In it for the long haul...

The Feral Force was created within less than a week. Its main soldiers were Ronald Fray or Red as Ayden chose to call him; Anthony Turner, who Ayden had taken on calling him Annie, much to his dismay; Marvin Jones, one of the first soldiers Ayden and Elena had met at the camp and instantly acquainted; Daniel Lewis, or Dan, who so happened to be Marvin's best pal since they were both toddlers; Curt Morris... or the "Scottish Guy"; Chris Jameson; and Huang Wu, whom Ayden called Hugh as not to mess up his actual name. And well, naturally, Ayden was on the team as she was the leader.

When she had finally assembled the team she wanted, with a few extra soldiers whom she evaluated herself to make her unit larger, that was the moment Elena chose to step forward and asked to be in. It took almost the entire week to convince Ayden, but Elena managed, much to Ayden's clear disapproval of the idea of dragging someone younger than herself into the whole operation.

"Elena..."

"No, Ayden. I already told you: I'm going."

"You're seriously ready to follow 'Captain Shades' into the River Styx?"

"Oh, no," she said quickly, but then she laughed. "The previously chubby sick girl from Canada who saved my ass from those other bullying soldiers on our first day at camp? She's the one I'm ready to follow and stick by her side for the long haul."

Ayden fought back a smile. "You're impossible."

Elena grinned. "You love me."

"I would love to stab you."

"You love me too much to do that."

Damian actually had a harder time than he thought he would, though that was his own fault for continuously flirting with her and asking her out at every given moment, which was practically every time she was with Elena and he so coincidentally happened to be there.

In other words: all the time.

"Why won't you let me?"

"Why should I?"

"If you won't let me, then... will you at least go out with me?"

"No!"

The relationship between the pair had actually started out rather tolerable and understanding, but with him constantly nagging her, it became volatile. Ayden usually had a good control over her temper, though it was becoming more and more impossible with the older Shostakovitch, which was one of the main reasons she didn't want to have him on her team. She didn't doubt he was a good soldier; he wouldn't have survived whatever had been done to him if he wasn't, but she didn't want to have someone distracting her all the time, even less someone who clearly got jealous every time she was alone with the pervy inventor, or any other man for that matter.

Of course, she wasn't aware of it being jealousy, even less of his interest in her being genuine, but she waved it off nonetheless and dismissed him with a cold shoulder. Eventually, he managed to hit a soft spot when she asked him again why she should let him on the team.

Give me one good reason as to why I should let you in on this."

"I'll give you three, Carmen." Her jaw clenched, but she kept her head up high, nonetheless. "First off..." He sighed. "I just want to look out for my sister, okay? She may act tough at times, and even impassive... but the girl cries when she sees an old man crossing the street." Ayden's eyes softened for the first time as they gazed up into his. "I haven't been there for her lately, for obvious reasons," he motioned around them, "but I want to change that. I want to be a good brother and protect her like I used to."

Ayden's heart clenched. She wanted to cry, but she held it in. "Reason number two?"

"Well, I'm a far better sniper than Elena, and anyone else on the team." He paused for a moment, brows furrowing. "And... what they did to me at the lab."

Ayden's attention shot upward; was he really trusting her that much to tell her what happened to him?

"They... they did that to me because I came across a handful of intel that could help bring them down." He looked her straight in the eye, fighting back the dreamy look that was threatening to take over his face. "Things that could help the team on this mission."

Ayden pursed her lips as she looked at him for a long moment, brows furrowed. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, you've convinced me."

He smiled, but that soon turned into a smirk that made her insides churn. "Any way I can convince you to go out with me?"

Ayden groaned as she began walking towards Doolittle's office. "I'm letting you on the team, just don't go falling in love with me," she warned, a joking edge to her tone, though it was clear she was dead serious.

She paused for a moment, then added, "And you gotta stop asking me out."

Damian nodded, following her. "Alright." He paused. "Go out with me."

"What did I just tell you?!"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You told me to stop asking, so I demanded."

Ayden stopped short and looked back at him. She huffed, then resumed her walk. "God, you Shostakovitch kids are gonna be the death of me," she grumbled.

The mission was a worldwide journey. Their enemy's had bases in various parts of America, and no one ever knew about them, though there were only a few, so that was where they began. As action-filled as the missions were, the Feral Force soared through each and every one of them rather smoothly, though it wasn't so until after the first bases they took down. They were rather nervous when they began, what with the way Ayden proceeded; she would literally walk up to the front door after knocking out the guarding troops.

"Are you insane?! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Relax, Chris, she knows what she's doing."

"A-are y-you s-sure?"

"Yes, Red, trust me, I would know." Pause. "Wait... you do know what you're doing, right?"

"Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?"

The best days came after the third base; Captain Jaubert and the Feral Force would just storm into a building with machine guns and take out all the henchmen inside and blow the place to smithereens. They were made even better when they captured someone higher on their enemy's ladder. They often proudly boasted that would never talk, but once Ayden knocked their cyanide capsules out of their mouths, which still quite shocked her for even existing, their confidence dissipated along with their once chance at a quick death. She loved when she got to kick them to their knees in front of all the people they'd hurt. It showed them that they were not all-powerful, and there was no immunity for their cruel actions. Often times, it inspired men and women to fight back against their attackers, now that they knew they had a chance to win. Many of their missions went like this, but they were not always so lucky. Especially not on their before last mission in America.

They were in a plane, flying through a storm. A few of the Feral Force soldiers had to get ready to jump to attack on land while the rest stayed in the air, though the attack started sooner, far before they reached the island they were heading toward. Their plane was shot and Elena had fallen into the ocean. Even though Ayden would never say it out loud, even less, admit it, everyone knew Elena had come to mean the world to her, and that was very much clear when she tore off her backpack, threw it aside, then jumped.

Ayden had never been afraid of heights; it was falling she was afraid of, but, at that moment. she knew she had to push past that fear in order to save Elena. Ayden would have done it for anyone; a soldier is never left behind; but this was Elena, and, even though Ayden never said it out loud, Elena was her best friend. Of course, she was no replacement— there was no way Elena or anyone could replace the spot Leonard had taken in her heart. But Elena earned her own spot. She earned her own little house in Ayden's heart, and she was not going to let the younger girl die if she could help it.

She spiraled like a gymnast as she soared down the air, straightening her body, legs shut together, arms forward as she dived into the freezing salt sea water.

Ayden had never been more scared.

She knew how to swim... but, back in high school, whenever she'd had a swimming class, she would never swim as long as the others due to her previously being asthmatic. There was that, and there was also the fact that she had once almost drowned, and it hadn't even been for the lack of air; her muscles had locked when she had reached the deepest part of the pool. Then, there was the storm. She was four when she began fearing the idea of being in the ocean through a storm. She was with her mother, brother, and her father, and they were traveling by ship for the very first time. She loved ships, back then, as many of them reminded her of the many stories her mother would read to her before bed. But then, there was a storm. The ship sank, and thankfully, everyone survived, but, ever since, she never liked the idea of being near deep water while a storm was going on, not only because of the trauma she had lived but also because it only reminded her of the last time she had had a real family. The last time her brother, her mother, and her father had held her in their arms...

The last time they had told her they loved her.

She was afraid she wouldn't find Elena. She sucked in a breath and dived in. Squinted her eyes. Looked around frantically. Resurfaced. Sucked in a breath again. Dived back in. Looked around. It went on like that for almost ten minutes. When she finally found the now fifteen-year-old limply sinking deeper and deeper, she ignored the aches in her body and the building migraine from being underwater, and pushed downward, pushing her muscles as hard as she could, only being slightly relieved when she finally caught a hold of Elena's arm. She pressed her back against the younger girl's chest and wrapped Elena's arms around her neck before pushing upward and swimming toward the surface as fast as she could as her capability to hold her breath was growing thin.

When she reached the surface, it took her about another ten minutes to find land and pull them both onto the shore. Like the day Jamie died, she became hysterical and started panicking when Elena wasn't breathing.

"Elena?! Elena!"

Her head only lolled like a bobble-head every time Ayden tried to shake her awake. Then, jacket ripped open, Ayden's hands found their way onto Elena's chest, doing compressions. She counted in her head, trying to keep the rhythm steady.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Breaking away for a second, she didn't let her mind fill itself with thoughts about how she was straight as she pressed her lips onto Elena's and blew a lungful of air into her. She wasn't breaking any rules of nature, she was simply trying to save a teenage girl from dying.

She couldn't see anymore. Her eyes were wet and blurry, and she couldn't tell if it were from tears, or simply from the salty ocean water falling from her braided hair. But she was hyperaware of the sounds going on in the sky. The unwilling glug-glug of Elena's heart under Ayden's demanding hands, the pounding of her own heart— she forced more air down Elena's throat.

"Don't you dare do this to me!" she choked out breathlessly, pumping her heart again. One. Two. Three. Four.

"Come on!" One. Two. Three. Four.

She snarled. One. Two. Three. Four.

She breathed for Elena again. "Lena," she urged.

She looked up from Elena's shut eyes, still pumping her heart for her. There was no help around. It was only the two of them. She blew more air into her mouth, but there was nothing there. Just the lifeless rise of her chest in response. She kept pumping her heart, counting...

But there was nothing there, just Ayden. Working over a corpse.

Because that's all that was left of the girl she had come to love as a little sister.

She knew it was too late. She knew she was dead. She didn't feel any reason to stay there beside her. But she didn't leave. She kept pumping, kept blowing, and she had never felt happier when the girl shot up, and a waterfall came pouring from her mouth. She stopped, watching as the young girl coughed out oceans of water, only hitting her on the back, gently, to help her when it seemed as though the water was getting caught in her friend's throat. When she stopped and was only just coughing now, Elena glanced over at Ayden with wide eyes as the latter tiredly flopped onto her back, on the sand.

"I fell," she managed to choke out through her raspy throat.

"And a nasty fall, it was," Ayden replied, voice just as hoarse.

Elena's shocked gaze did not waver from where it rested upon the tired-looking brunette. "Y-you jumped after me," she stammered.

Ayden huffed. "I told you I'd protect you."

Elena shook her head, eyes still wide in disbelief as she brushed the wet hair away from her face. "You jumped off a damn plane, into the ocean... just for me." She paused as she watched the brunet slump onto the sand, exhausted. "You went back for me."

"I'll always go back for you. You fall, I'll catch you." Ayden, then, tilted her head to the side and looked at her with a tired, slightly close-eyed smile. "And it's like I told you: when it comes to us, I'm in it for the long haul."

Elena grinned back just as tiredly, remembering her telling her that the day they met. "'Till the end of the line'," she quoted, grabbing onto her best friend's hand.

"'Till the end of the line'," Ayden agreed, gently squeezing Elena's hand in return.

From then on, their friendship only grew stronger.

As the months went by, though Ayden became rather fidgety around the rare women at the base, she grew more and more comfortable with her new position. Her job was simple; she had to command and control her company-sized unit. It was easy, and, though she didn't really like the whole 'being a leader' thing, she got used to it, although it rather unnerved her that her commands never seemed to work on Aziz. Ayden and the Colonel had had Andrew start looking for the child's family since they all left the hospital after Ayden and Elena's grand rescue, but, since then, the little boy followed her everywhere like a lost puppy, clinging to her side as though his life depended on it. She'd tell him to go with someone, but he wouldn't let go of her unless it was absolutely necessary. He spoke to no one but her and, occasionally Andrew, who also spoke Dari well enough, but, whenever Ayden was not on a mission, or out instructing skills at service schools and The United States Army combat training center, he stuck by her side. Eventually, they managed to get him to let her go and sent him off with one of Andrew relatives who so happened to live near Bagram, with the promise that he could visit Ayden whenever.

By the dawn of December of 2012, when their rounds in America were finally done and over with, they headed back East, though they did not return to their camp just yet as a Scandinavian country encompassing of mountains, glaciers and deep coastal fjords was waiting for them.

"Why is it so freaking cold in Norway?" Elena complained.

"Just be grateful it's barely starting," Ayden said as she blew small puffs of air, glancing up at the barely snow-covered trees; winter had begun later than usual in that region. "Chris, Hugh, what's your status?"

"It's clear up ahead on our side," Huang replied.

"Still gotta be careful, though," Chris piped in. "We just shot down a few guards, so it won't be long till the rest realize some of them are missin' and know we're here."

Ayden nodded absentmindedly. "Alright. Morris? Red? Watch your step, Grayson," she added in a low tone.

"Thanks," Damian said as he avoided tripping over a log, and mentally groaned; he hated that she called him by his first name rather than Damian like everyone else did.

"All clear here," Curt replied.

"T-there's n-no guards."

"Anthony? Elena?" Ayden asked.

"Haven't found anything yet," Anthony replied.

"I got a feeling we're close though, but nothing's showing up on the scouter," said Elena, with a slight edge in her tone; she was puzzled.

Ayden huffed, slightly discouraged. "Alright. Marvin, Dan, what about you guys?"

"Got some guards disarmed. They won't alert anyone, though."

"Alright, make sure they're taken care of," Ayden commanded as she and Damian glanced around, cautious and hyperaware.

"Yes, Captain."

"Lena, Anthony; round up."

"On our way."

Ayden sighed as she stopped walking. "Alright, Sergeant. East or West?"

Damian looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You're seriously asking me?"

She shrugged. "Well, yeah. I mean, we are a tea—" Head snapping upward, she quickly snatched his arm and yanked him behind a large tree.

He grunted, wincing slightly as his back hit the bark. "Careful, sweetheart."

She glared up at him. "Shut up." She peeked through her side and frowned when she saw a man running. He was a small figure, stout, with black, skull-shaped iron mask cap. "There's one there."

Damian grabbed his gun, and he and Ayden ran through the greens, pausing every few seconds to avoid being seen. Ayden looked down; they were standing on top of a cliff. However, it wasn't the only one. It looked basically like a crater, with a bunch of cliffs pocking in, and there was a cave at the bottom. Ayden suspected it wasn't just any regular cave.

Tightening her grip around her own gun, she glanced up at Damian. "You ready?"

"Ready." Damian jumped first and that's when Ayden saw him again. The man in a black, skull-shaped iron mask, but this time he was aiming towards Damian. There was a cloth in one hand with some white powder that she recognized to be sleeping-powder.

They were trying to capture Damian. But why? Did they have something to do with the people who'd had him before when she first rescued him? Were they finally getting the lead they'd been hoping to get for the past half year?

Her first instinct was to run, but she paused. If those people were the people Ayden thought them to be, she knew she was going to do something. It was going to be stupid and reckless, but— Damian has suffered enough, she thought. Whatever he went through, he didn't need to go through it again.

To avoid changing her mind, Ayden quickly pushed Damian forward, so that he landed on his stomach on the other cliff, just as a bullet echoed loudly, piercing through her side. Not even a second later, the man with the black, skull-shaped iron mask grabbed her, shoving something sharp into her back while pressing a cloth to her face before whisking her away.

The last thing she heard was Damian calling out her name as the world around her disappeared into nothing but darkness. He searched for her. It felt like hours had passed, but he still couldn't find her, and an immense guilt was starting to overtake him.

"Damian, where are you?" his sister's voice resonated through his earpiece. He didn't reply, he simply kept looking for Ayden. Why did she take the bullet for him? Why did she let them take her instead of him?

"Damian? В чем дело? Где Ayden?" (What's wrong? Where's Ayden?) Elena's voice startled him, coming from behind him. He turned and found his sister crouching behind him, with Anthony right behind her. Damian hesitated, and that, in turn, made Elena narrow her eyes at him as she spoke in a lower tone. "Grayson, where is Ayden?"

Damian looked at Elena, who was staring at him warily. "She was taken hostage. It was supposed to be me, but she took my place. I've been looking for her for the past hour, but it's like whoever took her just vaporized into thin air." Every word he said was filled with guilt.

Ayden was so young; Damian, albeit being only four years older than her, should have been in her place. He had dealt with pain and torture before when his unit had been held captive. He still couldn't believe it.

Ayden had taken his place.

Elena paled as she stood up from her crouch. "What?"

"Easy there," Anthony murmured, though it was clear he was just as shocked; he looked like he wanted to throw up, and Elena only kept blinking at her brother as if saying 'are you serious?'.

Jaw clenched, Elena spoke into her earpiece, "Feral Force, do y'all copy?"

"What's up, Lieutenant?"

"Roundup, we're heading back to base."

"Why? We haven't found the—"

"Roundup at the start point, I'll explain there."

It felt like an eternity of pain before Ayden's eyes snapped open in panic; she could feel the thick lining of sweat pouring down her face— her breathing was shallow as she felt no pain surging through her own body, only numbness. Rolling her numb head to the side she caught sight of dozens of surgical equipment and machines near where she was lying. Was she in a hospital? No, this wasn't a hospital; the atmosphere of this place was much more dull and deadlier.

She blinked rapidly to rid the bleariness from her vision; she could feel a migraine coming on as a million thoughts ran through her head. The last thing she remembered was—

"Damian..." she whispered hoarsely, but her tongue felt like led. She felt tears sting her eyelids as she closed them to blink them away— needing to be strong no matter what.

"Ah, you're awake, Soldier. Good."

Unable to move her head again, she let her eyes slowly shift toward the source of the voice. Standing at her side were two men, one of them being the guy in the black, skull-shaped iron mask, and the other being a man with dark hair and dark skin.

"Who are you?" she tried to say, but only managed to emit a gurgling sound.

The man with the dark hair gave the masked man a plain look. "You were supposed to get the boy."

"She blocked my way," the man protested. "Either way, it's a good thing I got her. She's better, from what I've seen. She's a strong fighter too."

"I know," the man murmured. He then cleared his throat and spoke with a heavy accent. "My name is Hamid Clayton, and this is my assistant: William Alisher." He smiled deviously at her weak state. "I'm sure you are wondering why you are here." Of course, he got no answer; either way, he went on. "Well, I had in mind to capture your Russian boyfriend, but I like you much better. You seem to have more... spunk."

She could barely pull a reaction, though the confusion was clear in her slightly glazed over eyes. "Oh, right. I forgot to mention; we have been watching you, Captain Jaubert. We have watched you destroy each and every one of our bases but let me tell you something." He leaned forward and brushed a hand against her cheek. "You won't be the one trying to bring us down any time soon again."

As soon as he said that, a small group of men came in, a few making their way toward her and pulling her off the rather back aching bed she'd been placed on. Her eyes felt herself widen the moment she saw they were leading her toward the chair placed in the middle of the vault-like room. She panicked, though, with how weak she felt and was at that moment, there was nothing she could do; whatever they had injected her with, when they captured her, had practically paralyzed her completely. She wanted to trash around in order to slip from their grip, but that was just impossible. She didn't know what the chair was meant to do to her, but the fact that something about it just seemed to scream 'danger' at her is what sent her into an internal fit of hysterics. That, and the fact that it looked an awful lot like an electrocution chair... with injection needles suspiciously hanging on each side of the metallic chair.

Ayden felt pathetic as her weak attempt to pull away and glare at him. "Y... bastard... let me..."

"Go? I'm afraid that will not be possible, Captain. You will not be released until the procedure is started and completed, and ready for the results to be tested."

Ayden's eyebrows twitched as they tried to furrow in confusion. "P-pro-c-ced-dure?"

He smirked. "Oh, yes. I quite like the idea of there being a superhuman, even better a super soldier. But I like, better, the idea of a super... well, I guess I'll just say it straight out: assassin, since there's no catchier word for it."

Ayden's jaw weakly clenched. "Y-y... in... sane..."

"Nah. I'm just madly in love with science." Suddenly, Clayton turned away from her. "Prep her."

Ayden had no idea what he meant, but whatever it was, she knew it was no good. No, she silently pleaded, but she knew that, even if she said it out loud, it would be of no use. They would still do what they were planning to do to her.

She couldn't understand everything they were saying as they were speaking a language foreign to her own, but she was able to catch a few words that were similar to thus in Dari.

"Are you sure she's ready?" was what she understood.

"Yes, start her up. Then, we will proceed from there, before wiping her," Clayton replied coldly.

Ayden was too far in her mind to realize that the men holding her had pushed her back, by themselves, into the locking system, and had tied her arms to the chair, making her unable to move at all.

The man in a lab coat, on her left, pushed a teeth guard into her mouth as she struggled to get out, but the contraption soon wrapped itself around her head. She began to run her mind as quickly as possible, but it only made her groan and slightly grimace as her migraine became more prominent.

She was scared. She knew what was about to come. Pain... lots of it. Would it damage what had badly resulted from her accident the previous year when there'd been a fire in the orphanage? She couldn't think more as the seat suddenly tilted back and her arms locked in. She wasn't just scared anymore. She was terrorized. No. They couldn't possibly do whatever they were thinking of doing to her, could they? She was merely a teenage girl... they weren't that heartless... were they? Her breathing became erratic in anticipation.

Not even a second after, it felt like her head was on fire; like it was going to explode— her screams of agony echoed throughout the room full of people as they watched her in pain and Hamid walked out of the room in confident strides.

She didn't stop. She kept screaming and screaming until she couldn't fight the darkness that took over her once more. There were many times she woke up, and, though she never managed to stay awake for long, she remembered it all. The needles being shoved into her eyes and the rest of her body, the blade cutting through the back of her neck... the blades they would use afterward to test how quickly she healed. It took almost a week before her regenerative system worked within five minutes and only left a not so pretty scar behind.

She was sweaty, cold, stinky and dirty, yet it was all too clear how pale her skin had become. Her skin that had once been a beautiful light brown... which had then taken on a nice, light olive tone... she was practically Snow White now, except with dark brown hair rather than black; and all she could think of was—

When will it all end?

"Nothing," Andrew muttered as he checked his computer. "Nothing at all?"

"Negative, Sir," his AI responded. "I have searched the area from where Captain Jaubert was last seen, but there has been nothing out of the ordinary since she was captured."

Andrew literally felt Damian stiffen next to him. Even Andrew couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy; he had barely slept or eaten ever since Ayden had been taken over a week ago. Even Andrew had growled, frustrated that it had been almost a week since the young girl he'd been smitten with was captured and not even his extremely intelligent AI could find her.

"Damn it," he mumbled. "Shouldn't the army people place track collars on their soldiers or something?"

"They can attract too much attention," Damian was still avoiding Elena's glance. "And if they're the same people that captured the one-o-sixth months ago, then they will no doubt be able to tamper with it so that they work against us. Are you sure you're checking that thing right?"

"Of course I'm sure," Andrew rolled his eyes. "I'm Andrew Carson and if my extremely nice and awesomely brilliant interactive system, nor anyone of else of the Colonel's nerdy lackeys can find her, then that means that..." He choked slightly at the idea. "I mean, there's still a very good chance..." Clara shot him a warning look and he simply sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Oh, don't look at me like that; I'm not a very good liar."

Clara put a reassuring hand on Elena's shoulder; out of all of them, she was the closest to Ayden. "Don't worry, Elena. We're doing everything we can to make sure that we find Carmen and bring her back safely."

Elena shrugged off her hand; comfort wasn't something she was looking for right now. She wanted confirmation— she wanted Ayden to be there with them, safe and sound.

"Just find her," she muttered, before sauntering her way out of Andrew's office.

She wasn't going to just stand around while Andrew kept coming up with dead ends, but she was not going to lose hope either, even less put her arms down, because when it came to one another... she wasn't going to give up until they found her best friend; she was in it for the long haul, and the pull was just beginning.

Ayden thought— hoped that all torture and experimentation was over when the week ended, but, when she was thrown into a cell, she knew she was way off. They brought her food, though, no matter the quantity being big or small, it still looked unappetizing, so she never ate any of it. She simply sat in the corner of her cell and, for the first time in a long time, thought of her brother and mother.

How were they? Were they thinking about her now that she was away? Would they mourn if she didn't make it back? If she died... would they place new flowers every month on her grave? Would they even go to her a funeral?

Sigh.

There was no doubt she was in it for the long haul.

She knew thinking those things would only get her killed sooner, so she stopped. She quit her struggle. She toned down her defiance, and shut everything out; they spoke to her, asked questions, demanded answers about this and that, but she remained as silent as the empty shell she had become. Just like she had been before Jamie's death. The only person she looked at was Charles. He never gave his surname as he said he could not remember it, though she knew he wasn't Tajik, like most of them.

He wasn't bad, like most of them.

He worked for them because, though he seemed rather reluctant now, it was clear he had once wanted to; it now seemed as though he'd started feeling something toward the young Captain. Perhaps it was empathy; he'd lost part of his family through experimentation as well. It hadn't been as brutal and torturous as what she was going through, but it'd been bad enough for them not to survive. Bad enough for his little sister to not survive it.

He would come to see her as often as he could. He would sit on the ground facing her, only the metal bars encasing the cell separating them. He would look at her with soft, caring eyes and tell her about himself. About his family. About his little sister.

"You remind me so much of her," he would say sadly, his voice thickened with a slight accent she couldn't place. "She would've liked you," and he would smile, after saying that. "She loved to sing. Do you like to sing?" She wouldn't respond, but the longing in her eyes at the brief mention of music would be his answer.

She had begun depending on him in order to keep holding onto the very little hope she had left. She had started to hope that, if no one came for her, that at least she would soon be strong enough again to escape. He would help her. She knew that. She had always been cautious when it came to trusting people, but she knew she could trust him.

However, the bit of hope she had been regaining thanks to Charles quickly began to disappear once more when she woke up one day— she couldn't tell if it was day or night anymore as she had been kept in the dark windowless place for far too long— in a dimly lit room, tied to a clothes more torn than she last remembered them to be. She felt fainter and drowsier than what had become usual, and that worried her.

"It's a tranquilizer... and this one disables your powers..." she heard Hamid Clayton's familiar voice say deviously. She looked up and found him smirking at a pack of tranquilizing darts he was holding. "Primitive, but effective."

Ayden breathed heavily, glaring at him. "You drugged me, what's new about that?" She paused. "... and what powers are you talkin' about?"

He chuckled at her. "The powers you had... the powers I gifted you with... Oh, and, in case you're wondering, they won't exactly stop it."

Ayden rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I would've known if I had powers. And, if I did, well, it's pretty obvious they wouldn't help since I'm still too weak from the shit you've done to me to kick your ass," she snapped at him.

This time, he rolled his eyes. "Relax, this is just another little test."

"Just another little test?" she growled in disbelief.

But he ignored her and went on. "One of my associates suggested I try it at a larger dose this time."

"Larger dose this time?" she echoed.

"At first, I thought it was kind of a waste, but then I reconsidered when it benefited us with your caption." Finally noticing the look on her face, he elaborated slightly on what it was. "These are for use on part-anodites mostly."

What the hell is an anodite?

He sighed. "They must have thought the plan was different, seeing as it didn't kill you, as a part of me initially hoped it would. But having you here, at our mercy, thoroughly tortured and experimented on is all the more fun to watch."

Before she could spit at him or curse or add anything for that matter, footsteps were heard, coming towards the door.

"Boss, I got what you asked for," a voice said from the doorway. She turned her head and noticed it was William― Clayton's right-hand man. He was a handsome man, no older than thirty years old, standing about six feet two, with a thin sheet of stubble around his jaw, short, dark hair, black eyes, olive complexion, and a muscular build. With his thin sheet of dark stubble

"Ah, Willy, good, good. Bring it here," Hamid said as he held out his hand.

William, jaw clenched followed by a death glare, handed Hamid some kind of object that she couldn't really make out. William looked over at Ayden and a smirk appeared on his face, making her grimace; she never liked him... not that she liked anyone there― Charles was the only exception.

"What you got here, Clay?"

"I wish he was made out of clay-doe, so I could squish him like the bug he is," Ayden muttered under her breath.

William smirked as he approached her slightly. Ayden narrowed her eyes at him, emitting a chuckle out of him.

"Oh, just the same old pile of trash." Clayton laughed, completely ignoring her comment, as William laughed along with him.

The sixteen-year-old girl rolled her eyes at them.

"Well, what are you going to do with her now?" William asked as Clayton raised an eyebrow at him. William raised both his eyebrows as it seemed they were having a conversation with their eyes, which was honestly annoying her.

"Oh, Willy, I don't care, do what you want but I'm giving you only fifteen minutes." Clayton chuckled at William as another smirk covered his face.

"That's enough time to get what I want... but I'll probably be a while― we're not in that much of a hurry anyway, Clay," William said.

Clayton seemed to consider it. "Fine, I want you here early tomorrow, Will."

"No problem, Boss," William replied as he grabbed Ayden by the elbow and pulled her from her seat. She squirmed in his grip as he led her towards the door. She thought she saw Clayton wink at William but she wasn't sure because he was dragging her out the door.

"You disgust me," she hissed at William as he smirked down at her.

"Oh, babe, don't lie to yourself." He rolled his eyes as he continued to drag her through the dimly lit hallways.

"Fuckin' asshole is what you are," Ayden growled at him as he pushed her through a door closing it behind him. He shoved her into the room that was furnished with a bed, a desk, and television. Her hands were still tied behind as she turned around to look at William who had just locked the door.

"I didn't know you rolled that way, but we can try." William shrugged his shoulders as she furrowed her brows in confusion at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she exclaimed.

"Now, now. That's no way for a lady to speak," he said as he pulled out some rope from his back pocket.

Ayden's eyes widened as William walked toward to her. She kept walking backward until she bumped into the bed, making her fall onto it. He smirked as he grabbed her leg. She had no clue what the hell he was doing before, but, as she took everything in, the bed, the rope, the nasty comment, William... she realized something and that's when she started squirming.

"No, stop, what are you doing?!" she yelled as he grabbed her one leg and tied it to the bedpost at the end of the bed. Ayden began kicking with her right leg as he tried to grab it.

"Stop moving, bitch!" William yelled at her as he finally grabbed a hold of her leg. She tried to kick and squirm but he had a tight grip and eventually got it tied to the other bedpost as well.

"You're sick, you know that!" she hissed at him as he crawled above her. She began swinging her tied together arms at him but he pushed them above her head in a tight grip. She never knew he was quite this strong.

"Shh, I've been waiting to do this since we brought your little ass 'round here, but your damn, uptight, bitchy attitude got in the way," he said as he rubbed his bulge against her.

She wasn't one to cry at most things done to her physically, but she'd never been sexually assaulted... okay, yes she had, but she had always managed to escape before she lost a piece of clothing or her maidenhood. But this was way off. It was too much― it had never gone this far during torture and she can handle most things, but this she can't.

"Stop!" she cried as she squirmed her body side to side trying to get him off but she knew she was weak compared to him and right now she didn't think any of her training has prepared me for this.

He began kissing her neck as he kept rubbing against her and she didn't like it at all. Tears were streaming down her face as she silently cried.

"Help! Please! Someone!" she screamed out as he began taking off her shirt. "Help!"

But there was no answer and she didn't expect to get one.

William ripped her blouse open to reveal her black sports' brassiere as he began kissing her chest. Her sobs became hysterical as she begged him to stop but it was like talking to a brick wall.

Ayden heard a big bang coming from the door, but nothing happened so it was probably just in her mind. William began massaging her covered breast as tears began rolling faster down her cheeks. There was another loud bang against the door, making it fall to the floor with a loud thud. A familiar man with straight, chin-length raven black hair stood up from the rubble of the door.

"Get off her!" he yelled as he rushed over and grabbed William from on top of her and threw him on the floor.

"What the hell, man!" William screamed at the man who began smashing his face in.

Ayden smiled a bit, despite herself, thanking whoever had come to save her. She brought her tied hands in front of her as she pushed herself up. She grabbed a knife in her one pocket and began cutting through the tape on her hands.

The mysterious man was still punching William, but from what she'd seen so far, she knew William can fight so it's only a matter of time before the man gets his fair share.

"You sick fuckin' bastard!" the guy screamed in William's face as he slammed him up against the wall.

William's face was all bloody due to the man's beating. William smirked at him as he brought his fist up and slammed it into his face. Ayden's eyes widened as she began cutting faster. The tape ripped as she peeled it off her skin. She immediately grabbed the second gun she had and aimed it at the two boys. William was smashing in the man's face but he was putting up a good defense against him.

"Uh... stranger, duck!" she yelled and the man did just that as William's face came into view and she fired. Time seemed to slow down as the bullet soared through the air and straight into William's shoulder. She fired another shot as she closed her eyes not knowing where it hit. He fell limp in the man's grip as he pushed him away. The man turned to her as he quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed to help her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he grabbed her face in his hands. Tears were now coming out in waterfalls down her cheeks as she looked into the warm gray eyes she had been longing to see for the past few days.

"Charles?" she croaked.

"Shh, Carmen. It's okay. I'm right here," he soothed. Her hands shaking from the recent events, she wrapped her pale thin arms around his neck as he brought her into a hug.

"Where have you been? I missed you," she admitted in a small voice; she felt like a little girl whom had just reunited with her missing brother because that was what she saw Charles as. A brother, albeit him being on her enemy's side.

"I missed you too," he said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead; this was the first time since they met that they were physically close to one another.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into his hair as he nodded his head.

"Remember that promise I made?" She nodded while wiping her eyes free of tears while he pulled out of the hug, then took off his extra shirt and put it on her. "Well, this is me keeping it. C'mon, I'm gonna get you out of here," he said, buttoning up the shirt on her before grabbing the knife. He began cutting the rope as he freed her legs one leg at a time.

"Thanks again, Charles," she repeated, her voice a little stronger now, as she hopped off the bed.

His gray eyes bored into her bicolor orbs with something she couldn't read in them. "I love you, Carmen. You may not be my sister, but I see you as one. And I promise to protect you better from now on. I will get you out of here," he said in a deathly serious tone.

Her eyes watered as she looked into his serious yet sincere eyes.

"Thank you," she cried out, hugging him again.

She would probably never admit it, but she had missed this kind of affection, this kind of human contact. Though her throat was beginning to burn in thirst as an unfamiliar scent reached her nose, she ignored it and brought her hands to the back of his head, her fingers tightened in his hair as she pulled him closer. His warmth was comforting and she welcomed it to cast away the cold that had overtaken her body in her time as a prisoner there. He was everywhere. Her closed eyelids turned red as if sunlight was piercing through them, and the color fit, matched the warmth. It was everywhere. She couldn't see, or hear, or feel anything that wasn't the brotherly person Charles had become, until―

BANG!

Charles' body went rigid against hers, and his grip on her loosened. Ayden slightly pulled back to look at the saddened look on his face. Confused, she looked down at his chest and felt her breath get caught up in her throat the second her eyes landed on the now bloodied spot of his chest... his heart.

Ayden looked back up at him with teary eyes. "No, Charles, please don't―"

"I'm sorry, Carmen... sister... I love you..." he whispered before collapsing onto the ground.

"NO! Charles, please, no!" she shouted kneeling down beside his body. She grabbed his face and shook him gently, yet roughly enough for him to awaken... hopefully. This had to be a joke― she refused to believe he's―

"He's dead, hun. Just accept it."

She looked up at William with nothing empty bicolor eyes as she slowly stood.

"You did this." Her voice was so low... so quiet, it was barely audible.

"Indeed I did," William replied with a proud smirk. He faltered slightly, suddenly wary as she practically soared over to him ever so gracefully. She stared at him, though what began to worry him was the trance-like look on her expressionless face.

"You killed my brother." Her eyes were suddenly glowing blue. "You. Killed. Fred."

William's brows scrunched in confusion as he took a step backward. "Uh... actually that's Charles."

"You. Killed. My. Brother." She growled.

Then, before he could even react, her hand snapped forward and pierced its way through his chest, clutching his heart, which she then ripped out and threw into the already bloody floor as his body fell onto the carpeted floor, lifeless.

Shifting back to their light blueish-brown hues they had become after the explosion all those months ago, her eyes gazed around in confusion. The second that familiar intoxicating smell reached her nostrils, she began to hyperventilate when she saw where it was coming from. Stealing one last disgusted look at William, and a mournful one at Charles, she up and left, but not before grabbing the small bag Charles had left outside the room. It was the very few things of hers he managed to save; her semi-damaged scouter, her malfunctioning earpiece, and one of her handguns which barely had any bullets left. Attaching the pouch-like bag to her belt loop, she clenched her jaw, then turned toward the door and ran out.

She ran for her life, only grieving over the loss of someone she came to care about. Someone who would stay in heart for as long as she was in it for the long haul.