Author's notes: was being a pain and wouldn't let me post anything, but I'm making up for it tonight. Special thanks to inu-midoriko for not tearing her hair out and sticking with me all this time! We hope that you enjoy this chapter.

The cold night air was unforgiving as she ran as hard as she could, as fast as she could from the men in black behind her. They were hot on her tail and if she didn't get them away from her soon she would be dead. Most likely raped first, then cut up into tiny little pieces and thrown in a dump in the back of a building. She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. She needed to concentrate on the task at hand. That being, loose the men and stay alive while doing it.

Her heart nearly stopped when they opened fire and just barely missed her ankle.

"Shit." she muttered and pushed on harder. She had no idea how long she had been running. Driving from Metropolis to Gotham wasn't usually a dangerous drive but when you see something you're not supposed to, you had better pray whatever god you believed in, that they were there to help protect you.

Coming to the forest on the outskirts of Gotham, she could have cried with relief. Dark forest meant it was easier to loose those guys and since they didn't have dogs, it would give her an easy advantage to get as far away from both cities as possible.

"Shoot her already!"

"I can't bloody see! She went in the forest!"

"Give this to me." Gunshots were heard as she just ducked behind a tree. One bullet still managed to graze her arm. They were shooting blindly, hoping at least one bullet got her. "There, if that didn't kill her I'll eat my shoes." hissed one man, but the tone in his voice indicated he was in less than a humorous mood.

When she couldn't hear them walk or talk anymore, she booked it further into the forest, cursing herself for forgetting her cell phone in her car.

She was cold, tired and scared out of her wits, so when she came to a campsite with two teens baring their wings, her eyes widened, her breathing became erratic and she hit the ground, the world lost to her for a moment.

Arianna rocketed to her feet. "Find SwiftSpy and Joshua." She told her pairbond. The order given, she walked towards the woman. "Don't be afraid Miss."

The woman's eyes brimmed with tears and when she saw another winged teen with a small boy in her arms, the tears spilt over her cheeks. Her fear and exhaustion finally surfacing. "Do-don't hurt me, please!" she cried and covered her face in her hands. Her arm burned from the bullet that barely missed.

"What is your name?" The Queen asked.

Her hair was platinum blonde, half of it pinned up, the other half down her back. It was obscuring her face now as she replied, "Courtney."

"There's nothing to fear from us." The Queen said soothingly.

"Why do you have wings?" her eyes were wide, her blue eyes shone from barely contained tears.

"We are Nephilim."

"What?" Clearly, she hadn't listened to the news.

"Humans that chose to give up our human identities in order to answer a higher calling to protect this city." She explained patently.

Courtney didn't say anything but her trembling lessened. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body slumped limply against the tree.

The queen sighed. "Shock. KnightHawk, how do your wings feel?"

"They're fine. Need me to take her to the people in our protection?"

"No, I'm not leaving her here in our territory, take her to the hospital and drop by the police. SwiftSpy, can you see if you can find out where the shots were fired? We might need to move again..."

KnightHawk picked up Courtney and flew to Gotham Hospital while SwiftSpy took off in the opposite direction where the gunshots were fired.

Returning to the fire, she built it up and shivered in silent fear.

When Courtney woke up, a police officer was sitting at her side. "Good evening Miss, you are in the hospital."

She looked around, her eyes widening. "Are they here?" she asked, fright in her voice.

"Who Miss?"

"The men in black. Please tell me they're not here."

"No miss, you were brought here safely by the Nephilim." He shrugged. "They are still skittish around humans, so they left after you were in safe hands."

Courtney sighed in relief and relaxed against the pillow. "Thank you." she whispered and closed her eyes for a moment. "What can I do for you officer?"

"You can tell us what you were doing out so late and help us figure out who attacked you."

"I was in Metropolis visiting my sister when I got turned around and witnessed a murder. I drove towards home here in Gotham. I hoped I'd loose them but they shot my tires so I ran for it. I came to a forest and hid behind a tree. It was dark out so they shot blindly; hit my arm and when they thought I was as good as dead they left. I went further into the forest and found the Nephilim. I don't remember much I do remember they weren't hostile at all. They were... nice."

"You most likely scared them. They aren't very trusting of people. We treated their Queen very badly, so they don't trust us very much."

"Trust me," she said and indicated to her tiny body. "I'm the least threatening thing they'll ever come across."

"Their Queen is like you, and the others follow her orders without question. You could have been a spy for all they knew."

"I'm not a spy." she said, sitting up.

"I know that, and you know that. They most likely don't think you are, but they've probably moved now just to be safe."

"Okay. I've told you all I know. What else do you want?"

"Just rest up and someone will fix your car and bring it to you."

"Okay, thanks."

The officer stood and made as though to leave, pocketing his notepad.

"Is there any way to contact them? I feel like I should thank them for not leaving me out there."

Stopping, the man looked back and shook his head. "They usually come to us. I can leave a note with the contact, but they might not answer."

Courtney nodded. "Alright. Thank you for your help."

In the Narrows, the sweeps were starting to show as the lesser criminals were slowly culled from the rest of the group like the domino effect. They were vanishing by the handful. At first, they were confident that the charges wouldn't stick, but somebody was digging in the skeleton closet and finding things that couldn't be explained away even with bribes.

"How many have we lost?" asked the Boss.

"Today, five more. Overall, seventy-two. Boss, if this keeps up we're going to go down."

The Boss' jaw clenched. "Leave me. I want to be alone. I need to think of a plan." his second in command nodded and left, bringing the lackeys out with him.

Enraged, the Boss turned to his computer with a furious gaze. No matter how hard they tried, this so called 'Queen' would always manage to slip between their fingers. It didn't help that Batman was on their side and help the girl escape on a couple occasions. He glared at the latest video shot of her flying away yet again. He played it repeatedly, determined to burn a hole through his screen.

There was no real pattern to her flights, and though she would land occasionally to note a detail or two, most of the time she stayed safe in the air. It appeared as though the Queen was giving the Narrows a fine-tooth comb, much the way someone would scope out an apartment.

The boss followed her movements and although there was no pattern to her flight, she did fly over the criminal's houses that were convicted of an indictable offence. Someone was giving her information and it had to be an inside person.

Another thing that was interesting was that one night she seemed to be very interested in the empty lots. The Queen would walk carefully around the space as though counting her footsteps to measure the space and seemed to be closely looking at the soil.

"What are you doing, girl?" he asked, rubbing his mouth before leaning in to look closer. She had a binder in her hands. When she turned her back on the camera, he got a view of the contents of the binder. He paused then enhanced the image. The page was full of pictures and notes of criminals. Binder was full, which meant she probably had dirt on every person in that thing, if not most everyone in the Narrows. "Someone is going to pay dearly for their treachery." he muttered darkly.

After seeming to skim for something, the Queen shook her head as she reached into her bag for something. Now kneeling on the ground, she apparently wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty as she planted something in the soil from a packet she'd taken from her bag before taking off again. Her lips moved then, and she looked a little sad. 'It's not finished yet, it's not time. Soon, we will be home.' He made out.

He played it repeatedly for two hours straight, trying to make sense of what surely only made sense to her when one of his underlings came into the room. "Boss... you're not going to like this."

"Did she escape again?" he asked without even looking up at the thug.

"Yeah but she had hel-" he was cut off by the Boss shooting him three times in the face before his body even registered it was dead and hit the floor. "The next person to tell me she's got away, is next on my hit list!" he screamed and everyone in the room bailed to try to do their damnest to capture her.

His second in command remained calm. "I wonder what she was promised in return for helping the cops…" He mused, ignoring the dead body on the floor.

The boss spun around and glared at him. "Why would it matter?"

"Because this lady is no batman. Batman does it and asks for nothing in return. Remember, we aren't dealing with a human." He frowned. "Have you noticed that every time a building is emptied out after the next group of criminals is put in jail, no one ever moves in afterwards?"

"Yeah, because no one wants their head in jail next. Superstition, James, that's all it is."

James frowned, clearly disagreeing, but keeping his mouth shut.

The boss shook his head at his lackey and waved a hand. "Leave me. I still have work to do and I can't do it with you hovering over my shoulder like an obsessive mother."

"I'll send someone in to remove the body."

"Do that. Oh," the boss faced him again. "And while you're at it, make sure she's captured. I'm sure her race and culture are growing by the minute. It would make it quite difficult if we were outnumbered. Its been what, a month since we got here? It won't look good for me if I make idle threats."

"We've seen only three including the Queen. Do you want her incapacitated?"

"I want her here, alive."

"Yes sir, I'll see to that." James said, already adding to those orders in his mind.

Meanwhile, Terry controlled his rage with effort as he stripped the blood-soaked pants the queen wore to better see the wound. "Can't you control her?" He snapped. "You know that she shouldn't be in the Narrows at all right now."

"You try telling her she's can't do what she wants. See where that lands you." snapped Chaos, pinning her down.

"Aren't you supposed to be her mate?" Batman knelt on her leg to control her twitching as he poured antiseptic into the wound. "This wound almost went in her butt!"

Chaos' temper took over. "Stop moving!" his voice turned feral and his strength increased but he wasn't hurting her.

When Arianna was still, having passed out from the pain, Terry cleaned the wound. "Why do you and Max look healthy and she looks malnourished?" He asked. "This will need to be sewn up."

"It's how her stress compensates. She eats just as much as I do, but her stress makes her loose weight."

Terry made sure the wound was clean before he started carefully stitching the wound. "Is it possible that she might have different dietary needs from the two of you?"

"I don't know. She's the expert in this, not me."

After Terry finished the stitching, he put a dress pad over his work. "She won't be sitting or lying on her back for a while." He said. "You have a very stubborn Queen who acts ten feet tall and bullet proof."

Chaos only narrowed his eyes, right now having no argument for it. She was hurt because she was stubborn. To say anything otherwise would be a lie. No matter how much he loved his queen, he vowed to be honest. "It's not your place to comment."

"It's not, but Terry would skin me alive if I didn't point that out."

"Terry can go shove it elsewhere." he hissed. "What are you, his damned lapdog? You take out villains the size of trees and yet you take orders from the likes of him."

"He is my friend and she is still family in his eyes." Terry snapped, heat in his low voice as he moved away to shift her so her head was in his lap. "You can put her pants on now."

Without saying another word, Chaos pulled Arianna's pants up. "She going to be okay?" he asked, exhaustion masking his voice.

"I'll need to see her again to possibly pull those stitches out."

Chaos nodded letting worry masking his face. "Thanks."

"Damnit Ari, you still keep getting your hand in the cookie jar and putting yourself last, I thought you would have grown out of that bad habit by now at your age." Terry said quietly in a gentle voice to the girl resting in his lap, stroking her hair affectionately.

Chaos frowned. "Excuse me? You sound as if you've known her all her life."

Realizing his error, Terry mentally cursed. "Can you keep a secret?" He frowned and added "Especially from your Queen?"

The Queen's mate narrowed his eyes. "Depends on the secret."

For an answer, Terry removed his mask.

"McGinnis?" for a moments Chaos could only stare. "Terry? What in the hell are you doing? Why haven't you told SwanQueen? She's your family."

"Shush! Keep your voice down." Terry snapped, feeling her stir and gently stroking her hair until she relaxed again. "I've been Batman for the past six months."

"Why haven't you said anything to her?"

"Because she cut me off, more or less, as Terry and it's too dangerous for her to know."

"How? If she knew you're Batman she might feel more inclined to let you help us."

He shook his head sadly. "Nope, Ari's too stubborn. Remember the first rules she gave you about cutting off call ties to human family and friends?"

"Yes... I see your point, but do you honestly think you can get away with that for long? Her mind may be occupied for now, but eventually she'll put two and two together."

"I doubt it since the work she had dedicated her life to will be something that will take her entire life to do, and even if she does, she won't say or do anything about it so long as I don't get in her way."

"Why do you want to help her so bad when she doesn't want to have any ties to you?"

"You could say its atonement. I was a very bad kid once, and she was one of the people I hurt. I think it's safe to say I'm one of the reasons why she distrusts humans so much..."

"Good going on that one." said Chaos with a slight sneer. "Will she need any pain killers?" he asked, switching the subject.

"I don't trust her with them, she's always had a very low drug tolerance, and we don't know what they will do to her in this form now." Terry said firmly.

Chaos sighed but nodded. "Put your mask back on before she wakes up. I won't tell her but if she asks me if I know who you are, I'm not going to lie to her. I love her."

Terry's light blue eyes narrowed as he put the mask back on. "Are you married? Is she pregnant?"

Chaos shook his head in a negative. "It's not called a 'marriage' it's called a Pairbonding. As far as I know, she's not pregnant. Why do you care so much anyway? It's not like you have to take care of the child."

"Because she is small to start with, plus, you have no medical care and neither of you know what is 'normal' for your kind during pregnancy. You aren't the only one who loves her Chaos."

A predatory look came over his eyes. "Don't overstep your boundaries Terry. As for medical care, we found someone. If it makes you feel better, we'll get her examined as soon as she's well enough."

Cocking his head, Terry looked annoyed. "She won't go for it, there's too much to do in her mind. Plus, that doctor would have to be part vet as well." He paused. "And don't even get me started on her needle phobia..."

"Then what the hell do you suggest I do?" he asked, his wings expanding from his repressed anger and worry. "She's not going to go for anything I say because at the end of the day, she's my Queen, I'm her faithful follower."

"You are her mate and she loves you. She almost came after you herself when you were captured, if Joshua hadn't been there, she would have knocked me out! How long has it been since the two of you had any time together?"

Chaos sighed and shook his head. "Alone and without fear? It's been weeks." Although he wouldn't admit it, he was flattered that she would have come after him herself when he went missing. His eyes softened as he gazed at her peaceful face. "It would kill me to loose her Terry."

"Why do you love her so much?"

"Besides the fact she's smart, independent, pretty and that she loves me too? I have no idea. It's hard to explain but over time I grew feelings for her as a person and they grew into love."

Terry's eyes narrowed. "I see… I'm not overstepping my bounds but since I'm the only family she's got left- even if she won't admit to it- I'll play the parent with a gun, I owe my Aunt that much..."

Chaos relaxed but said nothing. After a moment, he nodded in agreement. "Alright, fair is fair." he then sighed for what felt like the billionth time that day. "We need some sort of armor. I know I don't deserve any favors but do this for SwanQueen. Do you know- or know of anyone- who can make us something so we're not so... vulnerable?"

Gently, Batman picked her up and carried her to the batjet. "She isn't strong enough to bare that weight. Armor would make you less agile in the air."

"Make the armor lightweight then."

"Lightweight armor won't stop guns at close range." Batman replied. "Maybe you and Max could handle it, but the two of you are Warriors." When Chaos sat down in the back, Batman returned his cousin to her mate's lap before getting in the cockpit seat.

"Then she's no longer allowed to go out without an escort. I mentioned this to her before but she didn't take it seriously. Now that her life was almost taken again I'll be enforcing it as a rule."

Taking off, Batman nodded. "She's very hands on and Arianna has been on her own for a long time, even before her mother died. So she often forgets that she has others she can rely on now who will do what she asks and do it right without her watching them."

Chaos nodded. "Yeah... I'll get on that." he muttered and stroked Arianna's soft hair. "Why don't you let us really help you, my love?" he asked quietly.

In his arms, his Queen stirred. "Ouch... not again... I must work on that pain tolerance..." She muttered in pain as she woke up.

"Shh..." cooed Chaos. "Don't try to move, you'll make the pain worse."

"Where are we?" Arianna asked.

"We're in Batman's batjet. He's taking us back home."

"I can't believe this happened again... he got lucky." She snarled softly. "At least it was just my leg..."

"You're not going out unprotected anymore. You have two of us; you don't need to be going out alone. You can rely on Max and I to get jobs done without hovering. Trust us."

Sighing, the Queen cuddled in his arms. "I know that, I just wanted to protect the two of you."

He embraced her tighter. "If you die, where's the protection in that?"

"You are the only male Nephilim, and our sister's skills are too valuable to loose." The Queen pointed out.

"And you are our Queen with all the knowledge, guidance and plans. We're all needed, all very valuable but it would be unfair to stick one out to do all the work while the others always sat safely at home."

"The two of you do work darling." She defended her mate. "It's not like you are goofing around at camp wasting time."

"I know but I haven't gotten hurt once and you've been almost killed twice." Chaos sighed, frustrated. "That's hardly fair."

"Honey..." His Queen sighed. "I knew the risks and accepted them. And who knows what will happen in the future?"

"I don't care. Either we all have this equally distributed or I'll chain you down and Max and I will go, not knowing what's coming."

The Queen narrowed her mismatched eyes "You wouldn't dare."

"Don't put it past me." he countered. "You're loved too much to risk. Know that."

"The next thing you'll tell me is that you are going to get me barefoot and pregnant the next time I go into Molt." she muttered.

He leaned down with a feral grin. "You know," he said, his tone lowering. "I just might." he lowered his lips to hers in a firm kiss, letting her know he wanted her. All of her. Especially alive and safe.

When they got to the edge of the forest, Terry lowered the batjet and got out of the seat. "You can't put any weight on that leg for a few days." He told her as he picked her up.

"Other than the fact that it hurts, why?" The queen asked, tucking in her wings.

"If you try to walk on it, it won't heal right and you'll limp for the rest of your life. Not only that I'm not sure how you react to being shot. Obviously like anyone else, but you're Nephilim. It might take longer or quicker for your insides to heal. Chaos mentioned you have a doctor in mind. Have her start examining you to get a better feel of how you react and how you are."

"I limp anyway, and I heal slowly, but that's just my body type. Mother tested it whenever I came home with cuts, bruises and other nasty things."

"Your limp will be worse and painful." he replied. "It may be nothing new to you but trust me, when the pain becomes unbearable, you'll regret not staying off it."

The Queen just nodded, looking over his shoulder to check on her mate to see how he was handling this news.

Chaos had a serious look on his face but never once took his gaze off Arianna. The look in his eyes silently telling her that she was going to do as Batman says and not walk or else he would grab rope and tie her down.

Shaking her head in bemusement, she turned her attention back to Batman. "We moved the camp to the caves."

"Good idea. If it rains you'll have more shelter." he commented and carried her towards the entrance to the caves. "I mean it Arianna. Do not walk for at least three days."

"At least I can catch up on my sleep..." She muttered.

When Batman stepped in the cave a five year old jumped up, ready to use his sling shot when he saw Arianna injured. "Swifty wake up! Swan is hurt!" cried his little voice, still unable to say their full names.

Max shot up, about to go for her bow but stopped when she saw Arianna's leg. "SwanQueen!" she said horrified. "Are you okay? What happened? Do you need to go to a hospital? Was it those men again?" she asked all in one breath, worry obviously stretched across her features.

"I'm fine, they just got a lucky shot, I'll be off my feet for a few days." She shifted slightly in Terry's arms. "Almost got it in my rear."

Max facepalmed and sighed. She turned to Terry and narrowed her eyes. "You sure all she needs are a few days' rest?" she asked.

"Yeah, don't worry. I may be human, but I'm not an idiot." he said.

"One would beg to differ." her expression was serious for a moment before a grin broke her features. "Thank you." she said sincerely and took Arianna from him. She laid the smaller girl on her stomach on the cushioned floor so the wound wouldn't get irritated.

"You're welcome." he said and turned to Chaos. "Take care of her. I'll have Terry come visit her soon."

Chaos only nodded, saying nothing.

Arianna made herself comfortable as best she could, all the while calming Joshua down, who did not like the sight of her bloody pants.

"Why is there so much blood?" he asked, his eyes wide and his brow furrowing.

"Blood moves honey, just like the water does."

"Oh... does it hurt?"

"Not much sweetheart." The Queen lied.

The boy laid down beside her and stared at her face for a moment. "Are you going to the hospital?"

"No, I'll be fine Joshua, I already had it taken care of before I came back." She let the boy cuddle against her as was his habit.

Joshua sighed and nodded, trusting Arianna's every word. "Guess what I did today."

Amused, the Queen looked at the boy beside her, but was careful not to roll over onto her side. "What did you do today?"

A small smile graced his thin lips. "I shot a squirle today with my slingshot but it got away and then I helped Swifty skin a rabbit." he then giggled and put his hands over his mouth to keep from being too loud. "She was funny."

"Would you like to learn how to hunt better?" She asked gently. "I can show you how to really work with a sling."

Joshua's smile widened. "Okay. But only when you're better."

Arianna sighed, and then frowned in puzzlement before she looked to her other side to find her mate stroking her wings while her sister helped clean her up. "Knighthawk?"

"Yes?" he asked.

She twitched slightly under his hand. "Why are you...?"

"Does it feel too weird?" he asked but didn't let up.

"No but..." She shivered. "We aren't..."

"...Does it feel too good?" he asked and stilled his hands, giving her a questioning look but smiling for Joshua.

"Our wings are very sensitive; why else do you think that I'm so careful when I touch you or our sister when I'm tending to you? There is a reason why our wings are not touched by just anyone." The Queen answered, deliberately not answering the question directly.

A mischievous look passed over Chaos' face, as if he was saving the information for later at a better time. "My apologies." he said but kissed her playfully on the nose.

She shifted slightly between Chaos and Joshua and pillowed her head on her arms. "Apology accepted."

A week later, the Queen was in the home economics classroom again at the school. Still mindful of her leg, she was standing in front of the small sewing machine working on something instead of sitting. Max was learning how to spin yarn while Chaos was rolling the finished project into a neat ball. Joshua was sitting nearby and was learning how to sew under her watchful eyes. It was a peaceful scene of family harmony, and the Queen looked truly happy.

Their peace wasn't meant to last long because as soon the door opened, hostility could be felt before it could be heard or seen. "What are you doing here?" hissed Dana, anger in her eyes. Max instinctively went for her bow but when she saw who it was, she stopped herself. Chaos, however stepped closer to his Queen.

"I have permission to use this room today." The Queen replied calmly, not turning around. Only the slight movement of her wings betrayed her annoyance. "We weren't bothering anyone."

Joshua put down his things and got up to stand protectively in front of the queen. His slingshot hung from his belt in easy reach.

"Why don't you just leave, or are you so selfish that you'll ignore everyone else's discomfort to satisfy your own needs?" Dana crossed her arms over her chest, oblivious to the fact Max and Chaos were giving her looks that told her to shut up.

"If you had minded your own business and not poked your nose in here, you wouldn't know we were here." Her voice was calm with an edge of cold, yet when she addressed the boy behind her, her voice turned warm and loving. "Joshua honey, please don't stand so close."

"Why? I don't like her." he said stubbornly and moved up a step.

"Because you were about to brush against my leg, sweetheart." She answered, finishing the seam and finally turning around to pat the boy on the head. "It's okay, she can't hurt me."

Dana snorted and put all her weight on one leg. "And why's that?"

Max raised her bow. "Because KnightHawk and I will get to you faster than you get to her."

Dana raised an eyebrow at the girl she used to see as a friend. "Is that so? Well I'd love to see you explain that one to the Mayor. Especially since I'm so harmless."

"You started it." The Queen answered. "I asked for- and was granted- permission to use this room."

"And I'm telling you that you're making more than half the school uncomfortable." she hissed back.

"That's why I'm not here during school hours. This was important and I needed a few things to finish a few projects I am working on."

"Well finish up and get out of here." Dana narrowed her eyes. "We don't need you freaks crowding places you don't belong."

The queen narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. "Beloved?"

"Yes, honey?" he asked, his eyes trained on Dana.

"Please take Joshua out of the room, make sure he uses the bathroom."

He only looked at her but took Joshua's hand and led him out of the room. The boy quietly obliged although you could see the pout he was making.

"SwanQueen?" asked Max an eyebrow raised.

The Queen was truly angry now, and her wings folded tightly around her. "Finish your task my sister; we can at least finish one thing that was on my list today."

"Whatever, freak." she turned to Max. "Never thought you'd be one of them. It's too bad for you, since you won't be here much longer." Thinking she had won Dana was about to leave the room. However, Max's back straightened and in an instant, Max had her hand on the door, stopping her from leaving, and stopping anyone from coming in. Dana was about to scream but Max used her other hand to cover her mouth.

Enraged by Dana's rudeness, Max pushed her former friend back into the room and formally bowed to her Queen. "My Lady, would you please get some water and stretch out your legs? You've been standing in one place for a while and that is not good for your injury." The falcon-winged Nephilim spoke with the utmost formality and politeness.

Arianna's mismatched eyes were thoughtful as she nodded with equal formality in agreement. "Of course, thank you for thinking of me. I'll make sure the two of you are not disturbed. Please be careful of the coat I'm working on." Without paying any attention to Dana, the Queen left the room, shutting the door behind her.

When the door was shut, Max let go of Dana. "I honestly don't know why I ever thought you were a good friend." She said in disgust.

"Funny, I'm thinking the same thing." Dana replied, her dark eyes narrowed.

Frowning, Max leaned against the wall. "You never hated splicing before."

"You never liked it before either." she shot back.

"I didn't really think about it before I met her." She admitted. "Things are changing Dana; this city is going to get worse before it gets better." Looking over at the half-finished coat Max sighed. "At least she's doing something about it."

"You ditched everyone without even saying goodbye." hissed Dana, a hurt look over taking her angry facade for a moment. "If you think you're a saint and did everything you could to stop people from getting hurt then you're wrong because you failed to realize that the people you hurt are the ones you once called friends. Did I really deserve to be treated like I didn't matter to you?"

"Funny, my parents didn't care, and the only reason you ever hung around me was when you were ranting about Terry. Besides, I didn't want to get things thrown at me or shot at." She softened slightly. "You called my Queen a freak; do you really think I wanted you to call me that too? This was my choice Dana."

"I never just hung out with you to rant about Terry. You were my best friend, of course I'm going to share my problems with you." she crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess this just goes to show that even the best of us can turn on those you think you loved. You're not the only victim in this Max; don't act like you're the only one that's suffered."

"I never said I was the only one who suffered. I know I'm not, but you don't have any right to hurt her either or blame her for something that wasn't her choice. Life is already hard enough for her without you screaming at her."

"If she didn't want to be screamed at them she shouldn't come where she isn't welcome." Dana's figure shook from repressed anger.

"You were the one who poked your nose in here; you were the one who's making an issue. She didn't come in here to socialize or be worshipped! We've been here working for five hours and nobody's said a word. We didn't break in, Arianna asked the teacher if she could have use of the sewing machine for the day and the teacher said yes." Max replied, answering anger in her voice.

"What the hell made you turn to her of all people?" asked Dana, finally breaking through the quiet tone she was using to yell out her frustration. "Do you know how many people you've hurt by cutting all ties from them? This is frigging stupid and you're too blind to see that because I thoroughly believe she promised something that you didn't have before."

"She didn't promise me anything. I went to her- Earth and Sky, I cornered her- because I was sick of being taken for granted all the time, I wanted to do something useful and meaningful with my life. And before you ask, she put me through boot camp first and made me earn it, she didn't just say 'okay'!" Max snapped. "Contrary to what you might think, she doesn't take just anyone."

Dana looked like she was going to retaliate but she held her tongue. This obviously wasn't getting them anywhere. "Do you hate me?" she asked.

"No I don't hate you Dana, but you might want to be more respectful to her. She brushes you off, but her husband is another story. If you hurt her, I don't think I'll get to you first." Max said calmly as she put her bow away. "She's been hurt one time too many for our comfort."

Dana's eyes narrowed but she changed the course of the conversation. "Why does she come in here anyways?"

"She uses the sewing machines and the old loom to make clothes for the humans she protects."

At this, Dana's head rose sharply. "People? What people?"

"Have you ever been to the poorest sections of Gotham City? Aside from that community service field trip we took last year?" Max asked as she leaned her case against the chair she'd been sitting in before Dana entered.

"I've passed by it a few times... that's where her people are?" she asked with a curious eyebrow raised.

"That is our current territory and the humans within that area are under our direct protection. She makes their clothes with her own hands whenever she can." Max sat in her chair. "More than once we've caught her giving up her own meal and water to a family that hasn't eaten."

"That's terrible! No one's offered to hold a fundraiser to collect clothes and food for them?"

"From what I was told, it was done a few times, but the people were mainly in it for their own ego so it didn't last long. My Queen is their hope, she cares about them and they all know it. 'The rich and spoiled can fend for themselves, these people need us'. Those were her words."

"That's horrible." for a moment Dana had forgotten about her argument with Max and was about to talk about how she hated insincere charities but she stopped herself. "You know me as well as anyone. So you know that when I say I'll hold fundraisers for them, I mean it."

Max nodded. "I know that Dana." She sighed. "Believe me; I know you aren't that big of a bitch."

Dana glared at her at first but a grin broke out on her face. "Good. So, do I need her approval or can I just start my fundraiser?"

"You'll need her approval and backing. That's her territory, and it's all she has left since her mother died. Though there are plans in the works to move our territory- and the people there- to a better place, but that will take time... especially if she keeps getting shot at and hurt..."

Dana smiled nervously. "Yeah... doubts on her letting me anywhere near her place, let alone her people."

"Start with an apology and simple respect." Max replied. "If you can't respect her and show it, then the people won't take anything you offered. To them she is 'Milady' or 'Milady Angel' though the children can get away with just 'Angel'."

"Right... an apology. I can do that, but not now. The timing isn't right. Plus she's probably still angry with my outburst."

Two sharp knocks on the door and the queen poked her head in before limping in. "Sister, is everything all right?"

Max turned to her Queen and smiled softly. "Everything is fine, mi'lady." she said. "We've come to an understanding of sorts."

Nodding, the brunette made her way to the sewing machine where the unfinished coat was waiting for her to resume working on it. "The males will be back in a minute." The coat looked to be made of a handmade fabric that was clearly the best of her ability to create.

Dana bit her lip for a moment as she looked at Arianna's work and couldn't help but be a little impressed that she was going out of her way to make quality clothing. As much as she hated to admit it, her respect for Arianna went up... but only slightly. "I have to go, Max. I'll see you around. Good night, mi'lady." it took her everything she had to say 'mi'lady' but once it came out, it didn't seem all that lame. In fact, it suited her quite a bit. But she wasn't about to admit that just yet. Especially when she still didn't really like the girl.

"Goodbye Dana." The Queen's voice was coolly polite as she shifted her weight to her good leg. "Be careful on your way out, the jocks are rather rowdy since they haven't practiced enough to drop dead and be sensible."

At this, Dana smiled. "Will do." she left the room in time to see Chaos and Joshua make their way back. She turned around the corner to make her way out of the exit but as she was about to open the door, it opened and in stepped Terry McGinnis.

Terry was holding a shopping bag in his hand as he stepped aside to let Dana pass without a word. He didn't look very happy as he made his way to the classroom Dana was coming from, clearly not in the best of moods.

"Hey," greeted Chaos as they both neared the door at the same time, the winged teen and the child getting to the door first. Using the manners Arianna taught him, Joshua said hello and opened the door for the two older men.

"Thank you Joshua." said Chaos while Terry patted him on the head and trailed in after the older teen. When the two were in, Joshua shut the door behind them.

"Hey Terry, what's up?" asked Max with a smile.

Terry didn't answer right away, eyeing the Queen's rigid posture, assessing her temper and his welcome. "Bad morning Milady?" His voice was mild and polite to avoid sparking her anger further. "You shouldn't be on that leg, you can sit down now, just be careful in a hard chair."

Mentally smacking himself in the head for not thinking of that before Terry arrived, Chaos grabbed a chair and put it behind Arianna and gently eased her down while speaking softly into her ear. "It will feel better, mi'lady." he ran a gentle hand over her wings. "Your people won't approve of you working in your previous conditions," he ran his hand gently up the span of her wings, knowing exactly what it was doing to her. "So please, relax and work in comfort." one last stroke down and he took his hands off her and planted a loving kiss to her head.

Gingerly taking her seat, Arianna smiled at her mate with eyes that were slightly glazed over. "It was a good day until someone poked their head in and let all their brains dribble out of their ears to try and make us leave."

"Working on it." said Max in an off hand tone, more so focused on spinning the yarn.

"Dana tried to make you leave?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"She tried." The Queen answered sharply.

Terry narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

"Darling, would you answer that? Yes Joshua, I'm all right, the bad lady didn't hurt me." Arianna soothed the boy standing protectively next to her.

Joshua was touching her head and running his hands down her arms. "The bad lady yelled and called us bad names." He said before Chaos could explain things.

He turned sharply to Max. "How exactly are you 'working on it'?" he hissed, his already bad mood taking another turn for the worst.

"I made it very clear that the next time she starts disrespecting my Queen, I won't even try to save her." Max replied, looking up, the falcon-winged Nephilim smirked. "My brother wanted to take care of it, but I told him that I could handle her." Hearing Chaos snarl in displeasure, Max smiled at him. "Don't worry, you get the next round, I'll even let you barrow my some of my arrows."

"Whatever, you guys handle it." he went over to the nearest table and set down his bag. "I brought some greens fresh from the ground. I washed them and made sure they were edible before bagging them."

The Queen's head snapped up as the machine stopped, startling Joshua. Quickly getting up, she went over to the bag, her mismatched eyes all but glowing in greed as she took a nice head of lettuce out of the bag, sniffing carefully before tearing off a piece. "Thank you." Snarling a warning to the others, she ate almost half of the head before allowing them to approach the food Terry had brought them.

Terry took a step away. "Right... note to self, do not stand in the way of food." on another note, he was thrilled she was eating. Within a couple weeks, she would be back up to the weight she was supposed to be.

Full for the moment, Arianna folded her wings as the light of hunger faded from her eyes. "Very, very nice..." The Queen sighed in contentment. "Finally full of green good food..."

Max raised a brow. "Is that a normal reaction?" she asked. "To warn others away?"

Arianna sighed. "From what I read of mother's notes, every Nephilim's diet is slightly different depending on their Type. Even though you and KnightHawk both eat meat, each of you find a certain type satisfies you more than the others, correct?"

"Yeah." they said in union. "So it's like a territorial thing?" asked Chaos.

"Both of you can eat vegetables, but they will not fulfill your needs as quickly as meat will. This is because both of you are meat Types. However, I am not strictly a meat type. While I love seafood and find it satisfying for me, I also have to have green food as well, so I have a double craving that concerns my diet." The Queen explained.

Chaos' eyes widened. "Why the hell didn't you say anything before?" he asked. Terry frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm sure we'd all like to know that one. There's no reason to starve yourself." said Terry, his tone angry.

"You know as well as I do that human food makes us sick! I've been eating store bought vegetables, but it doesn't last long and I get sick afterwards. The only way that we would be able to have food that is completely free of tampering is if we grew it ourselves, but that takes time. As long as I have seafood, I can function -if slightly weakened. I know my limits."

"But you never told us that you weren't getting enough nutrients." said Max, he jaw clenching. "You avoid a bullet and yet you could have died from malnutrition. That's just frickin' great."

"There was nothing you could have done about it. I wasn't in any danger- yet." Her voice was toneless. "Our creator was very through in her testing."

At this, the three teens huffed and it was clear by their body language they weren't impressed she didn't share this information sooner.

"It would have taken two years, four months, and one week till I had nothing more to give. That was her estimate based in the testing she did." Her voice was still calm, talking about herself as though she was a test subject.

"You're not a test subject!" yelled Terry, catching onto the way she was talking about herself. "Christ Arianna, don't experiment like that. Let everyone know what hell you're planning."

"I wasn't planning anything. Telling you would have done nothing but either make you worry about me or push things in an effort to hurry things up, I was in no danger. Now if I wasn't eating seafood as well as greens, then that would have been another story altogether."

Chaos and Max sighed in union. Max pulled her aside into an embrace. "Don't scare us like that." she said but smiled warmly at her. "After all, who am I going to bother for more computer software if you're not around." she joked.

Arianna hugged back. "Sorry I snarled at you two. My instincts got the better of me."

"No worries. We probably would have done the same thing." replied the darker skinned teen.

"Are we almost finished here?" asked Chaos, looking at what Arianna was doing.

"I still have a bit to go. Our unwelcome guest put me behind, and I would really like to finish this today." Now she looked at Terry and frowned. "Why were you in a bad mood when you came in?"

"I did some snooping in your territory." he started. "Turns out there's a couple rats living there."

Arianna snarled again, opening her wings with a snap as her eyes flashed in temper. "They won't be there long. Do you have their names and locations?"

"Ellen Tyrol, Patrick Gucci, Bianca Latchy, Arnold Stick and Jason Lou. They live together in one of the smaller houses on the very edge of the corner when you first enter the village."

"Are they legal criminals or Nephilim haters?"

"They have their own individual criminal records, mainly for hacking and lock picking. Things like that. It's almost as if they've been hand picked to find information."

"I figured this would happen." She smirked. "We must be pushing the right buttons..."

"Max, if you can set up a bug, I can plant it. We'll know what they're after within days."

"I'll work on it tonight and have it ready for the morning."

"Thank you for the information Terry." Arianna looked calmer as she returned to her work.

Terry smiled. "Don't rip on them too badly." he said before he left and shut the door behind himself.