THEN

On a day that was particularly gloomy, and not just from rain, Anna Jane wandered up and down the aisles of the hardware store. Sylas had eagerly tugged her into it promising to only be a minute…twenty or so ago. He was now chatting with a contractor by the miter saws. The man seemed to make friends wherever they went. Which she often heard about herself, Anna thought with a small smile.

The two of them had made the escape to Seattle impulsively, wanting to seize the most of their week together. When they'd traveled home for the holidays the group had not planned to come back for spring break. With it being only a week, that made the expense feel unnecessary. Before Sylas that was.

Throughout the winter break Anna tried whenever possible to avoid the subject of going back to the city and how she'd manage her first long distance relationship. Sylas had insisted they could do it. So many couples their age were now long distance after all, this would be no different. They just had to fit in amongst his training with the Emissary, training to move from town repairman to general contractor, her schooling, her own work, and whatever the Preservers decided to toss at them. Easy.

Yet that's exactly how it felt it could be. Even when they left, Sylas's confidence in them racked through Anna, and she knew they'd take whatever came next.

And still, they hadn't been back in New York long before Anna was debating asking John if she could cop some of his frequent flyer miles. They all agreed none of them should really be traveling alone with things as they stood. When Cole got an offer to take the photos for the Sound of Music at The Grand, the rest fell into place. Ethan and Caroline couldn't get the time off and insisted they liked the idea of having the apartment to themselves for a week anyhow. So off Cole and Anna went that third week in March. And when Sylas met them at the airport and Anna felt that leap from seeing him, she knew it had been the right choice.

Now walking amongst the paint samples and brushes, Anna worried her lip, wondering if she had another choice to make. Realistically how long could she and Sylas maintain a new relationship from different sides of the country? Sure many their age were doing it, but most had dated through high school before going to separate colleges. As much as Sylas and Anna felt they knew each other, a couple weeks together during the holidays wasn't much by way of a foundation.

Anna kicked at bottle of spray paint that had fallen over. What did it matter that they hadn't been together long? Didn't that make it a little crazy to be considering transferring to a school near Forks or asking Sylas if he was willing to move closer to the city? Hadn't she waited so long to start her own path? All the back in forth in her head made her feel her actual age for the first time in years.

She bent over to pick up the can she kicked, shaking her head at herself. As Anna rose, her shoulders tensed before she even sensed someone move into the aisle behind her. She took slow steps forward, replacing the can in its slot and letting only her eyes move as she looked for one of the stores dome mirrors. In it she saw a short not particularly intimidating man paces behind her, but a gun rode on his side.

Human she thought, though it couldn't make a difference if he was with them. Before she could decide what to toss his way, another sense came over and with it she grasped the side of the metal shelving as she fell to the ground and spun to the next aisle over just as Sylas turned from it. The same moment, the man behind her had reached into his jacket, lurching forward only to be met with a pump of air as Sylas had thrown his hand out towards him. The shelving he hit, began to fall, causing the clerks at the front of the store to shout.

Anna got up from the ground and was already moving towards the stores rear exit. She glanced up at the security camera, and with a jerk of her head it started sparking.

Sylas took the keys Anna tossed him without question, grateful that they'd taken Ethan's car instead of his older truck. He heard shouts coming from he store but didn't see anyone following them. A black Porsches lights turned on the second they got in the car.

"Where am I going?"

"The highway. Head towards Edmonds. We need to be as open as possible." Anna told him, quickly taking out her phone to text Cole and then Jeff. "We have to lose them before the ferry, we'll be sitting ducks there. Jeff can send more from the Emissary if anyone is in the area."

"We don't need them, you're right here. Anj." Sylas stole a glance, waiting for her to meet it. "We got this."

She managed a smile and kept her eyes on the side and rear view mirrors. The black Porsche made the turn onto the highway not far behind them. Anna turned back and cursed. Any other trip to Seattle would have been traffic filled, but it was an off time of day to be leaving or arriving, so the lanes were mostly deserted. It made the Porsche easy to keep in eyesight, but them as well.

"I don't think they're going to give much passing thought to witnesses so I suppose we shouldn't either." She settled back and coming up with a plan, started taking deep breaths.

"Ok. Get in the right lane. I need you to stay in this lane, even if they get closer, don't speed up apart from making sure they don't hit us, and don't merge. The next exit is seven miles off. You're going to take that exit, but at the very last minute you can without us crashing into anything. Don't turn until you're at the guardrail. Can you do that?"

Sylas reached over and tightened Anna's seat belt.

Looking in the side mirror not at the Porsche right on their tail, but at the tiny sliver of road, Anna banked down on the fear and doubt. Her eyes were trained on the blacktop, her focus on her breathing and imagining.

The Porsche was now so close that Sylas could see there was two of them in the car as well. The driver kept up with his pace, easily narrowing the distance, while the passenger seemed to be looking down at something.

"Anna keep your head down." He risked another glance in the rearview, but couldn't tell if it was the gun. He gripped the wheel as the sign for the exit approached.

Anna hit the button for the passenger window, eyes still on the side mirror and ground below. She raised her right hand, palm up, and curling her ring and pinky finger in slightly. She held it there right outside the windows edge and held her breath.

Within yards of the ending of the exit lane Sylas whipped the car towards it, at the same time Anna turned and threw her hand out the window and towards the road, the force creating a large pothole that spread across the two lanes behind them. Sylas fought to keep control of the car and right them while Anna couldn't seem to look away from the Porsche hitting the fissure in the road and flipping. She slipped her hand back into the car, her knuckles pressing to her mouth.

Sylas let out a whistling breath once the car was straightened and continued off the exit ramp. He looked to Anna, who was still looking out the window, her breath shaky behind her fist.

"Anj."

As she shook her head in response Sylas nodded, reaching over to hold her leg as he drove on. They could have sent more but he couldn't see them trying for more in the open with what Anna had just pulled off, so he made the choice to head towards the ferry, taking back roads as long as he could.

A half hour later when they pulled onto the ferry, Sylas said he'd check it out and handle the details while Anna stayed. Nothing off caught his attention or set him on edge like it had in the hardware store. He couldn't explain how he had felt not only which aisle Anna had been in, but that something was wrong. And how neither of them hesitated from there.

Once they were settled and the ferry was off, he got back in the car and turned to Anna, who finally looked back at him.

"I could have gotten you killed." She whispered.

Sylas immediately pulled her over the seat to him, banding his arms around her as she shook.

"No. They were going to, or worse. You're what saved us." He leaned back to look at her, pushing her hair from her face and smiling. "Seems you're always what saves me."

Anna put her hands over Sylas's and sighed. "I'd like to say you can count on that, but I'd also like that never to happen again."

"I think we can bet the only thing that isn't going to happen again is them sending only two." Sylas slid his hands down Anna's arms. "You should call the others before they send in the cavalry."

"You're not wrong. Cole's probably three quarters through stealing a plane." Anna scooted back into her seat and reached for the phone.

During the ride they called Cole first and made sure he wasn't alone. They then called Ethan and Caroline, who promised to be vigilant on their end. Jeff at the Emissary had already sent others to scout and see what they could find out. He also relayed that he would clean up after them so there wasn't a trace of what they'd done to the cops or public. Anna let out a sigh with a shudder as she hung up the phone.

"What?" Sylas asked, scanning her face as he drove them from the ferry.

"Jeff said he heard word from the scene. Emissary is cleaning up after us so he's sure the other side will be picking up after theirs, but they were taken to the hospital. Car got the brunt of it though not them.

"Well it wasn't for lack of effort." At the silence he sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't want to kill anyone any more than you do, or the others do."

"But its likely going to be a reality of all this." Anna finished. "I know. I wish you hadn't come to that conclusion so soon."

"I've been training these almost two months since you guys went back. I haven't been training to shake their hands. I know you guys haven't either."

Anna smirked at Sylas as he'd hoped. "I don't know what you mean, we've been perfecting our chess game is all." She slid her hand over his on her knee. "Take me home Bruan, I need to see that boy and have a hot fudge sundae the size of my head."

Driving on towards Forks, Sylas kept his hand on Anna the whole way, as she did with him.

Knowing the need to find normalcy, they kept the rest of the week more lowkey than they might have. Venturing no further than their favorite spots near town and keeping subjects light.

Although for Sylas, details he had planned to wait on for fall suddenly seemed more urgent, and he spent the last few days of Anna and Cole's break working those through as quietly as he could. It was a risk not consulting with Anna. But with reassurances from Cole, Ethan, and Caroline and his own confidence about himself and Anna, he made steps.

Finding it easier to have no formal goodbyes, only see you laters, Anna was relieved when Sylas had to work out of town early before she and Cole were due at the airport. Even if she was starting to realize that being separated was now going to cause her worry. She tried to calm herself with trusting that the Emissary would train and look out for him just as they had with her and the others.

So Anna distracted herself that last day in Forks. Indulging Cecilia's pampering and assuring her how careful they would all be. She and Cole then enjoyed the ride to the airport with Phillip, though they suspected someone from the Emissary likely followed them just incase.

When the plane took off, Cole wrapped an arm around Anna as she sighed.

"Anna Jane are you becoming a sap?" He laughed at her eyeroll. "Falls in love once and now you're pining."

"Pining is it?"Anna shrugged off his arm with mock anger. "You like him just as much as I do, I think you're just projecting."

"It's a close call." Seeing the genuine confliction in her eyes Cole took it upon himself to keep them both busy during the flight and train rides that followed.

Once the subway neared the stop nearest their apartment Anna smiled.

"Do you think they missed us or just broke all the furniture christening the entire apartment?"

"What makes you think they didn't do that their first night alone in the place when we moved in?" Cole countered, grabbing his bag as they slowed.

"Well they better have remembered to do the dishes, I'm not playing house bitch."

When the doors opened she spun out, looking expectantly for Ethan and Caroline. "Michael, you did tell them when we were due didn't you?"

"Who said that was my job? Maybe they got busy."

Anna worried the ring on her right hand as she glanced around. "Still, they said when we left that they'd meet us. You don't think something…."

"Look over there you lunatic." Cole pointed to a pole by the stairway.

"Respect your eld…" Anna trailed off as she turned behind her where Cole had gestured. Her suitcase landed with a thump and people automatically shifted around her as she froze. "For heavens sake." She muttered as she walked towards the sly smile Sylas aimed her way.

Cole moved over to one of the benches, putting down both their bags, and opened his camera satchel. He knew an impending memory when he saw it.

Sylas met her half way, smiling down as he watched the usually stoic Anna Jane Simone struggle to keep her chin still. "Don't cry, you'll hate yourself." He joked, accepting the light rap she laid on his chest with her fist.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I decided I'm full of shit and I can't do the long distance thing. Not after this week. I'd spend nine out of every ten minutes wondering if you're alright. Wondering if they are."

Keeping her hopes in check Anna shook her head. "But your dad, your work, your friends. Do you even want to live here?"

"My dad agreed its time I find my way. I've put feelers out for work, but I'll be at the bar with Ethan until I find something that suits. He already got me an interview when I called him the night after Seattle. Which proves the friendships I'd get from living here are likely to be pretty damn supportive. And as for if I want to live here, I want to be wherever you are. You and I have done enough things alone, I want to get through this with you. With all of you."

"Sylas." Anna whispered.

"I know. I know I'm forcing your hand a little. If you aren't ready for this, I can bunk in Cole's room, he already offered. Or I can find a boarding house or something nearby. I can wait until you're ready, I just want to in the same city. I can't …I can't drive away from you again."

"Sylas." Anna repeated, and moved her hand from his chest to cup the back of his neck in her habit. "Shut up so I can thank you."

"Really? You're ok with….ha!" Sylas's arms came around her waist, lifting Anna to spin as she laughed. Either sighs or eyerolls came from the passing commuters.

Amongst them, Cole snapped the shot, mid spin. He knew how it would develop. He could see how it would have captured the easy delight on Sylas's face, the laughing on Anna's. And if someone had told him in that moment that in ten years he would still consider it one of his best photographs, he wouldn't have been surprised.

Later, when they arrived back at the apartment where Sylas's suitcases were already waiting, Anna shook her head at them all.

"I can't believe you kept a secret for one." She pointed at Cole as he retreated to his room to unpack. "Or that you snuck a plane ahead of us." Now she elbowed Sylas. "Five of us in this apartment, woo boy."

"More people to clean." Caroline's smile was wide as she looped her arm through Anna's. "Come, lets figure out how your bedroom can accommodate a man."

Sylas winked at the look Anna threw over her shoulder at him. "Wild." He whispered.

"Hows that?" Ethan leaned against the kitchen cabinet from his seat on the countertop.

"Just thinking back to eight year old me." Sylas smiled with a shake of his head.

Ethan tipped forward, cocking his head towards the hall. "Its not going to take them long to empty a few drawers. So spit out whatever you didn't want to tell me in front of Ro."

Sylas glanced at the hallway as well and leaned against the fridge. "I don't know what you mean."

"Look. We're pretty open around here, but it makes sense that some things you'd rather keep to yourself, or only tell her, or whatever the case. And as someone who worries about them more than myself and hasn't felt peace since their girlfriend

sent a vamp flying; I have a feeling you aren't just here because long distance relationships end up in the shitter more often than not."

"I told her it was also because I'd worry more being apart. Which I'm sure she was starting to feel too." Lowering his voice more Sylas added, "That and wanting to be around her in general is the main push but after Seattle I'm pretty sure they have it right."

"Who?" At Sylas's look Ethans raised a brow. "If you're gonna say the prophecy..."

"Ethan she didn't make an average street pothole. I spoke with Jeff about their cleanup. The shitheads that were after us hit it just right and fast enough that it just flipped the car, but the fissure she made spanned both lanes of the highway and into the median. It was over ten feet wide. They did what they could and wrote the rest off as damage from all the rain. But the other side saw that, that's for damn sure. And they saw that it was her that did it."

"You think they'll try harder for her now after that show?"

"I think they'll try for all of us, but if they really take stock in the whole Novak Simone line, then they're going to know where to hit first yeah." Opening the fridge, Sylas took out a water bottle, needing something to keep his hands busy.

"Its come easiest to her." Ethan made a circle in the air. "All of this. I'd like to think we're all catching on quick enough to defend ourselves but I can't say I've seen her break a sweat yet."

"She didn't break one in Seattle. It rattled her, but I think that was just realizing she can do a bit more than just defend."

Ethan let out a low whistle. "So she gave them something to think about, and we'll all keep working." He leaned over and clapped Sylas on the shoulder. "For all your reasons, she's going to be happier with you here. I think we all will."

"My stars." From the doorway Caroline crossed her hands over her heart. "Look at the little men bonding." She walked over to Sylas and cuffed the back of his head. "You're lucky she's still organizing the room."

"As if she wasn't just telling you her suspicions over my timing." Sylas drew a line in the air for the scored point. "I think I'll go check out my new room and roommate." He crossed his eyes at Caroline as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Worrywart." She muttered after him and walked over to the counter to stand in front of Ethan, hands on the tops of his thighs. "You're not encouraging him are you?"

"I don't have to. It's part of loving someone Ro."

"I can't say I don't have a few twitches myself.

Ethan tugged Caroline to his chest. "We're all together. We've got a hell of a lot more than the otherside will based on that alone. And besides that, I'm not giving up until you're completely safe and you and I can be the most average boring couple there is."

Caroline tipped her face up with a raised eyebrow. "You think we could ever be boring?"

"No Ro." He pushed the hair from her face with a grin. "We're gonna run each other ragged."

They laughed and Caroline pulled him from the room to join the others. Pushing worries aside, they ordered in takeout and huddled in the living room. The apartment filled with the music of five friends cherishing the quiet chaos of their little home.

NOW

With the sun now set, two vampires picked the lock of the apartment in Hells Kitchen and crept in. Having been at Cole Mason's and then PIN the day before they easily found the address for Hayley Gillies. Searching to see what they could find here, they were soon disappointed. It wasn't Hayley they found there, but her roommate Alexia.

The plan easily altered and David who had once been a man driving a Mercedes down a highway in Seattle, now snapped the wrist of the girl that took a valiant swing.

Alexia kept quiet on Hayley's whereabouts at first. Claiming she'd be home any minute with her boyfriend Cole. It didn't take much pain to persuade her closer to the truth.

"She left town Sunday. I don't know where she went, but she said she'd be back by tomorrow or Wednesday." The girl had cried.

Knowing this was all the knowledge she had, Nick who had once been the passenger, now grabbed Alexia and dragged her towards her room.

"Remember Nick, like a regular burglary and make it quick." David told him, already blocking out the screams as he took out his phone.

On the third ring, she answered.

"The girl isn't here Ma'am. None of them are in the city." David nodded as he listened. "I expect they're there yes and if they are then the new one is aware." As the tone changed David shifted. "I understand Ma'am but even with that, they're still only four. They're never going to be able to be six. With the one that ran off and the one we killed….yes. Of course Ma'am I wouldn't be doing that. We'll finish…."

David trailed off as he realized the call disconnected and he swore. Nick came out from the hallway, wiping blood from his hands.

"Shame to waste it but the cops will think burglary. The hand wavers won't but that would be the point."

At David's silence Nick jerked his chin at the phone. "She pissed?"

"Royally. She agree's they're there, but doesn't want us going upstate just yet. Let this play out and see how the new one feels about her choice then. We'll go from there."

Right. Well no sense in watching paint dry, they'll be back. Lets move further east. I need to get someone to eat."

They made quick work of tossing the apartment and leaving as silently as they arrived. With yet another casualty of the war between the Preservers and Emissary in the other room, the shadows grew.