I named the chapters. Enjoy ;D

I spend the night awake, eyes frozen open as I replay my fath- No, Colin's words. Looks like Crystal got off lucky going on that raid. From what I could hear, our apparent likeness was part of the reason they had nabbed me. Not for the first time, I cursed my extreme height. I had a few inches on Crystal which was probably why we initially banded together, even celebrating the miserable day we noticed I hit six foot and thankfully stopped at that. Though she scared the shit out of me when we first met after I asked her was her hair naturally curly and she replied "Do you seriously think anyone would do this on purpose?" Hm, maybe it was a good thing they kidnapped me instead. She would have bitten their heads off by this point.

I was alone now and thanks to a cup of water that I was ordered to drink down, somewhat dopey. It must physically affect a person less than they thought because I could still think relatively clearly. And before you ask, I only drank it under the disconcerting gaze of Elisavet. Who chose at that moment to slither back in to my 'prison'. Sighing she let me up, brought me out to use the bathroom and cuffed me back to the bed.

"Well, well, how are we? You still look half lucid... Hm, Christophe really should make these stronger," she murmured, putting a finger under my chin to check my eyes. I unfocused them to hopefully throw her off because if Christophe was making the water mix too weak, I was not objecting. "Or just let me swipe away a few months memory. That fucks people up for a few days at least."

I know my eyes involuntarily widened when she smirked. "Oh darling, I can give them back. I just hide them. Very, very well." The tip of her nose brushed against mine as she tried to catch me out but I had dropped back into looking semi- tranquilized. "Ok honey. Have it your way but those cuffs ain't coming off for the night so you better get comfy. And that door is locked so enjoy these four walls." She slowly moved back and patted my cheek before giving me a parting smirk.

I released a breath I had unknowingly been holding as the door clicked back into place behind her. Luckily for her, escape was not currently on the cards. That walk to the bathroom had the room on a tilt so acting doped for Elisavet had not really tested my acting skills. The drug was still traipsing through my veins and taking its sweet time finding the exit. At least I got to spend the night alone but from the bed springs creaking next door, my captors were not too far away. Colin had left hours ago and I had no idea where my supposed 'brother' was.

I twisted around until I managed to look out the window. While one hand was awkwardly ensnared in the cuff, I had the other trail to the lower edges of the window pane. The city lights looked like all the stars had congregated around me for comfort. Oddly, to most anyway, I loved being surrounded by lights. I loved the feel of their energy burning away like a warm current in the background so I began to play with them, dimming and brightening a few, to bring their warmth closer to me. So pretty and twinkly. Twinkle, twinkle…

It was hours before I noticed the ache in my wrist and how tired my eyes were. With each blink, they threatened to shut and as I began losing the fight I realised I had spent the night doing what I did to scare Tulip bar frying the lights completely. I wish Crystal was here to see this I thought as I shifted into a more comfortable position. I was too tired to care much so I dozed off in that way you only can this late; without thought and within a moment.

I spent the next two days somewhat drugged and beyond caring. Colin was nowhere to be seen and neither was Christophe though I heard his voice on occasion. It appeared the Benedicts had been notified where to make a payment for my return and to sign some papers guaranteeing the S.C.S's immunity from prosecution. In a park near here of all places. I wished I had caught its name but what I did catch was that the transfer would be happening mid-morning tomorrow.

I knew that even if this exchange went ahead as I doubted it would be as easy as a signature, a bag of money and my happy return. I was no fool. It was pot luck however when Saoirse gave me a sandwich and cup of 'water' instead of Elisavet the night before this was to go down. Elisavet would sit and stare at me drinking, waving her fingers with a silent threat as I swallowed. Saoirse, however, was less concerned. I ate the sandwich slowly and when she got bored glancing up from her book at me, I poured half the water into the mattress, praying neither girl checked it. I also made a mental note to sleep at the very edge of the bed tonight.

I swallowed the last of the sandwich at a snail's pace before her book slapped shut. This caused me to jump, nearly spilling the drink which would no doubt get me another full cup. "Drink it," Saoirse spat. "I need to bring that stuff back to the kitchen."

Shit. I knocked it back and begged anyone who was listening that this would keep me lucid enough to control my gift. I had some form of a plan and if my bolts failed, I was screwed to put it lightly.

It was probably about an hour or two after Saoirse and Elisavet stopped stirring that I got to work. Turning around in the bed to face the window was still difficult and my wrists were raw from rubbing against the cuffs. With a final grunt I had turned enough to see the city skyline and began what I had been doing every night; playing with the streets lights. While it had started out as a drug induced game, in my more lucid moments I noticed it could alert an agent or Savant who knew my gift to where I was. Crystal was the only one who knew the trick but my gut trusted that someone else at least might think it was me. And find me. Wherever here happened to be.

Tonight I was asking a lot of my gift. I took a deep breath knowing this would be no easy feat. Fingers crossed my generation would live up to what we are known for; technology. I needed people to record this and spread it because I was very aware of the fact it was at least two in the morning. To begin with I knocked off what must have been thousands of lights across from me and those I could sense nearest to me, swallowing the street into a cloud of darkness. I was already sweating and this was not a good sign but I persevered. With another surge of power I flung the lights on again at street level and lashed at their circuits repeatedly. There was going to be a fuckload of electricians called here tomorrow. I had only a brief moment to hope no photosensitive epileptics were out when for about thirty seconds I sent the lights flashing at breakneck speed, hurting my eyes with their intensity. A drop of sweat splashed on my arm so instead of keeping the upper level lights going I rammed at their circuits, crashing them instantly.

The lower level was still flashing and I had to keep this up long enough for some twat to record it. I slowed the pulsating lights before pushing each light to its limit, a brightness that just about reached our floor. I kept flashing random lights spontaneously for another minute before I released hold and fell back. I took a few breaths before I rearranged myself back into bed.

My head throbbed but as the seconds ticked by I found myself grinning. No one was in here to strangle me. And if enough people caught it on video, if it passed through enough twitter feeds or news sites… They could see it. Know where to look. Know I was still in New York. Alive.

Author person again,

I forgot chapter 26 had not been uploaded... Me is so, so sorry :(And I know this is a tad shorter than usual but it was a natural point to end at. But we hit 102 reviews! Thanks so, so, so much Out of Options for Usernames, the 2 guests and Tahira for reviewing. And to the guest who asked my updating schedule... Em... Ok, I will next upload around this time next month (today is the 18th so give or take a few days within that date for the chapter in March)

Also 'Winning Willow' is up for Best Overall Humour, Saddest Book, Best Xav/ Crystal and Best Victor Benedict Based fanfic in The Finding Sky Fanfiction Awards! You can also vote for a Best Female and a Best Male character too so I would be oh so very honoured if you loved one of my darlings enough to vote for them (like Willow or Tulip or Will or Kanti or even Christophe and etc. etc. etc.!)

Just go to forums and then to Finding Sky. There is just the one called 'Finding Sky Fanfiction' so it is easy to find and you can see all the nominees under 'VOTING FOR THE WINNERS'. Cannot wait to pick out all my faves to vote for later tonight! Thanks BookMove for organising this for us all, bye!