WARNING: One F-bomb is dropped in this chapter.

*This would have been up earlier but I finished writing the chapter and suddenly my computer DELETED everything. So I had to write it all over again. I was much happier with it the first time around but oh well. Enjoy.*

Okay so I hadn't thought ahead in terms of the whole "Let's load a bunch of people onto a bus" plan. It got cramped and stinky and…cranky, to say the least. But still, we got it done. It was nice to have a couple of extra bodies who could drive the bus, since Desmond was the only one in the original group who was able. It was also nice to have extra eyes. The scientist after Conlin, Lucy she told us to call her, was in an area surrounded by VHB and the extra eyes ended up saving my life. I was inches away from being stabbed to death. An unpleasant way to go as far as far as death is concerned. And the scientist after that had even more of those unpleasant dudes lurking about. It was enough to make a girl wonder if this was a coincidence, but I didn't care. We were coming up on scientist number twenty and none of them had turned up dead yet! It was a plus in my book. I was used to death but that didn't mean I liked running into it.

Scientist number twenty, Dr. Parker Abrams, was located near Lebanon, Kansas. It had only been a couple of days since we'd picked up Lucy and her Coders but, after being cramped all together, it seemed like a while longer. I was sitting, meditating, when I felt someone sit beside me. I opened a single eye to see Mollie smiling at me. "Whatcha doing?" she asked.

"Trying not to go crazy and kill everyone," I sighed. "You know, close quarters and all. Erm..no quarters actually."

Mollie gave me a pitying glance. "You're worried about your untapped powers."

"No," I scoffed. She continued to stare. "Well, yes, obviously. But that's not why I was meditating. It's the normal kind of 'kill people' I fear. Not the magical kind. Mostly." Mollie smiled. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be sitting with Astrid or something?"

"Well, I would but…" She jerked her head, signaling me to look across the aisle, a couple rows back. Astrid was sitting with Vanessa Conlin, flirting girlishly. Although, I couldn't be certain Vanessa had noticed. "Someone has a crush," Mollie gushed.

I shook my head. "You get way too much enjoyment out of this."

"Hello?" she giggled. "I'm not a follower of Aphrodite for nothing." She grinned. "Speaking of, aren't you and Erol all…cozy these days? I mean…I know you two…"

I nodded and tried to look out the window but I felt her staring into the back of my head. "Well yes we did…but…I just…"

"You feel guilty," Mollie supplemented. "Because of Gia?"

"No…and yes," I sighed. Sometimes talking to Mollie took a lot out of me. "I mean…because of the state she's in…I feel guilty having any good things happen. Not just Gia. Everyone. Once all this is over I'll be fine. I'll romance and party to my heart's content. But for now—"

Mollie stared. "You can't put off your happiness like that. There'll always be something going down. You of all people should know that. Shit happens and there's not always something you can do about it. So you have to take your pleasures where you can find them."

I knew what she meant but I wasn't feeling a heavy conversation. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Mollie scoffed. "In your dreams." That shut her up.

I just couldn't do the conversation anymore. The lecture. Daydream and David had been giving me the same basic lecture for a while, long before we'd attacked the testing facility. But I couldn't help it. I was goal oriented.

The bus stopped and Desmond turned around. "Alright, we're here." He pointed to a small chapel in the middle of nothing.

"What's over there?" a scientist asked.

Erol glanced at the small marker she was talking about. "Geographic Center of the U.S. We passed through here on our way to the testing facility." He then proceeded to look sad when he remembered that most of his team had died in that battle.

Carlton squinted at the sight. "What a strange coincidence that the half way marker for the U.S. be the halfway marker for our little journey." He gave a dopey grin.

I shook my head and sighed. "I don't believe in coincidences." Everyone stared at me for a moment. "Desmond, Erol, Tony, Astrid and Michael, come with me."

Michael furrowed his brows. "Me?"

"Yes," I replied. "Did I stutter?"

Michael shrugged, not getting up from his seat. "You just never take me in."

"Well I'm taking you now. Maybe I'll need your mind reading abilities. You ever consider that? You know…being useful?"

Michael gave me a hard look. It was the same look he gave people when he read their minds only mine was off limits. He hit the psychic wall and I could almost sense Jordan smiling, proud of his work. Michael shrugged again and got up to leave the bus.

Mollie pulled me so I was sitting beside her again. "What's going on? I hate to take his side but you honestly never take him."

I rolled my eyes and got off the bus. Erol stood waiting for me, like he was my armed escort, while Astrid, Tony and Desmond looked around for any possible attackers. Michael scratched his head looking a little concerned. I looked over my shoulder at Mollie and Daydream. "Keep your senses open. We may need back up."

Before they could question me I took my team forward. I walked quickly and with a purpose toward the little chapel in which our scientist was supposed to have taken refuge. Tony opened the door and I was immediately overwhelmed by the stench of death. Once the door was wide open we could see why. A young man lay slain on one of the four little pews and five men and one woman stood facing us.

"How nice of you to show up," a pasty and dark haired man said. "The lovely Mari at last. Good to meet the woman who is my only opposition."

I cocked a brow and tried not to let the revulsion I felt show. "How nice to meet someone I've never heard of nor cared about. Lemme guess, you killed all of my scientists the first time around." I saw Desmond and Erol poised to pounce and noticed why. "Oh, and Brandon. Nice to see you sober. You hurt a friend of mine."

Brandon allowed his confusion to show. "Hurt?"

"Seems your one kill wasn't one at all," the other man snarled, making Brandon look nervous. Interesting.

"No, in fact, she's going to be just fine," I said with confidence I didn't entirely feel. But the way I said it kind of reminded me of Gia and Daydream when they know what's going to happen. That obnoxious I know something you don't know kind of way.

"How did you find us?" Astrid growled. I could tell it was taking everything in her to not attack these people.

I glanced at Astrid. "I've told you not to worry about that." She gave me an incredulous stare. "So…gosh, I don't even know your name."

His lips curled into what I can only assume was meant to be a smile. "Damien."

I nodded. "Kay. So Damien…how's the hunting been going?" I grinned.

"Funny you should ask," he replied through gritted teeth. "Not so great."

"Why are we just talking like this?" Tony shouted. "What, are you going to passive aggressive him to death? How the hell did you know we were here?"

I shook my head sadly. "I told you not to worry." I looked at Michael. "You should probably go join your real side." My team froze as did Michael.

"What?" he scoffed.

"I know you're the one who leaked our list both times. My guess is Damien here is also a follower of Odin." Michael's eyes widened.

"You fucking traitor," Astrid screamed, lunging at Michael. Desmond and Tony just barely stopped her in time. "We fought side by side and you—"

I felt a power within me surge and a tendril of it reach out to Astrid. "Calm," I ordered and, much to my surprise, she did. "Michael, it's probably in your best interest if you move over toward your real team."

Damien shook his head in disgust as Michael scrambled to join him. "What have you done with the scientists?" Damien demanded.

Michael stared. "You didn't get them?"

Brandon shook his head. "They were gone before we got there."

Michael gave me a funny look before he realized what I'd done. "You…that's why Daniel hasn't been with us."

My team looked curiously at me. "More or less. He's been done for like a week now. He's been helping Paine get medicine since then."

"How did you know we'd start from the end?" Damien demanded through clenched teeth.

I shrugged. "I didn't. I've also had some very powerful warriors patrolling our path keeping an eye out for your people. I suppose you've noticed your numbers thinning."

Michael became agitated and growled, "Boudicca and her warriors. Dammit!"

"See, what I don't get is why you did it."

Brandon scoffed. "I told you I couldn't stand to see these monster live—"

"Not you," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I was talking to Damien."

Brandon gave me a haughty look. "The same reason as me, you idiot."

Damien pursed his lips then sighed. "Oh Brandon…you're no longer of use to me." Before Brandon could question this statement there was a needle in his neck. He gasped in pain but was soon enough seizing on the floor. He began foaming at the mouth and gasping for air but died fairly quickly. I never really looked at him. My eyes stayed on Damien. He gave a grim smile and signaled to his crony closest to Brandon to hold up a little vial. "Curare," he explained.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. I've seen it in use before. But that doesn't answer my question."

Damien sighed and gave me a patronizing look. "I'm not some villain you're going to get to monologue about his big bad plan. I'm not even the one in charge. Hell, I'm not even really here."

"I figured as much," I sighed. And I had. Something about him hadn't seemed intimidating. "Astral projection?"

He nodded, seeming quite proud of himself. "I taught myself how to do it. Took most of my teen years."

"I'll bet. Time well spent not getting laid." I heard Astrid and Tony snicker but Erol and Desmond seemed to move closer to protect me. Like he could do anything.

Damien glared then shrugged, conceding the point. "Alright, I will tell you one thing. You wanna know why I chose to work with Brandon and his supremacists?" I shrugged. I guess I kind of wanted to know but it wasn't a big concern, especially now that he was dead. "They created such wonderful chaos and chaos is a brilliant way to create order." He smiled then looked to the people on his side. "Kill them," he ordered lazily before he disappeared.

Kill them? He wasn't even man enough to take me on himself? Bastard. My friends took fighting stances but I didn't care. I took charge of the situation. It was just instinct. The chapel began to shake.

"Oh shit," I heard Erol gasp.

"I'm getting Daydream," Desmond shouted.

I didn't care. I took a few steps forward then stopped. I put my arms out at my sides with my palms facing the three men and the woman Damien had left behind. My body felt charged so I simply released. Electricity. Retrospectively, it was a scary sight but at the time…I felt distant. Numb. I watched as the men and woman were electrocuted in front of me. It was fairly quick and soon I turned on a terrified Michael.

"Please Mari," he begged. "I'm sorry, don't hurt me. I was just following orders."

"So were the Nazis," I scoffed, in a voice not like my own. "Why is Damien doing this?"

Michael shook his head so I held out my hand and, without touching him, began to choke him. Erol grabbed my shoulders. "Mari, love, snap out of it. C'mon."

"Shit," Astrid began repeating, in a panic.

"Why?" I demanded.

"I don't know," he gasped, clawing desperately at the intangible hands that choked him. "I just did as I was told."

I heard my team talking worriedly but didn't care. "Told by whom?"

"WHO DO YOU THINK?" he choked out, turning colors.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Daydream looking into my eyes. "Mari, honey. Let go."

The next thing I knew…I had fainted. I woke up in the back of the bus with my head on Erol's lap, Daydream at my side and Mollie holding my hand nervously. I asked what happened and they told me about what I had done, of which I had a vague memory. Basically my electrical attack had gotten a little out of control and set fire to the chapel. Astrid punched Michael, knocking him out, and left him there as they carried me out. She believed he should die, she just didn't want me to stain my hands any further by doing it.

I had burned down a chapel.

I had killed four people.

I was dangerous.