AN: Hey guys! See I kept my promise I didn't wait forever to post and I made it much longer…Just so you know this chapter (as well as the others) have not been proofread.

Anyways I really hope you will enjoy it and please review :).

Steffy2106

Chapter 18:

We were on a Jet back to Virginia, and I had to admit that the Alchemist didn't spare any money to get me back. Usually alchemists were pretty austere, spending as little as possible, but I knew they were scared I would change my mind and run away and I knew well enough that if Jared Sage invested that much of the Council money, there would be hell to pay.

Adrian was sitting beside me, keeping my hand secured in his. David was sitting across from me and couldn't help to glance at our intertwined hands every once in a while but he stayed silent.

Adrian had just dozed off, resting his head on top of mine, when David finally acknowledged my existence.

"You know you can't let him come with you in the Council right? You'll be lucky if they let him in the building." David whispered.

"Oh they will let him in the room; I have the right to representation."

"What?" Said David, a bit too loudly. "You can't be serious!" He whispered with as much anger as a whisper could convey. "Your representative has to be a lawyer or a fellow alchemist."

"There is no rule on that. The process simply says we have the right to a representative."

"You know what is happening is serious right?" And his anger seemed to morph in something more….worry? I couldn't be sure.

"I know only too well what can happen here."

"Let me be your representative Syd please, I can help you….He can only make things worse."

"Oh yea like you help Marie?" I snorted. "No thanks."

"It's different!"

"How so?"

David looked at me silently for a minute.

"Because he didn't love her….but he loves you." Said Adrian, kissing the top of my head.

I should have realized that our little argument would wake Adrian up.

"Adrian you're being silly!"

"Stay out of my head or any other mojo you monsters are doing." David growled.

Adrian chuckled squeezing my hand. "I don't need my vampire 'mojo' to see that, it's written all over your face, I'm just glad that my Sage is so oblivious."

"David?" No it was impossible! David had been my friends forever; he was destined to be Mary's boyfriend. He never felt that way about me.

"What do you want me to say? You don't want to hear my answer to that Syd, you never did…..not really" He asked defensively. "Just let me defend you."

"I know which angle you are going to take…I know what you will risk and you know I can't accept that."

David had a humorless laugh." You didn't tell him did you?"

"David just shut up."

"Tell me what?"

"Did she tell you that she probably won't walk out of the headquarter a free woman? It doesn't matter if she wants out or not."

I could feel Adrian's eyes on me but I kept looking straight ahead, throwing David a murderous look.

"And it doesn't matter who you are…the sentence would be the same for you and even the monster queen couldn't have saved you. You need the alchemists as much as you hate to admit it. Going against one of our treaties would mean losing her throne and we both know she couldn't afford losing her crown just to save you."

"Save me from what?" Adrian asked and it was so easy to hear the cold edge of anger in his voice.

"Anyone who help or assist a full fledge alchemist in any act of treason or help them to break the rules should be sentence to the full extent of their crimes by our law."

"Which is?"

"Imprisonment or execution."

Adrian snorted. "Yea, like Sage would risk my life that way!"

David shook his head. "No she probably wouldn't, I know Sydney much better than she thinks I do."

"Yea you totally saw that coming" I said with as much venom as I could, showing him my hand that was intertwined with Adrian's' but he ignored that.

"She probably made a deal, contacted her friend Rose, asked her to convince your Queen to negotiate a bail for you, maybe some kind of probation. I'm pretty sure it was one of her condition to full rendition. You will most likely leave the compound, she will not."

Adrian snorted again. "Sage tell him he is way off."

"Yes Sage….Tell me I'm way off."

I sighed, resting silent doing my best to avoid Adrian's eyes.

Adrian jumped from his seat pulling me up with him. He rested my hands on my cheeks so I couldn't avoid his eyes anymore.

"Did you do that?" I was surprise he was not trying to use his compulsion on me, he was keeping his promise even in moments like this.

"I just couldn't let you go down with me." I whispered." You didn't know what you were getting into."

"But I'm the one who asked you to go to Rome."

"Yes but…" I rested my hands on his wrists." You didn't know the risks….I did. How could I let you share the blame for something I did?"

"Do you think it would have changed anything?"

I laughed. I knew the boy had no instinct of self-preservation. "Maybe not but it doesn't matter, You'll walk out a free man.

"Man…." grumbled David.

"And you won't" added Adrian .

"We don't know that. They will most likely just ask me to choose between them and you and if I chose you well I will not be able to come back." I forced a smile. "Amish remember."

"Or they will send you to rehabilitation center"

"David just…just shut up!" I snapped.

"What is the rehabilitation center?" Asked Adrian, directly to David.

David shrugged. "I never been there personally but I saw people come back….they were never the same again. I imagine it as being a giant lobotomy".

"Why are you doing this?" I cried out, turning toward him.

"You won't let me save you, but he might." He pointed to Adrian.

"You don't know if I need help. The member that will run the audition is my father!"

"Oh come on we both know Jared Sage! You know he would rather fry your brain than lost the face again as he did with your sister."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to calm down before sitting back down. "We'll see after the audition, if he take me in front of the full council I'll figure something."

Adrian shook his head. "I won't let you go back there, I'm taking you away."

"Don't be silly Adrian! If you were taking me away now you would probably end up in Jail for life and nobody could help you then."

"Like I care" he said taking the direction of the cockpit, I knew what he intended to do….Compel the pilot to take us somewhere else.

Adrian tried the door, "Could you please open?" He as calmly as possible, I always wanted to see a cockpit.

"I'm sorry sir I can't. I've been informed by the lady not to open, under any circumstances, until we landed."

Adrian threw me a dark look and I tried my best to pretend I was not affected by it. "You thought of everything."

I smiled. "I'm Sage…what did you expect?" I sighed. "I know you well." I patted the seat beside me. "Come here, we'll be landing in a few and I want to be with you."

Adrian sat and I rested my head on his shoulder trying my best to forget that David was staring at us. I skimmed his neck with my nose and I couldn't help but smile when he had a small shiver.

"Tell me it's not our last moments together." He whispered.

"Of course not" I was trying so hard to believe that.

As soon as we landed, there was three other alchemists waiting by the plane, based on they were wearing I knew they were keepers ….which was our equivalent of army.

I see you are really scared I'll make a break for it. I thought bitterly. "When is the audition?" I asked David.

"Now"

I grabbed Adrian's hand. "Whatever happens in this room do not use compulsion, don't even try to." I whispered with urgency. "Please you have to understand that I couldn't live with myself if anything were to happen to you. I have enough guilt to carry. Please, please Adrian I need you to promise me that if they ask you to walk away you would do it."

"No Sage-"

"Please!" I cried out my voice breaking on the last syllable.

"Fine…just remember that if I were to walk away it's not because of the little I love you but because of how much I do."

I nodded.

My father was waiting for us behind his big mahogany desk.

"Sydney" he acknowledge, ignoring Adrian.

"Father…."

"I thought you told me you would not disappoint me again."

I stood slightly straighter. "I'm only living my life."

My father finally locked eyes with Adrian. "I don't think you're welcome here."

"I have the right to choose my representative to the audition and he is who I chose."

"What are his qualifications?"

"I love him."

I saw the muscles of my father jaw budge. "These are not any qualifications."

"It is to me."

"Do you really think that challenging me now? Bring it here is the right move here, daughter of mine? You really chose the wrong way and place to rebel."

"Sir we're not doing anything wrong" Said Adrian taking a step toward my father's desk. "Sydney is very important to me, if you want us to make things officials we could get ma—"

"Do you know how much I hate your race? What you represent? DO you know what happened to her sister? What one of yours…Ivashkov did to her?"

"No"

"He made her believe he loved her, used her….made an addict of her and shared her with his friends! You are below everything."

Adrian turned to look at me to see if it was true I sighed and looked away.

"But I'm not him, its different here I love—"

"You, nothing! You may think you are different now but it won't last and-"

"How did you know?" I asked cutting him off. I knew it wasn't the right move but right now I didn't have much left to lose.

"What?"

"Where we were…what we were?"

"Sometimes even his people can recognize an abomination when they see one and they were nice enough to let me know before it went too far."

"Who?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's irrelevant who."

"My father" Said Adrian so calmly it was scary. "It was him wasn't it?"

"Sometimes things seem just wrong to both side. Sometimes we just need to come to an agreement."

Adrian remained silent but the little twitch of his bottom lip along with the darkening of his eyes led me to think he was furious.

"Now Sydney, you know why you are here?"

"Because I decided not to follow your rules anymore? Because for once in my life I decided to do what felt right and not what you considered was right?"

"What if I offered you the choice?...Stay and be forgiven or walk away with him now….but if you were to do that, walk out of this door with him, you'll be dead to us, you will be forbidden to come back under any circumstances. You will be seen as worse than them as you would have willfully chosen their side over your own blood.

I saw Adrian tense.

"I would choose him" I said loud and clear. "Whatever the choices you are offering, it will always be him."

My father sighed and looked down to his papers for a minute. It was like he was torn, about to do something he dreaded and that was a first I never saw my father like that. I could see his sorrow. He looked up. "You are free to go" he gestured Adrian out. "Your Queen negotiated an agreement with the council. You have to leave now."

"What about Sage? I mean Sydney."

"Sydney knows perfectly what's going to happen doesn't she?"

David words replayed in my mind. 'Oh come on we both know Jared Sage! You know he would rather fry your brain then lost the face again as he did with your sister.' " I won't get out of here."

"You'll be going to rehab for a while." He said gesturing on his left and I saw four guards approach. Two were taking Adrian direction, two were coming my way.

"No, no, no" starting Adrian and I could see the panic on his face. Damn David and his warning! "You don't touch her!" He shouted and I saw his pupils dilate, I knew only too well what it meant. He was trying to compel them when I specifically asked him not to.

"Adrian, no!" I said standing in front of the guard. I knew it would take too much strength to compel five persons and then he will be sent to jail I knew that much. "You promised!"

"But they are going to break you!" He cried out as two guards caught his arms and two others caught mine.

"Take him out" shouted my father.

"Wait wait wait!" Said Adrian, fidgeting to get out of their grip, as they tried to pull him out. "I can make her like before."

My father gestured the guards to stop.

"I see you are reluctant to send her to camp." Said Adrian breathless from the effort.

"What other choice do I have? There is no turning back from what she did."

"What if I can make her forget everything? Forget I love her….forget she loves me. What if I returned her allegiance to before she came to California?"

I was just too surprise to even say anything. He wouldn't do that would it? He couldn't do that, he promised to never use his compulsion on me, he swore.

My father looked at Adrian with interest mixed with doubt.

"You can do that?"

Adrian nodded, avoiding my pleading eyes. "It's my vampire 'mojo'" he said using David's wording. "You don't need to send her to rehab, I can fix her."

"But I don't need fixing" I snapped angrily.

They both ignored me. "Well if you can do that…..yes I promise, I swear she won't go to rehabilitation."

Adrian let out a sigh of relief before turning to me so quickly I didn't have the time to avoid his eyes. "Look at me Sage, don't let go of my eyes, you are frozen….frozen on the spot."

"Please no…you promised" I whispered so quietly that I was sure that only Adrian could here.

"You don't need to keep your hands on her." He said slowly walking toward me.

"Let her be" said my father.

Adrian came to stand in front of me molding my face in his hands. I could see his eyes glistering with tears and I knew it was the end of us, I knew what he was going to do.

"I won't forget you, you can do whatever you want." I kept my voice low.

Adrian gave me a broken smile; I never witnessed such a sad smile before. "I'm more powerful than you think Sage, but I will always love you….always and forever."

"You promised."

"I also promised to let you go if I had to and I can't let you be sent to camp and I know you couldn't live with the idea of me taking hopeless risks to get you out. It's the only way for you not to ache and me to try to survive."

"What about you? Adrian you can't just erased yourself from me."

"Just know that if I walk away from you now, erasing all we share it's not because I love you more than even word can describe. I wanted to marry you, I could see our little babies…I" His voice broke as he took in a shaking breath as I hopelessly begged him with my eyes.

I was all that with you I managed to say.

"You will forget everything that happened between us, you will forget ever being sent to California, meeting Jill...befriending me, loving me."

I couldn't help but nod as I felt my memories being erased slowly; it was like having a part of my soul forcefully taken out.

"You never went to Rome, in fact you hate me, you hate all of us after what happened to your sister you can't stand to be in the same room than any of us."

"Can you rekindle the feeling she had for David –"

"No," Adrian kept his eyes on me while talking to my father. "You are already making me die inside by making me do that. I can't push her into the arms of someone else. I'm not strong enough to do that."

My father grumbled something.

"You are tired now Sage, you are going to fall asleep and once you wake up every memory of me and everything that might have happened in California or anywhere else in the past few months will be gone" he kissed me softly. "Sleep now" he added the voice breaking and everything went black.