Selana had actually left long before her friends found her note. She was almost positive that Kenshin had seen her go, but he didn't stop her so she wasn't worried. She'd caught a cab to the airport, but with traffic, it took longer than she'd expected. Nonetheless, she arrived and went to check in her luggage.

"I bought a ticket online," she said, smiling, to the employee helping her. She handed him a printout stub in return for a ticket.

He took the stub and returned a few moments later with her ticket. "A one-way ticket to the Caribbean. Going on vacation?"

She took her ticket and grinned. "Something like that." She picked up her carry-on bag and hurried towards security. She guessed that she had only 10 minutes until they started boarding. Finally, she was getting away from Eric. Hopefully, for good.

"Selana! Wait!"

She turned to the familiar voice when she heard her name. She frowned when she saw who it was. "Kurt? What are you doing here?"

"I'm not letting you leave," he said determinedly and reached out to take her arm. She backed away, looking angry.

"Don't touch me!" she hissed, "You'll just teleport me away. I want to go, and you can't stop me from doing what I want."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No way!" Selana protested. "You don't even know where I'm going."

"I'll find out, then." Kurt snatched the ticket out of her hand and quickly read it before she could protest. "The Caribbean? You're going back to Azazel," he said sadly.

"Yes," she sighed. "I feel safer with him."

He looked heartbroken. "You don't feel safe with me?"

"I just...Nick and Eric wouldn't dare come after me there, even if they wanted to, and if I stayed here, I would feel like I'm getting in the way of everything. I mean, Eric and Nick only want Kayla, and what can I do to protect her? I'd only be in the way," she said, feeling like she needed an excuse for leaving.

"I'm still coming with you."

"No you aren't!" Sel objected again. "You can't! Last I checked, you didn't have a very good father-son relationship with Azazel. He'd just as soon kill you as look at you. And you can't leave Kevin and Kenshin alone to help Kayla. They're both nuts over her; they'll be too busy trying to impress her or be jealous over her to worry about Eric or Nick." She paused for a moment, and then added softly, "If you really care about me, you'll let me go where I'm safest and happiest."

In an excruciating silence, Kurt thought over her words. She was right about everything. He couldn't go with her and expect to change her mind--or live, for that matter--and Kayla needed the help. Even though he didn't think Kenshin was one to get jealous, Kevin was obviously more than resentful towards Kenshin, and with him acting like that, he wasn't much help. Not only that, but she probably needed someone around who wasn't interested in sleeping with her. And though he hated the though of his father with Selana, Azazel had never harmed her, and he really seemed to care about her...maybe it was best that she stayed with him. For now.

"All right," he finally said, handing her back the ticket. "But I want you to know that after everything with Eric and Nick is settled, I will come get you. I don't trust Azazel, and I don't think you should, either."
She smiled radiantly, gave him a quick hug, and practically ran towards security. As he watched her leave, he couldn't believe that he'd just let her go.

When Kurt teleported back to the beach house, the others had changed out of their swimsuits and were sitting in silence in the living room. Kayla looked up hopefully at the loud bamf, but sighed when she saw Kurt alone. "Where's Sel?"

Kurt shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"Is she ok?" asked Kayla, concerned.

"No. She's crazy, that's what she is."

"So where'd she go, then?" repeated Kenshin.

Kurt sighed. "Azazel. She wants to get away from Eric, and she figured that he'll never come to Hell looking for her."

"And you let her go there?" asked Kevin, frowning as usual.

"What was I supposed to do? I can't trust you, I'm not sure if I can trust Kenshin, and Kayla's definitely in trouble now. We'll have to go back for her later."

"What do you mean, you can't trust me?" asked Kevin. "You know me!"

"Yeah, I know you, and I know you hate Kenshin!"

Kevin didn't respond. A long silence followed that, and it was Kenshin who finally broke it.

"I can understand you not trusting me, Kurt," he started. "And I can also see why Kevin would dislike me… But now is not the time or the place for us to be questioning each other, especially when I think I know where Eric and Nick are hiding out."

"You know where they are?" asked Kurt, astonished.

"I knew it!" said Kevin, anger building. "You were working for them all along!" He stood up and stalked over to Kenshin, reaching for the collar of Kenshin's shirt. As he took hold of it, Kenshin jabbed the handle of his sword into Kevin's groin, effectively incapacitating him for the moment.

"No, I'm afraid your suspicions are unfounded. I suggested we go swimming so I could scope out the area and figure out where they are. They could've very easily moved in next door without us knowing about it, and I think that's exactly what they did." As Kevin stumbled up, he added, "Sorry about that…"

"I get what you're saying. So if they're there, let's go confront them now," said Kurt.

"All of us?" asked Kayla, her stomach fluttering nervously.

"Not if you don't want to go," said Kurt quickly. "Maybe it'd be best of you stayed here."

"By myself?"

Kurt, Kevin, and Kenshin exchanged glances. If Kurt stayed, Kenshin and Kevin might start fighting each other. If Kenshin stayed, Kevin would get very angry. But as for Kevin…

"I'll stay," Kevin volunteered. "You two can go on over there and take care of them."

Kayla let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I didn't want to have to come with." She gave a weak smile to Kurt and Kenshin. "Good luck."

Because the Caribbean had mostly the same climate year-round, and was always a tourist attraction, Selana thought it looked exactly the same as it had when she'd been there last. The only difference was that she'd come alone. It almost reminded her of all the times Eric would send her off to do something for him that he didn't feel like doing himself, or that he thought she was better equipped for. But this time, she was anxious to see whom she had come for. She'd been quite bored and lonely on the flight; she was used to goofing around with Kurt, Kayla, or Kevin while they were going someplace new. But I won't be alone much longer, Selana thought as she got off the plane.

Azazel was eagerly waiting for Selana to return. He knew she was near—he always knew where she was—and assumed that Eric had upheld his part of the bargain. It was simple. In return for helping Eric and Nick escape from the X-men and telling them where Kayla and Selana were, Eric had agreed to bring Selana—willing or not—to him. He'd grown impatient waiting for Eric, and was relieved that he'd finally brought Selana back to him. He would have rather gotten her himself, but leaving his dimension wasn't as easy as it had been. It required a lot of energy, and magic, to open a portal.

But now, it was worth it. It had been much too long since he'd seen Selana. He still held a grudge against Eric for betraying him and forcing Sel to leave him, but it was necessary to form an alliance again in order to get her back.

He saw her get off the plane, and wondered where Eric was. But in the next moment, he didn't care. Though she was dressed simply in shorts and a low-cut top, she looked gorgeous to him. He made his way towards her, and before she could say anything, he pulled her into a kiss. When he finally let go of her, he asked, "Where's Eric?"

Her smile quickly turned into a frown. "What?"

"Kayla, we need to talk," said Kevin immediately after Kurt and Kenshin left. He sat down on the couch next to her, casually tossing his arm around her shoulders. "About us."

"Um…Kevin…" She scooted away from him nervously. "Look, I know you're jealous of Kenshin and everything, but we've tried before, and… Well, you know, it didn't work out so well for us. So why try again?"

"Because the only thing that broke us up was your sister's kidnappers trying to kill you. If you hadn't disappeared, we could've worked it out…"

Kayla shook her head. "I… I don't know, Kevin. I just… I hate to say this to you, but I'm more interested in Kenshin than you."

"But you said you hired him to protect you but still remain unattached to you emotionally, right?" said Kevin impatiently.

"Yeah, I said that… But he's not that kind of guy. And I don't think I ever really wanted that…"

Kevin sighed, thinking. Finally he turned back to Kayla and put an arm around her. "Just give me a chance," he pleaded, curling a tendril of her hair around his finger.

Kayla opened her mouth, but shut it again. She shrugged and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. "I… Maybe. Maybe you're right. I don't know. I'm so confused right now."

Kevin grinned and hugged her. "I'll take a 'maybe' over a 'no' any day. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go the bathroom, and I think you could use the time alone to think." He stood up and walked away.

A half hour passed and Kevin hadn't returned. Kayla, wondering what he was doing, called his name. He didn't respond. She tried again, louder, with the same result. A cold feeling sunk into her stomach, and she bolted for the door.

"Going somewhere?" asked an all-too familiar voice, and then all was black.

Kurt and Kenshin were just leaving the house next door when Kevin ran out the door. He spotted them and hurried over. "They got her," he gasped. "They were in the house. They knocked me out and took her!"

Kurt and Kenshin exchanged glances and ran back to the beach house. They'd searched the suspect house and found nothing; this was definitely why. With Kevin tailing behind them, they burst into the house and searched it from top to bottom. The windows on the backside of the first floor were wide open, with a note on the windowsill.

Thanks for the gift; I won't be returning it. —Eric

Just then, a blonde man drove away. The trio didn't take a moment to consider any of this, but leaped out of the window and ran straight to their car. Of course, in their hurry, they forgot the keys, and Kurt had to waste precious time teleporting back inside to find them. By this time, the newly blonde haired Nick had gotten a good head start on them, and Eric and Kayla were already on a plane to the Caribbean.

"Let me get this straight," Selana growled, "You wanted Eric to kidnap Kayla and me and bring me to you. Is that right?"

"Well, I don't really care about Kayla, but, basically, yes," Azazel answered. He'd told her everything, hoping she'd understand, or just not care. But of course, she did care, and she had an awfully short temper, so she was on a rampage all too soon. And anything he said just seemed to make her angrier.

"You really thought he'd do that?" she asked, furious. Her face was flushed in anger, and her eyes were blazing with fire. "Eric would rather kill me than just kidnap me. And after he took me away from you before, how could you trust him?"

At least she was still on his side. She was just angry, but not necessarily with him. "Look, Selana, does it really matter what I planned? You're here, that's all I care about. Do we have to fight?" He smiled as she seemed to relax.

She sighed. "I'd think that you'd like to argue," she said sarcastically, but there was no more venom in her voice.

His smile grew wider. "Not when there are better things to do," he said, knowing she couldn't resist.

She smirked and replied, "I think I know what you have in mind."

Kayla woke up with a dull ache in the back of her head, which throbbed when she moved. She forced herself to think, painful as it was, until she remembered what had happened. Then her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright, staring around at her surroundings.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

Eric was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. The room they were in had no windows and no distinguishing marks, and so as Kayla slid away from Eric, she had to ask, "Where are we?"

Eric smiled. "You don't need to know that. Lay back down; Dramamine always makes you so drowsy."

She stared at him. "What? Dramamine? What are you talking about? I haven't woken up since you knocked me out!"

Eric smirked. "Sorry about that. But, yes, you have woken up before. I couldn't very well carry you onto the plane with me, now could I?"

"A…a plane?" Kayla asked, bewildered. "You drugged me!"

Eric laughed. "A little bit, yes. The effects should be wearing off now, giving us plenty of time to…talk…" He pulled her over towards him.

"Let go of me!" she shouted, struggling against his grip. He was much stronger than she remembered him being… He laughed and held her tightly against his now well-muscled chest for a moment before letting her go.

"I've been working out, as you can tell," he said. "But I've been wondering… Shouldn't you be showing now?"

"Showing?" asked Kayla, confused. Then she realized he was referring to her pregnancy. "Oh, no… You can thank Nick for my miscarriage," she said bitterly.

"Ah. Such a pity," Eric commented, clearly thinking otherwise. "Well, on to my second question. Who was that red-headed guy that was with you and the others?"

Kayla stared at him. "You don't know?"

Eric shook his head. "If I did, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?"

A slow smile spread across Kayla's face. "We'll keep it that way, unless you plan on telling me where I am."

Eric smirked. "Not a chance. I'll find out about that guy whether you help me or not." He glanced at his watch and stood up. "I'll be back soon with breakfast." Then he left, locking the door behind him.

He went straight to the dining room, with the intention of asking Azazel to keep Kayla safe while he went to find Sel. He was pleasantly surprised to find Sel with Azazel, eating breakfast. "Hello, sister."

Sel almost choked on what she was eating. "What is he doing here?" she asked Azazel, pointing at Eric as if he were a dog she didn't want.

"Good question," answered Azazel. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to tell you that I'd traced Sel to the Caribbean before I lost her," said Eric, thinking quickly and lying easily. "I see my information is of no use to you anymore. If you'll excuse me, I must be leaving…"

"No! Wait! Stop him!" said Sel. "He'll go after Kayla!"

"Calm down, love," said Azazel soothingly. "I'll speak with him." He excused himself and followed Eric down the hall a short way.

"I have Kayla," whispered Eric before Azazel could say anything. "I was going to leave her here while I went to fetch Sel for you, but that won't be necessary anymore. But, if you will, don't let Sel know that Kayla's here. Let her think I left. Ok?"

Azazel sighed. "That will be difficult, but I'll do it. Kayla doesn't know where she is, does she?"

"No," laughed Eric quietly. "She has no idea, and I intend to keep it that way. As far as she's concerned, she's in an unknown place with me and nobody else. Got it?"

Azazel nodded. "What about Kurt and Kevin?"

"Nick will soon discover that I was using him as a distraction. He doesn't know where I went, though, and they should have trouble finding us. There's another guy, too. I don't know anything about him other than he's a red-head."

Azazel glanced down the hallway toward the dining room. "I should go. I've been gone too long. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes. Have a servant come bring breakfast for two to my room," Eric smirked.