It was only an hour that I had to stay up before I heard the noises of movement outside. Ace had set up proximity alarms, so we would know if anything big got too close. 

No, the sound I heard was human and female, right on cue, just like Chloe said. I still felt dirty about all this, but Chloe had made some fairly good points, and as crazy as she was, I didn't think that she would be the type that likes to see others in pain. I had to assume that she was actually doing this for a good reason; either that or Helena was going to be pissed at me. Hell, I don't think there would be a good way to go back and face her, but maybe she will be busy with Ace in her new world.

Even if she was there and pissed, I would have done my job as I was asked and even put in some extra work for her sake. For some reason, I just didn't think Helena was going to be as thankful as she should, but that was for another day. It was time to sweet-talk Grace and then cut her off after I got her hot and bothered. I wonder how far I should go with it?

I crawled out of my tent, and sure enough, Grace was standing there in the light of the fire. She looked like she was torn between being pissed and wanting to scream. I gave her a smile as I walked over to her and then sat down on my rock by the fire. Grace just stood there looking at me with an angry stare, but I could also see the desire in her eyes, so I knew Chloe's plan was working perfectly.

"What are you doing up so late?" Grace asked, but she didn't sound mad anymore; she actually sounded kind of horny now that she had calmed down some. This is going better than even I thought it would, but maybe a little too well? 

"I couldn't sleep," I said simply as if it were no big deal when really it took everything for me not to burst out laughing or cheering from how perfect this all was playing out. "Is everything okay with you and Ace?"

"No, it's not! That little bitch was trying to come between us!" Grace snapped, but then she quickly calmed herself down as she shook her head. "I am sorry; I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's all good," I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. "I know Chloe can be a bit of a handful at times, but we aren't really on the same teams." 

Grace just nodded her head in agreement before sitting down next to me on another rock, facing the fire. We sat there in silence for a few moments before Grace finally broke it with a question that caught me off guard slightly. 

"Do you love her?" Grace asked, and I turned my head to look at her. Her face was serious now without any hint of desire left; this was going from really fucking perfect to downright awkward really fast. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to play coy even though I was pretty sure Grace knew exactly what I meant. 

"You know what I mean," Grace said, and now she sounded mad again. "Do you love her?"

I paused for a moment as if thinking about it before finally giving my answer; that didn't seem to make Grace very happy. "I think so? It's hard to tell sometimes with her, but we are connected, so I know how she feels about me."

"You think so?" Grace snapped, and now she was on her feet. "You think so?! Do you have any fucking idea how long I have been working on this! You are just going to come and take that all away, but it is not like I care, but it is hardly fair that Helena gets to sit in her plush office, but I have to fight against you!" 

"I am not trying to fight you!" I snapped back, finally getting pissed myself. "I am just trying to do my job! Do you think this is easy for me?!" 

"No, it's not fucking easy for any of us!" Grace shouted as she paced around in front of the fire now. "But that doesn't change anything! You are still a threat, and I have to get rid of you if I want any chance at winning this stupid game!" 

"You said it doesn't matter to you. What do you get out of this? Do you really want to watch Ace in the next world?" I asked, and then dropped my voice lower as I was starting to get excited. "Chloe told me about his problems. Do you really think that he is going to be good for the next world the way he is?"

"I don't think there is any way to fix him after the trauma that you gave him. The man can't even stay hard long enough to get it inside of me and then cries for nearly an hour after! He makes me tell him it's going to be okay and other bullshit like that to stoke his pathetic excuse for an ego!" Grace growled, and I put a hand on her back. At first, she tried to shrug it off, but then she just melted into my touch.

I started rubbing her back in small circles as I spoke again. "Grace, I know this is hard for you to hear, but Chloe was right; Ace isn't good enough for the next world. He is going to need to go through some shit if he ever wants to have any chance of making it through what's coming." 

"What do you mean? What's coming?" Grace asked as she finally turned around and looked at me with confusion in her eyes. 

"The Swarm of mecha's that are coming," I said simply because there really wasn't any other way to explain it that wouldn't take too long or sound completely crazy. "There are things out there that want to destroy this world and everyone on it, so Ace needs to die before that happens. Before that happens, he next to go through some bad experiences like betrayal and all that good stuff."

"Betrayal?" Grace asked, and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, like you're betraying him for me," I said, and then gave her a wink. "It will make his character stronger, so he can help out in the next world." 

"You want me to sleep with you and then tell Ace about it?" Grace asked as she looked at me with wide eyes now. 

I nodded my head as I started rubbing her shoulders now. "It's the only way; Chloe tells me that you are already planning to do something like this anyway so why not just do it for real? This way, we can get rid of Ace when everything is all said and done."