I would like to take the space here to thank everyone for their patience. Thank you. I know it's been a long while but now Caomhnóir is back online and running! { Yes! Finally! You sure took your sweet time Silver!} Some things have been changed and others written better, some things have been added in and some parts that have stayed the same~

I'd like to thank and give props for my lovely BetaReader, bookimp, who has done a wonderful job of looking over the chapters and also being patient with me. Thank you dear~

This Author adores constructive criticism and I personally invite you to kick my writing's ass. But please, dear reader, keep in mind that swearing in caps and/or giving one liners of how much I suck will not be appreciated and will ultimately be ignored. I expect you to explain why you think something is wrong and how you as a writer would fix it. It may or may not be edited based on your side of the argument. Please and Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I'm glad that we could clear that issue. There will most definitely be other things that I do not own but will make some kind of reference to, have no fear, they will be accounted for and credit will be given where it is due.

I believe that is all for announcements. If I think of any more they will be posted on my profile page.

~Enjoy~

"We can't plan life. All we can do is be available for it. "

-Lauryn Hill

"Welcome and good evening, this is StormCenter17 with top breaking news, I'm your anchor Connor Harris. This Monday afternoon, Officer Robbie Stewarts and his partner Jacob Snyder of the Virden Sheriff's department stopped a car just for an expired plate. Officer Stewart barely had time to even undo his seat belt before the driver in front of them emerged from his vehicle with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire. Stewarts and his partner returned fire from their windows managing to hit the driver once in the leg, arm and shoulder, but the man got back into his car and fled from the scene. Thankfully neither of the officers were injured from the unexpected spray of bullets and quickly called for backup as they gave chase. The driver was confirmed to be Thomas Bell; a prime suspect in an ongoing drug investigation in Chicago. But that's not all: Bell has warrants for arrest in not only the Chicago areas but also in Springfield, Peoria, Davenport, and Quincy.

Bell lead police forces on a terrifying high-speed chase off the main road and through residential areas of Virden, Illinois, charging through yards and alleyways. This was the police forces' worst nightmare come to life; not only is Bell dangerous because of his possession of weapons and alleged criminal activities, he is also putting many civilians and officers lives in grave danger as he recklessly attempts to throw off his pursuers.

When it seemed that it couldn't possibly get any worse, Bell smashed through a wooden fence around a house on a corner and mowed down a pedestrian walking on the other side before continuing racing down to the end of the street and making a sharp turn in the direction of Highway I-55! One of the officer's pulled over and calls for an ambulance and for backup to lay down spike strips and a barricade on the ramp leading onto the freeway.

Bell unknowingly ran over the spikes but made it past the barricade by squeezing through a patch of grass on the side and entered the highway then turns around and drove in the wrong direction putting the oncoming traffic in risk of crashing! Luckily because of the spike strips that Bell had plowed through earlier, two of the tires blew from the strain and Bell slowly ground to a stop by the median and officers rushed to arrest the man. Thomas Bell was taken into police custody and will be facing trial for illegal possession of arms, attempted capital murder, first degree murder along with many traffic violations added to the list. This is along with the warrants on his head for the trafficking of drugs.

The residents and the local high school of Virden are in mourning for sixteen-year old freshman and track member of Virden high school..."

Ashlynn Meagher couldn't help but distinctly feel a sense of impending doom as she woke up Monday morning and she was convinced that someone or something had it out for her that day and the worst still had yet to happen. She was even more certain that she was not going to remotely enjoy the initial experience and seriously had her doubts that in the future look back on this day and laugh at her ridiculous misfortune.

She woke up with the sun shining through her window onto her face with her alarm clock blinking 12:00. Apparently there had been some sort of a minor power outage sometime in the middle of the night. She was more than an hour and a half late for school and it had been a day that she had needed to be at school on time. After scrambling to dress herself and hopping out of her room with her messenger bag while she pulled her jeans over her legs and socks over her feet. Once satisfied that she was decent to go out in public Ashlynn bolted out of the house to the garage with no breakfast and her hair a complete mess. She cursed when she found that the front tire of her bike had somehow become flat over the last two days. Since there was just no time to fix or replace it she tightened the straps of her bag and sprinted down the streets to her high school with her bag hitting sharply against her waist.

As she finished the two mile trek to her school and was catching her breath as she waited for the lady in charge of attendance to give her a pass she realized that since she was going to be late anyway she should have taken the time to fix her bike. Ashlynn questioned herself if it had been really worth it to rush over. She could have easily just stayed home and ask the two teachers classes she missed if she could take her exam after school or even during lunch break. She certainly wasn't the first nor last student to come in late and miss a test. Surely they would allow her to take it at another time.

The morning classes that day went from bad to worse; She wasn't at all prepared for any of her classes of the day save for the exam she had to take during her third hour. For the rest of her classes she didn't have any of her homework with her and the things that she did have were stuck in her locker that had decided to jam itself. Lunch was no better, she barely had enough money with her and a student had bumped into her spilling spaghetti all over her shirt and hadn't even apologized or helped her up from the ground when he had knocked her off balance so she was left picking herself up and sitting in the courtyard alone since her so called friends had noticed her increasing bad luck (It never occurred to any of them to ask what was going wrong.) and all had made excuses not to hang out with her; from appointments with their counselor, working in the library, and or lunch detention. Many groups of people had pointed and laugh at her misfortune as they walked past her. Ashlynn sighed as she used a napkin to clean off what she could of her shirt before deeming it a lost cause and turning to the direction of her gym locker for a cleaner shirt to wear.

Her afternoon classes were not any better than the morning ones. For each class she had been called to stay after a few minutes for a quick lecture on how very disappointing it was that she was so very unprepared for school that day. This was very surprising for her; since she wasn't the very best in all of her academics (she was passing on mid B average which was fine with her along with her school counselor and her parents, though the latter two would have been more happy with an A average). Even more surprising was that this wasn't the first time that she had been late for school and forgot a few assignments in her rush but for some reason today all of her teachers were calling her out on it! It wasn't fair at all! There were other students that were never ready every single day of the school year and they chew her out on the few days of the year that it happens to her!

Ashlynn couldn't help herself and tuned out her teacher's voice. She was so tired and on her way to an emotional breakdown. Luckily she was just able to mange to nod in the right places to give off the image that she really was paying attention as this teacher in particular was comparing her to her older brother Flaithri who had already graduated from high school two years prior to her Freshmen orientation to the high school. The man sent her off with a scribbled note to her next class where the events would be repeated again.

'Please, please let this be the end of all this crap! It's already bad enough it's a Monday! Please don't let anything else go wrong today!' Ashlynn silently begged as she made her way back to the gym for her last class of the day.

Unfortunately for her (and no doubt to the amusement of whatever had it out for her) her small prayer was not going to be answered favorably. She was stopped right when she exited the building towards the fields by a small group of upperclassmen girls that had to take P.E. because they didn't think to get the credit earlier. They crowded around her, trapping her when she tried to move pass them. They called her names, nitpicked at her appearance and one even accused Ashlynn of trying to seduce her boyfriend!

This was ridiculous! She didn't even know these girls! Hell she didn't even know their names! Only that they had to take P.E. now otherwise they wouldn't be able to graduate this year.

She told the leader of the group this and was rewarded with the older girl jumping at her to pull on her hair with the three other girls crowding and pushed her back towards their leader when Ashlynn came too close to escape. It wasn't until Ashlynn had been pushed down into a muddy puddle did their teacher finally notice what was going on. Ashlynn hadn't even tried to fight back against them but to protect herself when the girls punched, kicked and scratched at her. She was the one with the most injuries out of the group and mud all over clothes and she had somehow ended with the blame of the fight. Ashlynn tried to explain her side of the story to both the teacher and the principal that she didn't even know these girls besides their names and they were the ones to crowd her with odds four to one! She had tried to defend herself and hadn't fought back against them so how the Hell was this her fault!

The reason it was her to take all of the blame? The bitch squad had another upperclassmen girl say that she had seen Ashlynn instigate the fight and with teamwork the three opposing girls protected each other from the strong freshman's assault on them. Ashlynn couldn't help but gape at the blatant bullshit unfolding in front of her. And that bullshit had put her in I.S.S (In School Suspension), taken off the track team for an indefinite amount of time, and after school detention for the rest of the week! And her parents were to be called for a conference to discuss her 'delinquent' behavior. All because the teacher and principal had listened to her attackers because they were all cheerleaders and had large breasts.

By the time school finally ended at 3:10 and while all of the other students were released to go home or stay to attend their respective clubs; Ashlynn was stuck serving detention in one of the classrooms on the second floor scraping off gum and the occasion booger off of the bottom and the sides of every single desk. And she would do this for another classroom before she was released at four o'clock. The bus whose route drove relatively close to where she lived had already left a long time ago and all of her friends that had cars were missing as well. Ashlynn sighed wearily as she walked away from the school's campus in a sour mood and she still had a bad feeling in her gut as she listened to the music on her Ipod.

'Come on Ashlynn, you're almost home and then you can get something chocolatey to snack on, a nice shower and maybe a little nap before Mom and Dad come home from work...They'll believe your story...' Ashlynn grimaced. Here she was trying to give herself a pep talk. But a nap sounded heavenly at the moment. She swiped her finger across the play-lists and settled on the Muse albums and played 'Feeling Good' first. Surely that would make her feel somewhat better and hopefully get her back home on a lighter note than the stressful rush when she left it.

Ashlynn began to silently mouth along with the lyrics. 'Birds flying high you know how I feel, Sun in the sky you know how I feel, Reeds drifting on by you know how I feel...It's a new dawn, it's a new day, It's a new life for me...And I'm feeling good...'

She never heard the sirens coming her way...

Pain.

Pain. That was really all Ashlynn was able to fully comprehend in her current state of mind. Her body was hurting all over and she desperately wanted it to end and to leave her to be in peace already.

Her head felt like screws were being drilled into her skull, her ears were ringing and she could vaguely feel something wet above her upper lip. The inside of her chest felt like it wanted switch places with the skin on the outside of her body where it had no reason to be. Her cold feet were asleep with a stinging heavy sensation that was beginning to creep up her legs that caused her to jerk harshly every time she even twitched.

She wanted to curl into herself to ease some of the throbbing in her limbs but even trying to move her limbs into the desired position was causing her more pain than her previous position. Why? Why hadn't she be given a reprieve yet? She didn't even know where she was or how she came into the position was in now. And whenever she tried to move her head she was still met with a bright light even with her eyes clenched shut; she could still see it shining on her face.

It was hot.

Her legs were freezing.

Her shoulders were shaking.

Her breath was becoming more labored.

Then finally a sharp stinging on her hand and something held over her face as hands moved her arms and her tingling legs before the bright lights finally darkened and she blacked out from another round of intense pain.

When she returned back to consciousness it was unfortunately back to the bright lights and a strange underlying sense of vertigo and she couldn't make use of any of her limbs due to the numbness that her body had taken to. Ashlynn squinted into the bright light and focused on one spot where one shadow was being cast above the right side of her head. There was a blurry image of a woman hovering over her, though she didn't know it the woman was holding onto her hand as she maneuvered the moving gurney through the long hallway. The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties with stringy brown hair with many of its' strands turning gray with age. The woman noticeably (though not to Ashlynn) adjusted the grip on Ashlynn's hand when she and the other shadows that turned out to be people noticed the injured girl peer at her with squinted eyes.

The woman sighed in relief. "Ashlynn, sweetie, you're going to be okay. We've got you now but we're going to need you to stay awake for us, Hun. One of your neighbors came with to call your parents when the ambulance picked you up. He's waiting in the lobby right now. He said that your mother was closer and was on her way right now. Ashlynn, sweetie, can you hear me? Did you understand everything I just said?"

"...M-Mommy..." Ashlynn softly choked out. The woman gently reached over with the hand that had been holding hers and wiped down the tears that were flowing down her cheeks with a soft piece of cloth. "...Mommy..."

Ashlynn's eyes fluttered. She could feel something warm just out of her reach through the numbness of her being. She wanted that comforting warmth. She didn't want to be in pain any longer and she didn't want to die; not now, not today, and definitely not in the foreseeable future. She wanted to go home to her family.

While her body tensed and twitched in its' own personal hell, Ashlynn retreated into the depths of her mind.

And began to regret...

"That's right, dear, your mother is on her way right now and will be here soon. It's okay, you're going to be okay... Ashlynn...? Ashlynn...? Ashlynn! No! Russel! We're losing her!"

Dolly cross had a fairly good day despite it starting off with a crossword puzzle that she failed to finish within thirty minutes and the rainstorm that had lasted from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. But after that the day had began to look up; all of the residents of the apartment complex that she was in charge of paid their rents on time and even a few had paid for the next month as well. This along with nothing needed to be fixed left her in a nice content mood. She had just now finished having dinner with her daughter who went to go back to work on her homework. Dolly dried her hands on the apron tied around her waist and went to the front door to put on her shoes.

"Birdy! I'm going to go pick up another puzzle. I'm going to lock the door so don't answer for anyone okay?"

"Hai, Ka-san!" came the answer from the kitchen table.

Dolly locked the door behind her as she stepped out of her home and walked out of the apartment complex. It was nice outside and since it was only a short walk Dolly didn't bother starting up her car. She waved to a few people who were sitting on their front porches or on balconies doing their laundry on her way out to the side streets towards one of the local convenience stores. She entered through the automatic sliding doors and grabbed a box of granola bars, a book of crossword puzzles, and a pack of gum. Dolly paid the cashier and waved on her way out of the store back to her home.

Dolly froze in the middle of the street only halfway home as the sound of screeching tires and a crash resounded throughout the neighborhood. She darted around two more corners and found a light pole that had been slammed into, a car backing out of the wreckage and sped out of the area nearly hitting Dolly in their haste to leave the scene, and a body lying motionless on the side of the road.

Dolly gasped at the sight and ran over to the female lying on her back in a small pool of blood. Dolly grabbed for her phone and punched in the numbers for the hospital as she tried to asses the damage in front of her.

"What is your emergency?"

Dolly quickly told the woman on the other line where she was. "I stumbled on a hit and run accident. There is a teenage female in need of medical assistance. There's blood coming from the back of her head and possibly from her back, and her arm looks to be broken. The person driving got away, bastard didn't get out to see if the girl was alright...it was too dark so I couldn't see the license plate and he nearly knocked me over too..."

"Right away ma'am. An ambulance is on its way."

After arriving out of the ambulance to the hospital, Dolly waited in the lobby for the next few hours working her way through the new book of crossword puzzles she had just purchased while munching on the granola bars. She looked up then stood when a doctor approached her flipping through papers attached to a clipboard.

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you the mother or guardian of the girl you brought in?"

Dolly shook her head in a negative. "No. I'm not. I was close by when the accident happened. How is she? Will she be alright?"

"For now, yes. We've taken a blood test and too care of the bit of blood lost, we should be getting more results other than her blood type within the next few days. There is a minor sprain in her arm and ankle that should be healed within the next two weeks or so, there were also scrapes and bruises that will heal within the week. We are more worried about the slight concussion from the hit to the back of her head. She was lucky that she wasn't hit too hard but we are unsure how much it will affect her when she wakes up. When she does we'll have her stay a while for observation. Ma'am, even though you're not the girls' guardian may we have your information as a contact until we are able to find her family or guardians?"

"Ah. That's fine." Dolly nodded and wrote her information on one of the papers the doctor carried before finally making her way back home to her daughter.

She was in for a wait until the girl would awaken.