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The agent seemed as shocked as Erica when his gun went off, but Sarah and Tiffany didn't notice because Erica staggered back a step and collapsed. "Erica!" Sarah exclaimed, kneeling next to her. She rolled Erica onto her back and recoiled at the sight of blood all over her hands.

The sound of the agent swearing distracted Sarah, but only for the moment it took her to hit him with a magical blast without even looking at him. She pulled Erica's head onto her lap and laid her hands on the wound. They began to glow, but then the glow flickered and died. "She's immune to magic!" Sarah cried, looking at Tiffany helplessly.

Tiffany had no idea what to do and looked hopelessly at the pool of blood that had formed under Erica. Just then Erica groaned. Her eyes suddenly opened and she screamed in pain. Just as suddenly her eyes closed and she sagged into unconsciousness. "Is she..." Tiffany said fearfully.

Sarah had screamed along with Erica and now looked dazed. After a moment she shook it off and said, "No, I think she's going to be okay." Sarah reached under Erica and felt around, pulling her hand out a moment later with a bloody bullet. "She screamed because her body was expelling the bullet, I think. The chrysalis is healing her. I just wish I could help it along!"

Tiffany sagged in relief and looked outside. The agent was lying on the ground at least thirty feet away, unconscious. He had dropped his gun where Sarah blasted him. "What about him?" she asked.

Sarah shrugged, "What about him?" she said coldly.

Tiffany had never heard her sound so heartless, but she couldn't blame her. "Should we call Mike and Jill?" she asked.

Sarah just shrugged, hardly hearing her as her entire focus was on her fiancé. Police sirens could be heard, rapidly approaching. Tiffany pulled her cell phone out of her purse and called Jill.

The police arrived a few minutes later. After questioning Tiffany they tried to ask Sarah what happened, but she wasn't paying attention. They called an ambulance for Erica, and for the agent. By the time the ambulance arrived two other cars had also. Mike and Jill got out of one, and Marvin Garner got out of the other.

This recognition was quickly passed on from Vash to Mike, who intercepted him before he could get to the others. "What are you doing here?!" he asked angrily.

"Michael Levins, right?" Marvin asked. Mike nodded. "I'm here to find out what my agent was doing drawing his gun, and how he got hurt. I'm not going to bother you or your friends."

Mike looked long and hard at him before nodding and walking away to join Jill and the others. "What happened?" Jill was asking as he walked up beside her. Tiffany explained, as Sarah was still not responding. After the explanation Jill asked, "What was the noise you heard before the agent's gun went off?"

Tiffany shrugged, "I don't know. I thought it was him shooting, at first, until I realized it wasn't as loud as his gun was. So I guess it came from farther away."

"Is Erica going to be okay?" Mike asked worriedly when he saw the pool of blood underneath her.

"I think so. Sarah said the chrysalis was healing her." Tiffany replied.

"Has Sarah tried to heal her?" Jill asked.

Tiffany nodded, "Yeah, it didn't work."

"What did Marvin have to say?" Jill asked Mike.

"He said he's only here for his agent. He didn't seem very happy with him." Mike replied.

"Does that mean he really was doing something he shouldn't have? Erica seemed to think so, but he seemed awfully confident..." Tiffany said.

"I think so. Maybe we should have Vash shadow him for a while and find out, though." Mike replied.

"Sounds like a good idea. Vash?" Jill said.

Agreed. was all he said before Jill felt his weight leave her shoulder as he jumped down to follow Marvin.

Erica groaned and shifted restlessly, which seemed to break Sarah out of her trance-like state. "Erica, are you alright?" she asked at the same time as Erica's eyes opened.

Her eyes blinked a few times before focusing in on Sarah's face hovering over her. Grimacing, she rasped, "I feel like I got kicked in the stomach by an elephant."

Smiling weakly, Sarah held up the bloody bullet. "Not an elephant, just this." she said.

Erica frowned, "He shot me? That wasn't very smart."

"No, it wasn't." Sarah agreed coldly.

Erica was surprised by the tone of her voice, "What did you do to him?"

"She blasted him. When I saw him he was lying on the ground thirty or forty feet away." Tiffany replied.

"I hope you didn't kill him." Erica said weakly. Her eyes fluttered and she struggled to keep them open. The struggle was a short one and she passed out.

"Erica?!" Sarah exclaimed fearfully.

Jill knelt beside them and put her arm around Sarah. "It's okay, Sarah. She's just sleeping now. Healing is taking a lot out of her, and she lost a lot of blood before the wound closed. But her breathing looks fine. I'm sure she'll be up and about in no time."

Mike checked her pulse and nodded, "Yep, her pulse is steady. Considering what we know about the chrysalis I think it's safe to say she'll recover quickly."

"Are you sure?" Sarah pleaded worriedly, glancing at Jill and then Mike hopefully.

Mike lifted up Erica's bloody shirt above where the bullet hole was. "See, no wound! She'll be fine!" Mike said encouragingly.

Sarah placed her hand on Erica's stomach where the bullet wound had been and sighed in relief. Just then Marvin walked up and she tensed, her hand glowing slightly.

Either Marvin didn't notice the glow, or was pretending not to. He looked around at all of them and his gaze settled on Tiffany. "I want to apologize for my agent's actions. He was only supposed to question you, not search your apartment or take you in. And he certainly wasn't supposed to draw his gun on you!" Shifting his gaze to Sarah he continued, "And I want to apologize to you and your friend, as well. Is she badly hurt?"

Sarah was about to reply when Erica shifted and opened her eyes again. "Who're you?" she asked, frowning at Marvin.

"I am Special Agent Marvin Garner. I'm responsible for Agent Peters, the man who shot you. I want to assure you that he will be disciplined for his actions. His career is most likely over, and there may be criminal charges, as well." Marvin replied.

"Why're you taking our side?" Erica asked.

"Because, unknown to him I had cameras set up to watch this apartment. I've already seen the tape, and it's clear that he was in the wrong." Marvin said.

"What exactly did you see?" Erica asked fearfully.

Marvin smiled, "I saw my agent acting improperly, and shooting you. And I saw something that should have been impossible that tells me that I don't want to make an enemy of your very protective friend, here." He glanced at Sarah as he said the last.

"What are you planning on doing with that tape?" Jill asked worriedly.

"I intend to include a somewhat edited version with my report on Agent Peters. The rest no one needs to see. But I would like to talk to all of you more later, when your friend has had time to recuperate. Speaking of which, there's enough room in the ambulance for two." Marvin replied.

"I don't need an ambulance." Erica said, wincing as she sat up.

"Erica!" Sarah complained, worried that she'd worsen her injury.

"I'm fine, Sarah. I may need to lean on you a bit to walk, but I'm not even in pain anymore." Erica said soothingly.

Marvin's eyebrows shot up at that, he'd clearly seen the bullet enter her abdomen and he could see the pool of congealing blood on the ground where she'd been lying. "Are you certain Ms. Keller?" he asked in surprise.

Erica grinned at him, "Yes, I'm sure. Now help me up, Sarah, I want to get out of this puddle!"

"Uh, Erica, do you realize what that puddle is?" Tiffany asked.

Erica grimaced, "I can guess, yeah. The smell kind of gives it away."

Sarah reluctantly helped Erica up. As she'd said, Erica had to lean on Sarah as she was feeling very weak and a little light headed. "I think we're done here for now, Mr. Garner." Erica said, gesturing for Sarah to lead her back into the apartment.

Marvin shrugged, "As you wish. Here's my card," he handed it to Mike, who didn't have his hands covered in blood, "please call me when you're feeling up to it." With that he turned and walked away.

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 To Be Continued…