XXIII. Intermission

His arms wrapped around her waist when she leaned back against him. They had gotten up early. Sara Pezzini had no idea why. Jake kissed the back of her neck while they watched the clock roll over another minute. That 'dream' she has was so strange, if it was even real. She couldn't remember everything that was said, but Sara was sure that it would come back to her. Knowing her luck, it would come when it was too late.

She remembered, with great clarity, what she thought was the most important part. Getting both Jake and herself through this alive and well. That was what she really wanted.

"What's wrong?" He breathed into her ear.

"Some one talked to me after I fell asleep."

For some reason they spoke in hushed voices.

"What?"

"There was this room. It was all dark."

He pulled her further into his lap.

"And?"

"There was this kid. I don't remember his name. But he was tall, taller than you. He had blonde hair, and his eyes were . . . light purple."

Jake turned his head to look at her.

"Did he look like he was almost too perfect to be a real human?"

"Mmhm."

She sighed and let her head rest on his shoulder.

"Seiji."

Jake reached for her phone. She opened her eyes.

"That was his name. You know him?"

Did the boy mention Jake? She wished it would all come back to her. Jake dialed a number.

"Jake? Who are you calling?"

"Did he tell you where he is?"

He continued to wait for an answer on the other line.

"No. I remember that much. Some of it's really hazy."

"Damn. Not answering. Maybe they'll call me. I made Melissa promise to tell me if anything happened."

"I guess this was my confirmation."

"Huh?"

"He said that someone would let me know that it was real."

"Sara, what all do you remember."

She was getting tired. She wanted to sleep.

"Sara?"

"He told me about Him."

"Him?"

"The killer. The kid said that He was in the same unit as Broody and Xanus." She yawned, "And he gave you the impulse to go to the park."

Sara closed her eyes, and let his breathing lull her back to sleep.

* * * *

"Tell me, Ian."

"Do you think that the boy's interference will change anything?"

"Events will fold out as the Blade deems fit."

"Yes, of course."

"Though I do suspect that Lady Sara will find a way to turn the tide in her favor."

Kenneth Irons' head snapped around to glare at his ward. Ian did not lower his head. Irons continued in a somewhat disgusted voice.

"Yes. I suppose it is possible. She has gathered all her little troops around her. Even three she may no nothing about."

"Perhaps the two teens will not get to their comrade. He has Halo in a restricted area of the island."

"That will not stop them."

"All the security is useless, then? I thought that, at least, Sirous would not try to come from the air. He would be picked up on radar."

"Even I do not know the full scope of their abilities. They will find away to get there undetected. If they figure out His location. They do not know where they are exactly. If you can get in, then so can they."

"True. They are impressive."

"Yes. But they do not have what we need. Lady Sara does."

* * * *

"Come on, babe. We have to go get the bad guy."

Jake McCartey tried to shake the woman in his lap awake. Hopefully, she was too out of it to notice the 'babe' comment. He had no idea if she likes to be called things like that. He had let her sleep, but Sara needed to tell him everything she remembered from her little visit last night. Jake wanted to know how Seiji was involved in all of this.

She batted his hand away and continued to doze.

Sigh.

As much as he would rather be here with her, they needed to crack this case. So that they had time to just be, and not running around looking for a clue. Jake had a feeling that as of last night she knew more than enough to get this thing moving along. And the last thing they needed was to be late. No one wanted to have Dante on their ass. He hoped being early might keep him away for the day.

He shook Sara again.

" . . . not now . . . i did my homework . . . " She mumbled.

Jake grinned at her. He planted a small kiss on her cheek, and shook her harder. Well, he could resort to dropping her, but he did value his life.

". . .stop it." She murmured.

"I'm sorry. We have to get going."

"Don't wanna."

"Neither do I."

Her eyes fluttered open to meet his.

She yawned.

"He said something about you."

"Seiji?"

"I don't remember everything, but he seemed sad."

"With him who knows. He's not the type to show much of anything. Very stoic and all."

"Really? Not this time."

She moved out of his embrace and stretched. He watched her gather her things. She was all his. Jake smiled at the thought. He could barely believe it. He couldn't wait until this was over. Granted, the weird cases always found their way to them, but he hoped that they would have more time. His smile faded. Something was going to happen. There had been this . . .bad, it was the only word that came to mind, feeling that had been following him lately. He hadn't told Sara. He didn't want her to worry.

Jake did, though.

As of five years ago, nearly all of his 'freaky vibes', as he had dubbed them, had been justified. He had no idea why that had started happening to him. He signed it off to a side effect of Seiji healing him. Maybe the kid screwed up. Jake was the first normal person he had done that to.

Either way, something was coming. And feared the out come.

* * * *

It was time. In two days he could help the Lady Detective. In two days he could kill off one more Negation. In two more days the world would be a better place.

He could barely contain himself.

This was going to be so much fun. He had been planning out the Lady Detective's picture. The white-haired man said he could do whatever he wanted when he gotten what he needed from her. It was going to be so pretty. She would love it. He knew she would. It would be his best piece of art to date. But first he had to show the Lady Detective she had been wrong about her partner. He had to make her realize that even though she had feelings for him, he wasn't worthy of her. No one like the Partner was. Those people needed to be rounded up and disposed of. They were bad for everyone else. Even if the person didn't know it, they were still a threat to the special ones.

He stuffed his hands in pockets. It was getting colder. Good.

That would make it better.

The white-haired man had told him that after he sent the old woman on, it was time to go to a new place. Atlanta had been too hot, and he didn't get much done there. It was similar in New Orleans and in Phoenix. But New York had been the best by far. There were so many different kinds of people. He figured the next best place would be Chicago or Los Angeles.

There was so much to do.

He hoped he could do his best to help the people in the next place he went.

He loved to make things better for people. He knew it. He was only doing his small part in the bigger scale of things, but any little amount helped. Sure, there were others out there who were so much more powerful than he, but he could still help them. He could feel their energy humming in the air. They didn't know that it led him right to the people he needed to help. So he hadn't bothered mentioning it to anyone. It would only slow him down if they knew and tried to hide. Xanus had been able to hide his energy. He didn't like it when people masked their true selves. It was a way of lying, and telling lies was mean.

And mean people didn't deserve to live.

****************************************************************************

Thanks for all the nice things people are saying. I made it back to school.

For whoever asked, my major is Classical Archaeology.

Remember: 10 or the review -a- saurus will come after you.