A week went by, and in Alva's opinion. It had been nothing but pure bliss. She managed to get through her night shifts without a single bit of trouble, her dance classes were going swimmingly. And she was working stage crew for a Broadway production of 'Dracula', which meant she would be receiving some cash in the a couple weeks when the show went up.

Alva also managed to keep her nights clear of fevered dreams, and the so called Puck had not been making a single attempt to communicate with her. However, he was still on her mind. He had made the offer to teach her a trade. The more she thought about it, the more useful it sounded. Alva had never been able fully develop her abilities. Despite their use, Alva was terrified to push herself.

Shaking her head, Alva stepped onto the city bus. Shouldering her gym bag as she went, smiling at the thought of releasing a bit of her pent up stress in dance rehearsal. Taking a seat, she pulled her IPod out from the pocket of her sweatshirt. Turning it onto shuffle, Alva let her head fall back on the seat. She had until the second stop to rest up, before she was joined by some of her fellow dancers

All too soon the second stop was made. Stretching, Alva opened her eyes, and greeted the five people that clambered around her. Smiling Alva exchanged hugs with all of them. She spent the rest of the ride swapping stories about the theater life. Every single one of them had some sort of involvement with the stage productions in New York. Some of them painted sets, some acted, while others worked the lights. "I still can't believe that you managed to get a spot on the Dracula crew, do you realize how lucky you are?"

Looking into a pair of innocent blue eyes, Alva smiled. "It's not that exciting, I needed the money."

Linda waved her hand, dismissing Alva's reply. "You get to see the show every night, and they pay you to watch!"

Alva's dance partner leaned forward. "Linda's a vampire enthusiast."

At this, Alva broke out into a fit of giggles. "You're shiting me, Ms. Blonde hair and Blue eyes likes blood sucking vampires?"

"Go fuck yourself Scott!" Linda bit back. At this he winked at her "With pleasure doll face. I hope you like handcuffs and whips."

"Scott, really Come on!" Alva put her hands over her ears. "No one wants to hear about your freaky fetishes!" Smirking, Scott leaned forward, grabbing one of Alva's hands, whispering in her ear. "Oh you know you like it, if I remember correctly you were screaming for…"

All the dancers shrieked in disgust. "SHUT UP SCOTT!"

After a long pause, Alva pulled her hands away. "Is it safe?" Receiving a nod of confirmation from Linda, she let her guard down. "Remind me why I work with you again?"

Scott stole a glance at his dance partner, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Cause you like me for my body."

At this, Linda smirked. "He has a point Al; you and he are the only ones who can do the freaky free style junk; if I ever tried those flips on Jeremy over there… I'd kill him."

Scott stretched out his arms and wrapped them affectionately around his dance partner. "Told you so" Glancing up at the silver stop cord, Alva snared her fingers and yanked. The bus came to a screeching halt, which sent the over touchy Scott right over her head. Lying down in Linda's lap, the elfin girl pointed a finger and laughed. Thoroughly enjoying the look of anger and embarrassment set of the self proclaimed Romeo's face.

The driver was none too pleased with Alva's antics. In a flurry of angry cursing, he kicked the troupe off the bus about five blocks away from their destination. Alva was still giddy with laughter, despite the scathing looks thrown in her direction, from Scott especially. The side that the petite dancer displayed on the bus of a rare experience for them, normally she was very withdrawn. But sometimes she would randomly attain the mind of childish trickster and play practical jokes, not caring if her larks caused anyone bodily harm.

Linda seemed to be the only one who shared in Alva's pleasure of putting Scott in his place. He was way to full of himself. A good knock to the end was what the bastard needed. Finally, the group reached Starver Dance Studio, the humble abode to underappreciated background dancers and slowly budding stars.

As the collection of dancers were about to descend the steps into the studio, they were suddenly interrupted by the calling of a name "Alva!"

Said lady turned, and bowled over by an unidentified flying object with strawberry blonde hair. The two crashed to the ground, while the rest looked on bemusedly. With the wind knocked out of her, Alva looked down and saw little Alexander Xanatos hugging her torso. She started laughing, and detached his arms. The two stood and Alva gave the boy a hug. "So my competition is pint sized?"

Giving Scott a scathing look, Alva looked down at Alex. "Alex, what are you doing here alone?"

The boy shook his head. "I'm not alone; Owen's taking me to the park."

At his name, Owen seemed to appear out of nowhere. Alva's jaw set and she began to grind her teeth in irritation. Masking the malicious look on her face, she smiled down at the boy "How fun."

She just barely caught the trace of a smirk on the assistant's face. "Indeed, young Xanatos has been looking forward to this outing for a while."

Focusing her attention of Alex, Alva ruffled the boy's hair. "You guys should get going then."

Alex's face lit up suddenly, he grabbed Alva's arm and attempted to pull her down the sidewalk, in the direction of the park. "Come on, come with us!"

Hearing snicker from Scott, she gently pulled her arm from the boy's grip. "Sorry hun, but I've got dance rehearsal."

The boy's face fell, the look was practically heart breaking. Biting her lip, Alva's eyes skirted over to Owen. He appeared to watching her like one would a rare insect. Shaking her head, going against her better judgment, she extended an invitation. "You know, you two are welcome to sit in a watch us practice, and we can go to the park after words."

Alex lost all traces of gloom, he ran over to Owen, puppy dog eyes at the ready. "Can we Owen?"

Please say no, dear God please be strict. Alva begged inside her head as she watched Burnett mull over the offer. Looking up he gave her a careful once over. He could almost taste the begging in her mind, she was praying to anything that he would say not to the invitation, she was terrified of him. Slowly he nodded, and looked down at Alex. "I don't see why not."

The boy whooped with happiness and hugged him, while Alva's face fell slightly. When Alex turned to look at her, the frown had transformed into an ecstatic smile. "Alright, why don't you go with Linda downstairs, and she'll show you around."

At her words, Linda gave Alva a scathing look, through simple eye contact, Linda decided it was best not to argue. Taking Alex's hand in hers, she took him downstairs. "Come on kid, we'll leave the grown-ups to talk." The rest of the dancers followed, all except Scott, who glared angrily at Owen.

Noticing that the assistant's attention was focused elsewhere, Alva glanced over her shoulder. Scott moved to her side. "Want me to stick on babe." Rolling her eyes at the word 'babe,' Alva shoved him in the direction of the stairs. "Just go, will ya, and I ain't your babe."

Once her partner was out of earshot, Alva turned and grabbed Owen by the tie, dragging him into the alley. Tossing him at the wall, she paced in front of him. Like an enraged wildcat. "What's the deal Burnett?"

Adjusting his askew tie, Owen played innocent. "Whatever do you mean Ms. Eltsina?"

Stopping, she stuck a finger in his face. "You know exactly what I mean, what're you doing here?"

Raising an eyebrow, the assistant, pushed the accusing digit away. "I was merely taking Alexander to the park; it was purely coincidental that we ran into you."

Brushing a hand through her hair, Alva turned away. Slowly she glanced at him. "Will you quite with the 'stone cold push over act' I know what you really are."

Finally, she was graced with a display of emotion. Owen smirked for a moment and replied "If you insist Ms. Eltsina."