The war rages on, leaving Dominic helpless in the center of it all. Plutonians and Mercureans are slashing one another, blood pooling everywhere you look. Males and females fight mercilessly, no one giving up any time soon. I look to the left and right, considering an extremely dangerous decision.

I run to one of the food counters, grabbing a package of cherries from the fridge. I run back to Adam, covering him weakly with my body.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"There is a reason that I would not let you touch me when you had cherries on you," I say calmly as all the people around me are being murdered.

"Which is…?"

"For some reason, cherries have a strange reaction with the Protector. Like, it is extremely dangerous… I do not want you to get hurt, love…"

"I'll be alright, Glitterbaby… Just do what you need to…"

I nod, standing and shoving half the package of cherries into my mouth. I chew them slowly, not particularly liking the taste of them. I feel my body heating rapidly, which worries me, though I know what happens. Dominic screams into the sky from the distance, feeling the aftereffects of what I've done.

White hot light, like lava, courses through my body, transferring quickly into Dominic. I scream in unison with him, tears falling down my cheeks at the immense pain. Our screams morph into fierce growls, me becoming my naturally murderous self, teeth baring wide. Dominic doesn't have the teeth, but he is still snarling like a ferocious monster… like me…

Dominic's face cracks and bleeds even more, the liquid fire from me cooking him from the inside-out. Inky tears fall down his face like satin, though they leave a waterline. I feel the heat in my body subsiding, knowing it's only increasing steadily in Dominic.

The white hot light shines from his open mouth and eyes, becoming more powerful with each passing second. I feel the heat leaving my body and radiating from Dominic severely. After a few more seconds, the fire leaves me and is fully boiling within my son. I scream at how reckless I just was, killing my own child. The tears burn on my face. I look to Adam for help, or maybe a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but I find nothing at all.

The light and fire from Dominic explodes away from him, wiping out over half of the Plutonians. A Mercurean becomes apparently quite angry with Dominic, tossing a silver dagger his way. Casey pushes him out of the way just in time for the dagger to slip past their heads and stick halfway into the wall.

Casey spots a nearby knife and picks it up, aiming for half a second before chucking it straight at the Mercurean, piercing him directly in his forehead. He drops to his knees, falling forward and piercing the knife through his head further, killing him. Casey winces, turning back to Dominic.

A Plutonian shouts in the distance somehow, his voice ringing over all of the mayhem.

"Nina! Mia! Now's your chance!" out of the shadows comes a pair of twins, females. Plutonians… They both have long brown wavy hair, cascading past the backs of their knees like a waterfall. Their pale skin and red lips make them look that much more dangerous. Their facial features are dark, shadowed.

They're holding up massive guns, fully loaded. One of the two points her gun toward Casey and Dominic, preparing to strike. My eyes widen, but I have no time to rescue them.

She fires her gun, missing Dominic's head by a fraction of an inch. It slips past him, hitting the wall where the dagger landed and exploding. I cringe at the thought of it exploding against Dominic.

"Nina! What the fuck! You missed!" yells the other twin, obviously named Mia. She shoots a glance toward me, and I look away quickly, focusing my gaze on Adam. I look back to Mia, who's smirking viciously. My gaze shifts back to Adam as I realize her next plan. Nina watches her warily, poised to run.

Mia holds up her gun, aiming for Adam. Suddenly, everything seems to fall back into slow motion. I feel myself running to Adam to help him, but I'm not fast enough. A body jumps in my way, crossing Adam. I see the bullet pierce Dominic's heart straight through before I have time to breathe.

All of the fighting and shouting around me is drowned out. I can't hear anything. My senses are numb and dull, my breath stopped. I look down at the beautiful boy that is my son and cry. I cry so hard that my tears run out.

Leila is distracted for a portion of a second. This short time frame gives a Plutonian plenty of time to slice into her back maliciously. She screams in pain, falling to the floor. I run to them, stabbing the Plutonian in the chest with my sword. I help Leila hobble back to where everyone is sitting.

Dominic has fallen into Adam's lap. He strokes his hair gently, leaning over him and sobbing onto his suit. He lifts his head to scream into the open air, the pain enveloping him entirely. I fall to my knees heavily, taking in all of what has just happened.

The noise around filters back into my senses, but it's fading. Everyone has stopped fighting, seeing that the threat is now gone. Bodies cover the floor in so many places, you can barely walk.

Casey wipes his eyes, yanking the dagger from out of the wall and running to Mia. He grasps her by her long hair, pulling her downward with pain before shoving the dagger into her chest without hesitation or regret. He twists the dagger, causing her even more pain before her final breaths. She falls to her knees, her sister running up behind her to catch her.

Casey walks away silently back to Dominic, Adam, and me. Leila catches up soon, blood covering every inch of her body. Adam continues to fret over Dominic, his lifeless body falling limp and heavy in his weak arms. I hold up Dominic's head in my lap, running my fingers gingerly through his black hair.

Everyone around us is quiet, attempting to be somewhat respectful. The only things anyone can really hear are Adam's cries of pain and despair. He kisses Dominic's forehead and cheeks, holding him sadly.

"Nicky, you can't die!" Casey shouts, touching Dominic's face and holding onto his hand. "You can't!"

Leila's a sobbing mess, being held gently by me. I rock her back and forth slowly, trying to calm her down. Nothing but sorrow fills the air around us. I stand, helping Leila up and prying Casey away from Dominic. I try to talk to Adam, but he refuses to leave Dominic.

"Just… just go… I'll find a way home…"

"But you will die, Adam! The heat is too much!" I whisper loudly.

"I'll hang around some Plutonians. Just don't worry about me. Leave me be…" he says. I sigh.

"I will take Casey and Leila back home and come back, okay?"

"No. You all go home. I'm staying… Don't come back. If it's been longer than a week, come find me. I'll probably be dead, too."

"Adam! No!" I crouch down in front of him and Dominic quietly, lifting Adam's chin gingerly. "Do not EVER say something like that… I LOVE YOU, ADAM MITCHEL GLAMBERT."

"I love you…" he whispers weakly. I sigh, taking his face carefully in my hands and pressing my lips against his. This kiss is sad and passionate, full of thousands of emotions. I slide my tongue into his mouth slightly, but he pushes me away. I look at him desperately.

"Why?" I ask.

"It's just… why?" he asks back. I press my lips against his once more, slipping my tongue between his teeth and practically choking him. I feel as though I'm sucking on his face, which is probably what it looks like from everyone else's perspective. I ignore the mental image and continue kissing him.

He doesn't fight me this time, but welcomes me, holding onto my chin with one of his hands. He soon brings his own tongue into the kiss, fighting me. I break off of the kiss for air, returning with a chokehold.

I finally release him, having sucked his face off for a few brief minutes. I sigh, standing once again and joining Casey and Leila. We wave goodbye, and I blow a kiss. Adam just looks down and takes slow, deep breaths. I hang my head low as we walk away back to the pod.