A/N. I'm BACK! And I have a nice, new, long chapter! *Waggles eyebrows while holding page in front of readers* SEE! Ok, I'll give it to you on one condition…but I forgot what it was, so I guess you can have it…to READ it…*Tosses paper* have fun! Disclaimer in previous chapters.

Sven stared at Train, who was looking lazily around the cell.

"I think she should remodel." Train nearly jumped when he heard his own voice.

"Whoa…what happened to my voice?" he grated out, feeling around the wet bandages. He flinched and retracted his hand, staring at the strip of jacket that was wound around it. Eyeing all of the bandages on himself, he turned to fix Eve with a glare.

"What happened?" Eve was about to answer, but then Sven whipped around and held a hand to his lips. Train, unused to the sudden and desperate gestures, did as told and quit talking. Eve quickly shoved him towards the corner and took up a position right in front of him. Bewildered at the sudden activity, Train didn't even feel the pain the movement put him through as he watched two men come in with a bucket.

"Dinner time, mates!" One called enthusiastically, and he opened the door to drop the bucket in. It tilted precariously before settling right side up, spilling none of the food. Train smiled brightly at the duo.

"Thanks!" He called softly, and they stared at him with something short of disgust.

"Whatever." They left, and Sven immediately grabbed the bucket. A quick look through produced three small hunks of bread and three apples that were definitely in the early stages of being rotten. The water, thankfully, wasn't contaminated, so Sven lifted the bucket over. As soon as the food was handed out, the duo turned to Train, who was happily munching on the stale bread. Sven cleared his throat.

"Uh, Train…how much do you remember?" The man in question gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" Eve decided to contribute.

"Well, how long have we been at Tearju's?" Sven shot Eve a thankful look. If they kept Train from panicking, it would be for the best. Train seemed to be trying his hardest to belay their struggles. He looked concerned, as well as completely freaked out.

"What are you guys talking about? We left Tearju's place ages ago. Are you ok?" The duo shot each other a look of incredulity. Hadn't he just said he couldn't remember? Sven immediately stopped his train of thoughts and shot an irritated look at Train.

"Were you faking?" Realization bloomed in Eve's eyes and she immediately turned to grace Train with a look of exasperation. Had he been joking? Playing tricks on them just like he had with the cheese? But the confusion on Train's face looked real enough.

"What are you talking about?" As did the answer.

Sven sighed.

"Not two minutes ago you thought we were still at Tearju's." The ex-assassin's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"…You're not just pulling my leg?"

"NO!" Train flinched slightly as the shout hurt his ears and he immediately clapped his bound hands over them.

"Sorry." He whispered. Sven tried to calm down.

"Alright. Let's just handle this calmly and rationally. Train what are our names?"

"Sven and Eve." The scathing note to the answer was scarcely hidden. Sven gave his friend a raised eyebrow before continuing.

"How long have we been here?"

"Trick question. None of us know. My guess is around a week. Maybe less." Sven nodded. That sounded somewhat accurate.

"Alright. What day were we kidnapped on?" Train frowned as he thought.

"Tuesday? I'm gonna say Tuesday." A harsh cough came from Train and they paused the questioning long enough to give him a drink of water from the half-empty tub.

"Sorry." He rasped, and Sven nodded.

"That's fine. Where are we?" Something seemed to vanish from Train's eyes, a glint of defiance for something.

"Another trick question. I was asleep on the way here, and you never told me where Tearju lived." Eve groaned. Train had forgotten again.

"Hmm. How did we get down here?" Sven asked, hoping that Train would eventually remember.

"Walked."Train was fingering the bandages that would around his neck and palms. He cocked his head. "What happened?" Sven sighed.

"We found a bounty, and when Eve ran off, you went off after her. She was being held hostage in an alley, and then you got captured. Eight and Four-" Train flinched at the names, and something seemed to light in his eyes.

"-brought us down here. You've fought-"

"I know who I've fought. Why are you reminding me?" Eve cocked her head to the side and looked at Train closely. She turned to Sven.

"He'll forget every once in a while, apparently. And then, we say something to trigger his memory, and it comes back. Or, we wait long enough, and it comes back on its own. Train stared at the duo in confusion.

"What's going on?" The pair turned back to Train.

"You have a concussion, and you keep forgetting and then remembering." Eve explained sharply. The young sweeper thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright." Eve turned away.

"We need to think of something that will always make you remember." Train frowned.

"How are we supposed to figure that out?" Eve shrugged.

"What words are most important, infuriating or up riling to you?"

"Important words, hmm? Eve, Sven…Saya…" The duo smiled as they were included in the important words, and sighed as the name of his long dead best friend joined them.

"Infuriating?" Train's eyes flickered to Eve before a cold smile crept over his features.

"Creed, Eight, Four, Chronos, Apostles, Star, Die." Sven frowned at the last word.

"Die?" Train fixed hurt eyes on him.

"Don't ask." He rasped, hurt throat catching up with him again. Eve saw fit to distract the distraught man.

"Up riling?" Train closed his eyes in concentration.

"Erase, Food, Free, All-you-can-eat and…" Train through for a minute before a broad smile lit his face.

"Milk. That one should work every time!" The prisoners all smiled at the simple term that was so very important to one of their members.

"Alright. All those words. Got anything to write them down with?" Eve shook her head, but Train pointed to the darkened corner.

"There were some bits of charcoal in the corner. You could write on the walls." Eve motioned for Sven to stay and quickly snatched up two pieces of charcoal. She tossed one to Sven and turned to the dimly lit corner they were next to.

"Alright. You remember the first two groups?" Sven asked and she nodded.

"Good. You take those, I got the last ones." The both turned to write, and for a few moments, the only sound was charcoal grating against stone before Sven turned back.

"Train, what was after 'food'?" He asked. Confused golden eyes met his.

"Huh?"

" After you said 'food', you said something before you said 'milk'." The confused look stayed on Train's face.

"What are you talking about?" Sven turned to Eve, who muttered a word.

"Apostles." Something flickered in Train's eyes, and he turned to Sven.

"What did you need?" Sven shot a glance at Eve before repeating his question.

"What came after 'food'?"

"Free." Sven stared at Train for a while before scrawling the final words onto the wall and tossing the charcoal away. Eve threw hers away as well, and then turned to Train. A thoughtful look crosser her face, one that Train didn't like.

"What is it?"

"Well, I'm thinking that it could be a good idea that we have a few words that make you forget as well." Train's brows pulled together as he thought, and then he nodded.

"That would be good."

"What scares you?" Train balked, staring at eve as if to ask if she was being serious.

"What?"

"Well, if something you love makes you remember, and something you hate whips you up so that you remember, it seems that something really negative would make you forget." Sven stared at Eve.

"Since when did you become a psychologist?" Train coughed lightly, meaning to cover a laugh, but then the cover-up turned real, and Train was coughing harshly into his palm. Sven slapped him on the back.

"Come on Train, breathe." A final thump sent the sweeper gasping for air, and he nodded weakly.

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a minute before Eve prodded Train.

"Fears?" Train glanced over at Sven and Eve shyly before whispering a few words.

"Dead…Thirteen…Leave…Hate…Abandon." Train waited for Eve to grab the charcoal and write up his greatest fears on the wall for all to see. She didn't. A brown haired head cocked to the side.

"Aren't you going to write them?" He rasped. Eve shook her head, long pigtails sweeping the ground. She tapped her temple.

"I'll remember them." Train nodded, secretly thankful that she wouldn't put his deepest fears up on the wall. Sven had to ruin it though.

"Why don't we try it?" The ex-assassin nodded dully, not altogether thrilled about the prospect of forgetting everything again.

"Shoot."

"Leave." Train shook his head.

"Dead." Nothing.

"Thirteen." A flinch, but he still remembered.

"Abandon." Something flickered in his eyes, and Train thought he was about to forget, but the memories solidified. He shook his head.

Eve was starting to get annoyed. Thinking the problem through, the blonde figured there might be something wrong with the delivery.

"Hate!" She roared, giving Train a fearsome sneer. He jerked slightly, and the duo waited for him to raise his head.

"Where's Tearju?" He asked. Eve smiled at Sven, and then turned to Train.

"Saya." A shadow passed over his eyes, and he turned to Eve.

"Did I forget?" Eve nodded.

Footsteps on the staircase stopped them from further conversation.

Chains seemed to clank as Eve and Sven took up a position in front of their concussioned friend. Eight and Four were hidden from Train's view, and he could only see two pairs of shiny black shoes, as well as a pair of scruffy, worn Reeboks. Confusion danced in his eyes, and Eve didn't miss the warning signs of him starting to forget. She sidled over to the side to reveal a boy with a shock of messy blue hair with a pair of goggles slung around his neck. An oversized jacket and pair of cargo shorts made him seem smaller, less confident than he had before Train had first seen him. (The handcuffs binding his hands in front of him might have helped.) Train's jaw dropped as his eyes met the boy's.

"Leon?" He whispered. The boy nodded jerkily, regret in his features.

"Sorry Train." The sweepers hadn't grasped the full meaning of this until Eight strode over and unlocked the door. Something hardened in Train's eyes and he pressed himself harder against the wall.

"No. No way." He pressed farther into the wall, charcoal rubbing against his stark white shirt. His shook his head. Eight shoved aside Sven and Eve who were trying to stand in front of Train.

"You can't do that!" Sven shouted as he tried to grab hold of the Number's shoulder. Eight sent him a glare.

"Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before." Sven snarled as he was shoved roughly up against the wall. Eve had danced away.

"You shouldn't!" She exclaimed, and Eight froze with his hand wrapped around Train's locks. The sweeper had a look of surprise and pain in his eyes. Sven caught a slightly flickering there too.

"Why not?" The Number repeated, and he started lifting his prisoner up. Train tried to move with him, lifting himself hastily off the floor, all the while, something flickering on and off in his eyes.

"He'll forget everything!" Eight froze, staring between Eve and Train.

"Really?" Eve nodded swiftly, watching as Eight narrowed his eyes and examined Train, twisting his head sharply to look at the wound on the back. He turned sharply back to Eve.

"Prove it."

"Umm…" Train flinched harshly as Eight jerked his head. Eve saw the wavering look of concentration flick off. He wasn't here anymore.

"You just did it for us." She said coldly. Someone gasped as Train was dropped to the floor. The blonde looked over to see Leon staring at the crumpled form of Train. He looked lost there, standing in his too-big clothes and ratty shoes. His eyes were distraught, looking around the dark room hopelessly.

"What do you mean?" Train lifted himself up and stared around at everyone.

"When did these guys get here? Who's the kid?" He rasped, lifting a hand to point at Leon, who gaped at Train. Eight stared down at the sweeper, awe and fascination in his gaze.

"He's completely forgotten?" he questioned sharply, turning to look at Sven. He nodded.

"Everything." Eight watched as Train pulled himself up to lean against the wall. When his legs shook, he stared down at himself.

"Whoa, what happened?" Eight paid him no mind, turning to smile at Four. The blind sweeper seemed to have sensed his companion's smile and returned it.

"How do you bring him out of it?" The helmeted assassin asked, taking a step forward and jerking Leon along with him. The blue headed boy was pushed against the bars as Four moved to step into the cage.

"Say something out of a certain group of words." Eve supplied. Four frowned.

"Do it." Eve turned to Train, snapping in front of him to pull his attention from the bandages wound around his hand. His head snapped up.

"Yeah Eve?" She dismissed the thought of using names to bring him out of it, and turned to a different category.

"Erase." She said calmly. Again, the flicker passed through his eyes, and he blinked quickly before turning to Eight. He snarled.

"Get away! I'm not fighting a little kid!" Eight smiled brilliantly at Sven.

"Can you make him forget?" He asked eagerly. Sven glanced quickly at the duo and then back to Eight.

"Occasionally."

"Can you do it now?"

"No."

"Why?" Sven thought for a minute before deciding to give a half truth.

"He's not in the right state of mind." Eight shot a glance at Train, who was still pressed against the wall.

"What is the right state of mind?" Sven shrugged.

"Don't know. But Eve and I can just tell." He said. It was a truth, finally. They could probably make Train forget whenever they wanted, but he wasn't going to let Eight play with his friend like that. Confuse the poor young man until he lost it. However, he couldn't stop the Number as he grabbed a fistful of brown hair and dragged the wounded sweeper out of the cell and shoved him into the middle of the dimly lit room. He swayed on his feet for a while, watching through hazy eyes as the handcuff were lifted off of Leon's wrists and the boy was shoved forward. He stumbled to a halt a few feet from Train, gazing at him apologetically.

"They making you fight?" Train asked, his head bent so that his hair fell across his eyes. Leon nodded.

"They have Layla. They said if I didn't fight, they'd kill her and everyone else in the group. I didn't know I'd be fighting you though." Leon whispered back, subtly rubbing his wrist from where the metal had dug into them. Train nodded.

"Alright. Let's have a go. No head shots, please?" He whispered so softly that Leon had trouble hearing him. The teen nodded.

"Alright." He breathed just as softly. Apparently, they had been talking too long.

"Get on with it!" Four prodded, and with that, Leon lunged half-heartedly at Train. The ex-assassin ducked sloppily, dragging his injured leg behind him as he moved around. A soft wind came around his front and kept him from falling. Shooting a grateful look at Leon, Train whipped out Hades. Leon eyed it warily, pulling up a massive sphere of wind and hurtling it at Train. Rare black metal stopped the spinning ball, and the excess wind rushed by him, sending his hair in every direction. Moving before Leon could react, Train shot a quick succession of three bullets at his feet, making the boy jump backwards. In an almost primal reaction, the Tao user sent a whole wall of wind towards Train, who had a hard time blocking it. Tumbling backwards, he made sure to keep his arms around his head, no matter how much it hurt the burns and breaks. Shouts of anger came from Sven and Eve, who were once again pressed up against the bars. Leon shot them an apologetic look. How he hated to cause their friend pain!

Turning away from the despairing duo, he barely managed to block a half-hearted punch to the head. He reacted instinctively by knocking the feet out from Train and sending him sprawling to the floor. Wincing as he lightly tapped his head, a fog seemed to settle over his thoughts, making them muggy and disoriented. Jumbled thoughts smashed together, and the only thing he could really know for certain was that the scrawny teenager before him could be trying to hurt him. A voice in the back of his head was whispering against the thought. No, you know him. Train was confused. But he hurt me! The voice was quick to answer. (He thought it sounded suspiciously like Saya) Because he has to! Trust him. Train ducked wildly as a fist came for his shoulder, and Train decided to stop arguing with himself.

Pulling his gun up again, he poured energy into the barrel and fwoom! Electricity sparked through the ball of wind that Leon had conjured, traveling all throughout it as the wind seemed to grow larger and larger. Thinking it was Leon, Train backed away. The rail gun magically appeared back in its holster.

"Shut it off!" He shouted at the boy. But the blue-headed youth was watching in horror as more electricity seemed to bloom into being and race around the now six-foot round ball of energy.

"Do something with it!" The shout jolted Leon out of his state of panic. Four and Eight had raced each other to the stairs, and were safely ducked behind a corner, ready to jump out as soon as the explosion settled.

"I can't! Something took it out of my control!" Unbound wind picked up and started stirring anything in the room around, whipping official papers off the desk in the corner and spinning Eve's hair into knots. Horror spread across Train's features as he realized what this meant. This swirling explosive wasn't controllable by Leon, meaning everyone in the room would feel the blast when it happened.

"Get to the cage!" Train roared over the loud rush of wind, and he locked a hand around Leon's upper arm. The boy allowed himself to be drug over to the firm frames of the bars and he stared into Train's serious, if not worried eyes. Something kept flickering through them, although leon wouldn't know that Train was close to forgetting again.

"I need you to put up a shield!" he shouted into Leon's ear, watching the boy nod vigorously.

"Wait till I tell you, because you'll need all of your energy to keep it up!" Again, the boy nodded. Then, it was only a matter of waiting for a few seconds as more and more energy built up in the veritable bomb.

"Ready…" Streaks appeared around the sphere and Train watched the very centre where sparks seemed to be shooting wildly from. Just a few more seconds…

"Now!" he shouted. Train could see the white wall of air that appeared out of no-where in front of the seven foot wide section of open cage, effectively keeping it covered. Just as the wall went up, a shockwave came, pressing harshly against the shield and everything else in the room. The table got flipped over and the door that lead to some other room banged harshly against its frame, cracks spidering all across the wooden surface.

And then the ball exploded. The sound of the bomb detonating nearly burst everyone's eardrum, but then, everything seemed to shatter. Leon's shield was forced so far back so violently that it slammed the pair outside of the cage into the bars, bending the hard metal. Leon cried out, and the shield died, allowing the rest of the wave to shove Sven and Eve against the stone walls. The explosion blew out the glass in the two windows and cracked support beams, making parts of the mortar holding the ceiling up fall down around them. Floor broke around the chunks of ceiling, denting the entire floor as cracks forced slants of rock to appear. The desk was long gone, ripped apart by the force of the explosion. The door to the prison cell was bent awkwardly, no possible way to open it now.

Energy kept sweeping around the area, brushing up the shirt tails of Train's limp form and blowing the hair around Leon's. Eve was curled into Sven, who was hunched protectively over her head to keep it from getting hit by anything. Moans came from the stairwell, and as soon as the dust had settled and the wind stopped swirling around everywhere, the two Numbers came out from their hiding place. Both completely covered in dust, but neither injured, they picked their way through the broken floor and towards the foursome huddled in and around the cage. Four went to Leon while Eight checked on Train. Sven let go of Eve so that they could both watch him check for Train's pulse. He stood quickly.

"Alive." The sighs of relief were audible from the pair in the cell. Their hearts stopped when Four stood.

"Dead." Leon, dead? The word seemed to rouse Train, who was groaning softly, eyes squeezed shut tight. A sharp kick to the ribs kept him on the ground, and Eight looked around.

"Think we can keep 'em here?" Four asked him. Eight pondered the question.

"Yes. The ceiling won't cave, and he can still fight. We'll be fine." Four nodded, and then started pacing around the room, trying to figure out where all the obstacles were. Eight was busy prying open the wrecked door, succeeding after countless tries. The metal groaned loudly in protest before squealing to a halt. Eight grabbed Train under the arms and dragged him towards the cell, dumping him listlessly in the floor. As soon as the man was gone, and the door forced shut, both sweepers rushed for their fallen friend. With shaking hands, Eve confirmed what Eight said.

"He's alive. I'm not sure about his memory after that, but he'll live." Another examination showed that he hadn't been hurt too bad, and the only injuries he had were the ones he'd had before. Some had been disturbed, so Eve ripped of the large sash around her waist and bound his ribs again.

The pair waited for hours for Train to fully waken, and when he did it was with hazy eyes.

"S'vn? Eve? Wha' happn'd?" His tongue seemed thick and swollen, and it was hard to form words.

"Easy kid. We'll explain later."

"Tearju's?" Eve glanced over at their wall.

"Milk." Eve said deadpan. The flicker they'd gotten used to in his eyes passed again, and understanding seemed to light in his golden eyes.

"Leon?" Eve shook her head sadly, and Train let his fall back to the floor, eyes closed in guilt and pain.

"It's alright, Train." The statement seemed to infuriate Train.

"Alright?" He whispered hoarsely. "Alright? A twelve year old just died because of me. We're stuck in this place and no-one knows we're here. We probably won't be let out, I'm completely busted up, we'll never be able to get out, and all you can say is that we're alright?" The rant was spoken in the form of a whisper, but the fury behind the words was nearly tangible. Eve shrunk into the corner, watching Sven take over.

"Yes, that's all I can say, because I don't want to let either of you think it's ok to give up that easily. Eve and I are still here, and we can still fight. It doesn't matter that you're busted up. We'll carry you all the way out if need be. But I am not about to let you fall into a guilt trap because something bad happened! The kid died doing something honorable. He won't have wanted any of us to feel guilty, so dang it Train, you aren't going to!" Train was grateful that the Numbers had left before this. They would have loved it if they had seen it.

The younger sweeper stared at his older companion and offered a half-hearted shrug.

"Whatever, Sven."

They didn't speak for the rest of the night.

A/N. woot! Longest chapter I've written for you guys!

Op, I rememped what the condition was…

You need to review! Reviews push me to write faster for you guys! Let me know how it turned out. Oh, and just so you know, I very nearly stopped the chappie when Leon came in. I guess since I spared you from a cliffie this time, I'll have to give you a massive one next time around! Hoping to see all of you then!

Thx-

TOAS