Needless to say the Steele brothers reunion, well, wasn't really one. Arion and Devantious knew Tohmaz, A.K.A. Argus, who didn't know them from Adam save a feeling of d?j? vu. Neither brother seemed to be surprised at that minor detail, especially if their theory as to how he managed to escape the void was correct. Tohmaz did maintain that slightly annoying smirk of his, as if he were waiting for the punchline to the joke. Jara sat quietly, nibbling on her thumbnail, one of the telltale signs that she was a tad nervous about this little gathering. Jared, on the other hand, looked like one of the spectators at a tennis match, only his head going back and forth, depending on who was talking at the time. Brehnic? Hell, he knew when to just stay out of the way, and sat on a stool by the kitchen doing some research for Jared. He was still new to the PSD clique, and if they wanted or needed his input output, they knew where to find him. Lastly? That left our sometimes stormy wide-eyed wonder, Eve 'don't call me Nora' Lizt.

The place? Tohmaz's media room. The time? Early morning. After a quick run for fresh bagels and coffee, introductions had been made, and folks just got down to business. Only thing missing was the guy from the Twilight Zone.


Tension. Eve really didn't care for it, for the way it leaked in past the mental blocks she'd put up in an effort to keep from confusing herself, the way it knotted up in her shoulders and ached along the sides of her neck. The young woman stifled a yawn at one point and leaned forward a little, elbow braced on her knee, her hand curved to knead the back of her neck briefly. Straightening up, she gave her shoulders a roll, and glanced around at the nice little bunch gathered. Even *Jara* was nibbling at a fingernail, which she didn't take as a good sign. If even *she* was a bit nervous. . .

"It's pretty farfetched, I know." And 'farfetched' was putting it nicely, simply. She'd looked at Tohmaz as she spoke, who sat on the couch along with her, and Eve even cracked a smile in an effort to lighten the atmosphere a bit. "But that's pretty much the way of things around here, isn't it? Nothing is ever exactly. . .normal. Easy to explain." Case in point.


"Look, I'm not saying I don't believe you two, considering our line of work, but even *that* sounds a little out there." Tohmaz spoke matter of factly, giving Eve a slight nudge with his shoulder. "But, it does make a little sense now, as far as the whole jaunting about to different Realities. But what about the Elf here? She found herself doing that 'Porting about, also. She a Walker? And Jara as well?"

Oops, the cat was out of the bag, because Jared did a double take. "What about my sister?"

Jara patted her 'brother' on the thigh, in an effort to hush him up. "Shh! One crisis at a time, Jared. I'll explain it later. Promise."

Devantious just leaned back into his seat, rubbing his temples. "When Christian - " Pausing, he looked over at Eve. " - Or Cromwell and his group tried to make sure you were *not* finding a way out of the void, they actually pulled a cosmic reset of sorts. It not only rebooted the Abyss, but you as well."

Arion cleared his throat to speak next. "Pretty much, you've been reborn. Those prior memories might still be buried deep within you, but we just have to find
the right trigger to access them. Or perhaps this is how you fit into Reality now. Second chances, and all."

Devantious gave Arion that *look,* to which Arion shook his head. "That is not an option, Dev."


"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe. If I hadn't been there, done that, met other versions of you and myself - " And she carefully left out mentioning meeting the twin daughters a pair of their alternates had together. " - and Jared, I definitely wouldn't believe it either. It's bizarre, and the only main reason I'd put any stock in Devantious said at all is because Arion mentioned him, you, and the same sets of events." Eve shrugged, but she was listening to what Dev and Arion said. But what. . .? "What isn't an option?" Didn't sound very good by the look on Arion's face.


Devantious continued. "We've told them this much; might as well tell them the rest. Argus/Tohmaz here has become a Glitch in Reality. He's the reason you've been having troubles of your own, Eve. He's recalling certain parts of his life, like pulling another version of Jared, and now Jara here - and even Brehnic as well. How many times have you woke up to that d?j? vu vibe so far, Eve? Two times? Three? Let me guess: Certain things were still the same while others just didn't make any sense? That's my brother's doing. The first time he had no grasp of your Reality, so he winged it. The second time I bet it was a little closer to yours, but not quite. And now?"

Needless to say, all eyes were on her now, sort of like one of those old E.F. Hutton commercials.


Warning bells had sounded in the back of her mind. Glitch in reality. Hadn't Amber been said to have caused something similar? And she'd been killed in an effort to reset things. . . Eve's pulse had picked up, but her expression had gone still. Blank. It was that doll-eyed look she'd get on occasion. "There have been a lot of troubles with reality. A lot of things are different, but a lot are still the same, too. There are oddities, I admit, but there were also plenty of those before." She wasn't looking at anyone else; she'd locked eyes with Devantious, giving him that peculiar empty-eyed stare. "And what is it you propose to do about it?" She had a feeling, but didn't want to say
it, or assume it. In fact, she was silently praying that he'd say something entirely different.


"And the main thing that was constant was yourself and him right?"


. . .Which, in some ways, didn't really make sense to Eve. Why her? Why not Jared instead, considering he'd worked with Tohmaz/Argus for so long? Eve gave a single nod, not even blinking.


Out of no where, because Jared was still bugging Jara about what Tohmaz had said, and the girl was still on a sugar rush to begin with, and had a short of temper to boot. "O' fer cryin' out loud, Jared! Worse than a bleedin' woman, ye are! I came from a different Reality, one tha' be all women! I'm nae yer sister, I'm a female version of *you!* *Get the fuck over it!*"


"A very blunt female version of you too, Jared. It's weird, but trust me, you're not alone in that one. I had a male version of me around for a bit. Still miss him, because he was like the twin I never actually had." A quick look away from Devantious to address this, before turning her gaze back. She didn't think Jara had done much to soothe Jared's nerves; in fact, that probably brought up even more questions!


Brehnic glanced up from what he was doing. "Evan Lizt, right?"


She almost jumped. Her eyes snapped to Brehnic, and her expression was just a little puzzled for a second. "Yeah."


Brehnic just went right back to what he was doing, with an *oh shit* look on his face.

Jared was staring at this female version of himself, stunned. Devantious and Arion, during that time, were having a rather heated whispered debate. Tohmaz sat quietly through all of it, just playing the role of an observer, when suddenly, "I'm in love with Eve, so mebbe I connected with her without knowing." Once again, all eyes were on Eve. The room was so quiet one could hear a pin drop, and his floor had carpet!

Oh no. She had no intention on letting that one get past. Eve stared at Brehnic for a long minute, and was scooting forward on the couch to get up and go question him when Tohmaz dropped that bombshell in her lap. The young woman froze and looked at Tohmaz instead, her 'mission' forgotten temporarily. "...What?" Bright, Eve. Had she heard him right? Was it just her, or was the silence in the room deafening?

"*Yes!*" That was Jara. Jared was still stunned. Brehnic was closing his laptop when he'd seen Eve getting up. Arion had a small grin. Devantious just shook his head.

"You heard me, Eve." Tohmaz stood up, facing her. "The moment I saw your case file picture out of all the others, there was something about you."

The room was still quiet enough for those inside to hear Jara mutter, "You ain't seen nuthin' yet, bucko!"

Ignoring her, Tohmaz looked down at Eve with a small smile. "The first time I saw you in the coffee shop, I dunno, there was something there."

Once again Jara muttered, "That was the coffee you spilled on her!" Jared had recovered enough to thwap her a good one.

"Even with all the craziness, you were always there. Not the Noras, but you. It was like a focal point. But yeah, you heard me right. During all of this insanity, I fell in love with you."

"*How sweet. Then let those words be the final you utter, Argus Steele!*" It was Cromwell! Obsidian energy exploded from his hands, knocking everyone inside the room unconscious, and leaving him with a very wicked grin on his Daemonic face. "*The chase was a long one, but like all your lives, it has come to an end!*"


Truthfully, Eve was more shocked by this than anything. And such a peculiar situation for it all to come out in! A blink or two, then she had to bite her lower lip a little to keep from grinning like a complete moron. Too bad it didn't really work! "Tohmaz. . .I -" She didn't get any further. The words cut off sharply in her throat, forgotten at the intrusion. The Feeling of sheer *wrongness* that pervaded the room right along with those words. Eve snapped around to see the intruder, but there was no time to otherwise react. The energy that struck her burned through her veins and muscles and mind alike, blazing black energy so distant from her own that she simply couldn't take it, couldn't defend against it. The pain was unfathomable for a heartbeat that felt like an eternity, before unconsciousness mercifully swallowed her up.