Rahn glanced over her shoulder at the male and female who still sat facing forward, staring at nothing. Even now as she was walking out of the room, they had no reaction and didn't try to stop her.

She shook her head in disbelief. This entire ordeal was so strange. The room was smaller than the diagram showed so all she had to do was push back a false wall to expose another doorway. Not that it had been easy to push, she would definitely be treating herself to a good soak in hot water. Right after she found a place to relieve herself. She'd been in that room for way too long.

Once out of the room, the guard part of her wanted to explore the building and see if she could find any information, but her more basic instincts said to get out of there. That's what Lana would do, right? So she ran.

She put the key in the lock of her dwelling and turned, going inside and quickly locking the door behind her. She stood with her back to the door, catching her breath. At this moment, she felt her and Lana were one and the same. She would prefer to never do that again and was relieved to be in her little dwelling.

"You lied to me." An angry voice called from the other end of the hallway.

She startled and gasped in surprise, then slowly let out her breath. "Oh... it's just you." She said as she walked down the short hall and passed him.

"What happened?"

"After I relieve myself."

She heard him huff as she closed the door and locked it. She stayed a little longer than necessary, gathering her thoughts, before opening the door and walking right by the male and into the kitchen. She felt his eyes on her as she removed a glass from the cabinet and poured herself some water, drinking half the glass before sitting it down and exhaling your breath.

She noted that while this male was obviously displeased, he proved to be patient, waiting on her to gather herself. She turned and leaned her back against the countertop, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at him. "It has been a really long, confusing, tiring few hours. I'm going to bed."

She moved to exit the kitchen but he blocked her, hands fisting at his sides.

"You have something to say?" She questioned him but he remained silent. "Then get out of my way."

When he didn't move, she put her hands on his side to push him out of the doorway. As soon as she touched him, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm behind her back, pressing her chest against the wall.

"Answers." he demanded in his quiet yet authoritative voice.

The way his body pressed into hers sent tingles through her entire body and she faltered for a moment before composing herself. "You're going to have to be more specific. Answers about why I lied to you? About everything that happened to me tonight? Or to why I think our little meetings are a waste of my time?"

He turned her around to face him, releasing her arm but holding her in place by keeping his body in front of hers and placing his hand on the wall beside her waist, blocking the door. "You enjoy trying to get reactions out of me." He stated.

She simply stared back in return, cursing herself for not turning the kitchen light on so she could see his eyes. This was the first time he'd allowed her a clear view of them, the first time they stared directly at each other. Even with her Qarthan eyesight, there was only so much she could see when it was a new moon and all of her curtains were drawn closed.

"And do you?" She whispered. "... react to me?" She vaguely felt herself reaching a hand to place on his chest, feeling as if a magnet was drawing her to him unconsciously. He abruptly pulled away and with that action her daze seemed to clear. She cleared her throat and took a step away from him as well.

She watched down the hall as he grabbed the back door and stood there for a moment. Over his shoulder he spoke again. "The Lord expects a report in four days at mid-day."

"So you're pretty much just his messenger?"

"No more lies. I can't help you if I don't know where you are." And with that he walked out, locking the door behind him.

She exhaled a breath. "So he's a babysitter. Right." She rolled her eyes as she turned and went to the living room to log everything in her tablet.

After she was finished she stood and held the tablet against her chest, looking around the room. Even though the tablet required a passcode, she felt the need to find a better hiding spot for it. She'd be lying if she said tonight's events didn't make her nervous.

Whatever this group was, it was more organized and secretive than she thought it would be. To put her through such bizarre tests and to have members with such extreme devotion as the two tonight showed.... She considered them a high level threat. Not to be underestimated. She made sure that was clear in her notes.

She found a board on the ceiling of her closet that was loose and managed to dig out enough space in the insulation to fit the tablet. Securing some of the insulation back in place to hide the tablet, she replaced the board and climbed back down into her room.

Showering and changing into night clothes, she now climbed into bed and prepared to rest. But now that she was alone and just lying there with her thoughts, she couldn't help but replay all the events and interactions she'd had with these people. And it made her anxious. She got up and checked the door and window locks again, making sure all curtains were drawn.

She went back into her room and locked that door for good measure. She thought of all the ways she'd like to better secure this place, and all of the traps she'd like to set should someone decide to break in. But she couldn't risk it. She was Lana, the former finance officer, the normal person with no proper training on traps and security.

Part of her wished she'd confided some of this to Dom, so that someone knew. She couldn't send her notes electronically, it could be intercepted too easily. If something happened to her, would Dom find her hidden tablet? So someone would have her notes and all of this wouldn't completely be for nothing?

She made up her mind. If Lord Kahal trusted this man so completely, she'd have to as well. The next time she saw him, she would fill him in on everything and keep him up to speed. She didn't see Lord Kahal often enough and it was too risky to contact him more directly. She needed someone to know what was going on, someone she could rely on to relay the information she gathered in case she wasn't able to.



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

"Stop staring at me like that. It's the most logical solution" Rahn crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch as she watched Dom stay in his brooding position against the opposite wall of her living room a week later. "You wanted me to stop fighting you and keep you in the know. I'm agreeing to do that. You should be happy. But if you're going to be coming here to visit more regularly, we need a story to explain the visits. You usually show up at night and you're all..." she paused and motioned toward his attire. "...secretive. So of course the only explanation is that we're lovers."

He didn't move.

"I can't tell under all of that...cloth. Are you satisfied now? That I'm willingly including you? It's not like we're actually lovers." She scoffed. "I don't even know how old you are under all of that. And you could be hideous." She chuckled. "Let me guess..." she said as she sat up and placed her hands on the edge of the seat next to her thighs. "You're thin and wrinkly under all of that. Right? With a huge nose that takes up half of your face and big crooked teeth." The side of her mouth slightly turned up into a smile.

It was barely audible, but she heard a noise. Either a scoff or a chuckle, she couldn't be sure. But it was something. Something told her he was the exact opposite of what she was describing. She knew he was strong and muscular, from their interactions. But something deep inside of her just knew he would also be very handsome. If only he'd let her see...

"So why am I not allowed to ask you personal questions?" She said as she laid down on the couch, reaching her arm up above her head and resting on it as she propped her feet up and looked at the ceiling. "It's not like you'd answer me anyway, right? You hardly respond to anything. Maybe I had it wrong. Maybe you're not old and ugly. Maybe you're just all brawn and no brains. Or you could be that and be ugly I guess."

She almost forgot he was in the room as she talked for no reason. She'd never been much of a talker, never been one to want people around. But something in her felt the need to fill the silence when he was in the room.

"The obvious guess would be that you're hideously scarred. That's why most people would want to hide, right?" She crossed her ankles. "Not that any of that would bother me. I've seen some pretty nasty scars over the years. A new recruit had some serious burns all up his left side. He liked to hide those too. But there's no need to do that. If people react badly, that's their problem. No one should have to live covering themselves like that just because some people are too shallow and selfish to let them be."

She turned her head to see him still staring at her. Listening.

"Are you a criminal? You're in hiding but Lord Kahal still trusts you for some reason?"

She sat up and placed her elbow on her knee, resting her chin in her palm. "It hardly seems right that I'm undercover and risking my life by letting you see my face, yet I know absolutely nothing about who you are."

She stood and crossed the room, getting so close to him she could easily touch him if she wanted to, staring straight into his dark eyes. "Lord Kahal May trust you, but I don't know you. I decide who I choose to trust. I'm putting a lot of blind faith into you and you need to appreciate that. Don't let me down."

As she turned her back to him, her whole body shuddered as his hand rested on her shoulder. "I won't."

"Good." She responded but neither of them moved. "And I'm in charge of this. You do what I say, when I say it. It's my life at stake."

After a moment of silence he agreed. "Understood."

She failed to hide the way her body slightly trembled at his low voice behind her. She didn't need complications.

She shrugged his hand off as she took a few steps away from him and turned to face him again.

"We can only hope I passed whatever test they had. If so, they're likely watching me to see if I tell anyone about our unusual encounter. That's why we need to have our stories lined up about your visits. My guess is they'll contact me again in two or three days."

"That's a lot of assumptions."

"I have nothing else to go on for now. I'll continue my days as I have for the last several. Working and blending in while observing. Since we don't have any solid timeline, just show up here randomly like you've been doing and I'll let you know if anything has happened."

He nodded.

"Anything else?" She asked as she noticed the first signs of light peeking through the curtains.

He shook his head.

"Good. I'm going for my morning run." She took off her robe to reveal her usual running attire, skin tight shorts and crop top. "Care to join me?"

He shook his head and motioned for her to lead the way out of the house. They locked the door behind them and went their separate ways.