Serena walked through the forest, ignoring everything while she hoped Dekker would show himself. She knew it was likely he had run like a coward, but she had to try and find him. It was bad enough she knew he was still lurking about, but going after her son while she was sleeping was inexcusable. She couldn't risk losing him. And when Dekker had mentioned he thought Emily would be taking care of Terran…

Serena forgot what she ever saw in Dekker. She had tried to keep herself from regretting what she had with him. She had tried to keep the memory of the man he was, but she couldn't do it anymore. He had changed too much… or hadn't changed.

She was confused, she was frustrated, she was upset, and she was PISSED.

She couldn't lose Terran or her sister again, so she had locked them in. Even if someone did break through Jayden's field, they couldn't take Emily or Terran away from the house. She knew where they were and she knew they were safe, and she would make sure they stayed that way.

As she approached a river she fell to her knees. Her face was still soaked in tears and would be for a while still. She had been terrified before in her life. Many times she had been terrified, but never like this. She had never, ever, been so scared of something so horrible. She was Terran's mother. She knew what was safe for him and what wasn't and when she knew he was in danger and there was nothing she could do to save him…

It mortified her. For years she couldn't understand why her mom had been so protective of her. She always thought he mother would exaggerate. She thought she understood to a degree, because she always worried about Emily, but with Terran it was completely different. He was so small, so innocent, and so helpless and she knew he would always stay that way. Even when he was grown and would be taller and stronger, he would still be her little boy.

And Dekker was NEVER going to take him away.

So she understood her mother's overprotectiveness completely now. She understood a lot of things now.

Except what she had ever seen in Dekker.

It had been bright as day. He was the man who wanted to murder one of her friends. He had kidnapped her sister and her friends. He had nearly killed them. He had told her what his intentions were. She still let herself fall for him.

Her mother had been right to worry and be angry.

Serena picked up a rock and tossed it into the river. As she watched the waves she heard a twig snap. Thinking this was her moment, she pulled out Emily's Samuraizer and morphed. She spun around quickly, drawing her sword.

"Kevin…" she sighed and lowered the Spin Sword from his neck, "I thought you were someone else."

"Clearly… unless I did something to piss you off."

Serena shook her head, "Sorry," she pulled off her helmet and sighed, "Let me guess, you want me to go home?"

"Kind of, but if you want to talk… what happened?"

Serena felt her eyes watering up again. She couldn't remember the last time she got this emotional this fast. Just the thought of Terran near a stranger scared Serena. Seeing Terran in Dekker the monster's arms while she laid helpless…

"Nothing."

"Nothing doesn't lead to this."

"Sometimes, Kevin…"

"Fine, you can hide it from me, but you have to trust someone. The more you bottle things up, the more we all get hurt. You know, most of your problems would have been avoided if you just talked about them."

Serena glared at Kevin, "You try living a day in my life. If it's not one thing…"

"So you talk. You share. It's less of a burden. Just tell me what you're looking for."

Serena looked down at her Spin Sword, "Dekker. I want to kill him."

"Dekker? Why all of a sudden?"

"Not all of a sudden. I've wanted to kill him since… he abandoned you guys. He didn't follow through with his plan. I'm sure it's his fault you guys were hurt."

"With that Nighlok…"

"Takeshi," Serena nodded her head, "Dekker knew his name. He got involved."

"You don't know…"

"He got involved!" Serena snapped, "It's because of him you all got hurt! We could have rescued you all sooner if that fucking bastard just did what he promised!"

"But why are you coming after him now? That was weeks ago…"

"Because he came back," Serena muttered, "Terran was crying and he was getting loud. I took him outside. Dekker… he thought I was Emily."

"What?"

"He thought I was Emily so he attacked. He came up to the Shiba House and grabbed Terran and me. I don't know what he wanted."

"How do you know he thought you were Emily?"

"He told me," Serena said. "He had it planned. He didn't want me knowing and you know my schedule. When I work, I need sleep. You can't walk into a school full of kids when you're tired."

"So Emily takes him in the middle of the night on school nights," Kevin said, putting the pieces together, "Dekker's been watching. If he knew the routine…"

"He didn't want me to know because he knows I'll murder him. But I was outside with Terran, trying to get him to calm down when Dekker showed up. He brought me and Terran to a cave, tied me up and left me on the ground while he…"

"What did he do?"

Serena's chin started to quiver, "I… I thought he was going to take Terran. He just held him until the sun came up. I knew he thought about it, though."

"Then what?"

"He carried us both home and dumped me in my bed. He knew if he untied me I'd kill him… so he didn't. But he still had Terran. I saw him… I saw him looking at the window. He thought about running off… He could have taken Terran to the Netherworld and I…"

Serena started to cry so Kevin pulled her into his arms, "Serena…"

"I hate him… he's done nothing but hurt me and you guys," Serena sobbed into Kevin's shoulder, "The only good thing he's ever given me was Terran. If he takes him away…"

"He's never going to take him away," Kevin promised. "I'd go down into the Netherworld myself if that happened. We'd all go and we'd get him back."

"I don't know how to end it," Serena finally powered down, "I can only kill him."

Kevin hugged Serena warmly and looked around the forest, "I doubt he's coming back."

"He has to. I have to kill him!"

Kevin shook his head, "You'll get him next time."

"I have to get him now. He'll just come back… he'll take Terran again and what if he never brings him back?"

"He'll never take Terran," Kevin assured her, "C'mon, we should head home."

-Samurai-

By now Terran was screaming. This was not normal for him. Normally in the mornings he was with mommy and after the strange night he had had, he wanted his mommy.

Emily rocked the Nighlok and was stressed herself. Not only was she worried about Serena, but now she had Nighlok Terran screaming in her ear and the rest of the Shiba House was asking her questions she couldn't answer. They tried to take Terran off her hands when they saw she was stressing out, but Emily wouldn't let him go.

While she rocked Terran she tried to call her sister. The phone rang, and rang, and rang, but Serena never picked up. She had promised she would come back, but Emily was getting scared. It had been a couple of hours already.

"Emily, he's probably hungry," Mia pointed out. Emily shook her head.

"He was fed. He wants Serena."

Just as she said this the door opened and Emily bolted over to see who it was. She sighed in relief when she saw Kevin had brought Serena back. She threw herself into Serena's arms.

"Don't run off like that!"

"Sorry, Emy," Serena hugged her little sister and took Terran from her arms. She hugged her son and whispered soothing words until he turned back into his human form.

"What happened?" Jayden asked her, "You had Emily in a panic and we were all worried."

"I'll tell you guys later," Serena said, "I just… I need to think for a while."

"About what?" Mike asked.

"Just… everything."

"Do you want to talk?"

"She's fine," Kevin assured the other Samurai.

"I'll tell you guys later," Serena repeated. "I didn't sleep well last night, so if you guys don't mind…"

"Serena…"

"Emily."

"What happened?" Emily demanded. "You can't not tell me. I saw…"

Serena sighed, "You look tired too, Emy."

"Do you know how freaked out I was! Of course I'm tired!"

"Come," Serena waved Emily over, "You can nap in my room after I tell you what happened."

Serena led Emily away while the other Samurai all gathered around Kevin, hoping they could get answers from him. But he simply shook his head.

"All I can say is that you guys better be ready next time you see Dekker."

"Ready for what?" Mike asked.

Kevin sighed, "Human or not: we kill him."