(A/N: Merry Fucking Christmachannakwannzaka Beeyatches! Woot! I made out like a bandit! I got a new laptop! Which I wrote this next chappie on! WEEEEEEEEEE! I hope you all enjoy! With that said, ON WITH THE FICCY!)

Jayden stomped down 179th through the cheerless, seemingly constant Northwest drizzle wondering about what to do next. She hadn't really thought too far ahead about what she was gonna do next.

She knew turning around and heading home was out, as that would mean dealing with the CG characters made real once more, and she had no delusions about them feeling remorseful about their behavior and apologizing like in all those Suethor fanfics – that would be just plain gullibility.

Going to any of her friend's houses to hole up for a day or three was out. Mandie and Randi would be fine for maybe letting her stay for about two hours before their parents chucked her out on her ass. Lindsey…well, she wasn't even sure where Lindsey lived.

The same could be said for Valerie and Moose. Katrina was out due to her overly controlling psycho parents. And Alexa had so many brother's and sisters, that Jayden seriously doubted Alexa would appreciate the hassle factor.

So where could she go? Who did Jayden know that she was cool with and was cool with her that wouldn't mind Jayden crashing at their place for a couple days?

It would have to be someone older. Someone she trusted. Someone independent. Someone like…

Jayden mentally punched herself for being so stupid.

"Mischa!" she sighed as she reached the gas station at the end of the block, "Sheesh…talk about overlooking the obvious."

Now very damp from walking in the rain without cover, Jayden walked to the payphone and dialed up Charlie's girlfriend in Snohomish.

Mischa Dalton was 20 so she was older, not to mention Mischa was the only girl Jayden had ever approved of to BE Charlie's girlfriend, so there was a definite level of trust there.

There was also the fact that Mischa had been living on her own since moving out of the house at fifteen so she was definitely self-reliant…not too mention her apartments were on the bus lines into Monroe so Jayden could get to and from work.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

She knew Mischa would be cool with letting her hole up at her apartment for a few days…so long as Jayden made sure to pay her back for food, gas, etcetera later. Mischa may have been cool, but she wasn't stupid enough to let people leech off her.

After the phone rang three times, Mischa apparently accepted the collect call charges as there was a almost inaudible click followed shortly after by, "Y'llo?"

"Mischa? It's Jayden" she said tentatively, swallowing hard and hoping that Mischa hadn't grown her Mom gene yet as she continued, "…listen. I don't wanna go into all th' inky details, but can I hole up at your place for a couple days?"

"Sure thing, J.D." Mischa replied instantly, causing the teen on the other end of the line let a rush of air whoosh from her lungs, "It'll be fun. We can catch up and go clubbing and junk."

"Thank you so much." Jayden breathed, slumping to the ground out of sure relief, "Seriously. I don't know what it is about those exchange students, but they know exactly how to set me off. I've never been so wound up before."

"That bad?" Mischa asked, sounding a little surprised, "You've always been the Queen of Laid-Back." She chuckled, "They really know how t' push your buttons huh?"

"Let's put it this way - if I stay in that house for one second longer, I'll go on an exchange student killing spree." Jayden replied flatly.

"I getcha, I getcha." Mischa snickered at her end of the line, "So where ya at?"

"Y'know the gas station at the corner of 179th?" she asked, running her fingers back against her scalp, choosing to ignore how damp her hair was, "I'm right out front."

"Kay. Don't move. I'll be there in about fifteen, alright?" Mischa asked, the sounds of car keys jingling and a purse being shuffled meeting Jayden's ears.

"Kay." she replied.

"Have y' told Charlie yet?" Mischa asked, the sound of a door opening in the background not reaching Jayden's ear drums as her heart leapt into her throat.

"No." she said sullenly, "You know how he is. He'll just say, the exchange student thing was my idea and to grit my teeth and bear it."

"You have a point." Mischa chuckled as she thumped down the stairs, "Well, howabout this, After I getcha, you call'm while were on the road, kay? Then he won't be able to say no."

"I swear Mischa…sometimes I think you're too good for my brother." Jayden mumbled, shaking her head, "Seeya in a few."

"Later, Shortie." Mischa said smilingly, hanging up quickly before Jayden could give her usual retort of that she wasn't short, just vertically challenged.

Jack-O is weird, and he cannot lie
You other people can't deny
And when the man walks in with his nose misplaced
With it fallin' off his face, you say
Damn!
All those nips and tucks
Make the people say "What the fuck!?"

Charlie felt around his bedside table for his cell, in order to silence his sister's ring tone, one she had personally insisted upon. It was only fair after all. Jayden let him pick his.

Finally he stretched out too far and fell to the floor with a grunt. His brain, still muzzy with sleep, was wondered if Jayden was actually weird enough to try calling him while still in the house.

That just didn't make a lick of sense no matter how you looked at it. Apparently, he was tired enough to forget that that ringtone WASN'T his sister's at all, but one she had helped his girlfriend select; it had been a toss up between either Jack-O is WACK! or BEER! by Psychostick.

And apparently, the volume on his RAZR was loud enough to rouse Kyle from his room as the half asleep teen staggered into his room with sleep clogged eyes in order to help his brother find the cell so he could return to bed.

The electronic device in question was finally located buried under Charlie's jacket.

"H-h'llo?" he mumbled sleepily, choking back a yawn as he spoke as Kyle decided that the trek back to his room, all of five feet away was far to great, collapsing on the edge of Charlie's bed.

"Hey Sugar Lips." A snickering familiar female voice replied on the other end of the line, forcing Charlie into a state of pseudo-consciousness, "Is now a bad time?"

"Hey babe." He babbled drowsily, trying compel his sleep addled brain into coherent thought, "Naw, naw…anytime's a good time Mischa…so long as it's you an' not m' boss."

"Hahaha!" Mischa laughed loudly on the other end of the line, "Ahhh, you're so cute when your tired, love. Anyway, I'm gonna get right to the point. I've got J.D. with me, and I think I'm gonna keep'er for a day or four."

"Oh…okay. Wait-what?" Charlie said quickly as his girlfriend's words finally made their way from his eardrums to his cerebellum and into his limbic system, jolting him completely awake.

"Yeah, apparently she's gonna make exchange student stir fry if she stay in the house any longer." Mischa said casually, used to Charlie's overprotective freakouts by now, "So she's gonna chill with me for awhile."

"And how long is awhile?" Charlie asked, making a mental note to find out which student in particular had made his sister breakdown.

"Until she calms down." Mischa said brightly, "Whenever that is. You know you're welcome to come over whenever, but you can't force her back until she's ready, kay? There's really no need to worry. We'll have lots of fun, I promise."

"…alright." Charlie sighed, "I'll see you soon, babe."

"Later." Mischa said, hanging up as Charlie shook Kyle awake.

"Whuh-whazzup?" Kyle muttered blearily, staring up at his older brother bleakly.

"Time to go goober hunting." Charlie said, jerking his thumb towards the doorway, "One a those exchange assholes made J.D. cry…again."

"…y' don't say." Kyle said darkly, now fully awake as he rose to his feet. Not another word was exchanged between the two as they made their way downstairs, but their thoughts and feelings at that moment were mutual: "Someone was going to pay with blood."

The two entered the combination kitchen/living room, where the exchange students…and a few of their friends apparently, were milling about aimlessly.

"Alright!" Kyle announced loudly, announcing his arrival by punching the table, startling Rufus out of La-La Land, "Who's th' dead man who made her cry?"

The quote-un-quote "exchange students" had a look of 'damn…word sure spreads fast round hurr.' briefly flit across their mugs as Charlie looked them over one by one.

He had never looked more intimidating, the scar slashing it's way across the bridge of his nose far more prominent and making the twenty-two year old appear far more dangerous.

"I warned ya." Charlie said in a singsong voice, eyeing Reno up and down, sizing him up, giving thte Turk no delusions that he was thinking about anything other than how much force it would take to level him if necessary, "I warned ya what would happen if you made her cry again."

"I may have some issues about hitting girls…" Kyle said evenly, letting his gaze travel from Tifa, to Elena to Yuffie, "…but I'm sure I can get over them real fast."

"…what…do you think…you're doing?"

Charlie and Kyle visibly paled and turned to find their mother, tapping her foot and waiting patiently for an explanation.

"M-Mom…snot our fault!" Kyle stammered, ashamed of how intimidated he was by his mommy, "Th-they made J.D. cry!"

"Yeah!" Charlie chimed in, nodding vigorously in agreement with his younger sibling, "W-we just aren't sure of which one it is yet!"

"Upstairs." Mikayla ground out, jabbing towards the ceiling with her hand.

"But-!" The boys protested.

"Are you talking back to me? NOW!" Mikayla snarled, thrusting her arm at the stairway violently, "Or so help me god I'll siphon all the gas from your cars and donate your cells to charity!"

Charlie and Kyle rocketed up the stairs without another word.

Kadaj sprawled against the limb of a very tall, extremely old tree, resting his upper body against its trunk. He wasn't exactly sure how he had come to be in this strange place again, but it gave him time to collect himself at least. His sibings were otherwise distacted - how so you ask? Well...

Loz, after several tried and failed attempts, had given trying to gain Kadaj or Yazoo's attention and had taken to sulking in higher branches, occasionally firing off a round into the distance, face brightening slightly if he heard an explosion.

Yazoo, not caring in particular what world he happened to be in at the moment, had stretched out and fallen asleep over an hour ago. Putting up with Kadaj could be trying at times. Really, that boy needed to learn to take a pill.

With both of his siblings...otherwise preoccupied, this left Kadaj alone with his thoughts...all of which were rather muddled at the moment. Yes they were floating about his mind in a rather interesting soup at the moment.

"Alright...let's stop and think about this logically for a moment, shall we?" Kadaj thought to himself, leaning back slightly to stretch out the muscles of his back, "In order...I was on my way to Edge...crossed paths with my Brother...and for some reason, at the peak of our battle...I find myself flat on my back, staring at the ceiling of someone's room."

No matter how many times he turned it over in his mind, it just didn't make sense. Something was definitely afoot.

Kadaj had to wonder whether or not the one known as Rufus Shinra was behind it all. He definitely had the financial resources necessary to create a machine that might create an alternate reality...or perhaps...just an illusion within his own mind.

That thought infuriated him. The idea that Cloud, the traitor, and the ones he allied himself, could possibly be sitting around his cateleptic body somewhere while he lie there, hallucinating, instead of facing him in combat.

But...if the world in which he currently sat really was an illusion fabricated inside his own mind...it was a very good fabrication, even down the false semblences of pain.

Yes, the whole situation was vexing.

"This is a problem." Tseng said irritably, pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor, "We've no idea where she's gone or who she's been talking to."

"...is that really all you can think about?" Tifa asked exasperatedly, annoyed that once again, she was going to have to be the rational adult in this situation, "A girl has a total nervous breakdown right in front of you and all you can think about is 'we don't know who she's been talking to'?"

"Tifa does have a point I guess." Yuffie shrugged, stretching her arms over her head, "I mean, we've been watching her the entire time and when we were back in Edge, you had her under close surveilence. If she was gonna talk to anyone, she woulda done it by now, doncha think?"

"The fact still remains that we've no idea where she is." Rufus said simply, drawing a glower from Tifa, "That's step one. To find out where she's run off to. Elena? Go upstair and see if you can locate the Schwartz girl's cell phone. We can ask the people one her contacts list whether or not they've seen her recently."

"But don't you think we should wait?" Marlene piped up, gesturing at the full moon hanging in the sky, "It's pretty late. A lot of people will probably get mad that you're calling so late at night."

"She does have a point." Vincent murmured coolly from the family room.

"Very well then." Rude said agreeably, "We'll wait until tomorrow morning, then we'll track her down."

(A/N: The Turks and AVALANCHE locate Mischa, and somehow manipulate Charlie into driving them to Seattle to see her (koff-Jayden-koff), Loz plays follw the leader and goes after them (Yazoo and Kadaj begrudgingly go after him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself) Jayden and Mischa get ready to go clubbin' in Seattle. R&R!)