"Where is everyone?" Six demanded, looking around the rest stop.
Sam looked up guiltily. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.
"I mean," Six said dangerously. "We're missing half the group! Where's John? Where's Tyler? Where's Teresa?"
"I don't know." Sam said, unable to meet her eyes.
"Yes. You. Do." Six growled. "Where'd they go?"
Sam looked around nervously for help, but the others were all studiously ignoring the confrontation. "Away?" he guessed.
"Well, obviously they went away genius," Six said, rolling her eyes. "I could have figured that out just by realizing they weren't here. Now where. Did they. Go?"
Sam faltered for a minute under Six's imposing glare. He broke after a few seconds, finally spitting out "Tyler and Teresa left a while ago to go into town."
"Into town?" Six demanded, frowning. "Now! They know we have to leave! Why, we don't need any more supplies!"
"I don't think . . ." Sam started, then caught himself. "uh . . . yeah."
But Six had already turned back on him. "Well then what?"
"Nothing." Sam answered quickly.
"Are they coming back? As in soon? Like the next few minutes?"
"I don't know!" Sam protested.
Six huffed. "Honestly, I didn't think Teresa was going to be trouble. Who knows if there are Mogs around . . ."
"They can fight too. And they'll be back some time tonight," Sam started, attempting to defend them in the space when Six wasn't yelling at him.
"Sometime tonight?" Six repeated, outraged. "We're supposed to be leaving now! What could they possibly have to do in some random town tonight?"
"Um . . . I don't know . . . stuff." Sam muttered vaguely.
But Six was running out of patience. "Come on Sam, spit it out. Where'd they go?"
Sam looked beseechingly around, but no one came to his aid. He sighed. "They went clubbing."
Six simply stared at him. "Clubbing?" She asked incredulously.
Sam nodded guiltily.
"We're in the middle of nowhere!" Six vented. "Where would they even go clubbing?"
"I told you, they went into town." Sam said petulantly.
"This is ridiculous!" Six fumed. "We're on a mission, and one on a strict schedule, to save the Earth from Mogadorians, and they're sneaking off to go clubbing?"
"I guess so." Sam said.
Six didn't pay him much attention. "They don't even have IDs! What, are they going to . . . Teresa. That little . . . wait a minute. Sam, you said Tyler and Teresa went clubbing. Then what happened to John?"
"Nothing." Was Sam's immediate response.
"What do you mean, nothing?"
"He, uh, he went clubbing with them." Sam was talking quickly, avoiding Six's intense gaze. "I just forgot to say his name too. But he's with them. I think. Probably."
Six just continued staring. "How far away is Paradise form here?"
Sam jumped. "Paradise? I - I don't know. Why would you ask something like that? We aren't going there, are we?"
Six's eyes turned dangerous. "He went to see her, didn't he?"
"No!" Sam exclaimed. "No he didn't! Who are you even talking about?"
"You know full well Sam." Six said, her voice eerily calm. "I can't believe him. Doesn't he know how much danger he's putting all of us in?"
"He just wanted to visit her," Sam said meekly.
"Whether he believes it or not, there are more important things than his stupid girlfriend!" Six closed her eyes briefly, rubbing her forehead. Then she strode across the camp, away from Sam.
"Ella, where are they? You can find them."
"What?" Ella asked, turning around.
"We should have gone with them when they invited us." Daniel muttered.
Six glared at him, but it wasn't much of a change from her present expression. "Come on. We're packing up and going. Take us to Tyler and Teresa first, and then we're going to Paradise to drag John away from that girl, and then we are leaving." Six said in a voice that left no room for argument.
"They're just having some fun, Six." Ella said. "Why don't we just wait for them to come back?"
"No." Six said flatly. "We have to leave tonight. And we cannot let John spend any more time with Sarah. It was hard enough to drag him away from her the first time."
"Fine." Ella said, stretching herself up. "I'll show you where they are."
Sam walked cautiously next to Six, who was still fuming. They were following behind Ella and Daniel, who were leading the way to Tyler and Teresa. Patrick had insisted he would catch up later, much to Six's displeasure. Six had been glued to Ella's side, barking out instructions every five seconds, until Daniel had kicked her back here.
"For 'distracting' her." Six grumbled. "Yeah right."
Sam wisely chose to remain silent on this subject.
"Sam." Six said abruptly, with a sigh. "How did we, the three who actually made this group in the first place, end up being the uncool ones?"
"What?" Sam asked, turning towards her with his mouth open slightly, taken completely off guard.
"You know what I mean." Six said tiredly. "Tyler and Teresa go off clubbing on their own." She still said the word with disdain. "And the only ones they ask to go with them are Ella and Daniel. None of us got an invitation. And Patrick – he's, old. He's too cool for any of us teenagers. How'd this happen?"
Sam shrugged. "I wasn't even cool back in high school – and I don't think being the only human is exactly going to earn me any points."
Six nodded, rolling her eyes. "But still." She persisted. "We're the ones who got together to kick the Mog's asses in the first place. Shouldn't that give us a huge head start? In fact, we're the only ones who have really gotten into a battle with them, shouldn't that make us the cool, hardcore ones?"
"Yeah, well, they don't exactly know about that." Sam said, glancing nervously up at the other two.
"Maybe we ought to tell them." Six grumbled, shoving her hands into her jacket. "Would maybe make them understand a thing or two . . ."
"Six," Sam said, smiling. "If you're honestly upset about being uncool, you shouldn't be. At least out of us three, you're definitely the coolest."
"Really?" Six asked, without much interest, but looking up all the same.
"By far." Sam said. "But, you're the leader Six."
"So?"
"So, you don't ask your boss to go clubbing with you."
"I'm not their boss." Six said, although she lingered over the word, as if considering the sound of it carefully. "They could even be older than me."
"You know what I mean." Sam said. "You're obviously in charge. You're the leader, and you're, uh, kind of scary."
At this, Six grinned. "Me? Scary?"
"Oh come on, it's not exactly a surprise." Sam said. "You've got the strongest powers, the most training, and we don't even know your name."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Six demanded, her eyes narrowing.
"Scariness factor?" Sam pointed out. "Everyone else has actual names, but you're just Six." He said, spreading his hands out for dramatic effect. "You're all mysterious and dangerous, and just made amazing at everything."
Six looked away so that Sam wouldn't see her starting to smile. That kid. She liked being so cool that people were afraid of her. But she also like the having friends part of being cool.
"Jane." She said suddenly.
Sam turned to her. "Say what?"
"Jane." She repeated stoically, looking straight ahead. "That was the last name my cepan gave me."
As the initial shock wore off, Sam slowly began to smile. "Jane." He repeated, nodding. "You don't really seem like a plain Jane. No offense." He quickly added.
Six – Jane – nearly laughed. "I was never very good at the blending in."
"I'll bet." Sam said, grinning. "So, does this mean I'm allowed to call you Jane now?"
"Absolutely not." Six said. Sam sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "And you're not allowed to tell anyone either. I'm Six, got it?"
"Got it Jane."
Six glared at him.
"Don't worry, I'm joking." Sam said, putting his hands up. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"You'd better watch your step, human." She threatened, then shook her head. "If only you thought I was the scary one, then I'd be in good shape."
"Eh." Sam said, shrugging his shoulders. "All the supernatural stuff, the effect wears off after a while."
"What?"
"You know," Sam said, waving his hands around. "The mogs, the glowy rocks, the dog-rat-whatever thing, the powers – sorry – legacies, whatever. Every time you turn around, there's something new. It gets kind of old after a while." He told Six confidentially. "You know what would really surprise me right about now? A regular old couch potato. No, I mean it." He insisted, as Six raised an eyebrow. "Just some guy sitting on his butt watching tv all day – I'm starting to doubt I ever actually knew any. They must be an endangered species, seriously."
Six smiled. "I think that goes for all of us." She said.
"What? An endangered species? Maybe you guys, but –"
"No," She said, shaking her head. "Not that. Before. You explained why I wasn't cool here, but not why you guys weren't."
"Oh. Did I?" Sam said.
"Yeah." Six nodded. "But it's the same reason. You guys are leaders too."
Sam looked at Six for a long moment, and then started to grin. "You really think so?"
"Yes." Six nodded sharply. "And what I say goes."
"Ten-four." Sam said, giving her a mock salute. His eyes narrowed with a devilish grin. "Janie-oh."
"Sam!"
"What?"
"This is it." Ella said at last. "They're in there."
"There?" Six asked, scrunching up her nose. "That's not even a club!"
"Maybe they couldn't find a real club." Daniel suggested, surveying the other buildings nearby.
"Not surprising." Six snorted. "Let's go."
She straightened up and walked towards the front door. Her hand already on the handle, she turned around, realizing that none of them had followed her.
She stared at them. "Come on."
"I think I'll wait out here." Ella called back from across the street.
Six sighed. "Sam!" She barked out. "Come on!"
It took a few seconds, but soon there was the slap of feet against pavement, and Sam jogged through the door behind her.
"Me? For back up?" Sam groaned in Six's ear as she scanned the area for Tyler and a girl – whatever Teresa had decided to look like today.
"You weren't exactly my first choice either," Six hissed back. "But it's pointless to ask Daniel to go anywhere without Ella, so I didn't really have another option."
"There he is." Sam pointed across the room to where Tyler and a leggy blonde were sitting, drinks in hand. Six's face darkened dangerously and she stormed over, Sam following meekly behind.
"Tyler." Six stood, arms crossed, staring down disapprovingly at him.
Tyler looked up, grinning broadly. "Six!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide to welcome her. "Come to join us?"
Six didn't deign to answer. Sam gave a small wave. "Is this Teresa?" She asked, staring down the girl.
She giggled, and gave a wave. "Hi Six." Teresa said. "You like my hair?"
"Get up." Six said. "We're leaving." She didn't wait, turning around and walking back towards the door.
"Wait!" Tyler called out. "Don't you even want to get a drink?"
"I'm gonna need a lot more than alcohol to put up with you guys."
Six stormed out of the pub back towards Ella and Daniel, Tyler and Teresa tripping out, arms around one another, several yards behind her, and Sam bringing up the rear.
"Teresa?" Daniel asked as they approached.
Six nodded sharply.
"You guys missed out!" Teresa said.
"It was fun."
"A lot of fun."
"Well the fun's over now." Six said, arms crossed. "When did you last see John?"
"Before we left, earlier today." Teresa replied. "Or is it yesterday now? What time is it?"
"Only a bit past midnight, so yeah, technically yesterday." Sam said, consulting his watch.
"Nice eyes." Ella complimented, staring at Teresa. "Is that make up, or all you?"
"I never use make up." Teresa said, laughing.
Ella shook her head wistfully. "That is one awesome smoky eye. I don't suppose you can do other people?"
"Hold still." Teresa said, cupping her hands in front of Ella's face. "Only for a second – I can't keep it up if you move."
"Seriously?" Ella asked, grinning. "Do you have a mirror – I want to see!"
"If you're done," Six said in a dangerous tone, "Playing beauty salon, we do have another person to find."
"Right." Ella said, dropping her hands, subdued. "Sorry." Teresa was silent for the moment as well, but looked dangerously close to dissolving into giggles.
"Come on." Six said, turning around. "Next stop, Paradise."
John figured he could only count on an hour. It had taken some time to get to Paradise, but it would take just as long for Six and the others to get there – longer, in fact, since there were more of them. He could hope that Six going crazy when she found out he had left would slow things down to, but that was just a hope.
He hadn't wanted to make Six go crazy. He hadn't wanted to slow down their mission. He hadn't wanted to put all of the others in danger. But honestly, all of those had hardly even factored into the equation. Because there was something that trumped all of them, made them as insignificant as the gnats buzzing idly around his head.
Sarah.
Six had never been in love. So she couldn't have possibly understood how difficult it was to be away from her for so long, how much it hurt, physically hurt. How sometimes he was afraid he was forgetting what she looked like, the color of her hair, and then at others he could see her in perfect detail every time he closed his eyes, so perfect in fact he almost wished the image would go away, the taunting illusion that could never compare to the real thing. Almost. Except for that he treasured everything to do with her. Every moment they'd spent together, playing like a broken record over and over again in his head. He couldn't not think of her. Everything spoke of her – everything.
The Mogs were no deterrent, if anything they made him want to get there all the more. If there were Mogs, then Sarah needed him more than ever. He needed to protect her. How could he do that from miles away? He needed to be there for her. And he needed her by his side. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last without her.
How could anyone possibly understand what it was like to be separated from half of yourself, of your soul, without experiencing it?
Paradise didn't seem to have changed much since the last time John had been there, even though it had been a while. Three months, one week, and two days, to be precise. But this meant that he had no trouble whatsoever in locating Sarah's house.
He had this romantic idea, that he would throw rocks at her bedroom window, taking her by surprise. But then he got worried that he might break her window – it may have worked for the guys in eighties movies, but none of them had had super strength. He didn't want to start off their reunion by setting off their alarm system. But in remembering that he wasn't the average teenage boy, he got a better idea.
Difficult as it was to admit, practice really did make all the difference. He was pretty good with this lumien now, if he did say so himself. Standing beneath Sarah's window – of course he remembered which one was hers, how could he have forgotten? – he expertly manipulated the shining globe of light to slowly drift upward, like a tiny star, trapped at the Earth's surface, floating up to his Sarah.
Damn, was he a good boyfriend or what. Sending the heavens up to his girlfriend?
Or what. Definitely or what. Was that even a question? He didn't even deserve to be her boyfriend, disappearing on her like that. Putting her in danger. Abandoning her. And despite all that, coming back, begging for her, hoping she was still there for him.
Hoping? No. He knew. He couldn't doubt. He wouldn't doubt. She was the only girl out there for him. He knew she felt the same way.
Even though she was only human. Even though she wasn't bound by the same weird forces of soulmates that he was.
No. His head could doubt whatever else it wanted, but not Sarah. Never Sarah.
He'd trusted in her for so long, ten times the eternity he'd been away. He couldn't let the doubts win over now, just feet away from her. It was practically sacrilegious.
John stood, bathed in the light of the lumien, his very essence, hanging up above him, drifting ever nearer to his center, the reason for his very existence.
Sarah.