A/N: This chapter is shorter than the first ones and the others will follow suite... Though they won't be this short.


Rosette really wanted to take a shower and she was certain that she was thinking it rather loudly by now, but Chrono just kept doing whatever it was that he was doing on the terminal (he looked like he might be typing, but Rosette couldn't be certain). She seriously wondered if he was ignoring her to make her ask, or if he had just shut her loud thoughts out so that he could get some work done... Actually, come to think of it, what does he do for work? She had no idea and almost went over to take a peek, but some semblance of manners – Miss Jean and Joshua would be so proud – kept her sitting on the lounge.

But she really, really wanted to take a shower... Oh, to heck with it! She was just going to have to swallow her embarrassment and ask him!

"Er... Chrono...?" She started tentatively.

"Yes?" Was his distracted answer.

"I'd like to bathe."

"Go ahead."

"I don't know how it all works." She reminded him, now annoyed.

He looked up at her now, eyebrows raised.

"Huh?" He asked, then realization struck, "Oh! Right! Sorry." He got up and headed for the bathroom, saying, "I'll show you how it works."

Rosette got up and followed him.

Once in the bathroom he led her over to the darker tiled area with the half wall... Which turned out to actually be a full wall; the top half was just clear. Rosette was a bit concerned about that.

"Oh, don't worry; it goes opaque."

She was almost starting to get used to him hearing her every thought...

"Not your every thought, just the ones that you're thinking loudly. You're actually surprisingly good at shielding for a Human."

She was?

"Most of the time." Chrono added to her annoyance, then went on, "Come here."

She went to stand by where he was and he, in turn, rolled his eyes and moved her to stand next to him. He touched a part of the wall and a terminal came out. Like all the others in Chrono's quarters the language was set to English. Along the left-hand side was a list that didn't entirely make sense to her. Chrono tapped the 'Walk Through' and text with diagrams slid into view. After staring at it for several moments she realized that they were instructions on how to use the shower... She also realized why he was giving her instructions rather than showing her; he'd have to climb in with her since there was no way to explain without demonstration which meant that he'd be bathing with her.

That gave her an embarrassing mental image of him. She didn't see Chrono's blush as he reminded himself that after he had saved Joshua and driven off Aion her mental image of him had somehow warped into some kind of god/knight in shinning armor. It's only natural that she would feel some kind of attraction to him now that her hormones had kicked in... Right?

She'll get over it and find a nice Human male-

The territorial possessiveness that surged up within him (MINE) took Chrono completely by surprise in it's vicious strength. He struggled momentarily with it until he finally managed to squash it flat and chuck it in a metal box in a dark corner of his mind which he then closed it in. Three locks secured it and he added unbreakable chains to the mix, wrapping the thing up in so many of them that the box couldn't even be seen anymore.

Proud of himself for a moment he was suddenly horrified to find himself now facing Rosette and leaning over far enough to be all but pressing his nose into the top of the blond's head as his hand rested on the small of her back. Her scent had been changing all day and he had figured that this was normal for a Human girl of her level of development (he had smelt it coming from Miss Jean before), but now it was disturbingly enticing.

A demon's sense of smell varied in strength and Chrono's wasn't much better than twice as good as a Human's. This did not account for all the little nuances he could suddenly pick up from her scent. Chrono would never truly figure out what it was that possessed him to telepathically ask Alistair what the scent Rosette was giving off meant and then transmit that smell to Alistair, but he did.

'Oh my,' Came the mostly amused response back, 'Well, I suppose this question was going to come up eventually. She's currently fertile.'

If Chrono was finding the way (his) Rosette was smelling appealing then he definitely didn't trust other demons not to try something funny with her. Wait. Why was he reacting to her scent like this in the first place? His kind can't even breed without Pandemonium!

'Because at one point we could and, although we no longer can, the instincts remain.'

Oh, well that was just wonderful.

He managed to pull himself away from (his) Rosette – who was, by now, very embarrassed – and tell her as he left (fled) the bathroom that he had to finish writing his report. Oh, and she could place her clothes in the basket by the door.

Rosette stared at the bathroom door that he had just exited through a bit owlishly, the blush still prominent on her cheeks. She had just heard his entire conversation with Alistair (including the possessive way in which he thought of her, for which she would whack him for later). The other demon had explained to her that Chrono had been unaware that he (Alistair) had pulled her into the conversation. As Rosette stared she contemplated how to react and, after some deliberation, decided that she liked the fact that Chrono is attracted to her (even if she didn't like the whole 'his' part of the equation) – and that this was the perfect opportunity to torment him for leaving her behind three years ago.

'Uh~,' Alistair's voice filled her mind in cautioning tones, 'Please wait until you're no longer fertile; a Demon's instincts tend to ride fairly close to the surface. It could be... How do I put this in a Humanly polite manor? It could be hazardous to your... Virtue.'

Oh, alright. She'd leave him alone. For now.

Rosette ignored the spreading and deepening stain of red on her cheeks.


Not long after his retreat from Rosette Chrono went back to the bathroom door to check – via the console next to the door – if she was done steaming herself and was actually showering now. She wasn't and he went back to writing his report to the Duke. Mostly the older demon wanted to know about how Rosette was getting along (it wouldn't due to have the sister of the liaison between the Order and Pandemonium getting traumatized by her visit) and if Chrono didn't make it almost embarrassingly detailed he would just be drilled later. So he did his best to write the day's report without telling the Duke anything that he shouldn't know.

And, of course, he couldn't focus; Rosette's scent was everywhere, teasing him.

Really, this was absurd! His sense of smell wasn't that good! Telling himself that, though, didn't seem to have any effect. Finally, he got up again – with a mental note to have a female technician come in and adjust the air scrubbers – and checked if Rosette was showering yet.

Ah good. She is.

She needed a change of clothes and thinking about her smell had, for some reason, given him an idea for a solution. He keyed the door open and snuck in as quietly as possible. There was no way that she could hear him over the shower head(s) pouring water down on her naked body (oh God, mental image; bad choice of words), but Joshua had surprised him on more than one occasion and he didn't want to risk being caught by Rosette; she'd murder him. Cautiously he made his way over to her clothes and – with only a few of his demon cells – re-shaped them into a dress that he hoped she'd like.

With that done he snuck back out, relieved that he hadn't been caught.


Rosette wrapped the fluffy towel around herself, feeling fantastic and wonderfully clean. She loved the way demons bathe; take a steam bath, take a shower (the water comes out of the roof and it's like cleaning yourself in a very dense – but nicely hot – rain) followed by a soak that lasts as long as you want it too. It was luxurious, especially the last part. She didn't know what they did to the water, but it made her feel amazing by the time she got out.

The teen happily grabbed another plush towel and started in on her hair. She almost missed the light pink that showed up unexpectedly on the towel. Startled, Rosette took a look at herself in the oddly un-fogged mirror and found Chrono's bite marks were bleeding again and wondered why. That was just wonderful. She seriously wondered if she could still hide it from Chrono, but really doubted it.

Question was, how's she supposed to get dressed with her neck bleeding? Without getting it all over her clothes (it's not like she's got alot to begin with). She definitely didn't want to use the fluffy towel to stop the bleeding, but really couldn't see any other choice...

"Rosette?" Chrono's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door (although, what with the door being air-tight, it really shouldn't have), "Um... You're thinking loudly again and... Why are you bleeding?"

"Er..."

"Rosette?"

She sighed, checked to make certain that she was as decent as she could get in a towel and keyed the bathroom door open. He stared, surprised for a couple seconds, then, with a serious expression, tipped her head back and bent over to examine her throat. She tried to suppress it but having him so close to her exposed neck was making her very nervous.

"Rosette..." He hesitated, then straightened up again and looked at her with a frown, "These are bite marks; how did you get them?"

She fidgeted and squirmed under his stern gaze, trying to figure out how to answer his question without it sounding like she was – in anyway – going to be submissive. Rosette had no idea why the idea bothered her, but it did.

"Rosette..."

She almost cringed and realized in that moment that she really was starting to act more submissive. Oh, HELL no.

The teen squared her shoulders, straightened her spine and looked him in the eye.

"When you were sleeping next to me last night I got too warm and started jabbing you in the ribs to get you to move away. You didn't like it and, well..." Rosette ended the sentence with a shrug, having to force herself to maintain eye contact.

Chrono gave her a bland, mildly irritated look and hoped that she wouldn't do something like that a second time (he was just glad that this had never happened with her brother). Reaching out with his mind he found Alistair and made an appointment with him for Rosette to see about her neck along with instructions from the other demon on what to do in the meantime. Chrono hoped that the teen wouldn't kill him even as he leaned in and licked the injury as he had been instructed too.

Rosette stayed utterly still, then, as he backed away (prepared too bolt from her), she exploded and Chrono ended up running through his quarters for a good half hour to avoid her wrath as she chased him around in the fluffy towel (it almost fell off more than once, tormenting him). She only calmed down when his explanation for licking her neck finally sank into her head and the blond noticed that it had, indeed, worked. She continued to glare murder at him, though, all throughout the rest of the day and vowed to give Alistair an earful (at the very least) when she met him tomorrow.

Chrono decided not to give the older demon any warning – and was feverantly glad that Rosette hadn't realized that he'd had to sneak into the bathroom to alter her clothes. Thankfully, it also didn't occur to her to wonder what had happened to her previous outfit (BONUS!).

Apparently God does actually give him a break every once in a while.


Viscount Lerajie returned to his master's mansion less than pleased. The Human-looking Legion constructs that he had made over the years scattered from his path, a rudimentary survival instinct telling them to stay away from their master and maker for the time being. At this point he would be tempted to destroy anyone of them that came too near and they could all sense it. He'd had such plans for that Apostle child. His master wanted the girl so that she could help revive the master's dead wife. Lerajie wanted her so that he could heal from the injuries and damage inflicted by the Sinner Chrono decades ago. Why his demon cells and his body's ability to heal had not already repaired it all he – and no Demon doctor he had consulted – could figure out.

There was something different about Chrono; there always had been. That something had always unnerved most Demons. Oh, his twin had seemed normal enough, if precocious (he'd had rank without even being Configured, which is rare) and powerful... But Chrono... Was... Off. Quiet, but not shy. Acquiescing, but not submissive. Powerful, but not assertive. Curious, but a soldier and not a scientist, technician or engineer. Polite and deferring, but possessing a strong will. Accepting, but questioning everything. Gentle as an Unconfigured, but vicious as a newly Configured who had just realized that they can hit back.

Lerajie couldn't stand him and had never liked him. Why the Duke had possessed such high hopes for the Sinner he would never understand. There was just something wrong with Chrono.

Walking through the halls he came to the Master's study. After entering and closing the door behind himself Lerajie went down on one knee, a hand over his heart and announced his presence. He didn't bother to check what the old Human was doing; he didn't need to. By now he knew Ricardo Hendricks routine by heart. The man was going over paperwork for his legal revenues.

"Master."

"Lerajie." Ricardo answered in a rough and weakening voice, "How is the girl?"

"My apologies Master, but I was unable to acquire the girl... It seems that she has... Protectors."

Ones that reek of something... Other. But he wasn't going to tell Ricardo that.

"Protectors?"

"Yes. They were able to get to the girl before I could acquire the Apostle child."

No need to give him the details.

"I see." Ricardo said, clearly not pleased.

After a stretch of silence the Demon Master spoke again.

"Find a way to get her from those protectors and bring her hear. Get rid of them and make it look like an accident."

"As you wish Master."

Lerajie stood and asked, "Is there anything that you need from me in the mean time Master?"

"No. You can leave."

Lerajie gave a slight bow and left. When the door closed the old man finally let his fear and fury show. What was he to do now? The artificial womb Lerajie had built to restore Miranda's – Ricardo's wife's – body could only sustain that empty shell for so long and there was no way of knowing how long it would take for the girl's power to manifest enough to be useful.

Walking down the hall Viscount Lerajie smiled in amusement, able to clearly sense his master's emotions and tumultuous thoughts. The stubborn old man man would be much easier to manipulate in such a state. Perhaps something good had come from losing the girl after all.

He still didn't like that red-head with the two slashes on his face though.


A/N: And the plot thickens... Or, rather, starts. Please review.