I am never satisfy with the girls I pick to play Gail, although Samantha Isler just popped up on my radar - thoughts? (photo above)

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"What do we do now?" Dan asked, a hint of fear in his voice; I cursed silently, my brains trying to come up with a good escape plan. I wished I could call Lynette, but even then we might not last until help arrived.

"I have called for the local backup, but I am not sure they will arrive given the situation." Eleanor whispered, her gun pointing at the ceiling ready to strike at a moment's notice. I nodded at her, heart pounding fast as I kept trying to come up with a solution but couldn't. I might be able to force our way out, but with so many of us, it would be hard to take care of everyone.

Before I could dwell more on this, the door burst open in a manner that was definitely not by natural forces and a group of people staggered in. Shifting into a fighting stance, I hauled all the books from our bookshelf towards the intruders, ignoring the whimpering protests from Dad. Those were precious material, I know, but our lives are on the line and I cared more about that.

Backing up and forming a circle with our back against the middle where my family was shoved, I scanned around for an escape route for them, but there was no clear shot except through the kitchen.

"Back off." I shouted, giving my voice and the command as much power as I can, hoping to at least daze them enough for us to attempt an escape. A couple of the guys staggered back and even more look dazed, but two of them just narrowed their eyes at me; I knew this wouldn't work well with POEs.

Taking advantage of this, Gerald and Diego started launching items at them, forcing them to back away from us as we begun to migrate to the kitchen. We have a back door that led to a semi-confined garden, and the strange configuration of the compound meant that we could escape to through the back to another main road. That is, if they hadn't rounded us up.

"It's still clear for now." Tristan whisper shouted and I heard someone rattling keys. Expanding my mind, I made sure that the back garden was clear and tried to sense how many more were coming in from the front door; but something, or someone was blocking me.

Cursing under my breath, I noticed that we were running out of things to chuck at the enemy and they were getting impatient with us. We were still wary of each other, accessing each other's powers and strength. If they figured out that some of us were non-POE and another three were non-fighters, then we would be toast.

One of the guys who weren't affected by my compulsion stepped forward, his stormy grey eyes staring right at me before settling on the de Silver pendant that I slunk back around my neck in a hurry. Narrowing my eyes at him, I took advantage of his distraction and grabbed hold of the sofa, sending it careering towards him.

With the sofa momentarily blocking their view, I shove my friends into the kitchen and slammed the door closed and barred it with a dining table. I had always found it weird that we had a proper door to the kitchen, but now I was beyond glad.

"Quickly." I shouted, unable to believe that my Dad still hadn't managed to open the door with the keys. The fact that you need keys to open a door from the inside was another pet peeve of mine about this house.

The door behind us exploded, I whipped around and heard the sound of keys being dropped behind me; dammit! The grey-eyed guy wasn't leading the march anymore; in front of him was an older, more menacing man with a short cropped beard and dark skin.

Speaking softly in a language that I didn't understand, he took a step towards me and reached out his hand as his crew stormed into the small kitchen, surrounding us. Swallowing the lump in my throat, even I couldn't figure out what to do in this situation.

Barking an order that I assumed meant seize us, the group advanced on us, and then it was like a string holding everyone snapped and suddenly everything happened in fast motion.

Building a mind wall as an attacker launched towards me, I shoved it out and slammed it against him as hard as I could, sending him crashing back towards the fridge. Imitating my last move, I attempted to create another one, but the force of someone tackling into me broke my concentration, making I stumbled back and almost losing my balance as I shoved back at him. I could hear everyone shouting and screeching next to me, and anger bubbled up inside me. Who were these people that barged into my home and started attacking us?

"Watch out!" Someone shouted, to whom I didn't know and I was too busy wrestling with my attacker to notice. Something hard hit me from the back of my head, dazing me. I cursed myself for not keeping my mind out to sense the surrounding, gathering all my strength to form another mind wall, this time originating right in front of my body and extrude it towards my attacker, forcing him off.

Staggering to my feet, I touched my head briefly and saw blood. Taking a deep breath, I tried to fight the dizziness in my mind and the blackness creeping around the edge of my vision to pay attention to my surroundings. There were still shoutings, and I could make out shapes, people, twisting and fighting as well as flares of light. Someone was calling my name, but I felt like I was hearing it from a distant...

Suddenly, a gust of wind started to appear out of nowhere accompanied by an odd, osshing sound. It felt like a hurricane was brewing inside the room. Things started to fly around and I blinked, not entirely sure what I was seeing and lost my balance. Just as I was about to topple over, a pair of hands shot out and grabbed me by my waist and I stared up into a pair of familiar hazel eyes.

"Tom!" I opened and closed my mouth, not sure if I was hallucinating. My brain seemed to have turned into mush as I stared at Tom in front of me, his hands still around my waist and tightening, pulling me closer against him. I looked into his eyes, unable to believe what was happening. Fighting the spinning feeling in my head, I reached out and pinched him hard on the arm.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asked, his French accent jolted me back to reality, and I turned to see my family and friends still fighting the gang surrounding us, though no one appeared hurt, yet.

"We need to get out of here." I told him, trying to lift a table off, but the searing pain throbbing in my brain immediately stopped me. Tom's frowned at me, sending a pang in my heart as I studied his face; I didn't realize how much I missed him.

"Matthias, Charmaine, nous devons les aider à sortir." Tom spoke to two people behind him, whom I just noticed was there. The temperature in the room suddenly flared, as Tom and a little boy, who looked to be around Dan's age but smaller started throwing fireballs around.

At the same time, the grey-eyed man suddenly pulled the fridge free, my mouth opened to shout a warning, but the wink I got from him stopped me and I watched, wide eyed as he launched it against his crew.

"We need to leave. Now. I will explain everything." The man spoke, his arm flailing at the door and the lock magically opened. He then glanced around the room and I saw his glaze landed on the sink, which promptly erupted, spilling water all over the room.

Resisting the pain nagging at me, I herded everyone along while Tom pulled me right next to him, urging his brother and a girl with dark brown hair in front of us. The grey-eyed man trailed behind us, barring the door shut again. I turned around to see him plunked the nearest lamppost off its roots and twisted it into a U shape bar, blocking the others from opening the door.

Unable to resist the pain, I leaned against Tom for support as my head took this short reprieve into dissecting what just happened. An enemy had turned against his own kind, Tom reappeared out of nowhere with a mini-me and a mystery girl, and now my house is destroyed. "Are you hurt?" Tom asked, jolting me back to reality and pain. Wincing, I nodded and pointed to the back of my head.

"I am fine. Just dizzy." I answered and let him hold my chin and turn my head around. I heard him curse under his breath and felt the world tilt as he swept me off the ground.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, momentarily more dazed as I was swung up in his arms. He turned back around so I could see everyone had stopped running and were looking at us, all sporting a guilty expression when they met my eyes. Why was everyone so nosy?

"How many boyfriends do you have?" Dan asked and for a brief moment, everyone laughed and it felt as though we were having a nice gathering, then the pounding started again.

"We need to get out of the Citybase, do you have a way?" The mystery man asked, ignoring the wary glances he was receiving.

"We are not taking you with us unless we know who you are." Eleanor spoke, eyeing him in the most unfriendly way I had ever seen, gun ready. His eyes landed at Gerald, before looking back at me.

"I am Lorenzo Bugatti." He said, and my eyes widened as realization hit me. "I am from the Bugatti family and I just saved your life. Can we go now?"

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Gerald challenged, being the cynical person that he was. This guy had just saved us, plus, we really didn't have the time to argue.

"Viktor, keep an eye on him. Eleanor, do you have a way out?" I spoke, feeling less sure than usual since a) my head was still pounding and b) I wasn't even standing on firm ground. The former, who had been eyeing Tom's companion intently tear his eyes off her and nodded; his power was an advantage against this guy claiming to be from the Bugatti line until we know more about him.

"Hopefully." Eleanor replied, before nodding for us to follow her. We had already wasted enough time chatting, and I hoped those metal bars Lorenzo made would hold for another while. At least, until we made it to the streets and were able to hide among the crowd.

Dad ran ahead, leading the way out of the garden that would be confusing to those who didn't know it; at least that worked to our advantage. I pulled at Tom's sleeves, gesturing for him to let me down, but he refused.

"How did you get here?" I asked, eyes darting towards the petit girl, Charmaine and Tom's brother, who were running slightly ahead of us. The girl looked to be around our age, if not slightly younger with a slight built, a heart shaped face and was pretty in a delicate way.

"We teleported." Tom's signature frown was back, and my eyes widened. Did he just said...

"Teleport?" I had to refrain from shouting, eyes flickering towards Charmain since it was evident that Matthias, Tom's brother's power was fire as well. "How is that possible?"

Shrugging, Tom ended up bouncing me up a little since he was holding me, sending another jolt of pain through my head causing me to gasp. We were just around the corner from turning around, and Tristan threw a concerned look my way.

"Do you want me to help carry her?" Gerald, of all people, asked and the horror on my face caused a few of us to chuckle. Tom, who had never met Gerald, eyed him uneasily as I stifled a laugh, my heart clutched in sadness of so many things that Tom had missed since our separation. It was necessary, but it still sucked.

With Gerald's attempt to be human was ignored, we finally passed the last of the houses we emerged into the main roads. Buses and cars could be seen abandoned, and though the human traffic had decreased as most would have already made it to safety, there were still plenty of people running through the streets for us to blend in, but only if we scattered.

"We should split up." Diego said, squinting at a couple running past us who didn't even spare us a glance. "It would make us less conspicuous."

"No, it would only make things more difficult if we are aiming to get out of the Citybase as soon as possible." Eleanor said, though her tone was factual and not confrontational. With the addition of Lorenzo and my family, it really wouldn't be wise to split up even if it was the logical thing to do.

"It'll be better if I am standing on my own feet." I told Tom, who reluctantly let me back down on the ground. I wobbled a little bit as my legs hit solid ground and my head started spinning again, but luckily Tom was monitoring me closely and quickly looped his arm around my waist.

"She's still losing blood." Tom's frown deepened, and I wanted to assure everyone that I felt fine, but I knew that whatever hit me did do a proper damage. Everyone gave me a concerned look saved for Gerald, who didn't look like he cared if I died or not. Figures.

"I can hold on." I assured everyone, and Dan navigated his way to support me on my other side as we continued to go with the flow at a strolling speed.

"So, is this your boyfriend?" Dan asked and I pinched him hard on his arm, making him yelp loudly. This was so not the time for the awkward sibling conversation. I could feel Tom stiffening a little; obviously not thrill by my little brother's use of words.

"None of your business, Dan; just shut up." I scolded him, then felt a presence around my head. That little brat had the cheek to try and read my mind! So he had inherited the Balikova gene after all.

No you don't, mister. I sent a thought towards him before slamming down a wall around his mind, effectively blocking him from sensing his surroundings at all, even if it meant causing a fresh wave of pain through my head.

Staring at me with wide eye, Dan couldn't believe what happened. "How did you do that?" He asked, sounding both outraged and curious. "You can't just block me off completely!"

"Watch me." I said through gritted teeth, "Are you going to cry to Mum about it?"

Clamming his mouth shut, I knew he was contemplating about whether or not he should leave my side; fortunately he seemed to have at least grown up a little in two years and stayed to support me.

"I don't sense anyone coming." My Mum said; my heart skipped a beat as the possibility of her being a POE was finally confirmed. Despite what Grandpa Hugo believed, her powers did emerge.

"I will explain everything later, sweetheart." My mother promised, and I nodded. It seemed that lately it had been one revelation after another; so many secrets were coming up to the surface, centuries old tale brought back to light. It seemed that the universe was hell bent on flushing it all out in one go, but what for?

"The bunker entrance is just ahead." Dad said, turning to look at everyone and we could all see people lowering themselves into the manhole. "Are we going in or not?"

Eleanor glanced down at her phone and grimaced, I looked to Gerald, who was supposed to get in contact with Lynette and he shook his head. What could we do?

"I can teleport you out, but I don't know where to aim for." a timid voice said, and everyone's face echoed the shock I felt when I learned of her powers. Honestly, it's the most intriguing and futuristic powers I have ever heard of, and it sounded suspiciously dangerous as well.

"All of us?" Gerald asked, voicing the question in our minds. Charmain's glance flickered across everyone and her face looked torn.

"Theoretically, I can do it, if I have enough power." She answered, twisting her hands together in a nervous manner. "I can channel your powers, though what you have might not be enough."

I raised my eyebrows. Channeling other's powers didn't seem that safe nor reassuring. If Nirmal was here, it would be done in a heartbeat, but she wasn't.

"What are the dangers?" Tristan asked, putting his scientist cap on and Viktor was equally keen on hearing more about this. Charmain shrunk a little under the attention, but her voice didn't waver.

"If I don't get enough power, I will reappear whenever the limit goes, which would be dangerous if it's not somewhere we want to be. It isn't so bad if I am going somewhere I have been before." She answered, and I was eased out of the worry that some of us would be missing a limb.

"What about channeling our energy?" Eleanor followed up, her eyes held a sparkle that I had seen many times in Viktor's eyes. The SMS crew are a curious bunch.

"It's more like a battery to power me through." Charmain answered, her eyes darting across the street nervously. "It's easier to get them from fellow POE, because it's similar."

Casting a glance about, I saw that the road was getting deserted and if we were to escape unnoticed, it would be now. Eleanor unclipped something from her gun and motioned for Tristan to do the same, handing two glowing palm-sized egg shaped thing to Charmain.

"These are high grade batteries." Eleanor said and the girl's face lit up. "Would that be power enough?"

Charmain turned it over in her hand and the light from one of the batteries faded a little. She nodded, extending her hands to Tom and Matthias, who were either side of her.

"Hold each other's hands and stand in a circle." She instructed, then looked towards Tom and me. "Where should be go?"

"Miss Sewell." Diego called out, then he locked eyes with Tom and the two seemed to have some kind of talk through stares. "She's Saralisa, we need her to heal Gail."

Tom didn't look to faze, although I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't care or didn't remember who Saralisa was. He nodded and turned to Charmain. "I can envision her." He said and the girl nodded.

"Close your eyes, keep you mind blank." Charmain said, "And no matter what, don't let go."

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Hello again! I don't recall ever uploading so frequently since, well, forever.

So, Tom. Is. Back - you guys have been bugging me forever about this, but this was *sorta* how I plan for him to return the whole time.

Also - Bugatti family is here! Only the Alvarez and Smith remains unaccounted for, but they are all the way in American continent, which for once isn't the center of the story.

Any idea on what would happen next? And who is digging Dan's boyfriend questions? I know I am. I need to bring the girls of the POE universe back because there's too many testosterone for my liking.

As always - comment and vote!