Disclaimer: Not Melissa De La Cruz, I don't own anything and no copyright infringment intended. Also do not own the quote at the beginning of the story.

A/N: Alright thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope you enjoy. Here's the thing I have only just started to read Revelations. So while there maybe some referneces as I go along, this story is in no way shape or form meant to go along completely with the events in Revelations.


"Hot as hell, Cold as ice,

Sip it slow cause it's so nice.

Dulls my senses, Drives my pain

But I'd do it again."

~Love on the Rocks By Sara Bareilles

Schuyler Van Allen looked around her apartment one last time. The movers were wrapping the last bit of furniture in bubble wrap for the voyage overseas. The bare walls and empty spaces now seemed so lonely, and devoid of life. She had made her life here after she left New York, and now she was going back. London had been good for her, but Schuyler needed to face some demons from her past.

"Mum, we need to get moving or we'll be late." Ara walked down the stairs from the top floor. Her cell phone glued to her hand. Schuyler sighed anymore Ara seemed to be bonded to her mobile. The mother in her feared that something might be up but the vampire side of her told her that if she was half way across the world from her best friend, she would be glued to her only connection to her conduit. Had she not braved the wrath of Mr. Force to see hers?

"Ara," Schuyler began, "Since when did you ever do anything on time?"

"Since Jazz emailed me like five times," the teenager replied, not looking up from the tiny screen.

"Well I suppose this is everything, have you seen—"

"He's on the stairs," Ara replied quickly, "Dad come on Mum's trying to make us late," she called up the stairs then sprinted out the door to the waiting cab. Schuyler smiled it was good to see that her daughter was at least excited about the move. Then again if she were moving closer to her human conduit, and best friend, she would be too. Although the best part of Schuyler's life was that she never had to give him up.

"Ara's not excited about this move or anything?" Oliver asked entering the room.

"Not in the least."

"I suppose we better go before she decides to velox across that Atlantic?"

"Most likely." Oliver draped an arm over her shoulders as they excited the apartment. Schuyler felt like she was leaving a piece of herself behind there. It had been home for so long that now it seemed odd to leave it all behind this place had seen them through so much.

The Committee's Building was still the same imposing façade. Schuyler Van Allen looked up at the building trying to muster up the same courage that she'd had years ago when she stormed out of the very same building. But her bravado was failing her quickly. She walked up the stairs to the second floor where the Committee. She passed a few Junior Committee Members who quickly started whispering behind their hands, while the newbies just shrugged in their ignorance. It had been so long since the daughter of Gabrielle had graced the halls of the Bank with her presence.

In sixteen years, the old building hadn't changed a bit, but Schuyler, on the other hand, had changed quite a bit. She had gone from a girl who held a degree that she had absolutely no interest in, to successful business woman and from scorned lover, to proud mother. Yet, walking these halls again made her feel like the young girl she had been.

She had graduated from Yale with a degree in business. It was something that her advisors never seemed to get, as she seemed to be someone who would be better suited as an Art History Major. Though she proved them all wrong, even if she had no interest in the subject, she certainly had a talent for business and marketing. People chalked it up to her being an outsider all her life, and everyone knew the outside crowd was always going to be bigger than the in crowd.

If truth be told she had majored in business for one reason only. Jack Force, it gave them the perfect excuse to stay out late or just spend time together. Ollie had warned her that he would never change his mind. But had Schuyler ever listened to her best friend on the subject of her romantic life? No. Which was how she had earned her only broken heart.

While Schuyler had out grown many things from her youth, she still held tightly to her fashion sense. Though her long dark layers that were fit for street urchins were gone, they had been reborn in her sophisticated ensembles.

Schuyler paused outside of the inner chambers trying to draw up the last bit of her courage. She could do this, yes that was what she needed to keep telling herself. The power of positive thinking, wasn't that what Oliver had told her when she left for work that morning?

"It's good to have you back Schuyler." She turned to see her Grandfather, Lawrence Van Allen, the current Regis of the Committee. Though the world no longer knew him as Lawrence Van Allen that man had never even been a part of this century. No, the world now knew him as James Addison, the young professor of Early American History at Columbia, where students took his class to ogle their "cute" prof.

"Good to be here," she lied.

"Shall we?" He extended his hand motioning toward the door. He pulled open the large oak doors and the Van Allens entered the room.

If the Junior members had been bad, the full fledged members were absolutely atrocious. Talking ceased, heads moved, and Schuyler was sure that more than one mouth was hanging open.

"Everyone," she said in greeting, and took her seat at the table. She was here for two reasons, one related to Blue Blood business the other due to her actual job. Schuyler's only daughter, Ara, had turned sixteen that spring and she was here for the fall so that she could be presented to their world. The second reason was that Schuyler had been reassigned in to the newly developed American department of Clique Point, the media company she worked for.

Schuyler cast a quick glance around the room looking for any familiar face, well a friendly familiar face, but Bliss seemed to be absent and her Grandfather was already here, which was the end of her friend list.

"Shall we begin?" Charles Force asked abruptly.

"Jack isn't here yet," Mimi Force intoned, studying her nails. Obviously she was doing her best not to think about Schuyler's return. Schuyler in return ignored Mimi, there was no business in dragging up the past.

"There is that," Lawrence added, "In addition to the fact that we must wait for our testee. She is," Lawrence cast a glance a Schuyler, "late."

Schuyler let out an angry breath, of all days that Ara was late. Soon after taking charge of the Committee her Grandfather had reinstated tests for the young Blue Bloods, to test all of their skills. Ara had past most of the exams in England before they left, but she still needed to past her four powers. Schuyler reached into her bag fumbling around for her phone.

While her mother was taking her place at the Committee meeting, Ara Van Allen was busy making difficult choices of her own.

"Which do you think?" She asked, her best friend Jazz. "Midnight Cowboy Rides Again or Lounge?" They were at Sephora picking up a few essentials for the first day of school that was coming up in the next week. The walls were lined with cosmetics from various names. They happened to be shopping at the Urban Decay stand inspecting the eye shadows.

"Hmm," Jazz studied the two shades, "Are you going green or blue?"

"Blue duh," Ara replied. Jazz should know by now that the entire island of New York was going to believe that she looked like a carbon copy of her mother.

"Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, it'll help pick of the blue."

"Thanks." The girl snagged the eye shadow and headed for the nearest checkout stand. She handed the sales person her stuff and turned back to her bestie.

"Hey what day is it?"Ara asked off handedly.

"Mon—Oh crap," Jazz said instantly flicking out her watch. "You are so in trouble, no joke."

Ara rolled her eyes, if it were not for Jazz, Ara wasn't sure she would have made it this far in life. In addition, to being the one true friend that Ara could always count on, Jazz also happened to be her human conduit. They had met in this very store, three years ago, when Ara had come to New York with her mother. Ara, who had trouble making decisions about anything, had sought out the closest girl for advice. Jazz had been studying nail polish and she had fit the bill. The two had been inseparable for the rest of the trip and kept up with each other via the internet when Ara returned with her mother to England.

"Do you need a ride?"

"I think I'll just run, you know get in shape for the whole test thing." Ara grabbed her pristine black and white bag from the girl and took off out of the wonderful world of makeup

Ara flashed out of the store a black blur in her Juicy fleece peacoat. She raced along the busy streets of New York heading for the building that housed the American branch of the Committee. Her mother was so not going to be happy and neither were her Stella McCartney boots. They were going to kill her, but she had to wear them today, even when she knew she had her velox test today.

She was at the door when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.

"I'm almost there," She said into the phone before her mother could get a word in. "Ow." In her hurry she had run into someone. She was sent sprawling, sliding across the pristine marble flooring. Ara heard distinctive snickering from her peers up the stairs. Great, her first day here and people would already think she was a klutz. Her phone went flying and clattered to the ground somewhere behind her head; she heard her mother's frantic voice asking if she was fine.

"Sorry," She began, as a hand was offered to help her to her feet. "I'm just terribly late, and this stupid test—" She dusted herself off, keeping her hair in her face as she tried frantically to pick through the man's mind. He was a hard head to crack; she'd never had this much trouble glomming someone before.

"It's fine, I was doing the same." She finally found her notch and pulled her hair aside so that she could look at the man she'd bumped into. Ara felt her glom slipping and grabbed at the edges of his conscious to remain in control, blue she whispered to his mind my eyes are blue.

Jack Force, was running late, between meeting with clients and all these extra Committee meetings were getting to him. It didn't help the fact that their major overseas rival was opening an American sector, or that his former…well he didn't quite know what to call her, was going to be the head of it.

Lawrence had decided to test every new Blue Blood, to make sure that they all knew what they were doing. You know before you let them loose on New York. But testing them in all four major areas required quite a bit of extra time. Most of their Monday meetings had been devoted to testing teens in addition to a few extra get-togethers. While the idea was good in theory Jack wasn't so sure that the practice was any better than the practice of communism.

It had taken his father a lifetime to build FNN and now in the span of a few short years, it was going all to hell. Literally. He wasn't sure how they were going to handle this, Clique Point seemed to be all anyone could talk about these days, add to that the fact that they owned and were acquiring even more FNN stock.

Schuyler Van Allen, he still didn't know what to make of that girl. There had been tension, love, and because of him, hate. He remembered the day she had turned eighteen and turned his house upside down. The look on his father's face when Ashton, their maid, had introduced Mr. Oliver Hazard-Perry, and the boy had actually materialized in the doorway.

"Ollie you are late," Schuyler said, bursting into the room.

"Traffic." Oliver held up his hands in an attempt to show his apologies.

"And where are you going Schuyler?" His father had asked.

"Home," she had said defiantly, handing Oliver a bag. Charles cocked an eyebrow. "And if truth be told as far away from you as I can get." She had left the Force house that morning never to return. Jack hadn't been able to blame her. She had never been welcome by his mother, and Mimi well Mimi was just Mimi.

"Um…Mr. Caron," his secretary interrupted his thoughts. Oh right, his new name. Silly Red Blood laws, Jack Force had disappeared and while the family had grieved publically, Jack had taken on a new persona. It was the only way that he and Mimi could be together.

"Yes." He looked up at her, she looked like she might jump out of her heels if he said the wrong thing.

"I know you didn't want to be bothered, but your Monday meeting, I well—" Jack glanced at the clock and got up so fast that he scared his pour secretary half to death.

He'd been going at full speed when another object traveling at maximum velocity had rammed into him. Both of them were sent skidding across the shined floors. Jack righted himself quickly, smoothing his hair. The girl was going on making her excuses, but Jack barely heard her. It was like he was seeing Schuyler again as if, her teenage self had been projected back into the entrance way. The girl flipped her hair out of her eyes, and for the briefest moment Jack was sure that her eyes were green. He shook his head and looked at her again; this girl was an exact replica of Schuyler, blue eyes and all.

He noticed the girl's phone was going crazy, he picked up the small object; instantly recognizing the voice blaring from the speakers.

"It's fine Sky I've got her."


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