FINALLY, an update for OTE! You can say it is a celebratory update, since COA is now available for pre-order. .

Actually, I’ve been planning to update in forever, but with everything that’s been going on, I never quite managed. Hope you enjoy it regardless!

Also, it’s been brought to my attention that readers would have liked more Kalin and Cade here. I’m sorry I don’t remember who said this, it was a while ago. However, I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I want to write a separate story for Cade and Kalin, once I’m done with Gabi and Luce.

Ok, enough Author’s note! Enjoy the chappie, while I go back on my final edits!

Chapter 9

The room was silent, neither of its two occupants in the mood for conversation. Gabriel inwardly sighed as he took in his friend’s appearance with mournful eyes. As was his habit lately, Eric was petting Gabriel’s stomach – and it would have been nice, if not for the absent look in the blond’s eyes. The young Alarian knew the cause of it; and unfortunately, the cause of Gabriel himself.

Over the past week, the two had become good friends. Gabriel had yet to share his past with Eric – some memories were simply so shameful and painful - but he was working on it and he had a feeling that if anyone could understand, it was Eric. However, the closeness between them came with a price. In spite of Eric’s obvious affection for Keenan, the dark haired warrior had become increasingly jealous of Gabriel – a fact which was hurting both of them terribly, and therefore, making Gabriel feel terribly guilty.

It showed in Eric’s exterior aspect. The blond had dark circles under his eyes, having been unable to sleep after a particularly bad fight with Keenan. Cassandra had been so far reluctant to become involved, but Eric knew that if things continued like this, she would become involved as well. She was fiercely protective of her fledgling, and somehow, that sentiment had extended to Gabriel.

“Eric, you should sleep some. You look very tired.”

The young vampire gave Gabriel a tired smile. “Vampires don’t sleep at night, Gabriel.”

“Please? For me?” Gabriel gave his friend a pleading look, hoping to at least coax him into at least a few hours of rest.

Eric sighed, getting up from the couch they were currently lounging on. “Fine… I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try.”

The brunet nodded, leaning forward to brush a kiss on Eric’s cheek. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Maybe once Eric got up, they’d be able to talk a bit about everything that was going on. Gabriel felt very restless; the dreams were getting stronger, scarier, more intense, and he still couldn’t reach Luce. He hoped that at least he could somehow help his friend with his relationship – it was Gabriel’s fault the problem had begun in the first place.

Gabriel hadn’t told Eric yet, but he was considering asking Cassandra to find him a different place to stay. Eric would probably be angry about it, but he’d eventually see that it was for the best.

Keenan stood in the door way, his eyes flashing with barely restrained fury. “Eric…” The elder vampire hissed between gritted teeth and Gabriel suppressed a wince. Keenan rarely called his friend by his name, most of the time he used that peculiar endearment “pet” – which Gabriel found extraordinarily odd, but who was he to judge the endearments of others? Moreover, he never used that particular tone of voice, which meant that the vampire was angry. It wasn’t hard to guess why, really. The vampire had obviously seen Gabriel kiss Eric on the cheek. Damn it! As if things weren’t already bad enough…

Eric turned and gave his lover a tired smile. “Hi, Keenan. I’m going to bed now. Take care, okay, Gabriel? Don’t strain yourself.”

Gabriel nodded, although he wanted to cry when Eric exited the room without giving Keenan another glance. He could see that Eric was hurt by Keenan’s jealousy, by the fact that as much as he tried to assure the other vampire that Gabriel was just his friend, Keenan still doubted him.

It had to stop. It had to stop now. Taking a deep breath, Gabriel met Keenan’s eyes.

“Keenan… Stop this! He loves you so… and you are hurting him.”

Keenan glared at Gabriel, his black eyes like blazing embers threatening to burn the youth alive. “It’s none of your business. Stay out of it.”

“It is my business. Eric is my friend.” Gabriel persisted, despite the fact that all his instincts screamed at him that making Keenan mad wasn’t the wisest thing to do.

“Your friend? Your friend? What I saw a minute ago seemed more than what a friend would do.” Keenan snapped, and Gabriel knew that the vampire was barely managing to restrain himself from attacking him.

Obviously, Eric felt Keenan’s anger, because he turned to glance at his lover, “Keenan… Please, why must we fight? Gabriel is my friend… Why can’t you understand that?”

The older vampire gave Eric a torn look, his reply more than obvious in his silence. Keenan would always be jealous because of Eric. It didn’t have to be justified. It was a fact of life, just like Gabriel’s separation of his mate was.

“Perhaps it is better that I leave.” Gabriel said with a sigh.

“What?” Eric gasped, giving him a horrified look. “You can’t leave! Where will you go? And in your state… No! Absolutely not!”

“Eric, I’m not talking about running away here. I was thinking of moving from the Tower, maybe to the club, or someplace else, with Cassandra… I don’t know. Right, Keenan? I could do that, right?”

Gabriel could tell Keenan was torn between agreeing with his lover and accepting Gabriel’s idea. “It’s all right, Eric.” He smiled comfortingly. “It’s not like I’m going to move out right now.”

Keenan nodded. “Besides, there are more urgent issues we need to discuss.”

Eric gave the older vampire an earnest look. “Did you…?”

“Shush, pet.” Keenan said sternly. “Let me talk to Gabriel.”

The older vampire gestured Gabriel to sit again and joined them, choosing a place on the leather armchair in front of the couch. “First, I want to say that this discussion has no connection whatsoever with my personal feelings regarding you and Eric. That is an issue for another day.”

Eric’s eyes widened at the professional tone, but Keenan gave him a small smile, obviously intending to comfort him. “Don’t panic, pet. I’m merely saying that to cover my basis.”

“You’ve been here a week now, Gabriel, and you have yet to tell us how and why you got here. Upon Eric and Cassandra’s request, I gave you some time to adjust, but I’m afraid I don’t have the liberty to do that any longer.”

“Why, Keenan? What’s happened?” Eric asked.

Keenan gave Eric a look and the young vampire promptly shut his mouth. Gabriel worried his lip and looked down. “I… You’re right, of course. I apologize for… taking so long.”

He swallowed, trying to calm down. He knew that his ability the human tongue was already poor and when he was nervous he only got worse. “Calm down, Gabriel.” Eric said softly. “Take your time.”

The Alarian looked up from the floor again to smile at his friend only to see that in the short interval in which he hadn’t been paying attention, the room had filled with the rest of the paranormals. Even Jacob and Elis were here – and Gabriel paled visibly. The two shifters intimidated Gabriel even more than Keenan.

Cassandra moved by his side, squeezing his shoulder. At the same time, Eric took his hand and held it. Gabriel was thankful for the silent support of his friends. This way, he could try and tell his story without breaking into little pieces.

“It’s not much to hear really. I grew up in a convent. My father was the king of Alaria and he wanted me away from the court and his other two sons. It wasn’t a happy childhood, but I thought that after I came of age I would be free of it. Then I found out that my father had arranged my marriage with Lothar, the superintendent at the monastery. I was very sad, I thought everything was lost.” Gabriel considered telling them the story behind his and Lothat’s mating, but decided against it. They didn’t need to know he’d almost commited suicide. “But then I met Luce.” He finished.

“Your mate?” Cassandra inquired.

“Yes.” Gabriel blinked back tears, remembering that day when he’d first met Lucien. “He came on official business to my father’s court. We… fell in love.”

Gabriel wiped his tears and focused to finish the story. “He and his brother Cade, and his friend Zeli – and my own brothers – they helped me out of the arranged mating. And we left. Then… We left to Xeetha, where Luce lived. His parents didn’t agree with us mating in the beginning, but then they got used to the idea. But then…”

Gabriel’s nails bit into his palms as the memory of his last day on Kaldor flashed through his mind’s eye. “Then they found out I was half human.” He practically spat. “They hated humans, so they imprisoned Luce, Cade and my brothers, and threw me out here on Earth. I think they would have killed me if not for the baby.”

A pained sound suddenly echoed in the room, but its source wasn’t Gabriel, it was Eric. Eric’s eyes rolled in his head and his body suddenly started seizing violently. Gabriel’s eyes widened and he immediately jumped to his feet, ready to come to his friend’s aid. An ugly glare from Keenan stopped him in his tracks, “Stay away, you. Stay away or else…” The vampire hissed angrily.

Gabriel took a step back as Keenan hugged his lover to his chest and held him tightly. “Shh, pet, shh… It’s fine. You’re fine, I’m here.”

But it wasn’t fine. Eric’s fit was getting worse by the second, his body shaking so furiously that the elder vampire was having trouble restraining him. His fangs had somehow emerged, out of control and his lips were crimson red with his own blood. He seemed to be struggling, stuck in some sort of nightmare he could not escape, bound by ties that he could not break.

The Alarian gave Cassandra a panicked look, but the woman wasn’t looking at him. “Maybe you should take him to get some rest, Keenan.” She said softly. Keenan nodded and took his lover’s shaking body in his arms, carrying him out of the room.

Gabriel barely stopped himself from going after the vampire. He forced himself to look away from the door. What was going on? Why had Eric suddenly gotten sick? He’d completely skipped his entire stay at Kirgen especially because he didn’t want to be pitied. He was luckier than most; after all, he had managed to escape Lothar and find Luce. And if the Light so wanted it, Luce would find him again, here on Earth. There was nothing in his story that could have affected Eric in such a manner.

“Cassandra… What…?”

The female vampire sighed. “You know Eric has powers, right? Well, he’s psychic. When he touched you, he saw something – probably whatever you were thinking of at the time, maybe something else…”

Gabriel paled visibly. That meant Eric had seen… Oh, light above, no! What a disaster!

The young Alarian buried his head in his hands and practically flinched when Cassandra patted his arm. “Calm down, Gabriel! He’s strong, my fledgling. He’ll be just fine, you’ll see.”

The mood was more than awkward when Gabriel looked up. Surprisingly, it was Elis who broke the silence. “I know that it may seem insensitive of me, but we really need to know more than that about your past.”

Gabriel blinked, taken aback by the nonchalance of the other man. He really didn’t seem to care much about Gabriel’s feelings, about Eric – or anyone else’s for that matter – but the brunet suddenly had a feeling that Elis wasn’t quite as bad as he seemed to be.

“What exactly do you need to know?”

“Appearance, a full name perhaps. Anything you can think of about them.”

Gabriel stared wide-eyed at the demon. “Why do you need to know that? Why do you care?” He asked almost hysterically.

“Calm down, Gabriel, please!” Cassandra turned him around to look straight into his eyes. “Eric is going to be fine! Keenan will take care of it!”

“But didn’t you see him? He looked like he was going to die! Oh, light above, I’ve killed my friend!”

Cassandra awkwardly wrapped her slender arms around Gabriel and drew him to her chest. “It’s ok.” She whispered. “He’ll be fine. Besides, he’s done this before.”

“It wasn’t quite this bad before…” Giovanni murmured almost inaudibly. Gabriel still heard him – and he felt increasing dread and depression settling over the room. Cassandra was rocking him now, and Gabriel was fairly certain her mind was no longer even there. As a vampire sire, she was directly affected when something happened to her fledgling.

“We need to know because we think that he may come get you,” Elis insisted. “But since we don’t know anything about him there’s no way we can identify him if he does…”

“Oh, he’ll come.” Gabriel interrupted. “I’m sure of it. I’ve seen it.” He left out the fact that logically, he was as of yet unsure whether his visions could be trusted or not. They simply had to be true! Lucien would never abandon him!

“Say again?” Jacob arched a brow, his voice dripping sarcasm. “Seen it?”

Ignoring the other man’s skepticism, Gabriel nodded. “I have visions. I see the future.” He said simply.

“You see the future?” Elis snorted. “Then how come you couldn’t prevent being attacked?”

“It doesn’t work like that. I’m still very young – the visions are erratic, sometimes confusing. They come and go and I have no real control over them. I’ve gotten better at it lately, but it’s still pretty much the same.” Gabriel sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “You’re right, though. I did see myself coming here on Earth. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it.”

“And you’re telling us about this now?” Giovanni snapped at him.

“Why would have I told you before?” Gabriel glared at the demon. “With the exception of Cassandra and Eric, I know nothing about you people!”

“If not for us, you’d probably be dead now!”

Gabriel deflated, his anger draining out of him. He suddenly felt tired. He couldn’t understand anything. “I know. I’m thankful for it. I apologize. I just...”

“Gabriel, please! It’s important…”

“My mate’s name is Lucien, second son of king Seyran and Lyan of Xeetha. He’s blond and has blue eyes, and has white wings. His older brother Cade is also blond and has violet eyes. My brothers are called Kalin and Orin, and they are sons of King Karon and Queen Leyra of Alaria. Cade and Kalin are mated, and Orin is mated with Zeli, Luce and Zeli’s best friend.”

Elis gave him a blank look, obviously having difficulty in registering the info dump. “It’s ok, for now. Now we have something to tell you.”

“Tell me? Tell me what?”

“Gabriel… We found your mother.”

***

Gabriel swallowed nervously and stole another furtive glance at the sign of the shop. “Are you sure about this? What if she doesn’t like me?”

Eric smiled gently and patted the Alarian’s hand with his own gloved palm. It pained Gabriel that Eric had been forced to wear gloves and long sleeves in his presence, so that their skin would not make contact. Eric just laughed and shrugged it off, joking about someone called Rogue, whoever that was. But the mood had been even tenser than usual since Eric’s fit and even Cassandra had started showing some discomfort around him. Gabriel suspected she wasn’t as ok with his involvement in Eric’s sudden seizure as she’d seemed that evening.

Eric was still kind, as kind and nice to him as always. “Don’t worry, Gabriel.” He said. “Patrice is a wonderful woman. And besides, what’s not to like?”

Gabriel wanted to say that there were plenty of things not to like, like the fact that he was a murderer. Furthermore, Eric hadn’t said it, but they all knew that Gabriel’s son was a problem. There was a high possibility that his mother would be uncomfortable with the idea of a pregnant male.

“I know you’re frightened, Gabriel, but it’s best like this. She’ll love you no matter what, you’ll see.”

He didn’t have the time to change his mind, because Eric started to pull him inside. “Come on. She’s inside.”

A dark-haired woman appeared from the back and Gabriel hid behind Eric, feeling more inadequate than ever.

“Oh, Eric, hi!” The woman greeted cheerfully.

“Hi, Pat. No, not today. We’re just visiting.”

“Visiting? I see. And who did you bring with you?”

Eric broke out of Gabriel’s hold and pulled Gabriel to stand in front of him. Twin sets of black eyes met and Gabriel clutched Eric’s gloved hand even tighter. “Hi.” He managed to croak out. “I’m Gabriel.”

The woman said nothing, her smile frozen on her face and twisting into an expression of shock. “Eric? What… what’s going on?”

They stared at each other for the longest time, and Gabriel simply did not know what to say. Eric finally seemed to find to courage to reply to Patrice’s question, although Gabriel thought he could have done in a slightly more tactful manner. “This is Gabriel, your son.”

Gabriel looked down, unable to meet his mother’s gaze any longer. She would reject him - he was certain of it now. “My son? My son…” Patrice murmured.

He found himself in a flowery scented embrace, his mother’s arms wrapping around him tightly. “Oh, God… My son. My little Gabriel.”

At first, Gabriel was astounded by this development, by the sudden display of affection of this stranger. But then he realized that this was no stranger, this was his mother, the mother he’d thought about so many sad nights, the mother he’d sometimes heard weeping in his dreams. Gabriel’s eyes filled with tears and he hugged his mother back, all the years of yearning and loneliness finally bursting out.

Patrice wiped her red eyes and let out a little laugh. “Look at that, you’re all covered in lipstick.” There was a little pause and their eyes met again. This time, Gabriel was smiling, no longer uncertain and when his voice came out shaky, it wasn’t because of fear or nervousness, but because of an overwhelming feeling of relief and warmth spreading inside.

“That’s all right, Mother.” He answered. “Everything’s all right.”

Alas, all the excitement of the day finally got to him and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He surely would have fallen if not for Patrice’s presence at his side.

“Gabriel? Gabriel? What’s wrong?” Gabriel’s mother immediately asked, sounding alarmed.

“It’s ok, Pat.” Eric tried to soothe her. “He’s fine. It’s just nerves.”

Gabriel tried to smile, but it came out shaky and false. The symptoms of his pregnancy seemed to be getting stronger lately. He hoped nothing had gone wrong and his son was all right in spite of everything that had happened.

Patrice was not convinced. “Don’t lie to me! Come on, come sit.”

Gabriel found himself being ushered through a back door and into a smaller room, one that seemed to be an office of sorts. Patrice indicated the little couch and Gabriel gladly obeyed. As he lay down on the couch, he closed his eyes for a bit, allowing the flowery scent that surrounded him to comfort his senses. He heard his mother move around in the room and then the distinguishing flavor of a herbal brew started to permeate the air. “Here, honey. Drink this. It should make you feel better.”

Gabriel nodded, taking the cup from his mother. “Thank you.”

“No problem, sweat heart. Just stay here for a minute. I need to talk to your friend.”

Gabriel didn’t miss the strain that had appeared in his mother’s voice. He carefully schooled his expression into neutrality, wondering she thought about the whole thing. She had seemingly accepted him, yes, but she still didn’t know anything about his Kaldorian legacy, about his mate and his son.

As Patrice exited the room, Gabriel strained his hearing to catch the words being said.

“What’s going on? Where has Gabriel been all these years? I hired detectives, looked for Aaron all over the place, but he was nowhere to be found. And how do you even know he is my son? I mean, God knows I practically feel him as mine, but still…”

Gabriel’s insides froze at that particular phrase. “We did a DNA testing. He’s your son, no doubt about it.” Eric said.

“DNA testing? How? And without my approval? Eric, what is going on?”

Gabriel looked up at the closed door, but found that he didn’t really know if he could get up without falling. He counted on Eric to convince his mother to come talk to him.

“All your questions will be answered,” Keenan said sternly. Gabriel felt strangely thankful for the vampire’s presence. If something bad happened, Keenan would be able to fix things, to explain things better.

“Gabriel has the right to hear this.” Eric finally said and Gabriel sent a mental thanks to his friend. He didn’t know for sure if Eric heard, but either way, the door opened again and the three stepped into the room.

His mother gave Gabriel a forced smile. “Are you feeling any better, Gabriel?”

“Yes. I heard you wanted to know what was going on, where I’ve been all these years.”

Patrice seemed to be surprised at Gabriel’s reply, probably not realizing he had heard their discussion. “Yes. You have to understand, I’ve looked for you for so long. I’m almost afraid to hope.”

Gabriel sighed and looked down, not knowing what to say or do. How could he tell his mother he’d been living in another world, mated a man and ended up pregnant with his mate? Even if he did leave out the gruesome details of his stay at Kirgen, it would be an unbelievable tale, almost cruel for Patrice, given that she herself had expressed her disbelief.

The choice was taken out of Gabriel’s hands by Eric’s strangely cool voice. “He lived in Alaria, his father’s home country.”

“Alaria?” Gabriel’s mother repeated, confused. “I’ve never heard of such a country existing.”

Well, Eric had made the first step. They couldn’t back out now.

“That’s because it isn’t here on Earth. Alaria is on another world.”

Patrice stared at them, frozen in shock. “Is this some sort of joke?” She said once she recovered enough to speak. “Eric, what in the world are you trying to do here? If Gabriel is indeed my son…”

Gabriel’s eyes filled with tears at the knowledge that his first impression had been, indeed correct, that his mother would reject him. Patrice didn’t get the chance to finish her phrase, as she was interrupted by Eric.

“Stop it.” The young vampire said. “I think we should discuss this another day. Keenan?”

Keenan just nodded silently. Eric smiled at Gabriel and took his hand. “Come on, Gabriel. We’re go home for now. Let Keenan deal with the rest, ok?”

Gabriel looked at his mother’s still shocked face, at Keenan’s stern features and Eric’s kind smile. It wasn’t really much of a choice. He wanted to stay by his mother’s side, but at the same time, he feared that her rejection might have an effect on his son. “All right.”

“No, wait,” Patrice pleaded. “Don’t go. We can just forget about it for now. Just stay here for a bit. Oh God… Please don’t go! I meant no offense.”

Getting up, Gabriel inwardly smiled in satisfaction as he realized the nausea and dizziness had almost entirely faded. He appreciated his mother’s words and he hated himself for his cowardice but he really did think that Keenan would be the best person to deal with this. Already he was asking a lot of Keenan and the other paranormals. He could easily tell divulging their existence to the outside world wasn’t something the paranormals liked to do. It would be for the best to give Keenan a little time and space to do his own thing.

Gabriel leaned over to deposit a kiss on his mother’s cheek. “It’s ok. I’ll be back later.”

“Bye, sweet heart.” Patrice replied, still looking torn. “I’ll see you soon, right?”

With a final silent nod, Gabriel allowed Eric to lead him out of the flower shop. He hoped that Eric’s trust in Keenan was justified. He really didn’t want to lose his mother before he even had a chance to meet her.

***

When the door to the florist’s shop closed behind Eric and Gabriel, Keenan turned towards Patrice Nelson. “All right. Now you and me are going to talk.”

The human woman seemed surprised by the sudden shift in attitude. “Mr. von Klein, I don’t understand. What is so important that you couldn’t say with Gabriel here? You first say he has the right to hear and then send him away. And what’s this business about another world? Do you mean Africa? Was he a slave of some sort?”

Keenan raised a hand to stop the sudden outpour of questions. He knew that disclosing information on the paranormal world to the human woman would be dangerous, but at the same time, he needed to prepare the field for when the Ancients showed up. If such a thing happened, Gabriel would be the only person to stand between New York and a blood bath. Things were already in motion and Keenan needed to get Gabriel on their side. If push came to shove, Keenan could always erase Patrice’s memories and do some damage control. As it was, Gabriel hadn’t received a very warm welcome in New York, not even from Keenan. Jealousy always got the best of him. He would have to fix things and hope for the best.

“No, Ms. Nelson, not Africa,” he replied calmly. “Another world as in a different planet.”

Patrice stared at him, a blank expression on her face. Keenan waited for any type of reaction from her. When it finally came, he could barely contain his shock.

The human woman collapsed on the chair, burying her face in her hands. “It can’t be. It can’t be right,” she whispered brokenly. “All those dreams… God!”

Keenan arched a brow at her, remembering Gabriel’s claim of being able to see the future. Apparently Gabriel had inherited more from his mother than Keenan had expected.

Tears flowed on Patrice’s face as she rambled on, more to herself than to Keenan. “I saw him, so many times, I saw him. Just a shadow in my dreams. He was in so much pain and everything was so different that I just couldn’t accept… But it was real, all of it was real. How? How is it possible? I don’t understand…”

For once, Keenan didn’t know what to say. Providing comfort wasn’t his strong point, especially to people that weren’t his pet.

“Is everything all right, Keenan?”Eric’s voice whispered in Keenan’s mind.

“Not sure,” Keenan replied. “She seemed to have known something about it already.”

For a second, Eric didn’t reply. “I really do hope things turn out for the best,” he finally said, “and not because of the Ancients.”

Keenan suppressed a wince at Eric’s snappish tone. His pet had become extremely attached to Gabriel and he didn’t appreciate Keenan using Gabriel as a tool to keep the Ancients’ anger at bay. Keenan couldn’t help it, though. He wasn’t kind and gentle-hearted like Eric. He did what he had to do. His actions would not hurt Gabriel so in the end, it would be for the best, for everyone.

Shaking himself, Keenan focused on the human woman again.

“Gabriel is staying with me at the moment,” he told Patrice, hoping to snap her out of her trance. “There are many issues to explain, but the most important thing is that he needs you.”

Patrice’s eyes snapped back to him and she seemed to become more focused. “I want to go see him. Please! I reacted badly… I hurt his feelings. Please, let me see him!”

Keenan congratulated himself for choosing the perfect card to play. As long as Patrice focused on Gabriel, she didn’t have to know about the paranormals here on Earth. She would be told eventually, but only after Keenan made sure she was trustworthy.

“Pet? Can Gabriel see his mother now?”

Eric’s reply didn’t delay in coming. “He seems a bit tired. Maybe in a few hours.”

“I will send a car for you in a few hours,” Keenan told Patrice. She opened his mouth to protest, but in the end, just nodded. Keenan could tell that the hours Gabriel needed to rest would be useful for Patrice herself, so that the woman could get accustomed to the idea of seeing her son again. He wasn’t exactly certain what she had seen that could make her sob like that. In fact, he’d been expecting more disbelief, rather than that insane amount of grief.

Either way, his task was done here. Nodding towards Patrice, he exited the florist shop, his mind already on the things to come. He needed to be prepared for when the Ancients showed up. A disaster like in Europe wasn’t acceptable. Keenan had fucked many things up in the past few month, but this time, he would do his duty towards his world. New York would stay safe, no matter what.