The door closed, the footsteps faded, and all too soon the three Digidestined were once again left in tangible silence. It wasn't natural, none of it. The ESP, the lights, the cell-phone spies, the fighting. This god-awful stillness that sat stagnate around them like pungent smog. Not natural. A sigh was burning in Takuya's chest, pent up tension he was not used to repressing swelling like blood from a wound. Now that Dorian was gone he'd hoped they could have a frank conversation. A real conversation, one where they could honestly plan how they were going to handle this whole "Tache trying to possess Koichi" thing. You know, the kind they couldn't actually have with Koichi in the room. God, why did he have to be the clear-headed one! How did he get stuck with this job!?

Seconds ticked by like the dying heartbeats of a slain animal, gasping for one last chance at life. Maybe that was an extreme metaphor, but Takuya could definitely hear something dying in the muted space. Respect, or trust maybe? Their hard earned friendship rotting in a moment of misunderstanding? And all the while something from his science class, of all things, kept repeating in his head. Surface tension: the contractive tendency of liquids to resist external force. Images of water beading up at the tip of a faucet, trembling, gaining more and more weight yet refusing to let go. Bugs sitting on a pond face like there was a sheet of plastic stretched from bank to bank. Blood oozing out of a grass-burned knee, the red and the green clashing in some kind of horrible compliment. His own fingers probing, trying to pop that invisible force, trying to help his body push out any foreign invaders that had entered through the cut. Koji and Izumi refusing to face each other, their own emotions like sacs of liquid barely contained by the sick air around them.

And he just couldn't take it.

The sigh was growing hot in his mouth and, without fully appreciating the consequences, Takuya let it out and the tension in the room burst.

"That's it? That's all you have to say? Just a sigh," chastised Izumi, her arms folding securely across her chest. "Well, I'm glad you're satisfied with yourself."

"Like you've been handling things any better," scoffed Koji, his gaze fixed disdainfully on the table.

"Really guys," said Takuya. Not really productive conversation, but at least it was progress…

"At least I am handling things," Izumi shot back, ignoring Takuya and rounding on Koji. Her voice was laced with frosty accusations.

"That's rich."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"When have you ever handled any of Koichi's issues? Give me one time he's even talked to you about his problems. Name one instance when you were the slightest bit helpful."

"How dare you. I have always made sure he's doing all right. I have always made myself available for him, if he needs me! Can you say the same? You're his brother Koji, but have you even tried to understand what he's been going through!"

"Do not lecture me about "understanding what he's going through." I'm not like you guys, I can't just go home when things get awkward. I can't go anywhere- haven't been able to go anywhere for the past five years where he can't find me. He is always in my head!"

"Then tell me how he's feeling. Can you do that? Right now. Tell me how he's feeling."

Koji opened his mouth to reply, but instead of words only air came out. Izumi plowed over the moment, her own fury working its way to a peak.

"I may not have some hand-wavy psychic connection, but I can tell you that Koichi's very alone and very afraid right now. He needs to know that his friends are behind him, that he can trust us to protect him."

"And a slap in the face is just the right way to tell him that."

Izumi had no words. Her jaw worked and her face flushed, but no matter what she tried the words just wouldn't come. Koji smirked cynically, taking bitter pleasure in his one and only victory since this whole thing had started. Seeing an opening, Takuya doves in, trying to save his friends before either one damned themselves any further.

"Will you both just chill," he snapped, an uncharacteristic coolness sharpening his authority. "Seriously, what has happened to us that I have to be the levelheaded one? Can't you see this isn't helpful?"

"And sending the least empathetic person to calm Koichi down is?" It was a cheep shot and Izumi knew it. Takuya had to bite back a retort, sighing heavily in exchange.

"Like I said before: we're too close to this. I agree, Koichi needs to know that we're on his side. And we are on his side," he shot Koji a pointed look. Then, sighing again, he made a smoothing motion with his hands as if to clear away the bad vibes. "But is there anyone here that honestly thinks chastising him is the right way to go about doing that? I don't know about you guys, but I don't take criticism well. Besides, don't you think we could use this time to strategies?"

"Oh good, here comes another plan that's sure to get us all killed."

"I am choosing to ignore that."

"This isn't a game!" Koji slammed a fist down onto the table next to the cell pone, making it and the rest of the room jump. "This isn't even like the Digital World, Takuya. We have no power, don't you get it? We're helpless."

The moment hung like a wire in the air and every second pulled it tighter and tighter as it squealed in protest. Ready to snap. A collective breath, then…

"We are not helpless," hissed Izumi through a clenched jaw, her arms wrapping around her torso. "I refuse to be helpless. I don't know what we can do, but I know it's something! We can't just… give up."

"Tch," scoffed Koji. His anger hung around him, directionless, waiting for a target. Takuya didn't really want to give him one, but the conversation wasn't finished.

"Izumi's right," he added, risking rejection and placing his hand on Izumi's shoulder. He felt her tense for a moment, then relax beneath his fingertips. Silently glad for his support. Koji snorted, clenching his jaw and choosing to stare at the phone rather than face Takuya. There was so much concentrated hatred in his glare that, had he the ability, the thing surely would've caught fire. For a split second, Takuya thought about just leaving it there and waiting for Dorian to come back.

He couldn't, though. Even if he wanted to, that is, really wanted to, he couldn't just wait for Dorian to fix all their problems. These were his friends and this was his team. He was the leader, whether he wanted it or not, that's just how things were. And if there was one thing he'd learned in the Digital World, it was that leadership was rarely simple or comfortable. That perspective is one of the hardest things for people to hold onto.

"Look," he started again awkwardly. "This hasn't been the best day. I mean, even if we were normal kids, it would still suck because I at least got my summer homework assigned today. But we're not normal, we're Digidestined. We've got weird problems."

"Is there a plan in all this?" Koji's voice was arctic, his eyes still trying to melt the phone's outer casing.

"Come on, Koji! One of my closest friends tried to lie to me; I'm mad at him too! I'd like to fight and shun him just as much as the next guy, but we can't afford to act like kids right now! We have to deal with the bigger problem, which is that Koichi either doesn't trust us to help him or just doesn't think we even can. If we were normal, that'd be one thing. But we're not so we're gonna have to find a way to deal with this."

"How?" Koji's voice had grown soft, defeated. He looked up and Takuya could see the anger settling on its intended target: Koji himself. "What are we supposed to do against people who can use cell phones to hack into people's dreams? Who can be anywhere at any time? Who think it's a good idea to shove a needle into someone's brain? I sure as hell don't know. We are out of our league, Takuya, and my brother's caught in the crossfire. How do you expect me to deal with that?"

"We've gotta find out more about this cult thing," Takuya said, his voice softening just a little. "Right now all we have to go on is Dorian's word and, even though I don't think I dislike him quite as much as you guys, that doesn't mean I trust him either. The guys got issues… We need to get some information of our own and, more importantly, we need to watch out for Koichi. The more we know, about them and about him, the better."

"You think we'll find something we can exploit," asked Izumi, sounding both hopeful and skeptical at the same time. "Some kind of weakness?"

A cynical smile tugged at Koji's lips.

"Everything has a weakness."