This is a weird chapter, because I couldn't be stuffed to find a good spot to split it

'Nathaniel-

Say hello to Kitty for me'

How dare he? How dare he try to dismiss me now? Well, he certainly wasn't getting away with it. I snapped our mouth shut. He made muffled noises that sounded something like complaints. He could be a bit more grateful for me trying to save his life. True, I didn't actually have much hope, but still…then I remembered the boots. Ooooh yes. I clicked our heels together. Poor Nat. He didn't seem to have any idea what was going on anymore – he was still trying to dismiss me. Now I had to escape, just to tease him about this.

Anyway, I clicked out heels, activating the boots. I threw the staff at Nouda, and took a single step back. The staff exploded, the glass palace shattered, falling anoto Nouda. But we were gone, traveling at amazing speeds away from the explosion. Oh, hell. Nat was trying to dismiss me again. I snapped his mouth shut again, but it was too late. I could feel the tug on my essence, dragging me kicking and screaming out of his body…

And onto the grass where we came to rest. It seemed that Natty-boy hadn't had time to complete the dismissal – he had only had time to dismiss me from his body. I became Kitty. I thought that maybe this form would be more likely than Ptolemy to wake up the boy lying still on the grass beside me. I crouched beside him. "Nat? Nathaniel, are you all right?" Stupid question, I know. But for some reason I actually cared about this insignificant human.

"Kitty?" His eyes fluttered open. Yeah, whatever. I can be Kitty if he wants me to be… What? I did not want to be Nat's crush. "Kitty, am I dead?" No. No, he was defiantly not dead. Yet. No, don't think like that…

"You look like an angel, Kitty." What was I supposed to say? Thanks for the complement, but I'm not Kitty? The poor boy would probably die of embarrassment. So I said nothing. Nat seemed to realize that I wasn't answering him. So he stopped talking, and kissed me instead.

I was about to pull away. I was about to shove him in the chest, injury or not and run away. Far away. To where I would never see him again, until I killed him. I was about to do all that, I swear. But I didn't. I don't know why. OK, so maybe I do. Oh Hell. I am Bartimeaus of Uruk, N'gorso the Mighty, Sakhr al-Jinni, the Mighty serpent of the serpent of the silver plumes. I am not Gay. But technically djini don't have gender…NO. I. WAS. NOT. IN. LOVE. Not with Mandrake. The one that had trapped me on earth until I was nothing more than a blob of slime.

Then why did I like this? Why did I like the feel of his soft lips, wonderful against mine, the way his tongue pushed against my mouth, seeking entry. Why? …

Then, I stopped caring. All I cared about was those lips, the way his hands clutched frantically at my hips. I wasn't gay. Tomorrow I was going to walk up to this little twerp and bust his brains out for doing this to me. For making me love him. But right now, I really couldn't care less about the future, the past, or anything else. I didn't even care that his breath taking kiss was intended for someone else. I kissed Nathaniel back, and I felt like we were one again, like we shared the same body, the same mind, and overall the same emotions. Even if his were for Kitty.

JANE

When Jane heard what had happened to Mandrake she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If it was any other council member she would have stuck with laughing. The politician within her, the part of her that she showed to the world, was laughing, but the real person, the girl that really just wanted to be loved, was crying. Crying for the only person she ever could have loved. She still hadn't worked out what she felt for him, and now he was dead. And the girl within her finally worked it out. But it was too late to tell him.

She thanked the messenger imp and sent it on its way without so much as an inferno. She just wanted it to get out before the girl inside could burst out. She walked into the house, collapsing onto an elegant black sofa as the tears finally started to fall down her face…it was too late to tell him…and the girl on the sofa cried and cried until she couldn't cry anymore and her body had to get up and go to Whitehall for an emergency council meeting. But some of her stayed behind on the sofa, still crying…it was too late to tell him…

All her life Jane had felt like there were hundreds of people inside her. Some of them were rutheless some of them were kind…and some of them were completely, terrifyingly insane. For one moment, when she realized she loved Mandrake, there was just one. Just the one person,the one who loved him. But it was too late to tell him.

KITTY

Kitty stared at the door to the hospital ward. Then she stared some more. And some more. Guess what she did next? Yep, stared some more. Hey, anything beat walking in there. Seeing the boy that was in there, waiting for her. A few days ago, a few hours ago, she would have walked straight in, whacked him in the head and walked back out without a second thought. In fact, a few days ago she wouldn't even have bothered to come, whether he asked for her or not. But now it was different. Now he was Nathaniel, not John Mandrake. Now she was scared to be in the as same room as him. What was wrong with her? She used to be so strong. A renegade djini held no fears for a member of the resistance. How could she be scared of a seventeen year old boy?

A pretty blonde nurse walked up to me. "Excuse me Miss…" She glanced at my visitors pass "Jones. Are you going in there? Because visitors hours are almost over, and I'm sure you didn't come to visit the door."

Kitty smiled at her terrible joke. Somehow, seeing the nurse so relaxed and at ease, she felt a bit better herself. She put her hand on the door knob, and, aware of the nurse's curious gaze on her back, turned it and stepped through the door. What she saw made her want to run back out again. There was Nathaniel, lying incredibly still on the bed, cut and bleeding through the bandages around his side, seeming almost dead except for the slow, painful rise and fall of his chest. Kitty felt the tears brim in her eyes. NO. She would not cry for him. For a magician. She walked slowly over to the bed and sat on the mattress next to his head, bending down, slowly, carefully towards his lips.

"Hi there Kitty!" Came Bartimeaus's voice, for some reason sounding rather forced. Kitty tried not to blush. "How are you doing?" Continued the offending djini with false-sounding cheer, as if he hadn't just interrupted one of the most important moments of Kitty's life.

"I'm feeling much better, thanks" she replied, sounding equally fake. "How are you doing on earth?"

"Oh, it's not so bad" How long could they go on having this forced conversation? "I hop into Nat's body every now and then, just to relive the pain."

"Well, that's good." What would be even better is if you could shut up and leave me alone with Nathaniel. Oh, come on. Since when did she enjoy Nathaniel's company more than that of the djini? Especially since, for the moment at least, watching Nathaniel lie there was about as interesting as watching paint dry or grass grow, or any other equally entertaining activity. There really was something wrong with her brain.

"Hey, Bartimeaus, do you think you could grab me some food from one of the shops on the street?" Kitty asked, trying to sound as natural as she could "Only, I'm still quite weak and I didn't get a chance to have breakfast this morning."

Bartimeaus looked uneasy, obviously (if surprisingly) reluctant to leave the room, but not wanting to say so. Eventually, he agreed and, slowly and reluctantly left the room. Kitty went and sat back by Nathaniel's head, only to receive her second surprise in as many minutes as Nathaniel's eyes flickered open.

"Kitty…" Kitty jumped in fright at his weak, trembling voice. Kitty bent close. Later, she wasn't sure if it was the best or the worst move of her life. He kissed her passionately. She gasped in shock, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth. Until she pulled away.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!"Kitty exclaimed, realizing with shock that her first real kiss had just been in a hospital against her will with a guy she had only known properly for the last couple of hours. Great.

"But, yesterday…" Said Nathaniel, as if these two confusing words were an adequate explanation for what he had just done. What was going on here?

"The last time I saw you yesterday was in the glass palace when you lied to me. I certainly didn't do anything to give you an excuse to go and kiss me!"

Bartimeaus chose this moment to materialize in front of them, paper bag in hand and sheepish expression on his face. Kitty had a bad feeling about this.

This is the first fanfiction I have ever written, and if you don't review it will be the last. And if that's a good idea, review and tell me.