A/N: I love the coldness of Griffin i this chapter. Also love what he does. XD El oh el. It's a double post day, so I'll be putting up the 6th chapter after this one shortly. Read, review, and enjoy.

Chapter 5: A Place to Stay

(Ashley POV)

She jumped them back to the only place she could think of: Griffin's lair. She let go of Tori's hand and looked cautiously around the lair. "Griffin?" she called.

Griffin jumped in front of her unexpectedly and she flinched back, a bit startled. "What do yeh want?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"P-Paladins…" Tori stuttered in a low tone. "They," she began.

"They ransacked our place. We just had a run in with one of 'em," Ashley continued. "Can we stay here?"

Griffin shook his head. "No way. Why don't you go ask Davy to crash at his place?"

Ashley gave him a smug look. "Fine, we will." She turned on her heel and walked over to Tori, who was sitting on the floor with a sad look. She latched onto her shoulder and went to jump. Ashley turned around. "Where does he live?..." she asked with a nervous grin. Griffin shook his head with an eye roll and walked over to a desk. He grabbed something and took it over to Ashley. It was a photo of a well decorated living room. "Thanks," Ashley said.

"Whatever," Griffin murmured as he walked away. She took a good look at the picture and concentrated. She managed to jump Tori and herself to the place.

"Griffin?" she heard David call.

"No, it's Ashley and Tori," Ashley said loud enough for him to hear. He came from around a corner, with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His calm expression changed to worry once he saw the two.

David asked, "What happened? And how did you find my place?"

Ashley held up the picture. "Griffin wouldn't let us stay with him. Paladins ransacked our place and now we don't have a place to go. Could we stay with you?"

David looked at Tori and gave a nod. "Tori, are you okay?" He kneeled down next to her and looked her over. She waved her hand and sent him a weak smile. "Okay, I've got a spare room. It's down the hall." Ashley gave a nod as both she and David helped Tori up. She seemed weak and different since their first real run in with the Paladins.

Tori seemed to manage to follow Ashley down a hall and went into the first bedroom she set eyes on. They were in an elaborate room with a large bed. Tori's face lit up. "Ooh, I want this one!" she squealed as she hopped on the bed.

Ashley shook her head and turned towards the door. David was standing there and smiling. "Uh, that's my bed… Next room is the spare," he said awkwardly.

Ashley heard Tori say, "Oh," with a small chuckle. Ashley walked out of the room and rounded to the next one. Tori walked in shortly after and hopped on that bed. "This one's bouncy too," she smiled.

David smiled from the doorway. "Just ask if you need something, okay?"

"Thanks David," Ashley said. He gave a nod and left the room. She turned to Tori, who was snuggling up on the left side of the bed. "Comfortable?" Tori nodded. "Kay, well I'm gunna see if David owns a fridge. I'll be back," Ashley said as she left the room.

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(Tori POV)

Tori was comfortable in the large bed David provided for them. She was worried about stupid things in her mind as she shut her eyes. 'Are our families going to be okay? Where will we stay when we wear out our welcome here? Do we have any cash?' She felt herself begin to panic and took deep easy breaths as she sat up.

There was a knock at the door and David poked his head in with a smile across his face. "Hey, can I come in?" he asked. Tori nodded as she sat up. David walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down. "Are you okay? You didn't look so good earlier."

Tori gave a nod. "Yeah, just shaken up. I wasn't expecting to have to see another Paladin so soon," she trailed off and picked at a nail. Tori's head darted towards the door as she sensed a jump, then another. "Did you…?"

David nodded, "Ashley?"

She laughed, "Probably." Tori got up and walked out of the room; she heard David's footsteps behind her. When they got into the living room, Ashley was no where in sight. "She's not here…" Tori grumbled.

David walked into the kitchen. "There's a jumpscar, but its fading. I can't make it through it."

Tori rushed over and found a jumpscar the size of a keyhole. "Watch out. I'll see where it leads." David looked at her curiously, but moved over a step. Tori leaned down and peered through the fading scar. "It looks like…Griffin's lair, I think." She stood up straight again and gave David an odd look. He was looking at her like she had one eye. "What?"

"How do you know?" he asked.

Tori shrugged, "It comes with being a sensitive I guess. Now let's go get her. We don't need her pissing him off anymore."

"Okay," David uttered as he grabbed her hand and jumped them to Griffin's lair. They both scanned the room and found Ashley lying on the couch, looking to be asleep.

"Now this is odd," Tori said as she approached her.

"Griffin?" David called.

Tori shook Ashley, trying to wake her up. "Why the hell are you sleeping on Griffin's couch?" She shook her harder. "Wake up Ash!" Tori turned to David and frowned. "She's not wakin' up."

Griffin walked around the corner at that particular moment and caught Tori's eye. "Oh, uh…hi," he said casually, hiding something behind his back.

"Why's Ashley here?" David asked as he approached Griffin. He sounded quite mad.

"I uh, dunno. She just showed up here."

Tori eyed him. "Then what's behind your back?" Griffin held out a wooden stick from earlier. "Why do you," she trailed off. "Did you kidnap her?"

A look of shock came across David and Griffin scoffed. "Yeah right, why would I wanna do tha'?" he asked, tossing the stick onto a messy desk. Tori got up and stormed over to him. She slapped him briskly across the face. Griffin groaned as his head whipped to the side.

"You can be a jerk, you know that? Try being nice sometime," she said in with an angry tone.

He looked at her and rubbed his face where she hit him. "I was. I was gunna help her sense jumps."

Tori felt someone pulling her away and looked back, seeing David. "Can Ashley just stay the night on your couch since she's already asleep?"

Griffin rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said as he rounded a corner, leaving their sight.

Tori shook her head and felt a tug. She felt her feet her feet touch the floor of David's apartment. "Thank you," she said, pulling away from his grip. She hurried off to the spare room and threw herself onto the bed, in hope sleep would catch her and her anger would fade.