Evangelion - Bloodlines Children of Project D Genesis 2:8 Overflowing Hatred Leona opened her eyes slowly and groaned, her optical implants activating moments after, making the room seem to appear around her as if from nowhere She realised after a few more seconds that she couldn't hear anything... She concentrated for a few seconds before she heard a distinct click as her audio implants activated, allowing her to hear what was going on around her She looked around the room slowly, it was obvious that she was in a hospital of some form... NERV agents where stood by the doors, armed and armoured... Why had they gone through all this trouble over her? She looked down at herself, her entire body swathed in bandages, like she was from a bad horror movie, but, she could barely move, agony coursed through her body every time she tried to so much as lift her arm... Was she that badly injured? A nurse walked in, straightening the room slightly before turning to her, she gasped and ran out of the room in shock... It was as if they didn't expect her to be alive or awake... What had happened to Jane? " Jane? " She called out weakly, her mouth felt dry... " I'm sorry but Jane Ibuki won't be here for a few more hours " One of the agents answered her weak cry, smiling slightly and sitting beside her bed " Ibuki? " Leona looked at the man confused, surely there was some mistake... " Yes, Jane was adopted by Maya Ibuki two days ago, she is now legally known as Jane Ibuki. For the past five days that you've been in here she has been by your side as long as they'll allow her " The mans colleague peered into the room and simply nodded to his partner. It was as if he was saying that he was allowed to stay and provide Leona with company now she was awake... " What about Ritsuko Akagi? " Leona coughed " Your mother has been here once or twice since you came in, she did spend a little time in America after a pilot died in a test involving military hardware. Probably to clear things up " He added the last line quickly " I see... Can I have a mirror? " Leona winced slightly as she sat up " Sure... But your looks haven't changed at all if that's what you're worried about " The man smiled reassuringly and passed her a mirror from a draw Leona smiled slightly and held the mirror up, she gazed into it and traced the contours of her face with her left hand slowly, she passed the mirror back and smiled a little, she made careful note of the fact her hair was shorter... " I'm bored... I'm also hungry and thirsty " She blushed slightly, she felt a little bad about saying how she felt out loud like that... " Well, you'll have dinner in an hour or so... What kind of games do you know how to play, I mean, I'll try and get a game at any rate... " " I currently feel like playing something like chess or cards " Leona cocked her head and smiled slightly. The man nodded and quickly left the room, telling his colleague that he was 'off to fetch a game for the girl' as he started to walk away from the room The other man stared at her coldly for a second, he had obviously only been chosen for whatever skill he possessed and not for the fact he had people skills... She relaxed slightly, brushing her now short hair back... They had cut her hair while she was unconscious, the new shoulder length style wasn't bad but she didn't feel comfortable with it, it wasn't really what she was used to... At least it was functional and hindered her less than her previous choice to allow her hair to grow long... That had admittedly been influenced by the fact that she had seen women mostly with long hair and didn't like very short hair... The agent was staring at her... She looked up and the artificial warmth that she emulated faded, leaving her more or less usual and devoid of emotion expression, the man continued to stare though... He didn't know when to quit obviously... Leona swung her legs down from her bed and stood up unsteadily, she quickly straightened the hospital robe she was wearing and stepped toward the man... He stood in such a way that he blocked the entrance to the room... She frowned and glared at him " You are not to leave this room, our orders are to keep you safe " The man stated in a matter of fact manner, reaching down slightly for his gun as if to intimidate her... " Would you dare hurt me in this condition? " Leona grinned, swaying unsteadily on her feet and clutching her bandaged side as it slowly turned a shade of crimson She watched as the man simply reached over and tapped a button marked in various languages, all obviously reading as 'emergency' " I'm not a very tolerant man, if you push me again I'll forcefully restrain you "He growled, a couple of orderlies ran into her room, grabbing her quickly and pinning her down against the bed. Leona struggled, trying to break from their grip as they injected her with a sedative, they held her a few minutes as it kicked in... She could feel her entire body becoming sluggish, her reactions where obviously going to be dulled... She looked up at them blankly as they started to change her bandages... The other agent ran into the room, an orderly falling behind him clutching his face, she watched as one of the other orderlies tried to swing for him, he simply ducked and slammed his pistol into the back of his head... The orderly fell and the doctor who had sedated her stood there, frozen in shock The other agent slowly started to creep in behind him, raising his pistol and bringing it down on the back of his head, Leona was amazed... The agent didn't even flinch... She could hear the impact of the pistol against his skull... but... The second agent stood there amazed for a second before attempting to hit him again, the same result though, the sound of the impact, was all too clear, but, the first agent didn't so much as flinch... Was he drugged? " You'd probably hurt me more by unloading bullets into me... " The agent span round quickly and punched the second agent just hard enough to knock him out, causing him to crumple to the ground unconscious, he gently picked Leona up and carried her out of the room... She shuddered slightly, the cold of the outside area hitting her fully, someone had left a window open... It was cold outside Leona blushed slightly as she ran her hands over the mans back and chest, something about him was familiar... The dense muscle mass, the ability to shrug off most attacks with a smile... It could only really be one person... " ...Jonathon! " Leona gasped as the man gently set her down in a wheelchair " Yeah... It's me... " He smiled, slipping part of his suit off, unbuttoning his shirt a few buttons at the top and removing an item that had disguised his figure... It had all been an elaborate plan to get her out of here? " How did you... I thought you... What happened with..." Leona stuttered as Jonathon slowly pushed her to the elevator, the floor now lacking other people... They had evacuated quickly... It was as if they where expected... " Seems they set us up... " Jonathon grinned and passed Leona two handguns " Wait... What do you mean by that? " Leona realised the entire security network was down and nothing electronic was being used in the building... They knew enough about her to make this escape a problem... But Jonathon... He was a one-man army, like a walking tank, he could take hit after hit after hit without falling... " I'm surprised it took you that long to figure it was me " Jonathon smiled " But you supposedly died, I didn't even think that you'd be back " Leona blushed slightly as she admitted this, Jonathon merely smiled " It's okay, to tell the truth I'd doubt that I was alive too if I was in your place " " How did you get in? " Leona asked, a little confused " I got lucky when I saw that they had an agent who looked a little like me... I had to restrict most of my chest and so I looked like him though, I was bigger than he was... Well, it was a simple case of knock him unconscious and take his suit... " " What did you do with the man? " Leona smiled and looked up at him " He died when I smashed a chair into the back of his head... " Jonathon shrugged " Whoa... You killed him with a chair? " Leona was shocked, Jonathon could kill unarmed but he had chosen to use a chair? " Yeah... the chair broke, like I planned, to make it look like a weaker person, but, he stumbled forward and fell headfirst out of a window... " " Oh... I see now... And no one saw this? " Leona cocked her head " Luckily no... Or at least I hope not... They may have seen and realised I was alive, and decided that they should try and capture me " Jonathon shrugged his shoulders, he left Leona next to one of empty offices and walked over to the elevator " They'll probably have people with guns down the bottom... " Leona looked worried, she could tell he was going to go down alone... Not even he could stay standing and smiling when heavy weaponry was deployed... " No problem... I'll sort them out no problem " Jonathon smiled as the elevator opened, he stepped in and punched a floor number in on the panel... " Wait, take me with you! " Leona shouted as the doors closed... In a second he was gone, leaving her alone... The lights suddenly flickered and died on her, the entire corridor was plunged into semidarkness, the only light coming from the windows nearby... Was that a helicopter that she could hear outside? " Jonathon... " She whined, looking up at the floor reading on the elevator... He was almost at the bottom floor... She looked down at her porcelain white hands and sighed, she didn't know why but she could only think of that thing that had broken Jonathon's neck as a kid... Had his neck ever healed? What if it wasn't the only thing like that, what if there where more, what if they where working with the people Jonathon was going to fight, what if there where some on this floor... She was alone and helpless, paranoia had been born as the light had died She could hear steady footsteps falling... Someone or something was heading toward her... She whimpered slightly and pulled herself weakly onto a nearby chair... She couldn't feel her legs and her side felt wet... Was she bleeding? The footsteps grew steadily closer... She yelped involuntarily and pressed herself into the back of the chair as flicker of a flashlight began to shine nearby, telling her the person was at least human... She shuddered as the sound of gunfire started to echo up the elevator shaft to her, the person getting ever closer... She screamed and fell from the chair as the light turned a corner and shone directly in her eyes, she tried to pull herself along the floor, both legs felt dead... Was this the sedative acting on her still? The flashlight bobbed up and down as it quickly neared her, a hand gently took hold of her shoulder and the light was put down nearby... A person gazed at her concerned from behind a suit of combat armour and some form of visor... " Did they leave you behind when they evacuated? " The man asked her, obviously thinking that she was just a kid... Civilian military or police most likely Leona could only nod, she realised that she had tears streaming down her face, she choked slightly and turned away from the man " Its dangerous in here... We need to get you to safety... " The man had a radio... But it was off... Just like all the others in the building would be Leona whimpered as he tried to pick her up, he stopped when he realised she was bleeding and swore under his breath, he gently wrapped his arms around her and supported her as he lifted her back into the wheelchair The man started to push her towards the nearby stairs, Leona wasn't sure how he would get her down but she was sure he would try and take her through the fire escape... The sounds of the battle below where getting to him too, the screams and gunfire, the odd explosion that shook the place... Leona looked about dizzily and put her hand to her forehead, she moaned slightly and closed her eyes, she had already passed her limit and now she was paying for it, as if she had been running for too long. But this wasn't running, it was the road to recovery and many others would tell her she was foolish for jeopardising it She didn't care though, she knew she was going to get out of here one way or another, either taken out the back by this man or taken out by Jonathon, in a more bloodied fashion. Whatever way though, she didn't care... As long as she got out and Jonathon was safe... Jane would be happy to see him alive... The man stopped and looked nervously down two corridors, he looked about as lost as Leona felt, he pulled out his handgun and shone his torch down one corridor suspiciously and started to shiver. Leona swayed slightly as she tried to focus on him, watching him backing away, back towards her, she paused and sat upright, the smell of death permeating the air... The man forced the handgun into her hands and pulled a much larger handgun from his backpack " What is it? " Leona asked tiredly, trying desperately to stay awake despite how she was feeling, the man looked down at her and shuddered, not wanting to say... " You really don't want to know... " The man shivered " No... Tell me, I want to know what it is that disturbed you like this " She cocked her head, not really sure if she was going to remain conscious much longer... " There are two bodies down that corridor, it's the way out too... I really don't want you to see them as something has devoured parts of the corpses " The man was struggling not to be sick... She could tell from the way he was convulsing... " Don't worry about me... I'll be fine... " Leona smiled weakly " It's not that... I think its lurking in the elevator... I could see something shifting about... " The man shuddered and looked back at the corridor " Fine... Wait here... I'll sort this mess out... " Leona growled and climbed to her feet slowly, she checked the gun, making sure it was indeed loaded and that the safety was off... The man protested but she simply walked past him, unsteadily lurching forwards... A flickering light in the lift cast the shadow of something she couldn't identify... The man was by her side, gently supporting her She stepped carefully to the side, pointing her gun into the elevator, the man doing the same to support her... She shuddered and fell to her knees holding her mouth, she was going to be sick, it wasn't a creature of any form... A dismembered person was a much more accurate description, the lower body of this person had been torn off... It was left resting against one of the walls of the elevator and the upper body had been hung upside down, a piece of cable wrapped around what she presumed was part of the victims spine... It had looked like some squat beast from the shadows cast by the flickering light, but now she could see it, it was much worse... The interior of the elevator was completely destroyed... Claw marks everywhere highlighted by blood splattered across the walls... The controls had been destroyed too... Something had simply ripped them from the panel that they resided in and ripped them apart without effort... At least the stairs where right next to this elevator... She looked across at the door to the stairs that had been torn off and snapped in half like a twig... Had Jonathon done this or was something else at work here? The man looked at the flight of stairs nervously and gently took Leona by the hand, he started to lead on, the echo of gunfire stopping abruptly and a sinister chuckle ringing out loudly in its place... Leona wrapped her arms around the mans waist and started to cry, this was all too much for her, she couldn't cope, she couldn't take anymore of this... She looked up at the man for a second before the entire world started to turn black as she slipped into a blissful state of unconsciousness Why couldn't it be left at that though? She could feel herself been slowly pulled back toward the real world... She didn't want to be part of this nightmare reality anymore, she just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, never to awaken... But that wasn't going to be allowed... " He won't quit you know, until you awaken he's going to keep trying... " Someone behind her laughed softly, using exactly the same tone of voice she did... " Who are you? " Leona snapped as she turned to face herself, only, it wasn't herself... Tanned with jet black hair, yet identical in every other way, she stood, or rather, floated before her, her hair flowing gently behind her as the distance between them closed... Leona couldn't help but shudder as she felt her other self touch her cheek, a sad smile on her face, as if she was hiding something... " I'm you, silly, you of all people should know that " The doppelganger smiled " What do you want with me? " Leona shuddered and tried to pull away, only for the doppelganger to draw her close and rest her cheek against her shoulder " It doesn't matter what I want, we'll always be together, I'll eventually get what I want anyway with the way you and the others live... " Her doppelganger smiled sadly and faded from sight, leaving Leona to be pulled back into the real world... The man hadn't left her side, he looked relived as she opened her eyes but the initial look of relief soon faded, as a man staggered through the open doors of the floor below... He had a knife in his one hand, hid blood drenched clothes clinging to him as he blindly lurched forwards... Leona shuddered as he continued forwards, wailing as he did... Was he a victim of something else or did he require medication? The man slowly raised his handgun as the man continued to approach, sweat ran like rivers down his neck, the sound of gunfire ripped through the air for a split second and faded... The man with the knife slumped, the exit wound in the back of his head saying how much of a threat he was now... Wasn't she supposed to rely on her implants for normal hearing and vision? She had just realised, her implants had failed, yet she was able to see and hear normally... It was as if she where almost normal... Now if only this hellish nightmare would end... She wanted to get out yet she couldn't... She also wanted to check the floor out that the man had came from... Sure, it was dangerous, but if she where really afraid of the danger, she wouldn't have made it half as far as she did, with her training as a kid... Leona climbed unsteadily to her feet, the entire world seemed to spin for a second before she managed to gain balance, with the aid of the nearby railing for the stairs... She walked slowly down the stairs, the man following her like a lost lamb as she lead the way onto the third floor of the hospital, there was some light provided by one or two office lamps and one or two of the overhead lights where still flickering... Something screamed at her to no back, to not investigate this floor... The man put his hand on her shoulder and pointed at the far end of the corridor, a light flickering on and off illuminated a person, or a creature or something, squatting down, a dead body by its feet, already half eaten... Leona took a step forward, wanting to see the creature properly, her implants no longer able to provide any form of boost to her senses and the security camera's where down... She paused as it looked up, showing that it was human... One that had lost their mind obviously... The person started to run towards her on all fours, clumsily, closing the distance surprisingly fast... As it neared Leona realised it was a girl, about her age, who had just simply gone insane... Like the other man... Why was this happening? Instead of shooting the girl or letting the man shoot the girl she walked towards her, causing her to stop confused in her tracks, the girl growled at her and backed away slightly... Leona paused and readied herself... The girl was tensing up, as if she was going to pounce on her, like an animal... Surely enough, the girl dived at her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her to the ground before she could react, Leona screamed as the girl started to bite and scratch at her, the man was stood there frozen... He didn't know what to do... Leona pressed two fingers to her neck and flipped her over, pinning her down as she choked, after a few seconds thought she started to punch the currently defenceless girl repeatedly... She stopped just as the girl slipped into an unconscious state, she looked back at the man as he offered her a hand and ignored him, climbing unsteadily to her feet alone " Why didn't you help me? " Leona spat, not too happy about the way he froze " You're Leona Akagi... " The man just stared at her, she could feel the pure terror the man was experiencing... He was terrified of her... " So what if I am, unless you've been gave orders to murder me as well... " She span round, holding her arms out, leaving herself open to attack... " I... I have been ordered to make sure you don't leave this building alive... " The man looked at her and shook his head, bringing the gun up till it was level with her " I see... I guess you're just another cold-blooded killer... Murderous people like you don't deserve to live... " Leona growled " I have my orders... I'm sorry... " The man pulled the trigger, expecting to hear her scream and fall he started to turn away... Silence... He looked back to see the girl she had knocked unconscious but no trace of her... " When you try to kill someone I care for in future, make sure you hit " A deep voice echoed from nearby, shadows gathered as a figure stepped forwards, casting a bullet aside as it did... Something had caught the bullet... " What are you? " The man shivered and started to back away as the shadows advanced on him, the corridor seeming to be slick with blood... " I am one of the darkness, outside of fate and destiny, creation of science... Call me what you will, for today I am your destiny, fate and demon... " The darkness seemed to grow, a solid form of pure blackness in its midst " I see what you are... You're a fake! " The man shouted, raising his gun and loosing off three more shots, two hitting the darkness and simply disappearing and the third... The thing in the darkness caught the third shot and dropped it by his feet, as if it was a trivial matter, a futile attempt... It had shown him in one quick motion, how powerless he really was... " ... I am the one who will send you to be judged " With those words, the man slowly sank into the ground, swallowed by a pool of pure blackness... The darkness faded, first allowing Leona to leave its confines and then slowly returning to the one who had first created it... Jonathon " Jonathon... How did you do that? " Leona shivered and backed away from him, her eyes quickly hopping from place to place as she desperately tried to look for a way to escape this... thing... that looked like the person she had grown up with " It's a simple trick Leona, a Dirak Sea... He'll never be seen again unless someone opens one to free him... " Jonathon smiled slightly as he reached over to her, gently laying his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her... He could sense her tension and he didn't like it, the fact that she was amazingly tense would be a problem... One that he couldn't afford to deal with right now... Not until he had her out of this hell hole... He hadn't realised how much of a problem he was causing until now though... This entire place must have been warped by his influence... Maybe he could use this warping influence he had to try and accomplish something though... " Jonathon... You scare me... I don't know you anymore... I was happy to see you again, but you've changed so much I'm not even sure who you are anymore... How do I know that you're real? " Leona sighed, pushing his hand from her shoulder " I'm sure you still remember how that thing broke my neck when I tried to save you as a kid... " Jonathon suddenly trailed off, choked up emotionally in a way that Leona had never seen before. She instinctively bit her lip and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently as crimson tears fell to the floor, spots of red pooling in a bloody manner, she looked at the tears, then his face. Concern was written over her face like guilt... Like some guilty admission was about to come out, but it wasn't, she was simply concerned about someone that she cared for deeply, more deeply than she would admit to but still, she cared... " Yes... I do... I can never forget that... I felt so helpless seeing it happen and knowing that it could easily have torn me limb from limb... I'm glad you turned up and saved me when you did... otherwise I'd have been unable to get to know you the amount I did... I'd have never got to know someone who played such a large part in shaping my life... " Leona smiled fondly, her deep red eyes reflected what Jonathon had always thought of as misplaced respect, a high degree of respect that he wasn't worthy of, that he wished he had earned and not been given so suddenly for a few simple acts of random violence and bravery... Leona looked up at Jonathon, a soft smile crossing her lips as she allowed her fondness for the man who had done so much for her to show. To her he was the hero who had saved her when she was destined to die... or so it seemed, how he had gone on, despite a broken neck, to destroy the thing that was going to take her life... As he scooped her up in his arms she smiled, resting her cheek against his shoulder, her eyes closing slowly... She was tired, he was here to get her out... Nothing could go wrong as long as he was here for her, to take her to whatever was now his and her home... NERV and SEELE where after her, and when they found Jonathon had come back from the dead... They would want him too " Where are you going to take me? " Leona asked, a small yawn escaping her as she struggled to hide the tiredness that threatened to overcome her, the tiredness that told her that it was better that she slept, that she trusted him to get her out of here safely... " Maya's likely to care for you if I ask... " Jonathon was a little reluctant to mention this, as if he had no real idea where they should go " Okay... Well... I know you'll get me out of here safely... I need to sleep though... Do you mind if I fall asleep? " Leona smiled as she lifted her head, her words wavering as much as her action " I'm okay with you sleeping, after all, you do need to sleep, you'll need a lot of rest to recover from your injuries... I'll make sure nobody hurts you... " Jonathon spoke softly as she lay her head against his shoulder again, her eyes closing as sleep took hold of her... He smiled and gently kissed her forehead, a single crimson tear rolling down his cheek as he slowly started to head towards the door... His thoughts focused on how he had became a much greater monster than he could possibly hide for long, but with her, she wouldn't suspect a thing... Not for some time... She wouldn't doubt him, and Jane wouldn't either... Kat... He wouldn't... The hostilities that sometimes erupted between him and Kat where soon forgotten, as even Kat had more respect for him than he felt he deserved... A red eye flickered open, the low light of the room causing it to shut again, it wasn't used to seeing, it wasn't used to the light... the light was almost painful... A porcelain white hand raised to provide shade for the eye, as the other opened too, adjusting to the low light of the room slowly... Familiar faces... Memories... Everything was starting to slowly become clear in the haze of pain that clouded over reality in a way that made things seem like an unreal nightmare... A sound seeming so distant... A voice... Familiar... A blurred lock of auburn hair waving to her side as a form moved into sight... Asuka... It was Asuka... " How do you feel? " Asuka cocked her head and shuffled slightly to one side as another person walked into the darkened room, a dark haired boy... Shinji... Shinji stood nearby, nervously waiting for a reaction from the pale skinned, red eyed person before him... a slender porcelain hand reached out, taking hold of Shinji's hand gently... Pale, blood encrusted hands with a rim of red under the nails took hold of his darker hands, squeezing gently as bandages swathed across pale arms fell aside, loose from lack of effort put into securing them... Asuka was growing a little impatient for an answer, but was waiting on it simply because of the way that she didn't want to offend this injured person... Not yet anyway... It was explained to her most likely that she would have to be kind until recovery was confirmed... " I... I'll be okay... " Rei's soft voice carried through the silence that occupied the room, almost impossible to pick up, even in the silence around them... A bare, slender foot fell to the floor heavily as Rei slowly started to climb from the hard bed that she was lying in... A splatter of red hit the floor as spots of deep crimson fell from her nose, landing upon the cold, metallic surface of the floor... The room she was in was one for her revival it seemed... Gendo didn't care about her anymore... He had the others and she was just an expendable clone that he didn't have to worry about... He could bring her back easily enough... The watch that Shinji wore told her she had been dead some time, the date told her so... " I'm not needed anymore... Am I? " Rei sighed softly and struggled back onto the bed, curling up as the pillow beneath her head slowly started to turn red, blood dribbling down her cheek slowly and staining it red... Shinji and Asuka looked at each other and shook their heads, they didn't know what to do, or say... The slender porcelain white hand slipped from Shinji's hand, moving slowly to her face, gently tracing her own cheek as she blinked a few times, brushing part of a bandage aside as she did... She knew she didn't look too good, half of the bandages over her body where soaked with her blood, the rest seemed to be hanging from her body... It was obvious that they hadn't wanted to put too much effort into bandaging her up, despite the fact that she was soaked with her own blood... She must be worthless now they had the other pilots to do their work... Maybe she should just tell them that she didn't want to do anymore work for them now they had others, now she was obviously a less important aspect of their equation for the future... But they wouldn't let her go... She was the property of their damn organisation, she was a clone, made in a lab... How could she expect to lead a normal life, when they wouldn't let her have one? " Are you okay? " Shinji asked, breaking the silence as Rei's pale cheeks slowly reddened as she started to shake with anger, her one hand clenching and unclenching as she sat there... She looked up at him, making eye contact and glaring at him angrily... She shook her head slowly and sighed as she swung herself from the bed, her hand darting out to an extra set of robes that she pulled about herself quickly, her slender feet made little sound as she walked across the floor... As she pushed the door open a man smashed the butt of his gun into her side, causing her to stagger and hit heavily against the wall... He took careful aim and frowned, watching as she sat there holding her side, crimson seeping through the bandages as she struggled to hide the pain she was in... A sob escaped her lips as she curled up into a ball, the man uncaring, walked over and kicked her in the side, the same one, crushing her fingers into her as he smashed his boot clad foot into her... Shinji dived from the room, shouting angrily where before he had stood and watched in shock, the man grabbed him and cast him to the floor, kicking him too... Asuka was the next to run out, but she ran to Shinji's side and sat beside him, checking to make sure that he was okay... " None of you are permitted to leave until Mr. Ikari has spoken with you " The man spat the words venomously... He sat back at his post and stared at his watch, it was obvious that he would have no trouble with hitting them if he felt it was the best course of action... " Coward..." Rei gasped as she climbed to her feet, her hand against the wall as she sought to support herself, a bloody handprint left as she staggered to a chair... The man simply raised an eyebrow and pulled his handgun from its holster, sitting with his arms crossed as he waited for an excuse to shoot one of them... Maya was on the verge of falling asleep like the young girl in her arms, her arms entwined about the waist of her new daughter, a soft smile on her face as she looked down at her... She had fallen asleep before a movie, Maya hadn't dared to move since though, not wanting to wake her, a soft sigh escaped her lips as she brushed Jane's fair hair back, seeing how she looked so peaceful despite all she knew she had been through... Why people wanted to hurt her, wanted to take advantage of the fact she was overly trusting at times and the fact she had the ability to do almost anything she set her mind to... It was a shame that she hadn't seen this side of Jane, or had the chance to get to know her before this... If she had she would have happily asked Jane the same question, the hardest one she had ever had to ask someone before... She could still picture the smile and the way Jane had cried when she asked her, the way she had thrown her arms about her and nodded, unable to say that this was what she wanted too, because she was simply so choked up emotionally... Her attention was abruptly brought back to the real world as she heard the doorbell go off and heavy knocking against it echoed down the narrow hallway, causing Jane to shift uneasily in her sleep before opening one eye... Maya hesitated for a second before climbing from her place, gently placing Jane down again before walking to the door... The knocking hadn't subsided... Whoever it had been didn't want to wait... Maya opened the door a crack, allowing her to peer out into the gloom outside, the fact that night had fallen made it harder to tell who was out there, she could make out a large person, most likely male she noted, seeing how broad his shoulders seemed, carrying... Something... Or was that thing in his arms someone? " Maya, I'm sorry to intrude like this, but we need somewhere to stay for a short time... I know, I shouldn't do this, but you where the only person that I know of that I can really trust... " The deep voice carried out softly, hushed as if he was afraid that he was being watched, she almost didn't recognise him though, seeing as he was supposed to be dead... " Jonathon! " Maya gasped and opened the door for him, stepping aside as he gently lowered Leona to her feet and helped her walk inside, still clad in bloodied hospital robes, a few bandages trailing her as she unsteadily made her way into the hall, followed by the titan like man... Jonathon was obviously troubled by something, but she didn't want to press it, he had come to her simply because he knew her, because he trusted her... The short time she had spent with him told her that they could get along well, simply because he was easy going most of the time with her and she was happy to let him get on with whatever he needed to... She had been glad to have him about the place though, he had happily done odd jobs, fixed the odd thing up and taken care of her well... He was even happy to cook for her when she asked if it was possible for him to... A slight smile appeared on Jonathon's face when he saw Jane curled up asleep on the sofa, one that dissolved into a more serious expression as he turned to face Leona and Maya again " I heard that you adopted Jane, I'd like to know how you're getting along some time if that's okay with you " Jonathon smiled slightly, watching Jane wriggle slightly in her sleep, the sudden amount of noise had obviously disturbed her... She opened one eye again, looking about the room sleepily as she started to try and focus on the room, a slight yawn escaped her as she opened her other eye, blushing slightly as she did " I'm sorry... I didn't mean to fall asleep in front of the movie... I missed the end and I really wanted to see what happened to those two and... Oh... You have company... Oh my... Jonathon is that you? " Jane quickly brushed the pastel blue top she was wearing down and made room for him on the sofa, blinking a little in surprise as he took his jacket off and placed it down for Leona to sit on " Yes... It's me Jane... I'm sorry I was away for so long " Jonathon sighed as he sat Leona down... He smiled sadly toward Jane and Maya before he started to head toward the door... He couldn't stay... He wouldn't fit in with them anymore... They had lives, normal lives, lives that his presence would disrupt... He would only remain as long as he was needed, and right now, it was best that he just left them to sort things out... He paused and looked back for a second... " I'll be back tomorrow... I'm going to go out for a while, I have to sort some things out, and Leona will refuse to wear anything like Jane, so I'll pick some new clothes up for her before I return... " Jonathon turned back to the door, pausing as Maya lay a hand across his shoulder to stop him... " I still have Jane's old clothes, I'll see if she'll wear them... Please... Don't go, I know it's not easy for you to look at them, seeing as you knew them as soldiers, and now their little more than children... Please... Stay, if only for tonight... " Maya pleaded, not knowing what to say... Jonathon merely shook his head and placed a gentle kiss against her cheek before leaving silently to hunt whatever it was he sought