Author's Note: Sorry about the late update! The past week or so has been pretty crazy, you know, so this took me a while longer. But no matter what happens, I'm not giving this up, so hopefully I'll have a chapter for you on time next week!

(I don't like asking, but I would love if you guys left a review of what you think. Do you like the story? Are you new, are you returning from the original? Don't worry about speaking up!)

Here we go!

Chapter 6 - Caught

Nearly foreign hands grabbed her with rough camaraderie and pulled her to her feet, holding her apart but tightly. She still couldn't see properly, but now that she was this close, she could definitely see Fang's dark, messy hair and could nearly make out her deep green eyes. Fang smiled. "Damn, Lighting, it is you!"

"Lighting!" A second voice chirped, a second set of hands pulled her into a hug.

"V-Vanille?"

The young woman giggled. "Yeah, it's me! I can't believe we're back!"

Lightning couldn't believe it, either. Not that she wasn't glad, of course, but it had been so, so very long, that she had to try and convince herself that this wasn't all a dream. That the hands touching her weren't figments of her imagination, that the voices they partnered with weren't echoes of a past long lost. And, as her eyesight slowly returned, that the faces before her weren't projections designed to help her cope with whatever was going on.

Fang looked around. "So, what are you doing in the middle of nowhere?"

Lightning gestured behind her. "I'm out here with Hope. He's been gone almost as long as you have, though at least we knew where you were. I'm trying to convince him to come home."

Vanille barely let her finish before kneeling down beside Hope's yet unmoving body. She took one of his hands, and used her other to shake him gently. "Hope, wake up! I'm back, just like I promised! You didn't lose me, please…"

Lighting raised an eyebrow at Fang, who shook her head as if to say that she'd explain later.

"We dreamed about you kids sometimes." Fang looked back up at Cocoon, her expression a mix of reverence and distaste. "So let me get this straight. Hope here ran away, and so did the rest of you."

Lightning frowned. "No. We stayed. We stayed so he could always come home."

"Giving up is the same as running away from the problem, Sunshine." She gave Vanille a pointed glance. "Anyway, now that we're back, we'll try to knock some sense into him for ya." She glanced directly at Hope this time. "Wonder why he left in the first place, though."

"Tsk. I've been asking the same question for six hundred years."

"Wait. Six hundred-"

"No. No no no no no…"

They both looked back to Vanille. She was sitting completely still, as though in shock. Hope's left hand lay on his chest, revealing the source of her distress.

"Damnit!" Lightning hissed, fear and confusion poisoning her heart. Something happened when that light took over, something none of them would ever be able to explain because nobody saw it. But here they saw the aftermath, and it wasn't pretty.

"A brand?"

Vanille held her hands over him in her familiar gesture, which Lightning had always assumed was for prayer, but never asked. "I-It's twisted, just like yours was, Fang. Wh-what do we do?" She whimpered. "It's my fault, isn't it?"

Lightning grunted. "Of course it's not your fault, why would you think that?"

Fang put a hand on her shoulder to quiet her, and then joined Vanille by Hope's body. The two had a very hushed conversation, which Lightning couldn't have overheard if she tried. Instead, she stared at Hope's wrist. She had checked only minutes ago. What could have happened to him in such a short time? And...what did this mean? The Fal'cie had all disappeared slowly after they had saved Cocoon. There weren't any left to do this…

Her gaze drifted to Hope's face just as his eyes opened. Relief trickled through her river of worry.

"Hope!" Vanille cried, and practically tackled him in what must have been a very awkward hug. He kind of flailed for a moment in surprise before carefully putting his arms around her, as though she might break

"Vanille… Am I dreaming again?"

She lifted herself up a little, looking him properly in the face, but neither of them let go. Smiling, she shook her head. "No, Hope. I promise, this is real." She placed one hand over his heart. "I'm real…"

As Hope moved to touch her hand, Fang decided to break up the party. She stepped forward and pulled Hope up, effectively getting Vanille off of him - which Lightning assumed was the point. "Alright, Estheim, you've got some explaining to do."

Once on his feet, he smiled. "Hey, Fang."

Lightning interjected, keeping her hands at her sides. "What happened this time, Hope?"

His smile faded. He glanced over at Vanille, and then closed his eyes, shaking his head at his shoes. "I...don't know."

"It wasn't the same, was it?"

Hope sighed. "I - I don't know, Lightning. It's been a long time since anything like this has happened to me."

"Decades." Vanille guessed, her tone gentle.

Lightning had assumed she was guessing, but the look on Hope's face made her question that conclusion. "Vanille...did you-"

"Tell me something, kid." Fang interrupted again, throwing one arm around his shoulders. "Why have you been off the grid for six hundred years, huh?" She gave him a bit of a squeeze. "It's not like you to abandon your family like that."

"I didn't-"

"If you didn't tell them where you were, you abandoned them. Don't forget, Vanille and I saw a lot of what happened down here. If you didn't have a reason, then you went through a lot of goddessdamn hell for nothing." In an act that made Lightning cringe, Fang grabbed his wrist and showed it to him. "What the hell is this, huh? I know you're smarter than this."

"Fang, leave him alone!" Vanille begged.

Hope's eyes widened in horror. He froze like Fang had a gun on him, staring at the twisted brand seared into his skin. Lightning barely resisted the urge to slap the hunter in the face. Of course Hope was smarter than that, he'd never get himself into this situation again on purpose, none of them would!

While Hope stood with his mouth slightly agape, still trying to comprehend his new tattoo, she offered, "Maybe it doesn't mean anything. Maybe it's like an echo."

Fang let go of Hope's arm and gestured to Lightning's chest. "Do you still have yours?"

"No. But Hope didn't either, not before you two woke up."

Without asking for consent, Fang undid her shirt to check where her brand used to be, backing off once she'd confirmed her suspicions. "You're clear."

Lightning fixed her zipper back up. "What about you two?" Though, even as the words left her mouth, she could see Fang's bare shoulder, no longer adorned with the same mark that Hope now bore.

Fang shook her head. "First thing as soon as we realized we were awake was check."

"Hope, are you okay?"

Vanille had taken her hands and covered his wrist; Lightning cringed, expecting the worst. Hope seemed to have the same train of thought, because he flinched too. But nothing happened, aside from half the group having heart attacks. He swallowed uncertainly. "I'm fine, just...confused."

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out." She smiled. "After all we've been through, we can do anything."

Hope delivered a fractured chuckle. "I guess you're right."

Suddenly, he froze again. But not like a victim, not this time. He was a predator, eyes flicking in any and every direction, searching for whatever had triggered him, not breathing so he could hear a mouse sneeze. Something was wrong.

"Hope?"

"Hey, kid?"

"What's going on?"

"Hide, all of you." Hope ordered quietly, stepping back, away from Vanille. "Now."

Fang opened her mouth to protest, but Lightning had a strong hunch she knew what was going on, so she grabbed both native Pulsians and obeyed, hiding all of them deep enough in the trees that they wouldn't be noticed, but could see the action.

"What the hell is going on?" Fang hissed, yanking herself free in protest of being manhandled sans explanation. "What have you two been up to?"

"It's not what we've been up to, it's what he's been up to," Lightning corrected, "and I have no idea. But I think there's about to be trouble."

"No shit." Fang scoffed. "Then why aren't we out there helping him?"

"First of all, I saw him rip a solid metal lock off a door with his bare hands a few hours ago, he can handle himself. And as much as I hate him for leaving us, I trust him."

Worried, Vanille peeked out from their hiding place. "Will he be okay?"

Fang tugged her back. "We can jump in if we need to, I don't care what he says."

"Hush."

Hope felt a little better knowing that the girls were safe, but not much. He knew they wouldn't stand by if he was hurt, and he didn't want to be responsible for any of them getting hurt. Not that he didn't think they could hold their own, but who knows what Trip brought with him? Even if he brought nothing, he was a dangerous man.

He hoped he had sent them away soon enough, that they hadn't been noticed. In the case that they had to step in, it would give them the element of the surprise. And if not, this would end one-on-one, like it should.

Trip was closing in, but terribly slowly. He wanted to savor this, that was clear enough. At this point, Hope wasn't human to him, he was stubborn prey, something to be tracked down and defeated. Hope was quickly impatient with his enemy's game. They'd been playing for weeks, years, really. It had to end.

And it had to end now.

"I know you're there." He called into the darkness. Trip paused for a few moments, but only a few. Then he continued his slow prowl.

"You and I both know how this is going to end. Why prolong the inevitable?"

That did it. Trip emerged from the treeline, and boy was that a sight. If Hope didn't know what used to be there in those eyes, he would be terrified. An animal stood before him. An animal with wild, furious eyes, covered in earth, hair peppered with ash from the explosion he had also survived, and a knife, either rusted or bloody, hanging loosely from his slack hands. He stood tall - taller than Hope - with either confidence or arrogance.

"You're the one who ran." He said, voice just as rough as Hope remembered. His lips curled into a snarl. "But you're right, let's get this over with."

"Bare hands against a knife? That's hardly fair."

Trip gripped the handle of his blade tightly, brandishing it. "You don't need it. You're not even human, you freak."

Hope could practically imagine Lightning holding Fang back from wherever they were. Probably Vanille, too. Or maybe they were all sitting still, waiting. Either way, they couldn't get involved here, he had to protect her. ...Them.

His eyes narrowed. "You're right. I can break your face with two fingers, tear you limb from limb. We don't need to do this. This can end right now. Just walk away, and no one has to get hurt."

Trip growled. "That's not how this works. You have to die."

Invisibly, Hope prepared himself. "Maybe. But only two people in the world know how to kill me, and the other one is dead. I'm not the one who will die here."

Trip knew, but he definitely didn't care, and he was done talking. With a frustrated roar, he lunged.