Dream Runners (ON HOLD)

Part 1

"They're rare, very rare. But not unheard of."

"It's amazing that she's survived this long on her own. She needs a team...." Sean, the team healer, was already thinking over the scars that she would have from fighting for that long, wondering if there was something he could do to ease her skin and if she'd need other doctoring when they found her.

"The Directors want her as in last year, they want you to drop everything else to find her and bring her in. Every resource, both in this realm and the Dreamscape, are at your disposal. They want to know who her family is, see if there's other females in their line or the potential for it. And they want her placed with a foster family and trained to control her coming and goings with the Scape."

"And what do you think?" Blackbourne, ever astute, knew there was something behind what their mentor was saying. Something else going on.

"I think that once the Directors get her, the poor girl is going to be pushed very hard very fast. Find her quickly, but don't report when you do. Train her and ease her into this life, adopt her into your team if you can before you bring her before the Directors. Otherwise she's going to be shuffled around like a loose sock, tried with everyone but not having a place to belong."

"We don't know her, we can't just ask her to join one of our teams. What if she doesn't fucking fit?" Gabriel exclaimed, indignant that they would be told they had to have a new family member. Family was a choice, no one told anyone who was or wasn't on their teams.

"Just try. She'll be eaten alive by the other males in the Academy. Just give it your best." That was all he could ask after all. "As of now, your teams are merged. You've always worked closely, especially after Kevin's death, this is the logical conclusion. And this way she won't have to even choose teams."

Everyone looked at their new official family members, some warily others with smiles. Blackbourne and Axel were in a stare off, but broke it with a mutual nod of respect.

The meeting was ajourned soon after, Roberts leaving the team to talk and figure out how they wanted to look for the little bird. He hoped this was the right decision.

~~~Sang~~~

A month alone. A month without listening to Mother yelling, or Father slamming doors or scolding me for sleeping to long as it was to 'risky'. A month of wondering if I'd make ends meet by the time rent was due. A month of scrounging for food, living on pasta and apples. A breath of relief at the end of the month when the last bill was paid, and I had two hundred dollars left over for food and next months bills. A breath of relief when I got called in to fill for someone at the bar, thankful the flue was making another round and I got more hours. A breath when I managed to get the phone my boss kept asking me to get a hold of. A month, and I'd avoided everyone in the dreamscapes. I'd kept to my self in this world and that, how long could I keep it up? The moment when I realized I could do this. One month at a time, one day at a time-I could do this.

Locking my apartment, I stowed the keys in my bra-purses were to easy to steal-and skipped down the stairs, jumping the last five to land in a crouch just because I could. Picking up a slow jog, jumping on and off the curb and skipping up over the benches spaced randomely on the sidewalk, I let a smile grace my lips. My long blond hair swung around me, my last hair tie having snapped this morning when I tried to tie it back, blowing in the wind. I wasn't worried about it tangling, the strands to thick and silky to hold a real tangle. Checking my phone, I saw I had time to take the long way to work, so I dodged down an alley and picked up speed, rolling my feet and bending my knees a little extra to avoid slapping the pavement. The sun was shining, children were laughing-school must be on break. It was a good day-a truly good day. The kind of good day that just fills you with that weird bubbly happiness that leaves your eyes sparkling and your lips twitching in suppressed smiles all day long. I loved these days-and I didn't get to see much of them. I had come out two hundred dollars above breaking even-two hundred! That was huge, from where I'd been this time one month ago. I knew I couldn't get a treat, I needed to save it-but I also needed to pick up some MMA classes to brush up on my skills.... Maybe even manage to hit the gun range once or twice, depending on if I could find a discount day....