AN: Here it is! enjoy!

Cheers!

She knew her biggest challenge would be the fact that Alastor would be able to hear and smell her long before she even knew he was close by. So as long as she found a way to get him to blindly follow a pointless trail or maybe question himself and his senses, she may be able to draw this out for more than an hour. Not an easy task, but she had a few ideas in mind. First thing to contend with was her scent. It would likely be her greatest weakness, permanently leaving a trail of where she was and had been. She wasn't too keen on the idea of coating herself in mud to help mask her smell, seeing as she still had a couple days in the woods. The ground wasn't really wet anyway even if she wanted to. There was a chance if she came across some water. If she found a stream, river or lake, she may consider taking a dip or following along it, but she wasn't going to get her hopes up.

With a confident nod she turned and sprinted into the woods, eyes scanning for a good spot to lure her mate. Alastor's shadow darted after her following under her feet with happy chitters as she went. She would need to be quick in her set up. Alastor would know she would be hiding her scent and the easiest way to do that would be to remain downwind of him. The only problem with that, was to remain down wind she would need to know where he was and there was no way she could be close enough to keep an eye on him and still remain unnoticed.

She skidded to halt at a large oak tree, the truck large enough she could probably hide behind it. She turned to her partner in crime.

"I need you to go find Xander. Let him know that mom and dad are probably going to be busy for the evening. I'll see him in the morning, latest."

It tiled its head to the side.

"I don't want him to worry and if he stays near the site, then he won't be running into-" she gestured to the area around her. "-this. Probably better that way."

It gave her a hesitant look before turning slowly, almost like it wasn't certain she actually wanted it gone. The slow movement did bring an idea to her.

"Oh and if possible, I don't know I can just summon things out of the blue like Al can, but could you get me a set of walkie -talkies?"

It had no idea what she was talking about. She let out a small huff in annoyance. She wracked her brain for other names. She had only ever really heard them referred to as walkie-talkies.

"Uhhh." She rubbed her temple. "Two way radios?" She thought she may have remembered them being referred to as such sometime ago. Military maybe?

The eyes widened on the shadow and it darted off with a single chirp, likely as a sound of its understanding.

"Oookay." She turned back to the tree not entirely sure what the shadow would bring her, but she'd make do with whatever it was. Right now she had a tree to mark.

She hummed in a curious tone. Was there a specific way to properly scent a tree? She had watched Alastor rub his antlers, though that was likely to remove the velvette. In the animal word marking territory was either done but rubbing scent glands against things or with urine and she was definitely not going to be peeing on trees. And while she didn't think humans had specific scent glands she could still try to rub her smell on to trees in an attempt to mark them.

She lightly ran her hand across the bark, circling in the tree a few times. She didn't want to cut herself on the bark but running her hand around the tree wasn't likely to be enough. She pulled her fuchsia toque off rubbing it on the tree.

She gave her hat a disapproving look. It stood out terribly in the environment. She would have to find a means of getting rid of it if she wanted to be hard to find. She glanced down at her jacket deciding it too would need to be left somewhere. She turned, satisfied with scenting the tree and sprinted off. She wasn't too concerned with the direction yet.

Every once in a while she would purposely rub up against a tree, not as thoroughly as the big oak, but to make it appear that she had brushed up against it. Then after a bit she stopped, turning a completely different direction. It was at this point that Alastor's shadow returned to her and with a set of walkie talkies. They were a bit dated, but they'd still work for what she had planned.

She pushed on with a big grin. "Perfect. Now I need a bit of rope and a nice tree."

The shadow chittered lightly, almost sounding like a laugh. It seemed he was also enjoying the game too. There was a fleeting moment she wondered if the incorporeal version of Alastor would betray her for the real one, its actual master. The thought was quickly shoved aside, remembering that it had a tendency to abandon Alastor with her whenever she needed to address a topic he would otherwise flee from. She smiled. Even if it was still attached to Alastor it probably would have still tried helping her however it could.

She didn't wander long before she took one of the two way radios and tied it to a tree. She knew Alastor would probably roll his eyes when he saw it, but she had nothing else to be an audible distraction. Not something believable anyway.

With a quick check to make sure it worked she darted off again at a steady jog, moving as far away from the distraction as possible.

"Do ya think he'll take the bait?"

The shadow shook its head and she laughed. "Yeah I don't think so either, but it should at least buy us a bit more time to get sorted."

She pushed down on the button of her radio and proceeded to talk in a hushed tone hoping it sounded enough like her to at least spark Alastor's attention.

After a few minutes her radio crackled to life.

"Very clever darling~…"

Her grin spread across her face. While only being a few minutes ahead of him wasn't ideal, at least she knew she hadn't lost him. It did mean she was going to have to get rid of her bright hat and coat sooner than later. Not a problem for now, but if this continued into the late evening, running around the forest without a jacket wasn't going to be good. At some point she knew she was going to lay low, hide instead of run and as the sweat started to dry she'd get cold. A problem for later, if it even got to that point.

She replied to Alastor with a promise of this only being the beginning as she pushed on faster, her breath feeling heavy as the puffs of warm air disappeared into the cool surroundings.

As a second thought she pressed to speak into the radio again. She was hoping he may have taken the radio with him. While he probably wasn't as versed with it, she could, as an emergency, press the call button and it would cause the other radio to squeak, alerting her to where he was.

"You didn't leave me behind did you?"

She paused waiting for a response. When she didn't get one she tried again this time with a flirty tone.

"Did my king of the forest leave his darling little doe behind?"

When the radio remained silent she clicked hers off. Well so much for that, she'd just have to rely on her own instincts. She paused for a second, licking her finger to see where the wind was coming from. She turned upwind, sprinting into the breeze. For her next ploy she would need to be quick. She was hoping the sudden turn would confuse Alastor, maybe make him question himself into thinking she wouldn't be silly enough to give him a direct line to her. If she was successful, she was almost certain she would lose him, at least for a little while. If she wasn't, the game would be over a lot quicker than she hoped.

She sprinted as fast as she could for as far as she could before she needed to stop for air. After taking only a few breaths to compose herself she quickly pulled off her jacket and sweater leaving her in her tee shirt. The air didn't feel cold, though it was likely because she had been running. She quickly put her sweater into her jacket, zipping it up and stuffing it with some fallen leaves. She hung it on a tree branch getting as close to her height as possible before pulling her hat off and placing it on top. With a few moments to inspect her work she gave it a nod in approval. It wasn't perfect, but with it being upwind and having her sweat laced into the fabric, it would be a siren call to Alastor regardless. Or at least she hoped it would be.

She turned to leave before a crazy idea came to her mind, her face heating at the thought. It was devious. Completely fair, but it felt immoral to her. She bit her lip in thought quickly trying to decide if she really wanted to play that dirty. She quickly turned to her partner in crime.

"Scout the way we came, when you find Alastor come back as quick as you can and try to remain unseen."

It gave her a nod and darted off. She only waited until it was out of sight before deciding if she was going to last long in this little game she would have to play against his weaknesses.

She scoured the ground for a decent sized leaf that wasn't too dry where it would crumble under her touch.

"He's going to make me pay for this later," she mumbled under her breath.

Once she had set up her added 'bait' she quickly started back the way she had come retracing her steps. About half the distance back a black blur bolted by before skidding to a halt turning to her and pointing in the direction it had come. Alastor was close by. God she hoped this played out like she thought it would. A quick look around made it very obvious there wasn't anywhere she could hide, even if she was no longer in bright colours. Her gaze went up and another crazy thought came to her. She pulled off her tee shirt, handing it to the shadow, who looked shocked at the action.

"Take this and rub my scent on some of the trees in the area. There doesn't need to be a pattern, randomly would be best. When it's safe to do so, bring it back please."

It tilted its head at her confused before looking at the shirt in its grasp. She shooed it off before turning back to the tree next to her. Welp here goes everything.

She really tried to be quiet, but climbing trees wasn't exactly something one could do silently. That and the fact it was very unpleasant doing without a shirt. She already knew she would have scrapes from where she had brushed against the bark. Most were on her arms but she did have one that she was certain left a mark along the length of her back. The branches she squeezed through were closer together than she thought. She could only hope none had been deep enough to draw blood, or Alastor would find her even faster, no matter how tempting her bait was.

She climbed as high as she could and once she was satisfied she pressed herself as close to the trunk as possible hoping Alastor wouldn't be looking up. Most people didn't look up, but she knew Alastor wasn't someone one could sneak up on easily, constantly aware of his surroundings.

If she was lucky, like REALLY lucky, he'd think it foolish for her to be camped out in a tree, and therefore not bother thinking about it.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed silently sitting in the tree, but every second felt like eternity. How much of a heads up did she actually get? Did he hear her climb the tree and he was making a plan to surprise her? Had he seen his shadow? There was so much uncertainty and the lingering silence only made it easier for her thoughts to spiral. This was an insane idea, there was no way he would just walk by and not find her sitting up in the tree. And when he did what was she to do? She had sent his shadow off; she couldn't even slip away. She had cornered herself. Would he climb up after her? Probably not, his antlers would definitely get caught in the branches. She smiled at the thought.

Now that she was sitting still, willing herself to be frozen in place, the chill was starting to creep in. The breeze felt colder up here and whether that was because she was high up or because she was sitting practically half naked in a tree she wasn't sure. Probably both if she was being honest. A shiver ran up her back just as a soft voice could be heard humming a jaunty tune. She couldn't see who it was from the angle she was at, but she recognized the sound instantly. Realistically who else would it have been?

She held her breath willing herself not to shiver knowing even the slightest creak of the branches would sound like a gunshot, a slight movement would create the sound of fabric rubbing, something unnatural in the forest. It would also send bark raining down on the man walking by, under the tree she was sitting in.

All she had to do was sit patiently for him to pass, keeping herself deathly quiet and once he had moved on she was Scott free. Shouldn't be too difficult. She carefully leaned her head around the tree to get a view of Alastor as he slowly made his way by. He had his arms clasped casually behind him, and even though he looked relaxed she could still see the flicks of his ears, taking in all the sounds she couldn't hear, waiting for something to alert him of her presence.

She carefully let her breath out and tensed when the humming abruptly stopped, along with his movements. Oh Shit. She pressed her eyes closed, her mind internally screaming as she didn't dare to breathe. This was it, a simple exhale was going to be her downfall. He would look up and find her. Could he hear her erratic heartbeats? She hadn't even thought about that. How was she supposed to prevent that?

She was really hoping to last longer than this, be more of a challenge. Maybe she hadn't challenged him at all. Based on his relaxed demeanor it seemed he was just casually following her trail. Had she grossly overestimated her abilities? Did he just casually stroll after his victims like this when he chased them? In no rush knowing they would tire themselves out making them even easier to subdue?

After what felt like ages, but was probably only a minute, he pressed on, no longer with a casual cadence now walking with a purpose. She let out a shaky breath, letting the tension slowly melt from her shoulders as she carefully scampered back down the tree, eyes watching the direction Alastor had gone.

Once at the bottom Alastor's shadow waved her shirt at her also starring after its master, though it shook its head like it was disappointed in him. Ellen slipped her shirt back on a relaxed giggle escaping her as she turned 180.

"Come on, let's get outta here. I give him three minutes before he realizes what we did," she said quietly.

A single chirp was the shadows response before it followed her as she sprinted off, the light breeze pushing her on. Despite the fatigue sliding into her body she couldn't shake the proud grin on her face. She knew now that Alastor was going to be putting more effort in catching her. She had made a risky move and it paid off. She had proven just how slippery she could be and it lit her core alight with excitement. No doubt when Alastor pieced together what she had just done he too would be excited. She wasn't just any old Joe Shmoe, she was a force to be reckoned with, an actual challenge and she was very excited to know what he'd say about it when he finally caught her.

She cackled loudly as she continued putting as much distance between her and Alastor. She was far enough away to know he wouldn't hear her and the thought pulled her smile wider. It wasn't often she could say she outsmarted the Radio Demon.

She eventually slowed her pace, the grin on her face starting to hurt her cheeks. "I can't believe we pulled that off. Holy crow!"

She spun with her arms out, the chilled air kept at bay from her exertion and the thundering thrill still pumping through her.

"Do you think he was impressed? I mean he has to know I snuck by him. That alone is a feat of its own." She let out a satisfied sigh. "God that was such a rush."

The shadow followed happily as she slowly walked backwards, arms still wide, her face turned upward to the sky. "I am never letting him live that one do-"

Her words were cut short as she stumbled backward landing her butt. She glared down at her feet to find a fallen branch had interrupted her. Although there was no sound, it was obvious that her partner in crime was laughing, doubling over clutching its center.

She pushed herself up with a smug look at the shadow.

"Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up fuzzball," she chided dryly.

She dusted herself off kicking the offending stick causing it to snap in two.

"Humph."

She turned on her heels and started her march onward. Next point of interest, their site. He wouldn't think to look for her there, she could also snag her water bottle and hopefully a sweater, maybe even check in with Xander. And to add the cherry on top, the place was already drenched in her scent.

It turned out she was a lot closer to the site then she thought, not a bad thing. She didn't need to be there for long anyway.

She climbed into the tent grabbing her warmest sweater pulling it on as she slipped out of the tent. She was just about to grab her water bottle when the sound of birds scattering froze her movements. It seemed she had miscalculated how far she had left Alastor behind. He was a lot closer than she thought.

Her gaze turned behind her fighting the urge to sprint away, to flee in panic. How did he get so close so quickly?

She took a few seconds to figure out her next move before giving a longing glance at the birds that had taken off. With a resolute sigh she took off.