Pippa's POV

It's a training day for me today. For all the BTs. We are going to have an assessment with Jayne Walker in the BT gym, where we have to complete an obstacle course using all the techniques that we've learned so far in our Basic Training. I have to say…I'm really nervous. I haven't got much in the way of constructive feedback from Jayne in two months, not to mention the fact that whenever we give each other feedback, nobody volunteers to tell me anything about what I did right and what I did wrong. I'm not sure why.

Today, we go into the BT gym, where an elaborate obstacle course has been set up. It looks hard, especially the section that has monkey bars hanging from the ceiling with no safety net beneath. If we fall…ouch.

I'm up last, apparently. I get to watch everyone else attempt the obstacle course and mainly fail, though only thirty percent (or so) of them fall off the monkey bars, and Apollo is only called up about seven times. Eventually, my sister Quinn is stationed inside the gym, in case of any more injuries.

Finally, it's my turn. Jayne sighs as I walk up to the starting line, and holds up the stopwatch. "Under three minutes to pass," she said.

"But…it was four minutes for the others," I say quietly.

"Three minutes," Jayne repeats, giving me a stern look.

I nod hurriedly. "Okay. Three minutes."

I prepare myself. Across the room, I see both Quinn and my twin brother standing by the door, watching. Anton gives me an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. I give him a terrified look back.

Jayne blows the whistle, and I am off.

Anton's POV

I watch my twin sister begin the obstacle course. The first thing is a large rope ladder, which she scales with ease. Pip's always been good at climbing, so I'm not worried about those aspects.

Come on, Pip, I think anxiously, watching Pippa slow down as she reaches the monkey bars. I want to yell something encouraging at her, but I'm scared that that will distract her.

She starts off well, but when she's about halfway across, her hand slips and she falls. I race forward to attempt to catch my twin, not even thinking that her weight combined with my haemophilia may kill me. Despite my efforts, she hits the floor hard. I reach her and make sure she's okay, which she is. She gives me a smile, before heading back to try again, but we all stop at Jayne's piercing whistle.

"Fail," she barks, marking it down on her clipboard.

"Wh-what?" Pippa gasps. "It hasn't even been half three minutes yet!"

"You fell," Jayne says. "Therefore, you fail."

"But the others fell!" whines Pippa. "And they still passed!"

"It's true," I say, stepping forwards. "Miss Walker, I saw at least three different candidates fall off the bars and be allowed to continue. Why does Pippa falling automatically grant her a fail? And why did you give her less time in which to complete the assessment?"

"Because she doesn't deserve to pass," Jayne snarls.

Pippa's POV

My eyes fill with tears and there's a sharp sting in my chest as I glance round the room. All the other BTs are either glaring at me or giving me looks that say they agree with Jayne. Worse…Quinn is looking away and not saying anything to help.

Anton's POV

"Why?!" I yell angrily. "Why doesn't she deserve to pass?!"

"Because she's stubborn, uncooperative, hyperactive, argumentative, and she refuses to listen to orders!"

"It's not my fault!" Pippa wails. "I have ADHD that I can't always control!"

"Try," snarls Jayne.

"You're the instructor!" I yell. "You're supposed to help people, not punish them for things they can't control!"

"You're right: I AM the instructor. She gets a fail, and that's the end of it."

"You can't do that!" I snap.

"Who exactly do you think you are?" Jayne demands. "You're just a useless kid who can't be an OWCA agent! What makes your opinion valid?"

I flinch.

"Yeah!" snaps a fox BT next to Pippa. "Shut up, platypus! You don't get an opinion if you're not useful enough to be doing OWCA training like me."

I try and stop the tears, but I can't prevent a couple rolling down my cheeks.

Pippa's POV

I can't help it. I punch the fox right in the jaw and run out of the room, sobbing loudly. Nobody says or does anything to stop me.

I run straight into the adult gym opposite, looking for someone I know. I see Teddy and Hazel sparring together, so I hurry towards them blindly. "Teddy!" I whine, hugging my brother around his waist.

He pushes me away. "Not now, Pippa."

"Please!" I beg, tears blinding me. "I need help!"

"I said not now!" Teddy shouts, pushing me further away.

I go towards Hazel and hug her around the waist, but she also pushes me away. "Go bother someone else," she growls.

Then Anton runs up, panting. "Please listen to her," he says, his eyes red. "We-we need someone to talk to."

"Just leave us alone, Anton," Hazel snaps. "We don't have time for this."

Anton takes my hand and pulls me away from our oldest siblings.

Anton's POV

Then we see Hermes on the opposite side of the gym, levitating a heavy-looking trampoline near the ceiling with his back to us. Pippa and I run over to our brother, and I tap him on the shoulder. He whirls round, dropping the trampoline in the process. Screaming, Pippa and I dive to the side as Hermes catches the trampoline just in time.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Hermes yells at us.

Both of us are crying now. With everything that had just happened in the BT gym, neither of our hearts can handle more people yelling at us. "W-we didn't mean-," Pippa whimpers.

"Both of you always ruin everything! Just get out of here and don't come back!"

I drag Pippa to her feet, and we run.