Stefan POV-

If it were up to Stefan, there would be no reason to leave his lab ever. He would most likely stay locked up in the underground military facility for the rest of his life until he brought Claire home.

Now that option seemed more temping than ever.

Stefan was accustomed to see many news of Mianite updates, all about Claire of course. Every now and then they would criticize him for his mistake but he had grown accustomed to that.

Now seeing his face in the giant screen on the wall almost every day was more traumatizing than ever because that wasn't him at all.

Now he knew how the others probably felt, well all except Jordan. They were probably mortified by seeing someone who looked like them and being judged as if that was them, as if they somehow had control over those actions.

In the past two days, thats all anyone ever talked about.

By the looks of it he was the great villan Furia....

Now the world hated him more than before if that was even a possibility. Most often, people said that not only had Stefan sent an innocent girl into another world but now he was gonna hurt her there too.

A part of him was very angry at the accusations. Furia was nothing like him!

He was evil, working for a man who killed for stress relief! A warrior who had probably slain many in his life time, Stefan had never even picked up a weapon in his life!

Not only that, but Claire was spending and enjoying time with someone who wasn't him but looked just like him!

Was she attracted to Furia? Who knew?

Maybe that would be a good thing because it could mean she would find Stefan attractive as well. Or so that was the bit of hope that seemed to swirl around his mind at night.

The worse part of it was that Claire didn't recognize that Furia looked just like him. She didn't know that was him, the guy who send her there, the guy who was crazy for her, and the guy who wanted nothing more than to bring her home.

Claire didnt even remember him.

Now, if she ever came back and Furia did end up harming her thats all she would see. Claire would only see the Furia's crimes, not the guy who bumped into her that day in the hallway of the science building.

Then again she would probably hate him regardless, it was him who sent her to that world after all, not Furia.

So far Furia had even made a better first impression. Eating with her, playing with her, healing her...

Ahhhhh!

He couldn't get that out of his mind. Those hours they had spent together as Stefan was forced to watch. It was like seeing someone who had everything that was lacking in you, everything that you would wish you were.

That man was confident, powerful, mysterious, and probably stronger than a hundred men.

Stefan glanced at the clock and noticed he had managed to waist 20 minutes doing nothing but think...again.

A part of him knew that hours could go by with nothing but sitting there in his chair and looking up at the roof, thinking.

Problem was, he had places to be at today.

Even though the world now though of him as a possible criminal because of his double's future actions it seemed that they still wanted to see him and get as much drama as they could out of him until they bleed him dry of information.

As if their lives depended on the consumption of drama and useless gossip, how pathetic.

Nonetheless, the government made it very clear that public appearances were key to keeping a good appearance on the mission of saving Claire. How could he refuse when they put it that way?

Ever since Tom had spilled his secret on national television during the last interview, it had become very easy to persuade him to do just about anything for Claire's sake.

He knew what games his employers were playing with him but it was hard for him to decline anything that could help bring Claire back.

Was it illogical for him to accept? Yes.

Did he ever decline? No

Would Claire's father stab him in the back when they were in the same room? Most definitely!

But his logic was tampered with by his useless and very rarely used heart.

Sonja had tried to speak to him about it once. Though she must have had good intentions he just couldn't bring himself to talk to anyone about it.

He couldn't even think about it too long to himself before screaming in rage and confusion.

Stefan finally decided to get up from his chair, clean his glasses and place them back where they belonged before leaving his workspace and head out to the main lab area.

One look in the reflection of one of his machines and Stefan realized a bit of grooming couldn't hurt. If anything he couldnt leave to an interview looking like a zombie.

As he began assessing what he could to to seem more...alive... he snuck a glance at the monitor behind him through the reflection in the machine glass.

Claire. There she was, running like a busy bee again.

That girl was seriously gonna kill her legs if she kept hunting down those pirates, a part of him wished that she would stop to spare her from her future pain, and so she wouldn't need Furia's help again...

Nonetheless, he still deeply admired her for the lengths she went to save complete strangers. It was foolish to do so but its not something may would do because of matters such as self interest, matters she never thought of by the looks of it.

Maybe when she came back he could teach her how to be so selfless...because Stefan would bring her back and if he was lucky enough to not be completely hated by her, he would spend every second he could with her, learning from her and protecting her.

Actually, she would probably be the one protecting him. She was the strongest human he knew, that girl could bring down everyone in the facility with ease and he would just watch in the sidelines with awe and pride.

No..he wouldn't be worthy...

"Stefan? I have your suit!" yelled a female voice across the room

Stefan scoffed and ran his fingers through his hair once before begging whatever gods existed to teleport him out of the room.

As always, his plea was ignored.

Little footsteps neared the area he was in at a much faster rate than he had anticipated.

Quickly, he ran to the nearest coat rack and laid his lab coat and goggles. He straightened his clothes and rubbed his eyes for good measure, spectacles back in place.

After sneaking a look at himself in one of the beakers he realized that his facial features didnt show the true strain of all the hours he stayed awake or the lack of food he ate.

At least the gods had granted him that much of luck.

"Stefan! Oh dear boy, you were supposed to be on your way to the TV studio ten minutes ago!" Claire's mom attempted to scream, but her voice was still kind.

"I was already making my way to the car. Just had to check up on a few things" he half lied

She went over to him in a heartbeat, the scent of warm bread filling the room. She fussed over his hair and straightened his clothes as if he were a child. He would never find it in him to complain, that was more attention and care than his own mother had displayed ever.

He let a small smile creep across his face before turning to the monitor to check up on Claire. it was almost instinct now to stare at a screen to make sure she was ok, even during the night he found himself unconsciously reaching for him phone at times.

"My daughter can take care of herself for a few hours, get your attention away from that screen and focus on whats in hand" Claire's mom said, but he had grown customer to just call her Mrs.Lily which she took kindly.

Her features were always very kind, she preferred to wear traditional clothes and always had the same necklace around her neck, a small golden chain with a C and A.

Tom had thought it stood for California, but it was her daughters' initials that the woman carried with her, a kind gesture.

Stefan had noticed that Adelina herself had on a similar necklace with an identical A. He ofter wondered if Claire had a necklace of her own with her initial, a sentimental part of him wanted to hold it, examine it to see what family bonds flew within it, if their love could truly be felt connected through those simple golden chains.

Just as he was about to respond, Claire's sister came into the room as if her had summoned her with his thoughts and as she had been doing all week she laughed at him instead of giving him a proper greeting.

"Mr. Furia" she said in between laughs and made a mocking bow

Her mother gave Adelina a gentle slap on the back of her head which she took with pride.

It was in those kinds of moments that he realized thats what a family looked like.Those subtle qualities they all shared, that pride in her eyes was the same in Claire's during the purges. The ladies all had the same eyes and in a way the same stubbornness and feistiness.

"As I mentioned before I am not Furia" Stefan said calmly to the young girl, not offering a proper greeting as well.

"You sure look like it, you even have a thing for my sister too" the young lady said in a way to happy tone " Better watch out, you may have just beat yourself to her heart"

Stefan just shoved her elbow causing her to almost fall over. She laughed and Stefan let small smirk show before letting out a few small laughs slip, Lily stared at them both in disbelief.

In a way, both had liked to tease each other lately. Since they had spent so much time together the past months they had gotten rid of those awkward barriers, now it felt like they were close acquaintances.

Claire's father on the other hand still hated him and by whatever mercy the gods decided to grant him, Mr. Johansen had taken a liking to ignoring Stefan's presence, not that he deserved that mercy.

"Hey! Earth to Stefan! Or are you Furia from Mianite, so hard to tell the difference"Adelina joked before tossing him a coat, which he barely caught in time.

"Adelina! Manners!" her mom screamed and Stefan gave Adelina a look of victory

"Are you meeting up with the others before the interview?" Lily asked

Stefan considered meeting with them, but then decided that dealing with Thomas before a public event would ruin his calm demeanor.

"Perhaps not today, I have some phone calls to make before the show begins" he said

"Very well, but Jordan said that he had your back in case things got out of control like...like last time" Lily said and Stefan saw the color drain from her face

He knew what she was remembering...her daughter falling to her death.

Stefan had wanted to apologize, it was his fault she was dealing with those dangers, actually it was more his fault now that it turned out his double was the one responsible. He knew she would dismiss the apology but he knew she felt her heart stop too that moment Claire jumped.

He decided to giver her shoulder a tight squeeze for comfort and made his way to the door, or tried to before she stuffed a small load of bread in his mouth, Adelina howled and fell back laughing.

"You haven't eaten all day boy, don't think I didn't notice!"was all she said before heading for her daughter

"Well meet you there! I call the seat next to Jordan though!" Adelina said as she was dragged away by her mother.

They too would be interviewed today and at least Claire's little sister seemed happy about it. Why they had agreed to do so, he wasn't sure.

He waved them goodbye and did his best to finish the warm food before gathering his things.

Stefan snuck another glance at the screen while doing so, unable to help himself.

"Ok, who ever finds diamonds first wins and no cheating Tom!" Claire screamed from a tunnel in the underground mines. At least she had taken a break from hunting the pirates down

"Hold on! I'm not at the nether yet, your in the overworld, I'm the one thats running my ass to the nether for this!" Tom said from somewhere far away

Stefan wanted to yell at them both for their great way to waist time. A mining competition? One in the nether and the other in the overworld hunting for diamonds...at least Claire wasn't the one in the nether.

A part of him was glad she and Dianite had a fight, one in which he displayed his true colors. Enough so that she didn't seem like she wanted to go there and work things out.

The other part of him was sorry she had to go through that, that fool Dianite didn't know how lucky he was to have her by his side. He should have been treating her like the treasure she is instead of breaking her heart with impossible choices.

Not two minutes after Stefan gathered his car keys and coffee mug he heard Claire scream.

Not in fear, but glee. After his heart stopped going a hundred beats per minute he turned to the screen and saw her with 6 diamonds in hand, a beautiful smile on her face.

Tom was screaming in disbelief in the background and Tucker and Sonja's familiar laughter joined in. Seemed like Claire won that little contest

"Thats my girl" Stefan said to the screen, feeling a blush spreading across his cheeks and ears by the bold meaning of the worlds before making his way out to the car.