I don't own them...if only...

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Andros knew that something wasn't right and the longer he waited the more anxious he became. He looked at his watch again and realized that Ashley was over an hour late.

It' nothing, he told himself; Maybe she was just held up at work, but as the minuets ticked by he become ever more concerned because it wasn't like Ashley to be late, she would at least call and tell him if she was going to be. Struck by a sudden though Andros looked at his phone, but the small screen glared blankly back up at him without a single missed call.

That's it, he thought picking up his jacket and phone. Fifteen minuets later he was standing on Ashley's front porch, the feeling of foreboding that had been gnawing at him on the drive over intensified ten fold when he saw the door hang off of its hinges. He immediately switched into warrior mode as he stepped cautiously into the darkened house, ready for anything that might pop out of the darkness. His sharp eyes scanned the room around him; the broken glass and upturned furniture that littered the floor were obvious signs of a struggle.

"Ashley?" He called softly, but his words were met with empty silence.

Stepping over a broken lamp, Andros made his way upstairs but found nothing to indicate what had happened in the house below.

"Ashley, where are you," he called through the silent house. Still no answer.

As he stepped into the kitchen he felt his foot land on something hard. He knelt down to investigate and felt his heart sink. There, sitting in a fresh puddle of blood, was Ashley's morpher. He reached out and picked it up, his eyes following the crimson trial that lead from the puddle to the open back door and out onto the porch before disappearing completely. A sudden flash of hatred and fear gripped his heart as he stepped out onto the deck.

"Ashley!"

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"I'm just saying," said Hayley with a nonchalant shrug.

"Well don't," said Tommy, "besides it's none of your business anyway."

Hayley sighed. Tommy was a tough cookie to crack. When he set his mind to something there was no changing it. Sometimes that was a good thing, but most of the time it just served to frustrate the hell out of Hayley. Today was turning out to be one of those days when she wanted to scream at him; problem was that he could scream back. He never did, he was too disciplined for that, but she was sure he could.

"Come on Tommy, we're friends. You can tell me what is really bothering you. I know you aren't still upset about the lab incident. I'm sure that kid didn't really mean to blow it up. Accident's happen you know."

Tommy ignored her, choosing instead to glare at the floor.

Hayley had a hunch as to what was bothering him, but she had long ago learned that asking for answers about his mysterious past was like asking him to dye his hair hot pink, it was never gonna happen. His past, as Hayley had found out the hard way, was dangerous territory, completely out of bounds. Don't go there he had said when she had brought it up once. But Hayley could be stubborn, she pushed the subject and was met with a few choice words and a weeks worth of silence. She cringed at the memory. Some mistakes were not worth repeating the second time and she was willing to bet money that whatever was bothering Tommy had something to do with his past.

"Tommy," she tried again.

"Don't," he snapped.

"Maybe I can help…"

"What? Are you a psychiatrist?"

"No," she said, immediately sensing that Tommy was getting irritated by her questions.

Hayley stood, deciding that it was better to quite while she was ahead, "fine, but if you change your mind I'll be in the lair." She turned and left Tommy in peace, wondering how she could get him to talk without risking there friendship.

As soon as Haley was gone Tommy stood and crossed to the table where his phone sat. He tapped it uncertainly before finally hitting the play button on the answering machine again. For the second time that day his voice filled the darkened room.

"Hey. This is Tommy. Leave a message and I'll get back to you." BEEP!

"Hey Tommy. It's Jason. Listen we need to talk. It's important." There was an awkward pause before his friend continued. "It's Kim, something has happened. Please give me a call. It's important!" Jason had placed a good deal of emphasis on the last word.

Tommy picked up the phone and dialed Jason's number as the machine cut off again. Had it been anyone else he would have deleted the message and never thought about it again, but it was Jason.

But this had better be good he thought as he waited for Jason to pick up on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Jase, hey it's Tommy."

"Oh, hey man. How's it going?"

"Fine, I got your message. What's up?"

There was a momentary silence before Jason spoke again. "Something happened to Kimberly. I'm not sure what. I went to her house when her boss said that she never showed up for work .I thought, you know, maybe she was sick or something, but when I got there the door was torn right off of it's hinges and her house was trashed. There was obviously a struggle, because there was a huge trail of blood that led to the backyard, but there was no Kimberly. She's gone man."

Jason waited for Tommy to reply to his news but there was only silent air.

"Tommy? Are you still there," he asked, concern creeping into his voice.

"Yeah…….what do you mean gone," Tommy asked, dreading the answer.

"Gone," said Jason," as in vanished into thin air."

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Well, what do you think? Worth continuing?