*Part 2*
Alyx stood at the base of The Tree, a monster Bay Laurel, looking up into its branches and trying to shed the day's pressures and worries from her mind. The worst thing was that most of them weren't hers. Alyx began climbing the tree. As she climbed, she let the events of the afternoon drift through her mind. About an hour after the fight, she'd been escorted to the Headmistress' office to give her version of the events and sign an official complaint against the two girls. They would be gone by the morning and were confined to a room down in the infirmary until their parents arrived.
Dinner had been interesting. She usually sat with a group that she had become 'friends' with, but other girls came over all through dinner to thank her for standing up to Miri and Haze. The two bullies had been terrorizing some of these girls for years. Callie just shrugged and kept saying it was no big deal. By the time the meal was over, she was eager to get out of there and go help Frankie with her report.
It drove Frankie a bit nuts that Callie could recite the entire play from memory. It made the task easier, though, as they didn't have to go hunting back in the book every fifteen seconds for more information. Eventually Frankie ended up with an oral report she was more than happy with. In fact, when she'd tested it out on a few volunteers down in the common room, she'd had them rolling on the floor in laughter. Callie didn't say I told you so; she was just glad that Frankie was happy. The girl was a natural comedian, with timing that would impress veterans in the business. She'd simply never realized it.
As she made her way higher, she allowed the Callie persona drop away and her own identity to resurface. By the time she reached the height she wanted, she was feeling much more like herself. The school sweats and T-shirt were just right for this gorgeous weather. For long minutes she did nothing but listen to the breeze in the branches and breathe in the wonderful scent of the tree as she waited for Darien to show up. Poor Dare, the nightmares had begun the first night he was here. She knew they were his because the school itself didn't bother her at all and it was the building itself that was driving his nightmares. There were days and nights she really wished they were not as close as they were, but it wasn't like she could control it. Not that she really minded. Even with the addition of his problems to her own, she was very, very glad he and Hobbes were finally here.
She had been worried that she might be losing what little hold she had on herself. With all of her recent identity problems, having to go so deep into a new persona was risky. Somehow, though, she had held onto herself. During the day she was Callie; at night Alyx was allowed to come out and get to work on the problem at the school. She just wished she'd been able to do more in the two weeks she'd been here. Only today, with the discovery of the interesting herbs in the garden, did she finally think she might be on to something. She needed to do a bit more research first.
Darien walked across the grass behind the school heading for The Tree. Yep, capital letters and everything. It deserved them. The beast was huge. The trunk alone was nearly ten feet in diameter and some of the lower branches were more than wide enough to comfortably walk on and dipped so low to the ground that climbing was a simple matter of stepping up, with little or no effort.
Quite a few of the girls would sit under its spreading branches to do homework, eat their lunches, or to just simply be. The branches of the tree were thick enough that you could easily climb twenty or thirty feet up into it without fear. He'd seen Alyx out here on more than one occasion in the last week. Perched high in the tree, school books hung in a bag rigged to a branch within easy reach. Looking at her in that horrid school girl uniform, one could easily forget that there was a grown woman hiding in there. And a dangerous one at that.
At night The Tree took on a magical, mysterious quality that was emphasized by the nearly overwhelming scent of its leaves. When the wind was just right you could smell it throughout the entire school. He ducked under a branch and began looking for Alyx. She should be here somewhere.
"Alyx?" he called into the semi-darkness.
"Here." Her voice was faint, coming from somewhere far above his head. He was craned his head back, but was still unable to see her.
"Oh, right. You know I can't see in the dark." he complained.
A peal of laughter was his reply. "Sorry." There was an obvious pause. "Let's see if I can do this."
Her voice was soft, wafting along the night air without disturbing it. A moment later an eye-searing bright light appeared, causing him to turn away and curse softly under his breath.
"Sorry about that. Haven't quite perfected it yet," she called down to him.
Once the spots inside his eyelids faded, Darien looked back up. The tree was now bathed in a blue light that seemed to be emanating from Alyx's hand. She was sitting about three-quarters the way up in the tree, looking at ease parked in the crook of two branches.
"I am not climbing that high," he said, moving to the nearest branch he could reach.
She snorted with laughter. "Chicken."
"Healthy respect for living is more like. You young 'uns is welcome to climb up that high if you like, but us old folk will stay closer to the ground." He climbed about a third of the way up, to a point where a massive bowl had been formed by the divergence of a dozen or so branches. There was more than enough room for him to sprawl with reasonable comfort.
He tipped his head back to watch her clamber down towards him with that easy grace he had come to know so well. She stopped, still holding that glowing sphere, just above him. Her feet hung down on either side of the branch that she had chosen to lie back on. If he raised his hand just a bit he would be able to grasp her foot as she swung it back and forth.
"Do you need the light anymore?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.
Darien shook his head. "How do you do that, anyway?"
"It's similar to ball lightning. I just focus one of my sparks into a ball and keep feeding it. Presto, portable light." She let it dim and go out, leaving him blind for a moment.
"If we get caught out here..."
"I'll know if someone's coming. I'll quicksilver and you'll lie." He could hear the smile in her voice.
His sight was adjusting; he could just make out the gray of her sweats and T-shirt on the branch above him. "What news do you have?"
"You tell me. I'm getting tired of not sleeping because of your nightmares." She wasn't accusatory. The concern was obvious. "Why does this place cause you so much pain?"
Darien sighed and looked down at his hands. "You've been picking that up?"
"Uh, huh. I'm feeling a bit out of place here. I thought it was bad when I went to high school the first time. This is so much worse." She shifted then rolling over onto her stomach, her arms under her head.
"What does this place remind you of?" he asked her in a quiet voice.
"A big, ugly, gray building?" she replied facetiously.
"Okay. I can't argue with that. But what else?" He knew she probably wouldn't make the connection. There was no reason for her to. No reason for her to feel trapped by the small hallways, tiny rooms, the barred windows. He closed his eyes and shuddered.
Even with her shields strengthened against a school full of hormonal teens, he still got through to her and his misery was a palpable presence on her heart. She went over the little she remembered from the dreams. Small rooms. Noise. Fear. Bars. "It reminds you of prison, doesn't it?"
"Yeah." was all he said as he slumped a bit where he sat.
"Ah, Dare." She slithered down the branch onto one a bit lower. One where she could easily reach out to touch him, comfort him when he was ready for it. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He lifted his head to look at her. "You have no idea what you are asking." His voice was hard, full of anger.
"You're right. I don't know." She leaned back against the trunk stretching out her legs along the branch. "But I do know that if you don't talk about it, the nightmares are just going to get worse, and that will screw both of us up. We're trying to help these kids remember?"
Damn. He knew she was right. It had gotten bad enough that today he'd nearly had a panic attack when the door to his room had gotten stuck. He could feel his heart start pounding at the memory and he had to force himself to relax before he began to quicksilver unwittingly. When he had calmed somewhat, had regained his voice, he muttered, "It's not pretty. I've tried to forget it."
Alyx didn't move. Tried not to even breathe so that he wouldn't feel any more uncomfortable than his own mind and heart would make him. It was a struggle for him, she could feel it. She could almost see the images in his mind, could feel his frustration at wanting to express them and being completely unable to.
"Damn it" he growled. He pulled his knees up and rested his forehead on them, feeling decidedly frustrated. After a couple of minutes he felt her sidle up next to him, one arm going around his shoulders, her face coming down near his. She didn't say anything. Just let her presence be felt. It took several more minutes but he finally calmed himself enough to turn and look at her. "It's... I..."
"Don't worry about it. You don't have to tell me." She moved in close and kissed him quickly.
"It will change things," he informed to her.
She arched an eyebrow. "And?"
He sat back up. "It's not one of the better experiences in my life."
"I got that much from the dreams," she said dryly. "Just talk. What is it you always say? We'll work it out?"
He nodded slowly. They had worked out quite a lot in the last few weeks. Her leaving to join Arnaud, admittedly not her choice the first time, but after only a couple of weeks home taking off again and ending up back with him. Well, it had been difficult for a while, but they had at least begun to work through it. The last few days here had been the most stable and consistent, personality-wise, that he'd seen her in a long time. Of course, she was posing as a hellion. During the day she was causing as much trouble as possible. But now... now she was just Alyx.
"It was the time I got sent up for fifteen months for a job I didn't do. I'd been framed by a guy I used to lift weights with, Manny Merrick. I ended up in prison with a group that was a bit nastier than I could handle." Alyx had sat back and was just watching him, not pushing, not asking, just listening. This was not something he had ever considered discussing with her. Figuring it was better to protect her from some of the darker things in his life, things he didn't like to remember. "You have no idea what can and does go on, even in a minimum security prison."
She made a face at him. "Give me some credit. I may never have been inside, but that doesn't mean I don't have a very good idea of what goes on." She rolled her shoulders back trying to ease the tension building there. It didn't help much; it wasn't her tension. "I take it you were forced to do some things you didn't like."
"Forced is right. At least at first." He looked off into the canopy of the tree and spent a moment thinking. "I ended up making a bargain that would at least let me get out of there in one piece. Even if I did have to sell part of my soul to do it." He glanced over at her, but she had her eyes closed, her face carefully composed and calm. "You know, all the women I really wanted to be with ended up leaving for one reason or another."
Her eyes popped open at the apparent non sequitur. "I came back."
He moved then and after a bit of rearranging of position he lay with his head on her chest. Her arms wrapped lightly about him. "Yeah, you did, and you've stuck by me through some really weird shit."
"Hey, same here," she commented, resting her cheek against the top of his head. "So what happened?"
"Well, there ain't a whole lot of women in prison, so us 'pretty boys' tend to get tagged for... uh..." He stopped not really wanting to say it aloud. Not wanting to make it real all over again.
"I got the idea." she whispered. "Were you..."
He knew what she meant. "No. I was, let's see... on the giving end rather than the receiving. That was part of the deal I made." He closed his eyes the memories rolling back through his mind. The hate, the anger, the fear. He'd wanted to hide, wanted to just fade away and not be seen, to disappear.
"Shhh," Alyx said. "It's the past."
"Yeah, well, it's haunting me lately," he complained and she chuckled softly. He rolled over so that he was facing out into the darkness again. Her arms settled around his neck. "Don't you have to be back for bed check?"
Alyx laughed. "You mean me being out here with you, Mr. Fawkes, doesn't count as my bed check? C'mon, I'm the bad girl, remember. Missing bed check is about par for the course, don't you think?"
He actually managed to laugh a bit himself. "You're right, as usual."
"And you are avoiding," she observed. "Tell me the rest."
"I'd been out about three months when the guy I'd cut the deal with showed up at my place. He'd managed to get himself a parole. He figured he'd had such a sweet deal on the inside that maybe he could get the same deal on the outside." Darien shuddered. Just the thought of the guy made his skin crawl. "The guy wouldn't leave me alone. Drove me nuts for over six months."
"So what did you do?" she asked him, holding him a bit closer.
"I ashamed to say I ended up beating the crap out of him before he was convinced that not only was I not interested, but that I wanted no part of seeing him ever again." He sighed and rubbed her arms with his hands. "The moment I walked into this damn school I... I've tried so hard to forget all that. Forget a lot of things that happened to me in prison."
"You don't have to go through it alone. Whenever you want to talk, let me know. It'll go no further than us. Promise." She curled herself about him and made sure he knew that she would be there for him.
Suddenly things got real cold. Darien looked down to see that Alyx had vanished. "What's with the ice cube routine?"
"Company," she whispered. "Bloody hell. It's Hobbes."
"Fawkes, you up in that damn tree again?" Hobbes called out aiming a flashlight up into the branches.
Darien sighed and slid out of Alyx's arms to look down at the ground where Hobbes stood. "Yeah, I'm here."
"You and this stupid tree." Hobbes grumbled. "Have you seen the kid? I got find 'em duty and she's the only one still missing."
Alyx snickered and let the quicksilver flake away. "I'm here, Bobby." She stood up and leaned out so that he could see her.
"The two of you. Hurry up and kiss her goodnight, Fawkes. I got to get her back in before they call out the National Guard to look for her." Bobby said turning the light away.
Alyx looked at Darien. "Do we argue with him?"
Darien shook his head. "Hell, no." Then he pulled her into an embrace. He found her lips with his and tried to go slow, but that lasted all of a heartbeat and they quickly found themselves lost to one another yet again.
"Perhaps I should sneak into your room later," she offered after a short eternity had passed.
Darien released a ragged breath. "Don't even think of it."
"Too late," she said, nibbling on his ear. "You wouldn't have any nightmares if I stopped by."
He was very close to giving in completely. "I'm not going to as it is. Hell, I'm probably not going to sleep now."
Bobby solved the problem for them. "Kid, move yer ass."
Alyx laughed. "All right, all right. I'm coming."
Darien gave her an odd look and she rolled her eyes. "Dirty mind."
She gave him one last kiss and began to climb down. "Oh, I may have a lead. I'll know more tomorrow."
He leaned out looking down at her. "You wait till now to tell me?"
"You needed to talk more than I did, Dare." She paused, balancing carelessly on a branch wider than her waist. "See you in class tomorrow teach."
"Night, Alyx." he replied quietly. Good lord, he wasn't going to have to worry about sleep tonight. If he did mange to drift off there would be only one thing on his mind. Her.
"What's up Hobbes?" Alyx queried when she reached the ground. "They don't start looking for strays for another hour yet."
He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet for a moment. "It's Fawkes. He's been having nightmares."
"I know. Gods, do I know." Alyx said rubbing her forehead. "It should be better tonight. We talked a bit about it."
He nodded. "And that goodnight kiss'll probably help as well." He was trying not to laugh.
"Cute Hobbesy. Real cute." She punched him lightly in the arm. "I told Darien I might have found something. I'll check into it tomorrow."
Hobbes nodded. "You better go sneak back in. I'll get nature boy out of the tree."
"Night Hobbes." She kissed him on the cheek and then scampered off, quicksilvering as she ran.
Hobbes shook his head and aimed the light back up into the tree. "C'mon monkey-man. Get your ass down here."
"Yes, Hobbesy." Darien laughed as he began to climb back down. When he got to the ground he looked at his partner. "Weird, huh?"
"You said a mouthful, my friend. A mouthful."
Alyx made her way back to her room without a problem. Frances was already asleep, curled up around the stuffed bunny that her dad had given her when she was very young. Alyx sighed. Frances didn't know it, but her parents were on the list of those being blackmailed. That was at least part of the reason why Callie had made a point of befriending her. In fact, Callie had made a point of befriending all of the girls who were victims and it had worked out pretty well. All the girls were pretty tough already, Callie just made sure that each of them knew their true strengths and value. When this was over they would need those strengths to deal with the knowledge of what had happened.
With a sigh Alyx spent a moment savoring the kiss she had shared with Darien just a short time ago, which of course led to thoughts of other things she'd like to do with him up in that tree. Ah, damn. Now she wasn't going to sleep either.
She let her thoughts slide away from Darien, away from herself, and back to those of a sixteen-year-old who had a half-day of school on the morrow. Who right now was out of blinking toothpaste for some reason.
Callie grabbed Frances' tube, knowing she wouldn't mind sharing, and brushed her teeth. She rinsed out her mouth and put away the toothbrush. Ran her comb through her hair. Turned off the bathroom light, intending to lie down on her bed for a while, when the world suddenly spun and did a fast dip to the right. She didn't even notice when the floor jumped up to hit her in the head.
"Callie? Wake up Callie. You're scaring me." Frances sounded very frightened. She'd woken up feeling ill and found Callie lying on the floor of the room. "Callie, please. Wake up!" She shook her roommate and was relieved to hear her moan. "Ah, god, Callie. C'mon, wake up for me."
Callie moaned again, reality slowly intruding on her mind. A reality that hurt. She jerked upright and away from Frances. The entire room seemed to swerve and dip about her.
"Callie?" Frances sounded so scared, was so scared.
It hurt. Her touch, her thoughts, her emotions. Alyx/Callie swallowed hard and tried to shield and realized in horror that she was shielded. It was probably the only reason Frances hadn't run screaming from the room. Alyx/Callie was somehow not broadcasting her own feelings and thoughts, but was picking up all of them from those nearby. Thankfully most everyone was asleep.
"F... F... Frankie go get Mr. Fawkes," she managed to get out, past the nausea and the emotions and the movement of the room.
"Why?" Frances asked confused.
"He's a friend of my father's." Alyx/Callie forced out. "Please. Get him."
Frances nodded and got to her feet, running from the room.
Alyx/Callie held her head in her hands and tried to stop the spinning, the voices, the emotions. She whimpered and backed up into the corner between the foot of her bed and the wall.
"Ah, hurry Frankie. Hurry."
Darien groaned. Who the hell would be knocking on his damn door at... he looked at the clock... four am? The knocking came again louder this time.
"Please, Mr. Fawkes, Callie told me to get you," the voice whimpered from the other side of the door. He recognized it as Frances, Alyx's roommate.
He rushed to the door and flung it open. "What did you say?"
The girl grabbed his hand and began tugging on it babbling at him at the same time. "I woke up and found her on the floor of our room."
Darien allowed himself to be pulled along as she continued to tell him what little she knew.
"She wouldn't wake up and then she did and she said to get you. Hurry please." Frances was damn near panicking, and she was normally a very levelheaded kid.
"Yeah, hurry would be good." They both took off at a run for her room.
Frances let Darien go in first and he found Alyx huddled in on herself at the foot of her bed. He went to knees next to her, afraid to touch her at first. "Callie?" He remembered to use the name just in time.
Her head snapped up and she blinked her eyes at him a couple of times. "D... D... Dare?"
"Yeah," He reached out and took one of her hands. He'd seen this a couple of times before when her control crashed. "What happened?"
She flung herself at him. Using him as a focus. "Drugged. I'm picking up everything. It hurts."
"Easy. Focus on one thing. You can do it." He kept his voice down so that Frances wouldn't overhear.
Alyx swallowed and took a deep breath trying to focus, but it was difficult with the drug in her system. "I told Frankie you knew my 'dad'," she whispered in his ear.
"No problem. You said you were drugged?" He moved her back slightly so he could look at her. Her eyes were indeed dilated and shehad started to shake in reaction.
"Toothpaste. Have Claire check for a pharmacological, not a synthetic." The voices were intruding again.
Darien turned to Frances. "Go get Hobbes."
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded and took off.
"Alyx, focus on me," he told her. "You're not making sense."
"The drug is in the toothpaste. I was fine until then." She moved closer to him again. "Think about it, Dare. How easily the girls were drugged. They brush their teeth at night and go to bed. They wake up ill and remember nothing."
Darien nodded it made sense and it wouldn't take much. "It must've hit you faster and harder because of your screwy metabolism."
She nodded and regretted it immediately. This time he felt what she was experiencing. "Easy." Gently he picked her up and moved her to the bed.
Hobbes showed up then. "Fawkes, what the devil is going on?"
"Frankie, wait downstairs please," Darien requested of her. He gave the girl credit; she nodded and left without an argument.
"Fawkes?" Hobbes was a bit confused.
"Grab the toothpaste from the bathroom and send it off to the Keeper. Ask her to test it for drugs." Darien said moving over to him. "Alyx says that's the delivery method, but she can't tell us much more 'cause it's screwing with her head."
"You mean she got hit with it?" Hobbes asked, as he moved into the bathroom and grabbed the tube of toothpaste off the counter.
"Yeah. I'm going to move her down to the infirmary." Darien shrugged. "It might help."
"What about her roommate?" Hobbes was not overly fond of loose ends.
"Alyx told her I was a friend of her dad's." Darien answered. "That should do for now."
"She's thinking, at least." Hobbes nodded. "I'll have someone out here to pick this up within the hour." He moved over to Alyx, who was not enjoying the way the room was still swaying about her. "You'll be fine, kid. Good work."
"Thanks, Bobby," She managed through clenched teeth. "Get me out of here, Dare."
Darien picked her up again and Bobby took off for his room to make his phone call. Darien carried Alyx down to the infirmary, which was located between some of the administrative offices and the teacher's side of the building on the ground floor. Frances saw him and followed. Even opened the doors for him.
She rushed to get a damp cloth for her friend, which Darien placed on Alyx's forehead.
"Should I get the nurse?" she asked the man she knew as her teacher, Mr. Fawkes.
He shook his head. "You should go back to bed, Frances."
"I'd just worry. Let me stay please?" She nearly begged.
"Okay, but you need to remain calm, for her." He did that little head dip and looked at her. The girl was very smart.
"Sure." She sat down on the next bed over and watched as he brushed a stray curl of hair off Callie's face. He was confusing the heck out of her. Callie had said he was a family friend, but the look he was giving her was more than just that of a friend.
"Who is she really?" Frances asked suddenly after being quiet for nearly fifteen minutes.
Alyx/Callie opened her eyes and looked at Frances. "Someone who is trying to help." She pushed herself into a seated position. "Ah gods. Too many minds in too small an area. Can't separate them."
Frances looked stunned.
"Focus." Darien said quietly. He'd run through the exercises she had taught him. The ones that kept his mind calm and quiet even when he wanted to run screaming around the room. Kevin and then the Keeper had spent months teaching him meditation and biofeedback so that he could control the gland. Alyx spent ten minutes showing him how to ground and center and his control had increased threefold. Now one side of her control was gone. She wasn't broadcasting, by some miracle, but she was picking up everything.
"Stop fighting it," he suggested to her. "Just let it flow past."
She closed her eyes for a moment. "Dare. They have to be using the kitchen to make the stuff. I found the herb they could make this with in the garden, but preparation would take hours."
"Alyx, damn, Callie, don't worry about it now," Darien told her, wanting to kick himself over the slip.
Frances looked from Darien to Callie and then back again. "What's going on here?"
"Later, Frankie. I promise." Alyx/Callie stuck the heel of her hand to her forehead. "When I have my own mind back." She leaned forward against Darien's shoulder and he wrapped his arms about her.
"Hush. Stop fighting it. Let it pass without remembering," he reiterated quietly. He looked over at Frances, who was obviously thinking.
"I can check out the kitchen if you like. They must be making a tisane to achieve a decent strength. Maybe even covering the scent with..."
Alyx/Callie lifted her head. "Mint. The herb garden has a ton of mint and the kitchen always smells like it."
Darien yawned and ran his hand through his hair. He was sitting in a chair next to Alyx, holding her hand lightly. She had eventually fallen into an uneasy slumber, as had Frances on the next bed over. He had finally convinced her that it was too dangerous for her to go snooping around the kitchen. Hobbes had come in an hour or so ago to inform Darien that the package was on its way back to the Keep in San Diego. If they were lucky they'd know something by later this afternoon. Then they had discussed whether it would be worth the trouble to start searching the kitchen and few rooms upstairs that had cooking facilities. They decided to wait, considering the school would be waking within an hour at most. Hard to snoop with people around.
Darien had stayed with the girls and Hobbes had gone back to his room to get dressed for the day. They still had a day of classes to get through.
It was a little after six thirty when the school nurse walked out into the main area and found the threesome. She hurried over shaking her head. "Mr. Fawkes you should have woken me."
Both Callie and Frances woke at the sound of her voice.
"Oy vey. Hangover city," Callie complained with real discomfort in her voice.
"You okay, Callie?" Frances asked from where she sat.
"Ummm. I think so? Why am I in the infirmary?" Callie looked around in confusion.
"You don't remember?" Darien asked her.
She started to shake her head and then paused. "Something about toothpaste?"
He nodded and squeezed her hand. The nurse frowned at the action, but said nothing. Something was going on here that she didn't quite understand. "Mr. Fawkes, perhaps I should examine her."
"No," Callie stated, swinging her feet off the bed and standing up. "But you can draw a blood sample from me and from Frankie."
The nurse was taken aback by the self-assuredness of the girl. She blinked, and for an instant the girl was transformed into a woman who knew exactly what she was doing. Then she blinked again and the young girl was back, waiting patiently for her to respond.
"Yes. That might be a good idea." The nurse said. "Follow me."
Callie turned to Frankie. "Do you trust me?"
The girl wasn't sure if her voice would work, so she simply nodded and followed.
Darien went along as well. "You sure you're okay, Callie?"
She nodded. In a whisper she said, "Can you get these samples to the Keep?"
"I'll arrange it," he said.
The nurse looked at him with a frown. "This really isn't appropriate Mr. Fawkes."
"Special circumstances," he informed her.
"He knows her dad," Frances added as she sat down to have the blood drawn.
"Really?" The nurse asked, turning to Callie who nodded.
"Really."
"All right, I suppose, but next time, Mr. Fawkes, I would recommend a bathrobe at least," she said to him with a hint of a smile.
Frances giggled. She hadn't really minded what he'd been wearing. A pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top. Of course, she hadn't really noticed until now; she'd been too worried about Callie before.
Darien just sighed. "Right. Next time."
Callie claimed the shower first, and Frances waited as patiently as she could for her roommate to come out. She had dozens of questions running through her mind, but she was pretty sure Callie, if that was even her real name, wouldn't answer any of them. She was going to try anyway.
"All yours," Callie said as she came out of the bathroom in her robe, toweling her hair. "Thank god I only have a half day today."
"Who is Alyx?" Frances hoped that question would be the one to get her talking.
Callie froze. "I don't know what you mean."
"Mr. Fawkes called you Alyx." Frances said sitting down on her bed. "And you called him Dare, I believe."
Callie began pulling clothes out of her bureau and tossing them on her bed. "You must be mistaken."
Frances snorted. "Gimme some credit. I couldn't forget about last night if I wanted to."
Alyx sighed. "Outside this room, I am no one but Callie. Understand?"
Frances nodded. "Sure. Whatever you say. Now spill."
Alyx dropped her robe and began to pull on the horrid school uniform. Frances got a look at her back and realized for the first time that Callie/Alyx had made a point up until now of never dressing in front of her. The scar on her back was probably a good part of why.
"What happened to you?" Her voice was hushed.
"I took an assassin's bullet, oh, a little over six months ago." Alyx answered as she pulled on the shirt and began to button it.
Frances' mind spun. Callie might have one heck of an imagination, but that scar. What she had overheard earlier. "Wh... You... I'm confused," she finally admitted.
Alyx laughed. "If you weren't, I'd be worried." She sat down on her bed and pulled on her socks and then her boots. "You already know more than you should. Look, I'm here to help. There's something going on around here. I'm trying to find out what and stop it." She got to her feet, smoothing out the skirt. "I hate skirts."
Frances laughed. "That would explain the bike shorts you always wear underneath."
"True. You offered to help earlier. Still willing?" Alyx asked her.
Frances nodded.
"I won't lie, this is dangerous. Remember Misty Carmichael?" Frances nodded. "Her death was not an accident."
"Some.... some of us guessed that," Frances admitted. "What do you want me to do?" She sounded just a bit frightened, which was good as far as Alyx was concerned.
"Nothing difficult. No one has been sick the last couple of weeks until us last night. Who hasn't been here at the school the last couple of weeks and who might be able to cook up the little surprise?" Alyx laid out the basics for Frances. "They would also need access to the dorm rooms and the supply rooms."
"Why the supply rooms?" Frances asked sounded a bit lost.
"To swap the toothpaste. You don't want to leave the drugged one for the morning. Be kinda obvious if the girls were passing out during breakfast or first class." Alyx answered.
"You're right." she agreed, nodding her head. "But what about checking out the kitchen?"
"Listen to me. I know the risks and have the skills to deal with any problems. You don't." She placed a hand on her shoulder. "No snooping, no sneaking, no playing Harriet the Spy. Use that exceptional mind of yours and help me narrow the choices. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Callie," She was almost afraid to ask the question, but she had to know. "Was any of it real or was it all an act."
"Ah, Frankie it was as real as it could be. I am your friend. I'm just not your peer," Alyx explained in a soft voice.
"I understand." Frances looked at the friend she wasn't sure she knew any more and decided it didn't matter who she really was. Callie, Alyx, whoever she was, had become a friend and still was. "So, how long have you been going with Mr. Fawkes?" To her amazement, Callie blushed almost as red as her hair.
"Frankie!" Then they both burst out laughing. It was going to be all right.