A.N: Well, it's been a while hasn't it? I may have died and been resurrected in between posts! Lol. I swear the next one will come out sooner! This chapter is a two-parter, purely because there's a lot going on. Things are finally happening, they've all been too idle lately, well in my opinion at least.

As always, 2damnpretty2die is amazing. She's supportive of everything I do, encourages me all the time and is super patient with me. I wouldn't be able to do it without her!

P.S: I find it very amusing that the full title to this chapter is too long to put in the chapter bar...thingy =S

Chapter 30: Things Are Happening Behind Our Backs part 1

Arizona p.o.v

I burst through the doors to the garden, and once I saw Calliope sitting with Teddy, Addison and Alex, I grinned. Once I had gotten nearer, Calliope threw her head back and a loud burst of laughter followed shortly, it was like music to my ears, and before I knew it I had arrived in front of her.

"A-Ari! What are you doing here?" I could hear the shock in her voice from my sudden appearance and I smirked.

"I missed you," I replied in a soft voice, drawing a warm smile from her. In the background I could hear Addison and Teddy's coos of 'awws'.

"I miss you too, but aren't you supposed to be meeting with someone or trying not to get buried by paperwork?"

I shrugged my shoulder, "pfft, nothing I can't handle. It was easy, in fact, it was so easy I even have time to spend with you." I grinned brightly at her, displaying all of my pearly whites, dimples in full action.

She did nothing but stare at me, left brow slowly rising, and I felt my grin falter slightly, but I refused to be the first to break.

Or so I thought.

"Okay, fine!" I sighed dramatically, "Aria got Lexie to cover for me for a while, so I've got a couple of days free to do whatever you want."

"Is that allowed?" Addison asked curiously.

I faced Addison and nodded, "I didn't think so, but Aria said Terri gets Lexie to do it all the time. I mean it's just paperwork, and she said if there was anything really important that they couldn't handle, they'd get in touch with me. Besides, it's Tim's turn to do the paperwork." I turned back to Calliope, "so for the next few days I'm yours."

"Whatever I want huh?" Calliope repeated in a low and husky voice, drawing catcalls from the peanut gallery.

I winked back at her, "of course, but I was hoping I'd be able to take you on a date since we haven't been on one since…well, ever really."

"Wait, what about the Lycan that was found, have you told Terri yet?" Calliope suddenly asked.

"Um…no?" I replied sheepishly.

"Arizona!" I flinched at her tone.

"I've been busy." It was a lame excuse and judging by her sigh, she knew it.

"Fine, then the first thing I want to do is to go tell Terri."

"But-"

"Whatever I want, remember?"

Well damn, she had me there. I deflated in defeat and held out a hand to help Calliope stand, purposely ignoring the sniggering from my so called friends.

"Fiiine" I whined petulantly, and as I looked around, I noticed someone missing. "Where's Mark?"

"Aria told him to follow Tim today," Alex replied with a smirk, "though it makes a lot more sense now."

Oh, you're good Aria.

I felt myself involuntarily tense up as we neared the door in the medical wing as thoughts rushed through my head. What should I tell her? How should I tell her? How is she going to react? Is this really a good time to tell her? Dammit Calliope, why would you make me do this!

A soft knock broke me out of my musings and I looked to see that we had already arrived at the door and Calliope had already knocked on the door. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later when Aria tentatively opened the door.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" She had visibly relaxed at the sight of us and I briefly wondered why she was so wary.

"Is everything okay? You look tense Aria." Calliope asked in the same low voice Aria had spoken in.

"Yeah, just a bad day today. Terri hasn't been feeding, so she's getting weaker and not healing properly." The sadness was written all over her face as she gave us a weak smile.

"Maybe there's something I can do?" Calliope asked hopefully.

Aria was silent and looked hesitant, so she hurriedly added on, "I mean, I'm not too sure about how my powers work, but surely it wouldn't hurt to try?"

Aria let out a soft chuckle, "it's not Terri I'm worried about, it's you. A lot of healers have tried to help, but apparently it's triggering something in Terri and she lashes out, even when she's unconscious." She paused briefly, glancing over her shoulder inside the room before turning back to us, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"It's okay, Arizona will protect me. Besides, I'm stronger than you think I am." Calliope replied with a wink.

"I don't-" Aria spluttered, but was cut off by Calliope once again.

"Also, we need to talk to her about something, well, Arizona does anyway." She waved in my direction and I perked up instantly.

"Yeah, there's something I need to tell her, is that okay?" I asked. In the back of my mind, I could hear a voice telling me to command Aria to get out of the way, and that there was no reason to be so polite to her. I brushed it away though, apparently I had been in the position of power for too long and had gotten used to commanding people around.

How does Terri separate being the strict, commanding and cold Crown from the jovial, happy and perky person she usually is? It's not the same as separating the Doctor from the regular person, you need to command authority and respect from your peers and patients inside the hospital, but when you leave, you're just a regular everyday person and they return to being your friends. But being the Crown? You're constantly scrutinized, every movement you make is watched, and you have to display the ability to command and become a ruthless killer when necessary, it's not something you can leave behind once you leave the office. It's so tiring, how does one stop that persona from taking over your entire being? Is that why Zeus acts so cold to everyone, even his daughter? Is that why my father was always so strict and demanding of us? As great and as loving as my father is, every time he got angry, I could always see in his eyes that he was struggling against something. I didn't understand what it was when I was younger, but I guess that is was him fighting against his nature of being a vampire, of being the second in command to an entire clan?

"Sure, come in." Completely unaware of my internal thoughts, Aria opened the door wider and gestured for us to enter.

She walked ahead of us and sat down beside Terri, taking hold of her left hand and whispered softly into her ear, most likely announcing our presence.

I gasped once I'd taken a good look at her. It had only been a couple of days since I last saw her, but the change and deterioration was unbelievable. She was pale and had lost a considerable amount of weight, there were bags under her bloodshot eyes, and her eyes were dull and lifeless. She looked so small and weak and tired, and there was only one other time I had seen her like this.

'After Dionysus died.' I thought grimly.

My eyes traced over her form once again, taking her in. The way the blanket around her seemed to bury her, the way she held onto Aria's hand like a lifeline, no, like a child seeking comfort after a bad dream. Finally I landed on her face and was shocked to see her eyes meeting mine.

'How long has her eyes looked so lifeless, so blank, so dull, so…dead?'

"Hey," I smiled weakly at her and she tilted her head slightly, but made no other acknowledgement of my greeting.

Undeterred, Calliope strode forth and stood beside Aria. "Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?" She spoke to her like she was a patient in my peds ward, approaching with caution, but at the same time displaying warmth and love. It hit me right then; the reality of it was that Terri was just a child. A child forced into power against her will and forced to mature and grow before her time; and even though she was 28, age stopped mattering to her since she became the Crown at 8. She never had a chance to be a child, and now seeing her like this, I was at a loss at how to proceed.

Aria stood to exchange places with Calliope, but Terri's grip stopped her from moving. The dull eyes that stared up at her displayed a sense of loss and fear and it broke my heart. Aria placed her free hand against her cheek and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.

"It's okay, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She reassured her in a soft voice before leaning back slowly and lifting their joined hands to her lips. She placed another kiss on the back of Terri's hand before gently untangling their hands. She gestured for Calliope to take a seat, but didn't move away until Calliope had settled down. She watched over like an Eagle as Calliope slowly took Terri's left hand into her own and finally relaxed when she saw that Terri had not reacted to Calliope's touch. In fact, Terri's gaze had not once strayed from Aria's, and it wasn't until she backed away that Terri turned to face Calliope.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to help. Okay?" I smiled at the gentleness in Calliope's actions, the way she was handling Terri and the situation made me immensely proud, and I made sure that I would let her know later.

Calliope closed her eyes and her hands began to shine a faint blue, she let out a sudden gasp as Terri's hand tightened its grasp in hers and I prepared to step in to intervene. Aria raised a hand to halt me and she smiled at me, the unspoken 'trust me' made me nod and relax.

As moments passed, I felt power start to surge through me as Calliope's hand emitted a bright purple glow and I immediately knew that she was drawing power through our bond.

'Atta girl.' I thought as the warmth raced through my veins.

There was a low growl that shocked Calliope out of her concentration and she looked up to see menacing deep red eyes staring back at her. Startled, she recoiled and let out a gasp in pain as Terri's claws dug into her hand drawing blood. Wait…Claws?

"T-Terri?" Calliope stuttered out as Terri tilted her head, teeth clenched tightly and fangs elongated. The low growl became louder and as the scent of Calliope's blood filled the air, I finally recognised the look in her eyes. Hunger!

Terri quickly reversed the grip on their linked hands and started to pull Calliope towards her, but before I could even react, Aria had flashed on top on Terri and pinned her arms onto the bed, effectively breaking the tight grasp Terri had on Calliope. I quickly pulled Calliope to my side and cradled her bleeding hand in my own.

"Are you okay? Calliope! Are you okay?" I demanded, but Calliope seemed to still be in shock, not that I was surprised. Even though she had encountered numerous strays in the past, and even though her mate, her family and her best friends were all vampires, she had never ever come face to face with a starved and murderous ally, and especially not a Royal.

Being a Royal meant that you naturally possessed a certain amount of sway that you could use to influence your feeds, making them submit, whether it be that they come to us willingly, or they are completely paralyzed so they can't put up a fight. To see that power used on Calliope, it filled me with an uncontainable amount of rage.

"I'm fine." Calliope finally came out of her shock and her hand had already started its healing process, "I'm fine Ari." In spite of that, she was still shaking in my arms.

We both turned to see Aria struggling to contain a frantic Terri, but when I moved to help, Calliope tightened her grasp on me, refusing to let me leave.

"Terri!" Her hands finally broke free of Aria's hold and she had clamped them down hard onto Aria's exposed shoulders, claws digging in deeply and thanks to the black tank top Aria was wearing, we could see that the blood was now running freely down her arms. Terri was still struggling to throw Aria off of her, and even though she was snarling and growling, I could clearly see the tears running from her eyes as she fought against the animalistic side. "Teresa!"

Terri froze and her claws dug in deeper. Aria's flinch was barely noticeable and I could help but be in awe of her persistence and loyalty towards Terri. "Feed."

It was only then that I noticed the power that fuelled Aria's voice, she was using the power of their bond to subdue Terri, but it was dangerous for her to try to penetrate the mind of a Royal who had basically become feral. I feared for her safety, knowing that the 'Alpha' in Terri would never submit to a weaker power and especially not her mate. But in a move that surprised me, Terri sat up quickly, removing her claws from Aria's shoulders and wrapping them around her waist as Aria quickly repositioned herself so that she was in Terri's lap straddling her. She tilted her head to the side and swept her hair out of the way just in time just as Terri sunk her teeth into her neck causing Calliope to flinch in my arms.

Terri was shaking as she fed and I could feel the panic radiating off of her. Aria wrapped one arm around Terri's neck as the other came up to slowly and softly stroke the back of her head. "It's okay, I'm here. It's all okay now. I'm never leaving your side." She kept repeating this until Terri had finally stopped feeding. She drew back and looked up at Aria, looking a lot less pale, but her eyes had quickly become dull once again. Aria wiped away the blood trickling from the side of Terri's mouth and whispered a quick "I love you" before she brought her in for a kiss. It was soft and tender and the complete opposite of the frantic and murderous moment just seconds before.

Aria had eventually turned so she was now sitting sideways in Terri's lap, wounds completely healed, as Terri rested her head against Aria's chest. Terri's arms were still wrapped tightly and possessively around Aria's waist and she had refused to release her grip so Aria had no choice but to stay where she was.

"So…" Aria started, breaking the silence that had coated the room since Terri calmed down. "Arizona, you said you had something to tell Terri?"

"Uh…" I cleared my throat, "yeah, Elder Francis said they had captured an intruder along the borders in the forest and he's…uh…" I glanced around the room, "he's a Lycan." Aria gasped and Terri's eyes flashed to mine, they narrowed and I froze as I saw the murderous red spark in her dead eyes.

"What's his name?" Aria asked.

"Uh…" I stuttered, Terri's glare was throwing me off, I had expected Terri to be as unresponsive as she was the last time I had seen her. I guess Calliope's healing did help after all.

"Arizona?" Aria prompted and I reluctantly tore my gaze away from Terri, not sure how she would handle the news, levelling my gaze at Aria.

"Lucas. Lucas Randall." Terri growled and I reflexively tensed, but then I felt a sense of calmness rushing through my veins. I looked curiously at Calliope beside me whose eyes were shining a golden purple, but she too was looking back at me with the same look of wonder and curiousness. We looked back at the bed and saw Terri begin to relax and Aria smiling at us with bright golden eyes.

"Sorry, I needed them both to calm down, could have them riling each other up."

"Um…What?" Calliope blurted out.

"I, uh, forced you to activate your calming powers on Terri and Arizona." Aria explained.

"You can do that?" I asked in awe.

Aria chuckled and tapped her temple. "Power over the mind, remember? A recent, and newly, discovered ability, thanks to Ariolus. I assumed that since Callie's healing power works on others that her power of serenity would work too. Bit of a gamble really." She gave a cheeky grin at that, drawing smiles from both Calliope and I. "Anyway, where's Lucas being held now?"

"The dungeons, no one's allowed in or out other than to feed him."

"Have you been to see him?"

"No, though I made sure Elder Francis knows that he's not allowed to torture or interrogate Lucas. I thought you'd want to see him, T."

Terri and Aria shared a glance, holding a silent conversation before Aria finally nodded.

"Thanks Arizona, I'll talk to Ariolus about Terri visiting." I nodded in understanding. "If there's nothing else, the two of you should get back to your day off before anything else comes up."

Sensing that we were being dismissed, I grabbed Calliope's hand and she barely had time to call out a "be careful and take care of yourself" to Aria before I pulled her out the room.

Aria p.o.v

"You want to see him don't you?" I asked my silent mate. It wasn't really meant to be a question though; I could tell when Arizona mentioned his name that Terri wanted to know what really happened to Lauren and Lindsey. Terri just stared forward blankly.

I sighed, "I'll go talk to Ariolus." Her hand shot out and gripped onto my arm.

"I want to see him." I jumped when she spoke. Her voice was hoarse and quiet which was completely expected considering she hadn't spoken in a couple of days, but I didn't care, I was just happy that she was finally speaking again.

"I know, I'll go talk to-"

"No." When she looked at me, I could see the fire return to her eyes; it was faint and barely noticeable, but it was there. "No one else. Just us."

The conviction in her voice paired with her eyes, I was powerless against her will.

"On one condition." I countered. She didn't reply, merely arching a brow at me. "You," I pointed at her, "need to feed more regularly or else I'll restrain you here."

She had opened her mouth to reply, but I slammed my hand over her mouth. "Nah uh, I know what you're gonna say, but you're still weak right now. Even if you've just fed from me, it still doesn't make up for the four days you didn't."

"Agreed." She replied instantly.

"Terri," I warned, "I want you to get better, I shouldn't even be letting you out of the room, so promise me, okay?"

She took a hold of my hand and looked me in the eye. "Ariadne, I promise. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Fine, but I'm timing you. Only because I love you." I grinned at her and batted my eyelashes at her.

"Anything you want."

Callie p.o.v

"So… Now what?" Arizona asked as we walked down the corridor, hands linked and arms swinging back and forth, courtesy of Arizona.

"I want to go back to where we first met."

"You want to?" Arizona repeated hesitantly.

"Yeah, you do remember where we met right?" I asked, remembering that Arizona had lost her memories, and I know the revival restored it, but how much did she remember?

"Yep, Cambridge High!" She announced loudly whilst giggling.

"You really remember?"

"Well duh! I met most beautiful woman on the planet at that place, I'd never forget it!" Her enthusiasm was contagious and I found myself giggling along with her, though I did wonder what was up with her mood.

"You're awfully chipper right now."

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm taking this insanely hot woman out and she's all mine!" I chuckled at that.

"Wait, are we even allowed to leave the area?" That was something I hadn't considered yet, we'd spent all of our time here recently and considering that we're technically under war, should we really be leaving?

"Anything you want remember Calliope?"

"Yeah, but is it against protocol or something?"

"Nah, it's okay. It's not like we're going far anyway." She waved off my concerns.

"Sure?" I asked again.

"Yes Calliope,"

"Really?"

"Yes Calliope," I could hear a hint of annoyance edging into her voice and I grinned.

"Are you absolutely sure?" I couldn't help it but tease. "Like, really, really sure?"

She narrowed her eyes at me in the most adorable manner before pouting at me. "You think you're soooo funny dontcha?"

"I'm as funny as you are cute." And almost as if she was proving my point, she furrowed her brows and let out the most adorable little 'hmph' whilst folding her arms across her chest. I pulled her into my arms, kissing at the protruding bottom lip until her pout turned into a smile. Her arms snuck around my waist as she pulled me tighter up against her and kissed me deeply, taking my breath away.

"Woah," I breathed out as we pulled apart. She winked cheekily at me before stepping back and running down the corridor with me in tow.

"Let's goooo!" She screamed excitedly and I felt myself blushing involuntarily, praying that there weren't any guards around witnessing this.

Aria p.o.v

We reached the dungeons without any difficulty. The guards were smart enough to stay away from the approaching Crown; they had all heard, some were even there to witness, the events of Terri's wrath. Needless to say, the fear was now deeply implanted into each and every soldier.

The metal door in front of us was old and dirty, as were the walls that covered the hallways. I shuddered at the thought of what each chamber looked like inside if it was this bad outside.

Terri paused outside lucky door number three for a brief moment, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.

"You okay?" I asked, breaking the silence that had overcome us since leaving her room in the medical wing. My reply was a stiff nod and a quick reassuring squeeze to my hand that was held within hers before her eyes flew open and she pushed open the door.

The room was dark and the horrendous stench from within caused me to gag slightly.

"Who's there?" A gruff voice came.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the interior, but when it did, they landed on the beaten, bleeding and dirty form of Lucas Randall. Terri had tensed up as she stared at him contemplatively, brows furrowed in thought.

"You must be Lucas Randall." I stated in the calmest voice I could muster. The smell of death and rot was becoming too much for me to handle.

"Who the hell are you?" The same voice demanded. "Are you food, or perhaps…" His voice took a lecherous turn, sending shivers down my back as I felt myself tense in disgust. "A little gift for me?"

A low growl beside me caught our attention and I turned in time to see Terri's eyes flash a murderous red.

"Y-you… You're… Athena!" Lucas' shocked and frightened voice caused me to smirk. Not so tough now are ya, Lukey Boy?

"Randall" Terri growled out.

"Y-yes, my name is Lucas Randall, as the little wench by ya side said." His voice was firm, but I could still hear the tremble hidden behind his forced bravado.

"Tell me what happened." The tone of Terri's voice gave no room for argument or protest; it was neither a question nor a request, it was an order.

"I-I" He stuttered, "They came outta nowhere! Just came in and slaughtered everyone!" I was startled when he started to pant heavily, fists clenching as he relived the horror of that day. "M-my wife, and my sons, they didn't stand a chance." I could hear the sob that escaped his mouth and it caught me off guard. His behaviour and demeanour was a complete opposite from when we first entered. The gruff and smug amusement disappeared and was completely replaced with pain, sorrow and anger. But something didn't feel right.

"Who led the attack?" Terri asked.

"God!" He broke off, trying to stifle the next sob fighting to escape. "There was so much blood, my family, my friends, my brothers!" He screamed.

Terri's grip had tightened to an almost painful level, but I dared not speak out, especially not whilst Terri had that look on her face. She was eerily calm and her bright red eyes had yet to stray from Lucas' face, but there was something lacking from it. She's not angry, nor is there any pain reflected in her eyes. What's up with that?

Shaking off the thoughts, I redirected my attention to the bleeding man in front of us. "Hey, she asked you a question, who led the attack?"

He roared at me suddenly, making me step back in fear, "You have no place in here wench, and you don't deserve to speak without being addressed first. You don't even deserve to be in the same room as the Crown!"

What was up with this man? One minute he's rude and angry, and then he's a mess and completely breaking down, and then back to rude and angry. Dude is craaazy.

"She" Terri started in a cool manner, "may speak and go whenever and wherever she wants to, you on the other hand" her eyes landed on him and he inhaled sharply, "you need to remember your place, mutt."

"I-I-"

"Who led the attack, which General?" She repeated.

"That black one."

"Reynard?" Terri supplied helpfully. I glanced curiously at her when I caught the amusement in her voice. What is she thinking?

"I don't know his name, but if he's the black one then yeah, him." She tilted her head towards the left and I barely caught the quick streak of gold that flashed through her eyes. I took a quick glance at Lucas and realised that he hadn't noticed. She straightened up and a smirk crossed her lips. As we turned to leave, he spoke up again.

"Lindsey…" Lucas started and the smirk dropped from her face instantly. "She was crying for you, Lauren had already been killed and Caleb… He wasn't there to protect them. You weren't there to protect them, where the hell were you? Your Generals and your soldiers destroyed my clan! You killed them!" He roared out accusingly and the low, dangerous growl returned. Her hand rose, and without even turning her head, a jolt of energy hit Lucas head on and he dropped to the ground unconscious.

The door slammed shut behind us and Terri leant against the wall next to it, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes once again.

"Terri…" I started hesitantly; I couldn't gauge her mood right now and had to tread carefully. "Baby, you okay?"

"I need you to do something for me." Her voice was low and strained, and I could see her shaking from restrained… something. 'Anger? Sorrow? Pain? What's going on in your head baby?'

"Anything, just name it." Her head dropped back to the wall and I could see her swallow roughly.

"I need you to get in my head."

Um…What? "T?"

"I want you to tell me what you can see."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you after, but I have a theory."

We returned to our room, not the one in the medical wing, but our actual room. She said she didn't want any distractions, and people knew better than to enter our room without being summoned. I was still flummoxed by the request, but knew better than to question her motives.

We sat in the centre of the bed facing each other, hands linked. She had closed her eyes so I was left staring at her lids.

"So, what am I looking for?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know."

Right... "O…kay? So how far back am I going then?"

"As far as you can go."

Well gee, that's helpful, come on baby, give me something to work with. "Right, well okay then."

I closed my eyes and was surprised by how quickly I had slipped into the depths of her mind as the past few days rushed by before my eyes. I quickly realised that Terri had dropped her barriers allowing me to have smooth access.

Right, so what am I looking for? Hmmm? Images and images flashed before my eyes as I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing. Jesus, her mind is so cluttered. Does she ever stop thinking? Oh look, there's me! I saw myself, Arizona and Callie in her patient room, obviously from today; therefore I was in her most recent memories.

Okay, right. Me, me, random nurse, random healer, Zeus, me again, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, and some more of me.

I absentmindedly listed off the people I saw in her memories, but inhaled sharply as white hot rage suddenly rushed over me. I focused once again and winced at what, no, who I saw in the next memory.

The full court, Generals Howard and Reynard kneeling in front of Zeus covered in blood. The scent of their blood filling my senses, but it seems faint.

My brows furrowed as the vision before me become fuzzy, almost like a computer that had a virus, like it was glitching out.

It's warm, so very warm. What's happening?

The visions started to jump and blur, the voices fading, and I suddenly became engulfed in darkness.

What the fuck? Hello?

Something caught my attention.

There it is again!

It was a flicker, only small at first, but slowly began to grow.

It's warm, and slowly getting hotter. What's up with that flame?

Stupidly, I reached out to it.

Fuck! It actually burns?

There was a voice, but it sounded so far away, so muted, but yet so familiar. It was like I was underwater.

But there's a fire right there! I can't be underwater. What the fuck is going on?

I started to panic, as the flames grew brighter and stronger.

So much heat. It's so hot. It's burning, burning, burning…

My eyes shot open as I fell back against the soft covers in pain and shock. I was panting and covered in sweat, it felt so real. I could still feel the tremors vibrating through my body. A burning sensation emanated from my left hand and I weakly raised it to see that it was bright red and covered in blisters and bleeding from some parts. I had been burned. What the fuck? I closed my eyes and groaned, feeling the ache and pain radiating throughout my entire body.

Suddenly, it was like someone had poured ice cold water over me and I felt a chill go through me. A hand over my wounded one caused me to open my eyes and I was met with a beautiful and stunning sight.

Her clear brown eyes stared back at me; the life and light reflected in them brought tears to mine.

"T-Terri?" She crawled over to hover above me and gave me a soft smile. I choked on the sob that was threatening to escape.

"I love you." She whispered gently before leaning down and pressing her lips against mine. The pains and aches disappeared instantly and I allowed myself to drown in her. The scent of Terri surrounded me and the tears leaked out of my closed eyes.

Welcome back, my love.

Callie p.o.v

As we were pulling up to the car park of Cambridge High School, I recalled my reaction when Arizona led me into the garage of the manor.

There were so many drool worthy cars parked in their spaces, it was practically a show room for sexy cars. When we reached Arizona's 'baby' my jaw practically hit the ground.

In front of me was a silver and blue Shelby GT500. There was not a single mark or dent on the frame and the light reflected brightly off the beautifully polished car. It was a beast of a car and so unlike Arizona. I glanced at her and she chuckled at the disbelief in my eyes.

"What can I say?" She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm a speed freak."

"Can I drive it?" I asked hopefully.

"Sorry, I love you, but no one drives my baby. I've spent a lot of time and money on her, isn't she just perfect?" She sighed dreamily causing my brow to rise. "Uh…Not as perfect as you though?" She backtracked quickly.

I snorted at her before I turned back to the masterpiece in front of me. "Yeah, sure. That was completely believable."

"Calliope?" A voice brought me out of my little daze and I noticed that we had stopped. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, don't you worry your little head." I leaned into the hand that had pressed against my cheek and turned to kiss the palm.

I got out the car and took a quick look around before finally landing on the sign before me.

"Cambridge High School. Where it all began… Where we began." Arizona whispered into my ear causing me to shiver in delight. Her arms came around my waist and I leaned back into her body. She pulled me in tighter so that we were pressed together firmly, back to front, and kissed her way up my neck. I could barely contain the moan that escaped as I felt her hot breath against my skin. I spun around and wrapped my arms around her neck as her lips crashed down onto mine. She pushed me backwards until I was pressed up against the sign at the front of the school and I felt her hands creep up my top.

A chuckle escaped my mouth involuntarily. Twenty years ago I could barely contain my blush whenever she even held my hand, twenty years later? We're pretty much fucking in front of the school, in public, against school property as well!

Arizona must have caught on to my thoughts as she grinned brightly at me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs.

"Ready?" She asked as her hand landed on the handle. I nodded as she finally pushed open the door. The door to our past, our beginning.

I'm ready as I'll ever be.

Tim p.o.v

I'll admit I was surprised when Aria approached me earlier, it wasn't because she wanted me to handle the paperwork that caught me though, it was the fact that she wanted me to take Mark with me. What exactly would he do whilst I was working? It's not like he could be of any help, I mean, it's against regulations to let an unranked soldier read possibly highly classified information.

Now though, I fully understood the reasoning behind her decision as I watched Lexie place close another file and place it on top of the growing pile to her left. She was sitting behind the desk working steadily through the large stack of files that needed signing or approval or just a general read through, as they were most likely daily reports.

Mark was stretched out on the couch opposite the one I was sitting on. The coffee table between us was also filled with files, ones that need to be seen to by me, and ones that had information our clan had collected on Hades and the strays that I wanted Mark to read. He was currently holding on open in front of his face as he not-so-stealthily stared at Lexie longingly. The lovesick puppy expression on his face made me chuckle, but at the same time, it also made me sigh. It was like I was babysitting the two of them.

A quiet 'shit' from Lexie caught both Mark's and my attention and I glanced towards her as she leaned back into the chair and sighed. "We have a problem."

"Oh?" I asked as I stood up and walked towards her, Mark following dutifully behind me.

She showed me the open file in her hands allowing me to scan through it.

"Scientific experimentations… Humans… Vampires… Lycans… Varying clans 't.b.c'… DNA alterations… Serum modifications…" I mumbled mindlessly as I reached further down the page, and then, there it was. One line that jumped out at me causing me to curse Hades' existence to hell and back.

'Genetically Engineered Hybrids'

My eyes went wide and I shared a glance with Lexie who had her frustration hidden carefully behind her mask of indifference.

"Well shit indeed."

A.N: Anyone got any idea what Terri's theory is?