Right, so, as usual, I'm going to be answering your reviews, those of you who have done so, I thank you so much for your input, by the way. Anyway, I'm warning you now, I don't know when Oliver and Mai will get together. Hell, one of my other couples might get together before them.

Joys: Thanks! I like Yasu, myself- both the fox and the person (both are rather fun to write). I'm going to be using the whole rooming situation a bit.

Chamele: All foxes are adorable in my opinion. To answer your question, no, it was a complete coincidence that I didn't realize at the time.

Lady Angel Sanada Doji Date: unfortunately, that is not his personality… He's not going to admit it without serious intervention on an outside source's part. As in someone kicking the crap out of him type of intervention. He's not the only one at fault, here, either, and he knows it. He already knows he's done wrong.

Ghost loves japan 77: So… most of this is in the prologue and chapter one. Mai's powers have grown exponentially. One of which being her empathy. She can literally feel emotion from any living creature, human and animal. Due to her own instincts being rather animalistic in the first place, she can get the gist of what an animal is feeling, therefor, thinking.

Vampgirl1309: Mai is not quite the bigger person, here. Her temperament is just different. It doesn't help that she's in love with Oliver and just can't stay mad at him. Honestly, her being there drives him up the wall, and the fact that he doesn't understand her doesn't help. She's done developing powers, though her control still has a long way to go. Hence why she's working with Oliver.

Wingfright: I'm glad you enjoy it. I really got sick of all the 'I'm-sad-and/or-mad, but-I- forgive- you- anyway-and-way-too-quickly-even-though-reality-doesn't-work-that-way…' Mai.

Wolfy: Thank you. I do try.

MirandaLovespie: I'm not abandoning this story. I'm sorry for making you worry. Here's the next chapter, and by the way, thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 10- Magia

I remember you from a dream I thought was truth

You bright with magic and I blinded by my youth

All I wish is for your hand to hold you see

Only your smile kills the dark in me

~Magia- Madoka Magica

(English cover by Amanda Lee)

The room was aptly named, Mai noted. White concrete, linoleum and a two-way mirror indicating that there was another room, an observation room next door. The room was empty, save for a table and two chairs.

Na- Ol- Dr. Davis sat in one. She sighed and sat in the one across from him. He took out his notebook. "There were cameras in the lab, recording what happened yesterday." He said. His voice, for the first time, was quiet. Mai cocked her head to the side, intrigue and a slight bit of confusion entered her sienna eyes.

"I didn't know that…" she said. "Were they able to record the whole thing, or did they… break?" An elegant black brow shot up as he regarded her. To her surprise, his lips quirked, and a slight smirk crossed like lighting across his face.

"Do you have so little control, then?" he asked, his voice held a trace of amusement among the sardonicism. Mai frowned. "That's not what I meant, and you know it, Na- Dr. Davis." She replied, though the barb had hit home, and her words had come more forcefully than she had intended, and her temper had frayed a bit.

A crack appeared in the table. The ironic smirk that slid onto his face made Mai want to slap him. "Oh, really?"

"Ugh, there is just no winning with you, is there?" she threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Few have managed to do so," he smirked. "My mind is far too advanced for most to succeed in such endeavors."

"And now, he's using his advanced vocabulary to drive that point home…" she muttered to herself.

"Talking to yourself, Mai? That's rather rude, don't you think?"

"Nowhere near as rude as your constant snipes about my intelligence- or, in your mind, lack thereof." She replied, her temper starting to fray. "I made it to Cambridge, didn't I?" she glared at him.

"True, though I do wonder how." He smirked. One more push should do it, he thought. "hiding behind an assumed name was inspired."

At that, her eyes flashed gold. He blinked. Odd. That was something he'd never seen before. "Oh, you don't say?" she drawled. She pinned him with a look. "Now, I can't imagine how it feels to be left in the dark until the last possible moment. It must be so very irritating, no?"

Unknown to her, Oliver was coiled. Waiting for something. He didn't know why, but he felt almost exited. He was waiting… waiting for her to say it. He needed her to say it. He frowned internally. Why he needed to hear it was a mystery to him.

"I had my reasons for that, Mai."

"As did I, Dr. Davis." She hissed.

"Your reasons were to hide from me." He said. "My reasons were to preserve my anonymity while I searched for the body of my dead brother."

"And I was reserving my anonymity to make sure that I would not get different treatment- good or bad- just because I had experience in the field." She growled.

"You act as if that would have happened. You have far too little experience for that." He drawled. "Especially since we both know, Taniyama-san, that I had to explain everything multiple times for you to understand even the easiest things."

The table broke in half. Her eyes flashed that odd molten gold again. "You did not, and you know it, Naru!" she hissed.

His eyes flashed, however, coupled with that look, that dark, vicious look of victory that he wore, he was not angry. He looked, she noted vaguely, like a warlord who had won a battle. Finally, after this long… he'd finally gotten her to say it.

His name.

She recognized her blunder immediately, and a wealth of jumbled words fell from her lips. They were not English, nor were they Japanese. He could, however, say with certainty, that they were… Chinese.

His dark eyebrow shot up. "Chinese now, Mai? That's new." Her eyes flashed to his, anger had caused a flame. Her eyes were still gold. She snapped something else, "Tā mā de*."

He smirked. He'd known Lin long enough that he knew exactly what that meant. "Language, Mai." He purred. Her heart skipped a beat, though she pushed the knowledge off. Self-preservation took over. She was now on auto-pilot.

She could not afford to feel that again. Not toward him.

She took a breath, working the anger down. "We've gotten off track, Dr. Davis." She would not call him… that again. She looked around.

He frowned, annoyed that, for the first time since he'd known her, she had not retaliated, but sat back in the chair. Now that the table was destroyed, he had nowhere to write. "You've said that your powers have grown?" he prompted. Mai gave him a wry grin, but nodded. "Much to my own chagrin." She responded.

He frowned. For one who had been immersed in the world of paranormal activity, she had not wanted her powers to grow? She laughed. "Wow, that's the first time I've actually felt anything from you." She murmured, as she let the confusion flow through her.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm Empathic, Dr. Davis." She responded. "I can feel emotions from other living beings. Animals included." Interesting. He made a note in his book. "So, you can tell what another is feeling at any given time?"

"Only when I'm not controlling it. I had to learn how to control that first, as it stopped me from going to school for a while." He frowned. "when was that?"

"Some time after SPR closed down." She responded. Sometime after you left, and my world fell apart. Was the answer that she didn't say. "I wasn't aware of my connection to animals until a little after that, when I came across… a rabbit… that was," she winced, as the memory came back. She gulped. "It had been run over… but was still alive. There hadn't been any hope of survival though." She shuddered.

"I… felt it's pain." His eyes flashed up to hers. Her face had gone pallid, and her large, dark eyes stood out in stark contrast. He blinked. "I had nightmares about it for quite a while afterwards." She murmured.

His blood ran cold. She'd felt the death of a rabbit? She smiled wryly. "I don't have a complete handle on my Empathic abilities. I sometimes project my own emotions on others with strong enough feelings, though mostly, I just feel from others."

"that's not all, is it?" he asked. She sighed. "no. I have what I call ecokenisis. I can control everything in nature- and have both PK-LT and ST, like you. Though mine is slightly less… well, less."

"Not from what I saw that first day." He replied. She snorted. "We both know that's just because you have better control, Dr. Davis."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Well, it is your name, isn't it?" she drawled sardonically. "I was under the impression that I should call you that."

He said nothing, knowing that if he retaliated, she'd know.

He'd already won once. The first time was always the hardest with her. Soon, she'd fall back into her old habit of calling him Naru. Until then, he'd have to be patient. And that was something that Oliver Davis had and used. He was quite capable of waiting her out. All he had to do was keep antagonizing her….

And hope that she wouldn't kill them both with her temper and powers combined.

Thunder sounded outside, and he glanced at his partner and raised an eyebrow. She frowned, but shrugged, a bewildered look came to her face. "That wasn't me…." She muttered. His eyebrow shot up.

"That was something that I wanted to discuss, Mai." He said. "How often do you…"

"change the weather? Well, it seems to be tied to my emotions. Or, rather, strong emotions."

"Elaborate." Oliver said. "What sort of strong emotion?"

"Well, according to Anabelle, it's… anger or euphoria… really, really strong emotions. You'd have to ask Anabelle for anything else."

"What about when you have your dreams?"

"Nothing. I don't know why, but I wondered about that, too, so I checked the camera after the last case. Clear skies outside."

Oliver frowned. "It's a guess, but I think that because you are not… you in the dreams, your powers don't react."

"That's what I thought." Mai murmured, leaning forward, even as he did, their noses almost touching. She was lost, momentarily, in a sea of indigo. She felt something- something not from her. She shivered at the intensity.

"Mai." The two backed away so fast that both got whiplash, as Mai looked over at the Madoka. His teacher's face was oddly calm, though he thought that he saw an odd spark in her eyes. He frowned. Mai coughed and smiled sheepishly at Madoka.

"What's up, Madoka-san?"

Madoka grinned then. "How would you like to help on a case?" she asked the smaller brunette. Oliver instantly bristled. No. Absolutely no. Not without him. He opened his mouth to say as such, but Mai beat him to it.

"Sure. Is it the case I've been dreaming about?"

"Yes, in fact." Madoka said, "I need a few words with Oliver. Go find Lin. He'll explain how this is going to work. My rules are a bit different than his."

Mai nodded, and got up. Madoka rounded on the young doctor. "I see that look on your face."

"Madoka, you of all people should know that she's a danger magnet." Oliver pointed out. "There was only one case that she wasn't a target, and even then, she was." He snapped.

"My, my, Oliver, are you worried?" Madoka smirked, and Oliver sighed. "I just don't think SPR would want to be held responsible for any injuries."

"So… you want to be there in case something happens?" Madoka laughed. "I'm taking Lin and Eugene."

Madoka snickered inwardly as she watched Oliver. And right on cue, he stiffened, his indigo eyes narrowed, and he very nearly snarled. Oh, this is gold, Madoka thought, enjoying her student's instant rejection of the idea. "Or maybe I'll ask Adrian…"

"No." this time, he couldn't hold it in. There was no way that he'd let her anywhere near Adrian. His voice gave nothing away, thankfully, it was as flat and cold as usual. Most people wouldn't be able to tell he was angry at the thought of Mai being in such proximity with the elder of the second set of twins.

However, Madoka Mori was not 'most people', and she knew Oliver as well as she knew Lin. As well as she knew Eugene and Professor Davis. Almost as well as she knew herself. She grinned broadly. "Fine, I'll take the usual. Ayako, Monk, Yasuhara, Masako, Lin, and John. That work?

"Fine." Oliver glared, though, still displeased at being left out. Madoka snorted. "No use whining, Oliver." She all but purred. "You're the one who got banned."

An angry snarl ripped out of the younger man. Madoka smirked as she left him to his own thoughts.

"You pressed his buttons again." Lin murmured. Madoka smirked. "Someone has to." She replied. "Someone besides Gene… and Yasuhara."

Lin rolled his eyes. "Are you serious? Madoka, you're a grown woman…"

"Yeah, and he's a grown man… who still acts like a child." The 'grown woman' replied, with a slight sneer on her face. "Really, Lin, I'm only giving him a target that's as mean as him. It's not fair that he pokes and prods at Mai the way he does."

"She usually snipes and snarls right back at him when he does it." Lin countered. Madoka snorted.

"And it gets them both going, and then their abilities get out of control." Madoka retaliated. Lin sighed. She did have a point, there, he thought, shaking his head. Mai and Oliver tended to bring out the worst in each other… sometimes.

XXXXX- LINE BREAK -XXXXX

Mai waited for Madoka and Lin with the rest of the original SPR. There was, however, one new recruit joining them- and that would be Tohru. Which, honestly, was something that she was surprised at. Not that she was complaining.

Not that she could. She was too busy helping pack the van.

Though, at the moment, she couldn't help but thinking that it was a better choice than Dr. I'm-too-smart-for-you-to-understand-so-just-sit-back-and-watch Davis. She grinned at her friend. "So, you're joining us for this?"

"I'm joining you lot for another crazy, possibly screwed up mission, yes." Tohru smirked. Mai laughed. "Crazy and screwed up, yes. I don't even need to go to the place to see that."

"What did you see this time, Mai?" Ayako groaned. Mai smirked. "Enough to know that the boys probably shouldn't be on this one."

"This is the third ghost we've delbt with that has a vendetta against the male half of the species…" Tohru muttered. "Why is that?"

"We get lucky, I guess…. Madoka, what do you think?" she asked, deffering to the older ghost hunter. The pink haired woman grinned as she shrugged. "we need to head out. That's what I think…" she sighed. "It's going to take us about three hours to get there."

Ayako huffed. "Who am I riding with?" she asked. Monk smirked. "Masako, John… and me." Mai chuckled as the woman let out an annoyed groan. Lin's lips twitched up into one of his rare grins, and Tohru snorted. She nudged Mai. "Are they always like that?"

"Might want to get used to it, Tohru. They're like a couple of first graders, they hid their feelings by fighting and picking on each other…" the girl muttered. Mai laughed.

"So true," she snickered. "Though I have to wonder if putting the two of them in the same car is ever a good idea…"

"Well, why do they?"

"I would truly love to see someone stop them."

Tohru grinned as the group loaded up. "Have any good dreams, lately, Mai?" The brunette frowned at the blond before shaking her head. "no. Not about this case. Not since that first dream that I told Madoka."

"Kinda seems like the same vibe as the other ghost… Yuki, right?"

Mai sighed. "Well… yes and no. I mean, Yuki felt like he betrayed her, but that was because he killed her. This one…. It's different. I get the feeling that she may have killed herself… Or, at least, that's the vibe that I'm getting from her…"

"But I thought that ghosts were created from violent acts against them?" Tohru asked.

"That's not necessarily true." This was from Madoka, who had been listening to the two girls intently. Lin chimed in then. "If you look at it, isn't suicide a violent act against a person?" he asked Tohru froze, and frowned.

Mai grinned. "Exactly. For instance, one of the most haunted places on earth is Aokigahara… and that's because it is where people go to kill themselves." Mai pointed out.

Tohru nodded slowly. "I suppose that you have a point…" she murmured. "I never thought of it like that. But… how do you know that she committed suicide?" she asked. Mai snorted. "I've been hunting ghosts since I was fourteen. I learned how to tell the difference between at least murder and suicide." She grumbled. "And this lady definitely killed herself."

"Fun."

"Especially when I get into the first-person dreams…" Mai grumbled. Her eyes suddenly started to get heavy. She yawned. "Well… here we go again…" She muttered as her eyes closed.

Mai sighed as she looked around. Thank the gods that she could control the dreams, now. It had taken a while, but she'd finally been able to. She watched as the woman walked up the stairs as if in a trance.

Tears streamed down her pale face. The moonlight hit those tears, making it look like diamonds. Mai could see the heartbreak on her face, and yet, even as she stepped forward to comfort (though she knew that she couldn't. Not really), she stepped backwards. There was something… different about her this time.

"Liar…" she murmured, though her voice sounded detatched, even as she advanced on the room, it seemed as if she was in a trance.

Water dripped from somewhere.

The dream cut out then. Odd, Mai thought, still in the astral plane. That had never happened before. Something flashed on the horizon of her dream world… a child. A beautiful little girl….

It took Mai a few seconds to realize that the girl's face held an expression of terror… and that her wide- open eyes…. Were blank. There was no life in that small body, and Mai stifled a scream when she realized one more thing: A blood red laceration that measured from one ear to the other. The little girl had been given the most macabre necklace she'd ever seen…

"He lied."

The whisper shot through her mind, though it sounded like it was right behind her. She spun around to face the woman from her dream.

She was the same woman on the staircase, though now, she wore a brilliantly white dress. Her hair was dark, and flowing around her, her eyes a pale blue. She smiled, an almost guileless smile.

"To love and honor. To cherish…. He did neither." She giggled, and Mai stiffened. This woman was insane. There was no other word for it.

Mai woke with a start, with Madoka shaking her. "We're here." The woman murmured. Mai shuddered. "Beautiful." She muttered.

"You had another dream, didn't you?"

"Yes. Her husband did something… broke their vows in some way. Her daughter was killed. She killed herself. I… I met the woman, and Madoka, she's insane."

"So was the ghost you, Tohru and the others went after in Japan right before you came here, right?"

Mai shook her head. "No. She was angry. This… this is a different level of crazy. I don't know if John, Monk, Yasu, or Lin should be here." She whispered, as fear came to her. "I don't know if it's safe for them…"

"We'll be fine, Mai." Lin said from behind Madoka.

Mai just shook her head. She'd heard that before. She'd said it before. It had never turned out well. She could only hope that Lin was right, and they'd be able to protect themselves...

Because she had a bad feeling that this particular ghost did not differentiate between men...

Okay, I am so sorry, again for the wait. It just… had a bit of trouble coming out. IT's also a bit shorter than my usual, so I apologize. I try to make these things about 10 pages in Word, and that just didn't work this time.

As you have guessed, this ghost is a bit different than Yuki. While Yuki was extremely angry- she'd been killed by the man she loved, this woman… well, she is bat-shit crazy… there is a difference.