MATTHEW

"Nice! Now this time, I'm going to stop you after three turns."

Over the next week, and in spite of the tabloids, Eleni seemed to relax a bit and come to terms with her new life in the Montagne. There had been a couple more tabloid stories: the tea house pictures had come out, followed by ones of Eleni walking with the group from the Towers. The latter had proven less than satisfying for the public, and there hadn't been any more after that.

Eleni pliéd in front of him then pushed up into a relevé and spun as he grasped her waist and assisted with the turn. 1, 2, 3 he stopped her. Unused to the experience, she went slightly off balance, but recovered quickly. When she stepped away and turned to him, she was grinning.

"That felt good, even though I slipped up at the end. Let's do it again."

Her clothes were a bit improved. One day after lunch, G had finally convinced her to visit the clothing recycling center. She had stuck to dark colors, but the clothes, used as they were, were in much better repair than her previous ones. The clothing from Jenna's bag apparently hadn't worked out for her, and she still danced in whatever she wore that day.

G had also got her to go to the medical clinic, and she was now vaccinated against some of the diseases that had threatened the Montagne's population in the past.

Eleni took up position and spun up into another pirouette. They usually practiced without the toe shoes, and stuck to fairly simple partnering techniques, but today Eleni had insisted she wanted to try partnered pirouettes en pointe. Matthew tried not to feel guilty or nervous about teaching her, especially as the material became more advanced. He had decided he wanted to introduce Eleni to his dance teacher and suspected the formidable woman would not take kindly to his attempts at instruction. "I'm thirsty," he said after a few more spins, and Eleni nodded. They went over to the side and sat, drinking water. Eleni examined her shoes, then took them off. "That's probably enough of that for today," she said. They'd been practicing with them the entire morning. Pretty soon G or someone would be coming up to collect her for lunch. Eleni surprised him. "Let's go down. We're done here for now. Maybe some of the kids will want a short lesson." "Sure." After collecting their stuff, they descended and made their way to the common room. There, Patches, Bright and Tray were pouring over a pile of magazines. Matthew's stomach went sour when he saw them up close. "Summers, here," Patches said, shoving one at him, "a little jaunt down memory lane." "Did you bring these?" Matthew returned, pushing the thin volume away. "Didn't know you were a fan." "Someone left them by the front door," Bright supplied. "We were just waiting for G or Scarlet to find out what to do with them…" "And looking for the good parts while you were waiting, no doubt," Matthew responded, a bit angry. "No! These are all from at least a year ago!" He ignored the hurt on Bright's face but did glance at the magazines. What they said seemed to be correct. Eleni had pulled one out and was staring at it. He went and looked over her shoulder. He and Jenna filled the cover, posed and in full ballet costume. Jenna's auburn-brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Her face tended towards a triangular shape, with delicate features and stunning hazel-green eyes that were shallow and had an appealing slant to them. Her skin was tawny and warm, which suited the costume she wore, resplendent in reds, oranges and some yellow. He was dressed in black with ornate gold detailing. The photo was from The Firebird, one of the two youth performances he and Jenna had starred in over the past couple of years. He felt a pang looking at the picture. Even with the bitterness he now felt, he recognized that his life then had been very, very good. Eleni's finger reached out and traced Jenna's costume. He wondered if she knew at whom she was looking. He didn't explain. As she moved to speak, he thought she might comment on his former girlfriend's beauty. He was wrong. "What is it like to perform?" She said it quietly, almost reverently. He remembered back. "It depends, somewhat. Each performance is different. But it's a huge amount of pressure, a huge amount of stress." He had loved it. "It's also a huge rush." She nodded and he looked at her thoughtfully. Before he could say anymore, however, G arrived.

"Hmmm? What do we have here? Did they leave the juicy bits?" Matthew, irritated, stepped in.

"They're from over a year ago. They all feature Jenna and I on the cover." A brief glance had made that second fact clear.

"Ah, trying to get you to see what you are missing. And," G peered at him intrusively, "are you missing?" Matthew just glared at him.

"Eleni, there's another room that I think would work well for your lessons with the kids." Matthew, overhearing this comment, turned to see Patches leading Eleni out of the common room. He moved to follow them, but G stopped him.

"Down boy," G murmured, eyeing him, "we're just trying to get her more comfortable down here. They'll be back in a moment." A pause as G studied him. "Maybe you're not missing so much." Not trying to understand G's comment, he started gathering up the tabloids, keeping one eye on the door through which Eleni and Patches had left.

Bright and Tray tried to thwart his efforts by slipping magazines under the table.

"Aw, come on, Summers. They're fun!" Tray protested.

"And you were really cute when you were younger," Bright added. The magazines went back several years just as his relationship with Jenna had. It was one of the reasons they had been such a popular couple.

Matthew ignored Bright's blush at their own comment and giving them both a stern look continued with his efforts.

"It's my life. You'd think I should have the right to some privacy." G snorted.

"Mattie, you were eating it up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Stop trying to pretend you've grown some sense of propriety. It doesn't look good on you!"

Matthew told himself G had it all wrong and managed to claim the majority of the tabloids. He'd put them upstairs for now and planned to get them into a recycling bin once the group had left for lunch.

Suddenly, he felt a spike of indignation and anger from Eleni. Concerned, he moved in the direction she and Patches had gone. He didn't get far. She nearly ran into him at the doorway and stepped back in alarm seeing his arms full of paper. He dropped a few of the magazines.

"And I thought you were bad!" she mumbled but bent down to pick up the lost volumes.

"What?" he asked, but she just shook her head. Patches came up behind her then, looking flustered and about to speak. When he saw Matthew, his mouth snapped shut and he glared bloody murder.

Eleni was looking at a magazine cover. A 13-year-old Matthew, dressed casually at some party and sitting next to Jenna, smiled shyly up from the cover.

"What is it with this place? No one here knows how to mind their own business." She flopped the issues on the top of Matthew's pile and went back to the table where G was waiting with the others.

Matthew went up to stash the magazines, only to find that he was followed. Patches glared at him from the doorway.

"Why can't you just stay away? It would be better for her."

"We enjoy dancing together. What's wrong with that?"

"Sure, that's all you are interested in," was his disgusted response. "Come on. You want to get in her pants, but then you're just going to get bored and go back to one of your UpMountain princesses. I saw the pictures. Eleni is pretty, but she's got nothing on your former girlfriend."

"That's a strange thing to say if you supposedly like her," Matthew pointed out. Patches glared.

"She's one of us," was all he said before storming back downstairs.

That afternoon, Eleni surprised Matthew again by staying downstairs after she returned from lunch. The two of them taught a dance class, but for the remainder of the time they hung out in the common room chatting with G and the gang as they came and went. Matthew was happy to see that Patches was otherwise engaged, though his eyes sought Eleni, and him, out whenever the teen happened to enter the room. Matthew determinedly ignored it.

"Hey Hulio. I hear you've got another gig coming up?" he said to the young man, who had just arrived.

"Yeah! At a proper DownMountain restaurant, too!" came the response. Matthew listened as the man detailed his excitement. Bright came over to join them, but when Scarlet came over, he started to edge himself away.

Eleni was talking quietly with G to the side. After the failures of his first few attempts, G had treaded very carefully with Eleni, and it appeared to be paying off. As he drew close enough to hear their conversation, Matthew learned that she was now going to the large man for information.

"Why are there those…boxes out in Katya's Locker?" Matthew avoided that section of the Sewers, and hoped Eleni hadn't gone in there.

"People sleep in them."

"The administration doesn't give them a place to live?"

"Well, they do, but sometimes people don't feel like staying in those places…" Eleni didn't like that answer.

"Why should that be?" G grunted displaying his own discontent with the situation.

"Well, those people aren't very popular, even down here."

"Why is that?" G grimaced.

"There are a variety of reasons: particularly unfortunate mutations, or a general lack of desire or ability to function as expected. But…a large number of the people there are non-mutants." Eleni shook her head in disgust at this information. The topic had reminded Matthew of a question he hadn't been able to answer for Eleni.

"G, Elle asked me this a while back, but I didn't know the answer. Why is this area called the Sewers?"

"There was a band of mutant misfits who apparently lived in the sewers, real sewers, back in ancient times. They were supposedly really ugly." G made a terrible face, and Eleni laughed slightly but then went quiet.

"Matthew told me how they started bring people back from the caravans. And they ended up living here."

"Mostly kids, from what I've heard," G said shortly. "And then there are the refugees." Eleni nodded, indicating that she had heard that, too.

"Are there a lot of those?"

"They tend to come in waves, but there can be decades in between those waves. Usually there was some disaster that sent them running from wherever they were living." He looked at Eleni. "They don't like to talk about their lives before the Montagne, so I wouldn't recommend asking." She looked away.

"I wouldn't. I don't want to talk about it much, either."

Suddenly a hand clapped down on Matthew's shoulder. Scarlet had apparently edged her own way over while he had been distracted by the conversation between Eleni and G.

"So, Mattie, coming to Hulio's gig?" She winked. "I'll buy you a drink." Matthew thought fast.

"I'll go if Eleni goes." Scarlet's eyes shifted to the quiet young woman.

"What say you, Elle? You gonna help me score a good time?" Eleni looked at Scarlet, her face smooth. Matthew wasn't sure she understood what Scarlet was getting at.

"You're on your own, Scarlet," Eleni replied after a moment. G grinned and clapped her on the shoulder.

"That's my sister. Looking out for the little guy." Matthew glared at G as he disengaged himself from Scarlet. The woman pouted. Eleni saved him again.

"Why don't we see if any of the kids want another dance class?"

Sure enough, they found a group, and spent the rest of the afternoon teaching.

When they finished it was almost dinner time and G and the gang were getting ready: selecting who would go the cafeteria and finding any kids who wanted to join of the few who were left. Matthew said his goodbyes and was heading towards the door when Eleni caught up with him. Pleased that she had sought him out, he wondered what she wanted to talk about. She hesitated for a moment before she began.

"Um…Matthew, who are the people that G talks to on the streets?" Matthew looked at her, confused at the random question.

"G is well known down here. They're probably just people catching up with him." Eleni nodded, but he could tell she wasn't satisfied with the answer.

There was another pause. Then, she wished him a good evening and turned away. He left feeling slightly disappointed.

When Matthew got off the train UpMountain, he was surprised to hear someone calling his name. Turning toward the sound, he saw Selene Allerdyce approaching. Inwardly, he groaned. He had no desire to speak with this woman. Ignoring her, however, could have unfortunate consequences. He turned towards her and waited.

As she drew close, she pushed her long black hair behind her shoulder in a casual gesture. It's dark color made her clear green eyes stand out from her light brown skin. Combined with her classically pleasing features, she was very attractive. And she knew it.

"Matthew, it's such a pleasure to see you again! It's been too long." She placed her hand on his upper arm, a warm gesture, and leaned in for a kiss on the cheek. He complied as little as graciously possible.

"Selene. It's a pleasure, but I need to get—" She continued, talking over Matthew's attempt to escape.

"It's so good to see you get back into things, Mattie. We've missed you!"

"I'm not really back in the circles. That's not my thing anymore," Matthew responded, trying to correct Selene's misreading of the situation.

"I understand!" she cooed sympathetically. "After what Jenna did, you needed some time. But now, it seems you are ready to get back into it. I'm so glad." As he considered what he could say that wouldn't make things too awkward, Matthew just looked at her for a moment, nonplussed.

Her smile seemed genuine, but her failure to listen to him was frustrating. Further, this woman was someone Matthew held at arm's length: there had been a party a couple years back where, had he been any drunker, they would probably have ended up in a bed together. And Selene was Jenna's best friend.

She was also very well connected, however, and from a powerful family. She was not someone to annoy.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't say I'm back exactly. I've gotten involved in some things DownMountain." Selene must have known this information, but he put it out there like a shield, hoping it would turn her interest to disgust. No such luck.

"You've been going back to your roots, I get it. That helped you after Jenna's betrayal. You needed it. But you know it's not a long-term option for you. You're not about to give up your life up here, that is clear. This is where you grew up. This is where you belong."

He was uncomfortably aware that there was some truth in her words. He fell back on his original, and simple, escape plan.

"Selene, it's been lovely seeing you, but I need to get back home…" She cut him off again.

"My parents would love to see you. They asked me to invite you for dinner sometime. When is good for you?"

Damn. He couldn't flat out refuse and would probably have to do a dinner. He wished Selene and her parents had held on to their disgust and not decided to target him now that he was apparently recovering from his breakup with Jenna.

"OK. Tell them thank you for me. I'll check with my father and get back to you." The implication was that Matthew would bring Adam to the dinner. Irritation flittered across Selene's face, but then she smiled and waved her hand dismissively.

"There's no need to bother him. He is so involved with his charity work." She pushed a card into Matthew's hand. "Here is my contact information, in case you've lost it. I'll be expecting to hear from you soon. Bye!"

As she walked away, Matthew turned towards home bemused and subdued. His father gaped at him when he mentioned his encounter with Selene.

"The Allerdyce's? Of all the families, they are the last ones I would have expected to reach out to you." Half-cut vegetables lay forgotten on the counter in front of the man.

"You were friends with them, right?" The glance Adam gave him was hooded.

"I grew up with her mom. My parents and her parents were…they were all part of an exclusive circle; I don't know the details, but my parents were frequent patrons of the Club." The Hellfire Club, which the Allerdyce family had taken over roughly a century back. "But once I stopped living that life, they started pretending I no longer existed whenever they could. This is a bit…unexpected."

Matthew stayed silent at his father's discomfort. He hadn't done this on purpose. Adam sighed heavily.

"We'll have to do a dinner with them. Maybe an evening at the Club, that would keep it somewhat public." The second was an aside to himself.

"The Club, really?" In spite of the situation, Matthew was excited. Adam had asked himself and Jae to not attend the parties there. His warning had made Matthew think twice before attending, but attend he had. Once you got to the age of 16 or so, the entry age of 18 was rarely enforced, if you moved in the right circles.

Adam gave him the hooded look again. "Perhaps it would be good for you. You're old enough now. I'll contact them." Matthew was happy to let his father take charge.

Recalling another subject he wanted to broach, he changed the topic.

"How are things at the dance school?"

"Good. You coming back?" Matthew shrugged.

"Maybe…Is Madam P doing well?"

"Yes. Same as always," his father replied absently as he returned to preparing dinner.

"Do you think she ever gets…lonely?" At that question his father paused and looked at him strangely.

"Since when do you worry about your dance teacher?" Matthew became slightly indignant.

"She's like a grandmother to me!" he objected. Adam raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, yes, and the past several months are prime examples of how much you care for her. She's been very worried about you, you know." Matthew registered a seed of guilt, but pushed it away before it could become anything more.

"I wasn't in a good place, and I behaved badly. It doesn't mean I don't think about her. Do you think she gets lonely?" he pressed. "Do you think she'd ever adopt another child?"

Adam gave him another strange look.

"She's older now. The school keeps her occupied. And…Katyana was very precious to her. No one could replace her if that is what you are suggesting." Adam shook his head, his confusion at his son's questions still evident. "No, dancing is her life now. It always was I suppose. The only thing that could turn her head is a dancer of unusual talent." Matthew found he was satisfied with that answer and didn't pursue the topic further.

Adam was happy to drop that subject, but then picked up one with which Matthew was less than pleased. It came up every few days.

"So, this girl. You're still going to the Towers and the rumors are still flying. Have you really told her the situation in full?"

"I told you, we are making sure we never go out together."

"That's not making much of a difference. Do you realize the Towers are getting a reputation over this?" Matthew shifted uncomfortably at being reminded of the disgusting claims that were now being made about G's center. Attendance had dropped off slightly as a result.

"Yes. G said that they did the same thing when he opened it, but that in the end they got bored and forgot that he and the center existed. The same will probably happen now."

"I hope so." Adam didn't sound convinced. Matthew was glad to escape to his room.

A week later Matthew arrived at the Towers to find Eleni already downstairs, with her arms around another woman who appeared to be crying. The hasty wave of her hand told him that he shouldn't approach. He found G in the room he used as an office, putting together some papers. The man spoke when heard someone in the doorway.

"Is the doctor coming?"

"I have no idea," Matthew replied, making G snap his head up and growl in annoyance.

"I thought you were Scarlet."

"What's happened, G? I saw Elle with some woman."

G slammed a cabinet door in disgust. "She did the Birth Proxy Program for some credit but changed her mind at the last minute. The guy didn't like that, so he went ahead anyway."

Matthew took in a sharp breath. The Birth Proxy Program paired UpMountain men with DownMountain women for the sole purpose of making a baby and helping with the fertility crisis the Montagne faced. The population hadn't grown in decades. He himself was uncomfortable with the program, but not surprised by what had happened. G picked up on his mood.

"They see the women as whores, don't they?" The men who participated in the program, publicly, were portrayed as sacrificing themselves, as were the women, for the good of the Montagne. They were supposed to treat the women with dignity. G knew some of these men were Matthew's peers.

And G was right. Matthew had, of course, been present for conversations about the program, though he himself would never participate. He knew, though, that there was a range of opinion. Little of it reflected positively on the women involved. He hedged his answer.

"Some of them use it for their first experience. Some just do it for fun…"

"Fun." There was nothing in the way G said the word to suggest it meant what it was supposed to. Matthew went silent. Eleni's nightmare came to mind, and he thought, sadly, that she was probably a good person to be comforting the victim.

G returned to the issue at hand. "She was outside the main door when I got here this morning. Wouldn't talk to me, but I kept an eye on her until Scarlet got here, then went up and asked Eleni if she could come down." The knowledge that Eleni had so willingly helped with this terrible situation spurred Matthew to action.

"What can I do?"

G set him to looking for specific documents regarding female health, health clinic information and even a document outlining various legal options. Matthew was surprised and relieved to see G had this information on hand. The young woman would need it.

G kept searching for something, and he finally found a sheet, with what looked like handwritten notes on it, at the back of a locked cabinet. He looked at it as if it pained him and did not relinquish it to Matthew. All the papers went into a folder that G took charge of, and they left the room together.

Eleni and the girl had vanished, and G was able to confirm with others who had arrived that Scarlet had returned with a doctor and disappeared with the two girls. Matthew and G waited, chatting with some of the teenagers who had come to the Towers that day, and a short while later the women reemerged. G pulled the doctor to the side briefly, before letting the woman leave, and then gave the folder to Scarlet who disappeared again with Eleni and the other young woman. She looked calmer, though still shaken.

G told him they might take some time, so Matthew joined some of the pick-up sports that always materialized in the courtyard. When Eleni didn't come out for lunch, he went upstairs and found her there, not dancing, just sitting against the wall, her legs pulled up in front of her. She looked at him as he entered, her eyes angry and sad at the same time. He had felt spikes of similar emotion break through her control throughout the morning.

"How is she?" he asked tentatively. Eleni shrugged.

"She didn't talk a lot. She said she'd come back tomorrow as well. I hope she does, but..." Another shrug and a spike of emotion, pain and concern. It contrasted with Eleni's normally cold, distant and prickly personality.

Matthew quietly sat next to her but didn't know what to say. It turned out Eleni wasn't done.

"At least she knows her choices now. Scarlet told her how she can discontinue the program. She'd have to return the credit. And," Eleni's voice dropped to a bare whisper her eyes wide, "Scarlet knew where she could…end a pregnancy." Matthew looked at Eleni sharply. There was horror in her voice.

Abortions were illegal in the Montagne. The Council of Barons, the legal body that functioned under the Head, had created a web of legislation which supported people having kids when they were ready. For instance, birth control was readily available and sex education was thorough. However, once a baby was made, they wanted it.

Then, he recalled Jenna hinting that if she should get pregnant too soon, there were things she could do. He hadn't thought much about it at the time; it had been an amorphous idea to him and seemed like something she should handle.

Eleni was looking at him, measuring him.

"Do you think it would be wrong of her to do that?"

"I…I don't know. I've never really thought about it. But, Jenna once mentioned it was possible UpMountain, so why not here?" Eleni was shaking her head as he spoke, her expression pained.

"I hate the idea of it. But seeing that woman, and knowing what others face…" She closed her eyes in pained sadness. Matthew had no idea what to say; her obvious emotional connection to the topic was beyond him. He settled for further educating Eleni about the Montagne.

"Abortions are illegal here."

She nodded. "At the Citadel, too. If you were caught, or the doctor, it meant the rest of your life in workcamps." He was shocked, even knowing the brutality of the Citadel. He had never imagined they would turn it on their non-mutant citizens.

"It's not so harsh here. I think it's just a fine for the doctors." He recalled that the amount was significant. UpMountain that was nothing. DownMountain…he realized the amount could put someone here into serious debt. He moved his thoughts away from that fact and hoped the doctor who had come was never implicated.

He focused on Eleni. She was quiet, but he sensed lingering discomfort in her.

"I bet it was a comfort to her that you were there. You would understand part of what she went through." Eleni was still for a moment, not understanding his meaning. Then started in surprise.

"Only part? Oh, because I was held down and had my clothing ripped off me, but not actually raped?"

"No! But, it could have been a lot worse, right? I mean you didn't seem so upset about it." Eleni's eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open in amazement.

"You think…you think I was ok with that?!"

"…You seem to be handling it. You've never talk about it," he said in his defense. She was silent for a long moment.

"No, I supposed I don't. It was something that happened to me, but I don't let the experience have power over me." She looked at him. "That doesn't change the fact that it was extremely violent." She looked away. "My mother was raped. She told me about it to help me protect myself."

He started at the bald statement. Now, he was distinctly uncomfortable.

"It wasn't like what happened to me or that girl, but it hurt her no less for it. My mom worked as a nurse and would sometimes see rape survivors. She said that no matter the circumstances, the feelings associated with their experience were usually similar. She used to tell them that she had been raped, and that if they wanted to talk about it, it would never go beyond her. She said they usually talked. Listening to that girl this morning…I didn't want to hear it. But I did it for her." Eleni admitted this reluctantly, guilt and discomfort coloring the bond.

"Do you…do you want to talk about it now?" This conversation was increasingly distressing, but he also appreciated that she was confiding in him. If Eleni could stand a bit of discomfort listening to that girl, then he could stand some listening to Eleni.

She shook her head and thankfully changed the subject.

"What a hideous program," she hissed. "Having children or not having children shouldn't be like that. Something you do for someone else's purposes." Matthew was surprised at her vehemence, and again he didn't have any reply. Having children was said to be the ultimate sign of loyalty to the Montagne. He had always thought of it as something you just did. "What happens to the kids?"

Matthew searched his mind but found he didn't really know.

"They are raised down here. Unless they prove to be a powerful mutant." That was all he did know.

Eleni simply nodded, and they sat in silence for a while, not in the mood to dance. Then she had asked him, as she always did, whether he had found anything new about removing the bond. He felt his stomach sour. He had, though it wasn't much.

His hours poring over books from the university library had for the most part been fruitless so far. The books in the applicable section had simply reiterated what he already knew. Then he had started to get creative. The information he was going to share with Eleni today had come from a book called "A Parsing of Mental Theory", and it was just what it said it was, theory. It broke down the existing knowledge and then applied guesswork to reach further conclusions on telepathy, empathy, wiping, truth-telling and other abilities related to the mind.

He had actually found the book to be fascinating. It went into a theory that even within people with no ability to reach beyond their minds, there was relative mental ability which sometimes could be fairly strong. The existence of some individuals who seemed naturally impervious to telepathy gave root to the idea. Matthew had read the book in its entirety, but it was large and he hadn't brought it with him. Instead, he shared what the author had written about psychic bonds.

"Well, first, keep in mind that this is all theoretical," he cautioned. Eleni nodded. He took a breath, then continued. "This author starts by looking at the nature of psychic bonds. In particular, the fact that a true bond occurs spontaneously. Like with us. It turns out that people have tried to create the bonds, and they succeed to some extent, but the connection requires conscious maintenance on the part of the telepath, whereas a bond such as we have, does not. So, there is a distinction there.

"Based on that information, she makes the conjecture that it is the subconscious that drives the bond, which I mentioned before. In the case of the telepath, it somehow hijacks the person's natural proclivity, however she feels strongly that there must a similar subconscious sentiment in the case of the other individual, else the bond could not take hold. If it could occur more easily, you'd have psychic bonds everywhere there are telepaths."

Eleni nodded in comprehension. "That's why they are so rare. You have to have a sort of resonance between the two people."

"Exactly, and that is why they are usually seen between two people who have had a long association, and with a deep emotional connection, because that resonance is more likely to occur."

"But that is not us." Matthew felt dismay at the conviction with which she made that statement but pressed on.

"Let's put our case aside for now. This author thinks that when this resonance occurs, the telepath's subconscious senses it and reached out on a deep telepathic level that requires next to no energy to maintain. If it finds the matching resonance, it creates an attachment. The author uses the metaphor of a hook." Matthew felt intuitively that that was wrong but couldn't say why. "And, voila, a psychic bond." Eleni was nodding but looked a trifle impatient.

"Now, let's look at our case. The very first day G brought me to the Towers, I recognized on a subconscious level that you were grieving. I did the same when I was small and lost my mother. I danced through it, too. Though not nearly as well as you did." He said the last a bit as a small joke and was rewarded with a brief, slightly annoyed, smile. "I think that is what alerted my subconscious to the fact that there might be a resonance. Then somewhere in all those weeks we just danced, it reached out, found the same resonance in you based on your experience, and started to create a bond." He strongly suspected that when they had shared nightmares, it had in essence cemented the bond, but didn't say that. He didn't think she'd take it well.

"So, in a way, our bond was formed based on desperation, like you mentioned before. Grief is a desperate state. Does that mean you think the bond will fade based on the other bond that came from desperation? That you just want to wait and see if it goes away?" She was still unhappy with that scenario. Matthew shook his head.

"It could be one possibility, but I also have another idea. A lot of what this author proposes makes sense, the bond coming out of the subconscious because of a resonance. If it is right, it makes a pathway for me to follow. I could try to trace the bond to its root and see if I can undo the attachment." He revealed this reluctantly. He didn't particularly want to undo it. It had formed naturally, and he felt there was nothing wrong with it being there. Knowing that Eleni did not return that sentiment, he never allowed himself to dwell on those feelings too long.

She took a deep breath and thought for a long moment.

"When you say a pathway, you mean you wouldn't have to scour my whole mind to find the bond?" He nodded. "And you wouldn't…see my memories or anything?" A valid worry.

"Hopefully not. There is always a chance, but I would actively try not to allow that to happen." He thought she was comfortable enough with him that that worry wouldn't hold her back. His suspicion proved correct.

"Let's try it. Do we need to wait for a specific time?" He shook his head, and she spread her hands wide. "There's no time like the present."

Matthew nodded, trying to present a confidence he didn't feel. Gathering their things, they moved to another room, a couple stories higher in the half-built building, for privacy.

"We should lie down, heads close. That way if something puts us off balance we won't hurt ourselves. Then, I'll need you to think about your mother's death. That's the only place I can think of to start looking for the bond." She closed her eyes at that but nodded.

They positioned themselves, heads just overlapping, with feet pointing in opposite directions, using extra items of clothing for pillows.

"Are you ready?" he asked Eleni. She didn't speak for a moment, and he sensed she was intent on something, but then she replied yes and turned her head towards him. He tilted his head so that his forehead touched hers and entered her mind.

Her control was impressive. He had only entered minds as part of his training years ago, but he remembered them being cluttered, with stray thoughts here and there. Eleni's mind was like a hollow hall with one scene playing out at the center: Eleni finding her mother, beaten bloody. He looked away from that, knowing the pain it was causing Eleni to see it again, and again.

Not wanting to extend her discomfort, he started searching, not sure what he was looking for, but sure he would know it when he found it. He 'circled' the memory that played out in repetition but found nothing. He searched more closely. It had to be there somewhere. Desperate, he moved closer into the actual memory.

"Mom, no, no! Don't leave me, mom! Don't leave me!" He tried not to listen, not to get too close to the emotions themselves. Still, he had no sense of the bond. He moved closer.

"Don't leave me!" The phrase started to echo throughout the chamber Eleni had created in her mind. Matthew ignored it at first, though distantly he recognized a terrible feeling was growing in his stomach. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" The room trembled, and Matthew froze.

No.

He realized too late and that the voice he was hearing was no longer Eleni's.

ELENI

As soon as things started shaking in her memory, Eleni clamped down on everything, not thinking a single thought, mentally holding as still as she could. It didn't stop her from being swept away into Matthew's memory, which had a painful clarity his nightmare had not. She was there, tucked under the rock, her mother leaving her to go help the other children.

Something moved to the right. She yelled out. Her mother rose slightly and maneuvered back, starting to glow. Eleni felt relief. Then the gun shot sounded, and her mother's head snapped forward as she fell, thick wetness blooming at the back of her head. Horror and guilt flooded through the child.

Don't leave me!

People started appearing, coming up from the ravine below them. Eleni's eyes darted in panic as she cried piteously. The men collected her mother's body and then came for her. They wore white arm bands with an insignia printed on them in black, clear in the stark contrast of the fundamental shades. Eleni felt her stomach turn in horror. The memory abruptly cut off.

Free, she rolled to her side, away from Matthew. She was sweating heavily, shaking uncontrollably. She could hear crying from behind her. Desperately, she tried to take some deep breaths, failing for several minutes.

Finally, she was able to breath, and asserted control over her emotions. The crying had quieted, but not subsided. Slowly, she sat up and looked around. They were still alone. If either of them had cried out, no one had heard. Steeling herself, she looked over at Matthew.

He was curled into a ball, his arms wrapped around his head. Her own breathing controlled, she could now hear that he was whispering, Mommy, every few moments. She slid herself to his side and reached out to gently touch his shoulder.

He started, his arm jerking back, and looked up at her with wild eyes. Then he recognized her, and she finally felt him start to calm down. He sat up, face a wreck. It tore her heart, and she moved so that she was beside him, then opened her arms and embraced him. He let his head fall on her shoulder, and she felt his tears renew. She rested her cheek against his hair, and they sat like that for a long time. She found tears running down her own cheeks.

When Matthew finally calmed down, he pulled back. After a few deep breaths, he apologized.

"I'm so sorry to take you through that again. I didn't think anything like that would happen."

"Are the memories connected now?" she asked. She had been thinking about it while she held Matthew.

Matthew shrugged. "It seems the best guess to me. That or the feelings and…words…are so familiar that made me remember it no matter what I wanted." That made sense as well.

She thought as silence lingered. Against her better judgement, Matthew had become a friend, she felt that now. He helped her; his presence helped her. What she had just learned from his memory disturbed her, but in the end was of little consequence in her life. However, it made a big difference in his. She hated to add to his pain but decided that keeping her silence was even more egregious.

She couldn't let a friend live a lie.

"I think I might know why, Matthew. Why that memory has so much power over you." He looked at her dubiously. She pushed on. "Even though you remember," she started slowly, finding the words to best explain what she suspected, "I think you are repressing it somehow. I saw something in it that I don't think you see." Now he looked at her as if she was crazy.

"I used to have that nightmare every night. I hardly call that repressing it." She felt her heart contract at the pain in his eyes, though she outwardly she breathed and remained calm.

"Matthew," she began, insistence entering her voice. She had lived her 17 years knowing her enemies surrounded her. She had imagined it was somewhat akin to hell. She hated the thought of putting Matthew in that same position but felt that knowing was better than living in ignorance. "Please listen to me. The people who came to take you. The ones who killed your mother. They were from the Montagne. I could see the insignia clearly on their arm bands!"

Eleni hadn't thought far enough ahead to anticipate a reaction. Later she would reflect that denial, shock or disbelief would have been logical. Most definitely not the irrational anger that she encountered.

He pushed her away, his face twisting in fury.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? That is the craziest thing I've ever heard ANYONE say. The Montagne has given me the best life I could have had. You're trying to make them some kind of menace, and when they are the reason I am here trying to help YOU!" He looked at her, contempt thick in his eyes. "I get you food, I get you clothes, I bring you back to the real world instead of the tiny hole you seem determined to dig yourself into, and this is the thanks I get? What is WRONG with you? I'm not going to take this anymore," he hissed venomously. Then he stood, turned away and stalked towards the door. He didn't leave, though, and instead started pacing the room, muttering to himself.

Eleni sat in shock, trying to figure out what had just happened. She cut off her awareness of the bond as much as she could.

She had never imagined Matthew could be like that. It was so unlike the man she had come to know. Her reaction was numbness, though her stomach felt unpleasant. She breathed deeply and focused on what mattered.

He had no right to treat her like that. No one did. Contempt had no place in any caring relationship. Her mother had been adamant about that, and Eleni agreed.

With that thought, she realized it was time. Psychic bond and tabloids be damned. She regretted that her last memory with Matthew was so horrid but there was nothing to be done about that now. She stood and made her way to the door.

"Good bye, Matthew."

"Eleni, don't leave!" The strangled sob of a sentence stopped her for a moment. Then, she shook her head and kept moving. "No, please! I'm so sorry. I know I got angry at you, but I can't remember why. I've been trying to. It felt so wrong. I know I yelled at you – I don't do that! But I did, and I can't remember why, and it's driving me crazy. But please, please don't leave me." He was crying again, she realized. She stopped a second time, and slowly turned around. Something in his voice, and in the bond she was desperately trying not to feel, made her nervous.

He had turned to face her, but was now kneeling on the floor, hands on his head, his head ducked forward as if in pain. He kept muttering the same words, permutations of what he had already told her, but always beseeching her not to leave at the end.

She opened herself to the bond. She felt confusion. And panic. And fear. He was deeply afraid she would leave him. It shouldn't have mattered to her. Yet, she found she couldn't leave him in that state.

Slowly, she approached. "Matthew, I told you something. You didn't like it. That's why you got mad." He didn't seem to hear and remained where he was. She reached him, and crouched down, placing her hands over his where they gripped his head. He let go and grasped her wrists in his. He was shaking. She had intended to talk to him more, but something told her that would do no good.

With a sinking feeling, she knew his reaction was somehow related to the self-imposed block on his memory. There was a pattern to the emotions that pulsed at her through the bond. Anger, brief but there, suddenly cutting to…nothing, then confusion, panic, fear, and back to anger to start the cycle again. He had driven himself into some sort of mental loop and he couldn't break out of. It disturbed her greatly, but she didn't know what to do.

Looking outside, she saw it was growing dim, the artificial lights becoming the only light visible in the cavern. She was momentarily taken aback by the amount of time that had passed while they had been working on the bond. She was fairly certain he had missed his last train. She didn't want to go to G or any of his friends, and most of them had probably gone home already. Reaching for options, she settled for one that was easy and close. "Come with me, Matthew, I'm going to take you somewhere safe."

Slowly she got him to stand up. Slipping his arm around her shoulders, she led him out of the room and oriented herself. She was familiar with the entirety of the Towers.

They walked through the halls and up the stairs. Matthew seemed to calm down a bit, although he still trembled. His litany had reduced to begging her not to leave. She distractedly continued to reassure him, but focused on the hallways and stairways around them, making sure they were deserted.

It was dark out by the time they reached the final portion of the trip. Matthew continued to mumble distractedly. She steadied the beam, and then carefully led him onto it, herself walking first but always holding his hand. She held her breath, not wanting Matthew to realize where he was. Fortunately, he remained distracted, and with a sigh of relief she led him into the small room where she slept each night.

She lay him down in the corner, then lay down beside him, rubbing the arm that was closest to her. She continued to reassure him. She was right there and wasn't going anywhere. Slowly, his words grew faint and long spaces came in between. Finally, he fell asleep.

Exhausted, she evaluated the situation as she left to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. She had brought Matthew to a place she had intended would remain secret, but in light of everything that didn't matter so much anymore. She dismissed her concern.

She considered telling G her worry about Matthew's memory, but still didn't feel comfortable enough with the man to do so. While Matthew took G at face value, Eleni had seen enough to know that the man worked on multiple levels, and she wasn't sure of his motivations or intentions.

Back in her room, she looked sadly down on Matthew's sleeping form, seeing no other way to help him. He would have to live with his damaged memory and ignorant that the society who sheltered and elevated him was also the one that had murdered his mother and shattered his life.