Hey guys, this chapter I had a little trouble with but I think I finally got it to where I wanted it, so enjoy.

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"Did you really think that he would come?" asked Anna, fighting back tears, knowing that she had been there almost two hours now and that Warren might not have even noticed she was gone.

"Yes, he will come for you, I have no doubt of that Anna. He cares for you, I've seen it, the two of you together, the look on his face when he sees you. I know that look."

"What do you think talking to him will solve?"

"He needs to understand why!" was the shouted answer, anger and rage getting the better of him, his hands bursting in a familiar and unmistakable flame.

"Why what?" her curiosity was getting the better of her and she knew that she should just shut her mouth and pray that he wouldn't kill her but she couldn't seem to keep herself from asking questions that she knew he didn't want to answer.

"Why I did the things I did, he needs to know what happened, what really happened."

"I know what happened." A new voice rang through the room and Anna's head snapped in the direction of the deep baritone that she recognized better than anything else in the world.

"Warren." His name was just a breath on her lips so he didn't hear her. He just stalked over towards his father, effectively placing himself between Anna and the man before him, whose hands were still ablaze.

"Warren." Baron Battle uttered his son's name, the flames on his knuckles dying instantly as he viewed the young man who looked so much like him.

"Dad." The word was painful for him to say and it was obvious to everyone in the room.

"I knew that you'd come for her." Was the triumphant reply and Anna felt her stomach twist.

"You sick son of a bitch, leave her out of this." Warren's voice was calm and slightly flat but Anna had never heard such a deadly tone to it; it sent shivers of fear and apprehension down her spine.

"She's so very much a part of this though Warren, she's such a large part of your life." Baron retorted, trying his hardest to explain his actions to his only child.

"Just like you aren't." was the vicious reply, as Warren's hand flamed, his anger finally making his power uncontrollable.

Baron Battle viewed the fire on his son's hands and copied the movement.

"I don't want to fight you Warren, I want you to be able to understand why I did what I did." His voice was pained and soft.

Warren wasn't listening. Blood was pounding in his ears as adrenaline poured through his system and he felt a primal anger rip through him and all of a sudden the wall in front of him was on fire and his father was crouched low to the ground.

"I don't want to fight you Warren, but if you keep insisting." He threw his own fireball at his son and Warren ducked out of instinct, the fireball hit the wall nest to Anna and she let out a small scream of more surprise than fear. Warren looked back at her to make sure that she was okay before standing back up and tossing his own fireball.

"I need you to understand Warren. I did what I did for you and your mother, I knew that if I could get the money from the bank then I could provide for you better, no one was supposed to get hurt."

Warren ignored what he viewed as his father's pitiful excuses and lashed out again.

"Warren, please, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, you're my son, I love you."

"I am not your son!" was the angry reply as an even large fireball shot out towards Baron Battle's head. He retaliated with a fireball of his own and Warren ducked, forgetting that Anna was chained behind him and when he ducked the fire hit her. She screamed out in pain as the fire burned her skin before she could get her ice shields up. She quickly pulled her power and did her best to soothe the bad burn.

"Anna!" Warren's voice held panic now and she managed a weak smile.

"I'm okay." She winced and Warren started towards her only to be distracted by another, but much smaller, fireball that hit the wall just next to Anna's head.

"I don't want to hurt her, but if it'll make you listen." His father shrugged and Warren spun back towards him, launching himself at the man that had destroyed him, destroyed his life, his heart.

Anna watched as the two pyrotechnics battled it out and could feel her vision swim as nausea took over. She was going to pass out from the burn, that she realized, and it scared her. She needed to be able to watch over Warren, but she couldn't seem to keep the room from tilting the way that it was, or from Warren and his father blurring around the edges, their fireballs becoming nothing more than colorful images behind her now closed eyelids as the unconscious world took hold of her and she finally passed out, her entire body slumping, dragging the chains down as gravity took over her now limp body.

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Beep. Beep. Beep.

That sound was familiar to Anna's ears but she couldn't seem to place it, she couldn't quite remember where she had heard it before, but she knew that she had. She tilted her head to the side and groaned softly in her sore throat.

"Anna?"

She knew that voice. Her bright blue eyes slowly fluttered open to lock with a worried pair of chocolate brown ones.

"Hey." A thousand watt smile greeted her tired eyes and she couldn't resist the urge to smile herself.

"Hey Warren." Her voice was dry and scratchy, but she managed a simple greeting for her best friend.

"You gave us quite the scare." He told her, squeezing her hand gently in his own.

"What happened?" she asked softly, her brain faintly registering that she was in a hospital and the steady beep that she was hearing was the machine hooked to her heart, keeping track of the beats.

"My dad hit you with some fire, you passed out from the pain, you've been out for a good week and a half."

"Oh, eww." Was her reply and he chuckled softly.

"Yeah, you could use a shower." He nodded at her and she smiled, wishing that her arms didn't feel so heavy so that she could reach out and smack him for that particular comment.

"They took my dad back to jail, he's in a new type of cell that they say will be completely escape proof."

"You okay?" she asked him, her worry palpable in her voice and he smiled gently at her.

"I think we'll worry about you for right now, but I'll be all right, I understand things a lot better now." He told her, his smile holding the promise of a secret that only he knew.

"What?" she asked him, gauging the emotion in the smile.

"Nothing." He shook his head as the doctors and nurses came in to check on Anna.

"What?" she asked him again as they shooed him out of the room.

"Nothing." Was the reply as he entered the hallway, waving goodbye over his shoulder before they shut the door behind him.

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Anna had been home for over a week now but Warren still refused to tell her what he had figured out, but he did explain a bit about what had happened between him and his dad.

"He explained to me why he did what he did. It started out as a way to provide for me and my mom, you know, and then he just enjoyed the feeling so much that he couldn't stop."

"You won't end up like that you know." She replied as the pair of them sat on the couch, the television on, but neither one was watching it.

"I know, I like to think I have a bit more control than that." Was the smiled reply as his arm went around her shoulders and she snuggled into the warmth that she found in his side.

"Good." She answered, finalizing the conversation as they both settled further into the couch cushions, finally home and with family.