First of all, I have to apologize for the gigantical gap I'd allowed to grow between the last episode and this one. Second, I have to apologize for the fact that I couldn't come up with a better title or summary. I'm a bit tapped.

Anyway, this is another bit of literary setup, albeit one, I hope, which is a bit interesting in its own right. Once again, the rating is for language, and there are scroll-over translations for both Chinese and Spanish. There isn't any smuttiness until next episode.

Got your attention there, didn't I? I thought I did.

Serenety et. al. Are property of Joss et. al.

Feedback is appreciated. The way air is appreciated. Don't suffocate me. I'm too pretty to die.

Running Away

Monday tugged her coat closer to herself as the uncharacteristically cold wind swept down through the street, sending the hawkers and layabouts scuttling further into shelter. The rain that fell now was cold, and especially jarring when compared to the blood-warm deluge which had fallen only a few weeks earlier on the eve of Carnivale. She glanced about, but found no eyes following her. She was just another faceless wanderer, trying to reach an unknown destination before she soaked to the bone.

Which was alright by her estimation.

Another gust of wind threw her hood back, and she quickly snatched it back into place. The creeping paranoia that she was being watched was beginning to send her skin into writhing convulsions. She knew it was just that, paranoia, but ever since Tobin... She shook her head, damp strands of her hair flicking in arcs, as she dispelled the thought before it could settle back into her. She didn't want to think about that.

After composing herself, she refocused herself on her task. Lex had left again, without saying where he was going. This time, though, there'd been no burly, silent guardian standing outside her door. She'd like to say that she was going out to prove she was tougher than he gave credit, but that nagging voice in the back of her head snidely pointed