 finger to tell her which shortband channel to use, which was purely for local communication. With a range of only about ten miles, there was no chance that anyone was going to pick it up that shouldn't be hearing it. "You on?" Temika called over her radio.

"I am," he said. "Kevin, explain what happened before you found them."

"Well, I was hearing a bunch of popping sounds coming from the south," he explained. "I went to look, and saw something falling down burnin'. It landed in the Big Sandy River. Well, me and Willy went out to see what it was, but whatever it was had already sunk by the time we got out there. We found that blueskin and that other fella laying out near the bank. They were soaked to the bone, but both had burns on 'em."

"You didn't see any Faey craft around?"

"No sir," he answered. "Willy thinks it was an accident of some kind, that the ship they were on blew an engine or somethin'. I ain't too sure, cause the burns on that blueskin's armor didn't look like they were made by fire. Now, how did you know about Willy?"

Jason blew out his breath, seeing no way to make up a good story about it. "I'll explain on the ground, and _not_ over an open comm channel," he said pointedly.

"That won't be but like five more minutes, sugah," Temika called. "It ain't but like fifteen minutes tah Williamson at this speed."

And that was about what it took. They flew into a strong afternoon thunderstorm that was settled over southern West Virginia, quickly soaking all three of them. Temika had to circle in the rain a few times to find Kevin's small house, in the back of a short, deep valley with trees knocked over the dirt road leading into it, about two miles from the abandoned city of Williamson. They landed right outside, as a tall, very thin young black man with dreadlocks stepped out of the front door brandishing a plasma rifle. Jason jumped off his airbike before it was even fully down, then charged past the surprised young man and into the house. He could tell from their thought patterns that Tim was afraid but alright, maybe a little scared, and that Symone was unconscious, her thought patterns subdued and withdrawn. Worry and concern were raging through him as he found the open door to the basement, then charged down the steps three at a time. He found himself in a full-sized basement, with no walls to section it off, filled with boxes and old furniture. Against the nearest wall were two figures, both laying on a blanket on the concrete floor, Tim and Symone. Tim's left arm was splinted to an old broom handle, and his face was a bit pale. Symone was sprawled out on the floor in a heap, her helmet off and her silky blond hair matted with blood and stained with ash and soot. "Jason!" Tim cried out with sudden relief, joy and excitement rushing through his thoughts. Jason rushed over and knelt between them, putting his hand on Tim's forehead. He wasn't cold, meaning he wasn't in shock or suffering from blood loss, he was just pale from worry.

"What the _hell_ are you doing out here?" he demanded immediately as he turned to Symone. Kevin was right; some of the burns on her armor were _not_ from fire. They were MPAC strikes. Even though the armor they used was century old surplus junk, it was _still_ designed to deal with plasma weapons, as the Faey had them back then. She'd been hit three times by MPAC fire... in the left shin, in the left thigh, and in the left shoulder. All three strikes penetrated the armor, and after Jason got her boot and greave off her leg, he saw that the two hits to her leg had left her with second degree burns with a charred circle about the size of a silver dollar in the middle, the direct impact of the MPAC charge. That was a third degree burn. "Shit," Jason growled. "Who was shooting at you?"

"About half the Faey army," Tim said weakly, sitting up. "Is she alright? Is she going to be alright?"

"Shut up a minute," he snapped as Temika, Kevin, and Willy came down into the basement. There was no physical trauma to her head, but a touch on her mind showed that she was suffering from psychotraumatic shock, an aftereffect of a Faey who had fought a vicious telepathic duel. Symone had probably won, which was why they were here... or more to the point, she had defended herself and Tim from repeated telepathic attacks, until it overwhelmed her.

"I, I _felt_ that!" Tim gasped.

Jason glanced at him. "They didn't tell you?"

"Well, they told me yesterday," he answered with a weak chuckle. "I just didn't believe them."

"Now I see why you're here," he said grimly.

Tim nodded. "I fucked up," he said honestly. "Same as that other girl, I blew it in the middle of my plasma dynamics class. But Symone was on campus, and she wouldn't let them take me. She fought us out of New Orleans, and we hid in Crown City while Jyslin talked to some woman that knows you, that knew generally where you were. Then we stole an airskimmer and flew north."

"Kumi," Jason realized.

"They chased us, but Symone had stole a really fast skimmer. We managed to stay ahead of them, at least until a couple of _fighters_ showed up. They blasted us to hell. We crashed into that river, and then I woke up here. Is Symone going to be alright?"

"After a very long sleep," he nodded. "Her brain just needs time to recover. These burns are another matter," he said with a frown, looking at the charred flesh surrounded by savage burns. "I think I have something in my first aid kit that should help with it, though."

"So you do know each other," Kevin said soberly.

"He's who we came to find," Tim told him quickly.

"Suspicious that you're traveling with a blueskin, boy," Kevin said with a hint of threat.

"Symone's no threat to any of you," Jason told them curtly as he carefully locked her armor back over her leg, then put her boot back on. She'd be best off in her armor 'til he got her home.

"Now, you're gonna answer my question, Mister Jason," Kevin said sternly, taking the plasma rifle from his brother. "How did you know about Willy?"

"It's simple, Kevin," Jason said calmly, picking up Symone's helmet. "It's why I'm here."

Temika gave him a curious look, then gasped heavily. "Omigawd, yo' a _telepath_, ain't yah!" she exclaimed. "A _human_ telepath!"

"That's right," he agreed pleasantly. "I have talent. I'm here because I don't want to be a weapon for the Faey. And I'm not the only one," he said, looking right at Tim. "There have been other humans showing telepathic ability. I'm not unique. I'm just lucky that I happen to have Faey friends who were willing to teach me how to use it without turning me in. But you three shouldn't worry too much about it," he told them.

"Why is that?" Willy asked dumbly.

"Because you're not going to remember it," he answered bluntly.

"How-oh. _Ohhhhh_," Willy said, understanding. "You can do that?"

"I can," he answered evenly. "Trust me, it's not because I want to, but it's safer for _everyone_ if you don't remember. If a Faey caught you in a sweep, they'd know about me in about two seconds, and then it's my ass."

"What does that mean?" Kevin demanded.

"He's gonna do that _tepathic_ thing on us," he said, mispronouncing the word. "Make us forget what he said."

"You ain't doin' nothing to me, boy!" Kevin shouted, raising Symone's MPAC rifle.

Jason struck with the speed of thought against Kevin, driving a spear of consciousness into his mind. Just like any other human without talent, his mind was utterly defenseless against that attack. He was inside in an instant, and had Kevin's muscles locked to prevent him from raising that rifle an inch more in about a millisecond after gaining access to Kevin's mind. Less than a second after that, Jason had carefully snipped out the parts of Kevin's memory about Jason's admission, and the slip that had caused it in the first place. He didn't even bother replacing it with anything, because it was obvious enough as to why he was here and what he was doing. He shifted and struck Willy next, which only required him to erase that last few seconds of his memory, then moved and hit Temika.

He was almost knocked back on his heels. Temika's mind was like a steel curtain, and he failed to penetrate it. He shifted his focus and sharpened his attack as her eyes widened, striking _much_ harder and _much_ more precisely, trying to punch through her defense. This time he managed to penetrate her very strong yet unskilled attempt to protect her mind, an automatic reaction of a mind that had been raked over the coals by a telepath before, and was not going to just let it happen again.

Holy Lord, Temika Daniels had _talent_! It was still unrealized, unexpressed, but the simple fact that her mind had the strength to defend against him where Kevin and Willy did not told him everything he needed to know!

He purged her short-term memory of his admission, then gave her a very long, very serious look. She had talent. It might never express, given she had very limited contact with the Faey, but _it was there_. No doubt it was urged out of its deep hibernation by the mental raping she'd received, which had made her almost phobic about being touched. Exposure to Faey telepathy had awakened the _potential_ in her, and now it merely slept, perhaps to awaken or perhaps not... but it was _there_.

All three of them began to blink, looking around in confusion. Jason turned and looked at Tim, then sent openly. _Can you hear this? Nod if you can._

Tim winced, then nodded, rubbing his temple gingerly.

Jason toned down the power a little. _I wiped that out of their minds. Do _not_ mention it. As far as they know, I'm just as normal as anyone else, and it has to stay that way._

He nodded soberly, then looked at Symone with worried eyes.

"Don't worry, she'll be alright," he said aloud. "Let's get you two up and to the airbikes. I need that, please," Jason said to Kevin, holding his hand out and pointing at the MPAC.

Kevin looked at him blankly, then woodenly handed him the rifle. "They gonna be ok, Mister Jason?"

"They're banged up, but okay," Jason replied. "I need to get them home. You know any doctors, Temika?" he asked.

She shook her head blearily. "Yeah, Ah know one ovah in Logan," she answered. "Ah could get him tah come, but he'll want you tah pay him somethin'."

"That's fine. Come back to Chesapeake with me so you can bring Tank back to his bike, then could you please go get him? Tim's gonna need a cast for his arm, and I have no idea how to do that."

"Sure, sugah," she said with a nod, though her eyes looked a little confused.

Jason picked up Symone, shifting her a bit because her armor was making her heavy, then Willy blinked and helped Tim get to his feet. Willy helped Tim up the stairs with a gentle hand, and Jason and the others followed him outside, out into the rain. Jason mounted his bike with Symone still in his arms, then settled her in front of him as Willy helped Tim get on the bike behind him. "There's a seat belt back there," Jason told the young black man. "Could you help him get it on? He won't be able to hold on very well."

"Sure," Willy nodded, then helped belt Tim in as Temika and Kevin mounted the other bike. "Got room for me, Mika?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, sugah," she nodded, jerking a thumb behind her as Kevin swung his leg over the saddle and sat down. "Behind Tank, and you'd better hold on, sugah. Ah don't go slow."

Jason stuffed Symone's rifle in with his railgun in the holster, which locked both in place, then he gently pulled his airbike off the ground. He had to get these two back to his house, get them someplace safe. He also had to figure out what to do. Tim had expressed. Tim _did_ have talent, and the bad part is that the Faey knew about him. Symone had literally fought tooth and nail to get him here, and now she was an outlaw to her own people. She had thrown her lot in with Tim, for better or worse, and now she was stuck with her decision. She had fought with her own people for the sake of her man, a man she would not give to them without one hell of a fight, from the look of things. She had done much more than desert. She had committed treason against House Trillane. Now, Symone was an outlaw, just like Jason and Tim. She was one of them.

He _had_ to talk to Jyslin. He had to find out what happened, find out if she had gotten involved. Oh she had, he knew she did, but he doubted it was anything that was noticed. Symone was a house soldier, but Jyslin was an _Imperial Marine_. She would not do something as drastic as open armed rebellion against established authority. She'd helped by contacting Kumi and finding out where she'd delivered the care package he'd bought, but wouldn't help any more than that. And in its own way, that was all she needed to do.

If anything, this changed _everything_, he was sure of that. It would introduce all kinds of headaches for him, but at least he knew they were safe now. He had to get them back to health, and he and Symone would have to have a long talk about what to do with Tim, but at least they were safe.

That made him _so_ relieved. They were safe, they were with him, and he'd do his best to protect them from the wrath of House Trillane.

That was what friends were for.


Chapter 8

_Chira, 1 Toraa, 4393, Orthodox Calendar_
_Sunday, 15 August 2007, Native Regional Reckoning_
_Chesapeake, Ohio (Native designation), Orala Nature Preserve, American Sector_

The rain down in Williamson drifted up to Chesapeake after a couple of hours, but by then it didn't matter. They were all inside, and Temika had managed to return with Doctor Adam Northwood from Logan. They were both a little soaked, but Northwood wasn't complaining. Northwood was an older man, around 60, with a full head of silver hair cut in a crew cut and some dark spots on his forehead. His face was gaunt and drawn, but his eyes were lucid and gentle, a pleasing green, and he had a manner about him that put people at ease. The most casual inspection of his thoughts showed him that this doctor was absolutely trustworthy. His lifelong passion was healing the sick and injured, and he held unswervingly to the ideal of the pure doctor... one who heals anything he can, regardless of what the injury is or who had it. Northwood would treat Symone without questions, because she needed a doctor. Jason showed him upstairs to the room where he had both Tim and Symone, and he didn't bat an eye at seeing a Faey. Jason told him what he'd seen, and he just nodded and sat down to inspect them himself. He took all of ten seconds checking Tim's arm, then tutted and set it back down gently.

"Clean break of the ulna and radius," he diagnosed. "Nice splint, it perfectly aligned the break. Who did it?"

"The guy who found him," Jason answered.

"He's good," Northwood nodded. "All we need is a cast on this, and this young fella's gonna be up and about in no time," he said with a smile at Tim. "All you need, young'un, is a little something to help take the edge off the pain." He reached into his medical bag, and produced a single white pill. "This'll help you get along to sleep, son," he told Tim. "That's the best thing for you right now."

"Okay, doctor," Tim said, swallowing the pill. He leaned back in the bed and closed his eyes.

Northwood went over and sat down on the bed beside Symone. He checked her pupils and inspected her face and head carefully, then used a penlight to check her pupils again. "Hmm, I don't see any evidence of trauma," he announced. "Good pupil response. It's most likely a concussion. You said she had some burns?"

"Under the armor."

"Then show me how to get it off, if you know," he ordered. "I figure you can, if you saw the burns in the first place."

Jason chuckled and nodded and, with Northwood's help, they stripped Symone's armor off her. The two burns on her leg looked bad, but the one on her shoulder looked _nasty_. It had punched through her armor much harder than the hits to her leg, leaving a charred burn as big across as an orange, charring well into the soft tissue under her skin. By then, Tim was already asleep, so he didn't see just how badly his girlfriend was injured. "These are pretty bad," Northwood admitted as he inspected the burn on her shoulder. "I don't have anything that's going to help treat this. The best we can do is excise the destroyed tissue, bandage her up, and hope she heals naturally."

"I have a bunch of Faey first-aid stuff," he told the doctor. "Do you know how to use any of it?"

"Actually, I do, son," he said. "Go get it."

Jason retrieved his first aid kit, and Northwood rifled through it quickly. "Not bad, son," he said, taking out a bottle filled with powder. "I need a glass of water and something we can use for bandages."

Jason retrieved the water, and a sheet that they quickly tore up into strips. The doctor poured the powder onto a press then added water to it, which made it start to bubble and foam. He then applied it to her shoulder. There was a strange acrid smell, and smoke wafted up from under that press.

"This is a compound that dissolves away inorganic matter," he explained. "It'll also remove most of the charred tissue, since it's been oxidized. After this, we apply some of what's in that vial right there, then bandage her up. That's a bio-organic accelerator, it causes her natural healing mechanisms to go into overdrive. Using that compound, she'll be fully healed in about six days."

"They must have trained you in Faey medical technology," he reasoned.

"A year's worth, until an argument with a Faey doctor in a hospital sent me to a farm. I didn't much like it there, so I decided to come live somewhere else. I can assume you have a similar story, just from the technical side, given the toys I've seen."

"The airbike? Something like that," he agreed. "I was a student in one of their schools, then decided I didn't want to help the Faey oppress my own people. So I relocated."

"Some of them are actually quite good people. I think you know that as well," he said, glancing at Symone meaningfully.

"As long as you don't piss off a noble," Jason said bluntly.

Northwood chuckled. "That's exactly what I did. About half the Faey doctors are nobles, for some odd reason. I guess because it's a non-com job or something." He applied another press to each of Symone's leg burns, then peeled the one on her shoulder up to inspect the progress. "She's quite the looker, isn't she?" he said conversationally.

"That's a strange thing for a doctor to say," Jason said with a smile.

"I'm a doctor, but I'm also not dead yet," he grinned in reply. "There's nothing in the Hippocratic oath that says I can't appreciate the view."

"As long as you don't do anything else, I suppose."

"Exactly, son. Never have, never will, but when I get to treat a woman like this, it's something of an informal job bonus."

"Uh, doc, she's Faey. She'll know you ogled her."

"Son, she's Faey. She'll take that as a compliment."

"True," Jason admitted wryly.

After the dissolving agent did its job, Jason helped Northwood apply the salve to those wounds, which now were pink and raw instead of charred black. The burn in her shoulder almost exposed her collarbone, and looked really ugly. He applied the healing agent, then they bandaged her three wounds and used cloths to clean some of the ash and smoke film from her. Then he injected her with something from Jason's first aid kit, then pulled up the blankets. "For a concussion, there's nothing I can do," he admitted. "We just let her sleep and let her ride it out. Her vitals are strong, I'm sure she'll be fine. We need to scrounge up what I need for a cast, son, then I can get a cast on that boy's arm. That's all he needs. All I need for a cast are bandages and plaster."

"I don't have any plaster, so we'll need to go scrounge for it."

"That's fine, son, I have some at home. Someone just needs to take me there. Now, care to explain how she got injured by MPACs? Or is her being here the only explanation I need?"

"More or less, doc," Jason replied as he showed him out. "They're both friends of mine from outside. I'm not entirely sure on the details yet, but it must have been ugly. Symone and Tim are virtually married, doc, nothing will separate them. I'd guess that when Tim decided to run after whatever happened happened, Symone decided to come with him."

Northwood whistled. "That's some loyalty."

"Symone's like that," he nodded in agreement. "Tim is more important to her than her own people. Something really bad must have happened, and she must have fought her way out. From what I heard from the people who found her, and what Tim told me, they were shot down not far from here by the Faey. I guess the Faey figured they were dead, because they didn't check the river where their skimmer crashed to make sure."

"They were coming to find you?"

He nodded. "I have a contact in the Imperium that knows more or less where I am, and another friend that knows about her. They talked to a friend who knows that person, and they found out generally where I am. They were coming here to join me."

"You still have contacts in the Imperium?" Northwood asked in surprise.

He nodded. "Yeah, and they're trustworthy," he said as they opened the front door to his house. The rain had stopped, but the skies were still heavy and threatening, introducing a heavy mugginess to the air that made it unpleasantly warm. Temika, Kevin, and Willy were waiting out by the curb, talking with each other, and Luke and Clem had joined them. "They'd never turn me in. They'll still help me as much as they can get away with it, if I need it. But I have most everything I need now. Like you said, doc, _some_ Faey are good people."

"So I did, son," he agreed with a warm smile.

"Temika," Jason called. "Doc Northwood needs to get some plaster from his house. Can you take him?"

"Sure can, sugah," Temika said with a grin. "If the doc promises not to try tah squeeze me in half this time."

"Then you should learn not to ride that thing like a bat of hell, girl," Northwood said accusingly.

"Slow is borin', sugah," she winked.

"Then pick, dear. A fun ride and bruised ribs, or a safe ride and no nagging pain."

Temika laughed and mounted her airbike, then turned and patted the seat behind her. "Jump up, doc. Ah'll have you back here in an hour."

"Then I hope you like purple ribs," he said as he climbed on behind her.

Jason sat with Tim and Symone while Temika went for the plaster, wondering what had really happened. Tim had mentioned messing up in school, so Jason could only guess that Tim had accidentally done something in class that made the instructor realize he had talent. He'd said that Symone was on campus, so odds were she picked up on the sending chatter and barged in to collect him up before they could secure him. After that, he could assume that they'd managed to get away, hide somewhere long enough to contact Jyslin and have her find out from Kumi where they'd delivered his goods, then they'd managed to steal some kind of transportation. They got made during that, and were chased with some determination from the Faey. They'd even called in fighters to shoot their skimmer down.

That was probably about their whole story, in a nutshell.

He pondered the problems it might cause. They probably thought that both were dead, since they didn't bother to land and search for bodies. Jyslin might have some problems, because now that was _three_ people she personally knew that had either gone missing or went crazy and rebelled. He had little doubt that she was going to get a little visit from someone in the Secret Police soon, but that in itself wasn't too much of a worry. Jyslin was more than a match for almost anyone out of that little organization, they wouldn't get anything out of her she didn't want them to get in the first place. Jyslin really was that strong... sometimes he wondered how she'd managed to avoid being drafted into the Secret Police in the first place. For him, there might be some problems. Some of the squatters around here might not like the idea of a Faey being out here, and might actually forget who was protecting her and come after her. Well, that wouldn't last long, that was for sure. After all, they'd better not forget just who it was they were dealing with. Symone wasn't going to be their problem... _Jason_ was. He now had three mouths to feed, so he wasn't going to be able to live off his stores for very long. It was now seriously time to learn to hunt, or fish, or find some way to trade or barter with some of the squatters, through Temika, to secure food. That last option might be harder if they refused to deal with him, because of Symone.

Then again, if worse came to worst, they could always just go buy food from the Faey. Symone being with him might actually make that easier, at least as long as they didn't recognize her.

His mind circled those same trains of thought over and over, until a knock at his door brought him out of it. It was Temika and Northwood, carrying a canister of plaster powder, a large plastic bucket, and a pair of old sheets. "Okay, son, let's get that arm fixed," he announced.

Jason helped Northwood make that cast, which was actually a simple process. A cloth lining wrapped around the arm was covered over in strips of sheet dipped in plaster, then it was smoothed out and allowed to dry. It took Northwood all of about a half an hour after they got the plaster mixed, leaving behind a very professional-looking cast. "Give that cast about an hour to set, then he's all done," Northwood told Jason. "He won't need a sling, but don't let him stress his arm, which is just common sense. As for her, you won't have to use the inorganic dissolver again, but you will need to change her bandages twice a day. Apply the healing agent to the bandage press and she'll be fine, it has a built-in antibiotic that will prevent infection. She stays in that bed until at least noon tomorrow," he ordered. "If she's not awake by tomorrow morning, get on the CB and have them relay me a message. She might experience dizziness, disorientation, or loss of memory when she wakes up, and might have vertigo issues when she stands for a couple of days after. If she's still suffering from vertigo after three days, I need to know. Make sure she drinks at least twenty glasses of water a day," he ordered. "She also has to eat at least five times a day. That biometric stimulator's going to wreak havoc on her metabolism, so she has to eat and drink a _lot_ while she's healing."

"I'll take care of it," he said with a nod. "Temika said you deserved some kind of compensation for coming out here, doc. So, what do you take? I doubt you'll accept Visa anymore."

Northwood laughed. "Well, I heard that you managed to pick up some guns from one of the Huntington gangs," he said. "Have any good hunting rifles?"

"I got a few," he answered immediately.

"Good, my Winchester is starting to get a little old, and nobody has any they're willing to part with. Let's go take a look at them."

For his trouble, Northwood left Jason's house with two hunting rifles. Jason didn't use them, so it wasn't like he was giving him anything absolutely critical. Temika took Northwood home, Tank and Willy retrieved Tank's motorcycle and they started back home, and Clem and Luke went back to working on something over at their house, leaving Jason's house unpopulated. Jason moved a TV up to the room and watched it for a while, waiting for them to wake up.

The first to wake up was Symone, not long after sunset. She groaned quietly and shifted, and immediately he felt her mind reach out. She didn't bother to open her eyes, just sighed in relief. _Thank the Trinity, you talked to Jyslin._

"Good morning," he said quietly, looking at her. She opened her eyes and regarded him. "Feeling better?"

_You can send, hon,_ she told him. _I'm better._ She winced and put a hand on her shoulder. _At least mentally,_ she amended. _I'm surprised you found us so fast._

_I didn't,_ he answered, getting up and sitting on the bed beside her. _A couple of squatters did. Tim was awake and told them they were looking for me, and word reached me. I went down and got you._

_How is he? I can't get any sense of him at all._

_Broken arm, the doctor that bandaged you both up gave him something to make him sleep,_ Jason answered, pointing to the bed across the room.

_That musta been one hell of a sleeping pill. It knocked him completely out. There's not even a sense of him sleeping, it's like he's not there._

_It was for pain,_ he told her.

_Ah. That'll do it. How bad am I off?_

_You were hit three times,_ he answered. _The two burns on your leg aren't bad, but the one on your shoulder wasn't pretty. The doc that came had Faey training, he used the medical stuff I brought with me to get you pretty well patched up. He said you should be fully healed in about six days._

_That's good to hear. Tim?_

_Broken arm and that's it,_ he answered.

_He musta broke his arm when we went down,_ she grunted mentally, squirming up to a half-seated position. _I didn't think either of us were going to make it there for a minute. One of the fighters sent a plasma bolt right through the_ cockpit_. That blew out the whole ship, and we dropped like a rock. Thank Trelle for crash foam,_ she sent fervently.

_That might be why they didn't bother looking for you,_ he reasoned. _If one of them aced the cockpit, they probably figured they took both of you out. What happened?_

_Worst possible scenario,_ she sent heavily. _Tim expressed the day before it all went to hell, but he had to go to school. He slipped up, an instructor caught it, and she called in a containment team. I got to him first though, and all but stole him. We managed to get out of town, and hid down in Crown City long enough for Jyslin to talk to someone that knew generally where you were. We stole a skimmer and got chased, then they called in fighters. We didn't last long after they caught up with us._

_Well, you made it. That's all that matters._

_That is_ so _true,_ she sent fervently, closing her eyes. _With nothing but the clothes on our backs... or armor in my case. Guess I get to cavort around naked for a while._

_You'll fit in some of my clothes for now,_ he told her. _We might have to bargain with some people for things like underwear though._

_Speaking of m