A week had passed since the team had arrested Morgana Blackhawk. Much had changed since then. But not Luke's mood. He kept to himself in his RV. All attempts from his teammates to talk to him had failed and console him had failed. He ate his meals in silence in his RV. He hardly spoke.

All he could think of was Heather. Knowing he would probably never see her again. She was a kindred spirit when he first met her in Parkford, Minnesota. He pitied her for never finding what she wanted. Moreso for knowing that she faced an uncertain future. Even if she made early parole.

The team had stayed in Indiana for a few extra days to ensure justice was done. Thanks to the testimony and statement of Heather and the children, Morgana was convicted of all charges of kidnapping, child endangerment, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to life without parole in a maximum security prison.

"She might no be in prison for long," Felix predicted when they learned of the sentence. "Even prison inmates have no tolerance for someone who commits crimes against children. I'd say her days are numbered."

As for Heather, per the deal, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a reduced sentence of up to fifteen years, with a chance for parole in five. As part of her sentence, she would receive mandatory counseling.

"Cheer up Luke," said Gwen to him the day after they left Indiana. "Heather's in good hands now. She'll get the care she needs."

Luke only shook his head. "But what then? She'll have a criminal record. It will be much more difficult for her to find acceptance anywhere. With her being a Wiccan and a killer."

The team had stopped in Michigan to check their supplies and financial situation. However, as usual, they were sidetracked by a murder. With Luke still in low spirits, Gwen had to partner with (Name) to investigate. It was ironic, considering that she had been tormented by demonic nightmares due to a demon wrecking havoc with her mind. Now free, she was back to her old self, though she had decided to take a break from dating.

"I understand what you're going through Luke," she said when she came into the RV for an analysis from Felix. "But I've completely gotten over Justine. I only wish we had parted on better terms. I don't even think about her anymore."

"You don't understand!" said Luke. "Heather was more than just a friend to me. She was a kindred spirit. We both know how it feels to want to belong somewhere. I know I used to get into trouble with the police, but not as bad as what happened with Heather. She's still young. She's never had a friend before me. She'll continue to face stigma when she gets out of prison. How will she cope?"

"I had no idea Luke," said Gwen. "It's true, you two were so alike. You two made a great couple while it lasted."

"We weren't together," said Luke throwing up his hands. "We were just really good friends."

"Luke," said Felix, "just because Heather is in prison and that you'll probably never see her again doesn't mean you can't still keep in touch."

"That's right," said Gwen. "You can be penpals. She's going to need a friend more than ever. Sort of like an anchor in the storm."

Luke excused himself and went into the bathroom to allow Felix to give the results of his analysis. He sat on the floor in the corner of the bathroom after locking the door cradled his temple in his hands. His head was starting to ache as if in a vice that was slowly tightening. He just wanted to be alone now, more than ever. Why couldn't his team mates just leave him alone to his misery? Not even Gwen could understand what he was feeling. Heather's loss was almost a destruction of part of himself.

Could he still keep in touch with Heather? But where was she being detained? When she got out, how would he know where she was. How would she be able to write back if he was on the move?

He took the black rose hairclip out of his pocket and gazed down upon it. There was a single strand of her hair stuck between it, like a memento. He detected the slight scent of her perfume within it. He recognized it as the same kind she had worn on their date in Parkford.

#

He would always remember the way she smiled and winked at him when he and (Name) came into the cafe after they solved Dan Kelly's murder. It was almost flirtatious. When he returned to the cafe after deactivating the golem, she was happy to see him again. She was soon to finish her shift and wondered if he would be the last customer she served that day.

"Hey there Luke," she smiled. "You want to sit down and have something to eat? Be the last customer I serve before finishing my shift?"

He smiled back and scratched nervously at the back of his neck. "Well Heather, we've deactivated the golem, thanks to you. But actually, I was wondering."

"Yes?" asked Heather, arching her eyebrows.

"I'm not going to be in town for too much longer. The rest of the team and I will be heading off to Chicago to chase our next lead by the end of the day. But before we go, after you get off work, do you want to go out and do something together with me?"

Heather looked genuinely surprised. "Luke, did you just ask me out?" Another customer looked up from his newspaper to watch this scene.

"Do you want me to?" asked Luke, sheepishly. He felt his cheeks warm. Was he blushing? He saw Heather was also blushing. The customer watching them shook his head and focused back on his paper.

"Oh Luke, I'd love to!" Heather cried, new life breathed into her as he had never seen before.

When she finished her shift, Heather drove home with Luke as her passenger. He waited inside her home as she got ready for their outing. He heard the shower run. For nearly twenty minutes, he waited patiently, until finally Heather came into the room where he waited, wearing a black sleeveless tank top, dark green skirt, and black high heeled boots coming just up to below her knees. She had sprayed perfume in her hair and applied lotion on her skin. A purple rose hairclip is in her hair.

She must be a goth, Luke told himself. Though he had a suit back at the RV, what he was wearing would be more appropriate for dating a goth girl.

"You look and smell real nice," he said rising from the sofa where he sat. His nose breathed in her scent.

Heather blushed and gave him a simpering smile. "Thank you Luke."

They went out together to get some ice cream from the nearby parlor. The few people inside stared at them in astonishment as if they stuck out like a sore thumb. Even the man behind the counter looked at them suspiciously. Luke heard whispers in his direction as he and Heather sat on the stools and placed an order for milkshakes and floats. Luke ordered chocolate and she ordered strawberry.

"Sir," one man poked his shoulder as they received their order and Luke paid, "are you crazy? Do you know who she is? She's a Wiccan!"

"Yeah," said Luke matter-of-factly. "So what?"

The man backed away in response and went back to his table. At Luke's side, Heather sighed as she palmed her temple and took her first sip.

"Heather," he said gently to her, "are you all right?"

"No," she said softly.

Luke reached one hand for one of her own and gently laid it on top of hers. "Heather, I don't think there is anything wrong with you. If I did, I wouldn't have asked you out."

She turned her head to face him and smiled in gratitude.

"If you feel that way young man," the man behind the counter said, "then maybe you don't fit in this town either. Are you one of them?"

"Them what?" asked Luke. He felt his body temperature start to rise. Who did this man think he was? Was he looking to pick a fight?

"You know what I mean. A Wiccan."

"No, of course not," said Luke.

"Then why are you hanging out with her?" He was pointing an accusing finger at Heather.

"Do I look like I give a damn if she's a Wiccan?" asked Luke standing up from the stool and staring the man in the face like a challenge. "It's what on the inside that counts!" He took Heather by her hand and helped her stand. "Come on Heather, let's finish our ice cream outside!" He stormed outside, taking Heather with him, ignoring the stares of the other patrons.

"Luke, no one has ever stood up for me like that," said Heather as they sat down around one of the round patio tables with a parasol hanging above.

"You're welcome," said Luke. "Heather, there's nothing wrong with you. The problem is with everybody else! If people can't see the real you, then that's their loss! And I see a sweet girl who is just misunderstood, longing for a friend more than anything."

"Oh Luke." Her eyes glistened as if tears are about to spill out.

When they finished their ice cream, Heather drove Luke back to where the RV's had been parked. They exchanged phone numbers so that they could keep in touch as friends. "Call me," Heather said with a wink.

"I will. I hope to hear from you too as well."

"Maybe someday if fate allows it, our paths will cross again." Heather waved goodbye and drove off before anyone from the RV's could come out and ask Luke what he had been up to. As far as he was concerned, it was as if he had never gone out.

#

Since they parted in Parkford, Luke had received several calls from Heather and called her as well. But now that she was in prison, that phone number was useless. Never again would he hear her voice and she hear his own.

Holding the rose clip in his hand, Luke wished that cruel fate hadn't allowed them to reunite in a way he hadn't expected. With Heather in custody for murder.

Once more, he found himself walking down memory lane as he recalled the moment he first heard of Heather's arrest. That was the second time he had heard Heather's name that night in Indiana. As much as he wanted to go see her again, he felt Gwen needed him more. Not until she was locked up in Priya's cage and he heard of Heather's arrest did his priorities change.

At first, he couldn't believe it. His friend, a sweet girl, misunderstood by her hometown, arrested for Belinda's murder.

Heather? Arrested? No, it can't be!

With hurried footsteps, he walked to the trailer where Jacob said they had detained her. He heard wails pierce the night air from within as he came closer. He clutched the door's lever and found to his relief that the door was not locked. Inside, he found a sight that broke his heart and confirmed his worst fear.

Heather. Alone. Sitting on a lone chair. Sobbing into her hands.

He stepped inside. "Heather?"

Somehow, his voice was able to penetrate her hearing and she lifted her head. "Luke?" Her eyes glisten in the light with a steady river of tears flowing down her face. A puddle had begun to form by her feet.

"No." Luke shook his head. "Say it isn't so!"

Heather shut her eyes and turned away in shame. "I can't Luke."

Luke pulled up a chair in front of her. "What happened?"

"Morgana," Heather whimpered. "She made me do it. She said she would accept me into the coven and override Belinda's vote if I killed her."

Luke gently took one hand into his own and laid his other on her shoulder in a reassuring matter. Emotions churned within him. Sympathy for Heather. Boiling fury at Morgana. First the embarrassing incident with her love potion and Fabien. Now this. Blackmailing Heather, taking advantage of her insecurities, her desire to be accepted more than anything, all to coax her into committing murder. Heather was the last person he would have expected to take a life.

Heather continued to cry as an endless river of tears flowed down from her eyes.

"Oh Heather," Luke sighed, "how could Morgana do such a thing?"

"She's been kidnapping children," Heather sobbed. "Belinda found out about it and confronted her. That's when Morgana ordered me to kill her. I didn't know Morgana was kidnapping children."

"Heather, you couldn't have known."

"What have I done Luke? I just don't know if I can forgive, much less live with myself!"

"Shhhh. Heather, we'll find a way to make this right. Be strong!" Before he could tell her that his shoulder was available for her to cry on, it was at that moment when Jacob and Felix had found them.

Luke blinked and found himself back in the bathroom of the RV. Heather's words still echoing in his mind.

"...much less live with myself!"

A cold fear gripped his heart. What if Heather couldn't survive prison? What if she was driven to suicide? Someone like her didn't belong in prison. And even if she did survive prison and make early parole, would she be able to integrate back into society? If now, would she end up taking another life: her own?

He thought back to Felix and Gwen suggesting that he become her penpal in prison. Become an anchor in the storm within her heart.

It was at that point when Luke decided that Felix and Gwen were right. Heather was going to need a friend more than ever in the future. She needed him more than ever. It wouldn't be right to just forget about her and leave her behind as Gwen had done for Justine. Part of him wondered why Gwen didn't keep in touch with Justine in the form of letters.

He pocketed the hairclip and climbed to his feet. How long had he been in here, he didn't know.

Outside the bathroom, Felix was reading a book on the occult at his desk. He looked up as Luke stepped outside. "Man Luke, I thought you would never come out of there. Do you realize you've been in there for two hours?"

"Sorry," said Luke. "So what's been happening in my absence?"

"Well Gwen and (Name) have caught and handed the killer and over to the police. The chief is briefing the others outside. We'll be on our way back towards the eastern coast soon."

Outside the window, Luke saw Jacob answer his cellphone. His face suddenly became a mask of horror and he mouthed something Luke couldn't hear.

"What's going on out there?" asked Luke. "The chief looks panicked."

Luke opened the door to the RV and stepped outside, Felix following him in his wheelchair. Jacob by now had disconnected the call.

"What happened chief?" asked Gwen.

"That was Mathison," said Jacob. "He had bad news. Morgana Blackhawk has escaped from prison! She's on the loose!"