My heels clicked against the white marble tile as I walked towards the small office that was supposed to have a phone that I could use. Jane followed close behind me with a frown on her face, letting me know that the idea of calling my Uncle Andrew still wasn't sitting well with her. I saw the large oak door with a brass handle on the left hand side of the hall and wrapped my fingers around it.

"I don't like this Amber, it feels wrong." Jane was almost growling as I flung the door open with a force. I cringed as the giant piece of wood smacked into the wall, causing a loud echo as it connected.

"Oops." I tried not to smile, "I didn't mean to do that." I slid my hand against the wall, fumbling for a light switch as Jane brushed past me into the office. "Do you mind elaborating on what feels so off?"

"I don't trust this whole benefit idea, it seems like it's too convenient." She grabbed a chair and sat down as I flipped on the lights.

"You're over reacting." I say flatly as I take in what Ryan considered a small office, the room was easily the size of a master suite for most people. It was decorated in the same red and black motif as the bedroom that I had woken up in earlier that day, with large black desks along the walls full of office equipment.

"I can see the corruption in him Amber, I'm not from here but it doesn't mean that it looks any different." I glance at Jane who has started to position herself in front of a computer, turning the back of the black office chair towards me.

"He's like a brother to me; he would never do anything evil. In fact, I don't even think he knows how to lie." I took a few steps further into the office, looking at the desks for a phone.

"Listen to me when I tell you that something is off about this whole situation." Jane clicks the mouse a few times as she speaks, "And do you mind enlightening me on what you think calling your uncle is going to do for us?"

"I'm calling to ask if anything weird might have happened to me when I was a kid. You said it yourself; I had to be exposed to element zero at some point in time in order to have this… this issue." I hold both hands out with my palms up. "Uncle Andrew has watched over me my entire life, he would remember if I was really sick for any length of time." I spotted a phone on the corner of one of the large desks and headed over towards it. I took a seat in a red chair that matched the others in the office as I crossed my legs and smoothed down my green dress. I lift the receiver of the office phone and start to dial.

"I suppose that's understandable." She starts to click against the keys, "How much time did you spend with him?"

"I was with him six months of the year, usually the entire summer and part of the fall." I smile at the thought of him, "He was like another father, one that I didn't have to split with Adam."

"I would just be careful about what you tell him Amber. Regardless of how close you think you are to the person, there is always a chance that they will use certain pieces of knowledge to their own self benefit." She starts to bang against the keyboard again, "This isn't something that you would want most people to know about and you'll end up lab for rest of your life if the wrong person finds out."

"I don't think that my own family would want me to end up as some science project somewhere. Besides, I'm not going to tell him anything is wrong, I just want to see if he knows anything that might be important." I listen to the phone start to ring for the fourth time, ready to sigh in relief that he wasn't going to answer the foreign number that was popping up on his caller ID.

"Hello hello?" A smooth voice echoed in my ear, causing me to immediately picture my uncle sitting on the couch in his navy blue sweats and white t-shirt.

"Uncle Andrew? It's Amber." I could feel the warmth radiating from my voice, "You in the middle of something?"

"Always in the middle of something, you know that. You're calling from a number I don't recognize, prompting me to ask you just where in the hell you are this time." He pauses for a moment, "Tell me you aren't in jail again."

"That was one time and it wasn't even my fault! And no, I'm in Canada visiting a friend of mine." I could hear him start to mumble into the phone, "And don't freak out, I'm here with Adam."

"At least you aren't in jail. I recall this one time when you were arrested for beating someone with your purse after you thought they were trying to steal your shoes. Do you remember that?" I can hear the smile in his voice as he replays the phone call from jail in his memories.

"It was my birthday, Adam got me wasted… Not my fault." I could feel a smile start to form at the corners of my mouth, he was making an attempt to provoke me in the same fashion that he always had.

"Sure it wasn't… So who did you did you take off across the country to go bang this time?"

"You make it sound like this is a common occurrence and like I'm screwing half the country!" I play with the hem of my dress, trying to pull it down to cover more of my legs. "You know that I'm not like that! I'm a one man kind of woman, just ask Dylan."

"You can't say that you haven't taken off on a whim to go across the country on some road trip. I think I've received random drunk phone calls from at least thirty of the fifty states." He laughs at me for a minute before continuing, "So tell me Amber, whose house are you calling from up in Canada?"

"I'm at Ryan's place on the other side of Montreal, but Adam is here along with Dylan and Amiee."

"You never knew how to travel light did you? Surprised that it's just the four of you, I thought for sure you would have tried to pack at least seven people in that car of yours."

"Amiee was already here, I decided not to drag all of Alpha Beta Ki with me this time." I start to giggle. "I figured the boyfriend and Adam would be enough trouble for me on this go round."

"Well I doubt that you called me just to tell me you were having some international orgy up in Canada. What's up kid?" I could hear my nephew start to squeal in the background, causing my uncle to start to baby speak while he was on the phone.

"I had a few questions about me."

"We all have a few questions about you." He started to laugh in the phone, "You might have to be a little more specific there Blondie."

"Was I ever really sick or anything? Maybe stuck in a hospital because I jumped in a well or decided to eat something off one of your lab benches that I shouldn't have?"

"Sick?" I can hear growing laughter coming from the other end of the phone, "We thought you were sick in the head for some of the shit you did to the kids around here. Do you remember Lucas, the little blonde kid that you called an Eskimo? You tied him up against a tree and put spiders on his head and giggled while you watched him scream like a girl. He told his mom that you made him eat crickets and other bugs to make him taste better for the spiders."

"He picked on me! He called me a redneck and said I had an accent. As far as I am concerned, the punk got what was coming to him." I said with affirmation in my voice.

"Alright, let me think…You did get put in the hospital when we had the incident with the robot you were trying to build. It short circuited and shocked the hell out of you. I watched you get flung a good five feet back when you crossed those wires." He starts to laugh again, causing me to giggle at the thought of the dilapidated robot that we had built.

"I think I remember that, named the thing Copper because he was this orange shiny mess. Honestly, I was looking for something a little more like a random illness that would have caused me to be bed ridden."

"Well, other than the migraines that you've had for years, there's really nothing that stands out then."

"Are you sure? I mean I just want to know if…" I let my voice trail off as Jane turned to face me from her black leather chair. "I wanted to know if I had anything major that might have put me in a hospital or something… Maybe I had forgotten it happened or…"

"Is everything okay kid? I can tell you're looking for me to say something, but I'll be damned if I know what it is."

"No, I'm fine… Really Unc... I just wanted to check with you and see if I had missed something. Adam has been making up stories that I was sent up there for you to experiment on me during the summers and make me into a real human being. I guess he just got to me this time."

"Tell your brother that he's the one that we experimented on. Hint at his right testicle being gargantuan compared to the left one and it will shut him up for a few days."

"Ew, that's just gross. I think I rather pretend that I didn't even bother calling you."

"Do it, it will shut him up… Trust me Blondie."

"Alright, fine. I'll find some way to bring it up in conversation eventually that doesn't make me want to hurl. So much for getting rid of my nightmares." I smile as I hear my aunt yell at him that lunch is ready. "Well that was the reason that I called, I guess I should let you get back to things. Say hi to my aunt for me, and I love you."

"We love you too Amber, don't let them talk you into becoming a Canadian citizen or anything else that would appeal to your crazy side while you're up there. Make sure you call me when you get back home so that I know I don't have to come up to that frozen hell hole and find you."

"Sure thing, I'll make sure and call you as soon as we're home. Bye Unc." I hung up the phone and looked at Jane, "Well that was an absolute waste of time."

"I gathered that. Since you were busy killing time with your uncle, I decided to take a look at your friend Ryan on this console here." Jane motioned to the computer screen, "It has been fairly interesting to say the least." I scoot the chair across the floor over till I'm sitting beside her.

"What's this?" I look at the web page that has a photo of Ryan shaking another man's hand. "Corporate takeover makes man millions… An official statement has been made in regards to Cerna Company buying out the prominent Strattagene Enterprises, the leading company of genetic examination. This will enable new research and development in the biomedical sector for the growing conglomerate..." I stop reading and look at Jane, "This seems like common knowledge, not some diabolical plot. What's so interesting about it?"

"I thought Ryan was a pilot."

"He was until he was picked up by that company for his ingenuity." I start to stand, "Still not seeing a big deal in this Jane, I've known about this for a while, and it all seems legit to me."

"I pilot investing in biomedical research doesn't scream that there is something off to you? Are you really that dense?"

"He's been interested in that stuff since I figured out I was majoring in it. I always tell him that we are skirting around the edge of breaking medical technology, so it really doesn't surprise me." I grab the mouse and scroll though the page, "Besides, the whole company would have to agree to allow this to happen, it's not just on Ryan."

"I've felt like there was something off about him the moment he picked me up in that car of his in town. So suave and smooth, it just makes me think that there is something he's keeping from you." She takes the mouse from me and closes the browser before she pushes her chair back.

"Jane, I've known that man since I was sixteen years old. He's my family and there's nothing else to it." I sigh as I sit back in my chair, "He used to be a pilot way up north, he was trying to get out of that lifestyle and struck gold when he was picked up for his managerial skills. There's nothing more to it."

"More to what?" Ryan walks into the office and quickly closes the door behind him, "You were saying something about me Amber?" A coy smile comes across his face as Jane scowls, "My life is an open book. If there is something that you want to know, all you have to do is ask me." I can feel the pins and needles in my feet as the tension in the room starts to grow.

"I don't think you are some average pilot that suddenly got lucky." Jane gets to her feet and looks him up and down, "I think that you are hiding something. That you had to sell yourself to get where you are in the company like some cheap industry consort." I start to laugh nervously, making both of them look at me as the sensation of fire creeps into my toes.

"Ha ha ha! It's a joke, right Jane? We're trying to push you're buttons Ryan, see if you are secretly some evil genius that's trying to take over the world." I beam at him and push my hair back behind my ears, "Did it work?"

"Evil genius? I'm just some ordinary guy that had a string of luck." He runs his fingers along the edge of the desk, "Amber's the smart one here. Let's just say that she's inspired me in a few areas of my life, she's been doing that since the two of us met all those years ago."

"See Jane? He's just some normal guy in a business suit. You're making a mountain out of a mole hill."

"If anyone is a genius it would be her." Ryan stops tracing the corner of the desk and brings his eyes level with Jane's, "Amber's the reason why I decided to invest more on the R&D side of things with Cerna."

"Cerna, the company you're prostituting for?" Jane asks sarcastically as she furls her upper lip, "You just happened to decide that this was a way to take an aviation company?"

"It just was something that the board took an interest in thanks to me gushing about the new technology that was being discovered. Amber was always talking about the scientific breakthroughs that she was studying and it made me go that route. When we started to look at branching off the company off into new areas, diversifying and creating more of a buzz for expanding company, we realized that this move would benefit us." Ryan looked at me, "We just took a chance and it's paying off in unexpected ways."

"That sounds like a load of bullshit to me." Jane made it to her feet, "I'm not convinced, if Amber trusts you that enough to keep me from killing you… for now."

"Let me assure you that I'm not doing anything to endanger anyone. You have this all backwards Shepard." Ryan's demeanor shifts to match Jane as she lets her temper start to flare.

"I think you're up to something Ryan, and if I find out that you are trying to jeopardize her or anyone else in this house, I'll make sure that you are dealt with personally." Jane cracks her knuckles on one hand after the other as she stands toe to toe with him.

"He's not doing anything to anyone Jane, and he's done nothing but show us kindness since we've got here. I haven't seen an evil bone in his body since I've known him." I try to alleviate the awkward turn that things have taken as I start to feel myself fidget. The sensation of ants biting me is only growing as they continue to talk and make idle threats.

"He's just biding his time and waiting for the right moment. I've seen people like him with ambition; they lead me on some suicide mission across the galaxy and backstab me in the end." Jane rolls her eyes, her biotics lighting up ever so slightly as she throws the door to the office open. It creaks as it tries to hang on the hinges for dear life, causing me to get goose bumps along my arms despite my internal agony from the fire that was slowly seeping into my muscles. "He'll betray you and cost you the life of someone your close to, just wait." She looks over her shoulder one last time before disappearing out of sight down the hall.

"Jane is jumping to the conclusion that I'm evil?" Ryan offers his hand to me as I start to get out of my seat, ignoring the ache that is quickly starting to dissipate as the tension in the room ebbs.

"I don't know what the hell she's thinking; you'd never do anything criminal." I start for the door, releasing his hand as I stand in the entryway to the office.

"I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you; you're like a sister to me." Ryan grabs my arm, making my eyes meet his as we stand just before the dimly lit hall.

"I know that, but you have to look at things from an outsider's perspective. Jane's trying to make sure that she doesn't end up in a lab dissected somewhere and here you are, investing in biomedical research."

"I've been in biomedical research for months; her showing up on my doorstep was just happenstance."

"It's enough to make her on edge, so don't push." I shift my weight from foot to foot, trying to get the remaining pins and needles to stop.

"You sure seem antsy, everything okay?" Ryan asks as he lets go of my arm and starts to escort me down the hall, "I've never seen you fidget so much."

"Just feeling a little off, no more than usual." I try to smile, "It must be all the time sitting in the car and the stress of getting us this far. I just need a gym and a good work out."

"That sounds like the Amber that I know." Ryan looks at his watch for a moment, "I have someone coming to take measurements for everyone in an hour or so. I can't have you looking like a bunch of rag tag Americans going to a real Canadian gala."

"That's nuts Driver, we can just go to a store or something in town and find something simple, having someone come all the way out here isn't necessary."

"Nonsense, you'll be pampered as long as you stay in this house. As for dinner tonight, I was thinking of having Amiee order out, followed by just lounging around together and catching up."

"Perfect, I could use some downtime." I grin as we walk back to the kitchen.

I watched the young woman scribble onto her pink and black notepad for the umpteenth time as we sat in the empty room. Her long blonde hair hung off both sides of her shoulders as she kneeled at my feet, her tongue poking out of the left side of her perfect looking mouth. I took a deep breath, I was the last one that needed their measurements taken and was hating every moment of it. The woman hired to get our sizes looked up at me with her deep blue eyes and smiles.

"You have a great figure, there are so many possibilities for your shape." She's back on her feet with her measuring tape in hand, "Is there anything special that you want in the dress, anything that I can take into consideration for you?"

"Not really, I'd be happy in jeans and a t-shirt like normal. I'm not really a girlie girl, I mean I just don't do the dress up thing." I try to smile back at her as she moves the measuring tape from one spot to the next, outlining my figure and mumbling numbers as she went, "Just about done?"

"Almost, but the more that you wiggle the longer this will take. So how do you know Ryan, if I may ask?"

"Ryan? Oh, he's a friend of mine from years back." She motions for me to raise my arms as she takes another measurement. "He's like a member of the family in a way."

"So you're just friends?"

"Yes, we're just friends." I glare at her as I start to furrow my brow. "You're a nosey little thing aren't you?"

"I truly don't mean to be, but he's very well known here and we'd hate to see him…" Her face flushes red as she drops the tape, letting her eyes settle on mine as feel my disgust immediately boil to the surface.

"What, with an American? No worries on that hon, I'm not his type. Do you have the measurements you need, because I'm done here?" I step away from the woman and start for the door where my shoes are waiting, feeling a migraine starting to form behind my eyes.

"I'm sorry ma'am it's just that…"

"Don't explain, I don't want to hear it. Just do what you have to do with what I've already given you." I slip the shoes on my feet and grasp the handle in my fingers, "And you really need to watch that mouth of yours." I feel the tension ease from me as I open the door and take a step out into the hall, letting the anger stay in the room with the woman rather than trying to carry it with me. I notice that Dylan is standing a few steps down from me with his back against the wall and a smirk on his face.

"Everything okay?" He tried to smile at me as I attempted to finish reigning in my anger. Dylan and I had been working on speaking for the past few hours and were still stuck in the trivial conversation phase.

"That damn moron of a girl was making assumptions and made my effing head hurt. All I can think about is smacking her and telling her she's a moron." I start towards the living room where the rest of the group is waiting, grabbing Dylan's hand and intertwining my fingers with his.

"You seem a little tense." He gently pulls my hand, making me slow down and look at him. The look on his face was evident; he was trying to apologize without actually saying the words. I quickly kissed his cheek and smiled.

"Dyl, it's okay. Just know that I'll tell you what I can, when I can. Just trust me a little okay?" He nods his head once in understanding as I let go of his hand. "Now, where the heck did everyone get off too?"

"Amber!" Amiee squeals as I walk to the living room with the TV the size of a car, "I can't wait to see you all dressed up and in rare form! Oh it will be so great to see you looking like the sexy little Texan."

"Amiee, it's really not that impressive." I glance at everyone and look to Ryan, "So, what's for dinner? I said simple, no three course meal or anything."

"I decided to go ahead and have Amiee order out. I think she decided on pizza." Ryan sits on the plush gold and black loveseat that's situated on the far side of the living room. His legs are crossed at the ankles, allowing the heels of his feet rest on the cherry coffee table.

"You said simple, I had to think what you Americans would order if you were sitting around the tele drinking."

"Works for me." I looked at Adam who was sitting in front of the huge television with his mouth half open, "Adam, you feeling okay?"

"Shhhhhh!" He motioned towards the screen, "Some of us are actually trying to pay attention to the news."

"Wait what? Since when do you watch the news?" I walked behind sofa where Adam was sitting, resting my hands against the back of it.

"I was trying to check a few of the scores on the football games I missed while we were in the car. I had a hundred bucks riding on Vanderbilt losing."

"What the hell Adam? You're betting against my school?" Dylan looked at him, "We aren't that bad."

"Compared to the team you were playing? Did you think I would miss the chance to smear that in your face?"

"Adam, can't you be nice to him damn it." I scowl as I pinch the top of his shoulder, "Boyfriend status means that you have to be pleasant."

"Like hell I do." Adam smirks for a brief moment until Jane clears her throat. He looks at me with a protective older brother glow around him before he looks to her, "Alright, I'll be good."

"Better be." Jane sits on the arm of the sofa next to him, a smug look on her face as Adam slides his hand into her lap and rests it on her upper thigh.

"Damn amazon woman got me all discombobulated and shit. It ain't right for me to take so much crap from a wo…" Jane punched him in the arm, causing Adam to immediately stop his sentence.

"It's the creepiest thing ever when you smile like that Jane." I sigh as I fiddle with the top of the couch cushion, "I mean never in a million years would I ever though you two would actually like each other."

"I don't like him, but keeping him from pissing you off is a full time job." She lifts Adam's hand off her thigh and drops it back in his lap. "It's easier to punch him from here than it is from across the room."

"I just like that you keep putting your hands on me." Adam lightly chuckled for a second before pointing at the television. A picture of the Canadian border flashed across the screen, making him lose his smile as he directed our attention to the screen. "That looks a little familiar doesn't it?" Ryan grabbed the remote from the coffee table and increased the volume over the surround sound.

"The van plowed through the security check point at approximately 3 P.M. this afternoon, crashing through the barricade that most people would stop at. Four of the Canadian border personnel have been transported to local hospitals due to severe injuries, one in critical care. Government officials are declining to release more information about the incident at this time."

"This is great." I put my hands on the back of the couch, trying to understand why the feeling of certain doom started to creep into my stomach.

"If you have any information on these individuals that were involved in this event, local authorities are asking you to call the number located at the bottom of your screen." I pause for a moment, trying to tell myself that it was just an arbitrary coincidence that this had happened at the same check point we had crossed at the night before. Jane smiles at Adam's latest attempt to get his hand in her lap, causing Dylan to start to laugh as I start to slowly back away from the couch. The news caster mentions that the weather reports are coming up next as Amiee takes a seat next to Ryan on the loveseat.

"Just show the damn sports scores!" Adam yelled at the TV as Jane nudged him with her elbow.

"I don't know how you aren't into hockey Adam." Ryan chuckled as the screen went to commercial, "I mean I took Amber to a few of the Texas Stars games when she was younger, she got a kick out of them."

"Something about a bunch of men on skates just doesn't do it for me."

"I get to go to a few of the games," Dylan said with a smile, "I think it's an awesome experience."

I slip my shoes off to avoid making the clicking noise against the tiles as I walk alone, back towards Ryan's 'small' office. I keep running my fingers through my hair, my concerns becoming more evident the longer it takes me to get down the hallway. All the years that I had spent playing on the internet told me that that if I wanted to see something about an event that had happened, my best bet was scouring the for a video that was captured by someone on a cell phone. I opened the door and made it to a computer desk

I started a browser, searching for video about the Canadian border incident as soon as it launched. I clicked on the first one that I saw, watching the screen fill up with a grainy picture as I pressed play. It was a few kids that were messing around in the car as they approached the checkpoint. I watched as they held the phone up, filming the person in the side seat who had a goofy smile painted across his face. Suddenly, a white unmarked van flew past the driver's window and slammed into a barricade. Officers started to shout as people in the area screamed. The van door flew open and the camera faded to black for a moment, making me slam my hands against the desk in angst. Soon the picture came back in focus, showing a shotgun being carried by a man in a uniform that I didn't recognize.

"What the hell?" I watched in horror as the man pointed the gun at them and instructed them to get out of the car. With that, the phone was dropped onto the floor and the video quickly ended.

I quickly searched for another video, telling myself to keep breathing as I looked for a vid that was sure to show more than just the white van. I clicked on one further down the list and watched as a woman in uniform was grabbed from behind, the aggressor wrapping his thick tree trunk of an arm around her neck. I realized that the face of the woman was vaguely familiar; she was the one that held our ID's when we crossed hours earlier. I could feel my stomach drop as she was brought over to another one of the perpetrators who screamed about the piece of paper he was holding. I stopped the stream and tried to see what picture was that she was being forced to look at. I adjusted the size of the image, zooming as much as I possibly could without completely allowing the piece of paper to become distorted.

"Oh my goodness…" I gasped as I was able to finally make out the image that the woman was being forced to look at. I recognized the familiar face on the eight by ten piece of paper, making my legs shake as my nerves quickly got the better of me.

"Amber?" I closed the window as soon as the door creaked open, "You okay? You just took off on us and came back here without a word." I was struggling to stay calm with the feeling of a million ants biting my skin making me want to scream out.

"I'm…. I'm fine…" I try to breathe, but the sensation of drowning in a pool of fire fills my thoughts, "Amiee, can you go get Jane for me. Tell her I need her to come in here and take a look at something with me"

"Is everything okay?" She tilts her head and let's concern cross her face.

"No, everything just got more complicated."