A/N: Hear ye, hear ye! I am in the process of combining and editing the previous chapters to account for inconsistencies, so if this story has fewer chapters soon that's why. Also, I feel that this chapter is pushing the boundary for the T rating, the next may push it to M, you have been warned.

Kiandra had to own, there was something nice about being held so tightly by the Lyake. His big frame pressed against her afforded her a comfort and security she, if she was perfectly honest with herself, had never felt before. She could see how this could get addicting.

Their passage through the water portal was uneventful, but she still relished the feel after so many years without even a drop of moisture. And when they coagulated on the deserted field that had served as the mosh pit during the concert, Kiandra found herself in very high spirits indeed.

"See, no harm done! And we're already here," she said happily. But, Dubric did not seem so happy. He said nothing but relinquished her and began shaking his long hair like a dog trying to shake water—despite the fact that he was perfectly dry—from his coat.

"That was the most profoundly disturbing thing I have ever done, and I have a long history of doing disturbing things," Dubric muttered.

"Come now, it cannot have been that bad!"

"No, you're right. I relish feeling like I am dissolving, then drowning, then being jammed back together like a fucking Lego kit!"

"What's a Lego kit?"

"It a set of interlocking bricks that you give to kids…never mind. Next time we go by car, it may be slower, but if you want my help, you will have to suffer it," Dubric concluded with an authoritative tone. He then set off across the field towards the backstage. Kiandra had no choice but to follow, jogging slightly to keep pace with his larger strides.

Dubric marched through the backstage, following some scent that entirely eluded Kiandra. They walked straight through the area in which they had had their confrontation earlier and on towards the dressing rooms stopping in front of the one labeled with a flaking "3." Testing the handle, Dubric found it unlocked. Casting the door open, he hesitantly stepped inside.

"The trail ends here," he said. "It was still strong outside, incense just like from that leather band, and only one trail leading here. In here though, it's gotten all muddled and mixed with something…else, I can't quite describe it. As absurd as it sounds, it smells like air. That mean anything to you?"

"Oh yes. It means that I may just get to kill two birds with one stone," Kiandra responded with a hard glint coming into her eye. "But you said the trail ends here? There's no way of knowing where they went?"

"Not from the scents alone, no. If they used some sort of portal, a witch or other magic wielder may be able to track it though."

"No, this was no ordinary sort of magic. This was elemental. Just as I travel through water, my sister can travel through air—we become part of the element. A witch would have just as much luck tracking a drop of water once it's fallen into a pond as she would trying to track one of us. Come on, there is nothing more for us her," she said. Turning on her heel, she walked out of the room. Now, it was Dubric rushing to keep up with her.

"What now then?" he asked.

"Now we return to Van Hall. My original intention had been to talk with Nix only she disappeared before I was given the chance."

"Alright, the nearest airport is about an hour that way," Dubric asserted as he pointed off in an easterly direction.

"Really? You are sticking with your absurd hatred of water travel? It's going to take days to get back to New Orleans your way."

"Do you want my help?"

"Yes. But, you know I won't actually need your nose until I get a lead. I could take myself back through the water and you could meet me there later."

"Or I could not meet you there at all. Remember, I am doing you this favor. If you want my help, you play by my rules." The goddess glared angrily up at him. Dubric was pushing it and he knew it, but he really had no other choice. After a prolonged silence, she sighed, and gave in.

"If we are traveling by plane, you are paying. My money is, as far as I know, at the bottom of the ocean along with my city."

"Fine, I have more than enough money to cover the both of us. However, money doesn't make cars appear out of thin air. So, we are going to have to walk to the airport." At this pronouncement, Kiandra cast another withering glare straight into his face. Seemingly oblivious to this reproach, Dubric started slowly walking off, humming quietly to himself.

break

"No, no, no! This is not an airport!" Kiandra squealed as they broke through the tree lined path and came into the clearing. The sun was at last creeping above the horizon. In that faint light, Kiandra could see before them a solitary runway, which was old and faded. The concrete remained mostly intact with only a few cracks across its surface. Next to the runway sat an empty building, or at least Kiandra assumed that it was empty given that all of the lights were off. Despite the lack of people, the building seemed well maintained, with a fresh coat of green pain on the outside. Still, this was hardly what she had had in mind. "This is a poorly paved death trap with no planes," she moaned.

"There's aught wrong with the pavement and there are no planes 'cause I haven't called for them yet."

"What?"

"Did you think that we would be traveling on a public plane? With all those humans about?"

"A private plane?" Kiandra repeated dumbly.

"Aye," Dubric replied, still not giving her much attention and continuing toward the building. The thought of a private plane improved Kiandra's spirits slightly, especially if it included big, comfy seats. It had been three hours since their arrival at the concert grounds. While the walk should have taken only maybe an hour, they had arrived in the dark and the lack of light has slowed them greatly, well it had slowed her greatly. The damn Lyake seemed fine in the night, navigating around every pothole and branch on the road—every pothole and branch that Kiandra managed to step on. She had tripped and fallen more times than she could count and every time Dubric would laugh that distractingly deep laugh and offer to carry her. Only her pride had stopped her from accepting.

"Come on then!" Dubric called. He had gotten the door opened and stood holding it open for her. She jogged over and entered the building. The rising sunlight barely made it through the window. Hence, most of the things in the room remained black blobs to Kiandra's eyes. Carefully, she shuffled forward. She could hear Dubric behind her, closing the door. When he flicked on the lights, Kiandra's pupils screamed in protest and she covered her eyes with her hands.

"Agh! Warn me next time!" Kiandra proclaimed. She could hear Dubric's laugh, why was he always laughing at her?

"For such a powerful goddess you seem a might…feeble sometimes," he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Bugger off, we're not all creatures of the night like you," she muttered. Carefully, she lowered her hands but kept her eyes closed, giving them time to adjust. Then, with equal caution, she opened them to take stock of her surroundings.

The building was obviously not often occupied. Yet, like the outside, it was kept in good shape. A row of tall windows, all of which were surprisingly clean, overlooked the runway. Inside, the walls were painted with the same green paint as the outside. The floor remained bare concrete. A large white leather couch sat facing the windows. In one corner, stood a small kitchenette with an old wooden table and chairs in front of it. In the other corner, was a door, leading presumably to a bathroom. On the back wall, hung a telephone—the one thing that had attracted Dubric. Kiandra hadn't heard him dial anything, but there he stood by the wall, receiver to his ear listening intently.

"Aye. Delta-Bravo-Romeo-Charlie," he spoke into the phone. After waiting a minute, he put the handset back and turned towards Kiandra. "The nearest plane is in San Francisco, and it will be in the air within the hour. That still means that we have about two to three hours to wait. You hungry?"

He moved into the kitchenette and began rummaging around in the freezer, not waiting for Kiandra's response. Unsure what to do with herself, Kiandra sat on one of the wooden chairs by the table, pointedly choosing the one furthest from fridge. After a moment, Dubric reemerged from the freezer his arms laden with frozen foods.

"There's nothing fresh 'cause this place isn't used very often, but there should be enough frozen food to make a decent breakfast," he proclaimed as he laid everything on the counter. "Okay, so we have frozen cinnamon rolls, frozen sausage, frozen waffles, frozen hash browns, and something that's mostly iced over but I can make out the phrase 'breakfast of champions.' What sounds good?"

"Whatever you want, I'm not too picky," came Kiandra's reply. To be honest, she wasn't sure what cinnamon rolls or waffles were. They sure didn't have them in Atlantis, but she wasn't going to tell the Lyake that. Also, she was grappling with this new, domestic Dubric. Earlier he had been so focused, playfully maybe, but never really interested in her. Now, he was making food for her. When he lifted his shirt to use it as purchase on a stubborn container and flashed Kiandra a shot of his lower back, she had to grip the edges of the table to force herself to stay in her seat. The man had dimples there, too. Two little indents just above the curve of his butt. And when he bent over to fiddle with some strange metal looking box, she had a glorious view of that jean-clad ass. Kiandra never realized that she was a "butt girl," perhaps, it was just his.

"Oi, Goddess of Water, come here and add water to this frozen juice," Dubric called without turning around. Swallowing a gulp before she could stand, Kiandra made her way near enough to grab the proffered tube of frozen juice concentrate.

"There should be containers for that over there," he indicated with a finger pointing to the cabinets above the sink. "And the water from the tap should be fine, but I would let it run for a minute first."

"Right," Kiandra responded absently, already moving toward the sink and doing her upmost to focus on the task, rather than the man engaged in making her food. The containers were just as he said. She grabbed a plastic jug. When she turned on the tap, brown water flowed out. As she let it run, the liquid turned clear, and then she filled the jug. Now what? As her eyeballs ping ponged between the filled jug and the tube of concentrate, she eventually noticed the instructions on the orange juice container. Pitcher of water—check. Tube of concentrate—check. Mix together. How? Kiandra saw no utensils about and loathed to ask that man for help. Ah, no problem. As she deposited the contents of the tube into the jug, the water began to swirl around and around forming a small whirlpool that made quick work of mixing the juice. Ah, the perks of being the Goddess of Water she thought smugly.

Her orange juice task completed, she turned and fetched herself another jug, just as big as the juice one. And like the first one, she filled this second container with water. But unlike its predecessor, this one she lifted to her mouth and began to drink from greedily. She drained half of it before pulling it from her lips. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she began to move back toward her seat, taking her water jug with her. However, before she took even a step, the Lykae quashed her plans.

"Where do you think you're going? Come lay the sausages out on a plate and put them in the microwave," he commanded.

"I thought you were cooking?"

"I am. I am cooking the cinnamon rolls, the hash browns, and the waffles. I have given you the easiest thing. Think you can do it?" the Lykae teased, turning to flash her a challenging smile.

"Yes, of course! But you haven't even told me where the plates are," she retorted as she grabbed the sausages from the counter. He moved back to the box that he had fiddled with earlier, opened the front door, checked on the platters of food inside, and closed the door again.

"Over there," Dubric said pointing now towards a different set of cabinets. Sure enough, the plates were where he had pointed.

"How do you know this place so well?" Kiandra idly wondered aloud.

"All these places are built from a template. There all the same really. Different furnishings, different food, but the same basic design."

"And what are these places?"

"We call them drop points—small airports all over the world that are for the servants of my employer."

"Employer?" That was something new. "Who the hell do you work for?"

"Who the hell indeed," Dubric murmured before asking louder, "How are the sausages coming?"

"Fine!" Kiandra lied. While she had managed to put them on the plate, she wasn't quite sure what to do now. Like the orange juice container, the package of sausages had instructions. However, having no idea what a "microwave" was, the instructions were less than useless. She was sure that this thing called a "microwave" would be hot. Yet, the only thing hot in the room was the large, metal box that Dubric had put the other food in. Quietly, she eased towards it, hoping not to attract his attention. As she opened the door, the disobliging appliance let out a horrible squeak and betrayed her.

"What are you doing, lass?" Dubric said, laughing at her again.

"Putting the sausages in the microwave. What do you think I am doing?" Kiandra replied, now on the defensive.

"I canna say, but I can tell you that's no microwave, that's an oven," he purred patronizingly. "That is a microwave." Dubric now pointed to a smaller metal box over the oven.

Kiandra quickly straightened, opened the microwave door (which didn't squeak), placed the sausages inside, and the shut the door. The box didn't feel warm, so she had no idea how the sausages were going to cook, but she wasn't going to be laughed at again for asking. Hoping that this was the end of her duties, she tried to inch back to her chair only to be stopped yet again by Dubric's laugh.

"What have I done now?!" she complained.

"You have to turn it on if you want them to cook."

"I knew that!...How do you turn it on?"

"You put the time in here," he instructed as he moved behind her. She could feel the heat radiating off of him and fought herself from leaning back onto him. He lifted his arm, punched five minutes into the machine, and then pressed the start button. The machine came to life with a gentle whirr. A light turned on illuminating the food inside. For a moment, Kiandra was distracted. Then she became aware that the Lyake wasn't moving away. He just stayed there, looming behind her.

"I think I have it now. Don't you have other foods to attend to?" She was going to turn to face him, but in such close quarters, she thought better of it. Luckily, her speech broke whatever trance he had been in. He immediately moved back to the counter where the food was. She waited until the machine dinged. Carefully, she opened the door, removed the plate of sausages, and poked them. They seemed warm. Damn the man! Putting them back into the machine to stay warm, she once again tried to retreat to her chair. This time she was allowed to do so. The next twenty minutes or so passes quietly, Dubric bustling about the kitchen and Kiandra doing her best not to watch him.

"Think of Caius," she scolded herself as she tried to block out the attractive male parading around in front of her. It was her cruel brother's fault that she was here now to start with. It was her brother who deprived her of hundreds, no thousands of years of freedom. It was her brother that locked her in a tomb to die of thirst more times than she could count. It was her brother who locked her in a tomb to be ravaged by wendigos. It was her brother that had sunk her city! Death would be too kind for him. No, Kiandra had heard that Fury had been chained to the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps, she should find out if that was true and whether she would be willing to change places with her brother. Just as Caius imprisoned her earth, so she would imprison him in water.

Her dark musings were shattered when a plate laden with food slid across the table to her. Looking up, she found Dubric standing by her, offering her a fork. Hesistantly, she took the utensil from his hand, ignoring the slight shiver that radiated from where their fingers briefly touched.

"Eat up." His voice sounded somewhat hoarser and deeper. An odd occurrence, but one she did not stop to consider as she surveyed the plate before her. She was not quite sure where to start. It all smelled delicious. The sausage being the only thing she was truly certain about, she assayed it first. That first bite of food exploded with taste in her mouth, and she soon found herself attacking all the food with the same gumption as Dubric displayed. She had no true need for food, water alone sustained her. However, that didn't stop the food from tasting amazing.

They both concentrated on eating for a time. Hence, the only sounds to fill the small building were the clink of silverware against plates. At last, they both had their fill and pushed their plates away.

"That was delicious! Is all food in this era so good?" Kiandra marveled. Once again, Dubric laughed. Knowing, that this time, she wasn't truly the source of his mirth, she could appreciate the full, richness of his chuckles. Stealing a glance at this face, she definitely decided that a smile looked good on him.

"Better!" he boomed out with yet another grin. "This is just the frozen stuff, wait till you try fresh."

Kiandra found herself returning his smile, and even began laughing along with him. She should be focused on revenge, but between her full stomach and Dubric's incredibly contagious laugh, she couldn't help herself from enjoying the moment.

Sitting across from her, Dubric felt as if there was a hiccup in time. He had long ago grudgingly admitted that the lass was an incredible beauty. Now, with a smile illuminating her face and her eyes brilliant with merriment, her splendor stopped him in his thoughts. Though hardly a millisecond passed, he swore it had to have been an eternity. He would gladly spend forever just gazing at her exquisite face. And, then that word came rushing back—"Mine…Mine…MINE!" Like Kiandra, he had studiously ignored the thrill that radiated from their fingertips when handing her the fork. And, blast it all, he was now damned well going to ignore THAT word as well.

"Come on now, we'd better clean up." He sounded unduly brusque even to his own ears. Checking himself, he moderated his tone and asked politely, "If I wash, will you dry?"

"Alright, I am sure I can manage that," she replied, a smile still illuminating her face. They had not used many dishes, but they were still enough to fill the small sink. Pouring soap into the sink, Dubric let the basin fill up with water before he began to scrub the first plate.

"Towels are in that drawer," Dubric informed her, using his foot to point to the bottom drawer near the sink.

"Why would I need a towel?"

"To—dry—the—dishes?" Dubric spoke slowly as if talking to a simpleton. Now, it was Kiandra's turn to laugh.

"I'm the Goddess of Water. I don't need a towel."

"Right, this I've got to see." Giving her the plate he had just rinsed off, Dubric stood with patent disbelief etched on his face. With a mock concentration, Kiandra turned her will towards the plate, pulled all of the water off it so that if formed a nice ball, and then let the neat, little water ball drop down the drain.

"Is it satisfactorily dry?" she inquired, with fake gravitas.

"Very, continue." So they did. Dubric washed and rinsed. Kiandra pulled all the water from the dishes into little balls that drop down the drain. If she was honest, she was showing off a bit. There was no reason to form the water into the ball. She could just command it all down the drain and let it go whichever way it chooses. However, she liked how the side of Dubric's mouth would twitch toward a smile every time a water ball fell down the drain. At last, they came to the last plate. By then, an idea had formed in Kiandra's mind. A way to get back at Dubric for all those times he'd laughed at her. This time, when she formed a ball of water, she didn't let it drop down the drain. Waiting until Dubric had turned toward her, she hurled the water ball straight at his chest. There it splattered like a water balloon, drenching the middle of his grey t-shirt. Laughing, she quickly set the plate down then began to move away. The look of shock on Dubric's face was something she would treasure forever.

Deep within his chest, a growl started. Hearing it, Kiandra instinctively took flight, running for shelter behind the couch. She needn't have tried. Dubric was upon her before she had taken even two steps, his arms like iron bands around her waist.

"You are going to pay for this," he growled low in her ear. Yet, Kiandra remained unafraid. Something in his tone told her that his words were more "bark" than "bite." Confident that she still had the upper hand, laughter burst out of her again. Dubric spun her about to face him, trapping her between his larger body and the counter. Peeping into his face, Dubric looked totally befuddled.

"You—should have seen—your face!" she gasped out through fits of laughter. Suddenly, Dubric's face split into a warm grin, too.

"Twas a good joke; that I'll give you" he said, joining in her laughter. And for a few moments, they were content to share in mirth. Then as their laughs quieted, their eyes connected again and something instantly changed. Just as before, Kiandra had the strongest urge to just tackle him and snog him silly, only this time she couldn't remember why she shouldn't. So, with an internal shrug, she pulled his head down to hers.

Their lips collided. As kisses go, this one was not a nice kiss. There was no nice teasing or playful nipping. From the moment that their lips touched, just rough passion possessed them. They were all teeth and tongues. Kiandra couldn't get enough. She grasped more tightly at his head, trying to pull them closer together. Dubric's hands found their way to her ass, kneading it for a moment before cupping it and lifting her onto the counter. Her legs parted happily for him. He stepped possessively between them, grinding against her as if their clothes were not still on. Kiandra needed even more. She began tugging at his t-shirt desperate to dispatch the foul cloth that stopped her from touching the skin on his chest and back. Eager to oblige her and to feed his own need for skin-to-skin contact, Dubric broke the kiss just long enough to get the material over his head. Then, he was back, his tongue dancing with hers and his hands roaming over her legs. Greedy to explore the flesh he had just exposed, she ran her hands over his arms and shoulders. He was all hard muscles, and as she felt him move against her hands, something deep and primal in her responded. Thus, when Dubric's hands—who had been slowly making their own way up her body—grasped her breasts, she totally forgot about his muscles and arched high into his hands, eager for more.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The quick knocks came at the door. Like a cool pail of water poured over their heads, those damned knocks promptly pulled them out of their passion induced haze.

"Hello? Master Dubric? Hello?" a voice called through the door. With a look that promised that they were not done yet, Dubric move away to allow Kiandra to hop off the counter. He then called out to the man outside.

"We're here! Give us a few minutes to collect our things."

Kiandra picked up Dubric's t-shirt from where it had fallen on the floor. A large wet stain remained, but she just pulled the water out from the fabric and sent the resulting ball of water off to fall down the sink. She passed the shirt back to Dubric and took one last look at his glorious chest as he pulled it over his head.

"Come on, we've got a plane to catch." Dubric gruff voice broke into her reverie. Striding across the room while adjusting his trousers, he opened the door for her.