A/N: Yup, that was a heck of a delay. There were a lot of reasons-crazy personal life for one, and as usual the ending was being problematic. Adam was arguing with me again...but Teela won. ;-) Thanks to those of you who actually open this up and read it after such a long time.

Teela

I didn't know why Adam went to Grayskull, but I admit I expected him to come back looking lighter. But instead, he seemed disturbed...unsettled. We went for a walk after dinner the next evening, and he still seemed off, somehow. The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows, and out of habit I glanced about, watching for danger. Adam, for all the teasing I gave him, was usually pretty aware of his surroundings, but he seemed preoccupied. I reached for his hand and he squeezed mine, not letting go.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered, even though I was a bit afraid of what he would have to say.

"About what?"

I blew out a breath and counted to five. "About whatever the Sorceress said or did to upset you so."

Obviously surprised, Adam shook his head. "She didn't do anything, Teela. She's just watching out for me. I have to work through this anger on my own."

I nodded in understanding. He had had so much thrust at him in such a short span of time, his anger was easy to understand. I, on the other hand, had had years to come to terms with what I'd done. The fact that Skeletor might have played a role in it had affected me in a completely different way. I felt...almost relieved. I knew the responsibility of my choice was mine alone, but the idea that Skeletor had played on my emotions at a particularly difficult time...it offered a tiny-and I do mean tiny-lift of the guilt I had carried for nine years. Not that I wasn't still angry at the bone-headed jerk, but-

"You haven't said much about the idea that Skeletor might have been that wizard," Adam commented, breaking into my thoughts. He squeezed my hand lightly.

Leave it to him to bring up what I didn't want to say aloud. I hesitated, then finally said, "When you disappeared, I felt panicked. Unreasonably angry at you. At myself. At Skeletor. At the world in general. It was...consuming. Right after I had the...the abortion, I would wake up at night, feeling as if I had torn myself in two. I couldn't tell how much was grief over the a-abortion and how much was missing you...and He-Man." With a slight groan, Adam tugged me to a stop and pulled me into his arms. I nestled against him for the moment. "Finding out that Skeletor might have had a hand in my decision-I don't feel less angry with myself, and I am angry at him, but at the same time, I feel...like I understand my own decision just a little bit more. Does that make sense?" I pulled back to look into his beautiful blue eyes, which were warm with understanding.

"Yeah," he whispered. His eyes darkened, his head drifting closer to mine almost imperceptibly; I thought for sure he was going to kiss me, but he dropped his arms. Joining hands, we continued down the path at a leisurely pace amid the small glowing white night flowers that were just beginning to open up to the evening air.

"I guess I'm not more angry at Skeletor than I usually am because he's been so ruthless since you've been gone," I said quietly. "The idea isn't a surprise. He was responsible for making you disappear. I wanted to blame everything on him."

"Well I do blame him," Adam growled. I glanced at him; his jaw was tight, his breathing shallow. I moved closer to him and slid my hand up his arm a bit, trying to calm him.

"It was my decision," I said gently. I swallowed hard, feeling responsible for this new side of Adam I had never seen before. "Even if he influenced it, the choice was mine." Inwardly, I started to wonder if Adam and I would ever be able to truly move past it.

"I know," he said in a flat tone. I bit my lip to keep from apologizing again. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. In a sadly obvious effort to change the subject, he said, "I understand you will be staying at the palace more often." We turned towards a path that led off the grounds, towards the Evergreen Forest. Adam nodded to the guardsman who stood at the gate. I glanced behind and saw that the young man was already on his communicator, letting the others know that the prince was leaving the grounds. Security was definitely tighter, better, and I was both saddened by the necessity and proud of the Guard, many of whom I had trained.

Turning my attention back to Adam, I shrugged. "It's more convenient. I'm training with some of the Guard, you, Adora...that's just too much to be running back and forth for every day." I hesitated a short minute then shared my news with him. "My father suggested I speak to King Randor about assisting with the security systems. I have an appointment with the king next week."

Adam's face split into a wide smile. "That's great, Teela! Congratulations!"

I returned his smile. "Thanks. But it's not a done deal yet."

"My father won't say no," Adam said confidently. "Skeletor getting into the palace and almost killing Ham has made him nervous." He half-opened his mouth as if he were going to say something else, then stopped.

I couldn't help but tighten my grip on his hand as I recalled seeing him facing off against the villains, bleeding, standing protectively in front of Ham. I pushed away the image. "Good thing Ham's big brother was around," I teased Adam. He blushed slightly, which I found both endearing and hilarious, but I decided to have pity on him and move the conversation along. "I've realized that I miss more than the fighting. I miss being part of it all, doing something that's bigger than me."

Adam's smile became more forced. He gave me a quick hug and uttered another congratulations, then turned away slightly. With a start, I realized he was hiding something again. He had that same look he used to get when his father reprimanded him for missing a meeting or being late for a meal. And I was convinced it had something to do with his secret, so I decided to push a little.

"What is it, Adam?"

"What's what?"

"Don't play dumb with me," I countered. "Something's bothering you."

He shook his head, seeming a bit reluctant. "I can't explain it, Teela."

"Can't or won't?"

He gave a self-derisive snort. "Both."

I stared at him, wondering why he'd even gone to Grayskull. I couldn't figure out what he thought the Sorceress would do for him in the first place. "Is He-Man okay?" I asked abruptly.

Adam cast me a confused glance. "As far as I know, he's fine. Why?"

I shrugged, feigning indifference. I didn't want to make Adam jealous, and I wasn't interested in He-Man, but the prince's visit to the Sorceress reminded me that she was a connection between the two of them. My father and Adam always seemed to spend more time at Grayskull than anyone other than He-Man and She-Ra. I remembered Skeletor asking Adam about his connection to He-Man, and it seemed to me that the Sorceress would be the logical connector. But before I could question Adam further, a familiar twangy voice grated over my eardrums, as if my very thoughts had conjured him.

"Ah, both the prince and the would-be future princess, together again!" Skeletor cackled. Adam shoved me roughly behind him as the evil magician appeared in front of us. "I've been waiting to get you alone for a little chat, you pathetic pampered prince, but you seem to have a lot more protection than you used to."

"And you seem to have a lot fewer brains than you used to," Adam retorted. "The Guard will be here in seconds."

"It only takes a second to kill you," Skeletor snapped back. "Or in this case, to make it almost impossible to do anything other than writhe in pain." His eyes began glowing red. That little trick had begun about the same time Shadow Weaver had shown up. Speaking of which...I whirled around to protect Adam's back as he faced off against Skeletor, and wasn't surprised to see Shadow Weaver and Evil-Lyn.

"Skeletor still hasn't decided between you two?" I quipped. Really I was just trying to hide the fact that I was terrified. I had never been so scared of them before, but besides the fact that I was out of shape and out of practice, I kept seeing Adam protecting Ham, one hand on his side as the blood seeped through. The image was just stuck in my brain now, like Tar Swamp goo. Adam had never seemed so vulnerable to me. And I had a sinking suspicion that I knew what Skeletor was about to do.

Shadow Weaver began one of her stupid misting spells. "Adam!" I cried. "Swing!" Without hesitation we whirled to face each other, interlocking our hands, and he began swinging me around. The three creeps were smart enough to move out of the way, but it did give us a little breathing room and disrupted Shadow Weaver's spell and Skeletor's red-eyed-whatever. Unfortunately, as Adam slowed, he was paying too much attention to easing me down to the ground. Skeletor geared up and blasted him in the back. Adam cried out in pain, caught by such surprise that he let go of me completely. I still had enough momentum that I went tumbling into Evil-Lyn, knocking her to the ground.

I tried to take advantage of it. I slammed Evil-Lyn in the chin with my elbow, driving her head back into the ground and dazing her. Then I rolled off and tried to sweep Shadow Weaver's legs out from under her-stupidly forgetting that she did that whole floating-in-the-air thing to make herself scarier. Or maybe it was to avoid things like getting her legs swept out from under her. Either way, my leg just met air. Her hands went in a circle and I dove to the side, out of the cloud of magic.

I shot off a few freeze rays as I scrambled to my feet, realizing at the same time that Adam was still on the ground and Skeletor was cackling. I couldn't take my eyes off of the two villains who were still standing, so I just called out to Adam. Either Skeletor had knocked the wind out of him, or Adam was unconscious, because he didn't answer. Feeling nearly frantic, I stood near him defensively, firing my freeze rays as quickly as I could, but it wasn't enough. I didn't have any cover. And while I kept Skeletor and Shadow Weaver busy, Evil-Lyn recovered. A string of curses flew through my mind even as I scrambled to think of a way out of the situation.

Suddenly, I couldn't move. I drifted up in the air, courtesy of Shadow Weaver. As she drew me away from Adam, Skeletor raised the Havoc Staff, his eyes glowing red. The magic bolt flew past my side, towards the ground, and I heard Adam's cry.

For whatever reason, Shadow Weaver turned my incapacitated body around so I could see what was going on, and I immediately wished she hadn't. Skeletor hadn't been kidding. He did literally have Adam writhing on the ground in pain. I screamed at him to stop, or at least I tried, but I couldn't speak either due to Weaver's spell. Skeletor let up for a moment, and the only sound around us was Adam's harsh breathing and the occasional groan that he tried to bite back. Skeletor slammed the Havoc Staff into the ground.

"Now, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?" Skeletor said in that falsely sweet voice that drives me nuts. "I only cast that spell on He-Man. How did you follow him? Who helped you?"

Adam's only response was to cough. I caught a blinking light on his wristband and felt a whisper of relief. He had activated the alert.

"Freeze!" I knew that voice. It was the guard who had been at the gate when we left the palace. I ground my teeth together. No regular guard was a match for these three. I was proof of that. He should have shot first and then told them to freeze. It would have worked better.

But before I could despair, another dozen guards surrounded us, along with my father and Kol-Dar. Though I was glad to see them, I couldn't help but wonder where He-Man and She-Ra were. We really needed them.

"Surrender immediately. I won't ask again," Kol-Dar ordered.

"Forget-" Before Skeletor could finish his sentence, the Guard opened fire, taking out Shadow Weaver. Skeletor and Evil-Lyn created shields to protect themselves.

"Another time, then," Skeletor announced. "I will discover your little secret, Prince Adam." With a cackle, the three villains disappeared. The spell that had held me immobile was broken with Weaver gone, and I fell to the ground. My father half-caught me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Never mind me," I snapped. "Adam needs She-Ra. Where the heck is she?"

"I'm okay," Adam's hoarse voice replied. I turned to see Kol-Dar and Jasper, one of the guardsmen, helping him to sit up. My mouth dropped open. Over the years Adam had been gone, some of Skeletor's spells had increased in power. I had seen him take over people's minds and cause people to experience pain the likes of which haunted me for days afterwards, their screams echoing in my mind. It was another reason it became hard to sleep after He-Man and Adam left. It was like the security blanket was gone, and Skeletor went about doing almost what he pleased.

Shying away from those thoughts, I hurried to Adam's side. "How?" I demanded. "I saw what he did to you!"

"I hurt all over," Adam admitted, his voice still rough, "but I'm not injured, Teela. All he did was cause pain."

"Then let me see you take a few steps." My father's voice didn't allow room for argument. Adam raised an eyebrow, but did as requested, a bit unsteadily, but not falling. There were whispers around the guardsmen who had come to help. Adam caught on quickly.

"Obviously this is a big deal," he said slowly. "Why?"

"Skeletor's used that spell on people before to try to get information out of them," Father said, averting his eyes. "It usually takes a lot of time to recover."

"Information about…?" Adam asked, an undefinable look crossing his face.

"Grayskull. Locations of archaic magical talismans. Your connection to He-Man," I answered almost flippantly, but really I was watching his face very closely as I spoke. A look of fear flashed in his eyes when I mentioned Grayskull. He gathered himself as I spoke of the talismans, but when I mentioned his connection to He-Man, he stiffened noticeably, though his face remained calm.

I could have kicked myself. He was a good actor, no doubt about it. If I weren't watching him for the signs, I wouldn't have noticed them. And before he disappeared, I didn't watch for them. I took him at face value. The Adam you saw was the Adam you got, or at least that's what I always thought.

When did my best friend from childhood become someone of secrets, someone who became more than what he presented to the rest of Eternia?

Still unsteady, Adam didn't resist as I went to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, continuing, "It can take several days for the effects to wear off. Sometimes even weeks, depending on how long Skeletor was at it. The Guard chased him off pretty quickly; hopefully he didn't have a chance to do much damage." I hoped by continuing to talk about the effects in a factual way and about what he might experience, he wouldn't stop to question past events.

But this was Adam. "Who?" he demanded. "Who has suffered because of that villain's obsession?" His blue eyes were nearly ablaze with anger. He let out a hissing breath of pain and I realized that the conversation had caused him to tense up, which in turn caused him more pain.

"You should sit down," I said, gesturing towards the edge of the woods where a tree had fallen. "There's a-"

"Don't change the subject," Adam interrupted. I stared at him. This was certainly another side of him I wasn't familiar with. The tenacity, the determination, the simple strength he was displaying right now, it was all reminding me of He-Man. That kind of made sense; they had spent a lot of time together. "Who did he hurt?"

With a sigh, my father gestured to Kol-Dar, himself, and me. "All of us, Adam. The King." He went on to name a few of the Masters and soldiers, even Adam's personal office assistant Gracelyn. Adam had gone white when Father first began; by the end of the list, he was almost green. As Father had spoken, he had deliberately meandered towards the log I had spotted earlier, and now he put his hands on Adam's shoulders and forced him to sit. Kol-Dar and the guard remained a respectful distance away, establishing a perimeter.

"I'm sorry." My eyes flew to Adam's face, his gaze going back and forth between us.

"What are you apologizing for?" I asked, confused.

"You went through...that"-he gestured wildly with his hand- "because of me."

"And He-Man," I reminded him, again watching him closely to see his reaction.

He didn't flinch this time. "If I hadn't followed him, Skeletor might never have touched any of you over it."

"He only asked about you and He-Man early on," Father interjected, casting me a look that seemed...almost suspicious. I narrowed my eyes as his gaze returned to Adam. "Once it was clear that Gracelyn didn't know anything, and neither did your father, Teela or I, he stopped asking. The rest of the time he was looking for general information about Grayskull, or about whatever talisman or artifact he was searching for at that time."

A look of deep gratitude passed over Adam's face. "I only experienced a few seconds of it," he said quietly. "I don't know what the two of you went through on my behalf, but thank you for continuing to protect my family and my kingdom." Again he and my father exchanged a look, but Adam's words pierced my own heart. I whirled away, intending to leave, but Adam grabbed me. "Where do you think you're going?"

Shock at his speed and strength compounded my guilt. I struggled to form words. "I didn't continue to protect them," I finally managed, staring at his chest. "I abandoned them."

He put a finger under my chin and forced me to look up at him. His eyes held no judgment, just a deep compassion and understanding, even friendship. I suddenly felt as if I were both the luckiest and most undeserving woman in the world, that this man should continue to care for me after what I had done. "You did what you could for as long as you could," he said. "That's all I could ask." His eyes narrowed. "How long were you down after Skeletor tortured you?"

I tore my gaze from him and shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me," Adam responded, his voice hardening. Caught off-guard by his tone, my gaze flew back to him, my eyes wide. I had seen his protective streak multiple times since he had returned, but the intensity in his voice was...primal.

"Ten days," my father answered for me. "He had her for almost six hours before we managed to find her and rescue her."

Adam swallowed hard and pulled me into a tight embrace. He was the one who had been hurt today, but somehow, I was the one who was being reassured. And it felt really, really good.