Damnit, late by one day again. Sorry guys, I'm just so busy applying for jobs and stuff eek. It's actually tough as heck to grab a job these days. Anywhoo I have an interview tomorrow morning, so off to bed it is!

Thanks to all the new followers and to those who've been here for a while! Much loveee :)

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Cheers~

The next time I wake, sunlight is fading from the windows. It takes me a few moments to blink the blurriness out of my eyes. Iggy's back is facing me; he's looking out the window, casting a long shadow into the room. Fang's at the sofa, hunched over a black laptop.

I slip out of the bed, shivering slightly when my bare feet touch the cold stone floor. I glance down at my feet, and spy a pair of faded pink slippers next to my feet. They're a little flimsy, but I'm grateful for the shield against the cold ground, so I slip them on and pad over to sit on the sofa.

Fang glances up at me, then shuts the laptop, turning his full attention to me. "How are you?" he asks, concern filling his features. I lean against the back of the couch and take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. I shrug. I don't know how I am.

"She's pumped full of drugs," I hear Iggy's voice and turn to see him staring at me. I blink. How could he know that?

"There's enough chemicals in her to knock out a rhino," Iggy continues, his voice turning bitter. He walks towards us, and brushes the back of his fingers against my forehead. I grimace but don't pull away.

"It feels like she's running a fever," he murmurs.

"I don't feel sick," I say quietly, a little confused. Fang frowns and takes my hand, pressing his fingers gently into my palm, "She does feel warm," he says.

I slowly pull away from them, "Guys, I feel fine," I say with a small smile, trying to reassure them. It was a small lie. My head was pounding, but I didn't feel like I was running a fever. It works though, and they leave it alone.

We're all quiet for a few moments.

"What happened yesterday?" I ask them, "Did you set the place on fire?"

Fang chuckles quietly, "No, we didn't set anything. It started inside the compound, and by the time I got inside, most of the people had evacuated. I was just going through the rooms, and happened to find Iggy. He found you and the rest you should remember."

I frown at Iggy, "How did you find me? How did you navigate through the place? They never would've walked you around the place…"

Iggy bites his lower lip and I'm suddenly reminded of what Fang used to do when he caught me with my lip between my teeth.

"They… did something to my eyes," Iggy starts off, snapping me back to reality. I look up at him, waiting for him to continue. Iggy closes his eyes and I see his knuckles whiten as he clenches his fists over the back of the couch. The setting sun casts dark shadows around him and the rest of the room.

"They took out my real eyes and gave me these metal ones."

I freeze. When we broke out, I never looked at his eyes closely. Now I do. They don't look all that metallic. Iggy sees me staring curiously, and shoots me a bitter smile. "They seem real enough, until you're up close," he explains.

I blink and look away from his eyes, instead choosing to stare at a spot above his upper lip. Iggy chuckles quietly. It's not like his real laugh, and he runs his thumb lightly over my shoulder. The contact is gone before I even think of sliding from under his touch.

Part of me wonders if he's going to continue, but for the most part, I don't want to know. I don't want to force him to relive the pain of being held by the School. I don't know if I could even tell them what the scientists did to me.

"They act like real eyes, projecting images into my brain, and they also added a few 'enhancements'."

Iggy shudders inadvertently, and I feel a sudden urge to take his hand, or do something to comfort him. I don't though, unsure if I can take the contact.

"They gave me x-ray vision, which is how I could navigate through the place, and outside of it, too," Iggy's voice is strained as he struggles to continue, "… heat vision, ice vision, and some other stuff I can't remember."

I nod, and am relieved when he doesn't keep talking about the School.

I can feel Fang's gaze on me, and I look at him only to see a question in his eyes.

What happened? What did they do to you?

I can't find it inside myself to respond to the question, so I pretend that I don't understand his curious gaze and look back down to my hands.

He lets it go and looks back at the closed laptop, as though he can burn a hole into it if he stares hard enough. Now that I think about it, that would be more up Iggy's alley.

"So what now?" Iggy's voice breaks the silence. I realize that I have no idea what to do either, so we both look to Fang.

He stays quiet and still for a few more seconds. When his image starts to fade, Fang finally releases a breath.

"We try to stay off the radar."

Iggy and I nod, and Iggy shuffles off to the window again. I look at his back and wonder how he must be feeling right now.

It was nice for him to be able to see again, but I couldn't imagine the pain that Iggy must've gone through back at the School.

I sit there for a few more minutes before tapping Fang on the shoulder, my fingertip just barely brushing against his skin. He shakes himself out of whatever thoughts he's having and turns to me.

"Go get some sleep," I nod my head at the bed that I had occupied the night before, "You look like you've been up all night."

Fang looks at me as though I've been speaking gibberish. "You're sleeping on the bed," he says dumbly. I frown for a moment. It's logical for me to sleep on the couch. Iggy and Fang weren't fat, but they were tall and their leanly muscled 6 foot frames would never fit comfortably on the small couch. I would though, and considering how I curled up on my side to sleep, the couch would be the logical place for me to sleep. Apparently Fang thought differently.

"It makes sense though, for me to-"

"You're not sleeping on the couch, Max," Fang's voice is soft, but there's an underlying tone that tells me he won't be taking no for an answer.

I sigh and shake my head slowly, "Alright," I mumble before shuffling off.

I'm lying down on my side facing the rest of the room, my back against the stone wall. It feels a lot better than the bars of my cage. I shudder delicately, trying to blink back images again.

Fang comes over to me after a long while. Iggy is still standing at the window. I wonder what he's looking at; everything outside has already become dark. He had said something about the scientists giving him better vision. I wonder how the world looks like to him now.

"Hey," Fang says simply as he crouches down next to the bed. I feel my lips twist unnaturally into a meek imitation of my old smile.

"How are you feeling?"

I shake my head, "I don't know."

Fang tilts his head to the left in a question.

"I'm not hurting like before, but I feel really heavy and clumsy," I explain. Fang nods, "It's the chemicals they pumped into you. Iggy says he can see enough poison in you to take down a rhino."

I chuckle silently at that. "A rhino?" I echo, a smile in my voice. Fang smiles, "More or less."

It seems as though the scientists didn't have time to enhance Iggy's hearing, because he didn't hear us.

Fang's fingertips brush against the back of my hand, and I flinch involuntarily. He freezes.

I swallow hard and clench my hand into a fist, "I… I'm sorry," I mumble.

Fang shakes his head. I can see pain in his eyes and a muscle clenching at his jaw.

I take the sleeve of his shirt between my fingers before he can turn away from me. He stills and looks at me.

"Really. I'm sorry. I just… It feels like… Cain," the moment I say Cain's name, Fang tenses again.

His eyebrows pull together slightly, as though he's in pain.

"I wouldn't," he says slowly, "I wouldn't ever hurt you."

My heart clenches at that, "I know," I whisper, "I'm sorry."

Fang shakes his head and manages smile a little, "Don't be. It's not your fault. You'll get better with it in time."

I let him turn away this time, my hand hanging in the empty air for a little longer than necessary before returning to my side.

You'll get better in time.

I really hope so.