Eventually, after all three had taken a breathless, shocked pause to process everything, the setting sun stirred them into action. Phitz and Austen stood, not looking at each other, and moved the dresser aside as ebony waited behind them. They stepped into the failing light and finally met each other's eyes.

"So...?" She said, brushing hair out of her face. The front wisps had escaped her plait and tickled ebony's chin.

Phitz sighed. "Now what?"

Austen kicked the ground, letting out a heavy breath. "Well..."

"Where are the others?" Ebony cut in suddenly to his annoyance. Phitz rolled his eyes at his glowering friend.

"We're meeting them at the skatepark," he informed her, smiling patiently.

"So the question is," Austen said loudly, causing both of the others to shush him, "whether we follow the suits and risk running into them, or we go back to school and risk running into more of them."

Phitz shrugged. "How many more of them can there be?"

Eyes wide, ebony shook her head. "I never want to know the answer to that. Ever."

"So what are we going to do?"

They were all silent for a moment until ebony let out a gasp, looking around desperately. She stuck her head back under the verandah but reappeared, to the bemusement of the boys, looking quite stressed.

"My bag!" She wailed, dragging her hands anxiously rough her hair.

Phitz stared at her in stunned silence while Austen gathered his thoughts.

"Wait a minute. In the middle of all this, you're worried cause you lost your school bag?"

"Misplaced," ebony snapped. She twirled pointlessly, as if hoping it would appear in front of her but sank to her knees when she had no such luck. "If I happen it get out of this alive, which I hope to, my mum will kill me for misplacing that bag."

"Geez," Austen looked to Phitz for help, but he just shrugged. "Why?"

Ebony ignored the question. "I blame you for this, you know."

"Me?" He yelped, throwing his hands in the air, "what did I do?"

"You spoke to me!"

"What?"

Ebony fisted her hands in her hair, grinding her teeth. "You spoke to me and then Carrissa got mad and the world fell apart and I'm either going to die or get grounded and..." Tears sprang to her eyes and ebony's voice choked off into silence.

Austen dropped down beside her, gathering the trembling girl into his arms. Phitz watched in amazement as he rocked her gently back and forth.

"Hey, hey, hey," he murmured against her hair, gently rubbing his thumb in circles on her back. "Carrissa doesn't own me."

His friend swallowed a chuckle: he would have gone with 'we're not going the die' or 'the worlds still spinning', but that wasn't how Austen rolled.

The boy continued very quietly. "And if we are playing the blame game, it's your fault. I wouldn't have helped you if you hadn't looked so..." He swallowed his sentence as she met his eyes. "Hopeless."

Phitz shook his head, but ebony chuckled. She wiped her eyes.

"Thank you, Austen," she said simply, taking his hand and standing. She dragged him to his feet as he nodded, a little stunned, and Phitz clapped his hands together.

"So," he said, grinning, "sounds like we're going looking for a school bag?"

She nodded gratefully, turning back to the smashed fence and picking her way through gently.

"For a bag that comes with homework?" Phitz checked, smile fading, " and bullets?"

Ebony just laughed under her breath, peeking around the corner. The body of the dead suit had been moved, and there was not a soul to be seen.

Resigned, Phitz went to follow her, but Austen caught his shoulder. The light in his eyes was somewhat desperate.

"Hopeless?" He begged, praying he hadn't said it.

"What every girl longs to hear."

"I meant beautiful," Austen moaned, throwing his head back. He raised a hand and rubbed his eyes. "Of course I meant beautiful. What's wrong with me?"

Phitz glanced at an Imaginary watch. "Mate, we're kind of on a tight schedule," he complained, "I don't think we have that kind of time."

His friend swiped out at him, but he dodged, backing away towards where ebony had disappeared. "Hey, I warned you: I told you not to fall for her."

"Well," Austen sighed following, "doesn't looked like that advice sunk in."

Finnegan was hyperventilating in the doorway, as he waited for someone to spring into action. As he'd been anxiously peeking between the kitchen curtains, he'd fantasised about the old woman having several well built members of the AFP* hidden in her cupboard who would rush out and save them. He couldn't help being a little disappointed when everyone just stared at him.

"Whose here?" Hazmat asked loudly, looking around in confusion.

Finnegan was startled to see him awake. "You're not dead," he commented, before answering the question. "The suits."

"Damn,"Hazmat muttered, "the least you could have done was lose them."

Mr Irving glared at him. He rose quickly and walked towards the door, clapping Finnegan on the shoulder as he reached him.

"What are you doing?" Ms smith asked, frowning at him.

"I don't know yet," coach replied, "but I'm going to get rid of them somehow."

Maggie rose out of the chair, tsking. "Now, now, don't squabble, dears. I'll take care if it."

Hazmat raised a brow. "You'll take care of it?"

The woman grabbed something of the table and chucked it to mr Irving. The keys jangled loudly, but the sports teacher caught them easily, casting her a confused look.

"Take my van. They won't be looking for my plates." She smiled broadly, proudly.

"You have a van?" Hazmat asked again, thoroughly bemused by the woman in front if him.

She wiggled her brows. "I knew it would come in handy one day." She grunted and brushed them towards the front if the house. "Go."

Mr Irving nodded and heaved Haz to his feet. The man groaned, but looped an arm over his shoulders and hobbled out.

"At least you're bloody dressed this time."

Ms smith shook her head patiently and took Carrissa's shoulder. "Thank you, Maggie, for everything."

"Yeah," Carrissa grimaced, "nightmares included." Ms smith's grip tightened, dragging her from the room amid her squeaks of protest.

Salena rose slowly and looked at Maggie. "What are you going to do?"

"I," she announced, slipping past Finnegan and walking into the kitchen. She grabbed the phone off the bench. "Am going to play the old woman."

"You're not going to get shot, are you?" Finn asked worriedly, biting his lip as he and Salena followed her into the second room.

"Of course not, Finnegan," she laughed.

Salena leant against the bench. "How do you know all that stuff? Stuff you shouldn't know?"

The young old woman smiled at her. "My body might be aging twice as quickly as it should, but my mind has been growing exponentially. I've got a photographic memory, with some third eyes and sixth senses throw in to boot."

Salena smiled softly until a thump in the yard dragged it away. "What are we, Maggie?" She asked quietly, expression bleak.

"Dearest child, I haven't the foggiest." She smiled warmly, "but I wouldn't tell you if I knew. What you are doesn't matter. It's who you are that matters." Salena raised a skeptical eyebrow that made Maggie chuckle. "Trust me."

An argument drifted up from the garden and Maggie shooed them away. "Go on."

"We'll see you when we return the van, right?" Finn asked, "when

this is all back to normal?"

Maggie nodded, but was out onto the verandah before they heard her reply. Paler than usual, Finn took Salena's elbow.

"Come on," he urged but she shook him off.

"Just wait a second," Salena skirted the bench, peeling back the curtains and peering out. Finn jumped nervously from foot to foot until he have in and joined her at the window.

Maggie hobbled onto the verandah, nearly bent double. A large pair of glasses had miraculously appeared on her nose and she looked much older than she had before.

"...police on the line..." She was calling, waving the phone above her head. "So you little gits better get off my property..." She stopped as if surprised, squinting at their suits, "are you with that mob that ran through before?"

The men below had their gunS fixed on her until one at the front gestured them down. "No ma'am. We're law enforcement."

Maggie nodded, seemingly relieved. "About time you lot got here. They went through the hedge, and..."

A cold laugh interrupted her, and Maggie straightened, eyeing someone Finn and Salena couldn't see.

"The bitch is back." She said, stunning the teenagers. "I heard you got assassinated and buried in an unmarked grave on unconsecrated ground."

The other voice, a woman, laughed again. "And I heard you died of old age." The comment was pointed and Finn and Salena exchanged a look.

Maggie just snorted. "Get the hell off my property."

"Oh we will," the woman sneered, "trust me, I'm more than eager, but unfortunately we're looking for some people. Fugitives. Have you seen..."

"Haven't seen them," Maggie cut her off, fingers digging into the rail.

"I didn't even ask..."

Maggie laughed. "Anyone that you're looking for, I haven't seen."

"Pity. You always were a pain in the arse, pesky."

"Thank you for noticing."

"I hate to complete my list out of order..." The voice pondered, sighing in resignation with the click of a gun loading.

Maggie didn't even flinch, though Finn had to clamp a hand over Salena's mouth and another around her waist to keep her charging out to the woman's rescue. The curtain fell closed and Salena thrashed. For once in his life, Finn held firm and she couldn't struggle free.

"Go ahead, bitch," Maggie said easily, opening her arms wide. "By my count you've bee waiting seventeen years, four months and 3 days for this."

Tears streaked down Salena's cheeks as Finn held her and she yelped as the shot resounded. Finnegan, equally shaken, just backed away, taking them back through the lounge room.

A door on the left was open, illuminated by the headlights of a white van. The door was open and Finn let Salena go, still holding her hand as he lead her to the vehicle. They clambered in, settling onto seats in silence. Ms smith saw their faces and didn't say anything. Carrissa had no such tact.

"What?" She demanded, "you guys decide this was the perfect time to have a little make out session?"

Salena flashed her red rimmed eyes at her, engulfed in grief and fury. "Shut your mouth, Carrissa."

Mr Irving silenced the garage door and climbed into the drivers seat, backing into the street. The atmosphere was choking, but he didn't ask.

"Where's this skatepark, Finn?"

* Australian federal police. Aussie FBI kinda.