Finny was a happy person, 99% of the time. So, it was respected that sometimes, he'd have a low day.

A day, when the dark memories of his past would haunt him and he'd curl up away from the world. His head on his knees, hiding his face, just how he felt sometimes, like he wanted to hide and never be found. Of course, Mey-Rin and Bard worried for him, but they knew that it was best just to leave him. It was just something they had grown accustomed worst thing was, Finnian would never tell them when, he would just wake up one day feeling sick, and he knew it was another low day. The familiar sick feeling was in his stomach that morning. It was early morning, the sun not yet streaming through the curtains; Bard and Tanaka still asleep peacefully. Finnian pulled on his boots and hat, and set off into the fresh day, looking for a spot. He dragged his boots around the estate, past the garden he loved, but frequently destroyed, until he came to one of the unused sheds. Finny sat against the back of the hard wood, out of sight, and buried his head in his knees, only the cheeping dawn chorus to keep him company. The memories came flooding back…

"My ball, Amory!" the boy laughed. The older boy ruffled his strawberry blonde hair and handed him the red ball he had been waving above him with a smile.

"Okay Finny, your ball." Finny kicked it about, his too-big boots scuffing the dry field. "Looks like there's gunna be no harvest, at this rate, the field is bone dry! What's daddy gunna say 'bout that, eh, Finny?" he asked the four year old.

"Hungry!" giggled Finny.

"Yeah, we're all gunna be 'ungry!" Amory put his rake down with a sigh and crossed his arms. "Very 'ungry!" His stomach rumbled, almost as a reminder and he sighed again, rubbing it. The sound of a siren broke the hazy afternoon quiet, causing Finny and Amory to jump. "Oh no…" Amory breathed. It was their siren. They were coming. He grabbed Finnian and hoisted him into a fireman's lift, knocking the ball from his hands.

"BALL!" Finny squealed, but Amory had already starting sprinting over the fields towards their farmhouse.

"We'll get it later, I promise!" the older brother whispered. He ran nimbly over the cracked land, reaching the door of the house. He handed the protesting boy to their mother who was waiting at the door. She took Finnian into his bedroom, tears threatening to fall.

"I love you, my baby," she whispered again and again. She tucked him tightly into his bed. "Please promise me, whatever happens you won't get out of bed? Please."

"Ma, what's going on?" he asked, trying to sit up in bed. "It's daytime! I haven't got me nightshirt on-" she kissed him on the head and pushed him gently under the covers.

"Please, Finny, whatever you hear, hide under the covers and don't get out of bed. Please." She kissed him a final time, her tears splashing onto the thick woollen blanket.

"Ma!" he called out and reached for a stray strand of her long hair that had slipped from her tight plait but she had gone. He wriggled under the covers, far below, and waited, the wool itching his neck. Finnian heard a lot of thing. Screaming. Crying. The sound of a blow hitting someone. More screaming. He screwed his eyes shut. And then the door opened. A man grabbed him by his hair and dragged him out of bed. More screaming. More crying and biting and hitting and flailing. Then a strike. Then just unending blackness.

"Oi! Finny? Where the hell are you? Sebastian needs us for summat!" Finnian jerked as he came back the present. Bard was looking for him. He flattened himself against the dirt and rolled underneath the small gap below the shed, his hat squashing underneath him. Once he was safely under, he brushed the strands of hair from his eyes. His hair really was rather long now, as his father had always cut it short, but after the Men had shaved off his hair, he'd just let it grow. He liked the feel of it, like a protective curtain. He could unclip his slides and let it fall over his face, warm and soft. Finny looked out under the gap, to see Bard's heavy feet trudge past. "Finny! FINNIAN!" soon enough, he had walked off and Finnian lay in the darkness, and soon enough memory coming back. He didn't want to relive it again, but he couldn't stop it, it filled his head and eyes.

He was older now. Fourteen, he'd spent over ten hateful years there. At least he wasn't in the cage anymore. They'd given him a cramped cell, not much bigger than the cage, but it was still infinitely better. Plus, he had Percy. Finny had noticed that, at the top of his cell, was a tiny opening, and, in that opening, a small bluebird would come and sit on the sill. Finny christened him Percy. Percy would come and sit for hours, just listening to Finnian talk about everything; his life now, his country past, how he'd been forced to kill his own brother for the Men In The White Coats' experiments. He showed him the swollen, blotchy skin on his forearm, where injection after injection had been stabbed into him and the tattoo on the back of his neck, where they had crudely scratched the ink into his skin. It had hurt for days, though no amount of crying lessened the pain or increased the sympathy of the Men. The Day Sebastian Came, was the last time Finnian saw Percy. He'd been sat, as always, just talking to him when the thick metal door of his cell opened, to reveal The Men In White Coats stood in the doorway menacingly. The noise made Percy fly out of the room, leaving Finny alone. His heart was heavy and he could taste a metallic taste in his mouth, making him want to gag. Fear. The tallest Man grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, the skin still tender after all those years. He yelped in pain.

"Come along, boy," he snarled, and started to drag Finny along the corridors. "We're certain it's going to work this time, ten years of practise isn't going to waste." Finnian knew what was going to happen.

"No!" he thrashed about, kicking and screaming as they hauled him to the testing room. "I don't want it anymore! No more, please, no more!" he sobbed. The Men held him against the table, tying up with the leather belts so he could scarcely breathe. "Please! Stop it! Stop it, stop it! I don't want it, please! Please, no! Stop it!" he tried to wriggle out, but one of the men grabbed him by his hair and forced his head against the table, his other hand squeezing his mouth shut. In vain, he desperately continued to scream, but the thick hand muffled his calls. They grabbed Finnian's injection arm and held it out. The third man flicked the syringe, grinning slightly. As anticipation glinted in his dark eyes, Finny screamed again and pushed against the two men holding him down. And then he felt the needle enter his skin, a sharp pain bringing tears to his eyes. Almost immediately, it felt like fire was travelling through his whole body, filling him up with ultimate power. An unstoppable anger built up inside him. A ferocious scream escaped his lips, and he lurched forward, the straps breaking and the three Men were sent flying backwards, hitting against the tiled walls with thumps. They lay on the floor, unconscious. Finny held his small hands out in front of him. He had done that. He had torn the leather belts. He had become a monster.

"I-I… I don't want to have super strength!" he cried, tears falling. He leapt off the bench, running as fast as he could. Finny was free now, he could escape the dark, miserable hell he'd been trapped in for his life. Outdoors. He could hear it calling him. Finnian needed to see the grass , hear the birds, and smell the sweet flowers he'd been kept from for so long. A dark figure loomed infront of him and Finny collided with him, expecting him to fall backwards, hurt. However, he continued to stand majestically. "You're not hurt from me bumping into you?" he questioned, his eyes wide.

"Actually, you're incredible strength is the reason I'm here to offer you a position." The stranger replied. Finny stared at him open mouthed. "You'll get regular wages, incentive pay and a large, twice a yearly bonus." He explained. Finny shook his head.

"I don't need any of that, I just want to go outside!" the stranger looked puzzled or a minute.

"I believe my master is looking for a gardener. Is that suitable?"

"Oh, yes! Yes, that's perfect!" Finny grabbed his hand. "Please, take me now before they wake up! Oh, please take me!" The stranger nodded.

"Come," he said. He led Finnian through the corridors, up the stairs and out the door, revealing the true beauty of the outside world. Finny gasped and ran into the grass, tears spilling.

"It's… it's just so beautiful!" he cried, and kicked his bare feet about in the green grass. He took several deep breathes, inhaling the fresh clean air. He turned around the face the stranger. "Thank you…" he whispered. "Thank you for rescuing me." The stranger remained poker-faced.

"You're welcome." He said simply.

As Finnian came back to reality, suddenly the darkness under the shed became claustrophobic and musty. He rolled out from under the shed, and into the path of Bard. Bard bit on his cigarette, nearly slicing it in half in shock.

"Where have you been, you little- Finny? Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Well, I am now," Finny pulled himself to his feet and brushed off the dirt that had accumulated on his shirt. "Sorry, I was having a bit of a think."

"Mate, thinking doesn't take someone half a day." Bard complained.

"Does for me." Finnian wiped a hand over his eyes.

"Hmm. Another low day?" Bard asked gently.

"I guess." Finny shrugged. "I'm alright now though." Without warning, he fell forwards against Bard and hugged him tightly, burying his face in his white uniform. "I'm so glad I found you and Mey-Rin," he said. Bard was momentarily lost for words, but then patted him awkwardly on the back.

"Me too, Finny. Me too."

That was the last Low Day, Finny ever had.