Morgan stood up. She was being childish and she knew it. She had missed Tim, was glad he was here safe and sound, and needed to see him. The blond woman was probably Yelena and Tim had told her that they we only friends, more like brother and sister. Jealousy didn't sit well with her, so it was time to just stop it.

She began to walk towards the house after having shooed the raccoon back into the woods. She looked around for Tim as she walked, not seeing him anywhere.

Entering through the back door, she headed inside, seeing Cassius standing there. She didn't see the blond. She smiled at Cassius, "Hi, I'm Morgan, Tim's friend. You must be Cassius. I assume the blond woman I saw is Yelena. Where is Tim?"

She saw the bruises on his face and walked towards him, "Do you want some ice for you face? I already have a cloth wrapped baggie that I used for myself today if you'd like me to put some ice in it for you." She headed for the sink first, emptying the water from the baggie, before heading to the freezer and grabbing some ice.

Tim, followed Cassius inside, he looked around briefly for Morgan. Not seeing her he lifted Yelena up in his arms and carried her upstairs to a vacant bedroom. There he sat her down on a large brass poster bed, placing some pillows behind her back. "Ya sit yurself har an' rest, I'll get the Hummer hid away and see ifin' I kin russel ya up some food. I reckon ya need ta stay right still fur a couple a days till that thar shoulder has a chance ta mend. Ifin' ya need sumtin' ya just give a hollar." Tim then walked out of the room, down the stairs and out to the Hummer.

He climbed in and moved it to the barn, parked it, walked out of the barn and booby traped the door. Tim then walked slowly back to the house. Fatigue was finally starting to creep up on him as he wearily climbed up on the porch and inside. Once inside he walked into the living room, turned on the big sceen plasma TV to the Fox Headline News Channel and sat down on the couch, placing his booted feet on the coffee table. Within minutes his eyes closed and Tim fell asleep, his hand still resting on the remote.

“LUCY! I’M HOME!” The sound reached Zoe’s ears and seemed to penetrate directly to her heart. Immediately, she looked up from the monitor, her eyes widened. She was nearly numb to the other sounds around her, to the other sets of footsteps that followed the door being pushed shut. As she got up, she moved slowly across the room, the air around her thick, her body numb as though she had fallen into a dream. Her heart pounded as she pushed open the trap door, unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her if it was finally real.

Emerging from the hidden basement, Zoe slipped into the narrow foyer and stared with stiff, brown eyes at the bruised but beaming face a few feet in front of her. The tall, lanky form was weighed down with fatigue and pain, his normally shaggy hair matted to his head and tangled into an even bigger mess of a mop. As her eyes fell on him, her solid expression was ever so subtly cracked, but Dominic’s piercing stare clearly saw straight through it.


Cassius grinned at the young girl as she immediately began offering first aid before he could even get a word in. His eyes quickly drifted however when he saw the figure emerge a few feet behind Morgan. Even through his blurred vision and beaten face, his features seemed to soften as he laid eyes on her. Glancing back and Morgan for a second, he placed a hand on her shoulder affectionately.

“Much appreciated, dudette,” he said, “totally awesome to meet you but I gotta take a rain check on the ice. Uno momento, ya know?” Slipping past Morgan, he took a few steps towards Zoe until he stood about an inch away from her, his tall, thin form seeming to tower over her as he looked down into her eyes. “Hey baby,” he said, his tone soft and rasped. For a moment, Zoe didn’t move, staring back at him with an unreadable expression.

“You’re alive,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Totally.”

“You look like shit.”

Cassius nodded, “totally feel like I got wiped out by a truckload of it,” he replied. “Probably smell like it too,” he added after a second thought.

“Go get ice,” Zoe said after another moment of staring up at him. She only barely got the sentence out, however, when Cassius grabbed her by the arms and yanked her forward, pulling her lips onto his and kissing her fervently, his hands slipping away from her arms and stroking her back. At first, she stiffened, not expecting the sudden movement and very aware of the audience they had. After a second, however, she relaxed, seemingly melting into him as she pressed against him, embracing him tightly.

Yelena didn’t like anyone doing thing for her, like walking. But when Tim scooped her up and carried her up the stairs, she was more than grateful. Once again she thanked him and swallowed her pride. The fatigue she saw on his face wasn’t unnoticed and before he left her alone in the cozy room, she called to him. When he turned around, she offered him a soft smile.

”Rest, Cowboy. While handsome, da, you look like shit.”

Tim merely grinned and tipped his hat before leaving her alone. Once he was gone, Yelena’s smile faded. She was once more safe, away form people who wanted to hurt her and her friends. But that didn’t stop the feelings she had.

A man who she thought was her friend turned out to be nothing more than a master manipulator and lying bastard. He wanted to use Zoe for her ability no matter what it would do to the young woman. While Yelena knew Zoe’s abilities were incredible, it didn’t warrant forfeiting her life for the purpose he wanted to use it for.

So what if he could erase any trace of the things he wanted to eliminate? That didn’t fix the real problem. It would only be a matter of time before more files and more laws were enacted to discriminate against the meta’s. The only way to fix the problem was to educate the world but that was difficult to do when men like Vacily did what they did.

He was as much a part of the problem as anyone was. While he would never see it that way, Yelena knew if he didn’t open his eyes to the truth, and soon, he would end up living a lonely, empty life. Something she suspected he already was. Which was a shame. He was a handsome man any woman would be glad to share her life with. Even Yelena herself had inklings of such thoughts back when she first met him all those years ago. But now, looking back, she realized he had played her like a fine tuned musical instrument. Saying and doing the right things to gain her trust knowing full well he had no plans on doing anything to help her.

But wait. He DID help her. He told Yelena he was the one that had left the clothes and cargo truck for her to find and had ensured the truck wouldn’t be inspected before it left the facility. Was there really something more to him or was that just another part of his grand scheme of things? Knowing Vacily now like she does, it was all part of his grand scheme.

Making a rather unladylike noise, Yelena resigned herself to the fact if there was any decency in Vacily ever, it was definitely gone now. He was too consumed with what he perceived to be the truth to see reality for what it really was.

Pushing thoughts of Vacily from her mind, Yelena let her mind drift her friends. Old and new alike. She was back with Tim and she knew, that while he may go about things in ways she didn’t approve, she could trust him with her life, no matter what. Even after all the disagreements they had, he was there when she needed him the most.

Cassius and she had both shared a great deal during all of this and she had a new found respect for him. While he wasn’t meta, he certainly championed on their side and for that, Yelena admired him. Now that he was back with Zoe, she was certain neither of them would be seen for a couple of days.

But the one place, or person, Yelena’s mind stayed on the most was the tall, blond Norwegian, Toril. Where was he? Was he OK? Did he need their help? Last time she saw him it was in the deserted cabin near Lake Oneida. She prayed no harm had befallen the man. He risked his life to save theirs and for that, she would be eternally grateful. But there was something else about the man that struck a fine chord within her. He shared the same regard for life she did, for the most part. While she admits she may have done things during their escape that wasn’t exactly right with that philosophy, she also knew that they were all marked for death and had to do what they had to do in order to insure they lived. Would he forgive her? Would she even see him again?

As Yelena laid there thinking about the handsome, blond man, her mind drifted to the conversation they had about her gymnast career. He’d followed her career from start to finish and other than Tim, he was the only one that now knew she was Ludmilla Tourischeva. She’d never met anyone that knew her from her gymnast days or had followed it so closely and for some reason, she found comfort in that.

It was with those thoughts she drifted back to sleep once more as fatigue overtook her exhausted body and mind. Rest was paramount right now and her body was going to make sure it got it.

Morgan blushed seeing Zoe and Cassius in such a passionate embrace. She quietly slipped out of the kitchen and headed for the living room, where she saw Tim asleep on the couch. Her heart all but stopped, seeing him up close and uninjured. His hand rested on the remote and his hat was tipped at an odd angle as he slept.

Walking silently over to him, she gently lifted his cowboy hat off of his head and set it on the edge of the coffee table. Now feeling bold where before she was unsure and jealous, she sat down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder, whispering in a voice breaking with unshed tears, "I was so worried about you, Tim." She then slid down, laying her head on his lap, tears running over her nose and dripping onto his jeans. The bruised side of her head was visible and would be the first thing he sees upon waking to her head on his lap.

She feels his hand stroke her soft hair and smiles.