As SG walked through the door, she immediately made the short walk to Andrews bunk, but to her, it seemed to take a long time. Perhaps it was her nervousness about what she was about to do to her closest friend at the Academy. She found Andrew sitting on his bed with his armor standing there next to him. Andrew was holding what appeared to be some kind of tool as he worked on a part of his armor. "What are you doing?" She asked as she approached him.

"Doing some repairs," was his quick answer as he looked up from his work.

"What needs fixed? I never noticed a problem with your armor," Doreen said with a confused look on her face.

"There was a small malfunction in a part of the armor that caused it to drain power. While it's not a big problem, I'd rather have it fixed now 'cause I wouldn't want this problem to turn into a big problem, say, if I run out of power fighting a super villain," Andrew said as he continued to work on his armor.

Taking a deep breath, SG decided it was time to do what Spidey had asked her to do. "Andrew, can I sit down?" She asked her friend as he looked up from his repairs in order to meet her eyes.

"Yea. Be my guest," Andrew said as he scooted over on his bed and gave her a welcoming gesture.

"Thanks," she quickly said as she took a seat beside her friend. "Can I talk to you, Andrew?" She asked sheepishly.

"Sure," Andrew said with his warm and welcoming smile. "I'm an open book. Ask away," he said as he folded his hands behind his head and leaned back against the wall behind his back.

"Well," Doreen began as she twiddled her thumbs nervously. "It's about those two attackers..." she said before Andrew suddenly jerked forward from his reclining position.

"That book is closed. Sorry, Doreen," Andrew said in a cagey voice.

"Andy, don't you trust me?" Doreen asked as she looked into his blue eyes with her brown ones.

"I trust you with my life, Doreen," Andrew said softly, putting his head between his hands and looking down at the ground.

"Then trust me with this information," Doreen said softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you want to know?" Andrew asked her in a barely audible whisper.

"I, for starters, would like to know more about the man who almost froze me," Doreen said softly.

"His name is Chill Blaine," Andrew said softly as he removed his hands from his head and looked up to face his friend.

"What's your relation to him?" She asked as she carefully calculated every question.

"We were partners. Actually, we were also friends," Andrew said as he continued to look into her trusting eyes.

"What kind of stuff did the two of you do?" Doreen asked.

"Doreen, there are some things I cannot tell you. It's stuff that still haunts me, and I don't want you to have this burden," Andrew said in a caring whisper.

"Andy, you don't have to carry this burden alone," Doreen tried reasoning with her friend.

Andrew gave her a look so sad that it actually made Doreen's heart ache. "We all have secrets. With most heroes, the greatest secret is preserving their identity, so nobody they care about will get hurt," he said as Doreen noticed a tear in his sad blue eyes, "but my secrets are much darker, and more tragic, Doreen. It's stuff that haunts my dreams. Every time I close my eyes, it's what haunts me at every corner," he said with a sharp and brittle feeling in his chest. What happened next surprised Andrew, as Doreen wrapped her arms around him and gave her friend a soft hug. "Doreen, you are a hero. I'm not," he said in a defeated tone as he broke off eye contact from her.

It hurt Doreen to see her friend Andrew, the ex-Marine, and Predator, who had saved her and fought alongside her in battle, breaking down like this. "Andrew," she said as she gave him another hug, "You saved me back at the night club in Miami. You are a hero," she said, which caused him to look back up at her.

"No, I'm no hero, Doreen. I've done horrible things, and only the Lord will be able to forgive my sins, because I never will be able to forgive myself," he said in a horribly pained whisper.

"I don't care what you've done in the past, Andrew," Doreen said as she gave him yet another hug, "I've only known you for a little over a month, but from what I've seen, you are a hero," she said, which caused him to look up.

"Thank you," Andrew said in a low whisper. "That really means a lot to me," he said, which earned a caring smile from Doreen. He sighed, and continued. "To answer more of your question, Chill and I were part of something, something powerful. It wasn't illegal, something that I thought was a just cause, but my pride blinded me, until it was too late," he said as he pressed a button on his wrist watch.

The Predator armor responded by opening a secret compartment. Andrew, reaching into it, pulled out two objects that Doreen recognized immediately. It was the two silver dog tags that she had seen when they first met in this very bunk room over a month ago. Andrew handed them to her, which really surprised her, but she put them in the palm of her hand as she looked them over. She remembered the names Andrew Steele and Cynthia Burns. "Andrew, what happened to Aegis?" She asked, which resulted in tears falling from Andrews eyes.

"Cynthia's dead, Doreen," Andrew said in a whisper filled with so much pain and sorrow that Doreen had to fight back a tear of her own.

"What happened?" She asked in a compassionate voice.

"All I will say is that I put my trust into one person, and Cynthia paid the price for my mistake. That's something that will never leave," he said in a whisper so pathetic it almost came out like a whimper. "Chill and Omeran are after me because of what happened, but only two of us know what really happened, and Cynthia cannot talk, so I speak for both of us, I'm sorry, Doreen, but I will not say any more. Please, let me be alone," he politely asked as he turned away from her. Doreen gave him one last hug as she left the room.


-Meanwhile-

Spider-Man and White Tiger sat there as they looked at the intruder they had captured. "So, your name's Omeran," Spider-Man started. "That's a nice name."

Omeran narrowed her eyes slightly. "Really? Do you mean that, S.H.I.E.L.D. pawn, or do you just wish to make me feel good so that I will be persuaded to give up information to your superiors?" She asked coldly. "So, what do you want to learn from me, S.H.I.E.L.D. ?"

"Well, for starters, how do you know Andrew?" White Tiger asked bluntly, rubbing her sore wrists.

Omeran looked over at the white-garbed woman. "Let us say we were close," she said, a mischievous look in her eyes, "but not as close as you and Andrew are. I am surprised he chose someone as short-tempered as you, but I will not judge."

Under her mask, White Tiger's face turned a beet red. "He is not my boyfriend!" She shouted.

Omeran was unfazed. "Really?" She asked. "Yet you were sitting next to him when I saw you, and he was not in his armor."

"Okay, we're getting off topic, here," Spider Man said, stepping between them. "What's your full name, and how do you know our friend?" He asked.

"Do you mean Predator or Andrew?" Omeran asked casually, shocking both heroes. "I know both of them well, or I used to. As for my name, you already know it. I am Omeran. There is nothing else to tell," she finished, wincing slightly when her broken shoulder moved.

Spider-Man noticed, and he said, "You know, Power Man wasn't trying to break your shoulder. He wasn't even aiming for you. You were just hit because your friend jumped out of the way. By the way, Power Man's sorry for hitting you."

"You will have to forgive me if I do not believe you," Omeran replied with a scoff. "I believe we are done here," she added, turning away from the two heroes.

"We're not done here," White Tiger countered. "Who sent you to attack us? Why was that ice guy with you?"

Omeran chuckled coldly. "What is that phrase you Americans have… 'Good things come to those who wait'?" She asked. "You will see Tony soon enough."

Spiderman paled under his mask. "You don't mean…"

"You will learn soon enough who I mean, hero," Omeran replied, turning away from the heroes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" White Tiger asked, but Omeran said nothing. The two heroes returned to the room they had come from, and Doreen was waiting for them. "Omeran knew Andrew, but she's very uncooperative," White Tiger explained, still irritated that Omeran had taken her down so easily.

"She knows more than she's letting on," Spider Man added. "So, what did you get from Andrew?"

Doreen sighed, and she said, "Andrew used to be part of some team thing, along with this girl named Aegis. I think her real name's Cynthia Burns cuz it obviously isn't Andrew."

"What about Omeran and the freeze guy?" White Tiger asked.

"The ice-guy's name is Chill Blaine. Somehow, Aegis died, and Omeran and Chill think Andrew's responsible," Doreen replied.

"Responsible for what?!" An angry voice billowed from the doorway.

Doreen spun around, tail frizzy like that of a scared cat, to see a very angry Andrew standing in the doorway. The color drained from the heroine's face, and she muttered, "Oh, pistachios…"

Edited by Darkest Nightmare's Dread