Or Else

"I am the biggest and best fan Queen Bee has ever had." Lorne agreed easily. He took off his hat and allowed his silver hair to tumble out to his shoulders.

"You were outside earlier with the reporters."

There had been so many people that Noble hadn't memorized all of the emotional signatures. But one whiff of the man's strong cologne told Noble that he was undeniably the same one who had been escorted for approaching her. 

"I saw you being taken away." 

How had he made it past the front gate after that? The hat must have been a Memory that obscured his appearance from them. She saw no way that they would let him through otherwise. 

"Those pesky guards. They couldn't understand the special connection we have." Lorne clicked his tongue. "Though I shouldn't be too upset. If they have only ever seen the Memory you have of me, then they would recognize my new look."

"Ah, yes…that Memory…How could I ever forget that..."

Noble recalled the crazed fan who had jumped the barrier to give her a Memory replica of himself. The little black-haired figurine was uncanny and disturbing. The very thought of it ever having rested in her Soul Sea was upsetting.

Noble had destroyed the abomination almost immediately, but the name of the gifter was forever ingrained in her mind. Noble pursed her lips.

"You are BowToTheBee…"

The Dreamscape fanatic beamed.

"Guilty as charged. Though, I suppose that will not be true for long. I'll have a better name now that we are a dynamic duo." Lorne tapped his chin. "I'll have to commission a new figure for the occasion!" 

Breezing past the man's strange obsession with figurines, Noble tried to wrap her head around Lorne's assertion.

"We are a…what?" The professor was genuinely flabbergasted. Was she hearing things?

"Fireshing might have prevented me from entering the Nightmare to help you, but her jealousy might have been a blessing in disguise. As an Awakened I can devote all my time to helping you. As a Master, I would have had too many other responsibilities."

Noble was too confused for words. But it seemed Lorne didn't need her input for this conversation.

"Now I know what you are thinking. You cannot participate in the Dreamscape anymore. Lucky you, I wasn't talking about the Dreamscape at all. I am proposing a new alliance in the waking world. We can be heroes just like you were at the gate. As Queen Bee and King Wasp, we can be unstoppable. I've always felt a deep connection between us. With a little work, I think this may be the beginning of a new legacy clan."

'Just when I thought this man was crazy, he graduates to insane.'

"Start a legacy clan? With you? I don't know what you have heard, but I'm married. I already have children." Noble hoped the realization might throw some cold water on the man's ideas.

Lorne smiled sadly. 

"I admit I was a little disappointed when I discovered this. But then I realized it is a problem that is easily overcome." The fanatic tapped his forehead. "I have a plan to take care of it all and give you a fresh start. Don't worry, Queen Bee. Nothing will stand in the way of you and your dreams!"

Noble blinked. The long silver locks and light eyes were replaced with blond hair and a sharp gaze. 

A familiar smirk of triumph graced the man's face.

'Ender!' 

It hadn't been enough for Counsel to torture her in the Nightmare. He continued to invade her sleep even now.

Maybe this was a dream. It had to be! If she tried hard enough, she would wake up and Fort would be right beside her.

Pinching herself, Noble winced. 

No, it wasn't a dream. If the self-inflicted pain was not enough, the professor distinctly remembered waking up this morning and all that transpired. 

How had Ender broken through into the waking world?! Did he have some intangible power to break out of the Spell and enter the waking world?

At least in the other places, he could threaten her, but there was no way for him to reach her husband or children. But now...

"You will not hurt my family." Noble's words were both a threat and a promise. 

She had fought too long and hard. There was no way that she was going to lose the ones most precious to her when she had just gotten them back. 

'I will do anything to keep them safe.' 

"Hurt?" 

The word, coupled with the strong cologne covering the man like a cloud brought Noble back to her senses. Gone was the visage of Ender replaced by Awakened Lorne. 

She wasn't being chased by the same man through time and space. She was being chased by two different men. 

Was that better or worse? 

'What is wrong with these men?! What is wrong with me that I attract these men?!' 

"You think I will hurt your family..." Lorne repeated. "I wouldn't make them hurt at all. That would be disrespectful to you." The stalker cooed softly. "It would be all nice and clean and you would be able to live up to your full potential." 

Something inside Noble snapped. The two men might not be the same person physically. But mentally they were one and the same. 

"Who are you to decide what my potential is? You think you know me? You don't." 

Sparks swirled around the professor's hand. The shining Zenith came into being. The delicate blossom almost immediately turned black. 

Noble's expression darkened. "Do you think you can just come in here and tell me what to do? Threaten my family?! You have another thing coming." 

Lorne's fingers flinched. He was about to summon a Memory when he saw the blade turn black. Instinctively, he lunged to disarm Noble of the weapon and instead received a deep wound across his hand. 

"You feel that? That is a warning. Listen to the fear invading your body. I have defeated stronger men than you…" Noble's eyes were filled with fire. "You will leave my family alone." 

"But my plans…" Lorne gasped as he was lifted off of the ground.

"What plans?" Noble dangled the man like curing meat over her head. The sword filled her with unrestrained power as it roiled with inky blackness.

Lorne remained silent for a moment. What was he hiding? 

"Have you already started your plans?" The thought filled Noble with righteous anger. Who would dare hurt the family of someone they claimed to admire?! "Tell me what you have done!" 

Lorne's emotions spiked. "I…I…"

Losing her patience, Noble swung the Zenith through the air. Only by pulling back at the last moment did she restrain from delivering a killing blow. 

The dangling Awakened received a shallow on his arm. He cried out in agony. 

"Please, no. Stop!" The world around him went in and out of focus. "I just wanted us to be a team. You have to believe me." 

But Noble did not heed his cry. She lowered his head upside down just enough to let the Zenith come within a millimeter of her stalker's neck. Her eyes were filled with hatred for him. 

"Start talking. Tell me your plans. Now." Noble pressed the Zenith closer. "Or else."