"Damn it!" Delsin shouted. A burning, popping cloud of smoke clouded up under it palms and feet, rippling out over the grass. The cinders seethed and burned the damp, cool grass, and as the sun rose up over the horizon orange light peeked through the growing bloom of ash rising around Delsin.

"D, stop," Fetch said, taking a step towards the man.

"No!" Another wave of smoke and flame made the grass under his feet shiver and crumble into ash. Delsin glared at the pink-haired woman approaching him, striding over to her and pointing an angry finger at her chest. "No, I won't stop! She was right there. Right! There! And I let her fucking start shit. I let her finish it! And we fucking ran, like little, fucking, bitches." Heat poured from his skin, the warm brown of his complexion swirled with black smoke.

"What other choice did we have?" Fetch retorted, taking a step forward, raising her chin to meet the taller mans' gaze. Bright, flickering lights shone in her eyes and hair, glowing on her fingertips as she moved chest to chest with the Akomish man. "What, fucking let her kill us? Let her capture us? You have to fucking think, D. We shouldn't have even gone there in the first place. We're tired, we're outnumbered, and we're outgunned." She threw up her hands, scowling. "We went into a fight we couldn't win, and we lost. Big fuckin' deal."

"We could have won," Delsin growled, and heat blew in Fetch's face, bright flames burning in the Conduit's dark eyes. "We could have! If we had actually tried instead of running away, giving up - there's always a way, damn it!"

"No! No, there isn't!" Fetch shouted. Her body pulsed with pink light, and her clothes and hair became unaffected by gravity, floating in the air as more energy and light emanated from her. "There's not always going to be a win, Delsin. Sometimes you can't win, no matter how many powers you have, no matter how goddamn special you are. Sometimes, you just have to give up!"

"Well, I can't!" Smoke balled up around Delsin's hands, and he curled his hand into a fist, pulling it back as anger and heat boiled inside him.

Seeing Delsin's hand lift, fist held up like he was about to punch her, made all the light in Fetch dissipate. Almost instantly, her energy faded, making her clothes and hair go back to reality. Her light died, and suddenly Delsin's smoke enveloped her, a dark, thick cloud that swirled around her, absorbing her into it's depths.

Eugene, standing alongside Reggie some feet away, ran forward a few steps, eyes wide and mouth open. But a hand quickly placed on his bicep held him back. Eugene turned, and saw Reggie shaking his head. Reggie nodded back to the combative pair, and when Eugene looked again, the black cloud of smoke was fading away.

Delsin and Fetch were standing in the middle of the cloud, but Delsin had lowered his hand. His head had bowed, and Fetch was slowly, slowly backing away from him, as the darkness around her cleared. Eyes still wide, the light Conduit spoke in a whisper. "Delsin?"

The Bannerman didn't say anything for several minutes. Then, in a hoarse voice, he muttered something about going inside. He turned, and slowly tromped up the wooden stairs and entered the Longhouse. After escaping Augustine, Eugene had summoned some angels and brought the group back here, for lack of any other home base. But now he wasn't so sure.

Fetch still stood in the middle of the grass ledge that sat in front of the Longhouse, with Reggie and Eugene hovering off to the side. The woman - girl, almost - looked shaken. "He was gonna hit me," she whispered. "He was gonna hit me."

Eugene walked over, footsteps slow and quiet on the grass as the sun rose over the horizon. "...Come on, Fetch," he murmured. "We need to sleep."

Still not in her right mind, Fetch let herself be led into the Longhouse by Eugene's careful hand. This left Reggie alone outside, watching the sunrise. He knelt down on the grass, feeling the cold melt away from his skin as the morning sun supplied it's warmth.

His mind kept going back to Delsin's face, when he had been choked by Augustine's henchmen. He could see, in graphic detail, the life being taken from his brother's body. He could see the growing weakness, the flailing that slowed, and slowed, until Delsin was almost limp in the man's arms, tanned face then a sickly shade. He hated it. He hated being the older brother, the one that was supposed to protect his family, and not being able to do his job. Not being able to do what he had to.

Distantly, Reggie heard the sounds of the ocean, crashing against the rocks down on the beach below the ledge. The older Rowe stood up, and started walking.

Delsin woke up sometime after noon the next day. His tongue tasted disgusting, and grime covered his teeth. Crust pooled in the corners of his eyes, and he felt covered in filth and sweat. But he didn't feel like a shower today. He rarely did, anymore - smoke and water didn't really mix. It left him feeling suffocated. So instead, he staggered to the bathroom and splashed water on his face before heading out into the kitchen.

A lukewarm, half-empty pot of coffee sat abandoned in the coffee maker. Delsin downed what was left, then dared going out into the den, where he knew, and dreaded, his inevitable reception.

As expected, Fetch and Eugene both stared at him when he walked in. Fetch looked oddly subdued, her normally casual, brash exterior replaced by a quiet, blank one. A cup, stained with brown with some coffee grinds at the bottom, sat on the table beside her. Eugene had a laptop balanced on his knees, and the hands that had been flying over the keyboard seconds ago halted at his appearance. Delsin swallowed. "Hey." He searched for a follow-up, something, anything to relieve the tension. "Where's Reggie?"

Fetch looked away, dropping her eyes. Eugene cleared his throat. "He, uh, he didn't come in after us. I think I saw him down by the rocks earlier."

Delsin nodded, staring down at his feet. Eugene made an attempt to type, but the sound of the keyboard seemed too irreverent, too unnatural in the tense silence. "...I'm sorry. About yesterday." Delsin spoke up, his voice hoarse, just as it had been when he first went into the Longhouse.

Fetch lifted her head, eyes watching him from under a tuft of pink hair. Her roots were starting to show. "You should be."

Delsin swallowed, grimacing. "I know. I know. I just..." He looked down again, kicking his feet into the floor. "...No, I don't have an excuse. I'm sorry. I shouldn't...I shouldn't have even thought about...hitting you." The words didn't want to come out. The last two felt too...filthy, too foreign. Just saying them, just imaging what couldn't have happened just a few hours ago, when he was blinded by anger and pain and fire...it made him sick.

More heavy silence descended the room. Then, slowly, Fetch stood up, making her old chair creak. She shuffled over to the Akomish man, and one arm reached out, gently taking his hand. Delsin let her hold it, and looked up from his shoes, meeting her eyes with more than a little shame in his own. He reached up, brushing a few pink hairs behind her ear, before pulling her in for a hug, wrapping his much longer arms around her. Fetch returned the hug, her smaller limbs settling around his middle, and they both closed their eyes.

After a few seconds of hugging, they reluctantly pulled apart. Another brief look into each others eyes affirmed they were okay, and the moment ended. Fetch took several steps back, placing her hands behind her, and sat back down in her chair, leaving Delsin to join Eugene on the couch. "...So. Angel." He said, clearing his throat. His legs stretched over the edge of the couch, and he laced his hands behind his head. "What are you working on?"

Eugene, who may have blushed a little bit when seeing the emotional hug, reached up to pull his hoodie down over his face. Midway before doing so, however, his pale hand relaxed back onto the keyboard, and he let out a slow exhale. "Well...you remember yesterday? When I uh, was on my phone in A-Augustine's place?"

"Yeah."

"Well," the teen began, "what actually happened, while you guys were doing your...stuff, was that I managed to get a scan of Augustine's anklet."

"Which helps us...how?" Delsin continued, raising an eyebrow.

"The anklet uses tracking technology. The people that watch the anklet know that it's Augustine they're watching, so they have access to her personal data, what she has access to, and what she doesn't. That kind of thing. So, I get into her anklet, I can use that to get into her other personal files, and with a little effort...I managed to get a, well, I guess you could call it a 'sample' of her clearance. Basically, I know the code that can get us into all those encrypted files about Conduit experimentation and stuff."

Delsin and Fetch gave each other a look. "'Gene, that's amazing," Fetch said, grinning at the teenager. "So, is this actually what we've been looking for? Is this what we need?"

"It is exactly what we need." The geek seemed more than a little proud of himself. "Just say the word, and I can get you whatever we need to know." He paused. "I-I'll need to do some research, first, of course, but I can, uh, get us everything."

"More illegal things?" All three Conduit heads snapped up at the intrusion of a fourth voice. Betty stood in the doorway of the room, hobbling into it with a smile. With the kind of grunting sigh only old people can give, she came in and sat down in the nearest chair.

"More illegal things," Delsin affirmed, smiling back at the older woman. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not all all. What are we doing?"

"'Gene got us into some computer things. He says we're finally going to get some answers," Fetch explained.

Betty, who had up until now looked as cheerful as ever, changed. Her smile twitched, though it didn't quite falter, and her eyes took on a hint of glassiness they had lacked before. "Is that so?" The pleasant sound of her voice, which hadn't changed at all, seemed more unnerving when coming from her altered expression.

Delsin and Fetch glanced at each other. A few glances passed between them. Fetch eyed him pointedly, pursing her lips and glancing at Betty, who was watching them carefully, and Delsin scowled back, mouthing something Fetch didn't quite catch. Finally, Delsin swallowed, and turned back to Betty with a forced smile. "Say, Betty, heh," he began, forcing a positivity he did not feel, "are you feeling alright?"

Again with the flicker. Some nervousness, something unsure, showed through her chipper exterior. But before it stayed around too long, Betty scoffed, shaking her head and waving a maternal, patronizing hand in Delsin's direction. "Me? Oh, sweetheart. I never feel alright. It's what happens when you get to be my age. But don't you worry about me."

"Oh my god." Eugene's sudden outburst drew the attention of everyone in the room. If Fetch or Delsin had been paying attention, they would have noticed Betty's sudden paleness, the anxious expression she wore when the teen spoke.

"What?" Delsin asked. His throat suddenly felt dry. Eugene's eyes lifted, and he stared at Delsin with a horror the Akomish man wasn't expecting, nor had ever experienced. It was a mixture of horror, fascination, disgust, and pity. A cocktail of emotions Delsin did not like. "What?" he demanded, heart thumping in his chest. What did he read? What was so awful? Why was Eugene looking at him like he was a monster?

"D-Delsin..." Eugene stuttered, his eyes going between the computer screen and the man beside him. "I...you...you won't believe this."

"Just tell me!" Delsin shouted. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Eugene opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly there was a tumble, and everyone looked to see Betty having tripped over the laptop cord, unplugging it from the wall with one mis-stepped slipper. "Oh, goodness," she said, raising a wrinkled hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry. Look, let me just -"

"To hell with that," Fetch growled, and suddenly she stood up, appearing at Betty's side in a burst of thick pink light, light darker than usual. She glared daggers at the old woman, who stumbled backward, thin arms held in front of her and eyes wide with fear. "She's been nothing but weird since we started this whole fucking thing," Fetch spat. "Ever since we talking about getting answers, she's been lying to us. Hiding things from us. Haven't you? Haven't you!" Her voice grew in volume, ending in an angry shout.

"Fetch!" Delsin shouted, and he jumped to her side, grabbing her and wrenching her away from Betty, currently backed against the wall and shaking in fear. Fetch jerked away from Delsin's touch, her skin glowing a bright, violent pink. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Fetch snarled, pushing on Delsin's chest. She shoved him away, and again they stood chest to chest, much like they had several hours ago. "You know I'm right! She-" Here Fetch pointed an accusing finger at Betty, "-has been nothing but a loose end. You know it! The first we mentioned Conduits and experimentation, and all that bullshit, you were the one that said she was being weird! So don't you dare tell me this isn't even worse! She fucking sabotaged Eugene's computer, for Christ's sake!"

"Because she's Betty!" Delsin shouted. Then he blinked, and seemed to acknowledge that wasn't much of a defense. But he pressed on, albeit less impassioned than the woman in front of him. "Fetch, we can't...we can't just, interrogate her."

"Why not?" Fetch demanded stubbornly.

"Because...because she's Betty," was all Delsin could manage. He stared at Fetch, pleading with her to understand, trying to get across everything he couldn't say, everything that Betty meant to him. "She has to have a reason," he whispered. "She has to."

While this intense argument was going on, Eugene found himself staring at the thin, wrinkled woman cowering in the corner of the room. "You know, don't you?" he said.

This quieted the two young adults arguing, and slowly, everyone turned to stare at the woman. Betty flinched under their eyes. "...Yes. I know." Then she seemed to regain some of her composure, and she stood up from her terrified position, looking more tired and resigned than anything else. "I'm sorry for unplugging your computer, son," she murmured. "But I'm a desperate old woman, and desperate old women do stupid things sometimes. Especially for the people they care about." She looked up at Delsin, pleading for his understanding the same way he had just pleaded with Fetch.

But Fetch was having none of it. "Just sit down and start talking," she growled, gesturing to the chair Betty had only moments ago reclined in. Betty nodded, eyes downcast, and took her seat, under the eyes of the Conduits.

"I don't know what all you were looking at," Betty murmured, "but I can give you my side of the story."

"Please, do," Fetch grumbled, scowling and crossing her arms. Delsin glared at her, but his expression softened when he turned back to the woman in the chair, who suddenly looked decades older. He knelt down in front of her, taking her small, bony hands in his own, and looking up at her.

"Betty," he said, voice low. "Please don't...please don't." Don't be a monster. Don't be cruel. Don't say I'm a monster. Please be the person I love, the person I want, I need you to be. Please.

Betty looked up to meet the eyes of the man - the boy, really, compared to her - kneeling in front of her. Delsin found her eyes glimmered with tears. "Delsin," she whispered, voice choked. "I'm so, so sorry. I should have told you a long time ago. You and Reggie."

Chills ran down Delsin's spine. "Told me what, Betty?"

The woman took a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't know what all you know, who all you've talked to. In case you don't, there was a man, named Kessler-"

"We know him." Delsin could feel himself shaking, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. Anxiety pumped frost into his blood, made him stiff and unable to budge. The only heat in his body was from Betty's palms, currently held in his own.

"If you know him, then you'll know what it means when I say...you're his son."

Here's your chapter for Thanksgiving. Hope you guys have/had a good one! And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving or you're reading this when Thanksgiving is long gone/yet to come, I hope you guys have/had a good day.

Also I just handed you guys a massive twist so if you could review and supply me with your emotions that would be muy bueno. Your joy/heartbreak/etc when reading my stories makes my day, and I figure this is something to talk about. Have at it!