Vree
      Squished in the back seat with Kat, Lissy squirmed around trying to find 
a place to put her awkwardly long legs.
      Vree blinked and frowned, wondering how Kat ended up in the back seat
with Lissy.  She ignored the two's complaints and protests for the most part,
favoring the road ahead with her attention instead.  The Battle Angel (the
car) was equiped with an in dash radar detector amongst other electronic
equipment, the lights from which made Vree feel as though in the cockpit of a
very high tech stealth plane.  She scanned the horizan with each eletronic
blip, keeping Kaitlyn's blue van firmly in sight ahead of her.
      "Vree! Kat won't put her sword in the trunk and I can't fit back here with
it in the way!"  Lissy's shrill whine broke through the highway hypnosis that
had begun to set in despite the two's distraction behind her.
      She rolled her eyes, answering in a sweet voice, "Now if you two will be
quiet and let Vree drive this car out of this Light forsaken place, she might
give you both a purple sucker." 
      The back set was silent. Vree laughed to herself. Thank the light! They
shut up! 
      A slightly battered land cruiser came into view over the rise of a hill
and Vree spared a moment of pity for the poor man who stood a little ways back
from the road, obviously cursing his poor excuse for a car.
      "STOP!!!" Lissy shouted, leaning between the front and empty passenger
seat, eyes wide.
      Vree cursed, slamming on the brakes and nearly sending Lissy into the
wind shield in the process.  Only a quick barrier of Air woven between the
girl and the dash saved her from a serious concussion.
      Larissa didn't seem to notice.  She scrambled over the seat and out the
door before Vree could blink twice.  A heartfelt groan from Kat brought her
attention to the Warder, who had buried her face in her hands, shaking her
head in denial.
       "What?!?!  What happened?!?!" 
       Kat groaned and pointed out the window at the man and his car.
       Larissa had tackled the man with obvious enthusiasm and was giving him
an extremely friendly welcome.
       "That's Andrew Stonehelm. Lissy's boyfriend. Him and his Cloake of
Lorien and sword named Gildring," Kat explained. "And his 5 o'clock shadow"
she added, laughing to her self to see his Landcruser in a ditch.
       Vree gave her quizzical look as she climbed out of the car and folded
forward the front seat for Lissy and her new companion to climb in.  "Come on
people we need to get out of here!"
       As Lissy and Andy settled into place in the back seat, Vree leaned
back.  "I take it he's coming with us, eh?  No need for me to tie him up and
dump him in the trunk?"
      Lissy nodded frantically, a tiny bit of worry creeping into her eyes.
      "Good, let's keep it that way."
      Kat climbed back into the car, pulling the door shut behind her and
buckling her safety belt.  She heard Lissy doing the same in the back,
apparently remembering her close encounter with the dash board mere moments
before.  A third click and apparently she had convinced Andy of the need as well.
      Kat threw Vree this don't look back there you might throw up look, and
they went on there way. 
 
      Barely five minute back on the road, the near deafening silence on in
the car deteriorated into a mass of hesitant giggles.  Apparently, the cold
animosity present between Kat and Andy wasn't enough to overcome Lissy's
excitement of having a new companion to share the backseat with.
       Vree gritted her teeth, her foot depressing the accelerator until they
were doing near 80.  The blue van loomed up before them and Vree let the car
slide back until they had matched the van's pace.  The cooing and blubbering
in the back seat was begining to get on her nerves.  "You two mind toning it
down back there?  I just know I'm getting a cavity from all this sweetness!"
Her voice held an unmistakable warning.  Iron talons shealthed in a thin layer
of velvet.
      The giggling died down and Vree turned on the radio, searching for a
decent station.  The car plummeted down the road for a good half hour before
the giggling in the back managed to overwhelm the blaring radio.
      "That's it!" she growled.  The com unit buzzed in her ear and she
informed Kaitlyn that she was making a quick pit stop.  "Keep going and don't
worry about us, I'll catch up in a jiffy."  Kaitlyn replied in the affirmative
and Vree could hear her passing on the message over the buzzing and static as
the distance between them grew further.
       For the second time that night Battle Angel came to a screeching stop
as tires protested the use of fresh anti lock brakes.  Vree turned a
whithering eye on the two in the back seat, ignoring Kat for the moment.  "If
you two can't seem to stay in each other's company for more than ten minutes
at a time without... without whatever you're doing back there, then I'm just
going to have to take matters into my own hands, isn't that so?"
      Before the two could gather the wits to reply Vree had keyed the
shielding on the car to its second level, shielding all channelers within the
car, excluding herself from the Source.  Vree had Andy neatly hog-tied in
three seconds flat and strapped securely to the roof of the car.  Battle Angel
started a second later and the blue van pulled back into view.
      :::Nice work, Sister,::: came Shadow's response from the woods.
      Vree nodded her assent to the wolf, sending a strong sense of agreement
rather than trusting to words.  She turned to catch Kat in the corner of her
eye, only to find the woman silently shaking with silent laughter.
      Lissy looked rather disappointed in the rearview mirror, but apparently
she realized that Vree could've just as easilty simply thrown Andy from the
moving vehicle.  At least this way he'd get to Tear with them... provided he
didn't freeze to death on the roof of the car. 


Kat

   Squashed in the backseat with Lissy--who had forcefully dragged her back
there for some odd reason--she fell into the automatic banter and
good-natured whinig she was used to with her childhood friend. She
pitied poor Vree. Lissy, who must have been keeping a tight hand on
their bond after "losing" it, shot her a vicious glare, but Kat only
stifled a chuckle. 
   She was leaning back, trying to catch up on some much-needed sleep, when
a surge of emotions from her bondmate hit her square in the heart. She
leaped up, hit the ceiling, was restrained by the seatbelt that was
thankfully holding her in... especially when the car came to a wrenching
halt, throwing Liss into the windshield. No, no-- she thought... and no,
Liss DIDN'T find out what it feels like to be splattered all over the
inside of a windshield. Kat made a mental note to do something very nice
for Vree in the near future. 
   Lissy practically flew out the window, and she finally understood. It
was... it was... "Oh, Light!" she groaned limply, shaking her head. 
   "What?!?!What happened?!?!" Vree was nearly in hysterics. Kat patiently
explained about... Andy... and Liss. Vree was perplexed, but merely got
out of the car and wrenched the two back to reality. 
   On the road again, she would have just ignored the two, but unfortunately, 
the same methods she was used to didn't work as well with  all the mushy 
feelings from the bond. Not to mention, if that scientific magazine she read 
was true, that a bond between two women was somewhat  different between a 
woman and a man. She gritted her teeth and tried to  bear it.  Vree was
getting noticeably worked up by the minute. Poor Vree, she thought 
again.  Doesn't know how hopeless it is. She did find a  moment of humor 
in Andy's totalled Land Cruiser, until she realized the  only thing she was 
like to hear from him in the near future was grieving over his lost wonder. 
   She was even more amused when Vree pulled over and tied Andy to the roof
of the car. "No fair," Kat muttered, "I've always wanted to do that!"
She tried to hide it, but she couldn't help but laugh. This was too
great! Just too hillarious!! Lissy, with the scant attention spared for
Kat, shot her one of those "if looks could kill..." feelings. 
Then Kat remembered what Andy was doing last time they saw him...
rather, what he was going to do. Liss had been in hysterics... "Uh,
Vree," she said, "you know that ring of Eddie's?" 
   Vree, marvelously more calm since venting her anger and annoyance on the 
poor man, nodded absently. 
   "Well, Andy has something that works kind of to that effect."
   Vree muttered something vhemently under her breath, hitting the steering
wheel and accidentally setting off the horn. There was a thumping on the
roof of the car. 
   Lissy frantically tried to jump out the window again, but her seatbelt
restrained her. "Just hold still, moron," Kat said mildly. She unbuckled
her own seatbelt and tried to find the button to unroll the window. Vree
grimaced and did it from her array of gadgets in her little "cockpit".
Kat grinned at her wryly and stuck her body out the window to the top of
the car. LIGHT this car was going fast! 
   Andy, fuming and muttering about "blood and bloody ashes, flaming,
bloody, burning...!", was holding onto both sides of the car in an
effort not to fall off. Kat could hear Lissy screaming from below and
shook off some trace of madness from the bond going funny again. "Gee,
Andy," Kat yelled over the wind, "long time no see!" 
   He looked up at her in surprise, started to curse again, and bit his
lip. "Light help me," he shouted, "but I swear that woman in there is mad...!" 
   "Yeah, well, I would be too having to go through the Larissa-Andy
expeirience for the first time!" Kat yelled back. She noticed that Vree
was slowing down the car. "If you could learn a little restraint..." 
   "It wasn't me!" He yelled. "Larissa would not stop giving me... these
looks, and..." 
   "Yeah, yeah, I know," Kat muttered. Andy couldn't hear her, but he got
the picture. He looked ahead at the road. 
   "Flaming...!" 
  Kat looked to, noticing his reaction.  "Oh, Light, this is gonna hurt," 
she said, wide-eyed. They had just rounded a corner, and blocking there 
part of the lane was some idiot out for a midnight joy ride on a horse. 
It was hit 'em or swerve... and as Vree frantically pulled the wheel to 
one side to avoid the rider, Kat fell out the window and Andy off the top 
of the car. They weren't quite going eighty still, but... The world was a 
jumble of images and nighttime colors, all of it jarred by bouncing off 
the road, into a ditch, into a tree. She felt more than heard the crack of 
her impact, and it echoed through a strange darkness. She fought with all her
Warderly training to keep conciousness... With her last conscious thought 
she looked for the support of her bond, but it wasn't there. A creeping 
madness edged in on the black.


Lia

    Lia sat herself comfortable behind Sonja on the bike, and held on...  Not
really beliveing what was going on... Sredny had tried to kill her.. but
didn't on purpose.... Merit was working for the WT.. when she was supposed to
be dead...  Haplo wasn't speaking to anyone.....  and Lia herself wasn't even
sure if she was who she thought she was....   The dreams... So vivid.. were
they only dreams..?   
    Sonja and Lissette were flashing Handtalk between them.. and riding in and
out of traffic at the speed usually reserved for travel... Fast.... Keeping
the Vans in sight... that is until Vree's suddenly stopped....  
    Lia shrugged.... We'll all get where we're going....  I hope....   She
held onto the back of the bike and let the cool wind run through her black and
silver hair....   Sonja's Purple Streaked hair was braided neatly... and Lia
felt so unnerved.. so not in control...  " Talk about a reality check... and I
thought he liked me" She signed to Sonja and LIssette.. who burst out
laughing....    Lia had a moment of recollection.. Nightwind.. He had been in
her saddlebag.. Where was he... ?   NightWind.. Nightwind...?
    I'm here you silly girl....
    Oh Good....
    ~Yeah.. The Cat's still in here~  Illy Hush..  
    Illyena humfed.. but remained silent... as the bikes slowed behind the Van
that heldPatty.. and relativly close to where Hap was driving Sredny's Car....
    Lia felt no angst towards Sredny.. Only confusion.. But that was abated
quickly...  "Uhm.. Guys..." Lia called into her headset..."  Did anyone think
to bring Change for the Tollbooth..??"  Lia stared Quietly.... Uh.. Oh....
She quickly pulled illusions to mask Sonja and herself's Hair and Eyes...
Hopeful they'd be the only oines noticed.. if anyone was looking.....  


Liagala


   Liagala stared in shock.  "Eddie?"  No.  I'm dreaming.  I've finally flipped,
and I'm imagining things.  Eddie is dead.  He was saying something.  "Miss
me?"  Miss him?  I do miss him... so much.  I wish...  Slowly, she walked
toward the apparition.  She knew it wasn't really him; she knew he was dead,
but the image was too strong to ignore.  Hesitatingly, she reached out, and
gently touched his cheek.  It felt solid.  Hope beginning to dawn, she moved
closer, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, which he returned.  It
feels like him.  Is it?  Or am I dreaming?  He pulled back for a moment, and
she looked up at him just in time for a long, passionate kiss.  Yep, it's him
all right.  For a long time, she merely stood there, reveling in the feeling
of being re-united with her husband.  Life had come back to her.  Then she
stepped back, and regarded him critically.  He had wounds all over the place,
and he looked haggard, and washed out.  Still unbelieving, she reached out, to
Heal him.  The fatigue and injury washed away, and he looked better.  His
eyes...  best not to dwell on that.  Around them, the rest of the PT was
getting into cars, and Liagala  dazedly allowed herself to be led to Haplo's
car, settling in the back seat with Eddie.  He's alive!  The thought repeated
over and over in her head.  After long days and nights of emptiness inside, of
going through the motions of life, but not really noticing, it felt like she
had been raised from the dead as well.  Another kiss, then she leaned into him
and asked what happened.  The whole story.  "And why can't I feel our Bond
anymore?"  As he answered, Hap started the car, taking the lead in the journey
toward Tear.


Lia

   Lia couldn't understand it....   Merit.. back.. again...   and Haplo wanting
to Kill Sredny...    It was all too much....  She could feel the black and
silver lightning building up inside her.. but she wasn't angry.. not yet....
But Sredny was sittign there laughing....    He had shot at her.. but nothing
cam eout.. just noise... Lia thought he was trying to scare her... But then
Hap was there like magic.. and...   Oh...    
    She dropped her head in her hands and cried..... To scared and confused to
be angry....  But to angry at herself for being confused.....    Somethign
rose within her, and she fought it away like always...    Softly she whispered
to herself.. "  I am Lia... I am Lia.. I am Lia.. I am Lia.. I Am Lia...   I
am... "


Jen

      Day blended into night, and night blended into day again. Without a window,
it was hard to tell what time it was, as Jen was not wearing her watch. Her
only access to the outside world was through Miri and Keneda. Over the hours
she'd been here--wherever here was--Jen had found that the two women had
distinctly opposite personalities. Miri, just barely raised to Aes Sedai of
the Yellow Ajah, was efficient. She did her job, not heartlessly, but
detachedly, as though her years of dealing with sickness as an Accepted had
toughened her. She knew the proper flows to be used for various ills, she had
read the book backwards and forwards. She practically was the book. Keneda, on
the other hand ... it seemed as though Keneda would be the one to detach
herself from the pain of her patients, as she had Healed so many in her
lifetime. Keneda Tiraz was the Sitter for the Yellow, but experienced each
patient's miseries as though through her own eyes. She was compassionate ...
but there was little she knew of the Tower outside the Yellow's medical
facility.
      Jen was at that grey stage between awake and asleep, nearing
wakefulness, when she became aware of more than the sensations around her and
those traits and names she could commit to memory. She did not have to sit
back and absorb the events of the world around her, she could take part in
them. As she had once, long ago.
      She could be active in her own life. She could speak.      "Water..."
      Her voice was no more than a feeble croak, but at least it came. There
was nobody in the room at the time, but it did not discourage her thirst. She
needed water. 
      A cloudy memory surfaced--wasn't there some communication system Miri
had used once, to page Keneda? If she could find it ... 
      But it was gone. Or rather, not gone, simply misplaced. 
      How fortunate that a white-uniformed novice in a yellow-striped apron
should come in with a meal! The boy was young, of course, but doing only as he
was told, setting a table over Jen's bed so she could eat from the tray placed
there. The food looked like plastic and cardboard, and probably tasted just as
vile. The drink served was tonic water, which she knew she hated. Internally,
she sighed, but again, croaked, "Water ...?"
      The novice was so startled by her word that he stared at her, stock
still, for only a fleeting moment before he bolted from the room. 
      Now what? Jen thought--not out of curiosity but out of agitation. He
returned a few moments later, Keneda not too far behind. "She wants water," he
tried to explain. 
      "Please," Jen uttered. 
      "So go get her some water!" Keneda ordered. The boy fled. The Sitter
turned to Jen. "Jennaea, you can understand me?"
      "Yes," she said, her voice still hoarse. "What ... happened?"
      "You burned yourself out," the Yellow replied solemnly. 
      Jen was skeptical. She couldn't have burned herself out! It was
impossible. The Source ... the Source was still there, peering at her from
just above her shoulder. She could feel it, she could still embrace it--true,
she was too weak to channel, but she could hold it within her, its sweetness
permeating every cell in her frail body. Reluctantly, she let go of saidar ...
she didn't know how much she could hold in this recovering state. 
      "Of course, we got to you before there was more damage done to your
Power reservoirs. We do know you can hold saidar, but whether you can actually
channel it is another question entirely," Keneda explained. "We can find out
in some days, when your strength is up--you're still real weak from Healingyet."
      The novice rushed in, glass and pitcher of ice water in hand. He poured
a glass for her and handed it to her. The outside of the glass was cool from
its contents; the chill felt even better going down. She drank thirstily,
never removing the cup from her lips. 
      "There," Keneda said. "That oughta make you feel better."
      Jen nodded. "Thanks," she said. "When ... when can I go back?"
      "Probably tomorrow. Things oughta be looking better then."
      "But they ... need me," Jen protested. What? Who needs me? She didn't
know who, but somewhere in her mind she did know that somewhere out there she
was needed. Some people would be lost without her ... 
      "They'll manage," Keneda said optimistically. "Blues always do."
      "Blues..." Jen mused near-silently. 
      "Yeah, they'll be fine. Get some rest, you're going back to the Tower
tomorrow with full active duty." Keneda wheeled the remains of what was
supposed to be lunch out the room. "See ya later, kid." She waved as she left.


EddiE

   Eddie stepped through the gateway, and there she was.  His heart, his soul,
his life.  Standing there, looking the worse for wear.  How she must have
grieved when she thought he was dead.  He was so sorry for the pain he had
caused her.  All that flew out of his mind as she approached him.  She
tentatively touched his cheek, and he remembered instantly why he had married
this woman.  She was the second half of himself.  The Bond they shared was
only incidental.  They were connected on levels that had nothing to do with
their Bond.  How his "death" must have hit her!
   Through pain and out of hell, Eddie had come back to his reason for being.
He could still feel the residual effects of the loss of their Bond.  He was
colder inside.  He felt as though he were dead.  But, the mere presence of
this woman he had come to love was enough to pull him back from the abyss.  He
shoved his pain back in his head, determined to deal with it another time.
For now, he just wanted to be with his heart.
   She reached out to hug him, and Eddie lost himself in her embrace.  He felt
the tension he hadn't been aware of bleed away.  The "dead" feeling was still
there, but it was overwhelmed mightily by his love for this woman.  She looked
into his eyes, and he kissed her.  It felt so...right, holding her in his arms
again.  He never wanted to be separated from her again.  
   As she Healed him, he felt the familiar tingle that accompanied it, and
felt the love that went with this particular Healing.  It was such a different
experience when love entered into Healing.  All the pain, and the execution
was almost worth it, to see her eyes again.  Her hair.  He picked up the long
tresses and felt their familiar weight in his hands.  Tears coming into his
eyes, he pulled her into his arms again.  "I thought I'd lost you, Li.  I
didn't know what I was going to do."
   "Shh, Eddie.  I thought I'd lost you to.  But, we have each other still.
I'll never leave you.  Especially with you always watching over me."  She said
softly, amusement creeping into her words.
   She led him over to the cars, and they climbed into Hap's car.  Hearing him
muttering in the front seat, they smiled at each other.  "Now," said Li,
"you're going to tell me what happened.  And why you have this hideous scar."
She ran her finger along his neck.
   Flushing, he tried to hide the scar from her.  She stopped him gently.
"Don't, Eddie.  There is nothing to be ashamed of.  I want to know how it
happened, that's all.  It's part of you, so it's part of me.  I just want to
know how and why someone could hurt you like this."
   Smiling at her, he told her of his capture, his trial, his hanging, and his
rescue by Agelmar.  He told her of their flight, of his fear when he found
their Bond severed, and of his emptiness when he thought he would never see
her again.  "So, you need to make nice with Sredny.  He had nothing to do with
my capture, and everything to do with keeping you safe." he finished.
   "Aye, I guess," she responded.  "I'll apologize to him.  And I'll thank
Caralaine and Agelmar, as well.  Even thought he captured you, he also rescued
you.  I owe them both for bringing you back to me."
   Hearing Hap gag in the front seat, Eddie thwaped him on the back of the
head.  "Just drive, Hap."  He smiled, and looked back to his wife.  She
settled in his arms, and Eddie let himself drift off into sleep, the first in
a long time.