As the platform rose completely and came to a stop, Boris disembarked it. Robyn was sitting on the bed and he smiled at her as he crossed the floor and pushed the button that unfolded the seat in the wall. He noticed that a pillow and blanket was folded up on one end of it. Hitching his trouser legs up slightly he sat to the side of it and folded his hands.

"Who's bed is this?" He asked indicating the bundle of bedding next to him.

"Mine. Sportacus offered to surrender his but I wouldn't let him. It's not like I'm here on a permanent basis. Although after what happened I wouldn't be so sure anymore."

"You and Kit have been arguing a lot recently, haven't you?"

"He's angry that I helped Morgan. I'm not sure whether he's more angry that I helped him or disappointed that I didn't involve him. Either way I don't think things are going too well between us at the moment."

A sympathetic smile warmed Boris' features and made his green eyes sparkle. "You'll work through it. You've been through a hell of a lot together, this is just another blip."

Robyn didn't share Boris' confidence in her relationship.

Kit leaned his head back on the sofa, closing his eyes. Sportacus and Langford had only just left. He'd faced an intense discussion with them and Robbie over his behavior and though they didn't approve of Robyn's retaliation they couldn't disagree with its justification. The redness of Kit's cheek had faded to a bright pink and he could still feel the stinging. He wanted the sensation to remain with him until he was able to clear the air with Robyn.

'I wouldn't be surprised if you never want to talk to me again.' He thought out loud, wondering if Robyn would hear his thoughts.

He wasn't expecting to get an answer but the lack of the sensation of Robyn probing his mind left him feeling desolate. He could almost feel Robbie's discomfort as he sat wondering what to say next. Part of him wondered just what had driven him to say to Robyn what he'd said. As he looked back at the time he and she had been together they'd never argued as they had been doing so now.

Except after he'd hit her on their wedding day.

A deep sigh escaped him as he remembered that time. Their argument after he'd discovered her kissing Ziggy. He'd been so angry but more with himself than he had been with her. Their arguments this time felt different, his anger turned outwards at her instead of in. He felt betrayed, hurt that she hadn't asked him for his help though he couldn't say whether he would have given it freely if at all.

Robbie's voice pricked his ears and ended his train of thought, "You are still alive in there aren't you?"

"And kicking," Kit replied keeping his eyes closed and head tilted back, "Why did you let her do it Robbie?"

"Let her hit you?"

Kit smiled grimly as he lowered his head, opened his eyes and focused them on Robbie. "Help Morgan get away. The minute I saw that purple ball thing with your monogram on it I knew you had to be involved. It's one of your inventions out of your box of rotten tricks."

"How did you know about that?"

"I found it by accident when me and Robyn moved in here. It looked like a good place to store some clowning stuff but I thought it best to leave it as it was since it had a lot of your stuff in it. Besides which the last time I went prying in a box like that I found the Mayor and Bessie's box of special toys."

There was something intriguing about the phrase, 'box of special toys' that made Robbie want to push for more information but a single look and shudder from Kit told him he didn't want to know.

Sportacus looked up at the airship as he and Langford wandered idly around the outside of the sports field. Neither of them spoke as they pondered things in their minds, one wondering about the state of his niece's relationship with her fiancé and the other focused on something entirely different.

"It's my birthday tomorrow." Langford confessed in a volume that could be heard by another in close proximity but a tone that seemed to reserve his words only for himself.

Sportacus stopped walking and smiled as he looked at Langford, "That's great!"

"Is it?" Langford didn't seem so sure, "I hate birthdays. Besides which I'm forty this year. I'm getting old."

"That's not old! I'm forty six next year but I still don't think I'm getting old. You should celebrate your birthday, we can have a party!"

Langford pushed his hands out, palms outwards and shook them in time with his head while mouthing the word 'no'. "I don't want a fuss. I just want the day to come and go quickly. If I don't think about it, it never happened."

"What never happened?" Boris asked having heard the tail end of Langford and Sportacus' conversation as he descended the ladder.

"The shift change in the patrols." Langford conjured up quickly as he covered for himself. Taking a deep breath he shouted an order to the men around him, "Get yourselves shifted and do the changeover. What are you waiting for?"

Sportacus and Boris looked on with amusement as Langford herded the men and the other patrol started their shift. Each of them looked at Boris as they headed for their base and evidently wondered why they were being asked to change over five minutes early.

Boris simply shrugged at them and allowed them to carry on their way.

"Robyn's ok, by the way." Boris informed Sportacus, "Though what you'd define as ok compared to what I'd consider ok might differ somewhat. She seems calm enough, we had a brief chat about what happened between her and Kit. I've also told her that the Red Tide has chosen not to press charges against her for her part in Morgan's escape, it took a lot of convincing but I've managed to get them out of the idea of taking the matter further."

"That's good news. I'd better go talk to her."

As Sportacus turned to head towards the ladder he was faced with the appearance of Kit tentatively scaling the rungs. He wondered whether or not to intervene but Boris making a sound behind him swerved his opportunity to make a decision.

"At least he's going for the direct approach rather than trying to send a letter." Boris mused, vacantly rubbing the small egg shaped lump that was forming atop his head.