Hello, my loves! To the person who "kindly" told me that I was going to miss another month (what am I, pregnant?), it's leap year. I accounted for the extra day. Plus, I wanted to give you all a longer chapter. Enjoy, my loves!

Chapter Forty-Four

No, literally. Everything just… stopped.

The doctor, nurses, and the police officer were all frozen in place, stopped mid-movement. Even the active spark at the end of the cop's taser was stuck halfway through its arc. Sarah's heart monitor — which had been beeping erratically in the background — went completely silent. Every breath Jim took seemed to echo in the still room, through the still air.

But that wasn't the only sound in the sudden silence. Ellie's little growl was still emanating from her throat as she continued to snarl at the now frozen officer. For a moment, Jim thought Claire was frozen too, but then she sucked in a huge gasp and turned wide eyes onto the angry baby in her arms.

"El…"

"She stopped Time," Jim guessed, his heart pounding at the unnerving silence and stillness. Turning back around, he found that his sister was actually stopped, as well, her wet and red eyes wide and staring, her mouth hanging open and her arm outstretched toward where his back had been turned to her.

"Ellie," Claire spoke in a soft, but firm voice. "Baby, you have to stop your magic."

"No!"

"Eleanor Juliet Lake," Claire started, her voice and expression stern, but Jim stopped her.

"No, wait," he said, stepping forward and scooping his grumbly daughter out of her mother's arms. Claire let her go, looking up at Jim curiously. Silently, he nodded his head toward the frozen Sarah, tucking Ellie against his hip and raising is hand to wipe the blood from her mouth. "Pumpkin, Daddy needs you to make Aunt Sarah move. Just Aunt Sarah — no one else. Can you do that?"

Ellie stopped growling, cocking her head to the side a little, glancing between him and her aunt. After a moment, she lifted her hand and reached forward, trying to touch Sarah's frozen figure. "An-Sa."

Jim stepped forward, bringing the baby closer to his sister, and Ellie gently grabbed one of Sarah's fingers on her outstretched hand. Immediately, Sarah lurched forward, brought back into her own flow of Time, and then she gasped, jumping in fright when she saw that he and Ellie had — to her own perception — disappeared from where they had been and reappeared directly in front of her.

"Wha—?" she started, her eyes darting around frantically and her breathing becoming panicky. "How did you—?"

"It's okay," Claire soothed, rushing forward to pull Sarah's upper body into a light hug. "This… this is Ellie's magic. She can manipulate Time, but… this is the first time she's ever done it consciously."

"She… stopped Time?" Sarah asked in a breathless voice, leaning into Claire's hug, all the while carefully taking in the unnatural stillness around them. "But… we're moving."

"You weren't," Jim said, glancing pointedly to where Ellie was now gently chewing on Sarah's finger, which she still had hold of. "She stopped everything, but herself, Claire, and me. I had to convince her to wake you."

"But I don't think she'll be able to maintain this for long," Claire added in a worried tone, gently pushing Sarah back and grabbing her other hand, carefully working on removing the IV line. "She'll get tired. We have to get out of here."

As if on cue, Ellie let out a huge yawn, showing off her still bloody baby teeth. The air seemed to shimmer around them, and Sarah's heart monitor beeped out a single pulse, the line across the screen jumping once, and then froze again.

"No, no, no, no, no," Jim murmured frantically, bouncing Ellie in his arms with just enough force to annoy her awake. She let out a little growl, glaring up at him petulantly. "You have to stay awake, baby. Stay awake, okay? Just for a little bit."

"Can you stand?" Claire asked Sarah urgently as she freed her from the IV and then threw the blankets back to reveal Sarah's bare legs, her loose hospital gown ridden halfway up her thighs. Claire took hold of Sarah's ankles, pulling her legs over the side of the bed.

"I… I don't know," Sarah replied, her voice shaky and thick, like she was on the verge of tears again. She pushed herself forward, her feet hitting the floor, but when she went to hold her own weight, she crumpled to the floor weakly, her legs splayed out underneath her like a newborn giraffe.

"Here, take El," Jim said to his mate, passing the baby into her arms. Ellie fussed and grumbled at being transferred, but at least it woke her up a little more. Once his baby was safely in her mother's arms, Jim bent down and scooped Sarah up into his arms, carefully keeping her gown closed in the back by trapping the loose fabric with his arm. "C'mon, let's find Mom and Pops and get back home as fast as we can."

"I'm sorry," Sarah whispered in a hoarse voice, wrapping her arms around Jim's shoulders and tucking her face into his neck. "I'm so sorry."

"None of this is your fault, Sare," Jim assured her, silently following his wife from the room, while trying to manipulate his way around the door, walls, objects, and people without bumping into any of them. He didn't know if any of their touches would be enough to bring anything or anyone out of the stopped flow of Time, or if only Ellie could manipulate the flow, but he did not want to risk it. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I've dragged you into such an insane life."

Sarah gave a watery snort into Jim's neck, her arms tightening around his shoulders as she let out a small, hiccuping sob. "Like it wasn't crazy to begin with. Wha… what's gonna happen now?"

"That depends on what you want," Jim murmured back, turning his head slightly to nuzzle her cheek. At the same time, he accidentally bumped her feet against the arm of a nurse that they were passing and froze in fear for a second. When nothing happened, he relaxed and kept walking, whispering comfortingly to his sister. "We have a plan, but I won't tell you what to do. It's entirely up to you."

"But… Mom and Dad…" Sarah whimpered. "I… I have to… there's so much to do."

"I…" Jim started, his throat tight in emotion. "I don't know how safe that will be… now."

"I can't leave them alone," she cried softly, her whole body trembling in his arms.

Jim tightened his hold on Sarah, his eyesight blurring with more tears. "There's no-nothing we can do. They're gone."

Sarah shook her head, her face still pressed hard into his neck, and all he could do was hug her tighter and apologize again and again under his breath. After another minute of following behind his wife and trying vainly to comfort his distraught sister, they turned a corner, and then jumped back in surprise as they saw several people in military garb frozen mid-march up the middle of the hall — and at their lead, a hostile and determined sneer on her face, was Krubitz.

"Oh, God," Claire gasped, clutching Ellie to her protectively, despite the enemies in front of them being stopped in Time and unable to react to their presence. "I should have killed that bitch when I had the chance."

"Wh-wha…? Who i-is she?" Sarah hiccuped, lifting her head slightly to reveal her teary eyes and snotty nose. Jim resisted the urge to lick her face clean, like he would have his daughter, knowing that his sister definitely would not appreciate the action.

"Someone we don't want to find us," Jim growled, irritated and stressed. In Claire's arms, Ellie whined, sensing her parents' nervousness. "How could she have gotten here so fast?!"

"It doesn't matter," Claire replied, shaking her head as she turned, shifting Ellie to her hip and grabbing Sarah's dangling, bare feet with her other hand to help guide them past the soldiers. "We just need to get home, and we'll be safe."

"Seep," Ellie whined, sticking her thumb in her mouth and sniffling tearfully.

"I know, baby," Claire cooed, letting go of Sarah as soon as they were clear of the soldiers and shifting the baby back into both arms to cuddle and nuzzle comfortingly. "I know. Just wait a little longer, okay?"

"There's Mom and Pops!" Jim gasped in relief as they came upon the visitor's waiting room and saw the frozen forms of Barbara and Strickler. They seemed to be in deep conversation with another man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was tall, lean, and slightly muscular, standing at least half a head taller than even Strickler, with shaggy blonde hair that fell down to his shoulders. He was wearing a plain, white t-shirt with an unbuttoned red-plaid, long-sleeved shirt on top. Basic, warn work jeans and regular, tan work boots accompanied the rugged look. If you threw a guitar in his arms, he might pass as a Kurt Cobain impersonator.

…which was apparently not lost on Claire, as Jim felt her spike of attraction, and then embarrassment. He couldn't help but laugh, to which she threw a harsh glare at him, her face red. "I think that's Anson."

"Don't you dare tell him," Claire warned, her face becoming redder and Jim laughed again.

"Wh-who is Anson?" Sarah sniffled, looking at the man in confusion, but also with a slight blush. "And is that old g-guy your step dad?"

"Anson is a friend," Jim assured his sister. "And, yeah, Strickler is my step dad. Well, he would be, if he could get the nerve up to ask Mom to marry him. But Blinky — you haven't met him — is more of a dad to me than anyone else."

"Wake Grandma and Papa up, El," Claire urged the tired and grumpy baby gently. She stepped closer to Barbara, letting Ellie reach out to press her tiny palm to the woman's shoulder. Immediately, she came back to life, continuing to speak as if she had never been stopped.

"…is an insane plane, and I can't let you— oh, Jesus!" Barbara jumped back as she became aware of her surroundings and the fact that they had all just seemingly popped up out of nowhere in front of her. "What the— how did you—"

"Can't explain now," Claire interrupted, moving over to Strickler and encouraging the baby to wake him too.

"—can't expect her to abandon everything she knows to— Deya's grace!" Strickler gasped, startled and jumping in the same manner as his girlfriend, and Jim realized that it wasn't so much an in depth conversation they were having, so much as a three-way argument. Apparently, Barbara and Strickler did not agree with the plan that he and Claire had conjured with Anson. "How did you—?"

"We'll explain later, but we have to get out of here now," Jim interjected, nodding his head in the blonde man's direction. "Is that Anson?"

"Yes, but—" Barbara started, rushing forward to futilely try and pull Sarah from his arms. "Jim, you cannot take her from the hospital! She needs—"

"Krubitz is up the hall with a horde of soldiers," Jim replied in a hard voice, stepping back and tightening his hold on Sarah. Claire had Ellie wake Anson and was now quietly and quickly explaining a basic run down of the current situation to him and the intently listening Strickler. Jim saw the defiant look on his mother's face, however, and knew that another fight was on the way. "Ellie can't keep Time still for much longer — it's too draining on her. We have to go."

"No!" Barbara insisted, her face red and her hands clenched at her side. "As a medical professional, I cannot allow Sarah to leave the hospital. She is still under treatment! She's still—"

"Then I suggest you raid the pharmacy while Time is still stopped and get whatever you think she'll need," Jim said, leaving no room for argument. His mother looked up at him in completely shock, and even Sarah tightened her arms around his neck, whispering his name worriedly. "Well?"

"You're not serious?!" Barbara replied, her voice hoarse with shock. "You can't—"

"I can, and I will," Jim insisted, drawing himself tall and glaring his mother down, silently daring her to continue arguing. Barbara — being Barbara, of course — took a deep breath to steady herself, but glared just as fiercely back at him.

"James Andrew Lake," she started in a deadly quiet voice, but she didn't get the chance to say anything else before Ellie let out another wide yawn, and the air shimmered around them again. The TV bolted on the wall flickered, the sports announcer on screen reading off the football score before freezing in place again.

"Barb, please," Claire begged, bouncing Ellie in her arms to try and wake her up a bit more. The baby just whined, her eyes brimming with frustrated tears.

"I…" Barbara's voice faltered as she tried to respond, her defiant expression crumpling. After a few seconds, she swallowed thickly and cast her eyes down. "Okay. Give me a few minutes."

"Hurry," Jim said, allowing his voice to soften. His mother nodded, and then rushed from the room and down the hall.

An awkward silence ensued, which was lifted only slightly when Anson stepped forward with a strained, but kind smile directed toward Sarah. "Hello, Ms. Lake. My name is Anson."

"Hi," Sarah replied in a quiet voice, tightening her arms around Jim's shoulders and neck again. "You can call me Sarah."

He nodded, tilting his head slightly to try and catch her gaze. "Thank you, Sarah. Has your brother explained to you who I am, and why I am here?"

Jim shook his head, even as Sarah murmured a quiet no in response. Continuing, Jim added, "I didn't really have time. She only just woke up, and then everything kind of went crazy."

"I see," Anson hummed thoughtfully to himself. He glanced briefly to the hall, and then toward Ellie, who was fussing and yawning, despite Claire's best efforts at keeping the baby awake. Looking back toward Sarah with his kind smile again, Anson explained softly, "I understand that you're going through a lot right now, but your brother and sister-in-law asked me to come, because I may be able to help, at least in part."

"Are you a psychiatrist or something?" Sarah sniffled, her voice slightly accusatory.

"Not at all," Anson replied in a reassuring voice. "I am… well, I'm a lot like your brother."

"…you're a troll too?" Sarah guessed, peeking up at Anson, curious despite herself.

"A Changeling, yes," he replied, nodding. "Of the same breed as Jim."

"There's different breeds?" she blurted, and then blushed, hiding her face in Jim's neck again.

Everyone laughed a little, the tension in the room easing, and Anson reached forward to gently brush Sarah's hair back behind her ear. "Yes. We are of the Huldufólk. I can tell you more later, if you'd like?"

Blushing, Sarah nodded. "Okay. I'd… I'd like that."

Jim glanced toward his wife, a barely contained smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he caught her amusement. Strickler had taken hold of Ellie and was bouncing her in his arms and talking to her to keep her awake. They like each other, Claire mouthed back to Jim, and he bit his lip against another laugh. Thankfully, Anson and Sarah seemed too absorbed in each other to notice the exchange.

"Okay, I have everything," Barbara panted, rushing back into the room with a large duffle bag slung over her shoulder, breaking the slight silence before it could become awkward. "But I want you to know that I do not approve of this."

"Of course you don't," Jim sighed under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"Jim—" Barbara started again, her blues flaring in temper, but Claire interrupted, her voice and expression becoming urgent as she took Ellie back from Strickler.

"There's no time," she said hurriedly, lifting a hand to grasp the transportation charm dangling on the thin chain around her neck. "As soon as we transport back home, I think Ellie's hold will break, even if she manages to stay awake."

"Seep," Ellie insisted once more, and everyone laughed at the petulant, little voice.

"Okay, everyone grab onto each other," Claire continued in a quick voice, and everyone grabbed hold of each other's hands, or gripped shoulders. Anson had gone to grasp Jim's shoulder, but Sarah released one of her hands from around Jim's neck and caught the man's hand in hers. He blinked, surprised, and then his cheeks turned red. He did not, however, release her hand.

In a flash of blue light, the hospital disappeared from around them, and when it cleared again, they were all standing — with the exception of Sarah, who was still in Jim's arms — in the kitchen area of Jim's and Claire's cave.

"Deya above!" Toby gasped, jumping back and dropping the small, canvas sack full of salty niblets that he'd been munching out of. "Warn a guy next time!"

"You really must teach us this magic of yours!" Krel's voice rang out, and they all jumped and turned to see the boy in his glowing alien form, a bowl of cereal held in one hand, a dripping spoon halfway to his mouth. "It is the most fascinating!"

"What is that?" Anson gasped, eyes wide as he stepped back in shock after Sarah had released his hand.

"Excuse you!" Krel replied, waving his spoon around indignantly and flinging orange juice (was he seriously eating cereal mixed with orange juice?) everywhere. "I am King in Waiting of Akiridion-5!"

"Oh," Anson said faintly, furrowing his brow in confusion. "I… I'm sorry, but I don't know that pack."

"Pack?" Krel repeated, his expression becoming just as confused as Anson's.

"Krel is from another planet," Jim explained quickly. "He and his sister and a few other family and friends are visiting for a while."

"Another planet?" Anson gasped, his eyes darting back and forth between the alien (sorry, interplanetary being) and Jim.

"Yup, it's crazy town banana pants," Toby interjected, nodding seriously, and then he slapped a friendly hand on Anson's shoulder. "Just go with it, my friend. By the way, who're you?"

"Er… I am Anson," Anson replied, still looking more than a little stunned.

"Oh!" Toby exclaimed, snapping his fingers in remembrance. "You're that Changeling dude that works undercover, right?"

Anson turned to Jim with an upturned eyebrow and a glare, and Jim shrugged, laughing weakly. "Anson, this is Toby. He's my best friend."

"Clearly," Anson replied, sighing in resignation and rolling his eyes.

"I need to get an IV back in Sarah," Barbara interrupted, un-shouldering her duffle bag. "Can you put her on the couch?"

"Yeah," Jim agreed, maneuvering his way around the various people gathered in his kitchen, only to find more people gathered in his living room. Nana was seated on one side of the couch, her head thrown back and snoring loudly, the corner of her mouth glistening with a little bit of drool. On the other side of the couch, Steve and Aja were a mix of human and glowing blue limbs, wet sucking sounds coming from their connected mouths. "Come on, guys. Don't you have any decency? Go make out in the pub or something."

"That's a public place," Steve grunted, he and Aja breaking apart with a laugh. Strickler cleared his throat from behind Jim, and Barbara raised an eyebrow at the teens. Steve proceeded to turn bright red, while Aja's bioluminescent glow brightened enough to cause everyone to cringe back from the brightness. "Er, sorry."

"Darci would not let us do the making of the out in the infant's room, even though the infant was not there!" Aja replied, her voice incredulous and slightly accusing.

Darci, calmly seated on the floor with her back against the wall, and reading from the thick book of Shakespeare's plays that Claire kept on the shelf, spoke clearly, without looking up. "You're damned straight I wouldn't. Poor kid doesn't need her room defiled by you two making your own kids."

"Oh, that could not happen without some of your Merlin's blood magic," Krel interjected in a helpful voice. "We do not reproduce the same way humans do, remember?"

"Er… yeah, let's not talk about this, okay?" Steve said in a high-pitched, embarrassed voice, his face extremely red.

"Besides, we are not even bound by either human or Akiridion laws yet," Aja said, waving her hand dismissively. "As Queen in Waiting, Steve would have to pass the 5 Trials of Elbane."

"The what?" Steve asked, some of his red receding and giving his girlfriend a confused look.

"Discuss your love life later, please," Claire said, absently rocking the now fast asleep Ellie in her arms. "And get off the couch. Sarah needs it."

"Who're you?" Steve asked bluntly, cocking his head to the side to eye Sarah curiously. "You look familiar."

"I've never met you," Sarah replied in a subdued voice as Steve and Aja vacated their space on the couch, and Jim set his sister down carefully. When he stepped back, Barbara took his spot, already preparing several syringes. Beside her, Strickler pulled out a collapsable IV pole and went about setting it up, also pulling out a saline bag and some tubing.

"You sure?" Steve prodded, leaning over to peer at Sarah's face, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You really look familiar."

"Sarah is my sister," Jim said, and Steve's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Woah, I didn't know you had a daughter, too, Mrs. L!" Steve exclaimed.

An awkward silence filled the room before Barbara replied in a tense voice, "I don't."

"…oh." Another beat of awkward silence followed, before Steve relaxed and laughed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Well, that's kind of a relief! I thought you might have been an ex-girlfriend."

"Your name is Steve?" Sarah asked, a hard glare directed at the oblivious oaf.

"Yup," Steve replied, grinning in a friendly manner, and holding out his hand to presumably shake Sarah's. "Steve Palchuk, quarterback at Arcadia Oaks High and all around fantastic guy, at your ser—"

"Steve?" Sarah interrupted, ignoring the boy's outstretched hand.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up, before I slit your fucking throat."

"Oh, er…" Steve jerked, his red face paling to almost gray. "Yeah, sure."

"Steve," Jim whispered, turning so that his back was to his sister. The former bully looked at him, still pale in shock, and Jim reached out to grasp his shoulder gently, continuing in an even quieter whisper. "She's just found out about our dad and her mom."

"Oh," Steve breathed in realization, some of his color coming back. Jim was a little surprised to see the boy's brown eyes start to glisten a little, and then he nodded, his expression serious. "I'm sorry."

"Give her some time," Jim replied, smiling slightly in thanks. Steve really was an okay guy beneath the arrogance and narcissism.

"I'm going to lay Ellie down in our room," Claire interjected, stepping forward. "She's exhausted."

"You get some sleep, too," Jim said, leaning down to press a kiss to his mate's forehead, gently brushing his fingers through Ellie's downy hair.

Claire looked defiant for a moment, like she would argue, but then her shoulders slumped, and her expression relaxed. "Yeah, okay. I am tired." She gave a short laugh, shaking her head. "I don't even know what time it is."

"Almost noon," Toby said through a mouthful of salty niblets (Deya, is he eating the same ones that fell on the floor?!). "Way past your normal bedtimes."

"You sleep during the day?" Krel asked, cocking his head to the side curiously. "How odd."

"Trolls can't go out in the day," Jim explained, shooting Krel an amused smile after kissing Claire again and watching her disappear passed the curtain that partitioned off their bedroom. "The sunlight will burn us and turn us to stone. I don't react exactly the same, given that I'm only a half-troll, but I still can't endure daylight without the protection of my Glamour charm." He held up his wrist to show off the new bracelet, decorated with small bits of Heartstone and magic gems. "And I've only just gotten that. So, when I first became a half-troll, and we were in the process of moving across country with all the other trolls, we just switched our sleeping patterns. In the caves, it's easy to become disoriented with time, though, because any light down here is either artificial or magical."

"But you always met me during the day or evening," Sarah's voice said tiredly, and Jim turned back to see that his sister seemed more relaxed, her feet curled up underneath her on the couch, while Barbara fed the IV into the back of her outstretched hand. "Did I take away your resting time? Didn't the sun hurt you?"

"No," Jim shook his head, smiling reassuringly in response. "I don't need as much sleep as a human. And if you think about it, when I met you during the day, it was either always overcast, or we were already indoors."

"But Claire…" Sarah started, glancing worriedly in the direction of the bedroom and cringing a little as Barbara injected a medicine that must have burned into the small port on the IV tube.

Jim hesitated, not quite sure what to say or how to respond, but he knew that he needed to be honest with his sister. "Yes. You probably just thought her tiredness was because of Ellie, and that's part of it, but… she doesn't get enough sleep as she needs."

"I…" Sarah started, but then her eyes started to droop and her head bobbed down a little. "I… m'sorry…"

"Let her sleep," Barbara said in a quiet voice as Sarah slumped forward as the medicine that she'd been injected with must have had a sedative quality to it. Jim's mother caught her and helped her lie back against the couch, tucking a small throw pillow behind her head to support her neck. "She's not even partway through the detox. She'll be awake for the worst of it."

Jim flinched, definitely not looking forward to that, but knowing that there was no avoiding it. He opened his mouth to say something, but then finally took notice of all the people present… and the three who were not. "Where are Eli, AAARRRGGHH!, and Zadra?"

"Eli went to speak with the Elders," Toby said, shaking his head calmly when Jim nearly choked in alarm. "It's okay. AAARRRGGHH! went with him, and so did Zadra."

"Zadra?" Jim questioned, frowning in concern. The image of the alien warrior woman losing her temper and scything all the Elders into dust jumped unbidden to his mind, and his heart started pounding. "Why—"

"We have met Kubritz before and know much about her and her facility," Krel explained, moving to stand by his sister and taking one of her many hand in his anxiously. Again, Jim was reminded of how young Krel actually was, despite his intelligence. "We wanted to go with them, but Zadra would not allow it. We told her what we knew, and she promised to explain on our behalf."

"And Blinky said it would be okay," Toby assured Jim, offering up the bag of salty niblets to the people in the room. Unsurprisingly, no one partook of the offer, and Toby shrugged, digging back into the bag for himself. "He's been talking with the other Elders, and he said that he doesn't think Eli will get in much trouble. Between all of us, we can head off any disasters."

Jim thought that was a bit optimistic, but that was why he loved his best friend so much. Toby could see the silver lining in almost anything.

"You might as well go get some sleep while you can," Barbara said, coming back from the nursery, where she had found an extra blanket, and laying it gently over Sarah's prone form. The nursery wasn't really finished yet, as Jim had only just started carving it out a couple of months prior, so they were keeping extra bedding and stuff in there now; however, Ellie was starting to get a bit big for her bassinet, and she would definitely need to get used to sleeping in her own room now that Aiden was on the way.

The intricacies of that thought gave Jim the beginnings of a headache, though, so he merely nodded, but then turned back toward Anson. "I'm sorry… do you mind sticking around for a while?"

"I knew this wouldn't be easy," Anson replied, nodding and offering an easy smile. "I'm nothing, if not patient."

"And we'll be discussing this plan of yours later," Barbara added with a harsh glare at her son, but Jim was too emotionally exhausted to argue.

"I would be happy to speak to you more about it, if it makes you feel better," Anson said in a sincere voice, putting on a charming smile that caused Barbara's cheeks to turn pink, much to Jim's amusement.

Strickler, however, did not find it as funny, if the jealousy in his tone of voice was any indication. "Anson, you can take your Glamour Mask off now. You're safe here."

Anson's lips pursed against an amused smile, no doubt catching the stiff, grudging tone of jealousy as well. With a sly wink in Jim's direction, Anson lifted his hand to his face, and with a flash of green light, he was in his normal, troll form again, the Glamour Mask held in his hand. His clothes were the same, only bigger to fit his bigger frame, though his transformation was a true Glamour, while Jim's transformation was a lot more physical.

"You look like Jim!" Darci exclaimed, her eyes widening as she glanced between Jim and Anson, even though Jim was still transformed into a human. "I mean, you look a lot like Jim normally does."

Jim almost laughed in a combination of amusement and affection for Darci. Despite how much time had passed, and despite the fact that he had long ago accepted the choices that he had made, it still took him by pleasant surprise when one of his friends referred to his current state of being as "normal."

"Yes," Anson said, stretching his arms over his head, his back cracking as he twisted from side to side, his tail swishing freely behind him. "We're the same species of Troll."

"Hulders, right?" Toby asked, seemingly un-phased by the Anson's appearance, despite never having seen it before.

Anson laughed, his cheeks purpling a little in embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his head, fluffing up his blonde hair, and then he tugged on one of his ram's horns anxiously. "Hulders are female. I'm pretty sure there's none left. Well…" he shrugged, giving Jim a meaningful glance. "There's Ellie, of course, but she's mostly human."

"What about…"

Jim, tired and not really wanting to sit through a conversation that he'd been a part of one too many times, slipped away into the comforting familiarity of his bedroom, in his home, with his wife and babies all safe…

…at least, for now.

To be continued...

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