontraría. Y te mataría. - Había absoluta convicción en su voz, en las profundidades de sus ojos.
Gary no podía apartar la mirada. Sentía que esa penetrante mirada podía ver directamente en el interior de su alma.
- Es algo sobre lo que deberías pensar. - Continuó George casi amablemente. - Tiene que ser tu decisión exclusivamente. Sea lo que sea lo que decidas, lo respetaremos y haremos lo que podamos por protegerte. Tienes mi palabra en eso.
- Una vez me dijiste que el vampiro es el mayor embustero de todos. ¿Cómo sé que estás diciéndome la verdad?
- No puedo. Sólo puedes sentir lo que está bien y lo que está mal. Por eso es necesario que te tomes tu tiempo antes de decidir. Una vez la decisión esté tomada, todos tendremos que vivir con ella.
- ¿Duele? - Preguntó Gary curioso, su cerebro de científico estaba ya buscando datos.
Carry detecto el ramalazo de una sonrisa en la mente de George, la súbita admiración por el endeble humano que se puso en pie y empezó a pasear por la habitación.
- No tienes que sentir nada. - Dijo George tranquilamente, su voz fue estrictamente neutral. No quería influenciar al humano de ninguna forma.
- Supongo que sería mucho pedir que permitieras que Carry mordiera mi cuello. - Gary hizo un intento de humor. Estaba frotándose el cuello, todas las películas de Drácula que había visto alguna vez estaban pasando por su mente.
Un gruñido bajo que retumbó en la garganta de George fue su respuesta. Carry estalló en carcajadas. Podía sentir la creciente agitación de Gary. Se pasaba una mano por el pelo.
- ¿Tengo que contestar ahora?
- Antes de que dejemos esta casa. - Replicó George suavemente.
- Ese me da realmente un montón de tiempo para pensarlo. - refunfuñó. - Así que, si borrar mis recuerdos de ustedes, volvería a mi vida normal y no tendría ni idea de que estoy en peligro. ¿Es una forma amable y conveniente de librarlos de mi, verdad? - El sarcasmo goteaba en su voz.
Los ojos plateados relampaguearon. George se movió, un amenazador ondea de músculos, el depredador desenfundó sus garras. Carry puso una mano sobre su brazo conteniéndole. Su pulgar acarició ligeramente de un lado a otro del antebrazo. Casi en seguida la tensión en la habitación se alivió. Pero esos ojos de depredador permanecieron sin parpadear sobre la cara de Gary.
- Si te quisiera muerto, Jansen, creeme, ya serías historia.
- No quise ofenderte, George. - Dijo Gary. - Esto no es fácil. Nunca me había ocurrido nada como esto antes. Al menos eso creo. ¿No nos hemos conocido antes, verdad?
- No. - Contestó Carry gravemente. - Te lo hubiéramos contado. En realidad estamos intentando ser tan honestos como podemos. Esta es una tremenda oferta, Gary, una que nunca pensé siquiera que se consideraría. No tienes ni idea del honor que...
- Silencio, Carry. Debe tomar su propia decisión sin persuasión. Es sólo decisión suya. - Reprendió George.
_No comprende el honor que le has concedido, _argumentó ella. _Si lo supiera, estaría menos agitado._
_S'il vous plait, Carry. Dejale decidir._
Gary levantó una mano.
- No hagáis eso. Sé que estáis hablando entre ustedes. Y estoy lo suficientemente nervioso. De acuerdo. De acuerdo. Hazlo. Adelante con ello. Muérdeme el cuello. Pero te lo advierto, nunca he hecho esto antes. Puedo no ser bueno para ti. - Intentó una pálida mueca.
End file.
| fanfiction |
Difference between shells, subshells and orbitals
What are the definitions of these three things and how are they related? I've tried looking online but there is no concrete answer online for this question.
Here's a graphic I use to explain the difference in my general chemistry courses:
* All electrons that have the same value for **$n$** (the principle quantum number) are in the same **shell**
* Within a shell (same $n$), all electrons that share the same **$l$** (the angular momentum quantum number, or orbital shape) are in the same **sub-shell**
* When electrons share the same **$n$**, **$l$**, and **$m\_l$**, we say they are in the same **orbital** (they have the same energy level, shape, and orientation)
So to summarize:
* same $n$ - shell
* same $n$ and $l$ - sub-shell
* same $n$, $l$, and $m\_l$ - orbital
Now, in the other answer, there is some discussion about spin-orbitals, meaning that each electron would exist in its own orbital. For practical purposes, you don't need to worry about that - by the time those sorts of distinctions matter to you, there won't be any confusion about what people mean by "shells" and "sub-shells." For you, for now, orbital means "place where up to two electrons can exist," and they will both share the same $n$, $l$, and $m\_l$ values, but have opposite spins ($m\_s$).
Have a look [here](http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch6/quantum.html#shells):
>
> Orbitals that have the same value of the principal quantum number $n$ form a shell. Orbitals within a shell are divided into subshells that have the same value of the angular quantum number $l$. Chemists describe the shell and subshell in which an orbital belongs with a two-character code such as 2p or 4f. The first character indicates the shell (n = 2 or n = 4). The second character identifies the subshell. By convention, the following lowercase letters are used to indicate different subshells.
>
>
> * s: l = 0
> * p: l = 1
> * d: l = 2
> * f: l = 3
>
>
>
What is called an orbital might differ according to the context.
With orbitals in the context of shells and subshells one usually means atomic orbitals, i.e. two-electron eigenstates of an atom's Hamilton operator which are characterized by the three quantum numbers: the principal quantum number $n$, the angular quantum number $l$ and the magnetic quantum number $m$.
But often the word orbital is also used for spin-orbitals, i.e. one-electron eigenstates of the system's one-electron Hamilton operator which are characterized not only by $n$, $l$ and $m$ but also by the spin quantum number $m\_{\mathrm{s}}$ which can be either $+\frac{1}{2}$ or $-\frac{1}{2}$.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Why is the Pauli's exclusion principle not violated in the two neutron beams interference experiments?
It is my understanding so far that in this kind of experiments like the one measuring the 4π (i.e. 720° Dirac Belt trick) rotation characteristic of 1/2 spin fermions like neutrons, two neutron beams are polarized via S-G apparatus to the same quantum spin number. The two separated polarized beams are initially in phase meaning identical in every aspect. Continuing, one of the two beams is then brought out of phase from the other by forcing it to continuous Larmor precession while the other beam is not forced to precess. The two beams are then combined together in superposition and a interference signal is obtained.
I understand that because in the one beam the neutrons are wobbling all the time (Larmor precession) most of the time the beams are never in phase and don't have all four quantum numbers identical and therefore the Pauli's exclusion principle is not violated. Therefore, most of the time a steady noise interference output signal is produced of the two neutron beams combined.
However, as [these experiments](https://www.nature.com/articles/294544a0.pdf) show for every *4π* of Larmor rotation period, the two beams get momentarily in phase and a maxima in the signal output is generated due constructive interference:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l26Ea.png)
**My question here is, at the points where the maxima in the interference signal are observed as shown above, meaning the two beams are monetarily in phase, do these events not violate the Pauli's exclusion principle?**
The best explanation I could find so far in the literature to resolve my confusion is that mathematically this means the wavefunctions of the two combined fermions must be antisymmetric (antiparallel spin) which leads to the probability amplitude of the interference wavefunction going to a zero maxima if the two fermionic particle beams are in the same phase.
Thus according to the above interpretation IMO the signal output will be like this:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/po1m9.png)
But then how can be the two beams be in phase and at the same time having a destructive interference? And most importantly, if the two neutron beams combined end up having anti parallel spin because the Pauli's exclusion principle, how then can these experiments measure the 720° rotation *Dirac Belt trick* characteristic of these fermions (i.e. neutrons)?
Would that not totally mess up the experiment?
I'm confused, please help.
**A step by step procedure description** of such an experiment example to measure the 4π phase characteristic of the neutron would be most beneficial for a general audience to understand how this measurement is carried out and therefore why the Pauli's exclusion principle is not violated in this experiment.
Neutron-interferometry experiments are intensity-starved. The most common number of neutrons in the interferometer at once is zero; the fraction of events where two neutrons were in the interferometer at once is negligible in any interferometry experiment.
Interferometry only works if your beam is monoenergetic — that is, if the neutrons don’t all have the same wavelength entering the interferometer, you won’t be able to statistically build up an interference pattern. However, intense neutron sources are quasi-thermal. The neutrons reach the experiment by leaking out of a hole in the wall of a nuclear reactor, and have a thermal distribution like the temperature whatever’s on the other side of that hole. Typically this is either the temperature of a room-temperature volume of water, or (for “cold” neutrons) the temperature of a “moderator” of liquid hydrogen. Either way, you get a distribution of neutron speeds.
To get a monochromatic beam of neutrons, you have to take all the neutrons from your thermal beam and throw away the ones that have the wrong energy. At the NIST interferometer, most of the “thrown away” beam goes downstream to one or more other experiments: the entire beam passes through a carefully-chosen perfect crystal, and the Bragg-diffracted wavelengths are sent to the interferometer. There isn’t any “focusing” of a neutron beam; there is only collimation.
The interferometer itself is milled from a perfect-crystal silicon ingot, and is no more than about 10 cm long. A “thermal” neutron with wavelength 2 Å is moving at about 2000 m/s. Let’s consider a beam of 1000 m/s neutrons, which would have a dwell time in the interferometer of 10 µs. If your experiment were detecting neutrons at a rate 100 kHz, the average occupancy of the interferometer would be one neutron. (And the “coherence length” for a single neutron is substantially shorter than the physical interferometer.) Choose any interferometry paper, check the number of neutrons detected and the amount of beam time, and infer an actual neutron-detection frequency: lower than that, by orders of magnitude.
When we talk about “two beams” in an interferometer, that’s a little misleading: in every instance, it’s *the same neutron* in both beams, interfering with itself.
Why the Pauli exclusion principle doesn't matter here
------------------------------------------------------
Neutron interference experiments like this are done with no more than one neutron in the interferometer at any given time. Here's a quote from reference 1:
>
> All neutron experiments performed until now belong to the field of self-interference where at a given time only one neutron — if at all — is within the interferometer and the next one is not yet released from the... neutron source.
>
>
>
The key point is that this interference effect is a single-particle phenomenon. **The Pauli exclusion principle prevents *two* neutrons from occupying the same state. It does not prevent a *single* neutron from interfering (constructively or destructively) with itself, which is what's happening in these experiments.**
Like in any single-particle interference experiment, the interference *pattern* is only evident after accumulating detections of a large number of neutrons, but again: neutrons go through the interferometer one-at-a-time, so the Pauli exclusion principle does not apply.
More information about the experiment
--------------------------------------
@rob's answer gives more detail about how the experiment is done. To complement those details, here's a diagram from reference 2, showing an oblique view of a typical neutron interferometer (see @rob's answer for typical dimensions):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2jUBX.png)
As the arrows indicate, each individual neutron enters from the left. At point A, the neutron's wavefunction is diffracted into a two-peaked wavefunction. Those two branches of the wavefunction are diffracted again at points B and C, respectively, so that the wavefunction emerging from the middle slab has four peaks. Two of those peaks converge back together at point D, and their relative phases determine the relative intensities of the two peaks of the wavefunction that emerge downstream of point D. The relative intensities of those two peaks determine the relative *probabilities* of detecting the neutron at either $C\_2$ or $C\_3$. The neutron can only be detected by one of them, not by both, because it's just one neutron. But after repeating this with lots of neutrons, the cumulative numbers of detections registered by $C\_2$ and $C\_3$ tell us what the relative probabilities were. (There is also some probability that *neither* of those detectors will register the neutron, because the other two branches of the wavefunction, the ones that are shown bypassing the third slab in the figure, also have nonzero amplitudes.)
A top view of the interferometer in a $4\pi$-rotation experiment is shown in this diagram from reference 2:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8cUt6.png)
The points A,B,C,D are the same as in the previous oblique view. In this case, one of the branches of that single-neutron wavefunction goes through a magnetic field that is tuned to produce a known amount of precession. That affects the relative phase of those two branches of the single-neutron wavefunction at point D. By repeating the whole experiment many times with different magnetic-field strengths, we can map out how the relative probabilites at $C\_2$ and $C\_3$ depend on the magnetic field, and therefore on the amount of precession experience by one of the two branches of the neutron's wavefunction.
Again: these experiments **never have more than one neutron at any point**. That one neutron is interfering *with itself* because of the way diffraction caused its wavefunction to split (point A) and then rejoin (point D). (Diffraction itself is a kind of single-particle interference phenomenon, too.) The Pauli exclusion principle prevents *two* neutrons from occupying the same state at the same time, but in these experiments, that never happens. These experiments are done using only *one* neutron at a time. The Pauli exclusion principle clearly cannot prevent a *single* neutron from being in the same state at the same time... because if it did, then neutrons could not exist at all.
But how is this possible??
---------------------------
The fact that a single particle can take multiple paths through the interferometer and interfere with itself is something that does not have any anolog from everyday experience. It cannot be understood by thinking of a particle as a tiny version of a macroscopic object. Single-particle interference phenomena are one of the hallmarks of *quantum* physics, like Feynman said in [this chapter](https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_01.html) of *The Feynman Lectures on Physics*:
>
> We choose to examine a phenomenon [namely the single-particle interference phebnomenon] which ... has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. In reality, it contains the *only* mystery.
>
>
>
For more information about the single-particle quantum interference phenomenon, see the questions
* [Double Slit experiment with just one photon or electron](https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/70855)
* [How do experiments prove that fermion wavefunctions really pick up a minus sign when rotated by $2\pi$?](https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/322013)
* [Operational definition of rotation of particle](https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/444378)
and their answers, and also see the references listed in [this other answer](https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/320516).
References
-----------
1. Page 21 in Rauch and Werner (2000), *Neutron Interferometry: Lessons in Experimental Quantum Mechanics* (Clarendon Press)
2. Feng (2020), *Neutron Optics: Interference Experiment with Neutrons* ([http://home.ustc.edu.cn/~feqi/neutron%20interference.pdf](http://home.ustc.edu.cn/%7Efeqi/neutron%20interference.pdf))
| stackexchange/physics |
a 48-year - old man smoking for 30 years was due to a pack a day presented a one - month history of exophthalmia , chemosis ( fig . 1 ) and diplopia .
an ophthalmic examination shows a visual acuity as 20/20 in od , and in 15/20 os check pupils is normal and exophthalmometry shows 6 mm proptosis in os .
motility examination on admission demonstrated a left oculomotor limitation in all direction , accompanied with pain and a ledger left ptosis .
a neurological examination on admission demonstrated a left oculomotor palsy , accompanied with pain . computed tomography ( ct ) showed a left superior orbital mass causing bone destruction , was extended to brain ( fig .
2 ) , the radiologist suspected a metastasis with unknown primary site . therefore , a more thorough systemic evaluation was started to detect primary malignancy .
the immunohistologic staining of the incisional biopsy specimen showed angiosarcoma , the tumor cells were positive for factor viii and cd31 ( figs .
a chest x - ray film completed by thoracic ct has shown an abnormal mass in the left posterior and inferior lung field ( fig .
the left orbital tumor was thought to be a metastasis caused by the lung cancer .
the patient received radiation therapy for the metastatic orbital tumor with a total dose 2,000 cgy in 10 fractions of 200 cgy per fraction and chemotherapy ( cisp1atin 100 mg / m2 iv ; day 1 + etoposide 100 mg / m2 ; days 1 - 3 repeated every 4 weeks for 2 months ) for the lung cancer .
however , he died 3 months after initial treatment because of the progression of the primary lesion as weil as the progressive systemic metastasis in the brain .
the metastatic orbital angiosarcomas is exceptional , we believe this is the third reported case of metastatic angiosarcoma to the orbit .
the confirmation is done by histopathologic evaluation , when cytokeratin is negative or focally positive with vimentin reactivity , a vascular tumor should be suspected and confirmed with vascular markers , cd31 , cd34 , and factor viii .
factor viii - related antigen , in spite of its high specificity , is believed to be relatively insensitive , particularly in malignant vascular tumors .
cd34 was reported to be a specific and sensitive endothelial marker , but it also reacts with nonvascular soft tissue neoplasm , including epitheloid sarcoma , malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor , leiomyosarcoma , and clear cell sarcoma .
cd31 has been shown to be a highly specific and sensitive endothelial marker that reacts rarely and only weakly with nonvascular tumours . the optimal therapy for angiosarcoma is not established .
resection , radiation , or combined resection and radiation were used in treating the angiosarcoma of the cranium , complete surgical resection in other sites followed by radiation therapy results better in long - term control of disease thane surgery alone . there may be reduction in recurrence with adjuvant chemotherapy , although the most active agents are not known .
chemotherapy may be a useful adjunct to surgery and/or radiation therapy in the management of angiosarcoma ; however , chemotherapy alone is unlikely to be curative . nevertheless , we believe that angiosarcoma of the orbit may have a worse prognosis than angisarcoma of bones other than the cranium , because the tumour may secondarily involve the brain and the patient dies with increased intracranial pressure , as did our case . | pubmed |
fanfiction |
|
Question on Melting Points of Group 17,18 and 1
So , I have done some searching and found that melting points of groups 17 and 18 *increase* going down the group whereas group 1 *decreases*.
However , the explanation seem to all be the same.
* Number of shells increase
* atomic radii increases
* Van der waals force between atoms increases
* more heat energy needed to overcome said forces
But for group 1, the explanation is that even when atomic radii increases , the metallic bond between atoms decreases and thus lower melting point.
So , I'm a little confused about this metallic bond , and **why doesn't group 1 alkali metals also create Van Der Waals forces?**
I may be wrong on some parts so please do correct me.
**Metallic bonding** is a type of chemical bonding that rises from the electrostatic attractive force between conduction electrons (in the form of an electron cloud of delocalized electrons) and positively charged metal ions
**Van der Waals forces** include attraction and repulsions between atoms, molecules, and surfaces, as well as other intermolecular forces.
The alkali metals have the largest size in their period. Consequently the distance between nuclei of one atom and the outermost electron of other atom is more and hence metallic bonding is less. But owing to their small size the distance between the nuclei of one halogen atom and the outermost electron of other atom is comparatively less. Hence they have show more metallic bonding.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
a previously healthy 43-year - old african american male presented to the emergency department at a tertiary hospital in phoenix , az , with a chief complaint of a 6 month history of generalized fatigue .
over the course of the same period the patient experienced a 30 pounds weight loss .
the patient stated that his symptoms began a year after he moved to arizona from the midwest .
the patient denies any history of endocrine , heart , liver , kidney or thyroid disease .
apart from a low - grade fever of 38.6 , his physical exam was normal .
the initial labs showed a white blood cells count of 15 k / ul with 6.3% eosinophil count , as well as anemia with a hemoglobin of 7.1 g / dl and a hematocrit of 22.3% . both hiv test and
viral hepatitis panel were negative . a ct scan of the chest , abdomen , and pelvis revealed diffuse peripheral ground - glass opacities in the lungs , peripheral wedge - shaped opacity in the spleen , and free fluids in the rectovesical and left paracolic gutters with mesenteric stranding that was concerning for colitis .
it also showed multifocal osteolytic lesions involving the axial skeleton ( picture 1).picture 1ct scan of the chest , abdomen , and pelvis.peripheral ground - glass opacities in the lungs ( thin black arrows).peripheral wedge - shaped opacity in the spleen ( white arrow).free fluids in the rectovesical and left paracolic gutters with mesenteric stranding ( arrow head).multifocal osteolytic lesions involving the axial skeleton ( thick black arrows).picture 1 ct scan of the chest , abdomen , and pelvis .
free fluids in the rectovesical and left paracolic gutters with mesenteric stranding ( arrow head ) .
the patient was initially started on intravenous ( iv ) vancomycin and piperacillin / tazobactam , and an iliac crest bone biopsy was also done .
after 5 days of hospitalization , he remained febrile and began to exhibit confusion and increasing respiratory distress .
he was subsequently transferred to the icu where he was intubated and mechanically ventilated . due to his continued mental deterioration a brain mri , and a lumbar puncture were performed .
the mri revealed two small acute infarctions in the right insula and the peripheral aspect of the superior right pons , as well as skull base lytic lesions with involvement of the clivus and right occipital condyle ( picture 2 ) . a sputum culture , the bone biopsy , and the cerebral spinal fluids ( csf ) analysis all had evidence of an infection with coccidioides immitis / posadasii .
the diagnosis of disseminated coccidioidomycosis infection was established and the patient was started on iv fluconazole . over the course of the next 5 days the patient s stool also tested positive for coccidioides.picture 2mri of the brain.two acute infarctions in the right insula and the peripheral aspect of the superior right pons ( black arrows).skull base lytic lesions with involvement of the clivus ( white line ) and right occipital condyle ( white arrow).picture 2 two acute infarctions in the right insula and the peripheral aspect of the superior right pons ( black arrows ) .
skull base lytic lesions with involvement of the clivus ( white line ) and right occipital condyle ( white arrow ) .
the patient experienced prolonged respiratory failure and a percutaneous tracheostomy was performed along with gastric tube placement .
the subsequent hospital stay was complicated by gastric perforation that required exploratory laparoscopy with omental patch repair
. further deterioration in his condition led to acute renal insufficiency , left femoral and popliteal deep venous thrombosis , methicillin sensitive staph aureus pneumonia and multiple intra - abdominal abscesses that were not amenable for drainage due to severe anemia and coagulopathy .
after two months of treatment and supportive care , his clinical condition did not show any significant improvement and after several meeting with family care was withdrawn and patient expired .
coccidioidomycosis ( cm ) is an infection caused by the coccidioides fungus found in the desert soil of the southwestern united states , northern mexico , and parts of central and south america .
it was first described in argentina in 1892 by alejandro posadas who worked under the supervision of professor robert wernicke ; a prominent pathologist at the university of buenos aires .
posadas identified the cocciodiodes fungus in a biopsy that was taken from recurrent skin tumors in one of his patients . at the time
, coccidioides was thought to be a parasite due to its similarity to coccidian protozoa .
cocciodiodes is dimorphic , soil - borne fungus with two species ; c. immitis which is more common in california , western arizona , and baja peninsula of mexico , and the newly identified species c. posadasii ( named after dr .
posadas ) that is usually found in southern arizona , texas , mexico , central and south america , . in 2011
the estimated incidence of cm infection in the endemic states was 42.6 case per 100,000 persons .
sixty percent of individuals infected with cm are asymptomatic or have a presentation that is similar to upper respiratory infection .
the majority of the remaining 40% show typical symptoms of acute valley fever that include fever , diffuse arthralgia , erythema nodosum , pleuritic chest pain and cough .
pregnant women and individuals with cellular immunodeficiency such as the ones with human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) infection , organ transplant patients , and those who use chronic steroid are at higher risk of developing disseminated infection . in immunocompetent patients , certain racial groups like african americans and filipinos
the most common sites of disseminated infection include the lungs , bones / joints , central nervous system ( cns ) , skin and lymph node .
previous reports of a positive stool culture in the setting of disseminated cm are extremely rare , and to the best of our knowledge there has been only one case that documented positive stool culture in a patient with an extensive gastrointestinal ( gi ) involvement .
it has been proposed that the fungal spherules may be eradicated by gi secretions , , which could explain why they are rarely detected in the stool . in a retrospective analysis by rd adam et al . , only 5 of 150 cases of disseminated cm studied between 1996 and 2007 in an endemic region , reported evidence of gastrointestinal infection , however , the authors did not mention if there was any documentation of a positive stool culture in any of the cases . in our case ,
in fact several factors seem to diminish the likelihood including a lack of gastrointestinal symptoms , non - specific ct findings , and our own lack of confirmatory gastrointestinal biopsy .
this interesting finding though could be a result of swallowed pulmonary secretions as it was suggested before in the literature . | pubmed |
Naruto The Meadow
**Flowers.
**It was what he associated her with. It's what practically everyone in the village associated her with.
But to him, flowers had more meaning - because she was in fact, his very own flower.
Lying on his back in a meadow and twirling a blade of grass between his thumb and index finger, he recalled the time that he had tucked her hair ever so gently behind her ear and threaded a daisy through it. Though, threading that flower was harder than he'd expected. And as he fiddled and fumbled with it for a moment, he could almost sense her tension. Maybe it was the way she pulled back her arm for a second and clenched her first, ready to teach him a lesson for daring to lay a finger on her - but then relaxing herself once he had finished the job.
And putting all that aside, he also recalled each spine-tingling second that passed by, and as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, he was certain that there was no going back for him.
He liked her. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. Who knew?
But he was sure he liked her in some way or another.
And who would've thought such an innocent gesture as putting a flower in a girl's hair, would be so riveting and exciting.
'Eh, it was a stupid move though,' he thought, because surely he'd expected her to punch him into oblivion. But she hadn't. In fact, it even looked like her breath had somewhat hitched into her throat as she eyed his movements carefully.
And it was as if the whole world around them slowed down just for a little.
He could hear each beat of his heart thumping loud inside his chest, and he could hear the wind rustling through the grass around them.
The meadow. The same meadow he was sitting in at that very moment, pondering away.
But how did it all start?
He had caught her collecting flowers - a smug and satisfied look painted across her features.
And when he asked her why she was picking flowers, she had slapped him across the arm and told him not to snoop in on a lady's privacy.
Maybe it was the pang of jealousy that her words caused, which made him realise some things - that there might've been a possibility that she liked someone else and was picking flowers for them.
Though, he tried to dismiss the thought because surely he didn't like her like that, right?
Yet it was after they had sat down, and talked for what seemed like hours, about their lives, friends and even the occasional Konoha gossip - it was then, that he decided to make a move. Just a tiny, harmless gesture.
And then, he had run off like the idiot he was, leaving her behind to try and comprehend what had just happened.
Maybe, just maybe, he hoped that she liked him too.
Because yes, he was sure of it now.
Naruto had taken a liking to Ino.
* * *
_Inspiration/s_ - So I remembered the time my friend and I roleplayed NaruIno for a little bit... (she was Naruto and I was Ino) and I thought, why not write this for her?
_Notes_ - This is for you, my lovely Chloe-chan! Since I know you like NaruIno and since you're going to draw NaLu and let me watch it -fangirl screaming-... I thought you deserved this. Even though it's a little short, ehh.
I hope we can finish our roleplay one day... because this pairing is really lovely. And there will more drabbles and stuff coming for this pairing! But just enjoy this one for now.
End file.
| fanfiction |
Georgiy Alexandrovich Ball Russian: Гео́ргий Алекса́ндрович Балл, June 9, 1927 January 1, 2011 was a Russian writer. Ball was best known for his prolific work in children's literature.
Bibliography
Дорога в лето. Moscow, 1962
Жук-кривая горка. Moscow, 1968
Малышка. Moscow, 1971
Торопун-Карапун и тайны моего детства. Moscow, 1974
Зобенька и серебряный колокольчик. Moscow, 1977
Болевые точки. Moscow, 1983
Солнечные прятки: повесть-сказка. Moscow, 1985
Смеюсь и плачу вместе с тобой: повести и рассказы. Moscow, 1988
Городок Жур-Жур. Moscow, 1988
Разноцветный мост. Moscow, 1990
Каляка-маляка ищет домик. Moscow, 1992
Вверх за тишиной. Moscow, 1999
Приключения Старого Башмака, рассказанные им самим. Moscow, 2003
Category:1927 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:Russian writers | wikipedia |
Marlatt may refer to:
Abby Lillian Marlatt 18691943, American educator
Abby Marlatt 19162010, advocate of the civil rights movement
Andrew Marlatt, founder of SatireWire, a news satire website
Charles Lester Marlatt 18631954, American entomologist
Daphne Marlatt, née Buckle, CM born 1942, Canadian poet who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia
Earl Marlatt 18921976, American theologian and poet
Frances K. Marlatt 19011969, New York assemblywoman
G. Alan Marlatt Ph.D. 19412011, Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington
Hamilton Irving Marlatt 18671929, American born painter from Rochester, New York
Harvey Marlatt born 1948, professional basketball player
See also
Marlatt Hall, residence hall at Kansas State University, United States
Marlett
Marlette disambiguation
Marollette
Marolt | wikipedia |
Cerre is a Los Angeles based womenswear and accessories brand founded in 2005 by husband and wife, Clayton and Flavie Webster. The couple met while they were both working as fashion models in Europe. The brand was first launched as a collection of bags and leather goods, and eventually expanded into apparel in the spring of 2010. Cerre is named after Flavie Websters grandmothers surname.
In 2011, Cerre opened its Melrose Avenue flagship store. The 1,600 square foot West Hollywood store, designed by Clayton Webster, also serves as the brands atelier.
In 2009, Cerre collaborated with costume designer Trish Summerville to create custom leather jackets and bags for Rooney Maras character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011 film, as well as costumes for Robin Wrights character. In 2012, the designers teamed up with Summerville again to design custom pieces for the film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
In 2012, Cerre was the recipient of the Moss Adams Fashion Innovator Award.
References
Links
Official website
Category:American fashion designers
Category:Companies based in Los Angeles | wikipedia |
Fairy Tail Perfecta
**Laxus la miro, tan perfecta…**
No pudo evitar que su corazón latiera rápidamente por la emoción…. Nunca, ni en sus sueños imagino encontrársela de esa manera, se miraba que necesitaba ayuda, ella estaba atenta a lo que los rodeaba, la miraba inquieta, y aun así no le quito la vista, pero no sabía bien como aproximarse a ella sin que su fachada de gánster la asustara, ojala y en alguna ocasión su abuelo le hubiera enseñado como acercase y hablar con una fémina, (eve no contaba) así que las cosas como estaban ahora no eran prometedoras… las manos comenzaban a picarle, producto del sudor, su boca de pronto quedo enmudecida, y aun cuando pudiera hablar su mente había quedado en blanco, solo quería acercársele abrazarla y pedirle que por favor lo acompañara, que le siguiera al gremio y decirle a todos que ella sería su compañera a partir de entonces…
Pero nada…
**En ella crecía algo nuevo, algo dentro de ella le decía que él era el correcto...**
Ella lo miro de manera calmada, sus ojos de color jade miraban al chico de manera interesada, a la expectativa de algún movimiento. Al parecer ella también mostraba interés en él. Mechones eran de color azul, de ese azul que casi llega al negro, justo como ese color que se pinta el cielo al finalizar el crepúsculo.
**Laxus nunca imagino encontrarle en medio de aquel bosque, y si mil veces la miraba, las mismas mil veces que le seguía siendo perfecta…**
El menor de los Dreyar no lo soporto más, se acercó a ella, la tomo en sus brazos, entonces se dio cuenta que parecía ser más ligera de lo que se imaginó en un principio. Dudaba de pedirle que se quedara con él, no había visto uniones así. Y aun cuando nunca tuvo expectativas para un encuentro de este tipo, pero esto parecía sacado de una realidad digna de los libros de MaGarden.
**Había encontrado a esa persona que tanto había buscado aunque no sabía cómo era…**
Ella se asustó por el repentino movimiento del rubio, pero cuando se dio cuenta que se encontraba entre sus brazos, no opuso resistencia, aunque ella sabía que por algo lo encontró ahí, temía que no fuera la realidad; pedía al cielo todas las noches, pedía que alguien así se cruzara en su camino. Pero este joven era mucho mejor de lo que pedía, cuando lo miro acercarse al bosque dudaba de dejarse ver, temía ser rechazada.
**Espero unos momentos para ver la reacción de ella, pero nada, entonces, ese fue un "acepto", una confirmación sin palabras de por medio.**
La levanto a la altura de sus ojos, su voz nació de nuevo para preguntar:
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
De respuesta recibió un susurro, uno que en voz queda dijo:
Dante
Sonrió, de esas raras veces que el dragonslayer del trueno sonreía
¿Te gustaría venir conmigo?
Ella solo afirmo, entonces los dos se levantaron, y tomaron camino a magnolia en silencio.
**En su interior existía una felicidad que aumentaba a cada paso…**
La ciudad se veía desde ese lugar, para entonces el silencio fue roto por Laxus con una sola oración:
Ya verán los demás cuando se enteren que yo también tengo un Exccel, y ella es más bonita que la de la chiquilla del viento
**Jejeje**
**Esto fue demasiado raro de escribir… pero después de que todos se burlen de Laxus por su falta de compañero (la primera y tercer generación tiene Exccel, y de la segunda, Cobra tiene a su serpiente); me imagine como seria si él tuviera a alguien más…**
**Lo melosos, raro y OCC salió de okis…**
**Recuerden que FT es de Hiro Mashima!**
**Muchas gracias por leer!**
**¿Algún review?**
End file.
| fanfiction |
the electronic structure calculations are performed in the framework of the green function formulation of the scalar - relativistic tight - binding linear muffin - tin orbital ( tb - lmto ) method and the local spin - density approximation .
the calculations employ the @xmath32-basis and the vosko - wilk - nusair exchange - correlation potential @xcite .
the pressure at the earth s core is included by an isotropic reduction of the crystal lattice .
the wigner - seitz ( ws ) radius corresponding to the pressure of 350 gpa or to the volume reduction 0.6:1 with respect to ambient conditions is 2.25 bohr .
the effect of disorder is included in the framework of the coherent potential approximation ( cpa ) .
the cpa is used not only to include the effect of substitutional impurities ( si in the present work ) but also for the simulation of the paramagnetic state in terms of the disordered local moment ( dlm ) state .
the dlm corresponds formally to the equiconcetration alloy with moments pointing randomly in opposite directions and can be straightforwardly simulated by the cpa @xcite .
the effect of phonon disorder is included in the framework of the multicomponent cpa ( see below ) .
an advantage of the present approach is that substitutional impurities , phonons , and spin - fluctuations are treated on the same footing which is important in particular for transport studies .
further details can be found in ref . .
we use a simple estimate of magnetic moment based on the following assumptions : ( i ) the magnetic state above the curie temperature can be represented by the dlm state , ( ii ) the average interatomic exchange field is zero , i.e. , the interatomic interactions can be neglected , and ( iii ) the energy per atom with magnetic moment @xmath33 is @xmath34 , where @xmath35 . here
@xmath36 is the land factor ( @xmath37 ) , @xmath11 is the bohr magneton , and @xmath38 is the atomic spin
. then the magnetic part of the entropy per atom @xmath39 reads @xmath40 the free energy per atom @xmath41 is a function of temperature @xmath5 and of the magnetic moment @xmath42 .
minimum of @xmath43 at a given temperature gives the equilibrium value of the magnetic moment @xmath42 @xcite .
the energy @xmath34 per atom with moment @xmath42 is calculated using the fixed - spin moment method @xcite .
this is a particularly simple task for highly compressed iron because the ground state corresponds to a zero moment and with increasing moment @xmath42 the function @xmath34 is increasing . as a result
the inverse function @xmath44 is a single - valued function so one can use an effective magnetic field @xmath45 to split the up- and down - spin states .
the dlm state of fe crystal is then treated as a disordered binary alloy fe@xmath46fe@xmath47 @xcite .
the transport properties are evaluated using the kubo - greenwood approach as implemented in the framework of the scalar - relativistic tb - lmto method @xcite .
the disorder - induced vertex - corrections are included in the cpa @xcite .
their inclusion is simplified by the present formulation of the velocity as the intersite hopping @xcite which leads to non - random velocity matrices .
substitutional , phonon , and spin disorder can be included on equal footing using selfconsistent potentials determined within the tb - lmto - cpa .
the scattering by phonons at a given temperature can be included quantitatively in the framework of the multicomponent cpa ( see below ) .
it is important to note that the present formalism allows one to estimate the effect of impurities , phonons , and spin - disoder both independently and all together .
this allows us to check the validity of the matthiessen rule for different types of scattering mechanisms .
the adopted inclusion of temperature - induced lattice vibrations ( phonons ) in resistivity calculations follows closely a recent approach @xcite developed within the korringa - kohn - rostoker ( kkr - cpa ) technique .
this scheme assumes static random displacements of the atomic nuclei around the equilibrium positions ( sites of an ideal crystalline lattice ) .
the change of the lmto structure - constant matrix due to the atomic displacements can be recast into a change of the potential functions of atoms located formally at the sites of the undistorted crystalline lattice .
correlations between the displacements of neighboring atoms are completely neglected .
the effect of displaced atoms ( with atomic potentials kept frozen , equal to the selfconsistent potentials for the ideal lattice at zero temperature ) on the transport properties is described by means of the multicomponent single - site cpa and the kubo linear - response theory . in the lmto method ,
the potential function of the displaced atom @xmath48 ( site index and energy argument ommitted ) in the canonical lmto representation ( denoted by superscript @xmath49 ) is related to that of the undisplaced atom @xmath50 by the transformation @xmath51 , where @xmath52 denotes the displacement vector .
the quantities @xmath48 , @xmath50 and @xmath53 are matrices in the orbital index @xmath54 and the superscript @xmath55 denotes matrix transpose .
the matrix @xmath50 is diagonal , since it reflects a spherically symmetric atomic potential in the atomic - sphere approximation , whereas the matrices @xmath48 and @xmath53 are nondiagonal ( see below ) . in the tb - lmto method
, the potential functions are transformed into the screened lmto representation ( superscript @xmath56 ) by means of the matrix relation @xmath57 , where @xmath56 on the r.h.s .
denotes a nonrandom diagonal matrix of tb - lmto screening constants .
note that the potential function @xmath50 as well as the employed screened structure - constant matrix @xmath58 of the ideal lattice are nonrandom , but the potential functions @xmath48 and @xmath59 are random ( owing to the random displacement vector @xmath52 ) , which gives rise to a finite conductivity even for pure metals . the matrices @xmath53 can be obtained from a matrix representation of the translation group in the vector space of regular solutions of the laplace equation : @xmath60 , where the basis functions @xmath61 are chosen as standard regular empty - space solutions of the lmto method .
they are defined using real spherical harmonics @xmath62 as @xmath63 where @xmath64 is the average wigner - seitz radius of the lattice , @xmath65 and @xmath66 .
the explicit form of the matrix @xmath53 is given by @xmath67 where @xmath68 denotes the gaunt coefficient ( with the real spherical harmonics ) and the prime at the sum marks a restriction on @xmath69 defined by @xmath70 .
consequently , @xmath71 for @xmath72 and @xmath73 for @xmath74 .
special attention should be paid to the selection of the displacement vectors @xmath52 .
our results are independent of the choice of the displacement directions if a large number of random directions is used or if new positions of nuclei are distributed regularly around the equilibrium state @xcite . increasing magnitude of the vectors corresponds to the rising temperature .
we refer readers to @xcite for more details , where a similar approach is used for the kkr - cpa formalism .
a comparison of different theoretical approaches is presented in figure [ img - fe ] , where data from @xcite and @xcite obtained by a supercell tb - lmto technique are also shown . in figure 1 , the temperature values on the secondary horizontal scale were determined by the debye theory that gives the relation between displacements of nuclei and the temperature . for high temperatures , this relation reduces to the well - known classical expression @xmath75 , where @xmath76 is atomic mass , @xmath77 is boltzmann constant , and @xmath78 is the debye temperature .
debye temperature 470 k was used and it gave good results for ambient conditions ; the same approach is used , e.g. , by ebert iet al . @xcite .
the debye theory is not valid at the earth s core conditions .
it may be demonstrated on the comparison with the molecular dynamics @xcite that gives @xmath79 bohr for 5500 k , whereas the extrapolation of the debye theory not taking into account the high pressure leads to @xmath80 bohr .
as already mentioned , the kubo - greenwood formula was used to calculate the electrical conductivity .
the influence of the fermi - dirac distribution function at finite temperature appearing in this formula was examined and compared to electrical conductivity , which was obtained if only phonons were included but the temperature - induced broadening of the fermi - dirac distribution neglected .
the relative change of the conductivity does not exceed a few percent even at 6000 k ( @xmath81 bohr ) .
at this temperature , the change is about 1.3 % for the nonmagnetic state and 2.7 % for the dlm one . finally , it is interesting to note that results similar to the multicomponent cpa are obtained using a phenomenological model in which the effect of phonons is simulated by a finite imaginary part i m @xmath82 added to the fermi energy of corresponding green functions in the the kubo - greenwood approach ( the spin - independent finite relaxation - time model ) .
specifically , we have tested i m @xmath82=5.10@xmath83 ry which gave resistivity of non - magnetic bcc fe due to phonons about 54 @xmath0 cm and which corresponds to @xmath13 about 0.35 bohr . assuming the same i m @xmath82 we obtained the total resistivities ( including the effect of spin disorder ) of 63 and 69 @xmath0 cm for bcc fe and bcc fe@xmath24si@xmath25 alloy .
corresponding calculated values for @xmath27 bohr were 63 and 72 @xmath0 cm , respectively , in a good agreement with the above multicomponent cpa results . | arxiv |
Why is Omega-3 a polyunsaturated and not a monounsaturated fatty acid?
If Omega-3 is a fatty acid with a single double bond at the third carbon atom from the omega end, then why is it regarded as a polyunsaturate and not a monounsaturate? Are there different Omega-3s with more than one double bond?
The term "[omega-3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid)" just denotes that the position of the **first** double bond in the fatty acid will be at position "3" (counting from the omega end of the chain). It does not mean that there is only one double bond in the fatty acid. The most common omega-3 fatty acids contain between 3 and 6 *cis* double bonds (therefore they are polyunsaturated).
Here are few examples, again note how they all have a double bond at the third carbon from the omega end of the chain.
α-Linolenic acid (ALA)
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Can weathering change the composition of something so that it appears different?
There's a [murder trial ongoing in Ireland at the moment](http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/criminal-court/graham-dwyer-trial-jury-resumes-deliberating-verdict-1.2152615) and one of the pieces of evidence is a spade found at the scene along with the skeletal remains. It was contended by the prosecution that this spade was belonging to the defendant but while they were similar
>
> "forensic evidence found the paint splatters on the spade were not the
> same as on the [defendant's] garden fence"
>
>
>
My question is: can something left out in the open be changed either chemically or structurally by the environment such that it appears to be similar but not the same? If so why would this not have been called out as a caveat by the expert forensics witness?
The specifics of the chemical tests weren't gone into in the media ([sample article here](http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0226/683012-graham-dwyer-trial/)) so I don't know how accurate it was.
Yes, weather can and probably will change the composition of materials and make them different.
However, forensic analysis usually takes that into account. There are some properties that might change because of weathering (you shouldn't compare water content, for example), but others won't. According to the sample article, the difference was found in the chemical composition of the paints. Since details were not disclosed, one can only guess what these differences are, but some possibilites are:
* Presence or absence of metals in the paints
* Substances that wouldn't appear or disappear because of wheatering
* Different isotopic ratios of elements
* Traces of the solvent indicating they were not the same
* Probably others
Assuming the analysis were performed correctly, it is usually not hard to say two samples are different. On the other side, when the results are similar, you can hardly say they are equal, but only that they match and that no differences were found.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Propeller design comparison [closed]
**Closed.** This question is [off-topic](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
---
This question appears to be about **engineering**, which is the application of scientific knowledge to construct a solution to solve a specific problem. As such, it is off topic for this site, which deals with the **science**, whether theoretical or experimental, of how the natural world works. For more information, see [this meta post](https://physics.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4536/).
Closed 5 months ago.
[Improve this question](/posts/759752/edit)
Why does boat/airplane propellers are designed so differently then of a turbine/pump propellers? (blade spacing, pitch, blade shape and width, etc) although both just push fluids backwards
The density and viscosity of the fluids involved (air and water) are very different so their flow patterns will be different. A more technical way of putting this is that the fluids have different [Reynolds numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_number).
| stackexchange/physics |
Asymptotic flatness implies existence of rotation axis
Suppose we have an asymptotically flat, globally hyperbolic spacetime $M$ endowed with two one-parameter isometry groups $\sigma\_t$ and $\chi\_{\phi}$ which commute (i.e. $\sigma\_t \circ \chi\_{\phi}= \chi\_{\phi} \circ \sigma\_t.$)
Assume moreover that the orbits of $\sigma\_t$ are timelike curves generated by the Killing vector field $\xi^a.$ The orbits of $\chi\_{\phi}$ are closed spacelike curves generated by the Killing field $\psi^a$.
In chapter 7.1, p 165 of Wald's GR text, he states that the asymptotic flatness of the spacetime implies that "there must be a rotation axis on which $\psi^a$ vanishes." Why must this be the case?
Asymptotically, the spacetime metric approaches the Minkowski metric, which has the property that for $\theta = 0$, $\theta=\pi$ (on the rotation axis), $\psi^a \psi\_a =0$, hence, since $\psi^a$ is spacelike, it vanishes there. These two points are enough to satisfy the first hypothesis of theorem 7.1.1.
There is a general theorem of differential topology that says that every vector field tangent to a (topological) sphere must be zero in at least one point.
| stackexchange/physics |
How to explain covalent bonds with Bohr's atom model? [duplicate]
**This question already has answers here**:
[Does the shared electron in Covalent bonds revolve around nucleus?](/questions/36987/does-the-shared-electron-in-covalent-bonds-revolve-around-nucleus)
(3 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
I was reading about covalent bonding and got to know that in this type of bonding, the atoms of elements "share" electrons with each other to have an octet or duplet. But, I also have been taught that electrons keep on revolving around the nucleus of the atom, much like the planets around the sun. But, if this is true, how are the able to easily share electrons if these electrons keep on moving around their respective nuclei? I hope I have made myself clear. If not, then please tell in the comments.
>
> electrons keep on revolving around the nucleus of the atom, much like the planets around the sun.
>
>
>
Electrons are quantum particles. Trajectories are not applicable for them. One have to use quantum wave equation to explain "movement" (note the quotes, you cant say anything about electron movement, you can only determine the probability of electron presence in some place) of electron. Planetary (Bohr) model of the atom can help to describe some effects for isolated atoms using Newtonian physics' equations with some amendments (Bohr quantum rules), but it does not describe bonding.
So for bonding you can use valence bond theory (which exactly the case with sharing electrons you described) or some more complex theories (molecular orbital (MO) theory, as widely used example) which consider quantum wave equations for describing electrons. But you surely can't mix in Bohr atom model in this case, because it is too simple to describe bonding.
Hope my explanation helps.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
primary lymphedema is usually idiopathic , without a family history , and defined by the age
of onset1 , 2 .
it is characterized by swelling of the tissues and thickening and
hardening of the skin and soft tissue3 , 4 .
the first indication of primary lymphedema
is usually swelling of the feet and ankles , and is predominant in women5 .
the prevalence is difficult to determine and estimates vary
considerably6 . up to half of all cases
of lymphedema
lymphedema has adverse physical , psychological , and socioeconomic impact , and treatment is
continued for life5 .
the best practice
management of lymphedema uses a holistic , multidisciplinary approach that includes
exercise / movement , swelling reduction and prevention ( compression and/or massage ) , skin
care , risk reduction , and pain and psychosocial management6 .
matrix rhythm therapy ( mrt ) provides vibromassage and aims to induce correct metabolism
through a specific physiological pulse .
the mrt device activates and rebalances specific
vibration in skeletal muscles and the nervous system .
the device produces an oscillating
rhythm that maximizes lymphatic venous perfusion of the extracellular space in which the
anti - edematous effects originate8,9,10 .
there are
few studies describing clinical experiences and the effectiveness of mrt , and there is a low
level of evidence for its effectiveness11,12,13 .
a 36-year - old female ( height : 160 cm , weight : 55 kg , body mass index :
21.5 kg / m ) with no history of trauma or surgery had symptoms in the left lower
limb for 9 years and was diagnosed with primary lymphedema .
she had used knee - high compression hosiery for 4 years ,
but had not received any treatment for lymphedema or any medication to reduce edema .
measurements are taken at fixed
anatomical points along the limb and repeated at different levels15,16,17 .
circumference was measured before and at the end of
treatment , and 1 and 3 months later , to assess lymphedema .
the lower limb was measured at 9
levels ( metatarsophalangeal joint , ankle , 10 , 15 , and 20 cm above the ankle , knee , and 10 ,
15 , and 20 cm above the knee ) .
both lower limbs were measured for comparison of
circumferences at the same anatomic locations .
circumferential measurements are entered into
a formula for calculation of limb volume based on a conical frustrum , to aid in diagnosis
and monitor the effect of treatment5 .
for management of lymphedema , mrt is applied with an electrically powered oscillator
( resonator ) .
the mechanical oscillations produce a visually detectable longitudinal motion
in the musculature9 , 10 .
mrt was applied to the thoracic and lumbar spine , abdominal area ,
and affected limb in elevation . during treatment ,
a resonator is used to reactivate cell and tissue metabolism by inducing deep distention at
812 hz .
twenty treatment sessions ( 5 days / week ) were performed by a physiotherapist trained
and certified in the mrt program .
the patient was allowed to continue use of the same
compression hosiery during working hours .
the patient was educated about the risks of lymphedema , daily living recommendations , and
use of appropriate compression garments .
she was also given preventive advice , including
proper skin care and was advised to be more active .
the global rating of change ( grc ) scales were used to evaluate patient satisfaction and
quantify improvement .
the grc scales offer a flexible , quick , and simple method for charting
self - assessed clinical progress18 .
the
patient would rate her condition compared to the beginning of treatment as improved
significantly ( 2 ) , improved slightly ( 1 ) , stayed the same ( 0 ) , deteriorated slightly ( 1 ) ,
or deteriorated significantly ( 2 ) .
this case study complied with the ethical standards of the declaration of helsinki ( 1975 ,
revised 1983 ) .
circumferential measurements taken at 9 levels before treatment showed more than 2 cm of
fixed lymphedema at the metatarsophalangeal joint , ankle , and 10 and 15 cm above the ankle .
the volumetric value of the left lower limb was 1,573.28 ml before treatment , 1,573.13 ml at
the end of treatment , 1,516.70 ml 1 month later , and 1,441.61 ml 3 months later .
reduction is
determined by subtracting the lymphedema volume of the affected limb at the end of treatment
from the volume before treatment .
volume reduction was 0.15 ml . percent reduction is
calculated as volume reduction divided by baseline volume multiplied by 100 .
when
measurements at 1 and 3 months were compared with baseline measurements , there was a
decrease in the lymphedema ( 3.59% and 8.36% , respectively ) .
the patient reported satisfaction with the treatment , reduction in the sense
of stiffness and heaviness , and eased mobility in the ankle ; the baseline edema was reduced
and softened during the treatment process .
we hypothesized that mrt could be an alternative or additional treatment option for
patients with primary lymphedema because it has anti - edematous effects .
based on the results
in this case , we could not conclude that mrt is effective in reducing lymphedema , but it may
show a positive effect by reducing edema in the long term . the presence and severity of swelling is measured objectively by comparing the
circumference or volume of the affected limb to that of the unaffected limb19 . in the current study , water displacement
and optoelectronic measurements , which are other valid methods , were not preferred for the
evaluation of lymphedema because of time , cost , difficulty of use , and equipment
requirements6 , 19 . instead
, circumferential measurement , which is a simple ,
inexpensive , non - invasive , and easy method , was preferred to evaluate lymphedema . similar to massage , which has beneficial effects on circulation , edema , and lymphatic
drainage , mrt can cause afferent stimulation through the effect of vibration20 .
although
mrt seems appropriate for musculoskeletal injuries , because of implementation by direct skin
contact , it could affect the superficial lymphatic system . however , there are only a few
studies on the effectiveness of mrt .
mrt for burns , sports injuries , and circulation has
been reported in the literature10,11,12,13 .
investigated the acute effects of mrt on blood
circulation in comparison with conventional massage , and reported that mrt was more
effective11 .
the findings can also be interpreted as
the sustained long - term effect of mrt at the cellular level .
although there was only a
slight difference in lymphedema volume at the end of treatment , there was a decrease at
follow up .
using the percentage difference in limb volume is likely to be most appropriate ,
because this takes into account the inter - individual differences in limb size .
there is
agreement among reviews that complex decongestive physiotherapy ( cdp ) is effective at
reducing limb volume23 , 24 .
it is an intensive treatment program involving manual
lymphatic drainage ( mld ) , skin care , compression therapy , and/or prescribed exercises23 .
since these techniques can also be
offered separately , it would be useful to determine the effectiveness of each component19 .
mld is a specialized form of light
massage that is used to assist the flow of lymph from distal areas of stasis to proximal ,
normally functioning lymphatic vessels19 .
mld seems to be effective when
used with compression therapy , but the available evidence does not support its use as a
stand - alone treatment strategy3 , 23 .
compressive bandages must
be left in place 21 to 24 hours per day for optimal volume reduction26 . however , in the current study , mrt was applied for only
one hour a day and bandaging was not used during the day .
the extremity was managed with
compression hosiery for only a few hours , less than half of the day , which is inappropriate
for lymphedema .
compression hosiery is used mainly for the treatment and prevention of
recurrent venous leg ulcers and applies relatively low levels of static compression to the
lower leg ( up to a maximum of 46 mmhg at the ankle ) . however ,
when used as part of
lymphedema management , higher levels of compression may be required , involving the use of
hosiery capable of achieving at least 49 mmhg at the ankle27 . despite the use of compression hosiery for years
, the swelling
continued to increase before the patient contacted us , so its continued use would not
provide compression sufficient to achieve a volumetric difference . in order to observe the
pure effects of mrt , additional compression therapy was not administered .
greater reductions
might be demonstrated when the use of mrt is combined with compression therapy for the
entire day .
additionally , due to similar application time , application technique , and the effect on the
lymphatic system for mrt and mld , comparative research should be performed to determine
whether mrt could be an alternative to mld .
unfortunately , this is only a case report and
there was no control group for comparison . in conclusion , based on the results of the present case ,
mrt was not found to be effective
in reducing lymphedema when used alone . however , mrt might positively affect lymphedema ,
which is a chronic process , if it is applied for a longer term and repeated often . to
determine the effects of mrt
, it would be useful to conduct further follow - up studies with a
larger sample size .
furthermore , investigations of mrt compared with mld are necessary to
determine the actual effect .
mrt may be combined with compression therapy to manage
lymphedema , and could provide a positive contribution to the cdp approach . | pubmed |
Analytical expression for the EMF induced in a solenoid due to motion of a permanent magnet
A permanent magnet (cylindrical) of length (l) and radius(r) with velocity v(t) along z-axis as shown in the figure. I am looking for analytical expression for the induced emf in a coil with N turns, due to the motion of a permanent magnet.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/B5EfK.jpg)
Suppose your coil has $N$ turns, spaced a distance $d$ apart from each other. It's simpler to approximate a helical coil as $N$ loops spaced a distance $d$ apart, so that we have a bunch of discrete shapes which have an easy-to-identify area vector.
If you have an analytical expression for the magnetic field $\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r})$, then you can compute the flux through one loop by the following integral:
$$\Phi=\iint \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r})\cdot\mathbf{dA}$$
This integral will obviously depend on the distance of the loop from the magnet, so the flux through each loop will be different. So what you need to compute, in the end, are the fluxes $\Phi\_1,...,\Phi\_N$ through each of the $N$ loops, as a function of the distance $x(t)$ from the first loop to the magnet (which, since the loops are all fixed relative to each other, determines the distance from all of the other loops to the magnet). Once you have $\Phi\_1(x),...,\Phi\_N(x)$, then you can compute the total EMF induced $\mathcal{E}$ using:
$$\mathcal{E}=-\sum\_{i=1}^{N}\frac{d\Phi\_i(x(t))}{dt}=-\sum\_{i=1}^{N}\frac{d\Phi\_i}{dx}v(t)$$
where $v(t)$ is the velocity of the magnet.
At this point, your problem reduces to a sum of surface integrals. Depending on what $\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r})$ is, there may or may not be an analytical solution to these surface integrals.
One thing we can say immediately, though, just by looking at the general formula, is the following: the EMF generated at any point in time is a **linear** function of the velocity of the magnet. If you double the velocity, you double the EMF produced at that point in time.
| stackexchange/physics |
electromagnetic scintillation calorimeters are an important part of many elementary particle detectors .
one of the most complicated problems of such calorimeters is the energy calibration , i.e. determination of coefficients , needed for conversion of electrical signals from the calorimeter into corresponding energy depositions , measured in units of mev .
commonly used for that purpose are particles , producing known energy depositions in the calorimeter counters , e.g. gamma quanta from radioactive sources , cosmic muons , or particle beams . cosmic radiation is a continuos and freely available source of charged particles . at the sea level the main part of them
is represented by muons @xmath3 , having high enough energies @xmath4 to traverse the whole detector . in the calorimeter
counters muons loose energy due to ionization of the medium .
the average ionization losses are close to 5 mev / cm in nai(tl ) . with reasonable accuracy one can also assume , that the trajectory of the muon is a straight line and that energy is left mainly in the counters crossed by this line .
cosmic calibration of the snd calorimeter is a preliminary stage before the final calibration .
its goal is to obtain approximate values of the constants for the calculation of energy depositions .
these constants are needed to level responses of all crystals in order to obtain equal first level trigger energy threshold over the whole calorimeter .
they are also used as seed values for a precise off - line calibration procedure , based on analysis of bhabha events .
the requirements for the cosmic calibration procedure are the following : the calibration procedure must take not more than 12 hours , it must be independent of the other detector systems , and statistical errors in the conversion coefficients must be less than @xmath5 .
the scheme of this procedure was briefly described in @xcite .
its important feature is that it makes use of virtually all muons detected in the calorimeter , greatly reducing the time required for calibration . in many other implementations of cosmic calibration ,
e.g. in the l3 detector at lep @xcite , muons , traversing the detector only in certain directions , were selected .
the snd detector @xcite ( fig .
[ f1 ] ) consists of two cylindrical drift chambers for charge particle tracking , calorimeter , and a muon system . the main part of the detector is a three - layer spherical calorimeter , based on nai(tl ) crystals .
the pairs of counters of the two inner layers , with thickness of 2.9 and 4.8 @xmath6 respectively , where @xmath7 is a radiation length , are sealed in thin aluminum containers , fixed to an aluminum supporting hemisphere . behind it , the third layer of nai(tl ) crystals , 5.7 @xmath6 thick , is placed ( fig .
the total thickness of the calorimeter for particles , originating from the center of the detector , is equal to 34.7 cm ( 13.4 @xmath6 ) .
the total number of counters is 1632 , the number of crystals per layer varies from 520 to 560 .
the angular dimensions of the most of crystals are @xmath8 , the total solid angle is @xmath9 of @xmath10 .
the electronics channel ( fig . [ f5 ] ) consists of : 1 .
phototriode with an average quantum efficiency of the photocathode for the nai(tl ) emission spectrum of about @xmath11 and gain of about 10 @xcite .
the light collection efficiency varies from 7 to 15 @xmath12 for different calorimeter layers , 2 .
charge sensitive preamplifier ( csa ) with a conversion coefficient of 0.7 v / pc , 3 .
12-channel shaping amplifier ( sha ) with a remote controlled gain that can be set to any value in the range from 0 to a maximum with a resolution of 1/255 .
24-channel 12 bit analog to digital converter ( adc ) with a maximum input signal @xmath13 , 5 .
in addition the sha produces special signals for the first level trigger , the most important of which is the analog sum of all calorimeter channels the total energy deposition .
each calorimeter channel can be tested using a precision computer controlled calibration generator .
the amplitude of its signal can be set to any value from 0 to 1 v with a resolution of 1/4096 .
the equivalent electronics noise of individual calorimeter counters lies within a range of 150 - 350 kev .
the calibration procedure is based on the comparison of experimental energy depositions in the calorimeter crystals for cosmic muons with monte carlo simulation .
the simulation was carried out by means of the unimod2 @xcite code , developed for simulation of @xmath0 colliding beam experiments .
simulated were muons crossing the sphere with a radius of 80 cm , centered at the beam crossing point , and containing all calorimeter crystals .
the cosmic muon generation program is based on data from @xcite .
experimental data on the energy and angular spectra of cosmic muons were approximated using the following formula : @xmath14,\ ] ] where @xmath15 the flux of muons with a momentum of @xmath16 at @xmath17 , @xmath18 angle between the muon momentum and vertical direction , @xmath19 , @xmath20 .
the data from @xcite , on the relative abundances of positive and negative muons , were approximated using the following expression : @xmath21.\ ] ] the passage of particles through the detector was simulated by means of the unimod2 code . as a result
the energy depositions in the calorimeter crystals were calculated in each event .
a total of 1 000 000 cosmic events were simulated .
the simulated events were processed as follows .
the track of cosmic muon was fitted to the hit crystals and expected track lengths in each crystal were calculated .
energy depositions @xmath22 and track lengths @xmath23 were summed over event sample for each crystal separately and for each crystal their ratio was calculated : @xmath24 .
brackets denote averaging over event samples .
then the calorimeter channels were calibrated electronically , using the generator . in order to account for the electronics nonlinearity ,
the calibration data were taken at two significantly different values of sha gain and wide range of calibration generator amplitudes , covering the whole dynamic range of the adcs .
in addition , data were taken at a working value of the sha gain . using all these data and assuming that the dependence of the adc counts @xmath25 on the generator amplitude @xmath26 is described by a second order polynomial , and that the generator amplitude itself linearly depends on generator code , one can obtain @xmath27 constants , defined by the following expressions : @xmath28 where @xmath29 and @xmath30 are a generator code and pedestal respectively , @xmath31 - the relative sha gain .
the next step is to obtain from these intermediate results the final constants @xmath32 , @xmath33 , and @xmath34 for the working values of sha gain , from the knowledge of which one can calculate the equivalent generator code @xmath29 for any measured adc count : @xmath35 it relates an adc count to a corresponding generator code , which allows the linearization of the adc response .
the next stage is processing of the experimental events . about 1.5 million events ( fig .
[ f9 ] ) are needed to be collected in special data taking runs with total duration of 4.5 hours .
the processing itself is the same as that of the simulated events , but now the initial adc counts are first transformed into equivalent generator codes . as a result , values of @xmath36 for each crystal are obtained .
the meaning of @xmath37 is a code , which should be written into the generator to produce signals on csa input , equivalent to an average input signal produced by a 1 cm long muon track . using @xmath38 and @xmath39 ,
for each crystal we can calculate @xmath40 an equivalent generator code , corresponding to an energy deposition of 1 mev in a crystal .
then the gains of the sha channels are adjusted to equalize contributions of different crystals into the total energy deposition signal and the final generator calibration pass is carried out .
it yields the coefficients @xmath41 , @xmath42 , and @xmath43 , needed to transform @xmath25 into mev according to the following formula : @xmath44 the use of the precision generator as a reference calibration source is very convenient not only because its linearity is much higher than that of the adc , but it also simplifies the replacement of any element of the electronics channel , except the cpa or generator itself .
all what is needed after that is to recalibrate the calorimeter with the generator .
the goal of the experimental and simulated events processing is to obtain the normalized ratios @xmath39 and @xmath38 . the need for normalization of the energy deposition to the unit track length in a crystal arises from the fact that the raw energy deposition spectra in crystals are very wide and have very weakly pronounced maxima . on the other hand ,
such a normalization reduces systematic errors due to possible differences in the angular distributions of simulated and real muons , and differences in the directions of crystals axes over the calorimeter .
the simulated and experimental events are processed using the same computer code .
the only difference is that before processing of a simulated event it is checked for passing the experimental trigger .
the following selection criteria are used for event selection : the total number of hit crystals must be from 5 to 25 .
crystals with energy depositions smaller than the threshold value ( currently 5 mev ) are discarded . similarly discarded are crystals with adc counts less than 20 .
an event is selected if more than four hit crystals survive these cuts .
for those crystals a straight line is fitted , using a least squares method , i. e. the sum of squares of distances from the crystal centers to the line is minimized .
the line is parametrized as : @xmath45 where @xmath46 is an arbitrary point on the line , @xmath47 is a unitary vector in the direction of the line , @xmath48 parameter .
then , the squared distance from the center of i - th crystal to the line is : @xmath49 where @xmath50 is a radius - vector of the crystal center .
the minimized function is : @xmath51 where @xmath52 is assumed to be equal to a half height of an i - th crystal .
one point on a line can be determined immediately : @xmath53 the direction of vector @xmath47 , is determined by a maximum of the quadratic form @xmath54 .
@xmath55 in other words , @xmath47 must have the same direction as an eigenvector of @xmath32 , matrix of this quadratic form , corresponding to its maximal eigenvalue . here
@xmath56 @xmath57 coordinate indices .
the equation for @xmath47 was solved using an iterative procedure : @xmath58 as seed value the unitary vector in the direction of the line between the centers of the two most distant crystals in the event is used . on each iteration step the presence of hit crystals at distances greater than @xmath59 from the line
is checked .
if such crystals exist , two options are considered .
the first one is to remove the most distant crystal from the list , the second one is to remove the crystal , most distant from the point @xmath60 .
for both cases the fitting of the line is repeated and the final choice is based on the minimal value of @xmath61 . if there are more than one crystal to be discarded then the event is rejected completely . from the remaining events
only those are selected where @xmath61 divided by the number of hit crystals is less than 0.7 ( fig .
[ f7 ] ) .
after that , the expected lengths of the muon track @xmath62 in each crystal are calculated and averaged over the whole event sample together with the energy depositions @xmath63 .
the values of average track lengths @xmath64 and energy depositions @xmath65 are used then to calculate the energy deposition per unit track length @xmath66 . here
@xmath67 and @xmath68 are the crystal and the event numbers , respectively . to estimate the statistical error in @xmath69 , the event sample is divided into groups of 50 events each and within each group the ratio @xmath70 is calculated .
then , the error @xmath71 in @xmath69 can be estimated as @xmath72 , where @xmath73 is a number of groups .
the total cpu time , required for processing of @xmath74 cosmic events is 2.5 hours on vaxstation 4000/60 .
the mean @xmath75 and their rms values are shown in the table [ tab1 ] .
the necessity of normalization of energy depositions in crystals to a unitary track length was studied . to this
end the events with muons going through drift chamber were processed , and the corresponding @xmath76 coefficients were calculated .
the ratios of @xmath77 and their rms are also presented in the table [ tab1 ] together with the corresponding ratios of mean energy depositions @xmath78 .
the data show , that the normalization significantly reduces the dependence of coefficients on the angular distribution of muons .
the distributions of experimental events over number of hit crystals with energy depositions higher than threshold value and over @xmath61 are in good agreement with the simulated ones ( fig .
[ f6 ] , [ f7 ] ) .
small differences between experimental and simulated distributions may be attributed to inaccuracies in the angular and energy spectra of the primary particles and first level trigger simulation .
this also may cause small differences in the distributions over the angle relative to vertical direction ( fig .
[ f10 ] ) . shown in fig .
[ f12 ] are distributions over total energy deposition in the detector , normalized to a unitary track length also agree well . a comparison of average track lengths of muons in the calorimeter crystals for the experimental and simulated events was carried out .
the results are listed in table [ tab2 ] .
the statistical uncertainty of the @xmath37 coefficients is less than @xmath79 for all three layers of the calorimeter . at the same time the uncertainties of the corresponding coefficients for simulated events
are determined by simulation statistics .
the energy resolution of the calorimeter was studied using @xmath80 and @xmath81 processes .
the energy distributions for electrons are depicted in fig .
[ f131 ] . the events with polar angles of the particles in the range @xmath82 degrees and acollinearity angle less than 10 degrees were selected .
to estimate the energy resolution quantitatively , the spectra in fig .
[ f131 ] were fitted by a function @xmath83 \biggr\},\ ] ] @xmath84{\ln 4 } ) \over t_{\mathrm{x}}\sqrt[]{\ln4}},\ ] ] where @xmath85 is a particle energy , @xmath86 the position of maximum , @xmath32 normalization coefficient , @xmath87 - the asymmetry parameter , @xmath88 is a full width of the distribution at half maximum divided by 2.36 .
@xmath32 , @xmath86 , @xmath88 , and @xmath87 were treated as free parameters during fitting .
energy resolution was defined as @xmath89 .
experimental and monte carlo resolutions of the calorimeter at 500 mev are respectively @xmath90 and @xmath91 for photons and @xmath92 and @xmath93 for electrons .
peak and mean values of the experimental and simulated distributions agree to a level of about @xmath79 , but the widths of experimental distributions are significantly larger
. the possible explanation of the broadening of the experimental spectra could be electronics instability , systematic errors in calibration procedure and nonuniformity of light collection efficiency over the crystal volume .
study of the electronics and photodetector stability showed , that it can attribute to a maximum of @xmath79 shifts for the time duration of the collection of energy deposition spectra .
systematic biases were estimated by comparison of the calibration coefficients with those obtained using a special procedure based on minimization of the width of the energy deposition spectrum in the calorimeter for @xmath0 events .
such a calibration was carried out using experimental statistics collected in 1996 @xcite .
the average bias of coefficients relatively to those obtained with cosmic calibration was @xmath94 for the first layer .
no statistically significant bias was found in other two layers .
the rms difference in calibration coefficients , obtained using cosmic and @xmath0 calibration procedures is close to @xmath95 .
the resulting energy resolution after @xmath0 calibration was close to @xmath96 for photons and @xmath97 for electrons , which is still worse than that expected from monte carlo simulation .
a monte carlo simulation was carried out taking into account a nonuniformity of light collection efficiency over the crystal volume .
the results are shown in fig .
[ f132 ] together with the experimental distribution .
the energy resolution for simulated events decreased to @xmath98 .
it shows that the broadening of experimental spectra was mainly determined by the nonuniformity of light collection efficiency over the crystal volume .
the cosmic calibration procedure was used during a five month experiment with snd at vepp-2 m in 1996 @xcite .
relative shifts in calibration coefficients are shown in fig .
it can be seen , that for a one week period between consecutive calibrations , the mean shift of the coefficients is less than @xmath99 and rms of their random spread is @xmath100 .
with the help of the described procedure of snd calorimeter calibration a statistical accuracy of @xmath79 in calibration coefficients and energy resolution of @xmath91 for 500 mev electromagnetic showers was achieved .
mean energy depositions agree with simulation at a level better than @xmath79 .
the total time , required for calorimeter calibration is not more than 5 hours .
10 m.n.achasov et al . , in proceedings of workshop of the sixth international conference on instrumentation for experiments at e+e- colliders , novosibirsk , russia , february 29 - march 6 , 1996 , nucl instr and meth . , a379(1996),p.505 .
j.a.bakken et al . , nucl .
instr . and meth .
, a275(1989 ) , p.81 .
v.m.aulchenko et al . , in proceedings of workshop on physics and detectors for da@xmath101ne , frascati , april 1991 p.605 .
v.m.aulchenko et al . , the 6th international conference on hadron spectroscopy , manchester , uk , 10th-14th july 1995 , p.295 .
p.m.beschastnov et al . , nucl instr and meth . ,
a342(1994 ) , p.477 .
a.d.bukin , et al . , in proceedings of workshop on detector and event simulation in high energy physics , the netherlands , amsterdam , 8 - 12 april 1991 , nikhef , p.79 .
muons , a.o.vajsenberg , amsterdam : north - holland , 1967 .
m.n.achasov et al .
, status of the experiments with snd detector at @xmath102 collider vepp-2 m in novosibirsk , novosibirsk , budker inp 96 - 47 , 1996 . | arxiv |
depression is a psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of affective , psychomotor , cognitive and neurovegetative symptoms that pervade all aspects of life and affect individual 's family and personal relationships , employment and general health .
however , the monoamine hypothesis explains several behavioral and neurochemical aspects of the changes in serotonin ( 5-hydroxytryptamine [ 5-ht ] ) , dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brains of depressed patients .
5-ht is known to be directly involved in the modulation of cognition , mood , anxiety , aggression , pain and neuroendocrine function , affecting neurogenesis , apoptosis , axon branching and neuronal cell survival .
5-ht synthesis in the brain is highly dependent on the bioavailability of tryptophan in plasma .
reduction in the availability of 5-ht in neurons triggers the induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase ( ido ) .
ido is an enzyme that degrades tryptophan in tryptophan catabolites and nicotinamide , reducing the bioavailability of tryptophan for 5-ht synthesis .
prostaglandin e2 ( pge2 ) can also induce ido , and , in turn , increase interleukin ( il)-6 production .
in addition , the inflammatory hypothesis has gained widespread attention , suggesting that inflammation mediated by immune cell activation is a key factor in depression .
this hypothesis is supported by the fact that patients with depression have elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid .
a recent meta - analysis showed that the levels of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor ( tnf- ) and il-6 are increased in the serum of patients with depression .
thus , some authors have contended that depression is characterized by activation of the inflammatory response through the increased production of proinflammatory cytokines , such as il-1 , il-6 and tnf- , and pge2 .
it is known as a non - steroidal anti - inflammatory drug ( nsaid ) that has an analgesic effect .
the effectiveness of piroxicam as an anti - inflammatory agent is mainly attributable to the inhibition of pge synthesis .
demonstrated that acute treatment with piroxicam was able to exert antidepressant - like effect in the forced swim test ( fst ) and that prolonged treatment was able to reverse the anhedonic state of rats induced by chronic mild stress model .
therefore , the aim of the present study was to investigate the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam , focusing on the serotonergic neurotransmission .
fifty - six male wistar rats from our breeding colony , 3 months of age and weighing 280320 g at the beginning of the experiments , were used .
the animals were randomly housed in groups of five in polypropylene cages with wood shavings as bedding and maintained in a temperature - controlled room ( 22 2c ) on a 12 h/12 h light / dark cycle ( lights on at 7:00 am ) .
the studies were performed in accordance with the guidelines of the committee on the care and use of laboratory animals , united states national institutes of health . the experimental protocol complied with the recommendations of the federal university of paran and was approved by the university ethics committee ( protocol no .
the rats were randomly distributed into seven groups ( n = eight per group ) : 0.9% saline control group ; 3 mg / kg pizotifen ( non - selective 5-ht receptor antagonist ; novartis , so paulo , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline as the positive control group ( selective 5-ht reuptake inhibitor ; ems , so paulo , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg piroxicam ( nsaid ; ems , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline + 10 mg / kg piroxicam ( to evaluate whether the mechanism of action of piroxicam , regarding its antidepressant - like effect , would be the same as a selective 5-ht reuptake inhibitor ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline + 3 mg / kg pizotifen ; and 10 mg / kg piroxicam + 3 mg / kg pizotifen ( to evaluate the involvement of the serotonergic system in the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam as a non - selective 5-ht receptor antagonist ) .
three administrations of the drugs ( piroxicam and sertraline ) were performed 1 , 5 and 24 h before testing the animals in the open field , followed by the fst .
piroxicam and sertraline were administered orally by gavage and pizotifen was administered intraperitoneally 30 min before gavage .
all the drugs were administered in a constant volume of 1.0 ml / kg . immediately after the fst , the brain of animals was dissected for neurochemical analysis .
the apparatus consisted of a round arena ( 100 cm diameter , 45 cm height ) , with the floor divided into 19 units .
the animals were gently placed on the right side of the open field and allowed to freely explore the arena for 5 min .
two motor parameters were recorded : locomotion frequency ( i.e. the number of crossings from one unit to another ) and rearing frequency ( i.e. the number of times the animals stood on their hind legs ) .
the open field was washed with 5% ethanol solution before the behavioral test to eliminate possible bias caused by odors left by previous rats .
the rats were placed in a tank ( 25 cm diameter , 60 cm height ) that contained water at a temperature of 24 1c and depth of 25 cm for 15 min .
twenty - four hours after the training session , the rats were subjected to the fst for 5 min , which was videotaped for subsequent quantification of the following parameters : immobility ( i.e. the lack of motion of the whole body , consisting of only small movements necessary to keep the animal 's head above the water ) , climbing ( i.e. vigorous movements with the forepaws in and out of the water , usually directed against the wall of the tank ) and swimming ( i.e. large forepaw movements that displaced water to move the body around the cylinder , more than necessary to merely keep the head above the water ) .
the water was changed after each animal to avoid the influence of water temperature and substances left from the previous session .
hippocampi were rapidly dissected after the fst and stored at -80c until the neurochemical quantification .
the endogenous concentrations of 5-ht and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ( 5-hiaa ) were assayed using reverse - phase high - performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) with electrochemical detection . briefly ,
the system consisted of a synergi fusion - rp c-18 reverse - phase column ( 150 4.6 mm i.d .
, 4 m particle size ) fitted with a 4 mm 3.0 mm pre - column ( security guard cartridges fusion - rp ) , an electrochemical detector ( esa coulochem iii electrochemical detector ) equipped with a guard cell ( esa 5020 ) with the electrode set at 350 mv and a dual electrode analytical cell ( esa 5011a ) , a lc-20at pump ( shimadzu ) equipped with a manual rheodyne7725 injector with a 20 l loop
. the column was maintained inside a temperature - controlled oven ( 25c , shimadzu ) .
the cell contained two chambers in series : each chamber included a porous graphite coulometric electrode , a double counter electrode and a double reference electrode .
oxidizing potentials were set at 100 mv for the first electrode and at 450 mv for the second electrode .
the tissue samples were homogenized with an ultrasonic cell disrupter ( sonics ) in 0.1 m perchloric acid containing sodium metabisulfite 0.02% and internal standard .
after centrifugation at 10,000 g for 20 min at 4c , 20 l of the supernatant was injected into the chromatograph .
the mobile phase , used at a flow rate of 1 ml / min , had the following composition : 20 g citric acid monohydrated ( merck ) , 200 mg octane-1-sulfonic acid sodium salt ( merck ) , 40 mg ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid ( edta ) ( sigma ) and 900 ml hplc - grade water .
the ph of the buffer running solution was adjusted to 4.0 then filtered through a 0.45 m filter .
methanol ( merck ) was added to give a final composition of 10% methanol ( v / v ) .
the neurotransmitter and metabolite concentrations were calculated using standard curves that were generated by determining in triplicate the ratios between three different known amounts of the internal standard .
smirnov test was used to ensure that the data satisfied the criteria for performing analysis of variance ( anova ) .
fifty - six male wistar rats from our breeding colony , 3 months of age and weighing 280320 g at the beginning of the experiments , were used .
the animals were randomly housed in groups of five in polypropylene cages with wood shavings as bedding and maintained in a temperature - controlled room ( 22 2c ) on a 12 h/12 h light / dark cycle ( lights on at 7:00 am ) .
the studies were performed in accordance with the guidelines of the committee on the care and use of laboratory animals , united states national institutes of health . the experimental protocol complied with the recommendations of the federal university of paran and was approved by the university ethics committee ( protocol no .
the rats were randomly distributed into seven groups ( n = eight per group ) : 0.9% saline control group ; 3 mg / kg pizotifen ( non - selective 5-ht receptor antagonist ; novartis , so paulo , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline as the positive control group ( selective 5-ht reuptake inhibitor ; ems , so paulo , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg piroxicam ( nsaid ; ems , brazil ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline + 10 mg / kg piroxicam ( to evaluate whether the mechanism of action of piroxicam , regarding its antidepressant - like effect , would be the same as a selective 5-ht reuptake inhibitor ) ; 10 mg / kg sertraline + 3 mg / kg pizotifen ; and 10 mg / kg piroxicam + 3 mg / kg pizotifen ( to evaluate the involvement of the serotonergic system in the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam as a non - selective 5-ht receptor antagonist ) .
three administrations of the drugs ( piroxicam and sertraline ) were performed 1 , 5 and 24 h before testing the animals in the open field , followed by the fst .
piroxicam and sertraline were administered orally by gavage and pizotifen was administered intraperitoneally 30 min before gavage .
all the drugs were administered in a constant volume of 1.0 ml / kg . immediately after the fst , the brain of animals was dissected for neurochemical analysis .
the apparatus consisted of a round arena ( 100 cm diameter , 45 cm height ) , with the floor divided into 19 units .
the animals were gently placed on the right side of the open field and allowed to freely explore the arena for 5 min .
two motor parameters were recorded : locomotion frequency ( i.e. the number of crossings from one unit to another ) and rearing frequency ( i.e. the number of times the animals stood on their hind legs ) .
the open field was washed with 5% ethanol solution before the behavioral test to eliminate possible bias caused by odors left by previous rats .
the rats were placed in a tank ( 25 cm diameter , 60 cm height ) that contained water at a temperature of 24 1c and depth of 25 cm for 15 min .
twenty - four hours after the training session , the rats were subjected to the fst for 5 min , which was videotaped for subsequent quantification of the following parameters : immobility ( i.e. the lack of motion of the whole body , consisting of only small movements necessary to keep the animal 's head above the water ) , climbing ( i.e. vigorous movements with the forepaws in and out of the water , usually directed against the wall of the tank ) and swimming ( i.e. large forepaw movements that displaced water to move the body around the cylinder , more than necessary to merely keep the head above the water ) .
the water was changed after each animal to avoid the influence of water temperature and substances left from the previous session .
hippocampi were rapidly dissected after the fst and stored at -80c until the neurochemical quantification .
the endogenous concentrations of 5-ht and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ( 5-hiaa ) were assayed using reverse - phase high - performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) with electrochemical detection .
briefly , the system consisted of a synergi fusion - rp c-18 reverse - phase column ( 150 4.6 mm i.d . , 4 m particle size ) fitted with a 4 mm 3.0 mm pre - column ( security guard cartridges fusion - rp ) , an electrochemical detector ( esa coulochem iii electrochemical detector ) equipped with a guard cell ( esa 5020 ) with the electrode set at 350 mv and a dual electrode analytical cell ( esa 5011a ) , a lc-20at pump ( shimadzu ) equipped with a manual rheodyne7725 injector with a 20 l loop .
the column was maintained inside a temperature - controlled oven ( 25c , shimadzu ) .
the cell contained two chambers in series : each chamber included a porous graphite coulometric electrode , a double counter electrode and a double reference electrode .
oxidizing potentials were set at 100 mv for the first electrode and at 450 mv for the second electrode .
the tissue samples were homogenized with an ultrasonic cell disrupter ( sonics ) in 0.1 m perchloric acid containing sodium metabisulfite 0.02% and internal standard .
after centrifugation at 10,000 g for 20 min at 4c , 20 l of the supernatant was injected into the chromatograph .
the mobile phase , used at a flow rate of 1 ml / min , had the following composition : 20 g citric acid monohydrated ( merck ) , 200 mg octane-1-sulfonic acid sodium salt ( merck ) , 40 mg ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid ( edta ) ( sigma ) and 900 ml hplc - grade water .
the ph of the buffer running solution was adjusted to 4.0 then filtered through a 0.45 m filter .
methanol ( merck ) was added to give a final composition of 10% methanol ( v / v ) .
the neurotransmitter and metabolite concentrations were calculated using standard curves that were generated by determining in triplicate the ratios between three different known amounts of the internal standard .
the kolmogorov smirnov test was used to ensure that the data satisfied the criteria for performing analysis of variance ( anova ) .
in the open field test [ figure 1a ] , the frequencies of locomotion ( f6,55 = 1.399 , p = 0.2339 ) and rearing ( f6,55 = 0.5825 , p = 0.7425 ; figure 1b ) 1 h after acute administration revealed that none of the treated rats exhibited differences in these parameters compared with the control group .
keuls post hoc test ; mean sem ) in the fst , swimming time significantly increased after acute treatment with sertraline , piroxicam and sertraline + piroxicam compared with the control group ( p < 0.05 , p < 0.05 and p < 0.001 , respectively ) .
the sertraline + piroxicam group also exhibited a significant increase in swimming time compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( both p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 8.115 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 2a ) .
the sertraline , piroxicam and sertraline + piroxicam groups exhibited a significant decrease in immobility time compared with the control group after acute treatment ( all p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 4.407 , p = 0.00121 ; figure 2b ) .
only the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a decrease in climbing compared with the control group ( p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 3.189 , p = 0.0010 ; figure 2c ) .
forced swim test ( a ) swimming , ( b ) immobility and ( c ) climbing time .
* p < 0.05 and * * * p < 0.001 compared with the saline group ; p < 0.05 compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( one - way analysis of variance followed by the newman keuls post hoc test ; mean sem ) the levels of 5-ht in the hippocampus significantly increased in the sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) , pizotifen ( p < 0.05 ) , pizotifen + sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) and pizotifen + piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) groups compared with the control group .
additionally , the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a significant increase in the 5-ht levels compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( both p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 8.104 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3a ) .
the pizotifen and pizotifen + piroxicam groups exhibited significant increases in the metabolite 5-hiaa ( p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 , respectively ) compared with the control group .
the sertraline ( p < 0.01 ) and piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) were found to have decreased 5-ht levels compared with the control group ( f6,55 = 22.14 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3b ) .
the turnover of 5-ht in the hippocampus significantly decreased in the sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) , piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) and pizotifen + sertraline ( p < 0.01 ) groups compared with the control group .
additionally , the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a significant decrease in the turnover of 5-ht levels compared with the piroxicam groups ( p < 0.001 ; f6,55 = 22.67 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3c ) .
5-hydroxytryptamine ( 5-ht ) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ( 5-hiaa ) hippocampal ( a ) 5-ht , ( b ) 5-hiaa and ( c ) turnover 5-ht .
* p < 0.05 , * * p < 0.01 and * * * p < 0.001 compared with the saline group ; p < 0.05 compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups , p < 0.001 compared with the piroxicam group ( one - way analysis of variance followed by the newman
in the open field test [ figure 1a ] , the frequencies of locomotion ( f6,55 = 1.399 , p = 0.2339 ) and rearing ( f6,55 = 0.5825 , p = 0.7425 ; figure 1b ) 1 h after acute administration revealed that none of the treated rats exhibited differences in these parameters compared with the control group .
keuls post hoc test ; mean sem ) in the fst , swimming time significantly increased after acute treatment with sertraline , piroxicam and sertraline + piroxicam compared with the control group ( p < 0.05 , p < 0.05 and p < 0.001 , respectively ) .
the sertraline + piroxicam group also exhibited a significant increase in swimming time compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( both p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 8.115 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 2a ) .
the sertraline , piroxicam and sertraline + piroxicam groups exhibited a significant decrease in immobility time compared with the control group after acute treatment ( all p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 4.407 , p = 0.00121 ; figure 2b ) .
only the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a decrease in climbing compared with the control group ( p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 3.189 , p = 0.0010 ; figure 2c ) .
forced swim test ( a ) swimming , ( b ) immobility and ( c ) climbing time .
* p < 0.05 and * * * p < 0.001 compared with the saline group ; p < 0.05 compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( one - way analysis of variance followed by the newman keuls post hoc test ; mean sem )
the levels of 5-ht in the hippocampus significantly increased in the sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) , pizotifen ( p < 0.05 ) , pizotifen + sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) and pizotifen + piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) groups compared with the control group .
additionally , the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a significant increase in the 5-ht levels compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups ( both p < 0.05 ; f6,55 = 8.104 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3a ) .
the pizotifen and pizotifen + piroxicam groups exhibited significant increases in the metabolite 5-hiaa ( p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 , respectively ) compared with the control group .
the sertraline ( p < 0.01 ) and piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.05 ) were found to have decreased 5-ht levels compared with the control group ( f6,55 = 22.14 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3b ) .
the turnover of 5-ht in the hippocampus significantly decreased in the sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) , piroxicam ( p < 0.05 ) , piroxicam + sertraline ( p < 0.001 ) and pizotifen + sertraline ( p < 0.01 ) groups compared with the control group .
additionally , the sertraline + piroxicam group exhibited a significant decrease in the turnover of 5-ht levels compared with the piroxicam groups ( p < 0.001 ; f6,55 = 22.67 , p < 0.0001 ; figure 3c ) .
5-hydroxytryptamine ( 5-ht ) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ( 5-hiaa ) hippocampal ( a ) 5-ht , ( b ) 5-hiaa and ( c ) turnover 5-ht .
* p < 0.05 , * * p < 0.01 and * * * p < 0.001 compared with the saline group ; p < 0.05 compared with the sertraline and piroxicam groups , p < 0.001 compared with the piroxicam group ( one - way analysis of variance followed by the newman
in the present study , we found that acute treatment with piroxicam promoted an antidepressant - like effect in the fst , which was strongly associated with an increase in the 5-ht levels in the hippocampus .
moreover , this effect was potentiated by piroxicam + sertraline , but counteracted by administration of the non - selective 5-ht receptor antagonist pizotifen .
the involvement of the 5-ht system in the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam was studied using non - selective 5-ht antagonists to examine behavioral responses to piroxicam in the fst . in the present study
the main advantage of this model is that it allows correlations to be made between the analyzed behaviors and different neurotransmitter systems ( e.g. swimming and the serotonergic system , climbing ) , and serotonin reuptake blockers increase swimming time .
according to the present results , the animals treated with piroxicam or sertraline exhibited an increase in swimming time compared with animals treated with saline .
additionally , the combination of piroxicam and sertraline potentiated the swimming time increase compared with either treatment alone .
this suggests that the observed changes are related to the serotonergic , given that the swimming time of piroxicam + sertraline group was higher when compared with the sertraline groups or piroxicam alone .
in addition , the data that showed reversal of the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam by pizotifen pre - treatment supports the hypothesis that the 5-ht system is directly involved in the antidepressant effect of piroxicam .
furthermore , the increased 5-ht levels , inflicted by the piroxicam + sertraline treatment , contrasted with the reduced metabolite levels , possibly indicating a synergistic antidepressant effect promoted by those drugs .
however , it appears that such outcome , most likely , is an acute effect , as the 5-ht turnover rates are decreased in that group .
hence , it is conceivably the occurrence of a strong involvement of the serotonergic neurotransmission in the antidepressant mechanism generated by piroxicam .
several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the depressogenic action of cytokines , including decrease in the availability of plasma tryptophan ( i.e. the precursor of 5-ht ) in the brain by activation of the tryptophan - degrading enzyme ido .
the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of depression has become more recognized in the literature , being described as the inflammatory or cytokine hypothesis of depression .
evidence suggests that continuous activation of the immune and/or chronic inflammation system can be one of the pathological processes of depression .
in addition , the neuronal cox-2 expression is related to apoptosis and it is involved in the response to stress . according to maes et al . ,
dysfunction in the serotonergic system in depression is the result of cell - mediated immune activation .
an initial inflammatory response in innate immunity initiates the activation of a cascade that results in the activation and recruitment of cells responsible for adaptive immunity .
therefore , proinflammatory cytokines released during the innate and adaptive immune responses can lead to the development of central nervous system disorders .
studies have shown that stress conditions are associated with an increase in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal ( hpa ) axis activity and elevated serum corticosterone .
support the idea that activation of the hpa axis in response to chronic stress induces changes in the hippocampal serotonergic system , predisposing the individual to the development of depression .
thus , animal and human studies indicate that cytokines , such as tnf- , il-1 , il-6 and interferon , interact with many pathophysiological domains that characterize depression , including neurotransmitter metabolism , neuroendocrine function , synaptic plasticity and behavior . according to maes et al . , proinflammatory cytokines are able to reduce the level of 5-ht through the activation of ido .
ido is an enzyme that degrades tryptophan to catabolites of tryptophan ( trycats ) and nicotinamide , reducing the bioavailability of tryptophan for the synthesis of 5-ht , still being able to reduce the availability of 5-ht through the activation of ido .
an interesting finding of the present study was the synergistic antidepressant effect of piroxicam and sertraline .
the effect of fst piroxicam in rats appears to be different from the effect of sertraline .
one hypothesis to explain the present results may be related to changes in the levels of cytokines and pge2 after piroxicam treatment .
anti - inflammatory drugs , such as piroxicam , exert their actions by inhibiting inflammation and , consequently , cytokine release , thereby avoiding the activation of ido and preventing reductions of 5-ht .
in conclusion , the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam is mediated , at least in part , by alterations in 5-ht systems probably induced by the enzyme ido .
this conclusion is supported by the fact that the non - selective blocker of serotonin receptors was able to inhibit the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam on fst , despite the increase in hippocampal serotonin observed in animals treated with the same .
furthermore , the combined use of piroxicam and sertraline demonstrated a synergistic effect , suggesting that the antidepressant - like effect of piroxicam is due to different mechanisms of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor . | pubmed |
Wrestling 1. Chapter 1
**TAKING OVER ME**
**A/N: I was listening to this song by Evanescence, "Taking Over Me," and this story just begged to be written! It was kind of long, so I broke it into two parts. I'll post part two either late tonight or sometime tomorrow. I think it's...interesting. Please R&R! Thanks! And now...on with the story!**
**PART 1**
_**You don't remember me but I remember you.**_
_**I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you.**_
_**But who can decide what they dream?**_
_**And dream, I do...**_
Stephanie McMahon laid awake in the bed in her hotel suite, looking up at the ceiling in the dark. She couldn't stop thinking about him no matter how hard she tried not to. It was just so difficult, the fact that he was back now. He'd left her, left the company, to pursue other goals. Now a year later, he was back, and he acted like he didn't remember anything that had happened between them. They weren't even friends anymore. Never mind the fact that they'd ended their affair back in October of the previous year, merely ten months before. It was like he'd forgotten about her and about everything they had once shared with each other...
She hadn't forgotten, though. She had a constant reminder with her at all times...
After staring up at the dark ceiling for a long time, she drifted off into a fitful sleep, plagued by dreams and memories of the time they had spent together... The dream that was most frequent came again that night, the dream she had in which she remembered their final night together...
_"Chris, you came," Stephanie whispered when she opened the door to her hotel suite and saw him standing there. She stood there and observed him for a minute, taking in his glorious appearance, before speaking again. "I didn't think you would show up..."_
_"I couldn't resist you," Chris Jericho whispered, stepping inside the suite and closing the door behind him. Instantly, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, holding her as close to him as he possibly could. It had been two whole months since he'd left the WWE, two months since he'd last held her like this, and he missed it. He had to make tonight the best night he could possibly make it, because he knew this was going to be the last time that he could be with her. She didn't know it yet, but he knew it, and the very idea of it was painful to him... But some things just had to be done. He had a wife at home, and a son. He had a family. This affair with Stephanie, a married woman, had to stop. He had to end it._
_But he had to be with her this one last time, and he had to make it memorable enough so that the memory could last for a lifetime..._
_"I need you so much, Chris," she whispered, baring her neck to him as his lips found their way to her soft skin. She threaded her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes, just letting the feel of his perfect lips on her skin take her away. "It's been too long..."_
_"I agree," he murmured against her skin. He pulled away from her and scooped her up into his arms. He saw the questioning look in her eyes, and he answered her question before she even opened her mouth. "We're not going to just be wild tonight, Steph... For me, it's not just about having sex with you tonight..."_
_"Then what is it about?" she asked a minute later when he carried her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. She looked up at him, at the expression on his face, and she felt her heart breaking. She could tell by the expression on his face what he was going to say next._
_"Steph..." He sat down on the bed next to her and she sat up. He took one of her hands in his and looked away. This was just so hard for him to do... "Tonight is our last night together."_
_His admission didn't surprise her very much. She had known this day would be coming, she just hadn't known when. Now, it was here, and what else could she do but accept it? She couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes, though, and she looked away. "So this is it for us, huh?" she asked softly._
_"As much as I don't want it to end, yeah," he replied in a voice just as soft as hers. "I don't want this to end, but I just keep thinking about the people we're betraying, about everyone this could hurt... I don't want that to happen..." He looked at her then, and he felt even worse when he saw her tears. He reached up to wipe her tears away with a gentle hand. "I'm sorry, Steph..."_
_"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong," she said, smiling a little through her tears. "In fact, you've been so perfect to me..." Her voice trailed off and she sighed. What would she do without him? She didn't have the slightest idea how to answer that question, but now she knew that they had to make tonight a memorable one... And with that in mind, she leaned over and kissed him again..._
_Quite a while later, they both laid next to each other in silence, looking up at the ceiling. He didn't know what to say, and she didn't, either. He pulled her tightly against him, trying to memorize the way she felt against him. He needed as many memories as he could get, because he knew that without the memories and without her, he would go crazy. He didn't know how he was going to go on and what he would do, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to see her again..._
_After a few minutes, he pulled away from her and sat up. "Where are you going?" she asked him in a worried voice._
_"I have to leave," he said quietly, looking at the wall._
_"Already?" she asked incredulously. He nodded, and she went on. "Why?"_
_"If I don't leave now, I won't be able to," he told her, turning to look at her._
_She closed her eyes for a minute and uttered a low swear. "Can you just stay with me for a little longer?" she asked him finally. "I just need you to hold me..."_
_He couldn't resist her, he just couldn't. He slipped back in the bed and pulled her to him again. They laid face to face, just looking at each other, neither one speaking. He wanted to tell her how she made him feel but he knew that it would just complicate things even more... But then he realized that he would never get the chance to tell her if he didn't tell her now, and so he made up his mind to do it._
_"Steph," he whispered, looking at her._
_"Yeah?"_
_"I love you." Even though he'd never told her those three words, they came out of his mouth easier than he'd ever imagined it would. He meant it, too. He loved her._
_"I love you, too," she whispered back, and then she hid her face from him and cried against him. He just held her and let her cry, and soon she fell asleep in his arms..._
_When she woke up the next morning, he wasn't there. She looked all around in the suite for him, for some kind of note or clue, but she found none. He was truly gone. She couldn't help but sit down on the bed and let the tears come again..._
Stephanie woke up with tears already coming from her eyes. She couldn't keep dreaming about that time when they were together last. It only made her cry more, and it made the wounds deeper, those wounds that never seemed to heal... She looked at the man lying next to her, her husband Hunter... At one point in her life, he was the only man who had ever mattered to her, but then Chris came along...
"Steph," Hunter mumbled with a little yawn, as if he had sensed that she was awake.
"Y-yes?" she asked, quickly trying to get rid of the tears. She didn't want him to ask her why she was crying again... "Something wrong?"
"The baby's crying," he said in a tired voice. "Your turn."
She got up and walked over to the crib where _her_ baby boy was crying. She picked him up and walked around with him, patting him on the back to calm him down. It was times like these that she thought of Chris the most. He didn't even know that he had another son... No one knew it except for her...
_**I believe in you...**_
_**I'll give up everything just to find you.**_
_**I have to be with you,**_
_**To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.**_
That night at Raw, Stephanie sat in her office and looked at her son. She had wanted to name him after Chris, but it had been hard to convince Hunter to let her do that. In the end, he had given in and let her name him Christopher, but he had chosen the middle name. She didn't care, as long as her son had his father's first name. It was important to her, and she didn't know why... Maybe because it reminded her of Chris even more...
Her phone rang then, and she hurriedly answered it. "Stephanie, do you have those papers I told you I needed?" Vince McMahon asked.
"Yes, Daddy, I have them," she answered. "Are you going to send someone for them?"
"I don't trust anyone else with those papers except for you," he replied. "So could you bring them, please?"
She agreed, and less than five minutes later, she was walking down the hallway, trying to find her dad's office. "Silly me, I should've asked him where his office was," she scolded herself, holding her son up and trying not to drop the papers she was holding. She saw a figure walking in front of her, and she called out to him. "Excuse me, but do you know where..."
Chris turned around and looked at her, eyes landing first on the little baby in her arms, then on her face. "Do I know where _what_?" he asked her finally.
"Where my dad's office is?" she finished, unable to look away from him. She could barely breathe as his eyes burned into hers. He stepped closer, and for one brief instant, she thought she saw him look at her the way he had looked at her all those months ago... But just like that, the look was gone, replaced by a cool, distant look.
"Nope, I sure don't," he answered. He looked at the baby again, curiosity in his eyes. "So, uh, how old is your baby?"
_Our baby_, she said mentally, but she didn't say it out loud. "He's one month old," she answered. "Pretty young to be around this place, but I couldn't just sit around at home and think about you. I had to find a way to stay busy, and this is it."
"What's his name?" he asked, subtly ignoring what she'd said about sitting home thinking about him.
She swallowed hard but forced herself to keep looking at him. "His name's Chris, but we call him LC... Don't ask me why."
"You named your son _Chris_?" he asked, surprised.
"It's a beautiful name," she said, because she didn't know what else to say about it.
"It's just like you to do something like that," he said angrily, and he stalked off before she could even think of a reply.
She watched him go, feeling like he had taken yet another piece of her heart with him when he had stalked away. She still loved him, even though he was acting like a jackass... He was still always on her mind, always. What she wanted to know was what had happened to him. Why was he so cold and distant towards her? Where was the Chris she had known all those months ago?
_I'd give anything to have him back_, she thought sadly, then turned and started walking again, in search of her father's office.
_**Have you forgotten all I know, and all we had?**_
_**You saw me mourning my love for you,**_
_**And touched my hand...**_
_**I knew you loved me then.**_
"Oh, Steph, there you are," Vince said, standing in the doorway to his office. "And there's my adorable little grandson, LC."
"Yep, here we are," Stephanie said absently, still distracted by her encounter with Chris a few minutes before.
"I always wondered why you and Hunter decided to name him Chris," he said, touching the baby's face. "And why do you call him LC?"
'Yeah, it's a funny story," she said uncomfortably. She held out the papers for him to take, and when he took them, she turned and began to walk away.
"Actually, I need you stay here for a while. I have a meeting with someone, and I could really use your help. Are you up for it?"
"My help?" she asked in disbelief. Since when had her father needed her help with anything? And since when did he actually ask for her help?
"Yes, your help. You're the creative mastermind around here, and I think you'll know what's best for this particular person," he said, one hand on her arm. He led her into his office and guided her over to a chair. "Now you sit right here while I go get some...stuff... And if my talent comes in, tell him I said to take a seat and wait for me." And with that, he was gone, leaving her and her son all alone.
She sat her son down, holding him carefully in front of her on her lap, looking at him. He sucked on his pacifier and looked up at her curiously, and she smiled down at him. "You look so much like him," she said softly. "You have his hair and his nose, and especially those beautiful blue eyes..." She wondered how Hunter and the rest of the world hadn't realized that this baby wasn't Hunter's. Wasn't it obvious?
Just then, the door opened, and she turned around to see who this so-called "talent" was. She was surprised to find that it was Chris.
"What is this, a setup?" Chris asked, frowning at her. "I should've known..."
"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Daddy told me that he needed me here to help him out creatively." She gestured to the seat next to hers. "So, take a seat. He'll be right back."
Chris grumbled and grudgingly plopped down in the chair, not bothering to look at her. Instead, he looked away and tried to distract himself from the fact that he was alone in the same room as Stephanie once again, something he'd been dreaming about for ten months now...
Stephanie watched him for a minute, silently willing him to look at her, to speak to her, to acknowledge her somehow. He wouldn't. Finally, the silence got to be too much for her, and she spoke quietly.
"Chris, will you look at me?" she asked him.
"I don't have any reason to look at you," he said coldly, still facing the other direction. He wanted to look at her, but he wouldn't. He couldn't risk it.
"Have you forgotten about me? About everything I know?" she whispered. "Have you forgotten about what we had?"
"I'm still working on it," he said, still refusing to look at her.
"Why are you being this way, then? If you still remember what we shared... I mean, it wasn't that long ago." She waited for him to say something, anything, to let her know that he still remembered what they'd once shared. When he wouldn't say anything, she looked away as the tears crept down her face. She couldn't stop them, and she tried not to make any noise but she wasn't successful.
He turned around to look at her. She was holding her baby close to her with one arm and gripping the chair tightly with her other hand. She was shaking ever so lightly, and it hurt him to see her this way. Cursing himself the whole time, he scooted his chair over closer to hers and tentatively reached out to touch her hand. She turned to look at his hand, then up into his eyes.
"I still remember," he said softly, staring into her eyes and getting lost almost immediately. "I can't forget about you, Steph..."
2. Chapter 2
**PART 2**
_**I believe in you...**_
_**I'll give up everything just to find you.**_
_**I have to be with you,**_
_**To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.**_
"I can't forget about you, either," Stephanie whispered. "I tried, but I have a little something that reminds me of you daily..."
"What's that?" Chris asked curiously, his fingers unconsciously caressing her hand. It was still there between them. He could feel the heat intensifying between them with each passing second, and he reached up to touch her face and wipe her tears away. His hand was shaking a little, and all he wanted to do was lean over and kiss her...
She reached up and placed her hand on top of his, feeling him. She had missed him so much, and now he was here...
"What reminds you of me?" he asked quietly, his hand still on her face. He leaned a little closer...
It was now or never. "He's right here in my arms," she said softly.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked, removing his hand from her face and looking at her with wide eyes. He looked at the baby. "Is he...mine?"
"Yes," she whispered. "This is your son."
He was silent for a long time, a _very _long time, just looking at the baby, then at her. Then... "Why didn't you fucking tell me!" he exclaimed angrily, standing up. He didn't give her a chance to answer him, though. "How could you keep something like this from me? My son?"
"Chris, I-"
"Save it," he said, heading for the door. "Tell your dad I'll see him tomorrow."
She sat there stunned, looking at the place where he'd just been standing. She hadn't expected for him to react this way at all. She understood the fact that he was mad at her for keeping this secret from him, but still... He hadn't even asked to see the baby at all. He had basically rejected both of them just like that...
She wiped her tears away and stood up. She would shed no more tears. She had to be strong for herself, for her son... She knew in her heart that Chris would come back to her. He was too good of a person and too much of a man to stay away from his son, even if he had just found out about him. She believed in him, and she believed that somehow, someway, they would end up together and everything would be ok...
The question was, when?
_**I look in the mirror and see your face.**_
_**If I look deep enough,**_
_**So many things inside that, just like you, are taking over...**_
Chris stood in the men's bathroom staring at his reflection in the mirror. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. He had stayed away from the WWE for a year, had stayed away from Stephanie for ten long months. Now, he was back, and he'd tried so very hard to stay away from her. He'd brushed her off every single time he'd run into her. Every time they talked, he tried to be as cold and distant as possible, even though he didn't really feel that way.
He hadn't been able to stand seeing her cry back in her father's office, though, and it had been instinctive for him to comfort her, to touch her hand, to wipe her tears away. He sighed and closed his eyes, head bowed as he leaned over the sink. The heat between them was still there when he touched her, and it had almost been unbearable. The chemistry was still there, and the fire between them still burned strong... If anything, the time they'd spent apart had only made him fall deeper for her...deeper and harder.
And now there was a baby to consider. He had another son. He had to admit, when he'd learned back in January that she was pregnant, he'd wondered how far along she'd been, had wondered if there was any possibility that it could be his. But then he'd seen all the pictures of her and Hunter smiling with his hand on her stomach. They had seemed so happy together, and they just had what Chris liked to refer to as that "expecting parent" glow to them. He'd figured that if there was any chance that the child was his, she would call him and let him know, but apparently she hadn't.
He opened his eyes and slowly looked up into the mirror at his reflection again, trying to see the man he had become. Some days, he just felt like he didn't even know himself... As he looked at his reflection, he could swear that Stephanie was standing behind him, holding their baby... He whirled around to face her, angry. "Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here!"
"Uh, this _is_ the men's bathroom," Kurt Angle said, looking at him like he had three heads or something. "Last time I checked, I was allowed to be in here."
"Sorry, Kurt, I thought you were someone else," Chris said, turning back around and looking at the mirror again. "I feel like I'm losing it. I'm just on the edge right now... There's so much going on in my life at this point."
"Tell me about it," Kurt said, walking over to one of the urinals. "I'm all ears."
"It's just not something I'm at liberty to discuss with anyone," Chris said, still looking at his reflection. "This is just between me and...someone."
"I get that," Kurt said. "But are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"I wish I could. It's driving me crazy!" Chris exclaimed, punching the mirror. The glass cracked but didn't break, and he looked down at his hand, specifically at his knuckles. They were starting to bleed a little, but he couldn't feel it. He felt like he was immune to physical pain at this point... It was the emotional pain that was kicking his ass. He sighed and rinsed his knuckles off with some cold water, wondering what the hell was wrong with him.
"Calm down," Kurt said, zipping his pants up. He washed his hands, then leaned against the wall and looked at Chris. "Speak your mind before whatever it is you're holding inside kills you."
"She's taking over me! Everything is all just clashing together at once and it's... I can't stop thinking about her," Chris said in a low voice. He closed his eyes and he could see her face; it was engraved into his mind. This time, though, he saw the baby, too. His eyes snapped open. "She's everywhere I go. I tried to forget about her, I tried for ten agonizing months to forget about her, but I couldn't... I can't... I love her."
"Who are you talking about?" Kurt asked, wondering who had Chris so tortured, so conflicted. "Your wife?"
"I can't tell you," Chris said shortly, and he turned and walked out of the bathroom. Stephanie was taking over his mind, his life. He didn't know how long he would be able to keep trying to resist her, and he honestly didn't know if it was even worth the effort anymore...
_**I believe in you...**_
_**I'll give up everything just to find you.**_
_**I have to be with you,**_
_**To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.**_
"Are you sure you don't want me to take LC home with me tonight?" Hunter asked Stephanie for what had to be the hundredth time in twenty minutes. It was later that night, Raw was over, and Hunter was about to catch a flight to their place in Connecticut. Stephanie had to stay behind for some meetings for the next day, and he wanted to be one hundred percent positive that she would be ok if he left the baby with her.
"I'm positive, Hunter," Stephanie replied in a steady voice, holding the baby tightly. "I can't be without him for a night. He reminds me so much of his daddy, you know?"
"Aw, that's so sweet," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He touched his "son" lightly, not wanting to wake him. "While Daddy goes home, you be the man of the house...or, hotel," he said in a low voice to the baby.
Stephanie didn't know what to say as she watched the display. When Hunter found out the truth about her baby, he was going to be so hurt... And she hated the fact that she was going to have to hurt him, because he had been so good to her over the years. He wasn't the asshole that he portrayed for the fans, but she found herself wishing that he was...
"Ok, sweetie, I need to go catch my flight," Hunter said, interrupting her thoughts. He leaned down to give her a soft kiss, then leaned over and kissed his "son" on the forehead. He stood up straight and gave them both tender looks. "I can't wait until you guys get home. I hate the fact that you have these meetings, Steph."
"Me, too," she said, looking away. "But I'll be home soon, though."
"I love you," he said, starting to walk away.
"Love you, too," she replied, and she watched him walk away until he disappeared in a crowd of people. She headed back to her rental car. After strapping LC in his seat, she got in and drove back to the hotel where she and some of the wrestlers were supposed to be staying at.
It was difficult for her to carry LC into the hotel along with all of her other things. "I should've done this earlier when Hunter was here," she muttered to herself. Some random person took pity on her and held the doors open for her to enter the hotel. She wondered where all the bellhops were. Looking around and spotting none, she frowned. _They're always here when I _don't_ need help, and now that I do... What kind of crap is this?_
She walked over to the desk and attempted to get checked in. This was an even harder task for her because of the fact that she needed to sign papers and everything. "Can you give me a minute, please?" she finally asked the woman behind the desk.
"Sure, sure," the woman said nonchalantly, and she started filing her nails.
"Anything I can help you out with?" came the melodic voice from behind Stephanie, that voice she dreamed about every night.
"Chris," she said softly, turning around and staring into his eyes. She was surprised that he was offering to help her out when he had been so pissed at her just a few hours before.
"Yeah, I think that's my name," he said in a teasing voice, but behind that teasing tone was evident nervousness. He was nervous to be around her after the way he had acted earlier, walking out of her father's office without so much as looking back at her or the baby... "So, um, what do you need me to do?" he asked after a minute.
"Will you hold LC?" she asked him hesitantly.
"Uh, sure," he said nervously. He took the baby from her and looked down at him. He was awake now, and the two stared into each other's eyes with the same look of curiosity on their faces. _He has my eyes_, he thought wildly, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Ahem." The woman at the desk cleared her throat to get Stephanie's attention. Stephanie tore her eyes away from the beautiful scene before her and quickly signed the papers. Once she was done and had her card key in her hand, she turned around to look at Chris, who was still staring affectionately at LC.
"Do you mind carrying him up to my room for me?" she asked him.
"I'd love to," he said, sounding amazed as he stared at the baby in his arms. He shook his head as if breaking out of a trance and looked at Stephanie. "Wait, don't you want me to carry your bags for you?"
"No, I'll handle it," she assured him. "You just carry LC..."
_**I believe in you...**_
_**I'll give up everything just to find you.**_
_**I have to be with you,**_
_**To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.**_
"Stephanie, he's beautiful," Chris said for the third time. He was sitting in her hotel room with her, and he was still holding LC. "Just...beautiful."
"I know," Stephanie replied, smiling at him. "He gets his good looks from you."
"But he looks like you, too," he pointed out. "Look at that chin, that cute little dimple right there."
"What can I say? We made a beautiful baby," she said with a little sigh. She couldn't get over the fact that he was there with her, that they were there together, and that he was holding their baby... It had all seemed so impossible just a short while before, but now things were looking up.
"Oh, he's asleep," he said, sounding disappointed when he noticed that LC was indeed asleep now.
"I hate to point it out to you, Chris, but he _is_ only one month old," she said with a laugh. "He tends to sleep a lot." She stood up. "Here, let me go put him in his crib...and don't leave yet, because I need to talk to you."
He let her take LC from him and watched her walk out of the room. He leaned his elbows on his knees as he sat on the couch and waited for her to come back. It was all so surreal to him, everything that was happening. He didn't know what to do, what to say... She came back about two minutes later and sat down on the coffee table in front of him. They didn't speak for the longest time. They just looked at each other, really looked at each other.
"I love him already," he said finally, referring to LC. "He's one of the most adorable babies I've ever seen in my entire life, and I'm not exaggerating."
"I know," she replied, unable to stop looking at him. "I like to think that he's the best part of what you and I had, know what I mean?"
He nodded. "Why do you call him LC?"
"No one knows, not even Hunter, but it stands for Lil' Chris," she said. "Because when I just call him Chris, I think about you..." She turned her head and looked away. "Actually, I'm always thinking about you... I know you probably think I'm stuck in the past or something, but I can't stop thinking about you..."
"I dream about you every night," he said quietly. "It's like...it hurts to be without you, and when I think about the fact that there's no way we can be together... It hurts even more."
"I feel the same way," she said, and she looked back at him, biting her lip lightly. "I've missed you, Chris... I've missed you every day for the past ten months."
"I've missed you, too," he admitted. "I've missed being with you, touching you...hearing you laugh, seeing you smile..."
She didn't know what else to say to him as they sat there face to face. She was just happy to know that he felt the same way, that she was taking over him the same way that he was taking over her...
He stood up then, and pulled her to her feet.
"What's wrong?" she asked him as he stood there in front of her, just looking at her.
"Steph, you're like...like oxygen and air... I need you just to live, to breathe," he whispered, and he pulled her to him.
"I need you, too," she whispered back, and then she kissed him...
_**(Taking over me)... You're taking over me...**_
_**(Taking over me)... Taking over me...**_
_Later that night..._
"Steph," Chris said softly, one hand gently shaking her.
"What? What's wrong?" Stephanie asked sleepily.
"Is that the baby crying?" he asked.
"Yeah, sorry, I'll get him," she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"No, no, I'll get him," he said, one hand on her arm. "I just...never heard him cry before..." He got up and walked over to the crib. She turned on a bedside lamp and he picked LC up. "Shhh, Daddy's here," he said in a soothing voice, calming him down almost immediately. "And guess what? I'm not going anywhere..."
"Not going anywhere? What do you mean?" she asked, now fully awake as she watched him.
"Things can't just go back to normal. We've tried that already," he said, coming to sit on the bed next to her. He looked at LC, who was already falling asleep again. "I can't just pretend that I don't love you, and I can't leave him..."
"So what are we going to do?"
"I don't know..."
**A/N: So, there's really no way I could just end it like this... Do you guys think I should like continue it or whatever? The song...is done, but the story seems like it's just beginning... Let me know!**
3. Chapter 3
**PART 3**
"I have some meetings today. Would you be ok with keeping an eye on LC?" Stephanie called from the bathroom. It was the next morning and she was checking her reflection in the mirror, making sure that she looked ok. When Chris didn't answer her, she peeked into the room and saw what he was doing. He was feeding LC his bottle, and he had the most beautiful smile on his face...
She decided to let him have his moment, and she continued getting ready for her meetings. This only took her a few minutes, and five minutes later she found herself leaning in the doorway of the bedroom just watching how Chris and LC interacted with each other.
By then, LC was done eating and had already been burped, and now Chris was talking to him. "Hey, little guy, I'm your daddy. Remember me?" Chris asked, holding his index finger out, which LC promptly grabbed. "I'll take that as a yes," he said with a laugh. "And my, what a strong grip my little man has!"
"I'm sure he does remember you. Isn't that right, LC?" Stephanie asked, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to them. "Mommy can't forget him, either, so don't feel bad."
"Well, Daddy can't forget about Mommy, either, so I guess we're even," Chris told LC, then looked at Stephanie. "You don't know just how good it felt to wake up with you in my arms again this morning."
"It felt good to be there," she said with a smile. "But, on a different subject, do you think you could watch LC while I'm in my meetings today, or did you already have plans for the day?"
"My plans include spending time with you, getting to know my baby boy, and figuring out my screwed up life," he said, touching her arm. "So of course, I'll watch him. As a matter of fact, we'll come to the arena with you."
"You'll come with me?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah. While you're in your meeting, I could show LC around the wrestling ring," he said excitedly. "And we'll practice some moves. I'll show him how to fall properly and take bumps and-"
"Whoa there, hon. Hold your horses. He's still only a month old," she reminded him. "And while I think it's wonderful that you want to teach him how to take a bump, I don't think it would be good if you dropped him on his head."
"But if I teach him how to fall the right way then he won't be hurt if I drop him on his head," he teased, but then he saw the look on her face and smiled. "I'm only kidding, Steph. I'm just really excited that I'm getting the chance to spend some time with him."
"Well, I'm really glad that you accept him and that you want to spend time with him," she said quietly.
"How could I not accept him? He's a part of you, a part of me, a symbol of our love... He _is_ love," he said, smiling down at the baby, who, he noted, was like a mirror image of himself. "And look, he's still squeezing my finger... He's a strong one."
"I thought you were so mad at me," she said. "I mean, yesterday when I told you he was yours, you freaked... You left..."
"I was pissed at you. I'm not even going to lie," he said honestly. "I just couldn't understand how you would not even tell me that you were carrying my child for nine months, how you let me and the rest of the world believe that he was Hunter's... And what bothers me even more is the fact that I didn't get to be there to witness his birth, to hear his first cry..."
"You would've _wanted_ to be there?"
"Of course! I bet Hunter was there holding your hand, whispering to you that you'd be ok..." He frowned and went on in a bitter voice. "I bet he cut the umbilical cord and everything!"
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking away. "I'm sorry for everything that you missed out on... I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me now, Steph. It's all in the past, and we don't have the power to change the past," he said, making her look at him again. He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers, kissing her ever-so-softly. "Believe me, no matter how many times I get mad at you, I'll _always_ keep loving you..."
"And I'll keep loving you, too, because you're just too sweet," she said, gazing at him. After a minute, she stood up. "We have to get out of here. My first meeting starts soon."
"Aw, ok, but you should know that I have no desire to step back into the reality that lies outside of this room," he said dejectedly, standing up as well. He dreaded leaving the room. Inside the room, everything was absolutely perfect for them. He was with Stephanie, he was with LC, and everything was just...great. Once they left that hotel room, though, he knew that without a doubt their facade would fade away and he'd have to face reality. He was married with a son, he had cheated on his wife with a married woman, and he now had a child out of wedlock. He had more problems to deal with than he ever could've imagined...
"You want to carry him?" Stephanie asked, about to pick up her purse and the baby bag.
"No, you carry him this time," Chris said. He kissed LC on the forehead, then handed him to her. He picked up the baby bag, then opened the door for her. She walked out and he followed. He sighed as he closed the door behind him. "Well, I guess it's back to reality now..."
**At the arena...**
"How does it feel?" Chris asked in a low voice as he held the door open.
"How does _what_ feel?" Stephanie asked, stepping into the building and feeling him step in behind her. She loved the feeling of the heat of his body behind hers, but she tried not to get distracted by it. They were in the arena and it was just too risky for them to really even be together...
"How does it feel for the three of us to be out together in public?" he asked, still in that low voice. He didn't need anyone else overhearing their conversation, or else he would have yet another problem to add to his list of countless other problems. "I mean," he continued, "I think we feel like the perfect little family."
"We do," she agreed. "But there's no way that can happen without some kind of huge scandal. You're married with a kid and I'm married and I have _our_ kid and... It's complicated."
"Tell me something I don't know," he said with a sigh. "It's the story of our relationship...complicated."
They walked in silence down the hallway until they reached the room where Stephanie's first meeting was supposed to be held. She leaned against the wall and proceeded to begin to give him some last-minute information. "Ok, you know how to feed him, right? His bottles are in his bag. I made them before we left. His pacifier is in there, too, but he doesn't really need it. Oh yeah, and-"
"Steph, calm down, dear," he interrupted, holding his hand up and smiling. "Remember, the whole parenting thing isn't new to me. I know how to take care of a baby, you know?"
"You're right," she said with a grin. "I'm sorry. The parenting thing _is_ new to me, so I... Well, you know..."
"Relax, I understand," he said, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. He had to keep in mind the fact that anyone could be watching them at that point, and people would already be suspicious when they saw him holding what they thought was Hunter's son...
Just then, the door to the room they were standing by opened, and Vince stepped out. "Ah, Steph, I was just about to come out here and call you," he said, looking first at his daughter, then at Chris and LC. He observed Chris, then LC, and then he looked back at Stephanie. "What's he doing here?"
"Who, Chris? He, uh...oh-so-kindly volunteered to keep an eye on LC while I attended today's meetings," she answered, looking at Chris and LC. She wondered if her father could see the resemblance between the two. It was obvious to her, but maybe that was because she already knew the truth. In her opinion, LC already looked very much like his father, especially those beautiful blue eyes...
"You're a good man, Jericho," Vince said after another minute of quiet scrutiny. He looked at Stephanie. "We better get in there. The meeting is about to start."
"You go first, Daddy. I just need to fill Chris in on some last-minute information about LC," she said.
"LC..." Vince's voice trailed off as he put two and two together. When he looked up again and into his daughter's eyes, he knew. He looked at Chris, at the baby, at the way he was holding him and the look on his face, and he knew. But he didn't say anything. He just nodded lightly and stepped into the room. "Don't be long, Steph," he said quietly, and then he shut the door.
"He knows, doesn't he?" Chris asked.
"He's so observant. Yeah, he knows," Stephanie said, nodding. "I wonder what he's going to say about it?"
"Will he tell Hunter?" he asked worriedly.
"I seriously doubt that. For some reason, he's never liked him," she said with a sigh. "But anyway, I guess we'll discuss this all later... It's just another problem to add to our constantly growing list of problems."
"And we have so many of them," he said, sighing as well. He looked around, and seeing no one, leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the lips. Quickly, because although he didn't see anyone, that didn't mean they were completely alone in the hallway.
She smiled at him, then leaned down and kissed LC on the cheek. "You be good for Daddy while Mommy works," she said in a low voice.
"I've only known him for a day, but I can tell that he's a good baby. He'll be good," Chris assured her. She grinned at him and went into the room, and he smiled at her until the door closed. After the door closed, he looked down at the baby in his arms. "Well, your mom has forbidden me from teaching you how to take a fall and everything, but she never said we couldn't go out to the ring," he said, looking affectionately at him. "Let's go..." He walked down the hallway, headed for the ring...
As he turned the corner, a person stepped out from behind some crates, mouth agape. "Wow. Chris is LC's dad? That's just... Wow." The person, a guy, shook his head and decided to follow Chris to the ring so they could have a little...talk.
**Near the ring...**
Chris sat down in a seat and looked down at the baby in his arms. "Well, LC, here we are, just me and you in this empty arena. I know I've said this before, and I know you probably have no clue what I'm saying, but I'm your dad." He smiled at the thought. "And guess what? I love your mom... Oh, and you have a big brother. His name is Ash, and you look like him..."
His voice trailed off as he thought of his other son Ash. He loved him, too, more than life itself. Ash looked just like him, too. It was funny. Now he had two sons who looked just alike... "You really should meet Ash," he said in a low voice. "You two look just alike, and I'm sure he'd love to have a baby brother who's as adorable as you are... But you know, he might think you're a teddy bear or something since you're so small and cuddly..."
Kurt Angle walked over to them and sat in the seat next to Chris. "So... You're babysitting Stephanie and Hunter's son," he began.
"No, I'm not," Chris said immediately. _This isn't Hunter's son_, he thought, wanting to say it aloud but knowing that he shouldn't.
"I wonder what Hunter would say if he knew that _you_ of all people are holding his precious baby boy."
"What's that supposed to mean? I have experience with children. I have sons of my own, you know."
"Sons?" Kurt repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean...uh..." Chris's voice trailed off as he tried futilely to think of something to say to correct the mistake he'd just made.
"Don't worry about it. I know already," Kurt said, putting a hand on his arm. "And congratulations."
"But... Wait, what are you talking about?" Chris asked, bewildered. Did Kurt know that he was LC's father? And if he did know, how did he find out?
"I kind of saw you and Stephanie in the hall back there a while ago. I was kind of eavesdropping on you guys, and this is...interesting information," Kurt said. "You and LC do look a lot alike, and I don't see why I never noticed before."
"Oh shit, Stephanie's going to freak out," Chris said, standing up. "She's going to really freak out."
"Why would she do that?" Kurt asked.
"Someone else knows. _You_ know," Chris said, holding LC to him. "No one else is supposed to know, not until we figure out how we're going to tell people. Now that you know...everyone could know before the day is over."
"Chill out, man. I'm not going to tell," Kurt assured him. Chris looked at him, and Kurt went on. "Your secret is safe with me," he said solemnly. "You can trust me."
Chris sighed and sat back down. "Thanks, man."
"So Stephanie is the one you were going crazy about in the bathroom, huh?" Kurt asked knowingly.
"Yeah, it's her," Chris answered, looking over at the empty ring. The workers had just finished setting the ring up for the house show that would be taking place there later that day. "It's been her since I came into this company. It's always been her and it's always going to be her..."
"Those are strong words."
"When you feel that strongly for someone, you tend to use strong words when you talk about them."
"If you don't mind me asking, when did this whole thing with you and her start?" Kurt asked curiously.
"It started the day I came into this company, and it hasn't stopped," Chris said. "It's just a really long story..."
"Steph has a lot of meetings and I'm off today," Kurt said with a shrug. "I have more than enough time to hear a long story."
"Well, this is how it all started with us..."
**A/N: I'm glad you all wanted me to continue this story. We'll add this to all of my other works in progress (which I really need to update soon). This is weird to write about because the situation is so complicated... It's always so complicated when there's feelings and babies involved, LOL... Anyway, thanks for the support and reviews.**
4. Chapter 4
**A/N: The part in all italics are sort of like flashbacks of what happened in the past.**
**Part 4**
_"I just want to thank you again for this grand opportunity you've given me," Chris Jericho said, extending his hand to his new boss. "You have no idea how much I appreciate this."_
_"You're a steal, Chris," Vince McMahon said, briefly shaking the younger man's hand. "I've seen your work. If you ask me, WCW just didn't know what to do with all that talent you have."_
_"I agree," Chris said, nodding and putting his hands in his pockets. He looked around the office. "So... Am I going to get a chance to meet my new co-workers?"_
_"Oh, but of course. As a matter of fact, someone very special to me will be showing you around today," Vince replied, sitting back down behind his desk. He glanced at the clock, then back at Chris. "You'll like her. She should be her very soon."_
_"She?"
_
_Before Vince could reply, the door to his office opened and a young, innocent-looking young woman stepped inside. "You wanted to see me, Daddy?"_
_"Yes. I have a job for you," Vince began, gesturing towards Chris. "But first things first. Let me make formal introductions. Stephanie, meet our company's newest and most promising wrestler, Chris Jericho. Chris, meet my lovely daughter Stephanie."_
_"Hi," Stephanie said shyly, holding her hand out for this handsome blonde man she'd just been introduced to. She was immediately entranced by his blue eyes, those blue eyes that were, at the moment, burning into hers..._
_She was expecting for Chris to shake her hand, but instead he took her hand in his, leaned down, and kissed it. "Lovely indeed," he said softly, standing back up but still holding her hand._
_The two stood there and looked at each other, her hand still in his, until Vince spoke. "Stephanie, I want you to show Chris around the place, introduce him to all the people backstage. Is that ok with you?"_
_"It would be my pleasure," Stephanie said, eyes raking over Chris's glorious, toned body. "Come on, Chris, let's go... I have a feeling that we'll have a very interesting day..."_
_Vince watched the two leave, noting the fact that they were still holding hands._
Kurt looked at Chris when he paused, thinking about what he'd just said. "Sounds like you two really hit it off," he said after a minute.
"Yeah, Steph and I hit it off really well that day," Chris said, looking off into space. "I mean, _really_ well."
"How well is _really_ well?" Kurt asked, trying to read Chris's expression and finding it impossible to do so.
"So well that she let me walk her to her hotel room that night and then told me not to leave," Chris answered, smiling at the memory...
_"Thanks for showing me around today," Chris said as he stood in front of Stephanie, facing her. She was leaning against the door to her hotel suite, and she was staring at him. He got the feeling that she was undressing him with her eyes, and he couldn't deny the fact that the idea of her doing that was thrilling to him. He could feel something between them, had felt it when she had first entered her father's office earlier that day... But it didn't matter what he felt, because he had a girlfriend, and they'd been together for a whole year already..._
_"It was my pleasure to show you around," Stephanie replied, smiling at him. "After all, it's not so often that I get to spend the day with a guy as sexy as you are."_
_"Mmmm, you're kind of forward," he commented, taking a step closer._
_"I'm not usually this forward, but there's just something about you..." Her voice trailed off. "Sorry if I freaked you out."_
_"No, no freaking out here. I like assertive women," he said, casually flicking his hair back. He looked at his watch. "Wow I didn't realize it was getting so late. I better get going so you can get your beauty sleep. Not that you need beauty sleep..."_
_"I don't want to sleep right now," she said, opening the door and taking a few steps inside. She turned to face him again. "Why don't you come in and join me for a drink? That is, if you'd like to..."_
_"A drink with my new boss's daughter? Hmmm, let me think about that and get back to you with my decision," he teased, before following her inside. He leaned against the door and she reached around him to lock it, pausing to smell his hair._
_"Your hair smells good," she said, inhaling deeply. "Really good."_
_"Thanks, yours does, too," he said, wondering why she hadn't moved yet. He could feel her breathing on his neck, her breath tickling his skin... "Any particular reason why you're still standing here?" he asked, a little unsteady._
_"Do you feel it?" she asked suddenly, pulling away to look into his eyes._
_"Feel what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._
_"This buzz...this chemistry between us," she said, touching his arm. "You feel that? I've been feeling it all day. Tell me you've been feeling it, too."_
_"I've felt...something," he said quietly, looking down at her hand. "But we just met, and I'm currently in a serious relationship."_
_"But you can't deny the chemistry between us. It's major. I only just met you this morning, and yet, I can already see us..." Her voice trailed off, and she licked her lips seductively. "There's no need for me to keep talking. I think you can figure out where I'm going with this."_
_"Do the words 'serious relationship' mean anything to you?" he asked, trying not to look at her lips, those lips that were taunting him, teasing him._
_"Normally? Yeah. Now? Not so much." She reached for him, touching his chest, his sculpted muscles. "What do you say, Chris? Tonight...just this one night...we get to know each other a little better..._
_"I don't know," he said, hands instinctively traveling to her body, arms encircling her waist. "I mean, I'm pretty much taken... I'll be marrying Jessica next year..."_
_"You say one thing, but look where your hands are," she said smugly. She smiled at him, then kissed him fully on the mouth without waiting for him to say anything else..._
_At first, he didn't know what to do. He had a girlfriend, a serious one at that, and this was his boss's daughter. He'd only just met her, too. This would be so wrong on so many different levels... But instead of pulling away like his mind screamed for him to do, he kissed her back..._
"You had her on the first _night_?" Kurt asked incredulously. "Wow, I didn't think that Stephanie was that...easy."
"She's not, and to answer your question...we didn't. We came so unbelievably close, though," Chris said, knowing that he shouldn't be telling Kurt all of the details about his secret history with Stephanie. He didn't even know if he could truly trust Kurt, but for some reason he just couldn't seem to stop talking. He'd never told anyone about his secret history with Stephanie, and it felt absolutely amazing to finally be able to let it all out after all these years...
"How close is unbelievably close?" Kurt wanted to know.
"Close enough, like 'me hovering over her half-naked in the bed' close, but in the end I was a true gentleman and I didn't go through with it," Chris replied. "Of course, it was hard not to just give in and have my way with her, but..."
"I'm sure it _was_ hard," Kurt said with a laugh, thoughts wandering to Stephanie. "I mean, Stephanie naked? Pure and innocent... God, you had the perfect opportunity and you didn't just dive in?"
"It's not that simple, and I'm not that kind of guy..."
"Then you're a gay guy," Kurt joked, grinning idiotically at him. "Because if I had been given that chance, I would've taken it. Stephanie's not exactly the type to just offer herself to any old guy."
"I'm not just any old guy. I'm a sexy beast," Chris joked back, but then he got serious. "So that night, I held back or whatever, told her I was totally committed to Jessica, and she got so pissed at me, man..."
"Tell me about it."
"One thing I learned... You should _never_ piss her off..."
_"What do you mean, you can't do this? We're already here in the bed!" Stephanie exclaimed, frustrated. She looked up at Chris, who was hovering over her, and she felt her insides melting. This man was so incredibly hot, all she wanted to do was be with him this one time. She didn't even know why she felt this way. She wasn't usually such a risky person, but there was just something about him... She couldn't explain it._
_"I'm sorry, but I can't. We just met, and I'm really serious about my girlfriend," Chris said apologetically._
_"Then how do you explain this?" Stephanie asked, reaching down below and gripping his manhood through his underwear. "I mean, this is quite a hard-on you have."_
_"Hey, I'm human. I'm a man. Look at you," he said, sitting up. "What guy wouldn't be turned on by you?"_
_"Then what's the problem?" she demanded._
_"How long have we known each other?"_
_"Since this morning."_
_"Do you know my birthday?"_
_"No."_
_"My favorite type of music?"_
_"No."_
_"My middle name?"_
_"No."_
_"See, that's my point. You don't know anything about me, and I don't know much about you, either," he said. "Isn't sex supposed to be something special?"_
_"It would be special, I know it!" she said. "It doesn't matter if I don't know your birthday or your favorite type of music, or your middle name, unless you like it when girls moan your middle name while you're..." Her voice trailed off and she smirked at him. "So that's it? You want me to know your middle name for that?"_
_"No, that's not the point," he said, wondering how she had gotten his words so misconstrued. "The point is, we just met. I think it would only be right if we got to know each other before I let you have your way with my sexy body."_
_"Maybe I don't want to get to know you," she said with a sneer. She pushed him away from her and got up. She stood there glaring at him, arms folded across her chest. "Either put out or get out."_
_"Harsh much?" he joked as he stood up, pulling his pants back on._
_"You're the harsh one...getting me all in the mood and then just stopping right before..." She looked away from him with a frown on her face. "Just leave now."_
_"I'm going, I'm going."_
_"And I don't want to see you around anymore... At least, not around me."_
_"Oh, I'll be around, and I'll get to know you, and then we'll pick up where we left off."_
_"And what about your so-called serious girlfriend?"_
_"She's still my girlfriend..."_
_"Leave, Jericho."_
_"Since when did you start calling me Jericho?"_
_"Since now..."_
"And she's hated you since then?" Kurt interrupted with a questioning look in his eyes.
"I don't think it was ever real hatred with her," Chris said thoughtfully. "I mean, she may have acted like she hated me, but I think she was just embarrassed about the way she acted that day we met."
"Yeah, that's probably it," Kurt agreed. "From what you just told me, she was acting like a ring rat."
"Hey, don't you call Stephanie a ring rat," Chris said, frowning at Kurt. "She's not even close to a ring rat, and I-" He was interrupted by a soft cry, and he looked down to see LC crying. He had been sitting there for the last few minutes in his daddy's arms getting ignored, and now he was upset and wanted some attention... "Hey, little guy, what's wrong?" Chris cooed.
"I don't think he's going to answer you," Kurt said after watching Chris look at LC for a minute, seemingly waiting for the baby to speak.
"I know that," Chris replied, not taking his eyes off of LC. He went on talking to Kurt. "I hate to cut this short, man, but would you mind if we finished this whole trip down memory lane another time? I really want to take some time to get to know...my son."
"Ok, that's cool," Kurt said, standing up. "I need to go work out anyway. Big match tonight. I'll see you around."
"Yeah, I'll see you," Chris said, but he wasn't really paying attention to Kurt anymore. The baby boy in his arms had all of his attention now. He gave him his pacifier and looked down at him, still kind of amazed at the fact that this was his son. Not Hunter's son, _his_ son.
He didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to stay away from the baby in his arms...or the baby's mother...
**A/N: Long time, no update... Things just get so crazy in my life! I have absolutely no clue where I'm going to take this story, but reviews will show me the way (hint, hint).**
5. Chapter 5
**A/N: Just like last time, the part in all italics are sort of like flashbacks of what happened in the past... And guess what? This is the longest chapter for this story yet!**
**Part 5**
"I thought I'd find you here."
Chris turned around quickly at the sound of Stephanie's voice, then smiled at her. LC was asleep in his arms yet again, so Chris put one finger up to his own lips, signaling for her to be quiet. She sat down in the seat next to his and looked at the way he was holding LC. The two of them made quite a beautiful picture as father and son.
"Hi," she said quietly to him.
"Hey," he replied, staring into her eyes.
"Did LC give you any problems?" she asked.
"No. He's the most well-behaved baby ever," he said proudly, looking down at his youngest son. "I think it's because he has my genes."
"Or maybe the fact that he's a one-month-old baby who sleeps a lot has something to do with it," she said pointedly, then laughed softly at the indignant look on his face. "I'm sorry. He's a perfect little baby boy, and it's all because of you."
"Take some credit for yourself," he said, reaching over to hold her hand. He entwined his fingers with hers and looked down at the way their hands were connected, then looked into her eyes. "After all," he said after a minute. "You _did_ carry him for nine whole months."
"Actually, I carried him for nine months and three days," she corrected him, squeezing his hand lightly. "For some reason, he didn't want to come out of me or something, so he stayed in there for three days past the due date."
"I think he gets that from me," he teased, lowering his voice to a husky whisper. "Because if there's one place I love to be in, it's inside of you..."
"Chris!" she admonished, blushing. "We can't talk like that around LC!"
"Like he knows what I'm talking about," he scoffed, grinning at her. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek, then pulled away, wanting more than ever to kiss her _properly_. "Look at you blushing," he said quietly, bringing one hand up to touch her cheek.
"I can't help but blush when you say things like that," she said, leaning a little closer. "It kind of makes me want to kiss you..."
"Is that all it makes you want to do?" he asked knowingly, closing the short distance between them and kissing her the way he'd been dreaming of kissing her for months.
"No, that's not all... It makes me want more of you," she murmured against his lips. She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair, deepening the kiss as she explored his mouth at a better angle. "It makes me want _all_ of you..."
"I had my suspicions about you two, but I never quite expected for you two to be so obvious," came a male voice from nearby.
Stephanie and Chris quickly broke apart and looked up at the newcomer who had just spoken. "Daddy!" Stephanie squealed, blushing a furious shade of red as she saw her father standing there with his arms folded. He was looking down at her and Chris, and she couldn't quite read the look on his face but she knew he was going to be mad.
"What's going on here?" Vince asked calmly, looking first at Chris, then at Stephanie.
"Mr. McMahon, I can explain," Chris said, regaining his composure quickly. He was almost always good in these types of situations... He held LC protectively against him and stood up, facing his boss, the father of the woman he loved and had a child with. He took a deep breath, then spoke in an unwavering voice. "First off, you should know that LC is my son."
Stephanie held her breath as her father spoke. "I already knew that. Tell me something that I don't know," Vince said, looking into Chris's eyes, trying to intimidate him. "I want to know what's going on with you and my daughter."
"Daddy, we're just... We're..." Stephanie couldn't think of an plausible excuse for the way she and Chris had just been kissing, so she looked at Chris for help.
"I love your daughter," Chris blurted out. "I've loved her for a really long time, Vince. You just wouldn't believe how in love with her I am..."
"I know you love her. I can tell that just by the way you look at her," Vince said. "And I can tell that she loves you, too, for whatever reason. But-"
"But we're both married to different people, and us loving each other is just wrong, we know," Chris interrupted. "But I'm not going to stop loving her no matter what anyone says."
"I know you love her," Vince said again. "But I just came to tell you, Steph, that the meeting is resuming in about ten minutes."
"That's it?" Stephanie asked, surprised. "You don't have anything to say about-"
"No, not at all," Vince said, cutting her off. "But I do have this one thing to say. LC is my grandson...so whatever you two decide to do, please keep him in mind. He's an innocent child." With that said, he nodded his head at the both of them, then turned and walked away, headed back to the room where the meeting would be resuming once again.
"Guess that means I better head back to the meeting," Stephanie said, looking at Chris after her father had walked away.
"I'll walk you there," Chris volunteered immediately.
"You don't have to, you know, since LC's asleep and everything," she said, one hand on his arm. "I mean, I totally understand if-"
"Kurt knows about us," he interrupted, successfully making her be quiet. "He saw us earlier, and he heard our conversation in the hallway before you went in for your meeting. He came in here and we started talking, and he promised he wouldn't tell anyone what he knows."
"Kurt... Kurt's a good guy," she said, one hand over her rapidly beating heart. "But what if someone else saw us? Someone who isn't as trustworthy as Kurt?"
"I don't know, but we have to figure something out," he said. He looked down at his watch. "If we don't go now, you're going to be late for your meeting."
"You're right, you're right," she agreed, nodding her head. "Are you going to stay here?"
"No. When I said 'we' that meant the three of us," he explained. "You, me, and LC."
"That sounds so perfect," she whispered. "So unbelievably perfect."
"Actually, I think it would be really perfect if it was you, me, LC, and Ash," he said seriously. "My two boys and the woman I love more than life itself..."
"Do you think Ash would like LC?" she asked timidly.
"Like? That's an understatement," he said with a small laugh. "I mean, you'd have to be freaking inhuman not to love this little guy at first sight."
"What did you think when you first saw him?" she wondered. "How did you feel?"
"I was so jealous that Hunter had such a cute kid. I thought, 'He must take after his mother because he doesn't have a log for a nose,'" he said, looking down at LC affectionately. "And then... Last night when I was holding him while you were checking in at the hotel, realizing that this bundle of life was mine...ours... He's just adorable, you know?"
"Of course I know," she replied. "Do you know how often I've caught myself gazing at him since he's been born, thinking of you? I could see you in him, Chris, and every night when I couldn't have you, I would look at him and see you in him..."
"Steph, I never really wanted to leave you," he whispered, touching her cheek. "I thought I was doing the right thing when I ended it, but now I know that we can't ever be over. It'll never end between us. With me, there's Ash and Jessica, and with you, there's Hunter... And now with _us_, there's LC... Back then, I was falling so fast for you, and it scared the hell out of me... It still does."
"I feel the same way," she whispered back. She smiled lightly at him. "But then again, we've been going at it with each other since you first came to this company back in 1999... It's been about seven years now."
"God, it's been seven years and I'm still under your spell," he chuckled, looking at his watch again. "Oh, come on, we'll have to finish this later. You're late for your meeting, and I don't want Vince to crucify me..."
Five minutes and a kiss later, after Chris had dropped Stephanie off at her meeting, he decided to go and find Kurt. He found himself anxious to tell Kurt more about his history with Stephanie. After seven long years, he wanted to let it all out and get it off his chest...and it seemed that Kurt was the only man he could tell it to.
Kurt was taking a short break from his workout when Chris entered the room. "Oh, hey man," Kurt said, taking a swig of his water and looking at Chris. "What's up?"
"I'm ready to pick up where we left off," Chris said simply, sitting down on a bench nearby.
"Wait, I don't swing that way...and why are you looking at me like that?" Kurt joked.
"I'm serious, Kurt. It's important that I tell someone my story," Chris said impatiently. "You just happen to be that lucky guy."
"Well, if it has anything to do with banging Stephanie, I'm all ears," Kurt said with an impish grin.
"If I wasn't holding my son right now, I'd kick your ass for saying that," Chris said, sending Kurt a dark look. "Now seriously, are you ready to hear more about me and Steph?"
"If you're this eager to tell me, it _has_ to be good," Kurt said, drinking more water. "So ok, go ahead."
"Where'd I leave off last time?" Chris asked, looking off into space.
"The last thing you told me about was how she kicked you out of her room that first night when you wouldn't put out..." Kurt's voice trailed off. "What guy doesn't put out when Stephanie McMahon is involved?"
"When you put it that way, saying I wouldn't put out... That sounds kind of weird," Chris said thoughtfully.
"But it's true," Kurt pointed out. "You wouldn't do it."
"Yeah, it's true... It's not that I didn't want to, but we didn't know each other," Chris said, shrugging a little but being careful not to wake his slumbering son.
"So, when you don't know someone, get to know them," Kurt suggested sarcastically.
"Stephanie... You know her," Chris said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Once she says something, she sticks to it like glue. She told me she didn't want to see me around, and she avoided me for a really long time..."
"So how did you two end up getting together?"
"Listen and learn, my friend, listen and learn..."
_"So... We meet again," Chris said, walking up to Stephanie. She was in the catering area, sitting at a table writing something in what looked to be a diary or journal._
_"What do you want?" Stephanie asked, not even looking up from what she was writing. She was right in the middle of writing a poem that she'd had on her mind all day, and she'd be damned if this guy was going to make her forget the poem that was in her head._
_"I want to get to know you, is that too much to ask?" Chris asked, sitting down across from her at the table. She didn't reply, so he spoke again. "Besides, you've been avoiding me for weeks now, weeks... Why?"_
_"You already know why," was her short response as she continued scribbling in her book._
_"Oh, is it because of that night?" he asked, knowing that it was. She'd been really mad at him that night when he wouldn't sleep with her._
_"God, can we not bring that up again?" she asked in an irritated voice._
_"No way. We have to talk sometime," he said, shaking his head. He reached over and placed his hand on top of her own, making her stop writing. She looked at his hand for a minute, then looked up into his eyes and bit her lip. He looked at her for a minute, staring into her eyes, then spoke softly. "I want to get to know you..."_
_"You had the chance to get to know me on the most personal level, but you didn't take it," she said, unable to look away from his eyes. "Most guys never get to that point with me."_
_"I want to get to that point again," he said, surprising himself, and he could see the surprise written on her face as well. "But there are other points along the way... You still don't know anything about me, and you won't let me learn anything about you."_
_"You're the one who ran away," she accused, then went on in a mocking voice. "Isn't sex supposed to be something special? You sounded so...gay..."_
_"Hey, if there's one thing I'm not, it's that," he said, squeezing her hand. "And I can prove that to you, too... Once we get to know each other better."_
_She pulled her hand out from under his and started writing again. "You're an idiot, Jericho... You just made me forget possibly the best poem I've ever thought of, and I mean ever."_
_"I'm sorry," he said contritely. "I just want to start over and get to know you. I don't know why, but I do..."_
_"Let me finish writing my poem now...or, what I can remember of it, anyway," she said, giving in. She wrote a bit more in her book, then paused, biting the tip of her pen as she tried to remember the part of her poem that he'd made her forget. The silly man was always distracting her, and he didn't even know. He thought she was avoiding him? Ok, so maybe she was, but that was because she was busy with her research... So he didn't think she knew anything about him? She knew a hell of a lot, thanks to the hours of research she'd done..._
_But she wasn't going to tell him that just yet._
_He watched her chew thoughtfully on the tip of her pen, thinking about what perfect lips she had. He could still remember kissing her that night, and he could still remember the way she had tasted... And he wanted to kiss her again, but the idea was absurd. He still had Jessica, he loved her, and they were going to get married that next year. But...that night with Stephanie kept replaying in his mind, and he wanted it to happen... He just had to get to know her better first._
_"Stare much?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she finished writing her poem._
_"Sorry, you're just really beautiful," he said honestly._
_"That's what all the guys say," she said cockily, but he could tell she was just kidding with him. "Now seriously, Jericho, what were you talking about when you interrupted my creative process?"_
_"Creative process, huh?" he asked, glancing over at the book she had been writing in. "What's in that book, anyway? Is that your journal?"_
_"No," she answered. "If you must know, it's my poetry notebook...well, one of them, anyway."_
_"So you're a poet? Can I read some of your work sometime?" he asked hopefully._
_"Why would you want to read my work?" she countered._
_"Because I'm interested, that's why," he replied, leaning his elbow on the table and putting his chin in his hand. He looked over at her. "So can I?"_
_"You know what? Here," she said, standing up. She turned to a particular page in her poetry notebook, then tore that page out and handed it to him. "I wrote this for you... Don't ask me why."_
_He took the page from her, and his hand brushed against hers for a moment. The heat he felt between them was almost unbearably hot. He looked up at her and she half-smiled, half-smirked before turning around and walking away, leaving him sitting at the table. He watched her go, and he didn't look down at the paper she had given him until she was out of his view..._
"What did the paper say?" Kurt interrupted, sitting on the edge of the bench. He really liked hearing about this interaction between Chris and Stephanie from their past, and he really wanted to know what the poem said.
"You really want to know?" Chris teased, knowing that Kurt was on the edge of his seat. He smiled to himself. Stephanie just had that ability to put any guy on the edge of his seat, even if she wasn't there...
"Hell yes, I want to know," Kurt said. "So tell me already, before I put you in the ankle lock and make you tap right here!"
"You would do that while I'm holding my baby?" Chris asked, surprised.
"Sure, why not?" Kurt asked with a laugh. "I mean, your son probably already knows that you're an assclown. He'd probably help me make you tap out."
Chris smiled widely, looking down at his son and imagining him in a little Y2J shirt and a diaper. "Can't you just see him putting someone in a submission moves? Like, he could call it the Mini-Walls of Jericho, and then he could win so many people over by just smiling a little toothless grin... Or maybe he and Ash could become a tag team..."
"Sounds like you're describing Benoit," Kurt joked. "You know, the whole toothless grin thing..."
"You know, I've never seen him smile," Chris realized. "I wonder how he looks when he smiles."
"Benoit?" Kurt asked, confused.
"No, LC," Chris said impatiently.
"He probably looks cute," Kurt said, shrugging. "Now, back to the poem..."
"I want to see him smile," Chris said, completely ignoring Kurt. "And I want to hear him laugh... I wonder how he would sound when he laughed?"
"You'll find out all that and more, in due time," Kurt said, getting impatient. "Tell me what the poem said already."
"I'll show you," Chris said, standing up and pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.
"You still have it?" Kurt asked, surprised. Chris nodded. "And you carry it in your wallet?"
"I carry it everywhere I go," Chris informed him, handing him a business card that had been laminated. "It's important to me."
"I thought you said she wrote it for you on a paper," Kurt said, confused as he looked at the laminated business card. It was a card for some random rental car service. He looked back up at Chris and raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Where's the poem?"
"Flip it over, genius," Chris said with a chuckle. "She wrote it on the back of the card and taped it in her poetry notebook... That day I just told you about... That's the day she ripped that page out and gave it to me."
"Oh." Kurt flipped the card over and read the rather short poem, which looked as though it had been scribbled very hastily on the paper...
_Chris looked at the page and saw that the poem was written on the back of a small business card that was taped in the middle of the page. The writing on the business card was very sloppy, like she had scribbled it down quickly before she forgot it, so he had to squint a little to read it..._
_**You think that I don't know you**_
_**But I know you very well**_
_**I know the way you smile**_
_**And I know the way you smell**_
_**I know the way you look at me**_
_**I know the way you talk**_
_**I know the way your body moves**_
_**So smoothly when you walk**_
_**I know the way you taste**_
_**I know the way you kiss**_
_**You may not think I know you**_
_**But I've been watching you, Chris**_
_Chris looked down at the poem for a long time, then stood up and pulled out his wallet. He put the card in his wallet, then put the wallet in the back pocket of his jeans and wandered off to find Stephanie. It was like he had her on a radar detector or something, because he found her sitting on a crate at the end of an empty hallway on the side of the arena that they weren't even using. He walked over to her, then sat on the crate next to her and looked at her._
_"I liked that poem you wrote about me," he said softly, causing her to jump. She hadn't realized that he had walked up to her and sat down next to her on the crate._
_"Don't think too much of it," she replied, trying not to think about how close they were sitting. "I was bored at the place waiting for my rental..."_
_"And you were thinking about me, so you wrote a poem," he interrupted. He placed his hand daringly on her thigh, leaning over to whisper in her ear at the same time. "I write poems and songs. Did you know that?"_
_"No," she said, trying to stay calm. "But I know now."_
_"Good," he said, his lips brushing against her ear. "See, we're getting to know each other already. Before we even know it, we'll know so much about each other that we'll be right back in the same position we were in that first night we met..."_
_She didn't know what it was about him, but she turned to face him and kissed him softly, right on the lips. He kissed her back, and soon their tongues were fighting each other for control in what had turned into a mind-blowing kiss. He put his hand up on the side of her face, cupping her cheek as he kissed her..._
_And as soon as he did that, she pulled back, breathing heavily._
_"Why'd you stop?" he asked breathlessly, licking his lips and savoring the taste._
_"You said that I don't know you..." She stood up, one hand to her slightly swollen lips. "So I don't need to be kissing you..."_
_"What, is this some kind of a game now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._
_"If you want it to be," she said with a little smirk. "I'll have you know that I'm the best at playing games."_
_"So you want to play games?" he asked, standing up as well. When she nodded, he smiled at her. "Ok, we'll play your little game. What are the rules?"_
_"There aren't any," she said simply. "It's your move now."_
_"What do you mean?" he wanted to know. "What do you want me to do?"_
_"Surprise me," she said, then turned and walked away from him without another look back._
_He watched her walk away and planned his next move in this game they were now playing..._
"So you guys decided to play a game?" Kurt asked, still on the edge of his seat.
"Yeah, that's what we called it," Chris replied, smiling at the memory of that day. "And it was quite the game, Kurt, quite the game."
"What was your first move? What did you do?" Kurt asked excitedly. "Did you corner her somewhere and kiss the life out of her, or did you kidnap her and take her to some kind of deserted, abandoned cabin?"
"No, it was nothing like that," Chris said, looking down as he felt LC stirring in his arms. He was waking up, finally. It seemed to Chris like his son had been sleeping since he met him... "But Kurt, that's going to have to be a story for another day, because LC's awake now."
"I'm sure he'd like to hear the story," Kurt said. He reached over and pinched LC's cheek lightly, grinning almost idiotically at him. "You'd like to hear a story about your mommy and daddy getting their freak on, wouldn't you?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.
LC looked at Kurt, his little lips quivering, and then he burst into tears.
Chris laughed at the look on Kurt's face. "Hmmm, I think you upset him when you talked about me and Steph 'getting our freak on,'" he said, laughing heartily as he stood up. He held LC close to him, patting his back softly. "Shhh, it's ok, I promise Kurt will never say anything like that again," he promised the baby, calming him down immediately.
"Wow," Kurt said, watching them. "You're good with him. He's not crying anymore."
"Of course he's not. Who can cry when you're in the arms of the King of the World?" Chris joked. He looked down at his watch. "Oh, Steph should be getting out of her meeting soon. We have to go."
"We?"
"LC and me."
"I'll see you guys later, then," Kurt said. "I need to get back to my workout."
"Tell Kurt bye, LC," Chris said to the baby, holding him up so he could look at Kurt. LC started crying again at the sight of Kurt's smile, and Chris just laughed at the look on Kurt's face before leaving so that he could go meet Stephanie...
6. Chapter 6
**Part 6**
**A/N: Ah, I'm going off of a Vault energy drink and a can of Jalapeño Pringles here, so if it's weird... Well, you guys know why! Read and review and maybe I'll be able to write something that doesn't completely _suck_...**
Chris leaned against the wall holding LC as he watched the people exit from the room. He had been standing there for the last five minutes waiting for Stephanie to come out. He had expected for her to be one of the first people to come out of the room, if not _the_ first, but he had yet to see her appear.
"Where's your mommy?" he asked LC in a soft voice. "You think she's hiding from us or something?"
"No, not hiding," Stephanie said, appearing in front of them. "I was just thinking."
"Thinking? What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her.
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" she asked with a laugh, but it was definitely a strained laugh, and he could tell.
"Ok, really, Steph, what's up?" he asked seriously.
She sighed and leaned against the wall. "Well, I'm supposed to be getting back home tonight...in Connecticut," she explained, looking at him. "But you're here now, and I... I just don't want to go back to Hunter right now."
"Then don't," he said simply. His heart was racing in his chest. He wanted to tell her not to go home to Hunter _ever_, that he needed more time with her and his son, that they had already missed out on so much together, but he didn't say it. He didn't want to influence her decision, but he wanted her to stay with him, at least for one more night.
"You say that like it's so easy for me to just _not_ go home to my husband," she said, looking at LC. "What am I supposed to tell him?"
"Tell him that you ran into an old friend and that you want to catch up with said friend," he suggested. "That's what I plan on telling my wife."
"He won't be happy about this. He adores LC, completely adores him. He almost didn't let me keep him here with me last night," she said quietly, still studying her baby boy, who was resting contentedly in Chris's arms.
"I adore this little boy, too, even if I only just met him yesterday. He's a part of me and a part of you, and I... I at least want the opportunity to get to know him," he said in a voice just as quiet as hers. "Don't you think I deserve that much?"
"Playing the guilt trip on her, I see," came a voice from behind them. They both turned to face the newcomer and were relieved to find that it was just Kurt. "You know, you two should really get a room... Oh wait, you've already done that before. That's how this little guy got to be here right?"
"Shhh, you're talking too loud," Stephanie admonished, putting one finger to her lips. "Do you want the whole world to know about this?"
"Seems like you do, the way that you two are just standing here discussing it in the hallway where _anybody_ can walk by and hear," Kurt replied with a grin. "I mean, I could've been anybody walking up on you guys..."
"He's right. We have to be more careful," Chris agreed. "We've already been caught by your dad, too..."
"What are you guys doing tonight?" Kurt interrupted, looking back and forth between Chris and Stephanie, before letting his eyes rest on LC. "Got any big plans?"
"Well, she planned on going home back to her place in Connecticut," Chris said, nodding his head towards Steph. "If she decides to do that, she's probably going to be on a flight out of here soon, and I'm going to be up in some random bar getting completely wasted..."
"Getting wasted? Now I know I'm staying," Stephanie said, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. "I'm going to call Hunter right now and tell him I won't be home tonight..."
"That's all I had to do to make you stay?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I wanted to stay anyway," she replied. She stepped into the room where the meeting had just been held, beckoning Chris and Kurt inside as well. They stepped inside and she closed the door behind them. Afterwards, she walked a short distance away from them and dialed her husband's cell phone number...
"So... What are you guys going to do?" Kurt asked Chris in a low voice.
Chris, who was looking over at Stephanie, replied in a low voice that matched Kurt's. "I don't know, man. This whole situation is really complicated. I already have a son, Ash, and I don't plan on just deserting him... And now there's this little guy, and I'm not deserting him, either..."
"And don't forget that you have a wife," Kurt reminded him.
"How could I?" Chris asked, looking over at Stephanie again. "I wish I would've gotten with Stephanie when I had the chance... But I can't really say that because then Ash wouldn't exist and I love my son... I love both of my sons."
"As you should," Kurt said, looking over at Stephanie as well. Both men fell silent as they listened to Stephanie's part of the conversation she was having with her husband.
"Yes, I know I was supposed to come home tonight, but it's not so often that I ran into Sheryl. I haven't seen her since college, and I just thought it would be great to stay here tonight and catch up with her," Stephanie said quietly. She listened for a minute, then spoke again. "I know you miss LC, sweetie, but you'll see him tomorrow, I promise... I just don't think I should pass this chance up to see an old friend, you know?"
"She's not a very good liar," Kurt commented after listening to Stephanie talk. "Not a good liar at all."
"I like that about her," Chris replied. "Means she can't really lie to me without me knowing it."
"Whatever..."
Stephanie talked a little longer, then pressed the end button on her cell phone and slipped it into her pocket. She turned around to face the guys and smiled. "Well, that was hard, but he couldn't help but see things my way," she said brightly. "We're staying tonight."
"You have a way of making people see things your way," Kurt stated, looking knowingly at her. "That is, if what Chris was telling me earlier about your past is true..."
"What'd you tell him?" she wondered, walking over to Chris and looking at him.
"I just started telling him how we met and basically how everything started between us," Chris answered. "And-"
"And he left without finishing the story, so I don't know what happened after it all became some kind of a game between you two, and I'm dying to know how it went from that point to you two sleeping together," Kurt said in a rushed voice. "So I've been thinking, and I think we should do dinner tonight, the four of us, so I can finish hearing the story."
"Does this guy ever shut up?" Stephanie joked, nodding her head in Kurt's direction.
"No, I don't think he does," Chris replied.
"And I won't, unless you guys agree to have dinner with me tonight," Kurt put in. "I'm dying to know what happened next."
"Dinner doesn't sound so bad, and I wouldn't mind hearing you tell our story," Stephanie said to Chris. "What do you think? Should we have dinner with this guy?"
"Dinner sounds great," Chris agreed immediately. He found it funny that Kurt wanted to hear their story so badly, but there was also a part of him that needed for someone besides himself and Stephanie to know what had happened between them. He wanted to tell somebody, and Kurt was now that somebody... "Dinner sounds great," he repeated.
"Yes! Give me five, LC!" Kurt said excitedly, holding his hand up near the baby, who was still in Chris's arms.
LC looked at Kurt, then immediately burst into tears.
_**Later that night...**_
"Ok, we've ordered our food and now we're just here waiting... Who's going to start telling the story?" Kurt asked, looking at both Chris and Stephanie, who were gazing down at LC.
"Someone's being a little impatient," Stephanie commented, looking at Kurt and laughing lightly. She looked at Chris. "Where did you leave off at?"
"You gave me that first poem, and I went to find you. I found you on the other side of the arena sitting on a crate... We started talking and we ended up kissing," Chris said, getting a faraway look in his eyes. "Then we turned it into a game, and it was my turn to make the next move..."
"Oh, right, so this is where it started getting good," Stephanie said, sitting up in her seat as she began to recall their story...
_Stephanie walked down the hallway wearing a frown on her flawless face as she held a clipboard in her hand. She hadn't talked to Chris Jericho since their last encounter a few weeks ago when he had approached her after reading the poem she had given him, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, the fact that they hadn't talked was bothering her. It wasn't that she was crazy about the man, she just thought she could have some fun with him... She had always been forced to act a certain way and people had always treated her a certain way because of who her father was, but when she was around Chris, none of that mattered..._
_She hated to even think that he'd already backed out of their little game before it really started, but it seemed that way, because he had yet to make his next move..._
_She sighed and clutched the clipboard to her chest as her mind involuntarily went back to the kisses they had shared that last time she'd talked to him... So caught up was she in the memories of kissing the blonde man that she didn't even notice the door to a broom closet open...until she was pulled inside and the door was shut behind her._
_"What the hell-" she started, but a pair of lips claimed her own before she could finish asking her question. She struggled against the person, who was obviously male, dropping her clipboard and putting her hands against his chest in an attempt to push him off. He was too strong for her, though, so she did the only thing she could think of... She bit him hard, right on his lip._
_That didn't really stop him, though. He pulled back a little and gave a low laugh, then spoke for the first time since he'd pulled her into the closet. "Why Stephanie, I didn't know you liked to bite... How kinky..."_
_"Chris?" she asked, surprised._
_"Of course it's me... Who else would it be?" he asked. "Unless you do this with every guy you meet..." He gasped and went on in mock horror. "Oh my God, how do I know that you're not some filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash-bag ho?"_
_"You do know who I am, right?" she demanded, crossing her arms and trying to send him an intimidating look, but that didn't work very well since it was too dark for him to see the look on her face anyway._
_"Enlighten me," he said sarcastically, and she couldn't see him but she could tell that he was smirking._
_"I'm the boss's daughter!" she said petulantly. "I'm Stephanie-freaking-McMahon! I'm the most powerful woman in this company, and, well, I pretty much own you!"_
_"But that doesn't mean that you're not a ho, because you very well could be," he countered smoothly._
_"Why, I can have you fired, Jericho!" she screeched, slapping him on whatever body part was closest, which just happened to be his arm. His strong, muscular arm... She couldn't see him in the darkness, but she knew that her simple little slap hadn't really done much damage, and that just made her madder. "I can have you fired faster than you can say-"_
_"Shut up and kiss me," he ordered her, and before she could say anything else, his lips were upon hers again._
_She tried to resist him, but everyone knows you can't keep resisting something you want, and Lord did she want him... Instead of fighting him, she submitted to him, kissing him back and pulling him closer, seemingly trying to fuse their bodies together. He pushed her up against the wall and broke their kiss, attaching his lips to her neck instead, and she moaned his name as he worked on marking his territory..._
"This sounds just like the beginning of a porno, not that I, like, watch a lot of pornos or anything," Kurt said loudly, crossing his legs under the table. "I mean, you guys were getting busy in a broom closet!"
"Not so loud," Stephanie admonished, looking pointedly at Kurt. "But yeah, we were in the broom closet when he coined that little phrase that he later used against me in front of thousands of people... The whole filthy, dirty... You know how it goes."
"I think the whole _world _knows how that goes. It was classic!" Kurt said with a laugh. He looked over at Chris and grinned. "That was a good one, man."
"Hell, I don't even know how I came up with it, but I know she inspired me," Chris replied, looking affectionately over at Stephanie. "She's inspired a lot of the things I've done these past few years... Especially some of the stuff with Fozzy..."
"I always wondered who you were singing about in that last album," Kurt said thoughtfully. "Seems like _All That Remains_ should've been named _All About Stephanie_."
"Could've been. Most of the songs on there are about her anyway," Chris informed him, still looking at Stephanie. "She's been my inspiration for so long now..."
"So if most of those songs are about me, where's my part of the money?" Stephanie joked, a smile playing on her lips.
"Hey, you _inspired_ me to write the songs. I _wrote_ them... I did all the work. Big difference," he pointed out.
"But if I hadn't inspired you then you wouldn't have had anything to write about, and then you wouldn't have sold any copies of your last album," she countered.
"Oh whatever, people would've still bought it... All the Jerichoholics would've bought it because my gorgeous face would've been on the cover," he shot back at her.
"You're so stuck up," she said, shaking her head at him.
"You've never complained about that when I was stuck up in y-" he started, but Kurt interrupted.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you guys forgetting that there's a child at the table?" Kurt asked, nodding his head at LC.
"We're _so_ sorry, Kurt, why don't you cover up your ears?" Chris joked, and Kurt glared at him. He laughed and looked down at LC, who didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was being said at the table anyway. "He's not that old, man, I don't think he even knows what the hell we're talking about."
"You just wait. His first word isn't going to be 'mama' or 'dada,' it's going to be 'trash-bag ho' or something equally bad," Kurt predicted, making the other two laugh. He laughed a little himself, then started talking again. "So, you guys were in the broom closet and Chris, you had her up against the wall and you were sucking on her neck like you were a vampire or something. What happened next?"
"Does he really want to know?" Chris asked, looking at Stephanie.
"No, I don't think he really wants to know," Stephanie replied, shaking her head.
"I wanna know!" Kurt whined. "You guys..."
"I think we have _two_ babies here at the table," Chris whispered to Stephanie. "Maybe we should've ordered Kurt a bottle of milk or something."
"I was breast-fed, so I'd actually prefer some of _your _milk, Stephanie," Kurt said in a serious tone. Stephanie and Chris looked at him without smiling, and he held up his hands defensively. "Relax, I was just kidding! Go on with the story already."
"Yes, let's go on with the story before I get LC to kick Kurt's ass," Chris said, but he was joking.
"Right," Stephanie said. "So he had me up against the wall in the broom closet, and it was still pitch black in there, mind you..."
"Pitch black, and I had her against the wall calling me Daddy," Chris joked, picking up where Stephanie had left off...
_"Stephanie, your skin tastes heavenly," Chris growled against Stephanie's ear. "I can't... I can't get enough of it..."_
_"There's still a lot more for you to taste," she said seductively, running her fingers through his hair as their lips met again._
_He pulled back after a minute to catch his breath. "You know," he began, panting, "I've read that poem you wrote so many times these past few weeks, and I have to say, you're so talented."_
_"That's cute, Jericho, but I'm not in the mood to talk about a poem right now," she replied, her hands trailing idly over the muscles in his back. "I want you..."_
_"I know you do, but like I said, I just couldn't stop thinking about that poem you gave me," he went on. He pulled away from her, making her sigh in frustration, and the next thing she knew, he had flipped on a dim light. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, then held it out to her and waited for her to take it. When she didn't move, he took her hand in his own and opened it, then put the paper in it and closed it back._
_"What the hell is this?" she demanded._
_"Just a little something I wrote," he replied, pulling his loose blonde mane into a ponytail. "Go ahead and read it, why don't you?"_
_"I don't want to read right now, Jericho," she retorted, stuffing the piece of paper into her pocket and glaring at him. "You know what I want."_
_"You know what I want, too, and I'm pretty sure that you and I both know it's not going to happen right now," he said with a shrug._
_"This is just like the first time! You get me all worked up and then you just stop!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "What the hell's your problem?"_
_"I don't have a problem, I'm playing a game. Didn't you say you liked games?" he answered, making himself look presentable. He opened the door and slipped out before she could grab him and make him stay. "Oh, and why don't you read that paper I just gave you? It's not as creative as your poem was, but I guarantee it's insightful at least." And with one final grin, he blew her a kiss and disappeared, leaving her alone and fuming in the closet._
_She leaned against the wall and pulled the folded piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded it and read what was there..._
_**You might think you know me, sweetie**_
_**But I don't think you know me at all**_
_**I'm playing your game and I'm ahead**_
_**Do something crazy now, it's your call**_
_"This is supposed to be insightful? This isn't insightful at all!" she exclaimed aloud. She read it again and resisted the urge to crumple it up, but only because when she put it up to her nose, it smelled faintly of his cologne. She folded it neatly and put it in her pocket, then tried to make sure she looked ok before picking up her clipboard and stepping out of the broom closet._
_"So he thinks he's ahead, huh?" she said aloud, storming down the hallway. "And he wants me to do something crazy? Oh, I'll do something crazy..."_
_"Hey, Stephanie, do you have a minute?" someone called from behind her. She turned around, hoping it was Chris, but it wasn't... It was Test._
_"Hey, Test, what's up?" she asked, trying to smile and pretend like she was happy to see him. That couldn't have been further from the truth, though._
_"Well, I was wondering if..." His voice trailed off and he cocked his head sideways a little to observe her. "Are you ok? You seem kind of...flushed."_
_"I'm fine, I'm perfect, I've never been better," she said quickly. "Now what is it that you were wondering?"_
_"I know we're co-workers or whatever, but I was wondering if you would consider maybe getting together with me outside of work and, I don't know..." His voice trailed off again as he tried to find the right words to say. "I wanted to know if you'd maybe like to go out with me one day and grab a bite to eat or something... Would you? I would totally understand if you-"_
_"Yeah sure, we'll set a date, I have to go," she answered, before turning and practically running from him. She was glad _that_ conversation was over, because now she needed to focus on how she could go about gaining the upper hand in this game with Chris... She had to think of something crazy, but that wouldn't be a problem for her. She was Stephanie McMahon, and even if no one would admit it, everyone knew it... Everyone in the McMahon family was crazy..._
"Wait a minute, what do you mean everyone in the McMahon family's crazy?" Stephanie asked,
"Food's here, I'm starving!" Chris said, changing the subject quickly. "I'm ready to eat, how about you guys?"
"Yeah, I'm ready to eat, but we're going to discuss this later," Stephanie said, playfully shoving Chris. "I can't believe you think that everyone in my family is crazy."
"That's common knowledge," Kurt put in. Stephanie glared at him, and he grinned at her before changing the subject, just like Chris had done. "We should totally eat now, I'm hungry enough to eat a horse..." He stuffed his mouth full of food and spoke again. "This is pretty good."
"You're going to be eating my fist if you call my family crazy again, and that goes for the both of you," Stephanie warned both men. "Now eat your dinner and don't talk with your mouth full."
"Yes, _mother_," both men said sarcastically, and she couldn't help but laugh at them...
7. Chapter 7
**Part 7**
**A/N: When Chris Jericho came back in November of 2007, I just knew that my writer's block would disappear. WRONG! Here it is, April of 2008, and it's still here! But you know what, I have to start somewhere, so here goes... Keep your fingers crossed for me!**
_"Stephanie! Hey Stephanie, wait up!"_
_Stephanie rolled her eyes heavenward before turning around to face the person who was calling her. She forced herself to smile in order to hide the annoyance she was feeling at the mere idea that this person was bothering her yet again._
_"Steph, hey, thanks for waiting," Test said as he rushed up to her. He came to a stop in front of her, nearly out of breath but smiling nonetheless._
_"Hi, Test," she said politely. She didn't want to be rude to him, but it was getting harder and harder not to be, because ever since she'd agreed to go on that stupid date with him the week before, he'd been constantly bugging her about it. It wasn't that he wasn't a nice guy, because he was. It wasn't that he was bad-looking, either, because he wasn't (even though he did slightly resemble a chipmunk)._
_The problem with Test was simply the fact that he wasn't Chris Jericho. That was the whole thing in a nutshell. This Test guy, he was nice enough...hell, too nice if you asked Stephanie. She needed someone edgy, someone spontaneous and daring who wasn't going to always treat her like a fragile little girl. She needed someone bold and adventurous and fun to be around. She needed-_
_"So how's that sound, Stephanie, huh? How's that sound?"_
_Stephanie shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked up at Test. The look on his face was so expectant and hopeful that it sickened her just to look at him. Looking down at her shoes, she began to speak, intending to let him down as gently as humanly possible, because he was a good guy and he at least deserved that much._
_"Test... I don't really know how to tell you this," she began. "I mean, you're a really nice guy, a really, really nice guy, and I'm so honored that you want to go on a date with me, but-"_
_"I'm honored that you agreed to go on this date with me. You agreed to go," he was quick to point out. "You said we'd set a date when we talked last week, remember?"_
_Like he was going to let her forget. "Yes, I remember," she answered, trying to remain patient. "But-"_
_"And you're great at keeping your word, aren't you? I mean, you're Stephanie McMahon, of course you're a woman of your word," he continued. "So when do you want to go on the date?"_
_"That's the thing, Test, I..." Her voice trailed off then, when she felt eyes on her. Someone was watching her, she could feel it, and she had a sneaking suspicion of who it probably was... She turned around and there he was, in all his glory... Ok, maybe not in all his glory because he wasn't naked or anything, but there he was, looking as dashing and gorgeous as ever._
_"What were you going to say, Stephanie?" Test asked impatiently from behind her._
_'"Hello, Stephanie," Chris said, walking up to her and ignoring Test._
_"Hello, Chris," she replied sweetly, but what she really wanted to ask him was where the fuck he'd been hiding at all day. But she couldn't do that, not with Test around. She'd have to act civil, and she had a feeling that Chris knew that and he was going to use it to his advantage._
_"Might I just tell you that you look absolutely stunning today, dear Stephanie," Chris said approvingly, smiling at her as he gave her the once-over. He reached up to touch her hair, his hand accidentally brushing against her cheek as he did so, and his smile got even wider when he saw her shiver. "Did you do something new to your hair? Looks like you just stepped out of a hair shampoo commercial."_
_"No, I didn't do anything new to my hair... Did you do something new to yours?" she replied smartly._
_"Nope. It's always perfect," Chris replied, making a point to shake his hair a little. "But back to what I was saying. Something's different about you today, something's really eye-catching about you. Did you get a few extra hours of beauty sleep last night?"_
_"She's always beautiful, I've noticed that since day one," Test interrupted. "Now back to what we were talking about, Stephanie. Our date?"_
_"Test, didn't notice you standing there," Chris lied, acknowledging his fellow long-haired Canadian for the first time. He eyed him critically, as if sizing him up, before speaking again. "How's it going, man?"_
_"I'm just trying to find out the details about this date Stephanie and I are supposed to be setting up," Test answered. "We were talking about it before you walked up..."_
_"Date, you say?" Chris asked, raising a questioning eyebrow as he looked at Stephanie. The look on his face was priceless, he looked so surprised. "Is that so? You and Testicle are going on a date?"_
_Stephanie looked at Chris for a minute before smiling, then smirking lightly. Oh, a deliciously evil plan was forming in her head, yes... The incredulous look on Chris's face at the thought of her going on a date with Test made her think that it bothered him a lot... And that was what changed her decision. This was going to be the next step in their game, she was going to use Test to win this game with Chris, and it was going to start now._
_After all, it was her turn, right?_
_"Actually, Test," she started, smirking again at Chris before turning back around to face the man she had just spoken to, "I'm really looking forward to our date. I'm thinking we should do that sometime soon..."_
_"Soon like tonight after the show, that soon?" Test asked hopefully._
_She'd wanted more time to prepare herself for the horror that a date with Test probably would be, but she'd work with the cards she'd been dealt. "Well, a girl likes to have time to get ready and look pretty for a night out with her _man_," she said coyly, running one finger down his muscular chest. "But I'm Stephanie McMahon, I'm sure I can pull it off. I'll be ready when you are."_
_"Wow, awesome, you do realize that you just called me your man, right?" Test asked excitedly._
_"No, I-" she started, but then she interrupted herself when she remembered her motives. She smiled at him. "Yes. Yes, I did."_
_"I'll meet you tonight after the show, right after the show... This is gonna be great!" Test exclaimed. He walked away grinning and muttering excitedly to himself about his upcoming date with Stephanie._
_"You and Testicle, on a date?" Chris asked as soon as Test was out of sight and out of earshot._
_"I can't believe you called him that and he didn't even notice," she replied. She grinned at him, then shrugged lightly. "But that's probably because he was completely enamored by my exquisite beauty."_
_"Right," he said sarcastically with a scoff. "But seriously, you and him on a date? I just can't wrap my mind around that... I thought you had good taste, McMahon."_
_"I do have good taste," she informed him. She added with a wink, "And I taste good, too. Just thought you'd like to know that little tidbit of information since you're probably never going to find out first-hand just how good my taste is." She laughed out loud at the look on his face, then turned on her heel and headed down the hallway, figuring that she probably shouldn't say anything else to him. She'd had the last word and that was enough for her..._
_But that wasn't enough for him, because he didn't let her get far. He followed her swiftly a few feet and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. She gasped when he pushed her up against the wall right in the hallway, then stepped closer to her, their faces inches away. They were literally breathing in each other's breath..._
_"You better have a damn good reason for this," she said in a low voice. "Otherwise, I'm going to have to demand that you remove your hands."_
_"Like you don't want my hands all over your body," he replied in a voice just as low as hers had been. "You said that I'll probably never find out first-hand just how good you taste and I'm going to have to disagree."_
_"It's not wise to disagree with a McMahon," she said calmly. She wondered how her voice could sound so calm when inside, she felt so heated. He was so close to her, his eyes were boring into hers, and she could just imagine the things they could do..._
_"But it's wise if I know what I'm saying is true," he countered, interrupting her thoughts. His hands traveled slowly down the sides of her body as he pressed himself even closer to her. "And I _know_ that I'm going to get a taste of you, Stephanie McMahon. It's only a matter of time before I make you mine..." He nuzzled against her neck, giving it a soft kiss and smiling to himself when he felt her shiver. He smirked at her reaction to him and repeated himself. "It's only a matter of time..."_
_"Time... Speaking of time, I have a date that I need to go get ready for," she said quickly, using as much strength as she could to push him away from her. He backed up and gave her a curious look and she blushed madly. "Um, so yeah, me and Test, the date... So if you'll excuse me..."_
_"You're excused," he said, grinning at her as she practically ran down the hall away from him. He leaned against the wall and watched her disappear, then headed to the locker room. He needed to think of a plan, and it had to be a good one._
_There was no way in hell that he was letting Stephanie go on a date with Test tonight._
"So did you go on the date with Test or not?" Kurt wanted to know. Dinner was over with and had been for over an hour, but Kurt was far too into the story to just let them leave the restaurant without telling him more. Because of that, he had gone back with them to Stephanie's hotel room, and now there they were. "Did you?" he persisted.
"If I just told you yes or no, that would ruin the anticipation, wouldn't it?" Stephanie teased. "I mean, do you really want me to tell you that Chris came up with this crazy idea to keep me from going on the date with Test, but after all his hard work, it didn't work at all? Do you _really_ want me to tell you that?"
"Now wait a minute, Stephy, maybe you're forgetting what happened," Chris interrupted. "I might've had a plan and it _might've_ been a little crazy, yes, but it did the trick. I rocked your world that night."
"Who's telling the truth? What really happened? Don't play with me, guys," Kurt whined. "I really want to know!"
"We'll let Chris tell it, since he's the one who came up with the whole plan anyway...that is, if you could call it a plan at all," Stephanie said. She leaned back on the couch and looked at Chris with a slight smirk. "Tell the story, baby."
"Well, if you insist," Chris said, a slight smirk on his face as well. "So I went back to the locker room and thought of a plan, a surefire way to prevent Testicle from getting anywhere near Stephanie that night..."
_Chris had been in the locker room for all of five minutes before he actually began to think of a plan to keep Test away from Stephanie. He wasn't sure yet, but he had this little idea in his head that maybe Stephanie was only going on this date with Test to make him jealous. Maybe this date that was supposed to take place was really just a part of their little game and Test didn't know it. If this was the case, then it would be easier to keep them apart than Chris thought._
_Deciding not to waste any more time in this locker room coming up with a plan, he gathered his things up and left the room. It wasn't like he really had a match that night, anyway. He went out to the parking garage and put his things inside the trunk of his rental, then entered the building again and navigated the hallways until he found himself in front of the room that he wanted to be in. Without a second thought, he lifted his hand to knock._
_"Come in!"_
_He stepped inside the room and shut the door, locking it behind him. He didn't want anyone to walk in on something totally inappropriate. He had a feeling that things might get a little steamy... He leaned against the door and looked over at Stephanie. She was sitting at her desk writing furiously, and it was almost like she didn't even notice that he was in the room._
_"Yes?" she asked, not even bothering to look up from her work. She was almost done, she just had a little bit more to get wrapped up, and then she would be free to get ready for her upcoming so-called "date" with Test._
_He walked over to her desk and took a seat, then leaned back in the chair and propped his feet up on the edge of her desk. He cleared his throat and folded his arms across his chest, then looked over at her._
_Stephanie looked up from her work to see a pair of shoes on the edge of her desk. She looked over to the person who was seated in front of her desk and put her pen down. Work could wait for a minute, she supposed._
_"See something you like?" Chris asked, grinning at her and making no attempt to remove his feet from her desk._
_"I've got to admit, Jericho, you've got nerve," she said, leaning back a little in her chair as well. "A lot of nerve, actually."_
_"So I've been told," he replied smoothly._
_"What I want to know," she said, getting up and walking around to stand in front of her desk, "is exactly who the hell you think you are! Get your feet off my desk!"_
_"Calm down, Princess, don't get your panties in a bunch," he said with a laugh. He gave her the once-over. "That is, if you're even wearing any."_
_"Wouldn't you like to know?" she said with a sneer._
_"Of course I'd like to know, why do you think I'm sitting here? I just came for my own private show," he answered, taking his feet off her desk and daring to reach out and pull her closer so that she was standing between his legs. "So are you going to give it to me?"_
_She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look. "And why would I do that? You had your chance the day we met, Jericho. You should've...what are you doing?"_
_He wasn't listening to her talk anymore. He looked up at her with an evil little grin on his face as his hands traveled to the bottom of her shirt. Lifting it up a little, he exposed her stomach, then leaned even closer and kissed her soft skin. "So," he started, as he kissed her again, "tell me why you're going on this date with Test. Are you interested in him?"_
_"I...I have a thing for blonde Canadians," she said shortly, gasping lightly when she felt his tongue on her belly button. She didn't know why he was doing this but she knew she had to keep talking about anything and everything to distract herself from the feelings he was stirring up inside of her. She wasn't going to give in this easily, not when he'd backed out on her at the last minute that first night. "Test and I, we'd make a really good couple. I think we're going to have a good time tonight."_
_"Don't kid yourself. You're going to be thinking about me the entire time," he said, giving her a knowing look. He leaned back in the chair again and pulled her down so that she was sitting on his lap. "Aren't you?"_
_"What makes you think that? You sound so cocky when you talk like that," she said, getting comfortable on his lap. "What makes you think you're so great?"_
_"I just am. And I'm not cocky, I'm just confident in my abilities," he replied. "Besides, if I don't think I'm great then who will?"_
_"I don't know..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at him and shook her head. "You are something else."_
_"I'm not something else, I'm me," he said cheekily, wrapping his arms around her waist a little tighter. "So really, what's this date with Test about? Because I have a feeling that you just want to make me extremely jealous, am I right?"_
_"Will it make you jealous if I go on this date with Test?" she wanted to know, not really answering his question._
_"Maybe," he admitted._
_She smiled at him and stood up. "Then I'm definitely going..."_
_She started getting her stuff together while he just sat there and watched her, but when she headed over to the door and opened it, he was up on his feet and standing behind her in no time flat. "You never answered my question," he said quietly._
_"Oh, I think I did," she said with a smirk. "I think I did... You...have a good night."_
_"You, too," he replied, and he watched her disappear from the room._
_But the night wasn't over yet; it was just beginning..._
**A/N: So yeah, I know, I ended this kind of abruptly, but my brain just can't seem to get anywhere beyond this point. I have plans for this story but right now I don't know where I'm going with it, it's frustrating...but I had to start somewhere. Leave a review and tell me what you thought!**
End file.
| fanfiction |
Deriving the Lorentz factor $\gamma$
Recently, I learned how to derive $E\_0 = m\_0c^2$. However, to do so, one must accept the relativistic mass equation. How does one derive the Lorentz factor $\gamma$?
After some searching, I found a very simple way to do so.
The blue disks shows show light traversing up a rod. If the rod were stationary then the light would reach the top in **ct** where t starts at t' = 0. However, with the horizontal motion of the rods, the light takes a diagonal path, indicated by the red line. By the Pythagorean Theorem, we get $$d^2 = l^2 + (vt)^2$$ (d being the distance of the first half of the red line)
Since l = ct, we get $$d^2 = c^2t^2 + v^2t^2$$
Since d = ct', we get $$c^2t'^2 = c^2t^2 + v^2t^2$$
Solving for t', we get $$t' = \dfrac{t}{\sqrt{1-\dfrac{v^2}{c^2}}}$$
Divding by t, we get $$\frac{t'}{t} = \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{1-\dfrac{v^2}{c^2}}}$$
Which is the Lorentz Factor
We can use the fact that the speed of light is the same in every inertial reference frame:
$$c=\frac{dx}{dt}=\frac{dx'}{dt'}$$
From that we can construct the space-time interval:
$$(ds)^2=c^2dt^2-dx^2$$
The space-time interval is invariant in every inertial reference frame.
$$(ds)^2=(ds')^{2}$$
In proper frame, the space-time interval has the following form:
$$(ds)^2=c^2dt^2$$
where $dt$ is usually written as $d\tau$ and it is called the proper time.
We know that the space-time interval is the same in every inertial reference frame, so we can write that the space-time interval in our proper frame is equivalent to any other inertial reference frame:
$$c^2d\tau^2=c^2dt^2-dx^2$$
Divide both sides by $c^2dt^2$:
$$\frac{d\tau}{dt}=\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}$$
so:
$$d\tau=dt\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}$$
or:
$$dt=\frac{d\tau}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}=\gamma\cdot d\tau$$
I think the Lorentz factor is wrong because it's based on Einstein's 2nd postulate which implies that the speed of light is constant irrespective of the motion of the emitting body. However, most people apply it as if it were constant for all observers.
In any case, it's a postulate i.e. an assumption. Einstein used the speed of light as constant after Maxwell calculated its value from the permeability and permittivity of free space which are constants and cannot vary under any circumstances.
If you move an electric charge in front of a magnetic field detector, it would detect the presence of a magnetic field. More importantly, if you move a magnetic field detector in front of a static charge, it'll also detect a magnetic field. Hence, electromagnetism is subject to relativity as Galileo implied. Well, he said that everything is relative.
Now light is made of photons which are electromagnetic particles. That means that velocity will interfere with the strength of the magnetic field. And it's either the velocity of light relative to the observer or the observer's velocity to that of light - they're equivalent. Maybe that's how the Doppler shift happens. We don't know what wavelength refers to. Maybe it's inversely proportional to the strength of the magnetic field component of the electromagnetic field.
Keeping the strength of the magnetic component of the electromagnetic field invariant across all frames of reference, may be a mistake. This means that all forms of relativity may be wrong. I'm certain of it. It could turn out that Galilean transformation was the right one to use after all.
| stackexchange/physics |
Eigenvalues of $L_x$ and $L_y$
I know since $[\hat{L}^2,\hat{L}\_x] = 0$ and $[\hat{L}^2,\hat{L}\_y] = 0$, they share the same eigenvectors. So this means spherical harmonics must be eigenvectors of $\hat{L}\_x$ and $\hat{L}\_y$.
What would $ \hat{L}\_x\left| l,m\right>$ and $ \hat{L}\_y\left| l,m\right>$ be? How would you go about finding the eigenvalues?
Shouldn't their eigenvalues also be the same because ladder operators $\hat{L}\_+$ and $\hat{L}\_-$ are conjugates of one another and are composed of $\hat{L}\_x$ and $\hat{L}\_y$?
>
> I know since $[\hat{L}^2,\hat{L}\_x] = 0$ and $[\hat{L}^2,\hat{L}\_y] = 0$, they share the same eigenvectors.
>
>
>
This isn't right. The correct statement is that $[\hat L^2,\hat L\_x]=0$ (along with the fact that $\hat L^2$ and $\hat L\_x$ are both self-adjoint) implies that there exists an orthonormal basis $\mathcal B$ consisting of simultaneous eigenvectors of $L^2$ and $L\_x$. It emphatically does **not** mean that every eigenvector of $\hat L^2$ is an eigenvector of $\hat L\_x$ and vice-versa.
Similarly, $[\hat L^2,\hat L\_y]=0$ implies that there exists an orthonormal basis $\mathcal B'$ consisting of simultaneous eigenvectors of $L^2$ and $\hat L\_y$. There is no reason to expect that we could choose $\mathcal B=\mathcal B'$, and because $[\hat L\_x,\hat L\_y]\neq 0$ we are in fact *guaranteed* that such a choice is not possible.
>
> So this means spherical harmonics must be eigenvectors of $\hat{L}\_x$ and $\hat{L}\_y$
>
>
>
No, for the reason stated above. The full set$^\ddagger$ of spherical harmonics (as conventionally defined) are eigenvectors of $\hat L^2$ and $\hat L\_z$, not $\hat L\_x$ or $\hat L\_y$. Of course we could define rotated spherical harmonics which are eignevectors of e.g. $\hat L^2$ and $\hat L\_x$, but they would not generally be eigenvectors of $\hat L\_y$ or $\hat L\_z$.
>
> Shouldn't their eigenvalues also be the same because ladder operators $\hat{L}\_+$ and $\hat{L}\_-$ are conjugates of one another and are composed of $\hat{L}\_x$ and $\hat{L}\_y$?
>
>
>
I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but in the context of the above clarifications the question seems to become moot.
---
$^\ddagger$*Individual* spherical harmonics may be eigenvectors of $\hat L\_x$ or $\hat L\_y$ - specifically, $|0,0\rangle$ is an eigenvector of both with eigenvalue $0$ - but this does not constitute a full basis for the space. More generally, $[\hat A,\hat B]\neq 0$ does not generally mean that there are *no* simultaneous eigenvectors of $\hat A$ and $\hat B$ - only that there is no *basis* of such vectors.
By spherical symmetry (if your problem has spherical symmetry), the eigenvalues of $\hat L\_x$ and $\hat L\_y$ must (separately) be the same as those of $\hat L\_z$.
However, the eigenvectors of $\hat L\_z$, which are simultaneously eigenvectors of $L^2$, will not be eigenvectors of $\hat L\_x$ or $\hat L\_y$ since $[\hat L\_z,\hat L\_x]\ne 0$ and $[\hat L\_z,\hat L\_y]\ne 0$.
This is possible because, inside the set of those vectors with the *same* eigenvalue of $L^2$, one can construct separate sets which are also eigenvectors of *one* of $\hat L\_z$, $\hat L\_y$, $\hat L\_z$.
It is of course possible to write eigenvectors of $\hat L\_x$ as linear combination of eigenvectors of $\hat L\_z$, because the eigenvectors of $\hat L\_z$ form a complete basis inside the space of eigenvectors of $L^2$ with a given eigenvalue.
As remarked in another answer, the unique exception to this is the $L=0,M=0$ state, which is eigenvector of all the $\hat L\_k$ with eigenvalue $0$ for all $\hat L\_k$.
One way to verify that the eigenvalues of - say - $\hat L\_y$ are the same as those of $\hat L\_z$ is to write the matrix representation $\Gamma(\hat L\_y)$ of $\hat L\_y$ in the $2j+1$-dimensional space of states with a given $j$ value. From the matrix representation one finds the eigenvalues in the usual way: by solving for $\lambda$ in $\hbox{Det}(\Gamma(\hat L\_y)-\lambda \hat 1)=0$.
Once you have the eigenvalues (either from the determinant or by just realizing they are the same as those of $\hat L\_z$), you can search for the
linear combinations of eigenvectors of $\hat L\_z$ that will return each eigenvalue, i.e. by solving for the unknown coefficients $\alpha^k\_m$ in
\begin{align}
\hat L\_y\left(\sum\_{m} \alpha^k\_m Y\_{\ell}^m\right)=\lambda\_k
\left(\sum\_m \alpha^k\_m Y\_\ell^m\right)\, , \tag{1}
\end{align}
for the eigenvalue $\lambda\_k$.
Eq.(1) will give you relations between the various $\alpha^k\_m$’s, to eventually solve for each of them.
| stackexchange/physics |
helium core white dwarfs ( wds ) are made from @xmath3 stars when stellar evolution is truncated before the he core reaches the @xmath4 needed for the helium core flash .
one formation mechanism is significant mass loss due to stellar winds on the red giant branch ( rgb ) that strips the h envelope @xcite , typically leading to @xmath5 ( @xcite ; @xcite ) .
another mechanism is a common envelope induced by binary interactions ( @xcite ; @xcite ) , making extremely low - mass ( elm ) he wds ( @xmath6 or so ) when the interaction occurs at the base of the rgb ( see @xcite ) .
these elm he wds were first seen as companions to millisecond pulsars ( e.g. , * ? ? ? * ) or in high proper motion catalogs @xcite , but the advent of the sloan digital sky survey @xcite and other surveys revealed many additional elm wds ( * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* ; * ? ? ?
* and figure [ fig : wdmerg ] ) .
elm wds were predicted to possess stably burning h envelopes ( @xmath7 ) that keep them bright for gyrs @xcite , and this has certainly aided the recent detections @xcite .
though identified by their location in @xmath8 space , few systems have actually had their radii measured with any precision .
steinfadt et al.s ( @xcite ) discovery of the eclipsing double wd binary system @xcite allowed for the first geometric measurement of the radius of a elm wd , finding @xmath9 for the @xmath10 he wd , consistent with the presence of a thick stably - burning hydrogen envelope ( also see @xcite ; @xcite ) .
additional eclipsing systems @xcite have led to even more constraints , although for some of the more compact systems it is not clear if the radius is truly the equilibrium radius of the wd or if it has been tidally distorted .
multiple common envelope phases are possible in the formation scenario for elm wds , leading to elm wds in binaries with more massive wds .
many of these will come into contact within 10gyr ( figure [ fig : wdmerg ] ) .
indeed , a large number of the known double wd binaries contain elm wds ( @xmath11 , circled points ) with large ( @xmath12 ) radii indicative of a stable h burning shell @xcite . as noted by @xcite , since the time to burn the h envelope
can easily exceed the time to reach contact , many of these elm wds will come into contact with the remaining h envelope .
this raises the possibility for many new phenomena that we begin to explore here .
the large radii of the elm wds means that roche lobe overflow ( rlo ) occurs at larger orbital periods than otherwise expected , so we start in 2 by examining the behavior of the radius of the elm wd as its h envelope is transferred .
we follow in 3 by outlining the basics of mass transfer and highlighting some of the new possibilities when elm wds are donors .
there is a more distinct possibility for thermally stable burning of the accreted h and he on the accreting wd and the initial contraction of the elm wd to mass loss allows for more stable mass transfer than that originally found for cold he wds @xcite .
we perform the full evolution calculations in 4 , highlighting the new phases of h mass transfer , the special behavior near the period minimum , and the likelihood that the intruiging object is one of these systems .
we close in 5 by discussing the implications for am cvn evolution , and the remaining work needed to resolve the thermonuclear outcomes for the accreted matter .
the way in which the donor radius changes with mass loss differentiates the evolution of these elm donor binaries from the earlier work of @xcite for cold he wds , where the wd always becomes larger as mass is removed .
this is usually expressed as the logarithmic derivative of radius with respect to mass @xmath13 which is @xmath14 for cold , degenerate matter
. however , the thick outer layer of non - degenerate and stably - burning hydrogen in an elm wd dramatically changes @xmath15 . for this initial exploration
, we use the models of @xcite that provide a range of hydrogen envelope masses @xmath16 for each total mass , hydrogen will not burn stably but will instead undergo flashes .
however , the precise boundary is not yet known and may be metallicity - dependent .
for instance , the recently discovered binary @xcite has an elm wd with a high temperature and a radius indicative of burning even though it is somewhat more massive ( @xmath17 ) than the expected burning limit , although for this particular object the unknown contribution of tidal heating may contribute to its large size .
we limit our exploration to @xmath18 .
] , @xmath19 .
these represent a large range of elm wd models ( @xmath20 ) that adequately cover the possible envelope masses ( @xmath21 ) at the time of roche lobe contact , or equivalently have ages of 113gyr ; for an age of 1gyr , the expected envelope masses according to @xcite are @xmath22 ( @xmath23 ) to @xmath24 ( @xmath25 ) , but the exact mapping of @xmath16 to age is not known in detail . instead , we verify the starting models by noting that they span the observed range in surface gravity and effective temperature seen in elm wds ( e.g. , @xcite ) , with @xmath26,00020,000k and @xmath27 .
we need to find @xmath28 as a function of the amount of mass that has been lost , @xmath29 , for each distinct initial model .
these models have the temperature , pressure and abundance profile of a stably - burning pure h envelope in diffusive equilibrium with the he core .
the resulting transitional h / he layer has an abundance profile set by chemical equilibrium in the changing electric field , as described in @xcite . as we show later
, the thermal time at the base of the h envelope is longer than the mass transfer timescale , so that the material responds adiabatically to mass loss . to simulate mass loss
, we simply go to the mass coordinate @xmath30 in the initial model and force that mass element to the surface by making its pressure artificially low ( we went to @xmath31 ; in contrast , the pressure at the h / he boundary is @xmath32 , while the pressure at the core is @xmath33 ) .
as the underlying fluid elements now have lower pressures , we conserve their entropy by assuming that @xmath34 is constant , where the adiabatic index @xmath35 was @xmath36 for the region in question .
the density is then computed from @xmath37 and @xmath38 following the equation - of - state ( see * ? ? ? * for details ) , and the composition of each mass element is assumed to be the same as in the original model .
therefore , we need only integrate the pressure and radius with respect to the mass coordinate .
this integration is done by shooting from the core toward the surface and from the surface toward the core and meeting at a mass coordinate in the middle ( the @xmath39 point , where the hydrogen and helium mass fractions are equal ) . selected results for 0.15@xmath40 elm wds
are shown in figure [ fig : radii ] , where we plot the radius as a function of the remaining mass along with the zero - temperature ( fully degenerate ) model used by @xcite .
two things are obvious : ( 1 ) as the envelope is stripped , the slope @xmath41 so the donor shrinks ( as in @xcite for stable burners ) , and the slope is still greater than the @xmath42 value of the zero - temperature model even once @xmath43 ; and ( 2 ) the radii are always larger than the zero - temperature model , even when the envelope has been stripped , because of the lower initial degeneracy . in our models
the larger radii are consequences of both finite ages so that even just passive cooling would result in warmer / larger wds ( unlike in @xcite ) and stable h burning ( unlike in @xcite ) . the initial core temperatures at the onset of mass transfer range from @xmath44k for the @xmath45 envelope to @xmath46k for the @xmath47 , with higher temperatures resulting in higher initial entropies @xcite .
in figure [ fig : zeta ] we compare our results for @xmath15 with those computed using ` modules for experiments in stellar astrophysics ` ( ` mesa ` ; @xcite ) . for our starting points ,
the models of @xcite only covered limited values of @xmath19 and @xmath16 , as we used models that `` evolved '' from the starting models .
similarly , with ` mesa ` we had to use models that we could construct out of suitable starting conditions , subject to mass loss and diffusive equilibrium .
therefore the comparison is not exact : the ` mesa ` model has a total hydrogen mass of @xmath45 , radius of 0.048@xmath48 , and surface temperature of 7150k , compared to ( @xmath49 , 0.062@xmath50 , 7160k ) and ( @xmath51 , 0.048@xmath50 , 6500k ) , for our models .
we can not simultaneously match the envelope mass , radius , and surface temperature .
even so , the agreement for @xmath15 is good , and the model profiles ( the pressure and adiabatic index as functions of radius ) agree well .
the main apparent difference is the `` hump '' in @xmath15 around a stripped mass of @xmath52 visible in our models but not in the ` mesa ` models .
this occurs slightly before the hydrogen - to - helium transition and near the onset of degeneracy in the original model , and given the different mass coordinates at which this happens in our models versus the ` mesa ` models , the discrepancy is not surprising .
we see that overall , the shape of @xmath28 in this adiabatic limit is constant in terms of @xmath53 . whether or not adiabatic evolution is a valid assumption depends on the thermal timescale @xmath54 at the base of the envelope , which is where the luminosity is fixed and most of the excess radius beyond the degenerate helium core is located
. mass - loss will be adiabatic if @xmath55 .
for the models of @xcite , @xmath54 is typically a few myr , so for accretion that is faster than @xmath56 , our approximation is reasonable , and this regime encompasses most of the evolution we discuss below . for lower mass - loss rates , we should consider thermal evolution during the mass stripping , although at these rates the amount of mass stripped is low enough that it does not significantly affect our results .
we start with a he wd donor with mass @xmath57 that is steadily losing mass onto an accretor ( typically a co wd ) with mass @xmath58 .
the total mass is @xmath59 , while the binary orbital separation is @xmath60 and the orbital angular momentum is @xmath61 .
the mass transfer rate is fixed by the rate of orbital angular momentum loss , @xmath62 via @xmath63 the accretor may have intermittent periods of unstable hydrogen burning ( classical novae , or cne ) that eject material from the binary ; therefore we can not assume that mass transfer is conservative but must instead track the mass lost by the binary , @xmath64 .
we write this as @xmath65 , so that @xmath66 means the accretor , on average , keeps a constant mass ( e.g. , it ejects in each cn the amount of matter that has accreted ) , and @xmath67 means that the accretor keeps all the accreted mass .
we do not recalculate the accretor s radius as it gains mass , as this is a small effect for the massive accreting wd . if the cn were to excavate material from the accreting wd , then @xmath68 , although we do not explicitly consider this situation .
we write the expression for @xmath62 as @xmath69+{\dot a\over 2a } , \label{eqn : jdot}\ ] ] allowing a connection between the mass transfer rate and the loss of orbital angular momentum .
we always assume that the donor s radius @xmath70 tracks that of the roche lobe , @xmath71 , and use the simple @xcite formula for @xmath71 , giving @xmath72 \nonumber \\ & \approx & { \dot { \ensuremath{m_{\rm he}}}\over{\ensuremath{m_{\rm he}}}}\left[{5\over 6}+{{\ensuremath{\zeta_{\rm he}}}\over 2}+(f-1){{\ensuremath{m_{\rm he}}}\over { \ensuremath{m_{a}}}}-f{{\ensuremath{m_{\rm he}}}\over 3 m_t}\right ] .
\label{eqn : jdot}\end{aligned}\ ] ] here , @xmath73 is the derivative of the roche lobe radius in units of @xmath60 , @xmath74 .
the paczyski approximation is consistent to within about 5% with the results using the @xcite formula for @xmath75 for the mass ratios considered here . at the onset of mass transfer
, gravitational - wave losses set @xmath62 to be @xcite : @xmath76 this remains true for wide systems , as the material transfers through an accretion disk .
however , if there is not enough room for a disk ( based on eqn . 6 of @xcite ) then material will impact directly onto the accretor @xcite . in this case , the angular momentum of the accreted material is lost to the accretor .
this angular momentum loss subtracts an additional @xmath77 from the quantity in the brackets in eqn .
( [ eqn : jdot ] ) , where @xmath78 is the equivalent radius of the material orbiting the accretor ( in units of @xmath60 ) as given by ( * ? ? ?
* correcting for their inverted definition of the mass ratio ) .
in reality , all of the @xmath79 may not be lost but some may be transferred back to the system via tidal coupling ( as in @xcite ) , but for now we explore the limit where this does not occur since the tidal timescales are largely unconstrained for the accreting wd .
the importance of knowing the value of @xmath80 is highlighted by equation ( [ eqn : jdot ] ) .
when @xmath67 ( i.e. , the transferred material stays on the accretor ) , the mass ratio @xmath81 decreases even more quickly , reducing dynamical stability ( [ sec : stable ] ) and increasing @xmath82 . on the other hand , when material is lost from the system ( i.e. , @xmath66 ) , then @xmath81 changes more slowly with a corresponding reduction in @xmath82 .
it is the ability for the accretor to burn the accreting material at the supplied rate that determines @xmath80 .
stable burning ( i.e. , burning the material at the accreted rate in a thermally stable manner ) implies @xmath67 , whereas unstable burning results in mass losing events ( e.g. , classical novae ) that drive @xmath83 .
since no detailed calculations are available that cover accreted material with our particular abundance mixture ( almost pure h going to nearly pure he ) ; we base our current calculations on @xcite ; @xcite for h burning and @xcite for pure he burning .
the transferred material at the onset of mass transfer is certainly pure hydrogen .
if that material does not gain any carbon or oxygen contamination from the accreting wd , then it can only burn via the pp - cycle . though briefly considered by @xcite , no recent calculations have been done to explore the thermal stability of such a pure h layer .
@xcite performed stability calculations for very low metallicity , going down to @xmath84 solar metallicity .
they found that the burning material was more stable , reducing the minimum accretion rate where stable burning can occur by over a factor of three from the limits derived by ( * ? ? ?
* eq . 5 ) for solar metallicity ( shown by the the red banded region in fig .
[ fig : mdot ] ) .
we therefore assume stable hydrogen burning when @xmath85 ( the green horizontal line in fig .
[ fig : mdot ] ) , and assume that all the accreted mass remains on the accretor ( @xmath67 ) . for rates lower than this , we assume that the h burning is unstable , leading to roche lobe overflowing nuclear flashes and @xmath66
. however , very little mass is transferred at these low rates , leading to a small impact on the outcome .
the accretion rates needed for stable pure he burning are much higher than those for hydrogen . just as in h burning
, the stability arises due to the increasing importance of radiation pressure and shell thickening , both occurring as the burning luminosity approaches the eddington limit @xcite .
most thoroughly discussed in @xcite , this rate depends on the wd core mass , and , for the evolution of these binaries , allows for stable he burning only near the period minimum @xcite .
this results in a narrow range of rates ( typically only a factor of @xmath86 , see the hatched region in fig .
[ fig : mdot ] ) for which a wd can stably burn helium .
this demands two comparisons for our calculations .
first , a tracking of when the accretion rate is in the stable regime and for that duration , a confirmation that enough mass is transferred to build the steady state burning model .
second , when @xmath87 reaches the upper limit of the stable burning regime ( meaning that the radius of the accretor exceeds its roche radius ) , we must account for the excess transferred matter that can not be stably burned by the accretor . for this calculation ,
we simply assume ( as is commonly done ; @xcite ) that that matter is lost by the binary .
hence , even in the stable regime we will sometimes set @xmath80 to a value that is different than zero .- order runge - kutta integrator , updating the value of @xmath80 is done so as to keep the rate of accreted material for the last iteration in the stable regime no higher order derivative is used which leads to the apparent numerical noise in figure [ fig : mdot ] .
this does not affect the outcome .
] we do this so that @xmath88 does not exceed the limit for stable he burning ( essentially the eddington limit ) . when these conditions occur in our evolutionary scenarios , its almost always the case that @xmath89
. eventually , as the orbit widens , @xmath88 decreases below the lower limit for stable he burning , and we set @xmath66 again .
mass transfer is dynamically stable when the term in the brackets in eqn .
( [ eqn : jdot ] ) is positive for @xmath67 .
if it is negative , the stellar radius will be larger than the roche radius after mass transfer , leading to a dynamical instability and merger .
the form of this condition depends on whether the angular momentum of the material which leaves the donor can get back into the orbital angular momentum ( as assumed in disk accretion ) or becomes lost " in the accretor during direct impact .
accretion via a disk is stable when @xmath90 for a cold wd , @xmath91 , leading to @xmath92 .
this would imply stability if @xmath93 , the traditional criterion for stability . the additional angular momentum loss allowed by direct - impact changes the criterion to : @xmath94 this substantially reduces the allowed mass ratios for initially stable mass transfer @xcite especially for cold wds , or those with a finite entropy @xcite but no burning .
however , as we show in figure [ fig : zeta ] , he wds with thick , massive hydrogen layers have @xmath41 for stripped masses @xmath95% .
@xcite were the first to explore the possibly different evolutions this allows for . just from eqn .
( [ eqn : stable ] ) , @xmath96 mass transfer will be dynamically stable as long as there is an accretion disk . even without a disk ( using eqn .
[ eqn : stabledirect ] ) , the additional term @xmath97 is roughly @xmath98 , so as long as @xmath28 is positive we still have dynamical stability .
hence , for almost all the mass ratios considered here , dynamical instability is not possible for disk - fed accretion and could only happen for direct - impact accretion when @xmath99 ( assuming a typical @xmath92 once the hydrogen envelope has been fully stripped ) .
tidal interactions could work to stabilize these few unstable mass transfer cases ( as in * ? ? ?
* ) , but that is beyond the scope of our work .
just as in the conventional double wd binaries , the lower mass elm wd will be driven into contact by the loss of angular momentum from gravitational waves . for the more massive companion , we presume cold co wds with masses 0.71.0@xmath40 ( we do not discuss masses @xmath100 , as those are not covered by the calculations of @xcite ) .
we neglect any tidal heating of the elm wd prior to contact , and simply assume , as in the previous section , that it has a thick h envelope that is stably burning .
we start by discussing the long period of stable mass transfer of the overlying h shell , then discuss the behavior near the period minimum and close with a brief discussion of the outgoing he mass transfer phase ; which is similar to that previously discussed in the literature .
the larger stellar radius leads to the onset of mass transfer at orbital periods of @xmath101 minutes , much longer than expected for a thin - h - shell cooling wd .
since @xmath102 , the donor shrinks under mass loss , so the mass transfer is stable and secularly driven at the rate implied by equation ( [ eqn : jdot ] ) when angular momentum loss is fixed by gravitational radiation ( see eqn . [
eqn : gr ] ) .
we explore a range of elm wds with masses @xmath1030.1250.20 and envelopes of @xmath104 to @xmath105 , although a single donor mass only has part of the range .
not all of these are physically realistic : some higher - mass wds may not have stable burning , or some combinations of envelope and total mass may not be reachable in a hubble time ( see discussions in @xcite and @xcite ) .
we start our calculation when mass transfer begins ( also see @xcite ) , typically at orbital periods of 610minutes .
figure [ fig : early ] shows the resulting evolution up to the period minimum for two cases with @xmath106 and 0.2@xmath107 . for these cases ,
the accretion rate , @xmath87 , is in the range where our adiabatic approximation is valid .
that come into contact at much wider orbital periods violate this inequality , but in those cases the amount of mass transferred at this low rate is small enough as to not qualitatively change the results . ]
the increase in @xmath108 as the orbital period shrinks is evident . at the earliest part of the onset of accretion ,
the orbital @xmath109 ( second panel ) is nearly identical to that calculated ( dot - dashed lines in the second panel ) from the loss of angular momentum from two orbiting point masses .
namely , if measured at this stage , the system would appear to have an orbital period change consistent with gravitational inspiral ( * ? ? ?
* also see fig .
[ fig : pdot ] ) . during this initial evolution
we have @xmath110 , and we find from eqns .
( [ eqn : jdot ] ) and ( [ eqn : gr ] ) that @xmath111 highlighting the need to calculate the considerable evolution in @xmath15 during this period ( fig .
[ fig : early ] ) to find @xmath112 .
this evolution is a new mode of h mass transfer onto a wd that has not been previously explored over a wide range of initial masses with semi - analytic models .
the long ( @xmath113gyr ) life of the elm wd prior to contact has allowed for complete diffusive equilibrium so that the transferred material is pure hydrogen at the start , with an increasing amount of helium at later times as the stripping reveals the underlying he wd core ( 5th panel in figure [ fig : early ] ) .
the amount of mass that has been stripped ( third panel down ) is simply what s needed to keep the stellar radius equal to the roche radius as the donor moves inward .
these are often but not always disk accretors but compact enough that the thermal disk instability that gives rise to dwarf novae is suppressed ( systems below the dashed line on figures [ fig : mdot ] and [ fig : mdot2 ] would undergo dwarf novae instabilities ) . the thermonuclear outcomes during this phase remain uncertain until a time dependent accretion calculation has been performed with the changing @xmath87 and @xmath114 of figure [ fig : early ] .
however , as we discussed in
[ sec : f ] , if h mass transfer leads to stable burning , the system s luminosity would increase to @xmath115 .
after the initial evolution the degenerate portions of the donor come to the surface and a minimum period is reached .
this minimum is near where @xmath108 is maximum , where direct impact often starts ( forcing us to adjust @xmath62 accordingly ) , and where the mass transfer can in principle become dynamically unstable . for
less massive accretors direct - impact accretion will always happen .
the mass - transfer rate is shown in figures [ fig : mdot ] and [ fig : mdot2 ] for a single accretor mass and a range of donor masses , while figure [ fig : pdot ] shows the orbital period derivative .
the mass - transfer factor @xmath80 is calculated according to [ sec : f ] .
the interacting binary star hm cancri ( hm cnc or rxj0806.3 + 1527 ) has an orbital period of 5.4min ( @xcite ; @xcite ; @xcite ) .
spectroscopy @xcite supports a model with two interacting white dwarfs consistent with masses of @xmath116 and @xmath117 but with the actual values unconstrained .
x - ray observations show a decreasing orbital period ( @xcite ) at a rate consistent with gravitational - wave emission , as shown in figure [ fig : pdot ] ( where we highlight it s value of @xmath38 and @xmath118 ) . while the x - ray luminosity was puzzlingly low for accretion from a degenerate companion , @xcite showed that the implied transfer rate was much more consistent with an elm wd donor .
we find the same conclusion , which is that hm cnc is consistent with accretion from an elm wd that is still inspiraling and transferring h - rich material .
such a system , along with other short - period binaries like v407 vul ( rx j1914.4 + 2456 ; @xcite ) , are extremely valuable as probes of the eventual fates of systems like those in figure [ fig : wdmerg ] . differentiating between the different possible outcomes based on the progenitors characteristics is a major goal of work like that described here . in particular , we seek to separate the systems that will remain separate from those that will merge .
systems that remain stable will move to longer orbital periods with declining accretion rates and become am cvn binaries : systems that have a prolonged period of he mass transfer driven by gravitational wave emission .
in contrast , those that become unstable will shred the he wd into a rapidly rotating hot disk that likely becomes an r crb star @xcite .
@xcite did this in detail by considering the stability of mass transfer , including the unknown effects of tidal coupling .
based on the qualitative effects described in
[ sec : stable ] , we can examine here whether more systems will remain stable .
this will directly influence population calculations ( e.g. , * ? ? ?
* ) , which find only a small fraction of the total am cvn population could come from elm wd binaries , although based on the limited parameter space that we explore we do not make population predictions in this work . in figure
[ fig : mns ] we differentiate between those systems that has disk - fed accretion and those that undergo direct impact . for all of the systems that we study dynamical stability ( eqns .
[ eqn : stable ] or [ eqn : stabledirect ] ) is maintained .
we also see that the increased size and decreased degeneracy of the donor which begins mass transfer at larger separations means that more space is available for accretion disks .
the exact threshold depends on both the donor s core and envelope masses , although in general it increases by about @xmath119 or so compared to the threshold for a cold donor in @xcite . while none of the systems we study is dynamically unstable , this is largely because we do not include the less massive accretors ( 0.40.6@xmath40 ) which appear common @xcite and which would be closer to the stability threshold .
extending our calculation to lower accretor masses with the addition of improved stable - burning thresholds will help investigate dynamical stability more closely , but the qualitative behavior of an increased range of systems maintaining accretion disks and remaining stable will hold .
current estimates , based on rather small samples of elm wds and am cvns , suggest that only a small fraction of am cvns come from elm wds @xcite , but significant improvements in the am cvn population ( e.g. , * ? ? ?
* ) and evolutionary calculations may change this conclusion .
it is clear that this increased phase space for stable accretion outcomes demonstrated here will lead to a higher yield of am cvn binaries from double wds .
the final behavior is familiar and the change in @xmath79 is determined not by the change in @xmath60 but by the mass transferred .
the mass - radius relation of the donor determines the evolution . in this range , @xmath28 is roughly constant ( the classical value is @xmath42 , and in our model is it close to @xmath120 ) . with that , we find @xmath121^{3/2}\ ] ] where @xmath122 , and @xmath123 is the final constant value of @xmath28 . with this , we ignore the terms in the brackets in eqn .
( [ eqn : jdot ] ) that contain @xmath57 since they are less than the other terms ( @xmath124 ) , and find : @xmath125 in the limit that @xmath126 . with @xmath127 , the exponent on @xmath38 changes from @xmath128 to @xmath129 . based on these , we can determine @xmath109 along the incoming and outgoing branches : @xmath130 this then allows us to determine the relative populations of objects along the incoming and outgoing branches .
this is just the ratio of the @xmath109 s , since the time spent ( @xmath131 ) is related to the population : @xmath132 based on our model , @xmath133 at @xmath134 , so @xmath135 where the mass of the he wd is the original mass along the incoming track .
this shows that if every am cvn had an elm wd as the originating double wd binary , then there is one inspiraling h mass transferring system for every 4 am cvns at an orbital period of 10 minutes .
note that this is not true in the period / mass range where direct - impact accretion occurs ( as presumably for hm cnc ) , as that dramatically increases @xmath136 and so reduces the outgoing ( am cvn ) population . in any case , finding these predicted systems remains a challenge .
@xcite found it unlikely that v407 vul had the same origin as hm cnc , as the lifetimes on the incoming versus outgoing branches would suggest that its orbital period should be increasing rather than decreasing ( @xcite find @xmath137 at an orbital period of 9.5min ) .
we do not find quite such a strong preference , with @xmath1384 depending on the accretor mass ( compared to a ratio of about 5 in @xcite ) .
still , the small orbital period derivative of v407 vul is somewhat difficult to explain , being a factor of 2 smaller than the lowest value we find in figure [ fig : pdot ] . considering lower accretor masses may help resolve this .
we have shown that the unique properties of elm wds large , nondegenerate h - rich shells supported by stable h burning lead to some new phenomena when mass transfer initiates in double - wd binaries . there is a prolonged period of h - rich mass transfer at a low rate during inspiral , with hm cnc potentially being the prototype .
the change in the mass - radius relation for the donor creates an intrinsically more stable binary that opens up additional phase space for making stable he accreting binaries .
this may increase the am cvn birthrate , potentially alleviating the apparent paucity of progenitor systems .
those am cvns which emerged from this progenitor scenario will also have a larger he core radius than expected from an initially cold wd , thereby exhibiting a higher accretion rate at a fixed orbital period than from a cold wd @xcite .
prior to the onset of mass transfer , the elm wds had gyrs to undergo diffusive settling and substantial burning of hydrogen . that clearly allows for the complete sedimentation of the heavier elements from the outermost layers of the wd .
hence , the mass transferred will vary from nearly pure h , to nearly pure he .
as we discussed , much work remains to more carefully calculate the thermonuclear outcomes from this mass transfer .
if more thermally stable , then these systems may become more observationally detectable due to the higher luminosities .
it is also interesting to note the pronounced absence of heavy elements in the x - ray spectra of hm cnc @xcite , also pointing to an elm origin that lived a long time prior to mass transfer initiation .
if thermally unstable , then the accumulated mass could ignite explosively @xcite , potentially contributing to the increasing number of low - luminosity `` supernovae '' observed locally ( e.g. , * ? ? ?
we thank bill paxton for advice on running mesa , and thank bill paxton and ken shen for helpful discussions .
this research has been supported by the national science foundation under grants phy 11 - 25915 and ast 11 - 09174 . | arxiv |
What exactly does the "per mole" unit of heat of atomization mean?
I am facing a confusion in the definition of the standard enthalpy of atomization. The confusion arises because of the "per mole" in its units ($\pu{kJ mol^-1}$).
**My question**: When I say "per mole", do I mean "per mole" of the *product* or per mole of the *reactant*?
When I mean **"per mole" of the product**, my representative reaction for $\Delta H\_\mathrm{a}^\circ$ is:
$$\ce{1/4 P4(s) -> P (g)}$$
And when I mean **"per mole" of the reactant**, my representative reaction for $\Delta H\_\mathrm{a}^\circ$ is:
$$\ce{P4 (s) -> 4P (g)}$$
Using either of them leads to different calculations involving Hess's law or other chemical reactions, hence I feel there is a need to resolve this confusion.
---
To add to this confusion, NCERT Chemistry (Part 1 page 171) writes:
>
> It is the enthalpy change on breaking **one mole of bonds** completely to obtain atoms in the gas phase.
>
>
>
but then gives a representative reaction as:
$$\ce{CH4 -> C(g) + 4H(g)}$$
which involves breaking **4 moles** of bonds instead.
---
If someone could write the correct definition of the standard enthalpy of atomization, with more than one reputed reference to back their claim, it'd definitely resolve this confusion.
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthalpy_of_atomization),
>
> Standard enthalpy of atomization is the enthalpy change when $1$ mole of gaseous atoms is formed from its element in its defined physical state under standard conditions $(\pu{298.15K}, \pu{1 bar})$.
>
>
>
$\Delta H\_{\text{at}}^{\circ}$ focuses on the production of $1$ mole of atoms from the element. Hence it's defined for the reaction:
$\ce{\dfrac{1}{8}S8 ->S}$
but not for the reaction:
$\ce{S8 -> 8S}$
So whenever you see the term "per mole", it is, by definition, implicitly referring to the product and not to the reactant.
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Anisotropy provoked by magnetic field in an isotropic dielectric
Assume you have an isotropic dielectric. Now introduce an homogeneous and constant magnetic field and an electromagnetic wave (light) in the same direction of the magnetic field. I have to relate the polarization and the electric field, show that the field produces an anisotropy in the dielectric, find the dielectric permittivity tensor and then show that the dielectric es now optically active, meaning that the dielectric shifts the plane of polarization of the incoming wave.
Here's my attempt: Let $\epsilon$ be the dielectric permittivity tensor, $\epsilon\_0$ the usual constant, $\vec{P}$ the polarization vector and $\vec{D}$ the electric displacement vector. Then I get:$$\vec{D}=\epsilon\vec{E}=\epsilon\_0 \vec{E} + \vec{P} \Rightarrow \boxed{\vec{P}=\epsilon\_0(\epsilon\_r-I\_3)\vec{E}}$$
But now I'm pretty much stuck. I think there $\textit{may}$ be a mistake in the formulation of the problem I was provided. I think that maybe the magnetic field is homogeneous but not constant, because if it's constant, it doesn't produce any additional electric field, and because of the vector $\vec{k}$ of the wave is in the same direction as $\vec{B}$, then when I use $\vec{H}\times\vec{k}=\omega \vec{D}$, the only field that affects the value of $\vec{D}$ is the magnetic field from the wave, not the "constant" one.
In conclusion, I'd like to know if it's possible (and how to do so) to solve the problem if $\vec{B}=B\_0 \vec{u\_k}$ and if it's not possible to do so without it being constant, then with an arbitrary magnetic field dependent on time.
My recollections from Landafshitz on magneto-optical effects is that
$$D=\epsilon E + i f E\times H$$
where $\epsilon$ is the permeability without the external magnetic field, and $f$ is some constant, and $H$ is the magnetic field (Landashitz use $B$ for the magnetic induction but that would be the same here). If I recall correctly, they derive that purely based on some consideration of symmetry, not with a microscopic model of charges.
| stackexchange/physics |
This publication from ATTRA identifies the unique benefits of high tunnels to urban farmers.
It covers the basics of siting and constructing a high tunnel, as well as some of the policy and zoning challenges urban growers face when planning to erect a tunnel. It also discusses high tunnel management, including soil fertility, irrigation, and disease and pest control. Finally, it includes resources on intensive crop production and other uses for high tunnels.
High tunnels, also referred to a s hoop houses, are low-cost, usually unheated, metal-tube structures covered with one or two layers of greenhouse plastic to create a protected environment for crops.High tunnel end walls are usually wood framing covered by plastic or plywood. The side walls are often designed to roll up or down with a simple hand or electric crank to help ventilate the tunnel for temperature and humidity control. The added layer of protection created by these structures, when installed correctly and managed well, can expand the growing season into the winter and allow for early harvests in the spring. When temperatures fall below freezing at night, the minimum temperature in a high tunnel can be 6° higher than outside, and if low tunnels are used over the growing beds inside a high tunnel, 9° can be gained ( Wien, 2006). High tunnels can add at least four weeks to the beginning and end of the normal growing season, giving the urban grower a hand up in expanding and extending markets, growing more variety, and adding resilience to the farm.
High tunnels extend the season by protecting crops from harsh field conditions caused by wind, rain, and frost, and also can protect crops from pests and diseases that affect outside field crops. But unique conditions are created inside a high tunnel, which can lead to specific soil-fertility problems along with specific pests and disease problems (Blomgren et al., 2007). Because of this, high tunnels require an extra degree of management to ensure a quality crop and good production rates. | slim_pajama |
Candy Candy 1. Chapter 1
_**Si fuéramos mayores**_
"_si fuéramos mayores"_ , aquel pensamiento lo deprimió aún más , recargado afuera de aquella celda de castigo donde ella había sido recluida, su única manera de aligerar la pena tanto de ella como la suya era seguir tocando la harmónica; tocar la harmónica, la harmónica que ella le había regalado como un premio de consolación o simplemente como un suplente para dejar su hábito de fumar. él sabía que ella lo quería , ella lo quería porque lo cuidaba ,lo quería porque cuando estaban juntos ella se sonrojaba ,lo quería porque esos ojos verdes siempre brillaban a su encuentro, porque ella siempre hacia lo imposible para encontrarse con él , aunque más tarde siempre lo negaba y lo tachaba de engreído , pero Candy no sabía mentir , era simplemente fácil ver a través de la muchacha.
"_si fuéramos mayores" , que frustrante era pensarlo y no serlo, era desearlo y no serlo "si fuera adulto me iría del colegio con Candy" "podríamos decir adiós sin preocupación, riéndonos" , una sonrisa amarga apareció en su rostro, estaba a punto de perderla , ¿Qué sería de Candy Andley?, seguramente su familia adoptiva la regresaría al hogar de poni para volver a ser una chica de hospicio , sus posibles aspiraciones se verían truncadas por una tontería, la gente de dinero siempre era escrupulosa, era tan delicada en cuanto a escándalos se trataba y él lo sabía bien , más si esa persona era vista como algún mendigo a los que ellos daban caridad porque simplemente no era lo suficientemente buena para ellos , ¿Qué haría si ya no la podía volver a ver? , "tengo que tomar una determinación por Candy y por mí", pensaba el muchacho quien parecía tener una nube de pesadumbre sobre él , adentro de aquella celda entre esas espesas y frías paredes él podía verla llorando silenciosamente, ¿Qué sentido tenia seguir en ese colegio de pacotilla si ella ya no estaba? ¿Qué sentido tenia seguir las absurdas normas impuestas por la sociedad? ¿Qué sentido tenían si esas mismas normas siempre le arrebatan lo bueno de la vida? , Una decisión por él y por ella… resoplo compungido, ja! Como si fuera tan fácil , llevaba casi toda la noche tocando la harmónica para ella que probablemente ya se había quedado dormida , ahora su decisión ya estaba tomada, el dejaría el colegio para que ella no se tuviera que marchar con la deshonra en la frente , tiempo más tarde ella terminaría sus estudios y sería todo una dama como todas las viejas matronas se jactaban de que una mujer debía ser, el iría a América a buscarse su propia vida , lo tenía pensado desde mucho tiempo atrás , iría a América y se haría de un nombre en el teatro sin la ayuda de su madre , pero en ese momento no quería nada de eso , tenía la extraña sensación de que incluso si las cosas pasaran como él las estaba deduciendo ,al final Candy White Andley se esfumaría de su vida como un gélido soplo de viento._
_Su cerebro analizaba sus posibilidades , las posibilidades de ambos , ¿las posibilidades de ambos?, Terry de repente se sorprendió ante aquel pensamiento , por primera vez sentía que no era solo él , tenía que pensar también por ella , quería pensar en ella , porque aquella noche había descubierto que no había nadie en todo el maldito mundo que le importara más y que muriera por estar que con nada menos que Candy Andley, ¿Qué si tenía miedo? , claro que lo tenía, lo tenía pero sabía que con el solo hecho de ver su sonrisa él se sentiría mejor._
_Meditando su decisión pasada encontró que no le gustaba nada, no, no le gustaba, ¿para qué quería el teatro si no la tenía a ella? , había desperdiciado toda su corta vida con sus actos egoístas que ni siquiera se podría decir que le hubieran dado alguna satisfacción , él era solo un muchacho insolente que se las había arreglado muy bien con el dinero de su padre, bien no habría más ayuda del duque , esta vez sería distinto, sabía que no habría lujos , a lo largo de su vida había visto mucha gente batallar pero también tendría la oportunidad de escapar de su vida errante y sin sentido , de escapar de todo y todos los que había conocido, solo que esta vez no quería escapar solo , era una locura , lo sabía ¿pero y si el destino los separaba? ¿Si este fuera el punto decisivo? , la noche se sumía en la oscuridad cada vez más rápido, pero las estrellas la adornaban con su maravilloso esplendor, "si fuéramos mayores" otra vez aquel pensamiento recurrente , no, no eran mayores, pero esta vez ya no le importó ,¡al diablo con la edad! ,eso se lo había inventado la gente para poner más pretextos, si, eran solo un par de adolescentes, pero ya nada de eso le importo, su decisión estaba tomada._
_La melancólica melodía que inundaba los oídos de la rubia la había mantenido despierta toda la noche hasta la madrugada, el muchacho nunca había dejado de tocar para ella y ella se lo agradecía , Candy no tenía ni idea de lo que pasaba por la cabeza de Terry , solo lloraba silenciosamente sintiéndose desconsolada porque desconocía lo que el futuro les depararía , abrazada al pequeño klin , se preguntó cuándo seria el día el día en que….._
_De repente escucho el titubeo de la voz grave del muchacho , después de que la consolara dándole palabras de ánimo unas horas antes no había habido más conversación , adentro en la celda ella se quedó sentada sin moverse esperando lo que él tuviera que decirle , estaba consciente de que bien podría desearle las buenas noches debido al cansancio o podría contarle su decisión , tal vez le diría que él se marcharía por ella o que amenazaría a Eliza ,miles de pensamientos se cruzaban por su cabeza , pero lo que escucho a continuación no se lo había esperado ni en un millón de años._
_-¿Candy? ¿Estas despierta?_
_-sí, si- se apresuró a decir _
_-huye conmigo _
_-Fin-_
2. Ahora o nunca
_**Ahora o nunca**_
¿Huir? ¿Había dicho huir? ¿Huir juntos?
Candice White andley se sintió violenta, su corazón había comenzado a palpitar muy rápido y se había quedado muda ante aquella descabellada propuesta, pero sin embargo él estaba ahí afuera esperando por una respuesta que ni ella sabía , ¿huir? , ¿Es que era tan tonta que no podía entender el significado? , pero vaya que solo fingía y pretendía inocencia, dios sabía que ella no ignoraba lo que implicaba el huir.
Huir era algo que quería hacer hace mucho tiempo.
O al menos cuando las cosas no eran demasiado prometedoras, solo que ella nunca lo hacía, tenía la costumbre de enfrentar cualquier cosa que se le presentara, inclusive cuando esta fuera casi imposible de resolver.
Aunque no le desagradaba del todo la idea….
Pero no era sencillo, o tal vez era que era sencillamente fácil, su código moral le decía que se abstuviera y tomara todo como lo que seguro era: una broma , Terry a veces bromeaba mucho y seguro esta vez no era la excepción, una broma que en este momento rayaba en lo cruel.
"Huir"
Huir con con el…
Huir juntos…. Con Terry.
No podía.
Debía quedarse y aceptar las consecuencias de actos que no había cometido o por lo menos unos muy inocentes y un poco arrebatados, aunque tales actos no merecían semejante castigo, nuevamente volvería ser una paria de la sociedad, pero no le importaba , lo enfrentaría y saldría por sus propios medios con la cabeza en alto y nadie diría que Candy White no sabía mirar adelante.
Una vez más volvería al hogar de poni, no sin antes darle las gracias a las personas que la habían ayudado y un adiós a las que ya no vería, ya podía ver a la inmadura de Eliza Leagan y su hermano riéndose en su cara, bien, Eliza y su hermano podían ahogarse en su risa tonta, ya después el destino se encargaría de devolverles sus actos malsanos.
No es que ella les deseara el mal, ya no le incumbía esa gente.
Aun así ella no debía huir.
No podía.
Pero al mismo tiempo una parte de ella deseaba lo contrario, deseaba la aventura, una ola de excitación la invadió, Terry tenía razón, ¡al diablo con el castigo!, ¡al diablo con todo!, eran jóvenes ,sí, pero al diablo también con eso , la pregunta había quedado en el aire y no había vuelto a oír el timbre de su voz , pero sabía que estaba ahí, él estaba ahí, esperándola, esperando su respuesta.
La cuestión era ser valiente, porque sabía que si se negaba su vida no sería la misma, como tampoco lo sería si ella accedía a aquella loca proposición, porque eso era, una loca proposición, una proposición que ella moría por aceptar.
Por un momento se preguntó qué pensarían los Andley de ella, ¿sería una gran deshonra la que les causaría? , sería que los hermanos Leagan y su madre se regocijarían en el triunfo de verla manchar el buen nombre familiar, la tía Elroy le voltearía la cara definitivamente y los hermanos Cornwell probablemente a ellos no los volvería a ver, como tampoco jamás volvería a Lakewood y no podría encontrar a su amigo Albert que tanto le gustaba aquella vieja cabaña.
Annie y Patty seguramente seguirían siendo amigas y tal vez con el tiempo la olvidarían también.
Y aunque le daba tristeza el tal vez no volver a ver a sus amigos, sabía que esa vida no le pertenecía, aquel pensamiento de no encajar siempre la había acechado y hoy se apoderaba de ella más que nunca.
Ella no estaba hecha para ser la heredera del bondadoso tío abuelo, aquel misterioso viejecito que probablemente jamás conocería, no estaba hecha para los zapatos de una chica rica que debía actuar siempre a favor de los elogios absurdos de la sociedad, su vida no estaba ahí, tenía que encontrar su lugar en el mundo y sabía que si se quedaba, entonces algo en ella se habría perdido para siempre.
Algo que tal vez mas tarde descubriría.
-¿Terry?- llamo la chica con voz suave pero al mismo tiempo audible sin soltar a su coatí que parecía más fatigado y apesumbrado que ella que lo traía en brazos.
-Terry…- llamo por segunda vez pero él siguió sin contestar.
El silencio reino por instantes que parecían casi tan largos como un año.
Se había marchado, lo había hecho, al final había sido una broma, mañana cuando saliera expulsada no le dirigiría la palabra, el muy cretino se había burlado de ella, mañana que saliera lo miraría indiferentemente como si …..
Pero se mentía así misma, pues la vida parecía más brillante a su lado.
Y por alguna extraña razón se sintió demasiado triste como para pensar en el día de mañana que en pocas horas vendría a ella, era una tristeza mezclada con la decepción, debería aprender a no tomar muy enserio a la gente , a ser menos confiada, si hubiera sido lo último jamás hubiera estado encerrada en esa espantosa celda.
-¿Cuándo te vas a decidir?- su voz la sobresalto entre sus pensamientos grises.
-¡Terry!
-¿y bien?
-creí que ya te habías ido, te he llamado y no me contestaste- dijo ella en algo que sonaba casi a un reclamo.
Terry Grandchester hizo una sonrisa torcida y se encogió de hombros- te has tardado demasiado-comento con aquella voz sedosa y con su natural tono de broma- creo que tengo más de una hora esperando a que me respondas.
-¡oh! Lo siento, ¡pero ya me he decidido!-se apresuró la rubia a decir - es verdad….¿es enserio lo que me has dicho?
-lo siento señorita pecas pero te has tardado tanto que he cambiado de parecer y la propuesta ha expirado.
-¡Terry Grandchester!- chillo la chica haciendo mohines que él ya se podía imaginar mientras afuera la carcajada del muchacho llegaba a los oídos femeninos y la hacía sonreír.
-te estoy tomando el pelo, pero si no me contestas ahora, creo que me echare para atrás, así que dime, ¿cuál es tu respuesta?
Las mejillas de la rubia se colorearon aun adentro de la fría celda mientras emitía una respuesta cargada de timidez - ¿tenemos un plan?
La sonrisa del muchacho se ensancho- improvisaremos pecosa, improvisaremos.
Fin
3. Decisiones de medianoche
_Decisiones_ de _medianoche_
Empezaba a adentrarse en la adolescencia una etapa desconocida y que amenazaba con cambios corporales que no se marcharían, su cuerpo tierno y delicado comenzaba a abandonar la candidez de la infancia y se curveaba como un reloj arena , su pecho plano crecía al extremo de no poder usar más que una sola blusa de verano sobre el cuerpo y se hinchaba cada vez que aquella terrible maldición la visitaba cada mes.
Las hermanas habían tratado el tema como algo tabú y solo le habían dicho que se llamaba "menarquia" y que esta sucedía por culpa del pecado de Eva la mujer que no había podido aguantar la tentación de la carne, era una explicación tan poco lógica porque, ¿Qué pecado había cometido ella? por lo regular cuando eso ocurría no le gustaba ser tan enérgica para no correr riesgos, se sentiría morir si alguien se enterara de su nueva situación , era por eso que solía fingir tener pereza o se dormía tanto que todos la que la conocían la tachaban de dormilona.
Sería ideal estar postrada en cama hasta que aquello terminara, pero por desgracia la gente lo ignoraba, sobre todo los chicos, siempre extrañados por su falta de energía en aquellos días, la Candy de siempre se subiría a los árboles y haría un sinfín de cosas como acostumbraba.
Pero la otra Candy prefería mirarse al espejo y toquetearse esos cambios que si bien la asustaban , no dejaban de fascinarla , a veces incluso se ponía un poco de colorete que Annie había tomado del tocador de su madre sin permiso antes de dejar América y que según ninguna monja sabia de su existencia, Candy sabía que se estaba comportando como una chica superficial, no era muy diferente a Eliza y sus amigas, aunque era tan chistoso el caso de la joven Leagan quien era evidente se ponía trapos en el pecho para llamar la atención de los muchachos, pero aquellos que eran observadores podían darse cuenta y no harían mas que reírse a sus espaldas.
Y aunque algunas chicas mostraban orgullosas esos cambios, a Candy le apenaba un poco, en el espejo se podía admirar ,pero en público prefería seguir usando las coletas y de preferencia que todos los demás siguieran pensando que era una niña.
Porque ya no era una niña, pero tampoco una mujer ¿entonces que era?
Ciertamente algo había cambiado en ella, ahora podía percatarse de las miradas mal disimuladas de los hermanos Cornwell, que aunque ambos eran guapos no eran más que sus amigos , del odioso Neal quien decía odiarla tanto que era ella a la única chica que molestaba.
Y de otros cuantos.
Pero nadie le afectaba más que Terry Grandchester quien no dejaba de producirle confusión y nervios todo al mismo tiempo , siempre mirándola con socarronería , aquel muchacho no dejaba de embromarla , en un momento podía parecer estar confesándole algo muy importante, cuando al instante podía soltar una carcajada mientras ella se sonrojaba por su tonta credulidad, aunque había cosas de él que eran privadas y el que lo encontrara en esos momentos descubría una expresión amarga en su apuesto perfil.
Terry Grandchester era tan guapo que hacía temblar sus rodillas como gelatina cuando lo sentía muy próximo, le gustaba ese porte desenfadado que decía que a pesar de ser otro miembro de la nobleza eso le importaba un bledo , esos ojos intimidantes , su cara apuesta, era alto y tenía un cuerpo mucho más atlético que la mayoría de los chicos de su edad debido a la equitación y otros deportes, le gustaba hacerla enfadar y si fuera más perceptiva se daría cuenta que el joven hostil que había conocido meses atrás en el Mauritania la adoraba.
Una parte de ella se sentía decepcionada pues no hace mucho Terry la había besado en Escocia alegando que solo trataba de ser el mismo, y ella tan niña ,tan escandalizada de semejante osadía le había dado un bofetada tan fuerte que probablemente lo había hecho desistir de ser tan autentico.
Aunque pensándolo bien, él tampoco había sido muy gentil.
Solo Terry Grandchester la hacía comprender porque Eva había pecado de esa manera y esperaba que él no se diera cuenta de sus pensamientos aunque sospechaba que ya lo hacía , sobretodo cada vez que sus ojos parecían coquetear de esa manera tan descarada, como si estuviera muy seguro de sí.
-pero Terry , ¿A dónde iremos?-le había preguntado tratando de contener aquella excitación desconocida por la aventura, después de todo solo eran dos jovenzuelos en medio de la noche , mientras Candy cuestionaba caminando a su lado Terry cargaba dos pequeñas valijas con cosas que cada uno no había podido dejar.
Él se detuvo un momento y le dedico una ligera mirada , después se encogió de hombros y dijo resuelto- supongo que primero a Southampton, iremos a América.
-¿América?-repitió ella ante lo descabellada que había sido la noche, ya nada le podía sorprender.
Mucho antes de que ella lograra pensar algo en concreto el hablo- seré actor y tu…
-¿yo que?-pregunto confundida y temerosa, probablemente ahí terminaba todo.
-iras conmigo.-respondió el con seguridad y bastante satisfecho.
-si... supongo que es un buen plan-dijo sintiéndose un poco decepcionada- cuando lleguemos entonces yo iré al hogar de poni y tú te harás actor ¿ehh?
-bueno…. Yo más bien pensaba en algo distinto-dijo el sin siquiera mirarla.
-a, ¿a qué te refieres?
-vamos Candy…. –él se detuvo de nuevo al mismo tiempo que dejaba las valijas sobre el pavimento- ¿sabes? , lo he pensado mucho ¿Por qué esperar a que el tiempo pase? - esta vez fue el quien la interrogo mientras sus ojos buscaban desesperados algún indicio de algo que ni el mismo podía nombrar-tal vez no seamos mayores y que todavía lleves coletas no ayuda mucho , tal vez no tengo un plan en especial y no sé si he sido demasiado claro , pero Candy, quiero huir contigo.
las palabras se trababan en su garganta mientras trataba de emplear un discurso coherente pero ya no podía pensar, ahora sin desviar la mirada de los ojos del otro sus expresiones eran tristes y llenas de anhelo, era una decisión que cambiaría sus vidas para no mirar atrás, pero de no tomarla tal vez siempre se lamentarían aunque muy en el fondo ya habían elegido, era así como se sentía la desesperación por no poder detener el tiempo, sin pensarlo mucho Candy se abalanzo sobre él y echo sus brazos al cuello masculino para después besar sus labios con la torpeza de su juventud.
¡Vaya que si hubiera sido ese un buen final!
Cuando Candy volvió en sí, parpadeo un momento y sonrió tontamente ante la idea, la verdad era que no tenía todo aquel coraje como para abalanzarse sobre un muchacho y darle un beso, menos si ese era Terry Grandchester , de acuerdo, era muy guapo, pero ella también tenía su dignidad.
En ese momento el la miraba con una sonrisa torcida en un gesto burlón- huir con un tarzan pecoso debe ser divertido- él se acercó más y tomo su barbilla entre sus dedos- te prometo Candy, que yo cuidare de ti y tal vez algún día esos pensamientos poco puros hacia mi persona se cumplan.
Él le guiño un ojo y ella se sobresaltó tanto que su rostro se tiño de rojo.
¿Fin?
4. Fugitivos
Fugitivos
Cuando llegaron al puerto Terry compro dos boletos hacia América, el hombre de la taquilla miro curioso a los jóvenes, ambos con círculos negros alrededor de sus ojos y tanto el joven como la chica distaban mucho de parecerse físicamente para asumir algún parentesco. Probablemente se habían escapado de sus familias alentados por las hormonas de la juventud pero eso a él le importaba un comino, era tan temprano que solo deseaba estar acostado.
-aquí están sus boletos.- dijo extendiendo los billetes mientras el chico los tomaba.
-Gracias. Amable caballero- el joven esbozo una encantadora sonrisa y se retiró mientras ponía un brazo alrededor de los hombros de la muchacha- ¿viste que fácil fue?¿no te lo dije?
-no lo sé Terry- comento Candy sintiéndose nerviosa de su cercanía y de la situación en general-¿Qué tal si nos descubren? ¿Qué tal si hay algún conocido a bordo y nos reconocen?- la rubia volteo hacia el vendedor asegurándose de que no los estuviera mirando con sospecha y efectivamente no lo hacía.
La gente que pasaba a su lado parecía tener sus propias vidas, junto con sus propios problemas.
-no tientes a la suerte Candy, además, dudo mucho que algún conocido haya comprado billetes en la tercera clase.-se mofo el chico guardando los boletos en su abrigo donde no pudieran caérsele.
Lo cierto es que ambos morían de cansancio, no se habían detenido por temor a que ya estuvieran siendo buscados como dos fugitivos de la prisión, sus ojos se cerraban a momentos y en cuanto ese barco partiera de Southampton solo en ese entonces podrían descansar todo lo que quisieran, por suerte habían podido cambiarse antes el uniforme y ahora se mezclaban entre los civiles sin sospechas, esperando solo la llamada para subir al barco, nadie nunca sospecharía que eran dos alumnos del Real Colegio San Pablo donde solo entraban los hijos de la sociedad más selecta, o que el hijo de un duque se estaba por escapar con una chica de orígenes dudosos.
-y aquí se terminan mis oportunidades para ser una dama..- chillo la muchacha un poco triste sin darse cuenta que lo había dicho en voz alta.
-Candy. Tú nunca podrías ser una dama.- afirmo el joven bastante atento a ella.
La rubia enarco una ceja y le miro herida- ¿y por qué no? ¿Por qué soy una chica del hogar de poni?, ahora todos creerán que Elisa tenía razón.
-No. "una dama" es una mujer muy aburrida y tú eres todo lo contrario.- el joven le sonrió y Candy creyó que bien y el pasar tantas horas con Terry Grandchester lo volvía más encantador.- y no creo que a nadie le importe mucho lo que Elisa piense, solo es una chica tonta que quiere llamar la atención.
Corría el riesgo de volverse adicta a él.
-en ese caso creo que no quiero ser una dama- dijo ella inocentemente- no me gustaría ser aburrida...
-así se habla. - Después el tomo su pequeña mano entre las suyas y esperaron, ninguno de los dos lo admitiría pero dentro de cada uno había una emoción escondida que se debía a la compañía del otro.
Cuando subieron al barco Terry cargo las valijas y Candy lo tomo del brazo, había tanta gente subiendo también que no quería perderse, después él le hablo al oído- apuesto a que siempre quisiste hacer eso...
Ella le miro confundida por un momento mientras caminaban a su humilde camarote- ¿hacer qué?
El sonrío aún más- no te preocupes Candy, este brazo siempre será para ti.
La pequeña rubia enrojeció furiosamente y le soltó como si quemara mientras el soltaba una carcajada.
Después Candy lo miro con media sonrisa mientras el aún seguía riendo divertido, aún tenía miedo de lo que estaban haciendo, Candy no había mentido cuando había dicho que le hubiese gustado ser una dama, ahora que no solo había quemado todas sus oportunidades además de nunca conocer al tío abuelo William.
Tal vez había algo más para ella, cuando el dejo de reír se preguntó si también tenía miedo.
Probablemente sí.
Ambos se recargaron un momento sobre la barandilla y miraron a tierra firme, mucha gente se había quedado en el puerto y decían adiós a sus seres queridos en el barco, mientras ellos no tenían de quien despedirse, no es que importara.
La brisa saco algunos de los risos rubios de la pañoleta purpura que Candy llevaba muy cuidadosamente, Terry se acercó para ayudarla sin decir nada y después cada quien sonrío para si mismo.
Ahí estaban los dos jóvenes que para esa mañana estaban ya en la boca de todos los alumnos, padres de familia y religiosas.
La pareja de alumnos más escandalosa e inmoral que el Real Colegio San Pablo había tenido.
End file.
| fanfiction |
Miracle 1. The Offer
**To Love Again**
**Author's Disclaimer & Note: I have no rights to the movie, Miracle and its characters which are owned by Disney. I also do not have any rights to the TV movie, Miracle On Ice and its characters which are owned by Orion. I do not know the real life hockey players, coaches and staff from the 1980 team. I only own the character, Nancy Morano ("Peach"). This is just for entertainment purposes only for anyone who enjoyed the movie, Miracle, as much as I have. Since this story does move slowly, I have chosen the T rating for now but will change it to M when it becomes more mature. Enjoy!**
The Offer
May, 1979
Nancy Morano was just finishing up her graduate studies at the University of Minnesota (the "U") where she specialized in physical therapy and was certified as a personal trainer. This past year, she was a physical therapist and personal trainer intern to Gary Smith, the team's head personal trainer to the U's men's hockey team. That was the year that Herb Brooks and his team won another NCAA championship.
Nancy stretched and yawned as her alarm clock rang as she hit the snooze button yet again. She was definitely not a morning person. As she looked at the clock, it read 8:23 a.m. "8:23?! That can't be right," she thought. She got up and checked the kitchen clock.
"OH NO!" She ran back into her bedroom and quickly got dressed. She had an early morning final and was running late. She didn't bother to put on her make-up or even comb her hair as she put it in a ponytail. She also had a final in the afternoon. After that, she was finally done with school.
She was looking forward to some time off before she found a full-time job working as a personal trainer to athletes. She had a few jobs leads but no offers yet. As she was about to dash out the door, the phone rang. She figured it would be for her roommate, Michelle, who already left for class but she picked it up anyway.
"Hello?"
"Hey Peachy!" It was Gary, her boss, who gave her that nickname since she was originally from Georgia.
"Gary, please stop calling me that nickname! I hate it!"
"I know, that's why I do it! Sorry for calling you early, but I really gotta talk to you."
"Can't it wait? I'm running late for my final."
"Okay, then give me a call when you get back."
"Why, what is this about?"
"It's just an offer for you to think about."
"An offer? What kind of offer?"
"Well, you heard that Herb is the new Olympic Hockey coach, right?"
"No, it just all over the front page news at the U's newspaper and everywhere!" Peach said sarcastically.
"Well, he hired me to be the head personal trainer for the team."
"Oh Gary, that's great! Although, I'm not surprised. You are the best trainer there is, and Herb only wants the best."
"Wow, brown nosing your boss already and you haven't even accepted the offer."
"What are you saying?"
"Come on Peachy, I want you there with me. I get to have an assistant again."
"Gary, I haven't had my coffee yet, don't kid me!"
"I never kid about business and certainly not gonna start now."
"Oh my God! I don't believe it! Gary, thank you!"
"I take it that means 'yes'."
"Wait a minute -- does Herb know about this?"
"Of course, I recommended you and he is leaving it up to me."
"Gary, I don't know what to say."
"SAY YES!"
"Yes, of course! Thank you so much!"
"You earned it after this past year."
"So when does the training start? I heard the tryouts will be in Colorado Springs. Will we have to report there first?"
"I'll go over all the details with you later. Don't you have a final to get to?"
As Peach looked up at the clock, it was almost 8:35. "Oh no, I gotta go! Thank you again so much."
"Stop thanking me, now go take those finals so you can graduate. Talk to you later."
"Okay, bye."
As Peach hung up the phone, she grabbed both her notebooks to review one more time. It was going to be difficult for her to concentrate. As she dashed to her class, all she could think about was this wonderful opportunity that laid in front of her as she wondered what the next eight months would bring.
2. Training Starts
**Author's Note: Thanks to all who have reviewed. I'm glad you like it so far. Here is the next update.**
**By the way, I do use the players' nicknames right from the start. Just in case, some of my readers who are not familiar with the movie, Miracle and/or not familiar with the nicknames: Mike Eruzione = Rizzo, Ralph Cox = Coxie, Dave Silk = Silky, Rob ****McClanahan**** = Mac, Jack O'Callahan = OC, Steve Janaszak = Janny, Buzz Schneider = Buzzy, Mark Pavelich = Pav, John Harrington = Bah, Mike Ramsey = Rammer, and of course, Nancy = Peach. If I left anyone out, please feel free to advise.**
Training Starts
June, 1979
Since Peach was staying in Minneapolis, she kept her apartment. After graduation, Michelle moved back home. Gary didn't need Peach to come to Colorado Springs, so she met up with the rest of the coaching staff once the team was picked in June. About a few days later after Gary left for Colorado Springs, he gave her a call early one morning. As the phone rang several times, Peach struggled to pick up the phone.
"This better be good!" Peach answered in a cranky voice.
"Whoa, is that how you answer your phone now?" Gary replied.
"Gary?"
"Good morning, Peachy!"
"Do you any idea what time it is?!"
Looking at his watch, "Yep, it's 6:52 a.m., and this is your official wake-up call."
"Huh?"
"It's time to get to work. Meet me in the office around 8:00 a.m."
"Wait a minute . . . you're back home?" Peach asked while yawning.
"Yep, got in late last night."
As she rubbed her neck, "Uh, I – I thought you were going to be at the tryouts for at least another week."
"So did I. Herb already narrowed it down to 26."
"You're kidding, already? What's Herb thinking?"
"Peachy, I've learned never to question Herb's motives. So, I'll see you in an hour."
"Okay."
Peach took a quick hot shower to wake herself up more as she was still nursing a hangover from the night before. Before she headed over to the Bloomington Ice Arena, she stopped by the local Dunkin' Donuts and bought herself a huge coffee and a box of donuts for the staff. As she walked into Herb's office, she saw him talking with someone sitting in his office.
"Hey Herb."
"Welcome back Miss Peach," Herb said. "This is Craig Patrick, my assistant coach."
"Nice to meet you," Craig said as he extended his hand.
Peach shook Craig's hand, "Yes, Gary told me. It's great to finally meet you, too. Where is Gary?"
"Right behind you," Gary replied.
"Hey, I brought in some Dunkin' Donuts for everyone."
"We're never going to be able to skate if you keep bringing in junk like that," Herb said. As he passed her, he grabbed one. "Don't tell Patti. Let's all meet in the conference room with the other staff. We got a lot to go over before the players arrive."
As the staff gathered in the conference room, Herb briefly went over the player roster, practice schedule and game schedule that would start in early September. Later that day, Peach was going over the list of 26 players as she watched them practice and listened in on Herb.
"Johnson! That coast-to-coast stuff may work here, but it won't with the teams we'll be up against," Herb screamed.
"Okay," Mark said, as he skated over to Craig who reassured him.
As Peach watched the next drill, she saw one player deliberately bang into another.
"Nice hit, OC!" cheered Silky.
"Tell your boy to keep his head up, and he won't have to worry about it," OC said.
"Okay, let's go!" Mac yelled.
As Craig headed over to separate OC and Mac, Herb told him to let them go. The other players finally separated them.
Peach leaned in towards Gary, "What's up with that?"
"Long story short, '76 Championship."
"What? That was three years ago. They better get over it real quick 'cause Herb won't tolerate regionalism."
"Well, let's get down to the training room. We got a lot of work to do," Gary said.
As both Gary and Peach walked back to the training room, Herb gave a shellacking to the whole team about old rivals. After practice was over, the players headed back to the locker room.
Dr. George Nagobads, the team physician cleaned up Mac in his office. Meanwhile, Gary was working on OC. Peach was checking on Mark Johnson's shoulder as it was bothering him. Afterwards, they both were writing up their paperwork. Peach always hated that part of the job.
"You almost done?" Gary said.
"Just about, but I can finish this at home tonight," Peach replied.
"I'm headed out to Mario's Place for some grub with Craig. You wanna come?"
"Nah, I should get this done."
"Come on – my treat."
"Okay, I'm there."
Gary laughed, "Yeah, you never say 'no' to a free meal, do you?"
"Nope, free meal is my middle name," Peach winked.
"Okay, I'll see over there."
3. The Locker Room
**Author's Note: LTJM, Septembrisms and Dazedandconfused -- Thanks for your reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Nicole, my fellow lepster, thanks for stopping by and reviewing. I really appreciate it. Here is the next update.**
The Locker Room
As the rest of the players were getting dressed, OC came up to his locker which was next to Mike, better known as Rizzo by many.
"You alright, man?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, Gary worked on me for a bit."
"That's not what I meant. Out of your system for good?"
"Yeah-yeah, don't worry about it."
"I told you back in Colorado to let it go."
"Okay, Mother!"
As Rizzo rolled his eyes, Mark Johnson had just come back from the training room.
"Yo Wisconsin – ain't you the lucky one?" OC yelled.
"Huh?" Mark shrugged.
OC turns to Rizzo, "While Gary was working on me, he got that hot little babe to work on him."
"Her name is Nancy, not babe," Mark retorted.
"Oooh, looks like little Marky has developed a crush on her already."
"Shut up Jack!"
"All right, enough OC," Rizzo said.
OC leans into Rizzo, "Nice T&A too."
"That all you ever think about?" Mark retorted.
"Obviously more than you, Badger boy!" OC chuckled.
"What did I tell you man?! Knock it off!" Rizzo interjected.
Mark just shrugged as he walked back to his locker. Rizzo leaned into OC, "I'm tired of always bailing you out. This isn't BU!"
"Okay, lighten up. Just having a little fun about that cute little PT, so what?"
As Rizzo nodded, "Just shower up, I'll see you back at the dorms."
"Oh yeah, some of the guys are heading over to Mario's Place later. You coming?" OC asked.
"Yeah, I'll meet you there instead," Rizzo replied.
4. Mario's Place
**Author's Note: Thanks to all who have reviewed. Glad you are enjoying the updates. This is another short chapter but will set-up for Chapter 5. As to whom Nancy ends up with, well you might be able to figure it out in this chapter. Enjoy!**
Mario's Place
As Peach walked into Mario's Place, she saw several members of the team. As she passed some of the Minnesota players at one table, she chatted with them for a bit before heading over to the table where Gary and Craig were sitting.
"Gentlemen," Peach said.
"Hey Nance," Craig said.
"Peachy," Gary said with a smirk.
As Peach rolled her eyes, she realized that it didn't matter anymore since the some of the players were calling her that anyway from last year.
"So is the food any good here?" Craig asked.
"Oh yeah, I could eat the whole menu literally," Peach said.
Craig laughed as Gary replied, "Oh, she's not kidding, Craig. I never seen a woman put away food like she does. I'm convinced she has a tapeworm in her stomach."
"It's called working-out, Gary. I'm sure you're familiar with the term," Peach smiled as she glanced back at the menu.
"So Nance, it looks like we're going to be neighbors. I saw you earlier this morning in the driveway at Cedar Manor."
"Oh, you're living there now?" Peach asked.
"Yep, the Olympic Committee found me an apartment there," Craig replied.
"Well, it's a nice little apartment complex. I've been living there for a few years now, plus it's real convenient to the campus."
Meanwhile, Silky and OC came in with Mark Johnson and Bob Suter. As they grabbed a table, they did some high-fives to some of the other players. Jimmy Craig was at the bar talking with Ralph Cox, better known as Coxie.
"Well, it looks like the regionalism is over. Let's hope it stays that way," Peach said as she looked over.
"Don't worry, their 'cold war' is over," Craig said.
"Yo Wisconsin, there's your girlfriend," OC said as he looked at Peach.
"Ha-ha, very funny," Mark said.
"She is cute, bro," Bob replied.
"She's on the coaching staff, Bob, which is besides the point."
"What point?" OC asked.
"He's getting hitched next year," Bob replied with a smirk.
"Whoa, got an old ball and chain already? Why would you do that?" OC laughed.
"It's called love and commitment, Jack. Something you couldn't possibly relate to," Mark replied.
"Knocked her up, didn't ya?" OC snickered.
Bob and Silky busted out laughing.
"Oh, you're unbelievable!" Mark huffed.
"Sorry Mark, those words ain't in his vocabulary," Silky chuckled.
"Yours either," OC retorted.
"Touché, OC." Silky replied. "Hey, where's Rizzo, is he coming?"
"He said he would meet us here," OC replied.
"So what's the deal with Rizzo?" Bob asked.
"What do you mean?" OC replied.
"He got a ball and chain too?"
"He had a long-time girlfriend, but they just broke up," Silky said.
"Ouch, that sucks," Mark replied.
"Yeah, well he's better off anyway," OC said.
5. Time To Let Go
**Author's Note: Thanks to all for your continued reviews. I really appreciate it. Here's the next update.**
**Nicole, glad you're loving it so far, and as usual, the tension will continue to mount.**
**LTJM, well I think you'll definitely answer your own question from this chapter.**
**Septembrisms, thanks for the ultimate compliment. I try to keep it as natural as I can with the dialogue.**
Time To Let Go
As the night moved on, everyone was relaxing to some great food, drinks and music. Craig and Gary were leaving, but Peach chose to stay and hang out for awhile. She was at the bar talking with Jimmy and Coxie. Meanwhile, Rizzo finally arrived and made his way to the bar first. Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper" was playing from the jukebox.
"Well look who finally decided to join us." Coxie teased.
"Hey Mike!" Jimmy said.
"Hey, how's it going?" Rizzo replied.
"Great, loving those new drills Herb is giving us?" Jimmy said.
"That man is insane," Coxie said.
"Yeah, well it's all for the best." As Rizzo glanced towards Peach, he extended his hand, "Mike Eruzione."
Peach shook his hand, "Nancy Morano."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mike, I thought you two already met," Jimmy said.
"Sorry, I haven't," Rizzo replied.
"I'm on the coaching staff working with Gary Smith."
"Yes, I know. I saw you earlier."
"Yo Rizzo!" OC shouted, "About time!"
"Excuse me, I'm going to head over. Nice meeting you," Rizzo said.
"Likewise," Peach replied.
Rizzo and Coxie headed over to the table to join OC and the others.
"Well, I'm going to head out. Do you need a ride back home?" Jimmy asked.
"No thanks Jimmy, I have my own car," Peach replied.
"Okay, have a good night. Be careful."
"You too," Peach said.
As Peach finished her drink, she started to leave but passed by the table where Mark was sitting.
"How's the shoulder, Mark?"
"Okay, a little stiff."
"Just remember to ice it down before you go to bed tonight and do those exercises I showed you."
"I will, thanks."
"Hey Peachy, sit down, stay awhile," OC said.
"Sorry, I can't. I got some paperwork to finish. Night gentlemen."
As Peach walked towards the main entrance, Mark and Bob decided to head back to the dorms too.
"Yeah, that's right, catch up with her before she leaves, Marky. Maybe she'll give you another massage," OC scoffed.
As Bob laughed, Mark didn't bother to react as he had to consider the source.
"Will you lay off of him? What's with you?" Rizzo asked.
"What's with you? Where have you been?" OC asked.
"I had to take care of something earlier."
"What?"
"Nothing important," Rizzo said as he gulped down his beer.
_* Earlier that evening *_
_Rizzo and Coxie were getting ready to head over to Mario's; they were roommates. As Rizzo picked up the phone, Coxie was putting his wallet in his back pocket._
"_Are you coming, man?" Coxie asked._
"_Yeah, I'll meet you over there. I got to make a call first."_
"_Do you wait me to wait?"_
"_No, I'll see you there, Ralph," Rizzo said curtly._
_Ralph got the hint that he wanted privacy and left._
"_Hello?"_
"_Hey baby, how ya doing?"_
_Denise sighed, "I'm fine. (She hesitates.) What do you want, Rizzo?"_
"_I just wanted to tell you I miss you and that I made the first cut."_
_Denise hesitates again._
"_Nise?"_
"_Is this the part where I supposed to say, 'Congratulations?'"_
"_Nise, why can't you support me with this? You know how much it has been my dream to make this team."_
"_You see, that's the problem right there – always the dreamer since we were kids. Come on Rizzo, we've been through this too many times – through high school, BU, Toledo and right before you left for Colorado. You're never home, not to mention you're always getting hurt somehow. When are you going to hang up those skates and realize your playing days are over before you get seriously injured?!"_
_Rizzo sighed once again in frustration. "Because it isn't over, at least not yet. Please Nise, don't do this."_
"_Do what?"_
"_Give up on us. I know it's hard; I miss you too. Just hang in there."_
"_Mike, I've been 'hanging in there' too long, but you know what, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here. Let's say you make the team and go to the Olympics. What happens next?" _
"_I – I don't know. I'm not thinking that far ahead."_
"_Perhaps you should start. I want an answer Mike, NOW!"_
_It was the critical moment, but he couldn't lie to her._
"_Tryout for the NHL, but as I said, I'm not thinking about that right now."_
_Denise starts to sob. "Rizzo, I – I can't do this anymore. As I told you before, relationships take two, and this isn't working."_
"_Don't say that, I miss you."_
"_Then come back home and apply for that teaching job." _
"_Nise, I can't!"_
"_You mean, you won't!"_
"_I don't wanna lose you over this. We've been through so much together. I love you, Denise. Don't you know that?"_
"_Yeah I do, but you'll always love hockey more, and I'm not going to be second to it anymore." _
"_Nise, that's not true and you know it."_
"_I gotta go."_
"_Nise, don't hang up, let's work this out."_
_As Denise started to sob again, "Please don't call me anymore."_
_As Denise hanged up, "Nise!" Rizzo pleaded and then slammed down the phone and threw it across the room._
* Back to the Present *
"Hello, Earth to Rizzo!" OC yelled.
"Huh?" Rizzo shrugged.
"I said, 'If it was nothing important, then what took you so long?'" OC asked again.
"Nothing, it was nothing. Anybody want another round?"
"Don't you wanna eat something, man? You chugged down those two beers pretty quick," Coxie asked.
"Nah, not hungry."
"Rizzo's not hungry. Okay, what's going on?!" OC demanded.
"Nothing alright!"
As OC leaned back, "Oh man, you called her earlier, didn't you?!"
"I don't wanna talk about it!" Rizzo snapped.
"Come on Rizzo, we're your friends. We're here for you," Silky said.
"We're just – we're having a hard time. It's been rough on both of us, you know. I'm not home, she's always afraid I'm going to get hurt." Rizzo turns to the waitress, "Excuse me, Miss – can we have another round?"
"Sure, no problem."
"You see, this is one of the many reasons why I don't get seriously involved," OC pointed out.
"OC, you're not helping," Silky said.
"I'm just trying to be realistic here," OC replied.
"Rizzo, that's part of the territory. Some women just can't deal with this lifestyle," Silky explained.
"It'll be okay. She just – she just needs some time. She's still upset," Rizzo said.
"When has she not been upset with you?" OC asked.
As the waitress put another round of beers down, Rizzo gulped his down.
"Rizzo, take it easy!" Silky said.
"You need some food, man," Coxie said.
"I told you – I'm not hungry. Look, I know you guys mean well, but we've just hit a little bump in the road – that's all."
"More like the Grand Canyon," OC retorted.
Rizzo sighed and then leaned in towards OC. "Not that you can understand this OC, but relationships are difficult at times, especially where there's distance. It'll get better eventually."
"Will it?" OC countered.
"Don't start," Rizzo retorted.
"Sorry, but I have to side with OC this time, Riz," Silky said. "Since BU, I've seen you struggle with Denise throughout your playing career there. I'm not saying she is at fault here, but as I said before, sometimes women just can't handle it and that's okay."
"So what are you saying, Dave? Are you telling me to let her go – just forget about her?!"
OC jumped in, "That's exactly what we've been trying to tell you."
"OC!" Silky and Coxie retorted.
"Well, I never liked her."
"Shut up Jack!" Rizzo yelled.
"It's time to let go, man." OC said.
Silky leaned in, "At least while we're here. You need to concentrate; we all need to with making this team. Don't forget why we're here."
Rizzo sighed as he shook his head, "I think I'm gonna be sick. I'll be right back." Rizzo stood up.
"Are you okay?" Silky asked.
"I'm fine; I think I do need some food."
"We'll order you something," Coxie offered.
Rizzo walked over to the restroom.
"He'll be alright. He just needs some time," Silky said.
"Yeah, as soon as he pulls his head out of his ass and starts facing reality," OC replied.
6. Who Do You Think You Are!
**Author's Note: Thanks to all for your continued reviews. Septembrisms – No more picking on Mark, I promise! Here's the next update. Enjoy!**
Who Do You Think You Are?!
July, 1979
A few weeks had passed. While Rizzo was still struggling with losing Denise, he kept himself busy besides the daily pre-workouts and practices. After practice, he would be found in the training room working out till closing.
One night, Rizzo was on the exercise bike dripping with sweat. As he wiped his face with the towel, Peach walked over.
"Hey Mike, how's it going?"
"I'm okay," Rizzo said as he had his head down going a little faster on the bike now.
"Well, I'm about to close up here."
As Rizzo did not respond, Peach leaned in, "Mike, did you hear me?"
"Huh?"
"I said I'm going to be closing up."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, go hit the showers."
"Um Nance, I still got another few miles to go. Can't I stay a little longer?"
"I can't; I have the keys to lock up and got a ton of paperwork to work on."
"Then, give me the keys; I'll lock up."
"Mike, I can't do that; it's part of my job."
"I'll give them to you tomorrow. Please, I still want to work on some weights, too."
"You already were working on the weights earlier, not to mention you've been on the bike too long."
"I've only been on it for 10 minutes."
"Try 35."
"Who are you – the time police?"
"Mike, you're overexerting yourself."
"I'm fine," Rizzo retorted.
"You are going to injure yourself if you keep this up. Plus along with pre-workouts and practices, you're not going to do yourself or the team any good. Now, get off the bike, please."
Rizzo finally gave in and got off the bike. He really didn't think he was overdoing it, until he got off the bike and felt a strain in his buttocks and left calf that caused him to limp a little.
"Are you okay?" Peach asked.
"I said I'm fine." Rizzo retorted.
"Go in the therapeutic tub for at least 15 minutes. It'll help."
"I'm okay; I'll just take a shower when I get back to the dorm."
"No, you need to soak for a bit; come on."
They headed out of the training room and into the locker room. Rizzo stopped by his locker as Peach continued to walk back further into the treatment room that was connected to the locker room. She went to one of the tubs and began to fill it. As she turned off the water once it was filled, Rizzo, now fully dressed, came up from behind her.
"I told you that I don't need it," Rizzo snapped.
"You need to soak; you'll feel better."
Peach started to leave to give him privacy.
"Who do you think are you are – my mother?!" Rizzo demanded.
As Peach turned around, "No, your PT, now get in the tub!"
Rizzo leaned in to drain the water from the tub. As Peach saw what he was doing, "Mike, don't pull that!"
"I told you I don't need it!" Rizzo yelled.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Craig demanded.
As Peach and Rizzo looked over, they saw Craig with his hands folded to his chest.
"Little PT here thinks she's Herb!"
"It looks like he strained a muscle, Craig."
"What – which?" Craig asked.
"No, I didn't!" Rizzo retorted.
"He's limping on his left side," Peach explained.
"Snitch!" Rizzo retorted as he shot her a glare.
"Alright, enough! Nance, I'll lock up. I'll see you tomorrow." Craig said. "Oh, by the way, I want to see your weekly notes and Gary's first thing tomorrow morning."
"Oh, no problem," Peach replied as she glared back at Rizzo.
As Peach left the locker room, Rizzo shook his head. "She's worse than my kid sister."
"Rizzo, hit the showers, cool off and above else, rest up. We have a long practice tomorrow!" Craig yelled.
* * *
When Rizzo got back to the dorms, he was still limping as he climbed up the steps. OC stopped him in the hallway.
"Where you been?" OC asked.
"Working out." Rizzo replied.
"Again?"
"Some of us have to work harder if we're going to make this team, Jack."
"You're overdoing it. Come on, man – you're limping."
"I'm fine." Rizzo snapped.
As they walked into Rizzo and Coxie's room, Rizzo groaned as he sat on his bed and started to get ready for bed. Coxie was not around.
"You're not fine, Rizzo. Look, I know what's going on here, but this is not the right approach."
"Yes, Mother!" Rizzo retorted.
"Ha-ha. Look, just get some rest and tomorrow Peachy or Gary can work out the kinks."
"Don't even mention that little PT!" Rizzo snapped.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? I tell you what's wrong. First, she chased me off the bike telling me I was on it too long, then she told me to get in the tub, and then she ratted me out to Craig!"
"Wait a minute – what was that second thing again?!"
"She told me to get in the tub."
"Oh man, first Johnson and now you!"
"OC, give it a rest for once," Rizzo retorted.
"Okay, so what happened next? Did you finally strip and get in the tub?"
"NO!"
"Why not?!" OC whined.
"Come on OC, enough! I'm exhausted. Plus, Craig said that it will be a long practice tomorrow. I need sleep!"
"You're right, we should all turn in." As OC headed towards the door, he turned towards Rizzo. "Next time, just remember when a fine woman like that tells you to get in the tub, don't question it, bro. Get in the tub!" OC replied with a slick smile.
"Good night, OC!" Rizzo shouted back as he threw a pillow at him.
Meanwhile, Coxie came back in the room after a night of playing cards with some of the guys. "What's that about?" Coxie asked.
"Nothing, good night, Ralph!" Rizzo said as the pulled the covers over him.
7. Sorry
**Author's Note: Thanks to all for your continued reviews. Glad you're enjoying the updates. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**
Sorry
The next morning, Craig reviewed both Gary and Peach's notes. He had a brief discussion with Rizzo about overdoing it before practice began. Doc had his left calf x-rayed, but it came back negative; it was just a strain. Craig decided to not tell Herb anything as he felt it was under control. After practice was over, the players got dressed and headed out for dinner. Rizzo stayed behind. As he passed by the trainers' office, he saw Peach working on her paperwork.
"Hey, Nance," Rizzo said.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Peach replied.
"Okay, got a sec?"
"Always, sit down."
"Wow, looks like Gary has got you pretty busy." Rizzo pointed to her paperwork.
"Yeah, I detest the paperwork, but it's all part of the job."
"Kinda how I feel about Herb's drills." Rizzo chuckled.
"Yeah well, so what can I do for you?"
"Oh, about last night, I'm –
"It's okay, Mike," Peach interrupted.
"Please let me finish. I'm sorry, I'm not like that. I've been struggling and just didn't realize that I was overdoing it."
"Well, I'm just glad it was just a strain. Actually, that reminds me, I have some exercises to show you for your calf. Can you hang out a little longer or you heading out now?"
"Yeah, I can stay."
"Okay, let me give you a couple of diagrams here to bring home with you tonight."
"Oh man, you're giving me homework?" Rizzo groaned.
"Ah, would you prefer mine?" Peach pointed to her paperwork.
As Rizzo laughed, "That's okay. Besides, Herb's new plays are keeping us busy enough. I can't figure him out."
As Peach leaned in towards Rizzo, "Little piece advice about Herb – don't figure him out. Trust me, it's the quickest way to a migraine."
As Rizzo smiled to her joke, Peach thought he had such a sweet smile as it lit up his whole face.
Rizzo and Peach headed into the training room and saw Gary working on Coxie. Peach showed Rizzo the exercises and then had him do them himself. Afterwards, Rizzo started to head back to the dorms but walked Peach back to her office.
"Thanks Nancy for your help."
"That's why I have a job, see you tomorrow." Peach said as she patted him on the shoulder.
As Rizzo left, Craig came into the office.
"Everything okay?" Craig asked.
"Fine, why?" Peach shrugged.
"I know you work directly under Gary, but you know you can always come to me too if you have a problem. I'm here for the staff too, not just the players."
"Thanks, Craig, but it's okay. It's not the first time a player has taken out their frustration on me and it won't be the last, especially not in this business."
"Yeah well, Rizzo is a good guy. He works really hard. A lot of players are already looking up to him."
"Yeah, I picked up on that."
"Listen, I'm inviting players and staff over on Sunday for a cook-out by the pool. Can you come – free food?"
Peach laughed. "Craig, I always love a party. Do you want me to bring something?"
"Yeah, your hearty appetite!" Craig chuckled.
"No problem with that, but I'll bring something else too. See you then."
8. The Contest
**Author's Note – Thanks for the continued reviews. I think you'll like this chapter. I had fun writing it. I got this idea from the movie, Feds. Enjoy!**
The Contest
Craig had invited the players and staff to a pool party at Cedar Manor. Craig checked with the apartment manager and had no objection to it. When Peach arrived, she brought a watermelon. There were several players already in the pool.
"Hey Peach, let me grab that from you!" Craig yelled.
"Thanks," Peach replied as she handed it to Craig while putting her beach bag down.
As more players were arriving, Peach began slicing the watermelon for everyone.
"Hey, Peachy!" OC yelled.
"Hey OC, how's it going?" Peach replied.
"Great, pool warm enough?"
"I don't know, just got here."
"You going in?" OC asked.
"Yeah, eventually."
"How about now?" OC said with smirk as he picked her up.
"Come on OC, put me down! I just got here!" Peach demanded as she wiggled her legs.
"OC, put her down, you wise-ass!" Jimmy said.
"Nah, she wants to go in!" OC retorted.
OC threw Peach in the deep end of the pool. Two seconds later, OC received a shove from behind.
"Hey!" OC yelled.
"So, how's the water, OC?" Rizzo laughed.
"Geez Jack, couldn't you have waited until I took my outfit off?" Peach said as she splashed back at him.
"Sure, just next time, tell me you want to go skinny dipping!"
As Peach rolled her eyes, she swam back to the ladder to get out of the pool. As she was drying off, Rizzo came up to her.
"Are you okay?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Sorry about OC, he really is harmless."
"Oh, I bet."
Meanwhile, Gary arrived with the pizzas.
"Look who finally showed up with the pizzas!" Craig said.
"Finally!" Rizzo said.
"Yeah, I'm starved." Peach replied.
Everyone started to head over to the food table.
"I can go for two." Rizzo said.
"I can go for three." Peach said.
"Ah Peachy, Rizzo ain't talking slices; he means whole pizzas," Silky said.
"So was I," Peach replied.
"Get serious!" Rizzo added.
"Oh no, she means it, Rizzo. Her stomach is like a rubber band," Gary said.
"No way; no one can put away food like Rizzo!" OC said.
"Care to make a wager?" Peach said as she extended her hand to Rizzo.
"Do you want to get sick?! Trust me, put your hand down!" Rizzo laughed.
As Peach starts to make chicken noises, some of the players started to cheer Rizzo on.
"Okay, what's the wager?" Rizzo asked.
"Hmmm…do my paperwork for a week after I win." Peach said.
"You mean if you win. When I win, you'll do my Herbie drills," Rizzo laughed.
"Nah, that's no good, think of something else you two. Peachy can't skate, and Rizzo doesn't know how to do her job," Gary explained.
"Yeah, plus Rizzo can't write for crap anyway," Silky laughed.
"Throw each other in the pool!" OC said.
"Did that already, who cares!" Peach said.
"How about whoever wins, the other has to not only pay for dinner but make it," Gary said.
"Free meal, I'm in!" Peach said as she extended her hand again to Rizzo to shake.
"Good enough," Rizzo shook her hand.
"Okay, here are the rules." Craig said.
"The rules are there are no rules!" OC yelled.
"No, there are a few rules," Craig replied. "Okay, you have to eat everything but the crust. Any toppings fall off, you have to eat that too. Whoever finishes the three pizzas first, wins. Oh by the way, if any of you throws up, then you'll be disqualified and the other wins. Everything else is fair game. Understand?"
"Crystal," Peach said.
"Let's do it." Rizzo replied.
As Rizzo and Peach were about to open the first box, they kept making evil eyes at each other to psyche the other one out.
"Last chance to back out!" Rizzo said.
"My favorite meal is a NY strip steak, baked potato with sour cream, corn-on-the-cob and lemon meringue pie for dessert," Peach added.
"Keep dreaming!" Rizzo replied.
"Okay, enough talking! Ready, set, GO!" Craig yelled.
Both Rizzo and Peach devoured each slice. As they finished the first whole pizza, Rizzo was ahead by two crusts. As the contest continued, most of the players were routing Rizzo on but some were cheering for Peach.
"Come on Rizzo, she's catching up!" OC yelled.
"Stick with him, Peachy," Phil yelled.
As they opened the third pizza box, Peach looked at the pizza and turned towards Gary. "Well, I just hope this stuff was cooked properly."
"What are you talking about?" Gary asked.
"Look at the pepperoni. I mean if it isn't cooked long enough, there are these microscopic insects and stuff."
"Yeah, I read that there are these tiny little worms that infest ships from Europe," Gary added.
"I heard about that," Peach replied.
"But the worse part is, they lay their eggs in your intestinal tracts and before you know it, there are new ones hatching by the thousands."
"Gary, we're eating," Peach replied.
"Yeah, shut up, Gary! Keep going Rizzo!" OC yelled.
"Oops, sorry guys. Still, I just wonder what it feels like when your whole stomach is churning with those thousands of wiggly little worm eggs," Gary said.
"Ewww, look at that!" Peach pointed out something dangling on the pizza.
Rizzo couldn't keep it down anymore and threw up to the side where there was a trash can.
"Yes!" Peach yelled victoriously.
"Wait a minute – you cheated!" OC yelled back.
"No, those are the rules. He barfed – he's out!" Gary said.
"You both egged him on," Silky said.
"No rules about that, right Craig?" Gary said.
"Yep, you didn't listen to the rules guys." Craig replied.
As Gary raised Peach's arm victoriously, she started to feel sick.
"Umm Gar, let go of my arm," Peach said as she found a trash can to barf into.
Afterwards, both Rizzo and Peach went to the pool restrooms to freshen up. Meanwhile, Craig ordered more pizzas for the rest of the guys. Rizzo saw Peach finally came out of the ladies room.
"So when do want your free meal?" Rizzo asked.
"Oh Mike, it's okay. I'm not gonna hold you to it."
"Why because you know you cheated along with your co-hort over there," as he pointed to Gary.
"We did not cheat. I'm surprised OC and the others didn't say anything disgusting."
"Well, I am a man of my word. I'll make your favorite dinner."
"How about we call a truce? You pay for the food and I'll make it, okay?"
"No, I know how to cook," Rizzo replied proudly.
"Okay, well then make what you want and I'll let you use my kitchen to cook, sound good?" Peach asked.
"All right," Rizzo replied.
As they walked towards the others eating pizza, they couldn't help but feel more sick.
"Actually, promise me you won't make pizza. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat it again for a while," Peach said.
"Yeah, I hear ya, but I wasn't going to make pizza anyway; that's too easy. Just let me know when," Rizzo replied.
"I don't care, anytime is fine with me."
9. It's Not A Date!
**Author's Note: Thanks to all who are reading and/or reviewing. I certainly do appreciate it. I'm going on vacation next week, so sorry there won't be another update for another two weeks. Also, I apologize for being slow with the updates. I've been going through a tough time right now as I will be putting my cat down who has suffered so much in the last two weeks. Anyway, here is the next update. Hope you enjoy. Warning: foul language.**
It's Not A Date!
August, 1979
A couple weeks went by. Every time Rizzo and Peach agreed on a night to have dinner, they kept rescheduling due to Herb's long practices. One day, they finally agreed to try again. Meanwhile, the players headed back to the locker room after practice and had elections to vote for captain. Rizzo was elected.
"So Captain, where do you want to go out to celebrate?" Silky asked.
"Sorry, I can't; I made other plans," Rizzo replied.
"You're kidding, what plans?" OC asked.
"Remember that bet I lost to Peach?"
"Whoa, so tonight is finally the big night? About time you start playing the field again," OC said with a smirk.
"It's not a date; it's a payback," Rizzo retorted. "We can go out tomorrow night instead."
"We already are – Morrow's bachelor party, remember?" OC replied.
"Oh shit, that's right, I forgot."
"How could you forget, Rizzo? OC hasn't stop talking about it all week," Coxie said.
"Yeah, Wells and I are still trying to convince Peachy to jump out of the cake. Maybe you can convince her tonight," OC raised his eyebrows.
Rizzo laughed, "Don't count on it, OC. Later guys."
"Have fun cooking." Silky said.
"Later Cappie," Coxie said.
"Enjoy your date!" OC yelled but Rizzo paid him no mind as he continued to walk out of the locker room.
"Think I should have given him a couple of Trojans?" OC asked.
As Coxie rolled his eyes, Silky smacked OC with the towel.
"What, you never know, he could get lucky," OC replied.
Rizzo stopped by the trainers' office and saw Peach buried under a pile of paperwork.
"Hey, you ready?" Rizzo asked.
"Hey Mike, actually no. I have to work on a couple of your teammates first and try to finish this paperwork. I'm going to be at least a couple more hours here."
"Okay, that'll give me time to pick up dinner and meet you at your apartment?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Oh, it's Apartment 12D."
"Okay, but we don't have to do this tonight if you can't."
"Mike, we've been putting this off for too long; it's always going to be this way. By the way, what are you making?"
"I told you, it's a surprise. You'll see."
Peach made her way back to the training room to work on Ken Morrow and Buzz Schneider. Meanwhile, Rizzo stopped by his dorm first to call back home and tell his parents the good news about making captain. He was tempted to call Denise too but decided against it as he recalled their last conversation. Maybe OC and Silky were right; it was time to let her go, at least for the time being, Rizzo thought. As he looked at his watch, he realized he was running late.
He made his way to an Italian market to pick up the ingredients he needed to make the dinner. He finally made his way to her apartment. As he knocked on the door, Peach was just pulling in the driveway of the apartment complex.
"Hey, I hope you weren't waiting long," Peach said as she climbed up the steps.
"No, I just got here," Rizzo replied.
As Peach let him into her apartment, she showed him the kitchen and where everything was that he needed to make dinner. She tried to sneak a peek in one of the grocery bags that Rizzo had brought with him. "So what's for dinner?"
"At-at, no peaking! You'll find out soon enough!" Rizzo chided.
"Well, can I help you with something?"
"Nope, got it covered."
"Okay, you don't mind if I take a quick shower?"
"No, take your time. I need about 20-25 minutes to prepare everything."
As he was simmering the sauce, he was checking out the collage of pictures she had on her refrigerator of her family and friends. As Peach walked out of her bedroom, her breath was taken away. "Smells heavenly in here!"
"Hey, dinner is just about ready," Rizzo said as he was setting the table.
"Wow, you didn't have to set the table too; you've done enough."
"Oh, it's no problem."
"So what's the big secret for dinner? I figured it would be something Italian."
Rizzo went back in the kitchen and grabbed two big bowls. One was filled with Penne and the other with Braciole. There was Italian bread and Caesar salad already on the table.
"That sauce smells divine. Is that what I think it is?" Peach asked.
"What do you think it is?" Rizzo replied.
"Is that Braciole?"
"Yep."
"Oh, my God, I love Braciole!"
"Yeah, it's my family's favorite."
Rizzo and Peach continued to share some small talk during dinner. They discussed everything from their childhoods, college career and goals.
"This Braciole is so tender and the sauce, mmmm….I can't decipher all the spices. What's in it?"
"My family has their own recipe with special spices."
"Well, you're gonna have to give it to me."
"Sorry, you have to be family, unless you want to marry my younger brother."
"How old is he?"
"17".
"Hmmm….rob the cradle for a family recipe? Nah, I don't think I want to go to jail for that."
As Rizzo laughed, Peach squinted to read his t-shirt. "What?" Rizzo shrugged.
"Santarpio's?"
"Yeah, it's a pizzeria in East Boston. My dad works there part-time."
"Great pizza and barbeque."
"Wait a minute, you've been there?"
"Plenty of times. My family and I love that place, especially the lamb and sausage dishes."
"Yeah, they got great food. So you're originally from the Boston area because I've detected a Southern accent."
"Yeah, it comes out from time to time. I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs most of my childhood. Then, my family relocated to the Boston area when I was 13 due to my dad's job."
"Oh, okay. So what area of Boston is your family from?"
"Medford."
"Medford – that's like 20 minutes from my hometown."
"Yeah, I noticed you were from Winthrop when I read the players' roster. So how are the practices coming along?"
"Still mind boggling. It's just a whole new style of playing than I'm used to, but I think the team is coming together."
"No more regionalism, I hope?"
"Nah, that's gone but we'll always feel that the Gophers stole that championship from us in 76."
"Well, this isn't 76, Mike, and you're training for a final roster spot on the USA team to go to the Olympics."
"Oh, I know, I know. It's always been my dream to make this team."
"Well, it's always great when you have the opportunity to pursue your dreams."
"So, what's your dream?" Rizzo asked.
"My dream – pursued it already."
"What was that?"
"Like you, I was an athlete. I wanted to go to the Summer Olympics since I was a kid. I was a sprint runner both in high school and college. That's why I went to the U; I got an athletic scholarship."
"So what happened?"
"Well, in my sophomore year, I pulled both my hamstrings and after that, it was never the same. I didn't make the team the next year and well, that was the end of my athletic career. My Olympics were over before they even started."
"Ouch, that sucks."
"Well, at the time it was, but it taught me something."
"What's that?"
"To re-evaluate what I wanted to do with my life. I remember the physical therapist who helped me, and I decided that it was a great thing to do to continue to help athletes. So after I got my Bachelor's, I decided to specialize in physical therapy."
"Wow, that's great. To think, all your hard work is paying off that you are going to the Olympics, just not as an athlete."
"That's my dad said when I told him that I was offered the job to work with the Olympic team."
"Well, I think this calls for a toast," Rizzo said as held up his beer. "To making it to the Olympics."
"To making it," Peach said as she lift her wine glass and tap his beer bottle. "And to you making captain."
"Oh, thanks. Yeah, we had elections today in the locker room."
"I heard, Buzz and Ken told me, but I'm not surprised. The players look up to you."
"Well, they depend on me a lot to talk to Herb. Every time I do talk to him in his office, he just yells back at me and then I forget what I was supposed to talk to him about in the first place."
Peach laughs, "Yep, that's Herb."
"So you ready for dessert?" Rizzo asked.
"You made dessert too?"
Rizzo got up to get it from the refrigerator and pulled out the lemon meringue pie. "Well actually no, I bought it because I don't know how to make your favorite pie."
"Wow, this is too much, but I'm stuffed."
"You're stuffed? I thought you had an elastic stomach," Rizzo laughed.
Peach stretched and then got up from her chair. "Yeah, well my rubber band is about to snap. Maybe, you can come tomorrow night to help me eat it."
"I can't, tomorrow night is Ken's bachelor party."
"Oh that's right. Ken told me he's getting married next weekend."
"Yeah, Mark Wells is throwing the party for him."
"I heard. He and OC want me to be the entertainment and jump up out of the cake."
Rizzo laughed, "Yeah, OC wanted me to try to convince you to change your mind."
"Not a chance in hell, Mike, which is exactly what I told them," Peach replied as she started to clean up the table.
"Oh, I know. Here, let me help with cleaning up."
"Are you kidding me? You've done enough. Besides, in my household, the rule is whoever cooks, the other cleans."
"Good rule." Rizzo said as he looked at his watch. "I should be heading back to my dorm anyway."
"Yeah, it is getting late. Don't want you missing curfew on my account."
"Well, it's not that late, but I know it's going to be another long practice tomorrow before the weekend."
"Come on, let me walk you out," Peach said.
As they both came to the door, Peach gave Rizzo a quick hug. "Thanks so much for dinner."
Rizzo gave her a quick squeeze back, "It's my pleasure. Good night."
"Good night, have fun tomorrow night."
As Peach shut her door, she went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up the dishes. She kept thinking about Rizzo on what a sweet, respectful guy he is and that why couldn't more guys be like him. She especially loved the way he gave bear hugs, the best kind she thought.
As she stood there daydreaming, she said to herself, "What am I doing? He's a player!"
10. Carnival
**Author's Note: Hey all, I'm finally back from vacation. Thanks to all for your kind words on the passing of my dear cat, Patty. I miss her to pieces, but I know that I made the right choice for her as she is finally at peace. Thanks also for your continued reviews and patience. Here is the next update. Some of the dialogue comes from the movie. Hope you enjoy! ;-)**
Carnival
A couple weeks later, grueling practices continued as Herb was prepping them for their game schedule which was starting in a couple weeks for their European tour. After practice, Peach and Gary finished up their weekly reports, and Gary asked her to hand them into Craig. As she walked in the hallway, she bumped into Jimmy who had just left Herb's office.
"Hey Peach, how's it going?" Jimmy said.
"Good, have you seen Craig?"
"Yeah, he just went into Herb's office."
"Great, thanks."
"Listen, some of the guys are hanging out at the local carnival later on tonight. Are you going?"
"Yeah, Gary invited me to hang out with his family. I think he just wants me to go on the rides with his kids, so he doesn't have to."
"Well, I guess I'll see you there."
"Hopefully, see you later."
* * *
"So, the Coneheads are coming in," Craig said to Herb in his office.
"Who?" Herb asked.
"That's what the guys have been calling them 'cause well, they're a little (whistles), you know like the Coneheads."
"What's that?" Herb said, still confused.
"You know, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin," Craig replied.
As Peach leaned on Herb's door, "Oh, great Saturday Night Live skit, Craig."
"Yeah, my favorite episode is the one with Frank Zappa when he comes to pick up their daughter, Connie," Craig smiled.
"Oh yeah, that was a good one. What's for dinner – fiberglass insulation, insect repellents and beer!" Peach replied.
As both Craig and Peach laughed, "Well, I guess that's just a little off my radar." Herb said.
"Sorry Herb, I didn't mean to interrupt, but here are those weekly reports, Craig."
"Thanks, Peach. Could you tell the Coneheads to come in?"
"Sure, no problem. Have a good night."
"Night," Craig replied.
"Night, Miss Peach." Herb said as he leaned towards Craig, "She knows who the Coneheads are, too?"
"Yeah, everybody does," Craig smiled.
* * *
Later that night, Gary picked up Peach at her apartment along with his sons, David and Paul, ages 8 and 10. They both gave her a big hug.
"Aunty Peachy!" they both yelled.
"Hey guys, you're getting so big! Another year, you'll be taller than me!" Peach laughed.
Once they arrived at the carnival, they went up to the ticket booth first. After Gary got the tickets for the rides, Paul asked, "Aunty Peachy, will you go on the tea cups with us?"
As Peach looked up at Gary, he mouthed the word, "please."
"Okay, come on guys."
"See you later Dad!" they shouted.
"Have fun guys!" Gary replied.
"You owe me," Peach said to Gary as his boys pulled her away.
As the night moved on, Jimmy, Rizzo and Coxie were hanging out at the sledgehammer game after hanging out at the dunk tank with Silky and OC.
"Come on Coxie, my mother could hit harder than that," Rizzo teased.
"Ha-ha, I don't see you trying it," Coxie retorted.
About 15 minutes later, Silky finally headed over, "Hey guys."
"Hey, where's OC?" Jimmy asked.
"He's still at the dunk tank talking to that girl."
"He's on the prowl again? Wasn't Ken's bachelor party enough for awhile?" Coxie asked.
Jimmy, Silky and Rizzo all busted out laughing.
"What, what did I say?" Coxie asked.
"Well for starters, I don't think OC remembers too much of the bachelor party," Jimmy said.
"Tell me about it; I'm the one who had to practically carry him back to our room." Silky added.
OC finally headed over with the rest of the guys.
"So what happened?" Silky asked.
"Oh, she's got a boyfriend," OC replied.
"That's never stopped you from pouring on the charm," Rizzo snickered.
"Ha-ha. So who's going on with me on the Round-Up?" OC asked.
"Sounds good, let's go," Coxie replied.
As they headed over, they bumped into Peach and Gary with his kids along the way.
"Hey guys, you having a good time on the rides?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah!" screamed David and Paul.
"Cool," Rizzo said.
"We just got off the Trabant," Paul said.
"Can we go on again, Dad, PLEASE?!" David begged.
"Please Dad!" Paul also begged.
"Boys, you've been on enough rides for the night, and Daddy is out of tickets, not to mention, I'm worn out!" Gary replied.
"You're worn out?!" Peach scoffed.
"Hey, I went on the Trabant," Gary replied.
As Gary and his kids said good night to everyone, Peach decided to hang out with the rest of the guys for awhile.
"So are you coming on with us?" Jimmy asked.
"Nah, I've had enough rides for tonight," Peach replied. "I'm going to head over to the food tent to grab a bite. Have fun guys."
"Mind if I join you?" Rizzo asked. "I'm starved."
"Sure," Peach replied.
"Rizzo, we just ate dinner an hour ago," Coxie said.
"But I'm still hungry. Just meet us in the food tent when you're done."
"Okay, we'll meet you over there," Jimmy said.
"Glad to see his appetite is back to normal," Silky said.
"Not to mention the company he keeps." OC snickered.
As Jimmy slapped OC on his back, "What?!" OC gasped.
Rizzo and Peach went into the food tent to order some food and then found a table. There was a clown in the tent entertaining the crowd with playing card games, blowing balloons and playing guess your age, weight and birth month and awarding prizes to game winners.
"So you having a good time tonight?" Rizzo asked.
"Oh yeah, I always loved carnivals since I was a kid. So I don't mind too much going on the rides with Gary's kids."
"Any favorite rides?"
"A few, but my most favorite is Tilt-A-Whirl. It gives me such a big rush as I love to just close my eyes and not know what direction I'm gonna go. What about you – any favorite rides or things to do?"
"Oh, I always loved the roller coaster, but my favorite thing is what I'm doing now. It's my family's favorite hobby," Rizzo said as he pointed to his food.
"Mine too." Peach laughed.
"What game can I interest the pretty lady with?" the clown asked.
"Hmmm, I've always liked the guess your age game," Peach replied.
"Okay, it's $2.00 to play and you have to show a driver's license or another form of ID. I also get a two year cushion before or after your actual age. Ready to play?"
As Rizzo leaned in, "Nance, don't waste your money; it's a rip-off."
"Trust me, watch." Peach winked as she handed the clown the money.
"Okay, we got a player here!" As the clown looked at her, he wrote down a number on a small piece of paper. "Okay, how old are you?" the clown asked.
"24." Peach replied.
As Rizzo leaned in, "Nance, you can't lie with this game!"
"But I am 24," Peach pleaded as she pulled out her driver's license out of her purse.
"Show your ID, Nance," the clown said.
As Peach gave her driver's license to the clown, he read her license and couldn't believe himself that she was 24 as he revealed his guess to be 19.
"We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen! Two free rides for the pretty lady," as he handed her two tickets.
"Way to go!" Rizzo as he slapped her a high-five.
"Thanks, but I played this game before and I always win. Hey, since I got these tickets, I might as well as use them as I'm not coming back. Let's go on the Tilt-A-Whirl."
"We just ate. Do you want us to get sick again?"
As Peach got up and pulled on his arm, "Oh come on Mike, I don't wanna waste these tickets."
"I'll go with you; I'm off duty soon," the clown said.
"Quit clowning around, no pun intended," Peach replied as she took Rizzo's hand. "Come on, let's go."
"How about a phone number?"
"Beat it Bozo!" Rizzo replied.
Rizzo and Peach headed over to the Tilt-A-Whirl and got on right away as the line was short.
"I can't believe you talked me into this ride," Rizzo said.
"Oh, live a little! Sit back and relax, close your eyes and enjoy the ride," Peach replied.
"Okay, if I barf in your face, don't say I didn't warn ya!"
As usual, the ride started out slow and got faster as they were whipped around. As Peach closed her eyes, she screamed as she held onto the bar and her head was pushed onto Rizzo's shoulder. As the ride continued, both their legs and arms became intertwined as they were whipped around faster.
"I think I'm gonna get sick!" Rizzo exclaimed.
"No, you're not. Close your eyes!" Peach screamed as she fell back onto his shoulder and her head bumped into his nose.
As the shell started to roll a little slower, Rizzo found himself drinking in her fresh scent as he started to nuzzle her earlobe. Peach couldn't help but smile as it felt so electric when she felt his nose and lips on her earlobe and the scent of his aftershave also aroused her. As she turned to him, both their brown eyes locked on one another as Rizzo put his hands around her waist.
As Rizzo started to lean down to kiss her with their lips almost brushing, they were startled as the ride attendant yelled, "Hey lovebirds, the ride is over!"
11. We Can't Do This
**Author's Note: Thanks for the continued reviews. Here is the next update. Hope you enjoy.**
**Nicole, Glad you loved the ending. I thought you were going to hate me!**
**LTJM, They almost kissed but thanks to the ride attendant, they didn't. Sorry for the confusion.**
We Can't Do This
As Rizzo and Peach walked to the exit, they walked arm and arm together still feeling a little dizzy from the ride. As they headed towards the food tent now apart, they bumped into the others who were coming out.
"Yo!" Rizzo called out.
"Hey, where you been? We were just looking for you two," Jimmy said.
"Oh, she won free tickets from Bozo over there and then suckered me on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I'm surprised I didn't throw up," Rizzo griped.
"You're such a whiner," Peach retorted as the others laughed.
"Where's Coxie?" Rizzo asked.
"You just missed him. He went back to the dorms," Silky replied.
"Well, I'm gonna head back home too; it's late. Good night," Peach said.
"Whoa, where did you think you're going?" Rizzo chided.
"We'll walk you back to your car," Jimmy insisted.
"I didn't take my car; Gary picked me up," Peach replied.
"Then, one of us will drive you home," Silky offered.
"Oh, it's no problem. I can catch a bus from here."
"Nance, you're not going home alone; it's not an option," Rizzo demanded.
"Rizzo's right; it's not safe. Come on, let's go," OC added.
"Okay, bodyguards!" Peach retorted.
As Rizzo dropped off the rest of the guys in his car, he offered to drive Peach home as she said good night to the others. They were silent toward one another on the ride back to her apartment. As Rizzo pulled into the driveway of Cedar Manor, he parked the car and turned off the engine.
"Nance, we need to talk."
Peach sighed, "I know. We can't do this."
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have let that happen," Rizzo apologized as he looked down.
Peach placed her hand on his, "Mike, it's okay. Nothing happened, so let's just forget about it."
"But something did happen."
"I know, but look at it from this perspective. We got caught up in the moment and now it's over. Let's not analyze it to death, okay?" Peach opened the car door, "See you at practice."
Rizzo opened his car door and followed her up the steps. "What are you doing?" Peach asked as she turned around.
"I'm walking you to your door," Rizzo replied.
"Mike, I don't think I'm gonna get attacked from here to my door. Do you?"
"Will you bite your pride for once and let me be chivalrous?"
As Peach nodded, "I'm not worth the trouble," as she stood in front of her apartment door looking for her keys.
"Man, you are so stubborn!"
"Takes one to know one!" Peach retorted as she turned around to face Rizzo.
Rizzo smiled slightly, "Touché. Promise me something, Nancy."
"It depends, what is it?"
Rizzo put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't walk home alone. Ask me or anybody on the team or coaching staff, even if it is just to your car."
"Mike, I've been living here for three years . . ."
"Promise me."
"It's a safe area; I know how to protect myself," Peach said as she looked down.
Rizzo dropped his right hand to lift her chin to make eye contact with her. "Promise me."
"Okay, I promise. Happy?" Peach sarcastically asked.
"Good enough." Rizzo dropped his hands to capture hers and pulled her right hand to his lips and kissed it. "Good night."
Even though it was a quick touch of his lips on her right hand, it aroused her again as it had earlier on the ride.
As she pulled her hand away, "Don't do that; save it for your girlfriend."
"What?" Mike shrugged and then turned away, "You're unbelievable!"
As Rizzo charged down the steps back to his car, Peach realized she hit a nerve. While she wanted to apologize and find out what was really wrong, Rizzo already started his car and whipped out of the driveway.
As Peach walked into her apartment and shut and locked the door, she leaned on it. "What's wrong with me? I'm such an idiot."
12. Off To Europe & Complications
**Author's Note: Here's the next update. Hope you enjoy! ;-)**
**Nicole, Glad you're still loving it. Yep, R & P are very stubborn but most couples usually are. Thanks for your continued reviews.**
**LTJM, Glad to hear you're so enticed with the updates. Hope you like this update and thanks for your continued reviews.**
Off to Europe & Complications
September, 1979
A couple weeks had passed. The team and coaching staff had left for their European tour. They played the national Holland team first and then moved on to play some Finnish teams. During the first two weeks, the team started out strong with a record of 6-1.
One night after a win, team members went out to celebrate at a local Finnish bar nearby the hotel where they were staying. Rizzo stayed for a bit but headed back to the hotel. As he was entering the hotel lobby, Peach was walking out of the restaurant carrying takeout. As they met up at the elevators, they stood waiting impatiently. Although Peach felt that she was walking on eggshells, she finally broke the awkward silence between them.
"Hey Mike," Peach said.
"Hey, how's it going?" Rizzo replied but did not make eye contact.
"Okay. Great game."
"Yeah, the team played well."
As one elevator finally opened up, they entered and Rizzo pressed the same floor they were both on. As the elevator pulled up, there was silence again but Rizzo broke it this time.
"Smells good."
"Huh?" Peach shrugged.
"Your takeout," Rizzo added.
"Oh yeah, just hope it tastes good too," Peach replied but then thought to herself that it was a dorky remark that she had just made.
As the elevator reached their floor, they headed towards their rooms. Peach's room was further down the hallway. Rizzo stopped by his room to open it.
"Well, good night," Peach said as she continued to walk down the hallway to her room.
"Good night," Rizzo said as he waited until he saw her open and close her door. He then opened up the door to his room that he shared with Coxie.
* * *
Later that evening, Coxie finally returned from the bar. Rizzo was lying on his bed staring at a wallet picture.
"Hey man, I brought some leftovers from the bar if you want it," Coxie said.
"No thanks," Rizzo replied.
As Coxie hung up his jacket, "Listen, some of the guys passed on some concerns to me that they want you to bring to Herb's attention."
As Rizzo continued to stare at the wallet picture, "Coxie calling Rizzo, come in Rizzo!"
"Huh?" Rizzo shrugged.
"You all right; you seem a little down after a win?" Coxie asked.
"I'm just tired," Rizzo said as he placed his wallet back on the nightstand.
"Missing your girl?" Coxie asked as he sat down on his bed.
"What, why would you ask that?" Rizzo nodded.
"Well, you've been staring helplessly at some picture as if your life depended on it. What's going on, man?"
"Did OC and Silky put you up to this?"
"Nobody puts me up to anything, Rizzo. I'm just trying to find out what's going on with you. I mean, since we've been here, you've been acting like a lost puppy with no appetite, and that's not like you."
"Sorry, I just got a lot on my mind."
"About what?" Coxie asked.
Rizzo sighed, "It's complicated. I don't even know how to explain this."
"Well, you're not one for clamming up. Come on Rizzo, I won't see anything to anyone, not even to OC or Silky."
"Oh, I know you won't." As Rizzo sighed once again, "I've – I've been having these feelings about someone that I shouldn't have."
"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Who?" Coxie asked with a smirk.
"Let's just say it's someone I shouldn't be getting involved with," Rizzo replied as he looked down.
As Coxie rubbed his chin, "Hmmm….this someone wouldn't have to be on the coaching staff, would she?"
Rizzo's surprised expression said it all as Coxie confessed, "I know. I saw you walking together arm and arm at the carnival last month."
"You what? Oh, wait a minute, we were dizzy from the ride," Rizzo pointed out.
"Well, it's obviously more than that, man. I've seen the way you've looked at her. You like her."
"Yeah, I do. She's a great person. She's fun to be with, and we've become good friends. But lately, it's –
"Developed into more than friendship?" Coxie finished.
As Rizzo rubbed his forehead, "I don't know."
"Well, what happened?"
"We shared a moment where we almost kissed, but it didn't happen. Later that night when I dropped her off at her apartment, I confronted her to apologize."
"And what did she say?"
"She told me to just forget about it since nothing happened."
"Well, then do what the lady says and 'forget about it'. No sense on dwelling on it." As Coxie leaned forward, "Still don't get why you're making this so complicated, unless there's something else?"
"I don't know. I can't explain it. She just makes me feel different."
As Coxie nodded his head, "Dude, you can't go there. She's staff, not to mention like a sister to us."
"I know that! Don't you think that I know it's wrong for me to feel this way?! So go ahead – put my head through the wall or beat the hell out of me!"
As Coxie nodded his head, "Rizzo, come on."
"And now every time I do see her, I just wanna pull the Pink Panther – Exit Stage Left!"
Coxie chuckled, "Well, that's admirable but you can't keep pulling that for the next five months; just keep it small talk when you do see her."
"I have, but there's more to it than that."
"Like what?"
"Like how can I have these feelings for Nancy while I still have feelings for Denise?! That's why I was looking at our high school prom picture earlier. You see now why it's complicated?!"
"Only if you continue to allow it to be; that's why it's time for you to get back to basics again," Coxie advised.
"Basics?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, focus on why you're here – to make the team. It goes back to what OC and Silky told you awhile ago. You can't keep on going the way you are, man. Look at you, you're a mess!"
Rizzo sighed, "I know, I know."
"Do yourself a favor – stop beating yourself up over this. You are stressing yourself out to the point where it's going to start affecting you both on and off the ice. Trust me, Herb will eventually see this and before you know it, you'll be sent back to the IHL. So don't drop the ball now over two chicks!"
As Rizzo chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Coxie. I'm not going anywhere and if Herb does cut me, it's not going to be because of two _women._" Rizzo emphasized the word – women.
"Look, I didn't mean to be so blunt, but you said that this was always your big dream to make this team. I just don't want you to carry around all this extra burden. That's why it's best that you let go or at least put everything else on the backburner for now. In the meantime, we need you Rizzo, you're our captain."
"I know. Speaking of which, what are these concerns that the guys want me to pass onto Herb?"
"Oh hell, I forgot. Talk to OC or Mac tomorrow. Let's get some sleep, man. Until then, this is Coxie signing off, Nanu Nanu!" Coxie pinched his ears.
"Have I told you that your Mork impression sucks?!" Rizzo teased.
13. SingALongs
**Author's Note: I got the idea for this chapter from the 1981 TV movie, Miracle on Ice. It's a short chapter but just a little filler to set up for the next two chapters. Hope you enjoy this update.**
**Nicole, Glad you loved the Mork & Mindy reference – one of my favorite shows from the 1970's. **
**LTJM, Glad you liked the update and the conversation shared by Rizzo and Coxie. **
Sing-A-Longs
Early the next morning, they left to play the last Finnish team. As they traveled by bus, Pav was playing his guitar as he always had on the bus trips. As Peach looked over to Gary sitting next to her, he was snoring once again. As she rolled her eyes, she got up and walked back to where Pav was sitting.
"Hey Pav, mind if I sit next to you. Gary's sawing zzzz's again," Peach asked.
"Sure, take a seat," Pav laughed as he patted the seat.
"What cha playing?"
"Oh, I've been playing around with some Simon & Garfunkel songs that I love to play."
"Oh, I love their songs. Play one."
Phil shouted from behind, "Pav, I swear you start playing that _Sounds of Silence_ shit, I'm gonna smash that guitar to pieces just like Bluto from Animal House!"
As some of the players laughed, "Oh, great movie!" Pav replied.
Peach turned around, "My goodness, Philip. Did you forget to eat your Wheaties this morning?"
"Well, I hate that song!" Phil retorted.
Pav starts to sing the song but with his own lyrics as he played his guitar.
_Hello Philip, my old friend,
did you forget your Wheaties again?_
As the some of players started to laugh again, Pav continued to sing.
_Is it why you keep on missing the net,
as you skate back to the bench with regrets._
As the whole team and staff were now all laughing, "That's it, Pav, give me that dam thing!" Phil shouted as he tried to grab the guitar from Pav.
"Hey!" Pav shouted.
"Come on Phil, let go, let go!" Rizzo shouted back as he pulled Phil off.
As Phil finally let go, "Play something else, Pav," Peach said.
"How about a little Homeward Bound?" Pav suggested.
"Cool, play it," Peach replied.
As Pav went into Homeward Bound, Peach joined in with him. Towards the end of the song, everyone was joining in on the chorus.
_Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my musics playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me_
As Rizzo listened to these lyrics, he couldn't help but think if Denise really was still silently waiting for him at home. Meanwhile, as the players were yelling "Encore!" it brought Rizzo out of his daze.
"Well, I think it's only apropos to play "Right Back Where We Started From" that comes from the Slapshot movie. Pav, can you play that?" Peach suggested.
"Ahhh, another great flick," Pav replied.
"Yeah, I love the Hanson Brothers," Peach laughed. "They made that movie hysterical."
"Do you think the Hansons are like us Coneheads?" Pav asked.
"I hope not, unless you really love the penalty box that much!" Peach laughed.
"Come on Peachy, start it off!" OC yelled.
"I think you got a fan there, Peach," Pav said.
"Awww how sweet. OC, do you want to be my groupie?" Peach winked at him.
Some of the guys started to laugh. "OC's blushing, somebody grab a camera!" Silky teased and everybody started cracking up with laughter.
"Ha-ha," OC retorted.
As Pav and Peach started off the song together, everyone soon joined in to where the whole bus was jumping. As Rizzo looked on from two seats down, he couldn't help but smile as he heard Peach's sweet voice singing. Peach and Pav sang the end of the song:
_I just can't stay away,
I know that you're the only one._
Later that afternoon, the team and staff headed towards the bus for their final game in Finland. Rizzo stopped by the lobby fireplace before heading out to the bus. He looked at his wallet picture of him and Denise again when they went to the prom. He knew that it was time. He threw the picture into the fireplace.
As OC looked on, "What's he doing?"
"Letting go." Coxie replied.
14. Again!
**Author's Note: I had to include a chapter about this powerful scene in the movie as we all know it was such a turning point about this team, not to mention I love Kurt in this scene. While I included some of the dialogue that was in the movie, I also included some dialogue on what really happened based on interviews that I have read from the real life players. Of course, I also incorporated my own dialogue. Hope you enjoy! :-)**
**Nicole, Glad you liked the last chapter and that it was funny. That was one of my favorite scenes from Animal House too where he smashes the guitar for no reason! **
**LTJM, Glad you loved the last chapter and here's some more. **
Again!
The European tour continued as the team finally arrived in Norway to play their national team, which they would be playing in the preliminary round at the Olympics. Jimmy did not play this game. Janny played at goal the entire game. During the third period, Buzzy was thrown out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.
As Phil and Silky were looking up and checking out the local blonde women in the stands, Herb shot a glare of disgust in the team's performance as he watched the final seconds of the game tick down. They tied 3-3.
"Get a whistle!" Herb shouted to Craig.
As Craig guided all the players back to stay on the ice, they grumbled at to why and what was going on.
"You guys don't wanna work during the game? No problem, we'll work now. Goal line – that one!" Herb yelled as he pointed with his left hand.
After they skated their first round of Herbies, Herb yelled, "You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone! Again!"
As they skated again, Herb continued with his demoralization. "You think you can come in here and play the Norwegian national team and tie them and then go on to the Olympics and win, you gotta another thing coming!"
As they skated another round, the players started to show some fatigue. "You better think about something else each and everyone of you! When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates! And the name on the front is a hell of lot more important than the one of the back! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEADS! AGAIN!" Herb yelled.
As Craig blew the whistle again, the torture continued as they skated more rounds of Herbies as Herb continued to yell over and over "AGAIN!"
"What's he doing?" Peach whispered.
"Shhhh!" Gary whispered back.
Doc walked over to Herb advising that the rink manager wanted to lock up and go home. Herb asked Doc to just leave him the keys to lock up and yelled another order of "Again!" Meanwhile, Buzzy and Jimmy leaned over to Craig from the bench.
"Hey Craig, do you think we should suit up?" Buzzy asked.
"Don't worry about it Buzzy, just sit down," Craig replied.
Finally, the lights went out, but Herb ordered them back on the goal line as they did a few more rounds.
"He's mad, he's certifiably nuts!" Peach whispered as she nodded her head.
"Shut up!" Gary mouthed the words.
"I'm sorry, but he's going to kill these guys, and we're not going to have a team anymore if he keeps this up," Peach whispered.
"How about it Silky, you going to be the first one to quit on me? How about it OC, you ready to go down? Ah, I think I got my money on you Verchota. Of course, you got a got a hot date in about an hour but you're not looking too good for that right about now, are ya? Send them. Again," Herb ordered Craig.
As Gary and Peach sat there in silence, both of them knew that their work was cut out for them once this torture would stop. "Would it ever stop?" Peach thought to herself as she never saw anything like this from last season at the U.
"This cannot be a team of common men because common men go nowhere. You have to be uncommon. Again!"
"Herb, this is gone on long enough; somebody is going to get hurt!" Doc yelled.
"Thank God, somebody said something," Peach whispered with relief.
Gary nodded his head and waved his hand to quiet Peach.
"Everybody get on that line," Herb ordered. "Again, again!" Herb ordered Craig to blow the whistle.
"Come on Herb," Craig pleaded.
Finally, Mark Johnson after throwing up on the ice again, gets up and smacks his hockey stick on the wall.
Herb walked over to the players who were beyond exhaustion as they all continued to breathe heavily and struggled to stand.
"Play that way again and you'll do it again!" Herb yelled and walked off the ice.
* * *
As the team headed back to the locker room, the rink manager turned back on the lights but only long enough for them to grab their gear and leave. When they got back to the hotel, the night was only beginning for Doc, Gary and Peach as they worked on most of the players who needed therapy back in their hotel rooms.
As Peach knocked on one of the doors, Rizzo answered it.
"Hey Mike. How ya feeling?" Peach asked.
"A little better after the long shower," Rizzo replied rubbing his low back.
"That's good. Well, we're just checking in all of the players since we couldn't treat back at the arena. Having pain in your back?"
"I'm okay. My feet still feel like glue, but my low back is aching a little."
"Well, lie on your stomach and let's work out the kinks."
"No, that's okay, I'll be fine," Rizzo said curtly as he sat back down on the bed.
Feeling the tension she sensed from Rizzo, she offered, "Would you prefer Gary or Doc to look at it?"
"No, no, it's okay."
"Well, I'll get an ice pack for you. Tell Coxie I'll be back in a few."
Meanwhile, Coxie came out of the bathroom, as Peach and Rizzo were talking but did not hear him. As he pulled off the towel from his waist to wipe his face, he was startled by Peach's presence.
"JESUS!" Coxie yelled as he wrapped the towel back around his waist.
As Peach jumped and then turned around, "No, Nancy Morano."
Rizzo couldn't help but laugh as he fell back onto the bed and then turned his head towards Coxie, "Geez Coxie, you scream like a girl!"
"Well, she startled me!"
"Sorry to disappoint you Coxie, but I'm not Him. Look, I'll be back to get that ice, Mike so that Miss Coxie can get dressed."
As Peach opened the door, Rizzo was still laughing. OC was just outside his room across the hall.
"Peachy, are you okay? Did you just scream?" OC asked.
"Nah, it was Coxie. He freaked out because he thinks I'm Jesus," Peach replied as she walked back down the hallway.
"What?" OC chuckled and then walked into Rizzo and Coxie's room. "What the hell happened in here?"
"Coxie stripped into his birthday suit while Peach was here," Rizzo explained, still laughing.
"Shut up Rizzo, it's not that funny!" Coxie retorted.
"You should've seen your face, man – you were white as a ghost!" Rizzo snorted still laughing on his back.
"Oh man, I can't believe you two!" OC scoffed.
"What's your problem?" Coxie said as he pulled over his t-shirt.
Pointing to Rizzo, "Well first, this one won't strip in the tub for her and now she sees you in the buff and you freak out about it. I mean, is there something you two really need to tell me here?" OC said as he raised his eyebrows.
As Rizzo continued to laugh, "Oh, put your Jones back in your pocket for once!" Coxie retorted.
"Come on Jack, don't fret. At least, she's want you to be her groupie," Rizzo teased as he batted his eyelashes.
15. More Complications
**Author's Note: Sorry, it has taken awhile for another update. Hope you enjoy!**
**LTJM, Glad you're enjoying the humor. Here's the next update, although it gets more serious in this chapter.**
**Nicole, Glad you thought it was hysterical and hope the heartburn is gone! This chapter will be a lot more serious.**
**Septembrisms, Great to see you back reviewing. Glad to hear you like where this story is going so far. Hope you continue to enjoy.**
More Complications
Next day, they played the Norwegian national team again; it was the last game of their European tour. The great news was that the team shut them out 9-0. The bad news was that Rizzo hurt his wrist during the game. He went back to his locker to get changed but told no one. He walked into the arena's treatment room looking for Doc, but instead found Peach. He started to turn away.
"Hey Mike," Peach said.
"Hey, have you seen Doc?" Rizzo asked a little out of breath.
"Yeah, he just left with Eric to go to the hospital."
"Is he okay, what is it?"
"He's getting his elbow x-rayed. The question is – are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rizzo said breathing a little harder holding his left wrist.
"You're not fine. You're holding your wrist. Let me see. Can you move it at all?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, let's do a stick test."
"NO!" Rizzo gasped.
As Peach put out her own left hand, she demonstrated some movement. "Can you move your fingers?"
"Yeah, but they feel numb."
"Okay, sit down. You look pale. I'm going to get a bandage."
As Peach turned to pull out a bandage from the medicine cabinet, Rizzo collapsed missing the chair.
"MIKE!" Peach gasped as she turned around. As she leaned over him, "Mike, can you hear me?!" When she got no response from him, Peach quickly grabbed some smelling salts from the cabinet.
Meanwhile, Gary came charging into the treatment room after hearing the thud.
"Hey, what happened?!" Gary exclaimed.
"He collapsed!" Peach exclaimed as she lifted his head slightly and applied smelling salts to his nose.
"Mike, come back to me!" Peach yelled.
As Rizzo came out of unconsciousness, he started to cough and move his head a little and then finally opened his eyes slightly.
"Hey buddy, welcome back," Gary said with relief.
Rizzo started to move his head to the right as he began to cough heavily.
"You gonna get sick?" Peach asked.
As Rizzo nodded "yes", "Let's turn him to his side," Gary said.
After Rizzo heaved a few times, "Rizzo, we're going to lift you up to sit-up, okay?" Gary asked.
Rizzo nodded "yes".
"If you feel dizzy, we'll come back down," Peach said.
As they slowly lifted up Rizzo in a sitting position, "Peach, I'm going to get a blanket for him and then see if I can catch Doc. If not, we'll get an ambulance."
"No, I'm okay," Rizzo said groggily.
"Rizzo, don't talk. I'll be right back," Gary said.
Gary left and bumped into Craig in the hallway who told him to get a blanket for Rizzo, so he could catch Doc and Eric before they left.
"Here, let me get up. I'm okay now," Rizzo replied.
Peach still behind Rizzo supporting him, "No, just stay put. Let me elevate your feet," Peach replied.
"I'm okay; just let me sit on the chair here."
"Okay, slowly," Peach warned.
As Peach pulled him up by his right side, he sat on the chair. "How do you feel? Do you feel dizzy?"
"No, I'm alright now," Rizzo replied.
Peach grabbed the other chair and put his legs across it and kneeled down to grab the bandage she had dropped. "Here, let me try this again."
Pushing her hands away with his right hand, "Nance, it's okay. I can move it."
She found her backing off again as she did the night before but then realized that she had to take charge.
"Hey Eruzione, it's not an option!" Peach retorted as she gently pulled his left hand to her and began wrapping his wrist.
Meanwhile, Craig had come back with a blanket as Peach finished wrapping his wrist. "Hey Peach, how's the patient?" Craig asked as put the blanket on Rizzo.
"Stubborn as a mule," Peach replied.
"Oh, much better, I see," Craig replied. "Doc is on his way back. I'm going to see if I can get a wheelchair."
"I don't need a wheelchair!" Rizzo snapped.
"Shut up!" Peach retorted.
Doc finally had come back from the bus. "Michael, how you feel?" Doc asked as he opened his medical bag.
"I'm fine, how's Eric?" Rizzo replied.
"He's fine; don't worry about him," Doc replied as began to exam Rizzo. "I'm going to check your blood pressure first. Tell me what happened, Miss Peach? Did you see him collapse?"
"No, he came in looking a little pale complaining of pain in his left wrist. I turned around to get a bandage and he fell."
"What am I dead?!" Rizzo yelled back.
"Michael, calm down. Don't talk," Doc replied as he checked Rizzo's eyes.
"Yeah, don't talk or else I'm gonna put you in a straight jacket with this bandage tape and the first piece is going on your lips!" Peach yelled.
"Oh, bring it!" Rizzo retorted.
"Alright enough you two! You fight like couple," Doc said. As Doc continued to exam Rizzo, "Do you remember how you fell? Did you hit your head?"
"I don't think so. I blacked-out, but I think I've might've fell down on my left shoulder."
"His coloring does look better now." Peach supplemented.
"Okay, blood pressure a little low, but let's get you to the hospital to do an X-ray of your wrist," Doc said.
"Okay, I got the wheelchair!" Craig said he walked in.
"I told you I don't need it!" Rizzo yelled once again.
"Just a precautionary measure, Michael. Okay?" Doc said.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Peach left with Doc, Rizzo and Eric to go to the nearby hospital as Gary stayed behind. When Doc came back with the test results in the waiting room, the X-rays came back negative for both Rizzo and Eric as no fracture appeared in either of them.
"This is great, now we'll still be able to play against the North Stars next week," Rizzo said to Eric as they both sighed with relief.
"Wait a minute, Michael. We're going to have your wrist X-rayed again when we get back home to make sure it's not a fracture," Doc said.
"Why, what for? You just said that the X-ray came back negative," Rizzo replied.
"Yes, but there's still a chance it could be fractured," Doc explained.
Rizzo nodded, "I still don't understand. Wouldn't it have showed up on the X-ray?"
"Wrist fractures are complex, Mike. Sometimes, it doesn't show up right away. That's why the follow-up X-ray is necessary," Peach further explained.
"I was asking Doc, not you! You know, the one that's got MD behind his name!" Rizzo yelled back.
"Rizzo, come on man, calm down!" Eric replied.
"She's right, Michael and so is Eric," Doc explained. "You need to calm down. Be positive. Don't worry about this now. You're going to be okay," Doc reassured him.
"Doc, I'm sorry but I just need to know now. If it is a break, how long will I be out?" Rizzo asked.
"I can't say, Michael. Until I see the follow-up X-ray, I don't know if it is a fracture yet, and if it is, the type and severity of it will also determine how long you would be out. At this point, it may well be just a sprain. As I said, be positive," Doc further explained as he patted his right shoulder. "I'm going to use a payphone and call Craig at the hotel to get the bus driver to come back and pick us up. I'll be right back."
As Doc walked towards the payphones, Peach laid back in the chair sitting across from Rizzo and Eric.
"I just can't stand that I don't know what's going to happen. I wish he would've given me an estimate if it is broken," Rizzo said.
"I fractured my wrist last year. I was out for over a month. Remember Peach?" Eric said.
"Eric!" Peach yelled.
"Oops, sorry Riz!" Eric apologized.
"Shit, there's goes my roster spot!" Rizzo yelled as leaned back frustrated.
"You don't know that!" Peach said.
"Yeah, it's just so easy for you to sit there and say that when you have no idea of what I'm going through!" Rizzo yelled.
"Actually, I do. I've fractured my wrist in track."
"And how long were you out?" Rizzo asked.
"Hmmm…don't recall exactly but it varies," Peach replied.
As Rizzo rolled his eyes, "Great, just like Doc, you won't answer my question directly!"
"Mike, it's not that we're deliberately keeping it from you. With me, I fractured mine in two different places, which took longer to heal. As for Doc, he just doesn't want to give you any estimates right now until he knows exactly what it is, so it can be treated properly. In the meantime, he's right – 'be positive.' You will get back on the ice," Peach reassured him.
As Peach stood up, "I'm parched; I'm going to get something to drink. You guys, need anything?"
"No, I'm okay," Eric replied.
Rizzo just nodded his head "no" not making eye contact.
As Peach made her way to the water fountain, she thought to herself, "Maybe, I should've kept my mouth shut."
16. Finally!
**Author's Note: Nicole & LTJM -- Thanks for your continued reviews. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Finally!
After their shutout victory, the team celebrated later that night at a campfire nearby the hotel where they were staying. Peach and Pav were singing, "I know a heartache when I see one." As they sang the final lyrics "It's not easy," Rizzo, now with a sling on his left arm and wrist splint on his left hand, walked over and sat next to Coxie and Silky.
"Hey man, what are you doing out here? Coxie asked.
"Yeah, shouldn't you be resting?" Silky supplemented.
"Doc said I should be, but I wanted to get some fresh air," Rizzo replied.
"Hey Rizzo! How's the wrist?" OC asked as he walked up.
"Sore, it's just a sprain for now," Rizzo replied.
"For now?" OC shrugged.
"Doc said it might be broken and have to get X-rayed again when we get back home."
"And if it is?" Silky asked.
"Then I might be out for at least a month, maybe more and there's goes my roster spot."
"You don't know yet, man. Just hope for the best. Hang in there," Coxie said.
"Yeah, I know. Excuse me a minute," Rizzo said as he got up.
Meanwhile, as Peach got up from the log she was sitting on and started to head back to the hotel, Rizzo jogged over to her.
"Nance; Nancy, wait up!" Rizzo said.
As Peach heard Rizzo calling her name, she felt like ignoring him as she really didn't want to talk to him but finally stopped. As she turned around, "Hey, what cha doing out here? You should be resting."
"I know, but I felt cooped up. Just wanted to get some air and hang out for a bit."
"Well, as Doc said, make sure you get some rest and put it on ice again before you go to bed tonight for 20 minutes. Remember, RICE."
"Rice?" Rizzo shrugged.
"Rest, ice, compression and elevation," Peach supplemented.
"Oh yeah, he did mention that when we got back to the hotel. That reminds me, I forgot to ask him if I have to wear this splint when I go to bed tonight."
"I think Doc is still inside the lobby if you want to ask him. I saw him talking to Herb earlier. If not, I'm sure he's back in his room. You have a good night," Peach said as she started to head back to the hotel's back entrance.
"Umm Nance, wait a sec, can we go for a walk?" Rizzo asked.
"Actually, I was just about to go back to my room and call it a night," Peach replied.
"Please, it won't take that long."
Peach sighed but followed Rizzo to the side of the hotel where there was a little bridge over a small creek.
As Peach walked on the bridge and turned to face Rizzo, "Is this still about your wrist?" she asked.
"No, it's about me being a bull-headed idiot. I was out of line today. I shouldn't have –
"Mike, it's okay," Peach interrupted.
"How can you say that? I shouldn't have questioned your professionalism. You were just trying to help."
"It's no big deal. The most important thing is that you're going to be fine."
As Rizzo nodded his head, "You're something else, you know that?"
"What do you mean?" Peach shrugged.
"How you can be so forgiving when you're the one that brought me back?"
"Because I know you didn't mean it. Besides, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," Peach replied as she leaned towards him. "I don't take it personally," Peach whispered. "It's the first rule of thumb about this business." As Peach sighed, "Look, I know first hand how upsetting this can be Mike, but you're going to get through it."
"I know; it's not so much that." Rizzo hesitates as he looks down. "I'm scared, Nance. I'm scared of losing my roster spot."
As Peach patted his right arm, "I know and it's okay, but you have to stay positive. You'll be back on the ice before you know it."
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. You never take off that 'PT hat', do you?"
Peach chuckled, "Hat is always on."
"Then, do I have to wear this splint when I go to bed?" Rizzo asked again.
"Yes, it's the best possible time to do it. You want to keep it immobilized while you're sleeping. Just don't wear it 24/7."
"Yeah, I know that. Just hope it's still a sprain." Rizzo said.
"Mike, sprains can be just as bad, even worse depending on how severe the sprain is. I mean if the ligaments are completely torn, it can take several weeks or even months for it to heal."
"Yeah, I've heard it said before that it's better to just break it than tear the ligament."
"That's true, but try not to focus on this right now. We don't know what we're exactly up against yet. That's what Doc and I were trying to explain to you earlier today."
"I know; I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing. I should be the one who's sorry here."
"For what?"
As Peach sighed, "When you came into the treatment room, you looked very pale. Even though I told you to sit down, I – I shouldn't have turned my back on you." Peach looked down, "I'm sorry."
Rizzo lifted her chin with his right hand. "Hey Nance, stop – you can't blame yourself for that. You didn't know I was going to collapse."
As Peach nodded her head, "But when you went down, I thought the worst. I mean, you could've hit your head really hard on the chair or the floor causing a concussion. I thought we were going to lose you."
"Stop it, I'm not going anywhere." Rizzo paused. "Do you know what I remember?" Rizzo asked.
Peach nodded "no."
"You didn't panic. You could've gotten Gary or Doc but you stuck with me."
"Had to – seconds count."
"Exactly, which is why you shouldn't be beating yourself up over this."
"Yeah, well you're not the only one who's scared, Mike," Peach said as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Hey, it's okay," Rizzo said as he wiped her cheek.
Once again, Rizzo found himself drinking in her fresh scent as he looked down at her and caressed her cheek.
"Looks like my 'PT hat' is now off. Happy?"
"For now, yeah," Rizzo replied in a softer tone and continued to caress her left cheek with his right thumb and fingers.
The feel of Rizzo's fingers and thumb felt so electric to Peach's skin as she gently rubbed back with her left cheek. As Rizzo looked down at Peach, she gave him that sweet smile of hers that he loved to see.
Enamored with her smile, he leaned down and kissed her cheek at the left corner of her lips. As she kissed his cheek back, they quickly shifted and kissed on the lips. As their lips parted, Peach looked up to him as she had pressed on his left arm in the sling.
"Are you okay?" Peach asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Get back here," Rizzo ordered her gently.
They quickly kissed again a little deeper and longer this time as Peach twined her hands around his waist. As their lips parted again, Rizzo gave her a quick kiss.
"What have we done?" Peach asked.
"What we've both been feeling and fighting off for some time," Rizzo replied as he stroked her cheek.
"I know, but what do we do now?"
17. A Break?
**Thanks for all the continued reviews. Sorry, it has taken so long to update a new chapter. I lost internet access about a couple weeks ago, got it back and then lost it again. Then, I found out that I needed a new modem which took almost a week to get. Anyway, just a short update but will set-up for the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. :-)**
A Break?
A week later, the team was back home and played the Minnesota North Stars. They lost 4-2. Rizzo was on injured reserve until further notice from Doc. Rizzo was antsy to hear the results from his second X-ray that he just had done earlier that day, but Doc had not had a chance to speak with Rizzo. Both Doc and Peach were extremely busy with Gary out sick with the flu. As Peach headed towards the treatment room, Rizzo stopped her in the hallway.
"Hey Nance, got a sec?"
"Not really, sorry" Peach replied as she stopped outside the treatment room.
"Alright, could you at least tell me if you know the results of my X-ray? Is it a break?"
"Mike, I don't know. Look, why don't you wait in my office and I'll have Doc come see you as soon as we get caught up here. We're short staff tonight with Gary out sick. Okay?"
"Yeah I know, sorry."
"It's okay."
As Peach walked into the treatment room, Phil was being treated by Doc as he was injured during the game and lost some teeth.
"Hey Peachy, will you marry me?" Phil said with his toothless grin.
"How can I say 'no' to that smile?" Peach laughed. "Hey Doc."
"Miss Peach, how we doing?"
"Going crazy. Oh, by the way, could you stop by to see Rizzo in my office when you get a chance?"
"I don't know how much longer we're going to be here tonight. Tell him that I'll definitely talk to him tomorrow. I still need to talk to Herb anyway when I'm done here," Doc replied. "Phil, suck on the ice as needed. We'll talk to the dentist tomorrow."
"Thanks Doc," Phil replied and headed back to the locker room.
"Could you tell me whether or not it is a break at least?" Peach asked.
* * *
As Peach headed back to her office, Rizzo was leaning on her desk. As she opened the door, Rizzo jumped up.
"Well? What did he say?" Rizzo asked.
"Look, I can't stay long, but I'm just gonna pass on what Doc told me. He said he'll talk to you tomorrow in more detail," Peach replied as she closed the door.
"I can tell by your expression -- it's a break, isn't it?"
"Yes," Peach confirmed.
"Shit, I knew it." Rizzo nodded.
"Mike, it's not that bad. I mean at least it's not the scaphoid bone. If it was that, then you definitely be out much longer."
"Then what is it?"
"Bone chip of your radius where it connects to your wrist. Since it's a chip and not a complete break, it's not displaced which means no surgery, at least not now from what he's seeing with the X-ray."
"Okay, now what?"
"For tomorrow, Doc will take off the splint and have you fitted for a cast – 3 to 4 weeks."
"So, 3 to 4 and then I'm back on the ice?"
"He didn't say. You'll have to ask him that tomorrow. Look, I gotta get back."
"Oh, I know. Thanks for coming back."
"Sure, rest up and . . ."
"I know, RICE, RICE, RICE!" Mike snickered. "Listen, can I call you later tonight?"
"I don't know when I'll be back home. I know I'm going have paperwork coming out of my ears tonight."
"Yeah, I understand. Nance?"
"What, I gotta go!" Peach said as she started to open the door.
"I miss you."
"I miss you too," Peach winked.
* * *
Later that night, Peach finally made her way back home. It was past midnight when she finally sat down at her kitchen table to finish up her paperwork. About a half hour later, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Peach answered.
"Hey, it's me," Rizzo replied.
"Hey me, why aren't you resting?"
"Couldn't sleep. Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, I'm just finishing up some paperwork."
"Want me to call you back?"
"No, it's okay. What's up?"
"Look, I know it's late but I just had to talk to you."
"About your wrist? I told you everything I know."
"Not that."
"Then what?"
"You know what. What happened in Norway – was that a fluke?"
"No, why would you say that?"
"Since we got back home, we haven't had a chance to talk and now I'm starting to get the feeling you're purposely trying to avoid the conversation."
"Mike, where has your head been – underneath the ocean with the crabs?!"
"What?" Rizzo chuckled.
"How can you say that? I haven't had that much time to myself."
"Nance," Rizzo interrupted.
"By the way, get used to it, especially when we're on the road which will be a lot. You've seen the play schedule."
"Yo Nunzia, I hear ya! It's just that – I haven't stopped thinking about you since we got back."
Peach smiled to herself as she felt a warm feeling inside her.
"Nance?"
"I haven't stop thinking about you either, Mike. Umm, did you just call me Nunzia?"
"Yeah, it's your name in Italian."
"I know; my dad calls me that sometimes."
"And is that a good thing or bad?"
"It's good. I actually like it better than Nancy. It sounds nicer."
"Oh yeah, maybe I should call you that more often then."
"Mike –" Peach hesitates and then sighs.
"What, what is it?"
"We can't get involved like this. This has got catastrophe written all over it. If the coaches were to find out –"
"Look, I hear what you're saying and it's okay. That's why I've been thinking about a plan."
"Oh really, what plan?"
"You know, the team is off the day after tomorrow."
"You guys are; I'm not."
"You're not?"
"Mike, my work is never done. I got a staff meeting but will be home later in the afternoon."
"You wanna get together to discuss my plan?"
"What did you have in mind?"
18. House Rules & The Plan
**Author's Note: Some of the dialogue comes from the British sitcom, Fawlty Towers. Also, I got some ideas for this chapter from the movie, The American President. Thanks for the continued reviews! Enjoy!**
House Rules & The Plan
October, 1979
A couple days later, Rizzo came over to Peach's apartment. After Peach let him in, she gave him a quick kiss, sat back down on the couch and watched the opening credits from the TV show, Fawlty Towers.
As Rizzo sat down next to Peach on the sofa, "So about that plan –"
"No, first some house rules, which by the way, you just violated one of them – no talking during my show," Peach warned.
"What's this?"
"Fawlty Towers."
"Oh, I think one of my sisters watches this show – some silly little British comedy."
Peach gave Rizzo the glare, and he mouthed the word "okay" as he held up his hands in defense. In this episode, one of the inn's guests, Mrs. Richards, is partly deaf and blames everyone else for her misunderstandings.
At the first commercial break, Rizzo puts his arm around Peach. "You know that John Cleese is really not that funny," Rizzo said.
"Are you kidding me? He's hysterical! You ever see Monty Python's Flying Circus?!" Peach replied in disbelief.
"Yeah, that was a funny show but this isn't so much. I mean, look at that Mrs. Richards. If I was John Cleese's character – what's his name?"
"Basil."
"Okay, if I was Basil, I would walk in the kitchen, take a frying pan from his cook and then come back from behind her and then whack her on the head and maybe that'll help get her hearing back."
Peach giggled hysterically as she responded, "Meanwhile, Mrs. Richards dies instantly from head trauma and Polly, the maid, calls the police because you just committed murder and you go to prison for life. No more show."
"Great, I get the show cancelled due to my great acting. Hey, I'm smarter than I thought I was," Rizzo laughed as he got up and headed towards the bathroom.
"Ah, don't quit your day job," Peach scoffed. "Oh by the way, that reminds me, another house rule. Put the toilet seat down when you're done!"
"Yeah, I know about that drill all too well. I grew up with four sisters."
"Wow, four sisters?"
"Yep."
"And they actually let you live to adulthood, you frying pan killer?!"
"I put Michael Myers to shame," Rizzo laughed.
"Hardly," Peach retorted as she realized she was talking to him while he was partly naked in her bathroom. She visualized his masculinity and wished she was a fly on her bathroom wall right now as she went into a daze.
"Yo Nance, your show's back," Rizzo said as waved his right hand in her face.
"Huh, what?" Peach said as she jumped out of her daze.
"Where have you been, woman?"
"Oh, I guess I'm getting a little tired," Peach replied to save herself from what she was really just thinking now.
As he put his arm around her again, she rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to watch the show.
In this scene, Basil won 75 pounds from a bet he had made earlier in the day on a horse named Dragonfly but is hiding the money from his wife, Sybil since he does not want her to know he's gambling. When Sybil discovers it, Polly covers for him and tells Sybil it's her money.
"Polly, what was the name of the horse?" Sybil asked.
"The name?" Polly hesitated while looking at Basil.
Meanwhile, Basil standing behind Sybil illustrates the first part of the horse's name by doing an impression of a dragon by flapping his arms.
As Peach giggles, "That is supposed to be a dragon?" Rizzo replied nodding his head.
"Shhh!" Peach retorted.
"Bird brain. No, no, that came in third," Polly replied.
Since Polly was still not getting it, Basil now illustrates the word "fly" by pointing to his zipper of his pants. Polly thinks he's pointing to something else.
"Small," Polly replied.
"Oh my god!" Peach roared.
"Sick, another one-eye joke!" Rizzo sneered.
Meanwhile, Basil is pretending to blow fire like a dragon while pointing to his zipper.
"Priceless!" Peach fell to side of the couch holding her stomach while Rizzo rolled his eyes.
Basil continues to flap his arms and points to Sybil.
"No, no flying tart," Polly tries again. "No, no. I mean, it got off to a flying start and its name was Dragonfly."
"By George, I think she's got it!" Rizzo laughed as he gave Peach a quick peck on the cheek.
"Will you stop or leave?!" Peach warned again.
After the show was over, Peach got up to go to the kitchen. "Another classic episode."
"Come on Nance, how you can you stand that zany humor?" Rizzo replied.
"It was hysterical!"
"Yeah right. Basil describes Dragonfly by doing an impression that looks like he's – ugh, giving himself a BJ!"
"Ah John Cleese, gotta love him!" Peach giggled.
"Oh yeah, so you gonna leave me for him?"
"Well, I don't think his wife would like that too much. She's the maid by the way."
"He's married to the maid? I thought he was married to Sybil."
"No, he's married in real life to Connie Booth who plays Polly, although I think I heard they're divorced now."
"Ah, well that explains why she can call it small." Rizzo snickered.
"Oooh, now that is hitting below the belt there, Mike. So are you going to be a comedian now and quit hockey altogether?" Peach laughed as she brushed him with the kitchen towel.
Rizzo grabbed the towel that Peach was holding and pulled her on the couch next to him. "Nah, I think I'll take your advice earlier and not quit my day job."
"Wow, it's a miracle! You're going to actually listen to me for once?"
"Yeah, I'll make an exception," Rizzo replied as he pulled Peach closer and kissed her.
Peach kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their kiss grew deeper as their legs became intertwined and started to caress each other's backs. As their lips parted, Rizzo nuzzled her earlobe and kissed the side of her neck. As Peach gave a sweet giggle, Rizzo came back and captured her lips and she moaned softly in his mouth. Rizzo responded by gently moving Peach down on the couch as they continued to kiss and caress one another.
As their lips parted, "Don't you have some plan you wanted to discuss?" Peach asked as she rubbed his chest.
"Yeah, but that's never gonna happen you keep doing that," Rizzo chuckled as he nuzzled her nose.
"Oh sorry," Peach blushed as she put her hands down to her side.
"Don't be," Rizzo replied as he stroked her cheek. As Rizzo leaned down to kiss her again, a newsbreak came on the TV.
"Stay tuned for some highlights from Pope John Paul II's U.S. visit. See you at 11," the newscaster reported.
As Rizzo got up and looked at his watch, "Oh shit!"
"What time is it?" Peach asked.
"Nearly 10; I gotta get going soon."
"No kidding, your curfew is at 11. Herb will have your head and mine too. Maybe we should discuss your plan some other time," Peach suggested.
"Nah, it won't take that long. Just hear me out, okay?"
"Okay."
"Look, I know you're concerned because it is against the rules to get involved, but keep in mind that the bottom line is what happens on our time behind closed doors is nobody's business but ours."
"But what about–" Peach interrupted.
"Nance, allow me to finish," Rizzo put his finger to her lips.
"Okay, sorry."
"As long as we're private and discreet about it in public, I don't see how any of the coaches or staff can find out. Besides, there's no rule about hanging out with the players.
"True, but –"
As Rizzo put up his hand, "Since we're going to be on the road a lot, we're not going to be spending that much time alone anyway, not to mention Herb's grueling practices. Alright?"
"But what about the players?"
"I trust them with my life. They wouldn't say anything if they knew."
"Well maybe not intentionally, but it could come out as a joke in the locker room or at a team dinner and one of the coaches or staff might overhear it."
"Wouldn't happen. You know most of these players longer than I have, plus I know them well enough that they just wouldn't do it. Besides, Coxie already knows."
"He does?"
"I confided in him when we were in Europe."
"Still, the more people that know, the harder it will be to keep it quiet."
"Nance, don't worry about the players. I'll handle it."
"Alright, what about your rehab? We're going to be spending more time together with that."
"Already thought about that too. I can request Gary to work on me instead if that'll make it better for you."
"Nah, that's no good."
"Why not?"
"Because I know Gary better than you. If you request that he works on you, he's gonna want to know why and may figure out that something is going on between us. I can't lie to him. He knows me too well."
"Well, then we're going to have to be professionals about it and just do our jobs."
"So, your plan is we're only together when we're home?"
"Yeah and any other time when we're off."
Peach sighs as she nods her head.
"What, what is it?" Rizzo asked.
"Look, I – I know you want us to be together and I appreciate the effort you made to come up with this plan. But, if I was one of your teammates right now, I would tell you this is not the time to start up a new relationship especially with a staff member where it is against team policy. As my dad has often said, the truth always comes out eventually like a volcano waiting to erupt and when it does, lava city!"
"Nance," Rizzo tried to interrupt.
"Come on Mike, have you really thought about the consequences on what would happen if Herb were to find out?"
"Hello, have you been listening to me at all, woman?!"
"Another house rule - don't call me woman!" Peach countered.
"Okay Nunzia, better?"
"You like to joke at a time where you have everything at stake, don't you? You know you could lose your roster spot over this and I could lose my job."
"Well, do you have a better plan?"
"Yeah, just be friends. No policy against that," Peach replied as she looked down.
As Rizzo lifted her chin, "Look me in the eye and tell me if that's what you really want?"
"Mike, don't do this."
"Don't do what?"
"Don't seduce me with those puppy dogged brown eyes of yours!"
"What about yours? You seduce me every time you look at me," Rizzo chuckled.
Peach blushed and then smiled.
"Look, it's going to be okay," Rizzo said as he looked at his watch again. "It's twenty after 10, I gotta go. Just think about what I said tonight."
"I will. Now get home!"
Rizzo leaned down and kiss her quickly. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Good night, Mike."
As Peach shut the door and leaned on it, she knew that she was in big trouble and not just because it was against the rules. She was starting to fall for him and didn't know how to stop it.
19. Name That Flick
**Author's Note: Sorry the updates have been so slow lately. I'm still getting over a bad cold and just started to feel like myself again. Hope you enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing it.**
**Nicole – Glad you loved the last update. I loved that show too. It still makes me laugh hysterically!**
**LTJM – Glad you love Rizzo & Peach and that they're so cute together. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Name That Flick
A couple weeks later, the team just came home from another road trip and was continuing their winning record in October. Rizzo was still in a cast but had one more week to go before Doc removed it. Although not playing, Rizzo still did pre-workouts with the team before they hit the ice. After practice, the team had their monthly dinner with coaches and staff, except for Herb. They usually had it in the lounge area at the dorms but this month, Buzz and his wife, Gail offered to have it at their house.
Gary walked into the trainers' office as Peach was sitting at her desk working on her paperwork.
"Hey Peachy. Do me a favor?" Gary asked as he picked up his weekly reports from his desk.
"Sure, what's up?" Peach said.
"Can you hand my reports in to Craig when you're done?" Gary said as he placed his reports on her desk.
"Sure. Do you need a ride to Buzz's house?"
"I can't go. I passed on to David what I had a few weeks ago. I wanna get home."
"Oh no, tell him I hope he feels better."
"I will, thanks."
As Peach walked into Craig's office, she handed in Gary's and her reports.
"Hey, thanks Peach," Craig said.
"Sure. Listen, do you need a ride for tonight's dinner?" Peach asked.
"Actually, no but if I can follow you, that would be great. I have other plans afterwards."
"No problem."
* * *
When Peach and Craig arrived at Buzz's house, they walked into the kitchen and Peach was holding an apple pie.
"Hey Buzz!" Craig said.
"Hey Coach, Peachy!"
"Hey Buzz, how's it going?" Peach asked.
"Great, what's this? I told you not to bring anything," Buzz replied.
"I couldn't help myself. When I get invited to dinner, I always bring something," Peach offered.
"Thanks, that was really sweet of you," Gail said.
"Oh, no problem. Gail, do you need help with anything?" Peach asked.
"No, I have everything covered."
"Where is everybody?" Craig asked.
"In the living room. We decided to set up the dinner table there since we know we're all going to be glued to the set later on with the World Series." Gail replied.
"Oh yeah, Game 7. I can't believe that the Pirates came back to tie the series," Peach said.
"Yeah, me too," Craig replied.
During dinner, everyone was digging into the great meal that Buzz and Gail prepared. Peach and Rizzo were sitting across from each other but made little eye contact.
"So Peach, Rizzo, are we going to see a rematch on who can eat faster?" Craig snickered.
Rizzo laughed with his mouth full of food. "Nah, I think I'll savor the delicious food this time," Peach giggled.
"What's this about?" Gail asked.
"Oh, there was this contest on who could devour the most pizza and Peachy won," Phil explained.
"Way to go, Peach!" Gail exclaimed.
"Ah, wait a minute Phil, you seem to have left out the part that Peach and Gary cheated!" Rizzo pointed out.
"We did not cheat!" Peach retorted.
"You did too!" Rizzo chastised.
"There were no rules about talking or psyching the other one out. Right Craig?"
"Ah, I think I'm gonna keep up out of the line of fire this time," Craig replied.
"Gee, thanks a lot, Craig," Peach chuckled.
"Well, it sounds like to me that you got outsmarted by a woman and can't take it, Rizzo," Gail retorted.
"Oooh, good one, Gail!" Peach said.
"Come on Buzz!" Rizzo pleaded.
"Oh no, I'm not getting in the middle of this. I wanna sleep in my bed tonight, thank you very much!" Buzz replied.
"Good answer, honey," Gail said as she kissed Buzz.
"Come on, no lovey dovey stuff at the table!" OC scoffed as everyone else laughed.
"Well guys, I have a meeting to get to," Craig said.
"You can't hang out with us with a little longer? We're about to play "Name That Flick," Silky asked.
"Sorry I can't, but I'll see you guys in a couple days. Night guys," Craig replied.
"Night Coach!" the players yelled back.
"So how do you play Name That Flick?" Mac asked.
"Well, you pull out the piece of paper from the hat that will list a movie and you have to act out a scene from it. No giving clues beforehand. Whoever guesses correctly first, wins the chance to come up and act out the next scene by picking from the hat," Silky explained.
"Yeah, you can also use any props or co-stars to help you re-create the scene if you want," OC added.
"Whoever guesses the most answers correctly wins a case of beer," Buzz said.
"All right! Let's get to it!" Phil exclaimed.
"Buzz, since you are the host of the party, why don't you start it off?" Silky suggested.
"Okay, but I'm going to need my lovely wife. Hey Gail!"
"Hey, what's up?" Gail said as she came out of the kitchen.
"I need you to be my co-star."
"Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Just stand there and bend your left knee on the chair looking seductive."
"Okay," Gail giggled.
"Are you seducing me, Mrs. Robinson?" Buzz acted out.
"The Graduate!" Phil shouted. As he walked up to the front, he began singing, "And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Jesus loves you more than you will know, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Phil sang and hugged Gail.
"Alright, Phil! That's enough," Buzz said.
Phil reached in the hat to pick the next movie and thinks for a minute. "Hey Gail, do you have a straw I can use?"
"Sure," Gail replied. After Gail came back from the kitchen, she handed it to Phil.
"Thanks," Phil replied. "Okay, just so you know, this straw is supposed to be a cigarette."
As Phil starts to act out the scene, he bites the end of the straw while showing a stunned look on his face as he backs up.
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
"Jaws!" Rizzo replied.
"Alright Rizzo!" OC cheered.
"Oh, I hated that movie! Remember the green head coming out from the boat?" Gail asked.
"Yep, my raisinettes went all over the place in the theater! I was so scared that I couldn't go in my swimming pool for a whole summer," Peach replied.
"Peach, it's just a movie!" Coxie laughed.
"Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum," Rizzo teased as he came up from behind Peach and placed his cold hands on her neck and came around like he was going to bite her.
"Ah, he's turning cannibalistic! Get out of here! Your hands are cold!" Peach retorted as everyone was laughing.
"Okay, my turn," Rizzo said as he picked from the hat. "Ah, great flick!"
"Leave the gun, take the cannoli!" Rizzo acted out.
"The Godfather!" OC screamed back.
As OC picked from the hat, he smiled and looked at Peach. "Peachy, you need to help me with this one."
"Ah, sorry OC, if it means getting naked, forget it!" Peach replied.
As everyone laughed, "Come on Peach, be a sport. It won't; I promise," OC pleaded.
As OC showed her the name of the flick, "Great flick and so many classic lines to choose from," Peach said.
"Yep, I know. Go ask Gail for two cucumbers, one smaller than the other."
"Oh, you would have to pick that scene!" Peach countered.
When Peach returned with the two cucumbers, OC asked her to hold the smaller one.
"Okay, you know your lines?" OC asked.
"Yeah, I've seen this movie too many times. Lead it off," Peach said.
"Mine is bigger than that," OC acted out.
"I beg your pardon?" Peach replied.
"Oh, my cucumber is bigger," OC replied as he pointed to his cucumber. "Vegetables can be really sensuous, don't you think?"
"No, vegetables are sensual; people are sensuous."
"Right – sensual, that's what I meant. By the way, I'm Eric Stratton. People call me Otter."
"I'm Marion. People call me Mrs. Wormer."
"We have a Dean Wormer at Faber."
"What a coincidence, I have a husband, Dean Wormer at Faber. You still wanna show me your cucumber?"
"Animal House! My favorite flick!" Pav shouted back.
"Thank you, Mrs. Wormer," OC slyly smiled.
"No problem, Otter. What time is the toga party?" Peach giggled as they both sat back down.
As Pav picked from the hat, he only acted out two words. "GET OUT!" Pav said in a supernatural voice.
"Amityville Horror!" Peach responded. "Another scary flick that scared the hell out of me!"
"Then, why did you watch it?" OC asked.
"Oh, friends of mine wanted it to see it when it came out, so we went," Peach replied as she walked up to pick from the hat.
As she looked it at the piece of paper, she let out a huge laugh. "I have to say something here."
"No, you can't give any clues; act it out," Silky warned.
"It won't give too much away, but I have to say this, guys. If none of you can get this, then you deserve to be cut from the team!"
As the players laughed, "Duly noted, start acting!" Silky ordered.
"Okay, Gail, you wanna be my co-star?" Peach asked.
"Okay, what do I have to do?"
After a few minutes, the guys started to get impatient.
"Come on Peachy, while we're young!" Phil shouted.
"Shut up Philip!" Peach shouted back. "Okay, I think you should be him because you only have one line but you have to curse."
"No problem, Peach," Gail replied.
"Okay, gentlemen. Visualize in your minds, if you will, the Star Spangled Banner as we play out the scene," Peach instructed.
As Peach stands in front of Gail, they both stand looking up as Peach turns around to glare at Gail three times. By the third time, she glides over.
"I got my eyes on the three of you! Pull one thing, you're outta of this game! I run a clean game here. If I have any trouble, I'll suspend you!" Peach acted.
"I'M LISTENING TO THE F*CKIN' SONG!" Gail shouted back.
"Slapshot!" Jimmy responded as the rest of the guys were balling over with laughter and cheered the ladies for their performance.
"Great performance, Peach and Gail!" Rizzo said.
"Thanks," Peach replied as she high-fived him.
"Best supporting actress goes to my lovely wife!" Buzz said as he kissed Gail.
"Somebody wants it real bad tonight," OC mumbled to Mac under his breath.
As Mac laughed, "Oh, definitely."
After a few more rounds of Name That Flick were played, Peach decided to leave before the World Series started.
"Gail, Buzz, thanks for a lovely dinner. I'm gonna head out," Peach said.
"You're not going to watch the game with us?" Buzz asked.
"Nah, baseball is not really my game to watch, and I wanna get home and get some rest."
"Drive safely," Gail said as she gave her a hug.
"I will, night guys!"
"Night Peachy!" the players shouted back.
As Rizzo waved back, he smiled sweetly at her as Coxie looked on and raised his eyebrow at Rizzo.
Before the game started, Rizzo got up and called everyone's attention. "Listen up, I have something to share with you guys."
As the guys quieted down, "Is this about your wrist? When are you getting that thing off?" Silky asked.
"Hopefully, next week and no, it's not about my wrist," Rizzo replied.
"Oh man, Herb didn't cut you, did he?" Bah asked.
"Ah, if Herb cut him, he wouldn't be here, you stupid Conehead!" Phil yelled back.
"No, I did not get cut. This has nothing to do with the team guys."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Riz?" Coxie asked.
"I'm positive."
"Positive about what? What the hell is going on?" OC demanded.
20. Superman v Clark Kent
**Author's Note: Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here's the next update. Hope you enjoy!**
**Nicole – Glad you loved the classic movie lines. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**
**LTJM – Sorry for the cliffhanger, but you'll have an answer this chapter. Hope you enjoy.**
Superman v. Clark Kent
A couple hours later, Peach was watching TV when she heard a knock at her door. When she answered, Rizzo greeted her with a kiss.
"Hey, whatcha doing here?" Peach asked.
"Thought I could spend a little time with my girl, that okay?" Rizzo said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Yeah, I just figured you would want to hang out with rest of guys to watch the game."
"Nah, not really. Unless it's the Red Sox, I'm not that much interested in watching it."
"Well, good luck with that. My dad thinks it'll be a miracle if they ever make it back to the World Series."
"Yeah, I'm starting to believe that Bambino curse."
"Oh Mike, get real. No such thing as a curse. In the end, it's how you played the game."
"Well, you better not say that around my family; we're diehard fans."
As Peach laughed, "So can I get you a beer?"
"Nah, I'm okay. Whatcha watching?" Rizzo asked as he sat next to her on the couch.
"Soap. I love this show. Billy Crystal is hysterical as Jody. He's my favorite."
"Yeah, it's a funny show. I love Benson, their butler."
"Yeah, he's funny too," Peach laughed.
As Rizzo turned towards Peach, "Look, I told the team earlier and it's cool."
"Told the team what?"
"You know – that we're together."
"Why would you do that?!" Peach yelled back in disgust.
"Look, don't get upset. I just felt it was best thing to do right now," Rizzo said as he patted her on the shoulder to soothe her.
"First, don't tell me not to get upset because that gets me upset right off the bat. Secondly, where do you get off making a decision about us without letting me in on it?"
"Nance, it' okay."
"No, it's not! And you know what, it's doesn't make any sense as it contradicts what you said before."
"What are you talking about, contradicts what?" Rizzo shrugged.
"You told me that what happens on our time behind closed doors is nobody's business but ours. So why the hell would you tell the team if it's none of their business in the first place?" Peach contested.
"Nance, I just thought –"
"Well, you thought wrong, didn't you?!"
"Nance, calm down! It's okay; they don't care!"
As Peach nodded her head, "You just don't get it, do you? Of course, you don't. You're not a woman!"
As Rizzo rolled his eyes, "Oh chripe, here it comes – I am woman here me roar!"
"Oh, you're unbelievable! You have no idea how hard it is being a woman working in a man's world, especially in this profession, with treating men and then getting personally involved with one of them. Do you have any idea on how bad this makes me look to the rest of the team?!"
"Nance, I told you, they don't care!"
"That's not the point! It makes me look cheap and easy, not to mention a hypocrite for breaking team policy."
"Nance, I assure you, the players don't think of you that way. You've known most of these players longer than I have. We all respect you," Rizzo said as he started rub her shoulder.
"Nice try, no cigar!" Peach responded sarcastically.
"Do you have any idea that we throw mental darts at you during the pre-workouts?"
"What?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you that, but some of the guys complain if she makes us doing that exercise one more time, I'll kill her! Some of them call you 'Little Herb' behind your back."
As Peach chuckled, "Oh please, I'm far from Herb's training."
"Made you laugh," Rizzo replied as he elbowed her. "Look, I'm sorry. I should've talked to you about this first."
"It's not just that, Mike. There are other things that have been bothering me."
"Like what?"
"For starters, some days it's just so hard to put up a front when we're doing our jobs. I feel like you're Superman when we're alone and Clark Kent in public."
"Ah, don't worry Lois, I'll protect you!" Rizzo snorted.
"Will you stop cracking jokes about this?! This is not funny!"
As Rizzo puts his hands up in defense, "I'm not mocking you. Actually, I like your analogy and feel the same way."
As Peach laid back on the sofa with her arms crossed on her chest, "Now I fully understand why this policy was implemented in the first place. Not to mention, it goes against my own personal rule of thumb never to get involved with bosses or co-workers."
As she turned towards Rizzo, "Don't you see, Mike? I'm not only breaking the rules, but I'm going against my better judgment. That's why I feel like such a hypocrite right now," Peach sobbed.
As Rizzo reached over to put his arm around her, "Nancy, please stop beating yourself up over this. You are not a hypocrite, you hear me?" Rizzo pleaded as he wiped the tear rolling down her cheek. "Besides, it hurts me to see you this upset. I had no idea how much this was upsetting you and for that, I'm sorry. Trust me, that's the last thing that I would ever want to do is hurt you."
"I know, I know," Peach said as continued to wipe her tears.
"Look, I want you to know that I only told the team because I felt it would be easier for the both of us, so we could just be ourselves when you hang out with us, that's all. If being together hurts you this much, I'll back off and leave."
As Peach sighed, "But that's the problem Mike, I – I don't want you to leave. When all is said and done, I want you to stay. Sorry for acting like such a blubbering idiot."
As Rizzo kissed her forehead, "Stop apologizing. You were hurting and you needed to get it out. It's not good to keep something like this inside you. You want me to make you something – tea?"
"No, just hold me."
"Oh, you always have that."
"It just somehow makes me feel better that I'm not alone. I know, it sounds corny."
"Nah, I love holding you. And you're not alone, you hear me? No matter what happens, you're not alone."
As Rizzo wiped the last of her tears, he leaned down and kissed her. Peach quickly responded by deepening the kiss and rubbing his neck and shoulders. Just the feel of Rizzo's hands on her back calmed her instantly.
As she touched his cast, "Can't wait to get this thing off," Rizzo said between kisses.
"Well, suck it up now. You're going to hate me and Gary once we start the therapy and you'll really be calling me Little Herb," Peach giggled.
"Listen, do you have to be in the office tomorrow?"
"Nope, looking forward to sleeping late. Why?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe since we're off tomorrow, we could go out to dinner and a movie?"
"Hmmm, sounds like a date?"
"Well, we haven't been spending that much time together and I wanna make up to you."
"Mike, you don't have to make anything up to me."
"I want to, besides you know, we haven't been on a date yet."
"True."
"I'll call you tomorrow."
"Sounds good. What did you want to see?"
"We'll figure it out during dinner. Alright?"
"Okay."
As Rizzo looked at his watch, "Look, I gotta get back."
"I know; it's getting late."
As Rizzo gave her a quick hug and kiss goodbye, "Look, I'm glad we had this talk. Promise me, you'll always tell me when something is troubling you, okay?"
"Okay."
"If this relationship is going to work, it's gotta have honesty."
"Definitely."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Rizzo said as he kissed her good night one more time.
21. First Date
**Author's Note: Sorry, it has taken so long to put up this update. I had a relapse of the flu and am now just starting to feel like myself again. To make it up to you, this is a long chapter. Hope you enjoy!**
**Nicole – Glad you thought the last chapter was a tearjerker. Hope you like their first date.**
**LTJM – Glad you're continuing to love it. Hope you enjoy their first date.**
**Livenlaugh12 – Thank you for your review. I'm glad you're loving it so far. Hope you enjoy their first date.**
**Septembrisms – Great to see you reviewing again. Glad you think they're a cute couple. Hope you enjoy reading about their first date.**
First Date
The next day, Peach was looking at movie listings to see what was playing in the local theaters when her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey Nunzia!" Rizzo replied.
"Hey, I was just about to call you. I've been looking at some movie listings."
"Yeah, anything good?"
"Well, I see a couple of films that I would like to see -- Apocalypse Now."
"Cool, great film! I saw it with the guys back in August, but I don't mind seeing it again. What's the other film?"
"Breaking Away."
"Yeah, I heard of it but don't know what it's exactly about."
"It's about four best friends growing up in a college town that are bunch of outcasts to the local college students with one of them having a passion for bicycling and is obsessed with the Italian bike racers."
"Sounds good. It doesn't matter to me. Which one do you want to go to?"
"How about Breaking Away since you already seen the other one. It is playing as a matinee at 2:30. I figured we could see the movie first and then go to dinner afterwards?"
"That's fine with me. So where do you want to go to dinner?"
"Well, since I picked the movie, you can pick the restaurant."
"Okay, you like Chinese?"
"I love Chinese! Actually, I know the perfect place too if you don't mind."
"Cool, I'll pick you up around two?" Rizzo asked.
"Great, see you then," Peach replied.
As Peach hung up the phone, she went back into her bedroom with a bunch of clothes on her bed. "Now, what am I supposed to wear that'll look good?!" she thought to herself.
* * *
Rizzo picked up Peach and went to the local theater. Rizzo went up to the cashier and ordered two tickets for Breaking Away. As Peach pulled out her wallet, "What are you doing? Put it away!" Rizzo chastised.
"Well, I thought I pay for myself at least," Peach suggested.
"Nance, this is a date; I pay!"
"Then, I'll pay for dinner."
"Man, you really are liberated, aren't you?!" Rizzo laughed.
"Well, where I come from, always have enough money to pay for yourself."
"I see. Well where I come from, the guy pays for everything. So, do you want any popcorn?"
"No, I don't want spoil my dinner, but I'll take a Coke."
"Whatever happened to the elastic stomach you supposedly have?" Rizzo said as he walked up and placed his order.
"I love popcorn; it's just so dam addicting that if I have one, I'll end up eating the whole bag!"
As they sat down in the theater, it was not crowded as only a handful of people were sitting down and watching the opening credits. As the movie began, Peach felt Rizzo's fingers intertwine with hers. As she looked at him and smiled, he smiled back and winked at her. Then, they quickly turned back to watch the movie.
After the movie was over, they walked hand and hand towards Rizzo's car. He opened the car door for her. Peach directed him to a Chinese restaurant that took about a half hour to get there. Once they arrived, the restaurant was quiet as they were seated right away.
"Wow, this is a really nice place," Rizzo said.
"I know, it's a little out of the way, but I love this place! Michelle and I used to come here a lot to satisfy our Chinese cravings."
"Who's Michelle?"
"Oh, she's my best friend and roommate up until last May."
"Okay, I never heard you mention her before."
"I met her in junior high and she was the first friend I ever made once my family moved to Medford. We're been inseparable since then. We still keep in touch, but it's hard. She went back and got a job in Boston to be closer to her family. It's been hard not having her around anymore."
"Yeah, I know it's hard to be separated from family and friends. So, what was it like growing up as a teenager in Medford?"
"Great, it was a nice neighborhood and town to grow up."
"I remembered that you mentioned that your dad's job relocated your family there? What does he do?"
"My dad?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, umm -- he's a florist."
"A florist?" Rizzo shrugged.
"Yeah, you know people who work with flowers."
As Rizzo laughed, "Yeah, I – I know what a florist is, Nance. So what about your mom, what does she do?"
"She works part-time in an office and also volunteers by teaching catechism to third graders."
"Oh, that's nice. So, I never asked that much about your family. Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah, I have a younger brother, Frankie," Peach replied as she looked down to sip her drink.
"You guys get along?"
"Hell, no! He's a spoiled brat that gets away with everything!"
"Yeah, I have a younger brother too. He seems to get away with more than I did when I was his age."
After they placed their order, they continued to have light conversation about their families.
"So what about your family? Have you always lived in Winthrop?" Peach asked.
"Oh yeah, born and raised. My father grew up there too."
"And what does he do?"
"He does a lot. He works in a sewage treatment plant as a maintenance worker and as a waiter at Santarpios. He also works on the weekends sometimes as a welder.
"That's right, you did tell me once he worked at Santarpios. Wow, he does work a lot. When do you ever see him when you are home?"
"Yeah, he has sacrificed a lot but he never complains. As he's often said, he has got a wife and six kids to support."
"So, what's it like to growing up in a big family?"
"Crowded. Actually, the house I live in is a three-level apartment with three families on each floor. My aunt and uncle and cousins live on the first floor, my family lives on the second and another aunt and uncle live on the top floor."
"Wow, that's what I call All in the Family!" Peach laughed.
"Yep, it is! If I never liked what my mom was making for dinner, I can always go either upstairs or down and have dinner with them; no questions asked."
"That's certainly considerate. With my parents, it's eat what's put in front of you or starve!"
As they were eating their appetizers, "You have to try their dumplings, they're the best!" Peach offered.
As Rizzo took a bite, "Mmm…you're right, they're good!"
"So when did you start skating?" Peach asked.
"When I was six, I used to skate on a sand trap of a golf course in the winter time after the water froze up. Since I didn't have skates, I would wear my sister's white figure skates that had pom-poms on them."
"Awww…that is so precious," Peach giggled.
"What is so precious about that? With a macho sport like hockey, I was always the last kid picked to play by the other boys for wearing girl's figure skates!"
"I know, but I'm trying to picture you as a little boy wearing those white little figure skates with the pom-poms," Peach laughed even harder.
"Well, my parents refused to put out money unless I was serious, so my mom saved S&H green stamps for me so I could get my own pair."
"Was hockey your first passion?"
"No, actually baseball was. I also loved playing basketball and football too. I didn't start getting serious about hockey until I was 14."
"So you played throughout high school?"
"Yeah and afterwards, I went to Berwick Academy for a year to strengthen my skills even more."
"Then after Berwick, you went to BU?"
"Yeah, although I would've never guessed that I would end up going to college there."
"Why's that?"
"After Berwick, I still wasn't getting any offers from any Divisional 1 schools. I was actually looking into going to Merrimack until one summer, I was playing in a league. That's when I met Coach Jack Parker who offered me a scholarship to go to BU."
"Wow Mike, that's great."
"Yeah, I was lucky that he was there that day and had offered it to me," Rizzo said.
"No, that's not luck, that's destiny. You were meant to get that scholarship and play at BU. Besides, I've seen your college stats. I'm sure Coach Parker never regrets now giving you that scholarship."
Rizzo blushed as he reached for Peach's left hand and kissed it.
During dinner, they shared each other's portions of their dinner and continued to share some light conversation about the movie, Breaking Away.
"So what did you think of the movie?" Rizzo asked.
"I liked it, especially how the Cutters are like these underdogs and nobody takes them seriously which went to their advantage in the end."
"You think?"
"Oh yeah. I mean, in life, never count out the underdog. Always be wary of them because you never know what to expect," Peach explained as she opened up her fortune cookie.
"Absolutely. So what does your cookie say?" Rizzo asked.
"Sometimes travel to new places leads to great transformation," Peach read.
"Hmmm…interesting. I agree with that."
"What does your say?" Peach asked.
"You may be hungry soon . . . order takeout now!" Rizzo read as he started to laugh.
"Oh God, that's too funny."
"Not too mention, too scary. They know me too well. Wow, the things that merchants do to make you pay more money."
"Great marketing strategy, I think," Peach said as she reached for the bill that was placed by their waiter.
Rizzo slammed down on the bill and grabbed it before Peach had a chance to get it. "What are you doing? I told you that I would pay for dinner," Peach said.
"I know what you said. Doesn't mean it's gonna happen," Rizzo chuckled. "This is a date, you're not paying and is not subject to negotiation."
"Oh really?" Peach replied as she started to search for something in her purse.
"Nance, put your wallet away!" Rizzo chastised.
"Umm, I'm not searching for my wallet. Here," Peach said as she handed him a gift.
"What's this?" Rizzo shrugged.
"Well, somebody just had a birthday a few days ago."
"Yeah, I did. Nance, you didn't have to do this."
"Too bad; I did it anyway! Well, open it!"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, now open it! I hope you like it. When I saw it, I thought of you. It has something to do with your heritage."
As Rizzo opened up the gift, he looked at it and smiled. "An Italian horn. Nancy, this is beautiful."
"Oh good, you like it?"
"I love it! Thank you."
"They've been in style for a while."
"I know, I've been thinking about getting one."
"Well, now you have one."
"Come here," Rizzo said as he reached over the table and gave her a sweet pucker. "So when is your birthday?"
"Oh, it was last month."
"September what?"
"September 7th."
"I wish I would've known."
"Oh Mike, we weren't together then."
"So you're 25?"
"Yeah, I'm getting to be an old lady."
"And a cradle robber too! You got me beat by a month," Rizzo laughed.
"Dam proud of it!"
"Shall we Mrs. Robinson?" Rizzo laughed.
"Yes, Benjamin!" Peach replied as she took Rizzo's hand.
* * *
As they drove back into the driveway to Peach's apartment complex, Rizzo parked his car and turned off the engine.
"I had a great time today," Peach said.
"Me too."
"Did want to come in for a bit?"
"Nah, I should get back to the dorms. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"You're right. Well good night," Peach said as she opened the car door and got out.
"Hey, wait up! I'm gonna walk you back to your door," Rizzo said.
"Oh Mike, you don't have to do that!"
"Will you stop being so liberated and stubborn for once?! Reminds me the last time that I walked you back to your door," Rizzo said as they both walked up the steps together.
_* Flashback *_
_Rizzo dropped his hands to capture hers and pulled her right hand to his lips and kissed it. "Good night."_
_Even though it was a quick touch of his lips on her right hand, it aroused her again as it had earlier on the ride. _
_As she pulled her hand away, "Don't do that; save it for your girlfriend."_
"_What?" Mike shrugged and then turned away, "You're unbelievable!"_
* Back to the Present *
As Peach reached her front door, she turned to face him. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to react that way. It's just that – well, you caught me off guard when you kissed my hand. That's why I said 'save it for your girlfriend.' I just figured you were already taken. I mean, sweet guys like you usually are."
"Well, I am taken . . . now," Rizzo replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down and gave a nice long kiss good night.
22. Stuck At The Airport & Sacrifices
**Author's Note: My ideas for this chapter came from the movies, Miracle and Baby Boom. As some of you may tell, some of the dialogue was taken from Miracle. Also, just for your information, Julie is Gary's wife. As always, thanks for reading and your continued reviews. Glad you liked the first date. This is my last chapter for now, but there will be more chapters coming after the new year. Happy Holidays!**
Stuck At The Airport & Sacrifices
November, 1979
A few weeks later, the season continued, and Rizzo was back playing left wing. Although his cast was now off for a couple weeks, he was still wearing a splint for support when he was off the ice. On their way back home, it was pouring rain as their plane stopped on the runway at Thief River Falls. As Herb consulted with the pilot to find out what was going on, he nodded his head in frustration.
"Okay, everyone off the plane," Herb announced.
"Again? What did we hit now?!" Phil yelled back.
"We hit a light pole," Herb replied. "Come on, everybody off!"
As all the players groaned, they started to make a single file to get off the plane.
"Peachy, get up!" Gary demanded as he tapped her arm.
"Huh, what happened? Did we crash into something again?" Peach said still wearing her sleep mask.
"Yeah, we hit a light pole. Will you take off that sleep mask?!" Gary yelled.
"Only way to fly, I think," Peach replied as she took off her mask.
As everyone got off the plane, they ran into the airport lobby to avoid getting soaked. Herb appointed some of the players again to help the pilot push the plane back in the hangar. The pilot advised Herb that he would double check to make sure that there was no damage to the plane and would also check on the current weather conditions as to when the storm would pass.
Peach went to the ladies' room to freshen up. After she came back, she saw most of the players hanging out and talking. The Coneheads were playing their usual poker game with Janny and Rammer.
"Hey Janny, Rammer – Don't play with them. They're swindlers!" Peach warned.
"Peachy, are you still pissed about losing to me last week?" Pav asked.
"What do you think?! How could I lose to a four of a kind?"
"Easy, it's called a royal flush!" Bah snorted.
"Well, I find that was just too much of a coincidence that only one hand could beat me and then Pav got it! No way, it's a conspiracy!"
"Sore loser!" Pav laughed.
As she pointed to Janny and Rammer, "I'm telling you two, don't play with them. They're dealing cards under the table."
"Come on, Peach," Janny said.
"Yeah, lighten up," Rammer added.
"Lighten up? Umm, ever notice that one of these Coneheads always wins? Trust me, they split the proceeds after the game is over."
"Peach, give it up! We don't do anything of the sort," Buzz laughed.
After helping the pilot push the plane back in the hangar, Rizzo came in soaking wet along with OC, Silky, Mac and Coxie.
"Hey, what's going on?" Rizzo asked.
"Oh nothing, just warning Janny and Rammer not to play with these thieves! Look at you, you are a drenched rat! Go dry off," Peach ordered.
"I'm alright. Wait a minute, you played poker with these guys? I thought I told you not to do that!"
"I thought I told you to wear that splint when you're not playing! Put it back on and dry off before you catch pneumonia!" Peach yelled back.
"Ooooh, she told you, Rizzie. This is the part where you say, 'Yes, dear!'" Buzz whispered. The rest of the guys at the table busted out laughing.
Meanwhile, Herb was on the phone with Patti as he looked on at the TV highlights of the Soviet team beating the NHL All-Stars 6-0. He looked frustrated again as he thought to himself, "Somebody has gotta find a way to beat those guys."
* * *
Next day, the coaches and players were in the prep room where Herb showed film footage of the Soviet team.
As the players looked on, Bill Baker leaned towards OC. "These guys ever smile?"
"They're Russians; they get shot if they smile," OC replied.
"42 games in the last three months, 42 wins. Their main weapon is intimidation. They know they're going to win and so do their opponents," Herb advised.
As Herb shut off the movie projector, he walk to the front of the prep room and continued his lecture.
"Look, I can give you a load of crap about how you're a better team than they are, but that's exactly what it would be. Everyone is saying what our chances are. I know, you know. But I also know there is a way to stay with this team. You don't defend them. YOU ATTACK THEM! You take their game and you shove it back in their faces. The team that is finally willing to do this is the team that has a chance to put them down. NHL won't change their game; we will. Rest of the world is afraid of them. Boys, we won't be. No one has ever worked hard enough to skate with the Soviet team for an entire game. Gentlemen, we are going to work hard enough. Why? Because the legs feed the wolf."
Meanwhile when Herb was lecturing the players, Gary walked into the personal trainers' office as Peach bit into her breakfast.
"Hey Peachy, we need to talk," Gary advised.
"Sure, what's up?" Peach said with a mouth full of food.
"I had with a meeting with Herb and Craig earlier this morning." As Gary sat down across from her desk, "With the Olympics only three months away, the training will get more intense for the players, which means even harder for us to condition and treat them."
"I understand."
"No, I don't think you do. We're all training them for the Olympics, Nancy, not the NCAA Championship."
"Umm Gary, is there a problem with my work? Has a player complained?"
"No, nothing like that. I just want you to fully understand that it's on a much bigger scale this time around," Gary explained.
"Gary, having been an athlete who once trained for the Summer Olympics, I know first hand what it takes."
"As an athlete, I'm sure you did. But this is a whole different ball game. You're a trainer and therapist now. Your total commitment to this team is needed now more than ever, especially with Herb's new training methods. I just wanna make sure you're on board."
As Peach nodded her head, "Wait a minute, you're questioning my commitment? I've been 'on board' since day one when you offered me the job back in May."
As Gary leaned in towards her, "I'm not questioning your commitment, Peach. I just want you to understand the sacrifices you are going to have to make within the next few months. You can't have it all right now, kiddo."
"What do you mean, 'have it all'?" Peach shrugged as she sipped her coffee.
As Gary leaned in, "No time for a social life," Gary supplemented.
Peach yelped as she spilled her coffee.
"Are you okay?" Gary asked.
"Yeah, I'm – I'm fine. How did my social life all of a sudden become an issue?" Peach asked as she wiped her hand off.
As Gary folded his hands, "It's not an issue, at least not yet. Look, I just don't wanna see struggle like you did last year with what's his name, especially when we were on the road."
As Peach thought to herself, "I can't believe he's brought up my past relationship!"
As Peach sighed, "Look Gary, you're my boss and friend, but with all due respect, my social life is none of your business."
As Gary nodded his head, "It's not about what you think is any of my business. It's about life in the fast lane which consist of what I said earlier: commitment, sacrifice and not having a social life, at least for now. Take me for instance – don't you think it kills me when I can't see my boys everyday? Julie has sacrificed a lot for me so I can do my job. So if you're going to continue to survive in this business, you better make dam sure what will be expected of you. Are catching my gist now?"
As Peach stood up, "Yeah, I caught it earlier and have no problem with any of it. Oh, by the way, his name was Alex, and we broke up last year."
Meanwhile, as Rizzo poked his head into the office, "Umm excuse me, am I interrupting something?"
"No, we're done here, right Gar?" Peach asked.
"Yep, what's up Rizzo?" Gary replied.
"Well, the guys are heading into the workout room," Rizzo replied.
"We'll be right there," Gary replied. "Time to get back to work."
"After you," Peach said as she held the door for Gary.
23. Thanksgiving
**Author's Note: Happy New Year everyone! I changed the rating to M for this chapter. My ideas for this chapter come from the movie, Stripes and Star Trek original TV series.**
**Also, there is a reference to a term, "license plate game." This is a term that I used to refer to when the U.S. government implemented a regulation back in the late 1970's with the gas crisis going on at the time. Drivers could only get gas depending on the date and the last digit of their license plate. I will always know my dad's license plate number because of this. It ended in "0" so he had to get it on even dates. I always remember him asking me what date it was, so he knew whether or not he could get gas. Hope you enjoy!**
Thanksgiving
A few weeks later, there was a brief break from the season as players, coaches and staff celebrated Thanksgiving with family or friends. While some of the players went back home, others were invited to spend it at Doc's house. Peach was spending Thanksgiving with Gary and his family later in the afternoon.
Peach was still drying her hair with a towel after having taken a shower. She turned on the TV to watch the first NFL Thanksgiving game, Lions vs. Bears, when she heard a knock at the door. As she looked through her peephole, she smiled and opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" Peach asked.
"I thought I surprise you," Rizzo replied as he gave her a hug and quick kiss.
"You're cold, get in here!" Peach ordered. "I thought you and some of the guys were going over to Doc's house."
"We are later on but since you're going over to Gary's, I thought I come over to see you first," Rizzo replied as he took off his coat. He had on a flannel shirt over a t-shirt and jeans.
"You want something to drink?" Peach offered.
"Nah, I'm alright. So who do you think will win – Lions or Bears?"
"Probably the Bears. Lions aren't doing well at all this season," Peach said as she sat down on the couch and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Neck bothering you," Rizzo asked as he sat down beside her.
"It's a little stiff."
"Here," Rizzo said as he reached his hands over to massage her neck.
"Mike, if you're going massage my neck, you have to go harder than that," Peach giggled.
"Okay, how's this?" Rizzo replied as he continued to massage a little harder.
As Peach continued to giggle, "You know, you would never make it as a PT."
"Well, I'm glad that I chose to play hockey then."
"Even for a hockey player, your hands are way too soft. What do you use, Palmolive dish detergent?" Peach laughed.
"Alright, that's it!" Rizzo chided as he placed his left hand on her right thigh and gripped it hard. "How's that, hard enough?!"
"Ah stop, that tickles!" Peach laughed.
"Oh, so you want me to go harder, okay!" Rizzo snickered.
"NO! Stop, I can't take it; it hurts!"
"Ah, what's the matter, Peachy, you don't like my version of the Vulcan death grip?!"
"Stop it Rizzo, I mean it!" Peach yelled as she lied back on the couch.
As Rizzo leaned over her, "Who's your buddy? Who's your friend? I'm your buddy, aren't I?!"
"No, I hate you! You're evil!" Peach gasped. "Will you stop this torture?!"
"Then say, 'Mike, you're the master!'"
"Never!"
"Oh, so you want me to do it forever; no problemo!"
"Okay, I give up! Mike, you're the master! NOW LET GO!"
Rizzo finally let go of her right thigh, and Peach continued to lie on her back while holding it. "You are cruel; I can't believe you did that!"
"So have you learned your lesson yet?" Rizzo smirked.
"Yeah, yeah. Never tell your boyfriend that his hands are too soft when he knows how to give the Vulcan grip."
"Ah, very true but generally, never tell a guy his hands are too soft, especially if he is a hockey player who knows the Vulcan grip," Rizzo chuckled as he reached for her right hand to help her up.
"No, don't touch me!" Peach said as she pushed his hand away and sat up on the couch again.
"Come on, don't be that way, woman."
"You know, if you gonna keep violating the house rules by calling me 'woman', you can leave. Speaking of the rules, no more Vulcan grip here or anywhere."
"Nance, come on. Are we gonna fight on Thanksgiving?" Rizzo asked as he pretended to pout.
"Don't butter me up with those puppy dog brown eyes!"
"Oh, is that another house rule?"
As Peach glared at him, "Okay truce. No more Vulcan grips and no more comments about my so-called soft hands. Sound good?" Rizzo offered.
"Well, they are soft," Peach smiled.
As Rizzo started to move his left hand near her right thigh again, "Okay, okay. They're not soft. They're hard and rough. Better?" Peach supplemented as she started to massage her neck once again.
"Come here," Rizzo said.
"What?"
"Teach me to massage your neck, Miss PT."
"Okay, just take the palm of your hand and rub your thumb right here. That's where I'm aching now," Peach replied as she placed his hand on the right side of her neck.
"What did you do?" Rizzo asked.
"I think I positioned my head the wrong way on the pillow. I toss and turn a lot; I'm a light sleeper," Peach explained as she focused on the football game again. "I can't believe the Lions are shutting out the Bears."
"Yeah, me too. Here, move in front of me so I can get a better angle," Rizzo said.
As Peach moved in front of him, Rizzo continued to massage the right side of her neck. "Ow, right there."
"Yeah, I can feel the tension."
"Yeah, just keep doing that. I need help working this kink out."
After a few more minutes, Rizzo could feel Peach relaxing. "Does that feel any better?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, feels a little better," Peach replied as she moved her neck to the left and then to the right and finally heard a snap. "Oh great, finally!"
"Oooh, that sounded good," Rizzo said as he massaged her neck again, caressed her shoulders and then dropped them down to her hands.
"I guess I better be careful; you might take over my job now," Peach giggled.
"Not a chance, I think I'll stick to what I know," Rizzo replied as he nuzzled her left earlobe and then pulled up her left wrist to kiss her pulse point.
Peach responded by turning her neck to the left and reached up to kiss him. While caressing his cheek with her left hand, their kiss deepened. As Peach moaned in his mouth, Rizzo caressed her shoulders. Peach could start to feel Rizzo's masculinity becoming more prominent as she gently rubbed her butt.
As their lips parted, Rizzo groaned and kissed her neck and shoulder tenderly. Peach reached up and rubbed the back of her neck.
"You alright?" Rizzo asked as he dropped his hands to her side.
"Yeah, I shouldn't be positioning my neck like this."
"Come here," Rizzo said as motioned her to face him entirely.
Once Peach turned around, she straddled him and put her hands behind his neck. They quickly found each other's lips again. Rizzo put his arms around her waist and rubbed his hands up and down her back. When Rizzo released her lips from his, he kissed the side of her neck under her earlobe that he knew always made her giggle.
Peach recaptured his lips and rubbed her hands on his chest. As Rizzo moaned in her mouth, he lowered his hands to her derrière and caressed it. Peach responded by putting her fingers through his hair. Rizzo brought his hands to his already unbuttoned flannel shirt and started to take it off but Peach helped him.
"I want that flannel shirt," Peach pouted.
"Oh yeah, get your own!" Rizzo chuckled as he recaptured her lips and went back to caressing her lower back and hips. Rizzo moved his hands inside the back of her sweater and searched for her clasp to unfasten her bra.
As Peach giggled, "It's in the front." Rizzo lifted her arms and gently pulled off her sweater over her head.
"You're so beautiful," Rizzo whispered as he caressed her left cheek.
"You make me feel beautiful," Peach replied as she guided his arms up to take off his blue t-shirt that exposed his hairy chest. It wasn't a short shag rug; just a nice dusting that Peach loved as she raked her fingernails through his chest hairs.
As Rizzo recaptured her lips, the phone was ringing.
The phone was ringing.
The phone was ringing.
"Nance, it's your phone," Rizzo said between kisses.
"Somebody has got rotten timing," Peach groaned.
"Could be your family; you should answer it," Rizzo said.
"Nah, I spoke with my mom and dad earlier this morning."
It rang a couple more times before Peach got up and answered the phone.
"Hello!" Peach answered curtly.
"Umm, Nancy, it's Julie."
"Hey Jule, how are you?"
"Umm, not so good. I need a huge favor from you," Julie asked.
"What's the matter?"
"Could you pick up some dinner rolls before you come over?"
"Sure, no problem. What happened?"
"Gary tried helping to cook again and burnt the rolls."
"Oh no!" Peach nodded her head.
"Oh yes! You think after the sausage incident, he would've stayed away from the kitchen!" Julie griped. Peach laughed.
"Do you mind?" Julie asked.
"No, it's no problem. Do you want me to come over sooner to help you out?" Peach offered.
"No, that's okay. I just can't leave the kitchen right now, and Gary is outside with the boys."
"Okay, I'll see you at 4."
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!"
"No problem; bye."
Peach walked back to the couch where Rizzo was still sitting who had put back on both his shirts.
"That was Julie."
"Julie?" Rizzo shrugged.
"Gary's wife," Peach supplemented.
"Oh, that's right. What happened?"
"Oh, Gary tried to help cooking again and burnt the rolls, so she asked me to pick up some more before I go over."
"Sounds like a funny couple." Rizzo chuckled.
"Oh, they're a barrel of laughs," Peach said as she leaned down and put back on her sweater. "Sorry about that," Peach apologized.
"Nance, it's okay," Rizzo reassured. "You know, I gotta pick up the guys anyway before we head over to Doc's house."
"Okay, let me get your coat."
"Wait a minute, I don't have to leave right this second. Besides, I wanna ask you something," Rizzo said as he took her left hand to sit down.
"Sure, what?" Peach said as she sat back down on the couch.
"Have you made any travel plans yet to go back home for the holidays next month?"
"No, not yet. I'm probably gonna look into taking a chartered bus back to Boston as I hate flying. Why?"
"Well, I'm gonna drive back with Jimmy. Why don't you come with us?"
"Mike, are you crazy?! You're gonna drive back to Boston with the way gas prices are right now, not to mention only getting it every other day with the license plate game."
"Yeah, I know. It's crazy, but there's a reason why I'm driving back home and I want you to keep it between us."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Look, I'm doing this for Jimmy. His family is having tough times right now financially. His dad took out a second mortgage just so he could keep Jimmy's amateur status to maintain his Olympic eligibility. It was always his mother's dream for him to play on this team. That's why he is now living at Doc's house."
Peach reached over and kissed him. "What was that for?"
"You're a good friend and captain. You look out for your team and help them out anyway you can," Peach replied. "So, is OC and Silky coming too?" Peach asked.
"Nah, they already chose to fly home, so there will be plenty of room in my car. Look, it'll be okay. We'll have enough gas to survive the license plate game. Anyway, I was thinking that once we're back home, we could spend more time together before we head back before New Year's. Just think about it, will you?"
"Alright, I'll go under one condition."
"What's that?" Rizzo asked.
"You let me contribute to the gas."
"Of course, I won't," Rizzo snickered.
"Mike!" Peach protested.
"Okay," Rizzo gave in and leaned over to kiss her twice. "I loved taking the next step with you," Rizzo said as he stroked her left cheek.
"Me too," Peach kissed him again and nuzzled his nose.
"I'll call you later tonight, okay?" Rizzo said as he got up and put on his coat.
"Okay," Peach smiled as Rizzo leaned down more time to kiss her goodbye.
After Rizzo left, Peach went to use the bathroom. As she pulled down her panties, she felt embarrassed as she noticed a little wetness. So, she stripped out of her clothes and took another shower before she headed out.
24. Later That Day
**Author's Note: Sorry the updates have been slow lately. Hope you enjoy this update. FYI, there is an Italian word, "asinos" which means asses. Before I forget, with another Winter Olympics upon us, I wanted to extend my best wishes to Coach Mark Johnson and his team, the U.S. Olympic Women's Hockey Team and to all the USA athletes. GO TEAM USA!**
**LTJM: Glad you're still loving Rizzo and Peach. That means a lot to me. You're right, Rizzo is a good friend. **
Later That Day
While Rizzo was at Peach's apartment, Coxie, Silky, Mark Johnson and Bob Suter were hanging out in the dorm lounge watching the football game.
"Man, I can't believe the Lions are disgracing the Bears," Mark said as he shook his head.
"Yeah, I know. Another favorite is biting the dust," Bob chuckled.
As OC walked in, "Hey, Rizzo back yet?"
"Nah, he should be back soon though," Silky said as he looked at his watch.
"Well, I wish he would hurry up; I'm getting hungry," OC whined.
"I wish he would've just stayed here," Coxie added.
"Well, you can't blame the guy wanting to spend time with his girl," Silky explained.
Coxie sighed nodding his head "no" with his arms folded to his chest. "If you say so."
"What's that mean?" Silky asked.
"Just that I hope he knows what he's doing," Coxie replied.
"Don't worry about it, Coxie. He knows what he's doing," OC snickered as he raised his eyebrows and Silky and Bob laughed while Mark just shook his head.
"Will you knock off the innuendos for once?" Coxie retorted.
"Hardly," OC replied as Silky and Bob laughed again.
"OC, I'm trying to be serious here," Coxie pleaded.
"OC – serious? Do those two words actually belong in the same sentence?" Mark joshed.
"Yeah, it's like putting a bull in a china shop," Bob added as the rest of the guys laughed.
"Oooh, good one Cheeseheads!" OC scoffed.
"Come on guys, I mean aren't you concerned in the least about them seeing each other?" Coxie asked.
"Hey, as long as he ain't seeing Denise, I'm thrilled!" OC pointed out.
"Man, you really disliked her, didn't you?" Mark asked.
"It's not a question of dislike; it's a question of . . . Why?" OC replied as he held his hands out while Silky laughed again holding his stomach.
"OC, how can you be so crude?" Coxie said as he shook his head.
"Look Coxie, we've known Rizzo longer than you and remember how he was back then at BU. You know, I can remember as early as my freshman year that Rizzo and Denise would never stay that long at frat parties or even parties after the games," Silky explained.
"Yep, we used to have a pool on how long they would stay, remember?" OC laughed as Coxie rolled his eyes.
As Silky chuckled, "Yeah, I almost forgot about that. Anyway, the point is that I remember the frustrated look on Rizzo's face because you could tell he wanted to stay and party with us. Even though he would try to reason with her and say 'Nise, we just got here! Let's stay awhile,' Rizzo would always give in to her and then they leave."
"Sounds like Denise had Rizzo on a short leash," Bob said.
"More like a choke collar," OC supplemented. "That's why I knew early on that their relationship was doomed. It was always her way or the highway," OC further explained.
"Yep, and that's exactly what happened back in June when she finally gave him the ultimatum: come back home and be a gym teacher or else we're over," Silky agreed.
"Whoa, that's downright cold," Mark said as he shook his head.
"Well guys, I can fully understand his past relationship more now, but it's his present one that I'm still concerned with," Coxie said.
"Look, I get the point you're making here, Coxie, but you know, I think Peach is a good fit for him. I mean, it's the happiest I've ever seen Rizzo since I've known him."
"Definitely," OC agreed.
"So you two weren't surprised when Rizzo told the whole team about them being together back at Buzzy's house?" Coxie asked OC and Silky.
Both OC and Silky laughed.
"Oh we knew, although he never said anything to us, but that's just the way Rizzo is. He's always been private about his relationships. I mean, he didn't really share that much when he was with Denise, at least not anything noteworthy," Silky explained.
As OC snickered, "True. Besides, how could you not tell when we all hung out together? As early as August, I could tell he was digging her."
"Yeah, I know. I picked up on it, too. That's the point that I'm really concerned about here: if we can pick up on it, how long do you think it will be before the coaches will catch on?"
"I don't see that ever being an issue, Coxie. Peach and Rizzo aren't really around each other that much when the coaches are around and when they are, they've kept it discreet," Silky replied.
"Yeah, I've noticed that Peach treats Rizzo like she does the rest of us even when she's just hanging out with us," Mark agreed.
"Quit worrying about it, Coxie. Now, if she were with me, then . . ." OC started.
"If she were with you, I would never have access to my room!" Silky yelled back.
"Yeah, with your jockstrap always hanging on the doorknob!" Mark added.
"Go Magic!" Bob cheered as he high-fived him.
As they all started laughing, Rizzo walked in the dorm lounge.
"Hey guys . . . Guys?!" As Rizzo whistled loudly, "A-OH!"
"Hey Rizzo!" Silky jumped.
"About time, Mother! We're starving!" OC whined.
"Well then, let's get off your _asinos_ and move then," Rizzo said. "So what was so funny?"
"Tell him Coxie!" OC said as he patted him on the shoulder.
The rest of the guys laughed while they all finally left for Doc's house.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Peach finally arrived at Gary and Julie's house carrying the chocolate crème pie and dinner rolls she had just picked up. As Peach walked in their door, she greeted Gary's kids.
"Hey guys!" Peach said.
"Aunty Peachy!" David and Paul yelled as they ran to greet her at the front door.
"You keep getting bigger and bigger every time I see you two," Peach said she hugged them both and then took off her coat.
"Hey Peach, what do you got there?" Gary asked as he gave her a quick hug and took her coat.
"Your favorite dessert and more dinner rolls."
"Oh thanks!" Gary smiled awkwardly.
"No problem, just stay away from the kitchen from now on! So where's Jule?" Peach asked.
"She's still in the kitchen," Gary replied.
"Let me go in and see if she needs help with anything," Peach said.
As Peach opened up the kitchen door, "Hey Jule!"
"Nance, you made it! Thanks for coming!" Julie replied.
"Thanks for having me. Here are the dinner rolls and dessert."
"Thanks, I really appreciate this. Let's put the pie in the fridge for now. Could you help with getting the dinner rolls ready?"
"Sure, no problem. So you know what I don't get?" Peach asked as she started to grease the baking sheet.
"What?" Julie shrugged.
"Why on earth would Gary cook the rolls so soon?! That's the last thing you cook for any dinner."
"I know, but the boys love the rolls so much that Gary decided to cook them as appetizers while I was out earlier running some errands."
As Peach laughed, "Well, I just told Gary to stay away from the kitchen."
"Yeah, well let's see how long that will last. So, how have you been?"
"Okay, very busy as you know."
"Well, you look great."
"Thanks," Peach smiled.
"Look, I'll be right back," Julie advised.
"Okay, do you want me to put the rolls in the oven?"
"No, we'll do that in about five minutes. Turkey should be ready by then."
As Peach was finishing putting all the rolls on the baking sheet, she smiled as she mused about being with Rizzo earlier this afternoon.
About five minutes later, Julie came back in the kitchen.
"Hey Nance, you wanna put those rolls on the top rack for me?" Julie asked as she pulled out the turkey and placed on top of the stove.
When Peach didn't respond, "Umm, Nancy? Hello?!"
As Peach jumped, "Oh, sorry."
"Welcome back from La-La land. Where were you?" Julie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, just deep in thought," Peach replied sheepishly.
"Well, whatever you were thinking, it must've been good."
During dinner, Gary decided to lighten up the mood by telling silly jokes. Peach kept giggling along with the boys as she twisted her hair. Once dinner was over, the boys asked to be excused to play their video game, Pong.
"Well, that'll keep 'em busy until bedtime," Julie said as she took a sip of wine.
"Yeah, they're like zombies when they play it," Gary added.
"That is really cool how they can play a video game on the TV. What will they think of next?" Peach said.
"Yeah, it's made by Atari," Gary replied.
"Well Jule, as always, everything was delicious," Peach complimented.
"Thanks, Nance. Be sure to get seconds. I got plenty," Julie replied.
"Yeah, we sure could use your elastic stomach to get rid of all this food," Gary chuckled.
"Sorry, I'm stuffed," Peach said holding her stomach.
"Stuffed? You're not going to have any dessert?" Gary asked.
"Gar, I couldn't eat another bite but will take home some leftovers."
"Great, I'll pack you a doggie bag before you go," Julie said.
"Thanks. Here let me help you clean up," Peach offered.
An hour later, Peach gave hugs out to everyone and headed home. As Julie put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher, Gary came in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"What's that for?" Julie shrugged.
"For a great meal, burning the rolls, doing everything you do for the boys," Gary said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"And?"
"And . . . I love you," Gary added.
"I love you, too. And?"
"And what? I already said I'm sorry about the rolls! How much more do I have to add?"
"Maybe one more," Julie winked.
"Mmmm, sounds good to me."
"Good, now tell the boys to get ready for bed," Julie said as she released his embrace.
"They're already upstairs brushing their teeth," Gary said as he pulled out the pie from the fridge.
"Gary, you're going to finish that now?"
"Well, since Peach didn't take it, mind as well."
"You know, did you find it odd that she didn't have any dessert and had no second helpings? That's not like her."
"Yeah well, maybe she's on a diet," Gary said as he grabbed a fork from the drawer.
"Ah, Nance doesn't need to be a diet. She's thin enough."
"Well, I don't know, maybe she just overate."
"Um, aren't you the one who said that she has a tapeworm in her stomach? Something is up with her."
"Jule, you read into stuff too much."
"Ah, I don't think so. Earlier before dinner when she was preparing the rolls, I came back into the kitchen and she was in a daze."
"You know how hectic the game schedule has been. Maybe she was just tired."
"No, she looked like she was daydreaming about something or someone," Julie smiled.
"Jule, what are you getting at?"
As Julie rolled her eyes, "Isn't it obvious? She's daydreaming and smiling, not eating that much anymore, not to mention laughing at your stupid jokes while twisting her hair during dinner."
"They're not stupid!"
"Puhleeze, your Prince Albert in a can joke has gotta go! Besides, Nance never laughs at your jokes."
"The kids laughed," Gary replied as he bit into the pie.
"They're your kids!"
"Hon, trust me, you're making way too much of this."
"Well, call it women's intuition as we sense these things that men can't see."
"Oh really, what do you see in your crystal ball?"
"Ha-ha, you're so funny. I'm telling ya – I think she's seeing somebody."
"Believe me, she's not," Gary chuckled.
"Oh yeah, how do you know? Did she say anything?"
"Just that she broke up with 'what's his name' last year."
"Yeah Alex, I remember him. Maybe they're back together now."
"No, they're not. Look Jule, I already had the "sacrifice" talk with her a few weeks ago. Trust me, she's not with Alex or any other guy."
"What do you mean 'the sacrifice talk?'"
"You know, I told her about the sacrifices and commitment that will be expected of her as the Olympics draws closer and how tougher the game schedule was going to get along with Herb's grueling practices. So, there's no time for a social life."
"You told her that!"
"It's the nature of the business. This is the big time, Jule. This is the Olympics. Believe your silly intuition, but Peachy doesn't have time for a love life right now even if she did meet someone."
"I still say you're wrong."
"Okay then, can we just agree to disagree," Gary desperately replied sensing no fun later.
"Relax, will you? Let's go tuck in the boys."
As Gary followed Julie out of the kitchen, he looked up to the ceiling and mouthed the words, "Thank you!"
25. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
**Author's Note: Sorry, it has been so long since I've posted. I haven't forgotten about this story. I'm just starting to feel like myself again as I have been ill the past few weeks. Moving forward, I promise that you won't have to wait too long for the next update. Today is the start of the Winter Olympics. I can't wait to see the Opening Ceremony tonight! GO TEAM USA!**
**LTJM & Nicole – Thanks for you continued reviews. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
December, 1979
The team arrived in Cambridge the day before their game against Harvard. Later this evening, the team's monthly dinner was being held at Rizzo's house. His family had been busy planning all week for the team's arrival. After the team had checked in, Rizzo left the hotel to help out his family move some furniture to make room for everyone.
Meanwhile, Silky and OC were playing poker with the Coneheads in the lounge of the main lobby. Peach walked out of the elevator heading towards the hotel's bar and restaurant.
"Shit, I'm out!" OC said in frustration as he folded and threw down his cards.
"Too bad," Pav mocked.
"Ah, go bite the ice!" OC scoffed as he got up. "Hey Peachy!"
"Hey OC, Silky," Peach smiled.
"Hey Peach," Silky replied.
"What, no hello for us?" Pav smirked.
"Oh sorry. Hey Swindlers!" Peach retorted as the Coneheads laughed.
As Peach and OC walked away, "Will you stop playing with those thieves?" Peach advised.
"Don't worry about it, Peachy. So were you off to – the bar?" OC asked.
"Yeah. Actually, I was going to get some takeout."
"Mind if I come with? I could use a beer right about now."
"Yeah, I don't care."
As Peach and OC sat up at the bar, they ordered drinks. Peach asked the bartender for a menu.
"So have you seen Rizzo?" Peach asked nervously.
"Yeah, he's just walked in."
As Peach turned her head toward the entrance, OC snickered. "Made you look!"
"Yeah, I guess I'm a sucker to fall for that one."
"His cousin Tony already picked him up earlier."
"Oh, okay," Peach breathed a sigh of relief.
"So you wanna do some shots while we wait?"
"Jack, you're incredible!" Peach gasped as she rolled her eyes.
"Who told?!" Jack smirked.
As Peach nodded her head, "You got the team dinner tonight plus a game tomorrow." She motioned for the bartender.
"It's just a shot; that's mild."
"For you, I bet it is," Peach smiled as she gave her food order to the bartender.
After the bartender walked away, "Geez Peach, are we hungry or what?! I know about your big appetite but don't you wanna save it for dinner tonight?"
"This is my lunch and dinner."
"What, what are you talking about? We're eating at Rizzo's house later."
"No, I'm just gonna eat some now and later on have dinner in my room and then turn in early. I'm kind of tired," Peach said as she sipped her drink.
"Okay, what's going on?" OC demanded.
"Nothing, why?"
"Well, you looked relieved when I told you he left earlier. Come on, what happened? You and Rizzie have a fight?" OC said in a girlish tone as he batted his eyelashes.
"Don't be ridiculous and will you lower your voice?" Peach chastised as she looked around the bar and restaurant.
"Relax Peachy, no one is around. What's wrong?" OC elbowed her.
"I told you – I'm tired!"
"I'm tired of your excuses. Why don't you wanna go? It's right up your alley – free food and lots of it!"
As Peach sighed in frustration, "I just can't, Jack."
"Okay, I'll take a shot in the dark here – you don't wanna go because you're nervous about meeting Rizzo's big family, right?"
"Well, kind of."
"Oh Peach, I can tell you first hand, there's nothing for you to worry about. I've met them many times, and they're really nice people that'll do anything for you."
"Oh OC, I don't doubt that. I'm sure they're really wonderful people, but it's more to it than that."
"Like what?" OC shrugged.
"Let's just say that now is not a good time to meet his family, at least not under these circumstances."
"Well Peachy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but these circumstances are mandatory. It's the team dinner; everybody goes."
"Herb isn't going."
"Herb never goes!"
"I wish I was Herb then."
"Trust me, you don't," OC chuckled. "Look, it'll be great!"
"No, it won't. It's best for Rizzo's sake that I stay behind."
"You're talking rubbish Peachy."
"Look, it's just hard for me to explain this. It's like I'm entering the Bermuda Triangle with Rizzo, his family, the coaches," Peach pointed out.
"Okay Houston, I think we have liftoff. You're afraid Rizzo is going to tell his family and the coaches could find out. Is that it?"
"Well, that's another reason if he says anything to his family. Do you think he will?"
"Nope. I just can't see him doing that tonight but eventually he will. Feel better now?"
"Not quite."
"Ugh! I give up with you women! Then what is it?!"
"Look, you know how we have to be discreet in front of the coaches especially on the road. Well, with that plus his family too. It's not fair that Rizzo has to be discreet in front of his own family. It's like he's lying to them on account of me. Now do you understand why it's best that I stay behind?"
As OC sighed, "You know, you sound just like my sister. It's like you're adding 2 and 2 and you're getting 15. You can't get 15 out of 4, Peachy."
"Now, I'm not getting you."
"You're stretching this to the outer limits to where you can't stretch it anymore! It's a dinner! Go out, have fun and don't worry about it!"
"I still think it's best that I stay here."
"Well, what are going to do – lie to the coaches that you're sick and can't go? They'll sense something is wrong and even if they don't, guess who will? Trust me, Rizzo will see right through this and he'll be hurt."
"I know but he'll understand my viewpoint once I explain it to him."
As OC leaned in towards her, "Peach, I'm going to let you in on something that you may already know."
"What?" Peach shrugged.
"Since I've known him, Rizzo has been a loyal friend. I mean, he's bailed me out too many times that I care to remember which I won't go into detail, but –"
"I appreciate that, Jack."
"The point is – he always had my back not just because we're a team but a family. Why do you think I'm call him 'Mother' sometimes? It's what we all are – a family and family always sticks together no matter what. Don't do this. No matter how bad it may look to you. Face the music. You might surprise yourself and end up having a great time."
"Thanks, OC. Your support means a lot to me," Peach smiled as she put her hand on his.
"Besides, if you don't go, we'll just abduct you anyway!"
As Peach laughed, "I knew your serious side wouldn't last that long!"
"Hey, I got a reputation to hold up," OC winked.
"You know what? I think I'm gonna take you up on that shot."
"YES, that's my girl!"
"Okay but just one. I don't wanna fall or throw up on his parents!"
26. Dinner At The Eruzione's
**Author's Note: Once again, thanks to all for reading and/or reviewing. Sorry, it has taken some time to get up this last update but ran into writer's block.**
**In this chapter, some of Rizzo's family is introduced. Jeep is Rizzo's dad; Helen is Rizzo's mom. Francesca, Nancy, Marie and Annette are Rizzo's sisters; Vinny is Rizzo's younger brother. Tony Jr. is Rizzo's cousin. Also, Rizzo's nieces are Eva and Isabella. As you will notice, there is some Italian. It is translated in English in brackets at the end of the sentence. There is also an excerpt from the Dr. Suess book, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." Hope you enjoy!**
Dinner At The Eruzione's
Later that evening, everyone got on the bus heading towards Winthrop for dinner at the Eruzione's. When the team arrived, Peach walked off the bus still nervous about meeting Rizzo's family. The house was a triplex with his relatives on each floor. Rizzo came outside greeting everyone to come up to the second floor where dinner would be served.
As everyone entered the house, the aroma of homemade tomato gravy filled the air. There was just about every type of pasta you can think of on the table along with Caesar salad, garlic bread and an assortment of meats. As Rizzo started to introduce everyone to his family, his father, Jeep pulled out a chair for Peach.
"And who is this _signorina_?" Jeep asked. _[young lady]_
"Pop, this is –" Rizzo started.
"_Ragazza molto carina_," Tony Jr. flirted. _[very pretty girl]_
"_Comportati bene_!" Jeep chastised. _[behave yourself]_
"_Il suo okay, grazie_," Peach smiled back at Tony Jr. _[It's okay, thank you.]_
As Rizzo and some of his family laughed, "Looks like you're gonna have to find another language there, _cugino_. _[cousin] _She speaks Italiano," Rizzo chuckled. "Pop, this is Nancy, one of our trainers and physical therapist. Nance, this is my dad."
"Ah, another _Nunzia_! Take a chair. _Mangiare, mangiare_!" Jeep declared. _[Nancy. Eat, eat!]_
"Thank you," Peach smiled as she sat down next to Tony Jr. "You have a lovely home, Mr. Eruzione."
"Please call me Jeep!"
As Tony Jr. cleared his throat, Rizzo rolled his eyes. "Oh sorry, Peach this is my cousin, Tony."
"Peach?" Tony Jr. shrugged.
"Oh, it's a nickname. I'm originally from Georgia."
"Ah, a Southern _ragazza_," Tony Jr. raised his eyebrows. _[girl]_
"Yeah, his nickname is Don Juan because they never Don Juan to have anything to do with him," Rizzo laughed.
"A-OH!" Tony Jr. scoffed as everyone laughed.
"Well everything looks delicious and smells divine," Peach said.
As Helen walked out with one of the meat dishes, "Mamma, I'll take it," Rizzo offered.
"Hey Peach, my mom made Braciole," Rizzo said as he placed it on the table.
"Wow, that's great."
Before everyone dug into dinner, Helen and Jeep led in prayer for the safe return of the American hostages in Iran that have been held prisoners now for over a month.
"I just hope President Carter can get them out soon," Peach said.
"Yeah, I can't even imagine what they're going through right now," Craig added.
As the evening moved on, Helen came out with seconds and placed it on the table.
"Mrs. Eruzione, you have to give me the recipe to this gravy. Mmmm, I'm trying to decipher all the spices, but –"
"You'll never figure it out," Rizzo chuckled from across the table.
"Michael, be nice," Helen slapped Rizzo on the shoulder.
"I told her Mamma that she has to marry Vinny if she wants the recipe."
"Che _Cosa_?" Helen shrugged. [_What_?]
"Yeah, say what? Trying to marry me off there, bro?" Vinny asked from down the table.
"Like that is such a hardship, you twit?" Tony Jr. chastised Vinny and then took Peach's hand. "Don't worry my _dolce_, I'll make sure you get the recipe." _[sweet]_
"Yeah, it'll be a shot gun wedding!" Silky exclaimed and rest of the team laughed.
As Peach surmised weighing both her hands, "Hmmm . . . go to jail vs. shot gun wedding for a recipe. I think I'll bail on both. Sorry guys!"
As some of the players were making chicken noises, OC put his right arm around Peach.
"Come on guys, look at this way. Marriage is an institution and we're all way too young to go to an institution," OC explained and everyone cracked up with laughter.
"Here, here!" the team cheered as they clanged their glasses.
As Peach leaned over towards OC, "Thank you," mouthing the words.
"I told you – family sticks together," OC said with a low tone as he winked.
As the evening moved on, Rizzo's sisters were helping out Helen clean the table. Peach got up to help too.
"Yo Nance!" Rizzo yelled.
As both Nancy and Peach looked up at the same time, "I've been meaning to do that all night," Rizzo laughed.
"Umm Mike, are you going to help clean up here or what?" Peach asked.
"Yeah Michael! You know the rules in this house. Clean up or GET OUT!" Nancy yelled.
"Oh geez, too much estrogen in this room. I'm outta here – Exit stage left!" Rizzo yelled back as he left the room.
"_Cacasenno_!" Nancy yelled back. [_Smart-ass_] "_Fratellos_!" Nancy rolled her eyes towards Peach. _[Brothers_]
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a brother too," Peach replied.
"What are you doing?" Nancy said.
"Oh, I don't mind helping out," Peach offered.
"Nonsense, you're a guest."
Rizzo's nieces, Eva and Isabella, ages 6 and 4 came into the room chasing each other.
"You're it!" Eva said as she ran around the table.
As Nancy grabbed Eva, "A-oh! What did your mother tell you earlier? No running in the house with all these people. Isabella, calm down!"
"Are these your girls?" Peach asked.
"No-no. These belong to Francesca, my older sister."
"They're so cute."
"Oh, they're a handful," Nancy chuckled.
"Aunt Nancy, will you read a story to us now?" Eva asked.
"When I'm finished helping out _La nonna_, I will." _[Grandmom]_
"Peas!" Isabella pleaded.
"You know Nancy, I don't mind reading to them," Peach offered.
"Are you sure?" Nancy raised her eyebrows.
"Not a problem."
"All right. Girls, why don't you go upstairs since you'll have more room," Nancy suggested.
"Okay," Eva smiled.
"Come on, let's go," Isabella said as she tug on Peach's hand.
"Be prepared to read it to them at least three times," Nancy laughed as she passed Peach and went back into the kitchen.
As Peach headed toward the stairs, she noticed a collage of pictures on the wall. In particular, she noticed a picture of a little boy wearing white figure skates.
As Peach smiled, "Nancy, are you coming?!" Isabella pleaded.
"Lead the way," Peach smiled.
* * *
As Peach sat down in the living room with Rizzo's nieces in the third floor apartment, "So what did you two want to read?"
"Grinch stealing Christmas!" Isabella replied as she handed the book to her.
"Ah, a classic and one of my favorites," Peach said as she sat down on the sofa with the girls sitting on the living room rug.
Peach opened up the book and turned to the first page, "That's little Cindy-Lou!" Isabella pointed to the character in the book.
"We know," Eva rolled her eyes.
"She's adorable," Peach smiled as she began to read. "Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot . . ."
As Peach turned the page, "But the Grinch did NOT!" Isabella finished.
"You're right, he didn't," Peach agreed.
"Will you let her read?!" Eva whined.
Despite Eva chastising her, Isabella continued to help Peach tell the story to the end.
"That Grinch was a meany! He stole all their presents!" Isabella explained.
"He was a meany," Peach agreed as she closed the book.
"But he ended up giving everything back," Eva said.
"And why did he do that, Eva?" Peach asked.
"Cause he realized that Christmas was more than just presents, decorations and food."
"You're so right and what did the Grinch finally understand what it actually all meant to the Whos?"
"That they have each other!" Isabella exclaimed.
"That's exactly right," Peach agreed. "For our family and friends are the most important people to have in our lives."
"Yeah! Can you read it again?!" Eva asked.
"Yeah, AGAIN! AGAIN!" Isabella exclaimed.
"Nah, I think once is enough, my Little Herbs," Rizzo laughed as he walked into the living room.
"Uncle Mikey!" Eva and Isabella jumped up as they ran over, tackled and began tickling him.
"Oh okay, time for another tickle fest!" Rizzo teased as he began tickling them back.
As both the girls fell on the floor laughing, Rizzo fell on the rug continuing to tickle them as he gave them little Vulcan grips.
"Mike, you're torturing them!" Peach chastised.
"They started it!"
"Stop, that is so cruel!"
At this point, the girls were laughing so hard that there was no audio coming out of their mouths.
"Mike, that's it!" Peach ordered as she walked over and grabbed his left ear and pulled it.
"ARGH! That hurt woman!" Rizzo yelled back as he finally released Eva and Isabella who were holding their stomachs.
"Man, it really does work. My mom used to do this to my brother all the time," Peach laughed.
As the three of them got up, Isabella started to tickle Rizzo again. "No, no. Come on Isabella, the tickle fest is over. Listen, I came up here 'cause _La nonna_ has all the desserts on the table." _[Grandmom]_
"La nonna's cannolis!" Eva and Isabella shouted excitedly as they both started to run but Rizzo grabbed both of them.
"Whoa, wait a minute, don't you have something to say to Nancy for reading to you?" Rizzo advised.
"Thank you!" Eva and Isabella replied as they gave her a quick hug.
"You're welcome. Don't run!" Peach warned as they took off downstairs. "A bunch of road runners there."
"Yep, all it takes is sweets and they're off!" Rizzo said as he was still rubbing his left ear. "Man, that really hurt."
"I think that's the general idea."
"Yeah well, thanks to you, I won't be able to hear Herb that well for tomorrow's game," Rizzo pouted.
"With his yelling, I doubt that very much," Peach giggled.
"Ooooh, you're just begging for another Vulcan grip," Rizzo raised his eyebrows.
"No, that's against house rules. Remember?"
"Not in my house!"
"Mike, come on. Stop horsing around. Let's get back downstairs."
"We will, but I wanna show you something first," Rizzo said as he opened the sliding door to the balcony.
"What?" Peach shrugged.
"Come here," Rizzo said.
"I'm not going out there. It's too cold."
"Come on, it won't take that long," Rizzo pleaded as he took her right hand and led her onto the balcony.
After Rizzo slid the balcony door shut, he slipped his arms around her waist from behind.
"Mike, no."
"Relax, no one is out here. It's just us," Rizzo replied as he nuzzled her earlobe.
"Doesn't matter. You got relatives galore."
"So what, they don't care."
As Peach pulled away from Rizzo's embrace and turned to face him, "You told them?"
"Oh, there aren't any secrets in this household. The walls are practically paper," Rizzo snickered.
Peach nodded, "Oh God!"
As Rizzo lifted her chin, "Nance, will you relax?! While I believe in honesty, I also believe in discretion and this is not the time."
As Peach breathed a sigh of relief," "So your cousin Tony wasn't acting earlier?"
As Rizzo chuckled, "Tony? Tony is a lot of things, but an actor is definitely not one of them. Sorry about him though. He's harmless."
"It's okay. I found him charming. You know umm, I almost didn't come tonight."
"I know."
"You did?"
"It's written all over your face."
"Sorry, it's not that I didn't wanna come –"
"I know; I know," Rizzo repeated again as he cupped her face and rubbed his thumbs on her cheeks and then turned her to face the backyard again.
"Look, I brought you out here to show you something that means a lot to me. You see those bright lights in the distance?" Rizzo pointed.
"Yeah."
"That's the local golf course. That's where I first started to skate in the sandtraps."
"Yeah, I saw it on the way over here on the bus."
"I'll bring you over there during the holidays and maybe teach you how to skate?"
"I suck at it, trust me. I'll be horizontal the whole time."
"Well, maybe you just need a good teacher."
"Sounds like fun but the only problem is, I don't have any skates," Peach smiled.
"Well then, I'm just going to have you borrow one of my sister's like I used to."
"Oh yeah, I saw a picture on the wall of a little boy wearing white figure skates with the pom-poms. That's you, right?"
"Yep, that's yours truly. You can't tell since it's a black and white picture, but the pom-poms were blue."
"Awww, that is so precious. You were such a cute little boy."
"Yeah, I'm just a lot more furrier now."
"I think you should show it to Herb," Peach joshed.
"Oh God, then he really cut me." As he put his arms around her waist again, "I can't wait until the holidays so we can spend more time together."
"Me too."
As he pulled up her right hand, he quickly brushed it with his lips, "Come on, let's go get some cannolis before they're all gone."
"Mike?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for sharing this with me."
27. Holiday Party
**Author's Note: I got this idea from the Christmas scene in Miracle and have incorporated some of the dialogue from it along with my own. Enjoy!**
**Nicole & LTJM – Thanks for your continued reviews. It is deeply appreciated. Glad you're still enjoying it.**
**Penelopeparish – Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to review my story. Glad you loved the Italian usage in the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Holiday Party
A few days before Christmas, the team was back home. Tonight, the holiday party was being held at Doc's house. Everybody was attending, including Herb. Each team member had a secret pollyanna, and the team also got gifts for the coaches and staff. Early that afternoon, Rizzo was getting dressed after taking a shower. As he pulled over his shirt, he heard a knock at the door.
"Hey Riz."
"What's up Mac?
"Got a sec?"
"Yeah, come on in." Rizzo said as he sat back on the chair to put on his sneakers.
"Ummm – need a huge favor from ya."
"What kind of favor?" Rizzo chuckled.
As Mac rubbed his hands, "Ah well, I have Silky for the gag gift and ah . . ."
As Rizzo nodded his head, "And you don't know what to get him?!"
"Oh, I know what I'm gonna get him; it's just that I haven't had time with us being on the road and . . ."
"Come on Mac, you've known since Thanksgiving. What's the problem?"
"Ah, I'm having a problem getting it and well that's where you come in."
"Oh yeah, we'll see. What is it?" Rizzo said as he raised his eyebrows.
As Mac whispered it, Rizzo laughed. "Can't help you there, bro. I'm not going to get that for you."
"I don't expect you too; I figured you could ask Peach if I could borrow one of hers or she could buy it for me and then I'll pay her back tonight."
As Rizzo nodded his head, "Mac, you're too much! I don't think Peach is going to give you one of hers but if you want her to buy it for you, then ask her yourself."
"Come on Riz! She's your girlfriend!" Mac whined.
As Rizzo rolled his eyes, "Mac, it's not like she's a stranger. Look, I'll get her on the phone for ya but after that, I'm outta of this. Take it or leave it."
"Alright, I'll ask her."
Rizzo dialed Peach's number. After a few rings, Peach finally answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Nance."
"Hey, what's up?"
"Well, actually Mac's up. He needs to ask you a favor."
"Oh yeah, what?"
"I'm gonna hand the phone over to him, and he'll tell ya all about it," Rizzo said as he flashed a smirky grin towards Mac.
As Mac took the phone, "Hey Peachy."
"Okay, what's the favor?" Peach said in a curt tone.
As Mac dawdled with his words, Rizzo elbowed him. "Will you spit it out, man?!"
"Leave me alone!" Mac whined and then finally confessed to Peach.
As Peach rolled her eyes, "That's what you need?! Get crosschecked and maybe loose some teeth but don't ask you to go into a lingerie department?!"
"Puhleeze Peachy!"
"Alright, alright. Chripe, you act like somebody asked you to change a diaper!"
"Thanks Peachy, you're the best! Oh, could you wrap it too? Thanks again!" Mac said as he quickly passed the phone back to Rizzo.
"You're pushing your luck, Mac!" Peach retorted.
"Nance, just put it in a box if you want, okay? Don't worry, he'll pay you back," Rizzo assured.
"Oh, I know he will. So speaking of gifts, what are the guys getting me – a year supply of peaches?!"
"Believe me, I have no idea. They won't tell me. I guess they're afraid you'll get it out of me."
As Peach laughed, "Well, let me get going to pick up Silky's gift. I'll see you over at Doc's later."
"Okay, babe. See you then."
* * *
Everyone sat down for dinner and dug into the turkey and trimmings made by Velta, Doc's wife.
"Everything looks great, Velta. Thank you," Herb said. The rest of team chimed in expressing thanks too.
"You're all welcome. Please save room for seconds. There's plenty of food," Velta advised.
"Geez guys, you act like you haven't eaten in months," Craig chided.
"Oh, we're just happy we're not eating Rizzo's meatballs again, Coach," Coxie chuckled as the rest of the team laughed.
"Hey, you keep eating 'em, I keep making 'em," Rizzo retorted.
A little while later, some were finishing off their desserts. Meanwhile, Jimmy reappeared in his Santa suit.
"Present time, guys!" Jimmy said.
Jimmy and OC started it off by handing gifts to Eric and Rizzo. "OC and I got the both of you the same gift, so open it together," Jimmy advised.
As Eric and Rizzo opened up their gifts, they revealed miner hardhats with flashlights attached to it. Both Eric and Rizzo cracked up laughing, and each put it on their heads.
"This is to help you two idiots, so next time you won't crash into each other or anyone else during practice!" OC exclaimed as everyone clapped and cheered.
The gift bearing continued as each player, coach and staff members were given their gag gifts. Doc received a huge bow tie for his bow tie fetish, and Gary received a clothespin.
"A clothespin?!" Gary gasped.
"For your snoring!" Peach chuckled.
"I don't snore!" Gary retorted and everyone cracked up laughing.
"Puhleeze, I wish I had headphones for the road trips!" Peach laughed back.
"I wish I had a tape recorder. You could've had your greatest hits by now," Craig added as everyone laughed even harder.
"Okay, moving along, who's next?" Jimmy asked.
"Silky!" Mac said as he walked over to him and handed his gift. Earlier, Peach had already given it to Mac before they sat down for dinner.
As Silky opened up the small box, he pulled out purple silk panties. "Your girlfriend left these at my house with some milk and cookies. Tell her I said 'hi'," Mac patted Silky's shoulder as the rest of the team were clapping and whistling promiscuously.
"You guys are unbelievable!" Silky replied as he nodded his head.
"Okay guys, we got a few more left to be opened," Jimmy said as he handed Peach her gift that looked like a wrapped tube. "Peach, this is from all of us."
"Well, it doesn't look like a year supply of peaches," Peach chuckled. As she opened it up, it was a can of Pringles potato chips. "Guys, I love it! Pringles are my favorite!"
"Open it up, Peachy," Phil advised.
"Nah, I'll have some later."
"Later? Peach, what is wrong with you?! You never say 'no' to Pringles! I've seen you put away a whole can of chips within a minute," Gary chastised.
"Hello, we all just ate earlier," Peach replied as she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever happened to that tapeworm stomach of yours?" Gary asked.
"Oh, it's retired."
"Come on Peach, open it and at least share it," Jimmy pleaded.
As Peach pulled off the lid, she knew something was up and carefully pulled back the seal a bit. When she saw the chips, she opened up the seal completely. Instantly, two cloth-skin spring snakes jumped out of the can.
"JESUS! I can't believe I fell for this!" Peach gasped as everyone clapped and cracked up with laughter again.
"Sucker!" Phil teased.
"Man, you guys got me good! I'll give you that! I just wanna know one thing?"
"It was my idea!" Gary smiled.
"Yeah, I figured but where is the rest of my chips?!"
"Mmmmm, tasty!" Pav laughed as he patted his stomach.
"Oh typical, you swindler!"
"Okay, two more to go. Craig, this is from the team," Jimmy said as he handed the gift to Craig.
"Thanks guys, I thought you forgot," Craig pouted as he opened up his gift to reveal a toy whistle. "Oh you're gonna love this, Herb." As Craig blew it, the team chimed in, "AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!"
"Okay, put that back in the box!" Herb chided.
"Herb, Merry Christmas from the team," Jimmy said as he handed the last gift to him.
As Herb opened it, it was a pistol whip with a plaque entitled 'Ayatollah'. "Ah yes, the gift that keeps giving all year."
As the team gave their version of a drum roll and cheered "Speech," Herb stood up. "Well, I'm not one for giving sentimental speeches, so I don't think I should start now."
"Come on," Jimmy encouraged.
"Thanks for everything, Velta."
"You're welcome, Herb," Velta waved back.
"You guys have a great holiday. See you after the new year," Herb said.
After Herb left, the guys decided to go outside and play tag football. Peach went in the kitchen to help Velta with the dishes. About a half hour later, Craig came up to Peach as she was wiping the dining room table.
"We need to go," Craig said as he pointed to his watch.
"Oh, okay. Let me get my stuff."
After thanking Velta and Doc, Peach and Craig headed outside and said their goodbyes to the players.
"Leaving already, Coach?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, I got a flight to catch back to Detroit tonight. Have a great holiday," Craig said as he shook Rizzo's hand.
"You too. Peach, you still hanging out with us?" Rizzo said.
"I can't; I'm his ride to the airport," Peach replied.
"Oh, well then I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, see you then. Have fun and get some rest," Peach said.
28. Exchange Of Gifts
**Author's Note: This chapter includes dialogue with reference to the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan in December, 1979. For dialogue purposes, I have the Soviet troops invading and overtaking the Afghanistan government a few days before Christmas. In actuality, the Soviet troops began their invasion on December 24, 1979 and overtook the leadership on December 27, 1979 by assassinating the Afghanistan President. Also, there is a reference to an acronym, IOC which stands for International Olympic Committee.**
**Nicole, Glad you liked the pranks. I had fun writing them. Thanks for your idea about the snakes. Hope you enjoy this update.**
**LTJM, Glad you liked the holiday party scene. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Exchange Of Gifts
As Peach was finishing up some packing, she heard a knock at the door. As she looked through the peephole, she smiled and unlocked the door.
"Mike, what are you doing here?!"
"Your secret Santa has arrived!" Rizzo smiled. He was wearing a Santa hat.
"Get in here!" Peach ordered and gave him a quick hug and kiss.
As Rizzo put the gifts down on the coffee table, he took off his jacket. "I know I should've called, but I thought we could exchange gifts tonight instead."
"It's okay. Actually, I was gonna call you later. You didn't tell me what time you're gonna pick me up tomorrow morning."
"Well, I told Jimmy earlier that I want to get an early start. I wanna be on the road no later than 8:00, so I say be ready and packed by 7:30."
"Oh, I'm already packed."
"Oh yeah, how many suitcases?"
"One plus my little make-up case."
"Come on, you have to more than that."
"Mike, that's all I have."
"Well, I'm impressed. Every time my sisters packed for a weekly family vacation, they pack everything!"
"Nah, my dad trained me well. Pack only the bare essentials. Be right back," Peach said as she headed towards her bedroom. As Peach came back out into the living room, she brought out two gifts for Rizzo. "Merry Christmas, Mike."
"Thank you," Rizzo said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, ladies first."
"Hmmm . . . this is not another pair of snakes, is it?" Peach giggled as she sat next to Rizzo on the sofa.
"I told you I had no idea what they were doing!" Rizzo laughed.
"I know; I'm just a sucker for Pringles." As Peach opened up the small white gift box first that had a little red bow on it, she gasped. "Mike, they're beautiful!"
"Do you like them? You have pierced ears, right?"
"I love it! Yes, I do. They're sapphire chips," Peach said as she looked at them more carefully.
"Yeah, I found out that's your birthstone."
"Thank you so much," Peach said as she gave him another hug and kiss.
As Rizzo handed her the second gift, it was a bigger white box with another little red bow. "Sorry, I'm not much of a wrapper."
"Oh, it's the thought that counts. You're spoiling me," Peach as she caressed his cheek. As she opened the box, "Your flannel shirt?!"
"Nance, I know how much you love flannel and want you to have it. This way, whenever you wear it, part of me will always be with you."
"Well, I love it even more! Thank you!" Peach smiled and kissed him again. As she handed him the bigger present, "Okay, your turn. Open this one first."
As Rizzo unwrapped up the gift, "A pet rock?! Oh, I remember these."
"It used to be mine since my junior year at the U. I named him Rocky."
"Very appropriate; it's a rock."
As Peach giggled, "No, I named him Rocky because of the title character in the movie with Sly. Rocky has helped me a lot when I was going through rehab with my torn hamstrings. He helped me get through some tough times. He's not just a pet but a good luck charm. Now, I want you to have it. Here, it comes with an instruction booklet too on how to take care of him."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, you have to keep him with you at all times: in the dorm, on road trips and all way through the Olympics."
"Well Nance, I don't think I can bring Rocky out on the ice with me. I mean, I don't think he'll fit in my skate or helmet," Rizzo teased.
As Peach laughed, "Nah, you can keep Rocky in the locker room. Don't worry, I'll hire a babysitter for ya. Just take real good care of him, and he'll take care of you like he did for me."
"Well, I love the sentimental value – it's priceless. Thanks for giving it to me," Rizzo said as he caressed her cheek.
"You're welcome. Now open this one."
As he unwrapped the small gift box, he flipped over the lid that revealed a silver tie tack with his initials "MAE."
"Nunzia, what did you do? This is beautiful."
"You like?"
"Like?! I love it!" Rizzo exclaimed as he gave her a huge hug and kiss.
"Well, I figured since Herb makes you wear ties on the road trips, you might as well dress it up a little."
"It's stunning. How did you know my middle initial?"
"I looked it up on the player roster that lists middle initials too. So what's the 'A' stand for?"
"Anthony."
"Yeah, that was one of my guesses."
"So, what's your middle name?"
"Nope, not telling."
"Come on Nance, can't be that bad? What is it – Filomena?"
"Nope but that is awful, sorry," Peach giggled.
"Come on, tell me," Rizzo smirked as he started to massage her neck.
"No, I hate it!"
"Come on," Rizzo whispered as he nuzzled and kissed her earlobe.
"Uh-uh."
As Rizzo finally found her lips, he wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. Peach kissed him back but then released his lips.
"Nice try but no cigar. I'm gonna make some hot tea. You want anything?" Peach asked as she got up heading towards the kitchen.
"Nah, I'm alright. Mind if I turn on the tube?"
"Yeah, go ahead. You don't need to ask."
Rizzo put the TV on and watched the local late news. As Peach came back into the living room, she sat back down next to Rizzo sipping her hot tea.
"Day 50 on the hostage crisis in Iran and while there has been no significant change, there has been in the country next door, Afghanistan. During the past few days, more than 5,000 Soviet combat troops have been airlifted in Kabul, and another 50,000 Soviet troops have been massed in the northern border. Today, approximately 700 Soviet troops dressed in Afghan uniforms overtook their primary target, the Tajbeg Presidential Palace and killed Afghanistan President Hafizullah Amin," the newscaster reported.
"Oh no," Rizzo nodded his head in disbelief.
"Jesus, what next?!" Peach said in disgust as she nodded her head. "I mean, first the Iranian hostage crisis and now this. What is this world coming to, Mike?"
"Relax, it's okay," Rizzo assured her as he rubbed her right shoulder.
"No, it's not," Peach said as turned to face him. "With a new decade upon us, what are the 80's going to bring? Look at inflation the way it is right now, gas shortage, not to mention the constant cold war with the Soviets and with the upcoming Olympics in Lake Placid, who knows what will happen there."
"Nance, you're rambling; calm down," Rizzo said as he continued to rub her left shoulder.
"Well, look what's happening, Mike?!" Peach exclaimed as she pointed to the TV set. "I can't help but think something bad will happen at the Olympics with it being a world event."
"Nance, don't say that! Nothing bad is going to happen."
"Oh yeah, remember Munich?!" Peach advised.
"Alright, that's it! No more watching the news for you, young lady," Rizzo chastised as the pointed at her.
"You think this is funny?!"
"Hardly. I just don't see the point of working yourself up to a frenzy and for what – to upset yourself to no end."
"Well, I can't help it, Mike! Emotions are high right now with everything going on. It just made me think of those poor Israeli athletes and their families."
As Rizzo sighed, "You know, that was tragic what happened to those athletes, but it was also another time period. I'm sure the IOC has implemented stronger security measures since then."
"Still, there is no guarantee a terrorist attack can't happen."
As Rizzo rubbed his eyes, "Nance, there's no guarantee with anything in life. We can't predict the future."
"I know that, Mike. It's just that I'm worried that if anything were to happen to you, the team or coaches, I couldn't live with myself."
As Rizzo put his arms around her, "Nancy, I understand the concern but you can't burden yourself over something that may not happen or have no control over. We can't stop living our lives and pursuing our dreams and just live in constant fear."
"I know, I know," Peach nodded her head and put her face down.
As Rizzo lifted her chin to face him, "Hey, I wish there was something I could do or say to give you a 100% guarantee that nothing will happen and that we'll all be safe but I can't. Let's face it, there's crime everywhere. We just have to focus on why we're there, enjoy ourselves and at the same time be careful."
"Sorry, I'm such a basket case. I don't how you put up with me," Peach sobbed.
As Rizzo hugged her, "Stop, it's alright. Just try not to focus on this right now. We're all going home tomorrow and spending time with our families for the next week plus finally spending time with each other. I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this the past month."
"Me too," Peach smiled.
"There's that smile," Rizzo said as he caressed her cheeks. As Rizzo finally found her lips again, he wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. Peach responded by putting her hands behind his neck. A few minutes later, Rizzo's digital watch beeped. Peach jumped.
"Sorry, it's just my watch," Rizzo said as he looked at it. "It's getting late. I should be getting back. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"You're right," Peach said as she looked down to not show her disappointment.
"Hey, what's wrong now?" as lifted her chin with his left hand.
"Nothing," Peach replied as she avoided eye contact.
As Rizzo sighed, "Nothing means something."
"Nothing, I just figured –"
"Figured what?" Rizzo shrugged.
"That since you're already here, you might've as well stay the night."
"Okay," Rizzo smiled knowing that he wanted to stay but didn't want to push it.
"Are you sure? I mean, do you still have to pack?" Peach asked.
"Nope, did that earlier today. We'll just have to go back to the dorms to pick up my suitcase and then get Jimmy, but that means you'll have to get up earlier."
"Well, that's why alarm clocks were invented," Peach smiled as she picked up the box that contained the flannel shirt and then got up heading towards her bedroom.
"Weather is up next," the newscaster reported as they went to commercial.
"Oh, about time!" Rizzo shouted back at the set.
A few minutes later, Peach reappeared wearing just the flannel shirt that hung just above her knees. As Rizzo was watching the weather, he glanced back at Peach, then back at the TV and then quickly back to Peach.
"What do you think?"
"Who's the guy?" Rizzo raised his eyebrows.
"Some cute, rugged, sexy guy I know."
"Oh yeah, is he bigger than me?" Rizzo smirked.
"Oh, he's actually about your size," Peach winked as she sat down next to Rizzo on the sofa. He put his arm around her, and she put her head on his shoulder.
"So what's the weather like for tomorrow?" Peach asked.
"Not bad. No snow or rain here. It doesn't look like it in Boston either. I just hope we don't get any snow this week when we get home."
"Well, that's the other reason why I still think you're nuts for driving. I mean, I know you're helping Jimmy, but I just hope the weather cooperates."
"Don't worry, we'll be alright. No more frenzies tonight, okay?"
"Ha-ha," Peach said as she changed the channel to the PBS station. "Ah, Fawlty Towers, just in time."
"Oh no, not this zany show again!" Rizzo whined.
"But they're showing the Germans episode again! You're gonna love this episode; it's hysterical!" Peach laughed.
About a half hour later, Peach and Rizzo were still laughing from the episode. "See, I told you this one was hysterical. What was your favorite part?" Peach asked.
"It has to be when Basil is deliriously sick and waiting on the German patrons with one of them saying stop bringing up the war. Then Basil replies, 'Well you started it,' and the patron yells back, 'No we didn't.' 'You did too – you invaded Poland!'" Rizzo laughed.
As Peach laughed again, "Yeah, that was classic."
"It reminds me of that Monty Python skit with the Argument Clinic. Ever see that?" Rizzo asked.
"Pardon me, I would like to buy an argument," Peach acted out.
"Yeah, then he goes into one room and the first guy just starts cursing him out. Hey, I came here to buy an argument. This is abuse. That's Room 12A next door. Sorry. No problem at all. Stupid twit!"
"You know what's hysterical about that skit? How long did it actually take to get that skit right or if it was totally improv?"
"Probably a little bit of both," Rizzo replied.
"Well, it must've been so hard not to break character and crack up laughing."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, I think we should hit the sack," Peach said as she got up from the sofa.
"Yeah, it's after midnight," Rizzo replied as he took off his shoes. "Mind if I borrow one of your blankets?"
As Peach turned around, she saw Rizzo lay back on the sofa. "Mike, what are you doing? You are not sleeping on the sofa unless you really want a bad back. Come on," Peach said as she extended her hand.
As they both walked into her bedroom hand in hand, "Did you lock up?" Rizzo asked.
"Oh, I locked it with the deadbolt; I just need to put the chain on."
"I'll do it."
As Rizzo went back to put the chain on the front door, Peach sat on the bed, turned on the lamp and set the alarm clock on the nightstand. As Rizzo came back in, he shut the bedroom door. He sat down on the other side of the bed taking off his shirt and jeans.
"Is 6:30 okay?" Peach asked.
"Huh?" Rizzo shrugged as he turned to face her.
"The time for the alarm to go off?"
"Oh yeah, that's fine, Nance."
As she turned out the light, they both got under the covers. As Rizzo put his right arm around her, Peach laid her head on his shoulder.
"Are you comfortable?" Peach asked.
"Yeah, are you? I mean, am I sleeping on your side?"
"I don't have a side. I'm usually all over the place," Peach giggled.
"That's good to know. So if I end up on the rug, I'll know why," Rizzo laughed.
"Anything I need to know like do you snore?"
"If I do, no one has ever told me. I know Coxie hasn't said anything but then again, he does snore. So who knows, we might be making beautiful music together and we don't even know it."
As Peach giggled, she began tickling his chest hairs. "Mmmm, baby that feels good," Rizzo whispered as he rubbed her right shoulder. As she looked up and smiled, Rizzo couldn't help but lean down to kiss her. They deepened the kiss and continued to snuggle in each other's arms.
As Peach finally released his lips, she nuzzled his nose. "Thanks for staying."
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Rizzo said as he gently kissed her nose.
"Well, let's get some sleep since I know you won't let me or Jimmy take turns driving."
"Ooooh, you're finally catching on – that's my girl. Good night, baby," Rizzo hugged and kissed her.
"Good night. Oh, I almost forgot," Peach said.
"What? Come on, we need sleep."
"Rosalie."
"Huh?
"Rosalie – that's my middle name."
As Rizzo caressed her left cheek, _"Buon notte, Nunzia Rosalia." _Rizzo kissed and hugged her one last time. _[Good night, Nancy Rosalie.]_
"Good night, Michael Anthony," Peach replied as she kissed him on the nose. As they laid quietly in bed, they both finally drifted asleep in each other's arms.
29. Home For The Holidays
**Author's Note: This is just a filler chapter to set up for the next few chapters. It contains some popular music back in the 1970's. It also has references to the TV show, Lost In Space and a holiday TV special, The Year Without A Santa Claus. I also got ideas for this chapter from the movies, 27 Dresses and Tommy Boy. Finally, there's some dialogue that comes from my favorite comedian, the late George Carlin. Hope you enjoy!**
**Nicole & LTJM: Thanks for your continued reviews. It is always appreciated. Hope you continue to enjoy.**
**Skyler1510: Thanks for stopping by to read and review. Glad you liked Rizzo's gifts and the middle names. There is a little bit more of that in this chapter. Hope you enjoy this update.**
Home For The Holidays
The next morning, the alarm went off on schedule at 6:30 a.m. Peach struggled to reach the snooze button.
"Alright, alright. Shut up!" Peach gasped as finally punched the snooze button.
"Ooooh, somebody is not a morning person," Rizzo giggled.
As Peach rubbed her eyes and turned towards Rizzo, "It can't be 6:30 already; I felt like I just closed my eyes!"
"Sorry Grumpy, up and Adam," Rizzo leaned over and nuzzled her nose.
"Just ten more minutes," Peach said as she pulled the covers over her face.
"Come on my sweet, you can sleep in the backseat," Rizzo pulled the covers back.
"What are you a poet now?! Stop pulling the covers!" Peach demanded.
"Have I told you that you're beautiful in the morning?"
As Peach glared at Rizzo in disgust, "Are you nuts?! You don't tell a woman that she looks beautiful first thing in the morning without make-up and rooster hair, especially when she hasn't had her coffee yet!"
"Oh chripe, is this another house rule, woman?!" Rizzo chuckled as he got up and started to get dressed. Peach put the covers back over her and muffled something indecipherable.
"What did you say?" Rizzo asked.
"I'm tired!" Peach managed to say a little bit more clearly under the covers.
As Rizzo sat back on the bed, "I'll tell you what. I'll go back to the dorms and pick up my stuff, then get Jimmy and we'll come back to get you. I'll pick up some coffee too, sound good?"
"Dunkin' Donuts coffee?" Peach smiled as she pulled the covers down.
As Rizzo put his wallet in his back pocket, "Dunkin' Donuts coffee."
"And some donuts too?" Peach pleaded.
"Some donuts too, alright?!"
"Great! Boston crème and lemon are my favorites," Peach added.
"You're pushing your luck, Nunzia! I'll see you in an hour. Oh by the way, you are beautiful first thing in the morning without make-up and rooster hair," Rizzo said as stuck his tongue out at her and then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"No, I'm not!"
As Rizzo picked up his car keys, he began to sing to her, "You are sooooooo beautiful to me, can't you seeeeeee?!"
As Peach giggled, "Joe Cocker, eat your heart out!"
* * *
About an hour later, Rizzo came back with Jimmy and went up to Peach's apartment. As he opened her screen door, he knocked twice.
"Hey sweetie, are ya ready now?" Rizzo raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Did you get the coffee and donuts?"
"In the car with Jimmy," Rizzo said as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down with a long deep kiss. Although she was tired, Peach allowed him to kiss her tenderly as she rubbed his back.
As she released his lips, "What was that for?"
"Cause I'm not gonna be able to do that for a while," Rizzo smiled as he nuzzled her nose.
"Yeah, that reminds me," Peach released his embrace. "Promise me that you'll pull over if you're tired."
"Nance, I driven this route before. We're gonna be stopping quite a few times for gas, food and, of course, the latrine. Alright?"
"I know, but I also know how stubborn you can be."
As Rizzo cupped her face, "Don't worry, I'll be okay, I promise. Trust me?"
"No bright idealism until I have my coffee," Peach countered.
"So is this it?" Rizzo chuckled as he pointed to her bags.
"Yeah, I told you I only have one suitcase."
As Rizzo grabbed her suitcase, "Okay, let's get going."
Peach carried her make-up case and locked up her apartment. As she followed Rizzo down the steps, she saw Jimmy leaning on the car.
"Hey Peach," Jimmy waved.
"Hey Jimmy, how ya doing?"
"Great! Your coffee, madam," Jimmy smiled as he handed it to her.
"That smells so good," Peach said and then took a sip.
As Rizzo put her suitcase in the trunk, she headed back up the steps to her apartment.
"Mike, I forgot something; I'll be right back."
"Babe, we gotta go!"
"It'll just take a sec," Peach replied as she climbed the steps back to her apartment and opened it.
"It's probably another suitcase!" Rizzo nodded his head.
"She's a woman. What do you expect?!" Jimmy snorted.
After Peach locked up again, she came down holding Rizzo's gifts from the night before.
"You forgot Rocky!"
"Nance, just leave it here and I'll pick it up when we get back."
"Mike, you can't leave Rocky here by himself," Nancy chastised.
"Who's Rocky?" Jimmy asked.
"His pet rock," Peach smiled.
"Oh really? I've seen those. Let me see!" Jimmy asked.
"Ain't he cute? I gave him eyeballs and some hair too," Peach giggled.
"He kinda looks like you, Riz," Jimmy laughed.
"Ha-ha," Rizzo retorted.
As Rizzo finally got in the driver's seat and turned on the engine, "Okay hon, did you shut off everything? Doors locked?"
"Yes, everything is off and locked."
"Okay, homeward bound, here we come!" Rizzo exclaimed.
As they finally got on the interstate, Jimmy put on the radio. "Ah, rule #1: no flicking through all the stations; pick one and stick to it," Rizzo warned.
"Yes, sire," Jimmy scoffed.
Meanwhile, Peach started to sing along with the song that was playing on the radio.
"_Ain't it good, Ain't it right, That you are with me here tonight, The music playing, Our bodies swaying in time, In time, in time, in time__."_
"Sing it babe!" Rizzo cheered. Jimmy turned to face Peach sitting in the backseat and chimed in with her as they sang the chorus together as he jokingly flirted with her.
"_Baby, baby! Rock me gently, rock me slowly, take it easy, don't you know that I have never been loved like this before!"_
"A-oh! Watch it Jimmy!" Rizzo warned.
"Keep your eyes on the road, Michael Anthony."
"Whoa, she told you! Listen to your woman, you might learn a thing or two," Jimmy laughed.
"Okay, Nancy Rosalie!" Rizzo retorted.
"Rosalie?!" Jimmy smiled raising his eyebrows.
"I hate you, Mike!"
"You asked for it!" Rizzo chuckled. Meanwhile, the next song came on. "Ah, Elton! I love this song! _Hey kids, shake it loose a lemon, spotlights hitting something it's gotta make a feather._"
"Those aren't the words," Peach chastised.
"Well excuse me, Miss Lyric Police. What are the words?"
"_You're gonna hear handsome music, so the walrus sounds_," Peach sang out.
"Walrus sounds?" Rizzo chuckled.
"_Say Penny's no longer in a cement jet, ooh, but you're so laced down,_" Peach continued.
"_B-b-b-Benny and the Jets_," Peach and Rizzo sang together.
"_Oooh, in the wind and the waterfall, oooh baby, she's a renegade_!" Rizzo sang out.
"_She got electric boobs_," Peach sang.
"Boobs?!" Jimmy gasped.
"_And mohair shoes_," Peach continued.
"_You know I read it in a mag-a-zine, oh-ho, B-b-b-Benny and the Jets_!" Rizzo and Peach sang together.
Now all three were singing together real loud, "_Benny, Benny, Benny and the Jets_!"
Meanwhile, a few minutes later . . .
"You guys disgraced that great tune; you both screwed up the lyrics. Peach, I thought you knew the words!" Jimmy chastised. "It's electric boots, not boobs!"
"Ah, leave her alone. I kinda of like boobs better, Jim; don't you?!" Rizzo winked.
"Who do you think you are now, OC?! Jimmy retorted.
"Thank you, Rizzie," Peach kissed him on the cheek.
"Ah, do you wanna sit up here instead, Peach?"
"Nah Jimmy, you couldn't fit back here with your long legs, plus with Rizzo's shit, I can barely move myself."
"What do you mean, my shit?!" Rizzo countered. "It's my stuff!"
"Okay, why couldn't you put your stuff in the trunk?"
"Hmmmm….maybe because your suitcase took up too much room and mine is the smallest! I mean, what shit do you have in that suitcase, a pile of bricks?!"
"Uh-oh, divorce court!" Jimmy laughed.
"Shut up!" Rizzo and Peach shouted back.
"You know Riz, have you ever noticed that her stuff is shit and your shit is stuff!" Jimmy laughed again.
"Hey Jimmy, have you would like to thumb it home?!" Rizzo scoffed.
Several hours later, they stopped once for gas and food. After they headed back on the road, Peach finally went to sleep in the backseat. With going through state to state, Jimmy kept changing the local radio stations repetitively to find something he liked.
"I told you man, stop playing with my radio!" Rizzo yelled.
"Well, I can't find a station with decent music!" Jimmy yelled back. "Here we go." Just then, Dolly Parton's _Here You Come Again_ was being played.
"Oh, I ain't listening to her!" Rizzo changed the station and found Led Zeppelin's _All My Love. _"Now, that's much better."
"I ain't listening to that hard rock crap!" Jimmy said as he reached to change the station again.
Rizzo slapped his hand, "I'm telling ya, stop changing the station!"
"Keep your eyes on the road, man!"
As Rizzo changed the station one last time, "How about that? You have a problem with that?"
_Long ago, and, oh, so far away
I fell in love with you before the second show._
"No, I don't have a problem with it unless you do?" Jimmy replied.
Meanwhile, two minutes later, both Jimmy and Rizzo were singing quite loudly.
"_Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby
You said you be coming back this way again baby
Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh baby, I wuv you, I really do!"_
Meanwhile, Peach rubbed her eyes having been awoken by their loud and awful singing, she thought to herself. As she got up, they were singing the chorus again.
"_Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh baby, I wuv you, I really do!"_
"Umm, is there something that I need to know here guys?" Peach raised her eyebrows.
As Jimmy laughed, "Hey Peach, you're up!"
"Hey Babe! Have a nice nap there?" Rizzo asked.
"I was until I was awoken by two twits who think they can sing?!"
"I'm hurt, you don't like my singing?" Jimmy pouted.
"Well, let me put it this way – don't enter The Gong Show. So where are we?" Peach scratched her head.
"Oh no, I have no idea!" Rizzo raised his hands to his face. "Where are we, Jimmy?"
"We're lost in space! Warning, warning! Dr. Smith, Dr. Smith!" Jimmy acted out as he swung both his arms in hysterics.
"Ha-ha, very funny guys but good impression of that robot, Jimmy," Peach giggled. "So where are we really?"
"We're in Indiana now, Nance," Rizzo advised.
"No, we're still in Illinois," Jimmy said.
"No, we're in Indiana. You must've missed the sign, dude," Rizzo corrected.
Just then, a Christmas song came on the radio.
"Oh my God!" Jimmy gasped.
"Yeah, I know; I love this song!" Rizzo agreed.
"What is it?" Peach asked.
"It's the Snow and Heat Miser song!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"About time, they start playing holiday songs! Hey Jimmy, you be the Snow Miser and I'll be the Heat Miser."
"No, Rizzo, I'm always the Heat Miser. You be the Snow Miser. I always sing this part to my nieces and nephews. I do a great impression."
"So do I, plus my name means eruption in Italian."
"I cannot believe you two twits. You're arguing over whose gonna sing which parts? Here's an idea – you sing both parts together!" Peach nodded her head in disgust.
Meanwhile, the Snow Miser part was ending with neither Rizzo nor Jimmy budging to sing that part.
_Friends call me Snow Miser
Whatever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch
I'm too much!_
"Well, here's your favorite part guys! Live it up!" Peach advised. Finally, both Rizzo and Jimmy chimed in to their favorite part.
"_I'm Mr. Green Christmas, I'm Mr. Sun
I'm Mr. Heat Blister, I'm Mr. 101
They call me Heat Miser
Whatever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch
I'm too much!"_
"You guys are too much! You know, I just thought of something. I know how you can beat the Russians!"
"Oh yeah, how?" Rizzo asked.
"You are all turn into heat misers as you melt the ice, then they fall through it and drown! Game over!"
"Peach, when did you become so violent?!" Jimmy laughed.
"I think she OD on watching too much of Fawlty Towers," Rizzo explained.
"Shut up!" Peach yelled back. "Come to think of it, you guys shouldn't even think about playing them. Craig mentioned that they're in the other division," Peach said.
"Ah Peach, have you seen the play schedule? We're playing them right before the Olympics," Jimmy advised.
"Yeah, I saw that but it's the Russian B Team, right?"
"Nope, it's the A Team," Rizzo said.
"Yeah, we're going to be playing Stan Laurel and company," Jimmy chuckled.
"Stan Laurel?" Peach shrugged.
"Sorry, babe. That's Boris Mikhailov, the captain of the Russian team. Herb calls him that because of his nose," Rizzo explained.
"Oh really? Didn't know Herb can have a sense of humor."
"Well, it's kind of weird at times because you don't know if he really is trying to be funny. It's like should we laugh or not. If we don't, will we be benched or cut from the team?" Jimmy further explained.
"To laugh or not to laugh, that is the question!" Peach laughed.
* * *
After many hours of traveling, they all finally arrived in Massachusetts by noon on Christmas Eve. Rizzo dropped Peach off first since Medford was the closest. As Jimmy let her out of the backseat, Rizzo went to his trunk to get her suitcase.
"You have a great Christmas, Jimmy," Peach hugged him.
"You too," Jimmy hugged her back.
"Tell your dad I was asking for him."
"I will."
"Here, let me get that," Peach attempted to grab the handle to her suitcase.
"No, I got it," Rizzo insisted.
"It's okay; it's not that heavy. It has wheels."
"Still not letting me be chivalrous?" Rizzo insisted as he walked up with her to the front door.
"Well, you've done enough, you got me home," Peach opened the front door. "Hey, anybody home?" Peach called out.
"Nancy?" Anna called out.
"Hi Mom!"
"Oh Nancy, you're home! Thank God!" Anna gleamed as came running from the kitchen with a spoon full of tomato gravy.
As Anna hugged her, "Look at you! You've lost some weight. Have you been eating, young lady?"
"Mom," Peach whined. "I'm fine."
"Well, thank God, you're home. Your Grandmom Lizzie has been driving crazy all morning. She keeps changing the holiday tablecloths!"
As Peach giggled, "So where's Dad and Frankie?"
"You know your Dad, he's still working but will be home soon; Frankie is out running errands for tonight's dinner."
"Wow, that's a miracle," Peach rolled her eyes.
As Rizzo smiled, "And who is this?" Anna asked.
"Oh Mom, this is . . . Mike."
"Oh, hi Mike. Anna Morano."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Morano," Rizzo reached and shook her hand.
"Please call me Anna. That makes me feel so old. Oh sorry, did I get gravy on you?"
"That's okay. Gravy stains are common in my household," Rizzo chuckled.
There was an awkward silence.
"So, Nancy says you're one of the hockey players," Anna breaking the silence.
"Yes, I am."
"Well, good luck in Lake Placid. We'll all be routing for ya."
"Thanks, but I have to make the final roster first."
"Oh, I'm sure you will," Anna smiled. "So where are you from, Mike?"
"Winthrop."
"Oh yeah, I know where that is."
"Well, I guess you should get going," Peach said to Rizzo.
"Yeah, I gotta get Jimmy home plus get home myself in time for mass. Nice meeting you."
"Likewise and thank you for bringing my daughter home safely. Happy Holidays!"
"Same to you," Rizzo said.
"I'll see ya later," Peach said.
"Yeah, see ya," Rizzo said as he headed out.
As Anna grabbed Peach's hand, "I gotta check on that gravy. We have got so much to catch up on. Oh by the way, Michelle called several times asking if you were home yet."
"Oh thanks. Mom, I'll be right back."
As Peach ran out to the car, "Mike, Mike, wait!"
Rizzo had just opened the car door. "What? We gotta go."
"I forgot to give you money for the gas."
"Nance, don't worry about it."
"Hey, we had a deal."
"Doesn't mean I'm gonna go along with it."
"Mike, you're so stubborn!"
"So are you," Rizzo hinted as he gestured towards her house.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just haven't –"
Rizzo put his finger to her lips. "It's cool. Look, I call you the day after tomorrow."
"Well, you need my number here. Gotta pen and paper?"
"Yeah, hold on," Rizzo grabbed a pen and a piece of scrap of paper from the car and handed it to her.
As Peach handed it back, "I'll talk to you later. Have a great Christmas." Peach hugged him and leaned up to kiss him twice.
"You too," Rizzo nuzzled her nose and kissed her one last time.
As Peach shut his car door, "Don't forget to take care of Rocky."
"I will!" Rizzo winked.
As Rizzo drove off, Peach walked back in the house and into the kitchen. "So do you need help with anything?"
"Well for starters, you can tell me all about him," Anna raised her eyebrows.
"Mom, I told you he's on the hockey team. He's the captain."
"No, that's not what I meant."
"What do you mean?" Peach shrugged.
"Nancy Rosalie! This is your mother you're talking to!"
30. One Leap Forward
**Author's Note: A couple new characters are introduced in this chapter. Frankie is Peach's younger brother; Lizzie is Peach's paternal grandmother. Once again, there is some Italian in this chapter. Hope you enjoy.**
**Nicole, LTJM & Skyler1510: Thanks for your continued reviews. Glad you're enjoying it so far. Hope you enjoy this update.**
One Leap Forward
A couple days later, Rizzo called Peach to make plans to spend the day together. He came over in the early afternoon to pick her up. As he knocked on the door, Frankie answered the door.
"Yeah?" Frankie said as he opened the door.
"Hi, is Nancy home?" Rizzo asked.
"Yeah, hold on," Frankie replied as he let Rizzo in.
"Yo Nance, somebody's here that actually cares!" Frankie yelled up the stairs.
"Well, let him in, you twerp!" Peach yelled back as she came down the steps.
"I did!"
"Hey Mike," Peach smiled.
"Hey, ready to go?"
"Yeah, just let me get my coat. Frankie, I'm going out for a few hours."
"I'll alert the media," Frankie rolled his eyes.
"Look after _Nonna_ for a couple of hours, okay? Mom should be home by then." _[Grandmom]_
"Don't I always?"
As Peach rolled her eyes, "You left her at the kitchen table asleep this morning!"
"So, she's still breathing, ain't she?"
"Will you start to think of someone else for once besides yourself?" Peach exclaimed in disgust.
"_Che racchetta qui?"_ Lizzie yelled. _[What's the racket in here?]_
"Nonna, you're up," Peach smiled. "Mike, this is my Grandmom Lizzie."
"Pleasure to meet you both," Rizzo shook Lizzie's hand first.
"_Grazie_ and you are?" Lizzie asked. _[Thank you]_
"Mike Eruzione."
"Eruzione? Do you know what that means –?" Frankie chuckled as he shook Rizzo's hand.
"Shut up!" Peach yelled as slapped Frankie's arm.
"Well, let me see you Michael, turn around," Lizzie ordered.
"Uh, okay," Rizzo as he turned completely around.
"Hmmm . . . _bello natiche_," Lizzie complimented. _[nice buttocks]_
As Rizzo laughed, Peach yelled. "Nonna, he speaks Italian!"
"Oh well, I like him even more. So where you kids off to?"
"Actually, I don't know. Mike won't tell me," Peach raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah well, you'll see soon enough."
"Have fun you two. Nice meeting you, Michael," Lizzie said.
"Nice meeting you, too."
"Franco, All My Children is starting; put the TV on for me," Lizzie said as she poked Frankie on his elbow with her cane.
"Ow!"
As Lizzie went into the family room, Frankie was still rubbing his arm. "Frankie, make sure she takes her medicine at 2:00, okay?" Peach advised.
"Yeah, yeah."
"I mean it, Frankie!"
"Alright, chill!"
* * *
As Rizzo pulled away in the car, "Sorry about that," Peach apologized.
"Who – your grandmom or your brother?" Rizzo asked.
"Both!"
"Yeah, I'm flattered your grandmom thinks I have a nice ass."
As Peach laughed, "I can't believe she said that but then again, she's pretty blunt when she wants to be. I just hope that Frankie looks after her."
"You worry too much."
"You don't know Frankie. If it were up to me, I give him a boot up the ass to the point where he couldn't walk for a week! So where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"Come on Mike, at least give me a hint."
"Patience, my sweet," Rizzo kissed her hand.
Finally, Rizzo went over the bridge that connected into Winthrop. "You're taking me to your house?" Peach asked.
"No, but it's near it."
As Rizzo pulled into the parking lot of the golf course, he parked and turned off the engine. "Mike, this is a golf course."
"Very perceptive."
"Well, isn't it closed this time of year?" Peach raised her eyebrows.
"Not for what we're going to be doing," Rizzo said as he pointed to some kids that were skating on the sand trap in the distance and then got out of the car.
"But I don't have any skates."
"My sister, Annette, let me borrow hers since you're both the same size."
"Mike, I told you, I don't know how to skate."
"No time like the present. Come on!" Rizzo smirked as he let her out of the car.
As they sat on the bench, Rizzo laced up his hockey skates quickly. "You ready?"
"I – I still don't know about this," Peach said as she finished lacing up her skates.
"You'll be fine. Your laces look a little loose. Here, let me tighten them up."
"I rather have them loose."
"Well, that's been part of the problem, Nance. First rule of skating: you have to tighten your laces to strengthen the boot to support your ankles," Rizzo winked as he tightened up her laces.
"Ow, does it have to be that tight?" Peach gasped.
"Second rule – don't question your instructor! Okay, let's go." Rizzo pulled her up and finally took her out on the ice and put his hands on her waist.
As Peach took some baby steps, "Umm, maybe we should go over there so I don't knock over the kids."
"Don't worry, you're fine. Hey guys, having fun?" Rizzo said as he let go and waved.
"Hey Mike!" one of the kids yelled back.
Meanwhile, Peach was looking at her feet as she lost her balance and fell on her hands and knees.
"Are you alright?" Rizzo lifted up Peach and put his hands on her waist again.
"Ah, thanks for letting go of me without warning!"
"Relax! Okay, you ready for your next rule – don't look at your feet, look at me."
"I'd rather look at my feet."
"That's the first way you bang into somebody. Look up and stop moving your ankles inward. That's how you can injure them."
"Well, then maybe we should stop before I break them and then I'm out of a job!"
"Nice try, no cigar!" Rizzo paraphrased.
"Hey, that's my line!"
As Rizzo began to skate backwards, "Oh yeah, you have a patent on that line? Come on, follow me. Stop looking at your feet!"
"Okay, just don't let go of me!"
"Relax and glide. This is supposed to be fun."
About a half hour later and after a few more falls, Peach started to glide better as she skated with Rizzo behind her.
"See, you got it, Nunzia! Who said you couldn't skate? Hey, let's do a 360!" Rizzo ordered as skated backwards facing her and pulled her hands as they both started to pick up some speed.
"Are you crazy?"
As Rizzo gave a sinister laugh, he pulled them both around into a 360.
"Oh my God, we're gonna fall!" Peach screamed.
"No, you're not! Just lean your head back and close your eyes! Remember Tilt-A-Whirl?"
_* Flashback *_
"_I think I'm gonna get sick!" Rizzo exclaimed._
"_No, you're not. Close your eyes!" Peach screamed as she fell back onto his shoulder and her head bumped into his nose._
_As the shell started to roll a little slower, Rizzo found himself drinking in her fresh scent as he started to nuzzle her earlobe. Peach couldn't help but smile as it felt so electric when she felt his nose and lips on her earlobe and the scent of his aftershave also aroused her. As she turned to him, both their brown eyes locked on one another as Rizzo put his hands around her waist._
_As Rizzo started to lean down to kiss her with their lips almost brushing, they were startled as the ride attendant yelled, "Hey lovebirds, the ride is over!"_
* Back to the Present *
As they came to a stop, they laughed in each other's arms. "Yeah, I remember. You almost kissed me."
"Yeah, thanks to the ride attendant," Rizzo chuckled. "Come on, let's do it again!" Rizzo grabbed her and they whipped around a few more times. As Peach gained more confidence, she let go of Rizzo and turned around completely on her own.
"Wow, you're becoming a real natural, Nance. Who knows maybe you'll be an Olympic hopeful in 1984."
"Yeah, you think so? Dorothy Hamill, eat your heart out!" Peach said as she whipped around in a 360 again and then fell on her behind. "Ow!"
"Hey lady, are you okay?" one of the kids yelled out.
As Rizzo skated over to her and leaned on his knees, "Babe, you alright?" Rizzo was trying to suppress his laughter.
"Yeah, stop laughing!"
"She's alright," Rizzo said to the young kid. "You should have seen yourself!" Rizzo laughed even harder.
"Oh well, there goes my skating career. I just went from a 5.9 to a 0.0!" Peach giggled.
As Rizzo gazed down at Peach, she smiled up to him. _"Sei bella in ogni senso,"_ Rizzo said. _[You're beautiful in every way.]_
"I love when you speak to me in Italian."
Rizzo leaned down, nuzzled her nose and kissed her twice. _"Ti amo, Nunzia."[I love you, Nancy.]_
"_Ti amo, troppo."[I love you, too.]_
31. Two Steps Back
**Author's Note: Thanks to all for your continued reading and/or reviewing. Just for your information, Helen is Rizzo's mom; Marie is Rizzo's sister. Also, here's an interesting factual tidbit about the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. Ken Morrow was one of the defensemen who went onto play for the NY Islanders for many years. He was known as the man with the beard and was the only one where Herb allowed him to keep it. He was also ****the first player to win an Olympic Gold and NHL championship in one season. ****Anyway, there's some dialogue relating to Ken in this chapter. Special thanks to Nicole for her ideas for this chapter. Hope you enjoy.**
Two Steps Back
After they left the golf course, Rizzo and Peach went back to his house to hang out for a bit. As they took off their coats, they headed into the kitchen where Helen was starting to prepare dinner.
"Hey Mamma."
"Michael, you kids have fun?"
"Yeah, taught Nance how to skate."
"Oh, I see. So how many times did you fall, Nunzia?" Helen asked.
"Too many to mention," Peach chuckled as she sat on the chair rubbing her lower back.
"You okay, need ice?" Helen asked.
"No, I'm okay, Mrs. Eruzione, but thank you."
"Well, that's what you get for thinking you're Dorothy Hamill," Rizzo snickered as he took a sample of homemade tomato gravy. "Ow!" Rizzo yelped after Helen smacked him with the towel.
"Keep out of the gravy! It's for dinner."
"Did Pop bring home some sausage this week?"
"In the fridge."
"Great, I'm been craving a sausage and hot pepper sandwich all day!"
"Jeez Mike, can't you wait until dinner?" Peach rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm starved! I didn't have any lunch. You want some?" Rizzo asked as he pulled out the sausage and hot peppers from the refrigerator.
"No, I had a late breakfast."
"Are you sure – it's from Santarpio's?" Rizzo raised his eyebrows.
"Ooooh sounds tempting, but I'll pass."
"Come on, I was hoping we could finally have that rematch," Rizzo smirked as he started to cook the sausage and peppers in the frying pan.
"What rematch?" Helen shrugged.
"Oh, there was this contest this past summer on who could devour three whole pizzas the fastest without throwing up and I won," Peach explained.
"You beat my son in an eating contest? _E 'un miracolo! [It's a miracle!]_
"No Mamma, she cheated."
As Peach sighed, "You know Mike, I really wish you would give this up. I did not cheat. You barfed first, so you were out."
"You and Gary egged me on."
"There were no rules about that. Face it, you got outsmarted and can't take it!"
"Cheater!" Rizzo retorted.
"Sore loser!" Peach retorted back.
"_Polizia!" _Helen yelled. _[Stop!]_
"Well, she started it, Mamma."
"Puhleeze!" Peach scoffed.
"Alright, Michael Anthony, enough!" Helen chastised.
As Peach stuck out her tongue at Rizzo, Helen pointed the slotted spoon at her. "And that goes for you too Nancy, whatever your middle name is!"
"It's Rosalie, Mamma!" Rizzo snorted.
"I am soooooo sorry that I ever shared that with you, Mike!"
As Rizzo gave an evil laugh, he finished cooking the sausage and hot peppers. He put a little bit of tomato gravy on his roll and fixed the rest of his sandwich. "Hey Nance, you sure you don't want anything, maybe something to drink at least?"
"Okay, if you have any hot tea, that's fine."
"You like tea?" Helen asked. "I have plenty of flavors." Helen pulled out a box from the cupboard. "I have regular, decaf, Earl Grey, peppermint, chamomile."
"Oh, I love chamomile but that'll put me to sleep. I'll just take regular. Thank you."
"Yeah, can't fall asleep when we're going out to the disco tonight," Rizzo said.
"Oh, which one?" Peach asked.
"I don't know exactly. I'm still waiting for OC to call me, which reminds me Mamma, did Jack call?"
"Not since I've been home, although I was out earlier."
As Rizzo started to devour his sandwich, Peach couldn't help but giggle.
"And what are you laughing at?" Rizzo said as he took another bite of his sandwich.
"Hmmm . . . where do I start? You got some crumbs on that – what is that fuzz you got on your chin?"
"When I'm on vacation, I don't shave," Rizzo rubbed his chin.
"Well, it looks like you're trying to have a competition with Ken."
"I don't think I could ever catch up to Ken," Rizzo chuckled.
"Michael, that beard has gotta go; you look like a grizzly," Helen nodded her head as she was began to boil some water.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Eruzione. He'll have to shave it off once we get back. Herb doesn't allowed beards, except for Ken. He was allowed to keep his since he already had it."
As Peach giggled again, she rubbed her upper lip with her hand. "Now what?" Rizzo shrugged.
"That tomato sauce lipstick is very becoming on you, Mike. It's really your color."
As Rizzo licked his lips, "Nope, still there," Peach laughed harder.
"Oh yeah, maybe I need a little help getting it off," Rizzo said as he leaned over and kissed her hard on her lips.
"UGH! I can't believe you just did that!" Peach gasped as she pushed Rizzo away. "Oh God, I need an ice cube or some water fast! My lips are burning!"
"Michael, what did you do?" Helen said as she went to the refrigerator.
"She asked for it, Mamma."
As Helen walked over, "Here's some milk, Nunzia. This will help stop the burning." Rizzo was still laughing.
"Thank you. Shut up, Mike!"
"So is it off yet or should I kiss you again?" Rizzo laughed harder.
"You are unbelievable!" Peach yelled.
"Thank you, I do say myself! Oh, you got a little milk mustache there. You need help with getting that off," Rizzo snickered as he started to lean in towards Peach again.
"Get your hot pepper breath away from me! I can't believe you did that!" Peach yelled as she pushed him back.
"Did what?" Marie asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"Oh your brother is being a c_acasenno_ again!" Helen said as she smacked him with the towel. _[smartass]_
"What did you do now?" Marie rolled her eyes.
"He kissed her with hot peppers in his mouth!" Helen explained.
"Ewwww Michael, you're so gross! Just when I think you can't outdo yourself, you prove me wrong once again!" Marie scoffed as she poked her head into the refrigerator and pulled out an apple.
"Like I care!" Rizzo laughed wickedly. "By the way, did Jack call?"
"Nope, but Denise did," Marie raised her eyebrows as she bit into her apple and left the room.
* * *
Rizzo drove Peach back to her parents' house. During the drive back, there was an awkward silence during the entire time in the car. Rizzo sensed something was wrong and knew why. As pulled up in front of the house, he turned off the engine.
"Okay, let's get it over with!" Rizzo scoffed.
"Well, who is Denise? Is this another sister of yours that I don't know about? Oh, don't tell me, she's one of your many cousins, right?" Peach said sarcastically.
"Alright, knock it off!" Rizzo shouted back.
"Well, who the hell is she?"
"She's my ex-girlfriend."
"Yeah well, I kinda of figured that when Marie did a quick exit out of the kitchen. So what's going on, Mike?"
"There's nothing going on!"
"Then why is she calling you?
"How the hell should I know? I'm not psychic!"
"You find this humorous?"
"Oh, I find it hysterical that you're once again trying to make something out of nothing!"
As Peach rolled her eyes, "Nothing? Your ex-girlfriend calls out of the blue and that is nothing, but I am not supposed to react to this because it's nothing, right?"
"You see, there you go again – twisting my words into something that it's not. Bottom line – Denise and I dated for a while but we broke up, end of story."
"Well, how long ago since you broke up with her, was it recent?"
"Nance, what difference does it make? Have you been listening to me at all? We're not together anymore! Look, you can't get pissed because I had a former relationship with another woman, anymore than I can get mad about your past boyfriends, which I'm sure you've had."
"Yeah, but my ex-boyfriends aren't calling me now. So you're still friends and see each other when you're home? Was that the deal when you two broke up?"
As Rizzo's hands hit the steering wheel, "What the hell are you talking about? There's no deal! We broke up, period! I can't believe this, woman! You are blowing this way out of proportion to no end! You know me well enough to know that I would never do this to you and what hurts the most is that I just told you that I loved you today. Did that mean anything to you? When I say something, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. If you don't know that by now, then you don't know me at all!"
Peach fumbled with her words. "I – umm, it's just that –"
"Just that what?" Rizzo demanded.
"Once my trust has been broken, it's hard for me to trust again."
"So you don't trust me now?" Rizzo glared at her.
"I don't know; this is hard," Peach rubbed her eyes as she looked down.
"Well, that's what makes relationships hard since there's no guarantee that both can be trustworthy. Sometimes in life, you have to take that leap of faith and learn to trust your instincts. If you won't trust me, then this relationship is going nowhere."
"Well, we shouldn't be together anyway," Peach retorted.
"No, this isn't about that. Don't bring that factor into it. This is about you and me and no one else. You obviously have trust issues and that's something you're gonna have to resolve on your own. Either you trust me or you don't."
"I want to, but I can't."
"No, there's no can't. It's either you will or won't. There's no in between with this, Nancy."
"This is so hard to explain," Peach nodded her head.
"Then perhaps you should start explaining to me why is it you won't trust me."
As Peach sighed, "I – I dated this guy, Alex for about a year. I met him about a couple years ago. Anyway, one day Michelle told me that she saw Alex with another woman, and I just couldn't believe it until I saw them together outside his dorm kissing. It was like time stood still. Did I just see what I think I saw? I couldn't believe it. When I confronted him later, he denied it at first and said they were just friends. We fought and eventually the truth came out when I asked him how long this had been going on. He told me that they were high school sweethearts and saw each other every time he went home, but apparently that wasn't enough for her."
"Oh jeez," Rizzo interrupted.
"But this was the worst part – he accused me of getting him on the rebound. Hello, we dated for almost a year. How is that the rebound? It was like he was blaming me for cheating on me? That's why ever since then, it's been hard for me to trust again."
There was a short period of silence. Finally, Rizzo turned towards her. "Nancy, look at me." As Peach turned her face towards him, "I'm sorry this happened to you. This Alex sounds like a real prick, but I'm not him."
"I know, but I told you this so you could better understand why I reacted the way I did. I just don't want to be the victim of being the 'fool' or worse being accused of 'the rebound.'"
"You think you're getting me on the rebound?"
"Well, you still haven't told me how long it has been since you broke up with Denise."
"Alright, you wanna know? She broke up with me back in May. I couldn't accept it at first. I mean, we've dated since junior high."
"Well, what happened?" Peach asked.
"For starters, she never supported my hockey career, but it was more to it than that. In a nutshell, she stopped believing in me. She lost faith in us. At the time, I was crushed when I lost Denise. I couldn't picture my life without her."
"That's understandable; you had a long history with her. That's why I would totally understand if you did reconcile with her."
"Nancy, Denise and I may have had a long history, but there is no chance of us getting back together, which has nothing to do with you, by the way. And you know something else? Nobody knows this, not even my family or friends. We might've broken up earlier this year, but the truth is – it's been over longer than I care to admit to. Sometimes, couples drift apart. Their goals change and want different things. The hardest thing I realized was letting her go and starting over. After we broke up, I never thought that I could ever learn to trust and to love again, but a funny thing happened along the way."
"What?"
"I met this incredible woman with a gorgeous smile who drove me crazy from the start who I couldn't stand and no matter how much I yelled at her at the beginning, she would always apologize and make me feel a little better even when I was at my worst."
"I was doing my job, Mike."
"It was more than just your job. You gave me friendship. You gave me support when I needed it the most. That's something I never had in a relationship."
"I'm such a jerk, Mike. I'm so sorry," Peach sobbed.
"I'm sorry, too."
"For what? I'm the one that freaked out here. I'm surprised you didn't throw me out of your car," Peach said wiping her tears.
"Nunzia, promise me something," Rizzo said as he cupped her face.
"Anything."
"Please don't ever lose faith in us, no matter how tough it gets. Never doubt our love, okay?"
"I won't. I do love you."
"I love you, too." As Rizzo leaned in, he kissed her tenderly as she allowed him to wrap his arms around her waist.
As he released her lips, he nuzzled her nose as she smiled back at him. "There's that gorgeous smile that I fell in love with. Come on, let's get you out of this cold, so we can get ready for the disco tonight."
32. Disco
**Author's Note: First and foremost, my extreme apologies for the long term absence from this story. I've been meaning to update for quite some time but no excuses and understand if all interest has totally been lost. Thanks for all your continued reviews this past year; as always, it is deeply appreciated. I got some of my ideas for this chapter from the movies, The Wedding Singer and Grumpy Old Men. Enjoy!**
Disco
Later that night, Rizzo walked out of his bedroom after getting ready for the evening. He passed his parents who were sitting in the living room.
"Michael, where you off to?" Jeep asked as he put down his newspaper.
"I'm meeting up with some of the guys from the team," Rizzo replied as walked into the living room.
"Yo Riz – you ready, man?" Tony Jr. shouted from downstairs.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute," Rizzo yelled back.
"Tony's going with you?" Helen asked as she raised her eyebrow.
"Don't worry Mamma, I'm driving."
"Good, he drives like he's in the Indy 500," Helen said with relief.
"Hey, are you stopping by Santarpio's this week? Everyone has been asking for you," Jeep asked.
"Actually, I'm going to head over there tomorrow night for dinner."
"Good, they've been dying to see you."
"Be careful, Michael," Helen said.
"I will; good night," Rizzo said as he kissed his mother on the forehead.
Rizzo and Tony Jr. went over to a disco club, Who's On First, that Rizzo went to frequently when he went to BU. As they went into the club, several people were dancing to "Get Down Tonight" on the dance floor. They noticed Silky and OC right away and headed over to where they were sitting at the bar.
"Yo Rizzo, how was your holiday?" Silky asked.
"Great! How was yours?"
"Oh, the usual."
"What about you, OC?" Rizzo asked.
"Let's just say that I'm glad that I get to sleep late and get home cooked meals from my mom that have no meatballs in them."
"Yeah, well you don't seem to have a problem with eating them when I make them," Rizzo chuckled and ordered a couple beers.
"So Rizzo, where's Peach? I thought she was coming with you," Silky asked.
"I was going to pick her up, but she insisted in meeting us here. She is coming with her friend, Michelle."
"So tell me again why we're all meeting here? I thought we were going to Boston Boston," Silky said.
"I suggested it, but Mother here thinks you know it's a little bit," OC started to explain.
"Too hard to get into that club," Rizzo finished.
"Oh come on Cuz, it's not that bad during the week. Maybe we can head out after we all meet up. That's a way more happening place," Tony Jr. said.
"Thank you," OC agreed.
"Forget it! That place is also too raunchy to meet up with the others. Don't forget, Coxie is also meeting us here with his girl."
As the guys groaned, "How would you like a little cheese with that whine?" Rizzo countered.
"So how are you and Peach getting along?" Tony Jr. asked.
"Good. I taught her how to skate today at the sandtrap."
"Okay, so how many times did she fall?" OC snickered.
"She fell a few times but then got the hang of it and was spinning around by herself until she fell again. It was too funny," Rizzo laughed.
"Poor thing, she must have one sore tush," Silky said.
"Then, she'll just have to sit on my lap and I'll massage it," Tony Jr. suggested as OC and Silky laughed.
"Yeah right, in your dreams, but then again, she did say that you're cute," Rizzo said.
"Really? She said that?" Tony Jr. smiled with a curious look.
"NO!" Rizzo laughed.
"Hook, line and sinker!" Silky joshed.
"Yeah, I guess I deserved that. So any other action there, Cuz?" Tony Jr. asked as he raised his eyebrow and took a sip of his beer.
Rizzo just chuckled.
"Come on Riz, it's just us guys now. I mean, did you finally put the hot dog in the bun like I told you to?" OC smirked as Silky chuckled.
"Or at least take one-eye to the optometrist," Tony Jr. added.
As Silky busted out laughing, "Man, I love your analogies but come on guys, you know he's never gonna give you a direct answer, at least not that way."
"Oh yeah, you gotta better way to put it?" OC countered.
"Well, we're in a baseball joint, I mean – first base, Rizzo?" Silky smiled.
As Rizzo took another sip of his beer, he just simply smiled.
"Second base?" OC raised his eyebrows.
"THIRD BASE?" Tony Jr. shouted.
"What's third base again?" OC shrugged.
"You don't know what third base is?" Tony Jr. shook his head.
"Well, it goes like this –" OC started.
"Oh chripe, here we go," Silky nodded his head.
"I mean, when I'm rounding second, I kinda forget about third and just knock over the pitcher and slide into home," OC finished with a satisfied grin.
"And who's the umpire?" Tony Jr. asked.
"The poor girl's father," Rizzo smirked as the rest of the guys busted out laughing.
"Hey guys!" Coxie said.
The rest of the guys still cracked up with laughter.
"Hello!" Coxie yelled again.
"Hey Ralph! Good to see you man!" Rizzo shaked his hand.
"Hey guys, this is my girlfriend, Mary."
"Hey Mary, glad to finally meet you," Rizzo extended his hand to shake hers.
"Nice meeting you too, ummm," Mary studdered.
"Oh sorry Hon, this is Mike, Jack, Dave and Tony, right?"
"Yeah, great to see you again," Tony Jr. said as he shook Coxie's hand.
"So what was so funny?" Coxie asked.
"Oh you know, OC being his normal self," Rizzo chuckled.
"Oh speak no further. Can I get you a drink, Hon?" Coxie asked.
"Yeah, get me a 7&7," Mary said.
* * *
Meanwhile, Michelle picked up Peach at her house and headed over to the disco club.
"So, I'm finally gonna meet this guy – what's his name again?" Michelle asked.
"Mike but everyone calls him Rizzo," Peach replied.
"So has Rizzo met your family yet? I'm dying to know what your dad thinks of him."
"Everybody has met him, except Dad."
"Hmmm, I see. Well, that certainly explains why you wanted me to pick you up instead of him."
"Please, can we change the subject?" Peach suggested.
"Okay, onto my favorite subject – any good in the sack?" Michelle smiled.
"I told you we haven't."
"Come on Nance, I still can't believe you haven't closed the deal yet with this guy."
"Well, we came close a couple times but actually, I'm glad we didn't. It kind of taught me a lesson that there's more to a relationship than sex and shouldn't be rushed into," Peach explained.
"Save the speech, please. I have heard that too many times."
"When you find the right guy, you'll change your mind about that," Peach chuckled.
"Yeah well, I don't see that happening anytime soon," Michelle laughed. "You know, I must say that I'm surprised that you're getting involved with another athlete again. I thought after Alex, you swore off athletes."
"Mike is different. He's, he's just different from any man I've ever dated. He just makes me feel so secure and happy."
"Oh no! I don't like the sound of this. You're falling for this guy already," Michelle nodded her head.
"Oh, I know I have."
"Well you haven't said the "L" word yet, did you?"
"We both did today."
"Oh no, no, no and no! Haven't I taught you anything right?" Michelle exclaimed in disgust.
"Shell, come on," Peach giggled.
"Well, how can you tell someone that you love them if you haven't done the nasty deed yet. I mean, you don't even know if he's any good in the sack."
"Sex isn't everything, Shell."
"No, it's the only thing," Michelle corrected as Peach rolled her eyes. "I still watch your back if I were you. You see first hand how athletes are, especially on the road."
"Mike is not like that. I completely trust him."
"Please, he's a guy, ain't he?"
"Look Shell, you don't know Mike the way I do, okay!"
"Okay, take it easy; take it easy!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap; it's just we got in a fight earlier today because I thought he was cheating on me with his ex-girlfriend."
"Well, that's no surprise. I mean besides the bunnies, they always have their long timers at home whether it be the wife, fiancée, or long time girlfriend."
"Like I said, he's not like that. Besides, you should've seen the genuine look of hurt on his face when I accused him of cheating on me. I never want to hurt him like that again."
"Look, all joking aside, I know I'm gonna sound like your mom right now. I just don't wanna see you get hurt having fallen for this guy way too fast, not to mention he's a member of the team you're treating."
"Don't worry, it's all good now and we're only together when we're off," Peach reassured.
As they finally arrived at the club, Michelle parked and locked the car and they walked towards the entrance.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, who else is going?"
"Just a few other members of the team and his cousin."
"Cute?" Michelle raised her eyebrow.
"You'll find out soon enough; just try to behave yourself."
"Don't I always?" Michelle chuckled and Peach just nodded her head as they both walked into the club.
As they walked in, "It Only Takes a Minute Girl" was being played by the DJ. As Peach spotted Rizzo, she smiled and waved.
As Michelle leaned over to Peach's ear, "That's him?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm…he's cute. Gotta a nice ass."
"Yeah, Grandmom Lizzie thinks so, too."
"That's why I love her! So who's the guy on the right?" Michelle raised her eyebrow.
"That's Jack O'Callahan; everyone calls him OC. Word of warning – stay away from him!"
"Of course, I won't!"
Peach and Michelle made their way through the dance crowd and headed over to the others hanging out at the bar. "Rock The Boat" was now being played by the DJ. Rizzo wrapped his one arm around Peach's waist and kissed her.
"Hello gorgeous!" Rizzo smiled as he released her from his embrace.
"Hey, you look great!"
"Hey Peachy!" OC shouted.
"Hey OC!" As she turned towards Michelle, "Mike, this is Michelle, my best friend since the 7th grade."
"Nice to finally meet you Michelle," Rizzo shook her hand.
"Same here," Michelle shook his hand back.
"And this is Jack, Dave and Ralph," Peach continued the introductions.
"Hey Michelle," OC smiled.
"Hi, nice to meet you all of you," Michelle smiled back.
"Oh I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met. I'm Nancy."
"Oh sorry, Peach, this is my girlfriend, Mary," Coxie said.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Mary said.
"So can I get you a drink, Babe?" Rizzo asked.
"Sure; Shell, what do you want?" Peach turned and asked.
"Actually, I wanna dance for now. I love this song!" Michelle exclaimed as she pulled Peach on the dance floor.
"Cute ass and knows how to dance," OC smiled.
"Cool it, Romeo," Rizzo advised as he took another sip of his beer.
"What?" OC shrugged.
As Peach and Michelle continued to dance, she waved for Rizzo to join her but he nodded "no".
"Go on, Rizzo!" Silky elbowed.
"I know my limits; I don't dance."
"Well, I do," OC replied as he joined Peach and Michelle on the dance floor. Just then, the music changed to "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel."
"I'm in heaven!" OC exclaimed.
"Is he always this way?" Mary nodded her head.
"Afraid so, Hon," Coxie chuckled.
"Well, I'd be in heaven too if I was dancing with two beautiful women," Tony Jr. said as he tilted his head to the left. "Yo Riz, see that blonde at the end of the bar? She's in trouble and she don't even know it yet."
"Is that so?" Rizzo chuckled. "Still wanna be like Fonzie, don't ya?"
"Yes, I do," Tony Jr. smiled at the blonde.
"Well, you're on your way. Go get her Cuz!" Rizzo patted him on his shoulder.
"We're not gonna bail him out later, are we?" Silky rolled his eyes.
"Let him be; he's in his element now," Rizzo laughed.
As the evening rolled on, everyone moved to a table and continued to drink and eat some appetizers, except Tony Jr. who was still talking to the blonde he met earlier. OC bought another drink for Michelle as they continued to talk more. The DJ finally turned to a slower song as "Swaying To The Music" was now being played.
"Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?" Rizzo said as he gave her a quick kiss.
"Oh, I think at least four times," Peach giggled. "So you think you can handle a slow dance?"
"Okay my sweet, just don't get mad if I step on your feet."
"Come on my poet," Peach intertwined her fingers with Rizzo and led him onto the dance floor. Michelle and OC quickly joined them as well as Coxie and Mary.
"So how am I doing?" Rizzo asked after a few minutes.
"You're doing fine but you're supposed to lead, not me," Peach giggled.
"Like I said, I don't wanna step on your feet. So what do you think of those two?" Rizzo asked Peach as he motioned to Michelle and OC.
"Well, I don't know who I should be more concerned for – OC or Michelle," Peach giggled as Rizzo laughed back.
As they continue to slow dance, Rizzo rubbed his hands down her back. Peach responded by reaching up and stroking his hair.
"I'm sorry about –" Peach started.
"No, no," Rizzo quickly shushed her as he put his finger on her lips. "That's over and done with; let's not waste our time dwelling on that."
"I know; I just want you to know that I'll never mistrust you again." As Peach whispered in his ear, "Ti amo." _[I __love __you.]_
"I love you too, Nunzia," Rizzo nuzzled her nose and kissed her.
"Get a room!" OC yelled.
"Yeah and a couple of trojans," Michelle whispered to OC as they both laughed.
"They make a cute couple," Mary smiled up to Coxie.
"Yeah well, they're just enjoying the time they have for now," Coxie explained.
End file.
| fanfiction |
qsos probe the universe at the epoch of galaxy formation .
their strong , broad emission lines arise predominantly from photoionization of high speed gas ( @xmath5 km s@xmath2 to @xmath6 km s@xmath2 ) at @xmath7 to @xmath6 gravitational radii from a supermassive black hole ( @xmath8 m@xmath9 ) .
the emission line spectrum therefore promises to reveal the accretion mechanism , the origin of the fuel , and links with the host galaxy evolution .
in addition , baldwin ( 1977 ) discovered a relationship between line equivalent width and luminosity , suggesting that the luminosity may be determined directly from the spectrum , hence providing an important test of cosmological models at high redshift , @xmath10 .
forty years after qsos discovery , these promises have yet to be fulfilled .
there are two main , related , reasons for this .
( i ) even in the nearby lower - luminosity agn , the broad line region ( blr ) remains unresolved and its structure can be inferred only indirectly .
for example , reverberation mapping has shown that light - travel times from the central continuum source increase with decreasing ionization ( from a few light days , to light months , e.g. , netzer & peterson 1997 ) .
emission line strengths and the fact that absorption along the line - of - sight to the continuum source occurs only sometimes , show that only a few percent of the center is covered by blr gas , and the global filling factor is very small .
( ii ) to first order , emission - line ratios of all uv - optically selected qsos are surprisingly similar .
@xcite successfully reproduced the average qso spectrum showing that their similarity was the result of powerful selection .
given a blr with a wide range of gas density , column density and ionizing flux , different emission lines are formed predominantly in gas with different physical conditions optimal for their formation .
thus the integrated line properties of the blr spectrum are quite insensitive to the density , ionization , and column density of blr gas .
this is true of any blr model that exhibits a range of density at each radius ; thus the integrated properties of the blr can not clearly distinguish among multi - cloud models @xcite , disk - wind models @xcite , stellar wind , or bloated stellar atmosphere models ( e.g. , scoville & norman 1988 ; alexander & netzer 1994 ) .
in important details , however , spectra of qsos are not all similar . rather than comparing models with average line profiles and line ratios
, we can learn more from direct observations of the dependence of qso spectra on observed parameters that may be related directly to the central engine .
these dependences , including velocity information across the broad line profiles , provide a powerful tool that has yet to be fully exploited .
two striking sets of relationships have been found , relating qsos optical uv emission lines and soft x - ray continua with fundamental properties of the central engine .
one is the baldwin relationship between equivalent widths of emission lines from the blr , and the luminous power output , l. the other set is the `` principal component 1 '' ( also called `` eigenvector 1 '' ) relationships , which appear to be related to the eddington ratio .
these relationships may allow us to explore the accretion history of qsos and , ultimately , the formation of galaxy spheroids .
the baldwin effect is an inverse relationship between the equivalent widths of qsos broad emission lines ew , and the uv continuum luminosity l , ew @xmath11 l@xmath12 , spanning 7 orders of magnitude in luminosity .
it was originally derived using the civ@xmath31549 line @xcite , and the continuum luminosity at 1549 .
other lines show baldwin relationships ( e.g. , kinney , rivolo , & koratkar 1990 , espey & andreadis 1999 ) , with @xmath4 = @xmath13 to @xmath14 , the slope apparently increasing with increasing ionization potential .
the `` line cores '' ( emission from low velocity gas ) contribute more than the line wings ( francis et al .
hereinafter , fhfc ; osmer , porter , & green 1994 ; francis & koratkar 1995 ; brotherton & francis 1999 ) .
it has been suggested that the baldwin effect results from a luminosity - dependent spectral energy distribution , ionization parameter , covering factor , or is the result of inclination @xcite .
the original hope was that qso luminosity could be determined from line equivalent widths , and that the resulting l @xmath10 relationship could be used to discriminate among cosmological models .
however , so far , observed baldwin relationships show too much scatter . in a principal component analysis ( pca ) of direct , integrated , line measurements in the h@xmath4 region of 87 low @xmath10 qsos , boroson & green ( 1992 , hereinafter , bg92 ) discovered that most of the spectrum - to - spectrum variance , represented by the first principal component ( eigenvector 1 , hereinafter , bgpc1 ) , links a number of variables : decreasing broad h@xmath4 line width corresponds to stronger feii optical emission ( feii(opt ) ) , weaker [ oiii]@xmath35007 emission , and increasing h@xmath4 asymmetry from stronger red to stronger blue wings .
bg92 suggested that the feii(opt ) [ oiii ] anticorrelation arose from an increase in covering factor of dense feii - emitting gas , resulting in an increase in the eddington accretion ratio .
the case for higher eddington ratios was especially supported by the laor et al .
( 1994 , 1997 , hereinafter , l94 , l97 ) inclusion of x - ray spectral index @xmath15 in this principal component : steeper @xmath15 corresponds to narrower h@xmath4 etc . in a virial interpretation of h@xmath4 width ,
narrower h@xmath4 would correspond to smaller black - hole mass , hence higher eddington ratio ; steeper @xmath15 corresponds to higher eddington ratios as inferred for galactic black hole candidates @xcite . also using a pca on integrated line measurements
, @xcite showed that these relationships extend to the uv : stronger feii(opt ) corresponds to a larger ratio siiii]@xmath31892/ciii]@xmath31909 indicating higher densities , also weaker civ@xmath31549 , stronger nv@xmath31240 , stronger siiv+oiv]@xmath31400 feature , and other properties .
the support for a virial interpretation of h@xmath4 line widths has further strengthened the case for an eddington ratio interpretation of these bgpc1 relationships ( boroson 2002 , hereinafter , b02 ) the discovery of supermassive black holes in nearby massive galaxies @xcite and the proportionality between m@xmath16 and spheroid masses @xcite has allowed the calibration of virial masses in nearby qsos and active galaxies @xcite .
thus , the velocity width of the broad h@xmath4 emission line , and a nuclear distance for the h@xmath4-emitting gas derived from reverberation mapping or photoionization modeling @xcite , allow the measurement of m@xmath16 , hence the calculation of the maximum ( eddington ) accretion luminosity , l@xmath17 , and the eddington accretion ratio , l / l@xmath18 . comparison of the space density of local black holes with that of qsos at the peak of their luminous output near @xmath19 2 3 , shows that nearby galaxies harbor the black - hole relics of qso activity ( e.g. , marconi & salvati 2002 ; fabian 1999 ; gilli , salvati , & hasinger 2001 ) .
together with the m@xmath16 spheroid mass relationship
this then points to an interrelated evolutionary history for qsos and massive galaxies ( e.g. , fabian 1999 ; silk & rees 1998 ) .
thus an understanding of the above principal component relationships is important for understanding galaxy evolution . in this paper
we extend the above analyses , carrying out a spectral principal component analysis ( spca ) on the essentially complete sample of optical - uv spectra of 22 qsos , the same sample that we used for the pca on integrated line measurements described above .
we briefly describe the sample , observations and reductions in [ obs ] . in [ spca ]
we describe the technique of spectral pca .
the results of the spca are presented in [ results ] .
we first reproduce the main results of the bg92 pca to illustrate the power of spca .
the principal component spectra covering the ly@xmath0 to h@xmath0 region give a striking visual impression of the relationships among optical and uv emission lines of different ionization stage and critical density .
such broad band coverage is essential for investigating relationships involving broad - band features such as the entire optical - uv spectral energy distribution , the balmer continuum and the blended feii(uv ) emission ( `` small blue bump '' ) .
we include some spca simulations to illustrate the non - linear effects of line profile relationships . in [ disc ]
we discuss the distinctness and separation of the emission - line spectral components , and the interpretation of the `` intermediate line region '' and `` very broad line region '' as presented by francis , brotherton , and collaborators .
we summarize our results in [ summ ] , mentioning some implications for future research , in particular , the usefulness of spca for reducing scatter in baldwin relationships , and in tracking the evolution of eddington ratios in qsos .
complementary analyses for our qso sample , including results of pca on direct , integrated , parameters , have been presented by @xcite , @xcite , wills et al .
( 1999b , c ) , & @xcite .
we have observed optical - uv spectra for 22 of the 23 pg qsos making up the complete optically selected sample investigated by l94 and l97 .
laor et al .
selected all qsos from the bright quasar survey ( bqs ) @xcite with redshift @xmath20 and a galactic hydrogen column density n@xmath21@xmath22 @xmath23 .
this sample should be representative of low - redshift , optically selected qsos , but subject to the same incompleteness as the bqs @xcite .
the qsos in the sample are listed in table 1 along with their redshifts , magnitudes , and other parameters .
the low redshift ensures observational access to the soft x - rays nearest the wavelength of the ionizing continuum . the low galactic absorption and brightness of this low redshift sample enable accurate determination of the intrinsic soft x - ray and uv spectra .
in addition the low redshift and uv coverage allows investigation of the ly@xmath0 region , with much reduced confusion from intergalactic absorption lines . for the ultraviolet region
, we obtained _ hubble space telescope _ ( hst ) faint object spectrograph ( fos ) spectrophotometry for 16 qsos and used archival fos data for 6 qsos , covering wavelengths from below ly@xmath0 to beyond the atmospheric cutoff near 3200 in the observed frame red wing . ] .
instrumental resolution is equivalent to @xmath1230 km s@xmath2 ( fwhm ) .
the fos pipeline calibration is described at http://www.stecf.org/poa/fos/index.html .
optical data were obtained at mcdonald observatory , generally with the large cassegrain spectrograph on the harlan j. smith 2.7 m telescope , supplemented by some from the hst fos .
we were usually able to get quasi - simultaneous optical observations , within a month of the new hst observations , to reduce the uncertainty caused by qso intrinsic variability .
observations were made through narrow ( 1 2 ) and wide ( 8) slits .
standard stars were observed several times each night .
they were chosen from the spectral standard stars for hst calibration @xcite to ensure consistent calibration between uv and optical data .
usually 23 spectra for each object are required to cover wavelength ranges from below 3200 to beyond h@xmath0 .
instrumental resolution for the optical spectra is @xmath17 fwhm , equivalent to 450 km s@xmath2 to @xmath1250 km s@xmath2 ( fwhm ) in the h@xmath4 to h@xmath0 region .
higher resolution spectra ( @xmath24 km s@xmath2 fwhm ) of the feii(opt)h@xmath4[oiii ] region were obtained with the same spectrograph and telescope at mcdonald observatory and are used only to determine the redshifts of most of the sample qsos with sufficiently strong [ oiii ] lines .
standard packages in iraf were used to reduce the data .
wavelength calibration was done by using comparison spectra .
for some spectra , it was necessary to shift the wavelength scale to match the wavelengths of night sky lines .
spectrophotometric calibration was achieved by : 1 ) using standard star spectra to calibrate qso spectra to an absolute flux - density scale , 2 ) scaling the narrow slit qso spectra to match the shape and absolute flux - density level of the wide slit qso spectra .
the photometric accuracy is @xmath15% .
rlrrccrrr pg0947 + 396 & 0.2056 & 16.40 & @xmath251.510 & 4830 & 30.33 & 3.67 & @xmath252.73 & @xmath251.65 + pg0953 + 414 & 0.2341 & 15.05 & @xmath251.570 & 3130 & 30.59 & 7.31 & @xmath250.99 & @xmath250.88 + pg1001 + 054 & 0.1603 & 16.13 & @xmath252.800 & 1740 & 29.73 & & & + pg1114 + 445 & 0.1440 & 16.05 & @xmath250.880 & 4570 & 29.80 & & & + pg1115 + 407 & 0.1541 & 16.02 & @xmath251.890 & 1720 & 30.08 & @xmath252.37 & @xmath256.06 & 2.46 + pg1116 + 215 & 0.1759 & 15.17 & @xmath251.730 & 2920 & 30.67 & @xmath252.21 & @xmath252.55 & 0.66 + pg1202 + 281 & 0.1651 & 15.02 & @xmath251.220 & 5050 & 29.51 & & & + pg1216 + 069 & 0.3319 & 15.68 & @xmath251.360 & 5190 & 30.69 & @xmath250.22 & 7.96 & @xmath252.26 + pg1226 + 023 & 0.1575 & 12.86 & @xmath250.942 & 3520 & 31.37 & @xmath258.39 & @xmath251.79 & 2.19 + pg1309 + 355 & 0.1823 & 15.45 & @xmath251.510 & 2940 & 30.21 & @xmath2510.15 & 7.36 & @xmath250.67 + pg1322 + 659 & 0.1675 & 15.86 & @xmath251.690 & 2790 & 30.02 & 6.48 & 3.63 & @xmath250.27 + pg1352 + 183 & 0.1510 & 15.71 & @xmath251.524 & 3600 & 30.04 & 2.98 & @xmath254.26 & @xmath250.67 + pg1402 + 261 & 0.165 & 15.57 & @xmath251.930 & 1910 & 30.40 & @xmath251.19 & @xmath254.59 & 3.62 + pg1411 + 442 & 0.0895 & 14.99 & @xmath251.970 & 2670 & 29.56 & & & + pg1415 + 451 & 0.1143 & 15.74 & @xmath251.740 & 2620 & 29.72 & 6.80 & 3.92 & 2.16 + pg1425 + 267 & 0.3637 & 15.67 & @xmath250.940 & 9410 & 30.42 & @xmath255.01 & 1.29 & @xmath256.59 + pg1427 + 480 & 0.2203 & 16.33 & @xmath251.410 & 2540 & 30.20 & 7.94 & @xmath251.50 & @xmath252.84 + pg1440 + 356 & 0.0773 & 15.00 & @xmath252.080 & 1450 & 29.90 & 7.33 & 6.16 & 7.71 + pg1444 + 407 & 0.267 & 15.95 & @xmath251.910 & 2480 & 30.63 & @xmath259.49 & 1.75 & 2.32 + pg1512 + 370 & 0.3700 & 15.97 & @xmath251.210 & 6810 & 30.66 & @xmath250.02 & @xmath250.03 & @xmath257.01 + pg1543 + 489 & 0.400 & 16.05 & @xmath252.110 & 1560 & 30.75 & @xmath256.27 & @xmath252.96 & 2.83 + pg1626 + 554 & 0.1317 & 16.17 & @xmath251.940 & 4490 & 30.11 & 2.81 & @xmath254.61 & @xmath251.12 + uv and optical spectra for each object were then combined in the observed frame . before combination ,
some spectra were scaled by a few percent to match , in the overlap region , the continuum level of the spectrum with the best flux - density calibration , usually the hst spectra .
galactic reddening was removed using the hi column densities n@xmath21 from accurate 21 cm data ( references in l94 , l97 ) and an empirical relationship n@xmath21@xmath26 e ( ) @xmath23 @xcite .
the column densities are low with uncertainties of @xmath27 @xmath23 , insuring small corrections for galactic absorption , especially in the uv .
the error in flux density introduced by this correction is less than 2% even at the shortest wavelengths .
the dominant uncertainty in flux density arises from the scatter in the n@xmath21 e(b - v ) relationship , and is @xmath112% in the worst case , but generally significantly less .
after subtraction of optical feii emission blends with the same feii template and method used by bg92 , we used the higher resolution spectra to define a rest - frame wavelength scale referred to a wavelength of 5006.8 for [ oiii ] and applied the redshift to the combined spectra .
redshifts for other qsos were obtained from the lower resolution spectra in this study ( table [ sample ] ) .
we present our combined spectra in fig .
[ allspectra1 ] .
principal component analysis ( pca ) is a powerful tool for multivariate analysis .
given a sample of @xmath28 qsos , each with @xmath29 measured variables , @xmath30 ( e.g. , line width , luminosity , soft x - ray spectral index @xmath15 , etc . )
, pca defines a set of @xmath29 new orthogonal variables pc@xmath31 .
the pc@xmath31 are linear combinations of the original variables : @xmath32 ordered according to the fraction of the total sample variance accounted for by each pc@xmath31 , e.g. , pc@xmath33 accounts for more variance than any other , pc@xmath34 accounts for the next largest amount of variance , etc .. if there are strong linear relationships among the original variables , each of these relationships will be represented by a principal component , and fewer principal components will be required to describe the total variation among qsos , thus providing a simpler description of the dataset . if the measured variables are unrelated , there will still be @xmath29 pc@xmath31s ; but no simplification will result ; nothing will have been accomplished .
the hope is that any pc@xmath31 accounting for a significant fraction of the total sample variance might be related to one or more underlying fundamental physical parameters , giving some physical insight into the cause of the variations ( see bg92 , b02 ) .
the pca technique is explained in more detail and applied to integrated , direct , measurements of the present sample of 22 spectra , by @xcite and @xcite . in spectral pca ( spca ) , the whole spectrum is divided into @xmath29 small wavelength bins , and each input variable @xmath30 is the flux in the @xmath35th wavelength bin .
the @xmath36th principal component from this analysis can be represented as spectra of the coefficients @xmath37 of each @xmath30 ( see [ results ] ) .
features of the same sign in the @xmath37 spectrum are positively correlated , while those with opposite sign are anticorrelated .
one of the advantages of spca is that correlations can be investigated without parameterizing the line profiles or defining the continua .
in addition , unlike the `` composite spectrum analysis '' which shows average qso properties , the spca analysis keeps the information for individual qsos , e.g. , the weights of the principal component spectra for each qso ( table [ sample ] ) . the original ( normalized ) spectra in the sample can therefore be reconstructed by adding the weighted principal component spectra to the mean spectrum .
the spca technique is described in more detail by fhfc and references therein .
we have rebinned the rest - frame spectra in equal logarithmic wavelength intervals , representing equal intervals in velocity space .
individual spectra are first normalized by their mean flux density ; this means that the resultant principal component spectra represent flux density variations relative to this mean for emission lines the integral over the line in the principal component spectra represents essentially equivalent width variations .
next , the mean and standard deviation spectra are formed , and the mean spectrum subtracted from each qso spectrum .
this is equivalent to moving the dataset to the origin of the multidimensional space represented by the @xmath30 .
we used the code developed by fhfc ( http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/`~`pfrancis/ ) .
the resulting principal components are ordered according to the fraction of the total sample variance that they account for .
we first apply spca to our sample in the h@xmath4 region and compare the results ( fig .
[ optspca ] ) with the well known bgpc1 . as expected , the strong anticorrelation between [ oiii]@xmath35007 and feii appears in the first principal component , indicated by the oppositely directed [ oiii ] and feii features
. the `` w '' shape of h@xmath4 in the first principal component indicates that the width of h@xmath4 increases with increasing [ oiii ] equivalent width ( see [ sim ] for simulations ) .
the second principal component shows that the equivalent widths of the balmer lines are correlated with each other and these lines are narrower than in the mean spectrum .
neither principal component is exactly equivalent to bg92 s principal components 1 and 2 because they used integrated line measurements and other parameters in their pca analysis , such as absolute magnitude m@xmath38 and optical x - ray spectral index @xmath39 .
we next apply spca to the sample over the wavelength range from ly@xmath0 to h@xmath0 .
the three absorption - line qsos ( pg1001 + 054 , pg1114 + 445 and pg1411 + 442 ) and pg1202 + 281 , which is an extreme object in the sample , are excluded from this analysis with broad wavelength coverage ( for details , see [ bal ] ) .
the results using 18 objects are presented here .
the principal component spectra are shown in fig .
[ spca ] , where they are compared with the mean and standard - deviation spectra . compared with the mean spectrum
, the standard deviation spectrum has stronger emission from low velocity gas .
h@xmath4 shows a narrow component and a broad component with a stronger blue wing .
the ly@xmath0@xmath31216 and nv@xmath31240 lines are more clearly resolved than in the mean spectrum ; similarly the siiii]@xmath31892 and ciii]@xmath31909 emission lines .
mgii@xmath32798 appears not to follow this pattern .
feii emission near h@xmath4 shows some sharper features in the standard deviation spectrum than in the mean spectrum , indicating that feii emission also has different kinematic components . that the line cores contribute most to spectrum - to - spectrum variance
has been noted before ( e.g. , fhfc ; brotherton et al .
the concave shape of the overall standard deviation spectrum arises simply from the dispersion of continuum slopes among individual spectra , because each is normalized by its mean flux density .
the total variance of the sample is the sum of the intrinsic variance and the variance from the observational and instrumental noise in the original spectra .
we are interested in the intrinsic variance .
we first estimate the contribution from noise , for each qso spectrum .
we create a noise spectrum by shifting the original spectrum by two pixels , form the difference spectrum of the two , remove sharp spikes around strong line features , and divide by @xmath40 .
we then calculate the noise contribution to the variance by summing the squares of the fluxes of each bin in the noise spectrum .
we then calculate the total variance for each qso spectrum , by summing the squares of the differences between that spectrum and the mean spectrum .
similarly we calculate the variance between each observed spectrum , and its reconstruction derived from the mean plus the principal component spectra appropriately weighted for that qso . after removing the noise contribution
, we calculate the fraction of the total intrinsic variance accounted for by the addition of each subsequent principal component , as described by fhfc .
the results are summarized for the whole spectrum , the uv , and the 2100 6607.5 region , in table [ pcfrac ] .
we find that the first , second , and third components account for 41% , 23% , and 14% of the total intrinsic variance , for a total of 78% of the intrinsic variance .
lccc component(s ) & + & 11716607.5 & 11712100 & 21006607.5 + spc1 & 0.41 & 0.49 & 0.08 + spc2 & 0.23 & 0.18 & 0.44 + spc3 & 0.14 & 0.13 & 0.20 + spc3 - 10 & 0.31 & 0.29 & 0.41 + the most striking feature of the first principal component spectrum ( fig
. [ spca ] , spc1 ) is the correlation of the flux from gas of relatively low radial velocity ( hereinafter `` line - core component '' ) .
the widths ( fwhm ) of the emission line features in this component are given in table [ fwhm ] , and are typically 2000 km s@xmath2 when corrected for blended doublets .
by contrast heii@xmath34686 is very broad , with fwhm @xmath41 km s@xmath2 .
the peaks of these features are at the systemic redshift and are symmetric .
relative to these narrow profiles , the broad line profiles of the mean spectrum appear to have a blue - shifted `` base '' , at least for ly@xmath0 and civ ( fig .
[ blueshift ] ) as noted in higher - redshift spectra by fhfc and @xcite .
lccc & & + line & fwhm & corr .
fwhm & fwhm + ly@xmath0 & 1940 & @xmath42 & 2910 + nv@xmath431238,1242 & 3150 & 2911 & @xmath42 + civ@xmath431548,1550 & 2390 & 2313 & 3680 + ciii]@xmath31909 & 2390 & @xmath42 & 4480 + mgii@xmath432796,2803 & 1370 : & 970 : & 2860 + h@xmath44 & 2370 : & @xmath42 & 2760 + h@xmath45 & 2250 & @xmath42 & 3400 + heii@xmath34686 & 4880 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 + h@xmath4 & 1680 & @xmath42 & 2600 + h@xmath0 & 1440 : & @xmath42 & 2300 + the strength of broad heii@xmath34686 is correlated with that of the line cores ( but absent in spc3 ) .
the revealing of heii@xmath34686 in spc1 is striking , because it is not obviously present in either the mean or standard deviation spectrum .
we can not exclude a broad heii@xmath31640 line corresponding to heii@xmath34686 as it is blended with narrower heii@xmath31640 and other emission lines .
emission from the broad feii uv and optical blends appears weak or absent . in the uv
, the line - core spectrum appears to be essentially the same as the first principal component of the spca analysis of 232 uv spectra of the large bright qso survey ( lbqs ) by fhfc .
@xcite followed up and confirmed the fhfc suggestion that this emission may be responsible for the baldwin effect , by deriving the line - core equivalent width dependence on luminosity .
this was demonstrated more qualitatively by @xcite , and @xcite also suggested this for ly@xmath0 and civ .
however these published studies cover only the strong uv lines between @xmath11150 and 2000 .
is our spc1 really the same as that for the lbqs , and does it depend on luminosity as expected for the baldwin effect ?
[ spc1-l]a and table [ corr ] show that the weight of this line - core component for each qso is indeed anticorrelated with ( logarithmic ) l@xmath46(1549 ) , the continuum luminosity at 1549 . for 18 qsos , the pearson and spearman rank ( two - tailed ) probabilities of this correlation arising by chance from uncorrelated variables
are 1.1% and 2.0% , respectively .
we have redone the spca , including the extreme , low luminosity qso pg1202 + 281 ( fig . [ spc1-l]b ) and these probabilities become 0.1% and 0.5% , respectively .
a bayesian analysis gives @xmath4727% and @xmath477% probabilities of the correlation arising by chance for the two cases above .
since all the spectra are normalized , this is actually an anticorrelation between line equivalent width and luminosity .
@xcite reported , for the same sample , evidence of the baldwin effect in the second principal component of their pca analysis of direct line measurements that do not separate the narrow and broad components ( wills et al .
1999b & francis & wills 1999 give complementary details ) .
we now see that the correlation they found was actually a correlation with the equivalent widths of the line - cores .
lllllllll + & w@xmath48 & w@xmath49 & w@xmath50 & @xmath51 & h@xmath4 fwhm & l@xmath52 & m@xmath53 & l / l@xmath18 + w@xmath48 & @xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42&@xmath42 + w@xmath49 & 0 & @xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42 + w@xmath50 & 0 & 0 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 + @xmath15&@xmath250.167 & + 0.143 & * @xmath250.702 * & @xmath42&@xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 + & & & ( 0.12% ) & & & & & + h@xmath4 fwhm & @xmath250.112 & + 0.101 & * @xmath250.838 * & * + 0.731 * & @xmath42&@xmath42 & @xmath42 & @xmath42 + & & & ( @xmath470.01% ) & ( 0.06% ) & & & & + l@xmath52 & * @xmath250.583 * & @xmath250.143 & @xmath250.151 & + 0.433 & + 0.200 & @xmath42&@xmath42&@xmath42 + & ( 1.1% ) & & & & & & & + m@xmath53 & @xmath250.246 & + 0.137 & * @xmath250.711 * & * + 0.747 * & * + 0.932 * & + 0.335 & @xmath42&@xmath42 + & & & ( 0.09% ) & ( 0.04% ) & ( 0 ) & & & + l / l@xmath18 & @xmath250.024 & + 0.002 &
* + 0.722 * & * @xmath250.499 * & * @xmath250.909 * & + 0.118 & * @xmath250.777 * & @xmath42 + & & & ( 0.07% ) & ( 3.5% ) & ( 0 ) & & ( 0.01% ) & + to test whether our correlation is actually consistent with baldwin relationships found in the uv spectra of much larger samples , we measure the equivalent width of civ from the spca results for 19 qsos .
@xmath54 , where @xmath55 and @xmath56 are the civ flux and the flux density of the fitted local continuum in the mean spectrum , @xmath57 and @xmath58 are those in the first principal component spectrum , and @xmath59 is the weight of spc1 for each qso , evaluated from spca .
we deblend the civ region to exclude heii@xmath31640 and oiii]@xmath31664 in the mean spectrum , and civ is narrow enough to be separated from heii@xmath31640 and oiii]@xmath31664 in spc1 .
this procedure is equivalent to measuring the spectra reconstructed with only the mean spectrum and spc1 , and therefore includes the equivalent width variation of the line cores , but excludes scatter that would otherwise be introduced by orthogonal principal components . the filled circles in fig .
[ ew - l ] show the anticorrelation between this ew(civ ) and l@xmath46(1549 ) .
the slope of the least - squares fit is @xmath60 , which agrees with @xmath61 obtained by @xcite
. this could be coincidence for our small sample with a luminosity range of only 1.6dex , but it is more likely because we reduce the scatter in the luminosity relationship by using only the line core component . the open circles in fig .
[ ew - l ] show the integrated equivalent widths of the civ line measured directly from the original spectra @xcite , where heii@xmath31640 and oiii]@xmath31664 were also excluded .
the scatter is larger there , and the qsos with the largest and smallest deviations from the fit are indeed the objects with smallest and largest weights in our spc3 ( [ spc3 ] , table [ sample ] ) .
this demonstrates that our spc3 , which involves the broad wings of the emission lines , is the major source of scatter in the baldwin relationship .
the remaining scatter of @xmath110% in our spc1-derived baldwin relationship is likely to result from non - linearity of the relationship(s ) , time variability of spectra , and inappropriateness of l@xmath62(1549 ) as a luminosity indicator
. a bolometric or ionizing luminosity may be more appropriate . even then
, an apparent luminosity may not be that illuminating the emission - line gas .
besides the strongest uv lines , which are already known to show a baldwin effect from previous studies of direct measurements , such as ly@xmath0 , oi@xmath31304 , civ@xmath31549 , heii@xmath31640 , ciii]@xmath31909 , and mgii@xmath32798 , spc1 shows the baldwin effect in other lines .
nv@xmath31240 appears in spc1 , showing that its equivalent width decreases with luminosity .
this appears to conflict with some other studies ( e.g. , espey & andreadis 1999 ) that show no baldwin effect for nv .
this may be because , using direct spectral line measurements , nv is difficult to deblend from ly@xmath0because of the uncertainties in line profiles and in determining the location of continuum in this region .
nv and ly@xmath0 ( and some other line blends ) are easily resolved in our spc1 .
thus spca provides us with a valid way of disentangling the baldwin effect for nv .
we also find a baldwin effect for siiv+oiv]@xmath31400 .
this has also been noted by e.g. , @xcite , @xcite although others claim no baldwin effect for this feature ( e.g. , cristiani & vio 1990 ; fhfc ; osmer et al .
1994 ; francis & koratkar 1995 ) .
our broad uv - optical line coverage can also link baldwin relationships for the uv lines with luminosity - dependent emission - line properties in the optical region .
our spc1 shows that there is a baldwin effect for the balmer lines , and also for broad heii@xmath34686 .
a baldwin effect has been seen for h@xmath4 by comparing the low and high redshift data of bg92 and @xcite ( see yuan et al .
2002 ) , and an h@xmath4 baldwin effect is included in the results of @xcite . however ,
@xcite find a positive correlation between ew(h@xmath4 ) and luminosity .
the reason why the balmer - line baldwin effect has been difficult to identify in the past , is probably because it has been masked , especially in integrated line measurements , by the scatter caused by bgpc1 in low redshift , optical samples .
bg92 have shown an inverse luminosity dependence for the strength of broad heii@xmath34686 ( pc2 in their table2 ) , and their figs.2 and 3 show how it has been masked by qso - to - qso differences in the strength of feii(opt ) emission .
it has been suggested that the slope of the baldwin effect , @xmath4 , is dependent on ionization ( see espey & andreadis 1999 ; croom et al . 2002 ) .
we can investigate the baldwin effect for other broad emission lines besides civ .
we measure the equivalent widths of ly@xmath0 , nv , ciii]@xmath63siiii ] , siiv+oiv]@xmath31400 , and mgii the same way we do for civ .
we deblend ly@xmath0@xmath63nv in the mean spectrum and measure the narrow components of ly@xmath0 and nv in spc1 .
if indeed a linear approximation is valid when extracting the baldwin effect from our spc1 , then the fractional change in integrated line equivalent width depends on the relative contributions from spc1 and the mean spectrum .
these relative contributions will determine the slopes that we find for the baldwin effect . while @xmath4 for civ is uncertain to within @xmath640.05 , the slopes for different emission lines relative to that for civ can be determined quite accurately , depending only on the uncertainty in measuring the line strength in the mean spectrum .
the weights , w@xmath48 , are the same for each emission line . in fig .
[ slopes ] @xmath4 is plotted against the ionization potential of each ion .
the results are similar to the dependence shown in espey & andreadis fig .
6 . except for nv
, they suggest that their `` slope of slopes '' plot is consistent with predictions by @xcite ( also shown in their fig .
6 ) , based on a locally optimally emitting cloud distribution .
our nv is more consistent with these predictions . in summary , our broad uv - optical line coverage links the luminosity - dependent bgpc2 with the baldwin effect seen in large samples of uv spectra , covering a wide luminosity range .
the arguments are as follows .
our spc1 shows a dependence on luminosity , consistent with baldwin relationships seen in these larger samples .
the line cores of our spc1 are like those seen in the fhfc uv spc1 , for which fhfc , and @xcite have clearly demonstrated a baldwin effect .
our spc1 extends to the optical , showing a luminosity dependence for the balmer lines and the broad heii@xmath34686 .
bg92 s luminosity eigenvector , bgpc2 , involves the balmer line equivalent widths and broad heii@xmath34686 ( b02 ) .
we therefore identify bgpc2 with our spc1 , and conclude that the bgpc2 is effectively the optical part of baldwin relationships derived from uv spectra .
table [ pcid ] lists the identifications of the principal components and correlated external parameters .
ll & + spc1 , line - core & spc2 in fig [ optspca ] , bg pc2 , fhfc spc1 , baldwin effect , l@xmath46(1549 ) + spc2 , continuum slope & fhfc spc2 + spc3 , line - width & spc1 in fig [ optspca ] , bg pc1 , @xmath15 + our second principal component ( fig
. [ spca ] , spc2 ) is almost a pure continuum component .
it shows a slope at wavelengths less than @xmath14000 but flattens out in the optical region .
this seems to be consistent with the continuum slope reported by fhfc in the lbqs sample , but covers a much broader wavelength range .
the line features in this component are relatively weak , if not absent , and probably arise from crosstalk from the other components ( see [ sim ] ) .
the continuum slope has a factor of 6 greater variation in this component than in the line - core component and , therefore , accounts for most of the continuum slope variation in the sample .
the spc2 weights , hence continuum slopes , are independent of luminosity ( table [ corr ] )
. the continuum slope variation could be the result of an intrinsic variation in the qso continuum , e.g. , the big blue bump , differing amounts of starlight from the host galaxy , or different amounts of reddening by dust associated with the qso .
any one of these possible contributions could be orientation dependent .
we have not yet corrected our spectra for known contributions from the host galaxy , and this is significant at longer wavelengths for a few of the qsos .
it is likely that dust absorption plays an important role , as we find a correlation between optical - uv continuum reddening , intrinsic uv absorption lines , and flatter soft x - ray slope @xcite .
if dust were the main factor producing the continuum slope variation , we can expect it to be external to the blr because it would obscure the line and continuum emission equally and hence leave the equivalent width unchanged a featureless principal component , as seen . the h@xmath4 [ oiii ] region of the third principal component ( spc3 in fig .
[ spca ] ) in our analysis of the entire uv - optical spectrum is very similar to that of the spca of the h@xmath4 [ oiii ] region alone ( spc1 in fig .
[ optspca ] ) .
[ ev1comp ] compares the weights of the two principal components and shows quantitatively that these components are closely related . in spc3
, there is a clear anticorrelation between the strengths of [ oiii ] and feii(opt ) emission and between h@xmath4 width and the strength of feii(opt ) .
therefore , bgpc1 relationships are an important part of the third principal component in our analysis of the uv - optical spectrum .
a prominent feature is the correlated line widths of the low ionization broad emission lines
h@xmath4 , mgii and h@xmath0 ( the `` w '' shape , see [ sim ] ) .
deblending of the @xmath31909 feature in this sample shows that the width of ciii ] also varies like h@xmath4 @xcite .
important variables in the bgpc1 eigenvector are fwhm(h@xmath4 ) and the soft x - ray spectral index @xmath15 ( bg92 , l94 , l97 ) .
our w@xmath50 is directly correlated with fwhm(h@xmath4 ) and also with @xmath15 ( fig .
[ spc3-fwhm]a , b , table [ corr ] ) .
the spc3 civ feature extends over more than 30000 km s@xmath2 .
civ@xmath31549 does not show an obvious correlated line - width change in spc3 .
the characteristic `` w '' shape may not appear , though , if the line strength increases with line width .
for integrated line measurements it is also the case that fwhm(civ ) does not correlate well with the widths of the low - ionization lines in this sample ( fig . 4 of wills et al . 2000 ) , but in these cases , the spc1 line core contributes some scatter to the direct measurements of fwhm ( contributing to the inverse correlation between ew(civ ) and fwhm(civ ) , brotherton et al 1994b , [ disc ] ) .
as expected , the feii(opt ) features centered near 4570 and 5250 are positively correlated with feii optical multiplets 27 and 28 , prominent features measured at 4178 , 4237 , and 4308@xcite . along with increasing strength of feii(opt ) , several low - ionization lines increase in strength : siii@xmath31263 , oi@xmath31304 , cii@xmath31335 , niii]@xmath31750 , and probably nai@xmath35892 ( for the last , see thompson 1991 ) .
siiv+oiv]@xmath31400 is also positively correlated with feii(opt ) .
the strengths of the prominent broad emission lines correlate together
ly@xmath0 , civ , mgii , h@xmath4 , & h@xmath0 , but are anticorrelated with the low ionization lines mentioned above .
another important new result revealed by spc3 is the strong anticorrelation between broad uv feii emission blends ( the small blue bump ) and the optical feii blends .
this was actually predicted by @xcite .
they showed that strong feii(opt ) requires high optical depth in the uv resonance transitions of feii . at the same time , these high optical depths result in destruction of uv feii photons , in particular , by ionization from the n=2 level of hi ( balmer continuum ) .
@xcite found from composite spectra of samples of steep and flat optical - x - ray spectral index , @xmath39 , that uv and optical feii emission are correlated in opposite senses with @xmath39 .
this suggests the anti - correlation between uv and optical feii blends found here .
spc3 reveals most of the uv - optical bgpc1 relationships demonstrated by direct emission - line and continuum measurements ( wills et al .
1999a ) . a descriptive summary of the relationships among uv - optical parameters in spc3 is shown in fig .
[ ev1 ] , which is related to fig.4 in @xcite .
this component has a flat continuum ( spc3 in fig .
[ spca ] ) , so changes in uv - optical continuum shape are not obviously related to the spc3 correlations .
four qsos were excluded from the above analysis : pg1202 + 281 , because of its extremely large equivalent widths , and the three strong absorption - line qsos ( pg1001 + 054 , pg1114 + 445 and pg1411 + 442 ) , because their ly@xmath0 and civ absorption features occur at different outflow velocities and thus introduce spurious features in the principal component spectra . to investigate the effect of the absorption - line qsos
, we have repeated the spca both excluding the affected wavelengths , and interpolating over the absorption features .
the results are essentially unchanged from those discussed above . including pg1202 + 281 , with or without the three absorption - line qsos , does not substantially change the results ( see fig . [ spc1-l ] , fig .
[ ev1comp ] ) .
this is seen by comparing the spca for the whole sample of 22 qsos ( fig .
[ spcabal ] ) with the adopted spca in fig .
[ spca ] . because of its extreme properties , pg1202 + 281 causes a significant rotation of the principal component axes , so the results of fig . [ spcabal ] should be viewed with caution .
the resulting crosstalk probably accounts for the relatively strong [ oiii ] emission in the spc1 spectrum of fig .
[ spcabal ] . while pg1202 + 281 seems to be consistent with the same principal components relationships as the other qsos ( see fig .
[ spc1-l ] ) , its differences may hint at additional physical processes , or extend our parameter space to a non - linear regime .
either way , this is a limitation of our small sample size ; a large sample covering a wider range of parameter space is needed to address these possibilities . in order not to give pg1202 + 281 undue weight in the analysis ,
we could have carried out spca using the ranks of fluxes in each wavelength bin or using logarithmic flux scales . for simplicity and directness of interpretation ,
we have chosen not to transform the flux densities .
therefore we have excluded pg1202 + 281 .
the principal components arising from pca can be directly interpreted only if the input parameters ( i.e. the fluxes in all the bins in this study ) are related linearly . in our spca ,
variable line width will usually introduce non - linear relationships among the affected binned flux densities , i.e. , the flux densities do not change linearly in different bins when the line width changes . as an aid to interpretation we have therefore made simulations with artificial data
( see also mittaz , penston , & snijders 1990 ) .
[ simgauss ] shows an example in which we apply spca to 40 spectra with added poisson noise .
each spectrum has 7 line features and a continuum slope , with possible relationships as indicated by the real data .
lines 1 , 2 and 3 have one narrow and one broad gaussian component .
three independent sets of relationships among lines and continuum are included in the spectra : 1 .
the narrow components of lines 1 , 2 and 3 have a fixed width ; their strengths vary in proportion to each other .
2 . the broad components of lines 1 , 2 and 3 have a fixed strength , but their widths are proportional to the strength of lines 4 and 5 .
the strengths of lines 4 and 5 are also proportional , and they are inversely proportional to the strengths of lines 6 and 7 . 3 .
each spectrum has a different linear continuum slope , which is not related to any line feature .
the simulation results clearly show that : 1 .
the three sets of relationships are separated into the three principal components in the order expected .
2 . there is crosstalk among the three principal components , which is caused by the non - linear effect of line width change and the continuum slope ( see [ disc ] ) , for example , lines 1 , 2 and 5 in principal component 3 ( the slope ) , and line 5 in principal component 1 .
( the change in continuum level changes the line equivalent widths .
but this is a real , linear effect , and not crosstalk . )
the line width change produces a `` w '' shape in the principal component ( or an `` m '' shape if the y axis flips ) , as can be seen in principal component 2 for the broad components of lines 1 , 2 , and 3 .
this can be visualized as the changes in the line wings .
these simulation results show that spca is able to successfully distinguish the relationships that we input .
is our interpretation really unique ?
could a non - linear relationship produce two principal components like our spc1 ( line - core ) and spc3 ( line - width ) ? in order to test this , we did a simulation with three lorentzian line profiles for which fwhm @xmath65 , where @xmath66 is the peak flux of the lines , @xmath67 is a constant chosen to vary fwhm by a factor of 6 , while @xmath68 varies by a factor of 3 .
these ranges reproduce differences seen in our real spectra .
the results of spca are shown in fig .
[ simlor ] .
the standard deviation spectrum shows a peak on a broad base , somewhat similar to h@xmath4 , h@xmath0 , and civ in our real data . in the simulated spc1 ,
weak line wings anticorrelate with a line core .
this is the major part of the relationship we input , and is produced by the lorentzian s sharp peak and very broad wings .
this is qualitatively seen in the real spc1 for h@xmath0 , civ , and possibly h@xmath4 . in the simulated spc2
we see the `` w '' signature resulting from crosstalk caused by the non - linearity introduced by changes in line - width .
as expected , spc1 accounts for much more intrinsic variance than the `` crosstalk '' component , spc2 .
to summarize , this lorentzian simulation shows that , mathematically , correlated line - width changes of profiles with a sharp peak and broad wings could produce two principal components similar to spc1 and spc3 seen in our analysis of real data .
nevertheless , the conclusions derived from the real data would not be changed much : the emission from low velocity gas depends on luminosity , a completely independent external parameter , but emission from non - line - core gas does not the baldwin effect remains .
spc3 weights clearly correlate with directly measured fwhm(h@xmath4 ) , and with the completely independent external parameter , @xmath15 .
a simple lorentzian model does not account for the correlations with external parameters ; nor does it account for the different line ratio in observational principal components .
over the spectral range from ly@xmath0 to h@xmath0 , spca shows that 78% of the intrinsic spectrum - to - spectrum variance is accounted for by just three principal components ( table [ pcfrac ] ) . in table
[ pcfrac ] we also compare the fractional contributions to the total intrinsic variance within the uv and near - uv optical wavelength ranges .
we find that spc1 contributes about half the variance in the uv , similar to the fhfc result for 232 lbqs uv spectra .
examination of spc3 and higher - order component spectra , and comparison with simulations , clearly shows the non - linear contributions of spectrum - to - spectrum line - profile differences , for example , differences caused by changing width , probably kurtosis and asymmetry as well ( see for example , fhfc ) .
we therefore tabulate the sum of the variances from spc3 through spc10 ( noise increasingly dominates higher order principal components ) , as probably representative of the line - width component . in the uv , the line - core component clearly dominates . in the 2100
6607 range , the line - width relationships clearly dominate the line - core component and have a contribution similar to that from the continuum principal component .
the increasing dominance of the line - width relationships is not surprising given the previous results from spca ( fig .
[ optspca ] and bg92 ) .
it is easy to understand why historically the feii[oiii]h@xmath4-width correlations were discovered for low - redshift qsos in the optical region , and the baldwin effect in the uv spectra of high - redshift qsos .
the line - core , line - width and continuum sets of relationships together appear to account for about 78%95% of the spectrum - to - spectrum intrinsic variance .
much of the remaining intrinsic variance is likely to arise from departures from linearity among the baldwin and line - width relationships for different emission lines , in the description of the continuum - to - continuum differences and from time - variability .
@xcite showed that , for seyfert galaxies , there is a relationship between line and continuum luminosity , as an individual seyfert nucleus varies in time .
for example , for civ@xmath31549 , they showed ew(civ ) @xmath11 l@xmath69 , with a slope different from that for the global ( qso - to - qso ) relationship with exponent of @xmath250.17 ( [ spc1 ] , peterson 1997 ) .
they suggested that this intrinsic `` baldwin relationship '' accounts for the scatter seen in the global relationship .
they also demonstrated that additional scatter is introduced by the the lag of emission - line response to continuum variations .
we estimate the lag to contribute typically @xmath475% to the variations in ew in our data ( fig .
[ ew - l ] ) judging from the h@xmath4 lags and light curves presented by @xcite and @xcite .
if the mechanism underlying the intrinsic baldwin effect is similar to that underlying the global baldwin effect , this source of scatter may be included in our spc1 or spc3 components .
if the intrinsic and global baldwin effects are independent , then the intrinsic baldwin effect will contribute to the residual @xmath15% variance , but not to the relationships represented by the line - core and line - width components .
that is , this source of variance would not be important in fig .
[ spc1-l ] .
the simulation with lorentzian line profiles ( [ sim ] , fig . [ simlor ] ) shows that spca could mathematically produce a line - core and a line - width component from a non - linear relationship .
one may argue that the results from the real qso spectra suffer from the same problem .
however , the correlations shown in table [ corr ] and in figs . [ spc1-l ] and [ spc3-fwhm]b show that the components derived from the real spectra are physically meaningful based on their distinct correlations with the external variables @xmath70 and l. in [ spc1 ] we have presented additional arguments that the line - core component represents the baldwin relationship and is dependent on luminosity ( possibly related to accretion rate , m ) .
our small sample , with a limited range in l , does not allow us to distinguish whether the line - width components are related to black hole mass , m@xmath71 , or to eddington accretion ratio , l / l@xmath72 ( table [ corr ] ) .
however , the dependence of the spc3 weights on @xmath70 , suggests , by analogy with galactic black - hole candidates , that this component is driven by eddington accretion ratio ( l94 , l97 , yuan et al .
stronger ew feii(opt ) , feii(opt)/feii(uv ) , and the feii(opt ) [ oiii ] anticorrelation indicate that more dense gas is available to fuel the central engine .
stronger feii(opt ) is associated with narrower fwhm(h@xmath4 ) , consistent with an eddington ratio interpretation of spc3 .
further support for a physical difference between spc1 and spc3 gas is indicated by line - intensity ratios : @xcite showed that the emission - line ratios for gas of low- and high - velocity dispersion indicate different photoionizing flux , ionization state , and density .
the near - absence of emission in spc1 from gas with high - velocity dispersion , and the luminosity independence of spc3 , suggest that the line emission represented by spc3 has ew @xmath1 constant .
could the global baldwin relationship be explained by a very simple model in which a total line equivalent width is the sum of the equivalent width of the line - width component ( @xmath1 constant ) , and that of the line - core component ( @xmath11 l@xmath73 ) , i.e. , ew(total ) = @xmath74 ?
such a dependence can fit our own data , but can not fit the baldwin effect data for large samples , such as that of @xcite , covering seven orders of magnitude in luminosity .
since the relationships represented by the line - core and line - width spectral principal components have real , independent , physical origins , it would be appropriate to model these relationships independently rather than , as in the past , trying to model the observed integrated equivalent widths ( e.g. , korista et al . 1998 ; kuraszkiewicz et al .
a case in point may be attempts to ascribe an ionization - potential dependence to @xmath4 , the exponent of the baldwin relationship .
the _ relative _ values of @xmath4 are quite accurately determined for different emission lines , but the scatter is large ( fig .
[ slopes ] ) . the large scatter may be attributed to the use of integrated ews with a significant contribution from non - core emission because the non - core line ratios are independent of those in spc1 gas .
one possibility is to perform a spca on a sample of simulated model spectra , making a comparison of the resulting spc spectra with those from a spca of the observed spectra .
another approach might be to use the principal component spectra to derive separate spectra for the ( assumed separate ) gas components responsible for the line - core and line - width components , and compare each of these with photoionization models .
this was attempted by @xcite who decomposed uv emission lines into components representing intermediate and very broad line regions ( ilr and vblr ) .
our spca shows that their vblr is an over - simplification .
while their ilr is similar to our spc1 component , we do not define a vblr , but rather a line - width component ( dominated by our spc3 ) , where line widths range from the narrowest to broadest h@xmath4 lines observed ( fwhm from 1500 to 9500 km s@xmath2 ) .
thus the ilr derived by @xcite would include spc1 emission as well as low - velocity emission from the line - width component
. however , the technique of best - fitting a combination of line - core and line - width spectra still seems promising .
further discussion is beyond the scope of the present paper . while the ilr has been directly related to the baldwin effect ( brotherton et al .
1994a , fhfc , francis & koratkar 1995 ) , the relationship of the uv ilr to the optical bgpc1 has been controversial , including the question of whether bgpc1 is part of the baldwin relationship , or whether it is the cause of its enormous scatter @xcite .
because of our wide wavelength coverage we have been able to demonstrate clearly that these two sets of relationships are orthogonal .
@xcite came to a different conclusion , based on their finding of increasing ilr strength with [ oiii]@xmath35007 , a strong spc3 or bgpc1 parameter .
this may be because of the ilr decomposition problem mentioned above .
our spectral principal component analysis of an essentially complete sample of 22 pg qsos yielded three significant linear spectral principal components accounting for @xmath178% of the intrinsic variance among emission - line and continuum spectra over the wavelength range from ly@xmath0 to h@xmath0 ( excluding the three qsos with strong intrinsic absorption and the extreme object pg1202 + 281 ) .
spectral principal component 1 dominates the uv emission lines , accounts for @xmath141% of the intrinsic spectrum - to - spectrum variance , and is identified with the baldwin relationships .
spectral principal component 2 accounts for most of the continuum variations , contributing @xmath123% of the total intrinsic variance .
spectral principal component 3 is directly related to the first principal component in the pca of integrated line measurements in the feii
h@xmath4[oiii ] region by bg92 .
it includes line - width , which introduces non - linear relationships among flux bins across emission lines , and therefore propagates to higher - order principal components in our linear analysis .
this line - width component dominates the feii
h@xmath4[oiii ] region , and accounts for between 14% and 31% of the sample s total intrinsic variance
. tables [ pcfrac ] and [ pcid ] summarize these results . 1 . spc1 is dominated by emission from gas of low velocity dispersion ( fwhm 2000 3000 km s@xmath2 ) , but also includes broad heii@xmath34686 ( fwhm 4880 km s@xmath2 ) .
2 . the weights of this principal component correlate with the qsos luminosities .
3 . deriving the equivalent widths from this principal component leads to a baldwin relationship in good agreement with the slope and normalization determined for much larger samples and luminosity ranges spanning 7 orders of magnitude .
4 . the narrow ( fwhm 2000 3000 km s@xmath2 ) features in our spectral principal component 1 agree in profile and line intensity ratios with those derived from spca for much larger lbqs samples using just uv spectra from ly@xmath0 to the ciii ] blend ( principal component 1 , from francis et al .
1992 ; francis & koratkar 1995 ) , and inferred by comparison of mean uv spectra of low and high luminosity qsos @xcite , and of low and high x - ray brightness qsos divided by @xmath39 @xcite .
@xcite showed quantitative agreement with the baldwin effect , for their large , but low signal - to - noise ratio sample .
the strong , broad heii@xmath34686 links our spc1 directly with the `` luminosity '' principal component derived by bg92 and b02 from direct measurements .
the baldwin relation determined from direct equivalent width measurements would not be expected to be very significant for a sample the size of ours and covering only 2 orders of magnitude in luminosity .
however we demonstrate a significant reduction in scatter using spca - derived ews , over those measured directly .
the line - width components contribute most of the scatter in the baldwin relationships .
this demonstrates the potential of spca - derived ews to define a much cleaner baldwin relation for future investigations of emission line response to the ionizing continuum , perhaps with applications to cosmology ( relations between luminosity distance and redshift ) .
we have determined the baldwin relationships for different emission lines , confirming that the effect is present for the balmer lines .
uv and optical feii emission - line blends are very weak or absent from our `` baldwin effect '' principal component .
our clean separation of ly@xmath0 and nv in spc1 shows a significant baldwin effect for nv .
this result is in striking contrast with the slope derived from direct measurements , where the ew shows a positive slope ( increases ) with luminosity . 1 .
we have demonstrated clearly that the third principal component is directly related to bg92 s first principal component .
the spc3 weights are shown to directly correlate with fwhm(h@xmath4 ) and with @xmath70 , parameters that are important in bgpc1 correlations in the h@xmath4 region ( bg92 and l94 , l97 ) .
2 . we present a number of emission line correlations , both positive and negative .
of particular note is a clear anticorrelation between optical and uv feii blends , as predicted by @xcite .
3 . @xcite , and @xcite have demonstrated a calibration of black hole mass in terms of fwhm h@xmath4 and luminosity , as if h@xmath4 line width is determined by virial motions .
the line - width correlations demonstrated by this component , between balmer lines and mgii , and fwhm ciii ] has also been shown to correlate with h@xmath4 @xcite , suggesting that this calibration can be used to investigate black - hole mass relationships at higher redshifts ( @xmath10 .5ex2 3.5 ) , where mgii and ciii ] are accessible to ground - based spectroscopy ( see also mclure & jarvis 2002 ) . we have demonstrated the power of our wide wavelength coverage combined with spca to link two independently - discovered luminosity relationships at high and low redshift , showing that the bg92 and b02 luminosity principal component of low redshift samples is directly related to the baldwin effect in higher redshift , uv spectra , and showing that bgpc1 ( or the line - width principal component ) relationships are the cause of enormous scatter in baldwin relationships derived from integrated , direct , ew measurements .
we show how baldwin relationships can be derived using spca , virtually eliminating the scatter .
such spectrum - luminosity relationships might be used to determine @xmath10-independent luminosities , hence to derive l-@xmath10 relationship at high @xmath10 .
this rekindles the hope that baldwin relationships can be used for cosmology .
the line - width principal components are related to black - hole mass or eddington accretion ratio , and their clean separation from the baldwin relationships can , in principle , lead to their use to trace qso evolution . the wide wavelength coverage and spca
also provides a strong visual impressions of spectral relationships that provide a guide for future direct line measurements and analysis .
we thank paul francis and mike brotherton for many discussions , and for comments on a draft of this paper .
we appreciate bill jefferys help with the bayesian analysis , and thank scott croom for a copy of his paper in advance of publication .
we also thank the referee , paul green , for his valuable suggestions and careful reading of the paper .
we gratefully acknowledge the help of c. d. ( tony ) keyes and a. roman of stsci , m. dahlem ( now of estec ) , david r. doss , jerry martin , earl green , and larry crook at mcdonald observatory , and also m. cornell and r. wilhelm , who provided computer support in the astronomy department , and at mcdonald .
bjw acknowledges financial support by nasa through ltsa grant nag5 - 3431 and grant go-06781 from the space telescope science institute which is operated by the association of universities for research in astronomy , inc .
, under nasa contract nas5 - 26555 .
we have made use of the nasa / ipac extralagactic database ( ned ) , which is operated by the jet propulsion laboratory , california institute of technology , under contract with nasa .
wills , b. j. , brotherton , m. s. , laor , a. , wills , d. , wilkes , b. j. , ferland , g. j. , & shang , zhaohui 1999b , in asp conf . series 162 , quasars and cosmology , ed .
g. j. ferland , & j. a. baldwin ( san francisco : asp ) , 373 wills , b. j. , brotherton , m. s. , laor , a. , wills , d. , wilkes , b. j. , & ferland , g. j. 1999c , in asp conf . ser .
175 , structure and kinematics of quasar broad line regions , ed . c. m. gaskell , w. n. brandt , m. dietrich , d. dultzin - hacyan , & m. eracleous ( san francisco : asp ) , 241 | arxiv |
in the beginning of the 2000s , mutations in genes encoding the nlrp3 inflammasome components were associated with a spectrum of diseases with profound systemic inflammatory state [ 1 , 2 ] . since its discovery ,
the genetic alterations in the genes encoding the nlrp3 inflammasome have increasingly attracted the research interest , with respect to several diseases with an inflammatory background as a possible predisposing factor in diseases like inflammatory bowel disease ( ibd ) [ 3 , 4 ] , rheumatoid arthritis ( ra ) [ 5 , 6 ] , alzheimer 's disease ( ad ) , type 1 diabetes ( t1d ) , and atherosclerosis [ 9 , 10 ] . the purpose of this review is to summarize and discuss the association of genetic variants in genes encoding proteins that have been associated with the nlrp3 inflammasome and the risk of inflammatory diseases . to date , numerous genome - wide association studies ( gwas ) have been performed with respect to various diseases and have uncovered several genetic susceptibility loci associated with increased disease risk . however , the snps identified with gwas technique probably account for a fraction of the hereditary factors , since the remaining heritability lies in genetic alterations that do not achieve genome - wide significance , possibly due to incomplete linkage disequilibrium between the uncovered variants and casual variants with lower minor allele frequency .
therefore , the present review is focused on the association of genetic alterations in the nlrp3 and card8 genes to inflammatory diseases , identified with a candidate gene approach .
the nlrp3 inflammasome consists of nlrp3 scaffold protein , asc ( pycard ) adaptor protein , and caspase-1 protein .
the caspase recruitment domain - containing protein 8 ( card8 ; also known as tucan / cardinal ) has in some studies also been associated with the nlrp3 complex , although its role for inflammasome activation is not completely clear .
initially , card8 was shown to be a regulator of nf-b and caspase-1 activation and nod-2 signaling [ 1316 ] .
though recent studies have shown that card8 negatively regulates nlrp3 , studies have also shown that card8 has no role in the il-1 release [ 17 , 18 ] .
the nlrp3 inflammasome can be activated by several different factors , such as pathogen associated molecular patterns ( pamps ) like bacterial lipopolysaccharide and different microorganisms ( c. albicans , s. cerevisiae , l. monocytogenes , s. aureus , and p. gingivalis ) and viruses ( adenovirus , sendai virus , andinfluenza virus ) .
furthermore , damage associated molecular patterns ( damps ) like extracellular atp , uric acid , elevated glucose levels , cholesterol crystals , calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate ( cppd ) , monosodium urate , and different pollutants ( silica , asbestos , uv radiation , and skin irritants ) have also been implicated as nlrp3 inflammasome activators . upon nlrp3 activation , the homotypic interaction of pyd of nlrp3 and asc proteins leads to autocleavage of procaspase-1 to active caspase-1 followed by the processing of the inactive proinflammatory cytokines il-1 , il-18 , and il-33 to their active forms [ 12 , 20 , 21 ] .
the mechanism involved in the assembly and formation of nlrp3 inflammasome protein complex for the downstream processing of il-1 includes lysosomal destabilization due to phagocytosed particulate and crystalline moiety , mitochondrial damage due to intracellular k efflux and ca mobilization , and ros induction by mitochondria and nlrp3 activators [ 2230 ] .
studies have found certain proteins of endogenous origin that may possibly negatively regulate the nlrp3 inflammasome in host , serving as checkpoints to regulate the immune responses .
trim family proteins , nitric oxide , microrna , ifns , cd40 ligands , and autophagy are the known endogenous regulators to the nlrp3 inflammasome [ 3138 ] .
certain proteins of microbial origin are also found to regulate the nlrp3 inflammasome such as viral pyrin ( pyd ) and v protein of measles virus [ 39 , 40 ] .
these studies suggest that many agents may contribute to the regulation of nlrp3 inflammasome activation to prevent the overexpression and hyperactivity of the inflammasome due to an accidental trigger .
the discovery in 2001 by hoffman and colleagues on genetic alterations in the nlrp3 gene as a prime source for the set of autosomal dominantly inherited inflammatory diseases , combinedly known as cryopyrin associated periodic syndrome ( caps ) , was a breakthrough in the clinical execution of these diseases .
caps is a family of autosomal dominantly inherited diseases like familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome ( fcas ) , muckle - wells syndrome ( mws ) , and chronic infantile neurological cutaneous articular syndrome ( cinca ) , also known as neonatal onset multiple inflammatory syndrome ( nomid ) , sharing overlapping characteristic clinical symptoms of recurrent fever , increased white blood cell count , and inflammation .
the etiology of caps is mainly contributed to the gain of function mutations in the nlrp3 gene , which leads to upregulated amounts of il-1. around 60% of caps patients carry an activating mutation in the nlrp3 gene [ 41 , 42 ] .
this however does not exclude that the additional caps cases also might be carriers of mutations in the nlrp3 gene .
tanaka and coworkers found that approximately 70% of the cinca / nomid cases without nlrp3 mutation detected by sequencing were subjects to somatic mosaicism . the majority of the nlrp3 mutations in caps are missense mutations located in exon 3 of the nlrp3 gene ( http://fmf.igh.cnrs.fr/issaid/infevers/ ) which encodes for the nacht domain , responsible for autorepression of nlrp3 oligomerization by interacting with the lrr domain in healthy cellular condition , and is also involved in the interaction with card8 [ 12 , 29 ] .
in addition to germline mutations in the caps diseases , several single nucleotide polymorphisms ( snps ) in the genes encoding the nlrp3 inflammasome components or in their regulatory regions have been associated with the pathophysiology of various other diseases .
the polymorphisms discussed in the present paper are snps located in the nlrp3 and card8 genes and in putative regulatory regions .
the q705k polymorphism ( previously known as q703k in the infevers database located in exon 3 , rs35829419 ) of the nlrp3 gene is a low penetrant variant associated with atypical caps features and with several other inflammatory diseases . the q705k variant is a gain of function alteration leading to excessive il-1 and il-18 production ( figure 1 ) .
another polymorphism extensively studied is the c10x polymorphism in the card8 gene ( rs 2043211 ; figure
2 ) in relation to several different diseases , but the variant alone has not been associated with the caps disease .
the c10x of the card8 gene is a nonsense mutation located in exon 5 of the card8 gene leading to a truncated card8 protein .
studies have shown that the polymorphic allele was associated with elevated cell death in vitro , although the actual role of card8 is not clear .
functional investigation of card8 for inflammasome assembly is complicated by the fact that card8 is missing in rodents .
studies by bagnall and coworkers have revealed a series of isoforms that can possibly affect the functional consequences of the c10x ( rs2043211 ) polymorphism .
the functional consequence of c10x variants on the two known isoforms of card8 , t48 and t54 , generates a cys > stop at codon 10 in t48 and phe > ile amino acid substitution at codon 52 in t54 .
the discovery of additional three novel mrna isoforms of card8 , t47 , t51 , and t60 , might explain the different functional consequences of c10x variant .
in fact , the high rate of homozygous patients with loss of function polymorphism for what appears to be human knock - outs might reflect partial rescue of card8 function by alternative splicing , leading to an almost functional full length protein .
for instance , the transcription of t47 begins downstream of the c10x , thereby not affecting the isoform ( figure 2 ) .
patients homozygous for the c10x genotype might therefore have a functional card8 protein due to the t47 isoform .
a detailed analysis determining the underling effect of the functional variants of card8 remains to be investigated .
the review focuses mainly on these variants , since several studies have reported that q705k and c10x variant per se or in combination are associated with increased risk of chronic inflammation .
an overview of all of the genetic localizations of the snps of nlrp3 and card8 genes covered in the present review can be found in table 1 and figures 1 and 2 , and their potential functionality in relation to disease will be described in each section below .
the functional characterization of the snps in the complex disease is challenging with enormous environmental and genetic factor exerting deleterious effect on the disease pathophysiology .
however , functional studies of snps performed on the genotyped healthy individuals might overcome the effect attributed by disease severity and therapy , thereby providing insight to the functionality of snp in health . in a recent study , carriers of a combination of the polymorphisms q705k ( rs35829419 ) and c10x ( rs2043211 ) in the nlrp3 and card8 genes , respectively , were associated with elevated levels of il-1 and il-33 in plasma , when compared to noncarrier controls .
this indicates that the genetic variants in nlrp3 inflammasome related genes may influence the threshold of inflammasome activation and perturb the balanced immune response , thereby suggesting the role of these variants in influencing the basal active state of innate immune response .
inflammatory bowel disease ( ibd ) , comprising to crohn 's disease ( cd ) and ulcerative colitis ( uc ) , is a multigenic complex disease of dysregulated mucosal immune response of gastrointestinal tract to the commensals of gut flora in the genetically susceptible host . in recent years
, the genetics of ibd has been revolutionized by the identification of increased number of ibd susceptibility loci , thereby providing novel insight in the pathophysiology and treatment options of a complex genetic disease .
in addition to the nod2 locus , the nlrp3 locus is one amongst the several newly discovered cd loci conferring the genetic susceptibility to ibd [ 47 , 64 ] . to date , several snps in the nlrp3 region have been genotyped to study the association with cd .
the rs4353135 , rs4266924 , rs55646866 , rs6672995 , rs107635144 , and rs10733113 snps in a regulatory region downstream the nlrp3 gene ( figure 1 , table 1 ) were found significantly associated with cd in five european cohorts . although the snps were strongly associated with the risk of cd , the association with nlrp3 expression and il-1 production was conferred only by rs4353135 and rs6672995 , respectively .
the risk alleles of rs4353135 and rs6672995 were found to be associated with lower nlrp3 and il-1 expression , respectively , in the peripheral blood of healthy donors . on the contrary , no significant association was found between the variants and cd in a different sample set of cd patients from uk .
the conflicting results due to the lack of replication should therefore be interpreted cautiously . in addition , it was found that ibd patients homozygous for the rs2043211 snp encoding the c10x polymorphism in the card8 gene ( figure 2 ) retained immunoreactive isoform of card8 , thereby revealing the necessity of detailed characterization of disease associated variants to the contribution to the disease and geographical differences influencing the genetic background of the ibd patients . in a korean cohort , the rs2043211 snp was found to be significantly associated with uc .
moreover , the stop allele of rs2043211 was associated with increased il-1 level in serum of uc patients .
conflicting results have also been reported on the association of rs2043211 with cd and uc .
significant association of rs2043211 was reported with cd in a british cohort , although other studies showed no evidence of such association .
the conflicting results might hypothetically be due to the interaction of rs2043211 with the gain of function mutation rs35829419 in the nlrp3 gene , in a similar fashion as described above for healthy individuals , but this needs to be confirmed .
this idea is supported by the fact that the combined polymorphisms of card8 and nlrp3 ( rs2043211/rs35829419 ) were shown to be associated with cd , indicating a possible interaction between these variants in the pathogenesis of cd in two separate studies [ 50 , 51 ] .
in addition , a card8 snp from intron 1 , rs1972619 ( figure 2 ) , was also found to be significantly associated with cd in koreans .
altogether , these findings reflect that the dysregulation of nlrp3 inflammasome might have a prominent role in the pathogenesis of ibd . in the past decade
, the mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases has declined ; however it remains to be the leading cause of death worldwide [ 67 , 68 ] .
increasing evidence suggests that inflammation in the coronary atherosclerosis leading to sudden alteration of the plaque stability often accelerates ischemic cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction .
extensive clinical and pathophysiological research confirms that therapeutic intervention targeted against inflammatory mediators is effective for the treatment of myocardial infarction [ 70 , 71 ] . among the vast number of inflammatory cytokines , il-1
is known to be a key modulator in the complex vessel wall inflammation and acceleration of atherogenesis process [ 72 , 73 ] .
blockade of il-1 prevented the adverse cardiac remodelling and lowered the incidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction [ 74 , 75 ] .
also , nlrp3 and asc animal models have shown the role of nlrp3 in the progression of atherosclerosis and myocardial dysfunction , although it has been questioned [ 9 , 10 , 76 , 77 ] .
association studies have found that the q705k polymorphism in the nlrp3 gene ( rs35829419 ; figure 1 ) conferred a protective effect against the risk of developing mi in females and was also associated with increased crp levels in males .
also in another study the snp rs35829419 revealed a significant association with the increased il-1 levels and showed a trend to the lower levels of crp in plasma . regarding the variants of the card8 gene , the c10x variant ( rs2043211 ; figure 2 ) was found to be associated with lower expression of card8 in plaque as well as with the lower levels of crp and mcp-1 in plasma , but the snp showed no association with the risk of myocardial infarction in swedish cohorts .
a study from spanish cohort also showed that rs2043211 was not associated with risk of developing cardiovascular events in ra patients .
moreover , the interaction between the q705k nlrp3 polymorphism and c10x polymorphism in the card8 gene ( rs35829419/rs2043211 , cc / at versus cc / aa ) conferred a modest protective effect against abdominal aortic aneurysms ( aaa ) .
collectively , taking these genetic findings into account , it is likely that these variants might modulate the basal active state of immune response and might thereby contribute to the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases .
the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis ( ra ) is driven by a chronic inflammation of the joints that leads to the irreversible destruction of the joints . among the several cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of ra ,
il-1 is one of the prominent cytokines released from monocytes to induce and perpetuate the chronic inflammatory process in the joints .
the effective blockade of il-1 and the inhibition of nlrp3 inflammasome to block il-1 and il-18 response are the ongoing therapeutic targets for the treatment of ra [ 5 , 81 , 82 ] . however , in mice models of ra , the nlrp3 inflammasome was found to play a limited role in the pathophysiology of ra and the activation of il-1 was independent of nlrp3 activation . since the animal model differs from ra in human ,
the genetic background of nlrp3 inflammasome in the pathogenesis of ra is complex and unclear .
the q705k polymorphism in the nlrp3 gene ( rs35829419 ; figure 1 ) was not associated with the ra susceptibility .
however , the c10x variant ( rs2043211 ; figure 2 ) of card8 was found to affect the 28-joint disease activity score , erythrocyte sedimentation rate , and tender joint count in patients .
in addition , the rs4353135 polymorphism ( g variant ; figure 1 ) located in the nlrp3 regulatory region was found to be associated with risk of oligoarticular / polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis .
the variant was also associated with increased inflammatory marker such as crp , esr , and lymphocyte il-17 levels .
though the epistatic effect of combined snp in nlrp3 and card8 ( q705k , rs35829419 and c10x , rs2043211 ) was found to be associated with the ra susceptibility and severity , the replication of the results was not observed in the prospective study from the same research group [ 6 , 56 ] .
however , the functional studies have shown that the combined polymorphism is associated with increased caspase-1 activity and il-1 levels .
taken together , the genetic variants of nlrp3 inflammasome are likely to influence the ra disease progression , but , with few mechanistic human studies , it is too early to confirm the profound role of these variants in the ra disease pathology . ankylosing spondylitis ( as ) is a chronic inflammatory disease of spinal and sacroiliac joints , caused by bone and joint erosion . also , the status of ibd is highly prevalent in the as patient .
genetic alterations have been implicated as potent factor in the etiology of the disease . among the different genes associated with the as susceptibility
, il-1 gene family has also been proposed in the susceptibility of as in europeans . to our knowledge ,
the study made by kastbom et al . is the only investigation conducted on the association of genetic alteration in the nlrp3 inflammasome components with the as susceptibility .
snps in the nlrp3 region were not associated with the risk of as in the swedish population ; however the c10x ( rs2043211 ; figure 2 ) polymorphism of the card8 gene was found to be associated with decreased risk of as in dominant model .
further functional studies and replication of association in independent cohorts are required to establish the mechanism behind the protective effect conferred by the c10x variant against as .
celiac disease is an inflammatory disease in genetically predisposed individuals characterized by the destruction of small intestinal lining in response to dietary protein present in wheat , barley , and rye .
celiac disease is often found in conjunction with other autoinflammatory diseases and the disease shares several immunological features with ibd . in a case report
, celiac disease was found in patients with cryopyrinopathies suggesting the likelihood of excessive il-1 production in the generation of reactive t cells that can promote the pathophysiology of celiac disease .
the unique celiac disease diagnostics is based on circulating transglutaminase autoantibodies in combination with biopsy .
presence of the genetic variation of hla - dq2 and hla - dq8 is in strong association with celiac disease . among the several nlrp3 inflammasome
associated snps investigated , in association with celiac disease , the rs35829419 ( q705k ; figure 1 ) polymorphism in the nlrp3 gene was found significantly associated with celiac disease in two independent studies of italian and brazilian origin and conferred a protective effect [ 58 , 59 ] . however , a significant amount of research remains to be performed on the genetic and functional aspects of nlrp3 inflammasome variants in the predisposition to the risk of celiac disease .
progressive destruction of insulin secreting islets cells of pancreas due to autoimmune response leads to type 1 diabetes ( t1d ) .
cardiovascular diseases , neuropathy , kidney disease , lower extremity amputation , and blindness are some of the serious consequences of t1d .
in addition to the insulin replacement therapy , the recent advancement in the therapeutic targets also includes a multicentre randomized clinical trial to examine the effect of il-1 antagonism on beta cells in t1d , since il-1 was found to induce apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells [ 91 , 92 ] . among the genetic factors ,
also studies performed in nlrp3 animal models have shown improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance .
the combination of immunological and genetic features is useful in the prediction of the disease . in a brazilian cohort ,
the q705k gain of function variant ( rs35829419 ; figure 1 ) in the nlrp3 gene was not associated with the risk of t1d . to our knowledge ,
no association studies have been published on the c10x variant ( rs2043211 ; figure 2 ) in the card8 gene and t1d .
however , the snp rs10754558 in the downstream regulatory region ( figure 1 ) of nlrp3 was found to be significantly associated with t1d in patients of brazilian origin and exerted a protective effect on the disease .
functional studies have shown that rs10754558 was associated with nlrp3 mrna stability , since the g allele increases the nlrp3 expression 1.3-fold when compared to c allele .
these results indicate that the protection to the disease exerted by the variant possibly depends on the stable expression of the nlrp3 . as t1d influences the development of several inflammatory diseases , it is likely that the nlrp3 inflammasome variants associated with several diseases might have a profound effect on the pathophysiology of diabetes .
with very few studies performed to date , it is therefore difficult to draw any general conclusion regarding the role of nlrp3 inflammasome variants in the development of t1d .
gout is the most common form of autoinflammatory arthritis and is characterized by the intra - articular deposition of the monosodium urate ( msu ) and elevated serum urate . to date
, there are very few studies conducted on the association of nlrp3 polymorphisms and the risk of gouty arthritis . in a recent study ,
the intronic rs7512998 ( figure 1 ) located in the nlrp3 gene showed a significant difference in the genetic frequency among the 17 tag snps from the nlrp3 gene that were investigated in association with the susceptibility to gouty arthritis in 480 primary gout and control patients .
however , other potential susceptible variants remain to be investigated in association with the risk of gouty arthritis and functional influence of the variant on the disease pathology .
given that the damps are well - known direct activators of nlrp3 inflammasome and il-1 production , further studies on variants responsible for the dysregulation of the nlrp3 inflammasome may provide an insight on the susceptibility of developing gout .
alzheimer 's disease ( ad ) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by chronic deposition of amyloid and is the most common form of dementia in the elderly [ 95 , 96 ] .
studies have shown that the formation of amyloid plaques is associated with the activation of nlrp3 inflammasome and il-1 release in microglia , thereby enhancing the ad progression by aggravating inflammatory response . since
nlrp3 and caspase-1 animal models have confirmed enhanced amyloid clearance and protection from the loss of spatial memory , blocking of nlrp3 activation and the nlrp3 inflammasome derived cytokines might be a new therapeutic intervention for ad . a recent study analyzing 1133 late - onset ad ( load ) patients and 1159 healthy controls found that genetic variants , q705k ( rs35829419 ) , rs10754558 , and rs2027432 , in or in association with the nlrp3 gene ( figure 1 ) were associated with the risk of load in northern han chinese . among the nlrp3 polymorphisms , the rs35829419 ( q705k in nlrp3 )
the association conferring the protective effect is consistent with our report on the risk of mi . in another study ,
the card8 variant rs2043211 ( c10x ; figure 2 ) was found to be associated with increased risk of developing ad in women .
the rs10754558 variant of the nlrp3 gene was also strongly associated with ad in apoe 4 carriers and appears to interact with apoe gene to impart a synergistic effect on the risk of ad .
moreover , the rs2027432 variant of the 5 flanking region of nlrp3 gene ( figure 1 ) was found to be strongly associated with risk of load and studies support that the variant might lead to increased expression of nlrp3 by enhancing the transcriptional activity of nlrp3 promoter [ 61 , 98 ] .
collectively , it seems that the different variants of nlrp3 gene have a potential effect to the disease severity , but further studies are warranted to confirm and explore the role of nlrp3 variants in the susceptibility of ad .
in recent years , several studies have confirmed the potential role of the nlrp3 inflammasome in the pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases .
the results from the genetic studies also support the role of variants from nlrp3 inflammasome associated genes as susceptible candidates for different inflammatory diseases by influencing the balance of immune response .
the functionally well - known q705k polymorphism ( rs35829419 ) in the nlrp3 gene was found to confer protective effect on ad , celiac disease , and female myocardial infarction but not on t1d or ra . regarding the c10x polymorphism in the card8 gene ,
the combinatory effect of the snps in the nlrp3 and card8 genes did also show a conflicting outcome amongst the different diseases .
several other snps are found to exert deleterious effect on the susceptibility of diseases ; however further studies are required to replicate the association in order to confirm the role of these variants in the respective diseases .
further functional studies elucidating the role of identified snps on the transcriptional and protein level of the gene in different disease models will lead to the understanding of nlrp3 inflammasome in the etiology of inflammatory diseases .
the primary goal of such genetic finding will contribute to the prediction , prevention , and development of new common diagnostics and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammation related disorders . | pubmed |
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915 when there was much newspaper criticism of the shortage of artillery shells and fear of sabotage. The Ministry was created by the Munitions of War Act 1915 passed on 2 July 1915 to safeguard the supply of artillery munitions. Under the very vigorous leadership of Liberal party politician David Lloyd George, the Ministry in its first year set up a system that dealt with labour disputes and fully mobilized Britain's capacity for a massive increase in the production of munitions.
The government policy, according to historian J. A. R. Marriott, was that:
no private interest was to be permitted to obstruct the service, or imperil the safety, of the State. Trade Union regulations must be suspended; employers' profits must be limited, skilled men must fight, if not in the trenches, in the factories; man-power must be economize by the dilution of labour and the employment of women; Private factories must pass under the control of the State, and new national factories be set up. Results justified the new policy: the output was prodigious; the goods were at last delivered.
Wartime role
David Lloyd George gained a heroic reputation with his energetic work as Minister of Munitions, from 19151916, setting the stage for his political rise. When the Shell Crisis of 1915 dismayed public opinion, with the news that the Army was running short of artillery ammunition, demands arose for a strong leader to take charge of munitions production. A new coalition ministry was formed in May 1915 and Lloyd George was made Minister of Munitions, in a new department created to solve the munitions shortage.
In this position David Lloyd George addressed labour disputes on the Clyde, concerning lowering of wages by 'dilution' of skilled labour, and he called for an enquiry into the conditions of munitions workers that led to labour intelligence services being transferred to his Ministry, under Colonel Arthur Lee, Parliamentary Military Secretary. He received acclaim for a big rise in output of munitions, which greatly contributed to his political ascent to Prime Minister in late 1916 and leadership of the five man War Cabinet. Many historians agree that he boosted national morale and focused attention on the urgent need for greater output but many also say the increase in munitions output from 19151916 was due largely to reforms already decided, though not yet effective, before he arrived. American historian R. J. Q. Adams provided details that showed that the Ministry broke through the cumbersome bureaucracy of the War Office, resolved labour problems, rationalized the supply system and dramatically increased production. Within a year it became the largest buyer, seller and employer in Britain.
To improve efficiency and public relations the Ministry opened a department focused on workers' welfare. It improved first aid conditions; promoted factory safety; handled medical conditions induced by the handling of dangerous chemicals and TNT; provided day care for children; limited overtime; and sometimes provided transportation and lodging for workers.
The Ministry was staffed at the top levels by senior army men and businessmen loaned by their companies for the duration of the war. These men were able to coordinate the needs of big business with those of the state and reach a compromise on price and profits. Government agents bought essential supplies from abroad. Once bought, the Ministry would control their distribution in order to prevent speculative price rises and to enable normal marketing to continue. The whole of the Indian jute crop, for example, was bought and distributed in this way. Steel, wool, leather and flax came under similar controls. By 1918 the Ministry had a staff of 65,000 people, employing some 3 million workers in over 20,000 factories with large numbers of women new to engineering work for the duration of the war. The post was abolished in 1921, as part of a cutback of government and as a delayed result of the Armistice in 1918.
Ministers of Munitions, 19151921
Parliamentary Secretaries to the Ministry of Munitions, 19161919
Parliamentary and Financial Secretaries to the Ministry of Munitions, 19181921
Footnotes
Further reading
Adams, R. J. Q. Arms and the Wizard: Lloyd George and the Ministry of Munitions, 19151916 London: Cassell, 1978 OCLC 471710656.
Arnold, Anthony J. A paradise for profiteers? The importance and treatment of profits during the First World War. Accounting History Review 24.2-3 2014: 61-81.
Beiriger, Eugene Edward. Churchill, Munitions and Mechanical Warfare NY: Peter Lang, 1997 . On Churchill role heading the Ministry
Burk, Kathleen. Britain, America and the Sinews of War, 19141918 NY: Allen & Unwin, 1985 .
Clegg, Hugh Armstrong. A History of British Trade Unions since 1889: Volume II 1911-1931 1985 pp 118-212.
Gilbert, Bentley. David Lloyd George: Organizer of Victory 19121916 Batsford, 1992, pp. 209250
Grigg, John. Lloyd George: From Peace to War 19121916 Eyre Methuen, 1985 pp. 223256
Hay, Denys. IV. The Official History Of The Ministry Of Munitions. Economic History Review 1944 14#2 pp. 185190. in JSTOR ISSN 0013-0117.
Hill, L. Brooks. David Lloyd George as minister of munitions: A study of his speaking tour of industrial centers. Southern Journal of Communication 1971 36#4 pp. 312323.
Lloyd-Jones, Roger, and Myrddin John Lewis. Arming the Western Front: War, Business and the State in Britain 19001920 Routledge, 2016. online review
Marriner, Sehila. The Ministry of Munitions 19151919 and government accounting procedures. Accounting and Business Research vol 10. sup1 1980, pp. 130142. ISSN 0001-4788.
Woollacott, Angela. On her their lives depend: munitions workers in the Great War U of California Press, 1994 .
Primary sources
Lloyd George, David. War Memoirs 2nd ed. 1934 vol 1 ch 9. 19
Category:United Kingdom in World War I
Category:1915 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:1921 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom
Munitions | wikipedia |
Saint-Adjutory is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.
Population
See also
Communes of the Charente department
References
INSEE
Category:Communes of Charente
Category:Charente communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia | wikipedia |
Electrolysis of AgNo3 [closed]
**Closed.** This question is [off-topic](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
---
**Homework questions** must demonstrate some effort to understand the underlying concepts. For help asking a good homework question, see: [How do I ask homework questions on Chemistry Stack Exchange?](https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/141/how-do-i-ask-homework-questions-on-chemistry-stack-exchange)
Closed 6 years ago.
[Improve this question](/posts/71549/edit)
I have a solution of $\ce{AgNO\_3}$ (is diluted with water). I electrolyse it. What products from at anode and cathode.
You would get silver at the cathode, and oxygen at the anode.
Since silver is below hydrogen in the spectrochemical series,it tends to get reduced over hydrogen, similarly, since $\ce{NO3-}$ is above $\ce{OH-}$ , it tends not to get oxidised, therefore giving oxygen.
$\ce{Ag+ + e- -> Ag}$ (at cathode)
$\ce{ 4OH- -> O2 + 2H2O + 4e-}$ (at anode)
| stackexchange/chemistry |
Subsets and Splits