Jenny slowly opened her eyes and peered around her through the gloom. Her head was throbbing and her eyes felt very gluey as she struggled to become fully conscious. The green eyed woman remained still as her head cleared and she took in her surroundings.

To her left she could just make out a prone figure, and from the size she guessed it was Jamie. Reaching out a hand, Jenny touched the figure’s back, feeling a steady if shallow breathing through the soft weave of cotton T-shirt. Jamie ran her hand up the figures back towards its head. Relief spread through the ex-programmer as she recognized that the figure was indeed Jamie by the werewolf’s haircut.

Her head having cleared a bit more, Jenny shifted herself slowly into a sitting position. They must be in some sort of former storage room or closet. Jenny bet on the latter given the size of the area around them that she could perceive. Some light filtered in to the space around the cracks of a door set in the wall a few feet in front of her. As her eyes adjusted more to the dim light, Jenny was able to make out more of her companion beside her on the concrete floor.

Jamie was lying on her side, her thick black hair falling over her face and eyes. Jenny moved to brush the hair out of her friend’s face and to check for any injuries. There was none that she could see though, the werewolf did not react at all when Jenny pulled back one eyelid to check her pupils.

They must have knocked her out with a really powerful tranquilizer. Jenny thought as she crouched over her friend. The blond hair woman’s head was still swimming from whatever had been used on her as well.

It was while Jenny was moving to sit by her friend that she ran in to a heavy object. The clanking noise startled her, but brought no reaction from the werewolf beside her.

Jenny moved her hands in the near dark, searching for the source of the noise. Her left hand ran into a thick metal chain, and she followed the chain to first the wall behind them and then to one of Jamie’s wrists. Another chain lay beside its twin and secured the werewolf to the wall the same way.

Wondering at this, Jenny moved to her friend’s feet and found them shackled at the ankles and secured with shorter chains to the floor beside them. Evidently their captors were not taking any chances. Jenny wondered at just how long she had been out.

Moving up towards the dark haired woman’s head, Jenny placed her hand on her Jamie’s shoulders and shook her gently. When that failed to get a response, the ex-programmer bent over her friend’s form and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Jamie, wake up! We’ve got to get out of here!" Jenny pulled back an inch away, listening to any changes in her friend’s breathing to indicate if the woman had heard her or not.

Not getting any response to a slightly harder shake, Jenny paused and considered her options. Her brow furrowed as her blond hair fell forward from her shoulders and brushed lightly over Jamie’s face. There weren’t many options, and that was the problem.

Jenny knew she could be patient up to a point, more so than her quick-tempered companion. With little idea where they were or what their immediate surroundings looked like, Jenny was left to plot their escape when their captives would come to get them.

At least, she hoped that their captives would come to get them. Without any reference to the time, Jenny had no idea when that might be. She assumed they would be fed or taken care of in some matter. That’s how it worked in the movies at least.

A key entering a lock and metal tumblers turning snapped Jenny out of her thoughts. There was a small movement from the prone figure of Jamie beside her as the door of the room they were in swung open to admit a handful of dark robed figures.

This time the hoods on the mages’ robes were down and their faces exposed in the stream of light from the naked bulb in the corridor outside the room. The sudden harshness of the light hurt Jenny’s eyes and she had some trouble adjusting to it after the complete darkness of earlier.

Jamie stirred a bit more and emitted a low moaning sound just short of human as the light reached her where she laid on the floor. The mages moved quickly, one of them grabbed Jenny from behind once more as the rest moved to restrain the dark haired woman shackled to the floor and wall.

In a flurry of activity, at which Jenny was surprised that her friend didn’t come completely to during, the mages surrounding the werewolf first made sure that their captive was secure. Assuring themselves that for the meantime the female werewolf would not be able to escape, they took blood samples with a small needle from a vein in the dark haired woman’s arm. Then, after administering another dose of what Jenny assumed to be more of the sedative they had given both of them earlier, one of the mages drew a second sample of blood.

While the robed figures around her friend studied the effects of the tranquilizer, Jenny shifted slightly in her captor’s grasp to get a better look at his face. Dark brown eyes met hers from a young and impassive face.

"They’ll be keeping her drugged all the way up to and including the ceremony." He said, startling her a bit.

"What?" Jenny asked, once she realized that the mage holding her had actually spoken out loud.

"Your friend is going to be the chalice for the ceremony my brothers and I will be performing." He continued, "The other twelve souls that we took previously will be divided between the four elemental corners. This one is to be placed at the center of the elemental pillars as a power vessel when we call down the blood power from the werewolf."

"What are you going to do with me?" Jenny wondered, as she watched the other mages now finished with their task file out of the room.

The mage behind her let go of her arms and moved away towards the door and his brethren.

"That we don’t know. It will be decided soon, count on it." Face still impassive the man left with his fellow mages, shutting the door behind him.

Jenny sighed deeply as she heard a key be inserted and the lock once again engaged. Scooting over to where Jamie now lay motionless on the floor, the blond haired woman reached out one hand to tentatively touch her friend’s forehead. During the examination by the mages Jamie had continued to move every once and a while, as if she had been trying to come out of what ever drugs they had given her. Jenny had watched hopefully, as it seemed that the dark haired werewolf would actually be able to fight off the effects of the drugs.

Running her finger tips lightly over the smooth brow and soft dark bangs Jenny wondered why she felt so disappointed that the dark haired woman had not come to and beaten the crap out of their captors. In a way it startled the normally gentle ex-programmer. Jenny believed in passive resistance first as a means towards a more successful end. Right now though she would rather that her fierce friend be able to show just how angry a werewolf could get when you messed with their kin and kith.

As she thought this, Jenny noticed that the skin under her fingers was quite cold to the touch. Startled she leaned down to press her ear to Jamie’s chest. A steady if slow beat reverberated from bellow her and she breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Jamie was alive, Jenny believed that they had a chance to escape.

Moving her hands down over Jamie’s arms and hands though showed that the dark haired woman was losing a lot of body heat to the cold concrete floor beneath them. Jenny was sure that the icy metal chains weren’t helping either.

Without a second thought, the blond hair woman stretched out on the concrete beside her friend. Wrapping her arms around the compact form beside her, Jenny did her best to think like a down comforter. The concrete chilled her a bit, but she ignored it and tried to make both Jamie and herself as comfortable as possible.

Resting her head on her friend’s shoulder, one leg thrown over Jamie’s legs beside her Jenny let her mind wander to figure out if there was anything at all she could do to get the two of them free. As she held Jamie tightly around the stomach, it never occurred to her that Jamie might hurt her if she came out of her drugged state.

Jacob sat at his desk in his office Saturday morning trying to work on a proposal for the council. He had been at the task since earlier that morning, but was having trouble keeping his concentration on the paper before him. Unlike his niece Jamie, who preferred to use the computer for all of her writing, Jacob still wrote long hand whenever he could. He found it was an almost soothing exercise of the mind to draw out his thoughts on paper rather than place them into some high tech tool.

Today however, the words did not flow as easily. It was almost painful to keep his mind on his work. Perhaps it was the almost eerie silence of the house. Only Jacob and Alfred remained in the house, Sarah the cook having gone to a friend’s last night.

Jessan had gone into town on an errand for Jacob when he had woken up at four that morning, grumbling at the early hour. Jacob had seen neither hide nor hair of his niece or her friend though. The older werewolf looked up from his writing towards the window that had a view of the stables and exercise yard. Rising out of his chair he walked over and let his gaze roam over the view.

"Shit!" the expletive left his lips as he abruptly turned on his heel and headed down the hall to check Jamie’s study.

Jacob flung the door open, but did not see his niece or Jenny in the room. Leaving the door open behind him in his haste, Jacob began to jog down the hallway to the stairs, mounting them and taking them two at a time. At that moment Alfred came around the hallway from the guest bedrooms and met his employer at the top of the steps.

"Have you seen Jamie or Jenny this morning?" Jacob asked the elderly butler. He did not wait for a reply, but instead hurried on to his niece’s bedroom, knocking sharply before entering.

"I have not seen either of them since last night, sir." Alfred answered as he followed after Jacob, but at a much statelier pace.

"I don’t think she slept in her bed last night," Jacob said, then froze as his features shifted briefly, teeth elongating and facial expression resembling something like a large dog. "She hasn’t been here since yesterday by the scent. Did you just come from Jenny’s room?"

Alfred answered as Jacob’s features returned to human, "Yes, I went in to tidy up, but it looks like Miss Lyden’s bed wasn’t slept in either."

The blood drained from Jacob’s face as he walked quickly from the room, shouting to Alfred on his way back down the stairs, "Have the men search the grounds, I’ll get a hold of the police and the Black Furies. I have a bad feeling Jamie and Jenny have been taken."

As Jacob picked up the phone in the foyer, Alfred moved to do his employers bidding. The elderly butler hoped that they would find the two women before anything could happen to them.

Five hours later, Jacob was about to start tearing out his hair. He was certain that there were a few more gray hairs on his head to join the others his niece had given him over the years. The leader of the Children of Gaia was now hoping beyond hope that his niece and the young human would walk into his office, back from some quick side trip that went longer than expected.

Ephany had just reported in that the two bodies found earlier in their search for Jamie and Jenny, had been taken away and the site where they had been found cleared for any evidence. Two runaways from a neighboring state were identified as Dave, fifteen, and Alan, fourteen by Jessan who had been called out to help when the bodies had been found on the border of the clan property.

The two boys, killed in the same manner as the other victims had been, had applied for membership in the Children of Gaia just the other week. Jacob had been planning on having them brought before him to bestow their membership rights to the next week when they had been reported missing on Thursday. Now, Jacob worried that the next bodies they would find would be that of Jamie and Jenny.

After reporting in to his uncle about the identity of the two victims, Jessan stressed the importance of it not being neither Jenny or Jamie. The younger werewolf told his uncle that he believed that the mages wanted Jamie for some sort of ritual, and that they wanted her alive. This meant that they still had some time to search for the two. Ephany, in her report later, said much of the same thing.

Nonetheless, Jacob was beginning to wear a hole in the carpet where he paced back and forth in his office. He had been out with the search teams earlier, but had come back to the house when he had heard of the two bodies being found. Now, he debated on heading out with the Furies to join in the search once more or doing his own search in a more esoteric manner.

Catching a glimpse out of his eye of a photograph on one of his bookshelves Jacob walked over to pick it up. He stared at the photo for a long time, his blue eyes scanning the faces of the three youngsters standing side by side with their arms about each other. The two younger children to either side of the older one in the middle were looking up at their sibling with smiles wide with trust.

Setting the photo back down with care Jacob came to a decision. Spinning around on his heel and walking out the door to his study, he headed up to his room to prepare himself for a ritual to search for his niece and her friend. He promised himself long ago that he would not lose any other family members and he now intended to carry out that pledge.

Jenny shifted her position a bit as she felt her arm starting to fall asleep. The cell floor was still a little cold, but the combined body heat of herself and the woman beside her made it more tolerable. No one had returned to the cell after the last inspection. Jenny had managed to remain awake, though she had no idea just how much time had passed.

While Jenny kept watch over the two of them, she had tried to wake her Jamie, but with no luck. The young woman had not stirred since the mages had last given her the tranquilizer. Jenny was beginning to lose hope that they would ever be able to make it out of their predicament alive. As she lay next to her friend, trying to stay awake herself, she hummed a few songs in Jamie’s ear. The blond woman kept her mouth near the dark haired woman’s ear in the complete darkness as she tried to remember songs she had learned in college.

Hitting a key wrong once again, Jenny winced and felt a bit sorry for her prone companion, even if Jamie couldn’t hear her.

"Sorry, I can’t keep a tune to save my soul." Jenny smiled softly as she remembered, "But you can, you have the most beautiful voice. I wish you’d wake up and get us out of here so I can hear it again one day."

The ex-programmer sighed wistfully as the silence in the cell lengthened and time seemed to stretch to eternity. Shifting her position to lean over her friend Jenny thought of how the werewolf would have no way of remembering anything even if they did manage to escape.

"I think YOU are very beautiful, and I wish that you would wake up some day and kiss me." Having poured out her heart to a rather unconscious listener, Jenny leaned over and kissed Jamie lightly on the lips.

Pulling back a little Jenny waited, partially hoping the other woman would wake up and partially hoping she would stay unconscious if only to spare herself the embarrassment. At that moment, Jenny heard keys once again in the lock on the door. The blond woman sank into despair as several of the robed figures, their hoods now pulled over their heads, walk through the door to retrieve the two of them.

The mage who seemed to be the second in command, and also the one who spoke to Jenny earlier, walked over to "escort" the blond haired woman out of the room while the other mages dragged Jamie out. The hooded figures left the heavy metal shackles on both Jamie’s wrists and feet after they unbound the chains attached to the wall and floor.

As they all walked out of the cell, the mage who held Jenny by the shoulders spoke, "Our leader has decided that you shall be privileged to both watch and be part of our ritual."

Jenny remained quiet, listening only in part to her captor as she tried to think of a way to break free and save her friend. The group had now moved into a main chamber that looked very much like the one she remembered seeing when they had traced the mages astraly with Ted and Diane. Now, Jenny could only hope that her friends had managed to get out of the city before the mage hunt had been called. She brooked no reserves about her own importance, but was quite sure that the disappearance of Jamie would have triggered a complete uproar in the Garou community. Jenny was glad that her sister Kim was out of town and would not be caught up in the mayhem that would surly ensue.

The mage was now explaining exactly what would be happening during the ritual. Other mages, Jenny guessed that there must be twelve in all, were hurrying about preparing the space for the ritual.

"You will be fed the manna that will be invoked and directed from your friend. The souls of the werewolves will help to call down the ancient power to their kin." They were standing off to the side of the ritual area as they watched Jamie being chained once more to a large stone slab in the middle of the room. The mages were shackling the werewolf’s hands and feet to the various four corners of the stone slab in a sort of spread eagle pose.

"Once all the manna is called forth from these dog ancestors, we will be able to consume it ourselves." The mage paused, an evil smile forming on his lips, "You will, of course be killed in the process."

Jenny swallowed as she continued to stare straight ahead towards the stone slab that Jamie was shackled to. The mage who held her became quiet as the head priest walked to the main altar at the front of the room. The ex-programmer guessed that this was a signal for the ritual to begin.

As the priest began to intone the opening sequences, Jenny became aware of the slight whispering in her ear. It was not from any of the mages near her, and though she could not make everything out clearly she was sure that there were several voices talking at once.

As she tried to concentrate of the whispering, Jenny realized that she had heard the voices earlier, much to her surprise. Since she had awaken in the cell with Jamie, there had been an ever present, but very faint whisper. At the time she had thought it was her imagination and had dismissed it. Now she was certain that the voices were becoming louder and more distinct as she paid more attention to them.

Listening closer as the priest and other mages continued with their ritual, Jenny became aware that the voices seemed to be coming from a large crystal globe on the main altar.

"…s free!" The voices said in a harsh whisper, "Jenny…free!"

Jenny’s eyes widened as she heard her name. How do they know who I am?

"Friend! …us free!" The voices urged again.

Straining her ears once more to catch what they were trying to tell her Jenny thought in her mind, What do you want me to do?

"Set us free! Set us FREE!" The urgency was almost overwhelming. The source of the voices was defiantly from the globe on the main altar. "Set us free, friend Jenny! We will help you to be free!"

The continuous chanting that the hooded figures were now doing temporarily distracted the mage holding her. Jenny saw her chance as the head priest looked like he was beginning to bring the ritual to a climax. Jenny was sure that it wouldn’t be long before they would sacrifice her. The ex-programmer knew it was now or never.

Jenny moved quickly, ducking under the mage’s arms that were holding her back. Sprinting towards the main altar, she twisted her body to rid herself of the hands trying to catch her. Reaching the altar, she grabbed up the large crystal globe, its swirling contents turning blue and moving faster with anticipation of what she was about to do. Turning to face the angry looks of the mages she brought the globe up over her head and threw it down to the cement floor, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

The mages stopped in their tracks, eyes going wide at what the small woman had just done. The head priest had stopped his gesturing as he to turned to stare at the shattered globe. A blue smoke rose up from the broken glass and wound its way over to where Jamie lay chained to the stone slab. A low ghostly howling filled the warehouse as the blue smoke pushed itself into the slightly opened mouth of the still unconscious werewolf.

Feeling the spirits of her people merge with her soul, Jamie’s eyes snapped open. Ice blue pupils flicked left, then right, and finally turned a blood shade of red. The enraged werewolf took a deep breath and roared with fury. The steel chains holding her limbs in place snapped as if made from plastic as the dark hair woman sat up.

Jenny stared in wide-eyed wonder as the werewolf rolled off the stone slab and turned to face down their kidnappers. From where she stood, Jenny could smell the fear gush out of the mages. All twelve of them had not moved more than an inch after she had shattered the crystal globe. They stood transfixed, to stunned to get out of the path of certain death.

Jamie stood before the stone altar; the metal chains that had been holding her in place twisted open and lying on the concrete floor. Jenny’s heart pounded in her chest with sudden fear as she saw the look in her friend’s eyes. As the dark haired woman scanned the room and her enemies before her Jenny caught a glimpse of the madness in her eyes. Jamie wasn’t at home, and whoever or whatever was in charge was about to destroy everything in site.

The dark hair woman suddenly threw back her head and emitted an earth-shaking howl as a blur began to form around her. Jamie’s form grew as it blurred and soon a nine-foot tall werewolf in crinos form stood before them all, mouth open and long teeth glistening as its eyes turned a bright red.

It was at that moment when bedlam set in. The mages and high priest screamed as they scattered in all directions, trying to get to away as quickly as possible. In their haste, a few of the long, thick taper candles got turned over. Some flew towards the curtains surrounding the room’s walls. The heavy material caught fire quickly and spread at an alarming rate. None of the room’s occupants seemed to notice.

The head priest made it almost as far as the door before he was sliced in sections by the werewolf’s razor sharp claws. One of the other mages ran right towards the werewolf in his panic. He was decapitated by strong jaws, picked up and flung over the heads of his fellows as his attacker jumped over their heads after his body and took out several with powerful paws and feet.

It seemed only a matter of minutes before all of the mages were either crushed or vivisected. The fire was spreading quickly and thick smoke as forming on the ceiling and in one corner of the room. Jenny started in horror at the carnage around her as the werewolf swung around towards her and began to lope on all fours in her direction.

As the werewolf drew closer, Jenny closed her eyes tightly, her body tensing for the inevitable blow that would kill her. When it didn’t come, she cracked one eye open slightly and nearly jumped out of her skin as she stared into a large eye staring back at her.

The huge head of the werewolf drew back slightly and a warm air brushed her face as the beast breathed in her scent. Still on all fours, the creature had to crouch a bit to become level with her where she stood by the main altar. Since freeing the souls of the murdered Garou, Jenny had not moved a step in either direction, too transfixed by the destruction happening around her.

Cocking its head to one side, the werewolf’s form shimmered in front of her till Jamie stood in its place. The wildness was almost completely gone from the ice-blue eyes as they stared back at Jenny with concern.

"Are you okay?" Jamie asked the smaller woman.

"Yeah, are you?" Jenny could hear the exhaustion and stress of the past few weeks pouring out of the dark haired woman before her.

"I’ll be fine. Let’s get the hell out of here." Jamie gestured towards the only door of the room that was beginning to become covered with smoke.

"Lead the way." Jenny said, placing a hand on Jamie’s shoulder as the dark haired woman guided them through the smoke and out the door.

Outside the building fire trucks and several police cars were pulling up. Some of the police officers directed the two of them away from the building and towards the other side of the road. Turning to look back up at the building as they walked into the street, Jenny could see that the upper floor of the two-story building was almost completely enflamed. The blond woman was surprised at how quickly the fire had spread.

A voice out of the crowd got both of their attention and recognizing Ephany they headed towards her.

"Over here! Jessan, they’re over here!" The curly haired woman gestured towards someone else in the crowd as she then turned and ran to meet them.

"Thank the lady, we’ve found you! We thought you were somewhere on this street, but couldn’t figure out which building you were in." Ephany pushed several of the gawkers out of the way as she hurried the two smoke covered women towards a side street.

"Jacob is in the car. He’s been trying to track you guys by that stuff he does." The young woman paused as they moved through the last of the crowd and gained some space around them. "Jessan and I have been driving him around like some sort of Garou compass. We narrowed it down to this block, but couldn’t get any closer. The police and fire trucks had just pulled up when I spotted the building you came from."

They had reached the car by this time. Jessan’s gray Oldsmobile that he was quite fond of. Jacob and Jessan were standing beside the sedan, Jamie’s uncle looking slightly worse for wear and a little drained. Jacob reached out and pulled his niece into a hug as she neared him, then much to Jenny’s surprise he pulled her into the hug as well.

When Jacob finally released them Jessan clapped his cousin on the back and reached out to rub a bit of the soot off of her forehead. Ephany made noise about them calling the Elders’ Council to tell them that they had found both Jamie and Jenny unharmed and the mages eliminated.

Jenny opened her mouth to ask just how Ephany knew that the mages had been killed. Ephany raised an eyebrow in and nodded towards Jamie in amusement, "If it involves Jamie, it’s very likely to involve a good fight and my money is always on her."

The five of them pilled into Jessan’s car and he started the engine. Jamie and Jenny sat in the back with Jamie’s uncle, while Jessan and Ephany settled into the front seats. As Jessan pulled out on to the street and began to drive away, Jamie frowned as she looked back up the street towards the crowd still gathered. She was not sure why, but something was telling her that the problem was not quite over. The mages were only the tip of the iceberg, there was much more to come.

Jenny caught her eye and Jamie turned back to look at her friend who was seated in the middle of the back seat between Jamie and Jacob. The small blond woman smiled at her through the dirt and grime covering her face.

Jamie returned the smile with a grin of her own as she asked, "So, when are we going to take that vacation?"

"I’ll book the cabin, just tell me when." Jenny replied.

"How about next weekend?" The blue-eyed woman asked.

Jenny chuckled lightly, "Can you wait that long?"

Jamie just smiled and leaned back into the leather seat as Jessan drove them towards home.

Jamie sat at her desk, her pen scratching across the papers in front of her as she finished the last of her paper work for the breeding program. Capping the pen and tossing into the leather pen and pencil holder cup the dark haired woman sat back in her chair and stretched her arms behind her head. Hearing her back and shoulders pop, Jamie sighed and sank down into her chair a bit more.

The sound of the door opening to admit Jenny startled her slightly. Jamie had been working hard since they had gotten back home last night to get the horse farm ready for her absence. Jenny, true to her word, had set about getting a cabin reserved for them for the weekend. Jamie had almost wanted to make up an excuse to get out of going, but the blond haired woman’s enthusiasm for the trip was infectious. She supposed she could tolerate a few days away from work; it had been along time since she had last been "getting back to nature" anyway.

"Everything’s all set up, we can get our supplies this week and head up to the cabin on Friday." The blond woman grinned as she flopped down on the couch.

"Cool, I’ll drag out our old packs to bring stuff in. Do we hike in too?" Jamie asked.

Jenny chuckled at Jamie’s enthusiasm, "Yes, it’s a two mile hike. Some up hill and some on fairly level ground." Pulling her feet up under her to get more comfortable Jenny continued, "You’ll love this place. My sister and I always use to go there with our grandparents when we were little."

A knock at the door interrupted whatever Jamie was about to say. Jacob stuck his head into the room at Jamie’s yell to come in. Seeing that Jenny was in the room with her Jacob walked in all the way, shutting the door behind him.

"I’ve been talking with the council today." He announced to the room in general as he leaned against Jamie’s desk.

Jamie cocked an eyebrow at her uncle as she swiveled her chair from side to side slightly. The dark haired woman wondered just what her uncle was up to. His blue eyes sparkled the same way that her father’s had always done when he was about to announce a special surprise.

"They found all the bodies and were able to clean up the mess?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, and they were also able to settle the spirits of our brethren that you freed." Jacob replied as he shifted slightly more on to the desk, swinging his legs back and forth from the edge.

"They also wanted to talk to me about your involvement in the whole affair, Jenny." Jacob said, his mustache twitching in amusement as the green-eyed woman’s eyes flew open in complete surprise.

Jamie stopped her movement and leaned slightly forward at her uncle’s words. Jacob, acutely aware of his niece’s attention continued, "They want me to extend the community’s thanks on the council’s behalf, and also to offer you a job as the liaison with the human element of our city for the Children of Gaia."

It was Jamie’s turn for surprise as her eyes sprang open. Jenny’s mouth dropped open at the same time and flopped up and down like a fish as she tried to respond.

"I would also personally like to offer you a place to call home, since yours was burned to the ground and you saved my only niece." Jacob continued as he saw that neither woman was going to be all that coherent at the moment, "You are welcomed to make your home with us here, in any of the rooms that you’d like."

Jenny finally recovered her voice, "The room I’m in now is more than fine."

"Good, but will you also accept the job as community liaison?" Jacob asked in amusement.

"Uh, yeah. Yes! Of course, I’d love to!" Jenny exclaimed, recovering more from her shock.

"Grand! You can start after the two of you get back from your vacation. I’ll have Jamie help you out with it." The head of the Gaia clan said as slid off of the desk and made to leave the room.

"Wait! Uncle, no one has ever been a liaison with the humans before. Not in any community that I’ve ever heard of." Jamie rose from her chair.

"No, they haven’t." Jacob said, "It’s a new idea I’ve had for some time now and Jenny should fit the bill nicely."

Turning once more to leave the room Jacob waved absently over his shoulder, "Take care of the legal necessities in change of address and all, Jamie."

Jamie and Jenny stared after Jacob as he left the room. The dark haired woman shook her head ruefully at her uncle’s eccentricities. Catching Jenny’s eye, Jamie shot her a grin which the green eyed woman happily returned.

"So, think you can stand us enough to live with us?" Jamie teased.

"Oh, I think I’ll fair all right. I have so far." Jenny chuckled.

The ex-programmer walked over to get pen and paper from Jamie’s desk and began to start listing all the supplies they would need for their trip. Jamie smiled as she sat back down and tried to make sense of what her friend was listing on the paper in front of them. If anything, the new community liaison was going to be very organized.

‘Community Human Liaison’, Jamie wondered what that would entail. As she listened to Jenny go over their supply list again, the dark haired woman’s enthusiasm for all that the position would entail grew and she began to make her own mental list of possible projects that the two of them could tackle.

The two of us? Jamie caught herself thinking. Well, they worked well together so far, and Uncle Jacob had said that she was to help the green eyed woman out.

It would be rather nice to be in a less gruesome role for a change. Jamie thought and smiled at that thought and others as she pointed out an item that Jenny had missed on her list. They would make a good team.