Barbara swallowed as she looked in the direction her son disappeared. All the trolls in Arcadia Oaks were gone. They had a long and tough journey ahead of them. For now, they would have to travel through the forest where they would be protected by shadows as the sun set.

Jim… He had been in so much pain because of the sunlight…. He would be fine though.

Barbara swallowed hard again as she squeezed her eyes closed, a sob escaping her lips as a tear fell down her cheek. She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder – a heavy hand, rough. Barbara turned to see the green troll's yellow eyes looking at her with concern.

"He's going to be fine," Walter assured. "You raised him well, he's such a strong young man. Stronger than I ever gave him credit for."

Barbara nodded. "I know."

Walter let her go to hold the magical stone he had in his arms, the cradle stone. "Barbara… you look exhausted, you should go home and get some rest."

Barbara nodded drowsily and fought off a yawn. "Yes... I know."

"I… would escort you home. I'm afraid I can't though," Walter commented as he held the cradle stone filled with the infants who were once changeling familiars.

"Huh?" Barbara asked. "Why?"

Walter looked pointedly towards the horizon. "I can't leave the shade. At least not until the sun is down."

"Can't you just… change?" Barbara asked. "That never seemed like an issue before."

"Not anymore," Walter informed as he looked down at the stone in his arms. "My familiar has been freed from the Darklands; the bond is broken. I am once again fully troll… I cannot turn back into a human."

Barbara's eyes widened as she looked at him, but Walter didn't meet her gaze. She realized he was like Jim now, unable to turn…

Barbara looked down. "There must be some route to my house that is mostly in shadow," she thought aloud.

"In the suburban area you live in?" Strickler asked and he chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think that's a risk worth taking." He looked toward the sinking sun. "It'll probably be half an hour before it's safe for me," he admitted. "And then... well… Trolls are not supposed to be seen."

"Then let's find something to cover you with!" Barbara announced triumphantly. "There must be something somewhere – you know, a blanket or an umbrella!"

Walter looked at her skeptically. "Why are you so insistent on this?" he finally asked. "All the Gum-gums have been defeated, neither you nor Jim especially need my protection anymore."

"That's not it!" Barbara exclaimed. "I just… I…" she choked. "I really don't want to be alone right now," she admitted.

Walter stared at her in surprise.

Barbara looked away. "Jim won't be coming home… The house is going to be so quiet. I – I'm not sure I can deal with that right now."

"Ah… I see." Walter blinked. "I mean… Are you sure that – that I'm the one you want to ask to keep you company?"

"Who else is there?" Barbara asked.

"Oh." Walter was taken aback. "Well… I suppose we'll have to find some cover then," he commented as he looked around. "I'm sorry I can't actually leave the forest myself to help you look for a suitable covering."

Barbara's eyes brightened just a little. "Wait right here; I'll go find something."

"Thank you," said Walter.

Before she left to look for the needed objects, Barbara smiled lightly at him, a soft, defeated kind of smile.

Walter stood alone with the big cradle stone in his arms and he looked down at it. All the babies' faces laughed back at him happily.

"Why on earth was I left with this thing?" he muttered, annoyed. Seriously – how was he supposed to take care of one tiny human child, let alone thousands of them? Some of his species were known to eat babies, and here he was, expected to watch over them.

Walter squinted at the stone as he held it up in front of him. "All of you had better not come out at once," he hissed.

Hopefully the infants wouldn't need any sustenance while within the cradle stone. In the Darklands the babies were under a spell that prevented them from aging, and they were fed and taken care of by a host of goblins. Now that the changeling bonds were broken, the spells should be too, but with the children in the cradle stone there were many questions he needed answers to.

He snorted, indignant. This was his punishment wasn't it? Jim had saddled him with this trial – having to handle all these children was the punishment for his treachery, disloyalty, cursing of Barbara and of course…. trying to kill Jim and all his friends… Well, in that light this was rather fair. In fact, it might even be an absurdly light punishment.

"Walt!" Barbara's voice sounded in his ears, and Walter looked up. "I found a blanket and an umbrella!" she beamed, holding up her finds victoriously. "Okay, hold still. I'm just going to wrap this around you," Barbara said as she took the blanket and roped it around Walter's shoulders as well as she could. "Now I just need – hmm…" Barbara frowned, then pulled the band out of her red hair, letting it fall down around her shoulders. She used the elastic to secure the blanket, so it wouldn't fall off. "And of course..." Barbara popped open the umbrella and held it over Walter's head.

Walter looked up at the umbrella and started to reach for the handle, but the cradle stone's size required both arms to hold it securely while they walked. He couldn't take the umbrella without risking dropping the stone. He sighed. "This is going to be a long walk."

"I'll make sure to keep the sun off of you," Barbara assured.

"I sincerely hope so. Jim is just a troll hybrid, part troll but still part human. Touching the sun hurts him severely but it doesn't kill him. It will, however, kill me. Instantly," Walter reminded her.

"I've got this," Barbara assured, now holding the umbrella firmly with both hands. "Let's get out of here."

It was an awkward walk. The city was in shambles; people everywhere wandered around, confused. Some witnessed the magical events of a few hours ago. Others had only heard of what happened, and they were busy telling those who'd seen it that they were mad.

Walter kept his head low. He tried to drape the blanket over his head, but he wasn't entirely successful, and several people gaped at him as Barbara quickly ushered them further in the right direction. Half way home the sun was low enough that Barbara could remove the umbrella. Walt finally succeeded in arching the blanked into a hood, shrouding his face in darkness.

After what seemed like forever, they reached Barbara's house and stepped inside. Walter sighed in deep relief as he let the blanket fall away from his face. "Well, that went against all the instincts I've been nurturing for over a millennium," he commented.

"Well, I'm sure with all the weird things that happened here over the past day, you walking through the street won't even get a mention," Barbara assured him.

"Oi, I'm getting a headache just thinking about it." Walter hefted the cradle stone into the crook of one arm and held a hand to his forehead. "It's the first rule for trolls – never let yourself be seen by a human – ever. As for changelings, do not ever let a human see your true form," he said. "It's the rule we live by… I guess that's lived by now," he lamented. "I imagine this will all be dismissed as a conspiracy eventually," Walter mused. "Humans can be rather small minded about certain things." He went into the living room and carefully set the cradle stone on the table. He straightened his back, letting some of the tension of earlier seep out of him.

Barbara yawned deeply as she passed him.

"You should go to bed," Walter said. "I won't be going anywhere. In fact," he pointed out the window with his thumb over his shoulder as small knots of people still milled around outside. "I can't."

"This is how Jim lives now too…" Barbara whispered.

Walter nodded. "Yes."

Barbara sighed as she walked over to the couch and plopped down onto the cushions, groaning as she leaned her head back.

Walter hesitated then stepped over to the couch. He waited for Barbara's invitation to sit, but when it didn't come he sat down next to her anyway. The next moment he gasped in surprise as Barbara leaned against him, resting her head on his chest.

Walter closed his eyes, shutting out the temptation to take advantage of the situation. Barbara was vulnerable right now. He carefully put a hand on Barbara's shoulder in a comforting gesture, letting her know she could take some time to rest. Just as he touched her, the telephone vibrated, and Barbara jolted awake, whipping out her cell.

"It's from Jim!" Barbara read the message aloud for Walter, "Made it to the south border of the forest. We are going to rest for an hour before moving on. Blinky is being a real hen and demands that I sleep, angry face." Barbara smiled amused as she read the text. "Claire says 'Hi' too. She also demands that I sleep, heart, heart, heart. I'll write again when the sun is down and we move out. Love you, Mom heart." Barbara halted. "I only got one heart; Claire got three!"

"Young people," Walter smirked, then commented thoughtfully, "Maybe cellphones weren't such a bad invention after all."

Barbara fought off another yawn as she texted back, "I'm going to demand you sleep too, so that's three people, heart. Take care of yourself! Love you." She put down the phone then sighed deeply, resting against Walter again.

Barbara pulled her feet up onto the couch and stretched out, her head still pillowed against Walter.

He raised a curious eyebrow at her. "Comfortable?" he asked, unsure of how on earth she could be.

"Hmm, it's funny," Barbara replied. "Your body… It's so hard; it really is stone." She pressed her cheek against him. "But it's warm. Like… it's heated up from the inside."

"That's not so odd. Human bodies are warm too," Walter pointed out. "Well… living ones," he quipped. "The same holds true for trolls. Once they die they become ordinary, cold stone."

"Yes, but…." Barbara hesitated. "Since you're stone, how can you move around? Do you have joints?" she asked.

"I suppose a doctor would be curious," Walter admitted. "Well, I can tell you… but it will be rather complicated and take a long time. If you still want to know after you've slept, I'll tell you."

Barbara bit her lip. "Walter…"

"Yes, Barbara?" Walter asked.

"Are you going to leave?"

The question made Walter freeze and any words he was going to offer died before he could say them.

"My husband… he left, without a word," Barbara said. "My parents left when I was just a child… and now Jim's gone too. You're going to leave me too… aren't you?" she asked. "Like everyone else…"

Walter let out a slow breath. "No," he stated. "I promised Jim I would look after you, and that's what I'm going to do," he assured her. "Even if I'm just a guardian against renegade goblins and vengeful trolls, I will be right here – with you."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Barbara asked. "You've lied so many times before."

"If I were going to leave I would have done so with the other trolls. It would have been my best shot at survival in my current form after all," Walter pointed out. "But I stayed. That was my choice – staying with you."

Barbara nodded, her eyes sinking closed. "You'd better… not be… gone when…. I wake…. up," she muttered, falling asleep almost before she uttered the last word.

Walter sat perfectly still on the couch as Barbara slept. He didn't move a single muscle… Well, he didn't actually have muscles in his troll form.

Walter sighed softly.

Well, that was one good thing about being a troll. At least they really could sit completely still for a very long time.

Barbara's quiet breathing washed over the room as the hours ticked by.

This chapter has been editted by dtill359
If you're a fan of Starblazers please go support her work, my english sometimes lacks things to be desired so people like her offering to fix all my stupid mistakes is invaluable.