Azulatano: Most of these answers are that you'll just have to read and see, but a few, I will answer. Mainly because I yell questions like this at movies all the time.

Davenport's general plan was to just rent the limo, not actually buy it. Davenport wouldn't be caught dead in a cab or a minivan with enough room for everyone. Just no. Not him. As for the state of the city, it's fine for now. Soad hasn't ventured too far out of Mission Creek just yet. I like to think that there's enough space between Los Angeles and Mission Creek and the nearby cities for LA to be safe. For now. Also, Davenport's money was in a bank. Unless someone specifically destroys the infrastructure of every bank in the nation or attacks the accounts personally (which Douglas has done), the money's still there, safe and sound. Fortunately for him, he actually does have enough to start over. Unfortunately, most everyone else does not, which we're gonna see pretty soon.

Kevin?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."


"Nobody can hurt me without my permission."

Mahatma Gandhi


"Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don't think you can, hold on."

James Frey, A Million Little Pieces


Kevin

When they first started dating, Kevin and Douglas had played a kind of question game over dinner once to get to know each other better. What were your dreams as a kid, did you ever do anything you're still embarrassed about, things like that. Of course, a few drinks later, the questions had evolved into more unlikely nonsense than anything else.

The one that Kevin kept thinking about now was one Douglas had asked towards the end of the evening. "If you were a prisoner or something, how would you handle it?"

Kevin had passed buzzed quite a while before that, and had given an answer that seemed reasonable at the time. "I'd make myself as annoying as possible. Eventually, they'd decide that I wasn't worth the trouble and let me go."

Back then, both had laughed about it. Now that Kevin was actually in the situation, though….

There was nothing funny about this. Nothing at all. And he sure as hell wasn't about to make himself annoying. Knowing James, torture was a very real threat if Kevin wore the man's patience thin too quickly.

Not that he wasn't already. Three days of not telling James what he wanted to know, and James was already looking like he was going to kill Kevin to amuse himself. Honestly, he had a feeling that the only reason he wasn't dead already was because Missy was running interference. He wished she wouldn't – it was a great risk to her and anyone who was helping her – but he couldn't say that he wasn't even the slightest bit grateful and significantly touched by her willingness to help him.

The newest Hunter recruits – random survivors from the attacks, Kevin had learned – were mostly helping Missy out. At the very least, her group of trainees was. They would often run food or something down to Kevin when it was too suspicious for Missy herself to leave the main area. It was a god-send, especially since James made no effort to actually allow Kevin any food. Sometimes, they would sit and talk to him, something else he enjoyed. When Missy talked, it was usually about how she was trying to hide her treachery from James and the others or asking about how to actually fight Soad.

Kevin wouldn't tell her, on the off chance that she actually was working for James all along. He did enjoy the company, though.

The recruits, however, often talked about their families and their lives before they even knew demons existed. It was a welcome distraction to Kevin from his less-than-comfortable accommodations – being chained to a stake in such a way that he was standing waist-deep in raw sewage constantly (he'd even fallen completely in it when he'd fallen asleep a few times) wasn't great – and he thought they enjoyed talking to someone who wasn't constantly thinking of how to fight demons. Maybe it made them feel more like humans again instead of soldiers. Who knew?

It was Sam who visited the most, though. She had seemed completely relieved that the Davenport family had survived. She had been less than happy about the fact that he had no news about her own family, but she didn't seem to hold that against him. In fact, she was the one who continued to insist that Kevin let somebody set his broken arm. Or that he at least took some painkillers for it.

That wasn't going to happen. He wasn't keen on the idea of Hunters further damaging his arm until he told them what he knew about Soad. As for painkillers, they were likely in very short supply. He wasn't about to let them waste them on him. Besides, his arm was healing on its own. It was at a very wrong angle, but it was healing, damn it! The only real worry he had was the throbbing burn that had started a few days ago in his leg. He had a sneaking suspicion that an injury had become infected, but he couldn't tell. It was constantly submerged in filth.

Hey, if it killed him, at least he'd be out of the situation. He didn't put it past Douglas to have figured out Soad's weakness like Kevin had, anyways. He was clever, after all. He had made a pack of robot kids, after all. No, Kevin likely wouldn't take the secret with him when he died.

Hopefully.

He found himself wondering fleetingly if Perry had survived. He knew it was very unlikely, but he could still hope, right? No one deserved to be left at the mercy of Soad's army of demons. Not even Perry.

Footsteps echoed down the tunnel, breaking Kevin out of his thoughts. He looked at the manhole cover over his head, noting that sun shone straight through the holes. By his guess, it was noon, which meant that his visitor was most likely James.

Wonderful. Here came another annoying round of questioning.

James rounded the corner, his flashlight aimed right at Kevin. He approached silently, not scowling like usual. Instead, he seemed almost smug.

Kevin didn't dwell on it. He gave James a tight smile. "Hi again. I'm still not telling you."

Instead of his usual ranting, James just reached in his pocket and pulled something out, shining the light on it. "I have a present."

Kevin found himself unable to speak now. James was holding a small bag of amphetamines. Where Kevin had been able to resist it a few days ago, now he found himself weakening at the sight.

Just one, he found himself thinking, the cravings brought on by withdrawal now hitting him full force. It was so close, within his reach, even. Just one, and I can escape this place for a while.

James' eyes lit up triumphantly. "Every useful thing you tell me earns you one pill. Just like our old deal."

Kevin swallowed hard. Though everything was screaming at him now to give in, he shook his head. "No."

"You'll change your mind," James responded with a shrug, sitting down on the dry ledge nearby. "You always did. I doubt you changed now, speed freak."

Kevin backed as far away as he could, but he was afraid that James was right. With the temptation right in front of him, Kevin might not be able to last long at all.


"Every now and then I like to do as I'm told, just to confuse people."

Tamora Pierce, Melting Stones (The Circle Reforged, #3)


"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."

F. Scott Fitzgerald


Olyanaeci

Oly watched a small patrol of military personnel as they picked their way quietly through Mission Creek. It was a far cry from the large entrance they had made the last time, according to Master. A few people would be harder to detect than a tank. And, though the camp was obviously nowhere near as close to Mission Creek as the one that Soad had destroyed, Oly had no doubt that there was one nearby. The people had to come from somewhere, after all.

Oly yawned, watching them for a bit longer. Of all the boring tasks Master had ever sent her on, this definitely was one of the worst. Who cared what happened to that Hunter and that Perry woman? They were both annoying, as far as Oly was concerned. Still, orders were orders, and she had to follow them. After a few more moments, Oly loosened her form and reassembled herself as Bree. Now appearing human, she ran towards the soldiers, forcing herself to sound panicked. "Help! Help!"

The soldiers almost immediately aimed their guns at her before lowering them, the word human reaching Oly's ears. She slid to a stop near them, waving dramatically. "Help! My aunt, she's hurt!"

One reached out, patting her shoulder. "Okay, calm down. Where is she?"

Oly spun around on her heels and lead them through a maze of rubble, using the tank as a landmark until she reached the pile of debris. With the soldiers on her heels, she slid to a stop and pointed. "There! I think she broke her back!"

Oly watched as a few soldiers passed her to follow a streak of blood across the ground. She allowed a few other soldiers to lead her away as they went, knowing that, at the end of the blood trail, they would find Perry. Unconscious from having strained herself too much by dragging herself several feet, but, miraculously, still alive.