XIII

Chapter Six

The shower Fang had been wanting would have to wait. After the tray full of food, and when Vanille finally ran out of things to say (gods bless her), she decided a big fat nap was a higher priority than a bath. She was just...weary, heavy feeling in more ways than one. Just needed time alone. Just some...quiet. Once she was alone she pulled the pillow over her head, lying on her side, and her body tightened up into as small a mass as it physically could.

She fell asleep that way, slept hard, and she dreamed.

The dreams started slowly, gradually sinking into focus, but once they began they didn't stop. And they were intense, more so like memories than just manifestations of one's stray thoughts let loose by the once custodial mind's restraints lessened by slumber. Like she had been there, part of her knowing exactly what was happening, what was going to happen as the images flickered passed like frames of film.

Snow. Ankle deep, in some places to the knee and shocking cold. Legs pumping, knees kicking high to make the next step, dodging the heavy shadows of trees in near darkness. The smell of the mountain, the chilled air, snow falling, the pounding of blood in her veins. Blood on her hands. The sounds of footsteps close behind. Chasing. Pursuing. Why?

Hunting you. She was hunting you.

Dawn breaks down in the valley, the snow stills and the sky clears. Some sort of machine whirrs as it hovers overhead. Claws cut it easily. Climbing the pine tree, scratch of bark and sticking sap on her knuckles while the claws aid her ascent. Still, quiet, watching and waiting. Something moved below. Pink hair, the smell of sweat.

You know that scent. Somewhere.

A rifle. The safety clicks off. Its loaded.

Can't let her catch you.

No. Gotta stay free. Falling, aiming to kill. Claws out. Blurring movements of chase and evasion, the sound of firing ballistics. Sh-PING, chest pain, still moving, lunge, slicing into flesh. Scent of blood thicker. The hume's limping, then turns, sidearm in hand. BLAM. Sh-Ping. Headache. Still moving.

You had to stop her. She would've put you back to sleep.

On the hume's back, looking through the fog of heavy exhales at the back of her head. She's reaching for something. Moving without thinking, hear her scream. The claws are in her.

Finish it. Put her down.

Get hit by something heavy, moving fast, flying through the air and stopping in a drift of freezing snow. Metal skin shimmers in the light. Some kind of giant. Fight him tooth and nail, have to, no other choice. Can't cut him. Still put him on the ground. There's another one, unfamiliar, silver hair.

You're surrounded. Run. Fight your way out.

Gotta fight. Lash out, certain to hit the target, but catch nothing but air. Turn, there he is, on his back. Twist to gut him, can't move. Feeling something touching that isn't really there. Another one, red hair, they're holding on tight. Can't move my arms. Gotta keep pushing back. Push-push-push...

They're going to catch you.

Something's on my back, arms and legs cinched about me. Feel something like a bee sting on my leg. Then everything starts tingling. Can't feel my arms, body heavy and slow. Gotta pull him off...gotta keep moving. Hit the ground. Can't stay awake...

There was a slight startle to her waking, her body jerking as if she'd scared herself a little. The pillow slid away as she straightened, sitting up and looking about to find herself where she last remembered being. Fang rubbed her face with her hands, feeling a slight scratch on her cheeks from the terminals between her fingers. She wandered out of the room shortly after, mostly to stretch her legs and get a look around. By pure chance she found herself in the observatory, going unnoticed for several minutes as she stood in the doorway, watching the goings on, seeing more strangers with strange scents. Looking out the bay windows she found the view diffused with heavy rainfall. She could hear the winds outside whistling, whipping about as the storm passed over the tiny island. A flash of light, a peal of thunder.

Fang jumped a little, feeling something touch her shoulder.

"You lost?"

"Ah, no, kiddo." she chuckled a little, looking down at the redhead. "Just wanderin'."

Vanille smiled. "Can I show you around?"

"Actually, I'm lookin' for a shower."

"Well, I can say that you were on the right track. The living area is just the next corridor down. I'll walk with you."

Fang didn't exactly have the heart, nor the a valid enough excuse to tell her no. Though you can imagine her mild discomfort, like this kid was some kind of stalker. While she would ponder the idea rather extensively as they walked together, even as she undressed in the privacy of the spacious washroom, they would quickly dissipate as the hot water surged outward and splashed against her skin. Like they never were. Damn, that felt good.

Instead she would consider the dream, if it was even a dream, which she had the distinct notion that it wasn't. It was too detailed, too vivid. But had it been real? Could she have really gone traipsing through the snow in the nothing, slicing people up like that?

Covered in blood.

Supposing it was indeed a recalled memory, what were all these strangers doing in the dream? Still she didn't know them from Adam, but there they were.

She let the hot water wash over the top of her head, her hair -which she finally realized had become much too long- soaked in seconds and falling heavy around her face. Her palms held her weight against the off-white tiles.

What's happened to me...there's gotta be more to it than my fancy manicure...and what about that pink haired broad...

How was she connected? Why was her scent familiar? Why had she been hunting her in the dream? How could Fang possibly know she had been hunting her at all?

Well, she had a gun...supposedly...and dad didn't raise an idiot.

So many questions...and a part of her whimpered, protesting against the need to know. Perhaps not ready to face it yet.

Give it a little more time.

Yeah, maybe that would help. And at that, she could let go of it for a while. Long enough to enjoy the shower at least. She felt noticeably better afterwards, felt refreshed, human again to some degree. She dried off as thoroughly as she cared to, pulled the borrowed clothing back on, and stepped back into the hallway, a towel still about the back of her neck. Vanille was still there, having waited.

"Thought you'd want to join us for dinner." then she shied, perhaps realizing how forward she must've sounded. "Though, if you don't, that's okay,"

"No, no, it's fine."

Vanille giggled a little. "You must think me a real creeper."

"Nah," Fang shook her head as the two began to walk. "Guess I'm just not used to the...generosity."

"Well, we don't get visitors very often. It's kind of a big deal."

"I can see. And ya don't get much stranger than me."

"I don't think you're all that bad."

"Good to know."

The commissary wasn't a large place. Just big enough for a dinning area sufficient for the some twenty staff members of the facility, technicians, scientists, assistants of no remark, and the kitchen that housed a five man crew. Though, taking those kinds of numbers into account, it was easy to imagine the place being packed once the usual meal times came about, a time such as this.

"You can go ahead and sit if you want," Vanille offered, her voice raised over the nearly overwhelming noise of idle conversation.

Fang only nodded, her hands in the pockets of the hoodie as she searched for an empty chair. Empty chair, empty table, perfect. Her feet moved quicker than she consciously meant them to, though she became of aware of the suspicion of eyes on her. Blamed the hurry on it. She settled into the chair that was between the table and the wall, finding security in that she could see the entirety of the room. It was a habit. She never liked sitting with her back to a door. However she still felt like people were staring, felt like everybody there, all of them total strangers, was in on her secret.

Let's all look at the freak.

She kind of got lost in her own fears for a moment, not too deeply mind you, but just enough to be surprised when Vanille sat down, pushing a tray in front of her. She jumped a little.

"You okay?" the post-cognitive had seen the flinch.

"Um, yeah, fine." Fang shook her head, smirking. Then she looked down at the food before her, her brows raising. "That's a shitload of gravy."

"I know." Vanille whimpered a little, prodding her own hamburger steak with her fork. "I'm going to get so fat..."

"I think I'm in love," she chuckled. "I'm serious, who's the chef? I wanna have their kids,"

Vanille laughed, her hand over her mouth to dampen the sound. "You must be starving," she managed after catching her breath.

"There's that," Fang thought about it, her eyes to the ceiling briefly. "Now all I need is a cold beer and I'm sittin' pretty."

"We've got scotch,"

"Hey Lebreau, why don't you sit with us?"

"Don't mind if I do. The guys will be along in a minute, hope you don't mind the invasion."

Fang looked the woman up and down, deciding quickly and with firm confidence that she would totally tap that. Tap, slap, spank. Whichever, no need to be picky. Fang watched her sit like a predator would watch its next meal, not that she did so intentionally. Sometimes you just get caught up in these things.

"Friend o' yours?"

Vanille saw the look on Fang's face. "Oh yeah, Lebreau, this is Fang."

Lebreau tucked a stray tress of raven hair behind her ear as she settled in a chair. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Oh, ya been waitin'?" she chuckled. "I'd shake yer hand if I wasn't scared of nickin' a vein."

Lebreau's face shifted with curiosity. "So it's true?"

"What?"

"The claws?"

Vanille just managed to see how Fang shrank slightly, her blooming confidence fading.

"Yeah." Fang cleared her throat. "Now what's this I hear about scotch?"

Lebreau nodded. "You want a shot glass or a straw?"

"My gods, it's like ya know me already. How'd ya guess?"

"Anyone that looks as tired as you only reaches for two things: liquor and the snooze button."

And it was somewhere in the middle of the ensuing laughter at the joke -which was completely true- that the rest of the NORA team, Serah excluded, seemed to materialize out of nowhere and began vying for places to sit. Each of them introduced themselves in turn, and it was no time at all for the lot to start talking with such ease that one would think they had been friends for years. Then again, scotch makes talking easy, very easy. Especially for Fang. She had to drink more than most to get there, but that was more of a friendly challenge than a bother.

A couple of hours passed in what seemed like just a blink, and no one noticed it until Maqui yawned, standing up from his chair and announcing he was going to bed. Yuj was next, looking like he could sleep for a week after the days he had spent with headphones on, just listening. Gadot was third, though he didn't retire and instead stepped back into the kitchen area, claiming he needed to help them clean up. That left Fang, Vanille, Hope, Snow, and Lebreau at the table. Though Snow didn't seem like he would be around much longer, his head nodding from time to time.

Though, now with the younger folks out of earshot, Fang forced herself to address the questions burning the back of her mind, thinking someone at this table could answer them. A couple of them at least. She broached the subject with all the grace and subtlety she was known for, which is to say very little.

"Tell me more about these PSICOM twats,"

Hope took the sudden question with a mote of surprise on his face. His cheeks were red now so he wasn't entirely there so to speak. "Well, it stands for Public Security and Intelligence Command. And for people like us they're what goes bump in the night."

"What's their beef anyway?"

"Don't know, actually. It's only been for the last couple of decades that they went from hiring L'Cie as agents to using them as guinea pigs."

"Maybe they just got tired of paying them." Lebreau added, sounding somewhat bitter as she pinched a shot glass between her fingers.

"In any case," Hope continued. "They work with anyone and everyone, so long as it suits them, and use anyone they can. I'm convinced most of the world's Anti-L'Cie propaganda comes from them. They're systematically turning everyone against us. Promoting fear."

"And you lot are tryin' to stop 'em?" one of Fang's thin, dusky brows raised.

"As best we can. But it isn't easy. We take what we can get."

Fang nodded slowly, quiet for a moment, thinking. "So what's any of this gotta do with me? I never even heard of these assholes before."

"To be honest, I think you were just unlucky." Hope felt himself flinch at the look she gave him. Sharp, incredulous. "They were looking for a L'Cie of a particular mutation to experiment on, to test a newly developed procedure of bonding metal to the human skeleton."

Fang's green eyes widened, shimmered. Lines formed as her features tightened. "And?"

"Well...I can only assume they found out about you somehow. From what I understand PSICOM has a huge cache of files on possible L'Cies."

She could feel her hands threatening to curl into fists, but she fought it. No need to have those popping out again.

"But...to make a long story short," he took a breath, sensing the emotions roiling in her, "you're entire skeleton is now bonded with a rare metal called adamantium."

How could I not remember that?

Fang took a deep breath, lounging back in the chair, trying to keep a grip on things. In all honesty, she wasn't so sure what she was so upset about. The fact that her secret got out somehow, that her life was worth little more than what some dork in a white coat could make of it? It could have been anything at this point. Still so many unanswered questions, unfilled curiosities. She could feel eyes on her again, and didn't much like it.

"So how did you find out about it?" she asked once she felt calm enough to.

"Lightning tipped us off."

Fang's expression quirked in curiosity. "The pink haired broad?"

Hope nodded. "Her sister is part of NORA. Lightning told her about your disappearance and she told us."

"Why?" What would a hume care about her? How did they know each other?

"Well...I have a feeling it's more than what she's telling me, but I think she's trying to make up for something. Ease some guilt."

Another quirk.

"But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Sure."

"Going through the files from the compound, I've found that through the course of the experiments you were exposed to extremely high doses of radiation. I was wondering if you would be willing to submit to a few tests to see if they had any lasting damage."

"Tests...like what?"

"Nothing too invasive, like a series of MRIs and-,"

Fang started laughing, cutting him off and garnering funny looks from the others. And then, with just as much cheer as she laughed, she replied with a resounding, "No."

"C-can I ask...why?"

Her composure settled in, she looked him dead in the eyes, one eyebrow raised. "Think about it, necktie. Consider what ya just told me, and then remind yourself what the 'M' stands for."

At first he seemed confused, his mouth slightly ajar as if to say something, then his mind clicked and he put his hand to his face. "Oh my god...you're right. Magnetic. Bad idea."

"Yeah, was thinkin' the same thing myself. In fact, magnet is officially a dirty word. So let's talk about somethin' else."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. There are other ways" Hope shook his head, raking his scalp at his seemingly vacuous thought. "Still...would you allow us to?"

"Well," Fang thought about it a moment, her hands gently rubbing against each other under the table. "I suppose..."

"Don't think I'm trying to force you. Feel free to tell me no."

"Oh I do," she smirked, and then shrugged. "But if anythin's wrong with me, best to find out about it sooner rather than later." There wasn't much worry on her mind about it, though. It was so unlikely. Best to just humor them, put them at ease if nothing else. Might get her home a little sooner...that is, once she remembered where she parked the truck. "Supposin' you'll want to be doin' all this rather soon,"

"Well, no sooner than is convenient for you. Moira and I have some planning to do anyhow, to get everything ready, cover our bases."

"Who's Moira?"

"She runs the center." he answered quickly, like an afterthought. "Plus, we thought you would like a chance to...adjust."

"Mighty kind of ya." she nodded to him in thanks. "Though I'm likely to bounce back sooner than ya think. Like I said...just wanna go home and get back to bein' invisible."

"Understandable. Until then, though, make yourself at home." he then fished into his pants pocket, where he kept his watch, and checked the time. It wasn't very late, but it felt like it. And if he didn't take something and scurry off to bed soon, he'd be regretting it in the morning.

"Expect me to be pickin' ya brain some more later, necktie." Fang said as she watched him stand, the legs of the chair screeching against the floor as it slid back. She still had at least a dozen more questions, but they could wait a spell.

"So...now what? We've still got half a bottle of scotch left," Lebreau waited until Hope left to speak.

"Correction, we have two and a half bottles of scotch left." Gadot announced as he lumbered into sight from the kitchen. There was an unopened bottle of the amber liquor in both of his very large hands.

"I'm out," Vanille threw up her hands as she stood.

"Oh come on, stay for the fun," Lebreau was snickering.

"No, last time I couldn't stop puking and you guys couldn't stop laughing. Fool me once, shame on you,"

"I'm gonna take a rain check on this too," Snow shook his head, seeming to hate to cut and run. "Serah doesn't like it when I smell like hooch."

"Oh well, more for us," Gadot chuckled, pulling out a chair with a push of his foot. "All right, last one to puke or pass out wins."

Fang grinned ear to ear. Guess bein' here won't be so bad after all.

(II)

Caius sat with his massive arms crossed, muscles bulging as his the tips of his talons drummed against a bicep. Six was next to him, or Reflux as some called her. He had never asked for her real name, never cared enough to, and hadn't liked her smell from the moment they met. She was young, perhaps twenty-something by now, impetuous, and had all the sense the gods gave a rock. Though he would admit that she made up for that last shortcoming with an overabundance of cunning and apathy. Not enough to worry him, of course, but enough to worry any hume and plenty of other L'Cie. Perhaps, he wondered, that is what kept her employed.

Reflux was a stable looking young woman, somewhat muscled, in tattered clothes, the midriff of her t-shirt torn out, still leaving the graphic of a hand flipping the bird intact. The sleeves were ripped off as well, her arms decorated with sleeves of tattoos of varying images and colors. Leather gloves with the index and pinkie fingers cut out covered her hands. Olive fatigues with holes in the knees hung baggy about her legs, covering steel-toed, scuffed combat boots that were laced only halfway. Her hair was short, just passing her ears, flared at the ends, and dyed an unnatural shade of crimson. Dark shadows were painted about her eyes, making them seem larger, more intense, almost catlike. A silver ring pierced the middle of her bottom lip, standing out against the sable lipstick. It matched the dozen more she had in her ears.

Now, with all that's been said thus far, particularly that of Caius' discontent regarding her, surely you're wondering why on earth he's bothering to tolerate her presence. And in a dump like this? It was simple really. They had a job to do, and seeing as they had to do so together, they would have to receive their orders in the same fashion. Whether they liked it or not. The pair had been waiting for the better half of ten minutes, waiting for the call that they had been assured would come today. Without even noticing, they were both staring at the phone sitting in the middle of the table before them, waiting.

Finally it buzzed.

Reflux pressed the button, putting the call on speaker phone. "What's shakin' shitface?"

An audible shrug came over the line. "Six...is Twelve with you?" It was Jihl's voice.

"Kitty's here."

"Good. We've managed to reach One, and though he's still in the field, he's aware of the situation thus far."

"Then get with it, grandma, some of us got important shit to do." Reflux lounged back in her chair, propping her feet on the table with a heavy thump.

Another shrug. "The investigation into the evidence found in the area of the Aggra compound has roused suspicion of a possible double agent within the facility."

Caius grinned subtly. That evidence was all of the blood and the destroyed satellite that he discovered in the valley.

"Not to mention the likelihood of NORA's involvement."

Reflux chuckled. "Those jackasses? Really?" It was more rhetorical than an actually inquiry. She knew damn good and well that when one of PSICOM's little projects went awry, NORA was the first thing they suspected.

"With that being said, we can only assume that Thirteen is in their possession. And if she's still alive, Commander Farron is as well."

Caius sniffed quietly. He had found a great deal of the security commander's blood in the valley, enough to have been near fatal, surely. But he would admit to the possibility that she could've survived.

"So what do you want us to do? Just sit here?"

"For the time being you're all on stand-by. Once we have a positive visual on any of NORA's members, you'll be activated and put in pursuit."

"Yippee." Reflux huffed.

"And if NORA isn't harboring Thirteen?" Caius finally spoke.

"Agents are already in place to watch the area where she was acquired should she manage to find her way back. Which is supposedly likely. As it stands everything that can be done is being done. The rest is waiting."

Caius went quiet again. Reflux rolled her eyes. "Christ, anything else? Anything genuinely useful?"

"That's all for now. We'll update you on any developments as they come about."

Reflux stuck out her tongue with a grumble as she stretched and ended the conversation with a hard prod of the proper button. That is when Caius stood, meaning to exit the room.

"Well, it's just the two of us, kitty."

He didn't stop his slow pace, seeming to ignore her entirely.

"Couldn't we have some fun together?"

And the question garnered from him a clear, audible snarl of disgust.

(III)

Lightning didn't sleep a wink. Tried. Failed miserably. Through the night she sat on the bed, crossed legged, gathered inward, her persistent thoughts interrupted occasionally by the throbbing in her side. Moira had given her pills for the pain, but the little orange bottle was still in her pocket, untouched. Part of her was convinced she deserved it, hadn't earned the right to soothe it, so she let it be. Tight faced, tired eyed, she resumed her mental argument with herself.

Go home. You don't need to stay.

"But Hope was right. I shouldn't just take off."

Who says? It's your life, right?

"It's not just about me anymore."

But it's always been about you. Why change now?

She raked her scalp, took deep breaths, clenched her jaw.

Suppose you could sum up the issue with fighting what is right with what is natural. What is perceived as normal. Lightning had never been good friends with change, her entire life a series of slow adaptations and uneasy adjustments. This was no different, with the exception being the time frame. Her entire mindset was trying to turn itself completely backwards in the course of but a few weeks. Since she found out Fang was L'Cie.

And to think everything changed, L'Cie are suddenly people just because you-,

"I know." She couldn't even bare to say it in her head.

You're such a hypocrite.

"Yeah."

So you're not going to tell them the truth?

"What would it change?"

Fang deserves to know.

There was a bitter taste in her mouth, a hard grimace darkening her features. She was feeling sick to her stomach.

"She wouldn't believe me. Or worse."

True. But that's never stopped you.

"She has no reason to trust me. Besides...there's a chance she could remember. If that's the case...I need to get off this rock."

That's what I've been saying this whole time. And what about PSICOM?

"Easier dealing with them. Could just tell them I lost her in the snow. Got wounds to support it."

They'll find you out eventually. Then what? You up for getting you brains blown out in your own backyard? Your sister's too, probably...

Her heart jerked. Shit. That was true.

Sounds like it's best to stay here for a spell yet. I think eating crow would be a helluva lot easier than eating a bullet.

Gods damn logic. Damn it to hell.

But it was shortly after sunrise when this bittersweet conclusion came about, so she saw little point in trying to sleep at that point. Instead she decided that coffee was in order, and went in search of it with a stiffened limp to her gait. Still no shoes. Hadn't had them on since she got here, which was going on five days now. She would continue to ponder the issue as she ambled down the corridors, alongside trying to remember where the commissary was. But it wasn't all that hard to find as even a hume has a sense of smell potent enough to sniff out breakfast. And part of her was relieved to find the place practically empty, save for the kitchen staff and a couple of maintenance workers. Her eyes fixed on the table laid out with breakfast pastries and doughnuts, situated right beside a selection of drinks. Milk, juice, coffee alongside with that purposeless crime against God-art and nature, decaf.

And while the entire room smelled to the ceiling of delightful breakfast fare, Lightning wasn't sure she had the stomach to eat. So coffee would just have to suffice. She approached the stack of styrofoam cups near the urn. She filled it just a little, an ounce or two, and drank it in one gulp. A hot shiver as it splashed into her stomach. Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Then she filled it to the brim. Another few sips and she found her appetite, snatching a danish from the table before finding a seat.

She was thankful for the few minutes of peace.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

Her head jerked on her neck, looking left and then right to spot Gadot's looming figure. "It's a free world." and then bounced her shoulders once as she looked away. Trying to be subtle about it she watched him sit across from her, finding a mote of surprise to see him in clothes you'd be more likely to see on a professional cook. White, pressed jacket, ugly pants, slip resistant shoes. Although she couldn't conceal her amazement at the spread on his tray. It was outrageous. Huge. A meal for five or more. How it all fit, stacked up like it was on the tray, she was equally curious as to how it hadn't toppled to the floor on his way to the table. Link sausage, pancakes stacked easily ten high, a pile of scrambled eggs, toast...gods, where did he put it all?

Gadot was about to take his first monstrous bite when he noticed the look Lightning had on her face. It was a flat expression for the most part, but her eyes were set too wide to lie. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"High metabolism." he said simply.

"High cholesterol too, I bet." she shook her head slightly, disbelieving.

"You'd think." another chuckle. But, in truth, his blood work was damn near immaculate. "Hadn't seen you in a while, good to know you're all right."

"Um...thanks."

He took the time to swallow, one of his hands gesturing. "I don't mean to get creepy. Just kind of in the habit of being everyone's big brother around here. Not that I think you need one."

"It's all right. I think I get it." being an elder sibling herself. "Though...I appreciate the concern." as awkward as it felt to receive.

He nodded and went back to his plate. The silence dragged on for a long while, Lightning feeling a strange nagging to continue the idle conversation. But why? What did they have to talk about anyway?

He swallowed again, a huge lump in his throat for half a second. "Did you want something else? Something hot?" he asked, pointing to the measly remnants of her danish.

"No, I'm fine, just not feeling very hungry. No offense."

"None taken. You look like you've got a lot on your mind."

You don't know the half of it.

"But I figured you'd be back on the mainland by now."

Yeah, true. "Still debating it. Don't know why though."

"Well...can't imagine things being very safe. You know, PSICOM."

"They probably think I'm dead."

"You can hope, right?" he chuckled again. "The danish okay?"

"Huh? Oh...yeah, it's fine." funny thing to ask about so suddenly.

"Maybe I've finally got the recipe right."

"You made this? All of it?"

Gadot nodded, his mouth was full so it wouldn't have been very polite for him to respond verbally. He waited to swallow. "Mom taught me before she died. Stroke."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Well...if she was still around, I'd still be hiding at home. At least here I'm doing some good."

Lightning only nodded. She had a hard time imagining someone as big as him holed up in a basement, hiding from the world. His tusks weren't all that noticeable...though he was built much bigger than average. Enough so to be likely to raise suspicion.

"How did you get here anyway? Can't imagine a group like NORA advertising in the classifieds."

Gadot had to swallow again before answering, and he laughed a little. "Not quite. A lot of us were approached by the boss. Lebreau and I were working at the same bar when he found us. We didn't have anything better, so we took the offer. Speaking of which," he sipped his own coffee briefly, "the boss is due in sometime today. Word's going around that he wants to meet you. Fang too."

Her brows raised, her back straightening. "Damn. Big deal."

"Actually, yeah, it kind of is. He doesn't come out here for just anybody."

And she would ponder the idea for a time, coming onto the suspicion that she might have gotten herself in over her head this time.

Author's Note: This chapter was very touch and go. I think my writer's block is trying to elbow its way in. That, and it's been bat shit crazy at work this week, so I haven't really had the time I've wanted to work on it. I'm going to try to move the plot along in the next chapter, at the very least get in some more of Fang's story, put more of the pieces together. As for Lightning, she's still got a lot of guilt to swallow, lots of demons. And you'll likely get to meet most of them. Hope you're still enjoying it so far, as lackluster as it is right now. Thanks to the readers, you guys rock!