Everything Changes

Splitting Up

"How much longer are we going to have to stay here tied up!" Holly moaned.

"Someone will come soon, Holly. Ernesto and Sadiq will be here soon." Frankie reassured her.

"Never mind them, I need to wee!"

They had been tied up now for about half an hour, and both girls were growing impatient. Holly from waiting for their rescuers to come rescue them, and Frankie from Holly's grumbling.

"Why don't we play a game to take your mind off it?" Frankie suggested. "Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with....T"

"Tree." Holly replied, already over this game.

"Yea! Well done! Ok, ok, your turn." Frankie replied, overly excited about it.

Holly decided she might as well entertain the idea. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with....-"

Before she could even complete her sentence, Frankie was interrupting her. "ERNESTO!"

"My compadres!" The curly haired chap came running through the woods towards them, getting straight to untying their ropes. "Are you hurt? Are you both ok?" He asked frantically.

"Yes, Ernesto, we're fine-"

"Good! Now quick, we have to go quick! Serena is trying to send Buha back to her own time. We can't let it happen! We need her, she's our sensitive!" Ernesto replied, helping them both to their feet.

"We know, Ern. It's for the best, she doesn't belong here." Holly explained.

"Chi Chi, you knew about this? And didn't try and stop this? You know what, no time, we have to get there now!"

They ran through the forest (well, speed walked in Holly's case) to the rocks where they arrived just in time to watch Buha disappear.

"What are you doing, Serena!" Sadiq asked, fury in his voice.

"I did the right thing." She spat back, still furious at him after what had happened in the morning.

"The right thing for who?"

"Keeping Buha here was no better than Kylie keeping people locked up in the capital! Or have you forgotten what that felt like?" She scoffed.

His face softened, but you could still see his anger. "How are we going to find another sensitive in time for the commit?"

"There's Oryan at the capital. We have him." Reese reminded him. "We can get him out."

"Sadiq, we need to find a sensitive to replace Buha." There was no room for questions to Serena's statement.

"Ok, so how about me and Ern go back to the capital and rescue Oryan. We never should have left him there in the first place." He suggested.

"I need to be here for Holly." Ernesto protested, wrapping an arm around her protectively. She promptly shrugged it off.

"I'm not an invalid!" She snapped. "I'm just pregnant." She hadn't meant to snap, it was those bloody pregnancy hormones. But it was like he had forgotten she was a person who could do things for herself. She needed her independence.

Ernesto seemed to accept her response. "Ok, but small point. Wheels? We need two vans if we're going to split up again."

"Catch." The ringleader of the girls tribe shouted, throwing him a pair of keys. "Bounty hunters keys."

So they had not only managed to escape the bounty hunters, but had also managed to steal there van! Nice, Holly thought to herself.

"Brian and Fizzy have lent us their jeep, who knew they could be so generous." Ernesto smirked, looking towards Serena. "Hey, bounty hunter. Ready for a trip to the capital?"

"Always."

**********

They made their way to their vans, ready to go their separate ways.

"Are you sure you'll be ok, my Chi Chi?" Ernesto asked as he wrapped his arms around her, her bump squished between the two of them.

"I promise." She smiled up at him, leaning up for a kiss.

"And remember, I'm only a radio call away. If you're ever missing me, just give me a buzz." He reminded her.

She laughed. "I think we both know that's more for you than me."

He knelt down, placing his hands on either side of her stomach ready to talk to their baby. According to his book, they could now recognise voices, and he was determined to speak to them as much as he could.

"Now, daddy is going to be gone for a little while. But he promises he loves you loads, and will be back as soon as he's completed his mission with Auntie Serena. You be good for mummy now, try not to kick her about too much."

Holly watched him from above, her heart fluttering. "You big softie." She teased, taking his hand to help him up.

He walked her to the passenger side of the Spartivan, helping her get in.

"You look after her, mate. Make sure she doesn't get hurt." He reminded Sadiq.

"Ern." Holly said, and he knew from the tone of her voice to stop, that she was getting annoyed at his worrying.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." He reassured his friend.

Ernesto ran around to the passenger seat of the bounty hunters van, letting Serena drive.

"Look, Serena," Sadiq began to speak through the windows of their vans.

She interrupted him. "I guess we'll see each other on the other side."

Ernesto could feel the awkwardness, he hated seeing his friends argue like this.

"Ernesto, the bounty hunter! It's got a ring about it, don't you think?" He tried to make her laugh.

And so they Sparticles set off on their separate ways. One to the capital to rescue Oryan, their replacement sensitive. And one to follow the ley lines in the hunt for new sensitives.