Akieen Cloud

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali dashed through the halls, her chest still heaving from the affection Demetri had shown her just moments before, he had been passionate and she wanted nothing more than to rewind time and finish what he hand started, the heat still coiling in the pit of her stomach. She ran her hand through her bangs and groaned as she mentally shook her self. The image of Marcus walking in on the end of their spar flashing through her mind and she felt her heart twinge faintly. But she had made the choice, she had chosen Demetri, it was a choice she was going to have to make sooner or later and she felt like she chose correctly. She tapped her foot waiting for the door to open once it did she stepped through and stopped dead in her tracks as Marcus came for Neos' room, Pocket not far behind him. "Hey, did-did you two get the message?" Marcus gave her a hard look, she pried slightly, trying to get a small feeling from him but sighed silently as she felt nothing. To say that she didn't feel guilty would be lieing. She knew that there had to have been a better way for the man to have learned of her choice, there must have been an easier way and she was sorry that it had to have happened the way it did and she found her self reaching for him but pulled back as his skin semed to spark burning her finger tips slightly. She pulled her hand back to her chest and nodded slowly getting the silent message from the mystic loud and clear. She looked over at Pocket. "Have you seen Neos?" She nodded. "Marcus just put him down to bed. Tank is doing the dishes and Lily is finishing her home work." Ali felt a slight anger spark at the mention that her children were still not in bed. She nodded and moved through the apartment, not bothering a second look at Marcus. Even if she had chosen Demetri, the feelings that she had given to Marcus had been real and she had meant the things she had said while with him, but she had a family and she was Demetri's wife. More determined to prove that to her husband now more than anything. Shaking the thoughts from her head she walked through the area and found Tank by the sink. "Dante, get ready, your father wants you with us this time around." Lily jumped up from the couch, a excited look on her face, Ali shook her head. "I'm sorry Lily, your still to young. And I know for a fact that your father would kill me if I let you come along." "But mom-" "No buts young lady, get to bed, now." Lily huffed but walked away none the less, Tank coming out of his room to meet her, he was dressed in tenneis shoes and board shorts not needing much else due to his steel skin. Ali nodded and walked to her room and dressed, slipping on a pair of blue jeans, a black tank top, her boots and stopped as she reached for the old robe that Marcus had left her. Staring at it she shook her head and instead grabbed her trench coat. Slipping it on she grabbed her holster and steel knuckled gloves and strode from the room, Tank waiting for her, Marcus and Pocket having already left. She nodded to the teenager and together they went to untie Jason. Tank looked down at her and frowned. "Uncle Marcus was acting different tonight mom, did something happen?" "A lot has happened baby. But you don't need to worry about it alright?" "Mom, he's family too. I love you both so please, don't leave me out. I'm old enough to understand." Ali took a deep breath as they walked through the moonlight towards the large willow tree, explaining everything that had happned, between her and Marcus, between the three of them and how everything had led to this moment. "Do you think you made the right choice?" "Tank, you, Lily, Neos and your father are my life. Your my family. I can't give that up for anything." "But mom, I'm sure that if you truly chose with your heart, and chose what would make you happy that Dad would be fine with what ever you chose. He loves you that much." "I'm sure he'd be just like your uncle right now. But we have to go and get the dog in from the rain." She smiled and looked down as she heard Jason yell. "I heard that dammit! Why does everyone crack on the canine?" "Cause you are one." They set Jason loose and quickly made their way to the war room to see everyone there, Ali instantly taking her place beisde her husband, the close proximity, the heat from his skin making it hard for her to concentrate and with out even meaning to her thoughts flared to life in Demetri's head as he took a sip from his water, making him choke. He looked down at her, a lusting glint in his eyes making Ali blush, she leaned over to him whispering. "I'm sorry...this new leap in my powers is still hard to control." He nodded slowly as he took a slow drink of his water, Ali watching as he did, the muscles in his neck and throat working to send the drink into his stomach and again Ali found her thoughts running away with her, this time Demertri ready for the onslaught of images and emotions but it did nothing to stop the giant from growling and putting his glass down and gripping the side of the table. He leaned over and whispered in her ear as she looked down at the files. "If you keep this up, I'll drag you into the bathroom so help me Alex." She blushed brightly as she continued to look at the files, her own whispers flitting between them, he was so close she could feel his hot breath on her neck. "I'm sorry...I'm not trying to." He closed his eyes and moved away from her as the door opened and Warp walked in. "Are you ready?" Ali put her file down and nodded as did the others, Warp nodded and looked at them all in turn. "I can only take two of you at a time. Where are we going?" Ali looked back at the paper and than back at Warp. "It seems as if we're going to Russia." Warp nodded, holding her hand out Jason and Pocket went first, than Tank and Sasa, Jeff looked at Demetri as the rest of them walked closer, Ali put her hand on Demeti's arm, the heat of his skin sending fire through her blood, she shuddered almost instantly and closed her eyes, her thoughts running away from her again. This time Demetri spun on her and pulled her close, his large hands covering her hips as he pulled her firmly against him, his lips clashing againt her's almost violently as his passion overwhelmed her. He pulled away from her, both gasping for breath as he moved away from her and towards Warp, she rolled her eyes and took Demetri's hand than Jeffs and vanished with them instantly, Ali looked over at Marcus. Now that they were alone she felt the guilt wash over her. She didn't regret her choice but she hadn't wanted him to find out that way, she had wanted to tell him her self, to break it to him gently if at all possible. "Marcus...I-I'm sorry...I didn't want you to find out that way. I had wanted to talk to you about it." He remained silent and she felt the loss of him, the loss of a personal connection that might hurt not only her, but her family. She reached for him again, this time the spark being worse, her fingernails turning with the soarch marks. Choking back the tears she looked at the floor. "I'm truly sorry Marcus. I hope you can forgive me." She looked up as Warp entered the room again, looking at the two of them closely before they put their hands in her's and within moments found them selves in Russia, the icy cold wind blowing Ali's hair to and fro and she shivered violently only to feel the wind halt instantly, she looked over to see Marcus standing by her, his runes glowing ever so faintly as he held the elements from the team. She looked at the paper in her hands. "Apparently, by a few of the reports...these are....Nightwalkers?" She looked up as the rest of the team, all but Marcus gave her the same baffeled look. "Seems like somthing we haven't dealt with before. Be on guard and watch each other's backs." She pulled the trench coat tighter to her body and began to trudge through the snow as best as she could, even if she was strong, and tougher than most...she was one of the shortest girls in the team and she squeaked and felt her self blush as Demetri plucked her from the snow and began to carry her on his back, she smiled slowly and rested her head on his shoulder taking in his warmth, every now and than looking at Marcus, trying to figure out a way to at least salvage a friendship from the man if anything.[/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali's head pounded as she squeezed her hand tighter around the one that covered her's, she knew who it was just by the scent that floated through the room relaxing her and making her want nothing more than to go back to sleep. "Ali?" She cracked open her eyes and groaned as her arms lanced with pain, she froze as emotions of hope and shock filled her mind, as well as a gentle love that made her smile slowly. "Ali, love are you awake?" She nodded slowly and opened her eyes slowly, carefully to see her husband gazing down at her, she reached up and cupped his cheek lovingly. "I'm glad your here. Marcus and Neos came to find me...but I couldn't come back with them, I had to figure things out for my self, I needed some time to think." "About what Ali?" "Things...things between you and me, and Marcus." Demetri's face fell and she pressed her palm to his cheek more firmly. "Just hear me out love..." He nodded, although the hurt was still plain in his face and posture; she could also feel it flowing from him to her and it made her want nothing more than to cry. "I came to a couple of choices, things I should have done a long tim ago." Demetri looked down at their hands, she could tell he was dreading the words she was about to speak, she gave nothing away as she linked their fingers together, her pale skin seeming to glow slightly against his tan skin. "I do love Marcus, probably more than I should-" Demetri's eyes shifted from her's and he tried to pull his hand away but she held onto it tighter not letting his hand out of her own. "But, I have my heart to someone long before I met him, and he never gave it back to me. Not that I'm complaining. Not in the least. I was confused about how I felt for the longest time but, the time I was out of it helped clear my mind. Demetri, I love you. With all my heart, I gave myself to you wanting only you. I can't fully explain the reasons for why I did what I did but we're stronger now. We're stronger together. And I don't ever want to have you doubt me again." "Ali I-" "I don't want to think about it anymore. I married you and you are the only one I want to be with. My husband and my partner in all I do." He nodded, and kissed the top of her hand making her heart flutter happily. Sitting up she stretched and looked down at him, she could feel his worry and looked down at him. "Is everything alright?" He nodded before looking at the door, she heard his thoughts without even trying and frowned. "That's not possible...How could that happen to the two of them? They were two of the best Leads in the system..." Demetri looked shocked for a moment before nodding, he leaned back as she slipped from the bed and stretched. "Come on, lets get our minds off of things for a bit, what do you say?" He raised an eye brow at her and she blushed as his thoughts filtered into her mind. "I wasn't thinking about that..." She saw a small flush flood his cheeks and she shook her head and walked out, he followed her and was more than a little surprised as she led him to the training room, entering it she walked to her locker, took out her training gear and changed, looking over her shoulder at him as he watched her reveal bit by bit of her creamy skin only to cover it back up as she dressed in her sports bra and shorts, slipping on her gloves she spun and charged at her husband who took a step back, planting his left foot and used his height and weight to keep himself upright, though the blow she delivered stung his arm. He looked down at her and smirked as she let a smile fall into place on her lips. Shifting back she threw her foot forward, waiting for him to grab her ankle, which he did, jumping up from her planted foot she shocked him with her quick movements as her foot struck his shoulder breaking his stance and shifting him backwards a few inches. She chuckled and pulled her foot from his grasp and dropped back to her feet and Demetri slowly took his jacket off before dropping into his fighting stance, watching as she charged at him yet again. A half an hour later, sweat dripping from their bodies she swung out with her right leg and yelped as he grabbed it and pulled her down pinning her underneath his large frame, he stared down at her and smiled as she cupped his cheek. "I love you Demetri, and I wanted to tell you that I'm changing my name. I'm getting rid of my maiden name and I'm taking on your name. Fully." She watched as shock registered on his face. "I thought you wanted to keep your name hyphenated." She shook her head and brought him down for a sweet kiss. "Not anymore. Never again, I want you and only you for the rest of our lives." She let down every barrier she had and allowed her feelings to flow into him as he looked down at her. "I still have paperwork-" "Please...we can get back to that in a little bit, right now I just want to be with you...just with you." She tucked her head down into his chest and inhaled his scent letting her lips graze his collar bone slightly.[/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali pulled away slowly, her face set into a frown as she shook her head. "Marcus... I'm here because of my own uncertainty, because I can't make the right choice. Because of that, you two fought and now I'm here. I have things I have to think about." "What do you mean Ali?" She looked over his shoulder and nodded to Neos who looked at her sadly before pulling himself as well as Marcus from the shadowrealm, Ali could feel tears gather in her eyes as Marcus tried to reach out to her, she shook her head again and turned away from him before walking back to Shadowthrone. "Before he showed up, you were trying to show me something...what was it?" He smiled and nodded to her, holding out the mirror he allowed her to sit and watch as images began flooding the small portal. Ali looked down at it intensly and gasped as she saw a memory, one that made her smile and made her heart sore. Demetri lay in bed next to her, his face peaceful as he slept with a small, content smile on his face. Ali traced his lips with her finger lightly as she watched him sleep. He turned towards her touch tucking his cheek into her palm making her smile more. "I love you Demetri. With all my heart." She could see the light coming in from the window, hear the water rush onto the shore as she lay there, her ear against his chest and listening to his heart beat. She was content and happy. The memory of his touches and him whispering her name making her blush but she was overjoyed to hear the desperate need in his voice. The beach was a peaceful visit this time, just Ali and the kids. She tucked into him more and sighed as his warm arm wrapped around her and she felt her self drift to sleep, Marcus not haunting her dreams this night. Ali looked up at Shadowthrone with a frown. "I don't understand. What was that supposed to signafy?" He pointed down to the mirror again and she sighed, looking down she felt pain wrap around her heart as another memory swam into the mirror. The passion was intense, so much so that Ali thought she was about to burn alive, Demetri's gentle, yet rough hands running along her body. Arching against him she felt him smile against her skin as he concentrated on her neck, she moaned his name as he skimmed his hand up her side feeling her soft skin and smiling triumphantly knowing tha he was the one to make her react in such a way. It was he who made her call out and gasp in pleasure. He raised himself on his hands and gazed down at her, his eyes holding so much love and warmth they made tears gather in the corners of her eyes. "I love you Alex. Nothing will ever change that." She nodded and wrapped her arms around him as he pressed his body flush against her's hearing his name fall from her lips as she moved together with him driving them both over the edge. She could feel the tears start to fall as she watched the memories play, more and more they consisted of mostly her and Demetri, til she finally watched one of her and Marcus, the memory was sweet and it made her smile, but she felt differently this time around. The warmth didn't spread through her like it did when she watched the memories of her and Demetri, she didn't feel her heart swell each time she heard the words 'I love you.' She gasped as a memory flooded the mirror, making her actually cry this time. Demetri sat on the small hospital bed with her, his large arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulling the sweat soaked bangs from her face, her breathing having finally settled and the IVs still pumping a mild pain killer into her system. The sun glared brightly outside and she looked up at her husband with a large, tired smile. "He's handsome, just like you." Demetri shook his head as he laid a gentle hand on the baby boy's cheek in her arms, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he looked at her. "He's beautiful. Like you." She blushed slightly and put her head on his shoulder looking down at the miracle child that never should have been and gasped as he opened his eyes and looked at the both of them, his intellegent eyes roaming over both of their faces before his pulmp cheeks curled in and he gave them both a large, toothless grin making Demetri's tears actually fall, as well as Ali's. "What should we name him?" Demetri looked down at the boy in his wife's arms and smiled softly as he put his hand on her head and kissed her temple. "Neos. Neos Sotiris Talon." Ali shook her head and looked down at the infant than back to Demetri. "Athens. Neos Sotiris Athens. He's your son and will have your name." He smiled largely and hugged her as his parents walked in, both sets more than happy about the new life brought into this world. Ali looked up at Shadowthrone. "I don't understand, why are you showing me all this?" "What have you learned?" "That most of my memories are of Demetri and me...that no matter where I stray I always go back to him...that I love him." "And what about Marcus?" She shook her head. "I love him as well, but...my heart belongs to Demetri...always has and always will." Shadowthrone nodded slowly, sad for his friend but happy that he could help, he inclinded his head to her and almost instantly she woke up slowling in the medical warn, her small hand in a large grip, one full of warmth and comfort, she squeezed it weakly, but her eyes remained closed. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]She looked at the words, reading them over and over again but feeling noting but confusion...if that. She looked back up at the man who was watching her hopefully. "I don't understand. What is this?" Patch looked from Marcus to Ali and left, taking out his phone and send Demetri an SOS to come to med ward. Ali frowned as she folded the picture back up and handed it back to him, seeing his face fall almost instantly. "I don't-" She stopped, her heart thumping loudly in her ears, and than nothing. She stared straight ahead, blankly as Marcus moved from his spot. "You don't what Ali?" She didn't respond and when the door opened and Demetri rushed in she simply looked up at him as she would if she were staring at a wall of drying paint. "Ali, love are you alright? I just word, what happened?" He looked at Marcus to see his arms still covered in blood as well as his chest from where he had carried her, to worried to move from his spot as he watched over her. "Marcus, what happened?" "I think she over loaded. Her powers progressed, like you said but something went wrong. I had my mother look at her and she says we drove her to this..." "Your mother?" "Lady Dream Catcher. She looked into her memories and said that our fighting brought her to this." "But why is she just sitting there Marcus?" "I don't know..." Marcus watched as Demetri took a step forward and put his large hand on her cheek, her eyes shifted up to look at him but her stare remained blank, something had changed from when she woke up. It was as if she wasn't all there, Demetri tried to talk to her than and Marcus listened intently to her response. "Ali, love talk to me." She looked up at him, the blank look never leaving her face and than she spoke, her voice breaking both Demetri and Marcus' hearts. "Who are you?" Her voice was monotone, no emotion in it what so ever and without even giving them a second glance she slipped from the table, wrenched the IV from her arm and walked out. Demetri and Marcus watching her go shocked, the IV coming from her arm should have hurt, it should have gotten some kind of response from her but there had been nothing. The giant looked down at Marcus and ran a hand over his face. "What have we done?" Marcus shook his head. "I don't know." Ali walked slowly through the halls, her arm still bleeding from where she had ripped the IV from her arm, she headed for her old room. Punching in her old code she simply stood there as it beeped at her that the code was wrong. She tried again and got the same reaction. Standing there, looking at her door she did nothing but looked at the key pad when she heard a voice that almost tugged at her heart. "-but I want an icecream cone Gramma." "Not today Neos. You'll have to talk to your mother and father about that." Madam Touch rounded the corner with Neos who saw her and smiled, dashing to her he wrapped his arms around her legs and hugged her tight, Ali's hand drifting down to pat the boy on the head though her face remained as blank as it was a moment before. Touch seemed unnerved at the change in the younger woman. Putting a hand on her shoulder she pulled back sharply as images flooded her mind, Demetri's face, his smile showing up more than once as well as Marcus'. She looked down at Neos and asked him to go to his room which he did happily after seeing his mother. Ali looked at the older woman, her expression bording bored. "Ali, do you know who I am?" Ali shook her head slowly when her body pulsed and she dropped to the floor screaming, her rune flareing to life, Marcus jumped to his feet feeling the burn, he looked up at Demetri and decided that this wasn't the time for playing any kind of games, even if it was for the woman he loved. "She's at her old quarters." Demetri nodded and they both took off running through the building til they reached the spot where Marcus had felt her rune flare, Madam Touch lay on the ground breathing heavily but Ali was no where to be seen. Marcus searched around for her as Demetri helped his mother to her feet. "Momma, what happened?" "Ali, I saw her standing here so Neos and I came over to talk to her. She didn't react to anything we said to her so I tried to talk to her alone. As soon as I touched her everything she's felt the last few days just poured into me. Like a rive with no damn to block it..." Demetri looked down at his mother making sure she wasn't hurt. Marcus spoke up than causeing both people to look at him. "Which way did she go?" Touch shook her head telling them she didn't know. Demetri allowed her to lean on the wall before he looked down at Marcus. "I'll take the West and South wings, you take the North and East. We'll meet back here once we're done." Marcus nodded once and they ran off in the directions given to them, half an hour later they both came back empty handed, Demetri took a deep breath and shook his hed. "Where else could she have gone?" Marcus closed his eyes, trying his hardest to find her with nothing he shook his head. "I can't feel anything...at all. It's like she doesn't exsist." "Don't say that!" "You saw the look in her eyes! What else is there to use to describe that?" Demetri put his hand over his face and huffed a deep breath. "We have to do something..." Marcus nodded and frowned, holding out his hand to the larger man. "I call a truce, we need to find her and figure out what's wrong right now." Demetri eyed his hand for a moment before taking it and shaking it roughtly. "You cover the back grounds, I'll take the front." Again they set off in different directions, both ending up by the large willow tree that Jason was teathered to, he growled low in his throat as the two men approached, his voice deep and dangerous. "Haven't you two cause enough damage for one night?" Demetri frowned, not in the mood for the wolf's games. "If she's here Jason let us see her." The wolf shook his head and pointed a claw towards the forest surrounding the base. "She went that way. I don't know what you two did to her, but I think it's safe to say that neither of you care to tell me what the hell happened to my siter?" They didn't answer him but took off running in the direction Jason had pointed out. They ran for almost an hour before slumping forward and breathing heavily. Marcus gasping as he looked over at Demetri. "W-why is it...that I forget how fast she is every damn time?" Demetri shook his head with a chuckle. "Try sparring her. She's a snake with the way she moves. I've never seen anyone that fast. The only reason I win against her is my sheer size, she can't knock me down that well." Marcus nodded as the continued to walk through the woods til they reached the small lake on the grounds, they both inhaled sharply as they caught sight of Ali there. Her hair had come loose and was billowing around her gently in the wind, her head tilted up so she could look into the moon, it's light making her look more pale but no less beautiful and both men reacted instantly on seeing her, emotions erupting inside of them as their own thoughts ran wild. She spun around seeing them her eyes grew wide and she gripped her hair as a scream ripped through her throat. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" Demetri and Marcus were both shocked as she twisted her body this way and that as if in pain when she suddenly fell to the ground cunvulsing, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she twitched on the ground startlying the men from their shock as they rushed to her side, they felt the same, heart breaking, sinking feeling as they could see her start to bleed from her nose, suddenly Marcus stooped forward pressing his mouth to her's Demetri pulled him back roughly. "What happened to a truce?" "Do you want her biting her tongue off?" Demetri shook his head again and watched painfully as Marcus dipped his head down again and pressed his lips to her's, his own tongue pushing her's down in her mouth to keep her teeth from catching it and biting it in half during her convulsion. Marcus moved as Demetri lifted her in his arms keeping her low enough so he could continue to keep her tongue down. It took time to get to the medical ward but neither were surprised as Patch stood waiting for them. He hooked up her to a heart monitor and a brain wave monitor to watche her reactions. Demetri looked at his watch and cursed as he looked down at his wife, her skin pale and her breathing shallow, he looked at Marcus. "Watch her. This is an order. Do NOT leave her side til I come back here. I want to know the moment she shows signs of coming around." Marcus nodded silently as Demetri walked out to go back to his and Ali's room to take care of their kids. Marcus looked down at Ali and took her hand in his, her heart monitor showing a small spike in it's steady rythem. "Ali, can you hear me?" Her brain wave monitor spiked as well this time and Marcus continued to talk to her seeing hope in the spikes, sending Demetri a small text to let him know but telling him not to bother with coming down. He at least wanted her to himself for a breif period of time. [i]Ali looked around the area she was in, it was light, but swirled with darkness and she knew it instantly, hearing the giggle behind her she spun around looking at Shadowthrone. "What am I doing here?" "You son, he is very smart. To smart some would say. He sensed your distress and sent you here to protect you. Or at least your soul." "Neos sent me here?" "Correct. I'm surprised that boy isn't here as well. Usually where ever you would go, he would follow." "Neos was never that clingy." Shadowthrone chuckled and shook his head. "Not THAT boy, I meant your dear Mr. Demos." Ali felt her heart flip, it showed on the monitor in the med room as well, she looked at the old man and scowled. "I think I can tell why Marcus gets frustrated with you sometimes, and he's not MINE. He's just Marcus." "Is he not yours? I don't believe I've seen him with any onther woman but you my dear. Ever since you came into his life your on his mind constatly. Trust me, I should know." She frowned before walking with the old man as he shuffled away, his cane making no noise as it touched the light colored bottom of the realm. "What do you mean?" Shadowthrone waved his hand, a small mirror placed in her hands, it began to shimmer befor playing scenes back to her, scenes of her and Marcus, or of just her. Some made her cheeks flush brightly and Shadowthrone chuckled as he peered over her shoulder at one in particular. "Yes...he never told me how he was able to bend that way. Remarkable really." "I want out of here." He shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry my dear. Right now, your powers are to unstable, if you were to go back now your soul would be shattered and there would be nothing left of you. Your son has sent you here for your protection and he has not enabled you to go back lest it is safe." Ali sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why is it that when you talk to Marcus, your all riddles, with me you just tell me what the hell I want to know?" "Well for one, he's fun to get a rouse out of and for two, I'm a leacher my dear. I'm a puppy dog for a lovely face and supple figure." She scoffed and looked back into the small mirror to see Demetri walk in, Marcus stood up and walked away from her, but not before running his fingers over the back of her hand, Demetri allowed this knowing that he wasn't the only one hurting right now for his wife. Ali put her fingers to the mirror and sighed. "Oh Marcus...What are we going to do?" Whether he heard her or not she didn't know but she simply watched as Demetri now sat by her body as she lay in the bed unconsious. [/i] Marcus left the med room and sighed running his had over his face, turning the corner he blinked as he spotted Neos, a bright warmth surrounding his heart as he could now see similarities of himself in the boy, but what stunned him was the sheer determination on his face and the way Neos stood. "Neos, what's wrong? Are you looking for your Daddy?" He squealshed the thought of it being him for the time being. "Mommy needs you. Your the only one who can help her right now...I thought I could save her but-but...she got stuck!" Tears began to gather in his eyes and Marcus did his best to comfort the boy as he thought of Neos' words to him. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali pulled away from Marcus gently giving him a light smile. "I have to go and find Demetri, you can guess how he took the news." "Not well I expect?" She nodded and kissed his cheek before letting her self out, she stopped in the door way and looked back at him with a smile. "I have to say this much though, you look good after 3 years Marcus. Training has down you well." She felt her cheeks blush slightly before leaving competely, she stood outside the door and took a deep breath before making her way through the halls towards Demetri's office, she could hear the buzz of whispers again and did her best to ignore them til she heard one that made her heart twist painfully at the words. "-no really, she even had him move in with her. Commadant Athens is way to good of a guy for her. She's a whore." Ali felt the tears spring to her eyes and turned as she heard the person yelp, looking over her shoulder she saw Demetri standing there, his face set into a scowl of dissapproval as he looked down at the person who had spoken. "I suggest you take that back." "Y-yes sir! Forgive me Commander, I was out of line." She could only nodd as the girl dashed away, she looked up at Demetri and sighed. "I'm sorry..." He shook his head and stepped closer to her before stopping short and frowning. "You went to see Marcus." It wasn't a question, and she knew that. "I did, I went to tell him about Neos. I've asked him to train him." "I came to that conclusion myself. Though I'm not happy about it." "Demetri, this isn't something to talk about, you've seen his powers, they're the same as Marcus', it has to be him to train Neos, he's the only one who understands that power." "I know, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy the infromation handed to me. Unlike you seem to be." "And what is that supposed to mean?" "You don't even seem to mind that he shares DNA with Marcus." "Why would it Demetri? It doesn't change who our son is. I made a mistake and I regret it, I hate the fact that I hurt you, that I'm still hurting you to this day but nothing can me done about it now. He's still our son no matter whose blood he has running through is veins it doenst' change who he is and the face that he's ours." Demetri nodded slowly, but she could tell he was still bothered. "I don't llike it Alex." "Please stop that." "What?" "Your using my full name more and more these days. I know I screwed up in the past and I'm sorry but I'm yours. You know that." "Are you really? I've seen how you look at him Ale-....Ali." She felt her throat tighten up on her and looked away from him. "The rumors are starting to get to you aren't they? That or you just don't fully trust me." He flinched slighty at the mention of the rumors that still buzzed around the base and it was than, as Ali looked back up at him, he stared at her with a hard look. "Demetri, what happened? You look like your ready to kill someone. Did you get news from someone?" "Yeah, Jason." She felt the growl bubble up before she could stop it and frowned as she took a step towards him and reached out to touch his cheeck only to blink up at him hurt as he took a small step back. "D-demetri?" "I just...it's still sinking in Alex. I thought I was through with all this." "You are...we are. I'm your wife Demetri...I married you." His words left him before he could even think about them, regreting them almost instantly. "Cause he left." She gasped and pulled her hand back sharply against her chest, taking a step back as her eyes stung with tears. "Is that how you really feel about our marriage? That I only married you cause he was gone?" Demetri didn't answer her, refused to look at her as she looked at the floor, her tears slipping out now as he remained silent trying to get his own thoughts together with everything that had happened in just one short day, her words brining him back from his own thoughts just a second to late to take back what he had said. "I never felt that way...not once. I married you cause it's what I wanted...I wanted to be with you. I still do. I married you cause I love you Demetri..." He still stayed quiet feeling the truth in her words rendered him speechless, unable to answer her, taking it as he didn't want to talk to her she felt the hurt seep in as she nodded slowly. "I-You-...." She cleared her throat before trying again. "I h-have paperwork to do...I'll be home late...Jason just got back from a mission so I have to look over it..." He remained silent again, wondering where his voice had gone, looking at her, feeling the truth in her words, seeing the images in her mind of them growing old together made his throat tighten happily. Still getting nothing from him she couldn't take it anymore, she passed him and walked away down the hall, she didn't bother to look back, more than sure that he had already begun to walk away from where they had been standing. She passed the door that held Marcus behind it and grazed her fingers across it's surface as she passed unaware that the rune on her wrist called out to him as she did so. Going to the training room she could see that it had already been cleaned and repaired from the damage of the two power giants and sighed. Going to her locker she took out her gym clothes and changed quickly. Slipping on her gloves she put the ear buds into her ears and started her music, blocking out all sound as she walked to the punching bag and began her daily training. She punched and kicked the bad til she was sure the seams were about to burst, her mind mulling over what had just happened between her and Demetri. She closed her eyes tightly as his words echoed through her again. [i]'Cause he left.'[/i] The small statement sent a pain through her heart and she gasped, dropping to her knees as it twisted painfully, tears erupted from her eyes as he heart began to beat painfully in her chest, her breathing becomeing ragged as her vision swam. Her heart gave another painful thump before she collapsed to the mats gasping in pain as she clutched her sports bra, trying to lessen the pain as it happened over and over again. She tried to breath through it and cried more as she found she couldn't, the pain almost unbearable as she arched her back and grit her teeth as it continued. She could feel the scream bubbling up in her throat and finally released it as the door slid open, she felt the scream die in her throat as the emotions bombareded her, she could feel the ache of need and the pain of worry flow through her, thoughts filled her mind and she clenched her fists as the person got closer, she didn't have to open her eyes to know it was Marcus, he knelt down next to her and his warm arms slipped under her frame and lifted her from the mats, she gasped as the ache only grew stronger as his skin touched her's. He was breathing heavily and she could see the memory of him feeling her rune go off and dashing from his room to follow her. The pain intensified in her heart and she squirmed in is grasp trying to get away as his emotions only made it that much worse, unknowingly sending out a distess signal to her husband as she screamed again. The pain grew and grew until she felt she would explode from it, she twisted in his arms, arching her back and grasping his forearm as she tried to will the pain away, his concered voice falling on deaf ears as the pain consumed her. It was than that she felt the emotions of another, the worry and concern making her body twist painfully and making her want to vomit as Demetri stepped through the door. "What the hell are you doing to her?!" "I found her like this!" "Than why did she call out to me?" Marcus looked at the woman he loved, rittled with pain and twisting in agony in his arms and than back at Demetri. "I don't know. But I'm not doing this!" She felt Demetri get closer, his emotions filled with anger and envy as he gazed at Marcus holding her, she pushed Marcus away weakly trying to defuse the situation before it escalated able to see Demetri's motives. She could see her husband wanting to throw Marcus away from her and hit him with a solid wind blast, the thought echoing in Demetri's mind over and over as Marcus held onto her tighter. Demetri reached for her and growled as Marcus tightened his arms around her. "Marcus, give her to me. I'll take her to my mother." "I can carry her to Madam Touch just as well as you can Demetri." She tried to push Marcus away again, her arms weak with the pain coursing through her as Demetri's murderous thoughts filled her mind again. This time her touches succeding in getting his attention. "Ali? What's wrong love?" She could feel, almost instantly, that he hadn't meant for the words to slip past his lips, she yelped as Marcus was thrown back by Demetri, Marcus' last words throwing him over the edge instantly. Ali rolled across the mats to land a few feet away grunting in pain. Sitting up she looked through pain hazed eyes as she saw Demetri throw a wind blast as Marcus who deflected it instantly, his runes glowing and coming to life. "S-stop..." Marcus charged at the giant, the runes on his hands glowing brightly as he put his magic into his fists and thew them at her husband, Demetri countering by grabbing the man by his wrist and throwing him over his shoulder and into the mat. Ali pushed herself onto her hands and knees, the pain still making her want nothing more than to pass out as she felt their anger and animosity flow through her like a river. Tears stung her eyes more as she watched the men begin to fight again, this time they weren't fighting to hurt the other, she could feel the killing intent in them, each wanting to wipe the other from the face of the planet to make room for their own selfish reasons. She shook her head and stood slowly, gasping as the pain of a strong wind blast echoed from Marcus to her, blood bloosoming on Marcus' skin and she looked down to see it seeping through her sports bra and run down her stomach as the same gash made it's self seen on her chest. She dropped to her knees again and silently called for Tank as another wound appeared on her upper left arm, a burn mark that Demetri had just recieved from Marcus' magic, she whimped as Marcus' busted lip bloomed on her bottome lips as well. Confused by what was going on she forced herself to stand and thanked every diety she could think of as Tank came through the door. He saw what was happening and instantly ran to restrain his father while Ali stumbled forward and put her arms out, a hand on both Demetri and Marcus' chest to hold them apart as Demetri struggled against Tank. She was breathing heavily as she had just run a mile, it mirrored both men's breathing and she mirrored the growl the came from Demetri, fianlly gaining the attention of the two men who looked down at her. Confusion, worry and regret flowed through her and she sighed as the blood haze cleared from their minds as they looked down at her. "Y-you two have to...stop this...you'll kill each other and I won't forgive either of you..." She took a deep breath, gasping as the gash on her chest shot pain through her body. "I'm...so sick of this. You two could fight til the end of the earth...won't matter who wins in the end....it'll still be my choice..." She could feel her body getting weaker, could feel the energy drain from her little by little as she held the two men apart. Her sentences broken up as she tried to stay consious. "I-I'm not...not a toy for you two...to fight over." Demetri stopped fighting Tank as he could feel his wife's weakness seep through him, Marcus doing much the same, both men reaching out and grabbing her arms as she toppled forward. She opened her eyes and hear the intake of breath from Demetri, Marcus and Tank as they looked down into her eyes, which were now reddish brown. She frowned and lifted her hands, cupping both Demetri and Marcus' faces. "I love you both...so much...it kills me to see you fight." They looked at each other and than back down at her, regret flowing from both men, Demetri looked her over and than looked him self and Marcus over seeing each and every wound they both had copied onto her body. "Her powers progressed..." Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and she gasped and squirmed away from him as she felt what just touching her skin did to him, the feelings so strong they felt as if they were about to consume her. His need, his want, his desire for her making her shiver and pull away as it overwhelmed her. It happened again as she felt the triumph flow from Demetri into her, the feeling of it making him want to smile and rub it into the Mystic's face, it poured into her and she nearly wept as both of their thoughts flooded her mind. Pushing away from them she stumbled into Tank who held onto her tightly, he was so reserved that the only thing she felt from his was the worry for his family. "T-Take me to the med ward son, please?" He picked her up effortlessly, sending a small glare back at the two men. "Sure thing mom. You alright?" "I will-will be once I get this under c-control." The emotions and thoughts grew weaker and quieter as Tank carried her away from the two men, both watching her go and wanting nothing more than to follow her. Tank lay Ali down on the small matteress and watched as Patch's hand hovered over her body healing her, she winced and covered her eyes with her hand as his thoughts filtered through her mind. "I don't know what they were fighting about this time dammit. Just...keep your thoughts to youreself." He paused and looked down at her confused. "I was..." She blinked up at him and shoved his hands away as the last of her wounds vanished, she got up off the bed with a frown and began to walk back to her room, the whispers echoing in her head now, the rumors passing back and forth as she passed people in the halls, pulling out her i-pod she shoved the small headphones into her hears, almost violently, to try and block out the noise but it still filled her head consuming her til she fell to her knees in the middle of the hall, the whispers growing in intensity and volume as she kneeled there gasping for breath. Taking a deep breath and holding it she forced her self back to her feet rushed down the hall til she reached her old room. Punching in her code she slipped inside and let out the breath as the door slid shut behind her. She leaned on the door and slid down til she sat on the floor, her knees to her chest and her hands over her ears as the voices echoed in her head getting louder by the second, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to make them go silent with no sucsess. She pressed her hands harder against her ears trying to see if getting them to ring loud enough would work, but still nothing. Screaming she stood and thew her old end table across the room causing it to shatter into wooden splinters. Looking at one of the sharper pieces she picked it up and studied it, with out second thinking she pressed it to her pale skin and drug it across her flesh hissing as pain shot up her arm, blood spilling to the floor as she made the gash long and deep. She sighed as the voices lessened only to start again. Frowning she took the stake in her other hand and repeated the motion to her unharmed arm smiling as once again the emotions and thoughts vanished, the pain taking over and throwing her into a world of blackness as she passed out, her blood running down her arms as they were propped up on her knees to flow down her pale legs and onto the floor.[/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]The rune burned on her wrist and she moaned into the kiss, more so as his arms lossened allowing room for his hands to run across her skin. "You've trained alot more while I've been gone." She nodded, her thoughts confused and jumbled, but one thing rang clear, her body still wanted the man infront of her, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply again, he groaned as she ran her finger tips down his chest, feeling the muscles that were much more defined now. She smiled against his lips before she spun around hearing a giggle. "Shadowthrone!" She backed up a step as an elderly man came from the shadows and smiled, a giggled bubbling forth from his throat. "My my, what a show you two put on I must say." Ali frowned and looked back at Marcus who was growling now, she could feel the frustration, but also loyalty coming off of him for the older man. "Shadowthrone, I thought he was a part of your old team, the one that died." Marcus nodded before speaking. "Sometimes I don't think he died enough for my liking." Shadowthrone clapped a hand to his heart and faked a shock, a smile still floating on his features. "Your so crule my boy. Now I have something to tell the two of you. Your boy is something else. He is just a youngling yet he brought you here. Do you know what that means?" Ali shook her head while Marcus frowned. "Only my family, the men in my family should be able to enter this place in such a manner." Ali pointed to the old man, he waved her off with a scoff. "I don't count dear. I'm dead." She looked back at Marcus as the mystic began to pace back and forth as he let his thought roam free. "If he brought you here...and only the men in my blood line can come here that way...." His face lit up as he came to a conclusion, but than fell as he realized that it was just going to make that much more trouble. "Alex...I think Neos IS my son." Ali forwned and shook her head, Shadowthrone giggling behind them ignored. She took Marcus' hand and looked up at him. "Take us home, I need to go somewhere." He nodded and just like that she woke up in bed, Neos already back in his own, slipping from the bed she dialed Patch on her work phone and smiled as he answerd. "I need a favor. You still have the blood tests of me, Demetri and Marcus?" "Uh, yeah why?" She explained to him what she wanted, what she needed and told him to call her when it was done. The day was half way over when her phone buzzed, she dug it from her jacket pocket and saw Patche's number. "What did you find?" "You might want to come down here Commander. Your gonna want to see this." Grabbing her jacket she txt Demetri who met her in the medical ward, he looked down confused, and worried. "What's wrong love?" Ali told him the truth, she wanted him to trust her. "Neos...he took me to the shadowrealm." "I thought only Marcus could do that." "So did I." Demetri put two and two together and frowned. "Are you telling me that he's really-" "That's why we're here. I know he's not. I was pregnant before anything happened between Marcus and I." Patch came from the back room holding a slip of paper, three slips as a matter of fact. "Commander, Commandant; as you already know. Neos is in fact your son, but there's another DNA strand here that belongs to neither of you." Ali frowned. "What are you talking about?" "Apparently, while in the womb, Neos copied a DNA strand and adapted it to his own DNA from you and the Commandant. So in truth, he has three blood parents." Ali felt her stomach drop before her heart began to hammer in her chest. "W-Who is the thrid?" "The only other person your rumored to have been with Alex. Marcus Demos." Demetri didn't speak, didn't move for several long moments but when he did he didn't look at Ali, he simply stood and walked out leaving her behind, she could understand, he needed time to soak that in. Her on the other hand needed to go and talk to Marcus. But before that she needed an explination. "How?" "Well from what I can gather, when you and Marcus were together, Neos was still developing, his powers not completely set, so he took on the most dominante, which out of the three of you is the Colonel's, he copied the power there in copying the DNA as well." "So he IS Marcus' son?" "In a sense. He has the same blood line, just as he has Demetri's blood and yours." "How is that possible?" "I don't really know. It shouldn't be. Maybe Neos has more power than any of us really understand, maybe he always had." "I'm still confused Patch..." "Yeah, you and me both. I could tell that the little piece of information shook the Commandant, let him know that Neos is still very much his, yours and his DNA are the most dominante, but truth is, maybe during that last fight with Sybille something happened. There's no real way to tell. All I can tell you is your son has two fathers. As odd as that sounds." She pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded, trying to take in the information and process it. Patche spoke, jogging her from her thoughts. "You need to inform Marcus as well. Mostly due to the reason that Neos is going to need training soon, Touch wanted me to tell you that unless he gets a teacher soon, he'll have to be put under survallience." "What? He's just a child!" "A very powerful child Alex. Think about it, how many people out there would love to get their hands on a prodigy like him?" She felt her blood freeze over as the thought of her loving, innocent son being used for anything hit her, hard. She nodded, understanding the fear from her mother in law. "Yeah, I understand. But why are you suggesting Marcus?" "If anyone knows that kind of power, it's Demos." She nodded and took the papers with her as she left, she walked through the halls hearing whispers as she did, they never stopped, forever buzzing around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to hold in her shame and anger as she heard more whispers about the fight between Marcus and Demetri, about her being with the both of them. She jumped as an arm drapped over her shoulder and a deep growl sounded silenceing the crowd around her. "Jason, your back?" "Oh yeah, just got back from Iceland. I don't get why they call it that either, Iceland is green, yet Greenland is cold as ****." She shook her head smiling as the people began to leave, taking their whispers with them. "People still giving you a hard time?" "It doesn't bother me much anymore. I don't see why it should. The rumors are all true..." He shook her roughly, growling slightly. "Alex, you did what you had to, you did what made you happy, if that makes you wrong well than I'm screwed." She chuckled lightly and sighed. "You don't have to keep defending me ya know." "Why not? Your my sister, I'd defend you against any thing or anyone. Even if you were wrong, which you weren't Ali." "My own husband doesn't do much to stop them, why should you?" He growled harshly and stopped her, his hands on her shoulders, his yellow eyes boring into her brown ones. "What did you just say?" "That Demetri doesn't bother with stopping the rumors, I don't think they bother him, so why should it bother you?" "Cause your my family dammit! He should defend you more than me! He's your husband." She shook her head and pulled from his grasp. "I have something I need to take care of alright, stay out of trouble will you?" He nodded and watched as she rounded the corner before heading to Demetri's office to give the bastard a piece of his mind. Ali walked slowly down the hall, gripping the papers in her hand tightly, trying to figure out how to tell Marcus about Neos...how in fact, in a way, Marcus was his father...or second father? She shook her head and took a deep breath as she came upon the man's door. She didn't bother knocking but opted to just step in, almost instantly she wished that she had knocked. He pushed himself on the floor doing pushups, sweat gleaming on his skin and muscles, his legs flexing as well as his arms as he pumped himself close to the floor and than back up at arms length. She flet a blush cover her cheeks as she allowed her eyes to travle the man, his robe drapped over a chair as he wore loose shorts, she tried to clear her throat to get his attention but found that it had gone almost completely dry. The sight of his skin sending fire through her blood and she ached to reach out and touch him, to trace the marks that graced his dark skin, to see his handsome face as she ran her hands across his body but she shook it off, she was here for a reason. "Ma-" She swallowed thickly. "Marcus..." He stopped, his body held off the floor and looked back at her, his dark, handsome face lighting up slightly as he caught sight of her. "Ali, is something wrong?" She shook her head, stopped, frowned, and than nodded before closing her eyes and sighing. "It's complicated..." He stood, and she blushed more as she caught her self watching every muscle in his body shift, like liquid under his skin, she shook her head closing her eyes and scolding herself. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked." He chuckled as she moved from the door way allowing it close behind her as she walked across the room with him, he going to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water while she sat down at his small table, her fingers fumbling with the papers in her hand. "It's nothing you haven't seen Alex." She looked up and rolled her eyes smiling as he gave her a wink, he noticed her fiddling with her hands and sat down across from her. "What's wrong? You seem nervous." She took a deep breath and let it out before looking at him, straight at him, her chocolate brown eyes boring into his and making his breath catch for a moment. "I need to talk to you about something." He could hear how serious she was and gave her his undivided attention. "I'm listening." "It's about Neos he-" "What's the matter? Is he alright? What happened?" She held up her hand halting his questions, her heart swelling at his concern for the child. "Calm down, he's fine. Nothing has happened...at least not to him." "What do you mean not to-" "Can I finish please?" He clamped his mouth shut and she gave it a few moments before she continued. "I want you to teach him. I don't care if Demetri approves or not. It's not about him and you, or even about the two of you and me. This is about Neos. He needs someone to show him the dangers of his power, to show him how to control it and I can't think of any one better than you for that task." He looked at her shocked for a moment before frowning. "What's this all about Alex, you were hesitant yesterday, what changed your mind?" "It's a long stroy." "I have time." She looked down at the papers in her hand and laid them out of the table for Marcus to see, he frowned clearly confused. "These are blood tests. One for you, Demetri and myself." "For what purpose?" "Something that old man said this morning made me think...so I had some blood tests run on the three of us...and Neos." She could see his mind working almost, trying to put two and two together and suddenly it hit, his face registering the shock he felt as he reached for the papers only to have her pull them away. "Yes, it is what your thinking. Neos is your son, in a sense." "A sense? What the hell is that supposed to mean Alex? You mean to tell me that I've had a son this whole time that I left behind?" "Yes...and no. It's hard to explain...Patch thinks that during the fight with Sybille, when your powers went haywire...that night...the night you left...you transfered some of your power into me...not having anywhere else to go it went to the nearest source which happened to be Neos since his powers hadn't fully developed. Along with your power, he took your DNA...he's as much your son as he is Demetri's..." "Y-you mean?" "Neos has three blood parents....Demetri, myself...and you." And now that she looked back on it, she could see some of the mystic in the child, not just his power but his looks. He had Marcus' face, the shape and exspressions, not only that his skin was a shade darker than Demetri's looking closer to Marcus'. "I know it's hard to take in, but it's the truth, these are the test results." She held the papers out to him now, and he took them from her looking down at them for what felt like forever. "Marcus, say something....please?" She felt herself get nervous the longer he looked at the papers, she only wished he would say something...anything.[/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali shoved Marcus out of the suite and into the hall, her face turned down into a scowl as she looked up at him. "You have got to stop this Marcus." He looked down at her, his hand finding her shoulders and holding tight. "I can't, and you know why." She looked down, her eyes not meeting his, she knew why, and she knew why her husband and Marcus were acting like school children, she shook her head as she felt the pain radiating from the room behind her. "Look, you just-You have to stop...and infront of the kids?" "Ali what if Neos really isn't-" "I still can't believe you said that to him Marcus...After how long you know he's wanted a family with me..." "But his power. Ali you have to admit, it's unlike anything you've ever seen." "I already did. I'm sorry Marucs, but tonight I have to take my husband's side. I was hoping that you would just put an end to it. Don't get me wrong, he's getting a piece of my mind as well. But you shouldn't have let it escalate infront of the kids that way." "You didn't say anything either." She frowned up at him, tears welling up in her eyes, making him falter. "I was hoping that you or my husband would man up and admit you were both being stupid. You two can argue all you damn well want, in the end it's my choice isn't that right?" "Well yeah but-" "Alright than. Good night Marcus." Before he could respond she retreated back into her home, he heard the beep of the door as she locked it. Leaning on the door she took a deep breath before walking to the bathroom and getting on her knees next to Demetri, he looked relieved that she was there til he felt the frustration rolling off of her, along with a small bit of pain, but not for the man that she had just sent away. "Alex, I'm sorry." "You shouldn't have done that in front of the kids. Let alone Neos." "Ali, you heard what he said to me." "I did, and I gave him a piece of my mind for it. Just like I will you but not right now, once their in bed." She grabbed a towel and pulled Neos from the tub and dried the boy off before dressing him and tucking him into bed, she kissed his forehead with a smile, he looked up and tapped her cheek gaining her attention in the same way he always did. "Mommy, do you love Uncle Marcus?" She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's hard to explain honey. Your Mommy and Uncle Marcus became really close a long time ago, and he helped through alot. Mommy has a lot of good memories with Uncle Marcus. But, your Mommy loves Daddy. Very much, and no one can ever change that. Right?" He nodded happily and settled down into his blankets to go to sleep. She stood and flipped off his light, which turned on his nightlight. Leaving his door cracked she walked down the hall and into her bed room to see her husband sitting on the bed, his face in his hands. "Demetri?" "I can't believe I pulled Neos into that..." "I can't either. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with that fact. What were you thinking love?" "I don't know. What he said to me in the training room just made my blood boil." "I know...but let me ask you something Demetri. Whose bed am I in every night?" "Mine, but he's back. Whose to say you won't go back to his." She blinked, the tears gathering in her eyes as she looked at her hands, remembering the whispers of the recurits in the training room. "Is that how you really feel?" He suddenly realized what he had said and cursed at himself. "Ali...I'm-" "Don't, I know you heard what every one was saying, just as much as I did. I'm a disgrace to this organiztion and I know it." He shook his head slowly and put his arm around her bringing her into his side. "No more than I am Ali. Look, I'm sorry. I know your with me and-" "Demetri, I don't know how many times I have to tell you. I chose you. I love you." Before he could argue with her further she pushed him into the bed and covered his lips with her's silencing him effectivly. "That's enough...now. I'm still sweaty from training...think you would want to joing me in the shower?" She stood up and left him quickly, he heard shuffling from the bathroom before the water turned on and he saw her toss her shorts and sports bra from the bathroom, a smile spreading across his face as he followed her. Her whispers of love and devotion ringing in his ears throughout their love making that night and into the light grey rays of the dawn. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali sighed as she entered the room, her shoulders sore from all the dishes she had washed. Looking around the room she noticed it was quiet, to quiet for her liking, she moved through the suite towards her and Demetri's room and felt her heart swell as she spotted her husband and youngest curled up in the bed together, her bad day momentairly forgotten. She walked over and kenlt down by the bed shaking Neos gently making him mumble and sit up runnging his eyes. "Mommy?" "Yeah baby, it's me. What are you doing in here with Daddy?" "I had a bad dream that Daddy was hurt and when I came in here he was just laying on the bed and it scared me." "Oh Neos, I'm sure Daddy just had a rough day at work. Really busy." The young boy nodded as he woke up more. "Your brother and sister should be home soon, why don't you go and wash up for dinner alright?" He smiled up at her and hopped down from the bed. "Alright!" He jogged off, the fox trailing behind him as he rushed from the room towards the bathroom, Ali looked back at the man on her bed and smiled more. He was sleeping peacefull on his stomach, his arms folded under the pillow, his hair falling into his face. She brushed the strands from his face and smiled more as he cracked his eyes open to look at her. "Ali?" "Hello love, it's going on 6. You alright?" "Yeah, just tired. Training all those new operatives can really get to a person." "Next time let me help. I don't mind." "No, that's alright love. I seriously doubt you want to be stuck in a sweaty taining room with a bunch of kids." She frowned but nodded none the less, her thoughts going back to what she had said to him, about some things being easier with Marcus, he always wanted to be with her no matter where they were. She metally shook her self and stood up sitting on the bed with him only to smile more as he pulled her against him and kissed her neck. "Hello there Commandant Athens. What can I do for you tonight?" He smiled against her skin and looked up as the door opened, Tank and Lily's voices filtering through the suite, along with another that made Ali freeze for a second. "Demetri, Marcus is back, did you know that?" "I did. I invited him to dinner tonight. Is that alright?" She nodded and stood from the bed, walking to the bathroom she stripped from her uniform and washed her arms and face getting rid of the kitchen smell before looking at the clothes hanging on the door, the black dress slacks and form fitting purple blouse seeming to mock her. Sighing she dug through the laundry basket and dug out a pair of jeans and a tank top, dressing she opned the door and shut it again quickly seeing Demetri in tan pants and a button down shirt, she would feel very out of place if she went out dressed like this. Resolving her self she dressed her self in the dress pants and blouse, brushed out her hair and emerged. Demetri smiled at her as he took her in. "You look beautiful." "Thank you." She linked her arm with his as they walked out, her heart faltering as she saw Marcus, he smiled at them and Ali could feel the tension build between them. Marcus extended his hand towards her husband who took it tightly. "Demetri, congratulations. How was the wedding?" "It was pleasant." Ali felt her heart twist painfully at her words and didn't bother trying to hide it from the two men, Marcus and Demetri looking down at her as she took a step away from them. "Pleasant? That's it? What happened to wonderful, amazing, beautiful, moving, and every other word you used that night BUT pleasant?" Demetri blinked a few times as Marcus just looked at her, feeling her pain at Demetri's choice of words. She shook her head, lowering her voice so the children didn't hear them, she didn't want to scare them. "Enjoy dinner boys. I'll be out." She bit the words out, both men not even bothering to stop her as she walked away from them back into the bed room. Going to the bathroom she changed into a pair of shorts and a sports bra, grabbing her gloves and I-pod she walked by the men again and stopped looking back at Demetri with a scowl. "And I don't mind being in a sweaty training room, so long as I'm with you. As a matter of fact, that's where I'm going now." She spun on her heel and left, her braided hair whipping behind her, both men jumped as Neos pointed to the door after his mother. "Mommy's going to cry." He said it as if it were the most simple thing in the world. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali growled low in her throat, her arms up to her elbows in soapy, warm water. She could hear the snickers and hisses of laughter behind her making her want to fling the large bowl she had in her hands all the more. She pushed her anger out of her body, it flowed over the kitchen staff shutting them up effectivly and she cursed under her breath as the conversation that landed her here in the first place flooded back to haunt her. [i]She stampeded through the room, heading for the office in tha back, the secrataries scattering before her as her rage boiled out and filled the room, she reached the office she wanted and threw open the door. "Sheild! You wicked son of a snake! What are you playing at?" "Commander Athens, good of you to drop by, how are the grandkids? Oh and please, my mother was a saint." "You knew he was coming back!" "Who are we talking about? Elvis? I hear the rumors that-" "Marcus you infuriating old goat! You must have known he was coming back here, your a member of the high council, why weren't we informed!" "Ah, Colonel Demos, I see. So he's shown himself than has he?" Ali growled and andvanced on her father in law dangerously as he turned to look at her, his eyes held a mishchiveous glint to them as they sparkled with mirth. "Why would you be informed my dear? What concern of it is to you if the Colonel as returned?" "He's a member of the Apha Team and as the Team Lead I think that it is within my jusrisdiction to know when one of my team members returns after 3 damn years!" He frowned slightly, although he never lost the slight gleam in his eyes. "And this has nothing to do with personal feelings between you and Mr. Demos?" Ali felt her face flush as her cheeks burned scarlet. "You coniving old bastard! Why didn't you tell us?!" "I would watch your tone Commander." "To hell with my tone! You could have told us! At least Demetri and my self!" He took his glasses off, cleaning them free of dust on his shirt before slipping them back onto his face and looking at her. "Is that all Commander?" "No, you haven't answered my question at all!" "And which one was that?" "Why didn't you tell us?!" He tapped his chin and gave her a smirk. "Call it a judgement in loyalty my dear." A growl bubbled from her throat as she stared her father in law down. "Why you tactless-" "Commander Athens, as reptillian, old, and tactless as I may be, I believe I am still a member of the High Council. The tone of which you have taken with me today, I can not let that slip. Dish duty tonight Mrs. Athens." "WHAT?!"[/i] And here she was, in an apron soaked through with dish water, disgruntled, and very sour. She glared over her shoulder as more giggling came from the younger kitchen staff and yet again she threw her anger out towards them silenceing them quickly. She looked up as a conversation from the front counter caught her attention. "Commandant, I was curious as to when we would see you." Demetri's voice followed with a hint of curiousity. "Why is that Rosie?" "Your here to collect your wife aren't you sir?" "I was actually coming to see how you guys were holding up, ask if I need to order more stock for the kitchen. What is Alex doing here?" "Apparently she mouthed off to a member of the High Council." Demetri sighed and ran a hand over his face, not completely surprised with this news considering she mouthed off to his father more often than not. "I see, where is she?" "In the back." He nodded to her and walked around the counter entering the back room, seeing Ali hunched over the large sink, her arms elbow deep in the water, her hair coming loose from it's braid to frame her face; her uniform jacket was tied around her waist and the soaking wet apron covered her equally soaked, egg shell white tank top that was now semi translucant thanks to the liquid. Even with a murderous glint in her eyes as she scrubbed the dishes furiously she still took his breath away, he let his eyes travel over her as he leaned on the corner of the door and watched her, taking in the changes of the last 3 years in once again, she was slightly taller now, her frame filled out beautifully. Her hips wider due to her pregnancy, her stomach having lost the baby fat and now slim once again tapered into her hips suductivly, the rest of the changes to her body filling her out and making her a constant thought in the man's brain, more so than usual. He felt him self blush as his thoughts ran away from him making his body come to life almost instantly with want for the woman, all just by watching her. He shook his head and strolled forward wrapping his arms around her waist and feeling the soaked apron around her waist, she relaxed instantly into her husband's arms, leaning back into his warmth. His voice rumbled from behind her. "How many times are you gonna do this love?" "Til he stops being such a crazy old bat." Demetri chuckled and ducked his head down planting a firey trail of kisses down her neck, unable to stop him self completely and smiling as she shuddered pleasantly. "You lucky he doesn't make you clean the heads with the names you call him." "As if you don't think the same thing about him from time to time." "I do. But I keep it to my self, that way, I don't end up where you are." "Half soaked, and being held wonderfully by my husband?" He laughed, loosening his grip on her so she could turn in his arms, bringing up her hand she put a large cluster of soap bubbles to his nose only to squeal and laugh as he nuzzeled his nose into her neck chuckling. After a few moments he bent down and kissed her, the kiss brief but passionate and she matched it by pouring her own want and need for her husband behind it making him groan quietly and tighten his grip on her. "You make it very hard sometimes Alex." She smiled and kissed him again, quickly. "Make what hard love?" He flipped her around in his arms again, pulling her flush against his chest and burieing his nose in her neck as she gasped and blushed, his mouth close to her ear as his warm breath washed across her neck with his whisper. "Many things." He pulled away slowly, with much effort, and cleared his throat. "I'm heading to the training room to see how the new operatives are holding up with hand to hand combat training." Ali nodded, her cheeks still flushed as her heart raced under her ribs. "Alright, we still on for tonight?" He gave her a quick kiss before sending her a mental image as an answer, the image causing her to turn red again and drop a pan she had begun to wash back into the water with a gasp; heat flooding her system and making her want for the end of the working hours sky rocket. [/color] **Small sidenote- Head or heads is a military term used for bathrooms, in case it confused you. Don't ask me why they call them that...they just do.**[/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali stood behind her desk, having shed her uniform jacket a few minutes after entering her office and was sorting through a stack of papers cursing as the top half fell to the floor. "Dammit!" She bent down to pick them up and gasped as a large hand met her's there, she looked up into the hazel eyes of Demetri and felt her heart flutter pleasantly as he gave her a gently smile. "Hey...I wanted to talk to you about earlier." She frowned, remembering him trying to hide the notes of Marcus' return from her, now that she had seen him she knew why. She kept her emotions gaurded as she leaned back against her desk looking up at him as he ran his hand over his face. "Ali, you have to understand why I did-" "I do understand love. I just wish that you would have trusted me more." "Can you blame me?" "It was 3 years ago Demetri." "And I still catch you looking at the picture of you and him." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look I'm sorry, it's just...somethings were...easier with him." "Like what Alex? Please, tell me. I'll do anything you know that." She nodded, the thought comforting to her and at the same time building on her already guilty consious. She sighed again and shook her head. "Sometimes I just feel like we're the working couple. All work and no play." "We joke around enough Ali, why can't you just be happy?" She frowned and let her barrier down allowing her frustration and anger flood into him, causeing him to back up a step. "I am happy Demetri, I wouldn't have married you if I wasn't! I chose you!" Demetri sighed and walked over to her gathering her into his arms tightly, she relaxed almost instantly as his large arms held her tight to his chest, her hands resting on the shirt covered muscles and making his heart beat faster. She looked up at him, his eyes meeting his and making her shiver at the intensity behind his eyes. "I just want you happy Alex. You know that." She didn't answer him but pulled him down for a kiss, relaying how she felt about him through it with everything she had, in her own way trying to make it up to him what she had just done though he had no idea that she had already seen Marcus. He pulled back from her breathing heavily just as she was. "How much paper work do you still have?" "A good bit...enough that I'll kill Jason." "Most of it about him again?" She nodded with a frown and put her forehead against his chest, hearing his heart thundering in his chest, she placed her small hand over his heart feeling it thump harder at her touch. She always marveled how she could make him react with the slightest touches and smiled as she trailed her fingers down his chest, tracing the scars that she couldn't see but knew were there. His breath caught in his throat and he let out a quiet growl that sent shivers down her spine, ever since he had been controled by Sybille and reverted to such a primal state at one point he often let growls or other noises out that told her what she needed to know about what she was doing. She gasped as he suddenly pulled her tight against him and kissed her roughly causing her mind to go blank momentarily and her knees to go weak, he pulled away and pressed his forehead to her's smiling slightly. "I love you Demetri. Please don't ever doubt that." He nodded and kissed her once more before he straightened out his uniform and smiled down at her. "I'll see you at home?" She nodded and returned the smile. "It's a date." He bent down and caught her lips with his once more before leaving, shutting the door behind him, she waited til she was sure he was out of ear shot, looking through the blinds of her office window making sure he was gone before she sighed heavily and fell back into her seat, her heart was racing and she wasn't sure where her thoughts were at the moment. She looked up, her heart stopping as the door was thrown open and a bundle was racing through the door towards her, seeing the blur of red and tan she didn't need to even think twice before she opened her arms and allowed Neos to leap into her lap. "Mommy!" She chuckled and hugged him tight, his head tucking under her chin. She poked him in the side making him squeal and laugh. "Neos, what are you doing here? I thought I told you not to bother Mommy while she's working?" "But, your friend brought me. He was coming to see you too!" Ali felt her stomach twist as the man stepped around the door frame, she swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at Marcus, she could see him more clearly in the light of her office instead of the dim light of his room, she could see he had gotten slightly taller, and more muscular. His skin hadn't changed but his face looked more aged since she had seen him last, it pulled at her heart remembering how she had been able to take years off of the man with out even trying. She stood up, holding Neos in her arms as he patted her cheek getting her attention. "He's your friend isn't he Mommy? He's the one who took care of us while Daddy was gone wasn't he?" Ali blinked down at the boy in her arms and tried to answer but nothing came to her, she looked back at Marcus, he held up his hands silently letting her know that he hadn't said anything to the boy. "Sweetheart, he's your Godfather, remember me telling you about him?" The boy smiled largely and turned back to Marcus. "Yeah! He's the one you said you'd love for the rest of your life no matter what happened! Just like me and Tank and Lily. He's the one who took a piece of you with him right?" Ali froze, she had said those things to the boy when he was still very young, and was more than shocked that he remembered them. "Neos, honey...why don't you go and play with your brother and sister for me alright? Mommy has a lot of work to do." "Okay!" He gave her a hug and a kiss, waving good bye to her as he rushed out of the room, he stopped and ran back to Marcus reaching up and giving the man a large hug before planting a wet kiss on his cheek, he touched Marcus' cheek like he did Ali's to get his attention, once sure the mystic was looking at him he said, very seriously. "Mommy still loves you. She dreams of you sometimes...her dreams hurt..." With that the boy hopped from the man's arms and ran from the office, the sound of the door slamming shut not even registering on the two adults at first, one to shocked by what had just been revealed to him and the other to shocked on what her son actually knew.[/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Feeling his arms around her, the warmth making her go slightly weak at the knees it was all she could do not to turn around and kiss him; but she held that emotion away from him as she pulled from his grasp gently and turned to look at him as she pulled her shirt back over her body covering the tattoo once again. She gave him a smile which was matched with one from him that made her heart leap into her throat at the sight of it, the emotions surging to the surface again. Looking away from him for a moment she picked up the rag she had been using and began to wipe the dust from his small kitchen counter putting some distance between them, the movement making a cold seep into her entire being. She looked up at him and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "So, how was your trip?" "If you could call it that. It was...informative." "Still mysterious I see. Learn anything useful perhaps?" "Wouldn't you like to know?" She chuckled and threw an extra rag at him, her smile growing as he caught it with out effort and smiled back at her, she felt her heart beat speed up as they went back to the easy, play fighting that they had done before he left. "S-So. Where did you go while you were gone?" "Alot of places to be honest. I was at the Eastern Base mostly." She nodded slowly and than smiled and shook her head. "How were you able to stand Pheniox? Last time I met her she seemed like such an uptight woman." Marcus let out a laugh, quiet to the point most people would have missed it, but she didn't and her heart skipped a beat at the sound. "Yes, she is. But I think I charmed her well enough." Ali snorted some trying to hold her own laughter back. "I'm sure you did, the suave man that you are." She met his eyes and shook her head smiling still as she went back to cleaning the counters free of dust, her heart racing as her hands ached to touch the man standing a few feet away from her. She squashed the feeling swiftly as she caught sight of the ring on her left hand. "You missed alot while you were gone." He nodded slowly, a slight look of pain crossing his face and making her want nothing more than to run to him and comfort him, making the pain go away. "I can see that. What all has happened?" "Like I said, alot. Neos has a power." Marcus' eyes grew wide as he looked at her, taking her in, the supple curve of her hips having widened thanks to the child birth, her frame more full and feminine than it had been 3 years ago. "Is that right? What kind?" Ali shook her head and chuckled as she ran her hand through her bangs trying to describe it to him, she set the rag down and leaned forward on the counter, unaware of his travling eyes. "It's diffucult to explain...it reminds me alot of your power." His eyes shifted back to her face, shocked. "What do you mean?" "He can create things from thin air, and destroy them just as quickly, just the other night Demetri tried to feed him broccoli and he just tapped his finger to it and it exploded all over the kitchen. It was such a mess." Marcus chuckled more at the thought before he paused. "That sounds very powerful." She could hear the hint of concern flood his voice and melted a little on the inside. She nodded slowly. "Yeah, it is, HE is. I just hope he doesn't lose himself in it has he gets older." Marcus nodded, still watching her as she moved the rag across the surface of the counter, almost absent mindedly. "How are Tank and Lily? Have they been getting along alright?" Ali rolled her eyes slightly before releasing a huff of breath. "You could say that. Tank is 16 now and as every teenage boy he's hardheaded and tempramental and Lily...Demetri has spoiled her rotten." Marcus shook his head, not surprised when a thought struck him. "You make it sound as if they live with you." "They do. Demetri and I adopted them. We live in the suit upstairs, the one that Shield and Touch used to live in." "It must be very extravagant." Ali nodded slowly. "It's a bit much sometimes. I'm still not fully used to it. Demetri is so comfortable with all of it cause he grew up around all that but myself, well sometimes I just want a simple day. Nothing fancy. Just to sit on a couch and relax like we used to do when you would read-" She stopped her self mid sentence, Marcus' heart skipped a beat as she openly admitted that she still thought about the two of them. Ali put her hand on her forehead and frowned. Putting the rag down she walked over to a chair and grabbed her uniform jacket and slipped it on slowly as she shook her head. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be thinking llike this." Marcus caught her arm, the warmth from his hand making her skin break out in goosebumps that she was unable to hide from him. "Thinking like what Ali?" Instead of answering him, she let her thoughts pour from herself to him, the rune on her wrist glowing for the first time in 3 years, the burn almost welcome as he gasped and released her, he looked down at her, his breathing heavy. "I shouldn't be here." She buttoned up her uniform jacket, gathered her things and grabbed her wallet from his nightstand where she had placed it not seeing the folded up picture fall from the folded leather. Stopping she looked over at him, the look of hurt seeping back into his features, she could feel her head swimming as his scent had started to fill the small room, she could still feel the heat of his hand on her arm, like a burn mark that throbbed dully. Closing her eyes tightly she tried to will her self to leave, her body didn't listen as she turned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders matching her lips to his, he reacted instantly by wrapping his arms around her as well, the sound of his restrained moan hitting her like a blow to the stomach and she pulled away from him completely, the loss of his warmth making her want to whimper but she held the sound back. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done that. I-" She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she backed towards the door, Marcus to stunned to move. "It's good to have you back Marcus." She turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind her as she walked away towards her own office, with every intent on locking her self in it for the rest of the day as guilt seemed to consume her. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali jogged down the hall, Tank's heavy footsteps sounding behind her as she turned the corner and saw the others already gathered around her husband. She psuhed her way through and finally found him holding his hands up for silence. "Alright! Guys shutup!" Ali looked back as the team quieted down, now short a few members which made her heart twsit, only to be replaced with a warm sensation as his voice called back over them once again. "We're leaving for a mission in four days. Get your stuff ready and make sure that your in top form. We're hunting the gods." Gene sighed and looked down at the floor as he ran a hand through his hair. "Really? I was kind of hoping that they would have just fallen from the face of the planet by now. I mean it's been 3 years." Demetri shook his head and dismissed them asking for Ali to follow him, she walked with him til she caught up and linked her arm around his gaining a smile from her husband. She loved him, with all her heart, his touch sending shivers along her spine, and heat through her body. His smile making her go weak at the knees and her heart flutter happily, and when ever he spoke to her, she was lost in his deep baratione voice, the sound soothing her and making her relax. He pulled his arm from her grasp to put it around her shoulders and pull her to his side smiling as she wrapped her arm around his waist. They walked for a little ways til they reached his office, his secrataries inclining their heads to their Commander and Commandant, he pulled her into his corner office and shut the door locking it tightly and gaining a raised eye brow from her. "Demetri Athens, don't tell me you plan to have me right here in your office?" "Wouldn't be the first time, or do you not recall that night in the office while I was Commander?" She blushed as memories of that night flooded back to her, the passion was intense and they had taken their time...at first. The aftermath proved otherwise. Papers had littered the floor, his pens had been toppled and scattered along the desk and floor as well, his office had been a competely and utter mess from their activities. She had grabbed his uniform jacket and wrapped it around herself to keep the chill of the room from her skin and helped him clean the mess. She came from the memory to see him leering at her, the lust hidden behind is eyes making her shiver pleasantly before he pulled her close and matched his lips to her's kissing her deeply making a light moan escape her throat, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against his muscular body. She pulled back slightly to laugh lightly before he attcked her with kisses again. After an hour he sat behind his desk, trying to straighten it once again, his bare, scarred chest exsposed to the open air, his uniform pants pulled up and zipped, the button still undone as he looked across the room towards his wife. Her hair back to it's original color of a dark brown, her slender legs showing as she was wearing his over large over shirt making him smile as he caught a glimpse of her own soft grin on her sleeping face. He sighed as a frown slowly made it's way on to his features as he looked down at his notes. Running a hand over his face at the information that worried him, and pleased him all at once. One of his closest friends was rumored to be on his way back...but it was the only other man his wife had gained feelings for in the past. He looked at the silver band on is left hand and felt hid heart sore as the memory of their wedding filled his mind, but the sound of her coming from her slumber made him look up at her, she yawned and stretched her arms above her head making him tilt his head to the side as the shirt rode high on her skin, seeing this she blushed and pulled it back down. "You look like you've been thinking rather deeply love." He nodded as she walked towards his desk, his hands shifting slightly as he tried to hide the notes with out her realizing it, he should have known better as she pulled a sheet of paper from under his hand and studied it, her eyes widening slightly as her face lost some of it's color. "Are these true?" He shrugged, before taking the paper back and putting it with his other notes. "When did you get that?" "A few days ago." She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest as she frowned at him. "Why didn't you tell me?" "Why does it matter Alex?" She glared at her husband for a few seconds before she sighed and turned on her heel pulling his shirt over her head and tossing it back to him as she dressed in her own uniform. She wore a men's uniform instead, having argued with the privious Commandant for hours until he finally gave her permission. She hated dresses or skirts of any kind, and as she dressed she could hear Demetri fixing his own uniform. Finishing putting on her own uniform she turned on him with a sad frown before shaking her head and walking out. Her heart was racing as she walked, her pace slow, her legs taking her where ever they wanted and it wasn't til she looked up at the door infront of her that she sighed, pulling out her wallet she took out her key card and swiped it, walking in she flipped on the lights, her heart twisting painfull as she saw the empty room. Dust clung to the walls as cobwebs grew in the corners, the mirror in the bath room still had small runes etched into the glass and she shook her head smiling slightly at the man's slight paranoia. She sat down on the bed sneezing as dust rose into the air and looked at the empty picture frame on his night stand, looking in her wallet she pulled out the folded photo and straightened it out seeing her from 3 years ago, her hair having been red, her chocolate eyes sparkling, her eyes shifted to the man in the picture with her, his own brown eyes a few shades darker than her own, they had a life to them that made her smile as his runed face was split into a broad smile, the troubles that had once darkened his face gone making him look younger and full of life. She smiled softly at the picture, tears welling up in her eyes as guilt and pain rushed through her. She threw herself into her relationship with Demetri these last 3 years, trying to make it up to him, trying to make her guilt lessen, but no matter what she did it never lessened. She shuddered at the thought of seeing the runed man again and as she looked around the room she sighed. Taking off her uniform jacket she pulled out her I-Pod tucking the earbuds into her ears and turning the music up she began to sing along to it as she pulled her hair into a pony tail and began to clean the room to get her mind off of things and to make his return more comfortable. She wasn't completely worried about getting ready just yet, they had 4 days, that was plenty of time for her to get ready for what ever lay ahead. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali stirred from her slumber, more than aware that the bed was colder than she sould have been if Marcus were there with her, his scent lingered around her like a cloud and she sat up slowly and blinked trying to clear her vision, it was than she felt the material of his robe of her bare skin. The scent of him coming off of it, looking down she picked it up and held it to her body keeping herself covered as she slipped from the bed and began to search for him. A small smile on her face as she recalled all the times he had left her sleeping peacfully as he made something for her to eat, his concern for her and the baby warming her heart. But as she continued her search through his room she felt her smile begin to slip slowly, her heart began to pump faster as fear kicked in, he was no where to be seen. thrusting her hand in the pockets of his robe to bring it around her body she froze as she felt a slip of paper in one of the pockets, taking it out she recgonized his script on the front and felt her heart twist. My Alex, I wish that I could have stayed, but this is for the best. I have to say thank you, for so many things but mostly for bringing me back to life. I was the happiest I can ever remember being when I was with you and that is memory that I will revist often. I am sorry...I can already feel the chill seeping into my skin as I write this and I want nothing more than to go back to holding on to you, but I can't I have to let you go. I love you Ali, I'm not when it happened, or really even how, but you became everything to me, and I would gladly give up my books, life, soul if I could keep you happy. Take care of your self, for me and the baby. I'll try to keep in touch. For All Eternity Marcus Ali felt her legs give out as she read the letter, than reread it and than again, hot tears flowed down her cheeks as she brought the letter close to her heart and held onto it, as if holding onto him, the face that he was gone leaving her cold and lonely, standing up after a few moments she gathered her things and walked to the bathroom gasping as she saw the small mark on her face, the line looking like a trail of tears that pulsed and glowed faintly, her tears came freshe again and she slid down the wall to curl up on the floor and sobbed, her voice echoing throughout the room driving it deeper that she was surly and truly alone. After that she locked her self in her room, her grief taking control of her life, she barely had the will to get up from bed and was grateful when Tank began to check in on her, brining her food and making sure she ate, the entire time she clutched Marcus' robe to her chest as her tears seemed never ending. She ventrued out from time to time, seeing Demetri in the lunch hall and trying to talk to him barely getting an answer from the man, it only hurt her more and after almost a week she refused to even get up from bed. She stopped eatting, even when Tank would bring her meals she would roll over on her side and refuse making the gaint boy worry more and more til he finally went to Demetri himself. Telling his father figure that Ali needed him, and that Demetri should talk to her. That very night Ali lay in bed, just like all the other nights, holding a pillow to her chest as she cried, her stomach had stopped growling long ago and she had began to lose weight, her skin turning pale, her cheeks no longer full and blushed with a healthy color they were pale and almost grey due to lack of nutrition, her body to weak to even hold her self up on the bed any more so when the knock came at her door she didn't bother to try to open it. The knock came again and she could hear pacing out side but merely rolled over and ignored it, she had given up all hope of ever fixing things between her and Demetri and she didn't think Marcus would be back for her anytime soon. Her body ached for both men but at the moment her heart reached out to the giant, wanting nothing more than for him to gather her into his arms, tell her everything was going to fine, that he forgave her and still loved her and that no matter what he would always be there for her. She shook her head slightly, knowing that it was impossible, she had done to much damage. She felt a small flutter from her stomach, having lost so much weight due to her dispair she could feel the baby move, her body didn't even have the energy to move her hand down and touch her stomach. Looking at the ceiling she closed her eyes, more tears falling down her cheeks as she passed out, unable to hear the voices and pounding on her door. Outside Madam Touch and Patch had shown up, seeing her son there Touch frowned as she drew closer. "Demetri, what are you doing here?" "I wanted to talk to Ali, is everything alright?" Patch shook his head as he followed Touch closer to the giant and the door he stood in front of, Demetri frowned as his mother took out a small paper of codes and began to punch them in swiftly. "How long have you been here baby?" "Almost 5 minutes, she won't open the door." Patch let out a small curse before helping the woman with the codes, Demetri begining to feel dread fill his heart. "What's this all about?" Patch looked back at the large man with a frown, his eyes holding a pain for his friend behind the door. "Ever since Demos left, and you pretty much refuse to talk to her, she's locked her self in her room. Tank said she stopped eatting, that she wasn't sleeping, said she'd lost weight and was to weak to even move. Not only that she hasn't been back to see us since the day you guys got back from the ruins." Demetri's face fell as Patch continued, on and on til he felt his own heart shatter and gently pushed his mother to the side, he typed in his own code, the Commander's code that he still remembered before being controled and felt his heart jump as the door slid open. The room was silent as he walked in slowly, the quiet sending a shiver of unease up his spine, and for good reason as he caught sight of the woman on the bed. Her eyes had small purple bags under them that stood out against her pale skin, she was thing and hollow looking, only a shell of the woman he loved and she looked so fragile, so easy to break he hesitated on picking her up but as she couched sickly he made up his mind. Striding forward he scooped her up, wincing as he felt how light she was compared to what she used to weigh and carried her out of the room and towards the medical ward. Touch and Patch did what they could, healing her sore muscles and fatiged mind, but there was nothing they could do for her condition, having to put IVs in her arms and pump fluids into her system. Demetri stayed, holding her frail hand in his large one gently, his heart breaking as she stayed unconsious for almost a full week. When she finally did crack open her eyes Demetri's heart broke fresh to see the tears slipping from the corners of them, her eyes blood shot and almost lifeless as she seemed to have little to no will to move. He cleared his throat gaining her attention, her movements slow, and almost painful as she turned her head to look at him. "Oh Alex...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes, the tears still falling as she shook her head slowly. "Stop...please...I'm so tired of dreaming...stop haunting me and let me be..." His chest heaved as his heart beat began to beat faster, Demetri could feel the tears gather in his own eyes at her words, she had suffered so much that she didn't even believe that he was real. Without hesitation he bent over her bed and pressed his lips to her's making her whimper, he was gentle and he placed his hand on her cheek, his thumb rubbing her skin softly. He pulled away slowly, his pulse racing and his body reacting on it's own to her scent and feel, he shook it off his main concern being her well being. "Alex, your not dreaming, I'm here." She shook her hear more as the tears began to come quicker. "No...no your not...you can't forgive me and I can understand that...just please...stop tormenting me." Demetri tangled his fingers with her's as he pressed his forehead to her's, his emotions rushing through her and making her gasp. His gentle love, his forgiveness, and she blushed as she felt his desire coarse through her causeing a small, almost timid moad to bubble from her throat, he pulled back smileing down at her gently. "You see? It really is me." He gasped as she threw her arms around him and pulled him down hugging him tightly as she began to sob into his massive shoulder, coming out of his shock he wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tightly, pouring his emotions into the small woman in his arms as she wept in his arms. Ali stayed in the med ward for almost two weeks, Demetri staying with her when he wasn't gone taking care of duties, the base had began to calm down more, the rumor mill finally catching on about her little bundle of news and spreading quickly. Ali slipped into the office as a few of the women tried to get her to stop and talk to them, the small bulge more noticable under her shirt now and apparently just begging to be touched or rubbed, which annyoed the woman to no end. She peeked through the blinds of the door and squeaked as thick arms wrapped about her middle shocking her, the large warm hands covering her stomach were the only ones she didn't mind any more and she leaned back into her lover's embrace smiling. "Hello love." His deep voice chuckled in her ear sending pleasant chills down her spine, he felt the shiver and turned her around slowly and caught her lips with his. She moaned into the kiss as his arms wrapped around her pulling her close, holding her tight, his hands slowly running up and down her body making her shiver even more. Growling into her mouth as she slipped her fingers under his shirt, her nails raking across his skin and making him shudder. He took his lips from her's and locked them onto her neck as he lifted her feet off the floor and carried her to his desk where he opted to make love to the woman. Her sighs and moans of pleasure floating from his office and out for the secrataries to hear. Ali lay on the couch in his office, holding his uniform jacket to her as she watched him straighten his hair out and fix the low pony tail he had it in, tucking his under shirt back into his pants he looked over at her with a michivious grin making her chuckle and shake her head. She stood and slipped the jacket over her arms, it hung off of her hands by almost 3 inches showing the size difference between her and her lover, she buttoned it and squatted down to help him pick up the papers and other things that had gotten strewn about the room during thier loving making. He met her gaze and chukled as she blushed. "I think you made enough noise to alert the entire base love." Her blush deepened and she tucked her hair back while she continued to pick things up off the floor. "What a way to make an impression as your first day back as Commander, wouldn't you agree Demetri?" He smiled and grabbed her wrist as she reached to grab a pen, pulling her into him and kissing her deeply, she blinked as she felt somthing press into her palm and looked down. Seeing the small velvet box she choked on what ever she was about to say swallowing thickly she found her voice after a few moments. "D-Demetri...is this?" He took it from her hand and opened it, the ring glittering in the dim light, the diamond was small and modest, knowing that she would have a fit if it were to big, and the silver glittered brightly. Small symblos were etched into the band, looking like small swirls of wind and she laughed through her tears as she realized it was his way of making it his own. "It's beautiful." He took her chin in his hand and made her look at him, his smile was gentle and loving as he bent forward and caught her lips in a slow kiss. "I told you, that I wanted you to be a part of my family. I know things have been hard, but it's all in the past..." She sniffled and closed her eyes as he continued, her mind drifting slowly to the other man that held a piece of her heart, his runed, smiling face coming to her mind before she opened her eyes to look up at Demetri, feeling her heart swell with love for the man as he kissed her knuckles. "I love you Alex Talon, and I want you to marry me." He touched her stomach gently making her smile. "I want this child to be born into a full family, which is why...I've also talked to my father about adopting Tank and Lily." She looked up at him shocked before a smile spread across her face. "Do you mean it?" He nodded. "We move into the other suit in the top half of the building. It has 4 rooms thanks to my father adding on to it, it's big enough for all of us. We can be a family...if that's what you want..." She saw the doubt flicker through his eyes and pulled him down kissing him passionately, he growled happily as he slipped the ring on her delicate finger before his hands unbuttoned his jacket from her expertly and proceeded to make love to his future wife yet again, this time taking his time and being gentle. The wedding was set almost a month after Demetri had proposed, it was beautiful, a fall wedding, Ali's dress being white, and trimmed in black and orange to match the season, Demetri's tux matching her dress, the orange dress shirt and black tie coming together nicely, Ali couldn't stop smiling throughout the entire thing, but every now and than she would remember the memory Marcus had shown her of this very scene happening with him...she shook the thought off as Pocket approached her with a large smile. "I'm so happy for you! And with a little one on the way, have you thought of a name?" Ali looked back at Demetri who shrugged and chuckled as Gene threw his arm around his friends shoulder takling drukenly making Demetri laugh. Ali felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of it and felt her own smile grow. As much as her heart ached for Marcus from time to time, she truly loved the man she had just married. She looked at the bands on her hand and smiled more squeaking as long arms wrapped around her and drug her forward onto the dance floor, the dusty, thick scent letting her know who it was almost instantly. "Jason, you've been smoking again." He chuckled deeply, the sound viberating through her as she shook her head. "And on my wedding, really?" "Come on sis, you can't expect me to watch you marry him and not want a cigarette." "Jason we've been over this. He was being controled." Jason swung her out before bringing her back in as they swayed back and forth to the music. "Don't matter, I've never been a fan of him." "It's only cause I'm your sister." He gave her a wolfish grin making her chuckle, his smile fading slightly. "Have you heard from-" "No. I haven't." Her answer was short, curt and to the point. "I'm just asking a question Ali." "Not one that I want you to ask." "Why is that, I was asking about a friend." She closed her eyes as familiar pain and loss throbbed through her entire being making her grit her teeth and hold back the tears as they gathered in her eyes. "I really do not feel like crying on my wedding day Jason. So please-" "Why would you cry? There's no reason to unless...Oh...." She pulled away from her brother and began to walk towards the building, Demetri watching curiously, he caught her gently by the arm. "Are you alright?" She nodded and kissed him briefly before continueing into the building and stopping at the old room, one that meant more to her than most. It was where they fully came together and he had finally said goodbye. She swiped her card and walked in slowly, her heels clicking on the tile of the floor til they met the carpet of his room. She sighed as she stood in the door way, memories flooding her mind before it became to much and she spun around and walked out. Going to her and Demetri's room she dressed in a pair of dress pants, and a white dress shirt and got ready for the reception, hardening her mind against the memories and going back to her husband. Marcus walked through the halls of the Eastren Base, his most frequent stop since he left almost a year ago, some of the mumbling coming from a few younger member catching his ears. "-Northern Base, yeah, their new Commandant just had a son a few weeks ago. I heard they names him Neos." "Really? That's amazing. Who is the mother?" "The Commander, Alex Talon. I heard she named a god father as well, I can't recall his full name but his last name was Demos. Can you believe it?" The voices faded and left Marcus to his thoughts, how many other members of the HDF could have the last name Demos? Shaking the thought from his mind for now he kept walking, his mind kept drifting back to the woman he had left behind, unknowing that her mind drifted back to him frequently as well. Ali sighed as she entered the room, the living room was a mess and Tank just shrugged as Demetri looked up at her with a rueful grin. "Hello love." Putting her hand on her hips she glared down at the man who was covered from head to toe in vines and small paper flowers. She looked over at her youngest as he put his hands flat on the floor and gasped as a bright light filled the room, only to clear and show him giggling and cuddling a stuffed bear to her chest. She felt her heart twist painfully, the power reminding her so much of... "He just showed that to me a few moments ago. My mother says he's developing at an amazing rate....you alright, you just got pale." She shook her head not trusting her voice. "Yeah, I just remembered that I forgot to turn in my paperwork to Dizzy. You know how she gets." The massive man chuckled and nodded. "That would certainly turn my stomach, you better go and get that done, I'll handle dinner." She nodded and kissed him and the children quickly before she escaped, her feet moving swiftly as she stopped at the door she visited often. Looking around she nodded to herself seeing no one around her she swiped her card, entered the room, and locked the door behind her. She looked around the room sadly as the twist in her heart became more violent, she sat down on the bed and put her face in her hands as silent tears fell from her eyes, she ran her finger along the small, light blue trail he had marked on her cheek and slowly, ever so slowly began to get her breathing back together as she pulled a folded up picture from her pocket, she stared down at it, her tears now silent but falling none the less. She couldn't deny that she missed him, that she yearned for his presance and company but her body ached for him as well. She could still remember his soft touches, his gentle words of love. Guilt washed over her as she thought back to her husband in the other room with her children, he knew she loved him, and so did she. She would give anything for the large man and had shown that on more than one account but the feelings she had shared with the man in the picture had been real, very real and try as she might she couldn't will them away. She sat there for only gods know how long before she cleaned her face and went back to her family, her heart fluttering happily as Demetri met her at the door with a warm hug and passionate kiss. The past behind them and the furture awaiting. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali looked up at the door hoping beyond everything that Marcus would walk back through the door, his box in his arm to just drop it on the floor and gather her into his arms, kissing away her tears and reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. After moments of sitting there, she realized with a sob that he wasn't coming back. Standing on shaky legs she stumbled to the door and waited til it slid open, much slower than she wanted it to. Not even caring about anything, not the people in the hall saluteing her, not the 'hellos' nothing, her eyes only on the door down the hall. Reaching it she searched her pockets for her keycard, not finding it she punched her code in and waited again for the door to slid open, once it did she stumbled in. Seeing him there, tears running down his face she couldn't hold herself back as she fell to the floor beside him causeing him to look at her with wide eyes and than fall back onto his backside as she threw her self into his chest. "I don't want you to go!" He sat there, frozen for a moment before he acted, wrapping his arms around her shoulders he held onto her tightly, Ali felt her self relax slightly as he held her, her tears still falling. "I know-I know that it isn't right, and I know that I can't have both of you...but I-I don't want to let you go just yet...at all!" She waited for him to say something, anything but when nothing came she looked up at him, he was looking down at her, his face streaked with tears as well. "Alex...you have to make a choice..." She shook her head and tucked her face down into his chest. "I don't want to...I don't know if I can." His arms tightened around her more. "Ali..." "I know-" She swallowed the lump in her throat before continueing. "I know I can be happy with you...I saw it. I saw how happy we can make each other. How am I supposed to make a choice when the answer is so hard to see." "You love Demetri to much to choose me." She shook her head violently, making his body shift with the movement. "I do love Demetri, nothing could ever change that...but...I don't know what I want anymore..." His breath caught in his throat at her words. "Alex, your carrieing his child." She nodded, still not looking at him. "But...that doesn't bother you does it?" He didn't answer her right away, the silence made her nervous til he sighed and burined his nose in her hair, his arms tightening around her. "No, it doesn't bother me at all." She nodded slowly, lifting her face to look at him, she took a deep breath before leaning forward and pressing her lips against his, the groan that escaped him was almost music on her ears as his eyes drifted shut, she pulled back enough to speak. "I love you Marcus. And I don't know if I'm ready to say goodbye yet..." Before he could argue she pressed her lips to his again, pressing her self into his arms til he toppled backwards, he looked up at her as she sat up slightly and looked down at him. "I don't want to say goodbye, the time we've had together was real, and it was some of the happiest moments of my life..." "Alex...what about Demetri?" She put her forehead to his chest, guilt washing through her in a fresh, sharp wave; only to be replaced with sheer hurt as she recalled him pulling away from her in the medical room, pulling away from her touch and kiss. "I don't think he could ever forgive me...I don't think he could ever look at me the same way again." "You know that's not true, he loves you much more than you think, he'll come around." She threw her fist into his chest causeing him to stutter, he looked down at her to find her look gazing up at him, tears falling from her eyes. "I don't really think he ever could." Marcus closed his eyes and sat up, still holding her to his chest. "Alex, you shouldn't be here. Go. Wait for him in your room. That's where you should be. Not here." "Shut up Marcus! How can you know where I should be if even I don't know?!" Her words stopped him short on his logic, he was unable to argue with that. "Ali-" Before he could say anything else she sat up and kissed him, activating the rune on her wrist she relayed every emotion that was flowing from her and into him causing him to gasp against her lips and giving her the moment to deepen the kiss with no fight from him. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali flet her legs give out under her as the door shut, she could hear their voices and whimpered as she heard the stike and knew, without a doubt that it was Demetri striking Marcus, the thought tore at her heart and she found her self crying. After a few moments of silence the door slid open and she looked up to see Marcus walk in slowly, his cheek swollen and red. "Oh Marcus!" Standing up she rushed forward only to stop as he held up his hand to stop her, she paused and felt her throat tighten more as the man put his hand on his cheek as he looked down. "Where is he?" "He left." Tears slipped from her eyes more at the thought, Marcus saw the pain in her face and shook his head. "I said that wrong, he went to the med ward." She looked up at him shocked, her hands on her stomach as it twisted. "Why?" "He said that he has ideas about killing me...said that he didn't know if it was Sybille or himself..." She nodded slowly, and jumped, looking at the door as there was a soft knock on the outside, her heart leaping into her throat at the thought that Demetri had come back. "Talon, it's Patch. Can I come in?" She sighed and looked back at Marcus. "Yeah Chip, come on in." The door slid open and the man walked in, he gave her and Macus a smile before he turned his gaze on Ali. "Hey, I just wanted to tell you that Madam Touch wanted me to bring you to the medical room, she wants to start you on regular medical appointments." Ali frowned as she nodded slowly as she took a step forward. "What for?" "The baby Alex. You have to be looked at regularly for the saftey of the child." She nodded slowy and looked at Marcus, he nodded and watched her go, followed by Patch. The walk was slow as she followed Patch through the halls, the walk taking only 5 minutes til they entered the room, she looked up as Demetri sat on a table, his mother's hands hovering over him, his eyes locked with her's and she looked away to guilty to even look at him. Madam Touch patted Demetri's shoulder and walked over to Ali, her face calm and a gentle smile on her face. "Hello Ali, how are you feeling?" "I'm-" She glanced at Demetri as he watched silently, his face turned down in a hurt frown as he looked towards them, she looked back at Madam Touch. "I'm feeling alright. Tired mostly." "You look exhausted dear. Patch, get X for me will you?" The young man nodded before walking away to get the other medical agent, Touch looking over Ali, her hands hovering over her as she moved them up and down her body. "You seem to have an iron deficiancy, we'll have to fix that. Not only that it seems as if you haven't eatten much, that's not good either dear." She trailed off as Patch returned with a young man who gave Touch a friendly smile. "What can I do for you Madam?" "X, glad you could help me. I need to see the child she's carrieing." Ali blinked as the man nodded, she could see movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head, seeing Demetri standing and make his way over to the table she sat on, a shocked look on his face. Madam Touch didn't seem to notice as she pushed Ali gently til she was laying down, Ali did so with no fighting til she was looking up at the people surrounding her, but she looked at Demetri the most, his face blank as the yound man, X, put his hands on her stomach, she gasped as her skin turned translucent. Touch moved forward and began to hover her hands over Ali stomach, smiling she nodded and looked back at Patch. "The sonogram if you will?" After a few moments Ali jumped as a cold gel covered her stomach and Touch smiled as she went through the steps much like Patch had done the frist time and Ali felt her heart jump yet again as the soft thump of a heartbeat filled the small room. Hearing a gasp she looked over, seeing Demetri looking at the small screen, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Throwing cation to the wind she reached forward and gently took his hand, he frowned and looked down at her fingers as they linked with his. Touch and Patch walked away for a moment, giving the two a second to talk while they looked at the black and white screen, showing the growing child within her. "Demetri..." "I'm still not ready yet." "I know that, but can I just say something...please?" He looked at her, meeting her eyes and she could feel herself getting lost in them as she usually did. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you...I never wanted to cause you more pain than what you've already going through..." He looked away from her to look back at the screen. "Ali, I don't know if I could ever trust you already that man again." "Please...I'm not asking you to...I know you won't, but I want to tell you...I never did stop loving you. I always called out to you, I always hoped that one day you would come home to me." "Than why?" "It's a long strory love-" "Don't." She blinked, his voice having taken on a gruff tone. "Don't call me that. Not right now." She nodded slowly and looked away from him. "It's a long story...I just needed company...I was so lonely while you were gone and at first that's all it was, all I went to him for was company, just to have someone to talk to...but over time..." "I think I can put the pieces together from there Alex." She felt her heart jump as he sat up, she paniced and sat up quickly with him and threw her arms around his neck. "Please, I don't want you to leave me alone...I meant when I told you that I love you, I never stopped loving you. You were always on my mind." He pried her off of him and looked down at her, an unreadable look on his face. "Alex-" Throwing caution to the wind she pushed her self forward and connected her lips with his, he reacted in instinct as he wrapped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her forward deepening the kiss for a moment and elicting a conteneted sigh from her, the sound jogging him from the action and made him pull away. He was breathing heavily as he shook his head, Ali looked up at him, her cheeks flushed as she took sat taking deep breaths to try and slow her pulse. He shook his head and walked away from her with out anothe word. She felt her heart shatter and held the emotions at bay as Patch and Touch came back telling her to come and see them once a week, sliding off the table she made her way back to her room and opened the door to see Marcus pacing back and forth, he looked up as she entered, her throat tightened and with out words she threw herself into his arms sobbing into his chest as the pain of what she had done to the two men she loved finally crashed down ontop of her. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali was lost in her thoughts, watching Marcus kill Sybille hit home that she was safe from the man, but her mind was else where as thet made their way home. She thought back on when she had first starting having feelings for Demetri...two years ago. [i]She was 21 back than, her hair was shorter, only to the small of her back she had been told by Hank that she was to do a infiltration mission and she was to take one person with her. Back than she took him because of his skills. He was the only one out of her team that could beat her during sparring with out the aid of his powers, he communicated with her just fine, unlike Jeff and he was serious at all times during a mission which Calypso was still working on. The mission was supposed to be easy, an in and out job. Go in, get the information, and than get out. But something had given them away during the mission, something had gone wrong and they had been running for their lives within an hour of the mission starting. Demetri dashed behind her, giving her the lead, trusting her to get them out. Her braided hair flying behind her as her smaller frame flittled through the halls of the building trying to get them to the roof. She cursed as she turned the corner and stopped, Demetri smashing into her only to grab her arm and hold her upright as she toppled forward. Surrouned by the enemy she did the only thing she knew how, dropping into a fighting stance she had gotten ready to fight. "Are you stupid? Do you want to die young woman?" He had wrapped his arm around her waist, causing a strange heat to flood her system, and smashed through the ceiling with his wind til the reached the roof, once there he let her go and allowed her whirl on him. She had been unble to say anything to him, as soon as she spun she saw the blood blossoming across his chest, gasping she rushed back to him and lifted his shirt, more shocked than anything to see a few scars on his skin already, shaking her head she looked at the gash, it was deep and would leave a scar. "When did this happen?! Athens, answer me!" "I told you it was stupid to fight agaist all them. You would have been cleaved in half if this had hit you." She had gasped realizing that he had gained the injury while he had grabbed her, guilt washed over her and from than on she swore to her self that she would protect him just as he had protected her. [/i] Ali came back from her thoughts for a moment, they were still walking, Pocket and Marcus next to each other as she bounced gently in Demetri's arms, they were warm around her and she felt secure and she realized that she had missed his arms around her more than she thought. Tucking her head down she felt Demetri stiffen slightly before relaxing and putting his face in the top of her head slightly, but her gaze locked on Marcus. He was looked straight ahead, not looking at her. It hurt and she closed her eyes letting her mind wander again as she tried to keep her vision from swimming. [i]The fog was thick, and she had been barely able to see a thing, even her own hand in front of her face, but the howling and growling let her where she needed to go. She sprinted forward to see her brother and had felt her heart stop at the mass of vampires surrounding him. The fight had been hard and they had done the best they could but when their changed parents came down on them their situation turned bleak. She had been useless as her fathers hand ripped through her skin and she had been thinking of any way to get help, it came to her as she looked down at her wrist. As soon as she had spoken the small word, as soon as the rune began to burn, images flooded her mind. She felt her mind bog down under the information but what made her pule race was a memory, one that was not her own and the face of the marked man split into a small smile. The next thing she had known Demetri had her in his arms and she could see Marcus standing close to her, his face twisted in pain as he looked at her. Ali had tried to reach for the man, tried to comfort him and ease the pain from his features but could do nothing as he had walked away from her to help her brother. [/i] Ali's body swayed this way and that, the two men had seemed to pick up thier pace, she could feel her skin starting to get cold and she figured that she was loosing to much blood, her mind slowing down, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she succumbed to darkness yet again. [i]The Beach had been beautiful, peaceful, relaxing even with Tempest being there, and it had started off perfectly. The first night there, the first night her and Demetri had made love, she didn't think she could get any happier, but each time she felt her heart sore more. His large warm hands had felt natural and right on her skin. His gruff voice calling her name, holding her against his body as she fell into sleep. It had all be wonderful and even when he had started to act strange, when he had begun to whipser to himself and become violent towards the others she held onto him. She never wanted to believe that he had betrayed them, she never would and she was sure she was the only one who thought that as the end of the vacation wound around, Tank being in intenaive care as they returned. She recalled the last day on that beach, the kiss she had shared with Marcus that had opened a flood gate of emotions. Her relationship with him had been different than with Demetri, there were time she had been with Demetri where his passion, and desperate need for her would blind him, his action would be passionate, but wild, while other times he would be sweet, and soft with her. His hands ghosting over her skin and giving her chills. She loved both, and her body reacted to both with an aching need for the man that had never seemed to be sated. Her time with Marcus had been completely different, he had always been gentle, making it seem as if she would break if he held her to tight, afterwards she was content to lay with him and talk, their voices hushed as they caught their breaths, her need for Marcus was different than it was with Demetri, she had just wanted to be around the man, his voice and presesane calming her, though her passion for him grew it never dampened her need for him to be near her. And when he had moved in with her, for that short week, her life seemed whole, even if only for a moment. The joking fights they had, the passion they shared, even the small simple things as laying on the couch with him while he read a book, which was something else she never knew him and Demetri had in common. Every chance both men had, they would have their noses in a book and more than once Ali would make her self comfortable, cuddling up to the Mystic while he was on the could reading, eventrually falling asleep.[/i] Ali stirred as she was placed on the ground, a green glow surrounding her, after a few moments she was able to stand with some help from Demetri, seeing Marcus gaze towards her she felt guilt well up inside her. Her words to him had been true, and she was sure they would never change. As they were taken back to base, his words froze her to her spot. "So what now?" Ali couldn't answer, but she was sure Demetri either had questions...or something he wanted to say to them, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it...[/color][/font]

[color="#000080"]Ali walked through the hall, heading towards her room, and stopped as a recuirt stopped and saluted. She merely rolled her eyes and waved the young man off feeling a pang twist her heart as he reminded her of someone she knew. Closing her eyes she continued walking til she reached her destination, pulling out her key card she swiped it and pulled her wallet out to replace it, pausing as she caught sight of the picture folded up and tucked away saftly in the folded leather. Shaking it off she walked inside and instantly held up her hands as three voices began to talk to her all at once. "Alright, you know the rules, one at a time. Neos, you first." Lily scoffed and crossed her arms. "He always goes first." The three year old turned and stuck his tongue out at her and faced his mother again and grabbing her hand and pulling her down to his level. Her son never ceased to amaze her, he was smarter than any three year old she had ever heard of, already speaking full sentences, and able to do simple math, but beyond that his power made her shiver. He was powerful, able to create and destroy with simple motions of his hands. She frowned as she began to think about another person she knew who was able to use a power similar to that. It made her stomach turn uncomfortably, she was still shocked by how much guilt she felt and how many feelings were still left...even after three years. She came back and listened as her son talked to her about school and everything they did, once he was finished she looked over at Tank, her adopted son, his was taller now at the age of 16 and he looked so much like her husband that not many people believed them when they said they adopted him. He gave her a broad smile and a large, warm hug that lifted her feet off the floor. "Hey mom." "Hello love. How was school?" "Good." "Football?" "Good, Rock finally beat me." "Did he? I bet he was proud." "I broke his armor." Ali choked on the water she had just began to drink and looked over at the young man. "You'll have to tell your father." He nodded and walked away and she smirked as she saw a large sandwhich in his hands, she looked down at Lily, the young 13 year old girl staring up at her with a frown. "How come they went first?" "Because, you decided to throw a fit. What have I told you?" "Be patient." Ali nodded and cursed as her phone beeped at her, she looked down at her adoptive daughter and kissed her forehead. "I have to go, got a call. Tank dinner's on you tonight buddy!" She could hear Lily groan about him making nothing but pasta as Ali slid from the room and began to walk down the hall stopping for a moment to glance at a door on her left, shaking her head she continued walking til she reached the Commandant's office. Entering no one said anything to her as she walked to the back and leaned on the door frame, her heart warming as she looked in on him, his large frame bent over his desk as he tried to seal something. "Would you like some help love?" Demetri looked up and gave her a large smile making her melt alittle on the inside. "You know me...all thumbs." She walked forward, shutting the door behind her, and wrapped her arms around him kissing him deeply. "Not with everything." He chuckled and thanked her as she sealed the envelope, she leaned on his desk and looked up at him. "So what was the call for?" "We found one of the gods. Get the team together. We leave in four days." She nodded and left walking back to her own office to send word to the other bases. We are the HDF, Human Defense Force; we hunt all things that crawl in the dark, and even some that lurk in the shadows of the day. We are soldiers and we protect human kind from the monsters that hide under their beds. There are four bases in all and we are deployed all around the world for the soul purpose of protecting man kind. Our latest task has been harder than ever, three years ago a mad man unleashed Egyptian gods, we managed to kill him but the gods remained roaming free and now, we know where they are and we're planning on sending them home. Sound like a big order? Well the biggest thing about us you have to know, is we have powers. We were all born with an extra DNA strand that allowed to evolve further than humans. Some of us can control emotions, others can control metal while the stronger one among us can control elements such as wind or fire, and even tap into another dimension to use a power close to magic. We are the HDF, and we hunt what lurks under your bed. And we don't do it for fame...as far as the world knows, we don't exsist. When things go bump in the night....we bump them back. Name: Alex Talon Age: 26 Appearance: [url="http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m277/impheatus_ss/anime/ino_izayoi_no_hanayome_kiryuu_iyori.jpg"]Alex[/url] She has a small, circular scar on her chest, between her breasts, as well as a larger one on her back between her shoulder blades, both of which reminders of her work, another scar on her right lower back, above her hip. A tattoo covers her left shoulder balde and a small light blue mark graces her right cheek, almost like a tear trail. Usually in jeans and a tank top when not in unoiform, always in combat boots with open fingered gloves. A small cross now sits high on her chest and a pair of silver rings lay on her left ring finger. Personality: More open than she used to be she is still somewhat closed off and rough around the edges, she laughs more than she did three years ago and she enjoys more but she's still serious when not behind closed doors. Power: Empath/Telekensis. Her powers having grown over 3 years to the point where she can implante memories into a person mind or even her own making them believe whatever image she implants with in their mind. Weapon: A close range fighter she uses hand to hand having given up the raiper a long time ago for a pair of curved daggers. Able to kick a full grown man a good foot when at her max. She also carries at least two cases full of throwing knives on her at all times. No Bio, we were never born. lol [/color]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]Ali leaned on the wall trying to catch her breath, she couldn't tell how long she had been running, but her chest burned and the newly healed injuries throbbed with pain. She could hear the sounds of the fight getting closer, she knew she was going the right direction. Taking a deep breath she summoned more willpower and stood erect and began to run again. She had to get to them, she had to help them, if either of them were to die, she would die inside as well. She gasped as her weak, newly healed leg gave out on her and she hit the stone floor on one knee, she looked at her hand as it landing in something wet, her hand came off the floor red and she felt panic well inside of her at the sight of the blood. Unble to tell whose it was she pushed her self to her feet and began to run. Pushing her legs as hard as she could she rounded the corner to see Marcus kneeling on the ground, Demetri stood behind Sybille holding the man in a head lock, his eyes white and sparks of white lightning flashing across his skin. She sighed as both seemd to be in one piece if not worse for wear, but she felt her heart stop as black mist began to swirl around Sybille, feeling her stomach twist she ran forward and tackled Demetri to the floor as a large, wicked sword passed above their heads, catching the end of her hair and chopping almost half an inch off of it. Demetri wrapped his arms around the body that had collided with him, the scent making him freeze. "Alex?" She sat up slightly, still breathing heavily and looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes as his own turned hazel and stared back at her. "I'm sorry! Please, forgive me...I'm so sorry..." He blinked slightly before pulling her close and holding her tightly for a breif moment before he sat up, wincing at the pain from his wounds, looking down at her he frowned. "What the hell are you doing down here?! Are you trying to get your self killed?" "I-I couldn't let you do this alone!" He stood slowly and looked down at her still sitting on the stone floor unable to stand, her legs far to weak. She felt her heart break as he looked between her and Marcus, frowning slightly. "I just want the truth Ali, from you." She nodded and opened her mouth but felt her voice leave her as she saw the black mist riseing from the floor around her, Demetri's eyes going wide as he reached for her, Marcus calling her name. She suddenly found herself being held above the ground, the cold feel of a dagger held to her stomach as a strong arm wrapped around her throat. Sybille walked forward in front of her and smiled. "Go ahead little one, tell him the trust, this will be the last time you have to tell him how you truly feel. Tell him how you betrayed him." She shook her head as her tears spilled down her cheeks, she met Demetri's eyes and choked on her breaths as the dagger knicked her skin causing a growl to come from Marcus as both men stood, breathing heavily. Sybille stroked a finger down her cheek, letting it slid down her neck and her chest to rest against the scar between her breasts caused by Demetri's wind blast. "Tell him, my little sacrafical lamb. Let your final words break him." She took a deep breath and bit her lip softly before speaking. "I love you Demetri. I never stopped loving you. Yes...Marcus and I-We...we were together while you were gone, and I can say that I fell in love with him...but please...don't-don't blame him! Just don't think badly of him...we were both so lost...and I-I was so alone with out you..." Demetri looked away from her, clearly hurt but her next words caused him to look back at her. "But I never forgot you! There was never a day that went by that I didn't think about you! My love for you never lessened. The child I carry is proof of that, your child! OUR child!" She glanced over at Marcus who was still kneeling on the stone floor, Sybille's crule laughter echoing in the stone halls. "Yes, now you know the truth of her betrayl. Now my little lamb, what about my dear mentor? What do you have to say to him?" She smiled, the soft, sweet smile she reserved for him glowing on her face making him inhale a sharp breath as he saw it. "Thank you. You healed the tears in my heart. You kept me whole while I was torn in half. You saved me from my dispair and, no matter what happens. A piece of my heart will always belong to you. A part of me will always love you." Both men watched in horror as Cloak threw the dagger to Sybille who smile wickedly and thrust the dagger forward, Marcus and Demetri calling out for the woman they loved but blinded as a bright flash of light flared through the small hall, Sybille's scream echoing around them. When the light dimmed the could see Ali laying on the ground unconsious, blood seeping from under her shirt, a large gash wrapping around her stomach, to high to hurt the child but deep enough to worry the men about blood loss. Sybille cursed as he looked at the hilt of the dagger in his hand, the blade gone. He looked at Cloak as he pulled another dagger from his boot and walked towrds Ali's prone form as Cloak strode forward getting between them. [/color][/font]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]23 years ago, in a small town on the East Coast a baby girl was born, she weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes, but what made her so specail were here parents. She lay in her mother's arm, the woman she would grow to look exactly like, her father leaning over the woman's shoulder smiling. Exodus kissed his wife's cheek lightly as their son shuffled forward. The large man picked the boy up and showed him his little sister, his deep bass like voice rumbling in his chest and vibrating through the little boy making him smile. "This is Alex, your younger sister. Jason I want you to protect her, no matter what. Can you do that for your mother and I?" The little boy nodded and reached down smiling as the child in his mother's arms wrapped her plump little fist around his tiny finger and gave him a toothless grin that made him giggle... ------ Ali sat in a corner, her knees tucked to her chest as Jason had his arms wrapped around her trying to hush her sobs and comfort his sister. The news of their parents death hitting them hard, just a week before they had been in their home playing on the floor with their father. His large frame pinning them down to the carpeted floor gently as he wrestled with the young children. His booming laugh echoing as their mother shook her head as she cooked dinner. Exodus holding Jason up by an ankel as Ali clung to his leg. Cliar shook her head as she looked back at her husband and children. "Go was your hands kids, time for dinner." They smiled and rushed to the bathroom as the man walked over and embraced his wife with a gentle smile before blinking rapidly and looking down his nose becoming cross eyed as she pointed at him with a slight frown. "I don't think so Exodus Talon. You need to wash your hands as well." He gave her a puppy dog look which only made her scowl, sighing he slumped his shoulders and trudged to the bathroom, hearing the kids giggle as their father joined them for washing his hands and a small water fight between the three of them they sat down to eat. They would never know that feeling of family again, they would never be abel to hear thier parents laughter or feel their embrace, the mission they had been sent on having taken their life. Jason frowned as Hank gave them false compassion. "We don't want your bull! We can do just fine on our own!" He had grabbed her hand and drug her down the hall back to their home. --------------------- Rocking on the bed she held her hands over her ears, her eyes watering as she tried to block out the noise, she screamed quietly as it blared for a moment before becoming soft again. It had been going on like this all day, getting worse little by little. the 16 year old not sure what was going on. She looked up as her brother walked in, seeing her he rushed over, dropping his gear as he knealt beside her. "Ali, what's wrong? Talk to me?" "They won't stop...the voices...they won't go away..." He looked around before cursing and running over to his belt, yanking off his phone he flipped it open and waited, he spoke into it swiftly, quietly and watched his sister as she rocked back and forth on her bed. "Madam Touch, I don't know what's wrong with her." The smooth voice coming from the other side of the line calm and soothing. "I'll be there shortly, try to keep her calm." He hung up the phone and walked back to his sister, holding her and waiting for the woman to show, moments later the door slid open and she walked in, her raven clolored hair shineing in the light as she glided over to Ali. Kneeling down she put her hand to the young girls forehead and nodded almost instatly. "Her powers are developing. She is going to be a very powerful mentalist. What kind of mental power...I can not say. Give her time, she'll push through." Jason nodded and watched the woman go, turning back to his sister as she sobbed. ------------------- "That bastard! That's really why he was chaseing you around?" 18 year old Ali shook her head, wiping silent tears from her face. "It's no big deal Jason. Really." "You've been dating the guy for how long now?" "Almost 2 years..." "And all he wanted was to get into your pants. Your sure?" She tapped the side of her head as another silent tear slid down her cheek. "I can read his emotions remember? I'm positive." He growled low in his throat and she saw the sparks faly up and down his arm as his anger flared. "I'll kill that son of a-" "No, it's alright. It'll teach me to try and get close to any one. It won't happen again." "Alex, c'mon now, that's not what I meant..." She shook her head and he could see her eyes begin to dull slightly, hardening her self up already from the world outside. "It's fine. It'll save me alot of pain this way. I don't ever want to feel this way again." "Ali, don't lose yourself because of this moron...please?" "I refuse to get hurt again Jason. I won't do it. Never again." Jason sighed, from than on his sister barely laughed and she began to get very work orianted. ------------------- 5 Years later.... Ali threw the chair acorss the table and kicked the vase from the end table as Hank stood in a corner watching the mayhem. "You! You sent him there! Why?! Is it not enough you have to stip me of my parents but now my brother?!" "Talon, I merely sent him on a mission. If he perished it was his own stupidity." Ali felt rage bubble under the surface as she felt the man's complete lack of concern for her brother's death. She spun around and connected her foot with another vase and sent if flying at the man, he shook his head and raised a large piece of earth blocking the cermaic pottery. "Talon, you need to settle down." "Like hell! Why are you so intent on destroying my family?!" She looked at him, seething and began to stalk towards him only to fall to the floor screaming in agony, a tall, thin man stepping forward. Hank held up his hand. "Be at ease Anthony, I think she gets the idea." Ali lay on the floor, tears flowing from her eyes, confused and in pain she didn't try to fight back anymore as she succumbed to her grief. Hank walked forward and put his hand on her head shushing her gently. "Easy now Talon, I have much more for you to do. There's no point in you wasting your life. If I were you I would harden my self. Don't get close to anyone, you'll only lead to their death." She sobbed and curled in on herself as the two men left her room, from than on, she would never be the same. -------------------------- 1 Year Ago..... Ali stood in front of the young man and woman, her temper riseing as she looked at her watch again, turning as the door slid open and a large framed man walked in, he was handsome, but she had more important things on her mind. "YOUR LATE!" "Apologies, paperwork kept me" "I don't accept apologies, you may be a decorated soldier, but I wont have slacking in my unit. Understood?" She could feel the urge from him to roll his eyes and clentched her fists. "And don't roll your eyes at me" The comment brought the man to snap open his eyes in surprise, but he smiled as played it off. "My name is Ali Talon, your new Team Leader, so get use to it muscles..." "Demmy" Ali looked back at him, taking in his features again, but shaking her head as she dismissed them and walked away. His small grin flashing through her mind as she walked, shaking her head she frowned at her self and instantly walked to the training room putting her self through a level 10 training session. Sweat dripped from her body as she fell to her knees on the pads, her breathing harsh as his face swam in her mind, shaking her head she screamed and slammed her leg into the sand bag busting it and spilling sand onto the floor, her voice low as she spoke to her self. "I refuse...I won't open my self again." ----------------- His markings were strange to her, covering his entire body, he was an enigma and she watched him carefully, her emotions slowly emerging with the help of Demetri. He was an enigma and she was curious about him. She watched as the marks on his body began to glow, feeling bits and pieces of emotions coming from the man. It wasn't long til he placed a marking like his own on her wrist and sooner than she thought she connected to the man. ----------------------- Ali looked at her team, her brother's fur brushing her skin as she watched the two men drop down and begin their search for Sybille. "Jason, put me down." "Your insane, you're not going to find them" She shook her head and slammed her elbow into his chest making him groan and drop her, she winced as she landed on her injured leg, she limped forward, stopping as a green glow began to surround her, followed by a gasp. Sheild was by his wife's side instantly. "What is it Touch? What's the matter?" "Stop her...Stop her!" They all watched as Ali turned to face them and smiled sadly before dropping down into the hole in the earth, landing she winced again, her arm and leg still sore, standing she followed the noises of battle towards the two men she loved and the one she wanted dead more than anything. [/color][/font]

[color="#000080"]Whoop, I'm barrowing my mother in laws laptop so I can get some stuff for the ARMY done, but I'll be keeping track of this as well. ^^ Hopefully I'll internet back soon. Hopefully Ali looked back at Demetri, his blood covered his skin and Jason's fur, she was surprised her brother had even come along. She looked back up at Sybille and Cloak, her eyes narrowing in on Cloak. "So, you were a part of this from the very start?" He didn't answer her but looked back at Sybille who nodded at the man, he vanished in a wave of black mist and Ali felt every hair on her skin stand on end, goosebumps raiseing on her skin. "Aelx!" She turned towards Marcus' voice but was thrown back towards Sybille as Cloak appeared beside her and threw her, she grunted as Sybille caught her, his face contorted into a nasty frown as he looked down at her. "I have no idea what you've done, but you managed to save him, at the cost of your own life. I will have my power, one way of another." She felt a scream erupt from her throat as Sybille sent a powerful blast of wind into her back, her name echoing as the members of her team called out for her. Falling to the ground her vision swam as she looked towards the others, Sybille's voice echoing above her. "Roger, get rid of them while I do what needs to be done, you'll get your reward in due time." The man nodded and faced the team, Marcus roared in anger as his runes flared brightly, the mystic could feel rage flood his system as Sybille apprached his lover on the ground, he could see blood seeping through her shirt from the blast he had sent into her back and she was getting pale. Behind his rage he worried, worried for her and for the child she carried. "Sybille! You touch her and I swear to every god I know you'll regret it!" Sybille only laughed as he grabbed Ali and hauled her to his feet, a clean dagger gleaming in his hand as he held it to her throat, his laugh dieing down to a chuckle. "My, how visious you've gotten Marcus, all for a woman, I think you would grieve more if this one were to die than the last. How many night have you spent with her?" Demetri looked between Ali and Marcus confused at first, but as Sybille's words sank it, he realized what the man was talking about, he looked at Marcus' glowing back, his voice was weak as he looked between the woman he loved and the marked man. His face falling into a painful expression. Ali struggled as much as she could, getting another dagger into her hand she threw it back and drove it into Sybille's leg causing him to curse and throw her down the stone steps, the hard surface striking her skin, and she screamed as she felt her shoulder come out of place and her leg bend at an unnatrual angle. Landing on the ground she listened to her own harsh breathing, her ears ringing in her head, her vision swam more as she lay there, pain radiating through her body as Marcus rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her gently, his forehead brushing against her's. "Ali, are you alright?" She nodded weakly gasping as pain exploded behind her eyes making her cling to him, she gritted her teeth trying to hold the scream back until it bellowed forth causing Marcus to jump slightly and look at her worriedly, his gaze shifted to Sybille as she wirthed in his arms. "What are you doing to her?!" Sybille's laugh echoed through the clearing as he strode down the stairs slowly, his large grin on his face. "Be it her, or the child she carries, I will have a sacrafice." Marcus let loose a growl from deep within his throat but looked over his shoulder as a wind blast came from Demetri, the man striding forward, healed and on a war path, Madam Touch and Commandant Sheild standing a little way behind them with Lily and another young girl that Marcus recognized as the new trasport operative, her name slipped his mind, she looked terrified as she cowered behind the two adults, her frame shaking. Ali looked up as Demetri looked down at her and Marcus. "I think it's obvious that the three of us need to have a conversation, but that's for later. Right now, protect her I have some payback to deal to this bastard." Marcus nodded as Ali buried her face in his chest as she clung to his robe, he could feel her tears strike his skin, whether they were because of the pain she was in, or because of the situation they had found themselves in he couldn't tell. Standing he handed the woman to Jason who growled as he sniffed her, his large wet nose touching her cheek as he whined, without care Marcus bent forward and gave her a short kiss, which she returned weakly. "We'll be back." With that she watched as he threw the robe from her body, his runes glaring against the dark as he walked forward with Demetri, both ready to end the monster and go back home. [/color][font="Comic Sans MS"][/font]

Alright, my internet got shut off but thank mankind for a PS3 and a key board. Unfortuantly this is the 3rd time I've started this post...each time something happened and it got deleted before I could finish it...I've had better days needless to say. >.< So this is most likly going to be a short post, I'll just ask that you guys try not to jump ahead of me to far...I really don't want to be left behind in my on RP...that would suck. But hopefully I'll get the interwebs back soon and we can finish this up. Til that...and it pains me to say this with how excited I've been to finally reach the ending part of this... I am going to try and post in bit and pieces til I can finish it up fully since it's bugging on me. I'll let you know with a small note at the end saying it's finished. [font="Comic Sans MS"] [color="#000080"]Ali stirred from the black abyss, her head swimming and pain radiating through her skull and the back of her neck as she came to, her mind racing as the events rushed through her mind. She opened her eyes and looked around, she could feel her weight pulling on her wrists and looked up to see her hands tied above her head as she hung from the stone wall. She looked up as a cold voice echoed acorss the area gaining her attention. "Welcome back to the land of the living my dear. So glad you could join us." She frowned as her vision cleared and she saw Sybille sitting on a large stone throne, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her, a smug smile in place. "Where the hell am I?" "Can you not tell? Just look around you, it sould be simple." She did look, her head turning this way and that to take in her surroundings, she recgonized where she was and frowned more. "The Northen ruins?" He chuckled and nodded as he stood slowly and made his way towards her. "Correct. Now, can you tell me what this temple was used for?" "Summonings, sacrafices, pagan rituals. What of it." She felt as if a bucket of ice water fell ontop of her as he touched his fingers to her stomach. "Just that my dear just that." She squirmed away from his touch, trying to get as far from his as possible. "Don't fret my dear, you'll be in good hands." She lashed out with her legs trying to kick him and gasped as she found a large hand wrapped around her ankel, Sybille's smug expression growing larger as Demetri stepped in front of her and dealt her a harsh back handed slap to the face causeing her to yelp. "You shall not speak that way way towards this one's master!" She looked at the large man, shocked from his aggresion, the blood already filling her mouth from her bust lips, a bruise already forming on her cheek from his strike. "Now now Slave. She's just a simple minded woman. You must treat her gently, she's in no condition to rough treatment." "How do you know?" He laughed and covered his face with his hands as his body shook. "Know? I made it possible. You should be thanking me dear. If not for me, it never would have happened." She shook her head only to yelp as Demetri grabbed her and lifted her into the air, her feet hit the ground and she lashed out trying to connect a kick to Sybille's ribs only to have her foot caught in Demetri's large hand. Sybille chuckled and shook his head. "Useless. Bring her slave. It's time to start." Demetri wrentched her arms behind her back causeing her to scream from the rough treatment, over the coarse of the week she had grown so accustomed to realxing, Marcus having taken it upon himself to cease her harsh training by going directly to the Commandant. She had been doing paper work behind a desk only to return to her room to have a dinner waiting for her followed by the gentle touches Macus gave her. She fell forward as the stopped, having climbed a set of stone steps to the top of the small platform she looked over at Demetri and saw him smiling. "Now, for the final pawn. Come out my friend." Ali turned as the black mist swirled around the area, Cloak stepping out and walking towards them, Ali felt her heart jump hopefully. "Has it been set Roger?" Cloak nodded as he knealt in front of Sybille. "Yes, the trail has been set, they should arrive within moments." "Good." Ali gasped as Cloak rose and stood next to the man, Sybille's smile grew. "I have a plan my pet, you see I've been doing research and I've come to realize that my pact entails to much more power than simply cleansing the earth of filthy humans. I had the ability to become a god. Useing the right sacrafice and pawns it's quite simple really." She felt her blood run cold as his eyes flickered to her stomach and back. "No...No!" "Oh yes, your unborn child has enough power already to level cities, imagine the possibilites if I could use that power." Demetri shuddered next to her suddenly. "C-child?" Sybille frowned and wrapped his hand around Demetri's throat, his hand glowing and sending the giant to his knees as a scream tore from Demetri's throat. "Stop this!" She covered his body with her own trying to ease his convulsions, the move only making Sybille laugh. "How amusing. Even though you'be taken a new lover you still hold onto this man as a life line still try to comfort him and ease his pain." "I still love him! I never stopped loving him!" Demetri's harsh breathing could be heard under her his next words making her smile. "...Oranges...Alex...Mine." She put her cheek against his back as it rose and fell with his breathing but screamed as Sybille's foot connected with her cheek sending her spawling. "You stay away from him! I don't know what kind of magic you use but nothing should be stronger than my hold on him!" She looked up and spit blood on the dirt, her busted lip bleeding again, her head spun around to look over her shoulder as another sound filled the small area, Sybille chuckled as he grabbed her and hauled her to her feet in front of him, Demetri and Cloak standing behind him, the blue fog of the young transporter Mist fading slowly to reveal her team, standing at the ready. Tank held Lily on his shoulders, already incased in is steel skin, Frost was charged and ready to go as fog poured from his skin which was a light blue and had a thin sheet of ice covering it. Jeff, Pocket and Sasa were all back to back looking around, Sasa had her machete at the ready while Pocket had a pistol in her hands, Jeff's stoic face only looking for the danger. She was shocked to see Tempest among them, fire flowing from his hands as he stood with her team. But what broke her heart was the man standing in front of them all. "Marcus!" She watched as the runes on his body began to glow madly as he looked at her, seeing the bruise on the pale skin of her cheek, the blood that rolled from her busted lip and the hands of his enemy holding her in place. "Alex, let you go Sybille!" The man behind her chuckled lightly as he threw Ali over to Demetri as well as the dagger, the soldier catching it and her easily. "What fun would that be old friend? You would only attempt to kill should I release her only to kill my loyal slave in the process. Tell me, do you think she would forgive you for that sin?" "Shut up! I'm sick of your mind games Sybille! What are you planning?" "It's a full moon tonight Marcus. Don't you remember? All those years ago, the lesson you gave me on the gods? What it would take?" Marcus' eyes grew wide. "Your insane! There's no telling what you'll unleash!" Sybille laughed as he looked down at them. "Only if I am the one to sully my hands. But I won't be. My slave shall do the dirty work for me." "You would have him kill- You really have become a monster." "You would know mystic. I followed in your footsteps. After all I did look up to you all those years ago. Now, watch as your world falls apart yet again." He motioned to Demetri who threw Ali forward, raiseing the dagger above his head he brought it down towards her, she closed her eyes waiting for the pain but it never came. She opened her eyes to see Tempest standing above her a sad smile on his face. "Forgive me Alex. For everything I've done to you." He coughed and she blinked as blood landed on her cheek as it came from his mouth, looking down she could see the dagger protuding through his stomach. She screamed as he fell to the side, lifeless, his blood pooling around him. "Tempest!" Sybille turned and scoffed. "Slave, do not fail me again!" Demetri nodded, raiseing the dagger once again only to pause as Lily wrapped her arms around Ali's leg scowling up at the man. "Stop it!" Ali wiggled trying to get the girl off of her, nothing working with her arms behind her back, she looked over as Marcus knelt next to her, his warm hands moving aginst her skin as he untied her, Lily's distraction giving him enough time to get her loose. He cupped her cheek as he looked her over, her bruised cheek, her busted lip, the raw marks from the ropes that were tied around her wrists. His gaze fell as she pulled away from the little girl and the mystic and slowly approached Demetri. "Please...stop this..." He raised the dagger again, Marcus' voice ringing in his ears. "Dammit Demetri stop! She's pregnant! Are you really going to allow Sybille to make you kill a child? Let alone yours!" Demetri dropped the dagger as he fell to his knees, Ali rushing over and wrapping her arms around him, holding him close as she rocked back and forth. Her powers relaying her feeling to him as she buried her face in his hair whispering quietly.[/font] [/color] O.O;; that took...forever! But it's all done. Hope you all enjoy it. I'm going to pass out now. That was more stressful than any post I have ever written...ugh.

[font="Comic Sans MS"][color="#000080"]The night that followed the conversation with Marcus still burned in her memory as she walked down the halls towards the brig. It had been a week since Demetri had been caught, he was slowly starting to trust her in his primal state, no longer flinching from her, no longer growling as her watch beeped only letting out a small whine at the loss of her company. Today how ever was different. He was violent as she entered the bring, his voice echoing through the many halls causing her to cover her ears, his scream echoing off the walls. She looked at the man on guard and pointed towards him, the man shrugged before he flinched as one of the chains holding the giant banged against the wall furiously. She walked past, gathering all the things she would need for the morning routine, the first being different than the others as she grabbed his toothbrush, hair brush and small elastic band to hold his hair back. Grabbing a wash cloth she soaked it and wrung it out so she could wash his face for him. Finally getting the bottle of water she nodded to the man and he opened Demetri's cell, Ali gasped as she took him in. Over the time he had been down here with her care he had started to look better, his skin no longer so pale, his eyes no longer etched in red and purple bags, his hair had begun to shine again and over the course of a night, he looked like the shell of a man that had bust through her door. "Demetri?" His white eyes landed on her and a growl tore from his throat shocking her, she stepped forward, her arm held out towards him, her wrist facing him; as soon as he caught the scent of her perfume he seemed to lose what ever aggression had taken over him. She fed him his breakfast, his small nips and licks of her wrist being more frequent now that he was used to her coming to see him. This time however, he did not nip, or lavish the spot with his tongue, she froze as she felt his lips press firmly against the veins in her wrist, what he said next made her unfreeze and stare at him. "...Alex...love Alex..." She felt her heart break as shame burned through her, every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner she would be down here taking care of him, her heart beating for him, but when she went back to the surface she searched out the other man that held her heart, the tattooed man and her having grown closer than she would have ever thought possible, her large room now holding them both and she found herself pulling away from Demetri ashamed of herself. She finished her routine quickly before slipping out and rushing back to the room that held her only salvation at the moment, she entered the room breathless and pale; Marcus noticed instantly as he stood from where he sat at the small table looking through a book. "Alex? What's the matter?" She reached for him glad when he responded and took her hand, pulling her against him he supported her weight as she leaned on him. "D-Demetri..." "What about him? Did he try to hurt you?" She shook her head as sat down at the table after allowing him to lead her to it, he slid his chair closer to her's and grasped her hand with his own. "Talk to me Ali." "He said he loved me..." "Even in that state? I didn't think he would be able to distinguish..." He stopped as he finally took in the look on her face. "Alex, look at me" She did with no hesitation and he cupped her cheek. "I'll be here for you no matter what. Just tell me what you want." She nodded opting to show him rather than ask him, grabbing his hand she pulled him forward and pressed her lips to his, he took the hint instantly and wrapped his arms around her, she pulled away from him and tucked her head against his chest taking deep breaths as he simply held her. The action making them both relax. After a few moments she sighed and stood, leaning down she kissed him once more and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge she let out a small scream as something black fell from the fridge door and began to roll across the floor, Marcus rushing to grab it. "Alex, you have to be cautious. What if this had gotten damaged?" "What the hell is it?" "It's a special artifact that amplifies my meditation circles." "Looks more like the thing from the black lagoon, besides that you don't meditate anymore, you sleep in a bed, with me, but why, dare I ask, was 'it' in the fridge?" He didn't answer, only reached past her and placed what ever it was back in it's proper spot. "You know Marcus, if I had known that you would be putting odd, alien creature like things in my refrigerator, I would have made you bring you own over here." He gave her a grin and kissed her cheek as she reached into the cooling unit, almost afraid and took out a bottle of water, she looked at the door and rolled her eyes sighing as she saw various 'thing's littered within there. Walking over to her cupboard she opened and pinched the bridge of her nose sighing as scrolls blocked her path to what she wanted in the back. "You put these here on purpose didn't you?" "Patch said chocolate is bad for you right now." "Exactly and this is my chocolate cabinet. So wait...you DID do this on purpose?" No answer from him. "Your not even going to deny it?" Slience still. "Your such an ass." She continued to search the kitchen finally throwing up her hands in defeat as she threw the bottle of water at Marcus only to watch as he caught it expertly and placed it on the table calmly, still reading. "Is there ANY thing that isn't 'good for me' that you haven't rigged or hidden, or contaminated with your freaky mystic crap?" He pointed above the fridge and she was shocked to open the cabinet to find a bag of chip only to pull them out and sigh as the words 'vegetable chips' shone on the bag, the threw them at the mystic wanting to hurl every infuriating scroll, or weird ingredient at him until she found what she wanted but found all she could do was shake her head and smile. Walking over she made room for herself on his lap interrupting his reading, he let out a small huff and wrapped his arms round her waist. "I hadn't saved my place." "You hid my chocolate." "This is slightly important Alex. I'm trying to find a way to release the runes on Demetri." "And I'm pregnant and want chocolate, something my lover seems intent on keeping from me." Marcus felt his heart skip a beat, she had gotten so comfortable around him within the week after their confrontation, it was almost as if they had been together for years. She never got aggravated with him anymore, their small quarrels nothing more than fun for them. He kissed her cheek and dug into his shorts pocket pulling out a Hershey kiss that she locked eyes on, a smile spread on his features. "You really have a craving for this don't you?" "Marcus, don't be mean..." She pouted as she looked back and locked eyes with him, he chuckled and leaned back unwrapping the small morsel himself, he gave it to her and watched as she popped it into her mouth chewing slowly, happily, the small, blissful smile making his heart sore. She turned and gave him a kiss, one that lingered on his lips and foretold of a much better thank you in store for later that day, he shivered at the thought as she stood and made her way to the bathroom, he jumped as she yelled at him. "Did you HAVE to etch them INTO the glass?! You couldn't have used permanent marker?" "I had to make sure they wouldn't fade Ali, mirrors are dangerous, they are portals to the shadow realm, I've gone over this with you." She came out brushing her hair and frowning. "Yeah I know, but again, you couldn't have drawn them with marker? You had to etch the runes into the glass? You ruined the mirror." It was than she looked around the room and gaped as she saw that every mirror she had, large or small had the same damage, putting her fingers on her forehead she sighed and walked away throwing her hands into the air. "I give up! Your lucky I love you otherwise I couldn't deal with this. Why did you have to pick today to do it of all days anyway? And you could have warned me." "It's the first of the month, a fresh start. It's the safest time to plant them. Oh and by the way-" "What the hell?! Where are my black sheets?! MARCUS! I DRAW THE LINE!" "Cotton is more pure than satin, and white represents light while black....Ali?" He turned in time to see her launch herself at him, throwing him from his chair and to the carpet as she wrestled with him trying to pin him and only managing to get pin herself. "Alex, what seems to be the problem?" His smug grin only made her growl. "You know the problem. Those were BLACK SATIN sheets! I paid over 200 bucks for that bed set!" "No wonder you had nightmares. As comfortable as they were, which do not get me wrong I enjoyed them as much as you did, for your protection I had to switch them." She rolled her eyes and have him a shove, he let her up with a smile as she bumped her shoulder with his. "You really that scared I'm gonna get hurt?" He cupped her cheek making her look at him. "I'd die if something were to happen to you Alex. I can't even stand the thought of it. As long as I have you in my life I can live happily." She smiled and leaned into his hand jumping as the alarms in the base suddenly began to blare through out the building. ATTENTION ALL HDF MEMBERS, PRISONER NUMBER 342 HAS ESCAPED, CAPTURE AT ALL COSTS. REPEAT- Ali gasped and looked at Marcus. "That's Demetri's number." She stood only to feel Marcus grab her wrist. "No, you stay here. I won't risk what happened last time happening again. You stay here, you stay safe. You understand me?" She nodded slowly, never seeing him this protective before and feeling her self melt on the inside as he pulled her in for a tight embrace and passionate kiss. "Lock this door and don't you dare open it for anyone. I have my key." She nodded and did as he asked as he stepped out, leaning into to kiss her one last time before dashing down the halls. Ali was left feeling alone as the red light flashed through their room, she suddenly jumped as a small knock came from the other side of the door. "Mommy!" Ali instantly opened the door for the little girl gathering her into a big hug as she rushed into the woman's arms. "Lily, honey. Where's Dante?" Lily sniffed in her arms as she clung to her. "We got separated with all the people running around. Mommy what's happening?" "I don't know baby. It'll be alright though okay?" "Is Daddy going to hurt people again?" Ali balked as she put the girl down and knelt to look at her, no one had ever told her Demetri's prisoner number, no one had ever told her it was Demetri who had entered the base and destroyed it either. "Lily, how do you know about that?" The girl's voice shifted, the menacing and evil tone making her freeze as the rune activated on her wrist, Lily melting away into Sybille. "You took-" "CopyCates power? Indeed. It's time to go, while my pet makes the distraction we shall make our escape." Ali looked up as the door slid open and Marcus stood there breathing heavily. "Marcus!" His eyes widened as he took in the scene as Sybille reached forward and grabbed her before she could move forward, a dagger pressing against the skin of her pale throat. "Ah ah ah Marcus. Wouldn't want her to end up like the other one would you?" The runes on his body came to life in his rage but he dare not attack Sybille while he had Ali, Sybille laughed as he smashed the hilt of the dagger into the back of Ali's skull knocking her unconscious and before the mystic could move fast enough the black mist the enveloped Sybille and Ali had vanished taking them along with it, her rune's activation negated by Sybille. He had made finally made his move.[/color][/font]

[color="#000080"][font="Comic Sans MS"]Ali came from the dark room slowly, her eyes opening as she frowned, sitting up she felt a chill creep into her skin, she was sticky with sweat and her body was sore, she sat up slowly grabbing the sheet as it began to fall from her body. She knew where she was before her eyes landed on Marcus, the smell of the room being all she needed, she had been here enough times to know. Finally her eyes landed on the Marcus she stood swiftly causing her head to swim as she pitched to the side losing her balance, he was there almost instantly holding her up. His warm hands on her upper arms, the strange emotions didn't flare, but her own did. She looked up at him and than pulled away, he let her go with out argument as she took a step back. "What's happening to me?" He looked down at her, his face unreadable which unnerved her more than anything. "You might want to sit down. It's not something easy to take in." "Try me. I just had a front row seat in my own head to you and my body having 'fun'." This seemed to shock him some as he frowned, but shook his head, he was acting like he had when she had first met him, the closed off man that barely talked to her, it hurt more than she thought it would, her mind going back to the picture she had in her room of his smile. Holding the sheet to her body she put her other on her hip and waited. "You remember Masan, am I correct?" "Yeah...you've never really told me about her, but I could gather enough from your memories." He nodded slowly as he sat back down, further away from her. "Her powers...her powers allowed her to transfer a piece of her soul into a person and take control of them." "Alright...I can tell there's more to this than that." "She some how managed to evolve her powers on the night of her death. Her soul found it's way to you and remain dormant, when I placed the rune on you it allowed her to gain some strength to manifest herself within you." Ali let it sink it for a few seconds before her eyes widened. "You mean to tell me that she's been taking over MY body! For how long?" "Tonight was the first, there were other times where she influenced you, but tonight was only her." "She used me...to..." He watched as she sank onto the bed heavily, her face shocked until a frown etched onto her face. "Are you telling me that this whole time...this whole time that I've felt something for you..." She felt her throat tighten, she was coming dangerously close to revealing things that she had tried to hide from him. She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly thinking back to all the times throughout the course of the last 3 months of Demetri's disappearance. He looked at her with a frown now, confused him self, Ali took a deep breath deciding that if there was ever a better time to get things in the open. It was now. "Are you telling me, that the entire 3 months that you and I have been together...you only saw me cause I resembled Masan?" "Where did you get that idea from?" "I'm not stupid Marcus! The fact that your acting the exact same where towards me as you did when we first met tells me everything I need to know!" He looked away from her not meeting her eyes as she continued. "And now your telling me that your dead lover is using my body to be with you?!" "She's not dead." "No, she's just using me. Destroying MY life. Do you even care about the fact that I actually grew feeling for you? Or was it all because I look like her?" She wanted to scream at him as he didn't answer her, his feelings guarded now as she put her hand in her hair, frustrated beyond anything she could have ever though possible. "I don't even know what to think about his whole thing..." She jumped as her watch beeped at her cursing. "I have to go take care of Demetri...we'll talk when I get back. I'm no where near done with this, or you." She saw him flinch slightly at her last words before she dressed and walked out of the room, her thoughts jumbled as she walked down to Demetri's cell only to ease as she saw the giant, her mind her own again as well as her feelings and she was more than pleased as her skin tingled as he inhaled her scent, just like all the times before. Going through the routine she let her mind wander. Back to the first kiss she had shared with Marcus, it had been real, she had felt no other emotions but her own...and than the first night she had made love to him, her cheeks burned in shame as she looked up at her primal lover, his eyes staring empty back into her's. She touched his cheek as her watch beeped again and she left him frantic once again. It had been over an hour since she had left Marcus and she planned on telling him everything, all the way up until it had begun to fell like her thoughts were not her own, which was a month ago when she had called him a strange name. Taking a deep breath she entered his room once more, this time prepared for the emotional spike that seeing him caused, he looked up and she felt her own emotions waver. Now that she knew who's emotions she had been feeling it was simple to control them. Before he could open his mouth to speak she shook her head and pointed to his couch. "Sit. Before you say any of your mombo jumbo, I have things I have to get off of my chest." He blinked slightly before sitting down and waiting as she paced in front of him trying to get it all together in her head. "When we first kissed...back on the island, I wasn't being manipulated by Masan, that was me. All me, when I began to come to you while he was gone, seeking comfort in you, that was me too. All of it was me until a month ago when she began to influence me. The first time being when I called you...what was it?" "Koibito." "Yeah, that. Up until that point it was all me. My feelings, my emotions...all of it was real towards you Marcus and now I feel as if it meant nothing to you...the night when we came back to your room, right here in THIS room and you made love to me the first time...that wasn't her, or even influenced by her...that was me. I gave-" She closed her eyes as her throat tightened cutting off her speech. "I gave my self to you...I had wanted you than, hoping that maybe, just maybe we could heal each other." She pointed to the picture on his small table, the duplicate of the one she too had in her room. Their smiles showing clearly. "That was ME." He only looked at her waiting for her to continue, she put her hand over her eyes as the tears she had been holding back began to flow forth. "I have your dead lover's mind inside mine, she can take control of my body when ever the hell she wants and come see you...that must make you very happy." He could tell that she was getting upset now, the magnitude of everything finally setting in, she looked up at him and bit onto her lower lip slightly, she shook her head as the tears continued to fall. "And so that's it? Now that I'm your precious lover incarnate everything that happened between you and me is void." She didn't give him time to answer before she started again. "I tried so hard...so hard to pull us both from whatever dismal abyss we were both in, hoping that we could help each other. Letting my self fall in love with you-" His eyes widened as her words reached him. "-allowing my self to feel that maybe just maybe I could find some solace with you, and I did. The time that it was me, and only me. I was happy Marcus. You made me happy, you made me smile when I needed it." She shook her head and crossed her arms over her stomach to try and comfort her self, her body aching for the comfort of Demetri's arms around her now. "I had actually begun to second guess my love for Demetri..." Closing her eyes she shook her head slowly. "But none of that matter any more does it. So long as you have her, your fine. I can tell her emotions from mine now Marcus. I won't let her take over my body any time soon." She walked over to him and stood in front of him for moments unsure of what she really wanted to do, looking at his handsome face she wanted to scream at him, hit him, and be held by him all at once. Closing her eyes she tilted her head up and planted a gentle kiss on his lips, her soft ones lingering as she whispered against them. "This is the last time I'll come to see you." She turned quickly and walked away, she had been confused through out the entire conversation, not even sure what to say to any of it, but she had told him how she felt about him. Her as Ali, not influenced by Masan or anyone else. She had grown to love him and this is how it ended, she walked to her room and sat on the bed blocking out the emotions within her wanting to go back to him and get lost in his embrace. She looked over the picture of Marcus and her, on this very bed, smiling up at the camera as they held each other. She had been her self that night as well, her smile genuine in the picture, but now she wondered if any of his smiles had been for her...or for the lost love she looked so much like. [/font][/color]