It was a rather cool, autumnal day; very late in the season. Yet, he had never felt so hot and sweaty while being outside. He had also never felt so weighed down: the chainmail over his shoulders, the shield strapped to his arm, and worst of all, the helmet on his head that allowed him very limited sight.
"Ready?" Arthur asked. His face was full of malicious glee, at least what little Merlin could see of it.
"Would it make any difference, if I said 'no?'"
Arthur chuckled, "Not really."
Merlin drew his sword and held it out in front of him. The attacks came furiously.
"Body. Shield. Body. Shield." The prince called out with each strike. "Head."
"Head?" Head...and it hurt. "Ow..."
"Come on, Merlin. You're not even trying!" Arthur called out, egging his opponent on.
The prince was relentless, each attack causing more and more pain and discomfort. Merlin finally fell over backwards, the helm coming off in the process.
Arthur stood back and admired the scrawny youth with a serious face. "You're braver than you look. Most servants collapse after the first blow."
Merlin allowed himself to grin hopefully. "Is it over?"
The spark of malice returned to the prince's eyes. "That was just the warm up..."
(*~*~*~*)
Arthur watched the dark-haired man; eyes moving underneath closed lids, in the middle of a dream.
His own mind felt a bit foggy with the potions that had been put through the tubes and needles. The king's arms were bruised heavily, from where he had torn them out earlier. He realized if he didn't breathe too deeply, his chest wouldn't hurt as much.
It was Merlin's fault, he told himself, even though he knew it was a lie. If he hadn't been so upset by his servant's complete lack of emotion earlier, he might not have reacted so harshly when he saw Mitchell brought into the infirmary; followed by Glasses, and the large man with the gold on his forehead.
When he had first awoken to Gwaine, his knight was different, but still spoke to him in the same manner; still showed him respect. He still called Arthur out, when he thought the king was overreaching, or simply being a prat.
With Guinevere, she was softer and harder at the same time, but the love they shared, still came through. With all his heart, from the first time they had spoken their vows to each other, to the time at the Cauldron of Arianrhod...to even this new time and place...it would always be true. Having to rule Camelot on her own, had strengthened her; trained her to become a proper monarch, with a mettle that reflected such. Becoming a mother had kept her grounded and gave her happiness in the dark times.
Merlin...he was ever the enigma. He looked the same, and Arthur had hoped to find some of their former friendship rekindled with their constant banter. He expected Merlin to challenge him, as the servant always had. Instead, he was met with a cool exterior. Merlin acted like he was walking on eggshells around the king. That was the last thing Arthur wanted, or needed right now. Merlin had been the one true constant in his life for ten years. The one who kept him grounded, who never hesitated to make his opinion known.
Arthur sighed and continued to watch the man sleep. He wondered about Merlin's life...Just how long had he lived? The king snickered softly as a thought occurred to him. It obviously had taken centuries for Merlin to finally learn to keep his mouth shut.
"Knock, knock."
Arthur eyes shifted away from Merlin. He scowled at the man standing at the break in the blue curtains, that surrounded his bed.
Mitchell held up his hands in an offering of peace. "I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier."
"Really?" Arthur drawled out. "From what I saw, your footwork is completely wrong."
"Whoa, hey now dude! I'm trying to apologize. How in the fracking hell, was I supposed to know I was actually fighting the Great King Arthur, and all that shit?! You looked like nothing but a tin can in that armor...and from what I understand, it wasn't even your body there."
Arthur continued to stare at him.
"Look. I came by to let you know...I'm sorry I beat you. I know at that time...it was lucky that you weren't fully there, at least from what Dallon's told me."
"Who the hell is Dallon?"
"Uh...Major Gwaine Dallon, ring a bell?"
Arthur nodded slowly, in comprehension. "Ah, Sir Gwaine. I assume Dallon is his surname then."
"Yeah. You know, both he and I have a clue what you're going through here...Well, not so much me having a clue with the whole ripped from your own time thing...but the confined to a bed, unable to piss anywhere but in a tube or a can, because of a battle injury. That..." He used his hands to emphasize his words. "...that, I know very well."
"Well, if your previous sword skill is anything to judge by, I can imagine you are probably well familiar with my predicament then."
Mitchell chuckled, letting the insult slide. "You have no idea. Although, my injuries weren't from a sword fight. I was a pilot, and got shot down."
"A what?"
"Like a...ship with wings, that flies." He flapped his arms like a bird. "...and you shoot things from it. Well, anyway, I was in one. Soaring through the air, right? A big battle going on around me. I managed a shot that saved a lot of people, but my ship got hit and I went down. I was bedbound and in traction for months."
"I don't plan on being in this bed for months."
Mitchell shrugged. He glanced over at Merlin, still sound asleep in the chair nearby. "Aw...so cute when they're sleeping."...Sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Arthur had to snicker.
"So...I heard from the Doc that when you tried to come after me earlier, you pulled out the catheter."
Groaning, Arthur shifted in the bed a bit. "Yes...whatever that means."
"That was the tube that hooked up to your bladder in a rather...painful way. I'm guessing, if you're anything like I was in your position, there is one thing you want to do above anything else, right now."
"And that would be?"
"Getting out of that bed for a few minutes, and experiencing the joys of modern plumbing and toilets."
"Toilets?"
"Head, water closet, lavatory, loo, privy..."
The voice of the man with glasses came from behind the curtain, where Arthur couldn't see. "Garderobe."
"Garderobe, thank you." Mitchell turned to look at the other man. "Who the hell came up with a name like that?" He quickly held up his finger. "Don't answer that."
The brief exchange between the two men, obviously warriors of this age who had served together for awhile, was actually a comfort for Arthur. Times and words may change, but the bond of brotherhood between men, remained constant. "You do realize...when I am able, I will have my revenge."
"Yep! Counting on it, Your Highness." There was a gleam in Mitchell's eyes that said he couldn't wait. "For now though, I say we call a truce and try to get you back some of your dignity in the simplest way possible."
Arthur nodded, "I accept your terms."
"Awesome!" Mitchell gave the king a 'thumbs up' and drew back the curtain. "We have to be quick or the Doc is going to string us all up."
From behind the curtain was the dark man holding the handles of a chair on wheels. Standing next to him was Glasses. Arthur eyed the chair, intrigued.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Cameron Mitchell, this is Dr. Daniel Jackson, and the big guy here is Teal'c."
Arthur nodded at each of them, as Mitchell and Jackson moved forward to begin unhooking him from some of the monitors, and lifting the bags of fluids off of the metal hooks; reattaching them to the pole, with hooks of its own, on the wheelchair. Teal'c moved forward and lent Arthur his strength to move from the bed to the chair. Daniel kept looking around to make sure they weren't spotted.
"I can't believe, my first conversation with the legendary King Arthur, is about taking him to the bathroom." Daniel said, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose. "Oh wait...this is my life...yes I can."
"Should we wake up sleeping beauty there?" Mitchell asked, indicating Merlin, as he began pushing the chair with the king towards the closest facilities.
Mitchell and Teal'c were already out of sight. Daniel looked down and noticed Merlin's eyes were open. A very small shake of his head, gave Daniel the answer. "No...I think we should just let sleeping wizards lie."
Merlin smiled his thanks, and Daniel nodded mutely in return, before following the other three.
A few minutes later, Dr. Lam and Martha came into the curtained enclosure.
Lam looked at the empty bed, and then at Merlin. "Where the hell is my patient?"
Merlin smiled innocently, blinked his eyes a few times, and shrugged in response. "I was asleep."
She huffed and turned away, trying to find the answer.
Martha gave her husband a look of incredulity and mouthed the word 'where?'
He held up his hands, indicating he didn't know, but at the same time was trying to keep from snickering.
(*~*)
Arthur stared in fascination. He reached out for the metal handle and pushed down on it again. He laughed so much it hurt, but he didn't care. "This plumbing is better than anything the Romans left!" He flushed the toilet again, watching the whirlpool form in a rush of water as it was sucked out.
Daniel and Cameron shared a look, just outside the stall. Each held out a fist and pumped it up and down three times. On the third, it was supposed to offer a decision as to who would go in and haul the ancient king out. Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, ever so slightly.
Both men had their hands shaped like scissors, indicating a draw.
"Arthur Pendragon, I believe it would be prudent if we were to make haste in leaving these facilities at once, before Doctor Lam discovers our whereabouts." Teal'c said in a deep voice. His words clipped and semi-robotic sounding.
The main door to the bathroom opened, and Merlin slipped in. He looked curiously at the three men outside the stall. The toilet flushed again, and he could hear Arthur chuckling.
"Of all the sodding, stupid things to become obsessive about, why am I not surprised he picked the toilet." Merlin muttered. He banged on the door. "OY! Just because it's called a 'porcelain throne', doesn't mean you get to sit your royal backside on it all day!"
"I'm the king, Merlin, you can't tell me what to do."
"Bloody wanker!"
"That's a new one!" Arthur stated with surprise.
"Yeah, I have hundreds of more now, as well! So, I suggest you get your noble arse out here, where I can call you them, to your face!"
The door to the stall unlocked, Arthur looked up at Merlin from the wheelchair. "That's the first sign of real life I have seen from you."
Merlin shuffled his feet and looked away. The other three men took that as their cue to vacate the premises.
The door closed behind them, and the king looked Merlin over. "You are still in there somewhere...aren't you?"
The warlock nodded, and then shrugged, "Maybe." He took a deep breath and met Arthur's eyes.
"This is going to take a while, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I suspect it will."
"Do me a favor Merlin...Don't treat me differently. You never have before." The reluctance to say the next words were etched in his face. "You are my friend...I need that right now."
Merlin closed his eyes and nodded, "I'll try my best..." Almost as an afterthought, he uttered, "...dollop head."
"Idiot." Arthur said with a smirk.
"Mr. Pendragon, are you in here?" Dr. Lam asked in an exasperated voice from the door.
The corner of Merlin's mouth turned up slightly.
Arthur shot him a glare. In a hushed voice he warned, "If you tell her you are teaching me poetry, I will kill you...without any hesitation."
"Uh...no...just me...You might want to try looking in the tavern." Merlin responded, with laughter in his eyes.
Arthur's mouth fell open upon hearing the well-worn excuse. "You cheeky bastard," he whispered.
(*~*~*~*)
The ringing wail of the claxons assaulted his ears, the moment his feet hit the ramp on the Earth side of the Gate. He spun around, his P-90 raised and ready as he backed down towards the concrete floor. He could hear Lt. Col. Reeves shouting. "Close the Iris!"
Twenty large blades, made of a trinium alloy, folded together with a hiss, that reminded him of swords sliding across one another. Like a multi-blade leaf shutter on an old camera, they closed off the Gate three micrometers from the watery blue event horizon of the wormhole.
He winced at the sound of something hitting the other side...and then again. He choked back the bile in his throat as the Iris took a third hit, before the wormhole disengaged.
The Iris had held, but at least three people who followed the team through, had been disintegrated before they could set foot on Earth. Gwaine had forgotten about that part of it. He grimaced and shook away the regret.
"Colonel Reeves, what the hell happened?" General Landry asked, through the intercom system that connected the Gate Room to the Command Center.
"Ambushed, Sir." Reeves responded, "Assailants unknown, but they were looking for information on Vala Mal Doran."
Gwaine could see Landry through the windows above them. "Get yourselves to the infirmary, ASAP. Then prepare for your debriefing."
He followed his team out of the Gate Room. They checked their weapons in at the armory and went straight to the infirmary as ordered. Standard Protocol entailed much more for incoming Gate travellers now, than it had before he went MIA. Gwaine found out that, on more than one occasion, Stargate Command had suffered incursions from aliens attempting to destroy Earth during his absence.
He took off his helm and ran a palm over his head. He noticed a bit of red on his hand. Then his ear started to hurt a bit. "Aww! Really?" He groaned, and looked at his helmet. He noticed the strap on the right side was singed.
Reeves turned around and glanced at the Major. "Something wrong, Dallon?" He noticed the injury, an extremely minor nick, at the base of his subordinate's earlobe. Reeves began laughing as he walked into the infirmary. "Hey Doc, got a bandaid? Dallon cut himself shaving."
"Yeah...while I had my helmet on, and we were taking fire...I decided to make myself all pretty, just for you, Colonel!" He blew a kiss at Reeves, who guffawed.
"You guys will just have to wait your turn. Unless it's something critical, I'm a bit busy." Lam said tersely.
Gwaine looked over, while he began stripping off his battle gear. He paused, upon noticing that she was re-attaching Arthur to the monitors. Making his way over, his manner became concerned. "What happened?"
The three men of SG-1 stood off to the side...attempting to appear innocent, Gwaine noted. He corrected his thoughts. Two of them were trying...Teal'c simply stood by, impassive and stoic as always.
Martha was over near the far wall, speaking with Merlin, who looked a bit contrite himself.
Arthur smiled at Gwaine, though he could see the strain in the king's face. "Your friends here were showing me around a bit."
Lam pushed her dark hair out of her eyes and shook her head. "After Colonel Mitchell, Dr. Jackson, and Mr. Pendragon tried to start a fight in my infirmary last night, they decided to become buddies today and Colonel Mitchell wanted to show him the toilet facilities."
She continued, glaring at each one of them in turn. "I am now going to have to replace a few of the staples holding his chest together. Luckily, though, from the X-rays, I can tell that he hasn't messed up any of the wires in his sternum." She sighed, and looked at Gwaine. "I know I probably should have listened to you a bit more, when you and Colonel Emrys told me he was going to be a difficult patient."
"I am sitting right here, you know?" Arthur scoffed.
Lam gave Gwaine a tight-lipped smile, ignoring the man behind her. "You know, let's go ahead and have a look at that ear of yours."
(*~*~*~*)
Gwaine felt extremely lucky. The enemy shot had managed to go right between the strap and his earlobe, leaving nothing but a minor laceration. After receiving some ointment and getting the 'all clear' for any alien parasites, he joined the rest of his team in the Briefing Room.
Their first day on P7A- 623, the designation given to the planet they had visited, was rather uneventful. The natives of the place seemed friendly enough; offering to host a dinner in honor of the visitors from the Stargate. The recent discovery of a large Trinium mine on the planet could have opened up possible trade relations, but one person...as usual...had to go blow the deal.
"...We think our arrival information was sent to members of the Lucian Alliance. I happened to overhear a communication, while speaking with our host in their Operations Center. I immediately informed Reeves and we began to head back to the Gate."
"Any idea what they were looking for?" Landry asked.
Another member of the team, Lieutenant Summer, spoke up. Summer was still fresh out of training, with this being only his fourth or fifth trip through the Gate. Gwaine didn't have much rapport yet with Summer or Major Calden, the fourth member of their team. He knew it was going to take some time, but Summer's sense of humor was already annoying him. "They were looking for Dr. Jackson's pretty little alien girlfriend." He chuckled and waggled his eyebrows.
General Landry's face reflected how Gwaine felt about the man's comment. During his recovery, Mitchell...hoping to make Gwaine part of SG-1...had passed along many of the mission reports from his team. While he had never met the woman Summer was referring to, her contributions towards SG-1, and indeed the whole Milky Way Galaxy, were priceless.
She was the one who first brought in the tablets that spoke of Avalon, and the location where the pods were recovered from. If not for her, Arthur, Gwen, and little Aurie, would still be trapped in the underground caverns near Glastonbury. Beyond that, the report from her final mission told him all he needed to know.
The general pinned Summer with a condescending glare. "Vala Mal Doran sacrificed herself to stop construction on the Ori Supergate, Lt. Summer. Have a little more respect for someone we should consider a fallen hero, despite her rather...dubious nature."
Gwaine hid smirk at Summer's embarrassment. He couldn't stop feeling that this was not the team he was supposed to be with. Reeves was a decent enough leader. Standing between six foot and six-one, he was built like a tank. Not as intimidating as Percival or Teal'c, but he was solid, a great shot, and someone Gwaine would have at his back any day...but he was a bit indecisive, especially for a Marine Colonel. He was certainly more adept at following orders, rather than giving them.
Perhaps it was the ingrained sense of chivalry, and the vows of knighthood, that set Gwaine apart from the others. Comments like Summer's were commonplace on the short mission, and Reeves acted more like a brother, than a commander, in Gwaine's opinion. Not giving any reprimand, unless it was in the form of a joke. Gwaine tried to, since he outranked the Lieutenant, but was told to stand down by Reeves. The Lt. Colonel told Gwaine that, although he was the second highest rank on the team, he needed to 'loosen up' and 'get into the flow of things before he tried to pull rank'. Deep down, Major Gwaine Dallon was seething.
Maybe it was just that over the past years, he'd been following a man whose decisive command, and almost sixth-sense when it came to battle tactics, had spoiled him. He had patrols under his own command among knights who respected him. He followed a king, who treated his men as equals and brothers. When it came down to the nitty-gritty, though, Arthur knew where to draw the line, and when to trust his chosen commanders.
Reeves continued to debrief the general. The visit to the foreign planet ended in a firefight against, who they assumed, were hired troops from the Lucian Alliance. The Alliance was a group of smugglers, who had recently come together to form some sort of coalition, in the absence of the recently defeated Goa'uld System Lords. Beyond that...not much was known about them.
Finally, the debriefing concluded. He knew he should have gone straight to a desk, and started the paperwork for the mission and incident reports. Instead, Gwaine found his way back down to the infirmary, which seemed much quieter this time around. He glanced through the window of Dr. Lam's office. The petite brunette physician was at her desk. She smiled at him through the window and nodded in the direction of Arthur's bed, letting him know he was allowed to visit.
Across from her, with their backs towards the window, were Martha Jones and Cassandra Fraiser. He couldn't believe that the young nurse was the same alien girl, who SG-1 had brought back with them years previous, from a planet where she had somehow been the only survivor of a planet-wide plague. She had been around twelve or thirteen when that happened.
He knew the former Chief of Medicine on the Base, Dr. Janet Fraiser, had adopted the little girl, who had no one else left. She was seen on Base a few times; for check ups, or just to visit her mom and SG-1, which was under Colonel Jack O'Neill's command. They were the closest thing she had to family. Now, she was all grown up, and had become a nurse; taking one of the civilian positions at the same place where her mother had worked, for so many years. Her hair used to be a bright strawberry blond. Over the years, it had deepened into a rather nice auburn.
Gwaine continued down the row of empty beds in the infirmary, until he reached the one near the back wall. The curtains were partially drawn around it, and he could hear the little prince giggling and babbling out words like "dada". "Am I interrupting anything?" He asked, poking his head around the edge.
"No, enter." Arthur was sitting up in the bed, grinning at the little dark-haired boy.
Gwen was holding her son. She seemed content, yet a bit frazzled as Aurie kept reaching for anything he could put in his mouth. Merlin was leaning against the far wall, in what Gwaine had discovered, was a very typical pose for the ancient man.
His brown eyes took in the scene. He knew that soon, these four people would be gone. It was odd to think that he could travel to other planets so effortlessly, but the idea that his friends would be across half a continent and an ocean, seemed so far away. "Hey Gwen, you mind if I talk to the guys for a little bit?"
She shook her head, kissed her husband and left without argument.
Gwaine sat down in her vacated seat with a heavy sigh. Merlin and Arthur glanced at each other, and allowed their friend to stew in silence for a few moments.
"What's on your mind, Gwaine?" Merlin finally asked.
He sighed again. "Same thing we talked about before I came back to work here. The Search and Rescue stuff under Dixon ran smoothly. The evacuations in Seattle were commanded by Carter...That woman has a sharp mind for it. This was...a complete Charlie Foxtrot."
"A what?" Arthur asked.
Merlin sniggered, "Cluster Frack."
"I ask again...a what?"
"It means things didn't go smoothly for him."
Gwaine pointed to the minor injury where his jaw and earlobe met. "This was pure luck that it wasn't a few millimeters to my left. We could have called off the mission earlier, or we could have been able to get to a more tactical vantage point." The former knight was whispering heatedly. "I shouldn't have retaken my oath. I should have waited"
"Gwaine, you don't mean that. We didn't know things would go this way...and it was one incident." Merlin said, trying to calm his friend.
"Merlin and I were speaking earlier. He told me a bit about this whole Ori situation. He believes, it might have something to do with the timing of my return."
"Martha hasn't been able to find out much from UNIT or the IOA on it. I've been able to discover a bit more, since I've been here, and I don't much like what I've found. These 'Prior' fellows are sort of familiar somehow, but I can't quite place my finger on it."
"I know what you mean. It's almost like they're powerful, thinking zombies, or something."
"What's a zombie?" Arthur asked, getting a little perturbed by all the acronyms and words of this new era.
Gwaine's mouth fell open, while he tried to think of something to compare a zombie to. "Um...you remember how when Morgana had that Cup of Life deal going...and her soldiers wouldn't die?"
The king nodded.
"Yeah. Like those guys, but with...magical powers and a hell of a lot more intelligence."
Merlin was staring off blankly.
"Yo, Merlin, are you still with us?" Gwaine asked.
The warlock snapped back to the conversation. He looked at Arthur, his blue eyes sparkling with an idea. "Your sword!"
"What sword?...My sword?" Arthur asked, confusion written on his face. "I didn't have my sword when we fought Morgana that first time."
"No...but I did." Merlin was grinning madly.
"How could you? It was stuck fast, in a stone. You told me..." The king's face elongated, and his eyes widened as realization struck.
"Um...what can I say? I lied." Merlin shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
Arthur's eyes searched the area. Gwaine held out a cup filled with ice. The king grabbed a handful and held it up, threatening to throw it at Merlin.
"Do you want to hear the real story, or not?"
Tossing the ice chips back in the cup, Arthur pouted. He motioned for Merlin to continue.
"You remember when that Black Knight came, and no one who accepted his challenge could defeat him? Well, you were supposed to fight him, but..."
"My father had Gaius drug me, then proceeded to lock me in my rooms."
"Well, I went to Gwen, and got her father's best sword. I then went down to the dragon chained below the castle...I had him burnish the blade with magic, not knowing what Uther was planning. I went to give it to you. Uther used it instead and defeated the knight.
"I got in a bit of trouble for allowing Uther to use it. Afterwards I took it to a lake and threw it in, where no one would ever be able to use it."
"Obviously, it didn't stay there..."
Merlin snickered, "No..." He continued to relate the rest of story of the sword to his friends.
"So, when I died...or you thought I died...you threw it into the lake...again." Arthur shook his head in disbelief.
Nodding, Merlin smiled, "Pretty much!"
"What exactly was so special about the magic on the sword, other than being burnished by a dragon?" Gwaine asked.
"It gave the sword the ability to kill anything, even something already dead."
"Nice, anti-zombie weapon! Dallon, will you get me one for Christmas? PLEASE!" The Air Force Colonel laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Sorry to barge in... Just got word that Prometheus will be picking you up within the hour."
Gwaine thanked his friend. "Hey Cameron, come out to the house for a beer later?"
"Sure thing! Maybe we can spar, I can show you some of my moves with the sword and shit."
The knight rolled his eyes.
Arthur guffawed, "You will lose, Colonel Mitchell. I guarantee it. Sir Gwaine was the most skilled swordsman in the Five Kingdoms."
"Only after you, Arthur." The knight argued.
"No. You were even better than me." The king looked directly at Gwaine, while he spoke. Arthur pursed his lips and rethought his words. "Well, at least, one on one, you were better...against multiple opponents...not so much."
Cameron laughed while he sauntered away. "I'll shoot you a text when I'm outta this place!"
"How can I do this, Arthur?" Gwaine asked, when the three of them were alone again. "How can I remain here, when my heart and sword are loyal to you?"
The king pondered for a moment, before answering, "I need you here, Gwaine. You alone can keep us apprised of the situation with these Priors. Your first loyalty was to these people...your people...here. I understand that. I will not ask you to go against your oath to them. Until I am ready to join this battle, there is no need for you to feel divided. Even then, I hope we can work together as equals." He held out his arm.
Gwaine grinned with understanding and took the proffered arm. "Well, you guys have fun." He said, as he heard Doctor Lam and the others approaching. "I hear the view up there is wicked."
"It's evil?"
"No...well, you'll see."
"What the hell is this 'Prometheus' thing anyway?"
AN: Possibly one more chapter before the epilogue to this part/episode of the story. Episode 3 is plotted out and about ready to come to life.
As always, I couldn't do this without the wonderful team backing me. Nance, the amazing puffin of proofreading, IcarusLSU for being my sounding block and part-time muse, and Aerist for give visuals to my words.
Nance: I wanted their reactions to each other to be unique from other stories, but still true to character. I'm glad that came through. Um... yes I guess it would be Gwaine's relative as well LOL
CarolynneRuth: *hands over a tissue* Thank you so much! OMG I'm glad I'm not the only one digging the Martha/Merlin pairing!
Flamie: Hope this chapter helped to fix it, now go finish your homework hehe
TiP (aka Guest): I'm leaving most of the confrontation to the imagination, but I hope the bromance here made up for it!
IcarusLSU: Aw thanks!
Aerist: I think he realized it, and is taking steps towards growth.
Tholey: Yes they can! But there will be more to come. Laney will be back, I have plans for her :D
Thank you for reading and reviewing! You guys are an amazing motivation!