"You what?"

Damian shrugged. "I don't see why you're so upset about it. I thought you weren't talking to Roxy anymore."

I spluttered. The images of Roxy and Damian together, holding hands, sharing a drink, kissing each other was too much to bear. I tamped down the desire to lay into Damian with fist and hammers. 

"When did you guys - " I couldn't even say the word properly. "When did you guys started - dating?"

"Less than a week ago." Damian placed a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, I think the day Emrys attacked you was the first day of our relationship."

I struggled to form comprehensible words.

"Just shut up," I said at last.

The taxi dropped us off and we walked the rest of the way. William lived in a small terrace house in an equally small neighbourhood. There were no towering triple storeys and opulent gardens here; rather kids shrieked and laughed as they chased one another across uneven lawns. Bicycles and skateboards zoomed along alleys and sidewalks, and women hanging their laundry talked to one another over the low walls.

A small girl not more than eight years of age opened the door on our third knock. Damian crouched down and put on his most charming smile. His voice took on a gentle quality that I hadn't thought he was capable of producing.

"Hello there, little one. Is William in?"

The girl blinked up at Damian with her wide baby blue eyes. Then she slammed the door in his face.

"Will!" we heard her shriek as she ran through the house. "There's a monster at the door!"

I stifled the choking laughter that threatened to burst out of my throat. Damian glowered.

"Your snake charms might have worked on Leila and Roxy, but not this little girl." I smirked. "She's as smart as her brother."

The door opened again, and I could see William's eyes peer out cautiously through the crack. He did a double take when he saw me standing there, and then opened the door wider.

"Hayley! And Thomas." I'd almost forgotten that that was Damian's alias. "What are you doing here?"

William's younger sister snuck a peek at us from behind his trousered legs. Her eyes expanded to the size of saucers when she saw me, and a chubby little finger came up pointing.

"Oh! I know you! You're the lady Will has on his cellphone - mmmpph!" For William had hastily clamped both hands over her mouth.

His face turned a dark shade of beetroot red. "Aha. Ha. Hahahahahahaha ... Willow, why don't you uh, go kill Barbie and Ken or something?"

Willow slapped her brother's hand away from her mouth. "It's not kill, Will. We need to torture them first!"

From behind her dress she brought out a ninja figurine, before proceeding to make several vicious slashes in the air. With a loud battle cry, she raced away from us. 

William was looking positively mortified. "That's um, my second sister. She's convinced that Barbie and Ken are a tyrant king and queen, and she's going to lead a ninja rebellion to overthrow the kingdom of England. Even though I've told her multiple times that those are all three different countries."

Damian snorted. "Your sister has potential. Slightly demented yes, but potential nonetheless."

William's house was a cozy hodge-podge of cream walls and scattered things. There were books on the couch, stuffed toys on the carpet, and hard Lego bricks that threatened to break any visitor's leg. Their television set was an old model that looked as if it had seen several generations, and the leather armchair was peeling in spots. As we made our way past the kitchen, a small child came barreling out of it, carrying what looked like a bizarre contraption fashioned from a hairdryer and a fork. Right on his heels was a much older girl, early twenties at least, her straw blonde hair streaming out behind her as she screeched in a foreign tongue.

"Reviens ici, petit monstre! "

The young boy shoved the contraption behind his back. "Nein! "

The girl rolled her eyes. "That's not even French, you twit. Now give me back my hairdryer!"

"I need it for an experiment!" the little boy yelled. Like Willow he too had blue eyes, which he now directed at William in irresistible appeal. "William, tell Waverly she's being unfair!"

"I'm being unfair? That's my stuff you're taking, you demon! Release the appliance at once!"

From somewhere up above we could hear Willow holler, "Never! We shall never release the prisoners!"

"I'm not talking to you, Willow!"

William gave us an apologetic look, then stepped into the fray. 

"Wesley," he said firmly, "why do you need the hairdryer?"

"I'm gonna take it apart so I can make a driller weapon!" Wesley frowned. "Except I don't have a proper drill bit, so I'm gonna use this fork instead."

Waverly inhaled sharply and looked as if she might let loose a string of French expletives, but William held up a hand.

"A hairdryer isn't the only thing with a rotating motor. Your toy car has it too, why don't you use that one instead?"

"But I was gonna use the toy car's motors for another experiment." Wesley's face dropped and you could hear mothers going sentimental everywhere. "Oh well. I guess science requires sacrifices."

He handed over the hairdryer grudgingly, which Waverly snatched from him with a dark mutter under her breath. She couldn't extricate the fork from the nozzle however, and in the end it was Damian who stepped up to help. I could see Waverly's temper melt away under his smooth offer, and with a coy gesture, she motioned for him to follow her into her room. Damian gave me a suggestive look, which I retorted with a glare, and even though he scoffed, I knew he wasn't going to do anything stupid. 

"Your siblings?" I asked as William led me up the stairs.

"Yeah. Waverly is the eldest, she's 21. She's majoring in languages, and her current obsession is French." We reached the landing. William took a left. "After her is me, then Willow and Wesley. Willow wants to be the President's bodyguard. Wesley - well, I live with the constant fear that he'll blow up our house before he reaches ten. They're both seven now."

"Fraternal twins?"

"Yeap. It's usually not so chaotic because Mum is around, but she had to go visit my grandma today." 

"Now I know why you never have our study lessons in your house," I joked.

William laughed. He stopped before a white door, pushing it open almost shyly. "Well. Here we are. This is my room."

I stepped inside. "Whoa."

Books crammed every inch of the space, sprawling out from bookshelves and onto the floor. There seemed to be no method in their placement - Percy Jackson stood next to Michio Kaku's Future of the Mind, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy was directly underneath a thick Physics textbook. There was just enough space left for a bed, a table and a wardrobe. Everywhere else was taken up by books. 

William cleared away several paperbacks that had been lying on his bed. "Sorry about the mess. I didn't - I wasn't expecting company."

"Ah yea, sorry about that. I guess we should have called before we came over."

"How did you know where I live?"

Some illegal hacking of the school's network. "Leila told me."

"Are you guys talking now?" Even as the words left his mouth his face colored. "Sorry, that was too busybody of me. It's just you haven't been talking to us at all ... I thought you were just avoiding me, but then I notice you didn't even wave hi to Roxy in class - not that I was stalking you, I wasn't - I mean - "

He stopped short, looking helpless. I let out a small smile as I sat down beside him on the bed. Looking down at my fingers, I wondered just how best to explain this.

"I'm in a - situation, William, and I need your help," I started off carefully. "It's nothing dangerous, don't worry" - except that it was, a lot, only I couldn't tell him - "just a minor dilemma, that's all. And I can't really tell you guys what it is until it's over. I'm sorry; I don't mean that I don't want to be friends anymore, I still do, very much, it's just that - I need some time. I guess you can say I'll be doing a lot of things from here on out that won't make much sense to you, and I understand if these things will cause you guys to doubt me, even be angry at me, and you have all the right to act that way."

I took a deep breath. "The only thing I can say for certainty right now, is that when this is over - and it will be - everything will be fine. We'll all be fine. If it's not too much to ask, I just want you guys to trust me. For now."

William said nothing. I kept my eyes focused on my hands, and resisted the urge to wrung them together. Then that familiar leather watch slipped into my vision, and William had my hands in his.

"I do trust you," he said simply, eyes clear and honest behind his black frames.

I stared at him for a long moment. Just when it seemed as if the atmosphere in the room was about to change to something very different, the door banged open. William's hand shot away from mine.

"I gotta say, that was the first time ever that I found the notion of a woman with intelligence fascinatingly attractive." Damian paused, eyes narrowed. "What is this romantic feel I detect in the air?"

William flushed. I stood up and flicked Damian's forehead. "Did Waverly's French do something to your brain? Not that you had much of one in the first place anyway."

William cleared his throat. "So. What's this situation that needs my help?"

It took several good minutes, but soon William had Damian's phone plugged into his computer and a decoding software running.

"It's been remotely hacked. The IP address is local, it could be anyone in this town." Damian and I exchanged a look. William peered closer at the computer. "I can't pinpoint it exactly, but it seems to be pointing at - whoa!"

"What is it?" I asked immediately.

"Uh." William jabbed at several keys.

"Don't uh us, nerd boy," Damian snapped. "What's going on?"

"I think our hacker found out that we're investigating him." William pointed at where a tiny notification was blinking at the corner of the screen. "He's sending us a message request. Should we, uh, accept?"

I hesitated. But Damian had no similar reservations.

"Do it," he commanded.

https://youtu.be/HTpk80OtRSQ

The messaging platform blinked shut and disappeared from view. William leapt out of his chair, face pale and shaking.

"What the hell was that? Who was that? "

"William, calm down," I tried, even though my heart was thudding fast itself. Beside me, Damian had gone a deathly pale.

"Calm down? That psycho just threatened to harm my sister!" William backed away from us. "Who is he? Who are you?"

My eyes were pleading. "William, please. Trust me. I won't ever let anything happen to your family, I swear it!"

William's breathing trembled. With a jerk he disconnected the phone from his computer and shoved it back at Damian.

"Take it. And get out. Get out of my house, now."

Damian went immediately, strides level. The door closed quietly behind him. I took a step forward.

"William - "

"You too, Hayley." His voice was quiet, and he wouldn't look me in the eye. "You wanted help. That's all I can give you."

Silence.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and I fled.

|*|

We took the bus home. I looked down at the mobile device, lying so innocently in Damian's grip.

Damian's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "This is - this is too much. I ... I have to tell Jasper."

I kept my voice low. "He'll kill you."

"I don't have a choice! The amount of damage - " He cut himself off as he realized that a public bus was probably not the best place to talk about Blackcroft matters. "This has gone too far." 

"He'll make you destroy the phone. Jasper won't risk a second mistake. Hell, he wouldn't even risk a first. But how did the hacker even know about your phone? Or you for that matter?" My mind whirled. "How did he know about William, which was nowhere near the phone until today itself? Who barely speaks to you in school? How did he know about him and his family?"

But my mind answered me.

Brandy Simmons.

Damian ran frustrated fingers through his hair. "It's out of control. Everything - is out of control!"

It was the first time I had ever seen him lose his calm. Without really thinking about it I placed an arm on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine. Jasper ... he'll sort it out." As much as I hated to admit it, that was true.

Damian looked up at me. "I want you to promise me something, Hayley."

I retracted my comforting arm instantly, wary. "What?"

"If Thomas calls, talk to him."

I shook my head, lips pressed into a thin line. "Hell no."

"You have to. Listen to me, Hayley. This phone? It's the only way Thomas has to contact me. With it gone, the only other person he can contact is you. And you have to listen to him."

"Why the hell should I?" A sudden light bulb in my head. "How do we know he isn't the Cognac guy?"

Damian made an exasperated noise. "He isn't, alright? Thomas has a plan. A plan to take down Black and Tan. He told me so."

"And you believed him? That bastard, two-faced, son of a - "

"It was a set-up, Hayley. Everything. The docks. The exchange. It was a set-up. Thomas was played. He didn't betray us, he was betrayed."

I stared. "What do you mean?"

A moving, rickety vehicle with five dozing passengers and one mother with her child wasn't where I would have liked to hear an astounding revelation to a mystery that had haunted me for years, but that was exactly what I got.

"Thomas was playing double agent for us. He went to Black and Tan, feigned his allegiance to them, then fed them worthless junk from our side. All the while getting us important Black and Tan information. It was a perfect scheme, and he played it well; Black and Tan didn't suspect him one bit. 

"But someone from our side didn't like the fact that he was successful. Someone from our side felt ... threatened by his achievements. And so he sold Thomas out. He made Thomas seem like the bad guy, he got Black and Tan to punish him and convince Blackcroft that Thomas had long defected to the other side. You must remember, Thomas was a great actor ... to the point that even our people began to doubt him." 

My mind rang at this. I couldn't believe it ... or could I? Was this true? Dare I hope?

That Thomas had never chosen to abandon me?

The question forced itself out from between my lips. "Who sold Thomas out?"

Damian's voice had taken on a queer change. "Someone who didn't like the fact that his golden track record might just be overtaken by someone else."

"Damian, who?"

A pause. A heartbeat.

Then - 

"Jasper, of course."

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

I don't want to sound needy but

BUT I AM NEEDY AND DESPERATE

I don't get paid to toil away writing here, and so votes are my only form of reward ... will you deny me this simple pleasure? >.<

CLICK THE VOTE STAR BUTTON GODDANGIT COME ON YOU READ TILL SO FAR IT'S GOTTA BE WORTH SOMETHIN'

K, rant over. Gotta study.

Bai

Huu