Mentions of rape and torture. You have been warned.

To Meet Him

"How are you adjusting to life aboard Deep Space Nine, Doctor?" Commander Sisko asked, stopping the woman on her way to her home. She'd been working for a month now. The woman looked around before answering, trying to minimize the eavesdropping.

"You might as well answer, Marsha. People are going to hear no matter what you do," Julian laughed. He was dressed to go to Quark's holosuites, wearing a biker's outfit.

"I'm a very private person," she demurred. And the fact was; she was. Marsha had spent the last month ducking, dodging, and flat out refusing to answer personal questions. But despite her best efforts, she was opening up to some of the people on the station. People she trusted, like the good doctor and even Lieutenant Commander Dax. The woman was a powerhouse. Being near her was the equivalent of having several fast shots of intoxicants according to the crowd in Quark's. And she had a way of questioning that could pry information out of a rock; no doubt the result of multiple lifetimes under her belt. She was wary but kind of excited to be a focus of the older woman.

"This is not the place for privacy," the Commander said, herding the doctor to Quark's without her realizing. "This is a place to cultivate friendships, doctor. You seem to have relatively few thus far, and I think you could use some more. Come with me to Quark's."

"Oh no," Marsha immediately back-pedaled, seeing the sign up ahead. She knew of the place, of course. The owner was a Ferengi that greedily ran his business like an empire. He and Odo were constantly bumping heads. She wanted nothing to do with the casino/bar and had thus far managed to avoid the place completely. She backed off now, like the place had the Trigelian measles. But Sisko was quick to grab her arm before she could get away.

"Don't make me give you an order to relax at Quark's, doctor. It's bad enough I had to do it for Worf. That man isn't bred for fun, let me assure you."

"Sir. I don't have a need to gamble or drink. I therefore have no desire to-"

"An order it is, then. Doctor, you go straight from home to work to home again with few stops anywhere along the way, even to the O'Briens. I insist that you have a little fun tonight. You're not due back to Sick Bay for 78 hours. Isn't it time you-"

"I don't want to-"

"But you will, Dr. Wachinski. Tonight you will come with me and have fun with the senior staff. Tomorrow morning, you will go and visit your mother and Molly on Bajor and remain there until the night before you have to return to work. Only then will you be allowed back on the station."

"Three days! Commander, I have experiments to tend, data to correlate, files to fill out! I-"

"You don't. I've been monitoring your caseload and I know for a fact that you stay up after your shifts to complete your paperwork. Your data can wait for some well-earned R&R, and Ensign Pines has volunteered to babysit your experiments until your return to the station."

"With respect, it's not like watering plants, sir!" she ground out angrily. "My work is-"

"Your life, I know. But you've got meticulous notes at your station. Pines has four arms and three brains. I'm sure he can figure it out if you just tell him what to do tomorrow morning before you go. Keiko will be expecting you and has put her schedule on hold just to host you. You need to have some fun while you're young, doctor. You're never going to get these years back after all." While he'd been reassuring the woman, they'd entered the crowded and lively Quark's. Marsha looked around the place and relaxed to see no one staring at her overtly. She didn't think she could take that, orders or no orders.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the local celebrity. Ms. Wachinski, it is a pleasure to meet you. What can I get for you this evening?"

"I… I uh…"

"Oh, I understand," Quark said in a patronizing voice that riled her up and made Sisko grin. "It's a very big decision. And this is your first time in my-"

"I'll have a vanilla milkshake with sprinkles and a cherry on top," she blurted out her favorite drink back on the Enterprise.

"Really?" Quark frowned. "You don't want any alcohol or shots or…"

"I like milkshakes," she said over the music in the joint, looking embarrassed. "I don't drink alcohol. Ever."

"Ah, bad experience," he nodded.

"No experience,' she growled. "I just don't want to be out of control." Inside she was seething. There these people went again, making her talk! If that asshat La Forge could see her now, he'd be falling all over himself to be her escort to Bajor! The man's crush had been insufferable.

"A vanilla milkshake it is then," the Ferengi grinned at her. "Please, have a seat. I'll have one of my girls bring it to you." The Commander led her to one of the tables upstairs where apparently the senior staff usually sat. Dax and Major Kira were already drinking and teasing O'Brien about his latest kayaking debaucal. Marsha was sat down in the corner between the two women by the Commander, who whispered for her to talk before seating himself across from her. The table went quiet for a minute, and then the conversation picked up, the others doing their best to include her in it. She answered shyly, sipping on her milkshake and worrying about where she was going to get the gold-pressed latinum to pay for it.

"God, Marsha! I've never known anyone as shy as you! You've barely said two sentences to us all night and it's been an hour!" Nerys was giggling at this rather than acting offended, but it still flustered the young doctor. She whimpered into her drink and hunched in on herself self-consciously.

"No, no! I think it's cute. I mean, what do you talk to dear old dad about?"

"I… I don't know. We just… conversation is natural-"

"Exactly. For example, what are you thinking right now?"

"I'm wondering how I'm going to afford this milkshake. I don't have any gold-pressed latinum on me. I-" The table burst into laughter, Miles looking apologetically at his daughter.

"I'm so sorry, Marsha, I thought you knew," Dax chuckled. "I won at the Dabo tables last night, that's why we're celebrating. Drinks are on the house tonight! You can have as many of those tasty milkshakes of yours as you want tonight. You can even-"

"No booze," the girl put in quickly. "I… I don't do booze; I need to stay in control of myself."

"Oh honey. Life's too short to stay in control all the time."

"Oh, I don't know, some control might be good in your case, Old Man," Sisko laughed. Now that the money issue was solved, Marsha began to come out of her shell. She kept up with the jokes and listened to the stories and sipped her way through two more milkshakes. Then, feeling warm and included, she started to feel a familiar tingle in her gut.

Oh no.

She dropped out of the conversation, staring at her hands. Usually this was the part where she would excuse herself and calm herself down. She could feel it; the power was welling up inside of her. If she didn't leave soon, she'd be singing like an idiot. But she felt so safe right now! She didn't want to leave and it would be nice for her new friends to know the truth about her powers. She felt the Major reach under the table and squeeze her arm in silent support, as the woman had been doing all night and the music started up simple xylophone tones. She looked up into Nerys' eyes just as everyone started wondering where the music was coming from.

My friends don't walk, they run

Skinny dipping rabbit holes for fun

Poppin, popping balloons with guns

Gettin high off helium…

We paint wild roses red

Each shaped like a different person's head.

This dream, dream is a killer

Getting drunk with a blue caterpillar…

Everyone in the bar was in shock. After a month of trying to get the girl to sing. After months of Starfleet interrogation… Even the spies they'd put on the station had concluded that there was nothing interesting about the doctor! They'd all gone home by now, carrying news that the girl was a fraud or a fluke or a one-off. But now she was singing as if all were right with her world. Her gaze moved around the table as she sang.

For once, baby, I'm not

The craziest friend that you've ever had

You think I'm psycho

You think I'm gone

Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong

Over the bend, entirely bonkers

You like me best when I'm off my rocker

Tell you a secret; I'm not alarmed:

So what if I'm crazy, the best people are.

Her voice was a soothing soprano, even as she sang about insanity, she was a sound of reason in the bar. The next song flowed from the first and she recruited Bashir to dance with her.

And I don't know just what you do

I like everything 'bout you

Your smile, your face, your bud, your moves.

How you tip and tap your shoes

But I know what you do to me -

Mr. you make me crazy!

Ziblehibblebabblebubble Bang!

Now kiss me

At St. James Ballroom…

She was passed from partner to partner as aches, minor pains and sometimes major pains eased out of existence. The crowd was cheering the little miracle on, and she kept on going seemingly settled on Rom as she began her third song.

A boy went down to Napoli

Because he missed the scenary

The native dancers and the charming songs

But wait a minute, something's wrong…

This time the song was a show stopper. There was no trace of the shy doctor right now. She sang her song loudly and proudly, moving around the room as if she'd been in the bar a million times before. She was a diva at this moment, playing to the crowd for all she was worth. Even more amazingly, everyone seemed to know these old Earth songs, all participating as if the songs were choreographed. Marsha simply finished her song and returned to her table to thunderous applause. Quark had been watching the crowd carefully during this unexpected interlude and noticed a huge increase in profit at the tables and with his customers during her songs. He made another milkshake and brought it to the girl himself so he could make a deal with the little latinum-maker.

"Hey there, Doctor. I just wanted to-"

"What are you on about, Quark?" Miles asked loudly, good mood spoiled at the avarice in the Ferengi's eyes.

"Chief, I'm honestly hurt. Everyone here is impressed with your daughter. Who am I to be any different?"

"Quark. What do you want?" Sisko asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Might I suggest a partnership?" the Ferengi said, sliding the milkshake across the table. "You have quite a beautiful voice. It would be criminal not to use it here."

"You don't even know how I do it," the woman said.

"Who cares? Name your price. I'd like you to sing here, for me exclusively."

"Wait? You want me to only sing here? That's crazy! I can't control it like a switch, sir."

"Quark, please. And I understand completely. How about I pay you when you do sing here? How does a strip of latinum a song sound?"

"How about five strips a set. A set being my limit which is three. And I get a vanilla milkshake anytime I want one, no teasing."

"Four strips," he put in quickly.

"Five stirips," Ezri countered, moving closer to the girl and putting an arm around her shoulders. "I saw how the Dabo tables lit up during her performance."

The Ferengi looked mullish, but finally agreed. One handshake later and the deal was done.

"How do you do it, Mars?" Miles asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that when I feel safe and happy, I feel the need to share it with everyone. The light just fills me and the songs come out of nowhere. I can't help myself."

"Well, it's a good thing you can't. That was a positively lovely experience," Bashir laughed. He grinned at the girl to watch her blush, ignoring the daggers glaring into him from Papa O'Brien. He was beginning to enjoy flirting with danger this way. It made his friend furious and provided endless laughs for the rest of the crew. Marsha, unaware of the joke, continued to blush whenever given the slightest bit of male attention. That included Lieutenant Marcus Graham, who ended up in Sick Bay more often than anyone on the station just to talk to her. He'd asked her out countless times and she'd turned him down flat every single time. But that didn't seem to discourage the man. He approached now and the soft glow surrounding her body since her performance snuffed out with her panic. Everyone noticed the change and looked where she was staring with dread on her face.

"Marsha, if you don't want to go out with him, just tell him so."

"I have!" she exclaimed. "On multiple occasions! The lieutenant seems to consider 'no' an invitation to ask again, louder and more crudely. I've had to call security on him a couple of times and he still shows up asking for a date the next day! I just want to be left alone! I don't want to be bothered by him anymore."

On the man approached, a flirtatious smile on his face that made her want to puke. She sat between the women at the table, feeling hunted. She couldn't excuse herself and run away; he would just follow her. And he didn't seem intimidated by a group of senior officers she was surrounded by. Damn the Commander and his order to party at Quark's!

"That was some performance tonight," Graham said firmly, trying to get closer to the girl on the other side of the table. "I don't think I've ever seen this place so lively. Why don't you come with me, Marsha. I want to-"

"That's Doctor Wachinski to you, Lieutenant. And I've been more than clear that I don't want anything to do with you. I will not be harassed on my off hours. It's bad enough that you show up in Sick Bay with no injuries or ailments. Please leave."

"Oh, don't be like that, Marsha. We could be-"

"I believe my daughter has made herself clear, Lieutenant," Miles said forcefully, unhappy with the girl's shudder as he continued to harass her. "You're not welcome here."

"Well, fortunately for me, I'm off duty." Marcus said, smiling at his intended target despite her frown. "I just want some private time with your lovely daughter. Come on, Marsha. I want to show you something."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand? Do I have to get Odo involved again? I seem to remember him saying that the next time he had to deal with you, you were going to the brig. Go away, Lieutenant." His smile was finally gone. It was a relief to have everyone see him like she did; an ugly man on the inside. He glared at her as if trying to intimidate her into doing what he wanted. When she didn't move, he walked away. Marsha sighed in relief.

"Is that true about Odo, doctor?" Sisko asked casually.

"Odo said he's sick of answering my calls about the Lieutenant every time I work. So he told him that if he bothered me one more time, he would put him in the brig. That was yesterday."

"You mean, he's been harrassing you that much?" O'Brien asked incredulously, feeling the paternal call of righteous fury.

"Everytime I work since I got here. I think the man knows my schedule better than I do. I dread when he walks in the door."

"I'll have a talk with him," the Commander said, upset that this harassment had been taking place right under his nose.

The conversation picked up as if Marsha hadn't hijacked the entire bar minutes before. They stayed for hours, being one of the last customers to leave. Marsha said good night to the others and headed back to her domicile. Halfway there, Marcus grabbed her and rammed her into the wall of the station. She was completely unprepared for the attack and slid down the wall face first to the floor.

"Honey, I don't appreciate you embarrassing me in front of Dad like that," he sing-songed, looking down at her slumped form with a nasty smile on his face. She looked up into his eyes and panicked. This was the man under the charming exterior, the one that she'd been trying to avoid. This was a man that would have been right at home on Sabra 6. He grabbed a handful of her hair and tried to pull her up, but she went bottom heavy and refused to stand.

"Get up, bitch! I told you, I have something to show you and it's in my apartment. You're going to be my woman now. My own personal-" He stopped gloating just then, unable to breathe suddenly. He wasn't the only one either. All around him the late night crowd and fresh arrivals to the station were slumped over, desperate to get air. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the station. People were gasping and he was no different. He looked down at the woman he'd been determined to claim this night and reeled back in horror. Her eyes were pitch black, even the scleras had turned bottomless. She didn't seem to be having any trouble breathing, but she was staring up at him, tears streaming down from the pits where her eyes used to be.

The image was going to haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. If he lived long enough to regret his suddenly foolish-seeming decision.

"Pl-please," he begged in a hoarse whisper, the best he could do with his lungs burning for air. Suddenly he wanted nothing to do with the woman . He couldn't even remember why he'd wanted her so badly in the first place. This was the woman that had inspired so many sweaty, unsatisfied nights? This monster who could take away the very air he breathed? He was on his knees before her, pleading with his last few breaths for forgiveness, when a foot lodged itself in the side of his face. His whole body went sprawling, curling in pain when another foot lodged itself in his gut. This seemed to shock both people in the lonely hallway, Marsha's tears drying up instantly. She looked up at the newcomer… and kept looking up.

He was tall, so much taller than she was, with honey golden skin the same tone as hers. He was dressed in rugged gear that would have been right at home for a pirate, complete with a rucksack slung casually over his shoulder. His waist-length braids were pulled back with a strip of leather that barely seemed to contain the mass. He had a sharp goatee and the facial features of an African Prince of old; all sharp angles and seriousness. And his eyes… He stared down at her and all her worries melted away. He held out a hand for her and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet.

"It's alright now," he said smoothly, and she felt the words slither their way straight to her lower belly. His voice was caressing, golden as his skin, and utterly sexy. "I'm here, Amara."

She nodded dazedly and the whole station breathed again. She couldn't stop staring at the man, the man who hadn't been affected by her ultimate attack, the only defense she had against violence to her person and the threat of rape. If she couldn't get away, if she couldn't hide in time, this was how she'd fought back. And it had worked. It had worked every time with everyone in the area, innocent and guilty alike, man or woman. Leaving the enemy breathless had always guaranteed her escape. The only problem had always been stopping her reaction before she killed someone. And here this man had calmed her with only a few words! And dear God did he look good! What was happening to her? She'd always been secretly afraid of men after growing up alone on the Rape Planet. Why was her nose suddenly open like this?

"I-I… I'm Marsha. Marsha Wachinski," she managed after an eternity of staring at perfection. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from his chocolate brown orbs.

The man shook his head gently and continued his apparent quest to stare directly into her soul. "Your name is Amara Wilks, and I have been searching for you for a very long time." At hearing her true name for the first time, something clicked and she started bawling. He folded her gently into his arms and let her cry herself out. Somewhere in the middle of this, her attacker woke up and tried to scramble away, but the man simply kicked him in the face again and Marcus went unconscious.

"Hey, what's going on here?" a security guard called them. Like everyone else, he was recovering from the shock of not being able to breathe and convinced that their resident miracle worker had something to do with it. Marsha simply hid in her rescuer's massive chest and continued to sob.

"This supposed man attempted to rape my woman." he said vehemently, holding her tighter. "She reacted and I stopped the assault." The security officer looked over the scene with a professional eye and saw nothing to prove the man's statement wrong. The lieutenant was down for the count and the doctor was sobbing her heart out in her savior's arms.

"What do you mean by 'she reacted'?"

"It's a defense mechanism. Everyone knows you can't rape a Khaleesi."

"A what?"

"A Khaleesi. That's what she is. Something very rare and very, very special. Apparently you people have been mistreating her. She's close to collapse from lack of love and her power is dampened nearly to non-existence."

"Mars," O'Brien called, taking in the scene and instantly knowing what happened. "Come here, Mars. Daddy'll take care of this." He was as furious as he had ever been, but he knew better than to yell at the victim. "It's alright now. Daddy's here."

"Chief, we've got a sexual assault on our hands here," the officer said calmly.

"He r-rammed me into the wall," she whispered into the man's chest, starting to calm down. "He almost ripped my hair out trying to drag me to his quarters so he could… so he could…"

"It's okay now," Miles tried again, making as if to separate the two. "We should get you cleaned up and get an official statement out of you. Come on, now. Thank you for your help. I'll take it from here," he said firmly to her rescuer, who still refused to let her go. Instead of releasing her, the man picked her up.

"Lead the way. I'm not leaving Amara in anyone else's hands."

"Who?" the Chief engineer blinked.

"How did you people convince her that she was a Marsha? Her name is Amara, always has been."

"Are you saying that you know this woman?" Miles asked just as Graham came around again. His first instinct was to run and he got about five steps in the direction of freedom when the man's cold voice rang out in the hall.

"Run and I will hunt you down and kill you." There was no arguing with that voice; no reasoning with the man who'd issued the edict. 'Cross this line and I will kill you'. Marcus surrendered himself into custody, shaking at the man's calm glare. "My woman requires medical attention. Lead the way, Chief." Miles bristled at the frank authority in the newcomer's voice, but since Marsha was the important one, he did as he was told, leading the couple to Sick Bay. Bashir blinked when he caught sight of them. The man barged into the room and sat her down on the nearest bed.

"My God…"

"Can you heal the bruising? Khaleesi cannot heal themselves."

"Kaa-who?"

"Help her!" the man said impatiently.

"Unfortunately, we need photographic evidence of the lieutenant's crime before she can be healed," Odo came into the Sick Bay full of purpose. "Otherwise, it'll only be her word versus his at the trial."

"Oh, he'll confess," the man said coldly, to which Marcus shivered.

"No," she said firmly, pushing away from the man and giving everyone their first clear view of her ruined face. "We have to do this their way or he'll be free to do it again to someone else. Someone that can't defend themselves." She composed herself, holding herself proudly with only a small quiver of her lower lip to show her inner turmoil. "I'm ready to give my statement, Security chief, Odo."

"Thank you, Doctor Wachinski. Tell me what happened." Marsha explained in great detail her ordeal, sparing no detail, no matter how gruesome. Luckily there weren't that many details. She had a death grip on the stranger's hand as she talked. She tried her best not to wince as she talked, but with one side of her face swollen and bruised from her ordeal, some wincing was inevitable.

"...And then he came along and- I'm sorry, I don't know your name." He looked at her earnest expression and froze.

"What have they done to you, Amara? You knew my name before you knew your own."

"My first memory is of fire and smoke." All the occupants of the room were suddenly transported to a crashed starship, smoke and sparking panels everywhere. A little hand bisected the tiny perspective, blood on the fingertips. In the corner was a battered corpse bleeding freely. The man looked middle-aged, Caucasian, skin cut and bruised as the dead blue eyes stared into nothing. A piteous groan drew the little girl's attention and she focused on the scene of five men taking turns raping a white woman. It was brutal. The men were cutting and cursing her as they violated her.

The girl flopped onto her belly, hiding from the bad men as they whooped and hollered over their latest 'catch'. It was hours before they finally slit her throat, ending their fun. In that time, the woman never once mentioned the scared little girl hiding under the broken equipment across from the group. It was something she would come to realize was a rarity on the Rape Planet. Most women would have ratted her out, using the distraction to get away. Men enjoyed raping women and children alike. The men set the ship on fire before leaving to search for more victims. A dirty, blood-splattered little girl emerged from the ship once the voices of the men faded into the night. A twisted piece of metal reflected her haunted image back to herself.

"... And that was my introduction to Sabra 6. I was four years old at the time."

"Two," the man said, shaking with rage. "You were two years old. Nietzschean children apparently develop faster than humans do."

"How do you know that?" she asked, oblivious to the shudders of the other men in the room.

"Because you just showed me, little one. I'd recognize your kidnappers anywhere. They made off with you the night before the Drago-Kazov attack. I could have fought them off with my Berserker strength even as young as I was, but my mother demanded that I escape and find you instead. I've been traveling the cosmos ever since, looking for you."

"Showed you? But I-" She finally looked around the room at the others. They looked haunted and disgusted at the same time. "I'm sorry… That hasn't happened in a long time."

"It's alright, doctor," Julian said softly. He seemed torn as to whether to hug her or not, but in the end decided against it. Instead he put a hand on her shoulder. "I had no idea it was that bad for you. I mean, you hear about life on Sabra 6, but… It's different to see it. I can still feel the heat of the flames."

"That's the transfer. You'll never have the full effect of her memories," The man said helpfully.

"It was real enough," Odo said, wiping his forehead. "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"I am Tyr Anasazi, out of Victoria by Barbarossa. I was born to be this woman's protector." She blushed almost red from the attention on her suddenly.

"So, you're planning to take Marsha away from us?" Miles asked forcefully.

"Not yet. She'd never survive the trip home."

"I don't like your attitude, Mr. Anasazi. And who are you anyway?" the irate father said angrily.

"I'm the one person that knows who she is," Tyr said calmly.

"You mean, who she was," O'Brien shot back. "You haven't seen 'your love' since she was two years old. She's had a whole life since then. You can't just waltz in here and expect us to just listen to you."

"I'm listening," Marsha said quietly, interrupting all the conversations going on in the room. "I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. Tonight, if Mr. Anasazi hadn't stopped me, this whole station would be full of dead bodies. I haven't had to worry about being raped since I was a child. And because he tried to rape me, I almost killed Deep Space Nine. He stopped me from killing you all. Not only that, but he knows enough about me that he can keep me from killing myself or any of you. He protected me while all of you were elsewhere. That piece of shit rammed me into a wall and tried to pull me into his room to rape me. He destroyed my face because he could and no one did anything to stop him. So, yeah, dad. I'm listening. I'm listening hard and taking notes."

That brought horrified silence to the room. No one had realized just how close they'd come to death tonight. They were slowly starting to realize that what they had was a ticking bomb. If they handled the girl in the wrong fashion, they could lose everything.

"What did you mean about her being too weak to travel?" Bashir asked curiously.

"Khaleesi feed on love. It's what they eat, drink, and breathe. They exist on little else. I can tell she's low on energy because she's not glowing.

"I'm not happy," Marsha protested.

"Believe me, when you've properly adjusted to your powers, that won't matter." He stared into her eyes, grinning at her when she blushed prettily. Bashir started working on her face, a little jealous of how she was responding to the newcomer. They were still holding hands, he noticed. In a move that showed more maturity than he was usually given credit for, the doctor chose not to comment on the development.

"Marsha! Marsha, are you okay?" Ezri asked as she and Sisko burst into the room. Dax settled in for a big hug which the girl accepted awkwardly, while the Commander turned to Odo for a report.

"And who is this strapping young man?" Dax asked flirtatiously. Marsha automatically felt jealous, but buried the unwanted emotion and let go of his hand. Tyr wouldn't let go, though. If anything he held her tighter and came closer to her, laying his head against the side of hers.

I am Tyr Anasazi, out of Victoria by Barbarossa. We are both Nietzscheans."

"I thought you said she was a Khaleesi?" Miles said from across the room, sounding triumphant as if he'd just caught the man in a lie.

"Her species is Nietzschean, her powers identify her as a Khaleesi. Any others that meet her would address her as 'my lady'."

"Take Lieutenant Graham to the brig," Commander Sisko thundered. "See that he remains there until the trial, Odo!" The offending officer was led away. He looked ready to say something cutting as he walked past his victim, but stopped short at the last minute as Tyr looked up and glared at him. The man shuddered as he was led away, happy to escape the Nietzschean. Marsha turned away as he passed, cuddling against her savior.

"It's alright, Amara. He can't hurt you anymore," Tyr whispered against her ear when he felt her trembling. "I'm here now. You're safe."

"I'm never safe," she whispered back, starting to get up off the bed. Tyr pushed her back onto the bed and touched her face tenderly. She was leaning into his touch before she knew it, something that irked her father.

Tyr to the rescue! I like that he played the white knight, literally saving the day. Thank you for reading. See ya next time for more! ^_^

Melanie Martinez - Mad Hatter

Alice Francis - St. James Ballroom

Bette Midler - Mambo Italiano