Author's Notes: This week on Authors Who Take Extremely Long to Update, Amethyst Bubble has released the following statement: sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry. She requests not to be poked with twigs, if at all possible.

Eheh. But, hey, look, I did update! And the vague starts to slowly unwind in this chapter, too. Why, yes, that seems to be an inkling of plot there. In other news, I'm headed off to Bermuda for a week for my mother's birthday. I plan to actually make a timeline for the rest of the fic while there. Organization, whoo. On another note...

OVER 200 REVIEWS. OH, WOW. You're all amazing! I am going to shower you with confetti now! Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Fire Emblem. Sigh.

---

Something Wicked

Chapter 16

By Amethyst Bubble

---

"Mm, caffeine…" Guy sighed happily as he breathed in the steam from the cup of coffee in front of him.

"You sound like an old lady," Matthew noted, grinning at Guy from across the outdoor table. Guy scowled and muttered something into his beverage. "Sorry, didn't catch that." Matthew's grin widened.

"Matthew," Guy began after a minute and a long sip of coffee. "What were you saying this morning? About, well, missing people? Is… is something going on?" Perhaps the attack had installed a bit of paranoia in him, but he couldn't stop the nervousness that gathered in the pit of his stomach.

Matthew's hesitation was barely noticeable, but Guy spotted it all the same. "It's nothing you have to worry about," he slumped back in his seat a bit and ran a hand through his sandy hair. "They just went exploring. Most of 'em don't get into New York City much…"

"Sure," Guy propped his chin up on his hands. "What's really going on?"

Matthew's grin never faltered, but something in his gaze hardened. "What, you think I'm lying to you? Why ever would I do that?"

"Because you're… well, you're y-you." Guy frowned and continued, "So, are you going to tell me?" He leaned forward and attempted to glare fiercely at Matthew. From the amused look on the other's face, he was pretty sure he had failed at the fierce part, let alone the glaring.

The taller man snickered. "Alright, alright, don't give me that look," he paused for a moment and took a long sip of his own coffee. He continued, "I don't know anything specific, but information has found its way to my ears." Guy snorted at his wording.

"Sounds kind of shady," Guy said lightly, his tone full of suspicion.

Matthew shrugged with a careless air, "Shady is relative. Anyway, as you probably guessed from our run-ins with those hunters yesterday, the city's pretty much crawling with them. I wouldn't worry too much about any of our group. Apparently the hunters here aren't well organized, but… there's something happening. That's all I've heard."

"Something?" Guy repeated doubtfully, "Something… Matthew, don't you know anything more, I--I don't know… don't you know anything more specific?"

"Sorry," Matthew replied, leaning back. "But, like I said, don't worry. We know what we're doing."

"Who's this 'we' you keep talking about?" Guy raised one eyebrow, giving Matthew a curious stare.

Matthew returned the stare with an amused one of his own, "Well, us, of course. Our group. Who else?"

"I don't know. Y-Your evil conspirators?" Guy accused, his face taking on a red tinge.

Matthew burst out laughing. "Evil conspirators?" he asked when he finally took a breath, his eyes dancing. "Guy, have you been watching spy movies? I assure you, I have no "evil conspirators" on my side."

"…You sure? You'd b-be the type," Guy muttered into his beverage, looking just slightly embarrassed. The fact that Matthew had laughed certainly wasn't helping any.

"I swear, I have no evil conspirators," Matthew held a hand over his heart.

"You'd better not," Guy replied sulkily, sinking into his chair.

---

"Your circles are interesting."

Wil glanced up, but he couldn't find the source of the voice. He was all alone, concrete under his feet and fog obscuring his view of the sky. He peered into the distance, but all he could make out were some odd iron bars in the distance.

"You're interesting, too."

He felt as if wind was swirling around him, but nothing moved in the strange landscape, and nothing moved on him. If it was really windy, he realized, his clothing and hair would've swayed with the wind, but they were as still as the ground under his feet.

"Such a strange child…"

"I'm not strange," he said bluntly. His voice sounded foreign to him, echoing as if he were enclosed. He stuck his arms straight out, but his fingertips met nothing but still air.

"Oh, but you are. Just look at the markings."

"What markings?" Wil asked just as his eyes landed on them. He brought his hands up to his face, staring intently at them. Blue and silver swirls circled one, while green vines were woven around the other. He brushed a hand against the arm with the vines, trying to smudge or dislodge the design, but it stayed where it was. His skin felt no different from usual under his fingertips. "Why are these here? Why do I have tattoos all of a sudden? I don't like tattoos, mostly because of the needles, but…" he trailed off, transfixed by the designs.

"They're all over you."

"What? Really? How come?" Wil bent down and pulled up the leg of his pants. Sure enough, one leg sported swirls while the other was decorated with vines. Next he pulled up his shirt and tried to get a good look at his stomach.

"Tsk, what're you doing that for? There's a mirror right in front of you."

And then, suddenly, there was a mirror there, right in front of him, even though Wil could've sworn there was nothing there a second before.

"What's going on? Why's this stuff all over my face?" he asked, trying to ignore the echo that threw the questions back at him. The designs were painted over every inch of visible skin, right up to his hairline. He wondered, running a hand through his hair, if they were on his scalp too, concealed by his hair. "These weren't here before. Why have I got 'em now? How'd they get all over me?" he demanded to know, glaring into the mirror. His reflection glared right back.

"You'll find that out soon enough. It's not important right now."

"But it is important!" Wil protested, twisting around to try and see where the voice was coming from. "There's stuff drawn on my face! That's pretty damn important!"

"It doesn't matter at the moment."

"I think it matters," Wil muttered. "If there was stuff on your face, it'd matter to you. If you have a face. Right now, you're kind of all disembodied voice-like and disembodied voices tend not to have, well, bodies, which usually means they don't have faces…"

"Look at the clocks."

And suddenly, there were clocks. Wil looked at them curiously, a little annoyed that they were blocking his view of the mirror. He wanted to take a closer look at the designs on his skin. "Why are all the clocks moving backwards?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, if they were all five minutes behind or something that'd be understandable because hardly any clock is ever exactly on time, but these are all moving backwards."

"So you won't remember."

Then all of a sudden Wil realized the clocks had bodies. Or, rather, the faces of the bodies were clocks, all moving backward. It was like some surreal painting, he thought, except it was much weirder when it was standing right in front of you.

One of the bodies moved and that was that. Wil took off running in the opposite direction. The air was heavy and it seemed to fight him with all its might. He tripped over an invisible something and toppled to the ground. There were footsteps behind him, he could hear them clearly, though when he looked in that direction there was nothing there. The designs on his arms began to burn and…

His eyes snapped open to reveal a dimly lit room. He glanced down and managed to get a look at his elbow. No designs. Had it been a dream? "One weird dream…" he said to himself. His arms still hurt.

"Are you awake?"

Wil's head snapped up. The first thing he saw was a folding chair with a broken leg lying in a corner. Turning his head, he spotted Heath sitting on a bed, one knee drawn up to his chest and a nervous half-smile on his face. It took Wil a moment to register the fact that one of Heath's wrists was handcuffed to the bed post. It took him yet another moment to realize that he himself seemed to be tied to a chair.

What a pleasant way to wake up, he couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes, flexing his wrists against the rope that bound them. He winced; okay, that wasn't such a good idea.

"He's awake?" a female voice asked from behind him. Groggily, he identified it as Ninian's.

"I think so," Heath replied, staring over Wil's shoulder. Wil twisted around as best as he could and, out of the corner of his eye, caught a glance of Ninian's long hair. It was then that the brunt of the situation hit him: he had, essentially, gotten himself and Ninian kidnapped. Well, that wasn't good.

"Err…" Wil decided that he had to ask, even if no one had an answer. "Where are we?"

"He knows," Ninian's voice reached Wil's ears. He assumed she was talking about Heath. "But I have a feeling it's a very long story…"

The look on Heath's face confirmed Ninian's speculation.

---

Legault was mildly surprised when he arrived at the former headquarters of the infamous Black Fang. The Black Fang was long gone from the place, that much was obvious and honestly Legault had expected as much. In its place, though, was something equally fascinating.

The magical black market. The mere mention of the name caused uproar in the more "respectable" parts of the magical community. Rumors were everywhere, twisting and bending the truth to the whims of the imagination.

Legault hadn't seen it in years but he recognized it in an instant. Though it constantly moved from place to place, it never really changed all that much. He couldn't help but explore it a bit. It was, after all, just like old times.

The market seemed to be exactly the same as the last time he had seen it. There were still stalls selling every not exactly legal magical item imaginable. Bottled fairies' wings, possessed mirrors, captured demons, love potions and a few things that were probably not magical but almost definitely illegal.

Between rows of smoking cauldrons and fluorescently colored plants walked people who looked half-human. A man in a heavy cloak swept by, a troupe of petit women with wings that glittered in the sunlight following him obediently. Legault smiled to himself, gaze following the man as he walked along. He would be mugged by the end of the afternoon, no doubt about it.

Then, in the wake of the man's shadow, stood a stall that caught Legault's interest the second he saw it.

---

"Something just isn't right." Hannah announced as Louise sat down across from her.

"Oh?" Louise tilted her head to the side, a stray blonde lock falling into her face. She brushed it aside quickly.

Hannah nodded gravely, with all the excitement of one who enjoyed a good piece of bad news. She said, "I can smell it in the air. Damp today, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Louise agreed, not really understanding what that had to do with the possibility of oncoming doom.

"Even though it's sunny out," Hannah continued.

Louise nodded, wondering if the conversation had really just been about the weather all along. How silly of her to assume the worst. "It's supposed to rain tonight," she added.

"And it will…" Hannah said slowly. She propped her elbows up on the table and knitted her fingers together. "I'd advise you to get in contact with those children. Tell them to keep an eye out. Stick together. Something like that."

Louise, deeply concerned now, nodded, "I'll try and call Erk, shall I? Should I tell him anything specific, Hannah?"

Hannah eyed her knowingly, her lips pressed into a thin line. She seemed to be wondering whether or not to disclose any information. Ah, she remembered the good old days, back in her youth. She'd been a professional fortune teller then and had been paid to give information like this. She'd made quite a splash in those days…

"Hannah?" the blonde woman across from her repeated, a small frown forming on her pretty face.

The old woman shook her head slowly, snapping out of her daydreams of the past. "No, nothing in specific," she said. "But perhaps you'd better tell him to stay inside."

Louise smiled slightly. "Thank you, Hannah," she said, standing up. "I'll be going now. If there's anything you need…"

"I won't need anything," Hannah stated flatly.

Louise's smile stayed firmly in place. "Just in case," she added over her shoulder as she began her trip down the stairs. She shut the trapdoor carefully and, out of the corner of her eye, spotted Pent making his way downstairs.

She caught up with him and relayed what Hannah had told her. "I thought I should give Erk a call," she commented. "Tell him to warn the rest."

Pent shifted the stack of books he was carrying. "That's probably for the best," he agreed, studying his wife. "Another tragedy on our hands is the last thing we need."

---

"I'd explain if we had the time," Heath said with a sidelong glance at the door. "We don't, though and we have to get out of here. The quicker, the better."

"How are we going to do that?" Wil asked, testing the ropes that bound his wrists. The only thing they did was cut more into his skin, so he stopped after another moment of wriggling. "My ropes are pretty tight, and Ninian's are too probably, and-- look at you! You're handcuffed!" he exclaimed, nodding towards Heath's wrist.

Heath sighed. "Look, I've got a plan, okay? It's not a great one, but it has a decent chance of getting us out of here if you two work with me."

"Well, we haven't really got a choice…" Ninian mumbled, experimenting with her own ropes. When she got nowhere, she heaved a deep sigh and regretted the fact that offensive magic had never really been her field. Louise, she realized with a small sigh, could have sliced through the ropes in a minute.

Heath's expression melted into a half-smile. "Alright," he breathed, free hand sliding over to the handcuffed one. "I think I can get myself out of these, given enough time." When Wil gaped, Heath explained, "Legault taught me a trick. Not bad knowing a guy like him, sometimes." He grumbled the last part, as if admitting it was some sort of hated chore.

"What if someone comes in here?" Ninian spoke up tentatively. Wil twisted around to try and get a look at her; she sounded nervous.

"If they do," Heath said forcefully. "I need you two to act as a distraction. Keep them from figuring out what I'm doing, if you can. You're both witches, right? Would you be able to attack them tied up like that?"

"There's no reason I couldn't…" Ninian reasoned. "Though I'm afraid I'm no master at offensive techniques."

"I'll try," Wil smiled nervously. "But I'm not all that good yet. Really, I'm not any good at all."

"Well, you're still able to do more than me," Heath grinned. "Let's hope I can get out of these cuffs before anyone barges in here, though."

"Yes," Ninian commented. "Let's hope."

---

The ghosts in the apartment building were fascinating, Priscilla found. She was conversing with one particularly talkative lady when Raven entered. The look on his face so startled Priscilla's ghostly companion that the woman turned and melted through the wall without so much as another word.

Priscilla heaved a silent sigh. Her brother managed to scare off all her friends, even the dead ones.

"Do you need anything?" she asked politely, turning to face him.

"Lucius just told me… Erk got a call from Louise," Raven said, hand still resting on the doorknob. Priscilla blinked. There wasn't anything too terribly unusual about that, was there?

"Oh?" she murmured, encouraging him to go on.

Raven gave the window across the room a nasty glare. "According to Lucius, Hannah implied that something bad is going to happen."

Priscilla blinked. "Something bad," she repeated in a contemplative manner. "What sort of something?"

"Don't know," Raven grumbled. "Apparently she was pretty vague. I just thought you should know. And maybe not go out tomorrow… at all. Or today, for that matter."

Priscilla gave her brother a small smile, "Don't worry, Raven, I wasn't planning on going anywhere. There are some fascinating people living here."

"You mean that old bat who screams at me every time I walk down the hall to "stop scowling, or my face will freeze like that"?" Raven raised one eyebrow. Priscilla giggled.

"Maybe living was the wrong word… I meant the ghosts," she explained, brushing a lock of her short red hair behind her ear. "The building is pretty heavily haunted, but not a vengeful spirit to be seen! Though some of them have some interesting things to say about the landlady… and she's right, you know."

Raven blinked, "Who is?"

"The landlady," Priscilla elaborated. "Your face might really freeze that way."

Raven rolled his eyes. Priscilla had to wonder, if Raven's face froze in his usual scowl, would anyone be able to tell the difference? She wasn't so sure.

He was about to reply when Lucius came up from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. "Raven, Priscilla, have either of you seen Ninian today?" he asked.

"No," Raven replied flatly while Priscilla shook her head.

Lucius sighed, swiping at his bangs in a fidgety manner. "That's not good…"

"Is something wrong?" Priscilla asked, getting up from her seat. She reached for her shoes, but Lucius held up a hand.

"It's probably nothing," he said. "We're all still just nervous from the attack. Nils is here, and he's looking for Ninian. Apparently she was supposed to stop by here this morning, but as far as anyone can tell she never showed up."

Priscilla raised one hand to her lips. "I hope she's okay!" she breathed, heading for the door. "Is Nils still here? Maybe we should help him look. Right, Raven?" she gave her brother a hopeful look. He seemed to deflate slightly under her gaze.

"If he absolutely needs our help…" he consented, closing his crimson eyes. Priscilla gave him a bright smile, slipping past him and out the door. She tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to disturb the ghost of an old man who snored lightly as he floated near the stairwell.

"I--I'm sure she's fine, Nils!" Florina stuttered in the lobby, her hands clasped to her chest. Nils was pacing back and forth, worry written all over his face.

"Maybe she went shopping?" Serra suggested.

Nils shook his head, "I doubt it. What if something happened to her?"

Lyn placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Like Florina said, I'm sure she's fine. The important thing is not to panic. She's probably still in the area. We'll help you look."

---

It wasn't like Wil to just up and disappear. At least, Rath didn't think it was. He had only known his talkative student for a few days after all. Maybe it was like him to vanish, he thought to himself, glancing up and down the crowded street. He didn't see Wil, but it was hard to distinguish one person from the next in the crowd.

The thought had barely flitted across his mind when he managed to spot one very distinct person coming towards him. "Legault," he greeted. The other man nodded in return.

"Out without your student, Rath?" Legault asked, raising one eyebrow in an expression of mild surprise.

Rath said nothing, studying Legault for a minute. Malevolence pored off the other man in waves, but it came not from him but from an outside source. "…Where have you been?" he asked after a moment, eyebrows furrowed.

Legault blinked and then realized Rath was referring to his darker than usual aura. "Oh," he said, straightening the sleeve of his shirt. "Don't worry about that. I haven't been cursed or anything. It's just residue of a sort."

"Residue?" Rath repeated, looking skeptical. "From… what?"

Legault gave him a curious look. "If you must know, a certain black market seems to be back in town. I'd advise you to keep your boy away from there. A witch with a double element could fetch a high price, not to mention one rumored to be a key."

Rath nodded, plenty aware of the danger. "Where is it?" he asked, wanting to be aware of the exact coordinates. It was easier to avoid something if you knew what areas to stay out of.

Legault gave him the directions, adding, "I doubt those will do you any good, though. They seemed to be getting ready for another move. Given where they were, I don't blame them. Even the black market wouldn't want to have a run-in with the former owners of that location."

"So… you went back." Rath said, disapproval evident in his voice. When Legault nodded briefly, Rath couldn't help but mumble, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Grinning slyly, Legault replied, "But satisfaction brought it back."

---

Luck, Wil realized, was not on his side today. Actually, he'd go so far as to say that luck hated him and was outright enjoying getting him kidnapped and imprisoned. He bit his lip. As if that weren't enough, now luck had decided to disrupt their escape plan.

"Eubans," Heath growled as a man entered the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he gave Wil a look that clearly stated start stalling for time.

Wil took a deep breath and, glaring at the newcomer, shouted, "Who are you? What are you going to do with us? Why'd you kidnap me, or Heath, or Ninian for that matter! And tying us up too? That's just plain rude! I mean, I can see why you'd do it, if you didn't want us to try and escape, but c'mon! These ropes are too damn tight! What if they scar Ninian? She's a lady, in case you couldn't tell! I heard chivalry was dead, but this is ridiculous! You have to at least let loosen her ropes!"

Suddenly, Wil was very glad for his ability to ramble on incessantly. Then Eubans turned a cold look on him and an icy feeling spread through his stomach. He wasn't so glad anymore.

"Your new friends are quite amusing, Heath," Eubans noted dryly. "How nice of them to get kidnapped with you."

Heath, almost free from the handcuffs, tried to think of ways to keep Eubans' attention off of him, if only for a few more moments. "Leave them out of it," he glared, figuring that silence would be more suspicious than threatening words. "Bleed me dry, dammit, but leave them alone!"

Ninian tried to push the fear out of the corners of her mind. It was true that magic reacted to strong emotions, but overpowering things like fear and rage could easily make you lose control. It wouldn't be good if she ended up attacking Heath or Wil instead of their kidnapper. Out of the corner of her eye, she fixed her gaze hard on Eubans arm. A thin layer of ice formed over his hand.

Surprised, he tried to shake it off, but it clung stubbornly. He tore it away easily, but the ice grew back just as soon as he removed it.

Grateful for the distraction, Heath began to work at the handcuffs again.

"Which one of you did this?" Eubans demanded, looking from Wil to Ninian. Noting the look of contempt on Ninian's face and the slightly glazed quality of her eyes, he guessed immediately. "You, girl!" he barked.

Startled, Ninian's concentration broke and the ice melted from Eubans' hand. She frowned, trying to summon up a new batch of ice. At that moment, a gust of wind blew Eubans off his feet. Startled, Ninian struggled to look at Wil.

"Eheh, guess I'm not as bad as I thought?" Wil chuckled nervously. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Heath, who seemed to have gotten free of the handcuffs at last. He held a finger to his lips and motioned to the spare folding chair in the corner. Catching his meaning, Wil winked and summoned up another gust of wind just as Eubans was getting up. It knocked him right back over. Heath had to fight the urge to chuckle. Getting up cautiously, he signaled to Wil to start ranting again.

"Stay away from her!" he yelled. "I don't know why you even abducted us! Well, I do, since you were trying to kidnap Heath and we sort of got in the way. But why were you trying to kidnap Heath? Someone's going to realize we're missing eventually! Preferably sooner than later, though. Hopefully, really, really soon."

Eubans was stunned for a moment, a combination of being knocked off his feet by a gust of magical wind and having very little idea what Wil was saying. "What--" he started, staggering to his feet.

Then he was hit over the head with a folding chair. Wil gaped as Eubans crumpled the ground. "Is he dead?" he asked, staring from Heath (broken chair still gripped tightly in his hands), to Eubans' unmoving body.

Heath kneeled before Eubans. "No," he said, placing the chair on the floor. "He's still breathing. I just knocked him out."

"I think we should be relieved about that," Ninian murmured. "But, erm, Heath? Would you mind getting us out of these ropes?"

"Sorry," he said. He worked quickly at the ropes binding Ninian, fingers fumbling with the knots. He got her free after a minute and she stood, rubbing at her arms.

"Thank you," she smiled as Heath moved on to untie Wil.

Standing up, Wil pointed at Eubans. "What do we do about him?" he asked, blinking up at Heath.

"Leave him," Heath said simply. "Someone will be by soon, I'm sure." He yanked open the door and, finding the rest of the apartment empty, motioned for the other two to follow him.

Wil opened his mouth to ask another question but Ninian shook her head. Hesitantly, he fell silent.

Heath had already opened the door and stepped into the hallway of the apartment building. He headed for the stairwell quickly. Wil and Ninian followed.

"Well, that was an experience!" Wil had to laugh as they walked down the stairs. "I never thought I'd be kidnapped! At least it wasn't the Kentucky slave trade." When he got confused looks from his two companions, he shook his head, chuckling nervously. "Err, nothing. Just a joke?"

"I hope Nils isn't too worried…" Ninian murmured, changing the subject.

They took the subway back, Heath sitting in silence while Wil and Ninian had an on and off conversation. Wil snuck a look at the other man out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be deep in thought, his face set in a small frown.

He switched his attention back to Ninian, urging her to tell another story about her brother's antics. She obliged, hands smoothing out wrinkles in her skirt as she began to talk.

They reached the apartment building not long after, Wil saying that they'd just check in and make sure the rest were fine before they took Ninian back to her hotel. Then a small blue-green blur tackled Ninian around the middle, nearly knocking her over.

"Ninian! Where were you?" Nils asked, backing away enough to give his sister a furious look.

With a sigh, she reached out and ruffled his hair a bit. "Nils, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you…" she gave him a small smile.

"What kind of an answer is that?" Nils demanded, hands on his hips.

"Rath!" Wil called out, waving his hands about as the green-haired man appeared. For a second, relief was clear on Rath's face, but it was quickly covered up by his usual stony expression. Wil ran to meet him and launched into a long explanation. Rath raised his eyebrows at parts of it, his gaze going from Wil, to Ninian, to Heath.

"I think I'll go find Legault," Heath excused himself, giving Ninian a wave. Nils was in the process of dragging his sister into the building, so the only response Heath got from the young fortune teller was a brief nod.

"We should probably call a cab," Ninian said to Nils. "It's been a long day. When we get back to the hotel, I'll tell you everything, Nils, really."

"Alright…" Nils gave Ninian a concerned look. "I'll go see if I can borrow a cell phone from someone. You wait here, okay?" When she gave him a nod, he disappeared up the stairs.

On the other side of the lobby, Wil said something to Rath before trotting over to Ninian.

"Hey," he said. "Not today, because it's been a long day full of kidnapping and Heath knocking people out with chairs, which was kind of cool, honestly, but…" he shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "But, anyway, I've been drawing these chalk circles lately and using them and my pendulum as a sort of divination-type thing. Rath said I should have you look them over, since you're the expert?"

Ninian's tired mind absorbed this information slowly. "I'd be happy to look them over," she said finally. "Maybe some other day this week?"

"Sure! Thanks, Ninian!" Wil grinned at her before walking back over to Rath.

"What did she say?" Rath asked quietly.

"She said she'd come by some other day," Wil grinned. "So, you think there might actually be something to those circles?"

Rath shrugged, a small smile playing on his face. "Well… they seemed interesting to me, at least."

---

Vaida was not impressed when she returned to the apartment, though she was mildly amused when she found out that Heath had knocked Eubans out.

"You had better not have a concussion," she told a very disgruntled Eubans. "Because I am certainly not going to wake you up every two hours in the night."

He readjusted the ice pack on his head, scowling at her. "Your sympathy is much appreciated, Vaida," he growled. "At least I took action."

"Of course, shortly after that action you got knocked out with a chair." She said, venom dripping from her tone. "Wonderful plan you had there."

"Well, I wasn't counting on him bringing friends!" Eubans grumbled, wincing as he pressed the icepack harder against his head. "And where were you?"

Vaida rolled her eyes. "No, why would you? More importantly, why did you bring them along when they… how did you put it? Sprang out of nowhere?" She crossed her arms over her chest, one foot tapping against the ground. She had decided to ignore his second question.

"You don't just leave witnesses to a kidnapping," Eubans scowled.

"Of course. Letting them all escape is an excellent alternative!" she snapped.

"Oh my," a new voice purred. "Whoever escaped?"

Vaida and Eubans turned in unison, the icepack slipping and falling from Eubans' hand. He made no move to pick it up.

In the suddenly open doorway stood Sonia, her manicured hands planted on her hips. There was a sly smile on her red lips and when she moved her head her heavy earrings jingled. "You did say something about escape, didn't you, Vaida?" she tilted her head further the side. Behind her stood an unpleasant looking youth with bright red hair, dressed all in black. Eubans was pretty sure there was a knife dangling from his belt.

"Yes," Vaida finally gritted out. "There… may have been a small incident."

One of Sonia's eyebrows slowly rose. "Why don't you tell me all about it, then," she said, stepping into the room. "I'm very interested. Jaffar!" she barked. The young man followed on her heels. She gave him a wicked smile before taking a seat at the table, crossing her legs at the ankle.

"So, why don't you start at the beginning…?"

---

The sun was setting when Legault and Heath managed to sneak away from the rest. They sat on the building's stone steps, unwilling to go too far. So far the afternoon had consisted of black markets, kidnapping, and their simultaneous answer of "nothing!" when Nino had asked them what they had done that day. It had not seemed to satisfy her curiosity in the slightest.

"So…" Heath finally said, casting a glance up at the darkening sky. Nino hadn't been the only one intrigued by Legault's extremely brief explanation of his day. He was certain that he had seen Legault raise an eyebrow at his own similar answer.

"So," Legault echoed, smiling. When he didn't continue, Heath scowled. He played idly with a hole that his jeans had acquired sometime during the day. That smirking bastard over there couldn't possibly expect him to start up the conversation, could he? Heath snuck another glance at Legault and noted the look in the other's eyes. Oh, yeah, the bastard expected him to start the damn conversation.

"So," he said again, trying to think of something slightly more intelligent to say. "You could stop smirking."

Legault's smirk only grew wider, "I could."

"You aren't going to, are you?" Heath glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

Legault shook his head in reply.

Heath sighed, twisting a lock of his hair around his finger. He thought back to the conversation with Vaida earlier that day, biting his lip as he contemplated what she'd said. "Legault," he said after a pause, returning to fidgeting with the hole in jeans. "There's some… stuff I should probably tell you."

"Really now?" Legault looked at him curiously. Heath continued to fidget.

"Yeah," he murmured. "Stuff about the Fae…"

---

Chapter 16-- End

---

Black Fang, black markets and stuff about the Fae! Oh my! The plot slowly unwinds. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! I'd ramble on for a while, but I think I, uh, still have to pack. Yeah.

As always, reviews are complete and utter love. If you leave me one, you get an invisible cookie. Flavor of your choosing!