Here it is.  The end of The Industrial Cycle.  There are some hints of things to come.  I've introduced some new X-5s from my universe and created some new bad guys along the way.  To those who have asked, there will be more Eva and more Suede in future stories.  White may be down but he's definitely not out.

On another matter, I've mentioned crossovers.  This is not one of those.  My Future history does not cross over into any other universe or story line.  I have however written several crossovers to see how the characters would mesh.  Some of those stories work and some don't.  The general consensus seems to be no one really likes them that much so I don't know if I'll ever post them.  I may.  I may not.

A note about this chapter.  The future history doesn't end here.  The Industrial Cycle does though so look for the future history to be continued in other stories, not this one.  The next one I'm going to work on is called The Trouble with Jondy and I'll start on it as soon as I finish up with an Andromeda fic I've almost finished writing.

I would thank everyone who reviewed but there are over forty of you this time and the list is growing so I'm not going to list the names like I usually do.  I would like to thank each and every one of you though.  It makes my Id and my Ego happy to hear your thoughts.  I thrive on their happiness.  Again as always… read it, review it but above all else, I hope you enjoy it. 

Home Alone

          Logan wheeled into the Penthouse.  Max was holding his shoulder as they headed in.  Bennett headed over instantly and looked down at him. 

          "You okay?"  He asked.  "You don't look so well."

          "Lydecker injected some nanocytes into Logan to repair his spinal damage.  It's very painful."  Max said.  "He needs to soak in a hot bath for a while."

          "Bennett wants to talk about some things."  Logan said.  Max smiled politely.  Her attitude said otherwise.

          "I'll fill up the tub with hot water.  The soak will do you good."  Max said.  "If you're not in the bath in ten minutes I'll put you theree."

          "Thanks."  Logan said.  "Bennett, my office?"  Logan rolled into his office followed by Bennett.  Original Cindy had followed Max toward the bathroom.

          "How's Marianne?"  Logan asked.

          "She's fine.  She's shaken but a strong woman.  She'll get over it."  Bennett pulled his chair over and sat down next to Logan.  "Tell me about Eyes Only."

          "I guess you figured it out."  Logan said.

          "How could I not?"  Bennett asked.  "I was standing here with Cindy trying to figure out why your rig suddenly came on and when I turned around those three screens lit up."  He turned and pointed to the three monitors that run the levels of the Eyes Only hack.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

          "I couldn't risk it."  Logan asked.

          "Don't you trust me?"

          "It has nothing to do with trust, Bennett.  It has everything to do with you're safety."

          "I'm a Marine, dammit."  Bennett said.  "Safety is irrelevant."

          "A Marine would think like that.  Those kids today, Syl, Krit, Biggs…"

          "They aren't kids."  Bennett said.  "Syl had to be twenty-two at least."

          "They are kids, Bennett.  The Rogues are the only ones who have had a life.  They escaped from Manticore back in '09 and have been living on the streets ever since.  The only reason they have survived is because they have the training.  They've had it since birth."  Logan explained.  "Eyes Only is the only outlet those kids can turn to."

          "And you're Eyes Only.  The most wanted man in America right now and I'm not talking about the government as much as I'm talking about this new cult and every criminal you've brought down over the years.  DAMMIT!  Logan, I was sitting next to you six years ago when one of those broadcasts went out."

          "It happens on occasion."  Logan said.  "It becomes necessary to keep the identity secure.  Bitsy was getting nosy."  He said.  "She suspected.  Now she doesn't."

          "It's me Logan.  It just hurts that you didn't trust me."  Bennett said.  "I mean if its just a matter of protection…"

          "He's got protection."  Max said.  She stepped around the door and into the office.  "I protect him."

          "And he protects you.  Original Cindy explained all of it to me."  Bennett stood up and walked over to Max.  "I can't tell you how grateful I am for what you have done for Logan."  He turned back to Logan.  "I also can't explain how pissed off I am for the risk you have put yourself in over the years.  What if someone gets close to you or finds out?  What if you are the one in Marianne's position?  What happens then?"

          Max and Logan looked at each other.  Bronck had popped into their heads.  So did Cape Haven and that little fiasco with BC and his gang of thugs.

          "I can forgive you for what happened to Marianne."  Bennett was almost yelling at this point.

          "Benny."  Marianne said.  She stepped into the office behind Max with a shocked look on her face.  "I'm okay.  It wasn't his fault."

          "Look Bennett.  It was my fault.  I stepped in and cut Pierpont off in mid stride.  He was forced to go to an outside source."

          "Logan.  That outside source is after me so it's obviously my fault."  Max said.  She stepped over to Logan and put her hand on his shoulder.  OC stepped into the office then.  She had a look of disgust on her face.

          "You know.  I really hate being the voice of reason but no one else here is.  No one in this room is to blame.  Not Max.  Not Logan.  We could blame it on Lempkin but he done got himself dead.  So did this Warren Martino so no matter who really is to blame it's all over for now.  The only problem we have left is that midget mutant freak Ames White and we ain't got no idea where he scurried off to."  She stepped forward pushing Marianne gently into Bennett.  "You boys can discuss business later.  Bennett, take Marianne home and let the family know she's safe.  Logan and Max need to soak in a long, steaming, hot bath and get some rest.  This was supposed to be a vacation and it turned into a short, violent combat scenario so nobody's happy right now.  Relax and let it all flow away."  She started for the front door.  "I just talked to Jondy and she's going to bunk down with Eva over on Oak Street so I'm going home and let these two have some piece and quiet.  You can all yell at yourselves later and point fingers and whatever it is you rich white folks do at times like these."  She opened the front door and headed for the elevator.  The others could hear her mumbling all the way out the door.  "It's my fault.  No, it's my fault.  Damn.  When I became a Nubian Goddess of the First Order, I didn't sign on for any of this shit.  Girls needs to put their men in the water and boil that macho crap right off the skin."  She held up her hand to no one in particular.  "Man's trying to save the world and him and my girl are still blaming themselves for things beyond their control.  Can't even have a convo with his cousin, his best friend without…"  She waved as her voice fell silent behind the closing doors of the elevator.  The other four were standing there with stunned looks on their faces.  Max laughed and broke the trance.

          "I just wish you had told me."  Bennett said.

          "So do I."  Logan answered.  "But I couldn't.  Knowledge of me is forbidden."

          "Knowledge of us is forbidden."  Max answered.  "The hot bath is ready.  How about the four of us get together for dinner over here some night."  She suggested.

          "Bennett tells me you're a fantastic cook."  Marianne said.

          "Yeah.  He's one of the best."  Bennett added.  "We need to talk about this, though.  Now that Cale Industries is back in the family, you're going to have to figure out how it fits into your whole worldview.  My cousin the crip, savior of the free world.  Who knew?"  Max seemed shocked and angered at the statement until Bennett laughed.  He held out his hand and Logan took it.  "Thanks for saving my wife."  The men shook hands.

          "You know, even for a Marine, you're still an ass sometimes."  Logan laughed.

          "And as the only revolutionary in a broken world, so are you."  Bennett said.  "Call me about dinner."

          "It's the woman he's with that makes the man."  Marianne said with a wink to Max.

          Max smiled.  "I really like her."  Max said.  "She's the smart one."  The girls hugged.  "I'm glad you're okay."

          "Thanks.  I wouldn't be without you two."  Marianne said as Bennett followed her to the door.  Logan wheeled out of the office with Max beside him and she closed the door when the elevator began its descent to the lobby.  The couple then turned to the interior of the now quiet apartment.

          The bathroom was thick with steam and the whirlpool was running at full capacity.  As soon as Logan tried to move he doubled over with a burning pain letting out a loud grunt.  Max rushed in and dropped to her knees in front of him.

          "Do you need help?"  She asked.

          "Just a spasm."  He said.  "You know, I don't like this.  The pain I mean.  I know it's going to pass but that doesn't mean that I have to like it."  He moved to pull off his shirt again.  This time Max helped.

          "Let me get that."  She said working the shirt up over his shoulders and reaching for his pants.  Logan sat frozen in his chair watching her.  He couldn't move as she pulled his belt off and started to pull on his pants.  He realized how much she had changed since they first met.  She looked up into his eyes and smiled and somehow he knew she was thinking the same thing about him.  He had changed, too.

          "Things are different now."  Max said.  "They are going to continue to get different.  Eyes Only is going to change when you get your legs back."

          Logan looked into the brown eyes for a long moment realizing he wouldn't be happy ever again without her.  "I have you to keep me real and centered.  You're a bundle of boundless trouble you know.  It's going to take an entity like Eyes Only to protect you."

          "There's only one man alive that can protect me."  Max said.  She didn't laugh.  She smiled, but didn't laugh.

          "I'll have Sebastian's people look over those nanocytes.  See if they can find anything out that Lydecker and the grease trap of a doctor didn't reveal."  Logan said changing the subject.  Max was pulling off his socks.  She stepped back as he transferred himself to the edge of the whirlpool.  He reached for his leg but before he actually touched it he was able to swing it up and over into the water splashing Max and the floor with water.

          "LOGAN!"  Max shouted as he lost his balance and started to fall back into the water.  She reached out for him as his arms flew out for her.  Screeching as he grabbed her, she realized too late his accident was planned.  She could have easily held him up but the look on his face stopped her from taking control of the situation and she let Logan pull her into the tub with him.

          "You should get out of these wet clothes."  He said with a mischievous grin on his face.  She pushed herself up standing above Logan in the whirlpool.  Logan watched with the eyes and grin of a young teenager seeing his first woman naked.  She was giggling as she stripped in front of him and when her wet clothes were lying on the floor of the bathroom she dropped back into the water and sunk snuggly into his arms.  They kissed once before she settled against him and just enjoyed the water and the bubbles and the streams soothing their muscles.

          Time passed with only the sound of the water to keep them awake.  They had lost complete track of time experiencing the moment they had made for themselves.  A simple giggle broke their reverie.  Jondy was standing in the doorway.  She was smiling.

          "You two ever quit with the cuddling stuff?"  She asked.

          Max looked at Logan.  Logan looked at Max.  "Sometimes in this short brutal life you just have to seize every opportunity you can to relax with those close to you."  She said.  Logan smiled.

          "This isn't a social call is it?"  Logan asked.  "I gather you need Max?"

          "I didn't want to bother you but its Eva."

          "What's wrong?"

          "She's leaving Seattle."  Jondy said.  Logan didn't hesitate.

          "Go."  He said.  Max gave him a quick kiss and climbed out of the tub.  She was dressed and ready to go as Logan was picking up the wet clothes in the bathroom.  He looked at her.  "I'm fine.  Go."  He said again and she watched him for only a second before following Jondy out of the apartment.

          He struggled into his wheelchair and rolled into his office.  There was an urgent message left for Eyes Only on The Informant Net boards.  He looked around, even rolling out to check on the hover-drone that he had programmed to return to the penthouse.  It was silent and unmoving on the floor.  Rolling back into the office he muttered under his breath wondering what urgent problem Eyes Only would have to solve now.  He opened the post.

          The note was concise and straightforward.

                             I would like to introduce myself but I

                             cannot.  Like you my true being is a secret.

                             I have decided to offer my services for

                             your greater purpose.  Ask and you shall

                             receive.  I am at your disposal whenever

                             and for whatever purpose you may

                             require.  By the way… thanks for the ride.

                                                Wandering Soul

          Logan read and reread the note.  It was not often that someone contacted him in such a manner to say they were on his side.  He ran over all the contacts he knew wondering who it might be.  The last sentence was the clue but he had given no one a ride recently.  Lydecker?  He would use his real name.  Eva, maybe but not likely.  The other X-5's like Alec, Biggs, CeCe were in Seattle and willing to help whenever he and Max needed it.  Krit and Syl were in LA and Zane kept in touch through the contact number.  The new guy Suede and his people were still here as well.  This was a Wandering Soul as they would have him believe.  He shook his head.  The pain was building in his back again and he decided not to worry about it just now.

*   *   *   *   *

          The high place was silent.  Eva heard them approaching even though they hadn't made any real noise.  She just knew they were coming.  Max and Jondy sat down on either side of her.  No one spoke immediately.

          "So I think I'm going to leave Seattle."  Eva said finally.

          "That's the rumor."  Max answered.

          "It's not a rumor."  Eva said.  "It's something that I have to do."

          "You don't have to."  Jondy said.  "You can stay here."

          "No I can't.  I don't belong here."

          "I used to think the same thing."  Max said.  "I was always running away but something changed all that and I realized that I do belong.  We all do."

         
          "You found your own way, Max.  I have to do the same thing."  Eva said.  "I'm a Manticore soldier.  I'm a machine made for the sole purpose of killing and I suddenly find myself with a life to live and no purpose for that life.  You two did this when you were kids.  I'm not a child."

          "I understand.  I really do, but you can learn here.  There are others that can help you find a center."  Jondy said.  "You don't have to go."

          "I don't have to stay."  Eva said.  "You guys have Logan.  You have jobs and friends.  I came here to kill…" She paused before saying it.  "Eyes Only.  Then I find out he's the reason I'm alive and everything I believed flew out the window.  I thought I knew enough but then I learned better."

          "We've all learned things we never thought we would.  We used to think the government wanted us then they sent White to kill us."  Max said.  "He's still out there and he's going to continue to hunt us.  Logan and I will stop him.  Every time he shows his face, we'll be there but we cannot do it alone."

          "I'll be there whenever you need me but this is a big country with a lot of problems.  I have to do this."  Eva said.  She stood up and turned to face Max and Jondy.  "I'm so proud of you two."  She said.

          "You promise you'll stay in touch?"  Max asked as she reached out and pulled the statuesque X-5 into her arms.  "Promise me you'll stay in touch."  Max said pushing away and handing her phone to Eva.  "Logan can get me another one.  He put encryption on this phone.  No one can trace it.  The Rogue's contact number is on the ninth memory slot."  She said.

          Jondy hugged Eva.  "I'm going to miss you.  Use the contact number and let us know you're okay once in a while.  If you're ever in trouble then call us if you can't get to Seattle.  We'll come to you."

          "I've got my ride parked over on Oak Street.  I'm not good at this goodbye stuff…"  She started to say.

          "Then don't say it."  Max said.  A single tear slipped her control.  "Tell me you'll come and visit.  Tell me you'll come back when you've figured out some things but don't say goodbye to us."

          "I won't."  Eva said.  "Take care of yourselves."

          "You too."  Jondy said.  She wrapped her arm around Max.  They watched Eva jump down inside the needle and listened for the door to the stairs to swing shut.  They stayed there for a while and just watched Seattle experience its late afternoon hassles.

          It was dark when Logan awoke on the bed where he had fallen.  He had tried to stand up but his legs hadn't held him up, only pushed him up.  He had been laughing but that had diminished and eventually gave over to light snoring from deep exhaustion.  Max had found him there in his boxers with his legs hanging off the end of the bed and she put a cover over him before slipping on the red robe she had long ago claimed as her own.  She went out front and found the DVD they had watched a few days earlier still in the player.

          Max was curled up on the couch when Logan rolled into the room.  She was so engrossed in the DVD she was watching she didn't pay attention to his approach.  He rolled to the edge of the couch and only when he jostled the couch did she turn to him with a couple of tears in her eyes.  He settled in beside her as she turned to face him.  The DVD of his parents' plane crash and what came after was still playing.

          "Why are you crying?"  Logan asked.

          "I'm not."  She said wiping her face.

          "Max."  He said.  It was the tone he used.  That tone got her every time.

          "Because you won't."  She said.  "I had it tough as a kid.  Tougher than you did.  You know that, but I sit here and I watch your parents die…"  She scooted closer to him.  "Logan.  I never knew my mother.  I don't know if I really have a father or just a test tube full of DNA.  Hannah, the nurse, she told me that my mother tried to escape before I was born.  She said they strapped her down, drugged her and took me out of her and then sent her away somewhere.  I never knew her.  I have no reference to… to, this."  She pointed to the screen where the scene on the runway played out.  She reached over and grabbed his hand as they watched.  "I can't even pretend to know what that felt like to live through."

          "It didn't feel like anything."  Logan said.  "I had no feeling for months after that.  I went to McKinley Prep but I have no real recollection of the place.  I'm still kind of vague on my arrival at Yale.  I assume you saw this."  Logan said as the steam room footage Logan had shut off earlier came up.  Max nodded.

          "I watched it."

          "I've never watched it sober before."  Logan said.

          A man was lying on his back in a small steam room.  There was no one else around as a younger man walked in and locked the door from the inside.  The older man didn't move.  He didn't seem to care that someone else had come in.  The younger man walked over and looked at him from a few feet away.  He was completely covered in sweat and wearing a towel tightly wrapped around his waist.  Neither man moved for a long time.

          When the younger man turned toward the coals in the center of the room, it was plain to see the younger Logan Cale had a hard, angry look about him.  He stared into the red coals for a short time.  He reached out and held his hand dangerously close to them before grabbing one in the tongs.  It was small and almost glowed with a dull unnatural glow.

          Young Logan turned and with determination, he walked over to the older man lying on the second tier seat.  He pulled something out of the wrap in his towel and jammed it into the man's chest.  The man yelled but the video had no audio.  The man reached for Logan but almost as quickly as he had moved the man fell limp back to his original spot.

          Logan reached down and pulled the man's jaw down, pushing the hot coal into his mouth and holding the head steady while smoke and steam rose from his mouth.  The camera revealed eyes full of pain and fear darting back and forth.  They knew they were experiencing the last few moments of their existence.  The young man reached up making a fist and pounding it down hard onto the man's chest.  Then he did it again.  And again.  And again.

          Twenty minutes passed.  It wasn't possible to tell when the man died.  It wasn't clear when or if Logan realized when it happened either.  It was just clear after a while that he had died.  Logan stood there breathing hard and staring down at the mangled, broken body beneath him.

          The scene ended with Logan picking the limp form up over his shoulder and walking out of the steam room.  He stopped for a second and looked up at the security camera with a look easily understood.  He was completely lost in that moment.

          "I was supposed to be at a dinner honoring student achievements.  I had been nominated for an award given to Ivy League students for outstanding scholastic achievements for an article I wrote my first year at Yale.  It's part of the Pulitzer Prize.  I was seventeen.  I would have had such a different life."  He said.

          Max felt the weight of that statement before he had spoken the words.  She could only imagine where she might be now had she not met the man she was pushing herself into right now.  She pushed the scenarios out of  her head as she curled up against him, sliding her arms around him.

          "I shot him with a toxin I purchased from a black market contact my roommate at Yale knew.  It was distilled from an obscure plant in South America.  It takes about three seconds to paralyze the victim.  Every muscle in the body shuts down for over three hours.  I didn't need that much time."  Logan said.

          Max listened.  She could do nothing else.

          "I carried his body out of there and went back in.  I tried for an hour to clean the place up but it wasn't going to happen.  The video footage showed everything.  I knew I could hack the footage.  I panicked, though and almost called a lawyer but the situation wasn't as desperate as I had thought.  There was a small pile of flammable liquids still in the main area of the men's club.  It was a private club and had been deserted when I went in for Marley Lempkin.  It wasn't hard to make the fire look like an accident.

          "The place burned to the ground and the investigation revealed that the flammable liquids ignited and torched the place.  I spent no less than three straight days hacking the security, other records of my activities and setting up an alibi just in case.  No one ever came looking for me."  He said.

          "What did you do with the body?"  Max asked.

          "I hung him in a location that I was sure Pierpont would find him."  Logan said.  He was gently brushing his fingers through Max's hair as he spoke.  "I spent the better part of the year digging up information and hacking into private phone records trying to build the case against Jonas and Lempkin.  When I thought I had enough and actually took it to authorities they assured me they would look into it but nothing happened.  I pushed the issue with the wrong detective and I was threatened with jail for being a hacker."

          "So that's when you took the revenge yourself."  Max said.  "Logan."

          "Yes Max?"

          "I have no frame of reference to what you went through.  I never had parents and I've never known, really known family until I met you and Original Cindy.  I don't know what I'd do if I lost you.  I don't know what would happen to me."

          "You would continue on with your life."  Logan said.

          "It's the way I was made."  Max admitted.  "You.  You weren't made like I was…"

          "Max.  Your DNA may have been engineered but you grew from a single cell and you had a mother just like I did.  You are no different than me.  You're a human being just like I am.  Maybe your DNA gives you better hearing and sight and makes you stronger than me but you're still a girl with a mother that apparently loved you."

          "Do you really think so?"  Max asked.

          "I know she did.  She tried to escape didn't she?"  Logan asked.  "A woman doesn't do that if she doesn't want the child she is carrying."

          "Do you think we'll ever meet her?"  Max pushed up from his chest to look into Logan's eyes.  "Do you think she's still out there somewhere?"

          "We'll find her.  I promise."  Logan said.  "One way or the other, I'll find her for you."  Max knew he would one day.  One way or another.

          "I first killed a man when I was six years old.  I didn't know what it meant; I just knew it was what I was supposed to do.  It was what I had been trained to do."  Max said.  "They put us out in a field and handed us a weapon.  There were these criminals tied to posts."  She stopped staring at Logan.  She could see the concern on his face.  "What was it like for you?  What did it feel like?"

          "You mean when I killed him?"  He asked.  Max nodded.  He realized why she was asking.  She really didn't know because she had been too young to understand what she was doing and by the time she did, it was already too late to think of such things.

          "Yeah.  I…"  She said.  "I don't remember feeling anything.  I just remember doing it because I was told to and because they hurt us if we didn't.  One of us refused to participate and he was taken away.  We never saw him again.  He never even got to choose a name."  She looked at him, into him.  "I want to know what emotions were there."

          "I'm sorry Max."  Logan said.  "I can't."

          "You can't tell me or you won't tell me."  Max demanded. 

          "I can't.  I don't remember feeling any real emotions.  I just remember beating him and making it hurt as much as possible.  It wasn't until days later that I finally broke down and freaked out.  There were no real emotions then either, just a realization at what I had done.  The more I thought about it the more I was proud I had avenged my family."

          "Do you still feel that way?"  Max asked.  "Proud, I mean."

          "Not really.  I don't feel it at all in anyway.  Like I said, I've never watched it sober before."

          "That's one of the things Lydecker taught us."  Max said.  "He told us once that to be the best at what we do we just had to do it and not analyze the situation."

          "He's probably right in some sick, twisted way."  Logan said.  Max leaned in and curled up in his arms again.  He reached over picking up the remote and popped the DVD he had left in earlier that night.  He couldn't help wonder if he had left it there subconsciously for Max to find or if she was just giving in to her feline DNA and being curious.

          He leaned down and kissed her forehead.  She looked up at him and smiled.  Her stomach growled.  He smiled and she laughed.  Then his stomach growled.

          "You should probably do something about that."  She said.

          "Like what?"

          "How about fixing one of those spur of the moment, run-of-the-mill Cale culinary miracles?"  She asked.

          "I might be persuaded with a little incentive."

          "What kind of incentive?"  Max asked.  She sported a mischievous grin.  She knew exactly where he was going with this.

          "I was wondering..."  Logan said with a mischievous grin of his own.  "You got any itches left to scratch?"

          She stared into his eyes for a second.  She was still smiling the sexy little grin of hers when he heard the first stirrings of purring from within her.  "I might find an itch here or there."  She said.  "But dinner better be absolutely fabulous tonight or you're sleeping on the couch."

          "You would make me sleep on the couch?"  Logan asked.  "Just because dinner wasn't perfect?"

          "Maybe."  Max said.  "If I don't get that vacation, though, you and the couch will become fast friends."  She giggled.  "I noticed your bike was missing when I got back.  I think Eva took it."  He smiled.  Now he understood the note he had received.  He reached up and pushed some hair out of her face.  The purring had reached a level where Logan could actually feel it where her body pressed to his.  She lifted her face up to meet his and their lips touched gently at first growing more urgent as the moments passed.  She pulled back and looked into his eyes waiting for more to come.

          "Your lips were itching?"  Logan snickered.

          "Something like that."  Max said.  She leaned in and gave him two more quick kisses before she pushed up to her feet in one fluid movement.  "Stand up."  She said.

          "I can't."  Logan said.  "Not yet."

          "How do you know?"  Max asked.

          "I tried in the bedroom.  It lasted a few seconds before I collapsed on the bed."  He said.  Max reached forward and took his hands in hers.  She pulled.  Logan was amazed to find he wasn't resisting.  "I'm going to fall.  It's still too soon."

          "I will never let you fall."  Max said.  "You know I won't."

          "Max…"

          "For me?"  She asked.  She had one of those tones in her voice just like Logan.  He couldn't resist her if he tried.  Slowly he pushed out to the edge of the couch and with his hands firmly in hers she helped him stand up.  They were both smiling as Logan stood there.  She closed her eyes and let her forehead rub his stubbly chin.  He couldn't remember feeling more complete than at this moment.  He kissed her forehead and the vibration increased as all kittens do when they are happy or content.  Max let out a soft moan as she stood there holding Logan in her arms.  She was happier than she had ever been.  She was safe.

          She was home.