Intruders

After they were done eating, everyone split up into different rooms and settled down for the night.

*Ardeth and Mariana's room*

" I'm glad they are here….safe." Mariana said, cleaning her sword.

Ardeth cautiously sat beside his beloved and chuckled. She put her sword away.

" Yes, so am I…I know we'll have a lot of fun…hopefully no one will die…again…" Ardeth finished.

Mariana laughed and kissed Ardeth on the lips.

" Master…I promise I wont die…but don't you go dieing either." she scolded.

Ardeth hugged her and planted kisses on her forehead and lips.

" Of course not my, Koibito…never…" Ardeth said.

Mariana sighed and laid on his lap, instantly falling asleep.

Ardeth picked her up and laid her on the bed, covering her up and climbing in on the other side of the bed. He put a protective arm around her and drew her close, falling into a dream filled sleep.

* Rick and Evy's room*

" For the last time, its all good." Rick yawned.

Evelyn sighed, still not sure. Alex was asleep on the bed beside them. Evy looked at Alex and smiled.

" Do you think he'll be safe with the Medji?" she asked

Rick sighed.

" Yes…they'll protect him with their lives." he replied a little agitated.

* Maliks room*

" Wahoo! I *hic* win!" Malik smiled, stumbling

When the two large men came into the room, she fought as she could, but you try holding off people three times bigger than you when you've drunk three straight bottles of vodka.

" Like wise!" Jonathan said.

Malik looked at him.

" You're such and idiot!" Malik said right before she passed out.

" Yeah, I know." Jonathan said and passed out too.

* Rick and Evy's room*

" Rick…" Evy asked.

" What?" Rick said in a moan.

" You don't think…" Evy started but stopped.

Rick opened his eyes and waited for her to finish, but she didn't. He sat up.

" What's wrong?" he asked.

" Nothing, I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep." Evy answered.

" No, its too late, I'm already awake." Rick said. " What are you thinking?" he asked.

" Well, you don't think all this is what it seems to be do you?" she asked looking at him.

" What?" Rick asked.

" I mean, do you think that there's more to this than what there seems to be, like there's something we don't know about?" Evy asked.

" Of course, there always is, otherwise, our life would be so much easier." Rick answered. " Why?"

" Well, just because, I don't know, I cant explain it." Evy answered.

" That's a first. You getting one of your feelings?" Rick asked.

Evy nodded.

" Like I've always said, as long as we are together, we will be alright, and this time, Alex will be with someone who can protect him, so we can keep our mind on Kurai." Rick said.

" I know, but you cant blame me for worrying." Evy answered.

" No, but I can blame you for keeping me awake." Rick said smiling and Evy smiled back.

" Well, it serves you right." Evy said back.

" Oh, it does, does it?" Rick asked.

Then they wrestled each other and then went to sleep.

Mariana woke up with a start. Something was wrong…the last time she felt like this, she died. It felt like someone was in Malik's room. Mariana sat up and gently nudged Ardeth in the side. Ardeth rolled over and smiled, but his smile quickly faded upon seeing Mariana's serious face.

" What is it?" he asked

She got out of the bed and began to get her Medji robes on.

" Come on…and grab your sword…I'll explain when we get there." she responded.

Ardeth nodded and got dressed, grabbed his sword, and then together they walked down the hall to Malik's room.

" Lets talk about this shall we?" Jonathan asked nervously backing up against the wall.

The three lugs just stared at him and then took out their weapons.

Malik, who was still knocked out, rolled over. Suddenly the door burst open and in the doorway stood two very familiar figures.

" Medji!!!" one of the big guys screamed in terror.

Mariana drew her favorite guns, her colts, and pointed them at the guys. Ardeth who was beside her, drew his sword.

" Didn't your mother ever tell you don't go where your not invited?" Mariana asked, looking around to make sure everyone was alright, then returning her attention back to the three guys.

All three took an involuntary step back. Jonathan ran and jumped behind a chair while the men were looking at Mariana.

" Now, you have one chance to get this right…what are you doing here?" Mariana asked still with her guns aimed at them.

" We, uh, came into the wrong room, and we were asking them, uh, how to get out." a man said, with the others looking at him with a look that said idiot.

" Wrong answer" Mariana said taking off the safety to her guns.

" One more try!" Mariana said with a grin.

" Lets try this, who sent you?" Ardeth asked.

" Kurai…" the men said nervously.

" Good…now we are getting somewhere." Mariana said.

Meanwhile, in Rick and Evy's room, the were all still sleeping, but someone had entered the room. Rick opened his eyes, letting them focus to the dark, he looked at Evy and saw her looking back at him. He knew she also knew someone was there. They looked at each other trying to decide what to do. Then, Evy, with her eyes, looked up at Rick's pillow. Rick taking the hint, felt under it, quietly, then his hands felt something cold. He realized she had put one of his guns under it. He slightly nodded, letting her know he had it. By this time, Evy had felt someone breathing on her. She knew it was an intruder because they were deliberately trying to hold their breath. Rick gave her one look and she took the hint. Just at the right time, she threw her legs up and kicked the figure straight in the face, then fell to the floor to get out of the way, just as Rick pulled out his gun and shot the man. Alex jumped up and screamed.

Back in Malik's room, Ardeth and Mariana had hear the shots and looked at each other, with a quick glance. The men, hearing these shots, got nervous and aimed their guns to shoot, but Mariana, quick as lightening, dropped all three of them.

" Now, I know where you get your accuracy with guns." Ardeth said.

Just then Rick barged into the room with a pissed off look.

" What the hell was that about?!!!" he yelled.

" Well, we were working on it until you went and shot someone!" Mariana answered.

" Well, I was protecting my family!" Rick yelled back.

" All we got out of them was that Kurai had sent them." Ardeth said.

" So what else is new?!" Rick said kicking a chair in front of him.

" Ahh!" came a scream and Jonathan popped up.

" OH…why am I not surprised" Rick said sighing. " You know, sometimes I just wished people would knock you out first, so who ever had the bad luck of being with you could concentrate on staying alive." Rick said nodding to Malik, who was lying on the floor.

" Well, I was…just…" Jonathan started.

" I don't want to hear you're idiotic excuses!" Rick interrupted.

" Alright then." Jonathan said shutting up.

" Where is Evelyn?" Mariana asked.

" She's back in the room trying to calm Alex down." Rick answered.

" From?" Mariana asked.

" Oh, just waking up to the sound of gun shots and some dead guy falling on top of him…in the dark." Rick answered.

" Oh." Mariana said.

" Well, now what?" Jonathan asked.

" We should go back to sleep." Ardeth answered.

" Well, it's a bit late for that. I'm all woke up and the adrenaline is pumping." Rick said. " Besides, it's almost dawn anyway and you guys should be hearing from the other commanders soon." he finished.

" Yes, but.." Ardeth started.

" I'm going back to the room to see if I can find something on this guy." Rick said as he walked out.

" He's a bit cranky in the morning isn't he?" Mariana asked looking at Jonathan.

" Yes, but you should see him when I'm the one waking him up." Jonathan answered. " Should we uh, try to wake her up?" he asked.

The nodded and went over to Malik.