"Rikki!" Zane dashed through the front door, looking left and right for the familiar blonde head. He couldn't see her anywhere. "Rikki!" Zane shouted as he ran down the street, unsure where to go next. He ran his hands frantically though his hair as he looked around wildly, not seeing a trace of Rikki. With shaking hands Zane pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed.

"Lewis!" He shouted. "Keep an eye on Cleo and Bella. Something's wrong with Rikki. Call me immediately if you hear from her."

Zane ran off into the night, calling out for Rikki but not getting an answer in return.

Lewis set the phone carefully on the counter before turning to look at Cleo, who watched him with curious eyes.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Ah, Cleo..." Lewis examined her carefully, but she looked normal. For now, anyway. "It seems Rikki's run off."

"Run off?" Cleo's brow furrowed. "To where?"

"Well, we aren't exactly sure." Lewis continued uneasily. "But it seems Zane may have accidentally told her to do something and..."

"Oh no..." Realization hit Cleo like a ton of bricks. She looked around nervously. "Am I still normal?"

"You seem to be." Lewis was still watching her. "But I really don't know how this all works, Cleo, we need to be really careful."

"We need to call Bella and warn her and Will." Cleo dialed quickly. A few seconds later after a brief conversation she set the phone back down on the counter. "They're going to stay locked up in the boatshed tonight." She reported.

"Good, that's the best place for them to be." Lewis agreed. He kept a wary eye on Cleo, but she seemed to still be herself.

"What is Zane doing now?" Cleo wrung her fingers as she paced back and forth.

"Looking for Rikki" was all Lewis could answer. He didn't know exactly what Zane had told Rikki to do, he just knew that Rikki was gone, on Zane's orders. Lewis took Cleo's hands in his reassuringly. "Don't worry." He spoke calmly, even if it was a fake calm.

"Rikki!" Zane's throat was raw from shouting. He had no earthly idea where she had gone. He kicked himself hard for what had to be the tenth time. "I want you to HAVE/GET whatever you want." He muttered. "Zane you idiot." He knew that had to have been what Rikki obeyed. He had been so careful all day, only letting his guard down at the end of the night of work.

Zane shoved his hands in his pockets, lost as to where to look next. Then he had an idea. He looked around at all of the people milling around. This was going to draw a lot of attention to himself, but it was worth trying.

"Rikki Chadwick I order you to come here!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Several curious sets of eyes turned to look at him but he paid them no attention. "Rikki! Come to me now!"

Zane looked around wildly but didn't see a blonde head hurrying towards him. If Rikki were really under his control once again she would come running, wouldn't she? That is, if she could hear him. But Bella had obeyed him last night, even though she couldn't hear him, right? Zane didn't care, he just wanted Rikki to be safe and sound. With him, preferably.

Zane called out to her again, ignoring the curious looks he attracted. He walked through the streets quickly, calling out as far as he could. He walked far, until he reached streets he was unfamiliar with. He stood still for just a second, looking around him.

An idea struck him suddenly. Eyes lighting up, Zane spun on his heel and took off for the pier. He jumped into his boat. His hands shook so badly it took three tries to get it started, but eventually it roared to life. Zane powered it out into the open seas, headed in the direction of Mako. Once he got out about half way he cut off the engine and looked around him, not that he could see anything in the pitch black water.

"R-" Zane started to shout, then rethought it. What if someone heard him calling for her? Zane lowered his voice. "Rikki?" He called out lightly. "I want you to come here now." Zane waited a few seconds, but all he heard was the lapping of the waves against the side of his boat. He pulled out a paddle and began rowing the tiny boat through the waves, calling for Rikki every few seconds. Luckily this was a calm night. Ordinarily it would have made Zane nervous to be this far out in the ocean in his tiny boat at night.

"Any word?" Bella spoke into her phone nervously.

"Not yet." Cleo answered. "But I'll let you know if we hear from her."

"Ok." Bella bit her bottom lip. Will squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Be careful."

"Same to you." Cleo answered.

The line went dead in Bella's hand. She snapped it shut and set it on the arm of the couch with a sigh. "Nothing."

"I didn't figure." Will was worried for Rikki. As much as he felt he was over her he still had feeling for her that he hadn't been able to stomp he truly believed his heart now belonged to Bella, there was a part of him that would love to run outside and join in the search for Rikki.

Bella noted the sullenness in Will's tone. She, too, had yet to completely get over Will's feelings for Rikki. No matter how many times she told herself that he was over her she knew it wasn't quite all the way true. Bella tightened her fingers around Will's. She could tell he was worried about Rikki, but she appreciated the fact that he was there with her that night.

"Rikki!" Zane shouted, not caring who heard him anymore. "If you can hear me I demand you come here right now!" Exhausted, Zane sank down into his boat, crossing his arms around himself tightly. He was exhausted, his throat was on fire, and he was cold. Beyond all of that, he was worried about where Rikki had ended up. He was just getting ready to give up and set the engine back toward the shore when he heard the unmistakeable sounds of a swimmer all the way out there in the ocean. Zane's eyes flew open. He immediately scanned the water, looking for that familiar blonde head of hair. "Rikki?" He said hopefully.

"I'm right here." Rikki's head popped out of the water. She had a huge grin on her face and an enormous crab clutched tightly to her chest. "I came as soon as I heard you calling."

Relief flowed through Zane as he looked into her adoring eyes. "Oh... my god." He panted. "You have no idea how worried I've been about you."

"Worried about me?" Rikki looked genuinely flummoxed. "Why in the world would you be worried about me?"

"You ran off!" Zane's voice was slightly higher pitched than usual. "I had no idea where you'd gone."

"I went right where you told me to go." Rikki held the crab up slightly. "You told me to have whatever I wanted." She blinked a few times. "I wanted some fresh crab meat." Rikki's tone was matter of fact. Her face fell slightly. "Did I do something wrong?"

Zane reached one hand down and cupped Rikki's chin. A million different thoughts were racing through his head, namely how lucky he'd gotten. What if Rikki had craved dolphin and jumped straight in the tank at the water park? What if she'd followed what she'd wanted through a sprinkler out in public? Zane shuddered slightly, thinking about all of the possibilities. He smiled down at Rikki, who still had a dopey look on her face.

"Of course you didn't." Zane said gently. "Now I want you to go straight to Lewis's house and wait for me to get there. Rikki," Zane looked her dead in the eyes. "Don't go anywhere else. Oh, and be sure not to be seen." He added for good measure.

"Whatever you say." Rikki murmured. She immediately flipped her tail and took off for the shore. Zane exhaled the longest sigh of relief he'd ever taken. That was way too close.

The next morning came too slowly, but it came eventually. Rikki had done exactly as Zane had said, though Zane was quickly learning how specific his orders needed to be. When Zane ran up the front steps to Lewis's front porch he found Rikki sitting calmly on the front mat.

"Why didn't you go inside?" He had asked her.

"You told me to go to Lewis's house." Rikki had answered blankly.

Once inside, Zane had told Rikki to go to sleep in Lewis's guest room and stay there, and that is exactly what she'd done. Zane had wanted to join her, but he was too worried that he might say something that could be interpreted as a command, so he had slept downstairs on the couch.

Cleo woke up the next morning and stretched one arm up over her head. Lewis lay beside her, flat on his back, his arms flung over his head. His snoring had woken her up, she realized. Once she had listened for a moment she didn't know how she'd gotten any sleep at all next to the noise.

"Lewis.." Cleo cooed gently in his ear. He snorted a bit, but didn't wake.

Cleo tried again. "Lewis..." She said a little bit louder. He didn't move a muscle.

Cleo cleared her throat. "Lewis!" She practically shouted.

Lewis jerked awake with a start. He sat up immediately, looking around, confused. "Wha-" He said sleepily.

"Wake up, sleepy." Cleo said impatiently. "We made it through the night. I need you to untie me."

Lewis blinked, confused by the request. Then the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. Lewis had been nervous with Zane staying in the house. He was afraid that Zane would say something else and Cleo would turn into an obedient robot once again. Lewis's solution was to tie Cleo's wrist to the bed frame before the two of them had fallen asleep. That way she couldn't go anywhere, even if Zane commanded it. The plan had worked, though it looked like it had been unnecessary.

The pair walked down the steps together. Zane was already awake, sitting anxiously on the couch. He stood quickly when he saw Cleo and Lewis.

"She-" Zane started to speak but Lewis quickly motioned for him to stop.

"No offense, but don't say anything, k?" Lewis pleaded.

Zane shut his mouth.