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Hailey had likewise frozen.
"Honey, who is it?" A male voice -- who he assumed was Jason -- called again from another room.
"It's..." Melinda seemed to be struggling for words. "You should come out here." She finally called over her shoulder and then turned to the rest of them. "You better come in."
"Be out in a minute." Jason called.
Hailey still seemed frozen. Alana gently took her arm and nudged her forward, leading her into the apartment.
The apartment itself was quite nice. It was an open floor plan, and the only thing separating the kitchen area from the living area was a counter. There were three doors off the main room, one of which was slightly ajar and led to a bathroom. He guessed the other two led to bedrooms.
There was a gas fireplace with fake logs along one wall and several pictures on the mantle. Prominently displayed in the center was a large picture of Hailey smiling with her arms around both Melinda and Jason. Just in front of it was a very nice plaque which said "In Loving Memory". The whole arrangement looked like it was done with great love and care.
Alana steered Hailey to one of the couches in the living area and sat her down. Hailey offered no resistance and appeared to be stunned. She sat down with a blank expression on her face. Her hands flopped to her sides.
Ethan and Rachel followed the wood elf into the apartment and Melinda closed the door behind them.
"Please, have a seat; any friend of Hailey's is a friend of mine." Melinda said slightly awkwardly. "Um, can I get you anything?"
"Just water please." Ethan replied.
"Make that two." Rachel said, and he got the sense that she was following his lead because she was in his world and culture. Melinda nodded, retrieved two bottled waters from the kitchen and handed one to each of them.
Rachel looked at it with interest before turning to him and whispering with awe. "How did you make flexible glass?"
"It's not glass, it's plastic." He whispered back, then twisted the top off and took a swig. Rachel imitated him, delighted at the simplicity of a screw off cap. He supposed they didn't have those in the Ten Kingdoms.
"Hey Mel, who's..." Jason had finally left the bedroom but stopped as he saw everyone. His hair was wet and he had clearly just taken a shower.
He looked like he should've been in a cologne ad.
He was tall, at least six feet and very well built, but not with bulging muscles like a body builder. Instead, he had a lean look like an Olympic gymnast or swimmer. He had dark hair, a strong jaw, and a bit of stubble like he hadn't shaved yet. He was exactly what you might think of when someone says "tall, dark, and handsome". He would've looked perfectly at home playing James Bond, except that he was wearing blue jeans and a fitted white T-shirt.
Jason's jaw dropped when his eyes fell on Hailey.
The willowy woman looked back at him, still stunned and almost expressionless. Jason's eyes flicked to the picture on the mantle, then to Melinda, then to Melinda's very pregnant belly, then back to Hailey.
There was a tense silence for several seconds.
"Hailey, how are you..." Jason said.
She didn't respond, seemingly too stunned to speak.
Jason frowned, then at her silence appeared to start quoting something: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."
That seemed to jar Hailey back to reality. She cracked a smile and recited back in a whispered voice: "See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like." She looked down, then at him again. "You remembered."
"How could I forget?" He replied.
Ethan was rather confused; Rachel and Alana looked mildly disturbed.
"It's from a TV show; Firefly." Hailey explained to them, Jason's humor seeming to have shocked her back to herself. "Our favorite; we marathoned it the night we moved in here."
Jason walked forward to sit next to Hailey, opening his arms for a hug. She felt into it and he held her for a moment. If Ethan had been in doubt that Jason cared about Hailey, any doubt would've been erased at seeing him hold her like this. It wasn't sexual, but it was intimate. A blind man could've see that he cared about her deeply.
Ethan's eyes flicked to Melinda, who looked quite conflicted. She didn't look jealous though, more like a mixture of sublime happiness and anxiety. He didn't blame her, nor envy the situation that the three of them were in.
Jason looked at Hailey in amazement when their hug broke. "How are you back? We thought you were..." He pointed to the mantle with the 'In Loving Memory' plaque.
"I almost was a few times." The former slave replied, managing a tiny smile. "It's thanks to Ethan; he rescued me."
Jason looked at Ethan for the first time, then walked up and stuck out his hand, which Ethan shook.
"Mel and I owe you one man." Jason said fervently. "If you ever needanything -- anything at all -- just ask."
"I was happy to help." He replied honestly.
Melinda seemed to have overcome her shock and walked over to the couch to sit beside Hailey. The Latina opened her arms for a hug, which the former slave fell into.
Then the tears started.
Hailey started first and then Melinda. The willowy woman seemed overcome with emotion and laid her head on the pregnant woman's shoulder and just started sobbing. He couldn't tell if they were happy tears or the other kind, but he was willing to bet it was a mixture of both. Melinda held her and starting crying too, though hers were obviously tears of joy.
Jason walked around behind the couch and put his arms around both of them, giving them both a huge hug.
Alana slipped off the couch and to Ethan's side. *I'm really glad she found them again.* She said telepathically.
*Me too, but they definitely have some things to figure out.* He inclined his head toward Melinda, who was clearly very pregnant. *Having multiple wives is actually a crime here.*
Alana blinked, looking incredulous. *A crime? Like, it's illegal and they might throw you in prison for it?"
He nodded.
*But that's so cruel!* The wood elf exclaimed telepathically. She glanced towards the woods where the portal leading to Taloni and Beth was. *You mean a man can't marry two women, even if he loves them both?*
He nodded again.
*So, he'd be forced to choose between them, even if he loved them both and they both loved him?*
He nodded a third time.
Alana almost started tearing up. *That is so cruel.*
*I never really thought about it before, but yeah; I suppose it is.* He cocked his head to one side. He really hadn't thought about it before, but now that he considered it...
If anyone tried to take Alana, Beth or Taloni from him, he was pretty sure he would tear them limb from limb. He could feel the draconic instincts inside of him both purring in agreement and beginning to grow very angry at the merethought of losing one of his wives.
*Couldn't they appeal to the lord, or king and change the law?* Alana asked.
*The people here choose their own leaders every few years.* Ethan explained. *I suppose if enough people demanded a change, they would get it.*
*Well they should.* Alana replied with fierceness in her mental tone. *It's just not right!*
*I guess I can't argue with that.* He nodded.
*Isn't there anywhere Jason, Melinda, and Hailey could go?*
*Not here.* He shook his head. *There's one state -- Utah -- that basically decriminalized polygyny, but otherwise it's quite illegal. Often not prosecuted, but definitely illegal.*
*Ireally hope they can work things out then. It would be so sad to come all this way and get your heart broken.*
*Agreed.* He frowned. *Melinda and Hailey might not want that though. Here, women expect a man to only have one woman. It's possible neither woman would be willing to share.*
Alana frowned. *Well, I hope they can work something out.*
*Me too.*
He noticed that just behind her, Rachel was giving them a strange look. It wasn't quite annoyance, nor jealously, nor happiness, nor longing, nor frustration; but it definitely included most of those. He raised his eyebrow at her. She hesitated, then shook her head and looked back toward the others.
He frowned; that was an odd look coming from the redheaded teen.
It was slightly awkward standing there while Hailey and Melinda sobbed it out on the couch. Jason had stood up again and appeared to be waiting for the girls to finish. He happened to meet eyes with Ethan, who could tell the other man had seen the potential issues that he and Alana had just discussed.
Ethan had never stopped to consider just how lucky -- or blessed -- he was that Alana, Beth, and Taloni had so quickly warmed to the idea of sharing him as their husband. He knew his dragon side had something to do with it, but Jason didn't have that advantage.
Further, most of Earth -- especially the United States where they lived -- simply wasn't setup to for a man to have multiple wives, or girlfriends, or multiple romantic relationships of any kind. Besides it being illegal, it was also a cultural taboo.
He didn't envy Jason.
"Where were you all this time?" Melinda asked as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She replied, wiping her equally tear-streaked cheeks.
"It can't be worse than what we imagined." Melinda said, to which Hailey let out a sound somewhere between a sob, a laugh, and a snort.
Jason looked at Ethan with a questioning expression.
He grimaced, then nodded.
There was relative silence for the next minute as Hailey and Melinda calmed down and the tears of both joy and sadness slowed then stopped. It was wonderful to see Hailey looking so happy, and he felt proud of his part in making it happen. Alana gave him a hug and he could tell that she felt the same.
Jason got a mischievous look on his face as the girls calmed down, then said with a Joker-esque smile while rubbing his stomach. "Well that was fun. Who's for Chinese?"
Hailey and Melinda chuckled.
"Batman, the animated series." Hailey said by way of explanation at the confused looks on Ethan, Alana, and Rachel's faces.
"In all seriousness though, I'm so glad you're back Hailey." Jason said a little more soberly.
"Me too." She replied.
"Me three." Melinda added in an excited, mock-child voice. It seemed that Jason's penchant for lightening the mood with humor had rubbed off on the Latina woman.
"I can't thank you enough." Jason said to the Argo's crew.
"You're welcome." Ethan replied. "I don't want to open a whole can of worms, but I want to make sure Hailey is okay; can she stay with you two?" He asked them.
Melinda and Jason looked at Hailey, then at each other, then at the Latina's very pregnant belly. Hailey looked very unsure.
"You don't need to--" she began, but they cut her off.
"Of course she can." Melinda said at the same time that Jason said "Absolutely."
"Are you sure that's--" Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
* * *
FBI Agent Selene Dawson double checked that the address on her phone matched the address on the door next to the yoga studio. It matched, so she opened the green door and walked up the steps to the second floor apartments. She checked the numbers on the two doors before knocking on the farther one, which had a small Christmas tree ornament of a Christmas wreath hanging from the door.
There was no answer at the door so she knocked again.
"One minute." A voice called.
Several seconds later, the door opened and the man she was looking for -- Jason -- was standing in the doorway. The picture hadn't done him justice; he was very handsome. Beyond him, she could see several other people, including Melinda and...
Selene stared at Hailey Oswald.
She had been missing for four years, but now she was sitting on her friend's couch with what looked like tears of joy on her face.
How?
"Can I help you?" Jason asked.
Selene tore her eyes from the formerly missing person. "Hi, I'm agent Selene Dawson with the FBI. I needed to talk to you regarding the disappearance -- and apparently the reappearance -- of Hailey Oswald."
Jason broke into a wide smile. "She just came back this morning, a few minutes ago."
"May I come in?" Selene asked.
He nodded and stepped aside.
There were three other people in the room. One was a tiny chocolate-haired brunette. The second had red hair which slowly faded to blonde at the tips, making it look like her head was on fire. She was clearly in her late teens, but something about her demeanor and disposition made her seem older.
But it was the third person that captured her attention.
Something about him was... well... "off".
It wasn't anything in specific, more like a general feeling that something wasn't right. Reading people was a hobby of hers, and something about him just didn't seem right. There was something vaguely predatory about him, not that most people would notice. Something about him just screamed 'predator' and she got the distinct impression that he was dangerous.
Plus, he looked familiar.
She wasn't sure where she'd seen him before, but she was sure that she had. She was pretty sure it wasn't in person. Maybe on the news? An article somewhere? She didn't know but she couldn't place him and she knew that was going to drive her crazy until she figured it out. She pushed that to the back of her mind and turned towards Hailey, making sure she could still see this man in her peripheral vision.
"Are you Hailey Oswald?" She asked the willowy woman on the couch.
"I am."
"Pardon my bluntness, but how are you here? You've been missing for four years."
"Um, I escaped." Hailey finally said, then gestured to the brunette, the flame haired girl, and the man. "They helped me."
Selene pulled out her notepad as she faced them. "Could I get your names please?"
The brunette did a small, formal curtsey and said in a formal way said: "I am Alana Ejder, called dra--" She stopped, and Selene got the impression that she had stopped in the middle of a very ritualistic way of greeting someone. Something about her last name seemed familiar too.
"Called...?" Selene prompted.
Alana looked at the man, nodded as if she'd heard something, then looked back at her. "I suppose my nickname isn't really important."
Selene felt her suspicions growing, but they hadn't done anything overtly suspicious... yet. She decided to let it drop to prevent their guard from going up.
"And you?" Selene asked the redhead.
"Rachel Delmar."
"And you sir?" Selene asked the man.
"Ethan."
"Ethan...?" She prompted.
"Just Ethan." He said. "Like Beyoncé, or Bono."
Selene raised her eyebrow; he was lying. He wasn't even very good at it. "Can I see some identification?"
"I don't have it on me." He replied. He was telling the truth, but also clearly hiding something.
Selene frowned. "I'll need the three of you to come down to the field office to make a statement."
"I'd rather not." Ethan replied. "We're on a tight schedule and have some important business we need to finish."
"You're a material witness to a crime." Selene countered. "That makes you important to our investigation."
"No, I'm a material witness to a rescue." He corrected. "We didn't do much more than give Hailey a lift, so we aren't witnesses to a crime."
Selene narrowed her eyes; this fellow was hiding something. "I could arrest you for obstruction of justice."
"Bullshit." He shook his head. "The fifth amendment means I don't have to talk to any law enforcement official, which includes you." He paused, then added. "I'm only talking now as a curtesy."
She opened her mouth to respond when her phone started ringing. "Hang on one moment."
She pulled out her phone and saw the caller ID; it was Mason. She turned to Jason. "It's my boss, can I borrow your bathroom to take it?" She didn't think it was wise at this point to step out into the hall, as they might not let her back in.
"Sure." He nodded.
Selene accepted the call as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Agent Dawson."
"Get back here boot; they turned up." He said gruffly.
"Who turned up?"
"The missing teachers and the kids. All of them. They just showed up at a visitor's station the forest this morning."
"All of them?" Selene breathed as her mouth fell open.
"All of them." He replied.
"Plus one." She said. "I just found Hailey Oswald from an early case alive and well."
"Tell her to come by the Sheriff's office later to get a statement. Right now, I want to focus on the teachers and kids."
"Will do boss." Selene said and then hung up.
She opened the door to the bathroom and several whispered voices became silent immediately.
She frowned.
"I need to go; they just found the missing teachers and kids." She announced.
"Good luck." Ethan said with what almost sounded like a growl. He might as well have said "Good riddance."
She narrowed her eyes, then an Idea stuck her and she turned to Hailey. "Miss Oswald, my boss didn't believe me when I said you had turned up. Would you mind if I took a picture for proof?"
Hailey shrugged. "Go ahead."
Quick as a flash, Selene twisted her phone twice in her hand to activate the camera, then pulled it up and snapped a quick photo. She was fast enough that the three odd characters didn't have time to leave the frame. Thanks to the miracle of anti-blur technology, the photo was very clear. Not perfect, but very clear.
"Thank you for you cooperation." She said and then left the apartment. Halfway down the stairs, she nearly facepalmed herself for forgetting to ask Hailey to come down to the station like Mason had asked. She almost turned around, but something told her that was a bad idea.
Once she was back in her FBI issue SUV, she pulled out her phone and looked at the picture. The man still looked somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't place him. She shook her head, knowing that it would bug her until she figured out where she'd seen him.
She put her phone away and drove a mile to the Sherriff's office.
Once there, she pulled out her phone again, hoping that she could place his face. When she saw the picture, she nearly dropped her phone.
"What the hell?" She breathed.
Standing in her picture where the man had been was a... well a reptile of some kind. It was just as tall as the man had been and built the same, but it was definitely reptilian. It was covered in dark grey scales and she thought she could see wings tucked up against its back.
It almost looked like a dragon standing on its hind legs.
She had just looked at the picture a few minutes ago and now it was completely different. As she looked, she realized it wasn't completely different; only the dragon was different. Everything else was exactly the same, at least according to her memory. However, the figure that had previously looked like a man now looked like a dragon.
Something had clearly changed between getting into the SUV and driving the distance to the Sheriff's office. She hadn't even changed screens on her phone when she'd clicked it off after leaving the apartment, yet something had clearly changed.
"What the hell is going on?"
* * *
Alana was fighting the urge to let her mouth hang open at almost everything she'd seen on Ethan's world. It was all so incredible; unbelievable. Everything around her was just mind-blowing.
Especially the lights.
She couldn't believe the lights. These super bright bulbs of fire that glowed brighter than the largest bonfire she'd ever seen, but with none of the heat. It was amazing. Just as amazing was that 'fridge' thing. And those 'cars', and the strange flexible glass water bottles: she'd never seen anything so strange as flexible glass before.
