"Poison?" Flame's voice was barely over a whisper. She couldn't stop staring at the red haired male. The one they'd been looking for for months.

"Poison!" Flame surged forward, and Poison stood up just in time before Flame had wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.

"I can't believe it's really you," she whispered into his shoulder, then suddenly she pulled away, embarrassed.

"I'm Synthetic Flame, by the way," she held out a hand which he took, her cheeks growing red at her sudden outburst.

Flame looked around at the others. Their eyes were full of fear. That was when Flame saw Crimson fully. Her stomach was swollen.

"Crimson, what …?" Flame struggled, unable to find the words she was seeking.

"We've all been unconscious for eight months," Crimson smiled, but her eyes were sad, "Apparently we got killed in a blast, but they brought us back. That's why you have all the scars. You must have been closest when the bomb went off. By the way, what happened to your hair?"

Flame brought her hand up to her head, expecting to feel the long, lavender locks, but then remembering they were no longer there.

"I cut it off. It made my face look sickly," she shrugged with an awkward smile, "But anyway, the baby must be due any day!"

Crimson smiled forlornly, nodding.

"Oh, and Flame!" Crimson's eyes suddenly got wide, "It's … everything, it was all -"

Her words were interrupted as the door to the hall opened, revealing a figure with long, straight black hair.

"Disaster?" Flame said, astonished. Beautiful Disaster smiled down at Flame, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Synthetic Flame," Disaster said, "I see you got your clothes alright?"

"You're the one who blew us up?" Flame yelled, ignoring Disaster's first question, "How could you do that?"

"'Cause she's been working for BL/ind all along," Crimson glared, "She's a robot,"

Anger boiled in Flame. Betrayed by one of their own? But then again, Disaster had never been one of them, if what Crimson said was true.

"Please, take a seat," the robot Disaster motioned to the empty seat beside Party Poison. Flame didn't move. Disaster sighed.

"Things would be so much better if you cooperate. We're not going to kill you. Don't you think if we were, we would have done that already?"

Disaster had a point. Taking a step back, Flame sat in the seat, still glaring up at the robot. Disaster smiled smugly.

"Now, we have just landed in Battery City," Disaster spoke to the whole group, her hands joined behind her back. Flame looked at her suspiciously.

"You will all be moved into division cells where you will remain unless called for. Failure to do this will result in severe consequences," from the look in Disaster's eyes, Flame could guess what these 'consequences' were. They weren't dead yet, but they very well could be any time.

"Now," Disaster continued, "If I could ask Synthetic Flame and Party Poison to follow me," it wasn't a question. It was a demand. Flame stood up slowly, followed by Poison. They followed Disaster out the door, looking back nervously at the rest of the group.

Once they were out into the white hallway, Flame dared to talk to Poison.

"How long have you been back alive?" she whispered, looking warily at Disaster who stood a couple of metres in front of them.

"I don't know," Flame had never heard his voice, but it was exactly how she imagined it, "It's kind of hard to tell time. But I would say at least three months, maybe more, maybe less,"

Flame nodded. She wasn't sure what she was nodding about, but it seemed appropriate.

Suddenly, up ahead, Disaster opened a door to the left, stepping inside. Poison and Flame followed wearily.

The room, unlike any of the others they'd encountered, was dimly lit. There was only one light that sat on a desk in the middle of the small room, that only lit a small circle, and the rest of the room was engulfed in darkness.

There was a swivel chair seated behind the desk, facing away from Poison and Flame. Two chairs sat close to the two killjoys, and Disaster motioned for them to sit down. They complied hesitantly.

Slowly, the high backed swivel chair began to spin until it was fully facing the killjoys. Absentmindedly, Flame's hand shot down to her waist, groping for her ray gun, only to be reminded for the second time that day that it wasn't there.

Korse sat smirking at Flame, his pale eyes glinting in the dim light of the desk lamp.

Flame attempted to stand up, but Disaster was there in a moment, her hands clamping down on Flame's shoulders, holding her in her seat.

"Hello, Synthetic Flame," Korse continued to sneer at her. Flame spat at the man. He closed his eyes, clenching his jaw in disgust.

"Now, now," he wiped his cheek dramatically and Flame rolled her eyes, "We just want to talk to you,"

Korse tilted forward so his head was resting in his hands.

"We think that you would be very valuable to us, Synthetic Flame," Korse continued, "An extremely powerful ally,"

Flame snorted.

"Ha! Like that's going to happen," she turned away from him, looking instead at the wall. She heard Korse sigh.

"Think about it. Beautiful Disaster …?"

Disaster took one hand off Flame's shoulder and helped her to stand up. She marched Poison and Flame out of the room.

"You may now head back to the room with the others," Disaster said, "Failure to go there immediately will result in consequences,"

And with that, she walked back into the room where Korse was seated.

Flame opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped as Poison pushed her into the wall. The corridor was completely deserted.

"You have to do what he says," Poison sounded nervous and kept looking around,

"What?" Flame said incredulously. Was Party Poison suggesting they join forces with Korse?

"Listen, things will be so much better for everyone!" Poison continued, looking at her face. His red hair hung in front of his eyes, "No more running, no more hiding! Everything will go back to the way it was before the fires! But this time, it'll be under your rule!"

Flame opened her mouth, attempting to speak, but was interjected as Poison's lips crashed down on hers. Her eyes opened wide as he kissed her, but eventually, she softened into the kiss, kissing him back. His fingers glided through her short hair along her scalp.

Then Poison broke away, stepping back.

"Think about it, please," and with that, he turned on his heels and began to run down the long corridor, leaving Flame to wonder about exactly what had just happened.