"Done!" Amelie shouted with glee. It had taken her three days of lunch breaks, but she had finally completed the entire one hundred piece puzzle without the use of her hands.

"What? I can't hear you from all the way over here," Theo said from the other corner of the room and blew the sound over. Amelie chucked lightly and he continued: "I think you need to vole whatever news you have."

She grinned. "If I must." She closed her eyes and connected herself to the air threads surrounding her, then said "I finished the stupid puzzle," and concentrated on letting the threads carry the sound directly to Theo, so that he heard it like she was right next to him.

"Excellent," she heard his velvety voice whisper in her ear, and shivered involuntarily.

There was a slight breeze and Amelie turned to see Theo floating gracefully through the air towards her. He landed just two feet away and stared down at the puzzle.

"Why did you have to pick on with cats on it? The glowing eyes just make it look creepy when it's in pieces. Even now finished it gives me the shivers," he said, mockingly.

"It was on sale," she said simply. "Well, what now? Do you think you can teach me how to fly like that?"

"Maybe," he said quietly.

"I've picked up every other Aleste you've taught me. Why not?" Amelie asked, using the Thamot word for air magic.

Theo smiled, "Your accent was perfect there."

Amelie froze. Her accent? How could he know she was not from the Realms? They had never spoken about her past, and there were no Elves raised outside of the Realms and she had been assuming he wouldn't come to that conclusion without help.

"What do you mean my accent?" she asked, slowly. There was no avoiding this misstep.

Theo tensed.

"I mean your Thamot accent. You spoke perfectly for someone who wasn't... raised in the Realms," he replied, quietly. Theo looked at her like she was a feral beast and he was preparing for an attack.

Amelie sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "How did you find out about it? Did someone tell you?"

"No," he said, "They have been specifically avoiding speaking of you and I caught onto that. But, there were clues when we trained that lead me to figure out you weren't raised in one of the Realms."

"Are you going to tell your government?" she said, coldly.

"I don't know yet," he replied. "I don't want to harm you though. Truly. I didn't tell you while we were training because I was waiting for you to tell me. I didn't want to pry into something you weren't ready to share."

Amelie mused, quietly, assessing what to do. Should she drop the subject and allow things to return to normal, or confess that she was clueless to her own origins and didn't want to be bothered in their political bickering.

But didn't she want to be bothered? If she was shut out of this world again she knew she would break apart.

"What things gave it away?" she grunted at him.

"It was a few little things. Like you greeted me like I was a human, not a fellow Elf every time. And you never used the Thamot names for things. You also just hold yourself....differently. I don't know. You didn't accept truths that were told to you. You asked questions about mechanisms and things. That's just not the Elven way."

"I'm a scientist," she whispered. "I work in a physical chemistry lab."

He nodded appreciatively, "Magic has made us impassive about questions. Since we cannot understand the fundamental question of why we have magic and other species don't. Questioning is not something that we value."

Amelie's eyes widened. Adrien had never explained that monumental cultural difference to her.

"Please don't tell your government about me," she said, suddenly. "I don't know who my real parents are. I was adopted as a baby when my father found me outside of one of the dorms at the university he works at. I had a note that said I was the child of a student who did not have the means to take care of me," she walked towards Theo so they were mere inches away.

"If someone thinks that my parents stole me, they are wrong. My parents were good people and did not know what they were doing. I'm a good person. I don't know anything about who gave me up, and if I did I would give up the information in a heartbeat." Amelie pinches her lips together in anger. Anger and sorrow. She had not realized until that moment quite how betrayed she felt by the parents she had never known.

Until she found out they were Elves, she had been content not know, assuming that their lives were difficult as it was if they had not been able to raise a kid that was their own. That they had left a baby alone.

But, if her parents had been Elves then they had magic. They came from a world where children were valued more than anything and should never be abandoned. Her parents had had a choice and had chosen to begin Amelie's life with lies and betrayal.

Tears began to swim in her eyes and she backed away from Theo as fast as she could. She ran out of the building and into the alley where she immediately collapsed against the side of the gym.

She couldn't make Theo keep her a secret from his Realm government about her. She clearly was not fluent in Elven politics and culture, so she had no way of knowing if what she was asking of him was reasonable or not.

After she had calmed down she checked her watch. She had ten minutes left until her lunch break was over.

She should go back in and talk to Theo. But she was late and didn't know how to face him yet after her embarrassing display.

She was halfway to the T stop when she felt a strange tickling on the back of her neck, as if someone was watching her. She turned around and all she saw was a man walking ten feet behind her in a grey suit.

The Man in the Grey Suit.

He made no move to indicate he recognized her so she quickly turned back around and marched towards the T stop, her head held down.

She arrived to the T stop and folded herself up against one of the poles, to avoid looking conspicuous.

The Grey Man was nowhere to be found. The T arrived and Amelie scampered on as fast as she could.

________________

Amelie walked outside of the research building and was hit with a wall of heat. The air conditioning had been blasting at full capacity since she began working in her lab, so she was forced to wear a sweater to work even in the August heat.

She felt sweat prickling along her neck and stripped off her sweater as she began walking home.

Two minutes into her walk, her neck prickled again, this time not out of heat, but out of the suspicion that someone was watching her again. Twice in one day? Unlikely.

She closed her eyes and released a breath. Then turned around, with painful slowness to look for The Grey Man.

He stood less than ten feet behind her. She stopped and he approached her.

The Grey Man halted just next to her. So much for him not recognizing her earlier.

"Hello darling. I see you've found the magic of contacts in the human world," he practically hissed at her.

Amelie cringed.

"Yes, I have," she said.

"Now I'm going to ask you nicely, since I know that you are in contact with the Prost government as I've just seen you coming out of their gym. What Realm are you from?" he said.

Amelie stayed silent.

"What Realm are you from?" he growled at her.

"Prost," she spat at him.

"Tell me, girl from Prost, what is an Elf doing working for Humans? Especially humans doing scientific research?"

Amelie swallowed and said nothing.

"You should be careful, girl. I've got people watching you now. A girl who wears her Elven eyes in the outside world and works alongside humans. Prost might treat traitors lightly but we in Taeneth do not." He leaned into her ear and whispered, "Just in case you happen to wake up one day and find yourself there."

Unpleasant shivers ran down her spine and Amelie grit her teeth in fury. "You wouldn't dare," she said.

"Wouldn't I, Amelie?" he asked.

She tried to muzzle her gasp. How could he know her name?

They were still on a street but there were not many people around. Amelie looked from side to side to see if any of the other pedestrians would come if she called for help.

But, The Grey Man was an Elf. He could do magic. He could probably wipe out the entire street if he felt compelled to do so.

As if in response to her thoughts, the man grabbed her wrist. She pulled away immediately and was met by a wall of air so hard it felt like she had smacked into a building. Her eyes widened and the panic rose in her chest. She was trapped.

Amelie felt her breathing quicken and tried to remain calm, but she had never been so terrified in her life. This man had complete control right now.

She kept walking and The Grey Man matched her pace, still holding onto her wrist. Suddenly, an idea sparked and sped up and walked into a coffee shop at the end of the block. The Grey Man followed her in.

She ordered a coffee, and when she reached into her wallet the Grey Man let go of her wrist. She sat down at a table with one chair, and opened her book. The Grey Man stood feet away, at the entrance to the shop but, she remained silent, determined to ignore him. This man had no power to harm her while they were surrounded by innocent humans.

If he pulled at her wrist she could scream.

Twenty minutes passed and she continued to pretend to read. Finally, out of the corner of her eye, she saw The Grey Man walk out of the store.

She kept her nose in her book for five minutes more before calling Adrien. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Can you meet me somewhere?" she lowered her voice so other patrons would not hear. "The Grey Man found me on my way home from work. I'm okay, but...."

Adrien cursed, "Asante San, Amelie. Yes I'm coming right now, baby. Where are you?"

"I'm not sure," she said and looked around for some sign with the store's name. "It's a coffee shop called Resonance on Kendall street."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

"Can you stay on the phone with me?" she asked, embarrassed at how much her voice trembled.

"I can get there faster if I don't. I'm going to dive to you," he replied.

"Oh. Okay. Please hurry," she said and hung up.

Five minutes later Adrien walked in the door and ran straight to Amelie. Her resolve to remain strong and stoic collapsed as soon as she felt his arms around her.

"Shh, baby it's okay. I got you."

Amelie started crying, the tension she had held for the past hour bursting under the weight of terror.

"He's gone love. I just checked the perimeter and he isn't here. It's okay," Adrien whispered, rubbing comforting circles on her back.

"Let's go home," she whimpered, apathetic to the other customers in the shop who were probably watching her explosion of emotions like a piece of theater.

They walked out of the coffeeshop and Adrien practically carried her the rest of the way to her apartment.

He laid her down on the bed and curled up next to her, gently stroking her hair.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "He won't find you again. I'll protect you. I'll protect you."

They laid in bed like that for what must have been an hour before Amelie felt any desire to move.

She sat up and Adrien followed her, gently scooting her in between his lap so he could rub her back.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Amelie didn't say anything. She felt exhausted. And weak. She felt weak.

She shrugged out of Adrien's embrace and walked to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and tried to wake up out of the trance.

Adrien waited for her in the bed, but Amelie felt the smothering need to be alone in that moment. She sank, leaning against the sink's counter and put her head between her legs. After a few deep breaths she felt more in control of her emotions and was able to organize her thoughts.

She felt violated and weak. It was such a powerless moment to have had no ability to say no to this man.

She had been scared, but the fear was made worse by the realization that she had no tools at her disposal to counter whatever this man wanted.

She was lucky he had found her in the middle of the day and not at night when the streets were less crowded.

But he hadn't found her, she realized. He had followed her from work. He knew she worked for MIT and had been at the Prost gym. He could find her again.

She stood up an marched back into the bedroom, determined with what she wanted to do.

"Adrien, I want to go back to the gym. I need to learn to defend myself," she practically yelled.

He cocked his head at her and raised his eyebrows. "Have you ever even taken a self-defense class, Amelie?"

"No but I'm sure I can learn," she said.

"I love you, but I'm not sure you can. Magic doesn't come very easily for you and I don't want you to get hurt because you're exhausting yourself trying," he said, gently.

She grit her teeth. "I haven't had enough time to practice magic. You don't know if it comes easily to me or not. Besides, this is my choice, not yours. I want to try."

"Babe, most kids learn to make whirlpools in an hour. It took you weeks. And I'm proud of you for not giving up, but you need to be realistic here," he said.

Her heart dropped and she gasped. It felt as if she had been punched and she needed to lean against the dresser to stay upright. Adrien made a move to come help her and she shot him a glare that made him sit back down.

"I am being realistic, Adrien. This man knows where I work. He knows I've been to the Prost gym. He even knew my name. I am not safe and I need to at least know how to defend myself, even if I cannot act on that knowledge. It will help me feel safe to at least know the theory," she said, carefully pronouncing every syllable so as to not scream.

"He knows where you work? He knew your name? Oh Eshaar this is so much worse than I thought," Adrien moaned and put his head in his hands. He looked like he might cry and Amelie's heart pulled her towards this boy she loved who was in pain.

She started towards him then paused, remembering she was angry with him, but his broken face urged her body forward of its own accord.

She sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. "Shh, baby, I know," she said, almost echoing his words to her earlier.

His arm snaked around her waist and squeezed her hard against him. She rested her cheek against his shoulder.

He turned her head to look at her "I love you Amelie," he whispered.

"I know," she said and kissed him hard. He sighed against her lips.

"I can't lose you again," he said. She shook her head in response.

"Help me learn to fight. I need to defend myself in case you're not there," she said.

He groaned and buried his head in her shoulder this time. "Can we decide later? I just want to hold you for now," he said and kissed her neck.

She wanted to keep talking about it but his kissing caused her to arch her neck and momentarily forget about it.

He kissed up her neck leaving a warm wet trail and she felt his other hand move to the outside of her hip and begin to rub up and down.

She moved her hand to his pant line and let her thumb slide in between his shirt and his skin. He groaned again, this time a much deeper, slower, carnal groan that caused an ache between her legs.

His hands stopped on her hips and began to lift her body on top of his as he lay back down on the bed.

His kisses continued to lift away the terror that had held her and left behind a trail of warmth and safety.

Hours later, now showered, fed, and warm and once again cuddling on the couch, Adrien's head laying on Amelie's lap as they watched a movie, he looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back and smoothed his hair back over his forehead.

"I have an idea," he said, his smile fading slightly and she recognized the shy boy she had once met shining through.

"Yes?" she answered her boy in the alley, her ice dragon.

"What if I moved in with you? Then you can at least always feel safe in this apartment. The man from Taeneth won't be able to harm you when I'm with you. And this way I can start walking you to work and coming to pick you up from work too. At least until we figure out how to alert the Realms of your existence in a safe way," he asked.

She sucked in a breath and looked up at the ceiling. Adrien move in? He had been back in her life for less than two months. And she had never had a boyfriend live with her before. She had no idea how to share a space like that.

"I know it's fast," he continued, "but I feel like we would have gotten there eventually. I just see you as my future. I've always seen you as my future, Amelie."

Amelie smiled and looked down at the first boy she ever kissed. The first boy to have stolen her heart. Who ever got to say that their first love was their last?

"Yes," she whispered. His eyes lit up and she said it again, louder this time. "Yes!"

He stood up and pulled her up with him to grab her in his arms and kiss her. "Yes," she said again. Adrien picked her up and spun them in a circle.

When he put her down they made love once again.