Mary may be able to materialize and move at speeds impossible for most eyes to detect.... but not tonight. On this long delayed mission her heart is heavy and her steps are slow. But her head is held high and she does not walk alone.

With her is a friend that she met since her return to Rhy?Din only a few days ago. But he wasn?t really just a friend was he? No, the connection between them was impossible to deny and was growing with every moment they spent together.

She tried not to look at him, though they walked arm in arm through the West End. She stared straight ahead at her goal. When it had first come into view she had almost lost her nerve. A very large office building that overshadowed all others for quite some distance. She forced herself to keep her eyes (currently an ice blue) focused on it steadily.

She would pause as they walked past the front gate for but a moment to ring the bell to a specific tune that would alert those still inside that she was coming. Step one complete. A deep breath was taken before she would lead Joshua to the warehouse next door. It appeared broken down and unoccupied but it was still sealed up tight as a tomb, exactly as she left it.

When they reached the front door they would come to a stop and she would finally turn to meet Joshua?s eyes. ?This is as far as you can come with me? Even once I get this door to open you cannot step inside until I have disabled the security system from within the office?.?

She hesitated; keeping up this facade of confidence was not as easy as it looked. She didn?t want to go in alone but that was the way it had to be. She reasserted her prior statement to make sure it was clear, ?Do not walk through that door no matter what. Right now, anyone steps over the threshold but me? will surely die.?

Mary gave a slow nod to his words and a small smile. She appreciated his gesture as she felt his heart beat under her hand. A strong heart that already mattered to her more than her own. As he stepped back she let her eyes fall shut and took one more steadying breath, as she readied herself to take this plunge which she feared more than any she had taken in her life.

The lock down mode appeared to be still intact. When she entered her nine digit code into the key pad, a piece of the wall opened up. A series of tests had to be passed before the door would unlock. First was a retinal scan but that alone wasn?t enough ? what if someone stole her eye? So second was the spit test, it wasn?t just a requirement that it be her spit though. That could also be obtainable by others. As she could turn her spit to acid the ph was tested and had to be at the precise level she had programmed it to. She remembered with a perfect supernatural memory how she had set it and made sure it was right.

Next was the needle she put her wrist on. It pierced the flesh and began pulling blood from it, sensing not only that it was coming from a living body but also detecting a poison that she willed into her blood as it flowed. It was good Anne had gone to such lengths to make sure the door couldn?t be activated without all this, as any who got in would face that which was also protecting the portal that led to the main office building.

The door opened and she stepped in without hesitation. Assuming everything was working correctly, she wouldn?t be obliterated by the traps and auto-turrets that would destroy anyone without her DNA signature who were to step inside. This was overkill maybe, but it would protect against any who might have managed to force Mary into this. Like anyone could force Mary to do anything.

Apparently the computer was still in working order and had detected her for who she was, seeing as how she wasn?t torn apart in an instant. With one backward glance and her best attempt at a brave smile to Joshua she walked into the hallway as lights that had been dark these past four years turned on.

Striding swiftly to the elevator and stepping inside she started to begin feeling the pain again? The memories and d?j? vu were agonizing but she refused to stop now. She had come too far and she had to do this. It wasn?t going to get any easier. So she dialed in the sequence on the elevator pad that would activate the portal ? causing the adjacent door to open into a hallway in the office building.

She walked in and stopped, stunned for a moment by what she saw. Mei Mei stood a respectable distance back. She had all the other slaves lined up behind her with their heads bowed in perfect discipline. Mary was unsure how she felt seeing them all like that? the slaves had always been a part of the Bonny Corporation? And it was touching to see them all there waiting expectantly and ready. Like she had never left. Yet it also made her sad.

When her eyes returned to Mei Mei they shifted to an affectionate brown. Mary had come to have a very close relationship with her before leaving - so close that jealousy had almost lead to Anne's selling her. Anne did not approve of Mary's decision not to brainwash Mei Mei, much less her decision to train her.

A smile graced her features as she looked at her in silence for a moment. Mei Mei bowed her head saying, ?My Lady.? Almost before she could raise her face Mary would embrace her tightly. Taking a step back from the wide eyed girl she looked her over, pleased to find she was doing so well despite her imprisonment. There was guilt over leaving Mei Mei waiting so long but she was here now.

After that most informal greeting, she took the report Mei Mei offered to her. She looked it over with eyes changing back to their calculating blue as she took in the wealth of information with preternatural speed. Mei Mei had not only maintained the computer and security systems, she had quelled a slave rebellion, and began research and production on something that was all her own.

Mary looked at her in silence until Mei Mei turned to look down to the floor as though awaiting a reprimand. ?Mei Mei?. You have proven that I was right to delegate responsibility and entrust charge to you. I am proud of you for not just taking care of problems that would have been enough to keep anyone overwhelmed in the face of these circumstances? I approve of the initiative you have taken with the company?s research.?

A glance was given back to the report. ?Medicines? vaccines? and cures to?? Another pleased smile as she looked back up to Mei Mei, seeing her with new eyes. ?You have grown from my promising young prot?g? into an accomplished young woman capable of command.?

?I had come here to shut things down but this?? Was said as she motioned to the report. ?This could really help a lot of people and save many lives. So I wish for you to retain your position of management and work for me? as a free woman now.? A pause was given before adding, ?If that is your wish of course.?

She had no idea if the beautiful girl who had been stuck in here for so long would want anything either than to get as far away from this place as possible.

Mary stiffened when Mei Mei asked the question. Mary tried to keep the sorrow from her voice but her eyes were haunted as they became a dark and depthless brown. ?My beloved mei-mei jing? No one is coming back. And Anne is? she has not returned...? The statement was finished hesitantly. It was so hard to say it out loud.

Those words hung in the air as Mary turned back to the elevator and the key pad next to the door. It had different codes for locking up at different levels of security. She entered in the code which disabled those awful, yet necessary, machines in the warehouse. Composing herself she returned her attention to Mei Mei.

?The lock down has officially ended. At the door downstairs you will find one Joshua Marks waiting patiently. He is a personal friend. Please show him to the den and see that he is comfortable while I take care of a few things.? Mei Mei would know exactly what she meant by those words.

With a nod to Mei Mei she slipped down the hall, past the expectant slaves who had been dreaming of her return for so long. They may have been disappointed but Mei Mei didn?t give them any time to realize it as she readied them to entertain what was obviously a very important guest.

Joshua was normally a patient man, as he was used to having to hunt down the bounties that he hunted. Yet this time, he felt like some caged beast with a meal dangled just out of reach as he watched Mary head inside. He did catch her best attempts at a brave smile, which just made him all the more impatient. Now pacing back and forth in front of that building, with a glance each time he just felt a twang of sorrow or pain.

He came to a stop for a moment when a woman came out, just watching her for a moment. Upon hearing that Mary wanted him to come inside now. He wasted no time in moving forward, remaining silent as he was lead inside. Then towards a waiting room, with a glance to the others that were there as well to the various other items.

He then leveled his gaze on Mei Mei. " I require nothing at the moment. Minus one thing. " Keeping his gaze on Mei Mei, as he had noted the scent in the air and ignored it. " If I sense that Mary needs me, just tell me where she is at. " Turning to lean against the wall, as he closed his eyes. Allowing his senses to block out the temptations around him to focus on one presence. Mary Read.

Mei Mei might just notice how he said Mary's name. It was one of tenderness as well as devotion. While the girls around him had their own beauty, he only had his eyes on her former boss. Nothing would change that.

Mary made her way to yet another locked door. There were a lot of those in the Bonny Corporation. Upon entering she collapsed to her knees ? it was like being hit by a ton of bricks, like the weight of everything came crashing down on her all at once. This was a private room that she and Anne had shared. The room reflected Anne?s style from top to bottom.

Anne was everywhere her gaze fell. Her smell still lingered, in the air, on everything. Each item, each piece of furniture held the memories of the hours that they had spent here during the times that work kept them from leaving the building. Mary?s eyes filled with tears as she rose. No matter how many times she fell she would get back up. Her fingers traced across a vanity table covered in beauty products that Anne had lavished herself with ? though she had no need of them.

Stealing herself, she crossed one of the walk-in-closets full of clothes. What would Anne say if she knew how desperately thin Mary?s wardrobe had grown. But as Mary went through she couldn?t bear to take any of them. All she could think was how Anne had looked at her in this dress, what she had said when she had this suit custom designed, and in this negligee? oh the loving words Anne had spoken before ravishing her? At long last she had to accept that there was hardly a thing she?d be able to take with her.

At the back she reached what she really needed. Her favored outfit ? all leather and designed for her to fight and hide her weapons with ease. There was about ten of them, all the exact same. Anne was nothing if not prepared?. It always came back to her no matter what didn?t it?

Mary threw as many of them as would fit into one of those fancy, overpriced suitcases Anne had insisted on buying. But as she made to move out with them her eyes fell on the bed? There was a suit that had been left behind in the hurry to leave? The last thing Anne had been wearing. Mary stepped rhythmically towards it as though in a trance.

Shaking hands carefully lifted the garment to her face, which she buried in it. Fully absorbing the smell before holding it tightly to her chest, her head nuzzling down into the garment. Unable to release her hold she let herself down onto the bed slowly? till she was curled up in a ball. Holding to her beloved?s jacket as though life itself was dependent upon her grip.

Though her eyes clenched shut against it, the tears of blood fell freely to the white silk bed covers beneath her. What would Anne say if she had seen her bed ruined in such a way? The thought made her cry all the harder. But she knew her Lady Love would never have actually worried about a material possession such as sheets in a time like this. People may have thought Anne was materialistic but Mary knew the real Anne Bonny. She knew Anne would throw her arms around her and hold her? until she made it all better. As she always had.

But Anne wasn?t here anymore and there was nothing left to hold but this damn jacket. The grief overcame her then as she screamed out Anne?s name and dissolved into uncontrollable sobs. She lost track of time as she lay shaking with the tears and the infinite memories that she couldn?t stop from flowing through her. Every little things seemed so important now, every look and every touch remembered and clung to with such desperation that she felt she would be torn apart by the violence of her loss.

She felt suffocated, there was no air left for her in this room, it had all gone with Anne?s absence. She had to leave but could not make her legs support her, and the weight of her grief for her love, for Anne.

The jacket fell from her hands when Joshua embraced her. Blinded by tears she couldn?t see him but she felt him and that was all that mattered now. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she cried into his shoulder. Quivering lips whispered to him as she nuzzled against his neck. ?Joshua? You came for me? You?re here? You?re here?? Repeating his name and other words incoherently as he held her.

At long last she had cried herself into a delirium. There had been poison in her and she had bled it out in her tears. Painfully, but its absence became tranquility as she finally stilled.

?A fine sight I must be. The great Mary Read ? brought down by a jacket!? She was laughing and crying at the same time now. She was so happy to see Joshua when her eyes cleared enough to seek out his gaze. ?I was so overwhelmed I didn?t know where I was anymore? and I didn?t know where you were? And that shouldn?t be?. Not ever.?

She found herself smiling at his words. The two of them were so much the same. An understanding existed that transcended all need for explanations. It simply was.

She whispered back those words he spoke. That which held great meaning to her, ?Together? Always? Now and Forever?? Returning his gaze with equal love and affection she said these words as vows.

They had abandoned any pretense and given themselves fully to one another. There was no reason to hold back anymore. For in his heart - she found her own.

Mary blushed as she grinned at the confused Mei Mei. Positively glowing as she glanced back at Joshua and then again to Mei Mei.

"Mei Mei Jing, I believe you've met Joshua Marks. Please add to the records that he is to be given 'top priority' and 'highest status' and any other such term we can think to add to emphasize his importance..." Was that a giggle? Couldn't be, Mary doesn't behave in such silly ways.

"He can come and go and has clearance for all official and unofficial Bonny Corp business. And all that good stuff et cetera et cetera...." A sweep of her hand was given.

No hint was given the Mei Mei thoughts any of this unusual, aside from her contemplative silence. She tossed Mary a new company cell phone. "Thanks. So yeah, add that to the report and keep up the brilliant work. Call if you need anything at all." A wink to Mei Mei before attention returns to Joshua.

Almost breathless with excitement, hazel eyes now filled with an amorous twinkle as everything else seemed to melt away. Leaning in close to whisper in his ear. "Take me home."