The back of the van was silent, but I could hear Lou's breathing. It was shaky and uneven, as if he were on the verge of saying something.

"Lou?" I whispered. I couldn't say why exactly I was whispering, it just felt…right.

"Please. Don't talk to me. Don't make this harder," he ran all of his words together, and I felt bad for my cousin.

"Talk to me," I almost begged, "I need to talk to you."

"Don't try to get me to help you escape. Please, don't. I can't…they'll hurt me." This kid was a nervous wreck.

"Lou…I…" I was about to assure him that that wasn't what I was asking of him, but then I realized that deep down, I had harbored a false hope that he might.

"Can you tell me something?" Lou suddenly blurted out. "If you're…like me…then…how do you keep your wings in all of the time? I never…they've always…"

I didn't want to help him. I mean, why should I? But there was something I needed to do if I was going to die, and that was at least make peace with my cousin. And maybe…there was always that small chance…that he might decide who he really wanted to side with. I didn't trust Lou, not one bit. But at least helping him might make me forget that I was doomed.

"Well…do you have a light back here?" I asked, squinting in the dark.

Click. A flashlight turned on, and I examined my cousin again. He was clearly examining me too, looking for any trace of my wings.

"Um, well first you need to relax. You're all tensed up. They'll never retract if you're nervous, tense, or scared."

The van went over a pothole, and I got thrown against the wall.

His shoulders inched down a smidge. "More," I coaxed. He stood a little less straight. "More." He finally looked totally relaxed.

"There we go. Now fold your wings, arch your back, and pull." He struggled, his wings started to go in, but he got too frustrated and gave up. I sighed, "You tried too hard."

He grunted, and fell down to the floor of the van. "I'm never going to get it."

"It just takes practice." I shrugged. I really didn't care whether or not he was able to do it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Then please. Help my brother and I get out of here." I begged.

"I can't. They'll kill me!"

"No they won't. They won't get a chance to touch you. Not if we work together. If you don't help me, they'll kill me."

Lou seemed to chew on that. "Aikido…please don't make me."

I swallowed, knowing it was hopeless. "I'd never make you. But…you could…take control of Ren…you could make him stop the van…and let us out. He'd pass out…we'd be free. You wouldn't belong to them anymore. Please, Lou…" I swallowed. "I could help you learn how to control your wings. You could be normal. And live near Shiiro and I-"

"Just shut up! I can't…they'd just find me again."

I stood up, and got used to the feel of the moving vehicle beneath my feet. I walked over to my cousin, and looked him in the eyes. "Lou, please calm down. You're a nervous wreck, and it's their fault."

"If you really want to escape so badly, then why don't you use your own stupid power?" Lou cried, stepping away from me.

We went over another bump, and got sent to the floor.

"Because I don't have a power, that's why. And I most certainly don't want to die, either. So please, Lou. If you just help me and Shiiro get out of here, then I promise that we can get you somewhere where they'll never find you, and you'll be safe."

Lou gave me a distrusting look.

"Why should I trust you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because family doesn't betray family," I said honestly. Then I remembered Anri, and I felt like a bit of a liar.

"Do you swear?" Lou asked, looking around nervously. His voice had gotten eerily quiet.

"On my life," I promised sincerely, hoping he saw the truth in my eyes.

"Okay," Lou took a deep breath. "Then I'll do it."

The van suddenly jerked to a stop. A grin spread across my face, and I crawled across the floor of the van and gave Lou a big hug. "You did it!" I cried, hearing footsteps coming around to open the door.

Lou didn't return my smile. "One problem," he started, and my heart dropped to the ground. "I didn't take control of him yet."

I let go of him instantly, and fell back on my butt. "Wh-what?"

Ren threw open the van doors, and looked anything but under Lou's influence. Ren held up a gun, and pointed it at Lou, "You dirty little traitor! This should take care of you!" He clenched his teeth. Before Lou or I had a chance to react, Ren shot Lou twice, slammed the doors shut, and before long, the van was moving again.

"They heard us," I gulped. It was all my fault that Lou had gotten shot. I crawled over to Lou, and looked at where he'd been shot. Once in the shoulder, once in the side of the stomach. "Lou, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean…"

"This is all your fault!" He choked, a pained look on his face. He made a horrible noise of pain, like a dying animal, and clutched his side. "I should have never t-trusted you!" He glared at me.

"No, Lou! You don't understand! I never meant for this to happen!" I bent over him, trying to think of some way to help him.

Stop the blood. I needed to stop the blood.

I looked around desperately for something I could use to cut cloth. A knife, scissors, anything. I reached into Lou's pockets as a final attempt. And I found it. The family dagger. I cut off the leg of my jeans at the knee with a few swift moments. Every time Lou made a cry or whine, I flinched. My fault. All my fault. I accidentally cut my knee, but I ignored it, and cut the leg of my jeans into strips. It was pretty cliché, I admit, and I didn't know if it would work or not. But all the movies used it, so I decided it couldn't hurt. I tied the strips together, and wrapped it around his middle, with great effort. I hoped that we weren't close to the train station yet. How long had it been?

"Don't touch me!" Lou hissed in pain.

"I'm trying to help you," I clenched my teeth, and made sure the cloth was secure. But the blood was seeping through, and fast. I took the two remaining strips, and wrapped those around his shoulder. The one in his stomach seemed to be worse, so I again, did what I saw them do in the movies. I applied pressure with my hands.

"Argh!" Lou screamed, grabbing my arm and digging his fingers in.

"I'm sorry!" I squeaked, "I'm trying to help you."

"Well you're making it--" He cut off, and a relaxed look crossed his face. My hands weren't wet anymore. There was a clinking noise, and the bullet was suddenly on the floor beside me. What the…? Lou carefully sat up, bending his neck so he could see the wound in his stomach. But there wasn't a wound there anymore. He looked up at me, to the hole in his shirt, up at me, back to the hole in his shirt, and so forth. "I think we just found out what your power is."

I hurried to try it again on his shoulder. I watched this time, in amazement, as the wound was erased from existence, leaving nothing but a bullet on the floor.

"Are you willing to try again? For real, this time?" I whispered.

"After that ass shot me? I'm sure as heck going to try again," he whispered, a smirk passing between us.