The Sixth Line of Defense Read online

  * * *

  It had become something of a tradition for Vala to escape the more populated regions of school during the long lunch break and go find some place where she couldn't be disturbed, and wouldn't have to face the hatred of her classmates. Armed with a selection of the healthier snacks from the vending machines scattered across the campus and enough homework to occupy some of the time ahead of her, Vala wandered out past the more distant buildings and slipped into the shifting shade of the landscaped grounds. Every once in a while she would see some of the other outcast from the larger society of the school, or a few of the couples sneaking away for a little time alone, those scenes were ones most likely to stir up her rarely seen moments of jealousy. Almost at once her line of thought turned back to the previous evening's encounter with Shiva. Never one to be attracted to just any girl she might encounter, her rather intense attraction to that beautiful uncertain girl had only grown once she had been pulled away, leaving Vala all the more lonely for that brief glimpse of something special. Even though she had said that Vala being an empath didn't bother her, Vala couldn't quite let herself believe that she had truly meant it. It seemed likely that she would pick someone else's room rather than risk being ostracized by the whole school. And that made it more of a shame since she had been so very cute trying not to look at Vala's thinly clad form. The signs that Vala's intense attraction was anything but one side where Shiva was concerned could have only been a good thing in Vala's way of thinking, and made her wish that perhaps there was just a small chance that something might come from it. The school she had so loved during the previous two years, had been filled with nothing but pain and loneliness since her secret had been exposed by a girl who Vala had thought was her friend. That betrayal had destroyed their relationship, ended many of her friendships, and made Vala the most widely known outcast in the school. Even though she was seventeen if her professors weren't already recommending her for early admission to college the following year she probably would never have returned to the academy for the fall semester.

  It was just a tiny twinge in the back of her mind, a familiar feeling caught in a passing moment that made her turn her head off to one side and her thoughts refocus from their internal circling. When she looked off in the direction of that strange momentary feeling she saw a sight that made her heart race and skin feel warm. Settled in the shade of the trees further out than most people were willing to go during the lunch break was Shiva, looking even more beautiful in the daylight than she had in the soft shadows of Vala's empty dorm room. In truth she looked almost fragile sitting there in the grass beneath the dappled shade of the trees, her pale perfect skin almost glowing in that shadowy light. Her lilac hair left unbound to fall down her shoulder and across her back, dancing in the warm breeze. She sat with her legs curled up next to her, half hidden in by the fabric of her skirt spread around her as if she had just dropped down unknowing or uncaring of the 'lady-like' thing to do. Her expression was gentle as her intensely silver eyes focused on the pages of the book spread out in front of her, seemingly unaware of anything else as the pages flipped past perhaps too fast for any other person to read them. Vala couldn't quite stop her feet from turning and allowing her legs to carry her across that distance, knowing it might be a mistake but not quite able to resist that unknown force that seemed to draw her in.

  "Hello, again." Vala called gently, remembering Cami's warnings of keep her voice calm and even. And almost to prove how true those words had been, Shiva's whole body jerked at her soft call as if she were a wild animal hearing the sound of a predator's approach. She was if anything even more perfect and beautiful up close, while Vala's curves might be the 'in' look of the models and celebrities popular at that time, it was Shiva's slim athletic and graceful body she found more attractive. Perfectly proportioned and beautiful formed she looked even younger than Vala might have guessed if it wasn't for that hint of age and wisdom in that studied silver gaze. Her head snapped around to find Vala standing just a little bit away from her, and a demure little smile changed her expression from surprise to one of gentle beauty as her eyes were immediately turning away. The whispering feelings of Shiva's chaotic emotions of unsettled embarrassment, deep attraction, and sudden shyness made Vala very much want to tease her just a little. However she somehow knew that if she gave into that mischievous need Shiva wouldn't even know how to handle it and Vala would only succeed in driving her off, which was the last thing she wanted right then.

  "Hey.." Shiva whispered back to her eyes not quite looking in Vala's direction, but her every sense intensely aware of Vala's presence nonetheless. Her soft almost breathless voice was lilting and pleasing to the ear, as if there was never a reason for her to speak a harsh word. But Vala could sense a pitch black shadow lingering just out of sight where the eyes could not see it, as if this girl no matter how pretty or young knew what true darkness could mean.

  "Would you like some company?" Shiva eyes almost snapped upward in surprise at Vala's question, but her cheeks colored a very subtle shade of pink as she looked away just as suddenly as she nodded almost too little to be truly seen. Vala moved to settle in the grassy niche between the roots of the massive tree, dropping down onto the soft grass so that she was just within her Shiva's reach. There was a passing sense that Shiva wasn't quite satisfied with even that short distance and almost seemed the lean closer as if she wished to close the gap between them. "So what are you doing all the way out here?"

  "Seila.. she asked me to sit on some of the advanced classes to see if I thought I might learn something." Shiva murmured with annoyed sounding sigh as she slowly closed the cover of the book resting in her lap. The fact that she called the Dean by her first name wasn't entirely lost on Vala, but somehow with Shiva it just seemed right, as if she only looked like she was the same age as the rest of the girls in the school. "And.." But even as Vala found herself wondering if somehow Shiva was older than her, that uncertain girl seen for just a few moments the previous night returned making it even harder for Vala to not be aware of how very attractive she found this person to be. ".. well I decided I'd rather be far away from some of those girls."

  "Were they being mean?" Vala asked feeling a sudden surge of concern.

  "Mean I can handle.. annoying is another matter." Shiva told her as a small smile crossed her lips. "They were just asking questions that they had no business knowing, or trying to touch me when they really shouldn't.." The latter seemed almost understandable, Shiva looked very much like the perfect image of a doll given life. ".. it was just starting to irritate me so I decided to come out here and see if.." She cut herself off, smiled a little brighter as she shook her head. Her beautiful eyes almost wandered high enough to meet Vala's watchful gaze before they dropped down to small expanse of grass that separated them.

  "And I thought I might want to ask you a question.. but I guess it doesn't matter." Vala murmured down to her feeling uncertain and increasingly tempted to learn something about this mysterious girl who drew her in like a moth to the flame of a flickering candle.

  "What did you want to ask me?" This brought her gaze up and a tiny smirk to curve her full lips. As her body shifted a little with the movement, Vala caught sight of the edges of a strange beautiful tattoo of flowering vines traveling up her right arm and disappear under her sleeve. That was if anything only made Vala even more curious about her since by all right neither of them were old enough to have that sort of artwork done legitimately by a tattoo artist.

  "I wanted to ask.." Vala decided at the last second that she wasn't quite ready to get rejected that moment as she started pulling out her lunch items. ".. how your other meet and greets went last night after you left." Shiva gave a mysterious smile and a uncertain and non-specific gesture.

  "Cami says that she has a few more this afternoon before she'll let me make a final decision." Shiva commented a moment later with a sigh her annoyance with another a
uthority figure clearly on display.

  "You almost make it sound like you were ready to make a final decision last night." Vala murmured as her heart started to pound and she felt a surge of hope.

  "I am pretty sure the decision is almost made.. it's just.." Shiva's emotions seemed to flutter between a strange mixture of nervousness, excitement, uncertainty, and desire.

  "What?" Vala asked unable to resist leaning in just a little closer to her as her emotions stirred in response to that fluttery excitement she could sense from Shiva.

  "I don't know if I can really trust myself.." Shiva whispered in words that were just barely audible, but the fear and worry Vala felt from her was all too loud and clear. No longer able to resist the temptation Shiva's every word, gesture and expression had to offer for her, she shifted closer, closing that gap between them so she could reach out and gently touch those hands clasped in Shiva's lap. Shiva looked up sharply at that touch and even as Vala once again marveled at how the warmth of Shiva's skin could make hers tingle in the most subtle and deeply delightful of ways, Shiva blushed a rosy shade of pink even as her finger shifted to catch Vala's in a light grip.

  "Trust yourself?" She asked of her trying desperately not to feel a surge of hope at Shiva's reactions, unable and unwilling to let herself lose her heart at that moment knowing only too well how easily she might end up getting hurt over this stranger.

  "She's.. beautiful.. smart.. understanding.. and I really want to get closer to her.. but.. I worry that something bad might happen if let myself do that." Shiva whispered to her as her emotions began to flip-flop and her eyes seemed unable to meet Vala's watching gaze. In that moment, Vala didn't care if it was a mistake, she didn't even care if Shiva wasn't talking about her, there was a pain in that silent downcast gaze that made her own heart ache. Shifting forward Vala reached across the distance to slide her fingers across that beautiful cheek and bury her fingers in that amazing hair.

  "Any girl would be lucky to have the chance to get close to you, and.. I really don't think you'll do anything you'll regret." Shiva leaned into that touch as if she really did desire the touches Vala had been warned away from giving, as her eyes drifted close and her first honest and total smile appeared to show the truth of her amazing beauty.

  "I'm worried she might not like me that way.." Shiva whispered back to her, it was the first words Vala had heard from her that seemed to come out without some kind of internal struggle.

  "Than she would be an idiot." Shiva's eyes flicked open and then all at once she was shifting across the remaining distance between them. Vala's heart stopped as Shiva crossed that imaginary barrier and their lips touched in that first intensely electric kiss that made her lungs freeze and her body grow instantly warm. She almost did not know how to react even as some small part of her mind commented on the innocence of that inexperienced kiss. Before she was even ready to realize what had happened, Shiva was drawing back much to her intense disappointment.

  "You should really eat your lunch before the bell rings." Shiva whispered to her much to surprise of her frozen thoughts. The other girl gathered up her book and was sliding to her feet as Vala watched stunned and confused. "See you later, Vala.." She added as she slipped away across the shadowy landscape as the wind washed up to rustle through the trees that had seemed silent until that moment.

  With that cryptic and wonderful encounter to plague her thoughts throughout the remainder of the day, and a kiss that could almost still feel every time she thought about it. Vala felt even less willing than usual to endure her normal everyday routine of concealed hatred and loneliness as the clock seemed to slow to a crawl through the remaining hours after lunch. Before she went to dinner that night she thought for just a moment that she saw Shiva being escorted across the campus, but couldn't quite bring herself to call out across the distance since there were so many people around. The meaning of that kiss was still all too unclear and she wouldn't ruin Shiva's chances of finding friends no matter how strong her feelings might be. Long after dinner and after she had locked herself away in her rooms where almost no one would bother her unless they wanted something from her, Vala found herself staring out the window and across the silent dark campus as her thoughts circled around that strange and wonderful encounter.

  Those seemingly small events and the words exchanged between them were even more confused after the hours of classes and the painfully slow hours of another lonely evening than it had been just after it had happened. No matter what she might have felt from Shiva in those intense seconds when their lips had met, Vala couldn't really let herself believe that it might mean what she wanted it to mean. And no matter how hard her heart wanted to and needed it to be 'that way' Vala couldn't and wouldn't let it's soft consistent whisper overwhelm her compromised logical thoughts. It seemed obvious to her after half of day of circling contemplation that it had only been Shiva's way of thanking her for the advice. No one would knowingly choose to be ostracized from their peers by choosing to associate themselves with someone like her, no matter how much Vala's heart wished for these facts to be different. While she wasn't entirely convinced that Shiva was one of those people who would casually use such a gesture in that fashion, her own doubts wouldn't let her believe that had been meant as something like a true gesture of attraction.

  Vala had almost always known that she was a lesbian, when her childhood friends had first started to think about boys as more than just people who shared their classes and attended the same school, she found herself unable to understand their feelings. Aggressive, uncouth, and more often than not, awkward, she had honestly tried at first to follow in her friends' examples as they made those first uneducated steps towards something more than friendship. Those first attempts had been disasters, no matter how educated or funny any of the boys turned out to be she simply had not felt anything for them beside a slim desire for friendship. And their own attempts at something more were fumbling and weird as they tried to make themselves seem suave and sophisticated which had only driven the wedge separating them even further apart. Far too young to really understand the problem her friends had just thought her to be too shy to really 'get it right'. It was not until her childhood best friend had spent several nights at Vala's house while her parents were away on a trip that things started to make themselves a little clearer. Of course now nearing adulthood, she knew that a lot of girls were prone to experimentation with kissing and other more daring acts with their friends, but that first time had made all that awkwardness go away and make her realize she found far more attraction for her friends than she did for any boy she could name. Some of those tiny voices in her head almost had her believing that she choose to come to this school because the chances of finding someone who felt as she did became just that much more significant, even though she had told her parents that she had wanted to attend the same school as her mother.

  The tiny hard to hear tap on the door barely registered in her confused distracted senses, but thankfully the person who knocked had the good sense to come in anyways. It was the presence that entered that made it possible to shake off her confusion and turn to find Shiva quietly sliding the door closed. She was smiling softly even though she was intensely nervous for an unspecified reason. As she met Vala's turning gaze, she looked almost instantly down towards the floor and shifted about uncomfortably as she clasped her hands in front of her hips. It was the kind of subtle signal that gave her the kind of clue that Shiva was indeed not the kind of person to kiss just any girl, and that gesture that had so confused Vala was very nearly proven to be something that was not something as innocent as a simple thank you for the advice.

  "Cami wanted to check with another girl.. but.." She fell silent and shook her head as her smile grew just a little. Almost before she knew what she was thinking Vala was crossing the floor, Shiva seemed to step back out of instinct at her approach, putting her back to the door as Vala drew in close. Sliding her hands under the o
ther girl's chin, Vala couldn't stop herself from lifting her chin and giving her a second kiss, one where all of Vala's previous practice was brought into play. Shiva's earlier innocence was proved to have not been faked as the younger girl seemed almost to go limp, half frozen by surprise even as her emotions spun wildly between a burning desire and intense confusion. Vala reluctantly pulled away after a breathless eternity and looked down into those silver eyes as they slowly drifted open. "Still looking for a room mate?"

  "No." Vala murmured back to her as her perverse sense of humor took a burning upswing. "But I do have an opening for a girlfriend."

  "Even better.." Shiva whispered back to her as wave of confidence seemed to flow through her.

  "Is it.. would you really risk being shut out by all the other girls?" Vala asked as her own confidence seemed to leave her in a rush.

  "They aren't going to like me anyways." Shiva told her with a soft mysterious smile. Nervously Shiva's hands shifted upward to nervously touch her hip and to run a finger through her hair, her eyes wandering away from her watching gaze as she seemed to be absorbed by her own wandering thoughts. "Would you really want a girl friend as dangerous as I am?"

  "You're not dangerous." Shiva's eyes snapped up to hers and that shadow returned all at once and far more intense than before.

  "Yes, I am." She told her firmly as if there was no doubt whatsoever as to that being a fact. Even though Vala caught a glimmer of something she couldn't quite understand, she couldn't truly let herself believe that was the absolute truth at least not where Vala was concerned.

  "Shiva.. this.. is probably one of those things you don't want to talk about.. but I.. have done little else but think about you since last night. Dangerous or not.. my every instinct is telling me that I should trust you, my ever desire wants to be near you, and I am willing to take almost any risk just to be close to you." Vala whispered back to her as her confidence returned feeling her heart pound just with the nearness of this angelic creature whose warm body was pressed up close to hers. "There is probably nothing you could do or say that would make my feelings grow any less.. and.. I don't even know what it is I am feeling right now except maybe that you are the most beautiful.. most desirable girl I have ever encountered."

  "Really?" Shiva asked surprised and nervous in the next moment as her body wiggled and shifted against Vala's. "I've.. never.. really.. had.. anyone.. I mean.."

  "I could tell." Vala interjected gently as Shiva's eyes drifted away as she struggled for words. Her eyes shot back up to find Vala smiling across that short distance. Vala slipped her fingers through that beautiful hair tenderly, only just able to keep herself from stripping Shiva out of her clothes and giving her more than a few of those first lessons. "But that's okay, I get the feeling that you would be a very good student." Shiva blushed and looked away as the remaining distance disappeared as she slipped in closer and tucked her head under Vala's chin. Vala hugged her close and let her eyes drift closed as the beating of their hearts seemed almost to take on the same rhythm. The next knock on the door was not welcomed by either of them, and Shiva almost seemed to growl as Vala drew her away from the wooden structure at the sense it was about to be opened. Even though Shiva seemed ready to shift away from her, Vala wasn't quite ready to let her go as the door indeed slid quietly open to let the professor slip inside.

  "Is.. everything all right?" 'Cami' asked with a sudden intense concern for Shiva even as her face failed to hide the intense surprise to find Shiva tucked into Vala's arms.

  "We're fine, but someone needed a hug." Vala whispered back to her over the top of Shiva's head. The arms that were circling around her waist tentatively, tightened in a heartbeat of outrage even as a small giggle emerged from Shiva as her body relaxed just a little more. The professor relaxed more than a little at that sound and smiled at Vala as she stepped further into the room and approached cautiously to touch Shiva's shoulders.

  "So the decision has been made, has it Shiva?" She asked gently smiling down at the smaller girl in Vala's arms.

  "Vala will be able to tell when.." Shiva shook her head and sighed.

  "I understand, sweety, do you think you would want to sleep here tonight and move your stuff in the morning?" She asked encouragingly, giving a Vala a warm happy smile.

  "I don't have much.. could I just move in tonight.." Shiva whispered back uncertainly sounding very tired all of a sudden, as if the drain of her intense emotions had left ready for bed already.

  "You sure?" The professor asked as she too heard that exhaustion in the younger girl's voice.

  "Seila's house is too quiet.. it makes me.. uneasy.." Shiva whispered back to her, though Vala could sense that she had changed her words at the last minute.

  "Just let me call her and make sure she isn't on her way to bed or anything." The Professor murmured rubbing Shiva's shoulders before she moved closer to the door to conduct a quiet phone conversation. Shiva sighed as she moved to step back rubbing at her eyes with her knuckles only too clear fighting to stay awake..

  "You can always do it in the morning.." Vala suggested gently reaching over to caress her shoulder and upper arm.

  "Then I won't have anything clean to wear..." Shiva countered softly giving her a lopsided smile.

  "Devin?" The noticeable rise in Cami's voice made that half asked question reach them across the quiet space. Shiva's good mood seemed to fade in less than a heartbeat and a darkness swept over her emotions that was no mere shadow this time but something akin to a thunderstorm of turbulent emotions. "That's pretty unusual.. well, yes, I understand that.. All right, I ask her." The professor moved the phone away from her ear. "Vala, Shiva's guardian wants to meet you." Shiva almost opened her mouth to voice a very loud objection, but Vala beat her to the punch only too aware of Shiva's objections even as her own curiosity ruled out any kind of refusal.

  "Of course, just let me get changed." Shiva half glared at her as the Professor nodded and stepped out in the hall to end the conversation. Before Shiva could try and voice her objections directly to Vala, she started pulling off her pajama tops and Shiva's intense blush forced her to look away rather cutely as she blushed. "You don't want me to meet your guardian." Vala commented as she shed her outer layer of clothing and reached for something a little better suited to going outside. Caught between trying hard to watch Vala dressing and trying even harder not to look, Shiva shook her head fractionally.

  "I don't want him to meet you." Shiva whispered back to her.

  "Why?" Vala asked her, a bit confused and more aware than ever just how adorable Shiva was as the darkness retreated for the moment and her nervousness and uncertainty returned.

  "It's.. complicated.." Shiva replied after a very long awkward kind of silence.

  "Shiva.." Vala murmured crossing the distance between them still only half dressed to lift the other girl's eyes to look up into her own. "I couldn't put what it is I feel for you right now into words if I had a thousand years.. but whatever it is, I can tell you without a doubt or hesitation that I have never felt this way about anyone before. Come hell or high water, I know that I want to get to know you better so that maybe one day I might know what these feelings mean. Because I am absolutely positive there is not one thing that I can learn or hear that will make these feelings change, I know that deep down in my soul. And that if I were to turn away right now, I might never be so lucky to ever meet someone like you ever again.."

  "It's just.." Shiva tried to counter uncomfortably even as her own chaotic emotions seemed to ascend in a spiraling dance of joy at hearing Vala's words.

  "I mean it." Vala stated firmly to her, not about to let Shiva suffer through the same kind of doubts that had made Vala so miserable throughout that day. "Whenever I am around other people I am filled with voices that echo all my doubts and fears back to me over and over, with you.. those voices go quiet, and all they whisper is that I want to be with you. Maybe you are dangerou
s, maybe you do have secrets that I should never know about.. but as long as I get to be with you, I don't think that will ever matter, because I know in my heart that you would never hurt me."

  "All right.." Shiva relented, giving up the fight as her fingers moved to slowly button up the front of her shirt. Vala smiled down at the tender gesture and leaned in to kiss her cheek, skewing her aim to miss those far too tempting lips. It was only a little while longer before Shiva was half leaning into her side with the fingers of their hands tangled together as they emerged into the hallway. The Professor was still waiting for them as they emerged only to be confronted by an angry Sophia, the RA for that floor and a vicious dictator in the making if there ever was one. She had made it clear in the first week that she thought Vala was a enemy to all 'humans' and that they would never be anything but blood-enemies. So of course she was trying to argue hard about the rules only she really cared about with a Professor who was supposed to be the authority over such things.

  "Oh, stuff it Sophia, tomorrow's Friday and I bet there isn't one person in bed yet, curfew or not." Vala growled as they approached, not even caring to be polite about it on this night. She could only too readily feel that burning hatred always present take on a nearly violent edge.

  "And I already told you that your protest has been heard and rejected, these are special circumstances and I don't need to explain myself to you." The Professor told her as her voice became far more firm and authoritative. "Good night, Sophia." The door to Sophia's private room almost slammed shut in the Professor's face.

  "Oh.. I can just tell that we are going to be best friends." Shiva drawled sounding almost as annoyed as the rest of them. The professor gave her a concerned look to which Shiva gave her a wicked little smile.

  "I'll see if something can be done about this before this becomes a problem.." The Professor murmured to them as she moved to lead them out of the building and to the rack of small electric carts that were sometimes used to get around to the far distant points of the school, and on the weekends off of school grounds and into the nearby town. Shiva seemed to have no desire to do anything but sit close to her as they were driven slowly towards the Dean's house. There was still a bit of tension and a faded sort of anger lingering deep down even though she almost seemed ready to fall asleep right then and there, but it seemed to be just enough to keep her from doing that very thing. When they arrived the Dean was waiting for them out front with a smile as Vala drew Shiva into motion. With obvious affection she kissed Shiva's forehead and rubbed her arms before she was sent inside.

  "Thank you for coming out here so late, Vala." The Dean murmured to her softly.

  "It's all right, I thought maybe if I came somehow a little light might be cast over all the mystery." In the next second there was a sudden almost irrational surge of anger from Shiva that made Vala almost go running in that direction, but the Dean caught her upper arms between her hands stopping her in the same instant.

  "Easy there, those two have their own issues to work through." The Dean murmured down to her. Vala's intense concern didn't quite allow her to realize that the Dean had reacted to the very same distant feeling as she had until it was far too late to question it. Shiva calmed down considerably in the next minute erasing the sense of immediate need that might have made Vala pull away from that gentle grip stopping her. "Shiva is pretty much a special case in all quadrants.. and I believe her guardian felt the need to warn you about some of the same things Shiva herself has probably already told you."

  "I know she would never hurt me." Vala told her, more convinced than ever that this was the undeniable truth. The Dean gave her an intense measuring look, that seemed to erase some part of Vala's firm resolve to know the truth and made her shift uncomfortably under the gaze.

  "Maybe you are right." She said after a long time. "Cami made me think that maybe you were on your way to being more than just roommates." Vala felt a burning rush of warmth color her cheeks as she was forced to nod, to which the Dean gave a warm chuckle. "All right.. I guess that means I shall have to include you in this not quite conspiracy, as long as you promise me that nothing you might hear is ever whispered to another soul."

  "I.. don't know why I feel this way.. but.." Vala's uncertainty wouldn't quite let her continue with that line of thought. "I want to help Shiva.. she needs someone, whether or not she will ever say it."

  "Yes, she does." The Dean agreed firmly and without a hint of doubt in her voice. "Shiva is a lot stronger than most people in a great many ways, but she is also a lot weaker when it comes to certain things. So.. let's go have our quiet discussion with Devin so we can illuminate just a little piece of the wider puzzle, all right?"

  "Please." Vala agreed and the Dean smiled as she turned to lead Vala inside. Shiva was calm as they entered the room, there was a large fairly handsome man ducked down in front of her. He was gently holding both of her hands as the two of them lingered in the soft light coming in through the windows to spill across the shadowy room. His soft words were not quite loud enough for her to catch, but a moment later Shiva was drifting up the stairs mumbling something about being right back. Cami moved to follow her with a smile for the two of them, as he rose up to his considerable height to smile at Vala and the Dean.

  "She certainly wants to protect you from me, so that certainly counts for something." He murmured to them as the Dean drew her by the hand to a more comfortable distance for a conversation.

  "Is everything all right?" The Dean asked with deep concern.

  "I think I managed to repair the damage before I could ruin the progress we made during the last few days. And thank you Vala to coming to speak with me." He told her and then smiled a little brighter over to Vala.

  "It's all right, it's just.." Vala murmured, not quite sure how she could get this conversation started.

  "You shouldn't hold back the truth with her, Devin, at least not the important parts." He seemed to almost grow a darkness in his shadow for a heartbeat before it was all together gone and he nodded to her calmly.

  "Well for starters.." He ducked down in front of Vala making his intimidating size far less apparent, and making her feel just a little at ease. "Shiva's a telekinetic, a strong one." Vala had of course had heard rumors of people with such talents, but they were supposedly supremely rare, bordering on non-existent. Even those who claimed to have such an ability and tried to make a name for themselves with the media seemed to struggle just to bend a piece of silverware. "So I don't want you to be surprised if things start floating around the room, because if she gets comfortable she might not even be aware that she's doing it." There were rumors that the only strong telekinetics existed within the ranks of the military, but there had never been any way to confirm such things.

  "All right." Vala agreed, not quite able to question him about this even as she found herself comparing this man against the template she had built up of all the people who served the military she had met over the years.

  "Seila told me that you have already been warned of what you shouldn't do with Shiva that might cause something bad to happen." Vala nodded in return getting just a glimmer of a feeling that this wasn't all. "She has had some problems in the last few years, hurt quite a few people, while much of it has been justified there was one accident when someone close to her tried to wake her up from a nightmare. My suggestion.. throw a pillow, yell at her, just don't get close.."

  "Right." Vala concurred taking that bit of advice to heart.

  "The second thing is.." He murmured before pausing to consider his next words very carefully. ".. due to her.. unusual upbringing, Shiva doesn't really understand how things work out here.. in the real world. For a lack of better words, she is socially inept.."

  "I could kind of tell that when I started thinking things over.." Vala admitted to him quickly.

  "She.. didn't really mean to let me in on your secret.." He admitted back to her worried about how she migh
t react to his next words. ".. but she admitted that you were an empath." Vala flinched and looked away feeling a small sense of betrayal and expecting a less than pleasant reaction from him. "Which is perfect.. in my eyes." He told her hastily surprising her more than a little. "I have recently come to the conclusion that what Shiva desperately needs is someone who has a chance of understanding her." Vala could help but smile in silent agreement. "Whatever else it will let you know when she is approaching 'dangerous territory'."

  "She thought the same thing." Vala murmured back to him. "I am not entirely sure what is going on.. but she and I.. we feel things for each other that go beyond normal every day emotions. Almost like we have an understanding that goes way beyond the kind of connection people feel after even years of knowing each other.." He looked up at the Dean with uncontrolled surprise, she nodded back down to him. Vala wasn't even sure why she told either of them this, for all that it seemed to be the truth and she wanted it to be the truth, she never the less felt somehow compelled to inform them of this strange connection she was already aware of growing between her and Shiva.

  "In that case.." He murmured reaching into his inside jacket pocket to pull out a small paper business card. "If something happens and you don't feel comfortable talking it over with the Dean.. you should be able to get a hold of me through these numbers. I've been trying hard to earn Shiva's trust but events in the past have been getting in the way.. if you even get a hint that there might be a problem.."

  "I'll come to one of you." Vala promised pocketing the small card. He gave her a deeply grateful smile and a pleased nod even as the soft sounds of footsteps appeared on the steps. With the professor leading an exhausted Shiva down the steps towards them, even warned as she had been Vala was surprised to look up and see a procession of bags hovering along in their wake. Devin caressed her arm as he moved away to duck back down in front of Shiva's approaching steps, giving Vala a little time to recover from her shock.

  "Feeling better?" He asked with a voice that was even more gentle than the moment before as he spoke to her.

  "A little." Shiva admitted reluctantly.

  "Good.." He murmured rubbing her arm gently. "I'll come see you before we ship out, and we'll talk about any last minute things that might come up between now and then. Now you get back to your room and get some sleep and I'll see you soon, okay?" She nodded against Cami's arm and gave him a soft sweet smile. Before he retreated out of sight he smiled back at Vala and the Dean lead her back outside with a smile of her own.

  "Don't be afraid to come talk to me, night or day, it means a lot to both of us that we might not have to worry about Shiva so much now that you are in the picture." The Dean whispered down to her as she lead Vala outside in the wake of the floating luggage. Vala nodded as they moved along watching as the luggage was loaded into the back seat of the cart and Vala was handed down into the front passengers seat. Cami lead Shiva right down into her lap before she moved to drive them off, Shiva made a contented sleepy sort of sound before she seemed to give up the last of her tension and fall into a deep sleep. With the Professor carrying Shiva and Vala struggling just a little with the luggage they managed to get her and her stuff safely up into Vala's now shared room in one trip, where Vala was left alone to smile down at Shiva's peaceful sleeping expression.