Title: HSU - Emergence
Author: Emmy
Rating: GBW (General Breaks Away)
Archive: Uh-huh, uh-huh
Notes: This is for a couple of 100% General devotees with no condemning EA's on their record. Oh, and for a nympho librarian, too. And a bit for the Wench. I'm afraid this isn't a plot vehicle, but there is lots of General! :)

The General sat up very slowly on the bed as Emmy stirred. He remained very still for several moments, willing her into a deep slumber. She continued to murmur incoherently. So he sat motionless, halfway to the seated position, those washboard abs earning their keep while he remained perfectly still.

Finally, Emmy settled down, her steady breathing indicating that she was sound asleep. Very, very slowly, he sat the rest of the way up, carefully swinging his legs to the side and standing up while gradually decreasing the pressure on the mattress.

He walked silently to the other side of the room and dressed as quietly as he could. Then he took a look in the mirror. His hair, yet again, had grown several inches from the cropped and seriously hacked 'do he sported before going to sleep. Now it was long and seriously hacked. The General shrugged, the condition of his hair ranking rather low on the scale of truly weird events at HSU. He found a surprisingly subtle elastic band in the Diva's collection of hair accessories and pulled his hair back into a rather unkempt ponytail.

He tip-toed toward the door that led to the hallway, freezing in place as Emmy rolled over on the bed. He cringed slightly, fearing that her movement would wake her enough to realize that he was no longer lying next to her.

As she sighed heavily and drooled on the pillow, the General carefully continued to the door and snuck out into the hallway. He walked toward the stairs and began to descend when the loudest squeals and shouts assaulted him. He reached out to the Force for an explanation and received a big fat zero in return. Pouting slightly, he descended a few more stairs and took a look at the mayhem below him.

The hallway was iced over.

And his girls were skating.

With people who weren't girls.

The General blinked. And then he decided he just didn't want to go there. So he turned around and headed back up the stairs, crossed down the long hallway, rounded a few corners, and then descended down the back stairway into the kitchen.

He smiled when he saw the lone, thankfully unaccompanied Ho who was rummaging around in the pantry. "Good morning, Judith darling."

Judy gasped and dropped the Costco bag of pretzels that she was retrieving for the bar.

"I'm sorry," he said, striding up behind her and bending down with her, his chest against her shoulders, as they both picked up the bag. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Not a problem," Judy said cheerfully as she tried to retain her composure while he pressed into her back and kissed her cheek. Judy looked up at him as he hovered over her shoulder. "Wow, your hair grew back again."

"You don't like it," he stated, pouting playfully.

Judy turned around to face him. "Well, I do prefer it shorter," she said. "However…." A leer spread across her face.

"However?" the General said, raising his eyebrows.

Judy cackled, grabbed his ponytail, dragged him the rest of the way in the closet, and slammed the door shut.

~*~

"Highsticking! That's HIGHSTICKING!"

The General rubbed his forehead at the sound of the fight that was ensuing. He strode toward the hallway where the ruckus was coming from, the air turning colder the closer he got.

Then he heard a man's laughter.

The General stopped, turned around, and decided this would be a good time to get some fresh air.

~*~

Julia smiled as she developed the photos of the ice capade pile up that Sere had taken with one hand from her position on the bottom of the pile while she had distracted everyone by waving her phone around with the other hand.

"They are so, soooo busted," Julia said, imagining the bribery potential of the pile up of EA's. The mere mention of the photographs would guarantee her premium appointment times.

Not that she would ever really upset the General by showing him the photos, but no one had to know that.

"Now, if Emmy would ever let him out of her room, I'd be in business," Julia mumbled while the remaining photos developed.

"Being in business. It sounds so…methodical, love."

Julia just about jumped out of her skin and turned toward the prowling General who had somehow entered the secure darkroom without her noticing.

The General smirked at the slightly flustered look on Julia's face. "Are my attentions really so mundane?" he asked, coming to a stop a few inches in front of her and positioning himself into The Stance as naturally as breathing.

Well, as naturally as breathing for everyone but Julia at the moment.

She looked down at the photos of the new hockey coach that she gripped in her hand, the financial and appointment value of said items most likely at an all-time high.

Then she looked up at the General.

He tilted his head down slightly.

And then he licked his lips.

Julia tossed the photos over her shoulder and darted forward, yanking the elastic from his hair and winding her fingers through the smooth, soft locks.

"It's dark in here," the General said as he pressed Julia against the wall.

"Yeah," she drawled.

"Guess I'll have to feel my way around," he purred into her ear.

~*~

Dorotea carefully extended her leg out the library door and set her Doc Martens-clad foot onto the ice. She really had no desire to attempt to walk on the ice, let alone to even leave the library.

But she needed Gatorade.

And she needed it bad.

Feeling fairly confident in the traction of her Docs, she removed her other foot from the safe library carpet and moved it forward. The instant her weight shifted to the foot that rested on the ice, she found herself resting very uncomfortably on the hard, frozen surface, flat on her back.

She turned her head just in time to see Caeryn slapshot Crow's head in her general direction. Dorotea rolled over and scrambled to her knees, attempting to crawl quickly out of the way.

Unfortunately, she just ended up flat on her stomach this time. But at least she avoided getting hit by Crow's head as it flew into the open library door.

Dorotea shimmied forward on her tummy until she lost all sensation from her neck to her toes. She reached her frozen arm forward, stretching as far as she could until her fingernails finally caught the unfrozen hardwood floor of the lounge, gripping her fingertips into the gashes in the floor caused by Cal's efforts to clear the floor with an ice scraper.

She finally pulled herself forward and rolled the rest of the way onto the slightly damp but seemingly safe floor. She stood up slowly, her teeth chattering and her skin turning blue.

Where was she going again?

"Dorotea."

She gasped and jumped into the hall closet at the sound of the General's voice.

The General chuckled and shook his head, walking over to the closet and opening the door, finding a shivering Dorotea attempting to hide herself between jackets and behind the vacuum cleaner. He reached forward and put his hand against her cold cheek.

"I p-promise I'll n-never p-put m-m-m-makeup on-n-n y-you ag-g-g-gain. B-but it w-w-wasn-n-n't m-m-my f-f-f-f-fault. I d-don-n-n't ev-v-v-ven l-like l-l-lips-s-stick on-n-n m-m-men-n-n. I'm-m-m s-s-or-r-r-ry. I h-h-h-h-h-h--"

"You're freezing."

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y--"

"I'd better warm you up then," the General said with a grin, pulling the closet door shut behind him.

~*~

"Well, that's just fine," Emmy huffed, pouting and hugging the pillow to her chest as she shoveled a spoonful of Nutella into her mouth and held the phone against her shoulder. "If he doesn't want to be around me, there are plenty other men who will."

"Emmm," Dande said as she smoothed out the hippie man's hair and admired its luster.

"Wha?" Emmy mumbled as she licked the spoon.

"Diva, baby, you've had him locked in your room all to yourself for almost a week."

"So?! He's gone now. He's probably tired of me. Probably is going to keep that long hair and run off with one of these unfaithful Ho's. Probably just gonna leave me here, and I'll never hear from him again."

"Emmy."

"Probably decided he was bored and needed some new kind of thrill."

"Emmy."

"OH! I know!"

"What?"

"He probably found himself a WENCH! I knew it! This is all Dorotea's fault!"

"Emmy, I really don't think that--"

"She spoiled him. He got used to that boot polishing tripe, and now he expects it all the time. That's it, Dande! He expects me to polish his boots. Well, let me tell you something, I polish NO man's boots and I will feed NO grapes to anyone but myself and ONLY if I'm good and ready to eat them."

"Emmy, the General loves his Ho's, and he loves you," Dande said reassuringly.

"I'm just not pretty enough for him anymore. No wonder he doesn't want me. I'm probably too fat, too. That's the real reason he's never coming back." Emmy shoveled more Nutella in her mouth.

"Um, how long has he been gone?" Dande asked gently.

"He was gone when I woke up!"

"And how long have you been awake?"

Emmy looked at the clock. "At LEAST fifteen minutes!"

"Emmy, I'm sure he'll be back. He probably just went out to bring you something to eat."

"No, Dande. I can feel it. He's left me for good. I'm just happy I have friends like you to depend on. Friends like you who will always be loyal, who will always be there for me."

"Of course I will," Dande said.

"And you know I will always be here for you whenever you need me. If there's anything you ever need, all you have to do is ask. Day or night. I'm here for you one hundred percent." Emmy glanced to the door as it opened and the General swaggered in.

"Thank you," Dande said. "That's very sweet of--"

"Sorry, Dande. Gotta g--."

Dande heard the phone click. "Hello? Em?" Dande suddenly dropped the phone as a large hand grabbed her hair and pulled her into a very inviting lap.