The more I work on this story, the more I hate where it seems to be going. I WILL finish it, and quickly (It will NOT be a long, drawn out pain for me…) but I still don't like how it's going. I just wrote five scenes, three of which I Loathe to all hell's eternity, and one which I dislike. :Slams head on keyboard: anyhoo, I wrote this, re-wrote this, re-re-wrote this, and then just gave up. Tell me what you think of this chapter, but I think it's god awful. Have fun reading!

Note: If you haven't figured it out yet, by the last several chapters, I'll say it again. I don't own Fillmore!
Ch. 10 A Guardian Dragon

Overhead, the school bell rang. Kids started pouring out of their classes, heading home after the long day at school, or heading towards their extracurricular classes. In the locker room, the color guard, tennis team, and the football team all assembled for practice. Chess club and theatre opened their doors to their members, and the 'junior chefs of tomorrow' held their weekly meeting in the cafeteria.

Ingrid and Wayne stood out of the way of the children. They marveled at the activity going on around them, while trying not to be swept away by the stampede of children.

"I remember it being busy after school, but this is ridiculous." Wayne sighed, eyeing a group as they passed. "We can't even get across the hallway. What if we're trampled?"

Ingrid sighed too. "Looks like we're not going to catch up with Amelia Shanks today, Wayne. Shall we head back?" she asked, but when she looked up, Wayne was concentrating on the opposite side of the hallway. "Wayne?"

"Look, it's Fillmore." The boy pointed.

Sure enough, there was the African American boy standing at his locker. He was tugging at the latch, trying to get the locker door to open. It seemed jammed. When he finally kicked it, out of frustration, the locker door popped open.

"I can count the number of times I've seen him at his locker on one hand," Ingrid smirked, looking down. "Actually, I didn't think he even HAD a locker. Did you?"

Wayne grinned. "No, he keeps everything at his desk…" suddenly, Wayne saw his friend's face knit in a frown.

Fillmore had picked up a couple of books and put them into his backpack, but before he shut his locker door, a note caught his eye. He picked it up carefully, inspecting the envelope. Even from across the hall, Ingrid could see there was a design sketched on the paper.

"You don't think it's another threat, do you?" she asked Wayne quietly.

"I'm not sure," the boy answered slowly. "Let's watch."

Fillmore turned the envelope over again, his scowl replaced by a curious look. "Hm…" he murmured, cracking the paper open. Carefully, he tipped the contents onto his hand. It was a claw necklace, a piece of paper, and something else. Fillmore stashed the envelope in his bag and inspected the claw necklace, finally stuffing it and the mystery item into his pocket. He turned to the sheet of paper.

Across the hall, Ingrid could see her former partner's face fill with curiosity. It was obvious he didn't think much of the letter, and it obviously wasn't threatening. Still… she couldn't help but worry.

Fillmore scanned the letter and shoved it into his pocket, along with the claw necklace. He closed his locker door, and then he turned to walk down the hallway.

"Come on, Ingrid. Let's follow." Wayne went after the boy, keeping a safe distance behind him.

Ingrid jogged to keep up. They kept well behind Cornelius, and there were plenty of children in the hallway to hide them. When they turned the corner, the group of children around them began to thin out, so they slowed even more.

Finally, Fillmore approached a door. Immediately, Wayne pulled Ingrid into a nearby classroom to watch. Fillmore glanced down both hallways, and then pulled an object from his pocket. It was a key and the claw necklace. Carefully, he inserted the key and opened the door.

"Great," Ingrid sighed as Fillmore went in. "Now how are we supposed to watch him?" she asked. Wayne looked around. Suddenly he grinned and pointed upwards.

"What?" Ingrid asked, looking to where he was pointing. "The vents? Good idea."

The boy grinned. "Come on, I'll give you a boost."

Once in the vent, Ingrid found herself being led down the narrow vents swiftly by Wayne. "You've done this before…" she accused, seeing how precise and experienced his movements were.

"Fillmore taught me to always look up. Got me out of a couple of tight spots, if you know what I mean." He laughed. "I know the ventilation system in this area of the school like the back of my hand." Ingrid could only stare.

At last they'd reached the place where Fillmore had entered. Together, they looked down an opening in the vent, watching as the African American boy talked to a few strangers.

"Who are they?"

Ingrid shrugged. "Be quiet and listen." She ordered.

"You're sure there aren't any fragments down here?" Fillmore asked flatly. A boy across from him laughed.

"My, you get to the point quick, Cornelius. But then, Tamal said you would." The boy grinned. "Yes, there aren't any shard members around here. DL'd kill us if we let any fragments down the hallway… though most know to stay away from here."

"So where IS Tamal?" Fillmore asked.

"A little late, as you can see." The boy shrugged. "Carla said the person who runs the theatre is a real nag, and she's always making Tamal stay after…"

Fillmore stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, no joke."

A girl turned to Fillmore. "So, Cornelius, right?" she asked. "How do you know Tamal? If I'm not mistaken, you weren't with us last year."

"We go back, a ways." Fillmore shrugged. "Tamal's the one who convinced me to come off the Shard gang before the territorial fight last year. Haven't been back since…"

"All I know is, DL had better know what he's doing…" The girl grumbled. The first boy elbowed her in the arm. "OW! Hey!"

"Katie…" the boy warned.

"Shut up, Bret." The girl, Katie, spat at the boy. "He's a former Fragment and you know it. And believe it or not, I'm not comfortable around liars."

"Well, Tamal trusts him, doesn't he?" Bret countered. Katie leaned back to look at him. It was obvious she didn't believe the boy. "And plus, did you know that Cornelius is over those days? I mean… according to rumor, he even became part of the Safety Patrol."

"Shut up." Katie said, eyes going wide. "Shard would never even allow that."

Bret scowled. "Exactly. You owe someone an apology."

Fillmore just shook his head. "No, it's ok, I'm used to that sort of talk." Suddenly the door opened to reveal another boy. "Anyways, looks like my wait's over."

"You're late." Katie snapped at the newcomer.

"Yeah, I know. Oh, by the way…" he turned to Bret. "DL wants to see you. Both of you." He informed the kids, looking from Katie to Bret. Somehow the newcomer knew, just by looking at them, that there must've been a fight. Katie huffed and left in a storm, while Bret cautiously exited after her.

The boy turned to the former safety patroller. "Hello, Cornelius. Or is it Fillmore today?"

As the newcomer turned around, showing his face to the children in the vents, Ingrid scowled and rubbed her temples. "Headache?" Wayne asked quietly.

Ingrid shook her head. "I swear I've seen that kid before… Wait!" the girl gasped, before she could control it. She covered her mouth and looked down the vent, but the two didn't seem to hear. The only hint that they'd heard her gasp was when Fillmore's eyes flickered upwards for a second.

But after a moment, Fillmore turned to Tamal again. "Cornelius, I guess…" he answered his friend's earlier question. "So I guess word got around?"

"You guess correctly, child." The boy grinned. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned back on his heels.

"So cocky, my brother." Cornelius answered, as though they were playing some sort of game.

The boy cocked his head to the side, giving Cornelius an odd look. "Well, I'm glad you're not too depressed to play along…" he sighed. When Fillmore gave him a confused look, he elaborated. "I know you quit the safety patrol, Cornelius, for one reason or another."

Fillmore flinched slightly. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have. I've got awful timing…"

"Does your 'bad timing' have to do with why you contacted me? Or is there another reason?"

Fillmore shook his head. "You can answer that yourself, Tamal."

A silence stretched between them. Finally the boy, Tamal, sighed. "I'd rather not. But you know, I was planning on contacting you anyways. If you can get this information into the right hands…" the boy held up a packet of papers, "…then the Dragon Clan will really owe you." He handed the papers to the African American boy. "But… if you're not part of the safety patrol anymore, people might start snooping, or start wondering where you could've gotten that information…" he trailed off.

"Don't worry, I got it covered." Cornelius smiled. "I have a way of getting this info to my friends without anyone knowing it was me."

Tamal raised an eyebrow. "You have a contact? Someone who can go between the safety patrol and you?"

Cornelius nodded.

Tamal hesitated. "We can trust him, right?"

Fillmore smirked. "Do you trust me enough to make that judgment?"

At this, Tamal stuck out his tongue. "Oh, fine. Guilt me into trusting you. That's the mark of a true friend!" he countered, crossing his arms. He smiled. "But whatever. Sure, I trust you. Now go on, you don't want anyone else to be seeing you down here. If word gets out that you're friends with a 'Drag', shard might just come looking."

Shaking his head, Fillmore put the papers into his bag and made his way to the door. "How do you know they haven't already?" he asked, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

This made Tamal stop. "You know… that's one rumor that's been going around."

"What? What rumor?" Fillmore turned around to look at the other boy.

"That you quit because Shard was threatening you. It's not true, right?" he asked. "It's just a rumor, right?"

Fillmore hesitated, and looked to the ground. After a moment, he shrugged and opened the door. "Yeah, Tamal. Just a rumor." He assured the boy, and left.

After Fillmore left, Tamal just stared at the door. Up in the vent, Ingrid could see his fist shaking in… anger? Frustration? Perhaps it was both, because the next second the boy slammed his fist into a nearby desk, making her jump slightly.

"Damn it all!" the boy shouted. Furious, he pulled a cell phone from his coat and dialed a number. "Yeah, DL? We've got a problem…" the boy said into the phone. "Yeah, just met with Cornelius Fillmore? I think the rumor is true." the boy sighed and sat at a desk. "Yes, he didn't tell me outright. But it's pretty obvious. And now he's sticking his neck out for us? We can't let him do that."

Ingrid frowned, trying to make sense of it. The rumor? The rumor was that Fillmore quit because of the shard gang. DL? She'd heard that somewhere before… and… what exactly was Fillmore doing? 'Sticking his neck out for them'? What did that mean?

Below, Tamal started talking again. "Huh? A body guard? Fillmore can take care of himself, sir. But I guess that would be a good idea." The boy hesitated. "I'm more worried about his friends. Fillmore ain't the type to worry about himself. Shard's threats were probably about his partner… what was her name…?" the boy shook his head. "And his old friend, Wayne, is visiting, so that's a problem too. It's not like you can just go up to them and say 'hey, guess what, you're in danger of being attacked, so us Dragon Gang members will be escorting you around school for the next five months."

This made Ingrid blink, and she looked up into Wayne's eyes. He looked completely stunned as well. They almost didn't hear Tamal say, "You really think we can pull that off? Well, sir, you're the boss…".

Tamal shut his phone off and placed it back into his coat pocket. "That went well, didn't it?" he muttered dryly to himself.

Ingrid felt a hand on her arm, and she looked up. Wayne was gesturing behind him, silently saying that they should go. Ingrid nodded and followed him quietly through the vents. Once they reached the classroom they'd been in earlier, Wayne helped Ingrid down. "So, first off," he started. "Why did you gasp earlier? You nearly gave away our position."

The black haired girl shrugged. "I… I could've sworn that boy was Tamas, the boy from the crafter's lab. You remember him?" Wayne nodded. "But they kept calling him Tamal. Something's fishy here…"

"Tell me about it." Wayne sighed. He bit his lip. "Do we tell the others about this? About Fillmore meeting these… people?"

"I think they were from the dragon gang."

"Right. Are they on our side, then?" Wayne asked.

Ingrid could only shrug. "All I know is that Fillmore is in over his head, and we might be too." She sighed. "They SEEMED to be on our side. I guess we should hold off on telling Vallejo and the others about this. Just until we've got it sorted out."

Wayne nodded too. "What bugs me is that they figured out everything we wanted to know in a matter of minutes. They know who's threatening Fillmore, they can probably track shard's movements, and they are taking an accurate guess on what their next target is." Wayne said, but stopped.

Ingrid looked into his eyes. "Their next target?"

Wayne shifted, uncomfortable. "I kind of got the feeling that… well… they think shard's interested in us."

"'got the feeling'? Wayne, they said it out loud!" Ingrid scolded, then paused. "But if they're right, it could be a problem."

"So we're going to be 'attacked' soon, then? That'll be fun." Wayne sighed.

Ingrid frowned. "Hey, they could be wrong, you know." She pointed out as she headed towards the door.

Wayne hesitated, then followed her through. "Yeah, I guess…" he sighed. "I hope you're right, anyways."

Ingrid closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah. Me… too."

"I'm tellin' ya, they just came out of nowhere!" Danny O'Farrell exclaimed loudly as Ingrid and Wayne entered the HQ.

"Riiiiiigghhhttt…" Karen rolled her eyes, carefully putting a band-aid on his cheek. "Just hold still, would ya?"

"What's going on?" Wayne asked. Ingrid sat at her desk.

Danny looked over to Wayne. "Well, you see," he started, but Karen growled at him and tugged his chin into position again.

"O'Farrell was in the hallway when a bunch of people dressed in black attacked him from behind." Karen sighed. "Apparently, two kids that were nearby tripped them all up long enough for him to get away."

"Really?" Wayne asked, exchanging a glance with Ingrid.

"Well, I, for one, think he's delusional." Anza grinned. "It must come from the 'bad boy' thing he's got going on at the moment. Great story, though, Danny."

Around them, people laughed. Wayne had a bad feeling in his stomach, and he came to stand behind Ingrid. "Well, what do you think?"

Ingrid was about to answer when Su-il-en9roc sent her the IM. She'd been waiting for him, having nothing better to do. Immediately she clicked the chat open.

'Hey.' She typed quickly on the computer. Wayne leaned back, watching as she conversed with Roc over the internet.

That was fast… Rock typed back.

'Yeah… Today's been kinda slow…' Ingrid admitted.

Really? I had a great day. … Ok, I had a mediocre day. But it was better than most.

"Same here, I guess. I got a lot done. So anyways…"

Right. I got the stuff you wanted to know, I think.

"Did you really?"

Yeah. I've got a friend or two in the Dragon gang as well, and people who know people in the dragon gang. Sorta confusing, but you get the point. I asked for information to be passed to me indirectly.

"Which means…?"

Which means I've got a person going between me and the dragon gang with information. I'm what's known as a contact… someone who passes information on to another party.

"Oh." Ingrid blinked, remembering what she'd overheard from earlier, when Fillmore was talking with Tamal. "Do you know Cornelius Fillmore?"

What? Why?

"Uh… just wondering." Ingrid typed hastily, thinking she'd probably get her friend in trouble… or get in trouble herself. No one knew she'd overheard the conversation earlier, after all.

Oh. Well, Yeah, I know him. Roc's letters appeared cautiously on the screen. I mean, he IS the one who… he paused.

"Who… who what?" Ingrid asked.

Ah, actually, that might not be such a good idea to tell you…

"Tell me what?"

A kid named Cornelius gave me your contact number. Of course, it was a while back… maybe three months ago? I've got a lot of contacts in my book. He also gave me one marked 'Vallejo' somebody and 'Anza' for the Safety Patrol… and a few for the golf team, but whatever.

"Did he? When was this?"

Like I said, maybe three months ago or so. I hope I don't get in trouble for telling you this…

Ingrid sensed a lie somewhere in there, but she let it slide. "That's all right. Now, where were we?"

Right…

There was a pause in the text.

Naturally, they didn't give me a lot of stuff, maybe they don't trust me entirely. Nothing on the Dragon Gang Leader except his code name, DL… short for 'Dragon Lord'.

"I heard that somewhere around school today…"

Did you? That's not a good sign…

"I'll be fine. It was just something in the hallways."

All right then. Roc answered back after a moment. It also says here there's a suspected territorial fight in the football field later today, about 5:15. Maybe just a small skirmish, but… people are probably going to get hurt.

"HOW hurt?"

If it's on the football field, I'm guessing it's between Shard gangsters and Dragon gangsters within the Football team and the surrounding groups… maybe the cheerleaders, color guard, badminton team, and such? I'd worry more about the football team, though. They really pack a punch.

"Why? How many people on the football team could be in either gang?"

You'd be surprised.

"Why?"

Here's the kicker… Shard gang is very, very potent. A lot of people know about the gangs. Probably a third of the people on the Football team are with Shard, because Shard likes to get his hands into all the different groups.

"What do you mean?"

Shard will contact people he thinks he can use in a certain group, like Football or the swim team, and 'extend an invitation' to them. He's got lots of people on his side, and nearly every after school activity has at least one shard gang member in it.

"Aren't there exceptions? Places where Shard doesn't have any influence?"

Of course. Well, one would be the Safety patrol… Although, you can't say Shard hasn't tried to get an 'in' with you guys.

"What?"

I know for a fact that Shard's got close tabs on the Safety Patrol HQ. He might've even extended an offer or two to the people there… but I also know that if he did, no one accepted his offer.

"Well, that's a good thing." Ingrid mused.

Anyways, the Territorial fight is scheduled in a few minutes, if you want to check it out. I'm staying away from the place. It's not going to be pretty…

"Yeah, we should probably check it out…" Ingrid sighed. "Thanks, though. Can you keep us updated?"

No problemo. See ya.

With that, Ingrid closed the screen and logged off her computer. "Come on, Wayne, looks like we've gotta go again."

"Go where?" Vallejo asked, coming back into the room from his office.

"We just got an IM from Rock. He said that there was going to be a 'territorial fight' on the football field in a few minutes. We should check it out."

Vallejo hesitated, then threw her a walkie talkie. "Take an extra, and call for backup if you need it." he ordered. "I don't want you down for the count, either. You got me?" he commanded, leaving before Ingrid or Wayne could answer him.

Ingrid and Wayne exchanged glances, finally exiting the Headquarters.

They got there in a matter of minutes. Ingrid and Wayne were on their guard, keeping a keen eye on the football players from the bleachers. Oddly enough, once practice was over, the teammates were splitting up into 'groups'. While about half the team went in to the locker rooms joking and being generally rowdy, some split off or lagged behind them and didn't enter the locker room. Ingrid saw two or three of them make their way to a group at the far end of the stadium. Another few found some 'buddies' at the locker room's entrance, and stayed there.

Ingrid turned to Wayne. "A little suspicious, don't you think?" she glanced from one group to the other.

"A little." He admitted. "But it could just be normal, right? No need to get upset just yet."

He glanced back to the locker room group, who were conversing softly with their heads down. One glanced over to where Ingrid and Wayne were standing, and sneered. The football kid elbowed another kid, who wasn't on the football team, and pointed to where the safety patrollers were standing.

"Then again, it might not be such a good idea to stick around…" Wayne said tightly, grabbing her wrist. Ingrid, confused, (she'd been watching the other group by the far end of the stadium,) looked back to the locker room to see the cluster of kids that were there now stalking towards them. She turned to leave with Wayne, but stopped when she heard a sweet voice from behind her.

"Hello there."

Ingrid turned to find a girl had come up behind her. She had green almond eyes and brown hair, and was wearing a color guard outfit and a claw necklace above her uniform. She also carried her flag. "Um, you two need something? You seem lost." She smiled slightly.

"Uh… we're just…" Wayne bit his lip.

At that moment, the girl glanced at the kids that were in front of the locker, her smile falling for a moment. Her eyes flashed a warning to them before she turned back to the safety patrollers. It had happened so fast that Ingrid wasn't sure it had happened at all, but she glanced over to the group by the locker room. They had stopped, uncertain, and Ingrid glanced back at the girl. Something was fishy…

"If you need to speak with the coach, I can show you to his office!" she exclaimed happily. "Or, over there is the captain of the football team, and a few guys from the colour guard and badminton team. If you want to speak to any of them…" she suggested, pointing to the group that was across the stadium.

Ingrid did a double take. "What about them?" she tossed her head to the locker room's entrance, where several of the football kids and badminton team AND colour guard members were. "Why can't we speak to them? They're closer."

The girl hesitated. "Because you wouldn't want to."

"Why?"

"Because…" the girl hesitated, not knowing what to say. She looked flustered, then sighed. "Because you really shouldn't be here right now."

Ingrid shifted her weight. "Would that have anything to do with a territorial fight being held here soon?" the girl asked.

The colour guard girl blinked at her for a second, frowning thoughtfully. "Wow, he really IS fast…" she mumbled under her breath. Then she shook her head. "No, no, what I mean is…" she glanced back to the kids by the locker room. "It's not really safe here. Not for you."

"We can handle ourselves." Ingrid said flatly.

"No! No you can't." the girl objected, catching Ingrid's arm before she could turn away. "Listen, you can watch or whatever you're planning to do, but don't do it from here. Seriously. It's not…" the girl glanced back to the group, who seemed to be retreating. "It would be better to watch somewhere else. But nothing's going to happen." She told them, turning away. She took a second to tap her flag on the ground, then roll it up around the pole. After she finished the action, she walked to the other group.

Ingrid leaned back on her heels, biting her thumbnail thoughtfully for a second. "oo-kaaayyy… Come on, Wayne. Let's jet."

Wayne blinked in confusion as the girl turned away. "Wh-wh-what?" he asked, bewildered. When Ingrid didn't respond, he was forced to run after her. "Ingrid, come on, what are we doing?" he demanded, trying to catch up with her.

"We're… leaving." She said calmly.

Wayne just rolled his eyes. "Why?"

"Because." She replied, walking off.

Wayne took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Girls…" he growled. He managed to catch up with her by the time she re-entered the school building. "You know what, Ingrid? You're weird. We get all the way over here to check out that territorial fight thing, and then we leave because someone else told us to. We're not going to get anywhere by doing that!" he pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Ingrid started. "I learned all I needed to know. We don't have to be there to see the territorial fight."

Wayne stopped. "What?"

"Have you forgotten the cameras that are set up around the place? That's enough to keep an eye on them. We just needed to know what it was about, and if the fight was really going to happen. There's no way we could've broken it up ourselves." She stated.

"But you…" Wayne faltered. "But… what could you have learned from that little interaction?" he asked. "You said you learned all you needed to know."

Ingrid sighed and shrugged. "Well, here. The kids in the group that was coming towards us were in the Shard gang, and the girl was part of the Dragon gang. The group by the stadium was also part of the Dragon gang."

"How do you figure?" Wayne asked.

"Think back to when we were in the vents." Ingrid ordered. "When we overheard Fillmore talking to those Dragon people."

"Yeah, I remember…" Wayne nodded.

"In that envelope he got was a key, a note, and a necklace. A claw necklace. The SAME kind of claw necklace that the colour guard girl we just met was wearing. Secondly, if she was with the Dragon gang, she tried to refer us to the group at the far end of the stadium, which meant they were also the Dragon gang group. Thirdly, if it was a territorial fight between the Dragon gang and the Shard gang, there's no one else the group by the lockers could've been."

Wayne stopped to think about this. It made sense, but one thing was still bugging him. "Why did the girl warn us?" he asked Ingrid.

Ingrid sighed. "Don't you get it? If she was from the dragon gang…" she stopped, looking across the hall. "Tamas?" she wondered aloud.

"Wh-what?" Wayne asked, caught off guard.

"That's Tamas." Ingrid said, pointing across the hallway to a tall, blonde, lanky boy. "I think I'll go talk with him." She said, trotting over to him.

Wayne, confused, followed her. He saw that the boy Ingrid wanted to talk to was with another person; a short girl. Wayne studied them, letting Ingrid do the talking.

"Hey, Tamas…" Ingrid started. The boy didn't turn around, so she put a hand on his arm. "Tamas, can I have a word?"

The boy stopped, slightly surprised. "Tama-Oh!" the boy laughed, his blue eyes glinting with amusement. "No, I'm not Tamas. My name's Tamal." He corrected her, and Ingrid frowned.

"What? So wait…" Ingrid paused, frowning. She remembered earlier that day, when Fillmore had gone to talk with the Dragon Gang members, the boy Fillmore had been talking to was named Tamal not Tamas. Yet, they looked exactly alike.

When he saw Ingrid's confusion, Tamal sighed. "We're twins. Don't worry, it's a common mistake, since me and Tamas are really close and all. Right, Carla?" he asked the girl who was with him.

"Sometimes they switch desks," the girl named Carla sighed. "They have the same teachers, they're next to each other in lockers, and they're both in the Dra- erm…" she stopped, reconsidering what she was about to say. "But you know, Tamal, You and he are sort of different. You're more outspoken, and you do like different stuff…"

"So you're not into woodworking?" Wayne joked.

"No, I'm into theatre." Tamal answered, blushing. "So's Carla."

"Oh." Ingrid nodded. "I'm sorry. I guess I really did get the wrong person." She blinked, backing off. "Come on, Wayne, we should get back to HQ." she said, and Wayne began to follow. He stopped short.

"Do you know Cornelius Fillmore?" He asked suddenly, turning to look Tamal squarely in the eye.

Tamal was slightly flustered at the question. "Ye-yeah. Why?"

Wayne frowned. "Have you spoken to him recently?" he pressed, ignoring the question.

Tamal exchanged a glance with his friend. "I had heard what happened, sort of. Rumors are everywhere, these days. We were old friends… real old. And I just wanted to make sure he was ok… so yeah, we have had a chat or two." Tamal shrugged.

"Oh. Alright, then." Wayne nodded, starting to follow Ingrid. "Thanks for your time."

"Officer Ligget, right?"

Hearing this, Wayne turned around. "What?"

"Ligget. Wayne Ligget, I think. He talked a lot about you before things got… tough. Just recently, he's been mentioning you again. His opinion of you has gotten better since fourth grade, you know? And he mentions you too, Ms. Third." He smiled. "I imagine you're friends with him as well."

Ingrid and Wayne nodded. Tamal shifted his weight, ready to leave. "He'll be fine." The boy assured them both. "Perfectly fine. He's a tough one, he is."

And with that, they departed.

"Fillmore's got more friends than we thought." Ingrid mused back at headquarters. She sat down heavily in her chair, and Wayne looked out the window behind her desk.

Wayne opened his mouth to say something, but he immediately closed it again. Ingrid gave him a sideways glance. "Something up?" she asked, noticing he was acting very quiet.

"I was just thinking that Fillmore's too stubborn, that's all." He sighed, leaning against the window. Ingrid gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged. "These… dragon people seem to have everything under control, but I wonder if that's enough to make everything all right again. Getting Shard off the streets, getting Fillmore back with us…" he stopped, chuckling slightly. "Fillmore's too stubborn for any one group to handle alone, I think. Maybe they'll need our help to get him back over here."

"You never know," Ingrid shrugged. "Maybe we'll need THEIR help." She kicked back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head. "All I know is, he will come back to us. Because he loves this job too much to give it up. Don't you think?" she looked at him again.

Wayne smiled again. "Well, he DID used to hate the safety patrol…" he joked.

On the other side of the room, Vallejo walked in. "Oh, good, you two are back. Listen, we just got a call about there being a huge fight down by the football field—"

"We tried to stop it, but it was sorta out of our hands, Vallejo." Wayne explained, looking at him. "Didn't the backup get there?"

"You called for backup?" Ingrid looked at Wayne. "I thought we agreed it would be a waste of time."

Vallejo just shook his head. "It doesn't matter, it was nothing serious. Just a few bruises and a whole lot of detentions for the fighters. It took about ten teachers to break it up…" he blinked, then shook his head. "What I mean is, that's not why I'm here."

Now it was Ingrid's turn to blink. "Why are you here, then?" she asked.

"Folsom wants a meeting with all three of us." He told them, shrugging.

"Great. And here I was thinking my day couldn't get any worse…" Wayne muttered.

Vallejo frowned at them. "Don't be silly, I thought you'd be looking forward to this. Especially you, Wayne."

"Looking forward to it? Are you nuts? Why on earth would I look forward to a meeting with YOUR principal?" he asked. What Vallejo said next almost made up for the awful day at school…

"…You do remember she was going to give us an out-of-school pass, right?"

Next chapter won't be up for a while, but I figured I might as well get this up, since it was done. Please Review, tell me what you think of the story so far!