Yue was silent for a long moment before voicing her thoughts. "And if it doesn't have to do with the lab... Then I and Frei, by association, will be in grave danger. I'd ask Blaze to accompany us..." Yue gave Blaze a small smile. "But she shouldn't leave."

Wolfe shook his head, "Rosen will go with you. He's lazy but he'll keep you safe if something should turn up." Then he paused, thinking something through, "Would be be better... to keep you here, Yue? Having both you and Dominic in the same location might be worse."

Yue nodded. "Perhaps," she replied, looking a little torn. "But I'm a little useless here. I know the Yin Long a lot better than Nic does, so I might be able to do something back at James'. Not to mention its more of a fortress, and I'd be just a burden if something happened here. But it would be very dangerous for me to go..." There was more she didn't say, but it was clear she wasn't sure what to do at this point.

Wolfe sighed, "You don't have to decide now. I'll send Frei and Rosen with the hair tonight." he paused, "It might be better for you to wait to leave until things have cooled off a little. I'm sure we're being monitored... the last thing we want is for them to know for sure that you're here. I think you should lay low for now... and if you think you can be a help to Nic, you can join him later."

Yue ran a hand through her hair before nodding. It looked like some stress had been lifted off her shoulders and another equally weighted one was put in its place. Then she gave Wolfe the hair sample.

Wolfe stood with a nod and headed towards the door, "Besides, I couldn't tear you away from James now could I?" he said in what almost seemed to be a teasing voice as he shut the door behind him.

Soon afterward Rosen and Frei were in the air.

--

Laurel was still not asleep, she had been practicing in the gun range with the poor girl who knew about guns. Finally the girl had looked like she might pass out and Laurel relented. Now she just roamed the hallways, oblivious to even Rosemary who pattered along behind her.

Yue looked a little confused before sighing.

--

Just after midnight, a motorcycle and a small one-person hovercraft were on the road heading to James' front gate.

It was Roselyn and a few other girls who were at the door to meet them. They looked sleepy as they peered out into the dark, trying to see who Nic had brought back with him.

Nic parked James' motorcycle he had enhanced and took off his helmet before walking over to the hovercraft that just parked. He knocked on the window, arguing with the person inside for a brief moment before the door opened. then a young woman in her early twenties stepped out of the hovercraft.

She was a natural beauty with little genetic modification. She seemed like a bit of an old soul with her red hair in a big braid and a comfortable summer dress covered up by a big knit sweater to block out some of the cold. Actually, she and Nic looked good together. Almost too good. The new girl hesitantly looked around, looking a tad overwhelmed. She waved shyly to the girls that had come to greet them. Nic closed the door of her hovercraft for her before walking over to everyone else. The woman was right beside him.

The girls were very surprised but happily went over and greeted the new girl. They started asking tons of questions but shushed themselves and instead tried to usher her inside and into the warmth.

Roselyn instead went over to Nic, "I'm glad your back." she told him honestly, "Hopefully with you here, things will start to calm down."

The woman did her best to answer all the questions, but she was a little overwhelmed.

"What happened?" Nic asked, getting straight to the point. His voice was a little annoyed. Sorta like the parent who goes to buy groceries and then returns shortly to find the kids have caused all kinds of trouble for him to clean up.

The girls smiled and continued to reassure her, "What's your name?" one asked.

Roselyn raised an eyebrow at his tone. "I'm not sure exactly." she admitted, "But Raven, Dani, Bee and Laurel returned today... and Bee and Raven are pretty badly injured and Laurel's a mess... Something about her father." her voiced trailed off as she bit the inside of her lip, eyes still focused on Nic, "Don't expect a warm welcome." she cautioned quietly before turning to lead them inside.

"Oh, my name is Miss Q," the woman replied with a smile like that was a typical name. "But I also go by Missy, or just Q if that's too long."

Nic frowned, but didn't ask anything else as they went inside.

"MIssy! That's a pretty name. Will you be staying with Nic? Or would you like a separate room?" they asked. Lucy Lue (16, the bubbly one) had her arm around Missy's happily.

Roselyn looked around for a moment before sighing and turning back to Nic, "I'll assume you'll take your same room?" she asked.

Missy let out a loud, yet charming laugh. "A separate room, thanks," she chuckled.

Nic paused a moment before nodding.

Roselyn nodded. Suddenly a few of the girls who had turned to lead Missy away, gasped. There were some stammered murmurs of shock and Roselyn turned to look.

Leaning up against a wall in one of the hallways branching from the front room stood Laurel. She was surveying the group with calculating eyes though she wasn't looking at Nic or even in his direction at all. Nic could see that her eyes had lost the majority of their innocence but the most obvious change was the hidden gun she had strapped to her side under her jacket.

The girls remained rather frozen, not knowing how to react to this Laurel. Roselyn swallowed as she glanced back at Nic.

Nic blinked, taking a long time to drink in this new Laurel.

Missy glanced around, a little confused at everyone's reaction. Since no one else was doing anything, she walked up to Laurel. "You must be Laurel," she told her. "I knew you were beautiful... but the word doesn't do justice." There was genuine awe in her voice. "I've heard good things about you. Apparently I'm Missy." She reached out a hand to her.

Laurel's eyes looked her up and down for a long moment, "Are you patronizing me?" she demanded sharply, not taking the outstretched hand. As Missy got closer to Laurel, the darker circles under her eyes became more visible. Her leaning against the wall was not just for show.

"Uh..." Missy murmured, looking a little taken aback as she put her hand down. "No," she replied quietly. "I'm trying to introduce myself."

Laurel snorted lightly and with some effort, pushed herself away from the wall and walked off down the hall. Anna approached Missy, "Don't worry about it. Laurel's acting a little strange today... I heard she flipped her bike earlier, maybe she bumped her head. Anyway, she's usually really kind." she explained, trying to defend Laurel though she hadn't the faintest idea what was wrong. The other girls agreed.

"Why don't you show Missy to a room, one close to Nic's." Roselyn suggested and the girls nodded. Then she turned to Nic with a 'see what I mean' expression.

"... Alright," Missy replied to the girls, a little unsure. But she let the girls drag her away.

Nic was staring off in the direction Laurel had walked. He was thinking really hard about something. Though it wasn't clear what.

Roselyn sighed a little, "They came in late last night." she explained to Nic quietly, "Laurel was sobbing, clinging to Raven and shaking like a leaf... and less than 24 hours later she's..." she paused, "... well she's completely the opposite."

The girls told Missy about the three different styles, the colorful room, the plain one and the older feel. They asked which one she preferred.

Still, Nic said nothing.

Missy seemed to find something she liked about each kind. But in the end she decided on the colorful room.

Roselyn nodded with a sigh, "Well, she'll probably roam until she collapses somewhere." she said, "I'll see you in the morning." and with that she left Nic alone.

The girls seemed totally enamored with her but eventually left so she could sleep.

Nic made a stop by his room before roaming the halls to see if he could bump into Laurel.

Nic eventually found Laurel in the hallway which faced the gardens. It had large windows down the entire length of the wall. Laurel was standing with her arms crossed, looking out at the garden and pool which had a light display going even though no one was there to enjoy it.

Nic slowly walked up to Laurel, not hiding his presence as his shoes tapped on the cold floor. He stopped a few feet away, seeing if she was going to say anything.

Laurel turned as she heard someone approach, face expressing annoyance at being disturbed. The annoyance was instantly replaced with shock as she saw who it was and she started a bit. The shock look was quickly drowned in a stampede of emotions as she couldn't look away from Nic's face. Waves of shock, pain, guilt, relief and elation slammed into each other, causing chaos in her mind and on her face. She managed to lock her knees before they gave out as she staggered back against the window, trying to calm her mind to no avail.

A lot crossed Nic's eyes as well as Laurel turned. But most of it was overshadowed by concern as she staggered against the window. He walked up to Laurel, putting a hand on her shoulder to help steady her.

Laurel swallowed, allowing Nic to steady her as her eyes remained locked on his. Still, she said nothing.

Nic stared back for a long moment before slowly pulling Laurel into a tight hug.

Laurel half fell into Nic's embrace, allowing him to partially hold her upright as her legs started to give out once more. "... Damn you" she whispered with a small choked sob, "Damn you and your power over me." But as soon as the words had left her mouth she hugged him back as tightly as she could. She didn't cry but she was shaking slightly. It hadn't hit her until this moment... how much she'd truly missed him.

Nic didn't say anything for a long time. Then finally he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Laurel continued to grip Nic tightly though her breathing was slowing down. She appeared to be calming down. Her response was equally as long in coming. "My... my father left." she eventually whispered painfully back.

Nic put a hand on the stubble that was growing on Laurel's head. "... Your brother is back," he replied quietly.

Laurel took in a shuddering breath as she suddenly pressed her cheek against Nic's. "I... I don't think I have any more love left to give." she whispered as some of the confusion returned. "I don't know anymore, Nic... I don't know if I believe in real love." she added as her voice got steadily quieter until it was barely audible, "If it exists... I've seen nothing of it."

Nic rubbed Laurel's head a little as he thought about her words. "... I saw it, once," he replied. "For a short time... I don't know if I'll ever see it again."

Laurel was silent for a little while, "What was it like?" she finally asked quietly, "Being truly loved?"

Nic thought about how to describe it for a few moments. "... There's nothing I have that I wouldn't give a thousand times over to feel that again. Even if just for a minute or two..." His voice got quieter as he spoke until it faded into nothing.

Laurel thought over Nic's words for awhile before sighing, "I'd like... to feel that." she whispered, a deep longing filling her voice. After a short pause she squeezed Nic tighter and added in a tired voice, "But I think I'm too broken now..."