"Quit being a giant Origin baby and put it in your mouth"

"No."

"YES."

"No!" Archer sat in front of Nadia holding up a breadstick as if it would ward off her attempts to force him to try her seafood alfredo. I hated taking her out this way, with as sick as she has been, but she insisted on joining Archer on what had become one his weekly trips to the local Olive Garden.

"Nadia, there are certain things that I admit I missed out on in my time with Daedalus, eating the sea equivalent of a rat is not one of them."

Nadia giggled as she set down her fork with the piece of shrimp protruding from the end. I loved that sound. She didn't do it often these days and I missed it.

After the invading Luxen left I'd given Nadia the LH11 serum that Kat & Daemon had stolen. Correction, that had almost gotten Kat and Daemon killed. I know I should regret it, they had become almost friends in a way. But I don't. I would never regret anything when it came to HER. Except maybe what I was about to do. I could practically hear Paris screaming "then don't do it" in my ear, but I drowned out his voice that had become my inner monologue. I couldn't think about that right now. Not today, not with shrimp and breadsticks and that amazing laugh.

"So when are you coming to visit next? Daemon and Kat want to see Nadia again. Now that I think about it, they only mentioned seeing Nadia, not you." Archer laughed to himself as he reached for the salad bowl from the center of the table. I liked the guy but if he took anymore salad, I may blast him right here. Without using my hands, I forced the salad bowl over to Nadia. She needed to eat more, something she got sick of me telling her.

Nadia gave me a sideways glace between her streaks of long blond hair. Her sunken in eyes and too pale skin caused those freckles I loved to stand out on her stark white complexion. "Luc." She gave me a warning. "I'm fine, I don't need anymore salad." I ignored her.

"Eat." She rolled her eyes at my response and began to stand.

I sat up alarmed staring at her in concern.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, Luc. It's ok." She smiled weakly and started to turn. Taking a step, I watched as she stumbled slightly. Moving fast enough that no human would be able to trace, both Archer and I were on either side of her helping her stand.

"I'm fine, I just…. I lost my footing, that's all." I could see the pain and helplessness in her eyes as she looked up at me. At nearly fourteen she was stronger and braver than any adult I had ever met. Been through more than anyone else should ever have to go through. Life wasn't fair. She was perfect and she was dying while I, who tethered the line between Superhero and Villain, would never get sick. I deserved the pain she was going through and if I could take it away, I would. I will.

The LH11 hadn't worked. Nothing had worked. I wouldn't let her die. If there was one thing in this world I would do until my dying breath, it would be to prevent her from taking hers.

Archer paid the check and when Nadia returned, we stepped outside. Archer offered to drive us to the hotel we were staying at, but Nadia insisted on walking. I knew she wanted to talk, outside of eavesdropping Origin ears.

"Take care of yourself little love, and don't let this dipshit ruin your good times." Archer said as he looked down at her and gave her a delicate hug. She turned and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, and I tried not to let the jealousy get to me. Truth be told, I wanted all of Nadia's attention, not that I deserved it. I'd never be lucky enough to call her mine. But I was hers, I'd always be hers.

"Luc." Archer gave me a knowing look. He couldn't read my mind, I knew how to close my thoughts from any Origin, but he didn't need to. Without saying another word, he turned toward his black truck and got in.

We stood there for a moment beneath the fluorescent lights of the Olive Garden awning in silence. I reached out my hand to Nadia, pissed at myself for not insisting that we ride back with Archer. She was weak, growing weaker every day and she didn't need to be walking like this, exerting this much energy.

"It's not too late, Luc. We don't have to go tomorrow." She whispered.

"Stop, you promised, one last thing." I could feel the crack in my voice as I forced the words to rise. There was so much she didn't know about what was going to happen, about what she wouldn't remember. But it didn't matter about how it would affect me. The only thing that mattered was that she was going to be alive, breathing, living.

"And you promised this is it. No more. After we go to the Dashers tomorrow, we're done. Promise me again Luc." I didn't want to agree again. I hated agreeing the first time. She was my everything and she expected me to just promise to let her go, let her die? But she needed this, she needed to know I was on her side. I was ALWAYS on her side.

"I told you I promised, Nadia. When I promise you something, I will never break that promise." I stated, not daring to look at her as I could already feel my composure breaking.

I looked at her too small hand as we continued to walk in silence. I was in love with her. I'm sure she knew that. I loved her before I even knew what that meant, but I knew now. I was sixteen, not ten. I knew in my heart what I was feeling wasn't a crush, I knew that she was the one. That after her… after she was gone… that there would be no one else. There simply couldn't be. I would accept that. I'd accepted being without her as long as I knew she was alive and living life. And that was why I had made the deal with Jason Dasher.

Daemon and the rest of them had though Jason had died with the invasion. Even Nancy Husher had thought he'd met his demise. He should have, he should be resting in hell with that bitch. Jason had managed to hide out with his wife, Sylvia during the invasion. Thanks to one of the many favors owed to me, I found out that he was very much alive and still working on serums. He really was the epitome of evil. I'd gone to him to kill him, for what he'd done to everyone I cared about, to the Luxen, to the Origins, to hybrids.

He had been shocked to see me. I'm not sure why. I was the most powerful and successful Origin to come from Daedalus. He had to have known that he couldn't hide from me. I stepped into their house ready to send that dick to the center of the earth when he had suggested the deal.

"I can save her, Luc. I can save Nadia's life."

"Bullshit. I've tried all of the serums. They didn't work." I stared at him ready to get this shit over with and spend the few moment I had left with Nadia.

"No, there's a new one, its successful and it will cure her, Luc. You can read my mind, you know I'm not lying." He wasn't.

"And what do you get in return Dasher? Because I highly doubt you would cure her from the goodness of your heart" I spat, not taking my eyes off him.

"I will cure her, I will put her with a family that will care for her, but you…. you can never be a part of her life. You cannot come near her, search for her. That's the deal." He said with a sense of finality.

"Fuck off" I started toward him again with the intent on ending him here and now, but then I caught a glimpse of a photo sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. Nadia? No, it wasn't her. It was Evelyn, Jason's daughter who had died. She looked so much like Nadia, they could practically be related. I'd seen her before. I had a picture of her along with a smiling Jason and Sylvia. I'd always planned to kill Jason for what he'd done to all of us, the picture being my motivation.

I stopped. Nadia. That's what this was about. She's all that mattered. If he was telling the truth and he could save her…. It would kill me to let her go, but if he could save her then sacrificing myself from her life would be worth it in the end. So I agreed.

"Tomorrow everything will workout, Nadia. Dasher will cure you and we can go on with you annoying me every day until the end of time." I smiled down to her, knowing that the last part, the part about me being with her every day, was never going to happen.

She laughed again and my heart tore in two. That sound was the most beautiful sound in the world to me and I knew that after tomorrow I'd never get to hear it again… but she….she would get to make it again and that's all that mattered…

-Chapter 2-

I watched the video on the phone that Zoe held in her hand. A smiling, laughing, dancing Nadia. Evie. Not Nadia. I knew she was no longer Nadia, but in a way she still was. Her freckles danced on her cheeks and her nose did that same scrunch thing that I found so adorable. She was attempting to do some silly dance with Zoe and their friend, Heidi. Tik Tok. I never understood it.

Three years. It had been three years since we'd taken that walk outside of the Olive Garden. Three years since I'd heard that laugh. Three years since Sylvia Dasher had done what I'd wanted to… killed Jason Dasher.

"You ok, Luc?" Zoe asked, setting her phone down.

"Yeah I'm good Zo." I smiled. Zoe had been watching over Nad….Evie…Evie for me. But it was more than that, she was a friend to her, both as Nadia and as Evie. A good friend. Something I could never repay Zoe for. I'd been a man of my word. I'd stayed away just as I promised Sylvia I would. And it appeared she'd kept her end of the bargain as well. Nadia, Evie, she was happy. Smiling and laughing. She was loved.

This was the first time Zoe had brought a video. Usually, it was pictures or stories. I hadn't heard that laugh in so long. It was painfully beautiful. The worlds greatest symphonies had nothing on her laugh.

"What are you guys up to tonight?" I asked Zoe as I walked over to my fridge, trying to idly find something to do with my fingers rather than grabbing for the phone and watching the video on repeat all night.

"I'm just heading home, Evie was staying in and Heidi is busy, so I'm going to call it a night." Zoe shrugged as she picked up her phone where it sat and tossed it in her bag.

It was getting to that time and Foretoken would be opening soon. Grayson, Archer and Kent would all be here soon and after the video I could use the distraction of being downstairs in the club.

"Hey Zo…" I called out as we walked toward the door. "Thank you. I know I've said it before but thank you." Zoe gave a faint knowing smile and nodded as she slipped out into the hall.

I walked back to where rain began to beat on the window at the edge of my apartment that sat behind my overly large couch. The crowds had already started to form, it was time. Clyde had taken up his spot at the door, checking IDS, which basically meant nothing since I rarely turned any one away. Foretoken was a place of escape and I more than anyone knew that age didn't discriminate against those needing a distraction.

For a moment I thought I saw Zoe's friend Heidi down below. It made sense she was here. Her and Emery had been flirting for a little while now. Emery couldn't stop talking about her and I envied her. Caught up in my thoughts I almost missed the quick glimpse of the girl standing next to Heidi. Long blonde hair had its back toward me. My heart skipped a beat and I felt like the floor was going to melt below me. Which, given my abilities, wasn't completely unheard of. I gripped the windowsill trying to get a better look. It couldn't be her. Zoe was watching her, and I knew that if Evie was here, I would have gotten a phone call.

I shook my head, what was I doing. Get your shit together, Luc. Three years. You'd think it would get easier with time. But it doesn't. Losing your heart never gets easier. Shutting the lights off to my apartment, I shut the doors and headed toward the booming sounds of the music coming from the abyss below.