Some of you may recognize this fiction, hopefully some of you don't. This is Silvia, also known in some circles as Silver Armada, and I welcome you to my rewrite of my labor of love, “Illumination.” It took me three years to finish the first time around, but my life was all over the place back then and made updating hard to keep up with. If you've read before and didn't care for what you saw, I humbly ask you give this fic a second chance now that I am rewriting it. I began plotting this back in 2002, first published in early 2003 and I like to think I've improved quite a bit in seven years of writing and reading fiction. To you who have seen it before, the plot is going under a complete rewrite as well, as a lot of readers couldn't get past the first few chapters. The later plot in the fic is going to stay the same, with small changes, but the overall story will be the same, the characters will be the same, etc.

The setting of this fic is in the future timeline of DBZ where all that's left are Bulma, Trunks, and an ailing Earth. Trunks is 24 years old, and as to how/where he is when this fic opens will be answered as you read on.

As a final warning, this fic will be littered with original characters and locations, and takes place far away from Earth. If that's not your cup of tea, that's okay, thank you for getting this far. :] This fic is also rated M for mature, same as the video game rating system for: violence, death, swearing, illegal activities, that sort of thing. No, no sex, sorry to disappoint. I hope you'll give this fic a chance anyway and see what I enjoy about writing it.

Thank you for making it through that long author's note, I won't be doing it again, I swear.

Silvia

-+-

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and all related characters belong to Akira Toriyama and other respective owners. I just like to play with what he's created, heehee. 3

-+-

Hey Mom, how is everything? Heh... what am I saying, you can read me like a book. 'So what happened?' right? Well, I got into a little mess when I got here into the city. I... accidentally helped this guy mug a girl. Wow, heh, that sounds bad but I promise it sounds a lot worse than it really is. She's fine, actually, but the point is I sort of... owe her a bit of money. Don't panic, it's... not a... huge amount; I mean it's a lot, but... I can take care of it.

I'm sending you this message because I got a job that's gonna help me pay this debt off really fast, but I'll be gone for a while. Heh, you know what kind of skills I have Mom, they're worth a lot around here, but I have to travel and I won't be in Ute very often. I don't think... I'm gonna have time to see you. I'll send you messages like this one when I can, if you want to you can send your own to the guys at the lab in Ute and have them hold them for me, I may get in occasionally to check them. Of course there are no guarantees, heh.

Don't worry about me Mom, I'll be fine. And you've got people that need you back home, like Mia and Terry, and I'm sure Neis will keep you company when he isn't driving you completely crazy, hahah. Hey, and I know about Lowell; you can't hide things from me as well as you think you can. He's a good guy Mom, and... he can understand where you're coming from. Take care of everything back home, I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can.

Bye Mom... I love you.

-+-

Illumination

Opening: You Break It, You Buy It

-+-

A woman with a blond ponytail reached up and grabbed several wires, pulling them all where she could see so she could get the right one. Out of the eight or so in her grasp, there was one black wire with yellow running through it. She let go of the others in her right hand but kept that particular wire between her forefinger and thumb. She glanced to her left and right, looking for something. “Where...?”

“Aha!” she said aloud to no one but herself. She saw the wire cutters floating out to her left, so she reached out with her left hand to grab them from the air. She was floating near the ceiling of the small spacecraft she was in, working on repairs in the bridge while only running auxiliary power. As a result, the gravitational systems of the ship were off line. Not that it mattered; it made it easier for her to work.

She cut open the black and yellow wire and stripped the last centimeter of plastic away. She turned to her left and snatched up another wire that was floating in the air. She spliced the two wires together on one end and moved to connect the other end of the new wire into a circuit board up in the area she'd pulled the wires down from. She pulled out a small pen-like flashlight that was clipped to her shirt and shone it in the area so she could see what she was doing. She quickly realized she couldn't reach with just one hand, so she put the small flashlight between her teeth and reached up with both arms to plug in the wire.

Just as she finished plugging in the redirected wire she heard a faint 'beep-beep, beep-beep' from behind her. She set down her tools and pushed away from the ceiling down toward the floor where a small laptop computer sat open. When she reached the floor she steadied herself a few centimeters above it before bringing up a program on the laptop.

The screen read some numbers but she wasn't concerned with those. With a few taps on the keyboard she brought up another screen with the number 230, 463, 017 written very clear in red. She smiled to herself as she read the alert that had caused all the beeping in the first place: Transfer Complete.

-+-

Trunks took a deep breath before he stepped inside the gate. Immediately he felt the ground melt away from his feet and the air rush around him, blowing his long hair away from his face. Trunks closed his eyes; he hated to watch, it always made him feel sick. He held tight to the messenger back draped around his shoulder, and wished it would be over soon. The jump gate always made him feel uneasy, when he was in it he couldn’t tell which way was up and he definitely couldn’t sense anything.

When Trunks felt the ground come up and settle beneath his feet he let out the breath he had been holding. “Trunks!” he heard a friendly voice call from the other side of the gate. He opened his eyes and saw his friend Murtole through what looked like a waterfall. Trunks stepped through it, still expecting to be wet on the other side but coming out no different than when he entered.

“Hey, I didn’t know Bulma was sending you!” Murtole exclaimed as he pulled the much taller Trunks into an embrace.

“Whoa, not so tight,” Trunks groaned and the young scientist released him, “you know the jump gate makes me queasy.”

“Oh, right,” Murtole smiled guiltily.

“Trunks, I think you must have grown taller since I saw you last,” another man entered the room, this one appeared to be about Bulma’s age.

“You say that every time Devan but I was full-grown when you first met me, remember?” Trunks replied sarcastically as the older man approached. When he reached Trunks they shook hands and Devan pulled Trunks into a light hug.

“So what’s your mom need?” Devan asked with a smile. Trunks noticed that his salt-and-pepper hair looked a little thinner than the last time he had seen it, but he was still the tall and lanky middle-aged Bmyhadian he’d known for years now. Trunks opened his mouth to speak but was stopped short when Devan spoke once more. “How’d I know?” he smirked. “Come on, it’s Bulma we’re talking about, and it’s been a few years. I think I know your mother by now,” he laughed lightly.

“Yeah,” Trunks laughed in response, “she needs a few tools, and she gave me a list to give you.” He then reached into the brown messenger back slung over his right shoulder and pulled out a small piece of paper folded in half and handed it to Devan.

Devan unfolded the paper and read the list with interest. “Huh, what’s she working on?”

“Don’t ask me,” Trunks laughed, “last time I went into the lab unannounced I almost got lit on fire.”

Devan laughed heartily and Trunks lightly scowled; he didn’t care to be made fun of so much but it was Devan so he’d let it slide this time. “So why’d you come instead of just sending a message?” Devan asked with his ever-present cool smile.

“Well, as much as I hate the jump gate,” Trunks answered, “I wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Oh and mom gave me a grocery list, she wants me to pick up some things for her while I’m here. That’s what this is for,” he added and patted the brown messenger back with his right hand.

“Awesome, let’s go!” Murtole broke in once more.

Devan made a disapproving noise and shook his head, garnering the young man’s attention. “Not until 5400, you’ve got work to do.”

“Yes sir,” Murtole smiled sadly as he headed back toward the lab.

Devan turned to Trunks. “Why don’t you go do your shopping now,” Devan motioned to the door with his head, “when you get back you can take Murtole out for a run in the city.”

“Sure,” Trunks nodded. “I’ll see you guys later,” he waved to both of them before leaving the lab.

-+-

Trunks weaved in and out of the crowd of people in the outdoor market in downtown Ute as he searched for all of the items on his mother’s list. Well, there were a few things he was going to grab for himself too. Mostly he and Bulma loved the different fruits that came from other worlds. They didn’t look that different from what was found on Earth; they generally had the same size and shape of fruits on Earth but they were different on the outside or inside, or both. One of his favorites was a fruit called kuku, it was the size of a cantaloupe and the same color and texture on the outside, but on the inside was a blood red fruit that was a mixture of sour and sweet.

As Trunks shopped it was hard to believe that just over a year ago this all would have seemed like a dream. He, his mother, and their small group of friends were living out their lives in relative peace on Earth when a spaceship landed not far from Bulma’s home, sending mother and son into a panic. They never knew anything good that came from space to Earth, unless it changed upon arrival. He remembered clearly that sense of dread as they watched these people approach who looked just like humans, in appearance and mannerisms.

The seventeen people who found Earth that day were a group of scientists, researchers, and explorers from a distant planet called Bmyhad. Their nation had a contract with some other interstellar nation to explore uncharted worlds at the end of their territory, and that was how they found Earth. They saw signs of civilization from space and decided to investigate. Bulma and Trunks were greatly concerned at first, but after spending three weeks getting to know the crew Bulma began to bond with the aliens. They were a lot like her, very curious about the way things worked as well as hard and fast practitioners of the scientific method.

The Bmyhadians were also humanitarians, and when they learned that Earth needed aid they got to work. Within a month they had constructed what they and Bulma jointly called a “jump gate,” a small portal that would only transport people and items between the two locations. One was placed in the former Capsule Corporation headquarters, and the other was placed in a lab in the capital city of Bmyhad, Ute.

It wasn’t so much that Earth needed food and clothing, they needed a new society. Bulma and the Bmyhadians worked diligently on bringing new technology to Earth to help usher in a new era. With more efficient electrical usage cities were starting to rebuild public transportation, and brand new water/sewage systems. Medicines were brought to Earth to help immunize children against diseases that had become rampant during and after the reign of the androids. After several months, Bulma and the foreign scientists, doctors, philosophers, and even some diplomats began working with the local government to implement their changes on a much broader spectrum. They kept things very quiet though, as the general public still held a fear of beings from worlds other than their own. The Bmyhadians were the unsung heroes of the restoration of Earth, and they didn’t mind—they were just glad they could help.

Trunks had finished getting all the things he could outside. He opened up the list again and mentally checked off everything he had picked up. Only two things were left: some special insulated wire and a large portable battery. Those would be easy enough to pick up, he just needed to head into one of the electronics stores a few blocks away from the open-air market. He put the list back into the front right pocket of his jacket and headed on his way.

-+-

A blond haired woman sighed as she stepped outside of a federal bank in downtown Ute. Why do I get migraines at the worst times? Ugh, she mentally noted while pulling her sunglasses down from the top of her head to cover her eyes again. It was a beautiful sunny summer day in the city and she couldn’t enjoy it because of a damn headache.

She scrunched up her nose briefly in an attempt to loosen some of the muscles in her face that had been pulled tight from her scowling all morning and started to head south. She had just officially closed out her last account here in the city and she was ready to move on, though she needed a few more supplies before leaving for good.

She reached an intersection and stopped, waiting for the vehicles in the road to stop so she could cross. Just down the street a block or two was one of the larger shopping areas in the city, but specifically she needed some more electrical repair equipment before going anywhere. She reached up with her right hand and scratched the ride side of her head, waiting impatiently for the light to turn and indicate it was her turn along with the other pedestrians on the side of the road to cross.

Just as the light turned she felt a firm grip on her left shoulder. She stood still and turned her head to get a look at who was touching her while everyone else walked on. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Armada.”

That voice, with that accent; she immediately knew who it was. “Dax,” Armada said flatly without moving. “What are you doing here?” she asked calmly but her head was running a mile a minute with questions about the auburn-haired man who stood behind her.

Dax kept his right hand on her left shoulder and moved around so the two could face each other. “Hiding beneath some sunglasses?” he questioned with his strange (Australian) accent. “Doesn’t seem like you to hide.”

“I’ve got a bad headache,” Armada replied flatly with no attempt to remove the shades. “What are you doing here?” she asked while the crowd around them stopped moving once again, the light having turned in favor of drivers for the time being.

“God it’s been more than twenty years and that’s all you say to me?” Dax rolled his eyes. “Then again, you never really were the sentimental type.”

“The last time I saw you,” Armada began but stopped short. She swallowed heavily; thinking about her time in the military back then was not something she liked to do.

“I’m here on business Ar,” Dax used a shortened version of her name. “You destroyed a factory that belongs to my employer,” he began coldly.

“After everything we went through you’d go to work for a tyrant again?” she questioned angrily in response.

“Look,” Dax ground out through semi-clenched teeth, “I promised a friend I’d take care of some things for him. This isn’t something I wanted to do, but it’s taking care of what I promised. I’m not proud of it, but it is what it is.”

The light at the intersection changed again the people began walking around the pair once more. “So what are you here for?” Armada asked with a hard gaze he likely couldn’t see.

“They want me to kill you, but I know you have money,” he replied coolly.

“They’re not getting a dime from me, Dax,” Armada turned sharply and pulled herself from his grasp. She walked with the crowd across the street and her old comrade followed.

“They’re gonna want something,” he shouted above the noise of the city as he walked a meter behind her.

“Give them my sincerest apologies,” Armada shouted back to him in sarcasm.

Once she was across the street Armada felt a vice-grip on her left elbow that stopped her in her tracks. She turned to glare at Dax. “I’m trying to help you out here,” his voice was much lower than before.

Armada quickly pulled her arm out of his grip as if it were nothing. “I don’t need any help.” She turned to walk away again when he grabbed her upper arm and spun her around. She opened her mouth to yell at him when he threw a punch she barely saw into her abdomen. Armada felt the air rush out of her lungs and Dax ripped open her jacket pockets in less than a second.

“This’ll do,” he nodded to her as he showed her four bank cards in his hands. Armada’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening and Dax ran. She immediately chased after him.

Dax ran, weaving in and out of people on the streets and sidewalks of Ute. Armada did her best to follow, her migraine leaving her drained and making it hard to keep an eye on him. If only she could just fly after him, but he stayed on the ground mixed in with several hundred people, so that wasn’t an option. She then noticed he started using his speed to almost jump from one open space to the next. Armada growled and did the same.

Dax knew Armada was hot on his trail so he looked for any way to possibly slow her down. He saw a guy a bit taller than the average Bmyhadian up ahead and decided to go for it. He appeared just behind the violet-haired man and grabbed his right arm. “Help, help me!” Dax cried, plastering on the most panicked face he could manage.

“Wh-what?” Trunks took a step back from the man that suddenly grabbed him.

“My ex-wife, she’s trying to kill me!” the man screamed. He had strange messy reddish-brown hair and wore some blue uniform. Trunks looked up as the man pointed behind himself to see a blonde woman with sunglasses on sprinting to their location.

“Ahhh!” the young man in the blue uniform screamed as he ran past Trunks and pushed the Earthling toward the woman chasing him. Trunks stumbled for a second but immediately caught the woman by her arms as she nearly ran him over.

Dax smirked and glanced behind himself to see Armada run right into the Samaritan. Have fun with that one, Ar, he laughed to himself as he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

“What are you doing; let me go!” the woman screamed and pushed forward on Trunks, breaking her right arm free from the grasp of his left hand. Shock flashed across Trunks’s face as he realized she wasn’t the average Bmyhadian, she had some power in her to push him like that and he felt her ki flare ever so slightly when she did.

Apparently the woman realized this too, because her sunglasses slid down her face just enough for Trunks to see the top half of her eyes and read the emotion on her face as well. She pulled her left arm again but Trunks held tight. “Police!” he yelled in the middle of the crowd, “this woman is trying to kill her ex-husband!”

“What?” the woman immediately stopped struggling. “Is that what he said to you?!” she screamed. From the look on Trunks’s face he guessed that she figured it out. “That guy just robbed me!” she shouted and clenched her teeth. “Now let go!” she surged forward with a punch from her right hand aimed directly at Trunks’s face.

Trunks was surprised, she came at him with a speed he hadn’t seen in a few years. He brought his right hand up and caught her fist in it just before it hit his left cheek, but the force of her punch and his shock pushed him backward and the pair bumped into an older woman before they both fell to the pavement. Bystanders started to scream and someone helped the older woman from falling.

The blond haired woman was leaning forward over Trunks, and she brought her face down to within two inches of his. “Let go of me before I kill you,” she said deliberately and charged up her energy in her fist that was captured in Trunks’s hand. Before he could say anything someone screamed.

“There, those two! It’s them!”

Both fighters turned to see Utian police headed straight for them. The blond haired woman leapt up away from Trunks’s grasp and ran around a corner. Two officers chased her and when they reached the edge of the building they stopped. “Where’d she go…?” one said while they both appeared dumbfounded.

Trunks saw three bank cards lying on the ground just next to his left hip and quickly brushed the cards under his body. “What’s going on here?” one of the officers demanded of Trunks.

“I’m terribly sorry,” he put on his best good-boy voice, “she ran into me and I was trying to stop her.”

The officer who spoke before glared at Trunks suspiciously before responding. “Get out of here. If I see your face again today you’re going to jail for public disturbance.”

“Yes sir,” Trunks nodded as the two officers turned and left. He stood up slowly and pulled the three bank cards into his left hand. He picked up the messenger back full of groceries on his right and discretely snuck the bank cards into the left pocket of his jacket. He started walking in the direction he was originally headed; he still needed to get a few things for his mother before he returned to the lab.

-+-

Trunks sat eating a piece of fruit in the lounge with Murtole after he finished telling his story.

“So she dropped these bank cards?” Murtole said, holding them up in his hand. There were two completely black cards and one blue card.

“I guess so; nobody else tried to pick anything up and they’re not mine,” Trunks added as he took another bite of fruit.

“Well let’s see how much is on here,” Murtole laughed as he turned around in his chair. He picked up a laptop from the table in front of him and inserted one of the black cards into the card reader on the side. He started to read what was on the card and his face looked perplexed.

“What is it?” Trunks asked as he moved to sit on the armrest of Murtole’s chair and get a closer look at the laptop screen.

“One beta,” Murtole looked up at him with a disbelieving scowl. “Bank cards like this require a minimum balance of fifty beta. To put one on this card is just… stupid. You’d end up paying several beta each day you’re under the minimum.”

“Well maybe after her last purchase there was only one beta left,” Trunks supplied.

“That’s possible,” Murtole said as he pulled the card out of his laptop and replaced it with the second black card, “but there was no fraction of a beta, just one whole single beta.”

Trunks watched as the second card’s account information was displayed, it too had only one and exactly one beta on it. “Man, this is too weird,” Murtole said as he pulled the card out. He stuck the blue card in and waited for the information to pop up. “Let me guess,” he said while he waited. The amount showed up and he said immediately, “One beta. What the hell?” he asked in annoyance and moved to take the blue bank card out.

“Wait, what’s that?” Trunks asked between a mouthful of food. He pointed to a small yellow warning icon that had appeared in the corner of the taskbar. Murtole clicked on it and a black screen popped up, slowly revealing words on the screen.

Murtole read. “Contracts… large and small, professional expertise in all required fields, contact 08004562-A92-KKR4.” Murtole looked at the screen in confusion a moment before he turned to Trunks to speak. “It sounds like… a business card.” Mutole paused. “Why would you hide your job ad on a nearly empty bank card?”

Trunks grimaced, “When you’ve got something to hide.”

-+-

Armada leaned back lazily on the bench she was sitting on in the park just north of downtown Ute. She had her eyes closed but she could feel the sun hitting her face and it was kinda nice; she hadn’t had much time lately to just go outside and enjoy the weather. She opened her eyes when the cell phone in her right hand rang. She casually brought it up to the side of her face and answered. “Yeah?”

“Got the trace,” a male voice said on the other end. “It’s definitely coming from the ministry,” he finished.

“Thanks,” Armada sad flatly before hanging up the phone. She stood from the park bench and looked at the building across the street she was scoping out from the park. Her eyes narrowed. Dax, I’m not as stupid as you’d like to think.

-+-

Late that evening, Murtole wandered from the lab to the kitchen for another pot of coffee. Bulma had given it to him last time she came through the jump gate and he couldn’t get enough of the stuff. The taste wasn’t that great but it helped him stay up late on nights like these when he was working into the early hours of the morning.

Murtole yawned as he finished filling his mug. He picked up the cup and turned around but was immediately stopped by a pair of strong hands grabbing him, one covering his mouth and the other around the back of his neck.

The young scientist dropped his mug of coffee which it the floor with a dull thud, spilling the liquid within all over the kitchen floor. His eyes widened in shock as a pair of dark blue eyes stared at him from underneath messy blond bangs. “Scream and you’re dead,” he heard the harsh voice of a woman whisper to him. Murtole nodded in her grip and he let go of his mouth.

“Where are they?” she asked in hushed tones, the hand on the back of his neck holding him tight.

“Where’s w-what?” Murtole stuttered, scared out of his mind.

“The bank cards!” she glared at him angrily.

“They’re at my desk in the lab,” Murtole shook as he spoke.

“Did Dax put you up to this?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; my friend found the cards on the street, that’s all,” Murtole shook in her grasp.

She must have believed him because her grip on him loosened as she continued to stare in his eyes. Murtole thought he saw a flash of understanding there, and made no attempt to move yet. He thought he saw something move in the shadows behind the woman and his eyes glanced over her right shoulder.

“Let him go now.”

Still holding tight to Murtole, the woman spun around to find the same man from earlier that day standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “You…!” her eyes widened in shock before they narrowed again in anger. “This is a set-up!” she turned her attention back to Murtole and pulled him against her violently. She held his back to her chest, her left arm clenched around his collarbone, and her right hand up by his neck. Murtole felt a heat emanating from her right hand and noticed a white light in the room.

Trunks saw the woman charge a ki blast in her right hand up to Murtole’s neck. “Let him go, he has nothing to do with this!” Trunks shouted at her, angered she would take a hostage.

“It was all part of Dax’s plan, wasn’t it?!” she yelled at Trunks. “Well you stole from the wrong woman,” her voice lowered to a menacing treble.

“It’s me you want, right?” Trunks started, doing whatever he could to get his scared friend out of harm’s way. “Let him go, he had nothing to do with this.”

The woman reluctantly released Murtole, and he fumbled away from her before he tripped over a chair and fell to the floor in the kitchen. He watched his friend Trunks stare down this intruder. What the hell was going on?

Trunks now noticed she looked completely different from when he had last seen her. She was wearing some type of black and dark blue armor that made her hard to see in the dark. The only things uncovered were her head and the very tips of her fingers.

“I don’t know who Dax is,” Trunks finally spoke, “but I’m sorry for what happened today. I made a mistake.”

“You’re sorry?” she spat. “I had just cleared all my bank accounts in this country, I was going to leave. Dax… he got away with over 230 million beta. That was everything I had,” she ground out through clenched teeth. Trunks noticed her fists clench unconsciously. “And you’re sorry,” she added again, her eyes showing Trunks just how angry and hurt she was.

Trunks was shocked though he didn’t let his face show it. 230 million beta…? Kami, what the hell does this woman do? he thought with concern.

“As much as I’d like to kill you, I have a better idea,” the woman spoke again, her features relaxing slightly. “You’ll work for me, and work off your debt.”

“What?” Trunks was taken aback. “How do you expect me to earn that much money?”

“You won’t work it all off,” she replied in a much calmer tone. “But enough so that I’m satisfied.”

“What if I refuse?” Trunks asked with a scowl.

He saw her eyes glance around the room and briefly over Murtole once again. “Then I’ll have to take whatever I can find,” she finished, her eyes settling on his.

Trunks thought over his options. He couldn’t let her attack Murtole or the others over something he did. But it was an honest mistake; he didn’t mean to help the guy who robbed her. Sure he felt guilty about it but shouldn’t she be chasing him down instead of Trunks? He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was all. However, he couldn’t risk the lives of the Bmyhadians in the lab nor the location of his home world and most importantly, his mother.

“How do you expect me to help you?” Trunks asked with a hardened gaze.

She smirked at him. “You’re just like me, otherwise you wouldn’t have caught my punch in the first place.” She stood upright and walked over to Trunks, the animosity dissipating from her face. “I’m Armada.”

“Trunks,” the Earthling replied.

“Well Trunks,” Armada raised an eyebrow at him and still had that smirk on her face, “get your things, work starts now.”

-+-

Trunks stepped out of the comm. room at the lab and picked up his bag on the floor. Murtole watched him with worry while Devan stared at the unwelcome stranger in the doorway to the lab. Trunks walked up to Murtole and gave him a half-hearted smile. His younger friend pulled him into a hug and Trunks’s features eased a little.

Trunks looked over to Devan as Murtole released him, the head scientist at the lab gave Trunks an almost disapproving look. Trunks knew it was because Devan was upset at how things turned out, but Trunks couldn’t let things get out of hand. Besides, Devan didn’t know Trunks’s real strength; he wasn’t worried about taking care of himself. He just wanted them to stay safe.

He turned to face Armada who was standing in the doorway to the lab. She nodded her head at Trunks and turned around, walking out of the lab. He turned around and gave a weak smile to his friends before following after her. He wasn’t sure what he got himself into, but he was certain he’d get out of it soon enough.

-+-

Thanks for reading!

Silvia