Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I am up to no good if I run into Ranger in a dark alleyway. Other than that, I am just playing with Janet Evanovich's creations, making no profit, and I will be putting them back when I am done. Haley, Dom, and the St. Louisians are mine, but you can play with them if you want to. They don't bite much.

Note: Thanks to everyone for bearing with me on this whole splitting/renaming escapade!

Chapter 13 - Explanations

He sat there, just staring at me for a minute. I thought maybe I'd made a mistake, maybe he wasn't Professor Higgins and the thought made me feel oddly nervous and disappointed. Then his lips quirked into a strange sort of smile and he smoothed a callused hand across my cheek. I didn't flinch away though because somehow it was comforting. Of course it shouldn't have been, I mean he was obviously armed, dangerous, and a total stranger; and yet it didn't matter. I was just happy he was smiling.

"Yeah, babe. I'm here," he said. His eyes glittered in the lamplight, holding my attention. They were pretty eyes, not quite belonging on someone that scary. "What do you remember?" his voice was as gentle as his hands. Funny, because looking at him 'gentle' wasn't a word I'd have connected to him. 'Dangerous' or 'harsh' or a dozen other words more fitting to gun-toting commando types, sure.

It took a lot of effort to answer his question. My brain was a furry blur of pain, confusion, and a desire to just go back to sleep. But for all that he was being really nice, I kind of thought ignoring him might not be a good idea.

"Charles shot me," I said slowly as my foggy brain slogged its way into functioning. "The guys in black shot him. In the lab. With a revolver." I giggled a little at my own joke, then broke off in a gasp of pain. Damn. I'd half convinced myself it was all a dream.

Higgins-in-black carefully pressed me back into the pillows. "Easy, babe. Short breaths..." he pulled some sort of walkie-talkie thing out and spoke into it. "Angel. She's awake."

"An-hell," I tried the name out and smiled. It was fun to say. "Who's that?"

"Your doctor for now. We should be in Curacao in another hour or so. We'll find you a hospital there."

It began to sink in then. I was awake. I was also wounded and laying here conversing with a perfect stranger I had spent months dreaming about. I also didn't know where I was, although from the slight rocking and the room in general I was on a boat. An hour out of Curacao... What happened to the island? What happeend to Charles?

The images floating through my sleep-clogged brain began to slowly come into focus...

Men in black sweeping into the laboratory, Charles hitting the ground with blood spewing out of him. His gun raising up, his eyes locking on mine in a meaningful look. Pride, love, sorrow... And he'd shot me. He'd considered it better for me to die than to live. He had protected me from the men in black in the only way left to him. I felt a stab of pain in my chest that had nothing to do with the bullet and the tears filled my eyes.

"Why?" I gasped, searching the concerned face of the man beside me. He was so handsome it could take your breath away and he was treating me with a great deal of care, his eyes looked worried, almost haunted as he sat there. This was not what kidnappers did. I felt like I was missing some very large pieces of the puzzle. "Why did you do this? What's going on? How do I know you?"

He sighed. "Later. I'll explain it all later."

"No. Now. Where's Charles?"

His eyes were sharp and assessing as he looked at me silently. "Dead."

I forgot to breathe. Charles was dead. The men in black had killed him, but now they were taking care of me, getting me to a doctor to treat the wound Charles had inflicted. Somehow the universe had shifted into some alternate reality while I was out.

"I don't understand," I said honestly, giving up. "Why? Why did you do this? Why did Charles shoot me? Why are you kidnapping me? Why aren't you acting like kidnappers?" I was becoming hysterical, I knew it, but I didn't really see a way not to. You don't just have a perfectly wonderful life one moment and wake up in topsy turvy world and not have hysterics, damn it.

Whatever he would have said was put on hold as someone knocked on the door. It was a pattern of taps, which I thought was odd. Not as odd as the person who entered though. It wasn't his appearance; he was tall, broad shouldered and muscular, with tousled blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, tan skin- he could have been a poster child for California surfers. The oddness was something more indefinable. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, his aura. Or it could have been the amount of weapons visible on him. I didn't really have time to think about it, I was more concerned with how to have proper hysterics with a gun shot wound.

"Angel," Higgins was scowling. "What took you so long?" Angel. He definitely fit the name, at least in the looks department. The knives and guns kind of ruined the image a little, though.

"Haley's up too." His voice was not angelic in the least. It was a little like Higgins', in other words: sex in sound waves. He could probably set a girl off just by saying the right words. Good lord, what's happening to me? My hormones are taking over! I tried to focus not on the voice but on what he was saying. It took a little effort. "She flipped out when she realized Dom was real... We're guessing it was some sort of extra programming since she didn't have the same problems with anyone else. Her universe took a little reorganizing and she needed a sedative." He shook his head like he was clearing the thoughts away and looked to me with a smile. I hadn't followed a word he said, but as long as he kept talking I was going to be happy.

"Good morning. How's the chest?" he asked me.

"Hurts." I could have been more specific, but that would have required thinking and I was fairly sure his voice had just short-circuited a few neurons.

"I can't give you much for it," he looked apologetic. That's ok, just keep talking... "We'll leave it up to the doctors on shore to handle the serious stuff." He stood by the bed and leaned over me with a flashlight. Hm, he smells good too. Not as good as Higgins, though. "Follow this please..." I followed the light and tried not to think about the fact that two of the sexiest, more dangerous, most delicious males I could have imagined were standing in very close proximity to me. Maybe this new topsy-turvy world wouldn't be so awful after all.

And then I thought about Charles. The stabbing guilt hurt almost worse than my chest. He'd barely been gone from my life and I was already thinking about sex with someone else? I felt ill at that. I'm not a nymphomaniac, and I normally have excellent control of my hormones. I don't even like sex that much! The sadistic wave of hormones didn't seem to be willing to take that into account, though.

Angel continued poking and prodding, luckily some of it hurt or I might have had a lot more trouble keeping my thoughts away from sex. Then he started poking around the wound, making me quickly reevaluate his angelic appearance. More like sadistic demon in disguise. Undeniably hot, sexy, gorgeous sadistic demon.

"Name?" he asked me when he was apparently through with that. Huh, okay that was a weird question. The bullet hit my shoulder, not my head.

"Serena Darling." Both the sex gods seemed uncomfortable suddenly. Angel and Higgins exchanged a look, and I felt like I had missed an entire conversation. The odd part was that somehow I wasn't surprised. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Age?" Angel asked, returning his attention to me.

"Isn't that a little rude to ask a lady?" I lifted my chin, feeling defensive.

Angel grinned at that, his blue eyes sparkling in delight. Not many men's eyes can do that, but damned if his didn't. "You're doing fine. I'll be back in an hour or so, when we get ready to dock"

I yawned and settled back into my pillows as Higgins followed him out. I wondered again when and how I had met someone like him, even in passing. I also wondered why they had shot Charles and why I wasn't more upset about it. Guilty, I felt very guilty. But I wasn't falling apart either. Which just reinforced the guilt. Obviously I had just been kidnapped, my fiance was dead, and my sister was missing. Maybe it was just too much. Charles had warned me not to get too stressed, that it might cause a relapse. He had also told me not to worry, that everything would work out. Just give it time.

All right, so no worrying about it. I didn't seem to be in any immediate danger and I was being taken care of. The only problem I had was satisfying my curiosity over the situation. I wanted to know how I knew these people, who they were, why they had shot Charles, and where my sister was. And who the Haley girl they had mentioned was. Oh, knowing what was going to happen after we landed would have been nice too... That's not much, is it?

The man I'd dubbed Professor Higgins walked back into the room, effectively distracting me. He looked exhausted, devastatingly handsome but exhausted.

"You should get some rest,' I told him, feeling oddly concerned about it. He sank into the chair next to my bed but didn't respond. "I'm not going to run away, if you're worried about that. You ransom is safe."

"Ransom?" He looked... affronted. As if I'd just wounded his pride.

"You're kidnapping me, right? Isn't there usually a ransom involved? Alec is probably paying it..."

He shook his head. "You're not being kidnapped." He said it slowly, making each word very clear and concise like he was talking to a child.

"Right," I didn't know whether to believe him or not so I presented the case. "You attacked our island, shot my fiancé, and carried me off in a boat. Isn't that kidnapping?"

His face was blank, and he didn't say anything. The silence stretched on until I couldn't handle it anymore. Just when my nerves were getting stretched to their limit he spoke.

"You remember meeting me before?" I nodded, wondering about the sudden change in subjects, but willing to let him do this his way. That strategy always worked best on Charles.

"Yeah. I... I've dreamt about it anyway. I usually see you at some restaurant. You're laughing because you want to be professor Higgins." I shook my head. "I never get that. Why would you be playing Professor Higgins? You don't seem like a musical kind of guy."

His lips quirked in that hint of a smile. "You made a hell of an Eliza yourself, babe."

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "What?" My voice sounded squeaky. "I don't sing."

"Wasn't a play," his smile widened a little. "I was your mentor. Taught you the ropes."

Oh. As long as I hadn't done something as embarrassing as singing in public. But if he was my mentor... for what? I would think I'd remember getting taught anything by someone like him.

"I don't remember you teaching me anything."

He winced. "Yeah, I could have done better. But you were so damned good on your own. It was almost scary sometimes." Good at what?

The pills Angel had given me during the exam were taking hold now, and I yawned. "I don't understand."

He took my hand again. "Go to sleep. I'll explain later if you want." His eyes were warm and dark. Melted chocolate. I smiled at the thought and he shifted closer to me, his thumb stroking my knuckles in a steady pattern. Funny how relaxing that was.

"Ok, professor," I yawned again, wincing at the pain it ignited, then opening my eyes to have the pleasure of looking at him again. "You never told me your name."

There was a beat of silence as those dark eyes watched me, like he was trying to memorize my face.

"You can call me Ranger. It's a street name."

There was an echo-y feel to those words, as if they'd been said before. I frowned and wondered at that. The whole deja-vu thing had been happening a lot recently.

"Ranger, then." I smiled. "It's nice to meet you..." Wait, that wasn't right. I wasn't meeting him- I knew him- he was a mentor, whatever that meant.

Once upon a time, in some other life... My old daydreams resurfaced, and I let them carry me off into sleep.

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Haley was trembling, curling around the small toy bear out of sheer self-defense. The tranquilizers were setting in, but not fast enough. Her entire being felt raw and open like something had ripped off a layer of skin. Forgotten a friend. Forgotten an entire life...

Eddie sat with her, holding one of her hands in his. She looked down at where their hands were joined. His was large, callused and scarred; hers was tiny in comparison. She felt tiny in comparison. It was unsettling, but somehow it was also like he was anchoring her, holding her here in this reality. She was thankful for that. He wouldn't let her slide off into the world of ghosts and shadows, illusions and dreams. He was real. She knew him. She had known him forever.

"Look at me, Hales," he said softly. She obeyed, and looked up into his familiar face, wincing at the mass of bruises around his left eye. Other than that, his features were harsher now, the years had cleared away the boyishness and carved more angles. It was a handsome face, but one that did not welcome strangers. She imagined people would avoid him in a dark alley but she trusted him implicitly. To her his bright green eyes were the key, they reflected him: conscientious, thoughtful, strong. The outside might have changed, but he was still the same inside, and that was always what mattered.

Right now they showed his worry. She wasn't clear on why he would be so worried over a girl he hadn't seen or been close to in years, but he was.

"Once a king," Haley mused to herself, only half-aware of saying it out loud.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Old habits die hard." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "But you aren't just some girl, Haley. You are you. And I'm afraid I failed our friendship. We should have kicked Alec's ass whether or not you were gonna be mad. I should never have let you disappear into their expectations. I failed you, princess, too many times. I'm not going to do it again."

"We haven't talked in years, Edward," she said stiffly, but she leaned into the hug. Ever since Les had pulled her out of the dark place she'd felt an almost physical need for touch. Rico had told her it was normal, but it was something she wasn't comfortable with.

"Please call me Quinn. I hate that name."

She laughed. "Hey, I could use 'Teddy'..." The arm around her tightened.

"It's a good thing I'm feeling guilty right now," he said in mock threat. She ignored the bluff.

"I don't understand why. I don't understand any of this. And what about Dom? I don't remember him."

"Haley, I..." Quinn sighed, and suddenly the weariness in him was showing. "I'm going to tell you a story."

"Do I know it?" She yawned, and cuddled into him. He had always been a great storyteller.

"Maybe. We'll let you decide." There was an odd almost-nervousness in him. Haley squeezed his hand.

"Get started, or these drugs are gonna knock me out before we get to the end."

"All right. A long time ago, there was a group of friends. Two boys and two girls who shared a Secret, a world of their own creation..."

"Four? Why is it always-"

"Shush." He held a finger to her lips before he continued. "And it brought them closer and closer until they meant more to one another than family. This Secret kept them sane sometimes, it let them have a place of safety when everything else fell down.

"But things change. One of the girls, Haley, decided that it was time to grow up and forget. She did, and she was happy for a while. The others let her, because her choice hurt them and they didn't know what to do," his voice was quiet, almost apologetic. He began to run a hand up and down her arm in a slow, calming rhythm.

"Haley fell in love eventually. The man she fell in love with wasn't nice. He was cruel, but he hid it well. The others hoped she would see it for herself, and didn't interfere because they were afraid of pushing her even further away. They kept delaying it until he finally made a mistake so bad she ran away to hide from him. The man was so angry when he found her that he carried her to a secret place. He made her forget everything. He made her into his own version of perfection. But she was stronger than he thought because he couldn't control her dreams. She found herself caught between realities, so she hid within the Secret."

Haley felt the tears filling her eyes. "And everyone thought she had gone mad," she whispered. "Including herself."

Quinn kissed her forehead. "You're perfectly sane, pixie. It's Alec and Charles who were psycho. It will come back. Maybe if you concentrate, or maybe you shouldn't. I can't tell you what to do on this one. I wish like hell I could. Maybe the doctors can help you with it."

Haley smiled and looked up at him with sleepy blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Quinn. I was a horrible brat. I hope your eye is okay." He laughed and squeezed her a little.

"I'm fine. Just my ego that's hurt. But I was proud of you for putting up a fight."

"Learned from the best," she yawned. "Thank you, bro..." her eyes closed and sleep had claimed her before she even finished the thought. Quinn watched her as her breathing slowed, his thoughts wandering to old times, among the four of them. Funny how those days seemed even more distant and foggy than the imagined world of the Secret.