Veronica rushed towards Byron, wrapping her hands around him. Byron was too shocked to respond. He remembered all too clearly that night, almost a week ago, when he had watched Veronica die.

Byron had run into the lab, pursued by Agents of the Secret Service that he had once known and called friends. He had found Veronica there, on the ground, weeping.
"Veronica," Byron had said, rushing to her side, "What's happened?"
"I didn't mean to do it, Byron," she had said in tears, "But they came so fast, they dragged me somewhere, who knows where."
"What?"
"I was at home," she said, "They rushed in and grabbed me and took me away. They drugged me, and I told them Byron, I told them!"
"You told them what Veronica?"
"I told them about you! What you can do! And now they'll find you and hurt you."
Byron had been silent for a second. He had kneeled down beside Veronica, embracing her.
"It's all right," he said, "It's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done."
"It is my fault Byron," she said, leaning on him, "It's all my fault."
"No, it's not," Byron tried to assure her, "I'll be fine. I'll stay down here, now, they'll never be able to find me."
"Yes they will, Byron. They won't stop. I don't know what they want with you, but they won't stop until they have it," Veronica said, her voice calming. She began to stand, and Byron stood with her, "And that's my fault."
"Veronica, no, I-" Byron began to say. However, Veronica did something so surprising that he stopped. She reached into his jacket, next to his waist, and pulled the pistol he always carried out of its holster. She stepped back and pointed it at herself.
"Veronica," Byron said, slowly, "What are you doing?"
"Byron, you need to run. Leave the country and stay out. You have to go."
"Veronica, don't-"
"Byron, I have to. You have to run, and it's my fault. I can't live with that guilt. I won't be able to live with myself knowing that you're out there, struggling to survive, because I did something stupid."
"Veronica, wait, you can come-"
"No, Byron. I can't."
"But w-"
Veronica had pulled the trigger.

Byron didn't remember much after that, he just remembered screaming and crying over Veronica's dead body. He had touched her blood, covered the hole the bullet had made in her head. He had heard her last breath, felt her last heartbeat.
"How?" he said, now, "How did you survive?"
"Your mother," Veronica said, "She found me and healed me."
"No, Veronica," Byron said, stepping away from her, "You died. I remember that more vividly than anything else. The one memory that has plagued my mind for the past week. I've been able to push everything, every horrible reminiscence, away except for that. You should be dead."
"But I'm not. I don't know how it happened, Byron, but it did; I thought I was dead, but I wasn't. I woke up just fine, and your mom was here with me."
Byron didn't believe her, but chose to act like he did.
"I've seen stranger things," he said, "Anyways; it's good to have you back, Veronica. I could use some help, especially now."
"What do you need?"
"We're going to do something we've never done before," Byron said, "It may backfire heavily on us."
"Alright. What are we doing?"
"This is Phoebe Burton," Byron said, motioning for Mark to bring Phoebe's body forward, "She was hit by some sort of tranquilizing material in Sector Six. We need to wake her up somehow."
"We need to cure paralysis."
"It's not just paralysis; I believe that the tranquilizer was also able to overcome her ability as well, so we'll need to come up with something to restore those, too."
"Should be easy enough. I'll need a few hours to study how her body is able to enable itself Ferrokinesis-"
"Wait," said Mark, "You know what her ability is?"
"Yes," said Veronica, "Of course I do. You Unnatural are everywhere in the news."
"What'd you call us?"
"Unnatural," Veronica said as if it were obvious, "That's what the people have been calling you. Haven't noticed that?"
"Haven't had much time to look at a television," Mark said, "Been a little busy."
"Maybe you should go into a store and look at one; they usually have news on those twenty-four seven," Veronica said, instructing Gabe to lift Phoebe up onto a huge, metal chair, "That is, if you can manage to not blow it up."
"At least I don't stay holed up inside a nerd's dreamscape all day." Mark was finding it hard to get along with this new woman. How had Byron managed even being a lab partner with her?
"Come on, people," Byron interjected before Veronica could retort, "We've already made enough enemies. Don't need to make any with ourselves."
Mark looked over at Byron, who was sitting it a chair nearby, a hand on his forehead, the arm of which was resting on his knee. Mark wondered what he felt. It had been a rather hard day for Byron. He had come from Sector Six being blamed for hurting someone, to the point of Mark almost killing him, and then he had come to Sector Seven trying to help that person to find that his old home had been ransacked and overrun by the military. After that, he had had an intense discussion with a strange man who had somehow teleported them to Byron's mother, who was killed the moment Byron found her. After that, Byron had ran to his last safe house to find that one of the only people he trusted, and thought was dead, was somehow miraculously alive. Now he would have to help that person in a scientific experiment that he had never performed in order to bring his friend back.
His friend. Was that what Byron considered Phoebe? Or Mark? Or any of them? Or did he just want to get them out because he felt the need to?
No, Byron did care about them. That Mark knew for sure. He'd risked his life so many times to save theirs, there was no way he could have done it just for himself. He had risked his life by coming to them, by testing Phoebe's limits in Sector Four, by jumping out of the helicopter with Stephen, by going into Sector Six's home base and rescuing Kaytlen.
But Byron had paid the price. Because of his actions, neither he nor any of the other Unnatural was hurt, but Byron's family had. Byron's mother had been killed because he had refused to surrender. Byron didn't know where the rest of his family was; they were probably dead too. Byron didn't say it, but Mark knew that he thought it.
Byron wasn't an evil monster like Mark had been led to believe during previous events.
Byron was just like Mark; he was Unnatural.

Hours passed in the laboratory; it must have been well into the night when Veronica came into the room the Unnatural were in, all sitting around a television, and said, "I think I've figured it out."
Mark jumped up and looked at her. "What?"
"You're a little slow, aren't you?" Veronica said. She sounded just as Byron had when they had met. "I'll explain, though," she said, leading them to beside where Phoebe was seated, "First I had to study Phoebe and figure out how she was able to control metal, which took up the bulk of my research. After I did that, I found the sedative and was able to replicate it while Byron did his best to procure an antidote. I did have to assist him a little, but we believe we were able to create one."
"Then what are you waiting for? Put it in!"
"It's not that simple," Veronica said, "The serum is untested, so we're not sure if it will work. Since I was able to replicate the sedative, it will be possible to inject another living subject with it in order to test the serum. However, this could be very deadly if we made the serum incorrectly."
Mark was ready to volunteer. He had no second thoughts about it; he would, if necessary, die in order for Phoebe to live.
Mark was just about to tell Veronica to give him the sedative when he was interrupted.
"I'll do it," Stephen said from behind Mark. Mark looked back, "No, Stephen, I'm going to-" he began to say, but Stephen interjected, saying, "I've got nothing to lose. Besides, I'll only slow you guys down with my knife wound, so it'll be better if I die."
"You think I have something to lose?" Mark said.
"Yes," Stephen said, "Phoebe."
"What?"
"You're not very subtle, Mark," he turned to Veronica. "Give me it."
"Are you sure?" Veronica said, "The serum could kill you if I made it wrong."
"That's fine," Stephen said.
"Stephen, no, I've g-"
"No, Mark, you don't," Stephen said, lying down on a table. "I'm just being brave," he said, referencing their conversation outside of Sector Six. Veronica slid the syringe into his arm, pushing it down. Stephen's face contorted with pain. He looked like he wanted to lash out in pain, but he controlled himself. Soon he was lying still on the table, skin cold and eyes glassy.
Veronica waited a few minutes before slipping the serum into his arm. She pulled it out and waited a few moments. "Stephen?" she said. Stephen blinked, sitting up. He looked confused.
"Where am I?" he whispered, "Who are you?" he said, a little louder. He looked at Veronica's hands and saw the syringe. "What are you doing to me?" He shouted, looking around the room. He jumped up and ran for the exit.
"Stephen!" Mark shouted, running for him. Mark tackled Stephen, bring him to the ground. "Don't you remember?" Mark said. Stephen threw Mark off of him and stood back up. Mark stood, almost falling again. He didn't know Stephen was that strong.
"Byron!" Mark heard Veronica shout, "Get me the sleeping serum!"
Mark ran again at Stephen, but Stephen saw him coming and sidestepped out of the way, continuing his mad dash for the exit. Byron looked around his table, looking for the sleeping serum. "Hurry!" he heard Veronica say.
Kaytlen issued a stream of water forth in front of Stephen, who looked at her, a confused and terrified look in his eye, but he just ducked under the water, not stopping. "Don't hurt him!" Mark shouted. Byron found the sleeping serum. Veronica wasn't close enough, though; she, too, was running at Stephen, and was closer than any of the others. "Veronica!" Byron shouted. She looked back. Byron threw the vial to her. It flew through the air for a few seconds, landing in Veronica's palm. She, with immense speed and accuracy, slipped the syringe from her pocket, ejected the previous vial, which crashed onto the floor, and attached the sleeping serum to it. She still wasn't close enough to Stephen, though. He would make it to the exit before she caught up with him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, it seemed, came a hulking mass of a man. Gabe stepped in front of Stephen, grabbing his arms. Stephen attempted to struggle, but it was no use. Gabe wouldn't let go. Soon Veronica was behind him, injecting the serum into his blood. Stephen was soon asleep.
"That was fun," Veronica said, gasping for air.
"Yeah, let's do it again," Mark said sarcastically.
"We'll have to," Byron said, "If we want Phoebe back."
"What do you mean? Didn't Stephen lose his memory?"
"Perhaps at first. However, once he wakes up, I believe he will regain it."
"Are you sure it'll work on Phoebe?"
"Well," said Veronica, "it worked with Stephen."
"You don't say."
"It worked too well," said Byron.
Stephen's eyes shot open. Gabe was still standing next to him. "It worked," Stephen said, groaning as he sat up.
"You remember who you are?" said Veronica.
"Yeah," Stephen said, "But why am I all the way over here?"

Veronica held the needle as close as she dared to Phoebe's skin. She knew if she did this wrong, it could mean disaster for them all. She carefully slipped it into Phoebe's neck, pushed the plunger, and brought it out. She waited a few moments, the sleeping serum in her hand. Suddenly, the chair creaked. One of the instruments flew away and into the wall. "Now!" said Byron.
Veronica put the needle of the sleeping serum into Phoebe's neck and began to push down. However, one of the lights above the chair swung down, snapping from its position. It hit Veronica in the stomach and pushed her back, pinning her against the wall. The syringe fell from Phoebe's neck. "Get it, Byron!" she yelled. Byron rushed forward, but was hit in the head by a flying faucet head. He went down, unconscious.
"Mark!" Veronica cried, the pain of the light disallowing her to say much more. Mark ran behind Phoebe, dodging random lab equipment and instruments. He ducked under the chair and picked up the syringe from the ground. However, the syringe, it's exterior made of metal, flew back, away from Phoebe. Mark yelled, fighting against the syringe's pull. He stepped closer to the chair. He fought as hard as he could, bringing the syringe closer and closer, centimeter by centimeter, to Phoebe's neck. He finally made it, injecting the serum into Phoebe's blood with a shout.
Everything fell down. The light fell from Veronica's stomach, allowing her to breath.
Mark gasped and fell down, taking the syringe out of Phoebe's neck. He had barely been able to fight against it; the willpower of Phoebe's Ferrokinesis being nearly too strong for him. He stood, leaning on the chair for support, coughing as he rose. However, as soon as he made it to full height, he nearly fell down again, for he was almost tackled.
"I love you," said Phoebe, wrapping her arms around Mark.