For the first time since I was six years old I woke up in my childhood home. I barely remembered it, barely remembered her. My mother had simply left for work one day and not come back.

I was later told that she was killed by the man who called himself Death. But now was not the time to dwell on such things.

Then I heard the loudest and most adorable yawn I'd ever heard. Izzie was awake. I rolled over planting a kiss on her forehead. God she was beautiful in the morning.

"Morning Xan" she mumbled, still half-asleep

"Morning Iz" I replied, equally half-asleep.

Izzie's eyes were a pretty shade of sky blue, nowhere nears as stunning as the Devil's. But Izzie was good and kind, and I loved her. I did.

But I had more important things to worry about. Details started flooding in as I remembered our plan, I sat straight up in bed.

"We should get up," I said trying to hide the eagerness in my voice "he could have responded by now"

Izzie instantly snapped awake "What are we waiting for then!"

We simultaneously bounded out of bed and rushed down the hall into the kitchen.

When we reached the kitchen the smell of scrambled eggs filled the air. It was Leo's famous "whatever I could find in the fridge" eggs. They were almost always good if you didn't count the time he accidentally used five ghost peppers and almost burnt my tongue off.

This time he had used refried beans and sausage, it looked and smelled great. I went over to the stove all other thoughts driven from my head by hunger.

I heaped two plates full, one for me and one for the Devil. Then Izzie sidled up next to me reaching for the plate I had intended for the Devil.

"Thanks Xan!" she chirped grabbing the plate with the most food.

"Actually that was for the Devil, but I can make you another one if you want" I said, standing up to her for once.

"Ian went down to give her food a few minutes ago" Leo interjected, resolving our building tension.

Crap. I had to remember not to leave Ian alone with her in the future. He was a great fighter, but could overreact at times and be dangerous. With his size I didn't want to think about what he could do to our prisoner.

Temporarily abandoning my eggs, I walked to the top of the stairs and called Ian upstairs. A moment later he stomped up seeming angry, well at least I hadn't heard screaming so the Devil should be fine.

I then returned to my eggs as we all gathered around the table. Izzie was furiously typing at the holographic keyboard on her x-com, getting into the untraceable server we had set up for communication with Death.

She finished typing with a flourish of her fingers smiling confidently at her own genius. We held our breath in anticipation as the screen loaded.

Nothing. He hadn't responded yet. I know we had said five days but it was his daughter! He should be rushing to save her.

Wordlessly I rose from the table my appetite gone. It had sounded so simple and straightforward in my head. I knew I was overreacting, but I needed to be alone right now.

I went into my room and started going through the motions of getting ready for the day. I was nervous. What happened if we failed?

I had the whole Silver Order dumped on my shoulders when my father was killed. What if I let everyone down? What happened if I failed?

No! I couldn't fail. The world was depending on me. If the Legion remained or even if the Gold Order won then the world would remain the same. I had to do this, if not us then who?

Some of my confidence restored I strode out of the room head held high. I could do this.

I met the Izzie, Leo and Ian in the kitchen, we had things to do. Leaving Leo in the house to guard the Devil we ventured out to search the nearby housed for supplies.

A few hours later we returned with 15 cans of vegetables, a large jug of clean water, and even a few rounds of precious ammunition.

Ian and Izzie began putting them away while I went to find Leo. A moment later I found him asleep on the couch in the living room. I didn't blame him; he had spent the night guarding the Devil and probably hadn't gotten much sleep. At least he hadn't been sharing a room with Ian who snored like a tractor.

Then I had an idea, I should check on the Devil. I made my way down the stairs trying to appear as confident as possible. I found her sitting against the wall and smiled trying to appear friendly.

"Devil" I acknowledged her.

"Xander" she returned as she rose to her full height.

Confidence radiated out of her, the exact opposite of how a prisoner should look. Then they caught me; her eyes bore into my own as if looking for a weakness. I had plenty for her to choose from.

"I assume your wondering why we've brought you here." I asked, completely mesmerized by her eyes.

Then to my surprise she responded with "Not at all, I figured out your idiotic plan ages ago."

I was completely taken aback, how could she have known. It's not like she could have heard us planning from all the way down here. Then I realized she was lying.

"You figured it out. What exactly did you figure out?" I asked, ready to see her attempt at bluffing.

Then she tore out my confidence and stomped on it. "Obviously you're going to ransom me to my father for his surrender," She replied smirking, "you're trying to get his missile codes as collateral."

I was shocked, it couldn't have been that obvious, "And how did you figure it out," I asked, trying not to look flustered.

"It's the only logical option," she said. She was right. "But I'm wondering what happens after, what's your plan for after we surrender?" She asked.

"You and your father will get a fair trial and most likely go to prison" I said. At least I hoped there wouldn't be any more bloodshed.

"And what happens when my father doesn't pay?" she asked with far more certainty than her first question.

When. She hadn't said IF he doesn't pay she had said WHEN. There was something in the way she said it, as if she was stating the obvious, that made me want to kill her father even more. What kind of man could be so cruel to his daughter?

"Do you really think your own father would do that to you?" I asked. I knew he was evil but I just couldn't believe this.

"I don't have a father, I have Death himself." She stated blankly.

I recognized the sadness in her eyes, it was the same way I felt about my father. I didn't mean to say anything but it just came out "I know the feeling, my father died a year ago." I confided.

"I know. Bomb strike right?" she said, I saw no guilt in her face despite the fact that she probably played a part in it. She was still the enemy.

I found myself continuing, "Pink mist, I was 17, I only escaped because of the child locks."

It was a memory I wanted to forget. The way the gas had swept over the field and just like that every adult was replaced by bloody mist.

She seemed to pause before saying "I find the best thing to do is to live how he would have wanted you to, that's what I do for my mother."

I'd never really though about Death's wife before. All I knew was that she was the first Devil.

"What happened to her?" I asked out of curiosity, nobody really talked about the current Devil's predecessor.

"She was killed by Gold Order soldiers," the Devil said, sadness in her voice, "She went down fighting though, took out four men before getting shot."

"I'm sorry," I said, and I think I actually meant it, the Devil may be evil but she was still human, "That's when you took over as second in command, right?" I don't know why I added that, but gathering information about the Legion couldn't hurt.

"Yes, that's when I became the Devil." She replied, her voice swelling with pride, but not before I saw a flicker of anger in her eyes.

It was probably just my imagination, and then something occurred to me which I had always wondered, "Do you have a name, or is it just Devil?"

"No my parents just named me Devil," she sneered, obviously being sarcastic, "Of course I have a name."

"And that would be...?" I pried, I don't know why but suddenly I had to know.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she smirked. Weirdly I wasn't angry or even annoyed. I was almost smiling.

Then I heard Leo shouting from above mixed with unfamiliar voices. Someone was attacking.

***

Hello readers! Do you think Xander is starting to fall for Kate? What about Izzie? Who do you think is attacking? Please vote and comment, I really want to know what you think?

-Jade