After news of Anna's and Griffin's engagement got out, everyone was surprised, since David was originally the one expected to pop the question.

However, David had been consumed with finding his birth mother, and it was turning out to be a lot harder than he thought. She had been under the radar for many years, and constantly moved around and changed her name. Anna helped out occasionally with the search, but became too consumed in planning the wedding.

Finally, Joe had located a purchase from a grocery store in Mary Rice's new alias and was able to find her new address. David thanked Joe and went off to find his sister.

Xxx

"Thank you guys for helping me with this. I didn't know that wedding planning would be so hard," Anna said as she looked at some pictures of particular (and secluded) venues in the living room.

"No problem, dearie. You're part of the family now, and we help our family," Mrs. Benson replied as she shuffled through a magazine and took notes. Mrs. Benson, Naomi, and Millie were the wedding planners, but Anna had to approve of everything first hand.

"I know, but if I look at another wedding magazine, I think I'm gonna scream," Anna sighed. Millie and Naomi laughed from their place by the desk. They were looking at wedding videos on Youtube, as well as a few dresses.

Suddenly, there was some rumbling upstairs and voices yelling and shouting. The women raced upstairs to find the hospital in utter chaos.

Several people were injured, and blood was spilling out of their mouths and bodies. The scene was quite gruesome. Anna clasped a hand over her mouth and Griffin appeared and held her tight to him.

"What happened?" Mrs. Benson asked.

"We were trying to rescue a girl, but she turned out to be working for the Paladins. She attacked us, and they came soon afterwards. I've never seen anything like this, mom," Kyle explaines as Naomi wrapped a bandage around a deep gash in his arm.

"Are you hurt?" Anna asked her fiancé.

Griffin shook his head. Mr. Benson emerged and said, "We need to reconvene and come up with a new strategy. If the Paladins are now using Jumpers to hunt their own kind, then we won't win this war."

Kyle spoke up, "Dad's right. The Paladins are getting stronger. Using Jumpers to hunt other Jumpers is probably the most brilliant idea that they've had so far. Now things are gonna get ten times worse."

"Maybe we should leave. I mean, we're the ones they want the most, and we're just putting you guys in danger," Anna suggested.

"Do you think that will stop them? No, they will come at us head-on because half of the Jumpers here are underage and untrained. We need you guys, and you need us," Mr. Benson finalized.

Anna nodded and then, David burst into the room. His eyes were filled with excitement and fear, and he grabbed Anna's arm to pull her outside into the hall.

"Anna, I found her. I found our birth mother!" David whispered.

"What? Are you sure this is a good time to go and look for her?"

"I know what she is, Anna. I figured it out a long time ago, with Griffin's help. I just want to see her one last time, maybe gets some answers; like 'why did you leave us?' You can't say that you haven't thought about it, too."

Anna opened her mouth, and then shut up quickly when she realized that David was right. But she still didn't think it was a good time to confront their Paladin mother in the middle of a Jumper-Paladin war.

Anna sighed, "Fine, David. I'll go with you. I just hope you know what you're getting us into."

Xxx

With Anna, David, and Millie gone on a 'top-secret mission', Griffin didn't know what to do with himself. Mr. Benson had given the U.R. a few days off from training so that everyone could recover and rest up, while he, Kyle, and Griffin made plans on how to fight off the Paladins now.

It was a lot harder now that the Paladins had taken things to another level, and Griffin was worried that he wouldn't be able to keep Anna safe or himself alive for very long. The Paladins meant business now, and soon, everyone would have to decide which side they were fighting for: themselves, or each other.

While Griffin was doing some research on a laptop in his room, Cole knocked on the door and let himself in. Surprisingly, Griffin had found himself growing attached to the kid, as he reminded Griffin of himself when he first started out on his own; scared, smart, brave, and inexperienced in this world.

"What do you want, kid?" Griffin asked, never looking away from his laptop.

Cole sighed, and rubbed his arm, nervously. "Um, I wanted to ask you if you could teach me how to fight."

"Kid, haven't I been doing that already? You've been doing pretty good for a amateur."

"Thanks, I guess. But I wanna learn how to fight like you do; no remorse, just simple and brutal. To the point. I need this."

Griffin spun around in his chair and stared at the kid for a long time. Cole's knees were shaking a little, but his face was hard and his eyes were determined.

Griffin shut down his laptop, and motioned for Cole to follow him to the gym in the basement.

Xxx

When Anna, David, and Millie returned, they didn't speak and just retreated to their rooms. Anna couldn't believe that her mother was a Paladin now, and a high-ranking one at that. She even found out that she had a half-sister, who was probably a few years younger than her.

Anna felt so betrayed and lost that she didn't even know what to think or feel about her mother now. She sliently laughed at the thought that Mrs. Benson, a woman she had only know for a few weeks, had been more of a mother to her than the one that gave birth to her. She knew that David was probably thinking the same.

All of these new emotions just welled up inside her, and she clutched her pillow and cried. She wished Griffin was by her side, so he could hold her and make everything better like he always did. Where was he anyway?

Suddenly, Naomi swung open the door and pulled Anna up to her feet. Then, she gave Anna a long hug and silently sobbed onto her shoulder. "What happened? What's going on?" Anna asked confused.

"It's Griffin and Cole. They're….they're…gone," Naomi choked out between sobs.

Anna pulled back and looked at the girl. "What do you mean, 'they're gone'?"

Naomi sobbed some more, but then she cried out, "They've been captured."

AN:Please Review!