Disclaimer: I do not own anything Dark-Hunter; Sherrilyn Kenyon owns those, along with all her other awesomeness. I am just borrowing them for a little crazy fun. ALSO: This story IS a self-insert, and a sequel, but it's not your usual case of either. If you want more information about the previous story or the series, then look on my profile or message me and I'll be happy to answer your questions, though any important series-relevant information will be covered in this story, so it shouldn't be necessary. Also, a few warnings: this is NOT a romance story, and any pairings will follow Dark-Hunter canon; other canon-related facts might be subject to change, and will almost definitely be warped by the sheer contagiousness of my insanity. And possibly set on fire… Enjoy! :3

Embracing Adversity

Chapter 1: Down with the Sickness

The pounding in her head wouldn't stop. Every time she moved it made it worse. She could hear Azriel murmuring something, and a cool hand brushed a strand of hair from her face. That was when she made the mistake of opening her eyes; the light made everything worse, and she might have screamed, but then the pounding and ringing and spots overwhelmed her abused senses, and she slipped gratefully into blackness.

Mara woke up feeling like she'd been hit by a train. She groaned pitifully and shifted, only to almost pass out again. 'That was not a good idea…' she thought as she fought the reflex to vomit. A few deep breaths steadied her enough for her to recognize the feeling of cold concrete underneath her cheek. "Wha-…?" she croaked hoarsely.

"Stay down!" commanded a familiar voice, sounding more agitated than she'd ever heard it. Panic made her heart leap into her throat, and the pounding in her ears doubled. She whimpered, and, despite orders, still tried to get up. The sounds of fighting finally reached through the pound of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears, and she fought the weakness and aching in her limbs. Before she could stand, however, there was an agonized scream that turned her blood to ice, and then the familiar blackness crowded in.

Acheron told himself that it wasn't his place to interfere in the business of archangels, even when they suddenly appeared in a nearby alley and started fighting weird demons. At least until he heard the scream, and realized they were protecting a human, and not doing too well. He silently cursed as he raced toward the alley.

The archangel stood protectively between an unconscious girl, two angels, and a demon of origins unknown even to Acheron's omniscience. But no matter where it was from, it was no match for an archangel and an Atlantean god. With one last leer, it disappeared. The archangel turned and nodded his thanks to Ash before checking on the girl. "She'll be alright; she wasn't hit," he told to the female angel, and Ash finally noticed the blood covering the second angel cradled in her arms. "How is Azriel?" She looked up in fear and sadness.

"Not well. His injuries are beyond my ability to heal. I can't even identify what caused them. He must be taken to the Seraphim…"

The archangel looked distressed, glancing between the bleeding angel and the girl slumped a few feet away. "You know we can't just leave her, and only Azriel can send her home…" he said softly before looking over at Ash cautiously. "Might we impose upon you, sir?" he said, a glint of hope in his eyes. "Could you please watch over this girl until we are able to return for her?"

That had not been the request Ash had been expecting, and before he could stammer out a reply through his surprise, the archangel smiled and professed his gratitude before he and the two angels disappeared, leaving the girl unconscious near his feet. Ash blinked. "I should have kept walking…" he sighed, irritated and not at all looking forward to this as he glared down at the kid. With another sigh, he knelt beside her and cautiously placed a hand on her forehead. After a moment, he pulled away with a frown, puzzled. He was absolutely blind to her; all he could sense was a fever and a flu virus on a rampage. "Dammit," he swore again. Muttering curses to himself, he pulled out his cell and dialed. "Kyrian…" he said blandly as the man answered. He ground his teeth in irritation at having to say the next words that left his mouth. "I… need a favor…"

After he'd given the former prince his location, he returned to check on the girl. She stirred as he laid a hand against her forehead, and he could tell she was slowly fighting her way back to consciousness. "Azriel…?" she murmured quietly, turning toward the contact.

"No…" Ash said, pausing, and realized he'd have to explain what had happened to the angel she'd mistaken him for. But that could probably wait until she was coherent… "Acheron," he corrected her gently.

She sighed softly, her eyes still shut. "Oh… hey, Ash…" she mumbled, and he wondered if her surprising familiarity was due to more than just grogginess. He was almost certain that there was more to it when she frowned, brows furrowing, seeming to realize something was amiss. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open, and once they could focus, he was positive he saw recognition in them. He was back to uncertainty at her next words, though. "You look like a dinosaur right now…" she giggled, then stopped, her face a little green. "Why is the ground moving…?" For a terrifying moment, the part of her brain that could still work wondered if something had gone wrong, and she'd landed on Atlantis as it sank. It would be just her luck…

"…It's not…" he replied, edging a little further away, just in case his night wanted to take a turn toward The Exorcist.

"…Oh… shit…" She swallowed heavily, squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to breath through the agony that was movement. Halfway through the act of sitting up, she changed her mind; something in her stomach was not down for moving right now, and she didn't think this was the best time to challenge it. "That wasn't a good idea…" she groaned, and a tiny part in her brain couldn't help but think that should she puke on the Atlantean, he'd probably put her out of her misery. Something twisted in her heart then, as the snarky voice she was so used to chastising her for such thoughts remained silent. Her heart racing, she turned to stare up at the ancient god watching her cautiously. "What… what happened to Z…?" she asked, and there was so much fear in her voice that Acheron found his irritation with her slowly melting. It wasn't her fault he was stuck with her, after all. Or at least that had been his reasoning before she next opened her mouth, and any uncertainty he'd had about her knowledge of him and his was blown out of the water. "I mean my Z, like Azriel Z, not your Z, like Zarek Z," she blurted, and somewhere through his shock, he recognized her attempts at fighting back her fears with her ramblings. "Zarek is… wait, where is Zarek right now? Is he still in Alaska?" She frowned, and realized she might need to learn when exactly she'd landed before she started talking about things that hadn't happened yet. Of course, that would be made much easier if she weren't feeling like absolute hell, and fast reaching the panicking stage of worrying about her missing angel buddy.

Acheron, meanwhile, was having to force himself not to jump to the worst conclusions available as he studied this girl more closely. "I'll tell you what happened to him," he informed her finally, voice stern and distant. "But first, I want you to tell me exactly how you know my name and about Zarek."

Mara forced herself to sit up, and there was the smallest glimmer of fear in her eyes, though Ash couldn't be certain if it was for herself or the angel. Yet. If she were smart, he thought, she'd be a bit more worried about herself right now, because depending on her answer, that archangel might have another casualty on his hands. "You aren't going to like this," she warned, and he was interested to hear the note of resignation in her voice; there was no fear there as she addressed him. "That angel, Azriel? He's my guardian angel," she began. "And we're one of the teams that gets sent to other worlds sometimes." She paused, glancing up at him, and was a little relieved to see he was still listening. It was a rare enough thing that she took heart from it, and with a deep breath for courage, she continued on to the part that would almost certainly push the Atlantean god frighteningly close to "apocalyptic rage mode". "The world I'm from… it's a lot like this one; almost identical, really… except… there's this series of books… and, well… they're about the Dark-Hunters… and you…"

The only visible sign that Acheron was currently enjoying the idea of blasting this kid into oblivion right now was an almost imperceptible tic as his jaw clenched. "…How much do you know…?" he finally asked, his voice low and dangerous. The girl gulped nervously, and he was not reassured that she was starting to look afraid.

"… Um… well… pretty much everything…" she admitted quietly. "But if it helps, back home, those books are entirely fictional. And you're like, one of the most popular characters." She could tell by the look on his face that it did not help.

"So why are you here?" he asked, almost reluctantly, his voice clipped as he fought the anger and terror rising as he waited for answers.

"I… I don't actually know…" she admitted sheepishly. "This is only my second… mission… I guess you'd call it? Vacation, maybe, but that implies not having to do anything, and last time I ended up stopping a war, so that's probably not the right word… Quest? No, quests have goals…" She stopped herself before her word-vomit succeeded in seriously pissing off the ancient Atlantean. "Usually I'm not told where I'm going or why I'm there… I guess they want me to figure it out for myself… I'm sorry that doesn't help…"

Acheron was silent for a long time as he digested this scant information, and took little comfort in the fact that this child had been sent by angels. They probably didn't have any sinister motives, he reasoned, given that it was rather against their nature, but he'd never trusted himself to the better natures of beings before, especially not the heavenly ones. Still, even the weak readings he could glean from this girl were enough to reassure him that she, at least, was sincere, and most likely not a threat. Unless she told anyone the things she knew… Maybe it was a good thing he was supposed to look after her; it would be easier to keep an eye on her that way. He was pulled from his contemplations by a soft query of his name, and looked up to see his new ward fidgeting nervously with the zipper of her jacket and glancing up at him as she tried to find the words she was looking for.

Finally, a look of determination and resolve settled into her eyes, and Ash wasn't sure which surprised him more, the sudden change in her demeanor, or what she said next. "I know saying "I'm sorry for what happened to you" doesn't change the fact that it did happen, and probably doesn't make you feel any better about it either, but… I am sorry and… and this is gonna sound weird, but I seriously look up to the person you've become, and not just because you're really tall… but that is also true…" Ash sighed, and realized that of all the people who could tell his dark secrets, this girl was probably the last of his worries in that department. He was fairly certain that even if she tried, her odd way of saying things would keep anyone listening from actually being able to understand her. Thank the gods for the little favors.

A/N: So… thus begins the second stage of the saga… :3 Recently edited because I couldn't read the last half of this chapter without wanting to puke. Next chapters will be edited and re-posted soon.