Part One

Brynn walked up to the front entrance of the Hotel. Her friends had told her of this place and how magical the "ambiance" was, " I know they told me she said to herself, but I never expected this." The magnificent building stood almost in the middle of nowhere but the atmosphere was just as magical as she had been told "and so much more," she finished with a grin.

Stepping inside the cool interior of Crowe's Hotel, Brynn dragged her luggage to the front desk. There was no one in sight but a small silver bell sat on the counter to her left. Brynn tapped lightly on the bell and a soft tinning filled the once quiet room.

Brynn heard movement from the room behind the counter before she saw a young woman come to the counter.

"Hi there," the woman greeted her. "I am Peaches, the owner here.

You must be Brynn. We have been expecting you."

"Hi," Brynn beamed at Peaches. "It is so good to finally meet you. You and the others have told me so much about this wonderful place. I just never imagined in my wildest dreams it would be so glorious."

"Well hon, the fun is just about to begin. Let's start with getting you to your room to unpack and then you can take a look around the place and then see what you think," Peaches suggested.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Wait here a tick," Peaches told Brynn. "I'll have someone help you with your luggage."

"Well, they can bring it up when they get around to it," Brynn smiled, "I would really just like to go see my room, if that is ok?"

"Sure, here is your key. Up the stairs and third door on the right," she directed.

Brynn took the key and set off up the stairs. "Third door on the right huh?" She thought to herself. "More like second star to the right and straight on til morning." Standing outside the door to her room, Brynn looked at the door and then the key in her hand. "I can do this," became her mantra. "I have handled weird in the past, I am psychologist for Christ sake. I can handle this."

She opened her door and stepped inside the room. It was huge, Brynn was so taken by the sheer size of the room she could take in nothing else at that moment. The living room branched off into a bedroom with double doors leading to the bathroom.

"Magnificent." she said. She lay her purse on the end stand next to the plush black couch and ventured off to explore the rest of her accommodations. The bedroom was by far her favorite. A huge queen size canopy bed sat in the middle of the room all covered in black. The canopy itself was made of a sheer black material that draped down along the sides and bottom of the bed. There were two small black nightstands with decorative makings on the tops and some of the most beautiful prints covered the walls.

Brynn headed to the large sliding glass door that lead to the balcony that was directly opposite the bed. She pushed back the sheer black curtains to reveal a glorious view of the beach below. She opened the doors to the balcony and was flooded by the breeze coming from the sea. She was already in love and had not been here more than ten minutes. "This must be what heaven is," Brynn thought.

She stepped back through the doors and her eye caught the print hanging directly next to the doors.

"Starry Night," she whispered.

"Yeah, by Van Gogh," the voice came from directly behind her.

Startled, Brynn spun around to see whom the voice belonged to.

"Sorry," he told her. "I did not mean to startle you."

Brynn looked up away from the broad expanse of chest in front of her eyes to see the face this magnificent chest belonged to. Her eyes grew dramatically in size when she saw him.

"I brought your stuff up," he began to explain, "you were not in the main room so I thought I would come find you. This is one of our biggest rooms. Wouldn't be surprised if you had managed to get yourself lost in here."

"I have to sit." That was all Brynn was able to say to him.

He grinned at her, took her by the shoulders and lead her to sit on the edge of the big bed. Brynn plopped down onto the bed and put her head between her legs. "They told me" she said, over and over," but I just never really got it, ya know." She looked up at the man again and began to blush. "You guys must get this a lot huh?"

"You can tell?" Was his reply.

"So let me see, judging by the beard, you must be Zack? No wait, John? Oh frig my head is spinning again."

"John" he confirmed. "Just put your head down again it will be all right."

Brynn placed her elbows on her knees to brace herself there for a few minutes. Still hanging her head her thoughts began to clear. "How can this be?" she asked. "I just don't get it."

"Well I suppose I could take you through the many explanations we have come up with here, but I think I will just say this. It just is, go with the flow."

"Sounds like some sound advise John." Brynn picked up her head to look at him again and blew air out of her mouth to move a rampant piece of her long brown hair. "I think I will just go with the flow, I need a beer. BAD."

"Well then let me be your official tour guide for your first trip over to the Tavern," John said standing up and taking her hand. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and they began walking toward the door.

"Wait," Brynn said stopping short. "There will be more of you at the tavern right?"

John chuckled. "Yeah, there will be more of US at the tavern." Brynn let a small frown crease her face, "We better make mine a double then," and she resumed her pace behind John as they headed out to the tavern.

The sun assaulted her eyes as they stepped from the hotel. Brynn covered her eyes with her hand for a moment causing John to stop and look at her.

"Sorry," she smiled. "I am on sensory overload. The sun looks like it is right here in front of me."

"It's ok," John laughed. "It can be a little much to take in. Once we get you over to the tavern and relaxed things will just fall into place."

"Somehow John, I believe you."

They stepped through the doors to the tavern. It was 4 in the afternoon, but the place was crowded. There was music playing and people talking, beer being poured and some stronger drinks as well. The smell of the alcohol caught her senses first and then the smell of something much more pleasant. An earthy smell, natural and most definitely male.

John led Brynn to the bar and pulled up a stool for her. "There ya go. Have a seat and I will get the drinks."

"Sounds good," she smiled.

"Liz," John called out, "we need a few drinks down here."

"Be right with ya," the woman called back.

"Ok love, what will it be?" She asked when she came down to their end of the bar. "Well, I will have a beer and I think we had better have a shot of Jack and a beer chaser for my new friend here."

Liz looked over to Brynn and smiled. "Just get in dear?"

"Yeah, just got here a little while ago. "

"It can be pretty overwhelming at first, but you'll get use to it hon. We all do."

"Thanks Liz, by the way I am Brynn."

"Glad to know you," Liz took her hand and shook it briefly. "Jeez John you are really slipping here. Most days you would have had her introduced to me first off before ordering the drinks."

"Yeah, well the way she turned all green in her room when she saw me I figured we better get her something soothing and then do the intro's."

"Well in that case, here you go, one shot, two beers."

"Thanks Liz," they said in unison. Brynn did not wait for John to even pick up his drink. She slammed down the Jack and then headed for the beer. "Whoa Brynn, take it easy on the liquor. You drink often?"

Brynn took a deep swallow of her beer and set it back on the bar. "No, never touch the stuff. Just a few beers here and there maybe some wine with a bubble bath, but never the hard stuff. I just really need it right now."

"I guess so," John replied.

Sipping at her beer more slowly now, Brynn turned a little in her seat to survey the crowd. For the most part the faces were the same, but the builds and body types along with the demeanor of each made him different. "You ready for this," John asked?

"Yeah, the shit is really starting to kick in. I feel warm all over. I can handle it." (Yeah right, she thought to herself)

"Good, then let's get you over there to meet some of the gang."

Beer in hand, Brynn slipped off the stool and steadied herself on John's arm. "Not a real big drinker, can you tell?" She asked.

John just shook his head and put his hand at the small of her back to help guide and steady her. They walked toward a table near the back of the tavern. A group of men and women sat at the table laughing and talking with one another.

"Well, well, well," one of the women said as she stood up. "I have been looking all over for you." She went to John and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah, well I had to show our newest guest some sort of hospitality." John said hugging her.

"I'm Tina," she said with a bright smile as she extended her hand toward Brynn, "you must be Brynn."

"That would be me! Great to finally meet you." (don't fall down now girl you can do this!)

"Well lets see who else we can introduce you too here. This lug here is Bud, and that is Trisha. Then there is Max and Laura, Cort, you already have meet Peaches, Zack is over there, Lachlan, and Jeff."

Everyone said their hello's to the new arrival but all Brynn could do was raise her glass of beer, nod at them and take a nice long drink.

Peaches looked at her, "you gonna be all right over there?"

"Yup, just soaking it all in. You know, all of you girls told me about this place and it just does not actually get to you until you are here in the thick of it," Brynn said pulling out a chair.

"You can say that again," Tina told her. "You should have seen me when I first came here."

"So," Peaches asked, "your room all right?"

"All right," Brynn repeated, "it is more than all right, it is wonderful. I now know why you call it the black room."

"Well you said you wanted a lot of space to move around in while you were here and that is the biggest room we offer."

"It is wonderful. I will most definitely be enjoying my stay here."

"And how long are you going to be gracing us with your magnanimous presence, my dear?" Brynn hear the voice in her ear but did not register where it was coming from right away. The alcohol was making her fuzzy.

"Oh I dunno, I may stay for up to four or five weeks. Have to use up all my vacation time," she said addressing the group.

They just looked at her. No, they were looking over her at something behind her.

Slightly annoyed she turned to see what they were looking at when she came face to face with a pair of purple trousers.

Following the lines of the nicely tailored suit to the face of its owner Brynn locked eyes for the first time with Sid 6.7.

"Damn it Sid can't you just leave her alone for the first day," John growled.

"Not a chance," Sid retorted, glancing briefly at John then he let his gaze wander back down to Brynn. "Fresh meat, you know."

Brynn met his fierce gaze with and equally fiery glare of her own. They stayed in the position for what seemed like an eternity, neither one wanting to be the first to back down. Finally Sid shifted his gaze lower to explore her cleavage. Brynn was full of triumph. She had won this little battle. The first of her many triumphs over this childish little imp.

Satisfied that she had won the staring contest, Brynn turned again to the group and struck up the conversation right where she left off. "So you see with all that time I had built up, I was forced to take a leave of absence. Guess they figured they worked me hard enough for the past four years."

It seemed to the rest of the group that Brynn could not even see the figure hovering over her, blatantly staring down the front of her Purple cotton V neck cardigan.

Max started to rise from his seat to do something about Sid. Brynn quickly caught his attention by a slight wave of her hand. When Max looked at her the message in her eyes was clear. <don't move, don't say anything just act like he is not there> Max picked up his beer and said "Hey Liz, another round for us, dear."

Brynn nodded her head slightly and looked around the rest of the table. "So," she started again, "What else do you all have to do around here? If I am going to be here awhile I want to explore the entire place."

"Well," Cort began silently understanding what she was trying to do. "We have the stables for horses, if you like that kind of thing."

"Oh and we have the airstrip, if you wanna go for a little ride, I would be more than happy to take you up." Lachlan chimed in. The rest of the group eventually began to resume the same kind of conversation, telling Brynn all of the wonderful and exciting things that would make her trip here one she would never forget. It seemed as if Sid had never interrupted the conversation.

Sid was not at all pleased by this turn of events. They were ignoring him and he was not someone to take very well to being ignored.

Liz had brought the round of drinks that Max ordered a few minutes before and everyone went back to conversation.

Once in the middle of talking with Cort about the horses in the stable, Sid ran his fingers through Brynn's long, dark brown hair.

"Like fine spun silk," he murmured to her.

"Cort, you said there is a mare in there ready to foal? Well, maybe I will get lucky and be here for the birth." Was Brynn's reply.

"I'll tell you what," Cort told her, "If you are here, we will name the little one after you. Then when the horse is broken and ready to ride, I will be able to ride "Brynn" out in public and not get in trouble!"

Sid leaned in close to Brynn and licked her neck from shoulder to ear, sure that would get a reaction out of her. Brynn continued to laugh at Cort's joke and said "That's kinda gross but hey you never know you might just be able to please one of the "ladies" in this joint. Hell, the horse might actually like it."

"OOOOHHHHh" was everyone's response to Brynn's verbal slam.

The guys seated at the table had to hold themselves in check when they saw Sid's not-so-subtle tactic for attention. But after looking to Brynn, they decided to remain seated and let it pass.

Brynn took a long swallow of her fresh beer and mingled in with the small talk the others were making. She was right back where she was use to being, in complete control. She knew Sid was trying to bait her. She had been forewarned about coming to this place, not only it's beauties, but it's dangers as well. Inside she was burning with desire that the last little stunt he pulled brought on. Showing the desire she felt, however, would be to show a weakness. Not a smart move where this little prick was concerned. He fed on the weakness of others, he counted on a certain weakness when it came to the women that frequented this Hotel. "He is beautiful" Brynn thought to herself. "But he is also a fire just waiting to get out of control."

Sid leaned down one last time and whispered, "until next time, my new beauty." With that he straightened himself and walked up the stairs to his room.

"Holy shit," Bud said as soon as Sid was out of sight. "What the hell was that?"

"Just a little psychology trick I like to use every now and again," Brynn told them. "You see, Sid is like a child looking for attention, even if it is negative attention. So by ignoring the behavior you get a positive response 8 times out of 10. In this case, the positive response was for him to leave."

"I like that approach," Max said taking a drink of beer.

"Ya know luv, Jeff piped in, "we may just need to keep you around."

"He is the reason you are here, you know that don't you?" John began.

"What do you mean the reason I am here. The girls are the reason I am here John, not that self absorbed piece of elephant dropping."

"Well the girls could talk and tell you about this place until they are blue in the face, that does not mean you would be able to find it. They sure can't tell you how to get here. It takes one of us guys to feel a connection with you and if the connection is strong enough with one of us," John punctuated his point by waving his arm to the other men that sat around the table, "you get the urge to come here. Then you can find your way."

"John," Brynn said through her confusion, "what connection could I possibly have with that Thing?"

"I think that would be my fault," Peaches said looking at her glass. "You may or may not be attracted to Sid, but do you remember a few months ago when I asked all the girls on the e-mail list to send me a pic so I could make a scrap book?"

Brynn nodded her head remembering the request.

"Well, I made a beautiful scrap book. A separate page for each of the friends I had made on that list. Pictures and a little information about each. I was showing some of the guys the scrap book a few weeks ago, and guess who questioned me about you."

Everyone turned their head to look up the stairs knowing what Peaches was getting at. "So if you have problems with him," she said again as the attention returned to the table, "you can blame me."

"I would do nothing of the sort," Brynn replied. "I have nothing to blame you for. I love this place and I am glad that I was brought here, no matter who's sick agenda it may be part of. Besides, as you have already witnessed I can hold my own when it comes to Sid."

The rest of the evening at the tavern was a blur. They talked, drank and introduced Brynn to some of the other occupants of the hotel. She was having a glorious time here with this group. She never wanted to leave.

4 hours later Brynn **WAS** ready to leave, well, the tavern at least. "Just a few hours ago I never wanted to go," Brynn thought to herself, "Now I cannot wait to get some fresh air." The drinks were getting to her head and making her dizzy. Besides it had been a long trip up here and now it was time to let her body unwind and soak in all that had happened. She was not exactly tired, but she did need to get away from everything for a little while.

"Hey," she yelled above the music to Stef, "I think I am gonna head back and let myself unwind. Let everyone know I will catch them tomorrow."

Stef nodded at her and held up her drink. "Finish your beer girl, this is, after all, your welcome party."

"To Crowe's Hotel," Brynn said raising her own glass and with that she finished her drink and stood up. She backed away from the table and pushed in her chair. Turning around, she ran into Max. "Hey there little one," he said, looking down to her. He grabbed her to keep her from falling back into the table. "You better make some more noise down there or one of us is gonna step on you."

Brynn giggled at his comment on her height. "Yup," she agreed. "Just 5 feet tall in my bare feet."

Brynn regained her balance and headed for the door. "Where are you headed to luv?" Lachlan asked, catching up to her quickly.

"Dunno, was gonna go back to the hotel and may be change for a nice night swim."

"Mind if I tag along? I need some fresh air."

"Not at all, this is your home after all, you can do pretty much what you like," she replied grinning up at his wonderful eyes.

They walked in silence to the hotel. Lachlan waited for her in the lobby while she went up to her room to change.

In her room, Brynn began to think about how magical this place is.

She could not get her mind around it. Being a psychologist she just had to reason with her mind about the logistics of a place like this. "Need more information," she told herself. "Maybe with more info, I can really start to put together the pieces."

She quickly shed her clothing from the day and slipped into her hot pink bikini. "Glad I bought this little number," she giggled. She slipped in to a soft satin robe, grabbed a towel out of the bathroom and returned downstairs to Lachlan, who was waiting for her patiently in the lobby.

"That did not take long," he said turning around to greet her.

"Let's go, shall we?" Brynn asked, taking his arm.

They strolled out behind the hotel neither one in any sort of rush. They talked about this and that on the way down to the surf. "Look," Lachlan said "See those lights over there? That is the airstrip. I am the only one here that flies, but I just love to take people up in my plane, so Peaches had the strip put in."

"It looks lovely lit up like that." They walked a little further away from the hotel on the shore of the beach. Brynn saw a small palm tree jutting out into the water on a small patch of sand. "That's where we are headed," she pointed.

"Fine with me," he told her, "I am just along for the company."

Brynn grinned up at him again as they walked out onto the little peninsula. She lay her towel in the soft white sand and sat down letting the breeze from the sea wash over her entire body. Lachlan sat beside her watching as she inhaled the air, held it for a moment and let it out, like she was letting out a breath of tension.

"You know," she began after a few minutes "I cannot say I get this place at all. I am a psychologist and I have to tell you I am having a real hard time with this."

Lachlan chuckled, "I can see how that would be a problem, you being a head shrinker and all."

"I am not a head shrinker," she slapped him playfully on the arm. "I just study people and their minds. I need to know the how and why about things."

"Are you asking me to explain it to you?"

"Yeah I guess I am. Can you?"

"I can give it a try," She could just make out his smile in the dim light of the moon.

"Good enough."

"It would all have to start with RC. He is our maker after all. He brings so much to his characters that they eventually take on a life of their own. Like me. And then of course there are you ladies. You keep us alive. When you think about us or watch us in movies, well it is you that makes us what we are. Peaches made this place for us, a place to stay and be with friends and others like us. We cannot go out into the real world very often. Too much of a chance of being noticed. That is about all I can tell you."

"So what, you just live here, and have to stay here all the time?" Brynn asked.

"Well, we can go back to "our" world whenever we want to. It is sorta weird I guess, but this is our life and I cannot speak for the others but I love it. I don't go back very often. Life is much more pleasant here. Max does not go back often either, I think most of the guys think like me. Better to stay here where things are fun and care free. And we do not stay here all the time. We go on little outings every now and then. We stick to safe places though."

"Ok, let's take Sid for example, I know he is a machine, and his mind is made up from a bunch of serial killers, is there any chance or has there ever been an incident where he has just freaked out and hurt someone?"

"Oh goodness no, Sid may be a jerk, he can stalk you from dusk til dawn and sometimes he can say some things you would rather not hear, but other than that he cannot cause anyone here any harm."

"Oh that's reassuring", Brynn laughed. "Sid has one hell of a mind. I would just love to get my hands on him in a psychological sense of course."

"Of course," he agreed. "So does that help you any?"

"Yes, but I have another question."

"Fire away luv, this is fun."

"You mentioned that you can go back to your "movie world" whenever you want?"

"Yeah, that is the way it works."

"I was wondering, has anyone ever taken someone back with them?"

Lachlan looked at her shocked. "Not that I know of luv, I don't think we can, but I can't say for sure cause I've never tried it. Never wanted to. Why would you ask that?"

"I am not sure. I am still trying to see the logistics in my minds eye. If we can bring you guys here because we love your movies or your characters, and you guys can bring us ladies to this place because of some connection, then what is to stop any one of you from bringing any one of us back to the 'movie world'."

"You know. I don't know," he replied thinking it over. "I just don't know."

"Oh well," Brynn said getting to her feet. "Enough talk, time for a dip. You care to join me?"

"Sorry," Lachlan told her, "But I am not dressed for it."

"Lame excuse," she chided as she slipped her robe off her shoulders and let it drift to the towel at her feet.

"I will be just fine here watching you in that amazing few scraps of cloth though. Don't you worry bout me."

She smiled down at Lachlan and walked slowly to the water. He watched her sink slowly into the waves and then she was out of site. Their conversation was still churning in his mind. Taking someone back to the movie world was something no one here had ever explored. It could be fun for some of the guys to show the ladies the places they were from, show them a different part of the world in a matter of hours, but there was a very real danger. If someone like Sid ever got an idea like that in his head, there was only one possible outcome and it was not at all good.

Brynn splashed in the small waves of the ocean. Letting the water draw out all the tension with each gentle swell. The water was just right tonight. Not too cold. "This is my own little piece of paradise," she thought to herself. "So what if I cannot make sense of it all, maybe I should just let it go and take John's advise. Go with the flow." She could just make out Lachlan on the little peninsula waiting for her to finish her water play. "Time to get out before you end up looking like a shriveled little salt prune."

She swam towards the figure sitting on the towel in the sand. When she was close enough to the shore to stand, she raised a hand to Lachlan. "How's the water luv?" he asked.

"Oh it was wonderful. Just what the doctor ordered," she replied sitting down beside him once again. She shook her long hair in his direction covering him with a cool spray of seawater. "See what you missed?"

"Thanks for the bath."

"Anytime!" After she dried herself off the best she could she returned her attention to Lachlan who seemed to be lost in thought. "Penny for your thoughts," she whispered. "However it will cost you fifty bucks to act them out."

He smiled over at her, "May have to take y'up on that one luv."

"Oh come on now, Lachlan. You know I would not charge you fifty bucks."

"Really?" he asked innocently. "Well you just let me know when you are ready to take on 'my thoughts' then."

Brynn giggled and pushed at him playfully. "Nawh, for you I would have to charge an even hundred."

It was Lachlan's turn to be playful. "Well, I guess I fell right into that one didn't I?" He said, grabbing her and pushing her to the sandy beach. He hovered above her, propped on his elbow just looking. Brynn giggled a moment longer until she realized something about his demeanor had changed.

"What is it, Lachlan?"

"I was thinking about what you said earlier, you know about us taking one of you back to our world."

"What about it?"

"I think it is for the best if you did not say anything about this to anyone else. Especially in front of Sid. I would just hate to think of what he might do if he found out we COULD actually do something like that. I am not saying that we can or can't, but I don't want to take any chances. You really pissed him off back there at the tavern tonight luv, he will be looking to get even with you. And I for one do not want anything bad to happen to you," he finished.

"I see your point," Brynn said looking into his eyes. "Thanks for thinking of my safety. I never really thought about it that way."

"I think maybe deep down you did think of it, that is why you mentioned it earlier."

"Oh now who's the head shrinker," Brynn laughed pushing him again.

Lachlan leaned over her and brushed his lips against hers, then he pushed himself up onto his knees and looked down at her lying in the sand. "It is getting late, you ready to head back?"

Brynn sat up a little confused. First, he kisses me and then he wants to leave, she thought to herself. "Um actually I am enjoying it here, I think I'll stay. Go on, if you're tired I will be alright here by myself."

"Ok," Lachlan replied, getting to his feet. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and kicked at the sand in front of his feet. It was sweet that he was acting shy about the little kiss. "Just be careful ok. I will look for you tomorrow morning if you would like to go for a walk or something with me."

"Sounds great, hey listen why don't we meet in the dining room for breakfast?"

His nervousness evaporated and he favored her with that brilliant smile again. "Yeah I think I can arrange that."

Brynn got to her feet and stepped closer to him. She draped her arms around his neck and leaned in close seeking his mouth with her own. Finding it, she secured a kiss on his lips and hugged him tight to her still damp body. Lachlan snaked his arms around her narrow waist and lifted her a little so she did not have to stand on her tiptoes to hug him. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For being so you." Brynn let go of him and he set her back on her feet. She looked at the front of his shirt now damp from the moisture that still clung to her bathing suit. "Sorry," she blushed.

Lachlan brushed a piece of her hair away from her face and replied, "I'm not."

He touched her cheek, "Goodnight luv, sweet dreams."

"You too Lachlan." With that he walked away from her and back towards the tavern.

Brynn watched him go for a few moments then scooped up her towel and robe and headed up the beach to the sand dunes. She spread her towel back out and spread out her robe as well so she could lay back and watch the night sky. "Not a cloud anywhere tonight," she whispered. She reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a clove cigarette and a lighter. After lighting the cigarette, she inhaled deeply then let it out in one long breath savoring the flavor.

Brynn thought at length about the conversation she had with Lachlan. The possibilities seemed endless here. She had to admit she had not been this excited about anything in a long time. "Like a little kid on Christmas morning," she chuckled to herself. She took another deep inhale on her clove then put it out in the sand. After making sure none of the hot embers still clung to the end of the cigarette, she slipped it back into her robe pocket to be disposed of later.

"What's so bloody funny?"

The sound of the voice made Brynn sit up with a start. She look around trying to locate their origin. A few feet back from where she currently was sitting she could just barely make out the shape of a man. He took a long draw on his cigarette, and blew out in her general direction.

"Excuse me?" Brynn said, still a little shocked. "I thought I was alone out here."

Taking another drag of his cigarette, then flicking it directly at her he replied, "Well ya ain't alone."

Taking a moment to bury his cigarette butt in the sand like she had just done with her own and calming her frazzled nerves Brynn quietly answered "Yeah thanks for sharing that amazingly clever insight."

The man jumped to his feet and stomped over to her. "What did ya say, ya half-breed?"

"You obviously heard me the way you came bounding over here ready to take my head off," Brynn stated lying back down on her robe. From this view she could actually see his face without having to crane her neck to look up at him. "Ah," she sighed. "I should have known it was you Hando."

"What the fuck's that suppose to mean?" he grumbled still looming over her.

"Geez do you need me to draw you a picture? It means about the same thing you meant when you called me a half-breed. Although I have to say you are quite accurate in saying so, as I am exactly half American Indian and half German."

Hando remained silent for a few minutes just standing over her, watching.

"Have a seat," she offered. "Take a load off, I don't bite too hard anyway."

He slumped down beside her towel and stared out at the ocean.

Brynn was glad for the silence. She was not sure what to say to him, nor was she all that thrilled about having to have a battle of the wits with him about race, religion or what color underwear she wore on Tuesday's. She just was not up to the challenge right now. Maybe later.

"What ah ya doin' out here?"

The silence was far too good to last for very long, Brynn thought as she looked at him again. "What?"

"I said, what ah ya doin' out here?" he repeated.

"Exactly what does it look like I am doing Hando? Are you really that thick?"

"Watch ya tone with me or ya likely to find out. Don't think much of me do ya?

"It's not that Hando, I just figured..." Brynn tried to figure out exactly what she thought of him. She could not grasp any coherent thought at the moment, "...hell I don't know what I think. Besides since when do you care what anyone thinks of you?"

"I don't. That was a nice little show you put on down there with the fly boy. You little Indian sluts sure do know how to turn on the charm when ya want to." Hando said, trying to be as rude as possible.

"I think I have a pair of pliers in my room that will take care of that for you," Brynn shot back at him.

"Take care a what?"

"That bug that crawled up your ass and died. Maybe if we get that little fucker outta there your attitude will improve slightly." She replied, shaking her head.

Hando looked at her and smiled. He actually smiled. "Careful now," Brynn warned him. "We don't want your face to crack." His smile quickly faded and he sat again, stone faced staring out at the ocean. "So much for that," Brynn sighed. She got up and shook the sand out of her robe and slipped it on. She reached down to grab her towel when Hando spoke again.

"Where ya goin'?"

"What the hell do you care? Besides, I thought I would leave the two of you alone. Have a good evening Hando. Maybe we can chat again sometime."

"What are ya talkin' about ya dumb bitch the two of who?"

"You know, you and your ego. I figured I would let the two of you enjoy the rest of the evening in peace." Brynn quickly walked away from him toward the hotel before he had a chance to say another word to her. "God, why does he have to be such an ass," she mused. "He is not too bad on the eyes, but he reeks havoc on the mind!"

Hando stared after her for a moment then dug another cigarette out of his pocket. He lit it then smiled to himself. "Gonna have ta get to know that little tart better." He was surprised that he had not imitated her at all. Christ, she came just about eye to eye with him when she stood up and he was still sitting in the sand. His size alone should have had her shaking in her bikini. But she gave back every ounce that he felt like dishing out.

Brynn stepped off the sand to the brick walkway that led to the hotel. She was still furious at Hando for his remarks about the way she acted with Lachlan, the rest of his bull she could handle easily. "Get over it Brynn, this is exactly what he was trying to do to you. Get control, and don't play this game on his level."

"What was that?" Laura asked walking up beside Brynn.

"Oh just talking to myself," Brynn explained. "Just had a little chat with Hando down on the beach. Man, he can be so aggravating!"

"Oh yeah, is he certainly not in competition for most popular around here." Laura agreed. "But I thought you left earlier with Lachlan? Not that it is any of my business."

"That's ok, I did go down to the beach with Lachlan, but he left to get some rest. I wanted to stay and relax by the water a little longer. That's when I ran into Mr. Personality. You know Laura, the sad thing about Hando is I think under all that rough and tough exterior, there is a really nice, intelligent guy just waiting to be found."

"You may be right, but we have not found anyone around here yet willing to try to get through to him. Seems like an awful lot of work. He scares the crap out of most of those that come here. No one really wanted to get that close to him."

"Oh, he does not scare me. He is pig headed and can certainly be rude, but you are right, it would take a lot longer than I would care to spend to get the "nice guy" inside to come out and play, and with the way he grates on my nerves, I'd probably just have to kill him and get it over with," Brynn laughed. "Well, I am headed for bed, it has been a long day. I will catch up with you tomorrow I am sure."

"Goodnight Brynn, and don't let the bed bugs bite!"

Brynn breezed past the front desk of the Hotel on the way up to her room wishing Peaches a good night, she continued up the stairs down the hall and into her room. Flipping on a single light inside the room she went to her bedroom. The balcony doors were still open as they had been left earlier in the day. Brynn walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the beach. Hando was still sitting where she had left him ten minutes ago. "Men!" Brynn said aloud and went back inside.

Drawing water into the four person Jacuzzi/tub she added some bath oil and lit a single vanilla candle resting it on the edge of the smooth porcelain . She called down to room service to have a single glass of wine delivered to her room. "A nice bubble bath a small glass of wine candles, now that's what I call relaxing," she thought hanging up the phone. Brynn removed her bathing suit and took it out to the balcony to dry. When she came back to the bathroom the tub was full and waiting for her. Slowly she slid into the warm water letting it consume every inch of her being. "To hell with the beach," she thought. "I have a pool in my bathroom!" Leaning her head back and closing her eyes Brynn let the scent of the oil and candles fill her mind.

"Your wine, my dear," John said bringing her out of her reverie. "Strawberry as you requested."

"Perfect timing," Brynn smiled taking the glass from him. She took a small sip and lay her head back against the edge once more.

"Feeling a little more at home now?" he questioned.

"Oh yeah, they are gonna have to drag me away from this place when my vacation is over."

"Well you look quite comfortable now. Is there anything else you need before I head out?"

"Nope, I think I have it all now! You have a great night John and thanks again for your help this afternoon." Brynn said closing her eyes again.

"Any time." He slipped out the door closing it slightly behind him and was gone.

Brynn finished off her wine then sank her head under the warm water in the tub to rinse the sand out of her hair. Deciding she was relaxed enough to sleep she climbed out of the "pool" and dried off. Going to the vanity in the bedroom, she brushed her hair out and put moisturizer on her skin. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled. "Time for bed, going to have one hell of a day tomorrow!"

After pulling the covers down on the massive bed she climbed up and slid between the back sheets. She left the balcony doors open to get the breeze from the ocean while she slept. Faint light from the moon came into her room through the sheer black curtains blowing in the breeze. Brynn closed her eyes, and was instantly asleep.

The bright rays of sunshine streaming through the open balcony doors stirred Brynn into consciousness. Stretching languidly across the bed she rubbed at her face and eyes. "Oh this is nice," she mused, "no alarm clock. Gotta love that." She had not yet opened her eyes, but Brynn sensed a presence in the room with her. An uncanny feeling of being watched. Her eyes opened slightly to survey the room, and there standing in the doorway watching her was Sid.

"Good morning," he said.

"Yeah. It was." Brynn replied sitting up and wrapping the sheets around her naked body. "You have a thing against knocking?"

"I did not want to wake you. I am glad I decided to sneak in, gave me a chance to watch you sleep."

"Sid you know, that is just creepy. How long have you been in here?"

"Long enough," he smirked as though he knew something she had yet to grasp. "I thought you might enjoy a nice intimate breakfast. So I brought it up for you."

"SHIT! BREAKFAST! What time is it?" Brynn yelled.

"A little past nine in the morning. What is the problem?"

"I was suppose to meet Lachlan for breakfast in the dining room. You have to go, NOW!" Brynn ranted looking around the room, trying to figure out a way to get rid of the impossible nuisance without giving him a good show.

"Forget that loser. What you need is a real man." Sid taunted her with his smile.

Brynn laugh out loud at his comment. "And what, exactly, would you know about being a REAL man?"

"That was not very nice after I went to the trouble of bringing you breakfast." Sid replied and walked toward her. picking up the silver serving tray along the way. He looked like a panther she had seen on the discovery channel stalking it's prey.

"I can't play games with you right now, Sid," she told him. "I never break a promise and I don't intend to start now. I have to get going now. I am already late. Please LEAVE."

"But I am not ready to go just yet." He set the tray on the bed next to her and took a few steps back. "I think now is a fabulous time to play."

Sid definitely looked like he was in the mood to play. Brynn was beginning to have doubts about being alone with him, when she heard a soft rapping coming from the general direction of the door to her room.

"Thank god," she thought. "Whoever is at the door deserves a nice big kiss." "Come in," was what she actually let come out of her mouth.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. I thought since you weren't downstairs for breakfast, I would bring breakfast to you." Lachlan said coming through the living room and into the bedroom. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sid approaching Brynn's bed. "Oh, well looks like I was not the only one with bright ideas this morning."

Sid and Lachlan stood like statues for several seconds trying to stare each other down.

"Lachlan!" Brynn said, breaking the silence in the room. "That is so sweet of you to bring me breakfast in bed!"

Against his better judgment Lachlan took his eyes off Sid and let them wander over to the bed where Brynn sat still wrapped up in a sheet. He felt his face turn a nice bright shade of crimson when he realized she was naked under the sheet.

"I am sorry, Brynn," he stammered, "I did not mean to interrupt."

"Oh, don't be silly. You did not interrupt anything. Sid was just leaving."

"I guess I will be going, It's getting a little crowded in here for my tastes." Sid relented. "Enjoy your breakfast my dear. I will see you again soon." He strolled over to her plucking the rose bud from the vase that was placed on the tray in Lachlan's hands. He bent over her on the bed and traced the line of her mouth with the soft pink petals, then lay the rose gently in her lap. "Very soon."

Standing straight, Sid turned and walked again past Lachlan letting out a small chuckle as he passed.

"What was that all about?" Lachlan questioned.

"You know Sid." Brynn shrugged, "Hard not to be an ass when you are programmed to be an ass. So come here, show what goodies you brought me." She patted a space on the bed next to her.

Lachlan went to the bed and lay the tray across Brynn's lap. He carefully picked up the rose Sid had taken from him and stuck it back into the vase. Brynn clapped her hands in delight. "I am famished."

"What would you like to start with?" Lachlan asked. "I brought you all sorts of good things."

"Hey, Brynn you in here? I brought you breakfast." Max said, walking into the room.

Lachlan and Brynn looked up in unison surprised. Their surprise turned to laughter at the site of Maximus coming in to the room with yet another tray full of food.

"I am sorry," Max blushed seeing the two of them sitting on the bed. "I did not mean to interrupt. Peaches said you had not been down for breakfast, so uhh, Laura and I put this together for you. Sid let me in. What was HE doing in here? Anyway, here's your breakfast."

"Whoa there, big guy slow down. It's alright." Brynn said through her laughter. "Seems everyone's got the same idea about the breakfast thing. Well guys, I have enough food here to feed the Roman army, how about you both help me eat it? Bed picnic!"

Maximus smiled at her. "Sure, sounds good." He walked to the bed and sat the tray down across from Lachlan, then sat himself at the end of the bed.

"Uhh guys, I just have one small problem with this whole little breakfast thing," Brynn stammered.

"What's that luv?" Lachlan asked.

She let her eyes travel from the food before her to the sheet still wrapped around her body. "I am uh naked under here. Makes it a little hard to eat when I have to hold the sheet."

Lachlan immediately looked away from her to the painting on the wall, the blush returning to his face. Max got up from the end of the bed and unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing. "Here you go." He said, "Put this on, and let's eat!" He draped the shirt over Brynn's shoulders. She slipped her arms into it and buttoned the first few buttons.

"Much better," she agreed. "Thanks Max."

The three of them sat on the huge bed eating breakfast and chatting. "So what WAS Sid the psycho doing in here this morning," Max asked.

"Dunno," Brynn shrugged. "He was here when I woke up. I don't even now how he got in. Kinda creepy having him watch me sleep though."

"He is the worst kind of weirdo. Real smooth. Like nothing bothers him." Lachlan laughed around a piece of bacon.

"Well I just wish he would find somewhere else to go." Max told her. "He is always annoying someone."

Brynn sat forward and snatched a strawberry from Lachlan's pancakes, "Well, like I said yesterday, he is a child looking for attention. I think there are things that do bother him. He envy's what you guys have here. Most of you have found women to be with that really make you happy. Sid wants the same thing. Companionship and love in a strange Sid sort of way. Hey maybe we can get some psycho chick to come here and play with him."

"Not a chance luv," Lachlan said. "Between Sid and Hando we have enough problems around here. We do not need someone else with a few screws loose to add to the mix."

"Ohh, speaking of Mr. Personality, I talked to him last night down on the beach after you left. He was quite rude, said we put on quite a show." Brynn told Lachlan.

"There is one man you want to avoid at all costs," Max warned her. "He is as looney as Sid." There was another knock on Brynn's door.

"Grand central station," Brynn called out. "Come on in!" Laura, Tina, and John strolled in the bedroom.

"Hey, I was just coming up to see how you liked the.... Max, what are you doing eating Brynn's breakfast?" Laura said.

"I told him to Laura," Brynn replied for Max, who's mouth was full of scrambled eggs. "I had three, well two, nice gentleman and buttwad bring me breakfast this morning, so I figured we would have a bed picnic."

"Sounds good," Tina said hopping up onto the bed. "I got dibs on that piece of bacon." She snatched the bacon from Lachlan's hand and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Two gentlemen and an *buttwad*?" John questioned sitting down next to Tina.

"Yeah Sid was in here this morning when I woke up. He brought me breakfast as did Lachlan and Max." Brynn explained.

"Ah," John replied. "I guess I don't have to ask who the buttwad is then."

"No mate, it's a given when Sid's name is in the mix." Lachlan laughed.

"Well," Brynn said pushing her tray away. "I am going to go get in the shower. You guys finish up the breakfasts." She jumped from the bed and headed to the bathroom when she heard Max laughing. Turning back to the bed she asked, "What?"

"You really could use that shirt as a nightgown. It covers you almost all the way to your knees." Max grinned. "Go ahead and keep it in case someone decides to bring you breakfast tomorrow."

"Keep it up with the height jokes, Max," she warned, "and I will certainly cut YOU down to size. Lachlan, want to go for a walk when I am done in the shower?"

"Sure luv, I'd like that," he replied with a smile.

"Good. Give me half an hour." Brynn turned back toward the bathroom and left them to their breakfast.

Laura playfully punched Max's arm. "You are too much," she told him giving a kiss on the cheek.

"I try," Max said wrapping an arm around Laura offering her a pear slice. I just think it is funny. She looks like a little kid."

"I would heed her warning though, Max," Tina said, taking a drink of orange juice. "She may be little, but I bet she puts up one hell of a fight."

"If she does not know how to put up a fight we may want to think about teaching her how to," Lachlan replied getting up off the bed. "I don't like the idea of Sid sneaking in here while she is sleeping. We at least should make sure she knows how to defend herself."

Taking Laura's hand and standing up, Max said, "I agree with you. Maybe later I can take her aside and see what she knows in the way of self defense. She could use me as a sparing partner." Lachlan nodded his agreement.

John and Tina picked up the trays left on the bed, "We will take these back downstairs for Brynn," Tina winked at Lachlan. "You two have fun on your walk."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Was all he could manage in response.

Brynn emerged from the bathroom exactly one half hour later, completely showered. Her long hair was pulled back into a loose braid that she draped over her shoulder. The neatly braided bundle stopping just before her waist. She wore a thin, baby pink half shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Lachlan thought she looked like a goddess as she stepped out of the bathroom door. He turned away from her slightly so she could not see the affect just the sight of her was having on him.

"You ready to go?" Brynn asked walking over to stand in front of Lachlan.

"Whenever you are luv," he replied tugging on the braid.

"Just let me get my sneaks on and I will be ready." She picked up her tennis shoes and slipped her feet into them.

She smells like a field of wild flowers, Lachlan thought to himself. Thank god for baggy pants.

"Let,s go," Brynn said, getting to her feet oblivious to Lachlan's predicament.

They walked out side into the sunshine and strolled around the side of the hotel to the courtyard. "This is beautiful," Brynn exclaimed as she looked around the elaborate Chinese garden. There were flowers everywhere. This was no doubt where Lachlan had gotten the rose he brought to her with breakfast this morning. Walking over to a bush full of the same roses, she fingered the petals on one of the buds. "So you came out here and cut me a rose before you brought my breakfast this morning," Brynn sighed at such thoughtfulness.

"Yeah I did. I wanted to do something special for you." Lachlan told her the embarrassment evident on his face.

"It was special." Brynn lifted her hand from the rose and let it wander the plain of Lachlan's cheek. "Thank you."

"You are most welcome," he told her. Lifting her hand from his cheek he turned it over and place a kiss on her palm. Brynn shivered from the sensation of his lips on her skin.

Lachlan walked with her to a bridge overlooking a coy pond still holding the hand he kissed moments before.

"This is unbelievable," Brynn said looking into the pond. "Look how big those coy are." Lachlan stepped behind her, relinquishing his grasp on her hand, moving his hands instead to her narrow waist. He let his fingers play over the soft flesh of her belly working in small circles toward her belly button.

Brynn leaned her head back against Lachlan's chest reveling in the feel of his hands on her. Lachlan's hand abruptly stopped stroking her skin. He tugged on the small ring he found nestled in her belly button.

"What's this?" He asked.

"A belly ring," Brynn explained as Lachlan turned her around so he could see.

"Ouch," he said. "That had to hurt. It goes right through the skin."

"That is the idea of a body piercing." She giggled. "I keep forgetting that you probably do not see a lot of this kinda thing."

"Body piercing huh? Do you have any others?" Lachlan asked picking her up to sit on the railing of the bridge.

Brynn put her arms around his neck and whispered "here let me show you." She placed her lips against his. Lachlan put his arms around her to steady himself and let his tongue dart out of his mouth to taste her. Brynn let a whimper escape her throat as she let her own tongue out of its warm cave to participate in the festivities. They held each other close deepening the kiss. Brynn let the ball in the center of her tongue caress the underside of Lachlan's.

Lachlan broke the kiss surprised. "You have got to be kidding me," he said. "Let me see it." Brynn stuck out her tongue at Lachlan and tried not to laugh. "Why on earth would someone do something like that?" He asked, pointing.

Pulling her tongue back into her mouth, she frowned. "You don't like the way it felt?"

Lachlan looked at her for a moment, thinking about it. "Yeah I did like the way it felt. But why go through all the pain?"

"Use your imagination Lachlan," she told him, waggling her eyebrows. "Besides it really didn't hurt."

Lachlan was staring at her dumbfound. "You mean you can use that thing to.... Jesus, Mary and Joseph girl, you are going to kill me!"

Brynn laughed as she jumped down from the railing. She ran across the bridge to the other side of the bright garden, then dropped down to lay in the soft grass. "I could lay here all day," she said.

"Sorry, but ya can't luv. Got plans for you today." Lachlan grinned down at her. "Gotta get headed over to the tavern in a bit."

Brynn covered her eyes from the glare of the sun so she could see his face. "What kinda plans?"

"Max wants to take you out in the woods for awhile," he explained.

"WHAT?" Brynn asked shocked. "Exactly what does he want to take me out in the woods FOR?"

"Looks like I got your mind headed in the wrong direction," Lachlan chuckled. "He just wants to show you a few things about self defense. With Sid sneaking into your room, I think it would be for the best."

"Oh," she said relieved. "Well if you want to take me over to the tavern so I can go out in the woods and get my ass kicked you will just have to carry me, cause I ain't movin."

Lachlan let out a genuine laugh and before Brynn knew what was happening, he bent down and scooped her off the ground. He slung her over his shoulder and gave her a slap on the bottom. "Ass kicking number one," he said, and proceeded out of the garden.

Lachlan raced through the doors to the tavern carrying a shrieking Brynn over his shoulder.

"What is all this noise about," Liz asked, coming from the back room. "Oh Brynn, Lachlan, what's going on?"

"Hi Liz," Brynn replied, trying to look up from her precarious position. "Gotta find Max, know where he is?"

"What do ya need Max for?" Stef asked, standing up.

"He has a class to teach this afternoon," Lachlan told her.

"Yup," Brynn agreed smiling, "Ass whoopin' 101. He thinks I should know a thing or two about self defense."

Stef laughed and looked back to Brynn still slung over Lachlan's shoulder. "I take it you are not willingly taking this class?"

"I just wanted to waste the day laying in the garden, but oh no, bright boy here has other ideas." Brynn wined mocking a frown.

"I have got to see this," Liz told Brynn. "You are like two feet tall compared to Max. Stef, we better grab the video camera for this one."

"Great," Brynn mused. "Now you are starting with the height jokes too. I am gonna start wearing platforms so people will stop picking on me. Lachlan, do you think you can put me down. All the blood is rushing to my head. Getting VERY dizzy."

Lachlan put Brynn back on the ground and held her a moment so she could regain her equilibrium. "What a rush," she laughed, grabbing her head with both hands.

Lachlan spotted Max descending the stairs. "Hey, we were just looking for you. It is time to start the lesson."

"Yeah Gladiator. Bring it on," Brynn said, motioning with her finger for him to come closer.

"You ready for a lesson in self defense, little one," Max asked as he approached her.

"Screw the self defense stuff," she replied. "I thought we could just have a good ole fashion ass whoopin'."

Max chuckled at her defensive posture before him. Looking down, he said "Alright then, let's go."

"We are gonna tag along," Stef told them. "I have the video camera ready to roll. I think this is going to be worth saving to watch over and over."

They walked out of the tavern and took a path leading to a spot in the woods that Max used to work off some extra energy and stay in shape. Seeing the group walking down the path some of the other residents and guests decided to come watch the festivities as well.

"You know," Peaches told Max. "We have the exercise room with mats, maybe that would be a better place to have this little lesson."

"Naw, I think Max is gonna need the home court advantage," Brynn laughed.

"You talk a pretty big game," John cautioned. "You got the skill to back up that mouth?"

"I'll tell you what John," Brynn said looking him up and down. "Once I am done with the General here, you are next."

"Thanks, but I'll pass, something about trying to spar with a lady just makes my skin crawl."

Brynn saw their destination a few yards from where they were. It was a nice sized circular clearing in the forest. Max had hung a punching bag from one of the thicker tree limbs to the north side of the clearing, but there was nothing but smooth dirt in the center. Max was the first to reach the center of the clearing. He stood there silently waiting for Brynn.

Instead of walking to Max, Brynn went to one of the trees and propped her leg up against it to stretch her calf and thigh muscles. Once she was sure that leg had been completely stretched she switched to the other.

"I think you are stalling little one," Max told her. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. This is just to teach. I would never hurt a woman."

"That will be your biggest problem right there Max. If you are going to teach me then you can not see me as a woman. You have to see me as Sid sees me. I am a toy." Brynn scolded.

Max scowled at her reprimand. "But," he tried to say.

"No buts," she said, "Now, let's get it on."

Brynn stood in front of Max. "You start," she breathed. Her manner had become very intense and focused. Max had begun to wonder if this was all a mistake. The group had gathered around them in a semi-circle to watch the event.

Abruptly Max lunged at her, trying to grab her around the middle and lift her up off the ground. Brynn never flinched. She simply stepped to the side and when she saw Max was going to go down on his knees she brought her elbow down fiercely across his back sending him sprawling in the dust.

"Holy shit," Bud said clapping. "You see that? She is pretty quick."

"Being small has it's advantages," Cort told him. "Low to the ground and very fast."

Brynn knelt over Max. "Lesson one," she said.

Max got up from the ground and looked at her in amazement. "You got me a good one, don't get to cocky, I won't be letting it happen again."

"We'll see," she replied.

Max reached out, lightning quick and grabbed a hold of Brynn's wrist. He twisted it around behind her back and spun her so her back was flat against his chest. Brynn leaned into him for a fraction of a second to regain her balance. Holding her chin against her chest the best she could, she snaked her leg inside and around Max's and kicked forward causing him to lose his balance and his grip on her wrist. Once she was away from him she turned on him ready to strike. Max stumbled backwards awkwardly then straightened himself. More people had come to watch the action and the crowd that had formed behind them cheered.

"Lesson two," Brynn whispered.

"That's my girl," Lachlan whispered.

"You are good at this, little one." Max told Brynn. "Why did you tuck your chin to your chest when I held you like that?"

"A true attacker may have a knife just itching to get at the throat area. So it is not an area to be left open. By holing myself in that posture I could protect myself from having my throat slit." Brynn explained.

Impressed Max nodded at her, then he attacked again. This time he rushed her head-on making sure not to fall for the side step that got him the first time. He grabbed Brynn up around the waist and held her in the air about a foot from the ground. Not missing a beat Brynn put her arms above her head and before he had a chance to tighten his grip around her waist she slid through the confines of his arms. Once she felt her feet touch the ground she went down on to one knee and did a mock punch stopping short a few millimeters from the front of his pants.

"Lesson three." Brynn announced.

"JE-SUS," Laura said wide-eyed staring at Max. "That was just awesome."

Max backed away from Brynn's fist still held out in the mock punch and covered himself. "Lessons over," he whispered.

"Hey Stef," Brynn asked getting to her feet. "Did you get that look on his face with your video? I thought he was going to pass out at the just the thought of it."

Stef, looked up from her video camera and just started to laugh. Poor Max was still standing where he had been, covering himself. "Yeah I got it!"

"I told you guys," Tina said. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Yeah you told us," John reassured putting his arm around her. "You don't have to do the neener, neener, neener dance. We got it!"

Tina looked up at him smugly. "I will do the neener, neener , neener dance if I want to!"

"Where in the hell did you learn to do that, Brynn," Bud questioned walking to her. "Some sort of self defense class?"

"Yeah something like that, Brynn explained. "I taught self defense to rape victims for awhile. It was part of my internship for my masters in psychology. At first I was just there to talk with them, help them get out what they needed to, but I found a lot of these women still felt vulnerable, so I came up with a self defense class. I had 7 years of Tae-kwon-do to boot, so the head psychologist let me go with it. It really helped these woman gain their self confidence back."

"Tae-kwon-do?" Max asked.

"Yeah, martial arts stuff. Great way to learn self-control." Brynn told him walking over to the punching bag hanging in the tree. She delivered a series of slow punches to the bag and then let them get progressively quicker. She began to follow some of the punches with sidekicks to the bag ending with a solid roundhouse kick.

"I am impressed," Cort told her. "I guess we underestimated you because of your size. Looks like you can deal with Sid without a problem."

"So I guess we have to register you as a lethal weapon." Jeff said joining the conversation.

Lachlan walked to Brynn and hugged her. "Good show, luv. I was worried for nothing."

"Ass whoppin's over, " Brynn yelled to the group. "Lets go!"

Most of the guys went into town with Liz in the late afternoon to help her restock the tavern. Brynn waved at them as they piled into the SUV and headed down the driveway. Once they were gone she walked back to the tavern to get a drink and listen to some music.

Brynn had Alex turn on the jukebox and pour her a beer. "Thank god for some quiet time," she thought. Once Alex brought her beer and told her the box was on she walked over to play a few tunes. "You coming back tonight?" Alex asked Brynn.

"What's tonight?" She questioned, "Something special?"

"Karaoke night, luv. It is a hoot. Everyone gets hammered and sings til their blue in the face."

"Sure, I might come back for that." She told him, dropping her money into the machine. That's when she noticed Sid sitting in one of the booths next to the box. He did not look at her or even acknowledge she was there. "And he came on so strong before," Brynn mused silently. Surely he heard her talking with Alex. He knew she was there and he had not tried to approach her with one of his sleazy lines. Something is most out of place here. She was warring with herself inwardly about talking to Sid. If she struck up a conversation with him, she may be just inviting trouble. "So much for quiet time," Brynn laughed. She picked a few selections on the jukebox and walked over to Sid.

"What's up cyberboy? I have been here for a good five minutes and you have not once tried to come on to me with one of your ridiculous pick-ups. What gives? You got a little virus or something?" Brynn asked him laughing at her own joke and sitting down across from him.

He just sat there for a moment before answering her. He stared at his hands folded neatly on the table. "Do you feel it necessary to remind me every chance you get that I am not human like you? I saw you in the woods today. Not only did I see you, but heard you as well. Do all of you take so much pleasure in treating me like garbage?"

WHOA, this was definitely not SID. The "man" sitting before her had compassion and feelings. This was NOT SID.

"What did you hear me say?" Brynn asked concerned. "Anything I said about you to the others I would gladly say to your face. I don't play that way Sid. I am straightforward. What do you want to know?"

"Do you think I see you and the others here as toys?" He questioned, finally looking up at her.

"Yes," she answered honestly.

"What is it about me that you women find so offensive and yet so attractive. I feel the attraction coming off most of you like heat. But still I sit here alone." He told her not changing his tone or his facial expressions.

"It is everything about you, Sid. You are one fine looking, uhhhh, man, but you have no clue how to treat people. That goes for the men and women alike. It is not entirely your fault. You were never program... I mean taught how to treat people. But you can always use the other guys here as a guide. They do not behave the way you do. Maybe it is time to take a lesson or two in chivalry from them." Brynn tried to explain.

"You kicked some ass out there today," he smiled at her.

"Well it was just for fun, nothing serious," She said taking a drink from her beer.

"It was serious to me." Sid's admission was barely a whisper but Brynn understood it just fine.

"Why was it so serious to you," She was completely puzzled now. "You were not even involved."

"Not involved? What were you doing out there? You were out there because the others thought you needed to know how to defend yourself against me." Again the same stone faced expression and monotone voice. "I let myself into your room this morning to do something nice for you. I did not wake you because if I had you would not have let me in. I wanted to be near you, look at you. These are things I would not have been allowed to do had I knocked on the door, Brynn and you know it."

If Brynn were to look in a mirror at that moment she would not have been surprised to see her jaw resting quite nicely on the floor. She just stared at him agape at his admission. She was dumbfounded, at a loss for words completely. It seemed as though she had suddenly slipped into an alternate universe where Sid was not only sexy, but sensitive as well. "What did you put in my beer?" she asked trying to lighten Sid's mood. He just stared back at her.

Suddenly Sid got to his feet and stepped away from the booth. "Wait, don't go yet" she tried to comfort him.

He turned back to her and said, "I am sorry for licking you last night when you first got here. It was rude. I cannot, however, apologize for sneaking into your room while you were asleep. I am not sorry for doing it. I liked watching you sleep. You looked so at peace. Rest assured that I did not touch you or myself for that matter while I watched. I was simply looking." He turned away from her and walked away. All Brynn could do was watch him go up the stairs and into his room.

He apologized? "That's it." Brynn thought looking into her glass. "He definitely slipped me something."

Brynn must have sat in the booth in Crowe's Tavern for over an hour. Alex just kept bringing her drinks when her glass was empty. Although she did not order them, she did not complain when he brought them either. Brynn could not contemplate the whole Sid thing. What was his deal? He treats people like dirt, then after almost six years, he decides that he wants to be liked? Makes no sense what-so-ever.

Brynn was so lost in her thoughts she did not hear Steve come up behind her. "Hey there Brynn," he said putting his hands on her shoulders. Brynn cried out in shock. "Jeez," Steve jumped back at her reaction to him. "Time to switch to decaf, hon. What's got you in such a tizzy?"

Steve came around Brynn and sat across from her, the same place Sid had sat about an hour ago. "Just trying to get my head together." she told him. "Something really weird just happened."

"No kidding," he laughed, "I just about had to peel you off the ceiling there."

"No, it wasn't that Brynn," said meeting his eyes. Looking at Steve for a minute she realized how alike all of the guys here were, and yet so different in so many ways.

"You are staring at me." Steve broke into her thoughts again.

"Yeah I guess I was sorry." Brynn looked at her beer again.

"So what happened?" He pressed.

"Well, it's Sid." She began telling him. "I came in here awhile ago and he was in here..."

"What the hell did the little jack ass do this time?" Steve cut her off mid sentence.

"No, no he did nothing. That is just it! I was in here for about five minutes before I even saw him. He never tried to approach me or anything. So I decided to say hello to him, and he got all emotional on me. Telling me that he was sorry for the way he treated me when I first got here. He felt so awful because I was out in the woods with Max "learning" self defense because of him. It was the strangest thing I had ever heard Steve. I creeps me out even more than having him sneak into my room to watch me sleep." She ranted.

Steve sat there looking much like Brynn must have looked while Sid was telling her the things she had just recounted. "Did he slip something in your drink?"

Brynn laughed. "You know I thought the very same thing. I just don't get it. He has spent all this time here and NOW he is going to start with compassion? He said everyone treats him like garbage or something because he is a machine. What I don't understand if he can learn to have feelings himself, why can't he learn that others feelings are just as important as his?"

"Nothing is more important to Sid than Sid. Trust me on that one." Steve said shaking off the shock. "Just remember who you are dealing with. He did some pretty awful things to Laura when she first came here too, he can be very convincing when he wants to be."

"I don't know, but I think the topic is a little too deep for me right now anyway. How come you did not go with the other guys?" Brynn tried to change the topic.

"I am so glad you asked that," he beamed at her, the previous conversation totally lost now.

"I don't like that look Steve, what's up?"

"Well I was out photographing some of the beach today and I had a really cool idea. At least it is cool to me because photography is one of my biggest passions. Anyway I need you to help me with my really cool idea." Steve finished.

"What exactly do you need me for?" Brynn looked at him skeptically. "I am not going to let you take any nudie pictures of me, so just forget it."

Steve laughed...HARD. It took him a few minutes to regain control so he could speak. "It is not exactly you I want to photograph. It is your hair."

"HUH? You lost me. My HAIR?"

"Are you gonna come with me or not?" he asked. "I just want to take a few pictured that will be all. You will have to take it out of the braid though, and do you mind if it gets wet?"

"Now you have got me curious. Let's go and you can show me exactly what you want me to do," Brynn said getting up from her seat. "Alex, I am outta here. Put the drinks on my tab and I will be in later to square it up."

"A'ight luv," Alex nodded. "See ya then."

Brynn walked with Steve down to the beach. The curiosity of the photo he wanted to take was killing her. She tugged at the pink hair tie that held the braid in place and began to let her lair down as Steve had requested.

"So, what is this picture gonna be of, besides my hair?" Brynn asked him.

"You'll see." was all Steve would tell her. "Here. This is the perfect spot." Brynn looked down to where Steve pointed. All she saw was sand, a conch shell and the water from the ocean flowing and ebbing with the course of the tide.

"What do you want me to do?" Brynn asked still fingering the braid from her hair.

"Well I want you to brush out your hair and I will arrange the rest." He said not looking at her. He was surveying the area in front of them no doubt trying to figure out how to arrange everything.

"Brush?" Brynn questioned.

"Huh? Oh yeah in the bag up there."

"Nice to know you came prepared for me to agree to this," she told him grabbing the brush out of the bag. "Why did you want me for this anyway?"

"Well I do some of the art that is in the hotel and tavern," Steve began to explain. "Last night when I met you, the first thing I noticed about you was your hair. I wondered what it would look like in the sun." He looked up at her then and nodded. "Just as I thought," he said more to himself than to Brynn. "I got an idea for a new picture to hang in the hotel, and if no one else likes it, well then I will just hang it in my room."

Brynn listened to him ramble while she stoked the brush through her long brown hair.

"I thought that with just the right light you would have some really interesting highlights in your hair," he began again, "and I was right."

"All brushed," she told him. "Now what?"

"Come over here and sit in the sand," he instructed. "Hold your hair up so you don't sit on it or get sand in it.

She looked at where Steve told her to sit. He was pointing to a place in the sand where the surging water was rushing in and then being taken back out to the sea. "Guess I am gonna need another shower when we are done here."

"Yeah probably," he said apologetically. "But I promise to make it worth your while."

"The things I go through for you guys," Brynn shook her head in mock disgust. Then she walked over to Steve, held up her hair and plopped her butt down in the sand.

Steve scootched her back a little further trying the set the shot up just right. "Ok now lay back in the sand and keep your hair up, I will put it where I need it when I am ready." he instructed.

Brynn said nothing just did as she was told. An artist at work she mused in her head. This is going to get annoying real quick.

Steve went over to the bag where Brynn replaced the brush when she was done and quickly retrieved it again. He took the handfuls of hair out of Brynn's gasp once her returned and stood back from her head out toward the water and brushed it out once again.

"You know Steve, that is my biggest turn on right there."

"Having your hair brushed?" He grinned down at her. "Are you telling me that I am turning you on?"

Brynn grinned up at him. To her eyes, because of the way she way laying in the sand, Steve was upside down. Suddenly this all became very funny to her and she burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh yeah bad boy brush it !"

Steve could not help but laugh at her. "Calm down now. I am almost ready to take the shot." He finished brushing her hair and lay it in the sand spreading it out like a giant fan. The rushing water was coming in wave after wave touching the tips of her hair but nothing more. Steve then picked up the conch shell and placed it on her hair, not directly in the center, but a little off to the left. "Wonderful," he said. He stepped back and picked up the camera. He adjusted some of the settings and then brought the scene before him into focus. "Perfect," Steve said "now hold still hon."

Why is it when someone tells you to hold still you immediately have an itch or an unbelievable urge to burst into peels of laughter. Brynn was fighting not to do the later. She wanted to laugh so bad it began to hurt her stomach.

Steve took no notice of her. He was busy snapping photos of her from every angle even going so far as to step out into the water and get a picture from that angle as well. "Artists," Brynn sighed.

Convinced he had taken enough pictures to have a least one or two usable shots (he took a whole roll of film Brynn laughed to herself, he better have one or two good ones in there.) Brynn and Steve walked back to the tavern. His dark room was in the basement and he allowed Brynn to accompany him to develop the film.

Steve set the machine up with a timer to burn some of the pictures onto the photo paper. When the timer went off, he took the paper over to a bunch of bins filled with different solutions set up along one wall. Steve tried to explain what each was and how it would affect the picture, but Brynn was not interested in that, she wanted to know what they looked like!

"Hurry up will ya," Brynn told him. "I want to see one of them."

"Patience is a virtue you know." He replied taking one of the papers out of one solution and slipping it into another.

"I am from New York Steve, I don't have virtues." she giggled.

The first photo he began to develop was ready to dry. He removed it from the last solution and hung it from a thin piece of wire strung across the room. Brynn jumped down from the bench she was on and ran over to look at it with Steve.

"What do you think," he asked her.

"I think it is awesome!" she told him genuinely impressed with the photo. "I cannot believe you could do that and manage not to get my face in there. That is really good."

"Wait til you see it in regular light. I think this is the one," he said. "Yeah I am going to use this one. Thanks for being such a great subject. I could not have down it without you".

"No you could not have done it without my hair." Brynn was laughing again. "I have to go take a shower before the guys get back but I really want to see all of the pictures when you are done and could I pretty please with sugar on top also have a copy of the one you are going to use?"

"You got it," Steve said hugging her. "And thanks again."

Brynn walked back upstairs and heard voices in the bar. The guys were already back. How much time did I spend out there with Steve, she thought. Better yet how much time did I spend at the booth after the curve ball Sid threw me. Consulting her watch she confirmed it was much later than she had thought. Opening the door and emerging from the basement Brynn was engulfed by two nice big arms and lifted off the ground.

"Hi luv, did you miss me," Lachlan asked.

"Nope not at all," she told him a mischievous glint in her eyes. Setting her back on the floor he took her hand and led her over to sit at the table already occupied with lots of people.

"How long have you guys been back?" Brynn wondered aloud.

"Oh, we just got back. Had to get a lot of stuff for tonight. It gets a little crazy around here on Friday nights." Max explained.

"Maximus," Brynn said looking at him funny. "What, no little chuckles or nicknames. I was just getting use to you calling me 'little one'."

"I thought better of it after this afternoon." He shifted his position in his seat remembering how closely she came to castrating him earlier.

Brynn laughed watching him angle slightly away from her. "Max, I like it when you call me little one. You can still use it. I was just out there to prove a point today. No harm meant. I would not really have punched you."

"You would have to answer to me if you did," Laura told Brynn. "I don't need a manly gladiator that talks like he sings soprano forthe Vienna Boys Choir."

Brynn laughed with Laura. "That brings a shocking mental picture to my mind's eye," she agreed. "Well I would love to sit and chat with you guys but I have to go take a shower. I just got done laying in the sand so Steve could take pictures. I will catch up with you guys in about an hour."

"I will go with you," Lachlan announced also getting up.

"You gonna wash my back for me or something?" Brynn chided him.

"I'll wash whatever you like my dear. Lachlan squatted down to the ground before Brynn. "Hop on." He told her.

"Ohhh goodie I get a piggy back ride." Brynn squealed in delight as she straddled Lachlan's back. He put his arms around her legs and lifted her up as he stood.

"It looks like the two of you really hit it off." Tina told them. Brynn nodded in agreement and Lachlan just blushed.

"Hey speaking of getting along has anyone seen Sid?" John asked.

"Why can't we all just get along?" Stef threw her arm across her brow in a dramatic plea.

"That reminds me," Brynn beamed remembering her conversation with Sid earlier in the day. "I have one hell of a story to tell you guys when I get back. You are never going to believe it."

"So I guess because you are taking Lachlan with you it will be more like two or three hours before we get to hear this unbelievable tale?" Cort asked.

"That was rude," Peaches scolded Cort. "I would say more like four hours."

"I bet even money we do not see them the rest of the night," Liz challenged.

Brynn laughed and nudged Lachlan's side with her leg. "Giddie up horsie.... the shower is a calling!"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. "Hang on tight, sugar."

Lachlan rested on the sofa in Brynn's living room while she took her long awaited shower. He stretched out and rested his head peacefully on the arm of the couch thinking about what he wanted to say to her when she came out. Get real, he told himself, thinking about what he wanted to do with her was more like it. He heard the door to the bathroom open and Brynn came into sight hair still wet from her shower and she was wearing the same pink silk robe she wore yesterday.

"Feel better?" Lachlan asked, devouring her with his eyes.

"Much. Had all that sand in my hair. I have half of the beach in the bottom of the shower right now." She replied, lifting his legs and sitting down at the end of the couch. She continued to use the towel she carried from the bathroom to dry her hair.

Lachlan rested his legs across her lap and watched her. From the first moment he saw her in the tavern, he knew he wanted her like mad. He did not want anything to screw this up now. Play it cool, he told himself, and see where she wants this to go. "So what's this amazing story you want to tell the others?" He questioned trying to derail the current course of his mind.

"I don't really want to talk about it now," Brynn said, putting her towel on the coffee table. She pushed Lachlan's legs from her lap and stood up again. "I will tell you about it when I tell the others." Walking up the length of the couch she stopped right in front of Lachlan and bent down. "I have something else in mind right now. You wanna help me?"

"Anything for you," he said, leaning forward to kiss her. "Absolutely anything."

Brynn stood straight again and untied the silk belt of the robe letting the material part down the middle exposing the naked flesh underneath to Lachlan's gaze.

"I could most definitely help you with that," he stammered. He sat up on the couch, pulled Brynn to him so she was positioned between his legs and began to nuzzle at her exposed belly. Brynn brought her hands up from her sides to stroke Lachlan's hair. Taking the ring in her belly button in his mouth and sucking gently Lachlan was rewarded when Brynn let out a soft moan. He stood up quickly and took her in his arms pressing her close to his aching body. He played gentle kisses across her face and down to her neck stopping only at her ear to whisper "Are you sure you want to do this? I do not want to rush you into anything."

"I have waited my entire life for this," she told him.

Lachlan pulled back surprised. "Are you telling me you have never done this before?"

Brynn hesitated a moment then asked, "Have you ever seen the movie Clueless?"

He was completely puzzled. "Are you dodging the question?"

"No, it's not that, but one of the girls from the movie says something that hits kinda close to home for me," Brynn explained. "This girl is talking with her friends about sex and admits she is a virgin. When her buddy's ask her why she tells them 'well you see how picky I am about my shoes and they only go on my feet.' Well that is kinda the way I am. Don't get me wrong I have played before. I told you why I have my tongue pierced. It was a good way to keep the guys I dated occupied and not let them get in my pants at the same time. Besides it looks really neat."

Stunned Lachlan just stared at her for a minute. "I figured you would have been with someone by now." He choked out.

"Well I am still young, but I have always prided myself on sticking to rules I have regarding men. I figured when I felt right about doing it, I would do it and not before." Brynn began closing her robe feeling self-conscious. "I understand if you don't want to do this with me now," she told him. "It's ok."

"No," Lachlan grabbed her hands away from her robe and held them with his own. "I just need to know before we do this, why now? Why me? We just met yesterday and we are still getting to know each other."

Brynn snapped her head up to meet his eyes. "So it was ok to have sex with me when you thought I had done it before, even though we only met yesterday, but now that you find out I am a virgin, it's not? I felt right about it, I wanted to do it with YOU. I guess I was wrong." She turned away from him and went to her room closing the door behind her.

"SHIT!" Lachlan said out loud. "So much for NOT messing this up." He stood in the middle of the room trying to decide what to do. If he left now, he may never be given another chance with her. She was wrong about him not wanting her. He wanted her more now than he did five minutes ago. Lachlan did not even realize he had already walked to the bedroom door and opened it, the decision had already been made. Brynn was laying on the bed with her back to him watching the curtains blowing in the breeze.

"You don't have to stay. You can go," she whispered. "I just need a few minutes to get over being angry. I will catch up with you later."

"I don't want you to be angry with me Brynn," Lachlan said, lying next to her on the big bed. "And I don't want to go. I am sorry that my questions offended you, I really did not mean for them to come out the way they did. I just wanted to know why me? I am nothing special."

"You are to me. I don't know why or how, but I am drawn to you. I feel like I have known you for two years not two days."

Lachlan kissed her cheek and let his hand stroke her side. "You do not have to say anything else, I already know, because that is the way I feel about you." He pulled her close to him and held her tightly for a few minutes.

Brynn finally turned in his arms to face him. He kissed her lightly at first but his tongue was impatient to taste her. He played it along her full lower lip until she finally opened her mouth in a silent invitation. He deepened their kiss greedily tasting every inch of her mouth and tongue, his body reacting to every moan and whimper she made. Pushing her robe from her shoulders he let his hands explore her breasts one at a time, rolling the hardened nipples between his thumb and forefinger. To his surprise the tongue and belly rings were not the only body piercings Brynn possessed. Both her nipples boasted small rings with emeralds in them. He lowered his head and sucked one into the heat of his mouth, letting his tongue play around the ring, he discovered their purpose. The rings made her nipples twice as sensitive to the touch. Brynn was writhing beneath him panting loud. Lachlan could literally feel the need coming off her body like it was a tangible item he could hold in his hand. Using his mouth on her breasts he let his hand wander down to caress her belly and inner thighs. Brynn reflexively spread her legs for him. She was still moaning and panting as Lachlan let his hands explore her sex. He used the tips of his fingers to stroke back and forth across her already slick folds.

Brynn nuzzled and bite at Lachlan's neck and throat while he played with her. He was driving her mad with desire. She could not control her hips any longer and let them buck forward to gain more contact with his gentle touches. Just when she thought she could not take anymore of his teasing he pressed his finger deep into her core. Brynn was rocked by a magnificent orgasm, her walls clenched at his finger trying to draw it deeper within her body. "Lachlan," she called out as the spasms took her into oblivion. Lachlan continued to use his hand on her, stoking in and out until she came back to herself. He withdrew his hand from her finally; Brynn issued a whimper of protest at the loss of his touch.

Not afraid or shy as he expected she would be, Brynn let her hands explore Lachlan's body as he removed his clothes. She had to touch every inch of him or she was sure she would go insane. She reached down and took his throbbing member in her hand, squeezing him gently. Lachlan released a low groan of pleasure at her touch. Slowly Brynn drew her hand up the length of him and then back down. She repeated the act several times until Lachlan had to lay back against the soft pillows for support. Leaning over him she drew him deep into her mouth teasing the underside of his shaft with the ball in her tongue. "God, Brynn please stop," Lachlan panted. "I can't control it much longer with you doing that to me."

Releasing him from the confines of her mouth she smiled wickedly. "The power a woman can have over a man is incredible."

Brynn came up to face Lachlan, she kissed him, hard and deep. A kiss that was full of the passion she had stored inside for this exact moment. She knew she was right about him. Everything about this felt right. She lay down next to him again to let him regain some control. When he felt he was ready he took Brynn in his arms, the question in his eyes was evident. Not a word was needed between them, they both knew exactly what they wanted at that moment, each other.

Shifting himself so he was above her, Lachlan pushed her legs apart with his knee. He bent his head and kissed her as he positioned himself at her entrance. Slowly he entered her, giving her the time she needed to adjust to the new experience.

Brynn took in a ragged breath as her muscles contracted against the intrusion. She let out the breath slowly trying to ease the initial pain. Once it had subsided, she lifted her head to Lachlan for a kiss, letting him know she was ready to continue. He moved slowly within her, not wanting the experience to cause her anymore pain than necessary.

Brynn was eager to pick up the pace of their lovemaking. She lifted her hips to meet his, stroke for stoke. She could feel the onset of another orgasm building within her belly, the sensation quickly spreading to consume her entirely. She wanted to take him into her deeper, and hold him there forever.

Her inner muscles began to contract as the first waves of the orgasm splashed through her. Lachlan could feel her spasms and was lost in the sensation, spilling him self deep within her warm recesses. Brynn cried out over and over as he continued to pump himself inside her until he was spent completely.

Breathless and sweaty they lay holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. Lachlan raised up on his elbows and ran his fingers through Brynn's hair. "Sorry luv, I must be crushing you," he whispered.

"No," she said holding him tight to her, "I like it."

"Like it or not I have to move," he grimaced.

He rolled onto his back bringing Brynn with him. She lay her head on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart.

"I really love it here," she told him. "Now more than ever."

"That would make two of us. You are a very enthusiastic lover my dear." Lachlan tilted her head up to kiss her.

Brynn giggled, "I guess it helps when you have a good partner. You know we are never gonna live this down if we don't get back over to the tavern sometime today."

"I was just thinking about that myself," he told her. "You wanna take another shower?"

"Yeah would you care to join me?"

"Join you? Afraid you'll get lonely?"

"No just thinking of the environment, you know conserve water, shower with a friend." Brynn laughed.

"So now I am just your friend huh?" Lachlan played at being hurt by her statement.

Brynn got up from the bed. "Come shower with me and I will show you how good of a friend you are."

He got up off the bed and was at her side in record time. "I have a feeling with comments like that we are going to be putting up with a lot of razzing for the next few days. Looks like we may not make it back to the tavern after all."

"Oh, well get there," she promised,"later."

Hando was not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. He spent most of his time reading as many books as he could get his hands on. To him,knowledge was power, and he liked power, understood it. Back in his own world he had power. People that followed his ideas looked up to him. He was their leader. In this world however, he was nothing. No one here liked him, and no one followed his ideas. Hando spent his time in this world watching and listening. He was good at that too. He could watch and listen to the people here and most of the time they did not even know he was there, unless he chose to make his presence known. Hando had become a master of the grounds here at Crowe's Nest. He new where everything was, and usually, where everyone was. No, he was certainly not stupid, but he was alone.

Sitting on the beach in his usual spot, Hando could see the hotel. He was looking at Brynn's window. He knew she was in there with Lachlan, why he did not know. She seemed to have so little in common with Lachlan, who was not as outspoken as some of the other men at the Nest. Brynn was definitely outspoken and bold, and pretty. Hando liked the way she looked. Small but strong. Sure she was a half-breed, but it seemed as though most people were here. He was beginning to understand the concept of being able to like a person or not like them for that matter, for who they were, not because they were of a special breed, or race, or religion. Books were beginning to seep their knowledge into his once closed mind.

Hando had gone out to the woods today, not with the others, but he was there, in the back shadows listening and watching. Brynn was a strong girl. She knew how to take care of herself. This world was apparently as hard outside of the Nest as his was. Hard and cruel. He had been in the back of the tavern today too, listening while Sid rambled on about wanting to be liked. What a load of shit! Sid wanted an audience. He did not care about being liked or loved, he just wanted someone to constantly be there to adore him. Guess he finally figured out that you need to talk sweet and be sweet, if you want that kind of adoration.

He had also been on the beach the very first day Brynn had arrived. He had watched her with Lachlan. He heard what she said to him. Her constant questions were annoying to him at first, then they began to make sense. Hando paid more attention to her after she asked Lachlan if they could take someone back to their world. Could they? Hando had tried a few little things, taking CD's and books back home to his mates. If he could do that, why couldn't he take a person. Why would he want to? Power. It made him feel powerful. Gave him purpose again.

He was not sure he wanted to speak to Brynn last night on the beach, but when she turned her back to him to sit in the sand, he saw the tattoo on the small of her back, he knew he had to say something to her. The tattoo was a snake. A symbol he knew very well. A power symbol. The snake lay in a circle and was eating its own tail. It meant regeneration, purity, and power, all things he felt the strongest about. He knew he had to get close to her, just to be close to someone who was like him, even if she did not know it, was essential. The pull to be close to her became so strong after she left him on the beach, he waited until he was sure she was in bed to climb up to the balcony. Hando watched her sleep well into the morning hours. He was shocked to be consumed with her. There were others that came to the Nest that caught his eye, sure. There was one of the regulars in particular that he liked VERY much, but for different reasons than his reason for liking Brynn.

Brynn was a challenge, and Hando liked a good challenge.

"Five more minutes," Peaches said "and three of you have to pay me ten bucks each!"

"Yeah, but Peaches, If they don't show at all tonight you have to give me your winnings plus ten more," Liz reminded.

"Oh they will show up, they don't want to be razzed for the next week about NOT coming back here." Cort said before ordering another beer. He had already lost his portion of the bet an hour ago and slid the ten across the bar to Peaches. "Don't say I never gave you anything."

"Oh you've given me plenty, trust me!" Peaches replied shoving the ten into her pocket.

"Why are you guys placing bets on someone's sex life?" Michelle asked, "Does that seem a little rude to anyone else here?"

"What do you think we do when you and Colin are nowhere to be found for hours at a time?" Bud told her dealing another hand of poker. "We are all sitting here placing bets on where you are and how you are doing it.... I mean what you are doing."

"Small things amuse small minds," Stef shook her head agreeing with `Chelle.

Maximus and Laura were busy pushing the tables together for the festivities of the evening. Everyone liked to sit at one large table on Friday nights so they could pick on the person singing as a group. Karaoke night was a favorite night for all bar patrons.

"Does this look all right, Max?" Laura asked. "We have to make sure everyone has a good view of the stage."

"Yeah that will do, hon," he replied stopping long enough to hug her. He was getting better everyday about his little public shows of affection. Laura smiled inwardly, cherishing the little squeeze.

"You know," Colin told Liz, "if you ever needed more funding for the Nest you could always videotape Friday nights around here and we could start our own cable channel, 'The All Humiliation Channel'."

"Aw, come on now mate, you're still angry because you got so pissed last Friday and passed out in the middle of singing 'Dream a Little Dream of Me'," Jeff teased. "We had to carry you to your room, and I remember it, no one heard from you until around 2 in the afternoon Saturday. Then all we did hear from you was 'SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP, I HAVE A HEADACHE!' So are you gonna try and finish that song for us tonight?"

Colin looked at Jeff, the embarrassment evident on his face. "Bite me, Jeff."

"You know you keep teasing me with a good time then you pussy out on me. Colin, I am beginning to think you are just a big ole' tease." Jeff grabbed another beer and took his seat at the table.

"Who's got the machine? We need the karaoke machine if we are gonna have karaoke night!" Tina announced.

"I have it darlin'," John told her, "Not sure how to hook it up, but I have it."

"Well," Tina said walking to stand next to John, "You know what they say don't you?" She stood there just watching him fiddle with the different cords trying to hook it up.

"No, I guess I don't know what they say." John never looked up from his position on the floor to look at Tina. The wires had him baffled.

"What they say," Tina was trying hard not to laugh as she watched him trying to untangle the mess, "is hire the handicapped, cause they sure are fun to watch."

John finally looked up. He dropped the wires he was holding and grabbed Tina around the waist. "Think your funny, little miss? Let me show you fun to watch. I can have some fun watching you pee your pants." He began tickling her sides with gusto. Tina squirmed and writhed in his grasp until she finally fell to the floor laughing and screaming for him to stop.

"Are we gonna get this show on the road?" Brynn asked picking up the cords John had dropped and plugging them into their proper outlets. Everyone had been so amused watching Tina and John, they did not notice Brynn and Lachlan come into the tavern.

Peaches yelled, "PAY UP!"

Brynn cast her a curious glance, but decided she was better off not knowing.

"Thanks for making us wait four and a half hours to hear this story of yours," Cort said handing Brynn a bottle of beer.

"Thanks," she took the brew from him, "well I have decided that I should speak with Laura privately before telling you guys the story."

"Me?" Laura asked. "Oh no, what did I do?"

Brynn walked over to Laura "Let's have a little chat shall we?" She took Laura's hand and they disappeared into the back of the Tavern leaving the rest of the group watching after them curious.

"What's up Brynn?" Laura asked a little more than curious herself.

"Well it's about Sid," Brynn began. "I know what happened to you when you first got here. I just wanted to talk with you about it for a few minutes."

"Why?"

"I had a little chat with Sid this afternoon. It was very disturbing." Brynn told Laura the entire conversation she had with Sid earlier that day. When she finished Laura stood there for a few moments speechless.

"I don't know what to think," she told Brynn finally. "I know I don't trust him. I will never trust him. It might just be his way of trying to get to you."

"But what if he meant what he said? What if he is lonely and wants someone. What if he is really starting to change and no one here gives him a chance?" Brynn argued.

"I can't take the chance on him," Laura sighed shaking her head. "You know all the problems he caused for Max and I. I am lucky to even have Max now. I cannot tell you what to do Brynn, If you want to give him the chance then go ahead, but think about it before you do. Think about Lachlan and how it will affect him if you are wrong. Watch your back and be careful."

Brynn smiled at Laura, "You know that is what I have always liked most about you. You are straightforward with your opinion, you have a lot of passion for what you feel. I want you to know that I am not going to do anything to jeopardize what I have with Lachlan. I am diving headfirst in love with that boy without a doubt and would not do anything that I thought would hurt him. I will take your advice to heart, along with that of the rest of the group when I tell them. I am just a sucker for the lost puppy types, it has caused me trouble more than once. So I will think long and hard before giving Sid the benefit of the doubt."

"Just take care of yourself," Laura said hugging her friend. "Never forget what Sid is. He is capable of terrible things."

"UH... are you gals about done with your little pow wow?" Lachlan asked, sticking his head in the door.

"Yeah I think we are," Brynn smiled when she saw him.

Brynn proceeded to recant the entire encounter to the rest of the tavern. Everyone held the same opinion Laura had voiced to Brynn minutes before in the back room, everyone except Lachlan. His opinion was Sid should die. Now.

"Well I guess that settles it then," Brynn told them. "Sid is going to have to deal with this and leave me out of it."

"Speaking of the little worm, I still have not seen him around? Anyone know where he went?" Bud asked?

Trisha stood to retrieve another drink. "What time did you say you saw him Brynn?"

"It was right after the guys left to go to town with Liz," she replied. "Why?"

"Because it is now almost 9 PM and no one has seen him. Six hours without seeing Sid is unheard of around here," Jeff explained. "He never misses a Friday night here at the tavern. Too much trouble for him to cause to stay away."

"We'll hope wherever he is, he is having fun and he stays there," Lachlan grumbled. "I don't need to see him right now."

Brynn kissed him on the cheek and gave him a slight squeeze. "So who's singing, and who's buying the next round?"

"I got the next round," Colin volunteered, "but I am not quite ready to sing yet."

"I will get the ball rolling" Peaches said. "I want to sing something. "

"Want some help?" Brynn asked.

"I think it should be ladies choice," Max said raising his glass. "All of you ladies should get up there and sing to us."

The girls jumped at the chance to entertain a room full of men. "Ok," Tina agreed, "but when we are done, all you guys have to return the favor and sing for us."

The girls took the stage and sorted through some of the songbooks trying to find a few suitable songs they all could agree on.

"OHHH I got one!" Brynn said excitedly bringing the songbook she was holding to the other girls. "It's kinda an old song, but read the words... it's just sweet, you know?"

The others agreed to sing it after reading the words a few times. Tina went to the karaoke machine, found the selection they wanted and started the music.

My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender

Oh yes, and I have met my destiny in quite a silhouette.

That history book on the shelf

Is always repeating itself

Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war

Waterloo, promise to love me forever more

Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to

Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you.

Wa, wa, wa, Waterloo, finally facing my Waterloo.

My, my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger.

Yeah, yeah and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight

And how could I ever refuse?

I feel like I win when I lose.

Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war

Waterloo, promise to love me forever more

Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to

Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you

Wa, wa, wa, Waterloo, finally facing my Waterloo.

So how could I ever refuse?

I feel like I win when I lose.

The girls finished their song and took a bow as the tavern applauded their performance. "More drinks," Andy said bringing them to the table. Hurrying back to their seats the girls drank heartily on their drinks and waited patiently for the guys to get on the stage.

"Well?" Peaches asked. "We just made asses of ourselves. It is your turn now."

"No, you guys did really good up there," Cort told her. "You know I don't sing though."

"You do tonight, all of you are singing tonight," Brynn argued. "I want to see that stage packed full of the best looking men on earth now get it moving, boy!" She went around the table pulling them up from their seats and with the help of Tina, Peaches, and Michelle, got them on the stage.

"Uh... we seem to be missing one." Trisha pointed out. "Bud went to hide in the bathroom."

"No way, if we have to be up here then Bud better get his butt out of the bathroom and join on this friggin stage," Steve whined.

"I'll go get the bloke," Jeff said heading toward the bathroom.

"No, if you go then we will never see you again either," Brynn argued. "Trisha and I will go."

Together they went to the men's room and went in without knocking. "All right Bud," Trisha said. "Get your cute little ass out on that stage and I mean NOW!"

Brynn laughed as Bud hung his head, knowing he had been caught. They took Bud by his arms and pulled him out of the bathroom, leading up to the stage where the rest of the guys were picking out songs they could sing. "Ok, we have them all rounded up now," Brynn said, as if they were cattle. "What are you boys gonna sing for us?"

"Well I think we have found one," John told her. They took a few minutes to read over the words, then started the music.

You are the woman that I've always dreamed of

I knew it from the start

I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart.

It's not so much the things you say to me

It's not the things you do

It's how I feel each time you're close to me

That keeps me close to you

Ohhhh, you are the woman that I've always dreamed of

I knew it from the start

I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart

It's not so much your pretty face I see

It's not the clothes you wear

It's more that special way you look at me

That always keeps me there

Ohhh, you are the woman that I've always dreamed of

I knew it from the start

I saw your face and that the last I've seen of my heart

It's hard to tell you all the love I'm feelin'

That's just not my style

You've got a way to set my senses reeling

Every time you smile

You are the woman that I've always dreamed of

I knew it from the start

I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart.

The girls could not help themselves, they ran up to the stage and attacked them after the song.

"We had better turn the Jukebox back on," Tina told John, "I can't handle anymore of that! It was just sooo sweet."

"Were we that bad?" Bud asked, hugging Trisha.

Brynn grabbed Lachlan's shirt so he would bend down. "Not hardly Bud. That was awesome!" She replied kissing Lachlan.

"Glad you liked it," he told her. He lifted her up and carried her back to the table sitting her not in her chair but across his lap.

Slowly but surely the rest of the members rejoined them at the table. It was a unanimous decision to turn the jukebox back on so they could just sit and enjoy each other's company. They ordered another round of drinks and proceeded to drink and talk for the better part of the evening. No one was aware of Sid's watchful eyes on them from the top of the stairs.

"But why do I have to get rid of this card and not this card?" Brynn asked for the seventh time.

Bud had been trying to explain patiently the rules of poker and why she was to discard a two and keep the ace. His patience was about to run out. "You want to get rid of the two because there is no set for it to go to. It is a low card so you want to get rid of it. You want to keep the ace because it is a high card and with it you have a full house," Bud told her again through clenched teeth.

"But the two is red and the ace is black. I want to keep the two, it is prettier. See it has hearts on it!" Brynn was trying her best just to annoy the living shit out of Bud.

"I see the pretty hearts," he said grabbing the two from her hand and putting it in the pile in the middle of the table. "I just helped you to win by taking the pretty two away from you!"

"You had your chance to win White," Brynn laughed at him, "I wanted to keep the one with the hearts on it."

Bud threw his cards down. "Shit, I am not playing with you no more. This sucks!" He was behaving like a spoiled child.

"Gonna take your toys and go home, White?" she teased.

"Poker? Great, deal me in." Sid's voice broke into the laughter like an ice pick into a solid block of ice. Everyone fell silent as he glided across the room to stand before the table.

"Get the fuck away from us, Sid. No one wants to play with you right now." Bud growled.

"Yeah, why don't you go play with yourself?" Brynn laughed in a drunken haze. A few others got the joke and started to laugh along with her.

"Much more fun to play with a crowd," Sid returned coolly. "What do you think flyboy, wanna do a threesome with the little Indian girl?" He moved to stand in front of Brynn. Sid reached down grabbed her face and began to assault her mouth with his own.

Brynn tried to thrash her head from side to side against his attack, but Sid held strong to her face. "Get away from me you sick freak!" she screamed.

Bud, John and Cort were out of their seats in a flash, standing behind Sid to stop him from assaulting yet ANOTHER one of the women in the bar. "Dammit Sid you just don't know when to stop do ya?" Cort asked grabbing his suit jacket.

Sid pulled away from Brynn very slowly despite the efforts of the men trying to hold him back. "Sticks and stones, my dear. Sticks and stones. You may think I am a sick freak, but deep down I think you know exactly what it is that I need."

"Yeah," John said. "So do I, they call it a rubber room. They even give you a nice new white jacket to wear. It ties in the back. Kinda unique."

"Funny man," Sid turned his head to look at John to let him know he was not really amused by his comment.

"You're absolutely right Sid," Brynn mused. "Sticks and stones." She reached her hand straight out and grabbed Sid's genitals and squeezed as hard as she could.

"Letgoletgoletgoletgoletgo." Sid's word came out in a rush of air. He looked down to her hand, sweat already visible on his brow.

"My eggo." Brynn smiled at him sweetly. Not really taking any notice that she had his balls in her hand.

"Looks like she has the uh.... upper hand so to speak there, Sid. How about you getting the fuck outta here now?" Max asked using all of this self-control to keep from erupting into laughter.

Sid's knees began to shake visibly, but he still said nothing. He probably could not have formed coherent words at that point in time.

"I actually thought you were sweet earlier today, you sick fuck," Brynn spat at him. "I thought you may have learned about feelings, how to care for someone. You will not be so lucky again to gain a sympathetic ear from me. Bet you wished you would have stayed in your room now and played with YOURSELF. How does a gang bang with the little Indian girl feel Sid." She squeezed harder. "How does it feel baby, you like that?"

Sid just shook his head from side to side, a look of sheer horror on his face.

"I think you got one feeling down pat now don't ya Sid. You know what pain feels like now. You pathetic little fuck! Answer me Sid," Brynn squeezed even harder. "ANSWER ME!!!!"

Sid's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out cold. Brynn released his balls from her hand as he fell.

The room filled with loud laughter. "I am sorry," Peaches tried to speak, "but I could not hold it any longer. The look on his face was just so, so...." She broke into laughter too hard to speak.

Brynn giggled taking another drink of her beer. She leaned back against Lachlan's chest. "I am glad I was sitting on your lap," she told him. "I thought for a second there you were gonna throw me on the floor to kick the shit out of him."

Lachlan stroked her hair. "No need for that luv," he whispered.

John, Cort and Bud sat on the floor beside Sid as the tears ran down their face. Brynn thought they were going to try and wake him but they just sat there looking at him and laughing.

"So," Max asked when his hiccups had stopped. "What lesson number was that?"

"That would be lesson number 20 Maximus. A little technique I like to call cutting off the oxygen to the brain!" Brynn replied bubbling over with her own laughter.

"Fuck me!" Jeff said looking at Lachlan. "I am glad I don't get on with women. You have your hands full for sure!"

"Why do you think I did not try to push her to the floor and tear his uh.... 'head' off myself? I knew she would do something like that."

"John caused just enough of a diversion so I could get a really good grip," Brynn told them. "So, who's gonna carry the piece of shit upstairs?"

"I'll do it," Colin volunteered. "It will give me a chance to calm down!"

"Another round, Andy if you would be so kind." Liz instructed. "This is gonna be one of those crazy Friday nights."

"I'll second that!" Brynn said. " Sid almost killed my buzz."

The next round was followed by another, and that round was followed by another, and so on and so on until closing time. When last call was called, no one made a move for the bar to get another drink. They were all so pissed they could hardly stand up.

"I am gonna have to crawl back to my room," Stef said raising her head off the table.

"Yup," Michelle agreed, "that about sums it up."

"Come on you group of lushes," Liz chastised. "Time to get up and outta here."

"But Liz," Brynn complained. "I have ta find my legs first. Who was the last one to see my legs?"

"I have them luv," Lachlan said. Brynn had moved from his lap about an hour before and now she was spread out on the seats lying over three other people. Her head was lying on Laura's side, her middle rested across both Peaches and Cort, and her legs were positioned on Lachlan. "You want me to carry you to the hotel?"

"No, as long as my legs are accounted for I should be ok." She slurred, lifting her head off Laura. She tried to get up off Cort and Peaches but slipped and fell onto the floor with a loud thud as her head smacked against the polished wood.

"That's gonna leave a mark." She tried again to get up. "Liz, can I just sleep here on the floor? Please?"

"Sorry, but you are gonna have to get your drunk ass up off my floor and go home!"

"I have at least four weeks left before I have to go home," Brynn whined. "I don't want to go home yet!"

"I'll take it from here," Lachlan said getting to his feet. He reached down and picked Brynn up off the floor. "I am taking you to bed."

"Goose you big stud.... Take me to bed or lose me forever," she giggled quoting the line from a movie. "I guess maybe I should change that to Lachlan, huh?"

"Goodnight everyone," Lachlan said, spinning around. "I am sure we will all have quite the hang over tomorrow, so please be kind and just stay in bed until at least noon!" All he got in the way of a response was a series of uhhhh's coming from different parts of the room. He carried Brynn out of the tavern and walked in the direction of the hotel.

"You seem to spend an awful lot of time carrying me around," Brynn told him. "Not that I mind."

Lachlan looked down at her, the affection he felt showing in his eyes. "I like the feel of you in my arms, I guess."

Brynn giggled and threw her arms around his neck. She tried to give him a kiss but with the world spinning the way it was she missed and kissed his nose instead. "Oops. I guess I missed that one."

"Don't worry about it luv, you can try again tomorrow when the world is not spinning quite so much."

"Are you going to stay with me tonight?" she asked.

"I think it would be best if I stayed at the tavern tonight. We both need some rest and we have both had way too much to drink."

"Don't worry I will still respect you in the morning." Brynn giggled.

"I know you would." Lachlan kissed the top of her head, "but I just think this would be better for tonight. I want to do this right with you. The first night we spend together is going to be very special to me, I don't want to be drunk and pass out on you."

Brynn closed her eyes and nuzzled his chest. "I think I could really fall for you, Lachlan Curry," she told him. "If I hadn't fallen head over heels already." She did not know if she was making sense to him, and at this point she did not really care. He felt so good and right. She knew if she did not make sense to him tonight there would be plenty of time for her to make it crystal clear for him later.

Lachlan opened the door to Brynn's room and carried her to the bed. He could not help thinking about making love to her there earlier that afternoon. His mind brought back images of her lying under him and making those little noises of pleasure. He was the reason for the noises. He did that to her. Just the thought of it aroused him again. He thought about telling Brynn he would stay with her tonight just so he could hear her make those noises for him again. That would be selfish he scolded himself. Do this right. "I have to go now," he told her after setting her on the bed gently. "I will see you in the morning."

"Ok," she said taking his hand. "I look forward to it."

Lachlan leaned over her and kissed her. "I think I could really fall for you too. Goodnight luv."

After Lachlan had gone Brynn tried to sleep but it eluded her. She had a very bad habit when drinking. She got extremely restless and had to move. At least she had somewhere interesting to go this time, she thought. Not just the stupid playground down the street from my apartment. When she drank like this which was not too often, she would spend the wee hours of the morning at the playground playing on the swings or walking around the small town where she lived. It was a way to "walk off" the alcohol in her system. She felt the very same urge now. She had to get out!

Brynn took her room key and slid it into the pocket of her shorts. She left the hotel, her legs still wobbly from the alcohol, but somehow she made it down to the beach. After stumbling over her own feet a few times she finally made it down to the water's edge. She leaned over the cool water breaking against the shore and scooped up a handful to splash her face. The feel of the water on her skin cleared her head a little.

Storm clouds had come in sometime during the night while they sat getting shit-faced in the bar. The clouds covered the moon and the stars. Brynn could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. Lying down in the sand she looked up at the clouded sky watching the horizon light up with flashes of distant lightening.

"We are gonna get a storm." Hando walked up beside her and sat in the sand.

"Ya think?" Brynn answered.

"Have enough to drink tonight to quiet the Indian in ya?" He asked.

"Hando, I had enough to drink to quiet my whole friggin tribe."

He chuckled at her. "What are ya doin out here then, you should be getting some rest."

"Aw, I didn't know you cared," she teased. "If you must know I feel a little claustrophobic when I drink. I feel the need to breathe fresh air in a large open space, so I came down here."

"I noticed your ink last night," Hando said changing the subject. "What made ya get that?"

"Huh?" Brynn asked her mind still fuzzy from the booze.

"Your tattoo. What made you get that?" He explained impatiently.

"Oh, I don't know. What made you decide to have all that shit put on your body," she asked pointing to his arm."

He shrugged, "I wanted it."

"There you go." Brynn smiled.

"I like the snake on you." Hando refused to look at her. He just stared out at the ocean.

"Thanks. Hey, why won't you look at me when you talk? Eye contact make you wary?" She questioned. The compliment took her by surprise. She got the feeling Hando did not give out compliments very often and she was pleased.

"You always ask so many fucking questions?"

"Are you always this fucking rude?"

Hando thought about it for a moment. "Yeah pretty much all the time."

"I just ask questions so I can get to know someone better," Brynn tried to explain.

"Well I am so fucking rude because I can be," Hando responded. "So you want to get to know me better?"

"Yes I do," she told him truthfully.

Hando turned to her and kissed her forcefully pinning her to the sand.

"Hando," Brynn tried to push him off her. "No, that's not what I meant." He just continued kiss her neck and sucking on her ear.

"What did ya mean then?"

"Get off me Hando, I mean it." Hando retreated, remembering her with Max in the woods earlier. "What I meant was I wanted to get to know you as a person. That does not involve sex." She said sitting up.

"You are really something, a real big fucking tease."

Brynn stared at him in shock. "I never alluded to wanting to have sex with you Hando, don't even start with me. Getting to know you is more involved than sex. It means talking and finding out more about you. You know seeing where you live where you spend your time, the things you like or don't like. It does not mean I want to fuck you right here on the beach."

"Oh that's right," he shook his head. "You're having a fling with what's his nuts."

"My personal life is none of you business." Brynn scolded him.

"I thought we were 'getting to know each other'," he looked at her.

"Touché." She said admitting defeat. "I am going to go to bed now Hando. Maybe we can try this again sometime. Getting to know each other that is."

"You sure you don't wanna try the fucking instead?" Hando teased.

"God, why do you have to be so fucking irritating?" Brynn got to her feet and walked around him.

"Because you love it so much," he said more to himself than to her retreating back. "You just don't know it yet."

Brynn stalked back to the hotel. Hando had her furious yet again. She had only spoken to the man twice and both times she had gone away feeling like a little child throwing a temper tantrum. The impending storm was moving closer and she could feel the earth shake under her as if the thunder as not coming from the sky, but seeping from the bowels of the earth like a gigantic demon. The sky was lit repeatedly by lighting zig zagging through the clouds. It looked like it was going to open up and pour buckets any minute.

Brynn picked up her pace still seething at Hando. What was it about him that made her feel this way? She thought she was a rather good psychologist and loved her work to boot, but she could not make it through to Hando. He just seemed to take her control right out from under her like a two-bit magician performing a corny parlor trick. He is just as much a control freak as I am, she thought. "That's it!" Brynn said out loud. We are having some sort of power struggle. He want's the control as badly as I do. This epiphany did little to ease her anger or frustration however, when she realized that Hando had won both times. He had taken the control from her with out much effort and she retreated like a scared rabbit.

The sky opened up its gates and rained down on the world around Brynn. "Fan-fuckin-tastic," Brynn said and ran as fast as she could to the safety of the hotel. She went to her room and shook water from her hair. Shedding her clothes quickly she went to her room and grabbed the shirt Max had left her, slipping it on as she went to watch the storm from her balcony. Brynn loved thunderstorms. Especially near the ocean. The storm was raging on as she watched from the safety of her room. Looking out across the ocean the lighting looked as though it was literally dancing on the water.

Movement on the beach below caught her eye. Hando was still on the beach. He seemed to be oblivious to the rain or the loud crashes of thunder and he was looking right at her. Brynn shivered involuntarily. She stared at him staring at her for what seemed like hours. Finally feeling the need to break away from his gaze, she lifter her hand, flipped him the bird and went back inside. She was quite pleased with herself for a fraction of a second, then she realized he had done it to her again. He had not even said a word to her this time, and she went running back into the safety of her bedroom. I am getting to be pathetic, she told herself. She would fix that tomorrow, but right now she had to get some rest. The sounds of the storm was like a lullaby to Brynn. They acted as a natural sedative, calming her to the point of collapse. And collapse she did. She fell into her bed with a sigh as her head lay on the soft fluffy pillow. The alcohol in her system had not been totally washed away, but it had lessened a great deal. She was sure to have a deep peaceful sleep waking in the morning without the slightest trace of a hang over. She could not have been farther from the truth.

Brynn woke the next morning with her face buried in a pillow. It smelled of smoke, alcohol and, she had to think about the last scent for a moment, sweat. Yes that was definitely it, sweat. Maybe sweat from sex? Brynn was lost in the thought of making love with Lachlan in her bed the previous afternoon. The smoke and the alcohol was probably in her hair from last nights drunk fest at the tavern.

Turning her head slightly so she could breathe fresh air Brynn realized with a wince of pain that she had a terrible headache. Must have drank more than I though she told herself. She opened her eyes briefly but quickly shut them against the light in the room. It was not a sunny day, but the light was sufficient enough to send another blazing pain straight to her temples.

Something in her mind tried to tell her that all was not well. The throbbing pain in her temples was keeping all thought at bay for the moment however, and Brynn let go of the nagging thought as quickly as it had come to her. Then it happened. Movement.

Someone moved in the bed next to her and Brynn grasped the thought that had tried to invade her mind a few seconds before. The pillows. They were white. She was in a bed that had white pillows. The pillows on her bed were black. Someone was in bed next to her. She was not in her bed and she was not in her room and someone was in bed next to her. She tried to remember the previous night. What had happened? She was in the bar getting pissed with the rest of the crew, then Lachlan carried her to her room. But Lachlan left. She went out to the beach, and had another pissing contest with Hando, then she went to bed. In her bed in her room. Brynn was trying very hard not to lose control of her self. She needed to remain calm. There was a logical explanation for all of this. Yeah like what? She thought. Hey Brynn welcome to the twilight zone? Maybe Lachlan had come back. Maybe he wanted her to sleep with him in his bed? It was a stretch but she had to think of something.

"Lachlan?" She whispered. Brynn dared to open her eyes again more slowly this time prepared for the onslaught of the light coming in the window. She could not focus at first. Raising her hand to rub at her eyes Brynn focus on something hanging on the far wall. Gradually, the wall came into full focus and she could make out the poster. A swastika.

With no regard for the pain in her temples, Brynn snapped her head around to see Hando laying in bed beside her. He was smiling down at her sweetly as he lit his cigarette. "You said you wanted to see where I lived."

Lachlan woke up around 2 in the afternoon on Saturday. He was anxious to see Brynn so he immediately rolled out of bed and staggered into the shower. The effects from last night still clung to him. He tried to wash it all away with a hot shower, but he only felt slightly better when he stepped out of the bathroom as when he stepped in. He changed into a pair of loose fitting Dockers and a tee shirt and threw on a pair of loafers. Lachlan just wanted to see Brynn. He did not care what he looked like.

Walking quickly from the tavern to the hotel he stopped before going inside and turned to go to the garden instead. He hoped she was not yet awake. He could fill her room with flowers then wake her slowly. Lachlan grinned at the thought. I am becoming a true romantic, he told himself. He picked one of every flower in the garden. Convinced he had enough to make a real impression on Brynn with the gesture, he returned to the front entrance of the hotel.

Peaches was at the front desk when Lachlan came through the door, his arms loaded with flowers from the garden.

"Morning... uhh, good afternoon Peaches," he smiled.

"SHHHH, Lachlan keep it down will ya, my head is killing me today," She replied. "I have already taken about a dozen aspirin and still my head is pounding."

"Sorry," Lachlan dropped his voice to just a little more than a whisper. "Has Brynn been down yet this morning? I was hoping to surprise her with these. What do you think?" He asked holding up the flowers for her inspection.

"I think you are lucky Wendy has been to busy with classes to be here right now. She spent so much time with those flowers over the past few months she might just have you in that little technique Brynn showed us last night on Sid." Peaches responded.

"Aww, you won't tell her I did this will ya?" Lachlan looked a little ashamed of himself.

"No, I won't tell her." Peaches smiled at him. Lachlan looked like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"So have you seen Brynn?"

"Nope, I have been here since 9 this morning and you are the first person I have seen." Peaches went back to her bookkeeping. "Go on upstairs and surprise your woman, I have to get back to these books."

"Thanks Peaches," and with that he was gone.

Lachlan filled Brynn's bedroom with the flowers he picked from the garden, she was not there, but the bed had been slept in and he figured she was out for a walk. After placing the flowers in various bowls and vases he collected from around the little apartment, Lachlan lay on Brynn's bed to wait for her return.

"Hando! This is so NOT funny," Brynn told him as she sat up in the bed. Scratch that, it was just a mattress lying on the floor. She grabbed her head as another flash of pain ripped through her temples.

Hando just smiled at her again and took a long pull on his smoke. "You get use to the headaches after awhile."

"So you waited until I was asleep, then snuck into the hotel and carried me to your room? Her temper was on the rise. "How the fuck did you manage to get me out of the hotel with no one seeing you."

Hando laughed, deep and hard. If Brynn had not been in such a foul mood it would have been a pleasant laugh. Oh he is not going to think it is so funny after I rip him a new asshole, she thought to herself.

"Laugh it up." She scolded him.

"I did not bother to sneak into the hotel. I just climbed up the outside and went in through the balcony door." He explained. "And I did not have to worry about being seen getting out. It was not really a problem."

"Stop trying to talk in circles. I am already dizzy," Brynn glared at him. "I do not really feel all that well and I am going to kick your ass when I do feel better. You scared the shit outta me with this little stunt, Hando. I am not pleased. Lachlan will not be pleased either after I tell him about this."

Hando reached out and grabbed her. He dragged her to rest on him holding her against his chest. "This right here is my time you see? I do what I want when I want. You were the one who said you wanted to get to know me better remember? I gave you a way out of this. I offered to just fuck ya like I would normally do with a bitch, but you had to get all psychological on me. You wanted to get to know me, so here you are. Welcome to OZ, sweetheart."

Trying very hard not to show the fear she felt rising from the depths of her stomach, Brynn grinned at Hando, "Yeah no shit, Sherlock. So where's Dorothy and Toto, the tin man?"

Hando laughed again harder this time.

"I am really glad this is all very funny to you, but I would like to go back to my room and get cleaned up now, could you please let go of me?"

"You are gonna have to have this spelled out for you aren't ya, ya stupid bitch?" Hando sneered at her. "You have no room here. You are in Australia, this is my home."

Brynn could no longer hold back her fear. The realization hit her as hard as if Hando just punched her dead in the face. The beach the very first night. She had spoken to Lachlan about doing this. He was worried about Sid using it to get to her. Hando was on the beach, he even mentioned that he saw them. How could she have been so fucking blind? "Oh God," she muttered.

"Not exactly," he grinned again, "but I'm getting damn close."

Lachlan woke with a start. He was covered with sweat from the dream that had startled him awake, however, he could not remember what the dream had been about. He realized night had fallen. It was dark and he was in unfamiliar surroundings. Looking around, Lachlan remembered where he was and why. Brynn's room. And she still had not returned. He switched on the bedside lamp and looked at the wall clock. It was almost 8 PM.

Lachlan was not worried about Brynn. She had proven time and again she could take care of herself and Crowe's Nest was a big place. There were lots of things she could have done to consume an entire day and not even leave the grounds. Getting up he decided to head downstairs for dinner, but first he scribbled a note for Brynn in case she came back here before he saw her. "Missed you today. Need to see you soon! Love, L."

After descending the stairs Lachlan saw Jeffrey Wigand sitting at the front desk typing on Peaches computer. "Hey Jeff, you seen Brynn today?"

Jeffrey looked at him for a moment, "No, not at all. If I do I will let her know you were asking." He went back to typing at the computer.

"Thanks." Lachlan went into the dining room of the hotel. It looked like everyone was having a late supper this evening as the room was just about full. He spotted Laura, Tina, Stef, and Michelle at one end of the room.

"Look here comes Lachlan... finally," Michelle said to the others pointing. "Hey, Where's Brynn? She need more sleep after spending all afternoon with you?"

"Actually," He said, taking an empty seat at the table, "I was wondering if you guys had seen her today. She was not up in her room and I lay down to wait for her. I guess I feel asleep again."

Laura frowned. "Peaches said you took her some flowers this afternoon and we all assumed you guys just stayed up there all day. No one has seen her."

"Well, I am sure she is fine, she can take care of herself." Lachlan was trying to calm his own worries more than those anyone else might have.

"That she can," Max agreed appearing behind Lachlan with John, Colin, and Bud in tow.

"She probably went for a drive to see some of the country side," Colin offered as he took his seat. "She's around." Cort said. "Now let's eat."

They ordered their meals and ate in relative silence. Everyone was still pretty wiped out from the previous nights activities. When their round of deserts came Laura said. "Just to be on the safe side, maybe we should check on Sid and see what he's up to?"

Lachlan's blood ran cold after Laura spoke. He pushed his cheesecake aside and got up. "I think that is a very good idea, Laura."

"You are not going to go talk to him alone, Lachlan so just sit back down until we are done here." John warned. "We don't need anything else going down right now."

Tina agreed. "I am sure it is nothing, but when we finish our meal, we will ALL go find Sid and see if he has seen her."

Lachlan sat back down. He played with his fork and took a blueberry from his cheesecake. He stared at the others impatiently waiting for them to finish. A fear had been growing in him throughout dinner, and when Laura voiced his own fear, he was sure he was right. Sid had done something to Brynn.

Bud watched Lachlan shift in his seat, struggling to control his nerves. "Calm down Lachlan," he soothed. "Sid would not be THAT stupid. He knows if he messes with her he has to deal with all of us and more."

Lachlan tried to smile, but his stomach twisted into an even tighter knot.

"And remember, We are going there to talk to him. Not kick his teeth down his throat." Stef was addressing the entire table not just Lachlan.

Brynn could not speak for a few minutes. She just stared at Hando. Her mind swam with questions. Why did he do this to me? How can I get home? What is he going to do to me here? He can hurt me here. Oh God, I am dead. These were her most frequent thoughts. She had to stay calm was her next thought. Stay calm, play his game get out alive. This was much more positive mantra.

Hando sat patiently waiting for a reaction from her. He wanted her to yell and scream and beg him to take her back. But she was quiet. She just looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted another head. He felt like a god. He had done it, brought someone back to his world with him.

"Why?" Brynn finally found her voice.

"You wanted to know if it could be done," he told her. "So I showed you it that it can."

"You've done it before then?"

"Naw Luv, you sparked an interest, so I thought I would try it with you. See what happened." He looked smug. "Just so happens it did work. I did it to see if I could."

"You are getting off on this aren't you?" Brynn stammered. "You feel like some sort of sick God because you can do this? Well you are not special. If you can do it , all of the guys at the Nest can do it too."

Hando slapped her hard across the face. "Don't you talk to me that way ya BITCH. I just answered a question YOU asked and you treat me like shit? Not here baby, I don't think you get the rules of this game yet."

She held a hand to her cheek. "This is a game to you? This is my life we are talking about. What are you going to do about the guys at the Nest. If you hurt me here they will never let you go back, they will kill you if they see you again."

"I never liked it there anyway," he told her seriously.

"That's not true and you know it. You like it there just as much as the others. And you like some of the people there too. You ready to give up on that just to play with me for awhile. What do you think Stef will think of you now?"

"You need another slap?" he asked her raising his hand. She lowered her head to avoid being smacked in the face again. The one he had just given her would leave enough of a mark to seal his death warrant if she ever made it back. "I don't need anyone to tell me what to do and when to do it. Especially not some sheila who likes to play games with people." He grabbed her chin and jerked her head up to inspect the cheek he had just hit. "See what you made me do? If ya could keep ya mouth shut I wouldn't have hit ya. And before I get to show ya off to me mates too. Shame."

Brynn was horrified by his words. She knew now that he planned to humiliate and degrade her in every way possible. This was going to be the worst experience of her life. She knew she would have to go along with what he wanted. If she did not she would end up here with him forever, or worse he would desert her here.

Hando put a hand behind her head and pulled her closer. He kissed her deeply practically forcing her mouth open with his tongue. He pulled away from her and whispered, "You do what I want when I want, and you will get out of here in one piece. Be a good girl and you will be rewarded. If you're bad, be sure the punishment will be severe."

Brynn believed him. What choice did she have. "Yes Hando." She nodded.

"Good girl." He told her in a whisper. His attention was diverted now. He was looking at the shirt she wore. Thank god she had put on the shirt Max had given her or she would have been in bed with him naked. The top two buttons of the shirt were undone and Hando snaked a finger along the collar and dipped it into the opening, feeling the upper part of her breast.

Brynn shivered at the contact with him. She was so angry and scared, and he was coming onto her. She knew deep down that she would most likely have to endure sex with him to get out of this place and back to her own world, but she was hoping to put that off for a little while.

The finger was soon followed by his tongue as he moved his hands to unbutton her shirt. He wanted to see all of her. He wanted to fuck her hard and quick. Make her feel like a worthless slut.

There was a soft rapping at the door to the room. "What the fuck do ya want?" Hando yelled out trying not to be diverted from Brynn.

The knock came again a little louder this time.

"Come in for fuck's sake," Hando was more than annoyed. Brynn was thankful for the intruder. She did not want him to touch her. Hando sat up away from her and she instinctively pulled the shirt closed around her once again. The door opened and a crew of the most motley looking guys Brynn had ever seen walked through the door.

"What the fuck Hando, it's afternoon. You gonna stay in here all day?" One of them said.

"Well shit," another one voiced, "if I had that in my bed, I'd stay in here all day too. She looks a little dark for me though."

Hando looked proudly at Brynn apparently very pleased with himself. "Boys, this is my new sheila. She'll be stayin' with us for awhile. You can look all you like, but ya touch her ya dead. Got it?"

"Bitch got a name?"

"Brynn, but her name don't matta, you can just call her MINE!" Hando laughed with the others.

Brynn hung her head, she knew she had been defeated, there was no way out of this until Hando said so. "This just sucks," she muttered.

"She may be a little dark," Hando continued, "but she is smart, and pretty. And check this out." He jumped off the mattress and grabbed Brynn's hair to make her stand up. He spun her around and lifted up her shirt so they could all get a good look at her backside. His intent was obviously to show them the tattoo on her back, but she was not wearing anything under her shirt so they had a real good view of her ass as well.

"Not bad," one of them said. Tracing the outline of the snake with the tip of his finger.

"Hey," Hando grabbed the guy's hand and said "Don't let me have ta remind ya again not to touch."

"Sorry man, that is really good work though, good symbol too, even for a bitch."

"That's not the only one she'll have when she leaves," Hando smacked her hard on the ass as he laughed with his buddies. "Now get the fuck outta here. I got some shit to do."

Brynn stood against the wall bracing herself with her arms as he let the shirt fall around her again. The other men filed out of the room making rude comments about the 'shit' Hando was about to take care of. She did not dare move until he told her to. She was going to play this up to the fullest if it meant she could get back to the Nest and to Lachlan.

"Come here," Hando instructed once they were alone again. Brynn turned around never raising her eyes and went to him. "Look at me." Tilting her head so he could see her face he stroked her cheek. "I want to you scream my name," he said. "Now lay on the bed."

"Hurry up," Lachlan said racing across the front lawn the tavern.

"Just wait a few seconds," John said trying to catch him.

"Jeez," Michelle gasped. "Where's the fire? I don't think Sid is going anywhere."

"I gotta hunch that Sid is not even here," Lachlan said, turning to face them.

"What are you talking about? Sid never leaves this place unless he is following us somewhere." Bud argued.

"I'll explain later," Lachlan pushed the doors to the tavern open, "if I am right and Sid is not here, I am going to need all of your help to try and find them both."

Tina and Stef looked at each other puzzled. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Tina said.

"Guess that's why you ladies come here," Bud told them. "Never a dull moment at the Nest."

"This could be serious guys," Cort frowned then followed Lachlan into the tavern.

Lachlan stood on one of the chairs in the tavern and called everyone to attention. "HEY, I need to know if anyone here has seen Brynn or Sid today."

"Well I have not seen Brynn, but Sid just went up to his room a few minutes ago." Steve said. "He did not stay down here long, sat around listening to everyone, then just went back upstairs. Guess Brynn really got to him last night huh? I don't think I have ever seen him this quiet."

"He may have gotten Brynn back for last night," Lachlan said jumping off the chair and heading for the stairs.

"Don't go off half-cocked." John tried stopping Lachlan. "Let's think for a few minutes, give yourself a chance to calm down."

"Listen John, I know what you are trying to do and I thank you for it, but I need to know where she is. Something is not right here. It is getting late and no one has seen her all day! I know that Sid likes to play games with people. If I am right about what is going on, then things are going to get worse."

Peaches ran into the bar, "Well her car is still here in same place it has been since she got here." She panted out of breath. "It has not been touched."

John pushed Lachlan back, "Let me handle it, you are in no condition for this. I have the ability to step back a little. I care about her, but not like you do. I don't think you should even go up there."

"I agree with John," Max said taking Lachlan by the arm. "Come with me and we will have a drink. Let them handle this for right now."

Cort, John, Bud and Colin ascended the stairs and knocked on Sid's door. No answer. "Come on Sid we know you are in there," John shouted through the door, "Just open up. We need to talk to you right now."

The door opened and Sid appeared. "What is it that you want? Oh look you brought back up. Well sorry to disappoint boys, but I am just laying low tonight I have no plans to cause trouble."

"Sid, have you seen Brynn at all today?" Cort asked him.

"If I ever see that little Bitch again it will be plenty too soon," Sid responded.

"Look pal you got what you deserved last night. Don't go blaming Brynn for shit that you started and she finished." Bud's temper was getting the better of him.

"I don't know nor do I care where she is." He responded coolly. "Although..."

Sid pushed past the men standing in front of him and went down the stairs taking them two at a time. He knew he would find Lachlan somewhere in the bar, after all he was the main reason everyone had begun to search for Brynn.

"Ahhh there you are lover boy. Looks like your little lady is going to start keeping a harem here at the nest."

"Where the fuck is she?" Lachlan jumped up from his seat and grabbed the front of Sid's jacket. "Tell me what you've done with her."

"Nothing that I would like to, let me assure you." Sid stood there cool as a cucumber. "But I did happen to see her last night out on the beach with Hando. So you might just want to check with the other resident bad boy, to see what he knows. I watched them for quite awhile you know Lachlan. He climbed up the trellis to the balcony of her room. He still had not come out by mid morning. I kept looking for him, but he must have been having a real good time with your girlfriend."

Lachlan pulled back and punched him in the face. Blue goo began oozing from his nose almost instantly, but Sid just stood there and laughed.

"Come on. Let's go find Hando and see what he knows." Max grabbed Lachlan and pulled him out the door.

They walked around the beach for awhile trying all of Hando's favorite spots, but no one could find him. John, Cort, Lachlan and Colin searched his room and some of the woods, while Peaches, Michelle, Laura, Tina and Bud tried the hotel, the court yard, and the parking lot just to be safe. They all met back at the tavern when the search had been completed.

"Not one sign of him anywhere," Bud grumbles as he sat at the bar and wiped some mud off his shoes. "That rain last night was really something else. Everything is still wet out there."

"This really does make a lot of sense," Lachlan said as he sat down next to Bud. "She told me yesterday that he was out on the beach and saw us the first night Brynn was here. He must have heard us talking."

"What the hell are you rambling about Lachlan?" Cort asked.

"Group meeting!" Lachlan gathered up all those present and interested in helping find Brynn. Basically everyone there. He wanted everyone's attention while he told them about the conversation with Brynn two nights ago.

"All right, this is how it happened," he began. "Brynn and I were on the beach the night she first got here. She wanted to go for a swim, so I went with her. She still was not really use to this place so I tried my best to explain it to her. She got a little hung up on the fact the guys here can go back to their world anytime they wanted. So she deduced that if we could come and go any time we wanted, then we could possibly take someone back with us."

"OH, some one just FUCK ME," Bud shook his head. "Liz, I think I need a drink. A really powerful drink."

"Let me finish." Lachlan was apparently on a roll. "Well the thing is the next day Brynn told me after I left she ran into Hando out there on the beach."

"Yeah, she mentioned it to me too," Laura cut him off. "I saw her walking back to the hotel that night and she said she had just talked with Hando. She said he was really annoying."

Lachlan nodded as thanks for her input. "Well it seems he may have been there longer than we had expected. He must have heard everything we talked about and it got him interested for one reason or another."

"Well, who here besides Sid wants to control someone like that. I mean if anyone would be crazy enough to try it, my first guess would have to be Sid, then Hando. We already know Sid did nothing, this time, in fact he was the reason we went looking for Hando." John added.

"I know I have taken things from this world to my own." Bud sighed. "I never wanted to bring a person with me though. Never once even crossed my mind."

Max was thoughtful for a few moments then said, "Here Brynn would have all of us to look out for her. Hando could really do nothing to her here. But in his own world he plays by his rules. There is no telling what he could do there. Think about it. This is really his idea of a game. The chance for him to really prove to him self and Brynn he was worth something."

"Now that we know the whole story about where we think Brynn is," Peaches rationalized, "we have to form a plan to get her back. We will need all the information we can get from you guys."

"Us?" Colin questioned. "What do we know?"

"What is it like when you go back?" Michelle asked catching on to Peaches' idea. "I mean is it the same time it was when you left or does time go on as usual?"

"As usual I think," Cort said. "There are things that obviously change after the movie is played out but the world and the time are just the same as they are here night and day hours on the clock the whole nine..."

"Except that your time is in the past as is Max's time, even Bud's. So maybe we got lucky that the two psychos that would use this little "power" to hurt people are from more or less the present time." Tina added her two cents to the equation.

"So if time goes on as usual, then we should be able to get Brynn back." Laura finished.

"You girls have just lost me." Colin told them. "I was lost back when we started talking about time."

"We will try to make it more clear to you later Colin," Michelle said hugging him.

"Looks like we are going on another road trip," Peaches sighed. "I wish it were under different circumstances, but a road trip all the same."

"I don't think it will work," Lachlan sighed. "Hando would have thought about shit like that, I am sure. Isn't there some sort of paradox, or alternate universe thing? All the reading he does, he really must have thought about it. It will not work."

"We have to do something Lachlan. I don't want to just sit here and wait." Michelle said. "I know you don't either. Hando knows there will be consequences when he comes back, so what is to say he will ever come back here? Or maybe he will come back and leave Brynn there. Besides this was tow days ago, how much time could he really have thought about it?"

"Michelle," Colin took her hand in his. "I don't think Lachlan needs to hear this right now. I am not involved with Brynn and I don't want to hear this. I just keep thinking it could be you we are looking for someday."

"Or me," Stef shivered. "I just never thought...."

"None of us thought this," Bud tried to soothe her. "But it happened just the same."

"Maybe we are wrong and she just got lost or something." Max tried to be optimistic.

"That's why when we go, one group will have to stay here and let us know if we just went half way around the world for a nice trip or to save someone's life." Peaches told him. "We need to decide right now who goes on this little adventure and who stays."

Brynn lay on the bed as Hando had instructed. This is not good she told herself, most certainly not good at all. Hando lay next to her and began to undo the buttons on her shirt, moving very slowly and deliberately. He caressed each inch of flesh he exposed carefully like he was storing the sensation away in an internal database for future use. "You are pretty," he told her. Brynn said nothing. She just lay there next to him shaking. She had just done this for the first time yesterday and she was quite sure Hando would not take the time Lachlan had taken with her.

Lachlan. Brynn thought about his face, his blue green eyes that she could lose herself in. Maybe I can just pretend that Lachlan is doing these things to me? Lose myself someplace where it is Lachlan and not Hando? Will I still want to be with Lachlan if I pretend this and Hando does degrading things to me? She almost started to cry at the thought. Oh god, I promise to be good forever if you will just let me wake up right now in Lachlan's arms having him caress me. Please?

That did not work either, Hando just kept on touching her and when she opened her eyes, it was in fact still Hando and not Lachlan.

"Why are you shaking? You think I am gonna hurt ya?" Hando asked.

"Are you?" Brynn tried to keep he voice steady but she was failing badly.

"Not too bad luv. Nothing that won't heal. I think your pride will be hurt most of all. Ya don't seem so tough now. How come ya haven't tried some of that self-defense bull shit on me."

"I may never get outta here if I did that," she told him honestly.

"Good girl. That deserves a reward." He leaned forward and kissed her.

Brynn braced herself for the onslaught, but he was surprisingly tender. He kissed her and tugged gently on her bottom lip with his teeth. Knowing her only choice was to comply she opened her mouth to the kiss, letting him inside to stroke her with his tongue. He carefully inspected her mouth, but repeatedly he returned to lick the ball in her tongue.

"You know how to use that thing?" He asked.

A flood of relief washed over Brynn. This she could do. If she could please him sufficiently with her mouth she would not have to let him into her body, yet at least. "Yes," she whispered. "Can I show you?"

"Maybe later. I want all of you right now." Hando had finished with her shirt and pulled it open exposing her supple breasts with their matching rings. He bent down and laved one of her nipples with is tongue. Much to her surprise, Brynn's body began to hum with sexual tension at his ministrations.

This is not exactly the response I wanted she scolded her body. Not now in this place and not with him. Hando was busy playing with the rings in her nipples. He used his mouth on one and a hand on the other and then he would switch back and forth. Brynn's body was screaming for release. Apparently lost in the sensation of Hando's mouth on her nipples, she was no longer in control of any part of her body. Her hand came to rest on his head urging him on. Realizing what she was doing she let her hand fall back to the bed.

"Don't fight it Brynn," he cooed. "Let me do this. I promise you will love it all. Just let yourself go. Don't worry about anything right now. Here it is just you and me. Understand?"

She nodded her head. Despite what her brain was telling her she did exactly what Hando had told her to do, and followed her body's lead. She began to writhe under him aching to feel his hand at her center. Release was all that mattered now. The pressure was maddening. He was so good at this, and he had only touched her breasts.

Hando could feel her moving. He knew what she wanted and he was sure going to make her beg for it. He needed to hear her say it. "What do you want? Tell me what you want."

Brynn was silent. She would not be forced into submission by her body. If she had to she could always just touch herself and gain the release she needed. At the thought her hand snaked down and she tried to massage herself. Hando stopped her hand and she let out a whimper.

"No, that is not allowed. I have to do it. All you have to do is tell me what it is you want."

Shaking her head from side to side in a show of opposition Brynn said nothing. She tried to free her hand from Hando's grasp, but he held firm to her. He licked slowly at her nipples to make sure her peak would not fall. With her body once again in control and not her mind, she began to buck her hips up trying to come in contact with something that would make her come. "PLEASE!" she finally yelled out.

"Please what?" Hando asked innocently still holding her to the mattress while he licked her nipple over and over again. He took the ring between his teeth and pulled gently on it.

"Touch me," she whispered. The tears were flowing freely now. She had just lost her last bit of control and dignity.

"That's my girl." Hando said letting go of her wrist. He trailed his hand down her belly and let it rest just above the mound she had begged him to touch. Brynn arched her back and tried to make contact with his hand. He was not done teasing her yet however and went back to lavishing attention on her nipples, while rubbing his hand back and forth across her lower belly.

Groaning louder now Brynn's back arched into the air again. "Hando. Please touch me." There she said it, there was no going back now. She had asked for it.

Hando looked up at her, it was a beautiful sight. She cried and begged him to touch her. She needed him.

His hand went straight to the bundle of nerves that throbbed and begged for his touch. He messaged it with the tip of his finger and she melted in his arms.

Brynn cried out her long awaited release, rocking her hips up and down against his finger to prolong the sensation. Hando inserted another long finger into her to feel her orgasm. The spasms in her inner walls clenched around his finger again and again. He knew she was ready for him now. There was no way she could put up the fight against him after an orgasm like that. He made quick work of his jeans, as that was the only thing he was wearing and went back to Brynn.

Hando was on her before she had recovered from her orgasm. Brynn tried to push against him but there was just no strength left in her.

He nuzzled her neck and kissed her softly, his mood having changed after his mates left. He had wanted to take her quick and hard before now he wanted it to last as long as possible. There would be time later he told himself, before he was done with her he wanted to fuck her in every position possible.

Hando pushed her legs open and positioned himself against her soaking slit. An involuntary moan escaped her lips when she felt his head pressed against her.

Brynn was scared shitless of what he could do once he was inside her. He could literally tear her apart. She had seen his size when he pulled his jeans off, and almost died right there. But at that moment she did not want to fight him, in fact she wanted him É badly. Her hips pushed forward of their own accord, but Hando was in control here. He grabbed her hips, and then he looked down at her.

Hando did not move for long seconds, just kneeled between her open legs and stared at her. Brynn finally raised her head to see what the problem was and met Hando's gaze. What she saw made her very uncomfortable. Sadness, desire, and fear.

Pushing himself away from her Hando got up off the bed his eyes still locked with Brynn's. He grabbed his jeans and not bothering to put them on, he bolted out the bedroom door. Brynn was left alone in the room in utter shock. What had just happened here? He wanted her, then he doesn't. She hates him, then wants him inside her. All this in a matter of 20 minutes.

Brynn rolled onto her side and let her tears flow freely again. Her confusion took over all rational thought and she cried herself to sleep on the mattress in the middle of nowhere.

Hando quickly locked himself in the bathroom across the hall from his room. He was scared shitless by what he had been about to do. What the fuck had he been thinking? The chances of going back to the Nest were now slim to none, he could really have had friend in Brynn, and now that was shot too. He scared her so bad she would probably never be herself again, and for what? To prove to someone that he was worth something because he had a talent that only the guys at the nest possessed. That was bull shit and he knew it. He wanted to prove something to himself and he failed miserably, AGAIN.

The only thing Hando learned about himself through this little disaster was that he was just as big a loser as people told him he was. He was jealous of everyone at the nest and what they had. Everyone there was there for a reason. He had reason to be there for sure, it was a hell of a lot better than being here. He had some really good things going before this little power trip and now all that was shot to fuck. Brynn could have been a soul mate for him, a real true friend. And Stefannie, well he had to admit to himself now that he really cared for her. She was sweet, spunky, and smart. Once upon a time they might have been able to make a go of it, but now he knew she would never speak to him again.

Hando never really would have hurt Brynn, not ever, but he had tormented and humiliated her from the moment she woke up with him there. Lachlan would try to kill him for sure if he went back to the Nest now.

Hando looked at his reflection in the mirror, you seriously fucked this one up, he said to his own face. Turning away from the mirror Hando sat on the edge of the small tub. He lowered his head to his hands and tried to figure a way out of this mess.

Brynn woke sometime later with Hando shaking her, "Brynn, come on wake up.. I need to talk to you." Her eyes fluttered open and she rolled over to face him.

"What is it?" She asked. "Why did you leave before?"

Her cheeks were tear stained. Tears he had caused. Hando looked away from her, "I think it's time to get you back luv. They must know by now that you are missing."

"Hando," Brynn sat up straight shocked. "Before we go back I think we need to talk. What happened? Why did you leave? Why are you taking me back now?"

"There you go with the fucking questions again, don't you ever let up with that?" He asked risking a smile in her direction. His eye caught sight of the bruise forming on her cheek, something else he caused. He never wanted to hurt her. He just got so caught up in his power trip, he let himself lose control.

Hando raised his hand to stroke Brynn's cheek . He saw her flinch away from him, but then relax against his hand. "I need to know why Hando." She told him. "I just want to understand."

"I honestly don't know why." He shook his head. "I will not make excuses to you for the things that I have done here. I wanted to make you lose the control, that makes you who you are, I think. You show so much control and even though you are so damn short people still look up to you. I wanted to take it away."

"But why? I just wanted to be your friend. "

"I don't know, I just did. But now is a little too late to make ammends. That's me, a day late and a dollar fucking short."

"Don't bother putting yourself down to me Hando, I know what you are."

His eyes glazed over again part in fury and part in confusion. He believed that she knew what he was. It scared him. "What the fuck Brynn?" he asked.

"Is that your way of asking for an explanation?" Brynn chanced a smile at him. She knew where this was going and it was the best turn of events she'd had all day. This was her chance. Hando was vulnerable, realizing he fucked up. It was now or never. She wanted to make things right again for both of them.

Hando just looked and her and waited.

"I see a lost man before me," she told him. "I know what you are going through even though you will never believe me. I know. I see what you want in side your eyes Hando. You want expectance, love and friendship. The same things everyone else in this world seems to have. You were never taught how to love or be a true friend, so you go about things differently from others, making you an outcast.. I am not angry anymore about you bring me here. I think I know why you did it. That does not make what you did right by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I know you well enough to know that the torment you will put yourself through over this little tryst, will be more than I , or anyone else could ever do to you."

Hando smiled at her. "I have never let a woman talk to me that way before, I would either send them packing or give them a good slap."

Brynn rubbed her cheek, "Yeah no shit!"

"I am sorry Brynn I really am."

"I know you are Hando. I have forgiven you, but it will take me sometime to talk to the others when you bring me back, so I will need you to lay low for a few days."

"You don't have to do that for me." he told her.

"Yes I do. Trust me when I tell you, you are going to need a friend on your side when we get back there, it ain't gonna be pretty. I more or less made this a challenge between us right from the very start.. I am sorry for that. I just wanted to get to know you."

"I know," Hando kissed her forehead, "and what do I do? Treat you like shit."

"Well yes actually you did, but hey at least I got to see where you lived," she joked with him. "Even if this is not exactly what I meant."

"You were right about me you know. What you said a few minutes ago.."

Brynn nodded. "I really do want you to be able to trust me. You need more in this life than just yourself.

"I can not believe I am sitting her talking to you like this when an hour ago I was trying to rape you."

"You did not such thing, don't you ever say that to me again do you understand?" Brynn was straight faced and dead on serious. "I don't think you are capable of such a thing. You may be different from most people in the way you handle things, but that to me is what makes you so special. I do not want to hear you say anything bad about yourself again. Do we agree?"

Hando nodded his head. "I am so sorry Brynn."

"I just cannot get over seeing you like this. I wish the others could see you, if they did maybe they would understand you a little better."

"I can't do it with most people," he tried to explain., "I just grew up as a bully, always kept to myself ya know. Then people started to follow my ideas. I liked it, made me feel good about myself."

"What about those ideas now?" Brynn asked him. "What is it that you hold most dear to your heart?"

"What the fuck kinda question is that?" He blurted out.

Welcome back Hando, Brynn said to herself. To him, she said "It is an honest one. I want to know what you believe. Clam down Hando and trust someone for a change. I am not going to try and hurt you with anything you say to me, it just helps me to understand you better."

Hando took a deep breath trying to calm down and talk to her like a normal person would. "I believe that I am not a good person. I want to be but I fail every time I try. I keep telling myself that power over people is the same, but after bringing you here, I know that is not the way of it."

"How do you know that now for sure?" she asked. "What made you get up and run out of here the way you did? What changed your mind?"

"You don't give up do you?" Hando was more serious this time when he asked. "You really want to know what changed my mind?"

"It is my job to ask people questions to get to know them," Brynn told him. "I am good at my job or so I am told, but with you it is more personal, much more personal and I would never have asked what changed your mind if I really did not want to know."

"It was your eyes. When I looked down at you and realized what I was about to do, I saw your eyes, you wanted me sure, who wouldn't," he said trying to lighten the mood, "but the fear I saw there was more than I could handle. It was not so much fear of what I was going to do to you while you were here, but fear that I would never take you backÉto Lachlan."

"You have a gift." She said truly impressed. "That is exactly what I was afraid of. And yes Hando at that point in time, I did want you. Make you feel better?"

"Not really," he shook his head. "Because you did not want me, you were afraid if you did not do as I asked, you would be stuck here."

"You ARE good." Brynn said. "With the right teaching you could really be a people person."

"Not me," he blushed, "I am to touchy. My temper flares with out warning, For fucks sake just look at your face."

"They call it anger management dearÉ works wonders."

"Fuck that," Hando quipped. "Not for me."

"Well I am glad to have you back to yourself anyway. I did not like the person you were with your friends. I even like the softer side of you Hando, it really is quite becoming for you."

"Fuck you," Brynn he smiled at her. "I did not mean that shit I said to my mates. I was just showing off. I am sorry for showing them your ass too."

"Well it was probably the nicest ass they will ever see, so I guess it's alright." Brynn punched his arm. "I am glad we had this little chat. It is nice to know that you are human. You think next time we talk, we could stay at the nest though, this room gives me the creeps."

"I am a human for sure, but yes the next time we talk I promise to let you stay at the hotel. I still can't believe you can forgive me for what I did to you." He rubbed his hand over the short hair on his head.

"Well I forgave you, so now that I am here let's have some fun shall we?" Brynn said getting off the bed.

"Brynn I can't do anything with you, you are with Lachlan. I am not about to take anything else away from you now."

"Get you mind out of the gutter bad boy. I was talking about something FUN. You said to your buddies you wanted to mark me, let go do it. I want a reminder of this. Not that I will forget it anytime soon, but hell I have never done this whole switching worlds before I want something to show for it damn it!"

Brynn was right back to her old self, in control and standing tall. The damage Hando imagined he caused her was nonexistent, at least emotionally. She would still have to deal with the crew back at the Nest. She was right about one thing, it was not likely to be pretty. He knew she would not lie about anything that happened, but instead tell it like it is. What was it that he once heard some old nun say? To ere is human, to forgiveÉ divine.

Hando was going to take advantage of the new friendship with Brynn while he had a chance to. Once he brought her back, things would change as they always did. Maybe she would change her mind and decide he was not worth the trouble or the price of a bullet like so many people had done to him in the past, but for right now, in this place, Hando had a true friend and for the first time everÉ hope.

Brynn sat in the café drinking her latte', talking and laughing with Hando. The events of the past day had her weary, but she was more alive at that moment than she ever thought possible. In all her time working with children and the mentally ill, she had never really been able to reach anyone the way she had reached Hando tonight. The teachers and fellow psychologists had always told her that it was much harder to deal with a psychological break through when it was personal. She, however, found it incredibly easier and much more satisfying than anything she had done previous. Those professionals who told her such nonsense had probably never had more of a personal psychological break through in their lives beyond what tie to wear with their suit.

"I am still having a hard time with this," Hando told her, "I am not the type of person to have conversations."

"Well I am going to be around for awhile, so you better get use to it. You may be the only person left at the nest who WILL talk to me, for awhile at least. But you know, shit happens."

"You can't tell me you will not be hurt if Lachlan is angry with you. Don't bull shit a bull shitter."

"Yeah I will be hurt, but I have to deal with it, plain and simple." Brynn said taking another drink. The truth was, she would truly be crushed if, after defending Hando, Lachlan chose to be angry with her or worse.

"And the tattoo? What are you going to tell people about that?" Hando grinned at her.

"Nothing unless they ask. I mean it is small and not real noticeable unless I wear a bikini, so I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there. What a great story I will have for my grandkids someday though. I even have the proof. "

"Let me see it again?"

"Jeez Hando, you've seen it like 50 times since we sat down in here," she stood up and moved the shorts down her hip slightly to exposed the new tattoo on her left hip.

Hando, in all his infinite wisdom, had not thought to "pack a bag" for Brynn when he decided this little misadventure would be a good idea, so when they went out Brynn grabbed a pair of his shorts. They were the kind that had the little string in the waist so she could tie them as tight as she needed them. She also knotted Max's shirt in the front to create a so-so half shirt. With this ensemble she looked somewhat presentable. Nothing that was sure to win a fashion award, but enough to go out in public.

Hando had taken her to a small tattoo parlor a few blocks away from the flat, he knew the guy there well and trusted him enough to let him do Brynn's new art. They looked through books the guy had containing all sorts of art work. His own included. Brynn went through the books twice before she found the tat she wanted.

It was a very small tattoo of a rose with a curly stem. The artist had it transferred from the picture to her skin in no time. When he had finished, Hando and Brynn stared at it for a few minutes, appreciating the workmanship and detail.

"Why did ya get that one?" Hando had asked her. "With all the ones we looked at, why this little one?"

"Hando," she whispered shyly, "look at the stem real close from the side. And tell me what you see?"

He did as she asked then looked at her, eyes wide. "That is really amazing." The curly stem of the rose when looked at sideways formed an H. "I didn't notice that before."

"Now I will always remember you and my little adventure," she had told him.

It was something simple, but what she said meant more to him than he would ever be able to tell her. He had a lot to get use to, having a friend, expressing himself, all of this would take time. He just hoped that she would stick it out with him, and maybe he would be able to talk to others the way he could talk to Brynn... someday.

"Have you had your fill of this thing yet?" She asked hiking his shorts back up her hip.

"I am gonna ask to see it every time I see you, ya know. I just cannot believe you did it. You are crazier than I thought. I should have known better than to mess with you."

Brynn laughed at that. "Well you are a man after all, and your species has never been accused of being overly bright."

"Thanks," he said, "and you claim to like me, I'd hate to see how ya treat people you hate.

Hando looked at the time on the clock above the counter in the diner. He was nervous about taking Brynn back, but he knew this was no place for her. It was time to get going. "It is getting late and we are going to have to go. We better get the show on the road eh, luv?"

"I guess you are right, I have no way to call them and let them know I am alright, we had better go."

Brynn was dreading the return to the hotel. She missed everyone terribly, especially Lachlan. Though she had only been gone one day, she knew she would have to do some serious defending once she got there or they were likely to tear Hando limb from limb.

"Before we go can I ask you something a little personal?" Hando questioned unable to look at her.

"Sure, anything," Brynn told him seriously.

"When we were back in my room and you told me that you knew exactly what it was like to be a loner, what did you mean by that?"

Brynn giggled, "I thought you were going to ask me something a little more personal than that. This one I can handle no problem. This may come as a surprise to you Hando but I was not always this friendly and personable. I grew up on a res. in South Dakota. My dad traveled a lot that was actually how he met my mom. Anyway he decided we should move to New York when I was nine, Imagine me at nine a little Indian girl in New York City? Well kids are cruel, and they picked on me cause my skin was so dark, but I was not black. I was an outcast for several years. I had no friends my parents were often away on business, so that left me. I stayed to myself for awhile and then one day, I just grew up and stopped listening to what others said about me. It did not matter. I liked who I was, so I just told them to fuck off."

"Wow, I never would imagine, not the way you are now."

"Yeah well, Come on Hando, we can talk about this more later, right now I want to get back before they do something really rash. They are probably cutting little pieces off Sid right now thinking he did something to me! I am getting a little nervous," Brynn said getting up. "How do we do this?"

"Just follow me," he said taking her hand. "Are you sure I can't see the tattoo just one more time before we go back?"

He led her back to his flat. After letting him see the new art work one more time, because he bugged her all the way back, they lay down on the bed. "Things are probably gonna change between us when we get back," he whispered, "So I wanna tell you now, Thanks."

"For what?" Brynn asked turning her head to look at him.

"Everything." Now go to sleep.

Brynn woke up, it was dark, and she could hear footsteps going up and down the hall. Reaching her hand out in to the darkness she realized she was alone, in her own bed. "That sneaky little shit," she laughed. "Well I am at least I am someplace I know." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. Her headache was back with a vengeance. Kinda like severe jet lag, Brynn thought. She heard voices in the hall now, and went to see what was going on. It must be late or early, whatever, why were there people running around out there? She had a good idea she knew the answer to that question even as she thought it. They are still looking for me.

"Come on," Peaches said "Grab my bag please. Cort, did ya hear me? Grab my bag."

"I got your bag for love's sake woman, you are a slave driver." Cort grumbled under his breath.

Brynn opened the door to her room and began to follow the noise downstairs. "What is going on down here? Are we jumping ship or what?"

The lobby was filled with people and they all looked stunned to see her. She was happy as hell to see them though. It felt good to be home.

"Well, we were about to leave the country," Michelle said, coming to Brynn hugging her fiercely.

"Why, did the cops spot the drugs growing in the garden or did they dig up the body," Brynn asked, trying to relieve the tension in the room.

"We thought we were gonna be looking for your body, where the hell have you been?" John asked replacing the hugging arms as soon as Michelle let go. "We were ready to go half way round the world to look for you."

It was Brynn's turn to be puzzled. "I must have missed a great deal of shit. Go where looking for me?"

"Well Australia to be specific," Tina told her after another hug. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I am good, I think, I am not quite following though. Anyone care to fill in the blanks?"

They gathered around her and began to recant the tale of Sid, Lachlan, and Hando from the tavern. "So you see," Laura finished, "we thought maybe we could find you if we went to Australia."

Brynn laughed, "Well it was a great thought but it would not have worked. I don't think I am capable of a coherent explanation right now, but I will try and fill you in on it later."

"So you WERE with Hando?" She heard Lachlan's voice before she saw his face. She jumped down the last two steps to the landing and ran to him. She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I am so glad to see you."

"Uh guys, that would be our queue to vacate. Let's go get some sleep and we will take care of this crap tomorrow." Peaches instructed. "And I really wanted to go to Australia too. Bummer!"

"But we are glad to have you back with us safe and sound," Max said as he took Laura's hand. "No more unexplained disappearances from you, young lady, do you understand?"

"No complaints from me Max," she promised, "you guys have a good night. Sorry I worried you!"

Lachlan looked at Brynn for a moment. He was caught in between two emotions. Happiness that she was back, as Max had put it, safe and sound, and anger that she had been taken away by that little punk in the first place. They needed to talk, but he could see she was exhausted. "Are you up for a talk luv?" he asked brushing her hair back away from her eyes.

"I don't know Lachlan," she sighed. "I really could use some rest right now, but I want you with me. I missed you so much and I need you to be close for awhile."

"Can you at least tell me where you were? Where did he take you?" Lachlan asked.

Knowing that Lachlan would not let this rest until he had at least that one answer, she took his hand and led him up to her room. "We can talk here," she told him once they were inside with the doors safely closed behind them. Brynn did not want anyone else to hear them right now, in fact she thought I really don't want to get into this at all right now. "I was with Hando, I think you guys already figured that out. He heard us on the beach that night, which you also figured out. So he took me to his flat in Australia." Brynn sat down on her bed she felt exhausted. Her body was limp and weary. Sleep, I need sleep.

"Did he hurt you?" Lachlan's voice brought her back to reality.

"No, he didn't. It is a long involved story and I promise I will tell you everything tomorrow." Brynn reach up and took his hand in hers pulling him to sit on the bed with her. "Just stay with me tonight. Please?"

He put his arms around her. "I am not going anywhere, I will stay right here for as long as you need me." They lay back against the pillows and Brynn nuzzled against his to gain comfort and warmth.

"How 'bout forever?" she murmured and slipped into a deep dreamless sleep.

It was afternoon by the time Sid finally emerged from his room. He had spent the last twenty four hours in a self induced seclusion, except for the little tiff with Lachlan, but that could not be helped. For once he had not caused the uproar that everyone was in and damn it, he was going to defend himself. //I could have gone about it a little differently, but then that would not have been my style// Sid thought to himself. He went down the stairs and straight for the bar. Liz was wiping down the counter as he approached. //Time to find out the latest on our little run away.//

"What can I do for you?" Liz asked when she saw Sid coming. He headed straight for her and she knew he had a purpose, this was Sid after all, he always had a purpose. No one had really figured out yet what exactly it was. Better to get this one out in the open right form the get go.

"Well now that you mention it," he stared at her out from under those amazingly thick lashes, "I wanted to tell you just how lovely you are looking today."

"Forget it Sid, What is it that you really want. I can see it written all over your face. Besides you ought to know better than try that BS line with me, I own this place remember? Been here too long to be suckered by you." Liz chastised him.

"That's the thanks I get for trying to pay a lady a compliment?" Sid tried his hand at looking hurt. It did not suit him very well. "How about some conversation then?"

"You know what Sid?" Liz asked innocently. "You can be a pretty nice guy when you want to be. Too bad you choose to be an asshole most of the time. We already have assholes Sid, we don't need any shit from you!"

"That was quite rude."

"WHAT?" Liz yelled. "You are giving me hives, out with it boy!"

He hung his head just a little. "Has anyone done anything about Brynn being gone? Are they still looking for her?"

"Oh, you have been in seclusion, so I guess you haven't heard. She's back. Came back out of the blue about two this morning. No one has really had a chance to talk to her, she was real tired. According to Cort though she had a real nice bruise on her face. There will be hell to pay for that I am sure, and why in the hell am I explaining all this to you? What are you up to now?"

"ME?" Sid asked incredulously. "What are you talking about Liz? I was just curious to know if anyone had heard anything."

"Yeah right, and monkey's are going to come flying right outta my butt any second now, so stand back." Liz's voice was just dripping with sarcasm. "The girl has been through enough, so why don't you just stay the hell away from her for the day."

"I would never dream of doing anything," Sid replied. "I was just curious."

"Whatever, just behave yourself today." Liz warned. "Got it?"

Sid gave her one of his sweetest smiles then turned on his heel and headed for the door, turning back to her just before leaving he said, "I'd pay big money to see that you know? The whole monkey thing." He smiled again then was gone.

Liz watched after him for a few seconds, sure he was up to no good. // This is Sid after all, what else would he be up to?// Deciding that it was not her problem at that moment nor her turn to be Sid's keeper, she went back to cleaning the bar.

Sid stepped out into the bright, warn sunshine of the day and onto the path leading down to the beach. He was going to seek out Hando. He wanted to find out what the old boy had been up to the past 36 hours. With the way everyone had gone crazy about trying to find Brynn //the little bitch//, Sid figured it was something he should be in on. Especially if he could use it to make his play time a little more interesting.

Things had been a little dull around the nest for a few weeks. There had been the whole thing with Laura and Max, and he had to admit, that was fun, but things had slowed down. At least until the newest member of the nest came to play. She was interesting, but she would not play any of his games. Seems like she would not even make a move without the opinions of the other ninnies at the nest.

Sid did not want to hurt Brynn really, not that she didn't deserve it for humiliating him Friday night, but this was good clean fun here. He also did not want to keep her from coming back to the nest. Even he knew that if he was to do something as bone headed as drive off the members of the nest, he would cease to exist. That was just something that could not be allowed. //It's great to be me, Sid thought, wouldn't want to give it up anytime soon.//

Not in any real rush, Sid meandered down the beach taking in the sites of the day and the warmth of the sunshine. Most often he stayed away from the beach, after the little beach party he crashed, who could blame him? He was on a mission today however, he would find Hando soon enough, hopefully before anyone else had gotten to him.

Brynn snuggled into Lachlan as she slept. Lachlan on the other hand was not so lucky. His sleep had come in spurts, they were short and provided little rest. As Brynn snuggled against his side and murmured in her sleep, Lachlan tightened his grip around her shoulders protectively. She slept much deeper than he had the pleasure of doing and during the early morning hours she thrashed about a bit. Lachlan tried to soothe her with soft words and caresses. She calmed quickly and went back to the steady deep breathing of relaxed slumber.

This afternoon as she still slept in his arms he watched her. Her head lay on his chest lulled by the rhythm of his heart beat, her arm draped across his stomach. She looked so at peace. He was so happy to have her back safe and unharmed. She had seemed fine early this morning, when she had come down the stairs, shocking everyone. Lachlan wondered if it was an act. What had happened to her when she was with HIM? Thinking of Hando and what he had done made

Lachlan's blood pressure rise and his heart pick up pace. Brynn must have been able to feel the change even in her peaceful sleep. She shifted her position on him turning her head to face the opposite direction but still holding him around the middle.

Pushing back her hair so he could look at her face as she slept, Lachlan saw the bruise on her cheek that stood out angrily, even against Brynn's darker skin tone. Leaning in for a closer inspection, Lachlan could clearly make out the finger marks that lay across her left cheek.

John paced back and forth, then up and down the hall in front of Brynn's door. He wanted to knock, but he saw the way she looked last night. She was completely wiped out. He just wanted to talk to her and find out what the hell had happened. The story they got from Lachlan was enough to piece things together, but it was sketchy and he wanted the details.

Hando would have to be dealt with to make sure this sort of thing did not happen again. Along with some of the others here, Cort and Bud, he was an official keeper of the peace for the nest, and he knew that eventually the others would want to make sure they were all safe here. //Keep trying to justify lurking around out here Biebe he told himself, and you may just knock on that door sometime today!//

Brynn seemed to be all right last night when he saw her, but he had a feeling things were not so all right under the surface of that tough little exterior. He had seen her face, knew what it was and prayed that it would fade by today. If not, Hando was in deep shit, without rubber boots or a shovel.

"You are gonna wear a hole in the carpet sheriff," Cort said from the stairs. He had been there about twenty minutes watching John and waiting. He too had been anxious to talk to Brynn, to make sure she was ok and to find out what happened. "We may just have to turn this into a group thing, or else everyone is going to end up milling around the hall in front of Brynn's room."

John looked up at his fellow peacekeeper and smiled. "You may be right. I think everyone wants to know what is going on. There is a real weird quiet feel about the hotel today have you noticed?"

Cort nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I just passed Max and Laura in the lobby, they are just sitting there not talking, just sitting. This is really some weird shit. You see her face last night?"

"Yeah I saw it, lets just hope that it's not so bad today. Other wise we may never find Hando if Lachlan has anything to say about it."

Both men stopped in the middle of conversation as a sound erupted from the other side of Brynn's door. "THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

"Well," John said looking at Cort, "So much for that delusional little fantasy. "

Brynn was jolted awake as Lachlan jumped off the bed and yelled, "THAT SON OF A BITCH."

"What is it?" Brynn asked trying to shake sleep from her brain. "What happened?"

"You tell me," Lachlan was enraged. This was a side of him she had never seen and never expected. "You told me he did not hurt you. If he did not hurt you then what the hell is that on your face?"

She had forgotten all about the mark that Hando left on her face. Brynn raised her hand and ran her finger over the tender spot. "Lachlan, honey, calm down. It really is not as bad as it looks. I told you I would explain everything to you today, please don't make more of this than it really is."

"Don't try and lie to me again Brynn," he roared. "He left a hand print on your cheek for Christ sake."

Brynn was hurt by his remark. "I never lied to you Lachlan, he did not hurt me, he hit me yes, but he did not hurt me. If you will sit down so we can discuss this like adults..."

"He fucking hit you and you are just going to sit there and tell me it's nothing? You use to getting hit or something, is that the kind of thing that does it for you? Exactly how many times did you let him fuck you?"

Horror and shock hit Brynn like a ton of bricks. "How dare you." She whispered. "Is that what you think of me? I thought you knew me a little better than that, after what we shared here, how could you even dream of saying something like that to me?"

"It wasn't a dream," Lachlan shot back. "I just said it, and your lack of an answer leads me to believe that you would be better of with a sick pervert like Hando, then someone like me." He picked up his shirt off the end of the bed and left the room.

Brynn sat stunned on her bed. What had just happened here was what she had feared most about coming back. She knew he would be upset at Hando, but she never imagined this in her worst nightmare. The one man she was sure about had just turned on her and not even given her the chance to explain. The tears had already began to course down her face and neck in wild streams. How could this have happened?

"We better see if there is anything we can do, John," Cort said moving to the door. "We don't want this to get too out of hand here."

"I think it may already be too late for that, but it can't hurt to try." John retorted raising his hand to knock on the door. Just as he was about to strike the wood, the door in front him flew open and Lachlan burst into the hallway.

"Lachlan," John said surprised, "What..." He was cut off mid-sentence as Lachlan raised his hand in a silencing gesture. He obviously was in no mood for conversation and John dropped it right there. Lachlan turned to Cort and shook his head getting the same message across. Cort politely stepped aside to let Lachlan pass. Both men just stared after him as he descended the stairs two at a time.

"Guess he's is not mood for idle chit chat this afternoon," John mused, turning back to the open door. "Follow him for me and see what he is up to. I have a feeling we are not done with this just yet."

"I have a feeling your feeling may be right on the mark, sheriff. Go check on Brynn and see what happened. As if we don't already know." Cort replied walking toward the stairs after Lachlan.

John went into the room and followed the sounds of sobbing to find Brynn lying on her bed. The sobbing was getting worse and the shudders racked her small body. "You seem to be in need of a friend... anything I can do to help?"

Brynn lifted her face, red from crying, off her pillow to look at John. "You seem to always be there when someone needs a friend." She turned to face him and he took her into his arms in a comforting embrace. "I don't know why he would not listen to me. He never even let me explain. He just said terrible things to me and left. I didn't get a chance to tell him why."

"Shhhhh it's all right," John soothed. "When he calms down you will be able to tell him everything. I have never seen him get really hung up on one of the girls the way he is with you, he will come around, trust me."

"I wish I could believe that," Brynn replied. "He hates me right now though, I can see it in his eyes. He thinks that I am in love with Hando or something. It is not Hando, it is him. Hando is just my friend."

"Slow down darlin," John told her. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Everyone wants to know John," she sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "I think we should have a group meeting, I don't want to be telling it over and over again. One thing is for sure, I do not want any one angry with Hando for what he did. You guys all know how impulsive and insecure he is, and that is what this was all about. Hando is not a problem any more, I really got through to him."

"But he hit you. That much is evident, I don't think I wanna know what else he did." John explained giving her a little squeeze as he finished the sentence. "Don't feel you have to protect him out of fear. You have friends here we will not let him hurt you again."

Brynn sat up and looked at him. "Did you hear me John? He did not hurt me. Yes he slapped me when I first figured out what happened, because I got mouthy with him. He resorted to the only thing he knew. Then I don't know what happened, but he changed right there before my eyes. Look, he is not the one I am worried about right now. I need to explain this to Lachlan."

"Later hon, slow down," John said holding her again. "We need to take this one step at a time, Rome wasn't built in day. You seemed a little out of it last night, why don't we start there?" John wanted to hear the story himself before telling the others to try and gage the reaction of the masses.

"If I am going to tell you John I have to start at the beginning. There is no other place to start." Brynn conceded. John nodded for her to continue. "This is the revised version John, so just listen close. We got drunk Friday, I went out to the beach, met Hando, he pissed me off, so I went back to my room. He snuck in, and 'took' me to his flat in Melbourne. From there..." she paused to catch her breath, "he told me that he brought me with him to prove that he could do it. It made him feel good, understand?" Not waiting for him to answer she continued. "I told him he was twisted using a few more words, and he slapped me, he was going to have his way with me I think, then he just stopped and ran out of the room. I was shocked and confused so I cried myself to sleep. What better thing to do in a strange place right? Anyway, when he came back and woke me, he was different. He was kind and gentle. He told me he was sorry John can you imagine?" Again she did not wait for him to respond. "So we talked the rest of the time. Then he brought me back here."

When Brynn had finished her rambling John just looked at her. "That's it? You guys just talked?"

"Well when I saw how sorry he was I figured it was now or never so I talked to him. Figured him out a little bit. There is a lot more to him than you all see on the outside. He was truly sorry for what he did, if you could have seen his face John, you would know what I am talking about. I can't tell you how many times he apologized for hitting me, it was quite a few...."

"Listen you have been through quite an ordeal here," John said wanting to change the subject for a few minutes. "I will wait here for you to shower and get yourself cleaned up a little, then we can go to the tavern together and gather everyone to let them know the whole story."

"Thanks John," Brynn replied hugging him tighter. "I just don't know what to do about Lachlan. He needs to be there when I talk to everyone. If he is going to be mad at me, he needs to know the whole thing too. At least have a reason to be angry with me you know?"

John stood up bring Brynn of f the bed with him. "Come on now, get in there and take a shower. You smell like smoke."

Brynn smiled up at him, then turned away from him to the bathroom to take a shower and clean herself up before facing the firing squad. John left the bedroom to give Brynn more privacy. He walked to the living room and sat on the plush couch to clear his head. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. Brynn was defending Hando even though for all intents and purposes he kid napped her. John knew that not everyone would be understanding. Some may even see it the way Lachlan obviously did. //this is not good// John thought.

Cort entered the living room and sat on the couch next to John. "Well he is not talking to anyone right now. Just told me to leave him alone for a little bit, he was extremely upset by something."

"Yeah," John answered. "I am sure by the end of the day more people are going to be just as upset." He recapped the conversation he had with Brynn in the bedroom to fill Cort in on the details. "Now she is going to go over to the tavern and tell this same thing to everyone. She is adamant that no one be angry with Hando."

"Are you kidding me?" Cort was astonished. " She is going to defend him? I don't get it."

"Neither did I," John agreed. "She told me that I would have to have been there to see it, see him, to understand."

"This is going to confuse some of them," Cort replied. "Those who are not confused are most likely to be pissed off like Lachlan. I don't think it is a good idea she tells everyone, maybe we can just wait a few days...."

"No, she wants to do it now. Brynn is afraid of how people will react to Hando if she does not tell them the truth. What I need from you is to go find Lachlan, just tell him to wait in the back room of the bar and listen to what she has to say. That way she will not know he is there and he can hear the story for himself." John instructed.

Cort went to get up to do as he had been asked then sat back down. "Do you believe her John?"

He was silent for a moment then nodded his head. "Yeah I do...that does not help her though. We need to get Lachlan to believe her."

"Easier said than done," Cort said rising again and heading for the door. "A lot easier said than done."

Brynn looked at her reflection in the mirror. She decided to leave her hair down and apply a foundation to her face to lessen the dark color of the bruise on her cheek. Hopefully between her hair and the makeup, the bruise would be concealed for the most part. Turning away from the mirror and opening the door to the bathroom she went into her closet to find something to wear for the day. She wanted it to show enough of her skin to assure people Hando did not do any further damage than what was visible on her face. Opting for a soft teal colored sarong and a white tank half shirt, she dressed quickly and went to find John.

"Let's do this," she told him finding him in the living room.

"Are you sure you don't want to let things cool down first, we can try to explain this to Lachlan and let the others wait, they won't mind," John tried to talk her out of it.

"Nope," Brynn shook her head. "Best to get this over and done with so I can finish my vacation in peace. A lot of peace if no one talks to me the rest of my time here, but peace just the same." She slipped on a pair of white sandals and headed for the door. Stopping to wait for John before going into the hallway she turned to face him. "John, do you believe me?"

He chuckled a little, "Yes I believe you Brynn." he hugged her tight. "And no matter what, I am behind you on this you understand? I am always here if you need me."

"Thanks," she replied returning his hug. "I may need to take you up on that later." She released him and walked into the hall, next stop the tavern.

Lachlan walked around the woods for about an hour trying to sort out the events of the past day. He had been so anxious to find Brynn, but in the long run, it looks like she really did not want to be found. All the things she said to him had been false, and he had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. // a pretty face, big eyes and you are a goner now eh?// Lachlan scolded himself. How could he have let this happen. He had been so careful with the women that came here, knowing he was just aching for a broken heart if he let himself feel anything for them. They always ended up with one of the other guys, more experienced or just better looking than he.

He was not sure what about Brynn had captured his heart and soul, but she had. And now it was more devastating than ever to find out he had been played for a fool. She had begged him to listen and even cried real tears, but women were good at that sort of thing, They always played to the emotions when things did not go exactly as they had planned.

Lachlan stood against a tree and though about the afternoon. Why had he walked away from her? Why didn't he stay and listen to her when she meant so much to him? //You are afraid of falling in love and not being loved back, jeeze can't you even be honest with yourself?// Knowing all too well the consequences of a broken heart Lachlan had walked away from Brynn hoping never to look back again. Leaving before being left.

So why was he walking around in the woods thinking about her? // You love her you idiot,// his subconscious told him. He pushed the inner voice away and listened instead to his pride. He would not go back and listen to what she had to say. There was no doubt he wouldn't like it much, so better to just stay away from her and let her do as she pleased. He had no desire to play games.

Cort entered the tavern on a dead run and shot up the stairs to Lachlan's room. "Don't know what you're going up there for luv, he isn't up there," Liz told him.

"I have to find him do you know where he went?" Cort insisted coming back down the steps. "I need to get him back here and in the back room before Brynn comes over."

"Oh really? When is she coming?" Liz was interested. "Everyone has been dying to know what happened."

"She was getting ready when I was over there a few minutes ago," Cort said coming back to the bar. "She will probably be here in a little while. Say you wanna help me gather everyone? I still need to find Lachlan, he is real pissed at her."

Liz was a little confused but agreed to help Cort round up the gang. "I saw him head out a little while ago," she told Cort, "looked like he was headed out back or something, would not talk to me though."

"Thanks," Cort said heading for the door, "Just let everyone know we are going to meet in here in about an hour, OK?"

Liz nodded her agreement and picked up the phone intent on calling over to the hotel and let Peaches know the scoop. Cort went out back and headed toward the woods. He knew about where to find Lachlan.

Just past the trees, the forest opened up into a beautiful meadow, complete with long wavy grass and wheat. In the middle of the meadow there is on huge oak tree, the only thing taller than a few feet for a mile in either way. The tree stands next to a stream, the water is so clear you can see everything the stream has to offer. Cort knew this was where Lachlan would be. He had taken Lachlan there a few weeks ago when they had taken the horses out for a few hours. He had mentioned that it was the perfect sport to spend some time alone, just listening to the water and the wind.

Running as fast as he could Cort ran through the woods and into the meadow calling Lachlan's name as he went. He spotted the tall oak, and picked up his pace even more. Just as he had expected, Lachlan sat under the tree watching the water rush over the rocks.

"I am glad I found you," Cort gasped leaning against the tree to catch his breath.

"Can you just leave me alone for awhile?" Lachlan asked. "I am really not in the mood for a chat right now. I just want to be alone."

"No I am sorry, but I have orders to bring you back with me." Cort told him. "This is not a game here, you need to listen to what Brynn has to say."

"I don't care what she has to say," Lachlan said matter-of-factly.

"You are so full of shit boy you know that? I have never seen you the way you are with Brynn. Don't try and feed me your bull shit. I can not believe that you are so willing to walk away now."

Lachlan looked up at Cort anger flashing in his eyes. "Don't presume to know how I feel about this, no matter what you have seen from me or anyone else here, you do not know me. We never really know anyone do we? I want to be done with this little catastrophe and with Brynn, I have not got the time for bullshit like this."

Cort was surprised. "I cannot believe you. How can you say I don't know you? I am your brother for Christ sake. Please don't sit there and tell me you feel nothing for her. That would make you a liar. I know better and so does everyone else here, now get up off your ass and come with me. She will not even know you are even there, she wants to tell the rest of us."

Lachlan considered his options before getting to his feet and following Cort. He knew Cort was right and his conscious got the best of him. Finally outweighing his hurt pride. He cared very deeply for Brynn and as long as she did not know he was there, he could get the whole story and make up his mind bout how to handle things from there. He did want to know what had happened, even if the truth hurt him deeply.

Hando walked the beach in no particular direction without a real place to go. He just walked and let his thought run wild. He really wanted to go see Brynn again, and see if she still felt the same about being his friend after talking with the others, but he promised her he would lay low for a few days so she could tell everyone what had happened. Knowing that she was risking her relationship with Lachlan and friendships with other guests because of him was literally tearing him up inside. "Brynn should not have to put herself in the line of fire because of me," Hando said aloud to the sand. He turned around and began for the first time all day to walk with a purpose. He wanted to go back to the hotel and be there when Brynn told everyone. He would be the one to take the heat, not her.

As Hando walked he looked up from the sand and saw someone walking in his general direction. There was absolutely no mistaking that purple suit. "FUCK ME," Hando said stopping in his tracks. "I need this like I need a hole in the fucking brain."

Sid had spotted his prey up ahead, walking slowly in the sand. Hando turned and began to walk toward him. "Good," Sid thought, "Now I won't have to go so far..."

Continuing his slow stroll along the beach as if he had no real purpose, Sid saw Hando stop, then start walking again faster bearing down on him.

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" Hando yelled walking up to Sid.

"Nothing really, just going for a walk. How about you?" Sid replied innocently.

"I don't believe you Sid. Why don't we cut the bull shit here and you tell me what the fuck it is you are doing out here. You never come out to the fucking beach."

"Ah, Hando... I always find our little conversations so... let's say colorful." Sid retorted. "I was actually looking for you. I heard Brynn was back and... well I saw you climb in her window the other night. What did you do with her?"

"None of your fucking business psycho." Hando raged pointing his finger at Sid's chest. " Let me tell you this you little punk, you stay away from her or so help me Jesus, I will fucking pull the plug on you!"

"Now, now that is no way to talk to a brother Hando, I was just curious." Sid did not let Hando's anger bother him. "After all I am not the one who kidnapped her, and did god knows what else...."

Hando's arm snapped out and grasped Sid throat. "I did not and could not do any harm to that girl. And if I ever catch you near her again, I will kill you Sid. No matter the consequences, I will pull that fucking chip right outta your head and crush it like it were a roach, you got me?"

Sid shook his head in agreement. Hando let him go pushing him back a little. Sid bent over and put his hand to his throat where Hando's had just been, "I care about her too you know," he gasped.

"Like fucking hell you do, you don't care for no one but you. You are a selfish little prick and you know it." Hando walked past Sid and continued on to the hotel, he had to make this right for Brynn or he would never be able to live with himself.

Brynn and John waked to the tavern and noticed that everyone else was headed in that direction as well. "Word gets around," John said in explanation.

"I guess," Brynn agreed. "I am really not looking forward to this John. I don't know how to explain in words what I saw or how I felt."

John put his arm around her. "I told you I am here for you and I am behind you, I believe what you feel in your heart. That is good enough for me, I think in time it will be good enough for the rest as well."

"Thank you for being you John, it really helps. I know how awkward it is going to be in there, but I have to do this, I am just glad you are going to be there when I do."

They walked together into the tavern and ordered a drink. Anything to calm Brynn's nerves at this point would do. Brynn took her drink to one of the larger tables in the middle of the tavern and sat down waiting for the others to grab their drinks and join her. John never left her side, good as his word. //Thank God for him// Brynn thought.

Soon just about everyone in the Hotel was gathered around the table not really talking just waiting for her to begin. "Is this everyone that wants to hear this?" Brynn asked.

"I think so," Max replied. "Everyone is here except for Sid and Hando."

"I think it is better if Sid is not here," Cort said moving closer to Brynn. "The last thing we need is a repeat performance."

Everyone nodded agreeing. "Ok then," Brynn began taking a long pull on her drink. "Let me start from the beginning. She looked at John, "This is the long version..."

Brynn went through the entire story from start to finish, leaving out the tattoo detail which no one really needed to know about, and then sat looking and waiting for reactions. Through out her speech everyone had little reactions to things she said. Bud fisted his hands and breathed heavy trying to control his anger when she went into detail about the slap on the face, the incident with Hando's mates, and then on the bed. Max and Zack also had similar reactions to these parts. Most of the ladies reacted to the forgiveness Brynn had showed Hando after all was said and done. It was a reaction of utter shock and disbelief.

"How can you forgive him after he humiliated and degraded you the way he did?" Laura asked.

"I just did . The look on his face just... I dunno, he was really sorry."

"I don't get it. So you think that we should all go on as if nothing has happened and treat Hando the way we treated him before? I don't think I can do that I am sorry." Tina was fuming. She got up out of her seat, leaving the bar.

Brynn knew this was going to happen but still it made her hurt inside to see her friend walk away. They had only known each other for a few days since the time they had talked online, but it hurt all the same. It would also make it harder for John to stick by her.

Laura followed Tina out the door and Trisha was not far behind. Stef stood up and came to Brynn taking her hand she sat down. "The others know as well as I do that Hando is good at getting what he wants. I think this is another one of his games. The problem is if we let this go as you ask it may not turn out OK the next time he decides to play. I know him pretty well, we have talked on several occasions, and he can be pretty convincing. BUT... I want you to know that if I were you I would have probably done the same thing." Then she too stood and went to the door. She opened it to leave but ran directly into Hando.

Hando reached out to steady Stef as she stumbled backward. She pulled loose of his grasp and went back to the table.

Zack stood up as if someone had just kicked him hard, pulled his gun he trained it on Hando's face. "I outta blow your ass right to hell for what you have done here."

Brynn stood up as well and went to Zack. She put her hand on the gun, "Zack please this is not going to solve anything now. Please?" She pushed his hand and gun back to his side and held up her other hand to block Bud as he tried to walk around them. "Please guys..."

Turning to Hando, Brynn said "You had better go. I don't want things to get worse. Just go."

"I will but I want to say something before I go." Hando lowered his head. "She is sticking up for me not because I asked her to, she wanted to. She says she is my friend and I believe her. I did not want to hurt her and I feel real bad about taking her like I did and making everyone worry. I will not ever do anything like this again. I made a promise to Brynn and I intend to keep it. Please don't be angry with her because of me." Hando focused to look at Stef, "I am sorry."

He turned around slowly and walked to the door. Before he left he turned back to the table, one more time looking at Brynn he said "Thank you."

They were a little stunned after Hando left so no one spoke. Steve finally broke the silence. "Who the hell was that? Looked like Hando sounded like Hando but that was not the Hando that I have known."

"I told you," Brynn said, "he has changed. Maybe not for good, but for right now he has changed."

Everyone that was left stayed and had a few more drinks with Brynn but then slowly they filtered out of the tavern or away from the table to go about their own things. Brynn had to practically pry John out of his seat next to her to go talk to Tina, but he too finally left her to tend to personal matters. She sat alone in the tavern slowly drinking her beer and mulling over the last few hours. At one point Bud approached her with a refill on the warm beer that sat in front of her.

"I thought you might like a fresh one. You have been staring the fizz out of that one for the last half-hour."

"Thanks," Brynn said trying a smile and failing miserably. Bud sat next to her, rubbing her arm in a friendly gesture.

"I saw it with my own eyes kiddo, I don't know how long this little change will last with him, but I saw it. I can ot say I agree with your decision to forgive him, but then I wasn't there. So if you think it is best, then I am gonna go with it." Bud told her leaving his hand on her arm for comfort. "The others will come around you are one of them now, so just give them some time ok?"

"Thanks Bud. I needed that." Brynn said smiling for real this time. She took his hand in hers and gave him a squeeze. Bud got up from the chair and resumed his position at the bar.

Brynn took a long swig of the fresh beer Bud brought for her and sighed. Still no sign of Lachlan, she wanted badly to see him, hold him, love him. But she knew that might never be possible. Seeing the anger and hatred in his eyes this afternoon had spoke volumes to her heart. It would not be easy to convince him she was his.

"Hey luv, want some company?" Jeff Mitchell stood over her with a woman Brynn had never seen before. "Looks like you are a little bit lonely over here so I thought I would come introduce you to our newest guest. Brynn this is Norma Jean, Norma Jean this is Brynn."

Brynn stuck out her hand to the woman. "Nice to meet you, please have a seat."

"Thanks," Norma Jean said sitting down in a chair opposite Brynn. Jeff took the seat next to her.

"What can I get ya ?" Jeff asked her. "Anything you want luv, my treat. You too Brynn."

"Thanks," Brynn said, "but Bud just brought me a refresh, you go ahead and get Norma Jean hers, I'll catch ya on the next round."

"I think I will start off with something simple, how about just a soda for now?" Norma said quietly. She looked mostly at her hands clasped together in her lap.

Jeff stood to get the drinks leaving Norma and Brynn alone at the table. " So when did you get here?" Brynn asked.

"Uh just a little while ago." She replied."You like it so far?"

"Yes."

"Work with me here NJ, I am not going to bite you". Brynn giggled.

Norma looked up and smiled. "I am just real shy, I don't usually go to places like this, but the other girls they said I should really come here. It may help me be a little more open."

"You are in the right place for that. This place is just full of surprises. What brings you here or should I say WHO brings you here?" Brynn said seeing an opening for conversation.

"Well I would rather not say. I am not sure how it is going to work out, so..."

Brynn shook her head, "No need to explain NJ, I understand. Just be glad you are not like me. I was brought here because of Sid. The little freak."

Norma laughed. It was a pleasant laugh that made her whole face sparkle a little. "Why do you keep calling me NJ?"

"Norma Jean is too long to say for someone as lazy as I am, and I dunno just sounds formal. So I shortened it. You don't mind do you? I will call you Norma Jean if you would rather."

"No," she said raising her hand from her lap, "no one has ever really given me a nick name before, I kinda like it."

They were deep into conversation when Jeff returned with Norma's soda and a beer for himself. "What did I miss? You too looked like you were really into some deep conversation."

"Nothin much, Jeff," Brynn told him, "just getting to know my new friend here."

"That's good," he said taking a drink. "Well if you two don't mind then I am going to go and talk to a 'friend"'. I'll check on you in a bit luv," he told Norma.

She nodded and picked up her coke. "I like Jeff. He is real nice."

"Yeah Jeff is one of those guys every girl can be best friends with. There is no mis-communication about sex, and he has a way about him that makes everyone feel right at home. Beside he may be gay, but he is still so easy on the eyes."

"That's exactly why I like him," Norma agreed. "So why were you sitting here all alone when we came in? You aren't with one of the guys here?"

"Not anymore I guess," Brynn looked at her beer again. "I was with Lachlan, but I don't know I think he hates me right now."

Norma looked at her unbelieving. "Not Lachlan, he is a real sweetheart."

"Well things happened and it looks like I am alone at the Nest for the time being. I hope he will come around, but the look on his face this afternoon, I dunno."

"He didn't do that to your face did he?" Norma asked a little embarrassed for bringing it up.

"Oh heavens no," Brynn giggled. "I don't think Lachlan is capable of violence. This was just a little accident I had. Don't really want to get into it though."

"I am sorry," Norma apologized. "I did not mean to pry."

"It's ok... no harm done."

They talked for a few hours at the table in the tavern, about everything they could think of. Brynn finally gave up and told Norma about the fight with Lachlan and the ordeal with Hando. She really needed a friend and an ear to bend and this woman was one hell of a listener. Jeff popped over a couple of times to see if either of them needed anything, but they repeatedly told him to just go and have a good time.

"I am really glad that I sat down with you," Norma said finally getting up. "I had a great time talking to you."

"I want to thank you for listening to me ramble on," Brynn told her. "I just really needed a friend. Thanks again."

"Anytime" Norma said you know where I am if you need anything, and don't worry I am sure Lachlan will come around. He is not a fool."

Brynn nodded and thanked Norma yet again and promised to meet her the next day for another talk. They said their good byes and Jeff took her back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest.

Brynn was alone again thinking. The lord works in mysterious ways. Just when she needed a friend the most NJ shows up at the hotel and even though she now knows the whole story, did not judge her. She just listened. Strange Brynn said to herself, she listened to me the whole night, but did not say a word about herself.

Sid watched as Brynn's new little friend left the bar. Fresh meat yet again. My this was turning out to be a good week after all. This new girl seemed to be hardly Sid's type she had been quiet and shy the entire night. However Sid knew the shy ones were the ones he could have the most fun with, they were so easy to shock and scare into submission.

Now Brynn on the other hand was just a challenge, and he was up for it. Sid wanted to break her then train her right. These other boneheads at the Nest went about things all wrong. They tried to sweet talk the women into being with them, wining, dining and romance was not Sid's style, but he wanted to be with someone too. After seeing all the trouble his "brothers" had with their women Sid was convinced the only way to get and keep a girl was to scare the living shit out of her then train her the way you wanted.

In order to do the training however, he was going to have to be sweet and charming. Lachlan had left Brynn, so it was time to move in for the kill. She was hurt and depressed and not well liked at the moment because of her little fiasco with Hando. His chances of getting to her were good.

He had been hampered for a few hours because of the new one, but now that she was gone, it was time to make his move. Who knows with the information he had heard this after noon while Brynn told her tale to the others, he may be able to have a bit of fun with the these two. One shy and probably easy to control the other untamed just waiting to be broken.

Catching a glimpse of purple out of the corner of her eye Brynn looked up to see Sid smiling down at her. She instantly wanted to stand on a chair so she would not have to look up at him but instead he would have to look up at her. "What do you want? I am not really in the mood for you tonight Sid."

"Oh come now sweetheart, I just wanted to see if you were alright. I heard about the unfortunate goings on." He sat down next to her moving his chair closer and continued to coo at her. "Is there anything I can do? You have a nasty mark on your face...."

"SID!" Brynn yelled as he tried to touch her. "I am not in a great mood tonight, so why don't you do both of us a favor and go pick on someone else?"

He hung his head in defeat."I was trying to be a gentleman, I am sorry."

Brynn thought he looked like a little kid who's puppy had just been squished by an 18 wheeler. It made her feel guilty, she did not have many people to talk to right now, but Sid, she didn't think she could handle that now. "I am just not really in the mood for company Sid, maybe we can talk some other time, ok?"

Getting to his feet his took her hand and kissed it lightly. "Maybe..." then he left her.

"If things get any weirder here I am going to have to find another vacation spot," Brynn said to herself.

Lachlan lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He could hear the music from the tavern below filtering up the stairway. A few hours before he had seen a chance to sneak up to his room without Brynn seeing him. Hearing her story and seeing her reaction to Hando had been hard, but he had listened and heard Hando for himself. Lachlan still did not know what to do about her though. Indecision was keeping him awake more than the music and noise from below.

The bright lights from the room had been to harsh for him as he lay on the bed so he decided to light a candle, hoping to be lulled by it's flickering orange flame. It didn't work. He was still restless and agitated.

Lachlan had a chance to watch her tonight in the tavern while he waited for a chance to get upstairs without being seen. Her long dark hair hanging over one shoulder, lights dancing across her face, the sparkle in her eyes, all of these things he noticed from the back room as he peaked out every now and then. These were all things that drew him to her, but her devotion and spirit was what had captured his heart. If she would defend Hando in the face of adversity and more, then what would she do for someone that she loved, heart, body, and soul? The real question on his mind was what would I do to be loved like that?

There was no doubt that his heart was mending, but he was not ready to go down stairs and take Brynn in his arms and tell her he loved her and wanted to be with her. He hoped someday that he would be able to do just that, but this was not the time. He was still angry about the events and that was something that needed to be worked out before bearing his heart again. If there were one thing Lachlan would not do, it would be to go back to her with any kind of resentment or anger in him. That would be begging for disaster.

Brynn would be here for awhile and if, when he had worked through his anger, he had not been replaced, then he would tell her what he felt. Then it would be right.

Brynn put down the warm beer and stood up to head back to the hotel, she needed a bath and some down time away from everyone and everything. Most everyone had taken things better than she had originally thought they would, however there were a few that still had not spoken to her.

Walking to the bar to wish Bud a good night, she was intercepted by Steve holding a package under his arm. "Where are you off to?" He asked.

"I just need some time away, it has been a real shit day." Brynn waved at Bud instead of actually going to the bar, he returned her goodnight.

"Well I have been waiting to get you alone all night long. It seems you have made a new friend at least."

"Who Sid, or NJ?" Brynn asked. "Those are really the only two people that I have talked to tonight at any length. Unless you want to count Bud who was doing his best to just drown my sorrow by bringing me beer after beer."

Steve laughed, "well I certainly did not mean Sid, but you seem to get along with the girl you were talking to."

"Yup," Brynn was now headed for the door not wanting to be rude but desperate to get back to her room. "She is new here, name is Norma Jean, great listener."

"Am I keeping you from something?" Steve sensed her rush as she pushed against the door.

"I am real sorry about this, I know you wanna talk or whatever, but I need to get back to my room. I am just drained you know?"

"Lachlan still has not spoken to you has he?"

"Now that you mention it no, and yes that is why I sat here all night hoping he would at least want to talk." Brynn replied a little to harsh.

"I need to talk to you," Steve said putting a hand on her arm trying to reassure her. "Let me walk you to the hotel and if you don't feel like talking after that I will leave, but I would really like to spend sometime with you."

Brynn shook her head, "I don't think tonight would be the best time to spend with me."

"Let me be the judge of that."

"You are not going to go away are you Steve?" she asked sarcastically.

"Not a chance in hell..."

"Common then mule, let's go." Brynn pushed the door the rest of the way open with Steve's help and they walked together back to the hotel.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Brynn asked sitting on the couch and taking off her boots. "I really am tired you know?"

"I have never had anyone in such a rush to get rid of me before, well I wanted to show you this and see what you thought." Steve brought the package out from under his arm and peeled the paper away. It was the picture he had taken on the beach of her hair and the ocean. He had done a little doctoring to it, but it was beautiful. It looked like something you could buy in an art shop, not something someone had actually taken a picture of.

Brynn stared at the picture in amazement. "I can not believe that is the picture of me you took a few days ago Steve, it is beautiful."

"I had to add some stuff to it, to make it look like an actual painting, all done by computer of course, but yes this is the picture I took a few days ago, and this one is for you." He blushed a little at giving her his work. "The other one that I did is going to hang in the lobby. Everyone really liked it."

Standing up and going to Steve, Brynn touched the glass on the frame. She looked up at Steve and smiled. "Thank you. I really appreciate this. It is beautiful."

"You said that already," he said turning a deeper shade of red.

"I know, but it really is." Brynn stepped around the picture and hugged him hard. "You are one very talented man."

"Would you like me to hang it up for your stay here?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Uhhh I don't think so," Brynn stepped away from him not wanting to embarrass him further. "I think I will wait and hang it up in my house when I get home."

"Ok sure whatever." He lay the picture against the couch and covered it again with the paper. "So what do you want to do? Wanna watch a movie or something?" It was obvious he did not want to go.

"I appreciate the gift and the offer, I really do Steve," Brynn began. "But I really would just like to get some rest if you don't mind. Can I take a rain check on that one?"

Steve grinned at her. That smile made her weak in the knees. All of these boys looked so similar that she had to remind herself that they were all different. Each had their own special qualities. Even Sid.

"Anytime you want to hang out, I am at your service," he finally said bringing her back to her senses.

"Thank you again Steve and tomorrow I will take you up on that movie." She hugged him again and walked him to the door.

Steve leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and touched her face. "I understand you know, why you did what you did with Hando."

"Thanks," Brynn said looking at the carpet beneath her feet.

"Tomorrow then?" He realized she really did not need to talk about it anymore today.

"Yup, tomorrow." She agreed thankful he had dropped the subject.

Shutting the door and turning again to the couch she looked at the picture. It really was quite lovely. Brynn slumped on the couch, letting out a long sigh. She wanted to see Lachlan. Talk to him.

"Oh well," she said aloud, tomorrow's another day, and it has to be better than this one. Getting up from the couch she went to take a nice long soak in the tub, turning on the CD player with the remote as she walked by. There were speakers through out the entire apartment, so she would be able to hear it while she was in the tub. Touching the clicker again she scanned through the disks in the player until she came across just what she was in the mood for. A CD she had made containing several relaxing songs by the groups Delirium and Enigma.

"Perfect," Brynn said to the player. She went into the bathroom letting the music carry her thoughts away, listening to the beat of the music and singing along with the words.

With the bath drawn and the bubbles added just the way she liked, Brynn slipped into the tub still singing to one of the songs on her CD. Going went further into the hot water she realized she was missing something. //Shit no wine, she thought. Too late now!//

Closing her eyes and letting the warmth of the water take over, Brynn started to drift in a peaceful rest. She did not realize how tired she really was. Today's events had taken more out of her than she thought. With everything she had gone through, it was best to just lay right here in the tub and let herself relax and let go of it all.

Brynn was just about asleep in the warm water when the song changed on the player. The song that started made her sit up straight in the tub, trembling. //I forgot I even put this song on here she thought.// So many times she had listened to this song and thought how sad the woman singing the song must be for feeling she could not go on without her special someone, but never really gave it much more thought than that. She had always liked it, it had a great rhythm and backup music. Now, with the way things had gone with her and Lachlan, this song fit everything she was feeling, and it was tearing her apart. The tears started to flow before she even knew it and she had suddenly become very cold.

My tears gone cold

I'm wonderin why

Got out of bed alone

The morning rain clouds up my window

And I can't see at all

And even if I could

It would all be gray

Put your picture on my wall

It reminds me

That it's not so bad

It's not so bad.

I drank to much last night

Got bills to pay

My head just fills in pain

I missed the bus

And there'll be hell to pay

I'm late for work again

And even if I'm there

They'll all imply

That I might not last the day

And then you call me

And it's not so bad

It's not so bad

And I want to thank you

For giving me the best day of my life

All just to be with you

You've given me the best day of my life

Push the door

I'm home at last

And I'm soaking through and through

Then you handed me a towel

And all I see is you

And even if my house falls down now

I wouldn't have a clue

Because you're near me

And I want to thank you

For giving me the best day of my life

All just to be with you

You've given me the best day of my life

Her tears had not stopped falling by the time the song ended, she was beginning to wonder if they would ever stop. God she missed Lachlan, wishing he were there with her right now sitting in the tub with her, making love, talking, anything just to be with him for a little while. Would he ever give her a chance to make him understand? Getting out of the tub and wrapping herself in the big towel Brynn made up her mind, she would just have to make him listen.

John knocked on the door again. This was the sixth time, and by now he was pounding instead of knocking. He could hear the music and knew Brynn was in the room, but she would not answer the door. Suddenly the music stopped, so he pounded on the wood again.

"Who is it?"

"Brynn? It's me John. Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah just give me a minute I was in the tub, gotta throw something on. Ok?" Brynn asked

"Yeah, I'll wait right here." John had wanted to speak to her most of the evening after talking with Tina, who had been mad at him at first for taking Brynn's side and standing by her. John had to calmly explain that none of this had been done on purpose, but Brynn dealt with it the best way she could. She faced everyone head on including Hando. Brynn knew what the consequences could be, but she faced them without hesitation. She would have done the same with Lachlan had he given her the chance.

John also knew that Lachlan had heard everything that had been said in the tavern. He was still upset but he would get over it in time. Hopefully it would not be too late. Tina too was still a bit upset at Brynn for opting to forgive Hando. There was hope however after John had taken the time to explain what he thought motivated Brynn, and in turn why it made him want to stand beside her all the way.

Tina knew John was a good man. Always trying to see things from the optimist's point of view. He would not be there for someone, like he was for Brynn, unless he truly believed she was right.

The door cracked open and Brynn peaked out. "You alone?"

"For now. Should I have brought the posse?" John asked trying to get her to smile.

"How did things go with Tina?" Brynn was avoiding his cheerfulness.

"You've been crying?" It was more a statement than a question.

"I'll be fine John really. How did it go with Tina?"

"I think she will come around," he told her. "It may take some time, but she trusts my judgment. I think the arrival of Norma Jean really helped to life both Laura's and Tina's spirits. They have been asking her to come here for awhile now."

"Oh yeah, I met her tonight for a little while. She is such a nice person. I hope her trip here is all she thought it would be."

"I don't know about that," John looked a little doubtful, "but I think you are trying to avoid my question. Why were you crying?"

Brynn's lower lip began to tremble again as John looked at her. "I think you know why," she struggled to keep control of her emotions.

John folded her in his big arms. "Things seem bad right now, but I think it will get better real soon. Things are not always what they seem Brynn. You of all people should know that, look what happened with Hando. You made some sort of change in him."

"You are always good for a hug aren't you sheriff?" Brynn giggled after the threat of tears had passed. "You are the huggiest person I think I have ever met."

"Well there is a lot of need for hugs going around right now. I have a quota to fill," he replied making her laugh more.

"I think you may have filled it and then some· You have done nothing but hug me since I got here."

"I like to hug. Is that a problem for you? I made the mistake once upon a time not to show my feelings and it got me in trouble, so now I let it flow."

Brynn backed away from him a little bit giving him a strange look. "I think that is the first time I have ever heard one of you guys talk about your "other" life. I have only been here a few days so I am sure it does happen, but this is the first time I have heard it."

John laughed deep and low. "Yeah it does happen sometimes. No one really does it much, but it tends to come up now and then."

Brynn smiled at him for a moment, "so why did you come here big boy? You must had a mission they way you were knocking."

"I would not have been knocking like that if you had answered me the first five times." He looked at her suspiciously. "What were you doing in here all by yourself?" A little waggle of the eyebrows.

"Now you are being nasty John," Brynn warned. "Better watch yourself, Tina is already angry with me·."

"I am just kidding with you, actually I came here to see if you are free for breakfast in the morning. Laura and Tina would like to talk to you a little more in private if you are up to it."

Brynn was a little skeptical, these were her friends and she wanted them back as much as she wanted Lachlan to forgive her. "What about NJ? Tomorrow will be her first morning here and they should have breakfast with her."

"Well it seems NJ will be heading to the stables in the morning for her first riding lesson, so Laura and Tina wanted to spend the time with you to try and understand."

"I can do that." Brynn looked at John for a moment. "It is funny that pretty much everyone else is ok with it, my decision I mean. But the two that really told me about this place were put off by it."

"In their defense and yours," he began, "meeting and talking online is not the same as meeting someone face to face. You guys have talked back and forth for a few months but never really got a chance to get to know each other as people. No one else here really had expectations of you like they did you know? This is your chance, and theirs. Make the most of it, and yes they got the same speech."

Smiling again she grabbed his arm in a friendly gesture· "Ok Uncle John. You are just the sweetest!" She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Let them know I will be ready about 8 so we can meet then."

"Well, they would like to come here or plan to meet in one of their rooms, the dining room is just a little impersonal for a discussion like this."

"Fine what ever they want to do is fine with me. I will be here, I am not going to go anywhere." Brynn gave John a Cheshire grin, "at least if I have anything to say about it."

"I will have them meet you here then at eight." John replied dismissing her remark. "Now get some sleep and, do me a favor?"

"What would that be sheriff?" Brynn asked innocently. "For the love of God girl close and lock your balcony door tonight!" They both burst into laughter and hugged before John walked to the door.

They bid each other good night through intermittent laughter and Brynn finally closed the door. She turned in her living room and headed for the bedroom, intent on doing just as John had asked.

Brynn had been staring at the clock on her wall for hours, watching time slowly slip away. Her mind lost in some distant universe of thought and reflection. Her conversation with Tina and Laura had gone surprisingly well, especially after the way both had stormed out on her the day before at the tavern. Although neither agreed with her decision to forgive Hando, they respected that it was her choice. Agreeing to disagree. After the three of them had talked, and included Max and John in on the last half of the discussion, Laura and Tina left her alone with her thoughts.

Brynn could tell there was some strain put on their friendship, but eventually, things would go back to normal. She doubted however, that things would ever be back to normal for her and Lachlan. Words were said, and although normally a forgiving person, Brynn had fumed through out a sleepless night at the accusations he had thrown so carelessly at her. He hadn't even given her the chance to explain the way things went, but he'd passed judgement anyway. This was not something she could stomach very easily. If there was one thing she had learned in her life, it was judge not, lest ye be judged. She had a way of accepting people for who they were, that was why she had forgiven Hando. It was clear there was so much more to that man, some thing that he was unwilling to share and because of his reputation, things people just didn't want to see. So she forgave him and didn't judge, it was not her right to do so, she left that to a much higher power.

The fact that Lachlan, someone she cared deeply for, had judged her was weighing heavily on her mind. She didn't know where to go from here. Part of her wanted to pack up her belongings and head home. At least at work things were semi predictable. She could look at her appointment book, and know basically what to expect from each patient that came through the door, even if the answers to their problems were not that easy to find. However that would not solve her problem and she was loath to run away from a situation unless some sort of resolution had been reached.

Brynn watched as the hands on the clock reached two in the afternoon and she sighed, finally looking away from the small device that so much of human existence had come revolve around. The clock told people when it was time to sleep, when it was time to wake, and when it was time to get ready for a special appointment or date. Right now, there were no special appointments or dates that Brynn needed to keep. She was here on vacation and had a few more weeks to go before she had to head back to the real world and real life. The last thing she wanted to do was spend her vacation staring at the clock, waiting for time to consume her.

Getting up from the couch, Brynn went into her spacious bedroom and looked around. There were so many things to do here at the nest, and she was wasting time. Heading to her dresser, she opened the drawer and removed a one piece black bathing suit. Going to the beach sounded like a good idea to her. At least she could relax on the sand with a good book, and listen to a little music to relax herself. This was her vacation and even if she had to spend it alone, she was going to make the most out of it.

Donning her swim suit and placing her long hair in a loose bun to keep it off her back, Brynn called down to the kitchen to have some lunch prepared for her outing. She packed her beach bag with her disc-man, a large beach towel and the book she was currently reading. Grabbing her sun glasses off the end table in the living room, she left her suite and headed down stairs to grab her bag from the kitchen. Annabelle was an excellent cook, and Brynn knew she wouldn't be disappointed with the light meal that had been prepared for her. She looked forward to it actually, as her stomach growled, she realized it had been awhile since her last meal. With all the excitement that had gone on in the past twenty-four hours, she had forgotten to eat as well as sleep. Thinking back, the last time she had eaten was probably in the café in Melbourne with Hando.

Brynn stepped off the landing and into the Great Room in the hotel. Approaching the front desk, she was surprised to see Jeffrey Wigand and not Peaches manning the counter. He looked up, pushing his glasses up his nose and he smiled at her.

"Good afternoon Brynn," he said, as she approached him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll live," she replied, as she leaned against the oak counter. "How are you?"

"Very well thank you. Things have been going right along today, no unexpected surprises. That's healing nicely," he remarked pointing to her face.

Brynn's hand instantly went to her cheek and the mark Hando had left there, there was a far way look in her eyes and Jeffrey regretted bring up the subject. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to remind you...."

"It's alright Jeffrey. Like I said, I'll live." She gave him a reassuring smile and inquired about the food she had requested from Annabelle. Jeffrey turned from her and headed toward the large doors that lead to the kitchen to see if he could find out about her order. Within a few minutes he came back holding a small paper bag and a large bottle of water.

"Here you are, and it looks like you're heading to the beach, so I decided you should bring this with you," he handed her the bottle of spring water. "Wouldn't want you to dehydrate."

"Thanks," she smiled at his thoughtfulness. "This will come in handy." Brynn turned away from the desk and started toward the main door, sliding on her sun glasses as she went.

The day beyond the interior of the hotel was bright and warm and Brynn put one hand to her forehead to watch the hustle and bustle around the hotel grounds. She could see Alex sitting high atop the huge riding lawn mower with his shirt off, mowing the expansive lawns to the hotel. She watched him for a moment, silently thanking God for bringing her to this place.

"There is a God and she loves the shit outta me for letting me find this place," Brynn murmured to herself as her eyes followed Alex as he went. Then she caught a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to see where it had come from.

"Good day. My aren't you looking lovely today?" Sid stood before her in one of his wonderfully tailored suits, hair perfect and smiling.

"How do you do it?" Brynn asked staring at him, not for the first time. "I just think it would be exhausting to be that perfect every day of your life."

"I take great pride in making sure my appearance is all that it can be. I have an advantage, and I intend to use it." He replied in a serious voice.

"I've noticed." Brynn started walking again and Sid fell in step beside her.

"Where are you off to?" He asked, sounding more like a curious child, than a man that was convinced he was God's gift the planet earth.

"Heading for the beach, thought I could get some sun and relaxation in on this little trip. It sure as hell beats sitting in my room for the next few weeks." Brynn walked through the gardens around the side and back of the hotel, making her way toward the water. Sid kept walking beside her, but kept quite. This caught Brynn off guard and made her shiver despite the heat of the day. Sid was very rarely quite. Stopping her pace abruptly, she turned to face Sid, looking up to meet his eyes. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Not exactly, I thought maybe you would like someone to talk to." Sid replied.

Brynn sat down on the bench in the middle of the garden and lay her bag at her feet. She had a feeling that Sid was the one who needed someone to talk to, so she folded her hands in her lap and looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to make the first move. He stared at her for a moment, then took a seat on the bench beside her, never breaking eye contact. "What's on your mind?" She finally asked, unable to take the silence any longer.

"I know." Sid answered. "I know what happened with you and I know how it happened."

The realization hit Brynn like a ton of bricks and again she shivered. "How?" Was all she could manage to say.

"Eavesdropping." He said. "I was listening to what was going on in the tavern yesterday. I knew I wasn't invited, so I stayed outside and listened."

Trying hard to appear nonchalant, Brynn regained some of her composure before addressing him again. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. It would be what people here expect of me if they all knew I was outside listening. Besides, I wouldn't want to take anyone back to my world."

Brynn was filled with emotions. The warning bells inside her head were going off, trying to tell her this could be another one of Sid's games for attention, but on the other hand, she was a sucker and knew it. "Why wouldn't you of all people want to take someone back to your world? I figured you would be the one to try it first."

Sid leaned back on the bench and extended his arm over the top, behind Brynn. "You really want to know?" He watched Brynn nod her head, indicating he should continue. "I never go back there. I hate it. I am stuck inside a VR box, a very expensive video game. I wouldn't want to go back, let alone take anyone else back with me. It would be the equivalent of you being locked up in your room for days at a time, no escape, nothing but the same walls all around you. I have all the freedom I need here at the Nest. Even though I am not as well liked as some of the others, I still have freedom and the pleasure to go where I want."

"What has gotten into you this time?" Brynn asked, unable to stop herself. "I must have sucker written on my forehead somewhere. You know exactly how to get to me and I have to tell you, it really gives me the creeps that I never know if you are being sincere of if you are messing with my mind." Once her flood gates were opened, she was powerless to stop the words that came out of her mouth. "The other day you tell me how much you want to be liked and how much you really need someone, then you pull another stunt that just screams 'Hello!!! I'm an asshole.' I can't change gears that fast Sid, no one here can. I think that's why people tend to dislike you so much. You scare the shit out of people with your 'mood swings'. You're worse than a woman!"

"I know." Sid said. "I get these thoughts in my head and instead of thinking about them, I act on them. I do some of the strangest things that seem fun at the time, but then after, things are just not how I pictured they would be."

Brynn shook her head while she listened. "I just don't know if I can trust you Sid. You are so unpredictable. I want to trust everyone and see the good side, but it's so hard with you."

"That's why I told you that I knew what happened. I wanted you to know that I knew and I wanted you to see that I am going to keep my word, and not do anything. Maybe if I can prove it to you, I will have a friend and not be so lonely all the time. Like you did with Hando. You forgave him for all that happened." He reached out and touched an finger to her bruised cheek. "Maybe I can earn that some kind of forgiveness." Sid stood up from the bench and walked a few feet away, before turning back to Brynn. "I'm having some work done on my personality. I think it's going rather well."

Brynn watched him as he retreated away from her, her mind once again in a tizzy. She meant what she had said to him, she didn't want to trust him and get burned for it. Especially now that he knew what had happened to her. Brynn was unsure about what to do. Part of her wanted to believe Sid and see if he could prove himself, but the other part of her felt she should tell someone that he knew. It would be safer for everyone if they knew about Sid's confession.

Picking up her bag and getting up from her seat, Brynn continued to move through the garden, once again headed for the beach. She decided to let things go for now and enjoy the day. Sometimes the best way to deal with a decision was to forget about it for awhile, the answer would come in it's own time. Besides, she was hungry and wanted to see just what Annabelle had cooked up for her.

After Brynn had eaten the Caesar salad she found in the bag and took a healthy drink of water, she lay on her stomach on the beach towel in the warm sun and began to read the book she brought with her. It was a good story, but not good enough to keep her eyes open. With everything that had been going on, sleep had been the furthest thing from her mind. But with the warmth of the sun beating down on her and a full belly, Brynn gave into the urge and let sleep claim her.

She woke a few hours later to the wonderful feeling of large hands massaging her back. Letting her eyes drift open, Brynn was aware the hands on her skin had not been a mere dream, but someone was straddling her legs, giving her a massage. "Hey, who's there?" She said turning her head, but unable to see the person working at her back.

"Take it easy, love." A soft voice drifted to her from above. It was low and carried a thick Australian accent, not very uncommon in this place. Brynn went over in her head who here used the accent. "Lachlan? East? Jeff? Colin?" There were others, but her mind was still in a fog and she couldn't think straight.

"Nope," he replied as he continued to work on her back. "I came out here for a swim. I saw you here, but you were sleeping so I decided to let ya be. When I got out of the water, I thought you might get a little sun burned if you stayed out here, so I grabbed some lotion for you. I hope you don't mind. It'd be a pity to have to spend the rest of your time here in your room suffering from one hell of a sun burn."

He got off her legs and sat in the sand beside her. Brynn looked back and could see his back and hair and realization hit her. Sitting up to get a good look at his face, she confirmed the identity and stuck out her hand to him. "Hi Terry, Liz told me they had been expecting you. I'm Brynn."

He took her hand in his and held it firmly for a few seconds, nodding his head at the greeting. "This place is strange," he said looking out at the water. "Strange, yet nice." Turing his eyes away from the ocean, he looked at her. "So you're the one everyone was in a fuss about." It was more of a statement than a question, but Brynn nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's me. When did you get here?"

"A few days ago. It's been a wild ride so far. Mannie and Liz took me on a small tour of the place, but I'm still trying to settle in here."

Brynn nodded again remembering how overwhelming it was for her when she first arrived. It must be even more so for the new guys that came here. "Do you like it so far though?"

"Well, it's sorta strange to find out everything you've known isn't real, but other than trying to get over the initial shock of it, yeah I like it here just fine, love."

She smiled at him then reached over to put her things back into her beach bag. "Well thanks for the lotion Terry, but I'm going to be heading back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the evening. It was nice meeting you." She stood up and shook the sand from her towel then draped it over her arm and once again extended a hand to him.

Terry stood as well, taking her hand as he slowly stood up to his full height. "I'll walk back with you. Would you like to have a drink or two tonight at the tavern with me? I've met several of the other guys here, but I thought it would be nice to have a few drinks with you while I waited for..." He stopped in mid sentence and looked back out over the water.

"I'll have a few drinks with you IF you tell me what you're waiting for."Brynn nudged him as they turned toward the path and began the walk back to the hotel.

Terry looked down at her, deciding whether to share his mind or not. "I'll be waiting for Liz to finish her shift on the bar tonight. Every time I try to talk to her, we're interrupted by some of the guys wanting to show me this that or another thing or just to welcome me to the Nest. I'd really like to get to know her better. This is just between us, right, love?"

"Of course it is." Brynn grinned up at him. "I won't tell a soul." They walked the rest of the way in silence and parted company at the front walk to the hotel. "I'll meet you there in two hours," Brynn said walking up the steps. "Don't be late."

Terry smiled at her and waved his hand. "I'm never late, love. See ya later."

Brynn went inside and headed up to her room. Reaching the top of the stairs, she turned the corner and came face to face with Lachlan.

Lachlan looked shocked as Brynn skidded to a halt and jumped back at the sight of him. He looked her up and down, trying to find the right words to say to her. All afternoon he'd wanted to talk to her and he'd gone over every word he'd planned to say in his mind time and again. Now that he was standing face to face with her, his mind drew a blank.

"You surprised me," Brynn said trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen in the hallway around them.

"Sorry, love. I didn't mean to. I was actually looking for you though, do you have a few minutes to sit and talk? There are some things I need to tell ya." Lachlan shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he spoke and he looked up and down the hall way, seeming very nervous.

"Uh, sure I guess," Brynn said walking past him to the door to her room.

She reached in her bag and pulled out her keys to unlock the door. Holding it wide once it was open, Brynn allowed Lachlan to enter before her and she followed him inside. "Have a seat," she instructed as she flipped on the light. "Let me get some clothes on then we can talk."

"No Brynn, it can't wait," Lachlan said taking her arm and leading her to the couch. "I need to say this now before I lose my nerve."

Brynn stared at him perplexed for a moment, then shrugged and followed himto the sofa. Lachlan sat her down and took a seat next to her, still holding her upper arm in his grasp. "What is it?" She asked when he took his seat.

"I wanna start by telling you I'm sorry for goin' off on ya like I did, love. I have no excuse but the raw emotions that I was feelin' at the time. I also wanna tell ya that I heard what you had to say at the tavern, I still don't understand it, but I heard the whole story, thanks to John and Cort." Lachlan held her gaze for several seconds before trying to continue. "Brynn, I just don't understand, this has been real hard for me love. I care about you, but ya have to understand I'm just an every day bloke. I was real hurt and angry by what happened to you. I just don't think I can..."

Lachlan paused for a moment and Brynn saw her chance to speak. She understood that she'd hurt him and knew what he was trying to do. "Lachlan, I think I understand what you are going through here. I was hurt and upset by the things you said to me." She took his hand from her arm and held it lightly. "I don't think our relationship should go beyond friends anymore. I am willing to forgive, as I think you are, but remembering the things that were done and said, will just be too much strain on a relationship between us."

Looking up from where their hands were joined, Lachlan met Brynn's eyes and smiled a little. "I hate to say that I agree with you, but I do. I don't want to think about those things every time I hold you in my arms. Part of me will always belong to you, but I think this is for the best."

Returning Lachlan's smile, Brynn tightened her grip on his hand. "I know that a part of me will always belong to you too, Curry. There's just no getting around that. So are we mates?"

"We can be the best of mates, love," he replied with sincerity. "I don't want to lose you completely."

Brynn leaned forward and put her arms around his neck, pulling him into an embrace. "I'm glad we at least think alike in some ways," she told him, laying her head against his chest. Lachlan returned her hug, giving her a gentle squeeze around the middle. Backing away once again, she let out a long sigh of relief. She had been afraid things wouldn't go well when she did finally have a chance to talk to Lachlan, but to her surprise, they both seemed genuinely happy with her decision.

"You wanna go get something to eat mate?" Lachlan asked standing up once again.

"Thank you, but I have to meet Terry at the tavern in a while. I promised to keep him company while he waited for Liz." Brynn stood up as well.

"Well, I'll catch you another time then. Just remember that even though we're not an 'item' any more, that I still care about you."

For the first time since the conversation began, Brynn felt tears burning her eyes and she had to fight to keep them held back. "Ditto," was all she could say.

She followed Lachlan back to the door and opened it for him to leave. He stopped before going over the threshold and turned around, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Take care love." Then he walked down the hall and turned the corner, out of sight.

An hour later, Brynn emerged from her room once again, feeling refreshed after a quick shower. She wore blue jeans and a simple teal colored, button up sweater for her evening out at the tavern. This outfit was very calm compared to the clothes she normally wore, but this evening she needed to feel relaxed and at ease.

She hummed softly to herself as she turned to lock the door behind her, then pocketing the key she descended the stairs and went out side into the warm twilight. There was a slight bounce to her step and she could feel her normal carefree and happy demeanor returning to her after being locked away for the past few days.

Walking down the cement path that lead the way to the tavern, Brynn saw Norma Jean and Mannie approaching, apparently heading for the Hotel. Norma Jean smiled when she saw Brynn and Mannie frowned. Brynn was a little to carefree and wild for his tastes, but he understood that she was Norma Jean's friend.

"Hey NJ!" Brynn said reaching her friend and giving her a hug. "How are ya?"

"I'm doing good," NJ replied, stepping back from the hug. "Wow, you look great today. I really like that sweater."

"Oh look," Mannie mumbled under his breath, sure no one could hear him. "She's actually wearing clothes that cover most of her."

"Thanks NJ. Bite me Mannie." Brynn still smiled at Norma as she spoke to the both of them in turn. She'd heard what Mannie had said and she knew NJ heard it too because her expression never wavered at the comment Brynn had made in return. "Where are you two off to tonight?"

"It's been a long day, so Mannie was just walking me back to my room. I'm beat and I think I'll just get to bed early. Have you had a chance to talk to Lachlan yet?" NJ asked softly.

Brynn nodded. "We agreed to end our relationship and just stay friends. I think that's the way it needs to be for us."

"As long as you're both okay with it, then I'm glad for you." Norma yawned and combed an hand through her hair. "Well, I need to get to bed, so I'll talk to you later."

"Alright hon," Brynn agreed, taking in NJ's tired expression and posture. "If you can't sleep or need some company, you know where to find me. I'll be awake, I'm sure."

"Some of us don't need to stay up all night long, partying or whatever it is that you do," Mannie scoffed as he began to walk away.

Without thinking, Brynn spun around and lashed out at him. "And some of us don't need to hide out in a cabin in the hills because we can't deal with real human contact." Mannie faced her as she spoke, his eyes filling with anger that he didn't want to unleash in front of Norma Jean, but for some reason Brynn brought out a side of him that he didn't like. He refused to back down from a confrontation with her. Brynn raised her hand to her mouth in horror at what she'd said to him, her eyes wide. "Mannie, I'm so sorry. I had no right to say that to you."

The shock of her apology hit him like a lead weight, and his face returned to normal as the anger abated as quickly as it had come. "I..., didn't mean what I said either." He stumbled over the half-hearted apology and then quickly walked away with Norma, who looked back at Brynn perplexed by the exchange.

Brynn watched them disappear inside the hotel, still unable to believe what she'd just said. She was for the most part a very tolerant person with people like Mannie. It just seemed to her that every time she got near The Man, he had some sort of degrading remark for her, even the look in his eyes when she was around suggested distaste for everything Brynn represented.

Turning back towards the tavern Brynn tried to brush off the uneasy feeling she got about Mannie. "Someday," she told herself, "he's going to see the good in me."

Brynn sat at the end of the bar and ordered a drink from Liz while she waited for Terry to show up. She knew she was early for their little get together but she wanted to see what else was going on around the tavern before she was caught up in a conversation with the new kid in town. While she sat slowly sipping at her Midori Sour, John approached her to see how she was handling things. Apparently John had already spoken to Lachlan, and knew about their decision to separate as friends instead of becoming true enemies further down the road.

"You both agreed on this?" John asked, still a little dubious.

Brynn nodded and took another small sip of her drink while she watched John's reaction.

"I don't know what to say," he muttered. "I thought you guys would be one of the 'happening couples' here at the Nest."

"It hurts a little, but I would rather be friends with Lachlan than watch our relationship slowly disintegrate because of what happened. If we did that, in the end we would hate each other for it."

John nodded his understanding. "I guess you're right, I know I would rather be friends with Tina than not have her in my life at all or resent her in any way."

Brynn smiled at him. "I know you would Johnny. You're a good egg like that!"

Feeling an arm placed around her shoulders, Brynn looked up in surprise expecting to see Sid pulling another one on his 'look at me' stunts. Instead it was Terry that stood next to her smiling. "What're ya drinkin love? Can I get ya another?"

"No thanks," Brynn replied smiling back. With the guys at the nest it was a contagious thing, if one of them smiled at you, you just had to smile back. "This one will do me nicely for now."

Terry nodded a greeting to John, who excused himself to join Tina at one of the small, secluded tables in the back of the tavern.

Terry and Brynn talked at length through out the evening. She asked questions about his job with K and R, truly intrigued by what he did in 'his' world, while he would ask questions about her line of work. He seemed fascinated by the human mind just as much as Brynn had been about his field of work. They laughed and shared a few funny stories from their lives experiences until about 11pm, when Liz approached their end of the bar.

"I'm just about done here, you guys need anything before I go?" She asked, watching Andy step in behind the bar.

"I need you to come and have a drink with us when you get out from behind that bar, love." Terry smiled a sweet, to die for smile at her and she agreed almost instantly to his offer.

Brynn took that as her cue to leave the two of them alone for the rest of the evening, so she picked up her drink, wish them a good night and made some rounds around the tavern to see who else was around. She spoke for a few minutes with Max and Laura, who sat together in a booth listening to music and talking quietly, before harsh laughter caught her attention. Glancing through the crowd, she could see Bud standing over a table in the far corner, behind Tina and John. The laughter she heard had been Bud's.

Brynn walked toward him to see what was going on, when she saw Sid sitting at the table by himself. Bud was apparently laughing at something Sid said or did. This struck Brynn as odd, she knew Bud hated Sid, so what would he be laughing about?

"What the hell got into your module tonight?" Bud roared, having more that just a good time trying to get Sid to bite on the imaginary hook he was dangling. "I don't think I've ever seen you like this. I kinda like it!"

Sid never looked up from the waxed surface of the table top. Instead of sitting up straight, as Sid normally did, Brynn noticed his shoulders were hunched forward in a more submissive posture. His hands were folded on the table and he seemed to be trying very hard to ignore Bud's verbal abuse.

Brynn looked around the tavern to see if anyone else had noticed the unusual scene, but everyone seemed to be enveloped in their own conversations, paying no attention to Bud or Sid. Approaching the table, Brynn took a hold of Bud's arm and pulled him back away from Sid. "What's going on White?" She asked calmly, just trying to distract him. It was apparent from the way he staggered a little, Bud had had a few to many drinks.

"Just picking on Sid," he answered honestly. "He's got something going on, he's been sittin there like that for over an hour."

"Oh," Brynn replied. "Well I'm sorry to end your fun, but... Sid promised he would hook up my computer for me tonight." She reached down and took a hold of Sid's hand, pulling him to stand up beside her. "You have a good evening Bud." Brynn smiled sweetly at him as she pulled Sid behind her toward the exit. Bud watched with a look of disbelief on his face as they went out the doors. Then shaking his head, he returned to his seat and ordered another round.

Once they were outside, Brynn stopped on the grass and took a deep breath of fresh air. "Much better out here, don't you think?" Sid had still not said a word, he just stood there watching her as she gazed up at the clear night sky. Looking back at him, she studied him for a few minutes, taking in his entire demeanor. Something was definitely going on in Sid's mind.

"Are you all right?" She asked finally.

"No." It was one word, but it spoke volumes. Brynn could tell by his expression there was something on his mind. Her own mind fought an unseen battle over what she was about to do. On one hand, it truly did seem as though he was in need of a shoulder to cry on, but on the other she was afraid this may be a play on her emotions, an opportunity for him to reek more havoc. Taking a deep breath and holding a second before continuing, Brynn took Sid's hand in hers once again.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Do you want to listen?"

Brynn nodded. "Come on, let's go back to my room and you can talk if you want to, if not we can watch a movie and munch on some popcorn."

Brynn unlocked the door to her room and lead the way inside. Sid followed her, almost unsure of what he was doing. This was a whole new environment for him. Sensing his discomfort, Brynn took a few steps back and watched him as he reacquainted himself with this room. He had been in there before, the morning he brought her breakfast in bed, but this was the first time he had ever been invited into her room. Brynn suspected it may be the first time he was invited into any of the guest quarters at the Nest. A sudden pang of sympathy ran cold through her blood. Sid wouldn't want her sympathy just yet, not if this whole scene was for real that is.

Brynn went over in her mind as she watched Sid wander around her room and touch little things here and there, and wondered what had prompted her to make the decision to bring him here to begin with. No one trusted Sid. She had even gone so far as to tell him to his face today that she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, but still here he was, in her room wandering around like a lost child. He still wore the same purple suit he always wore, but tonight it seemed different. The colors of the suit seemed to change with Sid's mood and the purple was not quite as bright as Brynn had remembered it this afternoon. Of course this was all in her imagination. Everything about Sid was exactly the same, except for the sadness that she had seen deep inside his eyes when she had asked him if he were all right less than ten minutes before.

Brynn shivered as her mind wandered back to him again. "If he is messing with me," she thought, "once again I feel for it hook, line and sinker." Brynn pushed herself away from the wall where she had been leaning, watching Sid and walked to where he was standing looking at a picture of Brynn that was placed on the top of the entertainment center.

"This is you?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," she replied. "That was me from about a year ago. That there with me is my beautiful Akita. Her name was Nanook, but she died a few years ago."

Sid picked up the picture to hold it closer to his face, then set it back on the entertainment center. He spun around quickly and Brynn jumped back at the suddenness of his motions. "You are not comfortable with me here," he stated. "I should go." Sid walked toward the door but Brynn reached out to him before he could get very far.

"No! I don't want you to go." She sounded desperate for him to stay. "This is all new to me to Sid, I told you today I wasn't sure I could trust you."

"Then why did you?" His question was direct and to the point.

"I...," she began. "You know, I really have no idea, but having you here now sure does show some trust on my part doesn't it? I think the reason I asked you to come here with me was the sadness I saw in your eyes outside the tavern. I don't care what amazing things you can do Sid, no one can fake that kind of sadness. That was the genuine article."

He nodded, still very unfamiliar with his surroundings, moving away from her again, toward the couch. "I'm used to taking control over almost every situation I'm in." He didn't say the words directly to Brynn. It was almost as if he was trying to convince himself of what he had just said. "I don't want to be in control right now."

"I've been there Sid. I know how it feels."

He turned back to her with a look of pure anguish masking his normally beautiful face. "You have no idea how it feels. You have no idea what sort of things have been done to me since I arrived here."

"You've managed to reek your own special brand of havoc, Sid." Brynn reminded him.

"Do you have any idea why I did some of the things I did?" He turned from her trying to hide the pain he so obviously felt. "Does anyone even care about what was done to me to make me react the way I had? When I first came here things were fine for awhile, I had the little geeks that Russell had played earlier in his life, but the only real competition I had was Cort and Hando. Jeff was here too, but he was not really considered competition."

"I doubt if Cort and Hando considered themselves competition either." Brynn stated as she walked behind him, turning him to face her once more. "Remember, Hando doesn't care what people think about him and Cort would never consider himself anyone's competition. None of the guys here feel the need to compete with each other for the attention of the ladies."

"There is a certain amount of competition in life though, even here." Sid said distracted, as Brynn stood in front of him, undoing the buttons of his jacket. When she had finished with the buttons, she put her hands inside the jacket and slid them up to his shoulders, easing the jacket off and sliding it down his arms. "I thought you said this was just to talk."

"It is Sid." Brynn met his eyes and smiled. "I can't have a down to earth conversation with you when you are dressed as the "Pimp Daddy" of all time. So I thought if I took off your jacket, it would be easier for me, and eventually for you too." She folded the jacket along the crease in the back and lay it almost reverently across the back of her couch. "Does that mean you are in the mood to talk and not sit and watch a movie?"

Sid nodded, then he reached out and pulled Brynn into an embrace. "Thank you for taking a chance on me. I was getting ready to pull my own plug." The words sounded choked and Brynn had to fight back her own wave of emotion as she slid her arms around him.

"That's what a friend does everyday." Brynn tried to explain as she held him. "When we give our friendship to someone, we take a risk every single day that the person we have come to care so much about won't screw us over. Sometimes the risk is worth it and you wind up with a friendship of a lifetime, and other times the risk backfires right in your face and you end up getting hurt."

"If people find out I am up here with you, they are not going to take it very well." Sid said releasing his hold on her.

"I think I already pissed Bud off by dragging you out of there when I did. Can I ask you something?"

Once again he nodded.

"Why were you sitting there like that? You didn't even put up a fight against Bud."

"Did you see everyone at the tavern tonight?" He asked, wanting her to really think about it.

Brynn searched her mind and recalled John and Tina at a secluded table near Sid, Laura and Max were at a booth lost in their own conversation. Michelle and Colin had retreated to Colin's room very early in the evening, and Peaches and Cort had been standing at the end of the bar most of the night, talking softly to each other. Brynn had of course sat with Terry at the other end of the bar until Liz got down working. She realized how that must have looked to Sid. Everyone seemed to have someone to be with tonight at the tavern, everyone except for Sid.

"I know what you are getting at," she replied finally. "Everyone had someone there, except you."

"No one wants to be with me for too long." Sid sat down on the couch as he spoke. "They think it is a challenge at first, but then I always do or say something that makes them angry. I was not really programmed for relationships, the only information I have on the subject is what was in the minds of the people they put inside me. I don't know what to say or what to do in every situation. Even when I am trying to be genuinely sweet, like the morning I brought you breakfast, it is misconstrued to be something else."

Brynn cringed at his words. She had done just what she never wanted to be accused of, she had judged him unfairly, never even giving him the chance to explain himself to her. I'm sorry about that Sid. I had no right to jump to conclusions about the reason that you were in my room. I had been given so many warnings about what to expect from you..."

"Do you think I would ever hurt you?" He asked seriously.

"No." Brynn's answer was short but it was honest. She didn't truly believe Sid would ever hurt anyone here intentionally. He may like to play games and have fun, but the malicious part of him that could be seen in Virtuosity had died when he came here.

"I assume Peaches told you, you were here because of me. I was the one that drew you to this place. I think it started a long time before you even knew who Sid 6.7 really was. You saw the movie not knowing or caring who Russell Crowe was, you liked the idea of me."

"I liked the way you looked," Brynn smiled as she took his hand and placed it in her lap.

"Whatever it was you liked, you bought the movie because of me, not because of RC. I was amazed to find out you and Peaches were speaking to each other. After all this time, I wanted to see you, know you." Sid stopped to watch what she was doing. After she had placed his hand in her lap, Brynn turned it to the side so she could get at the buttons of the cuffs of his sleeve. She undid them and had began to roll them up while she listened.

Sensing his pause, Brynn looked up from her duty. "I want you to be completely relaxed while we talk Sid. You know, I think you'd actually look really great in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Too bad I don't have any here that'll fit you."

He smiled at her as he watched. After finishing with the one sleeve, she placed his hand back in his own lap and set to work on the other sleeve.

"How is Lachlan going to feel about this?" Sid asked, sounding a little worried. "After all that happened with Hando, he's not going to be very impressed that you've taken pity on the other resident bad boy."

"I haven't taken pity on you dear boy, you asked for a friend so here I am. Besides, Lachlan and I have broken up, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to sleep with you, so get the thought right out of your head." Brynn said as she finished his other sleeve.

"I wouldn't even ask." He replied. "I'm sorry about Lachlan."

"It was a mutual choice, so there is nothing to be sorry about. We want to be able to be friends, this was the best way." Looking up at him, Brynn once again saw the underlying sadness in his eyes. "What has got you so down Sid?"

"Where should I start?" He answered her question with one of his own.

"Well," Brynn tried to switch to clinical mode, but found it very difficult with Sid. "Why don't you just start talking and eventually, we'll get to the problem."

"Is that what you do with your patients?" Sid asked picking up on the change in her demeanor. "I don't want to be treated like a patient Doc, I just want to be treated like... a person."

Brynn softened once again, realizing her mistake. She couldn't be professional with Sid, this had to be done raw, with all of the emotions that come from a long, in depth discussion with a friend. She knew how fragile Sid was about not being "human", but the side of himself that he'd shown to her in the past half-hour was more human than most of the people she knew or worked with. "You want something to drink before we get started?" She offered.

He looked up from the spot on the sofa he'd been trying to stare a hole through and realized what she was doing. Brynn was trying to put him at ease and do things she would normally do with a friend. She knew he didn't have use for things like food and drinks, as he wasn't human, although he did indulge on them every now and then because he enjoyed the tastes and textures. "I'd love one, do you have any ice tea?"

"This is a hotel baby boy, I can get anything your little heart desires." She smiled again and got up from the couch to go to the phone. Sid caught her arm before she could get very far.

"No don't. If they know I'm up here, they'll never leave us alone to talk. You'll have someone checking on you every ten minutes to make sure you're all right."

Brynn thought for a moment and then stood up, taking Sid with her and leading him to her bathroom. "Stay in here while they bring me the drinks, and don't make any noise. No one will ever know you're here." She gave him a conspiratorial look as she closed the door behind her.

She ordered a bunch of drinks and some light snacks from room service. After about ten minutes of talking to Sid in the bathroom, she heard the knock on her door. "Now remember," she told Sid, sliding off the counter top. "Not a word." He nodded and watched her disappear to answer the door.

Opening to door to her room, Brynn allowed Jeffery Wigand to enter with the drinks and various fruits she had ordered. Taking the glasses of ice tea from him, she set one on the table and put the others in a small fridge that sat in the corner of her little kitchen. Jeffrey put the fruits on the table next to the drink Brynn had set there, and surveyed the things he'd brought for her. "Looks like you're having a bit of a party in here," he commented.

"No," Brynn smiled as she came back to him from the kitchen. "I just didn't know what I was in the mood for, so I thought I'd get a bunch of things and stock up my fridge."

He seemed to fidget around for a few seconds before making eye contact with her again. "Is there something you want to say Jeffrey?" She prodded, trying to get him to say what was on his mind.

"No... well...," he stumbled over the words for a few more seconds before getting to his point. "I heard about Lachlan, I don't want to seem to forward, but would it be to soon for me to ask you to accompany me to dinner tomorrow evening?"

Brynn knew how much courage it had taken for him to say what he'd just said to her. She also knew the effect it would have on him if she said no. Jeffrey intrigued her, and being on of RC's incarnations, he was more than attractive. "I'd like that very much, thank you."

"I'd like to take you to the formal dinning room down stairs, I've heard that there is something going on down there tomorrow night, we may actually have some nice music to go with our meal." He rambled on apparently stunned at her acceptance of the offer.

"What time?" Brynn asked trying to ease his tension.

"I'll come up here to get you around 7PM. Is that all right with you?"

"Sounds great, I'll be here." Brynn led him to the door and thanked him again for the invitation. After closing the door to her room once again, she called out for Sid. "Coast is clear." Grabbing the ice tea off the table, she held it out for him as he stepped from the bathroom.

Sid looked from the drink she held in her out stretched hand, to her eyes. "I've never had someone go through all that just to get a drink for me." His eyes clouded over again with the misty sadness that Brynn was slowly getting use to from him, this time however, she could feel her own heart fill with the same sadness at the simple statement he'd just made.

Sitting on the couch once again with Brynn, Sid took a long swallow of the ice tea she had gone through the trouble to get him. It was almost the best thing he'd ever tasted. Brynn watched him as he eased back into the couch, letting himself fully relax and noticed how normal he looked when he wasn't dressed so outlandishly. No one would ever know this was Sid 6.7 right now, except for maybe the hair and the pants.

Getting up from the couch, Brynn went to her bedroom and retrieved a hairbrush from her vanity. She brought it back out and stood behind Sid, unsure how he would react if she dared touch his 'beautiful' hair. Shrugging, Brynn decided to just do it. She placed the brush at the very top of his forehead and stroked it back towards her, down to the nape of his neck.

Sid never said a word about what she was doing. He thought this was another one of Brynn's attempts to be more comfortable with him, so he let her go. Laying his head back to rest against the couch, he even let himself enjoy the sensation of having his hair brushed, free of all the stuff he put in it everyday to make it look so 'perfect'.

"I've been picked on about my hair." He said as Brynn continued to move the brush along his scalp, letting the glistening strands of dark hair fall where they may. "I have been picked on about almost everything."

"I know," Brynn replied simply. She didn't want to be there to tell him how to solve his problems, she just wanted to be the proverbial shoulder to cry on. Tonight, she would just listen to him. Running her fingers through his hair now instead of using the brush, Brynn massaged his scalp. Sid all but purred in response to her. He took her hand as she ran it over his head one last time and pulled her to sit next to him on the couch.

"I don't think you realize how hard it is for me here every day. I hated my real world just as much. Living in VR isn't as much fun as it is made out to be in my movie. It's like being in a cage at the zoo. People come and they look at you and some even take pictures because it's just so amazing... but it's a living hell."

He took another drink of his tea and set it on the coffee table. "I know you've heard about some of the things I've done here. The whole incident with Laura and Max was, in my opinion, the worst of all of it. The things that were done to me during that whole fiasco, I deserved. Some of the other things that have happened... well I let my pride intrude when I should have just walked away. That's not my style, though. I have always faced up to everything, and reacted when something was done to me that I felt was unjustified."

Brynn watched him while she listened. She could see how agitated he was as she took in his body language and hand gestures. Reaching out she took one of his hands in hers and held it while he continued to talk.

"A lot of the things that are done to me, I feel that they are unjustified, so I react in a negative way. The way I treated you the night you ignored me, I felt that was wrong, I hadn't done anything to you yet, but if you're not going to give me a fair chance then I am going to do something to make you not like me. Almost as if I felt I had to justify the reaction you were giving me, or lack of a reaction for that matter. Even after I had done it, I felt bad about it, so I brought you breakfast the next morning."

Brynn squeezed his hand and he looked up at her. "I'm tired of being everyone's enemy here. I can't tell you how many times I thought I really could have something with one of the guests, but it's like the others have to warn everyone about me. They should just put up a billboard as you come into the nest. "Welcome to the Crowe's Nest... Beware... Sid's an asshole."

Sid leaned forward and picked up the glass of ice tea he'd set on the coffee table and took a healthy drink. He seemed to savor the taste of the liquid before letting it slide down his throat. Sitting back, he looked once again at Brynn, his eyes searched hers for answers to the questions that ate at him every day. "Why do people hate me so much?"

Brynn shrugged, unsure of how to answer his question. "I don't know Sid, maybe it's the way you seem to come off as arrogant and egotistical. That can be a huge turn off for most people."

"It's not just the women, but the men here who call themselves my "brothers" hate me as well. Bud White would rather shoot me than to take the time to find out who I really am."

"Have you ever really talked to Bud, or do you just give him a hard time every time he's around because you know he doesn't like you? It isn't always up to other people to see the good inside you Sid, you have to put forth some of the effort and make them believe it."

Sid looked down away from her face, trying not to show the pain he held inside. He knew what she'd said was the truth. "I was not like this when I came here," he said softly. "I was totally different from the way I was in my movie when I first got here. People seemed to expect me to be just like Sid in Virtuosity, and even though I had changed, they were still almost afraid of me. So I gave them exactly what I thought they wanted. When you have people around you everyday telling you how bad you are and you can see that in some way they fear you, it is easy to fall into the role they want you to play. It may not have been exactly the attention I was looking for, but it was attention."

Brynn put her finger under his chin and lifted his face so she could see the brilliant blue of his eye. "You are beautiful. You're a good person."

"I'm not even a person!" He screamed and stood up like he'd been struck by lightening. "I'm not fucking human, Brynn, that's my whole problem. No one will ever see me as anything but a freak of nature. I'm not seen as anything but a pretty face here. No one will ever be able to get past the fact that I'm not flesh and blood."

Standing up along side of Sid, Brynn grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "You need to stop having this little pity party for yourself Sid and make people want to be near you. You have the power to do that, now sit down and keep talking."

Sid looked at her in shock for a fraction of a second before plopping back down onto the couch where he had been sitting. He smoothed out the crease in his tailored pants and picked at imaginary lint, clearly unnerved by her willingness to take control of the situation.

Brynn walked away from him for a few minutes, trying to regain some of her composure. This was by far the hardest conversation she had ever had with anyone in her entire life. Grabbing a soda from the fridge in the kitchen, she returned to the sofa and sat down once again opposite Sid. "What has got you so down lately? Why don't we start there? It has to be more than just not having someone here at the nest." She popped the tab on her soda and took a drink simultaneously savoring the taste and thanking God for caffeine.

"It's remembering." Sid replied watching her taste the sweet syrup and carbonated water.

"Remembering what?" Brynn asked perplexed.

"Everything that I did to become the way I am now. Everything I've done to people here at the nest, everything that's been done to me. Remembering."

"Give me an example." Brynn was curious now, she knew Sid was going to open up like a flower in the springtime if she got him on the right subject. It appeared she'd asked the right question.

"Well, I'm sure you know about the time a bunch of the guys stripped me naked and tied me to the sign on the front of the hotel. It was all because I'd harassed Stef when she first came here. I didn't do anything to hurt her, but she got even with me and pitched me out a window. I had to pay for that one twice because once the guys found out about it, they tied me to the sign."

"Everyone was sorry for it, though." Brynn remembered having heard the story from a couple of the girls before she came to the nest.

"You know, every one was real sorry about it, and they all apologized... to Stef. No one once said they were sorry to me. All I have to do is come out of my room and I'm threatened by at least one person that I'm going to get my ass kicked before I even get out the front door." Brynn could hear the quavering in his voice and her heart went out to him. Moving across the couch, she put an arm around him trying to give him some small amount of comfort. Sid shrugged her off. "I don't need your sympathy." His old defense mechanism flying into high gear at her gesture.

"It's not sympathy Sid," Brynn tried to sooth him. "This is how one friend comforts another in need." Instead of replacing her arm around him, she stroked his shoulder, just to let him know she was there for him.

He allowed her to touch him this time, understanding what she was trying to do. "Another prime example would be the day they kicked my ass at the beach, then they buried me." Sid began to ramble at this point, and Brynn could tell the flood gates were just about to open. "Or how about the time they beat my ass and locked me in the closet in the kitchen? That was a classic story too, I bet." Looking over at her once again, Sid took her hand from his shoulder and held it tightly. She could see his eyes were rimmed with blue, giving him a spectral quality, until Brynn realized what it was.

"What's happening to me?" He asked as the small blue drops fell from his eyes and slid slowly down his cheeks, leaving a trail of the same color behind. "I hurt so much right here." He pointed to a place in his chest where, if he'd been human, his heart would have been.

Brynn squeezed his hand in return and tried to keep her own tears at bay. "They're tears Sid. You're crying. It's a completely normal human response to fear, anger, and hurt."

"I do hurt so much inside, but how? I'm not human, so how can I react this way? The thing about me and the other people here Brynn, is that they think it's okay to do these things to me. They think that because I'm not human, and my body will heal itself quickly, so everything they choose to do is all right. I admit, I will put on a happy face when all is said and done." Sid's voice broke once more and he wiped at his cheeks with the back of his free hand. He stared at the blue teardrops on his hand for a few seconds before he continued to speak. "My body heals quickly, Brynn. My mind doesn't. I have a mind and a memory just like everyone else. If these things were done to you, how long do you think it would take you to get over them?" The tears fell now en masse as he opened up his soul and let them out.

Tears were now streaming down Brynn's face as well and she moved to her knees on the couch beside Sid. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held him to her chest and cried with him as he choked on the sobs that he was letting escape for the first time in his life. Sid buried his face into her sweater and let himself go. He couldn't have stopped the tears now if he'd wanted to. Wave after wave of sobs racked his body and he convulsed against Brynn, allowing her to be his strength in this moment. He was to far gone to care about his appearance, or any façade. All he could do was hold on to Brynn and ride out this wave of emotion.

Brynn continued to let her own tears flow as she began to softly talk and coo to him like she would do with a small child that had woken from a terrible nightmare. Unfortunately this was no nightmare Sid had woken from, this was his life.

Once the emotions had gone from a roar to a low hum, both Brynn and Sid still clung to each other, emotionally and physically exhausted from the roller coaster ride they'd just experienced together. Brynn felt she could collapse right there and sleep for a week. Instead, she unwound herself from Sid and looked down at him. His face was stained with blue streaks and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Let's get you cleaned up and get some sleep." Brynn tugged at his hand, pulling him to his feet and lead him to the bathroom. Running some water into the sink, she took a wash cloth from the rack beside the door and wet it to clean off his face. Sid stood still and let her work on him, enjoying the way it felt to be taken care of. Looking down, he saw big blue blotches, stains from his tears, marred the front of her sweater. "I'm sorry about your sweater," he said pointing to the spots.

"I'm not worried about a sweater," she replied, putting down the wash cloth. "I am worried about getting some sleep, though. You've completely exhausted me."

"I'll go." Sid tried to stop his bottom lip from trembling as he spoke. He didn't want to leave here yet, the comfort he'd felt as Brynn held him on the couch was something he didn't want to give up.

"Nope, I don't think that's a very good idea." Brynn took his hand again and led him to her room this time. She sat him down on the bed and asked him to wait there for her. Returning to the living room, Brynn checked the door to make sure the lock was secured and the dead bolt in place. If she was going to let Sid stay the night with her, she didn't need someone coming in first thing in the morning and getting the wrong idea about what went on. When she returned to her room after dousing all the lights, she found Sid exactly the way she'd left him. He sat stock still on her bed, unsure of what he was suppose to do.

"Relax and make yourself comfy. I'm not going to hurt you," she told him as she crawled up onto the other side of the bed. Sid obeyed and lay on his back, looking up at the canopy of gauzy black material.

Brynn reached over and turned off the bedside lamp that she'd turned on when they entered the bedroom. They lay in the dark room, fully clothed not speaking. She had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard a rustling sound and felt Sid's hand on her own. "Thank you for tonight," he whispered.

"Come here," Brynn whispered back to him and he moved closer as she'd instructed. They both lay on their sides, face to face with each other. Brynn put her arms around him and let him cuddle into her neck. When he was settled and comfortable once more, she smiled to herself. "You're very welcome."

Sid woke in the morning and silently slipped out from under Brynn's arm. Just as she had promised him before he'd drifted into a peaceful sleep, she'd held him all through the night. It had made him feel so good, safe and warm. Now as he stood at the foot of her bed, watching her sleep, he had the urge to do something to thank her for listening to him. She didn't judge him, but instead treated him like a person, and understood his pain and suffering. Going to the front of her apartment, he silently went out the front door and headed downstairs. He would surprise her with something special, something from the heart, that is... if he had one.

Brynn stretched her aching muscles and rolled over on her bed. Reaching out her arm she felt the bed beside her, but didn't find anyone there. Where had Sid disappeared to she wondered? Laying completely on her back now, Brynn opened her eyes and looked about the room. The shades were still drawn, making it impossible for her to tell what time of day it was. They hadn't gone to bed until quite late, she'd been content to let Sid talk and get out the things he'd been holding inside for so long. Brynn finally sat up on the bed and looked over at her clock. It was nearly 8 am. A lot earlier than she'd expected. She wondered what time Sid had left her, and why he didn't even say goodbye.

Last night had been a real break through for Sid. He'd trusted her enough to let out his deepest feelings. It was something that was so totally unlike him. No one would ever believe her if she told them about it. She knew that she wouldn't say a word however. Last night was between them, the others would know what a terrific person he could be in time, Sid's own time.

Hearing a soft knocking on her door, Brynn got up to go see who it could be. It was early yet, but that didn't mean the Nest wasn't already hopping with activity. This place was always busy with something or another going on. That's what she loved about it. Brynn walked into the living room and squinted at the bright sunlight that assaulted her still sensitive pupils. Opening the door, she saw Sid waiting patiently just outside the threshold holding a tray of fresh fruit and a basket over one arm full of fresh flowers.

"I guess I must have locked it on my way out," Sid said, as he stepped inside. "I didn't want to wake you, but I didn't want to explain to Peaches the reason I needed a key to your room."

"That's fine," Brynn said through a yawn. She rubbed at her eyes as she followed Sid to the couch, where they had spent most of the previous evening and early morning hours. "What's all this for?" She asked, sitting down on the couch.

"I wanted to do something, to thank you for last night," Sid said in a soft whisper. As Brynn's eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, she took a good long look at Sid for the first time since opening the door. The fruit and the flowers had not been the only thing he'd done for her to thank her for listening to him. Brynn recalled telling him last night how good he would look in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Sid stood before her now, in just that. He was dressed in a pair of faded, relaxed fit jeans and an emerald green tee shirt. He hadn't even bothered to do his hair in the usual style.

"God Sid," Brynn sighed as she took in the beautiful sight to it's fullest. "I was wrong last night when I said you'd look good in jeans and a tee shirt." Sid looked down at his attire and a look of embarrassment and shame crossed his face at the thought of having disappointed her. "You look better that good," Brynn continued. "You look down right outstanding." The smile that instantly replaced the hurt look was one that Brynn would have paid good money to see again. He'd pleased her, and he looked like a child who was extremely proud of himself. Getting to her feet, Brynn closed the small distance between them and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Any time you need a friend, you know how to find me." Brynn left his side and went into her room, asking before she went that Sid stay right where he was. She was gone for several minutes, but when she returned she held one hand behind her back. "I have something for you too, Sid. This is a gift of pure friendship and trust. I am trusting you to use this with your best judgement."

At the mention of trust, Sid looked down at his feet. No one had ever really trusted him before. He wasn't sure how to handle this. "Look at me Sid," Brynn urged. When his eyes wandered back up and focused on her again, she had extended the hand she'd held behind her back. In it, was a small gold key with a bright green ribbon tied through the tiny hole in the top. "This is the extra key I requested for my room. I always like to have a spare, and now I am giving it to you. If you ever need to talk, or want someplace safe to hang out for a little while, you can use this."

Sid reached out to her, his hand shaking visibly when he lifted the ribbon off her finger and turned the key over and over, looking at it from every angle to make sure it was real. He looked back at Brynn and she saw the same blue ring around his eyes she'd seen the night before. "No one has ever trusted me with something like this before," he managed to say, before the blue streaks cascaded down his cheeks once more.

Going to stand beside him once again, Brynn put her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. "I know, that's why I am giving it to you. I want you to know that I trust you, I am your friend. I think that things are really going to start to turn around for you Sid. I've heard some things around the nest about a few of the ladies that are interested in you."

The tears has stopped but Sid's face was still stained with their tracks. "I've had some feeling about that too." He managed a smile. "I want to try and do this right."

"In my experience, things tend to get worse before they get better, but I want you to understand something Sid, to make mistakes is human. Don't beat yourself up too much about it when it happens, just remember to learn from them."

Sid wrapped his arms around Brynn's tiny frame. "Thank you so much for everything. Last night meant a lot to me."

"It meant a lot to me too." Brynn returned Sid's hug. "Now let's eat. I'm starving."

They devoured the fruit Sid had brought from the kitchen and Brynn went to her small fridge to get them something to drink. Once they had finished the entire tray and Brynn had arranged the flowers he'd brought for her, Sid took his leave of her, wanting to get back to his room and prepare for the day ahead. He could feel that one of the women Brynn spoke of was getting closer to the nest and he wanted to make a good impression on her.

Brynn gave him another kiss on the cheek then closed the door behind him to get herself ready for the day. She'd promised to meet Jeffrey for dinner, but other than that, she didn't have any plans. Maybe this would be a good day for a ride around the grounds. It had been a long time since she'd been on a horse, but with all the expert horsemen around the nest, she was sure she could find someone to help her.

After taking a quick shower and throwing on some jeans, Brynn stepped out of her room and headed for the tavern. If no one was there, she would head to the stables to find one of the guys to help her with her plan for the afternoon.

As she stepped into the tavern, Brynn looked around for signs of life. It was still fairly early, but there were lots of people milling around. Brynn caught sight of Alex and went to where he sat at one of the tables, slowly sipping from a steaming cup of coffee.

"Hey doll," he said, as she approached him. "Wanna sit for cup a joe?"

"Not really in the mood for the coffee thing this morning." Brynn replied sitting across from him. "I was actually looking for one of our expert riders to take me out for a little while on one of the horses. Have you seen Max, Cort or East?"

"Nope, haven't seen any of those guys, but NJ and Mannie just went down to the stables, if you want you could probably go out with them."

Brynn rolled her eyes. "I would love to go for a ride with NJ, but I don't think Mannie would be in the mood to help me with anything, except maybe a leap over a cliff. We don't exactly get along. He has this impression of me that... well he just doesn't care for me much."

"Mannie can be that way with people," Alex said, taking another drink of his coffee. "Don't be offended by it, he's just not real use to the human element. Sometimes I think he is much better with horses."

Brynn nodded her understanding. "I know how it is. I haven't exactly been trying to win any popularity contests around here. I guess I have been sort of labeled as the Crowe's Nest bad girl. Not that I mind, I mean this is me, I can't be anyone else."

Alex laughed at her statement. "Speaking of which, you really pissed off White last night by taking Sid out of here like you did. I watched him after you left, he sat at his table just fuming."

"He's young," Brynn replied with a shake of her head. "I'm sure he'll get over it sooner or later."

"He mentioned that you like to live life a little dangerously, by taking up with both of the "bad boys" here."

"No," she said, "I just live. I don't intend to let anything pass me by while I'm here. I mean look at how he treated Kel when Spike was here. Everyone had to suffer for that for a little while."

"Let's not even go there." Alex held up his hands.

"I agree. Well I guess if I'm going to go riding, I better get down to the stables to see if I can find someone to take me out." Brynn stood up. "Thanks for the chat Alex. I'll catch you around later."

"I'll be here," he replied, tipping his hat as she walked away.

Brynn emerged back out into the warm morning sunshine and began to make her way down to the stables. It was a lovely walk and she savored ever moment of it. The dew was still fresh on the grass and it soaked through her tennis shoes, making her feet damp, but she didn't care. She was on vacation in this beautiful place, and it was time to start making the best of things. She had a few weeks left to this dream and was determined not to let another moment pass her by.

Reaching the stables, Brynn stepped inside and saw Max feeding Scato an apple that he pulled from a pouch that hung by the stall. "Hey, I was looking for you," Brynn said as she approached him. Reaching up, she petted the horse on the nose and was rewarded with a nuzzle.

"Looking for me?" Max said as he watched his horse try to get his nose beneath Brynn's hair. "What were you looking for me for, little one?"

"I wanted to go for a ride today, but it's been a long time since I was on a horse, so I was wondering if you could help me out," Brynn replied, stepping away from the stall.

"Well I was thinking about taking Scato out for some exercise, I'd be happy to take you along." Max smiled.

"Where are you taking her?" East asked coming up behind Brynn.

"I wanted to go for a ride today," Brynn replied, turning to face East. "Max said he'd help me out."

"Mind if I tag along too? Kath's got some stuff she wanted to do today." East asked, looking to the general.

"I have no problem with it," the Spaniard replied. "As long as Brynn doesn't mind."

"What more could a girl ask for? Two handsome men taking her on a horseback ride through the most beautiful country side she's ever seen. Life doesn't get much better than this." Brynn giggled.

East saddled up a mare for Brynn and his own horse while Max got Scato ready for the day's exercise. Brynn stood back and watched the men work. They looked so professional doing this and the way each man talked to his horse while they prepared them was amazing to her. She hadn't grown up around horses, although she'd taken to riding on her aunt's farm when she was about ten years old. She'd spent a lot of time there while her parents were away doing what ever it was they did, so in those days she had been a good rider. That was a long time ago however and she once again marveled at the sheer size of the animal in front of her.

"What's her name?" Brynn asked approaching East.

"This is Necromancer. Peaches just bought her a few days ago. I've had a chance to work with her a little, so no worries love, she's tame as they get."

East lead the horses outside after he was done preparing them for the ride and Brynn followed him. The mare she was going to ride had the most beautiful colored chestnut coat that glimmered in the sunshine.

"Up you go," East said as he tied Nero to the post. Still holding onto Necromancer's reins, he came to stand next to Brynn.

Looking up at the horse Brynn put out her hand and let the horse smell her. Then she walked around to the side and placed her foot in the stirrup. Bouncing a few times on her right foot, Brynn launched herself up with a boost from East and lay across the back of the horse. Max came out of the stables already riding Scato. He looked at Brynn curiously.

"That's not how we ride horses here little one." He said as he stopped Scato next to the chestnut mare.

"Very funny Max." Brynn said pulling herself a little more upright. Then she swung her right leg around and sat on the horse proudly. "It just takes me a few minutes, that's all."

"Next time I will remember to bring a ladder for you," he teased, leading Scato toward the path he intended to take.

"Are we ready then?" East asked as he climbed onto Nero.

"I think so," Brynn replied. She clucked her tongue and gave Necromancer a slight nudge with her foot to set the horse in motion.

"You know," Max said as he stepped Scato into stride with Brynn's mount. "Cort set out a little while ago for a ride, perhaps we can catch up with him and see if he would care to join our little excursion."

"Oh three handsome men!" Brynn replied excitedly. "I like the sound of that. The more the merrier they say!"

Bud watched from the path as the three of them headed out into the hills. He had come to find Brynn to ask her what her problem had been the previous evening, but when he found her, he decided not to approach her, but watch her instead. Seeing her head off with both East and Max, Bud's anger began to rise again. Brynn was certainly making her rounds at the nest, checking out each of the guys in turn. It's like she's made a mental check list, he thought to himself. Lachlan, Hando, Sid and now, Max and East. She certainly was making the most of her time here. Turing back the way he had come, Bud made his way back to the tavern, intent on finding Kath and Laura. They needed to know what this little trollop was up to.

Bud found Laura going into the dining room at the hotel for her morning coffee and bagel. She looked like she had just woken up. Bud hated the thought of going to her this early in the morning with the news that he had, but it was important. He approached her carefully, trying to think of how to bring up the subject. All of the girls at the nest were friends, so it seemed almost inappropriate for him to be 'tattle tailing' on one of Laura's friends.

"Morning Laura," Bud said as he reached her. "Can I bother you for a few minutes?"

Laura turned to look at Bud, surprised for a moment that she hadn't heard him approaching. "I guess so," she yawned. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about something. It's kind of important. Can we sit for a few minutes?" Bud pointed to a nearby table and led Laura to a seat, pulling out her chair like a true gentleman. He sat down opposite her and folded his hands on the table, still trying to think of how to say what he needed to say.

"What is it Bud?" Laura asked a little impatient.

"I know things have just gotten back to good with you and Max, so this is hard for me to say, especially because it concerns one of your friends here at the Nest. I know how women are, they pretty much stick together, but this has me a little worried."

Worry lines were now creasing Laura's forehead as she began to frown at the mention of Max's name. "What about Max? What's going on Bud?"

"I justÉ I justÉ think you should keep your eye on Brynn," he finally blurted out. "She seems to be all over the Nest these days. Every day she's with a different one of us and it doesn't look good. Last night she left the tavern with Sid and just a little while ago, I saw her go off with Max and East. After the thing with Hando and no one knowing really what went on between the two of them, I just think it is for the best if we ALL keep our eye on her. I don't want to see anything come between you and Max again."

Laura's look turned from worry to shock. "I don't think she'd do anything like that." She was unsure if she was trying to convince Bud or herself of the statement she'd just made.

"But you don't know for sure, do you?" Bud asked, taking Laura's hand in his. "You and Max have come through so much, I just don't want anything else to happen."

Laura shook her head in disbelief. "Do you know why the three of them left?"

"They didn't leave," Bud corrected. "They just went for a horseback ride. It may be my overactive imagination, but Brynn seems to be putting a play in for each and every guy here."

"It's a horseback ride Bud, there's nothing unusual about that," Laura defended. "However if it makes you feel any better, I will talk to Max when he gets back."

"Just wanted you to keep your eye on Brynn, that's all. You do what you think is right."

"Why would she have to keep her eye on Brynn?" Kath asked as she approached the table. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but since you two are the only ones in here, I just couldn't help it." She sat down next to Laura and took in the serious faces at the table. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you about this too Kath. I think it directly involves you." Bud said, shifting his attention from Laura to Kath. "I think all of us need to keep an eye on Brynn cause she seems to be working her way through the Nest like it was some sort of check list. Each of the guys gets a turn. I saw her go off on horseback with both Max and East."

Kath laughed. "You think she is trying to screw her way through the Nest? I just don't see it. This is someone that we all talk to everyday, and she knows how important the relationships are to the women and men alike here, she wouldn't do something like that."

"But are you sure she wouldn't?" Bud asked, frowning at her.

"Well, no I'm not positive, but I know she knows I would kick her butt if she tried something with East. And I think East knows once I was done with Brynn's butt, his would be the next one on the chopping block. I trust East completely. I know he loves me, so it doesn't really worry me."

"Well as long as you aren't worried about it, I guess I shouldn't be either. But I'll tell you this, I'm going to be keeping my eye on her." Bud stood and walked away from the table.

Kath looked at Laura who still had a worried look on her face. "Don't worry Laura, this is nothing really. I'm sure Max loves you just as much as East loves me. Hell, maybe even more, so he's not going to do anything stupid."

Laura smiled at her friend. "Thanks, I'm sure you're right. I just don't understand why Bud is all uptight about this."

"Well, Brynn took Sid away from the tavern last night, and she interrupted Bud while he was putting in a few jabs. She more or less embarrassed him, and I think now he is looking to get even. You know how well Bud can hold a grudge," Kath explained as she began to pick at the bagel in front of her.

"That makes sense," Laura said. "Still I think I will talk to Max when he gets back."

Andy wiped down the bar with methodical persistency. He'd been doing this for so long now, it was like second nature. Coming to the nest was a good thing in his life. He couldn't complain, but he wasn't like the other guys here. Most of them had girls around them all the time. It was like he and Arthur were the outcasts. Very rarely Johnny would show up too and the three of them would hang out together.

A loud burst of laughter coming from just outside the tavern doors brought him out of his reverie, and he glanced toward the doors to see who was in such good spirits. Max, Cort and Brynn came into the tavern with East not far behind. All four were laughing and carrying on about something to do with East.

"Good'ay," Andy said as the group approached the bar. "Thirsty?"

"Yeah, I am," Brynn replied wiping a tear away from her eye. The laughter had obviously been going on for quite some time. "I think I'll just have a coke for right now Andy."

East approached her and Brynn had to turn her head away from him. He stunk to high heaven.

"Jesus, mate," Andy said, making a sour face at the smell. "What the hell did you get into?"

Seeing Andy's face, Brynn lost control once again and leaned on Cort when the giggles started once again.

"Laugh it up, Brynn," East scolded,trying not to laugh himself. "I'm do glad that this is giving you such a good time, Love."

"It was the look on your face as you went down, East," Cort chimed in with a little laughter of his own. "I've never known Nero to spook like that before, but this time we ALL got a good eye full."

'What happened?" Andy asked again.

"East fell into a nice size pile of Dung as we were coming back into the stables with the horses," Max explained. "Something spooked Nero, and poor East wasn't expecting it, so when he reared back, East fell into a pile ofÉ"

"SHIT!" Brynn finished for him. "East fell into shit and certainly didn't come out smelling like a rose!"

Andy began to join in with the laughter as his mind conjured up a mental picture of East falling.

"Well I think I'm going to go upstairs and have a shower." East glared at Brynn through smiling eyes. "One of these days little girl, you're gonna get yours."

"Promises, promises!" Brynn knew East thought it was just as hilarious as the rest of the group that had witnessed the accident. He was good natured that way.

East turned to head up to his room when he was greeted by Bud. "So I see all of you had a fine time today with Miss Brynn." The sarcasm dripping from his voice was evident to all those present and close enough to hear him.

NJ also joined the group at the bar to say hello to her friend and see what all the laughter was about. She stopped short when she heard Bud's unspoken accusation.

"So tell me Brynn, how come I wasn't invited to the orgy?" Bud glared at her as he spoke, his hand gripping the bar like it was something he could pick up and use to beat her.

"I didn't know you were interested in that sort of thing Bud," Brynn replied nonchalantly. "But now that I do, the next time we decide to have a little party, I'll be sure to get you the invite."

Bud approached her and stood just a few inches away from her face. "I don't know what it is you're trying to pull here you little hussy, but let's just get one thing straight. You need to stay away from the men around here that're attached. In fact, you may want to stick with the rest of the rejects around here like Hando and Sid."

"Lighten up Bud," Cort said. The air of humor that had followed the group into the tavern had quickly disappeared.

"Let me get this straight Bud." Brynn held up her hand to Cort to let him know she could handle the situation. "You think that I'm here to fuck each and every one of you guys? Gee that would really make my vacation complete. I hadn't thought of it until you brought it up, but it sure does sound like a grand idea." Now it was Brynn's turn to use the sarcasm. "Jesus Bud, if you were pissed about me taking Sid out of the tavern last night, you could have spoken to me in private and not make me out to be a complete slut here in front of everyone."

"If the shoe fitsÉ," Bud challenged.

"Well I guess it is only natural for you to think that way about a woman like me. After all, back in your 'real' life, wasn't your woman a paid prostitute?" Brynn wielded her tongue like it was one of Max's swords and Bud stepped back a few inches at the blow.

"It's not like that, mate," East defended. "I love Kath. We were just out showing Brynn a good time while she's here."

Bud turned to East and grinned while Max smacked East in the back of the head. "That's exactly what I thought you gents were doing."

"IF you want to help," Cort frowned at East. "Try to keep your lips shut!"

"That didn't come out right," East said to Bud while he rubbed his head from Max's 'stupid alert'. "You know what I mean."

Seeing the boys digging themselves and Brynn deeper into a hole with Bud, NJ decided to step up to the plate to see if she could smooth things over some. She knew that Mannie felt the same way about Brynn as Bud did, and she wanted to try and nip this whole situation here and now. "Come on Bud. Brynn is just one of those lucky ladies that is fun spirited and full of life. The guys here like her because she is friendly to everyone. That doesn't necessarily mean that she is sleeping with them all."

Bud turned his attention to NJ considering what she's said. He then began to fan himself with one hand, while batting his eyelashes at her. "Oh my, that Ms. Scarlet&emdash;she's just so vivacious and full of life, the gentlemen naturally just flock to her." He tried to use his very best high pitched voice and southern accent to get his point across. "You know NJ, you sound just like Melanie from Gone With the Wind!" Bud said after rolling his eyes and returning his voice to normal. "Get a grip, this girl is bad news."

"Bite me Bud," Brynn said.

"Not on your best day sweetheart," he retorted.

"It wasn't an invitation. Exactly what proof do you have of my umÉ activities here?"

"Call it a hunch."

"Well you and your hunch can take a flying leap. I'm here on vacation. I plan to have a good time while I'm here. If you don't like it, fuck off. I don't have the want or need to screw every guy here, but each of them have something I like about them. Jesus, I like Jeff Mitchell because he is a carefree spirit not to mention funny. Do think I'm trying to seduce him as well?"

"It wouldn't surprise me."

Brynn jumped off the bar stool she had been sitting on and got as much in Bud's face as she could at her height. She gave his chest a little shove. "Jealous much, White? I don't recall trying to put the moves on you."

"Ok, I think I'll take Brynn back over to the hotel and get her settled down," Cort said, taking Brynn by the arm and pulling her back away from Bud. He'd seen that she'd been able to defend herself and really didn't want to watch Bud get his butt kicked over this little argument.

Brynn refused to turn her attention away from Bud, and kept glaring at him until the doors to the tavern closed in her face. Finally turning around to look at Cort, she let out a breath she was unaware she'd been holding. "What the hell? Who piddled in his Post Toasties this morning?"

NJ followed Cort and Brynn out of the tavern and approached them. "I heard he was a little angry with you about something that happened last night with Sid."

"I heard that too," Cort nodded his agreement. "Maybe that's why he's attacking you like this. No one can hold a grudge like Bud White."

"I know," Brynn sighed. "It still makes me feel like shit. I haven't done anything wrong here, and yet I still feel guilty."

"Come on, Miss Scarlett," NJ joked as she put her arm around Brynn's shoulder. "Let's go back to your room and do something girlie, or hey we could go to one of the local shops and pick out something nice and pretty. Maybe that would make you feel better."

"Spending money always makes me feel better, but you hate to go shopping." Brynn said smiling at NJ, truly appreciating her efforts.

'I'll do it if it makes you feel better. That's what friends are for."

"You two girls be careful out in the city." Cort took Brynn's hand. "I had a great time this morning with you and don't let Bud get to you too much. Sooner or later he will realize that he was wrong about you."

"Thanks Cort," she replied, giving his hand a firm squeeze. "I hope your right. Otherwise they are going to boot me out of this place for good."

"Not a chance. I wouldn't let anyone do that," he promised. He turned around and went back into the tavern to see if he could talk some sense into Bud.

Trisha stepped from her car into the brightly lit day, letting the warmth wash over her. She took a deep breath of the air and let out a contended sigh. It was good to be 'home'. Looking over toward the hotel, she thought about going directly to put her things away and get ready for the party, but her anxiety got the best of her. She wanted to see Bud before she did anything.

She began walking toward the tavern when she saw Cort. He lifted a hand in the familiar greeting and changed his direction, coming to her instead of heading to the stables.

"Glad you could make it," Cort said as he reached her. "You're really needed around here right now."

Trisha's smile began to fade as she took in Cort's features. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is Bud has gone off his rocker. He just got done tearing Brynn a new orifice because she went riding with East , Max and me today. Something about thinking she's being a little promiscuous if you get my drift," Cort explained.

"Why would he think that?" Trisha was completely confused. She'd been away for a few days and everything seemed fine, and now she comes back to this?

"Well she spent some time with Sid last night." Bud seems to think it wasn't so innocent and you know how he feels about Sid. I don't think that's what she's all about, but trying to convince Bud is another story."

"Let me get this right," Trisha began, taking a deep breath. "He thinks that because she has made some new friends here with you guys, and enjoys spending time with all of you, she's being promiscuous?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Cort agreed nodding. "With this party tonight I just hope you can keep him calm. John will kill him if he causes a scene or anything."

"Don't you worry about a thing," Trisha linked her arm through Cort's. "Bud will be well kept tonight. I promise."

The smile on Bud's face stretched from ear to ear. He couldn't keep his excitement over Trisha's arrival hidden well. Cort had come to tell him to meet Trisha at her room so they could talk while she unpacked her things. Although he was a little shocked she hadn't come get him herself, Bud was more than happy to meet her in her room.

Bud draped his jacket over his arm and raised his free hand to knock on the door. He waited a few seconds before he heard the familiar voice from within, telling him to enter, before opening the door and rushing inside to greet his girl.

"Hey, woman," Bud said, walking directly to her and taking her in his arms. "I was hoping you'd make it back for the party."

Trisha smiled sweetly at him and returned each of his kisses with fervor. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world. I missed you."

"I missed you too, doll," Bud replied, placing another kiss on her forehead before letting her out of his embrace. "How was your week?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old." Trisha shrugged before returning his question with a few of her own. "How was your week?"

"It was good, but lonely. I miss you when you're gone."

"Did anyone new show up at the tavern?" She continued.

"A few newbies. Mostly just some ladies popping in to have a drink or two," Bud replied, beginning to feel a little awkward. Trisha had never asked him things like this before when she returned form her home time.

"Did you make friends with any of them?" Trisha asked, picking up her suitcase and laying it across her bed.

"A few. You know what a socialite I've become." Bud answered, his brow furrowing.

"Buy any one a drink?"

"Yeah. What's this all about?" Bud asked, letting his confusion get the better of him.

"Did you make love to any of them?" Trisha asked as if it were a question she routinely asked when she came back to the Nest.

"What?" Bud exploded at the question. He didn't know weather she was joking or serious. "What the hell has gotten into you? Of course I didn't sleep with any of them, I just talked to them. Jesus, doll, what do you think I am, an idiot?"

"Funny you should ask me that," Trisha said, turning once more to face him. "Is it wrong for me to assume that because you've made a few new friends and had a good time with them, that you also were sleeping with them?"

Bud's frown deepened and he looked at her a long time before speaking. "Of course it's wrong for you to assume something like that. I just talked to them, had a few laughs and a few drinks. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Then it would also be wrong for you to assume Brynn is sleeping with the guys she spends time with here. After all, you have no proof and she is just making a few new friends, having a few laughs. Nothing more, nothing less." Trisha saw the light of realization wash over Bud's features as she spoke to him.

"IÉ I.. Well, it's justÉ"

"Just what, Bud?" Trisha asked.

"JustÉ I think she'sÉ"

"You think. You have no proof. And you had no right to go off on her the way you did. If I didn't know any better Bud, I would swear you were jealous."

"Now that is just plain ridiculous. What do I have to be jealous of?" Bud asked, knowing he'd lost. Trisha had been able to get him to admit he was wrong before even bringing Brynn's name into the conversation.

"Why?" Trisha said, folding her arms across her chest.

Bud sat down on the edge of her bed and braced his elbows on his knees. "I don't know. I'm just not jealous."

Sitting down next to him and taking one of his hands in her own, Trisha let out a sigh. "Listen, all I'm asking is that you lay off this. No one here is going to do anything stupid. We are all consenting adults. I also would like you to talk to Brynn. What you did today was wrong, Bud. I think you need to tell her."

"I don't think so," Bud said, not looking at Trisha. "But I'll think about it."

"Good." Trisha knew what to expect from Bud. He wasn't always the easiest person to deal with and he would never come right out and tell Brynn he was sorry. But she'd done her best to turn things around on him and see what it would be like from another angle. "It's a start."

Brynn came down the stairs to the main lobby of the hotel, dressed in her running shorts, black sports bra and blue and white Adidas runners, ready to go for her daily run with Jeff. She stretched out her legs while looking out the large picture window that faced the front lawns of the hotel. The rain had finally stopped sometime during the night, but there was still an ominous mood about the place. It was the first time she'd ever really felt anything like that here, even with all that she'd been able to experience. Dark angry clouds still loomed overhead, threatening to spill their contents at any moment. The previous night had been a bad one for just about everyone. Even those who were not as familiar with NJ as she and Jeff were, seemed to not know what to say. So instead of speaking, everyone had been fairly quiet.

As her thoughts drifted, Brynn remembered sitting in the tavern the previous night with Jeff, Steve and Terry. The picture she'd asked Steve for, which was now upstairs on her dresser, puzzled her. Why had she wanted it? Because it was a picture of a friend she wasn't sure she'd ever see again? No matter what the reasons were, she'd taken it. Sooner or later she'd figure out why.

Brynn thought about Mannie and how he must feel after all that had happened. She'd seen him when he'd entered the tavern last night, finally coming in out of the storm, but no one approached him, except for Cort and Peaches. She'd heard the anguish in his voice when he'd spoken to Peaches and it made Brynn's heartache for The Man. Even after some of the things he'd said to her and despite the fact he didn't like her, she still found herself feeling sorry for him.

After she'd finished stretching, Brynn turned to look at the clock above the sofa and frowned. Jeff was never late for a run, come hell or high water. He was always on time for this part of his day.

Opening the door, she ran down the steps and onto the stone path that lead to the tavern. If she had to go and drag him out of bed for the run, she would.

Brynn didn't make it even half way to the tavern before she spotted Jeff running toward her. "Sorry," he said as he reached her. "It was a late night last night and I guess I overslept, love."

"No worries, mate," Brynn tried to mock him. Usually it was a good way to get a smile out of Jeff, but this morning, he just grinned half-heartedly.

The two fell into step beside each other and headed away from the stone walkway out towards the golf course. Usually this was a time for them to talk, laugh and enjoy the company, but today they remained mostly silent. The only words that were muttered for the first thirty minutes of their run were, "Look out for that rut in the ground," or "Wait up, mate. This isn't a race".

Brynn felt herself running out of steam as they doubled back around the golf course and headed for the stables. She'd been running harder than normal this morning and Jeff had noticed it several times. The grass was still soggy from the rain, and she could feel the water sloshing in her shoes, but it didn't seem to bother her, she just kept running.

Pulling away from Jeff in her strides after they'd passed the stables, Brynn broke into a sprint, heading for the tavern. She hit a particularly slippery spot in the grass on her way up the small incline and fell, her feet going out from under her causing her to land flat on her back on the wet earth.

Jeff reached her and bent forward resting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Brynn sat up in the wet grass breathing deeply herself, trying to pull as much oxygen into her lungs as they would hold, before looking up at Jeff.

"That'll teach ya," he said standing up straight and putting his hands on his hips, slowly shuffling from one foot to the other. He looked up at the gray sky over head and let out a deep sigh. "You wanna tell me what that was all about?"

"I twisted my ankle, Jeff," Brynn replied, knowing that the fall wasn't what he was asking about.

Despite the wet ground, Jeff went over and sat down facing her, taking her ankle in his hand and looking it over. "You'll live," he stated as if she thought the sprain was a terminal injury.

They sat in silence for along time, the mist from the damp earth surrounding them, making everything wet and clammy. Brynn shivered involuntarily at the feeling, causing Jeff to lay a hand on her knee.

"Brynn?" Jeff spoke after another pause. "Do you think she'll ever come back?"

Brynn knew this was what had been on both their minds through out the run, but neither one wanted to be the first to bring it up. She thought about his question hard before answering him. Only knowing NJ for a few days, but knowing that the woman had touched her heart as a true friend, Brynn shook her head.

"Hell no. I mean, would you want to come back, Jeff?"

Jeff stood and helped Brynn to her feet. Her ankle wasn't as bad as she'd thought and after a few minutes of alternating her weight from one foot to the other, she was able to walk slowly to the tavern. Even though her shorts and shoes were soaked through from the wet ground, she still went inside for her morning cuppa with Jeff. They sat across from each other again in silence, sipping the warm liquid slowly.

Terry approached their table and nudged Brynn to move over to allow him to sit down. She complied as he greeted his fellow Aussie brother. "I was wondering," Terry began, but paused, noticing the quite ambiance. "Could someone please explain to me what the hell happened yesterday?"

Brynn felt herself giggle despite her dark mood. Terry was an intense guy, but he seemed to know just what to say to diffuse any situation. "I keep forgetting you're new here, you seem to fit in so well."

"That may be, love, but I still have no idea what was going on around here. Everyone seems so tense now," he told her, causing Jeff to nod in agreement with his statement.

"Well from what I understand from both East and Jeff, it was like Mannie was reliving part of his movie out there last night after NJ left. He figured it out too late." Brynn explained. As she watched his face, she could tell he was more confused now then when he'd first sat down. "I've completely lost you, haven't I?"

"Yup," he firmly agreed. "What did he figure out? What movie? I know why your friend left, but why was he so mean to her in the first place, and why did he act the way he did last night?"

Instead of answering him, Brynn pushed against his shoulder, indicating for him to move so she could get up. Before standing completely, she leaned across the table and gave Jeff a kiss on the cheek. "I'll let you know if I hear anything, but right now I have to take the new boy and show him some movies. He needs to get better acquainted with his brothers." Jeff nodded again, taking another sip of his tea and Brynn took Terry by the hand. "I hope you didn't have any plans for today, cause this is going to take awhile."

Brynn sat Terry on her couch and went to the entertainment stand, opening the doors to expose the TV. Deciding to start with "The Silver Brumby", she slipped disk into the DVD player and flipped on the power button. "Mannie was the one you had the questions about, so we'll start here," she told him. "I have to get cleaned up, but this is a long movie, so I won't miss the important stuff. Drinks are in the fridge, munchies are in the cupboard. Help yourself."

"Thanks for doing this for me," Terry said before she'd made it to the bathroom. "It's nice to know something about those you share so much with."

Brynn smiled at him. "This must be really strange for you. I always wondered what it was like for you guys coming here. Every one of you has a different version of how it happened, so I guess that means it varies."

"I haven't had a chance to really talk to anyone about it, but this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. Considering what I do... what I did for a living, that's pretty impressive." Terry winked as Brynn turned and made her way to the bathroom.

"So *this* is what East and Jeff saw yesterday?" Terry asked, backing the image up one more time and freezing the frame on Mannie's distressed outburst of frustration.

Brynn nodded before launching into the explanation of the scene on the TV in front of them and the scene that some of the guys had witnessed yesterday. She'd already had to explain the concept of the connections that brought people to the nest three times for him before he finally understood it and she was on her fourth round of explanations regarding Mannie's behavior yesterday.

Terry was quiet for a moment, letting all of the information about his new home sink in. "This is some strange shit, mate," he said, finally handing the remote control to her. "The connections and the relationships I think I can handle, but this is ... well, it's strange."

"Do you think you understand a little better who you really are and why you're really here?" Brynn asked, watching him intently. "Cause if you wanna see really strange, I can show you a piece of it."

"If you think you can top that, love, I'd like to see ya try," he replied, watching her grin get bigger as she stood up from the couch and headed to the VCR.

"This isn't a complete copy and it's not that great in quality because it's a boot leg, but I think you'll get my idea of strange when you see it." Brynn explained, taking a tape from the back of her stack and popping it into the VCR. "Check this out."

As the tape started to play, Brynn made her way back to the couch and sat beside Terry, watching his face for any kind of reaction.

Terry watched the scenes on the telly and vaguely recognized some of them, placed he'd probably been once or twice in his life. In his business, there was always travel from one location to another. But as the voice began speaking on the movie, Terry recognized it immediately... as his own. He looked from the TV to Brynn and then back again, vaguely amused. "I thought my movie wasn't available yet?!"

"It's not, I told ya it was a boot leg."

He smiled at first while he watched scene after scene play, but after ten minutes of the tape, he took the remote from Brynn's hand and pushed the stop button.

"What's wrong?" Brynn asked.

"I know how this one ends already," he said softly. 'Forgive me for not wanting to watch what use to be my life for entertainment."

"I'm sorry, Terry," she told him. "I didn't realize..."

"No worries, love. You were right, that was weird." Getting to his feet he went to her DVD collection and pawed through the contents, setting aside some of the ones he was interested in watching.

Throughout the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon, they watched bits and pieces of the RC movies she had in the room, allowing Terry to get a better idea of who his brothers were. They watched 'Hammers Over The Anvil' because Terry had heard so much about certain scenes involving East, 'Mystery Alaska' to see John play hockey, 'The Insider' because Terry was convinced that Jeffrey was overly paranoid. 'Gladiator' was next so Terry could see Maximus as the general he had portrayed and 'Virtuosity' to help him see why Sid was... Sid.

As Brynn finally turned the TV set off and stretched her arms high above her head, Terry stood up and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. "Ya wanna head back to the tavern?" He asked, standing at the small sink drinking a glass of water.

"Nah, I don't think so. I'm just going to hang out here for a little while. The past few days have been rough, so I thought I'd just relax." Brynn told him, still trying to stretch out her aching muscles.

"You know what I think?" Terry leaned against the sink, watching her. "I think all of you girls should have little home movies of yourselves. It's easy for you all to get to know us, because you know us more or less before you even meet us, but we still have to figure you all out."

Brynn laughed. "That would be just to damn easy now wouldn't it. Where's the challenge in that? All of you boyz would be far too bored if we were to do something like that, deep down, men like to try and figure out their women."

"Come on, love, get up off that couch, you can't spend all day in your room." Terry moved to the large windows and pulled back the curtains. "Look at that, it turned out to be a beautiful day after all, let's get out and do something."

He was right, the day had turned bright and sunny and Brynn had to admit, laughing and joking with Terry during their movie fest had allowed her spirit to brighten. "I'll be right there," she finally conceded. "Just give me a few minutes.".

Getting up from the couch, Brynn made her way to her room and flipped on her computer. She waited for it to boot up and then went directly to her inbox. A message flashed on the screen. "You have no new messages." "Shit," Brynn swore at the equipment. She was hoping that NJ would at least send her a message telling her goodbye, bite me, go to hell.... Something, anything.

"Still no word?" Terry's voice directly behind her made her jump. She hadn't heard him enter her room.

"Jesus, Terry. You really don't need to do that here, there's no enemy to sneak up on," Brynn scolded when she could speak again.

"Sorry love," he chuckled. "Can't help it."

She grabbed her sandals and slipped them on her feet. "Come on, let's get back over to the tavern. I wanna see if I can catch up with Steve and maybe talk to some of the other girls, maybe they've heard from her."

Terry picked up the picture from Brynn's dresser and studied it for a moment before responding. "If this girl was hurt as badly as Jeff says, I'd bet money she's not gonna be contacting anyone for a long time."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of Terry." Brynn's voice was barely a whisper when she finally spoke, but he heard her concern loud and clear.

"So, how come you're always here, Brynn? You're one of the guests here, right? You don't own anything or run anything, like Peaches?" Terry asked, as they made their way across the grounds to the tavern.

"Oh no, I m just a regular guest here on vacation for a few more weeks, But I did see a notice the other day when I was in town." She paused, thinking of the Dave Matthews CD she'd picked up for NJ. It was her favorite band and she'd wanted their new CD. Brynn went to get it the day she'd left for the cabin with Mannie and never had a chance to give it to her. "The other day when I was in town I noticed a doctor's office was in need of a resident psychologist. It's a very small practice, so I thought I would apply. If I get it, I want to ask Peaches if I can just pay her rent on my current apartment, so I can live here. I love this place and all it's magic. I can see myself here."

"What about your family?" Terry asked, intrigued by the possibilities of the place he now called home.

Brynn pretended to pick up a phone with one hand and hold it to her ear. "Mom, dad, I'm not going to be coming home, sell all my stuff." Then just as she pretended to pick up the phone, she pretended to hang it up.

Terry laughed at her antics. "Would it really be that easy for you?"

Thinking bout it for a brief second, Brynn nodded. "Yup. Simple as that. I have all of the money that was set-aside for me for college to fall back on, too. I ended up getting scholarships and my dad handed over the money as a graduation gift. I would still visit them and stuff, but I need a change, Terry, and I love this place."

"Do you have someone special here?" He asked, watching her for her initial reaction, something his job had taught him to do well.

She smiled. "Why, are you looking for a job too?"

"I have a feeling that you're not completely kidding when you say that. Something tells me it would be a hell of a job to keep up with you." He grinned.

"Well, to answer your question, yeah, I have started seeing someone here, but we're taking it slowly. We've both agreed it's for the best."

"So you and Steve *are* more than friends," he declared. "I knew it! I have been watching you two for a few days now trying to figure it out. At first I thought you were just really close friends, but there always seemed to be something there that was just between the two of you."

"There is, and we'd like to keep it that way for a while, if you don't mind." Brynn looked sidelong at him, her cheeks blushing red.

They reached the door to the tavern and Terry held it open for her to enter. As she passed him he bent close to her ear. "Your secret is safe with me, love," then he placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

The darker interior of the tavern was a drastic contrast with the day Which had become clear and bright, despite the dismal morning and Brynn had to stand still for a moment after Terry let the door swing shut behind them to let her eyes adjust. When she could finally see things without the annoying sunspots in front of her eyes, she took a look around the tavern to see who all was there. The mood had lightened from what it had been earlier in the day and Brynn could see people everywhere talking and laughing.

Seeing the group she was looking for gathered around one of the tables, Brynn grabbed Terry's arm and headed in their direction. She saw Tina And Laura and hoped that one or both of them had heard from NJ.

"Good afternoon." Brynn greeted the members of the group and Terry pulled up a chair for her and one for himself, before signaling to Andy to bring them a menu. "Has anyone heard anything?"

She looked from Tina to Laura, to Kath as they all shook their heads telling Brynn what Terry had told her a while go, before they'd left her room. "Shit!"

"It's going to take her some time, Brynn, " John said, trying to bring comfort to everyone at the table.

"Yeah," East agreed. "With what she's been through, you can't expect her to change her mind over night."

Brynn followed close behind Steve as they made their way back to her room, not feeling like doing anything but curling up on her bed and going to sleep. She had allowed Steve to accompany her only because she knew no matter how badly she wanted to sleep, it was going to be difficult.

Steve and Brynn had become extremely close in the past few weeks, trying to explore their friendship but not rushing anything more. Now she needed him to be there if for nothing more than to talk to or maybe to hold her. They seemed to be able to take comfort from each other no matter what the circumstances could be. In her own way, Brynn loved him, although she couldn't have told him how much or exactly why.

The prospect of living in this place was something she truly hoped would come to pass. More and more of her friends were here and she formed wonderful friendships with all of the boyz, learning from them and always cherishing their company. But it was Steve she wanted to spend the most time with. He had a special way all his own of making her feel better, even when there was nothing wrong.

Taking her hand as they walked up the stairs, Steve opened her door and allowed her to enter, before following her inside and closing the door behind him. He could sense her mood and decided not to turn on the light, but instead he flipped on the stereo. The small light from the digital read out gave a soft glow around the room. He knew this was the way she liked it when all she wanted to do was lay around and relax.

It amazed him how he knew these things, but he liked it just the same. I made him feel good to not have to ask her what she wanted.

Brynn went directly to where Steve stood in front of the stereo, grabbing several overstuffed pillows as she went and tossing them to the floor before unceremoniously plopping herself on top of them.

Steve knew as she positioned herself on the pillows what she wanted from him. Close contact, there was no need for words or conversation right now, she just wanted him there. He was more than happy to oblige and sat down at the very top of the pillow mass and waited for Brynn to get comfortable. They had done this a few times before, so he knew the drill.

Brynn scooted herself up on the pillows to lay her body on them and rested her head on Steve's lap. He raised her arm to allow her to snuggle up with him, and then he rested one arm around her waist while his other hand went to her hair, pulling its length across his lap. Once she was comfortable, he began to run his fingers through the dark, silky strands, knowing how comforting it was for her. This was just another one of the many things they enjoyed together. She liked to have her hair played with and he was more than happy to oblige. Ever since that day when he'd taken the pictures of her on the beach and was first able to touch her this way, he'd wanted to do it more and more.

Steve knew that he was in love with Brynn, he had been since day one, but he cared for and respected her enough to let her get over what she needed to. He knew eventually they would be together as a couple and he was willing to wait for it.

The soft music that played through the speakers lulled Brynn to the point of relaxation. Steve's special techniques with her hair helped tremendously as well. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind. This was the first time all day she'd felt completely at ease. Even as she'd watched movies earlier in the day with Terry that it had been near impossible to let the tension slide from her body. But ten minutes alone with Steve did the trick. It worked every time, although she had yet to be the one comforting him. He was her rock and someday she was going to tell him so.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Thorne," Steve said, breaking the silence. "Am I being replaced as your best buddy by the new kid in town?"

Brynn rolled onto her back a little more so she could see his face. "Jealous much, Steve?"

"Only if you tell me I should be. Terry is a good-looking guy and I'd hate to think I was losing my best friend to the new stud."

Brynn pinched him on the leg before rolling away from him again. "This must be 80's night on this station or something," she said, listening to the song that had just started to play. The last three songs I remember hearing when I was in school."

"As long as they play good 80's tunes I don't care." Steve returned his attention to her hair, and then stopped for a moment as he heard her singing along with the song.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're

never coming round

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening

to the sound of my tears

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the

best of all the years have gone by

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then

I see the look in your eyes

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I

dream of something wild

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit helpless and I'm

lying like a child in your arms

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know

I've got to get out and cry

Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then

I see the look in your eyes

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight

And I need you more than ever

And if you only hold me tight

We'll be holding on forever

And we'll only be making it right

Cause we'll never be wrong

Together we can take it to the end of the line

Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark

We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

I really need you tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

There's nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time there was light in my life

But now there's only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

Turn around bright eyes

Turn around bright eyes

Turnaround, Every now and then I know you'll never be the boy you

always wanted to be

Turn around, Every now then I know you'll always be the only boy who

wanted me the way that I am

Turn around, Every now and then I know there's no one in the universe

as magical and wondrous as you

Turn around, Every now and then I know there's nothing any better and

there's nothing that I just wouldn't do

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

Turn around bright eyes,

Every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight

And I need you more than ever

And if you'll only hold me tight

We'll be holding on forever

And we'll only be making it right

Cause we'll never be wrong

Together we can take it to the end of the line

Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark

We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks

I really need you tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

Nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time there was light in my life

But now there's only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

When the song had finished, Brynn turned once again to look up at Steve. "That song seems to have been written for Mannie. I have a feeling that is exactly how he must feel right now. I feel so sorry for him, Steve, he had no idea what to expect. He just didn't know. And now that he does know, it's too late and he knows it. I think that's why I feel so sad for him. He knows it's too late. Even if she ever did come back, would she forgive him? Could he forgive himself?"

"I know, Brynn, but you can't let this eat you up. NJ is your friend, but you have to get use to the idea that you may never hear from or see her again. With you thinking about moving here to the nest, you may also want to think about helping Mannie feel better about the things that happened. You never know when someone else will come along that's interested in him."

"Even if someone else were to show up with an interest in him, it wouldn't matter. No one will ever be able to replace her, not in Mannie's eyes."