Magus sat in the kitchen after Nexus left, distractedly watching Alec put on the final pieces of his sable Shadowhunting gear. He was observing Alec's smooth, flowing movements, but his mind was on Nexus and her nightmares. She had been protected, as were all children by their own kind's customs, so this couldn't have been possession. And say for arguments sake that somehow that it were, who could have been doing it? No one outside Alec's circle of friends had known about Devon, so then who was left? Camille was hardly fond of Devon, and he doubted that her name had ever once come up in a conversation, so it couldn't have been done through her.

"What about Nexus' father? Her biological father." Alec cupped Magnus' face in his hands, smiling down at the man he knew better than he knew himself, "What about him?"

He placed his hand over the Shadowhunter's, "Devon's letter said that he was 'no more in this world'."

"Is it possible that these are just nightmares?" Alec was hopeful, hopeful in a way that any father would be on the brink of tragedy.

The warlock cast him a long glance, "I really hope so."

XxX You Think You Love Me XxX

Nexus glared at Ben, murder in her eyes, "You're an insufferable asshole, you know that? No, of course you don't, becuase no one will you tell you the truth... Well allow me the honors of telling you that you are the biggest - "

"What? What don't you think I don't already know? Just becuase my parents are who they are, do you really think that no body says anything to me? I've heard it all a thousand times!" His voice shook, yet there was a deadly stillness about his words that both frightened and humbled Nexus.

"Ben - "

He held his hand up, silencing her, "Save the pity for someone who could use it, alright Bane?"

Bane? Since when had he called her by her last name? "Ben - "

"Let me give you some advice," He was getting colder by the minute, "groveling is an unattractive trait."

XxX You Think You Love Me XxX

Glossed, powdered, glittered, and smelling like fruit, Nexus and Ash sat at the bar of the all ages club, Pandemonium. Max and Ben had split from them as soon as they were inside, Ash was making out with her current boy toy of the week, a young vampire with light hair that stood out on end as if he had been zapped by a spark plug, and Nexus was enjoying the trance music that pounded in the background, bouncing the rainbow of drinks on the tables and bar. Bored and feeling abandoned, Nexus sighed and looked into the crowd, catching a part in the waves of moving bodies. A surly Bennett was slouched against the wall, glaring into the crowd, and his loyal best friend was trying to convince him to let loose. Ben scowled in her direction, taking the acid-green drink from Max and downing it. Ben was still mad at her for earlier, and she didn't really blame him.

"The white one," A boy with wheat-colored hair sat down on the stool next to Nexus, pointing to a bottle on the shelf, the label written in German, "the MoonDust."

The bartender nodded, "Twenty-five."

Paying him for two, he took the drinks, giving the other to Nexus, and they slammed the thick, syrupy drinks back, the taste of sugar and caramel overwhelming the taste buds, "It was Karma, you know? I was a total bitch, and not only was I put in my place, but then my training session was a complete disaster."

Being knowledgeable on a number of subjects, Nexus knew that certain drinks affected her, if not the Children of Lilith, in a funny way. She knew also that MoonDust was like a strong suppressant to her kind, working like a tranquilizer - It would greatly decrease her powers and make her physically weak. Even knowing all of this, she drank the shot glass becuase Patrick had bought it for her. Not only was it rude to decline a gift, but she had had a crush on Patrick Kyle for as long as she could remember.

The boy, roughly seventeen, patted her shoulder comfortingly, "Have another fight with Ben? Man, I remember when you two used to be tighter than the pack. What happened?"

Nexus flashed a dejected half-smile, pulling off the black lace shrug that covered the top of her hot pink mini dress. His eyes went where she had wanted them to - to a thin scar going from the crease of her elbow to the base of her wrist. Above that was a sprinkling of smaller, fainter marks that trailed up her pale neck to her hairline, but they were almost invisible against the mark on her arm.

"Besides some falling glass, I wish I knew Patrick," She put her sweater back on, "I really wish I knew."

"P.K.!" Ash detached herself from her date for a breath of air, "How's it hanging?"

He chuckled, "A little to the left. If it's alright with you ladies, I'd like to take a walk. Care to join me?"

Ash grinned at her friend, vanishing back behind a tangle of blonde, "I think he means you honey."

"Alright." Nexus stood, wobbling a little as she did so. The MoonDust worked faster than she had anticipated.

Patrick caught her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to help keep her steady, "Careful."

She tapped the steel-toe of her boots to the floor, walking to the back of the club where the groups were thinnest, "So, what did you want to say to me that you didn't want Ash to hear?"

Patrick smiled, a sideways curl of hair tickling his lip, "I wanted you away from any influence so that I could - "

Nexus suddenly backed away from Patrick, nearly tripping over her own feet, "You're not Patrick. Patrick hates his hair in his face, and you didn't wipe it away, Changeling."

The muscular boy shrugged, morphing up and in to reveal a perfect mirror of Ben, "Well, you're far enough from your Shadowhunter friend now, so it doesn't matter who I look like, does it? This boy seems like a fitting last image, doesn't he?"

There was a snort behind him, "If you want to piss her off."

Max and Ben, the real Ben, stood behind the Changeling, a seraph blade gleaming in Max's hand. He spoke to Ben, keeping his eyes on the Changeling, "You get her out of here."

She wanted to argue, but she knew that she was too 'drunk' to be effective, though luckily she was sober enough to be in control of herself, "What about Ash?"

Ben scooped Nexus up into his arms as if she were as light as a duffel bag full of knives, "She's already gone. Took off the moment that you left."

Somehow, Nexus wasn't very surprised to hear that, but she was shocked that Ben had saved her, "Thank you, for saving my life."

He was zipping through the Mundies, already in the back alley a few streets from the club, "Don't sound so surprised."

She shook her head, bumping it against his rock hard body, "After what I said, I wouldn't have blamed you for leaving me. If Max hadn't seen me, I would probably be dead right now, wouldn't I?"

He answered gruffly, dropping her on the ground unceremoniously, "Max didn't see you."


A/N:

You gotta love semi-answers! Grr, I hate having to rewrite chapters, and this one took at least three tries before getting to the end! Well, whatever.