AN: Sorry for the delay! I meant to have this up days ago. I've been really busy, but school's finally out so I should have more time for regular updates. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 6

When Danica awoke there was the brief, terrifying sensation of not knowing where she was or how she got there, but slowly she remembered everything that had happened. She sat up, looking her surroundings over. She was still in the same room she’d fallen asleep in. A lump in the other bed told her Ginger had come in sometime after she’d fallen asleep. She looked to have been there for a while. So what had awoken her? A quick glance out the window told her it was still dark out.

She heard movement from outside the door, like someone shuffling around in the room across the hall. Cautiously, she slid out of the bed and crept to the door. Cracking open the door revealed a dark hallway, except for a line of light coming from the door across the hall. She stepped out onto the soft carpet of the hall and put her ear to the other door.

It was a coughing noise, like someone gagging and trying to be quiet about it. And she thought she recognized it. Running water followed, and she took the opportunity to push the door open a little to see if it was who she thought it was.

As she expected, it was Malachi who was bent over the sink washing his mouth out. He was still wearing the dress pants from earlier, but the shoes and shirt were nowhere to be seen. She wondered momentarily why he was still sick when she felt fine, but then she reminded herself he’d done the jump between worlds twice in as many days. It seemed only natural that his symptoms be twice as bad as hers.

He shut the water off and looked up into the wide mirror. His dark eyes moved to her reflection, though he didn’t seem surprised to see her there. He pulled the door open the rest of the way and stared wordlessly at her. Danica feared he would be mad at her for intruding.

He doesn’t look too well, she thought as they stared at one another, him in light and her in darkness. He was extremely pale—there wasn’t even color in his lips. His eyes had minor dark circles under them from lack of rest, and his eyes were opaque with weariness and over-fatigue. He gestured for her to come in, and she stepped inside quietly. He closed the door behind her.

To her immediate right was a white closet door. To her left was the sink and counter with the mirror, which was as wide as the counter. The shower/bathtub was on the right past the closet, and the toilet was opposite the bathtub, by the counter on the left. The floor was wooden, and there were white rugs in front of the sink, the toilet, and the tub.

Malachi leaned against the counter and squeezed his eyes closed, bowing his head as a wave of nausea hit him. Danica did the only thing she could think of.

She moved closer to him, afraid to break the silence. Gently, Danica placed her palms on his heated neck. His head shot up to look at her, his eyes questioning. She was trying to keep her thoughts focused on soothing him—which wasn't too hard. He'd said she was powerful; she wanted to use that power to help him, as he'd helped her.

He reached out for her, drawing her close and wrapping her into his arms. He buried his face in her shoulder. She hugged him with one arm and let the fingers of her free hand trail down his chest—she tried very hard not to notice how sculpted his upper body was—and placed her flat palm on his bare stomach.

Malachi pulled her toward the space of wall between the shower and the toilet and sat down. Danica sat down beside him and resumed what she'd been doing. One hand on his stomach, she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt his chin on the top of her head, relaxing. It was working.

He fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her. She was terrified that if she moved too much he'd wake up and get sick again. She decided to just stretch her legs out and wait for the morning.

She awoke to the pounding of footsteps in the hall outside the door. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced around her. She was still sitting in the bathroom floor. Malachi was still with her as well, sleeping soundly. Outside the door, she could hear voices frantically calling their names.

When the bathroom door opened, he jerked awake. Danica hoped she wasn't blushing too brightly.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd in the doorway. "You two are cute," Ginger drawled.

Rainey grinned and folded his arms. "If you'd rather sleep together, let us know and we'll accommodate you. Just don't sneak off in the middle of the night. You had us all scared."

Malachi stretched, groaning contentedly. "It wasn't like that."

"What was it like, then?" Rainey countered.

"I'll explain later. Right now, what's for breakfast?"

Breakfast consisted of pancakes, sausages, and fruit juice. The pancakes were courtesy of Malachi, who obviously knew how to cook them the best. It made her wonder how different things really were here. Did he know how to cook pancakes the best because they didn't have them here until he fell out of the sky?

He seemed to be in a pretty good mood. He whistled while he worked, some jazzy tune Danica had never heard before. He even did a little cha-cha dance when he knew she was watching just to earn a little laugh from her. She hoped what she'd done last night had helped him, and she was glad things didn't seem awkward with him today. She sat on the counter by the stove and watched him work his spatula magic.

He made both her and himself a plate and a glass of juice. When the last of the pancakes were finished and stacked onto a plate on the kitchen table, he leaned through the door to the living room and shouted, "Breakfast!"

Fifteen people filed into the room, grabbing a plate and cup and devouring both, laughing and talking amongst themselves. Danica was a bit overwhelmed by it all and stayed at her place on the countertop, swinging her legs self-consciously and watching everyone like a little wallflower.

She was surprised when someone hopped onto the counter beside her. She caught a glance of flaming red hair from the corner of her eye, and she knew it was Ginger before she even fully turned her head.

Ginger grinned and took a quick bite of sausage. "Good morning, Danica. How did you sleep? In the bed, I mean. Was it bad?"

"No, no," Danica hastened to assure her everything had been fine. "The bed was wonderful. I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow." She wasn't sure she should continue with why she'd gotten out of bed in the early hours of the morning, but she decided if she couldn't trust these people, she was doomed, so she may as well give it a shot. "It was Malachi. I got out of bed because I heard him getting sick in the bathroom."

Ginger's mouth formed an "O". "I get it. You got up to help him, and you both fell asleep in the bathroom."

Danica nodded. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"He told me once that traveling between the worlds was always nauseating and left him feeling kind of shaky. I guess doing it two days in a row is bound to take a toll on him. But of course he doesn't think that far ahead. You were okay though, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was fine after I got to sit down and rest a bit in here."

Ginger smiled, her green eyes landing on something across the room. Danica followed her gaze to see Malachi standing there, still absolutely comfortable with no shirt on, still dressed in those dirty black slacks. He was having a light-hearted conversation with the one called Bug about something.

"What do you think of him?" Ginger asked keenly, turning those sharp green eyes back on Danica, who blushed nervously.

"He saved my life. I owe him everything."

"Yeah. He's very protective of you, you know. It's obvious."

Malachi turned, his eyes scanning the kitchen until his gaze fell across Danica. He smiled briefly at her, one corner of his lip turning up, and then he turned back to Bug.

"See?" Ginger asked.

"Maybe. I don't want to read too much into things, though. I barely know him."

"He traveled between the worlds to find you," Ginger coaxed.

"Only because I was going to become a weapon, and he knew what that would mean."

"He held you all night long."

"Only because I helped him."

"How did you do that, by the way?"

Danica frowned. "I'm not sure. I think I did something with my—powers. I just tried to calm him down, make the sickness go away."

Malachi's laughter resounded around the room, though whatever he was laughing at Bug didn't find quite as amusing. In fact, it looked like Malachi was laughing at Bug.

"Obviously, you succeeded." Ginger chuckled at her friends.

Danica smiled. "That's what I hoped."

Ginger slid off the counter and stood in front of her. "Listen, if you ever need anyone to talk to, you can always come to me. I mean, I know you'll talk to Malachi about all this new world stuff and all the things about your powers, but if you ever just need a girl to talk to, about the normal things, I'm here for you. I know what it's like to be taken from my friends and family." She patted Danica on the shoulder and walked out of the room.

Danica smiled sadly and looked down at her bare feet. She was still in Malachi's clothes. After she finished her food, she'd go upstairs and change. Then, she would make good on the promise Malachi made her about showing her around. She wanted to know more about where she was, and how long she'd be here.

After finishing up and putting her dirty dishes in the sink with the others, she wandered upstairs to her bedroom to find her duffel bag sitting on her bed. She closed the door for privacy and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a red crewneck sweater. She put clean socks and her tennis shoes on, and then the window caught her attention. Almost terrified of what she would look out and see, Danica pulled the string to draw the blinds up and saw an expanse of trees: the forest they'd appeared in. Beyond that, she could make out the purple shapes of mountains.

Sighing, she leaned against the wall and stared up at the pale, milky sky. The sun was nowhere to be seen. It did nothing to lighten her suddenly dreary mood. She couldn't help wondering if Allie and Jessica had called the police yet. What time was it there? The same time as it was here? Had her parents been notified that their only child was missing? She had so many questions she wanted answered.

A lone tear fell from each eye. Danica ignored them, let them make wet trails down her cheeks. She missed her home terribly. The weight of her situation was finally settling into her gut. She was stuck here; she couldn't go home until these rebels overthrew the Empire. Only then would her safety be guaranteed. Only then could she return home without wondering who would come after her next. They would always chase her, no matter where she went, on Earth or Tearn.

Someone knocked lightly on the bedroom door. Danica quickly shouted, "Come in!" and wiped the wetness from her face.

Somehow, she was unsurprised to see Malachi standing in the doorway, and she was even less surprised when he wasn't fooled by her mask. He knew exactly what she'd been doing.

He'd changed clothes, finally. Now he wore a pair of black pants with two little belts attached to each leg. They looked to be made for gun holsters, but the holsters themselves were absent. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt now, the sleeves pulled halfway up his forearms.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to her. When they were about a foot apart, he said, "I wanted to thank you for last night. I don't know how you did it, but whatever you did worked miracles."

She smiled. "I just thought about what I wanted to do."

"Which was what?"

She grinned and looked away, back out the window. "I wanted to help you, make the sickness go away. You deserved to be okay. I just hate you didn't sleep in a bed last night."

He shrugged. "It wasn't so bad."

Danica swung her head around to look at him. He was grinning like a devil. She laughed. "So, I believe someone said something about showing me around."

"That I did." He extravagantly held out his arm, and she took his elbow obligingly.

Danica was relieved that he didn't say anything about her tears. She didn't want him to feel responsible, or guilty. It wasn't his fault, anyway. He had saved her.

She allowed him to lead her downstairs somewhat hesitantly. They went through the living room, which was a quaint little room with three couches, a few chairs along the wall, and a fireplace. The front door was on the wall opposite the kitchen door, which they came through. Malachi grabbed a leather jacket from the coat rack by the door on their way out.

The view from the front porch was similar to that of the back. The forest continued on around them, but far off in the distance, Danica could see the tops of buildings—skyscrapers. They glimmered in the dim light of the day. She thought they looked strangely ominous, though she couldn’t place why. Malachi patted her on the shoulder, pulling her from her from her thoughts.

“Ready?” He asked lightly. She was almost certain he was trying to be in a good mood to balance out her bad one.

She nodded and tried to smile, but judging by Malachi’s sympathetic expression it looked more like a grimace.

“Try to be optimistic,” he urged.

Danica nodded. “I am trying.”

He nodded in response and wrapped one arm around her. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go to Delos.”

She finally looked at her surroundings. They descended the steps of the front porch and walked to a four-wheeled vehicle. It reminded her of something she’d seen before, and it took her a moment to realize it looked very similar to the Jeeps of her world, only without the bars on top. It was also, unfortunately, lacking a windshield and rearview mirrors. It had two seats in front and three in the back. Malachi walked her to the passenger seat and opened the door for her. When she was seated, he jogged around to his side and slid fluidly into the seat.

AN: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought, please!