Ellie was bobbing and weaving through the trees like she was Muhammad Ali against some punches. It was a very foresty section, but it was nothing that Ellie hadn't dealt with before. Years and years of snowboarding experience had done that to her. She could conquer the most treacherous of courses on the very first time. The winter olympics was in the cards at some point, but Ellie did have other things she wanted to take care of first. Her window was wide open and she was willing to take as much as time as she wanted before she wanted to gun for the most popular winter sports show in the entire world.

Nearing the end of the slope, she kicked it into high gear. Lowering her center of gravity, it meant all the weight was pressed down and she was about to go faster. Of course she had the [i]very slight risk[/i] of running into a tree, but she was smart enough to dodge them. The forest section didn't last for much longer, and soon it was just a straight line down to the very bottom of the peak. It was a good ol' fashioned drag race down to the bottom. Who was going to be the first across the line? The 6'0" snowboarder or the 5'10" skier? Ellie could feel the momentum stack on and on. Perfect for gaining speed to carry her across the line first.

A few moments later she had reached the bottom of the peak, diverting her momentum laterally to slow herself down to a dead stop. Looking around, she was sure that she was going to enjoy some free drinks when they got to Vegas. Of course, there was a lot of powder that was yet to settle down. Maybe Seb had somehow beaten her. Unlikely, but there was still a chance.

[hr]

Michael grimaced as he heard the story that Ross was telling. It was better than nothing, but it wasn't what he wanted to hear. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he then moved to his face. He was trying to think of something. The only people that knew who were behind this job was Kimberly herself, and she wasn't going to be speaking for a long time. Leaning back in his chair, he was thinking up of a plan. For now, they were in a rut. Nobody knew anything. Not even Athena's contacts in LVPD knew anything. It was a bad situation all around. 

"Kimberly? She's recovering from surgery but she won't be waking up for a while. I've heard that there might be something else that might really complicate things, according to Sarah." Michael coughed a bit and put his hands through his hair. "In any case, there's a good chance they might come to finish you off here. Based on the way these things go, they're probably trying to figure out where you are right now and coming for you sometime soon. But, LVPD doesn't have any evidence, so they're not gonna send protection, which means the only people able to protect you properly in here are in this room." 

He leaned in close, the Rossi sisters in the back standing against the window with their arms crossed looking real tough while he lowered his voice. "We're gonna protect you and Kimberly, but there's only three of us and two of you. One of you is going to be underprotected." He looked behind, "And it makes more sense to protect the one who isn't even conscious, right? Unless you've got someone else to help us out."

Just on cue, Sarah, the trauma surgeon (not for Kimberly, though), showed up with Mia in her hand. Mia was confused as to why daddy was looking the way he was, but she didn't care, it was daddy and daddy was life. She climbed up on the bed and curled up to her father, unknowingly pushing his elbow into his injured rib. She sat up against him, using his torso to prop herself up and looking up at all the aunts and uncles in the room. Her hair was in a little bun as was tradition whenever she hung out with Aunt Sarah, and she was wearing a little cardigan and white/pink pants with stripes on them. What were they all here for? Were they all here to play with her? Mia had that "the more the merrier" mentality. Such was life for a two year old.

Michael looked at little Mia, and then back at Ross, "Well? Got anyone? Or do you want to handle yourself?" 

But before Ross could respond, Sarah was pulled out of the room by a doctor and given some information that would definitely change the perspective of pretty much everything ever and everything that they set out to do. She was able to receive this information as Kimberly's medical proxy. Who would be better for the job of taking care of Kimberly's medical stuff when she isn't able to than her surgeon of a sister? 

"Well. We just figured out why Kimberly survived when she shouldn't have." She looked at Mia, then back at Ross, "Looks like Mia's going to be an older sister. This doesn't explain too much but it gives us the reason why." 

"Well, sh- I mean darn!" Michael looked at Mia who was glaring at him for almost uttering a [i]naughty word[/i]. "That screws things up... if you got a man for this job you better get him here soon. I have a feeling they're gonna be here tonight. We have the rest of the day to prepare."