ELENI

Eleni entered the cafeteria and made a beeline for the usual table. With relief, she noted that Travis was there that day, and that Ebony was already well settled with her usual group, which meant that the adversarial woman was unlikely to come over. Her presence the previous day had proven detrimental.

Bat-like wings clipped her on one side, and Eleni swayed to the right to avoid being hit again. Ignoring the laughter behind her, she finally made it to the table.

"Hey Travis," she said, putting her bag down.

"Elle!" Travis looked up from digging through his book bag, wide smile lighting the young man's pale face. He stood, pulling something from his bag. He had grown over the past couple months and was now slightly taller than herself.

"Are you staying?" she asked, worried she'd lose another opportunity.

"Coming back. I have something I need to drop off. My…ah, a friend asked for it." He waved a book in the air, and she nodded as he turned and left.

As she laid out her lunch, she thought carefully about how about to broach the topic she needed addressed. When the young man returned several minutes later, he immediately launched into a story about his least favorite teacher.

"Oh, Fraiser was on point today," Travis looked smug. "I quote 'There has been some research into whether limited mutant ability is linked to personality disorders. The research has proven promising thus far.'" Eleni rolled her eyes and Travis grunted. "At least he can't try to claim I'm a sans." The term meant nothing to Eleni, but she didn't ask for clarification. She did give Travis a sympathetic look.

A few weeks back, just after Tracy's visit, Travis had starting sharing stories about teacher's targeting him. Eleni hadn't believed them at first, coming to the conclusion he was a bit paranoid. Given the young man's status she thought he was untouchable. As she took in the stories, however, and noted the subtle cruelty she herself had become adept at weathering, and the edge of bitterness it created, she had re-evaluated that assessment. Now she listened earnestly to Travis' anecdotes; she didn't think he shared them with anyone else.

It helped that today the topic also played right into her own plan for their conversation.

"Yeah. I forgot to tell you this one, but Professor Grey once mentioned bringing in a friend of his who was a truth-teller to demonstrate the 'the knowing lie.' To see if we could get away with a lie. He looked at me the whole time." Travis rolled his eyes. Eleni continued, laughing as if it didn't really matter. "To be honest, it didn't make much sense to me. He was going to catch everyone in a lie, right?"

Travis tilted his head, and disgust flashed across his face.

"He was going to take advantage of your ignorance. It was a ploy to embarrass you. But he was bluffing – no truth-teller would take time to visit a high school, not for what they make for an hour of their time." Eleni had come to the same conclusion so she hadn't dwelled on it at the time, being too caught up in absorbing all the other idiosyncrasies of the UpMountain. Now, however, it gave her a useful segue into a topic she needed clarified.

"Take advantage of my ignorance…because I would say something wrong, but the truth teller would pick it up as true since my knowledge was faulty."

"Exactly. 'The knowing lie.' You can't lie about something you don't know about."

"Right," Eleni said. That made sense. "Wouldn't they pick up the uncertainty, though?"

"Some can, but not all. An empath would."

"Could I have said I just forgot?" Travis gave her something akin to her own flat stare.

"You know that wouldn't have worked."

"Why not? If you don't remember something in the moment…then you don't know it for that moment. People forget things all the time."

"Elle," Travis' eyes scrunched with doubt, "that's only if you honestly forget. If it's something you never knew, however, saying you forgot will register as a lie, unless you remember learning the information and honestly cannot recall it. Better to be drunk or on something."

"Yeah," she nodded thoughtfully, tucking the information that intoxicants messed with truth telling away. "You know, living DownMountain, I never thought about stuff like this. It was all so distant. Are there any other cases where a truth teller can't….tell the truth?"

Travis sat back, and a look of evaluation formed on his face. Eleni suppressed a spike of panic.

"You really don't watch TV, do you? Truth telling and when it fails is a guaranteed plot line. They've explored all the scenarios. And then some." Another eye roll accompanied the last muttered comment. Focusing on Eleni again, Travis laughed slightly. Eleni, however, relaxed: she had told him she didn't watch TV. "You getting nervous about being with Summers?"

Eleni twisted her lips, then nodded.

"And, you're asking me because of my uncle, aren't you?" Another nod. Travis sighed, and shifted in his chair. "I'll warn you, if you spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff, it can get pretty stressful. For a period of my life, I tried learning the tactics, but found it exhausting. If it concerns you…it might be better not to be in a relationship with someone who can truth-tell." Eleni ignored the warning; she was already past that point.

"OK. I get that. What did you learn, though?" she asked. Travis shrugged, accepting her commitment to the effort.

"Being prepared to provide an answer that will satisfy without having to lie is a big part of it. Phrasing makes a huge difference. If you keep things vague, it will be harder for a truth-teller to sense a lie. Side stepping a topic or commenting on something else to avoid speaking a lie, these are also common tactics. But if you are being questioned directly, those won't cut it."

"Sounds like politics," Elen murmured. Travis' eyes went up.

"You don't watch TV but you follow politics?"

"Not really. But…I mean…politicians," she said, placing emphasis on the obvious. Travis smiled wryly, acknowledging her point. "Anyway, what you are saying is that if you are being questioned directly, your screwed, but in casual conversation you just need to watch yourself?"

"Yup.

"Anything else?"

"Um…nothing that would apply to you."

"Like what. I'm curious." Travis shrugged.

"Try to make it a joke."

"What?"

"It doesn't work for everyone, but some people when they joke, their mind is sort of suspended from reality, or something. It's not quite understood, but the connection to what is true and what is false loosens in their mind, and as such truth tellers have a difficult time discerning the lies." Eleni thought about this for a minute.

"Joking is often a process of undermining the norm. Or telling stories, where reality is suspended anyway…I suppose it makes sense…huh," she murmured to herself, nodding slightly. Then she looked back at Travis. "Anything else?"

"There are group tactics as well, because, as you know, it has to be a 'knowing lie'."

"What do you mean?"

"If only some people in a group are aware of the information, the others will pass a truth test. Polaris Reborn is the great example. The Shaws and the Cult leaders had managed her so well, she had no idea of the conspiracy they had created with her as the figure head. So, when she was questioned, on many counts she was exonerated. Of course, she had known she was trying to overthrow the Lensherrs, so she got put to death anyway."

"The knowing lie," Eleni murmured, understanding the concept better. "You don't know that you are lying. Do people ever manipulate their minds to create that?"

"There are various, involved, methods to temporarily forget, and there is some evidence that they can work. But you need to know the exact moment when you will be questioned and time the drugs or whatever you are using correctly. And…it's not good for the brain." Eleni shook her head, dismissing that. Travis hadn't gotten her meaning.

"No, but I mean, can people convince themselves that something is not true? Not forgetting, not using drugs."

Travis looked at her strangely.

"No. If someone knows something is or isn't true - for example, that they did or did not do something, or if something did or did not happen to them - it will register as a lie if they contradict it."

"But, what if people convince themselves that it is true." Travis continued to shake his head.

"People have tried, Elle, it doesn't work, and it is especially bad for the brain. And in cases where someone is convinced something is true when everyone else knows it is not, because, say, it is impossible, then there is only one logical conclusion." Eleni reached that conclusion quickly but waited a moment before voicing it out loud.

"That they are crazy." Travis nodded eyebrows raised.

"And then people are going to doubt anything they say, truth-teller or no. Truth-telling is unreliable on someone who is insane," he finished, taking the thought to its logical end. Eleni decided the topic was exhausted and didn't bother to point out that she had meant that no one else would know which was truth and which was lie, so you wouldn't look insane.

"So…what are you planning on keeping from Summers?" Her eyes snapped back to Travis.

"What? No, it's not like that. But, you know. You get used to having your mental privacy," she tried to joke.

Travis gave another small laugh.

"I get it. I was worried about my uncle discovering the fact that I liked to sneak cookies out of the kitchen," he shook his head at his younger self. "Doing all that research did, however, teach me to move past it, and get on with life. If I got caught, I would cross that bridge when I came to it."

Eleni sighed. If she got to that point, she suspected there would be no bridge to cross.

MATTHEW

"Her head it turned the wrong way!"

Matthew tensed, his eyes snapping away from the book he had been reading to the person who had thrown the rude comment at himself and Eleni. A chortling group of teenagers he didn't recognize were walking away from the patch of green where they were sitting. He felt pressure on his hand and looked down.

Eleni, lying with her head resting on his thigh, wasn't looking at him or the hecklers. Today, lost in the Atrium again, she stared at the sky, as if trying to discern some mystery there. She squeezed his hand again. He didn't understand how it didn't bother her but resolved to let the incident go. Lifting his book again, he did find himself wishing that Eleni had agreed to hang out at his house as he had first suggested.

This afternoon was normally one when Eleni would have been DownMountain. When Matthew had said he was going to risk Madam P's wrath and skip ballet practice, she had agreed to spend it with him. When he had suggested his place, looking forward to some privacy, Eleni had insisted on going to the Atrium. He had tempered his disappointment with the thought of an afternoon away from the leers and glares of the other dancers. That illusion had been shattered fairly quickly after they had arrived at the enclosed garden.

Matthew sighed heavily, and tried to focus on the fact that, catcalls aside, being together at the Atrium on a real date was nice. Over a month had passed since they had last been there together. Eleni's love of the green space had only grown over the time they had been apart. He shifted his hand around hers and laced their fingers together.

Looking up from the book a few minutes later, Matthew glimpsed a face he recognized. It quickly turned away, and this time Matthew released Eleni and got up to follow.

"Sorry, Elle. There's someone I need to talk to." She sat up and let him go.

Matthew caught Calen just as the young man was about to turn a bend.

"Hey, I haven't seen you much at lunch. What's up?" Calen looked sour as he turned to face his schoolmate.

"I have other friends you know."

"Sure, but you usually come by and say hi." Craig had been his only companion over the past week when he had had any.

Calen looked away as if annoyed. "Yeah, well, when you smarten up, maybe I'll stop by again."

"This is about Eleni, isn't it?"

"Of course, it's about her! What are you doing, man? Bringing her up was bold, and I kind of admired that. But now you are treating her like a girlfriend? What she got that's so good she can con you into doing that?" Matthew bristled and his lips twisted.

"Don't talk about her like that."

"That's the only way to talk about her, and you better figure that out soon. Look, having a sewer rat on the side is no big deal, right? Herry's mom has a dick down there and is always on the lookout for the next when they age out in their mid-twenties. And everyone knows about Allerdyce and his brats at the military school. But her, making you bring her up here, and treat her like she has a right to you? That's wrong. She's nothing but a gold digger, man, and they will never let her get her hands on your assets. So, get with reality and stop treating the trash like it's treasure."

Matthew reached out and grabbed Calen's arm roughly. He was too angry for words. The man's eyes widened in alarm, and he wrenched his arm out of Matthew's grip. It took some effort.

"Hey, look, I'm just telling you how it is. Shit you should already know. And if you start messing with my mind, you're done faster than your little trick will bring you down."

Matthew let Calen go, his stomach ice. He tried to regain some form of calm as he returned to Eleni but had little success. Her eyes were hooded as she watched him approach.

"Let's go," she said. He nodded. It was late in the afternoon, anyway.

As they left the Atrium they didn't touch other than their hands occasionally brushing. He had held her hand as they walked to school the day after the aborted attempt to remove the bond, and they had kissed goodbye in the hall. His classmates had not reacted well to either display of affection. Even Craig had given him a sideways suggestion that the being so open might not be the best idea. Matthew had become more physically restrained in public.

On the closed car ride, he tried to tell himself that it was just his peers showing how they really felt about him. And Eleni. However, he had never realized how, even in his bitterness, the friendly faces, companionable conversations and party invitations had still been welcome.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Eleni's comment shocked him out of his melancholy. They had left the vehicle and reached the split that would take them in different directions to walk home. She didn't expect him to accompany her.

He looked down at her face and gritted his teeth, knowing she was reading his mixed feelings through the bond.

Finally, they were together. It was what he had wanted for so long. Yet their coming together had been anything but celebratory. After that tear-stained kiss, they had gone downstairs and held each other on the couch. He hadn't wanted to talk about his mother, and Eleni hadn't wanted to talk about them, so they had sat in silence.

He had bent to kiss her occasionally, needing affirmation that there was more than friendship between them, and that was all they had done until Madam P had come home. He had stayed for dinner and left shortly after. The first day of their relationship had been steeped more in resigned acceptance and vaguely uncomfortable feelings, than in joy.

Now, on the street, she started to turn away, but he caught her and guided her back for a kiss, wrapping his arms tight around her. He tried to forget everything else and remember how badly he had wanted to be with her. Her arms came up around his neck.

"What if I came for dinner?" The embrace had felt good, but there a tightness in his chest as they pulled away from each other. He wanted their relationship to be better. He hadn't yet gotten back into the habit of eating dinner with Eleni and Madam P, because of homework and interviews he'd had the past couple of days. Now was a good time to start, he decided.

Eleni shrugged, and hand in hand, they walked in the direction of Madam P's house.

Matthew received a good dressing-down from Madam P for skipping the afternoon class, but apart from that the evening felt normal. He credited that change to Madam P, who was all smiles and indulged in some light teasing. She, to Matthew's surprise, seemed delighted and perhaps a bit smug that they were together.

After dinner, Matthew and Eleni sat on the couch and silence once again descended. He didn't make any attempt at conversation. Their conversations, once natural, had become awkward.

Instead, he pulled Eleni close, and kissed her. She kissed him back, and he wrapped his arms around her. Holding each other like that, everything was right for a few minutes.

Then there was a spike of sadness, and she pulled back. He hid his own spike of disappointment. Sitting with her back to him, she wrapped his arms around her like a blanket. Matthew tried to set aside his undesirable feelings and enjoy holding her. After a moment, she spoke.

"This is nice." He ignored the note of sadness in her voice and held her tighter, reclaiming some of that rightness he had felt moments before to chase it away. His mind grappled to return them to something that felt normal.

"So, have you had any burning questions about the Montagne in the past month?" he joked, referring to their early conversations.

"Actually, yes," she exclaimed, sitting up. She lowered her voice. "What is the Head's mutant power?"

"He's an empath. It didn't come up at the truth telling?"

"No." Matthew supposed there was no reason it should. Eleni's brow was wrinkled as she recalled what she knew of the power. "So, he can feel other's feelings and project his own." Matthew nodded.

"They say he is quite powerful which means he could possibly change a group's emotional reaction to something." In some instances, that would effectively change their mind.

"I don't want to meet him again," Eleni commented, and Matthew felt a mild wave of revulsion wash over her. He tried not to take it personally, though he agreed with the emotion when it was directed at the ruler of the Montagne.

"Well, there's little chance of that. Anyway, they also say that the hat he wears is a shield. It's supposed to be a gesture to encourage people to trust him or something." Matthew thought little of that.

"How is it that Madam P can ask a favor of him? And they were going to have dinner together. That's unusual, no?" Matthew paused before answering. He knew of the dance teachers' association with the Head but had never given it much thought.

"He is a patron. A connoisseur of ballet. He attends the opening of our shows when they are good enough to be performed at the Grand Theater. Madam P is one of the most senior and respected members of the dance community, even though she only teaches youth performances now. She is often consulted on the major professional productions."

"OK. I wish she had warned me ahead of time: I nearly lost my stomach when I realized who he was," she added. Matthew laughed slightly, and gently pulled her head against his lips. "I have another question."

"Shoot," he said.

"What is Tracy Lensherr's ability, and are there any more Lensherrs I should know about? I keep running into them." Matthew laughed again at her exasperation.

"Tracy can regenerate."

"Regenerate? Grow a hand or something?"

"If she lost one, yes. It's self-healing. Her healing ability is also very powerful, and she will live for a very long time." Eleni fixed her eyes on him.

"And she's the next Head?"

"Yeah…," Matthew said, his tone laden with meaning. It was a topic people discussed quietly, but frequently in the UpMountain. Eleni nodded, nonplussed.

"Are there any more of them?"

"Just Lady Wanda, Tracy and Travis' mother. She can create visual distortions. They are very mild I have heard."

"So, she makes things look different than they are?"

"Like you are seeing them through warped glass. That's how I've heard it described."

Eleni took this in silently. He pulled her close again.

"We won't see them. I've only been to three events in my life where they were there."

"Including the performances?"

"No, on top of those. Events where I could actually have a conversation with them, if I had tried." He hadn't. Adam avoided the Head as a rule, and Matthew saw no problem in emulating his father. "You might want to spend less time with Travis," he added, seeing an opportunity.

"He's helpful," she stated, not really a protest. "But I don't go out of my way to do it, and…well, I think he's amused that my presence causes other people distress."

"Really? Actually, I'm not surprised. The time he has spent DownMountain has been a bit of an issue, but if he's doing it to piss people off, well, he wouldn't be the first rebel prince."

"I asked him about it once, and he said that if there was a chance these people would someday be 'his' people, then he wanted to know who they were. And you can't know someone unless you have met them," Eleni paused. "He has a lot of respect for G and what G has done with the Towers."

"OK, now that is hard to believe. He's just spoiled. He'll get bored and realize that his life is really not so bad." Eleni paused, and he had the sense that her next comment wasn't what she had actually been thinking.

"G doesn't think so."

"Yeah, well, G can be surprisingly optimistic about certain things." Another pause. Then Eleni sat up and turned so that she could see Matthew's face.

"There's something else I wanted to ask you." Matthew was happy to change the subject. "G was there, wasn't he?"

And with that the easy atmosphere they had reclaimed was gone. Matthew went still and didn't respond. She was talking about the day he had been taken by the Montagne. The day they had killed his mother. She had tried to bring it up a few times, and he wished she would stop.

"He was." He said no more.

"Maybe you should talk to him," she suggested.

"I'll think about it. But I don't want to talk about it right now." Eleni nodded, and curling back up beside him, they sat in silence until it was time for Matthew to leave.

The truth was, Matthew had come to the same conclusion: he needed to talk to his old friend about what he had remembered. However, when G next came to the dance studio, a couple of days later, Matthew wasn't there.

He was at his last university interview instead, which was decidedly less welcoming than the previous ones.

"Well, your grades are acceptable. There is no reason why you couldn't consider joining the law program here." The professor was stuffy and formal, dressed in a pantsuit, hair pulled back into a bun, and purple eyes peering at him through thick glasses.

"Thank you." Matthew felt he had to make some reply to the mediocre recommendation he had just received.

"We do expect a certain level of conduct from our students." The head tipped forward, and the eyes peered at him over the top of the glasses.

"Don't worry. I would never cause any physical damage to private property," was Matthew's pointed response. There had been a news story about several law students who had done serious damage to a club downtown after having too much to drink. The thin lips twisted.

"A little youthful exuberance can be tolerated. Other things cannot." That was when Matthew realized the person was referring to his relationship with Eleni. The tabloids had come out that morning. His initial shock put him at a loss for words. Belatedly, he felt angry.

"I should be going," he said curtly. "Thank you for your time." The professor looked satisfied and didn't even stand to see him out.

Matthew stared at the intricate stone pathway as he left the building, trying to manage his anger. It shouldn't have mattered he told himself; he hadn't really been considering the law course. It had been Adam's suggestion, and in truth Matthew had little patience for parsing words to someone else's rules. He preferred to take them in and discover their meaning on his own.

Still, ire roiled inside him, and he cut into a game of basketball on his way home to burn off some of the irritation. He messaged Eleni to let her know he wouldn't be coming by, and she message back that G had been there that day and that he had performed a ceremony of mourning for her. Matthew responded with a digital laugh and waited. There was no response. As he entered his house, he recalled how he and Jenna had always had some kind of conversation going between their motes.

Matthew saw G in person at the end of the week. Sure enough, the man was full of ribald jokes for him and Eleni, and Matthew took the brunt of the teasing and stern glances. He half listened and played along but wished he could speak to G alone. However, Madam P called him to partner with Jenna.

His former girlfriend had been cool towards him in the days since his relationship with Eleni had become clear, and they hadn't danced together since then. Now, however, she smiled as he approached, and he felt mild relief, a hope that something in his life would be easy and right. They began.

At first, the dancing went as usual, but about halfway through, something strange occurred. Bringing Jenna out of a lift, Matthew relaxed and extended his hand for the following promenade. As their fingers touched, however, a thought intruded into his mind.

"…that slut has no idea what's coming. She thinks she's got him back but there is no way I'm going to stand for that…" he twitched and nearly jerked back, but when Jenna looked at him in alarm, he realized it would make her fall. Focusing, he held on until it was time to release her.

It had been a telepathic slip, Matthew knew that. But he had never had one before. He dismissed it as an aberration and tried to forget the ugly words he had accidently gleaned from his former girlfriend's brain. Madam P asked them to dance again: his fumble had been noticed. Fortunately, nothing untoward occurred when they repeated the performance and they were dismissed once they finished.

Returning to his seat, Matthew noted that Eleni had been called up, and he finally had a private moment with G.

"G, there's something I need to talk to you about." G picked up on his mood and took advantage of it.

"Got her pregnant already, did ya? I tried to tell you how babies are made, but you didn't listen. How can I help?" Matthew gave him a disgusted look.

"You are the last person I'd come to for advice on anything related to love," he growled. "This is different. And it's serious." At that, G gave up and settled down.

"Shoot." Matthew took a deep breath.

"I've remembered something. About the day we were found…on the Wastelands." The effect on G was immediate. His casual demeanor dropped, and all sign of humor left his face.

"What do you remember?" he asked cautiously.

"I know they took us, G. The Montagne." Matthew was shocked when his friend's face crumpled and his chin start to shake. Matthew wished he had brought the subject up in private.

"Let's go to one of the small rooms," he whispered quickly, pulling his friend up as he stood and they exited the auditorium through a door to the left. In the network of hallways backstage, there were small practice rooms, as well as a couple even smaller meeting rooms. Matthew took his friend to one of the latter and locked the door behind them.

G sat on the couch in front of a low table. He had regained some of his composure and spoke as soon as Matthew sat down next to him.

"So, you remember, now? That these bastards killed our families and took us?" His voice was fierce and bitter. Matthew again reflected on his own lack of reaction, and then his mother's death. There was anger. But it was old, he thought, and hadn't been fed through the years as G's had.

"I do. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier." G dismissed that with a wave of his hand.

"You wanted to be happy, Mattie. I think you did it to yourself, first to deal with the trauma, then because it would have made it hard to stomach the gilded life you live up here." G's mouth twisted in anger. "I hated you for a while, you know. Not because of the life you had, but because you didn't remember, and you accepted these people. These monsters who had taken everything from you." He was nodding his head rapidly, eyes shining again. "When I realized – it took me a while, you know, to connect that the men had been from the Montagne military, but I eventually did – anyway, I tried to talk to you." G looked directly at Matthew with his next words, a despair in his eyes that tore Matthew's heart. "You lost it. You ripped me a new one. You were never angry when you were with me after we came here, only hurt and upset, and there you were, 6 years old, and shouting filth at me like the drunk on the corner. From holding it in." Matthew's stomach went sour.

"I don't remember that."

"Good. I try to forget it, too. And you used to bring chocolate, so I forgave you." The attempt at humor failed. G took in an uneven breath. "But I had Tara to take care of, and anyone I tried to tell said I was distraught, I shouldn't talk about it, or that I was making up stories." G shook his head in disgust. "So, I gave up. But I never forgot." Now his face crumpled again. "It's so good that you know now. That there is someone else who understands." Matthew moved close and put his arms around his crying friend. That was when he felt the wetness flood his own eyes. Yes, it was good to have someone who understood.

After a while, G pushed him back, waving his hand to indicate he was ok. He pulled out his handkerchief and Matthew did the same.

"What else do you remember?" Matthew wiped his eyes and blew his nose before responding.

"Not much. Getting upset. Really upset. When my mom was killed." G nodded in agreement eyes on the table.

"Yeah, you lost it. Completely. It was affecting the soldiers – you were projecting onto them and they couldn't manage you." G glanced at Matthew. "It saved my life." Matthew didn't remember anything like that and looked at G with a question on his face. "You were screaming for me and Jae. I was on the chopping block. There was a gun pointed right at my face. But Jae was unconscious, I think they injected her with something. So, then they grabbed me, and brought me over to you. It calmed you down. That is why they spared me." Matthew sat in shock at this revelation.

"By the Helm, G. I had no idea. I'm so…glad?" What a horrifying thing to be glad for, he observed distantly. "If you weren't here…" Then what? Matthew didn't know exactly, but he felt that he would have lost something immense, especially in light of everything he now remembered.

They fell silent again.

"Do you remember more about…before we came here? Before the attack?" This question was tentative. Matthew shook his head.

"Just some faces. Tunnels. Rooms." G nodded and sighed.

"Ah, it's probably for the best." He said no more on the subject. "How do you feel about it? About living here, now?"

Matthew shrugged. "This might sound terrible, but not much other than the anger, and sadness. I mean…what can I do? And it doesn't change the life I lead." G nodded at that, although Matthew wasn't sure the man understood fully. It didn't really matter whether he understood or not, he decided. A minute later G reached out to squeeze Matthew's shoulder.

"I'm glad you remember. You were already copping on, but now you know. Don't trust this place." Then his eyes twinkled, and G reverted to his usual obnoxious self. "So, how did you get through to her?" Matthew knew the topic was done.

"What?" He didn't know what to say.

"Well, your usual methods of simply looking like god's gift to anyone attracted to men, relying on your terrifyingly delicious reputation, and whatever power it is you have with your eyes, failed completely. You must have pulled out something big." G looked down suggestively, and Matthew shoved him.

"It just…happened," he blurted out, thinking fast. G wouldn't let it go until he had a story, and Matthew was fairly certain Eleni hadn't given anything up.

"It just…happened?" The large man looked dubious and looked down again. "Well, something 'just happened', that's for sure…" Matthew sighed in exasperation.

"Look. I was getting mixed messages from her. And I was upset that she didn't want me to know about Dwayne, so I got some time to talk to her about it, and...I don't know…it just happened." G looked even more unbelieving about that statement.

"What mixed messages?" he demanded flatly. Matthew realized that he had understood Eleni's conflicted feelings mostly through the bond, and even with that he hadn't been certain. He couldn't tell G about that. He thought fast.

"It's hard to explain, but when we were dancing I, well, I felt something from her. It confused me, so I confronted her." G didn't buy it.

"It's that just the mark of good acting, which Elle is phenomenal at when she dances. She could probably dance with someone she wanted to kill and convince the world she is in love with them." G eyed his friend sideways. "Did you use your powers?"

"No!" Matthew denied forcefully. He hated even the suggestion that he would do such a thing. "Honestly, it was the dancing." He'd have to grab Eleni and tell her this story. "What does it matter? We're together now." His response was belligerent, and G's words from a few weeks back echoed in his mind. "I supposed you're going to go tell me it's not going to work."

G looked at him appraisingly for a moment.

"Do you know the abuse she's getting for being with you?" Matthew shrugged, uncomfortable. "Tell me what they do to her." Matthew looked at him, then looked away.

"Name calling and stuff like that," he muttered. Eleni had never been open about it. G's face took on a haze of disgust. "What do you expect me to do about it? I can't be next to her all day long! And I'm getting shit, too. People avoid me, I don't get invited to the parties anymore, I get hints all the time that what I am doing is wrong…" his voice trailed off at the non-sympathetic look on G's face.

"Ah, poor baby. And Elle's getting the floor frozen under her, sometimes on the stairs, her clothes get singed, she gets slimed almost daily. Travis fills me in based on what he's seen." Matthew looked down. "Have you tried to do anything?"

The dancer looked back up and wished he hadn't. The calmness in G's gaze was deceptive; Matthew found he couldn't break eye contact and felt as if the man saw into his soul. He didn't say anything. G already knew the answer. The large man looked away shaking his head slightly.

"I don't know, Mattie. I don't know if it will work."