From the Private, Personal Diary of Noelle Frost

Noelle sat in a weather-beaten chair on her balcony overlooking the waters around Talos, her journal on her lap and a pen in her hand. Every few minutes she would put pen to paper, then stop, and drift off into thinking again. Finally, the right words flowed.

Dear Diary -

I don't even know where to begin. What to say. Hell, I'm not even sure if I want to write anything -- it might just bring the whole thing back again, and I don't want that. But, I guess... I need to write about what happened, not just gloss over it.

I got kidnapped.

I know, that sounds so very movie-of-the-week. Or last week -- or the week before, I guess. I'm a little confused now about dates and such. There was Sean and Cassie's bachelor/ette party, which started small and turned into something huge and amazing, and there was the whole thing with Captain Atomyc, which is I guess a more complicated story that I don't even know the full details about. And sometime after both of those, one night when I was shopping with Puck after a rescue mission, I got a call that Reese was in trouble, and I went to help him.

Nora would tell me that's where I made my mistake. Or rather, no, she'd say I was too trusting, and insinuate again that Reese had something to do with my kidnapping. Which I absolutely, totally, and without any question in my mind do not believe. I know who took me -- Spade Fearra and the House of Cards. And I know who got me back -- Reese, and Ted, and Star Breaker, and the rest of the Alliance.

Still, if arguing about it, if trying to convince Nora to give up her doubts about Reese is hard, it's nothing compared to what I went through. I... I haven't really talked about it. Don't really know what to say. I'm pretty sure I always knew, somehow, that my friends would find me and get me out -- and they did -- but sometimes, in those days when it was just so hot, and uncomfortable, and I couldn't do anything... it just felt a little hopeless. When the first day went by and I wasn't immediately rescued, when I went to bed on that little cot and woke up on it the next day, when I used that toilet, and ate their food... It just seemed like I was never getting out.

Noelle looked away from the page for a moment, staring out at the amazing view that Puck had commented on just the night before, before brushing away a tear and turning back to the page.

It's over. I'm out, and Cassie and Sean threw me a wonderful welcome-back party, and all my friends came. And I'm not going to think about it anymore. Not until I see that Spade guy again, and take all that pain, and worry, and fear, and totally kick his shadow-lovin', kidnapper ass. They're going to have to hold me back.

--Noelle