A Trip to Remember

Recap:

Pausing on the news channel the shifter sighed as he saw a young twenty something blonde standing in front of the camera doing a news report on the recent increase in unexplainable deaths. "That's just unfortunate" Miles said aloud without noticing, he'd known that there were more casualties in the Night world, but for it to land on the local news it made it eerily real.

"What is?" came the voice behind him.

Chapter 7

Miles froze up from the voice that had surprised him out of his reverie, his hand quickly punched the power button effective cutting off the blonde on the news. Sorrel eyes slowly rotated with his head as he scanned his surrounding for that eerily familiar voice.

"Maggs?" He asked feeling his heart speed up with anticipation. His eyes perceived his beloved sister, but there was a chance he could be imagining this. His mind could very well have played a very cruel joke on him and he was probably falling for it horribly. The shape shifter couldn't help but be excited, this was her scent, it was her face, her hair, her eyes, everything screamed Maggie. She was even wearing one of her favorite shirts! It had to be her, cracking a smile Miles allowed himself to let go of any doubt and envelope his

younger sister in the biggest bear hug he could manage.

Maggie's heart wasn't in any better shape, she had dreamt of reuniting with her brother and her soulmate and now here he was holding her. Her face adorned a smile she hadn't worn in a long while as she squeezed her elder brother with all her strength wishing that this

moment wouldn't pass, at least not for a while. Maggie burrowed her face into her brother's chest making an effort to cry, it wouldn't do to ruin the moment by blubbering like an infant. It was a happy moment, a reunion, it should be celebrated with positivity. None the less, Maggie couldn't stop herself from getting misty eyed and from the feel of it neither could Miles. On her shoulder the teen could feel a damp area growing on her shoulder, hopefully from tears and not drool.

"I missed you, bro" Maggie spoke up with her best impression of her normal voice, she didn't want to sound like toad croaking at this moment. She patted the firm back before her comforting both herself and Miles, trying to organize their emotions enough to speak

normally.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you" Miles replied, his voice smothered by the cloth of Maggie's jersey. He hadn't wanted to start his reunion with an ugly crying face. For now he would hide his face until the tears dried out and he could just blame the stains on un unfortunate drool accident. At least that was less embarrassing than crying on his younger sister.

"It took you long enough to find me" Maggie joked as she tried to move away from her only sibling. The close contact way nice and all, but she seriously wanted some breathing space at the moment before suffocating on Miles' stench. "Miles, how long have you been out there? You kind of stink" she replied making a face at the force of the stench reaching her nostrils. The thought of the stench transferring onto her clothes had her letting go faster.

"Jee, thanks for reminding me" Miles cracked an amused smile at his baby sister. Months of not hearing from her only brother and she decides to focus on hygienic maintenance. "You know some might even say I have a natural musk, it's totally in now a days" he joked as he moved in to place his armpit by her face. "Want a whiff" he chuckled as he moved in towards her retreating figure.

"Ew, gross, Miles. No, get your pits out of my face" she yelled out parrying the arm out of the way. Her brother chuckled at her evasive maneuvers knowing that she was strong, but not as strong as he was. Keeping that in mind he took care not to place too much pressure on the attack. They had done something similar to this after camping on the mountains a summer. They had been playing around when Miles had inadvertently put too much pressure on the attack and at that very moment Maggie had moved her hands. What ended up happening was unplanned, but the jist of it was that Maggie ended up with a bruised chin while Miles ended up with a sore elbow and three weeks of grounding.

"Alright, alright" Miles acquiesced as he lowered his arm and took a step back. His eyes swept over his sister once more to survey the damage. She looked almost the same, a bit paler, a bit skinnier, but overall the same Maggs he'd seen before being separated. "Maggs you've gotten smaller!" he said in a shocked voice dramatically placing a hand over his mouth as though he'd been truly shocked by that fact. He watched the over Neely for her reaction and watch her smile turn into a smirk.

"Look who's talking, bird man" She poked at her brother's ribs at seeing him curl inward she repeated the action over and over again. She remembered her brother being very ticklish, but they drew up a truce long ago that neither parties would do the unbearable act. Soon after, another truce had been made that neither would mention weight. Since Miles had broken one truce, it made it okay for Maggie to break the other. It was only fair.

"Hey, you broke the truce" He yelped out between uncontrollable bouts of giggles. Miles was not about to be outdone by his younger sis so he immediately retaliated poking at Maggie's waist as well. Hearing her also yelp in surprise before giggling as well he was encouraged to keep going.

"You" She giggled wildly swatting his hand away. "Started it" she finished continuing her attack, but this time avoiding his fingers by moving back. She liked the call this move the attack and cover, it worked 1 in 3 times. Good enough in this case.

The tickle attacks continued a while before the two Neelys collapsed on the ground out of breath from the barrage of hands attaching to their ticklish spots. They had continued to giggle at the residual giddiness from the tingling of nerves where fingers had been. Miles had to wipe away a stray tear that had escaped from the force of the laughter that had escaped him. Maggie on the other hand began to flap her hand before her face to counteract the deep reddening from all the laughter, no tears were found on her face just a giant smile as she stared at her brother.

"Mom would have been yelling at us by now" Miles mused as he ran a mud encrusted hand through his unruly strands. He had long gotten used to the dirt, no matter how much he took care to avoid the dreaded wastes of nature it still ended up on him. He took care to groom his wings regularly as flying would be impossible without that, but even that wasn't enough, the true extent of his filth was always revealed in his human form.

"Mom would also have told you to bathe, you stink" Maggie quipped as she turned her head towards the ceiling. She wanted to make it come out as a joke, but it still hurt to speak about her parents and so it came out harsher. After a couple of moments of silence Maggie allowed herself to sneak a peek at her from her peripheral vision only to see that he too had taken to staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "I miss them"

A low hum vibrated from the shape shifter in response, but other than that Maggie received no direct response. Instead she nodded, wordlessly she got up and went into the nearest room, which happened to be one of the many empty guest rooms. Inside her eyes scanned for the nearest cupboard, it would surely have some of the towels that were cleaned before the maids left. That was a while ago, Maggie couldn't be sure if every room had been equipped with towels, but at the very least there was no harm in looking.

"Maggs?" the voice echoed into the room the younger Neely entered. The elder Neely had not meant to ignore his sister enough to make her leave. It was awkward. He was able to see his parents again, but it was probably worse than being protected. When he had finally made it back to the house he'd first noticed through the window that all of the family picture that hung on the wall were missing either Maggie or himself. It was upsetting to say the least, but it got worse as his room was emptied of his clothing and possessions. Instead there was a weight room in its place, sure he knew that after he moved out this would probably be the fate of his room, but seriously where was his stuff? When he'd snuck into Maggie's room he'd found it to be a room dedicated to Jake, the DOG!

It was not surprising that Miles had been a bit sore about the subject, he was about to talk to his parents about their disinterest in their own children's wellbeing when something hit him. In the days that he had spent watching his parents, not once had the mentioned their names, nothing about how they were doing, no worrying. It was as though they had never had children, almost like their memories were... erased. It dawned on Miles that circle day break managed to effectively remove his family from the war, but in exchange they had altered their lives and memory. For what felt like weeks, but had actually been hours, the shape shifter moped around the house in disbelief that his family had forgotten about him and his sister that easily! It destroyed him, it broke his heart to know that he no longer had his family... family!

In his mind a sliver of hope shined as he remember Maggie. As she was "connected" or "mated"... whatever it was with Delos, a member of the Night World, then her memory wouldn't need to be wiped. In the off chance that they decided to wipe her memory, he could force her to remember! 'It would be only too easy' was his initial thought as he worked himself into the thought of going away from his past. There was no place for him there, not anymore, there was no use in sulking.

"In here Miles" Maggie called out as she rummaged around the third drawer in frustration. She was sure that the first two would have some sign of a towel, but nothing. Opening the third she had seen some extra oversized clothes which she moved to the side in an attempt to find the damn towel. "Trying to find you a towel so you can shower" she finished as she finally pulled out a larger towel from under all the other stuff in the drawer.

"Does it bother you that much?" Miles smirked as he ran a hand through his greasy hair once more. 'Well, at least I know a new way to annoy her' he thought to himself as he accepted the outstretched. He noticed that his younger sister decided not to answer him, she merely snorted as she took some random clothes from the drawer and threw them at him.

"Just go" she answered in a forced sweet tone as she turned Miles around and shoved him into the nearest guest bathroom. "The faucets are a bit weird, just keep turning the knob until the water is the right temperature. Press the button in the middle to take a bath, but you might want to shower first... just a suggestion" Maggie instructed as she fiddles with the lights in the bathroom before closing the door behind her.

"...thanks?" Miles stared at the giant tub and whistled at the luxury settings on the edge. His eyes survey the room looking for any signs of tampering before he started to strip. It was only when he removed his shirt that he noticed just how worn and dirty it had gotten from constant use. Placing the material to his sensitive nose he immediately was taken aback at just how rank it smelt. It was a mixture of sewer, sweat and body odor scents which burnt his nostrils and the back of his throat. "God, I stink" he stated as he continued to undress before fiddling with all of the buttons on the tub. At some point he had activated the jet Jacuzzi setting, his smile grew at the sight of the luxury treatment.

Downstairs the now awaken and slightly hungry Maggie walked around the kitchen looking for some food. She wondered about the whereabouts of Ash for a second before remembering just who it was that she was worrying over and decided that he was fine, no doubt about that. Searching within the cupboards she found loads of chips and candy... nothing of any subsequent nutritional value. She then turned to the fridge to find some left over Chinese food takeout boxes and shrugged as she took it out and placed it into the microwave to heat up.

As Maggie waited she found herself humming happily and swinging her arms back and forth without much thought. It was as though her brothers presence was the final piece of normalcy, sure she didn't have her parents or Delos, but at least Delos would return sooner or later. Hopefully in the future when all of this mess was finally over and the war hopefully avoided, then she could go home. She would be able to introduce her parents to Delos and they could be somewhat normal. They could go on dates, have family dinners, Delos would fight with Miles over her and her father would play the protective dad role. In her mind that was still a possibility that she was holding out for, it was something she dreamed about.

beep beep beep beeep beep

The sound of the microwave blaring signaled the end of the heating period and Maggie jumped out of her daydream to go retrieve her food. Smiling at the prospect of a better future Maggie took her food into the living room and sat down in front of the small television set in front of the couch. There weren't many things on the television, the weather was on, it'd be sunny all week, and some sci-fi shows were on so she decided to check one out.

Within the span of twenty minutes she had been hooked on the show, Being Human, she never thought she would be as connected to a series as this one. Her eyes were glued to the screen as the sound of the door opening and closing echoed behind her. She didn't bother to turn around as the intruder walked inside and placed something on the table in the kitchen, her sorrel eyes just kept watching the scenario unfold before her.

"You know, I agree with parents these days. TV sure does a good job of turning children's brains into mush" came a sarcastic voice behind Maggie. Crossed arms found their place adjacent to where Maggie's shoulders were resting, but even with the close proximity the human made no move to leave the screen until a commercial break came up.

"First off, I'm not a child" Maggie pointed out before muting the annoying commercial advertising some average looking socks. She raised an eyebrow at the golden color of Ash's irises and wondered what had him so intrigued. She then continued by saying "Second, I'm pretty sure that is just a wives' tale to get children to be productive" she ended stuffing the last of the contents of the container into her mouth.

"Look whose an expert on wives' tales" He countered as he went back into the kitchen to unpack whatever it was that he brought back with him. "Come help me with all this, it's for you and your brother anyway" he reasoned as he withdrew a gallon of fizzy soda and a package of nachos from one of the many cloth bags.

Confused Maggie turned off the television as an emergency news bulletin came up, but seeing as the television was on mute she hadn't noticed it as she pressed the 'off' button behind her back. "You got us stuff? How did you know what to get us?" Maggie asked before unpacking three frozen boxes of ready make pizzas with different toppings each. It was a good start, she continued to fish into the bag to find some Mac and cheese boxes, some salami, some marshmallows and chocolate bars. Hiking an eyebrow she noticed that these were largely "easy made" food, but chose not to comment on it.

"I didn't really know, I got some help from what other people where buying their teenage children" He pointed comically towards his temple with one hand as he pulled out a box of hot pockets and taquito strips with the other. He also managed to takeout some graham crackers and orange juice to add to the growing pile of food.

"Thanks" Maggie raked her eyes over all of the food and smiled at the almost childish nature of the pile. It wasn't as though Ash had many chances to go shopping for food since he was a vampire and preferred human to actual food. To Maggie though it was a sweet gesture that Ash even did this for both her and her brother. It not a surprise since shopping was a part of "nanny duty", as Ash puts it, but Miles wasn't included in this job.

"Don't think anything of it" Ash answered distracted as he tried to find a place for the goldfish crackers that he'd pulled out of the stack. He was about to give up on finding a place for it and just leave it on the countertop until he spotted an empty space in the top most row.

"Looks good in here" The deeper voice was a cool wash over the two inhabitants of the kitchen area. At the entranceway of the kitchen stood Miles dressed in a tee shirt that fit like a glove in every sense and a pair of jeans that fit with some breathing space. He had been extremely happy that he would not be subject to wearing skinny jeans, he wanted his jewels to be able breath and if the shirt was anything to go by he would probably not be able to move much.

"Mmhmm" was Maggie's noncommittal response as she went about placing the s'mores materials into a cubby adjacent to the refrigerator. She was happy to see that the shower had done a load of difference, his skin no longer looked as though it were patchy and the odor no longer offended everyone in the room. His hair had grown a lot longer, but that could easily be fixed with a good cut, other than that it was the same Miles she remembered.

"You clean up well enough" came the easy remark from the blonde vampire who had just finished placing the frozen pizzas into the freezer. He almost sized up the shape shifter again to see if it was the same person, he smelt different, better than the initial meeting. Ash had smelt the odor at the initial interaction, but decided not to mention it since it smelt better than a ghoul or werewolf. Compared to those two nothing was unbearable, even Miles' unhygienic months of freedom.

"Yeah, thanks for that" Miles said a bit weirded out by the comment. He wasn't that self conscious about the state he was in, it was just something you dealt with as a member of the Night World, but to be called out by another member was a bit embarrassing.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Miles" the vampire answered easily was he leaned on the table and chucked over a bag of vanilla wafers at the elder Neely. The shape shifter easily snatched the treat and stared down at it before shrugging. Using long hardened fingers to open up the sealed packaging he fished one out and popped it into his mouth. Upon tasting the sugary sensation shift through his mouth he hummed appreciatively and popped another piece into his mouth. He would usually stay away from sweets because it could make him ill or gain weight, which would be disadvantageous for mountain climbing. These treats were well worth any weight gain, it was as though Miles was a child again as the sugars elicited a very giddy shiver up his spine.

"You okay?" Maggie asked as she watched her brother's eyes widen and watched him ingest more of the sugary wafer into his mouth. She had known her brother was a fan of sweets, especially vanilla favored, but he was always in control of his portioning. He'd always take two and a half scoops of ice cream or a stick of candy. Something in the younger Neely told her that her brother was going to be okay, however, with the way he was going at the candy it might not stay that way.

"Slow down there birdy" Ash waited until half of the small package was ingested before intervening. Speedy, nimble fingers snatched the bag away from Miles just as his hand left the bag to bring two wafers up to his mouth. Closing his mouth on the treats the Neely smiled as he masticated the end of the vanilla encased heaven. He let out an appreciative hum before licking his fingers clean "It's been a while since I've had any of those" he replied in a satiated tone.

"Miles, you can't eat like that. If you eat that quickly you'll make yourself feel sick" Maggie explained as she walked over to her brother turning into a worry wart.

"You sound like mom, I'm all good" Miles chuckled, but it was short lived as his stomach began to rumble. It was low and unnoticeable at first, but even after the teenager sat down to watch some soccer his stomach kept at it. Soon the rumbling became louder and more frequent until the poor Neely was hunched over in pain.

"So... you okay there" Ash asked in mock concern as he too plopped onto the couch. The vibrations from the sudden plopping further upset the shape shifters upset stomach making him groan out.

"I told him not to" Maggie shook her head in a disappointing manner as she too plopped onto the couch next to her brother.

"I thought... I would be fine" Miles retorted as he cave into himself even further until he was in a fetal position. Maggie urged him to sit up straight as the vampire watch on in amusement. It was a chance for him to learn of the normal sibling interactions. He was hoping to pick up some clues as to how to better his own relationship with his sisters. In the future, should he survive this war and all of his sisters as well, there would probably be a chance to rekindle the sibling bonds that were severed long ago. Until then he would just have to learn from the Neelys.

Absently Ash turned his bright green eyes beck to the television screen to be met with the same blonde lady as earlier only this time she was talking next to a picture of Grandma Harman. His attention was soon completely given to the newswoman as she explained about the mysterious death of an elderly woman and another young man in a brutal animal attack. He frowned at the mention of animals, this could only mean the shape shifters were in on this.

The Neelys were still in their own world as the newswoman finished her story and a commercial took her place on the screen. Feeling uncomfortable Ash quickly got up and pulled his phone out from his pocket and called Thierry. The line rang a couple of times before at the last second a shy voice crackled onto the receiver. "Hey, Hannah"

"Hello, Ash, so you heard what happened?" her voice was silent as though she were whispering into the cell phone.

"Yeah, it was a real shame. Can you pass me to Thierry, I have a question for him" Ash's tone was calm and collected, but inside he was worrying immensely about the news. There was a small chance, a miniscule probability that if the shape shifters were behind this then they could be using Miles to get to Maggie. It wasn't that Ash particularly distrusted the shape shifter, but even in the Witch Crone's death it was his job to look after the human who is bonded to his great uncle.

"Sure hold on a second" a couple seconds of whispering on the other line passed before a quick "Thierry here" was heard. It sounded rushed and annoyed, but Ash decided to forgo the usual foreplay of the conversation and get to the point.

"Hey, is it true? What they're saying on the news, is it true?" Ash made no attempt to hide the edge of seriousness from his voice. It was not need when talking to the ancient vampire, that was one of the perks of talking to him.

"Yes, it is, but..." Ash quickly hung up the phone as he heard a loud 'Ugh gross' from the younger Neely.

The blonde spun around, his eye a darkened gray as he stocked up to the two Neelys. "Miles, a word." He stated as he stared down at the heaving shape shifter. He received a weak nod before the elder Neely painfully got up and followed him. Ash made it a point to turn off the television before making a bee line to the backyard. Ash was going to get to the bottom of this mess one way or another.

A/N:Hello readers, I'm so sorry for the delay! I have no excuse, this is all my fault and I accept full responsibility. I hope you enjoy this and your summer! ~TheRussianGaaraKid out