Happy holidays everyone or whatever you celebrate, if you do or not :)

Here's the new chap. I hope you enjoy it, and as soon as It's done the next M-shot will also come.

Thanks to Sleeping moon, and everyone who reviewed last chap (which is corrected and uploaded in case you didn't check it, thanks to Allora22701) and I hope you review this one as brutally critic as you can.

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CHAPTER 11: TRIO NIGHT

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Her eyes were closed and her body remained still, but Aria was already, even if slowly, regaining consciousness. She could only hear some buzzing of sounds that turned out to be voices. So, practically on instinct, she kept on faking unconsciousness. After some time, it became clear that the voices, who belonged to Julius and Ace, were not going away, but she was too tired for even decipher what they were saying.

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"How could you be so irresponsible? Just how many times was she close to dying since she arrived here?" – Julius wasn't happy at all.

"Mmm…. Maybe 5… no, probably up to… 7? – Ace unhelpfully answered – "C´mon Julius. She is fine…"

"The question was rhetorical! Just look at her. She is not fine at all. " –Julius didn't find it funny at all.

"But the doctor said she'd be fine if she rested…"- Ace tried to plead his case.

"That's not the point!"

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Julius made sure to tell Ace all that was wrong with him and regarding the foreigner.

After even more time of the clock master scowling the knave, and Ace sounding like a kicked puppy. She quickly grew tired of their charade and regained enough sense to remember what had happened.

Her eyes shot open and she suddenly stood up from the bed - "Crap!"- Dizziness came to her by the sudden movement and she had to grab the bed's headboard to hold herself standing.

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"Good morning Ary!" :D Ace was clearly happy to have her awake and interrupt Julius's rant.

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Aria lightly face-palmed, not at Ace's night greeting, but probably more from the dizziness or from the tiredness and pain that her wounds were causing her.- "Shit! Now they know about me..." – She breathed hard and looked down at herself, realizing that she was wearing one of Julius's shirts, which was just long enough to serve as a nightgown for her. Then she stretched her neck and her eyes lit with a blue digital hue for a second before she mechanically looked to exactly the point in the corner of the room where her stuff was piled up over a chair. For a second some blue and white glow blinked from a screen on her armor's forearm and her eyes responded with another blink of digital light.

Shakily, she took a couple steps towards her things and was pulled back by Julius grip on her wrist.

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"Where do you think you're going!? You are hurt. Get back to rest."-Julius was very peeved.

"Let go." – She tried pulling her wrist away but she was too weak for that, which didn't go unnoticed by the men. She growled with a tint of anxiousness.- "My position has been discovered and compromised. I don't have time to waste here."

"Time to waste?"- Julius eyes narrowed.

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After failing again at getting her wrist back, she growled without energy. - "My cover is blown. The faster I get away from here the better I can hide."

Julius was having a hard time calming down -"Clover tower knows you want to remain anonymous. As foreigner you…"

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"Can get killed easily!"- She hissed and a red circular glow lit on her eyes over her pupil's edges, showing her all the info of Julius's current strength, possible escape routes and other kind of useful data which didn't look good for her at the moment. Aria knew she had no chances here, and she also knew that she was being unreasonable in her situation; yet, she couldn't help but feel the dire apprehension of possible approaching dangers overriding the risks analysis that told her this place was safe for the time being. -"By now the rumors about me should have spread already and I'm in no position to fight, I have no ammunition left, there are hardly any escape routes and my supplies are depleted! I need to get to a safe place fast."

"Exactly! " – Julius tightened his grip and didn't notice her slight flinch. – "You are completely vulnerable, right now. This is a safe place. Why do you insist on endangering yourself further?"

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Aria's eyes narrowed as she gathered all her strength to push him away - "Safe place? In case you aren't aware… YOU ARE THE DANGER!" – She finally got free. -"The farther away I'm from role holders the safer it is for me."

It didn't go unnoticed by Ace that her shadow had flickered in it's form under her for a second. Still, he remained silent observing this with more calm than usual for him.

Julius eyes lost their sharpness at her and his clock almost skipped a tick when the truth of what she was afraid off dawned on him. If it wasn't because he was angry, it would have hurt him to think that she thought they would hurt her, because at least it was true that she had gotten hurt because of him. - "Is it because of what happened at the ballroom event last time?"

Her eyes shifted with surprise and expectation. – "Did you remember?!"

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"No, I didn't. But apparently there are medical records at heart castle about you getting in trouble and hurt at a past event."- With a bit of guild he saw her reddened wrist. What he did remember was the details the medic of the tower had said about how bad things had gone to her.

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She huffed with disappointment and crossed her arms while averting her gaze. -"I got in trouble only because I attended. Getting close to role holders is bad for my health… and if there are records then…"

"Then you are here now, hurt, and in no condition to go away. "- Julius pointed out.

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Aria wasn't in it for a conversation and tired of this, snapped back at him. "Yes. Only after getting ambushed because Ace made a scene at a restaurant; after I barely won against some allies of the hatters; and then after almost getting killed by Gray. Not to mention, hardly alive after saving your ass from that mob."

Julius felt a vein almost pop in his forehead- "You are perfectly safe right now! Why are you so nervous and paranoid?"

The circular glow on her eyes expanded for a bit and now sported a yellow triangle in the middle of it. She was now as peeved as Julius- "I don't ever bother counting how many times have I got on almost dead situations, so...!"

Over the chair, a new blink appeared on the screen of her one of her suit's attached devices, and a small white glint appeared over her vision to tell her an exact number.

She turned towards her suit for a moment – "You've been keeping count, Aegis!? I never set you to do so."- Then she turned back to Julius. – "Paranoia keeps me alive. And It's not your business!"

Julius leaned forward, and tired from her stubbornness he pressed her chest with his index finger and retorted. "Since you are working here… IT IS!... and what was that just now?"

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In the background, Ace started to undress by taking of his coat and shirt while the other two bickered, then he removed his boots and socks to end only in his pants.

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Aria was slightly taken aback by the sudden mentioning on her contract, probably the only thing she would respect. Ignoring his question regarding the AI of her suit, and because she was fired up too she took a decision.- "IS THAT IT!? THEN I QUIT! "- Never before had she backed down from a deal or a contract, but at this point, she had taken enough.

That would have meant that she was going to permanently abandon the clock tower. Now Julius was not only worried, he was also angry at her attempt to leave after just barging like this in his life. - "You can't do this, mercenary. You have a deal with us."

Said mercenary's eyes widened while gaining a complete digital red hue, and not just a target circle, over her pupils. She took a fighting stance and opened her mouth in a grimace to say something, but quicker than she could react without her suit, Ace trapped her in a hug that pinned her arms to her sides by her elbows and easily lifted her from the floor to carry her to the bed. He jumped back to sit in the middle of it with her on his lap.

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"Ace, let me go." -She hissed calmly in shock, and then twisted in his grasp.

"No"- The knave lied down on his back, bringing her over him, and then rolled so he ended on top of her.- "If you are healthy and strong enough to go then you can move me yourself and get away."- He grinned and accommodated himself better to not be over her worst wounds, but still impede her from moving much.

"I could get away from you but it wouldn't even take 3 seconds for you to pin me down again..."- Still, she made the effort, but succumbed panting not even a minute after, while Ace didn't even need to move at all. She remained still and finally ceded.-"Fine... Let's… just rest."

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Julius observed this with surprise and felt some relief, still, he couldn't avoid being a bit hash. Ace and the mercenary were occupying most of his bed.- "Go to another bed."

Her stupid efforts of going away in such condition had left her exhausted and falling into unconsciousness rather than mere sleep. She started speaking, but her voice progressively dimmed it's volume. - "Shut up Julius, you said you wanted me to rest, no? You also complained about your last bed being small and Ace got this one. We three fit here perfectly fine."

Her words ended up in a mere murmur so low that the knight barely heard the end of her words before she finally went out and his red eyes glinted while his mouth was left agape at the revelation. *o*!

He looked between her and Julius, and noticed just how comfortable hugging her like this felt, as if he had done this before. He corroborated that she was out cold and turned to the mortician. – "Julius, just come to sleep. It seems it wouldn't be the first time we share this bed with her."

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"What!?"- Julius focused his gaze on her, wondering what might have been the end of what she had said.

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Ace's last words before he grabbed the blanket to cover himself and her before he went to sleep too were not directed at anyone in particular- "I think I want to know who she is really. And I won't be knightly if she is lying. But I'll enjoy it anyways."-

Julius grunted once more but took off his vest and got as shirtless as Ace and went to the bed to try and occupy the corner of the bed opposite of Ace so that Aria remained in the middle under the knight's weight. He'd ignore the oddness and improperness of this for now. At this moment he wasn't even gonna get prickly. After scolding Ace for a couple straight hours about him getting her hurt, and then her little paranoid attempt to go away, he was more than tired. He needed some sleep.

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Next morning Julius woke up feeling awkwardly nice and warm. He opened his eyes slowly to see that he was not in the corner of the bed, but straight up in the middle hugging a seemingly delicate female body that was resting her back against him and between certain pervy knight, who just happened to be leaning on her with his head over her chest and his ear over her heart, while keeping his hands grabbing her huge breasts and sporting a big sleepy grin, looking truly content and double the good Julius felt.

His movements must have woken the knight, and oddly, the clock master stirred as if something horrible would happen to him… but nothing did.

Ace merely opened his eyes – "Morning Julius" ^_^ - He then looked at the girl and pressed her down, clearly to keep her trapped in case she jolted up, and kissed her forehead, but she didn't move at all. –" Aria is still KO'ed."

Julius only grunted in response and noticed that one of the hands of the knave had traveled to her hip and was moving between her legs. The clock master gallantly slapped away the knight's hand.

"Ouchie!"- Ace happily pouted before hugging 'their mercy' again before rubbing his body against hers. – "C´mon Julius. I thought you'd be up for a little morning quickie after last night's trio."

"You are delusional Ace, there was no trio."- Julius said a bit on edge.

"We three shared the bed all night. It counts as a trio." – Then the knave grabbed Julius arm and dragged him over the girl. His expression was a serene smile that hide his seriousness.- "Julius, keep her here. Just don't let her leave. I have a very bad feeling that if she does, she won't come back. You can pin her down if you need too. It's actually very comfy"- He then moved over and kneeled on the bed, squishing her breasts in his hands a couple times.- "Her breasts are huge, firm but very soft" X) – He removed his hands from her, leaned towards Julius and grabbed the clock master's jaw while winking - "Don't worry, I won't get jelly if you wanna get randy with her" - He then kissed Julius on the forehead and got away from the mortician's reach, evading a slap from the blushing bluenette and not so knightly, giving the unaware girl a pat in the ass before getting out of bed.

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Julius began to move away from her looking for something to throw at the knave, but Ace, who miraculously was already dressed and ready, interrupted his actions with his mere conniving words.

"Don't wake the slow-healing hurt foreigner, Julius. She is finally resting." ^w^

Julius blinked and growled, but understood it. The only way she was staying put was by force. –" Fine. "- He sighted finally accepting this strange situation and laying down back to sleep. His wounds still needed a time change or two to disappear, so he should probably rest as well.

This was a first, Alice had come, sure, she had even stayed for a while but never was at such proximity. He also had never allowed anyone to be under the protection of his territory, much less had to enforce said protection on the person.

"AWWW… You look so cute cuddling with the kitten we found." - Ace was already out of the door – "When I get back I want to cuddle too"

"She is not a kitten. She's a mental foreigner"- Julius couldn't help but noticed that the deranged sycko knave looked genuinely happy.

"Either way, we found her. So it's still finders' keepers… Or would you prefer to say that she is the one who found us?- Without caring for hearing if Julius would answer or not, Ace went out the door with a hand wave and a carefree grin, and headed out from the tower and towards the direction he thought the castle was.

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Awwww… Wasn't Ace cute if you take out that he molested her first thing upon waking up?

I wonder what kind of plan he has. Especially now that the rumors are going around. Even the faceless know now. In any case, Julius is probably going to get gray hairs sooner XD

And Julius was right to get scared at the A&A team waking up abruptly (for those who read the original story, you know that she gets 'violent' when waking up abruptly and Ace responds in auto-zombie mode), good thing she was KO'ed and not just sleeping. What do you think will happen when she wakes up again or what will Julius do to keep her there?

You know, at least 5 reviews for the next chapter.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!