It's good to be back, Susanne thought as they walked back onto the familiar grounds of Friar Park. She and Meredith automatically walked around to enter the house through the kitchen door, and as soon as Susanne entered the house, she realized how little sleep she'd gotten lately. She plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs. All she wanted to do was go up to her room and crash, but if the approaching voices meant anything, she would be up talking for awhile.

"Hi, Mercy! Hi, Orion!" Susanne said as the pair walked into the room.

They stopped arguing and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Susanne!" Mercy cried. "Welcome back! We've been so worried!"

"Yeah," Orion said. "Kristsi went looking for you."

He seemed to catch himself, realizing he'd said too much, and Mercy shot him a Look.

"It's okay," Susanne said, "I've heard about what happened to Kristsi. Where is she, anyway?"

"She and Kell ought to be coming back from training soon, I think," Meredith answered. "Don't expect fuzzy feelings when they walk in. If you think those two are bad --" she gestured to Mercy and Orion "wait til you see Kristsi and Kell."

"Hey, I resent that!" Orion said.

"Don't," Mercy answered. "She's right, though. Kell has a habit of rubbing her fur the wrong way."

"Well, speak of the devil," Meredith said.

Kell heard this as he entered and bowed good-naturedly. Kristsi entered a moment later, glowering at her Guardian.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kell said. "Who are you!" He automatically took a protective stance between Kristsi and Susanne.

"Your idea of protection seems to be a little skewed," Kristsi said tiredly.

Susanne laughed and leaned over the table to shake his hand. "I'm Susanne," she said. "I'm the reason you've got permission to stay in these posh surroundings."

"Well, then, I'm very happy to meet you."

Kristsi rolled her eyes. "Hey, Suze, where's your cute kitty?"

The silence in the room was almost palpable.

"He's taking care of some business," Susanne finally said. After a few more moments of silence, Susanne stood up. "I'm gonna go lay down for awhile. I'll catch you guys in a bit."