Zinc

Magnesium

Gold

Iron Solute

Water

Lily

Honey

Yes, she had them all. Ashleigh Gordon dumped a teaspoon of each in a beaker and began to mix it together. They needed their next dose of Gideon Cahill's Glysi serum if they were going to stay alive in space.

They no longer needed air constantly, in fact, it had been five months since Ashleigh Gordon had last breathed normally.

They could live for five months without oxygen, but today they would each inhale a small tank of the life giving gas and then go another five months.

She smiled as she dumped the last ingredient in the last beaker and shook it up. "Come and get your vitamins, guys." She said, laughing at the bunch that heartily trooped in and guzzled the gloopy mix.

Ashleigh sipped her own mix slowly, reflecting on the fact that they were now superhuman.

And all of them knew it.

oO0Oo

"What?" Ian called up to Amy. "Which ones?"

Amy suddenly gulped. What if these were clues that Ian didn't have? What if after the famine, after they saved the world, if they saved the world, they went back to hunting the clues and they had unwittingly helped the Kabras?

They had already found these clues, but what if the Kabras had not?

Amy swallowed her worries and called down, "Yes, like, the thirty-nine clues."

The cry that emitted from the three on the ground grated against Amy's ears. "What?" She hadn't known they could be so loud. Amy could only imagine how loud Natalie's shriek was down there.

"How do they know about the clues?" Natalie yelled.

Amy winced. Dan's eardrums were probably broken by this time.

"Because," Ian yelled, most likely so that she could be part of the conversation, at least, Amy assumed, or, he was just excited. "They're obviously Cahills!" Ian paused. "What are the clues?"

Amy swallowed. "Zinc. Magnesium. Gold." Amy blushed as she remembered gold.

"Gold?" Dan said. "Hey, remember that one, Ian?"

If Amy hadn't been so tightly gripping the ladder, she would have hid her face in her hands. Dan was such an idiot.

Ian cleared his throat. "Is that it?"

Amy shook her head, then remembered that no one could see her. "No. There's a couple more. Iron solute, water, lily, honey. That's it. Can I come down now?'

"Yes." Dan yelled up at her. "I got them covered. Now get down now before you kill yourself."

"Sheesh." Amy said, "I didn't know you could be such a boss."

"What was that?" Dan asked.

Amy smiled. "Nothing." She began descending the ladder. Her arms shook terribly and her fingers vibrated, so that she could barely hold on to the ladder. Step by step, second by second, she descended the wobbly ladder, the ground dancing menacingly beneath her.

oO0Oo

When she somehow safely reached the bottom, Ian grabbed her by the waist and swung her around in a circle. "Good job, love!" He congratulated.

Amy looked down at the solid ground and at Ian's hand still around her waist. "Thanks." She said. "I was terrrified."

"I know." Dan said, pushing Ian aside. Ian's hands quickly dropped from Amy's waist, causing her to blush. "I could hear it in your voice. You sounded like you were about to cry."

"I did?" Was Ian just taking pity on her? Did he only congratulate her to try and cheer her up?

"Yes." Natalie said. "Ian was worried."

Ian smacked her. "I was not. I knew you could take care of yourself."

Amy smiled at Ian. "Really? Thanks."

Dan snorted. "I knew that a long time ago."

Amy smiled at Dan, at the jealous way he stared at Ian. Was he afraid Ian would take his place? "Thanks, dweeb." She said, trying to give him a hug.

Dan pushed her away. "Yuck. That's gross."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Fine then." She smirked and winked at Ian. "Ian, you would give me a hug, wouldn't you?" She changed her facial expression to that of a pleading child. "And my own brother won't."

Ian looked startled. Dan looked at Ian and then at Amy, pure confusion on his gaunt face. Suddenly, Amy was wrapped in a hug, by both Ian and Dan. Ian's face was buried in her, mumbling something and Dan was hesitantly touching her, looking disgusted with himself.

"Well. . . " Natalie said. "This is awkward."

Amy untangled one arm from Dan and held it out. "Then join us." She said.

Natalie did, hugging all of them- both Amy and Dan, her hand gently brushing Ian's back.

"Gag overload." Dan said.

They laughed. The four stared in the position for several minutes, enjoying being close to each other. The spell was broken, however, when Nellie yelled, "Guys, where are you? It's freezing out here!"

Amy took one last whiff of Ian-of his cologne, of him and pulled away.

Dan smiled and began running towards Nellie's voice. "Race you!" He called.

Natalie smirked and said, "You're on, buddy." She easily overtook him, her feet hitting the ground and lifting off, passing him easily, like how a bird sails past a lizard.

Dan stopped after about five hundred feet and said, "You win."

Amy could see that he was exhausted but was too embarrased to say anything. At least he had gotten his pride back.

Ian turned to Amy, a signature smirk on his handsome face. "Race you." He said, arching an eyebrow.

Amy smiled at him and took off, her feet pounding on the frozen ground. She could hear Ian coming after her, so she pushed her legs to faster, feeling as if she was flying.

The naked trees flashed by. Amy could hear Ian yelling, "Amy, you win!" But she kept running. She had forgotten the thrill of pumping your legs, of being short on air, pushing your body.

She reached Nellie, who was staring her as if she was an alien. "Hi, Nellie." She said, wrapping the ex-au pair in a huge hug.

Ian reached her, all play gone from his face. "Amy. We need to call Dr. Luke."

Amy stared at him. "Why?"

Ian sighed. "Even if he is a duck, he still knows more about the Lucians than I do and he might be able to tell us something."

He dialed the number and put the phone on speaker.

While it was ringing, Natalie and Dan arrived, laughing. Amy told them what was going on and the smiles evaporated off their faces.

Finally Dr. Luke answered. "Hello?" He sounded old and tired.

"Hello, Dr. Luke." Ian blushed. "We're sorry for hanging up earlier."

Dr. Luke sighed. "It's fine. I would do the same thing if I was you. What do you want?" He sounded out of breath, as if he had been running.

Dan snatched the phone. "We went to this Fain Oaks place and we found some clues in a tree."

"Clues?" Dr. Luke asked, his voice suddenly cleared and less tired. "What were they?" Suddenly his voice was urgent.

Ian and Amy exchanged nervous glances.

"Zinc. Magnesium. Gold." Dan recited. "Iron solute. Water. Lily. Honey."

Dr. Luke gasped.

"What is it?" Amy cried.

"I was afraid this would happen." Dr. Luke said. "Children, all you need to know is that you are in greater danger than you realize."

"But what does those clues mean?"

"It's a serum. Ancient. From Gideon Cahill's time. The Glysi . . . " he paused, as if he was embarrassed, "never mind, it enables you to live without air for a long time. Months. Maybe even years."

Ian exploded. "Why didn't I know about this?" He looked hurt. "I'm second in line for the Lucian branch. Why didn't I know?" He repeated.

Amy felt sorry, but the fact that Ian didn't know scared her. Ian knew everything about his branch, the bad people, the good, those who had found clues, those who hadn't, those who lied, cheated, stole, in order to get what they wanted. he knew what year the Lucians had started calling themselves Lucians. How did he not know about this?

"Tell us more." Dan said.

"No." Dr. Luke said. "I cannot. For that is all I know."

"No, you know more!" Ian cried.

Dr. Luke sighed. "I will tell you this, you need to find whoever has taken this serum and destroy them." Dr. Luke hung up.

Ian stared at the phone in Dan's hand, his shoulders slouched. He looked similar to a young child who has lost his mother in the grocery. He looked how Dan did when they had received the news of Grace's death.

All Amy wanted to do was wrap him in a hug.

But she couldn't. She couldn't make herself do it. She wanted to tell him that it didn't matter.

But it did matter. If he had known this, they could have been able to figure things out without the help of the crazy old man.

Mixed feelings washed over her. Resentment. Worry. Attraction.

She looked at Ian, saw his hurt, his pain and she saw how much he needed her. How much she needed him. And right at that moment she knew.