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"Six years ago the president stood at a dais like this and said the worst was over, we had won. Recent events however dispute that, we didn't fix the underlying problem... we simply stuck a band aid over it and hoped it would heal, and for a while it seemed like it was." She watched as some people nodded, things were better in some ways worse in others.
"So... I'm Ancient... right... I can time travel... cross to alternate realities... see and experience things that boggle the mind." She focused her eyes on the camera directly before her. "So when I say, I've seen what will happen if we don't fix this, get this right now... believe me. I've seen it, I've lived it... August the 3rd... that is a mere drop in the ocean compared to what I saw."
She watched as most of the reporters went pale, August the 3rd was bad, most if not all had borne witness to it, reported the aftermath, seen the carnage, that what Amy saw was worse was not something that was sitting well with them.
"Granted the world I was dragged to was different, how the war happened was different but it happened there, it consumed its people for twenty years. Everything gone... industry, medicine, it is a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Small pockets of humans living in a world they didn't know how to live in, Were and non-humans keeping away from each other." She took a deep breath.
"But that wasn't the worst of what I saw, of the stories I was told."
Keira... Thais told her directing her to give them an example, and Piper. He added.
"You all know Keira right?" She asked and got resounding nods from everyone, they all knew Keira, the orphaned girl who stumbled into the fire fight, she was the little human girl in the stand. "She was orphaned in that world too, her mother killed by merks in a terror raid, terror raids were the way they got reluctant humans to join their ranks. They would attack small communities which resisted the merks, who stood up to them and told them no. The Merks didn't like that so they had to make examples of those people make them fear the big mean Were. It was winter when they attacked, they tore the bodies up making it look like Were did it. Keira was left for dead, until two Were found her and took her as their own. Because she was human they then chose to avoid both sides of the war to protect her."
"I could tell you stories about people you don't know but I don't want them tracked down and asked how they feel about what happed to the alternate them. I will however tell you I saw children as young as ten forced to join the merks, forced to kill, of women who were treated like brood mares, meat for the grinder one told me. I saw a woman who was going to be killed for being attacked by a true mountain lion simply because they were afraid it could have been a Were." She stopped and took a breath.
"Although I saw a lot of bad things, I also saw a lot of good and the beginnings of a new era, I was there but it wasn't me who started the process of fixing it. It was a small village of Humans that Were had befriended, they changed the minds of a small group of merks, who agreed to go back and change more minds, to be like a virus. A virus of change."
She smiled a little, "do you understand yet why I told you about them?" She asked, "it has never been up to me to be the changing force of this world, that is everyone's job. If you don't want to live in the world I saw, or the world we were forced to see over the last few months then it is up to you. All of you... not just a few... every man, woman and child on this planet. It is your responsibility to change this world, not the governments', not the UN, not the humane groups, you..." She glanced around, she knew that the ending of her speech was radical but it was the only way to get through to everyone.
"And that is all I am going to say. If you want the world to change don't sit back and complain, do something."
There was applause from those around the room.
Thais tugged on her mother's leg, she leant down, "Answer one person's questions, she only has five and they are good questions." he told her.
She considered him for a moment then scooped him up and sat him on her hip, he was a little too big for her to do this to but it gave him the height he needed to reach the microphone. Thais leant forward, "Ms Rhodes... you can ask your questions." He said clearly.
The woman in question jerked in surprise, but since Joe had said Amy wouldn't be asking questions she hadn't expected this, nor had she expected it to be her as she was just a lowly assistant. Her boss jabbed her and handed her a note pad.
"Your questions... not his..." Thais added.
She stood and approached the small microphone stand, she straightened her clothes a little and cleared her throat. She took a deep breath and frowned as her mind went blank for a moment. "Will you be running in next year's presidential primary and if so which party will you join?" She asked as that was the first question to pop into her head.
Amy thought for a moment carefully. "No... I will not be running in next year's primary and if I ever choose to run for president I will remain an independent as I believe that the only way to truly speak for the people is to not be bound by party politics."
Ms Rhodes smiled, "We get the reports from the FBI but how are the victims of the Slave cartels doing?"
Amy chuckled, "my reports are more... detailed then the FBI, except for a few extreme cases most are settling back into normal life. Regardless of how they are it will take time to heal them from their experiences."
"Extreme cases?" Ms Rhodes asked.
Amy nodded, "there are a handful who have had complete mental breakdowns, they are being treated and will hopefully make full recoveries."
"And the children?" She added.
"All have been re-homed or returned to their families if they were taken and not sold. They are settling in well, give them time though, as children they will bounce back but things like that leave scars and behavioural problems, the families have support networks in place to help these children and get them back into society as well adjusted young men and women." Amy answered.
"And my final question, how is Ghost?" Ms Rhodes finished.
Amy smiled, Thais had been right, her questions indeed were good ones, ones that had meaning and were far away from things she wasn't ready to talk about. "Ghost is slowly coming to terms with his loss and is finally beginning to learn about his race and what it is to be a part of a group of people just like him. My family is supporting him through his pain and helping him in every way we can. There is little to no chance of a repeat of what happened the last time he lost his mate." Ghost's story had been told so many times over the last few weeks as he became widely known by the world. When it became known that Ghost had again lost his mate, had her taken away before he could save her, it had made humans feel for him and fear for him.
Amy glanced to Thais. "Thank you for coming and your time, good day." She told them, then turned and carried Thais from the room. Joe shut the door but left it open just a crack so she could watch what was going on.
"You were right, her questions were good ones." Amy told him and she put him back on his feet.
"I'm never wrong remember..." He answered with a small grin.
"I must admit I liked her style..." Joe said.
"She's getting fired for not using her boss's questions." Thais added.
Joe turned to Amy, "please can I steal her." She begged putting her hands together.
Amy nodded, "let me get Mary to talk to her." Mary? she said connecting to the reporter's mind.
Alpha, Mary answered respectfully.
Can you talk to Ms Rhodes, tell her I would like to speak with her as soon as possible, like in the next ten minutes. Amy asked.
Of course, Mary said, by the way... Thais looks simply adorable, where did you get the suit from? She asked.
For Chase? Amy asked.
Yes. Mary answered a little doe eyed when it came to her adopted son.
Sadly Thais willed it together after copying Wolfgang's grey Armani, bring Chase to the manor and I'll see what I can do. Amy offered.
Only if we can stay for a week, I think we all need a break, promise I won't report anything I see or hear. She added.
Of course. Amy said with a grin then turned to Joe. "Mary is taking care of it."
"Ma... I have to use the bathroom." Thais said.
"Go... I'll bring her to the office." Joe said and a moment later Amy and Thais were in Amy's office. She let Thais go and he walked to the bathroom to take care of his needs.
Amy poured herself a coffee adding sugar and cream. She heard the flush of the toilet and a few moments later the water tap turn on. She sipped her coffee and placed it on the coffee table before the couch, she then went back to the small kitchenette and opened a cupboard, she pulled out a bag of cookies and put a dozen on a plate, she walked it to the table then went to put the bag away.
"Ma can I have a juice please." He asked.
"Orange, apple or tropical?" Amy asked as she opened the fridge.
He hummed for a moment, "tropical please."
Amy pulled out the carton and poured him a glass.
"May I have a cookie?" He asked his hand hovered over the triple chocolate cookies which were his favourite.
"Yes." Amy answered as she turned and walked his drink to him, she put it down on the table and picked up her coffee.
Joe walked briskly into the room and was followed by a wary Sauna Rhodes, it still hadn't sunk in yet that she had just been fired, although she was going to sue her boss for wrongful dismissal. "Tea, coffee, juice or water." Joe offered Sauna.
"Coffee please," Sauna answered before she noticed Amy. "Senator... I..."
"Amy... my name is Amy, not Senator." Amy said firmly.
Joe chuckled, "Amy can't stand formality, how do you want your coffee."
"White with one." Sauna answered as she walked further into the room. Thais smiled at her as he munched on a cookie.
"Take a seat," Joe told her as she brought the drinks over, she gave a mug to Sauna and sat before she reached for the cookies.
Sauna sat and waited wondering why she was here.
"Thais says you just got fired?" Amy began.
"I am never wrong," Thais said firmly.
"I know sweetie, I am just trying to explain why she is here." She said trying to calm him down.
"Why me?" Sauna asked Thais.
"Your questions were the best." Thais answered simply before he picked his cup up and drank some juice, he put his juice down and ate the last of his cookie.
"But you said you weren't going to take questions?" Sauna stated.
Amy nodded, "and I wasn't but Thais wanted your questions answered, only at the end did I see his wisdom, you didn't ask about that other world you asked questions Ih were interesting for humans and non-humans, what they wanted to know as it was what you wanted to know."
Sauna snorted, "lost my job though." She muttered.
"And gained a better one." Joe told her. "Look I do too much... I've known that for years. I think you would do well as Amy's press representative freeing me to do my job and be her personal assistant."
"I'll leave you to convince her." Amy said as she stood. "Thais get your things."
Thais finished his juice and stood, he made a gesture and all his drawing things went back into his briefcase before it appeared in his hands. "Ready."
Amy went to open her mouth and tell him off but she had been planning to will her globe and her Ancient computer into her hands so she shut her mouth. She willed her globe and computer into her hands.
"You get used to it." Joe said to Sauna a moment before Amy and Thais vanished.
**
Wolfgang smiled when he saw Thais with his sisters, Ghost's cat sat in the little boys' lap. Thais turned to Wolfgang, "she's gone for a run." He told his father.
Wolfgang paused and thought, he didn't want to go after her but Thais wouldn't have told him if he didn't want his father to go. He nodded to Thais and left the room, he went outside and stripped, leaving his clothes in a neat pile. He took a deep breath closing his eyes, his wolf rose silently from the darkness and took over forcing them to shift.
Wolfgang asked his wolf to be in control as their mate was a little delicate at the moment. His wolf thought about it then shrugged, he didn't really care as long as his human side managed to get their mate to connect with them, to tell them what was bothering her.
He shook his body then took off into the forest following his nose, it didn't take him long, he knew all of her favourite places where she would go to get away and think. The moment he picked up her scent he knew where she was, it was the magical clearing Lupa had found, its massive willow was big enough to support her even when she was in her largest of size. He ran into the clearing and to the willow, he looked up, his eyes searching for his mate. It wasn't easy, a white coat was actually hard to make out as it blended in so well.
He yapped to get her attention, he didn't see the movement until it was too late, Amy launched herself at him and landed on him, he grunted and waited to see what she would do as she had him pinned although she wasn't using her claws. He knew it was pointless to fight her, she was just way too big to fight in this form, he had tried thinking he would have the advantage of being small, that he could weave around her... wrong... she was lightning fast despite her size.
He felt hot breath on his neck, he didn't tense, he wasn't afraid, she wouldn't hurt him. He rolled onto his back and shifted back to his human form, then he waited for her. She shifted above him and pushed herself off him and walked away. He stood and approached but at the same time he kept back as he didn't want to upset her.
His eyes ran over her skin, taking in the new markings, only just managing to hold his desire in check, she didn't need to be jumped, she needed him to listen and understand.
"I went to a world where Lupa doesn't exist." She told him bluntly.
His jaw dropped as he knew just how much Lupa had done indirectly in his long life, besides the fact that without him Amy would not exist... when that thought ran through his mind he knew what she had been forced to do, she had been forced to leave the alternate him, shattering his world.
"Oh Amy..." he told her as he approached, he wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest. "You did nothing wrong, knowing you, you would have tried to preach caution to the other me, he ignored it and I should know just how persistent I can be." He turned her around and tangled his fingers into her hair. "He will survive, you would not have left him without support." He kissed her temple.
Her arms snaked around him to hold him. He opened his mind to her, her pain was still there but it wasn't as raw as it had been last night. He let her feel his acceptance and his forgiveness, he accepted what she had to do, and forgave her on behalf of that other Wolfgang.
She pressed her face to his chest. "how did I get so lucky?" She asked.
He chuckled, "I ask myself that every day when I wake up and see you in my arms." He hesitated for a moment but he untied a piece of cloth that was attached to his collar and pulled out the box Bastion had found in the pocket of her clothes, he hadn't looked inside it as he had a feeling it was personal.
"Bastion found this in your clothes," he explained and put it in her hands.
She nodded and tugged him over to the oak, he sat and she sat in his lap, "it's a gold heart, for the child we adopted."
"Want to talk about it?" He asked as he stroked some hair behind her ear.
"So much happened, I would rather just show you."
*
Wolfgang opened the box later that day and pulled out the crudely made heart, he didn't offer to have it replaced as he knew Amy would reject his offer, this heart represented a child from another universe, it should look different. He grabbed a pair of round nose pliers and carefully attached the heart to her waist-let next to Thais's heart. Shortly after she showed him what happened she had started crying again until she fell asleep, he had carried her home and back to their bed.
"There, all done..." he told her and rested beside her on the bed. "If Ash joins our family in this world I would like to place another heart beside that one." He said as he studied the box the heart had been in, the workmanship was awesome. He studied the inside and removed the padding, a second blank heart fell into his hand. "Another heart." He offered it to Amy, "What will you do with it?"
She shrugged, "I don't know... might just keep it as a keep sake." She placed it on the bedside table then cuddled up to him.
"So all that... all that you went through was for Ash, it wasn't for any of the reasons you thought... and meeting Ash had almost not happened." He said still trying to wrap his mind around the convoluted thinking process Fate had.
She nodded, "yep..." she frowned, "what time is it in France?" She asked.
"Why?"
"Destiny... I already have Ghan getting Crystal here, now I have to get Destiny here." She told him as she started to reach for the bedside phone.
"I still can't believe I let three... what-evers in my pack." He said as he watched her dial a number.
"Hey you were really beginning to like Vlha, said he had a warped sense of humour, you liked Destiny because she was honest and frank and Crystal... well you and her just clicked."
"And there is no point in fighting this..." he asked.
"No... Vlha is Ghan's brother, Destiny and Crystal don't eat humans. They are good people... you'll see." She told him then focused as the phone was picked up.
"Yes." Destiny's voice said trying to imitate bored.
"Destiny... my name is Amy Luis... come to me if you want to find out what happened to Vlha and who your maker is." Amy said simply.
"Excuse me?" Destiny said moments before Amy hung up on her.
"That was rude." He commented.
"But it will get her here."
"And how will Ghan get Crystal here?" He asked curious.
"He has invited her, she will come."
"And Vlha?" He asked.
"I'll get him the moment Rhun has finished installing the blood synthesiser."
He shuddered, "I can't believe you actually want me to welcome blood suckers into my pack."
"They aren't Vampires." She reminded him.
There was a knock on the door, Nathanael walked in and glared at Amy, "post-apocalyptic world... get your arse in the clinic so I can check you over." He ordered.
Wolfgang and Amy cracked up laughing.
"Nathanael she is immortal." Wolfgang said when he finally got control of his laughter, he was glad to hear her laugh.
"She could have picked up worms, anything... clinic NOW." He ordered pointing.
"Okay..." Amy said as she got off the bed and righted her clothes. "Have you done Thais?" She asked.
"Yes he is fine but you were there longer." Nathanael said as he followed her.
Rhun paused before Amy, "All installed... are you sure you only want it programmed for animal blood?"
"Yes." Amy answered and walked into the clinic.
"You do know this is pointless." She told him as she hopped onto the table.
"I will be the judge of that," He told her as Wolfgang joined them. Nathanael held out his hands and Amy placed hers in his. His power streamed into her a minute later he pulled back and frowned.
"So clean bill?" She asked.
"Not quite." He told her and went to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle before returning to Amy. "You will need to take these morning and night." He handed her the bottle, she studied the bottle for a moment before she realised what was going on.
