A/N: Hey friends! I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a really long time! I had some personal troubles and I was unable to write. I hope this chapter was at least, in part, worth the wait

Rae found a spot against a wall to take a nap, hoping to reboot her brain. She was uncomfortable, but sleep did not struggle to find her. At some point, her body slid across the wall, sliding to the floor where she spent the night asleep.

When Rae woke up in the morning, there was a sharp pain in her back and shoulders. She sat up to try to stretch it out and a blanket fell into her lap. When she dropped her arms, her hand landed on something soft. Someone had also put a pillow under her head during the night.

She must have gotten at least 8 hours of sleep, but her body was still exhausted. The pain that seemed to radiate through the rest of her body stopped her from sleeping anymore, even though she really wanted to. As her mind cleared away the sleep, a familiar feeling percolated in the air around her, taking her back to the night Jaden dueled Axel. That same cold static feeling tickled her skin, only this time, it was stronger. And a lot closer.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Jaden had just entered the room.

"I fell asleep on the floor so," she leaned back on one hand and gave him a finger gun with the other one, "not great." Both her elbows popped and her back cracked when she stretched her arms over her head again. That felt a lot better than it sounded.

While Jaden and Bastion talked, Rae searched through the cupboards and drawers in the infirmary, hoping to find something to wash her face with; she had left her makeup on for long enough.

Antiseptic ointment...syringes...needles...gloves...alcohol prep pads...none of this is helpful…

"What are you looking for?" Rae tensed up at the sound of Ms. Fontaine's voice.

"Uh…" she looked up at Ms. Fontaine, feeling like a kid with a hand in the cookie jar. Rae slowly closed the drawer she was digging around in, not breaking eye contact with Ms. Fontaine. "...I don't know...I wanted to wash my makeup off and I was hoping...there might be something…"

"I'm sorry Rae. I don't have anything."

"That's...that's okay!" The smile Rae forced didn't reach her eyes and she knew Ms. Fontaine noticed, but she rushed out of the infirmary before Ms. Fontaine could say anything.

She knew it was a silly thing to be crying in the bathroom about, but there was nothing Rae could do to stop the tears. Her fingers were tightly curled around the sink basin, her nails pushing back against the porcelain, threatening to bend back and ripped from her skin. The steam from the heat of the following water mixed with the tears falling from her face. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about how pathetic she looked when she saw her reflection in the mirror. The "waterproof" claim that was the cornerstone of her mascara's selling point seemed to have reached its limit. It had started to smear, leaving a shadow underneath her lower lash line, when she had cried yesterday, but it held up enough to not run down her face. However, yesterday's tears did carve out some trails in her foundation, which were now filled by her retired mascara.

Steam had started to fog up the mirror, but Rae was beginning to spiral again. Her tight grip on the sink loosened with every shake of her hands. She was starting to struggle to breathe and her knees were feeling weak; if she didn't do something soon, she was going to fall. She reached a hand into her pocket, leaving an unsteady one holding up her weight on the sink, and pulled out a small pill case. If there was a time to use one, it was now.

There was only so much hand soap and cheap paper towels could do in the way of make-up removal. Even if it could remove lash glue, there was no way she was going to put the soap that close to her lash line, which meant not only was the lash glue staying, but so was any eyeliner that wasn't pulled off with her lashes.

Her medication had more than enough time to reach its full effect by the time she left the ladies' room. The artificial calm it provided was enough to help her ignore how disheveled her face looked with her smeared makeup and the longer it had to set it, the fewer things she cared about.

Rae caught Jaden as he was leaving the infirmary. There was no need for an explanation: Rae was going to follow regardless. She was too deep in this to back out now and she's gotta take full advantage of her newly fabricated composure.

"Absolutely not!" Crowler wasn't protesting for the safety of the students; he did not want to put his pension and tenure put on the line in case someone came back hurt. Or didn't come back at all.

"Don't worry. If I'm with 'em, nothin's gonna happen!"

"That's right, mate. Axel and I have both recently taken Dueling in the Desert 101." Axel and Jim tried to put Crowler's mind at ease.

"And I know how to fight so if dueling doesn't work, I will throw hands." Without her anxiety antagonizing her, Rae was able to act like herself again, bad jokes and all. "We'll be fine: I've never lost a fight." She felt the energy around her shift. It wasn't the cold static that has been following her around all year. It was from her friends. She didn't realize how strange her behavior must have seemed after Jaden had seen her weep, Jesse saw the ghost of her tears, and everyone had heard her make a second joke about her death.

Crowler didn't want to make a decision regarding the hunt for the submarine and even with Axel had stressed that they could use the student notebooks as homing beacons, Crowler still did not want to budge. The only decision he made was to pass the decision on to Bonaparte, who did not hesitate to give them the go-ahead.

"So here's the game plan: We look for the first aid kit and you guys guard duel academy." Jaden had split the group in half. He, Jesse, Jim, and Axel were going to look for the submarine and the other half were going to stand guard at the school.

"I'm coming with," Rae piped up as she made it around Alexis.

"Are ya sure you're feelin' up to it?" Jesse knew by the look she gave him that there was nothing he could say that would change her mind.

"If you need help bringing stuff back, you're going to need me; Jaden's got the strength of an 8-year-old boy, even without being as exhausted as he is right now."

"I'm going with you Jaden," Adrian interruption stopped Jaden from voicing his faux offense to her remark. Rae watched Adrian approach Jaden through a side-eye glare; she never did liked him. First it was because of his Chazz-like grandiose, and now, with him as close to her, it was because his aura made her nauseous. Adrian followed a few paces behind the rest of them once they took off, which only added to Rae's unease.

"Are ya sure you're okay?" Jesse's voice was only loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm...fine." The look she found when she looked up at him compelled her to keep talking, "It's been...rough...for me, these last several months. And with everything that has been happening..." she moved her gaze forward. "Sometimes I just need a moment to myself." She wanted to keep talking to him. She wanted to take the door inside her that she's been shoving everything behind and open it for him. Let him into the place where all her secrets lie.

"Don't worry, we're gonna get out of here before ya know it." Jesse wanted to cherish the soft smile she gave him: it was the first smile that had reached her eyes in several days. And it was because of him.

"I'm going to hold you to that."