It starts...

[Piper Wren]

Since she had recieved that email, Piper had been struck with paranoia and had taken to sleeping with every light in her apartment switched on...but she couldn't keep up her excuse of 'Food poisoning', money had to come in from somewhere...and when the oppotunity to play at the 'Angel's place' came up she couldn't refuse it. Michelle had told her to dress 'classy' so Piper had done her best, when she had looked at herself in the mirror though she still saw the shy, pale girl who covered up back in Wonderland...although two years later the woman in the mirror was in a deep red dress with a sweetheart neckline and a low back, something she would never have worn before. Her hair in a simple half up and half down style and kept her jewellery understated.

'Come on...you're not that girl anymore...'

When Piper reached the club she was glad that the area where she would be playing was engulfed in spotlight, she tried to scan the audience but the powerful lights turned them into a faceless blur of people. Right...Piper put on a smile and took her place at the piano stool, playing the first notes before beginning her opening song.

"I push through the crowd
Without looking back
To leave you behind
Took all I had
And maybe I'm wrong
I might be sorry

But what kind of fool
Would hope for a change
Then write a new word
On a page that stained
and ruined by lie
You shouldn't have told me

I'm the guardian
I am the sole protector
On a heart that's been abused

I won't let love do me in again
I can't just run to the light
Of a fire and jump in
Risk a poison kiss just to have
My thirst unquenched again
Let love do me in

I swallow the urge
To call out your name
The need crashes in
I brace for the wave
And pray it will pass
Not take me under"

Piper's hands danced over the keys like an expert, closing her eyes and forgetting her fears of the Boogies, music had always been her escape from everything and would continue to be. She had written this particular number herself and found writing helped things feel better. But why did she still have an odd tingle creeping up her spine?

It couldn't be...

'No! Focus!"

[Ryan Cardwell]

The crowd silently listened as the girl played and snag. The music floated across the well dressed crowd, colliding against the far wall and recoiling back. There were a variety of people, in a variety of places, but none of them stood out. Not even the solitary man sipping his drink back in a shadowed corner of the club. There was something mysterious about him true, due in part to the fact that one of his eyes was completely covered by his pitch black hair.

Tristan smiled as he listened to her, his amber eye characteristically gentle as he watched the woman that had once belonged to him. How was it that a boogie could be in the heart of Manhattan and not stick out? Stupid question that, no on stuck out in New York. But he could have blended in most anywhere at this moment. He was wearing a high quality suit, the kind big wig business executives wore. Why? Because he wasn't here for work, he was here to pay a visit to an old friend.

Sipping his whiskey, he smiled as the song drew on. She looks like she's doing well.... That made him happy. Unlike most boogies, Tristan had always treated his humans well. To him they were like dear friends, and in some cases even family. And so he was glad that one at least was having a good life.

Eventually the music drew to a close, and Tristan joined the rest of the audience in their applause. Most everyone stood at this point, milling about and talking to others, or wandering off to relieve themselves or get more drinks. Tristan however moved towards the stage, stopping when he reached it's edge. He just stood there, one hand in his jacket pocket as he smiled up at the young woman. "You look like your doing well. I'm glad."

[Piper Wren]

"You look like your doing well. I'm glad."

Piper had stayed seated...too anxious to leave the light and the familiar voice confirmed it. She looked up at saw Tristan, Oh god...it had been two years since Piper had escaped Wonderland and she had expected to never see him again. Until the email had warned her of Boogie's coming to Earth, her old master dressed in a high class suit and blending in with this well dressed crowd as if he belonged here. Even though Tristan had been kind to her in Wonderland his precense still made her incredibly nervous.

It proved the missing slave was not just speculation.

"What...what are you doing here, Tristan?!"

She kept her voice low so no one else around could overhear the conversation, Piper's physical appearence hadn't changed much over the two years apart from the fact she no longer covered up as much of her body as she could. She refused to be anyone's victim. Even seeing Tristan made her think back to her eighteen year old self who couldn't make eye contact, that girl was still a part of Piper...She kept eyecontact with Tristan even though she felt nervous.

[Ryan Cardwell]

"What...what are you doing here, Tristan?!"

He smiled warmly at the girl, still keeping a bit of distance between them. It seemed that he had been right, she was frightened by his sudden appearance. He supposed he couldn't blame her. Despite how kind he was to the humans, he was one of the extreme few that was, and she had once belonged to one of the worst. So he made no move towards her, trying to make himself appear as harmless as possible. Because he was.

"I'm just here to pay a visit to an old friend. I was curious to see how you were doing Piper. Is that really so bad? I'll leave if you want." He meant that to. Despite some of his faults, Tristan was a man of his word. And besides, like he said he was only here to check up on her. He meant her no ill will, and scaring her was the last thing he wanted to be doing. Raising one hand he scratched at the back of his head, giving the large spotlights a rather bored look. To be honest he probably had a good bit of reason to be wary of them, they had a rather strong effect on his kind. But then he never worried about such things, that was just the way he was.

[Piper Wren]

"I'm just here to pay a visit to an old friend. I was curious to see how you were doing Piper. Is that really so bad? I'll leave if you want."

Piper felt a little guilty...Tristan had always been kind to her but the constant paranoia of the last week was wearing, she wasn't sure if she was coming or going half the time. People must have thought she was a bit of a lunatic with her current obsession with staying out of dark places. Her Agent thought it was just a bizzare fear of the dark when it was a fear of something that came OUT of the dark.

"I'm sorry...but it just proves that the Boogies are coming here to try and take us back. I've known for a little while now, someone has already gone missing."

She hadn't forgotten that Tristan had rescued her from Iugo and possible death...Piper could trust him, right? At least the light was close by if she needed it but she doubted anything could happen in such a public place. She stepped off the stage and was now forced to look up at Tristan despite the two inch heels she wore.

"We're all scared, Tristan. None of us want to go back...I'd rather throw myself in front of the nearest bus then get dragged back there. But...I appreciate the concern, I was fine."

[Ryan Cardwell]

"I'm sorry...but it just proves that the Boogies are coming here to try and take us back. I've known for a little while now, someone has already gone missing."

His brow slowly arched at those words. To him they were strange, because he didn't understand the meaning behind them. "Someone has gone missing? Is that such a significant occurrence? People disappear everyday, whether by our hand or something elses. Did you really think that we would just stop taking your kind just because all of you managed to make it back here? If anything you've only stoked the flames. Your disappearances left a gaping hole in the ranks of the humans that had to be refilled. Those of us still capable of acting on their own have been working overtime to replenishment that hole."

However despite his meager reassurances, he was concerned by that last bit. Take them back? Utter rubbish. In all his years he had never heard of a human being brought into Wonderland that was over the age of twenty-one. "As for the rest of it, you didn't worry yourself. Such a thing isn't even possible." ....It wasn't....was it?

"We're all scared, Tristan. None of us want to go back...I'd rather throw myself in front of the nearest bus then get dragged back there. But...I appreciate the concern, I was fine."

He frowned at those words, not liking the imagery behind them a bit. To be honest it made him more than a bit angry. He disliked the thought of anything happening to his humans. Strange as it might seem, Tristan had made a promise to himself. He had vowed that he would check up on those that he had formerly been called master of. And if they were safe and happy, then he would leave and not look back. However, he somehow didn't doubt that the other boogies might bring harm to them. Even if they couldn't take them back, they might still choose to harass them here in the human world. Such thoughts brought back memories of that bastard Darion, and that immediately set his blood to boil.

But he managed to keep a cool exterior, nothing betraying the raging inferno of hate that was blazing within the core of his being. "Well, I'm glad that your doing well for yourself. And don't worry about a thing. I'm going to go visit Ai and the others, and then I'm going to return to Wonderland. And when I do, I'll make sure that no harm comes to any of you." Can anyone say mass murder?

[Piper Wren]

"Someone has gone missing? Is that such a significant occurrence? People disappear everyday, whether by our hand or something else. Did you really think that we would just stop taking your kind just because all of you managed to make it back here? If anything you've only stoked the flames. Your disappearances left a gaping hole in the ranks of the humans that had to be refilled. Those of us still capable of acting on their own have been working overtime to replenishment that hole."

Piper clenched her fists....stoked the flames? Was Tristan saying that she and the other ex-slaves didn't have the right to leave Wonderland? Or did he not understand what she had meant.

"Not just anyone...an ex-slave, we're sure they've been taken back to Wonderland...what do you know about, you must know something!"

Tristan had to know! Piper sat down on the edge of the stage and fiddled with her ever present rose locket, just knowing that the Boogie's could take them back had been screwing with her head, even though Tristan wasn't a threat to her he was still a Boogie. One of them must have said something to him at least.

"Well, I'm glad that your doing well for yourself. And don't worry about a thing. I'm going to go visit Ai and the others, and then I'm going to return to Wonderland. And when I do, I'll make sure that no harm comes to any of you."

The young woman stood up and rested a hand on Tristan's arm...she appreciated the concern but Tristan was only one Boogie, he couldn't stop every single one of them. It would be like sending one man against an entire army.

"Tristan, you can't stop them all on your own..."

[Ryan Cardwell]

"Not just anyone...an ex-slave, we're sure they've been taken back to Wonderland...what do you know about, you must know something!"

His eyes narrowed as she spoke, a dark calm falling over the boogie. "How old were they?" He was surprised that one had been retrieved, he had been expecting it for years now. Their escape had infuriated most of the the palace, though it had only left Tristan saddened. Hew had assumed that the boogies would have left immediately to retrieve them, but he'd been wrong. Almost three years had passed and this was the first he'd heard of any being returned to Wonderland. And to tell the truth it didn't really bother him, so long as his former humans were left alone. What concerned him was how they had gotten away in the first place. Tristan was a nice guy, but Piper was right, he was still a boogie. And the thought that the humans could leave on their accord undermined everything he stood for as a boogie.

He watched as she sat and began playing with her locket, somehow instinctively knowing what she was thinking. She was hoping he could tell her what was going on. He chuckled to himself, giving her a rueful grin. "I'm afraid I really have nothing to tell you. As you know I'm not exactly the most popular person in my world." One of the most hated actually.

"Tristan, you can't stop them all on your own..."

The boogie softly smiled down at the human girl, truly touched by the gesture. And she was right, he couldn't stop all of them. But he could stop enough of them to make a difference. These days most boogies were nothing more than fat slobs, there was little they could do to hold him back once he was set loose. He would kill as many as it took to get his point across. "Maybe I can't. But I can stop enough of them to make sure that they never harm you or anyone that has ever been under my protection." Eventually he would wear down, or make a mistake, or be overpowered, and when that happened he would die. But if he could keep them safe for even a little while longer it would all be worth it.

[Piper Wren]

"How old were they?"

Need Tristan ask? Piper sighed, she had thought over twenty one they would be safe and she was turning twenty one within the next month. It seemed that safety age that had given them all hope of no longer being taken by the Boogies meant nothing after all.

"Twenty one..."

His next statement was not what Piper had hoped to hear...Tristan didn't know what was going on, maybe the other boogies remembered him favouring human kind over his own kin. If he couldn't tell her anything there were no other trust worthy boogies to gain information from without it being a huge risk. Piper bit her bottom lip and looked openly anxious, there was a moment of silence before she spoke once again.

"Maybe I can't. But I can stop enough of them to make sure that they never harm you or anyone that has ever been under my protection."

But if Tristan was injured or worse...killed by the other boogies their only contact with any possible knowledge on what the hell was going on would be lost...and Piper still thought of Tristan as a friend, unlike Iugo he had never treated her like a slave. All he ever seemed to have wanted was her friendship.

"Even though I was one of the first rebels in Wonderland...I was still your friend, going against them all on your own is suicide."

She tightened her grip on Tristan's arm and looked up at him.

"Don't...please."

[Ryan Cardwell]

"Twenty one..."

Tristan was absolutely stunned. That just wasn't possible! Humans were brought into Wonderland as old as nineteen and twenty, but there had never been one taken that was twenty one. There was just something that prevented it from happening, not to mention it was one of the greatest taboos known to boogie kind. To even think of attempting such a thing was punishable by death. There was no one that would dare do such a thing. And that was what he told her. "That's impossible..."

"Even though I was one of the first rebels in Wonderland...I was still your friend, going against them all on your own is suicide. Don't...please."

That brought him back to his senses, and he smiled at her once more. Placing his hand on her own, he held it gently as his single eye peered into hers. "Piper..." He sighed. How could he explain things to her so that she would understand? Again he was touched that she actually cared about what might happen to him, it was something he'd never expected. Even so, there had to be some way the he could convince her.

"Don't you think it's worth it? I may very well die, but if i can bring enough of them down, then all of you will be safe. To me it is by far a simple answer. I would give anything to keep you all from harm, my own life is a small price to pay for that." Odd. It was odd that he would place the lives of what were supposed to be slaves and inferior beings above his own. But that was just the way he was.

[Piper Wren]

"That's impossible..."

That was exactly what Piper and the other slaves had thought until recently, being twenty one meant being safe from Wonderland but it seemed that was no longer the case. Piper's theory on the matter wasn't exactly a positive one either...that if you were taken once there was every possibility you could be retrieved. The thought was a terrifying prospect to every slave and she knew most would rather do themselves in then go back there again.

"It seems it is possible..."

When Tristan looked down at Piper she kept eye contact with him...there were few boogies like Tristan, it even seemed some cruel twist of fate that he was born a Boogie in the first place. She sighed deeply and pushed a stray lock of black hair away from her face.

"Don't you think it's worth it? I may very well die, but if i can bring enough of them down, then all of you will be safe. To me it is by far a simple answer. I would give anything to keep you all from harm, my own life is a small price to pay for that."

What would happen to Ai if Tristan was killed by the other boogies? It would hurt her more than anything...

"It's a waste of a life! There has got to be another way!"

[Ryan Cardwell]

"It seems it is possible..."

That worried him. Because it meant that his former humans were now in danger once more. He'd thought that Ai and Piper would be safe, seeing as Ai turned twenty one before she left and Piper would soon reach the same age. But if that barrier was no longer in place, then it meant that a boogie could easily come and retrieve them. Even that bastard that had taken Ai in the first place. Fear and fury battled for dominance within Tristan's mind. Fear that it was possible, and fury that it could happen. The boogie gritted his teeth eye briefly glancing away from her as he swore under his breath.

"It's a waste of a life! There has got to be another way!"

Sighing once more, he decided that there really was no other way. Reaching up he pulled aside the hair that covered the right side of his face, revealing the gruesome scars where his right eye had once set. It used to be covered by and eye patch, but after having said patch be ripped off or completely destroyed in an increasing frequency of fights with other boogies he had decided that it was less trouble to just let his hair grow out enough to cover the scars. After a moment he let the hair fall back into place, once again hiding the injury from sight. He gave her a pained smile, hoping that it might be enough to reinforce his words. "They've been trying to kill me for thousands of years, and I'm still alive. These days they are nothing like they were in my youth. They have grown lazy and complacent, relying only on the humans. Even since your escape few have changed. It will take more than them to kill me. You've seen yourself that i don't die easily."

[Piper Wren]

"They've been trying to kill me for thousands of years, and I'm still alive. These days they are nothing like they were in my youth. They have grown lazy and complacent, relying only on the humans. Even since your escape few have changed. It will take more than them to kill me. You've seen yourself that i don't die easily."

Piper hadn't ever seen what was behind Tristan's eyepatch throughout her entire time in Wonderland, her raised her free hand to her mouth and surpressed a gasp...she wasn't sure she was wanted to know how Tristan had come by those horrific scars. She removed her hand from Tristan's arm and brushed his hair away from the scars once more and gently touched the damaged flesh with the tips of her fingers.

"But you can still die..."

She said quietly, clenching her free hand into a white knuckled fist at her side. Even though she was two years wiser, had repaired some of her shattered confidence and had gotten over most of her issues about physical contact...right now she felt eighteen again and a newbie in a world that felt like a fucked up fairy tale.

[Doctor Nationis]

"Thousands have tried, and thousands have failed..." The ghostly voice whispered, as a pale hand wrapped around Piper's waist from behind as the twin gently wrapped around her neck, the hand caressing her cheek with the cold touch of death. Try as she might, but she would be stuck in this position due to the Doctor's supernatural strength. "But this life style will kill you, Tristan," Iugo said softly, poking his head in the dim light, laying his cheek on Piper's shoulder, continuing the lover's embrace he had her in. "They have tried to qualm your sharp tongue and your mighty arm, and none have succeeded entirely. But it give it time, my friend. I'm sure someone will come around to slay you for giving up your immortality for these weak beings. A truly noble," He scoffed at that, "cause..."

Grinning, he raised his head, nuzzling into Piper's cheek with his own, his skin colder than ice, yet dry. An odd feeling. "Why, hello, my worthless little waste of flesh! How are you? It's been some time... I've missed our nightly rituals of me scaring the hell out of you, you running away in fear... Oh, the times do pass so quickly! We must hold on to," He said this, visibly tightening his grip on the girl, his eyes never leaving Tristan's, "what we have at the moment..."

[Ryan Cardwell]

He remained silent as she held back a gasp, knowing how bad it looked. The wounds were almost nine thousand years old, but the only thing that had changed was that the hollow where his eye once rested had been covered with skin. Nevertheless he visibly flinched as her fingers reached up and touched his skin. The scars were still tender after all this time, not physically of course, but emotionally. Her touch brought back the memories of that night, memories that he had tried dearly to suppress. But he held back the sudden flood of emotions, somehow.

"But you can still die..."
"Thousands have tried, and thousands have failed..."

He had been just about to reply when that voice broke the stillness. A moment later and that bastard appeared, wrapping his arms around Piper. Tristan started to reach his arm, fully intending to shove his spike through the boogies face. But halfway up he suddenly remembered that he'd left it back in Wonderland, along with the rest of his attire. He was sure Iugo had at least one weapon one him though, it simply wasn't like him to fight fairly. So he merely clenched his fists, giving the boogie a stare that would instantly frighten most to death. "If you harm her, then I swear you'll never live to regret it." And he meant it two. If any harm came to her, then he would make sure Iugo suffered the same fate a thousand fold. Because once his anger was roused, Tristan was far worse than any angel of death.