Heyy pps! sooo... random unconnected trains of throught worked last chapter apparently... yay! lol. so we're workin on gettin out of this hotel. I love hotels w/ free wifi. I think I said that, but I really really do. Me and my BF had an amazing anniversary. we got a free dessert. thats always awesome. But now my sibs and mom are sick... what a pleasant 7 hour drive we have ahead of us. ..... and no wifi in the car. :( anyhoo, thanks for the reviews. HOLY CRAP NEARLY 100 REVIEWS! I never thought thatd happen for any of my stories. THANK YOU!!!! you guys are soooo awesome I cant thank you all enough. O love you guys. XD

Thanks to::::: Ultimate freedom, Sharpest Satire, JamieKayHuntt, not- so- innocenmt011, Leah Hunter, (one 7 hour car ride later) xXGhOsTXx, Theeyeoftheteapot, Jeanna Maria7, Surreal27, and LiliaCupcake376 for all the reviews, faves, and alerts!!!

soo my family saw more famous ppl! They saw Prince and Paris Jackson. With an entourage of like 10 people. crazy, right? and I wasn't with them.

anyways, thanks for all the reviews, since with this chapter I'm going to top 100!!!! holy shit people thats soooo awesome. I never thought that that'd actually happen with, well, any of my stories. and thanks for all the happy anniversaries it was sweet. and my parents said it was irrational to celebrate early we got a free dessert! hell yes. anyways.... hmm.... you guys have dealt with a long enough wait, I'll write now!

Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter 13

"Oh hell..." I muttered, my pulse tightening and my jaw setting into a hard bone- grinding clench as I hurriedly called for the check. Simon and Derek didn't look happy with my request.

"We're still eating!" Simon said, looking down at his plate.

"Not anymore. The Edison Group is coming. With Ramon and Liam. Xavier and Liz are stalling but that's not going to give us too much time. We'll box it for later but right now we have got to GO." I snapped, shoving the amount of needed cash into the folder with the bill. They looked pancked, and didn't worry about the food, we jut got up and got the hell out.

We walked as fast as we could while trying to keep attention off of us. Our pace didn't slow for a few hours after leaving the diner, until Xavier told me that with some mysteriously slashed tires and engine problems, plus no maps or money, the Edison Group would be set back a few hours. Xavier was very proud of these feats, and vanished to continue the setbacks. He said we should probably keep going but we were at least three hours ahead of them.

By five in the afternoon we were two cities away and stopped to relax. I sat down on a park bench, and Derek sat down close to me. I smiled at him, and he returned with a small one of his own. Liz and Xavier had checked in an hour before, saying the Edison Group was still fixing the cars where they had been left but had found new maps and for the second time gotten more money. I thanked them for more than tripling the amount we'd had on us. They left us alone to watch the Edison Group, very happy with their appointed jobs. Apparently sabotage was an amazing hobby I should look into, at least Xavier says so.

"So, what do we do now? Run forever?" Tori asked, falling on the other side of Derek. "We have to do something."

"Like what? We have no new leads into Simon and Derek's dad. We left Andrew behind at the safe house. We have no one, have you noticed that?" I asked, leaning forward to lok at her around Derek.

"We could find them and end the Edison Group permanently." She retorted.

"Tori, we are four kids who barely know how to use their enhaced powers. They know more about it than we do. We're out numbered, anyways." Simon replied. She rolled her eyes.

"We've handled it before. Plus we have Xavier, who's now able to go all demon- crazy on just about anyone, and Liz is some more help. We can do something. Plus if we find more supernaturals we could shut down the whole group!" She said, getting ahead of herself.

"Tori, get real. Maybe we can handle them, but now they have werewolves." Derek said. "They won't be as easy as last time."

"Chloe could take one of them, I'm sure we could do something. I'm sick of being on the run when I know we could just end it with them!" she snapped. "We aren't as helpless as you guys think we are, we don't have to be running and staying three steps ahead! We've gotten stronger, they don't know about that!"

"And if they do? We don't know how many people they have, how armed they are, how close more of them are for backup, anything about any other resources, we just know that at least me and Derek are scheduled to be killed since we're failed experiments, you don't know what's changed about your status since you ran away too. We might all be pegged to get killed, is it worth the risk? Because if we are, they won't bother with trying to capture us. That's a little more serious than the threat of just being taken back to the lab where we wait for our next chance." I said, looking at her seriously.

"When'd you figure all that out?" Derek asked, looking a little surprised that all that matter- of- fact stuff had just come from me. usually that was his place.

"I've been thinking about it the entire time. I don't like running either." I replied. He nodded, and turned back to Simon and Tori.

"I don't think it's safe to stop running now. I think the best chances we have are to look for Dad, then get to his resources. Then we stand a chance." Derek said.

"I like that plan. Dad should still have all his connections that we can get to if he won't let us." Simon replied, smiling.

"You'd go around your dads back like that?" I asked.

"If we have to. I don't think we'll need to, though." he replied. "I just have no idea how to find him."

"We're on our way already." Derek said, which earned a wide- eyed stare from Simon and me. Tori looked a little less than thrilled at the thought of continued running, but having an actual destination made her happier. "I went through some old files on Andrew's computer. Found some emails from two weeks before we'd gotten there. I traced the address to a place in Pennsylvania. So unless it's a public computer at a library or something, we found him." He was smiling, a real smile this time, excited that he was going to find his dad.

Simon jumped and gave him a hug, which was strange, but understandable. We started walking after that announcement, and it wasn't long until we agreed to get to a bus station and ride the way there, and probably get a map. The ones Derek brought were fine, but not exactly great. And with the money Xavier and Liz had acquired for us, affording a bus to Pennsylvania would be easy. Now finding a good bus station was something else all together.

We walked at a normal pace, instead of the Olympic fast- walking pace we were at before. With the keys somehow disappearing from the Edison Group's now fixed and working cars, the only way they were getting anywhere was through hot wiring. Which I wouldn't mind hearing about, actually, if I believed that they'd lower themselves to do it or actually knew how. The others had laughed when I showed them the keys, very amused with this new prank of Xavier's. He bowed, pleased with his performance, and went back for more. I made a note to leave all sabotage jobs to him in the future.

We walked quietly, stopping to eat around six, and holing up for the night around eight in an old alley behind some huge company building. Simon and Tori were out within 15 minutes, and I sat up awake feeling for corpses. A few rats, which didn't please me, and... a bird, maybe? Pleasant... Derek shifted on my right, and looked up at me from where he lay.

"You should sleep. You're already missing more than a few hours." he said, taking my hand.

"No... theres..." I started, but he laughed quietly.

"You're still worried about a few dead animals? Be happy Xavier isn't here he'd be pissed with you if he knew. All the practice you've done with him would be wasted. You don't have to worry about them, Chloe, you have your summoning under control. I've seen it." he said, trying to gently pull me into laying down. I pulled away.

"That's when I'm awake. I really don't want to find some dead rats running all over me when I wake up." I said, turning away from him, embarrassed since he was right and I shouldn't be scared.

"You won't."

"You don't know that."

"Even if you do you can release them in two seconds flat. I've watched you do it, Chloe, you'll be fine. Just sleep. It's bothering me that you're sitting up awake." he said, again trying to pull me down. I shifted to lay down, not touching him but close to him.

"What's wrong with me being awake?" I asked, looking up at him from where I now lay comfortably curled up in a ball.

"You've already missed out on sleep by staying up to watch over me while I changed, plus with running, you need to sleep. You already know that I won't let anything happen to you." he replied, taking my hand again. "You know..."

I stopped him by leaving a small kiss on his cheek, then turning away from him to sleep. He was right, I didn't need to hear all his reasons, since he probably had plenty. And I was still nervous about the rats but he had a way of reassuring me that just turned my mind completely around. Besides, if he really wanted me to sleep he wouldn't keep me up by going through them all. I didn't need any more proof of how smart he was. He made it very obvious every day.

"You should sleep we're waking up early to go look for your dad tomorrow." I said, smiling as his arm snuck over my waist protectively.

"I know that."

Soo... what do you think? I feel like some artist because I want to say its done but I feel like I'm missing something and it is bothering the hell out of me because I can't pinpoint what it is. heehee they're still not together aren't you just dying for that to happen? because they so seem like they are but they're not!

hmm... I have a tentative new twist but I'm not sure what you'd say about it, since it's pretty far- fetched. but if I don't put it in this story just got a whole hell of a lot shorter. Like ends within probably five chapters shorter. which I dont want, I want to put it in, but its a pretty out- of- left- field idea. but I don't want to tell you! grr I hate this position. plus the ending just got strange. Maybe just make it a sequel? hmmm.....

Anyways, I hope you like it! I have to try and fix my internal clock now, since its almost midnight and school starts on monday. XC... dammit all. school.... chemistry.... worst subject ever I tell you.

Hopefully this won't be my last chapter ever. I have my first driving lesson tomorrow. On actual roads. with actual people. With speed limits of more than 20. I am so screwed it's not even funny. I can't keep the car going straight I might actually die tomorrow. I'm scared shitless right now. I am, really. So, in case this is my last post EVAR I'm going to say i love you all, and someone can pick up where I left off if they choose to. I'l have my boyfriend post my death so you know. If not, the story will continue! lol- no seriously its gonna be ugly.

so, lots of reviews! send me to my fate of driving happy, at least! lol TTYL PPS! (i hope)