Chapter eighteen ___________

"Lalia?"

"No, you *Madeline*. Me Lalia." She smiled. "Sorry, couldn't help it. How'd you sleep?"

"Better than I have in years, actually. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Madeline sat down, and a waiter put a menu in front of her. She looked at Lalia, who was reading the menu a second time. That was one thing Madeline didn't understand. Lalia always seemed to read things three or four times. It made no sense, really...unless Lalia was "slow". Which didn't seem very likely.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Lalia put the menu down, and looked Madeline in the eyes.

And saw resolve in them.

Ok.....

"How do I learn?"

Lalia smiled. "You start your training. Besides that, there isn't as much to learn as you think. Some rules of ethics, but mostly control of your Gift. Everything else....tends to come naturally, with it."

Lalia looked at her watch and stood up. "I actually have some stuff to do. I guess I'll grab something to eat later." She smiled. "Your first appointment with Jack is at ten. Follow the signs, they all lead to the training rooms. You *might* want to eat first."

**************************

"Ok Madeline, let's see what you can do." Jack set up three small explosives on the test board.

"Just the middle one." He smiled, and sat down in the chair next to her.

Even the training rooms were luxurious.

Madeline took one look at the bombs and started having second thoughts.

No. No, I am going to do this. Being afraid of it at ten is one thing. I'm *not* ten anymore.

"Ok, so what *exactly* do I do?" Madeline eyed the explosives, and sat up straighter in her chair.

"Just focus, and *see* the middle one go off in your head. It helps, if this makes sense, to let your mind wander a little." Jack leaned back into his chair and checked his watch. He had two hours put away for this session...the first time a Gifted worked, it usually took a while to even explode one, let alone the one they tried for...

Madeline focused, and saw the explosive go off.

And then realized that the middle one *had* gone off.

On the first try.

************

Chapter nineteen ___________

"On the first try? Really...." Lalia stopped reading and looked up at Jack. He was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs, rubbing his temples.

"I swear, the last time I felt anything like that kind of power was when I nagged you into taking that refresher course. It hit me like a wave of heat. Nikita can do that, but she worked up to it, so it wasn't as powerful." He closed his eyes. "I had her do it three times to be sure. My head is killing me."

The corners of Lalia's mouth turned down. "Jack, you know better than to sit in an enclosed space like that with power that strong. Are you trying to kill yourself?" She got up and got him some water from the fridge, and a bottle of Advil.

"Here. Take two and go lie down."

"I can't." Jack took the water from her, but didn't drink it. "I want to see what she can do along the lines of Mind Control. And I want to see if she can levitate in the first session. And I want to see..."

Lalia sat on the corner of her desk and interrupted him. "Jack. If you do all that today, you won't be able to stand tomorrow. You cannot spend all day locked into a small room with her kind of power, and you know it."

Jacks head snapped up like a whip. "You *knew*! You knew she was that strong, and you didn't warn me!" He looked down at his hands and saw the water. Opening the bottle and pills, he swallowed three capsules. His head was starting to hurt even more.

"I had a feeling. No one has that kind of control over themselves, *and* their memories, without some serious power. But I wasn't sure. I wanted to see." Lalia walked back around and sat in her chair. "I figured as much, though, a few days ago. Michael seemed to think that Paul would sic George on us if he thought Madeline was still alive." Lalia smiled.

"That's when I knew."

Jack watched her closely, and decided to ask the question. "And you're ok with that?"

"I am. She's in love, he's in love." Lalia grinned at Jack's expression. "It doesn't mean he stopped loving me. It *is* possible to love more that one person, you know. But, you know something? I think they make a good couple."

"Yeah....yeah, I'm fine with it."

************ Chapter Twenty, Section Interlude ___________

Operations glanced out the window from his office in the "backup" Section One. Everything was fine, but looking was just force of habit. He went back to his computer screen.

Operations was re-checking the warning transmission they had received from Section Eleven.

Yes, there it was.

And yes, the login had indeed been "Elemental".

He wouldn't even have thought about it, if he hadn't felt that spark on the console. Of course, that could have been any number of things...static electricity, even.

But he didn't think so.

His memory wasn't *that* bad. And after they had moved, he suddenly remembered that urgency he'd felt to get out.

That spark was *her.*

She'd known, and she warned him. She warned Section.

Lalia.

Damn her. Damn all overprotective little sisters!

************

Chapter twenty ___________

Nikita was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, and wiping the back of her neck with a *very* soft cotton towel. She'd just finished working out in the Inner Circle private gym. So much nicer than Section! Nikita attributed that to the fact that while Section only cared about results, the Circle was actually built with the first idea in mind to make the Gifted comfortable. So, everything *was*.

The difference always struck her hard.

"Madeline! Wait!" Nikita jogged to catch up with her. "Have dinner with us?"

"Us?" Madeline took the opportunity to stop walking, leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. Even standing, this was better. The workout she'd had today wasn't the same type Nikita's had just been, but every bit as exhausting.

"Michael and I." Nikita smiled at her and leaned sideways against the wall. "I brought Michael into the Circle when he broke me out of that beautiful mind trap of yours." She laughed. Madeline was staring at her like she was nuts. "Yeah, it was beautiful. It might not have been if I wasn't Gifted, but really, I was just watching my normal half go through the motions." She sighed. "It was actually kind of nice not to have to make any decisions for a while. Not that I'd want to do it again."

Nikita smiled. "But, he's only been in for a few months. It might be good to talk to him. A perspective on what comes next, maybe?"

Madeline smiled. "Actually, I think I have a handle on it."

Nikita's eyebrows went up. "Don't take this wrong, but you don't look it."

"I'm just tired. Been jumping through hoops all day." Madeline's eyes closed again.

"Ok, well something to eat will probably help. You'll want to be awake tonight. Lalia is giving a workshop on meditation."

"Why?" Madeline's eyebrows furrowed, but she never opened her eyes. "Don't the Gifted just get that naturally?"

Nikita barely stifled a laugh. "You'd think. But no, only the Upper Level Gifted and Inner Circle. Everyone else needs a little help. And..." Nikita's face got rather contemplative..."Most Saviors, even trained and ranked, never see Lalia except for these kinds of events. They get filled up weeks in advanced....only the Inner Circle can attend without reserving a spot. But it should be fun."

"Really? I can't go then, can I? I didn't reserve a space." Madeline wasn't really paying attention. Her eyes were still closed and she was falling asleep just standing there.

"Madeline, I just told you, an Inner Circle doesn't need a reservation."

Madeline's eyes opened, and she resisted the urge to stare at Nikita in shock. "Since when am I Inner Circle?"

"Since last night, when you remembered. You always were anyway"...in reply to the shocked look that broke through Madeline's resistance. "You just weren't ready for it. Madeline, look around. What level is your apartment on? Which dining room do you eat in? What training rooms did you use today?"

"I guess it hadn't occurred to me." Madeline re-set her face, and tried to fight the smile that was threatening. "Ok...so, when and where is the workshop tonight?."

"We can go together, after dinner."

"I haven't said I'd go yet."

Nikita smiled. "Yes, but it wouldn't make sense not to, because Lalia wants to talk to all three of us in her room afterwards."

Madeline sighed. "Ok. I'll go." ************

Chapter twenty-one ___________

The reading room, where the workshop was being held on the third main floor, was filled with dozens of large, overstuffed chairs and couches. About twenty-five chairs had been arranged in a circle, and Lalia was already sitting cross-legged, 'Indian-style', in the one facing the doorway.

There were some Celtic drums playing, but quietly, so it could not be heard over more than two voices.

When there were no empty chairs, Lalia started talking.

"First things first. Everyone make sure you're in a comfortable position. Don't sit like I am unless it is actually comfy, ok? If you're uncomfortable, it will keep you aware your body, and that is counter-productive."

"Now, we may be here a while. I hope everyone cleared an hour or so. That should be enough."

Lalia smiled. "A word of warning for those of you who haven't done this before. You come out of meditation with energy. It isn't good to meditate right before bed. Tonight, we should be ok, unless everyone here plans on being asleep by nine." Light laughter...no one in Circle was ever in bed before midnight.

"Is everyone comfortable?" While Lalia waited for a few people she shot a conspirital smile at Madeline.

They were both sitting the same way.

"Ok, first, close your eyes. If you can't keep them closed at first, that's fine. Just listen to the music, and daydream."

Lalia closed her eyes, and reached out to the circle. She wanted to know when everyone was ready for the next step.

After a while she started talking again.

"Breathe in, and imagine that you're breathing in a blue color. It can look like whatever you want it to. Just breathe it in." She waited to hear it happen.

"Now, hold your breath, and see the color flowing through your one of your feet. Don't hold your breath until it hurts, just long enough to cover one body part at a time. Start at either the feet or the head. That is where all the nerve endings are. Then work your way slowly from one end of your body to the other."

"As you breathe in the color, relax that part of your body. I don't care how relaxed you think you are right now, at this point, you aren't. So go one piece at a time. If you get to the end and find that you still aren't relaxed, you went to fast. Go back and start over. You will probably need to. But that's ok. I still do, when I'm tense. Just be patient. The whole idea is to relax, ok? No one is rushing you. We have plenty of time."

Lalia started to breath in the color, and relaxed her body. She finished, and waited for everyone else to.

"Ok? Now, focus on the drums. Just listen the music, and try not to think about anything else. If you have problems focusing, try following the drums, and really hearing them. Listen to the patterns, and let the waves of sounds flow past you."

"Now, I'm going to give you the rest now, because you may not be aware enough to hear me later. When you are focused on the music, and you aren't doing *anything* else, you may notice that you actually aren't anymore; that your mind is wandering, and you don't even remember what it wandered too. That's fine. You may also notice that you get an odd floaty feeling. That's *good*. Try *not* to become aware of your body, ok? Don't get frustrated, just relax."

"Just sit there and float. If you fall asleep, it will be light, and the more you do this, the less that will happen. Try not to, but don't actively fight it. It happens because you're only used to relaxing when asleep...you'll get used to being relaxed while awake with time. Don't push it."

"Just try to sit here as long as possible. If you find your mind wandering after a while like before, with no memory of where it went, just let it, and don't do anything about it. That is your subconscious mind finally getting it's say. Don't worry where it goes, just let it."

"When you do come out of it, do it gradually. Just sit here, and let your mind wander. Keep your eyes closed as long as you can without a struggle. If you find that they are fighting you, open them and check the clock behind me. I'll want to know how long you stayed in." "If your eyes don't struggle to open, and after a while you just come back to your mind, and decide to open them, that's fine too. Again, look at the clock."

"When you're done, you should feel very relaxed, with a calm energy...not sleepy. You should in fact be very awake, but not jumpy or fidgety, so there should be no problem waiting for the rest of us to come out of it."

Lalia laid back a little deeper in her chair.

"Now........just float........" ************

Chapter twenty-two ___________

"Sorry, that took longer than I thought it would." Lalia sank down on the couch in her living room, next to Nikita. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really. We were talking about the workshop. It was very good...who taught you that?" Madeline was lounging in the corner of the couch.

"My mother." Lalia smiled. "She taught me everything...back then, there weren't as many of the Gifted as there are today, and there were no real teachers for the higher level Saviors. The parents did it all themselves."

Madeline kept her mouth shut. She wanted to ask how old Lalia was, but suddenly, she wasn't sure she was ready for the answer.

"Why did you want to see us?" It was a safer question.

"Aha. Yes..." Lalia moved to a chair, and got back into that odd cross-legged position.

"Ok."

"Red Cell has the Section Directory. *But*, I have from reliable sources that it has not yet been widely distributed. Only two copies were made, one of which we stole. The only other one *was* up for bid at an auction, but we managed to buy it through an intermediary. So, right now, they have it on disk, and nothing else."

"That means that now is the time to strike." This was Madeline's area. Hell, they were talking about Madeline's agency!

"Well, cliches aside, yes it is." Lalia's eyes twinkled at her

She's teasing me!

Madeline almost pinched herself, just to make sure. It was so relaxed around here!

Lalia's face got serious. "We pulled all our people out, but before we did we had them send in some information."

Lalia got up and pulled a long roll of paper off her desk. "These are the blueprints for the Red Cell installation where the Directory is." She spread them on the coffee table. "Here's where we need to get in. By the way," Lalia looked up, "this will be your cover for being gone, as well."

"We were Red Cell prisoners." Ok, that made sense. Madeline smiled. Paul was going to fawn over her for quite a while after this....

"Right. It's perfect." Lalia kneeled next to them. "Ok, we're going to blow this in here..."

Madeline watched Lalia's hands. She had a feeling she'd be going on a lot more missions from now on.

************ Chapter Twenty-three, Section Interlude ___________

"Walter." Berkoff kicked the sleeping bag again. "Wake up."

"What?" Walter rolled over, but he didn't open his eyes.

"You said you were tired, and we'd talk about it in the morning." Berkoff held up a clock. "It's morning. Let's talk."

"I meant after I was awake, man! You want to talk to a zombie?" Walters eyes opened, and he stopped. Staring at the clock in Berkoff's hand, he groaned.

"Berkoff, it's five a.m.! It's not morning, it's still night!" Walter rolled over and closed his eyes. "Wake me in three hours. Then we'll talk."

Berkoff kicked him again. "Get up! I want to talk to you, and I want to talk now." He kicked again. "*Get up!*"

"Alright, alright. Man, you have no patience at all." Walter sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You're stalling. I want to know who told you to take care of me."

"Oh." Now that Walter had had time to think about it, he'd decided that the truth would work. At least, part of it. The rest .... well, if this worked, it wouldn't come up.

"What do you remember about your life before Section One?"

Berkoff closed his eyes, trying to remember. There was the Section cell....before that...

Wait. "A cave. Like this one."

"This cave. This is where you grew up...at least for a while. And you were so young anyway..." Walter was standing now. Just in case Berkoff flipped out or something. You just never knew.

But Berkoff didn't move an inch.

He just started laughing. ************

************ Chapter twenty-four ___________

"Ok, you can do this. It's an advanced function, but you can do it."

Madeline and Lalia were sitting in an alleyway behind the Red Cell base. They had been dropped off an hour ago by a Circle transport that had gone by this base every day for a month. It was completely overlooked now, and no one on the base had noticed them jump ship.

The four of them were the only Circle personnel on this mission, and Nikita and Michael were already in place, waiting for their signal.

But there was one more thing to do first.

Madeline really thought Lalia was crazy, and her expression said so. "You want me to project an image of myself into the main building??"

"It's the only way you'll show up on the cameras, and you have to. It has to look like you're already on the base. Otherwise, we won't be able to pull this off. *All* the guards have to be on alert, with no reserves. We want to knock them all out with the first hit. It can't be me, they won't recognize me. It has to be *you*."

"Astral Projection?!"

"Look, you can do this." Lalia got up on her knees. "You know how to meditate. You can move from that to a projection mode. It's all a matter of becoming aware of *yourself* and not your *body*. You can *do* this."

"I can't meditate without the drums. Not yet, not deeply like that. There are *no* drums here, Lalia." Now Madeline was just frustrated. She hadn't gotten that far yet! Damn. What else wasn't she going to learn?

She wished they'd had more time.

"So we don't use drums. I'm going to walk you through it. Just hear my voice. It'll be fine." Lalia's voice was taking on a soothing feel that even Madeline couldn't fight.

She sighed, and nodded. "Ok, I'll try it."

"Good. Now....close your eyes, and listen for your heartbeat....we're going to use those in place of the drums, ok?" Lalia sat back against the wall and stretched her legs out in front of her.

"Let me know when you're floating."

************

Chapter twenty-five, Red Cell interlude (very short) ___________

An image appeared on the screens in the control room of the Red Cell secondary base and storage facility.

It was Madeline, of Section One. There was no doubt.

With a black eye and several bruises on her face, she wasn't the picture of health, but she was there. The description fit her perfectly.

What a prize!!

Alerts went off, and every guard in the place rushed to the spot where she'd been seen.

But she was gone.

************

Chapter twenty-five ___________

"Oh Nikita, Nikita. Where are you little girl?" The voice crackled in Nikita's ear, and she smiled. Even on a mission as important as this, Lalia was still Lalia.

"I'm here. North corner, inner gate." Nikita dropped over the top just as she said it. "Inside." She glanced to her right, and ducked down. "Two guards on duty."

Nikita's eyes narrowed, and both guards dropped, one grabbing his left arm. "Two guards dead." She slid past them into the main building. "Present and ready." Crouching behind a large crate she waited for the clear sign.

**

"Michael...hey, Michael! Cut the power already! I don't care how many of Serge's blintzes you had for breakfast, you don't get any "slug bug" points. Move, man!" Madeline, waiting outside the computer room for the power to go, stifled a laugh. Listening to the Lalia on the com was better than TV.

And she felt really great...her skin was still glowing from the glory of that astral projection stunt.

The bare light bulb above Madeline's head dimmed, then died.

**

"Your clear!" At Michael's voice, all three women moved.

** Nikita slipped past the security cameras and laid the four timed charges. Not as easy to do with this arm....but they couldn't very well have done the interrogation therapy *after.* They had to look like they'd been interrogated, and *then* broken out.

Lalia hadn't lied, though. It *had* been a simple process, and Nikita only had a few aches now to show for it. But that left arm was really giving her trouble. The doctor had had to sprain her wrist to avoid breaking anything.

Nikita laid the last charge and set the timer.

Then she made for the compound gate.

** Madeline heard the signal, and kept her back to the wall as all the computer techs went running out the door before the emergency lasers turned on.

When she was clear, she slipped to the floor and slid into the room on her back, avoiding the lasers. She got clear into the room before she stood up.

Pulling a flashlight, she quickly ran it along the walls, looking for cracks. Finding the safe, she set the charges and hit the button. A little puff of smoke went up, and the section of wall that doubled as a safe door fell off.

Madeline snatched out the disks and slipped back under the lasers.

She took off at a run towards the back door. There was no way she wanted to be here when Nikita's explosives went off.

************ Chapter Twenty-six, Section Interlude (Really short. Just a wrap-up.) ___________

"Walter, when did I live here?"

"I don't know." Ok, that was true enough. He'd never really been given the details. "But you aren't dumb, man. You know why I'm supposed to protect you."

A bitter laugh escaped. "Yeah, sure. Section wanted to protect it's investment. Nice to know that's all it was."

"Hey! We're friends, and you know it! I'd have brought you anyway."

Berkoff smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. There are too few of the good ones left. We can't afford to go around wasting them."

Berkoff just smiled. Walter took one look at him and huffed.

"Look, are you going to get out the food? I'm starving!"

************ Chapter twenty-six ___________

Lalia heard Nikita and Madeline verify that they were out.

That was it.

She tapped a few last instructions into the terminal and ran for the exit, while a small warning light flashed on the screen behind her.

"Warning! Emergency Sprinkler System Offline!"

She ducked through the back door to the office and just missed being hit with sub-machine gun fire. She dove for the ground and rolled until she hit the security door.

A small-charge explosion got the lock off, and the door swung open. Lalia rolled out and flipped up with a stylish move that would have impressed Madeline, had she seen it.

She made a run for the fence.

Lalia made it outside the gate just in time for the explosion to hit the front of the building she'd just been in. She grabbed the back door of the van speeding by and pulled herself in, closing the door behind her, and missing the beautiful sight of the Red Cell compound going up in flames.

**

Three hours of walking and still no sign of the cavern. Lalia leaned against the tunnel wall and closed her eyes. She'd forgotten how deep this place was buried.

Nikita, Madeline and Michael had stayed at the Red Cell station to make sure everything was set and clear, and wait for Section to see the explosion and "rescue" them.

Lalia was on her way to the hideaway to clear Berkoff and Walter...and perhaps kill Walter, figuratively speaking of course.

No, no...you can't really blame him for this. You weren't clear enough.

Lalia broke out of her thoughts and started walking again. Really, there should only be a few more turns....

Aha! There it is!

Lalia stepped over the broken rock just inside the doorway, and started down the steps. ************

Chapter twenty-seven ___________

"You idiot!" Lalia was furious, though not so that Berkoff could see. Her face was still calm, and her eyes were still clear and collected. The only sign of anger he could see was her right hand, balled into a fist.

Walter, however, felt an instinct to get the hell our of that cavern, and to hell with Section finding him. At least cancellation was quick. The last time Lalia had called anyone an idiot, it had taken them three days to die.

Lalia closed her eyes, and tried to get hold of herself.

I promised not to do this, remember? Not his fault.

Right.

Ok.

Just breathe...

"Walter, why didn't you warn Section?"

Walter didn't meet her gaze, but looked at the rocks beyond her. "I don't know."

"Walter!"

He stared into her eyes now. "Fine. Because I didn't want to, ok? I wanted to get out, and I really didn't care about the rest of Section."

Berkoff broke in. "Who are you?"

Lalia didn't turn her head. She had figured out that if she didn't look at him, there was much less chance for a scene. And she really couldn't afford a scene here. So, she didn't remove her eyes from Walters face.

And he answered the question, since he'd been thinking about it since he'd felt her coming an hour ago.

"Lalia works for George."

Lalia decided not to be angry at him. She forced herself to smile at him.

If you believe it, he'll believe it. And that might even make it true.

She took a deep breath.

"Ok, Walter, we got the warning in through Section 11. So, I guess all's well that ends well." She ignored his raised eyebrow. "There's a dead Red Cell operative up top. You followed him when you saw he had this, and killed him. You got lost in the tunnels." She handed him a mission disk, one of the disks Madeline had recovered from the Red Cell safe. "Got it?" He nodded.

Lalia left, being very careful *not* to look at Berkoff on her way out.

************ Chapter twenty-eight (short, but oh, so sweet...) ___________

Madeline, Nikita and Michael walked through the bay doors and almost bumped into Operations.

"I hear you were quite amazing." He smiled at Nikita and Michael. "Well done, both of you. You have some information we need?" Michael handed him the mission statement disks. Madeline handed him the directory.

"You two are off until further notice. Go relax, you've earned it." Michael and Nikita nodded and walked down the hallway together. Operations watched them turn the corner, and turned back to Madeline.

"You scared me." His voice was shaking, but other than that, no sign showed.

Madeline smiled. "I'm fine."

**

Paul looked at her, asleep.

God, she's beautiful.

But now that he had her back, he couldn't forget how angry he was.

Lalia.

If she logs on again, I want to see it.

He stood up and got dressed. Kissing Madeline goodbye, he quietly left, closing the door behind him.

************

Chapter twenty-nine ___________

Paul watched for the connection.

There it was! "Elemental".

God, how often did she spy on him? He would have to watch that from now on.

"Hello, Lalia." Operations smiled at her face on his screen. "How's my little sister? Sending me subliminal messages! Lalia, you stay the hell out of my head!"

She didn't even blink. Damn. She always *was* strong. He'd have to calm down.

As a matter of fact, Madeline reminded him of Lalia....

He pushed that out of his head.

"I'm so sorry I tried to save your life. Next time, I won't bother." She was angry, but he knew no one else would have been able to tell. What a face.

"The warning was one thing." He closed his eyes and braced himself. "Thank you for that."

"You're welcome."

"But, you cast me! You had no right."

"That was an accident. I didn't realize how worried I was. I wouldn't have touched the computer if I had." Lalia's face was genuinely contrite.

But he really didn't care.

"Just because our father was disappointed in me and stole my birthright does *not* give you the right to use Mind Control! Lalia..."

"Paul, you were a disappointment to Father on purpose!" Now Lalia was too angry to keep her mouth shut. "You were every bit everything he wanted you to be, and you *refused* to show him that! What did you expect? You never showed him what you could do until after I was ranked. It took centuries to overcome what you'd done, and most Saviors still didn't trust you! He had to leave command to the person he thought the Gifted would *follow*."

"He left it to *you*! It should have been me, I was the eldest!" Paul was hissing through his teeth.

"No one trusted you to lead. I don't exactly have a huge ego, I know when I screw up, but I earned this position by working for it. And I'm better at it than you! Would you have run the Circle the way you run Section?" He didn't answer her. "Paul! I'm waiting!"

"That's how it *should* be run! *You*, you let everyone have a say. There's no discipline! You just run it the way *he* did! He never did listen to me. I told him that there were other ways to do things, but he just told me that it wasn't the way of the Circle. Then I'd get a lecture on *ethics*, for god's sake!"

Lalia glanced behind him at his panoramic view of Section. "It doesn't look like they took."

He glared. "These are the rules of the future. You are the rules of the past. Both can, and must, exist together. One is no better than the other, and that *is* what father would have said." Lalia reluctantly nodded. "I never have, and I never will, try to replace the Circle. It isn't possible, and I admit, the world would be much worse off without it. I left the Circle because I can't live in the past...with traditions, and old ethics that no longer apply! I live here. I do good here. I don't know that Father would have been proud of me," he grimaced "but Mother would have. I've found my place, and I am still living by the first rule. *'Always be true to yourself'*. Damn it Lalia, you didn't have to *cast* me! I don't need your protection, and I don't want your magic in me."

"You only reject magic because you thought that you were never as Gifted as I was. Paul, that isn't true! We were Gifted in different ways. And we worked together. Damnit, Paul, we were so powerful. And we were close."

"Yes. We were. But we aren't now, are we? And think I'm old enough to make my own decisions. You've made your choice, and I've made mine. Now, you keep your magic away from me." He turned off his screen.

Lalia fought the tears, but she lost.

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