Two days had passed and by this time Java returned to work. She visited when she could, just to see how much progress Noelle was making. They told Java that the girl made little progress and as a result the people around her began to lose hope. She didn't though. There was no way that her kid wasn't going to make it. Noelle was a strong girl and like every other strong person, she had her fair share of injuries. This was only one of the few major incidents.

Java walked into the room slowly and quietly so as not to disturb the working medics. She watched them change the girl's IV bag then check on her wounds. One of them turned around and slowly took his procedural mask off. It made her nervous. She always thought that when doctors took their masks off, it was bad news. She took a seat in the nearby chair and watched the man approach her.

"Commander Java, we have good news for you," the medic said after seeing the apprehensiveness on her face. "The lieutenant is in stable condition. She has surprised us all. Her heartbeat has returned back to normal and now she's just resting. Along with the stab wound, we have found a few other injuries. She had a dislocated shoulder, a couple hair line fractures to her hands, a piece of glass embedded in her back. We've managed to facilitate all of these injuries. We've also noticed a large burn scar on the inside of her wrist and it elongates down to the middle of her forearm."

"That burn is from a long time ago-"

"Was it self induced?" he simply asked.

"You're wondering if she deliberately burned herself. No, she didn't. I'm sorry, Doc, but the kid isn't into hurting herself. She got that burn when she was seven…some idiot did that to her." Java stood up then nodded to the medic as a way to excuse herself from that mess. She moved over to Noelle and stared down at the girl's wrist. It was amazing how she sustained such an injury at such a young age. How she got it, Java remembered clearly.

Flashback

"C'mon Java!" Siva yelled. By this time, Siva was already on her way out of Loco grounds but Java stayed behind. Siva ran quickly and soon found herself in front of an eight foot tall chain-link fence. She scaled the thing quickly and once she was over she took the time to catch her breath…but not for long. One of the Locos caught up to Siva and managed to get on her back. He got his arm around her neck but the girl was too strong. She elbowed him in the chest hard enough to get him off.

"Java help me!" a small voice called out. A little girl was hanging off the edge of a pole that was held about twenty feet above Java. On the other end of the pole were three Locos, two of them were holding the pole steady while another teased the girl by bringing a lighter to her hands and then letting the flame lick at the tender skin. She screamed out in pain but managed to hang on.

"Hang on, kid!" Java yelled back as she ran up the stairs.

"I don't think I can!" Her fingers began to slip. She looked down once more to see if Java was there but she was gone. By this time she thought that she had fled with her sister. She suddenly yelped as the flame was once again brought to her fingers. Tears rolled down her soft cheeks while she bit her bottom lip. Suddenly, her right hand slipped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Java asked casually. Apparently her voice was recognizable to the kid. Maybe it was the particular rasp that her voice had. Anyway, the three Locos she looked at were nothing but a bunch of kids. They seemed to be about twelve years old or so and they were no match against her. She brought two of them down easily just by a kick to each of their faces. She moved to the pole and gave the third boy a head butt to the face which caused him to let go of the pole. She dove on top of it and saw that the kid's remaining hand was about to give way. Her hand shot out to the girl's hand and grasped it quickly. "Gotcha!" she managed to say while she pulled the seven-year-old back to safety. "Let me see your hands, Noelle," she said firmly.

She winced for the kid as she saw the blisters upon her hands. On the girl's left arm however, there was a deep burn that started from the middle of her wrist and stretched down to the middle of her forearm. The burn was so deep that it actually reached the meat of her arm, where nerves and veins were visible. It was something that only surgery would fix. Obviously they didn't have the time or the supplies to do it. "Alright this might hurt a little but we have to do it." Java ripped off two pieces of her lengthy purple shirt and quickly wrapped each hand along with the burnt wrist. She knew that the touch of the cloth on the kid's hands but at least it would protect them against infection. "Let's go," she then said. She wrapped her hand around the kid's right wrist since that was the only decent place to hold on to. The two of them ran out of the building and found themselves on an asphalt road. Java saw her sister on the other side of the eight-foot fence and then looked to the kid. "Get on my back and hang on," she commanded and Noelle did as she was told. Within seconds, Java scaled the fence and hopped down over it like the athlete that she was. She let the kid get back on her feet and the three of them began running. "Move it!" she said as she began to run.

She watched Noelle look back at the place she once lived. Java too looked back and watched the dreadlocked boy they called Zoot scream out his slogan of "Power and Chaos". Really, he should have had that thing trademarked. One building collapsed as it was engulfed by fire. She could feel the heat on her back as she turned her head the other way and looked in front of her. "There's no way Ebony can make up for this. She just tried to kill her sisters and her…niece. One of these days, she gonna get what's coming to her."

End of flashback

Byte sighed slightly before opening her eyes only to find the morning sun in her eyes. She tried sitting up but there was a sharp pain that started in her side and it caused her to lie back down. She watched her for a moment before she spoke. Java looked scared, scared for her probably. There was a good chance it was because she'd never seen Java react this way towards anything else like work or Ram. She began to move but every time she did, other parts of her body would hurt. It didn't feel like soreness at all, instead it felt like a large amount of stinging and pinching. "Um…how long have I been out?" Byte asked cautiously.

Java turned around quickly, surprised at Byte's sudden responsiveness. "Hey," she smiled slightly. The whole thing was a relief to her now that she was awake. Even though the doctor had told her that the kid was in stable condition, she still didn't trust him. Hell, how could she trust any other damn medic after they overlooked what the kid needed most? Byte's awakening just served as a confirmation that she was alright, despite what the medic said. "You've been out for about two days."

"Really? Well I didn't know I got into it that bad. I mean all I remember is my arm hurting and that Kale cut me on the side."

"He stabbed you, Noelle. You lost a lot of blood…and you gave us quite a scare." Java didn't want to admit it but since she was only speaking to a close relative, she made an exception to her rule. The rule was that one should never show weakness, no matter how extreme the situation was. She knew that Byte knew that she was already strong and that this toughness she portrayed was only aimed toward those who weren't close to her, like the lower ranking Techno's and/or virts. "Your heart actually stopped and your beats per minute dipped way down," she hesitantly said because the thought of it all still scared her.

She was shocked. She didn't realize that she just put Java and whoever was helping her through a lot. "I hope it was just due to the blood loss not a heart abnormality," she said.

Java smirked, and yes the smirk was back to its same intimidating nature now that the kid was awake. "The only thing abnormal here is the staff of medics. A blood transfusion from Jay is what saved your life, they didn't even consider doing it until your heart rate went down and almost stopped for the second time. You know what's funny? One of the smarter medics actually thought you were hurting yourself because of that old scar on your arm."

Byte smirked as well but her smirk wasn't as intimidating as her mother's. Hers still retained its intimidation factor but it also had a hint of maliciousness. "Yeah? Well since they seem to be screwing up so much, when can I get out of here?"

"Nice try kid, but as much as I hate this place…you're gonna have to stay here for a day or two more. They need to run you through all of these machines to help you heal faster. Apparently there's this bath here that will increase the amount of white blood cells to make your cuts heal faster. There's also a weird machine that makes your bones heal faster too…kinda weird, huh?" Java looked over to the door after hearing a knock. She found that it was Max.

[i]"Oh no…all hell is going to break loose."[/i] Byte sighed softly as she watched the two with caution. "Hi Max," she said. Java turned toward her and gave her a slight glare.

Max walked in slowly as Java walked out. He took a seat next to her and shot her a smile. "How're you feelin? How long is it until you get out of here?"

"Well, I have to stay here for one more day then I'll be back at home."

"But how are you feeling?"

"I'm just hurting a little bit, babe. I'm okay though." She softly placed her hand on his hands. "I've never seen you so concerned."

"Well you did scare me…surprisingly." He smirked. He was usually the emotionless tough guy except when it came to Byte. What he was about to say next, he hesitated. He couldn't think about what to say or how to say it, but all he knew is that he had to tell her. It was important and he didn't want her to hear it from someone else because that'd just cause trouble. "Byte, I um…I have to tell you something," he began. He stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Ram's ordered me to go on a mission in three months. He's planning a sort of invasion on this remote area. We don't know what we're up against…all we know is that there's a tribe living out there and that we're going to be there for a few months."

"He wants you to go to war," she said quietly. She knew that she couldn't do anything about it. If he was a higher positioned officer, maybe things would be different. But he was a cadet and also Ram knew that the two of them were dating. If he didn't go to this paramount mission, she would not only put his neck on the line but hers as well, along with whoever was in charge of putting names on the list…most likely Siva. She sighed softly and shook her head. "I wish I could do something about it. I mean if you guys don't know what you're getting yourselves into, then it could be a death sentence for all of you. We need spies sent there to scout the area within the three months."

"For God's sake, Noelle, rest up! You don't need to be working!" she heard Java say. She was actually outside the room with her back towards them. This caused both Byte and Max to laugh.

He moved closer to Byte. "I should leave you alone now. You want me to bring you your laptop later today?"

"Hell yeah." Byte smiled as Max bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "See you later."

He nodded and slowly took a step back. On his way out, he saw Java patiently waiting outside. "Here we go, Max." He sighed nervously as he approached her. "Excuse me, Java." he said quietly to get her attention. Once he got her acknowledgement, he gulped. "I…uh…I just wanted to apologize for what I said to you the other day. It was completely disrespectful and I regret saying it 100 percent."

Java looked up at the kid as he spoke. "Thank you," she muttered. "Maybe he isn't so bad. He's proven that he truly cares for Noelle but I just don't know if I can trust him fully." She then waved her hand as a gesture for him to leave and gave him a slight smirk. She watched him go and finally poked her head inside Byte's room. "You ready for round one of your therapy?"

Flashback

"Talk to me," Java muttered. She hastily chased after Byte, who was already mad at her for speaking badly about her relationship with Max. All she said was that she thought the boy was just using her to get what he wanted out of her. Be it a job promotion or simply just sex. "Noelle, will you just stop for one minute? Right now you know I'm getting to you because what I'm saying is true!"

"Tell me, Java. You sure you ain't jealous? I mean, come on you haven't had much luck in the men department or any other department I might add." Byte said as she came to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

"I'm talking about everyone else around you. You've made more enemies than friends, and you've certainly pushed both your sisters away. How do you think that makes you look?"

"Oh shut up, Noelle." By this time, the kid was getting to her. In some sense she was right, she just didn't need to hear it from her smart aleck daughter.

"Why? Because I'm right?"

"No, because you're being so damn stubborn."

"Well it's all relative ain't it, mother dearest?"

"Ugh! Now you've pushed it, Noelle! You aren't allowed to see Max for a week. You're…you're grounded! Get to your room!" Java yelled. "Move! I mean it!"

She had never seen Java so motherly and now she was speechless. She was actually dumbfounded for once. Noelle grunted a few words under her breath as she walked to her room. She walked in and slammed the door. After a couple seconds she grabbed a pillow, put it to her face and screamed as loudly as she could. After a good ten seconds, she let the pillow down and just flopped down on the bed. Who knew that getting so worked up could really tire a person out?

At that same moment, Java was in her room next door. She inhaled deeply and shook her head. She grabbed a purple throw pillow from behind her, stuck her face in it and screamed as loudly as she could for as long as she could. After several seconds, she laid down on her bed. "Ugh, why did she have to grow up to be like me? Of course she had to… is that my punishment for my temper? Dammit!" she thought. She heard the doorknob squeak and she looked over. It was Noelle and Java looked up at her. "What. You ready for round two?" she smirked.

End of flashback

"What the hell is that?" Byte exclaimed as she watched the medic bring out a very long and thick hypodermic needle. "Keep that thing away from me!" So the kid had a fear of needles, big deal. She looked back at Java, who stood in a corner trying to look away from the damn thing while giggling. "Java! Yeah, great joke…now put that thing away," Byte said fearfully.

Java only laughed harder and inched away. "Okay, you can put it away now, medic. Keep that thing away from me as well," she ordered. After the medic put the needle and syringe back in a drawer, she leaned toward him and smiled. "I knew that'd work on her," she whispered. She sat down on the edge of a metal bathtub and touched the warm liquid that sat in it.

Byte undressed and got into the tub. She sat there for a moment as she flipped through a magazine. Suddenly she twitched and felt stinging all over her body. "It's stinging, why's it stinging?" she asked. Java simply shrugged and uttered a few words before digging her nose back into another magazine.

After a few minutes, the stinging finally went away. Now there was just a cooling sensation all over her body. "This feels kind of good. You should try it." She then splashed a little bit of the liquid on to Java's arm.

"Noelle!" Java scolded. She put the magazine down and looked at her arm. She felt a little bit of stinging then the coldness. She raised a brow as she looked to the kid, "You're right."

About thirty minutes had passed and now two of the three healing tubs were occupied. Only one of the people really needed the bath and the other simply enjoyed the luxury of it.

Java grinned slightly as she held up a glass of champagne and looked over to Byte who also had one. "Cheers," she smiled.