Author's Note: Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! I'm glad you guys are interested in this new adventure for Faster. I love this couple so much so I'm happy to hear that you do too! Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Aster glances away from the flowers in front of him as he hears Fever's footsteps. She is walking toward him with an expression of exasperation. She doesn't say anything, but just sits on a stump nearby as she watches him continue to bring Spring to the surface. He was used to it. Every now and then if she needed to think or if she just needed some positive energy, she would join him as he helped bring life and hope to the mortals.

Fever watches him raise his hands above the small bi-colored impatiens, and the flowers rise to meet his palm, their petals becoming more lustrous and bright, and the stems and leaves become greener, peacocking under the sun. She sighs at the sight, and wishes not for the first time that she had such a close bond with the life around her. Sure, she technically played a part in creating human life, but it wasn't the same. The trees move with the breeze, their branches creating squeaks as the bark brushes up against the other limbs sensually, and the leaves dance and perk up as well.

"You're upset." Aster says shortly, and moves away from the patch of plant growth to another, making the daffodils open to display their yellow scalloped petals. Fever stays silent for a while, contemplating whether or not to answer. She had tried to work that morning with the same effect that had become the norm in the past month. She was either not creating any passion, or too much. It was beginning to give her a complex.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You missed that tulip." Fever points to the red flower, and Aster smirks at her attempt to change the subject before running his paw over it, and it grows to match its taller counterparts. "It's so nice today. When I was little I would beg my mom to take me out for picnics when it was like this."

"What is it, Fever?" Aster turns to face her completely and she tries to make her eyes wide and innocent. She should have known that he would see right through her. "You seem off." Now she glares at him, even though she knows that's what he intended, and she stands from the stump to meet his amused green eyes.

"I am not off! I am fine!" She says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, sure." Aster walks away from her to continue working, and Fever counts to ten before answering him, hoping for the best.

"Aster, have you ever heard of Spirits losing their powers?" His eyes widen at her question, and he shrugs.

"Well, sure." Her heart leaps at his almost nonchalant tone, thinking that it was normal and easily fixed, until he continues. "When the children stop believing in the Guardians, we lose our powers. You know that." He moves over to a tree and places his hand on the trunk, closing his eyes as he tries to feel any hollowness that will accelerate its death. He works to fill the tree with his energy, and the holes in the trunk and limbs fill with healthy growth.

"But… what if it has nothing to do with the children? What if it's just a normal Spirit?" Aster's eyes open and narrow on her as he turns around. He takes in her posture and the anxiety in her eyes, and realizes that this is not just an empty question.

"Are you losing your powers?"

"I don't know." She breathes out. "It's been a month and they're fluctuating. I can't control it."

"Maybe you're just distracted." Aster says, because honestly he had never heard of a Spirit losing their powers for any reason other than disbelief. And even then it was usually only a Guardian that got the effects. Normal Spirits weren't affected by that rule. "What did Val say?"

"He thinks it's something I'm doing, too." Her bitterness makes him laugh, and he runs a hand through her hair affectionately.

"Just try to relax a bit. I'm sure it's nothing." Fever sighs and nods, not entirely believing him but happy to hear something reassuring.

"I'll stop distracting you and let you work." She leans up to give Aster a kiss on the cheek and he smiles back before returning to the plant life around them. She watches him for one more moment before teleporting to the church.

xoXox

Truth was sitting up in the rafters as usual, listening to the prayers that drifted up to her. When the angel sees her best friends materialize on the dusty floor, she smiles and flies down to the nave to meet her.

"Hey. I haven't heard from you in a while. How's everything going?" She asks, and Fever smiles.

"Good. Great, actually." Except for one little problem. Truth's eyes narrow on her and she rolls her eyes, knowing that she could feel her withholding. Then her eyes drop down to Fever's stomach, and they stay there for a moment. "What?"

"Er, nothing. Are you… feeling okay?"

"You tell me."

"I just…" Fever nods at her to go on out of curiosity. When Truth felt something she was usually never wrong, and it was always important. She watches the angel's blue eyes drop down to her stomach again and instinctively glances down as well. All she sees is her usual attire, nothing out of the ordinary. "You seem… off."

"That's what Aster said." Fever says with an annoyed frown.

"Well what's up?"

"Nothing, just some problems with my powers. It will wear off." At least that's what she kept telling herself. "I can't create any heat and then it will flare up without warning. Nothing major."

"It sounds pretty major. Any other side effects?"

"No."

"Did you look it up?"

"Yeah. Nothing in the archives about it at all."

"Hmm…" When Fever sees Truth look at her stomach for the third time she finally snaps.

"What are you staring at?" She touches her front self-consciously and Truth bites her lip before looking up at her.

"I just feel…" Her hand reaches out to touch the front of her bodice, right at Fever's lower abdomen, and she frowns as she attempts to see through her. However, she gets nothing. Of course I wouldn't be able to see it. It wouldn't be true if it was unknown. She looks back up to Fever, who by now is staring at her friend as if she were crazy. "Is there any way that you could be pregnant?" Fever's jaw drops and she stumbles over her words for a moment, pushing the offending hand and thought away.

"Excuse me?" She can't help but laugh, it is so ridiculous.

"Pregnant."

"I heard you. No! What makes you think I could be pregnant?" She asks, and Truth shrugs.

"I just sense something different about you."

"That's what you said when Aster started messing with me. Maybe you're just sensing my anxiety about my powers failing-"

"No, it's different. It's like there's two of you."

"Two of me?"

"Yeah, like two souls." Truth tilts her head to the side curiously. "Are you sure you're not pregnant?"

"Truth, I think I would know. I'd feel the child's heartbeat."

"Not if they're not at that stage of development yet. And it could have something to do with the inconsistency of your abilities." This makes Fever pause, and she begins to wonder with dread if it could be true. Her hand automatically moves to rub her stomach, and she shakes her head.

"I can't be."

"Why not?" Silence draws out for a few moments when she can't think of a reason, and then Truth wrings her hands together nervously. "I think maybe we should look into it."

"I've gone through all of the books I could find on love and lust Spirits. I didn't see anything about pregnancy."

"Well maybe you were looking in the wrong place. Let's go." She reaches out a hand and Fever puts her suddenly trembling one in hers, taking them to Cyprus.

xoXox

Fever was praying that they wouldn't find anything. She hoped that they would find a different explanation, and that she and Truth would laugh about them considering something so silly. That wasn't what happened.

Truth had gone straight to one book in particular, a large brown one that sat on the bottom of one of the shelves. The one book that Fever hadn't looked at, because it was completely focused on Mother Nature, one of the great Spirits that she assumed had no information about her condition. Truth frowns as she reads the damning words aloud.

"The Great Mother may bestow the ability of procreation upon a few Spirits in particular, namely those that continue her work of reproduction of life. The female Spirits may find their center-bound abilities lacking or unreliable during the first two months of the gestation period…"

"Oh, my God." Fever gasps and she moves over Truth's shoulder in order to read for herself. Her eyes take in the same words multiple times, with the same result; a sick feeling in her gut and a cold sweat breaking out over her skin. "Oh, no…" She backs away from the book as Truth continues to read silently, reaching out a hand blindly in an attempt to grasp Fever's arm to support her. Fever takes deep breaths as she considers that she could very well be pregnant. She wasn't stupid. She knew how it happened. But she didn't think that as a Spirit, it would have been possible. In that fact she was correct, as it was clear that Mother Nature was a bitch and wanted to "bless" her with the ability to repopulate the world. "Isn't me spreading lust good enough? Now I'm a true broodmare too?" Her voice rises in her disbelief and Truth barely suppresses a snicker despite the revelation. "This isn't funny, Truth. I can't be a mother."

"According to this, you very well could be."

"I'm not joking. I don't know the first thing about being a mother. Aster and I have never talked about it." She pales at the reminder of him, and finds her words are even more difficult to say now. "What if he doesn't want kids? What if-"

"Calm down." Truth interrupts her and stands to grasp her shoulders. "Don't freak out yet. First we should check to be sure."

"How do you expect me to do that? I can't just go buy a pregnancy test. They can't see me!"

"Well don't you know anyone who can get you one? A mortal?" Fever thinks to herself for a moment, coming up with nothing. All the people she really knew personally were the Guardians, and they couldn't get her one either. They didn't know any…

Fever groans as she remembers the one mortal that they were on a first name basis with. This was going to be much harder and more embarrassing than she ever considered.

xoXox

Aster frowns as he enters the burrow. Fever wasn't there, for the second night in a row. He was so used to seeing her there that it was beginning to worry him. Her concern for her ability had not slipped past him. He was just as confused as she was, and was trying to come up with any reason for it. Unfortunately, he didn't know a lot about her Spirit type, and so he had no clue where to even look for answers. He had thought that she seemed somewhat pacified after she talked to him about it, but obviously something was still bothering her, and he hadn't seen or heard from her since then.

He waits another half an hour, but she still doesn't show up, and he begins to worry about something other than her powers. What if she isn't happy anymore? It had never occurred to him that maybe he was the reason she had been so distant. The past month had been awkward. He had attributed it to her issues with her abilities after she had told him, but now he was wondering about their relationship status. He looks back at the unoccupied bed, remembering how they had always settled in for the night, cuddling and talking to each other as if they were the only ones left in the world. Sometimes it seemed as if it were true. However, lately their cuddle time had been sporadic, and with her missing two nights in a row it seemed clear that she didn't want to be there. It made Aster uneasy, and his heart wrenched at the thought of losing her. He couldn't think of any possible reason why she could be unhappy with him. Ever since the incident with Luke, they had gotten so used to sharing with each other. They didn't keep secrets. Sometimes they were a little bit too forthcoming with their problems. The fact that Fever was obviously upset and not telling him why was what made him think he was involved. It made him worry about what could possibly happen next.

Unable to stand it anymore, he leaves the burrow and heads to the tunnels that lead to the surface, immediately going to the quadrant that Val would be working in that night. He prays that Fever is not working so he can have a guy-to-guy talk. The Saint of Love had been there for him quite a bit since he had started dating his sister, and every now and then they would get together and discuss the impossibilities of communicating with women. Cupid knew more about that than anyone, it seemed.

Aster feels the wind hit him in the face when he jumps out of his hole, and he sniffs the air for the familiar scent of his almost "brother-in-law." When he finally finds him, he calls out so he doesn't startle the archer, and hops up onto the roof with him, frowning.

"Hey, Bunny. What's up?" Aster sighs and sits down, and Val smirks as he senses more relationship problems. He knew that he should expect as much as he was Cupid, but he was quite surprised that Aster had given up enough of his pride to seek him out so often.

"Has Fever told you about her powers not working?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well she seems really concerned."

"She is. But we'll figure it out. Why?"

"She's been distant for the last month. But especially for the last couple of days. She won't even talk to me now, and we always talk to each other. I don't know what's wrong." Val purses his lips as he considers what Aster is saying, and then he shrugs and sits down with him, sighing.

"She seemed okay when she came to me about her powers. I've felt a lot of anxiety from her since then, but not much else. I'm sure she's fine." He puts a hand on Aster's shoulder with a smile. "There isn't a lot of history on Spirits losing their powers, but we have a history archive in Cyprus. She went there the other night to do some research so I know she'll figure it out."

"I'm glad you're so sure of it." Aster mumbles, and glares down at the city below them.

"Well, what are you so upset about?"

"My girlfriend has been avoiding me." He says, and Val laughs. "It's not funny. I'm worried that she might be second guessing our relationship." It had seemed somewhat ridiculous in his head, but saying it out loud made him aware of how deep that fear went, that she would leave him. He swallows roughly as he considers what losing her would do to him, but Val just smiles reassuringly.

"I'm pretty sure she's not considering breaking it off, Bunny. She's so happy with you. Nothing bad has happened, right? You guys haven't had a massive fight or anything?"

"No."

"And your… relations?"

"They're fine."

"Fine?"

"Great." Aster blushes underneath his fur and glares at Val, who just laughs and nods.

"Okay, then. I don't think you have anything to worry about. She's never had this problem before, so it's most likely just the nerves getting to her. I felt some anxiety coming from her a little while ago but it's mostly gone now."

"Mostly?"

"She's a woman, Aster. They focus on things for days when they should really just let it go."

"You don't seem very concerned about her." Aster says with no little amount of annoyance. Val sometimes sounded as if he didn't care as much about Fever, and sometimes it irritated him.

"I am. I just trust the man in the moon." At that Aster had no response, and he glances up to the glowing round orb in the sky as if to hear answers. He did trust Manny, but this was just too strange. "Don't worry, Bunny. I'm sure she's fine."

xoXox

Author's Note: Will everything be fine? If you want to know then you'll have to review! Pretty please?