Disclaimer: IT ALL BELONGS TO ME! (Government burst into room and handcuffs me) I WAS ONLY KIDDING! I swear only Pearl, Ivory core, and any characters from the parallel dimension belong to me! I SWEAR IT!

ATTENTION!

VOTE'S NEEDED! As much as I like Alicia Witt to play Pearl, I have another thought for the job. Alyson Hannigan would also be a great Pearl. If none of you know who she is; she was the witch, Willow, from Buffy. So I would like your votes on who you think should play Pearl.

Thanks again.

P.S. You all know already that if you want to see my photo album to just go to my bio and click on the link. From there just click on Fanfiction – My one and only Pearl and it will take you to some photo's I found or made that will give you an idea of my characters.

Title My one & Only Pearl

Author GreenLeaf7

Chapter 20: It all comes down…

Pearl fell backwards into the pit, arms flailing wildly but to no avail as gravity took over. As she fell, she screamed her curse as darkness engulfed her.

"YOU BASTARD!" Pearl screamed.

It seemed to echo all around her as she fell. All she could see was darkness every which way she turned. She knew that this was all an illusion, but it still felt like she was falling forever.

As she fell, confusion played across her mind. Why did the Abyss want her? Why was she so important that the Abyss wanted her and the Ivory Core?

Well, Pearls questions took a standstill when she finally landed on something not so soft. Whatever she landed on dropped to the floor as Pearl landed on it and whatever it was, groaned.

A second later, Pearl found herself sprawled on her stomach on top of whatever had broken her fall.

"Ouch…" Pearl muttered as shook her head.

"I second that motion." came a grunt from below Pearl.

"Harper!" Pearl excitedly exclaimed as she quickly rolled away from the body of her brother.

Sure enough, it was her brother who slowly got up to a sitting position. He rubbed his head and slightly winced. He then looked up to face the person who had landed on him.

His face lighted up like a Christmas tree. Joy and surprise played across his face when he saw who it was.

"PEARLANA!" he exclaimed as he quickly hugged Pearl tightly like he wouldn't let go.

Pearl quickly embraced her brother just as tightly, taking a second to understand that this was her brother Shamus.

"You're alive! I thought you were dead!" Pearl rushed out as she tightly hugged her brother, her eyes misting with tears.

"Dead? I thought you were dead. We all thought you had died!" Shamus stated as he tightly hugged his sister.

As much as this reunion was fantastic, Pearl was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

"Ummm Shamus, I can't breathe." Pearl softly said.

Shamus released his tight hold on his sister, but still held them around her as if afraid she would disappear.

He maneuvered himself so that he was looking straight at Pearl. It was then that she saw the golden eyes of her brother. She couldn't help but smile.

Shamus matched Pearls smile with one of his own. They were so caught up with finding each other that the sudden sound of someone clearing his throat caused them both to jump.

Pearl turned her head towards the owner of that sound, knowing who it belonged to but not believing it. Her suspicions were correct when she saw spiky, dirty blond hair, and a figure that was taller than both of them.

"Brendan?" Pearl whispered, not believing it.

Brendan flashed one of his charming smiles, but his eyes were shinning with un-ushered tears.

Shamus slowly got to a standing position and helped Pearl to her feet. When she was stable on her own, she slowly turned towards Brendan.

"I thought…but the Orion was destroyed. You're alive. How?" Questions raced through Pearls mind as she looked at her brother and then towards her cousin.

All this time she thought that Shamus and herself were the only survivors. She had planned to rescue him and Harper. Now, with her cousin right in front of her, Pearl began to wonder who else had survived the attack on the Orion.

Maybe it was a fate that she got imprisoned down here.

Pearl slowly walked towards Brendan, making sure that he wasn't some hologram. But Pearl immediately knew that it was the real Brendan.

How did she know? Well, it probably had to do with the noises of complaint coming from Brendan when Pearl jumped on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed the life out of him.

Just hearing Brendan complain about getting all mushy, brought Pearl the warmest feeling that her family was slowly coming together again.

"Hey, what about me?" I sudden voice cut through Pearls thoughts.

Pearl removed her arms from Brendan and turned towards the voice. Her smile reflected the all too familiar smirk of a smile coming from Harper.

"HARPER!" Pearl screamed in joy as she raced towards her brother.

Pearl wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly as he wrapped her waist with his good arm. With a little swing, Pearl found herself a little off the ground and swinging lightly as her brother held on to her.

"I was so worried. I thought I had lost you." Pearl whispered as she held him.

Chuckling, Harper replied. "You'll never loose me, sis. I'm too good looking to be lost."

After pulling away slightly, Pearl slugged Harper on the shoulder. "Smart ass." Pearl humorously muttered.

But in this position, it was than the Pearl got to see Harper's bloodied nose and arm which Harper cradled.

"I'll kill him." Pearl muttered as she looked over Harper towards Shamus and Brendan.

"Are there any more survivors of the Orion?" She asked as she stepped to the middle of the room.

Shamus was snapped out of his thoughts. He had been noticing how close his sister and Harper had become. Though of course Harper was his own DD, but he couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"There's a small group of us in this cell. But when they dropped me in here, I heard one of the guards say about another cell with the rest of the surviving crew members." Brendan answered.

"Perhaps the captain survived as well." Ivory whispered in Pearls mind.

Like on cue, Pearl heard a voice quietly speak from behind her…

"Pearlana?" A hesitant voice asked.

Pearl's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. She was facing Shamus and Brendan while Harper was besides her.

Very slowly, Pearl turned around to face the owner of the voice. A voice she thought she would never hear again.

Her eyes widened as she saw him. He was leaning heavily on a door frame, one leg tightly bandaged. With one hand he gripped the door frame as he straightened himself up.

"Gaheris?" Pearl whispered, not believing it. All this time she thought he was dead. All this time seeking revenge with the thought that Gaheris had been killed. And yet here he was, alive and somewhat standing.

"But…you were shot from behind. You had no pulse…" Gaheris spoke to himself, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear.

"You didn't say anything about Pearlana getting shot!" Brendan heatedly said as he looked towards Pearl.

Pearl was already walking towards Gaheris. Soon she was standing right in front of him, her golden eyes looking up and into the warm chocolate colored eyes of Gaheris Rhade; the one she had thought had died back on the Orion.

"I guess we both thought the same thing." Pearl softly answered as she looked up at him. "I thought you had died since the ship was destroyed." She finished.

She then turned towards the others. "I thought you were all dead." She said loudly enough for all to hear.

Silence for a while, as everyone digested the information that Pearl was alive and well. Same going for Pearl who now saw that all of those she had ever loved and cared about were all right here.

A sudden rumble from beneath them made everyone look down in question. Pearl's eyes widened as she knew what was going on.

"You might want to hold on to something." Pearl urgently stated as she moved herself to stand at the door frame.

"Pearl, what's going…?" Harper didn't get to finish since it seemed that the entire ship was now pelting to its side.

The floor beneath them trembled so violently that everyone was thrown to the floor, including Pearl.

The walls surrounding them began to ripple like an unknown force was trying to tear it apart. Pieces of the ceiling from above began to chip and crack and soon after fall to the floor to split into a thousand pieces.

Everyone quickly scrambled out of the way of the falling pieces of ceiling. Harper, Shamus and Brendan made their way to a corner of the room that appeared to have not been totally smashed by the rocks.

Pearl on the other hand, stayed where she was.

"I'm guessing this is the work of Trojan?" Pearl heard Ivory mater of factually stated.

"This? Oh this is just a warm up. The real fireworks come later…and then there's the aftermath affect." Pearl explained.

"Oh joy…" Ivory muttered.

Suddenly Pearl felt someone's hand hold unto hers tightly. She turned her head and looked straight at Gaheris. He had maneuvered himself so that he now was lying right next to Pearl, his hand holding tightly to hers.

When Gaheris looked straight at Pearl, she knew he was silently questioning what was happening, but at the same time knowing this was all her doing.

Pearl just gave him a wide grin followed by a wink.

A huge wall unit suddenly began to vibrate so hard that it began to crack. The cracks kept on expanding until it covered the entire wall. Pearl knew what was coming next and Gaheris quickly knew too.

Without a thought, he maneuvered himself again. But this time he was now protectively covering Pearl with his arms wrapped around her. He tucked her head so that she was protected.

A good thing too, since the entire wall unit blew up to cover everyone in dust and debris. Now a huge gaping hole was revealed, leading directly into the hallway.

After a few more minutes more of tense feeling, everything suddenly stopped. No more trembling and no longer were things falling on them. A deadly silence covered the scene.

It was like a blanket of death had swept across the ship, not one sound except the steady humming of something that vibrated through the floor beneath the small group. An emergency powered engine would be Pearls guess.

Pearl slowly opened her eyes and looked up. Gaheris too had his eyes open, already scanning the area.

When Pearl tried to sit up, it was than that she felt something poke her back. She immediately froze.

"Sorry…" She heard Gaheris say as he removed his arm that was pressed against her back before.

What she was feeling before was his bone blades slightly poking her back. When he removed his arms from wrapping around her, Pearl slowly got up to a sitting position.

If it wasn't for the impending fact that time was racing for them to get out of this hell hole, Pearl wouldn't have minded to stay in that position with her being so close to Gaheris…

"Bad thoughts Pearl! Bad thoughts…!" Pearl mentally slapped herself.

Gaheris was already sitting up, but was look straight at Pearl with a questioning burning through his eyes.

But Pearl didn't meet his gaze and looked around. She couldn't see anything pass the dust that began to settle, so she called out to the others…hoping that they would answer.

"Alright! Who's dead?" Pearl called out.

"I'm alive! For the most part…" Came the voice of Harper, but Pearl didn't know which one.

"Is that a trick question?" Another voice rang out. Pearl had the suspicion that it was Harper while the other one was Shamus.

"I'm ok, if anyone wants to know." A voice only belonging to Brendan called out.

Pearl couldn't help but to smile as she watched her family walk out of the shadows towards them.

Pearl's eyes widened when they drew near. Each one of them was covered with dust and rubble; their hair was completely white from the debris. Their cheeks were smudged…and basically they looked like shit.

"Well you don't look much better yourself, you know." Shamus said as he walked forwards to help Pearl up to her feet.

Pearl's shock at seeing her family in such a mess must have reflected on her face. It was then that the words sunk in, they all looked like crap.

"Ok, will someone please tell me what the hell just happened!" Brendan questioned as Pearl got to her feet.

With the help of Shamus and Harper, Gaheris too was standing while leaning against a still standing wall.

"I believe Pearlana knows the answer to that question." Gaheris stated as he looked straight at Pearl.

Pearl's cheeks turned crimson and she again diverted her eyes from Gaheris'. She then turned towards her brothers and cousin.

"Ok Pearlana, spill the beans." Shamus said, his golden eyes staring straight at Pearls.

He had a thought as to what had happened. He had seen it in action when he was studying it. But he always wondered on what had happened to the last sample.

When Pearl didn't respond but looked at him with that twinkle in her eyes, he immediately knew.

"Please tell me you didn't take it…PEARL!" Shamus yelled.

Pearl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "And this is the thanks that I get for saving your buts. Remind me to never do it again" Pearl clearly stated with venom as she pushed passed her brothers.

"Oook, I'm lost." Brendan stated as he watched Pearl walk towards the wall which now had a giant hole in it.

Ignoring his question, Pearl bent down and peered into the hole…making sure that it was clear as well as seeing the damage that was done.

"What did Pearl take?" Harper asked, keeping his eyes on Pearl.

Shamus seemed to have short-circuited since he suddenly rounded on Harper, having a seriously ticked off look.

"First off, it's Pearlana. NOT Pearl." Shamus firmly said to Harper, his voice slightly rising. "Second, all that has happened is the result of a HIGHLY dangerous virus that Pearlana had stolen!"

Pearl swirled around and stared straight at Shamus, her eyes ablaze. In unison, both Harpers' took a step back. Harper on the other hand stopped when he noticed that Pearl was giving the glare towards his DD.

Pearl walked straight up to her brother Shamus, stopping when she was inches from him.

"Shamus Harper…" Pearl slowly and quietly spoke up, her voice covered with menace.

"…true, I did take the computer virus. It was unwanted, so I took it and made it even better and safer for humans." Pearl explained.

"You improved a computer virus? Not bad." Harper stated in awe as he walked up to stand beside her. Inwardly he was quite proud of his sister. She was a genius just like him.

"And as you can see, it helped a lot." Pearl said as she pointed towards the hole in the wall. "So can we drop the crap and get out of here? Or do you want to stay here as the ship slowly blows up?"

"I'm with her." Brendan said as he moved to stand next to stand next to Pearl and Harper.

Shamus was taken back completely by Pearls words. Since when did she ever talk like that? But when Shamus looked into his sisters eyes, he suddenly understood.

She had seen too much for someone her age. She no doubt had done things that no teenage should have to do. What she went through, even if she was trained for it, shouldn't have happened.

His little sister had changed. Maybe somewhere in the survival cold state she was in was the sister he knew that always used to play pranks on everyone.

He didn't exactly know what to say now; he was too shocked by her spoken words. So all he said was…

"Ok."

Pearl blinked, suddenly looking like a lost child.

"I'm sorry Shamus. I…I don't know what came over me." She tried to explain, but Shamus placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I understand sis." He softly said giving his smile that Pearl loved so much.

"Ok, no more mushy stuff. Let's get out of here!" Brendan cut through as he walked towards the hole.

Pearl turned around and called out to Brendan.

"Brendan, wait!" Pearl called out.

Brendan turned around and looked at Pearl like she had gone mad.

"Wait? Wait for what? I say we get out of here A.S.A.P." He said in a rush. "Now who's with me?"

"Gaheris needs help." Pearl stated like it was so obvious.

Brendan snapped his mouth closed and bowed his head. He forgot about the Captains leg injury. He, Shamus, and Harper were fine; minus some broken bones and all; but having to drag a full grown man around wasn't going to be any fun.

Pearl turned away from Brendan and walked towards Gaheris. As she was walking, Gaheris noticed that her eyes looked slightly misted inblue…

His titled his head in question when he watched Pearl nod her head.

"I'll be fine Pearlana, but I want you to lead them out of here and…" Gaheris stopped speaking at what was happening.

You see, Pearl knew that having to drag Gaheris to the Hanger wasn't going to be an easy feet; especially if there were any more of Gerksand's men to slow them down.

So when Brendan finished talking and Pearl looked towards Gaheris, she was having a discussion with the Ivory Core.

"No Pearlana, I will not leave you." Ivory firmly stated when Pearl asked it to enter Gaheris.

"Quit being so stubborn! Gaheris needs you more than me!" Pearl hotly replied.

"Pearlana, if I leave…you will be in more danger alone than with me being with you. What if you need my strength?" Ivory stated back.

"But if you think about it Ivory, it would be best if we did split. If one of us gets caught, it would be one of us and not the both of us.

I don't know why Gerksand wants me, but I rather not have you being a part of me if it happens that I get captured." Pearl explained.

"Don't say things like that." Ivory said, not liking the idea of Pearl being captured. "But I will enter Gaheris. BUT, once I cure him…I go right back into you. Understood?"

Pearl felt like she was talking to her mother, but she nodded her head just the same.

"Understood..."

Pearl had stopped in front of Gaheris then and had closed her eyes. The same strange sensation of loosing something swept over her as the Ivory Core left her to enter Gaheris.

"Pearlana, I don't…" Gaheris instantly stopped as the Ivory Core completely entered him.

Pearl on the other hand immediately began to fall backwards as she once again felt somewhat empty without Ivory being a part of her. It was strange really, but she actually felt somewhat complete when they were together.

Harper on the other hand quickly rushed behind Pearl and held on to her before she hit the floor.

"So it's true! The Ivory Core did choose you as its host!" Shamus said in awe.

Being slightly disorientated in being without Ivory, it took Pearl a minute to actually notice that Gaheris was speaking to her.

Or actually…it was Ivory.

"He's fighting back. I can't help him if he doesn't allow me to mind-melded with him." The multiple of voices belonging to Ivory spoke through Gaheris' lips.

In order for the Ivory Core to cure someone, it had to gain complete control over the person. When that happened, the hostess would go into a type of deep sleep as the Ivory Core fixed whatever the problem was.

Pearl shook her head and with the help of Harper, soon was back on her feet. It was than that she looked over towards Gaheris.

Upon the Ivory core entering him, he had slid to the floor and was now looking like someone was battling with himself.

"Captain…" Pearl started as she knelt by his side. His eyes were closed, his fingers clenched into a tight fist.

"Gaheris…" Pearl spoke up, a little louder.

Gaheris lifted his face and looked at Pearl. She could clearly see that the Ivory Core was trying to meld with Gaheris. Behind his dark brown eyes, Pearl could see a blue mist begin to form.

"Gaheris, you need to relax. Ivory can't help you if you resist its help." Pearl started but Gaheris shook his head roughly.

"Get it out of me Pearlana. I won't have it inside me…" Gaheris managed to say through gritted teeth.

Now Pearl was pissed. Here they were, time running out for them to get out of there and Gaheris picked a time like this to be stubborn!

"Gaheris Rhade, I don't know what you Nietzcheans are like…but I'll tell you one thing. If you don't stop resisting Ivory's help, then so help I will knock you out myself!" Pearl screamed.

Everyone gasped at Pearls outburst. She had just yelled at the captain! But Pearl was far from caring. Now that she was alone, she felt incredibly weakened. They had to get out of here and fast.

Gaheris looked at Pearl, his own eyes burning. But with one blink, he closed his eyes and breathed in.

There was a shuddering breath when Gaheris let it out, and Pearl knew that he had allowed the Ivory Core to enter him.

Gaheris opened his eyes and Pearl was taken back when his eyes were completely misted in blue.

"It's a bit different when you see it through your own eyes, isn't Pearl?" Ivory asked through Gaheris.

"Is he alright?" Pearl asked, not answering Ivory's question…even if it was the truth.

"He's in a state of rest. I'm repairing the damage now." Ivory stated.

A sudden shutter shook the floor. Everyone instantly looked at Pearl.

"That's our cue to get moving." Pearl explained as she stood up, Gaheris/Ivory following suit.

Making sure that Ivory could handle Gaheris, Pearl walked over towards the hole. Peering outside, Pearl could clearly see cables hanging from the ceiling and large chucks of metal lying on the floor.

It looked like a war zone, but other than that…Pearl could see that the coast was clear.

Pearl began to crawl out of the opening, but was stopped by Harper.

"Wait Pearl, we don't have any weapons. How are you supposed to even get a yard out of here if that asshole's men are running about?" Harper questioned.

True that this was a problem, but the solution was about to present itself.

"How about we talk outside? I don't want to spend another minute in here." Brendan stated as he moved pass Pearl and Harper to crawl out of the hole.

Pearl followed suit and soon after Gaheris/Ivory limped out of the hole. This left Harper and Shamus to be the last ones to leave.

As they all stepped out into the open scene, it was then that they saw the answer to their problem. During the explosions and fallen debris; the guards who had been patrolling the area had all been killed…their weapons still usable.

Pearl on the other hand couldn't help but to turn her head away from the sight. She didn't know why, but without Ivory she felt out of place. Like all the things she had done before were completely by instinct and the help of Ivory.

But now being alone…she just felt…small...small and tired.

"Sorry pal, but we need this more that you do." Brendan said as he picked up a gun from one of the fallen guards.

The men looked around for weapons that they could use, while Pearl stayed where she was.

"Hey, is anybody missing a forcelance?" Harper called out as he raised a golden forcelance in the air.

Pearl looked at it and couldn't help but to smile. It was her forcelance, the very one that Gerksand had taken from her!

Harper knew it was hers so without a second thought he raised it so that he could through it towards her.

"Go long!" He said as he flung the forcelance towards Pearl. With ease, Pearl caught it in the air, twirled it once and placed it back in its holder that was strapped to her right leg.

When everyone was pretty much prepared (Brendan taking a bit too far in looking like Rambo), they all turned towards the other end of the hall.

Pearl stared at it for a while, knowing that one part of the mission was complete. Now the second part was about to begin. Getting her family safely onboard the Avenger was her priority now.

As they set off down the corridor, secretly Pearl hoped that they won't have a run in with Gerksand. She hoped that he had somehow died during the first explosion.

She hoped…that she wouldn't have to face him…alone.

ANOTHER CHAPTER! AND IT'S A LONG ONE!

So I expect lots of reviewers for this 13 page chapter! Off to write the next. See you later!

P.S. Don't forget to vote on who you think should portray Pearl. Please….

THANKS TO ALL WHO READ THIS FIC! Even if you don't review, though I wish you would, I hope that for a few minutes I entertained your curious minds.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!