Chapter 7

Amanda lay in bed back at the Mayor's house. She looked over at Robbie. He hadn't left her side. In fact, he was sleeping on a chair next to the bed. That man can sleep anywhere, Amanda thought to herself. Sleep unfortunately had not come so easily for her.

Eysteinn once again stood in front of his boss. He hadn't wanted to go but the enforcer had left him no choice.

"My congratulations on getting rid of Number Nine. But why isn't Sportacus dead?" The boss asked.

"Unfortunately, someone called the cops before I could shoot him. Now the whole town is out looking for me." Eysteinn told him.

"I hear from one of my sources that Sportacus has been put into protective custody and the agents from Iceland are getting involved. How do you propose to get rid of him now?" Eysteinn had been afraid of that question.

"I haven't figured it out yet but if there is a way to get rid of Sportacus and embarrass those Icelandic agents, I'll find it." He assured his superior.

"Good. I wanted to hear you say that. Remember if you are caught by the police…"

"That sir, I promise will not happen." Eysteinn stated firmly.

"Well if you are you know what to do. Good luck brother Eysteinn." The boss finished and one of the enforcers led him out. Eysteinn knew what to do; he hoped it just didn't come to that.

Stephanie and Sportacus climbed into bed. It had been another long day. The flight back home had been the same as the one down, silent.

"Sportacus," Stephanie started as she rolled onto her side, "Can we talk?" Her husband rolled onto his side and wrapped his big muscular arms around her.

"I'm sorry. You're my wife and I should be talking to you, I just can't believe that he's gone. I keep trying to tell myself that this is some kind of crazy dream." Sportacus finally opened up.

"I know this is hard. It helps to talk about it though. I loved him, too. We can get through this together." Stephanie said.

"What's wrong with me? Why do I find it so hard to just talk about how I feel?" Sportacus asked her.

"Because you're a hero and heroes can't get all emotional. But right here, right now, you're just Sportacus, my husband, and nothing else." She told him. A look crossed Sportacus' face, a look that Stephanie had only seen twice before. The first time was when he had found her in the woods and he had tried to explain what he had done and the other was when he had talked about his mother. Tears began to stream down Sportacus' cheeks. Stephanie wiped them away and kissed him.

Amanda got out of bed silently and went into the bathroom. She didn't like what she saw in the mirror. There were big bags under her eyes and regrettably her acne was acting up again. Her body screamed for sleep but her mind screamed that she couldn't. Robbie had tried to be so helpful but he couldn't stop the nightmare. Slowly, she turned out the light and went back across the hall.

Robbie was still asleep, when she entered the room. Amanda didn't want to wake him but she figured it was best if she did.

"Robbie, Robbie, wake up." She said softly, shaking him lightly. He swatted at her and muttered something incoherently. Amanda giggled and said,

"Its me. Wake up."

"Amanda?" Suddenly, Robbie seemed to be awake. "Are you ok?" He seemed frazzled.

"I'm ok, but I think you need to go home and get some real sleep. Take a shower, watch some TV." Amanda told him.

"No, I can't. You need someone to be with you." He protested.

"You have been with me for the past three days. I appreciate it, I really do." She told him.

"You're sure?" Robbie asked. She nodded. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"If you need me, let me know." Robbie told her.

"You know what I need?" Amanda asked.

"What's that?" he asked. Amanda grabbed him and pushed her lips onto his. The two kissed.

To Be Continued…