The rat girl had informed him that the blonde was in the shower. She wasn't always at home so having informants made sure that his timing would be impeccable. "I could kiss you." He clapped Letitia on the shoulders as way of thanks for her help.

"I'll just bet you're in a kissing mood." She grinned and saluted the boy as he made his way up the fire escape. Her rats would let her know when he got his powers up and running. And then, they would all go back to the Oracle.

Even though he had run away, that didn't mean that Jude couldn't squirm his way back into his parent's apartment every now and again. Sometimes he left notes to let Ghost know that he was alright in secret places where the unicorn man would not find them. And sometimes, like today, he had every intention of meeting up with Svetlana.

The Oracle had showed him two possible futures and two possible blondes. He only knew one of the blondes. And knowing was half the battle. Jude happened to want to make a meaningful and lasting connection to Svetlana even before he had learned that it was a kiss that changed him from boy to mutant. He had wanted to kiss her even before he knew that it would change his whole world.

His skinny arm reached up underneath the window that Ghost left cracked open for the cat. The full length of his appendage was required in order for him to reach the lock. He wiggled one way and then the next… the clasp slipped free and the window slid up easily when he tested it. You had to be just the right size to make that kind off breaking and entering.

Ghost and that-man-with-the-horn were staying more and more at the Mansion these days. He plopped onto the rug by the window without fear of running into them and pulled two plastic bags of supplies in after himself.

For his first order of business, his note for Ghost went into a pair of socks this time. No. Wait. She didn't wear socks if she could help it. Jude put it instead in the blowdryer so that it would shoot out at the next person to use it. Heh heh. He was so clever sometimes, he amazed even himself.

For the next part… well, there was a reason why French is synonymous with romace.

The kitchen table got a white tablecloth. 11 roses went into a glass cup with water and magic powder that made them stay fresher longer. Red candles. Wine glasses. A bottle of sparkling white grape juice. A slightly squashed rosemary rotisserie chicken. Asparagus and fingering potatoes. (Russians liked potatoes, right?) He arranged everything onto plates and set the table before he changed into the little suit that unicorn person had made him. He tied his cravat clumsily. Nobody wore suits like this anymore. He had told Sebastian that this old style was out of fashion, but Ghost seemed to think it was cute. He had been outnumbered 2 to 1.

Last but not least, Jude popped a disk into the DVD player and let the sound filter through the TV speakers. The music was, of course, French: a twisting murmuring sound that spoke of love and consequences. Ah. L'amore.

Conditions were perfect.

He slipped the note under Svetlana's door, dropped a single rose outside, knocked twice and then took his position by the table.

The tight and cramped script read:

My Dearest Svetty,

I've missed you so. Please join me for an evening of dinner and dancing. Formal attire is required, but please, no gloves.

Sincerely,
Jude

My Dearest Svetty,

I've missed you so. Please join me for an evening of dinner and dancing. Formal attire is required, but please, no gloves.

Sincerely,
Jude

"Formal WHAT?!" Sveta's jaw dropped as she picked up the note. She was just out of the shower; she woke and slept at weird times since her kidnapping, and allowed herself the luxury of doing nothing all day if she did not want to. So right now, she was just getting dressed, when she noticed the note that had been slipped under the door.

"Jude?!" completely forgetting about the gloves even without the note, Sveta opened the door and hurried outside. She was wearing and attire that was anything but formal: apple-green shorts and a white blouse with tiny flowers, her hair pulled up into a ponytail, bare feet making no sound on the floor of the hallway.

"Jude!"

She stopped in the door. The sight of a romantic dinner complete with candles, not to mention the music and the.... suit, was enough to stop anyone in her tracks. Jude, with his serious face and big eyes, he just looked....
ADORABLE.

"You are home!" she smiled, walking around the table to hug him. He was one of the very few people she could hug. He was human. Human was safe. Especially cute humans.

"I missed you" she smiled at the boy. He was like a little brother. He was a lot like Bo.

He paced back and forth while he waited. How long did girls take to shower? Seriously. It felt like forever. Jude was just debating loosening his cravat when he heard something being shouted through the wall. Well. He had awoken the dragon. There was no going back now. Jude stopped and looked at the door and tried to imagine what Svetty would look like when she came out.

Her dress would be long, floor length at least maybe with a train, and it would have sparkles. It was blue, or maybe red. Hmm. Red didn't seem like a bad choice.

What burst through the door was was none of those things. She was wearing green. Short, green shorts, of all the fashion faux pas! She stopped and her jaw dropped, he was just as shocked but was trying to be a gentleman about it.

>"You are home!"

"What, no hug?" He didn't even have time to convince himself that he hadn't really wanted one before she was scooping him up.

>"I missed you!"At least she had noticed that he was gone.

"Not a day went by when somesing did not remind me of you." Jude hugged Svetlana back. She was real and solid and his heart tried to do a somersault. This was really happening.

"How have you been?" Not well by the look of her face and her choice in pajamas. Had she even seen his note? He supposed it didn't matter. Food was still food no matter what one wore to eat it. "Will you have some dinners withs me?"

Svetlana was in the prime of her youth. She should have been gearing up for a night on the town, not hiding in her room in what amounted to rags.

A thought occurred to him then. "Did you..." He pushed Svetlana back to the full length of his arms, but kept a grip on her so that he could see her face properly and gauge her reaction. "Did you get hurt again?" His tone was almost scolding. "When I am older, I am taking you to ze gun range and you are going to train in bazookas." That was the best someone like him could offer by way of protection at this point. Bazookas.

>>"Not a day went by when somesing did not remind me of you. How have you been?"

"I have been fine" she lied, and did not even think about it "How have you been?"
And where? She was almost as worried about Jude as Maya was. Almost. She was usd to worrying about little siblings, she did it all the time.
Besides, Jude has been grown up once, right?...

>>"Will you have some dinners withs me?"

"Sure" she nodded. How adorable. He made dinner. Or bought dinner. As much as she loved Jude, she was hoping for the latter.

>>"Did you..... Did you get hurt again? When I am older, I am taking you to ze gun range and you are going to train in bazookas."

She chuckled at that. The kid was good, guessing the situation from just looking at her. Also, bazookas. She'd only gotten as far as guns. But it was definitely some idea.

"I am fine" she repeated, smiling at him "I did not get hurt."
Just frightened, that's all.

She sat by the table, looking it over.

"Candles. Nice." she smiled "So, vat is the occasion?"

"I have been busy. Just as I had hoped to be." He sounded like he might have just helped push through a business merger or something rather than helping redecorate a psychic shop. Maybe it was the suit.

He hopped over to light the candles quickly and pulled the sparkling champagne out of the fridge.

As for the occasion, well, he had hoped to broach the situation after Svetlana had wined (non-alcoholically) and dined (even if the food was slightly smashed and in need of some re-heating ). He pulled out a chair for her and motioned for her to sit.

Alas, wouldn't this be better if she had at least worn a dress?

"Svetty, I was hoping… maybe… well…" He gulped. If she was going to laugh at him, now was the time.

Jude dropped to one knee and caught Svetlana's hand in his. "I was hoping zat you would run away withs me. My Ghost cannot protect you as much as she should and you deserve to be protected." He did not even mention the unicorn man. "I'm not a grown up and I don't have muscles or guns, but…" He left the rest unsaid so that she could fill in the blank. He wanted to protect her.

Jude dropped to one knee.
Sveta stared, the smile frozen on her face.

I'm gonna get the Question from a kid. Splendid.

>>"Svetty, I was hoping… maybe… well… I was hoping zat you would run away withs me. My Ghost cannot protect you as much as she should and you deserve to be protected. I'm not a grown up and I don't have muscles or guns, but…"

Awwwww.

Sveta smiled, and touched his face gently.

"Dat's... very sweet of you, Jude. Wanting to protect me." she chuckled "No guy ever wanted me to run away with him."

That was at least true.

"But I can't. I am safe here, and I am done running. I ran a lot." that was also true "I am learning to protect myself. People want me for my powers, so I need to learn to defent myself and not drag others into protecting me, do you understand that? Especially not you." she stroked his cheek "You should come home too. Maya is worried sick."

Svetty surprised him. He didn't expect her to run away with him. Of course, he had wanted her to. Images of her in a dress and tiara leaping into his muscly arms had been the subject of many a day dream, but this, he had not expected.

"If any reazon iz acceptable…" Jude stood up with a frown on his face and in his voice. He didn't have to like it. "Zis is one. I would not want you dependent on anyone. Not even me." He opened his mouth to explain himself further, to justify his plea but… she was a grown woman asserting her independence. He was sure that nothing he could say would win her over.

Even worse, he wanted Svetlana not only for her smiles, her personality and her phenomenal body. Jude had wanted her for her power too. Waves of guilt washed up on the shore of his love. He was no better than any of her kidnappers.

His heart made his feet a little heavier when he shuffled over to the sparkling grape juice. Even if he had been rejected, he had a dinner to serve. It should not be ruined by this or the other guilt inducing plea by Svetty for him to return.

In this at least, he felt that he had a good reason. Jude poured the bubbly liquid into the wine glass for Svetlana first. "I 'ave my own reasons for leaving. I do not wish to distress any of you." He poured some for himself next. The cold liquid fogged up the glass. "But I was shown a possible future and I must act to change it. Like ze Haywire chose my first path, zis problem now drives me."

That was as eloquent and cryptic as he could manage. Did Svetlana need to know that she was living with the possible bringer of the end of the world? He wasn't sure. It might make her want to leave here, but that would make him feel extra horrid. He popped the caved in lid of the purchased food. The chicken had a definite dent in it.

"Hungry?"

>>"If any reazon iz acceptable… Zis is one. I would not want you dependent on anyone. Not even me."

He was such a sweet kid. Sveta almost wished she could say yes, and run away with him, just to make him smile. Then again, she would have to come back, eventually, and drag him home too, and then it would just hurt him more.

>> "I 'ave my own reasons for leaving. I do not wish to distress any of you. But I was shown a possible future and I must act to change it. Like ze Haywire chose my first path, zis problem now drives me."

Sveta's smile disappeared and her brows furrowed.

"What did you see?" she asked, worried and curious at the same time "Jude, you do not have to do things alone. Your parents can help you. And maybe me too. And people at the Mansion, definitely."

>>"Hungry?"

"Yes" she nodded slowly, eyeing the dented chicken. He really did everything to make a perfct dinner. He was just a kid. Sveta picked up the glass and clinked it to his before she smiled a bit. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

He shook his head slowly as he tried to sip his drink. That didn't work out too well so he chose to sip first and shake his head after. "I'm not alone. Don't worry for me." She should be more worried for herself.

"The end of the world is coming Svetty. We saw who starts it all." She would never guess who and unless she pressed him, he wouldn't. Even Jude would not have believed if the Oracle had not seemed so shaken when he discovered Jude's relationship with the unicorn.

Jude tried to be calm as he divvied out the vegetables first to Svetlana's plate and then to his own. "It followz ze age old question. If you know who Hitler iz before he iz Hitler, do you stop him?" Or run away from him and spy on him and try to steal away the girl under his protection?

Speaking of spying... if she wasn't going to come with him, maybe at least she could keep an eye out for him? "Could you do me a favor?" The potatoes were all passed out and Jude was trying to figure out how best to attack a whole chicken. He hoped the lingering smell of meat made Sebastian feel slightly off. "Could you keep an eye on my... on my parents? Make sure zey don't get into troubles?" He wised that he had a secret decoder ring to give her or something, but, alas, he hadn't thought that far ahead.

>> "I'm not alone. Don't worry for me."

That one sentence just made her all the more worried. Not alone? Who did he run away to? Sveta did not like the sound of that, not at all.

>>"The end of the world is coming Svetty. We saw who starts it all. It followz ze age old question. If you know who Hitler iz before he iz Hitler, do you stop him?"

Sveta would have shot him in the head, but she did not say anything, because it was clearly not Hitler they were talking about, unless he was a mutant...

"The end of the world." this was just sounding more and more like a sect or a cult or something.
Jude, sweet little Jude, what have you gotten yourself into?...

"How?"

>>"Could you do me a favor? Could you keep an eye on my... on my parents? Make sure zey don't get into troubles?"

I am the last person to keep an eye on anyone.

"Sure" she nodded, distracted, and took the knife and fork from him to sort out the chicken problem.

"Who told you the world was ending?..."

> "How?"

"Nuclear Holocaust." He eyed the chicken and held out his plate when she managed to separate the leg of the bird. He liked the drumsticks. "I sink anyway. It's hard to tell."

Her promise to watch over Ghost eased some tightness in his chest. Also, Eros would be glad to still have eyes directly on the unicorn. Especially eyes that didn't even know they might be spying.

> "Who told you the world was ending?..."

This was so not candle light romance. He sighed and used his knife and fork on the asparagus as every gentleman should.

"No one told me. I saw it in ze new future."

He nibbled dinner with decidedly less enthusiasm than he had hoped. Svetlana didn't look like she was going to let this go, though. He sighed. "Zere iz someone who... well, I don't sink he means to, but it still gets done. He makes ze end of ze world happen. And he iz a mutant zat can't die easy. You can't just... I mean I wouldn't anyway, but... you know?" He wasn't in this to kill Sebastian. He was in this to find a way to save the world. If that was what it took... could he do it?

The boy glanced at the door to Sebastian and Ghost's room.

He wouldn't. Would he?

"Would you?"

>>"Nuclear Holocaust. I sink anyway. It's hard to tell."

Sveta bit her lip and continued carving the chicken. Now she was not hungry at all. The whole conversation was starting to sound like some movie.

>>"No one told me. I saw it in ze new future. Zere iz someone who... well, I don't sink he means to, but it still gets done. He makes ze end of ze world happen. And he iz a mutant zat can't die easy. You can't just... I mean I wouldn't anyway, but... you know? Would you?"

Sveta followed his glance. Her hands stopped moving.

A mutant who can't die easily.
She turned back to look at Jude.

"No I would not" she said, sitting down "It could be me too, wid my powers."

It already happened once.

"And it is not your work" she told Jude, looking at him "I do not know who showed you de future, but it is not fair. Maybe it is not true at all. You can't do dis alone."

She wished Maya would show up. She would know how to talk to kids...

Her vehement "No I would not" felt a little like a slap in the face. No. Of course he wouldn't. That was half the reason why he had joined in the first place. He didn't want them to kill Sebastian. He didn't want to spy on Sebastian for them. He had wanted to find another way to save the world.

"Could it be you?" Her power was boosting. Jude cut his potatoes up into little pieces and then pushed the pieces around his plate. "You wouldn't start a nuclear apocalypse withs bombs on the White House." And Sebastian wouldn't either. His plate was looking a little bit watery suddenly and his fists balled up tightly under the table and around his frok.

How many times did he have to say it? "I'm not doing it alone, Svetty. I have to go to make sure zey don't..." But the rats were listening in the walls. He couldn't say it. He wouldn't admit that the enemy was Sebastian. "It has to be me. I can't let zem make mistakes zat cannot be unmade. Zere is nobody else." Because Svetlana had already turned him down.

"I am doing everysing I can to do ze right sing. Can't you just trust me? Just zis once?"

>>"Could it be you? You wouldn't start a nuclear apocalypse withs bombs on the White House."

Of curse it was always the White House. Every single movie.Then, the Statue of Liberty, and then all the rest. Sveta frowned. She did not want to be in those movies.

>>"I'm not doing it alone, Svetty. I have to go to make sure zey don't... It has to be me. I can't let zem make mistakes zat cannot be unmade. Zere is nobody else. I am doing everysing I can to do ze right sing. Can't you just trust me? Just zis once?"

She looked at him for a long moment; Jude really meant what he was saying. He was just a kid, and he was thinking the future of the world depended on him... he was trying to save everyone alone.
Sveta sighed and stood, walking over to him, and gave him a hug.

"We can figure dis out, okay? You are not alone."

Women, Jude decided, were absolutely illogical. He could tell this wonderful girl that he was not alone until he was blue in the face, but she always looked at him with pity. Why didn't she get it?

As much as he hated to wriggle out of Svetlana's arms, he needed her to see. And for some reason that meant eye contact. He caught her hands against his shoulders once they were at arm's length and looked up at her. "Ze whole operation isn't bad just because they might have some idea that are bad. Zey just need someone to stand up to zem every now and again to say no when no needs to be said."

Letia was listening, but so far, Jude hadn't really said no to much. Mostly just that he wouldn't spy on Sebastian for them. "I'm not carrying ze world." Until he was a mutant, he wouldn't carry more than decorations for Future Sight. Here they had helped him to try to get his kiss from his blonde girl and he had royally screwed it up.

Jude reached up and tucked a wayward lock of hair behind Svetlana's ear. He had walked into this apartment having built up ideas in his head about Sebastian and how he might be handled. Now, thanks to Svetlana, he was thinking of the unicorn man as he should have been the whole time: as part of his family, as a sacred life and most importantly as a man who might need someone to say no to him someday. He needed to append his note to Ghost. She would have to be that someone since Jude had already chosen his side.

"You make me want to be a better person, Svetty."