Title: HSU: Skittles, Windchimes and a Plot
Author: Dorotea
Rating: S for Skittles
Disclaimer: I own no one in this fic, except myself. And the lyrics are from the Safety Dance by Men Without Hats.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Darry for the beta and I'm sorry I couldn't include everyone, but my time was limited and my brain not working well today. I just want everyone to know that the HSU Fic is up and still going strong.

~~Ah, We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind~~

Darry climbed up the steps to the tower, when she reached the top of the stairs she saw two signs. The first one read, "Wenches of Big Muscular Egotistical Alpha MacDaddies Only." The second one read, "Coruscant or Bust."

"Damn," Darry said as she ripped down the 'Coruscant or Bust' sign. "It's just not fair, first the Senator turns to the BSB side and..." She turned and her words trailed off as she heard the sound of windchimes sounding as the wind blew softly through the trees.

She turned and stalked down the steps. Her mouth fell open as she saw that every tree that lined the main drive through the university had been filled with birdhouses and windchimes.

"DOROTEA!"

~~Cause your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance,
well, they're no friends of mine~~

In the library, Dorotea snuggled on the General's lap as he pressed another Skittle into her mouth. "Dorotea, does it seem to you there a quite a few men on campus?" The General asked as Dorotea sucked gently on his fingers.

"Um, men?" Dorotea asked in her best befuddled voice. "Oh, you mean the miners? Don't worry about them," Dorotea said, gently placing several Skittles in the General's mouth. "I'm rather concerned that someone keeps stealing my grapes. I hope we don't have a closet wench on campus. Disposing of bodies is such a pain."

"What?" The General asked. "Bodies?"

Dorotea smiled, relieved she had managed to distract him. "I was joking. I don't know anything about disposing of bodies or strange rituals involving livestock."

The General furrowed his brows, remembering something from his surreal dream. "You and Darry wouldn't try to raise the dead would you?"

Dorotea licked her lips nervously. "Darry isn't even talking to me, she's just so mean to me. And for no reason, I might add. There is nothing that would make me help her raise the dead."

Suddenly, the library doors burst in and Darry stormed in as only someone wearing a midnight-blue silk Armani suit can storm in. "DOROTEA! YOU! ME! TALK! NOW!" she bellowed.

Dorotea leaned back into the General's arms and smiled sweetly. "I'm kinda busy right now."

Darry held up two pieces of paper, her fingers sparking slightly with blue lightening. "How busy are you?" She asked with an evil grin.

Dorotea poured half the bag of Skittles in the General's mouth and jumped up. "Be back in a sec," she hurriedly told the General as he choked on the Skittles.

~~(I say) we can go where we want to;
a place that they will never find~~

Kendra, Ellie, JenJen, and Kymira stood outside the mediator's office. "How long have they've been in there?" Kendra asked.

"All day," Ellie said. "My appointment was for 9:00 AM."

Jen shook her head. "I think it's great that Laure wanted to meet us all, but couldn't she at least keep her appointments?"

Suddenly the door opened up and a disheveled Laure, wearing a lace dress and holding a bottle of Merlot appeared. "Girls, I am so sorry, but I think we are going to have to reschedule for tomorrow. This um, Suit of Armor needs intensive therapy. Very intense. In fact, let's just make it Monday."

The girls heard a loud clanking sound followed by a vexed whine, "Laure, I can't reach my wine glass unless you untie me."

Laure smiled at the girls. "My work is never done. See you Monday," she said cheerfully closing the door.

Kymira turned to the other girls as the sound of metal clunking against metal erupted from the mediator's office. "I say we go butter up to Die to see if we can get extra appointments with the General."

"Sounds like a plan," said Ellie.

~~And we can act like we come from out of this world, leave the real one far behind, and we can dance~~

Emmy opened the door to the Clinic, looking for some aspirin. She had been up with the General(s) all night and had a ton of work to do on less than an hour of sleep. Not that it hadn't been worth it, but still. Why couldn't she have a job like Dorotea or Laure?

"Good afternoon, Princess," A sexy voice purred from the Nurse's desk. Followed by, "Elf, Elf baby," coming from the computer.

Emmy leveled a glare on Xanatos, who was apparently playing Elf Bowling on Darry's computer. "It's not even Christmas time, you idiot."

Xanatos shrugged, leaning back in the chair, rakishly brushing his ebony hair out of his midnight-blue eyes. "Come over here, princess, and I'll give you an early present."

"Oh, please. I'd rather get a present from the tiger!" Emmy retorted, grabbing a bottle of aspirin and taking a handful.

"I think you would much prefer being eaten by me," Xanatos said with a suggestive grin as he gently patted the head of the tiger curled up at his feet.

Emmy just rolled her eyes and walked out of the clinic.

~~I say we can dance, we can dance.
Everything's outta control.~~

Darry and Dorotea stood outside the library, speaking to each other in hushed, angry tones. "The baiting has to stop!" Darry demanded.

Dorotea sighed heavily. "Sure. Fine. Whatever. Can I go back to the General now, we were just getting to the good part."

"What, you were going to polish his boots?" Darry asked snidely.

Dorotea glared. "Oh, shut up. No baiting! Now, what do you want?"

"I want him, do you understand. It's not fair. Maximus is here. The Rat Bastard is here."

"Krycek is here?" Dorotea asked excitedly.

Darry frowned. "You know who I'm talking about, the Suit of Armor. I'm not an idiot, I know he's the vexed, insane, creepy Emperor."

"Does that mean we can let him wear one of the cool costumes from the movie now?"

"NO! And Saturday night, we are going to raise Cicero. I will not be the bunt of everyone elses jokes any longer."

"Fine, but we are going to need a distraction. The General might sense something. Hmmm..." Dorotea pondered, popping Skittles in her mouth.

Suddenly Darry and Dorotea both smiled, criminal minds thinking alike. "A party. A huge party. A rave. Dancing, music, drinking. No one will be sober or bored enough to check on us!"

"Of course," Darry cautioned, "Bad things happen when you mix Ho's, the General and too much drinking."

"Do you want Cicero or not?" Dorotea asked, finishing off the last of the Skittles.

Darry nodded. "Let's go talk to Caeryn, she's been looking like she could use a party."

"Exactly, a party is just want this campus needs."

~~We can dance, we can dance
Everybody's taking the chance~~

THE END