Ties that fly

Author: TigreMalabarista (MelMac)

Notes: I don't own Ralph or Pam Hinkley, Bill Maxwell, Tony Villacana, Rhonda or Holly Hathaway as they are Stephen Cannell's creations. Aidan Hinkley is my own character as are any created characters in the story. First chapter is set during the time of "The Greatest American Heroine," Chapters 2 onward, 20 years later. Story rated T for some violence and language. Thanks to Lauren, Ms B, and Derek for beta'ing.

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August, 1986

Bill Maxwell was having a rough time fighting a local drug ring. He was at a warehouse near the ocean and members of the ring were shooting at him. He found refuge behind a set of boxes filled with various narcotics and nerve gases just before they started firing. Looking around, Bill frowned when he realized he needed the suit's help, but had yet to hear from her.

'Geesh, Ralph was never this slow in responding to a scenario,' Bill thought as he reached for his communicator. "Holly, will you get a move on, these guys have me pinned down and I need backup as soon as possible."

"Right, coming," said Holly over the communicator just as gunfire rang out again. Bill ducked behind the boxes, hoping they didn't shoot the boxes so much he ended up under the influence of what was inside.

As he pulled back the hammer to fire another shot at the gang, he listened for any movement or gunfire. Instead, he heard the telltale sound of someone about to crash land flying and ducked. Holly crashed through the side window and landed in a tumble. The gunmen stopped firing long enough to stare at a woman in funny longjohns and a cape before shooting again. "Sorry I'm late Bill," she said.

"Never mind that, get these bozos," shouted Bill. Holly nodded and quickly dispatched the gunmen. "See, simple," she said. "But Bill, you've really got to stop fighting these guys. I mean, we've also got to stop those seal hunters in Alaska. You know. ..."

"That's terrific, Holly, and we'll get to that shortly. Now, do you think you can help tie these guys up before they come to?" said Bill with his teeth clenched in a tight smile. 'She's still getting on my nerves. Six months since Ralph had to hand her the suit and I'm still dealing with Pollyanna,' he thought.

As he was tying up the last of the gunmen, a man in the rafters looked over the barrel of his rifle and took aim at Bill. Holly glanced up and saw the man. "Look out Bill," shouted Holly and Bill turned around to see the man take aim. Holly took three steps and jumped and the man, shocked to see Holly fly, pulled the trigger, hitting Bill. Holly heard the shot ring out and knocked out the gunman before he had time to shoot again. After crushing the gun, Holly looked down and saw Bill lying on the floor, unmoving.

"Bill," she said in shock and again took flight, landing next to the man. She looked at his injuries and saw him stir. In his delirium, he could've sworn Holly's physical appearance had changed, but before he could respond, he felt darkness closing in again. "Bill, come on, keep your eyes open. Don't pass out on me again..." she insisted. ...

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"Bill, come on partner, wake up, don't pass out on me again," urged Ralph, shaking Bill's shoulder and smiled when he saw the agent stir again. Ralph had just finished tying up the leader of the drug ring that he and Bill had been dealing with for the past two weeks with a tire iron when he saw the sniper behind the boxes take aim at Bill. Unfortunately, the man was able to take a shot and though Ralph kept him from killing Bill, the bullet grazed the agent, knocking him out.

Bill groaned as he started to open his eyes. "Holly, you nitwit, why did you let those guys hit me," he said groggily.

"Holly? Bill, who the hell's Holly," said Ralph with a confused look. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. "This is Ralph Hinkley you're talking to. You know, your favorite schoolteacher who wears the dumbest suit this side of the galaxy?"

Bill blinked a couple of times and looked up to see Ralph, wearing the jammies, look back at him with concern. "That you kid? What's going on?"

"I wasn't able to completely stop the sniper, and he got you. You've been out for a few minutes," he said. "Didn't think I'd get such a strange comment from you when you woke up though."

The FBI agent shook his head and, with some assistance from Ralph, sat up. "Yeah, sorry kid, you won't believe this, but I dreamed I was partnered up with a dame, Holly Hathaway. ..."

"Holly Hathaway? Bill, please tell me you're not still having that dream," said Ralph with a groan, finally remembering the connection. For the past few months, Bill had been having dreams of a woman taking over the suit from Ralph, and it'd been Holly. Ralph had the same dream one time when he had considered using the suit to become a celebrity instead of being an ordinary schoolteacher. Confused, the two went to Palmdale to talk to the green guys. They said the dream was a warning of what could happen if Ralph and Bill were not careful using the suit. Though Ralph hadn't had the dream again and pretty much forgotten about it, Bill would get it on and off again, especially if he was wounded.

"Yeah, kid, I am, but for some reason this one changed," said Bill. "It wasn't Holly, well not exactly. At first it was but she changed."

"Changed, how?"

"Well, before I woke up, she looked different. Her features were blurry but I know her voice and hair color changed," said Bill. "Last thing I saw was a pendant with some sort of funny markings. She's never had those traits or wore a necklace in my dreams."

Ralph frowned. "Bill, you were grazed by a bullet and knocked out," he said, changing into his street clothes. "More than likely, your dream changed because of that. Now, the police will be here in a couple of minutes, and you are going to the hospital and have that injury checked out."

Bill stood up, brushing off Ralph's offer to help and took a step. "Come on kid, I'm sturdy as a tree..." he started before he stopped in his tracks and felt the world grow dark ...

Ralph, noticing Bill go ashen and start to crumple, caught the man and picked him up in a fireman's carry. "Yeah a weeping willow," said Ralph. "Now, since it's obvious you can't stand up without nearly passing out, I think you're going to go to the hospital."

"All right, all right, I'll go. But I don't haveta like it," grumbled Bill, recovering. Ralph only chuckled and carried him to a nearby chair. After sitting him down, Ralph looked at Bill and put a hand on his shoulder. "Now, Bill, I want you to know something. This Holly dream you're having, it's just that, a dream," said Ralph simply.

Bill started to say something, but Ralph put a hand up. "Nope, let me finish. We both have been tempted to use the suit many times for reasons other than good, but we won. You, me and Pam are going to stay a team until the green guys want us to hand over the suit to retire as a team, and not because of something dumb like egoism, OK?"

The older man looked at Ralph and smiled. "Yeah, kid I hear ya. We're a team, always have been since that day five years ago in the desert. Now, sounds like the police van's here, so why don't we get these guys off to jail and me to the hospital before I drop. Nothing's more embarrassing than having your friend carry you into the hospital ... and you do that too much."

Ralph chuckled and patted the man on the back, realizing that Bill put the events behind him...

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April, 2006

"Maxwell!"

Bill looked up from his desk to see a younger man stare straight back at him. He frowned, not only because of who the man was but because he was grading reports of his students at the FBI academy and was slightly behind.

"Villacana, will you please for once call me by my proper title instead of Maxwell, at least here," said Bill with a slight growl. "Geesh, 10 years on the force and you're still setting a bad example."

Tony smirked, knowing this always got the man, but deep inside, both had a great respect for each other. "Sorry, Mr. Maxwell, I just wanted to come by and tell you my big news."

Bill smirked. "Drove halfway across LA here to the academy to talk to me about some big news? What is it this time? Did you get another gold star on your nameplate?"

"Nope, we've got a lead on that missing girl case," said Tony. "And, we did it using one of your scenarios you taught us."

"That's great, Villacana," said Bill slightly wistfully and returning to grading reports.

Tony noticed the change of tone in Bill's voice and softened up just slightly. "Hey, Max- uh Mr. Maxwell, I know you want to be out in the field again, but they made you retire from active duty. Heard you do great as a senior teacher here at the academy though."

Bill scoffed as he finished writing his comment and grade on the paper. "Yeah, I'd still be out there knocking heads like in my prime, but someone's gotta teach these gumshoes which way to point a gun. Anyway, don't have time for this drivel. I've got to go to Whitney High and talk to Ralph. Don't know why, but he wants me to see this ring he's having made for the Counselor for their 23rd anniversary."

"Whitney High? That's where I'm going," said Tony. "Mind if I join ya?"

Though Bill also wanted to talk to Ralph about something regarding the jammies, he nodded. "OK, Villacana, so long as I drive. Last time you did, you got a ticket at the school and because it was my car, I had to foot the bill."

Tony rolled his eyes, but inside chuckled, remembering that day too well. "All right, let's go before Mr. H yells at you for being tardy."

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Ralph Hinkley was sitting in his office finishing up with some paperwork. Since he became the principal at Whitney, he was constantly busy keeping the school in order. Though he was a popular principal, the students also respected him, and as such the school excelled in education. He tugged at the collar of the jammies and shook his head, chuckling that even after all these years the collar still bugged him.

As he finished putting up his papers, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said, running his hand through his curly, but slightly thinning and graying, hair. He looked up and saw Bill walk in along with Tony.

"Hey Ralph, how ya doin' kid," said Bill as he shook Ralph's hand. "I'm sure you also remember our favorite ravioli Tony?"

Ralph smiled as Tony blushed a bit from Bill's comment and shook his hand. "Yeah, I do, Bill. How are you doing Tony? And how's your family?"

"Fine, Mr. H, and so's Rhonda and the kids," said Tony, though he was antsy to get down to business. "The youngest will be starting kindergarten this next year, and I'm already seeing the same mischievous streak I had in school."

Ralph chuckled. "Well, I'll remember to warn the teachers to keep watch on the playground car hubcaps," he said. "Listen, Bill, why don't we head over to the art department so I can show you the ring I had made for Pam."

"Sure kid, from what you said it sounds like a beaut," said Bill as they left the office. "So, did you design it?"

"No, but from the drawings I've seen, Pam's going to love it," said Ralph as they walked through the courtyard to a separate building. "I hope it's nearly finished. There was a delay casting the ring earlier today because of a hole in the acetylene torch, but found out they got the backup working. The ring was cast and it's being cleaned up and finished."

As they entered the art and jewelrysmith room, Bill and Tony looked in amazement at the variety of projects laid out on the desks. While most of the jewelry was simple, there were a couple of more elaborate pieces on the teacher's desk. Bill took a closer look at a blue goldstone and sterling silver locket on the desk when someone tapped him from behind. "Pretty neat, huh Bill? And that was her first semester work at college," said Ralph.

"Yeah, I'm actually impressed you have a teacher and students who can do this type of quality work. Beats some of the stuff I've seen in some classes," he said, giving a sideways glance at Tony. "People would pay a lot of dough to buy one of these."

"They have too. Anyway, I have a feeling she's in one of the polishing rooms, and they're in the back."

The trio walked to the back to see the teacher at a polishing wheel with a safety visor over her face. She was fairly young, trim, and had long blondish hair she currently had pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing a brown paisley shortsleeved shirt, jeans, and burgundy hi-top sneakers. She also wore a handmade necklace around her neck and two watches on her left wrist. She had a block of something, Ralph surmised polish, and was rubbing it against the spinning wheel. She then picked up the ring and began polishing it. After a minute or so, she realized she was being watched and turned off the machine. "Oh, hi Ralph, I'm just about done," she said. "Give me a couple of more minutes with the jeweler's rouge and I think it'll be polished enough to set the stones."

"OK, take your time. Pam's ring is pretty special you know," said Ralph, and she nodded, turning the machine back on. As the girl continued work on the ring, the trio decided to spend some more time looking at the art projects. After a few minutes, Ralph turned to Bill and Tony. He noticed the two were preoccupied with something else other than the projects. "All right, you two, is there something going on I don't know about," said Ralph with a slight quizzical look.

"No, nothing that can be said right now," said Bill, hoping he was hinting he wanted to talk about the jammies.

"Well, Mr. H, you see. ..."

"Hey, Ralph, uh, excuse me gentlemen," said the art teacher as she noticed the other men. Tony and Bill nodded as she continued. "I've got it polished up, but wanted your approval before I set the birthstones."

Ralph took the ring, looked at it and smiled. "That's terrific, go ahead. It's still the amethyst and aquamarine hearts right?"

"Oh no, I thought you said you wanted trillions instead," she said, smacking her forehead with her hand. When Ralph's eyes widened at the comment, she grinned. "Don't worry Ralph, I'm just kidding, it's hearts."

"Go on, hurry up, or Pam'll see it too soon when she gets here," he said. Ralph and turned to Tony again. "All right, Tony, what's going on?"

Tony cleared his throat, knowing his next question was serious. "Mr. H, I hate to tell ya this, but I'm not here just to shoot the breeze. I needed to talk to someone about a missing girl who goes to Whitney."

"McKenna Lazuli. Yeah, we've been trying to get the students to help us with leads too," said Ralph.

"Well, we got a great lead on the case, and it's one of your teachers who might have seen the creep," said Tony.

"I'm sure the teachers would be glad to help out anyway they can," said Ralph. "Who do you need to talk to?"

"This is going to sound strange, but it's a fellow by the name of Aidan Hinkley. Relative of yours?"

"You can say that. Shouldn't be a problem," said Ralph with a slight cough just as the teacher came back and handed him a box with the ring.

"Thanks, listen do you have a couple of moments? I wanted to introduce you to my friends." Noting Ralph's look, she nodded.

"Hey, Mr. H, it's nice to talk to your fellow teachers, but I need to talk to Aidan Hinkley as soon as possible," said Tony impatiently.

The girl started to say something, but was interrupted by Bill. "Yeah, I mean it's nice to meet Artie here and look at the ring for the Counselor but I need to get a move on, and I'm sure you need to too," he said again trying to hint he needed to speak to Ralph alone about the suit.

"Artie?" the girl asked Ralph questioningly. The blonde-haired man shrugged and said, "Uh, Tony, Bill. ..."

"Come on Mr. H, I need to talk to him as soon as possible if the FBI's going to help Lazuli."

"I don't think he'll help you," said the girl bluntly, but with a glint in her eye.

"Why not?" said the two agents.

"Well, Aidan's not a he ... she's a she."

When the two men looked at her in confusion, Ralph realized he needed to properly introduce everyone. "Tony, Bill, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Aidan Hinkley. Aidan, these are Agents Tony Villacana and Bill Maxwell."

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Judge Pam Hinkley finished fastening the jewelry clasp around her neck and brushed down the front of her purple dress. It had been a long day in court, so she was looking forward to tonight. Pam smiled, knowing that Ralph's jaw would drop when he saw her in the dress. She picked up a box and looked at the ring inside for Ralph. Aidan designed the ring, and knowing that Ralph had requested a ring for Pam, kept both secrets but made sure the two were the same save the addition of stones in her ring.

Pam put the box into her handbag and taking a final look into the mirror, headed out the door to the beetle. She was going to meet Ralph and Aidan at the school so all three could go in one car to the restaurant. As she drove off, a tan van followed her to the school.

Inside the van, the driver groaned. "Come on, why do we have to follow this dame," he said. "We've got Lazuli, and she's proven useful."

"Yeah, but she's just small fries, kid," said the other man. "We need to take the principal's wife or kid as insurance to make sure he listens. Also need to scope out the school so when the time comes, we can take the whole school hostage and keep people from getting in to rescue them. All those parents will be more than happy to pay or do anything to see their sons and daughters again, especially the judge."

As they arrived at the school, they waited for the right moment to kidnap Pam, little knowing they would start a chain of events that would change the lives of several people forever in a short amount of time.

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Bill looked at Ralph as though he had grown two noses. "She's Aidan?"

Tony also didn't believe her. "And your daughter? Come on, she's too old to be your's and Mrs. H's daughter."

Though she remembered him visiting them a few times and the stories Ralph and Pam told her about Bill's earlier, Aidan still bristled slightly at the comments. "Yes, Mr. Maxwell, that's my name. You used to call me that, not Artie. And Mr. Villacana, as far as age, you shouldn't question it, but I'll tell you anyway. It's 27, and yes, that's longer than they've been married," she said.

Noting the disapproving look on Ralph's face, she softened her tone as she continued. "I'm sorry, I should explain. Ralph and Pam are my godparents. My mom was Ralph's sister. She and dad died in a car wreck when I was nine and Pam and Ralph gained custody of me. A few years before my parents died, they had Pam put in a clause in their will just in case."

Bill's shrugged his shoulders, trying to avoid blushing. "I'm sorry, Artie ... uh Aidan. It's just been a long time since I've seen you."

"OK, but why Artie? Couldn't have been that long," she asked.

"Well... " he said hastily. "It's been a while ... besides, you're an art teacher, and it fits ya better. You look like an arty type of person, especially with the clothes."

Aidan made a face, but remembering Bill call Pam "Counselor" and Ralph "Kid" once, she realized it'd probably be a lost cause to get him to use the proper if he liked the nickname more. And noting the hesitation in his voice when he corrected it, it sounded as though he liked it, and this wasn't the last time she'd be called Artie.

Tony continued. "And, I'm sorry too, Aidan, but please call me Tony. It's just, you know, I've never met any of Mr. H's family except him, the missus and Kevin. And, though you resemble Mr. H a little, it's not enough to put two and two together, if you know what I mean."

She smiled. "No problem, I get that sometimes. Now, how can I help you, uh, Tony?"

"Well, it's about one of your students, a McKenna Lazuli."

"Oh, MK, we're worried about her. Have you got any leads? We've turned up nothing so far."

Tony blinked in confusion. "We got a call saying you knew something about the case."

"No, not since she was abducted. Only thing I've heard since is that her parents are begging her kidnappers to release her. And I'm sure Ralph's told you about the school helping out as much as we can."

As they were talking, Pam was outside the school getting out of the beetle. She walked toward art building when the men in the van got out and followed her. Pam was halfway to the doors when the men grabbed her. ...

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Inside, Ralph held the box containing Pam's ring, and got a holograph of her being grabbed by a couple of men. Bill, seeing the look in his eyes knew something was wrong and nodded. "Uh Artie, is that the only exit to the room?" he asked.

"Yeah, except for the fire exit and quenching tanks in the back... Are you claustrophobic, Mr. Maxwell? Sorry, I sometimes forget the room..." she stopped when she heard a scream come from outside.

"Get down now, Aidan," shouted Tony as he pulled her down, catching on to what Bill was talking about. He thought that someone might be trying to break into the building and Bill was making sure no one could sneak up from behind.

Aidan looked around and didn't see Ralph. "What's going on, where's Ralph," she said.

Tony peeked over the desk and frowned. "I don't know, and Maxwell left. Now, you stay there and don't move, I'm goin' after them, something's not right."

Aidan nodded and waited until the agent left before looking around the corner. For some unknown reason, she felt inside as though she had to help, and picked up a heavy metal ring mandrel to use as a weapon if needed.

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Outside, Pam struggled to get away from the kidnappers and screamed again, hoping Ralph or someone would hear. Frustrated with the fight, one of the kidnappers struck her over the head with the butt of his pistol and she sagged, unconscious. The man reholstered his gun and picked her up in his arms. He started carrying her to the van with the other man in tow, only to see something in red pop visible right in front of them.

"Hand her over now," said Ralph with growl. He was still wearing his black pants, but had the shirt off, revealing the magic jammies' tunic and cape.

The men laughed at the sight of Ralph in the suit. "No, and if you try to stop us from leaving, we'll kill her," said the second man, drawing his gun. Seeing Bill and Tony behind the men, Ralph pretended to give up and let them go. As they headed toward the van, the two agents walked up behind them and stuck their guns in the kidnapper's backs.

"Freeze it, FBI, you're busted. Drop your weapon and hand her over," shouted Bill. The kidnappers did as they were told, and Ralph took Pam into his arms. As Ralph ran back to the art building with Pam, the agents started to lead their captives toward a wall to cuff them. Ralph had laid Pam on the floor inside a room when he heard gunfire ring outside. He ran back outside and Bill and Tony behind a set of lockers and one of the kidnappers behind the van.

Unbeknownst to Ralph as he headed toward the melee, Aidan snuck out of the building shortly after he exited and took cover behind a brick gardensill. As she watched, she did a double take when she thought she saw Ralph take three steps and take flight. Tony too was in disbelief at what he saw. Ralph landed near the gunman and took the gun away from him, crushing it. He then picked up the man off the ground with one hand and when the man tried to throw a punch at Ralph, he tapped the gunman's head against the van door, knocking him out. Ralph lowered the man to the ground.

Aidan then saw Bill rush over to Ralph's side. "Tony, you go search for the other creep," hollered Bill as he handcuffed the gunman. "Kid, you OK?"

"Yeah, but I haven't been able to find the other one," said Ralph. "Still it's not like. ..."

As they were talking, Aidan noticed the second gunman take aim from behind a bush right at Ralph.

"Ralph," screamed Aidan as she rushed out from behind the wall and faced him. The man, startled by the commotion, turned and stepped forward in her direction, but slipped on a bottle. He shot his pistol in rapid fire as he fell, but his aim went wild. Aidan felt two sharp pains in her leg and another one across the side of her head before she fell to the ground and everything went black...

Ralph, seeing Aidan get hit and fall, ran to where the second gunman sat a bit dumbfounded at what happened and swiftly knocked him out. Knowing the man shot Aidan and not trusting himself with the man's health, Ralph nodded to Bill to take the gunman into custody. He then ran over to Aidan and checked her vitals. Her breathing was shallow, and her pulse was fast and thready. Ralph took a quick assessment of her injuries and found she had two gunshot wounds to her left leg and a bullet graze across her left temple.

Tony, certain the area was secured, rushed over to Ralph's side and took a long look at Ralph in the jammies. "I know what you're thinking, but I'll explain later," said Ralph, slightly embarrassed. "Tear your shirt so I can make bandages." Tony complied, and kept his muscle shirt underneath untucked in case Ralph needed it too.

After handcuffing the second gunman, Bill also rushed over to check on Aidan. "You Hinkleys sure know how to get into trouble," he grumbled, whistling softly at the injuries. "How is she?"

"She's unconscious, Bill," said Ralph as he wrapped a torn sleeve and another patch of cloth from Tony's shirt around Aidan's head.

Bill kneeled and took a closer examination of Aidan's leg, frowning. "Kid, she'll be worse than that if we don't put a tourniquet on that leg. It looks like one of the bullets might've hit an artery," he said grimly. "Good thing none of them are through holes, or it would be worse. Her being buzzed too doesn't help out either."

Ralph nodded grimly as well and took off the tie from Tony's neck, handing it to Bill. "Tony, go inside and check on Pam. If she's awake, tell her what happened, but make sure she doesn't come out here too soon," said Ralph. "I don't want her to see us do this to Aidan."

As Tony nodded and rushed inside, Aidan started to come to and groaned loudly in pain. Bill grimaced, knowing that putting on the tourniquet would not be as easy on her now. Ralph, catching the look in Bill's eye, decided it'd be best to tell her. "Aidan ... Aidan it's Ralph. Listen, you've been shot, and we've got to put a tourniquet on your leg. It's going to hurt like you know what."

Aidan, not quite awake, only managed to groan and nodded weakly. Holding Aidan's hand in his, Ralph nodded to Bill and he put the tourniquet on. When he tightened it, Aidan cried out in pain and bucked, clenching Ralph's hand so tightly he felt as though she had the jammies. He tried to talk to her to ease the pain when he saw her relax, having passed out again. Worried, Ralph checked her pulse, then picked up her in his arms and turned to Bill. "Lookit, we need to get her to the hospital now," said Ralph. "I don't think we can wait for an ambulance."

Bill gave him a grim look, nodded and proceeded to wrangle the two gunmen into his car. As he did that, Pam walked outside assisted by Tony and gasped at the sight before her. "Aidan, Ralph, is she..."

"She'll be fine once we get her to the hospital, Counselor," said Bill as he finished locking the gunmen in his car and called for the police. "Now, everyone, in the van."

Ralph laid Aidan in the back of the van, and after the others got in, Bill sped of toward the hospital. As they were driving, Ralph made Aidan comfortable as he could and glanced at Pam. "Hun, you all right," he asked Pam when she put her hand to her head and winced.

"Fine Ralph, just a little bump on the head. I'll have the doctors check it out to be sure though. Bill, Tony, why were those guys trying to kidnap me?"

"Don't know, Mrs. H, but they might've thought you were a teacher. It might've been the same people who gave us the false lead on Lazuli," said Tony. "She's a student at Whitney, but was kidnapped the other day and we've had no leads until today ... and it was supposedly Aidan seeing the suspect."

"But why say Aidan," she said confused. "I mean, there are a lot of teachers there, and I'm only there to visit Ralph or Aidan."

"Maybe she was targeted for kidnapping, and they grabbed ya by mistake," said Bill, frowning.

Ralph looked at Aidan in time to see her take a breath and let it out, but not take another one. He checked her pulse and found none. "Damn it, Aidan, this is the one time you always need to fight," Ralph half shouted as he began CPR. "How long to the hospital?"

"We're almost there, Ralph," said Bill when suddenly the van stopped. Bill put his foot on the accelerator, but the wheels spun in place and engine died. Shortly thereafter, the doors locked themselves and the windows rolled up. Though Ralph was administering CPR, he knew what was going on. Pam and Bill looked at each other and said "Oh no."

"Whatdaya mean, 'oh no,'" said Tony confused as the van started back to life without Bill turning the key and made a sharp (and very illegal) U-turn. As the van sped off, Tony started to get more concerned. "H-hey, Maxwell, why are we going opposite the hospital? Aidan's dying," he shouted.

"Villacana, this is the one time you can't argue, even with me. When they want you to come, they'll make you come," said Bill.

"They, who's they?"

"You'll see Tony, and knowing Artie's condition, you will see," said the older agent simply, having done this before. He was dreading to meet them again, and didn't want the younger agent to see his greatest fear so not to be teased. Though dissatisfied with Bill's answer, Tony knew he couldn't ask the other two what was going on yet, as they were saving Aidan, so he decided to bide his time... for now.

Pam turned back to Ralph, who was still fighting for Aidan's life and appeared to be growing tired. "Ralph, let me help," she said and took over for Ralph on artificial respiration. After about half a minute, Pam glanced at Ralph and noticed something odd about the suit. It started glowing a reddish orange, reaching all the way to Ralph's fingertips. She looked up and saw Ralph's face turn the same color. "Ralph, you're glowing like a fire," said Pam a bit surprised.

"What the hell," he said, looking at his hands. He wondered. ... "Never mind that now, I'll take back over her breathing too." He put his hands over Aidan's sternum and began compressions again. After breathing into her mouth, he was relieved to hear Aidan gasp and take a breath... then another. Ralph checked her pulse and found it returned as well. "She's back," he said to Pam, smiling, and gave each other a hug. Neither noticed that the glow Ralph had transferred to Aidan, only to fade after a couple of moments.

"Kid, that's terrific," said Bill, "but we're still headed toward Palmdale."

"Ralph, the suit, it's not red anymore..." said Pam as she looked at the tunic.

Ralph looked at the suit and frowned, confused. "Something strange is going on here," he said. "We're going to Palmdale, Aidan's injured and nearly dies, and when I resuscitate her, the suit causes it and me to glow then turns gray. Why?"

"I don't know Ralph, and I hope they will explain," said Pam looking at a road sign. "And, we don't have much longer to wait."

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As the five headed toward Palmdale, the Los Angeles police went to Whitney High and found the two gunmen handcuffed in Bill's car. As they took the men to jail, a third person watched from a distance. "So, my men couldn't get your wife, Hinkley," said the man with a frown. "A minor inconvenience. Just you wait, soon you'll have to cooperate with my plans after I take the school hostage."

He looked at the scene and saw the patch of blood on the ground. He smiled when he saw a ring mandrel lying nearby. "Well, well, my men really did wound your daughter. I see they at least they did their homework. Well, I guess that's a step in my favor after all," he said with a grin. "If she dies, then you'll be too grieved to be much of a threat to begin with. Soon, my plans will be in force and you'll be powerless to stop me."

---------------------------------------------

As the van reached the desert in Palmdale, Tony again looked at the scene around him. Ralph and Pam were still keeping an eye on Aidan so she didn't go into arrest again, and Bill was watching the steering wheel move without any assistance. He knew something was amiss, and he wanted answers. "Maxwell, come on, I've been playing along with you guys for long enough," he said. "What's so special about Palmdale, and why's Mr. H wearing that funny outfit? I want to know what the hell is going on..."

Bill started to say something, but Ralph interrupted. "Look Tony, what Bill said is true. When we meet who I think we're about to meet, they want you to come when they want you to come. Why now when Aidan's hurt I don't know, but I think we're going to find out."

The older FBI agent groaned, remembering a night in Las Vegas all those years ago. "Kid, you don't think it's our, uh, time, do ya," he said with a slight shiver in his voice. Tony looked at the older agent curiously, but decided since no one was telling the whole truth, not to even bother asking.

Ralph shook his head. "I don't know, Bill. It's been a long time, so who knows what it is. Could be what happened at the school, but still why the five of us to Palmdale."

"Our luck, it'll be some lecture again like they did last time..."

"Bill, I don't think that'll happen, since. ..."

"Uh, guys, I think we're here," said Pam as the van's engine died and it rolled to a stop.

"What is this, this is no time to be star watching," said Tony, still upset he didn't get any straight answers.

"Tony, unfortunately, this is the perfect time," said Pam as she looked out the front window. Tony looked up and saw what looked like a neon hubcap come down from the sky. He noticed Bill started backing into his chair while he felt himself doing the same thing, blanching a bit as well. Pam and Ralph looked up and gave a soft smile, knowing they would help Aidan. It had happened before ... many years ago.

"What the hell is that," said Tony with a slight squeak in his voice.

"It's a spaceship Tony, possibly the same one Bill and I met 25 years ago," said Ralph.

Just then the radio turned on, causing Tony to jump up in his chair, hitting his head on the ceiling. "Please... come... all... we're... here... to... help...to ... change...," said the radio as it scanned the stations.

When the doors unlocked, the four conscious passengers got out of the van. Ralph bent back into the van and picked up Aidan in his arms again. As he carried her, he realized that she felt her weight, which was odd as the suit let him pick up the heaviest of men as though they were a feather. "Things have changed," he said softly as he started to catch up to the others already heading toward the spaceship.

Ralph reached the others and, after walking a short distance, they all stood under the ship. The four looked up, either awe or fear, and knowing what was next, Ralph held on to Aidan a little tighter so he didn't drop her. The ship shot down a beam of light, and the group was beamed aboard. The ship lifted and headed to outerspace again, and those inside were about to make a change that would affect the entire group.

___________________________________

Ralph stood in the middle of the white room and watched as the others woke up. He always hated knowing that he would be fine when he was beamed aboard but Bill and now others seemed to always get stunned. "You guys OK," he said as he helped Pam sit up.

"Yeah, fine kid, just wish these guys would take it easier with their light show," said Bill grumbling.

Tony still layer on his pallet, eyes closed. "Tony..." said Ralph, shaking the man's shoulder, but didn't get a response. "Bill, you don't think he got a bigger shock?"

Bill looked at the younger agent, noticing a twitch only a senior FBI agent would see, and frowned. "Nah, he's playing possum. Come on Villacana, they can make us wait all our lives if they want to, pretending to still be out of it won't do ya any good."

"All right, fine Maxwell," said the younger agent sarcastically as he sat up and glared at the other man. "Look, you guys might want to talk to whoever it was who did the beam me up impression, but I don't..." Seeing both men's faces, he realized it was a losing battle, so he got up, yelping when he received a static shock.

Pam looked around and frowned. "Where's Aidan," she asked. "You don't think that..."

Ralph shook his head as the door opened, having a hint as to where she was. "I think you're about to find your answer," he said as he offered his arm to Pam. Tony followed alongside Bill, deciding not to ask anymore questions just yet, though inside he was worried he might actually pass out from fear.

As they entered the main room, a green guy walked up toward them and motioned for a little green creature, who came up to them on a moving cart. The little green guy dropped a small clear item in Ralph's hand, and did the same for Bill, Pam and Tony. "It's a translator," said Ralph as he put the item in his ear. "Bill and I've used these when we were on the ship before."

Pam and Tony looked at the items and turning to each other, shrugged and placed them in their ears. When they were ready, the green guy spoke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hinkley, Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Villacana, welcome to the ship," he said. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances."

Ralph dropped his arm from Pam's and stepped forward. "Where's Aidan, is she all right?"

The alien lifted up a device to light up one of the healing chambers, revealing Aidan. She was still unconscious, but also bathed in a warm gold light. Ralph shuddered slightly, realizing this must've happened when he was wounded in that shootout so many years ago. It was the first time they ever met the green guys in the flesh. 'No wonder Bill briefly mentioned this part of that visit to me,' he thought. Just then, Aidan flickered and disappeared, causing Pam to gasp and Ralph to wrap his arm around her shoulders to steady her.

Tony started forward, wanting to tell off the green guy for toying with the Hinkleys' emotions, among other things, when they heard the door slide open again. They turned and found Aidan inside, standing up with her back to the group. "Hey Ralph, I've got a great idea for a school fund-raiser," she said, a bit delirious. Ralph and Pam chuckled, realizing she might have been given something before or while she was being healed. Oblivious to what was going on, Aidan continued, turning around. "We can have the teachers make jewelry for an auction, but you'll have to watch out for..."

She stopped and looked around, realizing this wasn't Whitney High. The others noticed that she was slowly starting to replay the events in her head when she touched her temple and pointed to her leg. When she looked down, noticing her embroidered jeans were clean but now had a tie and stick (now loosely tied) around her leg, she frowned in confusion and looked up, seeing the group. Aidan walked out of the room and up to Pam and Ralph, ignoring everything else. The two gave her a big hug, crying with relief. She returned the hug, still confused. "Uh, hi guys ... wasn't I shot?"

Ralph pulled back and looked into her eyes, smiling. "Yeah, Ade, you were, but someone helped you out." The three turned around and saw the green guy looking at them, smiling. Aidan gave a yelp and ducked behind Ralph, peeking her eyes over his shoulder like a scared three year old. Ralph chuckled and eased her back to the front. "Don't worry, they're friendly," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "I've known about them for years. This translator will let you talk to them."

After she took the translator from the assistant and, after a nudge from Ralph, put it in her ear, the green guy spoke again. "Aidan, I apologize for scaring you, but it was vital that you come here to be healed. Times have changed, and you and Mr. Villacana will be a part of it."

"Him and me? I've never met him until today," she said frowning, trying to clear the wisps of fog still in it. "Could you please tell me what's going on?"

The green guy motioned for the group to come forward to the screens and pushed a device. The screens flickered showing a much younger Ralph wearing the jammies. Aidan and Tony stood staring in awe and slight confusion as Ralph flew in the air, lifted up cars, and fought bad guys with ease. There were also pictures of Bill punching out bad guys and working with Ralph on missions; and Pam was helping with research, even fighting a couple of bad guys herself. As she listened to the green guy narrarate, Aidan started to understand that her godfather had been more than just a teacher and principal, he'd been a hero too. Turning toward Ralph, she was surprised to see the suit was a different color, remembering it was red at the school before she was shot.

"Sir, what happened to Ralph's suit," asked Pam.

"Yeah, I was wondering if it had some hint as to what was going to, uhm, happen to Ralph and me, for a very long time," Bill said, running a hand through his silver hair.

The green guy sighed and shook his head. "No, but it is time to move on and for changes to be made."

"Changes," said Ralph puzzled. "What do you mean, like I have to retire?"

When the alien nodded, Bill stepped forward. "Uh, sir, Ralph and me have been on the straight and narrow most of the time, especially after that dream you gave us. After all these years, what have we done wrong to suggest hanging up the cape?"

"Nothing, Mr. Maxwell. You and Mr. Hinkley have been partners for many years and have helped save the Earth from its own self-destruction," said the green guy. "However, we knew there would be a time when you and Mr. Hinkley would no longer be able to safely help out others, and as such realized the suit would pass to someone else and you would, as you say, retire. That time was today."

"So, why's the suit now gray," asked Pam "It's never done anything like that."

"Yes, I was wondering about that," said Ralph. "Normally, when I carry people they seem weightless, but a while ago I found it difficult to carry Aidan. What's wrong with the suit?"

"The suit you wear Mr. Hinkley will no longer function with you wearing it," said the green guy. "However, it will return to its proper color and the powers will be restored when it's handed over to the new person to wear the suit."

Tony gave the green guy a funny look. "So, uh, I still don't follow. Mr. H here wore this stupid getup all these years ... Hey waidasec! I remember this outfit. Hey wasn't this that getup you wore at the circus, when you got shot outta the cannon through the tent? And before that with Nelson Corey, the guy with the cape dat was you?"

Ralph nodded. "Yep, that was me Tony. Helped out quite a bit with a lot of things in this getup, as you say, and not just those times."

"You helped all those people and now this suit decides to retire you. Talk about funny descriptions. You sound just like a teacher with a bad dress sense... again."

"Hey Tony, I wouldn't say anything about funny job descriptions until you teach jewelry making," said Aidan sarcastically.

"Yea, that is a funny job. You look like something from grandma's attic."

Aidan wasn't amused. "Hey, there's a reason I'm dressed grubbier than the other teachers. It's a messy job, and I still get jokes about the time I fell into the sand casting pit. But, it's pretty obvious that this job description is the strangest one of all."

"So, if Ralph's not supposed to wear the suit, who is," asked Pam, still a bit confused at the greenguy's comments. "Does Ralph have to choose the next wearer?"

"The suit has already decided. It turned gray when it was certain the right person to succeed Mr. Hinkley was found and the time was right," the green guy said simply.

"If that's true, that means...," said Bill, stopping when he remembered an altered Holly dream he had a few times over the years, including recently, of a blonde haired woman with a certain necklace wearing the jammies. He didn't think about it at first glance earlier, but now... 'Nah, it can't be...' he thought... He looked at the necklace to be sure...

"Her!" said Bill.

"Aidan?" said Ralph, Pam and Tony.

"M...Me," Aidan stammered. The green guy nodded. "I'm going to be wearing this ... outfit? O-OK, so, why am I the one the suit chose?"

"You were selected by the suit because it knew you would follow in Mr. Hinkley's footsteps and use it for good. However, you were seriously wounded. When Mr. Hinkley was saving your life, the suit used its reviving powers in conjunction with his efforts to bring you back from the brink of death so you could fulfill your destiny. It worked, but you still had to be brought to the ship to finish healing and to receive the suit," said the green guy. "This was the last duty the suit gave you, Mr. Hinkley, but the greatest one... giving her back the gift of life." Aidan unconsciously rubbed her sternum and finding it sore, she realized exactly what the green guy meant.

"OK, so the suit's chosen her," said Bill a bit skeptically. "But that doesn't explain what Villacana is doing here, unless..."

"Unless what," said Tony. "I ain't gonna wear a dumb suit like that."

"No, you're to work with Aidan, just as Mr. Hinkley and Mr. Maxwell were paired up," said the green guy.

"Partners," said Tony condescendingly. "No way, I work alone. I ain't gonna baby-sit the teacher's daughter just because she has to wear her daddy's longjohns and go flyin' around like a kite. You'd have to be higher than a kite to think I would do that at all."

Aidan just glared at him for the moment and turned to the green guy. "So, um, now that I'm supposed to wear the suit, how am I going to wear it if Ralph still has it?"

Ralph put his hand on her shoulder to prove her point, but after the green guy pressed a button and a flash of light, Aidan was wearing the suit. It was in the same two-piece tunic and tights style as she saw Ralph wear on the screen and had the belt, boot spats, shoes and black cape with red trim. Unlike a few moments ago, however, the rest of the suit returned to its bright red color save the belt, which was always gray. Ralph was still wearing his regular pants, but now was shirtless and holding her streetclothes.

The green guy smiled softly at the group. "Things will be different now, and all will have to adapt to changes. Before you ask, Mr. Hinkley, we know that you lost both instruction books, but they would've been gone now anyway. They disintegrate after one of your years as most suit wearers would have learned all the skills by then. And as such, Aidan will be given a new instruction book with the possible changes that she and she alone must read first. All of you will still work together in your own ways to help keep the Earth safe. You must protect this garden planet from itself. Goodbye."

The green guy assistant punched a button and the five were beamed back down to the desert. Aidan looked up in the sky and her eyes widened amazement at the exterior of the spaceship. They watched as the spaceship took off into outerspace and flashed out of sight. Bill looked at Aidan and found she was holding the book of instructions.

Aidan sighed and started walking around, getting used to the way the suit moved. She fidgeted with the collar, finding to her disliking it was high and snug around her neck. She didn't mind trying new things, as that's how she found out she liked foods Pam and Ralph never touched, but this one was a little too odd, even for her. "Great, I'm now a Zorro wannabe in a dumb outfit," she said, grumbling.

Ralph noticed it was similar to the same reaction he had when he first wore the suit. "Come on Aidan, it isn't bad... once you get used to it."

"Yeah, but it'll be a long time, if ever. At least Zorro had a mask to hide his face, but... never mind. Well so, what do I do now," she said trying to figure out what to do next. "Do I just jump and take flight?"

She started to jump up and down, only to hear Tony laugh. "Aidan, you look like a little kid bouncing up and down on a mattress," he said with a smirk. "All you need to do is get a teddy bear and binkie and you'll be ready for bed."

Aidan stopped jumping and turned toward the agent. "Now, listen Tony, if I have to do this, I've got to start somewhere and you're acting like a..."

"Aidan, I wasn't the one that volunteered to be a babysitter..."

"Babysitter! ..."

Realizing in her posture that the argument might turn into a fight, Ralph put a hand on her shoulder before she got mad enough to punch Tony. "Uh, Aidan, this is getting no where. Let's take a look at the instruction book so we know what's different. I know some of what the suit can do, but if some things could change, then what I try to teach you could inadvertently hurt you or someone else."

Aidan started to open the book, and Ralph smiled, knowing she was about to learn how to use the suit properly, something he never was able to quite accomplish. ...

Tony, however, didn't want to have a partner, neither with the FBI or because some intergalactic travelers said so. He grabbed the book from Aidan's hands.

"Tony, give Aidan back the instruction book," said Ralph. "You can't read it. Only someone wearing the suit can read the book. ..."

"No way, I'm going to contact those green bozos and tell them I don't want a partner," said Tony as he opened the book and started punching buttons. "I ain't gonna work with no teacher's pet..."

"Gerbil, hamster, mouse..." said Aidan.

"Huh? What kinda stupid nonsense is that," said Tony as he stopped pressing buttons.

"Well, if I'm a 'teacher's pet,' I'd like to know which one, so what is it?" she said. "But I'm not, I'm a girl. Now lookit, Tony, I'm not sure about this either, but you and I are the partners now, and I've got to figure out what this is if I have to wear this thing. So give it to me..." She grabbed the book and took it away from him. Aidan opened the book and after the lettering changed to English, started punching some buttons to get it to work. Tony put his hands back on it and tried to take it away, starting a tug-of-war.

"Aidan, I'm going to call those green creeps..."

"Tony, there's nothing in here about this book having a 'phone home' function..."

"I don't care, I'm going to..." said Tony as he gave a Herculean effort, as well as Aidan. Because Aidan was stronger in the suit, the book slipped from Tony's hands and he fell to the ground. Aidan, surprised, staggered back a few steps before falling down and doing a backward roll, ending up on her back. Tony got up and glared down at her, only to receive the same glare from Aidan as she sat up. She then closed the book to make sure she didn't break it and stood up. "Now, as I said, I'm going to look at this book so I can ..." said Aidan.

As she was talking, the book began to glow several funny shades of green, the patterns changing rapidly. The five looked at the book, confused.

"Oh great, more of this galactic book nonsense," groaned Bill. "What's it doin' now?"

As it was too high for a human to hear, the suit let Aidan hear a telltale whine come from the book as the glow intensified. Panicking at what could happen, Aidan tossed the book. She was surprised to see that her toss was about 25 yards away.

"Duck," she shouted, and the five hit the ground shortly before hearing an small explosion. Getting up, they turned to see a small fire in the distance, and watched as it quickly burned out. The group walked over to where the book flew, stopping at a boulder. Aidan kneeled and found the book was completely destroyed, with only the suit emblem on the charred cover even noting there had been the book. It was a few moments before anyone spoke.

"Terrific, Artie, ya blew up the book," said Bill.

"Me? I was supposed to have it," she said levelly. "Maybe if Tony didn't try to punch the buttons to get the green guys the book wouldn't have exploded."

"Now listen, you punched them too..." started Tony.

"Yes, but I was supposed to..."

"So, I was going to tell those..."

"QUIET," yelled Pam. The others stopped and stared at the judge, shocked she could command such a presence with just one word. "Tony, Aidan's right, she was supposed to have it to learn about the suit. You had no right to commandeer it and start pressing buttons. My guess is that between both of you pressing buttons, the book got confused and started to act funny, and the green glow might've been from the circuitry overloading. But whatever happened, you both lost the instruction book."

Bill chuckled hearing her tell Tony off, but sobered up when he caught the man's glare out of the corner of his eye.

"This book of instructions," Aidan parroted softly. "So, now what?"

"So, we're back to square one ... again," Ralph sighed. "Well, Ade, you're going to have to do what I did learning suit powers."

"What's that," she said still looking at the charred remains of the book.

"The old tried and true 'here goes nothing again' technique," said the blonde-haired man wryly.

_____________________________________

After a long drive back, which included a stop at the emergency room to check out Pam's head injury, Ralph, Pam and Aidan arrived at the Hinkley home. The couple decided that after everything Aidan had just gone through, it would be best she stayed there for the night instead of returning to her apartment. Aidan didn't mind too much either, as she didn't want to be left alone that night and wanted to ask questions about the suit. Pam entered the kitchen to fix the three hot chocolate so they could relax, and Aidan shifted the cape so she wouldn't sit on it and sat on the couch.

As he closed the door, Ralph turned and looked at Aidan, smiling a soft smile. Inside, he felt a little sad, knowing that, while he hated wearing it, he would miss his zany adventures and scenarios helping Bill in the jammies. The noise woke Aidan from her thoughts and she glanced up, noticing Ralph staring, and shrugged. "So, all this time you've been a superhero courtesy of a couple of outerspace aliens, and now it's me," she said still in disbelief. "Why did you keep this from me, well besides the fact it looks silly?"

Ralph sat down on the couch and looked into her eyes, knowing this would be a little tough to explain. "Ade, Pam and I didn't want you to ever get hurt in the crossfire of one of Bill's scenarios, so we decided that we'd never tell you. Of course, neither of us expected you to get shot or the suit to select you to continue."

"But why did it choose me, why not Kevin," she said. "I mean, he's your son. Only reason we're a family is because my parents died."

"Don't know, but it might have something to do with the fact we've been estranged all these years. Alicia, his mom, pretty much turned him against me when she won sole custody. Last time I heard from him was his college graduation, and you remember how that went," he said, choking up a bit as he thought about his son. Aidan nodded, remembering all too well.

"You, however, haven't been that way, and the green guys knew that. What they said the suit saw in you is true, you're like Ralph. You always try to help people through thick and thin, no matter the circumstances," said Pam as she came back with three mugs of cocoa.

"Speaking of circumstances, what I'd like to know is why you even left the building. You could've died you know," said Ralph.

"I almost did," Aidan said as she took a long sip from the mug. Noticing the look in Ralph and Pam's eyes she shrugged and looked at them with slightly distant look. "Even with the suit helping, I'm still sore from the CPR, Ralph. And judging from what the green guy said, I would've died if it weren't for both you and the suit. Anyway, I don't know why, but something said I should and ..."

Seeing Aidan try to hide a yawn, Ralph smiled slightly. "Ade, I think we can talk more about this tomorrow. You're tired. Why don't you get ready for bed? We're about to call it a night too."

Aidan nodded tiredly and headed to her room to change. As she closed the door she turned around and looked around, smiling softly. After she graduated college, Ralph and Pam made Aidan's room the guest bedroom, but left bits and pieces that were strictly Aidan's touches in it. Though it wasn't cluttered, there was a little bit of everything: hand-blown glass, metalsmith and jewelrymaking, pastels, photos, mixed media... even an elaborate dreamcatcher over her bed. She made the dreamcatcher especially for Pam and Ralph, and it was one of their favorite pieces in the room. It was also quite honestly one of her favorites too, as it fit her personality, always a dreamer.

Looking at it, she had a flashback of the day's events, which to her felt mostly like a dream. She remembered being shot, but most of the events afterward were vague except Bill putting on the tourniquet. Aidan winced when she remembered how tight it felt and smiled faintly at how Ralph was trying to ease the pain as best he could...

The next thing she remembered was waking up lying in some tiny dark room and panicking, realizing it wasn't a normal operating room. In fact, she thought she was in the morgue by mistake. Aidan then heard a soft voice speak to her, saying that she had been shot and they were going to help her. Before she could say or ask anything, a gentle mist wafted into the small room, making her drowsy. The last thing she remembered hearing before succumbing to the anesthetic's effects was the voice again saying she would survive and it would be the start of a new adventure. ...

Aidan's mind snapped back into the present time, and she took a closer look at the dreamcatcher. 'Some start, I think I may need this for real after tonight,' Aidan mused as she fingered the lizard conchos and beads entrapped in the webbing and the feathers at the bottom believed to filter the good dreams to her. 'Good thing the sun shines into my room first so the nightmares snagged in the web can evaporate, if they come.''

Looking at the far wall she chuckled softly at the abstract oil pastel on the wall, remembering the dare a friend had to make a project for an art exhibition. Got her interested in the media, though she always preferred working in 3D and wearable art over sketches and oils, and she became an art teacher. Aidan started wondering what would happen to that job now that she had the suit. It didn't seem to affect Ralph much, but then again, things were different for him. 'This is a new journey and job,' she thought. "Just hope it doesn't cause me to accidentally blow up the jewelry lab. ..."

Smiling softly, she looked around and saw a photo of her and her parents... her birth parents and her godparents. While Ralph and Pam loved Aidan to death, even they knew there were times that Aidan missed her birth parents and sometimes needed them. Losing them had been difficult for Aidan, but it only got worse after their memorial service. Her dad's family had always disapproved of him marrying her mom. They made it clear even when her parents were alive, treating Aidan as the black sheep, though she never caused trouble. When her dad's side found out Ralph and Pam were to take care of Aidan if her parents died, they disowned her. She'd tried to contact them over the next few years, but got nothing but returned letters and phones slammed in her ear.

After one too many phones slammed in her ear, she decided it was time to move on, as her dad's side had obviously done. She asked Ralph and Pam if they would officially adopt her so she could change her last name to Hinkley. The two loved hearing the request and wholeheartedly agreed, so Aidan got her wish. Aside from other relatives on her mom's side, it was pretty much the three of them now. 'Huh, wonder what my parents would've thought about me actually becoming a superhero, given I used to watch She-Ra and Superfriends...' she thought with a sad smile.

Taking the picture with her, Aidan sat down on the bed and started getting ready for bed. She leaned back on the bed, sighing at finally feeling comfortable after a rough day. For the first time, Aidan really understood what being alive truly was. She picked up the picture again and gazed at it once more before putting it on the night stand. Aidan closed her eyes and started to drift off, remembering the events of the day. 'It'll be a new start, since the green guys literally gave me one...'

-----------------------------------------------------

A couple of minutes after Aidan entered her bedroom, Pam turned to Ralph. "Hun, I don't know how she's going to deal with this. I mean, I know she seems to be taking it rather well, but she could still be in shock from everything that happened."

Ralph nodded, frowning. "Yeah, I'm worried about that too. I mean it's a lot to take in on a short notice, believe me," he said. "I think tonight one of us should be up to check on her from time to time just to be on the safe side. I'll call Bill later this morning to see if he and Tony will join us for a trip to the desert in the afternoon to try some of the powers. Besides, Tony's got to get used to dealing with Aidan more often."

"That's something else, hun. Judging from his comments, he didn't seem too keen on being paired up with her."

"Neither was Bill until I rescued him from Gabriel's Army," he said with a smile, and Pam chuckled.

"I remember that day. It wasn't the best way to say 'Hello, my name's Ralph and I've just gotten a magic suit,'" she said. "Wonder what will happen when Aidan lifts the bumper to test her strength. Just remember to bring something to wake up Tony with."

"All right, I deserve that, but since he hasn't seen what all the suit can do, I'll make sure Tony's sitting down just in case," Ralph said with a grin.

After a few more minutes, Pam and Ralph noticed that Aidan hadn't come out to say goodnight, so they peeked into her room. They smiled when they saw Aidan was lying on the bed, fast asleep. She was still wearing most of the suit, having taken off the boots and the cape was draped over a chair. Trying not to wake her, Ralph gently covered her with a blanket. "It'll take time, Pam, but I think they'll do well. Listen, I'll sit in the living room for a while and let you sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours to switch out. 'Night hun." The two kissed, and after Pam entered the master bedroom, Ralph sat down on the couch in in the living room and put his feet on the armrest to relax. Grabbing the blanket lying on the back of the couch to get warmed up, he started thinking about some of his adventures in the suit and wondered what was in store for Aidan.

__________________________________

Tony unlocked the door to his home and saw Rhonda lying on the couch, asleep. As he covered her with a blanket, she stirred. "Tony? Hi babe, what time is it?" she said.

"About 2:30 in the morning," he said softly. "Everyone else asleep?"

"Yeah, what took you so long to get home?"

Tony thought for a moment and decided to hold off telling Rhonda about his visit to the spaceship. He didn't want to start an argument with her accusing him of spending an evening in the bar. "Well, I was on a case at Whitney High School when there was a gunfight. In the course of the fight, one of the teachers was injured and had to go to the hospital."

"Oh no, who?" said Rhonda.

"Aidan Hinkley, Mr. H's daughter..."

"His daughter? Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine..."

"I gotta call Mr. and Mrs. H to see if they're all right too," said Rhonda as she got up and headed toward the phone. "I mean that's got to be scary for them."

"No, Rhonda, I'm sure. They're all fine," said Tony, gently taking the receiver out of her hands and placing it on its hook. He then headed over to the couch, stretching out across the seats. "I talked to them at the hospital. Aidan was grazed by a bullet and knocked out. She also had a gash in her leg. The doctors had to put a few stitches in both wounds, but the doctors cleared her to go home with Mr. and Mrs. H. If you call them now, I think they'd try to put us in detention."

Rhonda chuckled softly, realizing it wasn't that bad if he was telling jokes. "Well, given how many times we gave them grief, you're right. I might still call tomorrow just to say hi anyway and that we hope she feels better."

Tony nodded. "All right, so long as you don't go flirtin' with Mr. H again," he said in mock jealousy.

"Oh, Tony, I got over that years ago and you know that" said Rhonda, giving him a playful shove as she headed out the room to the kitchen.

Tony put his head on the armrest of the couch and, closing his eyes, started thinking about the day. He remembered searching the area for the second kidnapper when he heard Aidan scream and the round of gunshots. Tony ran back to the area and found Bill handcuffing the unconscious gunman and Ralph next to Aidan, turning her over and checking her vitals and injuries. Realizing from the look on Ralph's face that she was in bad shape, Tony ran over to the man to see what he could do to help. He stared at the sight of his teacher in the funny outfit, snapping out of it when Ralph ordered him to take off his shirt to make bandages so he could staunch the bleeding.

When Bill came up and, after looking at her wounds, said Aidan needed the tourniquet on her leg, Tony knew it was very serious. He cringed when he remembered going inside to tell Pam, who had just come around from being pistol whipped, that Aidan was shot and being tended to. Despite relaying what Ralph told him, Pam practically ordered Tony to take her outside so she could see Aidan. Fortunately for all concerned, Bill had put on the tourniquet by the time they got to the door and Pam only saw Ralph carrying Aidan in his arms.

Though he was glad for Pam's sake that she ended up not seeing it, as he painfully remembered having one put on him, Tony couldn't help but admire her request. 'Mrs. H sure had a lot of guts,' Tony thought to himself, opening his eyes briefly and seeing the picture of his family on the fireplace mantle. 'So did Mr. H for having to see Maxwell put that tourniquet on Aidan. I don't how I'd handle it if it were Rhonda or the kids.'

While the next few minutes were scary, with Aidan going into arrest and Ralph yelling at her for "not fighting" before beginning CPR, it was nothing until the van stopped and then drove itself. The events got weirder when Ralph started to glow, the suit turning gray and not getting straight answers as they continued to Palmdale. He remembered when it finally stopped in the desert and he saw the ship for the first time. The sight creeped him out, and he could have sworn he was going to pass out. The feeling grew more when they were standing under it. Tony remembered seeing Ralph hold Aidan tighter in his arms before there was flash of light ... and then waking up lying on a bed in a white room on the ship.

Scared at what he'd find if he opened his eyes, he decided he'd try to play possum, but Bill caught on to his idea, so he had to join them. The next few minutes were tough for him to swallow when he met green guy, and especially when they saw Aidan lying in the crypt-like cubby in the wall. Even though she was glowing, Tony wasn't sure if it was a good thing or just to let Ralph and Pam pay last respects before they took her to heaven, especially when she disappeared. It wasn't until he and the others heard the door open and saw a healed but obviously semiconscious Aidan rambling about a fund-raiser idea that he knew she was alive. Tony had to admit that seeing the three Hinkleys hugging made the visit on the ship just a little more tolerable. 'Those two sure do love Aidan, and aren't afraid to show it,' he thought with a soft smile. 'After seeing everything that happened, I'd probably hugged her too, though I'd probably been laughed at. ...'

Later on, when green guy was talking to them about the suit being handed over to someone else, Tony started to worry that it would be him. He was worried not just because of how silly he'd feel wearing it, but also because he didn't want anything to change. When he found out it was Aidan, he started chuckling to himself... until he heard the green guy say that he was to be her partner. 'Yeah, some partner,' he thought remembering the arguments they had tonight. 'I don't care what she thinks, there's something about her way of thinking that will only cause me problems,' he thought with a frown. 'I mean, Mr. H gave me hell when I was at Whitney, but it was for the better. Aidan probably will try to use the suit to work on her class projects and not to stop bad guys.'

Then there was the book. He didn't want to be her partner, and was going to tell those green guys off for partnering him with "the ditzy artist," and figured the best way was through that book. When it blew up, he realized that his one chance to stay solo was ashes as well. The looks on the other four's faces said that he was to blame for blowing up the instruction book. 'Wasn't just my fault, it was hers too,' he thought indignantly. 'She didn't even admit she was a part of it until Mrs. H pointed that out. At least with my family, if someone screws up, they admit it. What if something like that happens during a case? All that could do is put me in the hospital, or worse. I don't think the FBI would like to be paying medical bills for injuries caused by a girl in a set of pajamas.'

Even this started to make him think about Rhonda and the kids: How was he going to hide these from them? He wondered how he was going to explain his sudden interest in getting to know the Hinkleys in depth, especially Aidan, without revealing why. 'Rhonda would put me in the doghouse for sure if I mention being alone with Aidan on cases and the funny underwear,' he thought, then grimaced. 'Especially if I called the suit that. Never mind, I'll figure out something if I haveta work with her, at least for right now. ..."

Sighing, he turned over and within moments, he was asleep, exhausted from the day's events. Rhonda returned, and finding Tony was asleep, covered him with a blanket and kissed him softly on the lips before heading up to the bedroom. As she left, Tony started to dream about what could happen with him and his new partner, ultimately making him bolt upright on the couch. Shaking, he went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of beer. Drinking it, he tried to find a way to forget about what happened tonight, and found one. He decided he'd go to Bill and tell him he not only didn't want a partner, he didn't want this new job.

____________________________________

Ralph, who had fallen asleep, bolted upright on the couch when he heard Aidan shriek. Entering Aidan's room, he saw her sitting up in bed with one knee pulled up to rest her forehead on and her arms wrapped around her head. "Aidan..." he started, kneeling by her side, only to have to duck Aidan's suited up arm when she swung out. He frowned, realizing she was still dreaming.

"They're dead, Ralph and Pam are dead. Why didn't you let me save them? Give me this suit and I can't save them... You sons of ..."

After struggling a little to avoid being decked, Ralph managed to grab Aidan by the shoulders and shook them. "Aidan wake up you're having a nightmare." She wasn't listening so he tried harder. "Aidan Micah Hinkley wake up... we're all right, you're safe, we're all safe."

Hearing her full name, Aidan snapped out of her dream and blinking, turned to see Ralph sitting there, holding her by the shoulders. "Ralph?" she said confused, only to start shaking as the adrenaline rush faded. "I-Is that y-you? R-Really you?"

"Yeah, Ade, it's me, see," The blonde-haired man chuckled softly and gave her a warm hug. "I'm alive, and so's Pam, but I think I'm going have trouble hearing for a couple of days. I forgot you had a scream that could wake the whole city of Los Angeles from a coma. You all right?"

"Yeah...I'm fine..." she said firmly, but her shaky voice belied it. "No... Huh... 27 and I'm acting like a scared little kid again. Sorry..."

"Don't be, Ade, judging from your reaction, you had a nasty dream. Even at my age, I get them too." There was a knock on the door and Pam entered. "Hi Pam, sorry to wake you," said Aidan, embarrassed.

"That's all right sweetheart, we had a feeling this might happen, given what happened today," she said. "Ralph's been sitting in the living room just in case you needed to talk and to check on you now and then. I mean, you were shot and nearly died, that'd scare anyone, even our resident 'tough guys' Bill and Tony. Now, what happened in your dream?"

Aidan shivered from the memory, and the other two sat on the bed. "Well, it was the afternoon and I was trying out something in the suit where I heard a car crash. Running over, I found the two of you inside the wreck with no pulse. Tried to get you out, but the suit turned gray and the car exploded, and I was thrown into a pile of bricks. Last thing I saw was the car engulfed in flames with you still in it and something coming at me."

Taking a slightly shaky breath, she continued. "It was so real though. I didn't feel your pulses, I smelled the gasoline, my head throbbed from when it struck the ground and I could've sworn I felt the fireball blaze over me and burning my skin..."

Pam and Ralph looked at each other and nodded, realizing where the basis of the dream came from originally. Though she didn't know it, from Aidan's description, it almost fit perfectly. Ralph wanted to be sure though, just in case she started asking questions. "What were you doing before you fell asleep?" he asked.

"Well, I was looking at a picture before I fell asleep," she said, pointing at her nightstand, which was a little cluttered with art and other items.

Ralph picked up one picture. "This one of the five of us together at the family reunion back in '87?" he said softly, knowing it was one she looked at a lot - it was the last time they all were together before that night.

"Yeah, and I started thinking about how I could've saved them if I had the suit then and ... do you think the suit might have something to do with my nightmare?"

Ralph nodded. "Maybe, would also explain why you felt as though everything was real."

"Yeah, Ade, and if the suit made the nightmare stronger, you should change into a pair of pajamas before you fall asleep again. Besides, you'll also be more comfortable," said Pam gently.

Aidan nodded and went to the closet to get a set of pajamas. Ralph left the room for a few minutes to let Aidan change and talk to Pam. When Aidan said she was ready, he came back in and found she was sitting up but under the covers now with Pam sitting on the edge of the bed. He joined Pam and sat down on the other side. After a couple of moments, Aidan spoke up. "Ralph, why didn't you try to save Mom and Dad? I mean, you had the suit..."

"Aidan..." he said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, given Mr. Maxwell said 'all these years,' you had to have had the suit, which means you had it that night and y-you could've saved them like..." she said shrugging off his hand, a deep hurt laced in the comments.

Ralph ran his hand through his hair and sighed, knowing this would not be easy. Her not remembering everything about that night wasn't going to help his case either. The night of the accident, when he told Aidan her parents died, she passed out and struck her head on the desk before Ralph could catch her. Later, when they found out she didn't remember the finer details of the wreck the officer had told them, Pam and Ralph decided to keep them from her until she was older.

She never asked again, so they never told her but after tonight, Ralph realized it was time. "Ade... There was nothing I could've done, even with the suit. I never told you all the details of the wreck after you passed out that night, but I think it's time you knew. Your parents were killed instantly in the crash and from the officer's description, the scene itself was pretty ... horrendous. When they found your parents' bodies ... well, I won't go into exact details, but there was a good reason why you didn't get to see them before they were cremated," he said gently. "What the suit did today to save your life wouldn't have worked, they were already gone."

"Well, what about..."

"As far as today, my guess is that while your heart stopped, you still had a chance and the suit helped save you," he said. "I'll admit, today when I was giving you CPR, I was afraid I'd lose you and have to tell Pam there was nothing I could do, even with the suit. After you came back, when we were heading to Palmdale, I started to remember that night."

Even under the down comforter, Aidan shivered, causing both Pam and Ralph to put an arm around her shoulders. Ralph noticed she didn't shrug them off this time. Pam continued. "It was tough for all of us. You naturally took it the hardest. But we did make it through that, and you'll make it through this."

"Still, I'm not sure I can handle wearing the suit forever, and not just because of the nightmares," she said doubtfully.

Ralph and Pam both frowned, noting she was still wary of her new responsibility. "Aidan, it will take time, but Pam and I are going to help you learn how to use the suit. It'll just be like taking a lot of small school lessons again."

Though skeptical, Aidan nodded and yawned, leaning back into the pillows. "Yeah, I just hope one of those lessons doesn't give me another dream like that, especially the fire," she said as her eyes started to droop. "Bad enough I get fire dreams sometimes because I have to deal with students who want to be pyromaniacs. Always saying 'Don't touch the acetylene torches or you're failing.'"

The other two chuckled. "True," said Ralph. "Listen, Pam and I will stay in here until you fall asleep again and if you need either of us, you can get us... Just don't do it at 180 decibels again."

Aidan smiled softly and closed her eyes. Ralph got up and sat down on the papasan chair in Aidan's room and leaned back while Pam propped her feet up on the bed and sat next to Aidan. In a couple of minutes, Ralph and Pam had fallen asleep.

Aidan, however, stayed up for a little while longer, thinking about the suit. "Ralph couldn't save my parents even though he had the suit. That could happen to me. Maybe I shouldn't take on this role," she thought. "I have to give it a couple of days before I say yea or nay, got to give it a shot. But what if that dream becomes real... what have I gotten myself into?" Ultimately, she finally fell asleep again, and while she had some bizarre dreams, she was able to sleep the rest of the night.

________________________________________

That afternoon came rather early for the Ralph, Aidan, Bill and, after an argument which ultimately led to being ordered to come by his superior, a reluctant Tony as they arrived at the desert. Following doctor's orders, Pam stayed at home, not only to rest some more but to relay calls about how Aidan was. After Tony telling the Hinkleys that the police found a ring mandrel at the crime scene and was mentioned in the paper, they decided to say that if students called that Aidan was grazed by the bullet and had a cut on her leg, but that she was recovering.

Getting out of the car, Bill started barking orders. "All right, Artie, up and at 'em. You've gotta change into the jammies and work out those sore muscles."

Aidan and the others got out of the car and rubbed the sleep out their eyes, having taken a nap along the way. "Come on Bill, take it easy," chided Ralph. "I mean, Aidan's been through hell and back just to get the jammies, not to mention having a nightmare on top of that, the least you can do is let her start practice a few minutes later."

Before Bill could respond, Aidan spoke up. "Thanks Ralph, but I probably had the most sleep out of everyone yesterday. Though I'll admit a lot of it wasn't by my own choice," she said drolly as she shed her streetclothes to reveal the jammies. "I think I'm about ready," she said as confidently as possible, though inside she was praying she didn't get hurt trying this. She still had her doubts about wearing the suit. This wasn't missed by anyone. "So, what's first... flying?"

"Probably the best, as that's the first thing I learned," said Ralph, trying to build up her confidence. After the nightmare, she needed as much as she could get. "It's pretty easy actually, just three steps and jump."

"Maxwell, I think this is going to end up with her falling on her face," said Tony. 'Just like this partnership will.'

Aidan gave a sideways glance at the younger FBI agent, tugged on the suit collar and shook her head. "You know, you have the confidence of a wound down clock on depressants, Tony. Anyway, here I go... I hope." With that she crossed her fingers, took three steps and jumped, giving a scream as she found herself soaring haphazardly into the air.

Though Tony and Bill didn't know about his first flight, Ralph grimaced at how similar - and poor - Aidan's first flight was to his. 'Well, good thing there aren't any billboards here. Last thing she needs is another nightmare.' he mused. "Aidan, you're too tense, loosen your arms a bit. Try to keep your head up and relax as you fly and turn," he shouted. In response, Aidan flipped around sideways when she turned, heading toward the others out of control and at a descent. "Great, it's time for crash landing lesson 101," said Tony, cringing.

The three men scattered, not wanting to be the 10th pin in a game of aerial bowling, but instead of a disastrous crash, Aidan panicked and swung her arms up at the last moment. She ended up landing feet first, only to have them slip out from under her, causing her to slide on her backside about 25 feet in a cloud of sand.

The group rushed over as she slowly stood up and brushed herself off. "You all right, Ade?" asked Ralph.

"Safe," she said a bit dazed from the rough landing, but then smiled. "Well, that ended better than I thought."

"Have to admit, better than my first flight, though you'll need to work on your landings," said Ralph, chuckling and giving her a playful tap on the chin with his fist. "Looks like you took what I said about flying to heart."

"Yeah, learned a thing or two from the best," she said chuckling, copying the same tap on his chin. Ralph's smile suddenly faded as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward toward Aidan.

Shocked and worried, Aidan caught Ralph under the arms as he collapsed and walked forward, lowering the unconscious man to the ground to lie on his back. "Ralph, can you hear me," she said as she checked his pulse and gently shook his shoulder. "Why did he pass out? All we were doing was kidding around."

"Great, I better remember to bring some smelling salts to all our training sessions if dis is gonna happen," said Tony, rolling his eyes. Bill glared at the younger agent. "Hey, just planning a possible what-if scenario like ya taught us," Tony said.

Bill shook his head and glanced back at Aidan, who was now waving the cape in Ralph's face. He chuckled softly. "Artie, he'll probably tell ya this when he comes to, but you have to be careful with your strength in the suit. I think ya knocked him out when you gave him that tap on the chin, and that's all it takes."

"Oh, I'm going to get it..." she said, grimacing just as Ralph stirred and opened his eyes. Aidan gently helped sit him up. "You OK Ralph?"

"Think so," he said groggily. "You didn't try flying again and crash into me, did you?"

"Nope," she said sheepishly, making a fist.

Ralph groaned and shook his head as they stood back up. "Well at least you didn't break my hand. Just be careful with the suit's strength next time. Now, what should we try next? I mean, there's invisibility..."

"There's the bulletproof test..." said Bill as he drew his gun.

"Oh no, un uh, no way, NOT today, too soon," she said emphatically, backing far away from Bill, so far that when she hit the car, the suit's strength allowed her to move it back as well. Hearing the noise of the car's wheels sliding in the sand, she stopped, and turned around to face the car. Confused, she put her hands on the edge of the roof of the car and tried pushing it again. When the car tilted and its wheels rose a couple of feet, she gasped and dropped the car. Cringing at the crash it made, she then turned around with an embarrassed smile, realizing that the suit's strength could do more than just knock out people with a tap.

Tony ran over to the car to make sure it still ran, making the other three wonder why he was more interested in the car than anything else. "Tony, I'm no mechanic, but I know enough about cars that they'll still work if they have a dent in the door, and it doesn't have that, not even a scratch. And I didn't drop it far enough to cause any serious damage either," she said annoyed. "But Bill, no bulletproof test, at least right now, huh? I just had a shot 24 hours ago - three of them." Ralph glared at Bill as well, emphasizing her point just in case.

"OK, Artie, I clearly get your point," sighed Bill as he reholstered his gun. "How about telekinesis?"

"Telekinesis, that's the one where you move things or people with your mind, right?" she asked walking back over to Ralph. Tony stayed by the car to make sure she didn't damage it to where it couldn't run.

"Yeah, though I usually had more success with items. All you need to do is clear your mind and concentrate," said Ralph. "Think of something like white paper."

"Telekinesis, huh? That's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo," said Tony as he leaned back against the car, bored.

Aidan concentrated and focused her mind, but her thoughts shifted to the one thing that was bothering her. Just then Tony, who was ignoring the practice then, was thrown to the ground by some invisible force and started tumbling. "Hey, Aidan... what the hell are you doin'?" he yelled as he kept flipping head over heels. "Stop this right now! That's an order!"

Intentionally losing her concentration, she ignored Tony, causing him to stop about two inches from a large patch of cacti. Seeing how close he nearly came to being a pincushion, he got up and growled as he headed back over to the group. "Aidan, you did that on purpose you ..."

Bill put a hand on the younger agent's shoulder. "Tony, cool it. Ya gotta remember Artie's trying to learn how to use the suit and things like this will happen. Believe me, I've had my share of falls when it was the kid," he said, wincing at some of the memories.

"Sorry Tony... I'll remember to not think of you and go for a weapon next time," she said quickly and with a mock innocence, inwardly hoping Tony would start realizing they were a team and this was a part of it. "All right, what next?"

"Invisibility. I think that's the only thing you can't hurt anyone with right now," said Ralph, rubbing his jaw slightly and noting the looks on the two agents' faces. He had an idea Aidan might have used telekinesis on Tony intentionally, so he didn't want her to raise the younger agent's ire to the point of fighting if she did it again.

"OK, since I don't want Pam to get mad at me for putting someone in the hospital," she said, catching on to Ralph's hint. "How do I do that?"

"Just relax your mind and push, like this," he said, bowing his head and clenching his fists.

She did what she was shown, but nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again, but still no use. "Ralph, it's not working," she said.

"Well, try again," he gently encouraged. She tried and very slowly started to fade. "There you go, just keep concentrating," he said.

When she faded out completely, Ralph and Bill smiled. "I did it," she said, only to pop back in visible. "Well, I did..."

Tony chuckled loudly, not able to control his emotions any more. "Well, that'll be useful if we need to have a ghost somewhere," he said with a smirk.

"All right Tony, what's the problem," said Aidan with a slight growl, fed up with his comments. "For someone who's supposed to be teamed up with me, you sure have a crummy attitude about all this."

"Hey, Aidan, I was forced to come here. I work alone, and this whole thing is ridiculous. So far, all you've done in that outfit that's been useful is knock out someone, and even that was an accident. Let's face it, this isn't going to work and I'm going to tell those green guys to go kiss my..."

"VILLACANA," shouted Bill. "You are not going to do that. And trust me, they won't let you. I tried that when Ralph and me first met the ship. All I got was drunk out of my skull. You haven't given it a fair shake yet." Ralph frowned remembering that time, but realized it was how they realized they needed to work together.

"I've given it a try, and it won't work," said Tony.

"Villacana, don't make me order you to give this another chance..."

"Don't need to," Tony said as he headed toward the older agent, fists clenched. He was tired of being out in the desert for something he didn't want to be a part of. There was no way he was going to risk being knocked out, shot, burned up, blown up, tied up in a knot or any thousands of ways to be injured or killed because a dame who wears a set of intergalactic pajamas couldn't get anything right. Bill stood there and just waited, knowing this might be the only way to knock some sense into the younger agent.

When Tony swung at the other agent, Bill also threw a punch. Both were surprised, however, when Aidan stepped in between the two, taking both punches to the jaw. They watched as she fell backward to the ground, dazed but otherwise unhurt.

Ralph hastily pulled her up, not happy she took the risk. "Aidan, why the hell did you do that," he said frowning. "I hate saying this, but you can be knocked out. We don't know why, but the suit doesn't always protect your head. I learned the hard way, especially when I crashed into a train. Wound up forgetting Bill and the suit for a while."

"Sorry, Ralph, I figured the suit would protect me so I stepped in to referee. These are big changes for all of us and..."

"Another reason why this won't work... she's going to butt in when she's not supposed to or welcome to..." Tony started.

"SHUT UP," Aidan yelled, finally having enough. Before Tony could respond back, Aidan walked forward and faced the younger agent. She grabbed his collar and glared at him through steel blue eyes. "Tony, I've tried to be nice, tried to drop hints but after the fight at the Desert Cactus Corral, I think it's time to lay down the law here," she growled. "They made us a team, and while you may not like it, that's the way it is and will be."

Tony tried to say something, but looking into her eyes realized she wasn't going to back down. Aidan released her grip from his collar and put her hands around the belt. Her fingers also touched the buckle, not noticing the design on it briefly glowed a faint blue. "If you think being put in a team is bad, imagine how I feel. Yeah, it's great that I can do these things, but I have to wear this suit to do them. Now, I'll admit I've worn some strange things in my life, but this one takes the cake. I feel like a 5-foot-7 four-year-old."

"Yeah, and you look like it too," said Tony with a smirk, only making Aidan angrier. "They should've chosen something better than longjohns and a cape. Something more fitting a girl."

"Well, what do you think it should be? A bikini?" she said sarcastically. No sooner did she say that there was an brief, but odd glow around her. When it faded, Aidan's eyes widened as she suddenly felt cold, almost as if she was wearing nothing. Aidan looked down and to her surprise and embarrassment, saw what happened. She was wearing a bikini, the top half was red with gray trim with the suit emblem in the middle of the top. The bottom part were boy shorts and were black with red trim, just like the cape. She was wearing red beach shoes with gray trim and strangely, still had the belt around her waist, almost looking like a Bond girl.

Aidan looked back up and noticed all three men were staring at her and her current attire. She felt her face turn as red as the suit was. "Uh, Ralph, did this ever happen to you... and if so, I hope not a bikini."

"No, Aidan it didn't," said Ralph, blushing a bit himself in sympathy. Noticing her deep embarrassment and a slightly mischievous glint in Tony's eye, Ralph put his jacket around her shoulders so she could be a little more covered up. Aidan accepted it gratefully. "I think you've just hit a new suit power. Now, question is, how do we turn it off?"

----------------------------------------------

In an rented office just outside town, a gentleman received a phone call from someone. "Drake Rutile," he said.

"Sir, I just wanted to let you know that our plans are in order," said the other man. "The two who botched the kidnapping attempt have also been threatened with their lives if they snitch about the plan as well."

"Good. Did you get any word on the principal's daughter?"

"She managed to survive, but is pretty banged up," the man said. "Neither she nor the principal should be at the school when we attack."

"Just as well. Now, after you get the stuff we need in place, I want you to finish up scouting the school for any escape route and then return to quarters."

"Understood," said the other man as he hung up the phone.

Rutile hung up the receiver and smiled. "Well, all I need to do now is wait. The judge will be more than willing to trade his decision for his daughter's life."

___________________________________

"Artie, ya gotta figure this out," said Bill growling. So far, they had tried everything they knew of to get the suit to change back. All they found out was that the suit seemed to not work in this form.

"I'm trying to Bill, it's just I don't know what I did," she said pacing around in the bikini and jacket. "'Course, I could've fixed this already if we didn't lose the book of instructions. Think the only thing I haven't tried is to read it the Miranda rights."

"Cute sweetheart, but that won't work unless you're putting the jammies under arrest," he said. "Any more ideas Ralph?"

"Well..."

"I have an idea," interrupted Tony, causing the other three to turn.

"Oh, now suddenly interested, Tony," asked Aidan with a slight smirk. "'Course I've given you plenty of reasons to be interested. You do realize that if it wasn't for your comments from the peanut gallery also this wouldn't have happened."

"OK, I'll admit I've been a jackass lately Aidan, but the suit's acting like a bad tire and it needs to be fixed," he said. "I think it might have something to do with what you said and..."

Aidan sighed, exasperated at what was going on. "Tony, I tried saying that it'd be better as the suit, but that hasn't worked..."

"Let me finish Aidan," he continued. "And maybe it was the fact you were holding the suit's belt and buckle. It's also the part that didn't morph, so why don't ya try that and see if that works."

Aidan nodded skeptically, took off Ralph's jacket and repeated everything she did a while ago except say the suit instead of bikini. The suit returned to its normal style and she smiled. "It worked," she said giving Tony a hug.

"It's nothing Aidan," he said, blushing slightly at her reaction. "Something only a partner would notice."

"Partner?"

Tony shrugged and nodded his head. He then offered his hand reluctantly. "Yeah, though I'm still rather not have one, partner, at least for the moment. If nothing else, I've got to keep you from becoming a flasher again because of a wacky comment. Mr. H would have my hide if that happened again, and I'm not in school anymore to avoid that."

Aidan rolled her eyes and laughed, taking his hand gently into both of hers and shaking it. Ralph and Bill looked at each other and grinned, knowing that this was at least a step in the right direction to getting the two to work together.

"Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry," said Aidan. "How 'bout we get Pam and go to lunch? My treat, so long as you don't mind Chinese."

-----------------------------------------

The following Monday, Ralph and Aidan were walking down the hallway at Whitney High between classes. Aidan fidgeted slightly, trying to straighten her bra strap as the form-fitting suit under her normal clothes kept it riding up her back, and failed. After talking to Ralph about possible problems with the power, they decided to not morph the suit again for the time being. She also was wearing a large bandage on her left temple.

Seeing Aidan again grab at the back of the strap to pull it down, he grabbed her hand and spun her around. "Aidan, is this some sort of new dance," he said, chuckling as he dipped her and the two continued to dance. A few students stopped to watch the two, but knowing Ralph and Aidan were known for their occasional improv antics to raise school spirit, thought it was another skit.

"Yeah, I think it's a cross between ballroom dancing and swing. It's called the 'Outerspace Jitterbug,'" she said laughing. When the two saw they had an audience, they stopped, bowed and gently scolded the kids to head to class. Ralph turned to Aidan and smiled. "Still having trouble getting comfortable with the suit on under your clothes," he said as they started walking again.

When she blushed and nodded, he continued. "Don't worry, I never did, but you need to quit pulling at all your clothes or someone's going to start asking questions," he said chuckling. "Now, remember what Pam said and limp a bit on your left leg. You're supposed to be healing from a knife slash to your leg. And whatever you do, don't let that bandage on your head come off."

"Got it," she said as she heard the bell ring and checked the watch facing the front of her hand. "Listen, I'd better get back to the room before the class starts to get antsy. Couple of the wax projects are being cast today, and I've got to finish the burnout on them." Flipping her wrist and noting the time on the other watch, Aidan grimaced slightly. "And, the timer reads 10 more minutes before my students get to fulfill their dreams of being Hephaestus ... or at least metal pyromaniacs."

Ralph chuckled and they parted ways. As Aidan walked by the spot where she was shot, she shuddered, remembering how close she came to dying. Clearing her mind, she continued past it and entered the building then into the jewelrysmith room. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I'm just about done with the burnouts and..." she stopped when she saw a package on her desk and the class applauding. "What's all this about?"

"Miss Aidan, we heard about what happened, and we're glad to see that you're fine," said Lauren Jade. Originally, Aidan had the class call either Miss Hinkley or Miss H, but after one too many times of both her and Ralph reacting to the salutation when they were both together at the school, told the class to call her Miss Aidan.

"Thanks, Lauren, I'm just a little stiff is all," Aidan said smiling. "So, what's with the package?"

Another of her students, Marci Aventurine, spoke. "Well, Miss Aidan, though ya drive us up the wall with your incessant rules with the torches, we do respect ya, and hearing you were hurt, wanted to do something for ya. Now, will you open the package before we go bananas?"

"OK, OK, since we've got a couple of casting projects to do," she said as she opened up the package. Inside was an oddly shaped pendant with a goldstone. Aidan smiled as she took it out of the box and threaded it on her necklace. "This is fantastic, guys, thank you. You're sure have me pegged down as far as my tastes. Now, since I know you're about to ask, yep, it's the day you get to play, safely, with fire and cast these projects. Now, there's only a couple of minutes left for the casts curing in the kiln, so why don't you get your safety glasses on and I'll get the centrifuge and metal set up?"

The class nodded and everyone set up their stuff. After casting the ring, Aidan had the class walk outside with her to a tub of water to quench the cast. Once the steam cleared, she reached into the water and pulled out the ring. "OK, once you clean off the investment, the ring will have the metal button and sprues from the casting," she said. "Now, after rinsing it you ... MK?"

The class turned and looked at where she was looking. Lazuli was walking unsteadily down the courtyard with a handcuff attached to each wrist, and after a few moments, fell to the ground. Aidan rushed over to Lazuli's side and gently turned her over. Lazuli was semiconscious and had a cut on her forehead. "MK, can you hear me? Marci, call the paramedics and go get the school nurse." said Aidan, placing a hand on Lazuli's wrist to check her pulse, part of the suit sleeve showing. Her hand also brushed the handcuff. As Marci left, Aidan blinked roughly, fighting a bought of dizziness.

'That's odd,' she thought as she was hit by another bout and she saw a weird image start to form in front of her eyes. It was faint and had wavy edges to it. She was so shocked at what she was seeing, she didn't hear the class trying to speak to her.

"Miss Aidan, is MK all right... Miss Aidan?" asked Lauren. Getting no response, she brushed back the young teacher's hair, only to see Aidan's eyelids flutter then open to stare straight at the cement. Aidan also tapped the ground a couple of times as though the cement was bugging her, then stopped. Lauren frowned when she saw Aidan's face grow pale on top of that. "OK... listen, Sean and Xander, you keep an eye on MK and Miss Aidan. Everyone else, keep the other students from getting near them. I'm going to get Mr. H. He needs to see her and probably needs to take her home." The two men nodded and Lauren ran off to the principal's office.

Oblivious to what was going on around her, Aidan watched the image grow stronger and brighter. She then saw a picture of a man in the office yelling into the phone, and to her surprise could hear every word as though she was in the room.

"...Damn it, I told you to keep an eye on Lazuli," shouted the man.

"Look, there's no way she'd make it back to the school in time to tell them about our plan," said the other voice. "Besides, she was so doped up on sedatives I doubt she even knew what we were talkin' about."

"Well, you'd better hope that none of them find out about our plan before. ..." The picture suddenly faded from her eyes.

Though it seemed like hours, the image lasted only a few minutes before it faded. Aidan still was kneeled next to Lazuli staring at the ground when she heard different voices seep into her mind. "Mr. H, I'm worried about Miss Aidan, she still looks pale," said Lauren. "She was this way when I came to get you and Sean said she's been this way just before and after MK passed out."

"It's OK Lauren, thank you for getting me. I think she's just had a shock is all, and her head wound hasn't helped out," said Ralph as he shook Aidan's shoulder roughly. Judging from her look, he had a feeling what happened, but couldn't say it to anyone else. "Ade, Aidan come on snap out of it, you'll be fine, trust me."

Aidan blinked and looked up, seeing Ralph. The paramedics had just arrived out front, turning off the siren and gathering their equipment. Marci was coming down the other walkway to say the nurse was helping another student, but she did get the paramedics. Looking around, Aidan let go of Lazuli's wrist and grabbed her head, still feeling dizzy. "Ralph, what's going on? I could've sworn I was hallucinating that MK knew..."

"You might've been hallucinating, Aidan, you had a head injury remember?" said Ralph hastily, realizing the paramedics would arrive shortly and didn't want them to treat her too. "Listen, you nearly fainted, why don't you come to my office and lie down for a bit. Lauren, keep an eye on the class until the bell rings. And as Miss Aidan would say, just don't touch the acetylene torches."

"Sure Mr. H, anything to help out."

Ralph nodded and eased Aidan up, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her with the other hand as though she might faint. "Aidan, let me explain..."

"Ralph, what the hell was that," she said, slightly shaking her head.

"Did you get a vision... a picture in front of your eyes with wavy edges?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm sorry Aidan, we were so busy trying to teach you the big suit powers, I forgot to warn you about those. That was a holograph, something the suit does to give you a warning," Ralph said. "That's why the ruse. I didn't want you to start telling what you saw in the courtyard and have someone think you were unfit for work, especially with the subject you teach. Now, when we get inside, I'm going to call Bill and see if he can go to the hospital to check on MK and get Tony to come here. Your holograph and MK might help us get her kidnappers."

________________________________

Tony arrived at the school within 30 minutes of Ralph's call. Heading into the office, he told the secretary he was there to see Mr. H, and after showing that he really was an FBI agent now instead of a prankster, was let through.

"Come in," said Ralph as he hung up the phone. Tony opened the door and saw Aidan lying on the couch in the office. Seeing Tony, she sat up and took a wet towel off her forehead. "What's this all about," said Tony, closing the door. "Aidan, never thought you would go out on something as minor like this, given you were..."

"Tony, it's a ruse," said Ralph. "Aidan had a holograph and it was in front of students. As far as they're concerned, she's in here resting from a near faint." Aidan nodded, though inside she was worried that she nearly did. Ralph's idea of having her lie down in his office actually helped her, but she didn't say anything to him about it.

"Holograph... let me guess, some sort of suit power?"

"Yeah, Tony, apparently lets me see things, warnings and the like," she said, wrapping the towel around her neck. "Just wish Ralph told me about this sooner."

"OK, enough of the school lesson. So, what did you find out from Lazuli or this holograph?" said Tony a bit annoyed.

Aidan shrugged and shook her head. "Not too much. The holograph had a man yelling on the phone about MK's escape. They also mentioned something about a plan and the school."

"Did you get a name or anything," said Tony.

"No, and that's what is confusing. I heard everything clearly but then it started fading out then cutoff in mid-sentence."

"That must've been when MK passed out," said Ralph. Noticing Aidan's curious look, he continued. "When I had the suit, I noticed that I couldn't get holographs off people if they were unconscious. Anyway, just talked to Bill on the car phone. He's on his way over. MK's still pretty doped up from whatever they gave her, so he couldn't talk to her. The doctors were surprised that she even made it to the school."

"Has she said anything at the hospital, something that could help with whatever these guys' plans are?" said Aidan, worried about the school as well as MK.

"The doctors said she's mumbled a couple of things, but not much. Bill said he was going to bring the handcuffs she wore back here to see if you can get a holograph off them. They're bound to have the kidnapper's vibes."

"How he managed to sneak them out before the other agents got to the hospital is beyond me," said Tony. "Then again, with Maxwell's amazing knack for cracking any case in the old days, anything's possible."

"Yep, I'm beginning to learn that anything's possible, especially with trials and errors in the suit," said Aidan simply.

"I know, Ade, but that's how I learned to use the suit without the book," said Ralph sympathetically.

A few minutes later, Bill entered the room. "Well, boys and girl, I hope you're all fit and ready to bust these bad guys... geesh Artie, you look like something the cat drug in from the cow pasture."

"Well, that's what you get when you get your first holograph in front of your class," said Aidan with a wry grin. "Feel a mess too. So, do you have the handcuffs so I can try again?"

Bill nodded and handed them to her. Not sure if it'd happen again, Aidan leaned with her arms resting on her knees to see if she could avoid becoming dizzy again. It didn't quite work, but it was less intense as she saw an image phase into view. "I've got something. It's a couple of men and they've left a car with guns," she said, then frowned. "Wait a minute, they're about quarter block away from here..."

"Ade, you'd better get out there and stop them," said Ralph. "I'll put the school in lockdown in a couple of minutes so you can get through the front before the gates behind the doors close. It'd be too hard to explain why the gates were bent in a strange way."

Aidan stripped down to the jammies and started to run out the door when Tony stopped her. "Aidan, you can't run out there dressed as a hot tamale," said Tony. "They'll really think you flipped your lid from a head injury."

"He's right, you'd better go invisible, at least until you get outside," said Ralph.

Though he was retired, Bill went on automatic, working out a scenario. "Tony, you check the main hallways and take outside and I'll stay inside and help Ralph with the lockdown."

The younger team nodded and again, Aidan had trouble turning invisible. "Damn it to hell," she said in frustration, only to have the three turn and look at her, a bit surprised at her verbiage. "Sorry, still won't work right. I'll have to sneak out back and go around."

"Just get a move on Aidan," said Tony as he headed out the front of the room to check for other potential suspects. As Aidan and Tony left, Ralph turned to Bill. "OK, partner here's what we need to do..."

Aidan closed the backdoor to the office and went into stealth mode. Fortunately for Aidan, the school blinds were closed as it was a sunny day, but it seemed as though there were a couple of birds that looked at her funny. No sooner did Aidan arrived at the front she saw the two men walk up the sidewalk. They stopped in mid-step, recognizing the young woman. "Can't you read the sign," she said, smirking and pointing. "It reads 'gun-free zone' not 'Rifle Convention 2006.'

The men just laughed at the sight of a girl in longjohns and a cape, much to her chagrin. "Take her out," said the taller of the two and opened fire on her.

Aidan gasped in shock, reflexively covering her head with her arms. The bullets bounced off her, and after the guns were emptied, they stood in shock when they saw she was still alive. Aidan looked down, and was surprised herself to find she was uninjured. Glancing up, she then growled and started toward the men. Panicking when they heard the school bells ring an alert as well, the men raced to the car and sped off. Aidan noticed Tony coming through the side door, having secured the rest of the area. "Tony, follow them in your car and I'll fly after them," she said a bit panicked as well, not sure if she could do this for a real case.

Tony decided to take action himself. "OK, how will I follow you?"

"Easy, just follow the flying red tumbler," she said, breaking out of her hesitation as she took three steps and jumped. As she was flying, again with some problems, she spotted the car driving fast and slightly out of control toward downtown. She started swerving in odd angles, making her cringe and pray she wouldn't crash again.

The driver looked into his rearview mirror and was shocked at what he saw. "Drew, that girl's not only bulletproof, she can fly, though she looks like a concussed and blind albatross," he said. "What did those doctors give her to heal with?"

"If that's this new medicine they're hyping, I sure want some," said the other man.

Despite the wobbly flight, Aidan reached the driver side door and, out of instinct, dragged her feet on the ground to stop the car. The driver tried to pull a gun on her, but she gave him a quick uppercut, knocking him out.

Noticing the other man reach down, she gave a dark look and growl, tired at being shot in or out of the suit. "Now, you... unless you want to join him in La La Land, you'd better not show your gun and put your hands up," she said threateningly. Stunned, the man did as he was told as Tony drove up in his car.

Getting out, Tony looked at the car. "Uh, Aidan, good job. I mean it's great that you've got these guys, but I think you'd better turn off the ignition before the tires decide to become flying saucers and our third guest has questions," he chuckled.

She looked down, realizing the tires were still spinning, as the car was still in drive, then at the passerby, who was standing there stunned. "Sorry, just doing a scene for a movie," she said to the woman, giving a cheesy smile. The lady only nodded and ran as fast as she could, not sure what happened and not wanting to find out. Aidan turned to Tony and shrugged at the retreating form. "Now I see what Ralph meant by saying he got funny reactions to the jammies," she said. "Guess I'd better keep a journal of excuses to use in the future."

After making the passenger turn off the ignition, Aidan helped Tony handcuff the two men together and lead them into Tony's car. They called Ralph and Bill on the car phone to say what happened, and after setting up a time later that evening to discuss the case with the others, departed to their separate, normal jobs.

-----------------------------------------------

"Rutile." He listened to what happened. "Damn it. Listen, I want you to gather the others and head back here. We need to regroup and get a better plan ready. We have to have the school hostage before our boss goes to his parole hearing tomorrow."

He slammed down the phone. "Don't know how, but you were able to stop me today ... no matter," he said. "Tomorrow, we'll attack again, this time full force, before the school knows what hit it. I will force Judge Serpentine to change his decision tomorrow when my boss has his hearing, and no one will stand in my way."

______________________________________Later that evening, following the map he was given to the T, Tony knocked on Aidan's door, and after a few moments, she opened it, wearing the jammies. "Tony, come in. Everyone's here, they're in the living room," she said, smiling.

Entering the apartment, Tony noticed that the walls were decorated with all sorts of projects Aidan made during college. "Wow, Aidan, I thought you were a jewelrysmith teacher," he said. "You make this stuff too? It's... well amazing."

"Some of my other work, Tony, they made us study all the media. Now, why don't you sit down with everyone. You want something to drink?"

"Yeah, beer."

Aidan grimaced, forgetting that she didn't tell him this. "Nope, don't have it or any other spirits... I'm allergic to alcohol, and found out the hard way. How about a Coke?"

Tony nodded and went into the living room, catching on to the ensuing conversation. "What I don't get is how MK is tied into those would be attackers," said Ralph. "She's just your average student and no one has a grudge against her."

"Bill, is it possible that she was just kidnapped for ransom?" said Pam.

"No, if that was true, she'd probably been killed shortly after her kidnapping," said Tony instead. The others turned and looked at the new member of the conversation. "Hey, I know it sounds bad, but you know it's true. I think they wanted information out of her, maybe drugged her to get it. That's why she didn't say anything at the school."

"But the doctors only found sedatives in her system," said Ralph.

"Kid, as much as I hate saying it, pentathol is considered one too, so it's possible, but what did they want. Lazuli hasn't been much help even when she's been awake."

Aidan walked in the room with two cans of Coca-Cola, handing one to Tony, and setting the other one on the coffee table. She then picked up the handcuffs again, toying with them. She had tried several times during the evening to get a holograph, lying down each time to be on the safe side. "Well, I tried to get a holograph off the handcuffs, but still didn't get much about MK, so I'm guessing she's sleeping at the hospital. I did, however, get a name one time, a Drake Rutile."

"Drake Rutile, that name sounds familiar Aidan," said Pam. "I think he was a head member of a gun running ring we tried some time ago. I can look through my files to see if there are any links."

"Yeah, Counselor why don'tcha do that tomorrow," said Bill. "Maybe Tony'll be able to get more information from those bozos too when he interrogates them. The ones who shot Aidan haven't talked. I think someone threatened to cook their goose if they spilled the beans."

"Still doesn't explain MK's kidnapping though," said Aidan. "'Course, sometimes with the friends she keeps, maybe she thought it was a joke..."

"Friends? Didn't think of that angle, good work Artie," said Bill. "I'm going to call the hospital and see how Lazuli's doing and see if we can get some names of her friends."

As Bill talked on the phone, Aidan started getting a holograph, but it was more powerful than the first few she had. Feeling as though a tsunami of dizziness hit her, Aidan's eyes started to roll back as her knees suddenly buckled and she started falling to the ground. ...

Tony, noticing her pale and start to fall, grabbed her before she completely passed out and sat her in a chair. "Whoa there Aidan ... put your head between your knees," Tony said, placing a hand on her shoulder. As she obeyed, Aidan groggily wondered if Tony could see the holographs too, as she felt she needed a second set of eyes in case she went out. At the same time, Tony's head swum as he began to see an image in his head. "What the hell..." he shouted, yanking his hand off her shoulder as though she was on fire.

"What's wrong Tony," asked Ralph, who had come over to see what happened.

"I just saw something... something wavy, and it sure as hell wasn't Ade here..."

Ralph frowned and kneeled next to Aidan. "Aidan, you're getting a holograph aren't you?"

"Yeah... how do you know?" she said dizzily, raising up a little and resting her arms on her knees so she could look up.

"Judging from Tony's description and reaction, it has to be one and you let him see it. Now, let me see it... " he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He too felt dizzy and started seeing the image. "OK, I can see it Aidan. Feel dizzy too... odd..." said Ralph, placing his other hand on the armrest keep from falling over from the vertigo.

Bill hung up the phone and turning around, noticed Aidan bent over and Ralph had his hand on her shoulder. The two were looking in the same direction and almost at the same eye level. Pam, watching the scene, looked at Bill questioningly, and he nodded to confirm what she was thinking.

Tony, concerned for Aidan's health, walked over to Bill. "What's going on? You've seen this haven't you?"

"Never seen it, but been a part of one. Judging from the look on Ralph's face, Artie's sharing the holograph with him," said Bill. "Just got off the phone with the doctors, Lazuli had a seizure. Doctors managed to stabilize her, but said she was having problems detoxing. They don't want us to bother her for a while."

"Great, now we've got to find another way to get these creeps," said Tony as he went to the bathroom to get something.

"Counselor, you might want to get something for Artie. She still looks pretty rough," said Bill. Though frowning at being ordered like a "third-string utility backup" again, Pam nodded and headed toward the kitchen.

Bill turned back to the others, and judging from the looks on the two other Hinkley's faces, the holograph had disappeared and Ralph and Aidan were exchanging some comments. Aidan put her head back down while Ralph got up and headed over to Bill. The two started discussing what Ralph and Aidan saw in the holograph.

When she was feeling better, Aidan sat up again, but still slouched over a bit. Tony brought a damp washcloth for Aidan. "Here, use this, it'll help," he said. "Sorry for my reaction, but that was a little too creepy, think it even beats the green guys."

"Try being the one who gets them all the time, Tony," she said with a bit of cynicism and put the washcloth on her neck. For once, Tony didn't have a smart alec comment to respond with, and instead let her rest and recover.

Looking at her, Bill decided not to put too much pressure on Aidan for the moment and turned back to Ralph. "Kid, did you and Artie see anything else in the holograph?'

Ralph shook his head. "No, just MK having a seizure like you said, then it shifted to a stockpile of guns, but just the guns. It was weird though, when Aidan shared the holograph with me, I felt dizzy."

"Me too," said Tony, overhearing the conversation. "But the holograph spooked me more than anything."

"Artie's always dizzy, has to be to dress in the wacky stuff she does..." dismissed Bill, stopping when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You would say that," said Pam bitterly, handing Aidan a glass of water. "Never judge a book by its cover, Bill. Besides, Aidan isn't normally the type to react like this to anything."

Ralph shook his head. "Pam's right Bill, she isn't. Look, holographs never caused me to faint, and Aidan almost did. She said she's had a couple of other minor dizzy spells using the power too. I'm wondering if it's reacting differently with her wearing the suit, maybe because of her biochemistry or something. And, if it is, we need to find a way to keep her from reacting this way." Looking back at Aidan, he noticed her color was better. "Aidan, are you all right?"

Sitting up fully, Aidan nodded weakly. "Yeah, I hope this is temporary for my job's sake. It was weird, but from what I got in the holograph, it's like something's telling me the school's going to be attacked again, and for someone else."

"Maybe," said Ralph, thinking. "Questions are, when and who?"

______________________________________

"All right mister, I want some answers and I want them now," said Tony in the interrogation room. It was mid-morning, and he was getting tired of the same runaround the man was giving him. Bill received permission to join them, just to keep Tony in check. He was told that since he was retired from active duty, he couldn't interrogate the gunman. But, that didn't mean he couldn't pick up some intel to tell Ralph at the school when he went to lunch.

"Look, buster, I don't care what you try, I ain't saying a word until I get something back," said Drew.

"Well... you have the chance to get a bloody nose if you don't answer now," said Tony. "We know that you and the other guy tried to take over the school. You're already facing federal charges, but if you talk, I'll see what I can do."

"Why don't you ask your friend in the fancy underwear," the other man said. "Or better still, why don't I tell everyone about her?"

"You could," said Bill. "But I wouldn't suggest it as all you'll get is a white tux that ties in the back and a nice padded room. I've seen it happen to people who are better than you, so why don't you just tell us what's going on?"

Noticing the gleam in the agents' eyes, Drew realized he was fighting a losing battle. "All right, we were hired by Drake Rutile to take the school hostage. He wants to keep some dame hostage to keep a judge from making a decision."

"Did he say who it was?" said Tony, leaning to face the man eye to eye.

"No, didn't want us to screw up after that Hinkley dame survived being shot. Ned's one of the best shooters in the gang, the wounds he inflicts with a gun are 98 percent fatal."

Bill and Tony cringed inwardly, thankful that not only did Aidan distract the guy and make him slip, but that the green guys saved her. "Well, seems she's a lucky gal," said Tony. "Now, where's the hideout?"

"Won't find him there anyway," said the man. "He's got a contingency plan ready in case he failed the first time."

"What is it and when..." threatened Tony.

"They'll attack again today, and no one will know when. I don't even know. Now, I want an attorney before I say anything else."

Tony nodded to Bill and turned to the man. "All right, thank you for your time. I'll see what I can get for ya," he said, mumbling under his breath, "At least 30 to life."

As the two exited, Tony turned to Bill. "OK, right now I need to get to the school and tell Mr. H what happened."

"Yeah Villacana, and you'd better do it soon. I'll head over there shortly too. He didn't specify a judge's name, and since the Counselor's now one, we've got to be prepared that it's Aidan they're after."

---------------------------------------------

Pam was riffling through her court docket for the day when she received a phone call. "Pam Hinkley."

"Pam, hi it's Blaine Serpentine. Listen, I need your help."

"Sure, how may I help you?"

"Do you have the files on the Citrine gun ring," he said. "We're going to hear his parole case today, and I wanted to be sure that I got all the information to be sure I was making the right decision."

"All right, I'll have my secretary fax the files over to you," said Pam.

"Yeah, shame they didn't get Rutile that first time," he said. "Then we'd be listening to both cases. I want to get done with this early so I can take my daughter Melissa to the show tonight. Anyway, thanks for your help."

"You're welcome, goodbye." Pam hung up the phone, and started thinking. 'Serpentine, that name sounds familiar... Aidan has a student by that name and... oh no.' She quickly dialed the phone and called Ralph, hoping that everything was all right.

------------------------------------------------

At the school, Ralph was taking a short break after a long teacher's meeting and a pile of paperwork afterward. He had kept a close eye on Aidan during it just incase she had another holograph and dizzy spell. She seemed to be all right throughout the meeting, though she kept pulling at the collar of the suit and cape. He had just picked up his cup of coffee when the phone rang.

"Ralph Hinkley," he said answering it.

"Ralph, hi hun, it's Pam. Listen, is Melissa Serpentine in class today? I know I'm bending rules a bit, but it's important."

Knowing Pam was a bit of a stickler for rules, Ralph realized this was important and rummaged through his papers to find the attendance folder for the first period class Melissa took. "Yeah, she was in history today and will be in Aidan's class later this afternoon."

Pam held her breath, putting the final connection together. Ralph frowned, not hearing Pam say anything. "Pamela, you all right? What is it?"

"Ralph, you need to get her out of there as soon as possible. Remember Aidan said something about Rutile?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I did some checking through some case files when I was asked to send them to a judge. His boss is Uri Citrine, who is up for parole today... and Judge Serpentine is the judge."

"And MK is a friend of Melissa's... that's the second connection. Thanks hun, I'll call Tony and Bill and put the school in lockdown shortly. 'Bye." he hung up the phone just as there was a knock on the door. He opened it, and it was Tony. "Mr. H, ya got to lock the school down..."

"Tony, Pam just called and found the connection as to why the school was almost taken hostage. Judge Serpentine's daughter attends here."

"Serpentine, doesn't he usually hear parole cases?" When Ralph nodded, Tony continued. "We gotta get her outta here, Mr. H, before they come and ... "

Just then they heard a scream come from the main office, and Tony drew his gun. The two men turned around only to see two men enter with guns drawn. "Well, well, Mr. Hinkley, welcome to hostage school," said Rutile with a wicked grin. "Pretty simple rules, listen to what I say, or you and the students will die. Now, you, throw down your gun or I will shoot the principal here."

Tony did what he was told and was dragged away. The gunman threw Tony into a small storage closet full of bottles and locked the door. The young FBI agent looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon and get out of the room.

____________________________________

Aidan was teaching her students how to set a stone when she felt a little dizzy and fell softly against a wall. She got a holograph of Ralph and Tony being held up in the principal's office. She saw Tony be dragged out of the room before the holograph faded.

"You OK, Miss Aidan," said Lance Hematite as he grabbed her arm and lead her to a chair. "You look like you're gonna pass out. Maybe you should've stayed home a few more days."

"Fine, Lance, all I need is some fresh air. I'll be right back..." She stopped and gasped when she saw a man carrying a gun enter the room. "Hell," she said, wishing the suit also warned her of this.

The class panicked and tried to exit, only to have them man shoot the gun in the air. "Now, that's no way to treat a guest," said the man with mock hurt. "I want all of you to sit back at your desks, while you teacher, stay here and answer some questions." He put a finger under Aidan's chin and lifted her face up, stroking it lovingly. "Now, why don't you be a dear and tell me where's Melissa Serpentine?"

"I don't know," she said, moving her chin out of his grasp, only to receive a slap to her face. She staggered a bit, but otherwise was all right. 'Better not do anything to have him club me though, or I won't be much help, suit or no,' she thought, remembering what Ralph said about the suit not protecting her head.

"Perhaps you can modify the answer," said the man with a slight growl.

"I honestly don't know, she isn't in my class until later so I don't know if she's even here," she said levelly.

The man pondered her answer. "All right ... for now. Just keep your hands where I can see them."

The school's intercom buzzed and Ralph's voice filtered through the air. "Attention students. This is Principal Hinkley. By now, you've probably seen several men with guns in the hallways. Stay in your rooms, and stay calm through all this, but no heroics."

The intercom cut out, and the students looked at each other. Aidan quietly leaned against the wall again, holding the blue goldstone locket she had decided to wear that day, which contained Pam and Ralph's pictures, and got a holograph. In it, she saw her godfather now being tied and gagged by Rutile while another man stood guard. The image shifted to Tony in a closet near the science lab. Aidan frowned, knowing that, being the one with the jammies, she'd have to help the other men and the students. She straightened back up and, glancing at the gunman, started thinking out a scenario to get to the other two.

--------------------------------------------

"Good, make sure that there is one gunman in each hallway. The only one that needs to be in a room is the one with Aidan Hinkley. She's not that strong because of her injuries, but she's a good bargaining chip to keep the principal in line," said Rutile before he turned off his cell phone.

'Yeah, and so's tying me up, dummy. Just wait, Aidan's not your typical girl,' Ralph thought as struggled a bit against his bonds. He stopped when Rutile looked at him, smirking. "Hinkley, you can try to get out of those as much as you want, but it won't work," he said, his face turning into a scowl. "Keep it up, and you'll be taking a 'nap' as well."

Knowing he wouldn't be helpful to Aidan or the students if he was unconscious, the blonde-haired man nodded and tried to talk around the gag. Rutile smiled and removed it, and Ralph coughed. "Why take over a whole school," he said. "I mean, none of these kids would hurt you."

"Well, it's not them, just Melissa Serpentine we need, but this way it only makes Judge Serpentine's decision even easier. Besides, I've got a contingency plan in case he has doubts."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that I have the nerve to make sure that he listens or else..." Rutile said with a wicked smile.

Ralph took in the comment and thought of everything that could happen. "What kind of crazed mind would want to harm kids?"

"The kind that wants his boss back so we can ship guns with no problems to countries to overthrow democracy," he said as he retied the gag on Ralph. "You just sit there right now. I'm sure that Serpentine has received our demands, and will be making his decision soon."

Ralph sat in the chair and slowly tried to free his bonds again to avoid Rutile deciding to follow through on his threat. He hoped Aidan was getting a holograph of everything that happened so she could help save the school from meeting a bitter end.

---------------------------------------------

Bill arrived at the school, and was surprised to see the parking lot mostly full. Though a lot of the students ate at the cafeteria or snack bar, from visiting Whitney High as often as he did, Bill knew there were never that many cars there during lunch. When he saw a man carrying a rifle walking in quickly and quietly, he knew that Rutile and his men had taken the school hostage. "Damn," he said.

He called Pam to let her know about what happened. When he found out about Melissa Serpentine, he frowned. "So that's the connection. Has the judge said anything?"

"Well, right now they are in recess in order to discuss the hostage situation and try to let the agency and police rescue the students. He has a very tough decision, Bill, one that could affect the entire school."

"Counselor, it's easy, release the guy, then when the gunmen inside get word that he's out, they let the school free and we nab the group with her help."

"That's just it, I did some further checking when he received the demands. Citrine isn't the first member of the ring to be put in jail and be eligible for parole. There was another gunman up for parole last year. Same thing happened, Rutile put a school under siege, and the judge relented and let the man free. The police headed over to the school, and found it had been gassed. Only a few of them survived."

Bill frowned at this predicament. "OK, see if you can stall the judge from making a decision either way. I see Tony's car out front as well as Artie's and Ralph's. Hopefully she's wearing the jammies and getting ready to bust these bozos, or the school might have nap-time, permanently."

________________________________________

Aidan was working out a scenario, but not quite the way Bill expected. She knew that she couldn't just run around and knock heads together, as one of the gunmen could hurt her or one of the students in the school. As she thought, she received another holograph and frowned when she heard Rutile talking about his plan to make Serpentine decide to release Citrine.

When the holograph faded, Aidan swayed slightly, and Lance stood up. "Freeze it buddy," said the gunman as he pointed the gun at the youth.

"Lance, do as he says," ordered Aidan gently, not wanting any of them to get hurt, but Lance continued.

"Look, buster, I don't care what you want, Miss Aidan was wounded a couple of days ago, probably by you guys and has a head injury," he said, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. "She's had a couple of dizzy spells today from her injury, and she looks real pale now. If you don't let her sit down, she'll pass out."

"I don't believe you..."

As she listened to the two argue, Aidan realized he was inadvertently giving her a hint. 'Well, for once this holograph problem and former head injury will be useful,' she mused, and moaned, swaying slightly and rolling her eyes a little. 'Now, all you have to do is be the big dumb ox you are,' she thought, moaning again and shaking her head.

The gunman turned to her, and noticed Aidan's eyes were a bit out of focus. She was also starting to hyperventilate. "Come on, you're playing," said the gunman with a hint of doubt, getting closer to investigate. When he was close enough to force him to catch her instead of let her fall, Aidan rolled her eyes up and pretended to faint. Confused, the man caught her in his arms, wrapping his hands around her to avoid dropping her.

The class jumped up in concern, but the gunman shouted at them to sit down. "Look, I'll check on your precious teacher," he said, trying to hold on to Aidan so he could see if she was faking.

As he was talking, Marci picked up a chair behind him to try and strike the man, but the gunman saw her. As he started to turn to fire, Aidan straightened up, grabbed his gun hand before he could fire the weapon, took the gun and flipped him. The gunman flipped twice before hitting the floor, semiconscious. Before he could gather his thoughts, Aidan kneeled and gave the man a full right cross to the jaw, knocking him into unconsciousness.

"This is the only time I'll say that chivalry's dead," said Aidan as she stood up, making a face. "Guy tried to grab me elsewhere ... Certainly not how you revive a fainting lady."

The class was stunned at what they saw. "Miss Aidan, how did you do that," asked Marci. "I've never seen anyone flip someone where they flipped twice, not to mention that punch... wow, I think you knocked him into next week."

Aidan pocketed the hostage taker's gun, stood up and looked at the young woman, smiling softly. "Well, I've been taking self-defense classes, Marci. This was one of those odd scenarios, the old possum technique into a flip off. Next time, do as I say, 'K? You could've been killed."

"Yes Miss Aidan," she said meekly. "You all right?"

"Yeah, well, as well as I can given the situation. Now, listen Lance, I need you to help me tie up this guy and put him in the closet." After binding and gagging the gunman, Aidan and Lance carried him to the closet and locked him inside. After quietly getting a holograph off the man's gun, which had been handled by Rutile as well, Aidan shook her head to clear it and turned to the class. "OK, I want all of you to do as I say. I want all of you to go outside through the fire exit here and run. The blinds are closed around school and no one's looking out. Marci, I want you to count the class after you get to the other side."

"What about you Miss Aidan?" asked Lance.

"I'll be fine, just do as I say." With that, the class left through the fire exit. Making sure they all were far away, she grabbed the gun again and squeezed it in her hands, finding to her pleasure it folded as though it was aluminum. Aidan then stripped down to the jammies and started searching for Tony. She knew that it would take the both of them to get Rutile and keep him from completing his plan.

--------------------------------------------------

Tony finally found something to pick the door lock. He opened the door and looked outside, and finding it supposedly clear, exited.

"Just where do you think you're goin' mister," said a gunman as he drew his rifle on the man.

"Uh, nowhere just wanted to go to the bathroom," Tony stammered.

"Nice try pal, but that ain't gonna work. Back inside or I'll drop you."

Tony shrugged. "Well... if that's what ya want me ta do..." he suddenly turned around and gave the gunman a right cross, causing him to stagger and drop his rifle. As the two continued to throw punches, trying to get the weapon, Aidan turned into the hallway. Seeing the commotion, she tried to turn invisible again. She disappointed to see it work only partially, but decided to use this to her advantage. "Hey, what do you think you're doing in my school," she said in an eerie voice.

The gunman turned and his mouth dropped open. Before the gunman could react to the ghostly image, Tony grabbed the rifle and struck the man on head with the rifle butt. The gunman fell to the ground, insensible. "Well, sometimes Wendy will surprise you with impressions of her favorite ghostly friend," said Tony as Aidan popped back completely visible and make a face.

"Not you too, Tony. Bad enough Bill calls me Artie. Feel like I need a gambler hat every time he says that," she said sighing as she picked up the man in her arms and carried him inside the storage closet. Tony blinked, but remembered the suit gave her enhanced strength, and then stood up with rifle in hand and entered the closet.

"Joke, Aidan... Nevermind, listen, Mr. H's still in his office."

"Yeah, I know, got a holograph. Rutile plans to do something to the school if the judge doesn't listen, but I have a feeling it doesn't matter whether or not Citrine is freed. I managed to get my students out, but I don't know about the rest except there's a gunman in each hallway."

"And this one's lights are out, but there's quite a few we need to take care of, not to mention Rutile. Problem is, we don't have much for defense except for me, you in your fancy underwear ... Hey, what's this?" said Tony, looking at the bottles. He grabbed one with a clear liquid. "'NaCl solution.' What about this Aidan? Anything we can use to knock them out?"

"Well definitely not that, that's salt water," said Aidan. Noticing Tony's questioning look, she continued. "OK, I still balance chemical equations too for fun. But, given the writing on the tag and its location, this must be the chemistry storage closet," said Aidan.

"OK, but what about the other chemicals," said Tony.

Looking at the other bottles, she shook her head. "No, most of these are neutral solutions ... sorry ... won't do anything, and I know they removed the ether and chloroform mixes a few years ago because of explosion and other risks..."

Tony thought for a moment, and remembered something from a science lesson so many years ago. "Explosions... hey, Ade, I remember Mr. H telling us about some sort of element that would explode if it was exposed to water. Showed us too. I think it was a metal of some sort...

"Yeah, I remember those reactions too. They were the three base metals, calcium, sodium and potassium," she said. "Each one reacts differently to water."

"Do you think the school has them still?"

"Those, should. Spinel would keep them in here for experiments to show the students the reactions and dangers of the three..."

The agent looked around and found a bottle with a grayish metal encased in oil. "This one reads potassium."

Aidan grinned, realizing it was the most reactive one. "Perfect. Now, let's set off some fireworks of our own, courtesy of Mother Nature and the magic jammies."

----------------------------------------------

Outside, Bill was relaying information to another agent heading to the school over the radio, who in turn was not happy Bill butted in when he's supposed to be retired from field duty. He was surprised to see Pam come up and meet him. "Counselor, what are ya doin' here? You're supposed to be keeping Serpentine from making a decision."

Pam frowned. "I know, but he realized that he couldn't stay in recess forever or the defense would try to get a new judge. He had to continue, so I decided to get here and see what I could do to help."

"Well, sweetheart..." He stopped when he saw several students walking out the school toward them. "I think you can help out at least partially."

When they reached the agent, Marci took count. Finding all of them present, she turned to Bill. "Listen, what's going on here? Who are you?"

"Bill Maxwell sweetheart, and you and the class need to get out of the way."

"Now listen, Miss Aidan's still in there and we're worried about her..." said Marci.

Pam frowned, realizing what Bill meant by help, but decided to ease the student's fears. "I'm sure she's fine, guys. There's an FBI agent in there helping out with the case. She should be out soon too. Now, you need to listen to Agent Maxwell and head on down the block as fast as you can."

The class nodded and headed on their way quickly. About five minutes later, Bill and Pam felt a presence behind them. 'Great, Artie's class is as dim as the ones Ralph taught,' thought Bill with a grimace. He started to turn. "Now kids, I told ya that..." he heard Pam gasp and he turned, finding himself face to face with a gun.

"So, you think you can stop Rutile?" said the gunman with a smirk. "Drop you weapon or you'll die. You both are going to pay a visit to the principal's office."

Bill would've taken a swing at the man, but when a second gunman appeared and trained a gun at Pam's head at point blank range also, he realized he had no choice. After Bill dropped his weapon, the gunmen frisked him for other weapons and finding none, made Pam and Bill stand up. As they walked to the school with the gunmen pointing guns at them, Pam could tell that Bill was working out some scenario of his own, to save not only the two of them, but the whole school.

________________________________________

Thanks to the suit and phosphorus, the younger team made quick work of the rest of the gunmen in the hallways when they came to see where the mysterious explosions of fire came from. When Aidan and Tony reached the main hallway, they knocked out the gunmen and headed toward the principal's office door. The secretaries were locked inside a closet and couldn't see what was going on.

Aidan placed a hand on the doorknob and saw an image of the room. The gunman was next to the door while Ralph and Rutile were on the opposite side of the room. Ralph was still tied and gagged, but otherwise all right. Tony noticed that while Aidan shook her head as though dizzy, she wasn't pale, but he didn't want to say anything for fear that it would trigger an alarm and those inside would kill Ralph.

Aidan nodded and took a few steps back, covered her head with her arms and ran through the door. The gunman was hit from behind when the door flew off its hinges inside the room. As the gunman fell to the floor, unconscious, Aidan turned toward Rutile as he shot at her and covered her head, deflecting the bullets anywhere except her, Tony and Ralph. When the gun clicked after the last bullet fired, Aidan then started forward only to stop when Rutile put his arm tightly around Ralph's throat. Aidan watched in horror as Ralph's eyelids fluttered briefly. "Don't move, or the principal dies. If that's not enough of a threat, the school will be gassed," he said, also holding down a lever on a device. "This timer's been primed to detonate the bottles and is set for four minutes. If I let it go, the countdown will start. At the end of the fourth minute... well, let's just say it won't be short and pleasant."

"You're sick, you know that," said Tony. "These kids are nothing more to you than livestock."

"Just like those we serve guns for," he said as his arm tightened a little further around Ralph's neck. She saw Ralph was having trouble keeping his eyes open and his head started to droop, on the fringes of passing out. "Now... I don't know how you survived, but back away now girl or I'll kill him. And you, I want you to throw away your weapon down and tie her up, and no tricks."

Aidan, realizing she couldn't stop both Rutile and the gas from being activated at the same time, backed away and let Tony tie her up. They exchanged a glance, knowing what the other must do. Rutile had Tony turn her around and made sure Tony didn't use a slipknot. Rutile smiled, and released his arm from around Ralph's neck. Aidan sighed in relief to see Ralph shake his head and slowly open his eyes, coming back to full consciousness. Rutile then handcuffed Tony and pushed both the agent and Aidan onto the couch.

When Rutile reloaded his gun, the other three realized what his next idea was. Aidan concentrated. "Now, all I'm waiting for is the judge's decision, but it won't matter anyway. The students are still going to die. But, since I can't enjoy watching you suffocate from the nerve gas without myself dying, I think I'll finish the three of you off right now starting with..."

He turned to aim a shot at Aidan's head, but was shocked to see the gun fly out of his hands. "What the hell..." he started, thinking it slipped from his hands.

Quick as a flash, Aidan broke the ropes she was tied up with, ran and picked up Rutile, lifting the man off the ground. "You know, I'm getting tired of you creeps shooting me all the time. All right, you start talking," she said. "Where's the bottles?"

Though inside he was shaking, realizing there might be more to this girl than just a suit of some sort of Kevlar, Rutile smiled. "Like I'd tell you," he said showing he had lifted his finger off the lever before Aidan picked him up. "You have less than four minutes before everyone dies."

Growling, Aidan took a firmer hold on Rutile's collar. "Tell me where now..." she said threateningly, only to hear Rutile chuckle in her face. Aidan's eyes darkened to a gunmetal blue as she glared at the man.

Between seeing her stance and the look on Ralph's face, Tony realized what she was about to do next. "Aidan, don't..." Tony said a bit too late, and he and Ralph grimaced as she tossed Rutile against the wall, stunning him. She then proceeded to free Ralph and Tony from their bonds.

"Aidan, that's not going to help us find the gas," said Ralph coughing after he took off the gag, rolling his eyes.

"I know, I know..."

"Now what," said Tony, picking up the gunman's weapon.

"Uh..." Reacting before thinking, Aidan turned to the fire alarm and smashed it with a modified rabbit punch, setting off the alarm. Unfortunately, she also created a hole halfway through the wall. "OK ... that'll get the fire department and paramedics out here just in case. Get everyone out and I'll try to get a holograph and look for the bottles."

"Aidan, be careful" said Ralph, making a pained face when he heard the alarm right next to him go off. "If you don't find them in time and the nerve gas is released..."

Aidan's look said it all. Ralph nodded grimly and left. Nearing the exit, Ralph found two gunmen bringing Pam and Bill toward the school. They stopped when they heard the alarm go off, not knowing what to do. This let Ralph have time to duck into the men's restroom nearby so he wouldn't be caught again.

After Ralph left, Tony stood near Aidan. "I'm helping out."

"Come on Tony, if this thing goes..."

"Hey, listen, we're a team, remember? Come on, try to get a holograph off the detonator. We don't have much time until the gas's released."

Aidan nodded and picked up the item, getting an image. "Biology lab, figures. At least it can't harm the whole school if ... come on."

After checking to see if the coast was clear, the ran toward the room. Neither noticed that Rutile had come to and, finding what else he needed, picked up his gun was following them. 'No one's going to stop me,' he thought. 'I still have an ace up my sleeve.' In the confusion of students exiting the school, he saw his other men with Bill and Pam standing outside the school. Waving to them that there was no fire, Rutile had them come in and follow. He also pulled a student from the exiting group, just as insurance for himself. None of the other students seemed to notice, as they were trying to figure out where the fire was. Shortly afterward, Ralph followed the men at a distance so not to draw attention to himself.

_______________________________________

Aidan and Tony entered the lab and noticed two bottles at the opposite end of the room. There was a timer on each, with 90 seconds left on the dials. Making sure Tony was far away just in case the gas escaped, Aidan broke the timer and made sure the bottle didn't leak. She also made quick work of the other dial, but heard two shots ring out.

Tony grimaced at the pain in his gun hand from where Rutile's bullet grazed it. His gun itself had slid back about 7 feet. Rutile stood at the other end of the room, glowering. "So, you think you can destroy my plan, well, I have my bargaining chips," he said as he pulled Melissa into the room. Two other gunmen came in with Pam and Bill. Melissa was scared, but otherwise unharmed as were Pam and Bill, though they were all wincing at the sound of the alarm. "Now, this time, you are not going to do anything until Serpentine makes his decision. Then, everyone will get what they want."

"You..." Aidan said, stopping when the gunmen aimed their guns at her head. Hearing what Rutile said, they were more worried about what she could do over Bill and Pam, not knowing they were well versed in fighting themselves.

"Don't listen to them," said Bill. "These guys are nothing more than a buncha loons anyway. They're going to set those off whether or not Serpentine does anything."

Rutile smiled wickedly. "The ancient FBI agent thinks he's right... and he is. You do anything, I'll kill you and set the bottles off with my gun, and that will be an explosive finale for not only the school, but several blocks around here."

The two looked at each other and gave the other a subtle wink. "Fine," said Aidan, "But appearances can be deceiving." Just then, Aidan flipped the cape over her head and turned, quickly lowering the two gas bottles to where they lay flat on the ground and moved them out of firing range. Tony in turn dove for his gun, and ducking behind a desk, took a couple of shots. He aimed them at the chalkboard away from the doors, so as to look tough but not hurt Bill, Pam or Melissa. After shaking out of their surprise at Aidan's reaction, Rutile and the men shot at her head, but the cape kept the bullets from hitting her. Rutile's face paled slightly when he saw the odds were not in his favor anymore. He dragged Melissa out of the room and ran down the hallway with her in tow.

Finding the gunmen were more interested in firing at Aidan, Bill swung an elbow into the stomach of his gunman, then flattening him with a punch to the jaw. Ralph, who had missed Rutile leaving by about 30 seconds, came up from behind and struck Pam's gunman over the head with a dissection tray. Not bothered by the hit but still holding on to Pam, the gunman swung an arm back to try to hit Ralph and missed. When the gunman moved, Pam swung her leg up, the impact causing the man to groan in pain and release her. Ralph turned the gunman around and gave him a right cross, knocking him out. .

Seeing Rutile nowhere in the room, Tony turned to Aidan. "Get him Aidan," he said with a grin. "I've got these guys."

"With pleasure," Aidan said and headed out the door. She saw Rutile stop at the other end of the hallway, wrapping his arm around Melissa's neck and pointing his gun at Aidan. "Let me go girl or she'll die." Again, Aidan used telekinesis to remove the gun from his hands, shocking him. "It wasn't an accident, it's you... you did it. Well, let's see how fast you are to save your friend here." He then proceeded to squeeze Melissa's neck tighter...

Angered, Aidan started running, surprised to see she was picking up speed as fast as a racecar. Melissa eyes widened in shock before her eyelids fluttered and closed. Surprised at what he saw, Rutile dropped Melissa to try to get away, but Aidan and faster and hit him full force. When the two collided, both fell to the ground, but Rutile slid back and struck his head sharply against the wall. Aidan got up and shook her head, feeling as though she hit a linebacker, but all right otherwise. Moving over to the two prone forms, she checked both his and Melissa's vitals.

"How are they," said Tony as he, Ralph and Pam came up with their ears covered to drown out the sound of the alarm. Tony and Bill had handcuffed the other two gunmen, and Bill stayed in the room to keep an eye on them.

"He's a mackerel," she said bluntly. When Tony gave her a funny look, she shook her head. "Sorry, completely out cold, and yes, this time I'm sure. Should've made sure the first time. Melissa's all right, I think she just fainted from being in the headlock. 'Course, if she saw me running before it, I would too if I saw my teacher in red and a black cape unfurled running faster than lightning. Be like those dreams you had of your teacher being a witch."

Tony smiled and handcuffed the man. "Now, we need to find some way to explain this to Serpentine here so people don't think she's crazy when she comes to."

Aidan thought for a moment. "Well... I do have one idea. Just hope it doesn't act wacky again." She grabbed the suit's belt and buckle and concentrated. "Jeans, shirt and shoes," she said, and the suit changed to a 3/4-length sleeved red shirt with the emblem on the front tucked into black jeans with a red stripe down each side. The cuffs of the jeans brushed the tops of red hi-tops with gray trim. "All right, that's better, but come on, can't you change colors too?" she said sighing, then chuckling.

Pam was shocked to see the jammies change form, save the colors and the belt. Ralph, noticing Pam's reaction smiled. "Long story hun, but it's still the suit. Could be worse, could've been a bikini again."

"Bikini?" said Pam, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, Pam, it did that, courtesy of a wild comment," said Aidan blushing. "And I can think of something else it could've done. Now..."

Just then, Melissa stirred and opened her eyes, looking around in confusion. "Miss Aidan, what are you doing here... Wait, I could've sworn I saw you run really fast at us and you were wearing a funny outfit..."

Aidan smiled softly and helped sit her up. "It's all right Melissa, you're safe. You just fainted is all, probably from the headlock and the stress of being held hostage. Agent Villacana here caught the guy before he could hurt you or me. Now, as far as my outfit, well, I decided to try and copy that designer's clothing line, the one with the sci-fi and superhero themes. Anyway, I think it's had mixed reactions so far, so it's more like a set of super-duds." She heard Ralph and Pam cough, trying not to laugh, but she didn't join in. Aidan stood up. "Listen, do you think you can walk?"

Melissa nodded and stood, only to stumble and groan. Aidan steadied her and chuckled. "I take that as a no. Listen, Agents Villacana and Maxwell here have to stay with the gunmen, but Mr. H and I can carry you out of here so your dad can see you're all right sooner... If that's all right Ralph."

Ralph gave her a hesitant look. "Sure, Aidan, so long as you're careful," he said, worried she'd inadvertently break his wrists when she grabbed them to make the two person chair. Looking at Ralph's face and realizing the problem, she gave a wink, signaling she'd be careful just in case strength did decide to work in the suit's morphed form.

"Tony, are you and Agent Maxwell going to be OK if we leave," asked Aidan as she and Ralph picked up Melissa. Ralph noticed Aidan kept a gentle grip on his wrists so as to not accidentally break them, but still had a good enough grip to not let their passenger fall.

"Yeah, I got him covered Aidan, he ain't goin' nowhere, though can you or Mr. H kill the alarm," he said. "I always hated fire drills. These sound worse than those at a dentist's."

"What, you don't like the sound? Always reminded me of a TV show... 'TV test patterns of the 1950s.'" she said wryly, also trying her best to not cuss out the alarm herself. Noticing the younger agent's grimace, she chuckled. "As you'd say, joke Tony. The fire department should turn it off shortly."

Tony rolled his eyes, but both smiled and Aidan and Ralph headed out of the school with Melissa and Pam following the three. Aidan and Ralph carried the student to one of the agents, who would take her to Judge Serpentine and set her down. "She's all right, just still a little dizzy after a fainting spell" said Aidan as the agent took Melissa's arm.

"Where are Villacana and Maxwell?" asked one of the agents. "Did good work, but I'm going to have to tell Maxwell he's retired... again."

"They're inside with Rutile and his men. Agent Villacana said to tell you all of the gunmen are in custody and the gas is secured," said Aidan. "As far as Agent Maxwell, he was coming to visit the school to talk about identity theft when the school was taken hostage. When it was, he just went back to his roots and helped Agent Villacana get the bad guys. If he didn't, who knows what would've happened." Ralph and Pam smiled, glad to see that she had the same technique for fooling people as Ralph did when he wore the suit.

The agent just nodded, realizing that had to have happened, but hearing stories about Bill, was going to make sure. Just then, Tony and Bill came out with Rutile and the other men, who were wearing straightjackets and shouting at Aidan, saying she was wearing a superhero suit. The agent turned to her, taking a closer look at her outfit and she shrugged with a grin. "I'm a bit eccentric... This is something I threw together," she said, a little bit sheepish.

Giving a courteous nod, as even he wondered what she was thinking when she put the outfit together, the agent told the other men and they continued on their way. He then turned to Melissa, handing her over to another agent. "Miss Serpentine, this gentleman will take you to your father now..."

Aidan walked over to Pam and Ralph and watched as Tony and Bill returned and began to talk with the third agent. At the moment, Bill was talking, almost arguing with the agent, who apparently was scolding him for being there. Tony was standing there listening to the two, trying to not laugh at the banter.

Ralph laughed and looked at the other two. "Well, I bet Bill's having fun trying to explain how he got into this scenario," he said. "I'd better go talk to the superintendent. Need to talk with him and the fire department and see what we need to do as far as school today."

Aidan nodded as Ralph left and turned to Pam. "Knowing my luck, the Sup will think I set it off with the acetylene torches again. Only happened once my first year teaching, and that's because it was cuttlefish casting day. It was sorta like when Ralph set the barbecue pit on fire... lots of smoke, and smelled like burnt chicken feathers."

Pam laughed. "Yeah, that was an odd day. Told him not to put so much lighter fluid on there if he was going to start it using the suit..."

"Oh no, Pam, please tell me I can't set things on fire too," groaned Aidan. When the judge nodded, Aidan sighed. "OK, remind me to ask Ralph how he did that so I know not to do it at school. Last thing I need is to have that happen in the jewelrymaking room. Bad enough I have to keep the flint strikers locked up, don't want become a walking one."

The two chuckled and watched as Tony and Bill wrapped up their talk with the agent and headed toward them. Ralph also finished up talking to the superintendent and headed back. Tony shook his head when he arrived. "Well, the agency thinks those creeps are loons after describing Aidan. They've put the bottles in a secure truck. Also, the agency cleared the school for continuing with school today."

"That's great Tony, but it'll probably be tomorrow before school starts up again," said Ralph.

"Why's that?"

"Well, I think the kids need to be with their parents after being in a hostage situation. The superintendent also agreed... And, we can't reset the alarms because Aidan decided to have a heavy fist. The firefighters said the power has to be turned off to stop them and they won't be repaired until later this afternoon. I told you to watch your strength, Aidan. You don't tone it down, I'll put you and the suit in detention."

"Sorry Ralph, reacting first doubled with the suit, bad mix obviously," she said as though she was in the principal's office being lectured, then chuckled. "Well... guess I'd better take another tutorial in strength 101."

____________________________________

A few days later, three people were in the parking lot waiting for two colleagues to arrive. Ralph, Bill and Pam were standing by the car, and heard a yell from the skies. Looking up, they saw Aidan in the air trying to carry Tony on her back while flying. Needless to say, this was not going well.

"Tony, quit fidgeting, you're knocking my center of gravity off. We're already late because you can't keep still."

Tony felt Aidan wobble, and tightened his grip slightly. He had one arm each under her shoulder and around her neck. "Aidan, you keep still. If you crash, you won't get hurt, I will."

"Quit being a dunderhead, Tony, I'll be the one you land on again ..." Aidan wobbled again, and Tony panicked... "Tony, you're choking me, don't put your arm around my neck so tight..." said Aidan, coughing and trying to loosen his grip slightly. ...

The two's argument stopped when she crashed in the parking lot. "All right, get off Tony," she said, a bit groggily. "We're here at grandma's house, and I brought the turkey."

"Funny Aidan. Hey guys, we're here... finally," said Tony getting up.

"Well, if it isn't the flying dunces," said Bill with a slight chuckle. Aidan looked up and frowned. "I'm just kidding Artie. Think you did well, considering it's Villacana."

Ralph and Pam helped Aidan off the ground. "You two all right," asked Ralph.

"Yeah, fine," said Aidan dryly as Pam handed her a bag of clothes to change into. "Bill, I think you need to find some way of training the agents to not be afraid of flying. This one seems to forget that rule number one is to never try and put the pilot's lights out while they're flying. This was the second time tonight he had his arm too tight around my neck. I knew what I was doing, well mostly, but still no reason to panic like he did."

She sat in the car and closed it, then started changing into her streetclothes. Ralph, Bill and Tony turned around to give her a little privacy, and Tony continued.

"Aidan, I don't mind flying, it's just flying on the back of your colleague who wears funny longjohns and who can't stay in the air for five seconds that bothers me. I'm surprised that I didn't get my bell rung with all the times you crashed."

"Well, it might've been easier to fly if you were unconscious..." she said, grumbling. "Certainly would've been a quieter flight..."

Before Tony could retort, Pam put a hand up to get their attention. "What happened out in the desert," asked Pam. "All we heard was the car wasn't working."

"Well, Aidan was doing well learning new suit scenarios. First, we practiced holographs again, and she wasn't dizzy anymore."

"Yeah, don't know why though, but my guess would be that the suit was just adapting to my biochemistry, as Ralph said. Either that or the collision into Rutile. Felt like running into a brick wall reinforced with steel."

"That's terrific," said Ralph with a smile, "But, it doesn't explain why you had to airbus the two of you here."

"It's pretty simple Ralph," said Aidan as she got out of the car and finished tying a black shawl around her waist. She was now wearing an embroidered lavender long-sleeved tunic and black pants. Aidan decided to keep the suit on under her clothes, just in case. "We were practicing a scenario on how to stop a car. Tony suggested creating a firewall and..."

"Oh no, ya didn't blow up the car did ya?" said Bill with a groan, having lost more cars than those at a monster truck derby from suit scenarios.

Aidan shook her head. "No ... I instead tried to stop it with my hands and punched its lights out... and the engine, the transmission, the thing you hold the oil in, the battery..."

"Let's just say the only thing that works now is the little light inside that says 'check oil'" said Tony, finishing.

Bill sighed. "OK, guess I'll have to set up a bet to see how many suit-trashed and burned cars there'll be for Tony. Now, can the five of us get into the restaurant so we can go eat? I'm famished... and I'm sure you two are hungry."

The group nodded and headed inside. Once they were seated in the booth, the waitress took their drink orders and left. "Talked with the big bosses today, and Villacana here is going to get bust of the month," said Bill with a chuckle. "'Course took him 10 years, but haveta admit this was how ta do it. I even got a citation for helping out with the case... after being told I was retired from active duty again, was a teacher at the academy and don't invite danger."

Tony smiled. "Yeah, and Rutile and the others are going to be in jail for a long time," he said. "They still talk about Aidan and the suit, but no one believes them, and they're going to trial soon. Seems just about everyone knows about Aidan's unusual dress sense."

Aidan rolled her eyes and chuckled. "So, Tony, did you hear anything about MK and Melissa?" she asked.

"Hospital said that Lazuli was going to go home tomorrow. She's still got a ways to go, given some of the problems from the drugs and her seizure, but they believe she'll make a full recovery," said Tony. "As far as Serpentine, well, she's fine too. Judge Serpentine said she's doing well recovering from being taken hostage and should be back in school Monday."

Bill interrupted. "Haveta say though, Villacana and Artie here did a heck of a job bustin' the bad guys. Almost as good as we did Ralph."

Ralph chuckled softly, remembering those times. "They did choose well, didn't they? Still, I wish I had learned the power to change the suit's form."

"I agree, I wonder what you'd look like in a bikini," said Aidan deadpan, and Pam smiled a slightly wistful smile, picturing it. When Ralph made a face and playfully pushed them back into the booth, the three laughed.

"OK, that's fair, Aidan," said Ralph as the waitress served their drinks. "Now, as this is not only a get together to celebrate solving a case, it's also to make up for missing Pam's and my anniversary last week..."

Aidan sobered up slightly, checking one of her watches. "One week, huh? Can't believe it was last week all this started... Sorry, Ralph, please continue."

Ralph smiled and proceeded. "Anyway, I wanted to make a toast to not only Pam's and my anniversary, but to Tony and Aidan. Here's to new starts and partnerships and continuing long-standing ones."

The five clinked glasses.

"Now, Pamela, I have something for you. Happy anniversary."

"Ralph you shouldn't have... but... so do I, happy anniversary," said Pam with a grin as they both presented similar small boxes to each other. Looking at the two's puzzled faces, Aidan kept a straight face, but started to chuckle inside. "Well aren't you going to open them?" she said playfully. "Unless you're supposed to give boxes for your 23rd."

Ralph and Pam glanced at her then back at each other, shrugged and exchanged the boxes. Opening them, they were surprised to see they had matching rings.

"What... Aidan!" the two said simultaneously. Seeing the rings, Tony and Bill laughed, realizing that for as close as the three were, Aidan actually fooled Pam and Ralph into thinking they were the only one designing a ring for the other.

Aidan could no longer hold her mirth and started to laugh too. "Well, Ralph came by first and said he wanted me to make a ring for you Pam, so I drew him a pattern. He liked it and I started work on it. Then you came and asked me to make one for Ralph, so I figured why not make them matching. You don't know how long I've been waiting to see your reaction."

They both smiled and gave her a hug. "You know, it's perfect Aidan," said Pam. "Thank you."

"Yes thank you," said Ralph as he nodded to Pam. "Now, this is something you didn't know, Aidan..."

Pam handed Aidan a package. It was a box, but not one she had ever seen. It was octagonal and black. Noting her confused glance, Ralph continued. "Pam's and my anniversary isn't just ours anymore, it's your's too. It was the start of a new life for you, in all senses of the word. So, happy suit anniversary, Aidan."

Curious, Aidan watched the box top slide open and the inside light up, but nothing else. "An empty box?" she asked, confused.

"Not just any empty box. It's the one for the suit," said Ralph. "I figured you'd need it to store them in at night. That way you don't lose them. Nearly did that a couple of times."

Aidan smiled. "Thank you, but what about Tony and Mr. Maxwell? I don't think we got them anything for their suit anniversary."

"Nah, Artie, I don't need anything, well except maybe a hankie as my eyes are watering from this drivel," said Bill.

"Same here. It took a bit and a hostage situation to drill it into my head, but we'll be a team... through good and bad. That's all I need to know. Still doesn't mean I have to like it," said Tony, acting tough.

"Gotta agree with you Tony, same feelings, but..." Aidan said seriously as she got up and went behind the booth, causing all of them wonder what she was up to. Then, smiling, Aidan leaned over and gave each agent a kiss on the cheek. Though neither would admit it, they blushed at the gift.

"Thanks guys, and happy suit anniversary," she said and clapped once. The four paled, and looked around to see if someone else saw what they did.

"What's wrong," said Aidan, then she groaned. "Don't tell me I finally turned completely invisible."

"Not exactly Ade..." said Pam hesitantly as she handed Tony a mirror from her purse, which he gave to Aidan. Looking into it, Aidan realized why the others were alarmed. The reflection looking back at her was not her face... but Ralph's. She looked down and realized she was by all appearances Ralph, down to the outfit he was wearing.

"Oh no... uh guys, I think I found another suit power," she said, coughing in surprise that her voice stayed the same.

"A-Artie, that's terrific, now you can be anyone as well," said Bill when he regained his voice.

"Yeah terrific, but problem is, my voice is still the same," said Aidan a bit sarcastically.

"Aidan, you're not supposed to do that now, what are people going to think?" said Tony.

"That I'm a magician, and my best trick is impersonating people ... literally," she said simply, clapping her hands again. "Great, I think I'm stuck... Help."

"Aidan, don't panic, think," said Ralph, remembering something she drank when she needed to relax. "Listen, I'll go get you a hazelnut ginger ale, that might help some."

As he left, the waitress came from the back and noticed 'Ralph' standing by the booth with a slightly worried look. She figured she'd try flattering the man so she'd get a good tip. "Sir, is the booth to your liking, or would you prefer another one," she said, batting her eyes slightly.

Aidan turned around and paling slightly, nodded and waved her hand, trying to avoid speaking with her. The waitress, not getting 'Ralph's' message, continued. "Listen, is there something I can do to make your evening more, um, memorable? We have plenty of desserts and wines to celebrate special occasions with and..."

Aidan, realizing the young woman wasn't going to leave, had no choice but to speak. "Yes, everything's all right, my wife and I are quite happy with the booth." she said in her normal voice. Hearing the voice, the waitress looked at the doppelganger in shock, blinked once and fainted. Aidan caught the woman and eased her to the ground. "Sorry," Aidan grimaced, shaking her head and checking the woman's pulse. Tony and Bill stood up to block the scene from curious patrons.

Ralph, coming back with the ginger ale, saw the scene and walked quickly over to where Aidan was kneeling beside the insensible woman. Aidan shrugged. "Well, she wouldn't leave me alone. Guess she was flirting to get a better tip. Good thing at least I didn't change back at the same time." Ralph held back a chuckle. Even though he sympathized with her, he had to admit it was rather funny to see his face with Aidan's expressions as she tried to revive the young woman.

"Yep, like godfather, like goddaughter," said Bill. "Uh Tony, just watch out that she doesn't blow up the car with a sneeze."

"Funny Bill, just don't tap me on the chin, I'll reciprocate," she said with a smirk. Bill cringed at seeing her give the same look Ralph did when he was serious. Ralph not able to keep a straight face longer, rubbed his jaw in memory and laughed, only to have Pam playfully tap him on the head. Aidan also chuckled but stopped when she saw the group staring at her again. "All right, what do I look like now," she said, afraid she'd turned into the waitress or a lion. Those were the last things she needed.

"Hey, Aidan, you're back, you're you," said Tony with a smile. "Well, back to your usual crazy self."

She looked back at her hands and smiled in relief. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but after the practice and this suit surprise, I'm starved. Just hope the waitress takes our orders when she comes to before something like this happens again. I mean..."

Just then, the waitress opened her eyes and looked at Ralph and Aidan. "Are you all right miss," asked Ralph.

"Fine... hey, you're voice, it's a guy's. I could've sworn you spoke with a female voice..."

"Yes... sorry about that. I'm a magician and Ralph here is my assistant. One of my tricks is a ventriloquism bit and he's the dummy..." said Aidan. When she saw Ralph cock an eyebrow at the comment, Aidan gave a wink. The waitress nodded, believing the story and after talking with her boss, who had arrived at the booth, got up and walked to the office with him.

After a few minutes with the assistant manager to get their side of the incident, Ralph and Aidan sat back down at the booth. "Ventriloquist dummy?" Ralph asked.

"OK, reacting before thinking again Ralph, sorry," said Aidan simply, then made a face. "But, could've been worse, I could've had to try and explain off being a talking lion with pink and purple polkadots... and you better not morph me into it suit, I don't mean it." When she didn't change Aidan smiled.

The group laughed and started chatting, not only about scenarios and stories, but mostly, to celebrate two teams, one bound now by friendship, the other just starting.