A/N: I am speeeeeeed

Betcha didn't think there'd be another chapter so soon, did ya?

This hit 7k views after the last one, still currently my third most viewed fic. Thanks for continuing to read it :)

Special thank you to Kitkatkatester for the wonderful review of last chapter :D

Enjoy!

"Yes, Mom, I'm with someone safe, I promise," Mike talked over the phone as he sat shotgun in Zoey's car. "You don't have to leave work early today."

Zoey tapped the steering wheel lightly as she waited for him to get off his call, glancing at him every so often. It was odd, knowing that technically he had been in the car before, but he didn't appear to remember it.

"I'll see you at home, bye," Mike finally ended the call, looked over at her, and gave a thumbs up.

Zoey nodded and started the car. She refrained from turning the radio on so they could talk, driving in the general direction of his house.

"I'm so glad the history homework's light this week, I couldn't handle memorizing any more old generals for a while," Mike admitted with an eye roll. The conversation had started slowly but came around to school, a good topic since it was one of the few things they already had commonalities in.

"My math teacher's really been piling it on since day one, I'm only taking the class to graduate, why does she make it so hard?" Zoey wondered aloud.

"Math's not a strong suit of mine either," Mike revealed. "The way they taught it at my old school, I just…I can't do it!" His tone was light. "And I'd rather spend my time doing other things that are more interesting."

"Like what?" she asked. "What things interest you, Mike?" She genuinely didn't know, stealing a peek at him ever so briefly while maintaining focus on the road.

"Hm…I used to do theater, but I couldn't continue with it," he started. "I like drawing, I enjoy…television, movies…pretty boring, I know." He sighed.

"You're talking to the president of the school art club," Zoey pointed out with a smile. "We're always looking for new members, hint hint, if you're interested." Smooth, Zoey, very smooth.

"I didn't know that was a thing…I guess that could be fun, if you'll have me," Mike decided. "Don't expect too much from me, though."

"I'll expect something unique to you."

"…that's tough, really. I don't finish a lot of my drawings."

"Why not? Wait, no, let me guess: you go big and then realize it's too much detail? I used to do that all the time; I mostly draw fashion sketches nowadays." Zoey stopped at a red light.

"No…not that…" Mike spoke slower. He blinked and went silent for a moment.

"You don't have to say exactly why if you don't- Mike?" Zoey looked over at him. He was staring at the dashboard, a bit dazed. "You okay?"

He appeared to be listening to something. "Mmhm," he hummed. "I'm good. A little…out of it again, I'm sorry." He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. His voice had a teeny tiny bit of accent. "Long day."

"Does this happen a lot? Are you, like, overwhelmed or something, because I can be quiet if you need," Zoey offered, trying not to sound rude or offput because she wasn't.

"Yeah…sorry," he apologized again as the light turned green. They were getting closer to his place.

She didn't want him to think she was pressuring him. "It's no problem, really. There's plenty of other times to talk-"

"You went to trouble of driving me home. I at least should be present," Mike suddenly contradicted himself. The accent was stronger but not as strong as it could be. He winced like he had a headache. "Agh…"

"Uh, if…that's how you feel…" Zoey said, confused by the sudden attitude change.

"Please stop," he muttered pleadingly before going silent again for a handful of seconds.

"You want me to stop? We're almost there." She was even more confused.

"No, no, not you, you're fantastic, such pretty-"…Svetlana complimented her quickly.

Zoey brought the car to a halt on the side of the road. They were just a block away from their destination. Her neck rotated slowly to the passenger side. "…who am I talking to right now?" she asked. "Where is Mike?"

Svetlana hid her blushing face with the jacket sleeves the body she was in control of was wearing. "Apologies, I should not be here…I got excited we were with you." Her eyes were twinkling in a way Mike's didn't. "He is fine, no worries. Very safe."

We?

"Y-you can't just say something like that and expect this to be okay. He was here, and now he's just not? That makes no sense at all. Even though it keeps happening, it…" Zoey rested her head on the wheel in frustration. Her voice was abruptly quiet. "…I just want to know what's going on."

"…I'm not who should explain to you these things. Not my place to say," Svetlana said nervously while adjusting the seatbelt that felt too tight over the body's chest.

"Can I talk to who should, then?"

"It's not so simple as that," Sveltana insisted, her face and posture going more slack.

"Why not?" Just give me a reason, please, Zoey thought but did not say.

Svetlana did as Mike did before and stared at her blankly. This lead to her gasping for air and grabbing her head, groaning in pain. "It is for safety I don't say-ugh-please trust that." She blinked rapidly, trying to maintain complete control, but failed. "Why can I not say words…to her, for two seconds, you… do not even like her-!" Obviously she was not talking to Zoey. Her voice was lower and heavier now, still retaining the accent.

Not unlike how she'd sounded when speaking to Scott.

She squeezed her eyes open and closed several times before finally stopping. She turned and looked at Zoey with her head tilted boredly to the side."You're exhausting, you know this? All these questions you seem to have entitlement to be answered. You never think of what you ask." She gestured with her hand as she spoke, her eyes darker and more tired than before but still a bit twinkly, somehow. "Not all things are easy detective book mysteries for you to solve."

Zoey was taken aback by the sudden, direct call-out of what she'd been doing. "I-I just want to know-"

"If there's time for you to know, you'll know. You have no patience. Cannot trust someone with so little patience."

She couldn't be trusted. That was it? Who could be, then?

" Don't trust that demon!"

She had already been incredibly frustrated by the situation, and maybe the thought of what Scott had said to her before was actually sticking, but this was getting to be too much for her to deal with right now. Her eyes started watering as she stared down at the pedals that made the car go and stop between the gaps in her steering wheel. "…if you're going to be rude, whoever you are right now, I don't want you in my car," she said with a small sniffle. "I get it if I'm too nosy. I'm trying to be patient, I'm trying to get to know him. And I know…you're not who I got in this car with. You sound different. You look different, even. And I can pretend to not notice, but it's really hard." She gripped the wheel tighter. "If you won't tell me why he's suddenly gone, then leave. I don't want to talk to you."

She didn't look up to see them exit the car. She didn't look to see them completely leave behind Mike's bag in the trunk because they didn't know it was in there. She didn't notice them walking down the street. She didn't see him walk completely past their house and way beyond where he should have gone, tripping and getting back up again with a scraped knee that should have been very easily avoidable but everything looked blurry and unfamiliar and he still wasn't in control.

She didn't see him come back to in a place he'd never been before, dizzy, scared, and confused, legs and brain exhausted. The sun was starting to set on that bad side of town.

When she stopped hearing footsteps and calmed herself down, she turned the car back on and drove home, a heavy feeling in her stomach that she had just done something terrible.

Sure, leave the heavily dissociated person to walk around broken streets in late afternoon. That's a great way to form trust with someone and their system.

Since this is chapter 15 and I did this recently with another story I got some little questions for y'all who feel like answering them in the reviews (obviously you don't have to):

Favorite chapter? 2. Favorite moment? 3. Favorite/least favorite character?

I'm going back to that old education grind of school this week. Not sure how it'll affect anything, as usual.

See ya next time *deploys grappling hook and flies away*