Brium sat for a while at the library, reading his books and listening to the radio on his new CD player. Besides the CD he had just ordered, the radio was all he really listened to, so he had made sure that the player had one built in. It cost extra of course, but there's always price for everything.

And Brium paid that one most happily.

Speaking of paying, Brium thought to himself as he got up to leave the library, he was running out of money.

He had about fifteen hundred dollars left on him, and he wondered how long it was going to hold out. He wasn't normally the kind of person to care about such trivial things as money (and even now, he didn't really) but even he needed to be able to pay for things.

Brium would have to make a withdrawal from the bank at some point soon.

And no, Brium smiled at the thought, that didn't mean stealing, (though he knew himself perfectly capable of knocking over a bank) it meant actually walking into a bank and making a withdrawal from an actual bank account.

He had all the money he believed he would ever need in his lifetime already; all neatly stored away in a bank account.

How he had aquired it was an interesting chain of events indeed.

Brium smiled wider as he approached the Motel 6 where he made his temporary residence. He was feeling good today. It had been an Interesting (somewhat depressing (but also enlightening)) night, yes. But still, Brium felt good to be alive. He felt good to be walking amongst the people living in a city; he felt good to be buying cloths, and ordering CDs, and sitting in a library reading. It felt good to just be breathing. Brium noted that he would have to fly again soon to capitalize on his wonderful mood. If he felt like a million dollars just breathing, it must have to be a billion flying.

And when he rounded the corner, and the Motel 6 came into sight, all of that evaporated.

But he never once stopped moving; he never once stopped smiling.

And instantly, a plan was formed.

There was single white van parked in the Motel 6 parking lot.

Brium noticed it, and in less then a second had looked for more. With a quick glance around, he counted four vans in various places in the surrounding area. Most people wouldn't notice such things, even if they were looking, but Brium was something far different from the norm. Brium knew in about three seconds exactly the predicament he was in and exactly what he was going to do about it.

They had found him once again.

How the hell had they accomplished that?

Brium smiled, projecting his happiness with the world for all the see. He was already on the alert, ready for a fight. But he doubted very much that any Erasers would attack him in broad daylight in the middle of Denver.

Four vans, max of twenty-five to thirty-five Erasers, Brium estimated quickly.

They weren't playing around anymore.

And now neither was he.

Brium made his way, with the same pace as before, to room 47. They knew they had spotted him. Brium knew that they knew they had spotted him. But they had no idea at all that Brium knew they had spotted him.

He just continued pretending all was well, as he unlocked his room and went inside, flipping the lights on.

The blinds were already drawn, so that was good. That gave him the cover he needed. Then again, he had drawn them for that very reason. Always paranoid, but it always paid off.

Brium quickly and precisely put all of his belongings into his backpack; he was checking out. He went to the room's small refrigerator and extracted the water bottle he had opened but not finished earlier. He popped the cap off and took a sip, before screwing the cap back on.

He took one last look around the room to see if he had forgotten anything, though he already knew he hadn't, before turning off the lights, taking a breath to ready himself before he opened the door.

He already knew nothing was waiting to grab him; he would have heard anything approach. He supposed for a moment that some sniper could pick him off right there; bang. And it would all be over. But something told him that this was just another attempt to bring him back to the school.

They wanted him back.

Badly.

Alive.

And he knew that.

Jeb had told him once that he was one of the School's crowning achievements.

They wouldn't just kill him, would they?

Well, either way, he was about to find out; a few scenarios came to him as he rested his hand on the doorknob.

One, there was a sniper. He opens the door, a bullet hits him, game over. But they would have done that to begin with probably.

Two, there's a sniper again, but this time a tranquilizer gun. Brium knew that he may just be skilled enough to dodge a dart or maybe even catch it. Again, they would've probably done that before Brium had got to his room.

He made himself ready for that situation anyway.

Or three… And then Brium smiled. He smiled very widely.

Such a large number of Erasers maybe wasn't a capture force at all.

Maybe it was an escort.

He lowered his hand, and simply waited.

And Brium never stopped smiling; he knew exactly what was going on. And he only had to wait a few moments, he imagined, before it arrived.

He waited only eighty-seven seconds (he counted) before he heard footsteps. He had heard those footsteps before, and it confirmed his guess had been correct.

The footsteps stopped in front of his door, and Brium timed the amount of time it would take to raise an arm and knock.

And he opened the door before that chance was allowed.

Brium smiled; it was sincere. "Hello Jeb," he said.

And Jeb smiled back. "Hello, Equilibrium. It's good to see you again."

Brium politely moved aside, and waved his arm to beckon Jeb forward. "Do come in," he said.

"Thank you," Jeb replied, stepping into the motel room.

Brium closed the door and moved to the room's sole chair.

He sat, not taking his backpack off and he gestured to the bed, where Jeb obediently moved to sat as well.

"So what brings you here," Brium already knew was going to verbally destroy Jeb. He had been dancing verbal circles around the man for years. Granted it wasn't as easy dancing rings around Ari , but it was much more satisfying.

Brium thought for a moment that it was a bit odd he wasn't at all surprised to see the man that had been perhaps pivotal in his creation. He wondered why that was.

Maybe since he had been told that Jeb had wanted to see him, that the man was going to find a way to seek him out. And now here Jeb sat.

And Brium was going to find out why.

After a few minutes of pleasantries, that was.

Jeb smiled wider, "I wanted to talk to you."

"Then by all means please do," Brium replied coolly, unscrewing the cap on his water and taking another gulp.

Jeb sighed, "I want you to come back with me."

Right to the point.

Brium raised an eyebrow. "Back to the School?" he asked.

"Yes, back to the School," Jeb confirmed.

"And why on Earth would I do that?" he took another gulp of water.

"Because I want you to come back. You're more important to us then you realize. Then even we realized. You're more important to the world than you know."

"What a very convincing, inspiring reason."

"I'm serious."

"Of course you are."

Brium sighed, a new plan already formed.

"You didn't even say 'please'…" He sighed again, "How did you find me?"

Jeb smiled, "Well, it wasn't easy. Especially since you removed your chip and all."

Brium smiled again and took another sip of water. During his time in the School, he had always figured they had planted a tracking chip in him somewhere. Just in case. When he escaped it wasn't long before he had purposefully broke his right arm, went to a Doctor, got it X-Rayed, and set in a cast.

The X-Ray revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

Once that had healed, he broke his left arm, followed the same process, and bam. There it was. Something that didn't belong.

The tracking chip.

He had had to work very hard to convince the Doctor it was something other than what it was. It was a hell of a story, one to be repeated another time.

Brium had been immensely happy that he hadn't had to break either leg to X-Ray and try to find the tracking chip. In fact, he had been worried that if it wasn't in any of his limbs, he would have to get the rest of his body X-Rayed and that would take some explaining to a medical professional about just why he had wings.

And Brium hadn't wanted to kill anyone because they had discovered what he was, so that option had been saved for last, and thankfully never used at all.

Brium had had his fake ID all formulated by then, and he pulled off eighteen years of age just fine. He paid for it all the medical aid up front, and neither Doctor had suspected anything. He had then gone to a hotel, removed the tracking chip with a knife, and had moved on with his life. He still had the scar on his left arm as proof of this insane event.

Brium could then settle down somewhere for a while, which he did in California. He hadn't allowed himself to get comfortable anywhere until that chip was removed.

"How did you do that, exactly?" Jeb continued. "How did you know it was there at all?"

Brium ignored the question. "I don't believe you answered my question," was his response.

"All in good time, Equilibrium."

"Brium, please. Two syllables are far easier than five," Brium said, a little irritated. Jeb wasn't going to say anything without assistance. It was going to take some coercion. But Brium had predicted that, and it was just fine by him.

"Tell you what," Brium started his plan. "I don't want to talk here. I'm going to go for a walk, I think. I'll tell you where I'm going, and we'll talk there. Alright?"

"You expect me to believe that?" Jeb asked, giving a laugh of disbelief.

"Yes. I have never, ever not done something that I said I would do. And you know that." Brium finished his water, screwed the cap on and casually tossed the bottle across the room. It landed right in the small wastbasket with a 'thump'.

Jeb sighed, and Brium added, "Not to mention you have over two dozen friends just in case I try something. And you found me already. I'm sure you could do it again."

Jeb gave a laugh, honestly surprised that Brium knew around how many Erasers there were. "I forgot how incredible you were, Brium."

"No. You just overlooked once again how stupid you are," Brium smiled sweetly, standing up.

"I can't let you leave," Jeb said, also standing.

"Let me leave?" Brium almost laughed. "Let... me... leave? That option's not yours to dictate. You're welcome to try, but I wouldn't. Especially if you want to live, and not cause a firefight in Denver that would inevitably result in quite a few Eraser deaths. That won't be very good for your group's secrecy or your life in general, now would it?"

Jeb opened his mouth to argue, but he found no words to use. He knew what Brium was capable of.

"So, option one. I go for my walk. You live, your Erasers live, and your group stays in the shadows. Or two, you die right here, and your worries end. And I go for my walk anyway."

Jeb looked truly stunned; his eyes were wide, and his mouth was hung slightly open.

Brium smiled wider, "Your move."

"Fine. But you'd better keep your word or-"

"Or what?" Brium cut him off raising an eyebrow. "Or what, Jeb?"

Jeb was silent again.

"Don't worry. I'll be there. Oh, and 'there' would be Red Feather Lakes. Three hours from now," Brium said.

Brium raised his voice, "And for you Erasers listening in, I humbly suggest you play along."

He smiled, seeing a new wave of surprise emanated from Jeb. And knew then what he had figured in the first place: Jeb was more than likely bugged, and the Erasers outside were probably listening in. And Jeb's poorly hidden surprise at that comment had proved it.

"How will we find you there?" Jeb asked weakly. Both he and Brium knew who had command of the situation.

"Don't fret, Jeb. I'll find you just fine. See you soon," Brium said, opening the door and stepping out. "And tell Ari I say 'hi'. That is, if he didn't hear me already."

The last thing he saw of Jeb before closing the motel door was that same look of incredible surprise, and Brium then knew that he had once again verbally torn Jeb apart. It had been a long time since he had done that.

It felt wonderful.

Brium made his way unobstructed to the office, all of his belongings on his back. He checked out of the Motel 6 and asked where the nearest bus stop was.

All he had to do was get far enough away from the city to take off without being seen. Then it was a short flight to Red Feather Lakes, a place Brium had wanted to go and now had an excuse to do so.

He never stopped smiling as he walked to the bus stop.

Questions were going to be answered on this day.

Author's Note:

I'm really thinking of changing the title of this story.

Should I?

Any advice?