Disclaimer: Yay! Another Apple. This one is short but I think it gets the point across. Opening calling are lyrics from Evelyn Evelyn's A Campaign of Shock and Awe. Hope you enjoy – Thundercatroar and One Fine Wire I'm talkin to you.

HA

Behold! The eighth wonder of the natural world!

Come one and come all!

See the two headed girl!

Stupendous

Revolting!

You'll be shocked!

You'll be awed!

A true freak of nature!

A blunder of God!

But possessing such talents!

Hear them sing!

See them dance!

As seen in the highest class parlors of France!

Just ten bucks a bargain!

Get your seats while they last!

We take Visa and MasterCard, debt or cash!

The crowd in the tent was going wild for them, there was no mistaking it. Todd Wilkis and Chris Lowe were the ones announcing them tonight, voices loud and carrying as they stood in the center of the tent. When the crowd was nearly riotous, the lights cut out, only to be refocused on the twins off to the side by the band. Striking up a tune, the girls Evelyn and Abigail swayed, the words of the song leaving their lips with little thought or notice.

Something about being sisters always together – every single show it was some song or other about loving and hating and loving again – but the twins didn't really care.

They had grown accustomed to the music just as they had grown accustomed to the catcalls and the jeers, a twisted concoction of freaks and sex; they had heard it all before all their lives and it no longer matter. Looking up through the stands, four eyes found their father, a tall, brave man in a top hat. A mixture of love, pride, and greed swirled in his dark orbs as he smiled at the pair – and what a pair they were. They loved their father more than anything, he had never been unkind to them – and while many would say their lives were cruel and abusive, it was all they'd ever known. Besides, he knew that this was essentially the only life for them, the world can be an unrelenting master, and they would no doubt have ended up far worse than this.

He may have lost his wife, but as a form of repayment he had received two daughters and a star act few other Circuses could boast. And he loved them even more than he loved the money and the crowds; though it was a close race.

Wasn't it fitting? That while the woman who had loved both he and the circus equally died, she brought a pair of twins into the world that would know nothing but that? Love and the Circus. They were one and in same in the eyes of the twins Evelyn and Abigail.

D.W. watched carefully as the girls finished up their song – this was the pivotal moment, the one that could mark tonight as success or disaster. If the crowd loved them so much, and demanded an encore, it was going to be a good night; but if they were so riled up that he had to call Todd and Chris to protect them, then it would take everything in him not to just shut down the whole show then and there.

Pulling him from his thoughts was the sound of entertained laughter and applause. The song had just ended, and the Rubes were eating it up, calling for more, more, more, more! Pleased that he wouldn't have to overact tonight, he sent a smile and nod to the large group in the center, signaling another performance or it would be their jobs.

His daughters smiled right back.

~O~

Watching from the sideline, Todd was not only there to make sure he could protect the twins if the Rubes got rowdy, but because he liked being there. Their voices were so smooth, and mixed with the band that could play Entry of the Gladiators forwards backwards and sideways, it was unlike anything he had heard anywhere else. But she, she was his favorite of the two. Most couldn't tell the pair apart, but he could, he knew the differences in their voices, if only so slight; he could tell how her face was just a bit softer than her sister's, her eyes that less restrained. She still let herself dream, dream of a life with the Circus, with her sister, and he hoped, with him.

Because he cared for her.

No, more than that.

He loved her.

And as the singing sisters reached an eccentric key change in their current song, she sent a quick glance and smile in his direction. He couldn't stop the butterflies from uprising violently in his stomach, nor the dopey smile that spread across his lips. If she felt the same thing he did . . . Todd and Abigail Wilkis. That certainly had a magical ring to it.

Todd had to stop himself from laughing in a mixture of pity and self loathing as he watched the object of his affection and affliction, letting the music wash over him.

Maybe in another life Todd.

~O~

Tobias lounged on the bed, a thin sheet draped and wrapped haphazardly around his naked waist. Dinah was stretching off to the side, also naked, attempting to limber herself up for her performance in a few hours. She knew she was giving him a free show, but seeing as he already saw, touched, and kissed everything already, there was no need to play coy.

"I was right." He muttered softly, and she turned to look at him over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised in question. He smirked cockily, replaying the memories of what they had done with glee.

"You are flexible."

As if to drive his point home, she lifted her right leg up and over her head while still standing, and Tobias felt himself standing right with her. Turning with a smirk, she stalked towards her new-found lover, running a hand over his smooth young chest and kissing his awaiting lips. He devoured her hungrily, gripping the back of her head while rolling back on top of her and burying the both of them within the sheets once more.

An hour later, when the two finally managed to crawl out of her tent, the love-struck pair was confronted by a very, very angry redhead. Dinah was shoved out of the way as Tobias was bent backwards over the nearest crate, sputtering for air as a pair of big and violent hands wrapped around his neck. Rushing to his side, Dinah tried to pull the furious hand off of the young Gammelthorpe, but to no avail.

"Erik! Let him go!" the aerialist cried, only to be shoved aside once more as Erik squeezed.

"What the fuck does your asshole brother think he's doing with my girl?" he growled, and Tobias tried to widen his eyes, but his brain needed oxygen.

"I-I-I- wha-wha-what?" was all he could rasp out, and Erik lost his patience. Releasing only one hand, he reeled back to form a fuming fist, and unleashed his aggression on his enemy by assaulting blow after blow.

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Tobias lost count, and nearly lost consciousness. In the back of his woozy mind, he realized that he probably would have slipped into blackness, had the hits not been softened by the alcohol the angry young man had consumed. He could hear Dinah crying, and it broke his heart the same way Erik had no doubt broken his nose.

Blood streaming from his nose, and his eyes nearly swollen shut, Tobias felt the hand finally release his throat, and he just about choked in his attempt to replenish the air to his lungs.

"Tell your fucking brother to stay away from Meilin. She's mine, and only mine." Erik snarled before stalking off, bored with the Gammelthorpe and figuring his point had been understood, went to find some poor peon to harass.

Tobias slowly slid down the side of the crate, letting his body fold and crumple as he tried to open his eyes. His arms felt too heavy to lift to his face, and he just wanted to sit there and catch his breath. A pair of soft hands came out from the darkness and gently touched his face, noting what was the most swollen and what was bleeding. He could feel Dinah's controlled sobs, and reached out to take her in his arms. She readily collapsed into him, gripping his chest and crying.

"Shit . . ." he moaned, and the pretty little brunette looked up to see his barely opened eyes gazing somewhere over her head and into the distance.

"If he did this to me, what is that asshole going to do to Martin?" they were silent for a moment, before Dinah added her own thought.

"And Meilin."

Both grips tightened.

~O~

Meilin had never seen apple trees, especially not when they were in bloom. They were so beautiful; she found it easy to forget everything. Forget her growing attachment to Martin, forget Erik and his bruises, forget her place in life, forget her fears. With a soft and contented sigh, she sat beneath one of those blessed trees in the middle of the orchard, listening to the world around her, the birds, the wind, Martin's breathing beside her and her own in and exhales. The feeling of peace settling within her bones, she allowed herself to come to a decision; she reached over and gently took Martin's hand.

He looked at her sharply, and she flashed him a broken smile while squeezing his hand. Returning her smile, he scooted over and stroked one of her arms comfortingly, growing confused when she flinched at one of his touches. Lifting her sleeve, he found the vicious bruise Erik marred her flesh with the night before, now the size of a large hand with very distinct fingers.

"I can't let him scare me anymore." Meilin said quietly, and couldn't fight the shiver that moved simultaneously up and down her spine when Martin leaned forward and kissed the mark softly.

"Martin . . . ?" she didn't need to say anymore, he knew what she was asking and he knew what his answer was. Eventually he would find a way to save her for good, but for now he would be content with this.

Swiftly he moved over and kissed her on the mouth. Not hard or possessive, in no way like Erik, but she still let his tongue into her mouth, and his hand up her shirt. This time he didn't fondle her back, but her front. When the stripping began, he could feel his hands begin to tremble with anticipation, having never done thing before. But she was calm, and by the time they were both bare, so was he.

Martin found four more dark and angry bruises on her otherwise lovely skin, and he gave each one the same gentle kiss.

What he didn't know she was more than willing to teach, leading him into her with a grace that mirrored her performance the other night. As soon as he slid home, he felt the tingle of pleasure that struck when he masturbated, but held it off as she slowly began rocking against him, her back to a tree and his soft flesh on her chest. He kissed her slowly, every now and again thrusting into her, but overall he let her move how she wanted.

He let her be in control, and she accepted the gift, feeling herself falling deeper and deeper with him.

Martin had always thought his first time would be fast and loose, in all honesty with a hooker he wouldn't remember the face of because his brothers had gotten him so drunk just so he would sleep with her. He always thought it would be a birthday present from them because he was so unlike them and their wild ways with women. But this was so much better, slow and with a woman he wanted for the rest of his life.

And that scared him more than the drunken, faceless prostitute in the men's bathroom. Because he knew that he was falling in love with the woman he was in, and he wanted her. He wanted her more than anything, and more than just sex. He needed her so he could simply live.

And as he grunted, and she threw her head back in the pleasure she brought the both of them, he came to a vow he unwittingly made as he and his brothers drove away that first night. A night that seemed an eternity ago.

The vow that she would be his in all forms.

They lay panting in the nook of the apple tree, holding each other as if they wanted to meld their flesh together. Catching their breath and shivering in post-sex tremors, the apple orchard made a vow as well.

It would guard them, would hold their secret; forever, if need be.

HA