Please let me know if the... ahem, chapter rates as a rating change, I'm not sure, so I'm going to leave it as is for now, and if you don't understand what I'm talking about, you don't need to, it's not central to the story at all.


"All you have to do is ask the right question and I'll be here to answer any questions you might have." He said as his hologram blinked out.

Lisa stared at where Jacob's hologram had been; trying to believe what had happened. Then a flash of silver-blonde caught the corner of her eye and she saw Alexandra peering at her worriedly through the permaglass. Lisa pried herself out of the chair and pressed the button so they could talk.

"Who was that man?" Alexandra asked. "I was careful to stay out of the camera's field of vision, so he didn't see me, but it looked like he said something that scared you."

"He did." Lisa leaned against the glass wall and slid down to the floor. She was exhausted. Too much had happened in too short a time.

"Lisa!! Lisa!" She felt a pleasant vibration on her back. It felt wonderful after such a stressful day. Then something whacked her head hard enough to send it crashing into her chest and rebound to meet the glass wall again. "Owwow!!" she complained.

She looked behind her to meet the eyes of a very concerned Methuselah.

"What was that for?!" She demanded.

Alexandra looked at her angrily. "What kind of question is that? You pass out on me and you expect me to do nothing? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"I fainted?" She didn't remember fainting at all. She had sat on the floor, then… She couldn't remember.

"Yes, and I spent almost ten minutes banging on the glass, trying to get your attention." Alexandra answered testily.

Lisa remembered something just then that brought her head snapping around to meet Alexandra's gaze. "Guess what I have." She said, grinning. She stealthily slipped a hand into her pocket.

Alexandra looked shocked, and then she beamed. "I knew you could do it."

She looked at the other woman and said, "Well I didn't." And for the second time she opened the glass wall and walked into the room.

Alexandra waited anxiously until she brought out the small box. "Do you want water?"

"No, I don't need it."

Lisa smiled, it sounded like Alexandra was salivating so heavily that she had all the liquid she needed.

Alexandra swallowed the pills, and then sighed happily. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how good it feels."

She smiled back and sat down; patting the floor next to her, where Alexandra joined her. "If it feels anything like eating the one thing you're craving during a pregnancy, I can sympathize. Two was more than enough for me."

Alexandra looked down and pressed her hands to her stomach as though she wished she could give a different answer. "I wouldn't know what that's like."

Lisa understood and reached over to the other woman, covering her intertwined hands with her own, offering support. "How long?" She asked, gently.

"Mat and I have been trying for almost twenty years now." She bit her lip, trying not to burst into hysterics, but she couldn't help the tear that left a salty trail down her cheek. "We both want children so badly, but no matter what we try, nothing works!" Alexandra shut her eyes tightly, but to her embarrassment, the tears flowed relentlessly down her cheeks.

Lisa slipped her arm around the woman's shoulders and rubbed her back in soothing circles. "It took my husband and me almost five years for me to get pregnant, and that was after several years of not trying. If you know what I mean." She winked at Alexandra, who gave a weak chuckle.

"Sorry." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I get emotional when I'm frustrated."

"And I suppose you're frustrated now?"

Alexandra gave her a don't-even-get-me-started look. "Of course I'm frustrated, and not just mentally either. All I want right now, more than anything, is to be with Mat. Or doing one of Houdini's escape tricks without a hidden key. Keh, I wish I was Houdini, and then I'd just disappear." She flicked her hand like a magician pulling a handkerchief off a dove. "I just want out."

"Who's Houdini?" She had never heard of such a peculiar name.

"I'll tell you later." Alexandra hugged her knees tighter to her chest as though trying to make herself smaller. "You should leave, someone's coming."

Lisa's heart leapt into her mouth and she quickly got to the control panel and closed the glass. She took a few deep breaths and continued to face the panel as though she were working; and stayed there for a few seconds. When nothing happened, she turned to Alexandra, angry that she had said there was someone coming when there was not, and then she heard the quiet beep of a door activating.

"Hallo!"

Lisa recognized the trademark greeting and continued turning to face one of her best friends. "Oh, Adrian, hi. I was just finishing up here."

Her best friend and crony smiled. "Good, would you like to share a lunch table with me, or would you rather go somewhere more pleasant than the crowded cafeteria?"

Lisa knew a friendly invitation when she heard it, she also knew when there was more than one layer to an offer.

"I'm still not going to go out with you. I'm married, with two teenage sons, remember?" She flashed her wedding ring like a shield, hoping that Adrian would drop it. She loved his company, but if he kept this up she would have to decline his offer, permanently.

"I don't mind."

And that's the problem. "Goodbye, Adrian."

She absolutely hated the fact that he wouldn't give up on her, even though she had made it very clear in college that she did not want to date him anymore.

That persistent little... She had a small flashback. Perhaps not so little. She mentally corrected herself.

He didn't seem to tire as he pushed into her again and again, each time hitting the spot that brought her closer to the edge, her mouth opened in a silent scream of rapture as he shifted position. Her nails dug hard into his back, and her body sang with the sensations he was creating.

Lisa sighed at her friend's persistence, and knew that she would forgive him as she always had. Even though they no longer shared a bed, they still enjoyed each other's company. Of course, it helped that Jac had no idea of what she had been up to in high school. If he did, she doubted that Adrian would remain unscathed, or in her company, for very long.

Adrian had been her friend throughout her school career, and was still one of the people she relied on when her life got too chaotic. He was one of those rare people that could forgive almost any transgression. Whenever she lost her temper around him he did not get angry with her, instead he tried to find out why she was angry and fix it. But that was why she broke up with him when they were in high school. They had never gotten into a serious fight their entire relationship, and even though that was nice, it was also frustrating. Lisa was a fiery person by nature, and every now and again, she needed to blow off some steam. However, since she never fought with Adrian in those months that they were dating, the emotional pressure built until she finally snapped under the weight of the petty arguments that she had not been able to vent. In the end, she broke up with him, claiming that she "did not want to date someone who couldn't stand up for himself."

Their break up had been messy and painful, but Adrian, in his endless acceptance, had immediately set about in the task of getting her back.

Just like his ability to placate her, his practice of forgiving and continuing on as though nothing had happened was just too much of a good thing.

Lisa turned back to the control panel and fiddled pointlessly with some of the buttons. "I'm rather busy right now anyway."

A breath stirred the hairs on the back of her neck. "What were you doing before I came in that you are trying so desperately to hide? You know you can trust me with anything."

***End Chapter 8***

*sigh* normally I don't write any kind of lemon/citrus at all, but somehow this one snuck in. I'll admit I've read enough of them to know what works, but... I don't know where I am going with this. That particular portion was written after reading too many lemons on too little sleep.

Anyway, sides of me I've never seen before aside... How did you like this one? I was particularly proud of the last chapter, but apparently I'm the only one. Please review, praise or criticism, I don't really care. Something is better than nothing. Believe it or not, authors do care about people's opinions, we wouldn't publish if we weren't.

And a final A/N: the new title contest is still on.