Andy stared at herself in the mirror. She'd lost a bit of weight during her months at Branch but she'd lost even more since returning. She was eating.. just probably not as much as she should have been. Her uniforms felt baggier by the day. She shook her head pushing the thought away before she checked her pistol. She headed out of the room and met up with the group for the mission they were heading out on.

Tsukasa gave her a look, but continued his briefing. "The Cortezes are highly security conscious. They have wards to prevent unauthorized entry into their warehouse. Andy, your job is to disable them so the team can get in and free the hostages. The rest of you know what to do. Hostages come first, but if you can bag Cortez and his brother, no one will miss them. But only if it doesn't risk the hostages or yourselves. Be careful." He moved aside to let them go.

Andy nodded and followed the group. When they got there, she analyzed the situation. She spotted some people and started muttering kill spells to drop them.

Shouma noticed them at the same time, shifting. He attacked just as the kill spell finished, instantly falling to the ground. He convulsed, then went still.

Andy stared in horror before running toward him. She knelt beside him and ported him back to the infirmary. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him, knowing she was the reason he was dead. She struggled to breathe, finally getting in some air and focusing on reviving him. Once he was breathing she gave a small sigh of relief before teleporting back to the group. She looked around for her team members, thoughts of Shouma appearing in her head distracting her. She finally spotted a team member and helped save the hostages. When they were done, she went back to the infirmary and sat next to Shouma, staring at him blankly.

Tet appeared sometime later, scowling as he saw her. "What the hell happened out there? We barely completed the mission!"

Andy winced and looked down, "I'm sorry. I was working on taking them down when Shouma appeared and got caught up in the spell.." She took a deep breath, "Did we get Cortez?"

"One of them.. The other one got Kiba pretty good. Jack's patching him up so he can be ported."

Andy nodded slowly.

Kai appeared supporting a pale Kiba, bandages wrapped around one shoulder and chest beginning to spot with blood. "Some help?"

She got Kiba into a bed and started to heal him. When she was done, she gave another look at Shouma before heading out of the infirmary.

Tet watched her leave with a sigh, then headed to report in.

Andy curled up in bed, sobbing. She'd been trying to act normal, and she figured Tet and Kiba could see through her act, but she didn't want them to know how bad she'd been feeling. She still hadn't gotten over everything from before but now she'd killed one of her friends. It was the second time she'd killed a teammate now, and the only reason the team wouldn't hate her is because she could bring them back.

Who would she kill next? What if she couldn't bring them back? Maybe she should just run off into the forest and not come back before she did damage she couldn't reverse. Plus, if she did go missing she couldn't be used by Branch or anyone else ever again.

Her mind raced for hours until she finally pushed herself out of bed. She wandered outside and wandered into the forest, no real plan in mind.

Jun sat up in bed, listening for what had awoken him. The base was silent, but he swore he'd heard a woman sobbing. He sat immobile, closing his eyes and letting his consciousness free.

He felt Etsuko's energy, bundled in Kei's arms as she slept. He smiled, then drifted toward Andy's room. He frowned when he found it empty. He followed her aura outside, toward the forest. With a sigh, he returned to his body.

Dressing quickly, he slunk off the base, avoiding who ever was on guard duty and heading straight for the forest. He followed the energy, praying Andy hadn't done anything stupid.

She sat on the edge of the cliff for a while, staring out at the sky. Eventually, she took a deep breath before pushing herself off.

Jun arrived just as she did. "Goddammit Andy!" He jumped after her, willing his power to make a barrier between her and the ground.

Andy opened her eyes in confusion.

Jun's eyes blazed as he realized she was awake. He looked down at her, growling "I'm tempted to slap you so hard you fly without shifting.." He sighed, "But then I'd have both Tet and Kiba after me and I'd rather not. Mind sitting up now? My legs are numb."

Andy moved off into a sitting position, wrapping her legs up to her chest. She whispered out, "Why are you here?"

"Heard you crying. Found you gone, followed your energy. Why the fuck did you jump?"

Andy shook her head, "A lot of reasons.."

"Not good enough. You refused to let me die, but then expect me to let you?"

Andy sobbed. She struggled to get enough air to speak, "I'm sorry."

He slowly stood, wincing at the pins and needles in his legs. "I heard about what happened. Shouma doesn't blame you. In fact, he was blaming himself for not paying better attention."

"Figures," Andy sighed.

"What? That he realizes he made a mistake? Or that perfect is just a word in the dictionary?" Jun gave her a half smile. "Everyone screws up. Not everything is your fault, isn't that what you're always telling that overgrown rug you call a boyfriend?"

"It's not just that though. I'm sick of everything always happening. Branch has been after me multiple times and has really screwed me up. I had a really bad experience with Seltain and so that whole thing brought up bad memories. I just wish all the bad things would stop.."

He grimaced, turning away. "I'm sure me being here doesn't help." He hunched his shoulders for a minute. "At least the memories are yours, good or bad. I'm not entirely sure which are mine and which are his, aside from the blatant torture porn he enjoyed dishing out."

"I don't connect you with him, so you being here doesn't bother me at all. You're you, and you're my friend." She sighed as she wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry you're dealing with that. We might be able to come up with a spell or potion to help.."

"STOP IT!" He whirled to face her. "Stop changing the subject.. This is about you, not me." He knelt beside her. "I don't want to have to do this again. I don't want to wake up and you have done something I may only possibly fix. I can't lose this team like my first. I won't. I'll kill myself before allowing the heart of the team to tear herself apart."

Tears streaked Andy's face. "How am I the heart of the team? All I do is feed them and keep them alive."

"Alive? You keep us sane.. You know, for being so smart, you sure are dumb. I hang out with the porters a lot. You know what Ryon told me? He told me before you joined, Ryusei had near constant night terrors from everything he'd been through. Two months after you joined, they stopped completely. He sleeps through the night because he trusts that you'll keep him safe. Yamae was so sarcastic before you, he literally was almost hated by the team. The others probably have stories of how you saved their sanity as well. If you weren't here… we'd fall apart and not just from malnutrition." He gave a rueful chuckle.

Andy gave a small smile, "I didn't know they felt that way.."

"Like I said, dumb." The necromancer smiled at her.

Andy pushed herself up. "Are you going to tell them..?"

"No. You don't need the added stress of their freakouts. But I was serious. I will die before letting you. So be prepared, if you try anything like this again."

Andy nodded. She looked up the cliff, "Want a ride up?" She shifted into her hawk form.

He chuckled. "Alright."

She grabbed onto him, flew up to the top, and set him down gently before shifting back. She looked out over the cliff and took a deep breath before turning away from it.

He gave a soft smile. "Home? Or is there another cliff you would like to see the bottom of?"

"Home sounds good," she started walking that direction. "I kind of want to tell Tet and Kiba, but you might be right about the stress of them freaking out.."

He chuckled. "It might be worse for me. They'd probably get mad for not waking them."

Andy laughed, "It's their fault for not keeping their eyes on me."

Jun's eyes twinkled. "Well, aren't they lucky then that I was paying attention. I have to thank you actually."

She raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because your state of mind woke me from a rather nasty dream. Or should I say a memory not my own." He scowled. "It really sucks. They show up without warning. Was talking to Kiba the other day and I saw him die in front of me.. He was startled when I ran."

Andy sighed, "Well, glad I could help a bit, I guess. And like I said, we might be able to find a spell or potion to help."

Jun nodded, frowning at the ground as they walked to the base.

When they arrived, Andy looked at him, "Thank you. For everything."

"That's what family's for, right?"

Andy nodded with a small smile before heading off toward the room she shared with Tet and Kiba. She climbed into bed between them, sitting back against the headboard.

Tet opened one eye to look at her. "You okay?"

"Not really, but I will be."

He sat up, eyes staring into hers. "You need to talk?"

She sighed and leaned against him, "I've just been having trouble with things lately.. Not sure what all to talk about unless you want to act as a psychiatrist," she gave a small chuckle.

"You do it enough for all of us. I should have been paying more attention to you. Vent away."

"Just sick of Branch and Seltain and everything always happening. I just need to learn to deal with things better than I have been."

"Branch alone is enough to drive anyone to the madhouse. Discovering everything about Jun was icing on the shit cake." He drew her closer, squeezing softly. "I'm amazed you haven't lost control and just nuked everyone. We're too damn needy at the best of times and right now.."

"Promise you won't get mad at me..?"

His eyes darkened. "That has never had a good follow up. But I promise."

"I lost control tonight.. I jumped.. off the cliff.. Jun saved me though." She hid her face in his chest as if a child hiding under a blanket.

"Jesus, Andy.." He went quiet, silently berating himself for not seeing the signs. "I guess I owe Jun a six pack."

"I'm sorry," she whispered against him, tears streaking her face once more.

"It's my fault for not seeing it. I shouldn't have left you alone."

"Don't blame yourself, please.."

"Hard not to. Especially after what happened on the mission. I lit into you and then left you alone.. Such a cad."

She shook her head, "I'd rather you be mad at me than blaming yourself.."

He gave her a soft chuckle, kissing her forehead lightly. "Of course you would."

"I love you," she said quietly as she wiped at her eyes.

"Love you more." He grinned as Kiba began to stir. "Rise and shine wolfie! Another day in paradise…"

Kiba let out a growl as he opened his eyes. "I'd bite you but that requires movement."

Andy gave a small chuckle before sniffling.

"You okay?" Kiba's voice became soft as he slowly pushed himself closer. He winced as his body reminded him he wasn't 100% yet.

"Not really. But it'll be alright," she sighed.

He nudged her. "Hope you're not blaming yourself for this. Completely my fault." He motioned to the bandages.

"Of all the stuff I blame myself for, that hadn't even crossed my mind as my fault," she gave him a small smile.

"Wow.. not sure whether to be happy or offended."

She gave a small chuckle before sighing. "Things have just been rough lately and I need to deal with them better."

"Don't we all." Tet grabbed them both and kissed them hard. "But we have each other to help, right?"

Andy nodded slowly, wiping at the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't come to you guys sooner.."

"It's okay. At least Jun was around to keep you from being completely stupid." Tet stretched and yawned.

Andy nodded and leaned her head back, taking a deep breath. She then let out a small chuckle, "Guess him and I are even now, aren't we?"

"I'd say so." Kiba hissed in pain as he stretched out at the end of the bed.

Andy said a couple spells to try to help him.

He gave a sigh of relief as the pain eased, eyes closing.