Holy shiznit, guys! After only 2 hours I got like, 298549057 reviews for part one! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Shoutouts to vampiremom1221, burning, Fanpire4000, piercingemeralds2, and maveldiaz (thank you so much for the recommendations!) and everyone else who took the time to review. Fanfic was being all pissy so I couldn't reply to all your reviews, but they totally made my day (which happened to be my birthday, which means you guys totally OWNED everything else that day). You guys are all honorary review ninjas in my book! :)

Here's part two early (well, earlier than usual), as promised… Don't you just LOVE when I actually update twice within the same month? ;) I would've had this out sooner if it hadn't been for the book-buying binge I went on last week… here's what I now own and have yet to read: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, When It Happens, Peter Pan, Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter, Judas Kiss, The Collective Works of Susan Howatch, and The Collective Works of the Brothers Grimm. Here's what I HAVE read out of the pile: Beastly, Leaving Paradise, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Dime Store Magic (which was AMAZING), and If I Stay. Anyone who wants to listen to me rant about my love of the Hunger Games (Team Peeta!), or anyone who just wants to talk books can PM me or just tell me in their review :)

Anyways, enjoy the chapter! Hopefully it makes up for my being M.I.A. for so long.

Disclaimer: Steph and Christina have discovered that everything is 10 times funnier at 3 AM.

Christina: *Tucks chin into neck*
Look Steph! Don't I look like that one Pokemon? What's his name again?

Steph: *Stares at Christina*
Um… 'Machop' I think?

Christina: *Smiles*
Yeah!
*Laughs*
Now when you write your disclaimers, you can say that Machop told you that you don't own DP!

Steph: You're right! I could say that!
*Fake laughs*

Christina: *Laughing*

Steph: [Aside]
Or I could tell them an idiot told me; you know, either way works…

Christina: What'd you say?

Steph: Me? I didn't say anything!
*Smiles innocently and continues to creep tumblr*

Allies II

They say that you should always try as hard as you can to get rid of the weakest link – that it'll slow you if you don't, or that it'll affect you negatively in the long run – but that's impossible. When one of you is weak, all of you are weak. No exceptions, no special cases. There is hope, though: no matter how weak you are alone, you're always stronger together.

-Anonymous

"I hate to break it to you, but we've got nothing to work with here."

"Correction; you've got nothing to work with. I'm just here to watch. You're on your own when it comes to this little suicide mission," Tori stated bluntly, crossing her arms.

Simon cocked an eyebrow at her. "You're just here to 'watch'? How do we know you're not a spy or something? The Edison Group could have planted you with us so they could know about our escape attempts…"

"You don't," she said flatly. "But you need me. I've been here longer than all of you, and I know my way around."

Simon bit the inside of his cheek nervously, then turned to me. "Chloe? What do you think?"

"I trust her, Simon. She's in the same boat as we are. She has no reason to betray us."

"But why doesn't she want in?" he asked, confused. He turned to Tori. "If there's a chance you could escape this hellhole, why wouldn't you take it? Why would you want to stay behind?"

"She's waiting for her mom," I explained. "She doesn't want to leave incase her mom comes looking for her – she won't be able to find her."

Simon swore under his breath. "She really is in the same boat, then, isn't she?" he whispered. He turned to face Tori. "My dad's missing," he said gravely.

"He's not missing, Simon - he's been taken by the Cabals."

We all turned towards the doorway, startled by the sound of Derek's voice – we hadn't heard him enter the room, and he'd spoken softly – if anything, we'd have expected an angry grumble. Tori locked eyes with me, sending me a silent message - He's here to grovel. Don't let him off easy! – before acknowledging Derek's presence.

"Well, lookie here! Fido's back! I wonder why he isn't growling anymore…?" She smiled up at him, utilizing the same sickly-sweet grin she'd used on Davidoff; I knew her well enough now to know that it was her 'I-would-really-enjoy-nothing-more-than-to-smash-your-face-in-with-a-brick-repeatedly!' smile. "Did someone throw you a bone, Fido?" she asked, her obnoxious baby-talk enough to irritate everyone in the room.

Derek ignored her, though I could tell it took him a substantial amount of effort – his eye had twitched infinitesimally, almost imperceptivity. "Chloe, I need to talk to you," he stated, making eye contact.

"Can it wait?" I snapped. "We're in the middle of something here, and I'm sure our escape is more important than what you could possibly have to say, Derek." The effect was almost immediate – the expression on his face contorted in such a way that you'd have thought I'd slapped him.

"It can't wait. Can we talk, please?"

I sighed and agreed - albeit reluctantly - partly because he'd actually asked this time, and partly because I couldn't wait to see how he rationalized his behavior towards me in the other room. I looked over at Tori, who nodded and turned to leave. "Cummon blondie!" she called, tugging on Simon's sleeve. "Chloe and Scruffy need to talk, and they want their pri-ivacy," she announced in a sing-song voice while simultaneously shoving Simon out into the other room. She gave me that same meaningful look then coughed into her fist, the "Bi-polar!" – meant for Derek - barely concealed. The door slammed lightly behind her.

I crossed the room and went to go sit on the counter, grateful for the added height it gave me.

Good. Now I can look him in the eyes while I tell him off.

"You wanted to talk, so talk," I said, doing my best to sound bored and keep my voice even. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I had a nagging suspicion that he was about to put an end to whatever we had before he'd left.

"Chloe, I'm really sorry about what I said back there. I had no idea you were--"

"Yes, you did. You knew I was going to come looking for you after 2 weeks. I made that perfectly clear before you left!" I reminded him.

"I know," he said, taking a step towards me. "I was just mad because I thought you'd gotten caught while searching for us, and--"

"And you let that anger take over! After almost a month without seeing me, the first thing you decided to do is assault me with your word-vomit?" I shook my head. "Does that sound right to you, Derek? Because it doesn't to me. Not even close." I didn't take my eyes off his the entire time, trying to gauge his reaction to my words. By the time I was done my mini-rant, his eyes were telling me that he was positively miserable.

"I was just pissed off," he said, trying to convince me of his innocence. "I didn't mean what I said!"

"And that just automatically makes it okay, right? It didn't matter that you didn't mean it, Derek – it still hurt!" I tore my gaze away and redirected it, focusing on the tile floor while I continued to talk. "The only reason I didn't panic when I woke up here was because I knew you and Simon would be here too. I was hoping that we could figure out an escape plan, maybe find a way to convince Tori to come with us…" I looked up again, meeting his eyes. "But instead, I got a lecture and the cold shoulder… you didn't even tell me you were glad to see that I was alive, Derek! You didn't even bother to tell me you missed me," I whispered, my voice cracking at the end.

"Chloe, we can't--"

"Save it," I snapped, my composure returning. "I get it. You made a mistake, we can't do this – I've heard it all before. Sorry if my feelings inconvenienced you in any way, especially since you seem to think they're the reason we're stuck here…"

The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine and he was kissing me, hard. My brain was screaming at me to stop him - to keep him from getting out of trouble this easily – but those thoughts were quickly drowned out by the metaphorical sigh coming from my heart. Finally.

I let go, laced my hands through his hair and held on, pulling him closer to where I sat on the counter. He had one hand on my cheek, and the other wrapped around my waist, holding me to him. I ran my tongue along his bottom lip lightly without thinking, surprised at myself. When did I learn to do this? I wondered. The thought was forgotten a second later when he reacted and opened his mouth and copied my movements, sending a shiver down my spine. We kissed like that for almost 3 minutes before I decided I kind of maybe needed to breathe again.

"I missed you," he said after I pulled away, smirking as he rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

"You're a jackass – just thought I'd let you know…" I said, pulling his hand away from my face and kissing him again – chastely this time. "And THAT was what you should've done when you first saw me. The next time I get a lecture, you're getting your ass kicked, Souza."

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway, and we both tensed at the sight of Tori standing in front of the now-open door watching us. Simon was standing next to her, looking solemn and a little bit out of place. "Now that your little reunion is over, how's about we get to work?" Tori asked in a mockingly-cheerful tone. The disappointed look on her face said it all:

What part of "don't let him off easy!" did you not understand?

Less than an hour later, we had a rough outline of our plan.

It'd been difficult – coming up with an elaborate scheme based on only one person's knowledge of the structure – but we'd managed. There'd only been 2 of us in the 'meeting room' at a time, while the other two were supposed to be making small talk in the main room in case we were being taped; eventually we were able to explain the basis of our plan to every member of the group and agree on a strategy.

Davidoff had returned less than 15 minutes after we'd finished explaining the plan to Simon. "Girls!" he called into the room, smiling when he found us sitting on Simon's bed, smiling – we'd ran as fast as our legs could carry us when we'd heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

He stepped inside and surveyed the room subtly, his eyes darting from wall to wall so fast that I almost missed it. "Did you enjoy your visit with the boys?" he asked, smiling at Simon and completely ignoring Derek.

"Yeah! We had fun hanging out, but we're getting kinda tired now… do you think you could take us back to our room?" I asked, batting my eyelashes and trying to look as adorable as humanly possible - Tori had suggested that I act happier around him and trick him into trusting me so that we'd be able to get him to spill some secrets about us.

"At your service!" he chuckled. "That's why I'm here – I have a surprise waiting for you in your room, Victoria, and I wanted you to see it right away!"

Bullshit. You didn't want us together for too long in case we try something.

Tori's eyes lit up, and it was hard to tell whether she was taking him seriously or just acting. "A surprise… really?" She copied my eyelash trick, even going so far as to twirl a piece of hair around her finger. "Can we go see it now?" He nodded and led us out, not bothering to say good-bye to Simon or Derek.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?" Tori inquired, acting - or not - excited.

He chuckled again, and the sound of it made me want to crawl into a deep, dark hole and die. "Of course not Victoria!" He put a hand on each of our shoulders and squeezed them. "That would ruin the surprise, don't you think?"

I tried hard not to shudder, thinking of the man's hand on my shoulder. I was utterly repulsed by everything about him – his name, his face, his smell… especially what he stood for - even if he was only trying to be friendly.

He led us down the same hallway we'd used before, stopping a few feet in front of our room. He knocked on the door a few times before bending over the lock, never bothering to explain his strange behavior to us. "Now Victoria," he said, pausing to address Tori as he straightened up again. "I know you might have a lot of questions after this, but I assure you, it was all done with your best interest in mind!"

Tori raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you-?" she asked, Davidoff slamming the door in her face before she could finish asking the question. "What an asshole," she mumbled, tensing and grabbing my forearm unexpectedly.

"Tori?"

"There's someone in here!" she hissed, her nails digging into my arm.

I felt it then – the tingling sensation on the back of my neck – the realization that we were being watched.

We both spun around at the same time.

There was a woman perched on Tori's bed, filing away at her nails. She was blond – her hair obviously a few shades darker than the colour she was trying to pull off – and tanned, her sunglasses resting on top of her head like a headband. She gave off the air of someone who was privileged, bossy, rich… someone who couldn't be bothered to care.

Tori stepped in front of me, her hands shaking violently.

"M-mom?"

Tori's mom looked up from her nails and smiled half-heartedly – scratch that, it was more of a pity twitch-of-the-lips.

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach before she even spoke – exactly how I'd felt before Dr. Davidoff had revealed his "real" identity to me – I knew something was up, and whatever it was… well, I could tell it wasn't going to mean rainbows and unicorns for us.

"Victoria, get a hold of yourself before you have a panic attack," her mother snapped after noticing how badly Tori was shaking – she looked unsteady on her feet, like her knees had given up any hope of supporting her.

Tori did as her mother instructed, closing her eyes, clenching her fists slowly and taking a few deep breaths. After a few seconds she opened her eyes again and went to go stand in front of her mother, leaving me to hover behind her. "Mom… what are you doing here?" she asked solemnly. I could tell by her voice that she already knew; she just wanted her suspicions confirmed.

Tori's mom didn't answer – I could tell she was avoiding the question. "For Christ's sakes, Victoria; sit down before you collapse!" she snapped instead, sounding like one of the moms on the shows for 'trophy wives of [insert city here]'. Again Tori followed her mother's orders, parking herself on my bed and gripping the sheets so tightly I was surprised they didn't rip in her hands.

"What are you doing here, mom?" Tori asked again, her voice shaking along with her hands.

"Look," Mrs. Enright said, sliding her nail file into her pocket – I was surprised that it fit, considering how tight her dress pants seemed to be. "I think you can figure this out, Victoria. I'm not going to waste my time explaining and rationalizing my actions to you… all I'm going to say is this: I don't regret any of it. I did what was best for the future of my family in the supernatural world, and I would do it again if I had to."

And with that, she was gone.

Underneath her calm exterior, Tori was seething. I could tell by the way her eyes were shining – something about them had changed when she laid eyes on her mother…

It was downright terrifying.

"THAT BITCH!" she shrieked suddenly, startling me. "She went on letting me think that she was some sort of savior – protecting me from those phsycos – when all along she was leading me straight to them!" She brought her fist down on the table, sending her untouched plate of food flying across the room. I ducked, avoiding a fork that narrowly missed my left eye.

"T-Tori!" I yelled. "Calm down!"

She spun to face me, her expression deadly. "CALM DOWN?" she boomed. "You want me to calm down? Do you know how long I've been in here, Chloe? Three months! Three months in this fucking cell with no one to talk to and nothing to look at but those fucking blank walls! I sat here day after day, telling myself that it would all be alright, that it would be okay…" she trailed off, her gaze becoming distant. "She told me she'd come for me if they ever took me away…" she mumbled. "She told me she'd take care of me, keep me safe…" Her eyes refocused then, and she turned away, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and blinked rapidly, clearing her vision. "That lying bitch," she spat. "She'll pay for this. I'll make her pay if it's the last think I do."

I just sat there in shock as she made her vow, cowering pathetically on my bed… I had good reason, though – her eyes had turned an unnatural shade of electric blue, and there seemed to be an aura of the same colour enveloping her clenched fists. Tori appeared to be oblivious to all of it.

This is getting to be waaaay too much for me to handle.

She turned to me then, acknowledging my presence for the first time since we'd entered the room. Her eyes had returned to normal, and her hands were no longer surrounded by the eerie blue cloud. "You wanted me in your little band of misfits?" she asked. "Congratulations - I'm joining. You can count me in on your stupid little suicide mission." She shuffled past me, making her way to the bathroom; I almost didn't hear her mumbling, "I have nothing to lose anymore."

She slammed the door to the bathroom, leaving me plastered to the cell wall. A few seconds later I heard the water turn on, and I decided it was time to escape reality for a few minutes. I peeled myself off the way slowly and slid into bed, replaying our encounter with Mrs. Enright over and over in my head: what kind of mother could do that to their child? I wondered, before it hit me:

Mine had.

I could've sworn I heard muffled tears coming from the bathroom as I drifted off.

Aww, guys, don't you feel bad for Tori?

You know what would make her feel better? If you guys sent in a bunch of reviews! :) I've been feeling kinda discouraged lately when it comes to this story… help me find my groove again! REVIEW!

Also, I'm having a mini-contest. I desperately need a title for my next story (a continuation of The Reckoning). Submit your ideas with your review (or PM me) and the person who sends in the best suggestion gets their pick of an outtake from this story (a hardcore make-out scene, perhaps?) OR gets to be an advanced reader for the next 3 chapters. Sound good? Please send in your suggestions!

And, you know, if it's not too much trouble… REVIEW! ;)