Instead of using another illusion spell, I used Presence to hide most of my hair and used it to distort the light around my face. It wasn't a great disguise and wouldn't survive an up close examination, though. I went to the lobby of the apartment building and called a personal conveyance. It showed up a few minutes later and I climbed in and told the driver Grace's address. We drove there and I asked him to wait. I didn't get out and looked up at the building and into Grace's apartment. She looked like she was freaking out a little, was only half-dressed, and ran around her apartment almost at random.

“I'll be right back.” I said and stepped out of the hover car and went inside. I used Presence Run and ran up the stairwell, rather than wait for the lift, then I stopped in front of her door and knocked twice.

Grace let out a scream and jumped and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Who is it?”

“I'm afraid to say in case it makes you freak out more.” I said.

“Ohgoddessohgoddessohgoddess...” Grace said in a continuous stream and she shook.

“Can I come in?”

“NO!” Grace yelled and took several breaths. “I'm... I'm not ready!”

“I know.” I said. “I can see through walls, remember?”

Grace looked down at herself and then looked at her door, then she started to cry. I used Presence to open the locks and opened the door, shut it right away, and walked over to her. I took her into my arms and held her as she cried. She was an emotional wreck and I formed a temporary connection with her and used several techniques to calm her down and let her get a hold of herself. She held onto me as I slowly rubbed her back and she trembled from shock.

“H-Hunter, I... I didn't mean...”

“It's all right.” I said.

“No, I said some things that...” Grace wiped at her eyes and looked up at me for a second, then she ducked her head and rested it against my chest. “I'm so embarrassed and I didn't know if I could face you after what I said.”

“You seemed genuinely happy for a date, though.” I said and she laughed a little.

“I was. Am. Oh, goddess.” Grace said and kept trembling, despite my best efforts.

“I think I might have to cancel our date.” I said and she visibly relaxed. “I wanted to come here and tell you in person and not with a message.”

“R-really? Why?” Grace asked without looking up.

“I'm afraid I really poured on the charm last night and I wrangled a date out of you while you were intoxicated.” I said. “I kind of had the same conversation with Kris not that long ago and I told her that I didn't want to take advantage of her... and you.”

Grace took in a huge breath and let it out. “And me?”

“Making plans when we're both drunk wasn't the smartest thing for us to do.” I said with disappointment. “It gave us both some unreasonable expectations, didn't it?”

Grace took another breath and looked up at my face. She saw my sadness and her hand reached up and cupped the side of my face. “Y-yes, I... I think...”

“You don't have to say anything.” I said and let her go, then took her hand from my face and kissed the palm before I let it go. “I'll see you in a couple days back on the ship, assuming your duties don't have you too busy to visit me in the passenger compartment.” I added the qualifier in case she needed the excuse to not come and see me.

“I can't promise that I'll see you there.” Grace said and I knew she was grateful for the excuse that I had given her. She was keeping her embarrassment to herself about what she said and didn't let it show.

Grace wasn't normally a woman that would casually offer to sleep with someone like that. She was the kind of woman that didn't want to start a relationship knowing full well that the other person wasn't going to be around for long. She knew I was going to leave when the salvage contract expired and I knew that she wasn't going to leave her home to come with me. She had worked too hard to get where she was to give it up, just for a chance at a relationship with me.

“Goodnight.” I said and she nodded. I turned around and left her apartment, locked the locks, then used Presence Run to go back down to the ground floor and left the building. “Downtown, please.” I said to the driver after I climbed into the hover car. He added power to the engine and we took the next corner and the next to face the city center and he drove me there. He had to slow down as we approached a street with a pile of hover cars and a huge crowd of people.

“What's going on there?” The driver asked rhetorically.

I turned my head and looked to see a small clothing store was completely swamped with customers, some of which were staring at the large picture of me in the blue pinstriped suit and the man that ran the shop hanging on my arm. I chuckled at his choice of picture and spoke.

“That's the shop Hunter got his stylish suit.”

“Oh, damn!” The driver said and laughed. “I'm surprised the street's not closed off! Ha ha!”

I laughed as well and told him to stop at the restaurant Tessa and I ate at the day before. I paid him and went inside, waited for a few minutes to get a small table, then sat down to look at the menu. It didn't take long for a woman to approach me.

“I'm sorry to bother you.” The woman said. “My friends and I noticed you wearing a suit similar to the one Hunter wore yesterday.” She said and waved at her friends.

I looked over at them and three very well-dressed women gave me a little wave. I wiggled my fingers at them and one of them giggled.

“How did you get it?” She asked, curious.

“I got it before the big rush today.” I said and she nodded.

“I see that you're sitting alone.” She said and looked at the single place setting. “Would you like to join us?” She asked and genuinely wanted me to accept.

“I couldn't possibly intrude on your friendly gathering.” I said.

“We would enjoy the company.” She said. “It isn't often we meet a lone man anywhere respectable.”

“Where do you go that's not respectable?” I asked and she laughed.

“Please, sit with us and bring that humor with you.” The woman said and held a hand out to me.

“Why not.” I said and stood up and took her hand, and she took in a sharp breath as she felt my energy. “I believe I danced with two of you last night.” I said and the four of them stared at me with wide eyes. “You all bought me drinks, too.”

“No, we... the only one that...” One of them started to say and I stopped distorting my face and absorbed the Presence hiding my hair. The entire restaurant came to a standstill and stared at me, as did the four women.

“Oh, my.” The one that had invited me to eat, whispered.

“So, what's a good dish here?” I asked. “I only had one of the specials yesterday.”

“You were here yesterday?” One of them asked.

“I was in disguise.” I whispered loudly. “My normal appearance causes a bit of an uproar if I'm not careful.”

“L-like n-now.” One of them said and I chuckled.

“That's why I try to sneak in when I can.” I said. “I was worried when I had to cancel my date that I would have to eat alone tonight, then four beautiful women asked me to eat with them.” I didn't have to look at them to see their flattered faces. “The least I could do was let you know it was really me.”

The one who invited me hadn't spoken since I revealed myself, so I looked into her eyes.

“I'm not married.” She said automatically.

I held in my laugh at her blatant statement. “Even if you were, we're just sharing a meal.” I said and two of the other three women relaxed. “Believe me, I'm not here to cause anyone distress.”

“T-tell that to the waitress.” One of them said and I turned to smile at the woman that stood about ten feet away. Her legs and her hands shook as she stared at me. I stood up and held a hand out to her. She hesitated for about ten seconds, then she took a step forward and took my hand. I touched her with Presence and let her feel it, then used a calm technique on her. She closed her eyes and didn't fight the feeling as it went through her, then she relaxed and opened her eyes.

“Could we bother you for a few minutes as we order our meals?” I asked, and she nodded. I sat down and she held my hand for a few more seconds, then she reluctantly let it go and took out a datapad.

“What would you like to order?”

“What would you say is the best tasting dish?” I asked. “Not the most expensive, the tastiest.”

“You want to try the smoked hacklesnout with a side of crab legs.” The waitress said.

“Sounds good.” I said. “I'd like one of those.”

“As would I.” One of the women said.

“I want the frecknash steak with a slice of jarsnip.” One of the married ones said. “I'll regret it tomorrow when I have to exercise twice as long; but, it's worth it.” She said with a grin. “We only meet once a week normally and we snuck in a second one last night!”

The other women laughed, gave their orders to the waitress, and she left to get the food.

“That was so much fun last night.” The other married one said.

“I hope your husband doesn't get angry about dancing with me.” I said.

“Angry?” She laughed and lightly touched my arm. “He told me that if it happened, I better get footage of it somehow!”

“Well, one of the news stations recorded all of it, so I doubt you'll have to wait long before they release it.” I said. “I don't know if they'll air it or sell it for private viewing only, though.”

“It depends on what can get them the most exposure and revenue.” The one who invited me to eat said. “I'd say it will be a mix of both. They'll air the special for viewership numbers and then run ads for exclusive footage that you have to pay credits for.”

“You seem to know a lot about that.” I said.

“Her ex-husband runs an editing department.” The other non-married one said. “She knows more about his business than he does.”

“Isn't that always the way?” One of the married women asked and they all laughed again.

It didn't take long for the food to arrive and we all enjoyed polite conversation and ate. We stayed there for nearly half an hour and just talked, the food long gone. I looked at the time and noticed how late it was getting, so I asked for the check. The waitress came over and wasn't sure where to put the bill, mainly because all four women tried to say they were taking care of it. I took it before anyone else could and I saw on the paper that my meal and wine weren't on it.

I gave the waitress a look with raised eyebrows and she blushed, then I gave a warm smile to the women at the table. “Ladies, thank you for allowing me to join you for this meal and for sharing some excellent conversation with me.” I said as I stood and took out a five hundred credit chip and handed both the bill and the chip to the waitress. “If you will excuse me, I need to head back to my hotel room to get some rest.”

“It was our pleasure.” The one who invited me said.

“Oh, definitely.” The other non-married woman said. “Would you like...”

“Please accept my apologies.” I said and bowed my head to her. “I need to settle some personal matters before I can consider anything else.”

Not only did she sigh, but nearly half the restaurant did as well. I let a low chuckle escape, turned from the table, and walked towards the door. As I did, I slowly made most of my hair disappear and distorted my facial features. When I stepped out into the street, no one quite recognized me. Instead of calling for a car, I covered myself in Presence and used Stealth and Presence Run to head back to my hotel.

*

“Dammit, I lost him.” A man said into his wrist communicator. “I thought you said this surveillance system was the best on the market.”

“It is.” The woman's voice responded. “Since we know he can hide himself from The Order for a year before being caught, losing him twice in one day shouldn't be surprising.”

The man grunted. “He's coming your way anyway.”

“I'm ready for him.” She said and cut the communication.

*

“Are we really going to let this play out?” An armored man asked his partner.

“We called it in, so all we can do is wait.” His partner said.

“Well, that's stupid.” The armored man said. “What if...”

“We were ordered to wait.” His partner said and shrugged.

The armored man sighed. “If anyone dies...”

“That's not my department.” His partner said with a smile.

“You really get off on this stuff, don't you?” The armored man asked.

“Government officials playing with a foreign celebrity and endangering the public is the best mix for chaos.” His partner said with a laugh.

*

I stopped running outside my hotel and had the distinct feeling of being watched. Normally I ignored that feeling, mainly because everyone watched me while I was out and it was difficult to figure out who was the potential threat. This time, I was still using my stealth technique. I moved off from the building and the feeling faded.

They're watching the entrance. I thought. Should I reveal myself or bypass giving myself away?

For the first time since I had come back from my summoned adventure, I unleashed my full detection range. My mind relaxed as I stopped holding it back and I 'saw' everything within two miles of my current position.

*

“Oh, SHIT!” The woman yelled as a wave of Presence fell over her. Her body trembled as the strength of it made her knees weak and she dropped to the floor. “Oh, goddess! Please protect me!”

She felt a counter wave of Presence cover her and she took a deep breath to try and calm down.

*

I felt a huge Presence disturbance two buildings over and activated Presence Run. I didn't hold that technique back, either. I knew I only had seconds to catch whoever it was, now that they had felt the strength of my Presence, so I took off and was inside the building and up the stairs in less than a second. I hadn't been careful with my steps and left small cracks where my feet hit the sidewalk, the stairs, and the hallway.

I used Presence to sever the door from its hinges and jumped into the penthouse apartment and stood right in front of a woman that was dressed in a suit of very expensive combat armor. I was still using my stealth technique and yet she stared right at me.

“I got you.” She said with a grin and pushed a button before I could stop her.

*

The night sky lit up and became bright as day as a building near the city center exploded.

“Well, damn.” The armored man said as his helmet visor turned black to block the bright light from the explosion. Both he and his partner looked at their internal displays and read the reports. A building near his target had practically vaporized instantly and the whole city was rocked by an earthquake. Windows were shattered in the surrounding buildings and bystanders suffered temporary blindness and deafness within a hundred feet of the explosion. The pressure wave caused a lot of physical damage as well and a small group of people who had been on a nearby street were severely injured.

“Okay, even I didn't expect this to happen.” His partner said.

“I told you we should have done something.” The armored man said. “We don't know how many people died inside that building.”

“It wasn't our target, so we don't have any information on it.” His partner said. “If we tried to do something, we might have set off whatever that was instead.”

“They're sending in the troops, so we better go.” The armored man said.

“We were told to wait.” His partner said.

“Do you really want to stand here, again, and do nothing?”

“You do realize there's still her partner in play, right?”

The armored man sighed as his helmet visor cleared and he could see again. “I think I hate this job.”

*

The man watched his female partner's position disappear from his display and he closed his eyes. May the Goddess embrace you. He thought in prayer and opened his eyes. He thought about trying to make his getaway while the city was in a panic, then decided he would stand out if he left too early. He would wait for the evacuation notices and then make his way out with the rest of the population. With luck, he would also get confirmation that the target was eliminated as well.

He packed up all of their things into the special container and hit the button to incinerate all of the evidence of their investigations. Even if someone found out that he was responsible and got caught, there would be nothing that tied him to his partner and she could be disavowed and be assigned all of the blame for the innocents that must have died. He sighed at the loss of such a great partner and turned on the vidscreen to watch the news and see when the evacuation would start.

*

Barely thirty seconds after the explosion, something like an air raid siren blared and every single building in the surrounding city block dropped metal shutters to cover its windows and all of the people inside those buildings followed the evacuation plan and went down into the large underground basement that was connected by tunnels to all the other buildings. Only residents knew of this and had planned an orderly evacuation if anything happened.

A rescue team was sent to the building that had exploded to investigate and discovered that the tunnel and the basement access was still intact. When they approached the exit to enter the building, they prepared for the worst and opened the door, only to be met with a sight they had never expected.

Twelve adults and two children stood in the middle of the remains of the building with astonished looks on their faces. They were inside a large slightly blue bubble and a few of them stared straight up. The rescue team were astonished when they looked up and saw an unconscious man on top of that bubble. Most of his clothing was gone, as was most of his hair, and his skin was covered in third degree burns.

“Help him!” One of the kids said loudly.

The rescue team ran over and weren't sure how to get up to the man, then one of the team picked up a long piece of debris and ran around the bubble and pushed on the body. The rest understood and prepared to catch him, then the body slid down the bubble and they caught him.

“It's Hunter!” One of the rescue team exclaimed as she recognized the half-burned face. One of his eyes was missing and she almost cried, because she absolutely loved his eyes. His right hand was missing, too.

“Deploy the stretcher.” One of the others said and the man next to him pulled something from his backpack and hit the button. It popped out and inflated and hovered beside the team. Hunter was gently placed on it and med-packs were slapped onto him and his wrist was tied off to stop the bleeding.

“Take him to the temporary med station.” The team leader said and four of his team grabbed the handles and ran with the stretcher between them.

“What about us?” One of the adults asked.

“I don't know what to tell you.” The team leader said as he looked at the big slightly blue bubble that they were in. “I've never seen anything like this.”

“I have.” One of the male adults inside the bubble said. “It's the same color as the thing that Hunter used at the bar during that floating dance.” He said. “They played that footage a lot.”

“Is that why we were floating, dad?” One of the kids asked.

“I believe so.” He said and put a hand on his son's shoulder.

“Since Hunter's not here to stop this, whatever it is, all we can do is wait for...” The team leader started to say and the bubble shimmered a little and faded away. “... never mind.” He said. “Let's get you to the med station.”

“We're fine.” One of the women said. “Whatever that light was, it didn't hit us.”

“Hunter protected us and brought us all together!” The other child nearly yelled.

Maybe at the cost of his own life. The team leader thought. He would never say that out loud, though. His eyes roamed over the people around him and he saw the looks on their faces. He knew they were having very similar thoughts and they didn't say anything, either.