Fort tore through the Academy grounds with multiple Awakened government agents in tow.
His morning inquiry had yielded many results. Not only had he tracked down the name of the person behind the comments, he had found out many more things.
Things that he needed to tell Noble immediately.
But that was the problem.
He hadn't been able to get a hold of his wife for hours and when he finally resorted to trying to communicate through Bee Two, the android was inexplicably unavailable. Usually, the government could force a machine to come back online, but through bad timing or design, the android was not able to be woken.
Fort had contacted the school, but his worries were met with comfort, not action.
The Academy guards had assured him that things were quiet now that the reporters were gone.
Even Julius had believed Fort was overreacting, informing the Director via message that Noble was still teaching a class.
But nothing would stop the feeling in Fort's gut. He needed to see Noble with his own eyes. Warn her. So with permission, he left work and headed across town in a hurry.
Sensing the tension, the PTV driver sped, only stopping when the vehicle reached its destination. Fort didn't even wait for the driver to fully stop, throwing open the door and tumbling forward toward the Awakened Academy's entrance.
Just as he got to the Academy gates, he got a call that made his blood run cold.
"What?! Are you sure?" The Director nearly yelled into his communicator.
His face darkened, sending a small chill down the Awakened guards' spine.
"Come with me," he ordered the sentries.
The men didn't question the Director, listening to his instructions as they went. None of them knew the exact location of Noble's classroom, and now they chased after the mundane human who ran across the campus like a madman.
"How is there no security in the building?!" Fort yelled at no one in particular.
He crossed the compound and burst into his wife's hall with perspiration on his brow. He was winded, but there was no way he was about to slow down.
"Third door on the left!" He told the Awakened guards behind him.
Since they were not as tired as their mundane boss, they ran past the Director at breakneck speed. They opened the shut door and then…
…they froze.
"Is she not in there? What is wrong with all of…" Pushing past them, Fort made his way into the classroom.
Then, he, too, slowed to a stop.
The professor had her back to them, but the anger was coming off of her in waves. The air felt so thick that Fort felt like he might choke.
Dangling in the air, a silver-haired man was hanging upside down and gasping for breath. Blood trickled from his hand.
A sword coated with black liquid floated dangerously close to his neck.
"What have you done?!" Noble screamed. The sword grazed the man's neck, causing a new trickle.
The man cried out in pain. "Nothing! Nothing yet, I swear!"
The professor swayed slightly at his answer. "You better hope that is true because if not..." The sword moved away from Lorne's neck, preparing to swing in one clean motion.
The woman's eyes were filled with darkness. It mirrored the tenebrous liquid dripping from her deadly blade. What had happened to his beautiful wife?!
"Noble!" Fort rasped, finally finding his voice.
The professor wheeled on her heels, the Zenith hovering perilously in place as she let it go.
"Fort?" Noble's stormy eyes cleared. The color returned to her pallid face "Fort!"
Tears stained Noble's cheeks as she floated across the room. The moment her arms wrapped around Fort's neck, the Zenith dissolved into a rain of sparks and Lorne dropped to the ground. But Noble ignored the silver-haired man's grunt. All she cared about was her husband. Hugging him softly, she stifled a sob.
"You're here! And you're safe!"
"I was about to say the same about you." Fort kissed her forehead gently. "I've been trying to reach you for hours. I take it that is Lorne?"
Noble nodded. "He's my stalker from the Dreamscape. He said he was going to harm you and the kids. THE KIDS!"
"Are fine." Fort brought out his communicator to show Noble. "I heard from those watching them and our kids are still at school and don't know that anything is wrong." Fort was confident on this point, which calmed Noble considerably.
"How…did Rock call you?" Noble had sent one of the students for help when Lorne revealed himself. And when Noble had been unable to reactivate Bee Two, the professor had assumed she was alone in this fight.
"We tracked the messages from the article to Lorne's communicator and then pinpointed his signal to here. I came as soon as I could. It seems I was too late. I'm sorry!" Fort apologized.
"No, you were just in time." Noble hated to admit what she might have done if he hadn't arrived. She had nearly lost control. "I was so scared I might lose you when I just got you back."
"It will take more than an obsessive Awakened for that to happen," Fort smiled faintly. "I'm harder to get rid of than an unlucky coin."
By Noble's desk, the guards rushed to restrain Lorne as he regained his balance.
As soon as the Zenith disappeared, so did the intensity in the air. The shallow cuts which had induced panic oozed slightly but were slowly healing.
Unfocused, Lorne's sunken eyes looked desperately at the professor. His emotions were a jumble of indescribable frustration, longing, and bitterness. "We–we could have been..." he began.
"No. We will never be anything," Noble corrected him. "I am already taken."
Fort squeezed her hand, giving her much-needed strength.
"Get him out of my wife's classroom," The Director ordered. "There's a PTV out front that can take him to the proper facility."
The guards lifted the disheveled and bleeding Lorne from the ground and shoved him up the stairs.
The couple stepped aside as the prisoner was escorted from the room taking all his whirlwind of emotion with him.
Lorne glared at his rival.
Suddenly, in a moment of rage, he spat at Fort with all his might. The saliva, which threatened to land on the Director's chest, went wide at the last second and bubbled on the ground with its acid.
The guards tackled Lorne to the floor. Seeing his poison had missed, Lorne growled and pulled against the restraints.
"Filthy mundane! You don't deserve her!"
Fort laughed dryly. "You act like I don't know that." His voice grew firm. "Gag him. The man can spit acid."
Feeling his wife shiver, Fort hugged Noble more tightly.
"Shhhh, it's ok. Awakened Lorne has several warrants out for his arrest. You are not his first target. He won't be out of prison for a very long time. Everything is alright now."
"Why does this keep happening to me? For a moment I really thought he was Ender coming after me again, but Lorne was just another crazed psychopath." The professor spoke her worry into her husband's shoulder. "What is wrong with me?!"
Fort felt his wife's heart beating wildly against his chest. He sighed. "Nothing is wrong with you. You are a light in the darkness. People are drawn to you like a moth to flames. Once in a while, one of the moths needs to be put down because they are insane. Though having it happen twice is really impressive. You are basically irresistible. And I'm so glad you chose me."
"There's never been any competition. You keep me grounded, remember? My home is with you." Noble took a deep breath, inhaling her husband's scent to calm herself. "Thank you for coming. I can always count on you."
Fort glanced down at the floor and winced. The hole that bore into the ground would have easily bored into his chest.
"I should be the one to thank for saving my life yet again," the Director rubbed his wife's back gently. "That spit almost got me."
Noble looked down at the hole and her face paled.
"What is it?" Fort felt her stiffen.
"I didn't react fast enough to stop that acid from hitting you." Noble bit her lip.
"Are you saying you aren't responsible for that weird turn of the projectile?"
Noble paused before speaking again. "Quite the contrary. I think it was completely my fault."