Anna looked around at the gravestones and shivered.  She wished she remembered how she had gotten to the cemetery, but the last thing she really remembered was her fight with Mama.  Mama had wanted to sign her up for the girl's soccer team after she'd promised cooking lessons.
          'You didn't used to and you won't now!'
          "Why does Mama always say that?" Anna wondered aloud, leaning against the gravestone she was sitting in front of.  "I've never been different, but whenever she's mad she says I should be like I used to be."  She hugged herself tightly, wondering why she was out without even a sweater in mid November.  Mama would be angry at her for that.
          She braced herself against the gravestone and pushed herself to her feet, then turned to thank the spirit of the person whose grave it was.  She stopped, eyes widening and let out a scream.
          "Hey. Knock it off, we're trying to sleep here," came a cranky voice from near by.
          Anna's scream ended in a squeak as she whipped around, looking for the speaker.
          A fairly thin person with short dark hair was leaning against a gravestone, eyes closed, an oversized camping backpack on the ground near by. Anna was unable to tell what gender the person was, but guessed the person was about her age.
          "I'm sorry," Anna said, voice still a squeak.  "I-- I just...."  She broke off, pointing at the grave she was in front of.
          "Just what?" the person sighed, getting up.
          Anna continued pointing, hand shaking.  "That-- that's my name... and my birthday...."
          The figured shrugged. "Just be glad you're not--" The person tensed briefly, then relaxed. "Check the year." The voice was slightly deeper and held a different tone.
          "The-- the...?  But... but it's my birthday, and...."  Anna trailed off, kneeling down in front of the stone.  "It-- it's ten years before I was born.  And here!  She died almost a year before I was born!"
          "So it's not you," the person assured.
          "But... but... she has my name.  And we're the only Fischman's who live here!"
          The person went to reply but paused, body tensing again. "Then it's obvious you're misinformed about something," the person replied, voice slightly higher and in it's original tone.
          Anna looked up, eyes tearing slightly.  After a moment she spoke.  "I-- I'm sorry....  You were trying to sleep...."
          "Eh," the person shrugged noncommittally. After a pause, the person smiled slightly. "You have any money on you?" s/he asked with a slight twitch.
          "I-- what?" Anna asked, looking confused.  "I don't even have my jacket...."
          The person scowled slightly. "Figures..."
          Anna looked ashamed.  "I-- I must have just run out of the house."  She shivered slightly, hugging her arms.  "I-- I don't mean to presume, but... I'm still shaken up by... by the gravestone, and the fight with Mama....  Would you....  Would you walk me home?"
          The person was quiet a moment, expression shifting slightly as if having an unheard argument. There was a scowl followed by a short internal struggle before the person relaxed again. "Sure." Blue eyes echoed the person's smile.
          Anna looked up and smiled in return.  She pushed herself to her feet.  "Thank you," she said sincerely.  "My name is Anna."
          There was a soft chuckle. "We had kinda figured that," the person smiled.
          After a brief pause, Anna started toward the cemetery entrance.  "What's your name?" she asked tentatively.
          There was a slight pause. "At the moment, Val," came the response, followed by a sigh.
          "Do-- do you change your name a lot?" Anna asked carefully, looking at Val with wide eyes.
          Val chuckled softly. "Sorta."
          "Oh."  After another pause, Anna asked, "Why were you in the cemetery?  Isn't it scary in there?"
          "Not really. It's quiet."
          Anna fidgeted slightly, unsure what to say next.  "My house is over there," she said, pointing.
          Val nodded, then paused, blinking. "What?" The blue eyes widened. "Shit. You didn't... Well what in hell AM I suppose to think!"
          Anna looked at him in confusion, then noticed a firetruck roaring past.  It was heading toward her house.  Breaking into a run, she raced home, falling to her knees when she arrived.  Her house was a charred ruin.  Anna's hands flew to cover her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.  She shook her head in denial.
          "We can't just leave her like this..." Val's voice said softly from behind her. "Yes, I know it was my idea, so let me-- Damn it, Vas!" Val's voice was slightly pained.
          Blindly, Anna turned and buried her face against Val's pants.  She began crying brokenly.
          Val startled slightly and blinked. "Vas... please...?" he begged in a near silent voice. After a long moment, Val smiled.
          Gentle arms encircled Anna, carefully pulling her to her feet.
          Her arms moved around Val, holding him tightly as she cried.
          A voice nearby penetrated her sobbing.  "5 seconds to rolling! 2! 1!"
          "Thank you, Jim. As you can see, we're here live in front of the remains of the house where barely a half hour ago, the mysterious fire took the life of Myria Fischman."
          Anna's eyes went wide and she choked out the word "Mama...."
          "This is the second fire related tragedy for the Fischman family. Seventeen years ago, Mrs Fischman's daughter, Anna, died of smoke inhalation when there was a fire at the store she and her mother were shopping at."
          "So-- so the grave... in the cemetery...."  Anna's mind whirled at the implications.
          "Is it still unknown if the Mrs Fischman's son was inside the house at the time of the fire."
          "Son?"  Anna felt herself falling into blackness as something rushed up to protect her from something she didn't understand.
          Val blinked as Anna tensed. "Anna....?"
          Without looking at him, Anna turned.  Bearing more feral and eyes shadowed, she looked for the reporter.  Finding the man, her hands curled into claws and she began to run over to him.
          Val reached out for her, then froze, feeling something intangible. The blue eyes widened. "I... I know this..." Hazed memories that were barely half formed played in Val's mind as time seemed to slow down. The air grew heavy with humidity as Val reached out, body tense. "Stop!"  The scream was almost inhuman as it rippled out towards the rampaging girl.
          Anna slowed and then stopped, turning to look at him with grey eyes that looked almost metallic.  She seemed to be waiting for something.
          Val's breath was coming fast, blue eyes wide. "Come back...."
          Anna returned to Val's side, still watching him carefully.
          Val looked at her, unsure what to do or say, feeling slightly weak and shaken.
          "I want to kill him," Anna said after a long moment, voice harsh.
          Val felt a cold shiver inside and tried not to shudder. "You shouldn't." Blue eyes looked deeply into grey. "Let Anna back."
          Anna's eyes closed, and she slipped bonelessly to the ground.
          Val swore and caught her, breath coming fast. "I don't know why," he said softly. "She's like us, Vas..." His features softened slightly. "Thank you..." He slowly rose and carried Anna carefully towards the graveyard again.
          Before long Anna stirred restlessly and opened her eyes.  "Where...?  Mama!"  She shot to her feet, looking around wildly.  "Val?  What-- what happened?  How did we get here again?  Why are we here again?" Anna asked, voice getting more hysterical as she fired questions at Val.
          "You don't remember...?" Val asked. "When you switched out?"
          "Switched?" Anna asked, sinking down to the ground again.
          "When..." Val hesitated. "You went away, and someone else was there...."
          "Went away?" the girl repeated in a small voice.
          Val hesitated again. Suddenly he tensed. "No..." he protested, fists clenched as if struggling. "No, you said I--" His eyes clenched closed. Suddenly, his body relaxed, posture shifting slightly.
          "Feh."  The voice was slightly higher pitched, eyes opening to reveal a red-brown that looked almost like dull flames.
          "Val?  What's wrong?" Anna asked.
          "Val's gone away for now." The short haired teen rose. "Last time I'm letting him convince me of anything..."
          "I-- I don't understand....  Val... please...?"  Anna's eyes filled again and she began to get hysterical.  "I-- I don't know what's going to happen now, and I-- I-- Please stay."  She buried her face in her hands, sobbing anew.
          "Look, first of all, it's Vas. Not Val." Reddish eyes glared at Anna. "And there's no way in hell I'm giving him free reign for this because we'd be here forever." Vas tensed briefly, eyes slightly changing to a purplish tone before being forced back to red.
          With effort, Anna brought herself under control.  "I'm sorry," she said softly.  "I mean... I barely know you, and....  I'm sorry."  Her lip trembled.  "I-- I'll just... go home and... and see what they're going to do with me now...."
          Vas raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, what they're going to do with you...?" she asked, hands tense.
          "With Mama....  And I don't know any other relatives.  I might not have any.  So...  I'll probably become a state ward...."
          Vas's fist clenched. "Fine. You can come."
          Anna looked up.  "Come?"
          "Yes." Vas hefted the overstuffed camping backpack that had been left in the cemetery. "You'll have to earn your keep though."
          "I-- I cook well," Anna said, readily getting to her feet.  "Mama always says that I cook better than she does... did...."
          Vas smirked slightly. "Can you cook over a camp fire?"
          "I-- I've only been camping once....  I think I can...."  Anna gave a pathetic smile.  "Thank you, Va-- Vas...."
          Vas nodded. "C'mon then."
 

          Nav giggled as he slid into the passenger side seat. "Oh god, that was fun..." he giggled again.
          Hawk scowled, starting the engine and backing out of the parking lot swiftly. "Ya know, for once, it would be nice if we could stay in one place for more then a fuckin' half hour," he near growled at Nav.
          "What? It's not my fault the guy was dema-phobic," Nav grinned.
          "I severely doubt that's a word, Nav..." Hawk said dryly.
          "You know what I mean. Fear of demons and critters and all that." Nav giggled again. "I love the taste of fear..."
          Hawk muttered darkly to himself.
          Cole blinked and continued eating his sandwich.  Maybe it had been a mistake to get back into the car with them, he reflected.  Although, on second thought, he doubted that the people they were fleeing would have understood that he hadn't been responsible.  "He didn't look very frightened to me, Nav," he said.  "More angry."
          "Bah, he was frightened at first. And anger tastes just as good. If not more so," Nav licked his lips.
          Hawk scowled darkly and Nav flinched.
          "Okay, THAT kinda anger is not," the half maku corrected, pointing a finger at Hawk.
          Cole looked at his bag.  "I think next time you do that I'll have to throw a teddy bear at you.  A really cute fuzzy one.  I really do prefer eating in a place you're supposed to eat...."
          Hawk chuckled as Nav half pouted, half scowled.
          "I have one, you know," Cole said, rummaging in his bag.  "Would you like to see it?"
          "A teddy bear wouldn't do anything. It's not alive," Nav near sniffed.
          "But it's a special bear," Cole replied, looking up again.  "It protects me from vampires and things."
          "Bah." Nav made a dismissive gesture.
          After a moment Cole pulled out a dark brown plush bear.  He grinned like a child and hugged it close, then held it out to Nav.  "See?"
          "Gotta shove it in his face," Hawk smirked. "Just hugging it to you won't do anything."
          "Like this?" Cole asked, leaning forward to push the bear into Nav's personal space.  "Isn't he cute?"
          Nav gave an exclamation and flailed, trying to push the bear away but seeming unable to touch it. "GAAAAAAH! Get it away!"
          Hawk chuckled.
          "See?" Cole said with a smile, pulling the bear back to him and cuddling it again.  "I told you he was a special bear."
          Nav glared slightly, trying to keep from hyperventilating.
          "This is why I keep telling you to work on yer shielding," Hawk commented in an offhanded manner as he changed lanes. "Unless you like being defeated by a stuffed animal."
          No, Cole decided, it hadn't been a mistake to get back into the car.