Robbie paced the living room floor uneasily. His brow was contorted by a worry he could neither explain nor express either to himself in words or to other people that he feared would think him foolish in his supposition and would question his grip on reality. It twisted and turned inside him, gripping him with cold, iron fingers that dug in nails he couldn't remove or cut down. Only once before had he felt such sickening anxiety, such gnawing doubt, and that time had taught him that it was an experience he didn't wish to repeat, unfortunately no choice was laid before him as was no power to fight back the thoughts that were agonising his mind.

Each time he sat down they would drown him, if he stood and to try to shake them away they would pursue him. There was no escape, no solace from their deafening clamour. He wanted to yell until they were drowned out by his own noise but he didn't want to disturb her, he couldn't.

It was an idea he couldn't hold in his mind. In truth, it was a thought that scared him.

Almost as soon as Robyn had woken up from the sedation she'd been put under by Doctor Malone to halt her violent rage and prevent herself harming anyone else he'd know that something wasn't right with her. There had been something in her eyes that had made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. In those deep blue depths he'd seen a light in them he'd never seen before, a light that shouldn't have been there in the view of her wearied mind.

It searched him like he was a total stranger, it seemed to judge him. Under this obscure scrutiny he had felt his forehead become damp with nervous sweat, a similar sweat had wetted his hand and its clamminess forced it to be released from the careless fingers that held it. The eyes seemed to scorn him as they met with his own once more. For the briefest of moments the lips of the gentle mouth he knew parted as if to loose some sound but they closed just as quickly. Seeming disinterested in his presence Robyn turned over and buried her head in the pillow. Feeling wracked by disquiet he quickly got up and left the room.

Since that moment he had waited for someone, for something but he didn't know who or what that was. Many a time he had had his hand rested on the receiver of the phone challenging himself to pick it up and call the number that circulated in his head but he hadn't been able to push himself that far, it was a step he knew he might end up regretting taking and so he abstained. More than once he'd wanted to appeal to his friends but his fear of what they might consider of him prevented him. Faced with this dilemma he had taken to pacing the floor. It was all he could do.

It was in this state that Kit found him.

Faas stepped out from the Mayor's house and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. He had been at the house with his team longer than expected but the couple's hospitality had more than sustained their needs.

As he walked further from the house a strange sadness struck him. He didn't know from whence it had come but he had an idea of the cause of it. Looking around the town he admired its simple beauty, its brightness. It was like many other towns he had visited before either on business or on the short amount of leave he got every year but it had a charm to it that he'd not seen before. Unusual as it was he felt that it would be harder to leave this town than it had been for him to leave any other. He admired its people, at least those he had seen and wanted to find some way to prolong his stay here. To see more and discover more of the people would make him happy but he knew that this was another occasion that his desires would go unfurnished. He was here to work and today was the day he was due to leave. A convoy was coming to remove the damaged airship and take him and his team home. From there would come days if not weeks of more intensive tests into what happened and numerous reports filled with the details and then there was also the bother of arranging a new airship to be sent to the poor, stranded hero whose home had been obliterated.

He noticed that such hero wandering around not so far off from where he had paused to allow his musings the full capacity of his brain.

"Number 10!" He called hoping to get the man's attention.

Sportacus turned at hearing his name. He saw Faas waving at him but did nothing to return either the man's greeting or his welcoming smile. Instead he continued walking, ignoring any attempt for his attention to be gained. He wasn't in the mood for company or questions, all he wanted to do was find somewhere he could lick his wounds in peace and try to work out what he could do next with his shattered relationship with his daughter. The only thing he could be glad of was that her attack on him had happened too early in the morning to attract any witnesses and that it seemed that many of the townsfolk were still ignorant of Robyn's true paternity.

Something made him weary though, the possibility of Kit finding out what he had done all of those years ago and seeking him out to make him pay. There had to be somewhere he could seek shelter.

It was then that he looked up at the sky and noticed the familiar shape of his parent's airship.

Standing outside of the bedroom door, Kit listened carefully for any sounds coming from the room beyond. All seemed quiet within but he couldn't be sure whether she was still asleep or had woken. His hand was rested on the handle ready to enter but he abstained. Questions were asking themselves in his mind, questions he was reluctant to find the answer for. He knew that eventually he would have to cross the threshold of that room. He knew that he was being foolish by waiting for something that wouldn't happen but had no idea why he was feeling almost afraid to do what was so simple. Annoyed at himself and his stupidity he pushed down the handle and opened the door. Sighing involuntarily with relief he entered the room.

Looking about his trappings he noticed his beloved sitting in front of the mirror. She was watching him in its reflection, a strange smile curving the corners of her mouth. He didn't return the smile. He didn't know what kind it was and how it would be received if he chose the wrong one. As he studied her he noticed there was something very different about her, something it took him a very short amount of time to realise.

She'd cut her hair. It was now just short of her shoulders in length.

"Robyn, what have you done?" He asked his voice wavering with shock as he looked down at the tresses surrounding her on the floor.

"Nothing much. I just fancied a change." Robyn replied her smile still shining in the mirror.

"But you never…you always liked your hair long. Isn't this a little extreme?"

"No," Robyn shrugged with indifference as if what she'd done was perfectly normal, "This is extreme."

Kit watched in horror as Robyn cut into her hair with the pair of scissors that had already done so much damage to it. One, perhaps two inches had come away after the fresh attack and she lifted the scissors to inflict another jagged cut into her light brown locks when Kit held her hand firmly in his.

"Robyn, stop that!" He exclaimed seizing the scissors and throwing them on the bed, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to. Don't you always do things that you want? What if it's my turn?"

"What are you talking about? You can do what you want but this…this isn't normal."

"Why?"

"Because it's not. This isn't you Robyn."

Robyn's smile faded, "Then what is? What is me, Kit? Who am I? Do you know because I don't?"

The answers to those questions seemed so simple but Kit couldn't answer them. He couldn't think of a way to begin to even scratch the surface.

"Exactly," Robyn continued, "Now if you don't mind, I have things I want to do and you're in the way."

"And what exactly are these things?"

"None of your business! Go away and leave me alone!" Robyn shouted.

Surprised and wounded by Robyn's defensiveness, Kit got up from where he had been kneeling. He was about to say something but stopped himself, it didn't seem worth it to waste his breath on ears that wouldn't listen. As he left the room he paused by the bed to remove the scissors. He didn't want to know what she would do with them if he left them with her.

As he walked towards the door he heard ten words that formed a strong feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out."