Ana's boots tore up moss and gouged deep tracks in the earth as she pushed herself to her limit. They'd estimated that they had between forty and sixty miles to go, circling around the Outpost until they met the road and then following that back home. In a straight line back through the forest, though, it was probably more like fifteen or twenty.

Twenty miles. Ana had never actually run twenty miles before — doing a marathon had never been something she was interested in, except out of sheer curiosity once her Attributes started getting up there. She was about to find out just how fast she could do it, because Messy was in danger.

All had been well. Messy had been fine. And then she'd been afraid and in pain, and now Ana was tearing through the forest, trees flashing past, anything that snagged her clothes or feet snapped, torn off, or ripped out by the roots. Without a road or path the ground was treacherously uneven, but her high Perception let her spot most pitfalls well ahead of time, and Perfect Balance wouldn't let her fall even when she stumbled. Her pace should have been unsustainable, but with Indefatigable fatigue could not touch her until she stopped. That made things easy. She simply wouldn't stop.

She had twenty miles to cover, through difficult terrain. The terrain and her pack didn't allow for an all-out sprint — not like when she'd rescued Rayni, when she'd run so fast the wind roared in her ears and it became hard to breathe. She still ran faster than any human on Earth ever had.

A minute in it occurred to her that there were two things she could do, two tiny additional edges to eke out. A quick check at her Storage confirmed what she'd already known, and she consumed all her Crystals except her two Majors and one Medium.

Congratulations! You have reached Guardian Angel, Level 18. 18 Advancement Points awarded.

With the 3 Advancement Points from Party Delver II she had 21 Points to spend. 17 went immediately into 2 Steps in her Strength Multiplier, letting her legs drive her just that bit faster. The remaining 4 went to a single Step in Perception; her balance couldn't get better, and she could fly for three minutes if she had to, but missing an obstacle and crashing hard might slow her just that tiny bit that was the difference between a bright future and one she didn't want to imagine.

With that done, she Shaped. It was the same Shaping she'd practiced over and over hoping to make herself heavier to lend mass to her hits and her throws, but which only ever succeeded in making her lighter. Well, light meant fast — once the Shaping was in place, every powerful, driving stride moved her a tiny bit further. And now, finally, she was apparently under enough goddamn stress for the System to recognize her hard work, as she got a notification.

Congratulations! Your Skill Shaping has improved to Level 5! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor). You have gained the Perk Alter Self.

Alter Self: Many focus their Shaping on the world around them, be that nature, friend, or foe. You instead choose to focus inward. When performing a Shaping which targets only yourself or your held or worn equipment, your Connection Multiplier is treated as though it were 1 Step higher. Value increases with Shaping Skill level.

In that moment, Ana was caught between loving the System and cursing it for not giving her this earlier. Not that it mattered, or that she had time for Skills or Perks or anything else. Having done everything she could, half of Ana's focus was constantly on the path ahead, as straight as possible. The other half she split between two things: making sure that Messy was still there, her pain and fear proof that she was, at least, still alive; and cursing her own carelessness.

Under the fear and the building rage, she felt so stupid. She'd let herself think — let herself be convinced — that Messy would be safe. Messy was Level 15 after all, with the skills — System and regular — of an amateur fighter. How could she have let herself believe that? How could anyone connected to Ana be safe? She'd have to be smarter in the future. More careful. She'd have to stay close, and make absolutely sure that Messy wouldn't be alone if, for whatever reason, Ana couldn't be there.

She couldn't lose the only truly precious thing she'd ever had. She'd have to be better.

Ana ran. Messy was in pain. Messy was afraid. Messy was still alive.

Ana ran. Messy was in pain. Messy was afraid. Messy was still alive.

Ana ran. Messy was in pain. Messy wasn't afraid anymore. Messy was alive, but she wasn't afraid anymore, and Ana prayed that meant that the danger was past, and not that Messy had made peace with some horrible fate.

Ana ran, and her vision blurred. She tried to tell herself that it was only from the wind in her eyes. A ridiculous lie. She didn't slow down. She couldn't. She wouldn't. She blinked away the tears and ran on until she bounced off a small tree, which shuddered from the impact. She hadn't been able to see it.

Messy was alive. She was in pain, but she was alive, and she wasn't afraid. And then the pain was gone, too.

Messy was alive. Ana had to focus on that. The pain was gone, but she was not beyond pain. No matter what possibilities Ana's mind conjured up, Messy was alive.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been running for when she burst out of the trees and into the clearing surrounding the outpost, but the sun was still nearing the horizon. It took her a minute and a half to cross the clearing. The southern gate was closed; it didn't even slow Ana down. There was a volunteer guard on the walk behind the palisade who waved and called to her, maybe asking her to wait. She neither heard nor listened. Two hundred feet before the gate she manifested her wings and threw herself into the air, passing high above the gate and then continuing above Main Street, her lightness making flying easier than ever before.

Only when she knew that her Ability was leading her to Touanne's did she allow herself to believe that things might be alright.

Below her, the few people who were out stopped and stared; they'd most likely seen her before, but that didn't change the spectacle of her ethereal wings, nor of her dropping onto the street outside of Touanne's shop, skidding several feet as her feet and wings together halted her momentum.

She didn't acknowledge a soul. She barely held back her strength so as to not ruin Touanne's door when she tore it open and burst inside with a choked cry of, "Messy!"

Then her vision blurred and her legs gave out. There was a brief moment of darkness, and she found herself with her cheek on the floorboards, tasting blood as her lungs heaved for breath and her ears rang. Someone undid the straps of her pack and got it off her, and she was rolled onto her back, her vision filling with Tellak saying something Ana could barely hear, and certainly not understand. Not with her ears roaring, and black spots dancing before her eyes.

"Messy," she croaked after swallowing the coppery foam that built up in her mouth "Okay? She's okay?" She had to force every word out, a breath for each syllable, as her lungs burned unbearably.

Tellak filled the world with soft noise again, then smiled and nodded slowly.

"Okay," Ana said again, and allowed herself to relax as Tellak put a bottle to her mouth.

Incredibly, she didn't pass out. That might have been out of sheer force of will. It certainly wasn't for lack of her treacherous body trying. The darkness crept in one or twice, but she fought it off. The coughing helped, if only because it hurt so damn much. Soon her hearing and comprehension came back, and moments later Touanne appeared above her, frustration and relief all over her face.

"Dammit, Ana," the Healer said, wiping Ana's mouth with her sleeve. "Telly, lock the door please. Ana, I'm going to take your armor and your tunic off. Is that okay?"

"Okay," Ana managed between labored breaths.

"Messy told me this would happen. She told me! I didn't think— gods beyond, Ana, she's safe. She's been safe for a while now. There was no need to kill yourself getting here. Thank you, Telly. Could you please fetch a healing potion — a small one should do — and plenty of water?"

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"I already gave her a potion, but I'll get the water," Tellak said, and there was the sound of someone going into the back.

"I'm not kidding about killing yourself, Ana!" Touanne scolded as she worked on the straps holding Ana's armor on tight. "I know very well you don't feel fatigue, but it only lets you ignore the warning signs. The body can only take so much!"

Before Tellak returned Touanne had managed to get both Ana's armor and her sweat-soaked tunic off. She quickly asked for and received permission, then straddled Ana's stomach, one hand on each side of Ana's ribcage.

"I can't believe you managed to do this to yourself," Touanne said after a short while, with something between fascination and horror. "Your lungs are a mess. I would have thought you had some kind of hemorrhagic plague if I didn't know what you've just done to yourself."

Wow, Ana thought as she felt that blessed, numbing warmth that accompanied Touanne's healing. I must have really done a number on myself if Touanne's mad at me.

As beautiful heat filled her chest her breathing grew easier, though she still had to bring up red foam and globs of bloody phlegm time and time again, in convulsive coughs that threatened to buck Touanne right off her. Tellak propped Ana up to a sitting position, holding a thick napkin or handkerchief to her mouth and keeping her from making too much of a mess as Touanne worked.

"There's a lot of tearing inside your chest," Touanne told Ana afterward, in as close to a scolding tone as she'd ever heard the Healer use. "A lot of bleeding. You might have literally killed yourself if you hadn't come straight to me, and if no one could get a healing potion in you. Gods beyond, Ana! What were you thinking?"

"Messy," Ana whispered. The pain was gone, but the damage still had to heal fully, and the exhaustion was doing its best to bring her down. She was still on the floor, and didn't see herself doing anything about that for the foreseeable future. She was only barely staying awake. "Messy. She was… pain. Pain and fear."

Touanne sighed. "Yes. Yes, she was in a bad way when she got here. She'll be fine, but she'll need you when she wakes."

"What happened?"

"No. Not until you've rested. Don't you dare tell her either, Telly!"

Tellak raised her hands defensively, the bloody cloth still clutched in one hand. "I wouldn't!"

"She's asleep?" Ana asked weakly.

"Yes," Touanne said. "She's asleep in the patient room. I'm going to heal your legs and feet now, if that's alright?"

"'s… yeah. Please." Ana blinked, and Touanne was by her side, running her hands down her leg. "Can I… Messy. Can you take me to her?"

"Sure," Touanne said, and her voice was back to its kind, worried normal. "Once I'm done, and once I wipe you down, because you're awfully sweaty, then… Telly, you don't mind, do you?"

Ana didn't hear Tellak's reply. She was gone by "Sure."

When Ana woke she almost thought that she was back in the apartment — the bed and the warmth of another body were wonderfully familiar. But the bed was softer than she remembered. Messy didn't usually clutch her so tightly in the morning, and her breathing was normally calm and even. Now, Ana heard the soft gasps and whines of a bad dream from behind her as Messy clung on to Ana with a desperation that Ana had never felt, twitching and jerking and renewing her grip every time her dream-induced movements caused her to let go.

It was disturbing enough that Ana simply couldn't let it continue. It only got worse when she rolled over to face her girlfriend. The movement caused Messy to lose her hold on Ana entirely, and her entire face screwed up in misery as she groaned and whimpered pitifully.

"It's okay," Ana whispered, wrapping her own arms around Messy and pulling herself back into her embrace. "It's okay. I'm here, okay? I'm here, and you're okay. You're okay."

As Messy slowly calmed down, Ana didn't even realize that she herself was crying until she found herself sniffling to clear her nose. Goddamn Abilities, she thought. Goddamn Connection! What're they doing to me?

If the Ana of two months ago had seen her now, crying with relief that another person was alive, trying to comfort her because she didn't want her to hurt, she wouldn't have recognized herself. She would have thought her present self some imposter, and wondered who the hell was trying to con her. And when she thought about it like that the way she felt — the genuine affection that she could no longer deny — was terrifying.

What was almost worse, objectively, was that she didn't actually care too much. Either she was changing, or something was changing her. And either way this was the best time of her life. She'd known contentment in the last ten years. She'd felt pride and satisfaction, both with her professional accomplishments and her private ones, in education and martial arts and other things. But she couldn't remember ever being genuinely happy.

Messy made her happy. What an amazing thing that was.

And she might have almost lost that.

"You're okay," Ana whispered again, more to reassure herself than Messy. "I'll never let anything hurt you again."

The next time Ana woke, a soft light shone through the window. She could hear the muted sounds of movement inside the house, and of people going about their business outside.

She found herself being held close, head pressed to Messy's chest. Messy's breathing and the beat of her heart suggested that she was awake, but she didn't seem to have noticed that Ana was, too.

"Oh, Angel," Messy said under her breath, her voice shuddering. She gently trailed her fingertips over the newly bald side of Ana's head. "What happened to you?"

"Got in Irry's way," Ana murmured. "And I almost ran myself into the ground."

"You're awake!" Messy gasped softly. "Gods beyond, Angel, I've missed you more than I thought possible."

"I missed you too." Ana pushed herself away so she could look Messy in the eye. She must not have been quick enough to mask the rage that blossomed inside her when she saw her girlfriend's face, since Messy instantly said, "No, no, I'm all right! Really. It doesn't even hurt. Don't go!"

The last was said with such desperation that Ana couldn't imagine disappointing her. "What happened to you?" Ana asked flatly, squashing every sign of what she felt out of fear of worrying Messy even more.

"Please, Angel," Messy said, fast and anxiously. "Can't it wait? There's no need—"

Dammit. Messy knew her too well. But she didn't want to truly mask — not with Messy. She was burning with a need to know, though. She had to know who to direct this anger toward. "I won't go anywhere," she promised, offering a compromise. "I won't do anything. Not yet. But, please, tell me what happened."

Messy looked her in the eyes, as though for any sign of deception, then turned her face away in embarrassment. "Some of the Stolen," she said, and it was all Ana could do to keep the promise she'd just made. "Blind drunk, and the sun hadn't even set. I met them on my way to Petra's. They caught me by surprise, or I would have run, but… I don't think they were looking for me, but they must have known who I was. I don't know exactly what they said — they were speaking Wanteul — but I can guess. I've seen those looks before."

Staying absolutely still was the only way for Ana to not leave immediately. She didn't know how many people had attacked Messy; she didn't know their names or what they looked like. She didn't care. Someone would know, and she'd work her way through the entire little community of Earthlings if that was what it took to find those who'd done this. Messy hadn't just been hurt; she'd had the shit kicked out of her. Touannes healing and potions had done much overnight, but they couldn't hide the split lips. There were still green and yellow bruises around her nose, one eye, and her wrist.

"How—" Ana started, but she stopped herself. She'd been about to ask Messy how badly she'd been beaten, but fortunately some sensible part of her cut through the anger to scream just how idiotically insensitive that would be. "How did you get away?" she asked instead. She didn't have a good sense of how long the attack had lasted; the period of fear had been a short handful of minutes at most, but Messy would have been afraid until she felt safe.

Messy flushed and slowly turned her face away. When she spoke, her tone was embarrassed. Strangely apologetic, even, as though what had happened was somehow her fault. "I almost didn't. I was so shocked, I… But it was at the end of the working day. Someone must have seen, or heard. I don't know, I was—" Messy stopped mid-sentence, and when she continued she was almost frantic. "Oh, gods, I don't even know who brought me here! I need to thank them! Touanne would know, right? I need to ask Touanne! I need to—"

"Rest." Messy tried to leave the bed, but Ana blocked her, throwing one leg over both of Messy's as she spoke over her. "You need to rest. That's what Touanne will tell you. She'll be here to check on us soon — you can ask her then, okay?"

Messy might have been able to push Ana off, but relented quickly, relaxing back into the mattress. "Okay," she said. It was almost a whimper, still filled with that irrational shame, and she still wouldn't look at Ana.

"Messy, look at me." Ana put her left hand gently on Messy's jaw, applying just enough pressure to turn her unresisting head. "This isn't your fault. Not at all. You know that, right?"

Messy closed her eyes. "I know," she lied.

Ana didn't call her on it. "It really isn't."

If anyone but the walking corpses who hurt Messy was to blame, Ana thought, it was herself. She should have known better. She'd been so impressed with herself that she let herself think that she had them all cowed. Clearly not. She was going to have to fix that.

Messy didn't see it that way. "I froze," she whispered, her voice slowly breaking. "Even with six… maybe seven of them, when I saw the anger on their faces, I just… even after they started, I didn't even draw my dagger. I couldn't! I killed so many of them already, Angel! I just couldn't!"

"They're not changelings anymore," Ana said, drawing Messy close.

"I know. I know!" Messy sobbed. "I know."

That was all Ana got out of her, but at least she'd given up on leaving the bed. Ana just lay there, holding her, half her attention on murmuring soothing nothings — something she'd become quite good at ever since Messy's nightmares got really bad a few weeks earlier. Messy quieted down after a minute or so, and was asleep a minute after that.

Ana's other, very dark line of thought was on how to identify and find the people responsible, and how to make such an example of them that no one would ever dare think of Messy again. This world might not have pressure washers, but she was sure they'd be able to clean up after her somehow.

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