[u]Part 34[/u]
"Alex? Alex, wake up! Alex, [i]please[/i] wake up!"
Alex jerked out of the very light sleep in which he had been indulging, uncomfortable as it was on the hard floor of his prison. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he had been more soundly asleep than he realized. A couple of hours had passed since he and Will had run out of things to say about the fact that they were trapped, with the young king unable to use his powers at all thanks to the cage in which he had been placed. Whatever controls Grant had fiddled with had obviously had something to do with making sure that the hybrids didn't have access to their gifts.
It was now just after midnight. Rubbing his eyes, he felt more exhausted than was really ordinary for a healthy seventeen-year-old who was a night owl anyway - although body-numbing fear for several straight hours did have a tendency to drain a guy's energy.
It took him several more seconds and another impatient hiss for him to realize what had woken him.
A voice. Not just any voice. The desperation in that voice.
It was [i]Isabel's[/i] voice. She was awake!
"Iz! Are you okay?" He was instantly fully awake, on his feet and across the cage so that he could grab his friend's hand through the bars that divided them. He was able to reach up to turn her chin so that he could meet her gaze.
What he saw there made his heart break.
Her large dark eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Alex." was all she managed to say before collapsing to her knees, unable to hold her pain in any longer.
"Isabel!" He exclaimed, horrified. He had never - not once - seen Isabel cry like this. She was sobbing now, quite clearly on the verge of losing all control of herself. "Izzy! Please! Tell me what's wrong! Let me help you!"
She simply continued to clutch at his hands desperately, as though contact with him would help her to regain her composure. Alex felt completely helpless, the bars between them so frustrating, he felt the urge to burst into tears himself.
"Just let her cry it out."
The voice behind him made Alex crane his neck around to glare at Will, who was watching them impassively from his cage on Alex's other side. "What kind of advice is that? I can't just sit here and watch her cry!"
"Don't you get it?" Will asked mildly. "She's been through a lot. She just woke up. It's taking her a moment to adjust to the way things are now."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Alex turned back to Isabel, patting her hand frantically. She was beginning to settle down now, but he could see that she was fragile in a way he had never experienced in her before. Something was incredibly wrong.
Of course, he did understand that Isabel had every right to lose it. She had been kidnapped, tortured by Nasedo (he assumed it was Nasedo who had tortured her anyway, having shifted into Nicholas to confuse them all) and had to have wondered if they were ever going to notice that she was gone.
And before that he had basically told her he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. What a friend he was.
"She's no longer who she was," Will told him quietly. "The part of her that made her Vilandra is gone. She's adjusting to its loss. Just look at Jack."
Alex turned again, glanced past Will at Jack. Will's cousin was also awake, although Alex wasn't surprised that he hadn't noticed at first. The blond boy was pressed into the corner of his cage, his knees up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He was shaking slightly, as though it was taking everything in him not to erupt like Isabel had.
"Is he okay?" Alex demanded, knew that his eyes were wide with shock that Will was just standing there while his cousin was obviously in so much pain.
"He's fine," Will replied evenly. "He's working through it. They both need to deal with this on their own and in their own time. I can't help them. I have no idea what it must be like."
Isabel took in a great gulp of air, bringing Alex's attention back to him. "Wh.what is he talking about Alex?" She managed to say. "What's [i]wrong[/i] with me?"
"What [i]feels[/i] wrong?" Alex asked, unable to understand what it meant to have lost her alien essence. What was she going through?
"I." She clutched at his hands again. "I feel empty."
Alex touched her face again, making her look at him. "Isabel, do you remember what happened?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning forward so that her forehead touched the bars between them. Alex caught the scent of her blonde hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. Even after all she'd been through, the slightly exotic smell - Maria had told him once it was sandalwood - that always made him think of her lingered around her. His heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.
"Isabel?"
"I remember what happened between us," she whispered.
Alex sighed. "Iz, I'm sorry."
"No!" She exclaimed, raising her head. "You were right. I have treated you horribly Alex. How could I do that to you? You're my best friend. I'm so sorry!"
Hearing him call him her "best friend".It was what had set off their argument. Why had it hurt him so much then and now it was like music to his ears? It was amazing how thinking you'd lost your best friend changed your perception on these things, he mused, shaking his head slightly. Looking at her now - awake, [i]alive[/i].Whatever it was that had upset him before just seemed so insignificant in comparison.
"Please," he said, feeling like his heart was about ready to crack down the middle at the agony of her expression. "Isabel, none of that matters now. I'm the one who's sorry." He reached through the bars, stroked her hair comfortingly. "I need to know what else you remember. After our fight.where did you go?"
"I." Her voice cracked slightly. "I left the Crashdown. I went for a walk. I thought I might find you. What I said to you when you got so mad.it just all came out wrong." She raised her head. "Anyway, that's the last thing I remember. Being in the park.and then nothing."
"Nasedo kidnapped you," Alex told her quietly. "He sent us an orb that made it look like it was Nicholas, but it was him."
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident. "Alex, Nasedo's dead!"
"He's not," Alex disagreed. "He's very much alive. And that's not all." He trailed off, grimacing.
"Tell me," Isabel said firmly. He looked at her, concerned, but could see that her composure had returned. This was the Izzy he knew and loved. Whatever losing her alien essence had done to her, it hadn't changed her fundamentally.in spite of her breakdown of a few moments ago.
"Grant Sorenson," Alex said carefully. "Isabel, he's working with Nasedo. And so is Tess." He looked around the cave for Grant. He was nowhere in sight, although a collection of Nasedo's minions was gathered around a table on the far side of the cave.
"What?" This exclamation of surprise from Isabel made him focus his attention back on her.
"It's true," Alex assured her. "I'm sorry Isabel."
She sat back on her heels, shaking her head in dismay. "I can't believe it. I just cannot believe it. Darn them for being right!"
He stared at her, perplexed. This was not the reaction he had expected. "Who was right about what?"
"Max and Michael," Isabel sighed, obviously more annoyed about that then shocked about what he had just told her. "They both hate his guts." She looked up, a slightly mischievous expression on her face. "It was part of his charm actually. He really is kind of cheesy."
Alex grinned slightly in spite of himself. He knew he should be peeved that her determination to break his heart by dating Grant had been partly to irritate her brothers. And, yet, he wasn't. It didn't hurt at all.
He wondered at that - wondered what it meant in the grand scheme of his relationship with Isabel Evans.
Could it be.Was it possible that he was ready to be just friends with her? That "best friends" was what they were meant to be?
He frowned slightly, a flash of concern for Kate attacking him unaware. Oh boy. He could see exactly where this was headed. He really was determined to jump from the frying pan into the fire wasn't he? Not satisfied with pining after one alien princess beyond his reach, he was obviously trying for the record - crushes on the two must unsuitable and unattainable females on the planet.
"Tess though?" Isabel asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "That I [i]do[/i] find hard to accept." Alex could see that she was sad as she continued, "I really though that she was one of us Alex. In spite of everything that happened last spring, we really bonded this summer. Not to mention the fact that Whittaker kidnapped her. Why would she do that if she was working with her?"
Alex stared at her. He'd forgotten exactly how much she had missed since her disappearance. "We don't think Nasedo's working with the Skins Iz." He looked back at Will, who was listening quietly. Jack's head was now up and he was paying attention as well, a tenseness still evident in the line of his shoulders, but whatever he had been dealing with a few minutes ago obviously mastered for the moment.
Alex stared at the blond boy, a slight frown on his face. He wondered if this was the guy he had taken such a shine to in class yesterday, or whether that had been someone else. He still hadn't worked out exactly when Jack had been kidnapped. It was obvious that the Jack who had killed Courtney was not [i]this[/i] Jack, but when had he been replaced?
Not to mention, Nasedo really seemed to have gotten around. There had to be another shapeshifter involved somewhere.
He looked through the bars of his cage at Nasedo's various minions. They were still gathered at the other side of the cave, obviously not overly concerned about guarding them, even though they were now all awake. They were all clearly very confident in whatever security system was keeping the hybrids from using their gifts.
And did Isabel and Jack even [i]have[/i] gifts any longer? If their alien essences were gone.
He remembered abruptly that Nasedo had told Michael and Isabel once that their powers were just advanced human abilities though. Not that they could trust Nasedo. But there was a possibility that their gifts were still active.
Not that they'd be able to find out in these cages. Alex didn't even want to [i]ask[/i] Isabel what she thought about the matter. It would likely only upset her.
Focusing on Nasedo's helpers again, he wondered whether one of them a shapeshifter. And what exactly was Nasedo trying to accomplish anyway? Kate had told him during one of their many discussions that the Waylandians (the shapeshifters) were on Zan's side in the conflict that had a stranglehold on their star system.
Was Nasedo simply a rebel, or was he a representative of the real loyalties of his entire race?
God. There was so much they still didn't know.
Again, he wondered briefly where Kate was at this moment. This time it wasn't about concern, but more about curiosity. As hard as he had hoped that Max and Liz would listen and stay away from here, he was beginning to realize that, deep down, he had never actually expected them to cooperate. It was completely unlike either of them to just leave he and Isabel languishing here with their enemies.
Where was everybody? Were they in pursuit of the answers that they would all need to finally take control of this situation? Or had something happened to them after all?
Alex crossed his arms, sighing. He was really tired of all this worrying. In the future, if anyone ever tried to convince him that splitting up was a good idea, he was going to bring up this experience to remind them that it was the epitome of stupid.
He'd rather they were all together, no matter what the cost, he realized abruptly. He was going to have to tell Max that this should be their game plan from now on.
"Alex?" His head jerked up at the slight tremor in Isabel's voice. He looked at her. He could see that she was paling again, as though whatever it was that was happening to her inside was trying to take over again.
"Iz?" He reached out again. "Are you okay?"
Isabel wet her lips, slightly dazed. "Alex, what's wrong with me?"
He grimaced. "We don't exactly know," he admitted quietly. "We know what we were told."
"What?" Her fear was evident again.
"They took away the part of you that made you Vilandra," Alex told her in a rush. "We have no idea how, but basically the gist is."
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident, as she interrupted. "I'm human," she breathed, obviously understanding instantly. "I'm completely human?"
"We think so. We were worried for a while. Your body.and Jack's," he added, gesturing to Will's cousin, who was now speaking quietly to Will, obviously trying to deal with his demons too, "Didn't seem to be handling it very well. You were unconscious for a very long time." He looked at her carefully, searching for any sign that she was unable to handle this news. "Isabel?"
She was shaking her head slightly, as though she was uncertain how she was supposed to feel. "I don't know.I don't know how I'm supposed to take this," she finally said. She looked up. "Do you know that all I've ever really wanted was to be normal?"
"I know," Alex said. "And now?"
"The way I feel now." She swallowed, a slight tremor running through her statuesque frame. "I'm not meant to be like this Alex. I don't think I can [i]live[/i] without that part of me."
He sighed. "I'm sorry Isabel."
"Is.Is there a way to get it back?" She asked tentatively.
"We don't even know how they did it to you," Alex replied carefully. "We don't know. We can hope there is. If there is, you have to know that none of us will ever stop until we find it, if that's what you want."
She was quiet for a very long time after this, simply leaning against him through the bars. Finally she said, "I can't think about this right now. There's no point and it's going to drive me crazy."
"What do you want to think about?" Alex asked, willing to talk about anything to take her mind off of what had been done to her.
"Tell me exactly what's been going on," Isabel ordered him firmly. She had straightened her spine, her strong will exerting itself. Alex felt a flash of admiration run through him, along with a flash of the affection he always felt in her presence. This was the Isabel he loved. Strong, capable and entirely warm and approachable. This was the Isabel he had not seen hide nor hair of since that destiny message had been played on the orb in the pod chamber so many months ago.
"Everything?"
"Everything," she affirmed. "If we're stuck here, we might as well try and figure out what's going on." She looked past him at Will. "Hey, you."
Will raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. "Princess?" Alex remembered that Kate had told him that the Sardicans had never had anything against Vilandra - that, in fact, she had joined them in the end. He felt slightly frustrated again. Was there not any way to find out exactly what had happened in that past lifetime that had led them all to the mess in which they were presently embroiled?
He brushed the feeling aside though as Isabel continued, "Are you going to help us or are you going to sulk all day?"
If Isabel had her way, apparently there would be.
To be continued.
"Alex? Alex, wake up! Alex, [i]please[/i] wake up!"
Alex jerked out of the very light sleep in which he had been indulging, uncomfortable as it was on the hard floor of his prison. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he had been more soundly asleep than he realized. A couple of hours had passed since he and Will had run out of things to say about the fact that they were trapped, with the young king unable to use his powers at all thanks to the cage in which he had been placed. Whatever controls Grant had fiddled with had obviously had something to do with making sure that the hybrids didn't have access to their gifts.
It was now just after midnight. Rubbing his eyes, he felt more exhausted than was really ordinary for a healthy seventeen-year-old who was a night owl anyway - although body-numbing fear for several straight hours did have a tendency to drain a guy's energy.
It took him several more seconds and another impatient hiss for him to realize what had woken him.
A voice. Not just any voice. The desperation in that voice.
It was [i]Isabel's[/i] voice. She was awake!
"Iz! Are you okay?" He was instantly fully awake, on his feet and across the cage so that he could grab his friend's hand through the bars that divided them. He was able to reach up to turn her chin so that he could meet her gaze.
What he saw there made his heart break.
Her large dark eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Alex." was all she managed to say before collapsing to her knees, unable to hold her pain in any longer.
"Isabel!" He exclaimed, horrified. He had never - not once - seen Isabel cry like this. She was sobbing now, quite clearly on the verge of losing all control of herself. "Izzy! Please! Tell me what's wrong! Let me help you!"
She simply continued to clutch at his hands desperately, as though contact with him would help her to regain her composure. Alex felt completely helpless, the bars between them so frustrating, he felt the urge to burst into tears himself.
"Just let her cry it out."
The voice behind him made Alex crane his neck around to glare at Will, who was watching them impassively from his cage on Alex's other side. "What kind of advice is that? I can't just sit here and watch her cry!"
"Don't you get it?" Will asked mildly. "She's been through a lot. She just woke up. It's taking her a moment to adjust to the way things are now."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Alex turned back to Isabel, patting her hand frantically. She was beginning to settle down now, but he could see that she was fragile in a way he had never experienced in her before. Something was incredibly wrong.
Of course, he did understand that Isabel had every right to lose it. She had been kidnapped, tortured by Nasedo (he assumed it was Nasedo who had tortured her anyway, having shifted into Nicholas to confuse them all) and had to have wondered if they were ever going to notice that she was gone.
And before that he had basically told her he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. What a friend he was.
"She's no longer who she was," Will told him quietly. "The part of her that made her Vilandra is gone. She's adjusting to its loss. Just look at Jack."
Alex turned again, glanced past Will at Jack. Will's cousin was also awake, although Alex wasn't surprised that he hadn't noticed at first. The blond boy was pressed into the corner of his cage, his knees up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He was shaking slightly, as though it was taking everything in him not to erupt like Isabel had.
"Is he okay?" Alex demanded, knew that his eyes were wide with shock that Will was just standing there while his cousin was obviously in so much pain.
"He's fine," Will replied evenly. "He's working through it. They both need to deal with this on their own and in their own time. I can't help them. I have no idea what it must be like."
Isabel took in a great gulp of air, bringing Alex's attention back to him. "Wh.what is he talking about Alex?" She managed to say. "What's [i]wrong[/i] with me?"
"What [i]feels[/i] wrong?" Alex asked, unable to understand what it meant to have lost her alien essence. What was she going through?
"I." She clutched at his hands again. "I feel empty."
Alex touched her face again, making her look at him. "Isabel, do you remember what happened?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning forward so that her forehead touched the bars between them. Alex caught the scent of her blonde hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. Even after all she'd been through, the slightly exotic smell - Maria had told him once it was sandalwood - that always made him think of her lingered around her. His heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.
"Isabel?"
"I remember what happened between us," she whispered.
Alex sighed. "Iz, I'm sorry."
"No!" She exclaimed, raising her head. "You were right. I have treated you horribly Alex. How could I do that to you? You're my best friend. I'm so sorry!"
Hearing him call him her "best friend".It was what had set off their argument. Why had it hurt him so much then and now it was like music to his ears? It was amazing how thinking you'd lost your best friend changed your perception on these things, he mused, shaking his head slightly. Looking at her now - awake, [i]alive[/i].Whatever it was that had upset him before just seemed so insignificant in comparison.
"Please," he said, feeling like his heart was about ready to crack down the middle at the agony of her expression. "Isabel, none of that matters now. I'm the one who's sorry." He reached through the bars, stroked her hair comfortingly. "I need to know what else you remember. After our fight.where did you go?"
"I." Her voice cracked slightly. "I left the Crashdown. I went for a walk. I thought I might find you. What I said to you when you got so mad.it just all came out wrong." She raised her head. "Anyway, that's the last thing I remember. Being in the park.and then nothing."
"Nasedo kidnapped you," Alex told her quietly. "He sent us an orb that made it look like it was Nicholas, but it was him."
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident. "Alex, Nasedo's dead!"
"He's not," Alex disagreed. "He's very much alive. And that's not all." He trailed off, grimacing.
"Tell me," Isabel said firmly. He looked at her, concerned, but could see that her composure had returned. This was the Izzy he knew and loved. Whatever losing her alien essence had done to her, it hadn't changed her fundamentally.in spite of her breakdown of a few moments ago.
"Grant Sorenson," Alex said carefully. "Isabel, he's working with Nasedo. And so is Tess." He looked around the cave for Grant. He was nowhere in sight, although a collection of Nasedo's minions was gathered around a table on the far side of the cave.
"What?" This exclamation of surprise from Isabel made him focus his attention back on her.
"It's true," Alex assured her. "I'm sorry Isabel."
She sat back on her heels, shaking her head in dismay. "I can't believe it. I just cannot believe it. Darn them for being right!"
He stared at her, perplexed. This was not the reaction he had expected. "Who was right about what?"
"Max and Michael," Isabel sighed, obviously more annoyed about that then shocked about what he had just told her. "They both hate his guts." She looked up, a slightly mischievous expression on her face. "It was part of his charm actually. He really is kind of cheesy."
Alex grinned slightly in spite of himself. He knew he should be peeved that her determination to break his heart by dating Grant had been partly to irritate her brothers. And, yet, he wasn't. It didn't hurt at all.
He wondered at that - wondered what it meant in the grand scheme of his relationship with Isabel Evans.
Could it be.Was it possible that he was ready to be just friends with her? That "best friends" was what they were meant to be?
He frowned slightly, a flash of concern for Kate attacking him unaware. Oh boy. He could see exactly where this was headed. He really was determined to jump from the frying pan into the fire wasn't he? Not satisfied with pining after one alien princess beyond his reach, he was obviously trying for the record - crushes on the two must unsuitable and unattainable females on the planet.
"Tess though?" Isabel asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "That I [i]do[/i] find hard to accept." Alex could see that she was sad as she continued, "I really though that she was one of us Alex. In spite of everything that happened last spring, we really bonded this summer. Not to mention the fact that Whittaker kidnapped her. Why would she do that if she was working with her?"
Alex stared at her. He'd forgotten exactly how much she had missed since her disappearance. "We don't think Nasedo's working with the Skins Iz." He looked back at Will, who was listening quietly. Jack's head was now up and he was paying attention as well, a tenseness still evident in the line of his shoulders, but whatever he had been dealing with a few minutes ago obviously mastered for the moment.
Alex stared at the blond boy, a slight frown on his face. He wondered if this was the guy he had taken such a shine to in class yesterday, or whether that had been someone else. He still hadn't worked out exactly when Jack had been kidnapped. It was obvious that the Jack who had killed Courtney was not [i]this[/i] Jack, but when had he been replaced?
Not to mention, Nasedo really seemed to have gotten around. There had to be another shapeshifter involved somewhere.
He looked through the bars of his cage at Nasedo's various minions. They were still gathered at the other side of the cave, obviously not overly concerned about guarding them, even though they were now all awake. They were all clearly very confident in whatever security system was keeping the hybrids from using their gifts.
And did Isabel and Jack even [i]have[/i] gifts any longer? If their alien essences were gone.
He remembered abruptly that Nasedo had told Michael and Isabel once that their powers were just advanced human abilities though. Not that they could trust Nasedo. But there was a possibility that their gifts were still active.
Not that they'd be able to find out in these cages. Alex didn't even want to [i]ask[/i] Isabel what she thought about the matter. It would likely only upset her.
Focusing on Nasedo's helpers again, he wondered whether one of them a shapeshifter. And what exactly was Nasedo trying to accomplish anyway? Kate had told him during one of their many discussions that the Waylandians (the shapeshifters) were on Zan's side in the conflict that had a stranglehold on their star system.
Was Nasedo simply a rebel, or was he a representative of the real loyalties of his entire race?
God. There was so much they still didn't know.
Again, he wondered briefly where Kate was at this moment. This time it wasn't about concern, but more about curiosity. As hard as he had hoped that Max and Liz would listen and stay away from here, he was beginning to realize that, deep down, he had never actually expected them to cooperate. It was completely unlike either of them to just leave he and Isabel languishing here with their enemies.
Where was everybody? Were they in pursuit of the answers that they would all need to finally take control of this situation? Or had something happened to them after all?
Alex crossed his arms, sighing. He was really tired of all this worrying. In the future, if anyone ever tried to convince him that splitting up was a good idea, he was going to bring up this experience to remind them that it was the epitome of stupid.
He'd rather they were all together, no matter what the cost, he realized abruptly. He was going to have to tell Max that this should be their game plan from now on.
"Alex?" His head jerked up at the slight tremor in Isabel's voice. He looked at her. He could see that she was paling again, as though whatever it was that was happening to her inside was trying to take over again.
"Iz?" He reached out again. "Are you okay?"
Isabel wet her lips, slightly dazed. "Alex, what's wrong with me?"
He grimaced. "We don't exactly know," he admitted quietly. "We know what we were told."
"What?" Her fear was evident again.
"They took away the part of you that made you Vilandra," Alex told her in a rush. "We have no idea how, but basically the gist is."
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident, as she interrupted. "I'm human," she breathed, obviously understanding instantly. "I'm completely human?"
"We think so. We were worried for a while. Your body.and Jack's," he added, gesturing to Will's cousin, who was now speaking quietly to Will, obviously trying to deal with his demons too, "Didn't seem to be handling it very well. You were unconscious for a very long time." He looked at her carefully, searching for any sign that she was unable to handle this news. "Isabel?"
She was shaking her head slightly, as though she was uncertain how she was supposed to feel. "I don't know.I don't know how I'm supposed to take this," she finally said. She looked up. "Do you know that all I've ever really wanted was to be normal?"
"I know," Alex said. "And now?"
"The way I feel now." She swallowed, a slight tremor running through her statuesque frame. "I'm not meant to be like this Alex. I don't think I can [i]live[/i] without that part of me."
He sighed. "I'm sorry Isabel."
"Is.Is there a way to get it back?" She asked tentatively.
"We don't even know how they did it to you," Alex replied carefully. "We don't know. We can hope there is. If there is, you have to know that none of us will ever stop until we find it, if that's what you want."
She was quiet for a very long time after this, simply leaning against him through the bars. Finally she said, "I can't think about this right now. There's no point and it's going to drive me crazy."
"What do you want to think about?" Alex asked, willing to talk about anything to take her mind off of what had been done to her.
"Tell me exactly what's been going on," Isabel ordered him firmly. She had straightened her spine, her strong will exerting itself. Alex felt a flash of admiration run through him, along with a flash of the affection he always felt in her presence. This was the Isabel he loved. Strong, capable and entirely warm and approachable. This was the Isabel he had not seen hide nor hair of since that destiny message had been played on the orb in the pod chamber so many months ago.
"Everything?"
"Everything," she affirmed. "If we're stuck here, we might as well try and figure out what's going on." She looked past him at Will. "Hey, you."
Will raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. "Princess?" Alex remembered that Kate had told him that the Sardicans had never had anything against Vilandra - that, in fact, she had joined them in the end. He felt slightly frustrated again. Was there not any way to find out exactly what had happened in that past lifetime that had led them all to the mess in which they were presently embroiled?
He brushed the feeling aside though as Isabel continued, "Are you going to help us or are you going to sulk all day?"
If Isabel had her way, apparently there would be.
To be continued.