Author's note: Thanks for the review!

It's so strange to be back home. She can't quite seem to settle down.

Well, she does. She doesn't have enough of her strength back to feel up to much. For the first few days, she just sort of hangs around in a very un-Kayo fashion. Usually she would do… Something. The tiredness that she feels is one that's settled deeply into her bones. It's like trying to recover from a sickness. It could be some of the pills the doctors at the GDF gave her to help with her hand. They might be making her a bit groggier than she would usually be. She's not entirely convinced however, feeling that the problem is a little more deeply set than that.

After so many months of small rooms and restraints, the notion of "freedom" is something that she struggles to get through her mind. She doesn't quite know what to do with herself. She can't go about her usual daily duties across the island. To be fair, she isn't in a physical state to do so. She knows that she's weak. All it takes is a little while up and about for her arms and legs to begin to ache and inform her that she's not quite up for it yet.

So she ends up just sitting around, watching the others as they come and go. They're all very attentive and she's grateful for it in many respects. They seem to take turns, almost operating in shifts to check if she's okay to avoid any one of them getting on her nerves.

Sometimes, she does find herself drifting back to her captivity. That happens increasingly as she finds herself with nothing to do and the awareness to think about things. That brings up another issue. The Hood's prison feels like it's both another world away – so much so that she increasingly finds herself wondering if she might have dreamed it all up. Then, a little burst of pain, physical or a memory comes back to her and reminds her that it did happen. There's no changing the past.

She needs to talk to them but where to begin? There's so much that needs to be said and she knows precious little time to do so. From time to time, she raises her eyes to meet her father or Grandma or Jeff. Sometimes, she succeeds in catching their attention. They offer her a gentle smile, patient and she can almost swear that they can sense that there's something somewhere that she needs to get out of her. Fear prevents her from doing so. All she can do is wish that they might catch onto the fact that there's something troubling her. Maybe if they're the ones to ask, then perhaps they might be able to get her to open up a little.

Then Kayo reminds herself that it's pointless. She won't succeed. A few words are all that are needed but she knows that it's beyond her strength. That was made clear to her some time ago.

So she sits there, resting her head on her hand and stares out of the window. Out there somewhere, she knows that her uncle is watching. He'd always watching and scheming. She doesn't know why he's been so quiet. She'd rather been expecting things to kick off as soon as she'd been brought back to the island. Instead, she'd been granted peace. She doesn't understand it and in truth, it terrifies her to the core. Why the wait? It doesn't make much sense to the young woman. It causes her to question things.

"Hey..." It's Grandma who approaches her this time. "You okay?"

"Fine..." Kayo lies but feels no shame for once.

"Had enough to eat?"

"Yes. Plenty thanks. I haven't eaten this much in a while."

"Well, that's good. You could do with putting on a few pounds."

She doesn't deny it, knowing better than to challenge the elder where her own well-being is concerned. At the end of the day, Grandma likely carries more sway over her than any doctor ever could hope to.

Assuming that she's about to be left alone again to be free with her own thoughts, Kayo looks down towards her cast. There are a series of eight names already scribbled onto it. In a couple of days, she might be able to add Lady Penelope's and Parker's to it. Both were apparently eager to come and visit her having dedicated much of the past six months to tracking down those who had taken her and rescuing her. Then there was that outstanding bet she had with Gordon about being able to get Casey's signature.

It comes as a little bit of a surprise when the elder settles down and takes a seat next to her at the table, joining her in her contemplation of the ocean.

"What's on your mind kid?"

Kayo can only offer a shaky shrug. There are words on the tip of her tongue, a desperate plea, a cry, a warning just waiting to be let out. If she could find the strength to allow it to escape then… Then what? She knows what will happen. Both the best and the worst.

Making things all the harder is that she's certain that the old woman can see past whatever defenses she manages to raise around herself. All that Kayo can assume is that whatever the woman she calls "Grandma" assumes might be wrong, she will be underestimating or at least misidentifying some part of what it is that weighs so heavily upon her. Instead, the young woman looks away. She raises her left hand to her eye once more and rubs it, averting her gaze as she does so. Even without looking, she can sense the other woman's look and all of the sympathy, understanding and patience which pours from it.

"It's okay. When you're ready..."

Kayo manages a watery smile, one which she knows fails to hide the pain underneath. Maybe she might have mistaken the action for her trying to wipe away or prevent a few tears from falling. It doesn't really matter. The head of security is quite certain that she's going to suffer from many a similar outburst in the coming days, at least until this nightmare of hers is finally brought to its natural conclusion.

A strong and heavy hand comes down on her shoulder suddenly. it's grip is gentle but present with enough force and firmness to let her know that she won't be able to wriggle out of it without a fight. She looks up to see Virgil's kind brown eyes staring down at her but with a hint of determination behind them:

"Come on. Kayo, infirmary. Now."

"What?" Her heart sinks and she feels sick. "Why?"

"That eye of yours. Don't think I haven't noticed you rubbing it. I just want to a look, make sure you haven't got some sort of infection."

"It's nothing! Just some dust!"

"You've had dust in your eye for three days straight now? Come on, Kayo… It's five minutes, I just want to have a look."

Panic takes hold but nothing that will give her the words that she needs to express her fear or to justify not going with him. She should want to, just to be certain that there isn't anything wrong with her. She knows after all that Virgil's right, she has been rubbing the eye excessively. It's a nervous tick, that's all. He's not to know that of course.

Grandma's hand on her shoulder lets her know that the woman's thinking something similar and that there will be no escape. So, reluctantly, she allows herself to get dragged along. After all, she knows what they'll find: nothing.

She lets that certainty console her right up until the door opens. The infirmary of Tracy island, unfortunately, sees its fair share of use. For that reason, it's held more or less to the same ruthless hygiene standards as the same space in a GDF base or hospital would be. As the doors open, they're struck by a pungent odor of antiseptic and disinfectant, almost instantly, the young woman finds herself thrown back six months:

"Get off of me!"

After what she guessed to be at least a couple of days of custody, it seemed as if unfortunately, her captors had grown accustomed to whatever tricks she might still have to pull and were now prepared for them. When Fuse and Havoc had come to retrieve her from her cell, she'd rather been hoping to be able to greet them with a little welcome party even although she still had a pair of cuffs binding her hands behind her back. They'd been expecting such a stunt however and between them had made quick work of pinning her in place and then dragging her to her feet.

"Hey!" Fuse had cautioned taking note of his sister's exasperation with the lack of cooperation shown by their prisoner. "Remember what the boss said! "Not a scratch"."

"Easy for him to say! He's not the one trying to get her to move!"

It was rather childish the way that she dug her heels in. Every step that they took she fought, determined to be the most unobliging and difficult prisoner imaginable and to make every second of her captivity hell by turning herself into a veritable devil. What else could she do?

What should have been a five minute walk tops, she managed to turn into a twenty minute endeavor for the two siblings with even Fuse's patience beginning to run a bit thin and wondering if there might not be some way of hurrying things along. She liked to think that she could have lasted half an hour if it weren't for the fact that she hadn't been given any food or water in what she guessed was getting on for a day now. With one final effort, the pair managed to heave her in through a set of doors.

Instantly, everything changed prompting her to come to a stop. The room was bright and the stench of antiseptic so strong that it physically seemed to burn at her eyes and nostrils. There were others here, men and women wearing masks… Doctors?.. She caught sight of a series of instruments, scalpels, syringes and a few other things which she didn't even want to try and identify. They caused her stomach to turn. In the space of a few seconds, all of her courage, her bravado faded away leaving her only with a sense of foreboding dread, already knowing sensing that something truly terrible was going to happen.

"W-What is this?"

"You'll find out." Havoc had assured her with just a little bit too much excited glee for Kayo's liking.

Without warning, taking advantage of her few seconds of distraction, Fuse grabbed her from behind, ensuring that her arms were plastered next to her body. She panicked, kicking at his shins clumsily but to no avail. One of the doctors, a woman approached with a wet cloth in hand. Instantly, desperation began to take hold. Unable to retreat, Kayo did what she could to turn her head to get away. Havoc wrapped a hand around the hair at the base of her neck pulling hard so as to immobilize her. She did all that she could regardless. Even as the cloth was pressed against her mouth and nose, seemingly to try and smother her, she held her breath. It worked for a few moments, then a small gasp encouraged by Havoc once more yanking on her hair sent her mind spinning. Her arms were heavy and her strength left her as she lost consciousness.

"Kayo?"

It's grandma who brings her back into reality. She realizes that she's holding onto the door frame as if it's the only thing anchoring her here and keeping her from falling back into her nightmares. Virgil has stopped. He approaches, perhaps assuming that she's going to faint and guides her over towards the table. Paradoxically, taking her closest to that which has sparked her fear. She doesn't fight him, allowing herself to helped over so that she can sit down on the end of the table.

Kayo sits there for a short while, her head hanging low as she tries to make sense of everything. She's on Tracy island now and she isn't alone. That knowledge prompts her to present them with an explanation as soon as she can and ignore the shaking that's taken over her.

"I-I- They took me to a place like this- To get me to talk."

"Would you rather go wait outside?" Virgil offers. "I can bring a first aid kit it's no-"

"No. No. It's fine…" She shakes her head and tries her best to smile. "I'm going to have to get used to them again. Right?"

"Hopefully not too used." Grandma teases her gently.

The elder sits next to her on the table, slipping an arm around her shoulders. It's a comfort that Kayo's found herself deprived of for so long, for a moment all she can do is stare. It's not that she's ungrateful, only that she doesn't know how to react to it.

Virgil gets an ophthalmoscope out from the first aid kid. Carefully, he raises it to her left eye. She doesn't object, allowing him to get a good look. He'll be looking for traces of infection but won't find any. Still, Kayo sits there obligingly, memories of the Hood's facility fading just slightly as she finds some sanctuary in the elder's embrace. Her adoptive brother appears relaxed as he goes about his job.

"Weren't you brought to the GDF hospital?" Virgil questions puzzled still examining the eye.

"Yeah but I was completely out of it. I didn't know what was going on." The excuse must fly as a second later, he pulls away with a reassuring smile.

"Looks all clear but quit rubbing it, okay? It's not good for you."

"Yes, doctor..."

She gets a teasing look from the middle brother before being escorted outside once more. Kayo finds herself dragging her feet.

All clear…

Could it really all have been a dream – well, a nightmare?..

She'd woken up unable to move. It had taken a couple of minutes for her to pull herself together enough to process just what was going on. She'd found herself strapped to a table. Thick restraints prevented her from shifting in the slightest. All that she could do was stare up at the bright neon lights above her. She could sense that something had changed… There was a monotonous beeping coming from a machine next to her. She could recognize it as a heartbeat.

As soon as she had the wherewithal, she's began struggling. At first, she did so discreetly, trying to slip them off so that she might be able to surprise one of her captors. After a few minutes of trying however, she'd promptly realized they were far too tight for her to hope to achieve success. As a result, she took to dumbly tugging at them, somehow hoping that she might be able to snap the leather. Some steps approaching caused her to pause briefly. Slowly, her uncle drifted into her peripheral vision. He stood there cold, unmoved.

"You really only have yourself to blame for this you know." He told her sternly, as if he was telling off a misbehaving child.

"What's this all about?" She asked, trying to put as much menace behind her voice. "What have you done?"

"Nothing. Yet. I thought it would be fairest to give you a choice: right or left?"

Kayo didn't answer. She frowned, feeling anger taking hold for a few moments. Unsure just what her uncle was going on about. Once more, her gaze had run over what little of the room they could make out. There were still a few people moving around. Still all masked, men and women. Kayo felt her heart begin to beat just that little bit faster, the machine next to her relaying that fact. Once more, she began to tug in an attempt to free herself, making no secret of her attempts.

The Hood continued to watch emotionless. He might not be enjoying the spectacle but neither did she get the feeling that he was taking any particular pleasure in her distress either.

"I'm not telling you anything!" She'd spat.

"Well, we'll see about that later..." The man had answered. "Just answer the question: right or left? Which means less to you."

"Right or left what?" She only just managed to blurt out as she spotted some sort of metallic instrument getting carried on past.

"Tanusha… Let me put it this way. You're going to have to lose an eye. I'm allowing you to pick which one."

With a few words, a sinister promise and warning, her uncle managed to shatter any illusions of courage that she might have had.

She hadn't listened any more. Desperation drove her insane. She'd tugged and pulled and screamed at he straps and binds until she'd been convinced that it was her own body that was going to snap. The doctors or whatever the hell they were, barely even looked at her. They allowed her to exhaust herself, to give everything that she had. After a few minutes, her muscles were on fire, her body coated with sweat and her throat was raw from her cries of protest. Tears of rage and helplessness poured down her her cheeks as for the first time, she began to realize that she wasn't about to be rescued.

Still she cried out. She threatened and cursed. Told them to stay away from her if they knew what was good for them. Still the doctors continued their preparations unperturbed. It was difficult to make out anything strapped down to a table like this. She could scarcely move a muscle they had her bound so tightly. From time to time she got the odd peep however and she didn't like what she saw: syringes and scalpels. All instruments which filled her with terror and caused her to redouble her efforts to free herself.

Kayo's rubbed herself raw in a few places through her desperate attempts to escape. Eventually though, she tired. Her chest heaved and she felt like she was suffocating, unable to get enough oxygen into her body. She couldn't move any further.

So, helpless, she gave in to despair. Now, she felt it's inevitable. The figure of her uncle was made somewhat blurry by the tears behind her eyes which she couldn't even wipe away. Somehow, she could make out the coldness behind his gaze. The way that he looked at her, its was if she was a disobeying child throwing an unreasonable tantrum. She managed to get a hold of her emotions for a few seconds, just enough to think somewhat rationally. She hated him, loathed him with every fiber of her body but she also knows him well enough that he might just take her dominant eye to make a point.

"L-Left..."

"Very well."

"U-Uncle..." For a moment, her own pride attempted to choke the words which the self-preservation instinct was demanding that she croak out. "Please… Please don't let them-"

"Tanusha..." For a moment, she might even swear that his voice softened for a few seconds. "How many chances have I given you?"

She'll get no mercy from him. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. So she did the only thing that she felt she still could do to salvage her dignity. She turned away from him, closing her eyes, she stopped fighting. At least if she has to face such a fate, she'll do it with her head held high. That was what she told herself.

Someone shifted next to her, it was a… Honestly, she wasn't not entirely sure if it was a man or a woman behind the mask. She was helpless but to let out a whimper as a needle was driven into the back of her hand. Her mind began to dull and spin slowly but steadily. She fought it. It was no easy feat but knowing what will happen when she loses consciousness caused adrenaline to pump through her veins. It let her stay awake just that little bit longer. Gradually though, a numbness spread through her body. She couldn't move. Her uncle continued to watch her for a few moments, perhaps waiting until she finally gave in to the drugs pumping through her system.

"Clean and quick doctor." The man addressed the surgeon already preparing some of their tools.

Nothing else was said. All she felt was residual fear as the world faded to black.