Into The Night

Sarah tightened her grip on the steering wheel, determined to get farther before she started crying. The night sky above her was tainted with the orange glow of city lights, and despite her best efforts, the view began to blur. Angrily she rubbed at her eyes, trying to banish the tears.

There was no way around this. This was the one thing she couldn't risk with them.

She looked to the passenger seat where there was a large bundle of cloth. Mr. Smith's crystal core was wrapped up under the blanket, one of the few things she knew she needed to take with her. It had been a rush job, breaking open the super computer's case to get his brain out. Hopefully he would forgive her when she found a new place for was also a hurriedly packed suitcase thrown in the back, and most of what it held wasn't clothes.

Sarah turned her eyes back to the road. "I won't let them get hurt." The mantra gave rise to a rush of protectiveness in her, and she felt the flow of tears slow. "I won't let them get hurt."

The Crimson Chapter had built itself up again, only now there was nothing holding them back from their belief in alien apocalypse. They knew aliens were here. They now believed she was a levy in front of the rising water, stopping their end of days. Their mission was the same, their reasoning hardly differing.

She couldn't let them near her young family. They could do too much damage.

"I won't let them get hurt."

Old Friends

Sarah felt nervous. It didn't help that she was tired, and her old, overwhelming, sense of paranoia had begun to creep back. She raised a shaking hand and knocked.

"Just a minute!"

Hearing the voice made her chest ache. Did she have a right to do this? There was the sound of the lock being undone, and she knew she had just one more second in order to run before she had to face her decision.

She didn't move. The door opened.

"Hello, Nat."

Software Update

"Sarah this is.. this is amazing."

Hands wrapped around a warm mug of tea, Sarah felt herself give a genuine smile in response to Natalie's enthusiasm. "Knew you'd like him." She took a sip of her drink.

On the table in front of them was a laptop, screen a continuous flow of information. The Xylok crystal lay next to it, glowing faintly.

"Him?"

"Just wait. I know he's going to like you too."

Focus

All of his professors noticed the slip. Determined to discover what had happened to such a promising student, Luke suddenly found himself confronted after class and in hallways.

They gave him a week to 'readjust' to the knowledge that his mother was missing, but after that he should focus on his work. After all, wouldn't that be what his mother would want?

He stayed up late with K-9, doing everything he could to try and track her down.

His focus continued to slip.

Insomnia

Sarah pushed her glasses out of the way and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were tired, she was tired, but it was too difficult to sleep. Instead of laying in bed she had gone into the living room to read through the information Mr. Smith and Natalie had managed to pick up for her.

Dread crawled up in her as she read.

They had some players mapped out, but there was someone behind it all. The Crimson Chapter had rebuilt itself- but from the help of who, or what?

Sarah didn't like not knowing the full picture, and it was keeping her up at night.

Tracks

Sarah practically threw herself down the nearest alleyway the moment she spotted them. Her heart continued to race in her chest, refusing to slow.

It had been far too long since she'd been able to see them in person.

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to break. "Oh, K-9," she sighed, eyes filling with tears as she reached into her bag for her sonic lipstick. Despite Mr. Smith and Natalie's best efforts, her dog had picked up her scent and lead them straight to her. She couldn't let them find her. Not yet. This was the one thing they couldn't help with.

Stepping out of the alley, she pointed her lipstick in the direction of Luke, Clyde and Rani. Next to them, the tin dog froze before exploding into a shower of sparks.

Bait

"Where are you going Sarah?"

She froze at the sound of Natalie's voice.

"Sarah?"

The accusation in her tone made her turn away, unable to face her friend. "The address left for me."

"You agreed to wait. Sarah, they're baiting you, you need to calm down before you go and confront them."

"I am calm."

The stillness in her voice made Natalie's skin crawl.

"I can't sit around while they threaten.. I can't wait." Sarah wasn't stopped as she headed for the door a second time.

Blood

"Don't think you being here can save them," he spat.

Sarah kept her face blank and calm, but she wanted to shout, scream- demand to know why they were doing this. After all of the death, all that happened before, why did they want to do it all again?

"We've always known about your son. His friends." The man continued.

The weight in her hand was uncomfortable, but she was familiar with the motions. She didn't hesitate.

Restless

"Do you have it?"

"Hold on Sarah."

The older woman resumed her pacing, stepping on and over old cups of hot chocolate and empty take out containers.

"Do you have it?" She repeated as she passed by again.

"Wait," Natalie snapped. "We're doing our best, and you aren't helping." The Xylok at the hacker's side flashed various colors on his screen.

"What was that?" Sarah asked.

"Just Mr. Smith. He says 'be patient'."

The journalist threw up her hands in defeat.

Solo

"I'm going alone."

"Sarah that's mad, you'll get killed," Natalie was practically shouting.

"Then it would be no good for you to be there to die as well!" She countered.

"Nothing's changed from the old days then. Use me, then push me aside. Josh isn't here to run after you Sarah, who's going to watch your back?"

She couldn't find a way to respond to that.

The Man Behind the Curtain

"Who are you?" Sarah demanded. Months of research had yielded nothing but a sketchy calender of his whereabouts; and even that was uncertain.

He smiled at her, putting his hands on her arms, which were tied to the chair she was sitting in. "Something beyond yourself, miss Smith."

She held her ground against his closeness, though she wouldn't have been able to retreat if she wanted to. "For something beyond you seem rather fixated."

"I am not the one who is fixated.. I simply point others in the right direction. Their drive is not mine."

"And who are you to do the conducting?"

His smile held as he moved away from her. "I am the Black Guardian."

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sarah had experienced a great deal in her life. The wonders of the universe, space and time had been laid out before her once. Happiness and amazement, simple joys and discovery. There was also pain, physical and emotional. Old scars, faded with time, but still present; those were both abundantly physical and emotional.

Yet the all encompassing nothingness she was experiencing in that moment somehow dulled everything, as if they were dreams her waking mind couldn't hold onto. She couldn't properly feel or think, she just knew that there was nothing around her, soaking into her skin.

Then there is a flash, and for a moment she could fully perceive again.

There was a man, and Sarah wasn't certain if he was radiating light or wearing the purest cloth. He smiled and simply said, "You're going to be alright."

Fate

When Sarah opened her eyes it was dark, but she could see a thin strip of light at the bottom of a door. She pulled her wrists apart, but the ropes binding her hands together bit into her sore flesh and she immediately stopped.

She could hear shouting outside the door, panic mixed with anger, and figured she either about to die, or be discovered.

Sarah closed her eyes and waited for fate to decide which one would happen first.

White Knights

"You were disbanded."

The man across from her smiled, "yes, well, when we heard they had regrouped we.. re-banded. Which is how we caught news of your capture so quickly. Though we followed your previous wishes, we knew that if they were to rise again you would need our help."

Sarah looked away from him to others standing behind him. They all seemed too young to be a part of something so dangerous. Just like those she left to protect...

"I must say I'm glad we found you when we did."

"Yes," she looked back to him. "Thank you for the rescue."

"Just our duty, Herald."

Breakthrough

Natalie was uneasy around the cultists, preferring to ignore them as politely as she could. Maneuvering around where three of them were huddled together, she moved towards the woman sitting in the corner alone.

"Sarah?"

She turned at the sound of her name, hands massaging her wrists. They were still raw from where the ropes had bit into them.

There had been an uneasy tension in the flat for days now, but Natalie managed to break it with a smile. "The firewall, I've gotten through."

It took a moment for the message to sink in, when it did Sarah was suddenly more alert, almost alive again. "Wonderful! What have you-?"

"Mr. Smith is compiling what we need now. We can find them."

The End

"I have to say, leaving the heavy lifting to someone else is something I could get used to."

Sarah frowned at Natalie. "Forgive me if I'm not so quick to trust someone else's word."

"I thought you were past that."

"Oh Nat, I'm sorry. It's just.."

"Hard to believe this is really over?"

She snorted, unamused. "That's what we said last time."

"But now it's true. You've even seen it with your own eyes."

Sarah turned away from her friend, uneasy.

"You were there," Nat questioned, voice hesitant. "Weren't you Sarah?"

She nodded. "It's just.. it's not what I've seen Nat, it's what I've done."

"You've done worst in the past," Natalie pointed out.

"Yes, I suppose it was a bit naive of me to think I could leave it there."

Offer

"Thank you.. I can't even.. just.. thank you. Natalie, thank you."

"You can stop with the praise. All I did was sit around." She hoped the joke doesn't fall flat, and was glad to see Sarah smiling back at her.

There was a moment of quiet contentment between them before Sarah's smile slowly faded away, and she began to look worried.

"Sarah? What is it?"

"We parted on such bad terms last time.. well. I was wondering now, well, not wondering. I wanted to ask.. invite."

Natalie tried to hold back her laughter. "It's not like you to not know what words to use."

"It isn't, is it? I suppose I just want you to visit, after all of this."

"That goes both ways then."

"Good."

Home

She didn't go to the house. Sarah knows that there's somewhere much more important that she has to be.

It feels strange, heading towards that which she had to run away from for so long. She's scared, used to having to drive herself away from this thought. Yet the closer she gets the more she feels relieved. It's over. It is finally, truly, over, and this is how she gets to confirm it.

She doesn't know what she can say, and when she sees him she knows at that moment it doesn't really matter.

Sarah wraps her arms around her son and finally knows that she's gotten home.