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Callie was the first to begin, taking a deep breath as she began. "I, like Amelia, was born here, so was James, but Diana and Angela…."

"We saw everything that went on down here," Diana finished for her, "how happy she was and we wanted to know what it was like to be one of you."

"You mean mortal?" Caleb asked slowly. Diana nodded, her big eyes staring him down intently. "We've never had to deal with the idea that one day we will die."

"In fact, it frightens most of us," Callie explained, "some are here to talk others into coming back."

"Jesse," Caleb answered and Callie nodded. "They have a history that none of us will ever match up to. When they started out, it was new and fresh, but he began to figure out how to manipulate her."

"Like Alastor wanted to do," Tyler said. "Who exactly is he? Who are all of you?"

"Well, James and I are twins," Diana answered, "He is of the sun and I am of the moon."

"And you?" Reid asked finally, staring down Angela, "you did all this to us didn't you? Made me do all those things to hurt her."

"I was curious," she whispered, "she was so happy, so different. I wanted that for myself."

Reid slammed his fist into the wall beside her head. "So you tried to steal it away from her? You can't mess with people like that! We don't have the power to fix things the way you do-to do as we please."

"Reid," Caleb said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Caleb turned to Angela. "Why does she hate you so much?"

Angela slumped against the wall. "This isn't the first time I've stolen someone away from her in jealousy," she said half laughing, "I was supposed to be the one that was revered for her beauty, her grace, but Nemesis had a quality about her that made you feel something without her even trying. They demolished whole countries without a second thought. It was as if they were playing a game of chess and Athena gladly joined in, playing devil's advocate to both sides." Reid noticed Callie hang her head in shame. "I couldn't understand how two people who could be so cruel to those around them and each other could be so passionate, so infatuated.

"After I took him from her she became, cold and distant," Angela looked down at the floor, "I saw how different it was this time, how much you had changed her and I wanted that."

"Don't realize what you're doing is messing with people's lives, their free will?" Caleb asked, his voice ominously low, "how unfair that is?"

Angela's face crumpled. "I know and I feel awful."

"We have bigger problems, Caleb," Callie said, finally speaking up. "I don't think you understand why Jesse is really here."

"Amelia's not going to be hurt is she?" Reid asked, fear engulfing him.

"If Jesse kills her, she'll return home-she'll be immortal again and she won't be able to come back."

"I'm not losing her again," he said with finality, clenching both hands into fists. "No, you're not," Caleb said by way of agreement. He turned to look at the rest of the group. "We're not losing her; any of us."

"So, what do we do?" Pogue asked. James spoke first. "We have to kill him. He'll return home and he won't be able to come back."

"And the rest of you?" Tyler asked, only looking at Diana, "You'll go home with him?"

Callie shook her head. "It's up to us whether or not we stay."

"If she decides to go back with him," Diana added and Reid cut her off. "She won't."

"It's a possibility, Reid," Callie said, standing, "it's a possibility, you'll have to accept. The history you two have is nothing compared to theirs. You two were barely together for a year. They were together for centuries. Not to mention his ability to control her. If he gets to her before we do, there's no hope for her."

"She doesn't love him," Reid said thickly. Angela placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No, she doesn't."

"We still have a problem," James said, breaking the silence, "she's beginning to bend to his will. Pretty soon, we'll be fighting against her, too."

"Well, we'll have to figure out a way to break the hold he has on her," Reid insisted. Nobody argued with him, but he could tell they were all thinking the same thing; they were going to fail. As they left, Reid stopped Angela, clenching and unclenching his jaw. "What I feel for her-what she feels for me….you didn't-"

She smiled tenderly at him. "That was all you two. I only help out where I'm needed. People who are meant to be together eventually find their way to one another, no matter how long it takes, Reid."

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Amelia saw Reid approach her table at the small café and visibly tensed. "Where's Sarah?"

Reid sat down across from her. "I had her ask you here because I knew you wouldn't come see me if I asked you."

Amelia sipped her coffee slowly. "What do you want?" Her words were cold, unfeeling. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I know who Jesse is and why he's here."

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and he sighed once more. "He's bad for you. I know that, you know that, but I'm not going to stop you from leaving with him if it makes you happy."

"He's not bad, Reid, it's just who he is, what he was created for," she said, defending him. Reid shook his head. "You were created for a similar purpose and you're not nearly has hateful and destructive as he is."

Amelia brushed her hair out of her face. "What's you're point, Reid?"
"My point is, I love you," he said, not taking his eyes of her, "and if that means stepping back to watch you walk away from me, I'll gladly do it if it'll make you happy."

She let out a strangled laugh. "You love me? Right. And that whole thing with her was supposed to show me that, I'm sure. Do you know how hard it was for me to know you two were together? To see you together? To think about how you could be off with her somewhere making babies and telling her everything you told me when we were together?

"At least, the marks he leaves aren't permanent, Reid. They go away. What you did will never go away. So don't expect me-"

"I don't expect you to forgive me, and I'm not asking you to. But I do expect you to live for yourself. If I have to kill him to make sure you'll be okay, I'll do it."

"Reid-"

"No, that's it. I'm not asking your permission." He stood up to leave and she put her head in her hands. "Why do you want to die so badly?" she asked, looking up at him with a broken expression. He shrugged. "It's what happens when you protect something you love. Some times you die for it."

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