A/N: I'm clinging to the hope that you'll accept this short chapter only because it's actually something I've written over that past... what? three months? something like that?


He was mad. Scratch that, he was infuriated. It wasn't just that his prisoners had escaped, no, it was who had done it.

Stalking back and forth, he glared at his remaining guards with extreme dislike, as if he actually believed it was their fault. "You let the fucking kids get away?" he fumed. His staffers nodded. Yes, they had. In part, anyway.

"It wasn't all us," one man added, as if buying himself time with this job. "You know that the guards that let them go were spies. We just... didn't catch them."

"Yes, of course," he muttered. The Lucas brat, that's who it was. His first, and rather unsuccessful attempts to achieve what was rightfully his, the wizard power. And he hadn't been alone. His so-called brother, the formerly faithful Corbett, and some vampire chick he hadn't met before. But the Angels were no longer useful to him, however, and neither was young Nicholas and his girlfriend, Alexandra. Simple obstacles, they were. As immortal as they might be, they were still human, still easily breakable.

This form he had was also human, just as easily broken as it was disposed. He would be strong enough soon, he reminded himself, he would at last achieve his own form.

"It won't happen again," the man was still promising, pleading.

He narrowed his eyes. "I'll spare you," he mumbled. "Report back here at five o'clock on Monday for assignments. Don't be late." He dismissed his employees with a wave of his hand and turned back to his computer.

How he had overlooked Nicholas in the first place was baffling to him, as if his simple disguise of blonde, straight hair was enough to fool anyone. He should've known, anyway, that the boy would be dumb enough to try to save his beloved girl, risking everything. But instead he'd been unable to see past it, until it was too late.

And then, when they'd confronted him, he'd let them go. He'd angered the girl by looking through the memories of his host body, and by experiencing her first hand by acting as her vice-principal, then turning on her when she'd thought he was her friend. Of course, Mr. Laritate was, he was not.

He didn't realize that the Lucas boy was there until too late.

The memory spell they'd done had little to no effect. He was stronger than their magic, getting stronger everyday. As soon as he could, he'd get out of here and reveal the wizards he knew of, turn the world upside down, and somehow, guide the world through this time of wariness towards friends.

Focusing on the computer screen, he typed in slowly, "JONAS address new jersey". And when the computer turned back 1-10 of 1,000,000 results, he smiled and clicked on the first link.

You see, even after he fails, Samael never, ever gives up.


Sitting on the roof of Nick's house reminded Alex of the terrace back home, and how she would sit and stare for hours at the stars, alone. In some ways, this was better - she could feel Nick's arm around her, holding her close, and the light pollution wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the city, but although she wouldn't admit it, she missed home. She missed her mom's cooking, her dad's eating, the sub shop, everything about it. It was home, and they say there's no place like it.

She recalled seeing her brothers again, a week after they'd taken down Mr. Laritate and escaped. That was two days ago, she thought grimly. They'd hidden in the wizard realm with some friends, while she'd opted to stay here with Nick and his family. And only yesterday, they'd seen a story on the television about how over one thousand magical creatures had escaped a holding facility, with the help of three unidentified guards. They'd smiled knowingly, exchanged glances with Kevin, but nothing too extreme. Life seemed almost normal again. Almost.

But life wasn't normal, not if there were wizard hunters (of the non-magical kind) around town, asking everyone possible to try out their new detectors. Of course, she already knew they didn't work - Kevin had survived a testing - but she didn't care. The whole now-extended Lucas family was concerned about what would come next - mainly, what would happen if the word got out that they were a magical family.

Joe would often half-heartedly joke about which would be more of a surprise to the fans: the fact that they were Angels/wizards or the fact that Nick wasn't actually their brother. But then Stella would walk through the door before anyone could tell him to be serious about this.

It didn't take long for Alex (and Macy, who was staying with them) to catch on that the number one rule in this household for Stella not to find out that they were what they were, which was harder than it might seem. Between the three wizards and the five Angels that now resided in the firehouse, someone always slipped up and someone else always ended up covering for them, most of the time with lame excuses that were so translucent it was unclear to her how Stella continued to believe them.

"Nick?" she asked, quietly.

"Yeah?" His reply was a bit absentminded, like his mind was elsewhere.

Alex suddenly forgot what she was about to say. "I love you," she said lamely.

He smiled. "No need to tell me that, Alex." He looked to the sky. "I love you too."

It sounded like an afterthought to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

He sighed. "I'm just a bit... worried about what's coming," he said softly. "That's all, really."

"Aren't we all?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I get the feeling that Joe's ready to turn us all in to prove something to Stella." He looked at his hands. "And they're not even wizards. It's harder for us, we're the most sought after. And then..." He shook his head. "Never mind."

"Tell me," she pressed.

He shook his head. "I don't want to worry you."

"You know I can just read your mind, right?"

"Sadly." He sighed again. "I'm worried about Samael."

"Didn't your brother kill him?"

"I don't know. He didn't kill me, so I'm not so sure about Samael, either."

She shuddered at that memory, of Joe killing who was seemingly Nick. "You were dead," she said softly. "Somehow, I managed to bring you back to life."

"Then I wasn't completely dead, was I?" he pointed out dryly.

She frowned, not knowing exactly how to answer the question. "Nick, please. He's gone. Can't you just... be positive?"

He didn't reply, this time. His eyes were distant, as if focusing on something far, far away from reality. Alex pushed herself closer into his mind, only to be pushed back. Frustrated, she shook his shoulders. "Nick!" she cried, desperately.

"Sorry." He shook his head, curls bouncing, as if clearing something from his mind. "It's just... I don't know."

And as thunder began to ring out across the skyscape, Nick pulled Alex close and kissed her, lightly, on the cheek. But even with his arm around her, she was still unsettled.

She didn't want to admit it, but there was a chance he might be right.


A/N: Is summer too busy for anyone else, or is that just me? Leave me a review, please. I'd appreciate it.

Yeah.

I need to apologize to chibi right here because I haven't read ANYTHING of hers in the past month, much less reviewed it, so I'm SOOOOOO SORRYY and I'll try to catch up as soon as I get back from Wyoming/Montana/Idaho/Grand Tetons/Yellowstone/Glacier/everything else.

(P.S. Yankees/Sox series, each won two games each out of four played.)

~ Snowy