Lily once again woke up on a couch. It was also again not someplace she normally visited. She recognized it was the same one she had woken up on last time, but at least the was covered in a blanket, given an ice pack on her forward, and thank to whatever deities were listening water. Reaching over for the glass of water, she gulped down as much as she could swallow.

It was when someone cleared their throat that Lily zoned into her surroundings.

"Lily, I am so sorry for what happened. Are you ok? What do you remember?" gently came from Emily.

Lily tried to sit up, only to realize she was being weighed down by something clunky.

Why were there feathers everywhere.

"Lily, look at me. Look at me sweetheart. Good girl. I need you to listen to me. Its just you and me here. I can call Leah if you want me to, or anyone else you want me to. But I have a feeling you are scared and that's ok. I love you Lily, and everything is going to be ok. Shake your head up and down if you believe me. "Emily sounded so gentle, like she was talking to a wild animal. Lily had been afraid she was a…. she couldn't remember.

Vampire.

Lily's heart rate started to race again at the thought. But if she was a vampire the wings didn't make sense. Sure, she burned if she stayed out in the sun too much, but any melanin challenged person did. So maybe she wasn't a vampire. Her heart beat in her ears certainly let her know she still had one beating.

"Lily, you have to calm down. breath with me sweetheart, In your nose. Two. Three. Four. Five. Good, now let it out through your mouth. Two. Three. Four. Five. Keep going. Breath."

Lily and Emily continued to breath together for several minutes, until Emily was sure Lily had calmed down enough to listen.

"Lily love, I have some scotch if you need it, tea, anything else you could want. But I need you to remain calm. Could you do that for me?"

"Could we call Leah? Please?" was the mousy reply. She wanted the ones she trusted most near her. She couldn't explain why, but she needed Leah here just as much as Emily.

"Of course, sweetheart, just sit tight. I'll call her right now. Are you hungry? I just made some muffins earlier." Emily quickly dialed Leah's number, while putting a plate of muffins in front of Lily. Lily tried sitting up, but found it difficult. She adamantly refused to look anywhere but at Emily so she couldn't see why exactly she wasn't able to sit up.

"Thanks Leah, I'm so sorry for everything" was the gentle reply Emily gave the phone. Emily returned to the room, sitting at Lily's feet.

"Leah is on her way and said she would be here in 15 minutes. Leah was… well you know Leah better than I do these days." Emily tried to chuckle, but it sounded too sad to be believed.

"Hey Em, can you help me sit up please? I'm starting to feel trapped laying down, please." Lily hated to beg anyone for anything, but she could not spend another minute on her back.

Emily quickly moved to help Lily sit up, gently wrapping her arms to help stabilize her back and…feathers.

They tried to make small talk, but the raging force that was Leah pulled into the drive way. No less than two seconds after the sound of her mother's car pulling up on the driveway did Leah throw open the front door.

"Lily!" Leah screamed before, disregarding everything else, hugging Lily close to her. "Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again. What the fuck. And Wings? Really? You couldn't wait to become some fucking pigeon until I was there with you? I'm starting to feel jealous its only ever Emily that triggers shit for people. I should be offended.

God, Lily never loved Leah more than she had at that moment. She was making jokes at her own expensive and comfort to help Lily with whatever was going on.

"Leah, are they at least pretty?" Lily asked through her fangs. She felt like a toddler who just got a bad haircut.

"Lily, shut up. You're covered in feathers and have fangs. If you grow any weirder shit, I'm calling a news station. Or NASA. Or someone fuck I don't know. Just don't scare me like that again."

Emily had left the room for a brief moment coming back with three shots of whiskey.

"I do not condone underaged drinking. But as we are on the Res in my own home and frankly, we could all use something to help our nerves I'm making the executive decision to allow it." Emily passed out each glass to the girls, although Leah looked somewhat disgruntled for the small amount in her glass.

Lily on the other hand didn't question it, just throwing the shot back hoping for it to help. The girls sat in silence for several minutes before Leah couldn't take it anymore

"So, what happened. I have the notebooks, but without a good explanation its all for nothing." Leah unpacked the backpack she had brought, revealing her notebook as well as the faxed notes of Lily's. Leah hadn't had time to drive to Lily's house once she heard from Emily. Flipping back to the beginning of the notebooks, the girls went to work comparing what happened while Lily wrote down everything she could remember from this incident.

"Alright, I think that was everything. I wasn't all there for parts of it, but I at least have an excuse seeing as I was turning into the great chicken at the time. I just remember being scared more than anything both times. Scared and afraid for Emily and myself. Then, things started to feel like I was burning from the inside out, my shoulders hurt the first time, but no wings formed even though they did this time. I hadn't been physically injured and bound last time, just scared. This time I was hurt, which by the way Emily that really isn't ok.

Taking a break to catch her breath, Lily continued. "other than that, you Emily are the only other thing connecting everything. But you never made me feel any of those things. You've only ever been my friend- "at this point Leah interrupted.

"Yeah, until Sam somehow brainwashed her. Look Lily, I think Sam is the trigger. Or, Sam and his gang. Don't look at me like hat Emily, you must know he is the only other constant when this happens! This time, it was Lily who was hurt instead of you. Look what happened in response! She has fucking wings and she keeps biting her lip with her baby fangs. What if the elders see her? What then? They could ban her from the reservation. Put an injunction order on us being to talk to her. Hell, Em Sarah and John could be banished from the Res too! So, stop with this high and mighty shit about Sam. I was with him for years. I know him. I don't know what happened to him to cause him to change, but he has never been a bad man. He has never hurt a kid before. So, stop, just stop. Please." Leah sounded exhausted by the end of her statement. Lily knew she would have to get them home sooner rather than later. Leah's fuse was only so long.

"Listen Leah, I may have an idea on how to get Lily to return to normal. But I have no idea if it will actually work. Sam has been nothing but loving and kind to me sense the accident. We had our issues, we still do. But I am choosing to accept him for who he is, as he is. I don't want to argue again with you. There is so much I just cannot tell you! If I could, I would. The elder's have tied my hands in this. I love you Leah, I always will. You are my sister in every way that counts. But right now, we need to focus on Lily. We owe her that much for being our friend.

Looking back at Lily, who seemed to be having the beginning signs of an anxiety attack again, caused Emily to take over the entire situation. "lily my love I've kicked all the guys out. Its just us here. Nobody will hurt you. I need you to listen to me ok sweetheart?" with that, Emily grabbed lily's hands gently, trying to avoid her abnormally sharp nails.

"I need you to calm your heart down. just breath with me. Follow my breathing pattern. You're doing so well! Next, I need you to focus on everything that makes you Lily. What makes you happy? What makes you feel safe? Warm? What are your desires and goals? Where do you feel the safest in the world? Imagine yourself there. Good. Keep it up sweetheart, you are doing so very well."

Emily's voice continued to coax Lily into a calm sense of reality. It felt like hours, but Lily eventually was able to reabsorb her wings into her skin, her teeth returned to their normal size, and her nails were no longer too sharp. She felt for the first time in hours like herself, tired but safe.

"Lily, open your eyes darling. You're back to normal" was Emily's warm way of saying everything was okay again.

Leah slowly gathered up Lily in a much gentler hug than before, as Lily had started crying throughout the process. The feathers had disappeared when her wings had, leaving no trace except a somewhat slashed t-shirt behind. The girls held each other, slowly rocking Lily threw her tears.

After Lily had cried herself dry, she eventually asked the question they were al thinking.

"Emily, how did you know that might work?" came out in a tremblingly soft voice.

"Lily love I can't tell you any more than I can tell Leah. All I can say is I am used to being who… change when they're upset. No, Leah, I do not mean Sam is abusive. He treats me nothing less than a queen. He loves me. I know it hurts you for me to say that. But, I cannot and will not tip toe around your moods. He was a dick to you for what he did. But he is trying to make himself the best man he can be. You no longer have to be there while he does it. I wish you were; I wish you wanted to be a part of our life. However, I know you aren't ready for that and may never be ready. Do what you need to do to be happy Leah. But please know I still love and care about you and Lily.

"Leah, I think its time you tale Lily home. She's passing out on the couch. Normally I would love nothing more than to keep her here, but she needs space."

With that, Emily stood up to help collect Lily's things. She gently hugged her before walkig her to the door with Leah. Before Leah could step through, Emily whispered something in her ear. Lily didn't notice, but that didn't matter at the moment.

Right now, Lily just wanted to cry and sleep. She needed to be home, away from this.

She needed to be home.