Leaving his post without permission, Luc returned to the permanent portable office building set up outside of Sound Stage 19 on the Sommet Studios lot. Viviane hid here for the past several days waiting for something to happen while hoping nothing would happen. Bastian lived with her and protected her from the nefarious activity of the Order of One Justice. Aveline, Bastian’s fiancé, lived there, too. Aveline, however, protected Bastian from Viviane.

News of the kidnapping of Anaelle and Marielle spilled all over social media. The students at the High School flooded the Internet with videos shot from their personal communicators. They showed the kidnapping from all angles. If the government was going to try to suppress this news, it was too late to do anything about it. Viviane learned of the kidnappings soon after they occurred and she worried herself sick over it. Anaelle and Marielle were very dear to her. After all, she promised to be their “fairy godmother.”

Upon arriving and seeing Viviane for the first time since she went into hiding, Luc was greeted with a slap across the face! Viviane yelled at Luc, her eyes watery with hurt.

“How could you let them kidnap Anaelle and Marielle!?”

Luc held the side of his face that Viviane slapped. He did not blame her for holding him responsible for the kidnapping of the twins. Luc saw that Viviane was beside herself with worry. He could not find the words to ease her heartbreak.

“I’m sorry, Viviane.”

“What do you mean sorry!?” Viviane laid into him. “You’ve been their protector for almost two years! Aren’t you supposed to be a great marksman? Aren’t you the battle-tested solider who’s seen combat and lived to tell about it? Where was all that confidence and bravado? Where was all that skill and experience when they needed it the most? Huh? Tell me!!!”

Tears ran down Viviane’s cheeks. She burned at Luc for failing to save the girls. Luc was afraid to say anything to be honest, but he did answer Viviane’s questions.

“I….I wasn’t there. My commanding officer reassigned me from the High School to the National Laboratory the day before it happened.”

Viviane blinked away the tears from her eyes. “What did you say?”

“I wasn’t there that day. I was guarding the research offices instead of the High School that day it happened. They took me off High School duty and put in two new recruits in my place who didn’t know what they were doing.”

Viviane disbelieved Luc’s story. She spoke with a slow, threatening voice. “Luc, you’d better not be making this up!”

“No! I swear, that’s exactly what happened! Hey, I understand why you blame me for losing the girls, but I blame myself, too! So, if you want to slap me again, go ahead! I deserve it!”

Viviane’s eyes became resolved. She pulled her arm back for another shot and landed a loud one on Luc’s cheek. Pow!

Then, Viviane collapsed onto the ground and sobbed for a minute or two. She was inconsolable. Luc, with his left cheek rosy from two slaps, kneeled down and watched her cry. He was afraid to say anything more and he was afraid to touch her without making her more angry.

Aveline held onto Bastian. They were silent. They watched the whole drama since Luc returned to the trailer and they knew better than to interfere. However, Bastian broke the silence with a question.

“So, Luc, why did you come back, then?”

Luc stood up and moved over to Bastian and Aveline, leaving Viviane to grieve for a bit. He tried to answer Bastian’s question.

“I have to take Viviane back to the National Laboratory so she can meet with Doc Renard.”

On hearing this, Viviane’s ears perked up.

“What does he want with her?” asked Bastian.

“I don’t know,” replied Luc, “but he kept pleading with me to bring her back to him. Said something about the Transportal log data he had to explain to her and that only she’d understand.”

“Why only her?” Aveline asked.

“I don’t know!” Luc threw his arms up into the air. “He’s the genius, not me!”

Bastian had an idea. “Viviane is not just a supermodel, you know. She’s a very gifted mathematician and almost has her Ph.D. in theoretical quantum physics. It may be that Dr. Renard thinks that Viviane is sharp enough to understand what’s happening with the data.”

Luc lowered his arms at last. “I don’t know nothin’ about that. Doc said by bringing Viviane back to him that would help Anaelle and Marielle more than anything else I can do for them. I owe it to him, so that’s why I’m here. I don’t have orders to bring Viviane back and sneak her into the research offices. I might get into trouble for this, but to hell with it!”

Viviane, who heard everything said between Luc and Bastian, picked herself up off the floor and moved over to Luc. She wiped her tears off her face and, although her eyes were a bit swollen and puffy and her complexion could have looked better, she faced Luc and let him know what she wanted to do going forward.

“Take me back. I want to do what I can for Anaelle and Marielle.”

“Like, right now?” asked Luc.

Viviane was about to say something, but she felt all over her face and then she twisted at the waist and looked down at herself from all sides.

“Can you wait a bit longer while I put on a change of clothes and do my makeup? I feel completely naked without makeup.”

Luc smiled a bit at hearing this from Viviane. It meant that Viviane was still herself somewhere in this crazy mess the world was turning into. He decided he would wait for her.

“Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”