Yes, I know this chapter focuses almost solely on Jhonen, but I promise, the rest of there characters will get their time in the spot light (and yes, that includes the new ones). Contrary to common belief, I *do* know what I'm doing ^^

A/N 1: Ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, ficlets, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net.

A/N 2: Ageless: It's a bit like lab rats - if they do something right, they're rewarded *wry smile*. They agreed to co-operate, so they're treated a bit better than normal prisoners would.

Maxwell Dark: 'Dysfunctional'? I think that's a damn good description of them ^^

Archangel: Vamp? *growls at smirking muse* If he had it his way, half the characters would have been killed off by now. *smirk* Good thing Fortune's there to stop him.

Alikat: Thank you ^^

Rascal: Well...how would you feel if you woke up face to face with a poisonous snake? *g*

Italics indicate thoughts/telepathy

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Chapter Sixty-Seven: Coronation

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The next couple of days after the talk with Laetitia, felt like a blur of sleep and awake to Jhonen. He talked to his teammates, he reacted when someone spoke to him, he kept an eye on the surrounding, but everything he did still had a touch of detachment, like his body was there, but his mind was miles away. He remembered the drive, the motels, the landscape around him, but the memories were vague and dreamlike, with only a few details shining through. It felt like he was half-asleep the whole time, and try as he might, he couldn't quite get rid of the strange tiredness.

Maybe it was because Laetitia had left - he wasn't sure, but it was a possibility. Grief, maybe? The mourning he hadn't allowed himself to show?

Jhonen shook his head, once again trying to clear his mind. He succeeded for a moment, but knew by now that it wouldn't last. Trying to force his mind back into action, he focused on the people around him, listening with a faint detachment as they spoke. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hal watch him for a moment, then look away. It was no big surprise - he'd noticed her worried looks more than once within the past few days, and she'd repeatedly asked him if anything was wrong, but he had dismissed the questions with a small shrug. Even *he* didn't know what was going on - how could he possibly explain it to her?

Jhonen let his eyes wander across the room almost carelessly, hesitating only briefly as they fell on his former teammates. There had been no arguments, no accusations so far, but Jhonen knew that it wasn't because they'd chosen to forgive and forget. The only reason why nobody had confronted him about his defection yet, was because everyone was very well aware that this whole truce was resting on a very unsteady foundation. As long as nobody got into any serious arguments, the hostility would remain buried.

That didn't mean he couldn't feel their disapproval, though - instead of arguing, they mostly ignored him. The few times he'd talked with one of them, it had been a brief, awkward conversation that both parties had been happy to finish. Sometimes he felt a small tingle at the back of his neck as one of them watched him, but he reacted the same way as they did - by doing his best to ignore them.

And really, what was left to say? There were arguments to have, frustration and anger to be let out, but when it all came down to it, there was nothing left to say. He wasn't about to apologize, and as far as he could see, they weren't about to forgive.

Jhonen sighed inaudibly, once again wishing that Laetitia were there with him. He liked and respected his new team, but without Laetitia, it felt strangely...empty. She had understood him like no other, and without her, he couldn't help but feel isolated. Hal and the others...they were a team. They'd been through some bad situations together, and come out stronger for it. And even though Jhonen knew that they had already accepted him as one of their own, he still felt a bit like the outsider.

Forcing away the dark thoughts, Jhonen looked to Ryan, watching his former leader. It had been only hours since they had arrived at their current motel, located in one of the less attractive areas of Houston. Surprisingly, there had been no FoHs around the town and no policemen guarding the road...well, at least no more than usual. Maybe luck had finally turned to their favor.

Or maybe it's just a trap, his more paranoid side whispered, having gained considerable strength since he joined the Shadow Alliance. He couldn't help it - the constant state of alert he'd seen in his teammates was starting to rub off on him as well, even if he wasn't consciously aware of it.

Ignoring the voice, Jhonen continued to watch Ryan who was talking quietly with Ben. Now that they had arrived in Houston, the telepath had been able to pinpoint Kyle's location to a large military compound west of the city, but it had quickly become clear that this new information wouldn't help much. Sure, they had argued - some had wanted to challenge the almost impossible odds and go after the four, others had warned of the dangers, said that rushing in like that would only get them killed...and meanwhile Jhonen had listened silently, waiting for the decision he knew would come. They couldn't run the risk, not when they were up against an entire military base, and sooner or later they would realize that. They would have to wait and watch and search for a moment of opportunity, and when Ryan and Hal had finally made that decision, Jhonen hadn't been surprised.

Despite the anger he still felt towards Ryan, he knew that the man was a good leader, and good leaders would do what was best for their team, no matter how much it pained them.

And maybe that was part of the reason for the tense atmosphere as well, he mused. None of them liked the thought of their teammates in enemy hands, and the fact that they were powerless to help the four was something they liked even less.

As expected, the tiredness slowly returned, once again engulfing Jhonen's mind in its heavy blanket. This time, however, something had changed - amidst the tenseness, the quiet talking, and the sound from the street outside, there was the faintest whisper of a word.

Jhonen...

Jhonen tensed imperceptibly, hiding the rush of excitement beneath a facade of casual indifference.

Laetitia? he asked, his voice almost plaintive. Only now did he truly realize how much he had missed her, and he desperately hoped that this was real, and not just an illusion of his clouded mind.

Yes.

Soft and caressing, tinted with a characteristic accent, and accompanied by the faint scent of her hair - Jhonen felt his mind and body wake up, shaking off the tiredness of the past few days. He stood up slowly, careful not to act out of the ordinary. Why, he wasn't sure - after all, they knew that he had already talked to Laetitia once. But something in him wanted to keep this a secret - *he* was the one who could talk to her, not them. He was the one she cared about, and he wasn't about to share that with anyone else.

The motion caught Hal's attention and she looked up, a hint of concern on her face. "Jhonen?"

Jhonen shook his head. "I think I'll go get some sleep," he lied easily, feeling only a small pang of guilt from lying to his teammate. "I'm tired."

Hal nodded, not looking entirely convinced, but she didn't question him further. Silently, Jhonen walked out of the room, ignoring the few, brief looks he got on the way. They didn't matter, only the comfort of Laetitia's presence did.

Jhonen stepped into one of the bedroom and closed the door behind him before he lay down on one of the beds, focusing on the whisper in his mind.

Laetitia? he asked again, mentally searching for some trace of her.

Yes...I'm here, she murmured, her voice growing every stronger until she sounded every bit as alive as a living person, and Jhonen felt his grief return at the thought.

Don't be sad, Laetitia whispered, invisible hands gently caressing his cheeks. I'm not gone, Jhonen.

Jhonen didn't reply, but allowed himself to be transported to the spirit world, using her presence to guide him. He felt the ground form beneath his feet, then the faint brush of cool air against his face, and as his eyes snapped open he realized that this was definitely not Laetitia's beach.

Jhonen instinctively took a small step back in surprise, then stopped as he saw Laetitia materialize in front of him, looking every bit as striking as he remembered.

"What are we doing here?" he asked, indicating the world that he had long ago learned to recognize as Erik's. The endless dark lake was there, along with the tall pine trees and the ominous sky...only Erik himself was not present, but considering the recent events, Jhonen wasn't surprised.

Laetitia smiled faintly and stepped closer, one delicate hand caressing his cheek.

"We have something to take care of, Jhonen," she replied softly, her voice clear across the landscape.

Jhonen frowned, confused at her words.

"What do you mean?" he asked, prompting her to continue. "What happened - where did you go? You-"

Still smiling faintly, Laetitia reached out and rested a finger on his lips, and Jhonen fell silent.

"Do you remember what I told you, Jhonen?" she asked, watching him with an unnerving intensity.

"Sure..." Jhonen trailed off, then continued as Laetitia arched an eyebrow. "You said that you needed to learn about your new power."

Laetitia caressed his cheek lightly again, then reached out and brushed her lips against his, kissing him gently.

"And what else did I tell you?" she asked after breaking the kiss.

"That nothing would be able to keep us apart again," Jhonen replied, confused as to what she was getting at. Her behavior was puzzling, to say the least. He knew that she had a point with all of this, that every motion and every word was quite deliberate, but he had no idea of what it was.

"And that's what we're here to make sure of," Laetitia explained, still in the soft voice.

"What do you mean?" Jhonen asked, frowning.

Another faint, secretive smile from Laetitia and she kissed him again briefly.

"I know how you feel about this place, Jhonen," she mumbled, reaching out to caress his hand. "I know how you feel about the spirits in your head, how you feel about always having to listen to them, whether you want to or not. We found a way to control them, but Erik is still resisting, isn't he?" she asked, her voice by now almost hypnotic.

"You know he does," Jhonen whispered.

Laetitia reached out, fingers trailing his neck slowly until one hand finally came to rest on his chest. Brown eyes met violet, and Laetitia knew that at that moment, he would have done anything she asked him to.

"I can make it stop, Jhonen," she whispered. "If you'll let me, I can teach you how to make him go away for good."

"What do you mean?" Jhonen asked, a hint of hope shining through. If she was serious...

"What I mean is that I've learned a lot of things in the past few days," Laetitia told him. "And I know that with our combined powers, we'll be strong enough to make him disappear. You don't have to be powerless, Jhonen, not anymore."

"Wait...what do you mean, 'disappear'?" Jhonen asked. "You mean kick him out of my mind, or-"

"I mean kill him," Laetitia whispered, crossing the last barrier that was left between her and Jhonen. Up until now, she'd never actually spoken that way to him - during the incident with Prue, she'd talked about revenge, but never murder. Before, the boy wouldn't have agreed to something like that - now, though, there was no such limitation left. "We can make his spirit vanish for good, and he'll never be able to bother you again."

Jhonen's eyes widened in surprise, but as expected there was only a glint of hope in the eyes, and none of the denial or terror she would have seen only a few weeks ago.

"Can we do that?" he asked, and the hopefulness was clear in his voice.

"Together, we can do whatever we want to," Laetitia replied, allowing a touch of satisfaction to shine though her words. "Command him here, and we'll take care of this once and for all."

There was no hesitation, no second thoughts as Jhonen focused his attention on the surroundings, searching for that one particular presence.

"Erik!" he snapped, and felt only a brief fight for control before the spirit slowly, reluctantly, appeared about ten feet away from them. Erik eyed Laetitia warily for a second, well aware of whom she was, then turned his attention to Jhonen.

"What?" he asked annoyed, but his voice revealed the faintest hint of nervousness.

Smirking, Laetitia rested a hand on Jhonen's shoulder, caressing it slowly, and reveling in the increasing worry she felt in Erik. Jhonen sent her brief look, silently asking what to do, and Laetitia leaned closer, her lips brushing against his ear.

"Drain his strength," she whispered. "Feel him in your mind, focus on him...and drain his life force. Without that, he will cease to exist."

Careful, Jhonen focused on Erik, mental fingers brushing against the presence, testing his strength. With a strange detachment he saw Erik's eyes narrow, then the dawning panic as the spirit realized what was happening.

"Get the hell away from me!" he snapped, then narrowed his eyes at one of the pine trees, bringing down the giant with only the strength of his anger.

Almost amused, Laetitia watched the tree fall with a slow grace, the sound of breaking wood growing increasingly stronger, until she deflected it with barely a thought. She could feel that her powers were strengthen by Jhonen's support, and using that support as extra leverage, her mind took a solid grip in Erik and slammed him into one of the large rocks.

She watched for a moment as the spirit slowly and painfully tried to get back on its legs, then turned her attention to Jhonen.

"Now!" she ordered, and heard the scream as Jhonen dug deep into Erik's presence, slowly taking away its strength.

Erik lashed out again, but he was already too drained to do much, and the small bullet-like rocks that tore through the air, feel to the ground without any help from Laetitia.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Erik demanded, although all three of them knew exactly what was going on.

Not bothering with a reply, Laetitia smirked faintly, never taking her eyes off Erik. The first hints of transparency could be seen at his fingertip, and Laetitia knew that she'd succeeded. She waited for a moment, until she was sure that Erik was too weakened to do anything, then turned her attention to Jhonen again.

"Kill him," she whispered softly, fingers tracing his shoulders as she spoke. "Finish it, Jhonen. Now."

Jhonen didn't hesitate, didn't even flinch at the words, but merely dug deeper into Erik's presence, draining his strength with an ever-increasing speed. He was vaguely aware of Laetitia's presence, of her hands on his shoulders, of Erik's screams, but it all faded in comparison to the sudden strength that rushed through his body.

For a brief second he felt the energy from Erik fill him completely, the hum of sheer power joining with the screams of rage and pain, with Laetitia's caresses, until his head started to spin from the sensory overload, until his body felt like it was made from pure energy and-

"Open your eyes."

Softly whispered words, and Jhonen opened his eyes, unaware that he'd even closed them to begin with. He found Laetitia watching him carefully, an odd satisfaction visible in her eyes.

"What...?" Jhonen looked around, confusing kicking in as he found himself and Laetitia standing in a vast space. Gone were the trees, the lake, the dark, heavy clouds - even the ground below them.

"Can you feel him?" Laetitia asked, although she already knew the answer.

For a moment Jhonen closed his eyes, focusing on the presence he'd learned to recognize so well, then slowly opened his eyes.

"He's-"

"-Gone," Laetitia finished, her voice calm and soothing and almost proud. "I promised you that we would be unstoppable together, didn't I?"

Jhonen nodded slowly and let his eyes survey the empty space, only now beginning to come to terms with what had happened.

Erik was gone.

...And Jhonen was the one who had killed him.

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