***GIDEON***

"I dunno," Fionna says. "You didn't puke, did you?"

"I did, actually," I groan. "I mean, did you see that dark shit they covered me with? It got everywhere inside and out of me. God." I unzip my hoodie and take a deep breath.

"That doesn't count, though," Fionna says. "Does it?" She looks up expectantly at the old man who came in with her.

"No," the old man says - I notice he has a deep, English-accented voice, like an old-timey movie star. Maybe he was James Bond in his past life or something. In fact, I decide I'm going to call him "Bond" until I learn his real name. I'm sure the nickname will stick even after that. "That's simply the dark energy being purged from your system, Mr. Cabrera," Bond adds. "Your first body has yet to die, so worry not."

I nod weakly. "Uh-huh."

"Well, in that case, I'll leave you to talk with Mr. Cabrera, then," Bond says to Fionna and Kyle. "I need to attend to some other matters with our young Agents Troy."

"Will do, Thompson," Kyle says.

So that's his name, I think as the old man leaves. Whatever. Bond fits him better.

"Okay," Kyle drawls. "I'm gonna, um, head back upstairs, cover you with the kids. You know how to get back home from here, right?"

"Uh...I think so," Fionna says. "But those tunnels are a total rat's nest, you know?"

"Wait, you're just gonna leave us?" I ask, glaring at Kyle. "I still have a load of questions for you! And I'm sure Fionna's got a shit-ton of them too. Pardon my French."

"Not now," Kyle says, holding up his hands. "Not in a public place. I promise, tonight I'll come to you and answer every question you have. If I can," he adds hastily.

Fionna sighs. "No chance of changing your mind?"

"I have to keep an eye on those kids until the lockdown is over," Kyle says. "I'm sorry."

"Lockdown?" I repeat. "What the hell's happening here?"

"Just go," Kyle says, gesturing to a door to my left. Fionna opens it, revealing a long, narrow, dimly-lit passageway. It reminds me of the one that begins in the basement at Balthazar and leads to a hidden door in the woods behind the school.

We venture into the passageway. Kyle says goodbye, but doesn't look at us as he does so. Feeling increasingly paranoid, I follow Fionna, who's got her hands full of fire. The passageway does have some light, but I'm grateful for Fionna providing some more. I take advantage of her light to look under my shirt.

"What's up?" she asks.

"Nothing," I say. "I just...that dark cocoon thing? It was so tight, I was wondering if it shrank my breasts all the way." I shake my head. "Nope. Shit."

"So...it's true?" she asks. "You're trans?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"A little birdie told me," she says. I figure her "little birdie" is Old Man Thompson. "You look good, though. Really. Being a boy suits you."

"Uh...thanks?" I catch sight of the flush creeping over her face, so I decide to change the subject for now. "You're saying this is supposed to lead to...wherever you live?"

"Uh-huh," Fionna says. "I, uh, went down here my first day on the job. It's a shortcut between my apartment building and the library."

For some reason, I sense she's hiding something. Probably her knowledge of these tunnels isn't as great as she'd have me believe. Oh well - it's not like mine would be any better anyway. "Is that where we are? A library?"

"More like the basement of a library, but you get the idea." Fionna holds her flaming hands around a corner, as if to check for unseen enemies. I feel like I'm in one of the Harry Potter video games - Luca's shown me a few on the Xbox at the Balthazar lounge, and Jay Cross had one or two on his ancient PS2 back on Earth.

"So why is there a shortcut to your building, specifically?" I ask, peering around the same corner and seeing nothing, just the passageway stretching about fifty feet before rising on an uphill slope out of sight.

"I think it's just the way it was built," Fionna says. "Kyle lives in the same building - which makes sense, given that our building's reserved for teens and young adults. But it seems like a really hella weird coincidence, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it does."

We climb the uphill part of the passageway and surface in what looks like the lobby of an apartment building. There's a chandelier hanging from the ceiling - not crystal, but still very ornamental and fragile-looking. At one end, there's a glass front door looking out onto a dark street - it's nighttime outside. At the other end is the elevator.

"Oh, hi, Fionna," says a gray-haired woman in a green suit, sitting at a desk by the front door. "Who's your friend? I don't think he lives here, does he?"

"This is Gideon," Fionna says. I'm tempted to elbow her - why the hell did she give my real name? - but I resist the urge and instead wave politely at the doorwoman. Doorperson. Whatever. "He...he's visiting from San Francisco," Fionna adds.

"Oh, I see," says the woman. "Can't say you've got great timing, not now the city's been locked down. But as long as those god-awful scrivs don't come running down our street, I think we'll all be fine."

"Of course," Fionna says. "See you later, Grace. I wanna take Gideon with me up to my place."

"Sure thing," Grace says. "Nice to meet you, Gideon."

"Back at ya," I say, following Fionna into the elevator. "Did that lady say 'scrivs?'" I ask as soon as the sliding doors are closed in front of us.

Fionna presses the button for the fifth floor. "Yep. I've heard rumors about 'em. They're supposed to live in the unsettled lands outside the walls of every city. Nasty freaky things that'll use their dark energy to kill you."

I roll my eyes as the elevator begins to rise. "Well, if they're anything like the ones I met before, they're not really all that lethal. But let me tell you, getting trapped in their dark shit? Very unpleasant. And that's putting it mildly."

"What?" Fionna's eyes boggle out. "You're saying you've met a scriv? And lived?"

"Duh," I say. "And you've met one too. That Kyle dude? He's one of the ones who brought me here." I pause. "I think. See, he's also Gabe's new boyfriend, but when I asked him about that-"

"Gabe's boyfriend?" Fionna laughs. "Holy shit. I knew he had one, but I'd forgotten his name, what he looked like...oh wow, you're right. Now I remember. He's the same guy...or is he?"

"That's one of the things I'm confused about," I say. The elevator reaches the fifth floor with a ding, and Fionna and I leave it, heading down a short, straight hallway lined with apartment doors. "He acted like he'd never even met Gabe when I brought him up before. And he said that he wasn't the same Kyle, that the one who's seeing Gabe is 'angel Kyle' or some shit."

"Which is funny, 'cause I thought this Kyle was an angel," Fionna says. "I mean, you could see his wings under his shirt all the time."

"I've seen these scrivs fight, though," I say. "They're basically what we call archangels. They're kinda like us, 'cept they only got two elementals instead of four - light and dark."

"Sounds cool," Fionna says. She goes to the door marked "5F" and unlocks it, letting me in.

"Did they give you the 'F' for Fionna?" I ask with a laugh.

"Nope," Fionna says. "Just another weird coincidence. But this one's not part of a big driving mystery."

I look out the window and see the Second Universe properly for the first time. It almost looks like any ordinary town at nighttime - black sky, full moonlight. But that moon is the only light source in sight, except for a couple of well-lit buildings and also a huge wall way off in the distance.

"Believe it or not, this is actually daytime for us," Fionna says, walking around and lighting a few candles with her hands. I see her look over those candles at me, and I get the sense she's checking me out. It's flattering, but it makes me a little uncomfortable at the same time. "The moon rises and sets like the sun around here. And apparently, when the city's on lockdown, they cut off all power to non-public buildings. Like this place."

"So what's with the lockdown, then?" I ask.

"It happens from time to time," Fionna says. "Mostly 'cause of scriv attacks on the Wall. Or whatever the hell attacks the wall, 'cause if those scrivs are anything like you said, I doubt they're the ones doing the attacking." She pauses, then makes a show of putting a number of candles together on the desk in one corner of the apartment's one room. (Well, one room if you don't count the bathroom.) "Steve and Freddie have been out there for...how long's it been? About twenty-four hours now, I think."

"They work on that Wall?" I ask, sensing the capital letter in there.

Fionna nods. "Yep. And Penny and I work in the library. Not that I didn't try to join the boys on the Wall, but they said I couldn't get in. It's 'cause I get migraines."

"I...I'm sorry," I say, unsure of how else to respond.

"Don't be," Fionna says. "The library was my second choice anyway. You want something to eat? All I got is cookies, though. I swear, I need to go food shopping again one of these days."

"Cookies would be great," I say. "What flavor?"

"Mocha chocolate chip."

I grin at the thought. "That sounds like something Alex and Gabe would love. Do they even have it in our 'verse?" It feels a tiny bit strange, the way my tongue seems to naturally lop off all but the final syllable of "universe" there. I guess I'm picking up Second 'Verse-speak faster than I thought.

Fionna pulls the box of cookies from a cabinet. "They're Chips Ahoy!, so maybe."

"They have regular brand names here, too?"

"Special import, I think." Fionna opens the box of cookies and pulls out two of them. "Last two," she says. "Thank God Thompson pays me the big bucks. He knows how tough it is for rookies around here."

She hands me the two cookies, but I shake my head. "You're not gonna have one for yourself?"

"Come on, you're my guest," Fionna says. "And I don't have to eat as much anyway, now I'm on my second body. These wear out a little slower than our first ones. Don't have to eat as much, or drink as much, or breathe as much, even." She continues to hold out both cookies.

"Well, if you insist..." I say slowly, taking both cookies and eating one. It's softer than I expected, but the taste is marvelous. "Thanks," I say with my mouth still half-full after swallowing. I chew the rest, thinking all the while. Finally, when I'm done with my cookie, I say, "That's so weird. I brought up Alex and Gabe and you didn't ask how they're doing?"

Fionna tilts her head, making me instantly regret my rude question. I regret it even more when she lowers her gaze, a deep frown forming on her face. "I'm sorry," I say, holding her hand. "I didn't mean to-"

"They've been kidnapped," Fionna says.

"Who's been kidnapped?"

Even before she says it, I know what Fionna's about to respond with. "Alex and Gabe."

I almost don't want to believe it, but then again, this time yesterday, I wouldn't have believed scrivs existed. Or that Alex and Gabe were still in mortal danger from Project Red Rain.

"They got to them already?" I ask. "No way. The scrivs were just talking to me about it yesterday, before...before they darked me up and brought me here."

"I can't explain it, really," she says, "but lately I've been seeing Feathers in my dreams."

I'm about to ask who "Feathers" is before remembering that it's Fionna's nickname for Alex. "Go on."

"And I think he and I are sharing our dreams, too," she continues. "Like, one of them, we were in his house - obviously, I've never been there before, but he said it was his house, so..."

"I think you might be right," I say. "Juliet told me that Alex said the same thing. That he's been dreaming about you a lot too." I look down at the second cookie in my hand and bite off half of it. "So he told you he got taken in one of those dreams?"

"Last night, yeah."

I put my hand over my mouth for a moment to try and cover my gasp. "Last night...and I just saw him and Gabe at graduation yesterday. So...oh my God. How long's it been? Um...is it the same day here as it is in Prime?"

"It's Sunday right now," Fionna says. She checks her cell phone. "Eight in the morning."

Reflexively following her example, I reach for my own cell phone, but when I pull it out, it's not working. "Shit, the battery's dead." I put it back in my pocket. "Not that it'd do me any good, though. My dad barely pays enough for service in Heaven, let alone...here."

"How old is that phone, anyway?" Fionna asks.

"I'm not the original owner. Let's just leave it at that."

"I see." She puts away her own phone. "When was it that they, um, darked you?"

"Sometime Saturday afternoon," I say. "Around five o'clock, I think."

"And you've been out of it since then...damn, that's over twelve hours." Fionna's frown shifts into a more confused expression.

"You know what else is weird?" I mutter. "I could've sworn I charged this thing on Friday, so I could make sure it would work the whole time for Grad Nite."

"The dark energy killed your phone, I'm afraid," says Kyle as he enters the apartment. Fionna and I both jump at the sound of his voice. "You'll have to take that up with Annie, though. I'm sure she'll be okay paying for a replacement."

"Annie?" Fionna asks.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention who the other scrivs were," I say wryly. "One was the lead singer for Midnight Daydream - you heard of them?"

"Yeah, of course...wait, Annie Troy? No!"

"Yep," I say. "And you know who her brother is? That guy from the pizza place, what's-his-name, Andrew Aspen."

"Russell," Kyle corrects me.

"Close enough," I say, waving my hand impatiently. "Now, Scriv-Kyle, or Not-Kyle, or whatever the hell you are, you got some 'splaining to do, and that's putting it mildly. So get on with it before I start an earthquake under your ass."

Kyle ignores my insults and takes a seat on the chair in front of Fionna's bed, turning it to face the two of us. "Where do you want me to start?"

"How 'bout with who or what you are?" Fionna asks. "'Cause Gideon here says you're supposed to be Gabe Snow's boyfriend already, but you've never met him, as far as I know."

"You're right, I haven't," Kyle says. "I told you, Gideon, there's two of me. There's me, and there's the angel who looks like me. Just with a different hair color and stuff. And there's also two of Gideon - except the other one's strawberry-blonde. And cishet."

"Some coincidence, huh?" I turn back to Kyle as another detail from my earlier talk with the scrivs comes back into my memory. "Wait a sec - you said my scriv was dead?"

Kyle nods gravely. "He began as a human - every human has an angel or a demon counterpart, and if the human dies first, they become a scriv in this 'verse. He'd been training for years to protect you, but then...then the light scrivs raided our camp. And y-your guardian was killed." Kyle takes a deep breath. "I saw it all. That light bitch that attacked you yesterday, Jasmine - she did it. She killed you. I mean him. She killed the other you."

At this point, Kyle bursts into tears, burying his face in his hands. "Don't tell me you were in love with scriv-me," I say, semi-jokingly. Seeing Kyle's shoulders shake with increasingly loud sobs, I realize I was more right than I knew. "Oh my God. I...I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," Kyle says, wiping his eyes. "It's all in the past. And like I said, he was...he was hetero anyway, so it never would've gone anywhere between us."

I look at Fionna. Her own eyes are starting to brim with tears. It's hard for either of us to stay mad at Kyle now. I don't know if he made up all that crap about loving scriv-me and being made to watch her die, but I'm inclined to believe it's all true. The way he's acting right now reminds me so much of Alex after Fionna died.

Trying to steer the conversation away from this sad topic, I ask, "You said every human's got an angel or a demon counterpart? Well, what about angels and demons? Are there counterparts of those?"

"You mean do angels have demon counterparts?" Kyle asks. "Um, no. I can't really remember why, but I think it had something to do with demons and angels having their bodies as mirror images of each other. Or something."

"Say what?" Fionna asks.

"Um..." Kyle taps his finger against his mouth. "Okay, both of you, put your hands over your hearts."

I automatically move to place my right hand over my chest. Fionna does the same with her left hand.

"Exactly," Kyle says. "Angels and humans have their hearts a little to the left of center in their bodies, and demons have it to the right. Demons' insides are flip-flopped around from what angels and humans are used to." He stops to laugh. "Either of you ever watch Orphan Black?"

I shake my head, while Fionna nods.

"Well, one of the clone girls, Helena, has her internal organs reversed," Kyle says. "I think whichever writer came up with that one is either a demon, or has met demons and knows about that." He wipes his eyes one more time to get rid of some stray tears. "That's why they want the Breakers, because this sort of half-blood thing doesn't normally happen. It-"

Kyle gets cut off by the loud noise of a siren wailing way off in the distance. The lights start coming back on all over the city - I can see them out the window.

"Finally," Fionna says. "The battle's over." She walks around the apartment, turning on the light and blowing out candles. "By the way, you do know Alex and Gabe got taken by the Red Rain people already, right?"

"What?" Kyle nearly falls off his chair in surprise. "Goddammit. Annie never tells me anything!" He jumps out of the chair and runs out the door, frantically grabbing his cell phone from his pocket. "Um, I gotta go. I gotta make sure Annie and Russell are ready to start..." His voice trails off as he leaves.

"Wait, come back!" Fionna cries after him. By the time we reach the front door, though, he's already on the phone with his friends, and the elevator doors are closing behind him.

"Shit," I groan. "Are we ever gonna find out anything?"

Fionna sucks air through her teeth. "I hope so. I swear, I'm gonna kill Kyle next time he comes back." She walks over to the cabinet and gets her purse. "Um, you wanna come food shopping with me?"

I shrug. "I guess so. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"I'd like to see him tell me it's not safe or something," Fionna laughs as we head down the hall and wait for the elevator to come back. "As if he's in control of my life. Or yours."

"Yeah. As if." I look down at Fionna. I wasn't taller than her before, but I've had a bit of a growth spurt since I transitioned. "It's good to see you again, you know."

"Same to you, Gideon," she says, grinning. "And don't worry - Kyle and his friends probably want us to sit on our asses waiting for them to save our Snow boys, but I have no intention of doing that."

"Neither do I."

"Of course," Fionna adds, "that's why we're shopping right now. Can't exactly come up with cool plans on an empty stomach, can we?"

"Nope."

"That'sthe spirit." She squeezes my shoulder as we get into the elevator and ride itdown to the ground floor.