Justin awoke first, to the soft, warm feeling of Alex curled up against him. She was snuggled into his chest, one arm over his waist, one leg on top of his, facing him. He smiled at that -- it was funny how she could sleep like that. And that he could sleep like that as well. The analytical part of his mind wondered if she half climbed onto him because she felt such a strong need for him, while the rest of him just enjoyed it.

A small sigh escaped him at that thought. She's always so insecure. I wish I had some way to prove to her that I'm not going anywhere. It's not like there's another girl that I could feel this way about. A lump came to his throat, then, and he shifted a little to hold her more securely.

He bent his head down to kiss the shiny mass of black curls atop her head, then lifted it to look at the clock, which shone 5:21. "Oh, hell --" Justin started, beginning to sit up, and then he remembered that it was Sunday and relaxed. The Sub Station was closed on Sunday, so Mom and Dad would probably sleep in, not be getting up to try their new experiment of serving breakfast. Still, he should get Alex back home -- sometimes Mom or Dad would wake up early.

Moving down a little, he tilted Alex's face up and looked at her. She looks like an angel. Not the kind they liked in movies, of course -- trust Hollywood to think all angels should be blonde and blue-eyed -- but she was achingly beautiful, and, in sleep, looked perfectly innocent. He kissed her temple, then her cheek, and Alex smiled slightly in her sleep, turned a little.

He stroked her hair then, admiring it, and wondered if she was dreaming, and, if so, what those dreams were. She'd had a book she'd made, he remembered, with her as a princess and Dean as a knight, and he wondered if she ever thought of him that way... and how she'd look, dressed up as a princess. Beautiful, of course. Like she always is. I've always thought she was beautiful. Even when we were little kids.

Justin smiled, remembering when he'd gone into eighth grade, and Alex into sixth. That had put them in the same school, for the first time since third and fifth grades... and everyone at the school had noticed Alex. He'd gotten in three fights that year, with guys who'd made comments about her. His parents didn't know, and he didn't think Alex did either -- he hadn't been caught by the teachers, any of those times. Two of the three fights had ended quickly, breaking up when it looked like they might be noticed. The third had gone on until the other guy had cried uncle, and none of the three had kept talking about Alex. At least, not anywhere that Justin could hear.

The next thing he remembered, he was waking up again. Oh, hell, I did not mean to fall back asleep. Alex was still there, still curled into him. And the clock? It was blinking 6:43. Okay, we're getting on the risky side here. Gently, he rocked Alex's shoulder, then kissed her on the temple. "Hey. Time to wake up and get back home."

She opened her eyes and blinked them blearily, then smiled, looking at him. "Mmm... do I have to? I just want to lay here with you all day long."

Justin smiled and kissed her lightly, then shook his head. "Sorry. If you don't wake up all day long, I think mom and dad will get suspicious."

"Yeah." Alex sighed, then rolled her eyes. "You know, you've left me to put up with mom, dad, and Max all day. I should be mad at you just for that."

Softly stroking Alex's cheek, Justin answered. "Yeah, you probably should. Maybe Max will start to grow up some, though."

"Yeah. And maybe Harper will quit wearing fruit-themed clothes. Oh, wait!" Alex snapped her fingers. "That's right! She moved on to fish, didn't she? Yeah... that's such an improvement. Maybe Max will improve like that." She blinked innocently, then giggled.

"Oh, I'm sure Max will grow out of it. He'll start to notice girls, and then...." Justin stopped and scrunched one eyebrow, considering. "No. That won't be an improvement. I hate to say it, but I think you might be right."

"Oh, you think?" Alex grinned and suddenly reached to tickle Justin at the base of his ribs, knowing that would get a reaction out of him. It did, but not quite the expected one, as he tried to pull his arm in to block her, but since it was supporting him, half-fell onto her, his face landing on her upper chest.

"Hey, now is not the time for that," she said once she got her breath back. "Can't you stop for ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes?" Justin pointed to the clock. "It's been way more than ten minutes."

"Yeah, but you've only been awake for ten minutes. And if you could do it to me in your sleep, you would."

"Well... yeah." Justin grinned, moved his face up, and kissed Alex softly, then looked her in the eyes. "What can I say? I love my little sister and want to be as close as I can to her."

"Yeah, like inside me," Alex replied with a smile. "Perv."

"Yes, I'm a perv. And you love it." Justin kissed her again, let it linger a second this time. "And I love you."

Alex wrapped her arms around Justin and squeezed, feeling happy. "I love you too." She held on like that for a moment before letting go. "Okay, now... let me up so I can get some clothes on, okay?"

"Okay." He did so, then lay on his side for a moment and looked at her, smiling. Alex started to put her clothes on, saw Justin watching, then blushed and threw a sock at his face. "Stop looking!"

"All right...." Her brother got up off the bed as well, went to his closet, picked out clothes and started to put them on. A few moments later, they were both dressed, and he stepped back to Alex, smiled at her. "You are so beautiful."

"I know," she answered, smiling. "But it's sweet of you to say it."

"Okay, now... stand on my feet."

"What?" Alex tilted her head, not moving. "Is this some new perv thing you've come up with? Because, you know, I know all the old ones, and I haven't heard of any that start like that."

"No. Humor me, okay?" Justin reached and took Alex's hands, helped her steady herself as she stepped onto his feet.

"It's a good thing for you I don't wear heels, or you'd be hurting right now."

"Yeah, well... Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!"

"What...." Alex stopped, looking around. They were in her room now. "You --" she started, then stopped, lowered her voice. "You teleported us! Into my room! When did you learn to do that?"

"Dad showed me the spell yesterday. It's really pretty interesting. Each wizard home is shielded from normal teleports, and you need the right keyed spell to be able to teleport in. Of course, there's a 'landing area' for guests, like we've got the room off the lair. Making a hole in the shield like that is --"

"Some really long and boring thing," Alex interrupted. "But the teleporting in part -- that could be fun. Why don't you show me that part?"

Justin got his 'cagey' look, and Alex knew what he was going to say 'no' before he even said it -- so she didn't let him say it.

"I love you," she said instead, and went up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you so much for showing me this. It really means a lot." As expected, that flustered him.

"Umm, ahh, but...." Justin stammered. Alex just watched him for a moment, smiling at him innocently while feeling happy that she could still twist him around her little finger. And I've got so many new ways to do it, too.... She went on tiptoe again, kissed him on the mouth this time, opening her mouth slightly to invite his tongue in.

A few moments later, she broke the kiss. "You should show me quick, so you can get going. We don't want mom and dad to find us like this, do we?" She turned then, remembering her duplicate on the bed. "Oh, and we don't need her right now." She picked up her wand, pointed with it, and the duplicate disappeared. "So," she continued, turning back to Justin, "you were about to show me the teleport spell?"

With a look somewhere between confused and suspicious, Justin reached and scratched his chin. "Wait a --"

Just then, a noise came from outside the door. Alex half-jumped into her bed, muttering quickly, "This is not the time for these clothes, put in pajamas like I snoze." Snoze? Ah, well, it worked, she thought, as he clothes turned into pajamas. The light was already off, and Justin was gone. He must've teleported out. I have got to learn that spell!

The door opened about halfway, and her mother leaned in, looking puzzled. "Alex, honey? Are you okay? I thought I heard a noise."

"Sorry -- just had a bad dream." She sat up, looked at her mom, yawned. "I haven't been sleeping well tonight."

Her mother smiled, stepped into the room, closed the door gently behind her, came and sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Alex's thigh. "Oh, baby. You miss your big brother already?" Without waiting for an answer, Theresa reached and hugged Alex, pulling her daughter's head against her shoulder. "It's okay. You're family. A piece of him is always with you."

Alex had to fight the sudden urge to giggle hysterically at that. She managed to turn it into a swallow and nod, but it was a couple of seconds before she trusted herself to open her mouth without laughing. "I know. He's just... always been here my whole life. It feels like he'll forget about me, not being around here."

"It's okay. You're going to see him three days a week, at the Sub Station. And he only lives twenty minutes away. If you want to go visit him some times, that's fine."

"Okay," Alex said a little more brightly, and gave her mom a genuine smile. "I'd like that."

"Of course you would. You're a good sister." Her mom gave her another squeeze, then got up off the bed. "Now go to sleep. You need your rest more than you think you do, at your age."

Theresa left, closing the door gently behind her, and Alex lay back down, pulled one pillow where she could hug it. Yeah. And if you knew how I'm being good to Justin, you'd disown both of us.