Hey, thank you all for being patient with me, your wait will be rewarded. Here's an excerpt from the first chapter of the my new story featuring Ashley and Ethan, title pending. Their personalities have changed a bit, mainly Ashley, but I still love them.

Note, that this new story means the this one is no longer canon in anyway. 

Golden Boy

Ashley Wren stared down at the fur mittens that covered his hand with contempt. They were inconspicuous little things, light brown to match his winter coat with a dark fur trim around the wrist. They seemed perfectly normal, if a little tight, but to Ashley?

To Ashley they were shackles, and he was a captive being guided to a prison he'd thought he'd escaped years ago.

He was in an airport, being guided by two men on either side of him and one beside him. He could only move forward. Ashley would be subjected to an electric jolt from one of his guard's wands if he even slowed down for a moment. Yet, his eyes darted about the crowded airport, trying to find a way out. If he just had a spoon he'd be fine- anything metal would word, then he could trip the alarm.

But that was futile- they'd never let him have anything metallic.

He tried to make eye contact with every person they passed, tried to communicate just how desperate he felt, but they ignored him. He used to love that about New York, people minded their own business, but now? Now it could be the death of him. It wasn't their fault, after all, he could see the suited men, but humans couldn't, their eyes were blinded by the glamour that had been cast over the three men. Only magic-users could see through them, but other magic users had better ways to travel than planes.

Still, he studied their faces, hoping to see a set of unnaturally coloured eyes, fang bites, gills, anything.

He saw nothing and reached the metal detectors un-aided. His hands strained under the gloves, his pent up magic coursing under his skin.

Ethan Rowe is very, very late. So late he doesn't see the point of even coming to the airport again, his Airbus has probably left without him. But Kaili insisted Ethan should go, to try at least. Ethan doesn't see the point, but Kaili won't let him back in the house until he tries.
Ethan doesn't even think it's about the trip- he could always reschedule on for tomorrow. Kaili, his roommate and business partner, was Gifted, she premonitions about the future, so Ethan assumed he's going to find or do something or someone important today. Well, maybe not do someone important, although, with Kaili, you could never know.

The airbus didn't board the same way an aeroplane would, to get to it you had to go through a secret pathway. As Ethan approached the airport's southern entrance, he veered left so he could stand in front of a man seating in front of a trashcan. The man had dirty hair and worn ragged, threadbare clothes. He was wrapped in an old lumpy blanket and had a holely, barely stitched together hat which was partially full of spare change.

Ethan got some strange looks as he approached the homeless man, but he ignored them. He crouched down, careful to hold his breath, so he doesn't get a whiff of the man's rank odour, and handed him a ticket. The ticket looked like a regular bus ticket, except no regular bus would take him from New York to Hawaii in just three hours.

"Hey, Jerome! Didn't know you'd be on duty today."

Jerome winked, before going back to his homeless act. He snatched up the ticket, all the while giggling like he was strung out on something. He held it up to the street light to examine it, then brought it back to his mouth. He bit into one end, leaving a set of deep teeth marks on the paper, as well as a little drool.

Ethan took the ticket hesitantly, careful not to touch it more than he needed to. "Can't you guys just tear our tickets instead of... that?"

He shook his head. Ethan sighed but dropped a coin in Jerome's hat. The coin was silver and had a council seal, almost the size of his palm.

"I need to use the toilet," Ashley blurted out as he approached the start of the immigration line. He didn't think it would work, but the man beside him nodded to the others, who lowered their wands. The man who nodded, a brunet with snake-like copper eyes and scarred cheeks, gripped Ashley's right shoulder, guiding him towards a nearby restroom.

"Be quick," The scarred man growled as he shoved Ashley into the restroom. Ashley stumbled as the door shut behind him sharply. The room was empty, aside from a cleaner who left shortly after Ashley entered. Ashley rushed into a bathroom stall, bracing against the wall as his knees buckled under his weight.

He tried, just one more time, to wretch the gloves of his hands, even though he knew exactly what was about to happen, but he had to try, just in case. He pulled and pulled, but the gloves stayed on. They tightened with every tug, till a sharp searing pain ripped through his hands. He let out a shriek of pain then immediately stopped trying to escape his bonds, collapsing onto the floor in a shivering heap.

His eyes brimmed with tears as the pain began to subside, and the weight and hopelessness of his situation pressed down on his unwilling shoulders. He was trapped, he was about to be sold off, and there was nothing he could do about it. Ashley burst into tears, shoulders wracking with heavy sobs.

Evan, Aurthur, Coraline, the whole Wilde family, they deserve to burn in hell. If he ever gets out, he swears, he'll kill Aurthur Wilde with his own bare hands.

There's a knock on the door, which sends Ashley's mind into a frenzy. Is it the scared man, here to drag Ashley away and into slavery? Or is it just a custodian who wants Ashley out of the way.

"Occupied," He managed to choke the words out between sobs.

"Are you all right?"

Ashley tried to place the voice. Maybe it was the scarred man? Ashley had only heard his voice once, and he'd been too panicked to really remember, but he doubts it. He can't imagine that man speaking with that much... care?

"N-No..."

"Do you need help?" No, definitely not snake eyes, the voice was much too kind, a deep baritone filled with warmth. It felt like snuggling under a warm blanket by a fireplace in the dead of winter or drinking hot chocolate on a cold night.

"I'll be f-fine."

Ashley didn't get a response, so he just reached for the lock and twisted the dial, deciding not to postpone the inevitable. They'd have to take off his gloves at some point when they got to their destination, right? He could formulate a plan then when he had his powers back. He opened the door, expecting a disgruntled cleaner. Instead, he was met with vibrant green eyes.