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I suppose you have been waiting long enough, so here it is! The last chapter of Finding Atlantis! I had a blast writing this story and I hope you had just as much fun following along with me.

I'm not sure exactly how to tag this but by now you all ought to know roughly what to expect from me, so I won't go crazy with it.

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I was amazed at the way the hunger and drowsiness left me once I was in motion again. My skin was beginning to burn from exposure and I knew I was weak from not eating, but my body had set itself against the coming battle with the same cold intensity as my mind.

Ariana and I had made our way up the hallway to last door. As quickly as She could, Ariana cut through it and I stepped in, sword drawn. It was the sleeping quarters for the crew. I slid quietly through the dark room on padded feet, Ariana close behind me. We crossed the room to the far wall and silently began to carve our own door to the next room, an armory. I stepped back to let Ariana finish the cut, but as she did the wall came loose unexpectedly and hit the floor with a deafening crash.

I saw heads pop up out of nearly every single bed; the chase was on. Ariana and I plowed through the armory. I kind of thought it was a bad idea run into an armory to get away from the things that were trying to kill us, but there wasn't much choice, especially after I saw a laser bolt scorch the wall only half an inch from my head. I could hear them yelling back and forth with their shrill voices, and the reports of a couple more laser rifles. They sounded like insanely loud camera flashes, complete with the high pitched whine as they charged back up.

We sped through the Armory knocking down everything we could reach on the way by. Understandably the workers wouldn't shoot into the armory, so they were forced to make their way through the piles of live ordinance. It didn't take them long, but it was just enough of a distraction that we were able to cut our way into the next room, the large cafeteria.

This time there was no one eating, (Thank god!) but there were a few soldiers just walking through the door. I powered up my shield just in time as a bolt of laser light slammed into it, followed by a few more. I sprinted for the cover of the tables while Ariana took off down the side wall. The workers were soon flooding through our makeshift door, and several more soldiers joined the ones by the main exit. Ariana was moving over to the corner, and I was still bouncing from table to table trying to get closer to the door without getting shot. For the moment, they were concentrated on me, but the group behind us had turned the corner to go after Ariana.

I saw them make the turn, and Ariana wasn't expecting it. She was just pushing off the wall to charge the soldiers by the door. I took two steps toward the workers and launched off a table to slam into the last of the group. I used my shield as a battering ram, knocking them down until I couldn't push any further. Then I lowered it and sliced out in a big arc with my sword. It cut through so many of them that I could actually feel the drain on my electricity reserves. I turned around just in time to see one of the takians I had missed raise his gun. I kicked it out of his hand and sent the shot off into the wall behind me. He was down before he could even yell. Suddenly, I saw a streak out of the corner of my eye, and heard a clink as something hit the wall beside me. Instinctively, I looked over at where it must have came from. There was another band of Takian coming in through the door to the main hanger where I had almost gotten us killed the other day. One of them toppled over just as I looked up, he had a sword sticking out if his stomach. 'That was just a bid to close.' I thought. I glanced at Ariana and sure enough her second sword was missing.

You are welcome. Just get my sword back and we're even.

'Thank you.' I thought back.

I sprinted straight for this new group, drawing up my shield to protect me from the shower of laser fire that was headed my way. Once again I crashed head first into the ranks of enemy soldiers. I lashed out with sword and shield, downing everyone in range. Except for one, his fist caught me in the cheek. I felt something pop and my eyes filled with tears. I swung out again half blind, somehow I caught him with the bottom of my shield. His legs slid out form under him and I followed him down with my sword, burying it in his chest and about six inches into the floor below him before I jerked it back out and turned to grab Ariana's second sword. It wasn't an induction sword. It was a force field sword. It could still cut through a metal surface, but it was much harder to do. She must have thrown it pretty hard for it to have sunk that far into it's victim before the field around it collapsed from loss of power. I made a run for Ariana, who was still battling the ever larger group that was pouring in through the main doors.

'Need a hand?'

Are you done playing around over there?

The pack around her had begun to trade guns for knifes when they realized that we could block their shots. They had worked her back up against the wall, pressing her from all sides. She was holding out,but it was only a matter of time until she made a mistake. I ran to help her, blocking out the pain from my now out of place jaw. I had a sword in each hand now, and I careened into the mob of attackers with a fresh wave of determination.

They gave way before me easily, I had pushed most of the way through when I felt something red hot slice through my right shoulder. It burned like molten lava, running down around my shoulder and side.

Adam, look out!

I jerked away and spun around to see a warrior with a bayonet of sorts wind up to deliver the final blow. I prepared to swing as well. My blade reached his wrist just before his got to me. His gun fell to the floor, hand still attached. I wasted no time in dispatching the rest of him. Turning around, I saw that Ariana had worked her way away from the wall to watch my back.

I spun back to back with her, and together we made for the door. As we fought side by side, I began to depend on her eyes as much as my own. Her pain was my pain. I felt every breeze that hit her fur, saw every enemy. Our very minds were thinking and working in tandem. I was not in control of only my own body, but jointly residing in both of our bodies.

We ducked and weaved through the confused mob around us. Taking out anyone who got in our way. Our bodies so aligned that our swords were, at times, only clearing each other my millimeters. We were the perfect fighting machine. I dove through the door and tumbled out into the hallway. Ariana jumping after me, reaching out to grab my hand in mid air, arcing over me, and using her momentum to pull me to my feet. Then we were running.

Again we came to the end of the hall. As soon as it was no longer necessary, I felt myself draining back into my own body. The hyper real sensations fading to the background once again.

'That was super weird.' I thought. 'What do we do now?'

We keep going. It can't be much further to the escape pods.

The next room we entered was the detention block. On my way through I couldn't help but glance at the detainees. All takians, I could only imagine what they had done to end up here, but I guess there are criminals everywhere. Then I saw what I thought at first was an empty cell. I looked in and stopped dead in my tracks.

"Collin?"

my friend looked up at me, but it wasn't the face I remembered. He was thin, pale and haggard. There was contempt in his eyes, a violent distrust that I had never seen before.

"Collin, is that you?"

"And what the fuck are you suppose to be?" He spat out. It wasn't so much a question as an accusation.

I cut through the steel bars and stepped inside to get him.

"Stay Back! I don't know anything!" He shakily rose to his feet, leaning back on the wall.

"Relax, We'll get you out of here."

He tried to complain, but I had no trouble just picking him up and carrying him with me. He was just skin and bones and weighed practically nothing.

He looks terrible! Ariana thought as I stepped back out into the hallway. Then there was a rumbling behind us, the sound of metal feet running.

'Time to move on.'

Room after room, hall after hall, we ran and fought our way to the bow of the ship. I figured that we had to be close. We were both rapidly tiring out. Then, like a glimpse of heaven itself, I saw the row of closely spaced doors, they each had a small plaque on the wall next to them.

There was a guard at the entrance to the hallway, but Ariana took care of him with a quick slam to the head with the flat of her sword while I ran up to the first pod.

'Wait, we can't just cut into these, how do we get the door open?'

With him. She said.

I ran back to help her drag over the guard. Despite his relatively small size he was surprisingly heavy.

As soon as he got close to the door it opened. Quickly we drug the body into the capsule with us. As soon as we were in, the door closed again.

I looked over the dash of the escape craft. There was one large button on the otherwise blank surface. I looked up at Ariana questioningly.

It looks like that is our only option.

I closed my eyes and slammed my paw down on it. There was a heavy clunk, then we were thrown to the back wall as our capsule accelerated away from the ship. After about ten seconds or so, the thrust died off and we floated free.

"We did it!" I shouted, pumping both fists in the air. "Yeah baby!"

I squeezed Ariana close and kissed her quickly, wincing at the strain on my jaw. She chuckled, "Yes, we did it."

"So how long before Corinth and Athena get us?" I asked As I watched the takian guard float by.

"Not long. They should have seen us jettison from the ship."Now, I should get you fixed up.

She grabbed my muzle softly and without warning ripped my nose one way and my jaw in the other. I heard a loud snap as the joint realigned itself.

"Ommhhh!" I exclaimed through my nose. Her fingers were still tight around my muzzle.

"Oh, do not be such a baby." she complained, and after a few seconds of eye watering agony, it did begin to feel better.

"We should strap them down." I motioned to the guard who had gently bumped into the far wall, and Collin who had passed out, presumably from exhaustion. It was creepy having two limp bodies floating around.

I grabbed Collin and pushed him down into one of the seats then pulled the restraints around him. Ariana did the same with the takian guard. Then we waited for Corinth.

That was really close Ariana thought.

'Oh it wasn't that bad.' I thought back.

No, your chest. She reached out and ran her finger over a strip of charred fur across my chest.

I didn't think I was going to get him in time.

Suddenly, I snapped back. I saw the scene through Ariana's eyes. I was fighting over by the wall in the cafeteria. Then group of takian burst through the door across the room. I saw one take aim at my body, I didn't realize they were there! I watched as Ariana grabbed her second sword from behind her back and flung it at the shooter. She had put all of her might into that one throw. The sword sailed over the tables and embedded itself in the soldier at the exact moment he pulled the trigger. The bolt of light shot out, flitting past me to embed it self into the wall. It had cut close enough to burn of my chest fur!

'Wow I had no idea it was that close!' My revelation was interrupted by a clunk outside. Then the whole module started moving.

Once more we were pressed against the side, only this time it was much more comfortable.

After about half an hour, Collin came around. His eyes flickered open, and he looked around suspiciously.

"Where am I?" he demanded.

"you're in an escape pod. We are headed for earth."

For a second he just stared at me. His eyes bored into me like he was searching for something in particular. It was uncomfortable being the object of such scrutiny.

"Who are you?" he asked very slowly.

"I'm Adam Dennis."

What little color was left in Collin's thin cheeks drained when I said those words.

"I thought so." he responded after a few seconds. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "We are going back to earth, I thought we would get you checked into a hospital or something.

"That's all?"

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know, A punishment of some kind. After what I did I thought..."

"It's not your fault." I responded.

"You don't know, Do you?" He looked at me slightly shocked.

"Know what?"

"What really happened that day.." I just looked at him, so after a pause he continued.

"I guess I owe it to you to explain everything. Project Dark Sparrow, what you were working on, wasn't only your project. We had several of our best scientists in various parts of the country each working on a small part of it. Your space drive was only a small part of it.

We had people in Kansas working on intel equipment. In New York, we had a guy working on an advanced Airframe. Our California branch had a girl building an advanced communications system. All over the country parts were being invented.

Once we knew that it would work, then one by one we sabotaged the prototypes, to make everyone watching think it was a failure, we cut their funding, or made the researchers disappear in some fashion."

"So, y-you sabotaged my plane?" I was stunned.

"Yeah." He admitted. "It was just a job. I'm CIA, it's what I do.."

"It didn't crash on it's own?" I asked. It wasn't really a question aimed at him but more of a general statement to the room.

"but how did you end up on that ship?" I wondered.

We took all the plans for the parts and used them to build A deep space research probe. I, along with one other agent piloted it to the assigned planet. We had been picking up signals form it since the early ninety's, and the government wanted to take a closer look. We knew that there was a bunch of oil on planet, and if we could use harvest it, we would have a a virtually endless supply. We would be the richest nation in the world. The problem was that the things living there now were more advanced than we had expected. They saw us coming and shot us down before we could even call for help. They killed my copilot, and put me on that ship. They kept drilling me about a secret weapon of some kind, I don't know..." He paused a couple seconds. "I hope you can under stand... I mean, it was just a job, I didn't... For god's sake, just say something."

I was studying how my orange fur laid down along my fingers, and the way the black pads stuck out from my palm, but then I looked up. I could see the question in his eyes.

"I, I'm not angry." I started. "I counted that crash as my most successful failure. It brought me to a new world, in every sense of the word."

I glanced over At Ariana. She was sitting quietly, watching the tip of her tale swish back and forth. She tried to look preoccupied, but I knew she was listening intently.

"So, I guess I should thank you for what you did."

The relief was visible immediately on Corinth's face.

It was fairly quiet the rest of the way back to Earth. It took us over thirty hours to get there and we spent a good bit of that time asleep. I did learn that It had been over a week since Collin had eaten, and he looked it. Ariana and I also took time to work out a plan for out a plan for when we got back on earth.

We set down just outside Washington D.C. So that we could get out of the capsule. After we had cut our way out, we all piled into the plane and headed into the capital city. I Pointed out the first Walmart I saw, and we set down just beside the parking lot.

Ariana and I grabbed out the hooded robes that were still in the back of the plane, and walked in. The greeter was the first one to notice the muzzles under out hoods. He did a double take, but must have written it off as kids messing around, because he did his best to ignore us.

It was surprising how peopletreated us. We grabbed baskets And headed for the deli section. There were a few kids who pointed and tugged on there parents shirts, but other than that everyone gave us a pretty wide birth. I marched right up to the freezer and grabbed a loaf of ham, some turkey, a pack of hotdogs, and a pack of buns for Collin.

Lunch in the basket, We turned and headed for the office supplies. I grabbed the first pen I came to, and a pad of paper, then we turned to leave. I nodded to the greeter as we passed. He saw the basket in my hand and imediatly shouted, "Hey you have to pay for that!"

The alarms went off, but we just kept walking. I wasn't proud of it, but I didn't have much choice. By the time we reached the plane, I could hear sirens. I knew they were for us, but by the time they pulled into the parking lot we had disappeared into thin air.

On the plane, we divvied up the food, Corinth made Collin a sandwitch, and Ariana and I slammed the loaf of ham, and the hotdogs. Actually, I ate most of the ham. It turned out that Ariana loved hotdogs. She ate the whole pack! I had to content myself with only one hotdog and most of a loaf of ham. Corinth's sandwitch ended up being nearly a whole package of turkey between two buns. Not one but cut in half, but two unopened buns. Apearently, Corinth didn't understand the finer points of sandwitch making. Collin didn't seem to mind though. He devoured it like an animal! (not unlike the rest of us.)

once we had finished gorging ourselves, I looked out over the city and saw a clock tower that had the full date displayed. It said. Three fourty-three PM December 19 2012. I almost choked on the last of my ham.

"H-Hey guys? The ships get here in like, thirty hours right?"

"Assuming they didn't change speed, then yes." Corinth answered.

"Then we need to hurry."

I steered us toward the white house, but before we got there I found the pen and paper and wrote down a warning to the president as well as an explanation of what was actually going to happen. We landed right on the front lawn of the white house. I took the paper and folded it neatly, writing 'For President only' on the front and hopped out of the plane. I took just a few steps out and placed it on the grass, under the Walmart basket so it wouldn't blow away. Then I hopped back in the plane, and we took off. About ten seconds later, the lawn flooded with secret service members. They surrounded the basket like it was alive before one slowly reached out to grab it and the letter. The man who picked up the paper spoke to a couple other men before walking quickly inside.

Our job was done. I had intended to wait around for the crash, We had calculated that they would land somewhere in the middle of the mid-Atlantic, but we needed to get back to tell everyone that the war was over. Collin requested that we leave him just outside the pentagon. So we did, and then we headed for home.

That night in our room at the main Atlantian headquarters, my vixen and I were curled up on our bed.

Do you think they will come back? She asked, as she pulled my arms around her tighter.

'I don't know,' I answered. I was totally lost in the sound of her heart beat and the smell of her fur. I tucked my nose over her shoulder. 'I doubt it. They lost a whole army.'

That is good, because even if they do, you are not going anywhere near them. during that battle in the cafeteria, after you got cut. I just about lost it. I thought they got you. I squeezed her tighter. She was shaking, I guess it had been harder on her than I thought.

"It's okay, I'm here, it's all over now." I comforted.

"I know, and I love you" she rolled over to kiss me, and I kissed her right back.

We lay there for a while, just being together. For the first time in a long time everything was right. I was with the one I loved, and the rest of the world didn't even exist anymore.

Right then, I lived in the moment, relishing her every breath. Every movement was a testimony to her strength and love for me as we moved together. I held her close that night, our lips never parting, even as climax rushed over us. I felt her heat, her love for me. I wanted nothing more than to express my love to her in return. If true beauty and harmony ever coexisted in a living being, they were present in her that night. Like the tide breaking over us; slow, peaceful, and inevitable, the silent peak washed over us.

We lay there wrapped up in each other in every concievable way. I wanted to tell her- everything, everything I knew, everything perfect about her, everything- about how much I loved her, but nothing I could say could do any of it justice. So I simply held her close and watched her drift off to sleep, knowing that the worst was behind her and that I would do everything possible to make her new life every bit as good as the one that had died so long ago. After all, tomorrow would bring a new day, a new life, and a fresh start. Not only for us, but for all of Atlantis. As those thoughts raced through my head I drifted off to a peaceful sleep, full of hopes and dreams for the days ahead.