Burger opened his eyes, he wasn't sure how long he'd been out. After Krissy had dismissed him he'd needed to walk off some steam. He did a few laps around the base, running through their latest conversation in his head. Every time he was around her, he wanted to ask her why. Why had she ended things? Why couldn't she give him a reason? Mostly he wanted to ask why she didn't love him?

After everything that happened in Kurth, he realized just how important she was to him. Their entire team had been killed, they could have been killed. He thought it meant something that they had had been the only ones to survive. He didn't want to waste their second chance. He didn't want to waste another minute without her. Yet when he'd asked her to marry him, she'd rejected him.

It wasn't the first time she'd rejected him. From the moment he first saw her, he'd thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He'd been so blown away that he'd completely missed her rank. He just wanted to know her, to be around her. He found excuses to talk to her, trades shifts so he could be closer to her. When she finally reprimanded him and informed him she was a higher rank then him, he realized things were gonna be a little difficult but at that point he didn't care.

He knew some of the best things in life, took time and work. He still remembered when the Marlin Fif's, lost fifteen years in a row and then won it all in one fell swoop. That moment had been one of the best in his life, in history. No one expected them to win, they were the underdog, the joke but in the end, they won the championship and broke records.

When it came to Krissy, he didn't care that he didn't stand a chance with her. That her rank and beauty by far out did him. He kept trying, kept hoping that one day like the Marlin Fif's he'd win it all and she'd let him in. No matter how many times she rejected him, punished him with laps, push ups and double shifts, he never lost hope that one day, one day he'd smile at her and she'd smile back. He just hoped it wouldn't take no fifteen years...

Thankfully it hadn't, eventually she let him in, of course he'd almost missed it. She had a subtle way about her. She always turned him down every time he asked her out but one night she sat next to him while he was watching sports. She remarked she'd never watched before and he explained how the game was played. What the rule were and how they determined the score. He talked a lot but she stayed through the whole game.

The next time he watched sports, she brought the popcorn and the time after and after that as well. At first he thought he might have made her a fan but one day she rested her hand on top of his and he realized this was something more. Eventually they started eating dinner while they watched the game and then they just had dinner. They went to movies, took long walks, whenever they could, they'd sneak a moment here or there to be together.

One day, he smiled at her and she finally smiled back. In that moment he knew he was right. It had been worth it, the rejections, the punishments, he felt like he'd won the championship and had broken all the records there would ever be. He felt on top of the world, he was in love and then...then

Kurth happened…

When they'd gotten the call the whole team was on edge…especially after seeing the video footage. They knew about Krissy, knew some of the things she could do, they'd trained with her but they'd never truly gone up against someone with abilities. Krissy seemed excited to finally run into another of her "kind" or something. Burger wasn't really sure how it all worked. She didn't really talk about it all that much, not that it matter, to him Krissy was just Krissy, abilities or not.

They came up with a plan but at the last minute Krissy changed it. She said she wanted to meet with him on her own. It was unlike her to change plans and considering the things they'd seen, he thought it was dangerous. Yet Krissy insisted she could handle it. He admired her strength, her ambition but sometimes it felt like she forgot she wasn't alone. She didn't always have to do everything by herself.

He wished he'd said that to her that day in the helicopter but at the time it hadn't occurred to him. They'd dropped her off and stayed close as she'd went to meet the target, in the middle of a field. From up high Burger supposed he didn't look that big. He watched them speak for several minutes and then something happened. The target started to charge Krissy. Burger realized how much bigger he was compared to her. For a second he thought he might have lose her.

The team open fired on him and rushed in to help her. They were quickly ambushed and the situation got out of control. There was gun fire and explosions everywhere. Targen Bailey had the neutralizer, what they were suppose to use to put the target down, if he became hostile. He watched Bailey get shot between the eyes. He saw Krissy had stopped the target but she was struggling to hold him and protect herself.

He grabbed the neutralizer and fought his way to her. Once he attached it to the target Krissy was able to assist in the fight. By the time they took everyone down it was just them. Krissy wanted to keep their relationship private, given her status but in that moment he didn't care. He rushed to her and kissed her. Then before he knew it he was waking up on the ground.

He couldn't recall what had happened, all he knew was Krissy wouldn't wake up. He called for back up and made sure the target was still subdued. When back up arrived, they put the target into lock down. Burger stayed by Krissy's side as she was airlifted to the nearest hospital. He didn't want to leave her but they needed him to debrief. For hours he was questioned about everything that had gone on. Some Greegis, Avery Rogers was on his case demanding answers. He told them everything and was glad when they finally dismissed him.

He went to see Krissy but they'd transferred her to another hospital. They said she'd fallen into a coma. It took him weeks to find out where she was and get leave to see her. When he got to her hosptial room, he finally realized the Greegis he met earlier was her father. He knew they had the same last name but a lot of people did.

He realized now what all the sneers had been about. Over the years they'd said Krissy had "connections" that she was related to higher ups, her father was in the military and her mother was directly connected to the government, again she didn't talk about it. He realized then how closed off she was, how many things she kept to herself.

He wanted to know all her secrets, wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and realized he wanted to marry her. Her father wasn't exactly happy when Burger informed him of his plans. He didn't even know they were dating, which Burger had now informed him of.

When she didn't wake up after a few weeks, they moved her to a long term facility. Again he had to find the hospital on his own. He got the feeling her father didn't like him, especially when he failed to add Burger's name to the visitor list. Thankfully one of her other family members added him. Burger didn't care whether her father liked him or not, all that mattered was Krissy and how she felt.

Whenever he wasn't on duty, he'd fly out to see her and got to know the staff. After almost six months, a nurse called him and told him she'd woken up. He took emergency leave and rushed to the hospital. He was so happy to he see her awake and sitting up in bed. He told her how much she meant to him and proposed right then and there.

For as long as he lived, he didn't think he'd ever forget her reaction. She'd just looked at him, with no expression her face. He worried something was wrong with her, he asked her again and she'd told him he meant nothing to her, that she didn't want him in her life. It was like being hit with a thousand grenades. She didn't give him a reason why, she just kicked him out of her room...her life.

He was beside himself, shattered he assumed her brain had been scrambled by the coma. He tried to come back to reason with her the next day but she was gone...checked out. He tried to find her even planned to go to her families home in the county but he suddenly got orders to ship out. They canceled his emergency leave, he was given two personal military escorts. He had feeling her father had something to do with this

He didn't give up, for months he tried to contact her, left her message, but she never returned a single one. The barrier and time between them just grew and grew. He was demoted, put on shit detail in some remote location. Before he knew it, two years had passed. He really thought things might be over between them, that he might never see her again, might never know...why.

Then the event happened, it had been all over the news for hours, when he got the call from her father. He was putting together a team, apparently the event was related to the people that were like Krissy. Her father offered him the position of her second, under the condition that he'd keep a close eye on Krissy and report everything back to him.

Burger knew it would be a betrayal, to spy on her, to go behind her back but at that point, it was a chance to see her, to get some answers. He took the assignment and shipped out within hours. When he saw her again she was cold, more distant then ever. She looked right through him and treated him like he was any other soldier. When they finally spoke she made it clear she expected him to be "professional."

He was reminded of how she used to reprimand him, admittedly he didn't bounce back with a smile. He was angry, bitter as fuck but he followed his orders and kept an eye on her. At first she seemed normal enough but he noticed she'd yet to file her preliminary report. She had the lock down team, ready to put Eyo down and was watching the guy they'd found in a hole closely but when it came to the woman, Keyoko, Krissy had yet to cage her. She'd allowed her to recover in a normal cell and wanted to speak with her alone.

Burger didn't think that was a good idea, he told her so and she got mad at him. She relieved him of duty, telling him to get some rest as if he could, when she was putting herself in danger. She threatened to remove him from the mission and he had no choice but to back off. He was reminded of that day she'd wanted to go out alone, onto the field. He wasn't gonna let another Kurth happen. He didn't want her or anyone else to get hurt.

After he was finished blowing of some steam. He contacted her father and turned in his preliminary report in. He reported Keyoko as the source and suggested Krissy was allowing herself to be affected. He knew she'd be mad when she found out what he did but he'd rather her be mad then dead. He'd tried to relax and laid down after that but he couldn't stop thinking about her being alone in the room with Keyoko. The first guy had been bad but this new chick took out city blocks. He got up and decided if he couldn't be in the same room as Krissy, he'd watch her on the monitors.

On his way down, his radio started going off, asking for someone to check out the lower floors, no one was responding. Then the people they'd sent weren't responding. He tried to contact Krissy about it but she wasn't picking up. He found out she'd taken Keyoko somewhere. He ordered more men down stairs and was on his way to check it out himself, when he found Keyoko throwing Kirssy into a wall.

Unlike Krissy, he didn't hesitate to fired. He missed a few shots but he knew he got her at least twice. Then suddenly Keyoko grabbed Krissy and threw her into the path of his fire. To his horror he'd shot Krissy. He stopped firing, he wanted to go to her but came to his senses. He couldn't help Krissy until he took Keyoko out but before he could, she'd raised her hand up and sent him flying back.

He didn't know what happened after that. He sat up hearing the alarm go off. He saw Krissy a few feet away on the floor, she was barreled over in pain. He looked around for Keyoko and realized she'd escaped. He quickly grabbed his gun and rushed to assist Krissy.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "Where did I get you?"

"Where didn't you," hissed Krissy, clutching her side.

"Can you reverse it?" asked Burger.

"No!" Krissy spat like he was an idiot, then she sputtered, "I mean my powers aren't working right now."

"What!" said Burger. He didn't know that could happen but it explained why she hadn't frozen Keyoko in time. He move to pick Krissy up, wanting to take her to the infirmary but she pulled away from him.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she hissed.

"Krissy," he said hurt. She wouldn't even let him help her.

The light kept flashing and alarms blared in his ears. He knew he needed to do stuff, his commanding officer was injured that meant he was in charge. He needed to take control of the situation, to lock down the facility call for back up, there were a dozen things he needed to do but all he cared about was Krissy.

"Krissy please, let me help you!" He said reaching out to her.

She slapped his hand away, shouting "I'M FINE."

"That you are!" said another voice.

Burger looked up, he'd been so focus on Krissy that he hadn't seen two men coming down the hall. He recognized Eyo and the man they'd pulled from the sink hole. Burger quickly pointed his gun at them. He didn't know what they were up to "Freeze," he commanded, "Put your hands in the air,"

Neither man stop walking, they just laughed. Burger realized there was gonna be trouble.

"If can you move get out of here!" Burger whispered to Krissy. "I'll take care of these two." He got to his feet.

The man from the sink hole smiled at him, "My, my aren't you a brave one!"

Krissy struggled to her feet but made no attempt to leave. Burger wondered if she didn't want to leave him behind. "Go Krissy! Don't worry about me!"

He took a step forward and did his best to block Krissy, should either of them seek to attack.

Suddenly Burger heard a woman's sultry voice, "How romantic,"

He turned, confused and felt a sharp pain in his gut. He saw it was Krissy, she'd pushed a knife deep into his gut. She dragged it across his body. He saw his intestines spilling out and looked at her in horror, "Why...KR-" She flicked her knife cutting his throat. The blood poured out of his neck as he dropped to his knees. He barley felt his gun slip from his hand as he tried to grasp hold of his neck and passed out.

After Urel decided it was time to take what was his, he assessed his current situation. Once again he was back after yet another long slumber. He wondered how many lives had passed since he'd last been awakened. It was something he'd have to asses when he had time. The memories of Urel's current life, Jesep Zian still lingered within him. Stronger then all the others, it would take him some time to fully sync with all his memories but he usually had a faster return time then the others.

He'd made certain of that over the lifetimes. He found he couldn't afford to be weak and uncertain. Still he knew there would be long weeks, months perhaps even years before he regain everything, he'd lost. It was rather annoying, he'd recalled working on various efforts to do away with the lag time but had yet to succeed. Perhaps again if he had time, he would look into the matter once more but right now there was much to do, much to conquer and reclaim.

He had to say, he was rather pleased with his current position. Eyo and Gigi were already up. It would save him a lot of time, searching for them and getting them up to speed. He'd already located his beloved Keyoko and had, had a taste. It pleased him to know she was his first and that her body had been rather receptive to him.

He understood now what she'd been going on about with her brother, he realized the pact she'd made had been broken but it made no difference. Whether she came willingly or not, he more then anyone knew she would come. He liked the double entendre, losing himself in thought for a moment, he'd smiled.

Eyo looked at him, patiently waiting for his orders. Urel pushed Keyoko to the back of his mind, he would reconnect with her...later. He looking around the room and again smiled, of all the places he could have woken up in...a secret fucking military base. Once they cleaned it out, they could use it as their first strong hold. He would have weapons and information at his finger tips. In a few days, pehaps a week this whole country, Urutha, would be under his feet then soon after, the world. From there he'd have to see what the planet had to offer and how long it would take to get off it. He'd locate his closet cache or start up a new one. From there he'd have to reassess things.

So far the only possible resistance he'd seen was Jeza. He chuckled now realizing how close he'd come to destruction. If she had been able to figure out who he was before he had, things could have gotten quiet messy for him, indeed. He assumed Gigi had handled her, now that she was walking about in her current form. Then again it was Gigi, there were moments when she excelled but he never put too much trust in her, knowing she'd eventually fuck up.

"Gigi?" said Urel.

"I sent her to collect Keyoko, she should return soon enough," said Eyo.

Urel nodded and then decided to get some practice in with his ax, each body handled it differently. He swung it, doing some basic attacks, clearly he was rusty, it would take him some time to build up muscle memory. He swung it about and then tried to spin it. His hand's weren't use to the technique his mind new so well. He went to pick it up but then thought better of it.

Instead he moved his hand out and allowed his shadow to bring it back to him. It took some concentration but he began moving things about using the shadows. After he got a feel for it, he practiced throwing his ax across the room and then bringing it back with his shadow. The other shadows danced around him, eager to be reunited with him once more. He spun his ax successfully a few times and got a better feel for the basic swings. He tried a combination and then steadied his axe. He looked at Eyo who in turn looked at him.

"Would you like to get some real practice in,"

"You read my mind," said Urel.

Eyo stepped up to the large doors and Urel followed him into the hall."Gigi and I already cleared out most the first floor but saved a few,"

Eyo opened a door to a small room, there were several soldier and other base personal tied up. Eyo approached them and untied them one at a practiced various attacks, getting a feel for it his ax. Each target fought rather gallantly, even the very last one who had seen those before him slain.

When they were all gone, Urel pulled back and shrugged. "I'm getting a feel for it but it's rather time consuming, not that I'm in a rush, it's just-

"Not worth the effort," said Eyo

"Exactly," said Urel.

Eyo nodded and took him to yet another room where bullet proof vests had been piled up along with knives, weapons, grenades, smoke bombs and hand held rocket launchers. "Oh this, this is going to be fun," said Urel looking over the rocket launcher. "What say we meet the girls half way."

Eyo nodded as they go loading up, he told Urel what had happened in his absence. Apparently Gigi had managed to escape the militarizes sweep of Keyoko's disaster. She followed the military to the base and found Eyo. From there she helped him escape, they rerouted the camera systems and they were able to keep an eye on Urel and Keyoko as they came up with a plan of attack.

When they were ready Eyo showed him a full layout of the base. He hacked back into the system and they checked on the girls. Keyoko was in an interrogation room chained to the table. Gigi had been stopped on her way to get Keyoko and was having a conversation. Eyo radioed her to wrap it up, then he jammed all outgoing transmission.

They checked out the next few floor and then got into the elevator. They cleared the next floor in a matter of minutes. Urel wasn't the best shot but he had enough toys on him that it didn't matter. Every time he did get hit, Eyo charged him back up and healed him quickly.

They were finally discovered when they moved up to the next floor. Raido's called for backup and response teams moved it. Things had gotten a little messy for a few minutes but it was nothing they couldn't handle They both had eons of battle strategy under their belts. Urel could only remember a little here or there Eyo had been awake for years now and was rather good at head shot. They were able to use the bases map to bottle neck whenever they could and took full advantage of their smoke bombs and hand rockets.

The plan was going rather well, when the alarm sounded. They wanted to lock the base down. Urel thought the fools were just locking themselves in. They planned to clear it out within an hour at the rate they were moving. They had to be careful though, they couldn't allow themselves to get too cocky. They didn't have full control of their environment. Every so often they'd take a second to check on things. If an outside source got wind their base was being taken they might send in the heavy guns, someone also might try to blow the base from inside or out.

Urel decided they should collect the girls and head to the control center. He'd have Gigi keep an eye on things and Eyo would finish off the rest of the base. He would find them some transport in case they needed to leave at a moments notice. As for Urel well, he had some unfinished business. He could feel Keyoko as they drew close and then he felt her pulling away. He found himself rather annoyed. He sent Atoe out to keep an eye on her.

Urel and Eyo located Gigi and made their way to her. He thought she might need some assistance but she made quick work of the soldier. Urel stepped on the soldier corpse as he made his way to her. She was clearly hurt but still maintained her Jeza illusion. He tilted his head as she changed into Esma's. He could tell she was still maintaining minor illusions. It was obvious to him now that he was awake, he could pinpoint the falsities in her appearance. "No need to keep up appearances, my love. Let me see you. All of you,"

Gigi lowered her head but dropped her illusions. Their awakening had a way of changing them, over time, their physical forms would near peak perfection. Gigi wasn't satisfied with near, she always needed to add more and more. She wanted to be beyond perfection at all times. The most beautiful woman in existence. He could see how he'd adjusted herself in this life.

Her her lacked all her highlights. She no longer wore make up, her breasts shrunk in size and her body widened some. She was still wearing the clothes from when they'd been attacked. They were dirty, torn and bloody. He could see the two bullet wounds she'd endured,one in her shoulder and the other on her lower abdomon.

She'd lost a lot of blood and was still losing it. She winced in pain, swaying slightly. She would no doubt succumb to her injuries soon enough but was still holding herself together. He admired the effort. He stepped up to her and gently took hold of her chin. He lifted her head so that she looked a t him. He watched her search his eyes. She smiled, her voice radiated with emotion as she called, "You're back!"

"Yes."Urel softly whispered.

Gigi practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. He saw her wince in pain but she didn't seem to care holding onto him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, not to embrace her but to move her against the hall wall. He pinned her there with his body. She looked up at him and he grasped hold of her chin again drawing her into a soft kiss.

He could feel her melt like butter as the kiss deepened. He let go of her chin and took her moment of distraction, to jabbed his fingers into her shoulder wound. She cried out as he retrieved the first bullet. When he moved his hand to the second location. She grasped hold of his arm and looked up at him fearfully, knowing it was going to hurt even more.

He just stared back at her, she looked into his eyes and then let go of his hand. She turned her head to the side and gave herself to him completely. He inserted his fingers and dug out the second bullet as she squirmed, letting out a painfully wail. Much to her agony, Urel eventually got the bullet out. He let it drop to the floor and pulled away from her.

She slowly slid down the wall and dropped to the floor. She was barely conscious as Eyo stepped up and touched her. He poured energy into her and Urel watched her chest rise, several ribs repaired themselves and the bullet wounds grew smaller until they were no longer an issue. Healed and no longer in pain, she crawl up to Urel grasping hold of his paint leg. "Oh master, how I've missed you."

He reached down and brushed her cheek, she moved kissing his wrist. He traced his thumb over her luscious lips. She took it into her mouth as if it were his member and sucked on it, looking up at him with sultry eyes. Urel shook his head, finally letting his disappointment show.

He sighed "Ah yes, Gigi, incompetent as ever." She looked up at him pained...confused. He pulled his thumb from her mouth and wiped it off, "Keyoko?"She opened her mouth to speak and he gave her a stern look continuing. "You let her get away." He pulled his hand from her.

Gigi groveled and began to list off all the things she'd done, "But I..I...I helped Eyo, I watched out for you. I.. I TOOK CARE OF JEZA! "All valid points, but she knew, by now, what mattered to him most. He just looked at her. She dropped all the way down on the ground, accepting she'd failed him. "I'm sorry master, I failed you please allow me to-"

Eyo cut her off. "You had your chance. She can't have gotten far, I shall retrieve her,"

Urel smiled, both of them, were always so eager to please him but he shook his head, "No." He was done chasing her. He nodded to himself, he ran his tongue across his teeth and said "This time, she will come to me."