Author's note: Sorry for the delay and thanks for the reviews!

There are some tasks which even a few weeks in, Kayo still finds herself fumbling with. She struggles to brush it out. It isn't all that easy getting it all to go in the right direction. She needs a haircut. One's been scheduled in for the next time that she gets to go to the mainland. In the meantime, she finds herself struggling to cope with a mane of hair and only her left hand to try to battle it with. It's a silent struggle that she engages in every morning after her shower and that she doesn't bother troubling any of the others about. A couple more months and her cast will be off. She's waited longer and suffered worse.

She curses quietly as begins the next painful routine struggle: her hairband.

Whilst the young woman doesn't actually mind having her hair down, it's far simpler when it's all tied back. It doesn't get in her way and blow around in her eyes. She struggles again and again with tying it back. It always seems to be a little lopsided. Either that or a few too many strands have escaped her attempts and she found herself forced to try again. It was infuriating. The more that she tries and fails, the more angry she becomes and the more that she finds herself struggling.

Finally, the brush slips from her hand and hits the ground. She lacks both the strength and the will to bend down and pick it up. Instead, she just looks at it on the floor. Letting out a sigh, Kayo rests her head against her table. Too exhausted and desperate to bother moving, she sits there for a few moments. She'll get over it in a short while, she knows that much. These outburst are becoming increasingly rare but they still weigh heavily upon her. She shouldn't be this weak…

"Having a little trouble, are you?!"

The young woman turns around, startled. Just how it is that an elderly woman can sneak up on her, she doesn't know. Her senses must have dulled somewhat since she renounced her duties as head of Security for International Rescue. There's a certain comfort that Grandma Tracy somehow manages to bring with her at all times to those closest (with the slight exception of when she was threatening them with some cooking). Kayo finds herself smiling as she greets the older individual. The elder takes it as a signal that she's okay to come in.

Her eyes are quick to fall on the brush that lies on the floor. She approaches carefully and picks it up.

"It's not easy with one hand, is it?"

"No. I'll get there eventually."

"I'm sure you will but sometimes it's nice to have some help."

Kayo isn't the most naturally tactile of people. She doesn't need or relish hugs and human contact in the same way that some others do. She's not averse to it. It's just not something that she actively finds herself craving on a daily basis. As Grandma approaches however so as to stand behind her, the young woman finds the tension in her body begin to ease steadily.

She can't quite remember the last time that someone had brushed out her hair. She assumes that someone in the GDF must have tended to it once they'd rescued her as it had been terribly mattered beforehand. She'd been out of it on a mixture of sedatives, painkillers and other medication however, so much so that she couldn't recollect all that much of what had occurred at all. Prior to that, she must have been a little child with her mother tending to her the last time that she could actually recall being treated to a hairbrush by a member of her family.

The young woman doesn't protest. Ordinarily, there might be some issue with her pride, true but right now, she founds herself welcoming the gentle comfort that comes from such kind company more than anything else.

"You feeling alright kid?"

"Yeah." Kayo can't quite tell if the question is genuine or if the elder is prying again. "Putting myself back together again."

"It can take some time. So don't rush it..."

"I'm not… I'm just so relieved to be back here."

There's an understanding silence that settles in between the two of them. It's almost as if Grandma can read her mind, sense just what it is that she's feeling. How else can the woman's sudden arrival be explained? Kayo closes her eyes for a few moments, enjoying the sensation of having another care for her.

She allows herself to forget about her uncle for a short while. It's just her. She's safe and with family. Her mind wanders. It doesn't go terribly far, preferring to stay on the island. People are relaxing around her, she can feel that. Whether or not it's because they think that she's on the mend or simply because they're slowly but surely growing used to the fact that she is back home and well enough. She's lost some weight and has a cast but otherwise, it's still her under the skin. So gradually, things are getting back to normal.

One one Tracy is a notable exception.

"What's wrong with Scott?"

"Noticed, have you?"

"It's sort of hard to miss..."

He doesn't want anything to do with her. He'd never said that much to her face but his actions make it clear. Since her return, they've only exchanged a handful of words here and there and only when absolutely necessary. Even if they're in the same room together, he fails to do much more than occasionally glance at her, even then its brief. It's almost as if he's doing the strict minimum necessary to acknowledge that she exists. She knows that the others must have noticed, it's impossible for them not to have and yet, curiously, nobody has commented on it. Usually, such apparent hostility would quickly be stopped. Their island is too small for feuds and their family too close and yet right now, nobody has done anything to put an end to it.

Kayo feels that she knows why. She has her suspicions.

Grandma slows her actions just slightly. In the mirror, Kayo catches sight of the lines of her face as they turn just a little bit grimmer.

"You know, that boy was gone for two weeks after you were taken. He flew all over the planet searching… Barely ate or slept. When he found your communicator… It almost broke him."

Her communicator. Kayo hasn't heard anything about it. Evidently none of the family thought that it was important to bring up. As such, she reasons that she shouldn't even open her mouth. Although in her mind, she can easily picture just what it is that they will have found: the device will have been scuffed, torn and broken. If they succeeded in accessing any of the hardware, they would realize that everything had been gone through. Havoc had already seen to it that every scrap of data had been extracted.

As with almost everything the Hood did, there was a rhyme and reason for it.

Her uncle had scratched away at the leather of the communicator somewhat mindlessly with a knife. All the while, she'd been subjected to her usual bout of torment. She didn't know how long she'd been here exactly. At least a month at this point she would have guessed. It could have been longer. It always felt like longer. She closed her eyes, grit her teeth, fought against the intrusion with everything that she still had to give. It wasn't much. Wasn't enough. With every passing session, the time between them seemed to be less and less. Her ability to resist was being whittled away little by little. Now, alongside her uncle's voice, there was an increasingly loud whisper that belonged to some part of herself. It demanded that she do what he said. It would be easier… The Tracys would know that she'd been taken and increased their protection accordingly, so it wasn't even as if she'd be putting them in jeopardy.

She did what she could to block it all out. On the floor, unable to stand, she plastered her hands over her ears and pressing against her skull so hard, she wondered if it might not implode. Still, she couldn't escape.

The Hood was cold, emotionless. He remained detached entirely from the suffering of the young woman. She could stop it. He would sometimes remind her. The paper and pen were nearby. All she need do was draw out a simple layout and speak a few words, tell him just what frequency they used to control their great machines.

She searched for something to distract herself. Her silent prayers were answered a moment later as the door opened. Her uncle looked over, without even pausing his attack. A smile crept onto his face.

"Ah… Perhaps Tanusha, we might try something new? Stand up and come sit in this chair."

For a few seconds, the attack lessened in its severity. It allowed her to think, to process the command a little more clearly. It was so simple. She could do it so easily without so much as endangering her family. She felt weak. Her body trembled in much the same way as it would have done had she been about to throw up. It was scarcely enough to allow her to get to her feet. As she did so however, she felt the Hood's assault gradually begin to ease. She's doing what he wants after all.

Finally, after an effort which is more demanding than she knows it should been. She practically collapsed into it. Even sitting there required her concentration as with every second, it felt as if she might have been about to slide off at any moment. For the first time, she was able to take notice of who had just entered. The Chaos Crew… They weren't usually here. For the most part, Kayo assumed that they simply had better things to do. Their presence was enough to cause her to assume the worst, to ready herself. The last time that they'd been here like this, she'd lost an eye…

"Pull up your sleeve." Came her uncle's next request.

"Why?"

"Because I told you to." The pain began once more, only briefly, prompting her to quickly do as she was told. The pain instantly ceased. "There, wasn't that easier?"

"W-What are you going to do?"

She was weary, afraid. Everything she'd been through always caused her to assume that every second she could and would be exposed to some new form of torture.

Kayo got her answer a few seconds later. There was a sharp pain which struck her right forearm. It caused her to hiss with pain. She turned to face Havoc. The other woman wore a taunting smirk, holding a knife in her hand. Instinctively, Tanusha checked herself. She found a scratch. Whilst painful, it certainly wasn't life threatening. All the same, she could make out a stream of blood making its way down her arm. Without warning, her uncle tossed her her communicator causing the device to land on her lap. She looked up at him perplexed.

"Hold that against your cut or else they will and they won't be delicate about it."

"What's this all for?" Kayo questioned, obliging all the same.

"Well, we want to give the Tracys some breadcrumbs to follow, don't we? Make sure they keep on looking in all the wrong places. Before they find you, that is."

"Find me?"

"You didn't think you were going to stay here forever, did you?"

"I don't get it… Why would you?"

"All in good time Tanusha… All in good time..."

Kayo brought herself out of her memories with a simple shake of the head. She could imagine Scott chasing her across the globe. He would have tried desperately. It was who was but he didn't have her training, her experience and her uncle was oh so clever… He was always bound for failure. She imagined that in many ways, that would have been its own form of torture for him. She couldn't help but think that she was in for a terribly shock when the Hood's plan finally came to fruition.

"I'm safe now though." Kayo declares, keen to be normal. "He knows that right?"

"Of course he does!" Grandma assures her. "But it doesn't mean he doesn't still blame himself. He can be stubborn. Don't worry about it. Give it some time, he'll get better. If not, I'll have a word with him."

Kayo nods slowly. She doesn't want to fight with Scott. Lord knows he's driven her mad on occasion but he's still a part of her family. For a moment, the young woman wonders if there might be any way of her approaching him herself to make things better. She thinks better of it. How is she supposed to try to bridge whatever gap has formed between the two of them, knowing that at the end, it will all end in fire anyhow when she betrays him? It seems kinder for the two of them to be apart, as if that might somehow serve to lessen the inevitable blow when it comes.

The elder leaves after a few moments. Kayo's hair is done. The woman's absence leaves a familiar hole within her heart. It's a mixture of pain and dread knowing what's to come.

She sits in front of the mirror for a few moments. There's a figure who has reappeared, she knows the man well. Kayo' could have experienced a hundred thousand of his intrusions and still she's certain that there will be no getting used to them. She knows that he isn't there and yet he is. It's an illusion, one that he projects into her cybernetic eye. He stands just behind her reflection, always there, inescapable. Terrified, the young woman can't bring herself to take her eyes off of him. His smile is as cruel as it is taunting.

"What is it?" She snarls eventually, her patience running out where his games are concerned.

"You'll be going to the doctor's next month to have that cast of yours looked at."

"Yes..."

"One of my men will slip you a little something that should help us deal with the Tracy problem. That's all."

He's gone a second later and once more, she finds herself alone.