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Edited & Coauthored by Averis

A New Life in a New Body Mandalig Mountain

"Good evening, sleepy head," I said to Lisa when she awoke.

"How long was I out?" she asked

"We're four minutes from heading out," Klaw yelled from the other room.

"How does he bloody do that?' I asked.

Somewhat cryptically he yelled "It's only wood and you aren't that far away so I can hear you, that's mostly the reason."

"Well I got dressed while you were asleep, so go ahead and get dressed. It's interesting, that was some of the best sleep I've had in ages, nightmares have plagued me for years," I said walking out of the room.

"Ok, see you out there," she said.

Waiting until Lisa was ready I saw that Klaw had cleaned the remains of Chris's head off the car at some point. As Klaw started the car Lisa moved around some of the boxes guns in the middle between the two second row pilot type seats into the front seat and got into one of them herself before I got into the other. The lift started bringing us back up where we entered the previous night, and left the housing development. We were off to the mountain range just south of it

"We're not far from the mountain but we don't want any possible mistakes. We'll be there by around eleven, then you can meet some of the others," Klaw said while driving carefully to avoid attracting any attention.

"Where is it exactly," I asked.

"You'll see, don't worry." Klaw was silent for several minutes after his cryptic revelation until he pulled off the road into the parking lot of an abandoned car shop. Driving around to the side away from the road he pushed a button and one of the doors opened. Not moving for a moment he pressed a second button and the floor slowly lowered down at an angle and once Klaw was satisfied with it he drove forward into a tunnel. "Twenty years this rebellion has been growing, we have found a number of ways to keep ourselves safe."

"You mean you found a better way to hide," I said.

"We are out numbered and the council has us muzzled, if you'll forgive the pun. They refuse to let us fight back, we are restricted to merely saving others that turn. Mean while the government finds more effective ways of tracking us and sends out squads to kill those they find. You know why the government fears us right," He asked while driving slowly along the tunnel.

"Because we're stronger, more agile, we live longer, and that scares the piss out of them," I said, "not to mention all of the extra sensory developments and the more developed minds."

"And their experiments on humans become even more dangerous when we turn, I am one such result, Lisa is another. I have enhanced telepathic abilities, she is telekinetic beyond any human dreams and somewhat psychically empathic," he said with a snarl, showing his disdain for their experiments.

"They're also highly unethical, I know, those bastards had a squad of us capture some "Rebels" there was no resistance, the people we brought back were experimented on and euthanized a week after experimentation was over. They were used to heat the facility," I said going back.

"That isn't uncommon, they've learned to block the transformation in some but it's limited by genome, only some qualify, all of those who qualify are made into sniffers, generation two," Klaw said while slowing down and pressing a button again, causing a door to open in front of us. As we pulled in I saw a series of other vehicles parked in a row inside, pulling up to the only empty spot Klaw said "We're here."

"You haven't said a word Lisa, is something wrong," I asked.

"Hmm? Oh, um no nothings wrong," she stammered out quickly.

Getting out Klaw yelled "Hey boys, come help us unload, hell of a haul here." After a moment a couple of big boars walked over and started helping unload.

"What is this place?" I asked aloud amazed at the sheer size.

"We call it home," Lisa said, "We're totally independent. We grow our own food, clean our water supply, we do everything."

"Must have taken years huh?" I asked.

"Yes, come on, we have a tour to take you on," Klaw said after getting the last crate of guns.

"Was there an expansive tunnel system, or did you use TNT to blow massive caverns in here?" I asked.

"Some of it was here but we expanded a lot, very little explosives were used due to the military being able to track us that way, even with how long this has been going on we're still expanding. We find ways to achieve everything, we even have our own teams of physicists, chemists, you name and we have it, thats what happens in twenty years people turning into furs. There have been accidents over the years but none that have compromised us severely," Klaw said while leading me along through a door, nodding to others on the way by. "This is the primary control room."

Coming up to a room full of computer consoles with people moving between them I was surprised to see the number of them, all kinds of different species among them. Looking around I saw a sorta short white lizard with a shock of bloody red hair that didn't go past her jawline. Walking up she asked me "Are you Michael Yvaltski?" There was something about her that was familiar.

"I did at one time go by that, you seem familiar," I said.

Reacting faster than I could see her move I suddenly found myself flying backwards and hitting the wall three feet behind me, "My name is still Sherri asshole."

"Geist, how could I ever forget a thousand slain enemies by your hands? I though about you every day for a while, it ripped my heart out to leave like I did. I had to move on to survive, I didn't think the accident really was an accident," I said.

"It wasn't, get up off the floor already, I had to hit you at least once for what you did. I mean for fucks sake I found the engagement ring at your house afterwards, but your computer was gone." Digging the box out she looked at it and said "I wish you had taken it with you though, you're the one that gave me feelings again after what happened when I was kid. That's why you were target though, the military wanted you to leave, they hoped that without you I would turn into something easier to control."

Sticking it back into her cargo pants I finally took notice of how she was dressed. Standing there in a pair of cargos without a shirt on I saw she didn't have breasts anymore, just a solid frame of muscles, but still feminine in nature. Her tail was trailing on the floor for a foot and a half or so around her feet.

"I guess it failed huh? Did you find anyone else, you were always a very gorgeous woman," I said while pulling myself off the ground, "And I accidentally forgot the ring. Wasn't m intent to let you see it after that."

"Yeah, it completely failed, it only worked in their opinion because I became obsessed with finding you so I didn't want anything more than finish their stupid missions as fast as possible. And no, I don't need anyone else, I have enough company." Pausing for a moment she looked to her right and looked like she wanted to say something but then looked back at me and shook her head.

"Cherry, what are you keeping from me, and don't lie I know when you lie, your left eye has a twinkle and you shift to your right," I said.

As her tail snapped out I saw it for an instant part way across the distance before I felt it crash into my stomach like a wave of pain.

"What the hell was that about," I asked clutching my stomach.

"You know I hate it when you call me that in public. And we'll talk later about it, things are complicated." She said while looking like she wanted to hit me again for talking about her flaws.

Smiling i said, "You know I always thought you were perfect in spite of your flaws."

"You should be glad Lisa isn't here," Klaw said once Sherri had stalked far enough away after I tried complimenting her, "I'll show you Sherri's hangout later, if you can get her to calm down a little the infirmary would be very grateful to you. Lets continue on the tour, I'll show you the vehicle shop next."

"Sherri seems just as pleasant as usual. She still cars about me though, I can tell," I said.

"She's been like that since I met her three years ago, and still obsessed with finding you the entire time. I honestly wasn't sure if she was going to kill you or not." Klaw said while gesturing the direction we would be walking and leading the way.

"She wouldn't. I know her, and believe you me, that when we met each other in basic, she was much worse. Ever hear of the Heartland Incident?" i asked.

"I heard the scientists who were in charge of my test group mention it once, 28 recruits killed in a war game, only two survivors. I'm going to guess those two were you and her." He said while barely faltering.

"Good guess. Sadly though those weren't her first kills, we say she killed one thousand, well if you count the deaths before completing boot she killed some where around one hundred and two hundred fifty more, we honestly don't know. She liked me best, she'd only hit me once at a time when she would pummel everyone else till they stopped moving. What can I say she was quite a looker," I said.

"Well certain features change when one turns, such as I'm sure she had breasts before the change, granted her muscles are formed in such a way that she still almost looks like she has some. Of course her features are still very soft and feminine in some ways, such as her hips and rounded face." Turning another corner we walked into a large room with a hole in the ceiling, around us I saw tanks, more armored cars, a few four wheelers with foot stands for a second person on back and what looked like a flip up cage to prevent the second person from simply falling off.

"Think we could go look in a mirror or something I want to see myself," I said.

Nodding Klaw said "You are a bit different, follow me, I'll show you the nearest one." Leading me back down the hall we turned into what looked to be part of a locker room with a wall between where I heard showers running and where we are now. Before me was a full length mirror running along the wall.

"Do you know anything about cryptids?" I asked.

"No, enlighten me," Klaw answered.

"I don't know much, but i do know there are supposedly animals that have been depicted on ancient stone tablets, that were buried in the sand over thousands of years. They call it a Salawa, abnormally long pointed ears, the muzzle is thin and full of sharp teeth, a large tail and striped fur pattern and is usually either a black or dark red. I believe that's what I am," I said not too positive.

"Well you're certainly different, there is no arguing that," He said in response.

"I spent all my life trying to hide now I stand out like a sore thumb. Its ironic, shall we continue?" I asked.

Nodding he said "Please do."

"Weren't you showing me around?" I asked.

"Ah, I wasn't sure that you were done, I'll introduce you to the head of the garage, let's go," Klaw said what leading me back into the garage.

"It isn't anyone i know is it? I just want to make sure I don't get decked again," I said.

"I make no guarantees, he's a bit unique even with someone like Sherri in your life," Klaw said while leading me up to a strangely huge lizard, even bigger than Klaw in terms of height.

Looking over the big Lizard rumbled out "Klaw, about time you came back, what's it been, like four months since you visited." Looking at me he asked "Who's this, a newbie?"

"I guess you could call me that, you're a car expert I take it," i said

"Well good to meet you! They call me Devil, it's both what and who I am, my original name meant it, and I became this, an extinct species in the normal animals, not in us though, called Devil Dragon," he said while laughing like a car engine rumbling.

"Nice laugh, it sounds pretty cool," I said

Smiling widely with a huge toothy grin he said "Most agree, or jump thinking a car is about to run them over, there are so many here to choose from for that fear."

"I was hit by one once." I said.

"Well I imagine that was pleasant, if you notice it would be a bit difficult for a car to run me over, even a tank," He said in reference to his twenty or so feet of height.

"I hadn't turned yet. I was going to propose to Sherri," I said.

Looking at me anew he said "Propose, to that death machine?"

"She wouldn't kill me, she shows restraint with me, always has," I said.

"She must really like you, that's either suicide or love, I have work to do though, enjoy the tour," he said while waving us off. Walking off he yelled "you idiot, you're putting that engine in fuckin upside down!"

"See you around," I said, "Maybe I'll come down here and help out after."

Leading me off Klaw said "Well he's the head of the motor pool, the garage, etc. Where do you want to see next, you've seen C&C already, I don't imagine you care about hydroponics. I suppose I could show you the general sleeping quarters."

"General quarters is fine," I said.

Leading me on we eventually came to a large cavern with buildings in the middle and doors around the walls, "This is general quarters, there are many who stay alone but also many who don't mind sharing, and a couple like Sherri who rate having personal quarters away from others."

"Would Sherri be in her quarters right now," I asked.

"Probably, that or the gym. I do hope she's in her quarters," Klaw said while leading me further down. After a couple minutes of heading further down we eventually stopped passing other people and ended up outside of a steel door.

"This is it?" I asked.

As the door slammed open Sherri was standing there with her tail having opened the door, "Something you want?"

"We both need to talk, and you know it," I said turning to Klaw, "See you later."

"Klaw, I swear I won't kill him, I can't guarantee that I won't drag him to the infirmary later though," Sherri said while walking back into her room, "and close the door Mike."

Closing the door I asked, "Did you move on?"

Whipping around she said "No, how do you expect me to move on without any closure."

"Lets help you get closure then. I know I left without a word to you," I said.

"Left without a word, you left without even a confirmation of your death! I fucking had a psychotic break because of you, how do you expect to just fix that with a simple conversation, tell me that," Sherri screamed in my face.

"Cherry, please calm down. I tore a peice of my heart out that day. I was going to fuckin propose to you, the meal alone was going to be over three hundred. My plans changed drastically when that fuckin car hit me. I cried for fuckin weeks after the accident and my faked death, I was keeping tabs on you, because no one could ever replace you," I said, "I thought we were sou mates."

As I said soul mates Sherri's tail crashed into the floor, cracking it and raising a small cloud of dust, "What was then and what is now are completely different, I can't just forgive you after five years of trying to find you, I was worried that they had taken you. I didn't know but what you were being tortured this entire time."

"I still love you, its a different kind of love. Cherry, you disappeared as well, we both did it to protect ourselves. I didn't want you to keep looking for me after I died, I wanted you to move on," I said.

"Sharon Valori, Geist, Medusa, those three names disappeared from existence. I had to completely erase those leads to stop anyone from searching for me that didn't matter. The military knew me as Geist, the net knew Medusa, and you know my birth name had all but died years before. I didn't disappear completely though because I wanted you to find me," she said before slamming her tail again.

"Cherry, remember the technique I taught you?" I asked, "The breathing technique?"

Breathing deeply Sherri closed her eyes and let it out. For a moment it seemed to be working until I saw a flash to my side and one of her tempered steel throwing daggers flashed by my eye and just barely missed my ear before she said "Fuck the technique, there is something else you don't know!"

"Cherry, I came here to talk to you, not to be yelled at or threatened. Do the technique or I walk out of here right now," I said.

"I know that damn it!" Stopping for a moment she sighed and undid her buckle, dropping her cargo pants and then removing all of the sheathes strapped up and down her legs, she probably had hidden slits in her cargo pants to reach them. Tossing them all on the floor she sat down in just a pair of tight workout shorts. Breathing deeply she said "I told you that it caused a psychotic break, I wasn't kidding. I developed a second personality in my head and he makes everything harder to control."

"It was bound to happen," was all I could say.

Grabbing her cargos off the ground and toss them at me she said "Look in the third pocket down on the right side."

Doing as she asked I pulled out two old pictures, one was of the two of us the second one was a bit newer and she had a bulge in her stomach I said, "I still have the first one in my wallet, never took it out, who's the father?"

Looking me straight in the eyes she said "You were, the last time we had sex the protection broke remember. Five months in my muscles destroyed the baby, it was a boy. The military shrinks guess that is part of why I had such a severe psychotic break, after I lost you I lost the only reminder of you."

Sliding down the wall i felt tears suddenly flowing down my cheeks I said, "Had I known i wouldn't have left. I would have stayed. I would have done the best by both of you. I wouldn't have went into hiding."

"This is why I was so dedicated, I wanted my unborn son to have a father who I knew as a good man, and then I wanted to try again after the accident. For a year and a half I didn't exercise my stomach muscles because I believed i could find you to try again. Then I changed, my muscles now are stronger than ever but I'm a lizard, I don't give live birth anymore so my body strength doesn't risk killing a child." Her voice was uneven and I knew she was on the verge of tears as well, but Sherri never cried, not even over this.

Patting the floor beside me I said, "Please, sit next to me. I need to hold someone."

Walking over she thumped down next to me, not reaching for me, just holding herself.

Wrapping my arms around her I said, "I could donate some, you know, if you want me to. I don't really know what you want from me. I just want to make a wrong right."

"What about Lisa, I heard Klaw despite his thinking that I was out of range to hear him," she responded.

"She's nice but, I owe you this, and there doesn't have to be any actual penetration, it just needs sperm and an egg, the rest can take care of itself," I said.

"I need to think on it, I don't want to be going soft right before a war after all," she said while shifting a bit further away from me.

"I don't want to hurt you but I need to get out of here. I love you though and this picute changes everything," I said while standing up and grabbing her throwing knife and walking over to the cork board and jabbing the knife in the background of the picture of her carrying my child, "If there's a war coming I want to be at the front, and you know that."

Grabbing my ankle with her tail she said "I want to do it, I want to bring a new life into this world."

"Why does it have to be mine?" I asked getting slightly angry.

"Because, you're a good man," she said.

"How early did you know?" I asked.

"Three weeks after you 'died'," she answered.

"I Need to get out of here. By he way my old cell phone still works, you coulda called," i said pulling my foot out of the grip of her tail and heading for the doors.

Sitting there for a moment she leaped up and shouted at me through her door "I'm sorry, I-I love you still!"

********

"Well you certainly royally fucked all of that now didn't you." Alvar said from the corner.

Whirling around I slammed my door shut again and shouted "Why the fuck do you care!"

"I'm just stating what your thinking, you're the stupid one that couldn't show any emotion other than to get pissed," he responded.

"And who the hell was sitting there laughing at it all while I was trying to calmly tell him the situation, that's right, you were. Always telling me my mistakes, and always causing me to make more by distracting me!" Picking up a knife I threw it straight through him and he disappeared for a moment but with no others around he came right back sitting on my bed.

"That's because you make so many. Like that you realize I'm not exactly you but a manifestation of a break down caused by emotional stress yet you throw physical objects at an intangible one," he said.

Grinning insanely I said "It makes me feel better, even if I can't kill you I can make you disappear from time to time. Why did he have to leave, I felt better while he was here."

"Oh I don't know, maybe it had to do with the fact that he just found out he got you pregnant. You searched for him, but he thinks you could have done more, which you could have. He feels betrayed on a certain level," he said following the path Mike walked.

"I don't get it though, I tried his cell phone, it would ring and ring and he wouldn't answer, I gave up on his cell eventually, deciding that even if the voice mail was still there he wasn't checking it. What does he mean by his old number is still active," Sherri said while taking the picture of her down from the cork board.

"He means he left a trail. kept up on the phone bill, maybe you should have just left a message telling him to call you back," he said sitting where Mike was.

"There was no bank account tied to it, I checked. I assumed that either the military was paying for it or he had hacked his own account like I showed him to make it free." Grabbing my phone and plugging it into the mountain's sat usage eraser tower connection. Dialing quickly I waited a few seconds and said "It's ringing."

"He probably ditched it you dumb bimbo, and even if he didn't why would he want to talk to you?" Alvar teased her, "Maybe you should wonder if he really does love you or not."

Hissing I heard it go to voice mail and shouted "Damn it! For fucks sake Alvar why can't you be wrong just once!"

"I developed in the logic center of your brain, I'm just saying what you're thinking," He said.

Groaning I said "I would choke you to death if I could, taking it slowly, making sure you nearly died dozens of times before finally killing you."

"You could it would just result in your death as well," he said, "But we both know you aint got the guts, or else you would have offed yourself years ago, when you killed your baby."

"I am not suicidal, thanks for the suggestion asshole. And I didn't willingly kill my son, I loved the idea of becoming a good mother." Whirling I pointed at him and continued "But you know that, which means you're getting at something else."

"You were absolutely terrified, you were seeking Mike so you wouldn't have to face it alone. You're a coward," Alvar said, "We both know you tried, you backed out, you though about going to the abortion clinic. You were afraid of the child having your problems. Nothing works out for you, ever. Oh, by the way wheres that 24 karat diamond studded engagement ring at? What made you keep it? He moved on, you didn't"

"I am one of the most dangerous beings on this planet and I stand at only five foot three inches, I am not afraid of anything! I am the most brilliant military mind this world has ever seen!" I shouted at him, "And if you're so damn curious why don't you just look at my memories, then you'd know it's in my cargo pants," walking over and grabbing them I searched for the ring but couldn't find it, "It's gone, why is it gone..."

"Oh, not afraid of anything are we? What about Mike?" he asked, "No its not its in the other set dumbass."

Sneering at him I said "Oh very funny, you know as well as I do that it was in the second pocket on the right side of this pair of pants. It was right there until I threw the cargos at him, which means he took the ring!"

"Why didn't he bring it up? He would have, we both know that... Cherry," he said.

Charging at him pointlessly I threw a punch straight through him and said "Only he can call me that you bastard! Maybe he wanted to actually propose to me, did you consider that you oh so logical fucktard!"

"I did, he said he loved you in a different way, why would he propose if he didn't love you like you love him? We can both pretend we understand him but we both don't," he said.

"I," falling to the floor I started crying, "why can't he love me?"

"He did, maybe he still does. Why else would he offer to help you conceive a child. There might still be some hope, now that you told him about the baby your body destroyed. Do you think crying is going to get him back?"

Wiping the tears away I strapped my shethes back to my legs and pulled my pants back on before I opened my door and walked out, "Shut up already Alvar, I'll face things on my own, I always do."

"THEN WHY AM I STILL HERE? YOU'VE NEVER FACED THEM YOU RAN AWAY!" he yelled.

"I need a child, you conceited moron. You were conceived in my mind because of the death of my child, after I have one you will disappear," I said while marching up the corridor.

"You're mind couldn't cope, you could never cope, and there's no guarantee, the doctors said it MIGHT help get rid of me," he said arrogantly.

Smiling I said "What doctor ever understood me, I am so much more than they have ever dealt with."

Making himself look like the new version of Mike he said, "I understood you better than most. I taught you how to be slightly human, without me you'd still be a stone cold killer.Go to him. Confront the father."

Shaking my head I said "For once you and I agree perfectly," before breaking into a sprint.

"I just want to see you cry some more," he said.

Ignoring his last comment I decided to head towards the mess hall since he probably smelled lunch when he was leaving. Sprinting along the passages I avoided those in my way and decided to slow down upon seeing the doorway to the mess hall. "Okay, I can do this," I said to myself before walking in and taking in all the faces in front of me in an instant, determining where Mike was with ease. As I began to walk over I saw he was chatting with a snow white rabbit I didn't know, and since he didn't know anyone else I knew it had to be the Lisa Klaw mentioned earlier.

Walking up to him I said "Hey, sorry about before. I shouldn't have put all that on you the way I did, we've both been given a new lease of life, we need to find our own way."

"She's still in love with you Mike, she doesn't know what to do," Lisa spoke up.

Looking at the rabbit I wasn't sure what to make of her, "Sorry, do I know you, my name is Sherri."

"I've heard of you, supposedly everyone here cringes at the mere mention of Sherri. They also say you're emotionally dead, but what I'm feeling right now is to the contrary. Name's Lisa," she said.

"No, she isn't dead, just a complete bitch, isn't that right," Alvar said while appearing just on the other side of Lisa.

Glaring at him I sighed and said "I'm completely screwed in the head, and sacrifice means next to nothing to me, I take it you're one of the research experiments I decided not to kill some 13 years ago. Well, decided is probably the wrong term, I used the time for that mission to kill my handler at the time."

"I was born with it, was experimented on for a time. Your 'friend' needs to learn some manners. An the sacrifice depends on who does it, if it were Mike, I'd wager you'd be balling your eyes out like you were a few minutes ago," Lisa responded.

I knew I probably had the same expression painted on my face that Alvar had on his as I asked "You can see him?"

"No, but I know you can see and hear him, you let him get to you too much," she responded.

Waving my hands I said "Hold on a sec, so you can feel him or something, like he's a separate entity?"

"Of course she can't you stupid bitch, I'm just a part of you, nothing of this world can detect me, even that Klaw fellow who can actually read minds doesn't know when I've told you something," Alvar said while waving his hand through Lisa's ears.

"'He's' right. He is just a part of you who projects himself in your eyes, though guessing from where you're looking he's sitting next to me doing something with his arms," turning to Mike she said, "You might want to talk to her, I'm just agitating her."

Groaning I said "You, freaking Alvar, the situation, believe you me, I picked that up from you Mike, nothing keeps me calm anymore."

"Sherri blossom sit down, please," Mike said.

Pointedly sitting where Alvar was sitting I hissed when he reappeared next to Mike, "I can't bloody win for losing with you can I."

"Nope, you can't beat me, because I'm all the best parts of you without the screwups," Alvar said while pointing at me and all but laughing at my attempts.

"He's not perfect, he can't get angry. You have all emotions," Lisa spoke up.

"Seriously, you said you can't see or hear him, how the fuck are you giving such damningly meaningful advice?" I asked looking over at Lisa.

"Because he's real enough to you, even though you know he doesn't have a physical form. Its like I'm drowning in your emotions, its rather unsettling," Lisa responded.

Groaning I dropped my head onto the table and said "Great, now I'm not sure who is crazier, you or me, I'm still leaning more towards me though."

"Ok Sherri blossom what do you need to talk to me about," Mike asked.

Looking at him without picking my head up I said "I wanted to tell you I was being unreasonable blaming you like I was before, and my, we'll say request, was also unreasonable."

"Look, I feel betrayed. You conceived MY child, and what did you really do to find me?" he asked.

"Can we please not do this, ignoring Alvar is draining enough without arguing with you, by the time I knew I was pregnant you had erased yourself completely using methods I taught you. You erased the bank connections to your phone, which I did call hundreds of times, all it did was ring. You had gotten a coroner's report checking your teeth falsified to complete your death certificate, you even took your computer which meant I couldn't do a back trace using that," I said while pulling myself back into a sitting position.

"I told you. The cell still worked. Until recently I had it on me twenty four seven. I know you called. We both knew the biggest rule though, never break your cover. Unless circumstances change," Mike said, "A child would have changed everything."

Shaking my head I said "I left messages, but if you never checked them then circumstances would obviously never change."

"Something has come up, Call me, please. That isn't enough to break cover.

"I didn't exactly know if I was talking with you or with an agency that had captured you. You know that so many groups in the world would give anything to have control over me. Hell, a child of mine raised in their view would be worth just as much to them. Look, the past is the past, I have told you everything, do with the information what you will," I said while spinning on the bench and standing up to leave.

"He doesn't trust you anymore, he never will. There is nothing anymore between you two," Alvar said.

"Just shut up," I said quietly.

Feeling a sudden touch on my should i turned to see Mike, "Look Cherry Blossom, I'm sorry, there's a lot of conflicting emotions right now. I want to trust you but the whole child thing makes me feel like I've been lied to. You know how I always talked about settling down and starting a family. I was going to propose but, I still would have asked you to leave the government job. I still love you." He leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

Stepping away from him I said "Maybe you need to think about all of this, keep the ring as well. I know you took it back earlier, he's a hell of a guy Lisa." Walking away I knew I had probably made another mistake, but what was one more mistake after so many others so long as my military strategies were still perfect.

"I got it for you," Mike said to my back.

********

"He does love you, but he loves her as well," I said as Lisa walked into my front room with her continually open invitation to stop by. "Yes, sorry, habit. I'll try and stay out of your head the rest of the time you're here," I continued in acknowledgement of her next thought.

"Apparently he got her pregnant," she said.

Looking her square in the eyes I said "They were partners in the military, they didn't have time for anything else and they didn't even know that they were guaranteed to come back alive. Please, take a seat if we're gonna make this a serious conversation." Gesturing to a newly upholstered chair in the corner.

Sitting in the gestured seat she said, "He wants to be with her. His emotions were all focus on her, I swear sitting with both of them it felt like there was still that raw animal attraction. like a giant elephant in the room," she said.

"Sherri has been obsessed with him for years, and he was deeply in love with her before his disappearance. He probably moved on long ago but finding out about the pregnancy brought up long silenced emotions, and yes I grabbed that from his mind in the time we knew him. He loved her but I'm certain he didn't know she was pregnant before today," I said while making myself more comfortable and working to ignore the shouting Lisa was doing.

"He said he wanted to start a family," she said, "How can he love me?"

"Love is more complicated than any other emotion, and the want to have a family doesn't just mean one person. I've heard Sherri's thoughts, she doesn't want him back, she's tempted to kill him which is why I thought he might die when they met again. She isn't sure what she wants, of course no one is every truly sure but she is even more conflicted than usual," I said while deciding to chew a bit of numbing root.

"Is there anything I can do try to get him to love me?" she asked lowering her voice.

Grabbing the jar off a shelf I said "Emotions are your shtick, and I don't want to know what people are feeling anyway."

"I don't know what it is but his emotions seem shielded from me, I can only feel what his emotion is on top not the others," She said.

"They certainly didn't seem shielded last night when you decided to kiss him due to those emotions flowing out. But I suppose that is part of it, isn't it, obviously he has feelings for you since you felt the urge to kiss him last night. Do you want any, I'm sure that after the feelings you got from Sherri you have a headache, he thought process feels like a train driving through an explosion and then getting sucked into a black hole to get spewed back into another shape," I said while offering her the jar.

Taking a bit she said, "When i kissed him last night he was a train wreck, there were hundreds of shades of emotions going through his head, but when he woke up today only a few shades of emotion were visible. Surely you noticed."

"I know, I was actually in his head. But there was barely a different between his thoughts, they were more organized but he was still thinking in layers upon layers. His mind is similar to an onion, some people can be thinking about things and not quite realize it and that is who he is, you and Sherri both think separately from your actions, you can be thinking about cake while killing someone. Last night when you kissed him four things flashed through his mind, a ring, which I found out to be the one Sherri has kept in her pocket the entire time I've known her. Sherri in her human form, another girl I don't recognize with the name Mary attached to that thought. And finally he was thinking about wanting a family and happiness," I said while putting another piece of root in my mouth and putting the jar back.

"Why is it that I can't seem to get Mike out of my head. Every time I close my eyes I see him its like he haunts my mind. Why do you suppose that is?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

Chuckling a little I said "You love him obviously, even you realize that. Life and love are never simple, where is Mike now. From what I gather of the situation Sherri has locked everyone out of her room and he doesn't seem like the type to pointlessly bang at a foot thick steel door."

"He's more of a man of action. I couldn't imagine him rolling over for anyone, even Sherri or what he calls her Cherry. I think even the military had a hard time controlling him, that's why he left. He didn't like how they were treating innocents. I met him yesterday, and i know hes different in some very significant way. But we both know love at first sight is baloney," she said.

"It wasn't him they had a hard time controlling, they wanted to kill him to hopefully destabilize Sherri to the point that all that was left was a killing machine, which partially worked. He was a perfect soldier, learned quickly, followed orders he didn't like or agree with. He was everything, but she was even more, she was the ultimate soldier, even if she killed her commanding officers frequently," I said while giving her the same information that the information expert had turned over when he changed five years ago.

"When he left he felt determined to do something for Sherri. It was so strong I almost got up to help him. He's a natural born leader isn't he?" she asked.

"He cares for others, he always thinks about the consequences, and he is extremely intelligent. Yes, he is a natural leader," I said.

"I think he was headed to the garage, felt he met someone she might like. He's looking for a good guy," she said.

Looking back on today I said "What could he be thinking in there, I'm sure he isn't thinking what I think he's thinking..."

"There was like this muddy red color, I think we both know who it is," she said.

Sighing I said "Devil, well I imagine that would be a most interesting conversation."

"Mike can be very persuasive," she responded.

*******

Entering the garage I saw the man i was looking for, "Hey Devil, you got a minute?"

Putting down an engine he was looking at Devil said "Yeah, whats up?"

"Got a place we can talk quietly?" I asked.

Gesturing he led me through a large door on the side of the room and inside was a room full of over-sized furniture with one normal sized chair, pointing at that while dropping into a large sofa that he took most of he said "Okay, so what did you want to discuss, there can't have been that much that happened in the hour or so since we spoke before."

"You'd be surprised. Here's the thing. You know Sherri, well I was kind of wondering if maybe..." I said, "You'd go out with her, or at least try."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there bud, that girl is dangerous. I don't mind helping but that is one hell of a request. What in the world has happened to make you ask this," he said while sitting up from his laying position on the couch.

"I know it is. I know she can be dangerous at times, but you don't know her like I do she can be really sweet. I want to help her move on, I really fucked up with her," I said.

"Oh, now it can't be that bad, it isn't like you got her pregnant or anything," he said half joking.

"Got her knocked up and abandoned her, not on purpose but she miscarried. She developed a second personality. It would have been different had I stayed," I said, "How bad does that sound?"

Staying silent for a moment Devil said "Call me Rewera, few do. As for your situation, that sounds like you really screwed up. So let me ask you a few questions, why did you abandon her if it wasn't because of the pregnancy?"

"Military wanted me out of the picture to make her the killing machine she was before I helped her actually have emotions again. So they hit me with a car going eighty miles an hour, landed in critical condition in an intensive care unit. After I got out I faked my death, I though it was the best thing at the time," I admitted, "She didn't even know till she got back in the country."

"How long after that did she know she was pregnant, and when did she miscarry," he asked with something in his voice that I wasn't sure how to quantify.

"Three weeks after I 'died', miscarried at five months," I said.

Staying silent for a moment he said "My wife died from her miscarriage."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I hate the idea that I lost my son, I cant imagine what you were feeling, or might still be," I said,

"It was eighteen years ago, in some people the turn is caused by stress, and mine was. You can imagine the stress I felt afterwards, it was the early days when very little was known by any about this all. It was during when I was first turned that they found these old military bunkers in this mountain. Look, I haven't had a person relation since then, I don't know how that would work now, for one thing I'm five times her size and weight, she's dangerous because she makes herself that way, I can kill someone just by not seeing them," he said while looking up at me.

"I'm not looking for you to give a big commitment on this. Just one date, to see if you get along," I said.

Sighing he said "I'm not asking her, you want this to happen you deal with that part of it. She crushed the ribs last guy to ask her on a date and he was even a bull elephant. She's feared here for a reason."

"Cause she can do serious damage even to a guy your size, I'll talk to her about it.This evening ok?" I asked.

Nodding he said "I suppose the sooner the better then."

"I'll let you know how it works out," I said standing up, "I'd shake your hand but I'm afraid you'd break it."

Extending a finger he said "Don't worry, I get that a lot, well I suppose here's to hoping this works out and our oh so scary commander feels better."

"Yeah, lets hope," I said shaking his finger and heading out of the office. My next step was to go see Sherri.