Chapter 9

Jayna had been correct. For the first few days after the attack Ciela drifted in a haze of shock and disbelief. She never ventured out of her new room or the adjoining bath, and Jayna had to press her to eat. Once she stopped arguing about food Jay began to move what remained of her clothes and the few new things purchased on the day of the attack in with her. A few nights later Ciela awoke from a nightmare, gasping. She sat up in bed trying to recognize her surroundings. She was in one of Jayna's guestrooms, the house was warded, and she was relatively safe, as safe as she would be anywhere, she supposed. Still she felt compelled to get out of bed and check the locks on the windows. The bolts were thrown and she gave them a tug just to make extra-sure. The helmet gleamed in the moonlight on the dresser between the windows, and she suddenly wanted to put some distance between herself and it. The prospect of a well-stocked refrigerator just down the hall suddenly seemed very inviting.

She hesitated at her door to calm her racing heart, opening it slowly, and listening for any sounds of movement in the house. Once she was sure there wasn't anyone about she took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway, and scurried down to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled up a chair. There were so many containers inside and no way to know what was in any of them, so she proceeded to open each one in turn taking a small sample from its contents. None of them seemed to be quite what she was looking for and she decided that she really wasn't all that hungry anyway, so she settled on one of the bottles of water that Jayna kept around for Aquarius. She closed the refrigerator, put the chair back in its place, and started back to her room. She didn't feel all that tired, and remembered that Jayna always said that she didn't need much sleep. Maybe she wouldn't mind talking a bit.

She hesitated for a second outside Jayna's door before deciding not to knock. If she started making noise David would show up, and she didn't feel like dealing with him at the moment. She slipped inside and took a few steps toward the bed. The moonlight streamed in the windows and across the massive four-poster. The curtains were drawn back and Ciela noticed that Jayna must be a restless sleeper since the bedding was a rumpled mess. She could see a leg sticking out here, an arm there, a leg there, another there... three legs, and one of them was hairy. She stifled a "Goog!" and hurried back to her own room.

*****

Ciela appeared at breakfast wearing the sweat suit that she was given when she first came to the house. "Smells good." She said, finding a spot at the table as far away as humanly possible from Aquarius. "Are you living here now?" she asked, not looking at him.

"No. Business is a little slow right now, and who am I to turn down one of Jay's breakfasts?"

Jayna was thrilled to see Ciela up and about the house for a change. "It's going to be a bit before it's ready. I'm afraid I overslept this morning." She shot Aquarius a conspiratorial smile. "What can I get for you in the meantime: juice, coffee, tea, or Latverian chocolate?"

"Just juice." Jayna passed a glass to Aquarius, who filled it from the pitcher in front of him on the table, then placed it as close to Ciela as he could manage. "Has the wall in my room been fixed?"

"Not yet, there are still some finishing touches to add, or so I've been told. They should be finished later today." Jay leaned against the counter. "I think they are getting a bit tired of all the work I've been giving them lately. You haven't seen them at all have you?" Ciela shook her head. "They do wonderful work, but they love to complain. The patching was easy. Getting it to match the rest is the hardest part."

Ciela slumped in her chair. "I'm sorry about the hole in your wall."

"It was his doing, not yours." Jayna pointed at Aqua. "Besides the sash on that window stuck and the wall needed repainting anyway."

"Ok. I'd like to move back in when they're finished." Jayna was a bit surprised that she would want to go back there, but tried not to show it.

"That won't be a problem. We can probably have you back in there tonight, except I think you may want to do some shopping." Jay searched for a kinder way to put what she needed to say next. "There wasn't a lot that didn't get - ruined."

"I'm used to not having much, remember? I'll go shopping...later in the week."

"Well, let me know when you want to go and I'll tag along if you don't mind."

"That would be fine, if it's not a bother."

"Shopping a bother? Never!" Jayna was glad that Ciela hadn't taken her offer as an attempt at smothering her or a lack of trust.

"I forgot, shopping is 'in your genes' isn't it?"

"It's doubtful that all of this junque just walked into my life all by itself."

"Your collection isn't junk."

"It all depends on who you talk to. To me these things are treasures, to others, who knows? Wait until the place is open. As Aqua likes to remind me there aren't a whole lot of people breaking down my door."

Jayna was surprised to feel a sharp kick to her shin and looked up to see Aqua scowling at her. "How's breakfast coming there, Jayna?" He asked, quickly. She thought back over her last statement and just realized how badly what she had just said sounded, and shot him an understanding glance.

Breakfast proceeded without incident and Ciela excused herself to return to her room. Jayna suddenly remembered a forgotten bit of business and hurried to the refrigerator, "I forgot all about this. Michael left this for you days ago." Ciela silently took the proffered paper bag and left the room. Jayna began washing the dishes while Aquarius put the remainders in the refrigerator.

"You were on your way to a terminal case of foot in mouth disease for a moment there." Aquarius offered once she was out of earshot.

"Don't remind me." She sighed and shook her head sadly. "I was just so happy to have her speaking in something other than monosyllables I got carried away."

*****

Ciela waited until she was seated on her bed to look inside the bag. She hadn't thought about Michael since, since. She put the thought out of her mind before it had fully formed. She wasn't going to think about that, not now, not ever again. She opened the bag and leaned over to look. There appeared to be fur in there. She frowned and wondered what it could possibly be, so she tipped the bag over and shook its contents out on the bed beside her. It was in the shape of some sort of animal, perhaps a bear. It was a child's toy. Ciela clutched it to her chest and began to cry.

Chapter 10

The dwarven contractors that Jayna had hired finished the job by mid-afternoon amid much complaining, just as she had predicted. After his third rant that "with so much wood in the damn place she should have called Elves." Jayna reminded the foreman that she was paying them in gold, and if he didn't think they could handle the job she would do just that. He flushed bright red and stated forcefully that there was no job too difficult for his crew and she knew it, including collapsing, moving, and reinstalling a perfectly serviceable tesseract without so much as chipping a crystal decanter.

The finished project was flawless inside and out. There wasn't the slightest sign that there had ever been a hole in the side of the house, or that any repairs had ever been made. Jayna happily paid them the coin they had agreed upon, adding a hefty percentage as a gratuity for their speed. The foreman hefted the proffered bag and smiled. Any dwarf worth his beard didn't need to count it to know that there was more in the pouch than agreed upon. That was one more reason why they always came right away when she called. "Fare you well, Mistress Alexandra." He called as he entered the van with the rest of his crew. "As much as I enjoy your company and coin, I hope not to see you again so soon."

*****

It took much longer to arrange the furniture, make up the bed, and hang the curtains than it did to move Ciela's few remaining possessions. Jayna had decided from the outset that she would make this room as different as possible from the way it had been before the attack. She traded the heavy brocaded curtains for lace, exchanged the dark Victorian furnishings for French country, and replaced the single large carpet with several small area rugs. The overall effect was bright and cheery, and she hoped it would help raise her friend's spirits.

Ciela seemed truly amazed at the transformation. "Are you sure this is my room?" she asked. "Where did you find all this stuff?"

"The entire third floor is attic, dear. I get bored, so I like to keep plenty of alternatives handy." Jayna smiled. "I hope it isn't too much."

"Oh, no. It's beautiful, really."

"There's just one detail I wanted to discuss with you. This corner of the room is a bit bare. I have this enormous cage. I think it was intended for a monkey. I was thinking about putting it here, with a bird or two inside it. What do you think?"

Ciela shuddered at the thought of anything with wings locked up in a cage. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to hurt Jayna's feelings, but she knew she couldn't abide a bird. "How about a great big plant instead?" she asked finally.

Jayna took to the idea immediately. "That would be wonderful! Some kind of tree in a huge urn would look marvelous. Well, I promised Zan I'd fix something special tonight for all the lugging and carrying I made him do today. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. Enjoy!"

*****

The meal was a success, the dishes done and put away. Ciela excused herself to her room, while Jayna and Zan retreated to the parlor to argue good-naturedly over why Jayna didn't own a television. It was a quarter past ten when they heard Ciela shout followed by the sound of shattering glass. They were on their feet and heading down the hall as fast as they could move when David suddenly blew past them and into Ciela's room. When they entered she was on her knees inside the shower. The glass door was in shards, strewn all over the floor. David was holding her hands in the air in front of her. There was blood everywhere.

Jayna grabbed the nearest hand towel and folded it into a pad. She placed it over the worst of the cuts. "David, press down on this, hard." Ciela cried out in pain. "Not that hard! I want you to stop the bleeding, not crush her bones." David nodded. Jayna threw a large towel at Zan. "Here, tear this up into strips." Ciela was very pale and had a faraway look in her eyes. "Ciela, CIELA, Az, listen to me. You can heal this. I need you to help us out here." She fashioned another pad and had David change his grip on her other arm. It wasn't helping much. Blood was still dripping, albeit more slowly, onto the floor of the shower. She turned to Aquarius, who was now holding the torn strips of towel in his hands. She grabbed one arm and pulled him fully into the bathroom. "Stop the bleeding." She practically shouted in his face.

"I can't do that," he said. Jay had no idea what she was asking.

"Yes you can. I've seen you dry yourself with a thought. Blood is mostly water. You can do this! If you don't she'll die."

He had done a lot of damn fool things in his life, but this had to be one of the top three. He wasn't at all sure that he could pull it off, of if he could that he wouldn't make things worse, but he knew he had to try. He shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath, then stepped closer to Ciela. "David, let this arm go," he said, indicating her left. As soon as David let up on the pressure the makeshift bandage fell to the floor and the blood began flow. Aqua took another deep breath and began to absorb the moisture. At first there didn't seem to be any positive results, but the flow soon ebbed to nothing more than a slight ooze between his fingers. "I don't want to do any more. It might clot too much."

"That's fine. I can handle this," Jayna said, sounding relieved. "I hope you're up to the other one. I think it's worse than the first." He only nodded in response and she noticed that his forehead was beaded with sweat.

"Ready David?" David grunted and Aqua held his hands close over Ciela's right arm. "Now!" Jayna was right. This arm was much worse, and he had to push some of the skin closer together. His stomach churned, but he pressed on. It seemed like forever before the bleeding slowed this time. He stopped for a moment to assess his work and catch his breath before applying a bit more of his power. Once he was sure the repair would hold he took a step back. "What now, Jay?"

"There is a decent first aid kit in the closet in my bathroom. Would somebody please get it for me? Oh, and find a robe." David was the first of the men to move. Aquarius leaned back against the vanity to let him pass.

"I need a drink," he said, weakly.

"There's plenty in the fridge, as always."

"Not that kind of drink."

She was shocked. She had never seen him consume anything stronger than fruit juice. "I have some liquor hidden in the parlor behind the stereo." When he didn't move she spoke again, "Go ahead, I'll finish up here. There isn't much more you can do." Jayna cleaned up Ciela as best she could without disturbing any of the clots, managed to get the robe on her, and carried her into bed. Ciela wasn't responsive or particularly helpful, but she didn't actively fight Jayna either. When she had done as much as she could she went looking for David, and once again, found him outside Ciela's door. "I hate to ask you this, but could you take care of the mess in the bathroom, and then hang around here tonight?"

"Sure."

*****

Aqua was sprawled in a wingback chair with one third of a tumbler of light-brown fluid held loosely in one hand when Jayna entered the parlor. "Did you drink all of that?' she asked.

"Yep, and you know what? It didn't help a bit!" he said morosely. "What the hell happened? I thought she was getting better."

"I'm not sure. She isn't talking at the moment." Jayna took a seat on the sofa opposite Zan. "I thought she was getting better too, but you never know. I guess I was wrong."

"Jay, I'm not going to be worth squat tonight..."

"Don't worry about that. Just go to sleep. I've got some thinking to do."

*****

An insistent chirping brought Michael out of his slumber. Once he realized that it wasn't likely to stop, he fumbled for the phone in the dark. "Hello? What time is it? Who is this?"

"Michael, it's Jayna, and it's 2:45 in the morning. I really hate to bother you like this, but there's been an accident. Ciela's been hurt, we've patched her up as best we could, but she either can't or won't heal herself. She won't talk to me, and I'm scared for her. Can you come over?" Her words came out in a rush. She hoped he understood what she was trying to say.

"Whoa! Slow down!" Michael sat up in bed and turned on the lamp. "Ciela's hurt. How bad is it, and when did this happen?"

"She's lost a lot of blood. I don't know. I'm no doctor. I don't want to take her to a hospital. They would probably take it as an attempted suicide..."

"Suicide? What the hell's going on over there?"

"It's a long story, Michael. Will you come?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can, but I want a pot of coffee and some answers when I get there."

Chapter 11

"You should have called me sooner." Michael sighed heavily as Jayna finished a quick recap of the events of the last few days. She told him as much as she knew, which wasn't much, since Ciela had steadfastly refused to speak a word about any of what had happened. Jayna had checked on her just before Michael had arrived and the bleeding seemed to have stopped, which meant Aquarius' handiwork was holding.

"Under the circumstances, you were the last person I'd have called. I thought she was going to be all right. We actually had a conversation today, then this happened." Jayna shook her head. "I can't figure out what triggered it, or if she really was trying to..."

"It could have been anything, or nothing, really. You can't expect her to be thinking entirely rationally at the moment. I'll go check on her...." His voice trailed off as a slightly disheveled David, clutching a largish shard of the glass shower door joined them in the kitchen. He walked over to the coffeepot and poured a steaming cup, never letting go of the glass or acknowledging Michael in any way. Jayna looked at him, sickened. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked as she stood and stepped towards him. "I asked you to clean up and keep an eye on Az, not gather souvenirs."

"She's calmer now," he said unapologetically, "and I thought you should see this." He held the glass over the cup, the steam outlining part of a manically drawn glyph. "A present from Warren. They're all over what's left of the shower doors."

"There's your explanation, Jay. Let me go talk to her."

"Look, Mike..." Jayna wanted David to leave before she asked anything further of Michael, but the pale young man didn't seem like he planned to go anywhere. "Do you think you can help her..." She picked her words carefully, not wanting to offend him, or let David know what she was really saying. "Do you think you can help her deal with this better, take the edge off?"

"I don't do that sort of thing, Jayna. Maybe you should call one of your other pet mystics if that's all you want." Michael stared at her, he knew exactly what she was asking of him. David stared at Michael quizzically.

Jayna for her part stared at the floor. "David, would you please leave?" She put emphasis on the please, but really wasn't going to give him a choice in the matter. David looked at both of them oddly and left the kitchen silently, dropping the glass in the trashcan as he passed by it. She sighed as he left and put a hand on Michael's upper arm. "Look, I'm not asking a lot here. Just something, anything, to help her get her head screwed on straight again. I'm scared for her. I've seen this happen too often, and she just doesn't seem like she's able to cope with it."

"It takes time to cope, Jayna. It's only been a few days. It's going to take longer than that. My mucking about in her head without her permission will only make things worse in the long run. I've seen that happen too often, trust me on this." Michael stood up and moved towards the door. "Let me see what I can do about the cuts, and talk to her a little bit. Maybe she just needs to talk about it."

"She won't talk. I can tell you that right now." She rubbed her forehead with one hand, she was used to little or no sleep but the strain of the last few days was beginning to show. She picked up her coffee cup and put it down without drinking from it. "I'll wait here."

*****

Michael stepped over David, once again sitting statue-like outside Ciela's room. He had his legs pulled up, with his head resting on his crossed arms. He looked every bit as dejected as someone whose dog, cat, and three ferrets all just died at once. "Is she asleep?" David shook his head no, and Michael knocked softly on the closed door. "Do you mind leaving for a bit? I'd like to talk to her privately." David stood without a sound and crossed behind Michael, heading slowly towards the attic. Mike watched him go, then knocked again a bit louder and entered the room cautiously when there was no response. "Ciela? Jayna asked me to come see about your arms. Can I come in?" He flipped the wall switch to turn on the overhead lights.

"You're already in, so why ask?" She said quietly as he crossed the room.

"Just trying to be polite." He pulled a chair over to sit next to the bed in front of her. She looked at him without seeing him, staring blankly into space. "Jayna asked me to look at your arms." When she didn't move, or respond, he added, "Please?"

"Why?"

"Because if you don't let me, then we'll have to take you to the hospital, and I really don't think you want that. They'll probably ask a lot of questions you don't want to answer." She immediately pulled one arm out from under the covers and held it out for him.

"You're a healer now?" She asked, pulling her attention a little closer back to the here and now.

"Yeah. How do you think I can guarantee 100% healing on all my tats?" He winced sympathetically as he unbandaged the proffered right arm. "This is going to take a little while. Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head no.

"I don't have anything to say."

"That's ok. I've got a few things to say myself. This doesn't have to be the end of the world."

"You don't understand..."

"Yea, I do, more than you could imagine. When we were at dinner you asked me about my time in the Marines. I didn't want to talk about it then, I think this is probably as good a time as any." Michael looked up into her eyes and drew a long breath. "I was in Force Recon. You know what that is?" She shook her head 'no' as his fingers drifted over her wounds. "Before the Army goes in, the Marines tromp down the grass. Recon blazes the trails for the Marines. Force Recon makes sure the Recon boys don't get killed."

*****

By the time Michael had finished healing the wounds, he realized he had Ciela's complete, undivided attention. "I don't usually tell people about that time in my life, as you can probably guess." She nodded, slightly wide-eyed. She was sitting up now, rubbing her right arm, which itched profusely but looked as if it had never been so much as scratched. She was still a bit paler than usual, but she didn't seem to have lost as much blood as Jayna had feared. "Jayna said you should have been able to heal those cuts on your own. Why didn't you?"

"I don't...I can't deal with them right now."

"Them?" He followed her eyes to the gleaming metal helmet on the dresser.

"Them, the others, the other Azangels, they're all in there. There's a lot more than I thought." There was a long, silent, pause before she spoke again, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She seemed to be debating with herself, considering her next words carefully. "One of them told me they were all proud of me...for what, for being useless, for letting him do that to me?"

"Did you fight back?" He asked quietly.

"Of course I did!" She practically screamed at him, eyes now open and boring holes through him. "How can you even ask..."

"If you fought back, why do you say you 'let' him do that?"

"What?"

"You said you 'let' him do that. You didn't, you did what you could, right?"

"Of course..."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? Maybe you'll feel a little better."

*****

Jayna looked up expectantly as Michael entered the kitchen. "I was afraid I was going to have to send in the National Guard, you were in there so long. Is she ok?"

"She's all right. She's just confused right now." He sat down and took the coffee Jayna offered. "She's stronger than you give her credit for." He looked at the clock on the kitchen wall in surprise, then sighed. "I should probably just stay for breakfast now, huh?"

"Wait, that's it? That's all you're going to say? You were in there for over two hours and all you can say is she's confused?"

"Well, she's confused, and a bit upset. More than anything else I think she was angry with herself for not being able to stop what happened. I think she understands though. She did what she could, and she realizes it now."

"She talked to you then? What did she say?"

"You know I don't repeat private conversations, I'm worse than a priest taking confessions in that way, but yes, I offered to help. She declined."

"She declined?" It was Jayna's turn to look surprised.

"Yep. She's going to be fine, but I am really glad you called. You really do worry about her, don't you?" He stood up and stretched, heading towards the door. "Listen, if anything else happens, if she wants to talk, just let me know. In the meantime, she's asleep, and if I get home right now I can probably rest up enough to be able to finish my morning appointments and close up early." He paused, listening, then shook his head. He moved towards the door leading back into the hallway, then went through it. Jayna followed to see what he was looking at.

David was back in the hallway, in what seemed to be his specially reserved spot outside Az's door. He didn't look nearly as desolate as he had earlier, when Michael had sent him away, and he paid them no mind.

"How does he DO that?" Jayna muttered.

"Empathy, to go along with the psychometry. Pretty interesting."

"Are you sure about that? It could be a fluke."

"Nope. He knew Ciela was awake before I even knocked on the door to her room. And I'm guessing he was already moving towards the bathroom when you heard her shout, wasn't he?"

Jayna thought back to that evening. "Could be. He nearly ran us over to get in there." She looked at him crossly. "You know something. You knew something the other day, didn't you? Did Ciela tell you David's the one who opened the door and let that creature into the house?"

"No, she didn't." He eyed the door. "But even if he did, I don't think it was a conscious decision on his part. He's awfully protective of her."

"I've noticed, and I want to have Ciela ask him to leave."

"I wouldn't, I just wouldn't." He paused for a moment, as Jayna looked ready to argue the point with him. "I could stay here and debate this all morning, but I really need to be going Jay." He hugged her warmly. "I'll call later today and see how things are going."

"Okay."

"Try to get some sleep."

"No problem."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"You need to get going." She would have laughed if she hadn't been so tired.

"By the way...lock your door next time you and Aqua..." He grinned at her. "Ciela said she walked into your room to talk to you last night. That's why she was avoiding Aquarius this morning. She was too embarrassed to say anything."

"She didn't while we were..?"

"No, you were asleep, but you freaked her out pretty good."

Chapter 12

Aquarius rolled over and opened his eyes. The sun was up and even if it was on the other side of the house it was bright enough to be painful. He didn't need any other reminders of why he didn't consume alcohol. There was already the dull pain behind his eyes, the foul taste in his mouth, and the dehydration. He got out of bed slowly and inched toward the bathroom, praying all the way that it was empty. Thankfully it was, and it took him only a few minutes to fill the tub and immerse himself in blessed relief.

Jayna awoke to the smell of something burning. She had fallen asleep on the sofa soon after Michael left, and was concerned that she might have left the coffee pot on to evaporate itself dry. When she entered the kitchen Az was standing at the stove with David close behind peering over her shoulder. "That doesn't look so bad, does it?" Ciela asked her companion, who only shrugged in reply.

"What doesn't?"

Ciela jumped, startled. "Eggs and toast. The toast looks good." She shoved David toward the sink. "Would you hand me that plate?" She scraped around in the bottom of the pan and deposited her eggs on the plate that he held out to her. They appeared to be not quite scrambled, fully cooked but not well mixed, fried eggs gone more than a bit wrong.

Aquarius breezed past Jayna and went straight for the refrigerator, helping himself to a bottle of water. "What's that awful smell?" he asked.

"When I broke the egg some of it dribbled down the side of the pan and burned underneath." Ciela offered. She took the plate and sat at the table poking at the odd-looking, rubbery mass with her fork.

"Do you want me to put that out of its misery, or are you in full 'I killed it, I'll eat it' mode this morning?" offered Jayna. "If you're interested in learning how to cook, I'd be happy to teach you." Ciela placed a forkful of her breakfast in her mouth, chewed a few times and winced. Jayna handed her a napkin, and she spat into it.

"Your eggs aren't crunchy." She said disconsolately, looking up at Jayna.

"Mine don't usually have shells in them either." Jayna took Ciela's plate and swept the contents into the trash, then turned on the exhaust fan over the stove. "Let's go out for breakfast, shall we?"

"I'll drive!" Aqua offered.

"Are you buying too?" He only shrugged in reply. "Give me a few minutes to freshen up." Jayna dropped the plate in the sink then headed out of the kitchen. "By the way Ciela, I want to thank you for not apologizing."

*****

Several days later:

"Yes, Ry, she's feeling better. No, she's not here right now. Yeah, well she's been doing a little bit of training...Tai Chi, some weights. It seems to be doing her some good. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you called her, do you have the number? Ok. All right, get back to work. I'll let her know you called." Jayna hung up the phone and walked back to the small room David was in, cleaning up the last of the damage done to the shop. "Any luck getting all the green blood out of the carpet?"

David muttered something most probably obscene but thankfully incomprehensible under his breath and stood up. Most of the blood was gone, and the carpet looked none the worse for wear. "Explain something to me." He started, running a hand through his hair to push his bangs out of the way. "Az lives here too, and you don't make her do this stuff. Why?"

"Easy. You don't live here."

"What?"

"You're dead, remember?"

"Very funny."

"Well, it's true! Besides, what else are you going to do all day? Rot? Besides, she's lousy at it. You're not."

"Maybe I need to start doing a sloppier job."

"Oh, don't do that. I enjoy the free help too much, and I think that Az would throw a fit if I suggested you leave." She laughed lightly, and turned to leave the room. "It looks like you're almost done. I do appreciate the effort you're putting into straightening up around here. I'm going to go check on Ciela, I'll be back in a little while."

"Why do I get the felling you weren't kidding about me leaving?" He said to her back.

"Because I wasn't."

*****

Jayna took her time walking the few blocks from her shop to the gym. It was one of the few places around that willingly opened its doors to metahumans, and was doing a brisk business even at this early hour. It wasn't exactly her idea of a perfect place to meditate, and she suspected that Michael had suggested it because it was relatively neutral ground, and quite public.
By the time she found Az, the pair were already finished with their routine and Mike was nowhere to be seen, either in the shower or already gone on to the mall to prepare the shop for the day. Ciela was rooting around in her bag for something, muttering under her breath in Nahuatl, and didn't see her enter. Jayna cleared her throat lest she risk scaring Ciela half to death.

"Hey, weren't you planning on going shopping today?"

"Yeah, I was, after lunch I guess. I'll be back before then to get cleaned up, then we can go, ok?" She turned quickly, shoving a towel on top of the bag and zipping it shut before Jayna could see what was in it. "I've got a few other things I want to do around here first." She grinned lopsidedly at Jayna. "I told you if I kept eating your cooking I was going to get fat, so..."

Jayna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Right, so you said. I don't believe a word of it! You better not turn into one of those whiney 'Oh, I'm so fat' people or I'll scream. Better yet, I'll make you cook for yourself." Ciela made a face at this, thinking back to the eggs, and stuck her hands into the air in mock surrender.

"You win, I won't argue."

"Just tell me one thing? Why didn't you answer your phone this time?" She pointed to the small phone sitting next to the bag. "At least you remembered to bring it."

"I turned the ringer off, sorry. It's hard to meditate when you're expecting someone to call and interrupt you."

"Ok...I'll make a deal with you. I won't call when you're here unless it's an emergency."

"And you won't let David call either."

"Oh goog..."

"He's worried!"

"I repeat...goog."

Ciela shrugged, and turned the ringer on the phone back on. It started to chirp almost immediately. Ciela handed the phone over to Jayna, who answered with a grin. "Is the floor clean yet, David? No? Then get back to work!" She hung up without another word and handed Ciela the phone back. "That will teach him."

"You'd better get back over there before he goes crazy and orders a hundred pizzas to the shop or something."

"If he does I'll dock his pay."

"But you don't pay him."

"Fine, then I'll dock your pay."

"That's not fair."

"You're right. Life rarely is. Listen, I'm going to go back home. You finish up whatever you were doing and call me when you leave so deadboy will stop nagging."

"Right, no problem." She waited until Jayna had been gone several minutes before opening the bag back up and pulling the towels out. Metal glinted in the bright overhead lights. "So as I started to say, you and me are going to have a little talk."