“Are you sure that you have to go, Ry?” Donnovan hugged Ryder tightly as they stood beside West Gate.

Ryder nodded into his embrace. “Sorry, but I have to go back to East Base. Ansgar’s expecting me back soon, remember?”

She and Alyx had decided this. Well, to be fair, Alyx had told her that was what they were doing. If she couldn’t comply with his wishes, he would’ve taken over and told Donnovan that she was leaving anyway. Telling him herself was harder, but better, so she agreed to Alyx’s demand. 

 “I remember.” Donnovan sighed. “You take care of yourself. Don’t overdo it when you get back. The doctors still aren’t sure if there will be any side effects of what the anomaly did to you.”

Ryder squeezed him tighter and rested her cheek against his chest. “I don’t want to leave.” She mumbled.

“Then don’t. I’ll tell Ansgar that you’re reassigned here. He’ll understand.” Donnovan pleaded with her.

“I can’t… And I can’t explain why to you either. I just need to be at East Base for a while longer…” Ryder murmured into his chest.

“Come on, Ry!” Kane waved at them. “I’m waiting. We don’t have all day.”

Donnovan laughed and let her go. “Go on then. See you soon?”

“I’ll try to visit you in a month or so.” Ryder grinned at him and jogged towards the hover car that Kane was piloting. She jumped into the passenger’s side and waved to Donnovan.

He waved back with a smile. She could tell that his heart wasn’t in it, though. And after finding out what he felt towards her, she could understand why it wasn’t. Hers wasn’t satisfied with their parting either. But she had no choice.

***

Kane cleared his throat as they drove on the main highway towards Idaho. “So… You and Donnovan seemed a bit more chummy than usual, huh?”

“Are you trying to ask me a question or implicate me in something?” Ryder squinted at him in the bright sunlight streaming through the front windshield.

“Uh… Neither…” Kane coughed in an attempt to cover up his frustration.

Why is she always so secretive? What is that she sees in Donnovan anyway? I mean, yeah… He’s a nice guy and all, but he already broke her heart once. And I was the one who comforted her when it happened. Why doesn’t she look at me the way she looks Donnovan? Kane suppressed the urge to sigh. Ryder was complicated. He didn’t think he’d ever figure her out. Not completely anyway. They’d been friends since they were kids, and he still couldn’t figure her out.

Ryder had looked away and seemed to be far away in her own mental world. Kane didn’t like the distant look in her eye. It almost looked as though she was arguing with herself. Over what, he wasn’t sure, but she looked like she needed to be distracted from it. The look on her face said that whatever she was thinking about, it wasn’t good.

“So the doctors couldn’t figure out what happened with the anomaly, I guess… You have any ideas?” Kane decided to avoid topics appertaining to Donnovan.

“No.” Ryder’s tone was abrupt, and Kane backed off the topic.

“Sorry… Wasn’t trying to be rude. No need to get touchy, Ry.” He glanced over at her. “Honestly… You’ve been getting more and more irritable lately. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Ryder looked out the window. “Kane, can you please just stop talking to me? I really just want to sleep until we stop for the night.”

Kane bit his lip. “Yeah… Sure.” He reached over and flipped on the radio.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the road, he browsed through the channels until he found one that was playing old country songs. Nice and relaxing. He hoped.

He glanced over at Ryder again. She had rested her head on the window and closed her eyes. She seemed to be mostly asleep by now. What was up with her anyway? She was so touchy with him, and he couldn’t think of anything he’d done.

Shaking his head, he turned back to watching the highway.

***

When they stopped for the night in an abandoned parking lot, Ryder stirred and opened her eyes.

Rise and shine… Alyx teased with a laugh. You slept for almost five hours.

And I would’ve slept for six more if it meant I could avoid you. Ryder grumbled.

Now, now… That’s not very nice. Anyway, I haven’t actually done anything to hurt you.

No, but you’re using me to get revenge on my organization and my father. Ryder pointed out.

Technicalities.

Ryder didn’t respond to his quip. Alyx was just confusing her further and further. Was he good? Evil? Somewhere in between?

Somewhere in between, sweetheart. I definitely don’t qualify as good, and I wouldn’t go so far as evil. Alyx clarified for her.

Says the guy who’s possessing me. Now if that isn’t evil…

Alyx didn’t say anything further.

“Ry?” Kane tapped her shoulder.

She yelped in surprise. “Wh-what? What’s wrong?” She spun around in her seat to face him.

He leaned back towards his window and cleared his throat. “Uh… Nothing’s wrong. I just thought you might want a sandwich or something. Man, why are you so jumpy?” He fiddled with the radio for a minute until it was playing some classical music. “It’s just us, and it isn’t like you to act this way.”

“I’m fine, Kane… Just… The thing at the warehouse really freaked me out, okay. I’m going to need some time and space to get over it.” Ryder explained.

Technically, it was true, but she still felt like she was lying to him since she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. Well, even if she tried to tell him the truth, Alyx would just take over and spout off some worse lie just to punish her for daring to open her mouth.

“Okay… But if you need to talk about anything, I’m here.” Kane extended the sandwich he’d been holding to Ryder.

She gave him a weak smile and accepted the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

This is going to be awkward for a long time. Ryder sighed and turned her attention to the food.

***

Kane pulled the hover car into the parking spot in East Base’s newly built garage. They’d only built it a year ago, but it was necessary for the hover cars. If left out in the rain, the cars’ internal workings would be ruined since they were electrically powered.

Ryder opened the door as Kane pressed the ignition button to turn the car off. She hopped out and grabbed their luggage. With a wave to one of the soldiers, she headed into East Base. An unusual sense of foreboding overcame her as she walked over the threshold, but she pushed it off, thinking that perhaps it was just because she still couldn’t figure out what Alyx was planning.

As soon as she walked into her dorm she was tackled by someone. Surprised, she dropped her bag on the floor and toppled onto the bed behind her. “Oomph! Get off…” She pushed back against the other person.

“You’re back.” Her friend, Ali Covalenti, released her and grinned. “We heard about what happened. Are you sure you’re okay?” He began scanning her for abnormalities or injuries.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Would I be here if I wasn’t? The doctors said that I was fine. They don’t know what happened out there… Some weird side effect of the anomaly’s dissipation they think.”

Ali nodded. “Sometimes doctors aren’t that smart, are they?”

Ryder propped herself up on her elbows and stared up at Ali. “Yeah… Guess not.” Her good mood evaporated.

You have some very interesting friends. Who is this? Alyx inquired.

Ali Covalenti. He’s pretty famous around here because he helped East Base out with a Demorati problem five years ago… His sister and her husband helped too, but they’re stationed back at West Base. His sister couldn’t handle the memories this place invoked. Ryder explained.

There’s no possibility that he’d be able to detect my presence, is there? His aura is quite bright. Alyx sounded worried.

I don’t think so. He’s magically gifted, but he’s never indicated an ability to sense other presences… Why? Worried he’ll figure out that you’re possessing me? She couldn’t help being a bit snarky with him. He’d made her life a source of constant worry lately, and he deserved every bit of trouble she gave him.

I can hear your thoughts, remember…

Yeah, I know you can.

“Ryder, what’s with you and spacing out lately?” Kane complained, waving his hand in front of her face. “I asked you if you wanted to go get dinner.”

Ryder started. When had Kane walked in the room? Did she blank out that badly when Alyx was in control? She must if Kane was saying something to her again. Not only that, she hadn’t even noticed that he walked into the room.

Guess I’ll have to be more careful about talking to you. She griped at Alyx.

You do that, love…

He fell silent in her mind, and she sighed. “Yes… Dinner sounds good.”

Ali clapped her on the back. “Good to have you back. We were worried about you.”

“We?” Ryder raised an eyebrow.

“Yup. You know how Ansgar gets about you… You’re like the little sister he always wanted, and he’s highly protective. Something you know well…” Ali laughed. “I thought he was going to go crazy with the way he walked around with a distracted look on his face when no one else was watching.”

“He worries about me too much for his own good.” Ryder sighed. “I’ll go talk to him after dinner if he doesn’t find me first.”

***

It turned out that Ryder didn’t have to go and find Ansgar. He came to her.

“Ry!” Ansgar slipped onto the bench next to her.

Then he noticed Kane and his smile slipped. “Can we talk privately?”

Kane glared at him. “Why don’t you want to talk around me?”

“Kane… Don’t be abrasive. Please…” Ryder begged.

She couldn’t handle her two friends arguing right now. Not with her issues with Alyx and the stress of her trip. It was just too much, and dealing with the old rivalry between Kane and Ansgar was tiring.

Kane scowled down at his bowl of soup and swirled the noodles around. “Fine. But only because you asked.” He muttered.

Ansgar nodded and took her arm. Pulling her away from the group, he sent one last glare at Kane over his shoulder. “Stuck-up jerk.” He mumbled.

“Ansgar!” Ryder snapped. “Stop acting like you’re two. I don’t care what Kane did to make you so mad, but quit being petty and act your age.”

Ansgar sighed. “Fine… You’re right. I should be the bigger man in this case. He sure won’t.”

“That isn’t being the bigger man, Ans. That’s called veiled anger.” Ryder growled.

“Now who’s veiling their anger? What’s wrong with you, Ry?” Ansgar led her into an empty exercise room and closed the door.

Ryder sat down on a bench-press and stared down at her toes.

Ansgar sighed and settled on the mat in front of her. “You seem upset and off…”

“Nothing’s the matter, Ans. I just need people to stop asking me that, okay? I’ve been asked it one too many times.” Ryder rubbed her hands along her thighs and began turning her aunt’s ring in circles on her finger.

“We both know you’re lying to me. Why?” Ansgar snapped at her. “What happened in that warehouse? Donnovan wouldn’t push you to give him the truth, but I will.”

Alyx took over, and this time, Ryder was relieved. If Ansgar kept pushing her, she was going to start crying or yelling. Or maybe both. She didn’t want to do either in front of Ansgar. He didn’t need to know just how messed up everything was right now.

“Nothing’s wrong, Ans. The anomaly affected me in a weird way, and I had some sort of stroke or something. The doctors didn’t find anything wrong, and they said it was just a strange fluke that the anomaly affected me and not Kane. Are you happy now?” Alyx smiled at Ansgar.

Thank you. Ryder murmured to him.

Don’t. I’m not trying to help you out right now. I’m just doing what’s necessary to keep you from revealing things I don’t want told. Completely selfish. Alyx cleared his throat.

Ansgar nodded slowly. “Okay… But you’re staying on Base for a while. No more missions for a month or two.”

Ryder really did want to yell at him then. How could he do that? Keeping her on Base and keeping her from taking any missions was like locking her in an empty room with only food and water. Torture.

“I understand.” Alyx said mildly.

Ansgar’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to take it just like that?”

“Yes… Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you always argue about that when it comes to missions. Any other time that I’ve restricted you from missions, you’ve fought that.” Ansgar crossed his arms.

“Well, this time, I agree with you. I need a break. I’m still shaken from everything that happened at that warehouse, and I need the time to recuperate.” Alyx argued.

Ansgar nodded. “Okay. If that’s all it is…” He stood up. “You can go then, I guess… See you at lunch tomorrow. Take it easy.”

Alyx sighed and nodded. “Good… See you then.”

How could you just agree to that? Ryder shouted at Alyx once Ansgar left.

Because. You need to stay on Base for a while. My plans can’t be enacted if you’re off on missions. Anyway, he’s right. You need time to recuperate. Alyx’s smug tone grated on her nerves.

I can’t believe you did that! That’s like sentencing me to prison for two months.

Well, that’s a shame isn’t it?