Part I

She winks to the man she's called "brother" for the past several years as she roars past his truck on the Harley Logan, one of her fathers, had leant her for her trip to the mountains of upstate New York. A sigh escapes her lips as she catches one final glimpse of the blue vehicle in her rearview mirror.

Man...I woulda been content to keep seeing him as my bro...me as his sis...

She pulls into the shelter to drop off the gallon of milk he didn't want to waste.

Yeah...he was right...we both do need to take a break from everything...

She nods and gives the woman thanking her for the donation a smile she really doesn't feel before hopping back on the bike and roaring out of the city.

Can't help wishing we didn't have to keep doing this though...running from home...from our hearts...gads...why can't life give us a break for once?

With a shaky sigh, and many miles later, she pulls into the garage she's rented for two weeks and starts transferring the things she'll need to live off the land into her hiking pack. The soft fabric of an  oversized sweater gives her pause. She looks down at the garment in her hands; the same one he lent her shortly before they parted company. She swallows down the lump rising in her throat.

Heh...I wonder if Lisette knows how lucky she is to have him...

She bites her lip and folds the sweater, putting it in the pack. She trudges into the biting cold, catching her breath before the snow-laced wind can steal it from her.

Guess you've just gotta live with the fact that he chose her over you, Moron...just another loss...like...Hacker...

She gazes up at the trees and pulls the fur lined hood of her coat snugly over her brow, willing the tears not to come.

Maybe I should just turn lesbian...such a shitty track record with men...end up marrying the greatest guy...find out he's a clone...no big deal there, I'm not exactly a nature spawned creature either...end up gettin' killed by my possessed mother 'n wake up in Sinister's lair...used by him...finally get back to the lair in the sewers ta find the place fallin' apart...when I finally get myself pulled together enough to help, I find the Donatello I gave my healing factor to wasn't who I thought he was...ain't we happy...the Moron blundered her way into helping blow up the lair and hurt everyone down there...man....recover from that an' another guy who was s'posed ta be a friend sprouts tentacles, goes nuts and does his damndest to drain another friend dry...step in an' get a stomach-full of poison fer the trouble...give it a few months and some crackhead from an alternate future decides I'm the anti-christ he thinks he loves...yeah...only hurt the ones you love...my ass...every lover steals their partner's powers 'n fucks their body up beyond recognition...bastard...then I get shot...then hurt by Diana's bastard father when he almost blows my damn cover...thank the gods Klork was there, anyway...

She sighs softly, ignoring the dull aches of her mostly healed side, feet, arm and back as she hikes up the incline.

Damn...I miss my powers...hopefully this mutation is done regressing...you can go to hell and rot there, Paul...

Powerful muscles ripple under the fabric of her fleece-lined jeans. A glance at the sky answers the question of why it's getting so dark.

Damn...time flew...this's as good a spot as any, I suppose...

She pitches camp, making sure it's well hidden amongst the trees and secure out of sheer habit. Bow and arrow in hand, she sets out to hunt for dinner and firewood.

After about an hour, she's sitting at the small fire she got started and dines on the rabbit she took down and cooked. The firelight reflects off the gold of the wedding-band nestled on her right ring finger. Her heart aches in time to the beat of the night.

Huh...wonder what he's doing now...

Snow crunches under an unseen foot. Immediately, bow is brought up and arrow cocked, aimed in the direction of the sound.

"Who's there?" she calls, watching the outline of the newcomer with narrowed blue eyes.

"I wish you no harm," comes the soft reply.

Slowly she lowers her weaponry, eyes still narrowed. "Alright...your name?"

"Quinlan Donovan," he steps into the light of the fire. His face is finely boned and smooth skinned, his eyes emerald green and slit-pupiled, clad much like her, ebon curls the same consistency of her hair escapes from under his hood. "And you, m'lady?"

She blinks a little, quirking a brow slightly. "Eloise Lee...I usually go by HLM, though."

He nods, sitting gracefully by her at her welcoming gesture. "HLM?"

She nods with a slight smirk. "Short for HapppyLittleMoron." A chuckle rises from her lips at the odd look he gives her.

"I...see...a pleasure..."

"Likewise." She returns his nod when he accepts the food she offers. "So, Quinlan...what brings you to the frozen north this fine winter?"

He shrugs with a smirk. "A need to find myself, as it were. You?"

"More or less the same..." She tosses the tiny bones left behind into the fire. "That an' get away from any more troubles..." Her voice trails off as she leans over to poke at the fire with a stick.

Quinlan watches her, noting the agony swimming under the ice surface of her eyes. "Perhaps the ear of a stranger will help."

She pauses and eyes him measuringly. After a few moments, she shrugs a little. "Y'sure? It's really a pretty long story."

The corners of his lips curl in a small smile. "We have time."

She quirks a brow at him before shrugging. "You asked fer it..."

Two hours later, she's finishing her story inside her tent with him. "So," she cuddles into Klork's sweater, sighing a little when she catches of whiff of his scent from it. "...that's pretty much it in a nutshell..." The strawberry-blond curls curtain her face as she bows her head with another small sigh.

"I see...and this Klork man is the one your heart yearns for."

She nods. "Yeah...I've fallen and I've fallen hard for him." Her shoulders hunch a little. "It's so confusing though...I mean...I know he cares for me, too...I heard it from his lips...I can see it in his eyes...but it's eating him alive because he also loves Lisette...and she's the mother of his children...so of course he chose her over me...but she refuses to stay in present time because of everything she has in her own time...in the past. That hurts him, too...then there's the stuff I've been going through..." Her voice trembles. "Even though our marriage wasn't going all that smoothly, I still loved...hell...still LOVE Hacker..." She swallows the sob struggling to escape and clenches her hands together. "It's like some huge soap-opera, and it's...it's..." She wipes her eyes with the heals of her hands. "I just don't know what to DO! Can't figure out how or why all of this HAPPENED!! Why can't there be gains to go with...the...losses..."

Tears force themselves to the surface and the savage sobs battle past her defenses. Quinlan pulls her close in a hug, stroking her hair as she cries bitterly against his chest.

"Ah...my sweet warrior child," he murmurs as he rocks with her. "With time, all will come together, and you will find happiness." He pulls her blankets and sleeping bag around her, singing a soft song of a liquid language to her. When the sobs trail off and her breathing steadies, he gently lays her back, brushing tousled hair from her brow. "For now, daughter, rest..."

He places a gentle kiss on her sleeping brow, his hair whispering over her cheeks, covering his pointed ears, then gazes at her for a moment before fading away.

Part II
Otherworldly Comforts Index