…Comes Around:

Simone’s Notes:

Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies. 'Karma' is an Eastern religious concept in contradistinction to 'faith' espoused by Abrahamic religions, which view all human dramas as the will of God as opposed to present - and past - life actions. In theistic schools of Hinduism, humans have free will to choose good or evil and suffer the consequences, which require the will of God to implement karma's consequences, unlike Buddhism or Jainism which do not accord any role to a supreme God or gods. In Eastern beliefs, the karmic effects of all deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala.

Across the street, Mustang watched them bitterly. You see, he had become suspicious of Sanders’ behavior lately. Roy knew that there was something wrong with the lt. col. So this morning, he followed Damon in secret around the city. He finally got his answer right… now. Usually, a man with a new girlfriend would just be a normal thing. But yet, something didn’t feel right with date in particular. Mustang went on his instinct with this one. Once he had the evidence, it was time for him to confront Sanders.

Mustang walked across the street t o sighed. He waited at the front door. Inside, Damon looked up and saw the boss. He eyes widened in fear. Katherine looked up at him.

“What’s wrong, Damon?” he asked. The man shook his head.

“Oh… my boss is here…” the poor soul mumbled under his breath.

“What?” his date asked. Damon looked out the window again and saw that Mustang was gone. Oh, this wasn’t good! There was only one place that he could have gone…

“Well, Sanders!” a voice boomed behind the couple. Damon turned around. The Flame Alchemist stood over them with a look of contempt in his eyes. The lt. col. gave him a cheesy little grin.

“Hi boss…” he mumbled. Roy looked sharply over at Katherine as she gave him a slightly little wave of all five of her fingers.

“Helloooo!” she chirped. “You must be Damon’s boss!”

“Uh yeah…” Mustang replied, neutrally. He turned to the sheepish lt. col. “Damon, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked. Roy turned the officer by the shoulder and dragged him outside of the cafe. Sanders looked nervous the whole time. He knew that he was in for it now. The men came outside. Mustang turned Sanders around to him. He bit his lip. The man looked at him with guilt. He knew that this was coming. Just didn’t expect it to come so soon…

“It’s not what it looks like!” Damon yelped.

“Oh, and what does it look like?” Mustang challenged. The other soldier went quiet. He had no explanation for this at all. The man was just caught! The Flame Alchemist narrowed his eyes at him.

“For three weeks now, we have been blind!” he snapped. “You weren’t at your post! I asked your wife where you were and she said that she had no idea. We all were worried that you had gone AWOL or something! And here I find you playing around with some whore!”

“She’s not a whore!” Damon argued. “She’s a burlesque fire dancer!”

“Whatever she is!” Mustang barked. “You have betrayed your comrades and your family! What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I know!” Damon protested. “I’m not proud of it, okay? But, I have no choice!” Mustang snorted at him.

“That’s ridiculous!” he snapped.

“You don’t understand!” Sanders yelped. “I *can’t* go back to Carole! Not after all of the shit I put her through over the years.” Roy looked at him confused.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. Damon swallowed a bit. He slowly broke down and told the high officer about his past and his fidelity problems. The whole thing, he watched the other man’s face. He expected Roy to think that he was out of his mind. Instead, the Flame Alchemist listened on the whole time. The lack of emotion on his face made Damon completely nervous. Mustang narrowed his eyes on him when he had finished. The lt. col. waited nervously as the Flame Alchemist thought of the most appropriate way to punishment him for his selfishness. Damon decided to take the final verdict like a man in the end. Roy finally looked him dead on in the eye.

“I will deal with you later,” Mustang declared. “Right now, you end it with your burlesque dancer and get back on track!” Damon nodded nervously at him once.

“Yes sir!” he replied with a salute. Mustang looked as if he didn’t believe him at all. Damon swallowed a bit. He just hoped that he had the courage to do it. Sanders matched back into the cafe with Mustang watching him the whole time. Clearly, the Flame Alchemist didn’t trust him one bit! Fair enough! Him being there could help him break it off. However, disaster bitch-slapped him into a brutal reality.

Across the street, Syd, Ella, and Yasmine watched the cafe like a pack of wolves ready to attack. Syd looked over at the women.

“You sure the source is here?” he asked.

“Positive!” Ella replied. “It’s coming from the woman at the window!” Syd locked his eyes on Katherine talking to Manami inside the cafe.

“Yas,” he said. “Where is the heart of the spell?” Yasmine took a minute to look up the information on her Blackberry.

“Got it!” she said. “It’s in the cemetery just down the road from here.”

“Okay, Ella go down and kill the heart!” Syd ordered. His bird nodded once.

“Right!” she replied. Ella got up and teleported away to sight of the spell. Yasmine looked over at her boss.

“And what do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Just stay by me,” Syd instructed. “We can’t have you do much to harm the baby.” Yasmine went quiet as she looked down at her almost four-month bump. Syd and Ella still weren’t sure about the condition of what the child would turn out to be during and after the pregnancy. Yasmine appreciated the concern, but she just felt so useless for not doing anything at all. Still, she couldn’t argue. They were only looking out for her and the baby. So, the mystic just nodded and stood by.

Meanwhile, Damon walked back into the cafe. Boy, was he in for a nasty little surprise. He found Manami and Katherine sitting together talking like old friends. Damon watching on in suspicion. Something didn’t sit right with him. “What the hell is she doing here with Katherine?” he thought bitterly as he glared at Manami. The two women looked up at him when he made it back to the table. Katherine smiled at him warmly.

“Baby!” she chirped. “This woman said that the mark on my back was for the special ones. She has one on her neck too!” Damon glared on at Manami still. The Fallen Princess gave him an arrogant little smile.

“She’s right you know,” she said. “It’s a shame that you don’t have one yourself.”

“I don’t need one,” Damon mumbled. “You don’t need one either, Katherine, you’re special without it!” The woman didn’t hear him.

“Come and join us, baby!” she said. “You’re coffee’s getting cold.” Sanders said nothing. He begrudgingly complied. Katherine and Manami both smiled at him.

“There see?” the Fallen Princess asked. “Not so bad is it!”

“F**k you, bitch,” Damon mumbled to her. The women pretended not to hear him and kept on talking. The whole time, the lt. col. watched them. It was all slowly becoming clear to her. Katherine was just the honey trap to lure him into Manami’s sick and twisted game. He cursed himself in his mind. Mustang was right to try and make him end it. Well, it was now or never. Damon lightly took Katherine’s hand. The dancer looked up at him. Damon had a serious look in his eyes.

“Katherine,” he said in a matching tone. “Can we talk for a moment?” His date looked at him innocently.

“Sure,” she said. “What’s up?” The lt. col. shook his head.

“No,” he replied. “In private.” Katherine nodded a little bit, nervously.

“Okay…” she said. Damon helped her to her feet and walked her out of the cafe. Manami walked on smirking. This should be interesting.

Meanwhile, Ella made it to the graveyard. She shut her eyes for a second to find the heart of the spell. The mystic felt a pulse beating for it. Ella opened her eyes quickly.

“There!” she exclaimed. The mystic raced forward to the site. The heart was buried in an unmarked grave. Ella drew in a deep breath and started digging. Meanwhile, Damon dragged Katherine just a few blocks away from the graveyard. The dancer became really confused.

“Damon,” she said. “What’s going on? Why are we out here?” The lt. col. and kept his back to her. The burlesque dancer looked on nervously.

“Katherine,” Sanders said with his back to her. “I’ve got to tell you something.” His date stared on at him. She didn’t like where this was going at all.

“Okay,” the dancer said. “What is it? What’s on your mind?” Damon turned around to her with hurt in his eyes. He lightly took her by the hands and broke down and told her everything.

Meanwhile, Ella dug up the grave until she felt the pulse of the heart beating loudly in her soul. Easy from there, right? Not just yet! The heart was split into two different pieces. Now, she had to make a decision. Which heart to stab? Ella thought quickly about this. She didn’t have the time to ponder the right choice. She had to act fast. So, she raised the dagger high above her head. And… STAB!

Katherine pulled away from Damon and turned away really sick and pale. The lt. col. looked on at her in worry.

“Katherine?” he asked. “Say something! Please say something!” He suddenly heard her sobbing. Oh, this wasn’t good at all. Sure, he expected her to be upset with him. But, not crying. He had to fix this quick or it would just get worse from there.

“Katherine, honey,” he said. “Please say something.” She turned around to him at last with tears in her eyes.

“You’re a murderer, Damon!” she whimpered.

“I know,” the soldier said in regret. “Every day I wish that we could have met under different circumstances.” Katherine shook her head at him.

“No!” she protested. “You should be apologizing to your wife and child! Go back to them!” Damon looked on at her still hurt.

“I can’t, I’ve hurt them enough!” he argued. “I need you! You keep me clean. When I’m with you, I not tempted to stray and give into temptation at all. You can’t leave me! I need you, Katherine! Please don’t leave me!” She shook her head at him. The woman was about to speak when she began to tremble all over. Damon looked on in concern.

“Katherine?” he asked. “Katherine, what’s wrong?” The dancer held her body tighter.

“I’m cold!” she whimpered. That really wasn’t a good sign at all.

“Cold?” Damon asked. “What kind of cold?”

“I’m freezing…” Katherine said as if she was about to faint. Suddenly, a bright violent light swallowed her body whole. Damon looked on with big-eyed worry.

“KATHERINE!!!” he yelled to her. Then, the light exploded into high white ash. When it all cleared, not a single trace of the Fire Dancer remained. Damon stood all alone in the empty city street.

Ella stepped back and wiped the sweat from her brow. She had done it. The spell was now broken. That crisis was adverted. But yet, there was still more work to be done. So, Ella sheaved her dagger and left the cemetery to join Syd and Yasmine back in the city.

Back in the cafe, Manami was drinking her coffee when she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She gaped aloud in pain as she tightly clutched her chest. That only meant one little thing. “She they found the spell!” the Fallen Princess thought in pain. “They may have broken it, but that’s only a little taste of what is to come!” Once the pain subsided, she finished her coffee and paid her tab.