"Did you see that?" Dr Maxwell asked ecstatically as she followed Martin Brenner into his office.

"Yes, yes, she is extraordinary indeed." Dr Brenner agreed, "I never questioned her capabilities or potential, Julie."

"No, that's not what I mean." The female doctor shook her head eagerly, something else having caught her attention. Brenner merely raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"I mean the way Henry and her." Dr Maxwell waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I don't understand why you would be excited about that." Dr Brenner scolded her, his expression unimpressed. "You know who Henry Creel is and what he has done."

"I know he is powerful." Dr Maxwell sat opposite him, her expression showing little to no emotion. "So is my Maeve." Dr Brenner grimaced in distaste at her words.

"Please tell me you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting." He pleaded, his hands clasped together on top of his desk.

"We both know that there are a few differences between them. Put these together in one being and –"

"Henry Creel has murdered his entire family, Julie!" Dr Brenner raised his voice as he firmly hit the table with his fist. The other doctor gasped as Brenner's hand made impact with the table before regaining her composure and staring right into his eyes.

"He has very evil thoughts and tendencies. There is a reason for the Soteria being inside his neck. I tried to teach him, but the evil inside him always remained. He cannot be trusted. If a child ended up like him, topped with Maeve's abilities as well… I do not even want to imagine." Dr Brenner explained in a calmer demeanour. He cared for Henry, deeply cared like he was his own. He cared so much he couldn't let him go. However, another reason he couldn't let Henry go was the threat he posed to society. "I thought you cared more for Maeve than to put her in harm's way."

"Says the man who uses numbers to call his patients, rather than their real names." Dr Maxwell retorted, tired of Brenner's hypocritical ways. "If he is such a menace and danger to others, why do you keep him here, around the other patients, having him mentor them, care for them? Surely he should be secured somewhere, on his own."

Dr Brenner opened his mouth to reply but was lost for words. He knew she had a point, although he wouldn't admit it out loud. He couldn't even deny the fact he had thought about it for a moment – for a very brief moment he had thought of the two of them having a child. A knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts.

"Come in!" he called out, partially glad someone was interrupting his disagreement with the English doctor. Maeve opened the door rather forcefully, a frustrated look on her face.

"Maeve, what can I help you with?" He asked politely, his eyes flickering between her and the orderly that had followed her.

"Your help here isn't being very helpful." Maeve replied harshly. "He is telling me I can't go outside? All I want is some bloody fresh air!" Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest as the frustration was building up inside of her.

The anger was evident and Dr Brenner assumed it was due to the embarrassment she felt earlier in the day. As he was about to reply Dr Maxwell chimed in, "That would be my fault, darling. I instructed no one to let you go, unless you had gotten clearance, just in case we needed you." She stood up and held her hands up guiltily as she explained to the younger woman. "Besides, only authorised personnel holds the keys to leave the ward and there is only a limited number of said key cards. I will let you out myself." The doctor explained calmly as she placed her hands on Maeve's shoulders in a comforting manner. Surprisingly it seemed to work and Maeve shot the orderly one last glare before leaving the room, the orderly leaving without another word.

"Think about it, Martin. We'd have something, possibly even stronger than an atomic bomb." Dr Maxwell didn't even bother looking at him and left the room with another word.

x-x

Maeve inhaled deeply as she exited the building. She surveyed the scenery, only a few patched of grass and a couple of trees at most remaining. She promptly made her way over to a secluded patch of green and sat down. Deciding she wanted to feel the grass underneath her toes, she promptly took her shoes off. A sigh of relief escaped her – she very much enjoyed nature. She laid back on the grass and watched the sky change colour as the sun was slowly setting. Maeve had been sat in her room on her own, her thoughts eating her from the inside out and it had been driving her insane. She felt as though she had failed. The lack of control she had over her abilities were disheartening to her – she had always trained so hard and wanted to make Dr Maxwell proud.

Maeve smiled softly as she thought of her doctor. She was more than just a doctor to her, she had been her guardian and the closest thing she had to a parent. Often they'd stay at her clinic overnight as Dr Maxwell was such a hard worker and Maeve had nowhere else to go. Sometimes though, they went home – a small apartment with two bedrooms and one had been decorated just for Maeve. She loved it there, she never had any other home. Thinking of it, she felt a little homesick, all she wanted was to go to her bedroom, put a canvas on her easel and paint. It was one of her most favourite things to do, it relaxed her and she'd immediately feel less stressed when she picked up a brush. She'd often bring spare canvases to Dr Maxwell's clinic, considering how little time they actually spent at home. Propping herself up on her shoulders, she watched the sun fading into darkness and thought how she hadn't painted a sunset in a while.

After another thirty minutes Maeve decided she felt calm enough to go back inside. Once she was back on the ward she rounded a corner and collided with someone, their strong arms quickly catching and steadying her.

"I'm sorry" she quickly blurted out, looking up to find it had been Henry she had bumped into.

"It's alright." He replied casually, a smile finding its way to his lips. His smile faded into a confused expression when he saw she was carrying her shoes in her hands rather than wearing them.

"Oh, yes, I just had to take them off." Maeve explained with an embarrassed laugh, her cheeks flushing pink.

"Is something wrong with them?" Henry questioned, still confused by the woman in front of him.

"No, no, I just – I needed to feel the grass underneath my feet. It's just… calming." She explained as casually as she could.

"You went outside?" He asked, his eyes wide with complete shock. "Did you escape?" He asked in a hushed tone, looking around themselves to make sure no one could hear them.

"What? No, of course not." Maeve shook her head in confusion, baffled by his questions.

"It's just that I haven't been out in…" Henry drifted off, not allowing himself to finish his sentence. He looked away from the redhead, avoiding her gaze.

Maeve's eyes watching him intently. He almost looked… hurt. His eyes avoided looking at her at all costs, almost as though he felt he'd opened up too much. She was curious as to what he was going to say, but knew asking him to finish wouldn't work. Maybe one day he would finish. Instead she opted for changing the subject.

"I was headed to the canteen if you wanted to join me for something to eat." She offered him with a warm smile. She never liked seeing anyone sad.

Henry was caught off guard by her question. Dr Brenner only spoke to him when he needed to, the other orderlies avoided him when rumours about his past started spreading and Two… well Two was just an annoying teen. Not a single soul would voluntarily spend time with him. He knew he only had himself to blame for that. He wasn't exactly a well-functioning person. He wasn't capable of normal human emotions. Checking his watch for the time he nodded his head.

"I think I'd like that." He replied.

"I better get my shoes on first, before I get any more strange looks." Maeve joked, making Henry chuckle.

"That's a good idea." He replied as he watched her slip on her shoes with ease.

"I noticed that at dinner time it's almost like a self-serve type of thing in the canteen" Maeve said as she led the way down the corridor.

"Yes, we don't have a kitchen on this ward itself so things are usually pre-made and then brought here." Henry explained as he walked beside her before opening the door for her.

"What a gentleman!" Maeve chimed humorously as she walked through and he took a moment to watch her – he was glad she was showing some personality now. The first day he met her, he found her a little hard to make out. Initially he thought she was just another boring experiment, dull personality, not much more to her. Perhaps there was more to her than he first thought. He followed her and scrunched up his nose as he saw what was left in the canteen. Vegetable casserole. He grabbed a bowl and filled it, following her to a table.

"Did you not get any bread?" Maeve suddenly asked, her eyes knitted together in a frown as he sat opposite her.

"No?" Henry replied in a confused tone.

"Bread makes everything better. I don't know what it's like here, but in England anything goes with bread. We even make chip sandwiches. Sorry, I suppose here you would call them fries." Maeve rambled on before placing a spoonful of casserole in her mouth.

"I am not a big fan of vegetable casserole anyway, my appetite went as soon as I saw it." Henry said, pressing his lips together in a thin line.

"Maybe bread and butter is the key to make you like it." Maeve insisted as she dunked a piece of her bread into the casserole. "Open your mouth."

"What?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Just do it."

After a moment of hesitation he opened his mouth, deciding to humour her. She stood up to reach across the table and placed the piece of bread in his mouth.

"Now tell me that isn't good." Maeve dared him, watching him with a knowing look on her face.

"It's okay." He said once he finished his mouthful, not wanting to give in so easily. Maeve scoffed with a playful expression on her face, knowing he was merely too proud to admit she was right. "Okay, fine, it's quite good actually." Henry rolled his eyes in a playful manner as he stood from his seat. "In fact so much better, I have to get myself some more bread with butter." Maeve laughed softly as she watched him before continuing with her meal.

"So, what were you doing outside? Aside from taking your shoes off." Henry questioned with a smirk once he had gotten back to the table.

"I just needed to breathe. And think." Maeve replied, realising Henry had completely distracted her from her home sickness.

"What were you thinking about?" he further questioned, then took a bite of his bread.

"I miss painting." She replied, not wanting to share much else. "I saw the sunset and remembered I hadn't painted one of those in a while."

"Was it beautiful? The sunset I mean." Henry asked, though he didn't know why. He never used to care for such things. Perhaps the years of imprisonment had finally gotten to him.

"Yes." Maeve kept her reply short. He seemed vulnerable again, just as he had in the hallway. It made her re-think his words about never leaving. How long had it been since he had last seen a sunset? "Have you ever painted something?" She asked to lighten the mood.

"I probably wouldn't be able to paint a stick man." Henry joked, laughter escaping them both as the door opened.

"Right kids, time to go to our rooms." Dr Brenner stood in the doorway, mesmerised by what he saw in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Henry smile, let alone laugh. It almost looked like there was some humanity left inside of him.

Maeve moved from her chair, silently wondering why Henry had to go to his room as well. She knew there was an allocated 'curfew' so-to-speak for the patients to return to their rooms, but Henry was an orderly, meant to enforce this curfew. Perhaps it was because he was technically still a patient. Whatever it was, she decided not to think any further into it.

"Good night everyone." She said as she left the room, sending a final smile to Henry.