You won!  You got the brass ring... Was it worth the price?

"Prove your allegiance, Ms. Royden," Lothos stated, his tone now a shade harder. "Your final challenge is this:  You will choose one of your friends to die."  Not by a whit did Lothos' close up of the young woman's face miss the way she paled slightly at the pronouncement, but he wasn't finished.  "Do not tell me whom you choose.  Just make your decision...and then go and kill that person.  Any method is acceptable but it must be done face to face, and you cannot utter a word to that one as you kill him or her.  When that person is dead, return here to the hall."  Lothos paused for a few seconds then added, "You have five minutes to decide and then act.  If you fail to act in the time limit, you forfeit the challenge.  If you attempt to kill the person and fail, you forfeit the challenge.  If you choose not to act at all, you forfeit the challenge and will lose rank."  He paused again then said, "Time begins now." 

PART ONE

Johanna was rocked by the challenge that he gave and couldn't hold herself at attention any longer and braced herself on the chair she was standing beside.

'I can't,' she thought to herself.  'I can't kill one of my friends.'  She hesitantly brought her hand up to her face and ran a shaky hand through her hair.  She nervously bit at her lip and closed her eyes as she thought of his challenge.  'Prove it...' she thought.  'How about I prove it and shove something in a conduit, Lothos,' she thought harshly as tears welled up in her eyes.

But even as she thought about many ways that she could take care of Lothos, she knew that her time was coming to a close.  Melissa was in leaper training, Laura in power resource and Quint in security. She shook her head ... how was one to pick and choose a friend to kill?

Even as she knew that time was drawing close, she nodded and finally said, "I have chosen."  It was then Lothos opened the doors of the hall and only told her through her implants where each person was once more.

Going to the gun closet, she picked out the .357 Magnum and turned right and started to go to the classroom at the end on the right.  In her process, she passed right by Vaughn and Thames and didn't even acknowledge that they were there.  She saw their glances... but ignored them.

Standing outside the room, she knew that she didn't have much time... and couldn't help but hesitate.  She then un-clasped the safety and opened the door to the classroom to see her best friend, Melissa Underwood standing before her.

Melissa smiled at her warmly.  "So, did you do it?"

Johanna blinked then raised the gun to her friend.  Watching Melissa back away from her, Johanna set her jaw and felt her emotions come immediately into play.

"No, Johanna... don't... please... tell me what happened.  What's going on... Johanna..."

Johanna pressed her lips together in a tight line, hesitated once more then blinked before she aimed at her friend's heart and shot not once but twice, the shots sounding like soft coughs of air.

Melissa screamed as the bullets hit her chest and she fell to the floor, calling out to Johanna... then to Lothos... then back to Johanna once more.  The leaper tried to stay away from her friend, but she couldn't.  Her heart wasn't strong enough, and she feared that this weakness had cost her the job that she had so wanted.

Kneeling beside Melissa, Johanna took her hand and sat there, looking into Melissa's eyes, wishing... hoping that she hadn't chosen her.  The only logical reason that she had was because she was a leaper.  Lothos had lots of them... but only a handful of good security and he needed people in the power resource that were intelligent. 

Even as Melissa grabbed at Johanna's arm and began to gasp, Melissa's eyes focused on Johanna's eyes and asked, "Why?"  When Johanna's mouth pressed firmer into a thin line, Melissa got her answer, then swallowed then said as her body began to gasp.  "F-fin-ish... it."

Johanna's eyes searched her friend once more as pain flashed through her eyes and she nodded then pointed the revolver at Melissa's temple.  She couldn't even say, 'Goodbye’... or that she loved her before she pulled the trigger and officially ended Melissa Underwood's life.

Johanna then stood up and exited the room silently.  As she walked through the hall, she muttered softly under her breath, "I'm sorry."

By the time that she met up with Vaughn and Thames in the hallway, she met both of their eyes as two tears fell.  She continued past them, placed the gun back into it's place then entered the conference hall one more, coming to attention as a two fresh tears descended down her cheeks.  Without brushing them away, she awaited her damnable next position... job... or death... whatever.  She just hoped that it was over.

Silence, except for a couple of sniffles from Johanna Royden, filled the lecture hall as Lothos watched her, his considerations added to his observations of her in the past eleven minutes.  All of it, her initial reaction to the challenge, her decision and ultimately, her completing the challenge, and her correct, if subdued, return to the hall where she again waited.

"Final challenge satisfactorily completed," Lothos finally spoke aloud to her. "However, a head shot would have accomplished the challenge more quickly..." He noted the way Johanna's jaws tightened at that but it didn't deter him from finishing his thought. "...and been a....kinder end for Miss Underwood."  It pleased him to see that the glimmer of feeling from him had startled her yet again.  "I did not say it had to be a lingering death, Ms. Royden.  Only that it had to be done face to face."  Seeing her nod of understanding, Lothos paused a moment, let her think on it briefly before saying, "Go out into the hall and send Mr. Rickar in.  You will stay with Thames until I summon both of you. ... Go."

Johanna turned immediately and headed toward the door.  Even as she opened the door she wondered if Vaughn would have the same type of challenge or something more lenient.  Trying to put the thought out of her mind, she stepped through the door and wiped at her face, ridding herself of the tears that had spilled.

Coming up to the two men who were standing at the end of the hall, Johanna nodded her head slightly then glanced up at Vaughn.  "Lothos asked me to summon you, Vaughn."  Only then did she blink her eyes and glance down at the floor as she remembered Melissa's last words.  Just the thought made fresh tears spring up in her eyes, especially with what Lothos had said about being a kinder way to go.  She noticed that Vaughn had placed a hand on her shoulder and she stepped back away from him.  "Don't keep him waiting, Vaughn.  Go," Johanna said as she ducked her head away from his concerned eyes.

PART TWO

During the time he and Thames were in the hall, Vaughn wished again he could talk with the current Senior Observer; it would have been something to do to pass the time.  He had looked up, curious, when Johanna had emerged from the lecture hall a few minutes later; the sight of a .357 Magnum in her right hand as well as the way she didn't so much as acknowledge him or Thames told him she was apparently about to face her last challenge.  The tall, dark-haired leaper had turned in sync with Johanna as she passed him then disappeared from sight.  The sound of a woman screaming, "Johanna... no... please... Johanna... what are you doing?" followed by sudden silence again had jolted through Vaughn Rickar.  Even his determination to win this competition warred with his instinct to go and find out what had happened.  It was the feel of a hand on his arm...then turning his head to see Thame's hand on his upper left arm...that stopped him.

With everything in him, Vaughn wanted to shake off the Observer's hand and follow and find the source of that scream but the look in Thames' eyes warned him against it.  Swallowing carefully, the taller man moved his arm slightly, removing it from the Observer's grasp, and remained still.  His thoughts, already spinning, wondering, trying to calculate, were spun faster when the sound of footsteps approaching captured his attention.  Maybe his competitor didn't realize she was crying....’She knows’.... and again, in spite of his determination, Vaughn almost reached out to Johanna when she marched past him, once more without a trace of acknowledgement.  Curiosity and something else was eating at him.  That gnawing didn't get any respite with Johanna now standing with he and Thames and giving him Lothos' order. 

Reaching a hand out, Vaughn touched Johanna's shoulder lightly then stopped when she moved away from him, saying, "Don't keep him waiting, Vaughn.  Go."

Not much rattled Vaughn Rickar in the day-to-day reality of his world, his life.  But there was something about his competitor's demeanor that seemed to be tantalizing him. Now, however, wasn't the time to give into the imp urging him to hesitate.  Nodding once to her - not that she saw it - he turned and marched down the hall to the lecture hall and entered it.  His footsteps echoed in the large room as he marched to the center of the room, taking the position he had when the challenge competition had begun.

Lothos let five minutes slip by then another five before he spoke at last to Vaughn Rickar.  "You have exceeded the first two challenges with skill and the audacity that a well seasoned leaper should have," he complimented him.  "You have proven yourself cunning and shrewd, Leaper Rickar.  However, the final challenge will bring to light any suggestion of weakness that you may have."  Lothos noted the way that Vaughn had somewhat puffed up at his supervisor's words and Lothos knew that in just a moment that he would pop from the final challenge and his ego would go back to normal.  It was then that Lothos asked him the same questions he had posed to Johanna Royden.  "Whom do you serve, Vaughn Rickar?"

"Only you, Lothos," Vaughn answered plainly.

"Are you willing... are you prepared to do whatever it takes to serve me?" 

Again, as with Johanna Royden, Vaughn answered with the same expected response, "Whatever I am required to do, Lothos.  Anything."

Lothos let his voice drop to almost a whisper and let it echo through out the room as he asked once more, "Anything?"

He had given his responses - the expected responses - with barely a thought to what might be behind those questions.  A leaper, after all, when taking the oath of a leaper, spoke those same words, almost word for word.  But when Lothos spoke again, the soft one-word question echoing in the lecture hall, it did what should have happened to begin with.  Vaughn listened to the tone of Lothos' voice and wondered, but that didn't change or affect his attitude as he responded firmly, lifting his chin slightly as he said, "Anything, Lothos."

Another moment of silence passed before Lothos spoke, his words having the same effect as a violinist plucking a string ever so gently.  A vague vibration of questioning skimmed through the leaper’s mind as he wondered for the first time just what it was that Johanna's final challenge had entailed.

Lothos watched him for a brief moment then finally said, "I have watched you since December 2, 1992 when you were born, Vaughn.  You've led an interesting life.  From your perspective, tell me about your family, Leaper Rickar."

Vaughn listened to the question, thought about it and opened his mouth to reply then closed it again as the small hairs on the back of his neck began to rise.  'Why's he asking about my family?' he wondered, delaying answering for a few seconds.  But not answering - his knee-jerk reaction to the question - was not an option, so he swallowed, choosing his words carefully.

"My parents are Vivian and Neil Rickar," he began slowly but speaking clearly.  "Dad's worked on the Maintenance Level for the last fifteen years; a senior chief." He paused. When Lothos didn't speak, he continued.

"My mother is a librarian in the Educational Level; the middle level library. And I've got three sisters."  He thought that was enough but apparently it wasn't.

"I'd like to know what you think of your three sisters, Leaper Rickar.  Tell me more about them," Lothos prompted the young man before him and saw him shift uncomfortably before him, and waited for his response. 

Vaughn's instincts, stirred by the initial question, now moved to a higher level of warning but he couldn't not answer.  He didn't feel the small trickle of sweat that wended it's way down his spine underneath his Fermi suit as he began to speak, his voice confident if having the least suggestion of hesitation in it, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

'What does he want to know?  He knows all about them.' 

"Kate is the oldest by six years," he began carefully, seeing before his mind's eye, the sister that was the near spitting image of his mother.  "She's married to one of the fitness instructors in the schooling system.  Ted Hilburn." Vaughn paused then went on.  "They've got two kids...two girls.... and another on the way.  About five months from now."  Licking his lips, he shifted away from the sister that he swore had eyes in the back of her head; he had never been able to play pranks on her.

"My second sister, Veronica is studying international law," he said then hurriedly added, "You awarded her a full scholarship to the University of Notre Dame in Paris.  She's there now...in her second year." He didn't like the feeling that hesitating again gave him before adding, "Ronnie's as steady as they come and, if you ask me, got all the brains in the family.... except for mine." A shadow of a smile curved his lips but the silence it met erased it.  "She'll be a real asset to you, sir."

For some reason, the idea of talking about Danessa to Lothos bothered Vaughn more than talking about his two older sisters.  Sure she had irritated and dogged him and his friends when she was "an official school age brat" as he'd tagged her.  But as he thought about it, that little girl, now a nice looking brunette with heart-stopping violet-blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor and player of pranks shouldn't be mentioned, and he remained silent; again Lothos prompted him.

Lothos could tell by the way that Leaper Rickar had stopped talking that the young man didn't like talking about his younger sister - at least to him.  But as Lothos reviewed back over the last twenty-eight years, it was plain that Leaper Rickar had always protected his younger sister; kept her from harm and loved her more than life itself.  'How quaint,' thought Lothos.

"And exactly what you think of your younger sister, Danessa, Leaper Rickar?" Lothos asked patiently.

"She shouldn't be able to shoot pool better than me, for one thing," Vaughn blurted out the first thing that came to mind.  Feeling a trickle on the side of his face, he reached up and swiped at the drop of perspiration.  The silence that was all around him made it quite clear that Lothos was waiting for more.

'Leave Danessa out of this!' he shouted in his mind.  'Leave all of my sisters...my family....out of this!  They're not being tested, I am!'

"She's going to make some man a good wife...and mother to his children, some day," he said at last.  "She's annoying and bright and smart and...and a damned good friend."

"To whom?"

The question - just two words - hit the impending danger/panic button within the leaper and he entertained the thought of lying.  Or at least a sort of little white lie...of omission.

"Dessie's got more friends than I can count," Vaughn finally answered, his voice even but now definitely subdued.  "She draws people to her.  She's...she's dependable and honest and will do anything for any of her friends."  Another pause, and as it began, Vaughn prayed that Lothos would be satisfied with his answer.  'Please don't ask....' he whispered under the breath of his heart and soul. 'No more...please.’

A long couple of minutes passed before Lothos asked one more question to one of his best.  His voice lowered slightly as he asked, "She's more than just a sister to you... isn't she?"

The way the leaper’s head came up, the way that he even took a step forward and the way that his eyes searched the room, told Lothos that he had touched something in the leaper that he had tried to keep down.

He had to answer.  He had to.  Though before this moment, Vaughn Rickar would have said his youngest sister could take a flying leap and fend for herself in just about any given situation, now if he could, he would take any heat from anyone, including Lothos, to keep her safe.  But he also realized that the possibility of him winning the competition just might hinge on the answer that Lothos was waiting for.  And even now, Vaughn wanted to come out the victor in the competition.  He wanted the right and privilege to step into Zoe Malvison's boots with such intensity that he could all but taste it.  That honor was so close to his grasp he could almost touch it.

"Danessa is my best friend," Vaughn uttered the words quietly.  "She's annoying and aggravating, and I'd walk through hell for her or kill anyone that hurt her needlessly." With that admission, Vaughn Rickar had a vague prickling in the back of his mind.  A dye had been cast into the ever swirling eddies of his sisters’ lives. Whom would it irreparably stain?

PART THREE

Even by the time that Vaughn Rickar finished telling Lothos that he would kill anyone that hurt his youngest sister, he summoned the two sisters that were on his property, telling them to report to the lecture hall on the training level.

Until the door opened several minutes later, Lothos had kept the leaper in the dark so to speak on what his final challenge was.

Again, he repeated, "You were summoned here because your brother has a decision to make."  It was then that Lothos paused and scanned Vaughn Rickar and noticed that the young man was sweating bullets; that in and of itself spoke volumes.  "It is a decision that will affect his duties and his career as a leaper.  It's too bad that your sister, Veronica was unable to attend such an important aspect in his life.  Since you two are important in his life, you might want to offer him... whatever you can to help him make the wisest decision."  Lothos paused then spoke specifically to his older sister, Kate.  "Mrs. Hilburn, I must say that you look quite well.  You are in your fourth month of pregnancy, correct?"

"Yes sir," Kate Hilburn answered brightly as she glanced over at her brother lovingly.  "Ted and I already know that it will be a little boy.  We're going to name him Vaughn Allen - just like his uncle.  Lothos... thank you for summoning me for this moment.  I love my brother with everything in me.  My children are proud of their uncle.  I'll do anything for him."

Lothos let the hint of a smile into his voice as he responded, "You're more than welcome, Mrs. Hilburn."  Lothos paused a long moment before he said, "Now, all of you... this includes you Leaper Rickar... may talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes.  Make the most of your time," he finished and went silent.

Danessa Rickar smiled brilliantly before she hopped toward her brother and hit his arm as hard as she possibly could before she twirled him slightly and pulled him into her embrace.  "You're going to make it... aren't you?  This... all of this is for Dr. Malvison's position, right?  Right?"

Seeing Kate's broad grin as she turned toward him, her eyes shining so like his mother's did when he had accomplished something, Vaughn did his best to return the expression with like enthusiasm.  But it was Danessa’s exuberant punch on the arm followed by slipping her arms around him and hugging him tightly that suddenly made Vaughn wish with all his soul that he had followed in his father's footsteps, a decision that would put him, figuratively and emotionally a million miles from where he was at this moment.

‘I... I.....'

*You what?* his conscience mocked him even as the leaper hugged Danessa back, answering her repeated question with, "Well... I haven't won that right yet."

For his sisters' benefit and to hide the uneasiness and fear swirling inside him, Vaughn drew upon the skills he had developed with the many girls and women he had dated.  He let them see in his eyes and his face, his very actions, the Vaughn that was confident to the max and relaxed in his assurance about what he was doing.  He let them hear in his voice - his tone as well as his words - how much he loved them.

Giving Danessa another tight hug followed by a kiss on the cheek, Vaughn 'dug' his way out of her grasp, grinning at how she pretended she wasn't going to let go.  Turning fully toward his oldest sister, he just stood and gazed into her eyes then reached for her hands.  Smiling softly at her, he lifted her hands then opened her arms wide and glanced at her rounded tummy.  It had never been something he was comfortable with when Kate had been pregnant with Kimmy and then Allison, namely putting his hand on her belly to feel when the baby kicked, even though Kate and her husband had urged then teased him to do so.  But now Vaughn released one of Kate's hands then the other as he placed both of his hands on her belly.  He didn't know if it was a sign or not, but he felt a soft kick under his hand, then felt it again.  Smiling at her as he straightened up then drew her into his arms, hugging her tightly, he whispered, "You sure you want two annoying male relatives named Vaughn Allen Rickar?  What'll you do when you yell, "Vaughn Allen!" and we both come running?"

Kate laughed merrily as she stepped back from her brother's embrace.  "I think I can manage," she told him.  "After all, I managed you, didn't I?"  Kate laughed again then reached a hand to cup her brother's cheek.  "Whatever it is... this decision you have to make... know now that I'm behind you one hundred and ten percent." She searched his dark, expressive eyes then stepped forward and brushed a kiss on his cheek.  "Go for it, Vaughn.  Follow your destiny wherever it takes you.  I know you can do it."

Hearing Lothos speak just then saved Vaughn from choking on the ache in his throat at Kate's encouragement.

"Mrs. Hilburn," Lothos spoke aloud.  "Exit the hall, turn right and go to the classroom at the end on the left.  Enter it and wait there.  Ms. Rickar, exit the hall, walk down the hall straight ahead of you, turn left and enter the first door on your right and wait there."

Both women didn't hesitate but flashed Vaughn an encouraging glance then exited.  Even after the door closed, Lothos remained silent, waiting and watching until each of the leaper’s sisters had found the room they had been looking for.  Only then, did Lothos speak to the leaper once more.

"You have declared that your allegiance to me is unswerving."  He focused his attention on the dark eyes of the leaper and said, "That you will do whatever I ask of you to accomplish whatever I send you to do." 

Lothos noticed how Vaughn Rickar moved slightly, nodding his head. It was then that Lothos focused his attention on the leaper’s face even more so. In the same silky soft tone that had ricocheted through the room prior, he whispered, "Prove your allegiance, Mr. Rickar."

When the echo of his words died out and Lothos had seen Vaughn swallow several times and blink once, he hardened his words and said, "Your final challenge is this:  You will choose one of your sisters to die."  Lothos watched as Vaughn paled, his mouth opening at the implication of his decision, but Lothos wasn't finished.  "Do not tell me whom you choose.  Just make your decision... then go and kill her.  Any method is acceptable but it must be done face to face, and you cannot utter a word to that one as you kill her.  When that person is dead, return here to the hall."  Lothos paused for a few seconds then added, "You have five minutes to decide and then act.  If you fail to act in the time limit, you forfeit the challenge.  If you attempt to kill the person and fail, you forfeit the challenge.  If you choose not to act at all, you forfeit the challenge and will lose rank."  He paused again then said, "Time begins now."

Time and the world crashed in around Vaughn Rickar, drowning him in near silence. The only sounds that he was aware of were the words, "You will choose one of your sisters to die," that, and the sound of his heart beating.  He wasn't even sure he could breathe.

"What?" So soft was the strangled question that Lothos had to increase the amplification of his sound system minutely to hear it but he didn't answer it.  There was no need.  The question was proof that his order had been heard and understood.  Within his systems he noted the steadily running allotted time.

Five minutes to cut my heart out. To destroy my parents....my family.  The words had barely filtered through his mind when three other words replaced them, making him cringe internally: 'Prove your allegiance.'

Numbly, Vaughn turned around to face the door out of the lecture hall.  Staring at the door that he knew was now a point of no return in his life, memories he hadn't thought of in years flooded his mind.  Memories of himself with all of his sisters as children.  The tricks, the fights, the arguments....the love that covered everything and drew them together and bound them with bonds stronger than any rope or chain.

"Three minutes, Mr. Rickar," Lothos intoned without inflection.

Time stretched out to infinity even as the seconds tolled like cavernous bells.  Vaughn closed his eyes as he dropped his chin on his chest and made no move or sound for several more seconds.  Just as he heard Lothos intone, "Two minutes," he lifted his head, clamped his teeth together, his jaw line set hard as marble and marched to the door and pushed it open.  He looked neither right nor left as he walked steadily down the hall directly before the lecture hall door.  Not by the slightest nuance did he indicate that he heard Lothos' voice in his head, directing him to the room where his sister waited.

PART FOUR

It was the longest walk of his life, and the shortest.  Outside the door, the leaper paused and for a handful of seconds, listened to the humming coming from within.  As he twisted the doorknob and opened the door, within his mind Vaughn whispered, "Good-bye," then stepped inside the room, closing the door softly behind him.  It was only seconds before Danessa whirled around, saw him, grinned and flew across the room to leap into his arms.

"Did you get it?  Did you come to tell me that you got it?"  She threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely.  "I knew that you could do it.  You know how I knew?" she asked softly into his ear.  She didn't wait for him to answer.  "Because I know that you'll do anything for it, Vaughn.  God, I'm so proud of you.  I love you, big brother!" she said excitedly and hugged him even tighter if it was possible.

Vaughn hugged his younger sister tightly to himself, turning his head slightly to sniff the scent of the shampoo with which she had washed her hair.  He imprinted the sound of her voice...her laughter in his mind and his heart; committed the feel of her hug on his soul for a moment longer then gently set Danessa on her feet again and held her slightly away from him.  His heart cried out to speak to her, anything...just a word.  But he couldn't.  All he could do was search her face...memorizing those shining violet-blue eyes gazing up at him as she almost bounced on her toes as she waited for him to share the wonderful news.  It was the hardest thing he had ever done, and would, he knew, never be rivaled by anything in the future, when he placed his hands on his sister's shoulders then gently slid them inward to her neck.  As he began to glide his palms softly up either side of her neck, Vaughn forced himself to look into Danessa's eyes. He didn't ...couldn't... set her straight when she suddenly said, "Oh, I get the reward for guessing, don't I?  A neck rub."  'Lothos didn't say I couldn't react to her...just that I couldn't speak'  and he forced himself to give her a small smile and a nod. 

He felt his heart tighten in his chest when his sister and best friend giggled delightedly at guessing her prize then closed her eyes and relaxed into his touch on her neck.  Gently he caressed her neck just as he always did on the occasions when he had rubbed her neck, wanting to delay the moment as long as he could.

*The longer you delay the worse it'll be,* his conscience pricked him.

'For who?' he demanded silently.

*For you,* came the harshly truthful answer.

Where he got the inner strength, Vaughn never knew, but he did find it.  It enabled him to gently roll her head between his hands just so to cause Danessa Gail Rickar to half open her eyes and look up at him.

"What's the matter, big brother?" she murmured with a relaxed smile.

Danessa was still smiling when her brother cradled her head between his hands then gave a certain sharp twist, breaking her neck with such force that her chin was perfectly aligned with her right shoulder.

"Nothing," Vaughn whispered hoarsely under his breath as he caught his sister's now lifeless body before it fell to the floor.  With the greatest of care and love, he lowered Danessa to the floor.  The only thing he did before he stood up to return to the lecture hall was to close her eyes.

He didn't see anyone or hear anything or react to anything, not even the pain searing his heart as he marched resolutely back to the hall, entered and resumed his position.  He had no idea of how long he stood there before Lothos spoke, nor did he care.  All he wanted right now was for this to be over.  At this moment, Vaughn Allen Rickar didn't care about anything except how he was going to carry the picture of his beloved Danessa's last expression with him to his grave.

Lothos watched everything that Vaughn Rickar did with a resolute eye. He was more than pleased with Vaughn's actions toward his own sister, and although both of his competitors broke the rules, it was after the fact.  He put it aside.

"The final challenge is more than satisfactorily completed," Lothos finally spoke aloud into the room.  "It was a kind end for her, Leaper Rickar.  Sudden and sharp, not lingering."

It was after he fell silent as he watched the young man that he noticed how Vaughn's jaw was set so hard that he could visibly see the muscles beginning to flinch from the pressure that was being exerted.

Summoning the two who were waiting in the hall, Lothos also summoned the coroner's office to come and get the bodies and dismissed the other people back to their routines.  As Johanna Royden and Thames came back into the room, Lothos noticed as well the way both of his leapers were acting.  Killing a loved one was hard, he knew that, however, it was for a greater purpose.  He wasn't going to keep them waiting much longer for the final verdict of their competition.

"I have watched both of you throughout the competitions; how you acted and reacted with people... and how you each have the courage and the fortitude to be the one that will be head leaper."

Lothos paused and scanned both of their faces.  It was amazing to him to see that both of them were so set in stances, faces, and probably their thoughts as well, that he took a moment longer for them to really hear him.

"I have decided," he said softly, letting his voice lower and the echoing effect set in once again.  He was inertly aware when he observed Johanna and Vaughn visibly shiver either from his voice... or the tone.  He wasn't sure, but whichever, he had their attention now.

PART FIVE

"Vaughn Allen Rickar," he called him out rightly then announced, "You will be head leaper under my direct authority alone.  Johanna Royden, you will be the head observer for Vaughn.  I have seen how you two interact with each other, and I believe that this ... team will work well together."

Lothos fell silent as he saw them turn to each other, their eyes meeting.  He was more than surprised when Johanna Royden's eyes filled with tears and her hand came up to the shoulder that was hurt.

"Observer Royden, is your shoulder bothering you?" Lothos asked softly, his concern coming through now.

Johanna's eyes lifted toward the camera and though her heart was aching, the tears silently fell, and she nodded her head knowing that it was her heart more than her shoulder.  "Yes, sir."

"In light of the events of the day, I believe that the two of you, if preferred, may stay the day together, discuss whatever you'd like, where-ever you'd like.  The competition is over.  I would like for both Observer and Leaper to know each other well."

Johanna turned her head back to look at Vaughn then nodded her head as her chin quivered and she replied, "Anything you want, Lothos."  As another solitary tear fell, she licked her lips and stepped toward him and raised her hand toward him.  She wanted to congratulate him, but her heart... her body and mind weren't into it.  He'd have to accept the handshake.

It was a hollow victory at best, hollow because though he'd never told Danessa, Vaughn had always meant for his best friend - his youngest sister - to be the first to know when he won the position of head leaper for Lothos.

Now he just stood and listened to Lothos bestow the position and title on him and felt nothing.  He made the appropriate response of thanks then was silent again.  Only when Lothos told him and Johanna that they could spend the rest of the day together did he look around toward Lothos' new chief observer.  It cut into his soul to hear Johanna respond to Lothos, "Anything you want, Lothos." To cover any possibility of that showing on his face, he matched his new partner's actions, stepping toward her. 

No words were exchanged between them as Vaughn caught Johanna's hand and held the handshake firmly.  Seeing the tears standing in her eyes just waiting to fall, he made a decision.  Turning his head to look up at the camera, which they had faced during each challenge assignment, he asked, "Are we dismissed, Lothos?"

It had been decades since he had shed humanity but that didn't mean Lothos had forgotten the depth of emotional pain.  He remembered it well... sort of a trinket of 'the old days'... as he responded.

"You are," he stated plainly.  "You may go about the complex freely, but you will remain together until six o'clock tomorrow morning."

Vaughn would rather have not done so, but he, and Johanna, took proper respectful leave of Lothos.  The words were barely past his lips when he went to his competition...correction, his partner... and slipped an arm behind her shoulders and guided her out of the lecture hall.  As if of a unified unspoken agreement, Vaughn led Johanna, now leaning against him for support, to the isolation room, closing and locking the door.

Talking was out of the question, both too severely emotionally and physically drained to waste energy with words.  Instead, Vaughn helped Johanna to her bed, drawing back the covers then removing her boots before helping her to stretch out.  Then he removed his own boots and carefully joined her on the bed and took her into his arms, cradling her against his heart.

Throughout the daily routine of his complex in all its variety of situations and problems, Lothos kept an eye on the two emotionally exhausted leapers, both of whom had paid a high price to help him achieve his ultimate goal.  He noted that they simply lay silent, clinging to each other, sometimes one or the other crying and being comforted by the other.  He had two trays of food sent to the room in the evening; both trays were returned untouched.  Not until near midnight did either leaper fall asleep, each dragged down by exhaustion.

As he watched them sleep, Lothos had already begun to determine what their first assignment would be.

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