Technically, I said if I achieved my target by yesterday I'd update (which we didn't get to) but I've had a shit week to say the least and the reviews I've gotten for this story have actually helped to take my mind of things so, even though it took longer than I'd set out, I figure it's Wednesday somewhere still so I'm posting this as a thank you to agrainne24, ljubav1986, minderismeer, Emmy 1512, starrynight398 and Olafur Neal. Your reviews have actually meant more to me than I can explain...

Now I've gotten that strangely sentimental stuff out of the way (I don't do well with sentiment), I want to apologise for the length of this one. I never realised just how short this chapter is until now... Ah well, it brings us to the actual plot of this story (because Rose and Nikola bonking is not it, I promise).

Enjoy and again, thank you.

xx

"Shall I call in the troops or is this a bad time?" Rosie said, peeking around the door to give Helen a cheeky smile. Helen, for her part, looked up, slightly startled by the intrusion into her thoughts. She hadn't been working for the better part of the last hour, her mind too distracted to focus on budgetary reports, as important as they might be. The twinkle she saw in Rosie's eye meant that, even if she was peripherally aware of Rosie's presence in her mind, she knew Helen had long ago given up on trying to do anything of real significance.

"Come on then," she said with a sigh, pushing away from her desk to sit where she had last night. Rosie grinned and swung the door open before pausing, her eyes glazing over.

"They'll be along shortly," she said, prancing towards Helen. As she flopped down, Helen was glad to note that Rose had changed out of her skimpy negligee into a pair of charcoal pants and a loose button down top. Her sensible, low-heeled boots, inconspicuous and almost disposable clothing as well as the fact her hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail told Helen that Rose was here on business. The thought made her momentarily disappointed but, as Rose rolled her eyes, she shook it off.

"I can multi task you know," she said conversationally as Nikola came striding into the room, resplendent in a dark suit.

"Ladies," he said with a smirk and quick bow before settling next to Rosie on the couch. Taking in their proximity, Helen felt uneasy and she averted her gaze as Nikola began to make snippy comments about the lack of speed on the children's part. Rosie, it seemed, wasn't listening, her eyes glued to Helen's as she tried to figure out something. Again, Helen could feel Rosie's mind interacting with her own and, for once bristled at the intrusion.

At that, Rosie seemed to realise what she was doing and shot Helen a sheepish smile before shifting away from Nikola ever so slightly. Nikola then realised that no one was listening to and rolled his eyes. He began to move closer to Rose again but froze momentarily before shuffling a little further away. Rosie gave him an appreciative smile but before she could say anything, Will, Kate and Henry all walked into the room, each wearing varying looks of confusion. Well, except for Will who looked more apprehensive than anything else.

"Why… I mean, what…" Henry started, as he sat down.

"Welcome to the world of mind control," Will joked.

"Did you or did you not get back to sleep?" Rosie retorted.

"Well, yeah but it doesn't make it less weird," he said running a hand through his hair as he took a seat. Rosie scoffed and muttered something under her breath in a language Will couldn't recognize.

"What was that?" Helen asked with an icy glare.

"Nothing," Rosie said sweetly, looking like a 5 year old caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Helen rolled her eyes and sent her 'the look' to which Rosie pouted.

"Who knew your thoughts were so nasty," she muttered darkly and Nikola smirked. "And don't you even start," Rosie warned him, holding up a hand.

"Do you ever get used to the mental conversation thing?" Kate asked Henry who shook his head in response.

"Get's me every time," he admitted. "The only person who could keep up with it was Ash," he added before he realised what he was saying. There was a beat where everyone held their breath before Helen let out a sigh.

"Rose, I believe you called this meeting," she said, diverting everyone's attention back to their rather pensive looking guest.

"Right you are," she said, straightening her back. "It's, ah, a little hard to explain but, first I need you both to think of something for me," she said, gesturing to Helen and Nikola who instantly sat up, alert. "I just need to get some facts straight," she said with a sheepish smile at the others. "But I promise I'll explain it all in the end."

"What do we need to think about?" Helen asked sceptically, noticing the twinkle of fear in Rosie's eye. Anything that could make Rosie reappear on her doorstep after years of virtually no contact as well as arouse fear within her, the one person who had seen more than her, set Helen on edge.

Setting her jaw, Rose steeled herself.

"I need you to remember everything you can about… Afina."