"As co-leader," she replied, "my room is only a few doors down." She plastered a sultry smile on her face. "Think you can resist?"
"More than you think. Trudy and Brady are moving into mine."
~*~ Ebony walked into the cafe, and spotted the Smile, her smug attitude shot right out of her. What were they doing here? "What are they doing here?" she questioned, her eyes becoming slits. "They're Jackals."
"And you're a traitor," Alice told her, "what's your point?"
"I'm not a traitor."
"Yes, you are..."
"....We saw you on the beach..."
"...With that robed freak the Guardian and another Mallrat."
Ebony glared at the Smile. "You three are little rats yourself. What did you think you were going to do, warn poor little Gwen?" She scoffed. "As you speak, she's probably off snogging with Lex."
"She is not!" Ellie protested.
Ryan rubbed a circle on Selene's back. "Yeah," he told her, "they're not even close to that. She just told him he wasn't going anywhere near the casino without her."
"You guys are so stupid... she's a Jackal. She can't do good."
KC looked at Ebony. "Well, she saved me," he told her, stepping forward. "That's good." The Smile nodded in agreement with him, while getting a small smile of thanks from Ellie.
~*~
Gwen stood behind a column of the casino so she wasn't going to be seen. She didn't want to have to go back into the life she had at this place. No way, no how. "Unless they threaten people I care about," she vowed silently. She snuck a peek to see what was going on with Lex.
"Well, well," Billy Boy said, "looks like we might not have to go after the entire Tribe after all."
Top Hat smirked. "So, where's the hooker?" When Lex glared at him, he shook his hands in front of him. "Oh yeah, you're real scary, Lex."
"Stay away from the mall, you hear me?" Lex growled, before pushing Billy Boy up against a wall. "And you-"
"Lex don't!" Gwen hadn't even given herself time to remember she wanted to stay hidden. All she knew was Lex could get himself seriously hurt against Top Hat and Billy Boy. She stopped dead in her tracks when Lex released his grip on Billy Boy.
Billy looked over at Gwen standing there as he walked over next to Top Hat. "My pet," he said, "you've returned."
"Not returned, merely visiting."
"How sweet? I'm sure you heard Top was coming and you just couldn't stay away..."
Gwen flinched as Top Hat pulled her to him. "I was always his favorite."
"That you were, but you were mine too, you know that." He ran a hand down Gwen's face, then neck, and kept going further down. "Now, let's see what we can do with all that lovely, lovely fear, shall we?"
~Flashback:
Lex smiled proudly over at KC.
"Zan's gonna have a baby; that's why she's been actin' so funny..."
KC nodded.
"That's great, Lex... but, I think it had something to do with what Top Hat did to her..."
"Whaddya mean, KC? What'd Top Hat do to her?"
"It's... she didn't tell you?" KC hedged.
"KC."
KC sighed.
"He... he threw her down on the bed and was tryin' to make her kiss him and stuff... she was screamin'... but I took care of it..."
"You? How?"
"Kicked him in the nuts." KC smirked proudly.
Lex made a face, realizing that must've been when his men came and locked them all in that cage and tried to set fire to the mall, like when he and Ebony'd found them...~
He flashed back to reality when he heard Gwen cry out.
"I didn't kill ya for what you did the first time because Zan begged me not to... but damn if anything's gonna stop me now..."
~*~
"Bray... that's---"
"The arrangement we originally had? What we should've stuck with? Yes, I know, Danni."
Danni pouted.
"But... how will you sleep---"
"Brady sleeps through the night, and Trudy won't give her her own room anyways at least for a while..."
~*~
"I'm the traitor?! You're listening to Jackals?! Worse than that, the dimmest bulbs they got?!"
"We resent that!"
"We're not only smarter than you, Ebony..."
"We're more talented!"
Selene made a face; they weren't helping their case against Ebony a bit at all...
Ryan frowned as he saw Danni following Bray.
"Uhhhh... Bray?"
Bray looked at Ryan. He really wasn't in the mood. "What?" he said.
"There's something we gotta tell you -"
Ebony scoffed. "Yeah, and the heard it from the dim Jackal trio over there," she teased, giving Danni a look. "I'm heading up to my room, thank you."
As Ebony walked away, everyone looking at her leaving saw her grab Danni's arm. The triplets (or the Smile) got somwwhat excited at this. "See, we told you..." "...they were up to no good..." "...it proves we aren't lying."
Salene looked at Bray, biting her lip. "Ebony and Danni are planning something..."
"Yeah," Alice continued, "the trio over there saw them of the beach, meeting with..."
"Jaffa..." Bray's eyes narrowed. "...that guy's going down once and for all."
~*~
"You bastard!" Lex screamed, going after Top Hat, knocking him off his chair and backwards as he tackled him.
Gwen noticed Billy Boy was about to make a move to knock Lex out, so she rammed into him, knocking him over and into a row of arcade games. "You wanna play," she panted, holding her side, "we'll play baby."
Top Hat smirked at her.
"Bring it on, little girl..."
Lex reached out and kicked him, right at the buldge in his jeans.
"Awwww... did I ruin the south's rise?" he smirked as Gwen elbowed Billy Boy in the neck...
And, the fight was on...
~*~
By the time they got back to the mall, they were a bit battered and sore. But, they could honestly say they'd won...
"Forgot how much fun tearin' up a bar was..." Lex smirked.
"That was not fun!" she screeched at him.
"Don't be such a banschee..." he laughed. "Didn't it give ya at least a little satisfaction beatin' the holy hell outta those bastards? They had it comin'--- if we hadn't've had to split when they got backup we could've---"
"What? Killed them? Taken a life? No, thank you... bad as they are, I don't want to have blood on my hands..."
"Well spoken; at least my sister isn't like you, Lex!"
~*~
Ryan walked into the kid's room, where all three of them and Selene were sacked out on the floor on a bunch of pillows; they'd been playing some kind of board game and drifted off...
Ryan dropped a blanket over them all and kissed Selene on the cheek.
"You'll make a great mom someday..." he whispered...
~*~
"Bray... don't leave me..."
"Trudy, calm down; I'm trying to protect---"
"By leaving me alone? Venerable? How many horror movies have you watched, really?"
"Trudy... this isn't a horror movie? It's real life?"
"This life isn't like a horror movie? Geez, Bray... it's like 'Children of the Corn' and 'Village of the Damned' all rolled into one at times..."
~*~
"Ellie, shut it!" Gwen barked. "This does not involve you!"
Ellie squeaked. "You're taking his side?"
"No, it's private, Ellie!"
Lex watched Ellie walk off. "You're more like me than you thi - OW!" He glared at Gwen. "I just saved you from getting... getting.... felt up!"
"It was well deserved." She sighed. "I'm just... energy to work out?"
Lex smirked. "I've got a cure for that..."
~*~
Salene was having dreams. Not necessarily bad ones, just muddled ones. There was Ryan, and there was Bray. Then there was the baby....
"Oh, you're so precious," she said, only the last word coming out in the non-dream world, "I want you so much..."
~*~
Ebony practically threw Danni into her room. "They know!"
"What? how?"
"The smile!" she hissed. "They saw us with Jaffa!"
"What?"
~*~
KC woke up and rubbed his eyes sleepily, hearing Selene muttering something about "I want you so much..."
He grimaced and walked out of the room, not wanting to hear her dirty little dream if that's what it was...
He walked towards the cafe`, suddenly hungry. But, when he got there, Lex was already there flirting with Gwen...
"Sooo... my room or yours?"
"I really don't think---"
"See, that's good... thinkin's bad... we should just get into more action...
KC made a gaggy face and walked outside, bumping into Ryan...
~*~
"They'd've held a trial? Locked us up?" Danni said doubtfully.
"They have only heresay."
"Then, what's the problem? The idiots usually give people the benefit of the doubt?"
"Not this time, Danni..."
~*~
"Guardian... when is the time?"
"Zoot will lead me a sign!"
"Sign my arse--- those Mall Rats are goin' down..." Billy Boy growled.
"Like the Titanic..." Top Hat put in, his voice still squeaky...
~*~
"Bray, face it, our like is a science fiction, horror, drama, action, and comedy movie all rolled into one!" Trudy said, after putting brady down so she could be a little more animated in her words. "If you leave us alone, something's gonig to happen to us."
Bray sighed. "Right now, at least until this new little problem..."
"What new little problem? Us?"
"No, Danni and Ebony. There's something you need to know, Trudy..."
~*~
"KC?" Ryan asked. "How long you been up?"
"Long enough to see Gwen and Lex in the cafe," he said, sitting down. "It's just gross."
Ryan laughed. "Well, you know Lex, never one for subtlety."
"Yeah, but... couldn't he take it easy?" Then he looked over at Ryan, who was leaning against the doorway. "I mean, I think they just came back from the casino."
Ryan sighed. "So that's where they went."
~*~
"And here I thought you might actually be different," she said, suirming away from Lex. "That's all any guy ever thinks about, isn't it?"
"Yeah, pretty mu-"
"You can't make me! Just becuase I happen to have saved your brother, and then you saved me from Top Hat and Billy, doesn't mean I owe you a damned thing!"
"That's not what I'm say-"
"I don't care!"
Lex watched Gwen walk off. Just for a minute, he thought she was jsut a crazy chick. Then he remembered what she'd told him about her place at the casino, and swore. "Geez Lex," a voice said, "what'd she do? Turn you down?"
~*~
Jaffa lead his Chosen to the beach, meeting Billy Boy and Top Hat with their own. "Those two don't get that they're getting stabbed in the back," he said to them.
"Good," Billy Boy said, "because I've got my own little witch to deal with."
Top Hat grimaced, clearing his throat. "And let's hope she's not joined at the hip with Lex."
"That wimp?" Jaffa looked at Billy and Top Hat. "Nothing, we'll take care of him."
~*~
"What do you mean, not this time, Ebony?"
"Bray saw Jaffa on the beach before the Smile saw us."
They climbed up through the sewer entrance, and headed around towards the beach. "Then we better hope we have enough to take them down."
~*~
"Ebony? Jaffa? Danni?" she repeated dumbly, sitting down.
"Trud---"
"I'll rip their hair out!"
"Trudy, the baby?"
"They think for one second they are touching---"
Bray sighed and picked up Brady, who was starting to fuss.
"Ohhhh..."
"Don't worry; it makes you feel safer, I'll stay right here with you."
"It does."
"Then, I won't leave your side." he swore.
~*~
"Leave it, May."
"Oooooh, big bad Lex loosin' his prowess?"
"I said leave it!" he snapped.
He looked up as KC and Ryan walked back in.
"Hia, boys... just discussin' the downfall of l'il Lex---"
"MAY!!!"
~*~
"Ladies, ladies..." Jaffa greeted magnamaniously.
"Skip it, freak." Danni said. "Let's just get down to business."
"She may be a stupid whiny bitch, but you gotta admire the attitude..."
"Shut up, Billy Boy," Danni said. "Now that's we're all here..."
Top Hat walked up. "No," he said. "Now we're all here."
Ebony galred at Jaffa. "He wasn't part of the deal."
"His people, plus my people," Billy told Ebony, and Danni, who was glaring holes at them, "plus the Chosen. We'll be unbeatable..."
Ebony scoffed. "Not if those twits inside actually believe your twits," Danni scorned, and smirked at the reaction on Billy's face. "What, feel betrayed? because then we're on the same page."
Jaffa smirked, as did Billy and Top Hat. This Danni was turning out more cooperative than they'd hoped she would. Maybe she could be spared...
~*~
Ryan looked at May. "Shut up, May."
"Why should I?" May responded. "Lex is the one making goo-goo eyes at the Jackal!"
"Gwen isn't a Jackal..." Lips said, putting her hands on her hips.
Dimples nodded, narrowing her eyes at May. "...she was never even an official..."
"...she was just fun for Billy and his friends." Teeth finished, and the three took a step towards May.
May started laughing at that one. "Oh yeah, that's SO much better than me, Lex."
"She is!" KC defended, "She's not a bi-"
Alice took this oppurtunity to put her hands over KC's mouth. "THa'ts not going to help either," she told him, "and if you get hurt, I don't think May would survive Gwen."
~*~
Gwen ran smack dab into Bray as she had kept running up floors. "Woah," Bray said, holding her arms. He had told Trudy he was just leaving to go to the bathroom, but... Gwen looked upset. "What's got you all upset?"
"Lex!"
Bray sighed. "That figures..."
"No, I'd already told him what I was, and he.. he..."
"Came on a little too strong? Yeah, that's Lex, but you'll get used to it."
Gwen shook her head. "As soon as everything's settled down, I'm going to go to the farm."
Sleep did not come easy that night.
Bray sat on top of the covers, watching Trudy and Brady sleep. He could feel it--- a tenseness in the air... something was coming...
~*~
May slipped into Lex's room, where he was dozing, his bare torso uncovered, and he looked so sexy and peaceful.
"Lex..." she whispered, slipping onto the top of him.
"Mmmm... Gwen..." he whispered sleepily.
"No, silly... it's May..." she murmured, slipping her hands under the covers.
His eyes popped wide open.
"May! What are you doin'?!"
"Can't've been that long for ya, Lexie-babe..."
"Get off?" he said, shoving her off the bed.
May looked up at him, pouting, as he got out of bed, unmindful of his commando state.
"Lex, I--- Ohhhhh! You... ooooooh!" Gwen shrieked as she stuck her head into the room.
"Gwen, I---" he started to go after her.
"Lex!"
"What?!" he snapped irritably.
"You're naked???"
~*~
Ryan sat on the floor in the kids' room, watching Selene, Patsy and Chloe sleep. KC was at the window... watching, as if expecting something...
"KC? Go to sleep?" Ryan yawned.
"In a little?"
"What's wrong?"
"I dunno... something doesn't feel right..."
Danni paced the front of the mall with Ebony. "Where ARE they?" she whispered in a hiss, "they should be here by now..."
"They had to go get all their people, Danni!"
"Well, they're taking too long???"
~*~
"Oh, shut up May!" Lex said, pulling on some jeans and running after Gwen. Unfortunately, when he caught up with her, she was watching Ebony and Danni pacing from a balcony. "Gwen?"
"I don't want to talk to you," she said, not even turning around. "It was all for nothing. We got to the casino, trashed them, for nothing." She turned to Lex. "They're gonig to take me back, Lex... and it'll be worse this time..."
Lex pulled Gwen close to him, even though he didn't know why. "No, they're not taking you back..."
~*~
"Trudy, Trudy wake up!"
"Huh? What?"
Bray was rushing around, trying to make room under the bed for Trudy and Brady. "You've gotta hide."
"Bray, it's late.... jsut come to bed?"
"Trudy, jsut do it! I'll make sure everything's okay?"
~*~
KC tugged on Ryan's shoulder. "Ryan, Ryan!"
"What?" Ryan looked out the window, which KC was pointing at furiously. "What? What am I suppsoed to see?"
"Chosen, Ryan. They're coming!"
"Bray..." Trudy protested, as she was slid under the bed.
"Get under there; keep the baby quiet? Please, trust me?" he begged, giving her a quick peck on the mouth before handing her the baby.
Trudy sighed and slipped under the bed.
"If you say so, Bray..." she said softly...
~*~
Gwen looked up at Lex in shock, but did not struggle.
"Lex..."
"I mean it; I'd kill them first?"
"Lex, what about May?"
"She came in, all right? Doesn't mean anything--- I was sleeping f'godsakes!"
"Naked?"
~*~
Ryan woke up Selene quickly.
"Sel! Take the kids and go! Hide! Chosen!"
KC huddled Patsy and Chloe out of the door with her.
"Okay, so what do we do now?"
"We nothing, you go too."
"No way!"
"I mean it, KC, go or I'll tie you up and have Selene drag you..."
"Danni, look!" Ebony said, pointing up at Lex and Gwen. She smirked. "The two new lovebirds, and poor them..."
"...torn apart before they can do anything, not even a first kiss." She looked at Ebony. "Let's go meet the troops, shall we?"
"We shall."
~*~
KC begrudgingly ran after Salene, Patsy, and Chloe. He didn't even wave to Bray, who was running down the stairs. "Stupid Lex, stupid Ryan," he was grumbling.
"KC, get into that room now!"
"FINE, GEEZ!"
"We can help, Bray..."
"...we won't turn our backs..."
"...we promise."
"Fine, you three can help, just down backstab us, or you're dead! Got it?"
"We..."
"...got it..."
"...Bray."
~*~
"Oh, you two better kiss now," May yelled, as she walked down to the landing with Ryan and Bray. "Because you won't have the time to do it later." She smirked. "That girl is one of the first to go."
Lex let go of Gwen to go after May, but was surprised when he felt Gwen's hands close over his to stop him. He looked back at her. "What'd you come to tell me?" he asked, forgetting about May for the moment. "Gwen, what did you come to tell me?"
"What does it matter?"
That's when Alice and Ellie stepped in. "She's going to go back to the farm," Ellie said, "and so are the two of us."
"Ellie, no!" Jack said. "If you go..."
"We can always come back. The farm is Mallrat property."
Jack smiled, looking at Dal. "I love that girl."
"Trudy and Brady are safe," Bray said, looking around at everyone. "But we need help."
"You've.."
"...got..."
"...us."
Ryan smiled. "We've got em," he said. "And we've got the element of knowing where we are. Even those blueprints can't help Ebony and Danni."
"We've been here longer," Lex said, putting an arm around Gwen, who slid one around his waist. "and we know they're coming."
"And they're gonig down," Gwen and the Triplets said in unison before smirking.
"Poor Billy Boy..." Gwen said, looking at the triplets
"...Top Hat and Jaffa..."
"...they're gonig to be in for..."
"...a big surprise."
Jaffa and his minions strode into the mall like they owned the place.
"Betrayer!" he smirked at Bray.
"You stay where you are..." Bray warned, pointing a torch at him.
"We have come for the Supreme Mother and the infant goddess..." he said, eerily calm... almost like the killer in a horror movie before they slash someone...
~*~
"I'm scared..." Patsy said, throwing herself onto KC.
KC sighed and put an awkard arm around her.
"Patsy... it's okay? Lex and Bray and Ryan are taking care of everything, right now..."
"How can you be so confident?" Chloe wanted to know.
"Because I am, that's all..."
"He's right... Ryan and Bray are out there, and... Lex is tougher even than Ebony?" Selene tried to soothe.
KC nodded, trying to calm Patsy down...
~*~
"You just back up and get out of the mall, before you become part of the decor..." Lex growled, clutching a big metal stick.
"Save it, Lex." Ebony snapped.
"You boys are in over your heads... and far too outnumbered to do anything..."
Suddenly, from upstairs, there was a sound of a wailing child, and Jaffa gave the signal for the minions to disperse, and the battle was on...
They were figting the best they could, but, there were so many, and... of course, a few made it upstairs...
"Let go of me!" Trudy screamed as they dragged her out from under the bed, another grabbing Brady. "Get your hands off her! Be careful--- she's just a baby!"
KC heard from the other room and got up to go see, but, it was too late, as that room began to fill with Chosen minions too...
Lex sat in his cage after the fight and watched what was going on out in the central area of the mall. Billy and Top Hat were holding Gwen down on the fountain, and they were all turned towards the Smile.
"Please Billy, let her go..."
"...we'll be good this time..."
"...she loves-"
Billy Boy glared at them. "Loves who?" he questioned, stroking down from Gwen's cheek. "Lex?" When the Smile nodded, he smacked Gwen's cheek, causing her to fall back into the fountain. He stood up. "Gwen has never felt love for anything except her sisters - and she left them, didn't she?"
"She became Billy's property," Top Hat smirked, as Danni sat down on his lap. "And that's what she'll remain for the rest of her life."
"Just like the Supreme Mother to Jaffa... she's his now..." Danni smirked at her words, and looked over at Bray, faking a pout. "...this could all have been avoided if you'd just picked me."
~*~
Trudy was sobbing in the room she was beging contained in. The Jackals, Chosen, and Tribe Circus had decided to split up the mall into three sections, one for each of their tribes. She knew that Jaffa would push the ceremony for the true incarnate of Zoot, and she didn't want that. She wanted Bray back.
~*~
Bray thought about the casualties of the fight. Dal and Chloe, May. Some of the Chosen, some Jackals, and some Tribe Circus. Ranks of those three tribes had decreased by at least half, and Bray knew that Ebony wasnt' gonig to last long.
But he wasn't mostly worried about Ebony, or Danni. They would get what they deserved. He was worried about Brady and Trudy. What if she went back into the mode of "Supreme Mother" again? That could spell major trouble.
~*~
Ryan had only been put in a cage with Selene because he had begged. him... begged . It had been no worse than Lex, who had Gwen ripped from his arms.
"Hey Lex man?" he asked.
"WHAT?" Lex snapped.
"What's got you so sore?"
"Gwen. She just... gave up."
"Billy was going to kill you." Ryan tried to smile. "She likes you?"
Lex sighed, and looked back at the center of the cafe. It had first been to repay her. Then it was because he wanted to right any wrongs against Zan, then there was bedding her... but now, it was different. It wasnt' jsut to protect her now. It was to protect her forever. He sighed again. "Yeah, Ry, I know."
~*~
KC watched Patsy, huddled up into a little ball, sobbing. He didn't know how to make this better--- Chloe and Dal were dead. He couldn't fix that. She was petrified out of her mind, he could see that...
Tenatively, he put a gentle hand on her back, but she cringed away from him and he bit his lip.
"Patsy... just me..." he whispered. "It's gonna be okay..."
"They're dead! We're going to die!"
"No, no... they'll have to get through me to get to you, and even then I'll hide ya best I can?"
"Didn't work for Trudy..."
"Trudy had a crying baby; that's kinda hard to hide... I'll look after you, I promise, okay?"
Patsy nodded and lay her head on his lap.
KC sighed, looking down at her and let his hand drop to her hair.
"C'mon, guys... anytime you wanna make with the Superman stuff would be good..." he thought silently.
~*~
"I want my little Mall Rat slaves to paint the symbol of Power and Chaos into the center of the mall." Jaffa said.
"We won't do it!" Ellie screamed.
"Oh, you will... especially Bray... and, you will watch the ceremony..."
"Ceremony?" Bray asked, swallowing hard.
"The true incarnation of Zoot--- the planets are almost in perfect alignment for the ceremony... Zoot will flow through me, the Guardian of his word, and concieve his incarnation with the Supreme Mother."
Bray stood, struck dumb for a moment, until the true implication of his words kicked in and he began struggling against the guards.
"You're not gonna touch her, you sick bastard!"
"Now, now... we can't have you upsetting things, turncoat."
"You touch her and I kill you, I swear it! She doesn't want this--- Zoot wouldn't have wanted this shit!"
"I think I know better than you what Zoot would have wanted."
"I am his brother! His older brother! I know what he wanted, damnit!"
Lex watched Bray dully. It was likely too much to hope for everything to turn out--- already two of their own and May, who had at least been fighting for their side, were dead. He gave Dal a hard time, but... well, Dal had been a good guy...
And Chloe... well, she was a child. Just a little girl... He hoped KC and Patsy were all right, since they were barricaded upstairs and he couldn't see or hear them from here...
~*~
"Into the robes, Supreme Mother."
"It's too hot for those stupid things!"
"I have orders to make sure you get into them or put you in them myself."
Trudy threw something at his head.
"I won't do it! I'm not your damned Supreme Mother and I won't wear them!"
The guard snapped his fingers and two of them ripped the dress off her and put her into the silk robes...
~*~
After all the Mallrats had been put away in their cages again, Jaffa, Top Hat, and Billy Boy stood where the sign was supposed to be painted. A guard come down from upstairs and threw Trudy's old dress on the floor.
"The Supreme Mother's unworthy robes have been torn from her," the guard explained, with a face like stone, "she in in her silken garments as we speak feeding the Divine Child."
Jaffa couldn't hide the grimace on his face. "As it is meant to be," he said, dismissing the guard. 'Power and Chaos!"
"Power and Chaos!"
"Everything will be all right after the ceremony," Jaffa told Billy and Top Hat as he turned to them. "It will all be in place."
"All right my ass!" Gwen shouted, getting a smack so hard, it sent her down to the floor. She looked up at Billy, Top Hat and Jaffa. "You will all pay," she said, spitting some blood out of her mouth, "I promise you that. You will all pay."
Billy scoffed as she walked off towards where the Smile had barricaded all the first aid supplies. "Stupid wench," he said.
~*~
"Gwen, what happened..."
"...you look terrible..."
"....that is not a good look for you."
Gwen sighed. "At least he didnt' break the skin this time, right?" she said, with a quivering voice. She wanted to cry, oh did she want to cry, but she wouldn't. Not in front of Ellie and Alice. Not now.
Lips hopped off the box she was sitting on, and lifted her hand to Gwen's cheek, rubbing it, and then showing her the blood. "Guess again..."
"...we're so sorry Gwen..."
"...it'll get better, really."
"It'll never get better!" Gwen said, before turning to the Mallrats. "I'm sorry, so... so... sorry..."
~*~
"Shhh, Salene, calm down," Ryan said, as Salene sat down hard on the floor of the cage, "you could hurt the-"
"What do you mean, calm down?" Selene said, standing up again and facing Ryan, her faced filled with fury. "We would have been just fine if she hadn't showed up, and you know it!"
Gwen was all the way at the other end of the room of cages, but heard Salene. Anyone could have heard Selene from anywhere in the mall. "She's right," she said, sighing. She stuck a towel that the Smile had given her on her lip, and hobbled over to Lex and Bray's cage. "To think, if I'd never saved him, none fo this never would have happened..."
"I don't want to hear this, Gwen," Lex snapped at her, grabbing the bars of the cage and looknig out at her. "This is not your fault! If you hadn't gotten to KC, he could have been - "
"Killed? Yeah, and now all of you could die! All because I saved him!"
"But you saved him, that's good! Don't you dare say you're sorry you did it, because we both know you aren't!"
Gwen sighed. "I'm so sorry Lex, I should have taken my chance when I had it." She kissed his knuckle, wincing at the touch against her lips. She looked back up at him as Billy pulled her away from the cage.
"Come on pet," he said, throwing her down on the floor, "Top and I thought it time the three of us reminisced." He smirked at Lex as Top Hat carried a dazed Gwen upstairs. "And she does have fun, and is so very willing..."