We walked until I could barely put one food in front of the other. I didn't notice Sebastian had stopped until I bumped into him. He was leaning against a tree.

"I can't go any further," he said.

I could barely make out his features in the light from the moon overhead, filtering through the trees. His jaw was clenched tight.

"How's your arm?" I asked.

"It hurts."

I slipped out of the suit jacket. "Maybe we can make a sling," I said. I had never made one before but I'd seen them. Between the two of us, we managed a makeshift one to hold his arm. He winced as he adjusted his arm but didn't say a word.

"You should get some sleep."

"We both need to."

"I'll keep watch," I told him.

Sebastian sank down to the ground and leaned against a large tree trunk. I followed suit, putting him behind me on the other side of the tree.

"Communicator still isn't working," Sebastian said.

"Maybe it's broken."

"Maybe we're in a damping field."

"That would explain why the Enterprise never showed up."

"But I told you we would get out of there," Sebastian said so quietly that I could barely hear him over the wind blowing through the branches. He sounded tired. I wondered how far we were from dawn.

"I didn't believe you."

"You did well."

"I had to do something."

"What changed, since the shuttlecraft?"

I paused. "I heard them hurting you."

Sebastian didn't respond. A few second later, I heard faint snoring. I crossed my bare arms over my chest and huddled up, trying to stay warm. It was going to be a long night.

I must have dosed off because the crunching of leaves woke me. I shivered under a coating of dew as I looked through the trees. It was misty out and the morning light made the forest look almost magical. I stiffened as I heard the noise again. I tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

From behind a tree hopped a small animal. I watched as it crossed from tree to tree, rooting through the leaves as it went. It was covered in yellow fur. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

I watched the animal for a moment before climbing to my feet. My joints were cold and stuff as I knelt beside Sebastian and shook him awake. He woke with a jerk and frantic eyes roamed the forest before landing on me.

"We should probably get moving," I said. "Maybe we can get out of the damping field."

Sebastian nodded. He tried to stand but his legs fell out beneath him. I offered a hand and pulled him to his feet. He looked pale, white skin standing in sharp contrast to black hair.

"We need to get you to a doctor."

"I'm fine. It's just a broken arm."

I let him lead the way deeper into the forest. I couldn't be sure that we were moving in a straight line or that we were still headed away from where we had been held. I had to trust that Sebastian had a better sense of direction than I did. As we walked, the sun rose steadily into the sky, warming us through the trees.

"We should try the communicator again," I said when we paused to catch our breath. Sebastian fumbled for it but lost his grip. The communicator fell to the ground.

I bent and grabbed it before Sebastian could. I pushed down the button and spoke into it.

"Tasha to Enterprise. Can anyone hear me?"

There was silence for a moment and then a voice came through. "We read you, Tasha. Locking onto your position now."

I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Sebastian to find him slumped against a tree. I hurried to his side and draped his uninjured arm over my shoulder.

"We need beamed straight to Sickbay," I spoke into the communicator. "Sebastian's hurt."

I put my other arm around Sebastian's waist. His eyes were closed.

The next second, we were in the Enterprise Sickbay. Two nurses surrounded me and took Sebastian over to a bed. I was ushered to a different one. I tried to watch what they were doing with him but then Beverly was in front of me, helping me sit down.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, scanning me.

"I'm fine," I said. "Sebastian has a broken arm."

Beverly stepped to the next table and continued scanning.

"How did it happen?"

"They tortured him," I said, biting my lip. "They beat him up, too."

A nurse appeared in front of me. "Lie down," she told me. I complied, craning my neck to watch as Beverly gave Sebastian a hypospray and slowly untied our makeshift sling. Then a hypospray was being pressed into my own neck and the nurse was hovering an instrument over my forehead. I remembered the cut I had suffered the previous day. Had it only been a day? I wasn't sure anymore. It had felt like we had been in the cell forever.

I let my eyes close as the nurse worked.

"She can answer your questions later."

My eyes flew open and I found Picard and Will facing off against Beverly by the door.

"Doctor, this is urgent," Picard said.

I sat up, realizing a blanket had been draped over me. I left it in my lap as I dangled my feet off the bed.

"It's okay," I said. The three of them turned to me.

"You need to recover," Beverly said, coming to stand beside me.

"I wasn't hurt."

"We need to ask you some questions," Picard said.

"It was the Sandor Dawn," I told them. "They shot down the shuttlecraft and then took us somewhere. Sebastian thinks they had a damping field. We had to walk until we were out of it."

"It was close to where we found you?" Will asked sharply.

I nodded. "I'm not sure how far. We walked for a few hours last night and then a few more this morning." I closed my eyes and thought about the position of the sun. "I think we were walking south."

"What kind of building was it?"

"It was old. Stone. It looked abandoned."

Picard nodded. He glanced over at Sebastian and I followed his gaze. The man was lying on a table with his eyes closed. His broken arm was straight at his side.

"How is he?" Picard asked Beverly.

"He'll be fine. He had a broken arm and a broken rib."

"His rib was broken?" I demanded.

"He was going into shock when we found him. But he'll recover with some rest."

"He didn't say," I muttered. "He walked for hours."

"How are you?" Will asked, speaking up for the first time.

"I'm fine," I said. "They didn't hurt me."

"What did they want?"

"They wanted Sebastian to go back on his request to join the Federation and to shut down the school." I shivered. "But really I think they wanted to kill him and frame me for it."

"You?" Will asked.

"To make people hate shapeshifters again."

"We're going to need every detail you remember," Picard said.

I recounted the events of the last day for them. I left my emotions out of it and didn't mention how I had felt terrified and helpless. When I was done, Picard turned to Will.

"Set up a search pattern for ten miles out from the rescue site. Find the compound and take down a team. Maybe we can catch some of them before they evacuate."

"Yes, sir." He turned to me. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine."

He turned and left.

"I owe you an apology, Miss Lawrence," Picard said. "I promised that you would not be put in danger when I asked for your help. I was wrong."

"You couldn't have known," I said. "Besides, it was my choice to go down to Sandor. Will tried to talk me out of it."

"Still, your safety was jeopardized while helping us."

"Luckily, she's going to be fine," Beverly cut in. "I'd recommend going to your quarters and resting, Tasha. You're exhausted."

I nodded. That sounded good. I looked up at Picard.

"Did you need anything else?"

"No, we'll see if we can find them based on what you told us. I'll let you know if we need anything else." He nodded at Beverly and then me. "I'll be on the bridge."

After he left, I looked over at Sebastian. He was still asleep.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked, not sure if I believed her.

"He'll be fine. We fixed his broken bones and gave him a sedative. He just needs to rest."

"That's good." I covered my mouth as I let out a yawn. "I think I will go to my quarters."

"I'll stop by later to check on you."

I nodded, too tired to protest. A short walk and turbolift ride later and I was in my quarters. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up. I had no idea what time it had been when we had been beamed aboard. My first thought was that I was starving. My second was that my body ached. I spent the next hour showering and then replicating the largest meal I could think of. When I was properly full, I asked the computer for the time. 1700.

I stretched and felt my joints pop. No longer busy, my racing thoughts returned. The quarters around me felt familiar and safe compared to where I had just been. The sense of panic had come back to me as soon as I'd awoken. I reminded myself that I was safe now. The Enterprise was nigh impenetrable. There was no way the Sandor Dawn could get to me here.

I had faced life threatening situations before. Somehow, this one had been different. I had never felt as helpless as I had in that cell. Even after we escaped, the fear had not disappeared. If I had been able to shapeshift, I could have turned into a bird and flown out of the damping field. But no, I could not have left Sebastian.

I wondered how he was doing. The man had had a broken rib and had not told me about it. Instead, he had marched in silence for miles. More than anything else, the last day had taught me what kind of man Sebastian was.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I had changed into a long sleeve shirt but was still cold. The chill of the cell seemed to have seeped into by bones, ever after the shower. I wondered vaguely what Will was doing but then realized I did not particularly want to see him. We had fought the last time we had seen each other and he had been angry about me beaming down. You're trying to avoid facing the truth. Maybe he had been right but I wasn't sure I wanted to admit it.

"Sebastian to Tasha."

I hopped up and tapped the flashing button on the replicator.

"Tasha here."

"You're awake. Can I stop by?"

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm awake."

I hesitated. "Yeah, that's fine."

I was sitting on the couch when Sebastian came in. He was pale but no longer cradled his arm. I walked to the table and pulled out a chair.

"You should sit down," I told him.

"I'm not an invalid," he said mildly. He sat down anyway. I moved across the table from him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. Doctor Crusher is a miracle worker."

"I didn't know you had a broken rib."

"It didn't seem important."

"You were going into shock," I snapped.

"And there was nothing you could do."

Sebastian's mild tone infuriated me. "You were almost killed. You're way too calm about that."

"We survived," Sebastian said. "I talked to government and they've started a search for the leaders of Sandor Dawn. My descriptions of the men were helpful. We're also tracking down everyone who knew you had lost your shapeshifting ability."

I worried my bottom lip. "Do you think they'll try again? If you don't find them."

"Probably. I'll have to be more careful from now on."

"Are you still releasing the video from the school?" With the recent events, I could hardly blame him if he chose not to. He was already a target as it was.

"Of course. Tomorrow night. Tonight I'm releasing a statement about the kidnapping."

"That's brave of you," I said. I wasn't sure if I liked complimenting him.

Sebastian stood up. "Do you mind if I get some water?"

"Help yourself."

He ordered a glass from the replicator and took a long sip. Finished, he placed his hands on the back of the chair.

"I need to tell you something." He exhaled sharply. "It isn't easy for me to admit when I am wrong. I've spent my life and career making decisions and not looking back. But with you, with shapeshifters, I have a blind spot.

"When I thought you were dead, I was angry. I thought that I had been betrayed by my best friend. They told me you had become a terrorist. When I was elected Prime Minister, and Dominic brought up the idea of weaponizing the shapeshifters, I should never have gone along with it."

"Sebastian…"

"Let me finish. I rationalized it by telling myself that my facility was better than where they had been. It was easy to believe because it was true. Then I rationalized what I did to you by saying that the government needed your skills and the information that you gathered. I never let myself consider how it might be affecting you.

"But then I was kidnapped. I'd never been locked up before. I didn't know what it was like to feel helpless. To feel used. And then I realized that must have been how you felt all last year, and I did that to you."

Sebastian took a deep breath. "I understand now why you won't accept my offer of staying as my advisor. And I know you're never going to forgive me. But I'm sorry."

Without another word, he turned and left my quarters, leaving me staring at the now empty chair. The Sebastian I had come to know was a political espouser of improving Sandor, one who believed the propaganda that he seemed to continuously spout. But the man who had just been in my quarters had not been hiding behind anything.

I didn't know how to relate to this new man. And he scared me.