Title: Girls Have Germs
Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Now and forever
Until time is through

I can't believe it
I don't know were to start, no baby
So many questions deep inside my heart

Give me a moment before you go
There's something you ought to know

Emma looked at Mouse and Sammy. "Are you SURE it's okay with Pride and Salene?"

"They're off making kissy-face with each other," Mouse replied to her, "we just have to make sure it's all cleaned up before they get back." Then, the little girls looked at Sammy. "Right?"

Sammy smiled. "Of course. Now, I'll keep watch, you guys get the stuff." Then, Sammy walked towards the front of the cafeteria room, leaving Mouse and Emma in the kitchenette.

"Oh well," Emma said to Mouse, "I guess as long as we clean up when we're done."

Baby now and forever
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here
Waiting and never give up my faith in you
Trying to make it clear
Without your love I'd be half a man
Maybe one day you'll understand
Now and forever
Until the time is through

I'll be waiting

Now can I tell you, so that you can see
love has a meaning when you are here with me

Give me a moment before you go
There's something you ought to know

"So, what's he look like?" Clark thought that if they were going to look for Lex's brother, he should know what the kid looked like. Except, Lex wasn't answering. "Lex?"

Lex grunted. "I'll know him when I see him, alright?"

"I'm trying to HELP-"

"It wasn't just my brother."

Clark stopped in his tracks, and looked at Lex. That was about as much Lex had ever said to him. "What?"

Lex looked back at him. "They took my wife." He snorted. "She was a new age kinda chick, and kind of... free-spirited." He raised an eyebrow at Clark. "If you know what I mean."

"No details needed." He walked over to Lex, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's get on with finding the members of your tribe." Although Lex began to open his mouth, Clark shook his head. "I won't mention it to anyone."

"Thanks man."

Baby now and forever
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here
Waiting and never give up my faith in you
Trying to make it clear
Without your love I'd be half a man
Maybe one day you'll understand
Now and forever
Until the time is through

"Ahem."

Ram turned his little cart around. He'd told her to go into his bedroom and change, and although he knew she had been about to come out, there had been a knock on his door. It had been Ved, telling him that the specifications he had given him to create a new area in virtual space had been created.

He scanned Prudence's appearance. "Just like one of my own."

"Who was that?"

"Who?" Ram wasn't about to say Ved's name.

"That voice. When you shut the door in my face."

Ram would have cringed were he his former self. This girl could be quite imposing when she wanted to be. "That was my virtual space administrator of sorts. He created your post-virus world for me."

"Don't forget our deal now..."

He'd never said what he was about to tell her. At least, not since the virus had struck. "I promised you, didn't I?"

There is no one to comfort me
Here in my cold reality
I'm searching for words
What can I say to make you feel

"Ellie, you mustn't be so depressed," Amber said, jiggling baby Bray on her knee, "Jack will come back to you."

Ellie sniffled again... it was true she hadn't known Amber for very long, but she already felt a great deal of kinship with the girl. "You're sure?"

"Clark wont' give up until he finds Alice, right?" At the nod of an answer she received, Amber smiled. "So then, everything will be all right."

"Thanks Amber." Ellie got up. "I'm going to go formulate a new issue of The Amulet." Then Ellie walked off towards her room, smiling at Trudy as she passed her on her way out.

"What's up with her?" Trudy asked, taking a seat across from her good friend, "She seems so much more... chipper."

"Just some encouraging talk for her. She needs it. We all need it."

Baby now and forever
Until the time is though
Waiting and never give up my faith in you

"It's..."

Prudence smiled at Ram, who was looking around the frozen image of the Gaien camp. "Not exactly what you imagined, is it?" The shake of Ram's head, albeit in a virtual world, was extremely satisfying to her. "It's what I found after the evacuation."

"You lived in such... dirty conditions..."

"We lived without your precious technology." She shrugged, and held her hand out to Ram. "More?"

Ram looked at her hand for a moment, and prudence knew he was considering how many germs were likely on it. But she smiled when he took it, and looked at her. "No, now we come to my before time."

Baby now and forever
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here
Waiting and never give up my faith in you
Trying to make it clear

"It's..."

"Perfect?" Ram frowned when Prudence shook her head. "Then what?"

Prudence turned to him. "It's the past, Ram. It is what used to be." She pressed something inside her right wrist, and they were once again in the Gaien camp. "This is what the world is now."

"Not everywhere."

"It could be."

And for the first time, Ram believed someone when they said that. Her post-virus world was much like what his pre-virus had been, if not for the lack of technology. He pressed the inside of his left wrist, and brought them back to his pre-virus world.

"I believe you."

Without your love I'd be half a man
Maybe one day you'll understand
Now and forever
I will be here for you
Until the time is through