Monkey stood at the base of Kunlun Mountain. It had been a long time since he had returned to this place. He could see, in the distance, the place where he had first been taught by the Patriarch Subodhi. Part of him wanted to see his Sifu. He missed him as much as he missed Tripitaka. Part of him resented Subodhi for casting him out of the school with a death threat if he ever revealed who had trained him.

He shook off the memories. He wasn't here to remember. He was here for the Holy Priest. He removed several hairs from his fur and cast them in the air. When they touched the ground a new version of himself appeared. Seven sentient monkeys stood before him.

"You know what to do. We don't leave until one of us has the means of saving the Holy Priest." The others nodded to him and took flight scattering to the four winds of Kunlun Shan.

Sun Wukong rose slowly, being careful not to be seen as he was not always welcome among the celestial court and he did not think they would willingly give up one of their peaches. He was determined that the Holy Priest would have his immortality returned.

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Peter looked out the window at the darkening sky. The last time he'd seen a morning sky that dark, they'd been in Florida trying to keep Kermit from making a mistake he'd regret for the rest of his life. "I hate to say it but I think the weatherman was right for a change. This is not going to be a mild storm."

"I'm going to be spending the day with Lo Si, doing what I can to keep his qi strong. So I will be in one place and indoors."

"I have a few people I need to check in on, make sure they have supplies to get through the storm, that sort of thing, then I plan to be at the Kwoon waiting for the inspector. Hopefully, he will be able to keep his appointment. The plumber is coming at noon as well to run the pipes."

"Then we wait for another inspector." She said laughing a little as she handed him a cup of coffee.

"But when that's done we can put in the sheet rock and flooring and move in," Peter said.

"And then the wedding…" If all the inspections went well, they would be done with the work just about the same time they had planned the wedding. "Which reminds me once this storm is over we need to start looking for caterers or a restaurant where we can hold the reception." She laughed at the deer in the headlights expression on his face "And no you don't get to bow out of helping me decide."

"Leanne-"

"Peter, before I met you, my only friend was Lo Si." She said. "It's hard to keep secrets from people you care about. It eats you alive after a while. So I just didn't make friends. The people coming to our wedding are your friends and your family. You know what they like and what they are allergic to and everything else that we would need to know."

He smiled a little and caressed her hair gently. "It doesn't have to be complicated. I promise you, people will be fine with whatever you like. It's your day, not theirs."

"It's our day." She said.

"When the storm is over we can go over to the Jade Phoenix and see what we can do over there," Peter suggested.

She nodded "Alright. It's a plan."

There was a flash of lightning. Fifteen seconds later came the rumble of thunder.

"It's closing in. Three miles out. We should get going." Peter said.

She nodded. "Yes, we should." She grabbed her coat and purse. "Be careful out there while checking on your charges. Three miles is nothing if the wind is right."

"I will. I will meet you at Lo Si's after the inspector is done."

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Karen Simms sighed in frustration. The knock on her door was the third in the past twenty minutes and it was keeping her from doing the paperwork that the previous day's interruptions had kept her from completing.

"Come in." She said, not looking up from the file in front of her.

Marcel DuPont and his partner entered. "Captain Simms." He said. "We have received the warrant to detain Javier Navarro."

She looked up and smiled. This was an interruption that she was happy to see. "I'll get a pair of my detectives to bring him in. You're welcome to use one of my interrogation rooms if you like." She got up from her desk and opened her office door. "Powell." She said and motioned her over.

Jody ended her conversation with Skalany and walked over to the Captain.

Karen took the warrant from Lt. DuPont and handed it over to Jody. "I thought you and Kermit might like to handle this."

"To quote Kermit, 'Oh yeah'," Powell said and turned to stride across the precinct to Kermit's office. She rapped twice and opened the door. "Hey, want to come with me to arrest Navarro again?" She asked holding up the warrant. "It seems he's wanted back in France and we get to house him until all that pesky extradition paperwork is dealt with."

Kermit grinned and got to his feet. He holstered his cannon. "Lead on."

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Leanne entered Lo Si's quietly, not wanting to wake him if he was able to sleep. She smiled at Sparrow who sat on the sofa, softly strumming her lute. "That is lovely." She said.

"Thank you. It is soothing to the old one's spirit. He likes it when I play."

"I can see why. How is he this morning?"

"He sleeps still. The other Holy Priest has been with him all night."

" He did much the same with his father at the end. I should relieve him so he can get home before the storm gets bad." Leanne said.

"Will his son return?"

Leanne nodded. "He has people to check on this morning. He wants to make sure they have what they need to get through the typhoon."

Sparrow smiled. "He is a good priest then."

"I think so, yes," Leanne said. "I think he uses his father as a benchmark for the priestly ideal. Those are big shoes to fill." She made her way to the single bedroom and quietly entered. "How is he?"

Caine's eyes answered that question. "I think his time is near."

"I'm not ready to accept that," Leanne said. "We should get him to the hospital."

"He would not wish that." His voice choked. He didn't think he could bear to lose his old friend so soon after losing his father.

"You need time to work with the flowers, to find out why they're affecting his immortality. Let me call an ambulance. I'll stay with him, I promise."

Caine eventually nodded. Perhaps she was right.

Leanne took out her cell phone and called 911, and then she called Peter.

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Laura refilled Javier's coffee cup and sat down for her coffee and danish. "Will you two stop bickering." She said to her children. "It's too early in the morning for that."

"It's almost ten, Mother." Amelie said, "It's not early by anyone's standards." She was still angry with her mother. She knew it wasn't as though she had cheated on her father but it was still a betrayal in her mind. Obviously, her new elder brother shared her resentment of the situation, even though he hadn't said as much when she had met him. She didn't blame him. That didn't mean she forgave him for her father being arrested and no amount of Julian's logic could convince her that it was her father's fault, not Peter's.

"That doesn't mean anyone wants to hear you two bickering like children." She said.

"I'm not a child." Amelie countered.

"You're certainly not an adult."

Javier sighed melodramatically. "And now you are stooping to their level, Laura. This place does not bring out the best in you."

"Too many memories, Mother?" Amelie asked.

"Enough," Javier said sharply. "I think the morning would be made more pleasant by blessed silence." He was able to enjoy about two minutes of said silence before there was a knock at the door. "Of course." He grumbled.

"I'll get it," Laura said. She walked to the suite door and opened it. "Detectives." She sighed. "What do you want this time?"

"We have a warrant for your husband's arrest," Jody said pushing her way inside.

"What for this time?" She asked. "He hasn't left this hotel room since being released on bail. Hotel security can verify that."

"No need," Kermit said. He walked over to the table. "Javier Navarro, I'm here to arrest you."

"For what crime?" Javier demanded not bothering to get up from his chair.

"You'll have to take that up with the DST. You're to be held until such a time as extradition is finalized." Kermit said. "It's bad enough they have to see you being arrested, don't make it worse by resisting."

"You can't be serious!" Amelie shook her head and looked between her mother and brother. "Will one of you do something!"

Julian looked to his feet but said nothing.

Laura simply stood at the door watching.

Javier got to his feet. "Do not worry. The worst that happens is we return to Paris." He was relieved that Kermit cuffed his hands in front of him so that the cuffs could be hidden by one of his jackets. It wouldn't really keep people from knowing what was going on but it was at least the illusion of protecting his dignity.

"Daddy!"

"It will be alright, Amelie," Laura said.

Amelie grabbed her jacket and purse and then headed toward the door. "You can go to hell." She told her mother as she hurried past.

"Amie," Julian called out.

"Find your sister, and make sure she's alright," Javier said as he was led from the hotel suite.

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Peter climbed the stairs to the brownstone apartment. "Pop." He called out as he entered.

"Do not come closer," Caine said. "I do not know if the flower's effects would attach themselves to you and reach Leanne."

"If that was the case she would have contracted it from Lo Si… if that's even the right word," Peter said, but he didn't move from the doorway. This wasn't the time to argue with his father. "I just came to make sure you were alright."

"No, but that does not matter," Caine said, as he carefully sliced open another of the flowers, removing the milky substance from what would eventually have become the seed pod.

"Don't confuse doesn't matter with doesn't change anything," Peter said. "What can I do to help?"

Caine gave it thought. "I need supplies if the apothecary is still open." He stopped what he was doing and wrote a list for Peter.

Peter nodded "I'm on it." He said taking the list. "He's gonna be okay, Pop. You'll figure it out. They'll keep him with us until you do."

"I hope you are correct," Caine said then resumed his work. He wasn't certain what Lo Si wanted him to do to continue his work. Caine was more interested in reversing the effects of what Lo Si had done to himself. He didn't know how to do that without the plants from Kunlun Shan that he'd been working with. All he had before him were the flowers and Lo Si's notes. There had to be more. What was he missing?

He scowled out the window as lightning flashed. One-one thousand, two- one thousand, three- one thousand, four- one thousand, Five- one… thunder rumbled. Roughly a mile away. There had been rain and thunder off and on through the night. He hoped Peter hurried so that he could get inside before the storm fully arrived.

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Hu Li followed Peter. Yeoh might think that Li Na was the key to finding that book but she had the feeling it was Caine the younger. Li Na might pretend to be a modern woman but knowing Yeoh as she did, she doubted that the girl was anything but old-fashioned and traditional when there was a man involved, and whatever else Peter Caine might be, he was all man.

She followed him from the brownstone to the herb shop several blocks away. She slipped inside when he went in and watched as he started gathering supplies. "So, what kind of cake are you baking?" She asked.

"Oh, Hey, Hu Li." He said, casually. "Trust me, no one wants me to bake a cake. Pretty sure I shouldn't even be trusted to buy cake." He looked at her for a moment. "So did you finally decide to let me help you?"

"Why are you so convinced I need your help?"

"I don't know… the look in your eyes. Maybe the company you keep." He suggested, as he labeled a bag and put the contents of one of the apothecary jars into it.

"You know, you're marrying into the company I keep."

"Nah, she's marrying into mine," Peter said, as thunder rumbled overhead. "Do you have a place to stay out of the storm? It's supposed to get bad."

She tilted her head and studied him. "Are you for real? Seriously? You know who I work for and you're offering to put me up?"

"Not every human is like him." He said quietly. "I promise."

"See that's where you're making your mistake. That man hasn't been human in centuries." Hu Li said.

"And that is why you need my help." He moved on to get the next item on his father's list.

"You're crazy, you know that, right?"

"Why do women keep telling me that?" He said, then made a face at the smell of the powder he was putting into the bag. "Wow, that's vile." He said and coughed a little.

"You should try it with my nose." She said.

"I think I'll pass." He said. "So what do you know about the red flowers that come from your homeland?"

"Well that depends, genius, there's more than one red flower back there." She said sarcastically.

"You know which ones I'm talking about," Peter said as he closed the bag, thought about it a moment then folded it over again before putting a clip on it. He was sure he was going to be tasting it for the rest of the day. He looked at the list his father had given him and then began to search through the jars for the next thing on the list.

"They're… not right." She said. "Especially not in the hands of Yulong Yeoh."

"Why?" He asked, thankful that the next ingredient was a dried flower with virtually no smell.

"You don't have anything like them here. You have carnivorous plants here, but they don't feed on meat, they feed on qi and some say they feed on souls. It's why he cultivates them."

Peter shivered. He filled the last bag and walked quickly toward the counter. "I'd like you to come with me when I leave here."

"Why?"

"I'm taking these back to my father. He's working with the flowers to find out why they affected a friend of ours. An immortal." He said the last quietly. "I'd like you to tell my father what you told me. Please. I think maybe you can help."

She shrugged. "Might as well." She said, although her tone was more uncertain than she realized. "He's the guy that came in with you the other day. And for the record, I wasn't trying to kill your girlfriend."

Peter laughed as he set his purchases on the counter. "I wouldn't try telling Leanne that. I don't think she'd believe you."

Hu Li's features lost all of her pretense leaving her looking quite vulnerable in Peter's eyes. "Do you?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I do."

Lightning flashed so brightly that it illuminated the shop, making the fluorescent lighting seem pale and weak. It had barely subsided when the thunder crashed directly overhead.

He turned his attention to the shopkeeper. He paid for it and took the bag. "We'd better hurry. It doesn't pay to be out in this."

He opened the door and had to hold tight to keep it from being forced from his hands by the wind. Hail the size of marbles began to hit the ground.

"Stay under the awnings until it stops." He said loudly to be heard over the sound of balls of ice hitting the ground, the cars on the street, the roofs of buildings.

Hu Li nodded and stayed as close to the building as she could get without merging with the bricks.

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Amelie had done everything possible to evade her brother. She was tired of her parents sending Julian out after her every time she left the house. It was ridiculous. She was fifteen years old. She had lived in Paris and Madrid. How complicated could a city like this be? Not that she'd chosen a destination, or for that matter a direction. Okay she was lost, but she'd be damned if she was going to call one of her parents to find her. She had the money for a taxi in her… Purse. She realized that she no longer had her purse.

The lightning made her scream and it was close enough that the thunder that followed drowned out the sound. The hail stung her skin and she was sure that some of the hail stones were leaving bruises. She ducked into the nearest door she could find, and stood staring out the shop window as the hail turned to rain, the drops falling hard enough to bounce as the hail had before.

Now would be a good time to call her brother. If she had her phone. It was in her purse, on a bus somewhere out in the city