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They all went inside, closing the door behind them. Mike and Tiffany put the cushions back on the couch while Sarah and Jill helped Erica over to it. She laid down gratefully, sighing in relief to be off her feet again. "Are you sure you're all right Erica?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"I'm weak as a kitten, but I'm okay. That little walk really took it out of me, though." Erica replied.

"Maybe you should stay here tonight." Jill suggested.

"With the condition this place is in? No, I'll just rest for a bit and then go back." Erica said drowsily.

"Is Vash still following that guy?" Tiffany asked.

No, I'm back. Vash answered. Agent Peters, the man who shot Erica, will be out of the FBI shortly, if what Marvin was thinking is anything to go by. But we may have a new problem.

"What's that?" Jill asked.

Marvin isn't just part of that new organization, he's the agent in charge of it! He's finally seen enough to believe in magic, or something like it at least. As a result his attentions towards all of you have changed. He's concerned that he or his agents will have to go up against someone with magical abilities soon. He wants someone like that on his side. I think he'll try to recruit Sarah or, failing that, Tiffany. Vash replied.

"Me?! Why me?" Tiffany exclaimed.

You're the only other one he's seen use their powers. He doesn't know exactly what it is that you do, but he knows you do something. And he's fairly certain that you killed John. Vash explained.

"Wait, he doesn't want me to be an assassin, does he?" Tiffany asked warily.

I don't think so. Vash said.

"Why would he want to recruit me?" Sarah asked. Everyone (except for Erica who had fallen asleep) looked at her in shock and then started laughing. "What?" Sarah asked in bewilderment. That just set them off even more, and their loud guffaws woke Erica back up.

"What's so funny?" Sarah and Erica asked simultaneously. That set them off yet again and it was some time before they could get their breath back to reply.

"Sarah asked why Marvin would want to recruit her!" Jill finally managed to say, and then cracked up again when Erica started laughing. Much to Sarah's annoyance.

"Will someone please tell me what's so funny?!" Sarah exclaimed.

Erica would have laughed more at that, but she was too tired. "Honey, why wouldn't he want to recruit you?! He suspects your involvement in John's death and the damage we did in the hills, and now he's seen you blast one of his agents! He knows you have some kind of powers. And if he has to go up against someone with powers, he wants someone on his side to counter them. He just doesn't know how good of a choice you really are!" Erica explained.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sarah said.

"That you're more powerful than the entire US nuclear arsenal all by yourself, or at least will be?" Erica replied.

Sarah began to protest so Jill added, "Remember what you've done so far? You were just firing fireballs powerful enough to blast a room when you first learned that trick. When we were training you set off a blast powerful enough to reduce a hill to rubble and knock us all off our feet!" Sarah began to speak again, but Jill knew what she was going to say, "I know you passed out from that one, but you'd been casting spells, in many cases powerful ones, for a while before that happened. And you keep getting stronger. I bet a blast that size wouldn't even be a strain for you anymore."

"And you heard what Mana said. So stop arguing; you really are that powerful." Mike said.

"Whatever!" Sarah exclaimed, throwing her hands up in defeat.

Erica smiled at Sarah and said, "We should be going home now. If someone will help me up?" Sarah helped her up and opened the portal. "Good night again guys!" Erica called out to Mike, Jill, and Vash as Sarah and Tiffany helped her through the portal. They took her straight to bed. Tiffany went off to get herself ready for bed while Sarah helped Erica, who was struggling to stay conscious. She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow and Sarah wasn't far behind.

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When her alarm clock woke her in the morning Sarah saw that Erica was completely oblivious. She decided to let her sleep and got herself dressed. Tiffany was already making breakfast so she took her shower first and portal-dried herself just to see if she could do it. Her hair was still damp but she was completely dry otherwise. I could get used to this. she thought as she put her towel away unused.

"Good morning Sarah!" Tiffany said when Sarah walked into the kitchen. She was already frying some bacon. "Would you like some eggs?"

"Sure, thanks." Sarah replied.

"How's Erica?" Tiffany asked as she opened the fridge to get some eggs.

"She's still sleeping. She didn't stir at all when my alarm went off so I thought I'd let her sleep in." Sarah said.

"You know, I've been thinking about it, and I think it's really amazing that Erica recovered so quickly, even with the chrysalis. I mean, she hasn't had the chrysalis very long, and that bullet must have done an awful lot of damage." Tiffany said.

"What do you mean? If the bullet didn't hit any vital organs or anything, it shouldn't be that bad." Sarah replied.

"But the bullet stayed inside her. That means all that energy that was behind the bullet was expended inside of her. Even without hitting any vital organs the sheer amount of damage could have been fatal. And the amount she bled would seem to indicate it was that serious." Tiffany said.

"I hadn't thought about that. I guess the damage would be less if the bullet went right through her." Sarah said thoughtfully.

They were quiet after that until they finished eating and Sarah portal-cleaned their dishes and put them away. "I guess it's about time to go. I'm going to go check on Erica." Sarah said. Tiffany nodded. Sarah found Erica still sleeping, so she left her a note.

"Okay, I'm ready to go." Sarah said when she came back into the living room. Tiffany was waiting for her and they walked out to Tiffany's car and drove to work. Nothing unusual happened at work; the fire elemental seemed to have been forgotten already. When they got back to Sarah's apartment they found Mana waiting for them wearing an artfully torn black lacy dress and black boots.

"Hello. I hope your encounter with Agent Peters wasn't too hard on you last night." she said in greeting.

"Hi, how did you know about that?" Sarah said as she unlocked the door.

"I was watching your watcher, remember? He seems to be coming around, though. I don't think he's going to be a problem after all." Mana replied as she followed Sarah and Tiffany inside.

"Unless he tries to recruit us." Sarah grumbled.

Mana shrugged, "All you have to do is say no."

"Say no to what?" Erica asked, walking in and hugging Sarah.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"Great! I had a nice big brunch after that long lie-in and I'm feeling better than ever!" Erica replied.

Mana looked strangely at Erica and nodded to herself, "It looks like your chrysalis has expanded to about fifteen percent of your body mass already. I suspected it was developing more quickly than usual."

"Are you familiar with chrysalis'? Tiffany asked.

"Not directly, but I played the game, too." Mana replied, smiling.

"You play video games?!" Erica exclaimed.

"Of course! I lived as a human for a very long time before I 'woke'. Even after that I spent most of my time leading a fairly normal life when I could. I've played many video games." Mana said.

Mana turned to the door just before someone knocked on it. "Mike, Jill and Vash are here." she said.

Tiffany gave her an odd look before opening the door. She said hello and stepped aside so Mike and Jill could come in. After a round of greetings Jill said, "I'll get started on dinner."

"Why don't we all go in the kitchen so we can talk while we work." Mana suggested. They all agreed and Jill and Sarah got started on dinner while the rest of them took seats at the table. Mana relaxed back into her chair and looked at the table. A bowl appeared there and flour, sugar, and other ingredients appeared out of thin air to fall into the bowl and began mixing themselves without benefit of a spoon or other mixing tool. They all stared as she worked, and Sarah and Jill tore themselves away from the odd sight to get dinner going.

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 To Be Continued…

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