Chapter 13.

I reached out quivering fingers to touch his shaved head, but stopped midway, eyes fixed on the bandage that covered much of it. All his long black hair was now gone and his face seemed so much smaller because of it.

Sighing deeply, I leaned back in my chair and began chewing on my lower lip. The fluorescent lights in the hospital room were giving me a headache already. There was no one to talk to and I had little desire to pick up the abandoned book that lay on the floor. My father had left to get some coffee for us; good coffee that didn't need ounces of cream to deaden the aftertaste. Knight had fallen asleep only half an hour ago, right before I'd come in to take over the vigil.

There was a soft rap on the door before I heard it open. My eyes went slowly to the visitors and then widened slightly in surprise. Zach bobbed his head with a nervous smile and buried his hands in the pockets of his white pants. Magenta rolled her eyes as she walked toward me. There was a potted plant in her hand that I assumed must have been from Layla. The redhead had called a while ago to assure us she'd be sending over something to cheer Knight up since she couldn't come herself. I remembered our conversation with amusement.

"Hello," I had said timidly.

"Lydia, gosh, we just found out about Knight…I can't believe it. I hope he's alright."

"He'll pull through," I answered scarcely recognizing my own voice.

"I wanted to come see you guys but my mom and I had something planned. The guys are coming later so I'll send a plant with them."

I smiled to myself, "Ok Layla…thanks. And Layla?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you and Will were the ones who actually paid for me…so thank you," I paused, "You're a good friend."

There was silence for a moment, "Dia," she resorted to my nickname with a strange tone in her voice, "We didn't put up the money. It was all Warren."

I rolled my eyes; she was denying it even now? "Ok…well I guess I'll talk to you later."

Maj set the plant on the bedside table with a thud. I turned back to Knight, worried that the sound might have woken him up. My cousin slept on, unaware of his eager guests as the door finally shut behind Warren and Will. The two boys stood at the end of the bed for a few awkward minutes and I hoped that this visit wouldn't last too long.

"So…" Zach started, "I know this is all like super secret, but what happened?" Maj reached over from where she was sitting and smacked him hard on the leg, "Ow!"

"Well?" Maj said turning back to me with an intense gaze, "Are you going to tell us or not?"

"Um, Knight was working with…was working on," I paused trying to figure out how to tell them what I could. My eyes moved across the room, flitted past Warren and landed on Will's reassuring smile. "Knight was working on a secret project…" I started, leaving out any exact details even as my own mind went back to what had happened the day before.

We landed outside my house in dramatic style. For my part, I promised never to use a jet pack again. Fintan's mind however was always on the mission and he ditched his own smoking pack in a matter of seconds. I struggled to keep up with him as he avoided the front walkway and darted into the foliage on the side of the building. I apologized mentally to my father as I crushed several of his favorite plants and crouched near my son. I was panting as Fintan sojourned on.

Skirting the edge of the house, we made it to the back door. Fintan pulled out some sort of device that measured heat signatures and scanned before nodding to me. His face looked strangely pale, and I should have taken that as a warning of what we'd find inside. However I was too jumbled up to think and before I knew it we were smashing through the back door…after I'd paused time of course.

Inside it was evident that we'd arrived just in time. The back door led directly into the kitchen and I stood for a moment dumbstruck. My dark eyes rested first on the figure directly in front of me. It was Penny, one of the many in the house. Her head was turned to the side, but it was obvious that she'd been placed here as a lookout of sorts. Fintan busied himself pulling power-draining handcuffs out of random pockets as I stepped forward to explore the rest of this frozen world.

Past the guard Penny were three others, exactly alike in stance and expression. They all stood facing something with pleased grimaces, arms crossed and hips swiveled to one side. I noted that they were all dressed in the same black outfits they'd worn the night of the attack. I ventured further, eager to see what they were all staring at and let out a startled gasp. Knight sat in a chair in front of them, his hands and feet bound to the wooden frame. Robert stood behind the captive; black sleeves rolled up to the elbow, hands resting on Knight's face.

My cousin's face was contorted, mouth open, eyes shut in agony. Little cuts ran in lines, seeming to spring from the dark hands of the tormentor. I suddenly realized that Robert must have been using his powers in reverse…causing small injuries instead of healing them. Robert looked almost gleeful, but there was a perpetual glint of madness in his unblinking eyes. I looked back at my son who had finally handcuffed one of the girls. As soon as he did, the others disappeared…Penny was no longer capable of using her clones. Face expressionless, Fintan did the same to Robert before working at the knots that held Knight to the chair with a pocketknife.

I wondered vaguely how many pockets his jacket had before turning back to stare at Robert. My grip on time was waning so I let it go without a second thought and found myself meeting Robert's now unfrozen gaze. The smile vanished and for a moment confusion replaced giddiness. I'd never had the chance to actually slap someone in my entire life, so it seemed like a good opportunity.

My hand never reached its destination because as quickly as I'd raised my arm, Robert had caught my wrist. His eyes narrowed and the glint returned for a moment, before, looking down, he saw the pulsing white power-draining cuff. Whatever he'd planned to do to me was lost, his face crashed in disappointment as Fintan pushed him up against the cabinets. I was full of anger for my missed chance at revenge. It seemed like nothing worked out exactly like it did in the movies.

Knight groaned softly and I turned my attentions to him as Fintan took care of the villains. His face was abnormally pale and I could see a large gash on his head. The hair around it was saturated with gloopy pools of equally dark blood. His eyes focused on me for a moment before rolling back into his head. Then, my cousin's body slumped as consciousness left him.

Fintan began pushing the evil duo out the door when Robert threw one last glance in my direction. There was no kindness in that gaze only loathing and a bit of pride. He must have been thinking about how easy it had been to gain information from me. I could think of no clever retort or burning accusation in that moment. So, I simply stood, returning his glare evenly. We said our farewell in that way…and then, the first boy I'd ever technically considered dating (at least in this dimension) left the house and my life forever.

Though I didn't know it at the time, I'd never see Robert again.

The group around me remained silent as I related what I could. Among the things Fintan had permitted was the true identity of Robert. However, I couldn't say anything about what exactly Knight had been working on. Or even the fact that Knight had been tortured rather than killed because Penny wanted the whereabouts of Speed before she got rid of my cousin. Speed would probably never know what Knight had done for him and neither would anyone else. The case was already listed as "Really, really, really top secret" and might move on to "Really, really, really uber top secret" within the year.

When I finished Magenta rolled her eyes, "This all sounds like something out of a cheap comic book…I mean Robert pretending to like you so he could get information. Who would have guessed he was such a jerk?"

I could have laughed if the comment hadn't have stung so much. Someone had known…had tried to warn me about the whole thing. Well at the very least Warren had stopped Robert from buying me that day. Who knows what might have happened? I probably could have been abducted before I'd even had a chance to talk to Fintan and figure the whole mess out.

"Yeah and who knew Dia would give in so easy," Zach added, completely clueless of his insensitivity until Magenta smacked him once again.

The sound seemed to pull Knight from his sleep. He opened his eyes and moved to prop himself up. I rose quickly and helped to adjust the pillows behind him. His hospital gown slid a little revealing the numbered tattoo on his shoulder. I quickly pulled at it, trying to be inconspicuous. When I looked up, Warren was staring directly into my eyes. He seemed to have seen the mark, but I tried not to let it bother me. As Warren's sidekick, Knight would probably eventually have to tell Warren about that part of his life anyway.

I sat down again and smiled slightly at the sight of Zach rubbing his injured shoulder with a pouting look, "That's ok…Zach's right. I was really stupid about the whole mess. Things were just so hectic with the Moran tests and finals coming up…"

Will moved closer to Knight on the other side of the bed and rested his hands on the metal rail that bordered it, "Glad to see you back," he offered with a smile before flipping his hair out of his eyes.

"Good to be back," Knight answered, reaching to grab his glasses from the bedside table.

"So…" Warren started with a small grin, "Top secret project huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well that sucks," he added and came around to sit in the vacant chair beside me.

"A lollipop," Zach added bouncing his head to one side.

"What?" Maj asked incredulously.

"You know, suck a lollipop…it makes it less harsh…" I stopped paying attention to Zach and scooted my chair so Warren would have room.

I watched him sit and bit my lip in a moment of indecision. The others were involved in a conversation about candy so now was the opportune time. Clearing my throat quietly I turned towards him noting the look of amusement that still was on his face. I realized I was staring and looked away, tucking stray red hair behind my ears.

"Warren, I…"

He shook his head slightly, dark brown hair falling in front of his face. I tried unsuccessfully to interpret the look in his eyes as he met mine. The pyro didn't look angry but the silent hilarity had left quite abruptly. It left only a faint trace of gloom in its wake and I chastised myself for ruining the moment. I looked back to the others who were talking to Knight about what he had missed from school.

There was a warm squeeze on my hand; so momentary that I had to wonder if it was only wishful thinking. By the time I dared to take a glimpse to my side he'd folded his hands on his lap and joined the discussion with his typical monosyllabic additions.

I tried not to smile.