She woke groggy and feeling like her head was splitting open. The candle had burned down to almost nothing but by its dying light she could make out that it was 2pm.

'Dear God, I slept that long?' She thought as she slipped out of the bed.

She looked around and willed a second candle on. Her brain wouldnt register all the graduer around her, but she saw a door and headed for it.

The bathroom was the size of her livingroom at home! It had a huge whirlpool tub and beautifull double sinks, but all she had eyes for was the shower. She briefly glanced at her reflection as she took off her clothes and carefully folded them. She looked like hell... Her eyes were puffy and red, evidence that she had been bawling... infront of two warriors no less. The confession of the night before came back to her as she set her clothing on the counter and turned on the water.

She was glad to have gotten it off her chest. Very glad that Bella hadnt tried to comfort her.... yet. She felt as if she would fly apart into a million pieces if someone tried to hug her... God she missed them so much. It wasnt just the blood she missed, but the laughter, and smiles and music.... Her life had always had laughter... even in her younger years, when her father had beaten her mother and herself.

She felt oddly lighter as she stepped into the steaming spray and let it pound at her neck and back. She missed Marlius terribly, but she still had her sister, and she prayed to the Scribe Virgin that their relationship could be fixed..... prayed that she could have at least one friend.

When she emerged from the bathroom almost a whole hour later, her skin was flushed and she felt light headed. She was resting on the bed wrapped in her towel when there was a gentle knock at the door.

She figured it was Bella.... it sounded like her knock. So she called out,

“Come in!” as she swung her feet over the side and sat up.

When Phury came threw the door, both were shocked for a few seconds. He took that time to look at her.... the droplets of water still clinging to her skin, dripping down from wet and wavy hair.... Her shoulders and face flushed from the heat of the shower and now the blush was intensifying in her face. Her eyes were wide and gleaming emerald of the brightest he had ever seen and he quickly spun around with his hand on the doorknob. He couldnt help catching a glimpse of her pale slender legs and dainty perfect feet hanging over the side of the massive bed.

“Im-uh, Im sorry I thought you would be up, I'll come back in a while.... I thought you might want food.... I'll just come back.” With those words being stammered out, he shut the door quickly but leaned against it. He couldnt stop replaying what he'd seen in his mind over and over.... Her slim body wrapped in nothing but that towel.... Every inch that he had seen was like an fine porcelain dolls skin... gleaming and perfectly white.... and that blush on her shoulders.... that was wonderfully amazing.

He pulled himself by sheer force of will back to his own room and shut himself in. Needing to calm his nerves he lit up a hand rolled and tried to relax. It wasnt that she stirred his blood exactly, though she did, it was more than that. She woke the artist in him.... he wished there was some way to have her stay here.... even a few days, he desperately wanted to draw her..... pencil, charcoal, anything. Whenever he closed his eyes he kept seeing that damp rosy shoulder with a single curl of wet hair clinging to it.



When he finished his smoke he grabbed his sketchbook and opened it. Flipping past a couple images of Bella's hands and her face laughing, he found a clean page and quickly drew what was in his mind. It was fast and a bit sloppy, but he was just going for form, not perfection.... He set the pad down again and starred at it. He wouldnt be able to draw everything from memory as he could with his images of Bella, but she was close enough in her looks that he could try. He was confident he could make it look like her but..... he didnt want to work on it now. He needed to go back, make sure she was okay, and bring her down to get food, she had to be staving by now. Afterall she had slept threw diner last night.

Closing his sketchpad he strode out of the room and back down the hallway to her door, it was cracked open. Did he leave it like that? He couldnt remember, but he knocked again softly.

“Come in.”

This time when he opened the door, she was sitting at the vanity brushing out her hair, still wet and twisting it into a messy bun. She had another sweater on, this one was dark green and baggy, with a big cowl neck and a thin black belt around her waist. She was wearing jeans today, and her boots. At seeing the heels, he remember unzipping them the night before, and forced himself to look at her eyes reflected in the mirror. He noticed she was watching him while she shoved clips into a few long strands to keep them out of her eyes.

She held his gaze for a few short moments before sliding out of the seat and standing. They were only two feet apart, but before either could open their mouth to speak, her stomach let off a loud growl.

Her face split into the most adorable smile he had ever seen, before she tamed it again and showed him a more docile expression. That one glimpse into the impishly cute female she must have been before was enough for him to offer her his arm old style and try to get past his own awkwardness.

“I suppose I waited too long then.... I'd better get food into you soon before you decide to eat the furniture.” But as she slid her arm threw the bend at his elbow he had second thoughts.... They would be walking very close, just about hip to hip all the way down to the kitchen. He tried galantly to lead the way and not blush, but it was a hard battle.

When they got to the kitchen, Z was already there making a sandwich for Bella. He looked at Phury first quickly then at Ginny.

“Theres enough turkey left to make a decent sandwich, we've got lettuce too.” He was neatly avoiding bringing up what had happened the night before and as he made his way past them, she stopped him with a hand on his bicep.

“Is she ok?.... With everything?” She didnt want to meet his gaze but she felt she had to. What she saw was a tenderness in his eyes she hadnt counted on, it was almost more intense then the look in Phurys. His free hand touched hers very briefly as he moved away and spoke as he left the room.

“She'll be fine once she gets over everything... You should come by our room while Im teaching tonight after midnight. Talk to her, you'll both feel better.”

He was gone and she was left staring after him while Phury stood unnoticed for the second time in 24 hours. He was beinging to hate the trend but he faught the crazy impulse to do something or say something that would make her notice him. Instead he went to the refridgerator and leaned in.

“Is turkey alright with you?”

“What?--- Oh yes, I can do it...” She took a few steps forward but he pointed to a cabinet.

“Breads up there.”

She got the bread down and together they made sandwiches, because once he made a motion to only make one she asked him politely if he would eat with her. She HATED eating alone... and with a male that size, they should be constantly hungry right? They both settled down into stools at the island in the kitchen, neither felt like going out to the dining area or back upstairs yet.

They ate in relative silence, him studying her face when she wasnt looking and her watching the way his hands moved while he ate. She noted he had the same slenderness of bone that Marlius had, but Phurys hands were larger...they were musicians hands. As they finished she asked, even tho she didnt really want to.

“Do you play anything Phury?” The voice in her head that was calm and confident sounded small and out of breath to her ears. He looked at her a moment before responding, because if he was truthfull with himself, that tone of voice sounded lovely to his ears and looking into her curious but saddened eyes he realized he wanted to make her happy and didnt know if he should lie or tell the truth. He settled for truth.

“Yes, I can play a few things, piano mostly, but I used to play a mean fiddle back in the day.” He turned to put their plates in the sink, thinking that was the end, but it wasnt.

“And when is 'Back in the day' for you?”

When he turned back to look at her, she was leaning, her hip cocked sideways resting on the island and had her hands clasped loosly in front of her body. She looked so timid, like the truth would hurt her, but he had to tell her eventually, she he turned around when he said it.

ìIf youre asking how long ago it was when I played the fiddle, I'll have to say about 75 years ago, just before Z and I became brothers, but if youre asking how old I am....The answer is 224 this coming spring.î Standing in the ktichen telling her how old he was, made him feel ridiculas and foolish. He stayed turned from her so he didnt see her eyes widen and look him up and down once slowly. Her mother would have been about that age.... Phury could have been her parent, but there was something that just made that seem wrong, some essence or purity or an edge of innocence to him that spoke to her in a way that screamed he was no one to fear. Her instincts had never steered her wrong, so she took that as a sign to try and befriend him.

She smiled at him when he turned back around to her. If Z didnt want her seeing her sister until
midnight, what was she going to do for 8 hours since she was technically awake really early.

"You teach with Zsadist, so when do you start teaching? 8?"

He smiled thankful that she didnt seem to have a problem with his age, though honestly he
didnt understand where the sudden anxiety about it had come from. He leaned back against
the counter to try and force himself to be cool and nodded.

"So.... I can guess what my sisters up to right now, what do you do if you're up this early and
class doesn't start til 8?" Casually she leaned back in the island, leaving a comfortable five feet
between them. She watched as he shrugged gracefully. She was bored andfeeling actually
rested after the full ten hours of sleep she'd had and as long as it wasn't playing music she would
do anything he was doing... if she wasnt a bother to him.

"Seriously.... What do you do when you've got down time? Between teaching and fighting you
must not get alot..."

He took a moment to avoid her eyes while still studying other features, like her hair. Last night
when it was dry it was so vivid a dark red, it wasnt a natural human color... but when it was wet,
it looked almost the same shade of dark chestnut brown or mohagany that Bella's was. He
decided her eyes, when not leaking, were actually some of the most beautiful he had seen,
so he met her gaze again.

"Well.... Eat, Sleep and train mostly."

"Theres a gym here?" She shook her head. "That was SUCH a dumb question." She smiled lightly
at him and blushed slightly.

"Do you think any of the other females are awake yet and would let me  borrow some clothes? I wouldnt mind a workout...." As a matter of fact, beating her body into the ground sounded like a good punishment for loosing it in front of the twins..... she prided herself on being self reliant and strong and total breakdown wasn't allowed.

"Uh..." He raised a hand up to run through some of his hair at the back of his neck. "Fritz could
find you something no problem.... We've got treadmills and punching bags... what kind of workout
are you looking for?" As soon as the words left his mouth his mind came up with an interesting
image and his cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink that looked way to adorable to be real.

He was a warrior, and brother, they shouldnt blush like that..... but she grinned at him anyway,
it was like she couldnt help it, and unlike up in her bedroom, this time she couldnt stop it, but the
more she grinned and smiled at him, the more he blushed. Then he looked down, before suddenly
seeming to realize he was a brother and shouldnt be acting like a bashful kid. Then he held his
head higher and looked her in the eye, but slowly her grin, because thats what it was, infected
him too.... and even though he was the butt of the joke, he found humor in it. Afterall, if he could
make her smile like that, she wasn't broken afterall.

"Cute, real cute." But she winked at him. She couldnt seem to stop herself from doing it, even
though it was really inappropriate. He was her brother-in-law for chissakes!

"So wheres Fritz at this time of day?"

Phury was staring at her face, now confident he could draw her if left on his own.... but he doubted
he would ever capture the full expressiveness of her smile.

"I'll call him." He replied and turned away towards the wall phone and before she could
protest he had dialed #44. He spoke briefly and after he hung up,
walked past her into what she assumed to be a pantry, but was the laundry room.

He took the clothes out of the dryer and tossed them into a basket and brought them back out to set on the island.

"He said Mary wouldnt mind letting you borrow something of hers. Most of her clothes
should fit you, you're both really.... small." She caught the pause.

"What were you going to say?"

He sighed. "You probably wouldnt like it, but... I guess I was going to say dainty."

He was right, she snorted indignantly and dug threw the clothing for a pair of gym
shorts and a tank top, then shook them out.

"Yep, dainty.... thats me." She scowled and stuck her tongue out at him as she left
the kitchen to change. He stood for a second staring at where she had just stood
before heading up to his room to change too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they were in the training center, she bee lined it to the treadmills. He wondered
if she would need any help, but it was apparent she had used one before and was jogging
at a even pace while he decided on what to do.

Usually if he was working out, he would ask one of the brothers to spot him on the weights.... lately he had a hard time getting anyone to spot on their free time. He chose to beat the punching bag for a while, and let his mind wander. As he began, he had to chuckle at himself. If he had a mate, he wouldnt want to spend him free time working out either, but he sunk into a rythym and was really getting into his workout.

Ginny tried not to watch but in the end gave up any pretense of ignoring him. God, he
was huge, but he moved so quickly. He was light on his feet and she could just tell that
he'd been fighting for a long time. He'd said he'd been in the brotherhood 75 years. She
couldnt imagine it, but she watched him beat on the bag and was thankfull that her sister
was here, surrounded by the strongest males of the race.

Her thighs and lungs had started to burn after 20 minutes of the jog, so she kicked up the speed and was running full out by the time Phury decided to use the treadmills too.

When he turned around, he had to stare. Her eyes were closed, probably concentrating on what had to be painfull by now. Sweat was shining on her face, he could see it soaking the edges of the tank top she'd borrowed. He hair, which she had taken out of the bun and put into a ponytail, was swinging around her shoulders. Her mouth was open, expelling air as fast as her nose took it in. She was running like a pro.... like that was what she always did... but watching her a moment he felt a slight pang of unease.

She didnt look that great, to his eye. Even tho she had slept for a long time, she still seemed
drained to him. Her skin was flushed but it wasnt like it had been before.... this was almost overdoing it. Problem was, he could tell she was zoned out, and she'd passed the point of slowing down, and she was settled into the routine of the pain. He didnt know how long a female could run for, but by his watch, she'd been jogging or running for almost 45 minutes.

He debated on how to handle the situation, and finally opted to drop his water bottle on the top of the machine. She immediately opened her eyes and stared at him. He could tell she didnt want to be disturbed, but he HAD to. Leaning his arms across the top he offered her thewater. She took it in a huff, still scowling at him, and he would have thought it was cute, if she didnt look like she would have stabbed him if she'd had a knife. He smiled a bit to try and disarm her.

"How far do you usually run?"

She poured the water down her  throat and watched him for a few moments before replying that her usual
run was 7 miles.... which she was finishing now. He took it as a dismissal, but he didnt feel terribly bad about interrupting her. She had seriously looked like crap. The water and glaring helped and he went over to the free weights and eyed them. He heard her turn the speed down to a light jog and decided to do some bicep curls while she came down.

He took his shirt off as he sat, not because he thought of how it could effect her to see his body, but because it was already soaked down the back.

She had sworn a very long time ago, that she wouldnt be caught up in the trap of mating and bonding.... what she had said the nightbefore might have been true but she doubted it. She just didnt see a way any male would want her if they knew how defective she was. Even swearing off males, she almost choked when he took off the shirt. He was solid muscle, a great wall of strength.... you didnt fight the lessers and not get ripped but dear Virgin, he was.... amazing.

She wasnt so much excited at the sight as she was appreciative. She had no idea why Bella had gone for the scarred brother, but whoever got her brother in law was going to be one lucky female. She watched him use the barbells for a little while as she slowed down to a walk, then got off the treadmill.

"I drank all your water, you have anymore around here?"

He could hear a note of friendliness in her voice again, and that made him happy. He turned his head to the side and looked at her. He realized Mary's clothing fit her well, but she had a slightly bigger chest than Mary... it made the shirt look better on her, and it was damp from sweat, tho her color was a nice solid pink just about everywhere, she stood and stretched her hamstrings while she waited for him to answer, and he felt like a teenager for a moment as he watched her hair go spilling over her shoulders.

"Yeah... theres a fridge around the corner that way, through the medical bay doors. Should be la case of bottles in there."

He averted his eyes and watched his bicep work as she moved past him, but his eyes raised as she crossed the room. He couldnt help looking at her.... she reminded him so much of Bella, except smaller... and there was
something under the surface, he could sense it. A sense of self Bella didnt have. Ginny, he had a feeling, when she wasnt depressed, was a firecracker. From what Bella had told them, he knew she was the life of the party sorta girl, but he could tell by the broken sobs Bella had let out when he was carrying Ginny from the room that she thought Ginny was damaged beyond repair.... from dealing with Z, he had learned no one was ever that badly broken. When she came back out carrying two bottles, he smiled at her.

"I dont think I've done the full 7 miles since.... it happened."

She sat on the weight bench with him, and he was slightly uncomfortable, but she seemed to be a creature that thrived on close quarters. She liked to touch people while she talked... he remembered the night before at the car, and how it had freaked him out of a second. He chose not to dwell on it and just talk as if she was sitting
across from him, not so close he could feel the heat rising off her body.

"Did it feel good?"

"Hell yeah, and I got an extra one, we can share it if you wanna spot me... I haven't lifted in a long time,
but I feel like....hurting a bit"

"No problem"

He could hear a different note in her voice this time, it was sad... like she was remembering that she had to get used to not having her usual spotters or running partners... He had experienced much in his life, and she was only 30, but he sensed she had done many things he hadnt in her life, and she was having a hard time picked old habits up again. They reminded her too much of what was lost. She handed him his water and he drank from it for a minute before getting up.

"You dont have to stop yet... do the other side, I can wait."

He looked at her but all she did was wave her hand at him and smirk a little. He realized he was half naked then.... and had an absurd thought that she was checking him out.... and it was disconcerting and arousing at once... but he didnt want to think about that... oh no. She was his sister in law, he'd protect her, help her live again, but not.... he couldnt do that to her, she was too raw to be thinking about another male so soon after loosing who she had told them was the male she was going to mate. He wouldnt go there.

After he finished his reps, he spotted as she benched over two hundred pounds. It was really impressive for a female. He knew that they were stronger than male humans... but Ginny was 140lbs max, so benching 225 was eyebrow raising to Phury.

"Damn...." He said as he helped rack the weight when she finished.

"How long did you say its been since you benched?"

She leaned over backwards and grabbed a towel Phury had hung off the weight racks and sat up again, wiping her neck. She caught Phurys scent on it and realized he'd probably already used it, but she didnt really care.

He smelled like a starbucks under the sharp spicy scent of male and she liked all of it.

His eyes widened and he sucked furiously on his bottle draining it to try and distract himself. She smelled faintly a bit like him now, and though that wasnt a problem for her.... he had a hard time breathing around the urge to bury his face against her neck. That really wouldnt work, he thought as he got another one and wiped down
the bench and put the weights away.

He didnt notice her watching him as he went about doing everything, She knew by the set in his body that using his towel had set him off somehow. Marlius never minded.... neither had the others, so it must have been a warrior thing.... they were attracted by the whole scent thing more strongly than the civvies she'd been around before. She made a mental note to remember that, but suddenly she realized there probably wouldnt be a next time. She might see him occasionally, and she might even be able to visit once a week when her nephew or niece was born, but she probably wouldnt hang out in a gym with him because they were both bored. He would find a female to occupy his time with soon, he HAD to, he was too nice and pretty not too... and she would go
back to her life... and do what she had been born to do.
Together, they headed back up to the main house. It was now almost time for first meal and people were bustling about. Phury waved to her as he went past her door to his own and they got dressed for the night.

Ginny didn’t think much of anything as she showered and changed into what she had been wearing before. The green definitely looked good on her she thought as she wound her hair up in a wet bun again and headed downstairs to talk with Bella.

Phury on the other hand, couldn’t get the image of her using his towel out of his head. No matter how many times he berated himself for thinking impure thoughts about his sister in law, he couldn’t fight the urge to find her, catch his own scent and lick it from her skin.

He groaned when he realized he was sitting on his shower bench with a raging hard on for his new relative. He looked down and scowled at the offensive member, but resigned himself to getting rid of it. When he thought about her, the way she had looked fresh out of the shower and rosy, only a few hours ago, he cried out and came in under 30 seconds. He didn’t understand what the fuck was wrong with him. First Bella, who had obviously chosen his brother, now Ginny, who was bruised and battered…. Who he also did not deserve.

He washed himself quickly and tried not to think about her…. but it was impossible not to. He still wanted her to stay a few more days, even if it would be total hell for him to endure it. She needed to be around Bella. She needed people, and he didn’t want to send her back to an empty lonely house. He was just at a total loss as to what to ask Wrath for, or how to go about convincing her that she should stay. A black mood settled over him as the thought again of how much of a bastard he was, wanting her the way he was beginning to. It was monstrous…. She had just lost a male she might have mated if he’d lived, and he was jacking off in the shower thinking about how close her heated body had been to his own while they were sitting together on the bench downstairs. He was such a MALE sometimes. He hated it.

He growled at himself in the mirror over the sink as he got out and used a cane to get back to his bed. He hated himself just as much as he always had, except now he wished he could be more of a friend to her. He knew he would be there for her if she needed him, but he would always be thinking about what would happen if he had her under him. Those were not a friends thoughts.

His vanity wouldn’t allow him to go to diner and sit next to her in anything but the finest clothes, but he could imagine how she would react if she saw into his head. Maybe her imagined horror could keep him in line.

Ginny had been feeling slightly better thanks to her workout and shower. It had also felt nice to converse with another being for a change. Loupa couldn’t talk back after all. She smiled at Bella and spoke to Zsadist and some of the others during diner as well as thank Mary for the use of her clothes.
Bella watched both Phury and her sister carefully while they ate. She noted the way Phury would watch her out of the corner of his eye, but not speak directly to her and came to the conclusion her brother in law was smitten. She tried to suppress a smile, but Z saw it and returned it. He knew what was going on with his twin, and couldn’t blame him. Bella’s sister was beautiful in many of the same ways his mate was, though she did seem a bit depressed and in need of help. He couldn’t think of any other male more suited to the job of looking after her, than his brother. He gave Bella’s hand a squeeze and nodded to her.

They had been doing some talking, and even though Phury was the ghardian for the child, they wanted to give Ginny a home, with people and a job as their young’s nanny. He was going to speak to Wrath after first meal when Phury left to teach, and Bella was going to talk to her later, assuming Wrath agreed to the plan.

After diner, Phury excused himself and went down to the training center a little early. He lingered near the weight bench briefly before heading into the classroom. He hoped throwing himself into teaching tonight would help him ignore his growing attachment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny helped Fritz clean up, even though he was very insistent on complaining the whole time. Mary had come into the room and laughed at him. She informed him that he should have been used to it by now, and when a female wanted to feel domestic, they should be able to. Ginny couldn’t help but smile at them when Mary gave Fritz a hug. It was nice to be around people again.

She didn’t see Zsadist leave Wraths study about an hour later. He had filled the king in on what Ginny’s life had been like in the last few months and almost immediately he had offered to let her stay with them, even before Z could ask about the nanny deal. He was excited and needed to tell Bella as soon as possible, and when she found out, she became so happy she cried a for few moments.

Z had helped with the decision for her to stay, so she asked him to bring her up around 11:30 and they would both tell her before he went to teach.

When the time rolled around, both were so excited they could barely sit still. When she saw Z she couldn’t read him well enough to know something was going on, but when she entered his room, she knew by the look on Bella’s face.

“Okay… spill it.” She smirked as she came in and sat on the edge of the bed facing her sister in the chair.

“Well, we’ve been thinking a lot….” Bella was grinning and she glanced at Z before continuing. “And we’ve decided that if Phury is the Ghardian, we would like it if you would consider living here with us… and being our young’s nanny.”

Ginny couldn’t speak for a moment, but tears came to her eyes. Bella wasn’t just offering this to let her into the baby’s life. She knew her sister was offering so she wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. She looked up at Zsadist and found his face to be warm and sincere. She gave a small laugh and looked down at her lap, wiping her tears away before looking up at Bella again.

“You sure you want my lazy ass around here?” But she was grinning, an almost perfect mirror of her sister, Z thought as he looked at both of them.

“Are you crazy? Of course I’m sure. Z’s already asked Wrath. You can move in as soon as you can get all your stuff here.”

Ginny’s face sobered.

“Is Beth’s cat going to be okay about Loupa?”

Zsadist frowned for a minute.

“I don’t know…. He’s had the run of the place for a while now. You should probably talk to Beth about it. How is she around cats?” He sat on the arm of Bella’s chair as he spoke.

“Oh, I’ve raised just about every kind of animal you could find in Caldwell around her. Opossums, raccoons, other dogs, stray kittens…. Even nursed an injured owl once. Loupa’s great around other animals.”

He nodded and stood up.

“Then I don’t think you’ll have much trouble then. Go talk to Beth tonight and you can go to your house later and get some things, you don’t have to move all at once.” He started making his way to the door but she spoke up.

“Would you mind taking me later?”

But he didn’t turn around and answered as he left.

“I’m teaching til 4am but I’m sure Phury will give you a ride and help you with whatever you need.” Then he was gone.

Bella had to fight the urge to laugh. Her mate was good, she’d give him that.

The sisters spend the next hour planning out what things she would need to pack and bring with her, then Bella sent Ginny out with a hug and told her to talk to Beth and find Phury. When she closed the door and was alone, she went to her dresser and pulled out a drawing she had to get framed soon. She smiled looking down at it. Phury had drawn her sitting in her chair with Z sitting on the arm of it. It was such a beautiful drawing, and completely natural. She wondered how long it would be before he was drawing her sister.