A/N: Thank you, as always, for giving this story a chance! I know it is very out there as far as the fandom goes! Shorter than usual but I would really appreciate your insight!

WOULD YOU PREFER A FOCUS ON CHRISTIAN'S STORY OR ANA'S?

By all means have a read through of the chapter first if you prefer, but a DM or review or yell at me to throw up a poll—whatever will work! I appreciate you all endlessly ❤

Christian

Nooo, no no no.

Fuck.

"Grace… what is this?"

A sabotage?

Blatant interference?

"It's my surprise for Ana's party!" Grace's piercing green eyes flit to Ana, her joy almost multiplying. "Surprise!"

Behind her, a chorus of unrecognizable faces echo, "Surprise!"

Ten… no—twenty? At least…

"Who are these people, Grace?" I'm still counting over her shoulder. Too many. Far more than I described to Ana. She's only given me one task and already I've failed her. Grey's menace drips thick through my body, the affront to Ana's plans feel like an attack.

"They're our new family; and you'll have time to meet them all. Now get our guest of honor out of the cold!"

"Of course," I mumble, numb. I can't look at Ana. I don't want to see the inevitable betrayal in her eyes, but she hasn't shirked out of my grasp yet. Her hand remains tucked in my elbow as we pass the hoots and cheers of the pestilent strangers, swallowed up by the strobing white lights of the pub.

I can't admire the work I've put into the space. I can't see anything past my bubbling fury and the passing of Carrick as he smiles cleverly from across the room and disappears down the office corridors. Any other scenario, I could forgive him for his lack of interest in gatherings… but his withdrawal feels timely. Treacherous.

Ana's fingers squeeze, commanding my attention, and I swallow hard before looking down.

She's smiling.

A sweet, pulse-tripping smile that feels so genuine I may be even more upset.

"All of this for me?" Her voice is clear but low, so nearly drowned out by the music. She isn't a shouter, and doesn't seem to be making any concessions despite the volume of our surroundings, but her lip gloss is as helpful in making out her words as it is seductive.

"It is," I manage, and somehow I've fallen into the same trend and can't bring myself to shout. She can probably read my mind and do away with listening to me speak entirely. I want nothing more than that right now. Please read my mind. "Surprise, Ana."

Grace peals of laughter behind us before strutting by and stealing Ana's hand.

Violence shakes me to the core. I couldn't give a single fuck if all of these strangers died on their next breaths. I won't forgive myself if I've led Ana into a trap. She and I both know full well Grace suspects her of the guard's demise. My desire to grab Anastasia and run is so acute I begin to sweat, bordering on desperation...

Before arriving, Ana briefly taught me how to hold a gun in her closet, one she had hidden under her armoire. I shuddered as she slid my fingers over the imposing metal; not from its being cool to the touch, but because it felt... familiar. I heard her instructions but played dumb, shocked by Grey's eerily wordless taunts, and the threat of those foggy memories that don't belong to me.

Even now, I'm still rattled from the experience; and unaware of my internal strife Ana believed I was just grappling with the issue of brandishing in itself... If only she knew I had zero qualms about such a thing. She alluded to keeping the weapons close to the pub "just in case". I have no idea where she could have placed them—I hadn't asked. I had no words to offer her when she took it back from me.

But she's so perfectly composed here, seemingly aloof to the aura of unease about me. A serendipitous pillar of strength as Grace twirls her 'round and passes her from stranger to stranger, all of them dancing with her through their introductions before the next takes their spot.

I don't like this.

The obvious, masculinist reasons that they are touching what Grey considers to be his notwithstanding…

This feels like a set up, and I wish I had taken that gun with me; just thinking about it makes my pulse leap. I won't consider why. Watching Ana in her summery strapless dress and flat shoes heightens that thrill considerably. As beautiful as she is, it is a far cry from "escape the island" attire. I feel every bit her protector now, as she dances with the outsiders, appearing so soft and vulnerable. Regardless of how familiar I am with her being the exact opposite.

I can't place it. In the two or three minutes that have passed since we arrived, it feels so charged and dicey I can barely think straight. The cocktail of Grey's battering at my psyche, the music and the situation combined into one is a dangerous injection.

"Christian! Stop glowering in the corner, please for Heaven's sake. Fine, fine—we'll stop occupying your date. Enough with the evil eyes."

I don't resist as Grace pulls me back to Ana. The male flesh holding her too close and grinning too eagerly glances up at me as we approach, then does a double take and seems to rethink himself. He extracts from Anastasia as limber as a corpse, and swiftly bows away to join the rest of the migration.

Ana wraps around me like the finest fabric, her small, capable hand slipping into mine and her arm going around my waist as she pulls me aside to dance. She makes it look effortless, quelling my evils.

"You don't look like you're having very much fun, Mr. Grey."

"Please," I ground out, then clear my throat of its gravelly constriction. "Please call me Christian for now, pet."

"Okay," she concedes, and after a moment of regarding me, "You're more surprised about my surprise party than I am, Christian. Breathe."

I could beg. I've the urge to. I want to beg more than I want to breathe but I inhale my lungs' fill and sigh, relaxing in Ana's serenity. She unwinds her arm from behind me to fit her palm to my jaw, the contact more clinical than comfort; her head tilts to the side.

"Maybe we should teach you to be a better actor. Or you're the most talented man I've ever met."

"Ana… I swear I— "

"Shh. I know. They're watching us."

Her smile never falters. She stops to sweep the room, so casually she only appears to be taking in the event, then she beams up at me again.

"Oh yeah—they're watching us."

"New shipments never come so soon after the last," I rush to explain, "You've only been here for a few weeks, yourself."

"That doesn't sound good."

Understatement of the memorable decade. "No. It doesn't."

There's far too much attention on us, and whatever's on the speakers simply won't end. I give Ana a twirl and dip her; it doesn't fit with the song but I want a moment alone, for fuck's sake. She doesn't miss a beat, naturally, and the crowd laugh and cheer. Before I can evacuate the area, Grace glides over to us, a picturesque vision of aged… Grace, really.

"You two look beautiful!" Grace takes me by the shoulders for a hug, made awkward in that I don't release Ana's hand for it. She moves right along to Ana, sweeping Ana's hair back over her exposed shoulders and lifting her lowered chin. "None of us could take our eyes off of you, dear. What a vision."

Ana smiles, and I think my heart flies into my stomach when a touch of pink covers her cheeks.

But I center myself.

"Who the fuck are these people, Grace?"

"Christian!" Grace hisses, and Ana's head lowers again to be polite. She really is the perfect sub in public. "Language. I've said already that they are family."

"A family of what?" I demand testily.

"Our family. As much our family as Ana is."

"Ana was meant to be here today. You and I have only just spoken this afternoon. There was no mention of a family at all then."

"There was no mention of scheduling Ana's party to be sooner, either," she returns coolly, and her eyes slide over to Ana. "You've met them all, dear. You didn't mind them, did you?"

I could throttle her.

"No, Grace; I thought they were quite nice. It was kind of them to come to my party when they've only just arrived."

"Exactly." Grace levels me with a glower, then remembers herself and exhales wearily. "We can discuss this another time, Christian. I won't let you rain on your own event. Everyone's dying to see her up close and Ros is ready to start slinging drinks—it should start now, I think."

"It can't start yet. The other Doms are late."

"Oh, we'll definitely begin then," Grace smiles. "They aren't coming."

"What? But I spoke with Ja— "

"Not coming," she interjects breezily.

"Taylor and Gail—? "

"Yes, Christian, they aren't coming."

I feel like I've entered a time paradox. An alternate timeline. I've never seen Grace dodge like this, and that worries me. Immediately my mind moves to my conversation with her in the backroom this afternoon. Of course, at that time I didn't have a clue what was brimming beneath the surface, and so much has gone on today I feel I've lived an era in only the past few hours.

"I don't understand."

Ana's fingers clench around mine.

"Sir?"

"Yes, pet?" My frustration drops to a simmer. I don't know what to do and I'm bereft of what to say. I haven't an inkling what's going on but I know it spells trouble, somehow, for Ana.

"I'm perfectly happy to get the party started," she says. "If no one else is coming…?" She glances meekly to Grace.

Grace beams, victory in sight with Ana's blessing. "Nope! All you've seen is all who will be here tonight."

Ana smiles, then turns to me. There's something to her expression when she meets my eye. "I'm ready if you are, sir."

Grace chuckles to herself, then aloud, "I hope so, dear. We don't take events lightly here."

That fast, my heart drops to the floor.

I already, painstakingly, foolishly outlined everything for the night to Grace while I was ignorant of what was happening around me. The plans I'd made for the night… they hinged on being able to control the situation. Grace has snatched that control with glee.

The other dominants—the dominants I am used to—know their boundaries. With me, with my subs. There is a level of cultivated respect that has been built over time, and they know what contact with my subs I would allow. That line has been pulled ever further back with Ana, and a swift word alone would have gone far with the Doms...

I don't know these other people.

I don't want them touching what's mine. I don't know their intentions.

But what can I possibly say to Grace? Let's disregard everything we've spoken about. All established traditions. For this night in particular. Don't let this decision further cement your suspicions of the sub I've fallen in love with. Ah and everything I trusted you with previously? Irrelevant as well.

I don't know what to do.

I feel it shows.

"I need a moment," I blurt suddenly. Enraged with my frustration. I don't know what to do.

I all but disregard Grace as I lead Ana away, and Grace shouts that she'll 'get the ball rolling' at my back.

We gravitate to a corner, the sea of strangers converging on the hole of the dancefloor we've left. The music is deeper here, more sole-shaking, but far out of anyone's earshot. She leans against the wall, her hands clasped in front of her, and I take to shielding her from the room's view. I need her alone and can't get her alone. In this way I can at least pretend it's just us.

"This is going well so far," she jests neutrally. "Never a dull moment. Or an easy one, with you."

"Pet, I'm… I don't even know what to say. I didn't account for new people showing up."

She hums in thought, her gaze not wandering from my face. "This is a problem, but…" A silent moment passes. She exhales quickly, then rolls her eyes. "Nothing we can do about it now. Our objectives should remain the same. However… I need to find out what's going on with the other residents. This is too sudden a change to ignore."

"How can I help?"

She stiffens the barest bit, her expression steeling. "You can't." She's shutting me out. It bothers me in powerful amounts but it is to be expected…

The one task I was given was getting everyone to the warehouse.

That was it.

Know how many guards would be at the party, how many dominants would be coming with how many submissives. Have an idea of how to corral them to the warehouse for whatever Ana's ambitions would be before the end of the night. I sped up the entire process of this party to accommodate that request. Had exact directions and even lines rehearsed to give the Doms so gathering them would have been easy.

I'm fucking lost now. The shame is made more intense by Grey's influence; he has no qualms about kicking me while I'm down for this. A touch too violently, even.

But… Perhaps I'm overthinking this. I can regain control still, if I move correctly. If I get to know this "family" of Grace's. I couldn't care less for them, the old set or the current one. In the end, Ana has never told me exacts on why she wants things this way, and it is still possible to get as many of them to that spot as I can.

It's the hidden variables that concern me, really.

Somewhere in the hazy corners of my vision I see a flickering and flash—the music stops, the lights dim after. Dim until the room is blanketed in blackness. I wish I knew the full scope of circumstances before I made certain party decisions…

Instinctually my arms band around Ana, pulling her in close. I know what to expect but she may not.

"This doesn't change anything," I whisper into her ear, and the raucous inquiries of 'what's going on' and 'who turned off the lights' and 'I can't see anything's' would have ensured privacy even without whispering. I could fix this… maybe. Somehow.

"Wrong," she sighs wistfully. It cuts me in two. She doesn't pull away entirely but enough. Blinding white strobes fire up and shoot across the room, and from behind the bar Ros is summoned extravagantly. An explosion of white and silver confetti crisscrosses the bar-top as the ground shakes from the speakers' bass. "This changes everything. They know."

Panicked, "Know what?" I demand.

"Enough. More than they should." She shrugs. "Not enough to shoot me in the head right here. It may be a very long night; this will be interesting."

How is she so calm? She talks of being killed as flippantly as reciting a grocery list. I can see her now, in flashes as the lights begin their timed bursts. I feel stunned. Horrified. Does she know what lengths I'm willing to go to protect her? What atrocities I'm prepared to commit in retaliation?

"Christian," she calls, her palm to my cheek. "I have another task for you."

"Anything," I answer too quickly. I'm eager to take advantage of her forgiveness. I botched the first task already; I will not fail her again.

"Be a dom." Her gaze is strikingly forceful. "Be my dom. I need you in your element now. Please. We can't let them think anything more of the two of us than that, not if we want this to go smoothly. You have to top me like you would top any other sub you bring here."

I shake my head before she finishes her directions, and this instantly incenses her.

"Already backing out on your promises?"

"No! No, Anastasia, you know I wouldn't—"

"I don't know that, Christian. Prove it to me." She extricates herself then. Fully. I'm bereft from the loss of contact but she and Grey have chosen their sides. She doesn't know exactly what she's asking…

But Grey does.

A/N: Now, I do so hope you enjoyed but I'm in need of your aid!

IN SHORT, WOULD YOU PREFER A FOCUS ON CHRISTIAN'S STORY OR ANA'S?

This story has taken a life of its own, and has opened up a million doorways!

Well... two, to be exact. And I will most certainly be telling both sides but both pathways are broad and this story may be broken into 2, or just be of major length.

The POV structure will remain the same as it has throughout the story insofar; this will simply affect how the journey develops. I want to keep everyone engaged, so, if you care enough, I would greatly appreciate a DM or review or I'll put up a poll if that's preferred, but I would adore a consensus. Or even just a nudge in one direction.

I've got the next 9k written (in either direction because I like to punish myself), but what's your preference! I'm not afraid to beg ;)

Until the next time~