Nathaniel

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bartimaeus trilogy

Kitty stared at him; her aura was brighter than ever. He pushed himself away from the tree, tapped the Staff upon the ground. It flared into life. "See you later, Kitty," he said.

She lowered the amulet around her neck and smiled. "See you. You too, Bartimaeus."

"Goodbye."

A dull ringing in Nathaniel's ear, he stirred, not entirely wanting sleep to leave him.

A crash in the hallway, the door was flung open and hung creaking unceremoniously on its hinges. Nathaniel's head snapped up. Borello stood in the doorway, he rapped the door sheepishly, "Um…good morning? Sensor webs have been triggered, why are you always sleeping? Sorry about the door, I will fix it. Something has broken into the trap… again. "

Nathaniel shrugged, Borello's thoughts had gone in different directions there, since he became half dijin everything became so complicated, "Well, at least it keeps them away from the pearl, and I am not always sleeping, it is because you are always awake, as for the door, it is the fifth time you have broken it, have you ever heard of knocking?"

Borello shifted under his gaze, "I did knock, you know, after. Sorry, boss." He winced as he realized the slip of the tongue.

Nathaniel glared, "Don't call me that! As I recall, I was summoned to assist you."

It was a known fact that he had been summoned to assist Borello, because the magician found Borello "incompetent". However, it did not mean Nathaniel was happy about it, after all, it had been his first ever summoning, the magician was well versed in the summons and it had gone without a hitch…which was endlessly annoying.

Borello sighed, "I thought we had gotten over that…old habits die hard, back to business, we should really check on the visitors. They probably aren't very happy, caught in the trap as they are." Nathaniel groaned and heaved himself out of bed.

He let his body relax and fall limp. Nathaniel concentrated and gently eased out of his body while it shifted, always; it caused a rush of familiar warmth to go through him. Then, just as quickly, it was gone, and he was left standing, but as a small, sky blue dragon with delicate wings folded neatly on its back. He dashed down three flights of stairs and nearly crashed into Jinxlopel.

"Wow, that didn't take long." Jinxlopel idly commented, "I never liked the looks of that dijin." Nathaniel sleepily fumbled with the doorknob, he threw the door open and was hit with a blast of cold air. Heaving a groan, he flapped his wings and launched into the air, followed closely by Borello and Jinxlopel.

The trap cloud, normally so peaceful, was now surround by a shimmering shield in which bolts of lightning occasionally crackled. Nathaniel landed on the edge of cloud, careful of the boundary lines; he did not want to get accidentally trapped.

"Well, well, look what we have here," Jinxlopel smirked, "did you not heed my warning?"

"Dude, it's like three in the morning!" Borello complained.

Nathaniel glanced at the captives and nearly fell off the edge in shock.

He blinked, certain it was a mirage. There glaring at him was kitty Jones.

His mind reeled, it was impossible!, Borello had told him, assured him that one hundred years had passed since he had last been here, and he had stupidly believed him, no, he had wanted to believe it. How could he have been so gullible? He knew the reason, he was half demon now, a hybrid, he was afraid of what she would think. He had been half relieved that so much time had passed; it had meant he didn't have to face her. But now….

He shuddered, what would Kitty think of him? Then immediately felt disgusted at himself, how could he think that she was dead? Not only had he thought it, he had almost wished it. He hadn't even tired to prove Borello wrong, hadn't even tried to find Kitty. Shame flooded him.

What a fine mess I have gotten myself in.

Wait, I didn't think that!

Nathaniel looked up, straight into the amber eyes of the winged lion,

Bartimaeus? He though cautiously

He saw the lion's eyes widen a fraction.

Nathaniel?

It is you right?

Say hello to kitty for me? Nathaniel thought warily

He sensed the other's shock and disbelief

Please don't tell kitty

Tell her what?...oh

But that means I can't tell her you are alive either.

…. Just don't tell her yet, okay?

You made her cry, you know

Cut me some slack, will you! I just found out you were alive three seconds ago!

Wow, you were indignant, sheepish, sad and angry at the same time, what a feat!

How did you manage to think that we were dead?

Bor-komodo told me that a hundred years had passed

And you believed him?

I…..

Sigh…..isn't this irony, the master becomes the slave, you know, that sort of thing.

Just don't tell her yet!

Fine

Come on…wait…what?

Fine, just don't make it too long a wait okay? I have had my fill of crying girls

…I suppose I…thanks

Now that I can read your thoughts, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for you.

WHAT! DON'T YOU DARE!

Geesh, I was kidding, you should know that, you can read my thoughts.

Right, I was joking too

Was that sarcasm?

You should know that, you can read my thoughts

I forgot how annoying you can be

Me, annoying? Look who's talking!

Just…try not to go kaboom on me again okay? That was way to Ptolemy for my tastes

Bartimaeus, being sentimental! I never thought I'd live to see the day!*

"Hello, earth to dragon, you awake?"

Nathaniel startled, "what?"

"You stared into space and your eyes glazed over," Borello pointed out

"Oh," Nathaniel said, "what did you say?"

"What do you want to do with them?" Borello repeated.

"Well…let's listen to their story first before we judge"

*Both figuratively and literally.

Authors note: review! If I get more reviews I will publish chapters faster! This took forever!