Dan Cahill lay on his couch bored as he'd ever felt. Life seemed so boring now that he had finished the Clue hunt. He stared at his computer waiting for his friend, his only friend, Atticus, to take his turn in their virtual chess game.

Life seemed so boring since him and his sister, Amy, had finished their quest for the 39 Clues. A quest that they thought they had no chance of winning. But they surprised everyone, including themselves, when they turned out to be the champions.

To Dan, this was both good, and bad. It was good because it meant that the power of the clues wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. It was bad because it meant that he would forever have the serum to ultimate power locked in his head, something that killed him inside.

After circling the globe, risking his life to find Clues he didn't even want, where was he now? Home alone, still as much of an outcast as always. Atticus made his move, and Dan saw his chance to put Atticus in check mate. He was about to beat him when the doorbell rang.

Dan jumped to his feet, and ran to the door, expecting the pizza he ordered. Only when he opened the door, it wasn't pizza. It was Ian Kabra, Amy and Dan's very, very distant cousin and greatest adversary during the Clue Hunt.

Dan noticed the way the light seemed to bounce off his skin. And he hated himself for noticing.

"Well?" Ian started. His accent seemed more noticeable than normal to Dan. "Are you going to invite me in or just stand there staring at me?"

Dan blushed. He hadn't even noticed he'd been staring. "No, whatever you want to say you can say from out here." Dan said coldly. He forced himself to remember all the times during the Clue Hunt that Ian had attempted to kill him. Although no matter how many times he thought of, he found his mind slowly wandering into good thoughts of him.

"Very well Daniel," Dan hated to be called by his first name, although for some reason it didn't bother him this time. Ian continued, "Where is your sister? I have very important Cahill business to talk to her about."

"Whatever you have to tell her, you can tell me, Ian. I'm just as much head of the family as she is." Dan shot back. Why did his voice crack when he said Ian's name.

Ian looked him over. "Right, well, this is big kid stuff." Ian said in a mocking tone. Dan didn't seem to notice, but found his mind wandering again in thoughts of Ian.

"Okay, Ian" He answered simply. It was all he could manage to say. "I'll tell her you were here."

Ian gave Dan a weird look, almost a look of concern, but it faded and he left.

Dan closed the door, and just stared at it. He had a weird feeling. A feeling almost like he missed Ian. But that was impossible. He hated Ian, and he had just left a few seconds ago.

He heard his computer beep, and he realized he'd forgotten about his game with Atticus. He ran over, still feeling as though something was missing.

….

Ian walked away from the Cahill mansion feeling terrible. He could tell something was wrong with Dan, and that worried him. Dan didn't seem focused. Almost as if he wasn't there at all.

Ian climbed back into the taxi he took there, and told them the address to take him to. He felt a tear roll down his face. He wiped away the tear and forced himself to stop. He hadn't even cried when his mother had shot his sister, why would he cry now.

But he still felt another tear roll down his face. He couldn't stop himself knowing there was something bothering Dan Cahill. The person he loved.

….

Amy walked into the house feeling great. The way she always did after being with her boyfriend Evan Tolliver. She looked over at her bother Dan, laying on the couch playing chess with his friend, and empty box of pizza sitting next to him.

"Hey Dan," She said.

"Hey." He replied simply, he seemed distant in his answer.

"How was your day?" She asked.

"Fine," He answered, "How was your date with Evan?"

The question seemed normal enough, but it struck Amy as odd. Dan never took an interest in Amy's personal life. Why the sudden change? Something was wrong. "Fine," She repeated, and asked, "Is everything ok?"

Dan jumped to his feet, he started yelling at her, "Everything's fine! Why wouldn't I be ok?!"

With that, he ran up to his room and slammed the door shut.

And that left Amy standing there, wondering what had come over her little brother.