Nate walked out of the building and took a stroll towards the park and into a small section of woods that had been planted recently. He moved quickly and by the time he finally came to a stop he was actually breathing a little heavily and leaning against a tree, mumbling to himself.

Ciara knelt low on her string ray. She hovered along the tree line, just out of sight... The darkness of night hiding her presence

"... can't be right" Nate mumbled to himself, "it must be a mutant" he glanced around briefly, his eyes glowing as he searched for any signs of people. Tugging on a tree branch it revealed a number pad which he quickly typed in three digits into, causing a section of the ground to give way to a staircase heading down. Just as he was out of sight, it began to close.

'No way...' Ciara's stomach began to sink slowly as the ground gave way. No, this couldn't be right... After all when she'd been unable to walk and got captured Nate was there... and so was Sinister..

"Crap." She hissed lightly, nose diving down and just making it in before it closed, half of her string ray getting cut off. She moved what water she had left into her hair and slowly crept down the stairs.

Nate rounded a corner at the bottom of the stairs where it lead straight out into Mr. Sinister's laboratory. He himself transformed into Sinister as he approached a large computer screen, still talking to himself, "I have to find him-or her perhaps." he mumbled as he typed away at the computer, pulling up everything he could find on the writer of the comic book series, "so very important..."

Ciara froze, hiding behind the corner. No... It was true. Nate was... Had he been Nate all along? Or had he replaced Nate? Whatever the reason, her hands couldn't stop shaking and a few tears rolled down her face.

'Run...Run!' Her body cried but her mind kept her in place for several mins before she was able to get up enough courage to look away and flee.

As she fled to the exit an alert was set off and Sinister turned around sharply to see her escaping into the staircase, "What?! NO!" he yelled, taking off after her.

Her heart began to pound as she heard his footsteps. 'Run.Run' The exit door was still closed. "No.No.no." She panicked, surrounding her hand in water to try and punch her way through the trap door. But it won't budge. Was it the strength of the metal of the fact she was terrified.

"What have you done with Nate?!" She yelled, turning toward him, pushing herself as far up the stairs as she could.

"ah.... Ciara" Sinister sighed, standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking up at her, "I didn't want you to see me like this" his body shifted, becoming the appearance of Nathaniel Essex once again, "I am Nate. Always have been."

"You... You're Lying!" But she knew he wasn't. "How dare you..." She walked down the stairs and stopped in front of him. "How dare you make me care about you." Tears began to stream down her face. Her hands turned to fists as she pounded on his not longer silver chest. "I hate you! You ruined everything for me! I don't care about you. I don't care about you!" She yelled, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions.

Nate barely moved as she slammed her fists into him. Finally he grabbed her wrists to make her stop, "well that's just a pure lie, isn't it?" he replied, "you wouldn't be saying that unless you indeed cared about me Ciara."

Ciara grit her teeth together, "WHY? Why would you make me care about you? Your terrible old fart?!"

"No need for names" Mr. Sinister replied with a calmness to his voice, "Now, I'm sure you have plenty of questions, and there are many things that we need to discuss, but for now we're just going to have to put all that on hold because it is neither the time nor the place for it all" he told her while glancing over his shoulder into the lab.

The water in her hair turned into long blades all pointed at Nate. She grabbed him by the collar, pulling out the panic button. "You're not going anywhere. Answer me, damn it!"

Nate stared back at her, "because you can't kill someone you like" he replied evenly as a needle slipped out from his sleeve and he stabbed it into Ciara's side.

Ciara squeezed the button upon feeling the needle in her side. "What...what the hell.." She stumbled back onto the stairs, ripping it out of her side. The needle shattered, "What did you just inject me with?!"

"Shh, it's quiet time now" Sinister replied as the sleeping drug spread through Ciara's system. he moved in close to take the beacon from her and shut it off-although it was still probably too late.

Ciara fought to stay awake but it was useless. Soon she was out-cold.

But a voice brought her back around.

"Ci-Ci! Ci-Ci!" Her eyes popped open and there stood the chibi Sinister in the white room in her mind. "Fix it!"

She sat up and looked down at the doll that was pushed into her hands. She sighed, "Would you stop breaking me?" C.S. just looked up at her with his cute eyes. "Fine..." She sewed the doll up and handed it back to him.

"Time to wake up now." He proclaimed once she was done her work.

When Ciara awoke she was safe and sound, at home in her bed. Everything was just as she had left it, she was even curled up in her PJ's.

She rolled onto her back. Had it all been a dream? That's right. A terrible dream. She covered the light shining in the window and got up. "What a terrible dream." She thought out loud. "Thank goodness..." She slipped into a dress and headed into the main house for something to eat.

While she was getting herself something to eat, there was a ring at the doorbell.

Ciara had a piece of toast in her mouth when the doorbell rang again. "Huh? Guess I'm the only one here." She headed to the front door and opened it.

Forge was chilling there, he smiled at Ciara, "Hey, just the lady I was looking for. How are you Ciara?" he asked, taking a peek down the hall behind her to see if anyone else was there. He was speaking cheery enough but his eyes were shifty and nervous, signifying that this was more than just a friendly visit.

"Oh Forge! I haven't seen you in awhile. I don't think anyone is home right now... But let us go somewhere more private." She said noting his shifty eyes. And she lead him back to her small house. "Coffee, Tea?" She asked, making herself some.

"Coffee please" Forge nodded as he found a chair to sit in. He checked his wrist-something that looked like a watch but probably was so much more than that. Satisfied he let out a sigh and relaxed, "So Ciara, how have you been lately?"