The Gryphon, The Piano and The Love - Part Two.

The months passed in a blur, it seemed. September, along with its icy winds finally settled upon San Francisco, but deep within the confides of the iDen Biotech Research Facility, the weather did little to affect the progress science was making. Valentine was nearing adulthood, according to Rachel and Cordell. Long gone were the days of simple door-unlocking tests and picture puzzles. Nadia watched from observation deck seven of the enormous chamber twenty-six where Valentine was making his way through an aerial obstacle course designed for the testing of ZHAR fighters and other flight-enabled machinery.

He swooped, dived, banked and did a little barrel-roll with ease as he dodged moving walls and went through hoops. Truly, he lion DNA along with its cat-like reflexes had given him an edge over being pure eagle, as Noah had wanted in the beginning. Today, he wore only a pair of sweatpants for aerodynamics, leaving his upper body bare. From the monitor on the wall to her right, Nadia could make out every slight change in his expression and every ripple of muscle beneath his golden fur. He's stronger now, she thought. He was smiling now, and Nadia couldn't help but think that he belonged in the sky. He just seemed happier in the air. It must be an exhilarating experience, flying. Valentine had a head-mounted camera for a first-person view but Nadia didn't dare look in the direction of that monitor for fear of dizziness.

Valentine was near completing of the course. All that was left to do now was to grab the red football on the highest podium in the center of the room. Like the climax of every action movie, the hero had to defeat some sort of villain before the happy ending could come, and this villain just happened to be a ZHAR fighter.

Nadia gasped. This wasn't part of the test! She almost ripped the phone off the wall in her haste to contact Costanzo. She mashed the number three, the observation deck he was in. He picked up in a heartbeat.

'WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!' Nadia screamed into the mouthpiece, just as the gunfire began.

It took Brock a few seconds to answer; likely afraid that Nadia would scream into the phone again.

'What are you talking about?'

'The fighter! Why is it there!? Get it to stop!' she pleaded. She was afraid to look, but in her peripheral vision, she could make out two very large shapes rocketing all over the room.

'It's a test element, you-'

'STOP IT NOW!'

'I can't. Look, just watch-' Nadia slammed the phone down and prayed as she went to within an inch of the glass. She gaped at the sight before her: Valentine was all over the place, his wings working the hardest than they've ever worked before to survive. The boomerang-shaped fighter was hot on his toes, its advanced on-board computer locked-on and poised for the kill as it expelled round after round at him.

She'd seen one of these things in action before; designed exclusively to hunt down and likely kill, they have never once failed at their jobs. Valentine was doing a sort of zig-zag to throw if off but that only lessened the gap between predator and prey. She gasped as one of the rounds his his wing and he cried out in pain. It looked like he was done for but it all happened in the blink of an eye - slowing down, then doing a sort of backward somersault before latching himself onto the body of the craft. The whole thing then started to buck and careen wildly, trying to throw him off.

Valentine was digging at something at the top of its triangular body. Then, he let go and stomped down on the whole thing hard, so that it crashed nose-first into the floor and exploded. Bits of the high-tech craft flew in all directions and several even struck the window Nadia was looking out of.

Nadia stared at the blackened spot in the white flooring. The impact created a small crater in the floor and bits of broken tiles were everywhere. Crumpled beyond recognition, several employees were trying to extinguish the remains of the high-tech killing machine which was now on fire. Realization hitting her, she scanned the room for Valentine and found him perched on the high podium with the red ball in hand. He was positively exhausted: doubling over and coughing, and clutching at his side which was running red.

Nadia dashed out of the observation deck and into the corridor, where she was met with the sight of Dr. Brock Costanzo, who was talking with several other employees.

'Yeah, get the report to Cordell and Noah ASAP, they'll - Ah, Nadia, you see? He made it. You-' she didn't get to hear what else he had to say for she had struck him across the face with her hand.

'YOU FUCKING JERK, BROCK! You had no right to put him in danger like that! You-you...' she swore and several of the guys he was with looked at each other uneasily. She hated this: getting so angry that words simply failed. Even worse was the fact that she was crying. Luckily, Brock didn't have any witty retorts that would make her even more mad. She turned her back to him and headed towards the chamber entrance, where she pushed the doors open and jogged over to Valentine who had landed and was lying on his back. A medic was kneeling over him.

'Nadia!' It surprised her almost all the time at how adult-like he sounded. And he had a slight British accent now after the many hundreds of hours spent in Nadia's company.

'Shh, don't talk.' Nadia knelt down to check on the wound.

'He'll be fine, ma'am. The round just grazed him.' said the medic through her face mask. 'Is everything alright, ma'am?'

'Sorry, what was that?'

'You're crying.'

'Oh, it's nothing, really,' the nurse continued to stare at her in concern until Nadia asked about whether Valentine would be okay.

'I'm a trained professional, Doctor,' she said cheerily and Nadia was glad she dropped the whole crying thing. She thought she sounded Southern. 'Don't you worry yourself. I'll just patch him up and he'll be up and running in no time - or flying,' she added, nothing his wings.

'Thank you so much.'

'No problem, Doctor. Just doing my job.' she stood up and waved in several people with a stretcher.

'Nadia, I finished,' Valentine said weakly before grunting in pain.

'Oh, Valentine...' Nadia moved closer to his head to look into his eyes. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't know what they were going to do.'

'It's alright,' he said with a lopsided smile. He handed her the red football.

She would've went with Valentine and the doctors to wherever it was they were taking him (various parts of the facility changed functions like a person changed clothes) but Nadia had work to do and as the doctor had said, Valentine would be fine. They'd likely sedate him and let him rest, she thought.

She didn't quite know how she felt at that moment, but it didn't feel very good. There was just this lingering doubt and uncertainty that scared her. Also mixed in were the emotions of happiness at Valentine's accomplishments and also dread at where he was headed. As she headed back up to the research labs and her office, she couldn't help but wonder what he was for. Why invest almost a billion dollars into making a talking gryphon? Noah risked going against the Geneva Convention for this and yet, it didn't seem to have a purpose. iDen invested heavily in the RED project; more than weaponry, transportation and everything else and Professor Noah Benton was no fool.

She pondered over this some more in the elevator after leaving the football in one of the observation rooms. Whatever he was for, his relevance seemed to have lessened recently. Rachel didn't visit him as often anymore. Her visits were courtesy calls at best and had little to do with science. She seemed to enjoy Valentine's company more than the others. Rachel was busy today with "something big" and she even invited Nadia to tag along but she kindly turned her down. Valentine's tests were more important.

The familiar "ding" the elevator made chimed and she made a dash to get out. She needed some time to clear her head. Then, as the doors slid open, she almost collided with the man before her.

'Oh, hey, sorry,' he said with a small smile. He was tall and well-built. She would have thought he was a GUARD except that he lacked the black and red uniform they were always seen in. His T-shirt also had the word "USMC" on it, proving her suspicion.

'Would you mind helping me out? I kind of lost,' he said, scratching at he back of his head. She thought he looked rather charming.

'Well, I'm free now, I guess. What sort of help would you be needing?'

'Directions.'

'New here, are we?' she smiled.

'Yeah, I'm here for the Knight Program.'

'Knight Program?' Did he say that correctly?

He whistled. 'Wow, that under-wraps, huh?'

'Well, iDen does keep secrets from everyone. I didn't even know there was a library here until this morning. So where to, soldier?'

He looked down at his shirt and smiled. 'It's captain, actually.'

'Captain?'

'Captain Jacob Turner,' he smiled, extending a hand which she shook.

'Doctor Nadia Simone. Nice meeting you, Captain Turner. I always thought captains were white-haired drill sergeant-types. You look a little young to be a captain.'

On the contrary, he looked rather handsome: brown hair, amber eyes and a friendly face. Nadia noted that he had nice teeth too.

He smiled. 'I guess so - people tell me that all the time. Would you mind directing me to the briefing rooms? That's near the Alpha Labs, I think. I keep forgetting which floor it's on.'

'Wow, you're really lost then. That's on the other side of the facility.'

'Aw, damn,' he laughed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Don't worry, I'll escort you there if you want me to.'

'Really? You'd do that for me?'

'What are friends for?'

'So we're friends now?'

'Well, I imagine you military lot don't really get along in places like this - places where competition is the name of the game, and seeing as you're this lost, it's likely you've consulted nobody on directions because either a) you're fiercely independent, or b) you have no friends here.'

'Wow, that last bit's a little harsh, but yeah, you're almost right. What are you? A psychologist?' he said, climbing into the elevator. Nadia pushed the right floor button for him.

'Correct.'

'Ah,' he nodded. 'British?'

'Correct again.'

'Your accent's really hot,' he teased.

Nadia giggled for the first time that day. 'Oh, you tease... I like your shirt.'

'Yeah, I like it too - highlights my frame well,' he said, and he was right.

The rest of their journey to the briefing rooms near the Alpha Labs were spent with getting to know each other and then finally, exchanging phone numbers. As she bid goodbye to Captain Jacob Turner, she couldn't help but feel yet another emotion that day. It felt good; better than just plain happiness. Dare she call it love? She smiled at the thought as she made her way to Rachel who had conveniently materialized at the end of the corridor.

'Evening, Nadia, you seem overly smug about something.'

'What? Oh, it's nothing.' she said, her smile vanishing.

'I heard about Valentine. He's in Beta thirteen - resting now.'

'That's great. Thanks.'

'Listen, Nadia. Sorry to interrupt your break, but I've got a new project for you.'

'A new project?' Nadia's only responsibility these past few months was Valentine. Apart from helping someone do the occasional lab tests, she really didn't have any other function in the clockwork that made up iDen.

'Yes, it's nothing too big and you're welcome to pull out if it's too taxing. Project Knight'

'Project Knight?'

'Yes, I need someone to tend to the mental health of our new test subjects - army guys and such. I'm heading to the briefing room right now, you coming?'

'Oh, uh, sure. Sure thing.'

The room was dark with a powerpoint presentation going on. Nadia found Jacob among the sea of uniforms and serious-looking faces. He smiled at her and she returned a wave.

'I see you've met Captain Turner,' Rachel whispered into her ear.

'Yes, we've gotten acquainted.'

'Did you get his number?' Rachel said quite audibly.

'Rachel!' she said under her breath.

'What? He seems like a nice guy. I'm just recommending that you consider reeling in this fish. He's different.'

'Great, so he's a fish now,' Nadia rolled her eyes and the two of them kept silent throughout the duration of presentation on the history of iDen and the Knight Program. Nadia didn't really pay attention for she was for too busy mulling over Captain Jacob Turner and what the future had in store for the two of them.