A/N: So it's been awhile, eh? My apologies, life has pretty much decided to kick me in the ass this year. Unfortunately, it happens, but it looks as though things might finally be looking up for me, so maybe the gears won't be gummed up for long. Keep your fingers crossed.
Special thanks to the lovely Moon Step for looking over this one for me (even though she doesn't even play in this fandom...yet). And much love to Absentia for playing beta and sounding board; she's not feeling so well right now, so she hasn't really had the chance to tear into this chapter for edits yet, but as soon as she does, I'll be posting a revamp, so keep your eyes peeled in the next few days for changes.
And thank you all so very much for sticking with this fic. I truly appreciate every one of your reviews. You're all wonderful.
Chapter Four: Said the Joker to the Thief
"On the wrong way out, on the causeway through to neverwhere. Dear my friends, in the time we've spent forever after beyond this, when will our nightmare ever end?" --Coheed and Cambria, Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)
"There it is," she hissed in his ear breathlessly. "I can see the bottom."
X let out a muted grunt through clenched teeth as he continued to descend the cliff side, the sorceress clinging to his back, in a position she'd expressly forbade him to even consider the immodesty of (damned if she didn't take the fun out of everything), and the muscles of his still sensitive shoulder screaming in protest with every movement.
"How far?" He questioned, breathing labored and strain evident in his voice, despite the distorter.
"Fifteen, maybe twenty feet," she responded.
"What about...an...exit? See anything?"
Raven winced internally, feeling a particularly sharp pain emanate through his aura and feeling more than a little guilty for adding her weight to the already difficult burden. Granted, if she had any choice in the matter, she'd have been climbing down on her own, but they only had gear enough for one. And God knew taking the path was out of the question.
It was the same story every time; the moment they touched ground, the bone soldiers would come for them, clawing and screaming their way up from the earth. Raven was of the impression that they were among the lost—souls whose bodies never found proper rest and ritual—now damned to spend eternity as sentries for a realm that allowed them no quarter. 'The King's Men', she had taken to calling them.
Swallowing her dread, Raven craned her neck to scan the darkness below, searching for any possible means of escape, regardless of how temporary. Finally, her gaze settled on the far end to a crude archway of rock and shadow. The space that lie beyond it was swallowed in a veil of absolute night, a mystery she could only guess at and, quite frankly, didn't want to. Not that she had a choice in that, either. The witch sighed heavily, knowing it was their only option but hating it just the same. No good would come from that gateway, she knew.
"There," she gestured with her chin even though she knew he couldn't see it. "At the far end. A gateway."
The thief nodded stiffly. "Right, then...We're gonna have to haul ass, Sunshine. Those things will be on us the second we hit the ground. You ready for that?"
Raven paused, heaving a breath in preparation. "As I'll ever be."
"Alright, I'm gonna drop us on the count of three. Get ready to roll your knees up. One...Two—"
"X," Raven interrupted urgently. "Listen, about the other side--"
"Look, I know," the thief started in, irritably. "We're not up for a stroll in the park. I get it. But I'll be damned if I lay down and die right here."
The sorceress fell silent at the fervor of his proclamation. He was determined, she'd give him that. Granted, he could have absolutely no idea what they were truly up against, but maybe, just maybe, with passion like that on their side, they'd have a chance.
Or she could be deluding herself, there was always that. At least, it seemed, she wasn't alone in the matter.
"Alright," she breathed, offering a stiff nod of acknowledgment. "Let's do this, then. One...Two..."
Raven felt the breath leave her lungs, and she barely managed to break away from the thief and brace for impact as they plummeted the remaining distance. The titan grunted as she made a painful collision with the ground and rolled end over end before coming to rest in a messy heap of blood and dust at the base of the pit wall.
"Three," she groaned, lifting herself up slowly and blowing a steady stream of air up to remove the renegade hair from her eyes. Raven blinked rapidly to focus her vision, only to find the torn, bloody glove of Red-X thrust into her line of sight without preamble.
Her gaze sharpened as she looked up at the thief and pinned him with a decidedly critical glare. She just knew he was grinning like an idiot under that mask.
"Let's go, Princess, we ain't got all day."
Raven pulled herself to her feet with a rather unladylike snort, deliberately avoiding his extended hand. X merely shrugged, entirely without remorse as he set off toward the gate at a flat run. "Suit yourself," he called.
Raven wasted no time, falling into step with him as they ran the, roughly, two hundred yard stretch to the stone archway that would lead them further into Hell. "You could have warned me," she growled, mostly to herself, though X still heard.
Not that he cared. In fact, the arrogant bastard thought it was funny. She could hear him laughing under his breath the whole way. Ooh, what she wouldn't give for her powers right about now. Raven couldn't wait until they were out of this mess; she'd show him a thing or two. And she'd start by stomping his conceited aa—
"--ahhss!" Raven cried out as the ground lurched beneath her feet, knocking her face first into the dirt. The witch sputtered and coughed, the burn of dead earth stinging her nostrils as she lifted to her hands and knees, desperate to keep moving. She dug her toes into the ground and lunged forward, only to be jerked back abruptly by the back of her cloak.
The Titan grunted as she met the dirt once again, rolling over to get a better look at her current impediment. She gasped, wishing she hadn't, as the gnarled bone hand that was jutting up from the rocky soil wrapped around the base of her cloak and pulled again, dragging her further back, closer still to the newly forming chasm in the earth.
Raven was having a difficult time breathing as she fought against the creature, the cloth around her neck constricting her airway as she struggled to break free. The sorceress could feel the stones digging into the flesh of her outer thighs, ripping her fingernails down to the quick and blood as the creature continued to gain ground. If she could just afford to let go she'd rid herself of the garment, but the beast was so powerful, it was taking everything she had just to keep from going under, as it was. It was a losing battle, she realized, and Raven was as close to panic as she'd ever been when the tension in her cape suddenly let loose with an audible snap.
The red shuriken resonated with a metallic thrum as it embedded in the rock wall, material from Raven's cloak raining down like confetti as she tumbled forward gracelessly, and the sorceress coughed heavily with the rush of air that filled her abused throat and lungs.
"Come on, Sunshine, let's move!" he cried.
Raven didn't have to be told twice. Ignoring the sting and throb of her wounds, she found strength and pushed up, taking off at a dead run, despite the screaming in her lungs as she fell into step beside him. The impact of her feet against the ground burned her down to the core, her muscles taut and stretched and aching, but she pushed on resolutely. She dare not look back each time she heard the earth pop and hiss or felt the ghoulish screeching vibrate through her chest. They were too close now. Just a few more yards...
"Fuck!" she heard him say on a painful hiss. Raven glanced over to find him clutching his side, a lag evident in his stride.
"What is it?" she asked, looking him over intently. To his credit, he hadn't stopped running, but Raven could see him pull his hand back just slightly to peer down at the injury.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just keep going."
She raised an incredulous eyebrow, jumping over a sudden bulging crack in the soil at the precise moment he did the same. She heard him grunt as they landed and only intensified her gaze.
"Look he just nicked me, damn it! Pay attention to what the hell you're do—"
Raven collided with the beast at a full run, knocking them both backward. The creature grunted and lost its step, while Raven fell completely, landing on her backside in the dirt.
"--ing." X stopped cold as they both found themselves suddenly face to face with the business end of a rather unfriendly looking spear. Raven scrambled to her feet and backed up on instinct, only to feel an unpleasant prick at her behind that ceased her movement, and forced her forward again, shifting her to meet back to back with Red-X.
She swallowed hard, knowing; they were surrounded.
The Titan brought her hands up slowly, as though in surrender, unknowingly mirroring the actions of the thief at her back, as the bone men closed in on them, all manner of blades and horror at the ready.
"Shit. This is bad," X muttered.
Raven cringed as they formed a tight, uniform circle around them, spears and scythes poised to strike. "No kidding?" came the droll reply.
"Glad to see you haven't lost that sparkling sense of humor."
She might have responded had it not been for the one striding toward her, the others allowing him passage with ease. He was larger than the rest, his weapon much more prominent. She recognized him immediately as the one they'd met on the ridge in their first encounter. He was distinctive from the others; most were little more than bone, only distinguishable by the weapon they carried, and their attire was without ornamentation. Now, as he stood before her, Raven could feel the difference as much as she could see it. The energy surrounding the creature was immense. Dark and twisted malevolence radiated from him in palpable waves that threatened to crush the lungs in her chest with the weight of it. With the exception of her father, Raven had never felt such unadulterated hate and despair from another.
Raven stifled a gasp as he hooked the edge of his scythe beneath her chin and brought her eyes to meet him full on. Black fire burned in the sockets where his eyes should have been, and he glared at her with such emptiness and loathing that she couldn't stop the strangled whimper from escaping her lips.
Behind her, Red-X tensed.
"Ölümlü. Sen adanmış ground yürürsün." (1) The voice was a stinging, polyphonic rasp that had Raven reeling.
"...What did he say?" X asked in a hush.
Raven had no clue. Just her luck, fourteen different languages rolling around up there and not one of them was remotely close to Egyptian. She'd have to make a point to learn it if they managed to survive.
"Well?"
"He wants a cheeseburger," she replied sardonically.
"Smartass."
"Ölümlü. Sen adanmış ground yürürsün!" The creature insisted once more, digging the blade further into the skin of her neck and drawing a thin line of blood from the puncture it made in her smooth, white flesh.
X could feel the sorceress hiss and begin to wriggle and knew they were out of time. He scanned their surroundings for any means of escape, and his eyes landed on the gate, not so very far away, an idea forming in his head. The soldiers were fast, but hopefully not fast enough.
"Reach around and grab me," he whispered hurriedly.
"Wha?" Raven spoke, her voice strained.
"Grab me," he repeated. "I promise you'll enjoy it."
"If by 'grab' you mean strangle and maim, then yes, I believe I will."
X chuckled in spite of himself, reaching around quickly with one hand to secure her around the waist and delighting in the surprised 'eep' that followed. "Always knew you were the kinky one."
It was then she realized his intent, and she latched onto his other side as he had with her, pressing herself as tightly against him as her position allowed. The movement must have set their captor off, because the moment she did, she felt his energy flare, and he drew back, bringing the sickle up in a wide arc to split her down the middle with one mighty blow...
Only to slice through the slow curling wisps of smoke they left behind.
The reaction was instantaneous. No sooner had they disappeared than the General let loose a great bellow of rage, a stream of curses and orders as he sent them thundering upon the gate.
X and Raven materialized out of thin air before the archway, arrows embedded into the crevices of rocks around them from the soldiers on the ridge. The others were coming, blood lust thick in the their throats.
"How do we open it?" X questioned, pressing against the deep cavern wall set back from the gateway. "The damn thing is solid rock!"
Raven shook her head. "No," she muttered, frustrated. "No, there's a way. There's always a trigger somewhere."
She felt along the rough stone passage as he was, desperation growing between them as the beasts drew closer. X cursed, making to strike the wall in impatience, when she grabbed hold of his wrist and leveled him with a stony gaze.
"Don't lose it now," she told him coolly.
A harsh retort died on his lips when his hand—no, their hands—suddenly began to glow. Their eyes met in dawning realization, and without words, their fingers interlaced and pressed against the surface of the gate.
Ancient script illuminated along the front of the arch in the same soft, golden glow that left their palms, and X swore at the sudden fire in his fingers, his veins, as the gate began to shimmer and liquefy, the stone giving way to the realm beyond.
A bitter screeching echoed amongst the chaos of whistling projectiles and blades, and Red-X felt his foundation give out from under him once more, his limbs pulling and stretching out into nothing as they fazed into the dark and unforgiving bowels of Hell.
Something about it called to him. Maybe it was the luster and shine of its golden ridges, or the way the light seemed to hum whenever it reflected off the planes of the emerald set in the center. He could almost hear it, as though it were speaking to him—a child's whisper sent on the lilt of a Summer wind from a hundred miles away. Now, if he could just figure out what it was saying...
It was like music. Or soft, slow tendrils of smoke, curling and caressing his skin, weaving a mystery around his senses. A puzzle he could not solve.
Or touch.
Much like Raven, herself, when he really thought about it. Who would ever think that just the simple sweep of his fingertips could have the power to open the door to worlds unexplored...or send him spiraling into the depths of utter devastation? How unfair, Robin thought, that the most beautiful of things were so often the most dangerous.
And yet, oh so tempting.
Robin lifted his hand just slightly, pausing just before it breached the glass casing and hovering over the latch on the panel inside. If he could just touch it, he'd be so much closer to the mystery. So much closer to finding her...
"Robin." Frustrated. Harsh.
He recoiled, snatching his hand back as though he'd grabbed hot coals and shaking himself to abrupt lucidity. The boy wonder cleared his throat at Cyborg's reproachful stare and got the distinct impression that it hadn't been the first time the older Titan had said his name. Disappointment...fear...worry...he found them all, etched into the dark lines of Cyborg's face and eyes, and felt guilt stick in his throat.
He choked it down to swim in his stomach with the rest of his failures.
"Has the good doctor taken his leave?"
Cyborg sighed, looking far older than he should as he stretched the long, steel fingers out across his nose to rub his eyes and down the length of his jaw. He'd let the moment go. For now. "Yeah, he's gone. The little weasel..." he finished on a grumble.
To say that their consultation with Dr. Jerome Muzzleby hadn't gone well would have been a dire understatement. Sure, he was renowned in the field of Egyptology, a published award winner in cultural anthropology, and came highly recommended by the Jump City Museum curator. And he'd been more than willing to assist the Titans in their plight.
And as far as Robin was concerned, he was a squirrelly little toad.
He'd been rather overzealous about the whole affair. In fact, one might say he was absolutely ecstatic at their misfortune. Never mind that Raven was, perhaps, trapped in some obscure hole in the universe with their enemy, and quite likely in serious danger, because it was such an exciting development for the scientific and anthropological communities!
Naturally, the situation only escalated.
Starfire was the first to lose her cool, and by the time Robin intervened, Beast Boy had quite literally bitten Dr. Muzzleby in the ass. Needless to say, the meeting only degenerated after that and, unfortunately, yielded little more information than what they'd already managed to find on their own.
Robin sighed heavily, wishing like hell he had more than hunches and maybes and prayers. All the prayer in the world wouldn't bring her home, that he knew. The Titan leader hung his head in his hands, resting elbows gone heavy with burden on his knees.
"Where are Star and BB?" he asked wearily.
"I sent 'em out for some food. Thought they could use the air," Cyborg responded, leaning on the edge of the table and peering down on the hunched shoulders of their leader, something soft and sad and all too knowing written in the shine of his human eye. "Maybe you could, too."
Robin exhaled sharply, a wry chuckle slipping out from the cracks in his heart. "I suppose that's not such a bad idea," he spoke, no small amount of self-loathing and frustration coating his tongue.
"It's not?" Cyborg said, confused, as Robin stood abruptly and began shuffling around the room anxiously. He rifled through stacks of papers, muttering somewhat to himself, before he emerged with something he apparently deemed of value.
"Take this," he said, handing him the list he'd pulled from the pile and ignoring the perplexed tilt of Cyborg's head. "I want you to call the shipyard and obtain records for all exports scheduled in the next month, including anything canceled or postponed." Robin turned his back on the metal Titan, cast his pensive gaze out across the bay, and sighed. "Cross-reference the data with the names on that list. Maybe we'll come up with a hit."
Cyborg nodded firmly though Robin had not yet faced him. "...So—"
"When Starfire and Beast Boy get back, send one of them out on patrol. We can't let the city fall apart just because..." Robin trailed off, but Cyborg could feel the words that stuck in his throat as though they were his own.
'Just because we are.'
"What about you?" Cyborg asked, knowing Robin well enough by now to know that he was up to something. His thoughts were only confirmed when Robin slung his cape, followed by his gloves, across the back of the chair he'd been sitting in for days. "Where are you going, man?"
The Boy Wonder's mouth set in a grim line as he set Cyborg directly in his sight for the first time that day. "A guy like Red-X doesn't pull a job like this without having all his ducks in a row. And no way is he gonna fence it through some thick-headed dope from down on the Set. This one had a specific purpose. ...A client."
Cyborg's eye narrowed, scrutinizing the Titan leader openly. "And you're going to find out who."
Robin nodded sharply and turned away once more, milling about the room for his civilian wear, and studiously ignoring the reproachful set to Cyborg's expression. The older Titan did not comment, knowing anything he might have said would fall on deaf ears, but that didn't stop the irritated sigh from pushing through his lips.
"Just..." he began finally when Robin had finished pulling all he needed from his closet and started for the bathroom. "Just be careful, man."
Robin paused in his step, turning from the shadow of his profile just slightly. "Take care of them, Cy."
"You know it."
His gaze grew heavy and settled on the amulet in the glass casing, torn between the wish to stay and the need to go. "...If anything...changes..."
Cyborg understood. Too well. "You'll be the first to know," he promised.
He nodded resolutely, exiting the room swiftly before he could change his mind. Raven was counting on him.
He would not fail her again.
X felt his bones slip and hitch, pulling back into solid form as they emerged on the other side, and the thief hit the ground with a pronounced 'thud' and groaned.
"Fuck," he rasped, choking down the overwhelming urge to vomit. It hadn't been as bad this time around, thankfully, but X suspected it was only because his nervous system was still jelly inside. His suspicions were only confirmed when an attempt to pull himself to his knees sent him into a full body spasm that drove him straight back to the ground in an undignified heap.
He rolled, doing his best to clamp down on the pain-filled cry that bubbled up from his throat as every injury he'd sustained from the moment he'd grabbed hold of that medallion until now, jolted into sudden, fiery awareness. The whimper escaped, regardless, much to his annoyance.
"Hey," came the throaty call from somewhere beside him. She coughed, and it was wet and grotesque and somehow unsuited for her frame in his mind. "You alive?"
Of course. He'd have to feel much better than this to die.
Red-X opened his eyes, finally—slowly—and felt the dread pool in his belly for what he might find once his vision focused.
It was not at all what he'd anticipated.
It was dark, and even through the enhanced spectral illumination of his night vision he could just barely make out the definition of a rather small, enclosed space. A cavern of some sort, it seemed, with what appeared to be another gateway some thirty feet away (which he was decidedly not looking forward to passing through), though the details remained unclear in the haze.
He had no trouble finding Raven, however. In fact, she was the only thing he could see, and not for reasons of limited visibility. His gaze swept along the soft line of her silhouette against the shadows and stopped stone cold, his breathing caught at the deep, violet glimmer of her eyes as they cut through the aphotic depths of night and into his skin like razorblades, glassy and unfocused as they were. He had yet to understand why they always seemed to affect him so, and for the time X had no interest in dwelling on it or the fact that if he took a deep breath, they'd be touching. Again. Rather intimately. After all, they had more important things to worry about.
Now, if he could just remember what those things were...
"X?"
Her voice was all it took to break the spell that had settled in the air between them, and the thief shook it off with a half-irritated snort.
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Princess."
Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously in the dark, and X could practically hear the way her teeth clenched as she sat up in the dirt. He grinned beneath the mask. There was just something oh-so satisfying about getting under her skin.
"Raven," she said curtly.
"Sure thing, Doll."
Raven hadn't thought it possible for anyone to annoy her as much as Beast Boy, but apparently, she'd been mistaken. The sorceress turned away with a scowl as he rose slowly to his feet, refusing to give in to the childish urge to kick him in the shin. Yeah, so he'd saved her back there. Again. That didn't mean he wouldn't totally deserve it.
A sharp hiss drew her attention, and she swiveled just in time to catch the thief falter in his step and clutch at his side. Her gaze sharpened. "You're hurt," she observed flatly.
"It's nothing," he groused.
Raven arched a delicate brow though her expression remained fairly impassive. "Right."
X sighed dismissively, letting his gaze drift along the cavern walls absently, trying to take his mind off the sharp sting in his side. It'd be fine. It would. "Where are we?"
Raven stood, dusting herself off and doing her best to focus her own vision. It was so dark, though; the only illumination afforded them came in mere slips and tangles along the ground, and it was scarce and dim, at best. Even for she who thrived in the dark, it was beginning to take it's toll on her, and Raven couldn't help but wonder if (should they survive the ordeal) she'd ever be able to see normally, again.
"Given the sudden lack of otherworldly monsters hell-bent on our destruction, I'd say we're at a sanctuary point of sorts."
"Sanctuary point?" he parroted.
"Yes," Raven drew out, sounding only slightly exasperated. "When a soul is released from it's mortal coil it doesn't just magically appear at it's intended destination. It is a journey—one that may very well take eons to complete, depending on the condition and merit of the soul itself. These places of tranquility are as much a part of the migration as the realms they separate."
"It's the breath before the plunge," X observed.
She watched him carefully as he leaned against the quarry wall with a noticeable slump. "Yes, I suppose one could put it that way."
X let out a short bark of laughter, though there was no humor in it. "Wonderful," he grumbled. "You said 'eons'...how long do you think we'll be down here?"
Raven shrugged. "I do not know. Could be days, could be years. Right now, we exist outside of time. Moments to us, may be decades to the world we know; it's impossible to say." If she was upset at all by this revelation, X thought she was doing a rather good job of hiding it.
"Even better," he remarked sarcastically. He breathed deeply and pushed away from the wall, clenching his teeth at the acute pain that followed.
She was standing in front of him then, closer than he'd remembered, and looking at him pointedly. "Let me see it."
"I told you, it's nothing," the thief dismissed.
"Well, aren't you just the Jack of all trades?" Raven intoned, "Not just a thief, but a liar, too."
She felt him bristle at the comment, though to his credit, he never missed a beat. "What can I say, I'm a man of many talents." He took a step closer, and Raven sensed the smirk lying just under the mask. "Looking to sample the wares, Sunshine?"
"Keep dreaming," she deadpanned.
Red-X shrugged casually. "Hey, I'm just saying. You seem awfully eager to get under my suit." Another step, and she had to crane her neck upward to meet the place where she knew his eyes were locked on hers. A gentle flush painted her cheeks, much to her chagrin, though she didn't back down. "What's the matter, Pretty Bird, Wonder Blunder just not doing it for you anymore?"
That was too far. Raven moved to strike so swiftly that she didn't realize she had until he caught her wrist firmly in his grasp. The moment froze around them as he pulled her closer, leaning down until they were mere inches apart. He chuckled, and it dripped like sweet, slow molasses from his lips, seductive to her ears despite the distorter.
"See, you just can't seem to keep your hands off me."
The look in her eyes was pure evil as the slow smirk crept its way to her lips. "Maybe you're right, X," she purred, bringing her free hand up to lay on his chest lightly...right before she took a quick jab to his side with it, causing the thief to double over with a sharp gasp. "Apparently, I can't."
The dark Titan took his position to her advantage, guiding him down by his unharmed shoulder until X had no choice but to sit or be pushed (not so gently) to the ground. He, wisely, sat—though not without a fair amount of bitching once he found his voice again.
"Damn it," he hissed painfully, fixing Raven with a particularly dark glare as she knelt beside him. "That was just below the belt, Sunshine."
"You only wish it was," she responded coolly. "The next time you want to direct my attention elsewhere, you might choose a more realistic approach."
"Who says—OW! Goddamn it! Watch what you're doing," he snapped.
"Well, stop squirming," she said, using what little of her cloak remained to stem the bleeding in his side. "Big baby," she muttered in afterthought.
The thief was strangely quiet, but Raven welcomed the change and continued to work with the gaping hole in his flesh. It wasn't terribly deep, thankfully, but it was rather nasty looking, and she knew it would need medical attention soon, or it would get infected. For now, she'd do what she could. She tore a few more strips from her tattered garment—thinking momentarily to just toss it away but then decided against it. They could always use a few bandages. Carefully, she reached around his torso, winding them about his waist before securing them in a knot at his back.
Raven sat back on her heels to assess her work and nodded curtly in approval. It was crude, but it would just have to work.
"There, that wasn't so bad, now, was it?" His gaze seemed to follow her as she stood, and though the thief remained silent, Raven could already tell what was on his mind. She wasn't going to consider how easy that was getting. "...We're even now."
X let out a heavy breath as he stood, slowly, and nodded. "Right."
They turned simultaneously to face the archway at the far end of the cavern and sighed collectively. Something about being liquified and regurgitated into a scene right out of The Inferno meets The Mummy wasn't appealing.
X sighed dramatically. "Well, look at it this way. At least you'll get to touch me, again," he teased.
Raven eyed him pointedly. "Don't make me kick you."
(1) This is, in fact, not even remotely close to Egyptian. It's Turkish. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a good English to Egyptian translator, and the closest I could get was Arabic or Hebrew. However, I wanted something that utilized something closer to Western characters, and neither of these fit the bill. Hence, the Turkish. The phrase itself roughly translates to "Mortal, you tread on sacred ground" though I'm not entirely sure, as it's been so long since I wrote that part. :)
Well, there it is. I hope you all enjoyed! Again, thank you all so much for taking the time to read, and especially to those of you who leave feedback. Hopefully, it was worth the wait. Peace, all, and please feed the author:)
