I sure do use a lot of cliffhangers considering they usually drive me crazy. I couldn't wait to continue, so here we go!


"Terri!" He couldn't take over the radio properly, to his frustration; every attempt he made was met with static and Terri changing the channel when he couldn't speak over the music. "Terri, you need to get back to the museum, now!" It was useless and he knew it. Captain Elliot was functionally trapped in the airwaves, cursing his other half for holding onto his (their?) physical form, leaving him desperate for something to channel himself into to reach her.

There was a cab with the other Labyrinth-dweller two cars behind them; he'd been in the middle of messaging Joey when she spotted Joey, and now all Elliot could do was float around the car and hope Terri realized that chill up her spine was a warning. He couldn't even get into the other car; she was no Cenobite, this creature, and something about her energy repelled him with no cracks to slip though.

Terri drove quickly, thank Leviathan, but so did the cab. The driver seemed quite calm, which was also distressing in its own way, because if she could so easily mingle with humans, would Terri suspect anything?

Except this was the woman, Elliot remembered, who had bought the column from Terri in the first place. That gave him some small hope, but it wasn't much. Joey and Tiffany were still trying to figure out how to get to the Boiler Room, and who'd be better off going; when he'd left her phone, Joey had been asking Tiffany if she'd be safe in the museum by herself.

Nobody was safe, Elliot thought, not when his other half had no laws of the labyrinth to hold him back. Oh Kirsty, Elliot thought, please be safe with him...

He did care deeply for Kirsty, but "deeply" was subjective. Even this panic felt underwhelming; he only acted out of urgency, the knowledge that this was the right thing to do or as close as he could get to it, the understanding that he should have been worried. But how hollow a worry it was when the worst of his hungers had followed with the best of his passions. He could only hope Kirsty could bring that best out as she had before, at least long enough to...

The Boiler Room. Terri's phone. They were still blocks away, but Elliot knew what he could do. He flew from the car, unseen and unfelt beyond a shiver from Terri, his mission the only thing in his mind. He could only hope Terri found the cell phone first.

It started ringing.


Joey and Tiffany had been frantically signing at each other when Joey's phone buzzed.

[I found Terri's phone] came the message, and they looked at each other in relief. Tiffany nodded and Joey started typing.

[Is she there yet?]

[Almost, but the woman isn't far behind. I couldn't do anything to disrupt the drive or warn Terri, but I did catch their license plate and phone number on the side of the cab. Perhaps you can do something with that?" The two numbers appeared below, and Joey smiled.

[I can work with that. You keep trying to reach Terri, I think we've got a plan.] She looked up at Tiffany. "Think we should try to find Kirsty?"

Tiffany nodded. "They're working together, right? We just need to get her long enough to fill her in, and if she knows where the pin is, maybe we can get it while she keeps him distracted?" Joey frowned a little bit.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Tiffany shook her head.

"None of this is safe, Joey, but Kirsty's good at this. We just need a few minutes."

"We need to get her out of the museum first." Joey looked down at her phone and started texting. "In the meantime, let's see if we can't slow down that cab..."

Tiffany watched her sister as she started the call, feeling the slightest bit of relief as Joey went into her "professional" voice and started talking. She couldn't help feeling a little lost; even with people starting to leave she didn't have a clue where to start looking for Kirsty, who still wasn't answering her phone, and trying to figure out where a Cenobite would even hide in such a large building felt like nothing short of impossible. Even so, she had to try something.

She grabbed her own cell phone and, feeling a bit ridiculous for it as she typed, hit send. She shoved her phone back into her purse, looking around, trying to find something to make this easier. She glanced at the wall across the room.

There was something red.


"Return... what?" Kirsty was holding her purse in her lap, staring at her hands. The Prince had left her alone, for what he'd promised wouldn't be longer than a few minutes, to contemplate the conversation they'd just had.

Return the favor meant making her like him. Except not quite. "Every age," he'd said, "has two Chosen leaders: a child of Leviathan and a Child of the Labyrinth. I am the Son of Leviathan of this age, the Age of Order." He'd said that almost with reverence, a pride she'd never heard from him even when they first met. "But the age is not truly begun until the Labyrinth's chosen stands side by side with Leviathan's."

He'd taken her hand, the hand she was staring at now in her lap, and he'd looked at her... she couldn't find the words for it. "Come with me, Kirsty. Come back through the doors, to my side. The Labyrinth awaits you with open arms; together we can transform the age in our own image."

She had been stunned by his words, by his sincerity, the fervor in his expression even as his voice remained steady. Her hands were shaking; it didn't feel like excitement. Something about that - something about the way he said that - had been almost frightening, like she was staring into a hungry abyss.

"And what if the Labyrinth doesn't choose me?" She'd asked, and his answer had been chilling.

"It will, Kirsty." He had turned cold so quickly, though when he'd seen how obviously that had startled her he'd backed off. "Consider it, Kirsty. That is all I will ask of you." She didn't know where he was now, somewhere in the basement, but even with the distance she dared not speak what that small sentence had confirmed, brought to light that doubt that had lingered in the shadows of her mind.

Something was wrong with him.

There was a short buzzin her purse, and Kirsty suddenly realized she'd left her phone on silent.

She turned it on, hands still shaking, and felt a pang when she saw missed calls and messages flood the screen. They must have been worried sick about her. At the top was a message from Tiffany, not even a minute old.

[Kirsty, please answer soon. Just tell me you're safe.] There were several messages before it, from both her and Joey and...

No way.

[Kirsty, please listen to me,] the message read when she opened it. [The man you are with is not who you think. He is incomplete, unbound from his duties as the leader of the Cenobites, and he is not alone. We need to restore him to his true self, and quickly. We need the pin] The pit in her stomach dropped - there was something wrong, it wasn't just her. Was this her doing? Because of that stupid pin? [Try to get away from him, and quickly. Joey and Tiffany are looking for you.] She flipped back to Tiffany's messages and typed.

[I'll try to get back up.] She hit send and pocketed the phone, pulling her purse back over her shoulder. She had... not a plan, but an idea. Hopefully that was all she'd need.

"I have a question," she called into the darkness, and the Prince stepped into the light before her. Had he been just out of sight? She tried not to jump, even as she stared at those eyes that were emptier than before.

"Yes, Kirsty?" His voice was gentle, and it didn't really comfort her. She stood back up from the crate, sucking in a breath through her nose.

"Your, um..." she gestured to her forehead. "Your pin. The one that's..."

"Missing," he finished dryly, "what about it?"

"Do you... need it? To go home? You told me it wasn't supposed to come out."

"Did I?" A thoughtful hum. "That is technically true. I appreciate your concern, Kirsty, but it will be easy to obtain a new one once-"

"I know where it is," she said, and he blinked, surprised. "I still have it. I can bring it back to you, here, and you won't... you won't have to." He took a step forward.

"...Is this a game, Kirsty?" He asked, and she fought the urge to back away. "I do enjoy our games, but this..."

"I promise," she said, "it isn't. It really isn't. I know where it is." She swallowed. "I'll bring it back here to you. You have my word." He seemed to consider the offer, but there was a coolness now that made Kirsty want to run. She couldn't, though, even as he stepped forward again, looming over her like a shadow.

"...And what if you don't, Kirsty? What if you're lying to me?" The knot tightened in her stomach, but she had to stand her ground on this.

"...Then I'll come back anyway," she said, "with or without it. I swear." A pause, and he nodded, smile a little strange.

"I will be waiting for you here, Kirsty." He was gone in a blink of her eyes, just as he'd appeared, and Kirsty ran for the stairs. She scrambled up, heart pounding, and pushed open the doors to the floor above just in time for the fire alarm to go off.