DISCLAIMER: You know who's ours and who isn't, right? To sum, Richie belongs
to the Clan Denial and he likes it that way! Any other Highlander character
still belongs to the Highlander folks and any Forever Knight character
belongs to the Forever Knight people. The two songs in here were written by
George and Ira Gershwin. Real historical people don't belong to anyone except
history. Anyone else belongs to us. :-)

                              Buried Memories

By Elizabeth M. Lawrence (luckyliz@mindspring.com) and Kathleen M. Wilson
(Psistriker@worldnet.att.net).


"Well lookie here!"

Richie Ryan looked up from the sports section and over at his lover, Aria
Andraven. "What's up, babe?" he asked.

"Accordin' to this, the De Young is hostin' an exhibit on swordmaking
throughout the ages," Aria answered, pointing to the ad in her section of the
paper. "Wanna go and laugh at 'em?"

"What?" Richie asked.

Aria brushed a strand of hair behind her ears. "It's somethin' Methos and I
used to do for fun," she answered. "He'd take me to the local museum and he'd
point out all the historical inaccuracies. It was always good for a laugh and
it's somethin' I've sort of picked up. I haven't done it in ages, but if
there's one thing I know, it's swordsmithin'."

Richie shrugged. "Yeah sure, why not?" he replied. "Although we should
probably wait until after dark so Elaine can come too. She's about as big on
history as you are."

"Sounds like a plan then," Aria said, grinning.



Elaine proved harder to talk into going than they expected.

"The De Youn'? Fahget it," she stated.

"But I thought you liked history," Richie said, confused.

She shoved the newspaper back at him. "Take anothah look at the ad. Ah'm not
goin'."

Richie and Aria looked over the ad again. Aria found the problem at the
bottom of the page. 

"Other exhibits ... blah, blah, blah ... Civil War photographs," she read off.

"Ah am not gon' tah lis'en tah a bunch of Yankay propagandis's lie abou'
what they did tah mah countray," the Southern Belle confirmed.

"So come with us and pull a Methos," Aria said. "He used to love spoutin'
off at the tour guides and tell 'em how they got it all wrong. You shoulda
seen it. There was this one guide in Paris, guy had one of those attitudes
that give all Frenchmen a bad name. Smelled like he hadn't taken a bath in
weeks, absolutely hated tourists, thought he knew everything, and I swear he
only got the job 'cause he was doin' the curator's daughter. Or the curator,
never really was sure which. Methos started contradictin' everythin' he said,
arguin' every bloody point. Reduced the guy to tears. It was bloody
hilarious."

"Think about it, 'Laine," Richie added. "It could be a lot of fun."

"No thanks," Elaine answered. Ah've seen how they treat Southnahs at these
thin's. Ah have no desiah tah beh tahked down tah. I'm going."

Elaine seemed just as surprised as the Immortals by her last two words.

"Elaine, did you just say...?" Richie asked.

"Ah didn' say that," the blonde frowned.

"No, I did," Fleur told them. "I want to see this, which means you're going,
too, Elaine. One way or the other."

Elaine snarled. It wasn't often Fleur threatened to take over like that, it
may even have been the first time, she couldn't remember. Usually Fleur just
did it, so there probably was a good reason for her doing it this way.

"Fine. Weh'ah goin'," she gave in. "But Ah'm callin' the museum an'
ahrangin' fah a private showin'."

"Oh sure, take all the fun out of it," Aria teased. But she was just
thankful enough that Fleur had gotten Elaine to go that she wasn't going to
belabor the point. Even though it was still kind of strange, having a ghost
live in her lover's head had its advantages.



It was really strange, being in an empty museum. Richie kept expecting
guards to rush in and accuse them of robbing the place. Having been arrested
for it once and knowing it was on his record did not help matters.

Aside from that, though, it was fun.

They decided to skip the Asian Art museum lodged in the East Wing. It hadn't
changed in at least twenty years, so they had all seen it before.

Instead, they headed for the West wing, to the swords. The exhibit stretched
over several rooms, each devoted to a different era.

For the first time, Elaine got to see part of what Richie had dubbed Aria's
"Methos streak". As they walked along, Aria let her cynical and sarcastic
side reign, making rude comments about all the mistakes. She snorted at the
wrong metals, cracked wise about the misnaming of tools, and basically
sounded like a female version of the old geezer. Of course, both Richie and
Elaine liked this side of the warrior woman better than her "Duncan streak".

Fleur made an appearance when they got to the Medieval section. 

Richie was surprised by how much she knew. Somehow, probably from all the
movies he'd seen as a kid, he'd gotten the idea that women in the Middle Ages
were, well, he wasn't sure what he expected. But it wasn't this.

"Really, Richard," she chided him, rolling her eyes. "Did you think women
just sat around all day, spinning? 'Twas part of my wifely duties to assist
mine husband in _all_ areas of life. And that included the Arts of War. A
proper wife was no good if she couldn't run the household in his absence. I
even led the castle defenses one time when we were besieged and Etienne
gone," Fleur boasted.

"Did ya win?" Aria asked.

"Of course. I would have made a much better knight than dear Nicholah if I
hadn't been trapped in a female body."

Aria grinned. "Too bad ya couldn't run off to join the Andravens," she said.
"Ya probably woulda fit right in."

Fleur thought it over. "I think I should have liked that," she finally said.
"But Nicholah would not let me go with Lucien, so I doubt a village of
heathen warrior women would have had much more of a chance. Besides, if I had
joined the Andravens, Elaine would never have been born and then where would
we all be?"

"She's got a point there," Richie replied.

"True, but I'm sure the Andravens missed out on one hell of a warrior," Aria
laughed. "And it's pagan, Fleur, not heathen."

"Ah, but that is a matter of perspective. As a good Christian girl, I was
taught that the poor souls who haven't discovered the One True Light were
heathen and should be pitied because they were damned. Of course," Fleur's
eyes twinkled, revealing a touch of Elaine, "we're not exactly a good
Christian girl any more, are we?"

"Girl I'll give ya, the rest is debatable," Aria snickered. "Although good
depends on what ya'll are appyin' it to."

"Ain't that the truth?" Richie added, laughing.

Fleur went over to Richie and pressed her body against him. "Well, I
certainly wasn't referring to this," she said as she forced her tongue
briefly between his lips. "Maybe I should take over the next time we're in
bed together, what would you think of that?"

"I think that if I want to keep my head right where it is, I'd better not
answer that," Richie answered. "'Cause either way could get me into some
serious trouble."

Aria grinned. "See, I keep tellin' ya you're brilliant," she laughed.

"Of course he is," the blonde agreed. "We wouldn't love him if he wasn't. OH!"

Fleur pushed past Richie, going over to a display case, so close she was
practically pressing her nose to the glass. Inside was a faded scabbard,
heavily covered in embroidery.

"I was hoping this would be here," she said. "I've been looking for it for
ages."

"What is it?" Richie asked.

"'Twas my wedding present to Etienne," Fleur answered, smiling. "The Duke
and his Court arrived at our castle one day and announced that he was there
to help me prepare for my forthcoming marriage. And since that was all the
Duke would say on the matter, I didn't know what else to make. The normal
present would have been a suit of clothing for my future husband to wear at
our wedding, but I didn't know what he looked like or how big he was, so I
made the scabbard instead."

"You didn't know your own husband?" Richie asked, confused.

Fleur shook her head. "Marriage had more to do with alliances and treaties
than love. Pap had been from the Old Duke's second marriage and he and the
current Duke hadn't gotten along very well, so not many were willing to risk
the Duke's displeasure by marrying me. And then Papa had died, so the few
offers I had ceased. But then one of the Duke's knights saved his life in
battle, so he offered my hand and the lands that came with it as a reward."

That still made no sense to Richie. "But why wouldn't he introduce you?" 

"Because Etienne didn't want him to," Fleur explained. "He wanted to meet me
without me going all womany on him, as he used to put it. So every time I was
alone, I found myself being pestered by one of the Duke's assistants."

Richie's forehead creased in confusion. He just could _not_ get his head
around this concept. "Why?" he just asked finally.

"At the time, I had no idea," she answered. "We never talked about the
upcoming wedding, more about whatever book I was carrying at the time."

"So there's this guys pestering you even though you were about to get
married?" Richie repeated, trying to get it straight.

Aria sighed. "Richie, love, I told you all those action movies would rot
your brain one day."

"Well, it wasn't so much pestering as just talking," Fleur said. "He was
real nice and was curious about what I thought. And I eventually grew to
looking forward to our meetings."

"So what happened?" Richie asked.

"The day came for my marriage, so we agreed not to meet anymore. It was ...
very painful for me, since I had grown rather fond of him by that time," she
answered. "Imagine my surprise when I got to church and found him waiting for
me."

Aria, who had figured out where this was headed a long time ago, grinned.
"Nice to know romance still wins out sometimes."

"What are you...?"  Richie blushed suddenly, finally getting it. "You
mean...?"

"Etienne wanted to make sure I had a brain, instead of being an empty headed
twit, as Elaine would say. So he asked for the deception and the Duke went
along with it," Fleur answered. "I thought it was very sweet of him."

"I think I would have liked that husband of yours, Fleur," Aria replied.
"Especially if he did want you because you had a brain."

"I think you would have, too," Fleur agreed. "Etienne was a lot like
Nicholah, only not quite so thick-headed at times."

Richie, on the other hand, was feeling extremely thick-headed. "I can't
believe I didn't figure that out," he sighed. "You two must have really loved
each other, huh?"

"He was my husband," she said. "The Lord saw fit to make us a good match."
She looked again at the scabbard, touching the air in front of the glass with
her fingertips.

"So what happened to the scabbard?" Richie asked, still feeling like the
village idiot.

"When Etienne was killed in battle," she slowly answered, "Sir Matthew
brought his body back to me, only without the scabbard. For some reason, I
think that upset me more than Etienne dying."

Aria stared at the scabbard thoughtfully. "You know, I've found some museums
can be ... persuaded to part with certain minor artifacts if the donation's
hefty enough."

Fleur looked at the scabbard one last time, then turned away. "No. That part
of my life is over. The scabbard should remain where it is, in the past where
it belongs."

Aria shrugged. "Just thought I'd mention it," she replied. But she gave
Fleur's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks," Elaine answered. "Nice tah know Ah had once nice life, isn' it?"

"Ida know, I thought you had a halfway decent one now," Richie replied,
kissing the top of her head.

"It is, it's jus'," she paused. "Can weh move on, please?"

Richie shrugged. "Sure," he replied.

"I've seen plenty here," Aria added.


They left the room, looking at the other exhibits. Finally, there was only
one exhibit left to see -- the collection of Civil War photographs.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Elaine," Richie told her.

Elaine thought it over. It was very tempting. Most of the memories of that
part of her life weren't very pleasant. On the other hand --

"No, Ah'm goin' tah have tah face this some time an' Ah'd rathah do it when
y'all ah heah with meh fah mahral suppaht."

Still, Richie and Aria hung back, not wanting to intrude.

The sound of Elaine's heels echoed through the museum as she walked the
halls, lost in thought.

So many memories. So many ghosts haunting her tonight. Almost an entire
generation lost to Lincoln's goons. How many of them had died in her arms or
in her presence? How many rows of wounded had she walked, picking out which
soldiers were worth trying to save and which ones were to be left to die? How
many of the survivors had done so, but less than whole, lacking an arm, a leg?

All they had wanted was the right to rule themselves; to not have laws
forced on them by outsiders. It was their _right_ to secede, given to them by
the Constitution. The _Yanks_ had been in the wrong, not them.

But the Yanks had won and the South had been paying for it ever since.

Elaine silently wandered through the pictures, her head lost in the past,
putting names to faces.

President Davis, a gentleman to the end despite two years in a cage on
public display. She'd missed his funeral, being in Europe at the time, and
had regretted it ever since. 

General Jackson. It was funny about him. His men hated him so much when he
was alive that there was a joke running about the medical camps that if a
soldier lost a leg or a foot, at least they wouldn't have to walk for Ol'
Jack anymore. For a while there'd been a counter-joke that said even if they
did lose a leg or foot, he'd _still_ make them march. But after he died,
those same soldiers _boasted_ of being in his foot calvary. Personally, she'd
always found him a little scary. He was so stern looking, always shouting
orders; it was overwhelming to the nine year old.

General Gordon. Oh, she definitely remembered him. When he had decided to
take his troops and join Lee up in Virginia, it'd put Papa in a right
quandary over what to do with Elaine. He didn't want to leave her with the
neighbors he was already lending Mammy to, yet he couldn't take a girl into
the camps. It just wasn't done. The problem was finally solved with a set of
boy's clothing and a haircut, and Elaine had spent the next four years as
Lane.

Several years later, she'd come across General Gordon preaching about
togetherness and how the North and South should live as one happy country.
She still wasn't sure if she'd forgiven him yet.

General Sherman. Bastard.

General Lee. Her first crush. She could still remember the dashing figure he
made sitting on a horse. Even now, over a hundred years later, the sight of a
bearded man on horseback still had the ability to make her heart flip. She
also remembered how, in the confusion after Gettysburg, he'd taken time out
from seeing his men to come visit her. He'd been so kind, telling her how
proud he was of her, how brave she'd been, calling her his 'Li'les' Soldiah.'
It'd been that talk, more than anything else, that had snapped her out of her
shock. And at Appomattox, when he'd taken down one of the flags and handed it
to her, she'd been so proud she'd almost swooned. He'd remembered her!
Despite being in a dress and with long hair. Now she realized that the light-
headedness was more likely due to not having eaten for several days and her
dress was probably the reason he recognized her. But it still didn't change
the thrill of the moment.

General Grant. Shortly after he'd been elected President her father had
written him in the hope that since Grant was also a veteran of the War, he'd
be a little more generous than the local carpetbaggers. In return, they'dbeen
invited to the White House for supper. Elaine hadn't wanted to go, but one
did _not_ refuse the President. Dinner had been as bad as she'd expected.
Grant had gotten drunk, of course, and had "accidentally" spilled a drink
down her front. The next several minutes were spent with her putting up with
his efforts to dry her off. It must have worked -- the next day they'd
received a donation of a thousand dollars. Right before being hustled out of
town.

Come to think of it, it was that supper where she'd met Jimmy's father for
the first time. She'd come across him in the garden, making out with the
daughter of some ambassador. At the time, she'd thought 'typical Yank
behavior.' But the image had stuck in her mind. And later she'd had a chance
to sample those kisses herself. Plus some. She wondered -- yes, there he was,
right next to Grant.

One picture really drew Elaine's attention.

It couldn't be, could it?

She went for a closer look.

It _was._

"Richay, Ari, c'meah," she beckoned in a whisper, trying very hard not to
giggle. "Yah've got tah see this."

She waited until her lovers were next to her then started putting names to
faces.

"That's Ol' Jack, Stonewall Jackson tah yah, Richay. Ah think this mus've
been on of the las' photographs taken befoah he died." Elaine continued to
name the people until she got to the two she'd been saving for last. "That
one was Doctah Thomas Fahres'ah an' see that li'le kid whose shouldah he's
got his hand on? That was the _ahn'rayes'_ li'le brat that evah lived east of
the Mississippi."

Aria stared at the picture for a moment and then grinned. "Aye, I'm sure
that little munchkin must have been a real stinker alright," she replied.

"Absolutelay incahrigible," the blonde agreed.

"Any idea what happened to the brat?"

"Ah heah the kid fell in with a couple a' ne'er-do-wells," Elaine teased.

"What are you two talking about?" Richie asked, confused.

"Ya don't get it, do ya, Halvan?" Aria replied.

Richie sighed. "That's starting to become the call of my life," he said.

Elaine snickered. "Richay, that's meh!" she laughed.

He looked at the picture again. "But ... but that's a _boy._"

"What, yah think Papa was goin' tah le' meh run aroun' camp dressed as a
gahl?" she asked. "Get real. It wasn' fi'in'. Bad enough Ah had tah beh
involved at all, an' at such a tendah age. It would have been impossible in a
skaht. Ah wondah, d'yah think Ah can get a copay of this?"

She looked around the room, then set off in search of someone to ask.

Richie and Aria looked on in amusement. It wasn't often Elaine talked about
her mortal life and when she did, it was usually accompanied by a lot of
swearing. So this was a complete surprise. But a pleasant one.

Suddenly, Elaine returned to them, "C'mon, weh'ah leavin'." She grabbed
their hands, pulling them towards the exit.

"Huh? Wha? What's going on?" Richie asked.

"Don' ask questions," the blonde told them. "Le's jus' get out of heah. Ah
lnew comin' heah waz a bad ideah."


It started with nightmares. The Immortals wouldn't even have known Elaine
was having them if Aria hadn't caught her raising the blinds to let the sun
shine on the sheets still bloody from her sweat.

"'Laine, what's the matter?" Aria asked.

"What makes yah think somethin's the ma'ah," the blonde snapped.

"Ah'm sahrah," she said a few minutes later. "Ah seem tah beh on edge
la'elay."

"So I've noticed," Aria replied. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Ain' nothin' tah talk abou'," Elaine shrugged. "Had a nigh'maah, woke up.
Happened befoah, it'll happen again."

"Still couldn't hurt," Aria pointed out. "Great Mother knows, I've had me
some doozies in my lifetimes."

"Maybeh," the blonde answered. "If Ah remembahed it."

Aria sighed, running her hand through her hair. "'Laine, love, I'm tryin'
not to push here, but if ya don't start tellin' me what's goin' on soon, I
may have to break ya in half."

"Ah don' know what's goin' on," Elaine snapped, heading for the door. "Yah
wan' tah help, hold meh the nex' time Ah go tah sleep."

"Okay, I will," Aria agreed. "But I think ya know more than you're
admittin'. It wouldn't have anythin' to do with those pictures at the museum
would it?"

Elaine stopped in her tracks. "Shouldn' beh. Why would yah think that?"

"Just that you were fine until then," Aria answered. "I mean, I could be
wrong but it does seem like we stumbled onto a wee bit of a touchy subject
there, love."

"That paht of mah life is ovah," Elaine stated, after taking a deep breathe.
"It has no beahrin' on what's happ'nin' today."

"That's easy to say, but harder to believe," Aria replied. "At least that's
the way I've always felt about it."

"Yah not a vampiah," Elaine said. She then left the room, ending the
conversation.



Still concerned, whatever Elaine said, Aria talked it over with Richie and
they arranged for one of them to be with Elaine every time she slept. It
worked, for the most part, though both of them received bruises that would
have incapacitated anyone else.

Then one night on the six o'clock news, it was announced that a suspected
child molester was being released on a technicality. Elaine stared at the
screen, long after the news was over, then turned and headed upstairs.

"Where're you going?" Richie asked.

"Out," she answered. "Don' wait up."

She returned shortly before dawn, covered in blood. Not saying anything, she
showered and crawled into bed. For once, the nightmare didn't return, though
whether it was because some dark demon had temporarily been laid to rest or
simple exhaustion was anyone's guess.

But neither of the Immortals were very surprised when the molester was later
found torn to shreds.

Aria sighed, running her hands through her hair, as she sat down at the
kitchen table. "I don't know what we're gonna do with her," she said.

"I don't know either," Richie agreed. "The other time she went off the deep
end, she, well, it wasn't like this."

"What happened?" Aria asked.

"It was right after Mac came back from Scotland and before he found out she
was a vampire. She was making dinner for us at Mac's when he popped a bagpipe
CD in the stereo. Elaine screamed, grabbed her ears and jumped out the
window," Richie answered. "I later found her back at her place cutting the
clothes she had been wearing into shreds and burning them in the fireplace."

"And?" Aria prompted.

"I ... started yelling at her," he admitted, still not very proud of the way
he had handled it. "She just sat there the whole time, correcting me when I
had something wrong. I finally stopped yelling and that's when I realized she
was crying."

"So what happened after that?" Aria asked.

"She told me what happened," Richie answered. "The bagpipes had done
something to her head and it took killing two people to clear her mind and a
third who saw her kill the second one. It was the third one she was most
upset about. She ... stalked him."

"Stalked him?" Aria repeated.

"Chased him and hunted him to the ground like an animal," Richie explained.

"Oh dear," Aria replied.

"Yeah," Richie nodded.

"So what did you do?" Aria asked.

"What could I do?" he shrugged. "Held her until she stopped crying."

"But what do we do now?" Aria asked.

Richie looked at her. "I have no idea," he said. "Wait until she opens up, I
guess."

"And how exactly do we go about gettin' her to do that, hmm?" Aria asked. "I
know how to get to Duncan, I know which buttons to push to get Methos to
spill his guts, and half the time I just have to look at you to get ya
singin' like a bloody canary. But I don't know how to get Elaine to do it."

"You sure you want to?" Richie asked. "I mean, what if she takes off again?"

Aria sighed. "I don't know what I want," she answered. "I just know I don't
like watchin' her like this."

While the two Immortals were still pondering what to do, Elaine came
bounding down the stairs.

"Good ev'nin'," she said brightly, kissing them on the lips.

"Aye, somebody's just a wee bit chipper this evein'," Aria teased her.

"A good day's rest will do that tah a boday," the blonde answered. "Yah
know, Ah had the oddes' dream ahlayah. Ah dreamed a couple of people wah
talkin' abou' meh behind mah back. Sah Ah hun'ed them down an' killed them."

"Ya don't say," Aria replied, the picture of innocence.

"Ah do say," Elaine returned. "Ah don' suppose eithah one of yah knows why
Ah dreamed that, do yah?"

"Who? Us?" Richie squeaked.

"Well, we were discussin' what to do about dinner," Aria added, kicking him,
under the table. "Ya know, wonderin' if we should go ahead and make
reservations or wait and see if you felt like cookin' first. Although Richie
was suggestin' we bag the whole thing and go for burgers. But I don't think
that would have made you dream about people talkin' behind your back, Raltra."

Elaine frowned, sensing that Aria wasn't telling the whole truth. But Richie
and Aria weren't the only ones hungry and those burgers were sounding awfully
good. "Bahgah Kin'?" she suggested.

"Works for me," Aria replied.

"Works for me, too," Richie said, grabbing the keys to the Caddie.

Aria grabbed her coat and purse, then the trio headed out.



Elaine was pretty much back to normal after that. No more nightmares, no
more waking up to bloody sheets. Just her usual horny, Hungry self.

So while Richie and Aria wouldn't forget it ever happened, they were willing
to let the matter drop for a while.

Then they were heading out one evening right after sunset when Elaine
suddenly stopped, looked around and ran off. Richie and Aria chased after her
and found her gripping a man by the wrist, staring into his eyes. A small
child stood next to them.

"Yah will nevah _evah_ say that tah anothah chil' again," she was telling
him. "Yah heah meh?"

"Elaine?" Aria asked quietly, not wanting to startle her lover but still
confused.

With her free hand, Elaine waved Aria silent. "Yah heah meh?" she repeated.

"Never say that," the man repeated.

"Verrah good," Elaine mockingly congratulated him. "Now, this inciden' nevah
took place. All that happened was yah stah'ed yellin' at yah daugh'ah, took a
good, hahd look at yahself an' didn' like what yah saw. Right?"

"Right," the man said dully.

"Then why don' yah go an' treat hah tah a hot fudge sundae?" she then
suggested, dismissing him.

The man shook his head and then turned to his daughter. "I'm sorry,
sweetie," he said. "Let's go get some ice cream."

The little girl looked at her father, then at Elaine, unsure of whether or
not to believe what had happened. Then she shrugged, took his hand and left,
thinking if nothing else, she got a sundae out of it.

"'Laine?" Richie asked, confused. "What happened?"

"Ah _despise_ people who yell at theah children," she said instead, watching
the two leave.

"Elaine?" Aria asked again, trying to get her lover's attention.

"Yes?" Elaine looked at her.

"What happened?" Aria asked. "One minute you're fine and the next you're
runnin' off and we catch ya whammin' some guy in front of his little girl."

"Sahrah," the blonde apologized. "Ah have a had time heahrin' anyone callin'
a chil' stupid an' such, an Ah jus' couldn' abide it this time."

"Are you okay?" Richie asked.

"Ah fine," she said, growing annoyed at the attention. "What happened tah
Ghirahdellah Squaah?"

"As far as I know it's still there," Richie answered. "However, since we're
now going the wrong way, I could be wrong."

"Well why didn' yah wahn meh?" Elaine asked, checking her bearings and going
off in the right direction.

"Like you gave us much of a choice," Richie muttered to himself as he and
Ari followed after her.


Richie and Aria braced themselves for another round of nightmares, but
fortunately, none came.

That didn't mean everything was peachy with Elaine, though. Richie,
especially, would get a strange feeling down his spine, only to find Elaine
glaring at him with hate-filled eyes.

Then one night while Elaine was washing the dishes (something Richie still
didn't understand; wasn't that what the dishwasher was for?), Richie came up
behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, intending to give her a kiss.

Elaine grabbed one of his wrists, twisting it painfully as she turned
around. "Don' yah _evah touch meh like that again, yah damn Ya-- Richay!" She
let go of the wrist like it was a flaming cross.

Richie pulled his arm back and cradled his wrist. "Elaine, what the hell do
you think you're doing?!" he snapped. "Any harder and you would have broken
it!"

The blonde backed up away from him, surprised as much by her actions as
Richie's words. "Ah ... Ah ... Ah'm sahrah," she stammered, right before
running past Aria and out the door.

"Ah shit," Richie muttered to himself.

"And just what in the bloody hell was that all about?" Aria asked as she
came into the kitchen.

"I went up to kiss Elaine and she ... freaked," he answered. "Just about
tore my arm off."

Aria sighed. "Should we wait for her or should we go lookin' for her?" she
asked.
 
"Wait for her," Richie guessed. "Or at least wait until she's had a chance
to calm down."

Aria ran her hand through her hair. "I don't like this, Richie," she said.
"I don't like any of this at all."

"Neither do I," Richie said, going over to her and putting his arms around
her. "But I don't want lose her, either."

Sighing, Aria hugged him back.



Elaine never returned home that night. Nor the next. So, after calling Joe
and Nick, to make sure she wasn't in Seacouver or Toronto, Richie and Aria
decided to go look for her.

"Alright, think," Aria ordered, "where could she have gone?"

"Would Lou know?" Richie asked.

Aria shrugged. "I doubt it," she answered. "But it wouldn't hurt to call him
and ask I guess."

Unfortunately, Lou had no idea where Elaine was. "And even if I did," he
said, "I couldn't tell you. Mama 'Laine never changed her privacy orders."

"Privacy orders?" Aria asked, confused.

"Mama 'Laine doesn't like anyone poking about her place," he explained. "So
she's forbidden me to give out her address or phone number or anything."

Aria sighed. "I guess I can understand that," she replied, "even if it does
throw a major spanner in the works."

"If it's any help, didn't she say something about getting a job? Why don't
you check there?" Lou suggested.

"It's worth a shot I guess," Aria answered. "Thanks, Lou."

"No problem. Tell Richie I said hi," Lou said, before hanging up.

"So what did he say?" Richie asked as Aria hung up the phone.

"Hi," Aria replied.

"Ha ha, very funny," Richie answered. "What did Lou really say?"

"Hi," Aria repeated. "But he also said that he couldn't give us her address
or phone number, but we might want to try that club she had wanted to sing
at."

Richie grinned and pulled Aria into his arms, spinning her around. "That's
brilliant! Why didn't we think of that?"

"Don't ask me," Aria replied. "You're supposedly the one who knows her
better."

"You're the woman," he reminded her. "I thought women always knew what each
other were thinking."

Aria just smacked him in the chest. "Grab your coat so we can get goin'."

 

          Nothing seemed to matter any more, more,
          Didn't care what I was headed for; 
          Time was standing still, 
          Nothing counted till
          There came a knock-knock-knocking at the door.

          Love walked right in and drove the shadows away; 
          Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day. 
          One magic moment and my heart seemed to know. 
          That love said "hello," 
          Though not a word was spoken. 
          One look and I forgot the gloom of the past; 
          One look and I had found my future at last. 
          One look and I had found a world completely new,
          When love walked in with you. 

As they walked into the club, the two Immortals visibly relaxed. The sound
of their lover's voice was as unmistakable and unforgettable as she was. So
it could only have been Elaine on that stage.

The song finished, to the usual applause. Elaine spoke briefly to the
conductor, who nodded and led the band into an instrumental piece, and left
the stage, going over to the bar.

Aria and Richie threaded their way through the crowd, heading towards the
bar. They stopped about a yard from the blonde, not sure of what they would
find.

"Yah said theah'd beh no moah yellin'," Elaine started, looking at them.

"Don't look at me," Aria replied, "he's the moron."

"I'm sorry," Richie said. "It just caught me by surprise. I'm not used to
you hurting me anywhere but the bedroom." The last comment obviously being
his lame attempt at humor to help lighten the mood.

"Ah didn' grab yah that hahd," Elaine said, still not quite ready to make up
yet.

Richie ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah you did, 'Laine," he said slowly.
"I, uh, I still had the imprint of your hand an hour later. I'd probably
still have bruises if I didn't heal so well."

Elaine's face fell. "Ah did?"

Richie nodded.

"But --" The blonde's shoulders slumped. "Then Ah desahved bein' yelled at."

"No, you didn't," Richie countered. "I know you didn't mean to do it and I
shouldn't have yelled at you. I just ... I just didn't think."

Elaine thought it through, dismissing the whole incident. "Sah what ah y'all
doin' heah?"

"Lookin' for you," Aria answered. "Ya haven't been home in two days, we've
been worried sick."

"Been back at the apah'men," Elaine told them. "Had some thin's tah do theah."

Aria didn't quite believe the blonde, but she didn't want to press the
matter either. At least not yet anyway. "Did you finish it all?"

"No. But Ah would like sum help," Elaine answered.

"Anything we could do?" Richie asked.

"Ah could use a few opinions," she said. "Ah'm redecahra'in' the place."

"Well, I don't know much about decorating, but I know Ari's full of
opinions," Richie replied.

Aria rolled her eyes. "'Laine, please, you have to come home before I kill
him," she teased.

"Can' y'all get alon' without meh?" Elaine asked, half teasing, half serious.

Aria shrugged. "Don't know and quite frankly, I don't ever want to find
out," she answered.

Elaine nodded, looking at Richie to back Aria up.

"Hey, I already know I can't survive without the both of you," Richie added.

Feeling more secure, Elaine decided to do a little playing. "But Ah can',"
she said. "Ah still have too many thin's to do at the apah'men'." 

"I think she's fishin' for some help," Aria teased.

"Meybeh," Elaine said, smiling.

"Does this mean I'm gonna get stuck moving furniture again?" Richie groaned.

"Onlay the thin's Ah can' move by mahself," she assured him. "This mean
yah'l beh comin' home with meh?"

"If you're offerin'," Aria replied.

"Onlay if yah wan' tah," Elaine said.

Aria reached out and gently touched the blonde's face. "Of course we do,
Raltra."

"Reallay?" Elaine asked in her little girl's voice.

"Would we be here if we didn't want you?" Richie replied.

"Yah could have come fah the show," she said, again unsure of herself.

"True," Aria agreed. "But since we missed it, I don't think that's it."

"Yah haven' missed anythin'," Elaine said, again smiling. "Ah'm jus' takin'
a break, that's all."

Richie took Elaine's hand and kissed it. "We didn't come for the song,
Elaine," he said. "We definitely came for the singer."

Elaine looked at her hand and frowned. "Richay...."

"What'd I do now?" Richie said, worried he'd upset her again.

"That's not mah mouth," she answered.

Smiling with relief, Richie quickly corrected the matter. "How's that?"

Elaine grabbed his ears, making sure the second kiss lasted longer. "Much
be'ah. Lahday, but Ah've missed y'all."

"Now you know how we felt," Aria teased.

"This mean yah won' kiss meh?" Elaine asked.

"Hell no! Just means ya won't get the good stuff until we get home," Aria
shot back. Then she kissed Elaine on the cheek.

Smiling, Elaine turned to the bartender. "Ahnay, give Richay 'n' Ari
whatevah they wan' an' put it on mah tab," she told him, before turning back
to her lovers. "Ah got tah go back tah wahk."

"We'll be right here waitin' for ya," Aria promised.

Elaine gave them both another kiss and flounced off. She returned to the
stage, spoke again to the conductor and went up to the mike.

          The more I read the papers
          The less I comprehend
          The world and all its capers
          And how it all will end.
          Nothing seems to be lasting, 
          But that isn't our affair; 
          We've got something permanent, 
          I mean in the way we care.

          It's very clear
          Our love is here to stay; 
          Not for a year
          But ever and a day. 
          The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
          May just be passing fancies, 
          And in time may go.

          But, oh my dear, 
          Our love is here to stay; 
         Together we're going a long, long way. 
         In time the Rockies may crumble, 
         Gibraltar may tumble, 
         They're only made of clay,
         But our love is here to stay.



Despite their assurances, Elaine was still pleased to find them waiting for
her when she was ready to leave.

"Yah still heah," she said.

"Of course we are," Aria replied. "I promised we would be, didn't I?"

"Yah did, it's jus,--" Elaine shook her head. "Nevah mind."

Aria took Elaine's hand and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "You fly
or drive?"

"Fly, a'cahse," the blonde answered. "No drivah's license."

That got Richie's attention. "Then why do you have the Caddie?" he asked,
confused.

"Ah like the looks," she answered, shrugging. "An' the trunk space. An'
maybeh Ah knew theah'd beh someone who could drive it fah meh some day."

Richie grinned. "Well, you'll have to settle for Ari's Jeep tonight," he said.

"That's fine,' she said, returning the smile.

The two Immortals each took one of the vampire's hands and started leading
her to the car. After a few seconds, her hand slipped out of theirs and
wrapped around their waists instead, pulling them close. They reached the
Jeep and piled in, with Elaine taking her usual spot in the back seat.

"Sah what do yah think of the Stahligh' Club?" she asked them.

"It was nice," Richie answered. "I tend to prefer a place like Joe's, but it
was still nice."

Aria smacked him in the chest before starting the car. "Boy's got no class,"
she replied. "It was beautiful, 'Laine. Very classy, I liked it."

"Good," Elaine said, pleased by their opinions. "Too bad theah ain' moah
people who think sah."

"Maybe ya need better advertisin'," Aria suggested. 

"The ownah's tried that," Elaine said. "It didn' wahk, much. An' he doesn
have the budget fah television ads."

"Maybe, but he didn't have you singing there before," Richie pointed out.

Elaine lightly smacked him in the shoulder. "Ah can' beh in the ads, an' yah
know it."

"Not your face but your voice," Richie replied. "That wouldn't cause a
problem, would it?"

"Would yah fahget mah voice if yah hahd meh sin'in'?" she pointed out.

"Well, Ari and I are kinda biased on that point," Richie countered, winking
at her.

"MacLeod didn' fahget," she reminded him. "An' that was aftah seventay yeahs."

Richie sighed. "Look, all I know about clubs comes from the one weekend I
tried to help Joe out and I almost burnt the place to the ground, so I don't
know what to tell ya, 'Laine," he said finally.

Elaine leaned over the front seat. "That's all right. Ah didn' fall in love
with yah fah yah brains," she said, giving him a kiss.

"Good thing I'm cute, huh?" Richie replied, smiling.

"Verrah good," she said, kissing him again.

"Ahem," Aria replied, trying to remind them she was there. "_If_ we're gonna
go to your apartment, 'Laine, I'm gonna need directions."

"Tahn lef' heah," Elaine said. "Yah'll have tah pahk at the end of the
street an' wahk the rest of the way, Ah'm afraid. The Citay decided it waz
too dangahrous tah drive on it." 

"Okay," Richie replied. "'Laine, hon, where exactly is this place?"

"Lumbahd," Elaine said in her tiny voice. 

"Really?" Richie asked, excited. "Wicked cool."

"Yah've hahd of it?" Elaine asked.

"Are you kidding?" Richie countered. "That's one of the most famous streets
in the world."

"Maybeh Ah should move then, if it's that famous," the blonde teased.

"Don't you dare!" Richie shot back. "Unless you wanna move in with us
permanently." Then he winked at her.

"That's _verrah_ temptin'," Elaine said. "But Ah'm afraid if Ah moved in
pahmanen'lay, weh'd have tah find room fah all mah stuff. An' Lou's house is
way too small."

"We could always build ya a storage room out back," Aria suggested.

"Buyin' the house nex' doah woud beh be'ah," Elaine said. 

"I'm game if you are," Aria replied, grinning.

"Yah dislike the neighbah that much?" Elaine teased.

"Nope, but I love you that much," Aria answered. "I'd buy ya the whole block
if ya wanted."

"But if yah did, then Ah'd have tah give up that," Elaine countered,
pointing to the largest house.

"One of these days, _I'm_ gonna finally be the one to surprise you two with
the big house," Richie sighed.

"Yah don' like it?" Elaine asked.

"It's gorgeous," Richie answered, "I'm just tired of you guys showing me up
all the time."

"Think of it this way, Halvan," Aria said. "Elaine and I have collectively
spent nearly five centuries collecting things of great beauty. So the fact
that we both fell for ya should say a lot about you as well."

Richie smiled. "You think so?"

"A'cahse," Elaine backed Aria up. "Wan' us tah show yah?"

"Might be nice," Richie replied.

"In that case," Elaine said, taking the keys out of her purse. "Whai don'
weh head inside?"



However, while Elaine was now home where she belonged, things were not
completely settled. Her nightmares returned, with a vengeance. This time they
were bad enough, that after a few days of struggles, Riche and Aria decided
to try and find out what had set her off.

"All right, Richie, think," Aria said. "What could have upset her this much?"

"You know Elaine," Richie sighed. "She never tells us anything, most of the
time. When did this all start, anyway?"

Aria started playing with one of her knives while she thought. "After we
went to the museum," she answered finally. "She freaked out after we saw the
Civil War exhibit and she had her first nightmare the next night."

"So maybe we should go there and try and find out what she saw," Richie
suggested.

"But do we want to leave her alone that long?" Aria asked.

"What about calling Lou and having him watch her?" Richie said.
 
Aria thought it over. "It's better than nothin'," she answered finally. "Go
call him and see what he says."



"I'll be glad to help," Lou agreed, when Richie phoned. "As long as you
don't think she'll be too much for these old bones."

"Believe me, Lou, your age has nothing to do with why we're worried," Richie
replied. "It's more like your mortality level. However, you're the only
around here she trusts, and that we'd feel comfortable enough to leave her
with, and we gotta do _something_."

"No problem," Lou said. "I'll be over first thing in the morning."

"Thanks, Lou," Richie replied. "You have no idea how much this means to us."



There weren't very many people in the De Young when Richie and Aria arrived,
but it was still busier than the last time they'd been there.

They headed straight for the Civil War photos, since that was where the
problem was.

"So where do we start?" Richie asked.

"She was fine when we were here," Aria said, going over to the picture of
Elaine and her father. "Where'd she go after that?"

"She started to go find someone to ask if she could buy a copy of that
picture," Richie answered.

"Which was ....this way." Aria tried to copy Elaine's movements from that
night.

"Wait, back up!" Richie called out. "I remember she glanced in that case
right before she turned around and came back after us."

Aria turned and looked at the case. None of the photographs in it seemed the
least bit familiar to her. "See anythin' ya recognize?" she asked Richie, who
had come up next to her.

"Not really," Richie admitted. "Just a bunch of Union soldiers."

Aria's eyes suddenly grew wide.
 
"You see something?" Richie asked.

"Not exactly," Aria answered. "Just puttin' somethin' together, I think.
Richie, what did she say to you when she grabbed you?"
 
Richie thought it over. "Something about getting my hands off of her," he
paused and smiled. "Damn Yank."

Aria moved closer to the case. "Richie, how much did Elaine tell ya about
her mortal life?" she asked quietly. "Before Reese I mean."

"A little," he shrugged. Actually it was a lot more than just a little, but
it always came in bits and pieces, so sometimes it was hard to pull it all
together. Then something clicked in his head. "You think one of the men in
this picture is the bastard who raped her."

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Aria replied. "I remember when she
told me about it, it was all I could do to get her calmed down enough to talk
about somethin' else."

"Really?" Richie asked. "The times I heard about it, she said she didn't
remember much of it."

Aria got that look on her face that usually meant there was something she
didn't quite want to tell him. "She, um, she told me about after she and I
first shared blood," she answered vaguely. "She wasn't very detailed, but the
anger was still there."

Not wanting to pry, Richie put his arm around her and pulled her close. "So
what do we do?" he asked.

"I don't know," Aria sighed. "But I think I've got a better idea about how
to go about all this."



Elaine shifted in her sleep, murmuring quietly. Richie and Aria relaxed,
waiting for the day's nightmare to begin.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

She ran across the countryside, careful to avoid the fighting. It wasn't
easy; the fighting had been going on for two days now, and was spread out all
over the place.

But that was why she was there. Supplies were running low. Supplies were
_always_ running low. No one had expected the War to go on this long.

So every time a wounded soldier was brought in, their left over ammo was
collected. And when there wasn't anything else to do, she carried it back to
the troops.

Because there wasn't much a ten year old 'boy' could do in a medical camp.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

More movement, faster this time, more frantic.

"I think it's starting," Richie whispered to Aria.

"Great Mother but I hate this," Aria sighed.

Richie leaned over Elaine and hugged Aria. "I know. I do, too."

Unfortunately, neither one of them realized that doing so had brought them
in contact with Elaine....

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

A pair of hands grabbed her, lifting her in the air.

"Le' go!"

"Ain't this cute, a little Rebel boy, all dressed up like a soldier."

Damn Yank! She struggled, twisting in his grip. Somehow, she wound up turned
around, looking at him....

The Yank froze, going flat and losing color.

Elaine found herself standing in front of a large, black and white
photograph. She stepped inside, wandering through the one-inch thick figures.
All the men in her life were there, dressed up as Yankee soldiers. Her
father. Nick. Lucien. West. Reese. Jimmy. MacLeod. Joe. Richie. Methos. 

And Him.

A pair of hands grabbed her, lifting her in the air.

"Le' go!"

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

"Le' go!" she cried out loud, struggling against the bodies next to her.

Aria gently gripped the blonde's shoulder. "'Laine, it's all right," she
said. "It's just a dream, Raltra, let it go. Let it go."

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

He shook her, roughly, trying to get her to stop struggling.

It didn't work. All it did was make her fight harder.

She struck out, with feet and fists, hoping to free herself.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Richie ducked a fist that was coming at his face. "'Laine, it's us!" he
said. "It's Richie and Aria. C'mon, wake up! Please?"

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

"It's me, little Reb," he laughed at her. "You remember what happens next,
don't you? I find out you're no boy."

A foot connected, close enough the Yank dropped her. She fell to the ground
and ran.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Shoving Richie and Aria aside, Elaine scrambled out of bed, stumbling over
the sheets.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

The girl tripped, caught by a tree root. Something horrible was going to
happen, she just knew it.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Eyes wide open, yet unseeing, Elaine stared at Richie and Aria, shaking with
fear.

"'Laine?" Richie asked tentatively.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

"Oh, 'Lainey," Reese said, 
unbuckling his pants. "You busy?"

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

"No, please," Elaine whimpered.

"What do we do?" Richie hissed.

Aria thought about it for a second. "When in doubt,"

"Get her knife," they finished in unison.

They searched the bed and night stand. Richie finally found it stuffed
inside one of the pillows.

He handed it to Elaine hilt first.

She snatched it out of his hand, growled, and grabbed his wrist in an iron
grip.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Her knife appeared in her hand, right about the same time Reese was reaching
for her.

Something snapped inside her head. She was _not_ going to let him get away
with it. Not this time.

She grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Go tah hell," she growled, tossing him as hard as and far as she could.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Richie landed with a hard thud on the other side of the room, his head
hitting the wall. "No more, Mommy, the new stuff makes me pee blue," he
mumbled before passing out.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

That was fun. But Elaine wasn't done yet and she tossed her knife after him.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

Richie recovered just in time to scramble just far enough backwards to keep
her knife from permanently changing him into a soprano. "Okay, either we cure
her of this thing _now_ or I'm moving," he squeaked.

Not that evening, though. Satisfied with the way she had defended herself,
Elaine curled back up, going deeper into sleep.




Richie and Aria were waiting when Elaine woke up that evening.

"Raltra, we need to talk," Aria started.

"Reallay?" Elaine raised an eyebrow. "What abou'?"

"How much do ya remember about this mornin'?" Aria asked.

"Had a nigh'maah, got ovah it," the blonde shrugged, going over to the
fridge. She opened it, took out a half-empty wine bottle and poured the
contents into a waiting glass. "Any requests fah suppah?"

"Ya wanna try that again?" Aria suggested. "Maybe ya wanna consider the part
where ya started talkin' in your sleep, or the part where ya jumped out of
bed, or the part where ya threw Richie here clear across the room, or the
part where ya nearly ruined our sex life by turnin' the poor dear into a
geldin'."

"Like Ah said, had a nigh'maah, got ovah it," Elaine repeated, this time
defensively. "An' if Ah'm sah much a bothah, maybeh Ah should sleep somewheah
else fah a while."

"You're not a bother and ya don't need to sleepin' somewhere else," Aria
replied. "But if'n ya don't stop bein' so defensive and don't start lettin'
me help you through this, _Richie_ might start sleepin' somewhere else."

"Or start wearing armor to bed," Richie muttered to himself.

Aria smacked him before turning back to Elaine. "We're just worried about
ya, Raltra," she said. "Somethin's obviously botherin' ya, and it hurts us
both to see ya like this. It hurts even more that you won't _talk_ to us."

"Theah ain' nothin' wron' with meh!" Elaine snapped. "An' even if theah wah,
Ah'll take caah of it. Ah _don'_ need nobody's help!"

Slamming her glass on the counter, she headed for the door.

Aria cut in front of her, blocking the doorway. "I'm not sayin' there's
anythin' wrong with ya," she countered. "But you've been tryin' to take care
of it yourself and it's only makin' things worse. Sometimes lovin' someone
means ya gotta open up whether ya want to or not. At least _talk_ to us.
Please?"

Elaine eyes turned blood red. "Yah got five seconds tah get the hell out of
mah way befoah Ah move yah," she said coldly.

Aria ran a hand through her hair. "Fine, if that's the way ya want it, love,
then I give up," she said. "I've tried bein' patient with ya, I've tried
reachin' out to ya, but I guess you just don't give enough of a damn about me
or about yourself to even try. I _love_ you more than I love anyone, 'cept
Richie, and there it's even. But I guess I don't measure up to your standards
or ya wouldn't keep threatin' me. So if that's what ya want, then leave. If
the fact that you're pullin' m'heart out and rippin' into teeny little pieces
ain't enough to make ya stay, then I ain't gonna bother to try anythin' else.
I just don't have the strength to argue with ya anymore."

She surprised Elaine with a quick and gentle kiss before moving away. "Just
try and remember we love you, wherever you end up." Then she walked out of
the room.

For a moment, Elaine's eyes flickered to blue and back. She opened her mouth
to say something, giving Richie and Aria the hope that maybe this time she'd
open up. Then she wiped the kiss off her cheek and stormed out.

"Ari, what...." Richie started.

Aria glared at him. "Don't, Richie," she replied. "Just don't."



                  BREAK-IN AT DE YOUNG BAFFLES AUTHORITIES
                            By Allan Smithee
                          Chronicle Staff/Writer

     SAN FRANCISCO. Police are baffled in a bizarre break in at the De Young 
     Museum last night.
          "I've never seen anything like it," one officer said. "Every case 
     was broken into, and its contents scattered, but nothing was broken. 
     It's like who ever did it was going out of his way not to damage 
     anything."
          Equally mysterious is the identity of the perpetrator. Security 
     guards at the museum turned off the cameras just minutes before the 
     break in. None of them have any memory of doing so, nor do they claim to 
     have heard anything usual during their shift. All have passed drug and 
     lie detector tests and none of the guards have any record of criminal 
     activity.
          While officials won't be certain until everything is put back in 
     its proper place, so far only one item seems to be missing. A thirteenth 
     century scabbard, lacking its companion sword.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+

The barmaid set a glass on the table and poured.

Elaine picked up the glass and took a sip. "Leave the bo'le."

Nodding, the barmaid left.

As soon as she was gone, Elaine took out the photograph and set it in front
of her. 

God, why had she taken it? The others, she could understand, but this? It
wasn't as if she even knew anyone in it. They were Yanks.

Using her fingertips, she ran her hand across the picture, stopping midway.

Was it him?

What did it matter? If it was him, she already killed him. It should be over
now.

"Cherie, you have been staring at that picture for over an hour," Janette
said, sitting across from her. "And when Nicholah has that look on his face,
it usually means he is brooding over something. I should hate to think his
sister is as melancholic as he."

Great. So Janette was playing Mother Hen for her now?

"What ... would yah do if yah wah at a museum an' came across a pictuah of
Daveau?" Elaine found herself saying.

"Nothing," Janette shrugged. "After all, Daveau is dead. I saw to that
myself."

"But ... what if yah didn' remembah killin' him," the blonde insisted. "What
if yah didn' remembah any of it, excep' in nigh'maahs, an' yah wahn' even
shoah it waz heim?"

"Now I know something is going on," Janette replied. "It's not like you to,
what is that American phrase, beat around the bush?"

Still Elaine hesitated. "Maybeh weh should go some place moah private," she
suggested. 

"Very well," Janette nodded and got up. Elaine gathered up the other
photograph and sheathe and also stood.

"Such ... interesting accessories you have, cherie," Janette replied as they
headed into the back.

"Wen' shoppin' befoah Ah came heah," Elaine shrugged. "Mos' of it was mine
at one time oh the othah, sah it's jus' goin' back tah the ahriginal ownah."

They reached Janette's apartments, settling on a divan.

"Wan' tah see?" Elaine offered.

Janette took the proffered items from Elaine. "I take it the scabbard is
from your ... previous life, oui?" she asked.

"Oui," Fleur answered. "I made it for Etienne as a wedding present. It was
... very distressing when I lost both him and it at the same time."

"How fortunate for you that you found it here," Janette replied. "Must have
been a rather unusual shopping trip."

"Very fortunate," Fleur agreed. "We've been searching for it for ages."

"But what about these pictures, hmm?"

Elaine got out the picture she hadn't been looking at first. "That's mah
Papa," she said, pointing to her father. "An' yah'll nevah guess who the
li'le brat he's got his hand on is."

"You were a lovely child, Elaine," Janette replied. "But that wasn't the
picture I was referring to, cherie."
 
"Ah'm not reallay shoah why Ah took it," Elaine said, handing it over.
"ButAh haven' been able tah put it out of mah mind evah since Ah saw it."

"Ah," Janette replied sagely. "I take it this is what brought up your
earlier question, oui?"

The blonde nodded. "When Ah as ten, Ah was runnin' ammo back tah the troops
dahrin' Ge'ysbahg ... when a Yank grabbed meh an', while weh wah figh'in',
found out Ah wasn' no boy."

"I think I can gather what happened next," Janette replied.

"That's what they said," Elaine answered, fidgeting. "All Ah remembah is
Papa's voice callin' tah meh an' wakin' up si'in' in a puddle of blood."

"Perhaps at the time that was for the best," Janette said. "A ten year old
is not ready to deal with that sort of thing. No one truly is, of course, but
a child least of all."

"That's what Ah always figah," the blonde agreed. "Hell, Papa had tah take
meh tah a couple camp follahahs jus' sah they could tell meh what had
happened tah meh. But why would Ah beh havin' problems now?"

Janette shrugged elegantly. "Perhaps it was seeing these pictures," she
said. "Or perhaps something about your current relationship brought this
about."

As soon as Janette mentioned relationship, Elaine turned away, fiddling with
her glass.

"Hmm, I have stumbled onto something perhaps, oui?" Janette asked.

"Theah ... may not beh a relationship anymoah," the blonde 
said quietly. "Ah ... haven' bin treatin' them the best an' Ah think Ah may
have pushed them too fah tonigh'."

"Are you sure about that?" Janette asked. "I mean, what happened exactly?"

Elaine shrugged. "Ain' much tah tell. Had a figh', Ah wahked out. End of
stahrah."

"And why do I find that hard to believe, hmm?" Janette replied. "Elaine, did
you ever even _tell_ them what was wrong?"

Again, the blonde didn't answer, shifting uncomfortably.

"Mm-hmm, just as I thought," Janette said. "Now I am certain you are
Nicholah's sister, you're just as obstinate and pig-headed as he is."

"Yah don' have tah beh insul'in' abou' it," Elaine huffed. "Wazn' pig-
headed, wouldn' beh heah."

"Then _why_ didn't you tell them?" Janette countered.

"Why should Ah?" Elaine counter-countered.

"Perhaps so that they can understand _why_ you're behaving so strangely,"
Janette suggested. "Or perhaps so that they can help you through this. Or
perhaps simply because they love you and you love them."

"But ... they'ah mahtal," Elaine objected, not understanding.

Janette rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have been spending _way_ too much time
with Lucien, cherie," she sighed.

"Like yah didn' do the same thin' befoah yah wen' an' got the hots fah mah
brothah," the blonde snorted.

"We're not discussing me here, cherie," Janette replied. "And there were a
few mortals here and there I was rather fond of. If I hadn't had been, your
brother never would have made it across. And if they are just _mortals_, why
do you love them?"

"Ah feel _somethin'_," Elaine admitted. "Wouldn' call it love, though. Ah've
always put it down tah the obsession an' what Ah get from them."

"So you say," Janette replied. "All right, let's try this a different way.
You care for your mortals, don't you?"

"'Cahse Ah do. Ain' many vampiahs who got theah own bouffet," Elaine answered.

"You want your mortals to be happy don't you?"

The blonde shrugged. "They taste be'ah that way." 

"Well, opening up to them about this will make them happy," Janette
finished. "Besides, they may just be mere mortals, but sometimes you'd be
surprised at the insight their mortality gives them. Even when I didn't agree
with what your Natalie was doing to Nicholah, I had to admit that she had her
moments." 

"What? Jus' like that?" Elaine asked, both skeptical and confused 
at the same time. "Jus' open up, a'mit Ah've been havin' problems an' ask
fah advise?"

"Just like that," Janette answered. "It's amazing, I know, but it'll make
things easier for all concerned, trust me."

"Uh huh." The blonde still didn't buy it, but was willing to go along with
what her elder said. "But that's assumin' Ah still have a home, which Ah don'
anymoah."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Janette replied. "At least not until
after you've gone there to find out. At the very least, you can collect your
things."

Elaine laughed sadly. "Knowin' Aria, they'ah all in li'le pieces ny now."

"There's really only one way to find out, cherie," Janette pointed out. "Go
to them, tell them what's bothering you. In the long run, it will make all of
you feel better. Trust me on that."

"Maybeh ... maybeh it would beh be'ah if Ah wai'ed until tomahrah," Elaine
suggested. "Stay the day heah instead?"

"Go home," Janette said. "You have two hours of moonlight left, plenty of
time to go there, find out what's going on, and come back here if you have
to. But I sincerely doubt you will."


Elaine reluctantly left. It took her most of the two hours to reach the
house, since she kept slowing down, so by the time she did arrive, the sun
was about to come up. It being too light to go up to the skylight, she found
some pebbles and tossed them at the bedroom window until someone opened it.

"Mind if Ah come in?" she asked.

Aria shrugged. "Might as well," she answered. "I don't feel like tryin' to
explain the burnin' bush on the front lawn to the neighbors after all."

"Yah gonna open the fron' doah oh do Ah climb up theah?" Elaine then asked.

"Next time ya storm off like a blasted fool, maybe ya should try rememberin'
your keys," Aria replied. "Hang on, I'll be down there in a sec." Then she
slipped back inside, closing the window behind her.

True to her word, she opened the door a couple of minutes later.

"Ain' nevah been a problem befoah," Elaine said, stepping inside. "Haven'
had time tah put ev'rythin' in boxes yet?"

"Figured I'd let you handle it if that's what you really want," Aria
answered. "Didn't want to be accused of tryin' to 'help' you again."

"Ain' nevah stopped yah befoah," the blonde shot back.

Aria sighed. "I give up," she said. "You win, alright? You've tasted
m'blood, you've seen more of me than anyone else in m'entire life, but you
_still_ don't believe me! You and Richie are the two most important people in
m'life, Elaine, and seein' you hurtin' hurts me as well. But you're so blind
and I don't have the strength to make ya see anymore. So _you_ chose. You
wanna stay here and try to make this work, then I'm willin' to listen. But if
ya really hate me that much and ya really want to hurt Richie that badly,
then you know where your stuff is."

She ran her hand through her hair before continuing. "I'm so tired of bein'
the strong one around here, ya know? I spend so much time tryin' to convince
ya both that I love you, but it doesn't seem to do me a damn bit of good. And
I _can't_ _handle_ _this_, 'Laine. I'm not strong, if'n I fall too far into
this, I won't come back up and I'll blow it and die, end of bleedin' story.
But if'n that's what it takes to finally make you see I love you and I want
to be there for you and help you through this, then get it over with. 'Cause
you're rippin' m'head off will hurt a hell of a lot less than the way you're
already rippin' m'heart out." Then she turned on her heel and headed off to
her study.

"But...." Elaine started to go after her, then stopped. She'd really blown
it this time, hadn't she? Come here intending to ask for help and all she'd
done was make things worse.

Some of Aria's words echoed in her mind. "Get it over with." Why not? It
wasn't like she could screw anything else up.

She found a pad of Post-Its and a pen and wrote "For Richie" on the top
sheet. Pulling it off, she stuck it to Etienne's scabbard. Etienne would
understand and Richie deserved something nice. Then she positioned it on the
couch where he'd be sure to find it.

The pictures? The one of her father she put on top of the tv. She kissed her
finger, then touched it to his face, ignoring the drop of blood that landed
at his feet. The other one she crumpled into a ball and dropped on the floor.

Now there was only one thing left to do. The sun had already risen, it
should be just hitting the front door. Perfect timing.

She placed her hand on the doorknob and braced herself to open it.

"Is that your answer to _everything_?" Aria asked suddenly, coming out from
behind her. "Things get a little rough and it's off to the sun? How bloody
fuckin' convenient for ya."

"Why not?" Elaine asked. "It would solve all ah problems. Yah know, Ah spen'
the nigh' talkin' with Jenette. She fin'lay convinced meh tah come back heah
an' try an' wahk thin's out. Should've known be'ah. Y'all ah be'ah off
without meh." 

"That's not true!" Aria all but screamed, her voice breaking with unshed
tears and untold frustration. "We love you, 'Laine, and we _need_ you, but
you keep pushin' us away. And that hurts worse than anythin' else I've ever
been through. I just don't understand why you won't talk to me!"

"Aria, Ah _don'_ _know_ _how_!"

"Just try," Aria pleaded. "If ... if it helps, we saw the picture. And you
know I've been there, so ya know I'm not gonna judge ya."

Elaine went over, picked up the photograph and handed it to Aria. "Ah ...
kind of wen' an' got it out of the museum. Ah'm not even shoah Ah realised
who all was in theah until Ah saw it again."

"I sort of figured it was you when I saw the break in on the news," Aria
admitted. She smoothed the picture out on the coffee table as she sat down on
the couch. "Which one is he?"

"No ideah. Ah still don' remembah any of it," Elaine said, sitting across
from her. "That's paht of what's sah hahd abou' it all." 

"Is there anythin' ya can do?" Aria asked. "Anyway ya can try and bring the
memories forward? If'n you were mortal, we could try hypnosis therapy, but I
don't think that'd work on a vampire, what with your whammy and all."

"Not that Ah know of," Elaine answered. "Lucien migh' beh able tah do
somethin', but he's not heah righ' now an' Ah don' wan' tah ask him."

Aria's favorite knife came out of nowhere and she started to play with it,
the way she always did when puzzling something out. "Tell me what ya _do_
remember," she said.

The blonde shrugged. "Someone grabbin' meh. Strugglin'. Damn Yank find out
Ah'm no boy. Kick him. Fall. Run. Trip." Suddenly her face went blank as the
rest of her started shaking.

Aria pulled her close into a reassuring embrace. "It's all right, love, it's
okay," she said. "But you need to remember. Tell me what ya see."

"Get the hell off meh!" Elaine cried out, shoving Aria aside and moving
away. She then looked at her, unsure of who the warrior was. "Yah the woman
Papa tol' meh was comin'?"

Figuring she was better off playing along, Aria nodded. "That's right,
darlin', your papa sent me to help," she answered. "Can ya tell me what
happened?"

"Yank grabbed meh," the ten-year-old answered, fidgeting. "Knocked meh down
an' stuck a knife in meh oh somethin'."

**Great Mother,** Aria sighed mentally. **How am I supposed to do this?**
"Not quite, darlin'," she said out loud. "Um, Elaine, did your papa ever tell
ya where babies come from?"

"Nope," Elaine said. "Somethin' tah do with mahriage, Ah think."

Aria ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out the best way to word
things. "Well, hopefully marriage is usually the start, but not always," she
said finally. "Hang on, I've got an idea." She got up and ran into her study.

When she came back, she was holding an open volume from their encyclopedia.
"Here, read this," she said as she handed the book to Elaine.

Elaine took the book, silently reading out loud. By the time she was done,
her face had turned quite green and she quickly handed it back to Aria. "An'
the damn Yank did that tah meh?" she asked, trying to understand. "Why?"

"Because you're female, and because you were handy, and because he was a
sick, sick man," Aria answered.

"But why?" Elaine insisted.

Aria shrugged. "To be honest with ya, Elaine, I don't know why," she
answered. "Some men enjoy havin' power over a woman and think that forcin'
themselves on a woman gives them that power. But that doesn't really get into
why they act like that. I don't even understand why it happened to me that
first time."

"Some Yank did it tah yah as well?" Elaine asked. For some reason, it 
made her feel better.

Aria smiled at the blonde. "Well, he wasn't a Yank, but he was a bloody
wanker all the same," she answered. "But yeah, some did that to me too. I was
only five years older than you are, but the whole thing still scared the hell
out of me. And killing him afterwards took care of some of the anger, but it
didn't make the pain or the fear go away."

Elaine fidgeted again, kicking her feet against the couch. "Oh, yeah. That."

"Do you remember anything of what happened _after_ he hurt you?" Aria asked.

The blonde shook her head. "Jus' Papa's voice aftahwahds. They said Ah ...
yah know."

"Are ya sure ya don't remember anythin'?" Aria asked. "Close your eyes,
think real hard, and tell me everythin' ya see, okay?"

The little girl obeyed, squeezing her eyes shut. "Ah'm on the groun', he's
on top of meh, pullin' at mah clothes," she said after several minutes. "He's
pu'in' that ... thin' in meh. Hahts. Ah'm tryin' tah push him off meh, find
knife. Hit him with it, he falls on meh. Push him off. Back away." She opened
her eyes, pleased with having remembered. "Was that righ'?"

Aria smiled proudly at Elaine. "That is _exactly_ right," she answered. "And
you said you didn't remember anything."

"Hadn' befoah," the little girl shrugged. "This mean Ah cn go back 
tah Papa now?"

Aria nodded. "Sure, love, I think we're all finished here," she answered.

"Gooday!" Elaine smiled and stood up. For a moment, it was rather amusing,
watching a physically mature woman skip like a child. Then, to Aria's horror,
she headed straight for the front door.

"Elaine, no!" Aria vaulted over the couch, trying to cut the blonde off at
the pass.

Too late! Aria reached her just as she was opening the door. Elaine screamed
and the warrior pushed her out of the way of the light.

"What the fuckin' hell jus' happened?" Elaine asked.

"Welcome back," Aria replied, a touch of sarcasm entering her voice. "And I
was bloody well hopin' you could tell me. One minute we we're goin' over what
ya remembered about bein' raped and the next minute there's this ten year old
girl comin' outta your mouth."

Elaine thought for a bit. "Guess the vampiah couldn' handle it, sah it
regressed meh back tah a time when Ah could. Ah take it it wahked?"

"Seemed to," Aria answered. "At least the ten year old version of yourself
remembered everything. Do you remember any of it?"

Another minute past while Elaine tried to remember. Then she slid down the
wall to the floor, shaking. "Oh Lahd, Aria, Ah do," she said. "Ah remembah
ev'rythin'."

Aria dropped down next to Elaine and held her lover. "It's all right,
Raltra," she replied. "You need to remember that and to accept it as part of
you. You didn't do _anythin'_ wrong, you were defendin' yourself and you did
the only thing you could. That's all there is to it, love."

"Why? Why do Ah need tah remembah?" Elaine insisted. "Ah was 
fine the way Ah was befoah. An' yah'd think aftah Reese an' 
Lucien, it wouldn' bothah meh."

"Oh you were fine," Aria snorted. "You only kept freakin' out in your sleep,
tryin' to kill Richie, and generally make all three of us miserable. And this
is different, 'Laine. This was the man who stole your innocence in the worst
way possible.

"This is the one time where Richie is the lucky one. He lost that because he
wanted too, but we had it taken from us. And not only did we lose our sexual
innocence but we lost our blood innocence in the same breath. It's no wonder
it bothers ya 'cause it bothers the hell out of me too."

"Ah was fine befoah Ah saw that damn photograph," Elaine corrected herself.
"Wasn' that innocen' eithah. Between what happened tah Mama an' the Wah, it's
amazin' Ah had any left. Yah shoah yah wah in 
Italay back then?"

"Positive," Aria answered. "You may not have been _that_ innocent, but you
were close enough."

"It's jus' Ah seem tah remembah talkin' tah yah aftah it all happened," the
blonde said.

"Well, that is the point you regressed to," Aria pointed out. "Think maybe
that might have had somethin' to do with it?"

"Probablay," Elaine agreed. "Sah what do Ah do now?"

Aria sighed thoughtfully. "You need some way to sort of symbolically get rid
of this guy," she said finally. "Some sort of cleansin' ritual or somethin'."
Then she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Actually, I've got an
idea if you're willin' to give it a shot."

Elaine shrugged. "Shoah."

"Go grab the picture and meet me in the kitchen," Aria said. She gave Elaine
a quick kiss and then ran upstairs.


When she came back down, she was carrying the box she kept all her ritual
incense in. Then she got glass bowl and a box of matches out of the cupboards.

"Yah do remembah Ah'm flammable, right?" Elaine asked, holding onto the
photograph with two fingers.

"I remember," Aria said, digging through her box. "That's why _I'm_ gonna
hold the match." She finally found the scent she was looking for and pulled
out a stick. "Sage, it's used for cleansing." She lit the stick and then
threw it into the bowl. "Now do the same thing with the picture."

Getting an idea where Aria was headed, Elaine obediently placed the
photograph in the bowl. "Bye bye, Yank," she said, waving her fingers.

Grinning, Aria tossed into the match into the bowl. "Ya've got such a way
with words, Raltra," she laughed. "'Laine, we're okay, right?"

"A'cahse," Elaine answered. "Why wouldn' weh beh?"

Aria shrugged. "Ida know," she replied. "I just know how I hold a grudge."
She kissed Elaine gently. "I really do love ya, ya know."

"Shalla, if Ah was that mad at yah, yah'd beh dead righ' now," Elaine
answered. "Ah nevah bothah with grudges, that way yah don' have tah worrah
abou' anyone comin' aftah yah. As Lucien once tol' meh, 'la meilleure
revanche, c'est la revanche'."

"Good point," Aria replied. "Think it's safe to call Richie now?"

"Almos'." Elaine took the bowl and dumped it out on the floor. Then she
proceeded to do a stomping dance on the ashes. "Okay, now yah can. Wheah is
he, anyway? 'Snot a school day."

"He, um, he spent the night at Lou's," Aria explained. "He figured he might
be better off hidin' out until he knew you were okay. Plus, I think he was a
little mad at me."

"Why yah?" the blonde asked. "If anyone, he ough' tah beh mad at meh fah
causin' sah much trouble."

"But it's not like ya could help the nightmares, love," Aria pointed out.
"Besides, I'm the one who opened her big fat mouth and made ya run away."

"But Ah've always had nigh'maahs an' they've nevah bothahed meh this way,
sah yah couldn've known," Elaine reminded her. "An' why don' weh call him an'
let him decide?" 

"C'mon, we'll use the speaker phone in my study so we can prove we're okay,"
Aria replied. She kissed Elaine on the cheek before they headed into her
study. 

"An' maybeh do a few othah thin's while weh'ah at it?" Elaine waited for
Aria to be seated, then settled into her lap while the warrior dialed.

"I'd rather do those in person," Aria teased, winking at the blonde.

"Don'cha wan' tah give Richay incentive tah rush back heah?" Elaine asked,
slowly kissing Aria.

Before Aria had a chance to respond, the other end of the phone was picked up.

"House of Old Fogeys," Lou said.

"Lou, yah not an ol' fogay," Elaine corrected.

"Mama 'Laine!" Lou replied, excited to hear from her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, Lahd," the blonde grumbled. "Has Richay been babblin'?"

"Only a little," Lou admitted. "He wouldn't tell me any of the details,
though. All he said was that you were having some problems and that Aria was
trying to help only it seemed to be making things worse and he figured he was
safer staying with me until you'd either worked everything out or killed each
other." Then he paused for a second. "You didn't kill Aria did you?"

Elaine attacked Aria, tickling her until the warrior was forced to beg for
mercy. "That sound like Ah killed Ari?" she asked.

They could all but hear Lou's grin over the phone. "Want me go get Richie
for you?"

"Migh' beh nice," Elaine answered.

"Oh, loverboy, phone!" Lou called as he put the receiver down on the table.

"Lovahboy?" Elaine giggled, turning to Aria. "Do Lou an' Richay have 
somethin' goin' on weh don' know abou'?"

"Nah, Richie only like his women older," Aria replied. "He likes his men
ancient and Lou's not even close."

"But Lou did have mah advice fah his honaymoon," Elaine reminded her. "An'
he is still a fine figah of a man."

"Figuring out my replacement already?"

"Richay!" Elaine squealed. "Jus' wondahrin' if yah 'n' Lou had run off
togethah."

"Not yet," Richie replied. "Although with the way things were going at home,
I figured I'd at least be _safer_ here."

"Not if Ah came aftah yah," she teased.

"I thought you did that _last_ night," Richie shot back.

"I offered to buy ya the cod piece from a suit of plate mail but you did
turn me down," Aria reminded him.

"Wouldn't work. Etienne and Matthew gave me quite enough experience removing
armor that it wouldn't last long," Fleur said. "It wasn't plate mail, but the
theory's the same."

"If you guys are trying to convince me to come home, it ain't working,"
Richie replied sarcastically.

"So what would work?" she asked. "Meh 'n' Ari in bed wai'in' fah yah?"

"It's a start," Richie replied. "It also depends on what exactly you were
doing in there."

"What do yah wan' us tah beh doin'?"

"Anything but sleeping," Richie answered. "I've heard of people doing weird
things in their sleep but that was down right ridiculous."

"Trust meh, sleepin' was not on the agenda," Elaine assured him. "Wan' us
tah demonstrate?"

"What about afterwards though?" Richie asked, still not convinced.

"That's when weh sleep. Oh Ah sleep an' y'all cp,e back tah life," she
answered.

"And therein lies the problem," Richie replied. "I know you're not doing
this on purpose, 'Laine, and lord knows I've got a few problems of my own.
But I don't feel like worrying about losing my two best friends every time
you go to sleep and then having you and Ari fighting all the time. I don't
like it when you guys argue, it scares the hell out of me quite frankly."

"Would it help if Ah said Ah wouldn'?" she pouted.

"Wouldn't want?" Richie asked. "Come after me or argue with Ari. 'Cause, I'm
actually more worried about the last one."

"The la'ah," she answered. "Ah still plan on comin' aftah yah, but Ah
promise tah keep ev'rythin' intact."

"Well, maybe not _everything_," Richie added hopefully.

"Somethin's never change," Aria laughed. "He's still got a one track mind."

"But ain' that the way weh like him?" Elaine teased.

"I like him any way I can get him," Aria replied, winking at the blonde in
her lap. "Trust me, Richie, everything's fine here. Raltra and me had a nice
little break through and we're ready to move on to the 
makin' up."

"Do weh have tah wait fah Richay tah ahrive befoah weh staht makin' up?"
Elaine asked, kissing Aria. "Ah still have scahch mahks, yah know."

"Depends on how long it's gonna take him to move his adorable little ass
over here," Aria answered.

"A'cahse, weh could always staht an' let him catch up when he gets heah,"
the blonde suggested, starting in on Aria's shirt.

"Evil, evil women," Richie sighed. "And 'Laine, why do you have scorch marks?"

"Oh, a'mit it, yah like us that way," she teased. "An' Ah ain' 
gonnah tell yah ovah the phone. It's embahrassin'."

"'Laine had a weird moment, forgot she was a vampire for a minute, and tried
to walk out the front door," Aria answered for her.

"Wasn' a vampiah when Ah was ten," the blonde mumbled, just loud enough for
Richie to hear her.

"Ten?" Richie replied, stunned. "Okay, remind me again why I do want to come
home?"

"Ah'm hungray?" Elaine half suggested, half asked.

"If ya don't we'll cut off more than your two best friends?" Aria half
teased. "Besides, you're forgettin' the minor detail about how the three of
us can't live without each other."

"All right," Richie said. "But I'm bringing a clove of garlic just in case."

"Spoilspaht," Elaine said. "Love yah."

"Love you too," Richie replied. "Both of you. I'll be home as soon as I
can." Then he hung up the phone.

Elaine waited while Aria pushed the button disconnecting the speakerphone,
then turned to her. "Readay fah bed?"

"I was up all night waitin' for ya to come home," Aria replied, yawning for
effect.

"Bet Ah cn find some way tah keep yah awake," the blonde said. She stood up,
then pulled Aria to her feet. "Yah gunnah cum oh do Ah carrah yah?"

"That could prove interestin'," Aria teased. "But since I don't feel like
havin' ya bang my head against the wall, I'll come willingly."

"Spoilspaht," Elaine repeated. "But yah'll definatelay beh comin' soon."

"I certainly hope so," Aria teased, winking at her. "How about a compromise
though? I'll walk upstairs and then you can carry me into the bedroom and
have your wicked way with me."

"Deal," Elaine agreed.

And they did just that.

THE END