Hostile 22!

Yay!

Next chapter is the last chapter of Hostile. Just throwing that out there.

Mia Teresa Davenport: *Facepalms*

ShyMusic: There will be! Just not in Hostile.

So let's do this. Ysthry?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"...maybe sometimes it's riskier not to take a risk. Sometimes all you're guaranteeing is that things will stay the same."

Danny Wallace, Yes Man

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

Eleanor Roosevelt

Leo

"You want me to do what?"

Chase shrugged. "Summon and dismiss me so I can get Bree. Easy."

Leo furrowed his brow. "Summon and dismiss you so you can get Bree?"

"It's really not that hard to understand," Chase hissed. He started some awkward hybrid of limping and annoyed pacing across Leo's room. "I'm the only one that would even stand a chance in that world. Therefore, I have to be the one to go in there."

"No one told me what happened to Bree," Leo interjected.

Chase stopped, wincing. "Some massive titan of a demon tore her consciousness out and threw it into Otherworld. She's downstairs, but totally unresponsive."

Leo was stunned into silence for several moments. Was something like that even possible? And why Bree, of all people? Why couldn't it have happened to a Hunter?

Or Trent?

Anybody else. Surely there were others who deserved it more than her.

Finally, Leo found his voice. "This happened while she was looking into a Hunter's computer?"

"Yeah, yeah," Chase confirmed, waving dismissively. "Yahn's looking into it. Right now, I'm more concerned about Bree being trapped in Otherworld." He fixed Leo with a determined glare. "You want to help. I can see it."

He knows me too well, Leo thought. He nodded. "But what about Douglas? Shouldn't he -"

"You know he wouldn't risk losing us both," Chase reasoned. "You're the only one with the balls to risk it."

Leo glanced at the little ball of scales resting on his bed. "Ysthry-"

She opened an eye. "The chances of her finding her own way out are virtually nonexistent. And there isn't a demon in the world that will listen when their wills are released and they're sent home."

"See?" Chase pointed at Ysthry. "It has to be me."

Leo considered this in silence. Did he really want to risk losing both Chase and Bree? He could see where Chase would get Douglas' hypothetical resistance to the idea. Losing one sibling was hard enough. Voluntarily losing another was nigh on insanity.

But there was a chance that both could come back. A small chance, but it was far greater than Bree making it back on her own.

Was it worth it?

Chase seemed to collectively droop. "Please, Leo. I don't want her to suffer in there. Send me to save our sister."

Before Leo could really think about it, he was clearing rugs out of the way and lighting incense and candles. As Chase trotted out of the room and returned moments later with a small cloth bag, Leo was drawing his Circles. He forced any doubtful thoughts away from him, checking carefully that everything was perfect. Once satisfied, Chase stood back while Leo stepped into the Summoner's Circle for the first time since he had ordered Ysthry to sting Summoner Hall. And, despite that man's insanity, all of the knowledge Leo had gained as his apprentice paid off.

Where he had messed up Chase's summons the first time he ever attempted it, he performed it flawlessly now. Every pronunciation perfect, all grammar accurate. All down to Chase's true name. It became clear to him then that he wasn't sending Chase into Otherworld. He was sending a full-fledged djinni. Chase would never have made a move as risky as this without exhausting every other possibility first. No, Îngrijirea Vânătoare would be going into the realm of demons, into what he truly believed was the very pit of Hell.

And, as Leo recited the dismissal among the calming scent of lavender Chase had generated before he faded into Otherworld, Leo couldn't help but feel horrible that he had been the one that sent Chase there.

"There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things."

Frank Underwood

"Nobody's a Boy Scout. Not even Boy Scouts."

Frank Underwood

Mr. Davenport

"You did what?" Donald was practically beside himself as he stared Leo down.

Standing at the foot of the stairs, Leo's eyes were focused on Bree's motionless form as he answered. "I dismissed Hellcat. He's gone."

"Why?" Douglas sputtered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He wanted to get Bree back," Leo answered. "Yahn said she's in the demon world."

Donald wanted to explode. He had already lost Bree. Now, Chase had voluntarily gone into the demonic world without even saying goodbye. All on an imp's tale? Donald's history with Ajiiyahn aside, he wouldn't possibly accept that Bree was anywhere but right in front of his eyes. He had played around with astral projections when he was more active in his former religion, but they had never worked well for him. He was too attached to what he could see and feel.

More to the point, he could've sworn Chase was smarter than to listen to an imp. Donald gestured at Leo. "Get him back. Either of you," he added, gesturing at Douglas.

"Wait," Douglas started quietly. "What if he's right? What if Bree's trapped in Otherworld?"

"What if she's not?" Donald snapped.

"Listen," Douglas argued. "If he's right, and she's in Otherworld, then he might be able to get her out. If he finds her, and we summon him back, then everything he did would be undone. He'd have to start all over."

"But-"

"We have to trust that he's onto something, Don," Douglas interrupted. "It's not much to go on, but it's all we have."

"So…Chase is just trapped in Otherworld?" Tasha interjected. "There's nothing we can do about it?"

"He's untouchable," Douglas confirmed. "It might be the only chance Bree has."

Donald wanted to punch a wall. Two kids were gone in one night. Two. He was supposed to be okay with this?

He shot Bree a look, fighting not to wince at the blank stare she wore. "He better be right," he finally sighed. "If not, he just sacrificed himself for no reason."

Leo nodded. "He also said that only a massive, massive demon could have done something like this to Bree."

"A demon guarding a Hunter's computer?" Adam said, speaking up for the first time. "That doesn't make sense."

Douglas sighed. "Oly –"

"Why me?" Oly whined from her perch on the back of the couch.

"Because I said so," Douglas huffed. "Go find out everything you can about that office, the computer, and the Hunter who uses it."

Oly winced and muttered. She beat her wings a few times irritably. She paced in an agitated circle. Then, after this small hissy fit, she silently climbed out the window and disappeared into the night.

What will Oly (and Yahn) uncover?

And what's Hellcat up to?

Guess we'll have to wait until the last chapter to find out. :P

So, until then, feel free to review. Or not. Meh.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*