Author's Notes: We hit the 150 mark! Yes! I never dreamed that I'd get that many reviews. This is incredible! Thank you all so much. You guys are the greatest. And thanks for all the hits on the fic, too. (I'm having fun with this new hit counter, yes.) Also, thanks for the notes on the typos in the last chapter. I guess I should've combed through it better… At some point, I will go edit them. Probably. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope everyone likes.

Disclaimer: Hm, nope, still don't own it.

Dedication: To Dreamer of Riddles, for the great song she wrote for the fic. If you don't mind, Becca, I'd like to use it in the fic at some point.

(And many thanks to Koriku and also to my mother for helping trigger the wheels in my head and making me come to the realization that I had made a mistake.)

Something Wicked

Chapter 13

By Amethyst Bubble

All the while as they were trapped in traffic in the Holland tunnel, Florina sat perfectly still and gazed at the dirty walls. Her back was straight and rigid and her posture screamed discomfort, much like how she would be if she was surrounded by men. There were no men around, only her sister and Lyn, but still, the nervous air encircled her. Occasionally, she'd move her fingers, twisting wisps of air together into an invisible braid.

She sat, she waited, and she thought out her future actions.

She knew that Lyn wouldn't like what she was about to do, and neither would Fiora. They probably wouldn't discourage her, but they would definitely try to come with her. That was something she just could not allow. No, this was something she had to do on her own and that was final.

So step by step she planned out what she had to do.

Florina knew that the first part of her plan would be the hardest. It would require research. It might take her days to even come up with a vague idea of where she had to go. She might never find out at all. If that happened, she'd just have to comb the city from top to bottom, west side to east side, until she found what she was looking for. Despite being rather timid by nature, Florina was not afraid of this seemingly impossible task she had given herself.

It had to be done and she had to be the one to do it. It was as simple as that.

"Florina?" Lyn called her name softly as Fiora carefully inched the car forward another few inches, just to put some space between her and the Greyhound bus that was threatening to smash into them. "Are you all right?"

She smiled, "Of course, Lyn. Why do you ask?"

"Oh..." Lyn turned, staring out the window closest to her, "No reason, I guess."

Florina kept her smile in place, just in case Lyn decided that further questioning was necessary. Inside, her mind turned over countless possibilities of how everything could go wrong, one way or another. She precisely came up with ways to counteract almost all of them, leaving no gaps in the web she was weaving. Then she considered the outcome if everything did go right. Would it be good? She really couldn't answer that yet. She needed more answers first. To get those answers, she'd have to put her plan into action. She couldn't know the outcome until she got there.

Was the risk worth it? Probably. She really wouldn't know that either until everything done, would she? That was her problem, Florina decided; she couldn't think things through all the way. If she were Lyn, perhaps, headstrong, proud Lyn, maybe she would have her answers. She wasn't Lyn, though. She was Florina. Timid, meek little Florina.

Even the mouse had its day, though. She could have hers. She could do this, she told herself. Everything would go right, nothing would go wrong, and in the end, it would be for the best.

Maybe no one would ever know it was her doing. That was all right. She didn't need acknowledgement. Merely her own knowledge that she had a hand in some of this would be enough for her.

So, she decided with an air of finality, she would do this.

If it were a little less polluted, Rath might have actually liked the subway. It was underground, after all, in-keeping with his element of earth. True, there was a lot of concrete and metal, but those came from the earth too, so he didn't mind.

It was too crowded, though. Too noisy. The sound of feet echoed constantly on the ground, voices filled the air, and far off, the rumbling of the trains could be heard, going back and forth. The ground shook, just a tiny tremor, and Rath wondered how Wil could be so at peace with all of this. He pushed a twenty dollar bill into his student's hand and instructed him to go buy tokens, or tickets, or whatever it was these things used now. He'd wait here.

Wil had nodded and disappeared into the crowd, weaving his way back and forth until he reached the metro card machines (1). He was back in mere moments, the flimsy looking cards held in his hand.

"Too crowded for you?" He asked Rath, who gave him a wary nod in return. "It's not always like this. It's just early, y'know? People are commuting, getting to work... It should calm down in a few hours or so." He gave the green haired man a reassuring smile, before motioning for him to follow him.

After several failed attempts with the metro card at the turnstile, Wil playfully snatched the card away from Rath and ran it through the turnstile with surprising ease (2). A message that did not have the phrase "please swipe again" flashed across the small screen and Rath walked through, waiting on the other side for Wil who followed shortly.

"C'mon," his student beckoned to him, all ready starting down an almost dank corridor. Rath followed as best he could, but found it difficult to follow the agile young man through the thick crowd. Wil stopped after he realized Rath was having trouble keeping up and back-tracked, returning to his teacher's side and taking a hold of his hand, leading him into a different tunnel, one decorated with posters for various movies and products. The third one to the left featured an actress who would have been rather attractive- if someone hadn't blacked out her teeth, scrawled a thick mustache across her upper lip and written a rather foul word on her forehead.

Wil noticed Rath's rather disapproving look and followed his gaze to the poster, "That isn't the worst of it, you know." He laughed lightly as the tunnel began to slowly slope downwards.

"Charming," Rath muttered under his breath.

Wil laughed again, "You'll get used to it. It's not so bad, really. See?" He pointed to another poster, "That one's covered in stickers for some animal charity. That's better, isn't it? Kind of like the bright side of vandalism."

"...The bright side, huh?" Rath repeated slowly, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah," Wil nodded. "Everything has at least two sides to it. That includes vandalism, doesn't it?"

"I suppose," Rath answered as Wil dragged him past a patch of construction and into another tunnel marked 'downtown'.

Heath stretched as he stepped off the bus, yawning slightly. Legault chuckled lightly, helping Nino hop down the bus steps as she cheerily thanked the driver.

"Have a good nap?" Legault teased.

"Yes, actually," Heath answered casually as Nino led the way down the staircase, two steps ahead of them.

Legault was a quiet for a moment, studying the wall with feigned interest. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked suddenly in a hushed tone, as if he didn't mean for the young girl in front of them to overhear.

"What?" Heath frowned, wondering what Legault meant. "I'm not sick," he explained. "Just tired is all. It's not like I got any sleep last night, what with the attack and all."

"I didn't mean that," Legault said. Stepping off the stairs, he made sure that Heath was in step with him before walking forward to where Nino stood patiently by the glass door, ready to step out whenever the men caught up to her. Satisfied that they were indeed coming, she dashed outside, barely remembering to hold the door open for them.

"Thank you," Legault gave Nino a small smile. She returned the gesture, moving in front of him again.

"Well, then what did you mean?" Heath asked, raising an eyebrow in a suspicious manner. Out of instinct more then anything, he began to scan the crowds around him, though he wasn't quite sure just what he was looking for.

"I would have thought that this place would bring back unpleasant memories for you," Legault elaborated as he wove through the crowds, making sure to keep an eye on Nino.

Heath just looked at him for a moment, "...It's not like the entire city held me hostage." He finally mumbled, biting his lip. Something didn't feel quite right. He started looking around again, taking in various people around him.

"All the same..." Legault cast him a worried look, "You're acting strange."

Heath forced himself to relax, rolling his shoulders back into a less rigid position, "Am I?" He did his best to smile, "Sorry, I guess I'm being paranoid. I'll try to stop."

Legault didn't seem to acknowledge that as an answer to his inquiry, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Heath was about to reassure the lavender haired man when someone just about walked right in to him, jostling him to the side so much that he had to grip Legault's shoulder to keep himself upright.

"So sorry," The person, he couldn't tell whether they were male or female as they were wearing a raincoat with the hood pulled up (an odd choice of attire for a sunny summer day). Female, Heath decided, judging from the voice alone. An oddly familiar voice...

Something was pressed into his hand and then the woman was off, blending into the crowd almost instantly. Heath frowned and glanced up. Legault was busy making sure that Nino waited for them before she got on the escalator, so he quickly unfolded the small square of paper that had been placed into his hand. He read it in a fraction of a second. There wasn't much to read. It was a one line message consisting of a date- ten in the morning, tomorrow- and an address. The signature consisted only of a 'V' scrawled at the bottom of the note.

Of course, he realized immediately who it was from. How could he not? Biting his lip again, he slipped the scrap of paper into his pocket before Legault saw it. There wasn't any need to worry him.

After all, it wasn't as if he was actually going to go.

"You haven't answered my question yet."

Legault's words startled Heath, tearing him away from his thoughts. "...I'll be fine," He answered finally, giving Legault the most convincing smile he could conjure up.

"We're being followed."

Matthew glanced at Guy out of the corner of his eye. "I've noticed," he murmured lowly, resisting the strong urge to turn around and scan the crowds behind them for anyone suspicious. He tugged on Guy's braid lightly, "What do you think we should do?"

Guy yanked his hair away from Matthew, flipping it over his shoulder before answering, "Lose them, obviously."

"I'm not that much of an idiot," Matthew smiled wryly. "We've got to lose 'em, yes, but the question is... How?"

Dark eyes quickly took in the street they were in. "There's a subway station over there," he nodded slightly at it, so as not to give their pursuer any hint of what they were thinking. "We could try and lose them down there."

Matthew seemed to think it over. "Well, it's worth a chance."

Though they tried to move slowly, they ended up rushing down the stairs. The subway down below was abandoned. There wasn't a soul to be seen along the tracks, nor anyone behind the counter of the small information booth.

Matthew gave the metro card machines in the corner a distrustful glance, before simply grabbing a hold of Guy's wrist and dragging him towards the turnstile.

"What are you-" Guy's question was cut off as Matthew picked him up and lifted him over the bar, setting him down on the other side before climbing over himself. Seeing the disgruntled glare he was being given, Matthew shrugged, "It would take too long. Besides, it's not like we got caught."(3)

"…Just don't make a habit out of it," Guy grumbled, flushing slightly and crossing his arms, making an effort to look more annoyed then he actually was. "…I guess he didn't follow us down here," He changed the subject, glancing around.

"Doesn't look like it," Matthew replied, "but be careful all the same."

A faint rumbling in the distance signaled that the train would be arriving soon.

"Aren't I always?" Guy replied, adjusting his headband to keep his bangs from blowing into his eyes as the train roared onto the track. The doors slid open, revealing a mostly deserted car. They got on and quickly sat down.

"At least it's nice and cold in here," Guy commented lightly as the doors slid shut with a click. A voice far too distorted to be properly understood sounded from the speakers overhead and Matthew rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to go see where this thing is headed," he gestured to the map before getting up. "Great," he murmured upon his return, "it's headed uptown. Completely the wrong direction." He sighed, leaning back.

Guy glanced at him, "We'll just get off at the next stop. It's not like it's a tragedy or anything… We'll just be a block or so out of our way, and as long as we're down here, we can try and transfer to a downtown train."

"Wish it were that simple," Matthew growled. "My friend, we have boarded the express. Next stop, 71st Street."

Lucius made a face as he removed strands of hair from his face, "I hate humidity."

"Your hair's clinging to you," Priscilla quietly observed, thankful that her hair was too short to cover her shoulders like an extra layer of clothing, something no one needed in this weather.

"We're almost there," Raven said, trying to walk slowly so his sister and Lucius could keep up.

"I don't understand why we had to park so far away…" Priscilla mumbled, glancing at the large display of leather, whips and fishnets that a store window proudly displayed(4). Raven quickly steered his sister away from said store display.

"It was the cheapest parking I could find," he replied, picking up the pace slightly. "It's not that much farther."

"You keep saying that," Lucius sighed, "but I think we're lost." He sighed again as another clump of blond hair persistently clung to his cheek. "I wish I had a hair tie…"

"…We're not lost," Raven said stiffly, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Lucius and Priscilla exchanged glances from behind him, each raising an eyebrow.

"Raven," Lucius began sternly, "we're not actually lost, are we?" He glared at the back of the crimson haired head as shoulders stiffened. "…Dear God…" He grumbled, dragging a hand through his slightly damp hair, "You've gotten us lost."

"I haven't," Raven protested gruffly, unwilling to turn around and make eye contact with either Lucius or Priscilla.

With a silent sigh and a glance towards heaven, Lucius nodded towards Priscilla.

"Brother?" Priscilla mustered up a timid a voice as she could, "We're aren't lost, are we? If we were lost, it'd be bad, because this is such…" She paused, pursing her lips together and sending a pleading glance Lucius' way. He pointed to a store window that featured an interesting arrangement of lingerie sporting mannequins. "This is such a bad neighborhood…" Priscilla concluded, taking the hint.

Raven twitched, "We're… not lost." He said through gritted teeth. With that, he took a few long strides forward before throwing a glance over his shoulder at his two companions, "Are you coming or do you want to melt out here?" Lucius and Priscilla exchanged glances before starting after Raven at a leisurely pace.

"We're lost," Lucius muttered under his breath. "He just won't admit it."

Priscilla nodded, "At least we're in an interesting neighborhood." She commented, glancing around.

"PRISCILLA, STOP LOOKING AT THOSE SHOPS!" Raven spun around and attempted to clamp a hand over his sister's eyes.

The apartment was awfully nice and she had managed to bargain down the rent to half its original price, but somehow, Farina wasn't happy. She had even created a mini rain cloud and placed it over her head in an example of just how unhappy she was.

She flopped down on her new bed, happy that the apartment was all ready furnished, and crossed her arms behind her head. There was a crack on the ceiling that looked an awful lot like a dollar sign.

Turning over and reaching under her mattress, she produced a thick wad of cash.

"One hundred, two hundred…" She counted absentmindedly, even though she knew exactly how much she had. This was her third count of the day. It wasn't that she was paranoid about some of it suddenly disappearing, it was more that there was nothing else to do.

Concentrating on the rain cloud that still hung over her head, she clapped her hands together to imitate thunder and turned her attention towards the mirror just in time to see a small bolt of lightning zap down from the cloud, narrowly missing frying her hair.

She shoved the money back under her mattress again, flipping back over onto her back.

She sighed.

"Is it always going to be this boring?" She wondered aloud, wanting to make sure she had not gone deaf in her solitude. It was getting quiet enough that she was starting to wonder.

She began to wonder what her sisters were doing. Did they miss her? Fiora was probably more angry with her then anything, but Florina would probably be worried. Florina would be sad that she was gone. Farina sighed and flipped over onto her side, staring through her window. Great, now she was feeling guilty…

Really, though, was there anything to feel guilty for?

She didn't even bother answering her own question, as it would lead to more and more questions, and then finally to yet more questions. Hell, she might even end up pondering the universe, which, though it would pass the time, was not something she particularly wanted to do at the moment.

She wished Fiora was here so they could get into some petty argument. That always seemed to pass the hours quite nicely, even if it did upset Florina.

She sat up, leaned back against the wall, and watched the sunlight dance across the floor. She considered the money under her bed.

She was bored. Rich, yes, but bored. She'd become a bored rich person.

She could always go shopping later. For what, though? The apartment was furnished, and she had brought enough clothes with her… She closed her eyes and groaned. There really was nothing to do.

That's when she heard a noise from out in the hall. A knock, then some murmured voices, then a slam. There were a few seconds of silence in-between before it repeated itself. Knock, murmur, slam. Knock, murmur, slam.

Then someone knocked on her own door.

Well, Farina figured as she got up and crossed her apartment, at least a door-to-door salesman will temporarily relieve her boredom. When she opened the door, it was not a door-to-door salesman that greeted her, but a rather simply dressed young woman with long dark hair. In her hand she clutched a single piece of paper, one of those 'missing' posters people so often created for lost pets.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," the girl said, "but have you seen this man?" She gestured again to the poster in her hand.

Farina's eyes narrowed. There was something off about this woman… She wasn't a witch, but she wasn't completely normal either…

Then, it clicked. How could it not have? She'd seen Fiora's research papers before.

"Why don't you come in?" She asked, moving aside to allow the other entrance.

"What th' hell are you all still doing out here? Go on, scat!" The shrill voice rang out, echoing through the quiet street. Several people in other buildings watched from their windows with mildly shocked expressions.

"Pulling an old woman's leg like this," the elderly woman continued, waving her arm wildly out her window. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Don't you kids have anything better to do these days?"

"Please!" Nino attempted to turn on the charm, staring up at the old woman with teary eyes, "We're not joking, we really want to rent out a couple apartments! You've got the space, don't you?"

The old woman made a face, "Well… Yes, but I still don't believe you. Why would you kids want to stay here, huh?"

"Um," Nino drew a blank, knowing she couldn't give up the real reason. She turned and stared at Legault, who looked like he wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall. "Why DO we want to stay?"

"AH-HAH!" The old woman crowed in triumph.

"Because it's safe here," Serra said, placing her hands on her hips.

For the past hour, the witches had been arriving at Mrs. Waters' apartment house in small groups, and yet, the landlady was steadfast in her belief that they were up to no good.

"What she means," Erk put in, glaring at Serra, "is that this is a safe neighborhood."

Mrs. Waters' drummed her nails against her window sill and glared down at them. "Well… I'm still not letting' you in."

Nino bit her lip, "I guess that we'll just have to wait for Wil?"

Something Wicked 13- End
1. Okay, I honestly have no idea what these things are actually called. You may laugh, yes.

2. Those things are EVIL. You have to swipe the metro card about ten times before it'll let you through. I know from experience.

3. Please don't listen to Matthew. In fact, just as I was writing that, there was a story on the news about how they're cutting down on turnstile jumpers. The turnstile police will come after you!

4. There is an area in downtown New York that has a lot of sex shops. There's another area within that area that has a lot of gay sex shops. It's actually not a bad area, balanced out by a lot of metaphysical stores and antique stores and so on. It's a fun neighborhood.

I know this chapter is shorter then usual, but I'm leaving for the Caribbean for a week tomorrow, and I'm not finished packing and it's already late and…uh, yeah. There will be a longer chapter when I return! But until then, you'll have to make do with this one. As for me, I'm off to snorkel with stingrays. Apparently, they'll eat squid out of your hand… X3 I can't wait to try that!

Ahem, anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are appreciated!