(OOC Note: Below post is continued from Chat Night...)

How could she have been so foolish? After letting her emotions betray her, after abandoning her heart to Victor, Wish found out he had been hiding things from her. She had been so certain she wanted to continue on with Victor and help him find the source of the bad weather in Aleris. It had been her plan to stay by his side and she still wanted to, but she felt now that doom lurked right around the corner in the form of a demon named Six.

After Deanna had went back into her office and Wish sent Alastair out in the rain, Victor and her tried to clean up the tavern. She mopped up the mess of rain water with a handful of towels and Victor went to fix the doors with magic, much more successfully now. Wish noticed, however, that her companion seemed distant, as if his mind was mulling over and over again on the same thought. Thoughts that Wish should have allowed Victor to bury, but of course, was she ever persistent.

When they were alone in their room behind closed doors once more, Wish told Victor the news about Six and Quinn, where the truth started to unravel. Victor looked uneasy about something, even with the thought of Quinn being finally freed from his demon. Victor kept insisting that she would be safe, that Six would never bother her again. There was something about the way Victor was acting; he wanted to change the subject and even at one point, had ushered her in the direction of the bed. However, Wish would have none of it. She knew something was wrong.

And then she pried the truth from Victor.

There was a good possibility that Six might still be alive somewhere and while Victor made some bargain that the demon would leave her alone, the man she had just given her heart to had not thought of his own safety, only hers. Wish felt this empty feeling in her stomach, as if hope had fallen from her and broken like glass into many pieces all over the floor. For a moment, she had buried her face into her hands and after breathing deeply, her arms fell back to her sides and she looked up at Victor.

"Basically, what you are telling me, is that I'm safe, but should he be out there somewhere - and hopefully he's not - that you're not? That he could just pop back into our lives and kill you? Did you think that maybe if he does kill you, your bargain might be off and then he'd just go after me again?"

But this wasn't about the possibility of Victor's deal being off with Six and her possibly dying because of it. This was about there now being a chance that Wish could very well lose Victor. Of course, people die every day and there was a chance Victor could just fall over and die right now, but she never wanted him to ever exchange his own safety for hers. Part of her wished she had told Victor a while ago, "Hey, I like you a lot." Feeling faint, Wish did move over to the bed and sat down on it, reaching for a pillow and hugging her it to her chest, not sure what else to do at the moment.

"Gods, I hope he doesn't take you away from me," she said this softly, almost as if she were praying.

Wish looked towards the ceiling, as if she might find some answer there. Instead, all she heard back in response to her little prayer was the sound of the storm dying. She dropped her head and looked back towards Victor questioningly as if he knew what was going on. It just seemed to happen so suddenly - the winds ceasing and the rain non-existent.

Before he could even answer her - about Six or about the storm - the earth shook. Wish steadied herself, but lamps slid off of dressers, breaking upon impact on the floor. Paintings fell from their hooks and small tables dropped on their sides to the floor. She stood and headed towards the window, trying to keep her balance, thankful she had wings for such a task. With much effort as the tavern rattled, Wish pushed the window open and stuck her head out to see what was going on.

Immediately her breath caught in her throat. There was a giant tidal wave, at least 30 feet or so in height, racing towards the direction of Grand City. Wish gazed skyward, thankful that the tavern, two stories in height, would provide some protection from the tidal wave. She had no idea if it would withstand the force of the wave, but as of right now, they had nowhere else to turn to for safety.

Wish moved away from the window and grabbed Victor's hand, the two running from the tavern. She didn't explain what was going on; Wish was sure Victor was smart enough to figure out there was a huge problem heading their way. Once outside the tavern, Wish and Victor would make their way to the roof. They got there in a timely manner from her using her wings to fly to the top, although she guessed Victor might have been able to shift into a bird and fly there on his own.

Once on the tavern's roof, she noticed a few other people who had climbed up there as well. The worst, however, was not over and as she kept hold of Victor's hand, she and everyone else on the roof waited for the impact of the monstrous wave.

The Mother Goddess worked non-stop through the torrential rains to offer shelter to animals and mortals alike. Human and elf, angel and demon, vampire and therianthrope...all were welcome into her temple, provided they behaved themselves. Her house, her rules.

So far, the earthen temple wasn't nearly filled its capacity, and most had taken shelter in the rooms where her priests and or/priestesses would reside. The massive oak that stood as her altar was now housing creatures of all shape and size.

Snakes coiled around themselves as they hid inside small nooks in the thick limbs. Birds and bats set up residence in the tallest of branches, hiding among the leaves. Smaller creatures like chipmunks and squirrels chattered away on the lower branches. The larger creatures like rabbits, deer, raccoons, foxes, and even wolves congregated in the back of the temple, finding comfort as they burrowed against the soft mossy floor to wait out the storm. Predators and prey remained at peace with each other, all banding together against the same cause.

Aurora's temple wasn't particularly vast, but it could accommodate a fair amount of living creatures, and the Mother kept her ever long vigil, her temple doors open so that all who sought shelter would find it in her loving embrace. The rains continued to pour, the winds continued to howl, lighting and thunder rolled in the sky. Her children were afraid, and it was her job to give them comfort.

Just when it seemed the storm would never end and the flooding and destruction would never end, the rains finally ceased. Aurora watched with a smile as her children began to give thanks and rejoice, weeping with joy, hugging friends and enemies alike.

And then her winged beauties returned.

The falcons screamed their arrivals, the sound of their cries was music to Aurora's ears for she had begun to think her fierce flying children were lost to the storm. They flapped their soaked wings as they landed upon their wooden perch Aurora made especially for them. The Goddess crooned and softly whistled to them as they shook themselves dry. She was about to question the falcons when the buzzing sound in her head began.

It was the voice of her sister, Elysia. Aurora tilted her head to the side and conentrated, as if listening to some distant voice.

"Deanna DiCorvino, we shall meet in the future, but for now... take those you can protect and head to higher ground. Now. Do not delay."

The Mother Goddess blinked slowly, understanding finally dawning upon her. Though the therianthrope had scoffed the Spring Goddess, rejecting her as she specifically chose her sister Elysia to hear her prayer, Aurora had been listened as well. And she had smirked. A willful child with high demands and a foul mouth, that was her Deanna. Aurora was actually surprised her sister even bothered to respond to the shifter, yet even as she did, what shocked her was not the timely response, but the content.

The Mother turned immediately to her birds of prey. "Tell me, my fierce ones, what did you see?" The falcons trilled their replies, and when they did, Aurora's blood ran cold. She paled under her golden skin tone, and those emerald eyes of hers were impossibly wide.

"My children," she whispered. With the tidal waves coming this way at the rate of speed, there would be no way that all of the inhabitants of Elved and Eiler would make it to safety. There would be many, many casualties, and not a damn thing that Aurora could do to save them. Even if she managed to herd in as many people and animals as she could, her temple could only house so many. The rest, those children she was unable to protect, would perish.

Aurora placed a chilled palm against her oak, attempting to regain her composure and calm. It wouldn't do to frighten those who had already suffered so much.

"Tell me, what of my Champion Khory? Where is my beloved daughter?" Aurora listened to the chittering as patiently as possible before nodding. Khory had left the temple with Aurora's blessing to travel towards Heruin. From what her falcons could see, the flame-haired warrior had safely managed passage toward Heruin and was safe. For now. Aurora gave thanks.

The Mother Goddess moved gracefully toward the entrance of her temple and stood there firmly as some tried to leave.

"No my children. It is best if you stay here for now. There is plenty of food, water and comfort here. It is..." Aurora faltered then, forcing herself to keep her outward features as calm and serene as her voice, a feat near impossible when on the inside she was dying. "It is not quite safe yet." And then she smiled to them even as the tears pricked her eyes.

A small child, a little girl of perhaps six tugged on the skirt of Aurora's dress. "But Mother Aurora. The rains have stopped! Do you hear? It's ok to go outside now! It's all over!" The child smiled then, and Aurora saw she had lost her two top baby teeth. Her sweet innocence caused Aurora's soul to weep tears of sorrow and loss. The Goddess scooped the small angel in her arms and held her tightly, her face nuzzling against the child's baby fine hair.

"No sweetheart. I am afraid it is not alright to go outside." She clutched the child to her breast, rubbing small circles on the little girl's back, but if the motion was made to soothe the child or the Goddess herself was anyone's guess.

"It isn't over, sweetling. It's only just begun."

Deanna stared at the mostly empty bottle of whiskey and wondered if she was turning into an alcoholic.

Of course it was impossible for her to do so considering her enhanced form didn't metabolize alcohol as a human's did. Simply put, Deanna could consume five times the amount of alcohol a human could and the worst effects she'd feel was a mild headache and the continuous urge to urinate. Not a bad trade off, really.

So it was at her desk she sat, clad once more in one of Quinn's old shirts (she had enough sense to leave some spare clothing of theirs in her office, and considering her luck lately it was a good thing), drinking alone and considered how the gods must have a sick sense of humor, and obviously loved to fuck with her.

Alastair. Alive. Different form. Here in her tavern! And she let him go!

She damned him to any and all of the blackest pits of hell, mulled over that for a bit, then damned herself as well.

Finally she drained the bottle.

She folded her arms and lay her head down upon her desk, still damp auburn hair fell in a curtain around her face and once more Deanna found herself wishing Quinn were here to pull her into his lap, and tell her everything would be alright with that optimism of his that he possessed and that stupid cocky grin of his.

Where was Quinn anyway? She had left him to deal with Maxim in the woods, but assumed he would have come looking for her by now. Unless the two Redmont brothers ended up maiming each other in fight. In any case, her mate should have been here by now. Deanna sulked as she swiped a hand across the desktop, sending the bottle and her glass flying. She ignore the shards of glass that sprayed across the flooring as her gaze settled on that small pathetic window in her office.

It was then she realized the rains had stopped.

Deanna sat up, figuring the worst was finally over and cheered considerably. She was about to head outside to find Wish (whom she had forgiven), and that asshole mage Victor Sage (whose ass she still planned on kicking for the damage done) when a wave of nausea rolled through the shifter. Then the throbbing in her head began, that same pain when you drink something cold far too fast. Deanna clutched her head, sputtering curses when she heard the voice.

"Deanna DiCorvino, we shall meet in the future, but for now... take those you can protect and head to higher ground. Now. Do not delay."

It seemed ages before the ache in her head finally diminished and she no longer felt like regurgitating her whiskey. So the Goddess Elysia had heard her lame ass attempt at a prayer, had she? Well, great, but what was up with the dire warning? More imminent doom?

Deanna stood, a snarky comment about certain Goddesses just begging to be voiced, when the ground began to shake. Deanna clutched her desk, for all good it did her, as the contents on her shelves began to topple down and she heard the various bottles and glassware by the bar smash and break. Lanterns, chairs and tables, wall hangings, nothing was spared during the quake.

"GODS! NOT MY FUCKING TAVERN!" Deanna swore that some mystical force was out to get her, to ruin her beloved tavern. Or maybe the Oak Barrel was just cursed after Victor had his grubby hands on it. Either way, Deanna knew the repairs needed were NOT in the budget! This was going to cost a bloody fortune!

The sounds of people scuttling on the rooftop drew her eyes heavenward and exasperated, she threw up her hands. "Now what?!" She braved the still quaking ground and various broken objects as she weaved through the tavern to head outside.

No sooner had she opened the door, did the violent winds lash at her, whipping at her hair and shirt. The sound was deafening and she took several steps away from the tavern to note that her rooftop was crowded with people, including her staff and Wish and Victor.

They were scared shitless.

Deanna managed to wave a hand above her head and shout to Wish, wondering what in hell was going on, when she saw Myrna clutching Jack and Bess against her and pointing with one hand toward the coast. Myrna was shouting something, but between the howling of the winds and the sobs of those on the roof, Deanna was having a hard time understanding even with her sensitive ears. "What?" She cupped her hands around her mouth, trying desperately to be heard when finally, just finally the annoying trill of Wish's voice managed to pierce through the roaring sound of the winds to reach her.

Did she just say tidal wave?

Deanna turned her head toward where the people were pointing and screaming. From her vantage point she couldn't see anything, but when Elysia told her to get everyone to safety, she obviously meant it.

Now....exactly what in hell was Deanna supposed to do?

She swiped at the hair that was slapping against her cheeks as she regarded those on the rooftop. Did they really believe that they were safe there? Deanna had never actually seen a tidal wave before, but she had heard the tales, and if what she heard was true....well....

They were so royally fucked.

Wish, Victor and the others were beckoning her to climb quickly, for it wasn't safe on the ground. Deanna wasn't exactly sure how safe it would be when tons of water came crashing into her (sob) beloved tavern, but she never bothered to respond. It was then she realized Quinn was still somewhere out there.

Deanna spun on her heel, hardly about to leave her mate to fend for himself when she heard the voices on the rooftop calling to her, trying to prevent her from leaving. She turned and yelled out, "I have to find Quinn!" And that was that. Deanna took off in the direction of the forest, hoping that Quinn was maybe still lurking about. Perhaps he grew tired and went home?

The shifter began shouting out her mate's name even as the winds picked up speed, and it was all she could do to remain upright between the turbulent atmosphere and the violent tremors below ground. "QUINN!"

By this point, Deanna was beyond the point of terror. How long would it be before the tidal wave was upon them? "QUINN!" The woods weren't far off and she continued to run and scream out her mate's name.

Cursing him, the damn natural disaster, and even the gods, Deanna called out once more only this time, it wasn't to Quinn.

"Elysia, you cold hearted bitch! You could have at least given me some time, a little warning you know, before the shit hit the fan!" She ran blindly through the woods, cursing once more as a stray branch nearly took an eye out. "Just going to let me die out here while I try to find my idiot mate, aren't you?!"

"QUINN YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Deanna vowed that if she found him at home asleep, she'd punch her fist right through that thick head of his. How long she called for him, she had no idea. Where was he?

"QUINN! YOU BETTER PRAY THIS WAVE KILLS US BEFORE I FIND YOU!"

The shifter had often thought how and when she would die, especially the many times she came perilously close to tangoing with Death. The hows and whens were plenty. She even prioritized them on a list from most painful to least.

Surprisingly enough, this little scenario did not make her list.

He opened his eyes and looked around. The taste of blood was strong in his mouth and he knew it was his own. What happened? The last thing he remembered was standing in the opening talking to Maxim. Deanna left so that the two of them could have some privacy, however Maxim didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. He left shortly after Deanna without saying a single word. Quinn had been fuming when he saw his 'brother' and it'd taken more self control than he'd used holding his demon in to keep himself from attacking the man right there.

But he hadn't. So why was he laying on the ground, (yes, he was laying down there was dirt in his face and his head was laying in a wet spot from the rain) tasting his own blood in his mouth? After Maxim left he with no questions answered and his anger boiling, Quinn had stayed in the clearing hoping to vent some stress so that he didn't take that back to Deanna.

What happened instead was he was laying on the ground, his blood in his mouth, and barely able to feel his hands. It was coming to him piece by piece. It seemed the more he thought about it the more pain the become aware of. He'd punched a tree, okay several trees, hoping that it'd help, but it didn't. That was when he heard something move behind him.

He tried pushing himself up at least into a sitting position, but that didn't happen the first time he tried. His arm didn't seem to want to work correctly. Of course the pain in his hands came from when they'd gotten broken. Wait, how did they get broken? Then it all came back to him.

He'd heard the sound from behind him and spun thinking it must have been Maxim coming back, but instead he was greeted by a different sight, and a voice that was all too familiar to him.

"Hello Q-ball, long time no see."

The demon was directly behind him. How had he gotten so close without him being able to smell him? Oh, that's right. Now he knew how Deanna had felt.

At first Quinn had thought 'go away' and expected him to vanish. However he didn't, and then it hit him. This wasn't the demon stuck in his head, this was the full demon. The monster under his bed, who finally decided it wasn't happy in the small cramped area of his bed and had come out to play. Instinctively Quinn threw a punch at the demon's head. As his fist came closer to his face, the demon blurred and was standing ten feet back. Quinn staggered a bit at the shock of it.

"What do you want?" He asked the sadistic demon.

"Is that how your mother raised us to speak to old friends? I would think that you'd be happy to see me since I disappeared on you so suddenly before." He gave Quinn a fake pout. "Anyways, that bastard wizard ripped me from you just in time to let some virus take hold it appears." Six shook his head. "What a shame." he sniffed the air around them, "And it smells like you and that hyena bitch have been doing the dirty quite a bit there. Way to go tiger! I always knew you had it in you. I just wish I'd been able to see your first time."

"Back to your question, what do I want? Well I wanted to see how you were doing now that you didn't have me. And I must say, it saddens me to see you this low. It truly does. I expected so much more from you." he shrugged. "Oh well. I guess I'll just kill you now."

In a blur Six was back in front of Quinn, his fist slamming into Quinn's chest so hard it made him cough up blood. Looking down at it, it almost looked comical. Six's fist disappeared slightly into his chest. It almost looked like a magic trick. Only this one hurt like hell. When Six pulled back the only thing that saved Quinn from another blow was that he fell before Six's hand could hit again.

Quinn lay on the ground, face turned to the side slightly as blood dripped from his mouth. The demon walked around him, tsking the whole time.

"I really expected more from you Quinn. Maybe I should just kill you now and let you rest in peace." instead he stomped his foot down on Quinn's right hand. Bones cracked and Quinn would have screamed, but got choked on his blood. Then Six kicked his arm, breaking it in at least one place and dislocating his shoulder. The demon repeated this treatment to his other arm and hand.

"I'll tell you what. You heal up, work out a little bit, and come see me again. Ok? Then we'll see what happens." He leaned down and kissed Quinn's forehead. "Tell Deanna I said hello. Oh, and that she tasted very sweet." he paused in his motion to turn away, "Well...maybe I'll tell her myself." At that Quinn began to stir, despite the pain he started pushing himself to his feet. Until Six turned back around and kicked him across the face.

And now Quinn was healing. Slowly, but it was still happening. That was what had happened. The blow to his head must have knocked him out for a bit. With that bit of understanding Quinn prepared himself for the pain that was about to follow. He pushed himself across the dirt floor to the nearest tree, until his right shoulder pressed against it. Then, he pushed. A garbled scream came from his mouth as his shoulder snapped back into place.

He lay there for a moment before wrapping his arm around the tree and using it to pull himself up to his feet. Grabbing his other arm he pulled and popped it back into place too. The were looked down at were he'd been. A smeared blood trail led from where he was to the tree. That meant at least half his face was probably covered in blood. At least it was still raining and it would wash it off somewhat.

Then it stopped raining.

"Really?" he muttered. At least that's what he'd meant to say. What came out didn't really sound anything like that. Oh well. The shifter then felt the earth move under his feet. That couldn't be good. Deanna. He needed to get back to Deanna. But where would she be? The only place she'd be of course, her tavern. Ever since she'd become manager there that was all she did...other then the wild animal sex they'd been having. But that was fine, it meant he almost always knew where to look for her.

He took off in the direction of the bar, and it didn't take long before he started hearing Deanna's voice yelling his name. He tried yelling back but his throat was just too sore from heaving up blood. His body had taken an inventory of what was wrong and had decided to fix the worse things first. Smart body.

It took him a moment or two to pinpoint the location of her voice, but eventually he did and he changed his coarse to take him towards her. They met each other a few minutes later and at first he could tell she was cross with him. He had been gone for a long time and hadn't answered her shouts. But then she took full stock of his body and a flash of worry crossed her face, but that was quickly replaced with full blown anger.

It made him smile, but they didn't have time to get caught up with each other right then. Six was still around somewhere and he'd made a threat towards Deanna. "Run!" he was able to get out before pushing her back towards the city. As they ran she kept trying to tell him something but for some reason he couldn't quite hear her. Digging a finger into his ear, he pulled it back out to find it covered in blood and mud from laying on the ground too long. But at least he could hear now.

And the first couple of words he heard were, "tidal wave coming towards the city." He was still in pain. His body was still healing. However he was her mate. He was her alpha. And so for the first time since he'd been bitten Quinn shifted. More bones broke, mended, and reformed. His body quickly became that of a rather large silver wolf. It felt odd, mainly because he'd expected to shift into the werewolf form he'd seen in his head. Instead he stood before Deanna a very large wolf. Large enough to ride.

Without waiting for her to get the clue, Quinn nudged his nose between Deanna's legs from behind and pushed forward, until she was straddling his neck...more or less. He'd done it quickly, but she'd grabbed ahold of his fur and stayed on rather then falling off his backside. He took off again, this time moving at a much faster speed. It was invigorating. He'd known that he'd be able to run faster, but was completely taken by surprise at how fast he could actually go.

Eventually Deanna got a better hold on his fur and was more comfortable cause he could feel her heels digging into his sides, spurring him on. They made it back to town in record time and he got them back to the tavern and onto it's roof in a single leap. As his feet hit the top of the building, his knees buckled beneath him and he fell hard, shaking the tavern and those on top. He hadn't realized that there would be others up there, but thinking back it made sense.

He'd never shifted before and added to the trauma his body had already gone through it was just too much for him. His body returned to it's normal form, minus the clothes that had been ripped when he turned the first time. He tried pushing himself to his feet, but nothing worked. His arms and his legs where just dead now. Looking to Deanna he smiled.

"Sorry I was late." he was breathing heavy and his eyes kept closing. "Had a run in with an old friend." the pauses between each word grew. "Thanks...for...coming...for...me." the last word might have been lost to the sound of the tidal wave about to hit shore, but that was fine. The world went black again for a while and that was peaceful.

I don't know why I do the things I do. I just know what feels right and what feels wrong. I've been asked what possesses me to do these things. And while I don't always have an answer that makes them happy, what I tell them is this, "I try to be a good man. Or at least what I see as a good man, and to that end I try to do what a good man would do in a bad situation".

Keeping that in mind what I did for Wish was what I felt a good man would do. Of course if I'd even thought that things would progress to the point that they had between the two of us, I may have rethought that. Normally when I do something for someone, especially when it puts me in risk in place of that person, I don't have to worry about seeing them again. So it isn't an issue of telling or not telling them what I've done. I do it and gladly accept the ramifications.

This time however, I stuck around. I'd actually forgotten that I'd made that deal and that Six could come back any time he wanted and kick my ass. (Little did I know at this time that he'd decided to go on and kick someone else's ass first.) I hadn't taken into consideration that Wish wouldn't be happy with the deal until after she reminded me. Egg on my face.

Luckily for me things were about to go down and get me off the hook...for a while. The storm stopped to suddenly that it brought our discussion to a stop. And then the earth shook, and it didn't stop. We shared a look, and both of us headed towards the door and out of the tavern.

I'd like to say I'm not a man who scares easily, but that'd be a lie. I've explained my feelings of fear to Wish before and she didn't really seem to get them, but that was fine. When a 30 foot tidal wave is heading in the direction of where you're standing, fear is a completely rational feeling. As a matter of fact, I would say that peeing your pants would be a rational reaction. Luckily I was only so rational.

Fear this time motivated me to do something. Fortunately for me, it motivated Wish quicker. Before I knew it she'd flown us to the top of the tavern, where we stood with the other inhabitants of the bar. I turned and looked to the scared people on the roof with us.

"Alright people! We've only got a few minutes. I need you to get as many people onto this roof as possible. Wave them in, let them know that we're probably one of the highest grounds and that they'll be safe up here." At least that was what I'd hoped would be the case. If I couldn't get my plan to work right we have been in just as bad a place as the rest of Aleris.

I looked at Wish. "I'm sorry." I said. "I should have told you. However, when you live the life that I do, most of the time you're by yourself. And it's only very rarely that you find someone who is strong enough to live it with you." I paused thinking back on my past, "And even then sometimes you get let down. When we get done with this whole mess, I'll make it up to you."

From there I went on to describe how I'd planned on putting a barrier up in front of the tavern. Basically a magical brick wall to stop the water cold. It would take a lot of energy but if I was able to pull it off it'd save this building and all those in/on it. The look I got from Wish was one that I'd grown to love over the years we'd spent together afterwards. She looked at my like I was completely stupid.

"Are you completely stupid?" Great minds think alike it appeared. "If you try to stop it cold like that it's going to drain you and possibly kill you. Are you really in such a hurry to get away from me? Let me help you, between the two of use we should be able to make and hold a magical plow of some sorts. Instead of stopping it dead on... We divert it to the sides!"

"We devert it to the sides!" we finished together.

"Brilliant, you're absolutely brilliant!" And so we set to work. Before we could get to the "practice stage of our game, however we were interrupted by one of the biggest silver wolves I"d ever seen. And slowly it became Quinn. He was here, and with him came Deanna. I offered both a brief nod before going back to what I was doing. Quinn was talking, but it didn't seem like a good time to ask him to repeat himself.

I made eye contact with Wish, "Ready?" I asked. She just nodded. We looked down the street and could see the first part of the wave coming up towards us. "Alright, lets wedge our way in there!" I shouted to be heard over the noise. I chanted briefly and before you knew it both of us where using our will to cast the perfect spell. Of course I was pulling a little bit on her magic and she was pulling a little on mine.

Smiling to myself I braced, getting ready for the building to shake even more. It seemed that I always found myself in situations like these and since I'd been doing it most of my life...this was exactly what I'd expected of my day. It would have been a surprise if I'd gotten to cuddle with Wish again and actually got a good night's sleep.

Our plow came out and despite getting a bit wet, it seemed to be working perfectly. As the wave lowered I let my half down knowing it wasn't going to be needed for a little bit. I walked over to Wish and hugged her tight enough to pull her out of her feet and planted a big kiss on her lips. Laughing a bit I pulled away and said, "We Did it!". Cheers went up all around us. Truth was I'd almost forgotten they were even still there until they cheered.

I like to think that they cheered the kiss. Cause, well damnit all, I'm a good kisser! But if I was honest with myself I'd admit that it was because we'd just saved all the people who were in or on the Oak Barrel Tavern.

The smile didn't last long on Wish's face and I was forced to turn around and see that there was another tidal wave working it's way up. It wasn't quite as strong as the first, but it was pretty damn close. "Well, looks like we're up to bat again." and I stooped and prepared to protect the land I lived in.

Cross wasn't the word she would use to describe how she felt when Quinn finally made his appearance. She was about to give him a verbal tongue lashing he wouldn't forget when she finally took a good long look at her mate.

Someone or something had beaten the ever-loving shit out of him, and it sure as hell wasn't her.

Deanna's amber orbs widen and she sucked in her breath. To say Deanna was pissed was the understatement of the year. Someone was going to pay for damaging her mate. Even as Deanna was demanding to know what happened, Quinn began to pull her along and commanded her to run back in the direction she came.

Deanna tried several times to tell Quinn what was coming their way, but her mate was having none of it. Something happened back there, something that put such fear in Quinn that he was determined to flee from it. Apparently the tidal wave was the lesser of the evils as Quinn never broke stride, though she could easily see that he was in great pain.

Without warning Quinn shifted, something Deanna knew he hadn't done since the attack. Instead of becoming the werewolf he should have been, Quinn transformed into a rather large silver wolf. So stunned by this new form of his, Deanna almost forgot the dangers surrounding them.

When Quinn made it known that he wanted her to climb on and ride him like some common horse back to the tavern, Deanna began to protest. She was perfectly capable of running along side of him, and knew that besides his earlier injuries, the transformation into wolf form would have likely caused him greater pain and exhaustion.

Her mate, however, was having none of that. He was Alpha, and whether Deanna liked it or not (more like not), she obeyed and off they went, a magnificent blurred sight of a woman riding her wolf. He was fast, faster than she could ever be, and for some reason that thought irked her.

Deanna held onto his fur for dear life and as he ran, she considered who or what could have hurt Quinn in such a manner. She ruled out Maxim almost immediately for two reasons. One, the vampire would not have dishonored himself or her by harming his brother, her mate. Maxim knew how much Deanna loved Quinn, and wouldn't cause her undue pain by inflicting violent force on Quinn. Two, she hadn't smelled the vampire on Quinn. Maxim had a distinct scent that Deanna knew all too well. So that ruled him out.

Another therianthrope, if strong enough, could have attacked Quinn and left him in this state, but again it was unlikely, for the shifter would have smelled another on her mate. Which left....

Deanna's heart nearly burst from her chest as Quinn managed an impressive leap onto the tavern's rooftop. It was there that a mass of people were huddled together in fear from both tidal wave and the sight of the abnormally large wolf, and Wish and Victor were performing some sort of spell to handle the tidal wave, which she now finally saw.

Quinn's strength gave out almost immediately upon landing and he landed with a hard thud that shook the stone and wood structure of the tavern. Deanna rolled off even as Quinn was changing back to his human form. She scrambled on hands and knees to him and wiped the sweat from his brow. Brave as he was Quinn was suffering immensely.

"What can I do?" She groaned inwardly as a spasm of pain crossed his face. If there was something Deanna hated, it was a feeling of helplessness. Her mate needed her and she had no idea how to help him. And then Quinn spoke.

"Sorry I was late." he was breathing heavy and his eyes kept closing. "Had a run in with an old friend." the pauses between each word grew. "Thanks...for...coming...for...me."

He fell silent even as she heard the cheers of triumph from those on the rooftop with them, saw out of the corner of her eye Wish and Victor hug and kiss in victory.

Deanna replayed the last few words Quinn uttered as she kept her gaze on the fae and mage.

And then she knew.

Deanna stood as time seemed to crawl around her. The sounds of joyful cries were deafened to her. She barely acknowledge anyone's presence, even as they pointed to the sight of another tidal wave that followed close behind its sister, signalling that the danger was far from over. The barrier protected the tavern, but for how long? Already the streets and alleyways were flooded.

But it was over for Victor Sage.

Deanna felt a sudden surge of energy and power flow through her body as her legs carried her forward to where Wish and Victor stood about to begin another magical spell.

It never fucking happened.

Humanity was cast off like an unwanted garment as Deanna's arm shot out, backhanding Wish with such force it knocked her several feet from where they stood, nearly off the rooftop, but a few tavern patrons managed to snag her before she fell. Before Victor could even blink, she was on him, her fist connecting with such force to his face, his head snapped back and she could hear his jaw shatter, his nose break. Deanna wasted no time in her attack on Victor while the people scattered to the edge of the roof, fearful to be caught in the crossfire.

While the mage was cupping his face and blood gushed from behind his fingers, Deanna lifted her leg and brought her foot down sharply just above Victor's kneecap, effectively breaking his leg. Not a split-second later, the same was done to its twin. Victor attempted to scream, but with his jaw in a ruin, the effect was ruined, but so was his ability to chant. There would be no spells coming from the mage. With his legs broken, he could not escape.

Not that Deanna would let him.

There was nothing at all remotely human in her facial features. All softness had gone from the lines of her face and were replaced by something quite feral and deadly. Her eyes had bled from their amber gold to blackness. Though she never smiled, never spoke a word, her canine's elongated and sharpened. They would be put to use soon enough on Victor.

She bent down and grabbed Victor by his arms, yanking him upright. Once more Deanna wasted no time at all breaking the bones of both upper arms. With Victor put out of commission, Deanna cradled him against her, his back pressed against her breasts and she bent her head so that her lips brushed against his neck.

"You're going to die now. You know that, don't you, mage?"

The words were spoken in a hushed whisper, almost lovingly as Deanna held Victor against her with one arm braced around his middle, her free hand cupped under his chin that was slick with his own blood. It would take just one snap of her teeth around the soft unprotected flesh that was his throat to sever his head from his body.

Deanna wasn't caught unaware that Wish was finally up and moving, prepared to defend her lover with everything she had.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you fairy. I will kill him. You know I will. He'll die screaming before you can save him."

Deanna bit savagely through Victor's coat and clothing underneath, tearing out a sizable chunk of flesh between his shoulder and throat, his blood pouring down her chin and torso as she spit the offending bit of meat and fabric out.

"That was just a taste. Do something stupid, and I'll tear his fucking throat out."

Deanna saw that Wish had hesitated and she gripped Victor tightly, her clawed hands digging painfully into his body, but that was the least of his worries.

"You shouldn't have lied to me fae, you or your lover boy here." The words were spoken so casually, one might have thought the two females were having a civilized conversation.

"I took up for you. I gave you shelter and food. I offered my services to you, and this is how you repay me?" Deanna shook her head as Wish took a tentative step forward. "Close enough fae."

She flexed her muscles and with that light pressure, Victor's ribs began to fracture under her touch.

"He's going to die, one way or another. Consider it payment for Quinn."

Deanna regarded Wish for a moment, seeing true fear in the fae's eyes, but also great rage as she bore witness to the vicious abuse her lover was receiving from Deanna. For a moment, Deanna almost considered letting Victor go.

Almost.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Wish, something the demon you call Six did not give to my mate. You can either waste your time saving the wizard here, which is fine. I will kill him. You might kill me too, but I'll die knowing I took someone you love with me." Then Deanna did smile, albeit faintly. "Besides, I have a score to settle with Elysia anyway. I'm not afraid to die."

She let that sink into Wish for a bit before continuing on. "You're other option is to use your magics to stop that tidal wave from destroying everyone and everything." She nodded to those on the rooftops, speaking loudly so they would hear her. "You can save them, you know. Or, if you want to be a selfish bitch, you can just let them die and us with them." She wanted those poor frightened people to know that their lives hung in Wish's hands.

Deanna returned her dark hate-filled gaze to Wish. "The choice is yours, fae. Save these people and others, or 'attempt' to save this worthless piece of shit who deemed you more valuable than my mate, or the rest of the unsuspecting innocents who will eventually fall victim to this demon, this Six."

She gripped Victor's chin tighter, wrenching his head back as far as it would go before snapping clean off his shoulders.

"Our decisions are never easy once we make them fae, but you two should have thought about that before you fucked with me and my mate. You made your choice then, make another one now."

Either way, Victor Sage was going to die by her hand.

He had spent the last couple of years alone, trying to find inner peace. And he had found it, right when hell seemed to be unleashed on Aleris. Going to the first place he could think of he found himself going to Elysia's temple. On his way he couldn't help but save a group of wandering morons and of course he'd regretted it almost as soon as he'd done it.

He'd no sooner finished his prayer to his Goddess, then he was interrupted by one of the fools who he'd saved. She was making small talk with him despite the fact that he was obviously busy. And then she asked his name. He was about to reply when the Winter Goddess herself appeared in the temple.

"Dravvin, I see you have gotten yourself an apprentice," were the first words she'd spoken to the elemental since she informed him that his daughter was in Grand City. He didn't reply. The last thing he'd wanted or needed was another child to take care of. He'd not been that great a father to the ones he had. He didn't need to be responsible for someone else's child. Then she motioned him to follow her, unfortunately the girl came along as well. He tried giving her a look that said "leave the grown-ups to talk" but she either didn't get it or didn't care. Since the Goddess didn't seem to mind her following Dravvin didn't say anything.

They were finally alone...the three of them...and once they were Elysia dropped her request. She wanted him to keep the Eternal Lake frozen. It was a daunting task, however, if the Goddess wanted him to do it, then so be it. He'd died before doing something that was similar, before, and if it was required of him, he'd do it again.

He nodded his answer to Elysia, "Of course M'lady. Your wish is my command." with that he turned to leave...and much to his dismay so did the child, "I'm sorry, but where do you think you're going?" He asked in his best 'dad' voice. "I believe the Goddess of -Death- asked me to work on the lake problem. I don't recall her instructing you to come along. If anything I said to you out on the lake before stuck, I hope that it would be that only a moron would try crossing it."

The elemental stopped for a moment, "By the way, my name is Dravvin." He found that it was easy to have inner peace when you were locked up in a cabin all alone. However when you got out into world again with people, that was when you realized what you thought you could only find alone was something that could only be found in the company of people. In that moment the illusion he'd created for himself shattered. He hadn't found inner peace, he'd just been a hermit.

"Get your things. You're too young to be left with these idiots. They won't know how to keep you safe. Lets go." He didn't even wait to see if she was following, if she really wanted to go with him she would. "If you're going to be with me you need to get used to some rules, the first one is that you do what I tell you to, the first time I tell you to. I'll let you know the rest of the rules as I make them up."

So he had an apprentice. He wondered how this would go down with the rest of the family? That was when he realized he'd been keeping them from his thoughts since this began. He was worried about them, but didn't know where they all were. There wasn't anything he could do for them where they were so he'd come here to try to help figure out what was going on. The Iceman prayed again, this one a silent prayer to Elysia despite the fact that she was just in the other room.

"Please Goddess, keep an eye on my family. If it's their time to go then that's fine, but don't let them go without knowing that their father loves them. And don't let them go scared."

With that he set out to keep a lake of frozen myths from becoming a lake of very real, very dangerous monsters. He was starting to feel a bit more like his old self. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Mainly because since his return he wasn't which of his "old selves" he'd be. Since Elysia brought him back, Dravvin had kept the memories and feelings of every Dravvin that had ever been. In the land before Aleris he'd been through some very strange things and apparently they were still inside of him now. This should be fun.

When the Winter Goddess spoke and named her 'apprentice', Rahne couldn't help but preen. She stood a bit taller, rocking back and forth on her heels with a shit eating grin on her face. That's right, Rahne, Apprentice Extraordinaire!

The old guy didn't seem to appreciate the remark, and even had the nerve to shoot her a 'Go away little girl' look even as she followed the Goddess, whom she might point out, didn't mind at all that Rahne was including herself in the super-secret conversation. When the Goddess wasn't looking, Rahne smirked at Dravvin daring him to question Elysia's motives. Wise man that he didn't.

When Elysia commanded 'them' to keep the Eternal Lake frozen, Rahne nearly peed herself with excitement! She was so up to the challenge, and quite honored that Elysia trusted her to keep the continent and its people safe. With Dravvin's help, of course.

The old guy started to leave to do the bidding of his mistress, and so Rahne followed him. "I'm sorry, but where do you think you're going?" He asked in his best 'dad' voice. "I believe the Goddess of -Death- asked me to work on the lake problem. I don't recall her instructing you to come along. If anything I said to you out on the lake before stuck, I hope that it would be that only a moron would try crossing it."

Rahne narrowed her startling violet-blue eyes at him. She had practiced the art of staring hard at someone without blinking, and she was determined her 'ability' would serve her well in dealing with this uptight bossy pants. "Your mom's a moron," was her reply. Quite the clever comeback when you thought about it.

Then the geezer introduced himself as Dravvin. Dravvin? What kind of ridiculous name was Dravvin? His mother must not have loved him enough to name him something normal, like Cornelius.

Rahne didn't respond, but continued to stare at him, her hands on her hips. She was going to win this pissing contest. There was no doubt about it. It didn't take long before she was triumphant when Dravvin The Pompous Ass graciously accepted the fact that she was far more superior than he, and recognized that he might in fact need such a worthy assistant such as she by his side. Men were a bit slow, Rahne knew. It just took the right amount of persuasion before they realized they simply were not equipped to battle against women.

When he finally relented, informing her that she would be in better care with him than with those dolts she traveled with, she couldn't argue that fact. The little girl that Rahne dubbed The Annoying One ran to her as she began gathering her coat and hat from the floor.

"Where are you going? Can I come too?" Rahne glanced at the child, wondering if she realized how irritating her voice was.

"Uh, yeah. No." Rahne rolled her eyes at the kid as she tied the sleeves of her coat around her waist, which looked idiotic, but the teenager didn't seem to notice.

"Please!" The Annoying One begged. "I'm big enough to go. I'm eight!" The child held up five fingers. Rahne stared at her, her brows raised. "Oh wow. Eight huh?" The young woman grabbed the child's other hand and held up three more fingers. "That's eight, you stupid. And you're not going with me. Go back to your mother."

She scooped her hair up into a bun and stuffed it under her cap, as Dravvin began to head out. She spared one last look at the pouting child. "So, see ya! Try not to get killed!" With a jaunty wave, she followed at Dravvin's heels.

She was feeling rather good about herself until the old guy with the stupid name finally spoke again. "If you're going to be with me you need to get used to some rules, the first one is that you do what I tell you to, the first time I tell you to. I'll let you know the rest of the rules as I make them up."

Rahne scowled as she kept pace with him. "I'm sixteen, Pops, not six. You don't need to be all 'Evil Overlord' one me." While Dravvin wasn't looking, Rahne gestured rudely behind his back.

Dravvin fell silent for some time, and Rahne took the opportunity to wonder what sort of beasties lurked under the Lake. Probably the face eating kind. Or brain sucking fiends! Or maybe they were soul stealers! How cool would that be? She'd stand guard at the lake, and when one of the evil monsters poked their heads through the ice, she'd bash their evil brains in! She'd be a hero!

Rahne paused in mid-step. A weapon. She'd need a weapon. She eyeballed Dravvin earlier and didn't detect any sort of sword or sharp dagger on his person. Well, rats. Then inspiration struck, for she was truly a brilliant sort of gal. She'd find her own weapon!

Rahne grabbed at a tree branch and yanked it hard until finally the wood split and she was left with a very sturdy three foot stick. She plucked the few leaves off and smiled proudly at her new found brain bashing stick. No! Not a stick! A Freakin' Bo Staff!

The teenager began waving her awesome weapon of death around like she was some sort of stealthy bad-assed warrior, jabbing and thrusting and nearly taking Dravvin's head off several times while he silently brooded and prayed.

The first time she nearly hit him, she smiled sweetly and tried for the innocent little girl look. "Oopsies! Sorry!"

The second time she almost brained him, and he turned to glare at her. "What? It was an accident! Not my fault your big head got in the way!"

The third time Dravvin threatened to break the stick, or rather Freakin' Bo Staff in two, Rahne mumbled something about shoving said stick up his rear, but probably not having enough room to do so since it was clear he already had one firmly planted between his cheeks. "Sheesh! Relax man! It's called a mistake you know!"

The silence continued on, and even though Rahne was enjoying herself with her cool new weapon, she was growing bored and restless.

"So what exactly is beneath the lake that Elysia sent you out on this bitch-boy mission, huh?"

There was no reply.

"Uh, hello Pops? Did you hear me? I'm talking to you." Rahne raised her voice some in case Dravvin was hard of hearing.

She could have sworn she heard a sigh and something rude he muttered under his breath, but Rahne remained steadfast in her mission to annoy 'The Crabby Old One'.

"You know," she began in that cheerful voice of hers as her short legs quickened their pace to keep up with Dravvin, whom by all accounts appeared to be trying to rid himself of her. "You should clean the wax from your ears. Or maybe wax isn't your problem. Maybe it's all that hair. I'd trim that up if I were you Pops. It would improve your hearing. Also, it's totally gross to look at. Seriously. Really, really gross."

Rahne didn't bother to listen if Dravvin did reply. She began whistling a jaunty tune, skip-hopping her way to the Lake, much to Dravvin's ire.

The old guy had absolutely no sense of humor. He was a total tight-ass, and Rahne felt that it was a sign of the gods, or more like Elysia, that she happened to have crossed his path. The guy was a hopeless case and should be grateful that Rahne was here now to turn that frown upside down!

She glanced sideways at Dravvin who looked particularly grim, his mouth in a hard line. "You know, frowning gives you wrinkles, and lemme tell ya Pops, you really don't need anymore."

She beamed a smile at Dravvin. Like it or not, Rahne planned on being a permanent fixture in Dravvin's life.

Wish tried to remember that victory kiss Victor had given her on the roof and everything before. She put those memories safely inside her mind, the way he had made her heart feel alive again - the way he had made her feel wanted like she had once more belonged somewhere. Home... She held onto these things as tightly as she could, because given the situation, Wish didn't know that Victor was actually going to make it. And to her utter surprise, it wasn't because of Six as she had expected, but because of Deanna.

Several things happened in a flash. Wish and Victor had mere minutes to prepare for the second oncoming wave. They had successfully protected the others from the first wave and by combining their magical talents, both had saved a substantial amount of their energy. Making a second barrier wouldn't be a problem, right? Wrong. She was dead wrong.

Before Wish knew it or even had fair time to react, she had lost her footing due to being backhanded across the face by Deanna. The therianthrope did this with such force that Wish was sure her jaw was broken. She went tumbling down the roof and lost her hold on Victor's hand. She was dimly aware of what else was going on as she went rolling towards the edge of the tavern's roof. On the way down, part of her wings ripped on nails that were not properly hammered into the roof. If it wasn't for some of the other people on the tavern roof, Wish was assuming she would have likely plummeted into the depths of the water the first wave created.

But here she was, scrambling back up the roof with the help of two men she didn't recognize. Pain from her wings flowed up and down her spine and she gave a shudder, even more so when she was finally able to look up meet Victor with her eyes. Deanna was attacking Victor. As a healer, you notice wounds and broken bones quicker than most people and Wish could definitely tell the therianthrope had snapped his legs and arms. Victor was sitting there looking ghostly pale and there was no way in hell he was going to be able to defend himself from any additional attacks.

Wish pushed the two men away from her who were trying to help her stand and climbed back up the roof. She was only a few feet away from Deanna when the tavern manager warned her to stop and not make a sudden move. Her feet stopped her as Deanna had Victor cradled against her chest, almost in some sick, loving way. Then the shifter's head lowered and she ripped a sizeable chunk from Victor's neck. Deanna spit the flesh out shortly afterwards and blood pooled from the hole in his neck.

Deanna was speaking, but all her words were a blur in Wish's ears. If she was standing still, it was because her knees were weak and she couldn't breathe. She was watching Victor die for sure and somewhere not far off she could hear the second wave of water coming their way. She was frozen on the spot and the only thing that jarred her from her trance was the sound of Victor's ribs being crushed. Now that he was unable to breathe from his throat, his ribs were also broken.

Her entire world was spinning.

"STOP IT!" Wish suddenly screamed, her fingers digging into her hair, into her scalp. She didn't really know if she was yelling to Deanna or to everyone else around her.

She didn't lie to Deanna about Six; Wish didn't know there was a possibility that the demon could come back. While Wish was upset with Victor for this, she didn't think that he deserved to die like this. In fact, it bothered her immensely that Deanna had no clue what Victor and Wish had gone through with Six. She didn't want to compare her experiences to Deanna's, but her last few months in Heruin had been a run of near death experiences. For a moment, Wish thought she would rather have Six be up here on the roof killing her and Victor.

There was no denying that Victor's spell didn't work as it should have. Nevertheless, Deanna might have been blind to also see that if Six was left inside Quinn, her mate would have had a much higher chance of dying. Six eventually would have overtaken Quinn's soul and then Quinn would have been lost forever. It was better for the two to be separated, but Deanna was too blind with rage to see this.

And to suggest that Victor and Wish had tried to seal away Six just to screw around with Deanna and her mate was an unfathomable idea. Wish couldn't even comprehend that one. Deanna had said so much - so many forceful and unnecessary words - where Wish was silent, unable to return words to such foolish and venomous-laced garbage that was spewing from the theriantrophe's mouth.

Wish understood how devoted a woman could be towards her lover. And while Victor and Wish hadn't really been able to explore such feelings, that didn't mean Wish didn't care for Victor any less than Deanna cared for Quinn. While she could relate to Deanna's need for vengeance and redemption, the therianthrope had acted extremely irrational and with untamed brute force. Victor had no chance.

Wish wasn't stupid. She knew that Quinn, a werewolf, could eventually heal on his own perhaps in a few hours. Victor, despite him being a shapeshifter, was pretty much human and could not heal himself. Clearly Deanna had flown wildly off the handle and everyone was too scared to do a damn thing except watch Victor be torn to shreds like so many others had been by Deanna's hands. It was then that Wish realized that Deanna was a terrible therianthrope and that someday the woman would need to be cleansed of her virus - of her beast - lest it consume her and drive her insane.

All of these thoughts Wish had happened in a matter of seconds. Deanna acted like Wish had a choice in what was going to happen. Of course she didn't. Because she was a healer, she was prone to feeling things that other people didn't innately feel, like pain, suffering and eerily enough, the moment when a person was going to die. While she could feel everyone's fear as they hoped Wish would put up a barrier and save them all, Victor's pain - his blacking in and out of death - was washing over her in waves.

Had she actually been selfish, like Deanna suggested, she would have let them all die. She would have let every single one of them get hit by the next wave with such a force that they probably would have all drowned in the alleyway. Then she would have been free to fly away. But unfortunately, she was not such a selfless individual. Everything Deanna had said to threaten and intimidate Wish had fallen on deaf ears. Of course Wish was going to protect them once more. Of course...

So the look Wish had been giving Deanna was not one of fear and rage, but one of pity and helplessness. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Wish knew Deanna never wanted to act like this, but it was too late. The shifter had shown her true colors and it was crimson, the color of Victor's blood that was now staining Deanna's clothes and skin.

Wish needed Victor for this, but unfortunately she could not have him. Deanna did not realize how much energy it took to hold back a tidal wave. Hopefully, she would not die in this attempt. Right before the wave could hit, Wish held out two hands in front of her. At first, she noticed how much they were shaking, but eventually she was able to hold herself steady, take a deep breath and project another v-shaped barrier out in front of the tavern. The second wave crashed into it; Wish felt her feet slipping but she leaned forward and made an attempt to hold her ground. This proved much more difficult and right when she felt like she was going to collapse, the rush of water had safely passed them.

She faltered and fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath as she was very much winded. By now, the tidal waves had ceased and the water had risen to just below the roof of the tavern. The center of Grand City was nothing but roofs dotting out of the water, as if the town had always been covered by an ocean. The wind died and the rain was now completely gone, though the sky was still a cloudy gray.

As much as she needed to rest after putting up the barrier, her job was not over. Every bone and muscle in her body ached from the energy it took to put up the barrier, but she managed to drag herself towards where Quinn lay, still knocked out from his fight with Six. To Deanna, this might have looked like Wish, in return for Deanna's actions against Victor, was going to do something malicious to Quinn. But she did nothing of the sort.

Instead, she pulled naked and blacked out Quinn onto her lap and after closing her eyes, started to heal him. In the process of healing him however, she was strangely disappointed to find that Quinn had practically healed himself fully already. Where there were once broken bones, they had snapped back into place. All Wish had to do was finishing mending these bones and they were good as new. Where Quinn's chest had been bruised, Wish soothed this wound and the purplish-black mark completely faded away. Her last step, as ethereal light washed over Quinn's body, was to give him enough energy so he would wake up. Although she was running low on her own strength, she gave what she could to Quinn, hoping there was enough left in her to save Victor as well.

"Quinn, wake up," she said softly as her magic started to dissipate. Quinn all at once gave a cough and then started to awaken, his eyelids fluttering open. "Please, help me..." she continued, her voice a whisper that only he would hear.

Wish helped Quinn to sit up, placing her hands on his back. A man came running over, offering a long, trench coat to Quinn so he didn't have to be so nude. Wish gestured in the direction of Deanna where Victor was being held hostage, his already wounded neck tilted back in an awkward and uncomfortable position, ready to be snapped clean. Blood was flowing down the side of the roof freely and by this point, Victor was sickeningly pale. A sob was lodged somewhere in her chest. She had minutes to get to him and do something and it all relied on Quinn being able console Deanna and let her know that he was okay. Clearly, from what she had observed, Quinn was the rational one in the relationship; Wish had seen it in his smile, which unlike Deanna's, was not as sadistic.

If Victor could even see any longer from where she was on the roof, Wish tried to search his dark colored eyes to let him know she was sorry. She was trying extremely hard to make sure no one died tonight, but Deanna had complicated that matter to pretty much the point of no return. Wish wanted to go to him, to heal him and hold him in her arms, but if she made a sudden move, Deanna would undoubtedly kill him. She had used that comfort to awaken Quinn who was already fine and because of this, a certain bitterness, like poison, swelled inside her heart. Despite all of this, she could not find herself hating Quinn.