Sam was at the dinner table with Nick, Jasmine, Danny, and Macy.  They were all waiting there for Julie to return from her run.  After Nick was rescued Sam told Jasmine about Julie and what she did to Nick (but left out the blackmailing part). Jasmine was speechless and appalled that her daughter would do such a thing.  While they were waiting Danny woke up and Jasmine told him that they all needed to talk as a family and would wait until Julie came home.  It didn’t take too long till Julie came into the house slightly winded with a fine coat of sweat on her face with a cheerful expression on her face.

“That was a long run,” Jasmine said getting Julies attention as she was about to pass them.

“Yeah, ran into Kaylee.  We started to talk for a little while,” Julie told her mom.  Kaylee was Julie’s oldest friend.  They had been together since before time.  Julie couldn’t remember a time they didn’t know each other.  As Julie was running she bumped into her… well not really she always took the same route that crossed Kaylee’s house.  Julie did this so they could hang and talk with each other.

“We need to talk,” Jasmine said sternly to let Julie know that it was serious.

“Ok, let me just shower-”

Jasmine shook her head no and pointed to the chair at the other end of the table.  Julie arched her brows at the sternness in her mother.  She had never seen her mom act like this before.  As Julie came to sit down she spotted Nick and Sam and then she realized what it was about.  Julie narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, he would pay dearly later.

“Do you know what happened to Nick today,” her mom asked.  Julie shook her head no.  “While you were running Macy almost swallowed Nick.”  Julie couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh but quickly faked a cough. 

“Sorry to hear that.” Julie said again trying to hold back a laugh.

Jasmine gave Julie a look that stopped her from laughing anymore.  “This is serious, Nick could have died.  Danny wasn’t there to help them,” Jasmine said turning to her son who looked shocked that the conversation was about him now. 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t know that it was going to happen.”  Danny apologized to his mom.

“I know sweetie,” Jasmine said sweetly trying to show that it wasn’t his fault.

Julie shrugged, “So what?  We just keep Macy and Nick away from each other and everything is ok,” Julie said standing up to leave.

“That’s not all,” Jasmine said pointing to the chair.  Julie returned to her seat with a huff now irritated.  “I was told that something else happened to Nick today.”

Julie froze and sat up in her chair.  “Like what,” She asked feigning innocent.

“I think you know what,” Jasmine said sternly.

Still trying to play innocent, “I was running all day and just got back.”

“Jewels, did you step on Nick today?”

Julie tried to act surprise  and was going to try and lie her way out but her mom gave her ‘the look’ which meant that if she didn’t fess up now her punishment would only get worse.   Letting out a loud sigh, Julie confessed, “Yeah.”

“Why,” Jasmine asked baffled and upset at her daughters actions.  “I don’t understand.”

Julie just shrugged, “I don’t know.  I just felt like I needed to release some stress and you know it’s final week and I just felt so much pressure with school, work, and then there’s dad…  I just…I’m sorry Nick I didn’t mean to do that.  Can you forgive me?”

Everyone looked at Nick and waited for his response.  “Yeah, I forgive you.”

“Thanks,” Julie said cheerfully.

“I’m glad that all worked out, now go get cleaned up and help with dinner.”

“Ok mom,” Julie said as she got up and went to go shower.  As she walked away and out of sight her cheerful face died instantly.  That little shit told on her when she warned him.  Now she was going to make him pay…

As Julie walked out of the room Nick hid his distress from everyone at the table who all seemed happier after dealing with this situation.  Nick had dealt with liars and backstabbers many times before and he knew when people were faking and being dishonest.  Julie was easy to read.  He seen those fake tears and heard the same heartless apologies before, so this was nothing new to him.  He couldn’t call her out on it and knew the best course of action would be to talk with her face to giant face.  Hopefully they could work something out later.

Everything seemed fine at dinner.  Julie pretended to be happy and cheerful at dinner and Nick played along too.  They all watched a movie and soon it was time for bed for Danny and Macie.  As they all headed to bed Nick said he would stay up and smooth things out with Julie a little more.  Sam gave him a worried look but Nick assured her it would be fine and he would go to bed in a little while.  As soon as Jasmine and Sam left Julie said, “I’m really sorry about today I didn’t mean it, really.”

Nick just looked at the innocent smile on her face as she tried to pretend that she was sorry.  “We both know that’s a lie.  You can stop acting, they went to bed.”

The smile disappeared.  Julie poked Nick in the gut with her finger and smiled, “Oh, I thought you actually bought that acting I did this afternoon and all night.  So now what?  You got my mom in on my fun time with you.  Do you know what that means?”

Rubbing the spot that felt like a tree slammed into he replied, “Look, I didn’t say anything to anyone.  You’re the one that went too far.  Sam found out and told your mother, not me.”

Julie just shrugged, “So?  Does that mean I have to talk to your girlfriend?”

Nick said in a threating voice, “Leave her out of this.”  Julie paused as she felt fear.  Never have she heard something so frightening that it caused her to rethink what she was doing.  Julie then remembered something and came up with a plan.    

“Ok, fine I’ll leave the both of you alone.  Under one condition, I’ll need a favor… well it’s not really a favor considering you have no say in it,” she said all smug.  “Next week I’ll be ‘borrowing’ you.  No questions asked and if anyone asks I’m giving you a makeup gift to you for what I did.  Deal,” she asked holding out her finger

“I thought I didn’t have a choice,” Nick said skeptically.

“You don’t, but I figured you rather feel like you did.”  Nick shook the finger.  With things settle Julie got up and left Nick.  Nick couldn’t help but feel like he just made a deal with the devil as his gut feeling told him something was up.

When Nick got into bed Sam curled up against him and asked, “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, we talked and came to an agreement.”

Tiredly Sam just snuggled up closer and said, “That’s good…” and fell into a comfortable sleep.

“I hope so,” Nick whispered as not to wake her.

The next day was Sunday and Julie had work and left early before Sam woke up.  She noticed Nick was sitting up and holding that stone that she used all the power from the other day.  “What are you doing?”  Sam asked as she got up from the bed.

“Just a precaution,” Nick said as he continued to hold onto the rock.

“Do we still need that,” Sam asked looking at the Rock wondering what made it so special, it looked just like any other rock she saw back on earth.

“We might,” Nick said vaguely which made Sam worry. 

“It’s for me isn’t it?”  Nick looked at her that let her know that she was right. “Why?”

“I told you that I have a bad feeling and I just need to make sure your fine, besides if I’m wrong and you don’t need the protection I can always use the stored energy to get us back.”

Sam quickly thought about it and shrugged her shoulders, “Your right, but I’m telling you I’ll be fine.  The other day was just bad luck and the same with the days before.  I’m positive that we will be fine.”  Sam gave Nick the one of her cheerful smiles that made Nick believe her. 

Nick smiled back and held the rock out for Sam to keep.  She went to reach for it when it started to shift and mold itself.  Sam stopped as she watched the stone transform into a small bracelet that would fit her wrist.  “Not sure if you remember but it’s technically our 1 year anniversary.  It’s my gift to you, something to remind you of me and to keep you safe anytime.”

Sam smiled and put on the bracelet on her left hand.  It was a perfect fit and smooth as if it were made out of metal and not a rock.  Sam was going to ask how but figured that it didn’t matter.  “I love it, but…”

As Sam hesitated, Nick felt nervous that he did something wrong, “But what?”

“I didn’t get anything for you,” She said guilty.

“I enjoy just being with you,” Nick said smiling at her.  “Come on lets go get some breakfast.”  The morning was calm and relaxing.  Nothing dangerous happened at all.  Julie had work and was going to be gone all day, Macy and Jasmine had a play date (Nick decided it was best he didn’t go with them), and Danny went into his room to play with his toys.  Sam didn’t know if they should leave Danny alone to play or if he might enjoy their company.  Asking Nick if they should go check on him, he decided it couldn’t hurt.

Danny had his door open and Nick and Sam walked into the doorway and peered into the room.  It was a typical boy’s room.  There were posters of cartoons and action movies all over.  His room had blue walls with toys scattered around the room on the floor.  Danny was playing on the floor pretending, as he held two action figures in his hand fight each other.  He was making sound effect noises as he moved their appendages around.

“Danny?” Sam asked causing him to pause.  Danny didn’t say anything but looked up from his toys.  “Do you mind if we join?” Danny hesitated but then nodded and let them come into his room.  As they approached Danny stopped playing and set his toys down.  “So, what are you playing,” Sam asked trying to bond a little with him.

“Nothing,” Danny mumbled shyly.

“Oh,” Sam replied as the conversation died.  She looked to Nick for help.

“So Danny why aren’t you playing outside with some friends,” Nick asked.

Danny looked down at his crossed legs and mumbled, “I don’t have any friends.”

Sam felt her heart ache for him.  “But you play soccer right?  What about your soccer friends?”

Danny shook his head, “They don’t want to play with me.”

Confused Sam pressed on, “Why?”

“Because I don’t play with buggies like them, it’s why I wanted to play with you the other day,” Danny said as he continued to look down at his feet.

The more Sam learned about Danny the more she felt bad for him.  His dad was dead and he blames himself and he had no one to play with because he didn’t ‘play with buggies’.  “That’s ridicules, come on let’s play a game all three of us together.”

Danny looked up shocked, “Huh?”

“Come on, it’s going to be fun right Nick?  What were you playing just now?”

“Umm, action figures,” Danny said dumbstruck.

“Ok how do we play that,” Sam asked looking to the two guys in the room.  She never played action figures before but figured it most have been like dolls, right?  Nick let out a laugh as he started to do some quick stretching.  “What’s so funny,” Sam asked slightly upset feeling that he was laughing at her.

“Nothing, I never tired this before.”  Nick stepped away from Sam and said to Danny, “Ok let’s play.”

Sam was exhausted and didn’t know how Nick could keep up with the energetic and imaginative mind of Danny.  Sam helped Nick set up action figures as he and Danny set up a story with the figures as they battled one another.  Using just about every toy in his room, it was like a small war zone.  There were toys flipped over here and there and ‘dead’ action figures over there.  Sam was too tired to even move her legs from all the running around and setting up.  It was nothing like dolls.  Playing with dolls was all peaceful and relaxing, but action figures… it was crazy.

Danny held one action figure that looked like a half cyborg and human combine.  “You’re the last one,” Danny said in a robot voice.

Nick let out an evil laugh, “Mwhahaha.  You’ll never defeat me!”  Danny moved his toy toward Nick.  The toy was roughly 5 or 6 times larger than Nick.  Danny had the toy do a slow motion punch at Nick who threw up his arms and blocked the hit.  “HAHAHA, you call that a punch?”  Nick pushed the arm away and landed a blow on the toy’s chest pushing it back.  Danny smiled as he was enjoying the game.

“Must increase strength,” Danny said in the robot voice and made sound effect that signaled that he was getting stronger.  Then he made his toy start punching Nick again.  Nick blocked it again but this time Nick let out a gasp.

“Oh no, he’s too strong.  This is impossible,” Nick started to slide back.  “HE’S TOO POWERFUL,” Nick then flung himself backwards in a dramatic scene of defeat.  Lying on the ground Nick weakly said, “Cyborg warrior is the greatest warrior ever to live.” Then Nick died in a dramatic fake death.

“Bravo!”

Sam turned around to the sound of Jasmine clapping.  Everyone was too engrossed in game that they never heard Jasmine come home.  “Mom,” Danny said getting up and saying hi to his mom. 

“Did you have fun?”  Jasmine asked as she greeted her son.

“Yeah, it was fun!  Nick and Sam are the coolest buggies I ever met!”

“Are you hungry, I’ll make some dinner if you want to help.”

“Ok,” Danny said as he headed to the kitchen.

“Thanks for playing with him,” Jasmine said to Nick and Sam as she picked them up.

“It was fun,” Nick told her.  Sam nodded her head in agreement.  Sam was glad that they were starting to connect with Jasmine’s family.

As they finished dinner Julie came home with a tired look on her face. 

“How was work?” Jasmine asked.  Julie mumbled something and headed to her room where she closed her door.  That was the last they would see her for the day.  “She must have had a hard day today.”

“Yeah, she looked drained.  What does she do,” Sam asked.

Jasmine started to clear the table, “She works for a clothing store.”

“Ah retail, yeah that’s rough sometimes.  I had some hard days too as a waitress.  I can imagine what she must have done all day.” 

“Can I play with Nick and Sam after dinner,” Danny asked.  Sam looked at Nick with a look of exhaustion.  She felt like Julie right now and wanted to just sleep.

“I’m sorry honey but you have school tomorrow and need to get ready for bed.”

“Aww,” Danny looked so let down.

Before Sam knew what she was doing she said, “How about we go with you to school like we use to with your mom,” She asked trying to cheer him up.

“What?”  Both Nick and Jasmine said but were too late.  Danny looked thrilled at the news and nodded vigorously.  “Don’t worry Jasmine, we’ll be fine.  Besides you said Tracie is coming back and trains the soccer team right?  Danny can take us to meet her.”

Jasmine mauled over it for a while but finally said, “If the two of you want to… but Danny you need to be very careful and keep them safe.  You understand?”

“I will. It’s going to be so cool having you two with me.”  Danny got up and got ready for bed.

“Umm, not to be Mr. negative but why are we going to school with him?”

“I don’t know, I just feel kind of bad that he doesn’t really have any friends.  Besides what’s the worst that can happen-” Nick let out a groan at those words.  “What,” Sam asked puzzled at his reaction.

“You just had to say it,” Nick let out a sigh…

It was early Monday morning and Jasmine was packing Danny’s lunch.  Julie was going to take Danny to school and then go to her classes at a college nearby.  Sam and Nick woke up to the busy house and got ready to leave with Danny.  Before they left Danny held them in his hand about to put them in his bag but Jasmine stopped him. 

“Here sweetie,” She picked both Nick and Sam up and dropped them into his front shirt pocket. 

“Just like old times,” Nick said getting Jasmine to wink at them.

“Thanks mom,” Danny said hugging her goodbye.

“Be safe,” Jasmine said as they left for school.

The car ride was quiet except for the radio.  She had no idea why she wanted to do this.  It was a stupid idea, but she wouldn’t admit it to Nick.  It wasn’t long until they got to the school and Danny was dropped off.

“Danny, keep them safe,” Julie told him before she left.

Sam looked to Nick with a questioning look, who just shrugged back.  Sam peered over the edge of the pocket and quickly ducked as they were surrounded by a sea of kids heading into the school.  They were all chattering and talking about everyday life events or the weekend that they just had.  True to what Danny said, there didn’t seem to be anyone talking to him leaving him alone.  As Danny headed to his first class it became clearer that he was telling them the truth about no one wanting to be his friend.  Sam looked up at Danny’s face and saw one of the saddest kids she ever seen.  He had such a depressed look on his face that she couldn’t help but want to cheer it up.  She was about to say something when she heard a young girls voice call out.

“Danny,” a cheerful voice sang his name in the distance as it grew closer. 

“Oh, hi Mary,” Danny said shyly.

“How was your weekend?”  She asked chummily.

“It…. Was fine… um yours,” Danny said nervously as he started to take his seat.

“Oh it was great I got to-” the bell rang forcing her to stop talking.  “Oh I’ll tell you after class,” Mary said as the class was beginning to fill and the teacher came in.

“Who was that, is she your friend?” Sam asked quietly.

Danny shrugged, “That’s Mary and she doesn’t really talk to me much.”  Mary sat down a few seats in front of Danny.  She quickly turned around and waved at him before turning back around. 

“I think she likes you,” Sam said feeling glad that there was at least one person that would want to be his friend.

Danny didn’t say anything as the lesson began.  Sam sunk lower into the pocket and closer to Nick.  Deciding that it was probably a good time to spend with Nick, she held out her left hand.  Nick too it and offered her a smile.  Sam leaned into him so her head was resting on his shoulders as he continued to hold her hand and sit there quietly.  Finally she asked, “How many worlds have you been to?”

“Too many to count,” Nick told her.

“Did you have a favorite one?”

“Hmm, well there were a few but I always liked Earth.  It always felt homey.  Not to mention you were always there.”  Sam smirked at that remark and moved in closer.  “So not to change the topic or anything but why did you want to go to school with Danny?”

Still snuggled up against Nick she told him, “I just feel sorry for him.  Didn’t you say that you were a loner in school?  You know how it feels to not have anyone there for you.  I want to at least try and help him.”

Nick kissed her on the forehead.  “That’s what I love about you, always kind and looking out for others.  Let just be careful when he’s around other kids, I really don’t want to experience anything like last time.”

 “Don’t worry everything is going to be alright, nothing bad is going to happen,” Sam told Nick.  The more she tried to persuade him the more she doubted her words. 

Mary waited until Danny left the classroom to walk with him.  Their next class they didn’t have together but after that they had all the same classes.  She wanted to try and get him to notice her today so she thought walking him to his class would help.  When Danny left the class she called out to him forcing him to stop and turn around.

“You want to walk to class together,” She asked.

“We don’t have the same class,” Danny told her in his usual shy self.  Mary took him by the arm and started to walk to his class. 

“Come on,” she said pulling him along.  Mary couldn’t believe she was walking Danny to class.  She was getting closer to him.  By the end of the day they would be boyfriend girlfriend.  Mary waved goodbye as she left Danny and went to her next class.  As she sat down one of her friends got her attention.

“Pst, Mary want a buggy?”

“Sure,” Mary whispered back so the teacher didn’t catch them passing things in class.  Her friend held out a closed fist and dropped a squirming female buggy into Mary’s hand.  The bug tried to say something but Mary quickly closed her hand so no one would hear it and for one from her friend.  Without thinking she quickly tossed the buggy into her mouth and closed it.  There was a muffled noise that vibrated her mouth as the female buggy screamed for help.  No one could hear her through Mary’s mouth. With a grin, Mary swished the buggy between her cheeks and started to suck on it like a piece of candy.  The buggy gave off a nice flavor and kept Mary occupied throughout class.  The buggy would squirm and try and get away from Mary’s large tongue as Mary toyed with the buggy.  As the class came closer to the end she let out a sigh as the buggy became more and more limp and less active.  “Aww, are you done already?”  Mary asked quietly.

“P-p-please…” the buggy stuttered.

Mary pouted in disappointment at the buggy giving up so easily.  Without a second to spare she flicked the buggy to the back of her mouth and onto a molar.  She quickly bit down and let the warm tasty liquid fill her mouth.  “Mmm,” Mary said as the flavor filled her sense of taste and helped savor her now hungry gut.  Filled, Mary went to walk to class together with Danny…

Nick and Sam were still cuddled together when they heard Mary call out to Danny.  Nick arched a brow and asked same, “She seem a little… clingy?”

Sam shushed him, “She likes Danny.”

The conversation between them was like earlier, Danny didn’t say much and Mary was talking and taking the lead.  They ate together at lunch and Mary kept on talking to Danny who didn’t seem very interested at all.  It wasn’t long until it was the end of the school day and time for the students to go home.  Tracie would take them home but Mary just pulled Danny along with her.  Mary walked into the parking lot still talking about things she liked and school.  Finally Mary’s mom was there to pick her up.  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mary waved goodbye to Danny as she got into the car.

“Danny say something,” Sam said trying to get him to say goodbye.

Danny looked completely out of place but said, “Umm, bye.”  Mary waved some more as they drove away.

Sam asked when Mary left, “So, do you like her?”

“I don’t know,” Danny replied still seeming confused and almost uninterested.

“I think you should try and be friends with her.  She seems like a nice girl and she also seem interested in you too.”

“I guess so,” Danny said as he headed back into the school to meet with Tracie.