Back again! I can't say a whole lot since I'm about to leave to go visit her, but my grandmomma's in the ICU with pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs, and I would really appreciate it if ya'll just kept her in your thoughts.

Please.

Me and her are really close, I barely slept last night. But anyway.

Read, review, enjoy.

For once, Luna wasn't the first to wake up. Actually, she was next to last. Ichigo was still passed out when she passed through the living room to go to the kitchen.

Naruto was up before her? Scary.

Then she rolled her eyes. She forgot Becs was here; no wonder he got up earlier today of all days. Couldn't be on a day convenient for her, oh no, of course not.

"We'll be leaving once Ichigo wakes up," Becs was saying. Luna sat on the counter behind her, swinging her legs as she stretched as far as possible to grab a Pop-Tart from the middle shelf of the cabinet to her left.

"That might be a while," Luna replied before taking a huge bite of her Pop-Tart. After the Manor of Gay, when Naruto found out she had no earthly idea what the hell a Pop-Tart was, he dragged them to the nearest store and bought eight boxes of eight different flavors.

Looking back, Luna realized she had been too him dragging her and her poor sore body around right after battling ghosts and sustaining the most injuries of the whole group to even bother looking for Flavor-Blasted Goldfish while they were there.

She frowned at that. Damn, I miss those things...

It was quiet, now that her phone was snapped in half. Like she would bother putting it together until absolutely necessary; yeah right.

"So, who wants to place bets on how long he takes to get here?" Ichigo said out of nowhere, making them all jump.

"Let's not," Becs replied.

Luna held up a hand. "I say three days."

"I say four."

"Two," Naruto chimed, and Luna waved him off. "No way. Alex likes to make a dramatic entrance. Also, he prefers odd numbers."

"Probably because you're odd," Ichigo said thoughtfully, making Becs' temple throb. "Can we please refer to him in the past tense, Loony? He's still dead, remember that."

Luna shook her head. "I'm not so sure. You said yourself, he showed no signs of decay whatsoever. In fact, you mentioned the shrapnel wound was healed up as a scar. There's no way that could happen post mortem. Impossible as it may sound, I'm afraid Alex Sharpe...is very much alive."

There was silence, which Naruto the Village Idiot decided to break. "...Y'know, she's right. If he were dead, he'd technically be a zombie. And zombies don't have thoughts, and don't usually speak. They just eat people's brains."

Luna shook her head. "Not true, they eat flesh as well."

"But they still eat brains."

"They need a primitive form of thought to do either or all of those actions, though, so technically, their brain is still somewhat active. It sends messages to the body as to how to move. Therefore, they have thoughts. Therefore, you're wrong. Again."

"Yeah, well...I...uhh...ALEX ISN'T A ZOMBIE, THOUGH!"

"You say that because you have nothing ELSE to say."

"So what if I don't? Alex isn't a zombie, the end."

Luna huffed. "...Perhaps you are right on that count." Becs and Ichigo were sweatdropping over on the other side of them, and they blinked at them innocently.

"...What?"

Becs shook her head slowly, and Ichigo seemed to have a sudden thought. "Someone's gonna need to tell Tara about Alex."

"No!" Luna shouted instantly, making everyone jump and look at her. She cleared her throat, paling. "...The Agency must not know about this unless absolutely necessary. As in, one of us is injured or killed by him."

"...Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Because. ...There is no telling what they would do to us. It would be our fault that such a threat was made against the Agency, as I'm sure he intends to do, and...trust me...you just do not understand how obscure their morals are, to put it nicely," she said quietly.

Ichigo looked confused, and Naruto dumbed it down for him. "In other words, the Agency's more corrupt than you'd think. If they found out someone they 'got rid of' was back and threatening their Agents, and it got out of control, the blame would fall on you guys. Mainly Luna and Becs. Especially Luna, since she was the one who killed him the first time."

"He's died more than once? Great, now I'm really confused!" Ichigo whined. Naruto grinnned, stretching his arms and popping his knuckles. "No, but he will after we kill him a second time."

Becs smiled at that one.

Luna nodded, and his hand squeezed hers briefly as his arms fell back down to brace against the counter.

She seriously considered strangling him at the look that crossed Becs' face. Luna was so going to hear about that later.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...

Becs shut the door behind them before turning to glare at her. "Loony, have you gone mad?"

"What?" She asked, deciding to pretend she had no earthly idea what she was talking about. Her friend just sighed and shook her head. "...You know exactly what. What was that back there? Huh? What the hell are you doing?"

"I...I'm doing as I was instructed. Protecting him. Why?"

Becs glared at her, sighing impatiently. "You know damn well why. Luna, believe it or not, I know you. Okay? And I know that this is slowly getting to be more than an assignment."

She felt the blood rush up to her face, her whole body feeling prickly. "N-No it's not! Why would you even suggest that?"

"I can see it! I'm not bloody blind! Wherever he leans, you lean. Whatever you're thinking, he knows it. Whenever he touches you, that bloody necklace starts glowing, and judging by the expression you try not to have, I can bloody well guess what it's glowing for. You're...this is just like Alex. This is almost exactly how it happened! Only worse, much worse! And you know that! That's what's so terrible, you know it, and you're letting it happen anyway! You need to leave before it gets any worse!" She pointed towards the door angrily for emphasis.

"Becs, calm down, listen to me –"

"How about you listen to me for a change? Huh? I may not have been put through all you've been through with the Agency, but I do know them. And I know you. And I know it's only a matter of time before you get us all in a situation we can't get out of. I don't wanna see you punished, and I don't wanna see whatever they might do to Naruto! You hear me? You've gotta go!"

"I –"

"Loony, please! Please! You have to! I don't wanna see you break all over again, right when it looks like you're getting put back together! I mean, we can call Tara, she can put someone else here on your assignment, no discredit, no problem. Okay? Just..." She trailed off at the look on Luna's face, her fingers still placed on her phone to dial.

"The only reason...The only reason I'm being 'put back together'...is because of him. I have no clue how, or why, but it's true. It's him, Becs. And...I made a promise...to myself...a long time ago...that I would protect him no matter what."

She had been looking down at her feet, her head bowed slightly, but now she looked up at Becs determinedly. "And to do that, I need you to lemme do whatever I need to do. I can distance myself. I can ignore that deviously flirtatious voice in my head that pops up every once in a while. I can bypass all those hormones, and feelings, and force my necklace to stop glowing...hell, I could just put it under my shirt, it usually does the trick...but...I need to be here. My past is here, my assignment's here...he's here."

Becs stared at her, and Luna slowly shook her head. "I-I can't leave them yet. I...I can't leave him yet. I can't."

She stared at Luna for the longest time before sighing and putting her phone back in her pocket. "...Loony...you're gonna be the death of me." She looked around, eyes wide at the mess. "What the hell – what room is this?"

Luna laughed nervously. "His bedroom...and mine..." "LOONY!" "I SLEEP ON THE WINDOW SEAT, JEEZ!"

FOUR HOURS LATER...

Becs hugged her for the eighth time, and Luna wouldn't be surprised if her eyes had been bulging out of their sockets.

She felt like that old toy Will used to have; the one that felt all rubbery and, when squeezed, its eyes and vital organs popped out away from its body a little.

Man, that thing was fun to play with.

Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. Why'd he have to be so much taller than her? "If you see that douchebag, you put at least five bullets in him, got it?"

She nodded with a smile, and he ruffled her hair before standing beside Becs. "Well, we'll be going. Loony, fix your phone."

"So we'll know when you die," Ichigo added cheerfully, making Becs's temple throb. Luna just grinned and nodded. "You'll be the first to know."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Naruto scoffed. "Like hell he is! I'll be the first, thank you very much."

Luna sweatdropped. "We're talking about who'll be the first to know if I die...wow. I don't know whether to be amused, flattered, or pissed off."

"I like the first two, but that's just me."

She sighed and shook her head before going back inside, flopping onto the couch. She had done absolutely nothing all day, so why did she feel like she had ran a mile?

Naruto came inside soon after, took one look at her, and nodded. "You need ramen."

"Awww, not now, I wanna take a nap," she groaned.

He rolled his eyes and pulled her up. "C'mon, you big baby. I'm hungry, and you need food. So NEH."

She huffed. "...Fine." Luna waited a little while, then finally said, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You gonna give me my hand back?" He shrugged. "Naaahhh, I need an extra hand, anyways. Besides, we're dating, remember?"

Luna's temple throbbed. "I hate it when you use that against me." Then she brightened. "Although, can you imagine how awesome it would be if you had an extra hand?"

"I know, right! I'd need more than one extra hand to count how much I could do with that extra hand!"

"And strangely, I understood what you just said!"

AN HOUR LATER...

Luna sighed inwardly. The sun was almost completely set, and she didn't like it. She felt so uneasy.

"Naruto?"

"Huh?"

"This 'Orochimaru' man...you have met him, yes?"

"Yeah, we all have. Why?"

"...Any idea what he must want with me?"

He had to think about that one. "...Huh...Well, he wanted Sasuke as a sort of host. Mainly since he was the only Uchiha left, besides his brother Itachi. But...I don't know if that's what he wants from you...It'd be kinda awkward to want a girl as a host. Then again, I wouldn't put it past that creep..."

Luna sighed for real this time. "This sucks. I hate not knowing things that concern me. Actually, I hate not knowing things in general."

"Well, you do know one thing."

"What?"

"You don't have to worry about him."

"What makes you so sure?" She wondered.

He grinned. "I'm here, aren't I?" Luna rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. What an idiot, thinking that would make her feel a little less uneasy.

Damn him for being right.

"Oh, how touching. Good to know one of us is happy," a voice said bitterly. The blood drained from Luna's face, and her knees started shaking in response to him.

Alex jumped down from one of the trees to her right, staring at them. His shoes crunched against the dirt, and her pulse quickened with every step. She knew it would be hard when she finally saw him, face-to-face, but that didn't mean she was ready for it.

Not this soon. Not right now! Whatever happened to his love for dramatic entrances? ...Then she realized this was, in fact, a dramatic entrance. Dammit. Naruto's hand tightened around hers, and she gulped at the dark look that crossed Alex's face. Becs was right. He looked so angry...

Luna was the first to break the tense silence with the first rational thought that made its way to her mouth.

"...I guess...we all lost our bets..."