Chapter 4: The Loner’s Crisis

Roger came to briefly. Someone was driving him, but where? He saw buildings pass by through the window. His breathing became labored again, drifting in and out of consciousness. The next time he came to, he felt himself bouncing, people yelling, among them Dorothy. He raised his head to see Dorothy at the end of a stretcher, Norman at the front, and Dr. Plebanski and Carlye making up the other sides. He faded to black again and woke up to find himself surrounded by bright lights.

"What's… going on? Dorothy?" he asked, weakly.

"Dorothy's fine, Master Roger. Keep still."

"Need to…make sure…"

"KEEP HIM STILL NORMAN! Carlye, where's the anesthesia?"

"We've been out Mary! No deliveries."

"DAMMNIT! I need to get this out of him. This isn't going to be pretty! Norman, hold his legs, Carlye his arms! Goddamn it, Roger, what the hell did you do this time? I'm going to pull this out on three and get ready! We're gonna be in for a bumpy ride!"

Roger felt the knife being removed and screamed in pain, trying to jerk himself free, before a sudden thunderbolt of pain hit him hard, and he passed out once more.

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Dorothy had managed to get a hold of Norman who was already en route to their location, but thankfully Dastun was closer to her. He had been scouting the area on his free time as something didn't sit right with him from the stake out the other night. Dorothy tried pulling Roger to the Griffon to put him in the back. But he was heavy, and he still had the line attached to the rep, who was unconscious. However, she didn't dare take it off of his neck, out of fear of him getting up again. Dastun pulled up in a squad car, screeching to a halt. He stepped out and ran to Dorothy.

"Dan! What are you…"

"I heard your call. I came…what happened?"

He saw Roger passed out, bleeding.

"We need to get him to the hospital. I'll call a medic…"

"NO! No hospital! That man just tried to kill him and me! He's from Paradigm and working for someone else! Said something that two negotiators was too many. If we go to a hospital, they'll probably kill him there!"

Dorothy pointed over to the rep, still unconscious. Dastun looked at the line on Roger's wrist and released the grappling hook. Dastun took out a pair of cuffs and handcuffed the man, picking him up and putting in the back of his patrol car, locking it. He came back to help Dorothy, gathering her things that had fallen in the fight.

"Dorothy, Roger needs medical attention! Where else are we going to go?"

"If he goes to the hospital, someone will finish the job, Dan! I just know it! I need to get Roger to the car…"

"Where are you taking him?"

Dorothy lowered her voice so that the rep, now coming to, would not hear her.

"The clinic."

Dastun grimaced. It wasn't the best option, but if someone had been sent to kill Roger, it was low enough under the radar that they may not go after him there, considering his injuries. They might consider him dead right now.

"Let me see your communicator."

"Huh?"

"Lemme see it!"

Dorothy showed her wrist and Dastun adjusted the settings so that Norman would only be in communication with her.

"I'm taking this guy back with me to the station, but you don't need to blab where you're going on here, and he hears it. I'll stop by later for updates. Let's get Roger in the car."

Dastun and Dorothy carefully carried Roger to the back of the Griffon. Once Roger was secured, Dastun handed Dorothy her things and Roger's clothes and coat off the hood, turned heel, getting into his car, speeding off to MP HQ. Dorothy double checked her communicator, making sure it was set to Norman only.

"Norman! Change of plans, I'm taking Roger to Dr. Plebanski!"

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Dorothy was driving to the clinic when she saw Norman pull up behind her, following her closely. Her hands were shaking, but she held the steering wheel as firmly as she could. A few times she looked into the rear-view mirror. Roger was groaning in pain, his breathing staggered, and was bleeding all over the backseat of the Griffon, her scarf now completely drenched.

Hang in there, Roger. I'm almost there.

Dorothy had put the Griffon into 5th gear, weaving in and out of traffic until she found the exit for their place, skipping the turn for the mansion, and driving straight to the clinic. She slammed breaks and knocked the gear out of place, making the Griffon stop suddenly. She ran out of the car. Norman stopped behind her and saw she was covered in blood as she ran into the clinic, frantic now.

"DR. PLEBANSKI! MARY! CARLYE! SOMEONE! HELP ME, PLEASE!" she cried, gasping for air.

Carlye came running out of the room where she was getting ready for the kids to come to the clinic after school.

"Dorothy! What's wrong?"

"Roger! He's been stabbed!" she gasped.

Dr. Plebanski now came running from the end of the hall.

"Who's been stabbed?"

"Roger," said Carlye, irately.

"Damn it! Carlye, call our back up sitter and have them call the schools to let the kids know they need to go there today. This is going to take all day!"

"Mary, we're low on a lot of things. We may not be able to…"

"We can at least get him stabilized if we have to take him to the hospital."

"NO HOSPITALS!"

Dorothy had yelled, as she was bent over trying to catch her breath. "They tried to kill us, they said so themselves. They were from Paradigm. They'll know. You have to save him here."

Carlye and Dr. Plebanski looked at each other, and then Carlye rushed off to the office to make the phone call. Dr. Plebanski saw the blood on Dorothy.

"Are you hurt?" she said as she began looking her over.

"No… Roger's blood…" and Dorothy began to panic again at the sound of those last words leaving her.

Carlye returned back to them a few moments later. "It's been done."

The door was forced open and Norman, despite his age, was carrying Roger into the clinic by hooking his arms underneath him shoulders. Carlye ran to grab the stretcher. Dr. Plebanski ran over.

"I wished you had waited for me, Norman!"

"He's not doing well! He's losing too much blood!" Norman yelled.

Carlye returned with the stretcher, setting it next Norman. "Set him on here. Make sure that knife doesn't move!"

Norman put Roger in the stretcher. Dorothy got up and went over to them. Each of them grabbed a handle and began running.

"Where to?" asked Norman, frantically.

"Exam Room 1! It's the largest and the most prepped. However, Norman… we got some supplies the other day, but, they weren't able to fulfill our order completely. I can use the ultrasound in there to find what I'm looking for, but there's too much blood going on here…"

Dorothy looked at Roger, who was turning pale. Dorothy felt her eyes water. She couldn't lose him, not now. Please, anything but that…

They burst into the exam room, aligning the stretcher with the table, and sliding him carefully on to it. Dorothy tried to help with setting up, but Dr. Plebanski grabbed her firmly and looked at her.

"Child, you've been through enough and you've done well. I need you to put your faith in me, and let me take it from here. I haven't lost anyone yet. I promise, I will save him. It'll be difficult, but I will. Please, go sit down," she said calmly, and she walked Dorothy out of the room, locking the door as she returned.

"Norman, what's Roger's blood type?"

"O+."

"Figures, I'm running low on stock on my O+ and O-."

She grabbed a pair of surgical scissors and began cutting his shirt carefully around the wound first, then moved to the middle. Once the shirt was cut, she ripped it off carefully, leaving the piece surrounding the knife wound remaining. She brought over the heart and pulse monitor and began placing the pads where they needed to go, hooking the wires as she went. She turned on the machine, the machine taking a moment to boot, and it finally gave her the numbers they needed. They were low.

"This is bad! I need to do surgery now. Where's that ultrasound, Carlye?

Carlye had been booting up the ultrasound machine. She rolled it over to Dr. Plebanski. While Dr. Plebanski looked it over, Carlye rubbed jelly lubricant around Roger's uninjured abdomen, near the wound. Dr. Plebanski went to work, scanning and searching…

"Come on Roger… tell me something, tell me something… AND I FOUND IT! You idiot, the knife is near your abdominal aorta, possibly knicked.I can fix it, but… this will get ugly. Carlye, bring me my tray. We're going in!"

Roger began to stir.

"What's… going on? Dorothy?" he asked, weakly.

"Dorothy's fine, Master Roger. Keep still."

"Need to…make sure.."

"KEEP HIM STILL NORMAN! Carlye, where's the anesthesia?"

"We've been out Mary! We were supposed to get some today, but they didn't have any."

"DAMMNIT! I need to get this knife out of him. This isn't going to be pretty! Norman, hold his legs, Carlye his arms! Goddamn it, Roger, why? I'm going to pull this out on three and get ready! We're gonna be in for a bumpy ride!"

Roger felt the knife being removed and screamed in pain, trying to jerk himself free, before a sudden thunderbolt of pain hit him hard, and he passed out once more. However, the heart monitor began beeping erratically, and Dr. Plebanski noticed his heart rate dropping.

"NOT NOW! Heart rate dropping, blood pressure dropping! Norman, he's going into shock! Carlye, get me all the O+ blood packets from fridge. We're gonna need all of them! Norman, get a line ready!"

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Dorothy was rocking back and forth in a chair outside the exam room, covering her hands over her ears. She had been reduced to a catatonic state hearing Roger scream from the room, and there was nothing she could do. Dorothy buried her head into her knees.

Roger please… please don't die. Please… don't go…

Eventually, the room was quiet, aside from Dr. Plebanski barking orders, the heart monitor sounded erratic, the shuffling of feet, and the clinking of tools. Twice, Dorothy heard water splashing into a sink. She tried to bury herself deeper in her knees to block out everything.

Why? Why do they need to kill Roger and keep me alive? Why is there only meant to be one negotiator in this world?

She didn't care anymore. All she wanted was Roger alive, Roger to talk to her, Roger to hold her. She wanted this curse to be over with. If she had been android, she could've stopped this. If she had been android, this wouldn't had happened.

No… no… no…

Dorothy felt herself slipping into darkness, the adrenaline wearing off. But she also felt her mind crawling back to a place she knew, but had no desire of going back to her former depressive state at the beginning of this reset.

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Now she felt afraid. There was fire around her, buildings destroyed. She saw herself running with her father. She heard the dull roar of flying megadeuses above her. She felt absolute terror take a hold of her, now aware she was holding something close to her chest, panting hard. She saw a large looming shadow overtake her and father, a silhouette that looked vaguely familiar. She got pulled away from her father by the crowd as she felt herself slowing down. She wanted to turn around, but fear stopped her until she felt a rumbling behind her.

She felt a strong sudden gust blow her upward, the bundle her arms now being forced from her. A baby boy, with jet black hair, flying higher than her and away from her, as Dorothy came back down suddenly, fading into white. As everything came into view, she saw Soldano, looking at her, dancing for joy…

Dorothy awoke suddenly, gasping for air, but then fell from her chair onto the floor. She got up slowly, aching from pain, and from the exertion from earlier in the day. She heard the doors open to the exam room, and looked up. Norman stepped out, looking exhausted and much older, leaning on the door frame. He saw Dorothy on the floor.

"Miss Dorothy, are you alright?" He walked over to her. She could tell he was tired, but he helped her up into the chair.

"I'm fine, Norman. Just… well… as fine as I can be in a situation like this. How's Roger?"

Norman looked away from Dorothy's face, closing his eyes tightly.

"Norman?" There was a hint of terror in her voice.

Please no… please don't say it… anything but that…

"Master Roger is not doing well dear. We've done what we can, but Dr. Plebanski is still having some trouble with his vitals. He has lost a lot of blood and the clinic is not stocked, dear. She's not sure if he will last the night, and we're on the last pack of blood that matches Master Roger's blood type. If his heart rate and blood pressure do not go up, we may have no choice but to take him to a hospital, despite the risk."

Dorothy face contracted, fighting back the sobbing and howling that wanted to escape her.

"Norman… do something, please! We can't. I promise you, if we do, he's as good as dead! I know they'll find him!"

Norman's face filled with deep sorrow. Dorothy's words, a desperate plea for help, and he couldn't do anything. Dorothy stared at him, waiting for a response. Norman held her tightly, Dorothy finally releasing the sobs from her.

"This is my fault, it's all my fault," she cried. Norman pulled her back firmly, staring at her intently in the eyes as she wept.

"It was never your fault, dear. Never! Do not think that for a moment! Master Roger would be so angry to hear you say that. We must keep faith. He is strong…"

"Norman, how can he be angry at me if he's as good as dead?"

Norman hugged Dorothy tightly, Dorothy sobbing into his shoulder.

"Perhaps I can be of help…"

A man with a yellow pompadour in a yellow suit, with black shirt, and yellow tie walked in the entrance, combing his hair. Jason Beck was the last person Dorothy wanted to see. She pushed herself away from Norman, leaping up, and extending her arms out.

"I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HIM BECK! GET OUT!" Dorothy yelled.

Beck was surprised by Dorothy's actions.

"I'm not here to off him, Toots. I'm here to help."

Norman stood up, placing himself in between Dorothy and Beck.

"With all due respect, Mr. Beck, Miss Dorothy has asked you to leave. We appreciate your…"

"I'm not leaving. You see…"

Angel came into view.

"Your call to help Crow Boy came through on her comm. I was meeting with her about the expansion project as I had noticed some shady shit going on at the construction site. And, since I'm now part of this, I can tell you that I retained my memories of everything that happened before. So, whether you like it or not, I'm here to stay. But first thing's first, we need to save Crow Boy from dying. Because without him, we lose our greatest asset, the megadeus, and we need them both in this crazy game right now."

Dorothy dropped her arms and looked at Norman. Norman looked at her. She turned her gaze back to Beck.

"How can you help Roger?" she asked suspiciously.

"I have connections. Angel told me this clinic is lacking on some supplies, so I made a call. Delivery should be here any moment."

There was a loud screech of brakes out front.

"Speak of the devil, Dove, T-Bone, and Yumi are here with what I need."

Dorothy thought things over for a moment. If he's serious about helping Roger, then it's possible he may know something that we don't. Otherwise, why would he be helping him? I'll need to be careful, but Roger's more important right now.

"Master Roger has lost a lot of blood. He's O+. Please tell me you have some outside," said Norman, praying.

"I have everything. Blood, surgical materials, you name it. I only get the best!"

"Then make yourself useful, and help Roger. Don't do anything stupid or hurt him. Or I swear, right now, if I lose him because of you, I'll call Big O, and crush you on the spot!" Dorothy yelled at Beck.

Dorothy slid her sleeve back revealing her comm, ready to go, breathing hard. It was an empty threat as she would never use Big O for such a purpose, but it made her feel better all the same saying it. Norman stared from Dorothy to Beck anxiously. Angel looked at them as well, wondering what Beck would say.

"Dove, T-Bone! Get those supplies in here now!" Beck yelled at the top of his lungs, not taking his eyes off of Dorothy.

The doors burst open once more, with Dove and T-bone carrying a bright yellow biological hazard box that had blood packets inside.

"WHAT'S THAT INFERNAL RACKET?"

Dr. Plebanski burst from the room, angry. Her white coat was stained with blood, but her look was furious. She glared at Beck.

"I have no time for additional patients today! Please leave!"

"How many times do I have to say this? I'm here to help!"

"This is my clinic and unless I can verify who you are…!"

"STOP!"

Dorothy had yelled, tired of the bickering. She hated Beck, more than anything. But she hated losing Roger even more. Roger might be angry for getting Beck involved, but she had no choice if she wanted to save him.

"He's here, to help us, to help Roger. It's okay, Dr. Plebanski," said Dorothy.

Dr. Plebanski's attitude change in a heartbeat once she saw the box they were carrying and ran over to meet them.

"Come with me you, I need you. Mr.???"

"It's Beck, ma'am."

"Mr. Beck, do you have anything else?"

"I got all the medical supplies you need. Once Dove and T-bone get this stuff delivered, I'll have them bring what you need from the truck."

"I need anesthesia. Do you have that?"

"Yup, sure do!"

"Bring it all, Mr. Beck. I may be able to save Roger's life because of you."

Beck nodded and went back outside to help bring materials. Dr. Plebanski took Dove and T-Bone with her back into the hallway to store the blood that had been delivered, stopping to give two packs of O+ to Carlye as she had poked her head out to see what the commotion was all about. Angel walked over to Dorothy, apprehensively. She felt like this was her fault, and couldn't explain why she felt that way. And she wouldn't had been surprised if Dorothy was angry with her. She approached Dorothy, carrying a small bag.

"Dan called me. They're trying to get the guy to talk. Dan will need a statement from you at the very least to hold him for 24 hours. If Roger…" she cleared her throat, realizing what she was saying, "When Roger wakes up, if he can make a statement and identify him, they can hold him indefinitely. I told him… you probably would not be up for it right away, but I would tell you anyway."

Norman backed away, going back into the room to help Carlye. Angel saw the blood on Dorothy's clothes.

"Dan told me you were covered in blood. I brought a change of clothes. They might be big on you, but…"

She put her hand on Dorothy's shoulder. Dorothy was looking at door as Beck had returned. She shook her head, realizing she had placed her faith in the man wearing gaudy clothing, who had nothing, but contempt for Roger. Yet, losing Roger would be costly for him. The whole situation seemed absurd.

"Let's go," she muttered, turning to go to the back hallway.

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Dorothy went into the ladies' room, cleaning herself up the best she could. Angel had provided a pink shirt and some pink sweats, but they were a little loose on Dorothy. Angel was sitting on a chair, watching Dorothy finish scrubbing the dried blood off her fingernails. Dorothy began to get frustrated, scrubbing harder when it wasn't coming off. She gritted her teeth.

I've placed my hopes in a man who tried to use me three times, twice to hurt Roger, once to bring about the end of the world, and I'm supposed to sit there and trust him??? How does this even make any sense?

Angel got up, realizing Dorothy was extremely stressed, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You keep scrubbing any harder and you'll make your skin raw," she said, moving Dorothy's hands to the water, rinsing off the soap. Dorothy looked away, flinching from the pain. Angel handed her a towel to dry her hands.

"Why was Beck with you today?"

"He just showed up. Thankfully, I was just reviewing some legislation that had come to my table, but he wanted to know why the Paradigm Utility Board was moving in with their remodeling of their plant, since the plant runs right next to the new bridge he's building on the shore with Paradigm, and he hasn't finished with the area yet. Per the contract, we can't do anything until he's done. He wasn't happy about it, that the PUB was in violation. We got into an argument, and then he let it slip that this was the same, and I quote, 'BS Alex used to pull,' which stopped us both in our tracks. And then your call came in. Then he asked me what was going on. Figure no point in hiding it anymore and so, I told him what we had been doing…"

"But why? He tells you that he remembers the reset and you just open your mouth? It could've been a trap…" Dorothy felt her anger rising, angry that Angel would say something to Beck without him confirming which side he was on.

"Dorothy, I know you're upset, but let me finish. He looked at me, he heard Roger was hurt. He asked me if I knew what was going on. I didn't know, so I said it's probably not good. Then he asked me where you would be taking him, and I had a hunch it would be here. I guess he knows of this place, and he asked if they were stocked. He had been having issues with clinics near his area of town. I told him they had been having issues as of late. And then he just grabbed his coat, and was walking out the door. I followed him and here we are. He made some phone calls in the car on the way here, and the next thing I know, he's having this delivery truck pull up behind us, following us."

Dorothy stared at Angel.

"He killed my father and my creator. He tried to use me to hurt Roger, and he played a part in the second reset. Why are you trusting him?"

"You didn't see the look he gave me when he asked if I knew what was going on. He looked… scared."

Dorothy looked dumbfounded. "Why would he be scared about Roger dying?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Something told me it would be alright letting him in on everything, like we needed all the extra help we're going to get."

Dorothy threw the towel in the sink. The day had started to set outside from what she could tell through the window. Norman was still in the exam room, helping Dr. Plebanski and Carlye, but they had not received any updates yet on Roger's status. Dorothy sighed, tired and exhausted from the day's events, but at the same time, she didn't want to go to sleep.

"Let's go outside. See if there's any news…" she said, but Angel's comm went off.

"It's Dan. I need to take this. Will you be alright?"

Dorothy nodded. "I'll be fine," and she left the bathroom, walking down the hall.

Dorothy walked down the hall, the early evening casting long shadows on the walls. She felt herself numb to everything around her, as there was a heaviness in her walk and body movements. She paused in front of the exam room, part of her wanting to take a peek, the other part not wanting to see how bad things were inside. Then she remembered they had locked the door.

She sat on a chair across from the room, leaning her head back against the wall, sighing, and closing her eyes.

I can't protect Roger, I can't help him… why am I even doing this? Why am I a negotiator, if I'm nothing, but a risk? They wanted to kill him. Apparently, having two negotiators was too much, and they were willing to kill him, and keep me. Why am I so important to these people? Why do these people still keep targeting me? Why can't I just be left alone?

She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her head on top of them, wrapping her arms around her head. She felt like she was in a nightmare she couldn't escape from, with nothing to defend herself, or the people she cared about from the unknown. If this is what it was like to feel powerless, it was not a good feeling. She felt like she had been wasting her time with exercising and training. What was the point of it all, if it wouldn't help her in the end?

She heard someone cough and rose her head to find Beck staring at her, along with his entourage. She scowled at them.

"Leave," he muttered to his entourage, and they went outside back to the truck.

Now it was just the two of them, staring at each other. Dorothy with contempt. Beck with a gloomy look.

"You still don't trust me, doncha Toots?"

Dorothy looked away from him. "I really have no interest in what you have to say."

Beck sighed. "I figured as much, but… I need to say a few things. I guess… what's it called… a guilty conscious…"

Beck leaned against the wall, shoving his hands in his pocket, using one foot to anchor himself. When Dorothy still didn't look at him, he sighed.

"I know I can't apologize for what I did, back then. And I'm not here to try. But… I guess with my new-found fortune and company, I've been trying to make up for my mistakes."

"Is that why you're doing this expansion project?" asked Dorothy, still not looking at Beck.

"That's just making money and establishing my name. But I've been trying to give back around where I live. What am I saying? No… I'm talking about something different. Damnnit, this is hard to do."

Dorothy raised her head, and looked over at Beck, confused. Beck continued.

"The day when that… nut and his clown boy went off the deep end, he said something to me as I was finishing the repairs on Big Fau. He was wanting to establish a new world order with a new god, but not with the likes of them. When I asked what he meant, he told me he had a benefactor giving him the tools he needed, but he didn't have the mind he needed, like mine. He wanted me to be part of it, his new world order. Said we shared similar goals, visions, and other creepy shit. I regretted my decision as he kept going on about what he was going to do to the world. The man was twisted."

"So? It doesn't excuse what you did. Even if you did help us. You still played your hand, even if they threatened you with execution. You made your choice!"

Beck flinched slightly at Dorothy's last statement. He sighed.

"Yeah, except screwball let me in on more to what he was doing, and how he broke off with the faction you're fighting now. I think it's them you're up against, and judging from their tactics, it seems they feel confident with their plans this time, if they're willing to start killing people."

"So, why didn't you come forward and tell us sooner?"

"Probably the same reason you didn't come to me? Didn't know if you could trust me or if I could trust you? I like my life now, Toots, I got too much to lose. But at the same time, I don't like this business either. Call it self-preservation, but at the same time, I don't want bite the big one like we did the first time, and nearly on the second."

Beck leaned his head on the wall, trying to find his next words.

"Crow Boy is the best chance we have at beating this, especially with his megadeus. But at the same time, Crow Boy needs you and you need him. I know how you feel about him. You made that apparent twice, when I took over your memory circuits and when I kidnapped him."

Dorothy looked away, scowling, remembering what she had told Roger, and now regretting it that she had said it front of Beck, as it had been very personal. Beck noticed, but ignored her reaction.

"With this injury he has now, he's gonna be down for the count, for a while anyway. I guess he's lucky to have made it this far, if he makes it through the night. So, until he gets better, I'll be stepping in. I'm tired of these bastards messing with my good name and my money. For me, it's about self-preservation and settling a score. After this is done, I won't bother you two anymore. You have my word."

"The word of a no-good thief?" Dorothy asked sarcastically.

"The word of someone who just wants to live their life and move on."

Dorothy looked at Beck, who fished out a pack of cigarettes, shaking one out. Someone who wants to live… like me. She didn't understand why this realization hit her so hard. It was something so simple, and complex at the same time. And yet, she understood it all the same. The desire to be free of this curse, as she had always put it.

"I'm gonna go smoke and check on my people. I'll leave you alone…"

He stopped speaking as Dorothy got up and went over to him, standing in front of him and offering her hand.

"Let me get something straight, I still don't like you and Roger probably won't either. But I understand your plea," She paused, taking a deep breath. Roger's voice crept into her mind. Negotiations require good faith from all sides.

"I would appreciate your help in the task ahead of us."

She offered her hand for him to shake. Beck took it reluctantly, shaking it.

"Don't thank me! It just makes this… WEIRD! UGH!"

Beck stormed off outside, lighting his cigarette, not sure how to take Dorothy thanking him after being mad at him. Dorothy watched him as he left.

Roger's not going to like this, being in Beck's debt again.

Angel walked into the hallway. "Everything okay?" she asked.

Dorothy nodded. "Yeah, just…" she sighed, "just tired."

"Dan's mad I shook off my detail without it being planned. He's on his way here, so he may push for a statement."

"That's fine. I need to do something to kill the time."

Dorothy and Angel sat down in the chairs near the wall. They were silent for a while. Then Dorothy spoke.

"Angel, I think you're not the only one they're after. The guy, when he attacked us… said something that they wanted to keep me alive over Roger. Something about having two negotiators was one too many, and I was the reason the first rebirth failed, well my incarnation I was modeled after. I guess they're talking about the first reset. I don't know. Said his employer was curious why I chose to be human."

Angel looked at Dorothy, stunned. Rebirth? Surely not Rebirth Vs. Unification… what Big Venus told me…

"Did he say anything else? I thought… I thought it was my choice that day."

Dorothy shook her head. "I have no idea what he meant. Maybe it has something to do with them knowing something about your power, like you said?"

Angel looked away, confused. It didn't make sense. She knew she felt that presence, its intentions, and what they wanted to do to Dorothy. She herself made the last desperate attempt to change Dorothy to human. What was going on? What did they still need her for? Were all of her efforts in vain?

"I don't know. I wish I knew. I'm sorry, Dorothy."

Angel put a comforting hand on her, Dorothy bringing her knees up to her head again, wishing desperately for the day to be over.