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Chapter 34 - Chapter 34 - The Light

Lance sat at the bar in his island home, sipping a beer from a bottle, and looking over notes he had made in a notebook.

"And there you are." Jane sang as she walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee.

He leaned on the bar and smiled at her. "Tony and Pepper happy with their photos?"

She danced in her excitement. "Yes! Well, I only spoke to Pepper. She said they had sent two of them to CNN. They were on television!"

He smiled proudly at her. "How about that? Your photos are being seen around the world."

She sipped her coffee and giggled. "I never thought that would happen. It's wonderful, Lance."

He continued to smile at her.

"She asked if it was alright to use another one. They want to send them in to a magazine. I told her to use whatever ones they like."

"Which one?"

"One with Soli. That one you liked."

He nodded, "That one is my favorite. Him swimming with that….what is it?"

"A dolphin." She smiled.

"Dolphin. That's a strange word."

"What would you call it?"

"I don't know. Not that. Sounds like... something...I don't know."

She giggled and sipped her coffee.

He smiled at her. "You're going to be up all night, drinking that now."

"It's not that late-"

"It is that late. You need to sleep."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed. "Did you sleep last night?"

"With you gone? Not really well."

He sighed. "I'm sorry about that."

She teased, "See. Having that photograph of you next to the bed came in handy."

He grinned. "How about that?"

"I'm just glad you lot found Jackie. Is she alright?"

He nodded, "John says she will be."

"And the one who was hurt?"

"Bassiano. He'll be alright. Lewis spoke to him."

"So, he's awake?"

"Finally. Yes."

"So, who was it?"

"A bounty hunter. He got a piece of him, but…"

"Why didn't he tell you guys? He needed help!"

"Oh, believe me, 'Quauhtin Jane'. His Primus has asked him the same thing."

"And his defense?"

"He thought he could handle it."

She groaned and shook her head. "Well, I'm not happy about that at all."

"Neither is the Primus. He's facing a Panel because of it-"

"As he should! Damn, I hope Lewis leaves a good sized footprint in his ass to keep him from….." She stopped and looked back up at Lance.

He started to laugh. "Wow. I'm grateful you aren't the Primus!"

She pointed at him. "I need to speak to Lewis."

He quickly shook his head. "I think he's fine."

She sat the coffee down and looked across the bar at him.

He rose his eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Arles."

"And his friend? Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too."

She walked around to sit on the stool next to him. "And I think we need to chat with him."

"Hmmm." Lance considered. "You work out that opening line, and I'll volunteer to have that chat."

She sighed. "How about….'Arles. Why are you lying to yourself?'"

Lance shook his head. "Nope. He'll shut down and deny everything."

"How about, 'Arles. We saw you at the concert.'"

Lance mocked a high pitched voice, "You were spying on me! How dare you!"

Jane shook her head and laughed. "Arles doesn't sound like that."

"I'll speak to him."

Jane sipped her coffee. "Where is he now?"

Lance listened in his head. "He says he's at home. Reading."

"What is he reading?"

Lance looked back at her and grinned. "Why?"

"I think he's with that girl."

"That girl? She is lovely."

She shook her head in disapproval. "I didn't get a good look at her."

He sighed. "He says…..oh. Interesting."

"What?"

"He's reading his Mum's diary. I didn't know she had one. He said that Lewis gave it to him."

"Okay. He's at home then. He wouldn't make that up."

Lance nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I wonder if they aren't getting on… then?"

"Let's postpone the chat. In case of that."

He sipped his beer and nodded. "Good plan, Jane the Quauhtin. Good thinking."

"Strategic thinking." She giggled.

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The next day, Samuel stood inside of Karen's childhood bedroom in her parent's home. They were in Florida and the house downstairs seemed almost alive with the amount of visitors Karen and Anne were receiving. Quauhtin and agents were all over the place. Both seen and unseen.

Samuel was grateful to see Arles there. He had remained with Karen, to give Samuel the opportunity to go upstairs to get away from the crowd for a bit.

His mind wouldn't stop replaying the events of the last few days. Thankfully, his back hadn't started to ache. Normally, it would after the last few sleepless nights, all of the worry, and how long he had been on his feet that day.

Karen's room had the familiar rounded walls that were throughout the house. Making one feel like they were in a lighthouse. The window was closed to trap the air conditioning, but the sunlight from the beautiful Florida day lit up the room decorated in soft pinks, yellows and of course, brown.

Samuel sat down at Karen's desk and looked at photos that she had on the wall behind it. There were photos of Karen in her softball kit, laughing with friends. He saw several of her and Kelly in various ages with large smiles. There were also several formal photos of Karen wearing various long, evening gowns and a beautiful smile. He leaned up to take a closer look.

"That was for a Navy ball." Karen told him.

He smiled back at her as she walked into the room. "Beautiful. How old were you?"

She joined him, rubbed his shoulders, and looked at the photo. "I went every year. Even if he wasn't home."

Samuel pointed at one of the photos of her wearing a brown, evening dress. "That one is my favorite."

She took the photo from the wall and handed it to him, "That was last year."

He kissed the image and slipped it into his oxford's pocket.

"Back hurting?" She asked and moved her hand to the back of his neck. The electrical sensation began as soon as their skin met.

Samuel closed his eyes and felt it move through his entire body.

Karen put her other hand on his neck and rubbed the back of his head. "Gosh, this is strong today."

He hummed with his eyes closed as she ran her hands through his hair. "Oh, it is brilliant it is."

He laid his head back on the chair. She leaned down and kissed his lips, making him smile as he opened his eyes. "Really strong. Wow."

"Samuel. Are you alright? Is it your back?"

"Nah. I just….needed to get out of that room for a bit."

"Overwhelming? Yeah. That's the reason I came up here, too." She told him as she walked over to sit on the edge of her bed. It was a double bed that sat under the windows that faced the sea. A brown duvet was spread across it neatly.

He spun around in the chair to look at the room. "This is nice."

"Have you ever been in here?"

"No. I've never seen this." He stood up, walked the few steps, and sat beside of her on the bed. He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

She smiled. "So strong. And wow. I didn't realize how much I needed that."

He put his other hand on top of hers. "It's strange. It's always there, and slowly fades."

"Yes." She told him. "But, then when I touch you, it gets so strong. It's much more than it used to be. Why?"

He grinned at her. "I'm working on it. I hope I can tell you what it is, soon."

She nodded and looked back at their hands.

He brought her hand back to his lips and kissed it again.

"So, my room. Yes. This has always been my room. My nursery, then how it is now."

Samuel looked around again. "I could show you my nursery. Well, you may have already seen it."

She shook her head. "I haven't. Your Dad told me that they have moved the baby into a proper bed."

"And out of the cot! Yes." He chuckled. "Mum says I kept climbing out. Dad wanted to keep me closer to the floor so I didn't get hurt. Well, Samuel doesn't get hurt."

"Both of you. He doesn't wear a bracelet, does he?"

He shook his head. "No. Not until he's older."

She sighed. "I wondered about that. I want one for Halley."

"She'll have to be older."

"How old?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't know."

"Talk to Tony about it. See what he says."

He nodded and began to look around the room again. He pointed at the corner. "That is probably the biggest dollhouse I've ever seen."

Karen smiled at the large, five story dollhouse that took up one entire corner of her room. "Yes. A Christmas gift. From….Dad."

Samuel took her hand and nodded. "He was gone?"

"Most Christmas's. Yes." She pointed over their head at a Zeppelin that Samuel had managed to miss. "And that was a birthday. My sweet 16."

Samuel nodded. "I expected….."

"What?" She smiled.

"Quilts."

"This is Florida. We don't really need those."

He nodded as she turned to face him. "You have that one quilt."

"Yeah, I do."

"It looks old. Where is from?"

"It's an old, family quilt. My grandmother's or something. I'm not sure. Mom gave it to me when I moved to New York."

"Oh. I thought….it was…."

"Like your elephant?" She smiled. "I have a bear. I'll show you. I didn't want to take it to New York."

He watched as she stood up and opened the closet doors. She started to reach up to get a box off of the top shelf.

Samuel quickly stopped her. "No, no, Mum! Stop doing stuff like that."

She put her hands on her hips and whispered. "I'm pregnant. Not made of glass."

"To me, you're made of glass." He grumbled. "Okay. What am I fetching for you?"

She grinned. "You're fetching the box, Angus."

He pulled out a large, white box from the top shelf. She went over to the bed and sat down. Samuel put the box next to her and opened it. He immediately saw a fluffy, grey, stuffed animal. It had long ears and wore a striped shirt. He pulled it out and smiled.

"This is a bear?" He asked.

"Of course it is."

He turned it around and showed it to her. "I'll point out these long ears, Karen. This is a rabbit."

She took it from him and hugged it. "It's a bear. It just has long ears."

"It's from France. 'Sucre Le sugar Rabbit.' I had one like it, too. But, mine was brown. I used to smack Arles with it. He had a white one. We beat the hell out of one another with them."

Karen kissed the plush. "Don't listen to him. You're a bear."

"You are mental." He teased. "That's a rabbit." Then he spoke in French to the rabbit.

She held the plush in her lap. "You can look at the rest of that if you want. It's alright."

He pulled out a stack of photos from the box. It was of Karen with a handsome teenage boy. He cleared his throat. "The boyfriend?"

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, there's some of him in there. I took them off of my wall…after…"

He put the stack back in the box and pulled out a pink album. "And what is this?"

She smiled. "Oh, you'll like that. Sit down and we'll look at it together."

He picked up the box and sat it on the floor. Then he sat beside of her and opened the album. The first photo was of a baby smiling.

Karen pointed at it. "That's me. No teeth."

Samuel smiled. "Halley looks like you. Gosh, she really looks a lot like you."

She smiled and turned the page. She pointed at the smaller images. "There I am, sleeping in my crib. Tiny baby. And there is my Mom holding me."

Samuel held the photo album up to see it closer. It appeared that a yellow light was shining above her crib in the image. "Karen, do you see this light?"

She dismissed it. "Yeah. It's from the sunlight. You know when you take photos and the light is just….right?"

He turned the page. Karen was about three years old and standing next to her Dad. He was wearing his uniform and Karen wore a lovely, pink dress. She smiled proudly.

"That was my first Navy ball. I remember it was such a huge deal for me to go. Dad came back from….umm….gosh, I don't even know where he was then."

Samuel smiled as he glanced back at her. He pointed at the next photo. Karen was about four years old and was swimming in a pool. The same yellow light seemed to surround her.

Karen hugged her "bear" and explained. "Swimming. Navy brat. Had to know how to swim. It's a thing. Mom took me to the pool a lot."

"Was learning to swim difficult?"

"No." She shook her head. "My first lesson, I jumped in and floated back up to the surface. Just like….I was in a bubble. Mom was so excited that she called my Dad. He called me his mermaid after that."

Samuel kissed her head quickly and pointed at the light. "And this yellow light, again."

"It's just the light, Samuel."

"Why is it yellow then?"

She took the album from him and flipped through the pages. "I have no idea. I'm not a photographer." She smiled, "Ah! You'll like this one. Tell me, what was your first car?"

He thought. "My first car? Hmm…."

"Yeah." He smiled.

"A limo. And I can remember the first time I rode in it. It made me sick. Feeling the Earth move, and then moving on top of it like that. My Dad popped me away before I had a chance to be sick. Well, inside of the car."

"A limo?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I didn't ride in one for a long time afterwards. I usually would just pop into a car after that if I was supposed to appear someplace. Dad or Papa would pop with me. Uncle Tony told Dad if I would learn to drive, it wouldn't make me so sick."

"You would have to be older for that."

"I was twelve. Tall. Really tall. I think I've grown two inches since then. I could reach the pedals and I was off. Never had another problem. Found that I love it."

"So, you've been driving since you were twelve?"

He nodded. "Proper cars. Yeah. Not legally of course. But, Uncle Tony's cars."

"Okay, so…what sort of car did your Uncle Tony teach you to drive with?"

"Oh. That was a beautiful car. And Audi prototype that he had. Oh that thing was….ummmm…."

"Was? What happened to it?"

He shook his head. "You really don't want to know."

She tapped his bracelet. "30%, seriously."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

She opened the photo album. "My first car. A Leaf."

He looked at the photo of her standing beside of the small, yellow car. The sunlight hit it and seemed to radiate around her and the car. "And the same yellow light. Karen…"

"It's a yellow car! It's just the light bouncing off of it."

"Baby, I think it is the same light."

Arles called from the hallway. "Karen?"

"We're in here."

He appeared in the doorway. "Oh! There you are."

"You lost Karen?" Samuel groaned. "You're a terrible bodyguard, man."

Arles put his hands on his hips. "Karen, may I please borrow some lippy?"

She laughed, "What is that?"

"Lippy. Lipstick. I want my brother's lips to be moisturized properly when he kisses my bum."

Karen giggled. "Maybe you need chap stick instead."

Arles snapped his fingers. "Yes. Cheers."

Samuel shook his head, "Come in here and look at this."

Arles walked over and smiled at Karen's stuffed animal she held. "Oh! A Sugar Rabbit."

"It's a bear!" Karen insisted.

Arles sat next to Samuel. "It's a rabbit. Am I wrong?"

Samuel waved his hand. "Focus on this. Look at these photos. That yellow light in them."

Arles took the photo album and flipped through the pages. "Oh. Karen, I was coming to tell you that your Mum wanted to know where you had gone."

Karen sighed. "I should get back downstairs."

She stood up, and put the stuffed animal back in the box. "Would you take this box back to our place, Samuel?"

"Sure."

Arles looked at the photos and teased. "A bear. See, this is the reason I think this is a boy. If you can't tell the difference in that…."

Samuel threw his hands out. "I said it was a rabbit! I agree with you!"

Karen rolled her eyes. "It's a bear. It just has long ears."

Both Arles and Samuel looked at her with raised eye brows.

Karen put her hands on her hips. "Are you guys serious?"

Samuel held his hand out. "Karen! It's clearly a rabbit! Bears don't have long ears."

Arles waved his hand. "Hang on. I can settle this. What is the stuffed animal's name?"

Karen crossed her arms. "Bear."

"Bear?" Samuel asked.

"Yes, Bear. Angus." Karen insisted.

Arles chuckled. "Angus. She's named you after beef?"

"She calls you something worse." Samuel told him.

"Oh, I do not." Karen told him.

Arles was looking at the album. "Damn, Sammy. It's a bear. What's wrong with you?"

Samuel shrugged his shoulders, "I'm clearly wrong. It's a bear. A proper Bear. I should know better than to argue with the Black Mumba."

Karen grinned. "And let that be a lesson to you."

Arles chuckled. "Papa is downstairs. You'll be safe."

Karen leaned down and kissed Samuel's lips. She stood in front of him and adjusted her blouse that she wore. "And…bump?"

Samuel helped her with her shirt. "Can't tell. It's alright. Is she moving around today?"

Arles rolled his eyes. "He. He's moving around!"

Karen grinned. "She's dancing when she hears you."

Arles continued to look at the photo album. "It's his Uncle he's dancing for."

Samuel smiled, put his hands on her hips and kissed her stomach.

Arles looked up and groaned. "And I'm too young to see this, man-"

"I'm just kissing my daughter-"

"Son!" Arles insisted. "Henry, don't listen to this madness."

"And we're not naming him after the dog." Samuel pointed out.

"Ah ha! You said, 'him'!"

Samuel shook his head. "Karen? Help?"

Karen smiled at them, "Arles. It's a girl. I promise you."

"Can you really tell?"

She groaned, "Of course, I can't-"

"So, you're trusting him?" Arles pointed at his brother.

Karen looked back at Samuel's face. He smiled up at her, and she ran her hands through his hair. "Of course I do."

Arles nodded, "That's good. You should. I do."

Samuel, still holding Karen's hips, looked back at his brother. "You trust me, but not the fact that I can tell a boy from a girl?"

Arles looked at the photo album. "Well, hell no. You are blinded by love, brother. I'm your One, I have to be the one to tell you these things."

Samuel looked back up at Karen. "Does that make any sense to you?"

She mouthed, "No."

She leaned back down and kissed his lips quickly. She whispered, "I'm going back downstairs."

Samuel watched her walk out of the room.

"And your thoughts, Arles?"

"I think she needs her eyes checked, man. She thinks you are handsome? Thinks that is a bear?"

"About the photographs."

"Oh. This is the same light. Same, yellow haze. And always when she's doing something where she may get hurt. Did you see this one?"

Arles handed him the album. Samuel saw a photo of Karen pitching at a game. The batter had hit the ball and a yellow haze seemed to circle Karen as the ball travelled directly towards her.

Arles pointed at it. "And I would love to know if that hit her or not."

"You know it didn't. If the light is there, she's safe. Why wouldn't she ever noticed it?"

"It's always been present with her. At least from the photos."

"Ugh. She says it's just the light from the way the photographs were taken."

"Denial. What do you think? She's strange?"

"I know she is. I just don't how much."

Arles pat his brother on the shoulder. "Brilliant. Someone as strange as you! How about that? You've managed to win the lottery, mate."

Samuel rolled his eyes at his brother. "I'm serious."

"So, am I!" Arles put the photo album back in the box.

Karen popped her head back in the doorway. "Arles. Kelly is here."

Arles groaned. "Does she know I'm here?"

She shook her head as she walked into the room. "No. I just went downstairs and saw her. So, I came up here to tell you."

Samuel looked back at his brother. "Well?"

The Doctor's voice was heard, "Karen?"

She called. "I'm in here."

The Doctor walked in. As soon as he saw both Arles and Samuel sitting on the bed, he glared at them. "And what the hell is this?"

Samuel was confused. "Ummm."

Arles looked back at his brother. "I…ummm."

The Doctor held his hand out to Karen. "A lady is standing in front of you two guys and you're both on your duff-"

They immediately jumped to their feet.

"Umm. You're right, Dad." Arles stammered.

Samuel took Karen's hand, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what we were thinking."

The Doctor looked back at Karen. "I must apologize for my sons' behavior."

"It's really alright. They aren't thinking clearly-"

"Clearly!" He insisted and looked back at them. He rose his finger. "You two. Manners. They-"

"….don't take a holiday!" They said at the same time.

The Doctor nodded. "So, you've heard that before?"

Arles nodded. "Yes, Dad."

The Doctor pointed at them. "Manners. A slip in them can get you killed in some places. Practice. Even when you're not in that environment, so that it becomes automatic."

Samuel cleared his throat, "Yes, Dad."

Arles exhaled slowly. "There's no excuse. We apologize."

The Doctor rose his eyebrow at both of them, and then walked out of the room.

Karen turned back to look at them in surprise. "And what's with John?"

Arles shook his head, "He's…stressed."

Samuel turned and pointed at his brother. "Very nice way to put that, brother."

Arles shook his head and groaned. "So, gross. Blah!"

Karen crossed her arms. "What?"

Samuel ran his hands through his air. "Umm. Kelly is downstairs you said?"

Karen nodded, "Yes."

Arles bit his lip. "Umm. Samuel asked me to take the box back to the flat, and ummm…"

Samuel pat his brother's shoulder. "Yeah! I need to get back downstairs, and practice my manners. Genie has Arles checking on the students."

Arles turned and put the top back on the box. "Yeah. That's it."

Karen wasn't convinced. "Running away?"

Arles picked up the box. "As fast as I can."

He popped away.

Samuel closed his eyes and shook his head. "Your brother, Karen."

"Your brother. What is that about?"

"I think they had a row."

"A what?"

"A row. A fight. Argument."

Karen nodded just as Samuel put his arms around her.

"You are lovely."

She smiled. "Thank you. I just want to get through today."

"Do you need to stay up here for a bit more?"

She sighed. "I wish I could."

"Shall I take you home?"

She thought for a moment. "Not right now. Not much longer though."

"Alright. Well, stay here. I'll go downstairs and-"

She smiled painfully. "Thank you. But, no. Just….stay with me."

He took her hand in his and the familiar tingle began. He kissed her hand and smiled. "This hand stays in mine."

She leaned in and kissed him. "Thank you."

"And if you need to come back up here…."

"Or if you do. Just tell me."

He nodded and mouthed. "Alright."

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