TWO WEEKS AFTER THE RETURN OF KELLER.

Lord Thierry Descouedres and Lady Hannah Snow arrived back at the Circle Daybreak Headquarters as soon as they could. It had taken a week to get the tickets, but now they were back. Home sweet home. The place had practically been gutted from the top floor to the bottom with the Night Worlders looking for Galen, but Thierry didn't care about that. He had money, he could fix the mansion – or replace it if need be.

Arriving home, the first thing he did was plan a circle Daybreak meeting in his shattered house, now he stared out at it. It was a poor example of a meeting, mostly he had wanted the soulmate couples to be there, only four of them had made it out of the eight he would normally have had, excluding him and Hannah. Poppy and James were there, but wouldn't be around for long – following Poppy's arrest, she had decided she had to tell her family the truth, no one disapproved, humans would know about the Night World only too soon anyway – Quinn and Rashel were also there. the latter now vampire, this news had surprised everyone – Rashel 'The Cat' Jordan? Vampire hunter extraordinaire and supreme vampire hater? She said she'd still be a vampire hunter, just like Jez Redfern, everyone else was doubtful – Gillian and David were there, although they said it was extremely hard to get away from the clutches of the 'parental units', Gillian had joked that she liked it better when neither of them cared. Of course, everyone knew that wasn't true. Delos and Maggie also came, even though Thierry had told them not to for fear of the wild powers moving about.

Mary-Lynette and Ash couldn't come, for the obvious reasons. Their funeral had been held, along with the other dead, back when Thierry and Hannah were still on vacation, they didn't have a showing, for which most people were grateful. A dead vampire and a blown-to-bits-human were not what most people would like to see. They were buried side by side, together for eternity. Thea had been rushed back into hospital with strict orders from the doctor that there was going to be double security watching her now and a lot of complaints from Mrs. Ross, Eric – of course – was with her. Jez and Morgead were 'recovering' although the rest of the couples thought they might be a bit busy doing over things to attend and Keller was still out of commission, she was conscious, but she was taking one shaky step at a time – Galen of course helping.

They'd put their wedding back, understandably, giving Keller four months to recover.

It would never be the same relaxed get-together as Circle Daybreak meetings had been before. Not with Ash and Mary-Lynette gone forever, everyone suffering so much. Poppy would normally have been sat on James's lap, stuffing her mouth with crisps, now she was sitting on the floor, back rigid against the sofa. James was behind her, arms around her neck reassuringly. Rashel and Quinn were at opposite sides of the room, at watch at each of the windows, Delos and Maggie sat on opposite sides of a sofa, hands touching across the space, Gillian and David both sitting on the floor. Gone was the relaxation, definitely.

Thierry gripped Hannah's hand, and coughed. Instantly, he got everyone's attention.

If he hadn't known something was up to begin with, had he not known what that 'something' was, he would have been alerted by that. "Obviously, Circle Daybreak hasn't been as strong as we thought at first, the Night World was too strong. Which means we need a more direct approach than what we've been working on."

"A house would be nice," Rashel cut in.

He blinked, "well, yes, that wasn't exactly what I was talking about though," Quinn snorted, "we're going to have to recruit more members, beyond that, we're going to have to give them the capability to protect themselves. For the humans and witches especially…" he shook his head, "they didn't stand a chance. Humans themselves are not weak," he acknowledged, gripping Hannah's hand, nodding to David and Maggie, who were staring at him indignantly, "as a human, Rashel was feared by most vampires. It was because these people weren't fighters," he raked a hand through his hair, "I hate to say this, but Hannah and I…we've decided, everyone needs to be a fighter in the aid of self-preservation."

There was silence. Utter-silence. Then a laugh, a giggling outburst, each turned to look at Poppy, "You and Hannah decided that everyone needs to fight? You're practically pacifists!"

That was almost true, but what else could he do? Thierry ignored the comment and glanced over, "Rashel, Quinn, James, Delos and Poppy. I'll be wanting you, along with Jez and Morgead, Lupe and Nissa, to holding training sessions in which everyone must partake unless they have a reason otherwise to protect themselves," he set his eye on Delos, "if you and Jez use your powers at any time, you'll be taken out of the system," he paused, "I'll be asking Thea, Winnie, Jeannette and others to be helping the lost witches and perhaps teach some humans to learn magic," he looked at Gillian, "you are a lost witch, but you've barely learnt any magic, and that's my fault, because I never initiated it…you might have needed it to protect yourself back in that warehouse, and it was my fault you didn't have that option. I'll be sending teams of spies regularly. As a whole, the witches and shape shifters have joined us, but there are many – much too many – who still stick with the Night World. combined with the werewolves and the vampires…" he trailed off, "we're going to have to have the humans on our side."

There was a collective gape, "you mean, break cover…to humans?" James asked unbelievingly.

"Oh I don't know," Thierry admitted, "it might just be the adrenaline of the moment, but we're definitely doing the training thing."

"Why does this seem more like the military every day?" Maggie asked cheerfully. Everyone groaned.

"in the meantime, if you need me or Hannah for anything, we'll be staying at her house while I get this one repaired," he gave a rueful smile, "I suggest you stay with Galen, if he'll have you, or go home."