Chapter 4

A/n: Hi, alright now, for future reference all dream sequences will appear in dream sequence format. Also, as much I love Gene, he will play a very minor role in this story. He may have been Mai's guide in the original series, but its been years… Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, keep it up! Guten Appetit


Naru returned to the room his face calm, but his eyes betraying the rage he had yet to release. He stood at the door observing his team of investigators question Mai about her time traveling the world. Why didn't he hate her. Mai had kept a huge secret from him. Hell, Masako and his father had kept Mai's secret from him. But Oliver "Naru" Davis couldn't bring himself to hate the one person who stirred these emotions in him.

As Mai leaned over the screen Naru felt a twinge of something he hadn't felt since Gene's funeral. He sighed from the door as the team moved closer to the screen, trying to see had Mai saw only a few seconds before. "Lin, play the footage Mai just saw back," Naru barked from the door.

The group turned around not expecting to see Naru standing there. He ignored them walking over to Lin's chair to look over Lin's shoulder at the screen. Lin, his headphones still in place, replayed the footage of only a moment ago from Naru. The pair watched as the figure of a young woman in a colorless Victorian ball gown glide across the screen, stop in the middle of the frame, and look direct at the camera. Lin stopped the replay.

"Yasuhara, I need you to get the provenances of all the painting in that room, and anything you can dig up on this building" Naru said looking back at him. Monk stared at Naru, "but, there must be over a thousand paintings in there." Naru looked around at each of his team before speaking, "I'll say this for Mai's sake, a provenance is a painting's history; who owned what and when; and yes, since we are unsure of the nature of the haunting we will need to consider every possibility."

Mai clenched her fists in anger, walking over to her former boss, and did what no one ever thought she'd do. She slapped him, hard across the face. "Don't you ever insult my intelligence again Oliver," she yelled in a tone that reminded Naru of his mother. "Just because you remember me as a helpless high school freshman don't mean that's who I am anymore," she yelled before storming away to the girls room. The sound of the slamming door reverberated throughout base rattling the equipment.

Naru stayed where he was, but the slight crackle of the air around him betrayed his calm face. Lin slowly inched toward the young man, who at this point seemed completely oblivious to the world around him, and proceeded to knock the twenty year old out. As the crackle of energy died in the room, the team let out a sigh of relief.

Ayako, who had remained near silent this entire time, spoke up, "perhaps this is the work of a simple earth spirit, that was captured another spirit?" Monk and John looked at the shrine priestess in disbelief. Had Ayako really just said that out loud?

"Why don't we all get some sleep and deal with this in the morning," Lin said hoisting Naru's limp body over his shoulders. The remaining members of SPR dispersed each falling into uneasy slumbers.

Mai, however, found herself roaming the halls of the auction house trying to clear her head. She had been nervous about how Naru would react to her double life, but she had not planned for his reversion to treating her like a child. Sure, she still hadn't gone to college, but she had received a high school diploma equivalent while in America, and a few prestigious universities had offered Mai honorary degrees in literature.

As she walked down the hallway she felt a familiar tingle run up her spine. Mai looked around herself squinting into the darkness. She stood still for a moment as the sound of high hells tapped on the marble floor behind her. Then there was darkness.

Mai awoke in a huge four poster feather bed. She had never seen a sleeping arrangement so grand in her life. She looked around the room carefully removing herself from the satin sheet. An older plump woman barged in, "It's about time you're up love. Mr. Pennyworth is waiting for you downstairs." The old woman's accent confused Mai for a split second. Then it hit Mai, she had heard a similar accent in London. The older woman shoved Mai behind a screen and threw a mass of fabric and frills at her.

The door to the room opened, as Mai peaked through the edges of the screen, to see a man almost twice her age standing in what she would consider full Victorian garb, though the beaver top hat was truly out of place. His hair was beginning to turn grey, and it was obvious he had not exercised seriously in a great deal of time.

He talked to her about his business , the manufacture of books, he had said, while the older woman made sure the petticoats were in the right order. Mai looked down at the fabric left eyes the corest with great suspicion. Something in her told her she hated those things, more than the average woman should.

Once the corset was secure, the actual dress material was lifted over her head, and buttoned up the back. Mai looked at herself in the mirror. The image of a pretty red head stared back at her, in an emerald day dress that seemed to cover every inch of skin except her forearms. The tell-tale poof skirt in the back giving her legs a little room to move in the fabric.

"Mai," a voice asked shaking her. Mai's head shot up only to be greeted with a sharp pain in her neck. "You know Mai, the floor of a hallway is not where people normally sleep," the voice chided her. Mai groaned rubbing her neck knowing Naru was standing over her.

She stood up wobbling slightly surprised as Naru reached out a hand to steady her. He led her back to base without another word. Once they reached the warm confines of the base Naru looked at Mai. Mai turned to the microwave in the corner not even needing to hear the infamous words, "Mai, tea!"

Of course, the tea was not the best she had ever made, but she doubted she could make it all the way to the kitchen in the basement without falling somewhere. As the microwave beeped to alert Mai, the door opened to reveal Yasu, Ayako, Monk, and John; each one's arms held a large stack of files. Mai handed Naru his tea, grabbed Masako's hand and left.

The pair of girls walked to the room Mai had experienced the strange cold in the day before. It was the same room in fact where the apparition of the night before appeared. Mai made a note of the temperature before turning to Masako. "Do you see any spirits Masako," Mai asked. Masako shook her head, "I don't see any spirits, but there is a dark presence here."

Mai nodded turning to look through the extensive collection of art housed in this one room. It seemed that there was a little of everything, a small Van Gogh sketch on the far wall, an unfinished Monet at the back. As the girls looked through the paintings, one in particular caught her eye. It was a portrait, or at least it seemed like a portrait, or a young woman sitting next to an older man with greying hair and watery blue eyes. In the background another painting hung on the wall, a strange painting that seemed to remind Mai of something more modern than the actual painting.

"Masako, come look at this one," Mai called. The older girl shuffled over glancing at the painting. "What an odd painting," she said, "We really should be getting back base. Naru will want some help going through those provenances." Mai nodded talking one last look at the painting.

As she turned away from the canvas, Mai could have sworn she had seen the woman's head move.