Without Control ((FULL))

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

After her very loving gesture toward Nina, Erin focused on tearing open her presents, gushing over each one and hugging the gift giver, once more acting like a little kid. She'd received a new leather jacket, several CD's and posters of bands she loved, a beautiful blue switchblade, gift cards to coffee, book, and clothing shops, and a prism to hang in her newly repaired Charger.

The best presents, however, came from Ash and Trouble. Ash gave her a pair of fuzzy black handcuffs, which made her blush and the shop guys cheer loudly, and Trouble gave her a shop uniform with her name stitched over the breast pocket along with her title 'Lead Collision Repair'. "Thank you, everybody... Seriously, you guys have all made this the greatest birthday ever." She looked over at Brian curiously, but didn't say anything. He was the only one who hadn't given her a present yet, but he was grinning in a way that made her think he had something up his sleeve.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Erin laughed delightedly and put the picture up right in the center of the wall, beaming at it for a moment before turning and throwing her arms around Brian. "Thanks, Old Man. Best present ever." Before now, Erin hadn't felt comfortable calling Ash's father anything but Mr. Dresden, but now... Calling him 'Old Man' just felt completely natural.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Erin ran her hands through her hair to fix it and winced at the sight of the apron, hesitantly taking it and putting it on. She struck a seductive pose and looked at Ash. "I'm still pretty, right?.... Don't answer that... I think now might be a good time to try the booze..."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

Sirrah smiled kindly over at Erin, handing her an already-prepared drink. She wished she could have watered down all the alcohol to avoid any embarrassment or hangovers, but Kevin was watching her closely and had warned her against it. So she gave Erin a small glass of strawberry rum with the warning not to overdo it.

Sirrah then winked over at Kevin and began to show off a little; after two hundred plus years of living she was pretty flexible and coordinated. She tossed around bottles expertly, as if she'd been a bartender all her life, managing to get drinks into the hands of all the people over twenty one in between showing off for her husband.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

A ragged gasp slipped through Sirrah's lips at Kevin's actions. She barely managed to catch the whiskey bottles to keep them from shattering and spilling their contents all over the shop floor. She quickly set them down on the table, unable to completely control her trembling body and blushing face. "Yes, you did. May I ask why?" she said in a mock-serious voice, smiling but not turning to face her mischievous husband.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

Sirrah carefully shrugged out of Kevin's arms and nodded to Amilia. "Of course, the poor darling... Do you know her name? We should try to find her mother and father... After I make sure she's okay." As she spoke, she crossed the room toward the police officer and the child, trying not to distract the others from the party.

Then she caught the scent of the child.

She gasped and froze, all the blood draining from her face. A look of utter disbelief and shock came over her face, but she forced herself not to freak out. It could be a mistake. She forced herself to act normal and tried to smile at Amilia. "May I see her?"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

A soft, choked sob forced itself out of Sirrah's seized-up throat, her hands shaking with the desire to take her daughter into her arms. But she was frozen by the impossibility of the sight before her. She remembered Artemis, oh, how she remembered. How she had mourned her baby girl. How she had lost her sweet little daughter...

--"Stay by Mommy, Artemis. Don't play in the street." Sirrah admonished her daughter gently, who was tugging impatiently on her hand as they walked down the sidewalk toward the grocery store.

"Sirrah, dear! How are you doing today?" called her friend Timothy from his post at the newsstand.

"Just fine, thank you, Ti- Artemis! Get back here right now, missy! Artemis!" she cried as her child slipped away from her, dashing into the street after a ball that had rolled away from a group of children across the road.

"I get it, Mommy! I get it!" her five year old called cheerfully from the middle of the street, holding up the bouncy ball for her mother to see. Sirrah was already running toward her baby, but it was too late. The pickup truck was too close...

"ARTEMIS!!!"--

Tears poured down Sirrah's face, the flashback running through her mind in less time than it took to draw her next breath. "Artemis... My baby..." she whispered, holding her arms out to the child she hadn't seen in over twenty years, the impossibly perfect baby girl that was the only good thing that had come from her time with Shadow.