'I didn't know what to do when my powers awakened for the first time. But my father did. Instead of turning me in like most people would have, he made sure that no word of my 'condition' would spread. Trained me to control my abilities: If you learn how to use your powers, you also learn how to not use them at all. And for some time, it worked. For some time everything seemed almost normal again, like nothing ever happened. But my powers caught up to me soon enough. All the effort put into keeping my little secret safe turned into nothing in a moment's notice.

After the incident I had been frightened. So much, that I didn't even put up any resistance when they finally came for me. I thought that a full restraint would be the solution, that I'd be better off then...safe and always checked, never a threat. But while they waited for a safe transport to take me to the U.S. -to Curdun Cay- they ran their tests, imprisoned me in some hospital, bound me to a bed and left me...all alone. Soon enough I knew that such a life didn't let me feel safe or at ease at all. So I managed to escape...from the hospital, from the city and out of Sweden. I couldn't stay with mom or dad, or any place at all; I was always on the run. But even then I wasn't on my own, I found people like me and we travelled in our group from place to place, always together. But wherever we went, the D.U.P. Would be right behind us. Soon our group grew smaller and smaller with every passing month. It was only a matter of time before the rest of us decided to separate again, to try our luck on our own: We'd have to stay alone, but free.'

Delsin only cam back to his sense slowly, his vision blurred and his surroundings spinning like he had taken one too many free rides on a carousel. It was exactly like the first time, with Hank: the chase, the power absorption, the mind-reading, figures that the fainting and feeling like shit in the aftermath would occur again too, right? But how long had he been out exactly this time? And where was he? Even more important: Where was the girl? She should be there, she had just experienced the exact same thing as him now, thus she had to be laying somewhere nearby, Delsin assumed. But as he slowly turned his head, intensifying the spinning and the nausea that came with that movement, lying there and not feeling safe enough to stand up anytime soon, he didn't see her. Maybe she was lying on the other side? But after gathering his strength and turning his head to the other side, on the verge of vomiting his guts out, there still was no fridge in sight. She was gone, and without a trace this time.

He was up on his feet faster than lightning, and even faster back down on his knees, trying to tell up from down. Where had the fridge run off to? How long had it been since she had recovered and fled? He waited a moment to shake off the nauseous feeling and dashed to the roof top's edges only when he felt relatively well again, using his elevated position to scan the streets down below and the other rooftops. He did not see her blond head down there in any of the poorly illuminated streets, nor some sort of glittering snowy path with a sign that said 'The icicle went this way!'. There were alleys covered with a thin layer of ice, but he was fairly sure they had been the result of their little chase, and would only lead to the street where he and his brother had confronted her together, not to her current position. In other words, she was gone again.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he jumped down into the alley covered with frost, not bothering if someone had seen him pulling of this stunt. It could take him days trying to find her again, days he couldn't just waste on chasing after someone who had more experience in running away than in social skills. His peoples' conditions were getting worse and this city was still going downhill fast. He couldn't spend his time on one woman that clearly neither wanted to be found nor seen.

'But I don't have to go after her anymore, I got what I wanted from her. Sure, I lost my hope of making her my partner in crime, but hey, I think I'll survive...but my own faithful and loyal minion would have been...sooo awesome!'

It still angered him to no end that he had probably lost her for good this time. But just running his rounds around the block in a desperate attempt to find her would only be waste of time and energy.

"This day has to be by far the worst of my Seattle vacation. But don't get all riled up Delsin, look on the bright side! You got yourself an awesome new set of powers. If Augustine gets all heated up again in our next confrontation, I'll know how to cool her down just fine."

A small forced laugh escaped his lips, before he reconsidered his words one more time.

"Oh god, that was awful! At least nobody heard that one. No, wait, I wish refrigerator could have heard that because that would have also meant that she'd actually be here."

As he jogged his way back in resignation to where he presumed Reggie would be he realized that this night could only turn to the better from now on.

He could still hear his heart pounding in his ears as he followed the trail of ice and frost left behind by the bio-terrorist and his brother. He had always hated the thought of Delsin doing all those...things, but to now really have the confirmation that his brother could widen his arsenal just like that...to say that he was worried would have been one of the greatest understatements this week. But of course, just as Reggie had finally caught up with his little brother to make sure nothing bad would happen to him, he had been left behind...again. His brother had once again thrown caution and common sense to the wind and instead of facing the threat together, like they had agreed to do it when they had come here, he had decided to take it upon himself to bring the bio-terrorist down. It had always been difficult to look after his little brother and keep him safe, but with his new 'condition' it was next to impossible to complete such a task. If Delsin would only listen to his big brother once in a while, maybe they wouldn't have even been in their current situation.

The frost covering the dirty walls and floor was an easy enough lead to follow, though Reggie was unsure about what to expect at the end of this path; He could only hurry up and hope for the best. He had seen what his brother could do and that strengthened his hopes to find his brother alive and well. But the woman had been intimidating in her own right, precise, yet also obviously panicked. And he knew from personal experience that panic could be a dangerous catalyst for all sorts of accidents.

The path he followed was longer than Reggie had anticipated and not nearly as linear as it first seemed. Every corner he rounded, every street he crossed he prepared himself for the end and what would expect him there, yet it would only reveal another long path marred with ice and snow with no Delsin in sight. It was pure torture! But then he heard it, slow footsteps dragging over the floor and heavy breathing somewhere near him. He wouldn't have heard it had the area he was standing in not been completely deserted: Their little hunt had sent all the passengers nearby fleeing in terror. The noise didn't sound from the path he had been following so far, but more to his right. It did not sound like the person making those sounds was in any good condition. Oh god if that was his brother...

"Delsin? Delsin are you there?"

He immediately changed his course and approached the alley the sound had come from. The sound of footsteps ceased immediately and the heavy breathing stopped as if someone was holding his breath. That was odd, suspiciously odd. Was that even Delsin? Or someone else? Reggie's hand slowly wandered to the direction of his gun he had picked up after his brother and the bio-terrorist had taken off to who knows where, all his senses on high alert. He noted that the air around him suddenly was unnaturally cold for this time of the year and it wasn't because of all these ice shards to his left.

Instead of just openly walking into the street, Reggie chose the safer way, peaking around the corner instead and of course affirming one of his worst fears: the bio-terrorist was leaning against the brick wall with one hand and looking as if she had just gone through hell. Just like when he had met her on the streets ten minutes ago, before she had decided to blow up a hydrant and freeze the whole block. But no sight of Delsin. Where was he? What had she done to his brother? Anger, mixed with concern for his brother surged through Reggie's body in waves, giving him enough courage to round the corner and openly face the clearly weakened woman, his gun already aimed directly at her chest. Not one second later their eyes locked, his determined stare boring into her tired and scared eyes. She straightened her stance and raised her arm she didn't use for her support on the wall almost automatically.

At first it appeared as if they were in the same situation as before, but if Reggie had any redeeming quality, it was his perceptiveness and quick evaluation of any given situation. And things were clearly different this time, and luckily, to his advantage. For starters, she looked tired and weak, had she been a normal person, Reggie could have overpowered her with ease. In addition to that, the characteristic swirling of snowflakes and ice crystals around her arms was missing which meant she was drained. And a very quick look around and he was sure this time, there was no source of water to replenish her power. In short, he was the stronger one right now! They both knew it, but she was desperately trying to fool him anyway.

"Don't get any closer, I dare you."

She was bluffing, but he'd be stupid to fall for it. Any blind person would notice her total lack of energy to fight back. Whatever she had done in these last ten minutes, it had taken it's toll on her. However, there did not come many reasons to Reggie's mind as to what exactly she could have lost her energy to, and none of them gave Reggie any reassurance about his brother's current state. He'd hope for her sake that his brother would be alive, or else he swore, she wouldn't get out of this alive.

"Where is my brother?"

"Wha-? Stay away from me!"

Her intimidated voice echoed of the brick walls surrounding them as Reggie forgot all cautiousness and walking determinedly to her instead to get the information he wanted out of her. He had no time to beat around the bush right now, he needed to know what had happened to his brother. She stretched her arm a little bit more in his direction, a motion that usually was followed by white ice-missiles, but this time it didn't create anything of that sort. She really was out of energy. Only better for him.

"What did you do to my brother?"

He had grabbed her arm now, pulling her closer so he would detect any lie she could have possibly tried to feed him.

"What did you do to my brother!"

His grip around her cold arm tightened.

"I- Nothing! I didn't do anything, let me go."

"Then where is he? Tell me. Now!"

"I didn't do anything, really, I swear!"

"Answer the question!"

"He- You...I think on the roof, maybe? Please just let me go, please!"

She was in a complete turmoil, her fear evident in her eyes, her struggles, though weak, staying persistent, but he wouldn't budge. He wouldn't let a danger like her just run around freely, he had a responsibility as a sheriff to protect the people from any harm and prevent as many dangerous incidents as possible for him. And she clearly classified as dangerous, a ticking bomb just waiting to blow up. Not to mention that she had probably hurt his little brother. No, he would put her where she belonged, behind bars.

"Show me."

"Wh-what?"

"Show me the roof!"

He changed his grip on her, twisting both her hands behind her back and shoving her forward, ignoring her weak attempts to resist his will by pressing her feet into the floor in front of her and stemming against his grip. It just resulted in her losing her balance as he pushed forward and only Reggie's hold on her arms preventing her from falling face-first onto the concrete. Her resistance was the same as any other minor criminal he had ever had the pleasure of arresting (his own brother included) and for a second he had almost forgotten that she indeed was a dangerous threat to society, the only thing reminding him that she really wasn't that normal right then her unnaturally cold skin.

She still resisted, both physically and verbally and he noticed that she regained some of her strength with every passing second as they continued backtracking the trail of ice that would lead them to the roof top where Delsin would (hopefully) lay unharmed. But her body temperature did not change, nor did any ice-shards or frost-crystals start erupting from her fingertips, which he was grateful for. As long as her powers wouldn't add to his list of things to worry about right now he was able to focus on more important matters: namely finding Delsin.

"I swear if you just as much as much as lied a finger on him I'll..."

"Whatever happened to him on that roof was his doing, not mine, okay? You can't hold me responisble for that!" she replied with a cracked voice.

"We'll see about that."

"I didn't want this, it's not my fault!"

He did not bother answering her desperate pleas anymore, it was always the same old story. He just wanted to find his brother and lock her away where she could do no harm and be out of the D.U.P.'s grasp. But how long would it take him to reach Delsin? The squirming bio-terrorist in his grip slowed him down drastically, but he couldn't just let her go or lock her up in the car and leave her unattended. But if she had done something to De...

"Reg? Reggie? Reggie-Veggie, is that you?"

Waves of relief washed over Reggie when he heard Delsin's voice echo from a not so far distance. And from the sound of it, he was in a much better condition than the bio-terrorist, not sounding hurt or exhausted at all. In fact, he sounded as healthy as ever. And lo and behold, there his brother appeared from behind a spiky wall of ice, a slightly surprised expression adorning his face.

"Reg, you can't believe how happy I am to see you both!"

"Delsin, you're okay!"

"What do you mean, 'I'm okay', I'm a professional, of course I am"

Relief was quickly replaced by slight irritation: his brother was as careless as always, not taking the situation seriously like he should.

"Oh? And letting the bio-terrorist..."

"The word's conduit" both Delsin andthe woman replied almost in perfect unison.

"...letting her escape was also a highly professional thing to do, right?"

"Hey, you let it sound like I did it on purpose, which by the way, I did not. And this way you got to know her personally, I know she has bit of a cold demeanour, but you'll warm up eventually. So now that everyone is acquainted with each other, it's the perfect time for nice little chat."

"You can talk to her if you want, but not here. We have to make sure that someone like her won't pose a danger to the people anymore. And I already have a perfect place in mind on where to put the likes of her."

The woman's struggling got stronger again as she listened to Reggie's every word. But he paid it no mind, he was more concentrated on Delsin's reaction which wasn't really the one he had hoped for. He knew his little brother like no one else and therefore could easily predict when he was about to do or say something stupid.

"What? No, don't do that Reg! She hasn't been a 'threat' for the people for years and she still isn't."

"Right, and what about blowing up that hydrant? Freezing the whole block? Trying to shoot me? Trying to shoot you? Do you think that was all within the safety measures?"

"You were pointing a gun at her, any normal person would try to defend themselves! And in her defence, waiting for her in her apartment may have not been the politest way of setting up a second meeting."

Aforementioned bio-terrorist had ceased her struggling and did nothing but stare in silent fear and uncertainty between the two arguing brothers. She held still in his grip, obviously waiting for this argument to be over, though her doubtful glances between the two men gave away that somehow both options seemed to be rather unappealing for her. But her opinion did not matter right now, the final decision was theirs to make. But Reggie couldn't believe what he had heard just now: His own brother was siding with the bio-terrorist he had not only just met today, but who had also thrown deadly icicles at him, twice!

"I can't believe you are actually taking her side right now."

"Listen, Reg, she stays free!"

"No, someone like her can't be left unattended."

"Oh, if it's that what bothers you then I will watch out for her!"

Reggie could contain his sarcastic laughter.

'Oh, the irony!'

"You, and taking responsibility? I think it has become quite clear in the past that we have different expectations when it comes to that."

"What, don't you trust your own brother?"

"Of course I do, I just don't trust you with her."

Delsin's expression changed then, a serious look on his face Reggie had rarely ever seen on him his entire life. A plea to listen to him, to trust him in this matter. To give him a chance to prove himself, to believe in him. And if Reggie could not do that, who else would?

"You sure you can handle this? Fine, I'll leave it to you! But before you do that, I want you to remember this: If she harms innocent people, be it on purpose or by accident, then it'll be on your head as well."

It was his last warning, his last attempt to convince Delsin to not do it, but Reg could see it in his brother's eyes. He was not going to back off now.

So he let go of the woman, shoving her away reluctantly, watching her stumble clumsily into his brother's arms.

"Don't screw it up, man." he said before turning on his heels and walking away from the scene.

"Don't worry, I won't."

Ella watched the sheriff's form walking away from the scene, in shock. Then, slowly she looked at the bannerman, still processing on what had just happened now. She was free, out of the D.U.P.'s grasp, but then again, she wasn't. She was bound to him now. A guy who opposed the D.U.P. openly and pummelled with it's soldiers on a daily basis, a person she'd usually keep a wide distance from. But either that or being hunted down again and then locked away for sure. But what did he have in mind for her anyway? Just what was he planning to do?

He averted his gaze to her, probably catching her staring blatantly at him, but she couldn't care less, she was allowed to stare in such a situation, she needed to process things. An awkward small laugh left his lips.

"So...uh, how about we have that chat now, get to know each other, share some tricks."

She just nodded absent-mindedly. She did not want to be here, with him -especially not with him that close-, in this situation, but what else was she supposed to do? That mind-invasion -or whatever it was he had done to her- had sucked up all her energy she had drawn from the hydrant. And what was even worse, she had not been able to refuel it, her powers had not obeyed her, the water had not come to her when she had reached for it. The only thing affirming that she hadn't lost her power entirely was the familiar coldness nestled deep inside her chest seeping through her whole body from there in a constant rhythm.

"But not here. Any cool place you have in mind?"

She just looked at him, ignoring his not so funny wordplay that made this conversation all the more awkward and instead contemplating his question. She'd like to go to her flat, but that was too risky. People would recognize her, and the D.U.P. would be there to investigate the situation in no time. She honestly couldn't think of any place right now where she'd be comfortable around him. She'd let him decided instead, his suggestions would be as good as hers.

"You've followed me enough times today. I think it's my turn to tag along."

He just raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had not expected such an answer from her.

"Okay, as long as you don't run off the moment I turn my back on you..."

"Don't worry, you've done a pretty clean job with stealing my powers. I won't be going anywhere."

"Wait, what?"

She looked at him, surprised. She got almost the same look back, but his was mixed with a hint of puzzlement. Did he not know what he had done in her flat and on the roof? Wait a minute, had he done this even though he did not know for sure what the consequences would be?

"The thing you did on the roof? Taking my powers? I can't use them right now! I thought you did it on purpose! Did you not know this would happen?!"

"Uh, you see, I don't cross roads with conduits I can do that trick with that often. Actually, you're the second one I've tried this with."

"What?!" she snapped back, indignantly.

"So this was what, some sort of test run, to make sure your trick wasn't a one-timer? You're telling me that you did not know for sure what would happen and you did it anyway?! Are you nuts?!"

"To my defence when I absorbed Hank's powers he was back on his feet in no time to throw his missiles at me!"

She did not know who Hank was, and she did not care. This guy hadn't just been desperate in catching her resulting in his recklessness as she had first assumed, it seemed his carelessness simply belonged to his nature.

"Do I look like Hank?! Who knows what could have happened. You could have killed me, or made me into a degenerate moron or crippled or something along those lines!"

"First of all: I think you are overreacting maybe a little bit and secondly, I didn't, so no use in getting all heated up. I thought your abilities were ice-dependent."

'Just you wait until I am back to full force, you wish you'd never been born!'

Their argument was interrupted by sirens going off in the distance, approaching at a fast rate: The D.U.P. was on it's way! They looked at each other in alarm, her anger forgotten completely in that moment, his defensive posture replaced by a slightly tensed one.

"Lead the way, 'bannerman'."

As both of them turned into the same direction -away from sirens- and started running like normal humans, he let out an exhausted groan and cast her a mortified look.
"Oh not you too! I seriously need to find a way to get rid of this name." he murmured more to himself than to her as they crossed the street, almost getting hit by a car in the process. Then he turned to her as they rounded a corner, and Ella could already take a good guess as to where they were headed to.

"You do not have, by any chance, some connections to a popular news agency, do you?"

"Huh?"

How ridiculous could that guy get? They crossed some more streets, but the area was getting more and more run-down, until a big deserted building came into view. Any civilian watching them could put two and two together as to where they were headed. If they were lucky, the D.U.P. wouldn't resort to asking passengers which would buy them some more time at least.

"Ah, never mind, but do me a favour, just call me Delsin."

"Riiiight." was her plain answer. She was not out for finding some new friends and she almost couldn't care less if she called him bannerman, Delsin or reckless idiot. What she cared about was who had seen them and who would tell the D.U.P..

"You know, this is usually the part when you introduce yourself."

They had rounded the hall and were now standing at the poorly sealed off back-entrance of the warehouse. Had she had control over her ice-powers, it would have been no problem dashing through the wide gaps between the run-down doors, but as it was, she needed another way to find in.

"Ella. Would you be so kind as to somehow open these doors for me?"

He stared at her weirdly as if she somehow had said something stupid. Then it dawned on him.

"Right, you're kind of low on battery. Just wait a second and step aside. And don't run off again, okay? It was really hard finding you."

She retorted nothing, just taking his last comment as some sort of compliment and taking some steps aside.

Delsin dashed through the gaps with his newly achieved powers, covering the huge old rusty doors with frost. Ella just rolled her eyes: how was he supposed to open this damn door now that it was frozen completely? That thing wouldn't budge anytime soon. She could hear Delsin swear under his breath and grumble something that suspiciously sounded like 'This freezing-things-when-you-go-through-them will become a pain in the ass, I just know it'

"You still there, icicle ?"

"I wish I wasn't." was her cold reply. And she meant it. But running away without her powers would be futile. It was hard to escape from a conduit, she could tell a thing or two about it.

"Aww, don't say that, we just got to know each other, we're going to have an awesome conduit-show-off-time together, you'll see."

"How about opening the door first?"

"Okay, okay, you like to get straight to the point, I get it. I just hope you're at a safe distance."

Why would she need to be at a safe dis...Oh no, he would not do that!

But just as she had figured out what he would be about to do, the doors had already been slammed out of their hinges and sent flying several feet past her, shattering into several pieces after the harsh impact with the crumbling concrete floor.

In the newly made entrance stood reckless idiot, holding a hand out to her and slightly bowing:

"An open door, just as the queen of frosty encounters demanded." he said in a mocking voice.

She just stared him down. She still did not like him, and he wasn't making a better impression on her right now either. There was just one thing she could retort.

"You're reckless."

"Man, I thought that Reggie's character was unique in it's own way, but it seems I have just found Reginald 2.0, the female version. Brand new and only available for a short time, with some special extras, like freezer-abilities and the deathly frost-glare I am getting right now."

Ella just walked past him, ignoring his 'friendly taunts' and his outstretched hand while she was at it and instead inspected the inside of the run-down building. The floor was dirty and had many stains, cracks and leaves covering the surface, the roof had some huge and some lesser holes, giving away the sight of the dark night-sky of Seattle. The pillars that had once supported a whole roof were crumbling as well and some of them were stained with ash and ember, as if someone had thrown fire right at them. Somewhere in the middle, there stood a mouldy old couch and several abandoned camp-chairs around an improvised table made out of a wooden plate and a flipped cable drum. The walls were tagged with all sorts of motives: some beautiful pieces of art, some crappy pieces of art, some weird squiggles that she assumed should be names, but in reality could be anything and some targets with soot marks all over them. Some empty bottles of beer and other liquors were sprawled all over the place as were several cigarette and joint butts.

"Eh, just for the record, I don't live here, it's just a convenient place for me to hone my skills."

"I figured out that much." Ella once again shortly replied. She walked straight to the rotten couch which had a disgusting, but thankfully mild smell to it, and let herself fall onto the piece of old furniture. She caught Delsin making some sort of grimace obviously an attempt to parrot her. She ignored it.

She had not forgotten the reason she was here, she had not forgotten what he had done to her, and she had not forgotten that he had invaded her mind forcefully, against her will. Granted, she had been saved by him as well, but she could already tell that it was not out of pure kindness. He wanted something else from her besides her power, that much was obvious. When he settled down right next to her, she skidded sidewards, trying to put as much distance between them as possible without standing up.

"Okay, I know we started off on the wrong foot, but if I want to be treated like an outcast, I'll go off talking to some D.U.P-patrols."

"Well, what did you expect? A warm welcome, some special conduit-in-arms greeting?"

"No, but at least some cooperation from your side would be nice."

Ella sighed, being in his presence was really more uncomfortable than first expected. But if she did not want the D.U.P. and him trying to lock her up in the deepest dungeon they could possibly find, she had to tag along on whatever bullshit he would be up to, that would be the safest way. But she did not know what this guy had set up in his mind exactly, though she already knew she would not like it at all.

'I am screwed either way, maybe I should have just gone with 'Reggie-Veggie', let myself get locked up in some cell and just be done with it.'

But there was still that spark of hope that Delsin's plans wouldn't involve her throwing herself right into the D.U.P.'s headquarters or something along those lines.

"So...you wanted to talk. Talk."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a warm personality? And there is the frost-glare again."

"Just get on with it."

"All right, all right. Where do I start..."

"Why you are here, for example?" Ella suggested frostily. Could he just hurry up? She did not want to dwell on one place for too long, the D.U.P could be really thorough with searching for bio-terrorists over a larger area. And an abandoned storehouse not so far away from the commotion just screamed 'Secret conduit-clubhouse ready for check-in'. But he took his time, made himself more comfortable on the couch before explaining, a much more serious expression gracing his face now.

"Okay, to put it short. I have some business I'll have to settle with Augustine, and I cannot leave before I got what I came for. The lives of my people are on the line because of me, because of the powers I recently discovered for myself. I need Augustine's concrete-power as soon as possible, That's what I was here for initially, but what the D.U.P. is doing here, what Augustine is doing here, I can't let that just happen without doing anything against it."

'Well, that's an epiphany that came a little late to someone.'

"But either way, I need to get stronger if I want to reach Augustine, and that's where you come into play."

"Or rather my powers...So, that's your plan: sucking up as many conduit's abilities you can get and then forcing Augustine to relinquish her concrete-power to you so you can go back and help your people?"

"I admit, it still needs some detailing, but roughly put, yes."

'He's dead meat and he doesn't even know it. Bad news for you, Ella: If you don't find a way to get away from him, it'll be the same for you. Hooray!'

"Uh-huh, that's a way to put it. And what will I have to do so I can add my part to this brilliant plan of yours?" she replied with cold sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

"Don't think I haven't heard that sarcasm right there. Seriously though, you've already given me your powers, that has already taken me a huge step closer getting to Augustine. But I'd be a really happy conduit if you'd proceed assisting me anyway. You know, being back-up, helping me out when I'm knee-deep in the D.U.P.'s concrete and so and so forth, and helping me get a grip on my new arsenal of skills. And maybe helping me to convince the other conduits to 'lend' me their powers."

'I'll tell them to get as far away from you as possible. At least they won't be pulled in his suicidal plan! You'll get your rear arrested or even killed faster than you can say 'bio-terrorist' if you go on like this.'

"Nice of you to phrase it as if I'd have much of a choice here."

"Hey, I'm not forcing you to do anything, my name's not Augustine."

"Your brother had a slightly different view concerning this matter."

"Come on, Reg is a cool guy, he just isn't..."

"...so cool with bio-terrorists?" she finished his sentence for him.

"He'll warm up to you in no time."

"Listen, Delsin, I've given you my powers and all I will offer you to get you and 'Reggie-Veggie' off my back is showing you how to control them properly. I won't charge into D.U.P.-patrols head first for you, I was happy with not being noticed by anyone, it kept me safe from the all-seeing eyes of the D.U.P.."

Delsin huffed out some air and snorted.

"Yeah, but I think they may have noticed you by now. Come on, this is your chance to get rid of them forever. Aren't you tired of all this hiding for years?"

"Look, this is how it is: I know how the D.U.P. works when it comes to arresting conduits, I've been avoiding them for the past seven years. And it's not looking good for either of us. Especially not for you and your poorly thought-out plan."

Delsin straightened in his seat, still convinced that he could somehow convince her to support his madness.

"See? That's why I need your help. With your experience, my power-absorbing abilities and Reggie's connections within the police department we could change things as they are."

She suppressed an irritated groan.

"I somehow get the feeling that you don't know what you are in for. Things won't just change like that."

"So what? Then help me instead of just standing on the side lines and telling me that you know better. Of course nothing is ever going to change if you don't stand up for yourself and do something about it!"

"I won't risk my freedom for your childish plans!" she snapped back, angered. What were they supposed to do? They were two, three if she counted Reggie, the non-conduit in. Three people against a whole organization that had seven years of experience with finding, defeating and jailing their likes. What did he know anyway, he hadn't seen half of it.

"You don't have to, all I ask of you is to help me with this, and if it's just you telling me how their strategies work. You'll help me and I'll help you."

Ella looked him in the eyes and saw nothing but determination in them. She wouldn't get rid of him, or at least not get rid of his brother, that much was clear. And when she thought about it, he had achieved a lot in these past few days, more than anyone ever had. And if he'd stick to his words, she wouldn't be any more in the D.U.P.'s spotlight than she already was. Maybe he wouldn't be able to overthrow Augustine and her organization, but he may have a chance acquiring her powers and get back to his people and doing a lot of damage in the process. As long as the attention would focus on him, as long as all eyes watched him instead of her, she'd be better off. But the moment he'd get caught they would set their eyes on the remaining bio-terrorist, like on her, for example. But if she made sure he would be on the loose as long as possible, maybe there'd be a chance of escape. But would teaming up really be worth it? One slip-up and she'd be as deep in shit as he already was. But then they would have each other to guard their backs, right? But could she trust him with that? Had she any other real choice? She had been discovered already, as he had already pointed out. Sure, he had been the reason for her final discovery, but it had just been a matter of time, right? If she wasn't incognito anymore, then teaming up would be safer, would it not? But it went against all the rules she had set up over the past years, rules that had kept her hidden. Was the situation really that dire that she had to throw them all out of the window? Had she not learnt her lesson about teaming up? She wasn't cut out for this, and if she'd screw up in this shaky alliance, she'd have them all on her back again. Only difference from now: Delsin's party would be more pissed than ever.

Her head hurt from analysing the situation. She doubled over in her sitting position, massaging her temples in an attempt to cease the pain. What should she do? She felt cold all over again, and the pain intensified, feeling as if she had eaten too much cold ice at once and getting a brain-freeze as a consequence.

"Hey, are you alright, you're dropping the room temperature for about 20 degree or something." she heard Delsin's slightly worried voice. But it was off, his voice echoed in her head and sounded so far away.

'Come on, Ella. Keep it together, don't loose it now! You got this, just get your shit together!'

She suddenly straightened up in her seat, startling Delsin who had come closer to her. When she gave him a side-glance she could see a million questions surging through his mind at that moment. But right now, she had just one answer for one of his questions:

"Alright, Delsin. Let's team up!"

His smile only formed slowly, but growing quickly to a wide and honest grin.

What's going on here, it did not take me ages to finish the next chapter?! Maybe I'm just ill or something, who knows, or maybe my motivations and my muse concerning this fic came back to me from their long journey through the creativity-low. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I tried to keep everyone as much in-character as possible. And before you go and make any false assumptions:

No I don't plan on making Reggie the bogeyman or major bitch of this story that'll antagonize my protagonist non-stop. But Reggie is indeed not very fond of bio-terrorists because of their parents death probably caused by them, he literally is like that to every conduit he encounters 'cept Delsin for obvious reasons. But that doesn't mean that Reg will now constantly be the new evil guy besides Augustine. As Delsin said, Ella and Reg will eventually warm up to each other (or at least try :P). So I don't think that his acting towards Ella is really out of character and only there to create a person my Oc can bash later on, but if you disagree, then just tell me in the reviews or PM me about it, I'll happily discuss this with you in all seriousness.

Otherwise I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and putting this story on your favourites!

AddictedWithAPencil:

Haha, that's right, there is just no escaping him. Nice try though, Ella. I am glad I could make your day, and thank you for reading and reviewing this story, because that lifts my spirit as well :)

Savage Kill:

To be honest, your past for Ella seems way more intriguing than what I have already planned for her. But I kind of got this whole story figured out, and changing her past now would mean throwing half the story I have set up out of the window, so I won't. But I'll keep that in mind, seriously I do. So don't be too surprised when you actually find your suggestion implemented somewhere else in this story later on ;)