Heda cut her off with a kiss. It was not as passionate as they had been the other night, nor did it seem like an invitation. It was friendly, and it was a reminder that Madison could feel safe with her.

"I want. I'll talk to you later." She and Sasha headed towards the student union.

Without using her echolocation, Madison knew that Billy was grinning, and it caused her to blush.

"Shut up."

“I didn't -—"

“You were thinking something nasty. I know you."

“Whatever you say, oh Pied Piper of women's hearts."

"Remember the who ‘shutting up' thing?"

The Cold crept around the One kept in its Spanish Mantle, a reinforced barrel that had only a hole for the One's head to stick through. This One was trapped, blindfolded, drugged and effectively trapped in the filth which had begun to accumulate over the course of the day. Its hands and ankles were cuffed together with wire, and the barrel was reinforced with magical steel. The One was going nowhere until the Cold had made the message clear.

“Why are yuh . . . you doing this?" the One asked, spittle flying over parched lips. It would need water soon, as there was no reason to let It die before It understood.

The Cold did not respond It would communicate in Its own way and time. But the Message was only just beginning to be written. The Cold grabbed its tongue-tearer, a wicked device that looked like a pair of metal shears with a screw running through the handle. The One would be made to understand, and then the Enemy would remember what fear was Like.

Madison was afraid to move. She was spooning. Or was the correct dynamic “being" spooned? Her back was to Heda, and the other girl's arm was draped over her midsection. Her ribs felt better. She had shifted last night, which helped with the healing process, so she knew she could make it through her day without a problem. Her immediate problem was that she needed to pee, but she did not want to pull away from the comfort of Heda's body. They had not had sex, but Madison had allowed herself to be held and coddled, and she had gotten a small thrill from an intimacy she had never expected from a woman she would have once thought was beyond her reach. She did not want to leave that yet. She did not want to wake Heda up. But she REALLY needed to pee.

"You awake?" Heda whispered softly from behind her.

"Yep!" Madison replied, leaping from the bed and rushing to the bathroom. A few moments later, she let out a tremendous sigh of relief and said, "Oh yeah. I needed that." She instantly heard Heda start laughing her ass off.

"How long were you waiting?" the eagle shifter asked from the comfort of Madison's bed. She was dressing in her bra and boy-shorts, which was odd for her since she preferred sleeping nude. She just had not wanted to make Madison feel like she was expecting sex, so she had curtailed things a bit.

"Thirty minutes," Madison said, thankful Heda could not see her blush.

"It's okay just to get up and go you know."

"I've never done this before. I didn't want to wake you up."

"I can go back to sleep easy. It looks like you're feeling better."

"Yeah, I'm gonna be okay." Madison cleaned herself up and opened up the door.

"You don't have to babysit --" she trailed off. She had paused to use her echolocation and found that Heda was sitting up, her body and her "bed clothes" there for Madison's viewing pleasure and making her forget all about her planned objection.

"It's not babysitting. If you weren't so intent on being willful, you'd probably admit that having a friend or two around these days wouldn't exactly suck." Heda heard the were-bat mumble something, which was probably as close to an agreement as she would get.

"I'd stay tonight, but weapons practice is going to run late."

"I understand. You know, I really should just move off of campus. I could take out a little more by way of student Loans."

"I don't know if that would stop Alvin, unless you got some ass- kicking roommates." Heda stood up.