Hey Everybody,

Sorry for updating to late in the week, but I am swamped with work and school with midterms and finals coming up.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D Aaand, don't forget to review!

Love,

RueLin

Ten

"Coffee?" Rachel offered her little brother when he slumped down the stairs with a messy case of pillow hair.

He threw up a hand and shook his head, "No, thank you, Rach." With a groan he sat himself down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. He buried his face in crossed arms, for some strange reason he felt sore everywhere.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, taking a seat across the table from him.

"Yeah, I'll be good soon, I think," Warren answered.

"Hey kid,"Leah greeted and ruffled Warren's hair playfully as she walked by. "What's there to eat?"

"Look on the stove, there's eggs and bacon, and coffee is on the counter," Rachel told her, sipping from her coffee.

Taking a plate from the cabinets, Leah started to scoop up eggs into her plate. She looked over her shoulder. "What's wrong with him?"

"I have no clue," Rachel replied and leaned closer to Warren.

"Here," Leah said and put a plate of food in front of him. "Eat up kid. You want some coffee? You look pale."

"No, no coffee. Thanks. Some OJ would be nice though," Warren said as he sat up and took up the fork Leah had laid out with his food.

Leah opened up the fridge and dug out the carton. "One tall class of orange juice coming up," she announced as she poured out the drink for him.

Warren thought, about how much he loved his sisters. Leah, although a pain sometimes with her nagging and teasing, she's sweet in the coolest way ever, and Rachel, always so genteel and nice. And the two of them tag team to catch bad guys all the time.

"Thanks," Warren said as Leah handed him his glass.

After going through morning shift grumpy and tired, Warren stepped out for some air. Since he didn't have the afternoon shift, he walked around aimlessly until he realized his feet were taking him toward the park. The thought of being with Alaura again cast away his weariness and his felt as if his feet had wings. Every step that brought him closer the happier he got until he felt like skipping altogether.

He controlled himself as he heard the sound of children laughing. He turned into the park with his eyes dancing fire, as usual. His strides were long and his boots thumped loudly on the gravel. His hands were in his pocket and he looked absolutely content in appearing like the grim reaper.

He walked up to the swing set where Alaura was pushing a pair of twins, brother and sister, as they screamed, "Higher! Higher!"

Leaning against a red painted leg of the set, Warren didn't even bother to greet her. He just stood there and watched her. And he thought if anyone were to find a way to turn sunshine into a person, the final creation would most definitely be Alaura.

Warren shook his head. How cheesy, he thought to himself. He wouldn't be caught dead thinking what he had just thought up. How embarrassing, he gagged.

"What's wrong?" Alaura asked, as she pushed the little girl high up in the air as she giggled. "You don't look so good."

Warren looked up with only his eyes and a wry smile crept from one side of his face to the other. "You can tell?"

"More or less," she answered. "You didn't sleep well last night and you're still suffering from a minor palpitation from the caffeine overdose."

Warren put a large hand over his chest. "It has been feeling a bit odd this morning."

As he was hoping she would do, Alaura laughed as she pushed the boy in the air this time after he shouted, "My turn! Push me!"

"Kim! Ted!" The twins' mother called. "Come back here! We need to go back home now!"

"But mom!" Kim shouted back, her small brows steeped up as she pouted.

"No buts! You kids still have homework and chores to do!"

"We're too high up! We can't get down!" Ted replied with a giggle, thinking himself to be rather clever.

Their mother collected their things and started to head over to the swings.

Using a bit of telekinesis, Alaura slowed the swings down slowly, but faster than the natural course of gravity would have.

"Aw," the kids whined when their feet touched the ground.

"You've had your turn of fun. Now return to your mother," Alaura instructed and the kids ran off toward their mom.

"For a kid that grew up alone, you sure have a way with other kids." Warren knew about the small thread of insecurity Alaura felt sometimes when she's with company. She had a very convincing method of covering it up with her bright smiles and casual way of talking about it, but she didn't fool him.

"Ah, you know about that?" she said with her quirky smile designed to distract.

He walked over to her. "Of course I do. I'm your best friend aren't I?"

Alaura turned her head in just a light angle that gave the impression of confusion. "Oh? I didn't know being a best friend means knowing all of your friend's secrets."

"Not for everyone. But see, I actually care about you." He walked past her. "So how do you do it? How do you act so natural with other people?"

"Simple. I treat them the way I've always dreamed of treating them.

"What do you mean?"

"When I was alone in my cottage, I often day dreamed of scenarios and how I would act in those cases. Sometimes I would be talking to a mother with three little children at the supermarket. Sometimes I would chat with a girl the same age as me by my pond. We are childhood friends you see. Her name is Anya."

"So you had imaginary friends."

"Is that what they are called out here?" Alaura looked intrigued with her finger in the air as if she were making a point. "For me, they were my only companions. There was also a boy named Rex. He never grew up and has remained at the tender age of six since I conjured him up."

"Any guys… like me?" Warren asked.

Alaura turned her face up to meet his and gave him a teasing smile. He looked down at her intently.

"You!" He pointed at her menacingly. "You better not be looking into my mind!"

Alaura stuck out her tongue.

"Oh no, you don't!" Warren warned before he started to chase her around the playground. Kicking up a storm of sand, Alaura fled over to the slide and monkey bars and hid among the children playing there. Warren followed and diligently looked for her.

"Alaura," he called above the children's giggles. "Don't you dare use your powers here and fly away!"

"I won't," her voice answered with laughter ringing. "You'll have to do better than that. I'm not even running!"

"Making fun of me now, are you?"

He turned around suddenly and caught her trying to sneak up on him. With a loud gasp, Alaura whipped around and ran in the opposite direction, toward the fields.

Hot on her heels, Warren quickly caught up with his long legged strides. He clamped his arms around her and they fell into a tumble on the grass laughing and giggling in the sun. He let her go as they lay on the grass. Her hair was tossed all over the green spiky blades. He kept his gloved hand on her sun warmed arm. Her skin felt so soft that his fingertips tingled with delight.

"There isn't," Alaura said quietly. Her eyes were closed and she smiled shyly.

"Isn't what?" Warren asked his voice as equally soft as hers.

Alaura attempted to hide her face against the side of her arm. A blush spread on her face like wine on a white cloth.

Amused, Warren levered himself up to a reclined position, using his arms to prop himself up. "What?"

"There was nobody like you," she said. "You were the first guy I've made friends with, besides Baron of course."

"Your first?"

"My first," she muttered breathlessly.

Feeling as if he could fly at that moment, Warren smiled with wide toothy smile. "Well, I hope that I haven't shamed all the guys on earth."

"No, I don't think you have."

Suddenly someone's shadow blocked the sun. Warren scrambled up so that he crouched over Alaura defensively.

"Sorry for intruding on this very sweet moment," Darien said with a mocking tone. He crossed his arms as the rest of the Experimented circled around.

"What do you what?" Warren growled as he helped Alaura to her feet.

"Woah, easy there tiger," Darien said with an easygoing tone and put up his hands as if there were an invisible wall in between. "We don't mean any harm, just want to talk. I already said, we're on the same side here."

Darien dropped his hands to his side. "Hey, Aluara, how have you been?" he greeted with a sweet smile.

Warren stepped between the two. "What do you want?" he repeated with even more malice in his voice than before.

"Come on," Darien whined. "I know you're extremely protective over your little girlfriend here, but she's like my sister."

Baring his teeth like a beast warning off a trespasser, Warren took a step toward Darien and his group. "I am not overprotective and you are not her brother. None of you are."

"Denial," Darien teased.

"What did you say?"

Warren pulled his fist back and launched out a firey punch. Darien, being fireproof, blocked the assault easily with his arm. With a quick smirk, Darien grabbed Warren's wrist and hot steam rose from their fingers are Darien's form loosened in a fluid that held his shape.

"Water?" Warren gasped just before Darien's slopping form slide over Warren, enveloping him in a watery coffin.

Oh no, you don't, Warren thought as he heard a strange muffle from the water that sounded a little like laugh. He heated up his body until his core was glowing amber red. Hotter, he thought, he needed to be hotter.

Slowly, as Warren's temperature rose very close to a volcanic power, Darien's body started to evaporate in thick clouds of steam.

"Move out of there, dumb ass," Leon commented as they watched from a distance. It was a good chance to evaluate Warren's power, to see if he would be any use in their plans.

Preoccupied by the fight before her eyes, Victoria's mind finally caught on a signal from Alaura. "Girl!" she screamed and pointed at Alaura. "Stop that!"

Alaura turned her face a centimeter in her direction, signifying that she had heard, but her face was stone. She wasn't going to stop until Darien stops. Alaura sent the message to Victoria, shocking her with the use of her own power against her.

Biting her lower lip, Victoria scowled. "Okay, fine."

Darien's body now boiled lightly in its human shape as he felt the binding power being release, and like a flood, his body poured out and splashed onto the grass. Warren fell to his knees as he sucked in large breaths of air with his mouth and expunged water from his nose.

A few feet away, Darien's body regrouped and he retained his human appearance again. His human body now felt the damages done and he started to sweat uncontrollably as his feverish body started to lower in temperature.

"You two," he said as he panted for breath. "You two are one hell of a team. I'm impressed."

"Thanks, but no thanks for the comment." Warren stood up, now having recovered from near suffocation. The two boys seemed to have come to terms by themselves after their short scuffle.

Warren strolled over to Alaura, like a wrester at his corner.

"Are you okay?" Alaura laid a hand on his chest, which was surprisingly dry. How dangerous Darien's power must be, Alaura thought as she examined Warren's dry clothes, the water completely sucked out of it.

"Yea, thanks for holding him there. I don't think my plan would have worked. Did you copy her power?"

"I think I got the hang of it now. The mind reading power was a little shifty during poker night. Sending messages seem easier for me to do."

Warren chuckled. "That's fine, but just don't go poking around my head."

Alaura held up her hand to symbolizing a vow. "Cross my heart."

A smirk stretch across Warren's face. "Please don't die."

Turning back to the group of Experimented as they patted Darien on the shoulders and back as if here were some sort of hero returned home, Warren stuck his hands in his pockets and contemplated. They didn't seem as dangerous as they were at the school. Perhaps they could be trusted, to a point anyways.

"So what did you guys come here for anyways?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I totally forgot." Darien swept his hair back with his large hands. "But, I'm pooped," he said comically. "Leon, take over?"

Warren wasn't sure which one was Leon until the tall man walked before his group.

"Name's Leon," he said meekly raising his hand as a greeting. "So, I think what Darien basically wants me to say is…is… you know Kabelle right?"

"Kabelle? You mean that scientist found dead a couple days ago? Yeah, what about him?"

Leon looked over at Darien as if he were unsure about something. With an approving nod from his leader, Leon turned back to Warren and Alaura. "We think he's related to us. I mean to our case."

Alaura stepped out from behind Warren. "What do you mean?"

Unable to take Leon's shyness anymore, Victoria walked out, her hair red as flames floating behind her. "We've told you about how we were subjects of an experiment, right?" Without waiting for an answer she continued, "We think Kabelle was one of the scientists involved."

"Can you be sure?"

Victoria looked down at her tightly fisted hands and Alaura could feel her anger, her frustration. "We aren't. All of us were left behind with fuzzy memories on the experiments that were done to us, only random images, vague dialogue, never entire stories. But, Alonzo believes he's heard of Kabelle's name and seen his face before. With his power he's the most reliable with things that deal with the past."

"I'll be able to see more if I can touch something of his," Alonzo said with a thick Italian accent.

"It's our only lead," Darien said, taking up his canny leadership again. "We would like for you to help us with this investigation."

Warren was about to speak out, to tell him how impossible it was for her to be anymore uninvolved, but Alaura held on to the hem of his sleeve. Even though he couldn't read her mind, he could sense her thoughts. She was debating.

"Let me think about it more, Darien," Alaura said. "If Kabelle indeed has to do with our experiments, his death may not be only a coincidence. Just wait and see what happens next."

Darien contemplated for a while with his hand rubbing his chin. "That's a good idea. We'll go for now. If we find anymore leads, we'll be back. If you find something, a clue, anything, call this number," he said handing her a card. "We'll come in a flash."

"Thank you."

He flashed a flirtatious wink. "Any day, sister." He turned toward Warren, "We'll finish our fight one day."

"You bet.

"Leon! We're leaving!"

All eyes on him, they watched Leon get on all fours as his body stretched larger. His skin and clothes turned brown as features start to emerge from all over his body. His nose became sharp and hard like a beak. His comrades all climbed onto his broad back and grabbed onto his large feathers. He flapped his large wing and rose into the air and flew off.

Warren crossed his arms and looked over at Alaura.

"So what are you going to do?"

Warren could hear the heaviness in her voice."Wait and see. That's all I can do."