We went down the hallway of the nursing area and came to the sitting room. The few padded chairs were generally just a decoration since anyone who came here called out to let the nurses know they were here. This time they held two young men.

Kerry looked surprised to see people here, "Ben, Fred, what can I do for you?"

I didn't blame her for her surprise. Those with Heartfire healed so swiftly that we rarely needed a nurse's help and neither of these two looked injured. Shaken and nervous, yes; in pain, no.

Ben lowered his head uncomfortably, "We were actually waiting for Ace and Diane."

Ace had been examining the teenage brothers from where he stood behind me while they spoke with Kerry, "You lost control." His voice was a statement, not a question. I had no idea how he even came up with that conclusion.

Ben blushed and nodded slowly, "Yeah..."

Diane tiredly raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Was someone in immediate danger?"

Fred nodded sheepishly, "Yes. One of those new bulls busted through a fence and cornered me in the barn. Let's just say that there is one less bull in that pen now."

Ben looked up, he had obviously been the one to lose control, "I had hoped that we could speak with you, if it wasn't inconvenient..."

He trailed off as anyone knew that Diane wasn't exactly in good shape after donating blood. Those who were fired especially didn't want to disturb her. Diane shrugged, "You aren't going to want me tonight, but Ace is more than capable."

Ben looked over at him with a pleading look. Ace hesitated for a moment before turning his head to give Trish a measuring look. Nathan frowned and shifted uneasily, not liking that Ace was giving Trish such a look. Ace did not like leaving Diane and I didn't blame him considering that she was swaying very slightly even while standing here. If she tripped, I wasn't sure I could slow her fall much.

Ace spoke quietly, "Trish, take my advice and do not try anything with Diane tonight. You can get even with her tomorrow. There are far too many people in this place that would not look kindly upon anyone who tried anything while she is in this condition."

His bright blue eyes turned to focus on me and his expression softened at my blue eyes. He gave me a slight grin, "I leave it up to you to keep Trish in check. Remember that she is quite ticklish."

I grinned and nodded back happily. He had given me a way to incapacitate Trish without harming her. Nathan would be too busy holding Cathy to come to her rescue. I was relieved for his suggestion. I doubted that even Trish would consider doing anything while Diane looked under the weather, but Rick had always taught me to have backup plans.

Ace went down a different hallway with the two brothers in tow. Diane seemed confused by Ace's comment and glanced over at Kerry, "People wouldn't get that worked up over an innocent prank, would they?"

Kerry was amused that Diane still really hadn't noticed the effect she had on those who were fired, "On a normal day, no. Although I think you would be surprised at how much they keep an eye on you after you donate blood. The fact that you don't even need an evening run shows how exhausted you are after this. People know you aren't able to do much for a bit and react accordingly. It isn't even just the ones who have been fired either, although those who have been fired do seem to be more protective. Those waiting to get the Heartfire virus would not be happy about it and even those who don't plan to get fired would also react quite poorly. Your blood is their backup plan in an emergency."

Diane shook her head as if in disbelief, "Someone else really needs to learn how to do this. Then they can have someone else to stalk."

I grinned. It wasn't disbelief like I had thought, but more that Diane didn't like to be in the center of attention. I could understand that angle considering my past shyness. Diane didn't stand a chance of hiding behind me like I had done with her though. There was still a considerable size difference.

Kerry smiled, "Honest, people keep trying. One day someone else will manage it. Don't let me keep you standing here. The evening is still beautiful and I noticed that someone brought out the lawn chair loungers and the cushions earlier today. I doubt you can get into mischief up on the deck."

There hadn't been lawn chairs on the decks earlier, just a couple of wooden benches. Diane tilted her head as she recalled the same thing, "Why do I think that someone dropped a hint or two?"

Kerry grinned in amusement, "A couple of those getting fired tomorrow are super excited and kept getting under my feet. It is quite amazing how fast they disappeared when I mentioned that you were going to donate blood today and it was pity that no one had thought to bring out the loungers and cushions."

I giggled as Diane chuckled at Kerry's ability to get things done by the mere power of suggestion. Some of those people had been super excited for the last few days and could barely sit still. Diane yawned and shook her head before heading towards the open door that let the last of the evening sunlight in.

Diane was walking slowly, but even this speed was hard for her. I climbed up the ladder first and Trish and Nathan followed me. Nathan carried Cathy, but passed her to Trish once he was up. Diane slowly climbed up the sturdy aluminum ladder. It was a good thing that it was originally meant to be a ladder going to a diving board since it had a slight angle and wide steps that made climbing easier.

She was steadier on her feet now than she had been before, but that wasn't saying much. I didn't think she would fall though. She had climbed trees to get into her hammock like this when we had been on the road when she donated blood.

I was glad that we were only on the first ridge, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Kerry had been correct, there were lawn chairs and loungers on every deck in sight. The overly-enthusiastic people either had not been sure where Diane usually sat or had them up all over just in case she wanted to visit with someone else.

They had hauled probably two hundred lawn chairs, loungers, and cushions out of the ground level storage area and carried them up the ladders to all three levels that had decks. They must be excited for tomorrow.

I danced a bit as I saw that the softest cushions adorned the seats and loungers on the tiny deck closest to our home. In theory, four or five other homes also shared this deck, but those people were active young adults who would much rather go fishing or play volleyball than lounge on a deck, so we had it mostly to ourselves, even in the evenings.

Trish laid back in a long lounger while holding Cathy, "Okay, these chairs really make an improvement to this deck."

Nathan looked at her in amusement, "You realize that you are comparing the wooden benches to loungers with cushions, right?"

I giggled as Trish leaned back with closed eyes and lazily gave him a thumbs up sign. Diane took another long lounger and stretched out on it as she enjoyed the gentle sunlight. I scanned the meadow to ensure that everything was normal.

I didn't see anything out of place below, but we did seem to be getting more attention from those above than usual. The brighter than average blue eyes were normal, but they kept looking at Trish and Nathan as if unsure of their presence so close to Diane while Ace was noticeably absent.

I noticed someone coming over and watched Todd as he approached. Diane didn't even notice him until he flopped into a nearby chair and grinned at her as she finally opened her eyes to see who had come to visit. "What did you do with Ace? I had to do a double take when I didn't see him over here."

Diane chuckled at the assumption that she had somehow managed to chase him off, "Nothing, Ben needed to speak with him. He will probably turn up within the hour."

Trish looked confused, "Why is it odd to not see Ace over here?"

I grinned silently, at Wainwright they had only trained together and rarely saw one another outside of those evening practices, but at Sanctuary it was quite a different story. Their positions as trainers and their preferences for the same chores meant that they were usually within the same vicinity.

Todd snorted in amusement, "Whenever you want to track down Ace you simply have to find out where Diane is. He is always nearby. I have already been asked three times where Ace is, since he is obviously not here."

Todd held out his hand to Nathan, "I'm Todd by the way."

Nathan shook his hand, "Nathan, and this is Trish and our daughter Cathy. If you don't mind me asking, what do you usually do around here?"

Todd leaned back in his chair and waved at the view of the valley, "Mostly I help Amber in keeping this place organized. I help to keep track of where people are, what they are doing, and if any tasks get missed."

Diane yawned and shook her head as she tried to concentrate on the conversation at hand, "So what did Roland bring in today other than these two?"

"A bit of everything. He made a lot of trades for later though, mostly fruit trees and shrubs. Wainwright Fort is going to see if they can repair some really rough parts of the road near their base."

Diane nodded in thought, "I know they are starting to make it known that they are after all sorts of fruit trees. They have been making note of every Upick berry and fruit location they see. They plan to go and dig them up in a few days. Some have even started digging holes and I heard rumors that those fishing tomorrow will be dropping the scraps and fish guts into the pits and covering them with a light layer of dirt to keep the smell down until the trees are planted."

Todd grinned, "Fish guts are the best fertilizer out there. I know Roland is heading to that Upick along the highway until we have everything we want out of it. The other two groups will be heading to other such farms this week as well."

Fish guts may be the best fertilizer, but they could really smell unless they were buried pretty well. I looked down to see Ace and the two men coming out of the nursing area. The brothers went towards their shared home as Ace headed towards us.

His blue eyes were oddly bright, but he seemed to relax a bit once he saw Todd. Ace didn't know Trish and Nathan as well as I did, but he should have figured out that neither one would likely do anything until Diane recovered. Trish would find it more amusing to torment Diane when she was actually able to focus.

Diane didn't notice Ace's approach until he was walking along the cliff ridge and almost at the deck. I had heard his footsteps for some time, but she clearly hadn't. Diane waved a hand in a lazy welcome as her other hand covered another huge yawn.

Ace looked amused at her greeting as he took the last empty chair. Diane was tired, but still curious, "So? What happened?"

"Same as with Vince. He got angry and protective and lost about 4 minutes of time, during which only his brother could approach him. That skinny guy managed to hit a large bull hard enough to send it flying into a nearby wall, so the Heartfire was definitely in overdrive. When Fred tried to leave, Ben followed and would growl at anyone who got too close."

Diane nodded slowly, "Hmmm... Doesn't really surprise me. I assume you calmed Ben down?"

Ace nodded, "Yes. I pointed out the facts that we gave Vince and they relaxed."

Diane nodded, but whatever she was about to say was interrupted by another yawn. Ace chuckled lightly, "You look ready for bed. I can take Laura out for a run."

Diane sighed in defeat, "You are probably right, at this rate I am going to fall asleep here." She glanced over at Trish, "Sorry about abandoning you. Todd can tell you which houses are still open. I'll see you in the morning, I am off to bed."

Trish glanced at the numerous doors in the cliff, "Where is your house anyways?"

Diane pointed to the end of the first ridge, three doors away from us, "That one with the blue icicle string lights."

Trish nodded thoughtfully. Probably planning revenge for that last prank Diane played on her. Diane got slowly to her feet and yawned, "Good night."

All of us wished her a good night as she started walking towards our home. I saw Ace look up and glanced up to see him giving some blue eyed people on the deck above us a serious look. I recognized the six men and women as Messengers. They nodded in equal seriousness back at him, obviously agreeing to keep an eye on Diane's home while Ace took me out running.

I heard our door swing open before it closed with a click. Todd was quietly chatting with Nathan about the various jobs he could do here. Trish was a bit hampered with Cathy, but was curious about the weavers and smaller animals.

Ace turned to me, "Ready to go for a run now?"

I nodded and stood up. Todd remained with Trish and Nathan as they continued to talk about various tasks that might interest them. I followed Ace as he jogged towards the gate. We ran along a well-packed trail in the forest.

Ace seemed a bit more alert than usual, but he usually was when it was just me running with him. Even when Diane was running with us, our evening runs were quiet and relaxing as we wound down for the night. Ace didn't say anything and I didn't feel the need to talk either. It was peaceful and relaxing as the sun slowly set.

We headed back and I saw the same Messengers were still on the second level deck keeping watch as their eyes glowed in the darkness. Trish and Nathan were probably in their new home at this late hour.

I crept as quietly as I could into our room, but I knew that Diane would wake anyways. She didn't move, but her breathing showed that she was half-awake. I got changed and climbed into bed. Diane's breathing leveled out before I fell asleep.