I sink into one of the chairs. "My father was... I'm not really sure what to say."

"One of my father's men." Don watches me, and I look over to him.

"I'm the daughter of a traitor to his family, a traitor to your family."

"Actually, your father was given permission to run the family until either my father or I returned. Cutter took that place after your father. He is just reluctant to hand his men over to me. Along with all of the other men that have decided to form their own small families. Your father was probably the only loyal man my father left behind." I think of that man possibly being loyal in any way, and fail to come up with an image.

"I just don't understand. Why wouldn't my father just have one of his many sons watch over the men?" Don leans back in his chair and shrugs.

"I'm not sure. Then again, you're quite the remarkable woman. He did tell you that it would all be yours. He just couldn't outright give it to his daughter because, sadly, older men are less likely to give women a position of power. I, on the other hand, have no problem in the matter." My head flicks to look at him, and my stomach has that odd pulling feeling again. "Tell the seven families who their true boss is, and I'll give you a seat at my table."

My breath catches in my throat and I gulp to get air. "You're Odin Bane. Why can't you just tell them yourself?" I ask in a voice that is much calmer than I am.

He stands and walks over to me. His chest hovers above my head, and I have never felt more threatened, yet exhilarated in my life. "I am Odin Bane, but you have to prove yourself somehow." He kneels before me and I feel a strong urge to lean into him.

Stop acting like a girl. Worry about the fact that Cutter may have lied to you, your best friend. I nod at Don, or Bane? "What do I call you now?"

He chuckles slightly and stands back up. "You can call me Trevor outside the hall. That is my actual name. Inside the hall I am Odin. You are Alice Reed outside the hall, and Freyja inside the hall. Same with James. He is Thor here. You'll meet the others in a short while."

"I've never felt as threatened by someone as I am by you." I say turning to look at the door.

"You shouldn't feel threatened by me. I don't want to hurt you."

"At least not the way you're thinking." Jam- I mean Thor says.

"Thor, Freyja will be taking your seat for this meeting.."

"Yes Odin Bane."

"Thor?" I ask, testing it out.

"Yes?" They both look at me, curious.

"What made you choose Thor? Why not Heimdall? Or Tyr?" Thor looks to Odin Bane, then back to me.

"I am such a Thor. I mean, can't you tell from my muscly body?" He flexes in what I guess is a sad excuse of a heroic pose. "But, no, really, I chose Thor because he is Odin's right hand, and I'm his Enforcer." He says gesturing to Odin Bane.

"I knew it!" Thor looks at me, surprised by my outburst. "When I first got here, I guessed that you were his enforcer. Just the way that you two acted with each other. It reminded me of..."

"Of what?" Odin Bane asks as he takes a step closer since he had begun to walk away from me.

"Nothing. It isn't important." I look away from the both of them.

"If it bothers you, it's important." Odin Bane says as he crouches down to catch my eyes.

I wish I could tell him. Something in me wants to tell him, but I know the moment I do he'll mark me as a traitor. I don't know what to tell him in its place either, so I just look away from him and close my eyes.

"In time you'll tell me." He stands back up and walks over to his seat.

"Odin Bane." Two men walk through the door and I'm not sure whether to laugh or groan as Gas and Brake bow to their leader.

"Come in Hodr and Baldur. Meet Freyja." I nod my head at them and they do the same. "Great. Now can we get this meeting started?"

The other three say "Yes Odin Bane" in a way that sounds almost robotic.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After about an hour, we were able to leave. Trevor was clear with what he wanted, and no one argued his orders, or tried to claim they had something better. It was a peaceful meeting that lacked arguments and whining. I loved it!

Trevor lead me to my room afterwards and that's where I am now. He says that I can go anywhere I want inside the house, but I can't go outside without either him or James, and since he's practically always busy, James it is. 

"Hello, young heiress." James says as he bows sarcastically. "So what made you pick the name Freyja?" He asks as he plops down on the bed.

"She's the main god of the Vanir. Plus she is an awesome woman. In a world where men reign supreme, she scares the living daylights out of them. I think that is me in a nutshell." I'm propped up against the headboard with my legs bent, and his head is right below my feet.

He rolls over to look at me. "I thought it was because she's the sex goddess." I lift my leg to kick him but he catches it, along with my other leg that starts flying after it.

He laughs at me and I glare at him. "You're such a dick. Take me outside. Maybe some fresh air will do your brain some good." I rip my legs from his grasp and sit on the edge of the bed. "Take me somewhere I can shoot something."

He stands up and dramatically holds out a hand. Rolling my eyes, I take it and stand. "Follow me m'lady." James leads me down the stairs, through the house, and to a part I don't remember seeing. I can hear the pang of gunshots from behind the door, and my fingers hum at the thought of holding a gun again. "Here we are. Bane's personal shooting range, complete with an action range, shooting stalls, and, if you're feeling up to it, a nonlethal practice range. It's pretty much laser tag, but with guns the weight and size that we use." I follow him in and notice that, for a private range, there sure are a lot of people.

"I thought that you said this is Bane's personal range?" Two or three people walk by us and I watch them for a second.

"He used to have it closed for himself, but decided that it would be put into better use by everyone else, and that it may increase their skills." He walks me over to a stand with several guns on it, and gestures for me to chose one.

There's truly only three handguns that are my style on this rack. The Springfield XDM Compact .40S&W, Ruger LCRx .38 Special, and the Springfield XDs .45. I pick up the Ruger and turn to aim at a target nearby. I let out a shot and it goes straight between the eyes of the cardboard cut out. "I'll take this one. For now."

James doesn't seemed surprised by my skill, but he does seem to think it odd for a girl. "How'd you learn to shoot? Your dad teach you?"

We walk over to one of the many shooting areas, and I place the ear protection over my right ear. "No." I let out a few shots into the target in front of me. "Cutter did."

I move the target back further and continue to shoot at it. After a while, I notice that I'm getting bored with shooting still paper and cardboard. "Where's the action range you mentioned earlier?"

He glances at the cut out, then looks at me. "It's in the other room. You'll still be shooting cut outs." I nod and he walks ahead of me again. "You could try the live action one. I'll go against you. I can go easy on you if you want."

I snort derisively at him. "I don't need you to go easy on me. I could beat you with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back." He jabs a finger into my stitches, and I almost hiss out in pain. I hold the urge back, and look up at him with a blank expression. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

His eyes widen a bit and I can see a tad bit of fear in his eyes, but there is also a great deal of admiration. "I expected it to, yes. That isn't healed yet. I may have just busted a few stitches too, yet you don't even seem phased by it." I don't reply and he takes that as a whatever. "Do you want to go against me or not? It might be fun."

I think about it for a second, I really do, but I just don't see the reason to. If I show them too much, they'll think I'm more than I say I am. "Nah. I think shooting cut outs is enough for now. Wouldn't want you guys placing me in the line of fire just because I know how to use a gun, well, I wouldn't want that right now at least."

"Trevor would never put you in the line of fire." James say matter-of-factly. I look at him with a quizzical expression and he clears his throat in a nervous fashion. "He just wouldn't allow you to get hurt while you're under his care."

He's hiding something, but if they want to hide things from me, I've got plenty that I'm hiding from them. "Alright." We get to the wide space with hiding places for the cut outs to appear from. "I'll do one round, then we can go back to the house. I'm getting tired already." He nods at me and goes to start it for me.

"Whenever you're ready!" He yells from what looks like a glass box upstairs. I raise a thumb and hear a low beep pass through the room. As soon as it ends, figures begin to pop up. My hand raises before I take in everything, and I begin to shoot. The figures pop up and go back down fairly quickly. They don't make a loud sound, but there is the sound of gears moving right before they come up. I turn as if my moves are predetermined. I notice that I'm more stiff than normal and I try to relax. It doesn't take more than three seconds to find my mojo. I begin to move swiftly, as I plan to, and a smile appears on my face. 

Towards the end of my round, my eyes zero in on Trevor, who is standing at the entrance. The way he's looking at me almost makes me forget that I'm in the middle of something. I focus back on the cardboard cut outs, but I still glance at him periodically. When the low beep goes off again I turn to look at him. He's already walking towards me, and I feel a twinge of panic run up my spine. His hand lifts and takes the gun out of my hand. "A Ruger LCRx .38 Special. My kind of weapon." His head turns to see James running up to us. "You give her this gun?"

James shrugs. "She chose it herself. She seemed to know what she was doing, so I left her to choose for herself."

Trevor hands me back the gun. "You're not half bad. You are a bit stiff, but that can be fixed." He looks at both James and I, then to me. "Well, you have to heal fully before this plan of yours can take place, so let's get you to the doctor so he can see how you're progressing. Give the gun to James. He'll put it away."

James goes to take it, but I pull it back. "Can I keep it? You know, as extra protection?" Trevor shakes his head no and I reluctantly pass James the Ruger. "I'll come back for it later."

Trevor doesn't respond and beckons for me to follow him. We walk out of the shooting range, and into the yard behind his house. A car is pulled up to the back of it, and I notice the very familiar doctor symbol stamped on the back. We get to it and I pause to see the doctor, but Trevor keeps walking. "He's already inside." I jog to catch up with him, then continue to walk. 

We step into the living room and there is a doctor sitting in a chair. He has a few instruments and some gauze and such. "Ah, Alice. It's good to see you awake and walking around." He stands to greet me, and I nod at him. "She's shy?" He asks Trevor. I rub up and down my arm and take a seat.

Trevor looks at me slightly confused, then a look of realization passes over him. "She's afraid of doctors."

The doctor looks at me and his mouth forms an 'O' shape. He gives me a soft smile and begins to speak to me. "I am Dr. Kirsh. I have been a doctor for twenty years, and I will promise that I have never had a dissatisfied patient." I nod at him and he keeps his soft smile. "Do you mind if I check your stitches?" I nod yet again, and lift my shirt to show the gauze. He slowly removes the gauze. "Well it seems to be healing quite nicely. You haven't pulled any stitches, which is good." His fingers prod around the wound, and I sit completely still. "Does any of this hurt?" I shake my head no and his fingers move closer. "And this?" Again, I shake my head no. He stands up and walks over to his tools. "Well it's healing very quickly. The lack of pain means it should be almost healed. I'm going to give you another shot of pain reliever because it may hurt in other circumstances besides me poking it." He chuckles as he takes a syringe and extracts medicine from of a bottle. "This will sting a little, and it may burn for a second." He kneels back down in front of my wound. I feel a prick in my side and a second later I feel a searing move through my stomach.

"What is that?" The feeling is foreign and uncomfortable.

"It's a pain reliever. It should keep the tissue beneath the skin from being sore. You'll thank me later." He throws the needle away and begins to gather gauze and tape to cover me back up. "Is there any pus that comes out when you shower?" Dr. Kirsh asks as he kneels, once again, in front of me.

"No. It hasn't at all as far as I know." I say as I watch him dress it.

"That's not exactly a good thing." After he finishes, he stands and turns to Trevor. "Let me know immediately if she develops a fever. Things may look good now, but she may have an infection."

Trevor looks down at me and nods. "I will. Is there anything else I should look for?"

"If it is infected, the skin around the wound will begin to swell and be extremely sensitive. Don't leave it to her to tell you something is wrong. I believe she has a high pain tolerance. She may not even notice something is wrong." Dr. Kirsh takes the gloves off of his hands and throws them away also. "Alice, I am your doctor, but he will be around. Tell him about any changes, just as you would tell me." I nod my head at him, and he also nods. He gathers his things up then turns to Trevor. "I will be on my way then. Remember, if she has a fever,"

"Call you immediately. I know Dr. Kirsh. Thank you for coming." Trevor leads him out then comes back to see me. "You're sleeping in my room from now on. I will have a bed moved in there for you."

"What? Why?" I go to stand up, but sit right back down. That medicine is starting to make me tired.

"You heard Dr. Kirsh. I have to watch over you, and I will not make the trip to your room every morning. That will waste time, and it'd be safer for you in there. Besides, it isn't like you'll be sleeping in my bed. You will have your own bed." He stands there, arms crossed.

"I can take my own temperature, and I can check for swelling myself. You don't have to come see me in the mornings." Saying that makes my chest hurt a little bit, but whatever. "James can always come check on me. He can tell you everything you need to know. That way you can continue to do whatever it is you do that makes you so busy."

"Alice, I'm not having this arguement with you. My word is final, and I've said it." He pulls out his phone and dials a number. "Have Alice's bed moved into my room." He places the phone back in his pocket then recrosses his arms. "Now you have no choice. You will stay in my room until you are completely healed, and there is no longer any need to worry about an infection."

He has me pretty much trapped. I can't move an entire bed by myself, and the way he is looking at me means that I won't be able to get any of his men to do it for me. I look away from him and cross my arms. Well, I am a girl.. Maybe the silent treatment will work on him.

"Come escort Alice to my room." He's on his phone again. "No, that isn't why. Just come do it." He hangs up the phone. "James is coming to take you to my room. I will be up in a few minutes to tell you the rules." I hear his footsteps retreat, and my shoulders sink. 

Annoying man. And to think, I said you weren't that annoying just yesterday. I lift my head as James walks in. 

"Did you get in trouble heiress?" He says as he holds out his hand.

"No. The jackass thinks it's a waste of time to walk all the way to my room every morning to do what the doctor told him to do." I say grudgingly.

"Considering he lives in an entire other house, it would take extra time that he doesn't have." 

I look at James completely and utterly confused. "But he said he'd be up in a minute to tell me some set of rules he has. How can he be at an entirely other house in a matter of minutes?"

"Well there's this neat little invention called cars, and he has like twenty. I think he can pick one to go to his own house." I lift my hand to smack James on the back of the head, but he catches it. "He's probably already there. We don't want to leave him waiting too long."

James practically drags me out of the house and into a car I don't know. We drive down a road that's beside the house I had been staying in before. The road looks to only be big enough for two vehicles. After about a three minute drive, he pulls up to a smaller house. The two story house is made of brick, and has a nice front porch. It looks more rustic than the large house on the street front. It's charming.

"Is he here already?" I ask James.

He looks around for a second. "Unless he pulled into the garage, no. We should get you inside. There isn't anyone on guard around here." He places a hand on my lower back and guides me into the house. "I can't stay, but Trevor should be here soon." He makes sure that the room is clear, then walks back out the door.

I sigh and plop on the couch. It doesn't take long for the medicine to finally knock me out, and I fall asleep on his couch, in his house. If he wants to talk to me, he can wake me up.