So we sat Griffin down and gave him a full explanation of the last week; Griffin kept a compose face for the most of it but it was obvious we struck a nerve when we mentioned Sophie.

'We never would have got out if it wasn't for Sophie' I commented, 'she helped us escape, she had this whole plan it did involve me hitting her to avoid suspicion but it helped a lot!'

'Sophie… helped you?' Griffin raised one eyebrow.

'Yeah, she did it for you' I smiled, 'she made me promise to keep you safe. It killed her to see you on that chair beaten and almost lifeless'

'I bet she cared so much' Griffin rolled his eyes.

'She did, she was fighting back tears Griffin!' I defended.

'The last thing I remember of that interrogation was her fist pounding my face' Griffin spat his words at me.

'She had to. From what I saw she is a highly ranked paladin, they were saluting her and everything' I explained. 'I'm telling you she had to!'

'Whatever' Griffin dismissed, 'So, what do we know about this General guy?'

Alice and I shivered at his name and the memory of when we last 'met' him.

'He must be the highest ranked paladin and he knows my name' I shivered, 'maybe yours as well Griffin'

'He does and I've seen him' Griffin was silent for a moment, 'I can't remember what he looks like clearly but he was wearing an army jacket and he is very tall. I spat in his direction when he asked me about the paladin resistance'

'What is the paladin resistance?' Alice looked at me then moved her eyes to Griffin.

'Probably their name for us' Griffin dismissed.

'If it was a name for jumpers then they would have said jumpers but they said paladin resistance' Alice reviewed.

'That's true, maybe it's not just the jumpers against the paladins' I concurred.

'Hmm, maybe not' the thought bounced inside Griffin's head.

'Do you remember anything else about the General?' I asked.

'Not really, I could hardly see from one eye' Griffin replied, 'he looked like a heavy built guy'

Alice sighed and slumped on the sofa, 'As if things couldn't get worse'

'What about Mary Rice or another paladin we know? Did you see them?' I asked.

This seems to have the most effect on Griffin, 'she was there alright. Right next to her daughter edging her on'

There was silence and then I had to ask, 'what actually happened between you two?'

'It doesn't matter. It's not important' Griffin passively dismissed, 'what is important is what we do next'

'We attack' Alice rose from the sofa with a stern edge to her voice, 'we get the paladins and this General for everything they've taken from us'

A crooked smile form on Griffin's lips and he put one hand on my shoulder then said, 'hold on to this one. She's a keeper'

'Always' I replied with determination. 'I think we should get help from David and Millie'

Griffin's hand dropped from my shoulder, 'why exactly did you think that?'

'Griffin we can't go by ourselves… we are injured' I replied.

'And I can't fight' Alice added.

'You can't come' I dismiss, 'You'll stay here with Millie'

'What? Because we're girls!?' Alice accused.

'Because you're not jumpers… that will be our only advantage against the paladins' I said while Alice just rolled her eyes, 'though they have rooms which you can't jump into or from'

'Such as the interrogation room' Griffin pointed out.

'And the room I was locked in' Griffin and I felt a chill at the memory of my time spent in that room.

'What else do we know about their lair?' Griffin went through his drawers to find a pencil and paper. 'Let's draw out everything we know'

'I still think I should be included…' Alice muttered huffily, 'you could teach me the basic moves and I could have a weapon. I've seen the weapons in your drawer Griffin'

'Alice, why are you going through my stuff?' Griffin asked.

'Alice! Don't do this to me! What if you get hurt?' I asked with a break in my voice.

'No Jamie! Don't do this to ME! I'd rather get hurt with you than have you never come back' Alice shouted at me.

'I'm gonna let you guys have a domestic over there' Griffin laughed, 'I'm drawing over here if you need me!'

'Shut up, Griffin!' I rolled my eyes, 'Alice, we need to attack them soon and how much realistically could we teach you in a day?'

'Says the basically crippled… Just teach me some moves; I can already punch that's one thing' Alice argued.

'Fine! I'll teach you how to fight but I am not agreeing to this until I can see how good you are' I reasoned.

'I'll show you how good I am Jamie Andrew Bradfield' Alice waved her fist in my face.

'She's got you there Andrew' Griffin said in between his fits of laughter and hysterics.

I rolled my eyes at Griffin, 'Come on Alice, I'll teach you what I know' I held out my hand in her direction, a smile formed on her lips and she slid her hand in mine interlocking our fingers. In a moment I jumped us to our school gym; a place I personally hated but I learnt karate here after school with Jeremy so I thought it would be appropriate.

'Urgh' Alice commented in disgust.

'I learnt here so I thought it would be symbolic' I smirked.

'Don't get sentimental on me now; I was just about to kick your arse' Alice retorted.

I took a precautionary step away from Alice and said, 'let's see your punch then'

Alice exhaled and jabbed the air with her small fist; while her left fist guarded her face. I stepped towards her and raised her left elbow giving a more defensive block against her face.

'Keep your arm at a perpendicular angle away from your face' I stated, 'but other than that, it was… okay'

Alice turned slightly towards my body and drove her fist into my chest. The force pushed me back another step but not enough to stop me from grasping her waist and jumping the other end of the room. I lift her against the wall, looked up towards her face and her beautiful eyes bore into mine. I gently put her back on the ground closing the gap between us and leant in slowly towards her face. Unexpectedly I felt my balance on my right leg slip, slamming my back to the ground sending a gust of air out of my lungs. Alice then pounced on top of me and pinned me to the ground.

'I win' Alice laughed defiantly.

'You cheated' I breathed with a displeased look on my face.

'So did you' she winked at me. 'Do I get anything for winning?'

'I don't know, do you?' Alice lowered her body on top of me and kissed me gently on the lip.

'Let's go back' Alice smiled evilly, 'I want to tell Griffin about how I beat you up'

I pursed my lips together and jumped us to Griffin's den where Griffin was finishing up his sketches of what I thought was the paladin's lair. I jumped behind him only to realise it was a sketch of Sophie; Griffin quickly shut it back into the drawer and turned to Alice without looking at me.

'Griffin! Griffin! Guess what?' Alice said impatiently.

'What Alice? What?' Griffin said with fake enthusiasm.

'I beat Jamie up' Alice shrilled through her grin.

Griffin exploded with laughter and looked at me, 'Well I can see who the dominating one in this relationship is'

'There isn't one' I moaned.

'Honey, be quiet the men are talking' Alice joked.

After about an hour of planning and sketching the layout of the paladin's lair was complete. Along with other information that we know about the lair such as where the security cameras are placed. It wasn't a lot to go on but it was enough for the mean time; but something was telling me that if we went in there without David and Millie it would be a lost cause.

'We should bring in David and Millie, we're going to need the extra muscle' I suggest.

'I have Millie's number, she gave it to me when you were breaking down outside' Alice stated.

'Try calling her now and we'll ask to meet somewhere because I have a feeling Griffin won't like them coming here' I explain.

'Griffin wouldn't like who coming here?' Griffin asked with a apprehensive look in his face.

'Erm David and Millie' I muttered.

'We need them Griffin…' Alice added. 'They'll help us end this and save Sophie'

'Sophie…' I said dubiously, 'that wasn't part of the plan'

'Well it is now!' Alice demanded. 'She begging to get out of there, she doesn't belong there and you two know it!'

'She made her choice' Griffin retorted.

'And I've made mine… if she helped you out of there, it means she still loves you but she's too trapped to admit it' Alice protested. It was then that I realised Alice was right, Sophie is trapped within the paladin's grasp. She needs our help even in my dreams she needed my help and I didn't do anything about it… until now.

'Plans have changed, we take down the paladins and rescue Sophie with David and Millie' I commanded.