AN: Sorry for the long wait guys! I hope this chapter is worth it! :D

I jumped. As I jumped, I screamed. I screamed so hard it felt like my lungs would burst open. My arms, chest, and legs felt like they were being pulled back, like from the force of the wind.

I had but one question for myself: Why hadn't I hit the ground yet?

I opened my eyes as I thrashed about, still screaming. My arms and legs were being held down as someone tried to press my shoulders down. "Bullet, stop! It's me! It's Rex!" A young man yelled into my ear, hoping to get me to stop.

"No! I need to jump! I need to! You're not real, you died!" I yelled, trying to pull my arms away and kick my feet. "I'm right here, and I am very much alive! You have to listen to me! Stop!" The man kept yelling.

"Let me go! I need to jump! I said let me go!" I pressed harder against the hands but they kept pushing me down.

"Bullet, look at me! I'm here. I never left. It's Rex." The man started to lower his voice. I started thrashing less. "Rex is dead. He is never coming back." I thought I believed myself but I couldn't be sure.

"Bullet, I'm right here. Look at me." I started to focus in on his face.

"Rex? I thought Rex was dead." I stopped moving.

"I'm here, I'm alive, and I never left you." The man smiled at me.

Then it hit me. "Rex! Oh my God! I thought I lost you forever." I shook the hands off me and flung my arms around Rex's neck. He smiled and hugged me back. I let go first.

"First of all, what the hell was that?" I crossed my legs on the bed and my arms across my chest. Rex sighed and sat down.

"Honestly, once you came up, you were screaming and it looked like you were writhing in pain or something." Rex turned a chair around and sat in it backwards, leaning his arms on the back of the chair.

One of the scientists came over with a flashlight, shining in my eye, checking it for something.

"Go away." I waved my hand, excusing the scientist. He jerked back in surprise. "Now." I pointed to the door and kept pointing until the scientist walked out. "Everybody." I turned my back on whoever else was in the room. I heard the door slam shut.

"Was that a dream? Or a simulation? Alternate reality? Hell? Purgatory?" I asked one question after another. "I'm pretty sure it's like a simulation of something in your brain, and in this case, it was your greatest fears."

"Interesting. So really, this was just torture?" "I guess so." Rex replied.

A long pause followed his reply. "So what was your greatest fear?"

"Excuse me?" I said a little angrily, rising to my feet. Rex looked up at me. "What was your greatest fear?" Rex used a calming voice, trying to get me to sit back down.

"I killed you, Rex." I said, bluntly. "I killed you and Ryan and Violet." I finished my statement, turned on my heels, paused, and then walked out.

I ran up the stairs up to Sub-level 41, and the floor numbers were blurred not only from my speed, but also from the tears accumulating in my eyes. I opened to door to my room and slammed it shut. I opened on of the drawers in my nightstand, and I saw my journal.

I opened up to the first page. This journal belongs to Ajia.

I ripped it out, folded it up neatly and shoved it underneath my alarm clock. It didn't quite fit under it because one corner was sticking out, but I would be reminded of it every morning. I didn't care at the moment. I could now see what I had written in the journal. Only one page was filled. I ripped that out, too. I walked over to my bathroom, dropped it into the toilet and flushed it.

I walked back over to my nightstand and sat on my bed. I pulled put the second drawer and found the gun that Rex had lent me from my first day of Weapons Training. I took the gun and closed both of the drawers. I slid a door back to reveal my closet. I scooted my shoes over to one side, making room on the far end of the closet. I slid all the hangers over to the same side so that there was room for my head, not that there were a lot of them to move.

I knelt down and crawled over to the far side of my closet and slowly slid the door shut. I left just a crack open to let some light in.

I fingered the gun in my hand. I let it rest on the side of my head as I pondered quietly to myself.

Thirty minutes later, I heard a knock at my door. "Ajia, it's Rex. Can you open the door?" Rex asked. "Yes, I am perfectly able to open the door." I responded. Rex sighed. "Let me rephrase that. Open the door."

"It's unlocked, if you didn't already know." I replied, with attitude in my voice. Rex opened my door, only to find that he didn't see me anywhere. "Ajia, where are you?" "Where do you think?"

I could see Rex turned around through the crack in my closet door. He slowly pulled the door back. "Ajia! What the hell are you doing?!" Rex lunged forward and wrenched the gun out of my hand. "I didn't know you were suicidal!" "I'm not suicidal." I replied bluntly.

"So sitting in your closet and having a gun one inch from your head isn't suicidal?!" Rex exclaimed. "The gun wasn't loaded." I protested quietly.

Rex stayed silent as he sat down in the closet next to me, still holding the unloaded gun. "What's bothering you?" he asked softly. I took my time in replying.

"When they put me under, I was attacked my guards, who I then killed. I went and found Ryan who told me that I killed you. Then I had to kill Ryan. I started freaking out, so I found Violet. I had to kill her, too. So I went up on the roof and… jumped." I ended, pausing slightly on my last word. "Well…" Rex trailed off.

"Rex, I killed you! And then I woke and saw you. I didn't know what to believe." I tried not to let the fear into my voice. "Well that doesn't matter because I'm here now." Rex pulled me close and I laid my head on his strong chest. "Thank you." I whispered.

"Thanks for what?" Rex asked while stroking my shoulder. "For not leaving me." I looked up at Rex. "I would never leave you." Rex replied, looking down at me. He held my face in his hands.

I leaned forward and our lips met. I could feel my worries disappear. Rex had his hands around my waist, keeping me close. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I pressed closer to him. Rex slowly pulled back.

"I just have one question for you…" Rex said quietly. "Yes?" I looked up at him.

"If the gun was loaded, and I wasn't here, would you have pulled the trigger?" Rex stared at me intently, searching my eyes for an answer. I looked down.

"I guess we'll never know." I replied.

I stood up and walked over to the door. "Come on. It's almost lunchtime." I waved my hand and held it out, waiting for Rex. He stood and walked over to me. "You must be starving." He smiled.

"By the way, since your Ryan's clone, what superpowers do you guys have?" "Well…"

We walked out hand in hand, with my head on his shoulder.

As I was about to sit for lunch, I saw a girl exit the elevator, and I didn't recognize her. She was African American with electric blue hair that was braided down to her mid-back. She had a rainbow t-shirt on with a pair of frayed jean shorts and was wearing a red pair of Converses. She was probably 16 and was about 5'6''. Her olive-green eyes were staring down at a piece of paper in her hand.

I took three strides and walked over to her. "Um, hey. Do you need help?" I asked. The girl looked up. "Yeah, I was looking for my room. I think it's on Sub-level 41. Can you show me where it is?" I nodded. "Yeah, I think your on the same floor as me, but first come have lunch with me and my friends." "OK, cool." The girl followed me over to my table.

"I'm Bullet, by the way. But you can call me Ajia when no one is around." I introduced myself. "Nice to meet you Bullet. I'm Kinsley Jacobs or Kins for short." "Well Kinsley, I'm sure you fit right in here."

We arrived at my table. "Everybody, this is Kinsley. Kinsley, this is everybody. That's Rex, Ryan, Violet, and Talon is over there." I pointed to everyone and then to Talon, who was at the end of table.

"Nice to meet you all." Kinsley waved. Everyone either replied to her or just nodded.

Once we settled down, the question started coming out.

"What's your favorite color?" "Blue."

"What's your favorite pastime?" "Reading."

"What's your least favorite food?" "Tomatoes."

"What annoys you the most?" "Bullies picking on people smaller than they are."

"What's your biggest flaw?" Kinsley chuckled a bit. "I have the worst temper."

"Do you have superpowers?" "Yes." "What are they?" "I can create blue flames internally and externally."

"What does your tattoo mean?" I asked. Just now had I realized that she had a tattoo on the inside of her wrist that said "Never Forget" written in loopy cursive. Kinsley sighed. "It's in memory of my parents." "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I didn't want to bring up anything painful."

"No, no. It's alright. You didn't know."

Ryan quickly changed the subject. "Why did you come here? To Cadmus, I mean." "To try and learn to control my powers. Speaking of, do you guys have any?" Kinsley asked.

I went first. "I have superhuman speed." Rex followed after me. "Super strength and enhanced agility and endurance." Ryan was next. "Same. He's my clone." Violet leaned in. "I have the ability to turn invisible and to create force fields."

"Hey Talon! How about you? What powers do you have?" Kinsley waved over at Talon. Talon slid a little closer to our group and leaned forward. "I have photographic memory and I can manipulate emotions."

"Cool." replied Kinsley.

We all talked and ate until the end of lunch. Kinsley really feels welcome here. And the best part is that her room is right next to mine!

18 days later

November 26, 2009

It's Thanksgiving. Foooooooooooooood. Everyone got the day off. In the morning we all watched the Macy's parade and at dinnertime, everybody came up for the big Thanksgiving dinner.

As I was about to sit down for dinner, I saw a girl exit the elevator, looking confused.

She was about 5'3'' and looked about 14 years old. She had red hair with blue hair extensions, dark green eyes, and pale white skin with freckles. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a blue denim skirt. She had black eyeliner on and she had a Flash necklace around her neck. She had Converses with the NASA sign on the side.

I took three quick strides over to her. "Hey, are you new here?" I asked. "Yeah. Oh, I'm Max, by the way." She replied. "I'm Bullet, but you can call me Ajia when no one is around. Here, come sit with me and my friends. And your just in time for the Thanksgiving dinner!" I led Max over to my table. "Thank God! I'm starving!" Max rubbed her stomach.

"Everybody, this is Max. Max, this is Rex, Ryan, Violet, Kinsley, and Talon." Everyone waved as I said their name. "We're just about to carve the turkey!" Violet patted the seat next to her and across from me. Max slid into the seat as Rex and Ryan were fighting over who was going to carve the turkey. Each table had their own, since their were so many personnel in Cadmus.

Talon sighed and picked up the carving knife. He methodically carved the turkey and placed all the pieces on a big serving platter. I reached for the mashed potatoes and served everyone to their liking. Ryan served the sweet potatoes, Rex served the stuffing, Violet served the cranberries and the cranberry sauce, Kinsley handed out rolls, and I poured drinks. Once Talon was done carving, we all took some turkey.

"Who would like to bless the meal?" Ryan asked. "Max, why don't you do it?" I asked kindly. "Sure!" Max said excitedly.

"Bless this meal we are about to eat, and for many more after. Let's dig in!" Max said quickly, for I knew we were all hungry.

"So Max," said Ryan, stuffing his face with stuffing, "tell us a little about yourself." "Well, I love to eat and I love to sing. My favorite band is Linkin Park. I'm kinda clumsy, and I'm afraid of heights. And I also get claustrophobic sometimes. I hate fire." Max explained quickly.

"Do you have any powers?" Violet asked. "Yeah, I am telepathic and I have telekinesis. And I guess I am really fast thinker and my reflexes are faster than a normal human. I can kinda shape shift, but I'm not very good at it. My hero name is Dare." Max popped a large piece of turkey in her mouth like it was candy.

We all talked throughout dinner, and then it came time for pie.

"Alright, we have pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Who wants what?" I got a flurry of replies, but I managed to deal out all the pie to everyone correctly.

"Mmm, that's good pie." Max smiled.

"So Max, do you know where you room is here?" I asked through a mouthful of pie. "Yeah, I think I'm on Sub-level 41." Max replied. "Oh cool! I think you could be next to me or Kinsley!" "Awesome!" Max bounced up and down in her seat.

"Do you know your schedule yet?" Ryan asked. "No, not yet." Max took another pie of apple pie. Ryan took a bite of Violet's pumpkin pie. Violet took Ryan's pecan pie and polished it off. "Hey!" Ryan said, trying to be angry but failing.

"I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together!" I said, pushing my plate back and leaning against Rex. "Totally."Max agreed.

Violet, Kinsley, Max, and I were all walking down the hallway on Sub-level 41 together. "It says it's this one." Max looked up from a piece of paper and pointed to the door next to mine.

"Sweet! We're next to each other!" I replied happily as I pulled Max into her room. "Oh, this is so cool! A room all to myself!"

Max plopped down on her bed. "So how did you get to be here, to Cadmus?" I asked Max. "Oh, I'm the clone of Kid Flash and Miss Martian. Miss Martian is the niece of Martian Manhunter."

"Wait, wait. Kid Flash? I'm Flash's clone! So we're like first cousins once removed or something! This is so amazing!" I squeezed Max in a hug. "That's... unbelievable..." Max gasped for breath. I let her go.

"I feel like we have so much catching up to do!" Max clapped her hands excitedly.

"Well the football game starts in 10 minutes, so what do you guys what to do?" Violet asked, looking up from the alarm clock next to Max's bed.

"Oh my God! We need to watch the football game!" I headed for the door. "Seriously?" Kinsley asked.

"It's f'ing football and it's the f'ing Thanksgiving game. Of course we have to watch it. Come on! We're going to miss kickoff!" I shuffled everyone out the door towards the room with the giant flat screen television.

When we got there, the guys and everyone else was waiting. "You're going to watch the football game?" Jim asked. "You gotta a problem with that?" I asked with attitude while perching on the arm rest next to Rex. Jim backed off.

Then it was kickoff.

The Next Day - Rex's POV

I was sound asleep when Ryan pulled the blankets off my bed. "What the hell man? I'm tryin' to sleep!" I tried to grab my blankets back. Ryan took two steps back. "Come on man! It's Black Friday! Everything is like 90% off! I need to get something for Violet and you should probably get something for Ajia, too."

"Oh, I forgot! It's Christmas season now. Greeeat now I have to go shop for things." I rolled over and out of bed. The alarm clock read 1:00.

"1 AM! Are you crazy?!" I put Ryan into a headlock. "Shut up! Do you want to wake everyone up?!" Ryan squirmed in my grip. I was always stronger than him.

"Don't you want to get something special for you girlfriend? Hmm?" Ryan taunted me by emphasizing "girlfriend."

I let Ryan go. "Okay fine." I threw a pair of pants on, pulled a shirt over my head and grabbed my jacket. "Let's go." Ryan dragged me out the door.

(Back to Ajia POV)

I heard a click as my door opened. Violet came in with Kinsley and Max in tow. "Come on! It's Black Friday! We need to shop until we drop! And everything is on sale!" Violet squealed. I glanced over at my alarm clock. 1:00. "Are you crazy?" I asked, rolling over in my bed.

"Nope. So I guess you're coming with us." Max hauled me out of my bed. Kinsley shoved some clothes in my arms. "We need to hurry!" Violet rushed me along. "Don't you want to get something special for your boyfriend?!" Violet nudged me. "Look who's talking!" I pulled my shoes on.

"Are we all ready?" Kinsley asked. "Yeah, I think so." Max replied for all of us. "Let's go!" Violet pulled all of us out the door.

I could have sworn I saw Rex and Ryan turn the corner ahead of us.

AN: I hope you liked it! WOOO! February break! See ya suckers! If I did not capture your character properly, review or PM me and I will fix it.