Disclaimer: Same as in other chapters
A/N: Please review and enjoy. This chapter was real hard to write, so please forgive if it isn't up to par.
~*Luke's POV*~
All the kids were excited when they entered class the next day. "Professor Luke, can you tell us about the Guardian?" a blonde student asked.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything," suggested Arthur.
"His real name was Jaffa, and he was in the same class as Martin. Like with Martin, Jaffa's parents died because of the virus. He too was filled with anger and joined up with Martin. Zoot made him his right hand man and he was christened the Guardian."
"Why did he come back with the Chosen?"
"He had come to think of Zoot as a god. Trudy and Brady were still in the city and he was going to make her the Supreme Mother. He wanted everyone to worship Zoot and Zoot's child. The Guardian was so filled with hate that all reason left him. He saw things only one way, and that was 'power and chaos.'"
"So," Bitsy asked with a sneer, "why did you join the Chosen?" Everyone started to talk at once. They didn't know what she was talking about, but it had to be true. She seemed to know everything about the post- virus world.
"Class. Class. Settle down." Once everyone was quiet, Arthur raised his hand. "Yes, Arthur?"
"What did you do?"
"I was the Guardian's lieutenant. I was second-in-command. The Guardian turned to me for advice and to help him plans tings. On top of that, I was to watch over the tribe I mentioned yesterday- the Mallrats.
"To answer Bitsy's question, I joined because I saw the good of 'power and chaos.' The world was in chaos and you could gain power from it. I wanted to get people to stop fighting and work towards rebuilding the world."
"Did you believe in everything the Guardian preached?" a dark haired boy asked.
"In the beginning, I did whatever the Guardian said. He was my leader, my boss and I followed orders. But in the beginning, the Guardian was not whop he was in the end. Time changed him, and he became obsessed. He no longer cared for those who didn't want to follow Zoot's words. He was no longer the person I first followed, so in the end, I secretly did things my way."
"Like what?" asked the blonde student.
"There was a Mallrat, named Ryan, who was upset with something the Guardian had done." I was cut off by Ryan asking what the Guardian did. "They were pregnant women within the Chosen. The Guardian claimed that the father would be Zoot and the biological fathers would not see the children. Ryan got upset because his wife Salene was pregnant and was part of the Chosen.
"So one night, Ryan attacked the Guardian. He would have succeeded in killing him had he not been stopped. The Guardian ordered his death, but I snuck him into a mining camp. It was a prison of sort, but it was better than death."
"Since you no longer believed in what the Guardian was preaching, why didn't you rebel?" Arthur asked. He was looking a little sad. It was then that I remember that this was Kristin's, Salene and Pride's daughter, boyfriend. He was probably worried about how his step-in mom felt about this event in her life.
"That's a little hard to explain. Since class is about to end, why don't we pick this up next week." As the bell rang, I shouted to my departing class, "Don't forget the quiz on Monday."
I gather my things and decided it was time to have a talk with the parents of Bitsy. I knew that I would have enemies, but I don't like to be disrespected by my students. At this rate, the school year would feel like a lifetime.
~*Ellie POV*~
Today had been the worst day of my life. On top of not getting enough sleep last night, the newspaper was in complete ruin. No one seemed to have their stories ready and we were due to print in five hours. Feeling fed up with my entire staff, I stormed into Jack's and my office.
"Should I leave?" Jack asked as he lounged in his chair. He made me want to scream. "I really would like quiet as I read this."
"Jack." I said as I trailed off. I knew my temper was getting the better of me, but I couldn't help it.
"You know they'll get it to you in time. All you can do is wait," he said. Then adding in a whisper, he said, "Although that wasn't one of your strong points."
I was ignoring him. I was thinking about what I had decided after tossing and turning for hours. I had to talk to Luke. I couldn't let him leave me this time. I didn't think I could live through the pain again.
I felt a smile spread across my face as I thought about our first kiss. After my reaction at the mall, I realized that it was really something I should smile about, so I did. My smile fell as I saw him hug one of my employees.
Gretchen let go of him and pointed towards my office. Maybe he felt the same way about me. Maybe he was coming to talk to me. I turned so it wouldn't look like I was watching him.
Luke then knocked at the door. I saw Jack look up to see who it was. He then waved Luke in. "What is it?" Jack asked in his disgusted voice.
"I wanted to talk to you about Bitsy." Jack then gave me a look and then looked back at Luke. His eyes held a what-about-her-look. "Ellie can stay if you want, but it concerns Bitsy's attitude.
"What about it?" I started to get up, but Jack told me not to. I sat in silence as my love and best friend faced off. They both had a lot of emotions bottled up and it looked like they were about to explode.
"I will not put up with her disrespecting me in my classroom. I don't know what you told her about my connections with the Chosen, but I will not be made to look like the bad guy. You of all people should know that I was different from the rest of them. Had it not been for me, you probably would not be sitting in that chair there."
Jack seemed to be thinking about something. After a tense pause, he said, "You're right. I'll talk to her tonight." After giving Jack a nod of approval, Luke turned and left.
Jack was completely surprised when I yelled at him. "What did you tell her about him?!"
"Look Ellie, it was something I said when I first found her. I was angry that you could never love me and I blamed it all on Luke. She must have remembered my pain, and is now taking it out on Luke."
Before he had finished, I was rushing out of the office. I quickly caught up with Luke and grabbed his arm. He looked surprised to see me. "Yes, Ellie?"
"I was wondering if you would mind having dinner with me sometime. Would you?" Slowly a smile showed on his face. "I would love to." I smiled back at him, and we made plans to meet tomorrow night.
A/N: Please review and enjoy. This chapter was real hard to write, so please forgive if it isn't up to par.
~*Luke's POV*~
All the kids were excited when they entered class the next day. "Professor Luke, can you tell us about the Guardian?" a blonde student asked.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything," suggested Arthur.
"His real name was Jaffa, and he was in the same class as Martin. Like with Martin, Jaffa's parents died because of the virus. He too was filled with anger and joined up with Martin. Zoot made him his right hand man and he was christened the Guardian."
"Why did he come back with the Chosen?"
"He had come to think of Zoot as a god. Trudy and Brady were still in the city and he was going to make her the Supreme Mother. He wanted everyone to worship Zoot and Zoot's child. The Guardian was so filled with hate that all reason left him. He saw things only one way, and that was 'power and chaos.'"
"So," Bitsy asked with a sneer, "why did you join the Chosen?" Everyone started to talk at once. They didn't know what she was talking about, but it had to be true. She seemed to know everything about the post- virus world.
"Class. Class. Settle down." Once everyone was quiet, Arthur raised his hand. "Yes, Arthur?"
"What did you do?"
"I was the Guardian's lieutenant. I was second-in-command. The Guardian turned to me for advice and to help him plans tings. On top of that, I was to watch over the tribe I mentioned yesterday- the Mallrats.
"To answer Bitsy's question, I joined because I saw the good of 'power and chaos.' The world was in chaos and you could gain power from it. I wanted to get people to stop fighting and work towards rebuilding the world."
"Did you believe in everything the Guardian preached?" a dark haired boy asked.
"In the beginning, I did whatever the Guardian said. He was my leader, my boss and I followed orders. But in the beginning, the Guardian was not whop he was in the end. Time changed him, and he became obsessed. He no longer cared for those who didn't want to follow Zoot's words. He was no longer the person I first followed, so in the end, I secretly did things my way."
"Like what?" asked the blonde student.
"There was a Mallrat, named Ryan, who was upset with something the Guardian had done." I was cut off by Ryan asking what the Guardian did. "They were pregnant women within the Chosen. The Guardian claimed that the father would be Zoot and the biological fathers would not see the children. Ryan got upset because his wife Salene was pregnant and was part of the Chosen.
"So one night, Ryan attacked the Guardian. He would have succeeded in killing him had he not been stopped. The Guardian ordered his death, but I snuck him into a mining camp. It was a prison of sort, but it was better than death."
"Since you no longer believed in what the Guardian was preaching, why didn't you rebel?" Arthur asked. He was looking a little sad. It was then that I remember that this was Kristin's, Salene and Pride's daughter, boyfriend. He was probably worried about how his step-in mom felt about this event in her life.
"That's a little hard to explain. Since class is about to end, why don't we pick this up next week." As the bell rang, I shouted to my departing class, "Don't forget the quiz on Monday."
I gather my things and decided it was time to have a talk with the parents of Bitsy. I knew that I would have enemies, but I don't like to be disrespected by my students. At this rate, the school year would feel like a lifetime.
~*Ellie POV*~
Today had been the worst day of my life. On top of not getting enough sleep last night, the newspaper was in complete ruin. No one seemed to have their stories ready and we were due to print in five hours. Feeling fed up with my entire staff, I stormed into Jack's and my office.
"Should I leave?" Jack asked as he lounged in his chair. He made me want to scream. "I really would like quiet as I read this."
"Jack." I said as I trailed off. I knew my temper was getting the better of me, but I couldn't help it.
"You know they'll get it to you in time. All you can do is wait," he said. Then adding in a whisper, he said, "Although that wasn't one of your strong points."
I was ignoring him. I was thinking about what I had decided after tossing and turning for hours. I had to talk to Luke. I couldn't let him leave me this time. I didn't think I could live through the pain again.
I felt a smile spread across my face as I thought about our first kiss. After my reaction at the mall, I realized that it was really something I should smile about, so I did. My smile fell as I saw him hug one of my employees.
Gretchen let go of him and pointed towards my office. Maybe he felt the same way about me. Maybe he was coming to talk to me. I turned so it wouldn't look like I was watching him.
Luke then knocked at the door. I saw Jack look up to see who it was. He then waved Luke in. "What is it?" Jack asked in his disgusted voice.
"I wanted to talk to you about Bitsy." Jack then gave me a look and then looked back at Luke. His eyes held a what-about-her-look. "Ellie can stay if you want, but it concerns Bitsy's attitude.
"What about it?" I started to get up, but Jack told me not to. I sat in silence as my love and best friend faced off. They both had a lot of emotions bottled up and it looked like they were about to explode.
"I will not put up with her disrespecting me in my classroom. I don't know what you told her about my connections with the Chosen, but I will not be made to look like the bad guy. You of all people should know that I was different from the rest of them. Had it not been for me, you probably would not be sitting in that chair there."
Jack seemed to be thinking about something. After a tense pause, he said, "You're right. I'll talk to her tonight." After giving Jack a nod of approval, Luke turned and left.
Jack was completely surprised when I yelled at him. "What did you tell her about him?!"
"Look Ellie, it was something I said when I first found her. I was angry that you could never love me and I blamed it all on Luke. She must have remembered my pain, and is now taking it out on Luke."
Before he had finished, I was rushing out of the office. I quickly caught up with Luke and grabbed his arm. He looked surprised to see me. "Yes, Ellie?"
"I was wondering if you would mind having dinner with me sometime. Would you?" Slowly a smile showed on his face. "I would love to." I smiled back at him, and we made plans to meet tomorrow night.
