so guys, here i have the next chapter!!

So, we need to clear up a few things, i have a few confused reviewers and I thought i was being clear but its all good.

-something that bothered me about the movie was that when Kayla and Logan let all the mutants who were at Three Mile Island go free, Emma came out of her cage thing and she looked like she had been there overnight and i was all "Huh...that's a very nice white shirt for someone in a prison" so, in my fic, i've decided that Stryker had told Kalya that someone (not him) was planning on abducting Emma and to keep her safe, Kayla had to do something for Stryker, thus the whole deal. Kayla can still talk to Emma, Emma has no clue that any of this has gone down, btw.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas.

Chapter 4: The Bargain

"We all begin with good intent When love was raw and young We believed that we can change ourselves The past can be undone."~ Sarah Mclachlan

".. and then I went home," I told Em, while taking a sip of my coffee. I'd been keeping her at bay with the promise of the story that Dee had been threatening to tell. Em had been bugging me since I got off the plane the day before. After I bargained for a tour of campus and a walk to our old neighborhood, Em finally reached the end of her rope and threatened to drag me blindfolded into the city and would leave me there without a map unless I told.

"That's it?!" Em exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table. We stopped at Em's favorite coffee shop when I declared that I desperately needed coffee.

"What more do you want?" I leaned back and basked in the waning fall Toronto sun. I could have said I missed Toronto, after living there for most of my life and nearly half of Emma's, but it was suffocating I realized. All the buildings were too tall and too many. They shut out so much of the sun that I was constantly looking for it. I missed my mountains and the cool clear wind that would brush my hair off my shoulder. It made me think of Mom a little, almost as if she were reaching down and reminding me that she was never very far from me.

Emma rolled her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. It'd grown a few inches since the last time I'd seen her. "Well, did you kiss him?" Her face was still round, her cheekbones still prominent. Her eyes were mirrors, as always, to mine despite our differences. This time, however, mine were holding back and hers were searching.

I really did laugh a little at her. "No, Emma, I did not."

"Why not?!" Emma stretched out her hands and laid her head down briefly on the table before sitting up again. "I mean the opportunity was there! The chance was there! He was obviously very willing-"

"You weren't even there!" I interjected with a pointed finger.

"From what you've told me, and from what Dee's told me, he's interested, and I'm sure he was about to make his move."

I shook my head. "Since when do you-"

"Carry all the knowledge?" Em sniffed. "I got it from Mom, you didn't get the gene. Sorry. Now, back to you and your boy-toy."

"Please don't call him that." I pleaded. "He has a name."

"Fine," Emma grinned a predator's grin. "Now, back to you and Logan. First thing I have to ask is: is he cute?"

"He's…attractive." I admitted for the first time out loud. "Nice bone structure. Nice smile." I smiled too, thinking of his and how it lit up his whole face, changed his whole demeanor.

"Kayla Rose Silverfox!" Emma's grin was a Siberian tiger's gaze as it dangled a little mouse from its paw. "I do believe that is the most scandalous thing you've ever said! 'Nice bone structure'!?" Emma was incredulous. "Come on, I am your sister, you can tell me!"

"Fine, fine." I sighed, sipping away the last of my coffee. "But not a word of this to Dee, understand?"

Emma held up her hand. "I swear."

I exhaled a deep breath and looked anywhere but at Emma's face. "He's…"

Under the table, Emma poked me with her foot. "Come on! Out with it!"

"He's not the usual guy I go for, to be honest." I shrugged. "He's not blonde or thin or at all like I normally like." Still her gaze was unconvinced like a cougar searching for something to stalk. "For God's sake, he has a beard! You know how much I hate beards!"

Emma's eyes widened. "Wow…that is weird."

"He's a lumberjack, with Paul-"

"He's a lumberjack? Really?"

"Don't judge!" I snapped. "He's got really nice shoulders and arms-"

"Geez, Kay, you're such a nun!"

"His ass isn't bad either," I threw in without thinking.

Emma let out a victorious laugh. "HA! I knew it!" She glanced around and realized that we'd caught everyone else's attention on the patio of the coffee shop. Emma and I smiled and then turned our chairs slightly away from the rest of the patio. "What's he like, other than physically?"

Instantly, I remembered the first night I met him and how he…well saved me from Parker, how he saved me from Dee. His laugh when I joked that I was psychic and how it changed him. Now how he looked at me, with a gratefulness I couldn't even put into words. "He's nice…sweet..." I grinned because I couldn't help it. "But not in the way you'd expect from someone like him…. And his eyes are so expressive, they always give him away-"

"So are you going to jump him when you get home or should I call him now?" Emma waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up, Em!" I took a swipe at her but she dodged me laughing.

"What have you told him?"

I knew this was coming. "The shortened version: you're at school, I'm a teacher, Mom died. Dee's my best friend, practically our adopted sister. Paul's our big brother, pretty much."

"So, no…?" Emma's hand flashed briefly in the sun as her skin turned diamond hard.

I smacked it down on the table, probably giving myself a bruise. "Knock it off! And no, he doesn't know about either of us and it's going to stay that way!"

"He's gonna find out eventually," Emma crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, he won't. Your dad didn't. Nobody else needs to know," I repeated a few of Mom's parting words to me.

"Kayla," Emma's voice was suddenly serious. "I know you better than anyone and I know when you're laying on the bullshit."
"Excuse me?! That is what Mom told me before she died!"

Emma waved her hand. "No, no. I mean that you're afraid that you're going to get attached to this guy and then he's going to leave."

"Emma, it's not that simple-."

"I think you're avoiding your real feelings," Emma sing-songed. "I think you could really like him, but you're afraid." I didn't say anything at first, just looked down at my coffee cup and ran my finger around the rim. "You're afraid that he won't feel the same way, or that he'll change his mind…" Em went on. "And that he'll leave and you'll be alone…"

"Em…please…"

"No, I have to say this. You deserve the best and if this guy is worth it, then he'll understand if you tell him…." She nudged gently.

"I…I don't want any more heartbreak," I confided to her. "After Mom died…" I shook my head. "I'm tired, Em. I'm tired and I'm only twenty-six."

Em frowned sympathetically. "I know. But I think this guy could be good for you. Make you less tired…" She grinned devilishly. "Or more. I have a good feeling about him. Give him a chance at least."

I grinned back. Our eyes were equal. "Am I really that transparent?"

"Only to me," Emma assured me. "Trust me; I doubt that even Dee realizes it."

I shook my head. "No. It's gotten so bad that even Dee can see it. And calls me on it constantly."

"That is bad."

I checked my watch and stood. "Babe, I've got to go that meeting with the financial aid office, okay? I just want to get some things sorted out before I head back to Canmore."

Emma smiled and stood as well. "All right. I'll head back to my room. I'll meet you later, okay?"

I kissed her cheek and left.

Stryker was waiting for me at the base of the CN Tower as agreed upon. "Kayla," he held out his hand for a shake. When I took her hand he covered it with his other one. When we'd finished, he offered me his arm and I took it. To the outside view, we looked completely ordinary. "How are you? How is your visit so far? And Emma?" He acted as if we were old friends instead of what we really were: a devil and his demon.

"Fine. Just fine." I replied as I glanced around. There was no menacing figure, no hobo nails to make me squirm. It was just Stryker and me. "Where's Victor, your pet? I didn't think you went anywhere without him."

Stryker chuckled. "Really, Victor isn't so bad when you get to know him. I'm sure Logan's told you all about him."

"He hasn't actually." I kept my replies short and to the point as we strolled. "We haven't talked much about the past."

"I see." He chuckled again. "And how is he adjusting?"

"Fine. Everything is going according to plan."

"You don't sound excited."

I stopped and pulled away. I glared at him. "Do you really expect me to be?!"

"You're keeping your sister safe, keeping your promise to your mother-." Stryker reasoned.

"But…I'm going to-"

"You're going to keep him in one place for a while. Keep the rest of the world safe. It all depends on you, Kayla."

I nodded in understanding. "Then I need something from you."

"Name it."

"I can't call you every week and give you updates." I admitted. "I can't be your spy and be with him."

"How will I know that you're keeping your end of the bargain?" Stryker asked.

"I guess you'll just have to trust me."

"I don't know if that's possible."

"Well, then, you're out a spy, aren't you?" I countered, trying to hold my ground.

"Kayla," he started to reason like an indulgent uncle. "This is ridiculous, all you have to do is make one short phone call-"

"And feel like a traitor." I injected. "I know you keep close tabs on Emma. So, if I get to talk to her every week, consider the deal still on." I held out my hand to seal the deal.

Stryker glanced first at my hand and then at my face. It sent a shiver down my spine as he smiled. "Fine." He shook my hand again.

For the first time in weeks, I felt free. I didn't have to worry about calling Stryker, or looking over my shoulder to look for Victor.

"You look happy to be leaving me." Em commented sourly on the cab ride to the airport Sunday morning.

I shrugged. "I just miss home. I never really realize it until I've been away for a while."

Emma grinned and poked me hard in the shoulder. "I think you miss him!" She sat up straighter in her seat, smugness emanating from her every pore. You'd think she'd cured cancer by the look on her face.

"No, I miss sleeping in my bed and waking up to my view every morning. I miss the mountains. I'm not a city girl. Not like you, Miss Memorized-The-Bus-Route." Really, she fit in Toronto. It was her place. Like her dad.

Emma just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I know you just need an excuse to be around Logan again."

I laughed. I suddenly missed her for more stupid reasons than I could count. I missed dancing with her through the kitchen and arguing about what we were going to have for dinner. I missed driving her to school and sitting out on the patio watching the sun go down with her. I looped my arm around Em's slim shoulder and pulled her close. "I love you, kid. You're always first. Always."

"I should hope so." Emma grinned. "I am your sister after all." Emma twisted a loose piece of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear, reminding me so much of Mom it almost made me cry. "I love you too, by the way."

"Yeah, I got that." I rested my head on her shoulder.

"Always will." She began our little tradition that started...actually I couldn't even remember where it came from. Sometimes it seemed like we'd always said it.

"Always have." I replied, kissing her temple.

I hated goodbyes. And as the record stood, I wasn't very good at them. The only person I knew who was as bad was Emma. We were quite the pair, Emma and I, with the tears streaming down our cheeks and promises of calls and letters. As I walked onto the plane, I poked my head out my window to see her waving from the gate.

I was driving home from Calgary when it happened.

Someone on the plane asked where I was headed and when I told them Canmore, they told that it had snowed another foot while I was gone. But the road wasn't too bad, nothing I couldn't handle.

It was actually clear out that night; clear enough to see all the stars as I drove up into the mountains. Each mile drew me in and I saw landmarks that filled me with a sense of home.

Just as I was passing out of town, I stopped at the four way stop and then proceeded to turn onto the road that would take me home. As I made the turn, I looked to the left and then caught a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye.

A dark shape like a huge dog or bear or something jumped into the middle of the road, it seemed to rear up on its hind legs as my headlights moved closer and closer.

And so, stupidly, I slammed on the brake and swerved to the left, missing the shape by a foot or so.

Everything spun. I saw the night sky twist and the huge oak tree that sat on the left side of the road grow bigger and bigger. The black night and the white snow blurred together as the car spun and spun. Time both slowed and sped up while I spun across what looked like the sky.

From some distance away I heard the crash of metal, the magical tinkling of glass. There was the smash I had been waiting for and then everything went dark.

I love cliffies!! now press that purple button and make me the happiest poor college kid in the world!!!