Alex stood on the balcony of his living area, looking across the expanse of Rixie’s bedroom to where the Titaness was sleeping. It had been a strange adjustment, getting used to the fact that she and the other Titans would basically pass out for between twenty and thirty hours every three days… but he’d worked it out. Actually it was nice sometimes, having a day to himself.

At the moment, however, he was concerned. Something had been nagging at the back of his mind for the last few hours and finally it had crystalized. Rixie had given in to him far too easily. Oh, sure, there’d been the requisite theater of his having to “make it up to her” before, but even in that she’d been far too accommodating.

She was up to something.

Alex was fairly certain he understood how the Titaness thought, how her brain worked. She was unlike the other members of her species in many ways but there was one way in which Rixie Tam was very much a typical Titan. She was protective.

Sometimes, overly so.

So Alex’s suspicions that he was going to be double crossed “for his own good” weren’t without merit. Fortunately, he had approximately twelve hours to enact a little insurance plan in case of such a situation.

Alex stepped away from the balcony to get to work.

Several hours later Rixie awoke and got herself dressed. She endeavored to be as quiet as she possibly could. When she was ready, she cautiously peeked into the window in Alex’s bedroom and was relieved to see him curled up in his covers, fast asleep.

“Goodbye Alex.” She whispered softly. “Try not to be too mad about this, okay? I’ll see you when I get back. And I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” Hefting her bag onto her shoulder, she silently walked from the room.

Meanwhile, in the side pocket of that same bag, Alex was feeling very smug. He’d known she was going to pull some stupid stunt like this. She’d actually tried to ditch him!

Well, the joke was on her. She wasn’t going to be rid of Alex that easily. He’d pulled the old trick of wrapping pillows up in his bed sheets and making it look like he was sleeping. Fortunately Rixie hadn’t seen too many sitcoms, so never thought to check.

As he hunkered down to wait out the rest of the journey, Alex reflected that this particular escapade was a definite improvement over the last time he hitched a ride in a Titan’s bag. Firstly, he was surrounded by clothes which made for a much more comfortable ride than the various pieces of equipment Trell had been carrying. And secondly, if he were discovered, at least he wasn’t in any danger of being eaten.

At least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t.

*.*.*.*.*.*

As she stared at the computer monitor in front of her, Pryvani stifled an annoyed sigh. The message from the chief financial officer of one of her charitable organizations seemed to swim in front of her eyes. She shook her head to clear it and tried to continue working

As much as she’d rather be concentrating on the issues on Avalon, she still had a massive corporation to run.

“Wow. The life of a goddess is kind of boring.” Zhan quipped from his place on her shoulder as he watched her work.

“Very funny.” Pryvani responded drily, even as a smile graced her features. She had to admit he did have a point. She’d been looking at earnings spreadsheets and progress reports from her various ventures for so long it was starting to make her cross eyed.

Zhan shifted on her shoulder and Pryvani felt her stomach flutter a bit. Some of the emotional weight she’d been carrying for the past few days had fallen away since she and the young human had started to patch things up between them. As a result she felt happier than she had in a long time. It was a pleasant change.

Of course there was still other things weighing on her mind, not the least of which being the state of affairs out in Avalon… but for the moment she was content to put that aside and just be happy that Zhan, for one, no longer hated every fiber of her being.

Of course, the universe had other ideas.

“Pryvani?” The comm unit next to her computer buzzed.

“Yes Zara?” She responded, pressing the channel button with one elegant finger.

“Um, I’ve just gotten word from Dahntnee in the temple and… well…”

“Zara…” Pryvani rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Unless you went and made another religion, I’m sure whatever happened isn’t your fault. I’m not going to kill the messenger, just tell me what happened.”

There was a sigh from the other end of the channel. “Dahntnee says the cultists have escaped from the prison.”

Pryvani’s body tensed and she bit her lip to hold in the angry expletive that wanted to escape. She paused, took a deep calming breath and continued.

“Does he know how long they’ve been missing?”

“Since about last night.” Zara replied. “He’s ordered the city sealed. Nobody gets in or out.”

Pryvani nodded. “Good. I need to get ahold of Lysis and begin organizing a city wide search.”

“Dahntnee has already begun that, but he says Lysis already left to track down the escapees.”

Pryvani rubbed her forehead. If Lysis was going to be an effective captain, the woman would really need to learn to delegate better. Now she was trapped outside the city.

No matter. There was no point in worrying over cracked seeds. “Fine. Ask Dahntnee to keep me appraised of the situation, but it sounds like he has it well in hand for the time being.”

“Okay. Will do.” There was a click as the channel closed.

A moment of silence passed before Zhan cleared his throat. “I should be out there.”

Pryvani’s eyes widened and her heart rate suddenly, and surprisingly, increased. “What?!”

“I should be out there helping Lysis.” Zhan repeated forcefully. “I’m the best tracker in the Watch, even Lysis will admit it. I could find them in half the time if I was with her. I know it.”

“But…” Pryvani’s hands began to tremble as she tried to think of an excuse, any excuse, to keep the human there with her. “You’re… you’re still not well…”

Zhan shook his head, a small smile on his face. “I climbed up here, didn’t I?” His tone softened. “I’m as well as I’m ever going to get, Pryvani, and I can’t stand by and let others take the risks while I’m here safe. You can understand that, can’t you?”

Pryvani swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Yes. I can.” She took a deep breath. “All right. I guess there’s nothing else for it. But I’m taking you down there myself… it’ll save time.”

Zhan nodded with a smile. “Agreed.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

It was a relatively short trip to the Valhalla orbital platform, but nevertheless Rixie was very glad to disembark from the transport.

Rixie was feeling very pleased with herself, seeing as she’d managed to get away from the moon without Alex. Certainly, she was going to be in a world of trouble with the little man next time she talked to him, but that was okay. He was safe. That was all that mattered.

She’d received word from Zisko informing her which docking platform her partner would be arriving. Not wanting to waste time, she immediately made her way across the station until she reached its location.

It didn’t take too long for her to spot her new partner. He was tall, although still shorter than she was, with dark brown hair that was swept back away from his forehead. Even from a distance she could make out his blue eyes.

“Hey Rixie!” He grinned and waved to her from across the terminal. “Haven’t seen you in a while!”

“Hello Vanser” Rixie greeted him with a small smile, hiking her bag higher on her shoulder

“Gotta tell you, I was really excited when I got confirmation you’d be working with me on this mission. Just like old times.”

“Yeah. Maybe this isn’t the best place to be discussing that?”

Vanser winced. “Right. Right.”

The pair of them turned and left the busy terminal and walked until they were far enough away from the general traffic that they wouldn’t be overheard, but no so far away that they would arouse suspicion.

“Zisko said you’d have our first step?” Rixie asked when they reached a suitable spot.

“Yeah. We need to hop on a shuttle to another station outpost about twenty light years from here. That’s where Command has arranged for our transport to come pick us up.”

Rixie arched an eyebrow. “We’re getting a ship for this?”

Vanser nodded. “Yup. Completely at our disposal for the duration of the mission. They must really want these fugitives bad.”

“Very.” Rixie pursed her lips. “The primary target is a real piece of work.”

Vanser nodded. “I know, I read her file. Said you were the one who brought her in. and after your discharge to boot. Must be one heck of a story.”

Rixie snorted in amusement. “Something like that. I’ll tell you on the trip to the next station. It’s not like we’ll have anything better to do.”

Meanwhile, inside the pocket of Rixie’s bag, Alex was awoken by the sound of a deep male Titan voice. Cautiously he peeked out of a tiny opening he’d made in the zipper and saw Rixie talking to another Titan. He heard them say that they’d be working together. Rixie hadn’t mentioned anything about a partner.

He had to question why she’d keep something like that from him. Then he shook his head and reminded himself that she hadn’t really planned on him being there in the first place. As far as she knew, he was still back on Avalon sleeping in his proportionately sized bed.

Idly, he wondered just how upset with him she was going to be when she inevitably discovered he’d stowed away in her bag. He began to prepare an argument to turn the fact she’d tried to sneak out and leave him behind against her.

*.*.*.*.*.*

Pryvani stopped just outside the city and stooped to lower her hand to the ground, allowing the young man in her palm to hop out.

Zhan took a moment to adjust his gear. Pryvani had decked him out with every type of supply she could think of and that he could reasonably carry. He carried all the standard equipment a member of the Watch usually had when venturing out from the City: Weapons- both blade and bow- food and water, rope, flash bombs and leather armor. Beyond that, she’d given him a communication device to contact her in case of an emergency.

“I don’t suppose I can talk you out of doing this, can I?” Pryvani asked softly, kneeling on the ground in front of him.

“Well, then getting everything ready and walking down here would have all been a waste of time.” Zhan replied, smirking.

“It would be worth it.” The heiress muttered.

“You know I can’t do that.” Zhan shook his head.

Pryvani sighed and nodded. “I wish I could go with you.”

Zhan grinned. “You are many things, Pryvani Tarsuss, but stealthy is not one of them.”

Despite herself, Pryvani chuckled. “I suppose not.” Then her mood turned somber again. “Please be careful Zhan. I’d hate for all that work of getting you healthy again to go to waste.”

“Nice to know you care.”

Pryvani didn’t laugh, and her eyes started to water. “If you get into trouble, you use that comm to call me, okay? Promise me you won’t be stupid.”

“Okay. I Promise.”

Pryvani took a deep breath and pushed herself back to her feet. “Alright then. Good luck Zhan. And be careful.”

“I will. And thank you. For everything.”

And just like that, he disappeared into the underbrush.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

They’d been walking since before dawn.

Khalin could hear the unsure muttering behind him from his followers. So far none of them had said anything to him directly, but he could hear it nonetheless. They were wondering if he was leading them to their deaths, if he even knew what he was doing anymore.

They’d made it out of the city, had left the city far behind in fact. Since that morning they’d raided a lone farmstead for supplies, killing the farmer and his family. They had food, water, some of them were even armed. It should have inspired faith in his people…

It hadn’t.

He could hear the whispering, the doubts. One man in particular, named Jonus, seemed bent to undermine him at every term. Khalin desperately wanted to turn around and run him through. But, he knew, as satisfying as that would be, it would be a show of weakness.

So Khalin would wait. He would bide his time until precisely the right moment. The moment when Jonus’s death would profit him the most. When it would be the most meaningful.

In the meantime… Khalin crested a hill at the head of his gang of murderers, thieves and thugs. At the bottom of the hill sat a small prosperous looking village. Khalin could already see the smoke from the breakfast fires wafting from the chimneys.

“There…” He muttered to Cara, who had drawn up alongside him. “Do you see it? In that village is everything we’ll need.”

“Yeah.” A voice from behind them snorted derisively. “There mus’ be a coupla hundred people in that town, ain’t half of us even armed. How you propose to be takin’ what’s down in that little town eh?”

Khalin turned to face the doubter. It was Jonus, of course.

“Simple.” Khalin smiled winningly. “There are a number of farms near here. We do what we did this morning. Attack, kill, take what we need, and burn the rest. Soon we’ll all be armed and ready, and when we are… we take whatever we want from them. Food, water, supplies… slaves.”

Jonus blinked. “Slaves?”

“Of course. They’re all doomed to die when the Dark Lady returns, aren’t they? What better way to earn her mercy than by serving us first?”

He could here excited murmurs from the crowd around them.

“Won’t it take long to raid them farms?” Jonus wondered. Khalin noted a few of the people in the crowd agreeing with him, and memorized their faces. They, too, would need to be dealt with before long.

Khalin shrugged, indifferently. “Not if we split up. It won’t take all of us to take one farm…” Gathering the crowd around them, he began to plan.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Lysis crept through the underbrush as silently as she possibly could. Behind her were the half dozen men and women of the scouting team she’d assembled to track Khalin and his cult the moment they’d been discovered missing.

They’d followed the cultist’s trail for over a day, staying behind them far enough not to be spotted, but still close enough that they didn’t lose the trail.

They’d seen the black murder Khalin and his followers had visited on the farmstead they’d passed through. There was evidence of disgusting torture and mutilation on the bodies before Khalin had burned the place to the ground

Lysis and her team had paused long enough to give that family as proper a burial as they’d been able before continuing on at double speed. Lysis swore to the spirits of that family that she would avenge them or die trying.

Suddenly, the woman at the rear hissed a warning. With the instinctive ease of skills long practiced, Lysis and the rest of her team disappeared from the trail and into the brush. Fading into the foliage like smoke.

They waited for a tense moment, until they heard the trilling call of a redbird. There was a pause of about three seconds, and it sounded again.

From where she hid, Lysis couldn’t help but be intrigued. That had been a tracker’s signal. It meant ‘Friend approaching.’

Normally, this would have made her relax, slightly, but Lysis reminded herself that many of the quarry they were stalking were former guardsmen. They would know those signals as well.

So they waited for a tense moment. Normally, in response to such a signal, Lysis would have had to sound the signal that meant ‘approach freely’ but if this were an enemy; they might be trying to flush them out.

So she would wait. She looked around the brush and made eye contact with the rest of her team. Using hand signals, she directed them to position themselves in such a way as to be able to flank any enemies that approached. When she was satisfied with her people’s placement, she whistled out the response call.

It didn’t take long after that for them to hear footsteps on the trail. To Lysis’s experienced ear she could tell the person coming towards them was normally a very light step, but was purposefully making his stride heavy so as to warn them of his approach.

Lysis chose to take this as a good sign.

Then the figure came into view, a single man holding his weapons horizontally above his head in a gesture of surrender. Finally, Lysis allowed herself to relax.

It was Zhan.

“What are you doing here?” The watch Captain whispered tersely. “I thought I gave you orders to stay put.”

Zhan grinned back at her. “Actually Cap, you ordered me to stay there until I was better. Well, I’m better. Besides, I’m the best tracker you have; you’re going to need me if you want to find them.”

Lysis scowled for a moment, but she knew the young man was right. He really was the best tracker they had. And, well, as long as he was here…

“Fine.” Lysis sighed. “Take point.”

Zhan grinned. “You got it, Cap.”

Zhan stepped to the head of the group and walked next to Lysis. “Is this all the crew you brought with you?” He asked, concerned.

“I took as big a group as I dared. We’re here to find them and assess the situation, Zhan. If need be we send word back to Atlantis for reinforcement or recruit a militia from nearby towns. But a bigger force moves slower, he might have lost them otherwise.”

“Fair point.” Zhan conceded

They walked in silence for several minutes.

“I saw what they did to that farmhouse.” Zhan muttered quietly. “I don’t understand how anybody with a human soul could be that brutal.”

“Just be glad you didn’t see what they did to the people living there.” Lysis responded tersely. “Enough chatter, we don’t know how far away they are. We don’t want to alert them if they’re close.”

“Aye, Cap.”