Things could be on the better end of the spectrum Ben admitted as he sat awkwardly in the hospital ER waiting room. On his left was an older looking gentleman. He had a scraggly gray and white beard, dressed in an flannel and blue jeans combo with a baseball cap on his head. His left arm was in a sling. His face was pale and he seemed to have mucus running down his nose. On Ben's right was an empty seat as Ivan went to "Get some free hospital food."

Needless to say, the ambulance ride to the hospital was a little more than awkward. Ben had to use his puppy eyes to get Ivan to tell them that Esmeralda was his sibling.

Ivan wasn't happy. After Esmeralda had fainted Ivan wanted to just ditch her. "This is perfect Ben! Let's go back, grab Twigleg and run!" But Ben wasn't having it. He wasn't going to leave her fainted on the floor of some grocery store. Ben brought his knees up on the seat of the chair as he waited for Ivan to return. 'If he comes back... he better come back.' Ben thought rather angerly. Ivan's been a jerk lately and it's honestly ticking Ben off. Ben just couldn't understand why Ivan was acting the way he was. 'Is me?' A thought would pop up in Ben's mind every time Ivan would be snippy or just plain out rude about something as of late.

Ben was starting to feel cold now. Ben shivered a little and wished he had his jacket on him. Of course, he didn't bring one (It's summer!) at least he didn't think he brought one. 'Maybe I should check.' Goosebumps rose on Ben's flesh and so he shredded his backpack off and opened it. He was greeted with the box that Ivan was given by Mr. Hale. 'Heh, I actually kind of forgot about this.' Ben pulled the metal box out of his bag and whatever was in it rattled obnoxiously around. This told Ben something as he brought it up and rattled it again. He heard a couple of objects bang around. He had no idea how many things were in there but one sounded and felt heavy when it rattled.

"I got you bacon." Ivan walked up to Ben and placed a plastic container of bacon in front of him. Ben counted at least twenty strips of bacon in the container.

"Did you take all of the bacon?" Ben asked in a playful quip.

"Nah, I left three strips, I'm not that greedy." Ivan winked at Ben as he sat down next to him. Ben took a strip of bacon and slowly started to eat. This honestly showed Ben just how hungry he actually was. "I know you told me that Esme didn't want me to answer my phone, but I don't know why-" Ivan paused to take a bite of bacon. "Zen just hung up right away anyways."

"And isn't that a little odd? I don't know..." Ben scratched the back of his head before taking another strip of bacon. "I think there's something about Esmeralda."

"Well yeah, he's a weirdo-"

"Ivan." Ben's shoulders slumped and his eyes rolled. "Why can't you be nice to her?"

"Hey, I lied to the doctors to say she's my brother just so we can see him when he wakes and take him home. How much nicer do you want me to be?"

"Maybe start using the right pronoun?"

Ivan let out a bitter sigh before suddenly snatching the box from Ben's lap. "So, what do you think is in this?"

Before Ben could answer a nurse came out to the waiting room. She had a raised eyebrow as she looked at the paper in her hands. "Es-" the nurse paused as a small giggle left her mouth. "Esmeralda?"

Ben tapped Ivan on the shoulder and together they stood up. Ivan now holding the box in his hands while Ben snatched up the bacon. "Starved-" Ben cut himself off as he shoved another piece of bacon in his mouth. Ivan just chuckled in response as the two of them followed the nurse.

Twigleg hurried along with Rosa by his side. Henry was leading the two of them at a fast pace. "This way!" Henry urged the two of them. Twigleg noticed that, unlike Lola, Henry runs on all fours as quickly as he possibly can. So quick in fact that Twigleg had to ask him to slow down many times, but it showed Twigleg that Henry really seemed to care for Lola a great lot and... Twigleg didn't really know how to feel about that.

Did Twigleg ever have romantic feelings for Lola? He thought about it a couple of times, mostly when Ms. Guinevere brought it up one day with her out of the blue saying she'd think Lola and Twigleg make a 'good couple'. This was shortly after he had become smaller all those years ago. Twigleg never confessed his secret feelings for his master when he was that size, Atticus figured it out, but that was it. He'd be mortified if anyone else knew, especially his own master. The thing is when Twigleg became smaller again all romantic feelings went away. So, it made Twigleg wonder if he ever be in a relationship.

A relationship with Rosa didn't seem too bad but then the question of 'why' came to his mind. Why be in one? Yes, he and Rosa are (most likely) the last two homunculi in existence but that doesn't really mean much as homunculi cannot reproduce. No, They have to solely rely on their creators for that. If they wanted siblings then that was up to their creators to decide.

"We're almost there! She's in that tree!" Henry stopped abruptly making Twigleg and Rosa stop. Henry pointed forward to a giant tree off in the distance. Twigleg felt his little heart drop to his stomach. Not because, even from this distance, he could see Lola's candy red plane against the green of the leaves on the tree, not because there were clearly teenagers actually stacking on each other's shoulders to get the plane out of the tree and to claim it as their own, but because this tree was in the middle of a very populated and busy park.

"Are you crazy! We'll get caught!" Twigleg hissed at Henry.

"No, we won't! If we run fast enough they won't notice us!"

"They'll notice us." Twigleg pointed to himself than to Rosa. "We stand out more than a rat."

Henry wasn't listening, instead he looked forward to the tree and Twigleg could see why. The teens were stacked high, at least four people high and almost to the plane as the one at the very top of their little tower could just graze Lola's plane with their fingertips. "Well stay here and be afraid then! I'm stopping them!" With that, Henry took off running as fast as could down the middle of the busy park.

Rosa, who might not have been following along as Twigleg wasn't speaking in sign language and she couldn't see his lips, took off right after Henry. "We help!" She called back to Twigleg. 'Oh... darn it!' Twigleg thought as he soon gave chase after Rosa. He didn't want to see her get hurt. Rosa tried to keep up with Henry's fast pace as the rat was now running as fast as he could so she was lagging behind. People were walking all over the place and all three of them had to stop and do their best to dodge the humans.

Twigleg wasn't that far behind Rosa, still, for someone in a dress, she sure could run fast. Twigleg knew for a fact that he had longer legs than her. Skidding to a halt just as a foot came stomping down in front of him Twigleg fell back on his behind and curled up a little to protect himself. Twigleg felt his hand being grabbed after one second or two of being curled up on the dirt. "Twig come!" Rosa urged him up to his feet. Twigleg wasn't even halfway to the tree. Still, Rosa wasn't going to give up so easily it seemed as she urged Twigleg to move forward and do not stop.

It was at this point that what Rosa didn't have in hearing she made up with her eyesight as she was almost expertly dodging around the people with her leading Twigleg now. As they were quickly rushing closer towards the tree Twigleg heard a scream and he quickly stopped in fear of being spotted by someone but shortly following that scream he heard several loud 'thumps' and cries of pain. Then it just became a stampede of people all rushing to the tree. Twigleg couldn't see what happened, but he had a good idea when he heard a teenager shriek out: "Rat! Oh my god, it's a rat!"

This followed by the same stampede of people quickly rushing away, some of them grabbing their children in fear. 'It's just a rat!' Twigleg thought in amusement by the people's reaction. However, he soon discovered that he couldn't stay amused for long as the people were coming his and Rosa's way. "This way!" Rosa grabbed Twigleg's hand again and started to lead him to the left where the swings, slides, and playset were. He's been to a playground in the UK a few times, it uses to be a hang out for Ben and Guinevere after school. The playground in the UK had bits of rubber for a soft blow when kids would run and play, but in America, it seemed that these playgrounds have woodchips. 'That'll hurt them if they fall!' Twigleg couldn't help but think like him and Rosa rushed to the safety of the playset to hide under until the chaos stopped. The woodchips were not only hard but somewhere pointy! This was most certainly unsafe!

Thankfully they made it under the shade of the metal playset where they were hidden away for the time being. "You're fast." Twigleg signed to Rosa before placing his hands on his bony knees to catch his breath for the moment.

"You're too slow," Rosa commented back. Twigleg looked back up at her and Rosa had just the tiniest smirk on her face before she signed: "I'm in a dress-" She paused briefly before speaking the rest as it seemed she forgotten what she was trying to sign. "-And faster."

Twigleg smiled and gave her a little breathy laugh. Rosa smiled back in a cute fashion. Together they walked over to the other side of the playset where the tree was. Rosa flipped some of her long pink hair over her shoulder, Twigleg could feel her eyes stare at him for a moment. "Too many?" She signed. Too many people were what she wanted to know. Yeah, some more people had crowded around the tree now, Lola's plane was still stuck in the tree, so that means that Henry must have climbed the tree piquing the humans' interest. Twigleg stood there for a few seconds.

First, he thought about running through the humans legs, which could work, but then he realized if they climbed the tree they'd be spotted. It seemed like the humans were surrounding the tree at almost every angle which would make climbing the tree near impossible. So, for a few fleeting minutes, Twigleg felt almost at a complete and total loss at what to do.

That was until Lola's plane was suddenly pushed out of the tree and started up very loudly. Twigleg only watched in shock as the humans witnessed just what he did. Henry was riding on the back of Lola's plane, and... they just flew away out of the park. "..." Twigleg, still stunned, watched them go with a bit of horror on his face. Rosa tugged on Twigleg's sleeve to get his attention. "They come back-" she sloppily signed. "-For us?"

"Uh... well..." Twigleg watched as the plane just became a little speck in the distance within only seconds and a horrible sense of dread filled inside of him. "I... hope so because I can't remember the way back to the school."

"Firedrake!"

It was a distant echo that made Firedrake perked his head up quickly. His ears flickered wildly, had he heard wrong? Standing up from his spot on the forest floor Firedrake kept his ears perked up for a few moments after a few fleeting minutes he honestly thought he was just hearing things until.

"Over here!"

"Ben!" Firedrake felt joy flood his body. There was no doubting it, it was Ben! He knew his rider's voice anywhere. Leaving Sorrel, Issiah, and Belle, behind he quickly ran forward. His running felt weird. He watched as the world moved by him fast, but his running felt sluggish and unnatural. The moonlight was fading more now as he ran. The forest was becoming darker.

"Firedrake! Help!" Ben's voice became despite and worrisome. It tugged at Firedrake's heartstrings as he tried to pick up the pace faster but his running remained oddly slow. Still, even though his running was slow Firedrake knew that he was getting deeper in the forest now, there was no moonlight and he couldn't see a thing... except for an opening in the forest. The moonlight was shining straight down in this opening, it was the only light Firedrake could see now. So, with no light to lead him back, Firedrake walked forward into the small illuminated circle.

"Ben?-" Before Firedrake could finish saying Ben's name he heard the sound of someone rushing away to the left of him, followed by a loud child-like giggle. Firedrake craned his neck around to see who had run from him, but he saw nothing and his ears lowered in disappointment. "Ben? Where are you-"

"Boo!" Firedrake had to admit, Ben did scare him as he ran up to Firedrake and placed both of his hands on Firedrake's paw. "Gotcha!" Ben smiled in a cheeky fashion. The twelve-year-old looking as lively as ever.

"Yes, yes you did." Firedrake laughed before nuzzling Ben's stomach affectionately. 'Something isn't right about this...' Firedrake's mind told him. Ben reached up and held Firedrake's face with his hands before smiling and bringing his face forward. Ben rested his head on Firedrake's and let out a very long sigh.

"Finding me isn't going to be so easy..." Ben suddenly spoke, his voice becoming deeper now. Ben pulled his face away from Firedrakes. Ben's face changed, he was no longer happy and youngish. His eyes looked tired, he had heavy black bags under his eyes now, his curly hair now frizzled out even more than normal. 'What is...' Firedrake looked down to see Ben missing his right arm. "Firedrake." Ben was moving away. He was becoming farther away.

"Ben! Wait!" Firedrake called to him hoping that his rider would just stop, but he didn't. He was gone within seconds. Nowhere to be seen. This left Firedrake alone in the dark forest. The moon now went away from him. Firedrake was alone in the dark.

"You're going the wrong way..." Ben's voice softly echoed around Firedrake making the dragon confused.

Confused enough to wake him up from his dream.

"Bad dream?" Belle asked Firedrake in a cute manner. The human girl had both of her hands behind her back and smiled at Firedrake. It was almost... creepy the way she looked. It almost made Firedrake think she was forcefully smiling so to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

"Uh... yeah..." Firedrake admitted to her. He heard Sorrel grumble lowly before the brownie popped her head up from behind Firedrake's back. The brownie seemed to be glaring a Belle, Sorrel's ears low and flat against her head before she slowly sank back down behind Firedrake. "But, I'm fine."

"Was it about Ben?" Belle asked in a slow voice that made Firedrake's ear perk. He never mentioned Ben to her. He mentioned that he and Issiah had gone missing from their riders but he never mentioned Ben's name. It seemed like Belle had read his mind because she quickly laughed, but the laugh wasn't natural by any means. "Oh, I'm sorry. Issiah told me their names!"

There was something off about Belle. Something that made Firedrake honestly feel a little uneasy around her. He felt his brow furrow a bit as he continued to stare at her. 'You're going the wrong way...' Ben's voice echoed around Firedrake's head. Belle turned back around to face Issiah about to walk away from Firedrake. "Right..." Firedrake sighed out and stood up a little more fully so he was looking down at Belle, this caused her to turn back around to look at him. Firedrake is a gentle dragon, he- and everyone- knew this, however; that's not going to stop him from being intimidating when need be. "Belle, I need to ask. Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Thank goodness you ask!" Sorrel piped up loudly. Of course, the brownie has always been uneasy about Belle since day one and the fact that they seem to be flying for a day and a half now and have yet to reach Illinois is telling Firedrake that Belle has no clue where they are... or she's lying.

Belle's eyes flickered for a moment, her unnatural smile faltered, and her breath seemed to quicken.

"Honestly, Firedrake. Just because she's not your rider doesn't mean she's knows nothing, now." Issiah suddenly spoke up for Belle. This caused the girl to relax just a little, and this also caused tensions to grow even more.

"Now, Issiah, I never said she knew nothing. I'm asking her a question because we seem to be going nowhere real fast." Firedrake quickly retaliated to Issiah.

Issiah snorted at Firedrake, little sparks of red fire leaving his nose, "She says we'll be in Illinois by tomorrow. Okay?! Why can't you just trust her on this."

"Why are you blindly trusting her?" Firedrake countered with a little snort of his own.

"I'm not blindly trusting her." Issiah's voice became tense a snarl on his lips showing his teeth to Firedrake. Sorrel sensed the uneasiness and quickly hopped on to Firedrake's back for safety. "I'm putting faith in her. I'm sorry that she's not Ben."

Firedrake noticed the obvious distaste in Issiah's voice that just made Firedrake's claws dig into the soil below.

"O... okay..." Belle whispered out uneasily she was starting to shake a little. "L-Let's not let this get out of-" She tried to resolve the issue before her, her voice quivering like that of a scared child. Firedrake actually ignored her, he didn't care what she had to say now he wanted to know what Issiah wanted to say.

"Do you have something against Ben, Issiah?" Firedrake poked Issiah, he knows this, he knows he was urging this fight to continue. Normally Firedrake wouldn't fight like this, he knew better than to encourage a fight between dragons because dragon fights rarely end well-

he remembered when he was just a tiny dragon, just a hatchling, his own father got into a quarrel with another silver dragon over something that Firedrake couldn't even remember. The two dragons started to fight, they didn't take to the air, but instead, they started rolling on the ground trying to bite and scratch at each other. Firedrake never saw his own father snap in rage like that before. The ground shook with both of the massive dragons trying to slam the other down. It was Firedrake's father that stopped the fight before it got too far as his father had the other dragon pinned but before he could make the killing blow... he got up and off of the dragon.

After a good, while his father took Firedrake to the side and explained to him that: "When a dragon is so enraged with another dragon they just see red and want the other dead. You know that our fire causes stone when we become angry, but the stone fire doesn't work on other dragons, at least not ones like us, son. You mustn't let your anger get too far, I don't think a dragon could ever recover from being so violent that they'd murder one of their own."

Those words stuck with Firedrake and made him normally be the peacekeeper in certain situations.

But this was starting to become one of those situations where he just couldn't keep peace and depending on Issiah's answer, this might get very ugly very fast.

"Firedrake... be careful," Sorrel spoke in a low tone. She knew exactly what was at stake.

Issiah just stared Firedrake down for a few very tense heartbeats. Issiah had his own black claws digging into the earth now as it was clear that he was trying to hold back his rage. Issiah wasn't like Firedrake, Firedrake knew this because Issiah wasn't one his own. Issiah was a different dragon with different dragon fire, So, he knew for a fact that if they did wind up fighting there was a good chance that one of them might not make it out alive. Issiah seemed to know this as well as he might be thinking his actions over.

"Don't fight! Please!" Belle yelled out in desperation to the both of them. "I don't like fighting!" Belle pulled at the ends of her hair. Her smile was no longer there as a big frown had replaced it, her eyes had tears just on the edge of spilling over. This made Firedrake blink, this was the first time since they met her that Belle seemed to show some sort of actual emotion that threw Firedrake for a loop. The way her voice cracked, the way she was tugging on her hair, the way she almost seemed to be crying, it told Firedrake one thing and one thing only.

"... We're not fighting... I was just going to say, Firedrake. If this were Sorrel or Ben giving us these directions-" Issiah paused for a moment before allowing Belle to climb up on to his back. "-You wouldn't even question them about it, I'm sure." Then without another word he walked away with Belle on his back now. Firedrake just let them go. Belle was clearly crying now, it was soft, but it was there. Still, as they walked away, Firedrake felt all his tense muscles relax once they were far enough away from him. Firedrake let out a low sigh.

"That Issiah is just asking for a fight! I swear!" Sorrel hissed angrily. She then patted Firedrake's scales in a soothing matter hoping to get him to remain in a calm state.

"But, Sorrel. He's not wrong. If it were you or Ben giving us these directions... I wouldn't even question it."

"So, why are you questioning it?"

"Because I'm almost certain that this 'Belle' is lying to us."

"Then let's leave," Sorrel whispered urgently into Firedrake's ear. "If Issiah wants to follow her into the trap, then that's on him-"

"-Sorrel... You know we can't think like that. Even if Issiah has shone some less than desirable attitude as of late that doesn't mean we leave him behind to be captured. He might not be a silver dragon, but he is a dragon nonetheless. It's our duty to help him-"

"But... Ben-"

"Ben... will have to wait."

"It's honestly a no-brainer why he fainted or even have such horrible headaches that you've told me about." The doctor told Ben as he flipped up the pages of Esmeralda's chart.

Esmeralda was in a shared room with one other person. Esmeralda was still passed out asleep.

"She." Ben corrected and the Doctor just clearly didn't care what Ben had to say. Of course, what should Ben expect by this point?

"He's extremely underfed, malnourished, clearly hasn't seen sunlight in weeks or months even..." The doctor gave a low sigh as he flipped the pages down now. "So, I would suggest giving him some vitamin D pills..." And then the doctor started to talk about what Esmeralda needed, but Ben stopped paying attention. Not because it was boring, or because he didn't care, but because the man that was sitting across from Esmeralda's bed, the one in a bed of his own started moaning in obvious pain. Enough pain that it made Ben stopped and turn his head to look over at the bed.

"-Are you listening to me?" The doctor spoke up, not just to Ben, but Ivan (who never really cared to start with) as well.

"Yeah, yeah- get him on a carb-heavy diet, vitamin D pills, and melatonin," Ivan spoke up with a hand wave. The man the bed let out another loud moan of pain making Ben cringe. The person sounded like they were legitimately hurt and... the doctor just didn't care. He just turned and walked away from them and out of the door making Ben tsk out.

"Oh!" Ben huffed once the door shut.

"What?"

The other patient moaned out again, this one deep and painfilled. "That! The poor guy clearly needs some sort of attention and the doctor just walks out? What a wank!" Ben threw his hands up. Ivan only shrugged in response to Ben's outburst.

"American doctors suck." The man let out one very loud groan and Ben clenched his fist before turning and opening the divider. "-Ben" Ivan tried but it was just going to fall on deaf ears anyway, so Ben was sure he just didn't even bother after that. Ben carefully walked up to the bed.

The man was close to Ben's own age. He had dark brown hair that almost matched his own dark skin, his eyes matched his hair- well... his one eye did anyway. He only had one eye while the other was a milky white. This poor guy had scars up and down his face, arms, and body. 'What the hell happened to him?!' Ben thought as his eyes went wide just witnessing this. As the more he looked the more wrong he noticed. Not only was he missing an eye, but he was also missing two fingers on his left hand and his index finger on his right hand both hands still bandaged up. The man had had a breathing tube in his nose, but obviously, his mouth wasn't covered. The man focused his one eye on Ben before he cringed suddenly and let out another groan of pain. Ben saw that his right as clutching his side. "Do you need a nurse?" Ben whispered to the man. The man nodded and Ben quickly looked for the remote for the man to call the nurse with, but of course the remote wasn't where it should have been, in front of the bed, but behind the bed where the man couldn't reach it. Ben happily grabbed the remote from behind the bed and pressed the button for a nurse.

"W'ter." The man whispered suddenly making Ben spin around.

"What?"

"Wata… 'lease..."

Ben understood fairly quickly and snatched his water bottle up from the nearby table. Carefully Ben tipped the water bottle up and gave the stranger a few little sips of water. He didn't want to overwhelm the guy with water so he just gave him little careful sips. Finally, after a few moments of this Ben was sure he had enough. "T-Thanks..." The man breathed heavily before groaning loudly again in pain. Ivan came on over, but he just completely ignored the guy and just snatched his chart up and started reading.

"Kind of rude," Ben responded gently to Ivan's antics. He then focused on the guy. The guy's eyes were just so full of pain Ben was sure if he could curl up in a ball he would, but the wires prevented him from doing so. "Where is that nurse-" Ben was ready to leave and demand someone to come in here but then The man reached up and grabbed Ben's hand suddenly.

"Don't..." The man panted heavily. "Don't leave me, please... I 'on't want to be alone again..." He practically begged for Ben to stay.

"Jesus!" Ivan yelled out suddenly. "What haven't you been through?" Ivan asked the man before looking at Ben and just shaking his head. "I'll get a nurse!" With that, Ivan put the chart back and quickly ran off. 'It must be bad...' Ben thought rather sadly. The man tightened his hand around Ben's hand and let out a shuttering breath.

"It's okay, We're getting a nurse soon enough." Ben wanted to read the guy's chart just so he could get the man's name, but asking would just have to do. "What's your name?" Ben asked him carefully. After this wave of pain seemed the stop the man looked up at Ben and swallowed hard.

"Winston, you?"

"Benjamin."

"Benjamin... I like that name..."

"Thanks, I like yours as well."

After that, a nurse finally came on in with Ivan leading her towards Winston. The nurse quickly took control of the situation, but not before literally ripping Ben away from Winston and shutting the divider with some attitude. Ben heard her mutter something along the lines of "Nosey fuckers."

"What was wrong with him?" Ben whispered as quietly as he could to Ivan.

"Well... from what I picked up from reading his chart... the poor guy was completely tortured. The scars? Ben, I know you didn't recognize them, but I did, half of those were made with whips, on the chart it showed that he was hit with a blunt object meaning the pain he was feeling was from a broken rib most likely- that's not the only thing. Ben... something isn't-" The divider was pulled open silencing Ivan. The nurse stormed forward and put her hands on her hips she then stood in front of both of them with an angry expression on her face.

"Keep your nose out of other people's business! That divider is up for a reason and I expect you to realize that!" With that, she left slamming the door behind her. Ben, out of petty, got up and opened the divider. Instantly he narrowed his eyes when he saw the nurses remote was, once again, stashed behind the bed.

"Ben... I say we get the hell out of here... something isn't right. This hospital... it's not right." Ivan spoke up in a worried tone.

"Ivan... I'm not leaving Winston behind."

"Ben-"

"-No, please listen to me. That man... he needs someone to help him, Esmeralda needs someone to help her as well. They both need help. Whoever hurt him could be coming back to get him, I don't want that and I'm sure neither do you... how much medicine do you think you could steal from the hospital?" Ben whispered. Ivan thought for a moment.

"Depends, looking for hardcore shit? or-"

"No. Get simple things. Nothing hardcore; that will raise suspicion."

"Okay, give me an hour."