_Title:_ Love on the High Seas #2: "Isle of New Beginnings"
_Authors:_ Pirates Sparrow and Turner
_E-mail:_ OrliDepp@...
_Rating:_ NC-17
_Feedback:_ Yes, please!! Seriously, we, like all other fan fic writers,
thrive on feedback. We also tend to only stick to the places where we know
we are being read and enjoyed from the reviews we receive. However, flames
absolutely will not be tolerated.
_Archive:_ Absolutely *ONLY* if you request permission and receive our
granting to do so. It'll probably be a yes, but it depends on the archive
and the person running it.
_Warnings:_ Abuse, Death, Lemon, Nudity, Rape, Sex, Torture, Violence
_Fandoms/Characters/Pairings:_ (Angel/BtVS) A/C, Fresley, Faith, Lorne,
Dawn, Connor; (Charmed) C/Pi, Prue, Phoebe, Paige, Kit; (Dawson's Creek)
Dawson; (Disney) Jack Sparrow/Will Turner, Hook/Smee, Sebastian; (Elvira)
Elvira, Gonk; (Excalibur) Kurtty; (Generation X) Sean Cassidy; (Harry
Potter) Albus Dumbledore, Snape; (Labyrinth) Jareth and company; (Peter
Pan) Hook/Smee; (The Pirate Movie) Frederic; (PotC) Jack/Will, Elizabeth;
(Sabrina) Salem; (Shrek) Donkey; (Smallville) Clex; (SU2) Carl; (10K)
Wolf; (X-Men) RoLo, Morph, Sean/Emma, Kurtty, Professor X; (Xena)
Aphrodite, Xena/Gabby, Joxer, and Autolycus. Sooner or later, there's a
pairing for every character, but if they're not listed it here, the
pairing will be with either a character from a different fandom or an
original character.
_Summary:_ Picking up where Love on the High Seas #1: Bright Promises of
Tomorrow left off, a handicapped Pirate and his crew arrive on an island
to investigate wreckage, but will they find any survivors? What will
happen when the Pirates come into contact with two other groups who
crashed onto the isle, and how will they escape the island that is filled
with danger, prehistoric beings, Supernatural beings, and much, much more
when all the ships have been destroyed? Huge multi-crossover with such
fandoms as Angel, BtVS, Charmed, Dawson's Creek, Disney, Excalibur,
Generation X, Harry Potter, Labyrinth, Peter Pan, The Pirate Movie,
Pirates of the Caribbean, Sabrina, Shrek, Smallville, Special Unit 2, 10th
Kingdom, X-Men, Xena, and more!
_Disclaimer:_ All established characters; all TV show, comic, and movie
titles; and the Black Pearl are © & TM their respective owners and are
used without permission. Crystal "Snowflake" Frost, Katrina "Firestar"
Lewis, Celina "Pantheria" Lewis, Tom Ballard, Meesy, Brendan Richards; and
all other original characters are © & TM Pirates Sparrow and Turner, are
used with their permission, and may not be used without permission. The
Sea Witch and everything else are also © & TM the authors. No copyright
infringement is intended, and no monetary profit is made from these tales.

_Chapter Forty-one_
They were totally surrounded by Giants. Jack's blood ran cold
through his veins. He was more scared than he'd ever been in his
entire life, yet he knew he could not reveal his fear because he
was the Captain. The Captain always went down with his ship, but
there wasn't any ship here, Jack told himself. {I'm not gonna be
the first one who rushes out there! We have to get a plan or we
all shall die!}

Another look at the Giants told Jack that they were not going to
give him that opportunity. He wondered for a brief moment if he
should hold his sword aloft and holler "charge"? Why couldn't
somebody else lead? After all, he was just a man, and he didn't
know everything, not by a long shot! He wasn't afraid to die, but
he really didn't want to. There had to be a way out of their
dilemma!

He heard Xena who stood to his right talking to Gabrielle in a
soft voice. She had not let go of Gabrielle's hand since she had
been rescued. What came to his ears, though, was Xena telling
Gabrielle that she loved her and that life was worth living just
because of Gabrielle, but if they had to die, today was a good day
for it as long as they were together.

He turned to Will and kissed him. "If we have to do this thing, at
least we're together. Don't take any foolish chances. If you see
me go down, don't go down yourself. Keep fighting."

He reached out and pulled Brendan close. "Brendan, you've been
more than a brother to me. I want you to take care of Will if
something happens to me. I love both of you more than anything in
the world."

Brendan knew Will didn't want to promise Jack that he wouldn't go
down if he went down, and he also knew that they would not be the
only ones to follow Jack. He was trying to figure out how best to
answer his brother, how he might manage to reassure him without
lying to him, when another voice spoke up.

"I suggest," Ororo called out, "that we hit them both high and
low! We must do all we can for there is no escaping this
situation!" She was usually not one to run but wanted her beloved
Logan and her godchildren to be safe, a fact that now she knew to
be impossible. "Hit them with everything you have, but the
telepaths and trackers should try to find Jareth so that our
mission is not in vain!"

She left Logan's side to rise into the sky, and her hands rose.
"Cover of darkness," she called, "sweep this air! Blind our
opponents, but leave us able to see!" A thick mist began spreading
in the air underneath the Giants' faces, blinding them from being
able to see the ground and those on it.

Seeing the gathering mist, Prue let out a sigh of relief. 'Ro was
there! Things could not be all wrong as long as she was there!

The Giants, seeing their intended food disappearing, began
stomping all around, hoping to get some of them. Jack took his
sword and headed straight into battle, landing on one Giant's foot
and sticking his sword in as far as he could to his ankle. The
Giant let out a roar and slapped at Jack, but Jack had already
jumped to the other foot.

Will and Brendan had followed Jack, and Brendan's sword slashed
out at the hand that had tried to catch Jack even while Will's
found the monster's big toe. The Giant screamed, hollered, and
slapped all around his feet. He could not see whatever was down
there, but he knew it had to be the food that he was pursuing.
"FOOD, STOP FIGHTING ME! I BIGGER THAN YOU! TAKE LOT OF YOU TO
FILL ME!"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lorne had been searching frantically throughout the house for Blue
and Cindy after giving up on the outdoors and still could find no
trace of them. He finally stopped, turned, and looked at Elvira
and Donkey. "All right. Spill the beans. They went through the
portal, didn't they?"

Elvira whined and looked everywhere but at Lorne.

Donkey looked directly into Lorne's face. "Who?" he asked. "A lot
of people went through!"

"Come off it, Donkey. You know who I'm talking about. Where is
Blue, and where is Cindy?"

Donkey's eyes roamed everywhere but Lorne's face.

"You two are not in trouble," Lorne reassured them, "but if those
two went through the portal, Crys will have my head for
breakfast."

Elvira finally stopped looking around and looked up at Lorne. She
whined to him, telling him that the others were stubborn but brave
fighters and that they all should have been allowed to go with
Crys. Since they hadn't been able to go with Crystal, they'd
decided that they could at least protect Angel.

"Where is Angel?" Lorne asked. "I notice he hasn't been making any
rounds."

Elvira yipped, reminding him that they had heard Cordelia talking
to Dawn in the kitchen and letting him know that Angel's scent had
last been smelled in Delvira's bedroom.

"I don't believe this!" Lorne's voice grew shrill. "Angel left
guard duty, left Cordelia, and went through the portal! They
didn't even ask me!"

Donkey looked at him. "They wouldn't let me go either."

"Well, I can see why you couldn't go, Donkey. You'd have only been
in the way."

"Same as you, Lorne. You know you're not a fighter. I saw the way
you were looking at that sword Angel gave you."

"Still, it would have been nice to have been asked and declined."

Joxer was moping around the hall. He heard Lorne deep in
discussion with the two animals and Lorne's comment. He peered
down the staircase at them. "You wouldn't have declined," he told
him, "just like I wouldn't have. I tried to go, and the thing shut
on me! But my Phoebe and your Crys both went!"

"I figured as much," Lorne said. "Angel better take care of her or
I'm going to kick some Vampire butt."

"I'll help ya," Donkey offered.

Elvira was quiet. She couldn't believe the others had all gone
without her.

"It gets worse," Joxer told them.

"How so?" Lorne inquired.

"They went after Giants."

"*Giants?!*" Lorne managed to squeak out. "*My* Crys went after
*Giants*?! Oh my Gods!" He felt like he was going to faint but
fought to hold on. "There's got to be something we can do!"

Donkey shook his head. "Wait. That's all I know. My boy is out
there! Poor Will! And he was gonna give me a name too!"

"At least Crys has her ice power and Will knows how to fight,"
Joxer cried. "Phoebe can't do anything like that! She doesn't
stand a chance!"

Lorne could no longer stand it. He sank to the floor, tears
running down his face.

"Well, don't sit there crying!" Donkey told him. "Don't you think
I feel like crying too?" He poked the saddest face Lorne had ever
seen into his.

"Might as well cry," Lorne told him miserably. "They can't fight
Giants! I didn't even get to say good-bye!"

At last, Elvira could no longer ignore the facts. Her mother, her
brother, her sister . . . None of them were coming back. She
collapsed in the floor next to Lorne, her voice raising in a long,
sad howl.

Joxer fell on the floor beside them, crying as though his heart
was breaking. "My poor Phoebe! I should have done what she asked!
At least she could have taken the memory of it to her grave!"
Tears fell down his face like rain.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal had caught up to Angel, Blue, and Cindy but had yet to see
Lorne and Elvira anywhere. She was still trying to figure out
where they were and decide how best to fight the Giants when she
heard Paige scream. "'RO, LOOK OUT!"

Crystal's head snapped in the girl's direction, and her eyes
turned to follow the redhead's gaze. She was just in time to see a
boulder hurtling at the Weather Witch. Her hands flew out, and she
turned the boulder to ice. A wave of her wrist sent the boulder
back in the direction it had just come from.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cordelia, Dawn, and Jasmine had been trying to busy themselves in
the kitchen with watching the food that had been left, the animals
milling about their feet in hopes of gaining the food, and the
children that no one else seemed to have thought of when the
sounds of heavy crying and howling shattered the stillness of the
air. The girls looked at each other. "What's that?" Dawn asked.

"I'll go get Simon," Jasmine volunteered.

"He's on guard duty," Cordy reminded her. "I'll go look." She
again picked up the frying pan she'd kept nearby.

"Want me to go?" Dawn offered.

Cordelia shook her head. "No. You stay here for me, Dawnie," she
requested, "and keep an eye on everybody and everything here." She
knew Jasmine certainly didn't have the intelligence to look after
an empty pot, let alone all that was gathered in the kitchen.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katrina had taken to the air. She had a good idea where Jareth
was. She flew forward, her keen eyes searching for Jareth. She
located his signature and was heading for him when she was scooped
out of the air by a giant hand. Crushed inside the hand, she
attempted to reach her sword but couldn't. Using her telepathy,
she contacted Celina. {{{I've been taken.}}}

Celina had never been one who liked fighting, but when her family
needed her, she was always there for them. She didn't stop to
wonder why Katrina chose to contact her rather than Tom but
instead hovered in the air, focusing on her sister's signature and
following it to a Giant. Spying the monster who held her sister,
she drew upon an old spell that she had not used since the classes
on Alderberan. Fire began to form in her hands, and she started
throwing the balls at the Giant. {{{Be ready,}}} she thought to
her sister. {{{He's bound to open his hand sooner or later.}}}

{{{Sooner, I hope. I'm having trouble breathing in here. I can't
reach my sword!}}}

Lockheed was flying, shooting fire at various Giants, when he
noticed one of the catwomen angrily focusing on one Giant in
particular. He flew to her, but she did not take any notice until
he cooed questioningly. "He has Katrina!" Lockheed looked at the
Giant, then shot downwards like an overgrown, purple arrow
straight for Kitty.

Kitty looked at her dragon and nodded. A foot stomped nearby her,
but Lockheed's breath caused the Giant to snatch his burned ankle
away, hollering. "KURT!" Kitty called.

"YES, KATZCHEN?" Kurt called. He had been bamfing and doing his
best with his pigsticker, and although he had irritated the Giant,
he had not managed to make any damage.

She cut at another Giant before phasing through a foot yet again.
"I NEED YOU!"

He bamfed to her side immediately. "Vhat is it, Katzchen?"

"Katrina's been taken!" Shielding her eyes, she followed
Lockheed's coos and pointed at the Giant. "She's in his hand, but
we can get her out!"

"I can bamf in there and get her?" Kurt asked.

"I think he's trying to crush her, but if you take me there, I can
phase and get her out."

"Good thinking, Katzchen!" He put his arms around her and bamfed,
taking her straight up into the sweaty stinkiness of the Giant's
hand.

Kitty wasted no time in phasing through the clenched fingers.
"Katrina?" She reached a hand out for the catwoman.

Katrina grasped Kitty's hand. It was all she could manage to do.
She could barely move. "Thank you, Kitty."

"Any time," Kitty said as she pulled Katrina out of the hand and
reached her other hand out for Kurt's. "Now let's get out of
here."

Kurt bamfed them to safety.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cordelia entered the hall with the frying pan again at the ready
and stopped still in her tracks at the sight she was met with.
Donkey, Elvira, Lorne, and Joxer were all huddled in the floor,
crying their hearts out. Cordelia's own heart felt dead within her
chest, and she froze for a minute before managing to find her
voice again. "They . . . They're not coming back, are they?"

"How can they fight *Giants*?!" Joxer's shrill voice asked, so
choked with tears that it was hard to understand him. He broke
down even harder.

Lorne didn't say anything. He just shook his head sadly and
continued crying.

The frying pan slipped from Cordelia's fingers as she stared
hopelessly at Lorne. If even he, one of Angel's dearest friends,
knew that her beloved could not return . . . He would not. The
tears she'd been fighting began, and her sobs were so loud that it
brought Dawn running from the kitchen. She arrived just in time to
catch Cordy as she sank to her knees, and when she realized that
the others were not returning, she, too, began to cry.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom and Morph stood in the midst of chaos, trying desperately to
figure out which shape to take. Tom had not known about Katrina's
situation, because she had blocked herself from him, not wanting
to distract him from whatever danger he might have been in. "We
could take Giants."

Tom shook his head. "Smaller's better. It'll give us more room to
maneuver."

"We could fly."

"That we could," Tom agreed with a thoughtful nod. "Piss one of
them off, lead it off, kick its butt . . . " {Hopefully.} " . . .
and come back for another one."

Morph sprouted wings, and the two took to the air. "Which one?"
Tom asked.

"That one," Morph pointed at one. "He's ugly."

"They're all ugly."

"Yeah," Morph agreed, "but that one's actually drooling."

"That one it is." The duo shot towards the Giant and stopped when
they hovered only inches away from his face. They began giving him
raspberries, and the Giant swatted at them. He missed them both,
however, as they backed just out of his reach. Each time he tried
to hit them, he failed but followed them off a step more.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Smee had been sitting in silence beside Frederic when he heard the
crying that was so loud it appeared to be just outside his door.
They were crying as though their very hearts had been broken, and
he knew they were grieving . . . grieving, he realized, for those
who would not return . . . like his James.

He should have known better. He should have gone with him. At
least, then they could have died together for he knew James could
not stand a chance against Giants. They'd finally escaped
Neverland and were able to be together in the open at long last,
but for what? Just so he could lose his beloved!

The tears started slipping from his eyes quickly, and soon his
glasses had slipped straight off his nose. He didn't even notice,
however, and instead just buried himself into Frederic. His sobs
shook the room.

Frederic's eyes snapped open. For the first few minutes, he was
not even sure where he was except that he was drowning in a river
of tears. He tried to sit up only to find that Smee had buried
himself into his chest. "Smee?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

For once, Smee didn't think about the boy's duty. Instead, he only
thought of him as the last loved one he had left. His arms shot
around him in a hug, and he clung to him even while wailing. "Oh,
Frederic! Your father and . . . and Connor . . . They went to
fight Giants!"

"Giants? Why didn't they take me? I'm ready, willing, and able to
fight Giants!" His arm went around Smee in a comforting manner.

"Oh, Frederic, you don't understand!" Smee sobbed. "At least I
have you left! But your father . . . Connor . . . Oh Gods, I'll
never see James again!"

"Dad's _*DEAD*_?!" Frederic's voice rocketed. "Connor's gone?!
That can't be, Smee! I'll never see them again?!" He, too, burst
into tears.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xena had finally managed to climb her way to the neck of the Giant
she had jumped on. She began to stick him in the neck with her
sword, trying to go for the jugular vein, but it was like cutting
through granite. She had used her chakram, but it had only managed
to cut a very thin line, not enough to go for the main vein. She
knew Gabrielle was somewhere on the Giant, because they had both
jumped on him at the same time. Where was the softest spot on the
Giant, she wondered, and where was Gabrielle?

Gabrielle had tried to keep up with Xena, but her lover was just
too fast. She'd lost her somewhere around the Giant's foul
loincloth. Pieces of rotten meat dangled around her, but she
ignored them in her attempt to climb higher. The Giant took
another step forward, and she saw something swinging just past the
animal hide.

{It works on regular men,} she thought. {It should work on him.}
She tried to reach it with her sai but barely missed. Several more
attempts still proved futile, and she began to slip past the
loincloth even while thinking, {I don't believe I'm doing this!}

Xena looked down, hoping to spot Gabrielle, but still she could
not see her. There were sounds of fighting all around them. Xena
hoped the others were having more luck than she was, but yet none
of the Giants had fallen.

The Giant stepped again, trying desperately to stomp on the things
that were biting into his feet, and its slime-encrusted sword
slung straight at Gabrielle. She grimaced and fought down a scream
but was ready. Her sai drove deep, and the Giant bellowed and
began swatting at himself.

{What the Hell?!} Xena thought. {Gabrielle must have got him
somewhere!} She went back to work on his neck.

Gabrielle was still sticking him and he was still trying to knock
her off when his hand finally connected. She lost her balance and
fell. She did not know how long she had been falling when her fall
suddenly ceased and her back connected with something soft.

"Please," a muffled voice came from underneath her, "get off of
me, Gabrielle."

The blonde shook herself from the daze and rolled to her booted
feet. "Sorry, Brendan."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jasmine sat in the kitchen, waiting for Dawn and Cordelia to
return, when the loud sobbing began to get to her. Tears started
falling from her eyes, and soon she was crying openly though not
even knowing why she cried.

Simon walked into the hall and shook his head. "What's going on
here? Why's everybody crying? Where's Jasmine?"

Dawn looked at the elderly man who'd been put in charge of her,
Jasmine, and Linda who was no longer with them. Her eyes were so
filled with tears that she could barely make him out. "They're not
coming back!"

"What do you mean they're not coming back? The Captain'll come
back! Won't he? He wouldn't leave us alone on this Gods-forsaken
island? Would he?"

"He doesn't have a choice!" Cordelia whimpered.

"The Giants are gonna get them!" Joxer cried. "There won't be
nothing left!"

Simon burst into tears. "Captain gone! We might as well be gone!
Can't live without him!" He fell on the floor, crying.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark had hated to leave Lex, but he had known, after his battle
with the Raptors the other day, that he could inflict more damage
from the air. He'd made sure that Faith was right beside his
beloved before taking to the air, though, and trusted the insane
girl to keep Lex safe. Now, hovering in the air, he began to
concentrate. He knew how he could wreck the most damage, but he
didn't know if he could control it.

Suddenly, Clark felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to meet
Ororo's knowing blue eyes. "I'm right here with you, Clark. If it
gets out of hand, I can douse any of the fires, and I can knock
you out."

He nodded but did not waste time to thank her. Instead, he looked
at the Giant that Celina was still slinging fireballs at and whose
grasp she was barely managing to avoid. He began thinking of what
would happen if they could not stop the Giants, and the thought of
losing Lex made him burn. Fire shot from his eyes, blazing across
the Giant's face.

The Giant roared in pain and slapped back at the flying insect. He
missed him, however, and felt a rush of air against his hand. As
Celina and Clark continued belting the Giant with fire, Ororo
began pushing against him and keeping the other two safe with her
winds.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting in the kitchen, Julian and Sarah looked at each other.
Sarah's eyes pleaded with Julian, but Julian could not lie to her.
He'd heard the others and knew Clark and Lex would not be
returning. As the two children began to cry, Jasmine actually
managed to reach out to them. As their three voices melded into
one huge sob, the cats started yowling, and the puppy began to
whine.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the attack had begun, Prue had pushed Paige and Phoebe behind
her and Piper. Cole had brought up the rear, trying to keep his
eyes on all the Halliwells and Carl, who seemed glued to Paige's
skirts, at one time. Prue was trying with all her new found
strength to knock one of the Giants backwards, but it wasn't
working and instead her aim missed the Giant and hit Autolycus,
making him fall off the Giant he had been sticking and straight
onto Elizabeth who'd been working on its feet.

"How'd that happen?" he asked Elizabeth once she had pulled him to
safety.

"I don't know," Elizabeth breathed. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Autolycus said even as he charged forward and hit the Giant
in the ankle with his sword. "I must have just lost my balance."

Elizabeth didn't say anything but ran in beside him. Joxer's sword
flew in her hand in a technique much similar to Will's.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wesley heard the noise and wondered just what in the Hell was
going on. A man could not even study!, he told himself. {I am
surprised they've been quiet this long!} "Fred, we had best go and
see what's going on out there or we'll never get any more research
done!"

She nodded and followed him out of the room. The sight that met
them at the bottom of the staircase chilled her heart. "What's
going on?" she called out to the criers.

Donkey looked up at Wes and Fred. "Will gone! Jack gone! It's just
us now!"

"Where'd they go?" Wes asked.

"After Giants!" Cordy cried, shaking her head. "I should have
known better than to let him go! I should have known something
when he wouldn't promise me! And now it's too late! My Angel's
dead!" She sobbed again.

Wesley shook his head as he continued down the stairs and joined
the group. "What makes you think they're all dead? Giants -- "
Then the word hit him! "Holy crap! Why didn't somebody ask me?! I
would have went! I want to see Giants! They didn't even ask me!
How am I supposed to get my studies done?!"

Fred threw her arms around Wesley from behind and clung to him as
though she'd never let go. "No!" she told him. "Dinosaurs and
Demons and everything else are one thing, but not *Giants*! You're
not going after Giants!"

Joxer peered at Fred through his tears. He knew she had been one
of Phoebe's friends and that she had a right to know. "Fred," he
called miserably to her, "it's not just them."

Fred looked at Joxer for a minute, trying to figure out what he
was inferring. Then she realized that none of the Halliwells were
there. "They went?" He nodded. "*No!*" she cried. "They couldn't
have!"

"That's what I thought, but they *did*! They didn't stand a
chance!" he wailed.

"They can't be dead!" Fred protested, tears racing from her eyes
and her body trembling. "Not after all this! They can't die now!"

Wesley held Fred. He could not believe that they had gone and not
taken him! Jack knew he would have been interested in Giants! Why
didn't he even ask him? "I wanted to go!" He started crying and
added his cries to the rest.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paige could tell that Prue was trying to hit the Giant with her
powers but wasn't having any luck. "Maybe you should try using
something else?" she suggested. "Like a . . . " She looked around
and spotted Crystal still freezing boulders left and right. "Yeah,
like a boulder! We could use a boulder and hit him . . . " Her
voice cut off as a boulder flew straight at them.

Prue snatched Paige down just in time, and the boulder smashed
harmlessly off on another pile of rocks. "Our powers aren't
working good. Cole was right. We do have to do a lot of
practicing." She wondered if Piper's powers would do any good. She
looked toward her sister. "Piper, try freezing them."

"I have been, Prue," Piper spoke, her voice sounding tired, "and
it's not doing any good."

"Try one," Phoebe advised from behind her. "Not all of them.
That's too much. Just one." It was then that a Giant headed toward
them, and Phoebe squeaked as she pointed to it. "Like that one!"

Piper's determined eyes narrowed in on the approaching Giant. She
knew what would happen if they didn't find a way to stop him. He
was only inches away from them, and he could swallow that up in a
single step. His foot raised again, and she realized it would be
coming down on at least one of them as there was no way they would
all be able to avoid it. The foot didn't finish coming down,
however, but hung in mid-air. Piper barely had enough time to
realize that she'd succeeded when she fell. Phoebe latched onto
her sister immediately.

Cole stood, staring at the Giant and forming an energy ball in his
hands. It was bigger than any he had ever formed before. He only
hoped it was big enough as the Giant became unfrozen and his foot
came down where they had been only minutes before. Cole let go of
the energy ball, and it blasted into the Giant which caused him to
stagger backwards. He did not go down yet, but then a fireball
came from behind even as Cole slung another energy ball. The
Giant's scream split through the air as he exploded.

"YES! WE GOT ONE!" Phoebe screamed with delight.

Delvira stood in the space where the Giant had been. "Good work,
Cole!" she called, then turned to vanish back into the crowd of
gigantic feet and furious fighters.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angel had finally made his way to the top of the Giant. He went to
work on the neck. First, he had tried to bite him, but that didn't
work. The neck was just too thick. Then he had tried to cut him
with his sword in the back of the neck and had only gotten swatted
for his efforts.

The giant hand made contact with Angel and knocked him down. Angel
could feel himself falling but could not latch onto anything even
though he tried desperately. Cordy's words echoed in his ears, and
he chided himself on not being able to keep himself safe for her.

Cindy had been working on the same Giant that Angel had taken to.
She hadn't paid any attention to the others who'd attacked the
monster but had only focused on inflicting the most damage she
could on his feet. She felt the air currents above her shift, and
she looked up, expecting to find the Giant swatting at her again.
She found Angel falling instead and roared in concern.

Others who'd been fighting alongside the lioness looked up, but it
was Vang who shot forward. He leapt straight upwards and managed
to maneuver himself so that Angel landed on his back.

"Thanks, Vang!" Angel called out even as he held tightly to the
tiger whose feet hit the earth seconds later. He stood up, looked
back at the Giant, and shivered at the thought of how high he had
been and what he would have looked like once his body had hit the
ground. "I gotta go back up there. I hate heights!" He jumped back
on the Giant and began to make his way back up.

Cindy growled in frustration. The man was just as stubborn as
Crys! At least, somebody had managed to save him. She looked in
Vang's direction and found him gazing at her. For a moment, she
forgot the fight, a slow smile spreading over her feline face.
"{{{Thank you,}}}" she growled to him.

Vang nodded. "Any time, fair lady," he replied even while
launching straight into another attack.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolf had attempted to reach Angel when he had seen his friend
fall, but even though he was on the same Giant, he had not been in
time. He looked downward and saw Vang's catch. He would talk to
him about it later; he really appreciated Vang coming to the
rescue.

Now to return to this stinky thing! he thought. {And they say
Werewolves stink! I've never smelled Brendan or me either, even on
a full moon, one tenth the smell that this thing has! Too bad
there's no way we can use their stink to do them in!}

He made his way back to where Elvira was. He could see she was
still sticking the Giant with her dagger. He wondered if there was
some way she could use her powers to make the Giant's stink knock
them out. He called out to her, "Good day for a stick! Have you
thought about using their stink on them?"

Her black eyes glanced questioningly at Wolf. What in the world
was he talking about?

"They stink," he clarified, "worse than anything I've ever smelled
except for that Bog! Is there any way to use their stink on them,
intensify it to the point it knocks them out?"

"Smelling like this," Elvira returned, "they probably can't smell
any way!"

"Just wondered," he told her even as he resumed hacking away with
his sword.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had been cutting away at the first Giant since the battle had
began, and still they were getting nowhere. Faith began to wonder
where she could inflict the most damage, and then the thought came
to her. "Of course! He's a Giant, but he's still got a dick!"

One of the tigers looked at her. Zora liked the way the girl
thought, but she didn't think she could climb the monster in tiger
form. She might be able to, but even if she could, that would mean
leaving Connor and Vang.

Faith didn't notice the tiger but instead looked to where Dawson
and Lex were struggling valiantly. "LEX," she called, "KEEP AN EYE
ON THE KID FOR ME! I'M GOING UP!"

Wolverine was on the back of the Giant that Faith was on. He could
hear her down there, hollering. He didn't know what she was up to,
but he had a good idea. A little distraction would be quite
helpful, he thought. Snikt! Snikt! The claws were out, and he was
going for the gold in the Giant's back!

The Giant's big arms reached up and began slapping at him, trying
to knock him off of his back. Wolverine breathed a sigh of relief
to see how off target the Giant was, coming nowhere near him when
he swiped at him. {Hurry up, Faith!} he thought. {All I need is
for this bugger to start thinking about trying to crash me into a
rock or something!}

Faith had made sure that Lex would watch Dawson and that Salem
would watch Lex before beginning to work her way up the Giant. She
made slow but steady progress before finally reaching her target.
Slipping past the loincloth, she found herself confronted with
three things that all smelled so badly that she nearly choked. She
reached out with her sword and began swiftly carving. Pieces of
the Giant fell and rained down his body even as he bellowed.

The Giant's back began to look like a bloody carcass, and yet
Wolverine did not feel he was about to give in. At least, not
until the Giant had started grabbing for his crotch, and then
Wolverine renewed his efforts. {God bless yer heart, Faith!} he
thought. {Go fer the gold every time, girl!}

Faith felt the Giant's hand slapping at her, but she would let
nothing deter her from her goal. Her family's lives were at stake
here, and she'd be damned if she'd let any of them down. Her sword
cut even swifter. Blood spewed, smacking her in the face, and
still she continued cutting, hoping the others would have enough
sense to get off when the Giant began to go. There was little left
of the monster's reproductive organs when his hand finally struck
home, slamming her between what remained.


_Chapter Forty-two_
James had managed to land on a Giant that no one was on the feet
of. He didn't know if any of the others were on the Giant, but it
didn't matter. He wished his pistol would work, but he knew he
didn't have any bullets left.

He worked his way around to the back of the foot and then drove
his sword into the hamstrings of the big bully. Pulling with all
his might, he managed to severe the hamstring.

The Giant was slapping but not connecting with James, and James
was considering jumping to the other one when the Giant picked a
foot up and was trying to hold it and see what was wrong with it.
James grinned when he saw Connor on the other foot, and he yelled
at him what to do. Connor saw what his dad had just done on the
right foot and did the same thing to the left.

"JUMP!" James called to him. "HE'S GONNA FALL!" He barely managed
to get off himself as the Giant began to topple.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal had still been working on protecting the others from the
boulders some of the Giants were throwing when she heard screams.
She whirled toward the sound and was just in time to see the
shadow of a Giant fall across the Halliwells, Cole, and Carl. She
knew Cole could shimmer some of them to safety, but there was no
way he could save all of them.

Her ice blue eyes darted around, but everybody else was too busy
with their own Giants. "Forgive me," she whispered, and her hands
held out to the Giant. Her ice blue eyes narrowed in
concentration, and ice spread over the monster's huge body. It
drained a lot of her strength to turn him to ice, and as his body
completed the transformation, she was on her knees. Her eyes
closed, her hands unclenched, and the Giant shattered even as she
fell face forward.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angel heard Blue screeching in terror and knew something was wrong
with Crys. He gave up working on the Giant and headed down,
sliding part of the way. "What is it, Blue?" he asked as soon as
he came down beside him. Blue roared again. "Crys just killed her
first being by ice and fainted?" He breathed a sigh. "It's gonna
be hard for her. I'll go to her." He continued the rest of the way
down the Giant, passing several fighters along the way.

Blue had taken off from Angel the very second that he had assured
him he would come, but when he reached Crystal, he found her
surrounded by three beings. He was not surprised to see Cindy
there, gently nudging her, but he was surprised to find two tigers
standing guard, their deadly claws swatting at any Giant who dared
to step too close.

Angel reached Crys and scooped her up, carrying her as far away
from the battle as he could. He gently stroked her face. "Crys?
Please open your eyes." He wished he had water he could put on her
face, but he had none.

Blue and Cindy peered anxiously at him. The animals had
accompanied Angel, but only those two stayed as the tigers rushed
back to the battle. Crystal was breathing shallowly but did not
respond to Angel. It was then that rain began to sprinkle gently
down on the blonde's face.

"THANKS, 'RO!" Angel called to her. "HOW'S THE BATTLE GOING?"

"THERE ARE TWO DOWN," she responded, her blue eyes turning back
toward the fight, "AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S ABOUT TO BE A THIRD
ONE."

"HOW MANY MORE ARE THERE?"

"YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW, MY FRIEND." She left them, flying back
to join the others as a new plan was forming in her mind.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolverine could tell that the Giant was falling. "TIMBER!" he
yelled even as he jumped. Where was Faith? He hoped she was not
still on the Giant, but as the Giant fell, he did not see her.
Even when the others scattered, he still could not spot Faith.
Wolverine drew near to the Giant whose blood was gushing out on
the ground. He tried to sniff Faith, but the stench of the Giant
choked him.

Dawson ran forward. "Where's Faith? I know she went up!"

"She didn't get off," Wolverine told him. "She's somewhere under
him. We've got to get her out from under there!"

Salem ran up with Lex. "Are you sure she's under the Giant?" he
asked, not wanting to believe that. If she were, there'd be
nothing left now but an oily spot!

"I didn't see her get off, but I didn't see her when he fell
either. I haven't been able to find her by smell. Giant stinks too
much."

A roar met their ears as a tiger rushed up. "She went for the balls!"

"You saw her? Was she still on the Giant when he fell?" Lex demanded.

"I didn't see her," Zora replied, "but I heard her say that's
where she was headed!"

"Then we'll have to look there," Wolverine announced. He jumped on
the Giant and began working his way toward an area he would prefer
not to go near.

Zora looked down at Salem. "Want a ride?" she offered.

"Yes, thank you! Meesy needs one, too! Meesy?" he called.

Meesy peered out from little pieces of skin and blood that coated
his fur. "I'm here," he replied rather dazed, "I think."

Zora peered down at what covered the royal familiar. "Yup," she
announced, recognizing the hair-covered pieces. "Definitely
Faith's work."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolverine moved the loincloth. It was the most disgusting place
he'd ever seen, and if Faith was down in there, or rather what was
left of there, he only hoped she wasn't drowning in the blood. He
knew she'd never get the stench off. He looked up as Lex, Zora
with her riders, and Dawson arrived. "She's down in there
somewhere, but I don't smell her. I just think she's down in
there."

"We need a rope," Dawson told him.

"We don't have one, but we can use the loincloth. Tie it on to
your pants so we don't lose ya."

Dawson quickly tied it on and slowly started making his way down
into the stinky area. If Faith was in there, he'd find her. He
dove into the blood and tried to peer around for her. He had to
keep coming up for air as the stench was very overpowering.

"I'm coming down in there to help ya," Wolverine told him and tied
another piece of the loincloth to his pants.

As they dove back into the groin area, Zora looked at Lex. "She's
one Hell of a bitch, ain't she?" she asked. At the emotions that
flashed in his eyes, she smiled and amended, "I mean that in a
good way."

"She wants to be a bitch," Lex told her. "I will amend what you
said from bitch to woman. She's one Hell of a woman, and I'm lucky
to know her."

Salem was inching his way with Meesy right beside him. "Be
careful. You're going to slip," Meesy warned him even as Salem's
foot hit something and he went sliding. Meesy barely managed to
catch his tail and pull him back. "See? I told you. I know you
want her back, but we have to wait."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chong had been making his way to the inner circle beyond the
Giants. He thought that there might be a camp there and hoped to
find Jareth. He spotted Jareth and made his way carefully there.
He figured he could get Jareth down and then Jareth could help him
to get the others down. He was loathe to leave even the Raptors
hanging but didn't want to be attacked by them.

Chong looked all over the place. He was worried about the man who
hung there so lifelessly. Was he dead or merely unconscious? He
prayed it was the latter. He found the lock which was big enough
for him to stick his hand in it and began to feel for the catch.

He felt it beginning to let go when he suddenly heard a noise
behind him. He turned and saw another Giant heading straight for
him with a gigantic glass jar. He let go of the chain and backed
up against Jareth, loathe to leave but knowing he couldn't stay or
he would be caught. The Giant reached a finger out, swiping at
Chong and knocking him to the ground. The jar came closer and
closer until landing on top and trapping Chong inside it. Chong
hit it, but it did not break.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sean came flying straight for where he had seen Chong disappear.
Along the way he spotted Delvira and paused. "I can carry ye on
tae where yer husband is. I'm giin' there now."

"Thank Gods!" Delvira cried. "I've been trying to reach that
circle since we got here, and I keep getting delayed!" She had
lost track of how many fireballs she'd spun to save others quite
some time ago.

Sean swooped down, scooping Delvira up and carrying her to where
he figured Jareth was. All he could see as he approached was
another Giant. "Damn! Just what we did nae need!" His screams
continued carrying him toward the Giant, and he swerved, barely
missing the backside and landing in front of him but behind the
jar.

The Giant had not seen them but was standing there, holding the
jar down over what he thought was a tiny human bean. Releasing
Delvira, Sean aimed a scream straight at the jar even as she
fought to ignore Jareth hanging behind her and began forming a
fireball. The glass shattered, throwing pieces of glass straight
into the Giant's legs. He screamed and began trying to pull the
glass out. Each time the glass came out, more blood poured out.

"Sean," Delvira called, "I've seen that mouth of yours in action.
What do you say we finish this bastard?" The light from the huge
fireball she carried flickered in her black eyes.

"Best thing I've heard all day, Delvira." He turned to face the
Giant and let go a scream louder than any he had let out all day
aimed straight for the Giant's head. Even as Sean released the
scream, Delvira hurled the fireball for his midsection. The
combination of the two knocked the Giant backward and down.
Hitting his head on a rock knocked him unconscious, and Delvira
turned toward her husband, letting the fireball burn.

She had forgotten all about the Goblins, including Teak who'd
taken charge. Now they seemed to come out of everywhere, tiny
hands working at the speed of lightning to undo the chains holding
the rest of their people.

Delvira smiled sadly at the sight even as she reached out and
gingerly touched Jareth's bruised cheek. She pressed her lips
gently to his. "Wake, my love," she whispered against his mouth.
"Everything's going to be all right now."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Ororo had returned to the fight, she had flown to Katrina's
side. "Katrina," she called, "I need you to take over watching
Clark and Celina for me. If Clark gets out of hand, you may need
to talk him down. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can, 'Ro." She lobbed a few more fireballs straight
at a Giant that she had been hitting for a while.

Ororo nodded. "Thank you." She then turned, her intent blue eyes
quickly picking out a couple of Giants. She held her hands out
toward them. "WINDS, HEED MY BIDDING!" Air rushed over her body,
taking her higher and setting her long, white hair to flowing
straight up in the air. She reached out to the two Giants, and the
winds began howling around them. They howled like angry banshees
as a hurricane formed around the two. Ororo's hands stretched
higher, and she concentrated even more as the hurricane lifted the
Giants straight off of the ground.

"Where are you sending them?"

Ororo froze at Katrina's question. She had thought to carry them
off somewhere but now realized that she could not think of a
single place around the island where they could be safe from them.
"Nowhere," she decided aloud and began using the winds to knock
the two Giants against each other.

Katrina watched even as the Giants became unconscious and the
winds began lowering them to the earth. It was then that she heard
Ororo yell; she turned to look back at her friend only to see her
snatched up by the hair of her head by another Giant. She flew
instantly to her rescue, attempting to strike the Giant with
fireballs and make his hand open only to be caught by his other
hand.

Pain blazed through Ororo's skull where the Giant was pulling her
hair, but still she forced herself to concentrate on settling the
other two Giants gently onto the ground. She could no longer see
the people down there and prayed that they would not land on
anybody.

{{{TOM!}}} Katrina's mind screamed for her mate. {{{'Ro and I have
been taken! Help!!!}}}



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morph and Tom were on their way back to the main battle and
heatedly discussing how easily two Giants had dealt with the one
they'd lured away when Tom suddenly went still. Morph turned to
look at his best friend in concern. "Tom?"

"It's Katrina," he replied. "She's been caught." Yet he managed to
keep his tone jesting as he thought back to her, hoping to lure
her mind away from the terror of being in the Giant's closed hand.
{{{Don't worry, my love. Two more Giants are heading to join in
the fray even as we speak!}}} His tail cut through the air,
knocking a tree from its roots, as he broke into a run.

{{{We don't need two more Giants!}}} she frantically told him.
{{{I can't see 'Ro down there! I don't know if she's okay or not,
but he was holding her in his other hand!}}}

{{{Actually, sweet, two more Giants are exactly what we do need
right now.}}} He knew she was afraid and added gently, {{{Trust
me, darling.}}}

It was then that they broke onto the scene. "Which one?" Morph asked.

Tom's green eyes surveyed the battle, and he quickly spotted the
gigantic hand that Ororo dangled from by her long, white hair --
hair that was already beginning to tear. "You get 'Ro," he told
Morph. "I'm going for Katrina."

The two new Giants raced toward the first, and the other bellowed
in fright when he saw them coming. "NO! CAT!"

{Cat?} Katrina heard the bellowed word. {What cat?} Surely Salem
and Meesy were not causing all the fright that she could now tell
was going on around them? No, it could only be her Tom and Morph
in Giant form! {{{Go get him, sweetheart!}}} she told him
encouragingly. She wished she could see the battle instead of only
hearing it.

Tom's pupils widened in surprise. "Looks like this one's just as
scared as the last one."

Morph grinned. "You must have that effect."

Tom turned his full attention on the Giant and began to purr even
as he stepped closer.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"THAT'S ALL WE NEED!" Jack yelled at Will. "RAIN!" He could hear
what sounded like thunder and knew it would not take long for the
rain to start. Rain would only bring more trouble as it would make
the mostly bloody ground slicker and quite possibly cause them not
to be able to keep their footing on the Giants.

Will paused in stabbing the Giant long enough to look up at the
sky. Ororo's mist had faded, and he was able to see a mostly
cloudless blue sky stretching far over their heads. "WHATEVER IT
IS," he called back to Jack, "I DON'T THINK IT'S RAIN!"

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT?" Jack called back to Will.

"NO STORM CLOUDS," Will replied simply as he strove his sword in
deeper.

"'RO MUST BE DOING SOMETHING TO CAUSE THE THUNDER," Jack returned.
"HOLD ON!" The Giant was raising his foot to take another step.
Jack barely managed to keep holding on as a giant hand swiped at
him again as he hit a particularly vulnerable spot. Jack gave it
some extra hard pushes, trying to drive the sword in.

Will was about to respond when he heard the Giants beginning to
yell something about a cat. He frowned. What in the world were
those Catpeople doing now? It was then their own Giant began to
break into a run, and all he could do was hold on.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brendan was desperately clinging to the running Giant when he
heard frightened screams from down below. Looking down, he saw the
Halliwells running for their lives and noticed Prue narrowly
avoiding the foot. He stared at her for a moment as he thought of
how the Giant had nearly gotten the two people who meant the most
to him -- first Jack and now Prue. Then he felt the change
beginning to take place.

As fur spread over his body, Brendan started to panic, but then he
stopped for a moment. {Wait a minute,} he told himself. He was
getting nowhere with the Giant, but would not the wolf turn
against the Giant as well? The others could always knock him out
if it came to that, but the Werewolf might, for the first time,
actually come in handy. The thought was barely out of Brendan's
mind when his mouth contorted, his teeth elongated, and a howl
burst forth.

Will looked across at Brendan, screeched, and nearly lost his hold
on the Giant. "JACK," he yelled, "HE'S CHANGING!"

"GO GET HIM, BRENDAN!" Jack yelled at him. It was then that he,
too, saw Prue fleeing for her life. He looked at Brendan and then
back to Prue. Was Brendan going to attack the Giant or go for Prue
first? If he didn't go for Prue, Jack was going to have to pull a
rescue off. Why couldn't the girl simply get out of the way? The
rest of her family had managed it. It was then that Jack saw Cole
shimmer in one more time, grab Prue, and shimmer out.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prue was shaking like a leaf when she arrived where her sisters
were. "That was too close!" she exclaimed. "Thank you, Cole!"

Cole, who was breathing heavily, just nodded his head. He had
rescued all of them rather quickly -- Piper first followed by
Phoebe and then Paige and Carl. He had tried to catch sight of
Prue and had almost missed her. He sat down, waiting for his
breath to catch up with him for he had forgotten to breathe as he
had been shimmering.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brendan, meanwhile, shot up the Giant as though he were a cat
running after a bird. He stopped when he reached the Giant's
stomach, and another howl burst from him even as he began tearing
at the dirty skin. His claws moved as swiftly as lightning, and
soon entrails rained down.

Jack looked up just in time to have a piece fly and hit him on the
face. "YUCK!" he said as he swiped it off and threw it. He moved
his position slightly so that everything else that was raining
down wouldn't knock him off. What had gotten them to running? He
had not seen anything, but he had heard "cat" and he wondered what
Salem had managed to get going. His mind never even thought once
about Tom.

Will clung to the Giant even more tightly as he saw the things
raining down. His own stomach churned, and he moved his face away
so that Jack could not look upon him as he gave in to the baser
instinct.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark and Celina had managed to take out another Giant just as the
others had started running. Clark's eyes had frantically ran over
the ground, searching for Lex, and he finally found him on top of
a fallen Giant. He wondered why his lover was peering at the
thing's loincloth but quickly forgot all about that as he saw
another Giant heading for them. His gaze shot up at the Giant, and
fire again burned from his eyes. The Giant roared but would not
slow his pace, and Clark took a deep breath and prayed even as he
turned his target to the monster's heart.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex looked up and spotted Clark, flames shooting from his eyes. He
glanced toward the intended target and saw Clark flying straight
at him. What did he have on his mind? Gods protect him! He could
not tear his eyes away from the collision he knew was about to
happen.

The Giant's hands were slapping at his chest, trying to put flames
out but to no avail for as fast as he got one out, another one
came. A gash the size of a small mountain was quickly building in
his chest, and then his heart became exposed whilst still beating.
To both Lex's amazement and horror, the fire continued until the
Giant and his heart fell -- the Giant collapsing backwards and his
heart splattering across the ground before his massive feet. Lex
turned his head and threw up; the sight was more than he could
take.

It was at just that moment that Dawson resurfaced and gave a yell
of triumph. "You won't believe where she is, and I can't get her
out by myself!"

Wolverine, who had also resurfaced, swam over to where Dawson was
hovering. "Where is she?"

"She's in between those . . . Ithinktheywereballsonceuponatime!"
Dawson squeaked.

"Get your breath; we're goin' down," Wolverine told him, "on the
count o' three." Wolverine held up his fingers as he counted, "One
. . . Two . . . " When the third finger shot up, he filled his
lungs quickly and dived. Not being able to see anything, he had to
feel to find her. He could feel Dawson next to him, and they both
felt around, trying to find a position on Faith. They knew they
had to get her out of there. They could not figure out how she was
even still alive, not being able to breathe.

Dawson pulled, Wolverine pushed, and Faith shot out like a cork
shooting out of a bottle. Lex was waiting, reached out, and pulled
her up. He tried not to think about where they were at but busily
cleaned the gunk away from her mouth and proceeded to give her
mouth-to-mouth. He heard the gurgling sound and turned her head
sideways so she could throw up.

When the blood finally stopped coming from Faith's mouth, she
began to breathe shallowly. It took her a little while before she
was able to grin, but then she did just that. "Helluva ride!
How're the others?"

"Some Giants down; some Giants running," Lex told her. "Don't have
any idea if any one's injured or worse . . . dead. It's kinda hard
to see anything from this height."

Zora, who had fallen silent in desperately scanning the ground for
Connor, spoke up. "Ya can't see much, but I don't think anybody
could miss Tom. He must be what they're running from."

Wolverine looked and laughed. "That's one prank I'm actually proud
o' him pullin'! Who would've ever thought giant cats would scare
Giants?!"

Hearing Wolverine, Faith turned her gaze toward him and began
looking for Dawson. When she found him, she smiled at the sight
for, though covered in gunk and breathing hard, he appeared to be
unhurt. "How ya feeling, kid?"

"Nasty!" Dawson replied. "This stuff is awful and it stinks, but
at least we're all alive! Why'd you get him in the balls, Faith?
Did you know you were swimming around in them?"

Faith grinned. "Think about it. Ya want a guy down, where's the
first place ya hit him?"

"Ouch!" Wolverine grimaced even as Dawson's hand went quickly to
his. The mere mention around a guy about his privates being in
danger was enough to make any guy grab theirs, including Lex who
turned his back to the others to check and make sure his were
still in tact.

"Bitch after my own heart," Zora called as she stepped closer and
offered a hand down to Faith. "Judging from the blood, I'd say you
ripped them out pretty well."

"Wasn't anything left down there," Dawson informed both of them.
"Just two gigantic holes where they once were!"

"That'd be two," Zora replied as she helped Faith to her feet.
"What about the third, or don't Giants have two balls and a dick?"

"Don't know. Wasn't there," Wolverine told them without making eye
contact. "Just gaping holes an' a little bit that was holdin'
Faith in."

Zora noticed the look that passed across Faith's face and asked
her in hopes of distracting her, "So what did you do to them?"

Faith shrugged as though the attack had been an every-day
occurrence. "Just went to work slicing and dicing."

"Remind me not ta make ya mad," Wolverine told her. "I'd hate to
see what a little slicin' an' dicin' would do ta me. Shall we go
check on the others, see if they need a hand?"

Faith nodded, and the group headed out with Zora at the lead. She
was already beginning to change back into tiger form, and her nose
was busily twitching in its struggle to catch Connor's scent
amongst the chaos.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolf was looking for Delvira and had no clue as to where she had
gone. Elvira had fallen off the Giant, bumped her head, and was
out cold but being protected by a big, black dog. Wolf had smelled
the dog and realized that it was Gonk. "Stay with her, boy," he'd
told him. "I've gotta get help." Wolf was many things, but he knew
he was not a doctor and he was afraid to move Elvira.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of all the Giants that had ran, only three had not made their
planned escapes. Clark had taken care of the one who had nearly
stomped Lex and the others with him while a certain Werewolf had
finished off another as he had not ceased tearing out the Giant's
intestines until the being had crashed to the ground. The third
was still being held back by two other Giants who were determined
not to let him go.

"You look like you're not quite as stupid as the others," Morph
commented in hopes that they might be able to talk reason with
him.

"C-C-Cat," the Giant stuttered out.

Morph shook his head. "Looks like I was wrong."

Tom's hands shot out, grabbing the Giant's wrist. He was careful
to avoid contact with the closed hand, however, as he knew it to
be Katrina's cage. "Cat want," he attempted.

"Cat want what?" the Giant asked in confusion.

"Cat want . . . " He wouldn't have the first clue who Katrina was.
Would he even know a human? "Cat want food." His own stomach
churned at the thought of calling his beloved food.

"Cat have food!" the Giant returned, throwing Ororo at Tom.
Morph's hand shot out and gently caught the dazed Witch.

Tom's own hand tightened on the Giant's wrist. "Cat want this
food," he insisted, shaking the Giant's arm.

{Since when am I food?} Katrina thought. {I'll remind him of that
tonight!} For now, she only hoped the Giant would give the cat the
"food".

The Giant's fingers slowly began to move, revealing Katrina, and
Tom's free hand swiftly sought his beloved. He picked her up
gently despite his enormous size.

"Giant go?" the Giant asked hopefully.

A slow smile spread across Tom's face even as he made sure Katrina
was safe within the confines of his other hand. "Sure Giant go,"
he replied. "You threaten my friends and family. You kidnap my
wife, thinking to eat her, and now you want to go? You're gonna go
all right!" His hand released his hold on the Giant and shot
straight into his face with such strength that he staggered
backwards. Tom hit him again and again until he fell to the
ground.

As soon as the Giant was out, Tom turned his full attention to
Katrina. He very carefully raised her to his face. "Are you all
right, beautiful?"

"So I'm food now? When you gonna eat me, handsome?" she asked him
playfully.

Tom breathed a silent sigh of relief. He'd figured she'd heard
him. Thank Bast she understood the ploy! "Tonight," he promised
her with a grin before gently setting her back down to the ground
and beginning to demorph.

"Promises, promises," she told him in a flirtatious matter as her
eyes gazed on his handsomeness and her lips puckered for a kiss.
"Thanks for saving me, lover."

"Any time," Tom replied as he returned to his normal size. He
reached out for her, one arm sliding around her waist as the
other's hand caressed her furry face. As his lips touched down
upon hers, his tail encircled her legs, sliding erotically against
her fur, and he dipped her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack looked around and, for as far as his eyes could see, Giants
were laying dead on the ground. The stench filled the air.
"Where's Delvira? Has any one seen Delvira?" he called out again.

As the others shook their heads all around them, Zora pretty much
ignored Jack. She'd heard his question but neither knew where
Delvira was or cared. Right now, she and Vang were looking for
Connor.

Vang growled, and she looked in the direction he motioned in to
see Connor standing with his father. She tried to slow her pace as
she headed back toward him, but her demorphing was the swiftest it
had been all day. When she reached him, however, she made no
further move toward him but only grinned. "Hey."

"Hey yourself!" Connor said as he pulled her closer to him and
gave her a big hug. "Glad to see you're safe and sound even if you
are like me and covered in gunk!" He did not release her but
continued to hold her, gazing into her eyes.

She didn't try to move from his arms, but her wild, green eyes
instead searched his. "What happened to you? One minute you were
there, and the next you were gone."

"Dad was in trouble. I jumped to help him, and then we got
separated. I thought you were on the same Giant we were."

She shook her head. "I didn't see you jump. Guess I was too much
into the fight."

"We all were," James was quick to assure her, "and if Connor had
not come to my rescue, I wouldn't be here now. Thank you, son."
James clasped his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Been
one Hell of a day all day long!"

Zora grinned. "Welcome to the island. The one thing you won't find
here is boredom."

"I believe that!" James exclaimed. "Where is Delvira, and is every
one accounted for?"

Jack had been busy searching faces. There were quite a few faces
missing. He prayed that they were safe. "Branch out, and see if
you can find any one. We are missing quite a few people. Elvira,
Delvira, Wolf, Angel, Crys, Wolverine, Brendan, and Ororo."

"Sean and Chong," Kitty spoke up.

"Are there any others," Jack called out, "who you don't see?"

"We're here!" Autolycus called out even as his mouth fell open as
he watched Elizabeth run toward Will. {What the Hell's going on?!}
he thought. {I thought I had her! Now she's going back to Will?!}
He almost started crying.

Jack looked at Elizabeth and took a step backwards, not knowing
how to react to this. Did Elizabeth make her mind up that she
wanted Will despite the fact that Will didn't want her? He
sincerely hoped not! He would hate to have to get ugly with the
woman, but she couldn't have his Will!

When Will saw Elizabeth running towards him, he held his hands out
not to embrace her but rather to stop her. "Elizabeth, we . . . we
talked about this."

"I know we did," Elizabeth gushed, "but, Will, I have to talk to
you!" It was only then that she became aware of the others' eyes
and added, "In private."

"Can't it wait?" Will asked hopefully.

"No, it can't," Elizabeth told him. "I've been awful -- " she
started but then stopped and faced him with a pleading look. "I
don't want to talk about it here, not where everybody can hear."

Will was torn. Just what was wrong with Elizabeth? Did she fear,
as he had a few times since returning to the Pearl, that she was
losing her sanity? "Jack?" he asked.

"Yes, Will?" Jack wasn't sure rather he should begin fighting yet
or not.

"Hum . . . " Will wasn't quite certain what to say. He had to find
out what was bothering Elizabeth yet he didn't want to upset his
beloved. Would he take it the wrong way if he told him he needed
to talk to her?

Jack could tell Will was very upset and torn. "It's okay, Will,"
he was quick to reassure him. "Take a walk. Find out what's
bothering her."

Will nodded but did not take Elizabeth's hand. Turning back to
her, he gestured for her to walk ahead, and when she had, he
looked back to his beloved. "I won't be long," he promised in a
hushed whisper.

"Do what you have to do," Jack said in a quiet voice while his
mind screamed at Will, {Don't do anything you don't have to do,
and don't kiss her!} He turned to look around, hoping to spot
Brendan and Wolverine.

Will stepped closer to his love. He knew Jack had to be worried.
After all, he'd put on such a great act with Elizabeth the first
time. He reached out, cupped Jack's face, and gently turned him
back to look at him. "I'll be back soon," he assured him, "and
missing you every step of the way." He brushed his lips across
Jack's. "For later."

"I'll hold you to that," Jack promised him, and his eyes sparkled
looking at Will. The taste of his lover on his tongue held
promises for later that evening and reassured him that Will didn't
want Elizabeth.

Will lovingly stroked Jack's cheek and beard, then reluctantly
turned and headed after Elizabeth. He shook his head as he walked.
Dear Gods, what could the woman want now?!

Autolycus reached the spot Elizabeth had just left and looked up
at Jack as though his heart was broken. "Autolycus, walk with me.
We've got to find our people who are missing. Every one, branch
out and look. Be careful! There's no telling what else we might
get into!"

"Or," Vang advised, "how many of the Giants are dead and how many
are only sleeping!"

Jack had thought they all were dead. "What do you mean they might
be sleeping?" he was quick to ask Vang.

Vang gestured with his head toward one of the two Giants Ororo had
knocked out. "Watch his chest for a moment."

"Well, don't just stand there! Do something!" Jack told him.

"What?" Vang asked, looking back at the man. "Kill him in his sleep?"

"No, can't do that. That wouldn't be right. Kill him if he wakes
up! I'm putting you in charge of him."

"I can't kill him by myself!" Vang gestured toward the two
shapeshifters. "Put them on him! If they grew big enough, they
could simply squash him!"

"That's true. Tom, Morph, you watch the sleeping Giants. Vang,
would you mind checking the rest of the Giants out to see if
they're living or dead?"

Vang shook his head. "I'm on it, Captain." His tail swished; it
had been a long time since he'd last used that term.

Zora heard Vang and spoke up. "I'm with him." She started morphing.

"I'm with them," Connor said, "but I can't morph. I'll just have
to do what I can on my own. We'll check them out for you, Captain
Jack; don't worry."

Jack began to walk, looking on both sides and hoping to spy
Brendan, Wolverine, or any of the others. "Autolycus, I . . .
kinda noticed you were upset about Elizabeth. Dare I hope there's
something between the two of you?" Jack thought it would be
wonderful if the two of them hooked up; then he could quit
worrying about Elizabeth.

"I thought there was, Captain. Now I'm not too sure. When I woke
up from the flowers, she was all over me. I enjoyed every second
of it! But after the battle, she had one thought on her mind --
Will! She took off away from me so fast I couldn't even catch her
skirts! I don't want her to be after your Will!"

Jack turned to face him. "Do you think I want her to be after
Will? If I thought it would do any good, I'd pay you to take her
off my hands, keep her out of Will's face so to speak, but if
she's not attracted to you at all, it wouldn't help."

"Captain, I don't want your money! I want the woman!"

"*You* want a woman? Since when, Autolycus?! You've always got
plenty of women!"

"I don't want just any woman, Jack. I want Elizabeth."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with her. You're gonna need it.
Now we'd best get back to hunting for the missing."

"But, Captain, are you sure it's a good idea for those two to go
off alone?"

"The first thing I learned, Autolycus, is to trust. If I didn't
trust Will, I would have went with them, but I trust Will and
you've got to learn to trust Elizabeth or you're not going to get
anywhere with her and you can't fake it. She's not a stupid woman.
She's a very brave and intelligent woman. I don't think you're
good enough for her, but if she wants you, I'll be the first one
to shake your hand and also the first one in line to kick your ass
if you mistreat her."

"Won't be any good, Captain. She wants Will, or she wouldn't have
ran after him that fast."

"But Will doesn't want her. Maybe we can get her attentions on
you, Autolycus? Try being more of yourself and less of the Pirate
you want the world to see. I know you've got a gentleman in there;
you haven't always been a thief. Let Elizabeth see some of that
gentleman."

"I'll do my best, sir."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prue had seen Brendan wolf and his wolf tearing into the Giant,
but she had lost track of him when the Giant had fallen. Half of
her was paying attention to what Cole was telling the others about
staying close together and not wandering off, but the other half
of her was wondering where Brendan was. Had even his wolf been
able to survive after conquering that mountain?

Prue had been on the constant look-out for Brendan, her eyes
scanning every inch that she could see, and still stayed within
calling distance of Cole. Piper had not opened her eyes yet. Prue
had about given up and gone to sit back down beside Piper when she
saw Jack and Autolycus walking. She waved at him, and he mentally
checked the Halliwells off in his mind. "Have you seen Brendan?"
he called to her, figuring out of all the people she would be the
one to keep track of where he was.

"His wolf killed that," she said, pointing at the Giant, "but he
disappeared. We need to look for him."

Jack looked at Cole. "I need some help locating some of our
missing people. Brendan's one of them."

"Okay. You can go," Cole told Prue, "but stay close to where you
can be seen. We don't know if the Giants will come back. Paige and
Carl, you can help too. I'll stay with Piper."

Phoebe was glad Cole had not called upon her for she had no
intention of leaving Piper. Even now, she cradled her sister's
head in her lap.

Paige looked up at Cole even as Prue hurried off. "Thank you," she
whispered to him, "for not trying to keep her away from him."

"I wouldn't want any one keeping me away from Piper," Cole told
Paige. "I'm not a big meanie. I'm just worried about y'all and
like to keep you all in one spot. You're stronger when you're
together, but this is too important. If Prue's not allowed to
search for Brendan and something happened to him, it'd kill her. I
want y'all to like me, not resent me for doing things to protect
y'all."

Paige smiled up at him. "You're well on your way," she told him
before looking around for Carl whose hand she could no longer feel
on her skirts. She saw him already walking away, his nose busily
sniffing, and rushed after him.

Phoebe brushed Piper's hair back out of her face and looked up at
Cole. "She's right, you know, and we know you're doing all you
can, Cole. Thanks for sticking by us."

"You're family, Phoebe. I love your sister, and I'm beginning to
love each one of you." He smiled down at her. "I'll be glad when
she wakes up. It scares me to see her like that. I'm hoping that
it's only her powers overloading her." He sat down beside Phoebe
on the ground to wait for the others to return and was surprised
when Phoebe maneuvered Piper so that her head now rested in his
lap. He looked up at Phoebe and flashed a thankful smile at her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prue had to hold her nose as she walked along the Giant and
breathe through her mouth. The stench was so overpowering! She
prayed Brendan was not under the Giant. The others had walked in
opposite directions around the area, searching for Brendan.

She saw where the Giant's arm had fallen almost straight out. She
walked closer to it, and then she saw that the hand held
something. {Oh my Gods!} she thought as she moved closer. {Please
don't let him be dead!} She tried to pull the fingers apart so
that she could see if it was indeed Brendan, but she could neither
see nor hear him.

"Jack!" she called. "I think he's under here!" Jack was down the
far side of the Giant and didn't hear her, but Paige and Carl did
and hurried to join Prue. All three of them began intently trying
to figure out how to get the Giant's hand to move.

"Let's use our powers. I'll try to move the hand, and once you see
him, ask for him," Prue told Paige. "It won't hurt to try. We've
got to get him out of there." Concentrating with all her power,
Prue commanded the hand to move. It laid there. She took her hands
in frustration and flashed them at the Giant's hand, and it
jerked.

Carl shouted, "IT MOVED! IT MOVED!"

"Let's try it again. Paige, be fast. On the count of three. One .
. . Two . . . Three!" She shot her hands out at the hand again and
held it as the hand barely lifted. It took all of her strength to
hold it.

Paige could see Brendan but only part of him. She prayed for the
best as she called out his name. "Brendan!" Sure enough, the
unconscious, barely-clad body disappeared from where he had been
and reappeared next to Paige.

The minute Prue saw Brendan was clear of the hand, she dropped her
hands and fell to the ground, totally exhausted. She crawled to
Brendan and checked him for breathing. "Carl, get Jack!" she told
the Gnome. Carl took off like a shot out of a gun, running down
the back side of the Giant.

Prue pulled Brendan close to her and then his head into her lap.
She could tell he was breathing, and she sighed in relief. "He's
alive!" she told Paige.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Will nervously glanced at where Elizabeth had been walking by his
side since they had left the others. Though having appeared so
eager to talk to him, she was now disturbingly quiet. "You . . .
wanted to talk to me?" he prompted.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied, regathering her courage. "Yes, I did.
Will, I've been . . . I've been absolutely horrid," she admitted,
turning to face him. "I couldn't understand how you could hurt me
so, but today . . . with everything that's happened . . . I've . .
. I've come to realize that you were hurting all along and that
you really did want to . . . want to save me from hurting any more
than I would have when . . . when it did come out. Will, you never
loved me. Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I thought I did at first," he revealed, "right up until I met
Jack. I fell for him hard, Elizabeth, fast and hard though I never
would have thought that I would look at another man . . . or . . .
even . . . for that matter, any one other than you. I really did
think I was in love with you."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "As I did you," she told him.
"But why didn't you tell me when you found out?"

"I didn't want to hurt you, and I . . . I was scared of how . . .
how Jack would react. Then, when . . . when what happened
happened, I . . . I just couldn't hide it any longer, Elizabeth. I
want you to understand," he said, his eyes lifting to hers, "I
really never did mean to hurt you, but I knew that you loved me
and believed at the time that Jack could never love me. So I
thought, if I couldn't be happy, at least . . . at least I could
make you happy. You did mean a lot to me, Elizabeth. Outside of
Jack, you're the most important person to me."

"Oh, Will!" Elizabeth cried, catching his hand. "I've been so
foolish! When I . . . When I couldn't understand about you and
Jack, I . . . I honestly thought you didn't care about me. There
was a time when I thought no one cared, but then with . . . with
everything that's happened since the crash . . . I've . . . I've .
. . " She blushed. "I've come to realize that I never really loved
you either. I thought I did, and I still love you just . . . just
not . . . not in that way."

Will smiled and dared to lift a hand to her cheek. "Elizabeth, I
do love you," he told her, "but . . . as a sister."

A brilliant smile grew over her face, and its light shone in her
eyes. "That's it!" she exclaimed happily. "That's exactly it! Oh,
Will, can you ever forgive me for . . . for being so horrid to
you?"

Will shook his head with a smile. "All's forgiven, Elizabeth, but
. . . Could you forgive me? For not telling you the truth before,
I mean? For . . . For leading you on?"

"You never wanted to," she now knew. "You just didn't see any
other way to be after . . . after what happened. Of course I
forgive you, Will, and I want you and Jack to be happy with each
other. In fact . . . " She paused as she took his ring off of her
finger.

Will shook his head. "No, Elizabeth. Keep it."

She, too, shook her head. "I want you to have it, Will," she told
him, holding it out to him so that the sunlight reflected on the
gold band, "perhaps one day you can put it on the finger of who
you truly wanted to wear it?"

Will smiled as he took the ring from her. "Thank you, Elizabeth."
Pocketing the ring, he drew her into a hug. "Thank you for
understanding."


_Chapter Forty-three_
Carl ran as though his very life depended on it. He zipped past
Will and Elizabeth, who were just returning, so swiftly that
Elizabeth would have fallen had Will not reached out and caught
her. It did not take him long to find Jack, but he was surprised
to see Jack walking and talking with Autolycus and he knew he had
just passed Elizabeth and Will. What was going on here? Had they
changed couples already? He knew Will had gone off to talk with
Elizabeth, but they were back now and yet Will was still separated
from Jack.

He came to a stop right in front of Jack, who looked at him
strangely. "What is it, Carl?" Jack inquired.

"Prue wants you right away. Brendan's unconscious."

"Does he seem to be injured in any way?"

"I . . . don't think so. Couldn't tell for all the gunk that was
on him."

"Go back and tell Prue we'll be there as soon as we can get there.
You can reach her much faster than we can even think about it."

"Yes, Captain." Carl saluted and took off flying again just as
Will and Elizabeth, still talking and even laughing, came into the
others' view.

Jack stopped walking and waited for Will and Elizabeth to catch
up. Jack kept glancing at Will, waiting for Will to tell him what
was so important that Elizabeth couldn't tell him in front of
Jack, but didn't say anything.

Autolycus kept averting his eyes from the others. He wanted to be
anywhere but there. If Elizabeth didn't want him, he didn't want
her to think he was hanging around like a thrown-away mongrel.

"We're in a hurry, Will, to get where Brendan is. Prue's got him,
and he's unconscious. I'm not surprised after seeing the damages
his wolf did. He'll probably sleep for a while, but I don't think
Prue wants him to wake up and find only her there. They had . . .
a talk earlier today, and things didn't work out too good. Missed
you," he said, gazing deeply into Will's eyes, still wishing Will
would tell him what was going on but not daring to ask lest it be
something he didn't want to hear.

Will had been trying to deduce if Jack was upset with him when he
had began talking about Brendan. Elizabeth and Will shared a
secretive glance at the mention of Brendan's wolf, but neither
spoke a word. Instead, Elizabeth quietly fell into step beside
Autolycus and attempted to take his arm as Will smiled up into
Jack's eyes. "I missed you too, love," he told him, "but Elizabeth
and I just had a talk we really needed to have. Jack, I . . . " He
paused, wondering how to broach the subject with Jack and rather
he even should at that point.

Jack smiled at Will. "You don't have to say any more, Will. That's
your business." His eyes were quick to dart away from Will's and
back at Elizabeth. He was surprised she had taken her place beside
Autolycus. He shook his head and continued to walk on at a rapid
pace. "Wouldn't want Brendan to wake up until we get there."

Autolycus glanced sideways at Elizabeth. He did not pull his arm
away but secretly was thrilled at her touch. Just what had she
talked to Will about? He had to know. He just couldn't keep quiet.
If Elizabeth wanted Will, why was she with him? "Jack, you don't
really need us right now, do you?"

"No," Jack was quick to tell him. "Continue on looking for others
who might need help. We'll meet up later. Don't get lost."

"Oh, we won't," Autolycus told him. He couldn't wait to get
Elizabeth aside. Somebody was going to do some talking here! He'd
be damned if he'd be the fool and be waiting to catch her every
time Will dropped her! {I mean, friendship is everything,} he
reminded himself, {but love is even more! I love her, but if she
wants Will, well, I am man enough to step aside.} The mere thought
brought tears to his eyes. {I'll be damned if I'll step aside!}

Elizabeth saw Jack was trying to out-run Will and caught the tears
in Autolycus' eyes. "All right," she announced, taking her arm
from Autolycus' and turning so that she might face both men. "I
know you're both men enough to ask when there's something on your
mind."

Jack looked like he was about to choke. "Ask what, Elizabeth?" he
managed to get out.

She was about to answer when Will spoke. "What we talked about.
Jack, my business is your business, and I hope vice versa."

"It wasn't that we didn't want you to know," Elizabeth added, "but
we couldn't stand there talking with the others eavesdropping."

"So are you going to tell us what the verdict is?" Autolycus
demanded.

Elizabeth looked at him blankly. "The verdict?" she repeated.

"Of course, the verdict! You want Will? Will wants you? Where does
that leave us?" Autolycus could not meet her eyes. It was hard
enough getting the questions out. If she was to say yes, he'd want
the earth to open and swallow him.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolverine had been looking for 'Ro for a while. He had tried
sniffing the air, but the scents of all the blood and carnage kept
wafting across his nostrils, making it hard for him to pick up a
clear scent. He walked by where Cole was holding Piper. He saw
Phoebe, but still he did not see 'Ro. {She has to be somewhere
close by,} he told himself.

He kept glancing around and saw others trying to recover from the
huge fight they had just had. He saw Jack and Will, but he did not
see Brendan. He wondered where the boy had gotten himself to.
{First I've gotta find 'Ro. Then, together, we'll go find
Brendan.} Not once did he allow himself a chance to think
something could have happened to them.

He saw Tom, Morph, and Katrina and headed in their direction.
Perhaps they had seen 'Ro? As he got closer, he saw Celina sitting
on the ground beside his 'Ro, and he raced over by her side. She
looked like she had been through Hell, and her hair was hanging
limp. He knelt beside her and looked at Celina. "What happened to
her?" He began to run his hand over her, checking her for damages,
and did not touch her hair. Her long, gorgeous hair was a total
mess, and he was not sure what to do about it!

"Giants," Celina told him as gently as possible. "One of them
captured her and Katrina. Tom and Morph freed them, but the Giant
had caught Ororo by her hair."

"How did she become unconscious? Did he throw her? Is he dead?" he
asked, looking at the two men.

"He did throw her," Morph explained, walking closer to them, "but
she was already out by then."

"It was most likely the pain," Celina advised, "and the
exhaustion. She had been trying to watch over all of us when she
moved to using a . . . I believe it was a hurricane."

"Hurricane?" Wolverine asked. "What did she do with it? Wish I
could've seen it."

"She used it to handle two Giants simultaneously," Celina
answered. "She knocked them out with it, but just as she was
lowering them, the other Giant grabbed her. Katrina tried to
rescue her, and that was when she was captured."

"We took care of the Giant," Tom added, calling over to the group
from where he stood with Katrina, surveying the others' progress
amongst the sleeping Giants and taking note of the sleepers.

Wolverine shook 'Ro gently. "'Ro? Little darlin'? Open your eyes,
baby."

As Wolverine continued to talk softly to Ororo, calling her to
awaken, her blue eyes finally started to flutter open. "Lo . . .
Logan?" she whispered weakly.

Celina's ears perked up at the name. Logan? Did she not know that
it was Wolverine who called her, or could that be his real name?
If she knew it, though, why hadn't he ever told the rest of them?

Wolverine continued to rock 'Ro and stroke her face gently. He
wanted to touch her hair badly, but he was afraid to. "Yes, baby;
it's me. Don't try to talk. Just rest. We're safe now." He looked
down into her eyes and felt as though he could very easily lose
himself therein. He was not even aware that she had called him by
his real name until he felt eyes on him and looked up to see
Celina looking directly into his eyes.

Celina's blue eyes met Wolverine's, but though her surprise shone
clearly therein, she smiled peacefully to him. She would not
interrupt their time together, but she would later confront him
with his reasoning. If he loved his family so much, why did he not
tell them his real name but instead only shared it with the woman
he loved, though he'd met her just a few days ago?

"The children?" Ororo asked.

"They are fine. Piper's resting. I think she must've tried to use
her powers, an' she wasn't ready for it. Cole's with them, keepin'
them safe. I'll take you to them," he offered.

"What of Jack," Ororo queried, "and . . . Brendan?"

"Don't know about Brendan, but Jack's safe. He's got Will. The
last I saw of them, they were workin' on a . . . " He let his
voice trail off, not knowing exactly how to present that to 'Ro.
He had not seen Autolycus and Elizabeth and had thought, from the
way that Will had been looking into Jack's eyes, that that was
where the boys had been headed. If he had not been so worried
about Ororo at the time he had seen them, he would have known
better.

Though Logan did not complete his sentence, both women understood
his intentions. Ororo's dark skin and Celina's creamy fur
darkened.

"Ya slay, ya play, darlin'."

Ororo chose not to respond to that comment but spoke instead, "If
Brendan has not been seen, we should go look for him."

"I saw two o' your girls with Cole. I'll take ya there. Then I'll
go look fer the boy."

Ororo shook her head and began getting to her feet. Celina rushed
to offer her help, but she politely waved a hand in refusal. "I
will go with you, Wolverine."

"Yes, darlin'." He knew better than to argue with 'Ro. They had
already been down that road one time, and he had no desire to go
down it again. "Thanks, Celina, Katrina, Tom, an' Morph. I'm in
yer debt. If I can do anythin' fer ya, let me know."

Tom shook his head. "You are not in our debt, Wolverine. That
Giant had my Katrina just as he had your 'Ro."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth stared at Autolycus in shock even as Will looked at
Jack. "Don't tell me you thought . . . "

"I didn't know what to think," Jack said. "What did happen?"

"I can understand why you thought that," Elizabeth admitted,
thinking back to the way she acted, "but . . . " She looked back
at Autolycus. "When I almost lost you earlier today and then when
. . . when you fell during the . . . during the fight, I -- Well,
suffice it to say, happenings today have forced me to realize
something very important, and that is that I love Will -- "

"I knew it! I knew it!" He moved away from Elizabeth, raising his
hands skyward. "I knew it! I didn't have to be told!"

Jack just looked like somebody had pole axed him. He didn't say
anything but looked at the ground. His whole world was spinning
around him. So that was it? A brief fling with the man he loved,
and he was back to the woman he had started out with?! That didn't
speak very highly of Jack's prowess! He wanted to kick at a rock
or stomp his foot in anger. He was having a hard time holding it
in when what he wanted to do was to turn around, grab Elizabeth by
the neck, and strangle her until she was dead.

"Autolycus, please," Elizabeth exclaimed, "let me finish!"

"She's right," Will agreed. "You've only heard part of it. Jack, I
love you, but I love Elizabeth too."

"Will, I'm not willing to share you with Elizabeth!" Jack managed
to get out though he felt as if he was choking.

Will moved to place a gentle, reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder.
"Jack, that's not what I meant."

"And nobody's sharing me!" Elizabeth put in. "Besides, I don't
want Will! I want Autolycus!"

"You *do*?!" Autolycus turned to grab Elizabeth. He lifted her
skyward and then brought her down against his body, his lips
seeking hers in a passionate kiss.

"I think we should leave them alone," Jack said. "Besides, I want
to kiss you, and I don't want them looking!" He dragged Will over
a little ways from them, pulled him into his arms, and kissed him.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xena pulled Gabrielle into her arms. They were both covered in
muck and blood and stunk to high Heaven. "Gods, you scared me
today! I thought I'd lost you! Praise the Goddess! I don't think
Aphrodite was here, but She probably took an interest, else we
wouldn't be together now." She gazed down into her love's eyes.
"You wanna tell me exactly what happened before?"

"I went off for herbs or to bring back the Sorceresses when the
others got into the flowers. I had a nasty run-in with quicksand,
and I was still recovering from that when the Giant found me." It
felt wonderful to be in Xena's arms again, and she let herself
relax in her own personal Heaven.

"Wish I could have been there for you, but at least you're safe
now, darling." She leaned down and kissed Gabrielle deeply and
passionately, trying to show her how much she loved her. Her hands
began to roam Gabby's body, checking the parts to make sure that
they were in tact and not hurt. Her hand found its way to her hip
and then began to inch closer to her special place, letting her
know that she was definitely in the mood for her despite their
circumstances.

Gabrielle's mouth returned Xena's kiss in full, her hands cupping
and caressing her beloved's face. Though her body was tired and
sore, Xena's touches still ignited a fire, and Gabby moaned into
her mouth.

Xena broke off the kiss and looked frantically around for a spot
that they could hide in. She finally saw one behind some rocks.
"Let's go over behind there, Gabby, and I'll show you how much I
missed you today." Xena helped Gabby to her feet and began to lead
her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was only when Logan had spoken to the catpeople that Ororo had
become aware of their presence. She looked over at Katrina. She
knew Celina had made it, but what of Clark? "Was Clark . . . all
right?"

"Clark is fine. I saw him a while ago," Wolverine was quick to
tell her. "He was standing on top of a Giant an' lookin' sick."

'Ro nodded, but her eyes stayed on Katrina. "Thank you for
watching the others for me."

"I tried, 'Ro, but I got taken captive at the same time you did.
Clark was on his own, unfortunately. Thank Bast he didn't need
help! I'm sorry. I couldn't take care of them."

Ororo laid a gentle hand on Katrina's shoulder. "It is not what we
fail to do that matters, my friend, but rather what we strive to
do. You tried, and I thank you for that."

"Maybe some one should go get Lex? I'll go get him and get him to
go see about Clark. He was with another group that took down
another Giant. Thanks, 'Ro." She gripped her friend's arm, as
well, and headed off in search of Lex.

Ororo had just turned to head off with Logan in search of Brendan
when Celina spoke. "I'll go with you. He . . . He may need a
healer, and besides, I'd like to talk to you . . . Wolverine."

"Me?" Wolverine asked as they began to walk in the direction he
had seen Cole.

"Yes," Celina affirmed. "Or," she dropped her voice to a whisper
that not even Tom would be able to hear as they continued on,
"should I say Logan?"

"Where'd you hear that?" he ground out. "Don't let anybody else
hear that! Keep it quiet!" He looked frantically around, hoping no
one had heard them.

Celina's ebony tail twitched. "Why are you so afraid of some one
else finding out?" she asked him. "We are not your enemies. How
many times have you said it yourself -- that this ship, or at
least the crew, is a family? Why would you let Ororo know," she
kept her voice so low that not even 'Ro could hear them, "but not
your own sons?"

"No one has ever known my name before, Celina. The way I was
raised, if some one finds out yer true name, they have power over
ya. I guess it is past time that I told Jack my name. At least,
what I can remember o' it. I have no clue as to what my last name
is. Please don't be tellin' anybody else."

Celina placed a gentle hand on Logan's shoulder. "Your secret's
safe with me, Wolverine," she assured him, her tail swishing. "I
will not tell a soul. It's your decision who you tell and who you
don't. I was not attempting to eavesdrop, but feline ears can not
help overhearing some things. However, if it's their having power
over you, you may want to consider one thing. You long ago
accepted these people, let them into your heart, and what can
possibly give somebody more power over you than love?"

"To be so young, you are extremely smart, Celina," Wolverine
grinned at her. "Never thought about it that way. Guess I'll tell
everybody at dinner, after I tell Jack first. It'd upset him a
great deal if he didn't learn about it first."

She nodded and pressed a finger to her furry lips. "None will hear
it from these ears. Of that, I assure you, Wolverine. As I said,
who you tell and who you do not is entirely up to you." She smiled
at him.

"If ya ever need anythin', Celina, let me know. I'll do my best to
get it fer ya." He was about to say something else when Wolf ran
into him. Wolverine stumbled but caught him. "What's the matter
with you, man, an' how do ya have energy left over enough ta
run?!"

Celina stared at Wolf. She could feel his emotions screaming
through her. "It's Elvira, isn't it?"

"Elvira fell off a Giant and hit her head. She hasn't woken up. I
can't get her to respond to me. I was running to get you. Please
hurry!"

Celina nodded. "I'm right behind you," she assured him, hoping he
might calm somewhat but knowing that she would not if she were in
his boots. Looking back to Logan and 'Ro, she spoke at normal tone
to them, "When you find Brendan, if you need a healer, just think
to me, and I'll come."

"We will," Wolverine was quick to assure her. "We'd best run too.
Actually, 'Ro, if you're feelin' better, maybe ya could get us
there faster?"

Ororo nodded and lifted them in winds even as Celina flew after Wolf.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Will's lips lifted from Jack's, he continued to gaze into his
lover's eyes. "Jack," he asked, his quiet voice brushing softly
against Jack's lips, "how could you think I wanted Elizabeth? I
love you, nobody else, not in that way. It's just . . . " He
sighed. "I'm always going to care deeply about Elizabeth. I'm
always going to love her, and that's a fact you're going to have
to accept, sweetheart, because I can't stop caring or loving about
my sister any more than you can about Brendan."

"Will, you scared me to death! I know this is all new for you, and
a lot of times you feel that you are way out of your league and on
top of everything else, we're still new to each other. I thought I
had lost you. I mean, I know it's inbred in us to believe that
it's highly improper for males to be together. Believe me, I never
thought about it before I met you."

"I've had my fair share of women. None of them ever did anything
for me. I just thought it was me, but just a few minutes with you
and I swear -- and this is when we first met -- you had me so
horny I couldn't help myself! I wanted to take you in the stable,
and I didn't even have a clue how to go about it! There's a magic
between us that ignites my blood at just the mere thought of you,
and when you touch me, my mind goes out the window and I'm just
one emotional wave!"

"I never stopped to think you might care for Elizabeth as a
sister. After all, you were intending to marry her. I don't mind
you caring for her as a sister. I have feelings for her that way
myself. 'Course I'd never tell her. She wouldn't like that at
all." He continued to hold Will and gaze into his eyes, feeling
himself more lost by the second, afloat in his love's eyes.

"You're right, Jack," Will admitted. "This is all new to me, and
the rest of it . . . It does scare me at . . . at times. But us .
. . This place, here in your arms, is where I've longed to be
since the first day we met. It just took me too long to realize
the truth of my feelings for you, and then I didn't know what to
do about it because I thought you could never love me. Elizabeth
was there, thinking she was in love with me, and since I didn't
think I had a chance in Hell of being with you . . . I thought
that at least I could make her happy. I owed her that much, after
all, for saving my life."

"Elizabeth saved your life? When?"

"When I was a boy. I was out at sea in search of my father when we
were attacked by . . . well, by Pirates. That's why I thought I
hated us for so long. I was the only person left alive, and I was
at sea floating on wreckage when she found me. I had that Pirate
medallion even then, and you, of all people, dear heart, know what
they do to Pirates."

"Unfortunately, I do know. I've lost some good friends that way.
What did Elizabeth do to save you?"

"She was the one who pointed me out so that the others on the ship
could bring me aboard," Will explained. "That included her father
and Norrington, Jack, among several others who hated Pirates. She
was the one to find the medallion. She knew I was a Pirate, but
yet she kept my secret all those years. She kept the medallion,
too, but now I know why. The girl's fascinated by Pirates! That's
also why she thought she was in love with me, why she confused the
feelings of siblingry for so much more. But," Will informed Jack
with a secretish grin, "she realized her mistake when she kissed
Autolycus today."

"Autolycus is certainly besotted with her! I told him earlier,
before we knew which way her true feelings lay, that I wished him
the best of everything with her, and that if he mistreated her,
I'd be the first in line to kick his butt. I think they'll be good
together. He certainly has changed since he met her."

Will's smile grew. "And you, my dear heart, have no more reason to
be worried that I might go back to her. I never loved her; I just
thought I did. I only found out what love truly is when I met you
for the first time."

Jack pulled Will close and pressed his lips to his in a deep,
passionate kiss. Part of him kept saying you'd better hurry and go
where Brendan is and the other part said to find a secluded area
and steal some more moments. He was at war with himself and hoped
that Will had an answer.

When their lips again parted, Will lovingly brushed a hand across
Jack's face and beard. "Jack, since a stable means so much to both
of us, maybe we could . . . *explore* the one back at the house
later, but for now, . . . our family needs us."

Jack looked at Will through dazed eyes. "Stable? Yes, that's a
good idea! Brendan now." He held Will's hand as they headed toward
where Brendan was.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katrina took to the sky and flew slowly over the group, hoping to
spot Lex. She saw him talking to Faith. She looked around and saw
Clark, who was still sitting on the Giant, his head buried in his
hands. She settled down before Lex. "Lex, you really need to go
see about Clark. He's taking it extremely hard, having killed his
first being. He needs you."

Lex nodded. He knew he was needed many places right now, but none
did he want to be there for more than Clark. Still, somebody
needed to deal with Faith. He knew she was bothered but hadn't
been able to get any information out of her, even after he'd sent
Dawson to tell Jack that they had spotted Wolverine and Ororo. He
nodded to Katrina. "I know. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah. He's sitting on that Giant that he killed with his head
buried in his hands. He hasn't moved from that spot since the
remainder of the Giants ran away."

Lex's heart ached for his beloved, but still he looked imploringly
at Faith. "Go to him," she told him. "I told you a while back that
ya needed to be with him. Besides, I'm fine. All I did was cut off
a Giant's balls and nearly get squashed in them." She shrugged.

Lex smiled though his heart was not in the gesture. "Thank you,
ladies," he told them both before taking off at a run for Clark.

Katrina looked at Faith. "You can lie to some of the people some
of the time, but you can't lie to me, my sister. You're just like
Celina; I can read you like a book. Now you want to talk to me?
I'm a good listener, and I've got a big shoulder and plenty of
time." She smiled at Faith.

Faith looked at Katrina and sighed. "I . . . I don't really know
how to start," she admitted. "It's Dawson. I don't know what the
Hell to do with him."

"What do you mean what to do with him, Faith? He's a grown man.
Should you not be thinking about what he might do to you?"

Faith sighed again and ran a hand through her slickened hair.
"That's a lot of it right there."

"Come over here and sit down." Katrina patted the rock beside
where she sat. She thought about what Faith had almost come out
with and hoped that she would reveal a little more.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth found herself steadily becoming more lost in Autolycus'
embrace. Her body was leaning so closely against his that she
could feel his excitement, a touch that brought her hormones even
higher. She felt as though she were floating, and indeed one foot
had even left the ground to lift into the air behind her. Yet her
mind would not silence its warning that Autolycus still did not
understand the situation. Finally, she forced herself to pull her
lips from his, and as her eyes fluttered open to gaze at his
handsome face, her forehead resting against his, her breath
whispered across his lips. "Tally . . . "

"Hmm?" he murmured against her lips, wanting to possess them
again, fire raging through his veins. He wanted to take her now!
He tried to shake his head to clear his thoughts, but all he could
think was Elizabeth wanted him and he wanted her now!

"Autolycus, before we . . . before we continue with anything, you
have to try to understand this. I do love Will," she told him, a
hand unable to resist brushing across his mustache, "but not in
the way you thought. I love him as a brother."

"Thank Gods!" he said as he pressed his lips to hers again. "Talk
later, baby! What matters is that we're together and you want me!
You have made me the King of Pirates!" He deepened the kiss.

Elizabeth was surprised at how quickly he dismissed the discussion
and resumed his embrace of her body. Yet he did seem to be at ease
with the situation. Perhaps all that mattered was that he knew
that she did not love Will in that way and wanted him instead?
Well, if he was all right with it, she thought, why was she still
thinking about that? Her lips found his again.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For once, Faith didn't take Katrina's words as a command but did
take the offered seat. She felt like holding her own head in her
hands but wouldn't let herself. "He doesn't know it," she told
Katrina, still having difficulty starting as she was not at all
used to talking about her feelings, "but . . . Well, he knows he
pissed me off earlier, but he doesn't know why. He forgot about
me, Katrina, and . . . it hurt. I'm sick of being hurt. That's why
I kept pushing you all away. I don't want it to happen again, but
then Salem . . . Blast his hide," she muttered as her dark eyes
cut at where he was walking amongst the carnage with Meesy. Salem
looked up and smiled, but Faith ignored him. "He had to warn me
that I might be missing out on the best thing I've ever known, and
I know he's right. But I don't . . . Fuck, I don't know what to
do."

"Are you afraid that you're falling in love with Dawson?" Katrina
asked as she took Faith's hand. "Is that what's scaring you?"

"I don't know what the Hell else to call it. I've never felt the
way that kid makes me feel. You know me. Fuck 'em an' leave 'em.
But I don't want to leave him, I don't want to lose him, and I . .
. I don't want us to be just friends or just family or even just
fuck partners."

"Yup. You're falling in love. Let me tell you about Tom and
myself. Tom courted me for years. Anybody else would have given
up. I was a Starship Captain, and I didn't have time for him. On
our planet, people were chosen by their heritage as to what jobs
they did. We were of royal blood, and our people had been soldiers
back since the beginning of time. It was a natural thing for me to
be a Starship Captain. Not so for Tom. He came from court
jesters." She paused a moment for that to sink in.

"Do you know the difference in our worlds? And yet he never gave
up! He trained with Vang, who taught him just as much as he was
teaching us only in secret. He took the test, passed, and ended up
being on my starship under my command, and yet I still did not pay
any attention to him. It seemed that every time I turned around,
there was Tom doing everything he could to be the best that he
could be, and any time I needed some one, there he was ready,
willing, and able."

"I don't know what it was that made me finally stop and think on
it, but when I did, I realized that I had come to depend on him
more and more, that he was a very important part of my life, and
although he had been my friend since we were kids, I began to
realize I had another feeling growing in my heart for him.
Grandmama would have had a fit would she have ever known. Every
time he showed up at the palace, she had the biggest litterpans
thrown on him, and still he kept coming!"

"It was not until after we crashed on Earth that Tom and I got
together, and it was because of my own stubborn heart. He was
there the whole time for me. When our world fell apart, he was
there to hold me up. The women in my family mate once in a
lifetime. Usually the females outlive the males. Father Wagner
married us, although he did not know it. We wore cloaks and stayed
covered the whole time. In fact, he doesn't even know us now
except by our names, and if we were to say something to him, he
probably wouldn't remember due to some telepathic . . .
interference."

"I was afraid that Tom would hurt me. My Mother, being the bitch
she was, did not care anything for Celina and myself. Grandmama
never showed that much love. She was a hard, bitter, old woman who
was determined that I would be the next Queen, but I fooled her.
The only people that ever loved me were my sister, Celina, and
Tom. Tom has never hurt me. In fact, he tries every way possible
to protect me from hurt. I love him more every day."

"I told you this to share with you how much I was like you. My
advice is open your heart, love all you can, and give Dawson a
chance to love you in return." She reached out, hugged Faith, and
allowed the girl a chance to talk to her.

Katrina's hug startled Faith even more, and it was a few minutes
before she could speak again. "It's not that I don't want to love
him, Katrina, but . . . You got lucky with Tom. He knew what he
wanted, who he loved. Dawson thinks he does, but he's still young,
I'm his first, and he might be wrong. You know me. I'm the first
to say I'm open for risking my ass any time, any day, any way, but
you also know that I'm not open for letting my heart get hurt
again."

"It's hard to believe how much you're like me. All I can tell you
is that it takes time. Tom and I did not do it until after we were
married. Neither of us had had those kinds of pleasures before.
Now we can't get enough of each other. One day at a time, my dear,
and one step at a time."

"Just because you're the first one Dawson's ever had doesn't mean
that you're not his true intended mate. Doesn't matter how many
come before. I know that there's been many with you. Don't blame
yourself for that. You know the pitfalls, and you can help Dawson
miss them. I think the boy is truly in love with you. I've read
him when he's near you, and every one of his emotions is keyed to
you."

Faith looked up into Katrina's eyes in surprise. "I thought Celina
was the empath?"

"I did a spell on him. Celina is the empath. She could probably
tell you even more, but I can tell you that the boy's intentions
are pure and that he truly does love you."

{And you don't hurt the people you love,} she thought as her eyes
traveled back to where she'd last seen Dawson. "And that's . . .
That's the true emotions, right, not just what he's thinking?"

"I saw the emotions from his heart, and those can't lie. He loves
you more than anything in the world. His love surprises even him,
because he's never known love, not even the love of his mother,
and he's scared too but he's scared of losing you, not of what you
do to him."

Faith knew all too well that the emotions of the heart could not
lie. After all, she had been fighting her own heart's emotions for
years. "I'll be damned," she whispered and had to draw her
fingernails slightly against her closed eyelids to keep from
crying.

"Stop that, little one," Katrina told her. "Tears are not
something to be ashamed of, and they're not a sign of weakness.
Never be ashamed of them. It shows that you have a heart and that
you care."

"Maybe," Faith admitted, looking back to her with watery eyes,
"but I've kinda got it trained into me. Earliest memories I have
are of my Mother beating the crap out of me till I stopped
crying."

"She's gone, Faith, and you don't have to dwell on those memories.
They're a part of your past, but they can only have power over you
if you let them. Let go of them. Think of today and tomorrow, and
don't go back on yesterday. Yesterday can destroy you. I know.
I've been there."

"It takes time to relearn," Faith told her, nodding and smiling
though her tears shone in her eyes. She reached out and drew
Katrina into a hug. "Thank you, Katrina."

"Any time, sister dear -- day, night, whenever you need me. I'll
always be there." She returned her hug and ruffled her hair.

Instead of slapping her hand away, Faith just grinned. "Ya might
regret that. Ya know, that kid actually pulled me out of what was
left of a Giant's balls?"

"Yeah, and who got rid of him but you! We all need baths and soon!
Come on. Let's go see if we can help get this show on the road and
back home again."

She nodded. She'd have to talk to Dawson as soon as she saw him
again, but for now she wanted to get back to the house. "Katrina,
you're a telepath. I don't know exactly how that works, but maybe
you could scan, see where the others are?"

"Who you want me to find? Dawson?" Katrina asked with a grin.

"Tempting," Faith admitted, "but like you said, we need to get
back to the house. Maybe the others Jack's got us all looking
for?"

"Not going there," Katrina said rather quickly. "Xena," she told
Faith.

Faith grinned. "You know how it is. She almost lost Gabrielle;
then they both slayed. Gotta get that fix."

Katrina laughed; she couldn't help herself. "First ya slay; then
ya play! Works for all of us!" She scanned again. "Hmm. Delvira
has Jareth and quite a little party down in the center. Maybe we
should go help them?"

Faith looked at the area where she thought Katrina was referring
to. It was a little ways. "Maybe you could let Dawson know," she
suggested, "so he doesn't freak when he can't find me? He probably
won't be able to find Lex either."

"True enough, but Dawson's waiting for you over there." Katrina
pointed to a little ways where Faith could see Dawson standing and
waiting.

Faith looked at where Katrina pointed, and her mouth nearly fell
open in surprise. "That little sneak! He didn't get to Jack that
fast, not around these Giants!" Then it hit her. "He's not
attached to Sparrow's ass after all!"

"No, my dear; I think he's attached to yours," Katrina said with a
laugh.

"I'll go get him."

"Call him," Katrina told her. "Look at him and call him."

Faith quirked a brow at her. She realized it probably wouldn't
work, but what the Hell? The woman -- her *sister* had just made
her realize that she needn't fear being hurt by Dawson. The very
least she could do in return was accept a few suggestions. She
caught his eye, then whistled. "Yo, Dawson!"

Dawson ran. He was so excited Faith actually wanted him! He slid
to a stop and looked down at her, offering her his hand. "Where we
going?" he asked.

"To help Delvira," Faith told him, her fingers intertwining with
his as she got to her feet. "But first . . . " She searched his
eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I'm . . . sorry about
earlier."

"It's okay. It was just a misunderstanding and a mess-up on my
part, but I'll learn, Faith! I swear I will! Just don't send me
away!" He smiled at her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and
kiss her but was afraid that she would not like it. The next
second, he did just that, placing his lips tenderly on hers.

Faith had been about to tell him that they would both learn and
kiss him when he beat her to it. Though fire swept through her at
his touch, she did not try to strengthen the kiss. Instead, she
returned to him just as much as he gave her, and her lips parted
underneath his, allowing him access if he wanted it.

Timidly at first, Dawson's tongue found its way into Faith's
mouth, but as she did not bite him, he grew ever daring with it,
enjoying his first leadership excursion and wondering why Faith
was letting him do it as she always led the way.

Katrina took that moment to leave the two alone and headed down to
where she could sense Delvira.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark sat on the Giant he had murdered with his head in his hands
and his palms wet from the tears that would not stop running from
his eyes. He still could not believe what he had done, but looking
back, he knew he would do it again. He would do anything to save
his Lex, but . . . He had taken a life!

Lex made his way over to the Giant Clark was sitting on as fast as
he could. He was wondering how to go about getting up there where
Clark was. Even as he was looking at the Giant and trying to
figure out how to climb it, he heard low, hushed voices and turned
to see Wolverine and 'Ro walking. "'Ro, could you please . . . ?"
he made a motion up to where Clark was. "Could you put me up
there? I really need to get to him; there's no telling what's
going through his head."

Ororo looked from Lex to Clark before her concerned gaze turned
back to Lex. She did not need to ask to know that it was the other
boy's first, and she said a prayer to the Goddess for the two
lovers even as she answered Lex. "Of course, Lex." With a wave of
her hand, breezes gathered around him and began to gently lift
him.

"Thanks, 'Ro," Lex called back down to her. It took him only
seconds to reach Clark, and he knew that Clark did not have even a
clue that he was around. "Hey, Clark!" he called. "Look! I'm
flying!" He hoped that Clark would look up and see him. Then he
could see how bad Clark's emotions were. He hoped they were not as
bad as he feared they were.

Clark did look up at the sound of his beloved's voice, but the
sight did not bring a smile to him or any other sign of cheer.
Instead, his tears kept right on falling.

Lex stepped onto the Giant and raced to be by Clark. He took Clark
into his arms. "Clark, stop blaming yourself. If you hadn't done
it, one of the others would have. It had to be done, or they would
have killed each and every one of us. I know he's your first, but
think. If you hadn't taken him out, how many do you think he would
have took out?"

"I love you, Clark. You're not full of hate; you're the best man
I've ever known. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you
go around killing every day; I've seen you stepping around ants so
you don't squash them. I know you go out of your way not to hurt
others; this time there was no choice." He rocked Clark as he was
talking to him. "It's going to take time for you to get used to
the thought, but it's not like you're going to go out and do it
again tomorrow." His voice trailed off in hopes that Clark would
answer him.

"Lex, I know all that," Clark told him, his words brushing across
the back of Lex's head, "but it doesn't make it any easier. How
can it? I *killed* him. I knew what I was doing. I used the fire
in my eyes to rip out his very heart! And I'd do it again if I had
another chance! But he was a *living* being!"

"Yes, he was, and he stayed that way by eating everything in his
path," Lex very carefully told Clark, trying to paint a picture so
that it would not leave any doubt in Clark's mind as to the mayhem
that not having killed the Giant would have caused. "He would have
eat each one of us if he could have caught us! Would you have
wanted him to go to the house to eat the rest of the ones there?
If he had not been taken out, he would have."

"He was a monster, Clark. There was no reasoning with him. In
fact, I only heard one of them talking in language that we could
understand, and he's not dead, just unconscious. Tom knocked him
out. He tried to talk to him, and I heard the Giant call Tom
'cat'. I didn't hang around to hear the rest of it."

"Lex, I know they would have killed everybody if . . . if they
hadn't been stopped. I know that *he* would have killed *you*.
That's why I killed him -- to stop him from . . . from eating
you." He shuddered.

"Thank you, Clark. I didn't want to be ate. So stop blaming
yourself. Somebody had to do it, and you were the only one strong
enough."

Clark sighed and pulled back from Lex. He ran a shaking hand
through his hair as he tried to think of how to make his beloved
understand his plight. "Lex, I know he had to be killed, and I
don't . . . I do and I don't regret it." He sighed again. "I know
you don't understand that." His tear-filled eyes turned to Lex,
begging him for understanding. "But . . . I can't not be upset
about having taken a *life*. It doesn't matter what kind of life
it was, just that it was a life. He was a living being, and he's
dead now because I killed him."

Lex had not the foggiest clue how to help Clark through this. He
couldn't even remember the first man he'd killed, but he knew he
had not taken it as hard as Clark was taking it. Of course, he was
not as gentle as Clark was in nature. He lifted each of Clark's
hands, kissed them, and held onto them. "What can I do to help? I
understand what your problem is. All I can say is time will help
you handle it, but I don't know what else to do."

"Just . . . " Clark's eyes pleaded with Lex's. "Just hold me?"

"With pleasure," Lex murmured even as he pulled Clark back into
his arms and stroked the back of his neck gently. He pulled back
just a little and kissed Clark. "I love you, Fly Boy." He grinned
at him and then just held him.


_Chapter Forty-four_
Wolf sprinted back to Elvira's side. He hoped Celina did not get
lost on the way, and he hoped that once he returned to Elvira, her
eyes would be open. He was worried about that nasty bump on her
head. When he reached her side, he knelt down beside her and gazed
tenderly down into her face only to see that her eyes were still
closed. He looked up for Celina and saw her approaching.

Celina hesitated for only a second as the big, black dog looked up
at her. She didn't know who he was at first, but a sniff told her
that it was Gonk. She looked at him oddly. "So you're a
shapeshifter, too?" she asked the canine before turning her
attention fully onto Elvira. She knelt beside Wolf, gently touched
Elvira, closed her eyes, and began to concentrate. As the healing
power flowed out of her and into Elvira, the blood began to
disappear from her hair and the wound to heal itself.

Wolf held Elvira's hand and watched as the blood disappeared. He
hoped there was not internal damage but knew that Celina could
take care of it if there was.

It was a moment after Celina finally pulled away and looked back
at Elvira through concerned, blue eyes before the Vampiress began
to stir. Her black eyes fluttered open slowly, and she found
herself gazing up into Wolf's handsome face. "W-Wolf?"

"Thanks, Celina," Wolf told her even as he pulled Elvira up into a
hug. "Glad to see you're awake, baby. I missed ya!" He hardly
noticed when Celina left or when Gonk trotted away. He pressed his
lips gently to hers.

Elvira had enjoyed Wolf holding her close but relished his kiss
even more. Her hands slid up over his chest as she returned the
kiss, her lips parting underneath his. She vaguely remembered
trying to catch him on the Giant, being hit, and falling, but none
of that mattered now. All that mattered was that they were still
together and, even after seeing what a failure she was in a fight,
he still wanted her.

He broke the kiss off for a minute. "Do you need blood or
anything, sweetheart, or are you able to travel?"

She frowned, trying to think back to when she had last drank. "It
. . . might be a good idea," she admitted at last.

"I'll take you to one of the dead Giants and get a vein started
for you. No use wasting it." He picked her up and headed for the
nearest one he could see. His neck was cut pretty bad, but still
no one had managed to cut the jugular. He took a dagger out of his
boot and sawed at the jugular for a minute. It was exposed enough
that he was able to make it bleed. He moved back to allow her
access and discovered that he had it all over his hand. He didn't
want to wipe it on his shirt, so he licked it and was surprised to
see that it tasted good.

Elvira had been surprised that he was so ready to get her
nourishment but did not let that show. Instead, she smiled at him
and, with a "Thank you", moved forward to the Giant. She looked at
the hole, took a deep breath, and then pressed her mouth to it. As
the blood began to trickle down her throat, a little missed her
mouth to run down her own neck.

Deciding that he liked the blood very much, Wolf moved in closer.
Seeing the blood trickling down Elvira's neck, he licked it, not
wanting to miss a single drop.

Elvira sighed in pleasure as Wolf licked the blood from her neck
and moved her head so that more ran down her pale skin. One of her
hands rested on the Giant, but the other reached behind her to
find his sword.

"Hungry, are we?" he whispered next to her neck. "I'm ravenous!"
He allowed the blood to trickle down her breasts and began to
nibble between them, licking the blood and giving a swipe at each
of the perky buds that grew hard at the mere flick of his tongue.

"For you," Elvira moaned between suckles, "I'm always . . .
*starving*!" Her hand had found the rising bulge in his pants, and
she squeezed it gently even while her fingers caressed his sword
through the tight cloth.

"It's too soon after your injury, sweetheart. We might should wait
until we go home?" He hoped she'd say no, because he didn't want
to wait but had to be a gentleman. He couldn't just jump her bones
then and there, even though that's what his body wanted to do!

It did not even take a thought for Elvira to know that she would
rather feast on Wolf than some dead Giant. At his words, her mouth
lifted, and she turned to look at him. Her tongue licked the blood
from her lips even as her hands moved to her own body. With a
quick, fluid motion, she stripped.

Wolf needed no other invitation! He dropped his pants and stepped
out of them. His sword sprang to life, stiff and firm, and he
lifted her into his arms and brought her down upon it. It shot
home immediately, and they began to feast with their bodies bein

(Message over 64k, truncated.)