Ali slid into an empty spot next to Hanna and Alonzo. “Hey, have you two noticed we seem to continuously get mobbed by people?”

Hanna laughed. “You two guys are heroes! What’d you expect? Peace and quiet?”

Alonzo cracked up at that idea, but Ali didn’t look amused.

“It would’ve been nice.” Ali muttered. “Honestly… I couldn’t get the girls to leave me alone before, and now I really can’t.”

Hanna and Alonzo laughed harder.

Ali glared at them without conviction. “It’s easy for you two. The girls back off you, Alonzo; for the most part, any rate, they think Hanna’s got you claimed.”

Alonzo blushed.

Hanna just giggled.

But Ali didn’t let her off the hook. “And, Hanna. It goes for you too. All the guys leave you alone because Alonzo’s made it clear they should back off.”

Hanna looked back and forth between the two boys, cheeks rosy with embarrassment. “He did not!” She protested.

Alonzo cleared his throat nervously, looking away from her.

She sighed. “You did…”

“Err… Not exactly in those words. I just… Umm… I saw how uncomfortable they made you, so I sort of… Well, you know…”

Hanna raised an eyebrow. “No… No , I do not know.” She mimicked his accent.

He shrugged. Catching her gaze, he sighed. “I told them that you and I were just friends, but that you were complaining about them always being annoying, which was true. So I suggested they should back off.”

Hanna laughed. “Thanks, ‘Lonzo.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks still red. “Yeah, no problem.” He muttered. “Only, I don’t think they believed me.”

Hanna smiled at him. “Maybe, but they started leaving me alone five or six months ago, and now I know why.”

“Err… Yeah… Sorry about that.”

Hanna rolled her eyes at him. “You know, you are so dull sometimes. Alonzo, I was complaining about it because I didn’t like it. I don’t want all of them bothering me, and you told them that. For reasons that I can’t imagine, they decided that if you were saying it, they should listen. Whereas when I said it…” She shrugged. “So actually, thank you.” She kissed his cheek gently, giving him a hug to prove she wasn’t mad.

He embraced her back for a moment before moving away. “People are staring.” He murmured.

Hanna grinned. “Don’t they know that is rude? Maybe we should tell them?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Alonzo didn’t like the playful tone she had in her voice at the moment.

It didn’t bode anything good.

Fortunately, his quiet words kept her from doing anything foolish. She shrugged. “If you say so.”

Ali waved a hand at them. “Hey, calling Alonzo and Hanna back to Earth! You didn’t solve my problem.”

Hanna grinned wickedly at him. “But Ali, dearest brother, we aren’t on Earth. We’re in an alternate reality, as are you. Just not the same one as we're in... As to your problem, just tell them to go away.”

“Hanna, I don’t think that’s the solution.”

“Well, maybe you do need help then.” Hanna whispered conspiratorially.

He moaned. “Hanna…” Whatever she was planning, it was sure to be embarrassing.

Last time, when Hanna helped him with his science, she’d accidently blown up his experiment.  

They had gathered quite a crowd, and a few of the girls slipped in next to Ali, bumping Hanna out of the way.

A few of the more daring ones sat down next to Alonzo too.

And all of them started chattering away to both boys. Hanna noticed a few of the boys smirking at her and she gave them a needle-sharp glare. If they tried anything with her, she was going to give them a beating they wouldn’t forget.

She looked back to the girls who had crowded her out of her seat. She tapped one on the shoulder politely. “Excuse me. You took my seat.”

The girl didn’t move at all. She just kept talking with Alonzo and completely ignored Hanna.

Alonzo was trying to nod politely while extracting himself from the situation, but it wasn’t much of a success.

Hanna raised her voice slightly, thinking perhaps the girls hadn’t heard her. “Excuse me! Lay off my boyfriend and brother, right now!”

Once again, the girls didn’t acknowledge her.

People heard her and started to hover in order to see what would happen. The boys who had smirked at her earlier moved in closer.

One of them brushed up against her for a moment and whispered in her ear. “Hey, what’d you say to ditching the two of them and coming over to my table? Just the two of us?”

Hanna cracked a grin. She gave her neck a quick snap to the side as she always did in order to loosen it before a fight. Then, before the other boy knew what was happening, she turned and punched him in the gut. As she did so, she registered who it was, and whispered to him in the same tone he’d used on her. “Next time, be nice, Freddy.”

“Was… being… nice!” The boy managed to grunt out as he regained his breath.

“Well, try being nicer.” Hanna retorted.

She turned to face the rest of the boys who were glaring at her and looking like they wanted to beat the guy she’d punched. He wasn’t very popular anymore. But a few of his close friends looked like they wanted to punch her for it. “That goes for the rest of you too. Next boy who puts even a finger on me apart from my brother and Alonzo is going to get exactly what Freddy here got!”

The boys laughed nervously and slunk off.

Hanna turned back to the girls, who had turned to stare at her. She smiled sweetly. “Now that I have your attention… I would like to say something!”

They glared at her.

She clapped her hands in a mocking gesture of friendship. “Back off my brother and boyfriend.” She pointed at Alonzo. “He’s claimed.” She then cocked her head at Ali. “And no one messes with my brother without going through me first.” She pointed to the door. “Go away and leave us alone!”

One of the older girls stood up.

She was a delicate thing with flashing green eyes flecked with gold and golden, honeyed hair.

Hanna had to try not to laugh. This girl wasn’t more than a wisp compared to her, and if this girl thought she could challenge Hanna’s orders, she was wrong.

“You can’t make us go.” The girl’s voice was stronger than her looks would suggest and it had a distinct purr to it.

“Oh no?” Hanna looked down and pointed to Freddy, who was still on the floor moaning despite the fact that he’d been punched nearly a minute ago.

The girl held her ground. “You can’t make us go.” She repeated, widening her stance and crossing her arms.

Hanna gave the idiot a syrupy smile. “Well, tell that to Freddy. I bet that’s the last time he’ll try seducing me.”

Freddy moaned as though to support Hanna’s statement.

Still, the girl didn’t move.

“Look, you, I’m taking my brother and Alonzo right now, and you are all going to leave us alone. Or I swear that I will do what I did to Freddy to every single one of you who gets within ten paces.”

The rest of the girls lost heart at that and fled.

Only the one brazen girl remained. “My name’s not you, Hanna Covalenti. It’s Faeraed Fainsworth.”

“I don’t care what your name is.” Hanna snapped as she caught Alonzo’s hand in hers. “Come on you two, we’re leaving.”

She stormed past Faeraed and out of the dining hall. Ali followed after her and Alonzo, looking back to give Faeraed a lingering glance.

She smirked at him as though she knew he was enthralled by her mien and daring.

Shrugging imperceptibly, Ali walked out.

***

Faeraed watched them go. The dining hall was now completely empty because of them and she started laughing.

The look on Ali’s face and the curiosity he had displayed for her was amusing. She shook her head.

Hanna had thought she wanted Alonzo or Ali, but this wasn’t so. Actually, she had wanted to know more of their adventures because she wanted to write a book about it.

Of course, the three friends wouldn’t know that because she hadn’t had a chance to talk to them about it. The other girls and boys had been in the way ever since the three got back. They were such celebrities around West Base that it seemed to her one could hardly speak to them without it getting around Base.

Shrugging, she walked out of the mess hall to get her books for her next class.

***

Hanna woke, sweating. Her scream echoed through the halls and a few people who had passed through the hall stared at her curiously.

She blinked away the nightmarish vision of Zane’s cold, broken body and stood stiffly. She had fallen asleep in the hall just outside the library while reading a book. Apparently, she needed sleep more than she had thought.

She gave the onlookers a half-hearted smile, trying to appear normal despite the fact that they had just witnessed her waking from a nightmare screaming. They probably wondered if she was even sane and why she wasn’t sleeping in her bed instead of the hall.

Alonzo shoved through the onlookers who had gathered. “Hanna, what’s wrong?”

She blushed, realizing now just how many people had gathered to see what had happened. Where there had been a few, a crowd of at least twenty people now stood, drawn by her scream and the other onlookers.

Alonzo wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her through the crowd. “Coming through people!”

Hanna let him lead her back to her bedroom. She was drained and exhausted even though, by her count, she had been asleep for nearly two hours in that cramped position. Why hadn’t she been woken, and why hadn’t her enthusiastic fans mobbed her?

Alonzo pushed her onto the bed gently, sitting down beside her. “Hanna, what was that all about? Why did you scream?”

She shook her head mutely. She didn’t want to talk about it.

She scooted closer to him, wordlessly begging for his comforting embrace. She needed to feel him against her to convince her that she wasn’t still in the dungeon seeing Zane die.

He complied, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her against his warm chest. “That bad, eh?”

She nodded.

“Let me guess.” He whispered. “You were dreaming about Zane?”

Another nod.

He sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head again. She just wanted to forget it all.

Watching Zane die once was bad enough. But watching him die over and over again in her dreams was torture. The less she had to think about that event the better.

Alonzo sat quietly with her until she stopped trembling against him.

When she did, he released her. Clearing his throat, he spoke softly. “Hey, anytime you want to talk about it, I’ll be here for you.”

“Thanks, Alonzo.”

“Sure thing.”

“So… Were you looking for me, or did you just come when you heard my scream?”

Alonzo smiled. “I was looking for you.”

“Why?”

“There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”

“Who?” Hanna asked, weary of seeing visitors.

“She asked me not to say, but she really wants to speak with you. Well, really, you, me, and Ali.” Alonzo looked around her family’s rooms. “Where is he anyway?”

Hanna shrugged. “He had his last class an hour ago. Mine was an hour before that. He could be anywhere, really. But…” She paused. “I know one place he might be.”

Alonzo grimaced. “Don’t tell me… He climbed into the rafters again.”

“Well, maybe. I don’t really know until we look.”

“I thought you two quit doing that. It’s dangerous.”

“’Lonzo, don’t be a baby. We’ve done it dozens of times. We’ll be fine. We know what we’re doing!”

“So you say. Until you fall and break your necks.” He muttered.

She grinned. “Maybe. But let’s just go see if he’s there first. Then you can lecture him about this habit too.”

Alonzo smiled. She always did that to him. Made him smile when he felt annoyed or unhappy about something.

He couldn’t wait until tomorrow night. He had a surprise she wouldn’t forget. But he wasn’t going to tell her anything that might give it away yet.

Hanna walked out the door, heading for the place where she and Ali always climbed up into the rafters. Alonzo sighed and followed. He really hated climbing into the rafters.

He’d done it once as a kid when Hanna had dared him to prove he wasn’t a chicken by doing so. After that, he had never done it again. No matter how hard the two siblings begged him. Nothing could induce him to do it. Not even Hanna.

When they reached the spot, Hanna started climbing up. When Alonzo didn’t follow, she looked back down. “Hey, come on! Hurry up!”

He shook his head. “I’m not going up there. I hate climbing up there.”

“What are you? A chicken?” She teased.

“No. I’m smart. I’m the only one between the three of us who has any common sense, apparently, and I plan to use it.” He called back.

The people walking through the hallway looked up at Hanna quizzically and then back to Alonzo.

Alonzo glared at them and they walked off.

Hanna laughed, glancing back down at him. “So you aren’t coming?”

Seeing her already standing a good ten feet off the ground scared him. Why did she and Ali have to use the rafters for hiding? Couldn’t they find a better place? He swallowed. “You couldn’t pay me to climb up there.”

Hanna shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She turned back and started climbing again.

“Hanna?” Alonzo called out.

She turned back, looking down at him. “Please be careful.” He pleaded.

“I will!” She grinned at him, even though he could barely see it, and began the climb once more.

Moments later, she was up in the crossties and rafters. She spotted Ali standing at the end of a beam a few feet away.

She walked over to him, careful to mind where she put her feet. “Hey, Ali. Alonzo needs you back down on the ground. Someone wants to talk to us.”

Ali turned to face her, smiling. “Hey Hanna.” His mood darkened. “Someone always wants to talk to us.” He sighed. “Who is it this time?”

Hanna shrugged. “’Lonzo wouldn’t say. Whoever it is, they asked him not to tell us.”

Ali rolled his eyes. “Probably some over-zealous fan.”

“Ali! ‘Lonzo wouldn’t waste our time with that.” Hanna gave his arm a gentle swat for the notion.

He laughed. “Touché. Alright, let’s go see this mysterious visitor of ours.”

Hanna led the way back down the ties. Several minutes later, Alonzo was helping Hanna down. “What took you so long?”

Hanna grinned. “What’s wrong? Worried about me?”

Alonzo smiled back. “Always.”

A stab of pain sluiced through her. She’d said that to Zane once.

Shaking off the mood, she turned to check on Ali, who was on the floor now too. Then she turned back to Alonzo. “Well, now that we’re all together, Alonzo, lead the way to this mysterious visitor of yours.”

***

The mysterious visitor was Faeraed Fainsworth.

Hanna scowled at the girl. “What do you want?” She tried to sound as hostile as possible so that Faeraed would know she wasn’t welcome.

Faeraed smiled softly. Surprisingly, it wasn’t condescending like Hanna had thought it would be.

“Hanna, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m not trying to seduce your brother or your boyfriend. I just wanted to talk to all of you. I never seemed to get a chance to just talk to you like normal people – you’re celebrities, in case you didn’t notice. So, instead, I came to Alonzo when he wasn’t busy to ask him if he wouldn’t mind getting you two here so I could talk to you.”

Hanna huffed, considering that perhaps she had misjudged the petite blond girl. “Okay… Well, we’re here. So what do you want?” She was kinder now, though still cautious.

“I want to write a book.” Faeraed responded.

“What? How are we involved in this?” Ali asked.

“You’re involved, all of you, because my book is going to be about what you all went through.” Faeraed didn’t blink as they scrutinized her.

Hanna shook her head. “I don’t know.” She looked at her friends. “What’s the point? We went through it once and it was awful. Why would we want to relive it? Besides…” She flicked a strand of stray hair back over her shoulder. “Even if Faeraed gets this published, it’ll be fiction. No one will believe it is anything else, and even if she could publish it as non-fiction, Andrew would never let her because it compromises our security. So it’s not as if it’s getting the story of what we went through out there.”

“Actually, it is.” Alonzo spoke softly. “Even if people don’t know it’s true, it’s still out there. Our story is still being told. And someday, our grandkids might read the book and they’ll know it was true. They’ll know the story of how we saved the world.”

Hanna shook her head. “I don’t want to relive it all. I don’t want to be part of this.”

Faeraed’s face fell, but she nodded. “I understand, Hanna.”

Hanna nodded, spinning on her heel and going back to her room.

“What about the rest of you?” Faeraed asked.

Ali and Alonzo exchanged a glance and shrugged.

“I’m in.” Ali answered, smiling at Faeraed. “It sounds like a good idea, and it might be good for me to get the thing off my chest.”

Faeraed smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Alonzo contemplated her question as she turned to him. He hesitated, unsure. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Faeraed. I mean… The book is a wonderful idea, but like Hanna said… Going through it once was awful enough. I don’t know if I want to relive it, even just for a short time to tell you enough to write your book.”

Faeraed smiled sadly. “I understand.”

“But… Despite the fact that I’m hesitant about this… I guess I’ll do it.” Alonzo said, smiling at Faeraed.

Faeraed smiled, trying not to whoop. “Thank you, thank you! I appreciate it so much!” She resisted the urge to jump up and down like a little girl.

Alonzo and Ali grinned at her.

“So, where do we start?” Ali asked.

She grinned back. “We start now.”