4

Kathryn Small slipped out of her house for her usual after-dinner stroll. It was her time, a time she used for reflection on her day, to plan for tomorrow, and to work on restructuring the shell that had nearly been destroyed when she was separated from the other Constellations during the Fall. Kitty, as her human companions called her, had spent several days trying to program herself a new shell. A lucky break had enabled her to acquire the body of a young human, much in the manner of Agents.

Unfortunately, this body had become unstable, and she was having trouble patching the glitches. She would rather not go to anyone for help, especially not the Merovingian. Not after the tragedy he'd caused her two years ago.

Around the corner from her stood a young man, his golden PVC trench coat shining oddly in the evening sun. He was talking quietly on a mobile phone, one hand pressing the casing to his ear, the other embedded in his long blond bangs, holding it from his face. He sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, okay, I'll come. But you'll have to wait until I can get there - I'm not using the Corridor like you do."

Kitty heard and recognised the young man's voice. A mischievous grin spread across her young face as she slowed her pace, peering around the corner to see that the voice's owner was facing away from her. After he hung up the phone, she pounced.

"Aries!"

Aries gasped as the teenager hit him from behind, staggering forwards. He twisted, "Get off!"

Kitty giggled as she let go of the Ram, taking a step back. "What, you don't recognise me, Aries? I'm hurt."

It took Aries a moment before it clicked. "Lynx?" His feelings were mixed: relief because she had survived, disappointment because her ordeal didn't seemed to have changed her personality. "Where have you been all this time?"

She tipped her head to the side, thinking, then answered, "My shell got a bit... messed up in the Fall. I've been trying to put it back together."

"For ten years?" asked Aries incredulously. He looked her over. Most of what he had known as Lynx was gone - except the wildness behind her yellow-green eyes. It seemed she had chosen to become a stereotypical American teenager, and he shivered involuntarily.

"Yes, for ten years!" she replied. "You try rebuilding your shell from almost-scratch!"

"No thanks," he said quickly. "I like it just as it is." He squashed thoughts of the 'costume' he had worn to Hel. "I can't talk now, Lynx, I have to get over to the UK."

"Why?"

"Scorpius wants me, but he won't tell me why."

"Scorpius is still around!" Her eyes lit up in delight. "Great, I'll come too!"

Aries did a double take. "Are you sure?"

She nodded eagerly, then frowned. "Oh... but my curfew is eleven o'clock..."

Aries checked his watch. "With the time difference too, you'll be way over that, little kitty."

The Lynx smirked. "Not if we take the Hallway."

"No way," Aries said instantly. "I'm not drawing attention to myself. I'm flying. By plane," he added.

The girl snorted. "Cute, Ram, very cute. You can traverse the Hallway without attracting attention, you know. I do it all the time, now come on!" With that, she grabbed his hand and all but dragged him down the street, to a door hidden by shrubbery.

"Are you sure about this?" Aries cast a wary glance either way down the street, and then felt in his pocket for his key. He tried his other pocket: still nothing. "Shit, where's my key?" He patted himself down anxiously.

Kitty smiled. "This key?" she asked, holding it up.

Aries blinked. "Yeah... Damn, you're light-fingered."

"I know." She tossed him his key. "It staves off boredom."

Aries fumbled the catch and retrieved the key from the pavement. "Hmm..." He walked in front of her and unlocked the door, slipping through quickly. He gestured, "Hurry up, Lynx."

She followed him, her short blonde ponytail bouncing slightly with the movement. "How is Scorpius doing?" she asked Aries curiously as they travelled.

"Oh, just as evil as usual." Aries was half listening, counting the doors.

Kitty watched him, he didn't seem very happy. She shut up and followed, wondering what was causing him to be so pensive.

Aries couldn't stop thinking about Libra. The feeling that he had blown his only chance so quickly kept returning to his mind, plaguing him. He couldn't tell Scorpius. Scorpius would laugh at him. He didn't want to tell Lynx either. And now he'd never be able to tell Libra how he felt, because she had gone to the Merovingian.

He shook himself mentally and stopped in front of the correct door. "Here we go." He inserted his key again and unlocked the door onto a dingy London back alley.

Kitty skipped out and looked around. "Ah, the part of England they don't want the tourists to see."

"Look hard enough and you'll find there's only about ten square miles that are actually worth seeing in this city," muttered Aries. "Okay, stay close to me."

Kitty looped her arm through his and assumed an innocent expression. "I won't palm anything else tonight, I promise." Her touch calmed Aries, and he lead them confidently out of the alley and along a main road. Neon glared from a dozen bars and clubs, and three different kinds of music mingled with the noise of the steady trickle of taxis and cars.

Five streets, four alleys and a zebra-crossing later, Aries stopped at a pub and ducked inside, receiving an odd look from one of the bouncers on duty. The second bouncer glanced over them, and promptly stuck his arm out. "Hold it. Are you over eighteen?"

Kitty gave him her sweetest smile. "I'm not here to drink," she said, the picture of angelic innocence. "My brother," she leaned against Aries, "wanted me to meet a friend of his."

The bouncer narrowed his eyes, but Kitty's look did the trick. "All right then. I'd advise you to carry ID if you come again."

He lifted his arm, and Aries yanked her inside. "Nicely done. I'd forgotten about them."

Kitty arched a brow at him. "You certainly have been thinking of other things," she told him. Noting the bouncer's watchful gaze, she kept up her "sweet and innocent little sister" act.

"Don't ask, because I won't tell," he murmured, raising his head to scan the crowded room. "Right, where is he?" He made a show of looking to satisfy the bouncer.

"Wasn't going to ask... shall we pretend Scorpius is an old family friend you caught up with to explain away any exuberant greetings?"

"I don't think that will be necessary, actually. He's good at blending in. Aha - there he is." He grabbed her arm again and began weaving through the room to the back. Amused, Lynx let him lead her.

Scorpius looked up from his laptop and grinned. "Oh, so you did take the quick way, cousin?"

Aries took a seat opposite, feeling safer being lower down in the crowd. "Lynx wanted to come too."

Scorpius winked at her. "Long time no see, Lynx."

Kitty grinned and hugged him tightly. "It's great to see you again, Scorpius!" Of all the Constellations, it was the Scorpion she had missed most of all.

Scorpius returned her hug, albeit briefly. He had an image to keep up, and he could see Aries' eyes widening. "Okay, kitten, gerroff." The Lynx idolised him, and he knew it. He quite liked it, actually.

She let go obediently, smiling at him. "I wasn't sure what had happened to you and the others. I can't believe you recognised me!"

"I'd know those eyes anywhere. Now, Ram." Scorpius pushed a chair out with his boot for Kitty to sit on. "I have some pretty bad news. Wingless is back."

Aries leant forwards abruptly, "What?"

Kitty sat, her eyes widening, and she kept her mouth shut. This was bad, very bad.

"He's got Sagittarius, and is also attempting to kill a contact of mine and his 'sister'."

"Which contact?" Aries asked.

"Young man named Cue. Plays a mean game of pool. His 'sister' is unusually Aware, although nobody's actually told her yet. They ran into Wingless when he was stealing Sagittarius, and both of them angered him."

Kitty couldn't help but wonder how a human could be dumb enough to anger Wingless... but Jace had angered -

She cut off that train of thought before it bogged her down in guilt.

"I want you to find Cue and Arin and get them out of London," ordered Scorpius. He handed Aries a piece of paper with something printed on it. "That's his flat. Some sneaky devil altered all his records just after I got in." Scorpius made a mental note to look up that individual as well. Hackers were always useful.

Kitty looked at Scorpius. "Do you need me to do anything?" she asked, eager to help out.

Aries looked at her. "I thought you had a curfew..."

She showed him her watch, which read 7:30 PM. "I've a few hours yet. And every healthy American teenager misses curfew at some point. I do have an act to keep up, you know."

Aries nearly smacked his head. Time difference... Idiot.

Scorpius considered her. "I suppose you could go along with Ram. The girl might appreciate a bit of femininity."

Kitty grinned happily. "Thanks!" She had been too long out of the loop, though her inquiries into that 'Nox' character back home were going well.

Scorpius smiled and closed the laptop lid. "Well, get going. I'll catch you up tomorrow morning. Unless something else happens, that is," he added darkly. "Get them to Cambridge, if you can."

Aries looked shocked. "That far?"

"Yup. I'd say Manchester, but that'd take you too long. Plus the girl has parents to think of."

Aries sighed heavily. "Right."

"Where are you going?" Kitty asked, concerned for her idol.

Scorpius stood up. "I, dear kitten, am going to the mountains. I need to scope out the château."

"What for?" demanded Aries.

Scorpius looked at him. "A rescue, of course." The tall program gathered his computer under his arm and swept past them into the crowd.

Kitty smiled. "Sagittarius. Of course. He likes her, doesn't he?"

"He'd say she's his partner in crime," replied Aries thoughtfully. He watched Scorpius disappear from view, then checked the scrap of paper. "Right. Luckily that isn't too far from here. Come on."

"That bloody idiot," Sparrowhawk muttered, sifting the 'net for all of Cue's records and deleting them viciously. He'd liked this flat, but now that Wingless knew where they were, a move was in order. Luckily, Sparrow could get a new one without ever leaving a paper or electronic trail. Thank God for cash.

The cops had been shooed away, though the Fed had taken longer to convince to go away - Sparrow rather thought he'd noticed the floating sugar packet.

As if by design, said packet plummeted to the floor. "Damn it!"

Exactly one-point-zero-one seconds after the packet fell, there was another knock at the flat door.

"Nobody's home!" Sparrow yelled at the door, irked. He swiftly erased all traces of his prior activities and went to open it anyway.

The door opened, revealing a young man in black with a vibrant gold trench coat and a flop of hair to match. "Are you Cue?"

"No," Sparrow growled, immediately distrustful of the man.

"Good going, Aries," came a female voice behind the blond. "Ever hear of subtlety?"

The young man, Aries, winced. "All right, Lynx, you talk to him." He sidestepped deftly, revealing the teenager.

The appearance of a young blonde with the strangest yellow-green eyes he'd ever seen threw Sparrow slightly off-balance. "Who are you people, and what do you want with Cue?"

The girl grinned broadly. "An associate of his is very interested in his safety. He asked us to escort him to Cambridge."

Sparrow's grey eyes narrowed. "This 'associate' wouldn't happen to be named 'Wingless', by any chance?"

"Do you really think Wingless would send someone else to do his dirty work?" scoffed Aries. "We're here on behalf of Scorpius."

"Which isn't much better," the hacker replied, but he let them in. "Cue's in the hospital thanks to Wingless."

Kitty's eyes narrowed. Only the hospital? That didn't sound like Wingless.

Aries had followed the same thought. "So he's not dead yet?" He winced as Kitty elbowed him in the gut.

"A broken wrist and a knife through the shoulder are hardly life-threatening," Sparrow replied, then muttered, "which is very strange, considering that Cue managed to hurt the bastard."

"He did?" Aries was alarmed: when was the last time that had happened?

"Apparently."

Aries looked beseechingly at the hacker. "Look, Scorpius wants us to get Cue and the little girl out of London tonight, and I don't fancy hanging around waiting for Wingless to come back. Which hospital is he in?"

Sparrow looked at them both, then opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the sugar packet falling yet again. "Son of a bitch!"

Aries locked onto it. "A glitch?"

"Yeah, one I use as an Early-Warning Device to tell me when people are coming."

Kitty's eyes narrowed, and she opened the door a crack to peek out. "Oh, my God..."

Aries leapt over. "What?" He crossed his fingers. If it was the police, he'd be out of that window faster than an escaped budgie.

She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "It's an Agent."

Aries went cold. "Oh, fuck! Change of plan, we scarper and come back tomorrow!" He was already on his way to the back window.

Sparrow was hot on his heels. "We can take my car; the kid can sit in your lap," he told Aries.

Kitty didn't move.

Aries stopped wondering how Sparrow knew to be shit-scared of Agents to yell over his shoulder, "Lynx, come on! Unless you want to be Deleted!"

"Knew it," Sparrow muttered.

Kitty looked back at Aries with a smile. "One Agent won't be a problem for me."

Despite himself, Aries doubled back and grabbed her arm. "How many Agents have you fought, little kitten? Get down that fire escape NOW!" His own tension was accidentally coming out as anger towards her.

"Agents are nothing compared to Gemini!" she snapped back, but she let him drag her away. Sparrowhawk was already out the window and halfway down the fire escape.

Lynx has met Gemini? Aries bundled her roughly through the window as the Agent outside knocked for a second time, louder. Shitshitshit...

Sparrow figured he was close enough to the ground and jumped the rest of the way down, bolting for his car and starting the engine. He'd give the two programs two minutes, then he was gone.

Kitty didn't bother with the fire escape, simply jumping to the ground and running for the corvette. Aries followed Lynx's example and dropped, landing hard. He used the momentum to lurch forwards towards the car, hearing as he did so the terrible sound of the Agent punching through the door. "Quick!"

As soon as the strangers were in the car, Sparrow floored it, not even waiting for Aries to shut the door.

"You'll need a new front door, hacker," commented Aries, yanking his door shut as it scraped another parked car.

"Fuck that, I need a new apartment! Don't suppose you'd program me one?"

"Programs can't program things as big as that," said Aries automatically, and then he properly registered what the human had said. "You're a freebie?" he demanded, taking his gaze from Lynx's back where she perched in his lap to stare at the hacker.

"Nope. Blue pill," Sparrow replied easily, making sure his lights were off as he sped down the road.

Aries wasn't completely up to scratch with the freeing methods. He'd shied from Rebels, in general. "Meaning..?"

"Meaning I shouldn't remember anything they told me. But I do."

"How did you manage that?" Aries shifted uncomfortably. "Lynx, there isn't anywhere else you could sit, it there?"

"Not sure. And the only other place she can sit is my lap, and she wouldn't fit there."

Kitty whispered an apology to Aries, shifting so that most of her weight was leaning against the door.

"I suppose you know we're both... not human?" hazarded Aries after a pause.

"I guessed, and you confirmed it," Sparrow replied. "I've gotten pretty good at telling the difference. At least it explains why I've always hated Agents." Deeming them to be far enough from his flat, he flipped on the headlights.

Aries felt slightly better after his initial terror at the sight of the Agent. He blew his fringe from his face. One downer of not having anything to concentrate on was that his mind wandered, and simulated as it was, it was just as predictable as any human brain.

He was moping again...

"We're here," Sparrow said, parking the car in a side street. "Everybody out."

Lynx leapt out, followed by Aries. "Hooray for the NHS," he muttered. "At least you won't have to pay to get him back."

"Why d'you think I moved to England?" With a minimum of fuss - Sparrow had an obscene amount of credichits on his person - he got them to the room housing Cue and Arin.

Arin looked around from her perch on a stool beside an infuriatingly clean bed. "Sparrow!"

Cue looked up, "Sparrow, you bastard, it took you long enough to get here."

"I had a few things to take care of," he said unrepentantly. "Ran into a friend of your Scorpion buddy."

Aries smiled helpfully, and was about to speak, but Arin crossed the distance between them at a run, and without warning, jumped up and smacked Sparrow across the face. "Coward!"

Sparrow blinked and rubbed his cheek. "I guess I deserved that." Behind him, he could hear the girl - Lynx, that was it - laughing.

Aries thoughtfully concealed a smirk. It would probably do well to remain on good terms with this 'Sparrow' character. He turned instead to Cue. "Scorpius sent us." He gestured to the still-grinning Lynx. "We've been told to escort both of you out of London tonight, if possible." He raised his eyebrows at the heavy bandaging on the human's shoulder and right wrist.

Cue smirked. "Works for me… but Arin…" he turned to look at her, the smirk replaced by a worried expression.

Arin bit her lip. "Not good..."

"Scorpius said you have parents to think about," questioned Aries, looking at her.

"My dad's out on location in Namibia - he's a cameraman for the BBC," explained Arin. "My step-mum's a journalist for some crappy women's magazine. She is not going to let me go to Cambridge, whatever I say..."

Cue sighed. "If I didn't have two strikes against me, I'd take you anyway… Sparrow, is there a way you could alter Arin's records so he can't find her?"

Sparrow shook his head. "'Fraid not, pal - odds are he got the information while he was getting the stuff on you."

There was a pause, then Aries spoke up. "There's one way I can think of, but it'd probably put you in more danger..."

Kitty looked at him. "What do you mean?" Cue frowned, looking at her - why did that girl seem familiar?

Aries took a breath. "We 'kidnap' all of you. It shouldn't look too out of place, since you two were at the scene of Sagit-- Terri Calloway's disappearance, and you, Sparrow, are probably wanted by several people. What do you think?" he asked nervously.

"We'll talk about that idea in a minute," Sparrow said, cocking a finger at Aries. "I want to talk to you outside. Now." He didn't give the blond any time to protest, dragging him outside and shutting the door.

Cue blinked. "That was random."

Aries shook off Sparrow's arm, annoyed. "What?"

"Just a quick question," he replied, reaching for his back pocket before sighing and removing an empty hand. "Lynx, Aries, Scorpius, Sagittarius - there any reason you're all named after constellations?"

"Yes." Aries was reluctant to spill, and it showed.

Sparrow smirked. "I'm going to find out one way or another, you know. Why not make it easier on us both and just tell me?"

"It'll take too long to explain fully, but let's just say we were constellations, all right? I'll tell you more when they're safe, all right?" Aries pushed angrily past the human and went back into the ward.

Arin's head shot up. "What was that about?"

"Later," snapped Aries impatiently. Source, that girl was curious. "This kidnap is starting now."

Sparrow walked in, grinning broadly, and helped Cue out of the hospital bed. As he did so, Cue pointed to Kitty. "Kathryn, right? Small's sister?"

Kitty blinked, looking at him, then replied, "Greene? Is it true you jumped out a second-floor window to escape the cops?"

Arin collected a few things from the bedside cabinet and stuffed them carelessly into her rucksack. She also retrieved a floppy disk from where she'd slid it under the sheet. At Lynx's comment, she looked up, alarmed. "Two stories? You dropped two floors?"

Cue sighed. "One floor. And it was the ground window I jumped out of. Rumours, good God…"

Sparrow laughed. "You can thank your drug buddies for tha -"

He was cut off by Cue's good hand curving around his throat and yanking him down. His brown eyes blazed as he growled, "They… were not… my buddies."

Arin's eyes widened. "Cue, don't, please... Stop bickering and let's get out of here." She slung the bag across her shoulders.

Aries crossed to a wall and slid open a window. "Hope you're feeling up to dropping two floors again," he muttered, leaning out. Below him was a small scruffy patch of lawn; a few young trees swayed in the wind. Beyond that, the carpark, and the tiny Corvette. "Another thing: how are we travelling? That titchy car isn't going to take five of us."

Cue let go of Sparrow and looked out the window. "We could always walk," he said dubiously.

"Or we could take the Ha--," Kitty started, only to be silenced by Sparrow covering her mouth with his hand.

Arin looked around, saw Sparrow's eyes, and closed her mouth. "I'm going to have to question you lot thoroughly," she muttered. Out loud she said, "There's taxi, or train."

"Or we could steal one," suggested Aries. "There's a jeep down there."

"Works for me," Sparrow replied. "Now - how will you get it to start?"

Aries shrugged, reluctant to reveal the skeleton key on its chain around his neck. Scorpius had acquired that from one of his 'friends', and he wasn't going to use it willy-nilly. In fact, he'd not used it at all. Plus the girl didn't need any more... hints. A swift mental debate ensued, then he sighed. "I have a key."

Cue gave him a suspicious look, but looked out the window. "Shit - I forgot that what you Brits call the first floor is the second floor in America… this is not going to be fun…"

Aries leapt and crouched on the window sill. "Go down the stairs - you, girl, say you're taking him out for fresh air or something. Get around to the carpark and I'll meet you there. You two, follow me out this way." With that, he lowered himself over the sill as far as his arms would allow, then kicked off the wall and dropped into the darkness.

Sparrow rolled his eyes as Kitty bounded out the window, not bothering with caution, and turned to Cue, moving his body so that Arin couldn't see what he was doing. "These are yours," he said quietly, passing Cue his guns back, "Don't lose 'em again." Cue nodded, hiding the weapons as Sparrow followed Aries and Kitty.

"Let's go," he said to Arin.

Arin nodded and took his good hand. There were at least three nurses on duty, two of which were laptop-ing. The other one stopped them, but the fresh air excuse seemed to work. The double doors swung shut behind them, and an ambulance swished past, blue lights glaring. "That was almost too easy," murmured Arin uneasily.

"You're right," Cue replied, looking around. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Come on." Arin tugged his hand, noticing a group of figures clustered around a chunky vehicle across the asphalt.

The knife-thrower nodded, walking with her to the others.

Sparrow was talking quietly with Aries, while Kitty sat on the hood of the Jeep, looking at her watch. Aries made a violent gesture and raised his voice, "You can catch up with us later!"

Arin rolled her eyes and called to them. "For Christ's sake, stop arguing! Someone'll hear us." Sparrow offered her an elaborate bow, said something quietly to Aries that was decidedly impolite, and headed off down the alley, tossing his keys in his hand.

Kitty laughed. "Now there goes a man without fear."

"Or brains," Cue agreed.

Arin shook her head. "Let's just go."

Aries bit down on shouting a comment back and leapt into the driver's seat. "Pile in, all." He unhooked the chain from his neck and started the engine.

Arin was about to scramble in the back seat when she stopped suddenly. "Look!" She pointed towards the shadows behind a corner of the hospital building. "There's someone watching us!" she hissed.

Kitty, still blessed with enhanced vision, looked and paled. "Get her in there!" she yelled, leaping into the passenger side. "It's him!"

Cue reached out with his good arm and yanked Arin inside. "Floor it!"

Arin was thrown back as Aries gunned the jeep forwards, bumping over the speed hump and taking off down the road. "Next stop, Cambridge."

"This is like a bad horror film," Arin whimpered, nuzzling into Cue. "Like a nightmare... I'd like to wake up now."

Cue held her close. "Shh, baby," he told her quietly. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

He smiled softly, remembering that these had been the very first words he'd spoken to her when he'd met her years before. The phrase worked like an anaesthetic to Arin, and soon enough she was curled up against Cue, dozing.

Aries glanced at the dashboard. "Sou - Jesus, two AM already?"

Kitty looked at her watch. "9:00 my time. How long does it take to get to Cambridge?"

"About an hour," guessed Aries. It seemed Lynx's human disguise had been very successful - the knife-slinger recognised her as 'Small', whatever the significance was there. He was about to question her on it, but suddenly remembered that the two humans in the back knew nothing of the Matrix, and wisely thought better of it.

Kitty nodded. "It'll be close, but I can make it. Oh, Aries, by the way, my nickname is Kitty. My brother's fault; he started it. I'll fill you in later."

"Brother?"

"Long story."

The Scorpion slithered through a tangled mess of miscellaneous shrubbery and crept to the window. This was not going to be an easy feat: practically half of the known constellations were here! He'd already seen Leo prowling a hall.

He ducked and ran along the wall, opening the laptop and rapidly typing details of wall heights and thicknesses.

Not that far away, the program once known as Taurus the Bull was exploring the garden. He'd taken the name Esau upon going to the Merovingian, then discovered an ironic quirk of sorts in his programming: he loved gardening, loved 'nature'. Walking through the gardens outside the Château had become a nightly ritual for the Fallen one.

Scorpius twitched his head; he was sure he could hear other sounds besides himself. Half sure he was deceiving himself, he closed the laptop and gathered his coat, hoping his black attire would mask him. He began creeping back the way he had come, keeping close to the wall of the château.

Esau frowned, pausing. He'd heard something…

The former Bull paced forward on now-silent feet, looking for the source of the noise.

Scorpius focused on being completely silent. Unfortunately, this diverted his attention from his feet, and the Scorpion collided with a young willow tree, rebounded and toppled into the pond, scattering koi. "Shit!" He threw up his arms to save the laptop.

Esau sped, no longer bothering with silence. He knew that voice. Seeing the laptop sticking out of the water, he couldn't help but laugh. "Having problems, Scorpion?" he taunted.

Scorpius surfaced, draped ceremoniously with pondweed. "Shut your hole, Bull!" he spluttered, fully aware he would have to either run his ass off or accept his fate. He staggered up, soaked for the second time in twenty-four hours, relieved that the laptop had survived.

"Why don't you go ahead and make me, Stinger-Tail?" Esau suggested, smirking.

"I might just do that," snarled the Scorpion. "But not tonight." He span around and squelched quickly away, praying the other program would not bother with him.

Esau nearly did chase after him, but changed his mind as he recalled a certain rumour that had been floating around when he and the other Constellations had been skybound. Very intriguing, it was. The Scorpion would return.

Esau slipped back inside and headed for the dungeons.

Tiger, formerly Leo, melted out of the shadows to join him. "What was that about?"

"The Scorpion was prowling around. Odds are he'll be back." Esau's smile was dark. "You remember that rumour about him and the Archer, don't you?"

Tiger grinned toothily. "I don't suppose there is a constellation who has not heard of it. Such an unlikely pair... Do you think he was scouting us out?"

"Most likely. I wonder how he found out we had her so quickly, though."

Tiger shrugged. "Source knows."

"I'd like to find out who his sources are." Esau sighed and changed the subject. "Has she awakened yet?"

"No - not when I last looked, anyway." They descended a flight of stairs. "I wonder if he knows about the... incident?"

Esau shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me if he did. Do you know where he is?"

Tiger shook his head. "No idea."

Esau frowned. "What about Vir - Persephone?"

"With Libra. She still hasn't changed her name," he added thoughtfully. They came to the library, the quickest way to the dungeons. Tiger pushed open the door.

Inside, Cain slammed down the lid of a laptop while Abel, who'd been snickering, immediately tried to stifle his laughter. Esau arched an eyebrow. "And what is so funny as to drag you from your precious books and paintings?" he asked the brothers.

Tiger added his gaze to Esau's, pressuring the werewolf brothers to spill.

"That," Abel sniffed, "is none of your business."

"Besides," Cain added, "if all goes well, you should know within two days." They both looked very pleased with themselves. Tiger exchanged glances with Esau, then looked back at the wolves. "We're going to see how Sagittarius is. Are you coming?"

"Nope," Cain replied. "We've got… other business to take care of."

"Besides, himself is down there with her," Abel added, "and Wingless is bound to join him sooner or later. We'd rather not be there when that happens."

"The Archer's fear is hard on our noses," Cain agreed.

Tiger arched a brow. "Fair enough. I just hope Wingless doesn't get overexcited. The Frenchman does want her to join the ranks, after all."

"That'll be fun," Esau muttered, watching the wolves vacate the library, taking the computer with them. He shook his head and walked to the far bookcase, tugging on Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung to trigger the passage to the dungeons.

Tiger followed him down into the dark dank world, sniffing experimentally. He winced, "Ah, he's started..."

Esau looked at Tiger, and substantially slowed his pace. He didn't feel like walking in on a scream.

"I still find it hard to believe you actually chose to break z' agreement," mused a cold accent. The rack tightened another notch with a nod of the Frenchman's head, drawing the cords binding Terri even tighter. Ropes creaked.

The former Archer refused to show any pain, her brown eyes blazing cold fire at her captor. Sagittarius was her own master, not some jumped-up frog-eating bastard. "Fuck you," she growled.

The Merovingian laughed. "So much anger, Sagittarius. If you had just done as you were told, you would 'ave spared yourself ze pain..." He raised a hand and twitched a finger; the ropes went tight again.

"My name…," she ground out through clenched teeth, "is Terri!"

"Terri? Terri?" The Merovingian's face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Hardly fitting for a program. One would think you were attempting to become human..."

"Says the man whose name came from a line of French kings," Terri managed to sneer.

She'd hit a nerve. The Merovingian, in a rare display of anger, slammed his fists down on the wooden board. "I, my little sharp-shooting horse-rider, am the king of Exiles. No other has an operation as successful as mine - I am unique in zis world." He brought his face close to hers, fury blazing from his eyes. "I would not insult me again, Archer. You will not live to tell the tale."

She snorted, but held her tongue. She was surprised that the Frenchman had not yet threatened her students - perhaps Wingless hadn't mentioned she taught horse riding? Or perhaps neither knew…

The Merovingian stood back and straightened his collar. "Leave her," he commanded, and the program operating the rack loosened the ropes. He stalked to the door. "I will return at some point so see if you 'ave reconsidered your disobedience. Au revoir."

Terri flung several mental curses at the Frenchman.

Esau and Tiger were waiting outside when the Merovingian quit the room holding the Archer. "Try and talk some sense into her," ordered the Frenchman. He seemed agitated, and strode quickly down the rows of cells towards the exit.

Tiger watched him go thoughtfully. "She's got him angry..."

Esau nodded, then called out, "The Scorpion was here."

His employer turned on his heel. "Quoi? What was he doing 'ere? Never mind. If 'e returns, get him. He is next on my list." He resumed his route towards the door.

Tiger blinked behind his shades. "Sounds like the boss is planning to get us all back together again," he mused.

Esau nodded, looking in on the exhausted program lying on the rack. "You think someone should tell him about the Incident?"

Tiger stared down the corridor. "Probably. But I'm not going to be the one that does it."

"Nor me." Esau shuddered. "Not with the mood he's in now." He gracefully changed the subject. "Did you say Libra was here?"

Tiger altered his gaze and watched Sagittarius recover herself. "Yes. She came voluntarily, but someone must have told her where to find Him."

"How much do you want to bet it was the Scorpion?"

Tiger leered. "I think it was someone else, actually. The Ram is still out there..."

Esau grinned. "A good point indeed. You think he's still hung up on her, then?"

"I'm sure of it. Stubborn thing." Tiger glanced to Sagittarius again, then back to Esau. "Should we tell her about the Scorpion?" he murmured.

Esau considered, then shook his head. "No way. That would only get her to clam up more, and it'll be hard enough making sure Wingless doesn't murder her."

"Good point," echoed Tiger. "Speak of the Devil," he muttered, glancing down the corridor and noticing a familiar flame-red figure coming their way. Tiger stepped across Esau and yanked the cell door shut. Esau shook his head slightly; sometimes it seemed as though the effeminate program had a death wish.

"Wingless," he greeted the other program warily.

Wingless nodded to both with his usual coldness. "Esau; Tiger."

Tiger bowed. "What brings you down here?"

"Her."

Tiger shook his head, his raven hair sticking on his collar. "Off limits, I'm afraid."

Wingless said nothing, but Tiger had to force himself not to flinch at the ferocity of his stare. After a second or two, Wingless turned and strode quickly back the way he had come.

Tiger let his breath out slowly. "That could have been nasty," he observed.

"Very nasty," Esau said softly. He clapped the smaller program on the shoulder. "I've got your back, though. We all have to watch out for each other."

"Yes..." Despite being united under one command, an awful lot of back-stabbing went on in the Merovingian's domain. Metaphorically and literally. "I suppose we'd better get up to the restaurant. We'll be wanted at the high table."

"As always." Esau slung a friendly arm around Tiger's shoulders. "Let's make sure he can't get to her first, though."

"Good idea," acknowledged Tiger. He ducked out from under Esau's arm and began carefully adding a security parameter to the cell door codes. "Better encrypt it..."

Esau nodded, joining in on the programming. "Make so he is the only one who can get in?"

"Yes. We will have to find other ways of watching." With their combined abilities, the coding was finished in a few seconds. Tiger flicked his hair back from his face. "It still feels strange doing that..."

"You said it." Esau grinned at the former Lion. "Shall we head to the restaurant?"

"Certainly."

And enter the Lynx! Our little blonde program has a... complicated past, and we look forward to sharing that with you.

Also, I'm fairly sure the timing somewhere in here is skewed. If there's anyone actually willing to fix that for us, we'll love you for all time.

Time uploaded: 2200

Music playing: Nip/Tuck in the background.