A/N. Okay, this is a remake of "This Hell I'm In." I talked it over with my friend (who's writing the same story from another character's point of view) and we realized that my version didn't make sense with the characters' pasts. So, here is my second try. Please, please, please review!

I breathed in the scent of the evergreen bush I was crouching inside of. The sweet, piney smell flooded my lungs. Her car drove into the parking lot. Right on schedule—just how I remembered her.

Lena-I had tried living without her, but that plan had only lasted for about five months. That's when I had decided to track her down again.

There was no chance that we could just pick up where we left off. My memory swipe charm had taken care of that. But, we could start over. She would never know that I had betrayed her, leaving her when I knew she needed me the most. I had been given a second chance.

She stopped the car, an old junkie that she'd fixed up to look like a 1979 Firebird, and turned it off. I watched one of the doors open and out tumbled a boy with black hair and fair skin. Elliot.

Lena's twin brother Elliot was the most sensible out of the three siblings. He was the one who kept all three of them in line, only looking to one person when he was in dire need of help—his sister Lena.

He looked around, quickly taking in his surroundings, and a devilish grin came over his face. This was his raid. He wouldn't screw it up. Elliot jogged up to the store and went inside. I was tempted to follow him inside, just to see him up close again. But I stayed in place. I would get my chance to see him. If I was patient, I would be able to talk to all three of them. I just had to play my cards right.

Then, to my surprise, the junkie's door opened again. This time, Tara stepped out. /I get it now, / I thought. /Elliot keeps the clerk busy and buys a few meaningless items, and then Tara comes in and lifts the bigger stuff. Lena keeps the get-away car ready to go. / Tara slinked up to the store and snuck inside. From here, I could tell that she'd grown quite beautiful in the past few months.

Lena started the car after a few moments, obviously thinking that they'd be coming out soon. Then she'd find out just how wrong she really was.

My best friend, Angel, was waiting for Elliot and Tara. She was the store clerk. I had asked her to keep them for a few minutes longer than usual in order to get Lena to go in after them to make sure that they were okay.

My plan worked beautifully. Lena turned off the car again. Her door opened. I strained to see as much of her as I could. First her feet, /She still wore those same motorcycle boots. / Then her legs. /Same ripped up jeans. / Her hand reached out and grabbed the top of the car door. A red half-glove with long fringe was visible as she did. Then my breath caught in my throat. She bent her head and pulled herself out of the car. As she stood up, her long, curly dark hair fell back from her face. I whispered a quick spell to make my vision reach out further. I gasped. She was still beautiful, of course. That about her would never change. But now, she looked tired and drained, if not defeated. My eyes followed her as she walked across the parking lot and into the store. My feet froze in place.

"Move!" I said to myself furiously. I was going to miss my chance. Forcing myself to move quickly and quietly, I rushed to her car. I tested the door—unlocked.

I silently opened the door and slipped inside. I squeezed myself into the tight space underneath the driver's seat. Reaching up, my hand grabbed the door and shut it back. I hoped that no one had seen me pull of this little escapade. Although, part of me wished my awesomeness had been caught on camera.

The smell of dirty clothes and old food invaded my nose. Yet, I lay completely still. I heard the doors open. The passenger seat folded down and Elliot and Tara climbed into the back, giggling to themselves. Then Lena sat down in the driver's seat. She swung her legs over and I silently maneuvered my head so she wasn't touching me. Of course this meant that my face was between her legs, a foot away from her crotch.

She closed the door and took her keys out. I heard her put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine gunned, purring loudly. I smiled. Now was my chance.

I jumped up, scaring her half to death. Without thinking about it at all, I shoved her across the console and held her in the passenger seat with my right foot. I placed my left foot on the gas and floored it, my legs not even mildly strained from the position I was sitting in. My job made it possible for me to bend like that.

Two minutes and five miles later, Lena spoke. After not hearing her voice for five, almost six, months, her words were like music to my soul.

"Chick, if you needed a ride, all you had to do was ask." I looked over at her and was so shocked I nearly drove into the ditch on the side of the road. The car behind us honked in protest. I leaned out the window and flipped them off. Looking at her again, I licked my lips. She was so blatantly ignorant as to who I was and had absolutely no idea the memories she was missing.

"Works for me," I said, blinking away the memories that were coming to mind, and trying to fake a sense of calm. I stopped the car and put it in park. It seemed like she knew I would do anything for her.

"Thanks," she said, switching seats with me. I barely stifled a groan as her ass moved over my leg. She didn't say anything, but the corner of her mouth twitched in an effort not to smile and I knew she noticed. "My brother and sister are in the back, that's why," she said.

"I know." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. She looked over at me as she put the car in drive. "I saw them when you got in," I said, turning away so she couldn't see me blush.

"Sissy!" Tara squealed from the back seat. I smiled. So they still used that nickname.

"What is it, Tara?" Lena asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror at them.

"Elliot hurt me!" Tara yelled. A low growl came up from Lena's throat. "He hit me." Lena turned around in her seat.

"If you don't knock it off, the both of you, I will kick your butts into the next dimension!" she scolded. I smiled. I knew she would never hurt either of them, no matter how much they got on her nerves.

"But, sissy!" Elliot protested. Lena gave him her famous evil eye and he leaned back in his seat, looking at the floor. "I was just playing air guitar," he muttered. Lena laughed. I glanced back at the two kids. They were beginning to argue.

"Kids! I swear, I will!" Lena growled, recovering. Elliot and Tara were silent, except for a small "humph" from Tara. I wondered if she could still wrap me around her little finger like she used to. Even at eight years old, she always got her way.

"I don't think I caught your name," Lena said, her /wonderful/ voice breaking into my thoughts. I smiled, remembering that when we had first me, I had given her a fake name.

"It's Lauren," I said. "Lauren McCallister." Lena smiled over at me and my heart tightened. Oh, it was so long ago that she had last smiled at me like that.

"I'm Lena," she said. I nodded. She reached over, holding her hand out for me to shake. "Pleased to meet you" she said. Without thinking, I took her hand. A jolt of electricity shot through my fingers as we touched and I yanked my hand away. I glanced over at Lena to see if she had felt it too. Her face betrayed nothing.

"Hey, sis?" Elliot asked. "Um, I was wondering if I could go over to Elijah's tonight." Lena thought for a moment. /Elijah, / I thought. /Why was that so familiar? /

"You're still dating him?" I asked out loud. /Shit! What did I just do? / Elliot, Tara, and Lena all stared at me.

"Yea," Elliot said cautiously. "How do you know that?" he asked, a deep frown forming on his face.

"Elijah probably has a friend in common with Lauren," Lena said. "Right, Lauren?" I nodded, blushing again.

"Yea," Elliot said. "You're probably right." He didn't say anything else and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll drop you off at Elijah's, take Tara over to Ruby's, and then I'll take you home, Lauren. That okay?" Lena asked. My lips tightened anxiously, but I nodded.

Home. I hadn't been back there since I'd left almost a year ago. Since then, I'd lived with Lena in New Jersey, (though she didn't know that and neither did Elliot or Tara) spent about a month in Virginia, and traveled down the East Coast to the Florida-Georgia state line. Now I was back.

Would Larry let me back home? What about Natalie? I knew I'd only been gone eleven months, but that was a long time to a four year-old. To anyone, that was a long time. Would she still remember me?

"Yea," I said. "That's fine." But it was far from being fine. I looked out the window and watched the scenery go by for the next half hour, not even noticing when Lena dropped both of her siblings off at their friends' houses.

"So," I said, as we pulled away from Ruby's. She'd turned out to be an adult—Tara's babysitter. Lena started down the main road. "Guess we'll be going to my place next.

Lena jerked the steering wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes. "Wrong," she snarled. She threw her door open and leapt out, slamming it behind her. I watched her through the window—noticing we were now at the park.

She walked over to a tree and leaned against it, sinking to the ground as I walked up. I crouched down next to her.

"You okay?" I asked. She glared at me, her stony, green-blue eyes piercing my soul. Then, to my surprise, she jumped at me, tackling me to the ground and pinning me so that I couldn't move. This was not going according to my plan.

"Tell me!" she snarled, her face inches from mine. "Tell me how you know all this about us—Elliot's boyfriend, the fact that I even have siblings. I just met you!" Lena paused, as if unsure of herself.

"And tell me, tell me why you look so familiar! Who are you? Why…why do I feel as if I know you when I don't?" I bit my lip, holding back tears. This was not how I wanted or reunion to happen.

Lena glared at me again. "Tell me!" she yelled. When I didn't answer, she pulled back her fist, fingers clenched tightly. She was going to hit me.

Lena!" a masculine voice called. "Lena, stop! You don't want to do that." Lena looked behind her and my eyes followed her line of sight.

"David?" she exclaimed. /David? Where?/ He materialized next to us and yanked Lena off of me. "What are you doing?" she screeched, fighting him as he held tightly on to her arms. I leapt to my feet.

Memory charms don't work on ghosts, so David knew that Lena and I technically knew each other. I glared at him, mentally threatening everlasting torture if he told her. He gave me a small nod and I knew he'd read my thoughts and heard the threat.

"Let me go!" Lena yelled, struggling against him.

"Stop it!" David said sternly. "She's a Black Witch with Earth powers, not to mention a daughter of Zeus. Do you want to be executed?" Lena stopped fighting.

"Just like…" She trailed off.

"Just like who?" I asked anxiously.

"I don't remember," she said. "Someone I thought I remembered being very close to. But then they left…"

"It was a dream," David said. "You had it a few nights ago. I gave it to you so that you would be ready to meet Lauren today. But, I guess it didn't work, because you tried to kill her."

"She didn't!" I yelled, my voice growing defensive. Lena looked at me in surprise. "I mean, I would have beaten her. She just caught me by surprise." David rolled his eyes.

"Kay," he said. "Here's the 411. Lena, take Tara and El, you're going o be living with Lauren for a while. Now, I'll leave you two kiddies to figure out the details. Ta-ta!" And he was gone.

"David!" we both yelled. Lena turned, glaring at me. "How do you know David?" she growled. I rolled my eyes, remembering why I always had ignored her when she was in a mood like this.

"He's one of my protectors," I said. "I'm Zeus' favorite daughter, so I'm guaranteed more than one protector."

"I'm a daughter of Hades," Lena said. "I know what you're talking about." I bit my lip angrily.

"Then stop acting like a bitch!" I exclaimed. Her fist connected with my face, leaving my right eye stinging. Before I could react, I was on the ground again, with Lena sitting on top of me, my arms pinned above my head.

She glared at me, breathing heavily, and I laughed, amused.

"You're out of practice," I said. She tried to hit me again, but I dodged it. I tilted my head up, kissing her. My mind cleared instantly. Oh, how I had missed this.

Lena gasped in shock, but she didn't pull away. After a moment, she began kissing back, her lips working franticly against mine.

The moment ended too soon. Lena pulled away, shoving me back to the ground. She leapt away from me.

"What…what the hell was that?" she growled. I shrugged. Even I didn't know what I was doing. The idea to kiss her had been just a momentary lapse of my self-control and better judgment.

I got to my feet and started toward Lena's car. "Hey, witch!" she called. I paused, turning to look at her. "You're driving," she said with a distant smile. I held out my hand and she tossed me the keys.