

Second Semester

(A Templar: Order and Chaos Prequel)

©2018 Kenneth Brooks, all rights reserved

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

Special Thanks

There are too many people that I owe my gratitude within this novel. No matter how long the list looks, it will be too short. I want to thank my Family: my wife Barbara, my son Sean, my daughter Alice, my best friend and the little sister I never had; Nicohle Christopherson, my Step Sister Jeanne (Jean) Reed, My Mother and step mother Shannon, my father, my parents in law, my brothers and sisters in law, and host of cousins and aunts and uncles including Misu Qantu and Karl Qantu. I also want to thank my close friends, Bonnie Myers and her family, Jabulani Johnson, Arron Penland, Travis Guerin, Coleen, Vicenta, and Missy Bolin. My former HPE colleagues and friends including; Dominick Espinoza, Steven Beasley, Tye Anders, Allen Delehoy, Kaushik Srinivas, Clay Graves, Jamie Reed, Ray Chibaro, And so many more.

The creation of this novel would never have happened if it weren't for the efforts of Dr. Thelma Bear who recognized my writing problems in the past and urged me to write what I drew and what I thought. Without that, I would never have tried to take pen to paper and release my imagination on the world.

Of course: I also give a very warm thank you to my readers and those who have put up with my bad spelling and grammar in the past!

This novel is dedicated to Alan Roberts and everyone we have lost. We will see you again the next time around to weave new stories in new lives.

Contents

Chapter #1: End of Middle School

Chapter #2: The Call

Chapter #3: Fateful Decisions

Chapter #4: Another Tragedy

Chapter #5: Second Communion

Chapter #6: Gemini and Discord

Chapter #7: The Carnival

Chapter #8: Messages

Chapter #9: Pictures and a Communion

Chapter #10: Fourth of July

Chapter #11: Re Assembling Life

Chapter #12: The Party

Chapter #13: After Party

Chapter #14: Reunion at the Pool

Chapter #15: First day of High School

Chapter #16: Homecoming

Chapter #17: Collapse and Problems

Chapter 18: Un Writing Tragedy

Chapter #19: Birthday Party

Chapter #20: Winter Storm

Chapter #21: Playing house

Chapter #22: Christmas Eve

Chapter #23: Christmas Day

Chapter #24: The end of Break Ritual

Chapter #25: Request

Chapter #26: Signup

Chapter #27: Spring Break

Chapter #28: The Prom

Chapter #29: Fractures

Chapter #30: Broken Bonds

Chapter #31: Tempests

Chapter #32: The Watchers

Chapter #33: The Twin Watchers

Chapter #34: Graduation – We Are Children No More

About the Author

Current and Upcoming Novels

Chapter #1: End of Middle School

Greeley Colorado

May 26th, 2027-CE

It had been over seven years since he saw the mysterious Nicole Lyla. After that day, she disappeared and only he and Jena remembered that she existed. Every other trace of her disappeared. There were unanswered questions. Why was she searching for them? Why did no one remember that she existed except for Jena and him? Would they see her again?

He had little time for that. He cleaned out his locker. It was the last day of middle school and the last time he would see the place that he spent the last three years learning new things. He would be moving onto high school next year. His friends would be moving with him to the same high school. There was excitement. There was also a feeling of foreboding. He didn't understand why he felt that. He couldn't understand why he felt an unusual kind of loss.

Jena walked over to his locker while he filled his backpack with the items he collected over the school year. Her pack was filled to the brim with everything from her locker. Like him, it would empty throughout the day as they turned in their books to their teachers, "Are you ready for another summer of fun?"

Lone Wolfe didn't answer. A pounding headache was starting to form that morning. He found it difficult to concentrate on anything but the most basic of tasks. She tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, are you okay, bud?" She asked.

He glanced over to her, his gold eyes showed the pain and distraction from the headache, "Yeah. Sorry, I just have a headache."

Jena placed a hand on his head. She was determined to take away the pain. For some reason, she couldn't pull the pain out of his head. She could see the pain in his eyes. For some reason, she couldn't get to it, "I don't understand this. Either you are blocking my empathic abilities, or I can't reach it."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't know. My telepathy doesn't seem to work right today either. Sometimes the voices of the others are louder than ever and sometimes they are barely a whisper. I don't know what's going on."

"Maybe you are getting sick," Jena suggested, "You should probably see a nurse."

Lone Wolfe chuckled which made his head ring with pain even more, "What can a nurse do that you can't? Besides, it's the last day of school. If they send me home now I won't see you again until we start at West in the fall. I will make it through the day and then we can start our summer vacation."

Lone Wolfe finished shoving the last of his things in the locker and shut the door. He zipped up the back pack and threw it over the shoulder. He managed to hide it well, but the action caused a wave vertigo that almost sent him flying backward into the hall and onto the floor. He had no other symptoms other than the headache, at least nothing that had surfaced so far. His gifts always acted strange right before he got sick. He wondered if he managed to catch the flu right before summer vacation. That would put a damper on family plans if that was the case. It would be the first time in a couple of years that his mother had a vacation planned in the middle of summer. He didn't want to miss that just because he was sick.

Jena seemed to pick up on that thought as he walked toward his class, "Shouldn't Scarlet be out of College by now? Isn't the semester over?"

Lone Wolfe nodded. It wasn't much of a nod as he didn't want another wave of dizziness to overwhelm him. Since she started in college three years ago, he had not seen much of her except in the summer. The two had become close like cousins. She was studying to become a teacher. That wasn't surprising since she took him under her wing seven years ago to control his telepathy.

"I just realized something," Jena commented, "We are now as old as she was when she started teaching you to use your telepathy."

"Yes," Lone Wolfe replied, "You are right."

"Is she still teaching you things about your telepathy?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head and almost regretted it, "No. We are pretty much just friends at this point."

Jena gave him a devious smirk, "Maybe you are hoping to be more than friends?"

In his current state, he couldn't figure out what his oldest friend meant by that comment, "I don't know what you mean by that. My parents can't adopt her, her mother can't adopt me. I don't see how we can become actual family."

Jena shook her head and chuckled, "Never mind. Well, see you after school."

Lone Wolfe nodded and regretted doing so right away.

* * *

As the day progressed, Lone Wolfe started to feel even worse than when the day began. What was a bad headache turned into a throbbing, pounding, vertigo inducing menace. It became impossible for him to concentrate. Despite the spring warmth in the day, it felt like someone had turned down the temperature outside. No one could tell from his sweating, however, as he nearly drenched is clothes with it. He was convinced that he had a sudden case of allergies as he started to sneeze, and his nose ran so much he had to steal a roll of toilet paper from the restroom to keep his face clean.

As he headed to his last class, he developed a cough. He sat down at his desk next to Curtis. The blond haired blue-eyed boy gave him a weary look, "dude, you don't look so good. You should see the nurse."

Tired gold eyes glanced back at Curtis, "Why bother? Last class. I will go home after this."

"They could call your parents and you wouldn't have to walk two miles home," Curtis advised.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Why bother. It would take one of them out of work. I will be fine."

Curtis pulled out a smart phone and started texting someone. Lone Wolfe glanced over to the phone, "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Texting Jena. I want her to walk home with you. Since we walk home in opposite directions, someone has to keep an eye on you," Curtis answered.

"She doesn't live close to me either," Lone Wolfe replied, "I will be fine. I will make it home."

"I'm not convinced you will make it through class," Curtis stated.

Lone Wolfe took out his book and sat it on the desk, "I will make it, you watch. You will have to owe Jena an apology for this."

His phone beeped. He glanced down and read the text message before glancing back at his best friend, "She said she would be glad to escort you home. You lucky dog!"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't think you get it. She will walk me home and give me grief the entire time about how she will get in trouble with her parents about taking me home. When we meet up at West in the fall, she will let you know that you were wrong, and I was fine all the way home."

He put his head on the desk and let the cool feeling of the hard surface soak into his face. He thought it was weird that his body was freezing but the feeling of the cold faux wood surface felt good. That seemed to take up most of the time as the students were called forward to hand in their books. He didn't hear his name called but Curtis decided to do him a favor and take his book up for him anyway. Before he knew it, the period was over, and Curtis was nudging him, "Hey, it's time to go home. It's not too late for you to go to the office and tell them you need a ride home. You could borrow my phone and call your folks."

Lone Wolfe rose slowly and grabbed his back pack. Even though it was lighter than before, it still felt far heavier than it should, "No." He groaned, "If I call them then my mom won't take me to Colorado Springs to spend time with Relena."

"Is she your girlfriend? I didn't know your mother would take you to see your girlfriend!" Curtis chuckled, "What will Jena think about that?"

"She's my second cousin, you idiot!" Lone Wolfe sighed.

"No, Jena is your friend," Curtis smiled.

"Relena is my second cousin, at least you got Jena right," Lone Wolfe replied.

Jena entered the door way with her bag slung over her shoulder. Her green eyes glanced over to him and a worried expression washed over her face, "Should I call my parents and get them to give us a ride to your house? They wouldn't mind."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I'm fine to walk. Just feeling a bit under the weather."

"Okay, well let's, get home while you can still stand." Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded and gave a short salute to his friend, Curtis, "Have fun. See you at West this fall!"

"You too! Try not to catch anything else while you are in the Springs!" Curtis chuckled in response.

"I wonder if there is such a thing as smiling disease?" Lone Wolfe attempted to joke as he walked towards Jena. He glanced back at his friend one more time. He caught something in that moment but as he walked away from Curtis, it faded quickly, "If there is such a thing I think he has it. There is something different about him."

"I think you have a fever and I think it is making you delirious," Jena stated in a worried tone as they walked through the hallway.

Lone Wolfe didn't say anything as he walked through the hallway. He glanced around at all the people as they gravitated towards their cliques on the way out of the building. What he felt from Curtis he started to feel from some of the people in the other groups. He wasn't sure what it was. He was also sure that the boys and girls that felt these jumbles of feelings were not sure of what they felt as well. Some of them teased and laughed the same way as Curtis did. Some of them stayed silent and somber. Some didn't seem any different than before.

He glanced to Jena and asked, "What am I sensing here?" He asked.

Jena glanced at him with a confused look on her face. She was not sure what he was referencing as they walked through the halls towards the exit. Lone Wolfe had Clairvoyance and Telepathy. Jena had Telepathy and Empathy. As far as telepathy was concerned, they both could sense the same things. She didn't feel anything unusual out of that. She didn't know how his clairvoyance worked so she didn't know if he was referring to that. He couldn't be sensing anything else out of the ordinary. He was either picking something up that she couldn't feel, or he was hallucinating.

She shrugged, "I don't know. Like I said before, I think you have a fever and you aren't feeling right."

She placed a hand on his head and it felt hot to the touch, "There is no more thinking about it. Not only do you look like death warmed over, you feel like it too."

As Lone Wolfe pushed open the door, the air outside felt like a blast of cold air. It was slightly cooler than average for this day but not enough that the air would feel chilly to anyone else. That more than anything else helped convinced the boy that his friend could be right. He slowly nodded, "Okay. You are right. I was hoping that I could finally go on vacation. This stupid fever and cold came on just to ruin it all!"

"Maybe your mom can reschedule it?" Jena suggested, "it's not like a plane trip, right? You are just driving down to Colorado Springs. You will probably be better in a couple of days, so you can just go then."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "It won't work. It took a lot just to get them both to get their vacations to sync up. If they cancel their vacations now, they will have to work for months just to get it to work again. That means I will spend another summer here in Greeley, by myself, with nothing to do and no one to hang out with."

"Well, there is always next year," Jena suggested, "Maybe you just need to rest tonight. Who knows, you could be better in the morning and you can still make the trip tomorrow."

Lone Wolfe had a feeling that he would be worse off tomorrow. He shook his head as they walked down the road, "No. I caught something. I won't be better tomorrow."

"You are being pessimistic," She suggested.

"I am clairvoyant," Lone Wolfe argued, "I know this. I will be worse tomorrow. I could suggest that you would stay the night, but I am also sure that will fly as well with your parents as it would with mine. There is no guest room in our house so there would be no place for you to stay. With me being sick, they won't have a guest over anyway."

Jena was about to open her mouth to say something, but Lone Wolfe glanced over to her, "Don't even suggest me staying at your house. They won't let me go to your house when I am like this."

"Your mom knows I am an Empath, right?" Jena questioned.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "She knows you are like us, yes."

Lone Wolfe tripped and stumbled at that point. He fell face first onto the concrete and just about knocked himself out on the sidewalk. He tried to push himself up but the vertigo from such a fast fall plus the knock on the head from the stop made the world spin around him. He couldn't tell what was up and down anymore. It was all he could do just to gather his feet underneath him. He couldn't stand, "Ugh," he sighed as he tried to get up and stumbled forward.

"Lone Wolfe!" Jena cried. She scrambled to his side. Her voice seemed to echo in his head bouncing around from left to right and front to back. Each time it seemed to bounce around the inside of his skull it caused pain. She knelt down in front of him. He could smell the meaty smell of blood, "Don't try to move, you are bleeding!"

His vision started to go out as she reached for him. He could feel her embrace as the world spun faster and contorted. He hoped that he wouldn't fall over on her and cause her to tumble to the ground. If he was bleeding, like she said, he hoped he wouldn't get his blood on her flowery blouse. Soon after all he could see was darkness. All he could hear was a ringing in his ears. He tried to call out, but he couldn't say anything. He couldn't move. He couldn't feel.

* * *

Lone Wolfe opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his room and two pairs of green eyes glancing down at him. One Belonged to Jena, who seemed worried, and the other belonged to his mother who also looked worried but less so than his friend. He tried to sit up, but his mother gently placed her hands on his shoulders, "Don't try to move. You smacked your head pretty good. You don't have a concussion, thanks to the gifts of your friend, but you need to take it easy for a while. You should have told me that you were sick this morning sweetie. You overdid it."

"I didn't want to miss us going to Colorado Springs to see Relena," Lone Wolfe replied, "I have been looking forward to it all spring. Besides, it is the last day of school. I had to return my books."

Sylvia shook her head, "I could have returned them for you. I would have stayed home and made sure that you were okay. If you didn't overdo it at school today, then you might have been okay or maybe a little under the weather tomorrow and we still would have been able to go."

Lone Wolfe looked panicked, "I didn't think about that. But it would have looked bad for you to miss work right before you go on vacation."

"You let us adults worry about work," Sylvia replied as she brushed her reddish-brown hair out of her eyes and forced a smile on her face, "Now you are running a fever and you need your sleep, so I must now tell you that you have to say goodbye to your friend, Jena."

Jena glanced to Sylvia with a worried look on her face, "I am not confident that I got rid of his concussion. Shouldn't someone stay and make sure he stays awake for the night to make sure that he will be fine?"

Sylvia smiled and tapped her forehead, "I have every faith in your abilities, my dear. I also have the same gift to peak into things that haven't happened yet like my son. He will be fine, and he no longer has a concussion. That is how I was able to get off work early and find you two on the sidewalk after he passed out. Now, he does need sleep, so it is time for you two to say goodbye. You will see each other again. I promise."

Lone Wolfe gave his friend a smile, "Until next time," He said.

Jena rose and forced a smile on her face, "Have fun. Get better." She said then left the room.

Sylvia said nothing and waited next to his bed until Jena had left the house and was on her way home. She glanced down to her son and said, "She is a strong Empath. Stronger than I. I would have had to take you to a hospital with the fall you took."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that I pushed myself that bad. I just didn't want to miss going to see Relena." Lone Wolfe replied.

Sylvia nodded, "I know. Your plan of keeping this to yourself might have cost you that trip. I have a way to make it up to you. You will have to stay here to get better, but I can go down to Colorado Springs tomorrow to see my cousin and her daughter. With luck, I can convince him to let her stay up here for the summer. You won't be able to go to the Springs, but you will have a summer with your cousin. How does that sound?"

His face lit up with delight, "That sounds awesome!"

Sylvia returned his smile, "Now, once you get better you will be sleeping on the couch, but I am sure that she will be okay with sleeping on the couch until then. Maybe we can arrange a camping trip or something later in the summer. I know someone who's granddaughter likes camping and maybe later in June the two families can all go up camping together. It would give us all some space away from this cramped house."

She rose to leave then turned back to her son, "You have a 101.2-degree fever. You don't have a normal sickness. Something is happening to you. I will explain it to you in a few days when I get back. I have the feeling that you won't process it right at this time. It will be an exciting time. A new beginning. We can discuss it in a few days."

She flicked off the light and shut the door to his room, leaving him in the fading twilight. She also left him with questions. If he didn't have the flu, then what was causing him to be sick? If it wasn't a normal sickness, then why couldn't Jena take it away? Why was it an exciting time? Why was it a new beginning? He had no time to ponder those questions as he quickly succumbed to his tired feelings soon after.

Chapter #2: The Call

Greeley Colorado

May 27th, 2027-CE

If there was any respite from the sickness and fever it was the fantastical dreams that the fevers produced in return for Lone Wolfe. He had adventures the likes of which books and video games could never reproduce. He met new people and had new experiences that he could never have in the outside world. Everything was bright and vivid. Smells were enhanced, objects and touch felt so real. He could stay in that world forever.

The feeling of a cold compress being placed against his forehead scattered those dreams like smoke on the wind. At that point, he could feel how horrible he felt. His head pounded. His throat felt parched and drier than the hottest desert. His body ached all over. He wanted to open his mouth to say something and open his eyes, but he couldn't. All he could do was listen to what his parents said in the background and grow worried as sleep tried to steal him away from the conscious world again.

"I don't think it is such a good idea for you to leave. He is getting worse. His fever is now 102.6," His father stated.

"I told him I would go down and get Relena to come back up with me." His mother answered, "I don't see another time when we will get the opportunity to do this for him. He was really looking forward to spending the summer with other family. He spent so much of his childhood alone. I would rather not let him spend another summer like that. You are also on vacation. I hate to leave you alone like this but keep an eye on him. Make sure he gets his fluids and gets food and if he starts to get worse then let me know. If you need to then take him to the hospital."

"Was it this bad for you?" His father questioned in response after a moment.

"No," Sylvia answered, "But then again all of his gifts, so far, have been stronger and wilder than mine. This new one could be the same way. He also decided to push himself because he was afraid he wouldn't get to see Relena if he stayed home sick. It could be one, the other, or both of those factors. We will have to wait and see."

"Could this kill him?" His father asked after a moment. He sounded really worried.

"No. He will get through this. It may get a little rougher, but he will make it," His mother sounded confident. He didn't hear any more as he fell back asleep into another fantastic dream of wonder before anyone could say anything more.

* * *

A gentle nudge on his shoulder and the compress being lifted off his head roused him from his sleep. This time, he was able to open his eyes, but it was all he could do to sit up. He glanced up and saw the blue eyes of his father glancing down at him with concern on his face. In his hand was a glass. He offered it to his son, "You need to drink some water."

"Where's mom?" Lone Wolfe asked as he accepted the glass.

He took a sip as his father answered, "She left to go to Colorado Springs. She will stay the night and leave with Relena tomorrow."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He took another sip of his water. The water seemed to relieve the parched feeling in his throat. He could feel it make its way down to his stomach. Cooling everything it touched. He glanced up to his father and asked, "How am I doing?"

"I just took your temperature under your arm. You are at 102.7. Do you think you can handle some soup?" His father questioned in response, "I made some chicken noodle soup."

"I would love some," Lone Wolfe nodded, "My fever is getting worse. Are you going to have to take me to hospital if it gets any worse?"

His father looked worried at that comment, "I am thinking about it."

"What is this new talent? Why is it making me sick?" Lone Wolfe asked, "If I have to go to the hospital then will them doing something to me take it away?"

"What did your mother tell you?" He asked with a sidelong glance.

"She only told me that she would tell me when she got back," Lone Wolfe answered, "What about the hospital? Will I lose this new gift if I have to go?"

His father shrugged, "I can't answer that. I haven't seen anything like this before." Before Lone Wolfe could ask or prod anymore, his father went to the door of his room and said, "I will get you your soup. I will be right back."

With nothing more to do or say, Lone Wolfe reached for the remote to his smart TV and turned it on. He had found a channel and something to watch by the time his father returned with the soup and a tray. He sat the tray down for him and asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I should be okay."

His father nodded and left the room. He watched TV and slowly ate the soup as he was not sure if his illness also affected his stomach. He blew on each spoonful to cool it off and was glad that he was not made nauseous from the food. The soup managed to fill him up and return some of his strength to him as it went through his system. It also made him thirsty enough to finish off the water.

He sat the empty dishes on the tray and watched TV. He had the volume loud enough that he did not hear his father on the cell phone in the other room. He didn't hear it until His father opened the door to the room, "Relena is on the line. Your mother thought you'd want to talk to her."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Hand it over!"

He handed his son the smart phone, "I will leave you two alone to talk. When you are done, hand the phone back to me and let me know if your mom is on the line or if you two hung up. Depending on how long it is, I will need to check your temperature again at that point." With those words said, his father retrieved the tray of dishes, left the room and closed the door.

Excitement filled Lone Wolfe's voice as he answered the Line, "Relena?"

"Do you still call yourself Lone Wolfe like you told me all those years ago or do you call yourself Sean again?" Relena questioned in response, "Or do you call yourself something different?"

Lone Wolfe chuckled, "Usually people say hello."

"You didn't," Relena stated.

"True enough," he answered, "Everyone calls me Lone Wolfe anymore. Jena does, Curtis does, most of the teachers do. Everyone except mom and dad. Hang on, why did you ask if I called myself something different? Do you call yourself something different?"

"Depends on who is in the room," Relena stated, "Most people don't get me anymore. I have been having some strange dreams lately."

"Tell me about it," Lone Wolfe replied, "Fevers can do that to a person."

"That's right. Sylvia said you are sick. I'm sorry. At least I will be up there tomorrow night!" Relena stated with the happiness in her voice clearly carrying over, "But my dreams aren't fever dreams. You have had dreams before that were replays of memories. These dreams feel like those, only they aren't my memories. They feel like something else."

"Well, communions can do that to a person," Lone Wolfe mentioned, "You and I had one at the farm when our parents got together when the great grandparents had their family reunion."

"Yeah, your mom was pissed," Relena stated, "Somehow, she could tell that we went through it."

"Everyone could tell that something happened between us," Lone Wolfe replied, "that and we hid from everyone for like four hours. The latter is reason enough for her to be pissed but she has seen that before. She is the only one there who really had an idea of what happened."

"What do you think everyone else thought?" Relena asked.

"That feels like a loaded question," Lone Wolfe replied.

"It could be," Relena giggled.

"Anyway, we seemed to have strayed from my question. What did you mean about me going by a different name? You also hinted that you go by a different name in other circles. What's that about?"

"I was getting to that before you diverted me," Relena stated.

"So, I am to blame?" Lone Wolfe smiled in response.

"You brought up the communion," Relena pointed out.

"So, I did. Please continue," Lone Wolfe admitted.

"Well, I have been having some dreams recently. They feel like memories. They are my memories only they aren't. It feels like I have lived a life before. I lived, I died, and now I live again. In one of these dreams you called me by a name, only it wasn't you; you were someone else." Relena explained. She took a breath and said, "You called me Ashara and since then I have been having this feeling that I should go by that name. The few that will agree to it have been calling me by that name for a month now."

Something with that name struck a chord with him. What started out as funny banter had turned serious. He had heard it before, but he swore that it was the first time he heard it at the same time. What was more, she also said it was a past version of him that said it. He was not sure how to reply. Relena ended up insisting on a response, "Are you going to say something or are you going to leave me hanging here all day?"

"Sorry," Lone Wolfe replied, "You said I called you Ashara? A past me?"

"Yes," Relena replied.

"Would you prefer I call you that name now?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Well, it would be awesome if you would. At least when our parents aren't around," Relena replied, "I told my dad about the dreams I was having and about the whole reincarnation thing in the beginning and he got really angry! I thought I was going to be grounded. When he did nothing other than insisting that I forget about these dreams, I thought he was going to call a priest and perform an exorcism. I was actually surprised that he allowed Sylvia to come down here. I was even more surprised that he is allowing me to go up there to stay with you guys."

"Maybe he is thinking that we will straighten you out with our own odd ways?" Lone Wolfe suggested, "Something like your dreams being a cry for attention and wanting to feel like you fit in with something. Lots of people think they have been reincarnated. It's not very Christian but there are religions that revolve around it. If you see that there are others like you then maybe you will give up on what he thinks is nonsense."

"Do you think it's nonsense?" Relena questioned.

"I want to say yes because I haven't had those dreams, but something tells me no." Lone Wolfe replied. Something else grabbed his attention at that moment, "In that dream, when I called you Ashara, what was my name?"

"I thought you wouldn't ask," Relena stated. He could hear the smile on her voice, "I called you Deleous. That is why I asked if you were going by a different name now. I thought you were starting to have these dreams too. You and I usually experience similar things at around the same time."

The name she gave him for his past life also struck a chord in him. Just like last time, even though he never heard the name before, he recognized it. Yet, He had to admit, it was not his name. He couldn't start going around wearing it like it was his. He shook his head, "I haven't had any dreams like that. Maybe this is one thing you will take the lead on."

"Okay, well, I will still call you Lone Wolfe then and you can call me Ashara when the adults aren't the wiser," Relena stated.

"You have a deal," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Another thing," Relena stated, "At first, I thought we only ran into just each other in past lives. There are more of us that have lived before."

"Of course," Lone Wolfe nodded, "I told you that there are religions around this."

"I mean that we have ran into more people that have lived before and are living now. You know two of them. Well, three but two of them are human," Relena stated in response.

"You've lost me," Lone Wolfe replied, "There are only humans. You can't mean I had a pet that was a reincarnation? I haven't had a dog or a cat or anything that lives long enough to bond with."

"Well, more on that later. I mean you know two people that we apparently spent a lot of our past lives with," Relena replied.

"Now I'm curious, who?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Jena is the first one," Relena answered, "You called her Kana in the same life in which we all had the names I mentioned before."

Hat trick, Lone Wolfe thought as he recognized another name he never heard before. It was starting to worry him that she was able to do this to him from so far away. It was also curious that he had been friends with her his whole life. It seemed natural that they be friends and close friends at that. He was still willing to chalk it all up to coincidence. He had to know if she could pull it off again, "Who is the other one."

"The one that taught you to control your telepathy. Scarlet. In that same life, you called her Shima with the moniker of 'the Mentor' which is weird because she taught you in this life too," Relena stated, "Didn't you say she is going to college to become a teacher?"

"You are starting to scare me, Ashara," Lone Wolfe replied. Again, same name and same result. This time it almost seemed to explain the odd friendship between both Lone Wolfe and Scarlet. The pull to mentor and befriend a stranger with uncontrollable powers. She could have locked his telepathy away and the world would have been better for it. Instead, she went for the harder route. She taught him how to control it.

"Curtis is involved too," Relena stated, "Only he wasn't human in that life. He was something else. Something darker. You saw it in him. In our communion, I could tell that you saw something darker in his spirit, but you couldn't tell what it was. I couldn't quite catch it in my dreams either, but I know he wasn't human in that life. I know because I kept seeing him again and again in different lives. Also, there is someone we haven't met yet in more recent times that has been showing up like that too. Her name sounds more normal. I bet she would still look like she is our age; ever see someone that looks like a French girl going by the name of Miranda?"

Lone Wolfe laughed but it was more of a nervous laugh. Part of him felt like she was setting him up for a joke at the last minute. The name was too normal for it to be a reincarnation. Especially with the last couple of names he just heard, "You are joking, right?"

"I don't think so," Relena stated, "I remember this in several more recent times."

"Well it is impossible to know if I have seen this Miranda before. While not a common name, it is certainly not a strange name like Kana, Shima, Deleous, or Ashara."

"True," Relena stated.

"Anyone else I need to be aware of?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Well there are a lot of people. There are two more that come to mind but I don't think either of us have met them yet. I am sure we will run into them eventually. You didn't run into Curtis right away and you only met Scarlet seven years ago. We are bound to run into the others eventually," Relena replied.

"Without you around I will not have a way to tell who they are," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

"With any luck, I will be there when you meet them," Relena stated in response. She squealed after a moment, "I can't wait to actually meet Jena, Curtis and Scarlet. I have seen them through your eyes from the communion we had but now I will actually be able to meet them! I will be able to get to know them! I am so excited!"

"I hate to burst your bubble, but Jena and Curtis are leaving tomorrow for their family vacations of their own. Scarlet should be back next week, though. One out of three isn't bad, right?" Lone Wolfe replied.

Relena sighed in frustration, "I guess. Maybe the other two will get back before I must head back home. If not, then I can see about coming up there again for a break or something?"

"They are all upper middle class, so they take vacations every break they get," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "If you get a break, they will get one too and they will go on vacation then as well. They aren't like us poor folks."

"We aren't exactly rich down here," Relena protested.

"Bullshit," Lone Wolfe replied, "You will get to see how the have-nots live while you are up here. I am sure you will be fed up with it by the time you leave."

"I doubt it," Relena argued.

"I will put it this way," Lone Wolfe stated, "One of us will be sleeping on the couch while you are here."

"At least I will see what you have stashed in your sock drawer," Relena chuckled.

"Socks," Lone Wolfe stated dryly, "All I have in the sock drawer is socks."

"Well, I will just have to come up there and find out," Relena replied, "Anyway, I am being told that I have to get off the phone now. I will see you tomorrow night. Get better soon. I don't plan to be cooked up in the house all summer."

Lone Wolfe smiled, "Goodbye," He said instead of his customary till next time.

"Goodbye," She replied and disconnected the line.

Lone Wolfe took the phone into the living room where his father worked on a program on the computer. He handed the phone to his father and said, "We are off the phone. It sounds like both mom and Relena will be coming up here tomorrow night."

His father nodded and smiled, "That's good news. Now it is time to take your temperature. Sit down on the couch."

Lone Wolfe sat down on the sofa as his father went into the bathroom to sanitize the thermometer. He came back in and handed it to his son and said, "Put it under your arm." Lone Wolfe nodded and slid it into his arm pit and hit the button to start taking the reading. After a few seconds, it beeped, and he took it out and read it, "It says 101.9."

His father smiled, "That's good. Maybe you will be better by the time they get back."

Chapter #3: Fateful Decisions

Greeley Colorado

May 27th, 2027-CE

Dale, Lone Wolfe's father, picked up his cell phone and sat down at the kitchen table as he glanced down at the thermometer. He just added a cold compress to his son's forehead and took his temperature in the middle of the night. He was starting to recover after talking to his second cousin but now he was taking a turn for the worse. The reading on the thermometer proved it. He knew what he should do but he also knew he had to call and make a case to his wife and to Lone Wolfe's mother. He dialed Sylvia's number and waited for her to answer, "He isn't getting better. I think it is time for you to come home. His temperature is 102.5."

"That's lower than it was earlier," Sylvia stated with a yawn.

"But he was getting better," Dale protested, "He was down to 101.9 this afternoon. I thought his fever was starting to break but now it's climbing again. If it gets up around 103 then I have to take him to the ER. You need to come home."

"Do you know what time it is?" Sylvia questioned in response, "Colorado Springs is over two and a half hours away. I am okay with you taking him to the ER if he gets worse, but it would be better if we wait until morning."

"Sylvia, this is your son!" Dale barked, "Don't you care?"

"Damn you Dale! Of course, I care. It's not like I am going to get any sleep while I wonder if you are in the ER, but do you want me to be driving around at around midnight on Memorial Day weekend with drunk drivers on the road? With me half asleep to boot? What can I do there in 3 hours that I can't do tomorrow?"

"I didn't want you going down there in the first place, damnit!" Dale shouted.

"I didn't want our son to be alone! Maybe you should have thought about us having another child when Sean was a toddler!" Sylvia shouted back, "I want to give him one summer where he can feel like he is part of a family bigger than the three of us! I know we don't have time for these what-if games but what is done is done! Like I said, if you need to take him to the ER then take him in. Nothing is stopping you."

"I think you should be there," Dale hissed, "You know what's going on with him! You had this fever at his age before your last talent awakened."

"Do you think that is going to help at the hospital?" Sylvia questioned in a patronizing tone, "Remember, we don't officially exist. We are just normal people living a normal life. They will think we are crazy if we start telling them we are psychic, and our son happens to be psychic going through a puberty induced awakening of a third ability."

"This doesn't happen on my side of the family," Dale stated in response, "We have abilities awaken during puberty, but they don't cause fever and illness like this."

"They are also weak as fuck," Sylvia added, "My Empathic abilities awakened during puberty and they are stronger than most psychics."

"But you told me earlier that your fever wasn't this bad," Dale argued.

"His talents are also stronger and tend to be out of control," Sylvia stated in response, "Through our combination he has abilities that are rough around the edges. I am not saying don't take him to the hospital. I am saying there isn't anything more I can do."

"He should have his mother there," Dale stated.

Sylvia sighed, "I will have to wake up the others, so they know we are leaving early."

"You can leave just by yourself," Dale stated.

"Then me being down here would be pointless," Sylvia stated in response.

"There doesn't have to be a point to you being down there," Dale huffed back.

"Relena and I will be coming up. We will be leaving soon but, in any case, I have to let everyone know I am leaving now," Sylvia spat then hung up the phone.

Dale sighed, "At least you are coming back."

* * *

This dream, unlike the other fever dreams he had before, seemed much different. While they were all vivid and detailed, they all carried some sort of whimsical air about them. This one was different. He was in the back seat of his mother's car. The rain started to come down. It was unusual for it to rain at night. He wondered why it would rain so late at night. His mother was driving and Relena was in the passenger seat. His mother seemed upset but was starting to calm down. Relena was worried but excited.

"I hope he will be okay," Relena stated.

"Sean will be fine," Sylvia stated. Lone Wolfe could feel that she wanted to say more but something stopped her. He cocked his head, wondering what would keep her from saying what she wanted to say.

"Why won't you tell her?" He asked in response. He knew she was going to tell her that she was going to go through something similar in a couple of months, but something wouldn't let her say it.

"If he will be fine then why are you leaving now?" Relena questioned in response.

"Because Dale asked me to come up there. He is convinced that Sean will have to go to the hospital and something will happen to him there," Sylvia answered in response, "I know he will be fine. He needs another day or so. The fever is just a little worse than we expected." They were speaking as if he was not in the car at all.

"Well, I am glad you decided to take me with you still," Relena stated, "Will I come with if you have to run Lone Wolfe to the hospital?"

"Of course, you will come with if we have to run Sean to the hospital," Sylvia answered, "Why does everyone insist on calling him by that stupid nickname that silly little girl gave him seven years ago. He has too many friends to be a lone wolf."

"If he doesn't mind it then why bother trying to stop it?" Relena questioned in response, "I don't hear him trying to correct anyone from using it."

"I don't hear him insisting on being called it." Sylvia stated in response.

"Well I asked him about it today; I asked him if he wanted to be called Sean or Lone Wolfe or something else and he said everyone calls him Lone Wolfe." Relena commented.

"That doesn't sound like an insistence to me," Sylvia remarked.

"Doesn't sound like a protest either," Relena argued, "How about we ask him when we get back?"

He could feel his mother holding back on something. He realized she wasn't doing it consciously. It was almost as if she was locked into a sequence of events. Something that had been pre-determined the moment she decided to start driving. Instead of saying what she wanted to say, she asked; "What prompted you to ask?"

Relena shuffled in her seat uncomfortably, "Promise not to get angry?"

Sylvia shook her head, "I won't."

"I have been having some dreams. I believe I have been reincarnated," Relena stated, "I believe my real name is Ashara."

Sylvia nodded and didn't show any anger on her face. Lone Wolfe couldn't feel any anger coming from her either. Instead he could only feel understanding, "I believe you."

"You do?" Relena sounded genuinely surprised.

At that moment, a light from the opposite lane shined brightly on them. Before Sylvia could react. The driver's side was smashed. Relena screamed in terror, not realizing what happened. The colliding car, still carrying the car with Sylvia and Relena sent the passenger side of the car into the nose of their neighboring car. At that moment, all went black.

* * *

Lone Wolfe sat up in his bed, drenched in sweat, letting out a yelp of a scream. He didn't feel sick anymore. He didn't feel cold anymore. Everything felt clearer than it had in the past couple of days. He peeled off his sheets and ran out of his room. The hallway was dark, the living room was dark but there was a light in the kitchen. His heart sank. He hoped it was just a bad dream, a nightmare.

He rounded the corner to the kitchen to find his father sitting in the chair. His shoulders were slumped, and he hung up the phone and sat it on the table. Lone Wolfe shook his head as he walked around to face his father, "No, dear god no!" Lone Wolfe cried, tears filling his gold eyes as the mournful look on his father's face seemed to confirm his fears that his dream was a clairvoyant premonition, "What happened?"

His father was shocked that his son was up and now suddenly so lucid, "Sean Wolfe Carter, what are you doing up at this hour?"

"Where's mom?" Lone Wolfe stated, "Don't lie, what happened?"

His father's jaw dropped, "how?"

"I saw it in a dream," Lone Wolfe replied as more tears came to both of their eyes.

"I just got a call from the sheriff's office," His father replied, "They were... killed... A car jumped the median... he hit your mother's car and smashed it into another car. The driver of the one that killed your mother also died. Relena was in the car too."

Lone Wolfe dropped to his knees and gave his father a bear hug. His thoughts screamed out for comfort and solace. Anything to stop the pain. His mind did not scream so loud since he was attacked in first grade. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted to wake up from this dream, but he knew that this was no dream.

A voice from the darkness called out to him. He recognized her voice right away, "I am on my way Lone Wolfe. Stay safe." It was Scarlet. Just as before, she heard his scream and was coming rescue him. This time she was not a child but was master of her own destiny. She was out of his range, somehow, he managed to reach out to her in his moment of desperation. He wasn't sure how.

He felt something else, after his own sorrow was comforted by that voice in the darkness. The sorrow of someone else. Someone else wanted far more than a voice in the darkness to comfort him. This person wanted release. This person wanted death. This person lost the will to live. This person lost his mate.

Lone Wolfe glanced up at his father, "You can't leave me now!"

His father sucked in his breath. He grasped his son tightly, "I won't. I promise."

After a moment, He released his son and placed a hand on Lone Wolfe's forehead, "Your fever broke."

Lone Wolfe nodded and started to walk to the sofa. He didn't want to sleep in his bed. It was reserved for Relena. If she wouldn't sleep in there with her body, she could sleep in there with her spirit. His father glanced over to the sofa and stated, "Your mother never told you."

"I'm an empath," Lone Wolfe nodded, "That's what caused the fever. The ability awakened."

"It seems to have strengthened your other abilities as well," his father replied.

"Maybe. Or maybe I am too smart for my own good," Lone Wolfe sighed.

"In the morning, I have to go down to Castle Rock," His father mentioned, "To..."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I will stay here. Scarlet let me know she is on her way. She will be here in the morning."

"She is in another state," His father stated, "How did she know?"

"She heard my mind scream," Lone Wolfe replied, "we must be linked somehow."

Chapter #4: Another Tragedy

Greeley Colorado

May 28th, 2027-CE

It was the middle of the night when Angela woke up. The house felt strangely empty. It felt odd. The house never felt empty unless her grandmother wasn't there. She thought that couldn't be right since her grandmother should have been asleep down in the basement. She had been down there last night. If she left, she would have left a note. Figuring that was it, she got out of bed and threw a bathrobe on.

She went into the kitchen expecting a note on the table. With nothing there, she started to worry. Her gray eyes scanned the small kitchen and dining area to find something she might have missed. She spent ten minutes trying to find something before concluding that her grandmother had left without leaving some sort of note. Her Grandmother always made sure that if she ran to open the shop early that a note was left. However, at close to eighty, she could have simply forgotten. It wasn't like her, but it was in the realm of possibilities.

Angela walked back to her room and grabbed her cell phone. She opened it and dialed the number to the store. Her grandmother always made sure that she dialed the number instead of stored it in the phone book. That way, if she was somewhere and didn't have access to her phone, she would remember the number and could call if needed. The number rang and rang. Eventually, the voice mail service picked up. Angela hung up and repeated the process for a couple of minutes.

After about ten minutes of calling, she was convinced that her grandmother was not at the shop. She glanced at the clock. It was just after five thirty in the morning. She normally didn't get up until around seven or eight. Even then it was only to do her morning cleansing ritual before going back to sleep. Her phone's alarm would have awakened her. Something else had awakened her.

She took her phone with her as she walked into the living room. She knew she had to check the basement and make sure her grandmother was not in there. She walked slowly through the living room. Even though she knew she should check, she was afraid of what she would find. There was a voice nagging at the back of her head. Something she didn't want to find would be in the basement.

It had been several years since Mentor, the spirit that taught her how to sense and control the flows of Nwyfre told her she completed her training and disappeared like fog in the sunlight. Since then, she could sense the passing of others. The hospital now frightened her, any hospital frightened her. She could feel the passing of spirits every time someone died, and people tended to die in hospitals and hospices.

She made her way into the kitchen and that foreboding feeling only seemed to grow with each step. She didn't want to get to the stairwell. She didn't want to get to the basement. She didn't want to check her grandmother's room. The feeling became an itching feeling at the back of her skull as she made her way to the stairwell and the itching feeling only increased as she took each step.

She took in a deep breath. The air didn't smell different, but she could swear it felt different. She didn't want to go to the door, but her feet carried her there anyway. It was closed. Every time she went down to the basement when her grandmother wasn't there it was open. She knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again and there was still no answer.

She grasped the handle of the door and turned it. It wasn't locked. She opened the door and stepped into the room, "Grandma?" She called out. There was no response.

She glanced to the bed and saw her grandmother appearing to be asleep in the bed. She walked over and placed her hand on her grandmother's shoulder. It was warm. She pulled the cover over and rolled her over. She didn't move and Angela's pull made her roll limply onto her back. She placed her hand just above her nose and couldn't feel any air moving below her hand.

Tears came to her eyes. She turned on her phone with her other hand and dialed 911. She placed it to her ear and tried to keep her terror and fear out of her voice as much as she could as her gray eyes welled up with tears. When the operator answered Angela replied, "My grandmother isn't breathing!"

* * *

Angela sat on the front steps of the house as the EMT's loaded her grandmother's body into the ambulance. Her gray eyes were swollen from the crying. Her nose was clogged as well. She sniffled to try to breathe but it was no use. Her body shuddered when she tried to take in each breath. More tears kept coming, streaming their way down her face and dripping onto her sleeveless white night shirt.

The detective approached her from behind and carefully walked around her with his phone in his hand. His eyes carried empathy for her loss. He remembered not that long ago seeing a very different sight after a young boy was choked by his teacher. At least this tragedy was perpetuated by nature, at least on the face of it. He didn't see anything in the house to suggest that this girl would have a motive to kill her grandmother. If she were putting on a show for everyone, she was doing an impressive job.

"Do you remember anything about the night before that might have caused her to pass in her sleep?" He asked, "Did you eat anything or try anything new that might not have tasted right?"

Angela shook her head, "She cooked the dinner last night. I was manning the shop all day, so she decided to make dinner for us when I got home."

"Your grandmother owns a shop?" He questioned.

Angela nodded, "She started it up before I was born."

"What kind of shop is it?" He questioned.

"A metaphysical and occult shop. We are pagans. We cater to the pagan culture in this city and the surrounding area," She answered.

He nodded, "Do you know if she made any enemies while running that shop?"

Angela shook her head, "No. If she made any enemies I don't know anything about it."

"Did you have any interest in owning the store?" He questioned in response.

Angela shook her head, "No, after I graduate next year I was going to go to college to study botany and maybe become a botanist or join the forest service."

"You aren't eighteen?"

"I turn eighteen in July," Angela replied.

"I see. Do you know where your mother is?" He questioned in response.

"She died when I was eleven," Angela replied.

"How about your father?" He questioned.

She shrugged, "I haven't seen him since I was a little kid."

"Do you have any other relatives in the area?" He asked in response.

"Why are you asking me this? My grandmother owned this house. I am pretty much an adult. I know how to take care of myself. I am only a little over a month away from turning eighteen anyway. I don't want to be taken into any home. I don't have any other family around here." Angela replied. Her swollen gray eyes glanced up at him and she brushed her black hair out of the way to get a clear look at him as tears still streamed out of the corners of her eyes, "I already lost my grandmother. Please don't take me away from everything else I know."

He took a deep breath and shrugged, "I will have to check with Child Protective Services but since you aren't that far away from eighteen they might be able to arrange something. Do you know if your grandmother had a will?"

She nodded, "It is somewhere in her room. I don't go in there except if I am asked to. I don't know where it is."

"That's okay. I am sure you will find it. Do you have any friends that you might be able to get some help from? I have found it usually helps to have friends around when you have to go through... that."

"I have one that I trust. I called and texted her, but she hasn't answered yet which is unusual. She would have answered right away if something happened to Grandma." Angela answered.

"Do you mind if I ask who she is?" The detective questioned in response.

Angela shook her head, "Her name is Sylvia Carter."

"Sylvia Carter, that name sounds familiar," He tapped the black screen on his phone as he thought about it. A light went off in his head when he figured out why, "Her boy... Tell her I say hi when you get ahold of her and let her know that if that teacher gets out of the mental health ward, the statute of limitations has not expired yet if she wants to press charges." He pulled out his wallet and pulled out a card, "Here is my card. It has my numbers if you need to call me for anything."

She took it and slipped it into her phone case. She said nothing more but the tears still falling from her eyes told him everything else he needed to know, "Call some friends." He suggested, "Now is a time to have people around you that care about you. I am sure you will be getting some calls from CPS later. They will be very helpful."

She nodded but said nothing more. He walked away and headed toward his car. He hoped that she would listen to his advice about calling friends. In the meantime, she did give them clearance to do an autopsy. With no other family around, it would have to do. He would have to wait for the report to come back from the coroner. The results of that would tell him if he would have to do more on this case. It would tell him if his suspicions about this near adult on the porch was true or not. Something told him that there was more to this girl than met the eye. Only, he didn't know what.

Chapter #5: Second Communion

Greeley Colorado

May 28th, 2027-CE

A knock at the door roused Lone Wolfe from his sleep. Until his realized he was on the sofa, he thought the events of last night was just a dream. His father had fallen asleep at the table. He was not going to leave until someone showed up to watch him while he drove down to identify the body and do everything else he needed to do. His father walked over to the door and opened it up. It revealed a Red head with wavy flowing hair and striking green eyes. Without the makeup she used to wear when she was younger, the freckles on her face made her seem to be too young to be twenty-one. Lone Wolfe's father stood aside and said, "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Scarlet."

Scarlet nodded and stepped through the door. She sat down on the sofa next to Lone Wolfe and placed an arm around his shoulder. His eyes were still swollen from the crying he had done from the night before, but he wasn't crying now. He seemed to have shut down from the experience. As she pulled him in close for a sideways embrace, he almost collapsed onto her. She couldn't force a smile on her face if she tried, "I'm sorry that I am the only one that can be here for you right now."

He said nothing. His father glanced at the both of them and was about to say something, but his mouth snapped shut. He decided he wasn't going to say anything. Lone Wolfe could feel him holding back and instead, he said something finally, "Go ahead and say something witty dad. I am sure that we could use some humor right now."

His father nodded, "I don't know when I will be back. I left some cash on the table if you need any food. Not enough for the nicest restaurant in town but enough to keep you going for a while. Don't seduce my son while I'm gone."

"That was the witty comment?" Scarlet questioned with a bewildered look on her face.

"Would be funnier if you were Jena," his father nodded then snatched the keys from the kitchen table and walked out of the door.

A few minutes of silence passed after they heard the subtle noise of a car starting up and pulling out of the driveway. Shortly after that Scarlet spoke, "You know, I don't like your father's sense of humor."

"He was just trying to lighten the mood," Lone Wolfe nodded.

"Yeah but you are more like a brother than anything else," Scarlet mentioned.

"Don't let Jena catch you saying that," Lone Wolfe stated, "She and I have always been siblings in each other's eyes."

Scarlet nodded, "I remember. From our communion, a long time ago."

Lone Wolfe glanced up at her. She didn't tense, at least from the outside but he could feel the discomfort coming from her. He glanced up and said, "It still makes you uncomfortable, the communion. Have you tried it with anyone else?"

Scarlet shook her head, "No, I haven't. I didn't want to share any of those secrets that day. No matter how hard I tried to keep them out, they just flooded in."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "maybe you shouldn't try to keep them out. You told me that the two people joining in a communion have to trust each other completely. I have the feeling that if you try to hide something then it will come out in the communion. Maybe you should just focus on the other person and let what wants to come out make its way out. I tried a communion with my second cousin since the first time we tried it and I noticed it seems to work that way. I am glad that I did with Relena. Now it's all that I have of her."

Her green eyes widened, "What? I thought it was just your mother that died? You mean that more family members died?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It was a car crash. Both my mom and Relena were in the car. My father got a call after the first one. They said it looked like the driver that hit them was drunk. They died quickly. They were dead when police arrived."

"I'm so sorry," Scarlet stated and hugged him tightly, "I hope they prosecute the driver of that car."

"That person died too," Lone Wolfe commented.

"Oh," Scarlet breathed.

Neither of them wanted the conversation to die. They didn't want to talk about the deaths anymore, but they didn't want the house filled with silence either. They glanced at each other, "So..." Both stated at the same time. Scarlet smiled and said, "You first."

"How has college been?" Lone Wolfe asked after a moment.

Scarlet shrugged, "More academics than I would have thought possible just a few years ago. Luckily, I only have one more year to go then I will be able to start studying as a teacher's aide. I hope to do it here in Greeley."

"Will you be an aide at West?" Lone Wolfe smiled in response.

Scarlet shook her head, "I had planned to be a middle school science teacher from the beginning. I'm just afraid that our timing has always been off. I'm sorry."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "it's okay."

Scarlet glanced around the room, "How about you? Have you thought about life after high school yet? It is never too early to start planning for the future."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I guess in four years I could go to college for something in the technology field. I haven't really thought that far ahead yet."

"Who said it has to be four years? You could take a couple of summer semesters and get out a year early," Scarlet suggested.

Had the suggestion been made even a day earlier, he would have dismissed it. Up until this point, he wanted to be a kid and wanted to have normal summers like his friends. Vacations with family and friends and having fun. Now, with his second cousin and his mother taken away in an accident, he had nothing left to look forward to during the summers.

He glanced up at Scarlet and asked, "Do you think I can start off early this summer?"

Scarlet shook her head, "You have to be enrolled in high school first. You'd have to already be in ninth grade."

"I would rather go now," Lone Wolfe stated.

"You have funerals to go to," Scarlet stated and instantly regretted it.

He glared at her, "I would rather just go on. They have already passed, there is nothing more I can do for them. It was my fault anyway."

She did her best to not recoil from his anger. His other statement made her wonder what happened, however, "What do you mean by it was your fault?"

He glanced away, "I was sick until early in the morning. I wanted to go see Relena for summer vacation. I pushed myself too hard at school and made myself sick. It was bad enough that my father was going to take me to the hospital. He asked them to come up here early because of me."

Scarlet shook her head, "It wasn't your fault that it happened. It wasn't his fault either. Random chance. Bad weekend. A drunk driver on the road made a choice to drive after having too much to drink. That choice cost the lives of your mother and your cousin. That was not your fault."

Lone Wolfe glanced down, "I hear what you say, and I can feel what you are saying is true to you. It doesn't feel true to me..." He tapped his chest, "in here. If I hadn't pushed myself then I wouldn't have been this bad."

"But you aren't an adult," Scarlet noted. She glanced down then back at him, "You seem different. Don't say it is because your mother died. It's not that. Something else changed with you. A couple of times you seemed to sense something within me and my telepathy didn't notice it. It wasn't telepathy, what was it."

Lone Wolfe glanced away, "My fever broke out because my Empathic abilities awakened."

"See, your sickness wasn't your fault," Scarlet nudged.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I made it worse by trying to push through it."

Scarlet sighed, "You are grieving right now. I am sorry I brought it up."

"I'm sorry I killed the conversation," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

Scarlet sighed. Part of her wanted to say more on the subject but she knew if she did, she would only draw it out more and cause even more grief between the two of them. Instead of causing a further issue, she decided to change the subject, "I have an idea. We can try a second communion. Things have obviously changed between the two of us in the time since we last had one. I would be willing to try it again."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "My parents are against it."

"I don't think your father would have a problem with it," Scarlet stated. She tried to tip toe around the issue as best she could. His father had never weighed in, one way or the other, on the subject. The biggest opponent to him engaging in that activity was his mother. Now that she was no longer around to say anything, and it would help to pass the time, and it might give him the strength needed to see this through. It may also help him to see that it was not his fault.

He shuffled in his seat, "You didn't seem to want to talk about the last one including a few moments ago."

"Because it was disturbing and disjointed. I believe things are different now. You are older, and I am older," She replied, "You said it was a lot different with your cousin. I would like to see her."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "That is the only way you can see her now. However, I know some things don't get transferred. You may have to have several communions to get those memories."

He could feel her tense up, both in her arm over his shoulder and with his newfound gifts. He was silent as she responded, "We will talk about it after it if you are okay with this communion."

Lone Wolfe shivered, "The first time you went through this with me you weren't in a good place. Seven years later we traded places. I'm not in a good place. I'm afraid that all you may get out of me is sadness and regret."

"It is a risk I am willing to take," Scarlet commented, "I didn't know I would share darkness as well as light back then. I was filled with darkness and searching for light. I think I might have found some and I am willing to share it with you if you are willing to risk sharing your darkness with me."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Why not. That is how this process starts. We use our telepathy to find the light within each other."

* * *

The house was hot when Scarlet came to. She slowly uncoiled her arm from around Lone Wolfe as he laid still asleep and rose to switch on the air conditioner. As she did, she unconsciously braced herself for the momentary flood of humidity that would come from the AC as it came up to speed. She had never done that before. She always liked that feel of the humidity against her skin before. That was before she joined her mind with Lone Wolfe. He didn't like the feel of the moist air washing over his body. He was a native to Colorado and air was never that moist naturally.

She was starting to understand why his mother didn't like him mixing his mind with that of other people. She knew there was nothing to keep him from finding out about it or going through with it eventually, but she could try to delay it. It changes a person in ways unexpected. Even if someone thinks they know what to expect, they are sorely mistaken. She wondered if she would ever like the moist air, and the scents they could carry ever again. A person could lose themselves in the experience.

There was something to be gained from each experience. There was also something major to be gained from the first joining of minds. The experience destroys the ego of the people going through it. The trauma forces the mind to rebuild. That act makes it, so they no longer will go catatonic if they suffer some sort of tragedy or trauma in the future. They are more likely to awaken. They are more likely to make it back to the world if something happened to their mind.

She glanced down at Lone Wolfe and saw that the experience changed her more than that. The loss of Sylvia and Relena felt more real to her now. The absence that they would not be coming home. The worry in her heart that Dale, his father, might not be coming back through that door after having to retrieve her body and belongings. The loss of his one link with his family and the loss of his favorite second cousin.

He did share all his memories of her with him. Just not in the way he expected. All the memories he had of her, from the first time they met when they were toddlers to when the last phone call he had just the other night were now tinged with sadness and regret. He wished that he never met her and if they hadn't both would still be alive. While Scarlet believed that both of their lives were enriched by each other, he would have traded their time together for their lives to be saved.

Scarlet hoped that he would get something more out of her memories and the experience. She could see that while they both were the only children of their parents, that he was far more separate from his family than she was from hers. She had fond memories of spending time with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. She had plenty of friends in college. She was able to show all of that.

She had a vastly different experience than the first time. It was more coherent. She was able to share what she wanted, for the most part. There were private experiences that she rather not shared but there was none of that darkness she expected.

She crossed the distance of the living room to the chair and sat down in it. Only time would tell if her gambit paid off. If she helped him or if she made the problem worse, she wouldn't know until he awakened. Even then, she might not know until much later. She would have to stay and watch. His summer would be long and much lonelier than he expected. On top of a grieving father, he would need a friend.

Chapter #6: Gemini and Discord

Greeley Colorado

June 25th, 2027-CE

The couple of weeks leading up to the fourth of July are always a festive time for the town of Greeley. As such, the city put up a carnival at Island Grove and called it the Greeley Stampede. Usually, it was a time of year that Lone Wolfe and his mother would go to the carnival. They would jump on the rides and go through the midway to play games. They would tie up their day of fun by having some funnel cakes and other fried food and drinks at one of the food stands just off the midway. He was hoping to share that experience with Relena this summer.

Since that was no longer possible he preferred to stay as far away from stampede as possible. He wanted nothing to do with that place. His friends wouldn't be there, and his father wasn't going to take him there. His father was still in mourning. He was mourning in his own way. His father had offered him money to go to the stampede, but Lone Wolfe still refused to go.

He wandered west along fifth street. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. He wasn't sure if he was looking for anything. The day was hot. The only thing that hinted him to that fact was the silver chain around his neck was starting to burn. He refused to take it off and do anything more with it. The pendant on the end, a triskal inside of a circle, was one of the few things left of his mother. In his pocket, his phone, was the other one. His mother refused to give him one for years because she didn't think kids should have them but now a single father, his father thought it would be appropriate he have one. It was either that or cancel the plan and figure out what to do with the old smart phone.

As he walked he could sense that someone was being harassed. That tended to happen during the time of the stampede. It troubled him and his mother, but his mother had to protect him and keep him from harm. Now that she was no longer here, there was nothing to stop him from intervening. He also didn't feel like protecting himself anymore. If he could help anyone he would do so.

He ran toward the trouble. When he got there, he found four people surrounding a person. He could feel the terror bleeding off the person. They held a knife to the man's throat. One of the people growled and said, "Give us your money!"

"Stop it!" Lone Wolfe shouted at the top of his lungs.

The four of them glanced over to the boy, "Beat it kid! If you know what's good for you!"

"Run back to your mommy, you little brat!" Another one shouted.

That comment enraged Lone Wolfe. His gold eyes saw red at that point and he sprinted toward the group. The man with the knife turned it towards Lone Wolfe. Fight or flight instinct kicked in, empowered by his Clairvoyance, at that moment. The result was him twirling around the man as he charged. His reflexes were dramatically increased, and the world seemed to slow for him. As they all made their way to punch him and keep him away from the man that made the comment about his mother, he was able to dodge their blows and blows with the knife.

He kicked and knocked one of them to the ground. He saw that they had forgotten about their first victim. Lone Wolfe didn't, "Run for it!" He shouted.

The man nodded, "Thanks," He sputtered and took off.

Good deed done and the man out of danger, Lone Wolfe turned his attention back to the man that made the comment. He was determined to do something to the man. Rage coursed through his veins. He kicked and punched his way, knocking one of the men out. The other two made sure they were armed with weapons like the one with the knife. It only served to keep Lone Wolfe from getting too close to them while they were face to face with them. No one could land blows on him while he was using his Clairvoyant abilities, "What's with this kid?" One of them shouted.

In response, the one that made the comment about his mother made a series of three whistles. A moment later the faint reply of the same series of whistles could be heard over the wind, they summoned help, Lone Wolfe remarked to himself. He didn't care. Four were no match for him. If he knew more on how to fight, he could have taken them all out already. It would be something he would fix later.

More people ran into the fray. When he noticed the flash of gun metal he stopped. He focused on the man with his telepathic ire and fired off an attack with full force. The man dropped the gun and screamed in sheer pain. If they were going to up the ante with deadly weapons, he would break their minds with his telepathic powers.

Unfortunately for Lone Wolfe, He stopped moving to get a fix on the man with the gun. In that instant one of the men with the knives ran up and stabbed the boy in the back. Lone Wolfe dropped to his knees as his mind exploded and started to attack all of them. The pain only fueled his abilities as he attacked them mentally. The ones coming after him with the knives struggled to think of what they wanted to do. They slowly moved towards him to try to end him.

Lone Wolfe could make them collapse if he had less of them to concentrate on. It was all he could do to unleash his fury upon them. He could hardly move, the will seemed to be seeping out of him and his strength with it. He dropped to his knees as he concentrated. He willed for the ones that tried to reach for their guns to stop what they were doing, and they complied. He willed for the ones to drop their knives, but it was too much for him to focus on.

He didn't have to. He heard two sets of foot falls racing up to the scene. He thought the police had come to investigate the disturbance. While his clairvoyance was right, his rescuers had come, they were not the police. As they focused on the group, they unleased a telepathic attack of their own. The attack washed over the group and passed Lone Wolfe over as if it were nothing more than a breeze. Their eyes widened as their minds were filled with freight and pain. They dropped their knives and took off away from the two new telepaths.

Lone Wolfe rose to follow them in pursuit, but a hand forced him to remain on his knees, "hold, on! Simmer down, let my sister take a look at you, you have been stabbed there, brother."

It was at that point that Lone Wolfe was forced to acknowledge the pain in his back. It seared from just below his kidneys. He wiped his hand over the source of the searing pain and it came away bloody. It was then that he decided to glance at his rescuers. Standing to his right was a tanned man with short brown hair and dark amber eyes. He was dressed in a gray shirt and black jeans. He glanced to his left and saw a girl standing over him. She had long brown hair and the same dark amber eyes and tanned skin. She wore a black button up blouse and gray slacks. Both looked to be about his age.

It was to the girl he pleaded to, "You have to let me after them! If I am to die, at least let me take one of them with me!"

The girl smiled back at him, "Well, aren't you a little ball of darkness. You aren't going anywhere until I have a look at you. You won't die while I am here. Unless that knife happened to be radioactive or anything."

When she smiled at him, it made him feel like his heart was going to melt. That was what made him compliant, more than anything else. It was either her smile or the loss of blood that was making him act funny. He nodded, and she knelt next to him. His nose was filled with the scent coming off her body at that point. The subtle smell of rose scented perfume and her natural musk made his heart beat all that much faster.

She blushed and smiled slightly as she placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at his back. She placed her other hand just above the wound. After a few moments, he felt an electric tingle run through his body. The feeling was familiar to him. It was something similar he felt when Jena used her Empathic abilities to heal him when they were little. It felt like that before Jena learned how to use finesse with her powers, she's an Empath, he remarked to himself.

"What's your name?" She asked while she worked to heal him.

"Lone Wolfe," He answered.

"That doesn't sound much like a name," the girl remarked.

"There's a story behind it but everyone calls me that. The only ones who didn't are now dead," Lone Wolfe answered.

The pain was gone after a few moments and so was the tingling. She swooped her arms under his and pulled him to her feet. The act made him blush slightly and only made her smile grow, "May I know the name of my rescuers?" he questioned.

She nodded, "I am Robin, and this is my twin brother Raymond."

"Ray for short," The man nodded.

"Where are you two going?" He questioned.

"We are going to the Boys and Girls club. It is about half a mile down the road from here," Ray stated.

"We were members back in San Diego," Robin commented, "we decided to check out the one closest to us. We happened to hear your attack has we approached."

"You weren't heading to the carnival?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

They cocked their head in curious excitement, "There's a carnival in town?" They both asked at the same time.

Lone Wolfe nodded and glanced at the two strangers, "you two aren't from around here? Are you just visiting?"

"We are new here," Ray started.

"But we are here to stay," Robin finished.

Lone Wolfe smiled, "Well I wasn't planning on going to the carnival today but if you wouldn't mind following me back to my house, I can pick up some money and show you around."

Robin returned the smile but shook her head, "Carnivals are more fun in the evening and at night. Would you like to come with us to the Boys and Girls club? We would have to start a new membership anyway, so we can walk you through it. If you have two 1-dollar coins to rub together, that gets you a membership for the year."

"I got that on me," Lone Wolfe replied and nodded, "I think I will follow along if you don't mind."

"Wouldn't have said anything if we didn't," Robin nodded and led the way.

"Seems strange that we are new here and yet we are leading the way," Ray stated after a moment, "I would have thought a local would know where the club is."

"Never heard of it before today," Lone Wolfe replied, "I wish I did know of it before now. Would have been a better place to spend my summers at. Although I wouldn't have been able to train to control my telepathy if I hadn't."

"Train to control?" Robin repeated.

"I know, I am an odd one," Lone Wolfe replied, "My abilities are potent and when I was little I had no in born concept on how to control them unlike some of my other friends and family. I had to be taught how to control them and how to use them with other telepaths."

"Well," Ray pondered, "Most of us have to be taught how to use them for the second point you mentioned. Usually, though, most of us just know how to use our abilities."

"It's like being able to see but not controlling how to focus your eye," Robin added.

"Then consider me one of the people that had to be taught how to focus my eyes," Lone Wolfe commented.

"Right before you got stabbed, before you moved wicked fast then you stopped and used your telepathy. We could feel the attack from here. If you weren't focused, you could have hurt everyone around you in that attack," Ray commented.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I think I did that latter, after I got stabbed."

"We mentioned how powerful you were. We figured they were attacking you because you are like us," Ray added, "That was the main reason why we rushed in."

"They had no idea what I was. They were some gangster wannabies that were trying to shake down some random dude for money. I stepped in to save him," Lone Wolfe commented.

"Why?" Robin asked.

"Why not? Seemed the thing to do at the time," Lone Wolfe replied, "I never liked it when people picked on someone because they thought they could get away with it. Figured I would do to them what they were doing to the guy. Worked well until they whistled in some help."

They leaned back and glanced at each other. In that instant, they exchanged a thought telepathically. Lone Wolfe had never been left out of a telepathic exchange before, at least not one while he was standing right there. He figured it was the proximity that allowed him to sense it. That or he was starting to get even better at his abilities. He glanced at them and said, "I heard that by the way. I didn't hear the thought, but I could tell you were communicating amongst yourselves. My mentor might consider that rude."

"Well we aren't your mentor," Ray stated as he folded his arms.

"Hang on, how did you pick that up?" Robin questioned in response. Unlike her brother, she didn't take offense at being compared to his mentor.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Like I said, I was taught how to use my abilities with other telepaths. It was one of the things I picked up along the way."

"I get that, but we have been around other psychics before and did this same number lots of times. No one has ever picked up that they were being left out," Robin said.

They came to a stop light and waited for it to change before crossing. Lone Wolfe shrugged, "My mentor is different from most psychics. I learned how to pick up other waves as they are communicated. You may have used a link and that may fool any other telepath, but I don't think it would get past my mentor or my best friend."

"Anyway, back to my question," Ray stated.

"There was a question somewhere in there?" Lone Wolfe asked in reply which made Robin giggle a little bit.

Ray glared at the gold eyed boy, "I was getting to that. I didn't detect any telepathy when you were moving like a ninja. Just what were you using?"

"My special ninja skills," Lone Wolfe dodged.

"No, seriously," Ray prodded, "What were you using?"

Outside of Jena and Scarlet, Lone Wolfe had only met psychics inside of his family. It hadn't occurred to him that other psychics would not innately be able to sense when other abilities were being used. Jena seemed to have a knack for it and Scarlet taught him how to do it. When he thought about it; his father only knew what his abilities were because his mother was a telepath, empath, and clairvoyant. Scarlet even taught him how to figure out the strength of their abilities with his telepathic powers. A casual glance with his abilities revealed what they were when he saw them. They never picked it up. He didn't know that this was not a common talent. That was, until now.

He glanced at Ray then at Robin. The light changed, and he waited until they were across the street to answer, "I'm Clairvoyant."

He could feel them again communicating. This time they were not leaning back to use their talents. Lone Wolfe stiffened, "Can you not project through me please?"

"How do you do that?" Robin questioned.

"Passively," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What does that mean?" Ray questioned in response.

"When you project, you are actively using your abilities. Ever try to listen? Be receptive and open just enough to let the information around you flow in? That is passively using your gifts. It keeps you alert as to when someone might be trying to eavesdrop on your thoughts," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Never thought about it like that," Ray replied.

"Clearly," Lone Wolfe nodded and continued on.

"We haven't met any clairvoyants," Robin mentioned, "If you want to know what we were projecting just now. We were taking in a mental count of what we have met. There are lots of telepaths and empaths roaming around. Not a lot of psychokinetics, and Telekinetics are pretty rare. I wonder, how come there aren't more of you around?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Who knows."

"So, you can predict the future?" Ray questioned.

"Sometimes," Lone Wolfe sighed.

"Ever think about using your abilities to win the lottery?" Ray asked.

"Doesn't work like that," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Why not?" Ray asked.

"It's not an ability you can always use actively. The part that is usually active is the precognition you saw me use earlier. That was the part that allowed me to see what they were going to do before they did it and avoid it. It gives the illusion of moving really fast. It also has a secondary effect of making everything around you feel like it is moving slower." Lone Wolfe replied.

"How about seeing someone's future?" Robin questioned.

"That is the oldest question in the book," Lone Wolfe sighed again, "I will give you the same answer I give my friends that have our talents; when it comes to other people, if I focus on it to try to gain a vision of the future, I can either focus on a date and get something that may have nothing to do with you or I can focus on you and get something from anywhere in your future. Haven't been able to nail down how to do your future on a specific date. As you mentioned; there aren't a lot of us so there isn't a wealth of information on the topic."

"Ever think about practicing on someone until you get it?" Ray questioned in response.

"Trust me, knowing too much about your future is a bad thing," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Why?" Ray questioned.

"Because knowing too much about the future will change it. When you get used to that fact, you will come across a fixed event; something that you cannot change no matter what you try to do," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin noticed his gold eyes carried a lot of emotion in them at that moment. She almost didn't want to know what he had experienced to put that flood emotions in there. She was starting to learn a lot about the boy next to her and she couldn't figure out why, but she wanted to know more. She again projected to her brother to continue to ask questions. She wanted to make sure that his opinion of her was not colored in any way.

"You might want to stop before I stop it for you!" Lone Wolfe growled, "If you don't want to state something aloud then fine but at least include me. It's starting to get annoying."

"I'd like to see you try," Robin smiled and said before she could keep her mouth shut.

Lone Wolfe smirked, "One more time. You'll see. Make it a good one."

On cue, Ray questioned, "Give us an example of knowing too much of the future that will change it or is that just clairvoyant code for not being able to see the future as clearly as you think?"

"Go ahead and goad that some more," Lone Wolfe stated, "What have I done so far that leads you to believe that I could be steering you astray?"

Ray waved his hands in the air, "I'm not trying to goad you in anyway. I have just heard that line many times before about 'oh seeing the future can change it.' It's a bit cliché by now."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "While that's true, it doesn't make the statement wrong. If you must know, let me give you a scenario. Suppose I will say that while walking down the sidewalk tomorrow, you will find twenty bucks. You will spend all of that day looking down at the ground for that twenty. You may not pay attention where you are going and smack into something and alter your plans for that day. You could run into a pole and knock yourself out and the twenty will be found by someone else. Had I not said anything, you would have found the twenty."

As they rounded the corner and started to head down a driveway toward a parking lot and a building beyond, Ray questioned, "Ever think about telling an outside observer about the future and testing it that way."

Shock occurred to him at that moment, "No. That had never occurred to me."

"Well try telling both of us something about the future," Robin suggested.

"Okay," Lone Wolfe suggested, "about what?"

"Who's going to be next president?" Ray asked.

"How about something that doesn't rely on a date," Lone Wolfe questioned.

"I thought that would be a shoe in, the election is next year." He stated.

"How about something someone has already put into motion. Something that you cannot stop," Robin suggested.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Good thinking." Lone Wolfe stopped just short of the gate of the building and closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and there was a momentary look of panic on his face. He covered it well as he glanced into Robin's dark amber eyes, "You have already done something that will start a war amongst the hidden world in the future."

Ray raised a fist to him, "Are you suggesting my sister is evil?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. It could have been an innocent interaction. It could have been something she said, something she shared. A comment online. Who knows. All I know is, you did something, maybe small and innocent, that will cause a war that a large part of the population will never see," Lone Wolfe replied.

They again began to communicate telepathically. In mid comment, their link went dead, cut off. They both glanced at Lone Wolfe who crossed his arms and Smiled, "I told you I would stop that if you continued."

"How?" Robin questioned.

"It's called suppression. I can focus it on one person or I can focus it on an area," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Is it permanent?" Robin asked.

"No," Lone Wolfe answered, "I am not aware of a way to do that to someone permanently. I would rather not know either." He knew part of that statement was a lie. He didn't know how to do it but Scarlet does know how to permanently suppress telepathy. She told him that should have done it to him once before she realized he couldn't control his abilities.

"That's good," Ray breathed a sigh of relief, "I have never heard of an attack like that before."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "That's because it isn't an attack in a specific sense. When you attack someone telepathically, you are attacking their mind. Suppression is like a jamming signal only better."

"We can jam people but never like this and people know we are jamming them," Robin stated in response.

Ray started to shift uneasily, "Can you stop this suppression now?"

"Only if you promise to include me in your projections from now on," Lone Wolfe offered.

"I don't see a problem with that," Robin stated before her brother could debate the issue. She then glanced at Lone Wolfe with a smile on her face, "I must admit. I like you, Lone Wolfe."

Instantly, all of them could feel the thoughts of others around them. The twins breathed a sigh of relief in response. Robin waved for the boys to follow her as they continued to talk, "So when is this war that I will cause supposed to happen?"

"Caused," Lone Wolfe corrected, "I focused on the catalyst; something you did already. As far as to when? I don't know. Some of us will be there to find out."

"Sounds like you can only fix on one variable at a time," Robin commented in response.

"Never thought about it that way but you could be right," Lone Wolfe shrugged.

"We can get an idea," Ray suggested, "What is the farthest out you have seen into the future?"

"I will let you know when we get there," Lone Wolfe suggested.

"Are you suggesting that this war is the furthest thing out you have seen?" Ray questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I have seen further but I haven't been able to figure out how far yet."

"How about how far that you have gotten right?" Ray goaded.

"Well that ranges increases every year. Predictions I made when I was five still haven't come true. Come to think about it, I did foresee meeting two people with eyes like mine when I was four so about ten years. That was when I was four. I can see farther now. So, if you want an accurate answer you will have to strap in and get ready for a long ride," Lone Wolfe answered.

"You do have yellow eyes," Robin nodded and smiled.

"You could have made that up," Ray stated in response.

"How about this?" Robin said, "Have you seen your own death yet?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Haven't seen that far yet."

"So, you can't see about eighty years out yet?" Ray questioned in response.

"How about your mother, can she see when she is going to die?" Robin questioned.

Lone Wolfe didn't answer but as they glanced to the doors he asked, "How do we get into this place?"

"I think the entrance is through the back," Robin suggested. She wanted to use her telepathy to ask her brother why he shut down again but knew that Lone Wolfe would just suppress their abilities again. Instead, she chose to deal with not knowing for the moment.

"Odd way of doing it," Lone Wolfe commented.

"Well, it looks like an old building," Ray shrugged.

Lone Wolfe followed them in and proceeded to the front desk with them. From there, one of the workers walked over to them and asked them to sign in. When they said they were new and wanted to sign up she provided them with forms and asked for contact numbers to their parents in which they agreed to give. They called right away. Lone Wolfe had enough time to text his father and get approval to sign up. Apparently, his father did know about the club after all and was going to suggest it as soon as the stampede left.

They paid their dues and filled out the forms after they got approval from their parents. After that was done, they were signed in. Ray waved to them and started to walk down one large hallway, "I am going to the gym and hopefully find someone to play a game of basketball with."

Robin nodded, "I think Lone Wolfe and I will play pool while you are off in the gym. Have fun. Try not to break the back board!"

Ray smirked and nodded, "Hey Lone Wolfe, try not to check out my sister while I'm gone!"

What is with people? Lone Wolfe asked himself as he followed Robin, First Curtis with Jena, then my dad with Scarlet, now Ray with his sister-his sister! Am I broadcasting something I'm not aware of? Lone Wolfe asked himself. Robin walked over to the other end of the counter and took off her shoes, "I would like two pool cues and a set of balls please." She stated as she handed the shoes over to the volunteer at the counter.

The volunteer swept up her shoes and returned a moment later with a plastic tray with sixteen balls, a triangle sitting atop of them, and two long pool sticks. Lone Wolfe cocked his head in confusion. It was his turn to be the ignorant one, "Why did you trade in your shoes for those?"

"A quaint little 'trust but verify' system. They figure; if you have skin in the game then you will most likely return their stuff when you want yours back," Robin replied and handed him the sticks.

Lone Wolfe nodded and followed her as she walked over to one of the back tables. She sat the set of balls down, "Do you play pool often?"

"I've been known to send balls flying off of tables like this from time to time," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin chuckled as she sat the triangle down in front of the tray, "Good answer. I rack, you crack?"

Lone Wolfe nodded. She took the cue ball and flung it in the air. Lone Wolfe caught it with his left hand without much effort. Robin smirked but before she could make her remark another boy from a neighboring table barked, "Hey! Don't do that!"

Robin glared at the boy and nodded, "Sorry."

All the neighboring people around her, as her ire filled her body, started to clutch their stomachs like they were starting to have stomach aches at the same time. Robin took a breath and glanced to him, "Sorry about that. I was going to comment; you're also a lefty."

"Most of our kind are," Lone Wolfe nodded. He noticed that the people around them seemed to return to normal as her mood perked up again, she's doing that, and she doesn't realize it. He commented to himself. He was still getting used to his empathic abilities, but he could tell that her abilities were wild like his. He was starting to wonder why they moved here.

She finished racking the balls and pulled the triangle out of the way. Lone Wolfe sat the ball and aimed with the stick. She took a solid center shot at the cue ball and sent it flying into the triangle of balls, scattering them everywhere. A solid fell in the corner pocket, "I'm stripes." She stated.

Lone Wolfe nodded and walked around the table. As he did, Robin walked around the table, keeping it between them. As he studied the layout of the table, his gold eyes drifted up. It was the first time his eyes drifted from her mid drift up to her face. Unlike Jena, she filled out her black blouse well, as if she were already an adult. Robin blushed but smiled. Lone Wolfe blushed and glanced down to the table, "I developed early on," She commented.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to gawk." He commented in response.

"Don't be. If you do something wrong, I will let you know. I'm not exactly shy," Robin stated.

"I can tell," Lone Wolfe commented.

"You going to shoot, or do I need to do something?" Robin asked.

"Excuse me?" Lone Wolfe questioned.

"You know, aim at a ball and shoot at it with the cue ball?" Robin scoffed, "You were so intelligent until five seconds ago. Did your brain lose blood flow suddenly? If you were just a couple inches taller I might be able to see if that is the case."

"You have to learn to transition the conversation better," Lone Wolfe stated, "You were talking about physical development one moment then about pool the next."

"If we were in a pool the conversation would be related," Robin giggled as he took aim, "Maybe I should go back home and change into something more revealing." She said as he shot. He hit another solid into a pocket, but it wasn't the one he was aiming for, "If I knew my shirt would have this effect on you then a spaghetti strap should really get your motor going."

"You really leave nothing to the imagination, do you?" Lone Wolfe replied as he took aim at another ball. Before he fired at it he said, "Also, we didn't know each other a couple hours ago so you wouldn't have known. You are an upper echelon telepath and an elemental empath. You aren't clairvoyant, and neither is your brother." He sunk the ball and went toward a fourth ball, "In fact, your brother is only telepathic, an upper echelon at best."

She cocked her head in confusion, "you seem to have all of the cards in this game. You are also a pool shark." She added as he sunk a fourth ball.

He went towards a fifth ball, "My dad and I would play at bars when I was younger a lot. Ever since I could hold a pool cue. He said my mom thought it would come in handy someday."

It was at that moment that he finally missed. It was when he was forced to think about his mother. It was a shot he could have made as well. The miss at an obvious target after the skill he demonstrated was not lost on Robin as well. She had to keep silent on it for now. It wasn't the time to bring it up. He would dodge it again. Instead she took aim and smiled at him as the blouse was now revealing some of her cleavage and he was unintentionally staring at that instead of the table, "I would like to think that she was thinking of this moment. Moving past that," She said as she shot and sunk her first ball, "What did you mean by upper echelon and Elemental? I never heard of those terms before."

"Scarlet, my mentor," Lone Wolfe stated as she took aim at another target, "and Jena, my lifelong friend and fellow telepath, came up with a system to rate the strength of psychics. Sub echelon are those that barely have any abilities. I have the feeling my newfound empathic abilities fall into that category. Coverage and options are spotty at best, you could say. Lower echelon are psychics with more stable but not very powerful abilities. Middle echelons are your average psychics. Upper echelons are your uncommonly powerful psychics and elementals are the strongest of the strong."

"So, you are saying you are stronger than me telepathically?" She stated grumpily as she sunk in the second ball with more force than needed.

"If our powers were reversed then you could have broken through my suppression," Lone Wolfe replied, "An elemental can break through it with a great deal of effort. Anyone stronger than me could break through it with less effort. So far, I have not met anyone with stronger telepathic abilities than Scarlet, Jena, and myself."

"I see," She said as she hit a ball and shot the cue off the table.

Lone Wolfe jumped just before the cue ball left the table and caught it in midair. He glanced at her and said, "I don't know how they play in California but here we call that a scratch."

"You're move, Lone Shark," She smirked. As lone Wolfe returned to the head of the table and studied where his balls were, she questioned, "So Scarlet is a girl?"

"She's an adult if that soothes your savage jealousy," Lone Wolfe replied as he sat down the cue ball and took aim.

"It does. Is she a cousin or an aunt?" She asked in response.

"No relation, she is a teacher's aide," Lone Wolfe replied.

"How odd," Robin remarked as he sunk in his fifth ball, "usually a family member train you."

"My mother forbade that," Lone Wolfe replied, "My mother's side of the family tries to pretend we don't exist even though a lot of them are psychics themselves. My father's side of the family scared her. She said no to the training. I was attacked by a teacher and Scarlet figured out it was because my abilities were wild, like your empathy, and she figured that was the cause. That and she was driven mad by my wild telepathy."

"I was starting to think that you had been spared a fate that most of our kind face," Robin stated, "And who said my empathy is wild?"

"Look around," Lone Wolfe stated.

She glanced around and noticed that most of the people around them were moving slower as if they were starting to come down with the flu. She sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, "Damnit, I thought I had that under control!" She took a deep breath and he could feel the rest of her emotions starting to fade. With it, the rest of the people around them were starting to perk up as if the two-minute bug had passed over them.

"When you have wild and potent abilities like us, control is a constant struggle," Lone Wolfe admitted, "I still have days when I slip up myself."

She gave him a smile, "You understand. I haven't met another one of our kind that understands."

"Neither have I," He returned the smile.

As lone Wolfe took aim for the sixth ball, Robin questioned, "So, Is this Jena your girlfriend?"

Lone Wolfe managed to sink the ball, but he messed up the shot, so the cue ball followed the ball into the pocked, "I happen to be an only child but on the same day I was born, in the same hospital, Jena was born. We met in day care when I was learning how to walk and have been friends ever since. If you have a twin brother, then by all accounts I should have a twin sister and Jena would be that twin sister."

"That is a lot longer than no," She stated flatly as she fished the cue ball from the pocket.

"The short answer is no. Could you date Ray?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Robin shook her head, "God no! He's my brother!"

"I'm giving you my representation of how I feel about Jena. I feel the same way," Lone Wolfe replied.

She smiled and took aim. She managed to sink two balls in one shot, but it cost her a scratch to do it. He fished the ball out of the pocket and as he took aim at his last ball she said, "How about loser buys winner a soda?"

"You know how this will end, right?" Lone Wolfe questioned as he shot and sunk his last ball. It left him with a bank shot at the eight ball.

Robin shrugged, "I got the money to cover it, do you?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, He sighed as he looked at the table. She smiled, "The one good thing about being behind is that there is a lot of trash to keep you from having an easy shot."

Lone Wolfe took aim then pointed with his stick to the corner pocket before taking aim again. He took the shot. The cue ball bounced off the bumper and sailed into the eight ball. The ball rolled towards the corner pocket with just enough energy to waver for a moment before going in. He smiled and said, "I didn't think you would like trivial displays of chivalry. If I am wrong I can still buy the drink."

"You are correct sir," She smiled and took out the tray, "I don't like stupid displays of chivalry. I will get the soda. You wait here while I return the balls and get my shoes back."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He waited for a few moments before she sat down with a bottle of soda. She sat down right next to him, close enough that their bodies were touching, and he could feel her body heat. Part of him wanted to shuffle away from her but enough of him held him in place. She offered him the soda and as he unscrewed the lid she suggested, "We should trade numbers."

Lone Wolfe twisted the lid shut and sat the bottle down in his lap. He fished the phone out of his pocket and turned it on. It took him a couple of tries to unlock the phone. Robin giggled as she already had her phone undone, "Just joined the twenty-first century?"

"You could say that. It was my mother's phone," Lone Wolfe replied.

She nodded, "I understand, this phone is a hand me down too." She glanced at as she entered a list, "What's your number."

"Not sure," Lone Wolfe blushed in response.

"Exactly how long have you had the phone?" Robin asked in response.

"Less than a month," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Okay, hand me your phone. I will call my number from your phone. That way you can save it to your contacts list and I will have your phone number on my recent calls," Robin suggested.

Lone Wolfe nodded and handed her the phone. She dialed the number and her phone rang in her other hand. As he took a sip of his soda, she showed him his number in the call log of her phone, "Would you like to memorize it so you don't have this fiasco in the future?" Lone Wolfe nodded and started to memorize each digit.

As he studied his number on her phone he failed to notice that she had entered her contact information into his contact list then started to go through his phone. After a few moments she said, "You have nothing on your phone other than a large phone book."

"Can I have my phone back?" Lone Wolfe asked.

"Hang on," Robin stated as she continued to go through his list, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen, why?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"How does a fourteen-year-old score a job?" She asked instead.

"I didn't," Lone Wolfe stated, "I don't have a job."

"Then why do you have a contact that says 'work' in your list?" Robin questioned.

"You listen well, it was my mom's phone," Lone Wolfe stated, "That was her work phone number."

"So, she erases everything off of her phone but the phone book before giving it to you, that's bizarre," Robin stated.

"My mother didn't erase anything on the phone," Lone Wolfe stated.

"So, she only used it for calls? You have hardly any text messages except those to your dad. I don't even see anything to Jena. A couple of texts from Scarlet but that's it," Robin said.

"My father went through the phone and erased everything off it but the phone book. He figured I could use it. He renamed some of the contacts. Like, 'Dale' became 'Dad' and, 'Ben' became 'Cousin Ben' and so forth," Lone Wolfe replied, "He is good with computers. He was a technician in the Marines years ago."

"So, your father gave you your mother's old phone?"

"Not old phone," Lone Wolfe corrected, "Just my mother's phone. There was no new model or replacement."

"So, what's going on between them?" Robin asked.

Lone Wolfe swiped his phone from her hands, "Nothing."

"I know what it's like," Robin offered.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No you don't. Don't poke this yeti with a stick, Robin."

"My parents just went through a bitter divorce. That is how we ended up here. My father moved here from San Diego. He got a job out here as a project supervisor..."

"There is no divorce!" Lone Wolfe growled.

"Then they are separated," Robin stated, "It's not bad. If they get along then you can see them both."

"No, I can't!" Lone Wolfe shouted, "You don't listen, and you don't understand. My mother is dead! She died in a car crash just after school ended. She wasn't the only one in the car, either! The only other member of my family that would hang out with me also died in that car that night! Her number is missing from this phone! For the last month, it has been just me and my dad and he has been closed off for the entire time! I have had no friends around and have been looking for trouble ever since! It would be nice to have them divorce because they both would still be here!"

Shock ran through Robin's eyes as tears filled up in his. She gave him a hug and the walls holding his pain in collapsed. She placed his head on her collar and said, "oh, Lone Wolfe, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know that was what you were holding in all this time."

"I'm tired of being alone!" He shuddered.

"I'm here now. We have each other's digits," She stated lovingly, "You won't be alone anymore. Let's go to the carnival tonight."

"Are you sure you want to go with a ball of darkness and whinny tears like me?"

She gently lifted his chin up to glance at him in the eyes, "Hey," She said softly, "You held yourself together better than anyone else I know. I don't know if I could hold up like you if my mother died, let alone two loved family members. Of course, I want to go to the carnival with you."

Chapter #7: The Carnival

Greeley Colorado

June 25th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe stood outside of the entrance to Island Grove park waiting for Robin and Ray to arrive. He went over the afternoon in his head as the sun set and painted pastel colors in the sky. His father gave him enough for the three of them to gain entrance to the midway and to have a decent night of fun after they got in. He was supposed to be home by eleven PM and to call if he could make it home by walking.

He glanced down the road and amongst the various groups of people approaching the ticket counter he spotted a familiar feminine figure walking alone. The dark amber eyes carried various shades of pink in orange reflected from the sky. Her brown hair was combed straight again, and she had changed her blouse for a black spaghetti strap shirt. She also changed out her slacks for a blue wavy skirt that ended just below the knees. She carried a purse to hold her belongings.

He smiled as he approached but cocked his head in confusion, "Where's Ray?" he asked.

"He is at home with Dad watching a baseball game," Robin stated in response.

"Baseball?"

"It's a thing where we come from. You might have heard of it, it's a national pass time," Robin smirked in response.

"I've heard of it," Lone Wolfe stated, "But usually people are into football."

"Well, it's summer," Robin stated. She glanced past him to the ticket counter, "So we get our tickets for the rides here?"

"We get passes to get onto the midway here," Lone Wolfe answered.

"What! That's lame!" Robin exclaimed.

"I have money to get the both of us in," Lone Wolfe stated, "It won't be a problem."

They approached the ticket counter. As he fished out his wallet to get the cash out for their entrance tickets, Robin caught sight of the pendant around his neck, "I think I know where that came from. There is a holistic shop on the north end of town. Back in early May, an old lady and her granddaughter ran the place."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I think I know of it. My mother would go there when she was alive. She went there often. She was friends with the owner."

She crossed her arms as he fished out the money for the tickets, "Did you ever go with her on these frequent trips?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. She had an early shift at her work, so she was commonly gone before I was awake during the school year. If her work didn't have her stay late, she would hang out at the shop until I got out. I know she meant to take me on several occasions. She even wanted to get me a pendant like this, but she just never got around to it."

"So that pendant wasn't yours?" Robin asked as Lone Wolfe laid down a ten-dollar bill and received two wrist bands in return, "Dear god, how much are the passes?"

"Five dollars apiece," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What a rip off, they really sock it to you," Robin stated as the clerk wrapped the bands around their wrists.

Lone Wolfe nodded as they started to walk into the park, "I would like to say it's worth it but my mom said it used to be free and nothing changed except poorer people don't come to the carnival anymore."

"Did the poor people cause problems?" She asked as she wrapped her arm around his waist.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Considering that I am technically part of that group I don't see how. She said the city put a price on entrance to keep gang members from coming into the park."

"There's too much testosterone in the air for that to be true," Robin commented. She glanced at Lone Wolfe, "hang on, we met today because you rescued some dude who was being shook down for money."

"You catch on quick," Lone Wolfe nodded, "that doesn't happen all the time. Usually only during the carnival. Mom said it didn't happen before they put a cost on entrance."

"Then why don't they take the price tag off admission?" She asked in response.

"Because this isn't run by the city," Lone Wolfe replied, "I asked that question already."

"So, it's really for profit," Robin surmised.

"Until the city can get the rights for the name back," Lone Wolfe nodded.

"So, they can't call this place a carnival without getting the rights back?" Robin questioned as their growling stomachs made them gravitate towards the sources of the delicious smells they noticed.

Lone Wolfe shook his head and led them towards one of the food stalls serving a variety of fried foods, "they can still call it a carnival and they can call it the stampede. They just can't call it the Greeley Stampede."

Robin shook her head as she followed the boy to the food stall, "something about that seems both silly, sad, and idiotic all at the same time." Her dark amber eyes danced up and down the menu as she tried to make up her mind of what she wanted to eat. Each time she breathed, she could smell the mix of oil and sugar coming from the next stall over. She could also smell the refreshing scent of fresh squeezed lemonade coming from a few stalls over. She glanced towards Lone Wolfe and asked, "Do you have your heart set on corn dogs and fries or would you rather have funnel cake?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Not really. What do you have in mind?"

She pointed to one of the funnel cake vendors and grabbed his hand. She pulled him along as she led him to the source of one of her cravings, "funnel cakes and lemonade! That's what I want!"

Lone Wolfe nodded and perched in front of the nearest lemonade stand, "why are we getting the lemonade first?" Robin asked.

He glanced back at the line at the funnel cake stand, "because the lemonade will stay colder longer than the funnel cakes will stay hot. Also, there is no lone here but plenty of people at the other stand."

Robin glanced back at the other stand and nodded as she took his hand back, "good point. It would be nice to have something to drink while we wait."

He glanced down at his hand. She was holding it firmly. Not like a mother holding a child's hand to keep them from running off but like she didn't want to let him go. He glanced up and saw her looking at him and smiling. He had a feeling that the night would end in trouble. He just didn't know if it would come from Ray or his dad. He also needed to be sure he wasn't misreading the situation. He returned the smile and leaned in close. She didn't shy away. She leaned in even closer, practically burying his arm in her body.

They made it to the front counter fast compared to the other lines in the area. While she was mulling over what size she could afford, Lone Wolfe ordered, "Two large lemonades, please."

"Lone Wolfe!" Robin exclaimed, "That's way too expensive! We can just share a drink."

"I would love to share a drink, but I am too thirsty. I can afford it," Lone Wolfe replied and fished his wallet out.

Robin let go of his arm, so he could pay for the drinks from there. They headed to the stand and waited in line for funnel cakes. Lone Wolfe took a big swig off his lemonade and said, "I can get the food too, if you want to find a table to wait."

Robin shook her head, "Not this time. If you pay for all the food, then who is going to pay for the games on the midway and the rides?"

"I could pay for it too," Lone Wolfe stated.

"I get the idea you are used to rich friends who expect everyone to be able to pull their own way," Robin glared at him.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I wouldn't call them rich, but their parents don't have to worry about living from check to check."

"Well my father does," Robin stated. If she could pitch her arms on her waist, she would but she was holding a glass of lemonade that could fill her bladder several times over and she didn't want to drop it, put it down, or spill it. Instead she stuck out her tongue before continuing, "I am sure your father does too. I don't see you wearing any designer clothes or digs. Unless you want to be flat broke at the end of the night, let me pay for something then you can shower me with games and rides."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "if you insist."

"I do." She nodded, "No more faux chivalry for you tonight."

Lone Wolfe nodded and faced forward in line. Before he knew it, her free arm was around him, "Here, only the cook is going to know that I am buying. On the midway, everyone will see you showering me with games and rides. Which would you rather have?"

"Both," Lone Wolfe stated.

"I know that, silly," Robin stated then started playing with his chin length hair, "You should grow your hair out longer. Maybe put it in a ponytail when it gets long enough."

"I was thinking about cutting it, actually. It's starting to get a bit long," Lone Wolfe commented as the line slowly inched forward.

"Just let it get longer. Don't cut it," Robin suggested in response.

"The length of my hair drives my father crazy as it is. It will drive him up a wall if I grow it out longer," Lone Wolfe protested.

"You're a teenager," Robin stated in response, "You are supposed to do things that make your father crazy. If you are that concerned about how your father feels, then how did you get the nerve to come out here with me tonight? I am sure your father would have had strong words about going out on a date with a girl."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "He did. The only reason why he relented was you told me that Ray would be coming was well. He told me that no brother would let his sister be taken advantage of by another boy so that was the best chaperone for me. When I get home, if I smell like you, he will kill me."

"That was true, Ray was going to come when we left the club. He decided to do other things instead. Watch a game with dad on TV. With me out of the house, there would be no fight about what's on TV or how loud the volume was. You will be okay, and I think you should grow your hair out long. You clearly have been flirting with the idea for a while," She replied, "As far as my brother is concerned. I would have sent him off after getting onto the midway. He doesn't get a say about who I like. If he thinks he can, I will show him who's boss by storing his balls in a jar!"

"You can be mean and leave nothing to the imagination," Lone Wolfe stated in response. The line inched closer to their ultimate goal, "As for me. I would rather not get on my dad's bad side. At least not until he has gotten over his funk that he is in."

She leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "I will put it to you another way. It will drive me crazy. Crazy in a way you will like."

The comment alone almost was enough to make Lone Wolfe drop his lemonade. He gulped and nodded. He glanced over to her and said, "I will think about it. In the end, it will have to be my decision. You wouldn't be happy otherwise. Am I not correct?"

Robin nodded, "You are correct. I wouldn't be okay with you growing your hair out long just because I told you too. It would be nice if you do decide to grow your hair out long. I would like to see you with longer hair."

Lone Wolfe nodded as they finally made it to the stand, "The only thing I can tell you is I will think about it. I can't say yes or no right now."

"Fair enough," She said as she stepped up to the counter, "Two funnel cakes please." She ordered as she took out her wallet and produced the cash needed for them. The man nodded, and the cook started creating two more cakes in the fryer as the two teenagers stepped aside.

It was several anxious minutes before the cakes were ready. When they were, they both sought out the nearest unoccupied table. They sat down and started to tear into their cakes. They finished their sugared treats quickly and washed it down with now extra sour lemonade. Lone Wolfe glanced over to the midway off in the distance and asked, "Would you like some cotton candy next?"

She glared at him, "Do I look like I am seven to you?"

Lone Wolfe blanched, "Times two?"

Robin giggled, "Good comeback." She glanced up at the sky, "I have been here for a couple of weeks, but I swear the sun sets quicker here than in southern California."

Lone Wolfe nodded as he glanced up at the now dark sky, "I didn't realize the sun set so fast. I guess that means that I don't have a lot of time left. I have a curfew." He glanced back at her, "The sun does tend to set a little quicker here. Some of it has to do with the fact we are a little further north. Mostly, it is because we are close to the mountains. Do you have a curfew too?"

Robin sighed and rolled her eyes, "Of course. Do you think my father would just let me roam around the city with a boy all night in the middle of the summer?"

"He let you go this far," Lone Wolfe mentioned, "I wouldn't have made it past the door."

She pulled him to his feet and glanced around. She glanced back to him and smiled, "How about we head away from the midway and the crowds? We can go back if we have time."

Lone Wolfe cocked his head in confusion, "Sure, what do you have planned?"

"Come with me and find out." Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe followed. He was not going to say no to Robin right now. She found a dark spot that looked like no one could see them from the carnival then pushed him back against the wall. She glared at him at that moment. He wondered if he had guessed wrong this entire time if she had something else planned for him instead. She placed a hand on his chest, over his heart and the other hand behind his head, at the base of his skull. He could feel her energy flowing between those two points, an electric tingle that felt uncomfortable considering he wasn't injured. He glanced down at her dark eyes, "What the hell are you doing?"

Robin didn't glare. In fact, she looked concerned, "When we first met, I sensed there was something wrong, but I couldn't fix it. I thought it was a fluke but when we were in line for the lemonades could feel it again."

"Well," Lone Wolfe shuffled uneasily. Unlike Jena who used finesse with her powers, Robin had none of that. Her empathic abilities were electrifying and disruptive. He glanced away from her for a moment and focused on what he wanted to say, "My empathic abilities recently awakened. I had a fever when it happened. I made it worse by being active at school that day. That could have caused something to go wrong. The fever was pretty bad."

Robin cocked her head in confusion, "That could be it. Some sort of brain damage. Does that always happen in your family?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged in response. He wasn't sure how many people on his mother's side of the family had these gifts and that made it harder for him to answer. In response, she stopped flowing her empathic power through him which made it easier to think, "I'm not sure how many people on my mother's side of the family have empathic abilities. I know my mother had the fever before her power awakened. My father told me that. It wasn't as bad as mine which is why I think I made it worse."

Robin let go of the back of his head and dropped her other hand as well. She leaned back against the wall next to him, "It is hard to say what caused the damage. Did anything else happen to you that day? Did you fall or something?"

"Now that you mention it, when I was walking home, I did fall and hit my head hard enough to knock me out. Jena undid the concussion, however, so I don't see what that has to do with anything." Lone Wolfe replied.

"If Jena didn't know what caused your sickness in the first-place, she could have made it worse without knowing it," Robin stated in response, "That alone could have messed you up."

"Well, I wouldn't be here without her helping me getting better like that so damaged or not, you do have to thank her for saving me," Lone Wolfe replied.

"All things being equal, I think I would have noticed something like this before trying to heal you," Robin stated in response.

Not likely, Lone Wolfe commented to himself. Jena can match the patterns of anyone she heals or uses her abilities against. She couldn't heal me that day and she didn't know what was wrong with me. The only reason why my mother knew is because she already went through this when she was my age. You may be more powerful than her but unless you make up in knowledge, for what you lack in skill, you are boasting at this point.

To demonstrate that, he glanced at her and asked, "Do you think you can fix it?"

Robin shrugged, "I don't know. It is hard to say what did it, let alone if it can be undone at this point. You have healed a lot of it on your own. I assume some of it still works. You can sense the emotions of other people, and you can probably block things that other people try to do to you empathically."

Maybe that is why Jena could not heal me that day? Lone Wolfe thought to himself, she couldn't do it because the ability was awakening at that point and it blocked her on its own. It wasn't until after I passed out that she was able to do anything to me. That could be where I hurt it. He glanced back to her, "Do you think you can try?"

Robin nodded, "I will give it my best but like you and your hair, I cannot promise anything."

She faced him and placed her hands on his shoulders. He did his best not to resist her as she started to flow energy through his body. He could feel the energy moving up to the back of his neck and into his head as she worked. She closed her eyes. He wasn't sure what she was doing as he couldn't feel much more than the energy. In comparing the differences between her and his friend, he wondered if Jena would take this long to heal someone. He remembered when his hyoid was fractured by his first-grade teacher, it only took Jena several seconds to heal it and the energy had a soothing effect compared to the jarring effect of Robin's energy.

As the minutes dragged on, he saw sweat start to bead up on her brow and a look of frustration start to wash over her face. Whatever was happening, he didn't know what it was. He only knew that some part of him, a part that he had no control over, was not cooperating with her. He wondered if it was her approach or if it was something else, "Maybe you just need to do something to your energy? It feels weird compared to when Jena does it."

"Shush!" She scalded, her eyes still closed, "I'm working."

"Is it working?" He questioned in response.

"Shush!" She huffed.

She continued to work for a few more minutes before she dropped her arms and hung her shoulders in shame, "It seems that I can't repair the damage done. Your ability is still new. Perhaps with training, you can still wield it effectively, but you will be far weaker than you should be."

"Maybe I can have Jena train me," Lone Wolfe pondered. He wasn't fully aware he said it out loud.

She crossed her arms in defiance, "Why not me?"

"Well," Lone Wolfe started. He was not sure of the best way to say it to her. He knew that beating around the bush would not do it at this point. He glanced up at her and said, "When I was around seven, I had to be taught to control my telepathy. A master telepathy taught me how to do that well. While you are powerful, I know you are in the same situation as me. If Jena teaches me how to control my Empathic powers she might also be able to teach you how to control yours as well."

"Who says I need to learn how to control them?" She questioned bitterly.

"You did earlier today. When I pointed out that people were getting sick when you got upset," Lone Wolfe stated, "Also, in comparison to how Jena uses her powers, it feels like you are dipping me in a pool of electrified water."

"Would you stop comparing me to Jena!" Robin growled, "I don't compare you to my brother so stop comparing me to her!"

Lone Wolfe sighed, "I'm sorry. She was the only other person I know that used her powers so freely." He glanced back towards the midway, "Well, enough of things we can't change. Do you want to head back to the midway and we can play some games or enjoy some rides?"

"Before I answer that, you have to answer a question for me," She stated in response.

He cocked his head in confusion, "What question is that?"

"Are you a boy or a man?" She questioned in response.

"How do you want me to answer that?" He asked.

"Don't go off of your age," Robin stated with a devilish smile starting to form on her face, "and don't go off what society tells you. Go off what you feel. Go off what your heart tells you."

Lone Wolfe glanced up at the sky. Unlike the forest and the mountains, it was so hard to see where the stars were in the city. Even harder being right next to the carnival. The lights from the rides and the midway drowned out the stars completely here. He glanced back at her, "I don't know, to be honest. I want to say I am a man, but I don't know if that is the right answer. I know a large part of my childhood ended when I was seven. That was the year my teacher attacked me and tried to kill me for what I was. Ever since then, I have had to hide part of what I am. Losing that part of your innocence, losing that part of safety forces a person to grow up."

Robin's smile grew wider, "I wouldn't have believed you if you have said anything else." At that point she leaned in close and planted her lips on his. The feeling, the warmth, drew them closer to each other. She pulled him in by the shoulders and his arms drifted up towards her back his hands resting in the small of her back as they kissed. She pressed her lips harder against his and opened her mouth as they continued to embrace and kiss. Their tongues touched and added a new dimension to the embrace and kiss. Their bodies drifted closer, the want for each of them to bathe in the touch and warmth of the other drew them in.

After a few moments, their lips came apart and they gazed into each other's eyes. Their faces were flush with excitement and anticipation as each waited for the other to make the next move, "I have wanted to do that since I heard you weren't dating anyone!"

"I want to do it again," Lone Wolfe whispered as if saying it too loud would carry those words all the way back to his father.

Just when they were about to kiss again, he heard a familiar voice off in the distance, "Look! The stray dog has a girlfriend!"

Lone Wolfe glanced over and noticed it was one of his class mates from the eighth grade, "You're just jealous."

"Nah, you probably paid her for a good time," The boy spat back and started to walk closer, "Probably will give me a good time, too, after your time is up."

The boy with the golden eyes was about to make a retort when Robin pulled away from him, "how boring. A normal boy thinks he can take on the big shots and walk away intact. I will show you just how out classed you are!" She took a step forward and held a hand out. The boy froze in place, "Pestilence! You should have minded your own business!" The man doubled over as his stomach did knots. He fell to his knees and vomited the contents of his stomach.

Lone Wolfe was horrified at the use of her Empathic abilities. Up until now, he assumed that the worst someone could do with it was tell the world what someone was feeling deep down. Now, he could see it was much worse. What worried him more was Robin taking enjoyment in the boy's torture, "You're nothing more than a little piece of crap!"

The man glanced at her wide eyed, "No... please!"

"That's enough!" Lone Wolfe stated firmly and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "let him go."

Cold eyes glanced back towards him, "He hasn't learned his lesson!"

"Reach out with your mind," Lone Wolfe stated, "He is broadcasting his fear so loudly, a normal human doesn't need special powers to tell you scared him out of his gourd!"

"You two are monsters!" He shuddered as her hold on him slipped.

"He hasn't learned his lesson at all!" Robin chided.

"Now, Ron, you run along now. Who will believe you that I read your mind and she made you sick by looking at you?" Lone Wolfe stated in response, "If you go away, we can keep this to ourselves. Also, don't bug us again. I am not sure I can stop her a second time."

Before Robin could get her hold over him back, the man scrambled away. He didn't make it to his feet until he was close to the stalls by the midway. Robin spun around and fixed Lone Wolfe with a venomous stare, "What did you do that for?"

"What were you going to do next? Make him crap himself?" Lone Wolfe chided in response, "Suppose you cross a line you didn't know was there? They are already afraid of us, you don't need to give them a reason to band together to kill us!"

"He's going to get over what I did to him and get his friends together anyway," Robin argued.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't think so. You made him sick. He could call it a coincidence, but no one will believe him if you made him up chuck just by pointing to him and glaring. No one is going to believe I can read his mind because he was fearful when he did. If he doesn't leave us alone, we can remind him of what we are capable of."

"Are you afraid of what I am capable of?" She asked suddenly, "Of what I did?"

"I would be afraid of my own best friend, Curtis, if I saw him beating the guy within an inch of his life," Lone Wolfe replied, "It's not the abilities I am afraid of. It is what people do with them." He leaned back against the wall, "Are you afraid of spiders?"

Robin nodded, "They creep me out!"

"That is probably what most normal people think of us," Lone Wolfe replied, "They don't understand us and that we normally wouldn't hurt them or use our powers against them. They are afraid of what we could do so they lash out at us. Probably like what you do whenever a spider is near you. Break out the shoe and flatten it with the sole of it. I am not afraid of spiders. They don't bite most of the time unless they are pressed to do so. They eat flies and mosquitos and other unsavory insects. I'm afraid of what people will do when they are afraid."

"They could try to understand us," Robin suggested.

"We don't make it easy for them. You also have events like my unintentional mind reading and you inflicting your empathic power on people. You lashed out in anger; luckily it was just one person. No one will believe him. But enough people will eventually see what we can do, and they will start to become afraid of us. They will try to level the playing field. They don't realize they don't need to do that. They don't realize that most of the time we do the things we do out of fear. We also don't understand that they do what they do out of fear," Lone Wolfe explained.

She leaned up against him, "I asked you before if you are a man. I should have asked if you were grown up. You seem to have a better understanding of the world around us than most."

"I had this lesson before," Lone Wolfe replied, "Right after the teacher attacked me."

"Who was it that gave you that lesson?" Robin questioned as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, "Your mentor perhaps?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. My mother taught that one to me."

"I would have liked to have met her," She stated.

"Perhaps there is a way you can, through my eyes at least." Lone Wolfe stated, "We don't have the time tonight, but we can work on it another day."

She cocked her head in confusion, "What do you have planned?"

"Have you ever joined your mind with someone?" Lone Wolfe stated, "in a different way than normal. Deeper than the deepest link? It takes time. It's that time that we don't have tonight."

Robin seemed confused, "I have never been in a link like that before. Why would it take so much time?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "It is hard to explain. You will have to experience it for yourself. You will understand once we participate in that bond."

"How about tomorrow?" Robin questioned with excitement on her face.

"We will need a spot where the two of us can be safe," Lone Wolfe replied.

She cocked her head as her confusion grew, "Why?"

"Again, it is difficult to explain but once you go through one you will understand," Lone Wolfe replied.

Chapter #8: Messages

Greeley Colorado

June 25th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe could feel the ire almost bent on rage coming from the car as Lone Wolfe walked Robin up to the front door of her house. In the porch light, he could see that she was wearing no bra underneath the revealing black spaghetti strap shirt. He wasn't sure which made his father more upset, the fact her brother was not with her or the fact that Robin insisted she sit in the back with Lone Wolfe on the way home. He knew it couldn't be because they called before his curfew for a ride; his father did offer them that.

It was he emotions coming off the car that made Lone Wolfe look away and back towards the car. Robin could also feel his father's anger being broadcast from a distance, but she did her best to avoid it. She gently nudged his head back over to him and said, "How about a kiss before you go?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Might as well. I'm dead anyway."

She glanced over to the car nervously, "I'm sorry. I feel for you. I didn't know the night would end this way. If nothing else, at least we are going to the same high school."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Yeah but any hopes of having an extracurricular activity has probably been curtailed. Are you going to be a cheer leader?"

Robin shook her head, "I don't have the body for it. I'm not skinny."

"I don't think so. I think your body is perfect," He commented in response.

Robin blushed, "You would say that. After all, we are on a date, we are dating now, and you are trying to fish for a kiss."

"You want the kiss too," Lone Wolfe argued.

She leaned in before either could say anything and kissed him. It wasn't as passionate as the kisses they shared at the carnival, but it was close. Close enough that the horn honking from his father's car was enough to break them up, "Well," He stated as he refused to let go of her hand, "I don't know if I will see you tomorrow. I may be grounded for the rest of my life. If nothing else, I will see you at school."

She nodded, and he let go of her hand. She grasped the handle of the front door then said, "He will let you out sooner if he wants grandchildren." Lone Wolfe blushed. Robin blushed and smiled, "Good night, babe." She said before she shut the door.

Lone Wolfe turned around and headed for the door. He knew exactly what she meant by that. He didn't want to let it show on his face. He also couldn't be happy right now because he felt like he was walking into the lion's den by getting into his father's car. As soon as he shut the seat and buckled his belt, his father reached over and flicked him in the ear, "Ouch!" Lone Wolfe sucked in breath as the stinging pain quickly registered. It never left a mark and he would never do more than that to his son, but it still produced enough pain, "What did I do?"

"What the hell was that about?" His father hissed, "You said her brother was coming along!"

"He was supposed to! I didn't know he was staying home until she showed up at the ticket stand by herself. Check my memories out if you don't believe me," Lone Wolfe replied.

His father gave him a side long glance, "I trust you for now but if that display on her porch is any indication of how your night went, I have to wonder if you were at the stampede the entire time or if you two found some where private."

"Nothing like that," Lone Wolfe replied.

"So, you two are now dating then?" His father questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Unless I missed something about tonight."

His father put the car in gear and started to drive towards their house. He glanced down and sighed, "I take it I am restricted to my room for the summer?"

"I work so there is no way I can enforce that," His father replied, "I would more trust you at the boys and girls club anyway. I will drop you off in the morning and pick you up at night. Anywhere you go has to be approved through me first."

Lone Wolfe glanced down and nodded. He didn't understand, now, why he was getting off so easily considering how his father felt now. He thought about what his father said. His father had to work so he could either be at the club where someone would be there, and he wouldn't be alone, or he could be at home with nothing to do. It would drive him crazy to be left alone with nothing to do and no one to talk to. When he thought about it, his father was probably right, he would go off and do something while he was at work and with no supervision and no one to keep track of him, he would do whatever he wanted. Much like school; it would ensure that his father knew where he was supposed to be at two different points in the day.

"Have you texted your friends and let them know you have a cell phone now?" His father questioned when they were about half way home.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No, I have been operating mostly under the same rules you had before I got the phone. No unauthorized contact with anyone."

"You may want to let them know you have a phone, so they can contact you," His father stated, "Now that you have a phone it may not be so bad that they are away now. You can talk to them whenever you want. I know they all have their own phones. We have their numbers and I made sure they were programmed into your phone ahead of time."

"Do you think it would be wise to text them now?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

His father shrugged, "In the old days I would say it would be rude to call someone without a compelling reason after eight at night. However, they all have their phones and if they turn them off or on silent when they go to bed or don't want to disturb anyone, it shouldn't be a problem. To answer that question; you tell me. They are your friends."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "maybe when we get back to the house." He glanced out the window again. He noticed that Robin did not live too far away from them. It wouldn't be too hard to reach out to her with his telepathy. It would be something that could be harder for him to track. He wasn't sure if his father suggested because he enabled something on the phone or account to get all of the information going into and coming out of the phone. It was possible. They made those tools available to parents now.

He waited until they were in the door and he was in bed. He was unsure of what to say to them. Up until now, he didn't realize that he didn't have a way to get ahold of them and let them know what had happened to him recently. The best thing to do was to text them both and let them know that he had a phone and what happened to his mother and cousin.

He opened his phone and added both numbers to a text window. He then typed, "Hey, it's Lone Wolfe. I wanted to let you know that I have a phone now. It was my mother's phone. Some things have happened recently. The bad news first. My mother passed away at the end of May. My cousin, Relena, did as well. Let me know if you are up and I can share some better news."

It didn't take long for the responses to roll in. The first one was from Jena, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry. How are you and your dad holding up?"

He had no time to answer before Curtis sent a reply, "Bummer dude. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that it got a lot better because that is one hell of a crap storm."

Lone Wolfe responded to Jena first, "I am doing better now. I was really upset at first. Scarlet came home from college early and helped us through for the first couple of days. I am not sure how my dad was doing. I had a feeling that he was going to do something stupid, but I reminded him that it would leave me all alone if he did. That seemed to keep him here but beyond that it is just me. Things have been slowly getting better since then."

He went to Curtis's message responded next, "I am doing a lot better. I have a girlfriend now. Her name is Robin. She is really cool. She will be going to our school in the fall, so you will get to meet her then as well. I will see if I can get you a picture of her or us here soon."

Jena responded before Curtis did, "How are things now? You said you had some good news to share? What is it?"

He responded back to Jena before Curtis could respond, "I do have good news. The first is I had a new power awaken. I am like you now only damaged. More on that later. The second is I have a girlfriend. Her name is Robin."

He was surprised that he didn't get a comment back from Jena, but he didn't have time to think about that as Curtis replied, "Get out of town! That is totally awesome! You will have to get a pic of her as soon as possible. I want to see you two as soon as possible. Too bad you aren't with her right now. I would like to have that picture right now."

Lone Wolfe nodded then realized that no one could see him. He wrote back to Curtis, "I will definitely get a picture of us tomorrow. I am going to see her at the boys and girls club. We had a fun time at the stampede, but I don't know if I will be able to get back there before the fourth of July. Hopefully you will like the picture. Some cool news. She has the same powers as Jena, but they work a bit differently. I think you will like her when you meet her."

After he sent the message he noticed that he still had not received anything from Jena. He decided to send her another message, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong? I don't know where you are, but I know you are too far away for me to reach out to you."

She responded a moment later, "I am okay. It is just a lot for me to process. You are an empath now? That is cool. What do you mean by damaged?"

He thought it was strange that she didn't mention his new girlfriend. He decided to let it slide for right now. It would come up in conversation soon if he had to elaborate on it too much more, "Yes I am an empath. It awakened when I had that fever. It was because I pushed myself."

She did respond sooner than the last time, "Was it because of the fever or because you pushed yourself too much?"

"Because I pushed myself," Lone Wolfe answered back through text, "My father told me that my mother had a fever when her empathic abilities surfaced but it never was as bad as my fever. It could also have been due to the fall."

"But I healed that," Jena answered back.

"No offense but were you looking for my empathic abilities when you healed me?" Lone Wolfe asked back.

It didn't take her long to respond, "Do you think I would harm you on purpose like that? Why do you doubt me?"

"I don't doubt you, but you didn't know I was awakening at the time. By fixing my concussion you could have done something to me that you never intended to do," Lone Wolfe answered.

"Where is this coming from?" She questioned after a moment.

"Robin is an empath," Lone Wolfe answered, "She's pretty powerful. She couldn't fix what was wrong with me. She knew that my mind had been healed by an empath recently. She didn't know if that prevented her from fixing the damage or not."

It took a while for her to answer. Lone Wolfe had almost fallen asleep before she did. The vibrating of the phone awakened him. He glanced at the message. It was just four words, "I don't like her."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "Damnit. I thought they would have gotten along just fine because we are all psychics and there aren't a lot of us in the first place. He had done something wrong. He knew it. He wasn't completely stupid. It was either how he delivered the news, or he had misjudged how she would feel about the situation entirely. He had never gone through a communion with Jena, he figured that would have to change.

His phone went off again. He figured that Curtis had finally decided to say something else about the subject. He was hoping for more talk with his friends before he went to bed. He glanced at the phone and saw that the message was not from Jena or Curtis. It was from robin. He opened it. There was a picture and text on top of it, "Good night babe, sweet dreams." He studied the picture and blushed.

She was clothed, enough that everything was covered with some fabric to spare. However, the pink night gown looked absolutely alluring. She was kneeling on the bed and holding the phone up to take a selfie. The look of her hair suggested she just showered and her eyes gave a suggestive glance. Even though there was nothing wrong with the picture, nothing pornographic about it. He knew he would be in big trouble if his father saw it, "Please let it be that he doesn't have anything set up to track what's on the phone. If she keeps sending these pictures then I'm screwed," he said to himself.

He knew that before she went to sleep, he had to respond. He typed up a simple message, "Sweet dreams, sweetheart."

He laid there on the bed. He powered off the screen of his phone and placed it on the inductive pad on his night stand and realized what he wanted to do. He knew he had a range to do it and if he could form a link with her then they would be able to share a dream together. It was one of the things that she had wanted to do since the summer started.

He wondered if he would be familiar with her inner voice after only being with her for one day. It didn't take him long to figure out that he seemed to be drawn to her and could find her easier than anyone in the city. He didn't think that Jena would be found so fast in the voices he heard telepathically, even if she lived right next to him. Once he found her, he reached out with his mind to her, "Are you still awake?"

"Wow, you are powerful." Robin replied as he formed the link with her so they both could communicate with each other. He could also feel her emotions flood through the link. That wasn't uncommon, emotions that humans and telepaths were mentally aware of usually also flooded the link when I was formed. He was sure he was also pouring his own emotions through there. They seemed to match, "I can see why you said you are more powerful than either me or my brother today."

"I didn't mean for it to come out like that," Lone Wolfe replied, "You and your brother just seem to be able to push a person's buttons so easily. It made me want to boast a little bit. I should have been more tactful with that comment."

"It's okay. I like it when I get real emotions from another person. That is usually why we are the way we are around other people. My mother once called me the queen of discord." Robin replied.

"That's doesn't sound very nice. In fact, for a mother, that sounds pretty mean. Calling you the master of chaos wherever you go. I would have thought your mother would have been nicer to her children about things like that." Lone Wolfe replied over the link. He never recalled his mother saying anything like that to him even when he was misbehaving or acting like a jerk.

"You may think it is mean, but I actually like it. I find the only way to get the real emotions out of a person is to provoke them. In that regard, she isn't wrong," Robin replied.

"To each their own I guess," Lone Wolfe replied, "I had an idea. Do you ever remain linked to anyone when you fall asleep?"

"Not really why? I would think it would be weird to share dreams with someone," Robin replied.

"I can't control my telepathy when I am asleep. The only time it doesn't wander aimlessly is when I link with someone and leave the link open during the night. It does lead to shared dreams, but they usually aren't too bad. Both unconscious minds just form a dream of a blend of what they normally would do under any other circumstance. But it does keep my power from wandering." Lone Wolfe replied.

"I wonder if something like that could help me with my empathic abilities. I know that I usually have that problem only when I am awake though. I don't have to worry about it while I am asleep," Robin projected in response.

"So how about it?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"I am willing to try it with you," Robin answered, "If it gets too weird hen we won't do it again. Just remember, I can't control what I dream about when I am asleep."

Lone Wolfe nodded. This time, he knew that she would pick up on it. It wasn't a text message or cell phone conversation. It was a link and intentions were passed along the link as well as thoughts. They enjoyed feeling each other's emotions until they fell asleep. The dreams started as innocent mixes of their memories from earlier that day and their emotions they shared over their link. As the dreams played out, they became more romantic and grew more erotic. Lone Wolfe was sure that she would cut the link from this point forward.

Chapter #9: Pictures and a Communion

Greeley Colorado

June 28th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe was dropped off at the front of the boys and girls club early in the morning. The center just opened so there was next to no one there. He was surprised that he received a text when they woke up on that Saturday morning stating that he had a good idea with the link and the shared dreams. She couldn't wait until the night, so they could share more dreams. Even though his father had to work on Saturday, Lone Wolfe had to stay home. He was forbidden from having Robin over. To keep him from either attempting to get out or inviting her over, his father had asked Scarlet to come over. He thought it would be a good change of pace, but he found that the day went very slowly. At least he had the dreams he shared with Robin over the weekend.

He had texted Robin when he awakened in the morning letting her know that his dad was taking him to the club. She texted back as he was on the way out the door saying that they would be on their way. He might beat him there but otherwise they would have most of the day together. He walked into the club and signed in. He didn't see anyone there. He couldn't really do anything without anyone else around.

With nothing else to do, Lone Wolfe headed to the sofa they had sat on the other day and took out his phone. He sent her a quick text letting her know where he was then started playing a game he downloaded on his phone over the weekend. It was about ten minutes later when the doors opened, and two people signed in. He heard the faint voices carry over. It was Ray, "I'm going to the gym to shoot some hoops. Hopefully people will show up soon. I have the feeling it will be a bunch of little kids showing up first. It is too early to be up!"

"You didn't have to come so early. You could have slept in," Robin replied, "Have fun."

He put his phone away and glanced over as she ran towards him. He thought she was going to slow down as she approached but instead launched herself into the air when she got close to the arm of the couch. She landed straddling him and her arms wrapped around his shoulders, "Miss me?" She questioned.

His face felt hot, he was sure he was blushing. He glanced around to make sure no one else was there before glancing back up at her and nodding, "Been hard to just have you in my dreams. You may want to get off me before the staff finds out and splits us up."

Her response was to snug into him and grind against him. He could feel his pants starting to get tight and his face became a full red flush. She smiled and blushed slightly herself, "If you keep quiet then no one will come. Do you want to kiss?"

Lone Wolfe dropped his jaw, unsure of what to do and what to say to her at that point. He didn't know how far she was going to take this before some sort of line was crossed. He didn't know if that line had already been crossed. He couldn't tell if she wanted some sort of move from him or if she just wanted him to sit there. She cocked her head in confusion, "Lost the ability to speak already?" She smiled, leaned in and gave him a warm kiss before getting off him and sitting next to him.

He took a few breaths to calm himself down. He glanced over and noticed that she was doing the same thing. After a few moments, she glanced over to him and asked, "So what does this communion entail?"

Lone Wolfe glanced around the room trying to find a place for them to remain undisturbed for the duration of the event. From his first communion, he learned that both telepaths would be comatose for hours. While they could pass it off as just being asleep for a little bit, people would get concerned if they were asleep and no one could rouse them for hours. He glanced up at her, "You start to form a link like you normally would. Since we are already linked, we can start at any moment. When you focus right and see with your telepathy, you will see a light in the other person. You reach for that light at the same time they reach for the light they see in you. You will start to feel a little fuzzy when the process starts. If you flinch it will break the process. Don't worry if you flinch; we can always start the process again. You do need to trust the person you are engaging with as that will also cause you to flinch. There isn't a way to control what kind of memories we see when we are joined."

"How long does the process take?" Robin questioned in response.

"Every time I have done it before it has been about a three or four-hour ordeal. We will not be able to be awakened during that time. That is why I suggested that we needed a private place to do this. If normal people see us and cannot awaken us, they will start to panic. I have witnessed that kind of panic before." Lone Wolfe explained.

"So, doing this here would be out of the question," Robin nodded. He noticed by the look on her face that she was seriously considering possibilities. He didn't know what all she considered. He didn't want to stop back at his house. It would take too long for him to get back to the club before his father got off work. He also didn't want to leave in case his father got off early. There was also the problem of checking out and checking back in. They couldn't leave the facility without checking out and enter it again without checking in. If something happened, then they would use who was checked in to make sure everyone was safe.

Her face lit up, "We can go back to my place! My father isn't home, so it would work. He won't be home for hours."

"But that means we will have to sign out and then sign back in when return," Lone Wolfe protested, "I am already on thin ice with my dad as it is. If he sees that we left and came back, he will assume that we have done..."

"He is a psychic, right?" Robin questioned, and he nodded in response. She glanced back to the main entrance as if someone would come through the door any moment, "You can just tell him that you went through a communion with me and he will be fine."

"It's not going to work that way," Lone Wolfe argued, "He will see that I signed out and came back. At that point, I will be grounded, and Scarlet will probably be asked to babysit me for the rest of the summer as if I was still a little kid."

She shook her head, "Do you want to do this or not?"

"Of course, I do. Why do you think I brought it up?" Lone Wolfe protested in response, "I am just telling you that if we do this now, we will have problems."

"Did your dad walk you into the building and watch you sign in?" Robin questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "He just dropped me off in the parking lot waited there until I walked around the side of the building."

"So, unless he is given a reason, he won't come in and see that you have signed out and back in." Robin pointed out, "So we leave here soon and then we can be back before he gets off work and you are home free."

The ideal situation would be for them to perform this act somewhere safe without having to break the rules. To not break the rules, he would have to stay at the club. That meant they would have to take up a place at one of the sofas or find a spot that no one really checked out that often. Since neither of them had time to check out the place and watch the people coming in and out, they had no way of being sure what place would be safe for that long of a time. They didn't even know if there was a spot for it. If they were going to go through with it, they would have to have the communion at her house.

He wondered if there was another option he had not considered. He couldn't think of it, however. He glanced back at her, "We can try it. If it backfires, then I will see you in school. Hopefully we can get away with this one. I have another question for you; you do have to trust the one you are doing this with. Are you sure you trust me?"

She cocked her head in genuine confusion, "I am okay with the idea. It was your idea so do you trust me?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I did," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

Robin glanced over to the counter by the door and chewed on her lower lip in thought for a moment, "We should probably leave at different times like five minutes apart. I will go first and wait for you out at the parking lot. I will text you if I don't see you after about ten minutes. From there we can walk to my place. It will only take about ten minutes. Sound good to you?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I will wait for you."

Robin nodded and gave him a kiss on the check. She rose then paused, "I should let Ray know I will be home for a while, so he doesn't go looking for me." With that she started to reach out to Ray telepathically. With the link between Lone Wolfe and Robin, he could now hear and feel their conversation. It made him wonder if everything they projected to each other over their link could be heard by Ray as well.

He had to ask, "I can hear you communicating with him. Is our link deeper than your link with Ray or is there a possibility he can hear everything we do?"

Robin shook her head, "I am very sure he would have said something by now. We have never shared dreams with each other and I am sure he would have said something about me replaying the dreams in my head the last couple of nights." With that she walked away, "See you in a few minutes."

Lone Wolfe set a timer as Robin made her way to the desk and signed out. He set it as she walked out of the door. There were several windows that lined the building between the door and the way to the parking lot. He watched her pass by on her way out the door. He would have waved but he knew that the difference in light between the inside and outside would have made it difficult for her to see inside without pressing her face against the window.

When the timer went off, he casually strolled to the desk and signed out. He spun around and headed for the door. He walked around to the front to find Robin leaning against a wooden post that was part of the fence separating the parking lot from the side walk way to the building. She smiled and said, "took you long enough."

"I waited for the five minutes and came out just like we planned," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What did you do in the meantime? Talk to some friends? Grab a soda? You took a lot longer than that to get out here," Robin patronized.

"You raced out of here like the place was on fire," Lone Wolfe stated as they started to walk towards the road that led to the sidewalk and street on the other side. He glanced back to the building they walked away from, "I figured if I did the same thing then they would figure out what we were trying to do. That could produce a call to our parents. However, if I walked out as if I couldn't care less as to where I was going then they would figure that you were long gone, and I was going someplace different. The worst that would happen is they'd call my dad and get me in trouble."

Robin cocked her head as she glanced back, "Wow, that was actually well thought out. Good idea. I would rather not get grounded until there were no men left to marry."

Lone Wolfe chuckled, "I like that about you. You always know how to paint a pretty picture."

"It's an honor and a privilege," Robin smiled as she led the way.

Lone Wolfe sped up his walk to be next to her. They drifted together as they walked towards her house and were holding hands by the time they got to the door. Robin fished out her keys and unlocked the door. She pulled Lone Wolfe inside and shut the door behind them. She smiled as they stood in the foyer of the house, "My room and Ron's room are upstairs. Should we go there?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No matter what, that would be a bad idea. If your father comes in while we are out, then what would be the better place to find your daughter and her boyfriend? Asleep in the living room on the sofa or in her room? I would rather be out here in case he comes home while we are out. Is your dad a psychic like us?"

She nodded, "No Empathy but he is a telepath."

"So, there is a change that he would know what is going on if he found us in the living room," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin shook her head as she led them into the living room, "Not likely. He is the one that taught us how to use our telepathy. If Ray and I don't know anything about this communion then he doesn't either."

Lone Wolfe shrugged as both sat down on the sofa, "Not everyone calls it a communion. There could be other names for the same thing. If not a communion then something else."

Robin leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "I love how you think everyone has your knowledge about the doings of the world. In this case I can tell you that we know nothing of this process that you spoke about. Not everyone has the kind of training you had."

He thought about mentioning how much Jena knew about telepathic powers and empathic techniques and she did not have the same training as Lone Wolfe. Recent memories about how upset she got came to his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her right before they started the communion. Instead he just nodded. It was something that wouldn't make a difference no matter what he said, "Okay. Shall we begin?"

Robin nodded and scooted to the other side of the sofa, she grabbed his hand and pulled him on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his and pulled him in close for a kiss. He pulled away, "What are we doing?"

"A communion?" She stated.

Lone Wolfe understood laying down or bracing each other before a communion. The last thing a person would want is to fall over and hurt themselves during the communion. This was not like anything he had done before. Before his first communion with Scarlet they spread out on opposite ends of the sofa. With Relena; They laid down for a nap on bunk beds. The last communion was braced, both of them resting against each other. Physical contact was not required for a communion let alone having a communion begin with a romantic embrace. He shook his head, "This is now how I have done this before." There was a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Well this is how I want to have us perform this," Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged and leaned in to kiss her. As they kissed he could feel her reaching for the light. He reached for her light as well. Both felt anemic as the link began to form. They did their best to ignore the feeling. They kissed and continued to reach for the light until darkness occluded their consciousness.

* * *

Lone Wolfe started to come to. Her life had been much like he would have expected. This time, he felt what it was like to have a sibling. It made him long for one of his own. That would never happen now. If his father could fall in love again, unless that woman had children already, he would be out of the house before the child would even remember him. Family life with a sibling came with its own set of problems. Common things like sharing toys and one twin antagonizing another. The occasional fight which was sometimes amplified with using their powers against each other.

Ray was born a telepath while Robin was born with empathic abilities. For her family, it was common for boys to not have Empathic powers. Robin's telepathy awakened at the age of two. There was no fever from it. He thought it was strange that she would remember that so clearly but then it had only been a couple of days since they had talked about his empathic abilities awakening. Neither of them had any problems controlling their telepathy.

Their mother was normal and as Robin grew older, she could feel the fear in her mother as their abilities developed. Their father hid his lineage and powers from her until after the children were born. It was not the reason why they split up, it was simply one item in a laundry list of problems between the two parents.

Memories of her childhood continued to surface within Lone Wolfe as he started to come to. He recognized one of the many beaches they went to in California. It was a beach that Jena had visited in her childhood during a summer vacation. While they were together, the two parents did make enough money for family vacations. They would go to other parts of California or to the coast of Texas to swim in the Gulf of Mexico. They had fun times before the divorce.

He could hear her mumble as he tried to open his eyes. They were words and half phrases he used to say when he was younger. He had awakened before Scarlet before and she never mumbled like that. Her voice felt oddly close. It was closer than he thought should be. It was almost as if she was whispering into his ear. He had to wake up.

As he tried to regain consciousness he could feel cold air moving around from on top of him. It caused him to panic for a moment because he felt that at the end of his first communion with Scarlet. Below him felt unusually warm. His hand was resting on something soft, warm, and squishy. His head rested on something similar.

He opened his eyes. He was laying on Robin's chest and between her legs. His hand rested on her other fabric covered breast. The panic he felt from the cold air was lessened because of recent memories of Robin's. The house had central air. The AC would have kicked in automatically. A new panic set in as he realized he was groping Robin. To make the panic worse, she had stopped speaking in broken phrases and instead spoke coherently, "How do they feel?" She asked.

He pulled his hand away and rested it on the sofa next to her side, "Sorry about that." He squeaked.

She grabbed his hand and placed it back where it was. He glanced up at her and saw her smiling at him, "you didn't answer my question. How do they feel?"

How am I supposed to answer a question like that? Lone Wolfe thought. He glanced down at her chest then back up to her, "Like every other part of you I touched, they feel nice." At that point, he sat up.

"What time is it?" Robin questioned.

Lone Wolfe took out his phone. One of the jarring experiences with communions was all sense of time was obliterated for the point they were out. In re living another person's life the communion can feel like forever. However, it also felt like an instant. Like waking up from a dream in which someone spent multiple days in the dream but only slept a few hours.

It had been about three hours since they arrived at the house. There was still more than enough time for them to get back to the club. Robin could sense that feeling of relief in the telepathic link they shared and sat up next to him, pressing her body close to him and wrapping her legs around his waist. He checked his phone to make sure he didn't miss any calls from his father. He breathed a sigh of relief as he missed no calls. There was a text message from Curtis, however.

He opened it, "I am still waiting for that picture," The message stated.

Robin glanced up at him, "What picture is he talking about?"

"The night of our date I told him that you and I got together. Since he never met you I thought he would want a picture. It's that 'pic or it didn't happen' thing," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Sounds like you are starting to pick up my wit," Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "You also seem a bit more sedate than before."

"I didn't realize it would change us so much," Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It's like mixing colors. Say you are yellow and I am blue. I you drop some yellow into my blue paint and I drop some blue into your yellow paint and mix them, we will get two different shades of green. One bluer and one more yellow. We are still who we are, but we do change more than we realize."

"You spoke of painting a picture before," Robin stated, "Sounds like your mix allows you to explain things in a way I might."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "There are differences. I probably wouldn't say a lot of things that you say. You still probably would, though."

"Speaking of which. The picture. You didn't send him the picture I sent you Friday, did you?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. That is why he is still waiting for a picture. I figured if I would send one to him, it wouldn't be racy. You aren't dating him, he doesn't get the goods."

Robin smiled and nodded, "Good. Because if you did, that would be the last sexy picture of me you will ever get."

"I was thinking of sending him one of the both of us together," Lone Wolfe stated, "That way he can't say that I just took a picture of some random girl to up my standing."

"Well then, I guess it is time for a picture of us," Robin stated as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her face up against his neck. She smiled and breathed against his neck, making them both blush, "Let's take a picture like this. It will make him so jealous of you."

"I want him to know you, not be jealous of us," Lone Wolfe whimpered.

"You want him to believe you," Robin breathed onto his neck, "Take out your phone and take the picture."

He placed a hand on her knee, "With your legs around me and everything?"

"Make sure you get the whole thing in the shot," Robin smiled.

Lone Wolfe took out his phone and turned on the facing camera. He held out his arm far enough away to get the whole scene in a shot. He smiled and said, "You are positively beautiful and seductive." He snapped the shot of them both smiling. Her eye peering out and her smile looked positively devious, "Why are you with me?"

"Because I like you," She replied, "Do I need any other reason? Now send the picture before I knock the phone out of your hand and distract you."

Lone Wolfe nodded and sent the picture to Curtis. It didn't take long for him to get a reply from his friend, "What did he say?" She asked.

Lone Wolfe opened the message for both to see, "Wow, she is really in to you! Congrats. She is awesome. How old is she? She looks like a real woman." He wrote

"Real woman?" Robin scoffed.

"Curtis doesn't always have the best choices in words. What he means is you are voluptuous and have boobs," Lone Wolfe replied.

"He could take lessons from you," Robin spoke.

"I was actually thinking I could take lessons from him. I never had a girlfriend before," Lone Wolfe replied.

He started typing up a reply on his phone and sent it to Curtis, "She is fourteen. What else would she be? A robot?"

They got a reply right away, "You know what I mean. She is pretty. I like her eyes. Good luck buddy."

"Okay, time to put the phone away now," Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe turned off the screen and slid the phone back into his pocket. He glanced around and asked, "Do you have any friends in California that need proof of my existence or are you too afraid that they will not approve of me?"

"Who cares about approval? If you are happy, that is all that matters," Robin stated as she hugged him close.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "We should probably head back to the club before too many people start to miss us or your brother decides to find out why you are home so long."

"We still have some time before we risk getting into trouble," Robin smiled, "We are alone in an area where we can be private, I would rather we kiss and hold each other for a little bit." Lone Wolfe couldn't argue with that.

Chapter #10: Fourth of July

Greeley Colorado

July 4th, 2027-CE

Dale sat down at the sofa with dinner. Dinners had been like this in the months after his wife's death. Neither he nor his son felt the point of sitting down to the kitchen table for meals anymore. The house had been silent since the end of May. The only drama in the house was the recent arrival of Robin and the changes it brought out in his son. Some of them were good and some of them were bad. He was enjoying his summer and Dale knew Sylvia would have wanted that. He was also hard at work on his father's days off mowing the lawns of their neighbors for some extra cash. He had made a surprising amount of money, for a fourteen-year-old, doing that.

He glanced at the calendar and realized what day it was. He felt bad that the months had moved so quickly since her death. The family used to buy some fireworks in the weeks leading up to the fourth of July. They would use the accumulated stores to have their own private show in their back yard as opposed to trying to find a place to go see the fireworks show at the end of the stampede.

He glanced over to his son, sitting in the overstuffed chair, reading something online on his phone. Since the initial incident with Robin last week, he seemed to have kept to the straight and narrow for the week. He got an idea to help make up for it, "Hey Sean, you have made some money the past couple of days off. I can give you some more money and you can take Robin to the stampede. You can watch the fireworks there."

"You will let me take her there alone?" Lone Wolfe asked with a face filled with surprise.

"I never said you would be alone. Someone will be there to chaperone you, but I am pretty sure she will keep her distance unless you to start pulling some shenanigans. I will give her some money as well, so she can have some fun." Dale replied.

"I take it you are going to ask Scarlet to take us there and back?" Lone Wolfe asked.

Dale nodded, "You catch on. If she is okay with it, I will be okay with it too."

"When do we have to be back?" He questioned in response.

"Scarlet is an adult. I will leave it up to her and up to Robin's father," Dale replied, "It would be good for you all to have some fun."

"Should I ask now?" Lone Wolfe questioned as his father took out his phone.

"Let me see if Scarlet will be up to it first," Dale replied. He sent a text message to her and got one back a few minutes later agreeing to the arrangement. He glanced over to his son and said, "Scarlet agreed so go ahead and ask Robin."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He opened up a conversation he had with Robin and typed in a message, "My dad suggested that we go on a date to the stampede tonight. They launch the fireworks from close by, so we will be able to sit on the green or at the park in Island grove and see the fireworks. Scarlet will be taking us. Can you come with?"

It didn't take long for him to get a text message reply, "I will love to! Do you mind if Ray comes since we already have a chaperone for the date?"

Lone Wolfe sent a reply, "If he wants to come I don't see a problem with it. I just figured we could go out on a date."

He got a response a few minutes later, "Dad and Ray have their own fireworks they are going to be launching so Ray won't be coming. Dad is fine with me going out with you since we have someone watching over us. What time will we be going?"

Lone Wolfe glanced at his father, "What time will she pick us up?"

Dale typed in a message to Scarlet and got a response back a little while later, "She says she will pick you up at seven then head over to pick up robin."

"Between seven and seven thirty," Lone Wolfe sent.

"Sounds good," Robin replied.

"What time do you have to be home?" Lone Wolfe asked, "Just so we know how the evening goes."

He got a reply a few moments later, "Dad says it will be fine to stay out as long as you can since you will have somebody there watching us. Whenever you need to get back is our curfew."

"Sweet, see you then," Lone Wolfe replied.

* * *

Lone Wolfe waited for Scarlet on the concrete porch to his house. In his hand was two hundred dollars for Scarlet. In his wallet was the money he made from mowing lawns and more from his father. He glanced down to his phone and decided to text his friends. He had heard next to nothing from Jena since the night of his first date. He texted them both, "When are you getting back to town?"

He got a reply from Curtis instantly, "Next week."

"When you get back you should sign up with the boys and girls club. You will see Robin and I there. They go swimming a lot during the summer, so we can all go swimming just like always during the summer," Lone Wolfe sent.

"Sounds good, buddy," Curtis wrote back.

Jena responded to the first message a moment later, "We will be back at the end of next week."

Lone Wolfe smiled, "When you get back, sign up at the boys and girls club. Curtis will be there, and they go swimming every day during the summer. We can have fun like we do at the end of every summer."

"Sure," Jena responded back.

Lone Wolfe wasn't sure what caused her to be so somber from before. He knew it had something to do with Robin, but he couldn't figure out why. They had known each other all their lives. He considered her his sister and he was pretty sure that she did as well.

He had no time to think about it as Scarlet pulled up in her green sedan. She rolled down the window and waved, "Need a ride?" She asked with a smile on her face.

Lone Wolfe nodded and walked toward the car and opened it. He sat down in the passenger seat and handed the red headed woman the money in his hand, "This is for you, from dad."

She glanced down at the money, "I wasn't expecting this. I have money to pay my own way in."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It's so you can have fun at the carnival tonight and not just act as babysitter."

She put the car in gear and pulled out of the driveway, "I don't consider it babysitting. Mainly it is just looking out for the best interests of a friend of mine." She glanced over with a smile. Still, she accepted the money and stuffed it into her pants pocket, "Tell your father thank you for me."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I will. I think he feels guilty that he always had to call on you to watch me whenever he couldn't, and someone needed to look after me."

"I could have said no," Scarlet mentioned, "As it was, you needed training to control your abilities and I was happy to help you out with that."

Lone Wolfe glanced ahead towards the road, ready to give turns should she need them. As it was, he was pretty sure that his father gave her the address and she memorized the route before heading out. He did have another question on his mind, "So how will this work out tonight with us and Robin?"

"I was figuring that I would give you two some space, I will probably keep a look out for you telepathically. If you try to sneak away into a private area then I will probably have to follow you," Scarlet mentioned. She took a turn to go down the street that led to Robin's house, "I'm just making sure that you two don't start any monkey business. Aside from that, I am staying out of the way."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "What would you consider monkey business?"

"Well," Scarlet stated, and her mouth shut in thought, "I guess kissing would be okay. Holding each other is fine too. If the clothes start flying off or the hands start disappearing below the clothes of the other person then I will have to put a stop to that."

"How late can we stay out?" He asked.

"I don't care. I have pulled more than a few all-nighter's so probably until places close and we have to leave anyway," Scarlet stated, "That is unless you two get too randy for your own good so keep it PG-13 tonight."

"Don't parents usually say 'keep it PG?' So why change it?" Lone Wolfe questioned.

"You're right. Parents say keep it PG. I'm not a parent, I'm a friend," Scarlet smiled.

She stopped in the driveway at Robin's house. Lone Wolfe got out of the car and briskly walked up to the porch. He knocked on the door. Robin opened the door and jumped into his arms instantly. Lone Wolfe laughed and twirled her around. He managed to catch the door with his hand and close it as he did. He placed her on the ground and received a kiss in return.

They walked to the car and climbed into the back seat. Lone Wolfe glanced up at Scarlet and asked, "Is it okay that I am back here?"

"You never asked your father that," Robin commented.

"It's fine. I expected that," Scarlet stated with a smile. She glanced back at them, "I am Scarlet. Lone Wolfe's friend. You must be Robin. Pleased to meet you."

Robin nodded and returned the smiled but Lone Wolfe could tell it was far more cordial than jovial. Robin cleared her throat and asked, "You look far too young to be an adult forever. How old are you?"

"You are blunt," Scarlet commented, "I am twenty-one. I was fourteen when I first met Lone Wolfe and trained him to control his telepathy. If Jena is his twin, then you could say I am an older sister."

"Is that why you are our warden for the night?" Robin stated flatly.

"Warden!" Scarlet hissed in response, "I understand this is a date and am going to give you pretty much free latitude for the night. You should be a little more respectful."

Lone Wolfe glanced down at the floor board, "I'm sorry scarlet. I was thinking that this would go better." He glanced at Robin, "She was going to let us roam the place freely, without much interference. She is a friend, not a parent or a warden, as you stated."

Robin glanced down and paled, "I'm sorry. I guess I got a bit jealous. It seems that you two have so much history and we have just met. I just feel threatened, I guess."

Scarlet smiled, "Apology accepted and no hard feelings. I am happy for you two. You are a lovely young lady and I don't think I have seen Lone Wolfe so happy before."

Robin smiled, "Really?"

"He's had a hard life and you seem to be a beacon of light in that darkness for him. You've lifted his spirits in such a short time," Scarlet mentioned.

Robin smiled, "It is really good to hear that."

Scarlet found a pay parking lot close to the stampede grounds in Island Grove park. The parking was expensive but considering she had a large sum of money she did not expect to have, she figured she could afford it tonight. They climbed out of the car and got in line for the entrance to the park and midway. It was crowded tonight. It wasn't surprising the Lone Wolfe and Scarlet considering the stampede usually ends after the fourth of July. It was easy to see the fireworks from the park and a lot of concerts played at the stadium right before the fireworks show.

Robin didn't mind how crowded the place became and it seemed that Scarlet was comfortable with it either. The crowd did make Lone Wolfe nervous, however. Usually, his parents tried to avoid the stampede during the fourth because of how crowded it became. He hoped there would be a sport somewhere inside of the park grounds that would not be so crowded once he was inside. Finding that place and hanging out there for a little bit would give him some time to acclimate to the amount of people he could see and feel.

Robin seemed to pick up on his emotions. She squeezed his hands and glanced at him, "What's wrong?" She questioned after a moment.

"I am not used to the amount of people here," Lone Wolfe replied, "There are so many people here. I can hear and feel them all. It is a bit disturbing." He glanced into her dark amber eyes, "How do you cope?"

"Well, being in city much larger than this helps," Robin answered after a moment, "As far as for the look of the place, I just imagine them as one large wall of moving bio matter forming a maze. Makes life a little easier to navigate that way."

"Colorful," Scarlet mentioned.

He glanced over to his mentor and friend, "How do you deal with it?"

"Considering that I hear all of them to begin with, no matter where I am, it is all just dealing with the physical environment. Being at a university; every day can be like this at a point," Scarlet answered.

"Good point," Lone Wolfe nodded as they got to the ticket counter.

Lone Wolfe paid for his and Robin's ticket. Scarlet paid for her ticket at the counter across from them. They had their arm bands placed on and headed into the park. Scarlet waved to them as they were through and they parted ways. When Scarlet was out of ear shot, Robin turned to Lone Wolfe and said, "You never said that she was only seven years older than you."

"To a seven-year-old, that is still an adult," Lone Wolfe replied, "Besides, she wouldn't do anything with me. She baby sat me as a kid and taught me how to use my powers. She wasn't anyone special." Lone Wolfe stated.

"Well, things can change," Robin stated, "She may decide that she likes you in a different way."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't think so. She is the one that taught me how to communion and she didn't prefer physical contact for the process like you did. I think she might be seeing someone in college, actually."

He wondered what was causing her to be so jealous. That was not the first time she showed those hostile feelings towards a female friend of his. He was surprised that she lashed out at Scarlet. He was even more surprised that she was still upset with Scarlet even though Scarlet had kept her word and disappeared onto the midway to leave them alone. He had to ask, at least it would point it out, "Why are you so jealous of her?"

Robin blanched at the question, "Well... It's like I said in the car, there is history between the two of you."

"She already said she wouldn't stand in the way of us because you have made me happier than she has seen me," Lone Wolfe stated, "She keeps her word."

"It still bothers me," Robin stated, "It's like you will slip away at a moment's notice."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I give you my word that it won't happen."

Robin sighed but nodded, "I don't see any other way that it would work."

"Really?" Lone Wolfe glowered, "We are telepaths and are linked. You can read my mind. You are an empath. You can sense my intentions. You have many ways of proving me right or wrong. Why not use them?"

"Because I trust you," Robin stated in response.

"I trust you to but," He sighed and shook his head, "Never mind. Can we drop this and have a good time?"

Robin nodded and hooked her arm around his, "Yes! Let's go get something to eat."

"Fried and sugary?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Maybe sugary later," She stated in response, "Definitely fried. Something like fried chicken or fish and chips."

"That does sound good," Lone Wolfe nodded as they headed towards the food vendors.

They quickly found a line that had fried fish and potato wedges for sale and got in line. As the smell of fried fish and veggies wafted through the air, a smile grew on Robin's face, "I wonder if there are any food vendors that carry two items here." She stated.

"Depends," Lone Wolfe shrugged as they waited in line, "What are those products?"

"Fried okra and fried ice cream," Robin replied.

"I thought we were doing sugary food after our meal?" Lone Wolfe asked in response, "And what the heck is fried okra?"

"We are doing sugary after our meal," She replied, "I just wanted to know what kind. As far as the other food. Okra is a vegetable. People usually cut it up and bread it then fries it. It is the best that way."

"I'm not sure on fried ice cream," Lone Wolfe stated. He looked around but didn't see any vendors serving up any fried vegetables other than potatoes, "And I don't see anything other than fries."

"Okay," She stated as they came up to the stand. They ordered their baskets of fish and fries and a soda and sat down at one of the free tables. It was getting dark enough by the time they got down that music could be heard from the stadium close by, "Who needs a ticket when you could live within a mile of this place and just sit out and listen to the band playing?"

"I guess people like watching the bands perform?" Lone Wolfe suggested.

"Yes, performance from the nose bleed section. That way you can guess what the expressions on the faces of the band members. Also, aren't most of these people country western music bands? There is only so many ways you can dress people in chaps, a ten-gallon hat, huge signal mirror belt buckle, and stupid useless chaps!"

"They don't always have country bands playing," Lone Wolfe replied.

"No, they have rodeos and tractor pulls in there as well," Robin nodded, "All very boring stuff."

"They also usually have some sort of demolition derby and they sometimes have rock, punk, and metal bands play," Lone Wolfe replied, "It all depends on the year and who they can get into the venue."

Her face lit up at the mention of that, "So you mean there could be a year where they have stuff in there that I would actually want to see?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "It all depends. I know they had some metal bands in there last year. I was interested in going to see them, but we didn't have the money for it at that time."

Robin nodded and swallowed a bite of her fish, "Being poor sucks."

"Your parents have been divorced long enough for you to experience that, I'm sorry," Lone Wolfe nodded in response, "From what I have seen from my other friends, it is cooler to go on vacations a lot and see new areas."

"I bet you have your own ways of fun," She mentioned, "I never liked the idea of camping, but you seem to go camping a lot."

Lone Wolfe shrugged as he ate a potato wedge, "It gets us out of the house." He glanced at her as he dipped it in some ketchup, "What about camping don't you like?"

"No bathrooms," She replied.

"Well, you don't have to go out into the middle of nowhere to camp. There are plenty of free and cheap camp grounds that have rest rooms you can use. You can also take those items with you if you need. We have a chemical toilet for my mother because we were planning on going out to a place up near Red Feather that didn't have any bathroom facilities." Lone Wolfe replied.

"I didn't know that," She replied, "Usually my father and brother go camping in a place so remote that there's nothing there. If I go they tell me to go dig my own latrine."

"I'm sorry," Lone Wolfe replied, "They may not have known that anything else existed."

Robin nodded, "That's true. They may not have known."

Lone Wolfe went for a piece of fish next then asked, "Is there anything else about camping that you don't like?"

"Well, there is no way to shower while you are out there, and I hate how I smell after a while," She replied.

"So, your lovely scent is perfume?" He questioned.

He didn't expect a blush as a reply, "I don't wear perfume."

"Don't be embarrassed, you smell nice," he stated, "As far as the shower thing is concerned. If you don't mind not showering, you can take some baby wipes with you and use a couple to wash yourself while you are out there. It will keep you clean enough while you are out. You will have to wear the same clothes while you are camping so it defeats the purpose."

"You are full of good ideas they don't think about. Usually when they come back from camping they smell like death!" She mentioned as she ate.

"My father came up with a lot of them. Some quaint ideas for camping. He was in the service so when mom started complaining of how we smelled when we went camping and of other things he decided to come up with solutions that helped. He also found a propane space heater that we use while we are in the mountains," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Propane space heater?" She questioned.

"If you go up to Red Feather, even in the summer, it gets cold at night. Like close to freezing cold. While we have warm sleeping bags, we would wake up in the middle of the night shivering. He bought us a heater and a sensor for the tent to keep us warm and to keep us from succumbing to carbon dioxide poisoning. You really do need some sort of heat to keep you warm up there," He mentioned.

"I never thought about that. They were planning on going up in the middle of winter because some of the parks in California are different like that. They get the cold weather experience during the winter and early spring, but it is fine in the middle of summer depending on where you go," Robin replied.

"They may want to think twice about doing that. The mountains here get a lot of snow in the winter and spring. We usually don't think of going until something in late May or early June when the chances of snow are minimal. Some of the roads and parks are closed in the winter due to heavy snow fall. You will want to tell them that," Lone Wolfe advised.

"I will," She replied. She sounded kind of let down by the comment. She glanced up at him and asked, "Do you think it will be okay in late March? During spring break?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "It depends on where they go. They should check around before going." He cocked his head in confusion, "Are you thinking of going with them?"

She shook her head, "I would rather stay here with you but that doesn't mean that my dad and brother have to stay home."

He noticed a smirk form on her face as she said that, "What are you planning?" He asked.

"You'll see," Robin smirked.

* * *

Lone Wolfe had not given away Scarlet's unique telepathic abilities to Robin yet. She didn't need to be anywhere near them to feel what was going on between them. As the night went on, she played various games on the midway and stopped at the shops along the sides of it. She gave them enough space to be teenagers on a date. At the same time, she crawled at the fringes of their mind.

Had someone listened in on all her sessions teaching Lone Wolfe how to control his abilities, they might think that she was going back on her teachings to him. They would be wrong. Both were telepaths and capable of defending themselves. Moreover, she was not penetrating their minds for information. She didn't have to. They practically broadcast their feelings to each other even though they had a link between them.

As the night wore on and they finished their meals they started to go down the midway, playing some of the games and chasing each other as if they had no other care in the world. It made the somber telepath watching over them smile, "Glad to see that despite the rough start, you are having a normal childhood, Lone Wolfe." She stated.

* * *

Lone Wolfe ran away from the midway into the darkness by the exhibition buildings nearby with a smile on his face. Behind him was Robin, giggling as she chased him, "I'm coming to get you!" She squealed. She chased him further into the darkness, "I'm gaining on you! You better run faster, or you will have to deal with the tickle monster!"

"It will be disappointed," Lone Wolfe chuckled, "All it will find is a barren waste land!"

They were far enough away from other people now. He stopped and she caught up to him. She jabbed her fingers into his sides and ribs expecting a giggle and laughs as well as twitching and shying away but he didn't move. She went for the back of his knees, the front of them and his arm pits but he didn't make a sound, she crossed her arms and huffed, "No fair! How come you're not ticklish?"

"My parents broke the ticklish reflex," Lone Wolfe replied, "When I was a baby. They tickled me often until one day I didn't react anymore. Mom felt compelled to do it. It runs in that side of the family."

The answer seemed funny to her, "Did she tell you that?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I remember it. Another trait from that side of the family. Many of us remember being babies."

"That's where all of your psychic abilities come from?" She asked, "how about your father?"

"He is a telepath and a psychokinetic," Lone Wolfe replied, "I don't know if I will inherit that last ability. Considering what happened with my empathy, probably not." His lips twisted into a smile, "it's getting too serious. My turn!"

"Oh no!" She shook her head, but her face was still smiling. She started to back up and laugh. She screamed and giggled when he jabbed at her sides and ribs. She knocked him to the ground and jumped on top of him. He continued to tickle her as she straddled him, "How is this a fair fight if I can't tickle you!" She leaned in and kissed him. The tickling stopped soon after.

The light in the sky followed by the popping sound of a firework was what broke them up. Robin glanced at the sky and Lone Wolfe said, "This is the perfect spot to lay on the grass and watch the fireworks." Lone Wolfe laid on the grass and Robin laid on his chest and watched the fireworks.

* * *

After the fireworks show, the three of them stayed at the carnival until midnight when the stampede started to shut down. After that, Scarlet searched for an all-night diner for the three of them to have dinner at. They ended up in Fort Collins to find the dinner. On the way home, the two teenagers fell asleep in the backseat. When Scarlet pulled up to Robin's house, she glanced back and saw them both asleep, Robin laying against Lone Wolfe. Smiles were on both of their faces despite the fact they were both asleep.

Scarlet couldn't resist the scene. She turned on the dome light and took out her phone. She snapped a picture quickly and sent a copy of it to Lone Wolfe, "So you have a good memory not of your own to hold onto," She said.

Chapter #11: Re Assembling Life

Greeley Colorado

July 8th, 2027-CE

It had been a hard summer for Angela but finally she had received her answer from the department of human services. She would not be removed from her home, but she would have to complete her final year of high school. She would turn eighteen soon enough. With that matter settled, she now had to get affairs straight. DHS did help her with her grandmother's final arrangements, but other things needed to be handled like transferring everything into her name and the legal matters regarding that.

Her most important concern had nothing to do with the legality of anything facing her now. It had to do with the autopsy report she received from the coroner's office which cleared her of any suspicion. The coroner reported that even if her grandmother was in the hospital when it happened, the aneurism would have killed her instantly. It was something she had seen before.

Her mother had died of an aneurism nearly seven years ago. Now her grandmother had died of the same thing. She was wondering if the same ticking time bomb was in her head. She wondered how many generations of her family had died because of the same thing. She wondered if she would pass this time bomb along to any children down the line.

She smiled, she considered herself fortunate that she didn't have to worry about passing it along to any children. She didn't feel any attraction to men, so she wouldn't be having any biological children any time soon. The others worried her. Her mother died early in life, but her grandmother lived into her seventies. It made her not want to be attached to anyone because her life could be snuffed out at any point.

DHS had helped her procure a writ of Emancipation which allowed her to sign documents and contacts as if she was already eighteen. She was to show the legally binding and sealed document whenever her status was called into question. At least until she was eighteen. She was also supposed to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and change her driver's license into a provisional adult license which would make it easier for her since she was now emancipated.

She had waited in line the previous day and handed them the writ to get her new driver's license. They stamped out her old license and gave her a paper slip with the new information and advised her hat the new card would be on its way to her address. She would have to wait for the permanent ID to come. Until then, she grabbed a copy of the will and a pen and paper to figure out what she would need to do next.

The shop was leased to her grandmother. He finances were all in her name as well. Passwords for it were included in the will that allowed her to see the payment history on the payment program she used. She had no problems keeping he payments up on the place and making orders when needed. She would need to call the property management company today and get that changed into her name. That no doubt meant emailing another copy of her writ to them as proof she can sign the contract.

She logged into the account of her house next. The house had been transferred into her name finally. She had to fax the information into the city to change the name on the deed. It seemed ridiculous to her that the city was the one that gave her the writ, but they needed to have a copy of it faxed in when she called in to have the house changed. She understood the phone company needing the change, the trash company, gas, electrical, and internet company all needing that change. It was almost as silly as the city run water and sewer company all needing that writ.

Looking at the business, she began to wonder how she would end up running the business while she was in school. Her grandmother never officially had enough money to hire help. Neither the grandmother nor Angela ever were officially on payroll. They used the money after expenses and upkeep to support themselves. It worked out in the end, they got what they needed and some of what they wanted. The store did not have enough to income to support any to them having an official payroll. If they did, she could hire someone to run the store while she was in school.

That was the problem. The store was commonly open while she was in school. It was open later and that was when she helped, but usually the money was made during the time she was learning. After her last year of high school, she was going to go to college and get a business degree. After that, she would take over the business and try to make it profitable enough to have a couple of workers on a payroll. That would also allow her grandmother to retire.

To find out how she would accomplish all of this, she would need to have access to the accounts. She packed up the writ, the copy of the will, and her contact information to DHS, into her purse and grabbed her keys on the way out the door. Her silver eyes didn't take as long to adjust as they used to. It was at that point that she realized she had been neglecting her Nwyfre cleansing and it was starting to affect her. She made a note that she would have to get back into the habit of it before the end of the summer.

She hopped into her car and glanced over to the other car across from her. It occurred to her that she had not yet transferred ownership of that vehicle into her name as well. She didn't know what she would do with two cars. She didn't know if she should sell one or both and get something different and more to her tastes. The one she drove now was a bit worn and well loved.

She wanted to go camping more and thought about selling both cars and just going with the third vehicle, he SUV that towed the trailer. She would have to see how old all of them were and I they would hold up over time. Her grandmother never used to drive the SUV very much. There could be a reason behind it or it could be because it was new, and she was trying to baby it too keep the wear down. In either case, Angela had bought the car she used outright from money she earned and made sure that the car never broke down. She knew her grandmother had the other car long enough to pay off the loan.

She took her car and drove across town to the bank. In the middle of the day it took a considerable amount of time. From there she went over to one of the accountant's office and advised that she had important business to discuss. The accountant advised that she would be with her shortly. She waited there for a couple of hours before she was seen.

The accountant ushered Angela into her office. She sat down across from the accountant, "What can I help you with?' She asked.

"My grandmother recently passed away. She has had autopay set up on the accounts and that is fine, but I need to transfer the accounts into my name," She replied.

"Do you have any documentation?" She questioned.

Angela nodded. Since the death, she had kept a copy of the death certificate with her. She didn't know when she would need it but it seemed that she needed it every time she had to transfer an account over. She handed it over to the accountant. At that point, the accountant feigned a look of remorse, "Sorry for your loss and sorry for the frank manner I took earlier. We have seen frauds start this way, so we usually need to get some proof before we start the process."

Angela nodded, "I understand. You are far from the first person that has told me that."

The accountant nodded, "Do you mind if I make a copy of this for our files?"

Angela shook her head, "go for it."

The accountant stepped out. While the accountant was out, Angela grabbed her notebook that had the accounts on it and the other documents she brought with her. She needed to get them ready to continue the process. She was glad she didn't have to close any accounts. She wondered how long the process would take if she had to.

The accountant returned a few minutes later and handed her the original she provided. Angela accepted it, folded it back up and placed it back in her purse. She glanced to the accountant and asked, "I have a temporary ID and a writ of Emancipation. Will that be okay to transfer the accounts into my name?"

"A writ of emancipation; are you not the executor of the estate?" The accountant questioned in response.

"No, I am. I am seventeen for a couple of weeks still," Angela answered, "They rushed my emancipation paperwork through because I need to take care of all this stuff. It was either that or everything gets wrapped up in probate until I come of age. I have no other relatives so everything including me would get lost in the system for no real reason."

"I see. Do you have a copy of the will with you?" She asked.

Angela nodded, "yes but I believe she filed it with an affiliate with you here and the original is in a safe deposit box here. You would probably have access to it. I do not."

"Do you have her key?" The accountant questioned.

Angela shook her head, "I don't. I looked all over and cleared out her room, but I never found that key. Is everything in it lost?"

The accountant shook her head, "I don't think so, but it may take some time to get the box opened. I can get the account transferred over today with the copy of the will you have. But you will have to wait for the box to be unlocked."

Angela nodded. She handed her temporary ID, the writ, and the will over the accountant. She disappeared again to make copies. While she was there she tried to remember of any other hiding place in the house where a safe deposit box key could be. She wasn't even sure if the key would look normal or if it would look different somehow. It could be anywhere. She didn't want to go through the rest of the house by herself. It was hard enough for her to go through the room from head to toe and clear it out.

The accountant came back in and handed her the papers. Angela took the papers and carefully folded them before placing them back into her purse. The accountant typed away on her computer for a few moments as she transferred the important data into Angela's name. Not much was said during that time. Not much needed to be said either. She printed off a document and handed it to Angela, "Here is the information on the account. Look it over and make sure that everything still looks correct. If you will excuse me, I will be right back. I am going to check on the safe deposit box issue."

Angela nodded and glanced back to the sheet as the door closed behind her. There were several accounts on the sheet which reflected the change from her grandmother's name to her name. The personal checking account had a modest sum in it, not too much but slightly more than she was expecting. There was a savings account she knew nothing about that had vast amounts of money in it which did surprise her. She could live off that for a long time if she had to. There was one account that had a comment of "Education" on it. She did know about that one, but it had more than she was expecting. That was the account for her college tuition.

The business accounts were pretty much what she expected. Her grandmother divided them into a receiving account for deposits at the end of the day and from credit card and online transactions. A second account was for purchases and that account had all sorts of fraud protections including a credit card number generator on it so each time she made a purchase to a new place it would make a different number. There was an account to handle the monthly charges which included rent and utilities on the space they rented, a payroll account and tax account. There was an overflow expense account as well. If everything balanced out, then the expense account would get whatever was left from the other accounts after the daily deposits filtered through.

That had not been happening as planned recently. That was due to the shop being closed. No orders and no online activity meant that there was no cash flow. She would have to deal with what she would do during the school season later. Right now, she would have to open the store as soon as she got done with the bank. She would have to work the business out of the hole it had been in. She just needed to wait for the accountant to return.

She returned a few moments later with another worker in tow, "We have found someone who can get you into your safe deposit box. Do you want to get into it now?"

Angela nodded, "If it will not take too long."

She rose and followed the accountant and the other man back toward a large safe door. From the hinges she shuddered to think what the large door would do to someone if the door came free of the wall. She also marveled at how easy it was for the man to open the door. It was well balanced if he was able to pull it open with little more force than it would take to open a regular solid core door. Beyond that door was another door that looked like it should belong in a jail cell if it wasn't made of bronze. He opened that door and ushered Angela in. At that point the accountant stopped following them.

The man led the raven-haired silver eyed young woman into another room. In that room was a table and the walls were lined with various sized locked small doors which looked like post office boxes except they had two locks on them instead of one. The man searched the doors for a number that matched one on a piece of paper that he pulled out of his pocket. When he found it, he pulled out two sets of key chains. One of the key chains contained a few keys and one contained many. He picked a key from the one with less keys and slid it home into the box. He took the other key chain and searched the keys until he found one that matched a number scribbled down on the pad and slid it into the right lock. He turned both keys and opened the door.

Inside of the small door was a small looking metal box with a handle on the front. He grasped the handle and pulled out the box. He took the long box and placed it on the table. He retrieved the keys then headed towards the front of the safe, "Let me know when you are done."

"Wait, I am not sure if I will keep the box. I may just empty it out and close that account," She replied.

"If you do, let us know and we will close it out afterward. In either event, policy prohibits us from being back here while you go through the contents of the box," The man replied, "Let me know when you are done."

The man left without another word. She turned her attention to the box and opened the lid. On the top of the box were several folded documents. She opened the top document. It was the last will and testament of her grandmother. It was an updated version showing Angela as the sole beneficiary of her estate upon her death. The date at the top, just like the copy at the house, showed that it was made just after her mother's death. She placed that in her purse and headed for the next document.

The next document was the will that her mother made which showed her giving everything she owned to her grandmother as caretaker for Angela until Angela came of age. It was executed just after Angela was born. Angela filed that one away. There was an older will below that made by her grandmother showing everything going to Angela's mother. It was overridden by the latest will that Angela already had. Below that were the titles to the vehicles in the house, the travel trailer, and the deed to the house.

She placed all those documents in the purse. Below those documents were pictures of various family members including those of Angela and her mother when they were younger. She always knew her grandmother with gray hair, but she didn't know that she used to have black hair just like the rest of them. It was only Angela and her mother that had the silver eyes in the family. There were other family members in other pictures that she didn't know about. She would have to find them later, or at least find out who they were.

She delicately placed the photos in her purse which was starting to fill up. She noticed that there were still items in the box. A large sum of cash and a USB thumb drive. She took the drive and placed it in the purse. She was going to up end the box to shift everything to the front, but it was a lot heavier than she expected. There was something else in there amongst the money.

She took out the money and started counting it. Her face paled. There were twenty ten-thousand-dollar stacks of bills. Behind those were twenty twenty-dollar gold certificate bills. Behind those were some objects in plastic cases. She fished those out and her heart almost stopped. She counted fifteen one-ounce ingots of gold and forty one-ounce ingots of silver. There was no way she was going to walk around with all of that in her purse. She didn't even want all of that in her house.

She took the cash, gold certificates, and ingots, and slid them back into the box. She took the box and slid it back into its home. She took out her paper and took down the box and then called out, "Okay, I am done, and I am keeping the box."

* * *

Angela did not head home but went to the store instead. She took down the hand-written note that she wrote after her grandmother's death saying that the store would be closed due to a death in the family. She checked the online portal once she logged in and saw that the stock on the well-known platforms had been depleted and the sites were requesting additional inventory. She packed up the needed items into several boxes and printed out labels to send to them. She called the post office and let them know that they will need to pick up several boxes tomorrow.

With that done, she took inventory and then sat down at her computer. That was when she realized that she had the jump drive with her. She fished it out of her purse and plugged it into the computer. A moment later the computer recognized the drive and opened it up. She glanced at the contents and noticed a folder and a video file. The name of the video file drew her in. It read "Little Annie please watch this first."

"Grandma hasn't called me that since before Mom died. How old is this video?" She asked as she clicked on it.

The media player opened after a few moments. Depending on when the file was made, she was surprised that the file could still open it. The woman appeared, and the background looked like it was the back room of the shop. The video looked like it was shot not too long ago, maybe seven years if that. The old woman smiled at the camera, "Angela, by now I must be dead, and you have been going through my things. I hope you are old enough that you didn't have to go through this process alone. If you found this drive, then you also have found the safe deposit box and the money stashed away inside. You must have questions considering how you were raised by both your mother and I."

She felt like her grandmother was in the room with her and found that she was nodding. Knowing the contents of the accounts and the lock box, she knew that they had almost two million dollars in funds plus whatever was invested in the shop. Her grandmother continued, "All your life, you have grown up believing that you are the third generation to live in this house, that is not quite true. You are actually the fifth generation."

Angela cocked her head in response. If her grandmother was correct, that would have meant that the family has owned the house since it was built, "My grandmother owned the house and raised my mother in it."

"My mother bought a house and raised me in it until I graduated from high school. My grandmother had an aneurism at that point and I inherited the house I live in now. Soon after I moved in I had my daughter and my mother died. I sold that house and put the money into savings. We already had a little bit saved up, but we tried to make it a little better by putting a little more away," Her grandmother explained.

"Now make no mistake, the shop has never been my shop. It was your mother's idea and ran by your mother until she died. It was part of her property that I managed for you until you became of age. At that point you could choose to take it over or sell it off or whatever. That is why I had you take an active part in the business as a kid. I wanted you to learn how it was run in case you wanted to take it over. We set aside some money to have you go to college and get a business degree, so you could run it better than we did."

"Don't feel like you have to keep the business because it is the family business and a tradition. It is something that was supposed to be yours from the start. Something that your mother wanted you to have after she died. If you don't want to continue the shop, then you can sell it or liquidate it. You can live off the money for a while, you can go to college and get a degree in something you want to do. Do something you want to do with your life. Don't feel like you are tied down to anything," Her grandmother stated.

Angela glanced around as her grandmother spoke. She never imagined anything other than running the store. She didn't know if she wanted to do anything else. She liked the idea of having a business to run someday and of having roots in the community. She also liked the idea of having a degree and being able to make the business grow, to have other workers there so she wouldn't have to man the shop all the time.

"One more thing you should know before you erase everything off of this drive," Her grandmother spoke, "You must be wondering if you have any other family. Your mother was an only child and you were an only child as well. I never knew your father that well, so I cannot speak about his family that well, but I did have a sister and I did have aunts and uncles growing up. I have included the information I had on them at the time. As you can imagine, I am estranged from them, so they will not know you. I don't even know if they are alive. I am including it anyway in case you are curious. I love you and I wish everything could have been made available to you under better circumstances. Good luck."

Angela shut down the video and glanced at the empty screen for a moment. She never put much thought into the family that she had beyond her mother and grandmother. She had assumed that it was a long line of single mothers with one daughter and absent fathers. Now, it seems like there was a family for her to find.

It was easy for her to guess why she was estranged from her family. The grandmother was a pagan. If her memory serves, she was the first open pagan in the family, the great grandmother was a pagan but pretended to be a Christian. It wouldn't surprise Angela that the family broke up after her great grandmother died and gave everything to her grandma. That probably would have angered the well behaved Christian members of the family enough to shut her out from any further family gatherings.

Part of Angela didn't want to know if there were any other family members still around. She didn't want to know if any other members of her family were dying of aneurisms or not. She knew of at least four members in her direct line who were so far. That, alone, scared her enough to shut herself in for a week.

Her time to think about that was interrupted when three people walked in the door. Angela shut the laptop and glanced up. She was a red headed woman with green eyes leading a brown-haired boy with gold eyes wearing a familiar pendant and a brown haired girl with dark amber eyes. All of them seemed to be curious as to what the store had to offer. The boy seemed familiar to Angela. She had seen his picture before and he'd looked like he could be related to Sylvia.

She took out her phone and kept it below the cash register. When she finally got a response from Sylvia's phone the day she found out about her death, her husband told her that he was going to give Sylvia's phone to his son. She dialed he number and heard it ring in his pocket. She hung up the phone quickly, before he could take it out or answer it. That's the boy but who are the girls he's with? She asked herself, they are kind of cute. The one with eyes darker than his is too young for me but the red head... She shook her head to clear it. They were customers right now.

"Good afternoon," She commented, "Anything I may help you with?" She greeted to the three new comers.

Now that she thought about it, she remembered seeing the young girl in the store before. She was in there with her brother and their father a few months ago. They came in, looked around, bought some candles and left. She wondered what would have brought them in and what would have brought them together.

The one that had been in the shop before glanced towards her with a curt smile on her face, "Where is the old lady? I thought she would have been here?"

Angela noticed that the boy started to feel as sick as she felt when she was forced to think about it. She glanced down at the thumb drive still plugged into the laptop before glancing back to the girl who answered, "My grandmother died back near the end of May. The store has been closed until today."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Lone Wolfe replied, "I lost my mother at around the same time. I empathize with you."

Angela nodded, and she felt like she couldn't be silent anymore, "You are Sylvia's son, aren't you?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "She used to come in here all the time. She must have been spending time with you and your grandmother. Sorry that we couldn't invite you to the funeral."

"Actually, your father did invite me to the funeral, but I was pre-occupied with other things at that point. Chief of which was emancipation. It seems useless now because I am turning eighteen next week." An idea lit up her face, "Hey, would you three like to come over to my house for a party? I can close the store that night and we can hang out there."

Lone Wolfe noticed that her eyes drifted over to Scarlet as she made the mention. He also realized that Robin was doing her best to remain silent, but she was glaring at the black-haired woman with silver eyes and crossed her arms defiantly. Lone Wolfe did his best to ignore it, "Sounds good but I I have a few questions first. What's your name?"

The raven-haired girl nodded but she couldn't take her eyes off Scarlet, "My name is Angela. What is your name, sweetie?"

Robin growled in response. Before she could open her mouth to say anything Lone Wolfe projected over the link, "Calm down. She's not talking to me. She's all lovey dovey over Scarlet. You are an empath. Open a little bit and you can feel it. When she invited us, she really meant her."

Robin didn't react outwardly, but he could feel her reaction over the link, "Why doesn't she just invite Scarlet over then? We would be just extra people over?"

Lone Wolfe watched as Scarlet introduced all of them, "I am Scarlet. This is Lone Wolfe and his girlfriend, Robin."

He could feel Robin's feelings for Scarlet soften a bit at that comment. Scarlet had managed to win some brownie points by introducing her as his girlfriend to Angela. It also meant that Scarlet was telepathically picking up Robin's ire, misdirected as it was, "Because Angela knows if she invites just Scarlet then Scarlet will refuse."

"How does she know that?" Robin questioned.

"She is like me," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You are saying she is a psychic?" Robin questioned in response.

"More than that, she is clairvoyant," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You don't know how to make a girl not feel jealous," Robin replied.

"You also don't remember what I said about my family and clairvoyants. I haven't run into clairvoyants outside of my family and my mother spent a lot of time with them. If I remember correctly, she went to some funeral seven years back which must have been her mother's funeral. She could be a distant cousin. She could be family. It's enough that I would consider her that if nothing else," Lone Wolfe explained.

"You're weird," She replied

"You have never been an only child. It can be lonely," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Would the three of you like to join me next week for a party on my birthday?" She asked, "I have a travel trailer with a generator. Lone Wolfe can stay in the trailer when he gets tired and I have a spare room for Robin to stay in. I will make sure it is furnished by then."

Robin drifted over to Lone Wolfe, "Tell me why I should agree to this?"

Lone Wolfe smirked, "They will be so smitten by each other that we will be able to sneak out and have some alone time."

"To do what?" Robin questioned, surprised by his sudden boldness.

"Companionship," Lone Wolfe replied.

The mystery behind the meaning of the word he chose for his answer was enough for her to agree. Scarlet glanced back at the two of them and asked, "Do you want to go?"

Lone Wolfe nodded and glanced to Robin. She shrugged and nodded, "Sure." She said finally.

Scarlet turned back to Angela and nodded, "I will talk to their parents and make sure it is okay."

"It will be a hard sell for Lone Wolfe's dad," Robin mentioned.

"Actually, in this case I think it will be a harder sell for your parent," Angela commented, "Lone Wolfe's dad said I could call him. I have his number on my phone. It used to be his mother's. I just forgot about it until now."

That was all it took for the jealousy to return, "Is that so?"

Lone Wolfe raised his arms in defense, "I never knew about this. I never went through my phone book!"

Robin was about to make a comment then she realized that she had went through it the other day and found number that he knew nothing about. It was probably the truth that he still had no idea what all was in his book. She would have to make sure that he went through it at some point and removed the numbers he didn't need. However, she grew tired of that conversation.

Her eyes were drawn to the selection of pendants behind a glass case. She glanced at them and saw the same pendants she spotted on her first trip into the store several months back. When she got a close look at the pendants and glanced back to the one Lone Wolfe wore around his neck she noticed that the quality of the one he wore looked a little better compared to the ones in the case, "Did you change manufacturers or something?" She questioned, "These pendants seem different than the one Lone Wolfe has."

"The one Lone Wolfe has is probably the one his mother had," Angela answered, "That one was a custom made one, if I remember the story right. It has a maker's mark on it. If you look at the ones in the case, they are mass produced ones. They are still silver, but they are not of the same quality of the one that he has. The one he has is probably worth a couple hundred dollars. These are only worth slightly more than the cost of the silver put into them." Angela answered.

"So, you did not make his?" Robin questioned in response.

Angela shook her head, "That was made before I was born."

Scarlet glanced at the necklace and pendant, "I wonder why it was made?"

"Your father had it made for her," Angela mentioned, "That is all I know about it."

"Maybe some kind of wedding present?" Robin suggested.

"Then why wouldn't he keep it for himself?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

"Maybe it would have been too painful of a reminder," Angela mentioned, "I had to put some of my grandmother's things in the storage shed because they were too painful of a reminder for me. I can understand if he wanted you to wear it especially if it gave you a nice reminder of her as opposed to something painful."

Lone Wolfe had not thought about what the reminder would be to him. He always thought it was part of her still with him and that brought him a small measure of comfort. Knowing that it could have been something important like a wedding gift or some sort of anniversary gift might have been even more of a reason for Lone Wolfe to keep it but he didn't think about what it would have meant to his father. He wasn't sure if he was wired differently than those around him or if he just didn't have the same kind of attachment that his father had.

He glanced over and saw that Robin had already lost interest in the pendant and the conversation that it generated. She glanced at other pendants, "Why do you have different trinity symbols? If you are a pagan shop, then wouldn't have more pentacles and pentagrams?"

"A triskal is not a Christian symbol," Angela reported, "That is the proper name of a trinity, as you refer to it as. A triskal is a druid and Celtic symbol. It is a symbol of three and to a druid or shaman of that culture it carries deep significance. We also have pentacles and pentagrams, but they are in different cases. Would you like to sample those?"

Robin glanced back at Lone Wolfe and then back at the selection of Triskal pendants. She shook her head, "I think I will look at these some more. I kind of like the one where the ends are twisted. Can I get a look at it?"

Angela nodded and walked over to the case. Out of the selections of triskal pendants, the ones with the twists in them she did not like. She considered them a distortion of the image and distortion of the meaning behind them. Still, those tended to sell well so her grandmother kept them in stock. She took the four of them out for her to sample. The first one only had the ends twisted. The second one had the insides twisted to form a hexagon in the middle. The third one had the outside twisted and the inside twisted forming a hexagon in the middle. The last one was like the second one only it was inside of a ring like Lone Wolfe's.

Angela could guess which one she was going to gravitate towards when she took another glance at the pendants. She took the one inside of the ring, "may I try this on?" She asked.

Angela nodded, "Sure."

She tried it on and glanced back to Lone Wolfe. She turned around to let him see how it fit her, "How do you like it so far?" She asked.

The pendant hung right around her cleavage. Angela was not sure what he was going to be looking at, but his eyes seemed to study the pendant more than what the pendant was resting on. He glanced up into her dark amber eyes and said, "It looks good on you."

"Would you buy it for me?" she asked.

Angela rolled her eyes, "I could tell you were going to ask that."

"Doesn't take a fortune teller to figure that one out," Robin remarked in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Depends. How much is it?"

"For you, my new friend, thirty bucks," Angela replied.

"How much would have been if anyone else asked?" Robin questioned.

"How about you look at the price tag then ask the question?" Angela questioned in response.

"How about I just pay for it instead of us fighting?" Lone Wolfe asked. He quickly produced a ten and a twenty and handed it over to Angela before anyone could say anything more.

Chapter #12: The Party

Greeley Colorado

July 15th, 2027-CE

As was planned, Scarlet smoothed things over with the parents before picking up Lone Wolfe and Robin on the night of the party. She got their permission to watch them and keep them out all night. She was not sure what was going to be going on at the party, but she had a feeling that things may heat up between her and Angela. She was not against the idea if Angela was not looking for a commitment of sorts. With that in mind she had to make sure that nothing like that happened between the two adolescents. She had no doubt that Lone Wolfe would behave himself, but she was not as convinced the same thing could be said for Robin. Since their first meeting, she was starting to see that the instigator of their activities was often her and not him. That worried her. She worried that they could become poison to each other before too long.

She picked Lone Wolfe up first then went over to pick up Robin. She knew that his father would be okay with him staying out with her and Angela all night but purposefully neglected to tell his father that Robin would be at the party. It would wreck their plans if he forbade them to stay the night or for him to go out because Robin was there. She hoped that this little breach would not backfire, and Lone Wolfe would not betray her trust. Again, it was not specifically Lone Wolfe she worried about when she thought about it.

They drove to the northern edge of town where they found the house easily enough. They wondered why there were three cars there if there was only two people supposedly living there until recently. Scarlet wondered for a moment if maybe she had misread the situation and Angela was throwing a party with more people. She wondered if there was nothing to worry about and she would be able to drop the kids off after all.

They pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. Scarlet was not pleased with the outfit that Robin chose to wear this time. The spaghetti strap shirt was on the verge of see through and she was not wearing a bra this time. Her skirt was also far shorter than it had been the fourth of July. Lone Wolfe had decided to dress nice for the occasion, contrasting with what his date had worn. It made Scarlet wonder if she was not the only girl in the car that misread what was going to happen tonight.

The three of them climbed out of the car and headed up to the porch where Scarlet rang the doorbell. It didn't take long for Angela to answer. She was dressed much the same way as Robin, only white instead of black, "You showed up!"

The smell that came off her breath, the antiseptic smell, told her that Angela had found whiskey in the house. She had started the party early, "Hi Angela..." Scarlet's voice trailed off, "I didn't know there would be drinking at this party."

"Not for the kids but you and I can!" She smiled, "Sorry I started without you. I thought you weren't going to come."

Robin crossed her arms, "How come we can't drink?"

"Because you are still kids," Both Scarlet and Angela replied.

"Let them be," Lone Wolfe stated, "We can still have a good time. You ever watch people get drunk. It can be kind of funny watching them when you are sober."

"Hey, Lone Wolfe's got it!" Angela smiled, "You and I are going to become fast friends!"

"So, I saw an extra car here," Scarlet stated as Angela ushered them inside and closed the door, "Is there someone else here?"

"No, just us," Angela stated, "You can see why I started drinking."

"We were on time," Robin stated dejectedly.

"That doesn't mean anything," Angela stated.

"I am used to being bailed on too," Lone Wolfe stated, "There have been a few birthday parties in which I invited friends, and no one showed up."

"Competition with Jena?" Robin sneered.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Lone Wolfe replied, "That has happened once or twice."

"Not all it's cracked up to be, sharing a birthday with someone else," Robin stated in response, "That's why it sucks being a twin sometimes."

"I know," Lone Wolfe replied, "You have seen some of my memories of my mother so keep that in mind when you see Jena. They look alike."

"Green eyes and reddish-brown hair?" She asked in response.

He nodded, "And a slender build."

"That also matches your cousin," She responded.

"That matches most of the family. It's almost like I was switched at birth," Lone Wolfe replied, "Only, my mother never let me out of her sight after I was born, and I had the fever when my empathy surfaced just like she did."

"Well I am not sharing my birthday with anyone that I know of," Angela stated, "except for you three which I invited!"

"Why did you invite the three of us?" Robin stated as she marched over to the sofa and sat down, "I don't think you wanted anyone other than Scarlet over here."

"That is not true," Angela stated, "I would have wanted the three of you over here in any case. I am just a little smitten with her, that's all."

"Smitten with who?" Robin questioned.

Angela crossed the distance over to Scarlet and pulled her down on top of her as she sat down on the chair. As she gazed up at Scarlet, she replied, "Who else is the only other person in the room not taken."

Scarlet kissed her on the forehead then rose up from Angela's lap, "While I am more than willing, it is a little early for those games. How about we plan on things we can start of the night with. Something the four of us can do together?"

Angela nodded, "I hadn't really thought that far ahead."

"Clearly," Robin mentioned.

"Can you not be rude?" Angela snapped.

"Can you not exclude us?" Robin retorted.

"Okay, how about a little get to know each other session?" Lone Wolfe replied as he sat on the sofa next to Robin, "I know the four of us here are all psychics. How about we all go around the room and tell everyone what we all are?"

"You seriously going to turn this into an AA meeting?" Robin questioned in response.

"Got any better ideas?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

"We could find some other spot in the house and leave those two love birds alone?" Robin suggested.

"What will you two be doing while we are alone?" Scarlet questioned.

"Well we are all getting along like mixing oil and water," Lone Wolfe sighed, "I could use a drink. Do you have any soda?"

Angela nodded, "Yes but I will not mix anything with it."

He shook his head, "By drink I meant I am thirsty."

"Well I could use something stronger," Scarlet mentioned, "Since I don't have to drive, make mine with some whiskey in it."

Angela nodded, "A woman after my own heart." She walked into the kitchen and returned a moment later with two glasses of soda which she handed to Lone Wolfe and Robin. Robin seemed miffed that she didn't get to have any alcohol like the adults.

Angela disappeared again and returned a moment later with two glasses. They looked like they contained soda, but the color was just a touch lighter than the one the teenagers had. She handed one to Scarlet, "So if we are All telepathic, what does Alcohol do to telepathy?" Robin questioned.

"For some people, it tends to amplify the ability or makes them lose some control of the ability. For others, it can deaden the ability temporarily," Scarlet answered as she chugged the drink, "I tend to be part of the latter."

"I take it you drank before?" Robin questioned.

"Yes," Both Lone Wolfe and Scarlet answered.

"How do you know the answer to that?" Robin asked, wide eyed.

"She is the one that taught me how to communion," Lone Wolfe replied, "I had a communion with her before we met."

"How come her memories didn't transfer over to me?" Robin questioned.

Scarlet chugged the entire glass of alcohol laced soda down in one shot and handed the glass back to Angela, "Can you give me a refill and hold the soda please?"

Angela nodded, she was not sure what was going on anymore, but the conversation had taken a troubling turn for the friend and mentor of the youngster on her sofa. While she left to get her new friend more booze, Scarlet asked, "Did you have a communion with Robin? When did this happen? That was kind of fast."

"Shortly after we met," Lone Wolfe answered with a slight blush on his face, "I didn't know you would have a problem with it."

"You do know you have to trust someone pretty well to have a communion with them," She answered, "I didn't know you were so willing to trust her so quickly."

"She saved my life," Lone Wolfe replied, "I tend to trust people that save my life."

She cocked her head in confusion as Angela returned with a glass full of whiskey, "How did she save your life? Come to think of it, I never heard how you two met."

Scarlet accepted the glass of whiskey as Lone Wolfe sat forward to explain, "Well, that is the story of how we met." Scarlet took a swig of whiskey as Lone Wolfe said that. He gulped and continued, "After my mother's death and out communion I was looking for trouble. I was looking to feel something, anything! I was wandering around, close to Island grove. I could telepathically sense a group of gangsters holding up a person for their money, so I decided to intervene. I was holding my own until they called for more people. I got cocky and used my power to hold a guy who was trying to fire a gun at me. Another one stabbed me. Robin and her brother, Ray, came to my rescue, using their telepathic powers in an attack to usher them away. She used her empathic powers to heal my stab wound. That is how we met. That is how she saved my life."

Just like she did with the soda, Scarlet downed the whiskey. Angela was the first to speak, "The one you went to save, did you manage to save him?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I got him to bolt at the first chance."

"What kind of question is that?" Scarlet questioned at the same time.

"I didn't know you were trying to save someone. I thought you either picked a fight or they were beating you down for something," Robin stated at the same moment, "I didn't know you were risking your life to save someone else."

Lone Wolfe glanced to her, "I didn't think it needed explaining. You saved me without thinking about it."

"Because you are one of us," Robin replied.

"We are all human!" Scarlet exclaimed, "We are not different from the other humans out there and I know because I can feel them all!" She glanced to Angela, "I need another drink."

Angela glanced up at the elder psychic, "Don't you think you should go easy on the liquor. I mean, I started the party early, but you are going a bit fast. Let the alcohol catch up with you first."

"Have you heard a word those two kids have been saying?" Scarlet protested in response.

"You have to admit, we are different from the rest of them," Angela nodded in agreement, "Like it or not."

"Just like a blind man is different from a person who can see," Scarlet stated, "Doesn't make the blind man any less human or make the one who can see any better!"

"But it does make them different," Angela stated in response. She took the empty glass and went into the kitchen.

"Why do you think you are any better than the rest of humanity?" Scarlet questioned in response.

Robin didn't have an answer. She glanced away from Scarlet at that moment. Scarlet had to ask another question, "I know what they did to Lone Wolfe out of fear. I am pretty sure you know it too. He either told you by now or you saw it in your communion with him. They were afraid of me; they drugged me and called me a freak, said I was schizophrenic. The stuck me in an asylum for a while. I know they did all of that out of fear. I don't hate them for it. What did they do to you Robin? I want to know what they did to you to push you over the edge and make you think that we are superior to them?"

Robin glared at Scarlet, but Lone Wolfe could feel that below the seething exterior lay fear of ridicule and misunderstanding. When she spoke, Scarlet already had another glass in her hand, "Not all attacks against us are physical." She stated, "While it sucks that Lone Wolfe was nearly killed by his teacher because of what he was, and you were tortured because of your talents, I just got all of their quiet and precious momentary jabs and thoughts that they thought no one could hear. They thought they were smug and high and mighty because they could keep the truth to themselves. That is where they are wrong! That is where we are better! We can say what we mean and do what we mean! I don't hold back! Lone Wolfe doesn't hold back, and you don't hold back! We are out in the open, we live free and we are free!"

"Are we free?" Scarlet questioned in response.

The question caught everyone off guard. Angela grabbed her glass and swallowed its contents in one gulp, "I think I need a refill now." She mentioned and walked back into the kitchen, "I don't think I want to be sober for this conversation. If I knew it was going to be like this I would have offered the teens something too."

"It's not too late," Robin smiled.

"Not tonight," Scarlet chided.

"Do as I say and not as I do?" Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Kind of hard to preach when you are drinking like a fish."

"Hey!" Scarlet exclaimed, "Why are you being mean all of a sudden! Did you get that from her?"

"I was mean the moment this world took my mother from me!" Lone Wolfe hissed, "The moment some punk got drunk like you are doing right now! The moment they decided to that they were okay to drive after having too much to drink!" He rose to his feet as Angela entered the room again, "What none of you remembered when I came here tonight was how my mother died! What none of you remembered was what killed my mother! None of you were sensitive enough to how I felt about you all drinking tonight!" He pointed a finger at Angela, "Were you going to go driving if we hadn't shown up and potentially throw your life away needlessly? Deprive us of getting to know you as a friend?" He pointed a finger to Scarlet, "Did you think about what you were doing as you were pounding those drinks down?" He pointed a finger to Robin, "Did you think about how I would feel?"

He glared at all of them, "You asked if we are free, Scarlet. I can say that Robin and I are potentially the freest people in this room right now. We are not being ruled by a desire to throw inhibition to the wind! We are not ruled by baser desires! We are not ruled by a drive to destroy ourselves!" With that thought and knowing preternaturally that the trailer was unlocked, he stormed out of the house and headed straight into the trailer.

* * *

It was about an hour after Lone Wolfe had stormed out into the small trailer. He had started up the generator and sat there with the lights on laying down on the sofa staring at the ceiling. The night was supposed to be fun, but it descended into chaos from the moment they entered the house. He had thought that since Scarlet had known about how his mother died, she was there the day after it happened, that she would have been more sensitive to it. Since Angela knew a bit of what happened to his mother, he thought she might have been smart enough to know better. Also, the plan was to keep him separated from Robin when it was time for everyone to get rest. It would be much easier to do that sober than drunk.

When the adults insisted on drinking, he didn't want to ruin their fun but didn't want to drink either. He appreciated the fact that they were trying to keep them from drinking. As the debate quickly heated up, he tried to gently nudge Robin away from joining in, but she kept on insisting. It became clear that he was the only one that wished to abstain from drinking. It became too much when everyone started to complain at each other.

Now, he felt bad that he lost his temper and blamed all of them for what happened to his mother. He knew they had nothing to do with it and they didn't mean to make a slight at him by drinking or wanting to drink. They probably didn't event connect that they might be making me uncomfortable with the booze, he thought to himself.

A knock at the door disturbed his thoughts, "It's unlocked." He stated flatly and sat up.

The door opened, and Robin walked through. She closed the door behind her. Her face looked very remorseful and her eyes looked like they could erupt with tears at any moment, "Lone Wolfe, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable earlier."

Lone Wolfe nodded and glanced down. He didn't mean to bring her to the verge of tears like that, "Apology accepted. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to lose my cool like that. I didn't mean those things I said."

She sat down next to him, "It needed to be said."

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. She almost melted into him at that moment and managed to let out a chuckle, "after you stormed out I figured out that I might have been the inadvertent cause of this whole mess."

"How so?" Lone Wolfe questioned.

"Well," She blushed, "After you left; Scarlet and Angela started bawling and pleading with each other not to break up with each other, then re assuring themselves that they wouldn't. A few moments later the cycle would start again."

"I wasn't aware they were dating," Lone Wolfe mentioned.

Robin nodded, "That's the point. They aren't. We are."

Realization washed over his face, "You were empathically projecting your feelings the entire time. The jealousy and the anger."

She nodded, "after I realized I was doing that I walled it up again and they started to stabilize. Usually it doesn't affect psychics so I'm not as diligent as I am around normal people."

"Alcohol does affect psychic abilities," Lone Wolfe mentioned.

"Yes, so for the time being I have to be on guard," Robin stated.

"I wouldn't break up with you just because of a little spat," Lone Wolfe commented.

She smiled, "It's nice to hear you say that. It still felt that way though."

"I'm sorry," Lone Wolfe mentioned.

"It's okay," She stated and rose, "Water under the bridge, Come back inside?"

"I'd rather not be around the drinking," Lone Wolfe stated.

"They finished the alcohol," Robin replied, "At least all that they poured before you stormed out. They're pretty toasted right now but that will make the evening more fun."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "As long as no one has to drive anywhere I guess I will relent."

Robin smiled and nodded. She led him out of the trailer and back to the house. Inside, Scarlet and Angela were cuddled up on the love seat watching a movie on the TV. The look of their eyes told them that they were three sheets to the wind at this point. They glanced up at him and said, "Welcome back, we are sorry for what happened earlier."

"Apology accepted but I do have a demand to make," Lone Wolfe stated to them both.

Angela nodded, "We won't drink anymore, we promise."

"It's not just that," Lone Wolfe replied, "I want Robin to stay with me tonight."

Scarlet shook her head. Her eyes continued to bounce a little after she stopped, "No way! We said it earlier, girls stay in the house when its bed time. You stay in the trailer."

"So, let me get this straight," Lone Wolfe replied and closed the door, "we are going have a night of celebration which I know at least two of us, if not all four needs, followed by which you will usher us teens to bed so you two can go screw. Mind you, you have been drinking already. You won't know if she is asleep or not. You were already affected by her empathic powers once tonight and who says it won't go both ways. Assuming you can wait until she falls asleep, you want to give her wet dreams? If she is awake, you want to drive her crazy? Her range doesn't extend from the trailer into the house, so you can have your fun without torturing Robin."

"But what's to stop you two from having sex out there?" Scarlet questioned.

"Better question," Lone Wolfe replied, "You are assuming that we will, what if we don't? Assuming we do I will ruin my friendship with you, Scarlet, and will probably screw up any chance at friendship with you, Angela, just to take advantage of one opportunity. I will lose the ability to go out on all future dates for the summer if not longer; however, you won't own up to my father that you blew it by getting drunk amongst other things. So, the consequences are worse because it's not a matter of a parent telling me no but losing two friends over a potentially dumb move. Now, if I don't do anything then I gain your trust and respect which means I can come to you in the future, when I am ready, telling you that, and maybe you will treat us like adults then. Believe it or not, I am aware we have been dating for less than a month."

"I don't know," Angela replied, "Girls, man. The temptation is strong."

Lone Wolfe smirked and wrapped his arm around Robin's waist, "I know. Just like anyone you are attracted to. Warm, soft, you want to touch..." He grabbed her posterior gaining a surprised yelp from Robin then moved his hand back to her waist, "You want to grope, kiss, cuddle, nuzzle, smell, and anything else. However, I am not ready yet."

Angela glanced at Scarlet, "What do you think? Will you give the dude a shot?"

Scarlet shrugged, "He does have a point about Robin's empathic ability. If it works like telepathy, then it does go both ways. We would be torturing her. Keeping her here means no nookie for us."

"Hard to tell who the adults are here," Robin commented.

"Don't you start," Lone Wolfe smirked.

Scarlet nodded, "I will give you this one chance, don't let me down."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I will do my best."

Robin rubbed at her stomach, "I'm hungry, anyone else hungry?"

"Pizza!" Angela smiled, "I want pizza!"

Lone Wolfe and Robin glanced at each other and chuckled. Lone Wolfe nodded, "Sure, order a pizza."

"Make it two," Scarlet noted.

"There's a teenage boy in the house, you might want to make it three!" Robin patted him on the back and commented.

"Hey, don't blame me if you are starving!" Lone Wolfe exclaimed jovially.

Angela took out her phone and navigated to a pizza site. She made an order and glanced at everyone, "It should be here in about half an hour. What shall we do until then?"

Lone Wolfe sat down in the kitchen, "I think I will sit in here and wait for the pizza."

"I have a question for our resident expert at Empathic powers," Scarlet stated as Robin followed him into the kitchen, "Telepaths have their ability to communion with each other. Do Empaths have something similar?"

Robin pulled out one of the seats and sat it next to Lone Wolfe as she thought about the answer, "Well, if I remember correctly, there is an empathic bond that can be formed with an empath. I am not sure if it is like a communion, thought. I have never tried it."

"Why not?" Angela questioned in response.

Robin blushed, "Well... It is a bit more intimate than the communion that Scarlet mentioned. It isn't something you would do with just anyone."

"Does the other person have to be an empath or psychic like both parties have to be telepathic for a telepathic communion?" Scarlet questioned in response.

Robin shrugged, "I am also not sure of that. I would imagine it helps if the other person is empathic." She glanced over to Lone Wolfe and gave him a sincere smile, "That might be a small part of why I am attracted to you. Male empaths are somewhat rare."

"I wonder about that. They could be rare, or they could just be weaker," Angela stated, "They could also be better at blocking it out."

"I never bothered to try to find out," Scarlet mentioned, "There aren't a lot of us around so it's not like I can just ask a random guy on the street and ask 'hey, are you an empath?' and expect a response. Most of the time they would confuse my question for a that of an emotional response of some sort."

"That is true," Robin nodded. She glanced over to Lone Wolfe again, "Speaking of rare, do you think there is something similar for Clairvoyants? Something like telepathic communions? If so, what are the rules for that?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I am not sure. Never tried anything like that. I wouldn't be sure how that would work anyway. Even though there are a lot of clairvoyants on my mom's side of the family, not a lot of them are open to the idea of exploring their abilities. That makes it, so I am on my own in learning how it all works."

Angela jumped off the sofa and launched herself across the living room and into the kitchen. She stopped just short of running into him. She was so close that Lone Wolfe cringed and ducked backward. The chair tipped backward and slammed into the table. He almost pushed the table across the kitchen, but it stopped and narrowly kept him from spilling onto the floor, "Whoa! What's with that reaction?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Better yet, can you give him some space? Have you heard of a personal bubble?" Robin questioned in response, "I thought you liked girls?"

"I do like girls, but I have never met another clairvoyant outside of my family before!" Angela nodded. She backed away slightly. Enough that Lone Wolfe was able to sit up straight but not lean forward like he was before.

"That's not actually true," Lone Wolfe replied, "My mother was clairvoyant. That means I am the second."

Angela opened her mouth to ask a question but a wave of anger coming from Robin stopped it. It wasn't the anger at them bonding. It was as if she knew what Angela wanted to ask. She did want to ask if she was clairvoyant then why did she die in a car wreck. She should have known that someone would have happened that night and left later or did something different. She could have stopped at a gas station or grabbed a meal or something to divert fate. Either Robin had asked that question already or she sensed that she was going to ask it. She glanced at Robin, "Were you reading my mind then projecting your anger at the prospect of my question?"

Robin sat back and folded her arms, "What if I was?"

"I didn't sense it." Angela mentioned, "You must be a gifted telepath."

Robin smiled, "You must be average or slightly below average."

"That's not a nice thing to say," Lone Wolfe stated, "For that matter, that was impolite to look in on her thoughts then project your anger with your empathic abilities." He glanced over to Scarlet, "I am surprised you aren't lecturing us for this."

"Well, you saved me the trouble," Scarlet stated in response, "Besides, normal humans cannot defend themselves very well against telepaths. Other telepaths, on the other hand, can perform very well against other telepaths if they pay attention."

"Kind of hard to do when she is drunk," Lone Wolfe commented in response.

"That was her choice," Scarlet replied.

"Hey, you're drunk too," Robin mentioned, "How come I can't sense you as clearly as Angela."

"It's called composure," Scarlet replied.

"Back to the question," Lone Wolfe replied before the situation could again escalate out of control, "What was it, Angela?"

She glanced between Robin and Lone Wolfe, "Are you sure you want me to ask you that question?" she asked in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I have a feeling it will be a painful question but go ahead and ask it."

"If your mother was clairvoyant, why did she not see it coming?" Angela asked, "I mean, she should have seen that coming and done something to prevent it."

"Well, you are clairvoyant as well, so you know the answer to that already," Lone Wolfe replied, "You don't always see the future, or you see something different."

"But it was her death," Angela replied, "She would have seen it!"

"I have not seen my death yet," Lone Wolfe replied. She glanced around to the other people in the living room then back to Angela, "No one else aside from us know what it is like to know your own death is coming. I am sure you have not seen your own death yet. Usually it will be some sort of a natural death, but your life can be taken by a surprise event. Someone can take your life through an accident. Every day that you don't wake up knowing a way you could die in the future is a day of freedom. Cherish that."

Chapter #13: After Party

Greeley Colorado

July 15th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe headed out to the trailer. He glanced up at the sky and realized that it was late at night. Following close behind was Robin. None of the four of them were interested in sleep but if they stayed there any longer then people might start getting tired. They didn't want to block the adult's fun and games. Looking at Robin's outfit, she looked as if she were planning on the same thing as the adults after all. Not ruining his trust with Scarlet could be harder than he thought.

He glanced back to Robin as he opened the door. For some reason, it was harder to say what he meant to say. He wondered if it was the look in her eyes, the longing and happiness in them, or if her empathic abilities were not being blocked anymore. Either way he took a breath and said, "Clothes stay on this time. No funny business or I will knock on the door and go back into the house and you can stay out here."

Robin closed the distance between them and pressed her body up against his back, "It's not like they could find out. Who would know?"

"We would know," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "despite the fact that we use our link to share our dreams at night and that can keep our powers active, our defenses are still weak or down while we are asleep. I guarantee you that Scarlet will find out while we are asleep and that will doom us in the end."

"So, we just take shifts snoozing and wake the other up when we start to feel Scarlet waking up," Robin suggested.

"What do later?" Lone Wolfe questioned, "if we deceive her now then what will happen when she finds out later?"

"You have a range of two miles, she can't have that much of a range and eventually she will stop looking," Robin stated.

Lone Wolfe sighed and opened the door to the trailer. He stepped in and closed the door after Robin stepped in. He pulled out the sofa which caused it to unfold into a large bed, "Look, Robin. It is time I told you what is different about Scarlet's telepathy. It doesn't matter where you are; she can read your mind. She doesn't have a range. She can peer into the minds of anyone at any time. If you have been knocking on her mind, then she knows your voice and can find you anywhere. She knows my voice." He sat down on the side of the bed, "The only way your plan would work is if you erased my memory of the event and if you didn't try to break into her mind."

She sat down next to Lone Wolfe, "That's not possible. I have seen a lot of telepaths in California. They have always been one of two different types or a blend of the two. Ranged telepaths or touch telepaths. That is all that has ever been. She can't be a range-less telepath."

"Well," Lone Wolfe scratched his head, "She was in another state and felt my mind cry out when my mother died."

"You two share a link," Robin stated, "Not as deep as ours but it is there. That increases the range a lot."

"Yes, but the link wouldn't have made it go all the way to Connecticut," Lone Wolfe replied, "If she has a range then the sympathetic range is thousands of miles long."

Robin's eyes widened, and she paled so much that her amber eyes appeared to look the same shade as Lone Wolfe's gold eyes at that moment. A sympathetic range was the range in which a telepath could hear the minds of all the minds within the range. Beyond that was the range they could push their abilities to which was about thirty times the range of their sympathetic range. If they meditated and concentrated, they could double that maximum range. A link could double that. It meant; even if Lone Wolfe was wrong, Scarlet could find anyone no matter where they were on the planet.

She glanced down at the floor, "That is harder to believe than the first option. I would rather believe that she didn't have a range."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Either way, there is nowhere to run if she wanted to find you."

Robin sighed as Lone Wolfe maneuvered himself against the wall. He glanced towards the head of the bed where there was a small closet. He opened it up and found some pillows inside. He took them out and put two of them and put them against the corner of the bed. He tossed the other two to Robin. Robin glanced down at the bed as Lone Wolfe spread out on the side of the bed against the wall. She glanced over to the table across the trailer, "Do you think the bench seats at the table turn into another bed?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I am sure they do, and I can help you out with it if you want. Or there is enough room on the bed that you can lay down next to me."

Robin blushed, "You are okay with that?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "As long as there is no funny business."

"I won't," She stated as she laid the pillows down next to his and laid down next to him. She held his hands and moved in close, "but don't you think this will look weird to them?"

"For a moment, it will make Scarlet scan my mind and see that we did nothing," Lone Wolfe replied, "What I have wanted to do is have a communion with you and stay asleep, let it merge into a dream as well."

"I would like to try that as well," Robin nodded. She leaned in and kissed him passionately. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her. She wrapped her legs around him, holding him tightly and rolling partially on him which pinned him against the wall. He didn't struggle, he didn't mind. As they embraced, they reached for the light and the faint light of the trailer's outdoor lights faded away.

* * *

The light of the first dawn streaming in through the window awakened Robin. She could feel hot breath against her neck and arms around her side. She remembered at that point that she was with Lone Wolfe, cuddled up against him in the trailer. She felt something warm and clothed poking her on one of her thighs. She blushed and gently nudged him, "Um, Lone Wolfe?"

His gold eyes opened barely, "Ugh." He muttered.

"You are poking me," She squeaked.

Lone Wolfe shook his head and yawned, "No I'm not. My hands are wrapped around you. You wouldn't be so quiet if I were trying to tickle you."

"I'm not talking about your hands," Robin squeaked.

Lone Wolfe's eyes opened wide and he blushed. He glanced around and said, "I'm pinned between you, the wall, and the bed. One of the three needs to move so I can move away from you."

"Weird," Robin stated as she unwrapped her legs from Lone Wolfe and pulled her arms away, "I thought I was the one against the wall or a moment."

Lone Wolfe rolled over to face the wall, to hide his embarrassment, "I didn't say I wanted you to roll over." Robin stated.

"A little embarrassed right now," Lone Wolfe squeaked.

She pressed her body up against his back, "Don't be. It means you are attracted to me."

"Or whatever higher being that created the male body wanted to make sure we didn't roll out of bed in the middle of the night," Lone Wolfe commented with a yawn.

"Huh?"

"It's a kick stand joke," Lone Wolfe said.

"It's weird how we keep shifting traits when we have a communion," Robin commented, "Normally, I would have been making silly jokes but now you are."

"We will probably go back to normal eventually," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Are you so sure about that?" Robin questioned, "You joke more now than you did before."

"Normal people also pick up personality traits of people they like and bond with. We do it faster because of the communion. It would be a bit more natural if we didn't use our abilities and that deep of a bond."

Robin nodded, "Please roll over onto your back."

Lone Wolfe nodded and rolled onto his back. She cuddled up against him and said, "So we have had two of those communions now. What will happen to us if we go through more of them?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't know."

"How about we try again and find out?" She asked.

Lone Wolfe shook his head "I would love nothing more than to try that out with you, but we cannot do it right now. The reason why I only had one communion with Relena was because there were only a few times where we could isolate ourselves for long enough to have a communion. During one of those times we had plenty of time to try to shotgun a couple but after the first one we could no longer see the light in each other to initiate a second communion. There has to be sometime between communions."

"Bummer," Robin stated. She yawned and interlaced her fingers with his other hand, "Maybe we can catch more sleep before they wake up." Lone Wolfe nodded. Both were asleep before they realized it.

* * *

The sun was shining thought and the inside of the trailer was starting to heat up from baking in the morning light when Lone Wolfe opened his eyes. He could feel the phone vibrating in his pocket. From the pulse of the vibrations, it was a message of some sort. He glanced to his left and saw that Robin was still asleep. She lifted his head up and glanced to the booth like kitchenette table across the trailer. He saw Angela sitting on one side of the table and Scarlet seated at the other side of the table. Both looked sick and like someone put them through a tumble dryer. They had the windows in the kitchenette and the curtains closed. Knowing that the trailer had a cross breeze to keep it cool if the windows were open, he understood why it was getting hot.

Scarlet forced a smile on her face and said, "Morning, sunshine." Her voice was softer and quieter than normal. It also seemed to carry less stress with it.

He rested his head back on the pillow, "You look like death put through a blender. Did you at least have fun last night and remember it?"

"Yes, but could you keep your voice a little quieter please?" Scarlet replied, "This hangover is threatening to kill me."

"I will only because Robin is still asleep. Never drink unless you are prepared to pay or it the next day," Lone Wolfe replied with a quieter voice, "Good to know you had fun and remember it, however. Just try not to dwell on it the next time we have a communion."

"About that," Scarlet replied, "I don't think there will be any more communions between us."

"Why not?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Too many things that have happened recently which I don't want to share with you. It's mainly because you are too young," Scarlet replied, "I don't want to add to your troubles."

"Scarlet is convinced that you two didn't do anything last night, but I would have thought that you would have converted this into a bed and one of you would have been sleeping on it," Angela replied, "You two were cuddled up next to each other. It looked sweet but suspicious."

"I have no doubt that Scarlet went through my memories while I was sleeping and found out the truth," Lone Wolfe replied.

Scarlet nodded, "You had another communion with her last night and you two talked about having more. I commend you for holding back all night, but I don't want to add my memories to your troubles. She seems driven to be with you."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "I didn't know you would be upset by the communion."

"It's not that," Scarlet replied, "It is the fact that you are going to have to deal with a lot of temptation in the months to come and I don't want to influence you one way or the other."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Did you two try a communion too, last night?"

Angela nodded, "She told me how it works and walked me through the process, but we couldn't get it to work." She seemed to be brought down by the experience.

"I don't understand," Lone Wolfe replied.

"There is too much of a difference in our abilities," Scarlet stated, "Apparently, if there is too much of a difference then it won't work. So, it is more than two people just being telepathic."

"Their abilities have to be compatible," Lone Wolfe replied. He felt his phone vibrate again, letting him know that he had at least one message waiting to be seen. He tried to carefully unlace the fingers of his right hand, so he can get his phone out of his right pocket, "I wonder who sent me messages over night?"

"Well, I was at least one of those people, if not the only one," Scarlet answered.

"What did you send me?" He questioned in response as he slowly tried to pry his phone out of his phone out of his pocket without waking Robin up.

He heard a slight chuckle escape Angela's lips followed by a wince of pain, "Too bad you don't have your phone out, it is almost as cute as when you found them asleep earlier."

Lone Wolfe stopped fishing for his phone, "I take it that is what this is? Another candid shot of the two of us snuggled up and sleeping?"

"Yes, you were too adorable to not get a picture of," Angela stated, "I saw the pic of the fourth of July as well. You two were cute in that one."

"I guess I deserve that," Lone Wolfe replied, "Although it is a little unsettling to know that you keep those pictures of us."

"I don't look at them," Scarlet mentioned, "I just don't ever erase anything. When I run out of space I just sync my phone to my computer and transfer the files over to that."

"So, you mean there's more of these photos floating around!" Lone Wolfe exclaimed.

"Not so loud please," Scarlet groaned.

"We have company," Robin stated, "What's all the fuss about?"

"Nothing," Lone Wolfe stated.

As both sat up and rested their back against the closet door and wall at the head of the bed, Angela added her own response, "We were saying that you two are cute when you are asleep like that."

"Glad we can appease your voyeuristic interests," Robin yawned and stretched, "Next time we should switch rolls. You two can sleep in and us two can barge in and take candid shots of the two of you."

"That would not have ended well," Scarlet stated.

"You could have locked the door," Angela commented.

"What?"

"You know, they make these things called locks and they build them into the handles of doors," Angela verbally jabbed, "If you use the lock then people have to knock on the door to get you up and no more worries of random people sneaking in."

"Yes, but then you would be pounding on the door and then I wouldn't have gotten another photo to cherish," Lone Wolfe stated as he fished out his phone and pulled up the message with the picture. He showed it to Robin and received a smile from her.

She liked it so much she asked, "Can you send that to me?"

Lone Wolfe nodded and sent the picture, "Tonight I will send you an extra special picture."

"Just make sure you are wearing something," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

Robin nodded, "I will."

"So, I want to get one thing straight," Robin asked, "Except for Scarlet, we are all heading back to West at the end of the summer?" Angela nodded, and Robin continued, "So today is your eighteenth birthday, what happened? Did you flunk a grade?"

Angela shook her head, "My mother started me off late. It was because I was small for my age as a kid. She didn't have me skip a grade. I wish I did now. It would have been a lot easier for me considering recent events."

"Just get your GED," Robin suggested, "Then you can do what you need to do."

Angela shrugged, "I would just assume not pay anything that hasn't already been paid and go through my last year. The fees were paid before I got my emancipation."

"Why didn't they wait?" She asked in response.

"DHS had to rush it through because of my grandmother's death. Once it was reported there was so much time to get the ball rolling on things and I had no other family around to help with it. That is why they rushed it through. So, I can take care of all of the affairs. I needed to be able to sign like a legal adult." She responded.

"Wouldn't they just let you since it was so close anyway?" Robin asked in response.

Scarlet shook her head, "She wasn't a legal adult then so if there was some sort of contract dispute then their contract was null and void because she cannot legally sign a contact."

"That's lame," Robin stated.

"Well," Scarlet shrugged, "it protects both parties."

"Speaking of parties, now that this one is over, when are you taking us home?" Robin questioned in response.

"As soon as I can get the number of the Mach truck that hit me," Scarlet replied.

Chapter #14: Reunion at the Pool

Greeley Colorado

July 16th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe stood in line behind Ray and Curtis. They were waiting for the pool to open. This had become normal and ritual for the twins and Lone Wolfe. The club bus would drop them, and the club workers assigned to the group off and they would wait in line where they would get in at a discounted rate. The process was new for Curtis and Jena, who got back from their family vacations. He could feel seething emotions from behind him as Robin and Jena stood next to each other. No one needed to be empathic to know that those two mixed like oil and water. He glanced to his blue-eyed friend sporting a tan from his time in the sun in California and saw that he noticed it too, "I didn't think it would be this bad," Curtis whispered under his breath so only the boys could hear it, "I wonder if they are going to break out in a brawl at any moment."

Lone Wolfe shivered, "I hope not."

"My sister can get jealous," Ray commented quietly, "She doesn't like Jena because you and she have known each other for a while."

"Try our entire life," Lone Wolfe replied, "We are friends. At least, I thought we were." He glanced to Curtis, "It isn't just Robin. What did I mess up with Jena?"

"Well," Curtis chewed his lip in thought, "I thought you two might be dating material once. I was surprised that you had a girlfriend other than Jena when you told me about Robin."

"Thanks dude, big help with that comment," He replied as he felt the anger begin to boil over.

"So, Robin," Jena commented from behind them, "Exactly how did you and Lone Wolfe first meet?"

"That's the third time you asked me that," Robin sighed in frustration, "And this will be the third time I will tell you this: we met while we were headed to the club."

"Funny he would be walking up twenty-third avenue," Jena commented, "I would have thought he would have headed down thirty-fifth avenue."

"Maybe you don't know your friend as well as you think," Robin huffed in response, "You've both been back one day, and you think there is a conspiracy against you! I bet you were planning to make some sort of move when you got back. Too bad you are a string bean, flat chested girl instead of a full-bodied woman like me!"

"Can we knock off the mud-slinging?" Lone Wolfe stated in response, "How would you like it if I started calling your brother obscene names? I already told you that Jena is like a sister to me."

"Can you explain to me, dear brother I never had, why I found out about your mother's death and you dating her in the same text?" Jena retorted.

"Why are you pissed at me?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

"You didn't send her the picture, did you?" Curtis questioned, "That would do it."

"No," Lone Wolfe replied, "You think there's empty space between my ears?"

"Picture?" Jena stammered, "What picture."

Curtis started to fish out his phone, "Don't add fuel to the fire, please?" Lone Wolfe sighed.

Curtis pulled up the picture he sent his friend after their first date. He showed it to Jena. Jena glanced at the picture and spun around to fix Lone Wolfe with unsure eyes, "Just what were you two doing when you decided to take this picture?"

Robin smiled and blushed, "Guess."

Jena instead handed the phone back to Curtis and grabbed Lone Wolfe's back pack. She went straight for the pocket that had the phone in it and pulled it out, "What are you doing, stealing his phone!" Robin shouted in response.

"Relax, she doesn't know the password," Lone Wolfe stated, "And my fingers aren't going anywhere near the fingerprint scanner."

Jena smirked, "Let me show you the problem with biometrics," She stated and held her finger just above the sensor. The phone unlocked, "And I'm in."

The four of them were astonished that she was able to trick the sensors, "Just how did you do that?" Curtis questioned.

"These fingerprint scanners don't actually scan finger prints but registers capacitance based off a unique finger print. Part of an empathic power is the use of capacitance. A skilled empath can fake the capacitance of a profile. That is assuming they are familiar with the person they are hacking. Just like most of us, he is left handed and since the sensor is located on the front, he used his right thumb as a profile." Jena explained, "Now, let's see what else you have on your phone."

Lone Wolfe blanched, and Robin blushed, "Lone Wolfe! You have to stop her!"

Lone Wolfe reached for the phone, but Jena jumped back. She stopped and blushed when she found a picture, oh god, which one did she find? Lone Wolfe asked to himself. Was it the picture in her night gown? The one in her underwear? The one where she covered herself with a towel in the bed? The one from last night where she posed with the shower curtain after a shower? Which one?

She turned the phone around showing the picture Scarlet had taken from the birthday party, "What the hell is this?"

Robin cocked her head in confusion as the blush disappeared from her face, "Wait, you are bent out of shape over that?" Robin smiled, "That was from a friend's birthday party. Don't we look just so cute in it?"

"You're not helping," Lone Wolfe stated, "If you notice, Jena, that picture wasn't taken by us but by someone else and sent to me. Robin is right, that is from a birthday party. We fell asleep cuddling on the bed after a telepathic communion."

"A what?" Jena questioned.

Lone Wolfe projected the process to her. She shrugged, "Oh, you learned how to do that bond. Took you long enough."

"What does that mean?" Lone Wolfe asked.

"I learned how to do that a long time ago," Jena stated in response, "I didn't know if you could do it or if you would be willing to do it or I would have been able to find some time for us to try it long ago. How else do you think I know all that techno babble about the fingerprint scanner? But that still doesn't explain this picture! Who took it?"

"Scarlet," Lone Wolfe squeaked.

Jena blanched, "You mean, she already knows about you two and thinks you two are cute enough to take these shots?"

Robin smiled, "If it helps, she walked into that trailer we had all to ourselves."

"Robin!" Lone Wolfe hissed, "What's wrong with you? Her head is going to pop like a ripe zit!"

He glanced to Curtis and saw that he, like Jena, was totally pale, "What did I do to you?"

"Oh, teach me great master!" Curtis exclaimed.

"What?" Lone Wolfe asked, and Robin chuckled in response.

"You two had the whole trailer alone!" Jena chided, "Did you and this floozie do more than just the bond?"

"No," Lone Wolfe answered, holding to the spirit of the question.

"Yes," Robin answered at the same moment, answering the letter of the question with a smile.

Jena tossed Lone Wolfe his phone and walked off. Lone Wolfe and Curtis exchanged worried glances. Robin's smile faded, "What happened?" She asked.

"You broke her," Lone Wolfe stated sternly, "Satisfied? You took your little game too far!" He glanced to Curtis, "Do you think you can go after her? If I go she might do something rash."

Curtis nodded, "Sure thing buddy." He chuckled, "To think, for once you have the greatest stories to tell us about your summer vacation. I may just stay behind next year and see your antics in action!"

Lone Wolfe shook his head as his other best friend took off after Jena. He fixed Robin with a sidelong glance, "What is with you? You don't like any of my friends. I can feel that you don't even like Curtis. Our kind isn't exactly top of the food chain right now, so you don't have a lot of choices with the psychics. I don't know about where you come from but for Greeley, this is about it for Psychics."

"Simple reason why I don't like your friend, Curtis," Robin stated, "He isn't a psychic."

"You want to try that again?" Lone Wolfe asked in response, "I can assure you that he is a psychic. His abilities are just weak and hard to get to work. Once you learn how to sense other people's abilities you will be able to tell what he is."

"While you are usually right, I think you are making this one up just so I will like him," Robin protested in response.

"Have I led you astray yet?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Robin shook her head, "No, I suppose you haven't."

He crossed his arms, "Next question. What is between you and Jena?"

"She just bugs me," She answered, "I will try to curb it. I don't know anything more than there is something with her that bugs me."

"The fact that she is both an empath and telepath have something to do with it?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"It might, now that you mention it," Robin huffed in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "You know that the most common combination of psychic abilities is telepathy and empathy. You are going to run into a lot more people like you. Heck, even I have those abilities."

"I hate it when you are right," Robin sighed and wrapped and arm around his waist.

A moment later, Curtis and Jena showed back up to their previous spot, "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. How about we all start over and try to get off to a better start?"

Jena shrugged, "Why are you the one apologizing? I would think that your girlfriend need to be making at least one of the apologizes."

Curtis glanced over to Ray, "You know you have seen pretty quiet all day. What makes you so pensive?"

"Just trying to stay out of the war path," Ray commented, "You can try to force an apology out of her but once she has locked horns with someone like Jena it is usually game over until one of the two leaves the area. If I were to say something, then I would just get hit with an Ire bomb from one of them as well. I live in the same house as one of them, so I don't want to make the rest of my week a disaster by pointing out anything that Robin wouldn't like."

Curtis smirked, "So you let Lone Wolfe do all of that for you, eh? It's weird how you are usually more somber than she is."

Lone Wolfe glanced between both Robin and Jena before he stated, "I think if you two can put aside your differences then you two could probably become good friends."

Jena crossed her arms, "I don't think that is likely."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I know we got off to the wrong foot but how about we all agree to start over and give this a shot?"

"Hey guys! The line is moving!" Ray called out.

That seemed to kill the argument right there. Lone Wolfe's mind was filled with memories of previous summers where he, Jena, and Scarlet, had swam and played their strange version of Marco-Polo with their telepathic powers. He glanced to Jena with a smile on his face and said, "Scarlet is ahead of us in line. She thought swimming would be a good idea. We can do our special games of Marco-Polo again."

"That would be fun and we have a couple more people to play too!" Jena stated, trying to look on the bright side.

Curtis tensed up at the mention of that game. He didn't possess enough telepathic abilities to play the game with them. The last time he played, when they were seven, he couldn't hear the minds or thoughts of the others around him. On top of that, he learned that they could all tell where he was during the game and everyone except for Lone Wolfe tried to avoid him to keep in him the game longer.

Robin gave them a curious glance, "What so special about this game you speak of?"

"It might be better that we show you," Lone Wolfe replied. He glanced to Jena then back to Robin, "I think Jena can project it to you better than I could. Would you allow her to show you?"

Robin sighed, "I guess."

Jena glanced at him with an unsure look then glanced to Robin. She showed Robin how the three of them would play in the past. As she projected those memories and the instructions to Robin, the dark amber eyes lit up with a certain amount of delight in them, "I think that will be fun, but won't Curtis be left out of this game."

Curtis hissed, "They play this game for a while every summer." He commented in response.

Lone Wolfe glanced to Jena, "Maybe we could play something else. I don't want to leave Curtis out of this again."

Curtis glanced back, "It's fine. Unlike you two, I can make friends whenever I want. I will just get to know some of the other club members while you all decide to play."

"You might be better at making more friends but at least Lone Wolfe makes friends that count," Robin sneered.

"I can't argue with that," Curtis stated, "After all, he has me and he got you and Jena."

"How is it that he can always look on the bright side?" Robin asked under her breath.

Lone Wolfe shrugged. He knew since he was being trained that he could see the spirits of the people around him. Spirits like Scarlet and Jena all seemed to have that nesting doll resonance going on showing their past lives. He noticed that Robin and Ray also seemed to have that same thing going on. Within Curtis he saw something very different. He wasn't sure how to describe it. It was like staring into darkness. A darkness that seemed to stare back at you. It seemed unusual that with a spirit like that, Curtis could remain optimistic in most situations.

Robin glanced to him, "What are you thinking about?" She asked.

Lone Wolfe couldn't explain it, but he felt a connection to all five of his friends. Curtis seemed to be a bit different but the others all felt familiar in a way. He glanced to her, "Your mother called you the queen of discord once, right?"

"Yeah," Robin stated.

"There is something familiar in that title," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Well duh! We had two communions, remember?" Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "It is something different than that." He glanced to the front of the line where he envisioned Scarlet would be as the line moved forward, "Mentor," He breathed. He glanced to Jena, "Separation," he stated to himself. He glanced back to Robin, "Discord." He glanced to her brother, "Gemini."

"What the heck is that all about?" Robin questioned.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't know. I just feel connections and feel something. I don't know what it is that I am feeling, though."

Robin smiled, "You can be strange sometimes."

"If I were normal then I would be really boring," Lone Wolfe commented as they made it to where they could pay and make their way in.

Ray, Curtis, and Lone Wolfe headed into the male locker room while Jena and Robin made their way to the female locker room. The guy's all wore their swimming trunks as shorts, so they only needed to take off their shirts, retrieve their towels from their bags and stuff them all into a locker. Lone Wolfe made sure that his phone made its way back into is back pack. He didn't want to jump into the pool and find out that he just ruined his phone. He didn't back anything up yet and figured it would be a good idea to do it tonight. Until then, he had to keep the phone safe.

He took out the lock after he stuffed his shirt into his bag and retrieved his towel. He packed his bag into the locker and just about locked it when he realized he forgot his key. He took out the key and snapped it to the holder on his trunks and then closed and locked the locker. He turned around to his friends and said, "Shall we go out and wait for the girls?"

Curtis nodded, "I can't wait to see what Robin looks like in a swimsuit."

"Hey, she's my girlfriend. What about Scarlet and Jena?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"Well, Scarlet is fine," Curtis nodded as they made their way to the pool, "She did blossom into a lovely girl, but I have seen her in a swimsuit before. It will probably be the same black bikini she wore last year. As far as Jena is concerned, I have seen her in that white split suit before too. I don't know if she will fill it out any better this year. Puberty has been fairly light on her. As for Robin..."

"You do realize she is my sister," Ray commented, "It's bad enough to have one guy drooling over her but a different guy?"

"I guess I would feel that way if someone was ogling my little sister," Curtis mentioned, "But I don't have to worry about that for another couple of years. She is only eleven."

"Surprised that your parents didn't drop the both of you off at the club," Lone Wolfe mentioned as they waited out by the pool.

"She didn't seem convinced that it would be fun," Curtis commented, "Don't tell me that you are getting eyes for my little sister now too."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Of course not! I haven't even met her. I just thought that your parents like to make the best of their time alone and this seems like cheap day care to a parent."

Curtis shrugged, "Well, she didn't want to go. I'm not going to try to convince her otherwise."

Scarlet was the first to walk out of the girl's locker room. Just as Curtis stated, she was wearing the same two-piece black suit she wore for the past couple of years. It did accentuate her slender form and compliment her green eyes and wavy red hair. He glanced over to Ray, "To bad I am not a few years older," The male twin replied, "You don't know what you are missing, Curtis. That there is a total babe standing before you."

"I'm not sure you are her type," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What makes you say that?" Curtis questioned.

"No reason," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Oh yeah, the party." Ray commented.

"How much do you two shares about your daily lives?" Lone Wolfe blanched.

"She keeps a journal," Ray mentioned, "What she doesn't want to share I can usually get out of that. You made that a lot easier to do since she is always with you now."

Lone Wolfe blanched, "Why do I have the feeling my days are numbered?"

Ray gave him a sly smile, "Have you seen your death yet?"

"That's not funny!" Jena stated as she walked out of the girl's locker room. She was dressed in a white one-piece suit. It was split down the center to just below her navel.

Lone Wolfe glanced to both of his friends standing before him and noticed that both had dropped their jaws, "So, being away for a summer did some good for her?" Lone Wolfe commented with a smile.

"Want to pick your jaws up off the floor before the flies climb in?" Robin stated as she walked out, "Looks like only Lone Wolfe is not blown away by that suit of yours, Jena."

Both scarlet and Jena turned around to get a glance of Robin as she walked out into the light. Her gray bathing suit contrasted with her dark amber eyes and brown hair. It was a two-piece suite which showed off her voluptuous figure well. Curtis couldn't summon the strength to close his mouth and Lone Wolfe couldn't help but blush at the sight of her. Jena and Scarlet crossed their arms. Scarlet replied, "I think she might be bigger than me!"

"So unfair," Jena nodded.

"Guys! That's my sister!" Ray commented.

"I can divorce that fact from my head," Curtis mumbled.

"She's dating me!" Lone Wolfe added.

"That I cannot separate," Curtis replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for? A stiff breeze?" Robin questioned.

"Maybe for something else stiff," Jena stated with a smirk.

"Not sure what that was but evil could fit that," Robin stated in response.

"Time for the pool," Lone Wolfe stated as he turned around and walked briskly to the side of the pool and jumped in.

Ray jumped in behind him, "Jena doesn't look too bad either," he commented as he followed Lone Wolfe in.

Lone Wolfe shrugged as Curtis jumped in, "You could have a shot with her."

"You mean it?" Ray questioned in response.

Robin growled and jumped in right as Curtis surfaced. Lone Wolfe glanced at her and projected, "I thought Jena dating your brother would at least allay your fears about her having some sort of other emotional attachment to me?"

Robin glanced around then smiled, "Lone Wolfe, you know all her secrets, you should have the keys to her heart."

"It's amazing how fast your opinion can change when it works in your favor," Lone Wolfe commented in response.

Curtis swam over, "What are you talking about?"

"Lone Wolfe is going to setup Jena and Ray," Robin proclaimed.

"Why not your best friend?" Curtis stammered.

"Come to think of it, I think he would be a better choice," Robin nodded.

"Why?" Ray growled.

"He's not you," Robin stated in response, "I would feel better if she wasn't dating my brother."

"Come to think of it, if you insist that you two are twins from different parents then how come you are okay with her dating someone else?" Ray questioned in response.

"I am not going to begrudge her the experience of all of these emotions just like I have," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What are you four plotting now?" Jena questioned as she slipped into the pool.

"We are trying to figure out who to fix you up with," Robin smiled.

"You are forgetting something important, aren't you? Figured out what that is yet?" Jena questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "You three, in your plotting, forgot to ask her what she felt about all of this. It is something like Ray trying to set up Curtis with Robin without asking Robin what she thought about it. Well, best of luck to you three."

"What about you helping us?" Robin questioned.

"Here's a good start, ask her if she is even looking for someone then ask what she is looking for," Lone Wolfe stated as he drifted over to where Scarlet slipped into the pool.

Scarlet glanced to him and said, "You know, mixing those two may not work well. Despite what you think, both Jena and Robin are very territorial."

Lone Wolfe crossed his arms. His main concern was with the growing argument between Curtis and Ray. It seemed like his old group of friends and new group of friends were mixing about as well as he would expect. He didn't know what to do to get both to get along and he didn't want to choose between the two groups. He glanced back to scarlet as the two of them started to move toward the middle of the pool and asked, "What makes you say that. I didn't get that impression from either of them."

"I don't mean territorial as in they both have their own stomping grounds but something like possessive of their friends," Scarlet clarified, "If friends are territory then they are territorial in that regard."

"Jena doesn't seem possessive of Curtis and Robin doesn't seem that possessive of Ray," Lone Wolfe commented in response.

"Then they are possessive of you," Scarlet commented.

To prove both wrong, Jena and Robin squared off against each other, "Curtis! Stop calling my brother names!"

"Then tell your brother to stop talking crap about him!" Jena replied.

"Looks like we were both wrong," Lone Wolfe replied, "I hope that they can figure out a way to get along. I don't want to choose between both of those groups."

Ray crossed his arms, "Hard not to do when he is a wannabe psychic hanging out with you and Lone Wolfe all these years and has nothing to show or it!"

"Now that's just mean," Lone Wolfe shook his head in response.

Curtis growled and ducked his head down. Despite the years that had passed, he recognized that look. He had seen it before seven years ago before he launched the book at Mrs. Leeks head using his telekinetic powers. Most of the time they were nonexistent or extremely hard to control but when he got angry, almost to the point of losing himself to rage, the power within his ability increased dramatically. Lone Wolfe jumped towards Robin and Ray, "I have seen this before! Not good!"

Scarlet followed, "What is it?"

"You remember our first communion when you saw the memory of my attack. Curtis launched a book at the teacher. He did it without having the book in his hand!" Lone Wolfe replied, "I think he might do something like that again."

"What can he grab here?" Scarlet questioned.

Curtis reared back to launch water in a blast with his hands at them. As he pulled his hands back above the water, he noticed that the water seemed to follow his hands and he could feel the water despite his hands being above them. Curtis pushed forward creating a massive crested wave in the middle of the pool. It crashed down on the four of them; Ray, Robin, Lone Wolfe, and Scarlet. It pushed them down and back before the water rushed back and pulled them back past to where they were standing before.

Lone Wolfe and the rest of them stood. Scarlet was astonished by the power of the wave. Robin and Ray looked nonplussed by the action. Lone Wolfe burst out in laughter and faced his friend, "Woot! Curtis, that was awesome! Do that again!"

Scarlet tapped Lone Wolfe's shoulder, "I think not. Look around."

Most of the swimmers around them looked terrified of the event. As the freak event died down, most of the swimmers went back to what they were doing before. Robin swam over to them, "What was that? A kinetic blast or did he manipulate the water itself?"

"Hard to tell from my vantage point," Scarlet answered.

"I know from seeing similar things before that he was probably manipulating the water," Lone Wolfe replied, "He is a telekinetic and a telepath. He has trouble using both abilities but if you piss him off it tends to trigger a boost in his power. Good job."

"I guess I should believe you," Robin stated, "You haven't led us astray yet."

"I don't lie if I know about it," Lone Wolfe replied.

He glanced to Scarlet and noticed an odd look on her face. He glanced back to the rest of them and said, "I think Scarlet needs to talk to me about something. I will be back in a bit. Try not to kill each other while I am gone?"

Robin and Ray nodded. Scarlet and Lone Wolfe swam over to the nearest ladder to climb out of the pool, "I would have thought that you would have tried to take Angela here today? Did she not want to go?"

Scarlet climbed out of the pool, "Social anxiety. There would be too many people here today for her to come."

"How can she get along running a store then?" Lone Wolfe asked as she followed her out.

"Difference between someone one has to do and something one wants to do," Scarlet replied, "Sort of like school. She has to go to school, so you will likely see her there as well."

"Do you think you will see her again before you go back to Yale?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I was worried that she would grow some sort of attachment to me, but she wanted a one-night stand. I tried to figure out why, so I tried to start a communion with her, but I cannot because her abilities are different from mine. There is something about her that is keeping her from forming attachments. I told her that you and I are good friends and to keep an eye on you at school this year so don't try to push her away or anything."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I know. You seem relieved that she didn't want a commitment, why?"

"What you said in the pool," Scarlet mentioned as they headed to the convenience stand, "Something didn't come across in our last communion and that seems clear now. I won't become a teacher in middle school. I am going to become a college professor."

"So, you won't be back to Greeley ever," Lone Wolfe replied.

Scarlet shook her head, "That's not true. I plan to be an Anthropology teacher at UNC or maybe Aims. It will just take me a while longer to get there. It might take another four or five years. I will try to come back, when I can, on the summers, but I may not be around all the time. Just try to remember that you do have other friends around for you."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "No problem. Thank you for everything you have done for me so far."

Chapter #15: First day of High School

Greeley Colorado

August 23rd, 2027-CE

Each of the freshmen were assigned a senior to escort them through the first day of school. They made sure that they knew where the freshmen lockers were and familiar with where the important facilities were. They were also there to make sure they could navigate the halls to make sure they could get to their classes. Lone Wolfe was surprised who his senior advisor was today. Her black silky hair and silver eyes made for an easily recognizable combination, "Hey Lone Wolfe, I will be the one showing you the ropes today."

Curtis's jaw dropped, and Jena seemed surprised as well. Curtis glanced at him and asked, "How do you now her? How are you always so lucky?"

"I would like to know the answer to this question as well," Jena nodded in response.

"Oh, that's an easy answer," Robin stated in response, "Remember the picture that got you so bent out of shape, Jena. That was from her birthday party."

"That was a cute picture," Angela nodded.

"How many people were at this party?" Curtis questioned in response.

"Why bring it up now?" Lone Wolfe questioned, "You did such a good job of leaving it alone until now."

"Just answer the question," Curtis stammered.

"I don't see how the answer will change anything," Lone Wolfe replied.

"There was me, Lone Wolfe, Robin and Scarlet," Angela answered, "About all I could stand for guests."

"That sounds more like a small get together," Jena commented in response.

The other senior advisors started to show up. Angela held out her hand, "If you want to hand me your packet, we will find your locker then find your first class."

Lone Wolfe handed her his packet of information. She spotted his locker information right away and led him down the hall to the freshman locker hall. As they broke away from the main group Lone Wolfe glanced to her and said, "Isn't it something that you and I are assigned to each other today. It is nice to have someone I know as an advisor."

"More design than luck. They handed out the list of freshmen to us seniors Friday when we got in early and asked us if we knew anyone on the list. Scarlet told me your real name, so I spotted it right away. There were a few other people on the list that knew some freshmen and some siblings on the list too. They just make sure that if seniors know incoming freshmen that we are the ones assigned to them," Angela stated as they walked to his locker, "Do you need help with your combination?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head and dialed in the combination. He opened it up and was surprised to find it clean. He started to unpack his locker, "Still, it is an honor to have you as my advisor. You could have stayed quiet."

Angela shrugged as Lone Wolfe started to pack his items into the locker, "You may not want to pack anything you will want to take home this weekend. There is usually some sort of senior prank that locks the lockers at the end of the first week."

"Thanks for that," Lone Wolfe stated as he took his cell phone out of his pack and shoved it into his pocket.

"Put your cell phone on silent," Angela stated, "Even on vibrate, a teacher will hear it and confiscate it. So, either turn it off or completely silence it."

Lone Wolfe nodded and took the phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and silenced it all the way before turning the screen off and putting it back in his pocket, "You are very helpful. I am in your debt. How can I repay you?"

Angela gave him a smile, "Don't worry about it. Just friendly advice from one friend to another."

Lone Wolfe smiled, "I wasn't sure you wanted someone like me to be your friend."

"I was friends with your mother," Angela stated in response, "Makes sense that I would be friends with you."

"Thank you," Lone Wolfe replied.

* * *

Their first day went as much as can be expected. The first few classes were spent with introductions to their fellow classmates, book assignments and syllabus handouts for the semester. After that was lunch then more classes. After the laid-back summer, it was grueling to get back into the swing of a regimented school life.

Since none of them lived that far from each other, the five of the freshmen decided to walk home together. Jena was the first to break the silence as they split away from the rest of the groups, "I noticed something this morning. You didn't seem jealous o Angela. Want to tell me why?"

"Lone Wolfe is not her type," She answered, "I know I don't have to worry about them. They are okay."

"How do you know that she isn't your type?" Jena questioned in response.

"How about you ask Angela that yourself?" Robin stated in response, "You might find out a little more about yourself than you figured."

"Did anyone notice her eyes?" Curtis questioned, "I never seen anyone with gray eyes before?"

"That is the same thing you said about me," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "But you never mentioned Robin's eyes or Ray's eyes."

"They are kind of like your eyes," Curtis mentioned.

"Are you colorblind or stupid?" Robin hissed, "Our eyes are different."

"They are kind of orange," Jena replied.

"Same question to you," Robin huffed.

"They are amber colored," Lone Wolfe stated, "I would think that if something went a little different with my genetics that I would have the same eyes."

"Well, something did go different with your genetics," Jena stated, "Your mother's eyes are green. Everyone on her side of the family have green eyes. You are the only one with gold eyes. I wonder, sometimes, how you would have looked with green eyes."

"A little more like you," Curtis stated.

"Just a little fatter," Ray mentioned.

"Hey jackass, that's my boyfriend!" Robin exclaimed.

"So, is that all you know about her?" Jena questioned, "Or do you know more about her than just that? Don't mention her cup size either, you heathen!"

"Her favorite color is black," Lone Wolfe stated.

"Thanks, captain obvious," Jena replied, "I couldn't tell from her clothes or her accessories."

"Their birthday is on 12/21," Lone Wolfe added.

"Well, you would be in trouble if you didn't know when her birthday was," Jena replied.

"She likes anime," Lone Wolfe continued.

"A common interest," Curtis mentioned.

"Have to have common ground somewhere," Jena replied, "Can't carry a relationship on chemistry alone."

"She loves two different types of flowers that are very hard to get here. A Turkish rose and Egyptian blue lotus," Lone Wolfe replied.

They waited for a response from Jena but that seemed to shock her. It wasn't something that she wanted to admit but he did take time to get to know her. It wasn't just about making out. Instead, it was Curtis that had a question, "How about flowers that you can get here? Something that wouldn't take a lot of money to get your hands on?"

"White roses, Blue roses, and orchids," Lone Wolfe answered.

Curtis shrugged, "Well, that's all I got for them. He seems to be into her in more than just her body."

"I can't believe you, Curtis," Jena sighed, "There is much more than that. What's her favorite movie? Favorite foods? Books? That's just tip of the iceberg!"

"I wasn't aware this was an interrogation but alright," Lone Wolfe replied, "Her favorite movies are any sort of decently produced science fiction and fantasy movies especially if they have some sort of spirituality or magic in it, She likes Italian food, She loves the dragon riders series of books. Her favorite desert is pistachio ice cream. She doesn't like camping all that much but I might see if I can bring her out of that phase. She plays video games a lot but is not an avid MMORPG player. She is opinionated and likes to paint a pretty picture of everything with her words."

Jena dropped her jaw, "Would you like some soda with that shoe leather?" Robin replied with a smile.

"Okay little miss Prissy," Jena stated as she crossed her arms, "Let's see how well you know Lone Wolfe. What's his favorite color?"

"Black," Robin said with a smile.

"Wrong, it's red," Jena replied with a smile.

"Actually, Robin is right," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You're just siding with her for nookie rights!" Jena hissed.

"Hey, that's my sister!" Ray growled.

"You seem to be stuck in a loop, dude," Curtis commented.

Jena sighed, "Very well, next question; favorite movie?"

"Push," Robin replied, "A world where psychics romp more out in the open and fear more of the government than normal people."

"Favorite food?" Jena asked next.

"A recent discovery: spicy tuna tempura," Robin answered.

"What?" Jena asked,

"We had a date at the sushi shop a couple weeks ago," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "It was very delicious."

"Okay, favorite book?" She asked next.

"Dune," Robin sighed.

"Favorite dessert?" Jena asked.

"Cheese cake," Robin stated.

"Seems like they know a lot about each other in such a short time," Curtis nodded, "Including some things that you don't know, Jena."

"Clearly," Jena replied, "It seems like you have changed a little bit too, Lone Wolfe. You had a fantastic summer despite the awful start. Has she taught you how to do anything useful with your empathic abilities? She should be able to do that considering that her and I have the same raw talent."

"How does she know that?" Robin questioned.

"The ability to sense other people's abilities extends beyond me and Scarlet who taught me to do that. Jena can do that on her natural talent and skills alone. If we can let this little rivalry die then we call can learn from each other including the ability to sense other people's abilities," Lone Wolfe suggested, "To answer your question Jena; she doesn't know what to do with my damaged impure abilities. She hasn't taught me anything about them."

"Such a shame," Jena stated in response, "Even if you don't have true abilities it would be better than nothing to figure out what you can do and develop those to the fullest. Maybe you cannot heal or harm anyone and maybe you have to touch someone in order to do it but that is better than nothing. You can already sense the emotions of other people and you have the ability to block empathic projections of other empaths. That means you can develop that aspect of your abilities further. It is such a waste to keep you where you are just because your abilities are not what they could have been."

"Where was that attitude when I asked you to train me to use my telepathy?" Curtis growled in response.

"Considering how you would use your telepathy if given the chance, I wouldn't trust you to use it. You don't have a control problem otherwise Scarlet or Lone Wolfe would have helped you out by now. You want to be able to use your abilities which Lone Wolfe cannot help you with very well since he was taught to use his abilities with other telepaths. You can't use it with normal people very well without someone to teach you."

"What was it you said when I asked you what you would use it for?" Lone Wolfe asked.

"I said I would go snooping around," Curtis admitted.

"Which is why the teacher almost killed me was because of my out of control powers doing the same thing," Lone Wolfe replied, "If I asked you today if you would do the same thing do you think you would have the power to block me or anyone else standing here from probing your mind for the real answer?"

"Well, that's not very fair," Curtis answered.

"That's the point," Jena replied.

"Who says it is such a bad idea to snoop if they don't have a good thought for you in their mind," Robin added, "If it is good thoughts then I would just leave them alone afterward."

"There's something wrong about that," Jena replied, "If they give me a reason to doubt that what they say, or their actions aren't for good intentions then all bets are off but there are no good reasons to go snooping just because."

"I have to agree with Jena on this one," Lone Wolfe replied, "If they give me a reason not to trust them then I will read their mind but aside from that it is against the rules to go snooping through their personal thoughts. That's like going through their diary!" Ray blushed at that moment.

Curtis glanced to Ray that had to weigh in on the conversation, "What do you think about this Ray?"

"Well," Ray seemed flummoxed by the recent conversation, "I guess, now that it was mentioned, that going through people's minds would be like going through their diaries. Maybe we should think twice before doing it."

"Maybe," Robin stated, "Wait, you got stuck on Diary. Have you been reading my journal?"

"There it is," Jena smirked, "That is exactly what invading someone's privacy feels like."

"I can't believe you Ray!" Robin replied, ignoring Jena, "Just ask me and I will tell you! You know that!"

"I want to make sure you and Lone Wolfe weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to. Turns out, he is a gentleman." Ray replied, "I didn't think I could trust you for a straight answer."

"You could have asked for a serious answer and I would have told you," She replied.

"Yeah, the question would go something like this; 'Robin, are you and your boyfriend having sex?' how would you respond to that and expect me to believe you?" He commented in response.

"There's just no reasoning with some people," Curtis shrugged.

"Have I lied to you before?" Robin questioned in response.

"I guess not but this would be different," Ray stated.

She crossed her arms, "So, what you are actually saying is if you were to get yourself a girlfriend, you would lie to me if you had sex with her and I asked you." She glanced back to Jena, "I changed my mind Jena, I may not like you that much but apparently I cannot trust him with anyone I know personally."

The remark caught Jena off guard, "thanks, I guess?"

"Well I have to part ways now, best of luck on that argument," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

* * *

Lone Wolfe was getting ready for bed. He was unsure of putting his phone on the charging cradle because usually the moment he did, she would send him a text message and he would just have to grab it off the charger anyway. As luck were to have it, his phone vibrated twice. He glanced at the phone two text messages? What is she sending this time? He opened the first one, "Ray's blunder gave me an idea, details in picture."

He downloaded the picture, "Feel free to read my journal if you dare." Was the message attached to the picture of her. She held her journal open against her topless figure. It covered everything it needed to but the hint was clear.

Lone Wolfe sighed. He typed, "I love you, good night, sweet dreams."

She sent back a message, "the first time you say I love you to someone you should say it face to face!"

He quickly texted back, "I'm sorry, my first time doing this. Do you want me to take it back?"

He could almost feel her sigh as she responded back to him, "No, it's fine. I love you too. Good night. Sweet dreams."

He put the phone up on the charging deck cradle and was just about asleep when he heard the screen to his outer window come off. A moment later the window slid open. Lone Wolfe sat up at the same moment Jena poked her head through the window. She had been doing this for a couple of years now. How moments like this manage to not make it through the communion with Robin I don't know. Maybe they do and that is why Robin hates Jena so much. Jena pulled herself onto his bed and closed the window without so much trouble. She sat down on the bed and he smiled, "I would ask what makes you darken my doorstep at this time of night but that's not really a door step. What makes you darken my window?"

"The real question you should ask yourself is how I manage to get out of my window considering I live on the second story of the house," Jena answered with a slight smile.

"I have never been to your house, so I didn't know about that obstacle," Lone Wolfe replied, "But considering it was you it is probably a little bit of planning with a ladder and maybe a good explanation if you get caught."

"Close," Jena nodded, "There is a lattice outside my window. I am sure that my father will probably take it down if he finds out I'm sneaking out some nights to see a boy."

"So that's why there is no pattern to your visits," Lone Wolfe nodded.

"Well, there would be no point for if we had the same parents like real siblings," Jena replied.

"True," Lone Wolfe replied, "Would be kind of nice if there was some way of getting one of us adopted into the other household without the other losing their parent or parents that would be nice. Still doesn't answer my question, what brings you here?"

"Well," She laid down next to him but didn't cuddle up next to him like Robin would have. She reached out with her foot and gently nudged the window shut, "I was thinking we can try that bond."

"The communion?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response, "You do know that takes hours, right?"

"As long as I am out of here before the morning and back to my house before I have to get up it will be fine," Jena replied.

"Don't you think we should do this on a Friday when you don't have to worry about being up on time for school? I mean, if I don't get up until the morning then I will be fine but you will have to be up and hike in the middle of the night for a while before you get back to the house and back into your bed and back to sleep. You will be dead on your feet tomorrow." Lone Wolfe argued.

"Do you not want to have a communion with me?" Jena questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I do. I just don't want to see you dead on your feet tomorrow. It will be my fault if you did that. If mom was still alive I might be able to get something across to her and maybe let you stay the night, but my dad will castrate me for just having you in the room."

"I appreciate you thinking about me, but I am already here. If you want the communion then now is your shot," Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I would like a communion with you."

He laid down and gazed at Jena. With his telepathy, he reached for the light he saw within her and was drawn in. The communion happened a lot faster than it happened with Robin or Scarlet. Jena did seem to have a handle on this as she sounded like she found time to do it with a few people more. It still surprised him.

His memories, the ones he managed to keep of Relena, Scarlet, and Robin flew into her quickly; from his point of view. Each one seemed to get a commentary from Jena as they came by. Jena's commentary seemed to be focused mainly on how they initiated the communions. With Scarlet's two communions, she called the initiations pedestrian. With Relena's communion, she said it was standard and common despite all the sneaking around they had to do in order to perform the communion. She called Robin's insistence on physical contact disgusting.

After his memories were done with the transfer, it was her chance for the transfer. It was at this point that he realized what felt different about memories that he received from Jena normally and memories he received through the communion. He had seen some of these memories before, but this was the first time he got to live those memories.

After her own memories were done playing out came the memories and thoughts of the others she had communions with in the past. They each had fascinating data about the world of psychics. The first thing he learned surprised him. He knew psychics were rare, but he didn't have an idea as to how rare.

Psychics occur commonly in families which is why they felt common to Lone Wolfe. The amount of families was rare. The amount of psychic's knowns in the world equated to about one in two-hundred. What seemed to throw off the number was their predilection to congregate in larger cities. Smaller towns tended to only have a handful of psychics while larger cities have more.

Telepaths were the most common of the psychics and clairvoyants were the rarest. Of the people that she had contact with, several had theories about dividing the abilities into evolutionary traits and recessive traits. They all agreed that telepathy was an evolutionary trait which was the reason why there were so many of them around. They also represented communication which was an evolutionary trait of humanity as well.

Empathy was a hard one to nail down because they could fall into both categories. They felt stronger emotions than normal humans and felt the emotions of others around them as well. Some of the ones she was with also knew about empathic bonds and thought that such a deep bond was a recessive trait.

Psychokinesis and telekinesis seemed to be recessive traits. Those abilities were exceedingly rare, and their use tied to the emotional state of the user. The use of the abilities was not restricted to emotions with the other abilities. With each generation, there seemed to be less and less of them.

Clairvoyance proved to be a problem. The amount of people left with the abilities lent itself to the belief that it was a recessive trait. There were only a few families left with the trait. However, in today's age with forecasting and data analysis, the people that possessed the abilities were exceedingly useful. They were surprised that genetics had not yet caught up with their reality.

With the information Jena had, she had her own opinion as to which was evolutionary, and which was recessive. Three of the abilities had their own twist that allowed them to interact with another person, psychic or human, that the clear recessive traits did not have. Telepaths had their communions. Empaths had the deep emotional empathic bond, and Clairvoyants had the perfect moment."

Lone Wolfe shot up in the bed, "Perfect moment?" He had never heard of the term used by that before. He glanced back to the clock. Several hours had passed since the communion started. Since he was able to wake up, it was clear the communion was over.

Jena was asleep next to him on the other side of the bed. I don't want to wake her up, she looks so peaceful, but we are both dead if she doesn't make it home without getting caught! I don't want to wake you up... Lone Wolfe thought to himself. He gently nudged her shoulder to rouse her.

Her green eyes opened and glanced at him, "Good morning." She yawned.

"Yeah, if you don't go home now then you will be dead to the world tomorrow," Lone Wolfe replied, "I would rather you stay here and sleep, but we would be grounded for the rest of our lives if that happened."

Jena broke her gaze with him, "So you don't want to talk about the communion then?"

Lone Wolfe laid down next to her. It was an interesting question. Something that had not been asked to him before. It made sense to talk about it and digest it. It might be why she was able to retain more of what she wanted from the communion than he was, "I do. That was something I had not done before."

Jena nodded, "I could tell. If you try to process it all yourself then you will end up losing a lot more than you would if you tried to talk about it."

"I would love nothing more than that," Lone Wolfe replied, "But it doesn't change the fact you have to get back to your house and get some more sleep before school. I don't want to you wearing yourself out. We can do this again sometime, properly."

Jena sat up slowly, "Okay, under one condition; I know you have a question. You have to ask me about it before I go."

"You learned that clairvoyants have something special they can do with each other just like telepaths can. Whoever you learned it from called it a perfect moment. What is it and how does it work?" Lone Wolfe asked.

Jena smiled, "I thought you would ask about that. I am glad that came through the communion. You already know part of it. You used it when you were fighting the delinquents the day you met Robin and Ray."

Lone Wolfe blushed, "You saw that."

Jena nodded, "I did. A perfect moment is like a dance between two clairvoyants. One person trying to lead without leading and the other one trying to follow without following. You use your pre-cognitive powers. Somewhere along the way, something clicks, and time seems to come to a complete stop. No one has ever seen it, so it is kind of hard to explain."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "So I will have to find another clairvoyant to do this with? Will be hard to find one of the same level as me. I am not sure there is one out side of the family."

"Never said this one was tied to your power," Jena stated as she headed to the window. She opened it and turned back to him, "Empath's don't need another empath for the bond. For clairvoyants, it might just be skill. If that is the case, you already know another clairvoyant to have a perfect moment with."

He laid down as she slipped out of the window. She shut it behind her as she slipped out and replaced the screen a few minutes later. Lone Wolfe laid down on the bed and thought for a moment. Angela was a clairvoyant. He could sense her raw power was not as potent as his or any members of his family. It made him wonder if she was from a different family of psychics or maybe an older split off the same family. If the former were true, then it would mean that there were other clairvoyant families out there. If the ladder were true, then he wondered how long it would be before his family would begin to lose their clairvoyant power.

Chapter #16: Homecoming

Greeley Colorado

September 24th, 2027-CE

One of the things that Lone Wolfe didn't think he would hate so much was homecoming week. It was one thing to celebrate the team's football team and attempt to get into the team spirit for the occasion. It was amazing how fast the schools "spirit committee" could whip the student body into a frenzy over something as inane as school spirit. It got to the point where they would almost punish anyone who was not feeling the spirit. It felt like they were all brainwashed, with the few psychics in the school not convinced that it wasn't entirely innocent team spirit building.

There was only one thing that could make the week end on a good note. It was something that he didn't know he should be looking forward to for the school year until Angela had brought it up, "Who are you going to take to the homecoming dance this weekend? I bet you already asked Robin or Robin asked you."

"I didn't know there was a dance," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You should probably ask her for tomorrow night. It's not like the prom or anything but it is as close as freshmen get to it," Angela mentioned. She smirked and asked, "Do you think anyone has asked your slender friend out?"

"Which one? Jena?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Angela nodded, and he replied, "She hasn't told me anything. I would have thought that she would have told me something if she was going to the homecoming dance with anyone."

"Do you think she would go with me if I ask her out?" Angela questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I haven't given that much thought. She might. Give it a shot. The worst she could say is no."

"So, you don't know if she likes girls or boys?" Angela asked in response.

"I can only go off of what she went through communions with," Lone Wolfe shrugged, "That being said. She went through communions with both. Maybe she bats for both teams."

"I thought you didn't put a tie to romantic interests and communions?" Angela questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I don't but I may not be in the majority about that. Robin definitely puts a romantic twist on her communions. Scarlet does not. She prefers space with no physical contact. Jena seems the same way."

"You have only went through communions with girls?" Angela questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "That isn't by design, though. I haven't met any male telepaths that are close to my abilities and that seems to be a requirement for our abilities to allow it."

"With all due respect, that is not true," Angela stated, "You are forgetting a person."

Lone Wolfe cocked his head in response, "Who?"

"Robin's brother, Ray," Angela responded, "He is telepathic, right?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I never thought about it."

Angela smirked, "You may want to ask him. Why would you want to have a communion with a guy anyway?"

"It's a little hard to explain," Lone Wolfe replied, "When you go through a communion, both of you merge into one person for a period of time. When your mind tries to figure out who you are it tries to find something different about you and uses that as the catalyst to rebuild you as you. When people of different genders do this, it figures out who is who quickly and does this. I want to see what happens when it doesn't have a clear difference to work with. Jena is still Jena even though she went through this with another girl so it finds something else."

Angela sighed, "Sounds like fun. Hopefully I can find something to try that with someday."

"If Robin didn't put such a romantic twist on it I would suggest asking her," Lone Wolfe suggested.

Angela cocked her head in confusion, "Why?"

"The communion working seems to be based off of raw talent," Lone Wolfe replied, "They don't have to match up perfectly. The two people just have to be close to each other. I am stronger than Robin, but I can communion with her. She is close to average and if what I learned from Jena is true; you are pretty much the average telepath, so she should be able to imitate a communion with you."

Angela nodded, "You would be okay with it if I asked her?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Why now? It isn't an empathic bond. There is only one purpose for an empathic bond. There are many benefits to a communion. She could use some of your stability."

"I may just have to ask her sometime," Angela nodded, "Until then, I will have to find Jena and ask her out before someone else does."

"Well, we meet up at the north parking lot to walk home after school, you can meet up with us then to ask," Lone Wolfe suggested.

Angela sighed, "I guess I will have to wait until then."

"I have a question for you in the meantime," Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

She seemed shocked, "What is it?"

"Win or lose with Jena, Can I ask you for a ride to Homecoming? For Robin and I?"

Angela nodded, "Consider it done."

* * *

The sun was already making its final descent when school was let out. Lone Wolfe and Curtis got out of their class soon enough and waited for their three friends in the north parking lot. Lone Wolfe glanced to Curtis, "Have you asked anyone out to the Homecoming dance tomorrow?"

Curtis nodded, "Of Course."

"Who?" Lone Wolfe questioned.

"There is this girl in third period that I had my eye on for a while named Amanda. I asked her out," Curtis answered.

Lone Wolfe breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know he was holding his breath until that moment. It was then that he remembered that Curtis was interested in Jena, back during their reunion at the pool in the middle of summer. Curtis gave him a curious look to which he answered, "I thought you would have asked Jena by now."

"Well, I did ask Jena at the beginning of the week, but she said no," Curtis answered.

"Did she say why?" Lone Wolfe questioned. He hoped that Angela didn't wait too long to ask her already.

"She just said she didn't want to go with an old friend," Curtis replied, "She didn't want to feel like a charity case."

"She didn't mention if she was already was going with anyone else?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Curtis shook his head, "I asked her that already, but she said no. She said she might go alone. She said she thought you asked me to ask her. I told her that she was free to look into my mind, but she refused to go in and take a peek. I wonder why she wouldn't take a look?"

Lone Wolfe could guess as to why she wouldn't. They had a couple of communions by now. Usually on a Friday or Saturday night. Afterwards, they would talk about the communions. It was apparent to Jena that Lone Wolfe's telepathy was different from most people's as well. It was because the aspect to telepathy that allowed people to communicate with spirits of the departed functioned with Lone Wolfe to see the spirits of the living. Curtis was different from most of the people around him. There was a different darkness about Curtis, different from that of telepaths and normal people. While Lone Wolfe refused to read the minds of other people around him out of principles instilled in him from Scarlet, it would be easy or Jena to confuse that with fear about Curtis's spirit and would could be found within.

Jena didn't always follow Scarlet's principles, but she did so more often than most telepaths around them. He chalked it up to the lack of negative experiences she had with normal people. They shared the one negative experience he had. Often, if a telepath is found out, people would treat them as mentally ill and place them in a sanitarium and drug them to suppress the voices they heard. If a telepath was smart or clever, they would pretend that the medicines worked before real damage was done to them to get out. That was what Scarlet did. Many telepaths were not so lucky.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "She takes privacy seriously. We can't always control where we go when we are in someone's mind and you are a teenage boy."

"So are you," Curtis replied.

"Yeah but I have went through communions with women that are older than me, so I have borrowed some experience," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Some would say that's cheating," Curtis smirked.

"Some but not I," Lone Wolfe stated proudly.

"How about you?" Curtis questioned, "Will I see you and Robin at Homecoming?"

"I didn't know there was a dance until today, so I am planning on asking Robin the moment I see her," Lone Wolfe stated, "I thought they were going to do another pep rally today but apparently not."

"No but there is a game tomorrow followed by the dance," Curtis replied.

"Don't care much for the game," Lone Wolfe replied, "Just care about the dance.

"I wonder if they will have a bon fire?" Curtis questioned, "My father told me that they used to do bon fires at the homecoming dances."

"They won't," Angela replied as she strolled up to meet the group, "They did away with that years ago."

"What!" Curtis griped, "I wanted to dance in front of a roaring fire!"

"There was a college that had a bonfire that collapsed and hurt a bunch of people and there were other safety issues on top of that. With all the safety hazards, as well as the costs associated with the fire, they did away with the tradition," She explained.

"Where's Jena and the twins?" Curtis asked, "If you are out then they can't be that far behind."

Lone Wolfe glanced towards the building to see if he could find them. He spotted a single figure by the building walking towards them. The shoulder length reddish brown hair and green eyes with a slender build told Lone Wolfe it was Jena right away. He pointed to Jena's spot, "Don't know about Robin and Ray but Jena is coming right now."

Angela faced the direction Lone Wolfe pointed and waited there. Curtis faced that direction as well, but his eyes were focused on someone else. He eventually couldn't contain himself and raced across the grass field to the girl he was walking towards. When he caught up with her, both started walking in a different direction. Lone Wolfe sighed, "Well, there goes Curtis. If you don't want an audience, I can go find Robin and Ray myself."

Angela shook her head, "That's fine. You can stay. You need to ask Robin out anyway. I want to make sure you don't chicken out and we get our ride situation sorted out anyway."

Jena glanced to the two of them as she approached, "Weird that you two decided to wait for me while Curtis decided to leave right away with whoever that girl was."

"Well, I have a question for you," Angela stated in response, "I want to take you to the homecoming dance."

Jena glanced to Lone Wolfe, "Did you put her up to this?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "She came up with this all by herself. She specifically asked if you had a date or if you would go out with her. I suggested she ask you herself."

"Very well," Jena stated then glanced back to Angela, "I will accept."

Angela's gray eyes lit up, "Really!"

Jena nodded with a faint smile on her lips, "Why not? I wasn't really interested in most of the homecoming activities, but the dance should be fun."

Angela smiled, "That's good. As soon as Robin and Ray get here we can figure out our ride situation."

"Why do we have to wait for them? It's our date, right?" She asked in response.

"Well, Lone Wolfe asked for a ride if Robin said yes," Angela answered.

Jena glanced back to Lone Wolfe and chuckled, "You didn't think to ask her out until just now?"

"We don't have the same classes at the same time," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You could have asked her earlier in the week," Jena commented.

"I didn't know about it until Angela asked me if anyone asked you out," Lone Wolfe replied, "Kind of hard to ask her when both of our phone are in our lockers."

"You could always carry yours on your person and keep it on silent," Jena commented in response as she pulled hers out of her pocket, "That is what I do. I check it during passing periods."

"If I had my phone with me I would be too tempted to check it during class and that is a sure way to get it taken away from me during class," Lone Wolfe replied as he pulled out his phone from his backpack. He checked to see if there was a message waiting for him but didn't see any. He glanced around and finally saw the twins coming his way. He smiled and said, "Doesn't matter now. They are coming this way."

Robin raised her hand to them. She smiled but could tell from the vibe coming off of her that something was up, "Hey Lone Wolfe! If you ask me any other question other than taking me to homecoming you are going to regret it!"

"That was going to be the first question!" Lone Wolfe called out, "Other than perhaps, how your day was?"

"Good, Yes, I will go out with you to homecoming! Took you long enough! My day went fine. I can't believe I had to wait all week for you to ask me out to the dance." Robin replied.

"I didn't know about it until this morning," Lone Wolfe replied, "No one told me anything about it. Don't kill the messenger."

"Your dad didn't tell you anything about it?" Robin questioned with a confused look on her face.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "If it involves a date I am sure he wouldn't tell me about it if his life depended on it. He probably thought I would figure it out when all of the pep rallies started. Anyway, better late than never, right?"

Robin sighed, "I guess but there will be a penalty the next time you make we wait."

"You know sometimes no one tells him these things and he has no other family to talk to. Instead of punishing him, how about you ask him about it, next time," Jena suggested, "That or you don't get a ride to the dance."

"You mean we already have a ride to the dance?" Robin glanced over.

Angela nodded, "As long as you aren't mean for no reason. Jena and I are going to and I happen to have a ride, so I can take you two as well."

Robin glanced to her brother, "How about you and your date? Are you covered or are you going to need a ride as well?"

"Hey, I never thought I would be picking up more than just you and Robin," Angela replied.

Ray scratched his chin in thought, "I think her parents were going to pick me up so I think I am good. I can change things if you want?"

Everyone glanced to Angela. She did a mental count in her head, "Six people means I would have to take the SUV. I guess I could swing it if we wanted to. It's not like it would be more than one more stop. Go ahead and change your plans I will pick you guys up. I will pick up Jena and Lone Wolfe first and swing by to pick you and Robin up at around six. From there, we can pick up your date and head over to the school for the date. Sounds good?" Everyone nodded, and she forced a smile, "Now just make sure no one leaves me alone at the dance or we might be in real trouble."

* * *

Greeley Colorado

September 25th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe waited on the porch for Jena and Angela to show up. The air was getting colder and it was now more comfortable for him to wear his mother's old leather jacket. He knew they would be here at about this time. His father had offered a sports jacket for the occasion but the smell of old tobacco smoke and sweat proved to be too much for him. It also fit him like an elephant skin. Instead he went with a gray button up shirt and help from his father with a black silk tie. He ticked in his shirt into his black trousers and then waited outside.

He received a text from Jena saying they were on the way. He sat on the porch with nothing to do. He texted Robin saying that they will be on their way to pick them up as soon as they got to his place. He was expecting a response soon but didn't get anything right away. He wondered how long it would take for her to respond. He wished he had her brother's phone number at this point, so he could relay the message to someone in the house.

A few minutes later a gray SUV pulled into the driveway with familiar figures sitting in the front. Lone Wolfe walked over and climbed into the seat behind Jena. She glanced back with a smile and said, "okay, let them know we are on our way."

"I already sent them a heads up, but I haven't gotten a response from Robin yet," Lone Wolfe replied as he settled into the third row.

"So, text her brother so we can get there and be ready," Jena stated in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't have his number."

"Swell," Jena replied, "Well, let's get over there. We can just have you knock on the door when we get there and that should get them in motion."

Angela put the car in motion and pulled out onto the road. It didn't take them long to get to the house. From there, Lone Wolfe dialed her number and let it ring to voice mail. When there was no answer after the second call, he made his way to the back door and said, "Okay, I guess I will have to get to the door and see what's going on. I hope she is okay."

"She probably is just taking forever to get ready," Jena commented in response.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Lone Wolfe mentioned, "It is just a little dance at the school. Nothing too special. Nothing that should take all day to get ready for."

"I wouldn't have pegged her as the type to be so picky about how she looks for a dance as well," Angela nodded.

"Sometimes people can surprise us," Jena stated, "You have been going on dates where there aren't a lot of people that know her. This one is different, so she might be a little more concerned with how she looks as opposed to normal. That might be the delay."

"Why would she be more concerned when there are people there that she knows?" Lone Wolfe questioned as held the back door open, "They see how she normally looks on any given day. What would be so different about a dance?"

"No offense, Lone Wolfe, but she might want other people to look at her see how lovely she is," Angela stated, "It is nothing about you, but it is part of being human. She just wants to turn a few heads."

Jena crossed her arms, "I think it is stupid, personally."

Lone Wolfe said nothing and shut the door to the car. He headed to the house and rang the doorbell. After a moment, Ray answered the door, "Oh, Lone Wolfe, you are here already. Robin is still getting ready. Let me see if I can speed her up."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "You might want to tell her to hurry, the natives are getting restless. They might leave the three of us behind if she doesn't hurry."

Ray nodded then closed the door. Lone Wolfe glanced back to the car to see a glare from Jena and a nervous smile from Angela. He had a feeling his comment wasn't far off the mark when he said that they might be left behind if she didn't hurry. He waited there long enough for Jena to text him saying that she had five more minutes before the door opened behind him. He turned around to see both twins there.

He blushed. She wore a blue dress cut to a v in the front and the skirt ended just above the knees. Her hair had been done in slight curls and make up accentuated all her facial features including her dark amber eyes. She smiled and turned around showing that the dress had no back to it. Lone Wolfe gulped, "That was well worth the wait. You look lovely. Now, let's get to the car before we are left behind."

Robin nodded, "I wonder how long Jena took to get ready."

"I don't know, how about you ask," Lone Wolfe replied as he led the way to the car.

When they climbed in, Angela twisted back to get a look at them. She smiled, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks, "Hey Lone Wolfe, let's trade dates. She looks far too lovely for you!"

"I'm straight, thank you!" Robin huffed.

"Can I at least have one dance?" Angela questioned in response, "For being your ride at least?"

"I don't see why she should get some extra attention just because she took extra time to do herself up like a doll!" Jena sighed.

"Please say your date is going to take as much time as Robin?" Lone Wolfe glanced to Ray, "This might be a long night otherwise."

Ray shrugged, "I hardly know her, so I don't know."

"Well, give me the address and I will drive us there," Angela stated, "Make sure you let her know so we get to the dance before it's over."

Ray nodded and pulled up her address. He sent her a text message then went back to the map and handed it to Angela. She glanced at it and handed the phone back to Ray. She drove over to the house and stopped the car on the curb. Ray jumped out of the car and headed to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited until it was answered by the girl's father. The father closed the door and they waited for a few minutes. Lone Wolfe breathed a sigh of relief, "Looks like I am the only one who has a date that takes forever."

"He probably texted her to take her time to take the pressure off of Robin and you," Jena replied flatly.

"I can tell you for a fact that he did not," Robin retorted.

They waited for about the same amount of time before his date came through the door. She was dressed in a red dress that did have a back, but she did have her make up done similarly to accentuate her face and outfit like Robin had done earlier. All things considered, she did look lovely. Lone Wolfe thought that, all things being equal, she was still in last place in the car with Robin and Jena coming up as the top two women in the car as far as beauty. He could see why Jena was upset. Jena didn't have to work at it and the girls which did were taking all the attention.

Ray and his date climbed into the car and closed the door. He could understand why Jena seemed upset because Angela was already trying to deal for a second dance, but he couldn't understand why Robin was so upset. Lone Wolfe was not giving her the time of day. He figured if she wasn't giving him the time of day and instead paying attention to Ray and anyone who talked to her then he would be safe. He leaned in and whispered, "What's up? Why are you jealous? You are still the prettiest one here."

"She is getting all of the attention right now," Robin hissed quietly.

"She's not getting my attention. I'm all yours," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin sighed then kissed his cheek, "You always know what to say." He could tell she wanted to say more but now the car was occupied with one person who was completely normal, so she stopped there. It might have been that which made her so upset. Up until now, the car had been filled with psychics and the normal girl was the one getting the attention from her brother, from Angela, and some politeness from Jena.

The trip to the school didn't take too long which was good for most of the occupants. As the doors opened, Jena and Angela jumped out quickly and waited as Ray and his date climbed out. Lone Wolfe climbed into the middle row and shut the door for the car. At that point Jena announced, "Angela and I are going to be in the bathroom for a little bit. If one of you four can find a table for us, that would be great!" She took Angela by the hand and led her into the school.

Lone Wolfe glanced to Robin and asked, "There are tables inside? I thought this was a dance."

"Of course, it is a dance, silly," Robin nodded, "But there are still going to be tables around the side of the dance floor for refreshments and places for people to sit. Did you expect to dance for several hours?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I never danced before so I don't know the first thing about dancing or how much energy it would take to dance."

Robin took him by the arm and led him towards the school, "You are so funny sometimes. Don't worry about the dancing part. I doubt many people know how to dance anyway. I can lead you through it but you won't want to dance for a few hours. You will want to take a break anyway."

Ray stood in line behind them, "I don't know Robin, with a partner like you, I am sure you can make him dance for the entire night if you really wanted to."

Robin glanced back at her brother with a leer on her face, "You shut up about that or I will make you dance like a mannequin!"

Ray jumped back, "Sorry sis!"

They paid their way into the dance and walked into the gym which had been laid out like a dance floor. Gone were the days where a band was usually hired to play music for those coming to the dance. Now, there was a DJ playing music at the far end of the hall. Lone Wolfe was pretty sure he recognized the man as an upper classman and the equipment looked old which meant the student council probably put the equipment together and had a member of the audio club put together the lineup for the dance tonight. It was standard anymore. It was getting to the point where a lot of schools were cutting whatever they could to make the dances more affordable for their students.

Lone Wolfe found an open table quickly and led Robin to it. They claimed it before anyone else could. He sat his jacket down on one of the seat then glanced back to Robin, "Would you wait here, and I can get us something to drink and maybe something to snack on?"

Robin nodded, "Sure, some punch and some cheese and crackers?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Will do." He walked towards the refreshment stand as Ray and his date headed towards the refreshments table. He grabbed two empty cups and filed them up with a ladle then grabbed a plate and piled on various crackers and cheese cubes before picking up the drinks and heading back to the table. He sat down next to Robin and sat the plate between them before handing her one of the glasses of punch.

She took a drink of the punch, "Hmm, lemon-lime soda with fruit punch. Not bad."

Lone Wolfe took a sip of the drink savored the bubbly fruity drink. He took a second drink and said, "Beats water. With how they are starting to cut everything, I'm surprised they gave us punch."

"We had to pay our way in," Ray glowered.

"Doesn't beat the fact that the DJ is part of the audio club," Lone Wolfe replied, "We don't even get a real DJ."

Robin snacked on a cheese cube before replying, "I don't see what the big deal is. They just play songs. Nothing too complicated or special about that."

"Except that a real DJ sometimes has their own songs and they usually have their own remakes of other songs. They also have a whole bunch of mixes of songs that are well known. They are excellent at judging the floor and seeing if they want fast songs or if they want slow songs. There is more to be a DJ than just playing music for people to dance to," Lone Wolfe replied.

"For someone who doesn't go out much you seem to know a lot about being a DJ," Ray commented in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Sometimes I just know stuff. I also have friends who know things."

"Speaking of friends," Robin commented, "I wonder where Curtis and his date is? I haven't seen them when we came in. They could be at another table somewhere. I would have thought that they would be here and just at another table but as I look, I don't see them."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't see them either. They either aren't here, or they are somewhere else."

"They could be exploring the school for hiding spots and probably making out," Ray smiled, "Something I would be inclined to do."

"I wouldn't be caught dead trying to make out with Robin in the school," Lone Wolfe replied.

"No duh, I'm right here," Ray commented.

"Not only that, I don't have any keys to any of the locks," Lone Wolfe replied, "If I can't ensure my privacy then I won't do it."

Robin stood as the song ended, "Hopefully this DJ will play a slow song."

She was disappointed and sat down. Lone Wolfe glanced around and didn't see a lot of people on the dance floor. Those that were there were dancing around raucously. There was no rhyme or reason to their movements other than the fact that there some couples who were dancing together. He glanced back to Robin and said, "This is what I mean by earlier. Clearly a lot people want some slower music and the DJ is not providing it. He is either going off a list or is just clueless to what is going on."

"Maybe I could just go..." She glanced to Ray's date and her words trailed off, "make a request."

"Make it on paper," Lone Wolfe replied. Her thoughts came through the link loud and clear even if they didn't make it to word form.

She remained seated and glared at Lone Wolfe for a moment, "we will see where these songs go. If they don't play any slow songs soon..."

"You'll burst," Ray interrupted.

Robin was about to make a comment when Jena and Angela strolled up. While their clothes were the same, they now wore make up which enhanced the features of their faces. While Jena seemed at ease and comfortable in the makeup, Angela looked distinctly out of sorts. Both did look much better than before, "I like what you did with the makeup," Lone Wolfe nodded, "I take it you are the master behind your transformations?"

Jena nodded, "Not to bad if I say so myself."

"Why didn't you just do yourselves up before coming to get the rest of us?" Robin questioned bitterly.

"Because we were operating under a deadline and were trying to be considerate unlike some dates," Jena responded.

"I'm going to go grab some drinks," Angela stated nervously and walked away before anyone could say anything more.

Jena sat down on the other side of Lone Wolfe. Lone Wolfe glanced around again and asked, "Did you happen to see Curtis and Amanda on your way here? I don't see either one of them."

She shook her head, "I wonder if he was able to get a ride here or if he is dithering around somewhere with her. He has never been one for tradition if that tradition didn't involve fire."

Robin got an idea and shared it with Lone Wolfe, "Couldn't you use your power to scour the town for him? I mean if you tried and spread out your presence you could find him quite easily. After that little display at the pool multiple times you should be able to find him no matter where he is in town."

Lone Wolfe thought about it for a moment, "I would rather not. There are a lot of people in this town and if I spread myself out that much it will be like drowning in an ocean of voices. I have been in Scarlet's mind enough as a kid to know how frightening that can be. It is all I can do some days to keep myself stable with the minds of those in my sympathetic range."

"You'd still be able to find him," Robin urged.

"Just because I would be able to hear him doesn't mean I would know where he was if I spread myself out like that," Lone Wolfe replied.

"But you knew where Jena and I was at the pool pretty often," Robin argued.

"You were in my sympathetic range. If he is in my sympathetic range, then I might be able to home in on him as well. If he is outside of it, I might just be able to tell you he is close by but further than a couple miles out. I never tried to find where someone is outside of my sympathetic range before," Lone Wolfe explained.

"You two are being rather quiet over there," Ray stated, "Are you two going to sit out all of the songs or do you not like this slow song."

Robin glanced up then grabbed Lone Wolfe by the arm and dragged him out of the seat and onto the dance floor, not quite giving him time to get his feet under him as they went. When they stopped, she placed his hands on her waist and her hands around his shoulders. She placed her head next to his, "Just follow my lead, we are just going to sway to the music."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Is that just what everyone else is doing?"

"Strange that after Jena showed up he starts playing slow songs," Robin nodded but pointed out, "Almost like that little vixen took my idea away from me!"

"Are you sure it was her?" Lone Wolfe asked as he saw Angela drag Jena to the dance floor. Jena looked about as comfortable dancing as Angela did wearing makeup.

She cocked her head in confusion and spun them around, "Wait, you don't think Angela would have used her abilities to do this? She sounded just like you and your restrictive rules with psychic abilities!"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Jena and I have the same range, if we wanted to, we could have had him babbling like a monkey before we reached the parking lot. She doesn't seem comfortable with this idea of dancing, but Angela is really go for it. She is an average telepath, so she wouldn't have the range to do something like that until she was at the table."

"She could have spread herself out and extended her range much further," Robing suggested.

"Yes, but that would encompass many more voices," Lone Wolfe stated, "She doesn't like crowds and that would be letting in a massive crowd into her mind. On the other hand, she would have waited until we were out here and started playing him like a flute, just this once, since people wanted slow songs anyway."

Robin hugged him tightly and he returned by pulling her close around the waist, "Do you like the dance?" She asked.

He nodded, "I do. I love you."

She smiled, "I love you too." She breathed.

Chapter #17: Collapse and Problems

Greeley Colorado

November 11th, 2027-CE

Angela walked around looking like she was in a haze. It was all she could to keep up with the online orders, keeping the business open at night and keep up with her homework. She was managing to keep up, but something was starting to take a toll. She had been getting up too early in the morning to do any solar Nwyfre cleansing and she had been having a hard time finding an excuse to get out and do cleansing rituals during any of the passing periods. She did so whenever she caught a chance and that seemed to keep her going but she had a feeling that she was running on empty and it wasn't something that food alone could help her with.

She stepped outside and noticed that the day was starting to get cloudy already. She had come to hate cloudy days. It made for a difficult time for Nwyfre cleansing. If she were at home it wouldn't have been a problem, it would have just taken her longer to do. However, with only a few minutes ding a passing period, she wouldn't have time to get what she needed from the ritual. She tried anyway, something was always better than nothing, where are you, Mentor? She asked more to herself than to the world around her. It had been so long since she had her spirit guide with her to help with this. If she had some guide, someone to help her, it would make her life easier. She hated being an adult and relying on herself.

After a few minutes she headed indoors. As she walked down the hall she spotted someone familiar as the hall started to twist and spin. It was Jena. She was thinking about inviting her and Lone Wolfe and his family to her house for Thanksgiving dinner in a couple of weeks. She didn't want to be by herself for the holidays and she knew that none of them wanted to be by themselves as well. She raised her hands to wave hello and said, "Hey Jena..."

Jena looked concerned and Angela couldn't figure out why. She ran towards Angela as darkness clawed at her vision from the sides. She never had a chance to figure out what was going on as the darkness swept in from all sides and took away all her senses.

* * *

"Oh geez! You're heavy!" Jena replied as she made it just in time to keep a pale Angela from collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes. She used her empathic powers to subtly pull strength from the people around her to lift Angela up and cradle her in her arms, "Lone Wolfe in the spring and you in the winter. What is with the people in my life and pushing themselves too hard?"

She spun around and marched toward the nurse's office. The people started to crowd in as the passing period started to end. She had to do something but balancing the amount of power she was taking from the people around her in a way that they wouldn't notice or be harmed consumed her attention. Instead she came up with a clever idea from a friend of Lone Wolfe's from middle school, "Wet paint! Wet paint coming through! Wet paint!"

Using herd mentality to her advantage managed to get people to move out of her way enough to maneuver them to the administration wing of the building. As they went by, people glanced to see a person who couldn't weight more than 110 pounds lifting someone who clearly weighed more than her through as if she were cradling a small child. Jena sighed, she knew rumors would spread from this, but it couldn't be helped.

She made it to the nurse's office a few minutes later, "I could use some help!" She announced. Her pool of people to draw strength from was starting to dry up.

The nurse glanced around and saw the situation then wheeled a bed out for Jena, "Here you go, how did you manage to carry her?" the nurse questioned.

"Determination," Jena replied. It would be good enough, she wouldn't believe that she had psychic abilities that allowed her to borrow a tiny bit of strength from those around her, "She is a good friend of mine."

"What happened?" The nurse questioned as she wheeled her back behind a curtain.

"Not really sure. She just collapsed right in front of me. She was waving me over to say something," Jena replied.

"Well, thank you for bringing her to me. I will write you a note to your next class," The nurse said.

"I would rather say with her until she wakes up," Jena replied.

"That won't be possible," The nurse stated as she took out a notepad, "I will have to call her parents to pick her up and take her into the doctor. You can call her later or on your next passing period."

"She has no parents," Jena replied, "She is 18 and both her mother and grandparents are dead. Father is nowhere to be found."

"Then I will have to call an ambulance and take her to a hospital," The nurse stated in response, "This is for her safety. Now can I get your name please?"

"Jena Beckhart," She replied. Sorry to do this to you but I must play with your memories a bit. She entered the nurse's mind as she finished the note. The nurse handed her the note then walked off as if she had something better to do leaving Jena alone in the office. With the alteration in place, she could have a few minutes alone with Angela.

She stepped behind the curtain and knelt down next to the raven-haired woman. She placed a hand on her forehead, slight fever and weak. You ran yourself down too much. You need some sleep, but I have a short-term solution. Jena funneled some of her own metabolic energy into Angela's body. Her color came back, and her silver eyes opened a moment later. She glanced up at Jena and smiled, "What happened?" She asked.

"You fainted," Jena replied, "You've been burning the candle at both ends for too long. It's time for some rest and relaxation."

Angela shook her head, "I can't. I must run the store and I have to go to school. There isn't anyone else that can do it for me. The store isn't pulling enough money for me to hire someone to watch over things for me while I go to school. If I could hire some staff, then I could do it but there is no way."

"You only have so much time in the day to do what you need to do. Something has to give eventually," Jena replied, "Now, you can keep going like this and I can keep you going when I can but eventually you will deplete my ability to heal you as well. When that happens, I won't be able to help you anymore and you will land yourself in the hospital. Speaking of which, you may want to talk to the nurse before she remembers she is supposed to call the hospital and get you to the hospital by the ay of an ambulance."

"Ambulance! I can't afford an ambulance ride!" Angela shot up from the bed.

"How much do those cost? I wasn't aware there was a cost to that," Jena replied.

"Thousands!" Angela replied as she raced.

"Wait, talk to me after school before you run off! Let's figure out a permanent solution to your problem!" Jena replied.

* * *

Jena didn't think she would be able to trust Angela to hold up her end of the bargain so after school she quickly walked home and spread out her mind to find where Angela was. Once she found where Angela was and that was not home where she was supposed to be she managed to grab some money for bus fare from her parents and headed to the downtown district. From there she walked into the store.

It wasn't too hard to find Angela, she was at the front desk looking like she was about to fall asleep, "I told you I wanted to talk to you about your problem and find you a solution to it before you headed back to doing what you were doing before."

"Before I told the nurse that I didn't want an ambulance ride to the hospital you sounded like you had a solution," Angela replied, "I thought the case was solved."

Jena shook her head, "You are wrong. I told you I could keep flooding you with energy but that has a cost to me as well. If I do that too often it will drain me just as much as you are going without sleep drains you. I am not a battery!"

"I didn't think there was a cost to you using your powers like that," Angela replied.

"Normal use of my abilities doesn't hurt me, and short bursts of powers is okay as well," Jena replied, "but doing that for a long time is too much for me to handle over the long term. Have you tried to push your telepathy too far? You get a headache if you do it for a little bit and you get a nose bleed or bleed out your ears if you push way too much. If you go past that then you could really hurt your brain! It is the same for Empaths, but we hurt our bodies as a result of overextending our abilities."

"I never thought about it like that," Angela replied, "I never tried to overextend my telepathic abilities."

"You are lucky, you have never been in a fight with another telepath. That is when you overextend your telepathic abilities."

Angela slumped down on the counter, "Not sur what to do then!"

Jena glanced around, "Is it always this dead in here?"

Angela shook her head, "Usually most of my customers come here in the middle of the day or close to closing time which is probably around the time I would normally go to bed."

"Do you do any business online?" Jena questioned.

Angela nodded, "I get orders from the bigger sites on a weekly basis and send them the orders to keep their inventories up. After that I usually get payments from them every month or so. I also make orders to my suppliers and have to receive stuff from them often. I usually hit the post office after school to pick up what I ordered."

"You may want to close your brick and mortar place down for a while," Jena suggested, "At least until you graduate in May."

Angela shook her head, "I can't do that! I have some customers that will not buy anything online! That will cut them off! I will lose them as customers!"

Jena scratched the back of her head in thought, "You may want to write a note on their giving them the cliffs notes version of what's been going on recently. Let them know it is only a set back and maybe set up Saturday or Sunday as your day you will keep the storefront open and maybe get a burner phone and have that as your business line that they can call with special requests. That way you only must keep this place open as you need it instead of all the time. That way you aren't running yourself to the point of exhaustion again."

Angela sat back and thought about it for several minutes. She tapped the glass as she tried to run through various scenarios in her head. Jena seemed to have the idea down solid for a quick suggestion. She glanced at the younger teenager and said, "you know, you are pretty smart for being just fifteen. How'd you get that way?"

"Over a dozen communions with over a dozen different folks," Jena replied.

"You trust that many people?" Angela shrieked in response.

Jena chuckled, "Maybe the first four or five people with my secrets but there is a trick with communions."

The raven-haired woman with silver eyes leaned forward, "What is it?"

"Don't think about what you don't want them to know at all for several hours before the communion. The inactivity of the pathways keeps them from being used during the communion. A lot of people dwell on their darker feelings and desires when they think about a communion and that is usually what comes through but if you don't think about it for a while before hand then it usually doesn't come through or if it does, they won't retain it."

"So, the trick is to not think about it all?" Angela smirked.

Jena nodded, "I am not sure if Lone Wolfe has figured it out consciously, but he puts it to practice too."

"I think he just compartmentalizes things," Angela replied.

"That too," Jena nodded, "that usually works well." She glanced around, "I suggest you get to work on that note then get to bed."

Jena turned to leave but Angela reached out, "Before you go!"

Jena turned around, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would like to have thanksgiving dinner with me? This would be my first thanksgiving by myself and it would suck if there wasn't someone else there."

Jena's smile faded, "I'm sorry but my family is planning on flying out to Montana to see my uncle for thanksgiving. You might want to try Lone Wolfe and his father. In fact, his father is a cook and you would probably be able to bring a dish over there. You wouldn't have to slave away over a turkey for hours. Knowing his father, he probably already bought a turkey big enough for four people just before she died anyway."

"I just wanted to share the holiday with someone I really cared about," Angela sulked.

"Lone Wolfe is a good friend of mine and if my memories of my last communion with him are correct, you were close to his mother. You could probably share memories of her with him and his father and make the moment a little more tender," Jena suggested.

Angela shrugged, "That would probably be really painful for them."

"Not for Lone Wolfe," Jena stated in response, "If anything he would try to find a way to have a communion with you, so you could have more memories of her from his point of view. He was trying to work out a way making it so you could have one with one of us more powerful psychics when we had our last communion. He doesn't like to accept things as they are. His father, on the other hand, is a bit more delicate."

"Why do you say that?" Angela asked.

"His mother was empathic. That is where Lone Wolfe got that ability from. I have the feeling that his father and mother had an empathic bond. Only one person has to be empathic to form the bond but either can break the bond willingly. If the bond wasn't broken willingly, if one was killed, it puts the other person in a fragile state. His father was awakened suddenly that night, possibly at the very moment of the wreck. Lone Wolfe was awakened about fifteen minutes afterward, when they found out who was on the scene and died and they were notifying next of kin. Lone Wolfe kept him from committing suicide that night. He has been in a fragile state since then."

"Why have an empathic bond if it makes a person that unstable?" Angela questioned in response.

"Both can do more than a single person can on their own. They can also feel each other's emotions and share their resolve. They become more, together, than they do separately," Jena replied, "The person who killed her was lucky it wasn't something done in cold blood. If that he would have happened, then he would have gone into a murderous frenzy determined to kill the person who killed her."

"I didn't know it could override a person's free will so willingly," Angela stated, "It makes me a little fearful to ever attempt to have one."

"You are free to enter and leave an empathic bond any time," Jena replied, "It's only when the bond is broken through a death that those conditions happen. In an accident, like what happened with Sylvia Carter, the emotions are amplified by the individual. When someone is murdered in cold blood, we all want revenge for what was done, the fear and apprehension the person feels before they are killed is carried over in the bond. That is why he would be driven to kill the one responsible for her murder in that case."

"Oh, I get it now," Angela nodded, "In that case, I could see why someone would be driven to find and maybe kill the person who murdered their lover. One thing I don't get is how you know all of this?"

"After my first communion with Lone Wolfe, while he was still sleeping, I had a chance to see memories of that night and I saw Lone Wolfe save his father from killing himself. I scanned his mind and found out everything else at that moment. Lone Wolfe believes that he awakened now his mother died but his clairvoyance showed him an echo. It happens when someone close to him dies and the information doesn't travel as fast as it should."

Angela nodded, "I had an echo. In my case it wouldn't have matter if knew about my grandmother's aneurism beforehand because it wouldn't have saved her anyway."

Jena nodded, is that what Scarlet and Lone Wolfe sensed? That your grandmother had an aneurism and you aren't sure if you will become victim to one in the future as well? She glanced back at the door then back to Angela, "I'm sorry. That must suck to know that you couldn't do anything to save her. Has that been what's bugging you for the year?"

Angela nodded, "I found out that the last four generations of my family all died of it. My grandmother and great-great grandmother all died in their seventies but their children all died when they were young. It's like having a ticking time bomb inside my head."

"Lone Wolfe hasn't seen your death yet and I don't think you have," Jena stated as she walked closer to the counter, "Also, when I used my abilities to check you out earlier, I didn't sense anything wrong either. If there is something wrong with you it won't happen for a long time."

Angela smiled, "That does make me feel a little better, but I don't know if I will pass this onto my children, if I choose to have them. I am not sure how my grandmother or her grandmother dealt with losing a child so early in life. My mother died just before I turned eleven. I don't know what I would do if I had a child then find out that they died around the same time my mother did."

"Well, you are still really young and have some time to think about having a child," Jena stated in response, "In that regard; why deny your future son or daughter the chance to live, even a short life, just because they might succumb to this? You never know, science might come up with something to counteract this by the time they are born, and you would have denied them the chance to live without realizing science came up with a fix."

"You have a point," Angela nodded.

"In either case, you don't have to make up your mind about children right now, you have years of child bearing life left in you. You'd also have to find someone that you would be willing to raise a child with and find the genetic material, if you know what I mean," Jena smirked.

"As far as someone, I think I found that someone, but I let her go this summer," Angela mentioned.

"Scarlet?" Jena questioned.

Angela nodded, "Sorry about that," Jena stated, "Too bad I didn't know about you sooner I would have had this talk with you much sooner and you could have had a better relationship with her. You still have to figure out your next obstacle for children but that isn't something you have to figure out now."

Angela nodded, "I have too much on my plate right now. Children will have to wait."

* * *

Lone Wolfe was about to fall asleep when he received a call on his phone, "Hello?" He answered.

"Hey! I know you wanted us and our fathers to get together for thanksgiving, but I have bad news. Ray and I have to fly out to San Diego that week. We are supposed to have thanksgiving with our mother and her side of the family. Our father will be going with but will probably bum around town while we are there. We will be back after that though. We will have Christmas here, I swear!" Robin answered.

"No problem, sweetheart," Lone Wolfe replied, "I pretty much figured it would be just the two of us. Thanks for looking into it, though."

"You know, it was weird for you to suggest our families get together," Robin stated, "Usually the guy is pretty hesitant for that."

"It was my father's idea actually," Lone Wolfe replied, "Considering that was the first time he showed interest in you and us since we started dating I decided to not squash his hopes like a bug. If he warms up to you it could lead to better opportunities for us in the future. He might trust us more. He might get your father to trust us more. Things can be worked out. We would be free to move more at our own pace."

"I didn't think about that," Robin replied, "I guess you earned another picture!"

"You know your pictures are getting more risqué," Lone Wolfe stated, "You are starting to tiptoe that line between clever with seductive, and pornographic. While I don't mind the pictures, I don't want either of us to be committing any crimes."

"Are you saying you don't want any more pictures?" Robin questioned with a seductive tone.

"No, I'm just saying to be careful," Lone Wolfe replied, "I don't want to be the next case of us going to jail because we sent each other naughty pictures."

"Speaking of naughty pictures, you haven't sent me any!" Robin hissed, "I'm starting to think this is a little one sided."

"While I appreciate the pictures, you send me and cherish them, I did not ask for them. Also, everything that I can legally send you in a photo you have seen at the pool many times over. There isn't that much more I can show you without committing a crime and frankly, I don't think my naughty bits are photogenic," Lone Wolfe argued.

"I will be the judge of that!" Robin stated excitedly, "There is also plenty more you can show me. You can take a picture of yourself in a banana hammock!"

"There is just zero chance of that!" Lone Wolfe argued, "I wouldn't ask for you to try to support your naughty bits ins small triangles of clothing, and I won't do the same to myself!

"You're right," Robin chuckled in response, "You could take a picture of yourself in a bathing suit, though."

Lone Wolfe nodded and rose from his bed, "You are right."

"I love you," She said.

"I love you too!" Lone Wolfe replied, "See you soon."

She disconnected the line. He sat the phone on his bed and quickly stripped himself down to his boxers then grabbed his phone and climbed back into bed. He got an angle of his body into view and took a picture. He attacked the picture to a message and typed out, "keeping myself warm by thinking of you," and sent the message.

He sat the phone on the charging cradle and pulled the covers over himself to go to sleep. A couple minutes later his phone went off. He reached up and grabbed the phone. There were two text messages already. The first one said, "You are so cute! I love you!" The second one was a picture with an attached message, "Something to keep you even warmer."

To say the picture was seductive was an understatement. She was on her elbows and knees. She was naked, but everything was obscured by either her body or her bedsheets. He was biting her lower lip and her eyes pleaded with him. His gold eyes widened, and he breathed, "Holy shit!"

He typed a response back to her, the first time he ever did so as she usually went to bed right after sending those messages, "Now I know the real reason why Icarus flew too close to the sun." He typed before sending the message.

It didn't take long for him to get another response, "Maybe next time you won't use wings made of wax," The message was attached to another picture of her. She was still naked, but nothing was shown in the shot that wasn't supposed to be. She cut off the angle just before anything that wasn't supposed to be seen was seen. She smiled and was blushing, and her eyes were still begging.

He laid the phone on the charging cradle and sank into bed, "Do you want me to die of a heart attack before anything happens between us?" He asked himself. He was asleep a moment later, dreaming of what happened if she were right there with those same begging eyes and he dared to answer the question she begged with those eyes.
Chapter 18: Un Writing Tragedy

Greeley Colorado

December 1st, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe couldn't shake the funny feeling that he should stick around for Robin this afternoon, but he couldn't figure out why. He knew it was his clairvoyance warning him of something but usually he had a vision that would follow it. This just made the back of his head itch like there were ants going up and down his neck. He couldn't explain it, he knew he should just stick around close by. He hated that feeling. He hated knowing that something was going to happen but not know what it was.

He waited outside in the cold weather. The weather was made even worse by the fact that he didn't have a heavy coat that fit him anymore. He just had his mother's leather coat. It was not much help against this cold snap. He was starting to appreciate how his mother could weather this jacket in almost any weather. He didn't know how she could do it. Then again, she did have a car and he was standing out in the cold.

Jena placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ray already left, and I haven't seen any sign of Curtis or his girlfriend. Do you know what happened to Robin anyway?"

"What else would earn her detention after school?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response, "She mouthed off to a teacher."

"Figures," Jena nodded, "Well I am sure she will be fine when the teachers let her out. She only lives about a mile away from the school anyway."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't think so. I have a feeling. I have that feeling."

"Well, you will be having that cold feeling of hypothermia if you don't find a warm place to wait," Jena replied, "You should ask your father for a coat."

"Then he will just get rid of this one," Lone Wolfe replied, "I know this will sound creepy, but it smells like mom still and I want to hold onto it. If he gets me a new coat, then he will throw this one away saying I don't need it anymore."

Jena frowned, "I think you are reading too much into it."

"I used my clairvoyance to see the future. Once I get a job I can save up for a nice coat. I was thinking of a leather duster jacket kind of like this one only warmer with a liner or something."

"That will be heavy," She commented in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Just an idea. Probably doesn't exist anyway."

"If it exists I can find it," Jena replied. She glanced around, "The parking lot is starting to clear out. We should go home before you freeze in place. You can call her once you get home and make sure she is okay."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "If you are cold you can go, I want to stay with her."

"I can use my empathic abilities to force you to walk home with me if I have to," Jena threatened, "you live closer to her place than I do so it would be in your best interest to march your happy cold butt home and wait for her there. Her brother should be waiting out here like her lost puppy, not you. Maybe he went on home to tell his father that she got detention and will drive here to wait for her. She will get a scalding about running her mouth to a teacher and get a warm ride home. You won't get any sympathy ride home for waiting out in the cold for her forever."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "I guess you are right. Let's go."

They walked without a word for a few minutes before Jena came up with a good idea about his coat situation, "Got a couple of ideas for your coat issue. Do you want to hear them?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Anything is better than freezing!"

"What you can do right now is find a hoodie or a couple of thick sweatshirts and throw them in our locker. On cold days like this you can layer up and it will give you some more warmth against the cold. At least you wouldn't have to freeze while wearing that," Jena suggested.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. What was the other one?"

"I can steal your coat and you can tell your father that it got lost. He might chew you out for losing it but in the end, he will have to get you the new coat and after a week or so I can give you this one back," Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "That will end up the same way as if I just asked him to buy me the coat. As soon as it comes back into my possession he will say I don't need it anymore and get rid of it." He glanced at her with a smile, "I actually thought about that one already."

"Curse you and your power to see your future," Jena hissed playfully.

They continued their walk home and talked about various subjects. It wasn't until they got to just about his house that they heard it. It was a telepathic scream. It came from Robin. It sent shivers up their spines and they glanced at each other. In that moment, they realized that he had been right, they should have waited for her. It was too late now. They felt where it came from and sprinted there as fast as possible.

"What caused that?" Jena questioned as they ran.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "No clue. I only know that I should have waited for her."

"I'm sorry!" Jena cried as they sprinted.

"She's still alive," Lone Wolfe added, "that's important."

"Do you know what happened?" Jena questioned as they ran.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I am trying to reach her, but she won't reply back to me!" The statement only brought energy to his tired body and made him run faster.

He never thought that the training Scarlet gave him, that the three of them practiced every summer, would be useful in a situation like this. He could tell where Robin was. She was in an alley way close to a shopping center. What took twenty minutes to walk took about six minutes to run. He didn't care about traffic and neither did Jena as they ran, all they cared about, at that moment, was getting to Robin.

They found her in an alley, leaning against a dumpster. Lone Wolfe tripped and skid to a stop, scrapping his face and palms as he landed. He got a sight of her at that moment. Tears were streaming down her eyes but most emotion seemed to be gone from her dark amber eyes. Her shirt was pulled down over her waist, her pants and underwear had been pulled down.

"Oh my god!" Jena replied as she came to a stop.

Lone Wolfe pushed himself up and shrugged off his jacket, "I'm so sorry, Robin!" He stated as he closed his eyes and walked forward.

He could feel Robin flinch. He stopped moving and dropped the jacket. Jena rushed in and grabbed the jacket. She covered her legs and projected to Lone Wolfe that he could open his eyes. He wished he hadn't. When he did, he could see terror in Robin's eyes. Terror that shook him to his core. He found hot tears streaming from his cheeks before he knew what was going on, "I'm sorry." He said.

"Maybe it would be a good idea for you to get some help?" Jena suggested.

"I don't want anyone to see me like this," Robin whimpered, "I don't want anyone to see me."

Lone Wolfe gritted his teeth. There was something he could do to prevent this, but the price would be high. Fortunately, only he would have to pay the price. He glanced at Jena with rage building beneath his gold eyes, "I can prevent this from happening if I know when she got out of school."

Jena glanced back. She was the only one that knew what he could do. Her green eyes widened, "You don't mean... You can't jump back!"

"Jena, please find out when she got out of school," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What is jumping back?" Robin squeaked.

"Lone Wolfe and his family have a special form of clairvoyance, they can send their spirits back in time to an earlier version of their bodies. Lone Wolfe calls it jumping back. He discovered how to do it by accident." Jena explained, "There is a reason why he doesn't do it on a regular basis. It kills him in the here in now to send his spirit back in time."

Robin's eyes widened, "What! No! You can't!"

"I can make sure you don't go through this and in that future, I won't die," Lone Wolfe stated in an attempt to comfort her.

"He will still remember this version of events and of him dying to go back," Jena countered, "That is why he doesn't do this."

Robin shook her head, "You can't do this to yourself!"

Lone Wolfe forced a smile, "Look at you two, you finally agree on something. Too bad it must be like this. I can suffer so you won't have to." He glanced to Jena, "What time did she leave the school?"

Jena glanced to Robin and read her mind. She glanced back to Lone Wolfe and said, "She was out about ten minutes after we left. Get that bastard for us!"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Thank you." In that instant his vision became fuzzy as he focused on the time before that. He could feel something hot and wet starting to run out of his ears and his knees began to buckle.

He collapsed onto his hands and knees. Robin's eyes widened as new tears started to flow, "Lone Wolfe!" She shrieked.

"I will be okay," He comforted as blood started to come out of his nose, "You will never have to see this." He glanced to Jena, whose face was also twisted into a mask of horror and shock, "I never meant for anyone to see this."

"You dummy!" Jena cried, "You have the power to send yourself back in time. You could have walked away and done this on your own!"

"I have no patience," He admitted and collapsed onto his face, "If this could only go faster, that would be great!"

"I love you Lone Wolfe!" Robin cried out.

"I love you too," Lone Wolfe replied. He waited weakly for the next few minutes for the darkness to slowly swallow him.

* * *

"The usefulness of parabolic equations becomes apparent when you are making an equation for a budget," Jena lectured, "Your Y value becomes the minimum amount your operating expenses..."

How can you drone on about math! Lone Wolfe thought to himself as he lost interest in what she was talking about. Suddenly, a shiver and up his spine and fresh memories of things yet to happen flooded his mind. He was filled with a sense of purpose and turned around. He ran at full speed towards the area where he found Robin just minutes before. Jena turned around and realized he had taken off running, "Wait, what's going on!"

"Keep up or go home! No time to explain!" Lone Wolfe exclaimed as he sprinted full speed. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, faster! Faster! I must be faster! He pushed himself as he raced.

He spotted her being led by a man down the alleyway as he rounded the corner, "Stop!" He projected with a telepathic Geas to freeze the man in place until he could catch up. He sensed the man had a gun in his hand. That was what kept her from calling out for help.

He caught up with the man holding his girlfriend hostage, "let her go and turn around!" He commanded with both his telepathic Geas and verbally. The man released his old on her arm and turned around revealing the gun in his left hand. With a thought he commanded, "Put the gun to your head." He glared at the man. With what he was about to do to her, he wanted to end the man's existence. The man started to tighten down on the trigger.

It was at that moment when he glanced over to Robin and saw the look of horror on her face. It wasn't the same as before, but it was Lone Wolfe that was scaring her this time. In her fear she was unintentionally flooding their link with her thoughts, he just now noticed, my god, he managed a greater Geas on the man! He is going to kill the guy right in front of me!

"You get to live today," Lone Wolfe replied. The man stopped squeezing down on the trigger and released it instead. The man dropped his arm to his side. Lone Wolfe commanded him to eject the magazine of the gun. After that the man ejected the chambered round then disassembled the gun and threw the parts in various directions and stood there while Lone Wolfe figured out what to do next.

Lone Wolfe walked towards the man, "You get to live but for what you were going to do to her you will pay a penalty. I am going to show you your death, how you could die if you continue down the path you are on!" At that point he invaded the man's mind and flooded it with images of how the man will die in the most likely ways. The man's face twisted into that of sheer terror as he glanced down at the golden eyed boy. Lone Wolfe glanced up at him, "Now, run away and don't look back! Do everything in your power to keep from crossing my path or the path of my friends again!"

He released the Geas and the man fled at top speed. When Lone Wolfe could no longer see the man, he turned around to see Jena was present for most of this. A look of shock was on her face. He wasn't sure what about the event had shocked her; that he was powerful enough to pull off the most powerful of all Geas on the man or the fact that Lone Wolfe was willing to take a life to save Robin.

He glanced back to Robin, "I understand if you want to run. I am a monster."

She shook her head and ran towards him. She embraced him in a hug, "You got to the precipice, but you turned back, my love! How did you know what he was going to do to me?"

"I can see the future," Lone Wolfe lied, "I won't let anyone harm you like that."

Jena stepped up behind them, "That was a damn impressive Geas for someone who never attempted one before."

Robin glanced between them, "You never attempted a Geas before?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Never was taught how to do it and I actually find it detestable to override someone's free will and control them like a doll."

"Didn't stop you this time," Jena commented flatly.

"Considering what he was going to do to enforce his own control over Robin, I consider it an equivalent exchange," Lone Wolfe replied in a dark tone, "Anyone who would do that to another human being deserves to know what a loss of control feels like."

Jena nodded, "I can't argue with that."

* * *

Lone Wolfe had trouble getting to sleep that night. He had tried to keep the trauma of jumping back from making it to the link he shared with Robin that night. He didn't want her to know what really had happened and what he had to do to prevent her from suffering what she suffered. He chided himself from going against his instincts and leaving early with Jena. None of this would ever have happened if he was waiting for her after school. He heard someone pry off the screen off the window and sat up. He opened the window and offered a hand to Jena, "You couldn't sleep either?" He whispered to Jena.

She nodded and climbed in quickly. He closed the window behind her and sat back against the bed. She leaned against the wall and the corner of his headboard, "One thing I don't understand is how you were able to figure out exactly what was going on so quickly when you only had a vague feeling before we left. I was going to ask you when I figured it out on my way here; you jumped back. What was supposed to happen already happened and you went back to prevent it."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "you are right."

"She doesn't know you can jump back," Jena nodded, "That is why you didn't mention anything about it. She would have been okay eventually. I have seen through you sharing a memory of the first time you jumped back to know what it does to you. I have to think that the cost is so high to keep you from doing this frivolously."

Lone Wolfe fixed her with a stern stare, "You didn't see the look in her eyes after it happened, and you didn't feel the horror she felt. I was powerless to do anything else."

"You will have to tell her sometime," Jena argued.

"That is my prerogative," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

"Would you do the same thing for me?" Jena asked after a moment.

"What kind of question is that?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response, "Of course I would do the same for you! I would do the same for Angela, or Amanda or even Ray's ditsy girlfriend. Sex shouldn't be used as a weapon of control and power over another person, period! Regardless of people's personal feelings on the subject, it should be something that people willingly engage in. Something that shouldn't be tainted and tarnished by abuse of power and control."

Jena smiled, "I'm glad you feel that way. Not a lot of boys feel that way about it."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "I must be wired differently then."

"I won't complain. Robin is very lucky to have you," Jena smiled in response.

"Don't let her catch you saying that," Lone Wolfe smiled in response.

His phone vibrated on the charging cradle. Lone Wolfe realized it was Robin sending him a message but in his tired state, didn't move fast enough to keep Jena from crossing the short distance to grab it, "What do we have here?" She smirked as she held her thumb over the fingerprint sensor, "For shame, Lone Wolfe. I would have thought you would have stopped using biometrics after I hacked your phone this summer!" She giggled as she unlocked the phone.

Lone Wolfe sighed, and Jena opened the message from Robin. Her jaw dropped, and she blushed a deep red that could be seen from the faint light of the phone She glanced over to Lone Wolfe, "How often does she send you these?"

She turned the phone around, so he could see what she was upset about. He was expecting another picture of her in a suggestive pose. He was not expecting a topless photo of her sitting on her knees with a smile on her face. His jaw dropped as well. Attached to the picture was a message that simply said, "For my hero!"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Holy shit! I can't believe she sent that! Usually she doesn't send anything that has any actual... things showing!"

"They're called breasts," Jena stated flatly and spun the phone back around. She went through the rest of the photos she sent him since they started dating, "She has been working her way up to this. Her mood seems to swing like a pendulum." She tossed the phone to Lone Wolfe. He shut it off and sat it on the charging cradle without taking another look at it, "What are you going to do when she pops the question?"

He cocked his head in confusion, "What question?"

"Don't be coy and don't act stupid, you know what I mean," Jena stated sternly.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "To be honest, I don't think I'm ready for that. I don't think she really is either."

"Another answer not typical of a guy," Jena nodded, "Don't be all adult on my account."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I'm being honest. She has been trying to take it to that level for a little bit now. I have been trying to keep it PG, but she wants more. I have been able to sate her desires by mixing making out with communions, but she is starting to get tired of that."

"You may need to sit down with her and have a talk about it," Jena suggested, "lay down some sort of boundary. Don't wait for a good moment for it, do it. I know she likes to plan things. Curtis and I aren't going to be here over most of Christmas break. If you have reservations, you should let her know about it soon before we leave for our family vacations."

"What do you think I should do?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

"That's a hard question. I don't want to push you into doing anything you don't want to do. I do like the fact that you have been happier since you two have gotten together even though I think she can be vile at times. Regarding that moment?" She shrugged, "You can go with the flow and let her be in charge or you can give her some boundaries to follow. You also have to figure out what is keeping you from feeling like you are ready to go through this with someone."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Do you think I should talk with Curtis about this?"

"I think he will probably give you the peer pressure version of this, but he is a friend and he might have some insight into something that has been holding you back," Jena nodded.

Lone Wolfe sighed, "This part is uncomfortable, but I don't think Curtis will have the right answer for it. Do you think I can ask you?"

Jena shrugged, "You can ask me anything. I will do my best not to freak out."

"I know she is a virgin and I am afraid that if we do it that I will hurt her," Lone Wolfe replied, "I don't want to hurt her. What do I do?"

"Leave that to her. I have been told that it gets better after the first time. You should share that concern with her. She will tell you what she is prepared for," Jena replied, "If that is what has been keeping you back, just talk to her about it. There is nothing you can do for the pain other than try to do things the way she wants it."

Lone Wolfe blushed, "Sorry for such a personal topic. I have no mother to talk with on this."

Jena shook her head, "It's fine. It's better you ask than assume. Also, it's better me than her. I can at least attempt to remain impartial when I answer the question."

"But she will kill me if she finds out you and I talked about this," Lone Wolfe stated.

"She might also get upset if you and Curtis start conversing about it," Jena replied, "At least you can say you are asking for honest advice from me. She might think you are boasting to your bro about your exploits."

"The only pictures of us he has seen was the one I sent him and the one you showed him at the pool that day. I have kept the rest of those to myself," Lone Wolfe replied.

"You'd be a dirty little bastard if you shared," Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe laid down on the bed, "If you came over for a communion, you might want one now. I'm going to fall asleep if I lay here much longer."

Jena nodded, "Let's do it."

Chapter #19: Birthday Party

Greeley Colorado

December 18th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe was surprised that Robin and ray invited Jena to come along for their birthday party. He wondered if it was a suggestion of ray or if she thought that if Jena was not there that Lone Wolfe would not show up either. In either case, he felt fortunate that all his friends had been invited to join her for her birthday party.

Robin and Ray would like to have had their birthday part on their birthday but considering that it was a Monday they didn't feel like trying to round up their friends on a Monday. A Saturday would work. Most of their friends outside of the small group of psychics had parents departing for Christmas parties and the start of Christmas break. Through some miracle, neither Curtis nor Jena were departing until Tuesday which meant they were free for the party.

The twins elected for a single birthday party at the bowling alley considering that their father did not have a lot of money saved up due to the move earlier in the year. They selected the bowling alley and several lanes because that was the best they could do for entertainment for the small group of people. Lone Wolfe walked in, leading the trio of friends, all with presents in hand. He sat them on the table next to Robin and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Having a good day, my dear?" He asked.

"Only going to get better now that you are here," Robin replied.

"I think I'm going to get diabetes tonight," Jena rolled her eyes and sat her present down on the table next to Lone Wolfe's, "you two are too sweet for your own good."

"Well, it will get worse here in a minute," Curtis smiled, "Amanda is on the way. Her father is dropping her off. Ray also has his main squeeze here as well."

"Angela should be here shortly," Jena added, "That should round out the party."

A moment later, Angela came in with some presents and sat them on the table, "Happy birthday, you two. Thank goodness it is also Christmas break. I managed to find some festive birthday wrap. You aren't the first friends of mine that have December birthdays, so I know you would like something that isn't winter theme or Christmas."

Both Robin and Ray returned her smile with genuine smiles of their own. Lone Wolfe smiled at her, "I managed to find some as well. I can't believe they don't have birthday wrap available all year."

Curtis glanced down as the door opened, "I could only find snowflakes."

Amanda walked through the door next and sat her presents down on the table, "Happy birthday." She said cordially. Her presents were wrapped in Christmas wrap.

"At least you did better than your girlfriend," Lone Wolfe sighed.

She crossed her arms, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Christmas wrap for a birthday present?" Jena replied.

"Would be cute in July but this is December," Robin stated.

Angela shook her head, "Nah, that would just be sad. Screams, 'crap! I forgot to go to the store for wrapping paper!' I would prefer birthday wrap."

"Now that the experts have weighed in," Jena stated, "How will the order of tonight's events go?"

Everyone glanced to Robin. She blushed and shrugged before she said, "Well, I know that Angela has a job to get to, so I don't think we want to delay getting birthday gifts open and cake and stuff."

Angela shook her head, "Don't worry about the shop tonight. I put up a note to close shop for a special event. You have me all night. Whatever order you want is the order we can go with. Don't make any special exceptions for me."

Robin nodded, "Okay. We can all get shoes and divide up into teams then?"

Lone Wolfe nodded as did everyone else. Immediately, Jena had a question, "I assume this will be a couple's teams. So, Ray and his girl on one team, you and Lone Wolfe on another team. Who all is going to round out the teams?"

"I call Jena!" Both twins said at the same time.

Curtis frowned, "Oh sure, don't mind me. Amanda and I will just go find a corner somewhere and make out while you guys play with your balls."

"Oh, how cute, you pout," Robin smiled.

"Well I can't spontaneously split into two people and don't forget whoever gets me gets Angela on their team as well," Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe smiled, "The twins should rock-paper-scissors for it."

"We will be here all night!" Ray protested, "We think more alike than you give us credit for."

"Well," Jena tapped her lips for a moment, "How about Curtis and Amanda bowl on Robin's team? Less animosity all around right there."

Ray shook his head, "Now that I think about it, how about I take Curtis. There hasn't been enough compadre bonding between me and Curtis anyway."

"Fine, Jena and Angela on my team then!" Robin stated in response.

"Can you explain to me how you two became fast friends?" Lone Wolfe projected to Jena in that instant.

"I have been spending a lot of time with Angela recently and considering Angela's orientation she has the impression that we are an item. The truth is a bit more complicated than that but to keep it smooth sailing between all of my friends, I have yet to correct her on her assumption," Jena replied.

"Are you two an item?" Lone Wolfe questioned, "If you are, you managed to keep that a secret from me."

Jena shook her head as they headed to get shoes, "No. She has been trying to do too much at once and I have been trying to keep her from running herself to exhaustion. I am sure you heard the rumors on how I carried her to the nurse's office at school a few weeks back?" Jena replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I thought it was a rumor but now that I think about it you managed to get me into the car at the end of eighth grade, so you could carry her a short distance. You must have used your empathic powers to do that. Impressive!"

Jena smiled and nodded, signaling her thanks as she traded her shoes for rental bowling shoes. Lone Wolfe shrugged off his boots and received a pair of bowling shoes in return. He followed Jena back to the area the twins had occupied and started pulling on and tying his shoes on. They were quickly reunited with Angela and Robin. The other four quickly followed up behind them and all had their shoes tied in a matter of seconds.

The lanes powered up while the teens all scoured the bowling alley for bowling balls that best suited them. Lone Wolfe waited for random balls to be flying from some of the more ditsy members of the group but fortunately for them, none of them let go of the balls long enough to let them bounce down the seated space.

The twins sat down at the terminals and entered their names into the computer at position one on each side. Robin took the left and Ray took the right. They decided the order of their team from there. Robin had Lone Wolfe go second, Jena go third, and Angela go last. Ray had his girlfriend go second, Amanda go third, and Curtis go last. With the balls in the return and everyone ready to go they started the game.

The twins were actually pretty good with lane etiquette, Robin allowed ray to roll first on his lane to which he rolled a seven. Robin stepped up next and rolled a five followed by a a gutter ball. The second roll only seemed to upset her more. She glared at Lone Wolfe as she stepped off the approach and said, "You better roll better than that!"

Lone Wolfe rose, "Don't blame me for your bad roll," he said with a smile.

Lone Wolfe waited behind the approach as Ray's girlfriend stepped up to the approach. She grabbed her ball and fed her right fingers through the holes. She hocked the ball down the lane and managed to get three followed by 3 more. Lone Wolfe wondered how many more right-handed people were waiting in the wings. He knew Curtis was right handed and was safe to assume Amanda was right handed as well.

Lone Wolfe shrugged and grabbed his ball as he stepped up onto the approach. He took careful aim and took care with his step and form as he went about it. The ball sailed down the lane and knocked all the pins over earning the first strike in the game. He smiled and played it cool as he stepped off the approach. It made it look like Robin was more excited about his throw than he was. She gave him a hug as if the throw won him the game as Jena took the approach.

Lone Wolfe sat down, and Robin leaned on him, "You looked like a pro when you threw that ball. Anything I should know? Use your special talents to channel a professional bowler nearby?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I bowled in a league a couple summers ago. Jena did too. We learned a lot in the league. That, and my father doesn't do anything half assed. If I thought it wouldn't throw anyone off I would have brought my bowling ball bag and shoes. Jena probably thought the same thing. Then we would have been split between the teams. Looks like you might have the winning team."

Curtis stepped up and bowled right handed. He scored nine on the first shot and missed the second shot. Jena bowled left handed which made the third left handed person on the team and managed to bowl a strike. With Angela being up, Lone Wolfe glanced to Amanda who picked up the phone with her left hand and plugged her right fingers into the hole. He glanced back to Angela and noticed that she was bowling left handed. He smirked, Fantastic! The right-handed people are in the minority here!

Robin and Jena leaned in to whisper to Lone Wolfe, "What's so funny?" Robin asked.

"There are more left-handed people here than right handed," Lone Wolfe commented in response.

Jena smiled and nodded, "It is probably the number of psychics here."

"But Curtis is a psychic," Robin pointed out as Angela picked up a spare, "Why is he right handed?"

"Don't know," Jena shrugged as Robin rose, "but he is one of the weaker psychics here so that could play a role in it."

Robin shrugged as she walked up to the approach. Lone Wolfe leaned back, "That is kind of like the chicken and the egg; are we left handed because we are special or are we special and ended up being left handed as a result?"

Jena shrugged, "Find me a right-handed psychic that is as powerful as we are and we can put that theory to rest. Before you say anything about your mother and her side of the family think about this; most of them were probably ambidextrous and learned to be right handed as a result. You can use your right hand whenever you want to."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "True and so can you."

The bowling game ended pretty much as the psychics on Robin's team expected. With two people that learned how to play in a competitive league on one team it didn't take a clairvoyant to figure out how the game was going to turn out. After a couple of games, the teenagers all returned to the table with presents for refreshments and to watch the twins open the gifts they received.

It was about that point that Jena projected to Lone Wolfe, "Get up and go to the bathroom. I am going to subtly send Curtis your way so you two can talk about the thing that has been bugging you. I know you haven't talked to him yet."

"Did you scan his mind without permission?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response but got up to walk to the bathroom anyway."

"By Scarlet's rules, he is a telepath and fair game. Doesn't matter that he is a badly trained telepath that doesn't pay attention to what is going on in his own head. I will send a projection to him in a moment. I am sure it will be quite an experience for him," Jena projected back as he walked away.

Lone Wolfe waited outside the bathroom and kept the smirk he would have had from making it to his face. A minute later a confused Curtis walked his way. He fixed his friend with a confused blue-eyed stare and said, "Jena sent me over here? I think it was Jena. She nodded her head in your direction when I glanced at her, but it didn't sound quite like her."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It is called a telepathic projection."

"Want to tell me what this is about?" Curtis questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe took a deep breath, "It is about Robin. Jena and I are convinced that the time is coming that she is going to ask me to take our relationship to that next level physically. I am not sure what to do about it. I talked to Jena about some parts about it and she helped me with what she could, but I also need your help."

"You have been moving faster than me on this," Curtis replied, "I don't know what you need my help for?"

"I don't think I am ready for that yet and I don't think she is ready for that yet either," Lone Wolfe replied.

Curtis fixed him with a side long glance, "Are you sure that is what the problem is? You aren't having any other issues like confusion as to whether you like girls or not?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "If my dreams are any indication, I like girls. This is taking about an emotional state. I don't think we are mature enough for this."

"That is just what the adults say," Curtis waved off the comment with his hand, "Don't listen to them, why would god and nature make us ready before we are mature enough to handle it?"

"Because we were animals and we have evolved into what we are now and are capable of asking harder questions and thinking ahead," Lone Wolfe answered.

"That was a rhetorical question!" Curtis sneered. He shook his head and said, "The point is if she wants it then what is the problem?"

"The problem is we aren't mature enough yet," Lone Wolfe replied, "Sometimes it's like I am talking to a brick wall with you."

"Maybe you are just afraid that you won't be any good," Curtis suggested.

"Sure, you go with that," Lone Wolfe nodded.

"No one is good their first time around," Curtis replied, "You will learn as you go."

"How about maybe diverting her from going that far?" Lone Wolfe asked, "Any ideas on that?"

"Sure, you don't have a personal problem with girls in your personal relationships" Curtis questioned.

"When I am in Robin's arms I am the happiest person alive," Lone Wolfe replied, "When she kisses me, someone could kill me, and I would die a happy man. That is the honest truth. I love the feel of her skin, the look in her eyes when she looks at me, the feel of her hair, how she smells, how she tastes and everything about her."

"Okay, point taken," Curtis stated, "You are into her. Different question; how far you have gotten with her?"

"She is not a video game to compare notes with. You aren't going to get a blow by blow of our time together," Lone Wolfe replied.

"I don't need specifics. I just want to know if you two have gotten past making out or not," Curtis replied.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Not really."

"Then you could be blowing this out of proportion," Curtis stated, "She may not want to go all the way but go further."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I hadn't thought about that. Maybe you are right."

"One more thing," Curtis said with a smile, "Buy a box of condoms. Not saying anything will happen but it is best to be prepared."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "Sure."

Lone Wolfe started to walk away, and Curtis pointed to the bathroom, "I really do have to use the bathroom so I will meet up with you back at the table."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Remember to wash your hands."

"Yes, mom," Curtis sighed as he walked into the bathroom.

Lone Wolfe walked back to the table and sat down between Jena and Robin. He projected to Jena, "Well that went just like you expected with one exception. He accused me of being gay for a moment."

"Leave it to him to have that kind of typical reaction," Jena shook her head in response.

Robin glanced to the both and cocked her head inquisitively, "What are you two plotting?" She asked.

"Who says we are plotting anything?" Jena questioned in response, "In fact I would suppose that you and Lone Wolfe would be the two plotting things."

Robin glanced around to make sure her father and brother were not in earshot, "I don't know about Lone Wolfe, but I know that his father works during the break. My father works too, and I plan on sneaking over to his house while they are working."

"Good thing you let me know. I was going to just bum around town during the break," Lone Wolfe replied, "I know Jena was keeping Angela company and keeping her from working too hard during the year. I could keep the vigil up during the break to make sure that she actually gets some rest and relaxation."

"I don't need a babysitter," Angela joked, "Company at the store is always accepted, though."

"What made you think Jena was plotting something?" Lone Wolfe questioned?

"She randomly nodded," Robin stated in response.

Jena shrugged, "Sometimes I think to myself. That doesn't mean anything different than anyone else." She glanced around, for a moment I thought you were catching a lot of valuable skills from your repeated communions with Lone Wolfe. You have learned how to control your empathic abilities better than when we first met. How long will it be before you start to sense the abilities of others around you? How long will it be before you can start to tell when someone is projecting around you?

Chapter #20: Winter Storm

Greeley Colorado

December 22nd, 2027-CE

When Lone Wolfe awakened the next day he still couldn't believe that his father had allowed him to invite Robin over to hang out while his father was at work. Cleaning the place up and making dinner must have really impressed him. That or the look on his face, guilt that was confused for loneliness which was typical for him at this time of year, convinced his father that he needed some extra attention. After his father had left, he noticed that it started snowing, big fluffy flakes were falling to the ground. It was unusual for it to snow this time of year in Colorado. He was figuring it would be over before midday.

An hour later, Robin texted him, letting him know that she will be on her way over. He pulled the curtain back to look out the window and noticed that not only had the snow fall continued, it had gotten much worse. The snow was blowing, and he couldn't see the street from his window. He called her, "Hello?" She answered. He could hear the wind in the background.

"I think you might want to stay home today. I can convince dad to let us have this time another day," Lone Wolfe replied, "I think this is going to be a doozy of a storm and I don't want you to freeze on your way over here."

"Are you saying you don't want me over there?" She replied then he could hear the smirk forming on her face, "You are getting cold feet?"

"I want you over here, but I don't know how much experience you had with the snow considering you are from San Diego," Lone Wolfe replied, "It might look cool but it sucks when you are trapped in a blizzard. Especially when you are trapped in a blizzard and you are outside."

"I brought a spare change of clothes," She replied, "I was thinking ahead, thinking that this would be a one-way trip. I will be as quick as I can."

"Just be safe. I love you," Lone Wolfe replied.

"I love you too." She replied and disconnected the line.

It didn't take long for Lone Wolfe to get another phone call. He figured it would have been Robin telling him that he changed his mind, but he didn't recognize the number calling him. He answered it, "Hello?"

"Sean, this is your father," the voice stated. He recognized it as his father, "I just had a chance to look out a window and I don't know how it is by the house but it's snowing like crazy out here where I work. You may want to call Robin and tell her to stay home. You can invite her over later and maybe the two families can get together for Christmas later in the week to make up for the cancellation."

"I already tried calling her and telling her that," Lone Wolfe replied, "She is hell bent and determined to get here today."

"Well, don't go out once she gets there. You remember the process to start the generator just in case the power goes out?" His father asked, "I only ask because the wind looks pretty bad out there too."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Start with the cutoff switch because electrical workers don't like to get zapped by feedback. After that make sure the main is on then heat, kitchen, and whichever two rooms we need. That is all the power the generator can provide." He knew he would have to repeat the steps to him anyway so instead of just answering he repeated the steps.

"Then go out and, turn on the propane and hit the start button on the generator," His father finished.

"Are you coming home?" Lone Wolfe asked, "If the weather is already this bad then you should probably get ready to get home."

"I can't leave right now, there is too much to do. If it isn't too late for me to leave, I will hit the road after I am done here. Work already said they will put us up somewhere if we are stranded," His father stated, "Stay safe and stay warm."

"You too," Lone Wolfe nodded and disconnected the line.

He waited by the door and watched as the wind whipped clouds of snow around. He couldn't see too far past the door, so he didn't know how long it would take for Robin to get here. He knew she would rush in bitter cold and wind like this. She hoped that she would find her way. He remembered how different the area looked as a little kid during and after a snow storm. He hoped she wouldn't get lost.

He grabbed his coat and grabbed a blanket before returning to his vigil by the door. He wanted to make sure she got warmed up as quick as possible once she got inside. He wasn't sure why he grabbed his jacket, it seemed the thing to do at the time. A big gust rocked the house and he could hear the branches of the trees scrape the roof of the house. A moment later the lights inside went out and the heater inside of the house went silent.

He could hear the panic of the minds all around him as his neighbors lost power as well. It wasn't just him and it wasn't just his neighbors. Everyone around him had lost power and they all felt a bit of panic when they realized it was just a little bit of insolation and materials now to protect them against the cold. Everyone around him was normal but at that point their thoughts all seemed to resonate with panic. It sent a shiver up his spine.

He reached out with his mind to find Robin. She was close by, within a mile. When he touched her mind, he could tell that she was having a problem getting there. Without a second thought, He zipped up his jacket and tucked the blanket under his arm and opened the door. He jumped out into the snow without a second thought and pulled the door closed behind him. The snow and the wind hit him. The snow stung like sand in a raging sand storm.

He held his free hand over his face to try to get a better view and only managed to look down, "It already snowed over a foot and a half?"

He walked out past the tree line and got blasted by even more snow. He faced the direction she was in and tried to walk forward. Unfortunately, that was against the wind and he was having a hard time moving through it. He closed his eyes, Damn it! If it weren't so windy I could get to her! He didn't see the flash of gold light that emanated from him, but the wind seemed to calm down a moment later as if answering his silent prayer.

"Ah! That's better," He said as he looked forward. He raced as best he could to get to her. He didn't understand why she was still having a problem if the wind had died down. She was still in distress over venturing out into this blizzard.

He reached out to her and projected, "I'm on my way! I will be there shortly! The power went out, I have the feeling that it went out all over town. Everyone in my sympathetic range is starting to panic!"

"Good for them, I would just like to get out of this mess!" Robin projected back, "Thank you for coming to get me!"

He smiled and worked faster to get to her. He saw her about five minutes later and sprinted at full speed to get to her. When he arrived, he threw the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulders, "The wind died down so I was able to get to you faster."

Her amber eyes glanced around. She saw that the bubble of calm heavy snow was just that, a bubble. A few feet beyond Lone Wolfe, in all directions, the wind blasted around just as harshly as it did before he showed up, "It's only calm around you."

"What?" Lone Wolfe replied, "I don't think you are seeing straight."

She shook her head, "Look, you dummy!"

He glanced around and finally saw what she was talking about, "Weird. Why is that happening?"

She shrugged and shivered, "I don't know but let's get back to the house before I freeze to death!"

They took off for the house and made it back about fifteen minutes later. Even though the heat was off, the house still felt warm compared to the heavy snow storm outside. Robin sat down on the couch, wrapped in the blanked that he brought her. Lone Wolfe rested his jacket on her to help her warm up faster.

He sat down next to her and pulled out his phone. From previous power outages he learned that there was a website that could track the outages. He pulled it up on his phone. He felt fortunate that cell internet and voice services still worked. He saw that most of the city had been hit by the outage. He glanced over to Robin, "It looks like most of the city is out of power. The house, here, is well insulated so we will be okay for a while plus We will have heat when it starts to get cold. How about your brother and your father?"

She shoved his jacket to the side as she started to warm up, "We have crappy baseboard electric heaters. If electricity is out, we have no heat as well."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Depending on how long this last, that could be a problem."

"Have any ideas?" Robin questioned in response, "And how do you have heat with a power outage? I understand you have a gas heater but if it was built this century then it is running off electric power as well."

Lone Wolfe waved for her to follow him through the kitchen to the utility room. There he opened the breaker panel and turned on the phone flash light. He shined it up at the top of the panel, "See that switch marked 'generator cutoff?' there is a generator out in the garage with a large propane tank attached to it. My father put it in the house some years before I was born, he was tired of suffering power outages at the worst times. He had an electrician put in the cutoff switch and run the lines for the generator, but he installed the generator, converted it to propane, installed the exhaust hood and everything else on his own."

Her amber eyes almost sparkled, "Wow! I am coming here next zombie apocalypse!"

"You're here for this one," He smiled, "One of the better places to be. The propane tank should be good for at least a day or two. He was going to install a bigger tank but the one that is in there is the biggest portable one he could get. He has two more that are full, so we are set for close to a week. All. If we go any bigger we would have to install a propane tank in the yard and have a service come around to fill it."

"Why don't you just do that instead of run off the grid?" She asked in response."

"The generator won't power the entire house. We have enough for the kitchen, the heater and utility room and two more rooms after that. The electrician had the house re wired so we can choose which rooms are on with generator power. So after we throw the cut off we have to verify the main is still on and select which 2 rooms get power."

"That's still better than nothing. You have food and heat," She replied.

"If I didn't come along so soon he would have converted the entire house to propane to use a large propane tank then we wouldn't have to worry about using gas from the city if some sort of disaster happened."

"You don't have earthquakes here," Robin stated as he closed the box and they walked back through the kitchen, "What do you need to worry about with the gas?"

"You haven't had the pleasure of experiencing tornadoes," Lone Wolfe replied, "Those can wreck all sorts of destruction and the utility companies may turn off gas mains in the affected areas after a tornado goes through. He is making it so we don't have to worry about our safety during a disaster."

"Makes sense but you don't have a basement so if this neighborhood is struck by a tornado then you are screwed anyway," Robin replied.

"You will have to take a look at the garage when we go out to start up the generator," Lone Wolfe replied. He sat down on the sofa again in the living room, "The question now is what to do about your brother?"

Robin shrugged, "I am not going back out there."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't blame you. I won't go any further than the shed and the generator. But you still need to think about Ray. With no power he has no heat and limited in what he can do for food. Eventually, the pipes in your apartment will freeze which means he won't have water either. While they aren't immediate concerns we are better off helping him now rather than later."

Robin chewed her lip in thought, "No offense but I would rather not have him around here if we can help it. I don't know of anyone who has a car or truck that can get him here if we did."

Lone Wolfe nodded, and his gold eyes lit up, "But I do. I don't think she would take him here and I don't know if she would be willing to go get him, but I can call her and see."

"Angela?" She questioned, "but she won't have power at home."

"But she does have that travel trailer and it does have a generator and heat," Lone Wolfe replied, "She has everything she needs, and she has an SUV. The power didn't go out that long ago, so she might still be at work and more willing to go out to rescue him. The question is, can we trust your brother in that little trailer with her?"

Robin glared at him, "Yes she can!"

"If it's good enough for you then it's good enough for me," Lone Wolfe replied.

Lone Wolfe dialed the store cell phone to Angela's store and it rang. He put it on speaker phone, so Robin could answer any questions if needed. Angela answered it a moment later, "Secret Cabin Bat phone, how may I help you?" She greeted.

"Bat phone?" Robin questioned, "What the heck? Where did you come up with a name like that?"

"How did you get this number, Robin?" Angela questioned in response.

"Because it's my phone," Lone Wolfe replied, "Is my caller ID blocked or something?"

"No, I didn't even look," Angela replied, "What's up?"

"Are you still at the store?" He asked in response.

"I was just closing up. The power is out over here," She replied, "I thought you might initially have been a customer that saw the note I put up on the front door as I locked the front up already."

"I see," Lone Wolfe replied, "Power is out all over most of town. We are fine here. We have provisions and everything, but Ray is a different story. I don't know how the insulation is but apartments in general usually suck. If you are going out and heading home, we have a favor to ask. Can you pick him up and take him to your place? I know you have that trailer with the generator and heat so you two will be fine once you reach there."

"I don't know..." She started to answer.

"You could also pick up his girlfriend," Robin suggested, "She isn't as straight as I am, so you might be able to talk her into other activities to keep warm and he will be preoccupied with her the entire time, if that is what you are worried about."

"Robin!" Lone Wolfe exclaimed.

Angela chuckled slightly, "threesome setups aside, I will pick up your brother. If she is in dire straits, I suppose I can pick his girlfriend up to but her parents have to sign off on this beforehand. How are you two in the same place and okay if the power is out where you are?"

"My father okayed her coming over here before the storm, so she trudged through the snow to get here. As far as power is concerned; we have a generator in the garage hooked up to propane and connected to the house feed. There is a cut off on the box, so we don't fry the electricians working on the lines up from us," Lone Wolfe explained.

"You parents were prudent," Angela stated, "As far as how you managed to get your father to okay you two being home alone, you will have to tell me sometime. However, I need to get out of here before I can't. Call Ray and let him know I am on the way."

"Stay safe," Lone Wolfe replied and disconnected the line.

Robin took out her phone and called her brother, "Hey broseph; how are you holding up?"

"Broseph?" Lone Wolfe questioned.

She waved the comment off, "I know the power is out. I am at Lone Wolfe's house. His father put in a generator, so we are fine here. Is it still warm there?" She waited while he responded, "Good. Angela is on her way to pick you up. She has a travel trailer with a generator, heat, all the bells and whistles so you can stay there for the night." He apparently interrupted her at that point, "I am sure dad will be okay when he gets home if they don't keep him at work or anything." Another pause, "Fine, you let him know where you are and that we are okay." Yet another pause, "He knows I am here and Mister Carter knows I am here too." Her brother said any more, "I love you too. Hey; check with your girl toy and see if her parents will let her stay with you before you get picked up, Angela okayed it as long as her parents know." She chuckled, "Yes, I do think about you in these moments, now get off the phone before Angela gets there!" She hung up at that point.

"Broseph?" He questioned.

"Something I picked up from an old anime," Robin stated in response, "I use it as a nickname for him when I am on the phone or some such."

"So, what will your father do for power and food?" He asked.

"Without us around he might just sleep in the car," Robin stated in response, "It will be a relief to him to know that he won't have to get to us."

"Didn't think about that," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Yeah, if it is one person, a car will do. Heat, power, and if you are in to toys, there is a lot that can be had to make it a living space," Robin replied.

"I wonder what my dad will do?" Lone Wolfe questioned, "If there is no power at work they should let him go soon."

Robin pouted, "No offense but I hope not! This was supposed to be a day for us to be alone with each other."

"While I want that as well, this is my dad we are talking about. Your dad knows you are safe and so he won't take any risks to get home to you two. No offense but I would like to do the same with my dad," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin sighed, "I guess you have a point, but he knows you are safe here. Why would he try to get here if he knows you are okay?"

"Because you are here with me and we are under age," Lone Wolfe pointed out.

"Argh!" Robin huffed in response, "Fine. Call him."

Lone Wolfe called his father's cell phone. He was not expecting a response but soon after he got an answer from him, "Hey dad. How is it at work? Do you still have power there? Are they letting you guys go?"

"We still have power here. We are running off generator power for the time being. They are not letting us know. We are 'mission critical' so we need to remain on call. They are getting ready to close the roads anyway. It's coming down so fast that the plows can't keep up with it and that is saying something. Greeley may not be very good at doing a lot of things, but they are good at keeping the roads passable. No, it looks like I will be staying here. Did Robin make it to our house or did she turn back and head home?"

"She is here with me; do you want to say hi?" Lone Wolfe replied.

"No, that's okay," His father sighed in response, "I won't be able to make it home tonight and while I want to have you send her home, I won't do that to anyone in this storm. You will need to sleep in my room tonight and she will sleep in your room."

Lone Wolfe knew that his father really had no control over what he would do when he wasn't around, but he had to act like he was going to follow the rules. He felt a bit of Robin was rubbing off on him, "What! Why can't she sleep in your room?"

"I trust you more than her," He replied, "You can sleep in the living room if you like or she can sleep in the living room, but I figured that she would prefer a soft and warm bed."

"Fine," Lone Wolfe sighed, "you win."

"Before it gets too cold in the house, you will want to start the generator. I would suggest you do it soon. It already dropped over a foot and a half since it started, and the weather maps show it won't let up soon. Make sure you and she keep an eye on the outside vents for the generator otherwise it will fill with carbon monoxide and choke the generator. Once that happens, you will be in real trouble. The vents start about three feet up so if the snow count doubles then You will need to dig it out."

"Got it," Lone Wolfe stated.

"You might want to go out soon," He said.

"We will," Lone Wolfe added.

"Stay warm," His father said, "I will be home sometime tomorrow or later. I will call you if it is later."

"Okay, stay safe," Lone Wolfe stated and disconnected the line.

She glanced at him, "What was that about?"

"Dad wants you to sleep in my room and me to sleep in his room tonight because he won't be coming home. He said his work is mission critical right now, so he can't come home even if he wanted to. He knows you are here but there is nothing he can do."

"So we get the place to ourselves?" She said in an excited tone.

Lone Wolfe nodded but he glanced towards the kitchen, the utility room and the back door beyond, "Yes but there are caveats with that."

"You aren't really going to sleep in his room without me?" She asked dejectedly.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I don't plan to sleep in his bed at all! Don't worry, I just placated him to settle the tension. What I mean is, we will have to step outside to start the generator. If it snows too much more, we will have to go back out and clean off the vents that feed the airflow to the generator. If we don't do that, it will consume the oxygen within the garage and make it toxic enter."

"Good thing the garage isn't attached to the house," Robin commented in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I have the feeling that was one of the reasons why my parents chose this house when they bought it. Plenty of houses have attached garages but he wanted to use it for something other than to store a car in."

Robin nodded, "I can understand that we will need to do it and we will need to if it gets higher but what about if we are asleep and it gets covered?"

"We will have to sleep lightly," he replied.

She walked over and tossed him his jacket, "Should we start now?"

Lone Wolfe nodded and shrugged on his coat, "Better now than later." He walked through the kitchen to the utility room and shined a light on the breaker panel.

Robin stopped him before he started the process of throwing the cutoff and asked, "What if the power comes back on while we are running on generator power?"

"My father had this light installed a few years back," Lone Wolfe replied and pointed to what looked like a breaker next to the cutoff switch, "When we throw the cutoff switch, this will monitor the city feed. If power comes back on, it will light up. We just go out, turn off the generator and switch the cutoff back to the city feed."

"Your father thought of everything," She stated, awestruck.

"Actually, someone else thought of it but he did implement it," Lone Wolfe replied.

He flipped the cut off then flipped off the main and all the circuits below it. He flipped on the main and heater circuit, "Let's see. My room." He flipped the switch for his room, "We may want the kitchen for right now. The bathroom is part of the utility room."

"I was afraid I would have to pee in the dark," Robin smiled.

"Better than camping out in that mess," Lone Wolfe pointed to the snow and turned off the light on his phone. He pulled the curtain covering the window over the back door, "Wow, it's coming down out there."

"The faster we do this, the faster we can warm each other up later," She smiled and opened the door.

Snow and wind blasted then and erased the smile. The quickly headed out into the cold and closed the door. Lone Wolfe held his hand in front of him and led the way to the back of the garage to the door. He took out his phone and his keys and unlocked the door to the garage. He opened the door and held it open with his foot as he fumbled with his phone to get the light on. He shined it inside to reveal a stairwell that led down to the bottom of the floor. She looked inside, "It goes down?"

"Dad dug it out and re paved it later. He put in a little shelter further back. We go in here if there is a tornado. The generator does power this area, but we wouldn't count on it solely in a tornado. It wasn't the best solution, but it was what he could do on his own at the time." Lone Wolfe stated as he headed down the stairs. She started to follow him, but he held a hand out, "Stay there and keep the door open. Just in case something goes wrong."

"Goes wrong?"

"There is a possibility that the propane could leak, and the generator could spark which would cause a small explosion. If you come in and the door is closed, it will be contained and make a bigger boom. If you stay there, then there is a chance the wind will keep it from building up. I understand if you want to wait in the house," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Absolutely not!" She replied, "I am going to stay here with you. I will keep the door open, though."

Lone Wolfe nodded and shined the light on the large red generator and the three-man sized cylinders next to it. One of them was hooked up to a hose, "Dear lord! Are those the propane tanks?"

"Yes," Lone Wolfe answered.

"How much do those weighs?" She asked.

"A lot," Lone Wolfe replied, "Probably more than me." He reached up and grasped the knob of the tank and turned it on. They heard a slight his as the regulator on the hose kicked in. He then turned his phone to the generator and found the start button. He pressed it and the generator kicked to life, "No boom." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's not really funny," Robin commented.

"Not meant to be," He added.

He hit another button on the generator and it throttled down, "Now we have power."

"Why did it change in pitch?" She asked.

"Because the motor now has a load on it when it was just idling before." He stated and walked towards the stairs, "Now let's get inside."

They locked and closed the door then hurried back inside. When they got inside, they heard the heater running and saw the light on in the kitchen. Lone Wolfe didn't know that Robin had flipped on a light before they headed to the utility room. She glanced back to the breaker panel before he closed the door, "Why is there no other light on that little box you pointed out?"

"There is no power coming from the city," Lone Wolfe answered, "It's not that sophisticated. It only lights up if there is power from the city. It doesn't display a message or anything." He closed the panel and flicked off the light in the utility room.

They walked into the living room. Without much thought, Robin flicked the lights on in the living room, but they did not come on like she half expected. She turned them off and glanced back to Lone Wolfe, "Kind of weird to have lights in one room and not have them in another room."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "The generator was the biggest that he could get and convert that wouldn't go through propane so quickly." He crossed the distance to the window and looked out the window, "Wow, I can't see our footsteps that we made to get in the house initially anymore."

He could feel her worry. It wasn't coming through the telepathic link anymore. It felt stronger than it should. It wasn't her empathic abilities projecting to him, it was something different. He wondered if it was the empathic bond that he had heard about before. He glanced to her and asked, "What's up?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard. Her amber eyes didn't show any fear, "Who says I am worried?" She questioned. If he blocked out the fear he was feeling, that he knew was coming from her, he could tell that she was trying to block her empathic projections and telepathic projections.

"You are," Lone Wolfe answered, "I think we are empathically linked now."

"How did that happen?" She asked, "I don't remember forging that bond."

"Neither do I," Lone Wolfe replied, "But I can feel the fear coming from you and I can tell you are doing your best not to project it."

"What if they don't fix the power tomorrow?" She replied after a moment of thought, "What if they don't clear the roads tomorrow? What if we are stuck here, by ourselves, through Christmas?"

"It could be two days or three days, but we have provisions for food for a month stowed away in this house. If we must, we can set up a propane heater in the house and camp out in the kitchen with the propane tank from the grill outside. My father and I planned for things like this. You are in one of the best places to be in this town." He assured.

"What about my brother?" She questioned.

"Angela is just as prepared as my father is, so he is covered as well. Curtis and Jena are out of state, so they aren't dealing with this storm right now," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "If it gets bad enough they will open up a shelter for everyone else and they will start making wellness calls to places to make sure people are okay. How about you call Ray? He should have been picked up by Angela by now and can tell you about how things are out there."

She nodded. Lone Wolfe waved for her to follow him to his room, "Why are we going to your room?"

"I can see the corner of the back of the garage from here. If the snow is not drifting up against that part then we may not have to go out to shovel it off or at least shovel it off as often as needed," Lone Wolfe replied.

Robin nodded, and they headed into his room. She shut the door behind them as they entered and sat down on the bed. He opened up the curtain and glanced out the window, "We are in luck, it is drifting away from that side of the garage so we should be okay."

"That means that if it gets too high we will be trapped in the house as the doors are facing the wind," Robin shuddered.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It is a possibility, but the snow will act as additional insolation at that point, so we should be okay heat wise. We can also get out through my window by the bed."

"Good idea," She nodded. She took out her phone.

Before she could dial her brother's number, Lone Wolfe interrupted, "You should put him on speaker. I want to hear what he says."

Robin sighed, "Fine!" She dialed his number. When he answered she put it on speaker and said, "Hey Broseph! Where are you?"

"I'm in a car headed to Angela's house." He answered, "Thanks for checking in, Sissy."

"Taking you a while, is that because you managed to pick up your girl?" She asked in response.

"No," He responded, "Her parents would not let her go even though she would be warm and have food secured. I guess some parents will sacrifice safe and secure to make sure they have no chance of their kids having a little adult fun."

"Nah, wouldn't have happened anyway," Angela stated from the background, "Despite what you were thinking, it would have just been 3 people in the trailer."

"That is, assuming we get there before spring!" Ray commented in response, "I think I could walk there faster."

"So, get out and lead the way," Angela commented in the background, "Just remember it is a lot warmer in here than it is out there. You also don't have the experience of driving in this crud. If I don't go slow, we will get stuck or run into something. I don't have any contact with the road right now."

"You two take it easy and send a text when you get there," Lone Wolfe stated over the line, "I don't want her crying because her broseph is hurt and I don't want to lose a family friend either."

Before Ray could respond, Robin hung up the line and gave Lone Wolfe a playful glare, "You were supposed to be quiet."

"You weren't quiet when I called Angela earlier. Turnabout is fair play." Lone Wolfe replied.

Chapter #21: Playing house

Greeley Colorado

December 23rd, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe loaded the dirty dishes from dinner into the dishwasher. It wasn't a big dinner, some spaghetti and sauce. It was after midnight since they slept until well after dark. He glanced back to Robin and asked, "How was dinner tonight?" He didn't know what else to ask considering the events of earlier in the day.

She smiled at him and said, "It was very good. I don't have homemade spaghetti sauce that often. Usually what we have comes out of a can or a jar."

"That sounds vile," Lone Wolfe replied, "My father taught me how to make that sauce. He calls that a quick spaghetti sauce. He makes several different sauces. Some of them take over an hour to make for the spices to release all of their flavors in but this one is the easiest to make."

"If your father's work is mission critical, I take it he isn't a cook?" She asked in response, "I bet he could make some good money as a cook."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "He said he did some time as a cook in the marines and didn't like cooking for hours on end. He does something with technology, but I don't exactly know what he does. Some sort of specialist with emergency voice systems as I understand it currently. He started that job shortly after Mom died. Before that he was an IT technician for a company."

"I don't think being a cook in the marines counts as being a cook," Robin replied, "My uncle was a cook in the army and he told me they basically take stuff out of cans and packages and heat it up for the soldiers. If that was what turned him off cooking, then he might want to look into a real cooking job in the future."

"It might be a little late for him to start," Lone Wolfe replied, "He is starting to make some decent money in the technology field. If he starts over as a cook, then he won't make much money. He likes technology and solving problems with it. Look around. We have power thanks to him."

She nodded, "That we do."

Lone Wolfe fished his phone out of his pocket, "I don't know about you, but my phone is running low. I need to plug in the phone. To save the propane I need to plug in the phone in the utility room, so we only have the one circuit running. There is a four-port charger in here."

Robin fished her phone out of her pocket and said, "It's not too bad but I don't think I could get away with watching a movie on it. I guess we should charge it."

They headed into the utility room and fished out 2 USB cables from a drawer. They found the charger and plugged it in then plugged the cables into it. He plugged the phones in and grabbed a flashlight, "Are you ready? I am going to cut power to the kitchen."

"Will the food be okay in the fridge if you do that?" She asked in response.

"If we don't touch it then it should be okay until morning," Lone Wolfe replied.

She grabbed a flashlight from the door, "I won't be wandering around in the dark."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Here we go." He flipped the switch and the lights went out in the kitchen. He glanced around, "I wonder what the neighbors are thinking with us having power but no one else having any."

"Lack of planning on their part doesn't constitute an emergency on our part," She replied, "Maybe the next time they find themselves up a creek, they will have the presence of mind to take a paddle with them."

"Careful throwing rocks in that glass house," Lone Wolfe replied, "You were close to being one of those people up the stinky creek without the paddle."

"True," She nodded, "My father would have thought of something. Glad he decided to just sleep in the car. At least he will have heat and power."

"I wonder how many people have chosen to do that?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response, "I bet when my father was a kid there wasn't as much of a need to have a generator. In this age of cell phones and internet it is a must."

Robin nodded. She clicked the textured rubber button on the flashlight and shined it around the room. She spotted something she didn't recognize right away and fixed it with the beam from the light, "what is that?"

Lone Wolfe glanced up at the spot she shined the light on, "That is an emergency weather radio. It has a dynamo in it that you wind up which charges a capacitor. That allows the radio to function when there is no power. There is a newer model somewhere around the house that should be hooked up to power with a lead acid battery and is supposed to go off with a weather alert, but I can't remember where it is. We keep this one around, so we can have weather radio handy when we have no other source of power."

"Is your father in the survivalist movement?" She asked as she turned off the light.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I wouldn't go that far. He believes in being prepared but he doesn't have a hobby about it. As I understand it, he lived in Pueblo as a kid and whenever they had disasters happen there he and his family had to suffer through it. He decided long ago to not have his family suffer through that like he did. Mom grew up in Colorado Springs and her family were from a whole bunch of farmers, so she was used to growing up and making sure that they had all the essentials. As I understand it; both were prudent in making sure we had what we needed when things went sideways."

He walked through the kitchen into the living room and glanced out the window, "it is still snowing but the wind has stopped." He reported.

She looked out the window at the snow, "It's still coming down pretty hard. Do you think it will let up by morning?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged in response. He kept gazing out of the window. He couldn't tell where the yard ended, and the street began. No one had driven on the street in quite a while. It was impressive that he could now see to the street considering he couldn't see the tree in the front yard earlier. She stood next to him and wrapped her arm around his waist as he stood there.

Through their new empathic bond, he didn't feel any of the urges he felt from her earlier. He just felt warmth and love coming from her. It seemed a relief, a burden being lifted. He placed his arm around the small of her back and smiled. The storm threatened to make Christmas a wreck, but it didn't seem to matter at this point. He felt better about being here, now, then he did in the past. He glanced to her and smiled, "I love you. I can't wait for life after high school."

She returned his smile and her dark amber eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim reflected light from the snow, "Only a couple of years then we can start to make our own life and future. Make something like this permanent."

They both glanced back to the snow storm just outside the warmth of the house, "Look at us, already planning for a future after this."

"I think we all do it more than you think," Robin commented, "I don't know how often people talk about it with each other in the beginning, but they definitely think like this."

His smile seemed to grow, "It's funny. We have become a normal couple."

"Is there anything normal about us? You are one of the most powerful telepaths I have ever met, and your clairvoyance can border on the preternatural at times. I am a powerful telepath myself and I have problems controlling the awesome power of my empathic abilities. What will our future children think if they heard you call us a 'normal couple?' I bet they would think you have lost it. I can hear them now; 'come, let's help daddy find his marbles so he can realize he is closer to something very different from normal.' You realize they won't be normal either."

He arched and eyebrow and glanced to her, "You're already planning for children?"

"It will happen eventually," She replied, "But there won't be anything normal about them. If you have gold eyes and I have amber eyes, their odds for having normal colored eyes are slim. Plus, they could be born with two out of control abilities, not one like you and me."

"I have seen your father to know he has brown eyes," Lone Wolfe replied, "How about your mother. What color are her eyes?"

"They are brown too," She replied.

"Odds are, they will be brown," Lone Wolfe stated, "Not sure how I came about my yellow eyes. My mother and everyone on her side of the family has green eyes; it is a dominant trait. My father has blue eyes."

"Sounds like whatever powers that be decided to mix yours," She smirked.

"Maybe." Lone Wolfe replied, "I would say the odds are good that if you and I have children that they will be born with brown eyes or green eyes. They will probably wonder how they got normal eyes if they had two odd balls for parents."

She glanced back to the storm, "How many kids do you see in your future?" She asked.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the question. He opened them a moment later and glanced out to the storm, "I see three kids in the future. Identical twin girls and a younger son."

"What color are their eyes?" She asked.

"They start off green and the girls turn gold as they get older," he answered as he closed his eyes again.

"What color is their hair?" She asked in response.

"Brown, with just a hint of red," He replied.

"I wonder where the red comes from?" She asked.

"My mother had reddish brown hair," He replied.

"Wait, identical twins?" She seemed panicked.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It runs in my family."

"Do you know how hard it is to raise twins?" She questioned in response.

"I am sure you are an expert on the subject, you are being a twin and all," Lone Wolfe replied.

"There is a reason why we don't have any little siblings," Robin stated in response, "Twins are sanity breakers."

"Depending on the person, any child is a sanity breaker," Lone Wolfe smirked.

She leaned against him, "I have the feeling you will make a good father."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I don't know. When I stop to think about it, being responsible for the wellbeing of another person scares me. It is an awesome responsibility. I don't know how people can do it."

"They learn how to do it," Robin stated, "No one just knows how to be a parent."

Lone Wolfe nodded. It seemed to remind him of something she said earlier, "Speaking of learning. If our children are going to have two out of control abilities, you are going to have to train up on how to use your empathic abilities. I know how to use my telepathy and can impart my training upon them if they don't know how to control their abilities. You will have to teach them how to use their empathic abilities. I don't know how to use mine."

"Bull," She said, "With how you make me feel when you push your energy into me." She held her free hand out and he took it. He could feel her wanting him to flow energy in through her hand. He did as she asked, and she pressed herself against him more, "You can't tell me you don't know how to use your powers if you can do that to me."

"I can't heal you. I tried that already," He argued, "You know how to do that, you just need to learn some finesse with it. You also need to learn some more control with your empathic projections."

"We'll send them to Jena," She glowered.

Lone Wolfe sighed, "I was not trained by a family member and you know that. While I cherish the time, I spent with Scarlet and she is a dear friend to me, it did hurt a little to know that the rest of my father's side of the family all has their own training and I never got that. I think it would mean a lot to them if they were trained by their parents." He got an idea at that point and stopped flowing energy into her, "maybe something changed with our new link, try doing to me what I just did to you. I bet you might be surprised with the results."

She let go of his hand and caressed his cheek. With that touch came a warmth that penetrated his skin and headed straight to his core. It wasn't the electric tingle like before. None of the harshness when she tried to heal him in the past. It felt like he would melt into her at that moment. He held his hand to her hand and flowed energy through to her at that moment. They found themselves kissing before either realized what they were doing, overcome by their own energy and essence at that moment.

They stopped and pulled back, "Wow, that was intense!" Robin remarked, "I didn't think I could do anything like that before. But still, I can only do that to you because of the bond we have."

"You might be able to do it to other people," Lone Wolfe replied, "It just might take time. Not saying to do that to everyone you meet but if you need to heal someone you can learn their resonance quickly and instead of forcing it upon them, you can work with their energy. You can do that with me because of the bond now but you can learn from us and apply it elsewhere."

"That's a hard sell," She replied.

"Have some more faith in yourself," Lone Wolfe stated, "I used to think I wasn't that good of a telepath but after seeing some of what I can pull I know better. You are the same way. You have strong and potent abilities. You just must learn to wield them correctly. You just have to learn to turn down the volume on them and not cut against the grain all the time."

Robin smirked, "You have done well grasshopper." She squeezed him tightly, "Your wordsmithing has improved."

"I had a good teacher." Lone Wolfe nodded.

She looked back out the window, "With no power in the living room or anywhere else, what are we supposed to do for entertainment? It was stupid of us to snooze through the afternoon! Now I'm wired with nothing to do!"

"I can turn on power to the living room and we can see if there is a movie we can watch?" Lone Wolfe suggested.

Robin nodded, "That sounds good."

He took out the flashlight and flicked it on. He stepped through to the kitchen and into the utility room. He shined the light into the panel and found the circuit for the kitchen. He flicked it on then shined the light back through the pathway he took into the living room, "Okay, the power is on. Go ahead and switch on the light then we can find our way around and find the remote."

Robin switched on the flash light she took as Lone Wolfe flicked his off and made his way back to the living room. When the light came on it nearly blinded them both, "Got too used to the dark," She hissed, "The light is way too bright now!"

"Kind of like when you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. You flick on the light and feel like a vampire for a moment because the light threatens to kill you," Lone Wolfe nodded in agreement as he shielded his eyes. He glanced down to the coffee table and found the remote for the TV. He grabbed it and turned on the device, "if you want to turn off the light now, you can. I found the remote."

She turned off the light as he sat on the sofa with one leg running the distance of the sofa. Robin crossed the distance to the sofa and sat down with her back to him. She back up to him and rested against his chest. Her natural scent made it hard for him to focus on what app to open on the TV or what channel he wanted to watch as he focused on the TV. She glanced back to him and asked, "Are you okay?"

He smiled and in the blue glaring light of the TV she couldn't see his blush but through their bond she could feel the emotion behind it the same, "I'm fine but you are still intoxicating."

She smiled back, "I might have unlocked a monster earlier."

He shook his head, "Don't say that, you make me sound evil."

She chuckled, "No one is good or evil." Robin faced the TV, "those are just human constructs. Vague and fragile abstracts that people use to judge each other. One person's good is another person's evil. One person's savior is another person's evil incarnate. One person's god is the other's Satan."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He wasn't sure how such an innocent moment took a dark turn suddenly. He wished he didn't mention the word evil at all. Still, it did allow him to focus on the TV enough to select an Anime channel app on the smart TV menu, "While that is true, most of us can agree on a generic set of rules. I like to think that most of us have some sort of stronger set of ethics even if we can't agree on what is good or evil."

"So, you are saying that the struggle that we all face is not the struggle of good against evil but the struggle of ethics?" She questioned in response as he started to find an Anime that both would like to watch at this time of night.

"Ethics and sanity," Lone Wolfe nodded in response, "You have to admit that when people genuinely believe that someone has to die because the world would be better off for it that there might be something wrong with their outlook of the world. If they honestly believe ethics don't apply to them in that situation then they might just be crazy."

Robin laughed, it wasn't the reaction he was expecting. She glanced back to him, "That actually makes a strange kind of sense. It also makes sense if someone steals a loaf of bread to feed their starving kids. It becomes an ethical gray area but it's just as gray to punish the parent who stole the bread."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He was browsing through the selections on the channel as he replied, "That is my thought exactly. I find a lot of fault with society in general that would allow children to starve when others throw good food away every day. Ethics are something we can generally agree on, however. We agree that murder is wrong, that stealing something of value is wrong, that lying is wrong, and that rape is wrong. Agreeing on other issues like pre-marital relations is a religious construct and something that falls in your so stated flimsy good versus evil ideals."

Robin smirked but he couldn't see it, "I have an odd ball question for you; what you think of plural marriage?"

"What?" He asked.

"What do you think of plural marriage? Unless I was hit in the head recently I don't remember stuttering." Robin replied.

"Not for me," Lone Wolfe replied, he couldn't see a future with anyone aside from her.

"But in general?" She questioned in response.

"Who am I to say what other people do in their bedrooms? If everyone is okay with it they can do whatever they want," Lone Wolfe replied.

"But it's not for you?" She questioned in response.

"I don't want to sound possessive in any way, but I don't want to share you with anyone else," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

"You didn't look at it the way I thought you would," Robin commented, "I thought you would have envisioned having multiple girls, but you jumped into me having multiple guys. Any reason why you did that?"

"You brought up the subject," Lone Wolfe replied, "I thought you might have some sort of motive behind it."

"Just trying to get to know that gray area in your head," She replied, "We have had many communions by now, but I can only seem to recall the light you show me, I don't get any of the darkness or that gray area. You seem to get a lot of my gray and dark areas. Why is that?"

"I guess I don't ponder that side of me that often," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Why not?" She questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "It's just not something I dwell on. I got close to it once. When that guy was trying to rape you. I almost made him shoot himself, but I saw the fear on your face and I thought about the damage I would do to you and everyone else if I actually had him do it which is why I had him run instead. At that point, I realized that ending a life is much worse than simply correcting the problem and sending them on their way. If they aren't alive then they can't learn and potentially grow into something better."

She turned back and glared at him, "I would not have been so generous with that guy. I don't care if you saw the fear on my face that day. The fact that there is one more of those people out there scares me."

"You can be scary yourself. Remember our first date?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

She nodded, "I do."

"Why didn't you do it to him?" he asked in response, "You could have stopped him dead in his tracks and made him all sorts of sick from that moment, but you went with it, why?"

"He had a gun and I got scared," Robin replied.

"You should have more confidence in your abilities, you ran off an entire gang of people!" Lone Wolfe replied, "One man with a gun should be no match for you."

"I didn't see the gun until it was pressed up against my back. I didn't think I could react that fast," Robin argued.

Lone Wolfe shrugged. He wasn't getting anywhere with the conversation. He switched back to his first subject on the matter, "I think what the world lacks is forgiveness. We are so quick to come to judgement against other people but aren't willing to forgive the wrongs of the past and move forward. People are afraid of us because of wrongs that have been committed against them in the past by our kind. They take it out on all of us in general, never willing to forgive the past. That man probably has been looking over his shoulder ever since that day I stopped him, knowing full well that there are people like me that can turn him into a puppet before he has a chance to think. I bet he won't cross the line again."

"What if he does this to some other girl?" Robing questioned in response, "She will have you to blame for that."

"That guy will be to blame," Lone Wolfe replied, "You can't be held responsible for people you cannot control. Are you afraid that he will find you again?"

She shuffled uncomfortably, "Maybe. Let's change the subject, what's your worst fear?"

"Being alone," Lone Wolfe replied, "I hardly had any family to begin with. My mother's cousin won't speak with us anymore. The last time we saw him was at Relena's funeral and since then he will not give us the time of day. He unfriended my father on social media. I think he unfriended me as well. Aside from that; my mother and Relena are dead. I never got to know members on my father's side of the family and the rest of my mother's family think of me as a freak just like they did my mother. That leaves my dad. I had the feeling, the night my mother died, that he was going to commit suicide. I somehow reached through that dark emotion and got him to stop. I can tell you this; he has never been the same since her death. A big and good part of him died that day as well. I fear that I will eventually be alone and there will be no one around. That is one of the reasons why I used to hate summer and winter breaks. My best friends would leave on their vacations and they would always say they had so much fun they didn't want to come back."

She turned around and hugged him at that point, "I thought it was going to be some stupid fear like a fear of snakes or something. I didn't know that you had a fear like that."

"I actually envy you and Ray," Lone Wolfe commented in response. He held her tightly and replied, "you always had each other when you were growing up. Curtis has his sister and Jena is close to her extended family. I never had any of that. It feels like I was always left to twist to the wind. If you weren't in this town this summer, if I never met you, this would have been the worst year ever. Everything about you has made this that much better. When I say I love you, I mean it with all that I am."

He didn't mean to bring her to tears, but he saw them running down her eyes. She glanced up to him and said, "If I can help it at all I will never leave you. If we get separated by our parents, by distance, or whatever, I will do all I can to keep in touch with you and make sure you know you are not alone. I share your feelings; I love you too. I love you with all that I am."

Chapter #22: Christmas Eve

Greeley Colorado

December 24th, 2027-CE

Lone Wolfe and Robin awakened in the morning. The snow had stopped in the morning before, but plows and cars were hard to be found. They had no power coming from the city. While they enjoyed the time they could inside, Lone Wolfe did have to shovel the way to the shed so when the tank emptied they could change the tank. It hadn't happened yet, but he expected it to happen at any moment because it had been nearly two days on the generator.

He walked towards the utility room and saw a green light on the indicator. They were retrieving their phones from the charger. He smiled and glanced back to Robin and smiled, "The power is back!"

"Fantastic! I wasn't looking forward to going into the generator room to change out the tanks," Robin stated in response.

"We still have to go out there," Lone Wolfe replied, "We are going to have to shut off the generator now.

He raced over to the breaker panel and flipped off all the circuits in the house. He shrugged on his jacket and shoes and made sure he had his keys and raced out to the generator room. Robin followed close behind, "What's the rush? It's colder than Frosty the snow man's balls out here!"

"Colorful as always," Lone Wolfe stated as he made it to the door, "While it is cold out here, the generator has been running for a while, it will be quite warm in there." He opened up the door and was greeted with a wave of heat that could cook food, "Holy crap, fire meets ice. It's hotter than fireworks on the fourth of July in here."

He made his way down to the generator hit the cutoff switch. Right after that he closed off the flow of propane and hit the purge button releasing a little hiss of fowl smelling gas from the line. He hoped that the power was on for good. He knew that sometimes the city power would come on then go out as soon as people started applying a load to the grid. Usually common in summer when it happened. He was sweating by the time he got back up to the top of the shed, "I think the generator will be okay. I didn't notice any warning lights on it. Hopefully the power is back on for good."

He closed the door and the two made the way back to the house. He glanced at the panel and saw the power indicator was still lit. He flipped the cutoff back to the city power and turned on the circuits in the house. Everything came on like it was supposed to. He shrugged off his coat and hung it up. Robin glanced at him and asked, "If that generator switch is a cut off, why did you go out and shut off the generator before flipping it back to the city power?"

"Not quite sure on that one," Lone Wolfe answered, "The answer my father gave me was he didn't want to risk overloading the main to the house and blowing the breaker panel. If that happened, then we would have to call an electrician out here. He told me a story about when a building he worked at lost one leg of power going to it. Their backup generator kicked on, they had an automatic cut off. It was supposed to switch to generator power only, but the second leg of power stayed on. They blew out the ballasts that control the lights, blew monitors, fried computers, everything in the two minutes it took for them to shut off the generator. There is also the possibility that there are still city workers working on the line and we don't want to send any feedback to them. Getting zapped can hurt."

"But the switch is supposed to keep that from happening, right?" She asked in response.

"Things don't always work like they should," Lone Wolfe stated as they headed into the living room, "I imagine that he wants to play it safe and not get a call from the power company saying that they detected feedback on our lines."

They sat down on the sofa, "So what happens now?' She asked.

He glanced out the living room window. He could see that the streets had been somewhat plowed and there was some traffic moving through but not nearly the level it would have been normally. Even if it was Christmas eve, there would still be a ton of traffic on their street. He glanced back to Robin and stated, "I think our short stay is probably close to over. You should call your father and see if he will be back home. We can call Angela and see how she and Ray have held up over the past couple of days. You might get to go home and sleep in your own bed tonight. Have Christmas with your family tomorrow."

She didn't seem as thrilled with that idea as he expected. The truth was, he wasn't happy about it either. It was amazing how the city dealt with almost four feet of snow. They were able to get power on after the storm ended in just under a day and they were able to get some of the roads plowed. In a few days, it should be back to business as usual. He felt sorry for the city workers who had to work over the holiday break but it couldn't be helped. She shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

"I know, you wanted this to last a little bit longer, but would you prefer your father to be sleeping in a car on Christmas day instead of sleeping in his own bed. He probably is worried about you and thinking of ways to get away with castrating me right now. Probably also ready to give his son a high five for him staying in the storm with a girl," Lone Wolfe replied, "While I want you here, I know my dad probably wants to get home and get a shower."

"We will have to see," She replied.

"You know if you don't call they will risk themselves for you," Lone Wolfe replied, "If you call them, then you can find out if they are even going to get back to the house today. Your father may just go home and not want to risk driving all over creation just to get you two."

"What if your father gets here?" She asked in response.

"While it sucks, I will sleep on the couch," He replied.

Robin sighed and pulled out her phone. She dialed her father's number and when he answered she said, "Hey dad, the power came back on over here. How have you been holding up?" There was silence as he spoke to her, "Don't worry, he has been treating me like a lady, been very kind and giving me more space than I want." While it was the truth, it wasn't specific but if there were no questions asked then they were in the clear, "So you will be home tonight? Will you be coming to pick me up?" There was more silence, "I don't know if Lone Wolfe's father will be able to take me home. I don't know if he will be able to get out. He works in a job that deals with emergency services. I imagine that he might still be a little busy. They could keep him over the holiday." She waited as he spoke, "There is four feet of snow, it was hard enough for Lone Wolfe to shovel the walk to the generator yesterday after the storm stopped. He didn't let me shovel, there is only one shovel here."

Lone Wolfe wasn't sure if he should say anything, so he took out his phone and hoped that his father had managed to score a charger while he was at work for the past few days. He sent his father a text message, "Hey, the power is back, and the streets are being plowed. Any chance you will be home tonight?"

"So, you won't come and get me, but you want me home tonight. You don't want me to walk there through all the snow. Did you manage to find a working teleporter on your way to work this morning? One magically fell out of the sky and teleported to the ground intact?" She giggled as he made his response, "Then can I stay here if his father doesn't come home or doesn't want to venture out in this mess after getting home after two days stranded at work. Unlike you, his father has been working for most of the time." She rolled her eyes as he made his next retort, "I know it was rude, but you aren't leaving me with any other options. Sure, I want to see you and Ray but what options do I have? You can always come get me." She rolled her eyes again, "I will ask Mister Carter if or when he gets home but if he doesn't want to get me, can I stay here? It will be the same sleeping arrangements as before, I get my own bed all to myself." She nodded as she heard the response, "Cool, I will let you know as soon as I get some information. Later, Merry Christmas."

Robin hung up as Lone Wolfe got a response from his father, "The roads are clear here as well and we are starting to do better. I will be home tonight, but I don't know what time. Let me know if she goes home or not."

"About that," He texted back, "Her father is coming home tonight but he wanted you to take her back home. I don't think that is going to be possible if you come back late. He doesn't want her trying to hike through the snow as well."

"Yeah, if he wants her back at his place he should really pick her up. I don't blame him about not wanting her hiking through the snow. That is a lot to shovel. I don't think a lot of people are able to do it in one day." He texted back, "Just let me know. Let him know I am not going to be in any shape to drive when I get home."

Lone Wolfe glanced up to Robin and said, "There is no way that my father is going to be able to drive you back. He is coming home tonight but it's going to be late and he must be tired. Let your father know that if he wants you back, he needs to pick you up."

"Yeah, with how my father sounded, that will go over about as well as a fart at a presidential address," She replied.

Lone Wolfe couldn't help but smirk at the comment, "Well. Be yourself when you deliver the news."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked in response.

"You know, be your usual self," He replied.

"Which means?" She hissed.

"Be as subtle as a brick through a window," He commented, "You don't want to pussyfoot around on this one. Don't give him the wrong idea. If he doesn't want you to walk but he wants you home then he has to pick you up."

She rolled her eyes and redialed her father's number, "Hey dad, Lone Wolfe just spoke with his father. He has been working most of the time since the storm began. He won't be off until late at night and won't be able to drive me home after he gets off work. I can either walk home or you can pick me up."

He could hear the exasperated sigh over the phone. She listened as he made his reply then she said, "Yes, he will be here tonight." There was a pause, "So I can stay then?" She nodded as he spoke, "Okay. I will see you tomorrow sometime. Love you daddy." She hung up.

She beamed with happiness, "Well I get to stay here one more night!"

"I wouldn't be happy if I were you. You could still be grounded until the second coming."

"I thought you weren't Christian?" She asked in response.

"I'm not which is code for forever," He replied.

"Well, if this is the last hurrah, what should we do to pass the time?" She asked with a devious smile on her face.

He could feel what she wanted over their empathic bond, "I know what you want to do but we can't screw all day. Shoveling must be done. Dad needs to get into the driveway."

"Lame!" Robin exclaimed.

"Well, both of us can't be in trouble," Lone Wolfe stated in response.

* * *

It was warm and comfortable and having Robin's body pressed up against him was beginning to feel normal and expected. What was not normal was a voice booming through the darkness and vivid sensual dream of the two of them, "Don't you two look cute? Good thing you are on the sofa because if I caught the two of you in bed like that, I would have no grandchildren to look forward to."

Lone Wolfe's gold eyes opened in a panic. He glanced around and saw he was on the sofa. Robin started to move and pull away from him. Lone Wolfe glanced up. It was dark in the living room, but the TV was on and splashed enough light in the room for them to see. He glanced down, "Sorry, we fell asleep."

"I don't blame you. You managed to shovel the driveway and the sidewalk. Quite a feat. I didn't expect much of it to be done at all." His father stated, "thank you for that. I expected to have to find some place close by to park. That makes it better." He glanced around, "Sean, can I talk to you in your room, alone for a minute?"

Lone Wolfe shivered but he nodded and rose. He glanced back to Robin and she seemed slightly panicked as well. He wondered what could have given them away as they went into the room and his father closed the door behind them. Lone Wolfe sat down on the bed as his father flicked on the light. He glanced up at his father as his father asked, "Before you try to say otherwise, there are too many fresh piles of snow in the yard for you to say that you were shoveling the snow during the storm. Did she help you with that feat you pulled out there?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Sort of. I did the lifting. She soothed my muscles and gave me the strength I needed to carry on."

"I don't think her using her empathic powers would be enough. Sooner or later, both of you would have petered out before you got just the driveway done. His father sat down next to him on the bed, "I am going to ask it; do you have an empathic bond with her?"

Lone Wolfe nodded. His father sighed and broke his blue-eyed glance with his son, "Unlike telepathic bonds, empathic bonds are formed through physical acts. Now I have to ask a question I didn't want to ask in the first place; did you have sex with her?"

"What! No!" Lone Wolfe stated in response. He pointed to his headboard, "It's not that I didn't think about it. I admit, on the advice of a friend, I did buy a box of condoms, but I didn't use them. They are in my headboard if you want to check."

His father leaned over to the headboard and slid the panel back revealing the box. It was unopened like he stated. He put the box back and slid the headboard back. On a second thought, he leaned back and pulled the panel back and removed the box and slid the panel shut and pocketed the box, "Confiscated," He said, "But thanks for being frank on that. At least you had the forethought to plan ahead. May I ask why you didn't?"

Lone Wolfe sighed, "She is a virgin. I don't want to hurt her."

His father smirked, "you are more like your old man that you care to admit." He glanced at his son, "When I was your age, if I was stuck in a house, alone, with my girlfriend, I would probably have sex with her unless she was a virgin. She would leave the house that way. Like you, I don't want to hurt people either."

"TMI, dad," Lone Wolfe shook his head in response.

"The point remains, you have an empathic bond with her. So, what did you do with her?"

"Do you really want a blow by blow description?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

His father shook his head, "No, that is beyond not necessary. Generalized terms will suffice," His father answered.

"Such as?"

"Baseball terms," He mentioned, "You know, first base, second base; that sort of thing. Don't tell me it was just kissing. There would be a lot of empaths in trouble if that was all it took."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "About third base, nowhere close to home."

"What does that mean?" His father asked.

"Do you really want a blow by blow?"

"No," His father replied, "I guess that is enough. That would do it. You and her probably passed energy to each other while doing that. That would form the bond for sure."

Lone Wolfe glanced down to the floor, "How much trouble am I in?"

"With me?" He asked, "None. I feel you have been frank with me so far. However, if you two break up and that bond breaks, you will feel like poo for a while. You need to think about that in the future. She is a powerful empath, stands up there with Jena but could use some training up to control her gift. Much like you and your telepathy. Willingly breaking the bond will be very emotionally painful and stressful; you may end up feeling physically ill from it. If that happens then maybe you will practice some restraint next time."

He got up to leave but Lone Wolfe had a question for him, "hey dad, why are you being so nice to me? I would have thought that you would have punished me for sure after what I just told you."

His father shrugged, "To tell you the truth, Robin's personality reminds me of your mother, especially her mouth; the way she talks."

Thinking about how Robin spoke and how his mother was while he grew up didn't jibe. He couldn't contrast the two very different images in his mind, "What? Get out of town! Mom was nothing like that!"

His father chuckled, "To say your mother mellowed out over the years is an understatement. When I first met her, when I was not much older than you, she was a firebrand that had her own opinion about everything and had a grudge against the world. She may have been a psychic and proud to be one but even my family had a problem with her at first. There was something about me that slowly worked on her and allowed her to calm down and change her ways. She tried to impart that on you."

"I never knew that," Lone Wolfe replied, "I just assumed that my mother was always kind and considerate."

"I am glad that is how she turned out to be, but you remember that day you got attacked?" His father questioned, and the son nodded, "You remember when she chucked the principle's laptop out the window? That was the classic Sylvia showing herself. When the principle was continually dismissing her, she decided to leave and see some of the family that didn't think she was some sort of outcast and take you with to see your favorite cousin."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I remember all of that. I wonder what would have happened if she didn't throw the laptop out the window. It was still pretty funny that she did."

"I don't know but I doubt anything would have changed. I was smiling inside even if I displayed a shocked look on the outside at the time. I couldn't let the principle know that I agreed with what she did at that moment. Still, she should have shown more control over herself then. I might have just taken the laptop away from him."

Without any further word, his father opened the door to the room and stepped through. Lone Wolfe rose and stepped through the doorway, following his father. He waited until both were in the living room before he said, "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I want to sleep more than I want a shower. I suggest we all get to bed."

Robin nodded and headed into Lone Wolfe's bedroom. Lone Wolfe headed to the sofa and started to lay down. "What are you doing?" His father questioned in response.

"You said it is time for bed," Lone Wolfe replied, "I am getting ready to go to sleep on the couch."

"You have a bed," His father replied.

"Maybe you have been up for too long, but it is occupied?" Lone Wolfe replied, "Unless I just hallucinated."

"Just don't do anything with her. As they used to say in the military; don't ask, don't tell. Behave and you can have the night with her," He said then walked into his room."

Lone Wolfe shrugged and stood up. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Robin sat up and glanced at him, "My, aren't you brazen tonight."

"I'm actually doing what I'm told," Lone Wolfe stated as he crawled into bed next to her.

"Huh?" Robin muttered.

"He suggested I come in here," Lone Wolfe replied, "As long as we don't do anything he didn't have a problem with it."

"What happened to your dad?" She questioned, "He was sergeant serious when I first met him but now he is almost urging you to obey the urge to merge. What were you two talking about in here?"

"He knows that we have the bond," Lone Wolfe replied, "We did too much work out there. I tried to say it is because you were using your powers to heal me and empower me, but he said that wouldn't have been enough. He also explained that it takes intense physical actions to form the bond. That is how we formed the bond. The things we did the other day."

"I told you we did too much work and should have stopped with the driveway," Robin replied, "You just had to be the over achiever."

"I thought he would have been upset if it wasn't all done," Lone Wolfe replied, "I didn't think he would notice that the piles of snow in the yard were all fresh instead of being snowed upon."

She snuggled up next to him and he could feel the pull of sleep start to tug on them both again, "It's a good thing I love you, you sounded stupid right there."

"I love you too and there are times you sound like a smart ass," Lone Wolfe commented in response. Soon after they were both asleep resuming their shared dreams.

Chapter #23: Christmas Day

Greeley Colorado

December 25th, 2027-CE

As he slowly came to, Lone Wolfe was determined to get through high school as fast as possible. Originally, the idea was just something to pass the time during the summers but now he had a purpose for it. Holding Robin in his arms, he wanted the life that he had a taste of now. He wanted to be through with high school and in college, on the way to getting a worthwhile job and a place of his own. It would be some place he could be himself and they could live together. He didn't want to wait years for this, he wanted it now.

He watched her sleep and wished that he could burn the memory into his mind as vivid as the image he had now. Her breath came through hot and slow. Her face was oddly expressionless and looked almost serene in contrast to how she usually was. Her brown hair was spilled out every which way. Her natural musk was powerful and filled him with longing of the other day before his father got home. This was the last day before his life started to go back to normal. He wanted to have a very vivid memory of how she looked right now.

She slowly opened her eyes. Her amber eyes looked a little paler compared to when she was normally awake. As she awakened they darkened up again, "Merry Christmas," She smiled, "I hope this will suffice as a Christmas present as I have no other present here for you." She gave him a warm passionate kiss in response.

Now that he thought about it, since they had gotten together she had started to mellow out considerably. He wondered if this is what happened between his mother and father when they were dating. He didn't want to dwell on the idea too much, it was a little awkward. Instead he smiled at her as the kiss ended and replied, "That was a nice bonus but watching you sleep was a good Christmas present too."

She snuggled into him even more than before, "Too bad we have to have our clothes on, I want to have that skin to skin contact with you."

"That could lead to bad things," Lone Wolfe replied.

"I know but it doesn't change the fact that I still want it." She answered, "Just how long were you awake before me?"

"Not long, a couple of minutes," Lone Wolfe replied, "Long enough to know how pretty you are when you are asleep."

"Thank you," She replied. She glanced around but didn't move or let go of him, "So, should we get up or should we wait for your father?"

"Depending on the time he gets up, we might be waiting for your father," Lone Wolfe replied, "While he doesn't do it that often, he can sleep for a while especially if he has been pushing himself, my father, that is. I am pretty sure that we won't be opening presents until he gets up. He wants to see what I got you for Christmas."

Her eyes looked like they were about to burst into tears, "You got me something for Christmas?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I got everyone something for Christmas. I got my father something, Curtis something, and Jena something. I got you something extra special and I hope that you will be able to open it before you have to go. I didn't think I would have the change to have you open it on Christmas day with me. I thought I would have to have you open it before you left or send it off with you or have you open it at our get together at the end of break with everyone else. I'm glad that you are here. It makes this Christmas extra special."

"I didn't get you anything!" She cried, "you dummy. You make me feel like an ass sometimes!"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I wasn't looking for a present. I just saw something that looked nice, so I got it for you. It's extra special to me because I thought you would like it, but I don't think it is anything particularly special in general. Don't feel bad. I didn't tell you I was getting you something and I didn't expect anything in return. All I needed and all I wanted is right here, right now, in my arms."

She smiled, "You seem to know the right things to say."

"I just wish I could paint a picture like you do," Lone Wolfe added.

She smiled, "What can I say? It's a gift."

* * *

A knock at the door awakened both. They had fallen asleep again after a short time of cuddling and other things. Soon after a voice called out, "Ready or not, I am coming in. I sure hope you have your clothes on."

Neither of them moved. They were fully clothed, but they were tired and it felt nice under the comforter. He opened the door and walked in, "Are you two going to sleep all day? It's Christmas and both of you have presents you need to open."

Lone Wolfe shrugged off the comforter and slowly rolled over showing that both were presentable, "Sorry, we were really tired."

Robin stretched and yawned, "too bad this day couldn't last forever. I slept well. I want to sleep some more!"

"Well, you both need to get up. Sooner or later your father will be on his way to pick you up. It is Christmas after all and you want to be with your family, too, right?" His father commented in response.

Both sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed, "I do miss Ray and my father," She admitted, "It would be awesome if they could come here and we could have a Christmas together as one big extended family. This will be our first Christmas as just three people."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "After you leave, it will be just Dad and me. It will be the first time it was just the two of us."

Robin rose to her feet without another word. She knew that it would be hard for him to say goodbye after the time they spent together. She glanced back at Lone Wolfe as she headed toward the door, "You are coming?" She asked with a smile.

Lone Wolfe nodded and rose. His father headed down the hall into the living room. The two followed soon after. Lone Wolfe was half expecting to see Ray and her father sitting there but there were just the presents under the Christmas tree. There wasn't a lot of them. Four presents total. One for Dale, one for Lone Wolfe and two for Robin. Lone Wolfe noticed the extra present and glanced to his father, "You got her something too?"

His father nodded as he walked to the Christmas tree and grabbed two presents. He handed one to Robin and one to his son, "You two open first."

Robin and Lone Wolfe sat down next to each other on the Sofa. Lone Wolfe nudged for her to open the present first. Robin nodded and tore into the wrapping paper. The present was a full makeup kit. The gift shocked Robin but a smile developed on her face as she glanced at everything it contained. It was not one of those cheap presents made just for Christmas, it was something that he had to venture into the beauty isle for. Lone Wolfe glanced at it then glanced at her, "no offense, but what about that makes you happy?"

"I just imagined seeing your dad strolling down the beauty isle at the store," She giggled, "trying to look like himself and composed while embarrassed all to hell at the fact he was there getting makeup. Probably glancing around to the bystanders there and wondering for a moment if they were assuming he had a daughter or if he had some sort of devious fetish he tells no one about."

His father shook his head, "Glad that you like the present." He glanced to his son who had a long rectangular present in his hand, "You going to open your present?"

Lone Wolfe glanced down at the present. He tore it open and saw that it was a laptop box. He glanced up at his father and asked, "is it really what it says on the box or is it something different?"

"I have been making some more money since I got this new job so that is what it says it is. The specs are nice, should beat that old hand me down that you are currently using. You can transfer the files over later after she leaves," His father replied, "I thought about getting you two gifts, but I thought you would enjoy this one more."

"Thank you!" Lone Wolfe replied. He sat the box on the table and rose to head to the Christmas tree.

Robin glanced at him as he approached it, "You aren't going to open your present and play with it?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head as he grabbed the last two presents, "Maybe in a bit but I don't have any more presents and the two of you still do so I am getting them for you." He reached for the two presents and scooped them up. He felt bad that he didn't get his dad something as nice as a laptop and his present looked a lot smaller than the one that his father got her. He hoped that they both liked the presents he handed to them. He sat down and asked, "Who wants to open their presents first?"

Robin pointed to his father, "You open yours, first. You haven't opened anything yet."

He nodded, "Very well." He carefully opened the wrapping paper, taking time to savor the moment.

Robin sighed, "You are supposed to tear the paper off the stupid box!"

"Sometimes pleasure can be gotten from the simplest of things," He replied as he carefully continued to open it. He saw that it was an electric razor. It was one that both trimmed beards and did a good job at shaving as well. He glanced to his son and gave him a warm smile, "thank you! My old one was starting to have some issues."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I tried to find one that had a vacuum chamber, but I couldn't find one that had that and had the shaver head on it too."

His father shook his head, "That is just a pipe dream of mine. I have never been able to find one of those either. You might have to go online to find one of those and since you don't have a credit card to debit card you wouldn't have been able to get one without me knowing anyway. Don't worry about it; this one will do just fine."

Lone Wolfe nodded and turned back to his girlfriend, "Robin, your turn to open your present."

"I feel guilty that you both got me something and I got you two nothing in return," She replied.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I already told you not to worry about it."

She glanced at him and nodded. She tore open the wrapping paper and saw a white box with nothing on the outside to indicate what is on the inside. Even his father had not seen what was in the inside, so he gave his sun an uncertain look. Lone Wolfe wasn't sure what the look was for, it wasn't an engagement ring. It wasn't even a promise ring. He didn't believe in promise rings and it was a little early in his life to think about marriage even if she might already be secretly thinking about it. She opened the box to reveal a pendant.

It was a circular pendant of silver with tiger's eye inlaid into the pendant. The pendant bordered the circular pendant and had cut through the jewels forming a triskal. The tigers eye was all cut to accentuate the look of the jewel with the reflective direction all facing the points of the arms of the triskal. Her mouth dropped, and tears started to come to her eyes, "It looks so beautiful!" she replied as she took it out and found the silver rope chain underneath it, "And this chain looks like it won't randomly catch my hair like chains usually do! This is wonderful!"

Lone Wolfe helped her put on the pendant. He noticed his father breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the pendant. He glanced down at how it hung on her chest just above the cut of her shirt and smiled, "It looks fantastic! Thank you! I love you!"

"I love you too!" He replied, "It looks good with your eyes too."

"You two are already using the L word with each other, huh?" His father questioned.

Both blushed, "We have been dating for six months now." Robin replied, "What's the harm in it?"

His father shrugged, "Do you really know the meaning of it? Of what you are saying to each other?"

"Our affection has reached the point where we can't imagine a future without each other," Lone Wolfe replied, "An affirmation of affection and longing."

"Almost straight out of the dictionary," His father stated, "Is that how you feel about each other?" Both nodded, "Well, I hope it all works out for you two. I just hope that I won't be a grandfather soon. Grandfather would be nice but not for a few years."

"Don't worry Mister Carter," Robin stated, "I don't plan on having children for quite a while."

Chapter #24: The end of Break Ritual

Greeley Colorado

January 3rd, 2028-CE

As had been their ritual since grade school, when Curtis and Jena returned they set up a date to head to the bowling alley. They were surprised that it was open the Monday after new year's, but it ended up being a good thing since they had to return to school the next day. Lone Wolfe sat down at one of the table and waited for everyone else to join. Robin was the first to arrive since she was excited to come. It was her first time participating in their little ritual. She frowned slightly when she saw Lone Wolfe sitting there, "how long have you been here? You said this wouldn't start for another half hour."

"Why pout?" Lone Wolfe replied, "You are early too."

"Because I wanted you to not be alone here," She replied and sat down next to him at the table.

"You don't have to worry, I have been here about five minutes," Lone Wolfe replied, "I did miss having you around the past week, but it is good that you are here now."

"Yeah, my father didn't want me going out for a while after that," She replied, "He wanted me to spend some time at home with the family and cavort with Ray. Slightly boring but he got to see me in makeup."

"I want to share that picture with Jena and Curtis," Lone Wolfe replied, "You are the best-looking girl in school and no one can come close to holding a candle to you when you were wearing that makeup."

"You are just saying that because you are my boyfriend," She replied.

"Doesn't make it any less true," He commented with a smile.

She leaned in and kissed him passionately for a few moments. They broke apart and she commented, "I know your father isn't home and mine isn't expecting me home for a few hours. Do you want to blow this popsicle stand and get some bonding time with just the two of us?"

"Oh, that is very tempting," Lone Wolfe replied then shook his head, "But I have been looking forward to seeing the both of them for a while and catching up." Lone Wolfe smiled at her, "it is a ritual we do every year and we set the whole thing up a couple of years ago. They are probably on their way now or will be on their way shortly. It would be rude to leave and not let them know. Would be rude to cancel at the last minute for something that isn't an emergency."

Robin sighed. At that moment she spotted the two presents he took with him, "Oh, I see now. You got them gifts too." He noticed the slight tone of jealousy in her voice.

"Don't worry. They aren't as good as the one I got you. He got a flash drive and she got a small compact of makeup. Unlike my father, I don't really care where I am spotted in a store, so I picked up her favorite compact for her," Lone Wolfe replied.

She smirked, "Well, I wonder what they will think of my pendant?" She said as she made sure it was visible. With most of her shirts and blouses that she wore, the pendant sat above the shirt line on her cleavage.

"I am sure it will draw Curtis's attention all night and might make Jena a little jealous of you," He replied, "I like where it sits on you. I did that by accident, I had no clue what length of chain would work for you."

She smiled and glanced down at it, "You managed to guess just the right length. It's not chocking me and it's not sitting between my boobs and smacking them around, so you did a good job on that. I really love the silver rope chain you managed to get for it, by the way. It hasn't caught the hairs at the back of my neck once."

"I kind of wish I got you two chains so you would wear the other pendant I got you this summer," he stated in response, "It reminds me of the happy summer I had despite everything that happened at the start."

"If you know where you got it, I wouldn't be opposed to another one," She smiled.

"Another what?" Called out the voice of Curtis from behind them both. Robin and Lone Wolfe glanced around to see him strolling up with a smile, "I see you guys got a ton of snow while we were gone."

"All at once," Lone Wolfe replied.

"If there is a god then he answered my wish and gave me a white Christmas at just the right time. It made for an excellent break. It couldn't have been better if we planned it," Robin mentioned.

"Odd way of looking at it," Curtis shrugged as he sat down next to Lone Wolfe, "From how everyone else tells it, it was a nightmare and we were lucky to be away from the state when it struck. You were aware there was a power outage and the roads were shut down inside the city. They declared a state of emergency and everything. Where were you two during all of this."

"At my house," Lone Wolfe replied.

"What happened to your house?" Jena questioned in a concerned tone as she entered through the door. She crossed the distance to the three of them right away and stood between Curtis and Lone Wolfe.

"Nothing happened to my house that didn't happen to the rest of the town," Lone Wolfe replied, "We were just trapped there and ran off of generator power for a while."

"You and your father?" Jena questioned.

Curtis and Lone Wolfe shook their head, "Me and Robin. My father was stuck at work," Lone Wolfe replied.

She seemed shocked by his statement, "You mean you and your girlfriend were alone in a house during the storm with no one around to watch over you? What did you two do during all of that time?"

Curtis smirked, "I know what I would have done if I were him."

Lone Wolfe glanced to Robin then back to his two best friends, "I'd rather not kiss and tell."

"Only because she is right here," Curtis stated.

"I wouldn't tell you if she wasn't here," Lone Wolfe replied.

Jena grabbed Lone Wolfe's hand and started to flow her own energy into his body. Unlike how it felt before, when she would heal him, it felt cold and unusual. He pulled his hand back. Jena looked shocked, "you two are bonded now. What did you do? Tell me the truth."

Curtis seemed confused, "Wait, I'm missing something. They have a telepathic link. You knew that. They had it since their first date in the summer. What is so unusual now?"

Lone Wolfe glanced at Robin. She shrugged and said, "You can give them a general version of events. Jena pretty much figured it out already."

Lone Wolfe glanced between the two of his eldest friends. They were waiting for a response with different emotions written on their faces. Curtis seemed to be very interested in what they were up to while Jena and he were away. Jena seemed slightly annoyed but otherwise just waiting for the news, so she could move on with her day. Curtis couldn't stand the wait anymore, "Can you just tell me what you did? The suspense is killing me!"

Lone Wolfe chuckled nervously, "We heeded the urge to merge?"

With that remark Jena did something that no one, not even Jena herself, expected. She raised her right hand struck Lone Wolfe with the back of her hand hard enough to whip his neck around. He jumped out of his seat, holding the side of his face with his right hand, and backed away from Jena quickly with fear and rage mixing in his eyes. Robin glared at Jena in anger at that moment. Curtis shot up from his seat and rushed around Jena to place himself between her and Lone Wolfe. He didn't seem to register the shock in Jena's emerald green eyes, "What the hell was that? What's wrong with you Jena?" Curtis protested.

Jena glanced down at her right hand. The back of it stung, she hit him hard enough to make her own hand burn from the impact. She glanced back up at the three of them, "I'm sorry." She shuddered, "I don't know what came over me."

She took another step towards Lone Wolfe with her left hand outstretched, "I didn't mean to hit you! Let me heal it."

Lone Wolfe backed up, "No!" He exclaimed, "I don't want you touching me! I don't want you anywhere near me right now!"

Those words nearly brought tears to her eyes. She glanced between her friends. Aside from the shocked expression on Lone Wolfe, most of them were fixing her with their ire, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"I don't care if Lone Wolfe put it in a way you didn't like!" Robin hissed, "You don't have the right to strike him like that!"

Lone Wolfe turned to leave, "There are Christmas gifts for you two on the table." He glanced to Robin, "Come on, Robin. Let's go someplace else. I don't want to be here anymore."

* * *

Jena watched with confusion as Lone Wolfe and Robin crossed through to the vestibule. Robin never looked back and neither did Lone Wolfe. They stopped in the vestibule and Robin placed her hand on the spot Lone Wolfe was struck. She must have healed him as he didn't reach for his cheek anymore after she dropped her hand. They held hands and left the bowling alley after that. It looked like they were going to walk home or catch a bus to get home.

Curtis glanced between his two friends leaving and Jena, "What has gotten into you? Why did you hit him? I know you were never a fan of him dating Robin, but you didn't need to smack him over it!"

Jena sat down at the table and glanced at the present from Lone Wolfe, "I really don't know what came over me. I was going to give him a verbal thrashing for being stupid, but I didn't expect that my hand would move on its own and hit him. It's almost like someone used a Geas on me at that moment."

Curtis sat down next to him, "What is a Geas?"

"Someone taking over your body and making you do something you wouldn't normally do," Jena stated, "The problem with that is the only one who could do that in this town is Lone Wolfe and he was genuinely shocked that I did that. Robin was pissed that I did that, I could feel it coming off her. I also didn't see her look back at all. I would have expected a smug expression on her face if she used a Geas on me."

Curtis shrugged, "Well, if she didn't Geas you and Lone Wolfe didn't Geas you then there is one answer to it."

She glanced to him and asked, "What's that?"

"You were more upset than you realized when you heard he slept with her," Curtis replied, "You slapped him for it."

She rested her head on the table, "Maybe you're right. I can't believe you can be right about something that a telepath would miss. The worst part was how he announced it. He couldn't just say that he slept with her, he had to use that stupid analogy!"

"If you notice, he doesn't like to talk about personal stuff like that and you did put him on the spot. The only reason why he said something was because Robin said it was okay. If she wasn't here he would have said nothing." Curtis mentioned.

"How do you know him so well?" Jena sighed, "I have went through telepathic communions with him many times and I seemed to have missed that, but you caught that right away."

"He is my best friend. It took me several texts just to get him to send me a picture of her this summer. I can tell that he had her permission because they were together when they took it. That means he talked to her beforehand. If he is that uptight about a picture, he wouldn't talk to you about something like sleeping with her," Curtis explained, "You have known him for longer than me. I thought you would have caught that by now."

Jena shook her head, "I have been keeping my space since those two started dating. She has been aggressive towards me from the beginning and I didn't like the speed at which she was moving their relationship. I know he wanted to move things slower, but she was speeding things up. Even if they were stuck in a house with nothing to do for a couple of days I don't think he would have slept with her on his own accord."

"Maybe," Curtis shrugged and started playing with the box that had his name on it, "On the other hand, he might have just gone along with the flow so she would be comfortable. I don't think her pace with the relationship is the problem here. I think you are jealous of those two. I think you wanted to be the object of his affection."

"Can you not refer to me as an object?" Jena asked in response, "I am a human being, not an object to be had."

"I'm sorry, poor choice of words," Curtis waved his hands in response, "What I am saying is you wanted to date him, but he found her instead because you and your family were on vacation."

Jena shook her head, "If there is anything about her I am jealous of it is the fact that she is bigger in the bust than I am."

"You will come to your own eventually," He replied, "you are fifteen, after all."

"After all!" Jena glared at him, "What the heck does that mean?"

"I mean you will probably look like her eventually," Curtis jumped back, "Please don't hit me too!"

Jena blanched, "I won't."

Curtis glanced back at the presents Lone Wolfe left behind, "How about we open the gifts Lone Wolfe left us."

Jena glanced down at her purse, "I got him something while I was on vacation. I was going to give it to him today."

"Give it to him tomorrow at school," Curtis suggested, "He will have had a chance to calm down by then."

Jena nodded, "That will be a good idea."

Curtis slid the box over to her, "How about you open yours first?"

She shook her head, "I want to see what he got you first."

Curtis shrugged but took the present and unwrapped it. He opened the small white box and smiled, "He got me a half terra thumb drive."

Jena nodded, "you should be able to free up some space on your computer with that." She glanced down at the box, "I wonder what he got me?"

"Only one way to find out, open it," He stated.

She glanced down at it and opened the wrapping paper slowly. Just like with his present. He put her gift in a small, plain, white box. She opened the box and saw a compact of makeup. Below it was a small pendant. It was a triskal over a circle. It looked like the one he wore but the circle went through the arms of the pendant as opposed to the points. A tear ran down her cheek, "Damn it Lone Wolfe! Why do you have to be so nice and know what I have been eyeing at Angela's shop! I was going to pick this up the next time I stopped by the store."

Chapter #25: Request

Greeley Colorado

January 4th, 2028-CE

Angela had been working and waiting all break for Jena to get back. She had not been aware of a end of break ritual that Jena and her closest friends all attended every year. If she did, she might have found an excuse to close the shop for a little bit to see them. While she was not crazy on the idea of seeing Curtis, she tried to avoid the kid, Lone Wolfe didn't seem too bad. He seemed to keep his space. She really wanted to See Jena more than anyone else.

She had a question for Jena. While she started off school thinking that the Prom was just a stupid ritual, she also thought the same thing about Homecoming and that turned out to be more fun than she had in a long time. She thought Jena would be the perfect date for that as well. There were no expectations between them for things after the date. That made the idea perfect.

When she showed up at school, she waited just inside the door, away from the frigid January air. She expected to see the five friends walk in together, but Jena came in by herself. Angela cocked her head in curiosity, "Good morning Jena. Where's everyone else today?"

Jena sighed. Angela could see the anxiety and worry in Jena's emerald eyes, "We got into a huge fight yesterday."

"Why?" Angela asked as she led the way inside.

"I asked a question and I guess I didn't like the answer I got from him because I slapped him. Everyone else seemed to take his side. So, he and Robin left our little get together. Who knows what those two did from there. They left together," Jena replied.

Angela furrowed her brows in confusion, "Did you not apologize? Did you have a good reason for striking him?"

Jena shrugged, "I had no clue I did such a thing until after it happened, and I apologized right away but they didn't want to listen to me."

Angela shrugged, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. They might just need some time to cool off. How about this; I have a question for you. Do you want to go to the prom with me?"

Jena stopped in her tracks, "That was pretty forward of you. I thought only juniors and seniors could go to the prom?"

Angela shook her head, "Not exactly. By default, we are. But we can take dates and as long as they aren't too old or too young they can come too. I decided I would like you to go with me. How about it?"

Jena glanced down. She hadn't thought about it, "I don't have a dress." She replied.

"You can get one, Prom isn't around the corner. It is in April," Angela replied, "What else you got?"

Jena blushed, "What is that supposed to mean?" She questioned in response.

"You seem to be dodging the question," Angela replied, "I want to know how long it will take for us to get to a yes or a no."

Jena shook her head, "I will go to the prom with you."

Angela smiled, "Sweet! We can make plans later at the shop. If you want, I can stay while you talk with your friends. I think they are coming."

Jena spun around and saw the group of five coming along. Angela took a couple of steps back but since she didn't get an answer, she hung around anyway. She didn't know what happened between them and wasn't going to interfere unless asked or unless she thought she should.

"Hey, Lone Wolfe!" She called out, "Are you okay today? I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I don't know what came over me."

He hardly stopped as he replied, "Hi Jena, I'm okay. I really should be heading off to class. I will see you around." He walked off in a hurry. Curtis and the twins followed with him, leaving her with just Angela.

"I know you two sometimes have fights," Angela approached and rested a hand on her shoulder, "But how about you start at the beginning and tell me everything. Maybe I can help you two patch things up. I don't think he is the one to just casually brush things off like that."

Jena nodded, "Well, I heard that he and Robin were stuck at his place during the snow storm. I wanted to know what they did."

"How did you get him to talk about it?" Angela questioned, "I didn't think he was one to talk about what he does with her. Not easily at least."

"I touched his hand and pushed energy into his hand. He pulled away and I could feel some resistance in the action which means he had an empathic bond with her," Jena replied, "You can't form empathic bonds just on a whim like you can with telepathic links. So, I pestered him about it and he made a joke about doing it with her." She shrugged, "I don't know what came over me at that point, I just slapped him with the back of my hand. I did it hard too. It stung me, so I can only imagine how much it hurt him."

Angela tapped her chin in thought, "You ever consider that you might have some feelings for him? Something you hadn't processed yet?"

Jena shook her head, "He is like a brother to me. I can't see him any other way."

"Maybe not consciously," Angela replied, "Maybe something in the back of your head things you two could be an item."

"Wouldn't that have come through in a communion" Jena questioned in response? "That would be something my unconscious mind wouldn't want him to know."

"You are making a lot of assumptions with that statement," Angela shook her head in response, "First; you assume that your subconscious doesn't want him to know. Perhaps it does? Second; there are a lot about communions that you and he still don't know about. You two can keep secrets from each other by simply not thinking about them for a while before a communion. You never thought about thinking about everything you fear right before, asking him to do the same thing, and seeing if you two can do it without flinching."

"That would be a communion filled with dark images," Jena stated in response, "That would something neither wants to give to the other."

"I'm just trying to pull ideas out of the hat," Angela stated in response.

"You know, Lone Wolfe does like buying things for Robin," Angela stated in response, "He doesn't do it too often because he doesn't have that much money to spend. I can lure him into the store by offering him a discount on something. You can wait in the store and talk to him once he gets there. How about it?"

Jena nodded, "Sure."

* * *

Lone Wolfe had to take the bus from his house to the shop in down town while Angela and Jena could take her car to the store. That gave them a lot of time alone while they waited for him. It gave Angela time to ask a question that had been on her mind for a while, "I have been wondering something. I am starting to sense abilities like you and Lone Wolfe. You and Robin have the same empathic abilities. How come you two behave so differently? I thought empaths were supposed to feel stronger emotions? Moreover, feel the emotions of other people. You seem to be closed off, why is that?"

Jena leaned back on the counter. She seemed annoyed by the question, "I prefer not to be ruled by my emotions. I prefer not to be ruled by the emotions of others. I want to think with a clear head and I don't want to project my feelings on other people. I have learned how to hold it all in."

"Going back to our conversation earlier today," Angela nodded after a moment of thought, do you think that might be why you smacked Lone Wolfe in the first place?"

Jena shrugged, "It could be. I don't doubt that I might have been bottling something up but I don't think it would be enough for me to strike him. I would more believe me striking her instead."

"Probably wouldn't have been able to get away with that so well," Angela commented, "Probably would have ended up in more of an all-out fight between the two of you. While I would have liked to have seen something like that, it would have ended up much worse. You can worm your way back into Lone Wolfe's good graces based off a strike to him. You can't do that if you struck her."

"Not even if they broke up afterward?" Jena asked in response.

"I didn't know you were clairvoyant," Angela commented in response.

"I'm not but just in case," Jena shrugged.

Angela tapped the glass, "Maybe in that case but it wouldn't be right away. He might go to his other friends first and you can show up and try to repair the relationship then. It would have been much worse if you struck her instead. Trust me on this one. I think I have an idea on how he thinks," Angela replied.

"Funny you think that, I have known him since I can remember," Jena replied, "the only person who has known him longer is his father."

"Just because you have known someone longer doesn't mean you know them better. You may still confuse the boy he was with the man he is becoming. He might protect her and risk sacrificing his friends to protect her. If you think I am wrong, start some crap between you and Robin and see where you end up. Prove me wrong," Angela replied.

"I think I will play it safe," Jena shrugged, "Besides, since the two of them have gotten together, she seems to be a little bit calmer than before. She now seems to have the ability to choose her words."

"You noticed that," Angela smirked, "I also noticed that Lone Wolfe seems to have a little bit of a sense of humor. But I haven't known him as long as you. Maybe he always had a sense of humor and never changed."

"No," She shook her head in response, "He started to get a mouth on him after they started dating. I am pretty sure it was after their first communion." She shook her head, "I am just afraid she has him wrapped around her finger and is just using him."

"There it is!" Angela stated and pointed right at Jena.

"What?" Jena questioned in response.

"What you just said. That is your real problem. You are afraid she is controlling him. That she oversees the relationship. That's not what I see," Angela replied.

Jena seemed dumbfounded, "It isn't?"

She shook her head, "I see one girl who knows exactly what she wants and that is exactly what Lone Wolfe is. I see another girl that doesn't have a clue what she wants and that's exactly what you are. Lone Wolfe just seems to be going with the flow and generally is having a good time. Curtis isn't getting in the way, Ray seems content with how he is treating his sister, I seem to be okay. Heck; even Scarlet and Lone Wolfe's own father don't seem to have a lot of problems with the relationship. You are the only one that has a grievance to bear. It's like a sister that doesn't approve of who her brother is dating. It's either that or a jilted lover."

Jena crossed her arms defiantly, "I am not a jilted lover!"

"Then sister it is," Angela replied, "Here is something for you to consider; Lone Wolfe lost his mother and his cousin this summer. He was supposed to have his dream summer vacation with them while you and Curtis were having your family vacations. Robin managed to give him some of that while you were away. But who cares what I think, I only just met him too. Scarlet knew him for a while. She was there when his mother died. The only way she could get him out of his funk was to suggest summer semester classes for him to occupy his time. How does that sound to you? Now, to me, if Robin convinces him to be a teenager then who are we to stand in the way? If Lone Wolfe decides to take these classes, then you can't say that she is controlling him."

Jena seemed shocked, "I didn't know that he was considering spending the rest of his summer vacations in summer school whether he needed it or not. Why would he do something like that?"

"Get out of school quicker and go to college," Angela replied.

"What would that accomplish for him?" Jena questioned in response.

Angela shrugged, "I don't know. At the time, Scarlet suggested it to keep him busy as he didn't have anything to look forward to in the summer. That obviously changed no." Angela's eyes started to cloud over for a minute. She glanced back to Jena, "I have the feeling he will try to bolt when he sees you. Hide by the door and lock it when he comes in. Be quick! He's almost here."

"I don't know about an ambush like this," Jena shrugged.

"Too late, do as I say or he's going to rabbit on you!" Angela pointed in response.

Jena quickly dashed by the door and ducked behind a rack of cloaks. A moment later, Lone Wolfe rounded the corner to the door and cross though it. He shivered as the door closed behind him, "Getting really cold out there. How long do you plan on staying open?" He asked.

"Probably until you are done picking stuff out and talking to me," Jena replied as she jumped out from behind the rack of cloaks. Before Lone Wolfe could reach the door, she had managed to turn the lock and block his way out, "I'm sorry to block you in like this, Lone Wolfe, but this is the only way to get you to talk to me."

Lone Wolfe sighed, "There is a reason why I haven't talked to you. I am pissed about what you did back there! You flowed energy into me and expected me to be okay. When I made a joke about what Robin and I did over break, might I add because you kept badgering me, you slapped me in the face with the back of your hand! You asked for the information you got, and I got punished for that! How is any of that my fault?"

"None of it is," Jena shook her head in response, "I had a chance to talk with Angela at length about this. She said I might be jealous about everything that's going on. That my standing as a friend might somehow be threatened by everything that's going on between you and Robin. She pointed out that you have been a positive influence to her and she has brought you a lot of happiness. I won't stand in the way of that anymore. I just want to be friends again. Will you forgive me?"

Lone Wolfe walked away from her and leaned back against the counter glancing at Jena. She could see the war emotions raging in him. They had been friends for their entire lives and he still considered her his best friend. Yet, there was still that distrust that had formed when she struck him. She had never done that before. He wasn't sure if she would ever do it again. He didn't know what she could say that would take it away.

She turned around and unlocked the door and stepped away, "If you need to go home and think about it some more, go ahead. I understand. I won't hold you hostage for an answer."

That seemed to do the trick, "That's okay. All is forgiven. Not forgotten but forgiven."

Her face lit up at that comment, "Thank you!" She raced over to the counter he rested against, "What are you thinking of getting her?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I hadn't thought of anything. I didn't know if Angela had anything new or not."

Angela walked over to the counter, "Well I will make you a deal on anything that you thought of getting her that is out of your current price range. I figure she must also be pissed at Jena and if made up with Jena so quickly that will probably send some of that anger your way. Best to sate that anger with a gift. She doesn't strike me as a girl who likes flowers."

"She does, just not the kind I can find here that easily," Lone Wolfe replied.

Angela leaned in and grabbed a case from behind the glass counter, she pulled it out. Inside of the case were some triangular shaped mesh hand coverings. A loop went around the middle finger and the other end had a bracelet that hooked around the wrist. She took one out and put it on, "I think something like this would look nice on her. It's more decorative and quite light." The chain links formed a unique design on the back of her hand as she spread it out and came to a point on her middle finger, "Some of the others are from actual chain mail so they can be fairly heavy but this one is just for show and decoration."

"I was thinking about that, but it was a little expensive the last time I looked," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Like I said," Angela offered, "Make me a deal."

"Hang on, you are a holistic and occult shop," Jena pointed out, "Why are you carrying so much gothic crap?"

"Because a lot of wiccans also like to dress differently," Angela replied, "So I cater to them as well."

"Makes sense," Lone Wolfe replied, "What do you think is a reasonable price?"

"how much you got?" Angela asked in response.

"More than enough for the price for this but I would also like to eat for the next couple of weeks and maybe have bus fare if I need to get anywhere."

"How about I knock thirty bucks off of it?" Angela questioned in response, "A friend discount?" She asked as she took it off.

"Don't you have a business to run?" Jena questioned in response.

Angela shrugged, "This little trinket isn't online. It isn't going to sell if it sits here with no one looking at it. If I see her at school wearing it, I will be happy with a little bit of loss on this one."

Lone Wolfe nodded and slapped down the money needed to purchase the object in question, "I will take it. I think she will like it." He replied.

She packed the trinket up in a small box and accepted the cash for him. Angela took out another one made with blued metal and slid it towards Jena with a wink from her gray eyes, "We can say I bought that one for you."

Jena blushed as she took it and tried it on, "It's cold."

"Of course, it's cold, it's metal!" Angela laughed in response and put the case of objects away, "but it looks good on you. You should keep it on or wear it at prom!"

Lone Wolfe smiled and glanced between them, "You two are going to prom? That's so cute!"

Jena waved her hand defensively, "It's not what you think! She just wanted a friend, someone to share the experience with!"

"Good luck you two," Lone Wolfe waved back as he headed towards the door, "I think I will head back to the bus stop and catch the next bus. You two have fun here alone. I wouldn't want to be a third wheel or anything."

"That would be a fifth wheel, you moron!" Jena growled, "Three's company! In either case, I swear there is nothing going!"

Angela chuckled as she watched the display between them both, "Are you sure there is nothing going on between the two of you? You seem to be pretty flustered by the accusation Lone Wolfe just gave you." She glanced to Lone Wolfe, "If you want to wait for a bit, I can give you a ride home too! You don't live far away from Jena. I was going to close shop for the day and head home, so you aren't interrupting anything."

He gave them both a side long glance, "You didn't set up this little get together just for me, did you?"

"You caught us," Angela nodded in response, "But I kept my word and you did show up. For a while I was starting to think you weren't coming."

"Who says the bus runs on schedule?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

The two girls giggled, and Angela replied, "I forgot that neither of you drive yet. That time is ending soon. You will have to start testing for your permit soon then you will have to start accumulating hours for driving."

Lone Wolfe seemed panicked, "I assume that is easy to do when you have two parents and maybe some other family members. I only have my father. There isn't anyone else around that will help me get my hours put in."

"I think I might be able to help you with that," Angela stated in response, "maybe the both of you."

"Don't you have to be related for that to work?" Jena questioned in response.

"We can always look into it and see. If nothing else, you might be able to go into the DMV or the court and get some sort of exception since you don't have any other family around. You definitely have no other family in the city." Angela suggested in response, "If you get that done then we can get you on the road and diving in no time. You just need to get though the written test."

"Any pointers?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

Angela nodded, "Get a copy of the handbook and don't talk back to the instructor."

Chapter #26: Signup

Greeley Colorado

February 21st, 2028-CE

The guidance counselor sat across from Lone Wolfe with a startled look on her face. Occasionally, she would see a student who thought they would need summer school and they would go over their grades together. It was almost unheard of for them to go through the next year's classes to figure out which ones he can double up on during the summer and which ones he can take during the normal year. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get out of school faster and graduate as a junior. It wasn't unheard of, people have done it before. She wondered if the person sitting across from him would be one of those.

The boy sitting before her with gold eyes and hair that was now below his chin line didn't look like he could amount to anything too much. His file spoke of a boy that had grades that averaged mostly in the B's and C's with a couple of A's in there. There weren't any failing grades, but it wasn't the most promising card she had ever seen. She glanced at him, "let me get this straight. You want to get all of your classes in through summer semesters, so you can graduate before you are finished with your junior year? Why?" She questioned in response.

"So, I can get on with my life and go to college. I can get in during the second semester, during spring semester," Lone Wolfe replied, "It is a little late for me to do something to get in the fall of 2029, but I would like to get in the winter of 2030 if possible. Maybe get an associates by 2032," Lone Wolfe replied, "I did think this through, I need something to fill my time during the summer. My father can't afford to take vacations and I have no other family. This would allow me to get ahead in life."

"You could do all of the same things and still take your time and be a kid," She replied.

"I have nothing to do," Lone Wolfe protested, "You want me to spend my summers with nothing to do? I thought you would want to prevent me from getting into trouble?"

"we have youth programs and summer camps that can occupy your time," The guidance counselor suggested.

"I don't want to waste my time, I want to do something productive with it," He replied, "That means doing something to get me out of here faster."

She sighed. He was set on going through summer school to get through school after than normal. She typed away on her computer, "We do have a program but you will have to pass all of the classes you take, or your family will have to pay for the classes so you will need to get your father to sign up for this. The classes will be on a truncated schedule, so you will be out of school earlier in the day than normal. You will also usually be in classes with people that had failed and are trying to catch up before the next school year. Are you okay with all of this?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "As long as my father is okay with all of this then I will be set. How will signups for the next year work?" He questioned.

"You will complete an entire year of your core classes over the summer so sign up for your electives and for the junior year courses like normal. Then take your core classes for the summer. You can also squeeze in an extra elective during your study period but that means you won't get a study period in the semester," She cautioned, "Don't overdo it."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Let's get started."

* * *

"You did what!" Robin shouted as they walked on their way home. Her shout was so loud that her brother and their other two friends all stopped dead in their tracks and turned around. They saw her dark amber eyes practically burn with anger as she glared at her boyfriend.

"I signed up for classes over summer semester," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Why?" She questioned bitterly, "What about us hanging out? How are we supposed to do then you will be in classes all year long?"

"It is just the core classes for the next year," Lone Wolfe replied, "That allows me to take junior level classes in the fall and spring. I repeat that the next summer and I just have to take electives my Junior year. Then I can get into college early and we can make a life for ourselves early. You can say you are dating a college student and be the envy of the rest of your friends. What's the problem?"

"Are you stupid or did someone just temporarily turn off your brain?" She sneered in response, "We won't have a summer together! Don't give your father the form and tell the councilor tomorrow that you changed your mind! Be a normal teen with a normal summer! I want to spend the summer with you!"

"It's a shortened schedule," Lone Wolfe replied, "I will have most of the afternoons off, plenty of time for dates and hanging out. I will still be able to make it to the pool and we can still get to the stampede and do everything that we did this coming summer. You could also join me. We could be through with high school even earlier this way."

"Not a chance!" Robin exclaimed, "I hate school already, why torture myself with even more of it."

"It's less when you think about it," Jena replied as they started to walk again, "He is taking a year of core classes in two and a half months and that shaves an entire year of classes off in just five months."

"Thank you!" Lone Wolfe nodded.

"I don't care about what you think, summer vacations make school bearable! There is only so much learning I can do before my head explodes!" Robin hissed.

"Well, I support Lone Wolfe on this one," Jena stated in response, "It might do you some good to get it all over with now, too. Then you two can go to college together. Or you can be a cute little home maker while he goes and kills himself at college."

"I am not a home maker!" She snorted in response.

"Fine, get a job then," Jena shrugged, "Support your boyfriend while he works to make life better for you in the future."

"I don't support people either," She huffed.

"Fine, be selfish and take a year off," Jena rolled her emerald eyes in response.

"I'm not selfish either!" Robin hissed in response.

"You are running out of things to be," Jena commented in response.

"Argh!" Robin sighed in response as they continued to walk, "I just want to be a normal teen! You know; hang out with your boyfriend, make out, have fun."

"You do more than just make out," Jena commented.

"Hey! Just because you don't have a boyfriend!" She replied.

"I don't need to have a boyfriend to hang out and make out with someone," Jena replied.

"Yeah, in fact," Lone Wolfe replied, "She has a date to..." He started to say then received an icy green-eyed glare from Jena, "Somewhere with someone we know but I cannot divulge at this time. I must have missed a rule or a meeting or something."

"Who's the lucky guy?" Curtis piped up at that point. Lone Wolfe noticed a tinge of jealousy at that point. He didn't know why but his friend seemed oddly jealous of her having another date. He figured that if Curtis knew it was Angela then he would calm down but the glare he got from Jena a second ago precluded the fact that he would tell his other friend about that arrangement.

"Not a guy," Jena replied, "unlike you, I don't restrict myself to a gender."

"Okay, who is the girl then?" Robin questioned in response, "Are you going with Angela again? Are you two an item now?"

"We are not an item," Jena replied, "If we were, I would figure you would want the same thing I had, some stability in your life. Knowing that you would have a home to go to and someone providing for you in order for you to go to college. Lone Wolfe seems to want to do that so why not let him do just that?"

Robin sighed in frustration. She couldn't understand how Jena turned the conversation back around on her so quickly. She glanced between the two of them and replied, "I swear you two are against me."

"But at least you can say that she isn't interested in me in that way," Lone Wolfe replied, "She has a date and she is seeing someone else. Heck, you never know. She might stay with whichever girl she is seeing. If that is the case then you know you can trust her with me."

Robin nodded, "That still doesn't make it any better. She is trying to control your life!"

"Ha!" Jena laughed, "That was what I was thinking about you the other day! The fact that you are trying to make Lone Wolfe quit his plan because it doesn't fit in with your ideas is more proof that you are the one that wants to control what he does. I merely support what he wants to do on his own. I didn't have any idea that he wanted to do this until he said something to us on the way home. You are the one blowing this out of proportion!"

"Anyone going to sell tickets to this cat fight?" Ray questioned in response.

"You stay out of this!" Both girls shouted at him at the same time.

"They can agree on something!" Curtis pointed out.

"I wouldn't put yourself in the crossfire if I were you," Lone Wolfe cautioned. He wrapped his arm around his friend and steered him away from the impending doom between his friend and his love and asked, "Is it me or did you get jealous there when Jena mentioned she could be seeing someone else?"

"You mentioned it," Curtis stated in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "yeah but back in grade eight you didn't seem to have a problem if she and I were a couple. Now some other guy might have caught her interest and you looked like you were going to go ape shit. What gives? You are already seeing someone, remember?"

Curtis nodded, "I know that. I just been having some funny dreams about her recently. I can't explain it. I guess I am starting to get some feelings for her."

"Are they any better than the feelings for Amanda, the girl you are currently dating?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response?

Curtis shrugged in response, "I am honestly not sure. I like her a lot and she seems to be in to me but like I said. I have been having some dreams and funny feelings about Jena recently. Do you have any advice?"

"Other than a cold shower?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response then shrugged, "I think you need to take some time to yourself and get to know your feelings. You don't want to cheat on one girl with the other. That is a good way to ruin a relationship with both women. The last thing I want is for me to have to choose between you and Jena. That is one of my worst fears."

"I know," Curtis nodded, "I guess I will have to take some time to figure it out. Do you want to talk to her for me?"

"As long as you don't mind the fact that she won't tell me anything that I don't already know," Lone Wolfe replied.

"How is that supposed to help me?" Curtis questioned in response.

"Because you are supposed to talk to her, numb nuts," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "If you want to get information out of her about how she feels for you, she isn't going to tell a go between. She is going to deliver the message straight to the source."

Curtis shook his head, "I don't want to mess up our friendship though."

"Then don't say anything and just let the feelings die," Lone Wolfe stated, "I don't know what else to tell you. You can run yourself around in circles or you can talk to her and see how she feels about you. If you know how she feels about you then you know how to deal with the feelings you have about her. I promise, she won't look at you any different if you tell her you like her more than a friend and she thinks of you only as a friend. However, if you act stupid, she might start to think you are a nit wit."

"Can you not act like Robin when we are having a heart to heart about my feelings for Jena? You are starting to get cold and heartless when referring to me," Curtis stated in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Sorry, I will work on that. You are still being a worry wart over nothing. You can either talk to her or not. In the end, it is your choice."

"Hey," Robin called out, "Slow pokes, you going to walk with us or are you going to contemplate your navels all day? While I wouldn't mind witnessing some gay sex, I really do have to get home."

"You know I am dating you, right?" Lone Wolfe called out in response.

"You do know you have your arm draped over his shoulder like you are fishing for a kiss?" Robin questioned in response.

That was enough to get them to separate quickly and the two girls shared a giggle in response. For the first time in a while, the two of them seemed to share something in common that wasn't spiteful toward one another. Lone Wolfe smiled, if they could share a joke and get a long, even if it was just for a moment, then their friendships could just work after all. As soon as he thought that, he had a feeling that he had just steered them towards a path that would lead them down something far different from what he envisioned. He didn't know what he did wrong, but he needed to figure it out quickly.

Chapter #27: Spring Break

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

March 20th, 2028-CE

Lone Wolfe was not sure how Curtis managed to talk him into camping up in Red Feather lakes in the middle of March. There was still snow on the ground when they arrived at the swamp lady pool camp ground and they had to spend a couple of hours digging through the snow to find the ground. Once they found the ground they had to set up the tents and hammer at the frozen ground to get the tent spike chiseled into the ground. The wind whipped through them and breezed through his layers of warm clothing like they weren't there. He was sure he would die of frost bite and fall as an ice log right in front of them.

He remembered how Curtis and his family managed to convince him to come with them for the spring break camping trip when a warm hand patted his shoulder. He glanced to his left and saw Robin in a warm parka smiling at him. Her amber eyes seemed to sparkle and the cold seemed like a distant memory for a moment. That was how Curtis and his father managed to get him to come along, they invited her too. It was easy for them to get away with. Curtis's little sister had come along too.

Curtis and his father worked on one tent and Lone Wolfe helped the girls out with the other tent. Curtis's little sister shivered as they worked, "I sure hope the propane heaters will do their job, it is getting close to sunset," She remarked.

"You say that every year Tiff!" Curtis grumped, "We tested them before we went up. They work!"

"Yeah, they work fine in the garage but what about up here?" Tiffany whined in response. She brushed the red hair out of her blue eyes as she glanced around, "Did anyone set up the outhouse tent yet? I have to go."

"No! Maybe you shouldn't have had all of that juice on the way up!" Curtis sighed.

"Curtis, go set up the outhouse tent so the girls can pee if they need to," His father stated.

"She knows how to do it," Curtis grumped in response.

"Just do it!" His father stated sternly.

Curtis rolled his blue eyes and marched back towards the car and grabbed the chemical toilet and the tent then marched into the woods next to their camp ground. As Curtis set up the tent, Lone Wolfe and Robin worked, "Why does Curtis have blonde hair and his little sister have red hair? Do they have different parents? Are they stepsiblings?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head and smirked, "You didn't get the pleasure of meeting Curtis's mother. His father has blonde hair. His mother is a red head. Like father, like son. Like mother, like daughter. Kind of interesting how that worked out."

"So, they both have blue eyes?" Robin questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. Their mother has green eyes but both have blue eyes like their father. I guess you can say it is proof that they came from the same father."

"Genetics are weird," Robin nodded.

"Preaching to the choir," Lone Wolfe nodded, "Explain to me how I have gold eyes when my father has blue eyes and my mother has green eyes? Everyone on my mother's side of the family has green eyes even when they have parents that have different color eyes. I am the only one with gold eyes. I have never figured out why that is. I never met anyone else that had eyes like mine. You are the closest one that has eyes like mine."

"What about Angela?" Robin questioned in response, "She has gray eyes. I haven't really come across a person with those eyes before."

"There are a few people wandering around with eyes like that," Lone Wolfe replied, "Usually, they come from people that have blue eyes and they have siblings that have gray eyes too. In a different world where Angela wasn't an only child, I wonder if she would have any other siblings with gray eyes too."

Without the help of Tiffany, Robin and Lone Wolfe managed to thread the tent poles through the tent. They also managed to set it up and get the rain shield over the tent before Curtis returned proclaiming that the bathroom he setup was open for business. Lone Wolfe was sure that the only reason why Robin agreed to the camping trip was there would be an actual toilet where they were going. He remembered her commenting how she hated going camping because her brother and father would go to a remote place and force her to dig her own latrine pit. Lone Wolfe couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it must be to do that let alone do it in the snow.

Tiffany rushed off to where the tent was set up as Curtis resumed work on the tent. Lone Wolfe took one of the propane tanks out of the small trailer that housed all the supplies the family had brought for camping. He dragged the heavy object over to the setup girls tent and rested it next to the tent. He went back and retrieved the heater a moment later. He set it inside and pulled out the pressure hose from within the unit and slid it through the doorway to the outside and hooked it up to the tank. He turned on the tank and went inside to turn it on. Once it was on, he and Robin sat in there to warm up.

"Too bad they would hear us," Robin whispered, "This could get cozy and inviting really quick."

"Too bad a little sister will barge in, in a few moments," Lone Wolfe replied, "The boys sleep in one tent and the girls sleep in another tent."

"What is his father doing?" Robin questioned after a moment, "He left Curtis to set up the other tent by himself."

"Usually the kids set up the tent and he set up a fire pit then they do typical camp stuff until it gets dark and really cold. They shut off the tank and go to sleep before the heater shuts off. There is a decent amount of propane in the hose, so the heater goes for about ten or fifteen minutes before shutting off. That way, they don't waste the propane."

"We are going to do this for three days?" Robin questioned in response.

"Makes you appreciate what we had during the Christmas snow storm," Lone Wolfe smiled.

"Hey Lone Wolfe!" Curtis called out, "You going to stay in that tent schmoozing with your girlfriend all afternoon or are you going to help me with this tent?"

Lone Wolfe groaned, "But it's so warm in here!"

"Hope you didn't take off your coat!" Curtis called out, "Still cold out here and it will be cold in the tent if you don't get off your ass and help me!"

Lone Wolfe shrugged and got up, "I bet you want to stay here in the warm tent."

Robin shook her head, "Who is going to keep you from freezing while you work out there? Curtis is a poor substitute for me."

Lone Wolfe chuckled as he held the flap open for her, "I'm sure he won't mind hearing you say that. I bet he wishes his girlfriend would have agreed to come with too."

"Why didn't she?" Robin questioned in response.

"Either your father has given up on keeping you pure," Lone Wolfe stated and got a stern look from her, "Or her parents are really uptight."

"You better be thinking option b," Robin scalded playfully as they walked over.

Tiffany walked back as they were threading the poles. Curtis spotted her right away, "If you don't want frozen fabric to sleep in, you might want to get the sleeping bags out of the trailer. Don't just chuck them in there either! Lone Wolfe was kind enough to turn on the heater for you. Also, don't leave the flap open!"

"But they did!" She complained as she walked over and zipped up the flap to the tent.

"Why zip it up now?" Curtis stammered, "you are going to have to unzip it to put the sleeping bags in, you dimwit!"

"To think a month ago you were giving me crap about calling you that," Lone Wolfe replied as he helped hoist up a tent pole.

"Well, I'm not your sister," Curtis stated in response.

"That's good, you'd make a lousy looking sister," Lone Wolfe joked.

"I happen to think I would make a good-looking sister," Curtis faked a pout as they moved on to the other tent pole.

"Fine, we will put you in a dress when we get back from camping," Robin smiled and peaked around the other side of the tent, "Consider it pay back for dragging me along to the frozen hell!"

"But I'm not a girl!" Curtis shouted.

"But you did walk right into that," Lone Wolfe replied.

"Man walks into a bar and says, 'Ow! I should pay attention to where I'm walking,' because he's an idiot," Robin stated in response.

Lone Wolfe laughed and after a moment, all of the children were laughing. They managed to setup the tent and get it loaded just as Curtis's father started loading up the fire. Curtis and Lone Wolfe quickly loaded up the tent with their sleeping bags and the propane heater. They made sure that they had it on before they headed back to the trailer to grab folding chairs to sit around the camp fire.

Lone Wolfe sat a chair for Robin first and sat his as close as possible to her. Compared to everything else, the campfire seemed warm. Robin glanced to Lone Wolfe and asked, "So, what do we do now? Just sit around the camp fire? No song singing or telling of ghost stories?"

Curtis sat down on the other side of Robin. He wasn't as close, and his hands were also full of other items. There were some metal, extendable skewers, a bag of marshmallows, and a bag of hotdogs. Robin glanced over and asked, "I get the marshmallows, why the hotdogs?"

Curtis tore into the bag of hotdogs and tossed a skewer and a hot dog to Lone Wolfe, "you never roasted hotdogs over a fire Just like grilling them but without the grill!"

Robin grimaced, "I'm not so sure about that."

Lone Wolfe skewered the hotdog and held it out for Robin to try, "As long as you don't burn it to a crisp it is usually pretty good. Try it?"

Robin shrugged and accepted the skewer. She held it over the fire as Curtis tossed Lone Wolfe another skewer and a couple more hotdogs. Lone Wolfe skewered both and held his over the fire. He noticed that Curtis was smiling as the three of them warmed up their prizes on the end of sticks. Lone Wolfe cocked his head in confusion, "What's got you grinning from ear to ear?" He questioned.

"I was just trying to envision Jena doing something like this with us," Curtis stated in response.

Lone Wolfe pulled his back and said, "The best part is you can just snack off of it while it cools off on the stick."

Robin got a devilish grin on her face, "Ha-ha, dirty joke in my head!"

"Mom always said share and share alike!" Curtis encouraged.

"Not with you," She said and stuck out her tongue, "that is something only for Lone Wolfe and I."

"You're mean!" Curtis pouted in response then fished his hotdog out of the fire with the skewer and blew on it until it was cool enough to eat.

She took her hotdog out of the fire and blew on it for a couple of moments. In the dying light, she turned her entire body to Lone Wolfe. She made sure that he was glancing in her direction and slid the hotdog almost all the way into her mouth and pulled it off the skewer with a smile and wink on her face. His jaw dropped, and he blushed enough that she could see in in the pink and red hues of the dying light, "oh, you are evil!" He stated in response.

She wanted to say something, but her mouth was full of the hotdog she just chomped down. Curtis leaned over to see what was happening as Lone Wolfe started tearing away at his hotdogs with his teeth, "I don't get it. What did she do."

"Magic," Lone Wolfe baited, "She made it disappear."

Curtis gave them a bewildered stare for a moment then noticed her awkward chewing and his eyes widened. He shook his head, "One gulp, huh? Talent!"

Robin glared at him while she continued to reduce the amount of hotdog meat in her mouth by chewing. Lone Wolfe chuckled, "No offense but you kind of brought this upon yourself. You can't talk right now. Did you think that far ahead?" She shook her head and Lone Wolfe smirked, "Did you think you could just swallow it in one go?" She shrugged and continued to chew. He could see the mirth growing on her face as he continued to speak, "You are aware it is not healthy to not chew your food before swallowing it. Bad for your digestion." She gave him the middle finger in response.

Lone Wolfe managed to finish both of his hotdogs before she could speak again, "You can be an asshole, you know, that right?" She finally spoke, "That was supposed to be a nice gesture to tease you and it backfired!"

"Turnabout," Lone Wolfe nodded as he basked in the heat from the fire.

"It is fair play after all," Curtis commented in response.

"If you want to be able to have your own children, you may not want to stick your neck out for your friend so often," Robin threatened but the smile on her face told them all she wasn't serious.

* * *

With the disappearance of the sun, everything that wasn't heated by the fire or one of the heaters also suffered the disappearance of the heat. Lone Wolfe shrugged into his sleeping bag and wondered how long until he heard the whooshing sound of the propane heater. He had turned off the propane tank when he thought his friend was asleep. He received a wink from Robin as she was also out there turning off the tank for her tent.

Curtis's father decided to sleep in the SUV. The subtle sound of the SUV running a short distance away gave a white noise that threatened to make him fall asleep. He sniffed his clothes and smiled, "Too bad they don't have laundry soap that smells like camp fire. That is the best smell ever."

"You should write to them," Curtis whispered, "I am sure they would sell well at sporting goods stores."

"I thought you were asleep?" Lone Wolfe replied, "Were you just pretending and waiting to see if someone would sneak into the tent?"

"You caught me," Curtis stated in response, "I think if both the girlfriends came along then dad might have stayed out in the tent with us."

"Really I think he is staying out in the car, so I don't sneak over there."

"You would take the action away from me and leave me alone in the cold?" Curtis feigned a shock look in response, "What about the bro code?"

"It was your idea for spring break to take us both camping," Lone Wolfe stated in response, "I'm sorry your girlfriend didn't come along."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I wouldn't sneak over there. I was hoping that you had one giant tent that we all could sleep in. I would have Robin on the other side of me and her and I could snuggle in during the night. Ever since Christmas, I have missed having her next to my side at night."

"More than the sex?" Curtis questioned.

"That part doesn't really matter to me," Lone Wolfe replied, "Her smell, the feel of her skin, her hair, her breath. Being next to her is what drives me. I had a taste of what it was like to be next to someone at night and I want it back."

"You make that feeling sound like a drug," Curtis replied, "I wonder what it feels like when you are lying next to her for you to long for her like that?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "it is hard to put into words. Probably everything every little child imagines their best Christmas ever being like. What's more the feeling gets better every moment you are lying next to them. You never want it to end. At the right points, time moves slow, other points it races through way too fast."

Curtis shook his head, the scratching against the slick outer fabric of the sleeping bag was the only noise that Lone Wolfe needed to hear to confirm that. Curtis glanced up at the top of the tent and said, "You are a hopeless romantic. You know that?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Yeah. Better to be hopeless at that than hopeless at other things in life."

Curtis yawned, "Well, good luck man. I am going to catch some shut eye before the heater shuts off. I don't know about you, but I have a problem falling asleep once it gets cold. If it's cold after I fall asleep then I am usually fine."

Lone Wolfe nodded. He rolled over and closed his eyes. He was thankful that he managed to grab the pads for him and Angela. It made the hard, cold ground softer. It also insulated from the cold. It took only a few moments before he had fallen asleep. He didn't have time to wonder if Robin was having the same trouble in the next tent. There was a lot for her and Curtis's little sister to talk about, if they could get past their differences on the surface.

* * *

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

March 23rd, 2028-CE

With everything packed up in the trailer, Curtis's father drove them back to Greeley. It would take a couple of hours to get everyone back to their homes. Tiffany sat next to the back-driver's side door and glanced derisively towards the couple asleep next to her, "Curtis, you should have sat next to our friends."

"Too bad, I called shot gun," Curtis stated in response, "Why?"

"They are asleep next to each other," Tiffany stated in response.

Curtis turned back in his seat and glanced back at them. Lone Wolfe had his arm around Robin and they both were asleep against each other. Curtis smiled and commented quietly, "Enjoy that, buddy. You have a little piece of heaven right now." He sat back towards the front of the car.

Chapter #28: The Prom

Greeley Colorado

April 28th, 2028-CE

Jena never expected to be going to this event so soon. She had her dress pulled on and her hair curled up which framed her face better than she expected. The dress was a dark purple one that she and Angela picked out a few months ago. Unless something had changed, they both would be going in the dresses. She headed down the stairs and fitted her feet into the shoes she would be using for the evening. She preferred to be on time.

So did her date. She answered the knock at the door a moment later. Angela smiled. Most of her long black hair was done up in a long pony tail at the top of her head and the bangs were curled the same way as Jena's which framed her silver eyes. Jena returned the smile, "You look awesome tonight. Makes me wish I grew my hair longer."

Angela gave her a hug and shook her head, "you look fine as you are."

Jena stepped outside and closed the door, "Thank you! Now off to this shindig!"

Angela smiled and led the way to her car. She hit the unlock button on her fob to unlock the door and opened it up for Jena to climb in. She shut the door after Jena situated herself and headed to the place the prom was being held at. It was a hotel that had a small event hall with it. The students were using the event hall and couldn't check in to any of the rooms for obvious reasons. It was common for them to use hotels and resorts for proms if the school could afford to rent the place for the night.

They pulled up to the hotel awning. Angela climbed out of the car and opened the door for Jena before handing the keys to the valet. They walked inside at that moment and waited in line to take pictures.

Angela curled her nose as she was hit with an assault of different colognes and perfumes as they waited. She glanced to her date and noticed Jena was displaying a similar grimace, "It would be nice if they didn't have to bathe in their favorite stuff." Jena commented, "A spritz or two is all you need."

"Or just a shower," Angela commented, "People don't usually smell bad on their own."

Jena nodded, "true. I put a little perfume on, but you won't be able to tell because some of the people in line smell like they rubbed those car air fresheners all over themselves."

Angela chuckled, "Their cologne turns the corner before they do."

The line proceeded about as fast as it would if they were taking school pictures. As they got closer, it was surprising because the photographer was taking several shots of each couple after they signed up and paid for a package of photos. However, since it was couple's shots, it did make more sense. Their turn came as soon as the couple in front of them was done taking their pictures.

The photographer took the form that Angela had just completed and read it over. He glanced at the two of them and said, "Okay I will take a picture with the red head seated and the black haired on standing. I will then switch them and then have a final pose of both standing and holding hands."

Jena glanced to Angela and asked, "My hair isn't red, is it?"

Angela shrugged, "More of an auburn if you ask me. I guess there is some red in it, however."

Jena shrugged as they walked up to the backdrop. The assistant pulled out a stool for Jena to sit on. They set in the center of the castle background and Angela stepped behind Jena. She placed her hands-on Jena's shoulders as the photographer stepped behind the camera. He glanced up and said, "Get closer, you two! You aren't sisters, unless you are..."

Angela smiled and placed her chin on Jena's shoulder next to her cheek. She wrapped her arms around Jena's upper chest. Jena reached up and squeezed her arms closely and smiled. At that point, the photographer snapped a picture. He glanced at the image he just took and smiled. He glanced up and said, "perfect, now switch!"

Jena rose and walked behind Angela as she sat down on the stool. Unlike Angela, the shorter woman wrapped her arms under Angela's chest and rested her chin much closer to Angela's face. Angela hugged her arms and the picture was snapped. They both rose and stood in front of the stool at that point. They wrapped one arm around each other and held their other hands. They put their heads together as the last image was snapped.

The photographer smiled, "You have been wonderful, ladies, I will have that CD and the photos out to you in about a week."

Angela nodded as she led Jena away and into the dance hall. While the atmosphere felt much like other dances the two had been to so far, the decorations were more elaborate. The pillars had been done up with carefully painted cardboard and Styrofoam to look like castle brick pillars and gossamer like fabric hung between the pillars. There were less tables and less people than at the homecoming dance but that was to be expected. This was just the junior and senior class and their dates, not the entire school and their dates like before.

Jena and Angela found a table soon enough and sat down. She glanced around to see if there was anyone around that she knew even though she knew there wouldn't be any underclassmen there. She didn't know why, she figured it was habit. It didn't take long for Angela to come back with refreshments for them both. Angela sat down and slid a glass over to Jena, "Just about the same other than the pictures and fancy dresses." She commented.

Jena nodded, "Everyone around here seems to have mixed impressions about what to expect here." She glanced to her gray eyed friend, "What do you think they are expecting?"

Angela blushed as she thought about it. She didn't want to reach into people's minds for specifics and in truth, she didn't need to. If Scarlet had been around, she would have been expecting the same conclusion for the night, "Well, there is an after party after this where people can enter drawing and possibly get stuff. It is more like a rowdy school dance, the after party, that is. Then there are the private parties that some people are expecting."

"Which is?" the emerald eyed girl questioned in response.

"Will you hit me if I use a euphemism to answer that?" Angela questioned in response.

Jena smirked and shook her head, "I promise I won't. I take it a few people around here also feel the urge to merge tonight? Is that what you are getting at?"

Angela nodded, and Jena questioned, "Do you also have that urge?"

Angela shook her head, "Not particularly."

"Why not?" Jena questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"I'm not looking for a long-term commitment except I might," Angela replied then held up a hand to keep her from commenting, "I know, that sounds like a contradiction. Let's say that there could be something wrong with me and I could drop dead at any moment. For that reason, I don't want to tie myself down to someone. I don't want to cause them pain if I should die on them. At the same time, I don't want to end up being alone. I won't pass up the opportunity, if it should present itself but I won't force it to happen either."

Jena nodded. She was pretty sure she understood what was going on, "You are here just because it is a rite of passage then. As far as what makes you think you could die at any moment. I remember that you lived with your grandma until she died. Did your mother die at an earlier age?"

Angela nodded. Jena could tell that it was hard for her to talk about, but Jena needed to know what it was, "Do you mind if I ask you what makes you think that you will drop dead at any moment?"

Angela shrugged, "Both my grandmother and mother died of aneurisms,' She replied and took a deep breath, "My grandmother must have known that his was coming. She left a video for me to watch. She said in that video that her mother and grandmother also died of the same things. With four generations of that, it makes me think that there is something wrong with me and that I will die of that too. It was bugging me before I saw that video and I made sure that I wouldn't fall in love with anyone after that video."

Jena nodded. It made sense. With four other generations succumbing to that malady then she could have the same problem. There were a couple of ways that Angela could be sure that wouldn't happen. She glanced to her friend and said, "Lone Wolfe was troubled by his mother's death. She was a gifted psychic. Had powerful abilities including clairvoyance. She had seen her own death, but it wasn't from what took her life. Lone Wolfe said that clairvoyants usually see the natural conclusion to their life so other things can take them by surprise such as murder or a car crash. An aneurism is a natural death. Have you seen your own death yet?"

Angela shook her head, "Then you know you aren't dying anytime soon."

"You don't know how fickle the future can be. I don't know how well Lone Wolfe sees the future but there have been times I was sure something was going to happen, and nothing did," Angela stated in response.

"Well, there are problems with him seeing the future," Jena commented, "First off; he can't see past anything he doesn't understand. If he sees a war in the future but not, why it started then he doesn't know how it is going to end or how to change it to keep from happening. Also; when it comes to seeing the future of someone else, he can't nail down a time frame. He can either see a time and anyone during that time or focus on an individual and see a random time. He has also said glimpsing into the future can change it. He said there are three different types of futures that he sees; fragile futures where the observer changes it by seeing it, more stable futures that come into play with limited options of it changing and fixed events where things have been in play long enough that knowing it will happen doesn't change it, you can only change how the outcome will affect you. I have the feeling the first kind is really common."

"Where are you going with all of this?" Angela questioned in response.

"A natural death is that second type of future; hard to change but it can be changed. You haven't seen it yet, so you won't suffer an aneurism any time soon. In between now and that time, there is the possibility that you could go rock climbing and slip or die in an earth quake or of a lightning strike. That means you live the with same uncertainty that the rest of us has," Jena commented.

"You may think that helps but it doesn't help as much as you think," Angela replied, "What if my clairvoyance doesn't show me how I will die? What if I never know how I will die? I could drop dead tomorrow and never get any warning about it."

"Welcome to being human," Jena replied, "That is what the rest of us live with every day. Any of us could die of something tomorrow and we would never know it. Stop living as if you have the sword of Damocles hanging above your head. Enjoy the moments you have and don't let your worry of the moment threaten what you have. If you think you will die tomorrow, then so be it. Live for today. That is what the rest of us do. We may plan for a tomorrow but in the end, we always take every moment we get as if it will be our last. If you love someone then let yourself love. Don't shut yourself down because you are afraid that you will hurt them even more if you die. Did you think of the pain you might cause them if you never gave them the chance in the first place?"

Angela shook her head, "No but if they fell in love with me and woke up next to me after I died then they would be crushed. They wouldn't have to go through that pain if they fell in love with someone else."

Jena sighed, "There is another way we can see if you are worried over nothing. It is something that I can help you out with. You know I have empathic abilities. I can check and see if you have a ticking time bomb in your head. If you do, I might be able to fix it. If nothing else, I can tell you how long you might have left. Give you time to feel love and then kick whoever it is out to the curb, so they don't have to go through what you are fearing. How does that sound? There is no harm in looking for that? You can't argue this with me, can you?"

Angela sighed and shook her head. She glanced flatly to the younger empath and replied, "You're right. What do you need me to do?"

Jena took her seat and arranged it to face Angela, "Pull your seat as close to me as possible. I need to touch your head to get the best use of my power as possible."

Angela did as she requested. Jena placed her right hand at the nape of Angela's neck and the other on the temple of her forehead. She gazed just above Angela's gray eyes. Normally, Jena would have been quick about it but she knew that if she was anything other than slow and methodical that Angela wouldn't trust what she was doing. She also flowed more energy than she needed into the connection. She figured that if she felt any kind of energy flow as opposed to the normal precision control she normally could do, then Angela would trust her words more.

"Look, those two are about to make out!" Someone called out.

"No PDA here! Save that for after!" Someone else called out.

"This is a jerk-wad free zone, kindly fuck off please!" Jena replied without missing a beat in her search.

"Kindly?" One Person questioned.

"Please?" The other person questioned.

"Politely," Jena stated. She broke her glance with Angela at that point and glanced to the other two with a look of sheer rage in her green eyes. The two people jumped, suddenly filled with a kind of terror they never knew before. She dipped her head down where she was glaring up at them, "Now can you leave us alone before I have to deal with you?"

The two males nodded and ran off as fast as they could without drawing any more attention to themselves. Jena sighed and glanced back to Jena. Angela glanced up at her as she started to work again, "I can tell that wasn't normal fear. What did you do to them? Was that something telepathic or empathic?"

Jena glanced down as she answered, "It was mainly empathic. All I did was give them the strong impression that they were going to get their buts kicked by the both of us if the continued to mess with us. They have no business making comments about things they don't understand anyway."

Angela nodded, "Makes sense but you shouldn't put the fear of god into people. Some people would think that's not nice." She glanced around then back to Jena and asked, "Did you find something wrong? You seem to be taking a long time at this? I thought you would have been done by now."

She had forgotten that she was dealing with a clairvoyant. They sometimes know more than just things dealing with time. It seems like she knew how long it would have really would have taken her to do a good job at finding anything wrong. Instead of trying to assure her that she did a good job of looking and finding nothing, she was now starting to worry her friend. Jena shook her head, "I haven't found anything. Just being thorough. Although, if you keep driving yourself like this then you will kill yourself from exhaustion!"

Jena released her hold on Angela and sat back. She had funneled some energy back into Angela to keep her from feeling the exhaustion the young shaman felt from burning the candle at both ends. She had been taking it easy, but it didn't seem to affect her like it did back a few months ago. Angela nodded, "I can take in the power of the sun now, so I can make sure that I am getting what I need from it." She glanced back towards Jena, "Besides, I only have a couple of months left before I graduate. Once that happens, I can run the store on my own full time without having to worry about it too much."

"Good luck," Jena nodded, "I will have to make it a point to visit you there every once in a while."

Angela rose to her feet and grabbed Jena's hand. She pulled the younger empath up to her feet and said, "Let's go dancing!"

"But it's not s a slow song," Jena replied as she was pulled onto the dance floor by the senior shaman, "The DJ is better about playing songs than they were at the last dance. How about we just wait for the next slow song?"

"I don't just want to wait for the slow songs," Angela replied as she grabbed Jena's other hand and started to swing her around on the floor, "You don't have to have a slow song to dance!"

"I gave you a little extra energy and I have created a monster!" Jena chuckled as they danced.

Angela chuckled and twirled her around. They both attempted to dance something like a quick waltz, but it turned out nothing like what they were planning. Jena smiled a bit and asked, "Do you know how to dance?"

"No, I'm just making crap up as I go along! As long as we are having fun, does it really matter?" Angela replied as she swung their arms around in a quick sway.

Jena shrugged, "I guess not but we look like two monkeys on steroids." She commented in response.

"I don't care!" Angela laughed, "Just let loose and have a good time!"

"You know creepers say that too to the people they are trying to get with," Jena replied as she went along with the spastic dance moves.

"Then consider me a dancing creeper! I say that to people I want to dance with," Angela joked.

"That isn't as funny of a joke as you think," Jena replied but she did chuckle at the comment just the same.

"It got you to laugh," Angela smiled as she let Jena spin her around this time, "Now if we did know any dance moves, what do you think we would dance to with a song like this?"

Jena shrugged, "I don't know. My family never really thought about setting me up with any dance lessons growing up."

"I am sure my grandmother would have had me doing that if she could afford it," Angela replied. It was out of habit. Knowing the amount of money her grandmother really had, she was sure that if she expressed as serious interest in dancing, her grandmother would have come up with the money for lessons. It would have been anything that would have kept her from working in a dead-end job in some call center or burger joint in the city. Anything that would have given her a future her grandmother would have invested money in.

She paused at that moment. Jena caught on right away that something was bugging her. She cocked her head in confusion and asked, "What's wrong? Why did you stop dancing?"

"It's just," She started and glanced away, "My grandmother always led a frugal life and I assumed that was because we were poor. Because of that assumption I never asked her for a lot of things growing up. I never knew that she did have a lot of money socked away for a rainy day or something like that. It never occurred to me that I could have asked for something and she might have made it work somehow. I just got to thinking what the future would have been like had I not made that mistake."

"There is no use dwelling on the past and all of those what ifs," Jena replied, "Right now you are dancing, and I would like to see you dancing and having fun!" Jena beamed as she started their spastic dance back up again.

As they continued to dance, Jena noticed that time almost seemed to slow. It was a subtle effect. She knew the song that they were dancing to and it seemed slightly slower than it should have been. She had heard of the affect before through communions from telepaths she had dealt with before. She couldn't help but think is this what they call a perfect moment? She questioned to herself.

As soon as she thought that, they seemed to fall out of the moment and time resumed its normal march toward eternity. She glanced to Angela and asked, "What were you doing at that moment?"

Angela cocked her head at that moment, "Do you want a technical term? I think it is called being a goof ball."

"No! Not with the dancing, with your clairvoyance," Jena replied, "I wanted to know what you were doing with making the time around us go slower for a moment."

Angela shrugged, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Jena glanced around, "We were dancing, and everything just started slowing down. The moment I thought about it started running normal again."

Angela looked dumbfounded, "I wasn't even aware I was doing anything. I was just really enjoying myself at that moment." She blinked a couple of times. He gray eyes washed over with realization, "I did look over toward you just a moment ago and you looked like you weren't having fun."

That must be how we fell out of the moment, Jena thought to herself, I didn't think just my thought would have ended the moment like that. Jena shrugged, "Like I said, things started to move funny and as I picked it up it moved normally again. You must have picked up on me picking that fact up and confused it for something being wrong. It wasn't anything wrong. I just didn't ever see anything like it before. I probably would have ruined it anyway by asking you about it just like I did."

Angela shrugged, "Let's not worry about it. Tonight, we aren't psychic. We aren't different from everyone around us. We are just two normal girls at the prom dancing with each other. Let go and have fun!"

Jena nodded. She couldn't argue with that logic any more than Angela could argue with her words earlier. She started to dance with Angela again as the song ended and the DJ transitioned them to a slow song. Her left hand connected with Angela's right hand and their other hands went to each other's waist. They attempted to waltz slowly to the rhythm of the song and ended up in a more coordinated sway as a result. Still, both seemed to enjoy themselves.

The music started to slow down a little bit, just like last time. With the beat and rhythm being slower, it was easier for them both to notice what was going on. They glanced at each other as the music slowed down a little more. Neither was sure what was going on but it wasn't normal. They glanced around and saw that no one else seemed to notice. In fact, they all seemed to be moving at the same speed as what the music should be.

Afraid to disrupt this moment, Jena reached out with her abilities and tried to slow her projection down enough for Angela to hear, "We are the only people moving fast. I never did anything like this with my empathic powers before. This has to be something that your clairvoyance is doing." She projected.

Angela glanced at her with a confused look on her face and the music started to speed up in response. She was about to respond when she focused on Jena and started dancing, the song, and time around them, seemed to slow down again, "Okay. How am I doing all of this?"

Jena shrugged, "I am not sure on the how. Not a lot of psychics have witnessed this. I know some telepaths that have heard about it call it a perfect moment. When a Clairvoyant can slow down the time around them. It's like how their precognitive abilities work for them when they are in the middle of a crisis but in reverse. Instead of speeding the clairvoyant up, it slows time around them except for one other person."

Angela nodded as they continued to dance to the slower music, "That person being you in this case. You noticed this happening first. I have never done this before. Have you experienced it with Lone Wolfe?"

Jena shook her head, "He doesn't have any memories about this and he doesn't talk about it. If he had a moment like this, it either never registered or he keeps it a secret for some reason."

Angela glanced around and took a breath, they fell out of the moment and the music started up normally again. Jena glanced at her and asked, "Why did you stop it?"

"I don't know. I wanted to see if I could control it or play with it at will," Angela replied. Her gray eyes showed her frustration after a moment, "I can't seem to get us back into that moment."

"I am not sure if it is something you can do consciously," Jena replied, "There is so much about clairvoyance that you and Lone Wolfe don't do with deliberate effort. It is possible that you have to just be in the zone for it to work," Jena replied.

Angela nodded and as the song ended, they started their walk back to the table. Both felt a little more tired than normal. They didn't know if the effort was they put into dancing for the first couple of songs or if it was the perfect moment they shared that drained them. When they sat down Angela asked, "I wonder. Since I didn't notice it the first time, do you think that we have these moments more often and just don't realize it?"

Jena shrugged, "That would be a question for Lone Wolfe. You would have to make sure that you aren't referring to your precognitive abilities for him to understand the full meaning of your question. I don't know if he would remember having a moment like this. You might also be able to figure out if you had these moments before if you meditate and focus on your memories for a moment."

Angela nodded, "I can try that. Do you think you can have these moments with more than one psychic? Do they have to be psychic? Can I do this by myself?"

Jena shrugged, "I don't know enough about this to answer that question. If this moment works like Telepathic Communions and Empathic Bonds, I would say you need to have one other person. Those two acts can't hold more than one other person and must be with one other person. However, with Empathic Bonds; the person doesn't have to be psychic. Just one of the people must be special in order for it to work. Since I'm not clairvoyant, maybe you don't need a psychic for this to work too?" She thought of another question as she took a drink of her punch, "Just curious, why did you try to play with the moment?"

Angela shrugged, "Seemed like the thing to do at the time. I felt like I should."

Interesting, Jena thought to herself, maybe you don't need to have another clairvoyant to start a perfect moment but if you want to develop it you do need another clairvoyant. Something like this being stage one and the second state being something different. I wonder what would happen if you could force those two to have a full perfect moment like that? Jena thought to herself.

Jena leaned back in her chair, "What do you plan to do after high school? Especially with your friends?"

Angela shrugged, "I know a lot of them are planning on going off to college. That was my plan until my grandmother died. I intend to stay behind and man the store for the time being. At least until I get to a spot where I can do something local for a business degree. I don't know if I will be keeping touch with any of my friends."

Jena looked dejected and forlorn by the words her friend just said, "Please say you will keep in touch with me. I would also like it if you keep in touch with Lone Wolfe. I don't know why I feel this way. It might have been something with that perfect moment we had but I have the feeling that he will need a friend soon."

"You do know I don't like boys more than just being friends, right?" Angela questioned in response.

Jena nodded, "Yes and Lone Wolfe knows that as well. He won't try to do anything with you and he won't try to seduce you. I really think he needs you just as a friend. You two have things in common. You both have lost parents and you are only children that have been isolated from your families. That gives you two a lot in common and a lot to bond over. Plus; he is clairvoyant. The only clairvoyant outside of your family. Maybe the two of you can figure out how to use your abilities together?" She explained.

Angela shrugged, "I don't know. I will have to get to know him better. I do trust you and you have known him all your life, so I know you are trying to vouch for him."

"If you allow it I think you will find that he will become a valuable friend," Jena replied, "Keep that in mind as you think about it."

Angela nodded, "I will."

Chapter #29: Fractures

Greeley Colorado

June 29th, 2028-CE

Jena didn't know how but her family had decided to skip this summer vacation. She knew her father had been working on some important items at work and the delays in prototyping might have contributed to the delays in summer vacation. Her mother offered to have a mother-daughter type vacation, but Jena wanted a full family vacation or stay in the state. She could hang out with Lone Wolfe and Robin if they weren't doing anything anyway. Lone Wolfe was in summer school most of the time which meant she had the luxury of living in his shoes for one in her life.

Jena hitched a ride on the bus to head down to the stampede. Angela agreed to close shop at her usual time and head over there tonight to hang out and have a good time despite the crowds. Angela had been hard to break from her shell since graduation. Jena showed up in the afternoon with some extra funds from her mother. She had a few hours to kill before meeting up with Angela, so she decided to wander through the midway, bazaar, and food course.

The smells of food drifted around as different food carts were set up between the various rides, ticket stands, and play games. The carnival workers manning the games yelled at people to get their attention and take their money for their troubles. She was sure a few of them were yelling at her but it was easy enough for her to ignore them as she walked. It didn't matter what they said, she wouldn't meet the again for some time or if she did and they were rude, she wouldn't give them her business again.

She didn't suffer the problems Lone Wolfe and Angela had about the massive crowds at the stampede or any crowded area. She could understand why they suffered that issue, however. The crush of people around her made the noise she heard in her mind that much louder. Jena had nearly the range that Lone Wolfe had. The voices never seemed to bother her. She understood Lone Wolfe's problem as he used to have issues with controlling his telepathy. Angela was alone for a lot of times so her problem wasn't so much with telepathy but with the amount of people crowded in some place.

As she walked around and headed towards the bazar, the smell of various foods being cooked there started to call her name. She headed over to the food area and started to hear familiar voices in her head. One she knew right away, it was Robin. She thought it was interesting that Robin was here even though she couldn't hear her brother. Usually she was alone when Lone Wolfe was around which meant Lone Wolfe should be here. She sought out Lone Wolfe's voice in the ocean of voices but couldn't hear his voice or feel his presence anywhere.

Jena wondered why Robin would be here alone. Normally she wouldn't have ventured to a place like this without her brother, or Lone Wolfe at all. She couldn't have been alone. Someone had to be with her. That was when she realized that there were other familiar voices. She did dismiss them, at first, as voices from their high school. It wouldn't have been that uncommon for high school kids to be at a carnival which is why she didn't pay them any mind. Now she started to wonder if she was hanging out with anyone else.

She decided to trust Lone Wolfe, at first. Robin had other friends aside from the inner circle of Jena and Lone Wolfe. She decided to get some corn dogs as the food would help her think. She sat down and devoured the first corn dog after waiting in line for a short time. The second one didn't smell as delicious as the first so she ate it slower as she searched for the voices of those familiar students.

It wasn't so much them that she sought but people who would be hanging out with Robin. Those people would be thinking about Robin and talking to her. One by one, she narrowed down the people that she could be hanging out with. With each bite of the hotdog, she found another student that was not thinking about, seeing, or talking to Robin. Another tick off the list. When the con dog was gone, she found one person. Only one person, spending time with Robin.

Her blood ran cold and her green eyes narrowed. They weren't talking, and their thoughts were far away from the normal things a teenager would be doing with a friend. She took the empty paper plate and sticks and threw them in the trash as she headed towards them. They had secreted themselves away from prying eyes. It could be just some temptation and she would arrive just in time to save Robin from a mistake. That is what she tried to tell herself, but she knew it wasn't true.

When she found them, they were holding each other in a tight embrace and kissing passionately. She didn't know the man personally but there was no mistaking Robin. Jena seethed with rage. Had it have been anyone else she would have called them out on this act right away. As it was, she felt bad for Lone Wolfe.

Doing the best thing she could think of at the time, she reached out with her empathic powers and secured the man with vicious attack. The man backed away and doubled over in pain. Robin's amber eyes widened in shock, are you okay?" She questioned.

The man straightened up and his eyes seemed glazed over. Jena took a step forward and glanced at the man, "Take a walk!" The man nodded and started walking off away from the two women.

Robin's face was a mix of emotions. Part of her was angry almost to the point of rage that Jena had dismissed her tryst partner in such a manner. The other part of her was horrified at who was standing before her and the display of power she just saw. She now knew how Lone Wolfe felt at that moment and was glad that she showed more restraint with no one else around than Robin would have if Lone Wolfe had not been there a year earlier. She glanced at Jena and saw the rage boiling within the slender teenager. The only thing Robin could think to ask was, "Did you Geas him?"

"Really, Robin?" Jena hissed, "I just caught you cheating on my best friend and the only thing you have for me is that question? No guilt? No remorse? No fear?"

Robin glanced down, "I do feel bad."

"That you got caught," Jena added.

"So, you don't know everything that goes on between Lone Wolfe and I!" Robin railed back, "If you did you would know that he hasn't been up to sleeping with me and it has been really hard to get any time with him since he has been wrapped up in his studies to get ahead!"

Jena crossed her arms, "Is that any excuse to go and find another lover behind his back? What would he think? Do you know if you and that boy did anything that he would feel that over the bond? Lone Wolfe wouldn't know why he was feeling the flood of emotions and euphoria over that link you two have! Your personal feelings about what is going in the relationship aside, are you trying to sabotage his work during the summer? You are aware that if he fails, he must pay for those classes? You should be ashamed."

Robin glanced down, "I didn't know he would feel that over the link. I wouldn't have done anything if I had known." She glanced up at Jena, "What are you going to do now?"

"Lone Wolfe needs to know," Jena replied.

Robin shook her head, "No! Nothing happened beyond what you just saw!"

"What's to stop you from doing this again?" Jena hissed, "you violated his trust. While you have been jealous since day one, he has been nothing but kind and considerate to you. If you wanted to hang out with other boys, he didn't have a problem with that! If you wanted space, he gave it to you! For god's sake! He gave you his virginity! He had this plan to fast forward his future since his mother died. The only thing that changed between last summer and this summer was instead of him wanting to do that for something to do, he was doing that for you! He wanted to have a secure future with you and for you! This is how you repay him? You can tell him any reason you want for why you did it, but you have to tell him!"

Robin shook her head, "No!"

"Fine, I will," Jena replied and turned around to leave. She could feel a wave of empathic energy come over her. Her barriers came up right away and deflected the attack with no effort at all. It was powerful but nothing she couldn't handle. The attempt by Robin enraged her and she turned around and fixed those rage filled amber eyes with cold green eyes on your own, "You are out of your league if that was your best shot!"

Another wave of empathic energy was shot toward Jena. Jena blocked with no effort at all and shot one attack of her own which doubled Robin over in pain. Even with a block, Robin could not shield herself from the force of the attack. Jena took a step forward and unleashed another attack that made the girl vomit in front of Jena, "You think that just because you are powerful that means you can do whatever you want and you can make people do your bidding? We may be matched as far as raw power but as far as skill goes, you have no talent! Give up!"

Jena unleashed a devastating assault on Robin. It felt like the gravity of the Earth had been tripled in that moment and the woman could not get up from the ground. It was all she could do to pull her legs underneath her body. She shuddered, "Fine!" She squealed, "I will tell him!"

Jena shook her head, "That's not good enough anymore!" She kept the attack up, "You also have to tell him that you attacked me!"

"What you are doing to me is worse!" Robin groaned in response.

"You asked for it, you started it, this is what you get. What would happen if you attacked a superior telepath? They would do the same thing to you mentally!" Jena replied.

"I can't tell him..." She stuttered, "Not you..."

"Then break up with him, you don't have to tell him why, sever the bond and break up with him," Jena replied and let up the attack.

Robin glanced up as she pushed herself up to her hands and knees, "What? Do you know what that will do to him?" She asked.

Jena nodded, "It's just about as bad as telling him that you cheated on him and you attacked me. You can break up with him, tell him all, or I will show him everything that you did tonight. It's your choice."

Robin slowly rose to her feet and glanced at Jena. Tears started to form in her eyes, "Were we ever friends?"

"Hard to say," Jena replied, "I wanted to like you. Lone Wolfe was so happy with you that I tried to work things out with you. The problem is you never liked me in return."

"Do you love him?" She asked in response.

"As a brother," Jena replied, "The same way he loves me. I'm not sure that will ever change. You never listened to the stories about us, you never glimpsed those memories of us. We have known each other all our lives. Our first memories of anyone other than our parents were each other. That isn't something that jives very well when you mix in these romantic feelings."

Her tears started to stream down her face. Jena could feel the bond between Lone Wolfe and Robin breaking at that moment. An action that did take will power and concentration to do. It also took a lot of emotional pain on the part of the other empath, "He's going to feel it! He's going to know something's wrong before I see him again! Be there for him." With those words, she walked away.

It wasn't until she was out of Jena's sight that Jena had second thoughts about this mess. She said those things, threatened those things, out of anger and hostility. Seeing the pain, grief, and depression on Robin's face and the plea she made before she walked away made her realize that she may have forced something horribly wrong to happen. She still believed that Lone Wolfe needed to trust his partner, that he needed to know what she had done that night, but maybe there was a better way for it to work out.

Tears started to come to her eyes as she realized the mess she made and would have to clean up, "What have I done? Why did I make this happen?" She asked herself.

"Hey," A familiar voice called out. Jena glanced over and saw Angela approaching. Her jovial expression melted as she saw the horrified look on Jena's face, "What happened?" Angela questioned.

"I think I have done something horribly wrong," Jena cried out, "I am not sure what Lone Wolfe is going to do when everything else happens?"

Chapter #30: Broken Bonds

Greeley Colorado

June 30th, 2028-CE

Lone Wolfe awakened the next morning feeling like death had warmed in. He didn't know why, and he didn't feel physically ill but he felt like the energy had been trained out of him. He didn't know what had happened from before. It took him a moment to sit up. It like it needed twice the effort as usual to do anything including breathing. It didn't take him long to realize several things had happened.

He couldn't feel the empathic bond with Robin anymore. It was a horrifying and sickening feeling at the pit of his stomach. The absence of the bond seemed to drag on him like lead weights. His blood felt like it was jelly being pumped through his veins. The light shining in through the window stung like fire. Each breath seemed to take a monstrous effort to achieve.

The second thing he noticed was the lack of her voice. He sought out the telepathic link the two of them shared. It was gone as well. It made the room seem much bigger, much emptier. The world seemed lonelier without her voice interlacing its thoughts with his. Fear ran through him like a shot at that moment. It was the only thing that made him move so fast. No! He thought to himself, what happened to her? There is no link, there is no bond, something bad must have happened. Please tell me she is okay!

He reached to his phone and dialed her number. She answered a moment later, "Lone Wolfe," She sounded upset, "We have to talk. Can you meet up at the school?"

"Sure, what's going on?" Lone Wolfe asked in response, "Did you break the bonds between us?"

"Yes," She replied. She sounded as sad as he felt.

"Why?" He asked as the energy seemed to leave his body as suddenly as it had come.

"I will explain when I see you there." She said and disconnected the line.

Lone Wolfe gathered all his things and shoved them into his pockets. He headed out the door. His father wasn't home, so he didn't bother saying anything on his way out. He raced to the school as fast as his legs could take him. It was funny how he seemed to have no energy a moment ago but the thought of beating her there and maybe fixing whatever happened gave life to his legs.

She was already waiting for him at the school when he arrived there. She rested against the wall. Her hair wasn't brushed. Her eyes were swollen from crying all night and amber eyes were bloodshot. Her skin was pale and there were circles underneath her eyes. If she had slept at all, she hadn't done so for hours. Lines ran down her eyes where the tears flowed. They still flowed but they had slowed as her ability to make tears had been taxed, "My love," He said quietly, "What happened to you? Please tell me so I can fix it?"

Robin broke her gaze with him "There is nothing for you to fix. The problem is with me." More tears started to flow, "Lone Wolfe! The problem is with me! I have to break up with you!"

Those words slammed against him like a hammer. He would rather have been hit by a truck than hear those words. He tried to tell himself that he didn't hear those words and that he heard something else. He told himself the broken bonds must have made him crazy for a moment. As soon as he made that thought he knew it was false. The bonds were broken. That meant she was serious about this and had been thinking about this for a while. He glanced up at her as tears started to fill his gold eyes, "May I ask why? What did I do to make you break up with me?"

More tears started to flow out of each of their eyes and Robin shuddered, "Trust me, you have done nothing wrong! It is me!" She whimpered, "It's me. I'm sorry. I have to go!" She ran past him and sprinted towards her home at full speed.

Lone Wolfe turned around and tried to chase after her, "Wait!" he cried, "Let's talk about this!" She didn't reply and pushed herself to run faster.

He didn't bother trying to catch her at this point. He turned around and sauntered toward the wall. The life had been drained out of him at that point. He punched the wall and collapsed onto his knees at that point. There was nothing more for him to do. Hot and bitter tears flowed out of his eyes. The only thing he could do was cry.

* * *

Jena watched most of the scene unfold at a distance. Robin texted her when he was on his way, so she would be waiting in the wings. She approached when Lone Wolfe collapsed against the wall. She walked up beside him, "a birdie told me you would be here. Want to talk about it?" She asked.

He glanced up at her, tears running down his entire face, "Robin just broke up with me. She severed the bonds and everything! I don't know what I did wrong! What could I have done that made her that upset with me."

He shifted where he sat against the brick wall. Jena sat down to his right, "Listen. I will show you what's going on. All of it. You did nothing wrong. If anyone is to blame, it's me." She opened her mind and projected her memories of the previous night to Lone Wolfe. Her finding Robin kissing another boy. Jena driving him off, the fight, the ultimatums, all of it. She was sure that he would explode at her when it was all done.

His eyes widened, and she was sure that he was about to unleash his fury upon her, "You said I did nothing wrong?" He questioned, "In the beginning she said she did that because I was in class too much and studying too much! It is my fault!

Jena was perplexed. He had somehow stopped listening to all of it after that moment. He was finding something of himself to blame if led up to it. Jena was hoping to shift his sorrow away from the breakup and expecting him to blame her for it. It was her fault, she did force it and she was ready to own up to that fact. Still, that didn't register with him, "did you see the rest of it? The fight she and I had? Me forcing her to breakup with you? Why aren't you angry at me?"

He rose to his feet, "Because I could have prevented it. I can still prevent it!"

Jena shot up to her feet. She slammed Lone Wolfe against the wall and pinned him against the wall with her right hand. She slammed her left hand against the wall just beside him, "No Lone Wolfe! Out of everyone here, I know what you are capable of and that you intend to use it! I also know all your fears about it and what you have to go through to use it! You can't use it! You can't risk it!"

"I can jump back and make it, so I never signed up for these classes," Lone Wolfe replied with a shudder from his crying, "She is right. I should have been a normal teenager from the start! She had been saying it all along. I should have listened to her! If I go back I can still fix this!"

"You don't quite know what you are doing!" Jena hissed in response, "I know what you know about this! I know that if you mess up, you could die! I won't lose you! I won't lose someone who should have been my brother! I will not lose someone I love!"

"You think I want to live now that it's over between Robin and I?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response, "I think death is a risk I should be willing to take!"

Jena shook her head as tears started to well up in her eyes, "You don't know enough about that ability, no one does! You have used it twice now! The first one was just you are playing with your ability to see how fast you can take your precognitive reflexes. The second time was a noble act to prevent something from happening that shouldn't have happened in the first place. What if the third time is what finally does it? What if you can only use it three times safely and the fourth time is the one that kills you? What if you must change the outcome that you came back for or ending up in the same place results in your death? There are too many questions for you to risk using this ability so lightly!"

She backed away from him, "You should face it, you can only use that ability if it is worth risking your life for. You will graduate early in this future. Sure, you might have this summer, maybe two more summers with her but what if it ends up the same way only several years later? What will you do then? Get stuck in this cycle of risking your life to fix a mistake before it happens just to try to keep her? Who will be doing all the work in that relationship then? It should be about partnership instead of one person doing all the heavy lifting. Each person using their strengths to help the other and protecting the weaknesses of each other."

Lone Wolfe sighed and took in a shuddered breath, "You might be right, but you never warmed up to her. You aren't afraid of losing her." He glanced up at Jena, "You don't see spirits like I do. You don't see them in the living like I do. You don't feel the connections to each other like I do. There is a connection between all of us, Robin, Ray, Curtis, you, and I. Can't you feel that? Isn't that something worth protecting?"

When she thought about it, she did feel that connection. She could feel it between her and Lone Wolfe. She could feel it between them and Curtis. She could even feel it when she thought about Scarlet who was absent this summer. Her mind refused to attribute those feelings to Ray and Robin. She didn't know why. When she thought about it, she couldn't riddle out why she would refuse to acknowledge the connection fully.

When she thought about it, her argument seemed wrong. She would have told him to forget about her if it were anyone else. She would have told him that he would find someone better. She would have offered him a distraction in any way. She would even have offered to go out on dates with him until he felt better just to make him feel better. She didn't know why she wasn't doing that regarding Robin.

One question did pop up in her mind, "Which connection feels stronger? The connection between us or the connection between you and Robin?"

Lone Wolfe cocked his head, "They're different. However, I know that you and I have lived before and we have found each other before. I know, in my heart, that we have friends in many past lives. I can't tell you how I know this but I know that you and I have lived before. The connections between us, childhood friends, is old. As old as the ground that's been carved up to make our cities and roads. It may be different now, but it was here before anyone alive was born and it will be around after we are gone."

She glanced up at him and smiled, "Please don't meddle with time this go around? If you do, you and I won't have this conversation and I won't have any of the things that I have realized. Even if you share these memories with me later, I still won't have the full epiphany like now. When you meddle in time, anything that the others would have gained would have been for nothing."

She could tell Lone Wolfe had not thought about that. She could behind his gold eyes as he processed her statement. To prevent tragedy, the sacrifices everyone made including the risk to his life, would be worth it. To jump back just to fix a teenage mistake, that would result in a loss for others around him. Even if he lived, Jena would lose out on what she had learned today. Even sharing the memories through a communion would only share his perspective of the event. Something would be lost in the translation. He nodded, "You win. I won't go back."

He pushed himself off the wall and started to walk away from the school, "where are you going?" She asked as she started to follow him.

Lone Wolfe glanced to her and said, "No offense but I want to spend some time alone. I just need a little bit to heal from this."

Jena nodded, "I understand. Do you think you can convince your father to take you up to the mountains for a little camping trip? Something for you to do by yourself? I heard just meditating in the mountains can be a little cathartic especially when you need to heal from something as devastating as this."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I guess I can try. He probably will only want to leave me there for a night or two."

Jena nodded, "That should be fine. Just let me know when you go." She gave him a warm smile, someone will be there should you need to talk. I don't think I will be the right one for you to talk to in this instance.

Chapter #31: Tempests

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

July 7th, 2028-CE

Unlike most people, it was not too hard to convince Angela to take a camping trip to the woods to just think. The only thing she needed to do was make sure that it was slow enough to warrant taking an impromptu vacation at this point. As it turned out, Jena's suggestion to go today was a good one. She was able to close shop after looking up the analytics for her store to see that a lot of people weren't buying a lot after Alban Heruin. That did make it a good time for her to get away.

She slipped out of the house early in the morning and headed up to Swamp Lady Pool camp ground. After the fourth of July festivities, it would be torn up from all of the dirt bikers, but they would have left, and the area should be relatively quiet. When she got there, it was still early in the day. It didn't' take her long to set up her small dome tent and get her padded sleeping bag unfolded. After that she started working on the fire pit.

She wasn't intending on using the fire pit right way. She wanted it ready in case the weather started to get colder or later in the night when she would use the light and heat. Her intention was to walk down to one of the lakes she had a pass at and catch some fish. She had some food, but she always liked eating fresh trout. Especially if that fresh trout was cooked over the fire absorbing some of the smoke along the way. She went to her car to grab out the fishing supplies and made sure everything else was stored in the tent when someone walked up behind her.

She spun around and saw the man. She looked to be his age and she asked, "May I help you?"

The man glanced around, "Where is everyone else?"

She shrugged, "Are you lost? Are you expecting someone?"

The man shook his head and took a step toward her, "I was thinking that you would be in a group. If you aren't maybe you and I could have some alone time."

"Excuse me?" Angela stated and pushed the man back, "You aren't my type. Buzz off before I have to do something you will regret."

The man pushed her back towards the tent where she tripped and fell over the threshold onto her padded sleeping bag. Within a second, he was crawling into the tent and almost on top of her. She kicked at him as her Nwyfre reached for the sky and started to turn the weather.

The first kicked propelled him out of the tent but did not deter him from his goal. As he scrambled to get back into the tent, Angela turned and reached for her backpack. Inside of it was a bowie knife. If she had to, she would use it against him. She would not go quietly. The man pulled at her just before she got the pack open. He growled, "What are you trying to get, girlie? Is there something in the bag that you want to use against me. How naughty of you to do that—Ack!"

His collar tightened around his neck. Angela didn't have a chance to use her powers against him yet, she was till readying the tempest to stir enough Nwyfre for her to use her powers against him. She glanced passed him as his torso was thrust back away from her, "Hey!" A familiar male voice stated from behind the man, "She doesn't like you. How about going away now!"

Lone Wolfe shoved the man back and placed himself between Angela and the Man. His arms were crossed, and his gold eyes bared down on the man daring him to get up and make a move against either one of them. The man rose to his feet, his teeth clenched with anger. Lone Wolfe's eyes narrowed, and the man froze up. Lone Wolfe took a step forward, "Forget about us and go home!"

The man nodded and walked away as fast as he could. Lone Wolfe waited until he was sure the man was away. The man abandoned his gear and headed straight for his car. He sped off. Two miles later, Lone Wolfe let out the breath he was holding and started to walk away. Angela rose to her feet quickly, "Wait, where are you going?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I am going back to my tent. I figured you would want to be alone. Especially after that ass hat."

Angela shrugged, "Sure, men aren't on the top of my list of companions, but you are a friend. You also saved me. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Camping," Lone Wolfe replied. He glanced back at her, "I assume that is what you are doing here as well."

Angela nodded, "that was the plan. What brought you here? What told you I needed help? Was it just your clairvoyance?"

A crack of thunder off in the distance disturbed their conversation. Lone Wolfe glanced up to the sky and saw that the blue summer sky had quickly clouded over and was now dark gray and getting darker. He glanced back to his gray eyed raven-haired friend, "That and the weather changed suddenly. I don't know why but I knew it was you now."

Angela pointed up to the storm threatening to break at any moment, "You looked at the weather changing and knew that was me? How could you have known that?"

"You don't listen too well," Lone Wolfe replied, "I don't know how I knew, I just knew that I did know it was you. Am I wrong? Is the storm a natural event that just happened to pop up out of nowhere?"

Her jaw dropped, "Why would you attribute that to me?"

"That is a lot different than 'you are an idiot.' So, you are responsible for the storm?"

The first drops of rain started to hit them. They were big drops and signaled the fact that the storm was going to open on them at any moment, "We better move this conversation to inside the tent."

Lone Wolfe nodded and followed her into the tent. She zipped up the opening as lone Wolfe sat down on the tarp, "So, are you responsible for the storm?"

Rain tapped on the fabric rain shield as she answered, "yes. What confounds me is how you know this. No one except for Scarlet would know what I am." She glanced at the young golden eyed boy and asked, "Did you communion with her after that night she and I shared together?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. Our last communion was before that time. Like I said, I have no idea how you affected the weather. I just knew that you did."

Angela took a deep breath, "I am about to tell you something and you need to keep it a secret."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "It's not like I have a lot of friends. If you aren't comfortable with telling me, just tell me to drop the subject."

Angela shook her head, "I am fine with it. For years now, I have known how to do things like affect the weather. My mother and grandmother were raised as pagans and druids. I learned shamanistic magic as a child. I didn't learn from my mother or grandmother but from someone else. What I was taught went far beyond what they would have taught me, and it does have serious affects like the storm you see."

A blast of lightning close by blinded them for a moment and the sound coming a split second later made them jump. The storm was getting worse by the minute. The rain was now pounding away at the tent as opposed to just tapping it before. Lone Wolfe glanced around and said, "okay, you can stop it now."

"I haven't been channeling energy into the storm since before you dismissed that guy," Angela replied, "After a certain point, the storm gains a life of its own. There isn't much we can do but wait it out."

"Do you think we can wait it out when it sounds like it is going to start throwing ice at us at any moment?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Angela shrugged, "I'm not sure to be honest. There isn't much we can do right now except maybe see if my weather radio is working. If it is, we can check and see if we are in any sort of flood warning."

"You can't just stop the storm?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"I am not sure if there is anyone alive that knows how to stop this once it starts. Nature is a pretty powerful force once you get it going," Angela shook her head in response as she started rummaging through her pack. She glanced at the younger teen as she went through her bag, searching for the radio, "you didn't happen to leave your tent open, did you?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "No. If I did, it wouldn't matter anyway because it's probably a lake now."

The pounding on the tent started to get deafening at that point, "That would be hail. Are you sure your tent will hold up to this punishment?"

Angela shrugged as she found the radio, "I'm not really sure. If it rips, we can head to the SUV. Just grab something hard to shield yourself with while you do that."

She fiddled with the radio for a moment. It powered on without issue. She had trouble finding a station that was local to them. After several minutes of nothing but the constant pounding of hail against the tent, she found a station that had local weather. They listened as they reported the thunder storm warning for the Red Feather lakes area. There was also a flash flood watch in effect since they were in a mountainous region. He glanced to her and asked, "Do you know where we can head if this gets worse?"

"Up hill, captain obvious," She replied, "That's what you do during a flash flood."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "yes but trying to go up a hill while being pelted with hail?"

"We can use my sleeping bag if we need to. It will hold up better than the tent will because it has a built-in pad. The only problem with it is it will get heavy as it gets water logged," Angela replied as she headed towards the door and unzipped the screen flap enough to see out the window. Through the small slit of screen, she could see the hail was not as big as she expected. It just sounded loud as hell against the fabric of the tent. It was as if someone was pelting the tent with pebbles, "We should be fine in the tent unless we see signs of flood. Keep the radio going until the rain starts to slow. I will keep an eye on the weather out here. If it looks like it's going to start to flood, then we can move to higher ground. We shouldn't have to take the sleeping bag with us."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "If you say so. I have seen what even small hail does to crops before."

Angela nodded, "I'm not saying hail isn't bad news. I'm just saying it shouldn't hurt us or bash our skulls in if we don't have protection." She glanced over and could see the corner of her car. It didn't look damaged and instead looked like it was weathering the assault of ice well, "Well the car looks okay. As long as your tent was maintained okay and you closed the entry flap then you should be good to go once the storm settles down. That is unless you want to grab your stuff and bunk in here, in your own sleeping bag."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "That doesn't sound too bad. I can call my father after the storm goes away and see if he will let me stay as long as you want to stay."

She cocked her head in confusion, "You are here by yourself too?" She asked.

"I needed some time to clear my head after Robin broke up with me," Lone Wolfe replied.

Angela glanced back to the storm only out of necessity, "I'm sorry to hear that. You two looked lovely together. If she wasn't so straight, she was cute enough for me to make passes at her. Why did she break up with you?"

Lone Wolfe sighed, "Because I decided to take summer school to get ahead in in classes and graduate early. She decided to cheat on me instead of following my lead."

She shook her head, "That's a shame. If I liked boys that way I might have gone for you. She doesn't know what she gave up."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Doesn't matter now. I just need to fine my own way."

Angela glanced down, "Maybe you just need a friend."

Lone Wolfe glanced towards the radio as it continued to play the same set of messages again, "You might be right. I need a friend, nothing more or less. I guess it is a stroke of luck that we both happened to be here at the same time."

"I think you have more than one friend who cares about you but if you want someone who you know won't sleep with you then I guess I am your girl this go around," She glanced back out the narrow screen slit, "Well, the hail is completely gone now. It is just heavy rain now. Hopefully it will let up soon and we can go get your things before we have to start scrambling to get up a hill somewhere. At least we won't be pelted while we are getting soaked."

"That's always a plus," Lone Wolfe nodded, "They aren't mentioning anything about a tornado up here. Just a severe thunder storm on the radio."

"Not likely to get a tornado in the mountains," Angela nodded, "Not impossible but highly unlikely. Not enough sky and the terrain isn't conducive for the formation of one. It will hit a mountain and break apart and that is assuming it has enough space and time to form in the first place. Really, flooding and lightning are our two big worries right now."

Lone Wolfe didn't want to move up next to her and make her feel more uncomfortable. Instead, he sat by the radio and asked, "How does it look out there? Does it look like we might have to make the trek up the hill?"

Angela shrugged, "With as hard as it is coming down it is difficult to say. That means we might have to book it or if it calms down soon and everything drains off we will be fine. It is coming down so hard makes it look worse than what it is. At least it makes it look that way initially. It if keeps this up then we will be in trouble."

"Anything I can do that can help you to control the weather at all?" Lone Wolfe offered, "Drain my energy to help you channel yours as an example?"

Angela glanced back to him, "You'd rather I kill you so the storm clears?"

"Not kill but drain me of energy," Lone Wolfe replied, "Leave enough for me to live but I will sleep like the dead for a while."

Angela shook her head, "in either scenario, it wouldn't work. We would still have the storm to contend with. If you take care of it, nature gives you all the energy you need. You just have to know how to channel it and direct it."

Lone Wolfe shrugged. He sat back with almost nothing to do. He thought about taking out his phone, but he wasn't sure if he would end up going through old pictures from his relationship or just surfing the net. Angela glanced back at him and noticed the boredom and sorrow both glowing on his face, "I can open the flap a little more without it, I think. You can watch the rain if you want."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I was figuring that you needed some space."

"You let me be the judge if I need space or not," She replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Beats trying to figure out if I wanted to sit here and play with my phone or not."

She unzipped the flap a little more while he stood and walked over to the doorway. He watched the rain fall and hit the ground. There were numerous puddles splashing manically with droplets of water as they hit. They were coming down with enough force to make this mist of almost rain going up at the same time. His eyes widened at the sight of the rain covering just about everything in sight, "Don't you think we should be going for higher ground?"

Angela shook her head in response. The rain slowed only slightly. It wasn't anything to do with the time as the splash of the drops against the water also lessened as opposed to the same splash being slowed down. She thought back to her childhood and the first time she made a tempest. Just like back then, the rain seemed warm and she was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. She smiled and glance back to the inside of the tent and kicked off her shoes. She glanced to him as she went to take off her socks, "Take off your socks and shoes! Also, empty your pockets of anything that can't stand getting wet!"

He cocked his head in confusion, "Are we making a run for higher ground? Why do we care about socks, shoes, and electronics if we are?"

"It's not going to flood," Angela replied, "The rain is starting to die down."

"Okay, so what are we doing?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"We are going to play in the rain!" Angela replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded and kicked off his shoes as he emptied his pockets. He glanced at her in confusion, "So if we are going to do this, why keep the rest of our cloths on? They are just going to get wet."

Angela shrugged, "I have a change of clothes, so it doesn't bother me to get these wet. If you want, you can strip down, but you will be the only one."

Lone Wolfe shrugged as he pulled his socks off. She unzipped the door and stepped out into the rain. She zipped up the tent as Lone Wolfe stepped out. His feet sank into the wet grass and mud. Despite the slightly cool rain, the ground still felt warm from being baked in the sun from earlier in the day. The ground squished between his toes as he walked.

It didn't take long for his clothes to hang on him like a sticky wet mess as he walked out in the heavy rain. He glanced to Angela who took off running for the nearest puddle and jumped right into the middle of it splashing water everywhere and giggling as if she were six. Lone Wolfe shook his head, "You are acting like a kid!"

"Exactly!" She nodded, "There are no other adults here to tell us what to do! When was the last time you could splash in a puddle and act like a kid! Join in! The water is fine!"

Lone Wolfe shrugged and took off for the same puddle and jumped in. The splash enveloped them both and exposed exactly what she wasn't wearing underneath. At that moment she didn't seem to care. She looked around as if there was something starting to happen to the rain around them. Lone Wolfe didn't seem to notice yet. She smiled and charged him. Pushing him.

He started to fall over but the fall felt slower than normal. He had enough time to crouch down and plant his foot back to keep himself from toppling over. He blinked, why is my precognition kicking in? I didn't will it to. He asked himself. He waved it off quick enough. He saw the rain drops were moving slower than before. He figured the rain was letting up.

In his crouched position he cupped his hands and shoved them into the puddle and thrust them forward, covering Angela head to toe in muddy water. She laughed from the fun they were having. The water started to drip off her muddy white shirt. It was dripping far slower than it should, what's going on here? Everything is moving slower now.

Seeing that he started to notice and was distracted by it. She was determined not to lose the moment, Angela ducked down and leapt forward sending them both down into the puddle of water and splashing it everywhere. She glanced down to him as the rain slowed even more from their chortling, "This is called a perfect moment. Look around. Time is moving slower, but we aren't."

He glanced around. The rain drops were falling so slowly it was almost as if they were drops of gel falling through water itself. They splashed, and he could see the ripples and tiny drops dancing around. He glanced back to her and said, "I tried to do this on my own once, but it didn't work. How did we start this together?"

Angela rose to her feet and pulled Lone Wolfe up to his by his arm. In the ever-slowing rain, Angela ran over to a nearby fir tree and pulled down on a branch. She let go of it after a moment and both watched as it snapped back slower than normal. It shook off droplets of water in the rain. Some combined with falling rain drops, hanging in the air like gel. They could see the shock waves of the water droplets bouncing off of each other and combining.

The rain and droplets from the tree were now falling so slow that the two of them could run over and flick at the drops and change their course without getting wet. They could destroy the drops if they wanted or they could combine them into larger and larger drops. They glanced at each other, "How much slower can we keep pushing this?" Lone Wolfe asked in response.

Angela shrugged, "I don't know," She answered, "I was wondering if you knew how any of this worked. Is there anything after this?"

With those questions, they both fell out of the moment. The rain resumed its normal pace and surprised them both with a sudden barrage of rain and sound. Both laughed more in shock than anything else. Lone Wolfe glanced at her as he chuckled, "What happened?"

"We fell out of the moment," She replied.

"How do we get back into the moment?" He questioned in response.

"Stop questioning why and have fun!" Angela replied.

Both giggled and chased each other to a different puddle that had not been as disturbed and muddy as the last one. Both Lone Wolfe and Jena slipped as they reached the puddle and feel in back first as their feet came up. With a big splash, the water mixed with the soggy sand underneath turning the clear water in a light brown mess quickly. Both laughed again as the time started to slow down. Each noticed but as they threw mud clods and splashed water at each other.

Lone Wolfe took off for the trail he headed down on. He wanted to check to see how his camp ground was faring while in this alternate flow of time. He laughed as he did. Angela followed behind him, "It is hard for you to run and hide when you are leaving a trail!"

He glanced behind him and saw that when the waster splashed up and away from his feet it hung in the air for a while before slowly falling to the ground. He smiled, knowing that they were back in the moment and continued to run down the path, "Too bad there is no one else around! I can sense any person around for two miles and there isn't anyone else here. I would almost like to know what we look like to normal people?"

Angela shrugged, "Why question the moment?"

"I'm curious," Lone Wolfe replied as he ran through the slow falling rain. He continued to run through the rain and down the path as the rain slowed even more.

As the two ran they noticed that they more hit the rain drops as they nearly stood still in the air as opposed to falling on them now. He glanced back to her and asked, "Aren't you curious now?"

Angela shrugged, "I guess. If there were other people around, would we be able to do this in the first place? Would we be noticed by them and if we were, would they be able to notice us at this speed?"

They laughed as they got to his closed tent. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the tent was closed and the stuff inside appeared to be fine. HE glanced back at her and something heading up to the clouds. He pointed towards the object in the distance.

It looked like the faint trail of a lightning bolt only in reverse. Once it connected with the cloud, it released several flashes before the entire thing dissipated. They stood in awe for what felt like several minutes until the thunder came which sounded bizarrely slow and distorted. The sound surprised them so much that the moment ended a moment later. They glanced at each other in bewilderment. It took a moment before either of them could speak, "I wonder what would have happened if the moment continued on for any longer?" Angela questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "How slow did things go when you found out how to do this before?" He questioned.

"It didn't slow down too much. It was just enough for us to notice. It didn't get slower as we continued. Come to think of it; while we were in the moment, I tried to stop the ability and start it up again slower, but I didn't have that urge this time. I wonder if it was something the both of us were doing without noticing it that caused that. It was as if each tick of the clock took a little longer than the last."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "So we can start this with other non-clairvoyants, but we can only progress this far with each other. I wonder if we could progress at all with other people watching us. Were you doing this in a public setting?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

Angela nodded, "Now that you mention it, we were."

Lone Wolfe shrugged as they started to walk back to her camp ground, "When we have a chance to dry off, we will have to come back for my stuff." He glanced at Angela as she followed, "As far as what happened with the moment you had the first time, it is possible that the feeling you had was the public scrutiny. There is no one around to witness what we are doing."

Angela nodded, "It could be, there is a lot we don't know about our abilities."

Lone Wolfe nodded in agreement with her as they walked, "That is what Jena was saying all along. I don't know enough about these abilities to say with certainty if we are doing anything right with them."

* * *

With Lone Wolfe knowing that Angela was a shaman she was okay with pulling the water out of the firewood using her powers after the rain stopped. She had intended to do that with their clothes as well but the energy they both spent in the perfect moment left them drained. Their minds were wired which kept them up, but she couldn't muster enough Nwyfre to pull the water out of her clothes let alone his. Lone Wolfe did have enough energy to fashion a makeshift clothes hanger. They stripped out of their clothes and hung them up after she started the fire so their clothes would have a chance to dry in the morning.

Lone Wolfe glanced to the fire to keep his mind off the fact that Angela did not have a bra on, "Why didn't you wear a bra if you were going to run out in the rain?"

Angela shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead. It's fine. For some reason I actually trust you around me even if we are both in nothing more than our bottoms."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "I think you would be more comfortable if I was still dating someone."

"Oh, if she were here, I would be trying to jump her bones right now, dating you or not," Angela flashed him a smile, "She is a cute one. Her loss for letting you go, however. You are the one that lesbians can trust themselves around."

"I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not," Lone Wolfe stated after a moment.

She smiled, "I would wrap my arm around you but not without at least a bra on. Take it as a compliment. I wouldn't show off my body to just anyone. I might show it off to someone like Scarlet because I like her. I might show it off to someone like Robin or Jena because I want to sleep with them. But because we must wait for our clothes to dry off I don't mind if you see what you see. Now if you pull out your phone and start snapping pictures we might have problems."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "That would be the least of my worries if I were in your shoes and you had a fifteen-year-old boy sitting next to you."

She arched an eyebrow, "Oh. What little evil things are going through your mind? Thinking about any sort of flogging activities while I am around?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head and blushed, "What the heck? You have a smutty mind!"

Angela giggled, "You know, boys aren't the only ones allowed to be perverts. I know plenty of girls who think perverted thoughts. We just aren't as cavalier about sharing them in public. We share them with people who we trust when others aren't around. So, if you aren't planning on that, what did you have in mind?" Angela questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe held out a hand to forestall any comment like that, "I had nothing like that planned. No snuggling, no attempting to explore how serious you are about who and what you like, no touching, no fondling, none of that. My concern is what if a forestry service person comes up her in the middle of the night and sees us sitting here in just one garment more than our birthday suits?"

Angela giggled, "You are sitting here next to a topless pretty woman with no one to stop you from imagining anything and no one to tie you down and the first thing your mind goes to is the cops?"

"It's a valid concern," Lone Wolfe replied, he was sure his face was far redder than the orange glow of the fire would give to it on its own.

Angela shook his head, "You know there are several things wrong with this situation. The first one is our underwear is soaked. I left them on because I thought we might have problems if we were naked but now I am starting to think you aren't looking at me and giving me any sort of compliments because I'm not pretty!"

Lone Wolfe sighed, "That's not true but you put me in tough spot. If I say you are pretty, then you might get creeped out by me. If I don't say anything then you will think that I think you are ugly. That isn't true in the slightest. What do you want and what would be an acceptable answer?"

Angela giggled, "You can say I am pretty if you think so. You can say anything you like as long as you follow it up with if I wasn't a lesbian."

Lone Wolfe shrugged, "Okay but don't hold it against me. You are pretty. If you weren't a lesbian I might be tempted to take pictures of you if you gave me permission. I might be tempted to ask you if we could have our way with each other if you liked boys. However, I just need a friend right now. You just need a friend right now. One of the best things I think we can have as friends together is girl watching. We can trade notes and you might have some insight as to whether or not that girl would be my type or your type if you know what I mean."

Angela nodded, "That is an acceptable answer and it doesn't really change anything between us."

"What does that mean?" Lone Wolfe questioned in response.

"That means that we can girl watch together when we get some free time. Maybe next year we can go to the carnival together, if we both can work up the courage to go and see who is there. Find each other dates and the like," Angela replied.

Lone Wolfe nodded and at that point he had the strange urge to say something. It came with a premonition. A premonition with her living for a very long time. He couldn't see her death, but this was the furthest he could see. He could see her having a child and having adventures he couldn't fully understand yet. That lack of understanding clouded the vision and made it hard to see. He could also see his children playing with her child as they got older. He glanced to her, knowing there was urgency in what he had to say, "Maybe you will understand this more than I. I cannot see your death, but I can see you living a very long life. I can see you having a child of your own and our children playing together. Almost as if we have become lifelong friends and raised our children together. Maybe you can explain why my clairvoyance urged me to say that. Do you have a fear of death or something?"

Her jovial expression disappeared but it wasn't filled with fear or anger. It was surprise followed by an odd sense of relief. She nodded, "If you didn't have that bewildered look on your face I would have sworn that Jena told you to drop that in there when the moment was right. I would have told you the moment would have been right during the perfect moment. However, seeing that look on your face I can see that you really did just have that epiphany. Yes, I do have a fear of death. It isn't a normal fear of death like everyone has. Most of the members of my family fell to some lurking time bomb in our heads. Jena looked with her powers and didn't see anything wrong but that doesn't mean that she found it or that it is there to be found yet. She could have been wrong, and she could have missed it. However, I know you have powerful abilities and if you saw that then you have my confidence." She smiled, "Thank you! You are one of the best friends I could have hoped for. I only wish fate had brought us together a lot sooner than I did."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Better late than never."

Chapter #32: The Watchers

Greeley Colorado

July 15th, 2028-CE

Jena could sense something coming with the storm. She didn't know if that was something she got from Lone Wolfe or if that was something she could sense on her own. She didn't know what to make of it before she saw several figures roaming the streets. They seemed normal enough at first until she noticed that all of them had psychic abilities. They were powerful psychics as well. They were stronger than most of the average psychics as well. She glanced at them and couldn't help but think Lone Wolfe, what did you and Angela do while camping? This many powerful psychics being around so soon after you two come back from camping cannot be a coincidence.

Long ago, Jena had figured out a way to hide her presence from other telepaths. The only person she could not hide her presence from was Lone Wolfe. She figured that was because they have known each other since they could remember. She noticed that they walked right past her as she sat at the bus stop. They hardly gave her a glance, either they haven't noticed me, or they are looking for someone else. I swear they are looking for Lone Wolfe. I could warn him but then they would know that I am just like them and good at hiding.

She shook her head. She knew she had another way to warn him. She took out her phone and sent him a text message, "There are some people wandering around. I think they are looking for you after your camping trip. I know they are looking for someone with psychic abilities because they are all powerful psychics. I have seen ten of them so far!"

It didn't take her too long to get another message from him, "Are you sure that they are looking for me?"

"What else would bring out so many powerful psychics? The timing is right; you and Angela had to have done something on the camping trip and brought them out of hiding. They are really interested in finding you." Jena replied over text message.

"You are going to lecture a clairvoyant over matters such as timing?" Lone Wolfe questioned over text message. She could practically hear him laugh as he typed that message. She did have to admit there was a certain amount of humor in the circumstance.

She put her phone away and rose from the bus stop. She had planned on seeing Angela at the bus stop today and see how their trip went. Lone Wolfe had missed some summer school but was able to make up the homework from it so his plans were still on schedule. For some reason, they were still on their way towards where Lone Wolfe lived and the school. Why would they be going to our neighborhood? She questioned to herself. The groups split into two at that point and one headed to the school and the other headed towards the neighborhood.

"Lone Wolfe! They are heading for you! I am following them, and they are heading for the school. They are also heading down our neighborhood." She texted in response

She got a response a moment later, "that's strange that they are heading down both places. If they are coming for me then why are they heading down both streets?"

Jena shrugged and sent a response, "They have to be tracking you. They wouldn't know that you have summer school, so they are seeking you out telepathically. Too bad I don't know that little trick Scarlet taught you. You might want to use it now."

"I assume you are using your own special trick to keep yourself hidden from them," Lone Wolfe replied over text, "Otherwise they would have noticed you by now. Maybe they split up because I am not the only target. Crap! The twins!"

"What should we do?" Jena panicked, "There is only one of me and there are two groups of them. If you use your trick then they will notice me and if you don't, they are going to come for you!"

"You get to safety. My trick won't affect her empathic powers, you can use yours too. They can protect themselves. I can protect myself. Those guys are the ones that will be in trouble," Lone Wolfe replied.

She could feel her telepathic powers cut off at that moment as Lone Wolfe used his power to neutralize all telepathic powers in the area. The people in front of Jena stopped and started glancing around. They were not used to having their powers taken away in such a fashion. Jena had experienced it before.

Jena turned and ran from the mysterious psychics. She hoped, despite the feelings she had for Robin and Ray, that they would be able to fight the mysterious psychics off. She didn't know what the psychics wanted with all of them, but she didn't want to stick around and find out. As she headed back to the bus stop, her blood ran cold. She was only aware of the people that had come after them on this side of town. She had no idea if there were people that were going after Angela.

She slid to a stop at the bench and hoped that none of the mysterious people that sought Lone Wolfe and the twins had followed her. Instead of wasting time with a text message, she called Angela, "Angela! There are people after Lone Wolfe, the twins, and possibly you! You might want to close up shop!"

* * *

Angela had enough time to hang up the phone with Jena before several people walked into the door of the shop. While she was not as proficient with telling people's abilities as Lone Wolfe and Jena was, she was starting to pick up on psychics in general. All the people who walked in were psychic and all of them felt like they could be stronger than her. Angela shook her head and did the only thing she could think of.

She thrust her hands forward and for the first time ever, she used her shaman magic against someone. A burst of wind flowed from all around her and shoved one of them out of the door and slammed the door shut. The other two that had made it into the store were thrust back against the wall with force. She saw more people outside and kicked the ground. The concrete in front of the door raised up just enough to jam the front door shut.

She glanced at the two of them as they struggled to their feet and caught their breath, "Okay you two, who the hell are you and what do you want with me and my friends?"

The man glanced to the woman and they struggled to remain upright, "The clairvoyant didn't say that any of them was psychokinetic."

Angela cocked her head in confusion. They mistook her blast of air with a psychokinetic blast of kinetic energy. They knew all of them were psychics and that seemed to be the entire point of their visit. She took a step forward and held her hands high in the air, "I will repeat myself only once more; why are you here for me and my friends?"

Both raised their hands in defense, "Oi! We aren't here to hurt you! We just want to talk!"

Angela lowered her hands, "If you just want to talk, then why did you come in force. I see there are four other people with you. My friend reported that there were ten people looking for her and her friends. Seems pretty interesting that you would send seventeen people after five psychics."

"In case of attack," The man answered as he tried to find a space furthest away from the shaman, "As you are an indication."

"Well, the backdoor is locked," Angela stated and kicked down with her foot again, "If it wasn't hard for you to get by before, it is now."

They glanced at each other before the woman commented to her partner, "unusual control of her psychokinetic abilities. How is she able to pull upon the ground like that? Isn't that something that a telekinetic should be able to do?"

Angela cocked her head in confusion, they still haven't figured out what I am doing. They have only been told that we are psychics and nothing else. That is true of the younger teens, but I have other powers. What are they and why are they here? "I thought referring to someone in the third person while they are standing before you are nothing short of rude and psychokinetic's get very upset when they are treated poorly. How about telling me who you are and why you are here?"

They both nodded, "We are watchers."

"Decided to do a little more than watch, didn't you?" Angela commented as she placed her hands on her hips, "Now, why did you decided to do a little more than just watch people like me and my friends? What made you move from more than just stalkers to actually doing something about it?"

They both shook their heads as they responded, "You misunderstand. We didn't seek you out to abduct you. We want to find you and your friends to ask if you could join us."

Angela Cocked her head again and walked back to the cash register, "Why should I believe you? There are seven out there right now. You have two groups of people after my friends. To me, that looks a little bit more like you are trying to take us away quietly instead of asking us to dinner."

"We were initially going to show you that there are a lot more people in the world like you than you know," The man commented in response, "The Clairvoyant guide who sent us here told us that you haven't seen a lot of psychics outside of your group of friends."

Angela shrugged, "Your clairvoyant should have come himself. Aside from that person and my friend, I haven't seen other clairvoyants outside of my family and his family. He should have made the overture to see us himself. As far as the rest of the psychics are concerned. I am familiar with this number that Jena told me about; one in two hundred. For every two hundred people on the street that I pass, I probably passed a psychic along the way. I know we aren't alone. Maybe you should be sending smaller groups to not freak out the local population."

She sighed and sat down on the stool. She glanced at the two of them as they tried to figure out how to get out of the building, she glanced to them and asked, "So what happens now?"

The female watcher shrugged, "I take it that you do not want to join."

Angela nodded, "I bet you can also say the same thing about Jena who warned me that you are coming as well. So where does that leave us? Those of us that don't wish to join?"

"We will leave in peace," The female replied.

Angela glanced around. The other five watchers were gathered around the front door trying to figure out how to un jam the door. She hopped off the stool and glanced to the back door. She stomped her heel and the concrete around the back door slid home as it had never been disturbed. She couldn't see it from her angle, but she could feel it. She glanced to the front door and said, "Have them move back."

The woman glanced to the glass door and the five people gathered on the other side of the door backed off. Angela took a step forward and stomped down with her foot again and the concrete blocking the front door also shrank back down into the ground as if it had never been disturbed in the first place.

The woman glanced down in awe at the floor. Since there wasn't even a mark that the floor had been disturbed by a power she glanced between her colleague and the shaman before replying, "That cannot be a psychic power doing this to the floor. Psychokinesis and telekinesis would have left the concrete disturbed. Yet, the floor looks better than when you moved it. What are you doing to the floor?"

"A little test for your clairvoyant overseer," Angela stated instead of flat out answering, "You are right, I am not just a psychic. I am also something else. If you want to know what that is; ask your clairvoyant. If he is as powerful as my friend, he might know the answer to that question. Now out before I show you what else I can do with my powers!"

They wasted no time in getting out of her shop. When they rejoined the others, they made a hurry of moving out of the area. Angela didn't let her guard down until she was sure they were gone. After that. She wondered if she should close shop and rescue her friends. She found herself grabbing her keys and locking the front door before moving to the back before she had time to process that fully.

* * *

Jena raced away as three of them spotted her, "Wait! You are Jena? We just want to talk to you!"

Jena shook her head as she ran for it, "Get away from me, you creepers! I want nothing to do with you! Just leave me alone!"

"But we are just like you! If we could use our telepathy we would show you!" They replied as they followed her.

Two miles, I just have to get two miles away from the school then I can use my own powers against them! Jena reminded herself as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't understand what they wanted with her and she didn't want to know either. All she wanted to do was get away from them and make sure they didn't have a chance to get to her before she could get past Lone Wolfe's sympathetic range. She glanced back and noticed that one of the three chasing her were gaining on her, "Fire!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Fire! My god, can't you all just leave me alone! You are like a fire on my ass!"

"We just want to say our peace then we will leave you alone if you still want nothing to do with us!" The man protested.

Jena shook her head, "Not accepted! Just go away!"

The man reached out and managed to grab her shoulder. She closed her eyes and screamed, "Just leave me alone!" At the top of her lungs. She didn't see the gold flash that emanated from a symbol at her feet. The man let go.

She opened his eyes. The man and his companions stood there with blank stares for a moment before walking away. They didn't seem to recognize her, nor did they seem to remember why she was so important to her. They walked off as if they had nothing more to do with her at this point in time. She blinked, and her panicked green eyes slowly changed to confusion, "What just happened?" She asked, more to herself than anyone else, "I don't think I used my telepathy against them. I can't sense the minds of anyone around here. I wonder if the panic I felt broke through somehow?"

The ordeal wasn't done yet, she reminded herself. There was still the twins and Lone Wolfe that still had to deal with these mystery psychics. She took off running for their neighborhood where the twins lived, "I'd rather not put myself in danger just after getting out of it but if Lone Wolfe has any chance of putting things back together with Robin, she has to be saved. Lone Wolfe only has to deal with two of them. Maybe I can pull some miracle off and do what I just did to the other three to the ones heading after the twins."

* * *

Lone Wolfe had managed to excuse himself from class and waited in the hall way for the people who sought him out. He leaned against the wall with arms crossed and when he saw two men approaching him, he called out, "I don't think you have a hall pass. As a matter of fact, I think you are a little old for school."

"Are you the one blocking our telepathy?" The one on the left questioned in response.

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I am. Level playing field. You tried to surprise me so I surprised you. A little even considering that you decided to have more than one of you versus just me. I hope you don't mind. Before you go any further, you should know that I am quick when I use my clairvoyance. If you decide to make this physical, you will have a hard time trying to either catch me or land a blow on me. I can also knock you out in an instant. What brought you to me?"

"A week ago, our clairvoyant advisor told us that he sensed a massive disturbance in the mountains northeast of here. In that instant, he could see that the people responsible for that live in Greeley. We were sent to find the two clairvoyants and their psychic friends and see if they wanted to join the watchers. We are an order of psychics. We watch the interaction between humans and psychics and try to keep the two worlds from colliding in war. We try to learn as much as we can from our psychic abilities as well. Your disturbance in time was powerful. It told anyone with a touch of clairvoyance that two clairvoyants were in the area. No one had seen a perfect moment like that in a long time."

Realization washed over Lone Wolfe's face at that moment, "You have been watching Jena and I for a while now. I recognize those words. She was the first one who coined them."

Both nodded but it was the one on the right who responded, "You have no idea how hard it is to find another compatible telepath that could communion with her. One that we could also trust with our secrets. It ended up being a daughter of one of our members. One who we knew would join the order when the time was right. We figured we would approach you and the others when you turned eighteen."

"You and your friend figured out how to create a perfect moment, one powerful enough to almost stop time," The other one added, "That kind of power was troubling. We had never seen that before, so we decided to approach you now. We see you have other powers as well. We have never encountered another telepath that could block our abilities so completely before."

Lone Wolfe shook his head. He figured that there was a reason why Scarlet didn't show back up in Greeley this summer. She was planning to eventually return to the town after she got her degree. She usually returned home after summer break started for her. He had been wondering what would have kept her from returning. If they were after powerful telepaths, she would be on their radar.

"Pretty rare talent," Lone Wolfe nodded, "Surprised you didn't find anyone like that before, considering you found Jena so quickly. Why did you rush your time table?"

"We are not the only order of psychics," The Watcher on the left replied, "There are other orders of psychics. In truth, if we were the only order, we would let psychics find us and conduct our research in the shadows with no one to interrupt us. As it stands, there are other orders that won't operate like that and are actively recruiting. If you ended up on our radar, then chances are that you also landed on someone else's radar too. There could be a government organization that will want to study you and your friends for their powers. There could be another order that has plans for humanity. Considering how most psychics view humanity in general, how do you think they will react with powers such as yours at their disposal?"

Lone Wolfe shivered at the thought. Still, he didn't want to join any order. He had his own plans for his own life and didn't want to yield for anyone. He didn't quite know why, yet, but he knew he had to finish what he started with school before it was too late. He shook his head, "I still don't want to join your order or any order of psychics for that matter. I just want to live as a normal human in a normal world of normal people."

"Can you say normal in that sentence a little more?" The watcher on the right smirked, "We understand. It is a rarity that we find people like you that want to live with normal humans despite what they have been through. If you feel that way, we will leave you alone."

They turned to leave but Lone Wolfe needed to know something before he left, "Wait!" He called out and forced them to stop, "What about the rest of my friends? Will you leave them alone?"

They glanced back to him "You would enforce your own will over theirs?" They questioned in response.

He felt a pang of fear go through his body. While he was sure that he did not want to be a part of their world he couldn't be sure about the rest of his friends. He might be the only one that wouldn't join their order. He shook his head, "No but if they don't want to join, will you leave them alone?"

They nodded, "What do you take us for? The government?"

The two watchers turned to leave at that moment. When they were clear of the way Lone Wolfe started to head back to class but something told him he should go back to the parking lot instead. He wished that his assignments for the day would be done and the teacher had excused him as he started to head for the exit. The door caught the sunlight at just the right angle as he opened it and the blinding blaze caused him to close his eyes. He never saw the gold flash from his feet that granted his wish for him.

He stepped out into the parking lot and saw a familiar gray SUV sitting in the parking lot. The windows in the front rolled down and hands waved out of the SUV, "Hey beautiful!" Angela called out, "Looks like you made it through your encounter with the watchers. Let's rescue the twins now!"

Chapter #33: The Twin Watchers

Greeley Colorado

July 15th, 2028-CE

Lone Wolfe hopped into the SUV and buckled his seatbelt in. He knew his encounter with the watchers occurred at about the same time as Jena's and the twins. The watchers must have gotten to her first and she used her pre-cognition to get across town so fast. He never tried to use his abilities to drive before. For that matter, he never tried to drive before. She glanced around and pulled out of the parking lot.

The urgency was setting in for the clairvoyants. Jena could feel it. It was because of all the people they targeted, the three of them had the best connections to each other and the twins had the weakest connections to everyone else. Jena blamed herself for that because Robin would stay if she were still with Lone Wolfe. Not only did she mess up their relationship, but she also pushed Robin away without realizing it.

She wasn't broadcasting her thoughts, but Lone Wolfe seemed to understand it, "You didn't do anything wrong. She also made bad calls throughout the relationship and she wasn't welcoming of you as well. If we were still together she might have tried to talk me into going with her if she wanted this. It would be a lot harder for me to say no if that was the case."

Jena glanced back and gave him a slight smile. While his words were enough to make her feel a little better about herself, they were enough to dissuade her from the reality of the situation. Too late she realized that there was a pull between them all. Too late she realized that they could have been close friends. Too late she realized the positive changes the two affected on each other. Now they were going to lose them. She was sure of it. Even more sure than the two oracles in the vehicle with her.

They pulled up a couple houses away from the twin's home and jumped out of the vehicle. They saw five of the watchers with Robin and Ray walking down the side walk. Lone Wolfe and Jena approached, "Hey Robin!" Lone Wolfe managed to call out before his voice choked up. He didn't realize it would be this hard to talk to her.

Robin seemed to freeze as well. He nodded almost mechanically, "Hi, Lone Wolfe."

Jena could sense the tension between the two people. She stepped forward and chose to speak instead, "Where are you going with these people?" She questioned.

"They have invited me to join the watchers. I and my brother have accepted the offer," She replied.

Jena shook her head, "So that's it, you are just going to leave us?"

Robin refused to look at Jena, "There is nothing to tie us down here. They said they can help my father find a better job down in Denver. The only thing that would stop me would be if someone else would speak up."

Jena glanced back at Lone Wolfe who had grown as pale as a sheet during the exchange, "I don't know if you can get him to speak," Jena replied, "Would the words of anyone else make any difference to you? I want to get to know you as a friend and I am sure that Angela would like to get to know you as a friend as well. How about giving us all a second chance? A chance to be friends together? Friends properly without the angst and BS that came when you and Lone Wolfe were dating."

Robin shook her head but glanced to Angela. Angela could tell that she felt bad about not including her in more of their activities to date. She glanced back to Jena then back down to the ground, "After everything that happened between us I don't think that you and I can do just friends the way you want."

"What about me?" Angela questioned in response, "I hardly know you but I would like to get to know you better. How about giving us all one more chance so we can be better friends?"

Robin glanced to Lone Wolfe, "You are the deciding vote. How about it Lone Wolfe."

Jena wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't do it. She fought the urge with every fiber in her being. Instead, to help fight the urge she projected to Lone Wolfe, "No pressure but you have to say something to get her to stay here. I don't think she will listen to anyone else. She clearly won't listen to me and she didn't seem to listen to Angela. Do you want her to stay?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I do but I am not sure if I have the strength to say anything. I am not sure if I even have the fortitude to project what I want to say to her. What do you want me to do? Can someone tell me what to do? She seems to want this. Who am I to stand in her way?"

Robin glanced to him, "Are you just going to stand there and twiddle your thumbs all day or are you actually going to open up your mouth and produce some sounds in a pattern that vaguely resembles language? Remember, I don't speak caveman so try to shoot for English!"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "What do you want me to say? What do you want to do? Do you want me to tell you that I want you to stay? I do but is that enough to keep you here? Is there anything else that will get you to stay?"

Robin shook her head angrily, "I want you to stop being so fucking wishy washy! Make up your damn mind! Tell me what you want from me! Tell me if you want me to be friends! Tell me if you want us to be more than friends! Tell me if you want to never see me again! Tell me what you see for our future." Tears started to stream from her eyes, "Do you see us together in any way in the future? Do you?"

Lone Wolfe shrugged. He tried to glimpse the future, but it was cloudy. He couldn't understand why he didn't have a clear view of the future. She had broken it off with him and at the time he wanted nothing more than to fix the relationship with her and make it so they had never broken up. Now that things had started to heal he felt that their future was starting to divide. He didn't know how to explain it to her in a way that would make sense. He wanted her to stick around as a friend, but he didn't know how to explain it to her. He shrugged again. He glanced to Jena and saw a worried look on her face. He glanced back to them, "I don't know what to tell you. I don't have the power to make this decision. I don't have the vision to see the future clearly in this case. I feel like you have the power to make the decision here. I would like for us to be friends. I feel like we have a future as friends. I want for us to have a future together."

Robin's dark amber eyes showed the venom contained within them, "That's exactly what I am talking about, Lone Wolfe! I don't hear you say anything definite! All I hear is 'I want this, and I want that!' There is no 'Yes, silly girl, we have a future together! We are friends, or we are lovers in the future, but we are together!' It's touching that you want us to be friends and you want us to be more than that, but you can shit in one hand and want with the other. Only one is going to fill up first."

"Unless you're Curtis," Jena commented in response.

Angela smirked, she couldn't help it. Jena smirked a little at the comment and it got the attention of the watchers, but it did nothing to relieve the tension of Lone Wolfe or Robin. Lone Wolfe glanced down and seemed to shrink into the background at that moment. He wasn't sure if there was anything more that he could say. Jena placed a hand on his shoulder as she responded for him, "You can make all of the harsh statements you want, Robin. It doesn't change the fact that you asked him to investigate the future to see if you had a future together. If he can't see it, then he can't give you an honest answer. If you asked him for his desires I am sure he would have responded differently. That is why he gave you the wants and hopes in his statement."

Robin shrugged, "If that's true then I guess this is where we part ways then."

Lone Wolfe shuddered, "Goodbye Robin. I will always cherish the time we had together. You helped me out when I needed it the most. You were around when I needed someone around more than anything. You made last summer the best summer ever. You made the last Christmas the best Christmas ever. I will never forget that. Thank you!"

Robin stopped, and the anger bled away from her face in that instant. She wasn't aware of what he still felt of all those experiences. They weren't soured by their breakup. Instead, they seemed to retain their vibrancy and color in his eyes even as he recounted them to her. For a moment, she thought about staying behind. She thought about changing her mind and staying. She could have been wrong about her own thoughts and feelings.

She glanced to each of the watchers then back to her brother, "Ray, what do you want to do? You have been quiet about this entire thing. You have yet to weigh in about what you want to do? Do you want to stay here with our friends or do you want to join the watchers? I was not sure if you wanted to join or not. You have been following my lead this entire time."

He smiled and glanced to the watchers, "You have two powers and I only ever had one. I feel like I have always been the third wheel in this situation. I would like to be something different this time. They can teach me how to use my telepathic powers properly. I can be something better with the watchers than I can if I just stayed here. I would like it if my friends came with me but they all seem determined to stay where they are."

The five watchers glanced towards the three psychics standing before them that were trying to convince their new charges to stay. Lone Wolfe could tell that they were trying to decide which one of them should speak. He thought about using his powers to block their telepathic communication. That this point it would just be showing off. He had done it to one group and they had left. That was when everyone thought they were a threat.

After a moment, their chosen representative chose to speak, "You may have turned down the people sent to find you and talk to you, but it isn't too late to change your mind. You are all friends and you can be friends together with the watchers. We can give your families the same promise we made hers. We can make sure they find good jobs and are relocated to better areas in Denver."

Angela crossed her arms and shook her head defiantly, "Right there, sir, is an insult! I have no family. The home I live in has been in my family for four generations! I am the fifth generation to live in the house! You can't find many heirlooms like that anymore. If you take me to Denver, you take me away from my roots. I prefer to stay here. You offer me nothing of value by taking me away from here and to Denver. I refuse to join your order. You claim to watch us, but you knew nothing about my family home? I find that hard to believe!"

Jena took a step back, "My home has been here, and it has always been here. I cannot just pick up and relocate so easily despite what you may think. I turned you down once, not just because of your creepy methods of recruitments but because you ask us to move so far away. I would like to remain friends with Robin and Ray and they sound like they won't be that far away. Maybe we can keep in touch through text and the internet. I can't just leave here though."

Lone Wolfe nodded and took a step back, "I feel the same way as both Angela and Jena. My father worked hard to make the home we live in his home and something that will keep us safe for years to come. My mother is no longer here but there is a piece of her in that home. You ask us to just give that up which is impossible." He glanced to Robin, "You have spent time in that home during Christmas. During the time when most of the town didn't have power, we were warm and comfortable thanks to all that planning forethought of my parents. If my father and I leave that behind, he will have to start all over by going to a different home. We may not be able to build that again. I can't ask him to throw that all away. I don't think he can."

Robin nodded and looked defeated, "I also cannot deny that my brother wants this more than I do. We don't have the roots here that you three do. We weren't born here and don't have your attachments. Maybe you are right, and we will have contact through text and the internet. We will have to see. I guess it really is goodbye." With those words, the twins and the watchers walked off to leave the three other psychics alone on the sidewalk. No one said anything even well after the twins and the watchers had disappeared. The twins, themselves, had become the watchers.

Jena placed a hand on Lone Wolfe's shoulder. She could feel the pain coming off him. They all felt some of the pain that he felt but he took the brunt of it. It was certain now. Robin had left. She would not be coming back. She would be a watcher. He may see her again, but they would never be the same. They wouldn't be the children they were when this began. They would be something different.

Chapter #34: Graduation – We Are Children No More

Greeley Colorado

May 17th, 2031-CE

Through the help of Lone Wolfe, Curtis had managed to score three extra tickets, so Angela, Serena, and Lone Wolfe could attend his graduation ceremony. Of all their friends from freshmen and sophomore year, of the inner circle, only Curtis remained. Robin and Ray had moved away over that summer. Lone Wolfe graduated at semester in his junior year. Jena had got her GED and moved to Montana. Lone Wolfe was determined to support his friend and his friend appreciated it.

Many things had happened since that summer day three years ago. Discoveries of a fireproof book of spells unlocking a larger mission for Lone Wolfe and a band of Keepers of the Balance. Jena becoming a Lilithian and discovering their involvement in the plot with the mages. The mission of the Cataclysms and Lone Wolfe's private mission to save Serena from her own death and her own usefulness in the mission. Many things had changed. Many things had become clearer since that day long ago.

Lone Wolfe placed his right hand in Serena's left hand and played with the diamond white gold ring on her left ring finger. Her lips smiled, and her chocolate eyes glistened in the spring light, "everything is going to change now." She said in her silky voice as her hair wavered in the subtle breeze, "Graduation from college next year, finding a house. Finding real jobs. Children. The rest of our lives."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "A life returning to normal."

Angela chuckled at that comment, "Returning to normal? Define normal? When have we ever been normal? Even before the fiasco in Missoula we were psychics and had our own screwy little problems." She seemed to fume at that moment, "With all of the things that Jena has done for us, she couldn't trouble herself with coming to Curtis's graduation ceremony? For a while I wasn't sure if he was going to make it. Especially with the friends he started to keep near the end after you and Jena moved on with your lives. You two grew up too quickly."

Lone Wolfe shrugged off the comment, "If you think about it, it was all for the best. It allowed me to not worry about high school during the mission. Now that the mission is over I can focus on College and getting my life together after that."

Angela shrugged, "Just remember, you are still living with me for the time being. If things worked out just slightly differently, you could have been living with your father. I am sure that would have been a downer for your relationship. Say nothing about what that would have done for your mission."

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Funny how things work out sometimes."

Serena nodded and adjusted her leather beret which was her grandfather's much like the triskal in circle pendant that Lone Wolfe wore. She leaned in against her betrothed and smiled, "Probably about time we shut up, your friend and the rest of his class is getting on stage now." Her eyes widened as she saw the amount of people in gowns gathering on the seats on the stage, "My god, that's a lot of people!"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "I forgot that you went to a charter school. You probably had a much smaller graduating class. There are a couple hundred in the class of thirty-one. Too bad he screwed around most of the time. Curtis is smart. I bet if he applied himself he would have been valedictorian, but he is about middle of the pack."

Angela nodded, "At least he is graduating on time."

Serena shrugged, "Well, he is also a couple of other things most of the other people in his graduating class aren't. He has some telepathic abilities and he is a telekinetic. He is also a hybrid. He is one of the Templars. He also fought in the battle with you to protect the Lilithian secrets in Montana. No matter what anyone says, he is in a class by himself. Too bad we don't get medals for saving the world like that."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "I'm glad they don't give us medals and fanfare for things like that. All that would do is paint targets on our back. I can protect you and I from anything that comes our way and Robert said the mages wouldn't bug us because of my powers but there are plenty of things that would come and get us. Anonymity is something that protects us now. That is why, now that our mission is complete, we are now referred to as the dark. We are now supposed to go into hiding. Wait for the next generation of Keepers of the Balance to rise and take on the next mission. When that happens then we should be safe. The attention will be off us."

A troubled look washed over Serena's face, "You said that your mission was such a success that it might have cancelled out one of the generations that serve. That means it could be ten years or maybe twenty before the next generation rises up. That means twenty forty or twenty fifty before we see other Templars to take your place. Do you really think we will be safe until then?"

Lone Wolfe nodded, "Most things will leave us alone. That which doesn't will be handled easily."

"Shush you two!" Angela hissed quietly, "The class valedictorian is about to start the speech!"

Lone Wolfe rolled his gold eyes, "Glad I didn't have to suffer on stage with doing this. I would have clowned out. The same old 'thus begins the first day of the rest of our lives speech.' They should get some new lines already."

Angela waved him to be quiet as a woman in a white uniform approached the stage. She placed a tablet on the podium and glanced out to the assembled audience before clearing her throat and adjusting the mic, "This is a day of celebration for all of us, not just those gathered on stage. Just like prom is a rite of passage that we have went through as children, graduation is a rite of passage that marks us earning our adulthood. With this; we can leave the nest and fly away to build nests of our own. We have the ability to continue the cycle that will perpetuate our people into the future. Throughout the last two hundred years our culture may have changed but this rite has stayed the same. First it was few, then many as the education became necessary but it is only a step in a larger cycle for us.

"Now our journey truly begins. As your next empties, the first day of the rest of our lives truly begins. We will make our way into the world and gain the experience we need to live. We will eventually pass this experience on to future generations and they will carry the torch on to the next generation as the day of their lives begins. But that is in the future, clouded and uneasy to see. For now, what is clear is this; I present to you the class of 2031!"

The principal came up and presented her portfolio to the valedictorian. She accepted it with a smile and walked off the podium after moving her tassel to the other side of her hat. The principal walked up to the podium and announced the names as his secretary wheeled a large cart to the front of the stage. Each person walked up to the front, moved their tassel and accepted the portfolio that was handed to them. The audience clapped cordially for the most part. The friends and family of those gathered clapped and cheered louder for each of their members as they accepted their diploma.

Lone Wolfe, Serena, and Angela waited in anticipation as they got closer to Curtis's name. When his name was finally called, the three of them cheered louder than his three family members that were waiting with equally bated breath. He smiled and nodded to each of the groups as he accepted the diploma. After that it was the anticipation of finishing the ceremony, so they could buzz out for a camping trip the four of them had prepared for months.

The waiting was the hard part. It was a warm spring day. It reminded them of how the mountains would feel. They had cold weather gear stowed away in their cars and they weren't sure how long it would be before the ceremony was over. While the ground had thawed in the mountains, if they didn't depart soon, it would be night before they got everything set up. It still got cold, close to freezing up in the mountains this time of year.

About half an hour after Curtis's name was called, the ceremony was finished. The graduating class threw their hats into the air as was custom. Lone Wolfe was the only one of the three that didn't get to participate in this ceremony before. He wondered at what the custom was about. He decided he would ask later. When he graduated at semester, they offered him the opportunity to sit at the ceremony with the class of 2030, but he declined. He figured if he couldn't participate in other functions after graduating at semester, he saw no point in that ceremony as well. They handed him his diploma after Christmas time that year.

Curtis went to his family first and handed his diploma to his mother. No doubt, the family had plans to have it framed. It was usually custom to do that. Lone Wolfe had his packed away in a box in his room at Angela's house. He was not sure where Serena had stowed hers away. She was in the process of moving her things into his room.

The three of them rose and started to slowly move toward Curtis's direction. They wanted to give the family time to say their praise to their son. Lone Wolfe recalled that after the mission he had some close calls with senioritis during the last year. For a while it looked like he wouldn't graduate. He managed to pull his grades up and passed in the middle of his grade. It was good news and showed that he could do what it took when he needed to. Lone Wolfe wasn't sure how much of it was Curtis's own work and how much of it was the powers that Lone Wolfe had given him during their mission. In either regard, it was something that he earned.

Curtis walked over to his friends and greeted them with a smile and received a group hug as a reward. He nodded and said, "okay we have to return these robes so I will be back in about five minutes. Sorry for the trouble."

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "It's fine. You did good my friend. Excellent work!"

Curtis nodded and ran off toward the building with a group of other graduates. It was a sad thought knowing that their tie to this school had now ended. Even though the three of them had graduated before he did, they were still tied to the school because he was there. That time had now come to an end. There would be no more finagling lunch schedules and school schedules to meet him for lunch or pick him up and hang out at the store or a coffee shop. There would be no more after school meet ups to discuss the goings on in the school. No more childhood gossip. Another chapter of their life had come to a close. It was tough for him to realize that they were no longer children.

* * *

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

May 17th, 2031-CE

The sun was starting to set, and three tents had yet to be fully pitched. The sun had made it quite warm for them to set up but now that the sun was starting to make its final descent past the mountains, the breeze brought a chill. The four of them worked as fast as they could to set up the tents in time. Curtis looked around for a hammer, so he could stake the tents, "Lone Wolfe? Do you know where the hammer is?"

"I believe it's by the car," Lone Wolfe stated as he and Serena worked on threading the poles through their tent. With them being the closest to complete they would split up and help the rest get their tents up before dark.

Curtis reached out with his hand once he spotted the hammer and it flew to his hand. Lone Wolfe studied the movement and noticed that there was no gold flash of seal aspect magic preceding his telekinetic move. He arched an eyebrow and commented to his friend, "Nicely done! You seem to have managed using your telekinetic powers on your own! You will have to show others how to do that someday."

Curtis shrugged, "Not really sure how I managed to do that. I was playing around with my powers on my own with the aspect power you gave me. One day I reached out with my hand and I was able to pull objects toward me like I had used my aspect power. I don't know why but I now can pull things to my hand whenever I want. The rest of what I should be able to do with my Telekinesis doesn't work right, why?"

Lone Wolfe thought about it for a moment, his five points seal gave him the answer right away, "Using your aspect seal slowly gives you the knowledge of how to use your abilities. Playing with pulling objects towards you taught you how to do that."

Curtis cocked his head in confusion as Lone Wolfe and Serena finished getting their tent set up and moved on to help the others with his tent, "Do you think I can do that with other psychic abilities? Ones that I don't have already?"

Lone Wolfe shook his head, "Not ones you don't already have. You can use those powers with aspect magic, but you won't be able to use them on your own."

Curtis shrugged, "So much for being able to tell the future. Could have won the lottery if I had some of your talents."

Lone Wolfe chuckled, and Serena rolled her eyes, "Clairvoyance doesn't work like that. I already had him try."

They hurried to get the last two tents up and helped Angela with setting up the fire pit. There was still a little bit of light left so they hiked up to the clearing. They stood on the hill over the clearing watching the sun set. Lone Wolfe wrapped his arm around Serena and leaned in as the sun sat. Curtis smiled and glanced at his friends. Angela nodded and rested a hand on both Serena's shoulder and Curtis's shoulders, "If it hasn't set in yet." She stated to gather their attention, "Let me say this. There are no other adults around here. We made our plans on our own. We came here on our own. No one else is telling us what to do. We are children no more."

About the Author

Kenneth brooks is an avid writer, lover of the outdoors, raised on documentaries and science fiction shows as a child. He lives in northern Colorado with his Lovely wife and two children. He has no biological siblings, but he has two step siblings that are vastly older and a best friend he considers his little sister. He is a strong supporter of women's rights, LGBTQA, and Mental Health issues. He also believes that Pavlov's pyramid of basic needs must be met for every sentient being for humanity to thrive. He loves to write science fiction and fantasy especially dark fantasy and urban fantasy.

Current and Upcoming Novels

Templar: Lone Wolfe

Templar: Order and Chaos

Templar: Spirit Killer

Templar: Era Walker

Templar: Forgotten

Jena's Blood Legacy

Templar: Schisms (Coming Soon)

Templar: Antediluvian (Coming Soon)

Shaman Songs

Templar: Resonance (Coming Soon)

Templar: Awakening (Coming Soon)

Templar: Darkness (Coming Soon)

Prequels and Extras

Children of Legend (A Templar: Order and Chaos Extra)

Second Semester (A Templar: Order and Chaos Prequel)

