A/N: Hi, guys!

I'm back again—writing another chapter for the fandom that I love so much. Did anyone get their Gameinformer yet? They're coming out with the inFAMOUS 2, and that's what made me decide that I needed to get my ass in gear. They've changed Cole's voice and everything. He might not be the same, sarcastic badass guy we all know and love anymore. Isn't that sad? Other people like the change but I'm with the people who screamed a big fat "Noooo!" when I saw him looking similar to Tony Hawk. XD;;

I have to say though, Into The Ocean was never a really long story—it was something that I chose to write when I was waiting on my beta in another fandom, so don't expect forty-something chapters. Though I'm positive I'll get this baby over 50,000 words soon. But then again, with the chapters being this short I might have that many chapters.

-: Chapter Four: Mistakes and Glories :-

A coward dies a thousand times
Death before dishonor, cross the thin red line
So stay alive, (No other place to go)
Silence the facts, delusions are corroded
clench the fist in truth and shove it down your throats
(Don't act like you don't know)
I'm on the wrong path walkin the tight rope

— POD — "Mistakes and Glories"

A house on top of a roof? How peculiar. But in this state of urgency, I knew this was close to normal in Empire City. The wind didn't blow like it used to so I managed to keep my balance on top of the complex. When Cole and I climbed up the ladders, he had specifically told me not to touch anything. At first I found this absolutely mind-crunching. I knew I was forbidden to touch him (it was not like I wanted to) but everything else? Was it because his friend did not like women around him? Things were flying around inside of my head and that was due to the fact that I was a very critical thinker. I took in everything slowly to assess the situation.

Cole's friend was a rather chubby man. He was sitting on a couch looking at a twenty-inch television. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to have no care in the world. I wanted to do whatever I wanted and be with whoever I wanted. I was... Jealous of his friend without even meeting him. He looked at Cole and jumped out of his seat, throwing his arms out. Cole glanced at him before gritting his teeth, looking down at the ground. … That man was his friend, right? Then why did Cole seem so distant from him? So detached? I could sympathize with Cole's actions. I didn't like to communicate with people on that level either.

"Yo! Cole! Buddy, where have you been?" his friend exclaimed, walking closer towards him. Cole looked at him with a defensive stare, which prompted him to step back. "Oh I see you're still... Angry at me. But I'm glad to see you! It's been a while." It has been a while since what? Cole brought his gaze towards his friend, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. His big friend then glanced at me, holding his hand out. I blinked. Could I even touch him? Was he made of lightning too? You could never be careful in a world such as this one. Danger lurked around every corner—ready to strangle you and take away your sanity. It happened everyday. At work, at home, at school... You can't escape the constant danger no matter where you venture; no matter who you have tagging along with you. And since there is no God no one is safe. Not even Cole...

I could not be easy-going around this man. Being easy-going was not in my nature. I turned the other way and his friend gave me a faint frown. He was persistent, I'd give him that. He put on another smile which irritated Cole to no end.

"You find that there's something to smile about, Zeke?" Cole asked, standing his ground. I tried to figure out what Cole meant by that. There must have been something that happened between the two that I had no knowledge about. But yes, Cole was right. His friend's name was Zeke indeed. How did I forget such a fact? "I didn't come here to talk to you. I came to ask you if you heard any crap about a white-coat that goes by the name of Dr. Hudson. Real ugly bastard too. The idiot grabbed my bag when I wasn't looking... When I was worried about this chick right here."

Cole gestured towards me which made me look at him briefly. "Her name is Nérine. She's a conduit from what I know." Zeke glanced at me, nodding his head like he was just given some serious information. So did that mean I was a danger to even him now? If Cole had been right about what he had told me, he was a conduit himself, and for him to have such a relationship with Zeke... That must have meant that I wasn't as dangerous as I thought. Even so, aren't the things that seem the less dangerous usually are the worst things you want to cross? Animals, temptation, fate... You can't trust anyone.

"Nice to meet you Nérine. I'm Zeke." I nodded my head. I was pretty sure he had already gotten the message that I did not want to make any contact with him. Although... I could sense a little bit of disdain in his voice. As if Zeke did not like me as much as he should have. I looked the other way. "It must be hard being a conduit and all. Cole's had his fair share of trouble." He tried to laugh, but quite frankly, this was not a laughing matter. Cole touched his forehead, closing his eyes.

"Zeke, at least try to be focused, okay?" he said, sighing. "Now, like I said, do you have any idea about this white-coat bastard? I'm trying to get my bag back. You know what was inside of it that I need to have." Zeke scratched the back of his head, walking around us for a bit. Either he knew something about that doctor or he didn't. "C'mon Zeke. I thought you knew that I have a job to do around here since no one else is going to do it. The longer you wait the more people die." The longer you wait... The more people die... Cole made sense. However, I never understood that concept. How did Cole know who were suitable to save? If it was up to me... Everyone deserved to die.

No one was doing anything to save Empire city. They were all sitting around waiting for their 'God' to come and save them. Oh how people were so wonderfully brainwashed by a book that people wrote many years ago. Since when has man every yielded to such imprudent lies? … The beginning of time. People are pushed by fear. Fear is what creates people. Even I am made out of fear. Fear is what makes me cling to Cole like a helpless animal—scared of being slaughtered by the unknown. If people were to dismiss fear... The city would be a better place. The world would be a better place. No one would know death and families could prosper.

"I can't say I do remember a guy like that Cole," Zeke answered back. Cole grunted, turning around. He did not want anything to do with Zeke. His behavior was throwing me for a loop. What was Cole's idea of a friend, then? No matter. I would not ask. Asking questions does not gain you more knowledge. Asking questions only confirms how little you know about the situation. People automatically see this as their own gain; they will use anyone that does not know what is going on around them. These are the people that hide. The people that don't know any better. The people that prey to God. I do not ask questions, therefore I am always in the loop. I sit, listen, and watch. Zeke threw his hand out towards us.

"Wait! Cole... Man... I was just wondering if..."

"No," Cole answered back briskly, turning around. How harsh of the hero.

"But don't you need a sidekick like old times?" Zeke was desperate with his question. He threw both of his arms out which made his stomach shake. A sidekick? Normally people did not want to throw themselves out with danger around. "I know I did some bad things in the past but I really want to make up for them! And now you just go out and pick up some chick—" I turned around, my eyes darting at the man.

"I have a name. I believe Cole told you what it was moments ago," I said, folding my arms. "Also, I do not believe I had a choice in coming with Cole. He is the only one who can help me right now—and if my evaluations of you are correct—you think I am Cole's sidekick? Really now?" I cocked a brow. "I am just as useful as you are. I do not know what I am doing, so don't assume such silly things."

"I think both of you have lost it," Cole interjected. "I don't need anybody. I don't need a sidekick. You both'll just get in my way and make me lose important people. Like..." He didn't finish his sentence. He turned around and walked down the staircase. He did not simply jump off the building because he was with me, and he could not lose me. He stopped, turning around. "Zeke if you want to do something good, then get up off your ass and start learning more about that Dr. Hudson guy. He might have something to do with that damn Ray Sphere and Kessler. And you know what? Learning more about that guy might bring me closer to The Beast."

I quirked my nose. "I've heard everything. The Beast? What's this now?"

"You wouldn't understand," Cole replied icily. "And it's confusing, especially for someone like you. But let's just say there's this thing that—if I don't kick its ass—will kick my ass. I was trained for this thing." He pointed at me. "You're in no condition to fight this thing. And I'm not letting you fight it. This is my kill. When The Beast comes I'll be ready. Zeke, if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times over. This is not something you can just jump into. You'll die, and I won't care that you died, because you obviously didn't care when you handed off the Ray Sphere!" Zeke lowered his head.

"I was only trying to help, man..."

"Yeah well, only trying to help got Trish killed." From this I suspected that Trish was Cole's girlfriend, and that Zeke was to blame for her death. I looked down at the ground.

"My condolences then, Cole."

"That's long overdue," he answered back. He started to walk down the ladders and I followed him obediently. Once we made it off the roof sanctuary, Cole turned around and looked at me. He cracked his knuckles, mumbling something under his breath. I did not feel worthy enough to ask him what he had thought. I dusted myself off and looked ahead of us.

"What now?"

"What do you think?" he spat, walking in front of me. He had a habit of trying to leave me. I struggled trying to keep up with him to tell the honest truth. "Sasha, that white-coat guy... Nothing is starting to make sense anymore so we're going to go to the place where I first had a run-in with Sasha. I'll bet anything that she knows about our good friend." I folded my arms. Cole was quick to end a conversation. It was not like I wanted him to try and be friends with me anyhow. If he felt that we should not have that mutual bond, then I would respect his opinion. It would have been nice to at least have a friendship with the person that was going to help make my life a little brighter. Sill, I wasn't much for Cole's sarcasm.

"So we're about to go halfway across Empire City," I said, scratching my chin. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? There are all kinds of Reapers and things of that nature walking around here." Cole flexed his arm, blue lightning protruding from it. There it was again. The lightning made my stomach twist and turn. It made me want to jump away from him. He was an ass for doing that. I wasn't saying he did it on purpose, but he knew what kind of conduit I was. Still, I wasn't one to freak out over something like that. The depression inside of me made me almost apathetic; accident or not I wanted to die either way.

"Then we just kick their asses," he replied curtly. "Listen lady, you're not understanding anything about this situation. When you're the hero of a busted-up town like this, you don't care about being knocked around a few times. You always get back up because you have to."

"Ah. Agreeing to let me help you fight 'The Beast'?" I said, stopping. He turned around and looked at me as if I had a hole in my head. "You're talking to me like I'm one of your partners." I put my hands on my waist, my expression devoid of emotion, really. "Like I'm your new Zeke?"

"Shut the hell up lady," he spat, pointing at me. "You're twisting my words around. Like I said, Zeke was never my 'sidekick', and I don't need anyone helping me. You just follow me around, and since I can't get rid of you I at least want you to know how to fight so I don't have to run back and forward to help your ass." I figured that much. I was just checking to see if Cole was sure about his decision. "Look at everything around us. You would think that they would have dropped the damn quarantine." He calmed down a bit and I tapped my fingers on my arms.

I looked into the sky. We were in over our heads, weren't we?

"I believe, Cole McGrawth, that Zeke did make a dire mistake. But haven't we all? We are only human... And we get overtaken with greed. I know I shouldn't be saying this or considering it—since this is really none of my business—but if Zeke says he wants to help you, then why don't you let him do it? He can protect himself and you don't have to save him." I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the cars passing by us. "The only reason I'm saying this is because even though Zeke may have made mistakes, he's willing to make up for them. And that's saying a lot, considering how many people are just sitting on their butts watching the city crumble."

"Who the hell do you think you are, lady?" Cole asked, gritting his teeth. "You've got some nerve coming out of nowhere, becoming extra baggage for me, and then telling me that I should let Zeke come with me. I will leave you right here if you don't be quiet. I can't think with you nagging in my ear. I told Zeke if he wanted to help he'd keep watch—"

"Heeeey!" Hmph. So Zeke actually followed us here? He was running towards us, waving his arm in the air. Cole cursed under his breath, rolling his eyes. I let out a small chuckle. There was something about that man that was just... Enlightening. Like he brought a whole stand-up comedy act with him. Once he made it to us he bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Cole, man, look! I really want to get some of the action with you guys." What Zeke was trying to show us was a type of gun... It was pretty impressive. It was not like I had seen a gun before, but whoever made that knew what they were doing.

"Zeke, where the hell did you get something like that?" Cole asked, a bit intrigued. He was still put off by Zeke's presence, however.

"I... Grabbed it when you were fighting that Kessler guy. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you were still mad at me. It was on the ground where I had got the lights knocked out of me."

"Oh gee. More First Sons technology," Cole spat. "That thing looks like a laser. What does it do?"

Zeke put on a cheesy smile, standing up straight. He flashed the gun in front of us. "Well, I had been practicing with it on top of the roof. The bullets are like these things that spray out this kinda weird stuff. I'd show you but I don't know what'll happen if I shoot it too close to Nérine over there." Ah, he used and remembered my name this time. "It's a very good piece of free machinery! I've been polishing this baby ever since I found it. Able to put three thousand holes in one cloud." Heh. He thought he had a lot of power now.

"I'm a water conduit," I said, blinking. "Let's start this over. I'm Nérine."

"Zeke." He shook my hand and Cole rubbed his forehead.

"So you've got protection Zeke. But will it be enough to keep your ass out of my hair?" Cole said, looking at the two of us. "I just want both of you to remember... That when The Beast comes, you all better stay out of my way." Cole, without signaling us, started to walk forward. Zeke couldn't stop smiling. I bet he was happy that Cole had chose to take him with us. So we had another person to share our own personal hells with.

Even though Cole didn't look it, I could tell he was happy inside.

… At least a little bit?

If any at all?