Disclaimer: As a special favor to Blue, I will alter my disclaimer just this once. If I owned it then Fayt would have been captured by the Vendeeni while Sophia landed on Elicoor – hence, I don't.

Note: I guess in the terms of action, this is a 'filler' chapter. But, I'm sure it won't disappoint too bad. This is a fairly quick update, but like I said in the last chapter – I had already started on this one.

Racing the Storm

Chapter 2: Old Friends

Her eyes fluttered as the sun's first rays spilled through a gap in the curtain. She took a moment and listened; keeping her eyes shut. When she detected no noise, she concentrated on herself. All she could formulate was that she was in a bed and still fully clothed.

Someone had rescued her from being moth food. A tremble shook her whole frame. Guilt settled on her as she realized she had already blown her cover. She opened her eyes and made a quick scan of her surroundings. She was on a bed in a dark room. The only light was what came through the small slit in the curtains across from her.

She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she mumbled under her breath.

A soft giggle filled the room. Sophia stiffened. A shadow caught her attention as it moved across the room. With no warning the curtains were opened. Sophia shielded her eyes at the sudden rush of light.

She heard the giggle again, followed by the motion of her bed shifting. "That's what he said."

She quickly drew her legs up and to her in response to the voice. Blinking furiously, she did her best to adjust her vision. The figure that sat on the edge of the bed started as a shadow but after a short time, he was revealed. She was struck speechless. Her body refused to remain still as she felt herself sail across the bed with opened arms.

He caught her. She knew he would. He remained silent as he returned her hug. A mix of emotions built in her and she found herself crying softly in his hair. For months she had tried so hard to be stronger. She had strived to be a warrior, but one look at him and she broke down back to the girl she had always been.

His hands traced her spine as he attempted to comfort her. She had been so busy running from the Federation she had not had time to think about how much she missed him.

"Fayt? You're alive."

He helped her to sit back up on the bed. He gave her his usual smile. "Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?"

She wiped her tears from her cheek. Blinking, she made sure no more would follow before she responded. "We lost your signal… Well they lost your signal five months ago. We were already headed here to find you but with out a signal, none of us knew what to expect."

He continued to smile faintly only to comfort her. Hidden under his smile she could detect a swarm of questions. "What do you mean we?"

"We… I mean… Wait." She stopped. She had no idea where she was or who knew she was there. She had already blown her cover and had to cover her tracks. "First, Fayt, where am I?"

He gave her a curious look. "You're in Kirlsa. Woltar's mansion to be more precise."

She inhaled sharply. She was in the one place she had wanted to avoid. She massaged her forehead as if she had a headache. "Does he know I'm here?" 'Stupid question. Of course he does…but I can hope he's away or something.'

"Yeah, he was here last night when you were brought in. Sophia, what's going on?"

Sophia matched him and sat on the edge of the bed. "Is he still here?" She stood up and took a step toward the door.

Before she could reach the door, Fayt stopped her movements by placing his hand on her shoulder. "Sophia?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I need to find him. No one can know I'm here."

He frowned. "He's not leaving until noon. Please, just tell me what's going on."

There was a subtle desperation in his voice. She nodded and allowed him to guide her back to the bed. She took a deep breath as she sat and readied herself. When he had settled himself beside her, she told him about her brief visit to Roak.

"I was told that the Federation was after us. For months I traveled from one place to another before finally making it to the Diplo. The Federation wants to confine us and use us for their own gain. Right now they are using any means to build their control in the reconstruction of Luther's aftermath. One of their plans is to use reverse engineering on us to create weapons. All of the scientists they found from the original experiments have refused to help them. Most of the records were corrupted when Moonbase was attacked. All they could find is what we found."

"They plan to dissect us?" There was disbelief in his voice.

"If they can't find another way."

"How do you know all this?"

"Maria's become an expert at hacking into top secret files. You really don't want to see what plans they have for us." She shivered uncontrollably.

"Where are the others?" he asked, deciding to change the topic.

"The Diplo was surrounded. I took one pod and Maria another. She should be somewhere on Elicoor by now. Cliff and the other members of Quark are going to do whatever they can to distract the Federation away from us. If everything goes as planned, they'll be here within a week to pick us up."

There was a moment of silence. She was sure he was trying to come up with a reply. "If you're hungry, breakfast should be ready. You can talk to Woltar then."

"Um, I have a question before we go."

"What is it, Sophia?"

"I was told your signal was lost. How is that?"

"Oh," he replied pulling his communicator out. "I upgraded my communicator so it would decrypt ancient text. Maybe I crossed wires or something. I didn't even know until you said something." He tapped the communicator's case. "Maybe that's why no one's contacted me, and why I haven't been able to contact anyone."

"So you've tried to contact someone?"

"Yeah. First I tried to check on Cliff and when that didn't work I tried you. I figured everyone was too far out to pick anything up so I tried to modify it but this planet didn't have what I needed. I've got a trip to Greeton scheduled for next month and I was hoping I would find something there to help."

Sophia nodded. "Tomorrow, do you think you can do the same thing to my communicator. It'll make it easier to hide from the Federation."

"Sure, but why not today?"

"The Federation shouldn't know where we are 'til tomorrow and I still need to try and contact Maria today."

Fayt smiled. "Then you will have to follow me to Airyglyph. I'm supposed to meet with the King tomorrow and I can do it there."

Sophia frowned and shook her head. "No can do. I have to get to Peterny by tomorrow if I can make it. That's were Maria will be, I hope. We'll have to think of something."

He took her hand and led her out the door and toward the stairs. "We will, but let's do it after breakfast. I'm starved."

She paused, causing him to stop with her. She released his hand. "Fayt, did you rescue me last night?" 'Are you my knight, my prince to watch over me?'

"No. I was passing through and Woltar offered me a place to stay. I was here when Albel brought you in."

"Albel?" 'Albel rescued me… Now I remember. That voice hadn't been Fayt's.'

"Yeah, he should be downstairs with Woltar by now. I'll tell you, it was odd to see him carry you in. Well, it's odd to see Albel carry anyone like that but I was shocked to see you."

"Odd… Carry anyone like that…?"

Fayt chuckled lightly. "Since we all went our separate ways it seemed like Albel has withdrawn more. I tried and so has Woltar to get him to open up a bit. Even Nel tried. He doesn't really keep touch with anyone and he's gone back to being even colder than before. That's why to see him help someone was… odd. Not only that but he didn't say a word when he brought you in. Woltar wasn't expecting him and he just barged right in and took you upstairs without a single word to anyone."

Sophia looked back at the door they had just left. "So he took me to that room?" she asked pointing.

"Yeah. That's the room he uses when he stays here. He just put you in the bed and then went down to the library and stayed there all night."

"Doing what?"

"I'm not sure. I talked to him a little after I realized it was you he brought in. He did say you took out 2 Killer Moths and 3 Bogle Soldiers on your own."

"He did!" she replied in shock. "That means he watched the whole fight. If he was there then why didn't he stop the last moth from attacking me?"

Fayt shrugged his shoulders. "That's Albel. Only, both me and Woltar can't figure out why he brought you here. I mean, normally he doesn't rescue anyone unless it's a direct order from the King. The Albel we know would have left you there."

"Oh," was the only reply she could give.

She followed Fayt as he led her to the dinning room. Thinking back, she was surprised herself to know that Albel helped her. The time they had spent together was short and nothing even happened to hint to any form of friendship. For a while, at the beginning, Sophia had tried to be his friend. He had always just ignored her and she had finally given up towards the end. If he was being cold to everyone, she would suspect she would be the first person he would ignore.

She was glad he didn't. She was confused enough waking up in the mansion. If she had woken up in the fields then it would have been worse…if she had woken up at all.

'I'll make a point to thank him.'

Fayt motioned her into the room and directed her to a chair. Across from her was Woltar. Fayt sat beside her and Albel was further around the table. It looked like Albel had made a point to distance himself from everyone else.

"Good morning, Miss. Sophia. I trust you slept well."

Sophia smiled at Woltar. "Yes, thank you. Sorry for that."

A grunt drew her attention to Albel. "Oh, thank you too, Albel." She kept a cheery tone in her voice and gave Albel a smile.

His only acknowledgment to her came from a short glance. He continued eating his meal as if no one had spoken to him.

Food was placed in front of Sophia and immediately she was reminded of how much she missed a good cooked meal. For months she had eaten from the replicators. The food was good but nothing could replace a 'home cooked meal'.

Woltar waited until Sophia had eaten half her meal before asking any questions. "So, my dear, what brings you back to Elicoor?"

Sophia wiped her mouth. "After everything that happened half a year ago, I became a member of Quark after finding out the Federation was after us."

Fayt giggled lightly as he watched Woltar nod in agreement. He knew that Woltar did not understand anything Sophia had just said. "She's a member of the same group Maria and Cliff are. The Federation is an organization who is trying to gain control over anything they can right now. They want to use Sophia and Maria…"

"And you," Sophia interrupted.

"Oh, yeah," he replied giving her an apologetic smile. "And me to try and create weapons. Right now, Sophia's hiding from them. They had a fight in space and she had no other choice but to come here."

"So you are in trouble."

Sophia nodded at Woltar. "Yeah, and I wasn't supposed to let anyone know I was here. I really blew it."

Woltar waved his hand as if he was swatting her last comment away. "What are your plans now?"

"I need to go to Peterny and meet up with Maria. Then we'll wait for Cliff and the others."

Albel stood, drawing their attention. "Why not just fight? If all you do is run then there will be no end to it."

Sophia just stared at him for a moment. He held her stare with cold eyes. "We're working on it. It's not that easy to fight the Federation."

He turned and started for the door. "Just as stupid as ever I see."

Before she could even grasp what he had said, he had left the room. "What does he mean by that?"

"Don't let it bother you Sophia. He's been that way for months."

She rested her napkin by her plate and stood. "Woltar, can I ask that you tell no one I was here?"

"Not a word will come from me."

She bowed to him. "Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality but I really must get going. I need to find Maria." She looked at Fayt, who had stood up also. "I'll go get Maria and we'll meet back up with you."

"On your own?"

Sophia put her hands on her hips. "Well, yeah. You don't think I was just sitting around for the last six months do you?"

"I don't know, but after last night do you think you'll be able to."

She gave him a stern look. "I've been training, but none of it was real combat. Believe me, I can take care of myself and I won't make the same mistake twice."

"No, that's not what I meant…"

Sophia interrupted him by bowing to Woltar and walking out of the room. He followed her to the room she had been and watched as she retrieved her staff and bag. He followed her from the room and to the front door.

"Wait, Sophia." As he talked, she continued her walk out of the mansion. "What I meant was why don't I go with you?"

She stopped and turned to him. "You have to meet with the King tomorrow. Besides, I'm really not as weak as I was before. I've been training with Mirage and Maria. I just got careless and stupid; but it won't happen again."

"Woltar's headed to see the King too. He can tell him that I couldn't make it. Besides, it's been a while since I saw you."

Sophia tapped her foot on the ground lazily. "It's not that, Fayt. I want to spend time with you too but right now we are running short on time. I would suspect the Federation to be here tomorrow, or shortly after. You need to take care of what you can now before they get here. You are actually the one in the most danger since you stayed behind. It won't take long for them to find you."

Fayt opened his mouth to argue but was cut short by a third voice. "She's right."

Sophia spun to see Albel leaning against the mansion by the door they had just exited out of. He had his arms crossed in front of him and his gaze on the ground. "If this Federation comes here then they will have no trouble locating you. Everyone knows you and knows where you are," he spoke to Fayt.

Sophia nodded and looked at Fayt. "Just do what you need to do and we'll met up somewhere between here and Peterny. You need to try and become invisible by the time they get here."

"I understand that," Fayt replied in frustration. "But I don't like the idea of you traveling alone."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Just plan to meet back up." She paused and looked at the morning sky. "I have quite a ways to go. I need to get going so I can try and make it on time." She put her back to the mansion and set down the steps.

Fayt started after her, but once again was cut off when Albel stepped in front of him. "I'll follow her." His voice was stern and demanding.

Fayt watched him as he walked a few steps behind Sophia. He was slightly relieved that she wasn't alone, but unsure of what had just happened.

"Um, now that was a bit out of character, was it not?" Woltar asked appearing at the door.

Fayt nodded, unable to speak.

"Come on back in, my boy. It's almost time to leave. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Yeah," Fayt responded in a whisper as he followed Woltar back inside.

Sophia waited until she was at the town's gates before stopping. She turned and gave Albel a curious look. "Are you really going to follow me?"

He walked slowly pass her. "If you stop then - no. I'll be leading then won't I?" He kept his strides slow and steady as he left the town.

She jogged the short distance he had created between them to catch up with him. "Well then, I should thank you again."

"For what?" He didn't look at her as he walked.

"For helping me out." Her voice shook a little with uncertainty. She had never been able to figure him out. He seemed so cold but there was something under the surface she just couldn't quite understand about him.

"I'm not doing this for you."

"Then why –" Her words were lost when he slammed into her from the side, causing her to fall. He had stayed on his feet and was standing with his back to her and sword drawn.

She shook her head frantically as she searched for what had caused Albel to ready himself for a fight. She stood quickly and her answer came in the form of a blast hitting the ground beside her. The blast was followed by the appearance of three Federation soldiers, all armed.

They submerged from behind the rocks and aimed their guns at the two.

"Come along quietly, Miss. Esteed, and we'll let your friend go untouched."

'Huh? They shouldn't be here this fast! Oh no, and Fayt's right there in Kirlsa.'

She drew her staff, betting that Albel hadn't changed too much from what she knew of him. If he was anything like the Albel she knew, he wouldn't turn away from a fight.

(A/N) Since this chapter didn't have any action in it, I decided to end it with a cliff-hanger to hit on some action. Oh, and while writing this I thought of something – I hope I didn't disappoint you too much, SohmaD seeing how Albel has yet to use any of his 'famous' words (joke - haha...and yes, I'm using your other name). I guess this chapter was to add more background info...and to stick Sophia alone with Albel. Also, I'm going on the assumption that the two really didn't 'connect' during the fight with Luther. Trust me, I have my reasons and more on their 'relationship' from that journey will be revealed later. :)