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The Pattern

Will studied the changing of the trees as they drove, identifying some in his head. He only saw a few birds, but he recognized those as well to pass the time. In the front seat the adults were silent and he thought they might be measuring his responses to the changing scenes. He was used to silence though, and saw no reason to break this silence. He wondered when they would arrive, but knew that asking wouldn't make the time pass faster.

Carefully Will lifted his hands so that his palms faced one another, and carefully keeping his finger tips and wrists touching he made a small whole through which he could see the seat in front of him. That wasn't of course the point of the exercise. It was an energy exercise. He could visualize energy jumping between the palms of his hand and then he could feel it. It felt full and warm and wonderfully comforting.

"Stop it." The man said tersely without looking back.

"I bet he knows what he's doing." The woman said smiling over her shoulder. "You do don't you Willow? You've gathered a bit of energy, its anxious energy isn't it? What will you do with it now?"

Will took his hands and starting at the tip of his head, he ran his hands down his face keeping a perimeter of about an inch. He continued along his body and even bent to cover his toes. It was how his mother had put him to sleep each night- a protection spell of sorts, a psychic shield.

"Nice," the woman said appreciatively. She seemed much more open and interested in him than the man. "We are going to be there soon."

"Where are we going?" Willow asked gazing at her, longing to know the answer.

"We can't say." The man announced.

Willow made up his mind to ignore than man again. He was no use after all. With the man dismissed, he focused on the trees once more allowing himself to be conscious of what the woman was doing. She turned on the radio, and the man promptly turned it off.

"Be professional," the man grumbled discreetly.

"That's not what you said last night," the woman taunted and winked at Willow. He got the innuendo and turned an interested eye toward the man. The man's neck turned red. "Oh come on, we slept in different beds last night, why are you blushing. What do you think Willow? Would you like some music?"

Will shrugged and tried to figure out why the woman was being nice was she a nice person, or did she merely appear to be nice. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat. It was soft, very comfortable in fact. He could almost tone out everything enough to meditate. Almost.

Will heard a soft whirring sound and opened his eyes to see a metal gate. A man in black came over and spoke softly to the driver. He looked behind them and saw another SUV pulling in and then another and another. It seemed that there were five in all. Will brushed the hair out of his eyes and unbuckled his seatbelt to get a better look at the things in front of him. There was a runway with airplanes and one helicopter that was making that loud whirring sound he had heard.