Rile awoke at Alex's first stirring. He watched from his spot on the floor as she opened her eyes. Fear and confusion clouded them as she scanned the room. Her gaze lit on Rile and, when all the fear drained out of her eyes at the sight of him, he felt something twist in his chest.

"You're safe with me," Rile said.

Alex nodded and pushed the hair out of her eyes. She still looked confused, trying to sort out her memories. Her expression deepened into sadness and Rile bet that he knew which memory it was.

"You once said you would get away from yourself if you could. I don't want to get away from you. I want to learn more of your heart, your soul." Rile sat up and leaned on the couch toward her.

Alex shook her head. "You know nothing about me. How could you? I barely know anything about myself."

"You willfully choose ignorance but not me," Rile said with a small grin. "You're the most entertaining being I've ever met." When she rolled her eyes, he stood and offered her a hand. "Let's eat."

Alex nodded again but got up without taking his hand. She headed for the kitchen. Rile touched her arm.

"I want a Jazz brunch. One with champagne," he said.

"They all have champagne in New Orleans," Alex corrected, but with a shy smile. "Where's Cale? He'll want to come."

"I'll get him," Rile offered quickly. He did not want Alex going downstairs to their apartment where Gabe was. "You get ready."

*****

At the brunch, Alex matched Rile champagne for champagne, which was quite a few because Alex tipped generously and often during the meal. Cale ate in silence, looking somber, while Rile asked Alex about all the different foods on the buffet.

"I need a nap," Alex declared happily when they returned to the carriage apartment.

"You just got up," Rile said.

"Your point being?" she asked, just as happily.

"You are such a lightweight," he complained. "All we drank was champagne."

Alex smiled woozily at him and staggered into the bedroom. When she closed the door, Cale turned on the TV. He didn't sit and watch it, but walked up to Rile.

"Don't do this to Alex. She's not another one of your females to seduce and leave," Cale said.

Shock flashed into Alex and ruined her warm champagne buzz. She could hear very well when drunk.

"I never seduced anyone. I took what was freely offered," Rile replied.

A whole new fear slithered into Alex's heart.

Rile. He's one of those guys. Love 'em and leave 'em. That means sex followed by desertion. I was a fool to let him close.

"Alex is not freely offering. She's been brutalized because we abandoned her and she's frightened. We're the only ones that she trusts. Don't betray her," Cale continued stoutly.

"Why aren't you telling Gabe this?"

"You know Alex is the first female that he's ever showed interest in," Cale said.

"That makes everything he does okay?"

"It makes it different," Cale waffled. "First love is like that. Makes you act crazy, think crazy, do crazy things."

Alex stopped listening after 'first love'. It rang in her head, deafening her to all talk, including her brain and conscience shouting 'stop'. It raced past her defenses and brain damage so she remembered a time when she didn't feel pain in either heart or body. She rolled over in bed and dreamed of a golden dragon rescuing her from a fish eyed monster called Morgan.

*****

When Alex woke up, she sent Rile to return the DVD's and then pulled Cale aside. Alex measured her life in weeks, maybe months, and she couldn't afford to waste time.

"What's Gabe doing?" Alex asked.

"He's sitting around, brooding. I don't like it."

"Me either. What should I do?" she asked.

"That's a very big question. I can't answer that," Cale said cautiously.

Alex rolled her eyes and pushed him a tiny bit. "I mean, do I wait for him to come to me, or do I go to him?"

"Going to him would be easier on his pride. I don't know about yours." Cale not only accepted the push, he grasped both of her hands and gently squeezed them.

"My pride is pretty plastic," Alex said.

*****

Alex walked right into the brothers' place. Rude, but she could see for herself what Gabe was doing. He sat slumped on the couch, not bothering to read or watch TV or read his tablet. Instead he flipped his dagger in a desultory manner. His usual gold color was paled and his hand-woven shirt and pants, usually spotless and neat, were wrinkled.

Brooding is a good description.

She flopped down on the couch next to him.

"I'm sorry, Alex," Gabe said, not looking at her.

"For what?"

"For what happened."

"I don't blame you for anything that Morgan does. If you hadn't gone camping, he would have found some other opportunity. Now yelling at me and taking off, that's another matter."

"Dr. Dewey said I shouldn't have done that either."

"Smart man. Listen to him. What else did he say?" she asked.

"He talked about counting costs and rewards."

"And?"

"I can't give you what you want," Gabe replied.

Alex crossed her arms. "What do I want?"

"Long term commitment . . . children . . ."

"Commitment! Children!? Hold on there. That's what you want," Alex said. "I don't want children, human or dragon. Not that it's possible."

"All right, commitment then. I can't do that. I have no idea how long I'll be here, when or where I'll be Called next," Gabe said.

"Don't worry about it anymore. We're done. We're not teammates. We're not friends. We're not anything. You're free. You're not trapped. Stop brooding over the whole thing. You don't need forgiveness, but if you hero types need to hear it, then I forgive you." Alex patted his shoulder and stood up. "All better now?"

Gabe looked up at her. "No."

"Guess you're fire trucked then. Sorry about your luck. I warned you."

Gabe stood up. "Can't we spend what time I have here on Earth together? What did you say about there not being a morning after?" He held out both hands, palm up.

"What do you mean?" Alex eyed his hands before searching his face.

"We won't be here that long. A Calling doesn't last a lifetime and certainly not in one place," Gabe explained. "Can we be together as long as I'm here?"

Alex chewed the inside of her lip.

"You have nightmares at night. I can help with that," Gabe said and held his hands a little closer to her.

She shrugged.

"You've helped me as well," Gabe said. "We need help here on Earth. I need help here on Earth. Your help."

Alex placed her hands on top of Gabe's. He closed his hands on hers and drew her onto the couch with him.

"Can't we help each other, while I'm here?" He drew her under his arm.

"I don't want you getting shot again," Alex said.

"Then I won't go camping without you and Morgan is dead. While I'm here, we're together."

"I don't want to endanger you or your brothers."

"Morgan is dead and Hermann was after us before we met."

"No talk of being trapped?"

"I'm sorry for that. No talk of being trapped. I was Called here. What we do, what you do, is important to the Creator of All."

Alex laid her head on Gabe's chest and closed her eyes. She breathed his woodsy, leathery scent that calmed her mind.

No more nightmares. No worry about the pain of sex. Just sleep and comfort until I die. Which will be soon. They can't stop Hermann or the agency who created me. No one can. When they get close again, I know what I have to do. I'll make sure the brothers are safe and I'll have the heroic death I've dreamed of.

"We feel pain if the other is hurt." Gabe interrupted Alex's thoughts.

"I agree to a short term relationship. We're together while you're here on Earth. When it's time for you to leave, it's all over, no hard feelings," Alex said. She ran her hand down his arm, enjoying the feel of his muscles under the soft leathery hid. "Don't tell your brothers the details. Neither us needs grief from them. Next, I have to beat down Rile."

"Excellent. Why?" Gabe stroked her hair.

"I'll teach him that I'm no playboy's toy."

"What's a playboy?"

"A male who plays with women. Loves them and leaves them."

"About time someone taught him a lesson. Even better if it's a female like you." Gabe combed her hair with his claws, fascinated by the straight brown strands slipping through. "The angrier he becomes, the more control he loses, but he becomes faster. What he gains in speed, he loses in accuracy. He'll use torso and abdomen strikes to compensate."

"I'll remember that." Alex lit her hand and stroked Gabe's chest, leaving luminescent trails. He inhaled at the sensations. "Let's go to bed now."

He smiled shyly at her. "Sleeping next to, not with."

"And all clothes on." Her hand lit up his entire chest.

"I can hardly wait." He smiled at her and sighed.

*****

Alex had left Gabe sleeping and sought out Rile. She found him in the brothers' training room. She was wearing what she called her "default clothing", jeans and a T-shirt. She always bought clearance T-shirts from the tourist traps, thrift stores, and clearance centers. One, they were dirt cheap, and two, it amused her to wear shirts emblazoned with obscure or outdated references.

"Let's spar," she said and grabbed a staff.

Time to re-establish the proper relationship with Rile and teach him what I really am. A fighter. Not his toy.

"Spar?"Rile stop blocked his staff and eyed her up and down.

"Yes, spar. It's an exercise where two combatants fight but don't kill or maim each other."

"I don't know," he said, pointedly looking at her bruised nose. "What about—"

"Morgan?" Alex poked Rile's midsection with the staff.

Only her use of the hated name surprised him enough to allow her to sneak past his defense.

"Maybe Morgan sharpened me instead of softening me up," Alex said.

Rile grabbed her staff and Alex rewarded his hand with a sparkling sting.

I want him angry. I want to fight. I want to win, but even if I lose, he'll learn his lesson.

Rile launched a series of thrusts. Alex's staff clacked quickly with each thrust as she parried each one. Alex felt her core warm with pride and the joy of fighting. She launched an offense and her heart swelled even more.

"Not bad. You can fight when you're with me," Rile said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

At her bewilderment, Rile jabbed her. "Simple. With Cale you're quiet and studious, and with Gabe you're the devoted follower. What is your real personality?" Rile swung his staff and Alex barely parried in time.

"That's not fair."

"Save your whining about fairness for Gabe."

Alex's expression darkened and this time her jab made it through to Rile's thigh. "I know enough not to share my true self with anyone."

"You're all a big lie," Rile taunted.

Face set in anger, Alex went on the offensive, staff jabbing and twirling. "You're Mr. Sharing, open to the world. How many females have you bedded? Did you love any of them? Or were they all your toys?"

A gut jab knocked the breath out of her.

"I have a proposition for you," Rile said as Alex leaned over to gasp.

Fire truck me. Gabe warned me about those abdomen strikes.

"I'm all ears. Especially since my insides are now liquid," Alex said.

"Next round, I win, you tell me a deep dark truth about yourself. You win, I'll do the same," he said.

"Truth or Dare goes Fight Club?" Alex asked.

"I loved that movie. Good thing Cale likes the dollar section."

Alex straightened. "Sounds like a deal."

In the next minute, she realized that she was a sucker. Like a true pool shark, Rile had held back earlier. He had no mercy now. His staff whirled in the flower pattern, alternating blocking her staff, sweeping it aside, and landing blows on her. His footwork sped up, pushing her back back back. A well leveraged staff sweep, a well placed foot that she stumbled backwards over, and he had her pinned.

"So?" he asked, leaning on her arms.

Alex turned her head away and tried to control her panic at being in that position.

This is not the nightmare. Breathe. In. Out. Rile is not him. Or any of them. Not the same species. Breathe, fire truck it. In. Out.

"So?" Rile shook her and leaned into her face.

Alex turned her head back to him, eyes burning as she spoke. "When I'm out on the street, I don't want to stop those thugs. I want to kill them. I want to kill them all."

Rile was silent a moment. "Really dark."

"I know. Don't tell Gabe."

"I never said I wouldn't tell."

"Rile!" Alex squirmed but Rile tightened his grip.

"What are you worried about?" he asked.

"He'll lecture me, it won't change how I feel, and..." Alex turned deathly still.

"He won't love you anymore," Rile said. When Alex looked away, jaw clenched, he added, "If he doesn't love you for who you really are, then he doesn't really love you. If he even loves you at all."

Alex squeezed her eyes shut, then exploded out. "Of course he doesn't love me! He never said that!" The upper half of her body was free. "No one does! Jerk!"

"I do."

Alex stared at him a moment before she blasted him to the wall. Rile cracked the plaster before he slid to the floor.

"Shut up! What do you know?" she screamed at the prone form.

Rile dragged himself to his hands and knees. "I know—"

Alex put her foot on his back. "Shut up. That was a rhetorical question. You might love what I show you: the anger and the combat, but your stomach would turn if you knew how often I was frightened and lonely and cried into my pillow. Gabe might be interested in a false front, but so are you, Rile, so are you. Leave me alone. Your brother is smart enough to not use the four letter 'L' word. Run, Rile, run."

Loving something like me means pain and danger and risk. I won't allow that from anyone, especially the brothers.

She pushed him to the ground and then she was gone.

****

That evening, the brothers gathered for dinner at Alex's apartment.

"Where's Alex?" Cale peeked into the kitchenette. "I thought she was preparing dinner or I would have started it myself."

"I don't know." Gabe opened the door to the bedroom and looked in. "Not in here." He knocked on the bathroom door. "Nor here." He walked back to the common area.

Rile shrugged, picked up his iPad, and dropped onto the couch to read. He threw his legs over the end and swung them carelessly.

"Wasn't she sparring with you earlier?" Cale asked innocently enough, but Gabe was instantly alert.

When Rile shrugged again, Gabe asked, "Where did she go?"

"I dunno." Rile scrolled down his iPad.

"Rile, what happened?" Gabe asked with suspicion.

"What do you think?" Rile put down his iPad, stood, and squared off against Gabe. He balanced lightly on the balls of his feet, clenched his hands into fists, and brought them up.

"Hey." Alex trudged in, head down, and walked straight into the kitchenette. She stuck her head into the refrigerator. "What can we scrape together for dinner?"

"Are you okay?" Gabe stepped back from Rile but still faced his opponent.

"Just tired and probably catching a cold." Alex pulled out a bag. "Hey, salad, something fresh." She turned to the pantry. "Now for the stuff with the shelf life of dirt." After rummaging around, Alex took out her cell phone and asked, "What delivery do we want?" She looked at Gabe and Rile and stood between them. "Cut it out, you two. I'm hungry and sick. Since you're being macho morons, I'm picking jambalaya."

*****

It was a quiet group at dinner with only the sound of crawfish being shelled. Rile and Alex kept their heads down, overtly concentrating on their jambalaya.

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked.

"Nothing," was the mumbled reply from Alex and Rile.

"All right, what happened?" Gabe asked, calm but firm.

"Nothing," came again.

"What happened when you and Rile sparred?" There was a hint of steel in Gabe's voice.

"The usual. We sparred. I lost," Alex said.

"What did you discuss during this match?" Gabe asked.

"No discussion, just sparring," Alex replied and stuffed a spoonful of the rice and seafood goodness in her mouth.

"Will you tell him what he wants to know?" Cale asked with rare exasperation. "Gabe is a master of interrogation. He won't give up. Answer him now and save us all the time and trouble."

Rile and Alex looked stubborn, jaws set, and Alex's lips were thinned in rebellion. Alex crossed her arms over her chest and Rile's eyes narrowed and his claws dug into the top of the table.

"What did Rile say?" Gabe was implacable.

"Nothing that wasn't the truth," Alex snapped.

Gabe and Cale both groaned.

"Not one of Rile's truth sessions," Cale said.

Rile looked outraged and dragged his claws down the table, leaving deep furrows.

"Let me guess. It was insulting and intrusively personal," Gabe began.

"And you feel like crap." Cale finished.

Alex laughed a small laugh. "That sums it up."

"Rile thinks he is insightful, but he's known for his lapses in judgment," Gabe said.

"We've all been on the pointed end of his 'truths'. Welcome to the club, as you humans say," Cale said.

"Fine, laugh it up." The table shook when Rile jumped to his feet. "Live in your world of delusions. I'm outta here."

They watched as he stormed out.

"What did he say?" Gabe asked.

"We can help." Cale touched her hand.

"Thanks, but it's nothing I want to report. You have already helped." Alex spooned our more jambalaya. "Eat up."

"Please save me some," Cale said. "I don't want him out there alone."

Alex jumped up. "I don't want you out there alone."

Cale sighed. "That is really insulting to an adult male Agama."

"Good thing you're better than the average adult male Agama," Alex said quickly. "And forgive paranoid adult female humans."

Cale smiled so sweetly at her that Alex felt guilty for doubting him. He patted her shoulder. "You're a very caring being, despite what you wish others to think."

Gabe groaned and stood up. He sheathed his sword and staff. "Rile ruins another meal. Gear up and let's go."

*****

A/N

One more chapter to go! Ready?

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Dedicated to all my loyal readers to made it to the end! Wattpad won't let me list you all but I love y'all!