There are not enough beds in the infirmary for all the students that had collapsed, forcing the administration to turn the gym into one. The exhaustion had become endemic and it was time for someone to step in; a job that was going to fall onto Jaden's shoulders.

"And Viper is nowhere to be found! What are we going to do?"

"Convince the adults to do something about things for once?" Rae mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. Jesse gave her a sympathetic look, one she didn't see. He had heard stories of Jaden's heroics, but he can only imagine the stress and toll it had to take on not just him, but those close to him. And he can tell that Rae is more sensitive than she lets on, likely taking that toll a lot harder than the others.

Shepherd was gone, leaving Crowler and Bonaparte in charge of the school. Rae knew she should have been feeling anger. Students' lives were in danger and the school was left in the hands of the two biggest cowards she knew? She had every reason to be angry, but she couldn't muster up the energy. The voices around her faded out as she slid onto one of the benches in the room, her mind running laps, going over everything and anything until it was all like white noise.

Ms Fontaine entering the room broke through the tension that was building; Adrian had woken up.

Rae had broken off from the group, heading back to her dorm. They will update her later; right now she needs to lay down. She didn't turn on her light as the door closed, using muscle memory to guide her to the bed, falling into an uneasy sleep the moment her skin touched the sheets.

A loud ringing brought her back to this plane of existence. The small screen on her school provided phone was the only light in the room. She wanted to ignore it and go back to sleep, but before she could stop herself, she had already answered it.

"Hello?" she managed to mutter, trying to keep the edge out of her voice.

"Where ya at?" A soft wave of comfort washed over her.

"My dorm." Her voice answered a lot more gently than she expected.

"There's been a break in the case!" He tried to sound like an old timey detective, but his accent gave a different result. Rae couldn't stop the breathy giggle that left her lips, a smile pulling on her tired face.

"I'll be down there shortly." Jesse could hear her smile in her voice. After changing, she checked herself in the mirror to see if plopping face first into her mattress messed up her makeup. It had.

"I was 'bout to call again," Jesse joked when Rae finally made it to the group.

"Sorry, I tried to be fast." She couldn't stop herself from looking away and nervously pushing hair behind her ear.

"No worries!" Jaden called, "You're here now. Let's get going!" Jaden started off towards the path that cut through the woods, the group following close behind.

Rae's body still felt tired, making it difficult to walk at the same pace as everyone else. She knew if she had stayed behind she would have regretted leaving her friends to fend for themselves, but she also knew that she was on the verge of a breakdown.

She was too lost in her head, forcing her legs to continue on, to notice the group had stopped, causing her to bump into Jesse's back. He glanced over his shoulder at her, her apology caught in her throat. He could see the battle in her eyes, wanting to apologize, but knowing if she did, she'd start crying.

"Ya good?" He asked, voice only loud enough for her to hear. She gave him a shaky nod and took a step back, her heart pounding in her ears. Jaden started again, the door to Viper's hideout opening for them. He knew they were there; he had time to figure out a plan to deal with them.

Once inside, they split up to cover more ground, hoping to find something that would lead them to Viper. The building seemed abandoned, nothing there except for cobwebs and the corpses of small animals and bugs.

"Guys!" Jesse's voice brought them to an old elevator, "There's a down button!"

"But...we're on the ground floor?"

"Must be an underground basement!" Hassleberry announced, his voice echoing in the hallway.

"Uh, all basements are underground," Alexis countered, a sigh slipping through.

The inside of the elevator was just as dingy as the outside of it was, but the ride down was smooth. The dim ceiling light was soon replaced by artificial sunlight shining in from the clear glass panels on the side. The elevator was a lot better kept now that it was in decent lighting.

"Something tells me we are not outside. This is part of the research facility!" Alexis explained. The pressure inside the elevator seemed to change the farther down they went, like in an airplane cabin.

Once they exited into the fabricated environment, they split up again, this time into two groups. Rae knew Jaden and Jesse were more than capable of taking care of themselves and Syrus so she joined their group, knowing any shortcomings she was bound to have, it wouldn't be at the detriment of the other three.

Rae flinched when she heard Syrus and Jesse shouting for Jaden. Her heart began racing, filling her ears with its sound. Had Viper gotten to Jaden already? Their best hope was that everyone would return to the rendezvous point. Which is exactly what didn't happen. And the elevator was also out of commission. Great.

"It might be a good idea to stay here. The others know to come back here." Rae slid down the wall next to the elevator, leaning her head to rest behind her.

"We have to find the others!" Syrus stressed.

"Ya can stay here and wait for us," Jesse kneeled down next to her, "We'll be back before ya know it!" Her head lazily rolled to the side, her eyes opening to look at him.

"You know I can't do that. Just...give me a moment." She closed her eyes again and rolled her head back to where it was. Warm air filled her lungs, slowly and deeply. She held it there, letting it settle her heart, before releasing it, deliberately slow. When she opened her eyes again, she noted that Jesse was still crouched next to her.

"Ready?" She nodded, releasing a smaller breath. Her eyes followed Jesse as he stood up and held out his hand towards her, a small smile on his face. She smiled back and grabbed his hand, getting pulled to her feet a lot faster than she expected.

Jaden was face down on the ground, exhaustion clear on his face. Syrus panicked and ran off to find help while Jesse moved him to lean him against a wall. Once Jaden had woken up, Rae began to check to make sure he was okay. She found nothing other than the dark bags under his eyes. He's going to make himself sick if he keeps pushing like this.

"What you need now is rest!" Jesse gently pushed him back to the ground. "And don't worry, 'cause if it comes down to it, I'll face Viper by myself."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Rae warned, but he didn't seem to hear her. He was distracted by another noise. Someone from Jesse's past was following them.

The fire in his eyes as he recounts the story made Rae anxious. He was similar to Jaden in many ways, and one of those ways was going above and beyond to help others, no matter what. He was going to run off to have a go with that "Trapper" guy, wasn't he?

Jesse had no choice.

"Wait!" Jaden called out before collapsing. Rae was there to catch him.

"Be safe!" Jesse looked back over his shoulder and gave her a smile, a silent promise to her. She looked down at Jaden and sighed. "You boys are going to be the death of me."

Jaden was fighting to stay conscious, something Rae openly opposed.

"Jay, you need your rest." She pushed him back against the wall once again, trying to keep him in one place. "You really think you're going to be able to help Jesse, or any of us, if you keep blacking out?" Her patience was running thin. "I swear to the gods Jaden, I will knock you out. Just...please...five minutes. Just sit here and rest for five minutes."