Justin spun around to face her. He was only slightly above average in height with dark blond hair and light brown eyes. He looked so much like a country club prep boy that she could not believe that she ever found him cute let alone dated him.

"See, what did I tell you, she is crazy and even stalking me!" He said to Dean Wilson.

Stef was dumbfounded. "Stalking you? You walk through the lobby of a hospital that my friend was just brought to and you call that stalking? What is wrong with you?"

"Stephanie?" Phobos walked up behind her. "Is there something wrong?"

Stef shook her head. "No baby. I don't know why I even bothered. He is not worth my time."

Justin broke out in laughter. "You see? Even in the hospital, she is picking up John's and selling her time! She is nothing but a cheap hooker."

Phobos launched himself at Justin so fast that Stef was shocked Ash and Styxx caught him before he killed Justin. For the first time, Stef saw that same intense fury from Phobos that she had seen earlier from Deimos.

Damn the man could be intense.

For as much as the twin brothers were so much alike in so many way, this was the first time that Stef saw this connection. Yet, with as much as she was starting to understand Deimos and trust that he would not really hurt her, he still scared her. Phobos, however, there was nothing about him that truly scared her. Not, a fear of him hurting her physically at least. Fear for him getting hurt. Fear that she would screw things up and hurt him again. Fear that he would really rip Justin apart. But, she was not scared of Phobos.

Ash stood in front of Phobos. "Look at me." He forced Phobos's mouth closed and turned his head. "This is not the time and place. We have other things to worry about now." By this point, everyone was stopping to watch the scene. All of the women who were prancing around the nurses station, the people in the halls, even security was walking up but not rushing to get involved.

"Damn Stef. You have your own muscle to keep the John's inline. Such a walking stereotype."

Styxx turned his head toward Justin. "I would suggest you stop insulting the man's future wife. We are barely holding him back from killing you. And, as much as we all respect and value Stef as part of our family, we could choose to let him have at you."

"Now I am getting death threats!"

"No." The Zeth's angry voice broke through the chaos. "That was a warning, not a threat. The man they are holding back is a highly trained warrior who does not take insults well. And, you are insulting the woman that he loves. Be happy we have friends and family here to hold him back and that I currently have my anger under control." Zeth looked at Vane and Urian who stood between Zeth and Justin, ready to attempt to subdue him if he moved to hurt the human. "At least I do for the moment.'

"And who in the hell are you? Her pimp?" Justin snarled. That boy never did have much sense. He thought that daddy's money made him untouchable.

Zeth looked at Stef, then at Justin again. "Your judgement and prejudice is revolting. Stop using Stef's horrific childhood as white wash over the amazing woman she is now."

Stef didn't know what to say. They were all defending her. These wonderful, intimidating, and loyal men had spent the past several days protecting her from demons, wolves, and gods. Now, they were defending her from the stupidity of one pathetic human. Not only did they not care about her past, but they seemed to understand the pain that she felt and they wanted to protect her from that pain. They were not just calling her family, they were rallying to protect her like family. She never could have imagined such a thing.

Justin started to puff out his chest a bit as he saw Bill Lauren's walking up the hall with another man. "Bill, you have perfect timing. I want these people arrested."

Bill tilted his head toward the intern. "Justin Hallis, I don't represent you. I stopped representing your family months ago when you became a conflict of interest in going after my sister-in-law's best friend. Charlie here represents Ms. Jones with me, since I am just a corporate attorney."

Justin gaped. "Her name is not really Stephanie Jones! Don't you all get that! She is committing fraud and deceit. Her birth name was Jessica." That succeeded in getting Stef to shake off her thoughts and re-engage.

"Enough!" Stef roared. "My friend is back there, six months pregnant and with a possible concussion because she was attacked today. Her health and safety is far more important than this pricks narrow minded bullshit." Stef took a breath and walked over to cup Phobos's face. "And though I appreciate that you are so protective of me baby, I don't want anyone else hurt today. Please." He nodded.

She melted his anger. How did she do that? As much as Phobos knew that Stef had to be angry and hurting, she was trying to de-esculate the situation. She was focused on Jenna and on calming Phobos down.

Phobos was lost in the look in Stef's pale blue eyes. Phobos had never known anyone who could calm him while still facing the source of that fury. She faced him and calmed him at the height of his anger. She did not pull back or hide from him. The warmth of her skin on his face penetrated his soul. He just stared into her eyes and lost himself in her love.

For all of her vulnerability over her life crumbling, when it came to protecting him from making a mistake, she showed so much strength and determination.

He had almost forgotten the reason for his anger, until the weasel spoke again.

"Yeah, just run away. That is what you have done your whole life isn't it? You ran away from that screwed up cult that wanted you to marry your own father when you were 13. You ran away from the police when they wanted to send you back to him. You ran away from your life by hiding in the drugs. You ran away from medical school when your dirty little secrets came out. You are pathetic and never deserved to be a doctor to begin with. How could a whore ever expect to climb the social ladder?" Justin sneered.

Stef was ready to go slap the asshole when Bill stepped in front of her.

"Well, thank you for just proving my case on slander." Bill stated dryly. "Then he started to pull witness affidavits out of his briefcase. "There are lots of witnesses to this one. Sorry Geoffrey. I guess we don't really need to have that meeting now."

Geoffrey, Justin's actual attorney, had walked up just in time to hear all of the rant but not in time to stop it. "What in the hell Jeff?" Justin asked.

"We will talk about it later." The older gentleman said between gritted teeth.

Bill stopped. "Basically, you just proved that you had full knowledge of the past that Ms. Jones was running from, the reasons for her not having a birth certificate, and nature of her relationship with her father. Ms. Jones did change her name, using a legal service for victims of domestic violence. So, the investigation has found that Ms. Jones has committed no fraud or misconduct in using a legal name obtained through such a service. More over, the investigation has commended Ms. Jones on her grit and determination in pursuing her medical degree. However, your ethics are now seriously under review as you knowingly used the knowledge of her past to obtain your spot in the internship, by only offering enough details to cause the investigation."

Justin sputtered in indignation, but Geoffrey prevented him from speaking further. The damage had already been done. Instead, Geoffrey pulled his client away entirely.

Stef was stunned. What just happened?

Ash and Styxx finally let go of Phobos once Justin was out of sight. He walked up behind her to hold her tight. "Are you alright?"

A tear rolled down her cheek and he soothed it away. "They really have finished the investigation?"

Bill stopped passing out affidavits and kissed Stef on the cheek. "Yup. First thing in the morning, I will process the paperwork to get your Midwife certification back up and running. And the medical school…"

Dean Wilson spoke up. "The medical school will reinstate your status in good standing once we receive confirmation of the investigative findings. I am sorry for the hardship of this ordeal Ms. Jones. But, please be rest assured that Mr. Hallis will be dealt with accordingly." The Dean paused. "But, we will need reassurances that your past is in the past."

Phobos groaned. "Stephanie. Lives. With. Me." He emphasized every word. "I am not what that… boy claimed. And Stephanie is a strong woman that climbed out of that life ten years ago." A tick worked furiously in his jaw. It was not all that he wanted to say on the subject. But, Ash was right. It is not the time or place.

"I am glad to hear that." Then the Dean left.

Acheron shook Bill's hand. "Thank you for your help Bill."

"Hey, I should thank you for the info you were able to find from that legal service in Chicago. It helped a ton. I was still trying to track down which service she used." Bill answered.

Stef shook her head. "Wait. You two know each other? And… you helped me Ash?"

Ash grinned. "Yes and yes."

"How? Why?" She asked.

Ash tilted his head. "Because now you are part of this seriously screwed up family. And because I meant what I said when we first met. We have all done things to survive that we would like to forget. You have been hurt enough by your past. It's time to leave it there."

She ran over to Ash and hugged him, then placed a kiss on his cheek. Then repeated it with Bill. "Thank you both so much! I can't tell you how much this means to me."

Stef looked over and saw Zeth watching from a distance. His face showed the pride of honor being restored and happiness for her. But, he was withdrawn. He didn't want to insert himself in the middle of the moment.

So, Stef ran over and flung herself at him. "I am so happy!"

"I know honey. Congratulations." He hugged her tightly.

Deimos rolled Jenna out in a wheelchair after they finished her discharge papers. "What did we miss? The nurses were going ballistic back there a minute ago."

But, everyone tensed once again. Jenna stared down the hall. "Well, that makes four that I now have trapped in various rooms. I am pissed enough for them getting the drop on me that I am jealous Deimos got to go deal with two of them already."

Ash chuckled. "I have two locked in a room down that way. And Styxx got three down the other way." He jerked his chin down the opposite hall. "You would think that after trapping so many, they would have either shown themselves or left by now."

Phobos looked down at Stef. "It's time we get you back home." He pulled her into the bathroom and flashed her to the house.

"What in the hell? They were there the whole time?"

He nodded his head. "We all had a conversation through mental projection. We realized that they probably attacked Jenna to draw you out. So, we allowed you to stay and worry over Jenna, without you knowing about them. We were hoping that Skoll and Hati would show."

"You used me as bait?" She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

Phobos grinned. "I wasn't going to let them near you. Even if I had to flash you out of there in front of everyone. But, Deimos called Maahes and Ma'at while he was in Jenna's room. Ma'at healed Jenna fast enough and checked on the baby. Then, at full strength, Ash, Jenna and Styxx have been pulling the demons into empty rooms and locking them in with their powers every time they saw one. It was the least obvious option given the public setting. With Maahes protecting Jenna, Deimos went from room to room to take out his rage on those inside."