"Why? Just… Why? Why must you encourage her? She keep's getting reviews, and every time one is posted, she punches the air and does her sad little victory dance, and then she's grinning like the moron she is for an hour afterwards. It's disturbing. And another thing-"

"The hell are you doing, Julian?"

"I'm talking sense into our minions."

"MY minions, Shadow Boy. MINE. You have your own damn cult of fan-girls to boost your ego on."

"… I'm the only reason they read your strange ramblings."

"I'm aware of this. And I don't blame them." *Props head on hands and sighs dreamily*

"… I have a place to be that's not here."

"Aw! Julie, you're so adorable when you're terrified!" *Ruffles his hair (his perfect, perfect hair)*

*Bats her hand away with a freaked-out expression* "You know I was thinking-" *Breaks off mid-sentence and bolts for the door*

*Watches him go, smiling*

Well, that takes care of that then. Teach him to mess with my computer, hmph! Now, I've had this requested off me so many times I mumble it in my sleep. I don't know if you remember it (it's ENTIRELY unimportant), but it's a little scene in a garage where Julian is dressed as Zach and he and Jenny happen to… Kiss? Oh, so you DO know what I'm talking about. That settles that then. Well, minions, you enjoy this and I'll be back later. *Twirls a Julian-sized net around her hand* I have a Shadow Man to catch.

"Heeeeeere, Julie, Julie, Julie…"

Playing Dress Up

Julian stared.

Zach's face stared back at him.

He narrowed his eyes, and Zach's own grey eyes moved to copy him.

He leaned back. So did Zach.

In a moment of childishness, Julian stuck his tongue out at the reflective surface of the water below him, grinning when Zach's image did the same.

He didn't mind Zach's looks, didn't mind his cool grey eyes, didn't even mind his abnormally long hair.

But, ugh, his clothes! White washed jeans, generic 'sneakers' and a plaid flannel shirt? Plaid? Honestly? Julian shuddered, feeling common just touching them. Not a trace of leather, spikes or even black to be found.

Julian scowled dangerously close to the way a spoiled teenager might scowl. But it's for Jenny, he reminded himself. Yes, for Jenny he would wear the damn Plaid.

He moved away from the photo equipment, going over what needed to be done in his head. He needed to act like Zach, which was easy enough considering he'd been inside his head for more than half of his life, but what's more he needed to act human.

Excuse me while I vomit, he thought snidely.

And how would a human react to his little games? Keeping his modesty in check, he summarised that any human in that unfortunate situation would be traumatized, or, at the very least, in shock.

Julian knew all this. He was playing yet another role, he knew his character, he knew his lines, he knew his motivation, and now he was just waiting on his queue. The trap itself was insultingly simple but, because he knew her so well, Julian was sure that an ominous open door would be enough to get Jenny's natural curiosity itching to walk through it. A little bit of a mystical influencing haze on the mind didn't hurt, of course, but it was mostly just the door.

He was getting far too good at waiting. He willed the time away, thinking, musing, plotting…

After a while, Julian cocked his head to one side as, sure enough, he heard Jenny step through the exact replica of her cousins art garage. When she paused, Julian took the opportunity to busy himself with developing some fake photographs, as though he hadn't seen sensed her coming. He heard her light footsteps behind him, but didn't turn.

"Zach!" She called happily, running towards the image of her cousin. It felt odd, having Jenny run towards him instead of having her runaway from him. "Zach, it's me, Jenny. Zach – what are you doing?"

Julian didn't answer her, still mulling over the feeling he couldn't place. Methodically, he kept on stirring the liquid in the tray he held in Zach's rough hands. He made sure his face was a perfect resemblance to a human who had locked-down in shock from fear. He had, after all, seen it often enough.

"Oh, Zach, what's wrong with you?" When Jenny threw her arms around him, voluntarily, Julian didn't have to 'act' in shock at all. His body froze entirely of its own accord and his mind ceased all thought for a few dizzying seconds. It was hard for him to keep up the pretence, to push her away and fake unaffected before it looked suspicious.

Jenny swallowed, concerned. "Zachary, did Dee come in here? Have you seen Audrey or Michael?"

Ever plotting, he was tempted to lie while she trusted him, send her on a wild goose chase. He was sure he could play that to his advantage somehow… In the end he decided against it. He'd been looking forwards to this far too much to sabotage himself now. "I haven't seen anyone." He said in how he knew Zach would speak. "I was sitting out there. Where the mirrors are. Then I saw a flashgun go off. When I looked for it, I found a door. I pushed the button and went in."

Understanding dawned in Jenny's luminous eyes. "But what are you doing?" She asked again.

"It was all set up for me. The print was already in the developer." He lied. When he saw Jenny's hand reaching towards him, instead of fighting off what he knew her touch would do, he made a bell ding as an easy excuse. "I have to rinse it now."

He flipped the light on, watching Jenny blink against the harsh light that had no effect on him whatsoever. With the exact measure of skill Zach would have used, Julian fiddled with the sopping paper, stepping back to examine it with an unsatisfied air about him, the way Zach had a tendency to do.

When Jenny spoke this time, her voice was sharper. "Zach, please. You have to listen. Don't you realize this is your nightmare? We can't waste time – we have to find a door to get out. Zach!"

This time, when she reached for him, Julian shoved her away before she could really brush him, forcing himself to do it clumsily and human.

But, as always, he quickly got bored of keeping distance between Jenny and himself.

"I have to finish this job. I have to…" In a slightly more theatrical movement than most of his other theatrical movements, Julian's legs buckled from under him.

Just like he knew she would, Jenny lunged forwards to catch him before he hit the ground. And then his arms were around her, pressing her against him so tight that he was a little worried he was crushing her. But then she was holding onto him and she felt warm and it felt right, even though there was no logical way it ever could be. Against her neck, Julian mumbled something he didn't hear.

She squeezed him reassuringly. "It's okay. That's what cousins are for."

Cousins.

Such an innocent little word, such a flooring context to it. Because Jenny wasn't holding him, she was holding her cousin. If she knew this was Julian, she'd never be doing this.

Frowning, Julian tried to pull back, put some space between them so he could sort out his thoughts (so he could stomp down his feelings with dreams of screaming and blood before attempting to forget he'd ever had them in the first place). But Jenny wouldn't let him, and yanked Julian- yanked Zach, back down. Julian knew he could break the hold easily, Jenny, for everything about her that protested otherwise, was only human and Julian, by design, was much stronger than she was.

But, as she buried her face in his shoulder and he could feel her hair on his face, he thought, To hell with it, and stopped even trying. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her small form, smiling over the fact that, however clichéd it may have been (which was a lot), they did in fact fit together like estranged puzzle pieces. He breathed her in; Pine, honey, sunlight and something else that was just entirely Jenny. If this was what it got him, he didn't think he'd mind wearing Plaid every day for the rest of his very long life.

Unable to resist, he eavesdropped on her thoughts. She was, of course, thinking of Zach. Of when they both were children.

Julian sighed imperceptibly. Well, he supposed that if that was what Jenny wanted, then that was what he'd give her. "Just like when we were kids." He chuckled. Zachary Thornton Clone #1, now available in a nightmare near you, Julian thought bitterly.

When Jenny spoke, she sounded happy. "And you'd get all scraped up climbing trees, and we'd wash you with the hose so Aunt Lil wouldn't get mad." When Jenny laughed, it sounded somewhat warped. "Oh, Zach, I'm so glad I found you."

Julian was glad she couldn't see his face. "Me, too. I've been feeling pretty weird."

"I've been so scared," Result, "-And now…" She broke off, unable to finish.

He rubbed her back in a gesture of comfort he didn't know he was capable of. "It's okay. We're together now. We'll make things okay."

Jenny didn't answer, just held him even tighter. Julian kept up the soothing gestures, unsure of what he was doing, or of what he should be doing, or anything other than the knowledge that he wanted to calm her, to make her safe even it was himself who was the danger to her in the first place. In that moment, that fact completely slipped his mind. It didn't matter in the least. Not then.

He smiled when he felt her relax. She leaned against him peacefully, and he happily supported both their weights.

Not really even thinking about it, Julian leaned in to kiss her neck.

An electric shock jolted through him, like a bolt of lightening had shot from her skin to his. But much, much more pleasant. Jenny didn't wrench away from him, she didn't even reach up to slap him. She seemed content, pleased even. Testing, Julian placed another soft kiss in the same place. She didn't move to stop him. Smiling against her skin, Julian kept going.

Then he felt her stirring, and she pushed at his arms gently, pulling away from him. Julian had to consciously stop himself from pulling her back or shouting out in protest. "Zach, I think we're both – a little upset. We're not ourselves." She spoke in whispers and Julian sub-consciously mimicked her tone.

"I know." He managed, still slightly dazed. "I'm sorry" He really wasn't, "I-" He started to speak, but then the lights caught Jenny's hair in the most fascinating way, and he was kissing it before he knew what was happening.

"Zachary. It's wrong. We're cousins." He could practically feel the internal war in her pretty little head.

Julian muttered something as a reflex, for the first time wishing Jenny would stop talking so she wouldn't spoil it. He knew she was going to pull away soon anyway, so his kisses were becoming more urgent, trying to get in as many as possible before he had to be dragged out of the surreal world he was currently floating in. Between kisses, he found himself repeating the words "I can't help it," over and over again, sounding oddly apologetic. Which, as it's Julian we're talking about here, was absurd. But for once, he was telling the honest truth. Gods only knew how much he wished he could switch the damn feelings off but he just couldn't help it.

"But, Tom…" Her body seemed to seize up and Julian, a reflex whenever he heard that vermin's name, pulled Jenny tighter to him.

Julian spoke directly into her ear, pleading (or as close as he could get) for her to just listen and understand. "He doesn't deserve you. He doesn't love you enough." He tried to calm himself down and speak how Zachary would. "I was always afraid to say it, but you know it's true."

Julian heard her lips part as though she was going to say something, but she couldn't seem to find the words, so he went on, his tone reasonable and calm. He hoped she wouldn't be able to detect the current of emotion (damn the thing) shivering underneath the words "And now I know you don't love him enough, either. You weren't meant to be with him." He had always known this, of course, but to have solid proof, to have Jenny willingly in his arms (or at least Zachary's), for it to be him and not that little weasel making her feel this way, was… exhilarating.

He pulled back slightly to look at her, staring wilfully into those almond, intense green eyes and getting so lost in them (if you'll kindly excuse the cliché), he almost lost control of the shapeshifting trick. "You can't fight something like Jenny." His voice was an almost exasperated whisper. "You know you can't."

For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, they looked at each other. Julian felt her warm breath on his lips, and the universe seemed to fall into a hush, stalling to watch like an audience on the edge of its seat, holding its breath just as Julian was.

And then Jenny turned her head up.

And then Julian kissed her for the very first time.

And then he lost all coherent thought.

All he was aware of, all he wanted to be aware of, was Jenny's (his Jenny's) lips on his. They were soft as velvet, moulding to fit around his own. Her mouth was sinfully warm and tasted faintly of peaches. Julian lost himself in the moment, escaping the world and all its petty problems. As they kissed, he wasn't a Shadow Man anymore, and she wasn't human. He wasn't the Hunter, and she wasn't the Prey. They were just… themselves. Just Jenny and Julian.

He didn't know exactly how long they stood like that, but when Jenny pulled back, Julian was, as teens these days would say, blissed out enough to let her. He could feel the beginnings of a smile (not a smirk, a smile) playing around his lips as he looked down at her through half lidded eyes. He was about to ask her what was wrong but, for a reason unfathomable to Julian in his buzzing state, she scrubbed her mouth with her hand as though she had tasted something awful, and glared at him with full on resentment.

It was the glare that woke Julian from his daze as though a bucket of ice water had been dunked over the head of a sleep walker. She wasn't kissing you, Julian, she was kissing Zach, a hard voice hissed, Of course she hates you again.

Which was a good thing, he reminded himself. That's how it was meant to be. That's how it worked.

His dreamy expression was mercilessly killed, like a light switch being shut off and plunging a previously cosy room into cold darkness. He kept his face as blank as a slate, giving nothing of his inner reactions away.

What in Hell had he been thinking? He'd left his guard down and lost control of the situation, all for a single kiss? Shadow Men didn't kiss, for God's sake! Kissing was a foolish, pointless human tradition that meant nothing. A complete waste of time, and it meant nothing.

The tingling on his lips said otherwise.

Jenny's hoarse, but somehow still musical voice cut through his traitorous thoughts. "How could you know…? You acted like Zach – you knew things only he would know-"

"I've watched him, I've watched you. I'm the Shadow man, Jenny – and I love you." To Hell with it, he thought. He was screwed anyway, and any echo of his treasured signature cold personality was doomed. He'd have to be extra bad (Ew, you sick minded perves! Leave it.) to get his reputation back. That, at least, would be fun.

The hate, or as close as innocent little Jenny could manage, in her green, green eyes seemed to spark as though gasoline had just been thrown onto the flame. Her form seemed to flare up with fire, and Julian fancied he could hear her ever present light crackle with burning energy. It was adorable.

She turned on her heel and left.

He, as always, followed her.

Julian didn't need his abilities to know she was thinking about that small blonde girl.

He sighed, taking on a teacher-to-student tone, "She agreed. Just like all the rest of you, she agreed to play the Game."

"She didn't know it was real!" She yelled, like a kitten who thought it was a tiger.

"I acknowledge that the game is real…"

"You can talk all you want, Julian – but you killed her."

Ah. And therein, lay the crux of the matter. "I didn't do anything to her. Her own fear did that. She couldn't face her nightmare." Well, what was he supposed to say? 'Oh, don't worry about that, I swept in and saved her because I couldn't bear for you to actually hate me forever.' Which, before you say anything, was not true. He kept her so he could use her for his own selfish reasons against Jenny. That was it.

All this lying to himself just couldn't be healthy. But, then again, neither was kidnap or murder, so it was a moot point.

"It wasn't fair." said Jenny in a low, serious voice.

Fair? There was no fair, there was no justice, there were simply the hunters and the hunted. But of course ever-innocent Jenny Thornton would deny the evils of the world to her death bed. He shook his head, amused. Silly girl. "Life isn't fair, Jenny. Haven't you learned that yet?" He still had time to teach her…

"What gives you the right to play with us this way? How can you justify it?" She ranted.

Julian had to physically restrain himself from snorting. "I don't need the right. Listen to me, Jenny. The worlds – all nine of them – are cruel. They don't care anything about you, or about right." He spat the word as though it was a curse. "There is no ultimate goodness. It's the law of the jungle. You don't need right – if you have strength."

"I don't believe you." She said simply, stubborn as usual.

"That the world is cruel?" Even she couldn't be that blind. He picked up a strategically placed newspaper from a nearby bench. The front page headline bore the latest terrorist attack and the death toll in bold black lettering that seemed to jump from the page, eager to be the first to share the morbid news. For some it was a tragedy, for others something to tut at, for a few it was a pay cheque. That was how the world worked. "Take a look at this and tell me that evil loses and good wins. Tell me that it's not the law of the jungle in your world."

She averted her eyes before she could even take in the images of devastation and hysterical families, and something almost slightly possibly akin to defeat flickered in her eyes.

Julian flashed one of his most disturbing smiles. "Reality has teeth and claws." He explained dutifully. "And since that's true, wouldn't you rather be one of the hunters than one of the hunted?"

No hesitation, Jenny shook her head. She still didn't meet his eyes, and Julian was so frustrated with her he barely registered the way the movement made her blonde locks sway like molten gold.

When he spoke, his voice was no longer teasing, but hard and clipped. "I'm offering you a choice. I told you before that if I couldn't persuade you I would force you – somehow." A hundred scenarios flicked through Julian's head, his mind so used to plotting that it did it on auto-pilot. "If you won't agree I'll have to show you what I mean. I'm tired of playing, Jenny. I want this settled – one way or another."

Her head came up and she stared him dead in the eye and said "It is settled. I'll never come to you. I hate you."

Julian felt the simmering anger flare at her words which he was hearing far, far too often. It was in the nature of a Shadow Man, the want to be feared and hated, and Julian had revelled in it for longer than he cared to admit, but the words he had heard a thousand times from a thousand different mouths, the word he had laughed at, seemed to sting like a whip coming from this single human girl. His voice was rough and irritated, just a scratch of the emotions beneath "Don't you understand that what happened to Summer can happen to you?"

"Yes," She said simply, but with a steady gaze and sure voice "I do."

And it was clear in her forest green eyes that she honestly did understand. And yet, that foolish, stupid, stubborn, frustratingly beautiful light of hers proved that while she understood, she was still going to fight the up hill battle to deny it. How someone like Jenny could have lived in the world without having her spirit crushed and stomped all over by the laws of the jungle was completely beyond him.

And that firey bright and very much alive spirit was clear in her eyes when she said "You're right. Maybe things are that bad. But that doesn't mean I have to give in. I wont join you willingly, so you might as well try force."

His mouth quirked up in a humourless smirk. "I will."

Oh, I will.

It was common knowledge that Jenny was afraid of bees. Anyone who knew her could tell you that whenever she saw on she'd yelp and bolt for the house, refusing to venture back outside until it was definitely gone for good. It was less common knowledge, however, that this fear had stemmed from a horror film she had watched when she was eleven, which was about a huge swarm of bees sweeping over the planet and obliterating, eating and stinging the world into an early apocalypse. Knowledge exclusive to Julian and Jenny herself was that the real reason she watched the movie in the first place was because her parents had said she couldn't. Needless to say, she'd regretted the decision ever since.

The very same swarm of insects was flitting into the room that very moment.

Ever dramatic, Julian started off slowly with just a few bees perching on her arms harmlessly. Jenny froze, and Julian grinned victoriously when her eyes went wide with fright.

"Is there one in my hair?" He grinned wider at the quiver in her voice, but gave no other response.

A flick of his finger and there was a bee in her hair, writhing angrily so it was impossible to miss. Jenny glanced at Julian, realization dawning, and he cocked his head to one side and smiled as the air became heavy with the buzzing wing-beats of a thousand bees. Julian caught the last frantic look she sent him before the bees descended as one, covering her entire body like a moving yellow and black sheet.

He'd seen grown men, warriors of a past time be driven mad by this torture, watched amusedly as they thrashed and screamed and sobbed as they were killed by a thousand tiny stings. As for Jenny, though her small body was shaking from the weight of the swarm, she didn't move, didn't scream, didn't beg. And because of that Julian thought he might have fallen even more in love with her. He knew what everyone else saw when they looked at Jenny, a pretty girl, yes, but delicate as a flower or spun glass. They seemed to miss the core of steel and fire that flared up for Julian. He almost pitied them.

After a few minutes, he smelt the salt from her tears in the air. Something inside of him tugged, and an irritating part of him that seemed to be growing every second was throwing itself at his mental walls and screaming that this wasn't right and that he needed to let Jenny free rightthisfuckingsecond or else there'd be some hell to pay. He ignored it as best he could, but gave her an out that would please both of them.

"Just say the word, Jenny."

Her head shifted slightly in a no.

He wondered how someone so smart could act so very, very stupid. She remained standing for a few more moments, but Julian could tell she was wavering as she swayed dizzily. He watched carefully, ready to call off the bees the second she asked him to, sure she would cave any second.

She never did.

Even when she toppled backwards onto a horde of pissed of stinging insects, she didn't ask for his help.

There was a war of immense frustration vs a strange sense of pride in Julian's chest (now his cursed emotions couldn't even control themselves, dammit).

When Julian sighed the bees clicked out of existence, and it was just Jenny collapsing unconscious to the ground. His body seemed to move itself as he darted forward to catch her before she made impact, and she ended up laid gently across his lap in the floor of a fake garage. Looking down on Jenny's face, her pretty features relaxed in the sleep of the innocent, Julian shook his head slowly in disbelief, before letting out a breathy chuckle.

She is the most…

A dozen different ways to finish the sentence flitted through Julian's mind. Stubborn? Brave? Infuriating? Unbelievable? Beautiful? Insane? None seemed to quite fit.

While he still had the will power to, Julian lifted her from him, laying her softly down on the cold tile floor. He reached down to brush a few golden strands of hair from her face, running the back of his hand over her cheek as a smile ghosted over his face. "Silly girl." He muttered, before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

At least, he stopped a few millimetres short of contact, and he recoiled back and shot to his feet, taking a few hasty steps backwards. What the hell had be been about to do? Julian didn't kiss foreheads, he simply didn't do it. That was left to the lovesick saps in the crappy movies Jenny liked to watch. Not. Shadow Men.

Just before he was about to teleport, Julian cast one last look at Jenny's still form. He shook his head again, this time to clear it.

What had this girl done to him?

Yes, its long.

But it's late.

And it's sappy.

And you've probably died of boredom by now. I'm really sor-

"Mmph!"

*Flicks Julian on the ear from her seat on his back.* "Quiet, slave."

"Mm gnph mph mph mu."

"Do speak up." *Rips duct tape from his mouth*

"I'm going to kill you."

"That's simply uncalled for."

"You HOGTIED me!"

"…Your point?"

"You're not posting that crap."

"I can't think of anything better!"

"Have you read it, author? You make me sound like a love drunk moron! Oh Gods, you made me Edward fucking Cullen! You bitch!"

"We do not speak his name!"

"You're right. My apologies… You're still not posting that, though." *Grabs for the kepboard*

*Snatches it back* "Yeah, well how are you planning to stop m fyrfg f dcf ilueflEFU JGILIA h kjdfh kihfg hhrjncvn ;I

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"… Now look what you did. Oh, and do remember to review, minions, you know she goes nuts for them. It amuses me."