A few hours later I was staring at the door to my apartment. I was done with classes for the day and Caulder had sent me home until he finished his own. So there I was; staring at my plain white door with 'three-fifteen' painted in black at the top. I didn't want to go in. Not because of last night, but because the door was ajar. When I left last night the door was locked from the inside. Silently, I took a step towards the apartment and tried to peer inside the little sliver the door left open. No such luck, the place was dark.

Taking a deep breath, I nudged the door open and was met with a loud creak. Fabulous. Giving a slight groan, I kicked the door open all the way and was met with an image that would never leave my mind: Wade was sitting in his Deadpool costume, mask off, sitting on the couch watching television, surrounded by empty beer bottles. Even though it had only been about twelve hours, the stench of stale beer seemed to fill the entire apartment.

"Wade?" I asked gently to the man staring at reruns of the Golden Girls. He didn't look up at me. He just kept staring idly at the flashing picture. "Wade?" I tried again.

He was quiet for a long time before mumbling. "Where've you been?"

I finally stepped in and made my way through the labyrinth of bottles and ended up standing just to the side of him. "I was out." Why was I beating around the bush with him? Crossing my arms, I cleared my throat and asked, "What about you? Where've you been these past few weeks?"

Out of nowhere, Wade pulled out a full bottle of beer and took a long swig from it. "Out." His monosyllabic response brought out a bit of anger at him in me, even though that was exactly what I had done to him.

Feeling anger bubble out of me, I kicked over a pile of bottles, sending two into the wall and shattering them. When he didn't move I kicked another one and it too shattered. "How dare you?" I kicked more bottles. "You drop off the face of the Earth for two weeks and you expect me to accept 'out' as an answer!"

It was at this time that Wade did stand up and tower over me. "You think I didn't want to call? That I didn't want to talk to my best friend?" His voice was full of pain and depression and I knew that I over reacted.

"Then why didn't you?"

Without missing a beat, Wade avoided the question. "It doesn't matter why I didn't. I'm here now and I need you to do something."

"What?" I asked, irritated at his abruptness.

He pulled out one of his guns and handed it to me. "Would you kill me?"

My face was frozen, my hand barely keeping hold of the gun. "What?" I asked incredulously.

Very uncharacteristically of him, Wade seemed to want to cry. "Kill me."

I shook my head, my mouth hanging open in shock. "No. I could never."

Wade viciously grabbed me and lifted me up to his eye level. His grip on my arms was painful and tight, and his face was etched into a sneer, I was actually frightened. "Why not?" He growled, giving me a quick shake.

"B-b-because your m-my fr-frie-"

"No!" He yelled, throwing me across the room. I slammed into the wall and knocked a portrait of the Hawkins family off of it. He came at me as soon as I fell down the wall, picked me up again, and pinned me against it. "Friends help other friends, right?" He practically screamed at me.

"Ri-ght." I responded a little haggardly.

"And every time you've ever asked me to do something for you I've done it, no questions asked. Right?"

I nodded and began to unknowingly cry. "Right."

"So why is it," He began, looking at me with fury. "That when I ask you to do something you've done a million times, you can't seem to do it?" His voice cracked at the end.

"Why is it so important that you die?" My voice took an innocent tone and Wade's face softened slightly.

"I am sick of this life and the people in it. Now be a good friend and help me out."

I shook my head again and said defiantly, "No."

"Fine then." He dropped me and began heading for the door. "I'll find someone else."

"Wade!" I shouted after him with a pleading tone, but I dared not follow. If I knew anything about Wade, it was that he hated to be followed when he was angry.

However, my shout stopped him in his tracks. Grabbing something from his utility belt, he turned back to me, picked me up and shoved it into my chest. "We're done." He mumbled, staring me dead in the eye. He held the gaze for a minute before disappearing back through the door, the object falling into my waiting hands.

I was paralyzed for several minutes before I looked down at my hands and my heart broke. It was Wade's cell phone.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Andi? Are you even listening to me?" I was brought out of my reverie by Caulder's slightly agitated voice. I looked around and saw that I was back in his apartment. When did I get here? When did it get dark out?

"Sorry." We were sitting in the kitchen and he was holding the card Kyle gave me.

"It's okay," He reassured me. "You just need to pay attention right now." I nodded in agreement and he started planning again. "So, what are you going to do once you get inside the party?"

"I'm going to find Kyle, have him show me around and get a feel for the place. I'll leave before anything extreme happens, come get you, and we'll storm the place if we can get a hold of Hannibal." I spoke so disdainfully at the plan. I hated it. This waiting period didn't sit well with me; I just wasn't used to it.

"Good. Now that we know the plan we can call Hannibal and have him on stand-by." Caulder plucked the phone from the counter and made the call.

Seconds after, my phone began to ring. I answered, "Hawkins."

"Hey, Andi. It's Johnny." Uh oh. Why couldn't it have been anyone but Johnny Storm?

"Uh, hey Johnny. What can I do for you?"

He sounded like he had a smile on his face. "I just wanted to let you know that we got called into Vancouver for an 'alien attack' and it was a false alarm. We're right by Langara and I thought we could…you know…hang out?" I smiled very little. He was so cute when he tried to ask me out.

My blush set Caulder off and he nudged me in question. "Is that Wade?" He whispered after moving the receiver end of his phone away from his mouth.

I shook my head. "You know I would absolutely love to hang out with you-"

"Great!" He said a bit too enthusiastically. "When are you free?"

"Uh that really was-" I trailed off when I saw Caulder nodding at me to go with him. "Uh, Johnny? Do you feel like working tonight?"

I could hear him smirk on the other line. "What's the job?"

"Just a party. You know…usual college stuff." I eluded.

Johnny just laughed. "Nothing with you is 'usual'. Now come on, what do want me to do?"

A small playful pout etched itself on my face. "Be my bodyguard and make sure no nasty boy gets touchy with me?"

His line went silent for a moment before he said in complete seriousness. "I'm in."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I met Johnny at the pier about two hours later. He had dressed like I told him: Black long sleeved shirt, dark wash jeans, and black shoes. I was dressed in a similar manner and leapt into his arms when we saw each other.

"Johnny!" I smiled and held onto him tightly.

He responded with an even tighter embrace. "Oh Andi," He said with a chuckle. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, leaning back to get a good look at him while he kept his grip on me. "And why exactly is that Mister Storm?"

He winced jokingly when I said that. "Ew, don't say that. That makes me feel old."

I gave him a small pout and cupped his face. "Aw, poor Charmander." I leaned over and barely touched my lips to his. "Sorry."

He gave the slightest of whimpers. "You're forgiven." He said quickly before jumping up a little and giving me a proper kiss. I was only a little surprised, mostly happy. It had been years since we had last kissed, and it made my heart jump when we finally did.

A throat being cleared made me jump back from Johnny and turn around in his arms. He, being ever the gentleman, didn't drop me. He however did turn us around so that I could see who it was. My smile fell quickly and I tapped his shoulder and he dropped me.

"Uh, hi Hannibal." I pulled my shirt down a little and tucked some hair back behind my ear.

Hannibal, however, was not looking at me. "Aren't you a little old for her?" His eyebrow twitched and his brown eyes bore into Johnny's blue ones.

Johnny's eyebrows shot up and his head tilted slightly in shock. He had no answer.

I folded my arms over my chest. "He is not! And that is none of your business." I shot back.

Hannibal gave a tiny, knowing smirk and put his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. "I'm just saying, it kind of looks like you're robbing the cradle there, sport."

I was about to retort, shooting daggers at Hannibal, when Caulder came out from behind Hannibal. "Andi! And this must be Johnny." He was all smiles and came over and shook Johnny's hand. "Don't mind him." He mumbled to us. "He's just upset that there's more testosterone in the house." Johnny tilted his head even further, even more shocked than before. "Hey! You do it too!"

Noticing his extreme discomfort, I stepped between them. "Okay, now that we've all met, it's about time we get to work. Right Hannibal?"

"I believe the dame is right, Caulder." Hannibal came up from behind the group and stepped between Caulder and me. He gave me a cold stare with a smile. "Why don't we leave Miss Daddy Complex alone and get to down to business. Shall we?" He gave a quick raise of his eyebrows and lead Caulder back towards the barge.

Johnny made for Hannibal before he even finished speaking, but I stood strong in front of him. "Let it go, Johnny." I whispered to him after they began walking away.

"But…" He gave a desperate look from me to Hannibal and back. "…that asshole called us – called you-"

"I know." I cupped his face and gave him a small smile. "But he's going to help me get Virgil back…and I need you." The anger in his baby blue eyes dissipated into my chocolate brown ones. "Please don't leave me alone with him." I begged a little. "I will never hear the end of it."

Johnny gave a soft chuckle and reluctantly nodded. "Fine. But I'm not working with him."

"You're working with me." I smiled brightly at him and gave his face a light tap. "Now come on, we have a boy to find."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"This plan does not make sense." I said bluntly to Hannibal. "Why would we try to trick an entire building full of blood suckers who are probably smarter than us? I mean I'm all for going in there guns loaded, but to pretend to change into one of them to infiltrate their little hideout? It just seems like a really bad idea."

We were sitting in the living room, Johnny and I on the couch, Caulder perched on the armrest closest to me, and Hannibal standing in front of us. And judging by the way Hannibal tensed the muscles in his arms and a vein in his neck began to pop out, he was not happy with me.

"Well," He began with his voice stiff. "If you have a better plan, Andi." He said my name as if it dripped with venom. "Please, share."

I sat up a little straighter and said, "Honestly, the only thing I can think of to do is to let me go in, I'll find Kyle and have him take me aside, I threaten the crap out of him until he tells me who I need to go after."

Caulder immediately rebuked it. "No. That's too dangerous."

I scoffed and looked up at him. "Caulder…it's me. Why should I worry?"

"Because these fuckers outnumber you five hundred to one!" Hannibal yelled pushing Caulder out of the way and getting close to my face with a sneer. Johnny reacted first by getting up and pushing him back.

"Back off of her!" He yelled at Hannibal and stood in front of me protectively.

"Oh come on, Johnny." Hannibal shoved him back. "That is a bad idea and you know it! Don't let your girlfriend walk herself into a den full of people just waiting for a fresh piece of meat!"

"Guys!" I yelled, trying to break up their little spat.

"Andi is not a piece of meat!"

"Then don't let her parade herself like one! I've had enough of girls throwing themselves into dangerous situations around here and I'm not about to have another anytime soon!"

Hannibal's statement shut Johnny up and stunned both Caulder and I. We all stood there for a moment and let Johnny digest what was screamed at him.

And then all of a sudden, "Daddy?"

"What?" "What is it Squirt?" Both Johnny and Hannibal replied to the small voice that had made itself present, respectively. Both men looked at each other in confusion and turned to the little girl who had appeared behind Caulder.

Anita was standing there in a pair of pink pajamas with a purple sleeping penguin on it that said, 'It's ice to relax'. "Daddy? Why are you yelling?"

Hannibal's demeanor immediately dispersed as he went over to the child. "I'm sorry, Squirt." He bent over and picked the little girl up, completely evading her question. "Come on, why don't you go back to bed, huh?"

"Who's that?" She asked, pointing towards Johnny.

Hannibal looked back at Johnny. "That's one of Andi's friends, Squirt."

Johnny just smiled at the little girl and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Johnny. What's your name?"

She smiled back and shook his hand with her small one. "I'm Anita. Anita Abigail King."

My eyes widened in fear when they shook hands and I stared at Johnny, hoping that his memory had not been restored.

"Anita, huh?" He tilted his head a little and smiled even more. "Well, that is a very pretty name."

"You can use it if you want." She squeaked suddenly, letting go of Johnny's hand.

"What do you mean?"

A tiny blush crept onto her face when she replied with, "Well if you and Andi get married and have kids, you can use my name!"

Johnny began to chuckle and I began blushing furiously, hiding my face in my hand and continuously praying he would not remember. This little girl was not helping the cause.

"Well," He said, taking a long look into her dark brown eyes. "We will have to think about it, but we will definitely consider it."

"I am so sorry, Hannibal." A long, wavy haired blonde girl a few inches taller than me stepped out from the kitchen and came up to our little group. "It turned my back to get her something to drink and she just ran here."

"It's alright, Zoe." He told her. "Here, tuck her in, okay?" He tried to hand her off to Zoe, but Anita just clung more to Hannibal. "Anita, come on now. It's past your bedtime."

"But Daddy, I don't want you to go out tonight." She dug her face into the crook of his shoulder.

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere." He rubbed her back. Sighing, Hannibal started walking away back through the kitchen. "I promise I'm not leaving tonight." He mumbled to her as he left the room.

I sadly watched them leave, knowing that Hannibal was tied to this place, which he obviously hated, because he did not want to desert the three of them.

"Sorry about that." Zoe apologized to us. "It's just that Anita has nightmares sometimes about Hannibal being killed. It…It just freaks her out."

"It would freak anyone out." Johnny added. "It's okay."

I turned to Caulder. "So, where are we going?"

Caulder shook his head out of shock and was caught off guard at my question. "E-excuse me?"

"Where are we going tonight?"

"Oh, um…" He trailed off as he tried to remember. "A bar called 'Sam's Bar and Grill'."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement, "Thanks. We'll be back." And Johnny and I left the barge.