Alright, no new rumors this time. I checked all the forums, but they only discouraged me. I don't know if I am going to be able to watch the new season, because everything I've read so far says it's just going to be more of the same. Blah.

If you haven't checked out the WWDD: The Druitt Diehards forum, I highly suggest you give it a look. Too much fun.

Anyway I want to thank everyone who reviewed. Y'all know who you are and you rock.

To DZR, I hope with this chapter and those to follow I can allay your fears for my version of Ashley. She had a little lapse, but she will be back to normal soon. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

You're Shrinking the Wrong Head

Will held tightly to the arm in his hands. It was probably for the best. Nobody knew what would happen if he let go mid teleport, but he didn't want to be the first to find out. Ashley brought him safely into a clearing surrounded by greenery. She had already taken Henry and Druitt back to the Sanctuary. She wouldn't say it, but Will knew she felt better having them there with Magnus.

He wished he could be there to. All he needed was a chance to talk Magnus out of her release the Abnormals idea. It was tantamount to reckless abandonment. Sending helpless Abnormals out into a world that would only hate and fear them was sickening and he hadn't signed on for criminal negligence. Ashley shook her arm gently and he realized he was still holding on to her. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"No problem." Ashley said. "I left the Morrigan here last time I saw them."

"Good to know…where is here?" Will inquired.

"Baja, California. Mexico side to be exact." Ashley told her companion.

Will gave her a dumbfounded look. "You left three ancient, Scottish witches on the Mexican border?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Ashley asked.

"Nothing. I guess I just find it a little funny. Maybe they are chilling out on some beach right now." Will added.

Ashley just snorted. Of course he would go there. "I told them not to go too far from the area. I wanted to be able to find them. I don't know if they listened or not."

"They probably would have. You were trying to help them; I think they would have recognized that." Will assured.

She stood and swept her hair back from her sweaty face. Will looked as bad as she felt. He was pale with exhaustion and he had dark circles under his eyes. Ashley wondered if he would drop soon. "Hey, are you going to be okay?"

"Me…oh yeah. I mean once I get over the fact that we are on a course of insanity that involves releasing Abnormals into the everyday world, killing a lot of people, and fighting men and women who were our friends two weeks ago." Will snapped.

Ashley immediately rolled her eyes and got her defenses up. What a time for him to go all bipolar. "Okay. Well since you are going to be that way, let's start walking. I don't feel like having a long drawn out thing with you and not getting anything done in the process. We go this way." She pointed west and walked.

She heard rather than saw Will follow after her. "Not that I am dropping all the things I was angry about before, but why are we going this way?

"Because there is a town this way. I am going to assume that the Morrigan would want to be around people. Unless you have any other ideas, Mister Profiler, skip to the angry bit." Ashley directed.

"Since I have your permission, I think I will go to the part that still concerns me most. Why the hell would we release the Abnormals?" He yelled. Ashley noticed the louder his voice got the more his hands would flail.

"We've been over this, Will. If we don't release them, then Wexford is going to do things far worse than what awaits them in the real world." Ashley screamed back.

"Yeah, you know you've said that. I just don't know if what he is going to do is worse than what we are doing." Will said gruffly.

Ashley sighed heavily. "Will, I am going to say this one more time. IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO! The thing is Wexford hates being an Abnormal."

"What? That is insane." Will stuttered. He stumbled over the uneven path, but he wouldn't take his eyes off Ashley. What she said had shocked him.

"He hates being an Abnormal. The thought of the Normals finding out what he is…makes him sick. He would be willing to exterminate every Abnormal out there to keep that from happening. Look at Bertha." Ashley ranted.

Will shook his head. "Bertha is dangerous, but…"

"But nothing. She was around years before we came along and decided she was too dangerous to live. Do you trust my mom or not?" Ashley asked.

"Of course, but I don't think the world is ready for the things that go bump in the night to come out of the closet. If we release them that is exactly what will happen." Will bit out.

"That's how you see the world, isn't it. We're the scary things no matter what. No matter how many times we try to prove differently…" Ashley began.

Will interrupted her. "That is not what I said, but since we are talking about scary, maybe you need to take a good look at your own behavior. Maybe all this teleporting has given you the same problem as your dad, because the Ashley I remember would never have done what you did today."

Ashley eyes narrowed and Will knew he had made a mistake. "Trust me, Will. There is a monster inside of me, but it is nothing like Druitt's. The thing inside of him wants nothing to do with me."

"There is no way you can know that." Will said and he stopped walking to give her his full attention.

"Yeah there is. It's called willpower. I have too much of it. What is inside my father wants things that are easy to manipulate and I will never let that happen to me again." Ashley paused as well.

"And Druitt is easy to manipulate?" Will asked sarcastically.

"Not really. Just convenient, not to mention his mind was a little compromised to begin with." Ashley stated. "Look, I respect that you are afraid for the Abnormals of the world, but humans will never be ready for us. So, maybe the only way to be accepted is to just come out into the open without fear. Not everything ends disastrously and maybe we aren't giving Normals enough credit. Maybe the only way we'll ever know is to just do it."

"Ash, I am hearing a lot of maybes." Will said much calmer now than he was before.

"Well, if you are waiting for me to give you certainties, then here you go. I am certain that my Mom is doing the right thing. You should be too." Ashley started walking again. For a while, there was silence between the pair. They had walked a couple of more miles before Ashley spoke again. "This isn't going to be something that you're going to quit over is it?"

"What? No…I would never do anything like that. Why would you even ask?" Will spluttered.

Ashley looked sheepish for all of a second. "I just wanted to make sure you are going to be around. Okay?"

"Why?" Will continued to pester.

Ashley shook her head, but answered anyway. "I just want to make sure somebody…is going to be there for mom."

"Ash, when everything is said and done, you are the one that your mom is going to want around." Will assured her.

"Yeah, I get that, but…" Ashley trailed off looking away from him.

"Wait a minute, you aren't thinking of taking off are you?" He asked.

He wanted her to deny it, but when she looked into his eyes he knew she wouldn't. "Just for a little while. Just to get my head straight. I need to think some things through."

Will felt gob smacked and angry. He needed to get to the bottom of this and the only way he could was to get angry. "I can't believe you would be that selfish. You would actually do that to your mom?"

"Selfish. Are you freaking kidding me?" Ashley was yelling again. "I gave up the peace and comfort of the afterlife to come back to her when it would have been way easier to stay dead. Oh…but, I'm sorry I forgot I'm the only one not allowed to have time to myself. A hundred years, Will, I have lived alone with a singular purpose. I didn't let myself think about anything else, but getting back to my family. Now, I've done it and there is everything that I've set aside and I need to work through it."

"So, you do feel guilty?" Will asked, dropping his accusatory tone. She was likely to snap if he didn't stop pushing her.

"Of course I feel guilty, Will. I feel guilty about the people I killed before I died. I feel guilty for hurting my mom. I even feel guilty about the people back at that base." Ashley's word thrashed out of her throat like they caused her physical pain. "I screwed up today. I lost control. Does it surprise you I am still human enough for that?

Will placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her mid-step. "No. You are still you. You may have forgotten that, but me, Henry, your Mom…we never will."

Ashley blinked tears out of her eyes and looked down. "Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?"

"Neither. I am just trying to show you that you don't need to erase every trace of the Cabal to be the person you were before. We still love you, Ash. More importantly you can still love. That's why you will always be you. Seriously, you have the greatest capacity for love that I've ever seen. You use sarcasm and a tough attitude as a shield, but it hurts you when you can't protect the people you love." Ashley stifled a sob. "You have changed, but the things that matter are still there."

Ashley finally looked at him. She wiped tears from her cheeks and hardened her resolve. "Okay, your right. I am awesome."

"And so humble, too." Will joked. "If you need to talk Ash, I am here."

"I don't talk, Will. You know that, but I will be alright…eventually. It's going to take some time and I need to work through it myself." Ashley said. "Thank you though. Now let's keep going."

Sanctuary

A small wooden house stood at the edge of a village. Close enough to have neighbors, but far enough away for privacy. It was covered in bright yellow paint that was chipping away in place. It was cheerfully destitute.

Will somehow knew, that if the Morrigan were here, then this was where they lived. He approached it with fear tempered curiosity. His hand extended to knock on the door. Ashley had gone to the town to ask if anybody had seen the three women. She had left Will not far from the yellow house and he was sure she would find him, but for some reason he couldn't shake the anxious feeling clawing at his gut.

His hand was a millimeter away from the door when a someone grabbed his shoulder. He yelped in fright and turned to find a laughing Ashley behind him. "Oh my God, don't do that."

Ashley's giggles let up. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I talked to some weird guy down the road. He said that they were here, but they left about a week ago. They didn't say where they were going; they just left."

"They aren't here. Great." Will pushed the door open. The inside of the house was almost as spare as the outside. Three cots lined the walls and little else decorated the interior. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, I would go look for them, but I want to get home. I don't know how much longer the other Sanctuaries are going to hold off." Ashley admitted.

"I guess that's it then. Why would they leave?" Will asked in frustration. Ashley didn't answer. She grabbed his arm and teleported him home.

Sanctuary

The Sanctuary was still. All of the residents who were willing to leave had been evacuated. A few had stayed behind. They wanted a part in defending there home.

The staff were all resting or checking provisions or some other tedious chore. Anything to stave off boredom and anticipation. Nikola had not yet arrived. John Druitt and Gregory Magnus were staring each other down in the foyer. Helen Magnus stood watching them in annoyance.

Henry walked in and stood by her. He gave her a questioning look to which her reply was rolling her eyes and giving a non committal shrug.

"What are we going to do when Tesla gets here?" Henry asked.

Helen opened her mouth to answer, but Druitt beat him to it. "Kill him?"

"For once we are in agreement." Gregory said.

"Now, that is completely unfair. I expect you both to leave him alone. He is mortal now." Helen ordered.

"Which makes him easier to kill." Druitt added almost innocently.

"Enough…I expect you both to act like gentlemen." Helen stated and she gave Henry an evil look when he choked out a laugh. A resounding knock alerted them to someone at the door.

"Showtime." Druitt said evilly.

I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up and for the fact that it sucks. Hope you read and review anyway.