The sound of the snow crunching under her boots as Yelena made her way to her so-called leader. When she was finally an arm's reach from Talulah, Yelena stopped and stared at her. The snow was slowly falling on them as they stared at one another.

"Talulah," Yelena was the first to start the conversation, "I have something to tell you."

The leader of Reunion nodded at her, "I thought so. I too have something to say to you."

Yelena saw a single snowflake falling onto Tallulah's shoulder. It melted immediately when it came in contact with her body.

Seeing that she was ready to hear her out, Yelena told her first, "You can no longer give any battle-related missions to Dad."

"... I knew you would tell me this," Talulah hummed, "However, I never gave any order to go on missions for a while now. He was the one that willingly followed his troops on their mission."

Yelena's eyes widened hearing this. She thought about it and Yelena knew Talulah was not lying. This was something Dad would do. Dad's troops, the Shieldguards, were one of the strongest squads that Reunion had. It came as no surprise that they were usually given more dangerous missions. And from what she knew about her Dad, if his squadron was given a mission, he would also come along with them. No matter how sick he was, Dad would still go on a mission with them. He was their leader and that was his responsibility.

However, Yelena was not satisfied with this, "Then give the squad easier missions."

Talulah looked into FrostNova's eyes and asked, "Are you going against me now?"

"Don't change the subject Talulah. You know what I meant," FrostNova's eyes narrowed at her, "Answer the question."

Tallulah held her gaze with her. Then she folded her arms around herself.

"You have to understand, FrostNova. Patriot and his team already had easier missions compared to what they used to do. Most of the dangerous missions were given to other elite groups. That's why yours was given the mission to reclaim territory and not his. But there are limits to how I can do this," She explained, "In order for Reunion to survive and thrive in this cruel world, we need to work together. Everyone must play their part and Patriot's group did theirs."

Talulah sternly looked at FrostNova, "I know that Patriot is getting weaker, however, he is one of the most valuable operators that we have under us. We need him to do the more dangerous missions for the better of us."

After listening to Talulah's words, FrostNova's eyes narrowed a little, causing the surrounding temperature to decrease dramatically. The wind around them started to blow faster. The chilling feeling came from all directions. Before the sudden coldness, the sound of ice forming could be heard. White frosts could be seen creeping up on Tallulah's legs.

But before the frost could go any higher on her leg, they melted immediately.

"I didn't come to find you to fight," Talulah looked into FrostNova's eyes and said slowly, "I have emphasized this many times that if Infected can't work together, then there will be no place for us in this world. Even elderly-."

She stared at Talulah and did not say a word to her. After a while, she eased her Arts, making the surroundings normal again. Yelena knew it was a waste of time for both of them to fight right now. From the changes that she had these past months, Yelena was weaker than how she was before. This meant that she was weaker than Talulah now.

However, this was not staying for a long time though. She just needed a couple more weeks to get where she was before. Maybe she could even surpass that because of her not getting the side effects that bothered her for years.

For now, she would tolerate Tallulah. However, at least her small outburst was able to let her know she would not take that as it was.

"Do not call him old." Yelena said coldly, "Without Dad, the Reunion movement would not have achieved what they have now."

"I know," Talulah said. "And because of that, I respect him."

"Show it better then," FrostNova's voice was stern when said this.

"I understand," Talulah nodded. Then something came to her. A question slipped through her mouth, "How is the town that you required? Sokk, I believe was its name. With how strategic that town is, we can have an advantage over Ursus if we make it our new base."

"... That's none of your business to know about," FrostNova said as she walked past her so-called leader. She did not even spare a glance when she was beside her, "I want to remind you that the town is now Yeti's and not Reunion's. I do not want to see even one goon from you sent there."

With that said, she continued walking farther away from Talulah. The dragon turned around to see FrsotNova walking away from her.

"Why are you so cold?" Tallulah sighed, "We are all working under the same name, Reunion. For the better of the Infected, we must work together and not be divided."

FrostNova halted herself, but she did not turn to look at Talulah. Her back still facing the Leader of Reunion.

"Do you still think I hid more information about what happened at Kjerag? Why do you think so? I've already told you everything I knew about it," Talulah looked at her back under the light curtain of snow, "You lost almost half of the Yeti team, and I lost Mephisto. We are all victims, and we deserve to unite against those who want to hurt us."

FrostNova stood still. Her mind then showed her something.

A figure. He was smiling as he was petting a cat in his arms gently.

"People don't hurt because they want to," The figure said, "They are just scared. They don't want to get hurt."

Then his black gentle eyes landed on her.

"They just want to be happy." He chuckled, "Infected or not."

"... Hurt us?" Yelena muttered loud enough for Tallulah to hear her, "Talulah, do you think that except for the infected, everyone in this world is someone who wants to harm us?"

Tallulah narrowed her eyes slightly at this, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because I feel you have changed," FrostNova… Yelena raised her head and looked at the snowflakes falling from the sky. Each one of them was like a feather falling from the sky. made from the same thing but each unique, "The Reunion that I met long ago was a group of people that yearned for equality. A group that only used violence as the last option they had."

A cloud of white mist escaped from her mouth when she let out a sigh, "However, Reunion changed. I do not believe the people in Kjerag wanted to hurt us. We were the ones that attacked them. They just fought back and we lost."

Yelena turned around to stare at Talulah. She asked her, "Talulah, Dad told me one time, you were the hope of the infected. Do you think you are?"

"I have never said I was." She denied, "What I am is just a comrade to the Infected."

However, Yelena knew she was just not answering her question.

"... Is that so?" Yelena said blankly as she turned away from her, "I hope we didn't go astray under your command then."

This time, FrostNova didn't look back as she walked away.

Talulah didn't speak to stop her.

The two drifted away until they couldn't see each other in the snow.

Now alone, Talulah only had her thoughts to accompany her now.

"Her infection," She muttered, "It's lessened?"

She looked down and saw shards of white ice around her feet. Talulah glanced back at where FrostNova was going and narrowed her eyes.

"What happened to her?"

Yelena walked through the snow without any destination in mind. She just wanted to get away from Talulah for the time being. If she stayed any longer, she might have attacked her. Maybe she should walk around the outskirts of the town. Being alone helped her think.

As she was thinking this, her phone rang. She raised a brow at this as she pulled it out from her pocket. On it, a name was on display for her to see. Her eyes widened at it

[Lin Ye]

As thousands of thoughts ran into her mind, her body moved on its own and answered the call for her.

["Hello? Yelena? It's Ye. Are you there?"]

His voice came out from the call. He did not sound afraid. It was like she was talking like how they used to.

Yelena stared at the device in her hand. Then ultimately, she placed it near her ear.

"... Yes, I am here." She finally answered.

His voice instantly lit up.

["Good. I thought you wouldn't answer."]

"... Why are you calling me?" She asked, not wanting to waste their time.

["..."]

A pause. Then she could hear him again.

["I want to talk with you about something."]

He adopted a more serious tone to his voice.

It was her time to pause. After a few moments, she answered him.

"It just so happened, so do I."

{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}

The sound of a phone call ending echoed in the meeting room. Lin Ye gently placed his phone on the table in front of him. The people in the room all had their attention on him. He started to scratch his head and let out a tired sigh from his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Warfarin looked at Lin Ye's movements, frowning slightly, "Did that person agree?"

She was not the only person who wanted to know this. Everyone in the office was now looking at Lin Ye, obviously expecting his answer.

"She did," He sighed.

"She did!" Warfarin almost jumped up from her seat after hearing this, "When will she come to us!? Tell me a specific time and date! I need to get my surgical equipment ready before she arrives!"

Ye sighed at her reaction, "Don't dissect her."

"Dissect? What are you talking about? She is the only Infected, how could I dissect her?" Warfarin said, "But surgery. That should be safe enough to do. I will definitely not hurt her body. You can rest assured. After all, I am a professional doctor, not a devil."

"... Could have fooled me. A dissection and a surgery are the same things." He stared at her blankly, "You are a vampire and not a devil. I do not know which is worse."

"My hands are tied, can't really help you," Warfarin spread her hands and said, "A demon is a demon, who cares about that kind of thing?"

Lin Ye rubbed his temples. Before his head could hurt anymore by hearing this medic talk, Kal'tsit came to his rescue.

"That is enough Warfarin," She sternly said to her, "I believe Ye still has more to say about this agreement."

Warfarin folded her arms and leaned back on her chair.

"Thank you, Kal'tsit," After sending a quick nod her way, Lin ye stared at the people in the room, "As I said, she agreed. It surprised me how easily she did. I did not expect her to go along with us that fast."

"This woman." Saria voiced out, "I heard you have a misunderstanding with her."

"Misunderstanding?" He sighed, "Something like that. All you need to know is that my relationship with her is… complicated. Do not have any funny ideas, Ptilopsis. I saw you perk up just now. She's a friend. I do not want to deal with any more rumours."

The medic in question just stared at him. After a while, she nodded but Lin Ye knew with this new information, Ptilopsis will make his life harder to deal with.

Another time to think about this.

"Then she is willing to come to Rhodes Island?" Olivia asked, "Or do we need to meet up at a location that she picked."

"... That's where it becomes complicated, "Lin ye noticed some of them raised their brow. He sighed, "As I said, it's complicated."

Lin Ye then explained the situation he had with Yelena to the rest.

"Reunion Movement," Kat'tsit muttered as she rubbed her chin, "You really saved a very troublesome person."

"... I know that we have a... tense relationship with that group. However, she is different, I can assure you," Lin Ye stared at Kal'tsit with the corner of his eyes, "So please, don't be so harsh on her."

"... I understand," She nodded at him, "With you saving her, you must have a reason for that. You must trust her to keep the cure a secret."

"... Something like that," He sighed, "From us not being attacked by everyone on this planet yet, it looked like she kept her promise."

Kal'tsit nodded.

"We can trust her, I understand that," Saria let her thoughts be known, "However, does she trust us?"

"Her relationship with Rhodes Island is the same for me with Reunion," Lin Ye explained, "I trust her, not Reunion while she trusts me and not Rhodes Island."

"This is complicated," Warfarin groaned. Her eyes stared at Lin Ye's, "So how are we going to get her tested then?"

"I need to meet her," Lin Ye answered, "Talking via phone can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. I do not want that. So I will see her at Sokk."

"Sokk?" Kaltist hummed, "Luckily it's just a day away from where we are now."

"Good, I will go there now. " Lin Ye nodded, "Time is not on our side. Eyja's state is getting worse. Although she is now stable, it won't take long before her infection worsens. We need to act now."

"I agree," Saria got up and placed her hand on her chest, "I will come with you to meet her. You are the most important person on the island. With us dealing with Reunion, we can't let take any chances"

"No, you can't," He instantly denied, "Don't get me wrong, I would love you to follow me, but we need all the help we can get to perfect the cure here. You are needed more here than to be with me, Saria."

Saria wanted to deny his claim, but she couldn't. He was right. She was needed here more.

"So who do you suggest to come along with you," Olivia asked, "You can't go alone. It's dangerous."

Lin ye hummed. He tapped on the table and thought hard.

Messiah and Skadi would be the best choice for him. However, both of them are not here now.

As he was thinking more about this, the image of someone popped into his mind.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Nian," He said, "Let me go with her."

{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}

Draft: Jaq

Proofread: Discord

Edit: Jaq