I woke to the feeling of my body being jostled around. I stretched out my legs and arms as I turned to see who's hand I could feel on my shoulder.

"Time to wake up kiddo." Jet Star.

I turned around to face him, and gave him a small smile in greeting. Smiling back, Jet gently slid his arm underneath my knees and wrapped another behind my back as he lifted me out of the car. I snuggled into him, holding onto his t-shirt lightly with my fingers. The sky had darkened considerably and was now a beautiful mix of reds, pinks and oranges. A few of the sun's rays shone through the clouds, making it look like heaven was shining down on the Earth. But this was no heaven, not after what BLI had done to the land. I closed my eyes, still feeling tired even after the nap I'd had in the car. Jet carried me into the Diner and laid me down onto the couch. Just as he turned to go, my hand shot out and grabbed the end of his jacket.

"Please," I whispered. "Don't leave me."

Jet looked as if he was considering whether he should go or not. I knew it was selfish of me (he obviously had other tasks to do, such as helping Ghoul to get better) but I just couldn't bare to be left alone. Jet's eyes settled on my hand, the one that'd been experimented on and his eyes widened slightly. I withdrew my hand, trying to cover it with my sleeve as the face of the doctor flashed in my mind. I turned around, back facing the Killjoy.

"Never mind," I mumbled, just wanting to fall back into the land of sleep.

Hands gently moved me over as the material of the couch dipped slightly. Curly hair tickled my exposed cheek, an arm wrapped over my stomach, turning me around gently and I came face to face with Jet's warm brown eyes.

"Don't give me pity because of what I look like now," I whispered. Jet nodded and I snuggled into his chest.

"What did they do to you?" he asked in a low voice after a few moments of silence. I bit my bottom lip, unsure whether I should answer or pretend to be asleep. "You don't have to tell me; I just thought it'd be better for you to get it all off your chest."

"He experimented on me," I finally answered.

"How?"

"Stuck needles into my eyes… hands… and feet. Don't know why."

Jet was silent. My body shook slightly as the memories of all the pain came back to me. I clutched Jet's jacket, pulling him closer to me as if I could hide away from the whole world. His hand stroked my hair, fingers getting caught in the knots.

"They shouldn't have done that to you. You never deserved that kind of treatment. No one does." His voice was so quiet my ears almost strained to hear him.

"Except Korse and his army," I corrected with a sniff. Jet said nothing. "I hate them Jet."

"I know."

"I want to kill them all and make them pay."

Again, Jet was quiet. Maybe from the sudden surge of anger in my voice.

"Try not to think of that now. Just relax and think of something else."

"Like what?" I asked, my tone bitter. Jet sighed.

"Think of your brother," he said suddenly and I froze. "Think about the good times you two had together before BLI took over."

I laughed halfheartedly. "You remember what I screamed at Party before I punched him in the face and ran off?"

I felt Jet's chin bump gently against the top of my head in a nod.

"May not know the good times but there had to be."

It was my turn to nod, this time accompanied by a few stray droplets of water from my eyes.

"He taught me how to ride a bike without stabilisers," I began and Jet encouraged me to continue. Soon, we were both chuckling at the tales of a younger Nick and myself. We were brought back down to Earth at the sound of someone calling for Jet.

"Duty calls," he sighed, pressing a kiss to my forehead before climbing off the couch.

"Can I come with you?" I asked hesitantly. "I don't want to be alone."

Jet nodded and I sprang to my feet. We walked into an area that I was familiar with; it was the place where I'd rested when the Killjoys found me running from the Draculoids. It seemed like forever had passed since then and it might as well have been; I'd lost count of the date a long, long time ago. Lying with his eyes closed, greasy hair pushed out of the way, was Ghoul. Party, Kobra and Dr D sat around him. Party held onto Ghoul's hand while Kobra stared intently at the sleeping Killjoy as if willing him to wake up. Dr D kept checking the machines every five seconds.

"How is he?" Jet asked Kobra softly, placing a hand on the blonde Killjoy's shoulder.

"Stable at the moment. He has a lot of injuries though." Kobra caught sight of me and said, "Lucky we found you outside his cell."

"We might just be able to save his life," Dr D cut across. "If he doesn't get infection and his injuries heal quick enough, that is."

No one spoke, the only noise in the entire Diner being the beeping from the machines. Finally, Party looked up towards me.

"How did you find him?" he asked and I told them everything, from hiding in the cupboard and finding the device to finding Ghoul's cell.

"Then you guys came along," I concluded. Party seemed to believe me as he gave an affirmative grunt. There was silence once more before Party turned back around and kept eye contact with me as he said thanks. I merely nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Alright everybody, the room's too depressing with you all acting like Ghoul dying or dead," Dr D snapped. "Get out before I throw you all out myself."

Reluctantly we all left, shuffling our feet before Dr D snapped at us again to move faster. With permission from Kobra Kid, Jet led me into his bedroom.

"I figured you might want some rest," he said, trying to sound a little bit optimistic, even if one of the Killjoy leader was severely injured. "Call if you need anything."

"Thanks," I muttered before Jet closed the door behind me.

I didn't bother to look around and just flopped onto the bed, bringing my knees up to my chest. I wasn't particularly tired but I knew I needed time to process Ghoul's condition. After sometime of merely lying in a curled up position, I decided to get up. It was a little awkward walking at first because of the pins and needles feeling I had in my legs but it slowly went away the more I walked. I gently pushed open the door, sticking my head out to see if there was anyone nearby.

"… but you're just going to have to deal with it." That was Kobra Kid, I could tell, and he sounded a little pissed. I couldn't see him so I guessed he had to be around the corner at the end of the corridor.

"I'm not saying I can't deal with it, I just don't have enough trust –" Party Poison defiantly. But what were they talking about?

"What do you suggest we do?" I heard Jet hiss as I reached the end of the corridor. I pressed my back against the wall. "We can't go out there ourselves! Security will be doubled now we got Ghoul back!"

"Hey, hey, here me out!" Party stressed. I could imagine him holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm only saying what if the plan fails? What's going to happen to Ghoul then? I can't let him die! I just can't!"

I felt sympathy in my heart as Party's voice cracked at the last few words. He sounded so close to breaking down that it made me want to run up to him and hold him close. I didn't realise he cared so much for the other guys.

"We know Party," Kobra said, his voice not as harsh as before. "But we can't ask a child to do that. Her life isn't less important than Ghoul's. Every life is important – you taught us that, remember?"

I peered around the corner. All three of them stood next to a table with several pieces of rolled up paper scattered around. Jet and Kobra stood opposite Party, who's hands were spread out on the table and his back hunched over. Red strands of hair hung in front of his face and I could tell he was feeling rather miserable.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. The three Killjoys jumped about a foot in the air and if the situation wasn't so serious, I would've laughed.

"How have you been standing there?" Party asked with a frown. I shrugged.

"Long enough. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Jet tried to assure me quickly but I wasn't having any of it. Crossing my arms, I stuck out my hip slightly and scowled, giving them my best don't mess with me punk! look. Kobra sighed and muttered something about me being a diva.

"Ghoul needs a specific type of medicine in order to help him heal fully," Kobra began to explain slowly. "But Dr D doesn't have this particular medicine."

My heart sunk like a ship. "So he's going to die?"

"No, no! He won't die!" Jet said quickly. "But he won't exactly be alive either. More or less in some sort of coma. Dr D wasn't too clear. He only found out just ten minutes ago."

"We need that medicine," Party said with determination in his eyes. "But because of security reasons we can't get it ourselves. The Draculoids will be thirsty for our blood and for every two, we assume there'll be around four or six."

"You want me to get it?" A part of me didn't understand what the fuss was about. If I could get it, then I would.

"Yes!" Party said excitedly just as Jet and Kobra both yelled "No!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"Kobra, I got my way around BLI good enough."

"But that was in aid of a map! There isn't going to be a map this time!"

"So what if there's no map!" I hollered. "I don't need to be guided everywhere! I can managed perfectly fine on my own finding a simple bit of medicine that'll save Ghoul's life!" The Diner was silent after my little outburst. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Look guys, I know you're looking out for me and I appreciate it. But please, you can't keep on treating me like I'm some kind of china doll. Please, just let me do this mission. For Ghoul."

Kobra and Jet glanced at each other, conversing silently with their eyebrows. Finally, they turned to face me.

"Fine," Kobra sighed. I grinned. "But you're getting some training first!"

*James Bond theme tune* DUH-NUH-DUH-NUH-DUH-DUH-DUUUUHHH! x