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Aw man!  Sammy almost forgot about the Science club.  She comes running up to John, breathing hard when she stops, and hopes he hasn't waited around too long...

"Hey."  John says with a smile, "I thought I was gonna have to send out a search party or something."

"Sorry!  Too many things to track.  You ready to go?"

On the short walk to where the club meets, she tells him the little she knows about Mr. Heep, the history with TJ, and things she's done with Mr. Heep since TJ's departure.  "You said something about wanting to be a doctor?  You might be interested in checking out the genetically engineered bees I collected.  I still don't know where they came from."

She could, if she wanted to, try to flirt madly with the cute new guy, but she doesn't.  He's a lost cause, claimed by someone else, and its not worth the effort especially since she's decided she'll lose before she even tries.  So no fake airs, no preening, no gazing in adoration, none of it.  He's just some guy who might be interested in some of the same things she finds interesting, and she attempts to connect to him on that level.

"Yeah, that could be cool.  Mr. Heep sounds like he's pretty nice, maybe he can help me with some of the biology stuff.  So, you're in the band.  you going to the after game party?"

OOC:  well, gosh darn it, I got it wrong again.  They aren't Megan's parties, just popular upperclassmen kids parties.

"Uh, probably not, unless you mean the band party.  Are you talking about the party the cheerleaders and football players usually go to afterwards?  I'm not invited to that.  That group is, um, very exclusive, and particular about who is and is not invited..."

"Oh."  John says, "I suppose the clique thing is everywhere.  I've pretty much been an outsider up til now, so I'm not sure who the in crowd is."

"Well, then, that does make things difficult.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Mr. Elliot, but I believe you're one of Them now.  When you go to the party, you'll know who's In, because they'll all be there."  She starts to laugh, then reconsiders.  "I'd offer to come by and cause a distraction if you need one in order to sneak out the back door, but you'll be fine.  They believe you belong to them, so you will, even if you don't."

"Well, they're going to be disappointed in me then.  I don't beleive in social isolation for any reason."

The Science Club meeting is certainly a collection of some of the brightest and the disenfranchised.  All together there are about twenty-five members, with interests in varying sciences.  They give presentations on their pet science and chat about recent news and events in the scientific community.  Eventually all the meetings break down into a discussion of how some Sci-Fi movie or series has abused science and they take great pleasure in pointing out the flaws in plots and how it SHOULD have been done.

Sammy and John are among a small group of people who have come to check things out, to see if they want to join.  Brian Parks, President of the club (among others) comes over to chat after the meeting ends.  He shakes John's hand, "Elliot, right?"

John nods, "Yeah, and this is my friend Samantha James.  We were just checking things out."

Brian shakes Sammy's hand, "Nice to meet you."   He looks around the room at the members and non-members milling about and chatting.  "We're geeks, but we're proud of it.  So, your two thinking of joining?"

Quickly, but not rudely (there is a difference), Sammy says "Jameson.  Samantha Jameson.  Don't worry, people make that mistake all the time.  Its the curse of an almost common name."


Sammy nods.  "Yeah, Mr. Heep thought I might enjoy it here.  I wanted to learn more about some things, so he's been mentoring me.  John's new to the school, and thought it might be easier to break the ice here if he came with somebody." She shifts the conversation's focus away from her and John.  "So it looks like you guys have a lot of fun here, and work on some really cool projects.  Is it okay if we walk around and look at some of them?  I won't touch without permission."

"Doh.  Sorry."  John says, "I know what you mean though, I have Elliott for a last name and people are always thinking it's my first name."


"Sure."  Brian says, "Feel free.  Jsut be careful, some of the geeks look harmless, but they've been known to bite."  He smiles and there is an odd pause, then he seems to realize it and smiles wider, moving off.

The Science Club meets in the second floor lab classroom.  There is a counter that runs almost completely along all the walls and this is where the various Science Club projects are set up.  Some are the Science Fair winners from previous years, and others are the current crop of projects.  Each one has a little sheet that tells what it is and briefly what it's supposed to demonstrate.  Also included are the names of all the people who worked on it.

"What are we looking for?"  John whispers.

"I'm not sure," Sammy whispers back.  "Experiments with genetics?  Salt acid projects?  Mood changing chemical studies, or stuff that does image enhancement in poorly lit areas?  Anything that doesn't look, I dunno, right for a high school, maybe college level project?  It might be best just to let them do the most of the talking, and see what their pride betrays about them.  I'd wager most of the people in here are basically harmless though."

Sammy starts at one end of the long counter, and looks with interest at the first few projects.  At one point, she'll look up and wave happily across the room at Mr. Heep, then get back to business.

John wanders around some, chatting with some of the other members of the club.

Mr. Heep comes over to see Sammy.  "I got the analysis of that acid sample Sylvia brought me."  He says quietly.  "Definitely organic, and it does have DNA traces, so it's something secreted from someone.  The DNA is pretty badly degraded, the police forensics lab should have better equipment though, they might be able to get a good read out of it."

"Wow," Sammy quietly replies.  "Thanks.  There was a piece of metal with a fingerprint etched into it too.  Have you seen that?  I think the police have it."

To herself, she thinks We need to get better at, what's Dad call it... OPSEC.  We need to be more careful.  I didn't realize that Mr. Heep knew Sylvia and I are somehow connected.  He's no dummy, and he has enough pieces of the puzzle to start putting together a good picture.  Hope he keeps his intuition to himself.

Still being quiet, she says "I'm trying to be careful about this, Mr. Heep.  You be careful too, ok?  I don't want you to get hurt because of a bunch of kids playing Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys.  Let me know if you notice anybody, well, noticing you noticing us."

Mr. Heep nods.  "I don't think you could have made that sentence anymore complex without a force diagram.  You guys be careful."  He shakes his head and moves off to chat with other members of the clulb.

John comes back over to where Sammy is standing.  "There are cool projects, and lame ones.  The coolest is a robot that uses low-light imaging to navigate dark tunnels for inspection.

"Awesome!  Show me!"  She follows John to the robot, and starts spouting about how her dad is a civil engineer, and he was wishing for something almost exactly like this because it would make certain kinds of jobs soooooo much safer and easier, blah, blah, blah... she's hoping to attract the attention of the inventor.

She is rewarded after a minute or two by the presence of a clean cut handsome boy.  "I'd be happy to give him a demo, if he's got some place specific he has in mind."  The boy sets his hand on the plexi-glass case the robot is in.  "It can be run over the internet, or programmed with a map and instructions.  Batteries are good for about 10 miles at full speed, which is plenty fast.  The camera can record or transmit life feed."

The robot itself looks like one of those high-end remotre control cars without a fancy body.  It has a set of wheels set on springloaded arms which apparently run along the sides of tight spaces.

"Wow."  John says, "That's really cool."

The boy smiles, "Your boyfriend seems impressed, what about you?"  He extends his hand, which John shakes, then he holds it out to Sammy, "Preston Wilde."

"Samantha Jameson.  And he's not my boyfriend.  For now he's just John Elliot, new kid at school who gets to suffer with me showing him around." 

She leans in close to the robot.  "Wow, you could do all kinds of things with something like this...  I'll let my dad know about it, and he can decide how to chase it from there.  He works for a big architecture firm, and maybe they'd want a demo, or he might know a company that would buy the rights to your invention outright.  Give me your phone number or an email address... Preston?  Preston.  I'll pass it to him.  Is it okay if I take a picture of it with my cell?  This is so cool..."  She laughs.  "Ha, I'll bet you could even sell this to exterminators.  I think there might be rats nesting in the ductwork over my history classroom, but its not like anybody can get in there to look.  But this could, if the metal in the ductwork didn't block the radio signals."

Preston smiles when Sammy explains that John is not her boyfriend.  He gives her his number and an email address, "Have your dad give me a ring, I'd be happy to chat with him."

As Sammy takes her picture and comments about radio signals, Preston interupts.  "Not a problem.  She can drag an extra long line behind her to act as an antenna, like submarines use for emergency signaling.  It's got it's own little robot to reel in the cable too, in case she looses connectivity."

"You've tried it out in challenging places then?  Awesome.  Man, I wish I could come up with cool ideas like this.  I always seem to think of things a little bit too late.  Is it hard to operate?  Oh, its in the case, you probably don't want to take it out with all the things going on in here; somebody might step on it and break it."  She pouts, then brightens.  "Maybe I can get my dad to take me to work with him on the day you do the demo!"

(OOC: please note, she expresses concern over the object getting broken, not people tripping over it and hurting themselves; she's targeting her audience.  She knows her daddy's ways.)

"Yeah, she's a little too fragile to be running around in here with the heavy sitters crowd."  Preston says brightly.  "If you like, I'd be happy to give you a demo, privately.  Maybe later, after the meeting is over?"

"I'm not sure we'll have enough time to do it justice; maybe Saturday morning, or Monday after school if you're busy on Saturday?  Would that be okay with you?  I have to get to marching band practice right after this, and I'm supposed to help a friend with her math work after that, and then the band has to perform at the football game tomorrow afternoon, and I need to do my own homework sometime... things are a little crazy right now, you know?  Or maybe I just need to learn how to schedule better, or schedule less!"

"You're a busy girl."  Preston says, "Tell you what.  Let's say Monday, after last bell.  Meet me in the parking lot."

Sammy sends back  a reflection of the bright smile Preston gave her just a moment ago.  "Monday!  Great!"  She pulls out her assignment-tracker and writes it down in ink.  "As good as set in stone!  The only thing that'll keep me away is if they have to evacuate the school again, and even then, I have your phone number so I can find you!"

She looks at the time, then turns towards John.  "John?  I need to go now.  Do you want to hang around here some more, or do you want me to show you the way to the gym?"  Not waiting for an answer, she turns back towards Preston and extends her hand.  "Great meeting you, Preston!  See you on Monday!"

"Right.  It's a date."   Preston says.

John follows you out the door, waving to Preston, even though he's fairly certain it's a wasted gesture.

"You girl are smooth."  John says.  Somthing about the way he says it makes Sammy look up at him, and for some reason she's having trouble not staring.  The shape of his face, and the wet shine of those eyes.  He stops to look at her, a questioning look crosses his face, "Something wrong?"

He's a bit tall, and she had to get up on he tiptoes, but the taste of his lips was worth it.  Then there is a moment of panic, and Sammy feels very warm, feverish even.  The look of suprise in John's eyes confirms that what she just thought happened, probably did.

Flame on... between the feverish feeling and the thrill of the moment, Sammy turns beet red.  "I'm sorry... I don't know why I did that... it was nice, really nice, but I... I don't feel so good.  I think somebody did something to me.  Get me out of here, and call Colin and Donnie.  I need them to look at me.  And don't let me kiss you again unless you want me to kiss you again.  I'd like to kiss you again but somehow I don't think that's a good idea right now.  Oh, hurry!"  She buries her face in her hands and lets him guide her away to someplace else.

John picks Sammy up, effortlessly, and a few SECONDS later they're on the roof.  He sets her down and sends a text message to both Colin and Donnie.

'Roof - Sammy needs help NOW'

Donnie's cellphone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out as he is about to get on the bus. He reads the message and pales, taking off at a full speed run back into the school, heading for the stairs. As soon as he gets to the stairs, he calls Pip, then recasts his Bitch Patrol spell before leaping up the stairs as fast as he can.

If the door is chained shut, Pip makes short work of it.

"Oh man, you can fly too, this is so not fair, I was wishing for somebody to sky dance with..."  Sammy is shaking with the physical effort it is taking for her to stay away from John.  Her hair flutters madly in the wind, and her clothes are being whipped by a stiff breeze.  "I can fly too.  I control air.  Thats why I was so worried about you looking for paras; I was afraid you'd find the wrong kind, and I might not know it happened until it was too late for me to get there to get you out of trouble.  At least I don't have to worry about that anymore, you can get yourself out of trouble... unless the trouble is me.  I'm so sorry about this.  No, don't get any closer..." 

OOC: It did have a chain on it, but something snapped some links.

John puts his hands on Sammy's arms to hold her, at arms length.  "No, I'm just fast.  that's cool, that you can fly."  His tone is one of confusion and concern.  When John sees Donnie he calls to him.  "Don, over here.  we were in the hall, and everything was fine.  Then she stopped, and I asked what was wrong and she kissed me.  Then she said she didn't feel well, and to get you and Colin.  She's warm to the touch, and I don't think that's normal."

"Crap. Sounds like the love-goo incident all over again." Donnie runs his hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. "I have nothing memorized that could help with this." Pip wings overhead, chirping in concern.
He pulls out his cell phone and calls Sylvia. She's the one that was doing so much investigation on the substance. Hopefully she doesnt have her phone turned off.

While the phone rings, he asks John "What or who has she been touching before it affected her? I need to know everything she touched or touched her."

"Could you narrow down a time frame for me?  We spent the last half hour or so at the Science Club meeting.  We shook some hands.  There was this one guy hitting on her, Preston something."

Sammy is hovering above the tarred roof surface now, lust and fear and who knows what else warring for dominance in her face.  Grit from the roof is blowing madly around her.

"Mr. Heep." she gasps.  "He might be able to help.  So might a cold shower.  I should go see if the carwash is open.  Or the school pool."

"Pip! Stay with her! John, keep your distance. We think this stuff is pheremone based and you could likely be affected by it if you remain too close. Dude, could you get a bottled water or something for her to wash her hands and face in?"  

Pip hovers in front of Sammy, wings beating furiously to remain in the same position and keep between her and the boys. "I am going to go for Mr. Heep. Pip, keep her from doing anything foolish like flying into a carwash or something. I am gonna get Sarah or Kel to kick this Preston's ass if he's the one." Cell phone in his ear, Donnie gives the tableau one agonizing look and heads back towards the stairs.

John bolts from the roof, past Donnie in a blur and down the stairs.  He has to slow down to a human pace to get the bottled water from the school store, but as soon as he's out of site of people he's back at super speed to the roof.

"Here, Don wants you to wash your hands and face."  John says, opening the bottle for Sammy.  "DON."  John says to get the other boy's attention, "If I've been...affected.  We might have a problem."

EDIT to add John's comment to Donnie.

Donnie stops at the top of the stairs, nearly spun in place at the speed of John's movement. "Whu- What?" He turns back towards the football player. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if there is any way to stop me from getting what I want.  I have super human strength, invulnerability, I can see through walls and move at super speed.  I could seriously hurt someone if this stuff messes with judgement."

Shaking his head John takes his phone from his pocket and sends a text message to Megan.

'Possibly exposed to love goo.  If you see me coming, be careful.'

"Do you suddenly have an intense desire for the opposite sex? If so you might want to wash your exposed skin like Sammy or run through a shower or something. I will find out from Mr. Heep if there is any counteragent for the goo. Oh, and welcome to the Usual Suspects, Wonderboy."

Donnie starts hopping down the stairs and heading towards Mr. Heep's office and science lab. Dammit! Why isn't Sylvia answering?

Donnie finds Mr. Heep with no trouble.  The last fo the Science Club kids are heading out and he's closing up.

"Can I help you?"  he asks, shutting the door to the science room.

"Mr. Heep. My name is Donnie Douglas, a friend of both TJ and Sammy. I think Sammy was just subjected to the 'love goo' substance they have been working on analyzing with you. Have you determined a counteragent for it? She's kind of freaking out right now.."

Donnie says this quietly, leveling side glances at the Science Club kids as they pass by.

Mr. Heep's expression gets serious as Donnie explains the situation.  "Wait here."  he says, going back ito his office.  "I've been toying with the idea of how it effects the brain, really quite brilliant."  he says, fishing around in one of the cabinets.  "A person could make a fortune with this stuff, it would be illegal, but."  He finally seems to find what he's looking for and comes back, "Lead the way."

As Donnie heads towards the roor he pauses in the staircase. "Mr. Heep. You know there are a number of paranormal activities in our school right?" At the teacher's nod, Donnie continues. "Sammy is one. She can fly, and is the one that saved that boy from the bee attack, providing you with the samples. Please don't tell anyone. I am trusting you on this, okay?"

As they reach the roof access, Donnie mentally banishes Pip before leading Mr. Heep out into the sunlight.

Sammy carefully takes the bottle of water and pours some into her hand.  She washes her face, and then her hands.  "I... I should get clean clothes, in case something was sprayed on me and I didn't notice."  A sly look passes over her face.  "Or, you could take me to the boys locker room.  We could both shower... NO! Stop it, Sammy, stop it stop it stop it!"

OOC:  yeah, why not... it was too good a joke on me.

"I'm burning up!" Sammy complains.  "Why is it so hot outside in October?"   She starts ripping off her clothing.

John takes Sammy's hands, and holds them together, to keep her from following through on the undressing thing.  Donnie and Mr. Heep arrive a moment later.

Mr. Heep comes over and pulls a pair of cloth covered ampules from his pocket.  He snaps them and waves them under Sammy's nose.  The pungent smell of ammonia and citris assault her senses.  For a moment she has a splitting headache, then just a mild throbbing pain in the back of her brain.

"Feeling better Ms. Jameson?" Mr. Heep asks.

OOC: I gather it will be a while before we get a reply to this.  Suffice it to say that Sammy begins to feel better inj a few seconds.  Her tempreture returns to normal and she realized that it's October and cold outside.  John's presence is hard to miss, he's holding both her hands together and he's very warm.

"Nnnggghhh... oh, god, I'm so embarrassed..."  She looks down at her trapped hands.  "Um, John, you can let go now.  And you'd better get some of that antidote for yourself, just in case.  Your hands feel a little warm." 

They feel wonderful too, but I won't be mentioning that.  Not right now.  Maybe never.

She shamefacedly gathers up her hoodie, the only thing she managed to peel off, and puts it back on.  "Thanks for your help everybody.  Now I'm going to go find a hole to hide in for the next four years.  Maybe I can get my high school degree over the internet.  After I clobber whoever did this to me.  Who did this to me?!"

"Who is the Preston fellow who was hitting on you?" Donnie looks pissed. Once again someone was screwing with his friends.

Colin slams the roof's door open and looks around with wide eyes. He's in shorts, and visibly panting.

"I'm... sorry... huff... I came as fast as I could."

He catches his breath and awakens his ghost sight.

"What happened here?"

Donnie lets John explain the beginnings, and he finishes the story up. He looks at MR. Heep. "I told him about Sammy, since she was floating a foot off the ground and surrounded by a mini tornado when we got back up here. John was good enough to keep an eye on her while I ran to get Mr. Heep. I suspect this Preston fellow might have sprayed her or something, since he was hitting on her even with John standing right next to her. You get any, uh, impressions?"

Colin's eyebrows twitch, but that's the only outer sign of anger. He gets very silent, though. He approaches Sammy slowly and very gently takes her right hand in his own. Colin's hands are still warm from all the running, and he caresses her like she was a very fragile things.

Blackbird, please show me what she touched, how she got infected. And if this stuff is magic, I should be able to scramble it, ain't I?

"I don't know... he's some guy in the science club.  He invented a little robot that can get into tight spaces.  Where's my phone...  here.  This is him.  With the robot.  I'm getting a demo on Monday after school.  And here are his email address and his phone number.  He shook hands with me and with John too, one after the other.  I'm the only one that got goo'ed though.  I don't know how he could have done it."

Sammy's eyes flash over to Colin while John and Donnie explain what happened.  He sees a look that he won't ever want to catch on film, one of acute pain and embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry."  John says, letting Sammy go.  "Don't worry about it, I'm always warm, it's perfectly normal."


"I don't think that'll be necessary."  John says, "It's not like there weren't extenuating circumstances.  People kiss all the time, so it's not like a crime or anyting."

Mr. Heep puts a hand on John's sholder, "Stop talking."  he says simply, a somewhat concerned expression on his face.  "You're about to babble."  He looks at the others, "Well, Preston is a genius, but not at chemistry.  Robotics and electronics is his thing, so he's an accomplis if he's anything here."


There is a flash of Sammy standing in the lunch room, getting kissed on the cheek by Elron Janush.  Then time runs backwards and Elrod moves backwards through the school to one of the music rooms.  He takes a drink from a friends water bottle.  The friend now moves backward, out of the music room, through the halls to the lunch room.  He grabs the bottle from the cooler.  Now there is someone else, moving backwards.  They replace water bottles with other ones.  Now it's a dimly lit room, and bottles of water are sitting in a tray.  Someone is pouring something into them, and putting fresh tamper proof lids on them.

"Oh God and Great Spirit!!!"

Colin lets Sammy's hand go, but not before squeezing it one last time, with an encouraging smile. Or at least what passes for it when he's really worried.

He turns towards Mr. Heep.
"Later there will be time for an explanation, but right now you have to go to the principal and tell him to confiscate all the bottles of water taken from the lunch room today. The goo was into them. Only a few were replaced, but  we can't afford the risk. Please trust me, it could be a matter of time."

Hoping Mr. Heep goes without protesting, he looks at his friends.
"Uuuh, you... already know about each other? I'm sorry, I was thinking of a gentler way to introduce you, John, I tried to talk about you yesterday, so there could have been explanations and so on, but..." he looks at Donnie "...things went a bit out of hand. As you can see, they do it quite often."

He checks on Sammy again.
"How are you feeling now?" he says, stroking her forehead very very softly.

Donnie steps back behind Mr. Heep and shakes his head negatively, pointing to John, himself, then Mr. Heep.

Meanwhile Sylvia's been ignoring her phone.  She sees Donnie calling and can't face the guilt:  her homecoming dress is laid out on her bed, and her sister's setting Sylvia's hair.  It's only after a quarter hour or so that she screws up the courage to call back.  Maybe he picks up.  Maybe she just leaves some lame voice mail.

Mr. Heep nods at Colin's request and leaves the roof headed for the office.

John watches him go, then turns to Sammy.  It looks like he might say something, then he looks back towards the door Mr. Heep went through.  He looks back at Sammy.  "I'm glad you're okay." he says.  Sitting down.

Just before Mr. Heep leaves...

"Colin, call Sarah.  Warn her.  I shared some food with her a little while ago; I don't think I touched her or anything she ate, but it is better to be safe."

She shakes her head from side to side.  "How am I feeling?  Awful.  Embarrassed.  Angry.  Used."  She sees Donnie doing the "Oh No! Don't tell Mr Heep! Dance".  "And yeah, John found out my secret, and now Mr Heep knows too, but I think he was about to guess anyhow.  You guys are so nice to keep an eye on me and to keep my secrets.  I'm glad to have such good friends."  She hopes that is enough.

"How are we going to fight this?  School is out for the day, people are spread all over the place.  Unless we can get crop dusting planes to fly over the whole town and spray antidote into the air, there could be a lot of trouble tonight.  Speaking of which... Mr. Heep, do you have any more of the antidote, or can you make more?  I need to get help to Elrod."  She laughs bitterly.  "Great.  I get to kiss the cute quarterback, and before that I got kissed by another cute guy, but its all only because we're under the influence of love goo.  Elrod probably didn't really want to ask me out either; it was probably the goo talking. Wonderful.  Could this suck any more?"

"It's just ammonia and citris oil, easy stuff.  I'll put some packages together after I see the Principal."

"Sammy... if it makes you feel better, I don't think Elrod was under the effect of it... but you'd better call him anyway... if anything, to tell him to lock himself in till tomorrow."

He gets out his own phone and calls Sarah.

"Hi Sarah! Please tell me you didn't drink any water from the bottles in the cooler in the lunch room today! Tell me you didn't even touch them!"

"No," she says slowly.  "I can get the antidote into him, if I can get to him at all.  He'll be all right."


She looks over at John sitting there quietly.  She groans and looks away.  What a mess.

"Well, if I'm not having any strange impulses by now, I shoudl be okay, right?"  John asks, hopping to his feet.  "How long do the effects last, if there are any?"

Sarah answers her phone to an urgent sounding Colin.  "Huh? Um no I didn't have any water at school today.  Well a drink from the fountain after gym.  Why?  Oh god!  Did someone poison them or something?" can't we get a few days off for good behavior around here?

Colin sighs in relief.

"The bastard with the love goo is back at it, only this time he really went for it. I'm not sure how many people we talk about this time, he switched some bottle of water there with ones of his own design. Mr. Heep just went to warn the principal so we can limit it, but lots of people could be already home and not know it. On the bright side, he came up with an antidote."

"I'd wait for a dose of the ammonia and citrus oil treatment if I were you, just to be safe.  It took the whole time between lunch and us leaving the club meeting for it to hit me, if kissing you was the first symptom.  Unless me getting Robot Boy Preston to practically sit up and beg was part of it...  yeah, it had to be, I've never done anything like that before.  Somebody ought to find him, I might have contaminated him too."  She sighs.  "So it could be a couple of hours before you know for sure.  I'll stay with you if you want company while you wait; I owe you that much.  I'm supposed to meet Sarah later.  She wants to fly, so I said I'd take her for a sightseeing tour.  We could all hang out, go see a movie or something?  My treat?" 

She turns to Colin.  "Oh, I told Sarah about the photos you took last night.  She wants to see them when you've finished."

"I'd like to see you fly."  John says.  "Someday, I should be able to do that.  Once I figure out how and get over this little problem I have with heights."  He goes over to the edge and looks down.  "I know the fall wont hurt me, it's just.  Well they don't call it an irrational fear for nothing."

Sammy gives him a sympathetic smile.  "Well, if or when you think you're ready to try, let me know.  I'll be there to catch you if you fall." 

Man, next thing you know I'll be writing lyrics to country music ballads. 

"I crashed into a lot of tree tops at first.  There will be a lot of homeless squirrels cussing me out this winter.  For the record, certain kinds of pine give the softest landings, but the needles itch if they get under your clothes."

"Oh. You did. Good, I guess."  Colin seems uneasy thinking about them.

"I'll likely have them ready next week.

Sammy, I'm gonna check with Mr. Heep and the principal, and if I were you, I'd go home and take a nice, warm bath. It'll make you feel better. We instead, should maybe help Mr. Heep prepare the antidote and keep it ready.

Donnie, do you think we should call Megan too? I mean if the principal calls people home and finds out that someone needs help - fast?"

"I sent her a text.  I didn't want to call her and have her try to have a private conversation about somthing this odd.  If we need to rush stuff, I can help with that, and if we need a lot, then we can call her too."   John has stepped abck from teh edge of the roof and seems to be regaining his composure.

A moment later Mr. Heep arrives with several bundles of Ammonia and citris oil ampules.  "The Principal is having a count taken of the water from teh lunch room.  We may have gotten lucky though, the lunch lady says there weren't that many out, since it's gotten cold fewer kids are drinking it."  He gives each of the kids a few of the ampules.  "Just snap them and wave them under the nose of someone who is under the effects.  It causes a sort of chemical short citcuit in the brain."

Sammy grabs a handful of ampules.  "I should go to take care of Elrod.  John, if you want to see me fly, here's my home address.  Meet me there at 9 unless you need help before then or just want to come by earlier and hang out; that's when Sarah said she'd show up.  Everybody else is welcome too.  Nobody's being excluded."

She looks around.  "You know, so many people know about me now that I really should confess to my Dad.  He might be upset, but I think he'll be more upset if everybody but him knows.  Maybe this weekend..."

If there's nothing else, she goes.  She calls Elrod and tells him she needs to talk to him in person, now. The phone isn't good enough.

"Sure T-bone.  I'll meet you somewhere, name it?"

"Lindberg Park, by the tennis courts.  I'll see you in a couple of minutes then."

Quick like a bunny, she zips over to the park, and is sitting on a bench near the tennis courts when he shows up.

Elrod Janush shows off his money, but unlike his sister it's subtle.  He drives an old car, that most people take for a beater.  It's actually a finely restored 1968 Chevy Impala convertible.  The top is up, due to the season, but Sammy reconizes it immediately.  He stops and comes over to the bench to sit next to her.  "What's up?"

"Mr. Heep, in case someone took the water home, shouldn't families be advised?"

"Well, we don't really have any evidence.  The Principal is gonna have the police examine the bottles of water and we should have a count from the lunch lady soon.  This seems to be a bit diluted form the samples I have from before, or perhaps refined.  The effects seem less severe, so it might not be a major problem.  We'll see what happens.  Best not to start a panic, not until we have to anyway."

"Nice car.  Did you do the work yourself or send it out to a shop?"  She takes his hands and presses a vial into one of them.  "I'm going to cut to the chase.  If you had a transmissable disease, you'd want to know about it, right?  Well, you sort of do.  You've been contaminated with the same chemical that made the cheerleader crawl all over the geek.  I know this because you contaminated me, and I had to get help, and now I'm here to help you.  I would like it very much if you'd take a deep whiff of the contents of this container; its like smelling salts, nothing dangerous or illegal.  It won't make you sick or anything; it'll just negate the effects of that chemical on your brain.  Will you do that for me?  Will you trust me?"

She looks pleadingly into his eyes, willing him to do just this one little thing to make her happy.

Elrod shurgs and takes a whiff of the ammonia and citris oil solution.  "Okay.  It stinks, but it's like lemony fresh.  Now what?"

She remains holding his free hand.  "That's it.  All done.  Anything you do from now on is all your own idea.  I bet you're full of ideas anyhow, but that's entirely another subject.  No headache?  Good. I wound up with a short headache, but maybe I was feeling the symptoms more.  It was... intense." She shifts to a slightly more comfortable position.  "I forgot to ask you what we are supposed to argue about tomorrow night.  Is it something I have to study for, or will it be more of a philosophical debate?"

Elrod smiles, "We can argue about weather I'm supposed to be nice."  he leans forward and gently kisses Sammy on the cheek, "Or myself."  He puts his hand behind her neck and kisses her on the mouth.  "Make sure to dress in layers.  Sometimes the parties move outside, and it is October."

"mmmmmmm"  Nice!  "Looks like I'm going to have to go out on a fact finding mission to get ready for this discussion.  I don't have nearly enough information to reach any definite conclusions.  I mean, nice has its merits.  If you're being nice, that lines me up to do this."  She moves in and kisses him on the soft skin over a pulse point on his neck.  "See what I mean?  There's a lot to be said for that.  Let me try yourself again, just to compare.  Don't resist, this is for science."

fade to Chevy Impala grillework?

Sounds good.

Colin, who was working out at home and as soon as John called ran here without changing, is beginning to freeze on the roof.

"Mr. Heep, can we go somewhere to talk?"

OOC: These events happened after last period, so he was probably just working out or maybe playing some B-ball with a few other kids.

"Sure."  Mr. Heep says, "We can go back down to my classroom."  He leads the way back down to his science room, setting his breifcase down and sitting.

OOC: Yeah, I didn't realize that. I'm going back to edit that out, Colin was probably at home, who isn't far from the school anyway.


Colin sits in front of Mr. Heep, torturing his hair while he thinks what to say.

Finally he straightens up and takes a good evaluating look at Mr. Heep with his ghost sight, just in case. If there's nothing suspicious about his aura, this is what he says.

"I have... a talent. I believe it's called psychometry. Sometimes, I can touch things and have visions about their past. It's not really a secret, I've already talked to the principal twice about it, but... I think he has a hard time believing me. I've been helping the PCD too a couple of times.

Anyway, given all that happened in the school in the last few months... I am in the newspaper stuff, and we think it's our duty to investigate. Samantha helps us, and T.J did too. John was with her... he just joined the paper too, and he thought to call me and Donnie, in case we knew what to do to help her. She... she is special too, as you noticed. But you can understand her desire to keep this a secret. So, if the principal ask you anything, please, you can tell him of me, but not of her. And about me, please don't tell anyone else. T.J. always said good things about you, please, promise me you'll keep our secrets."

"Well, you've got nothing to worry about.  I know how to keep a secret.  It's not like it's a crime to have talents, it's all in what you do with them."

There is a tap on the door and Principal Landis comes in, holding a bottle of water. "Cleveland, it looks like we caught it early."  he says, then notices Colin and the others.  "Mr. Crow, somehow I'm not suprised to find you here."  He hands the bottle of water to Mr. Heep.  "The police are coming to look over the others, but I thought I'd bring one to you.  Apparently today was a very good day for soda, the lunch lady only counted two missing water bottles.  Take a look, tell me if we're facing a problem.  The police could take days."

Mr. Heep takes the bottle and nods, "Certainly."

Mr. Landis looks around the room at the others, then leaves, "Call me if it's serious Cleveland."  he says as he disappears out the door.

"Thank you then."


"I'm just trying to help, sir."



"Whoever he is, he's getting bolder. And he'll probably be disappointed that we his plan was only a minor success. He may strike again soon. Could you instruct the other teachers, and the guards, to have the antidote ready?"

Mr. Heep nods.  "Sure, we can do that.  In the meantime I'm gong to take a look at this and see if I can figure out what's changed."

"Would you tell me if you find anything, please?"

Colin thanks Mr. Heep and is about to leave, then he turns again.

"Can you give me that bottle for a moment?"

Mr. Heep hands the bottle to Colin.

OOC: The impressions he receives are similar to the ones from before, proving it's been tampered with.

"Well, nothing new. He definitely put it in here. I have to go now. I hope you can find something out, and... well, thank you again. Goodbye, Mr. Heep."