Henry went back inside and tried not to think about what Jasper had said to him. It wasn't easy. He had the feeling that he might have just made an irrevocable mistake sending Maggie home. He shoved that disturbing thought away. There was nothing to be done for it and he couldn't worry about it now. He had a job to do.

Henry paused behind an exhibit, just out of sight. He saw Dr. Riker and Michael still talking to the officer in the hall with a few other people still scattered here and there. He looked beyond the milling stragglers to the wide corridor that led to the main exhibit hall. The police had it cordoned off. He stood still, watchful, and formed a plan.

Henry looked to the right and saw the small office that had been turned into a coat check room. One of the female students that he recognized but couldn't put a name to was still manning her station. The iPod buds in her ears were belting out music that was a decibel below deafening. She had her eyes closed and as her head bobbed up and down she mouthed the lyrics. Just beyond her he saw a couple of male students that had signed up as valets. They were illegally smoking cigarettes near the trash can at the end of the hall and had the fire exit propped opened so the smoke would go outside. He could see their shadowed faces, red vests, and the glowing tips in the dim light. The valets had their backs turned to the board that held all of the key rings for the guests.

Henry had two objectives this night. He needed to question Dr. Riker, and also get a closer look at the display area where Dr. Sorrsen's artifact had been kept. There were still too many police officers visible beyond the yellow tape so that course of action was out for right now and he didn't want to question Dr. Riker in front of her nephew. He frowned slightly. He was going to have to ambush her.

He looked down at his formal white shirt. First things first, he had to do something about it. With the stealth of a jungle cat, Henry crouched down and quietly made his way to the coat room door. He eased it open. The girl was still jamming and didn't hear him as he snuck in. He silently started to rummage through the offerings, rejecting most for being too bulky. He was about to give up when a black patch of cotton shoved in the corner caught his eye. He eased over and pulled out a plain black hooded, zippered sweatshirt. He quickly pulled it over his head, zipped it up, and pulled the hood up to hide his features. The hoodie was a little snug, but it would do the trick.

He exited the room the way he came, still crouched down, and made his way past the coat check girl. Once he reached the corridor he clung to the shadows. He moved like a wraith until he was close enough to hear the two boys talking.

"Man Duncan, it's too bad you went to take a piss before all this went down. It was crazy."

Duncan shrugged and took a drag of his cigarette. "Whatever, it couldn't have been much of a fight. I'd take the Vegas odds on Griffin any day. Stansville is fucking pussy. I don't know what a smoking hot chica like Winnock saw in him anyway."

The other valet cocked an eyebrow. "The Ice Queen, bra she is so fucking hawt she'll give you frostbite. I would love to get frostbite from her."

Duncan scoffed. "That doesn't even make sense and dream on man, she's got the jungle boy now. He probably drags her back to his cave every night to bang her. I know that is what I would be doing if I had her. I'd wrap those fine ass legs around my waist, go deep, and never come back out again."

His friend shook his head. "And then Griffin would rip your dick off."

Duncan grinned. "It might be worth it."

Henry blocked out the other valet's reply. He looked down and noticed his hands were shaking with the effort of holding himself back. How dare they talk about Maggie that way; as if she was a piece of meat and they were hungry, rabid dogs. He realized the other boy was right, he did want to rip Duncan's dick off and then feed it to him.

Henry took a deep, cleansing breath and then slowly let it out. He had no idea what was wrong with him lately. He felt like he was balancing on the edge of a cliff. On one side was his normal, controlled, Zen like self and on the other was the churning abyss of rage and violence. He had been teetering on the edge ever since he found Maggie crying in the Doum rooms.

Extreme emotions weren't really new for him. He had always felt things very deeply, but he had always been the master of those emotions. He had never had to fight them like he had been lately.

He shifted and winced. It also didn't help that he was also dealing with his body's increasing physical responsiveness to thoughts of Maggie. Shame gripped him as he realized that Duncan's crude remarks about having sex with Maggie had stirred him. It wasn't so much the remarks themselves as it was the brief fantasy they'd triggered in his mind of laying Maggie down by a campfire on top of a sleeping bag, kissing her until they both were breathless, caressing her naked body until she was withering, and then pushing inside her.

He hated how disrespectful it was to think about her that way and at the same time he couldn't always help it. He was a human, he was a teenage boy, and he had physical wants and needs just like any other human. It was the disruption of balance in his body, mind, and soul that had him concerned.

Shaking off his thoughts he forcefully chastised himself and brought his attention back to the task at hand. He moved closer to the key board, blocked out the ongoing conversation and the stench of tobacco, and focused his senses on the keys. His nostrils flared slightly as he caught the cloying scent of cherry blossoms. It was the same blended perfume Dr. Riker had worn in Mexico. He found the key he was looking for and took it down.

He didn't immediately recognize the symbols so he slipped out the side fire door that the two valets had left propped open and approached the lot. He pressed the button for keyless entry, having grown use to Jasper's Smart, and watched the black car in the corner flash at him. Henry noted its location, quickly and quietly returned the keys, grabbed the keys to his jeep, went back outside, and crouched down behind a nearby bush to wait. He checked his watch. It was already one in the morning. He sighed.

It was turning into a long night.

Maggie was quiet on the drive to her house but her body language let Jasper know she was fuming. He would glance over at her now and again, open his mouth to say something, and then promptly shut it. It wasn't until they pulled up in front of her house that he finally got the nerve to speak.

Jasper parked his Smart at the curb, shut the engine off, and turned towards her. Before he could say anything, Maggie said.

"If you're going to defend him Jasper, I really don't want to hear it."

Jasper sighed. "I'm not going to defend him Mags but hear me out for a second, please."

She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, do what you want.

"Henry cares about you and I don't mean in a platonic little sister way either. I'm going to tell you something and if you ever let on that I said this I swear on the holy theorem of Pythagoras that the video I have of my eleventh birthday where you agreed to play doctor with me will be all over you tube."

Maggie's eyes went wide and then narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

Jasper smiled, cocky. "Oh yes, I would. So listen up because I am only going to say this once. Henry is one of those guys that when he loves someone, that's it for him. The people he cares about mean everything to him and he will do anything for them, even if it costs him in the end. I envy him that because I could never be that selfless. I also benefit from it because if I went to him today and told him that I still have a crush on you…he'd back off."

Maggie had been trying not to let his words get to her but when he spoke that last ones she looked up. His expression was sheepish and a little bleak. She knew what that look meant. Remorse coursed through her.

"Oh Jasper, I'm so sorr…" He cut her off.

"Regardless, my point is this. Henry loves you. Really and truly loves you and it kills him to see you hurt. His response is to go all Neanderthal on you. Don't let him get away with it, but at the same time cut the poor besotted idiot some slack. Having feelings for you could drive any man a little bit crazy."

Maggie was quiet for a moment, and then shook her head in denial.

"You're wrong Jasper. Henry cares for me because I'm his friend, not because he is in love with me."

Jasper scoffed. "Oh come on, Mags. Even you can't be in that much denial."

She shook her head again. "He just asked me to this dance for support. He even said it was just as friends."

"That's because, and again I will deny this if you ever so much whisper it again, Henry isn't stupid."

She narrowed her eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Mags, you are the most intimidating girl I know, and I mean that in a good way. Asking you out is scary as hell, believe me…I know."

He looked at her solemnly and Maggie felt something in her break a little. She'd known he'd always had a crush on her, but as much as she might have liked too, she had never felt the same way. Maggie loved him, he was family, but Jasper had never tied her stomach in knots and made her knees feel like jelly. She looked at the boy next to her for a moment.

"You mean a lot to me Jasper. You know that right?"

He grinned, but it was tinged with a bit of sadness. "Of course I know that Mags. You're my best friend. That will never change, no matter what ends up developing between you and my cousin."

She smiled softly, leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. Jasper closed his eyes, savoring, even knowing it was an apology of sorts. Maggie pulled away and wiped away the lipstick on his cheek with her thumb.

"Thanks Jasper," she whispered. He grinned.

"Give him a chance Mags. He's worth it." She nodded faintly, opened the door, got out, and started up the driveway towards her door. Jasper waited until she was inside before pulling away.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known," he muttered.

Jasper headed home.