Xavier's POV
(Unedited, feedback desperately needed.)

It's dark and hard to see her because Aria blends in with the darkness of space all too well, starlight is all that helps. Right now, I can to do is concentrate on her gravity force that constantly pulls at me, and has from the start.

What I don't understand, is why she won't just give in? This is what we are, and what the universe created us to do; to merge, and blend into a single entity.

Now with my back to the Earth, I reach out my molecules in the human-like form of a hand to her I leave her with a choice. Merge or the whole planet of her precious humans will be laid to waste.

They have had far too much influence over her. I can only surmise that she fights me now for fear of losing her human form, and fear is something we are not supposed to feel. We feel nothing.

Slowly, Aria approaches, and her molecules become denser as she becomes a similar human-like form like mine except for black-like shadow mist. Faceless, expressionless, she reaches out her human-like hand toward mine. Now she seems normal if one could call us such a thing...

Our fingertips touch and I feel the vibration of her molecules intensify as she turns us around so that her back is to the Earth below. I follow her as she has initiated the beginning of the merge. A sudden flash of a gigantic shockwave hits me across the black hole in my chest, nearly tearing my molecules almost completely apart. My molecules are thrown so far backward that I end up in orbit, drifting around the red planet of Mars. Ah yes, the one that once had another civilization on it.

Not feeling pain as Aria did at one time, I slowly gather my molecules back together using the gravity center of my black hole. In time, I was back in my human-like form. All the while knowing that she has now lost a great deal of power. Wanting to get things over and done with, I didn't have to wait for long. Aria was flying fast through space wanting to finish off what she had begun. Unfortunately, that's her mistake.

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Aria's POV

Xavier looked down as my hand raised, and he suddenly comprehended what I was about to do. The shockwave that tore through his molecules should have destroyed him... The power I gave to that shockwave, was what I have used to decimate whole planets! I watched as his molecules split apart and fly out into deep space. Following them as fast as I could wanting to obliterate him before he could reassemble his true form. But as I finally caught up to him, I could see that he was almost completely back together. This isn't good, not with my power core having been weakened so badly.

Looking back toward where the plant Earth should be, I now wonder if I'll ever make it back. But at least I now know that Richard and the others' are safe from Xavier.

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Richard Weston's POV

Just as I was about to sit down I noticed the lights of many vehicles starting to make their way to the Marriot via the interstate. Looking down briefly to Roarke and Janos, I could tell they hadn't noticed yet. Then I heard "You don't really think she heard you now do you?" Gabriel grinned at the obvious joke in his words as he raised a brow and climbed up the ladder to join us.

Nodding toward all the headlights in the distance, I answered him but ignored his comment. "Looks like the cavalry has finally gotten here. Too bad they are too late, Gabriel. You are lucky I don't just kick you off that ladder." Chuckling, he pulled himself up onto the RV and looked off into the distance.

Fixing his sunglasses by pushing them up the bridge of his nose with his index finger, he sighed. "Yes, well they may be too late, but I bet the trucks from NASA will be with them. If so, we may be able to see what is going on in space if their monitors are hooked up to the Hubble Telescope. Perhaps it would be a good idea to go down and meet them?" I had thought of that too, only I didn't know that NASA was coming as well. He held out on Aria and me.

Glaring at Gabriel I spoke calmly, "So when were you going to inform us about NASA coming, Gabriel?" He almost visibly cringed as my words sank in.

Keeping my eyes on the night sky, I untied the tie at my neck, placing it in my jacket pocket, and then removing the tux jacket, throwing it over my arm.

If Gabriel could have blushed, he would have. Shrugging lightly, he replied quietly, "Oops?"

Roarke and Janos stood up, but it was Roarke that stepped forward, "What? You didn't think it important to tell the woman that is saving our collective asses, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, of our planet, is backing her? Jesus! Someone kick this fool off the RV!" The disgust was thick in his tone of voice and the look on his face.

"Look, look, you may need me still..." Gabriel spoke quickly as he got backed up to the edge of the rooftop of the RV by Janos. "You might need me to talk with the administrator If you want to see what's happening!" Shaking my head, I had to agree with him.

"Let him go, Janos. We may still need the little prick." As Janos stepped away, I moved in close snatching Gabriel by his shirt and tie. "One more wrong move Gabriel, and I will dedicate my Immortal life to hunting you down. Got it?" Janos and Roarke exchanged glances, eyebrows raised.

"So that's what we've been sensing different about you...holy shit..." Roarke grinned at me.

"But wait, Aria had something kinda similar though...am I right?" Janos spoke up, then looked at Roarke, both nodded.

"Uh, yeah. Ask Gabriel about that sometime, or better yet, ask why." I turned my head back to Gabriel but looked past his shoulder to a line of twelve huge blue and white 18 wheeler trucks with the red-lettered NASA symbol on them just starting to get off the interstate. So I told him in an overly sweet voice "In the meantime Gabriel, NASA is here and you are going to lead us through all the red tape. So, turn around and go back down the ladder, we'll be following you to the trucks. Now." I didn't ask the ancient vampire, I ordered him.

Without another word, Gabriel made for the ladder quickly, while Roarke, Janos, and me, just jumped down off the side as if to mock him.

He took the hint and led the way past all the RVs in the parking lot, to the far end. "It is not you that makes me move faster, it's Aria. She terrifies me." He spoke as he led the way across the field fast. Though ahead of us, he was continuously looking over his shoulder  at us "You know, I came here after that skirmish, and do you know what I found?" He turned his head again and looked pointedly at all three of us. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even the scent of a tennis shoe. All bodies and blood were erased all the way down to the top layer of the blacktop. That my boys is a power to fear." Wiggling his eyebrows up and down he grinned, showing fangs and crimson eyes. "Exhilarating isn't it?"

All three of us strained to keep on walking as we all burst into laughter, while Gabriel just grinned. We may have laughed but we all understood where he was coming from. Junkies. All of us were adrenaline junkies.

Gravel rocks and dried grass crunched beneath our shoes as we approached the trucks. "The one we want will have a gold federal government symbol on the upper right side near the cab, and from what I can see it is the seventh truck down the line." Gabriel pointed toward the truck in question and we all made a beeline for the blue and white truck with red lettering on it.

Just as we all arrived at the back, the entire sky lit up with a massive bluish-white light that rolled in circular waves out from behind the full moon. In moments, the earth began to shake like we were in a 7.0 earthquake. All of us dropped to the ground, our legs unable to keep us upright as the earth shook violently. The flash of light disappeared, and within a few minutes, the earth stopped shaking. I looked at Gabriel who had fallen next to me. "We gotta get in there and find out what the hell is going on. Now."

Pushing up from the ground, I looked to see that both Roarke and Janos were okay, and they were. Only grumbling back and forth with each other, typical brothers.

As I turned back to Gabriel, I saw that he had a hold of the 18 wheeler truck's back doors. Using unnatural strength, there was the creak and squeal of bending metal. Gabriel peeled back the metal doors until the men and monitors inside were exposed to the cool night air. "Good evening Inspector. We are here to witness what you have picture-wise, or what have you, on Aria." Gabriel said with a smile. As I looked up, I gazed into the face of none other than John Mayfair one of the men that was in charge of NASA having taken Aria into custody before.

Recognizing me from before as well, he nodded briefly, but as he rested his gaze on Gabriel there seemed to be a hint of animosity in his eyes. "There is enough room in here for you, but only two at a time... Pleasure to see you again, Mr. Weston. Please come in now that we are opened up. We are presently rebooting the system. We'll have the Hubble Space Telescope online shortly, again and we'll see what it picked up during the earthquake."

Gabriel and I stepped up into the truck first.