Tash wraps Jamie in a monster hug when they first lay eyes on each other again. "OhmyGod ohmyGod ohmyGod! I missed you, are you ok? You have to tell me what happened to us cause you know I barely remember it's all kinda a blur but -"

"Hey!" Jamie exclaims, cutting the other girl off firmly. "All you need to know is that it's me they wanted. Actually, if you had stayed put, you'd have never been taken in the first place!"

"Well...but you're my best friend." Tash's eyes are wide. She seems hurt. "I know I'm not any good in a fight but I had to try for you!"

Jamie's eyes fill with tears, but she manages to keep them from spilling. "Jesus, sister. I just wish I was worthy of that kinda loyalty."

"You don't get to decide who I think is worthy of my friendship." Tash answers firmly. "And screw you for thinking that in the first place. I have a brain and I know very well how to use it, therefore I'm perfectly capable of deciding who is worthy of my attention. Now come on. We're going to find Jake because he's been just as super worried about you as I have been." She snatches up Jamie's hand and stalks off.

Jamie's so taken by the other girls admonitions, she can't bring herself to protest.

...

"You know, sometimes I wish I was a telepath if only so I could figure out what exactly the hell that girl's thinkin'." Jamie comments to Jake as Tash strolls off to let them talk in relative privacy.

"You, me, and everyone else with enough energy to try and keep up as her friend." Jake sighs. "She's kinda her own special force of nature. Well, anyway. Real talk. How are you doing?"

Jamie blows out a breath. "I'm..alive. That's about all I can say at this point."

"Alive is good." Jake concedes. "If that's all you can be for now, that's cool. Everything ok? Back home, I mean?"

"Yeah. Well, not really, but it will be. They're gonna re-build my ma's diner."

"I'm sure she's happy, then!"

Jamie just shrugs.

A moment of awkward silence ensues.

"I missed you while you were gone." Jake says slowly.

Jamie musters a smile for him. "I missed you too."

"You know, I was thinking..." He stops, seeming to hesitate a moment.

Before he can go on, the sharp click-clack of a pair of stiletto heels makes itself known, followed promptly by the appearance of their tall, haughty owner. "Jake! I thought you said we were going out." Sarah Summers loops an arm around his, glancing sourly at Jamie.

Jake grimaces, bringing a hand up to run it through the thick blue fur at the back of his neck as if to remind himself of whether it's their or not. "Oh. Right. Sorry, babe. I'll get ready."

"Hurry?" She asks sweetly. "I'm getting awful hungry."

Jamie rolls her eyes.

"Yeah." He hesitates, blows out a breath. "I'll see you later, Jamie. We'll talk, I promise."

A moment of tense silence ensues as he walks off.

Sarah places her hands on her hips. "I swear you've been the only thing on his mind lately."

Jamie eyes the redhead up a moment, and then blows out a breath. "I ain't lookin' for trouble, Barbie doll."

"And yet somehow you're always at the center of it. Why is that?"

Wild Thing peeks her head out of her mental cage; a smirk plays at Jamie's lips. "Why is it that your boyfriend is more preoccupied with me than you? I kinda find that more of interest."

Another moment of silence. Sarah huffs. "Just keep your hands off him." It's not a suggestion. "Remember, he is still mine." She twirls on her heel and struts off, hips swaying.

Jamie rakes a hand through her hair, huffing a growl at herself. "Couldn't forget if I tried."

...

She tries to call her mother. Just once a day, always leaving a message, but never a long one; most times just an 'I love you'. The older woman never answers. Jamie keeps calling anyway.

The days drag by as snow blankets the grounds outside.

...

Snow. Fat flakes fall slow, lazy, unhindered by wind, covering the ground in a fresh, sparkling layer of stark white. This is the third time in a week that it's snowed, and the novelty has worn off already for most as there's so much of it on the ground. Jamie's tracks are the only ones trailing along the grounds of the school on this snowy afternoon; everyone else would rather be inside where it's warm and there's hot tea or chocolate to drink.

Or...

Snow has the unique ability to dampen sound to a far higher degree than most fully realize. Footsteps, if placed slow and careful, aren't as easily heard by feral ears, and she had been quite lost in thought. She stops in her tracks a moment, head cocking to the side as she suspends her breathing and listens close. The suddenness of her pause results in a delayed reaction; snow crunches just softly some feet behind her, and she can hear his sharp intake of breath. Several moments pass in sudden silence. The lightest of breezes stirs her hair; his scent carries.

Jamie smirks. Ok, then. Playtime it is.

Movements far more calculated this time, she starts herself moving again, towards the forest of mostly barren trees that surrounds the mansion. He keeps moving too, but she only hears the first few steps before he finds his rythm again. Upon reaching the tree line she spins around quick, but isn't surprised to find he's not there. In fact, his tracks broke off from the path she'd been taking several feet back. They disappear entirely upon reaching the tree line. Ah. That confirms her theory; he hasn't taken his 'medicine' today. That means Major Firebrand von Bitchface isn't around either. Wild Things races to the surface and Jamie lets her, growing excited. This will be fun.

The forest is home to a liberal number of Evergreen trees, a lovely way to ensure the grounds look alive in their own way all year round. The skin beneath all his fur is leathery thick, so the bristly pine needles won't be a bother to him; he's got a lot of nooks and crannies to hide in. She prowls along the tree line to where his tracks lead into the forest, and shuffles along, making scarce a sound herself. Even her breathing is slowed and silenced with a control Logan had been helping her to practice.

You know how to use your nose well as anyone I know, that I'll give yah, he'd explained, but mastery of yahr other senses is just as important. Learn to listen and really hear, learn to look and really see, learn to understand what yahr instincts are telling you, and most importantly learn to be aware of yourself, too. That's our real advantage, kid. Tools we need to disappear if we gotta are built right in.

She creeps through the snow, scanning the trees. She spots a tuft of blue fur on a few lowering hanging branches a ways further into the forest, and a few odd piles of snow on the ground beneath another. There's an Evergreen not far away...

Did she just hear a branch creak? She scrutinizes the tree. It's huge, quite tall. But He wouldn't have wanted to travel too far up...ah. There. An odd gap between the branches. Just as though the bottom set is a little more heavy laden than the rest.

He'll have eyes on her by now, close as she is. She turns and skulks off in a different direction, as though losing the trail, and decides to give him a dose of his own medicine. First, slip out of his probable line of sight. Spotting the perfect set of trees for her plan, she shuffles softly over and unleashes her claws. The bone is hard enough; if she places it just right, she should be able dig in and climb the tree using them. It's slow going, but she makes it up decently far, making herself comfortable for a moment on a fat branch, being sure to shake off a little snow for show. The next part is harder; she has to walk it like a circus performer, as there's no other branches strong enough to help her. She nearly loses her balance more than once, and fully slips right towards the end, but manages to swing over and land on a branch just below her but attached to another tree. From there it's much easier; she just has to climb down to the lowest hanging branch and jump to the ground so she can hid behind the old oak trees thick trunk.

Now the name of the game is 'wait'.

He's impatient by now; it isn't long before she hears the unavoidable 'thump' as his bulk lands on the ground. Reaching down slow, she scoops up a large handful of snow and shapes it into a ball. He's getting closer, not trying as hard to be quiet in his confusion. Probably looking up, as there are no tracks to lead him to her hiding spot.

Closer...closer...close...

She darts out quick and throws the snow ball. It hits him squarely in the chest, and he's so surprised he actually stumbles back a few paces.

She claps and bursts into laughter. "Ha. That'll teach you to try and out sneak me, Jake McCoy!"

He shakes his head. "Alright. You asked for it." He reaches down, slow and deliberate, scooping up a large handful of snow to form into a ball.

Jamie backs away slow, hands help up in playful surrender. "Ok. Take it easy, there. Nobody wins if you start a war."

"Oh no, this ones all on you!" He stomps forward a few steps, hauls back, and throws the snow ball.

Giggling and shenanigans ensue. They tear through the trees, chasing after each other, insults flying alongside snow balls. They go on this way for some time, until a school bell rings distantly. Ms. Munroe, signaling that it's time for dinner.

Jamie shakes snow out of her hair and sticks her tongue out at Jake, who had technically just won there little fight. "Guess I'll have to get you next time."

"Oh please, you're no where near my level and you know it!" He fires back, but the amusement is fading from his eyes. He looks...sad.

"Hey." Jamie raises an eyebrow. "Why the long face, furball?"

"Oh, ah, I'm just...thinking."

"About...?"

He brings a hand up to worry at the fur on the back of his neck. "Couple of things. Mostly..mostly about Sarah."

"Oh. Trouble in paradise then?" Jamie doesn't think. "Where is the Barbie Doll anyway?"

"She stayed in the city for this weekend. We, uhm. We kinda had a fight."

"Oh. You wanna talk about it...?"

"I proposed."

Jamie freezes. In fact, time itself seems to come screeching to a halt. Her heart skips a beat, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Wild Thing howls in preemptive agony, and Jamie blows out a breath, clears her throat. "Well, we all saw that comin', good for you furball." She grumbles, gruff now. "So what's the problem?"

"She said yes. Well, I mean, she sort of said no, sort of said yes, it was a long conversation and my heads still kind of spinning -"

"Jesus, McCoy." Jamie growls, suddenly brimming with an intense and angry annoyance, "Spit it the hell out, will yah?"

He freezes like a deer in the headlights for a minute, the tone of her voice apparently startling. He shakes his head slow. "She won't marry me unless I agree to not be your friend anymore."

Wild Thing snarls as heart break turns to anger, damnit she'd just love to get her hands on that readheaded piece of - Jamie shoves her hands in her pockets and scowls. "Well that seems a little childish, don't it?"

"Not really. I mean, it would be in any other case. But not ours." He says, his voice going quieter. "She just..isn't stupid. Jamie, there's something I need to tell-"

Jamie holds a hand up. "No."

Hurt registers behind his big golden eyes. "But things are complicated and I need you to..."

Jamie cuts him off again, purposefully vicious. "What you need is to get your big blue head out of the clouds. You don't know me like you know her."

"It's my decision." He snarls back, with a force clearly born of a long pent-up frustration.

"Well - then make it! Just think first! Because chances are you'd learn to hate me like everyone else I know seems to be starting to, and Wild Thing wouldn't wanna let you go too easy."

"What do - what do you mean?" He knows. He understands exactly what she means, the look in his eyes makes that clear. "Say it, Jamie."

She just shakes her head. "Go find someone else to help you figure your shit out, McCoy. I might be many things already, but I'll be damned if anyone's gonna add homewrecker to the list." She slips past him to head inside.

He doesn't follow.

...

The pistol aims itself, held firm in the old crones steady hand, but her grandmothers face warps, grows distorted. Green eyes turn black and yellow as thin lips turn up in an evil grin.

"I'll get you next time, Carol James, just you wait and see!" And she breaks off in a manic cackle as a bullet tears through Jamie's flesh -

Jamie starts awake in her bed in the girls dorm, gasping for breath, her night clothes soaked through with sweat. For a minute she just sits there, paralyzed with fear, heart pounding, stomach churning, muscles tensed and ready for a fight. But there's no real threat. Her only enemy here is her own mind . It takes several minutes, but she manages to compose herself. Somehow, she hadn't woken anyone, though she's certain she had cried out in her sleep.

Her claws slide back into hiding, and she scowls down at the tattered remnants of her bed sheets. Not again.

...

Classes are let out for a few weeks; some students go home to their parents for the holidays. Tash is on this list. She promises to call, but has only done so once so far, explaining that her family had what appeared to be a pretty full vacation planned for her. Dr. McCoy and Ms. Munroe (are the pair married? Why isn't she Mrs. McCoy if they are? Jamie realizes she doesn't know,) have whisked Jake away for some more quiet family time somewhere. He does call, though, at least once a day so far. The thought that he clearly thinks of her, and so often to boot, leaves Jamie with some pretty mixed feelings. She both adores him for his sweetness and hates him for the forbidden feelings he's inspiring in her. She doesn't answer when he calls.

She doesn't bother calling her mother when Christmas Eve arrives. She sort of wishes the old woman will be the one to pick up the phone instead, but isn't holding out much hope anymore by the time morning turns to afternoon. She ends up sat on her bed in the girls dorm after a while, arms crossed as she just stares at her cellphone and contemplates trying to sneak out of the mansion. She'd promised herself she wouldn't go off looking for anymore trouble, but being stuck here mostly alone with her own thoughts is starting to make her sick.

"Mmmm. Don't think Ah like that look on yah face, now. Looks like trouble to meh."

Jamie can't help cracking a small smile as Anna's voice reaches her ears. "You're back! It's about time."

"Whew, now don't Ah know it, sweetpea, yah just have no idea," the older girl comes to sit herself cross-legged on Jamie's bed, "there was a snowstorm up there and Logan ain't actin' a bit himself these days and then there was this creepy ol' Nazi-lookin' fortress way up in the mountains we had to sneak into. It's a long story but Ah am just pleased as pie to be home, let me tell yah, Sug."

Jamie giggles a bit. Something about Anna's mannerisms and accent just always manages to be oddly soothing. "OhmyGod, I missed you."

"Missed yah too!" Anna smiles warmly, leaning in to wrap Jamie in a hug. "Ah'm just sorry it took meh so long to get back down here. Ah know yah been lonely."

Jamie sniffs at the air as Anna comes so close, abruptly distracted. The Southerner smells...kinda funny. Underneath her perfume, her scent has shifted to be almost..almost...like she'd been cuddling with a dog, actually, only it doesn't smell like any kind of dog Jamie's come across before.

"Jamie-girl? Somethin' wrong?"

Anna and Logan had spent quite a bit of time in close quarters together over the course of the past few weeks. It's probably traces of him Jamie's picking up. With no other explaination forthcoming, Jamie shrugs. "Nah, sorry. I'm good. Hey, are you gonna be in charge while Ms. Munroe is gone? Cause Mr. Drake seems kinda weirded out being the boss."

Anna scowls. "Ugh. Not on his life. Ah wanna actually have a holiday. Bobby will get over it. Anyway, Ah ain't worried about him; how are you doin', sweetpea?"

Jamie brings a hand up to rake it through her short brunette waves. "Mostly just bored as hell, honestly. Tash and Jake are both gone, and I think I've been thinking too much."

"Ah. You shouldn't do that. S'bad for yah health, yah know." Anna says with playful seriousness.

"Yeah, I'm startin' to realize that." Jamie conjures up a smile again, though it fades too quickly. "Hey, where's Logan? I'd've thought he'd been headed straight for me soon as you two got back. Figure he's probably got some things to say."

Anna hesitates. "He did." She says haltingly. "But, well. Things're changin' 'round here again, sweetpea. Or, well, maybe they just never quite finished changin' after you got here, s'hard to say..." The other girl clears her throat, almost gruff, clearly uncomfortable. "Look, ah, maybe yah oughta call yahr mama. It's Christmas eve, after all."

"I've been tryin' to call her. She never answers." Jamie sniffs the air. Anna's scent; it's all wrong. She's too tense. "You didn't answer my question, though. Where's Logan?"

"If Ah tell yah it'll be me stickin' my nose where it don't belong, Sug. Let it go."

Jamie studies her a moment, and then nods slowly. "Mom asked him to join her, then." She says quietly. Tears well up. She manages to keep them at bay, but only just. It's like her mother wanted her to be all alone here.

"Awww." Anna leans in and presses a sisterly kiss to Jamie's forehead. "C'mon now, don't cry! And don't think to hard on it, neither. If it makes yah feel any better, they only decided on the idea 'cause they didn't figure you'd be too keen to see him and they knew Ah'd look after yah some."

Jamie swipes a hand over her eyes and takes a breath. "Fair 'nough. So, ah... so what happened. With Victor, I mean. Did you guys get him?"

"Oh, we got him alright." Anna allows the subject change. "Him 'n his mate was captured and bein' held in some kinda facility and yah know, it was the strangest thing, and Ah only thought of it after the fact, but the guards there were wearin' uniforms that..." She trails off abruptly, oddly, catches herself, and continues with a wave of her hand. "Well, anyhow, we got him out, but yah know, he had little ones nearby, a pup and a kit, and she was real sickly. Logan asked him about yahr den but Vic said he didn't do it and we didn't smell a lie on him and considerin' everthing Logan couldn't bring himself to start a fight anyway so that was the end of that."

"He didn't start the fire."

"Nope."

"Oh." Jamie files all that away. She has a feeling...but there'll be time to process the information later. "Ok."

A moment of dead silence ensues. Anna heaves a sigh and reaches out to scoop Jamie's hand up. "C'mon, sweetpea, let's go to my room. Ah bought junk food and we can watch Christmas movies!"

Jamie musters up another small smile; the idea doesn't sound terrible. "Sure. Sounds good!"

...

She goes over it again and again and again in her head. So many times she makes herself dizzy. Though there are a few other people Jamie had managed to piss off at one point or another, most of them were ruffians she'd encountered at the warehouse, and none had ever even known where she lived. In fact, the only friend she'd had up there that had known that was Tierney Doran. And T wouldn't have had any reason to want to torch the place.

So. If Victor didn't do it, and no one else Jamie had ever messed with up there could have done it, and since buildings don't usually just set themselves ablaze, there's only one other possible explanation.

And Jamie's not in the mood to be merciful.

She takes out the pictures she had already blackmailed her grandmother with, and mails them - not to the Fletcher mansion. No, ensuring the photos reach her grandfather requires that they pass through another's capable hands first.

"Hey beautiful." His smooth baritone comes over the phone, tinged with pleasant surprise.

"Hey Kelly. You out of the hospital yet? Cause I need a tiny favor..."

...

The rest of the holiday disappears slow, probably due to the fact that it's painfully dull and void of any notable events, save for the gifts that magically appear on Jamie's bed on Christmas day. (Four of them. One from Tash, a simple though thoughtful trinket. The second is a new pair of boots from Anna, also thoughtful; her old pair had been growing ragged. The third is from Jake. She doesn't open it.)

The teachers and other students all gather down in the rec room on New Years Eve, partaking happily in pizza and cake and soda as they wait for the count down. Jamie joins them but doesn't feel much like celebrating, and it shows. Anna doesn't appear until close to ten, and even then just pulls Jamie back to her room again.

"Bobby 'n the others got their hands full, they ain't gonna notice if we're not down there. You didn't look like yah wanted to be down there anymore than me, anyway." She comments as she locks her door and heads over to her closet.

"Yeah. I haven't done too well, makin' other friends here. Mean, I keep tryin', s'just...hell. I don't know." Jamie rakes a hand through her hair, and raises an eyebrow at Anna, who is now holding an unlabeled jar housing a clear liquid. "Ahkay. Two questions. One, is that what I think it is? And two, what put yah in that kinda mood?"

"Nothin' yah need to be worryin' yah pretty head about, Sug." Anna answers, a little too cheery. "And this, is most definitely what yah thinkin' it is, assumin' yah thinkin' it's somethin' to make yah feel good. Yah want some, or not? S'not all Ah got in here, neither."

Jamie knows she shouldn't, but Jesus, the older girl is offering it so readily... "Oh, hell yes."

...

Jake calls again, around midnight. Not totally unexpected, but Jamie is tipsy, and takes the phone out with every intention of answering this time.

Rogue snatches it up without warning and tosses it in a drawer of her dresser. "Yah'll thank me later, Sug."

She's probably right.

...

Her mother calls the next day at some ungodly hour of the morning, two times. Jamie's a little hungover and too lazy to even reach for the phone. She doesn't even realize it's her mother that called until much later that morning, after she and Anna have both woken up and wandered off to find food. She doesn't really even want to talk to her mother just now, contemplates ignoring the old woman altogether even, but Anna scolds her for the thought.

She tries to call back and it rings forever. She almost just hangs up, but then...

"Jamie!" Her mother's voice carries over the phone, filled with pleasant surprise. "I had worried you wouldn't..."

"I mean, I thought about it." Jamie answers, gruff.

"Oh, it's so good to hear your voice!" Her mother blurts, as though Jamie hadn't spoken. There's something about the other woman's tone of voice...she sounds oddly over-excited. "Are you alright? I know you should be safe enough down there at the school but Logan's been such a cryptic son of a bitch these past weeks, I haven't quite been able to work out whether I ought to be worried or -"

"Ma." Jamie barks, cutting the older woman off. "What the hell are you goin' on about?"

"You mean...you don't know? Logan heard something odd over the phone the last time he called me, it set him all on edge." There's worry and anger and confusion mixed into her voice. "He destroyed my phone the moment he got up here to me and refused to buy me a new one. And then he disappeared on me for a few days and came back looking all roughed up and thinks a new phone is an adequate apology! And then the last time I asked him what's going on, he just told me to ask you! Said something about some friends of yours sending their regards, I've no idea what that could possibly mean."

As if on queue, Jamie's phone pings with a text message. "Hold on a minute for me, Ma." Brows furrowed, she pulls the phone away to read it.

Meet me here at noon and do not be late. We have much to discuss.

T. Labelle

The snake lady.

The date given is two weeks away, a Saturday, and the address typed out leads to an abandoned warehouse in some vaguely sketchy part of town about an hour away. Typical. Jamie sighs as she brings the phone back to her ear. "Your phone was bugged. Logan was right to get rid of it."

"Bugged? But I don't understand, whatever for?"

Jamie rakes a hand through her hair. "Because they've got eyes on me every which way, I'd figure. It's alright, I think this is actually their version of playin' nice an' besides, I don't blame 'em for keepin' tabs on me."

"Who are you talking about? Carol James..."

"Look, it doesn't even matter. You guys can't do anythin' about it. Try to relax, Ma. I'm not in any danger right now."

"But I don't... I mean, why would people be watching you? Oh, look here, I'm telling Logan that we're leaving tonight, I've left you on your own down there too long already, haven't I?"

Jamie blows out a breath. "They're watching me because they know what I can do and they don't want me disappearin' on 'em." She answers, patient. "Don't you dare leave. Stay at the cabin with Logan, I know he'll protect you, if it's even necessary. I'm safe enough here at the mansion and I'm not alone at all."

"Don't you dare go anywhere, either, then!"

"I won't." Jamie doesn't actually promise. Somehow, that doesn't leave her feeling any less dirty about the lie.

...

She's so busy worrying about having to meet up with the Snake Lady, she almost forgets about her Birthday.

Tash and Anna don't, though.

The two of them, Jake, a few other girls, and both of Jake's parents all come together to fix her up a party. Ms. Munroe bakes cupcakes that they all help decorate while Tash and Anna organize some games to play, and it's enough that Jamie near forgets to be uptight for a little while.

She even gets a present. Just the one - she'd refused to give anyone gift ideas, as there's nothing she really needs or wants anyway, so they all had given up on it eventually - but it seems her mother and Logan had been thinking about her. They'd bought her a jacket. Brown leather with bronze zippers and buckles and removeable wool liner and it fits like an absolute glove. She loves the hell out of it.

At the bottom of the box it had been tucked into there's a letter and a set of keys. She recognizes these keys; they go to Logan's 'bike. The letter is in his handwriting.

I remembered just the other day - my baby's sitting down there just collecting dust, and I can't have that. Be careful, remember your not licensed yet, but take care of her for me will you?

And hey, I met some friends of yours a few days ago. They were spying on your Ma, God knows why. You could've just said so if you're in trouble, kid. I got some favors I can call in if you need help, just so you know.

P.S. Your Ma picked out the jacket. She knows you better than you seem to think.

-Logan

...

"I could come with yah." Anna offers. "Just in case."

Jamie thinks on that for half a minute as she pulls the tarp off Logan's bike and sets it aside. "Nah." She decides. "I mean. You know exactly where I'm goin', right? Give it a couple o' hours. If I don't call yah, tell Ms. Munroe what's up. Logan too."

"And what if yah're dead by then?"

"Erm. I mean. Why would they be askin' me to meet them then? It'd take a pretty precise shot to kill me, right? My Grandma proved that. Be hard as hell for them to manage that if I'm puttin' up a fight because I know it's comin'. Sure they could do it anyway, but it'd be stupidly inconvenient when they could've just as easily done me in the night they kidnapped me 'n Tash, right?"

Anna's staring at her openly now. Worried. "Are you still havin' nightmares?"

Jamie avoids eye contact. "Not as often."

"You're lyin'." The Southerner's response comes so snappy, sounds so decisive. She's not accusing. She knows.

Brows furrowed, Jamie turns to lean against the 'bike, hands tucked into her pockets. "No shit, I'm lyin'." She admits, flippant. "Mind tellin' me how the hell you could tell?"

Anna's face is screwed up in confusion. She shakes her head. "You, ah, just..weren't tryin' too hard. S'obvious."

"I can smell it when you lie, you know. What's up with you?" Jamie raises an eyebrow.

Anna huffs (or is -is that almost a growl?). "Not the issue right now. Yah've thought all this through well 'nough, Ah'll give yah that Peaches, but yah yah're a little too calm for my likin' this mornin', that's all. What's goin' on in that head o' yours."

"Eh. Nothin' out of the ordinary, really." Except she can't stop thinking about how she does keep having the nightmare and it's always the same one, God she hates that nasty old gorgon she's forced to call 'Grandmother'... "I just wanna get this the hell over with, is all." She mounts the 'bike.

"You got three hours, tops." Anna says, huffy now. "Call me by then or Ah'm comin' after yah."

"I will, I will." Jamie starts the 'bike and leaves.

...

It's cold, but the suns shining, and there's no other structures crowding the abandoned lot; it's just the old warehouse. There's just one black SUV parked in front of it. As Jamie approaches, four people climb out of the car; three burly boys in body armour, and Trixie Labelle.

Jamie parks the bike a ways away and strolls over with hands tucked deep in her pockets. "This it?" She asks.

Trixie gestures to the car. "You're welcome to check for yourself. For that matter, check the warehouse as well. The doors are all locked tight from the outside. It's just me and my three friends here; this is no ambush."

Jamie doesn't want to get close enough to the woman to smell out a lie if ones being told; it seems unnecessary anyway. There's little to no wind and they're out in the middle of nowhere. If something else was up, she'd likely hear it. She shrugs. "Just get to talkin', lady."

"Very well." Trixie crosses her arms. "I'll be brief, as I hardly wish to remain out here in the cold for long. Did you find the suprise we left for you in the folder with your grandmothers files?"

"Yeah, I found it."

"Good. Listen closely, as I only intend to say this once. My superiors are quite largely repsonsible for the fact that your bouts of delinquent misconduct have flown under everyones radar, as it were. And don't get me started on the fiasco with your mother's husband. I do so abhor corporate lawyers, trust when I say you did the world a service darling, but the aftermath is always so messy."

Jamie scowls. "You got a point here, or...?"

"Patience, my dear." Trixie scolds. "The point is that we could see to it the evidence of it all is destroyed. Your slate would be clean as any normal girls ought to be when just coming of age, and you would never hear from us again."

"Sounds fantastic." Jamie snaps back. "What do you want from me in return?"

"Your services, of course."

"For what?"

"I have your attention then?"

"I'm still here, ain't I?"

"We need someone for an undercover operation we're attempting. The target is quite powerful and...unique in his tastes, and known to be a touch - volatile. Your particular talents and physiology would render you perfect for the job. With a spot of training on the matter, of course."

Jamie blinks at the woman, and tries desperately to choke back a sudden fit of laughter. "You - you want me to seduce some rich guy for you? Hell, sounds like just killin' him outright would be easier if I'm your best bet!"

"Our business is information, Ms. Fletcher." Trixie responds, sounding as though she's losing patience.

"I ain't yahr girl for this, doesn't matter what you want out of it."

Trixie studies Jamie, heaving a sigh. "If you say so. My job is to lay the facts out for you. And they are that without our help, Carol James Fletcher, you would have been sent to jail for some reason if not another by now, I'm quite certain of it. Help us, and it all goes away."

Jamie rakes a hand through her hair. "I'm still in school. I can't just leave."

"Accounted for. We won't be interfering with your last few months of education, though there is some training my superiors would wish to begin scheduling your for, this is a very long con you would have to be prepared for after all."

Stomach twisting with a sudden bout of anxiety as she starts thinking it through, Jamie reaches for the cigarettes in her pocket. "I need to think."

"Of course. I'll send you more information. Contact me with your answer when you have it yourself." Trixie climbs into the SUV hastily, clearly unable to stand the freezing temperatures for much longer.

The SUV drives off in moments. Just like that, Jamie's alone. Un-bothered by the cold, she lights up a cigarette, takes a drag, and reaches for her phone.

"OHMYGOD Jamie! Are you ok? What's going on?" Anna screeches.

"I'm fine. But ah, you are not gonna believe this..."