Spinning and confusion...that was all she knew, spinning and confusion. By the time Melanie regained enough composure to even think about moving, she could see someone sitting in the corner, someone who seemed to have been sprayed in blood. His face and hands, he had washed, but the rest...

"Mal?" She asked weakly. He just nodded.

"Yeah, it's me." He told her. "They called your mom, she'll he here soon."

"You..you stayed." Melanie commented. "After everything I said, after everything I did to you and your friends, you stayed."

"Do you think I wanted to see you do that to yourself?" He asked her. "For God's sake Melanie, I don't like what you did to Spike, but..."

He heard her sobbing, but she couldn't do much about it. Her arms were strapped to the sides of the bed because she had tried to take her own life. Until her mother came, strictly speaking, the hospital was responsible for her care, and since she had already attempted suicide, clearly they were not willing to risk her trying again.

"Melanie, what I saw was...well...it was pretty fucked up." He told her. "It was quite easily the worst thing I've ever seen. You slashed your wrists."

"Yeah, I did." She told him. "So?"

"Melanie, for the Love of God, what the Hell were you thinking?" He asked her.

"I wasn't thinking alright?" She snapped. "You know what those kids are like! You know what it'll be like, it won't stop! They'll be on my case every day..."

"No, it's not alright." He snorted. "It's not alright because I have your blood all over me! It's not alright because I was standing maybe ten feet from you when you did what you did! You tried to kill yourself right in front of me!"

She slumped down into the bed.

"It's just like I said, if I'm not queen bitch..."

"Well what the hell do you think everyone else is?" He asked her, approaching her slowly.

"I...I...I wish I'd..."

"Don't say it." Mal told her. "Don't even think it. If you do, that's it. I'll walk out that door and leave you to do this yourself, because if you think for one minute I wanted to see that, you really are more self-absorbed than I thought."

"But..."

"Screw the others." Mal told her. "You know what, screw everyone. Even my friends are asking why I went into that bathroom. Nobody understands, they weren't there, they didn't see what I did."

"Why did you?" Melanie asked him. "Why did you go into the bathroom?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." He told her. "What the others did, it was pretty brutal, even for them. I just wanted to see you were alright."

"Of course I'm not." She told him. "I'm finished."

"You're only finished if you give up." He replied. "Seriously, those others..."

"I've been one of them." She sobbed. She wasn't even able to wipe away her own tears since she was strapped down to the bed for fear she would try again to end her own life. "My dad's in jail, we've lost all our money, and half the kids have probably got very real reasons to hate my guts!"

"Melanie..."

"I know what it's like because I did it to others!" She wailed. "They won't stop! They won't leave me alone, I know they won't!"

He took her hand, squeezing it gently. Just then, the door opened and a woman, presumably Melanie's mother came in, accompanied by a doctor.

"You?" She asked. "Are you...?"

"I'm the one who found her." Mal explained. "I'm a friend."

Without another word, the older woman threw her arms around him, holding him tightly, not even thinking about the fact he was covered in blood. Even though she had only just met him, she was so grateful that someone was there for her daughter, she would gladly have given him anything. She kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered. "I don't know...I can't...if anything had happened..."

"You're welcome." He told her, flicking a thumb in the direction of the door. "I should just..."

"Wait!" Melanie called out. "I...I really want you to stay."

Mal looked to her mother, who just gestured to a chair by the bed. He nodded.

"Alright, I'll stay a while." He told her, taking a seat by the bed with her mother. He placed a hand on her arm.

Back at the school, it was now lunch time, but word of what had happened had pretty much run through the place like wildfire. People had seen the ambulance arrive. The girls' bathroom on the ground floor was closed, and the sign said that it was for routine maintenance, but everyone already knew the real reason it was closed.

Spike sat with his friends as Jimmy was checking something on his I-Phone.

"Mal's not back yet?" Spike asked. Vicky just shook her head. She had as much reason to hate Melanie as anyone, she had made her life miserable for most of the year, but she had no desire to see her take her own life.

"No, he's not." She told him. Spike put an arm around her. Even though he was sure she'd rather have Cody there, he was at another school. He figured that right now, she would just appreciate having someone.

"Those sick..." Jimmy gasped. "Vultures!"

"What is it?" Vicky asked him.

"Have you seen this shit?" He asked her, handing her the phone. She recoiled in disgust, seeing that it was a Facebook page. It hadn't taken long. The incident had only happened a couple of hours ago, and already Facebook was going insane with the news.

"Better luck next time?" She asked. "Next time cut up, not across and do it right? This is sick!"

"She tried to kill herself and people still won't cut her a break?" Spike asked incredulously. Although she had hurt him, the fact was that he had dated Melanie. Even out with that, he was human. He might not have liked the fact she hurt him, but he would never have wished her to kill herself.

"You should see some of the other comments." Jimmy told him. "It's not exactly fan mail."

"How can people even think things like this?" Vicky asked, handing back the phone like it was diseased. "Sure, she's a bitch, but she's a human being!"

"Well, she did rip on a lot of people." Spike reminded her. "It's not like there aren't plenty of people who wouldn't love the chance to kick her when she's down."

"Yeah, but this?" Vicky asked him. "I can't believe..."

Just then, Cody flipped himself over the fence, landing near them. Spike pulled his arm away from Vicky slowly seeing him. They now had an understanding that they both liked Vicky, but Spike respected the fact she was with Cody.

"I...um..." He stammered, pulling out his phone. "You knew her right?"

"We know her." Spike replied. "As far as we know, she's still alive."

Cody offered Vicky a hand, and pulled her into a hug, leading her away. As they left, Jimmy coughed a little.

"Dude, way to make it not completely obvious you're digging my sister." He commented.

"What?" Spike shrieked. "No, I mean...she's..."

"Dude, I figured it out a while ago. Until Cody showed up, I was hoping you'd make a move." He told him. "Seriously, it's not like the guys are lining up around the block for her, and you're not a complete dick."

"Thanks." Spike stated. "Uh...I think."

"So now you want her because someone else has her?" Jimmy asked him. Spike just shook his head.

"I know it's messed up, but I'm cool with it." He assured him. "She made her choice."

"Yeah, maybe that would be convincing after about a quart of vodka." Jimmy replied, shoving some chips into his mouth.

"You know, you really are irritating when you do that do you know that?" Spike asked him. Jimmy just smiled.

"Little brother remember?" He asked him. "It's in the job description."

"Fine, I'm not exactly doing back flips over the fact that your sister's with Cody." He told him. "But...she IS with Cody, and I'm not going to do anything to risk my friendship with either of them."

"Alright then." Jimmy answered. "Um...I guess this is where I should warn you that if you hurt my sister I'd rip your nuts off...but since you know all that Martial Arts stuff...somehow I think it's a moot point."

With that, he got up and left, leaving Spike by himself. He had told him the truth, he did want Vicky. He did want more from her, but it had taken him so long to figure that out, that in the end, she had ended up with someone else, and that was something Spike was just going to have to live with. Given recent events, he was more than aware how fragile life could be.

At the farm, Serena's mother stirred and woke, only to find herself under the blanket alone. She and Serena had lain in each other's arms, while she wept and spoke with her, unleashing every ounce of pain in her heart for hours. Her husband had been and gone with some food, but in that time, she just stayed with her daughter.

Looking a little way off, she saw the chain unlocked, lying on the floor. She quickly searched her pockets, finding that the key was gone. When she had come to the barn, finding her daughter in tears, she hadn't thought about the fact she was still carrying the keys, her maternal instinct kicked in, and she just held her.

As she ran out of the barn, she looked around desperately, hoping that she could see some sign of Serena.

"Serena?" She called out, hoping to get an answer, but knowing she wouldn't. If what she thought had happened, if Serena had found the keys and released herself, she would be long gone. "Serena!"

She ran to the house, and as she got in, she found something odd, the smell of cooking bacon. She ran into the kitchen, finding Serena standing by the cooker.

"Um...I found the keys." Serena told her. "I was hungry, and I figured you would be too..."

Her mother just came over, wrapping her arms around her. She had suspected the worst, and her daughter had surprised her by giving her so much more.

"I miss him so much mom!" Serena told her as they embraced.

"I know you do." She replied, releasing her a little. "But you didn't leave."

"No, I didn't." Serena assured her. "I can't say that I didn't want to, but...that's just the thing. There's more in the world than what I want."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that." She replied. "Now, I believe I made a promise."

With that, she reached into a cupboard, pulling out the octagonal power disk Stephen had made for Kasamune.

"Mom?" She asked.

"The difference between the Blessed Warrior, and the Cursed Warrior is motive." She reminded her. "I contacted Daisuke, and after giving him an earful for giving you that tattoo..."

"Mom...!"

"He sent me the details of the legends." She told her. "The Cursed Warrior seeks battle for challenge, the Blessed Warrior's strength comes from compassion."

Serena looked to her as she smiled at her daughter.

"Vengeance is a selfish emotion, and the exact opposite of compassion." She told her. "If Stephen did finish his work on this, and if this will work, then a vengeful heart would never unlock it, even if you lived for centuries."

"You're...you're going to help me train?" Serena asked her. Her mother handed her the disk and nodded.

"It'll be just like old times." She replied, hugging Serena.