Note: Oh boy, I got more hours at work so I'm putting this up now so I don't forget on Thursday. I am very happy with the first half of this chapter but not so much so with the second half. Not gonna lie, I lost where i was going with the pod so I made it up on the spot. It's a bit sloppy but I think I got the general idea across. Hope you all enjoy!
All your feedback and thoughts are always appreciated and I love hearing from you all! If things don't make sense let me know!
Steven was conflicted. The aquatics looked like they had seen a ghost. Pearl looked absolutely terrified where Jasper looked like that but with bubbling anger layered over it. Connie looked a bit scared herself. Pearl had a death grip on her sleeve and Jasper had moved to be in-front of them. She stepped up to grab Steven but he didn't let her.
"Stay here." He whispered to the aquatics before shutting the door. "I'm coming!"
The pounding on the door continued until Steven reached it. He moved the curtain out of the way to see two tall figures on the other side. With a slight sigh Steven started to unlock the front door for his aunts.
"Hi auntie's."
"Are you alright Steven?" his aunt Yevette asked the second he had the door open. His aunt Bella said nothing as she took a few steps in and kneeled down to give Steven a hug. "Your father called us in a panic about something but before we could get an answer out of him we lost connection."
"Did he send you?" Steven asked ocwardly hugging his silent aunt back while trying not to drown in one of the flowing dresses she tended to wear, no matter the weather out.
"No, we came on our own." Yevette said taking off the sunglasses she had on and hooking them to the front of her collared shirt, coming into the front room. Steven looked around his aunts and out the front door. His aunts moved to block his view but he saw what they blocked. There was a very big truck out front, like a tanker truck. It sent a red flag up in his head and he became a bit ridged and Bella sensed this.
"Why?" Steven questioned. He was gently trying to untangle himself from Bella's grip but she wasn't letting go. She stopped hugging him but when she stood back up she held on tight to Steven's hand. "I'm old enough to be left on my own."
His aunts had always made him feel a bit uncomfortable. It wasn't because they didn't love him, they loved him very much. It was because every time they came to visit, his third aunt would always be with them. Without her both Yvette and Bella were very open loving people. Not seeing her with them now was making him more nervous then it should have. She was just so creepy. Always popping up out of the blue and scarring Steven every time.
Yevette was always a stern yet loving Aunt. She was strong and smart. She taught Steven how to trust his gut and toughened him up a bit to know how to take a beating. Bella was quite the opposite, she never really spoke. When she did she was very soft spoken and hardly said a word above a gentle whisper. Her wife would usually speak for both of them and it always seemed to make her uncomfortable when Yevette couldn't talk for her. Despite this she was always very gentle with Steven. She taught him about the different sea life around his town and home. She would always be the one to take Steven to the beach and would spend hours with him playing in the sand. Even as he got older and started to venture into the sea she would always be there to watch over him. He always found it strange that whenever they went to the beach, no matter how stormy or rough the weather was, the sea always seemed to calm at there presence.
"We came to check on you." Yevette said looking around. "Are you here alone?"
"Yea, why?" Steven asked cautiously as Bella leaned over and whispered something in her wife's ear. Yevette frowned and looked at the door to the car-wash. She walked over to it quickly and Steven tried to follow, but Bella held his hand tight.
"Then why do you have monsters in your home." She said opening the door to be met with growling.
"No, don't!" Steven yelled reaching for his aunt.
"Hello there." Yevette said with a smile before turning back to the front door that she left open "Get them."
"Dammit Steven." Jasper growled watching the door shut. She turned back to Pearl and Connie and frowned. "I swear to Neptune, if we didn't make that promise I'd drown him right now."
'How is she here?' Pearl clicked softly as her hands trembled.
"Is she going to hurt us?" Connie's voice was so soft that it scared the aquatics even more then they already were. Nothing set more fear into your gut then the fear of a child.
'I don't know.'
"W-What are we going to do?"
"We need to get out of here." Jasper said as they could hear muffled voices talking with Steven on the other side of the door. Two they recognized but the third alluded the aquatics yet the tones sounded familiar to them. The amount of red flags in there heads was starting to make them panic a bit. "We need to grab that little idiot and run."
Jasper herself was fighting every urge to run. She was way out of her element up here. There wasn't enough water for her to properly defend them all with. Pearl was too hurt to really put up much of a fight and she doubted the shifter could do much being so small. She wasn't her ancestors and didn't look like she could fight if her life depended on it. She couldn't leave Steven in the other room with the ones they feared. They promised to keep both of them safe and it was taking a great amount of effort to stay in place to try and figure this out instead of running away or bursting in there to get the boy back in a blind rage induced fury.
Steven shouting had Jasper back up and heavy foot falls came towards the door. She turned and grabbed Connie by the sleeve of her shirt. "Hide behind that blue thing." She said pulling the girl out of her companions grip and shoving her towards the big spiral brushes on the other side of the pool. "Quickly."
Her voice started to growl as the door was forced open. She felt herself start to tense up for a fight as the being who caused the war, helped kill off there species, was standing just a few feet from her. "Hello there." She said with a smile looking away after a moment. "Get them."
"No!" Steven yelled as the car-wash door was forced open.
The aquatics didn't have time to react as a pressurized stream of water hit Jasper. The Guardian yelled out in surprise as she was forced into the back of the car-wash, slamming her into the metal wall. The pressure from the water was so great and so much that it not only pinned her in place, it tricked her body into changing, rendering her immobile.
'Jasper!' Pearl clicked she tried to grab a hold of the water holding her companion but a big hand on her arm stopped that.
"No you don't." Yevette said literally yanking Pearl out of the pool. The thin aquatic snapped and hissed as she was thrown to the floor. Just a light show later and Yevette had her arms twisted behind her back and pinned her to the floor by her knees. Pearl wasn't giving up though. She was twisting and turning the best she could trying to get away. She was terrified and internally panicking, outwardly cursing.
'Get off me you spinless jellyfish!' Pearl clicked. Her voice was just as aggressive as Jasper's, who was cursing a whole lot more trying to move. The problem was every time she started to get up the pressure would increase, forcing her back down. 'Agh!'
"Be quiet."
"Yevette!" Bella said as she watched her wife's hand spark to life with electricity and zap the mermaid below her. Pearl screamed in pain and all the good it did was work the Guardian up more and didn't stop Pearl's struggling. If anything it made them more determined and it was starting to annoy Yevette. "They need to be alive!"
"I'm not going to kill them Bella." Yevette said with a roll of her eyes and a tisk, leaning into her grip on Pearl's wrists behind her back causing her to whimper a bit in pain.
"Stop!" Steven tried to get out of his aunt's grip but she was holding him tight. "Don't hurt them!"
"How did you end up with them in your house?" Yevette said looking at Steven as several people armed and in full riot gear entered the car-wash. "There dangerous."
"There not dangerous!" Steven said trying to reach out and grab at them "There my friends!"
"You can't be friends with things like them Steven." Yevette said as the armed men surrounded her and took her place holding Pearl down so she could stand. "They kill kids like you."
"No they don't!" Steven was trying so hard to get out of Bella's grip and she was starting to lose her grip on him. "Let them go!"
"Steven please." Bella said softly before losing her grip on him "Steven!"
Steven ran at the guys pinning Pearl down and body slammed into one. He did manage to get the guy to fall over but before he could do anything else Yevette picked him up. He kicked and hollered but his aunts grip was steel. He kicked and flailed as she pulled him back and held him tight, ducking under the constant jet of water as to not get them wet. "Get off her!"
"Get her in the truck!" Yevette snapped. "And someone get the one hiding behind the brush over there!"
Steven was struggling hard but was getting no where. As he was fighting his aunt's hold on him Pearl was fighting her own battle. Where it took just Yevette to hold her down it took at least five of her guys to hold her. She yanked hard on there grip and once she was on her feet she growled. Bella yelled at them to watch out but it was too late. Pearl yanked her head one way and all the water in the pool shot out and slammed two of the guys out into the street and into the side of the truck they came in. It rocked the truck so violently it groaned in protest before settling back down on its tiers again.
The remaining yelled for more back up as Pearl started to twist out of there grip. In the mean time, thanks to Pearl making a scene, Jasper was able to get on her hands and knees. Her eyes were burning the air around her as she raised up on her knees, clenched her fists, and roared. With this she grabbed all the water she could and rushed it forward. All the anger and energy in her to fight was directed into the water. It was such an immense energy that it ripped the few men who were going for Connie in half. It even ripped apart two men who came forward to grab Pearl again but she didn't get them all. She couldn't without hitting her companion or Steven.
To Steven's horror Yevette pushed him into Bella's arm and stepped away to the fighting mermaids. Steven cried out as Yevette wound back and slammed her sparking fist into Pearl's back. It was much harsher then the shock earlier and sent Pearl flying away from them. "Pearl!"
The thin aquatic landed on the ground in a heap. She was slightly smoking and couldn't drag herself back to her feet. The wind was knocked out of her and left her gasping for air. She was no where near able to defend herself like this. Not now. Yevette didn't waist a moment before turning and stomping her foot down into the water all over the floor. This sent a much harsher spark into the Guardian. Like electricity moves, the power surged all through the water on the floor and not just at her intended target. It sparked up not only the Guardian but hit Pearl again and killed several of her own men who got in the way. Bella had seen this reaction coming and had jumped back into the safely of the dry floor of the living-room, holding Steven tightly against her so he wouldn't get shocked and die.
The screams from both aquatics made Steven cover his ears. It was so loud and absolutely horrible to listen too. It broke him even more when Connie fell forward and hit the ground. She was smoking just like the aquatics but she wasn't moving.
"C-Connie!" Steven yelled.
"Steven wait a min-ow!" Bella let Steven go with a start as he not so gently bit her hand.
"Steven!" Yevette snapped but the boy wasn't listening.
He ran across the car-wash and fell to his knees at his friends side. "Connie?" Steven asked reaching out and touching her shoulder. He got slightly zapped and he winced at it. "Ah!" Steven took his hand back for a second before moving Connie to lay on her back. "Connie, Connie wake up." He started tapping her shoulder quickly but before he could really do anything Yevette came up behind him and yanked him away from her. "No!"
"Enough!" Yevette yelled and it made Steven jump. The way he looked up at her in terror broke her a bit inside but she didn't show it. She couldn't. Not now. "Quit acting like a fool."
"You hurt them!" Steven yelled with tears in his eyes "Why?! What did they do to you?!"
"That's none of your business." Yevette growled "Bella, take him to the truck. Someone get in here and get these three ready for transport!"
"Leave them alone Auntie!" As Bella came up and grabbed Steven's arm the boy looked around them to the mermaids. They both were smoking really bad and looked worse for wear. Pearl was just in a heap like Connie and wasn't moving. Seven was afraid she wasn't even breathing. Jasper was gasping in shallow breaths. She was struggling to get up, struggling to move. She was digging her hands into the floor, clawing deep grooves into the concrete below her. It was like watching a pitiful puppet show with the doll in question missing it's strings. Her eyes were flickering in there glow and it hurt Steven to watch. He wanted to go over to make sure they were all ok. "Why are you doing this?!"
"Because I have too." Yevette said walking over and picking Connie up. Once she had the unconscious girl secure in her grip she came over and grabbed Steven by the arm, pulling him out of her wife's grip, who was having trouble holding on to him. "Make sure they move them properly. I know how important she is."
Steven didn't have time to ask as more men flooded the car-wash. His aunt yanked him forward and he knew he wouldn't get out of her grip but he still put up a fight. Yevette asked him to stop but when he didn't she didn't give him a second warning as she zapped him into unconsciousness to match his best friend. It killed her inside to do it but she didn't have a choice. A small shock was a better punishment then his third aunt getting a hold of him. Anything was better then that.
Sunkin Ship, Drop off to Shore
The pod wasn't fairing much better. After a lot of swimming up and down the coast they were growing frustrated. Every time the trail after there Reader would get thicker and give them hope in finding her it would almost fade out of sight and change direction completely. Every pass, every change, every new direction. By the time the sun started to set the pod was beyond tired and annoyed. This was most evident in Garnet and Ruby. The guardian was growling to herself but not quietly in any way. The water seemed to vibrate around her with each new pass and turn. Ruby's hands were shaking in worry. Her eyes were glowing like a burnt ember but would get just a bit brighter with each new move. Eventually she roared up at the surface and stopped swimming. The water getting hot and bubbling around her as she treaded in place cursing and grumbling under her breath at nothing in particular.
"This is pointless!" Lapis snapped throwing her hands up and stopped swimming "Were getting no where fast."
"I don't understand." Bismuth growled to herself staring the shore down. "This method is full proof!"
"Obviously not." Lapis said crossing her arms.
"I can see the connection better then the lot of you." Bismuth said gesturing around at the others who had all stopped at there harsh words "I can feel the connection I called upon pulling us to her. Tiny can see it just as well being a reader and I can tell can fire cracker there can still feel her." She thumbed over at Peridot and Ruby "So shes not dead. I just don't know what shes doing."
There was just grumbling among the lot until Peridot spoke up with a start "She's moving!"
"What?" Lapis said.
"That's why we can't get a good lock on where she is, she moving or being moved." The small green mermaid swam towards the blue trail in the water and watched it as it would wind one way then suddenly another. "If going in the direction they took her."
"Then she was taken up on land." Garnet said looking up at the surface "Being taken to where she would be." Her gaze fell onto Bismuth "There's only one person up there that we can ask for help but he won't be too willing."
"Wait, are we talking about Greg?" Amethyst asked.
"Yup." Garnet said popping the P at the end.
"Who's Greg?" Bismuth asked as Garnet started past her and towards the lagoon.
"Steven's dad." Amethyst answered following after Garnet closely with the rest of the pod following soon after.
"And Steven is Rose's son." Bismuth said with a frown "He will know how to get to your Reader?"
"Hope so." Amethyst said glancing up at Garnet who's gaze was fixed on the lagoon path ahead. Under the surface there was a thin trail of stones that came out much further into the water then what could be seen on the surface. The cliff face that now hid the lagoon was much taller then the people in town had known. When it came down it not only made the lagoon but silently made a wall of green and shells across the sandy floor to the dark waters below.
"How did you learn of this place?' Bismuth asked "Wasn't this a battle ground at one point?"
"Battle ground?" Lapis questioned "Like in the war?"
"Believe it or not this was one of the places that a few battles took place." Garnet said as she followed the rocked below to the hidden lagoon entrance. There were two ways into the lagoon but they always used the top entrance because they liked the feeling of the sun hitting them when visiting. Now it was just another way to find them so sticking to the dark was important this time "The lagoon was formed after me and Jasper did, did something dumb-"
"You both sent a title wave at the shore line just to see who was the stronger." Bismuth said from the back and got a growl in turn "Not only did they do it, they both learned there matched in power, and how to give away our position in the sea so spectacularly to the enemy. You both got in a lot of trouble from Pearl after that! She almost decked you."
"No way, you both being reckless and getting her pissed off?" Peridot snickered "I would of loved to see that."
"Had me scared out of my mind and I wasn't even involved." Bismuth laughed.
Garnet grumbled at the snickering behind her but it soon died down as they neared the lagoon. As the rocks and boulders above sent the sea into the dark as they got closer the pod moved to be closer together. Garnet moved slowly into the shadows around her. Instead of turning up to swim through the opening above she kept her path straight across the sandy floor. Swimming between two sunken boulders she slipped into the space they created and into the darkness of the lagoon.
'Stay here' Garnet clicked gently at the others. She waited until they were hidden in the dark cracks below before swimming out into the lagoon itself. She slowly swam around the giant rocks resting in a pail leading to the surface above. Her eyes never left the waters break as she slowly started to swim up. She was looking for anything that could hurt them. A feeling of ill-intent in the air or waiting traps in the ater below. When she reached the surface she popped her head out just enough to see.
To the untrained eye they would of missed this, but on the rock where Steven and Greg had called them from was two blood smeared hand-prints right on the edge. As she got closer she could see that the blood wasn't fully dry yet. It still sparkled in the few rays of sunlight shining from the setting sun. Pearl had definitely come this way. It was at least one good sign.
As Garnet placed her hands on the rock and pulled herself out of the water she felt it. A magical pull. It was coming from further inland. Her first instinct was to follow it, her second was to stay in place. As her tri-colored tail of red and blue mixing into purple like cammo turned into legs she felt another pull. A stronger pull. This pull was to defend, the attack, and it wasn't coming from her. Every fiber in her very core was telling her to go sprint off towards the fighting and help her other Guardian. Safety in numbers, in power.
"What's up G?"Amethyst asked making the Guardian jump a bit. "Your super tense."
Garnet didn't realize she was standing as ridged a a board until Amethyst said something. The others were surfacing behind the small aquatic pulling herself out of the water and Garnet clicked her tongue.
"Somethings going down." Bismuth said looking up at the top of the ramp leading out "Who is fighting?"
"Fighting?" Peridot said. "Who's fighting?"
"Jasper." Garnet said "I can feel it in the air."
"Is she hurt?" Blue asked quickly earning a glance from Ruby and Amethyst.
"Don't know." Garnet said looking at the ramp "It's coming from the same direction as the magic I'm feeling."
"I don't feel any magic." Ruby said getting out of the water after Peridot.
"You wouldn't unless you were in the war." Bismuth said getting out last. She was like Garnet, noticing the blood smeared on the rock. Getting onto her feet she could make out half bloodied footprints leading to the ramp and assumingly outside onto the sand. "It's a protection and hiding kinda magic. The shape-shifters on our side used magic like this to help hide us when we needed to get out of bad situations. We stopped using them after a while because the other side figured out how to find these fields and in turn all of us."
"The fighting is coming from that direction." Garnet said "Pearl must of gone to the magic."
"Are you sure?"
"When were hurt we go to the most familiar thing we feel or know." The Guardian said looking at Amethyst "Since she got away and the cave wasn't safe she must of felt this pull and came here in search of help."
"Feels like one of Pepper's family." Bismuth said "Didn't she die at the last battle?"
"She was with a child the last me and Jasper saw her." Garnet answered "We assumed at the last battle she had left with said child, which ended up being the best."
"Any shifters on that field that day died." Bismuth said answering the questioned look on Lapis' face. "We need to get going."
Garnet frowned but lead the way out of the lagoon. The move through the town was slow. It was almost completely dark out. Most of the people in town had gone home for the day but the few that were milling about would give a double take at the group of basically half naked women walking past. Some of the younger of the pod stumbled here and there as they walked. They weren't as used to being on there feet as the older two were. To compare it was like watching a child walk across a fun house floor that was slowly rotating. The occasional stumbled or trip not drawing attention to themselves but earning a few smirks from the older ones.
The more they walked the more they felt the pull of the magic. It was so strong and such a powerful pull that the younger's who had never felt magic like this, it hit them with a wave. A few of them had there eyes glow for a few moments.
"Wow, this stuff is something else." Amethyst said bouncing on her toes a bit "No wonder Pearl came this way."
Garnet didn't say anything as they moved but she felt that the fighting had stopped abruptly. To her this was a bad sign. When ever a Guardian would fight, especially Jasper and herself, the fighting never really stopped suddenly. Due to there power and ability to get very into the battle at hand, it took them a good while to come down from that fighting high. From that need to protect at all cost and sacrifice self preservation to save there pods and companions. It being cut off so suddenly like this indicated that the Guardian had lost.
When they got within range of the edge of the magic field the car-wash came into view. The pod didn't know what to expect but it wasn't a building that looked like it got struck by a lightning storm. The building looked ok per say. However the garage door leading into the car-wash part was ripped off its hinges and thrown into the grass along side the building. Water was just covering the ground outside and as they got closer they could see all the water inside too. The floor was a dark grey color and as they came right up to the way in, the biggest things to stand out were the partially deflated pool and the huge body indent in the back wall.
Every hair was standing up on Garnet's head. Her mind was screaming at her to take the pod away, get them back to safe waters. The other part of her was telling her to find there missing Guardian and Protector. To get them back and defend them all. Both sides were fighting in her very core. Bismuth was watching her and there surroundings closely. The Guardian was having a hard time holding onto rational thought and peace of mind so she took to looking around. She took in what the others could see and figured out pretty quick Jasper had lost this fight.
"She lost." Bismuth said looking at the back wall "There not here."
"They left recently." Blue said softly looking all around in the water in front of them. It made the older two pause a bit at her words.
"What do we do?" Peridot asked "There's no-one here."
"There's one person." Lapis said pointing to the inside of the car-wash. Coming out of a side door was a stumbling Greg. He looked like crap. The ends of his hair were fried a bit and his cloths were dirty. He had black smudges across his hands and he looked like he just went through an ordeal "Greg!"
"Oh no!" Greg looked to see the pod standing there and took a step back "Don't tell me you need help too!"
"You look like you went a few rounds with the craken." Amethyst said looking around Garnet who had turned her head slightly to look at him "What happened?"
"No." Greg said pointing at them "I'm not answering any questions until I know whats going on!"
"Take a breath dude." Amethyst said as Garnet took a step towards him "Just-"
"Don't touch the water!"
Greg's warning came a few seconds too late. The moment Garnet stepped into the water on the ground a shock of electricity shot up her leg and sent her flailing onto the ground with a thud. Bismuth imminently stepped between the pod and Greg. She grabbed the water in the ground and brought it up to a sharp point, pointing it directly at Greg's head.
"What did you do?!" Bismuth yelled using the water to back Greg up to the wall while the others moved. Amethyst and Blue moved to help Garnet back to her feet while Peridot and Ruby stood back to back looking for more threats. Lapis took parts of the water out of what Bismuth had controlled and turned them into chains, grabbing Greg and pinning him into the indent in the back wall. "Where are the other two in the pod?!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Greg said tilting his head back trying to get away from the water in his face. "I didn't do anything to them! They came here for help!"
"Where are they?" Lapis growled.
"I don't know!" Greg said as Garnet was pulled to her feet and steadied "I left them here with Steven and when I got back the place was like this!"
"Fish paist." Lapis spat as Bismuth growled. Before the larger mermaid could impale Greg with the water she controlled Garnet grabbed her wrist. In telling her to wait the Guardian walked into the car-wash. As she made her way to him she took in more of the wash. There were signs of a struggle marked all over the floor. scraping and deep oozing puddles were about the floor. The outline of three figures were burned into the floor. Two were small and one was big. The need to run was almost over powering as she made it to Greg. She looked at the deep grooved dug into the floor under her feet.
"What happened?" Garnet asked "Where are the other two of our pod?"
"I-I don't know." Greg said "Steven's friend's parents were attacked and I went over to there house to find them, leaving Steven with your creepy Guardian and Pearl and when I got back there was no-one here! I need o find my son!"
"The water." She said "Why did it shock me?"
"T-That's the power Steven's aunts have on Rose's side." Garnet waved her hand at the two holding Greg in place. Lapis imminently let him go but Bismuth was more reluctant. She growled slightly but took the water away from Greg's face, not dropping it but holding it in a way to show they still had the upper hand. Greg took a few calming breaths before continuing "Two of his aunt's can do weird things like this. I've seen them move the ground and control the air. It's... It's scary to watch."
"Elemental's." Amethyst mumbled under her breath as the others in the pod came into the car-wash. The need to be close together and out of sight pushing them more into the building then there Guardian wanted but having them close made her feel better.
"Can Steven?" Blue's words trailed off as Greg shook his head.
"He can't do what they do." Greg said "Rose and his two aunts were the only ones who could that kinda stuff and they never did it around him. There afraid of hurting Steven so they never did it in front of them."
"They did this time." Lapis said looking around "Do you think they have him?"
"I hope so." Garnet barred her teeth and Greg quickly spoke "Look, they are very protective of Steven when they come around. They would never hurt them."
"They hurt someone." Peridot said "Would they turn on him?"
"Never."
"The magic around the building." Garnet said "Who set it?"
"Steven's best friends mom." Greg said "There shape-shifters and someone attacked there family. I left the kids with your two here and went to see if I could find them."
"They were here?" Blue asked hopeful.
"They promised to keep them safe while I went out." Greg said "I got back a few minutes ago."
"So these 'aunts' of Steven's." Bismuth said "Do you think they have our two?"
"Jasper and Pearl keep there word." Garnet said "There with the kids."
"How do you know?" Peridot asked. She got a look from the Guardian and didn't ask again.
"Where would they take them?" Ruby growled from the back of the group "Sapphire was taken too and we need to find all three of them!"
"There's only one place they would all go." Greg said frowning "But it's not an easy place to get too."
"Is it on land?" Lapis asked.
"Yes but it's next to the ocean." Greg said.
"Show us the way." Bismuth said "Will swim there."
"But I can't breath underwater like you all."
"It will be faster then traveling on land."
"I'm going to need to boat to get there." Greg said "We get a boat I can take you right up to there front door."
"You have five minutes to be ready." Garnet didn't waist more then a moment on her decision. When Pearl was out of the picture or incapacitated command of the pod would go down the ranks among them. Garnet and jasper were third in line for being in charge and since Sapphire wasn't here, the title was now hers. In more then a blink she grabbed Greg by the front of his shirt and yanked him into the car-wash, shoving him into there living room. "Deal."