As Jane had suspected, the day of the rally dawned clear and sunny. It was a little chilly again, thanks to the rainstorm that had moved through, but at least when in the sunshine the air was warm enough that she didn't feel the urge to steal Jake's warm-looking green jacket, which he had decided he didn't need and draped over his arm as they walked.

The nervous butterflies were certainly all aflutter in her core, expressing themselves in her hands, which never seemed to sit still but rather flitted about as she moved, fingers dancing lightly as if holding something, or playing music, or just moving to dispel that nervous energy. Jake noticed after a few moments of characteristic obliviousness, and seized one of them to hold tightly.

"I take it you're excited," he murmured, amusement and anticipation flickering in his emerald-green eyes.

Jane giggled, a little too high-pitched and long to be natural. "Yes, excited, definitely, that must be it."

"Think of it as a grand adventure!" he suggested with a roguish grin and wink, which were successful in their goal of eliciting a more genuine laugh from her. More earnestly, he paused in his stride to squeeze her hand again, taking the other one as well and meeting her gaze, and added, "I have every confidence that you will do perfectly, Jane."

Jane looked up at him with an air of absolute trust in every word, clasping his hands too. Suddenly it seemed as if the butterflies all settled down and left, as if they had scarcely even been there to begin with, and were replaced with a calm sense of purpose and optimism. Her levelheadedness returned, and with a light tinkling laugh she squeezed his hands back and stepped away to continue walking, saying "Come on, we're blocking the street standing in the middle like that!"

Jake snorted but quickly fell into step beside her once more. Around two more corners and down three more thoroughfares, busy and bustling already even an hour before the rally as people flocked to the market square, lay the café at which they had pledged to meet. It was a mostly quiet walk from that point, the mood too serious for banter but not dark enough to really be grim, just a bit anxious and determined.

As expected, Dirk and Roxy were not yet present. They would, knowing Dirk, arrive precisely on the dot and no later, but knowing Roxy, probably not much sooner either. The two lower-quarter residents entered the café, a small open-air affair with a bar and dessert case. Jane purchased a small pastry and Jake some coffee, and both selected the table that they usually picked—not too far in the shadows or away from anything to make it look like they were avoiding others, but definitely out of the way. It was a little bit of a study in psychology, finding the balancing point between avoiding suspicion and being overheard. This was an innate ability to them, however, as when one grows up in the lower districts, they learn how to survive around many unsavory crowds quickly.

It was due to this almost intuitive sense that Jane refrained from crossing her legs too tightly or nervously looking around too often—if you look nervous, people know you're nervous, and then they wonder what you're nervous about. So she just tapped her feet inside her shoes, something that was less than obvious under her skirt, and stabbed the pastry with her fork.

Jake seemed outwardly relaxed, too, but she knew that didn't really mean anything. "How are you doing?" she asked quietly, looking over to him.

"Fine, fine!" he replied automatically.

"Jake," she sighed and shook her head.

"I ... oh, fiddlesticks, I am a bit apprehensive," he confided, leaning toward her and leaning on one elbow. "But I must confess I worry about you and Dirk more than myself, you're the main targets."

"Jake..." She wasn't surprised, no, but even so it always brought a small rush of affection when he told her he was thinking of her ahead of himself, silly boy. He was the one going to be in trouble, in the thick of the crowd or near the back where the soldiers would emerge! "I'll be fine!"

The smile he brought to her face was genuine and she reached over to take his hand and hold it for a moment, similarly to how he had comforted her earlier, before returning to her pastry. Jake smiled back, not the usual bright grin but a soft, earnest smile, and then shifted to pick up his coffee mug and blow on it in an effort to bring it to a drinkable temperature more quickly.

A quiet heartbeat passed between them, just watching the sky and the market that lay in front of them. The square was crowded and only getting louder, but they almost seemed to be in a separate, secluded bubble of peace. It was almost surreal, Jane thought as she listened to the soft chirping of a bird or two perched in a tree near the café and the distant bong, bong, bong of the clock tower chiming. This beautiful day, just like any other, might be the one on which she died, or on which her life changed forever, if they were captured, or on which things just remained normal and never realized that potential. She didn't try to fool herself and say they were going to overthrow the regime today; they would need more organization, more support, for that, but perhaps today they could at least try and gain more rights, or more recognition to get that support. It was all about publicity, but that was a dangerous game.

But she pushed those thoughts away and watched the clouds drift by for another moment. The strawberry and cream pastry was a bit too sweet for her tastes; they must have drizzled too much honey on it when using that amount of cream. And it could have used a touch more vanilla. But overall, it was a good pastry, and this was a good bakery.

Using the extra fork she had procured for this very purpose, Jane cut a piece of it and held it out to Jake. "Want some?"

He accepted, face lighting up as always when presented with sweets. She laughed lightly, handing him the fork and moving the plate between them and scooting a bit closer on the bench.

"And you can have coffee, if you would like some," Jake shifted the mug to her, but she wrinkled her nose at it.

"Thanks, but no thanks. You drink that stuff with no cream, I'll never understand how."

He laughed. "It is an acquired taste, I suppose."

"On the other hand," she said lightly, "pastries are universally delicious, because they are sweet and not disgustingly bitter."

"Yes, they are," he agreed, taking another piece. "Yours are better, though. Perhaps because you are also just that sweet?"

"You two are seriously adorable," a voice giggled behind them, and both jumped.

Roxy stood hand in hand with Dirk, both silhouetted by the reflection of the sunlight on the shop windows. Her free hand was lifted in a casual wave as she and Dirk walked around the table to slide into the bench on the opposite side, ruffling Jane's hair as she passed.

"Roxy," Jane teasingly complained. "Don't scare me like that! And good morning, Dirk."

"Mornin'," he nodded. "I hope no one minds me swiping half of that coffee." Even so, he waited until Jake nodded to seize the cup, taking a large gulp of it. Jane cringed, and Jake laughed at her.

"He didn't make his morning coffee because he overslept," Roxy playfully elbowed Dirk. "Something about last-minute robotics homework that he forgot about until last night."

"Did you finish?" Jane asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I did. Not until like five hours ago, though."

"Dirk!" she scolded. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

"About four hours, don't worry," he placated, rubbing his eyes. "I still remember my speech and also the way back to my house, so I'm pretty sure we're fine."

"After this, you're going straight to bed," she sniffed. Roxy laughed again.

"Janey," she cut in, "I have no doubt Dirk will be in excellent care, so I don't need to worry about him. That frees me up to worry about other things, like whether I can have some of those strawberries."

"Yes, Roxy," Jane laughed, pushing the plate to her. "And you too, Dirk. Maybe you need some sugar as well."

Not long after that there remained nothing but crumbs on the plate. Jake fed Jane the last bite and just like that, the leisurely snacking and talking was over. In under an hour, their rally would begin. It seemed to sink in then, and the laughter abruptly drained away as if a plug had been pulled.

"So," Roxy finally said. "Looks like this is it, then?"

"So it is," Jake nodded. "Shall we begin?"

"Let's," Dirk said resolutely, and stood. The four of them left the café's fenced-off patio and began to take what, to any who knew less, appeared to be a casual stroll among friends—a group that in other locations might have stuck out for its odd composition of mingling class members, but here in a mixed market square was less than significant. They first checked to see if there was any blockage along their preferred escape streets, or any significant troop gatherings, and then meandered along near the stage to check for possible booby traps and to make sure all that was needed was set up—notably the small furniture maze in the back room that could provide priceless extra seconds to escape if needed—before they retired to the center of the square, sitting on the low edge of the fountain there.

Only a few minutes of peace remained, but they were not very peaceful but rather filled with apprehension. Jane found herself sidling over to Roxy to just sigh with frustrated tension and let herself heavily lean into the other girl, who sympathetically petted her hair.

"Come on, Janey, it'll be fine!" she said with a small smile. "Stop worrying so much!"

"I know, I know, I know," Jane groaned. "Dirk, are you this nervous or is it just me?"

"I think he's too tired to care," Roxy laughed teasingly. She leaned back and trailed her fingers in the water before lifting them out to flick the shining drops at Dirk, who responded in kind.

"Yeah, she's kind of right about that," he said with a trace of sheepishness as he wiped his wet hand on his shirt.

"Next time do your homework on time," Jane admonished again. "Was it because you spent too much time on this?"

"Probably."

"Well, that's a pretty pickle and no mistake!" Jake shook his head. "But we will have to debate your sleeping schedule later, I believe. It's showtime!"

Roxy Lalonde knew many things. She knew exactly how to modify an appearifier's settings to account for temporal variables, she knew what the code of law stated was legal and wasn't, she knew exactly how a drink should or shouldn't taste. She also knew that there were things she was good at, like biology, and things she was less good at, like resisting the appeal of fluffy adorable little cats.

But she was very good at being unnoticed, and she knew that, too.

It was due to this ability that she trusted in herself, after telling Jake, to quietly slip up the road away from the main rally. This particular avenue was the same one the soldiers had emerged from last time, and if they were coming again she wanted to be ready. She had a communicator, Jake had another. If she saw something up here, he was a button press away, and then everyone would know to get out again.

Still, she thought with a wry grin, it was flattering to know that they had enough attention to even gain the notice of the armies of the Empress.

Though that had an unfortunate ability to throw a wrench into things.

Either way, she was going to scout around and see if she couldn't detect the soldiers before they got to the square this time.

A sharp pain exploded in her toe and stifling a yelp she looked down to see a rock, which apparently she had stubbed it on. Ow.

Then, suddenly, she noticed something. Holy shit, she couldn't see her foot! It was right there, she could feel it and everything—it hurt like hell after all, stubbed toes were the absolute worst!—but she couldn't see it!

"Oh. My. God." The words were uttered softly, and then she looked at the rest of herself, or tried to. No such luck, however, she still wasn't there! But she was?

Lifting a hand in front of her face, Roxy wiggled her fingers. Still no sign of them... She knew exactly where her body was, but there was no visible evidence she was there. It was the oddest thing! And it could get to be a hassle; what if she needed to do precision work but she couldn't see her hands to do it?

"Come on, self, figure this one out! Why the heck am I invisible in the first place?" she asked her invisible hands. A few minutes of staring at the space where they ought to be and some intense concentration brought a faint, dark shimmer around the edges of her fingers that spread down her arms, and that was the extent of her visibility. It cast no shadow when she experimentally moved her foot, which told her that it was only something she could see.

This was definitely weird as hell.

But she supposed with a smirk that it would be useful for her scouting duties, and continued to steal down the road.

Jane smiled broadly with satisfaction as she watched Dirk stride across the stage, passion infusing his voice and his movements just like it always did. She was retreating to the back for now, having said her part of this section of the speeches they'd prepared—with the way it was set up, both of them would speak for an almost equal amount of time, but now it was Dirk's turn. Reaching up, she adjusted the knot in the ribbon holding her mask in place, wishing for the umpteenth time that she could still have been wearing glasses, the new glasses Roxy had gifted her with the night before, so that she could clearly see the goings-on, but alas the mask had no room for the lenses.

Perhaps she could also start a company that made masks for people with glasses. There was a thought.

Now that she was on the stage, though, and everything was going smoothly and well and was just so dang exciting, the fluttery, scared nerves that Jake had helped quell earlier had almost completely melted away to be replaced by the high excited flickers of anticipation, of the feeling of doing something that was actually useful. It was a rather rewarding feeling, to be sure.

Her eyes swept over the blurry crowd. Somewhere in the back was Jake, and possibly Roxy—those two had a habit of improvising their locations based on crowd behavior and things they saw, usually with Jake staying in place and Roxy drifting about. They were around somewhere, though.

There was a niggling voice in the back of her mind telling her not to be too confident here, because as Roxy had said there was no chance after last time that they wouldn't be attacked, but she didn't want to listen to it. Was it so wrong to want to enjoy the fact that they were making a change? Maybe so, if it got people hurt, but she did want to allow herself that little joy even still. But... people were more important.

The feelings of exhilaration didn't drain away, but her focus did sharpen. Dirk was, of course, caught up in his own enthusiasm as he preached to the crowd. "And even now, we worry that this gathering will be attacked. And do you know why? It is because she fears our power!" he called, voice ringing. Jane smiled again with pride as she watched him. He was an amazing speaker, especially considering he was running on so little sleep!

The crowd was also restless, shouting with him or calling out and booing the reign of the Condensce. "Down with the so-called empress!" someone called, and more voices joined in the clamor until Dirk hushed them by beginning another riveting call to action. Jane turned her attention back to trying to spot points of interest in the back of the crowd, like Jake and Roxy.

Neither of them seemed to be visible, which she assumed was a good thing. She and Dirk had agreed—whoever wasn't speaking at the immediate moment had to be watching for the makeshift flag-banner-whatever-it-was that would alert them to the need to flee.

Well, she was watching, and her blue eyes scanned the crowd back and forth and back again, but there was no sign of it. That was excellent; the rally had only been underway for almost an hour. The speeches had the potential to last for over four hours, plus improvisation could always happen, but she didn't really think they would have that much time. But as much as they could get was definitely good.

And it was her turn now. Taking a deep breath, Jane stepped forward.

No soldiers here, no soldiers there... surely they had realized there was kind of a big rally happening in a market square? Roxy was beginning to become suspicious again. She had stopped to look in a store window; sure enough, her reflection wasn't there. It had been a bit difficult to dodge a group of people who seemed absolutely determined to just walk through her, but she'd managed without them noticing. But now she was far enough from the rally that it was ridiculous that there were no soldiers!

It was making her worry that they might be coming from another angle; surely at least their scouts would have been visible at a much closer distance, if they were going to invade again. And there was no doubt in her mind that they were; it would be bad for the Batterwitch's image if they didn't now that they had already made it clear at the first major rally that they were both aware and in opposition to their movement. Obviously.

The well-oiled wheels of her mind began to turn analytically. Why would there be no soldiers? When she examined a map it became clear that this was the most direct route from their barracks to the market square, and also the one with widest streets for easier access and ability to crush—

Oh.

Oh shit.

The Batterwitch was a lot of things, but she wasn't stupid. Roxy was willing to bet that she figured the resistance would have a scout on this road! Dumb, dumb, dumb, how could she not have thought about this before she went and wasted time scouting up here?

Her newfound invisibility ought to come in handy, however the hell it even worked. Taking a deep breath to stabilize her nerves, she began to carefully scale the side of an uneven brick building, between the wall and the chimney corner. A scraped knee and two near-falls coupled with much muttered swearing later she stood on the roof, looking around the nearby streets.

No soldiers anywhere? Even on the shadier thoroughfares and the less obvious ones? That was surprising—oh, there was a bannerman proudly displaying his standard.

Well, fuck.

Her eyes flicked down to the rickety structure she was standing on. Biting her lip, Roxy edged a foot onto the roof away from the chimney. When it held, she stepped forth on the top beam, and when that too held, she began to lightly run across the rooftops, heading closer and closer to the site of her sighting (wow, that rhymed, how funny her thoughts were!) of the bannerman. She needed to see if they were marching or not, how many they were, and also if they had any pertinent information that an invisible girl might casually overhear.

Jake English was quite sure he might have been hallucinating.

Either that, or his flag was trying to rip itself out of its hand of its own volition.

Jake English was very confused. "I say, what the hell is this?" he asked the air that was tryig to steal the flag.

"Jakey!" A hand smacked his arm, but no one was standing there. And it sounded like... Roxy?

Jake English was very, very confused.

"Roxy?" he asked bemusedly. "Where are you?" He turned about in a circle, sweeping the crowd for any evidence of her, but there was none. "Roxy, this is not funny, it is a serious matter. Where are you?"

"Right here!" her voice exclaimed from his left side. A body latched onto his left arm, but when he whipped around to see, there was no one there. Yet he could still feel her weight and the coolness of her hands.

"What," he said, "the hell."

"Oh, fuck!" she suddenly cried with agitation. "I don't know how to come back! I somehow turned myself invisible and that was helpful and everything, but I don't know how to come back!"

"Roxy? Roxy, calm down, I'm sure you can do it, just focus," Jake attempted to soothe her, which was a bit difficult considering that he didn't know where to look other than the general area on his left side.

"But wait, that doesn't matter," she continued, and he assumed she was shaking her head by the fact that her hair was brushing his arm. "The soldiers are coming, but from the street we originally planned to run from. So slight change of plans, follow me as soon as we evacuate. Which needs to be now."

That said, invisible hands took the flagpole from his now unresisting hands and swept it upright. "Tell me when they notice, tall boy," Roxy's voice said as she began to wave it back and forth. Jake nodded and peered forward, eyes pressed to the stage, and hoped that no one would get hurt.

Dirk was the one who first saw the flag. He was watching Jane speak animatedly, her hands gesturing unconsciously as impassioned words flowed from her effortlessly, and smiling ever so slightly with pride. It wasn't like he was being cocky—he knew there was definitely still a huge element of risk and that it was possible for them to lose—but on a personal level, he was quite proud of Jane for coming out of her shell so much. Honestly, she shone in the spotlight... until a waving flash of red caught his attention.

Thinking fast, he stepped forward as soon as Jane paused for breath, grabbing her hand. "The soldiers of our treacherous empress are coming for us now, my fellow citizens," he called. "Even now, they tell us that they fear our power, because they see it as a threat and they want to make us fall! I ask you to not be afraid of them, because together, we are stronger than they can ever hope to be. In twelve days, it is a national holiday! We will march on that day and show her that we all will not rest until there is change. In the Grand Square in twelve days, all of us together! We will rise!"

"Di—shades," Jane hissed in his ear. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer, merely tightening his grip on her arm and yanking her back, off the stage.

"Dirk!" she breathed again, her hands going to her hips. "March? Are you crazy? What are you doing?"

Dirk offered her a grin. "I think we can do it. It's a start! Don't you see, she's taking us seriously. We need to press demands. But come on, I saw the flag, we have to go."

Each of them slung a bag over his or her shoulder, disguises slipped off and regular clothes visible again. Holding hands firmly, they edged into the crowd, which was again starting to stampede as the soldiers rode in from the back. For a moment, Dirk felt a jolt of anxiety—that wasn't how the plan had been made, had Jake and Roxy been taken? That was their road—but it was quickly buried by his concern for himself and Jane.

Unlike his gentler companion, Dirk had few qualms about elbowing his way through the crowd and just tugged Jane along in his wake, though she dodged and wove through the sea of people rather than smacking at them when they didn't part. They soon reached the edges of the throng in this fashion, and both breathing hard, they fled through the streets into the upper districts.

Reaching Dirk's house was no hassle at all; all it required was a change in body language. Both Dirk and Jane were fairly well-versed in the art of making people see what they wanted to see, though Jane was more so than he was. It was her idea to have them walk together as a bubbly, nondescript couple, rather than the furtive, sneaking pair the escaping leaders of a revolution would look like. After all, as she explained to him, people saw what they wanted. And the escaping leaders of a revolutionary movement would definitely not be attracting attention of any sort, in most people's minds.

He had to admit, it was a clever scheme.

So it was that Jane was walking next to him, hand in hand, and giggling as she plucked a flower from one of the few decorative pots along the road. She twirled around, laughing, and reached up to tuck it into his hair, clapping her hands slightly. "There!" she exclaimed brightly. "That's so cute!"

"You're the cute one," he teased and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning in for a moment. A middle-aged woman passing them on the sidewalk smiled at them both.

The act continued until they were well away from the market square, when they gradually dropped it and returned to a more normal state of calm, acknowledged affection rather than blatant displays thereof. Luckily, the apartment Dirk stayed in was relatively nearby and not a ridiculously long walk, so they arrived in a fair amount of time. As promised, Jane sent him to bed immediately, even going so far as to pointedly remove the toolbox from the bedroom to ensure there would be no robotics going on.

After that, she set about using the meager ingredients contained by his kitchen to make as lovely a dinner as she could manage for the two of them. It wasn't much, just a stew, but it was definitely better than the instant ... whatever it was in the cabinet nearby.

While the stew cooled to a more edible temperature, she sat and thought about Jake and Roxy before she went to wake Dirk for dinner. Hopefully they had made it out, too.

And across the city, Jake and Roxy, who was (after some difficulty, swearing, and a broken plate or two) visible again, were curled on Jane's couch, eating bread and broth—leftovers from the previous night—and questioning the same thing.

It was a good dinner, on both sides, but merriment was sadly lacking, replaced by worry until communications finally came through—"We're okay, are you?" and "Yes, we're fine, good night!"—and followed promptly by an exhausted, blissful slumber. Between two worlds, four dreamers wondered what the coming weeks would bring.

AN: Cool, so as I write this it's about two in the morning. I've been piecing this together for the last two weeks! I'm still not quite done traveling, I'll be home in a few days, so the next chapter is still just currently an outline and not much else, but have this almost 5000-word monster. I have to say, I think I hate writing rallies! There's so much going on! I worry about leaving things out, haha.

LordPeanut - first of all, I mistyped that as LordWalnut. Not sure why. Perhaps the two in the morning thing. Anyway, heh heh heh... yeah, have fun with next chapter. It's so close to the point I'm excited about :D and yeah, she's still in there! That's the part about crockertier that terrifies me, like she's still in her body but it's so perverted and wrong that her actions aren't actually her own even though her usual self is just... trapped in her own body and can just see herself doing awful things but is powerless. XD I'm not a fan of mind control, it totally freaks me out! But it's so fun to write and play with because all the angst.

Snowy - Heh, yeah, there probably were too many of those... I hope I didn't do it again, but I've reread this so many times it's just all running together in my head. Oops. Anyway, thank you so much as usual! I am seriously so happy you like the story.

Now good night from me, and thank you for reading, everyone!