Wake Storm Prep - feel free to ignore.

[agathaheterodyne]

The dream started out, oddly enough, with Agatha asleep. The bed was huge and looked very very comfortable. Her pillow was stained with oil, and she was clutching an overly large wrench the way some might cling to a stuffed animal.

A girl with long green hair, dressed in a somewhat skimpy leather outfit, with two swords crossed over her back was sitting on the bed, watching her sleep. A large white cat was curled up on the far side from her, out like a light.

The green haired girl grinned and leaned forward, and touched Agatha's nose. "Beep."

Agatha's arm swing as she pulled away, making a wide arc with the wrench, but the other woman easily dodged it. "Nice try. Now up. Warrior training."

Agatha cracked open her eyes. "No."

"No?" The woman asked, leaning over her, so her hair draped over Agatha's. "Don't think I heard that right. Couldn't possibly have heard that right."

Agatha grabbed a pillow and shoved it between their faces. "No. It is over, Zeetha. All of it. The Baron is back, and no longer trying to kill me. Gil is back to himself and no longer trying to... whatever he was trying to do to me."

The green haired girl grinned. "I can think of a few things he wanted to do with you...."

Agatha made a small frustrated scream. "Gil is himself again," she said, through her teeth, "and learning to rule the empire so he can take over when his father.... who even knows. Goes adventuring again or whatever. Tarvek finally has the rebellions in his kingdom under control and the coronation is next week. Master Payne and the others will be here a week after that and the theater house is all ready for them. No one has attacked the town in a MONTH. My mother is gone, no traces of her or her reverents or mind controlling hive engines left anywhere. Martellus is in jail where he will hopefully ROT..."

Zeetha snorted. "And you think the cell will hold him? Look who we're talking about. The man kidnapped you out of your OWN CATHEDRAL in the middle of the ceremonies that transfered the town's powers to you, nearly killed Tarvek in the process, and you think that a cell will hold him?"

"Well, it's a really well made cell..." she said, meekly.

"A really...." The green haired girl dropped to lay on her back beside Agatha. "Tarvek made the cell?" she asked, looking at her. When Agatha lowered the pillow to nod she sighed, the small smiling face on her headband echoed her expressions as they changed, and now looked disappointed. "You have a real blind spot when it comes to the people you love, you know that?"

Agatha turned beat red. "I don't... I mean.... Yes, I respect his designs and aesthetic choices... but that doesn't mean...." She stopped sputtering and rolled over to face her, glaring at Zeetha. "Don't you have a boyfriend in the other room you could be bothering right now?"

Zeetha laughed. "So I have a boyfriend. The girl with two boyfriends finds something wrong with my bugging her while my guy is asleep in the next room?"

Agatha flushed all over again. "I DO NOT HAVE TWO BOYFRIENDS!"

A voice with no person attached spoke. "Oh, are we up to three now, then? I can reopen the harem chambers, if you want...."

"You stay out of this," she snapped, blood red. "And you... go find someone else to bother. I have to be presentable today, so I'm sleeping in."

"You're being naive," Zeetha said, totally serious, sitting up. "I thought we broke you of this, Agatha. It's all over? I told you before, it's a child's dream. It's never all over till you die, and given you've already died, apparently not even then. There is still Zola."

"I have an army," Agatha muttered.

"Yes, and some fine death rays, and Gil's lightning engines along the walls, and a sentient blood thirsty castle who controls your town with a will."

"I'm flattered, really, do mention my poisonous pits," the disembodied voice said. "I got Van to install them for me this week in the town square and I am ever so proud of them."

Agatha sat up and glared at the ceiling. "Did I authorize that?"

"Well...." the voice drawled. "You told me no poisonous pits in the entry hall."

Agatha put her hand over her face. "Let me be clear. No new death traps ANYWHERE without clearing them with me FIRST. Understood?"

"Understood," it said, sounding sulky.

"You know it is still going to find loopholes," Zeetha said.

"I was asleep, let me dream."

"Nope. You are awake! Training." Zeetha grabbed her arm and pulled her out of bed, tossing a pile of leather at her. "Get changed, then get out to the courtyard."

Agatha growled.

The Agatha in Nautilus decided that this was not something she needed to watch, thank you very much. She'd lived through enough of these training sessions to last a lifetime. The image jumped.

Agatha was mostly dressed, trying to fix her hair. The cat was sitting up on the bed. "So you wake me with your arguing with Zeetha, but then don't wake me for breakfast?" the cat complained, hopping off the bed to dig through a drawer, walking on his hind legs.

"I thought you were the mighty hunter," she teased, then grinned. "Adam saved you a fish and one of the towns kids brought you a rat."

The cat clapped his paws and grinned before pulling out a bright red coat with gold designs and pulled it on. "Then I am going for breakfast. Don't be late." He walked to the door, which swung open for him.

Agatha went back to fighting with the cowlick atop her head, when a woman walked in. The woman was huge. Agatha wasn't tiny, but she was head and shoulders shorter than this woman. And the woman... she was in a light sleeveless dress that didn't hide the stitchwork on her arms, legs, neck, and chest. Her brown hair was pulled into a bun atop her head. "Here, let me get that for you, dear." she said, affectionately, taking the brush.

Agatha nodded and faced their images in the mirror, letting the woman brush her hair. "I'm glad that you and Adam are comfortable enough not to hide who and what you are anymore, Lilith," she said softly.

"Some of that is Mechanicsburg," Lilith said. "No place on this or any world as accepting of constructs and monsters as this town. Your father and uncle always felt that was the single best part of the town. But even if that wasn't the case, the town looks to its Heterodyne, and that is you, dear. You welcome and accept all people on their own merits, and so the town has to do the same."

"You make it sound like they're brainwashed!" she said, horrified.

Lilith chuckled. "No. With the Wasp Eaters all around town, we'd know if anyone was being controlled, dear. I mean their loyalty. You are the Heterodyne. Anyone who doesn't like the Heterodyne doesn't feel comfortable in this town. Besides, you've earned their loyalty yourself." She finished brushing her hair and set down the brush. "Perhaps a hat."

Agatha made a face, but studied her. "You don't know how much I wish you and Adam were my real parents. That... I could still be me, still be a Spark, but also... just be Agatha Clay."

Lilith kissed her head gently. "Just as I am Lilith, but some people will only ever see me as Judy, you are Both Agatha Heterodyne... and Agatha Clay. Adam and I may not be your birth parents, but you will always be our daughter."

Tears filled Agatha's eyes as she sat back. She knew this wasn't real. She knew Adam and Lilith were working to help the refugees, were living a desperate life underground. "One day," she whispered to the fog. "One day you and Adam and your children will live somewhere safe, Lilith. I promise."

She took a moment, grounding herself in the here and now, in the reality, before she let herself look at the fog again.

Agatha was wearing the nice dress she'd been wearing, and a hat that looked rather like a mollusk, standing outside with an urbane looking young man standing beside her. She was announcing the start of a race for the harvest festival. The racers were all snails, each taller than she was, each brightly coloured, each bearing a rider and having no less than four eyes.

For all the crowd was cheering they... didn't seem to be moving. At all. But her official duties done she and the man got to step off the dias. "So the festival is officially started?"

"Yes, and you did wonderfully."

"Uh huh," she said, amused, but unconvinced. "Do I get to make guesses as to who picked out this dress?"

"Ah... as I would like to live to see tomorrow, I respectfully request to not answer."

"Answer or we'll go to the coffee shop..." she said.

"Not my new coffee engine!" he asked, horrified.

She laughed. "I'm not going to destroy it. I was actually going to get a cup of coffee myself to see how the new boiler is doing..."

He looked even more panicked. "I'll tell you anything my lady, just please, listen to Lilith, no more coffee..."

She rolled her eyes. "I couldn't have been THAT bad."

"I don't want my arms ripped off, so I'm not answering," he said, firmly.

"I wouldn't rip your arms off!" she protested, appalled.

"Maybe hyu von't vut ve vould," came the voice from behind her. She spun to face what might be the three oddest people anyone in Nautilus had ever seen. They were all taller than Agatha, though they tended more to lean than broad. One was very purple, with long purple hair, long purple claws, sharp teeth and spikes coming out of one shoulder. He wore what looked like it had once been a military uniform, before he dyed it purple, and a jaunty purple hat. Next to him was a slightly shorter man with a hint of a paunch who was green, and in need of a shave. He had short dark reddish brown hair and pointed ears. His eyes were a bit like Chat Noir's eyes in that there was no whites, just varying shades of gold. His uniform, not looking at all like any other uniform there, was dyed green, and his hat was green with a huge yellow plume. The third person was human enough in colouring, but like the other two had sharp teeth and claws. He also had a curled horn coming out of one side of his head, under his brown hat. He wore a heavy fur lined coat over a waistcoat and long trousers.

She beamed at them and ran towards the three, throwing herself at them. They caught her in a huge group hug.

"Dere dere," the green one said. "Dere iz no need for de cryink. Ve iz home, safe like. Hyu cry den we cry, den Momma gots mad at uz all fir makink you cry."

Agatha sniffed and wiped at her face as she pulled back a bit. "Sorry. I've just been worried."

"VAT?" the purple one asked. "Dot iz krezy tok! Vat hyu vorried for. Ve not destroy de countryside."

"Much," the pale one said.

"Yah, iz vut hy said, much. Hy not say dot, brodders?" the purple one asked.

"No," the green one said, picking a bug out of his teeth. "Hyu spekink lotz, but hyu never say anythink vat matter. Alvays on and on about sumtink though."

It looked like it was about to come to blows, but Agatha rested a hand between the spikes on the purple one's shoulder. "We didn't expect you back for a while, Maxim. Is everything okay?" she turned to the others. "Dimo?" she asked the green one. "Oggie?" the pale one. "Where are Jenka and Faust? Where..."

"Dey iz all safe," Oggie said, waving a clawed hand. "Ve make goot time iz all. Come, dere iz lotz of pipple vants to see hyu, yah?"

Again she had to take a moment away from the images, to look down at her hands, rubbing at her face. "I suppose this is the least bad storm so far... but if my uncle or father mysteriously show up... I'm done. That being fiction... is too cruel," she whispered. She took several deep breaths, then looked up again.

There were several large wagons, all brightly coloured and decorated, some moving autonomously, some pulled by one or more horses. Agatha followed the three odd people to the carriages, one hand to her mouth. From the largest carriage, which was also in the front, came a man shorter than Agatha, but more than twice her girth. He was HUGE. He was also impeccably dressed in a blue great coat with stars on the shoulders, a purple waistcoat over a golden shirt, and bright blue pants. He had some rather impressive brownish red hair and facial hair, and he held out his arms when he was on the ground. "Agatha, my dear! You look well!"

She ran and hugged him. "Master Payne!"

He pulled free to gesture at the side of his wagon which read " Master Payne's Circus of Adventure" along the side. The flourish turned into a kind gesture to the woman who accepted the offered hand to climb from the wagon. "We have heard many stories of your adventures, little Agatha. Who knew when we welcomed you into our humble Heterodyne show all those years ago, that you would be the source of so many new plays."

Agatha turned red a bit and turned to the woman. "Countess! You look well."

The woman nodded. "Lady Heterodyne. Though we should discuss what you are wearing. Socket Wrench of Prague maybe, but for anything else that costume is a bit too showy my dear."

"Tarvek designed it, with Gil's help, apparently," she said, dryly.

"Tarvek would be the one that dressed you in that see through number when you were back in his town, and Gil would be the one who built the statues?"

Agatha turned red again. "So. You made great time! Is everyone okay? Ab and Pix? Embi? Is he still....."

A VERY short man with dark skin, wearing a hat that doubled his height and still didn't reach Agatha's rib cage ambled over to her. "Short?" he asked. "Yes, yes I am. And it is good to see that your potato peeling hands are still intact."

She smiled and nodded. "All in one piece. But how are the carriages... I thought they were destroyed when the Baron attacked!"

The countess laughed as more people started to gather. "You mean when you defended us against the Baron by turning all of the carriages into weapons?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "To be completely fair, I had done that months before. I just hadn't needed it until then."

The countess laughed. "You saved everyone Agatha, none of us dead or arrested."

Agatha's face fell. "Almost no one...." she whispered. "I... I am so sorry. I... I didn't ask him to..."

"No one asks for that kind of sacrifice," a man with jet black hair and a small trim beard said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Lars was scared all the time, ever since I first met him when he ran away to join the circus all those years ago, Agatha. Long before we knew you. You saw how he could be. If someone had asked him to jump between them and a sword, he would have run the other way. Trust someone who knew Lars better than anyone. He chose to defend the woman he was coming to love. He was brave in his last moments... for you."

She swallowed hard, tears falling.

Tears ran down her face. She wanted to stop watching, but she owed it to Lars to never forget, not even for a moment, what he had done for her.

"He didn't need to have died," she whispered. "If I hadn't been with you..."

"Then he and I would have died on that bridge. YOU saved us, Agatha."

She shook her head. "The Jägers did that..."

"Putting aside the fact that those three wouldn't say boo to a cat unless they thought you wanted them to," Embri said dryly.

"There is the fact that the creatures chasing Ab and Lars would have killed us all if you hadn't blasted them with your deathray," Master Payne said. "You saved all of us that night, never forget that."

"And the clank that killed Olga in the wastelands," the Countess put in. Or how about..."

Agatha held up her hands. "You all saved me plenty of times too," she protested. "I was the only one lying to you, however."

Payne gave her an 'I am not buying it' look. "Miss Clay... Mis Heterodyne, rather, let me make this abundantly clear to you, once and for all. When you showed up out of the middle of nowhere, I did not trust you. Yes, you brought back Balthazar. But I suspected that to be part of some devious plan, potentially. Rescue a kid that maybe wasn't even lost. You were an unknown Spark, in the middle of the wastelands, who was clearly being chased. When I made the choice to send you away, I was certain that I was sending you to your death. It was not a choice I wanted to make, or made lightly. But one stranger, two if you count the cat which at the time I did not, weighed against all the lives in my care, I chose to save them against the chance that you might either bring danger upon us, or BE a danger to us yourself. You had a rather sizeable death ray, it was clear your Spark was strong. So I sent you off to die, to keep us safe. And while I may regret that choice now, while part of me hated making that choice then, I will not appologize for it. When that clank came out of the woods and killed Olga, you rushed back, and you saved everyone else. Had I not sent you away, perhaps you could have saved Olga as well. I still will not appologize for that choice, because with the information I had, it was the only choice I COULD make. But you saved us then."

"And you took me with you," Agatha said softly.

He nodded gruffly. "I did. But not because I wanted to, or because I trusted you. Because at the moment staying there as long as it would take to argue would have been a bigger risk than taking you was. But do you remember the order I gave that day? We traveled ON STAGE."

She nodded. She did remember. "You hid your Sparks. All of you."

Payne nodded. "I still did not trust you. I had Abner watching you when he was with us. I told the others to give you busy work. I made sure you had Baba Yaga sure that after a week you'd be ready to go anywhere at all, so long as it was away from us." He shook his head. "I put us all at risk hiding our Sparks, afraid that you finding out what we were was the bigger risk. And then the Baron's ship caught up with us. We pulled off the con we started when we buried Olga. We dressed you as her, we convinced the people the Baron sent that the clank had killed you. Pix and Ab played their roles perfectly, and we picked up and left. I was sure you would go your own way at the next town, the pursuit foiled. But you stayed with us. When the monster horse attacked Lars, you and your deathray saved his life. We hesitated, for fear of you, and you saved him. And when he panicked, you stayed with him. And for the first time, after one of his attacks, he actually slept without need of a calming pie to drug him. And still, I did not trust you, and did not want you with us. You need to understand this, Agatha, since clearly you never have. You peeled potatoes without complaint. You convinced ignorant townies you could see their futures so we could still have Madame Olga's fortune telling tent. You repaired wagons. You repaired the SILVERDON, which we thought was beyond all hope. You joined us on the stage playing Lucrezia, so that Pix was free to play other roles. And still I did not trust you."

She stood there listening, hanging on his every word.

"When we came to one town, where three Jägers were being hung, and you started to talk to them, I started to grow.... concerned. Everyone knows the reputation of Jägermonsters."

"Jah!" Oggie said, looking proud. "Ve hiz de vurst."

"Vas," MAxim said. "Back in der goot olt dayz, yah."

"Shuddap hyu eediots," Dimo growled. "Ve serve ze Lady Heterodyne now, so ve behave und NOT scare deze pipple."

Payne cleared his throat. "As I was saying... That night, when the town was attacked... even if not for you, there was nothing we could do. Too many people. We were hiding our Sparks from EVERYONE for fear of the Baron finding us. But you... you were in more danger of being found by him than anyone, and yet you actively went AFTER that giant bear and its rider."

"Ve iz verra glad hyu not kill Faüst," Maxim said.

"Ve iz verra glad how hyu get dem out of der town," Dimo said with a hint of a grin.

"That wasn't anything!" Agatha protested. You three had been in those gallows for DAYS, you could have gotten free at any time!"

"Dot iz true," Oggie said. "But hyu see hyu would hitz pipple if hyu attacked vit hyu deathray. So hyu makez a deal vit us."

"Trust me when I say this, Miss Clay," Master Payne said, sighing heavily, "No one else would have thought that the answer to a giant bear being ridden by a Jäger rampaging through town would be to set free three other Jägers."

"Oh... but..." she started.

"No, no but," Abner said softly. "Master Payne is right, Agatha, We know now that Faust was just upset that someone shot at him and Jenka, but at the time? We were sure we were all going to die, and if they were a fire, we thought that the moment the rider saw the three other Jägers there, that would be the oil. They'd join her and we'd all die."

"Nah," Oggie said. "Iz no fun kill everboddy. Iz more fun when hyu..." his words were cut off by Dimo's fist in his gut. "Sorry, brudder."

"And still," Payne said, doggedly taking back the narrative thread, "I did not trust you, was counting stops until we got to Mechanicsburg so you would leave. And then the bridge. Those reverents were the bigger threat than you were. So we all fought. And the Jägers? Because you wanted to, they saved Abner and Lars. You shot out the bridge once they were safe to keep those things from swarming over us. And then... just when I was almost ready to trust you, Miss Clay you did the single most infuriating thing you had yet done, and I was very near to leaving you there, at the precipice. My single biggest concern has been, will always be, the safety of this circus. Saving as many of US as I can. And just after we barely survived, YOU wanted us to go haring in like heroes to see if there was anyone left in that town that we could save. It was one of the most naive and stupid things I had ever heard. Other than you we are all WEAK Sparks, Miss Clay. And while we may play heroes on the stage we aren't heroes and we never have been. Had you insisted on going to the town, I know the Jägers would have gone with you. I suspect Zeetha and Krosp would as well. And I would have wished you all well in your next life. Because going there was suicide. I am glad, I will admit, that you were able to see reason."

Agatha closed her eyes, her hands became fists. She looked away, and swallowed hard. "I... still regret walking away..." she said softly. "But... something you said... made sense." She looked at him. "It wasn't that I was afraid."

"No one here thinks for a moment that it was that you were afraid," Master Payne said, dryly. "You don't have enough fear is your problem, Miss Clay. But if you would be so kind, what was it I said that worked? So that I can make sure to say it again."

She still would not look at any of them. "You asked me that if there were people stuck between, or if there were children who had been transformed, that if this had been the townsfolk... you asked me if I would be able to kill them, to spare them. If I could look at what they had become and end their lives, even as a mercy."

He nodded. "I do not like the Baron, never will. But he can make those calls. He does. He can bomb a town out of existence without looking for survivors. He can do that to save all the towns around that one. He can do that to eradicate a larger threat. Maybe with you I came close to that, but that is a line I never want to fully cross. And I do not think that you want to cross it either."

She shuddered, and said nothing. The countess put an arm around her, comfortingly. Abner rested his hand on hers. Embri patted her bare knee awkwardly, trying to find a safe place for someone his height to look when he was that close to her when she was wearing a dress that showed THAT much of her legs.

"Being a leader is heard, Miss Clay. Or rather, Lady Heterodyne." Master Payne pulled off his small glasses and polished them on his coat. "But I suspect you have learned that lesson by now. Even if anyone had been left, and frankly I doubt there was, hearing the reports after, you could not have saved them. If we had all been armed we could not have saved them if we had all gone. The Baron has resources that frankly, we don't. We left the trail markers, we let the next of the Boron's people we saw know. That was what we could do, that was all we could do."

Agatha opened her mouth, about to say something, then froze. Her eyes popped open, filled with horror. "I crushed the Baron with a wagon! That town..."

The countess chuckled and squeezed her shoulders. "The empire is larger than one man, dear. And besides, we weren't fully cut off in England. We heard that he was still ruling just fine from his hospital bed in Mechanicsburg. If there was any chance at all that that town was the work of the Other...? You know the Baron's mania for wiping out the Other's work. That town was probably dealt with before you were even kidnapped, so well before the battle with the Baron."

She relaxed slightly, touching her locket. "It.... knowing the Other is truly gone, that no one else will have their minds enslaved... it is still... hard to accept."

"Then don't," Payne said sharply. "The Other had more followers than we will ever know. Even if the Other is gone, there could be others out there, with that technology. With the powers the Other held over people."

Agatha's hands closed into fists in her lap as she swallowed. "Nice try, fantasy, but no version of me will ever accept that the fight is over. Not while people like Papillion are still running around. Not while Zola is loose." She shook her head. "Here, home. Doesn't matter. Anyone using mind control like that... is going down." She touched her locket carefully. "I will stop her. And I will never stop expecting her to come up behind me. I will never be that nieve. Not again."

She stood. "This was nice and all, but reality isn't that nice. If that's all this storm has for me..."

"Before we get any more angsty here, not that this wouldn't make a good second act scene leading to a dramatic soliloquy," a pretty woman with red blond hair said, "maybe we should show Agatha the two surprises we brought with us from England?"

"Ah..." Master Payne coughed. "Pix is correct. The point, Miss Clay, is that you have nothing to appologize for, and that while I took a very long time to trust you, I do, now. But yes, come along. Master Payne's has much magic in store for the Lady Heterodyne. We are, after all, a Heterodyne show, are we not?"

"I liked it better when you were calling me Miss Clay," she admitted, letting the Countess walk her towards the center of the circled wagons.

"We'll use the name that fits the moment," Payne said with a chuckle. He brought her to a huge wagon covered over by a large drape. A teenaged boy was holding one rope, an odd looking robot was holding the other.

Agatha gave them both a small smile, relieved to see they were well. When the Countess nodded and stepped back from Agatha, they pulled the ropes and the cloths fell.

The wagon under the drape was the original Silverodeon. Several layers of keyboards, countless pipes. Knobs and pedals. It was the single oddest looking musical instrument ever, but that was clearly what it was. But Agatha's eyes weren't on the keyboards. She was staring at the young man lounging against the side of the wagon, his dark hair tousled, a small wry grin on his face.

She made a small scream and ran towards him, flinging herself at him. The two of them hit the ground, and he laughed, pushing back some of her hair, looking up at her. "I guess you remember me, then," he teased with a grin.

"No.... NO! Stop. That... that isn't fair. Don't... just..." tears fell from her eyes. "Don't." She was almost begging.

"Of course I remember you!" she smacked his chest and pushed herself up so she wasn't pressed against him, her hand moving to examine his chest. "There... isn't even a scar... how? How? You died, Lars! You died and I didn't have the equipment to save you!" She was crying now. "I couldn't bring you back! How..."

He laughed. "Albia is truly a land of mysteries. Besides, the Countess had a formula for suspended animation, she kept me just at the edge of death until we could find someone ro revive me. Took a while from what I've been told. And apparently you owe the Queen of England a favour or three... But I'm here, I'm alive."

She rolled off of him and offered him a hand up, which he took. They stood together. "Lars... about.... about what you said..." she whispered.

He grinned. "Yeah, well, being dead puts things into perspective, you know. Besides, we passed through Paris to get here. Do you know there is a whole book series on your torrid love affairs?" He laughed when she turned crimson and started to sputter. "Hey, I'm showfolk, remember? I can tell a good story from a true one. But I do believe the rumors that you have both the Baron's son and the new Storm King dancing to your tune these days, and I decided... if you can have two boyfriends, why not three? And you know what? I always did love dancing."

"Enough!" she shouted at the mist. "I would give ANYTHING for Lars to be alive and well! For him to not think that he's too ordinary or too anything else, but this.... this is cruel."

"Speaking of dancing, some music, my lady? I've missed your playing..."

She flushed a bit but nodded and sat on the Silverodeon's seat. She took a breath smiled at them all, and then began to play. The music was... enchanting. Not literally. But it was complex and varied and wonderful. And then she began to sing with it. They weren't words, but perfect counterpoints to the notes of the instrument, and those standing around were enraptured.

"No more," Agatha said. She sat back down and started building furiously, even as the music and singing continued. It took her moments to create what looked like a small handheld fan. She aimed it at the image. The fog didn't leave, but it scattered just enough that the new scraps of fog rolling in carried other images, the scene fragmented. And gave her a glimpse of the person who had been watching her this whole time....