Just warning you guys there is some cursing in this chapter (nothing super bad) but I just wanted to warn you. If you don't like the swearing than I will be happy to send you an edited chapter. But this is a 'T' fanfic.

Woot! Look how fast I got this to you guys. I know you're all proud of me. Thanks to everyone who has review so far. I love to read them and I can never wait to wake up and read them. Keep them coming!

Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing mostly because I have no money :P

DAY:

I hate feeling helpless. It's something that I've felt too often I think. I've sat by and watched too many people fall victim to this plague and I couldn't stand to see it happen to her. She thrashed about and screamed and moaned. It was as though something was eating her alive from the inside out. I couldn't do anything and as I sat watching her I still can't. How is it that I could scale buildings and change an entire government but I couldn't save this one person?

I had thought that leaving her was for the best. Instead I realize now that it was only leaving her defenseless. She may be strong but two is always better than one. What if I had been with her when Thomas stopped by? Would I have been able to tell? Would I have told her to stay inside, to not follow him? It didn't matter I guess because 'what if's' weren't going to help her now.

I held her a little tighter. She was calming down, falling into sleep. The creases in her brow were smoothing and her once fisted hands were now limp. My own hand reached out without thinking. Her hair ran through my fingers and traced the curve of her face, from her hairline across her cheek and down to her lips. A familiar something stirred in me to lean down and kiss her. I squashed the feeling quickly. Now was not the time to think about that. She was sick and in pain. I winced at that. Her pain was my pain and I felt it deep in my heart.

Thomas had said that June could be cured. This sounded like complete bull shit to me but there was a chance that for once Thomas wasn't lying. If what he said was true than there was no question. Above all else I had to save June. I had to keep this fascinating creature in my arms alive and well. What kind of person would I be if I let her fire die?

How long has it been? I can't tell in this total darkness. My arms and legs are numb from holding June but I don't dare let her go. She's grown frighteningly cold and I can't bring myself to take her source of heat away. She's stirred a few times. Sometimes it's quiet and if I wasn't so watchful of her I might not have even noticed her waking. Other times it's violent and I dodge flying fists. As she sleeps she calls out to the darkness. She calls for Metais and I. That just stirs the guilt in me. Even now after all I've done she still wants my help. Soft cries turn to shaking sobs but her eyes are still closed.

They say that the plague can cause powerful hallucinations paired with very real pain. I once stole a book on it when I was still on the run. I had thought, foolishly, that just by looking I might be able to prevent this plague from changing my family any more than it already had. I had failed miserably and only managed to scare myself. First it would appear in the eyes, blinding the patient. Then it would get into the brain. It would swell until bursting. This caused hallucinations in its earliest stages. Later the patient would suffer from something bordering on insanity, loss of communication skills senses and later death . But at the rate that June was going she might not live even if cured. The harm to the brain was coming to the point where it could not be reversed. Thomas better get us there soon or there was hell to pay. I refuse to have another loved one die while I'm sitter there doing nothing.

"You're so strong June. Please don't let this defeat you." I shifted her head to my shoulder and my hands around her waist. The movement brought pins and needles to my legs. Ignoring the feeling I tucked my face into the crook in her neck and tried to calm myself. "You're not done yet June. You and I both know that you still have to kick my ass for being such an idiot. How could I think that I could live without you?" My throat felt raw as though hands were clawing through me. Her breathing was slowing and I hopped that this was because she was finally falling to a deeper sleep where her visions couldn't reach her.

I reached down and held her hand in mine. There in that darkness I felt the ring still on her finger. It had been a silly idea. In all reality if you looked passed the meaning it was just some twisted paperclips. But she had found the meaning and held it close. I twisted the ring as she was prone to do. In that moment I let myself imagine what a life with her would be like. I thought of us working together and coming home together. There would be a family perhaps? I sighed at the thought of having a home full of people. I missed the sound of footsteps on the floor and laughing well into the night. I missed the warmth that came despite the outside chill. She could give it to me. Despite the odds against us I let that light of hope in. Such a thing is dangerous, hope. It can do just as much damage as a bullet but it could do just as much good. Right now, I needed all the good I could get.

In my musings those day dreams must have become real dreams because I felt my eyes drifting shut. My body was getting heavy or was that just June? It didn't matter because June was in my mind too. Which one was more real than the other? One was full of pain while the other was only warmth. It was then that my eyes closed and sleep took me quietly. My arms slackened around her waist and I fell into that hope of mine so warm compared to this cold metal.

My first thought after waking was damn it. I had not meant to fall asleep at all. I had wanted to watch over her and make sure she was safe. Instead I was betrayed by my own self and fell asleep. I cursed myself again and again for my stupidity.

I blinked at the harsh light and brought my hands to block it. Why is it so bright? Panic seized my chest in a fist and I bolted upright. I was in a white room and June, she was gone. I threw myself from the bed I was on and ran for the door. It was thick and heavy but I yelled anyway. My thoughts were going everywhere.

They took her and now she's as good as dead. They'll use her as a hostage if she isn't.

Torture sprang to mind and I emptied my stomach right then and there. All too clearly I could see it. She would be chained from the ceiling and beaten by some unknown man. They would ask her for information that I knew she would never give.

Weak and tired I clawed at the door. How had I not woken? How had they been able to take her from me when I had held her so tightly? My voice soon gave out and then my legs. I sat against the door and waited. It was all I could do. The person I had told I couldn't live without may already be dead.

There were no windows (once again) so I still didn't know the time. I may have fallen asleep or I might have managed to keep myself awake. It didn't matter I guess because at last there was a knock on the door. I scurried away just in time to see it open. In stepped Thomas. I sprang from the floor and lunged.

I was on him in a moment. His face gave under my fist again and again. I would not stop until he was bloodied. An image of June in a similar state sprang to mind and I paused. Thomas shoved his fist into my stomach and my breath rushed out of me. Quickly a shock jolted through me and I fell to the floor. I found this situation very familiar.

"Can't you go five minutes without attacking someone?" My mouth still wouldn't work despite the vile I wanted to spew at him. This was his fault. She was hurt or worse and it was all because of him. "You have to calm down or else we'll have to sedate you and you'll learn nothing." He looked over his shoulder and closed the door. From his pocket he took out a small black box. He pulled loose some wires and fit it to a corner of the room. "It's a recording. This will replace the audio feed with one from my interrogation with you. " Thomas than picked me up (I still couldn't move) and sat me against the wall. Sitting in front of me he began. "June is fine. She is being treated now. Though, she will not be completely cured." He winced at that and shifted. If I could move I would have throttled him. "This is a form of incurrence. You have to cooperate or she will die to the plague." I felt like I was going to be sick again. What else could I do when they had her life hanging over my head? I tested my mouth and found that it had regained some feeling. I spit at Thomas and he hardly flinched. Brushing the saliva off his shoulder he opened his mouth to continue.

"How is this helping anyone? How can I protect her when she could be anywhere? I need her here."

"Protecting her is my job and I will make sure she comes out of this alive, unlike you and your half-assed help." I was ready with a rebuttal about how I had done much more than him. "Look we don't have a lot of time for me to explain. I didn't bring June here to die. She's here to be protected. You and I both know that the Republic can't win this war. I promised that I would keep June alive no matter what. So the colonies and I have struck a deal." His eyes darkened. "I give them you and June. The colonies will use the both of you as bartering chips. The Republic will come for you without thinking and this war will end quick and easy. If you guys do this without too much trouble and if it works…you both will be granted immunity."

I felt like my mind had been shut off. There was no thought only shock. How could I get out of this? June firmly believed in Anden and the new government of the Republic. Of course I wasn't exactly sold on the idea due to the fact that Anden was a girl stealing bastard who had had a snake for a father. But if June had gone as far as to save his life, than I would follow her. She would be crushed if she knew why she was here. "But the colonies can't have you dying of natural causes in the middle of the war. They have their best doctors here to get that thing out of your head." He nodded to me.

As I sat there and Thomas explained what I would be doing while I was here my mind kept turning something over and over. It was like a tough bit of meat that I couldn't seem to chew. How is it that June was cured when the Republic hadn't even gotten further than vaccinations? Either the colonies really were ahead of the Republic or Thomas the liar was being lied to.

DUN DUN DUN!

Ok guys I am very very sorry because I forgot to mention last chapter that our wonderful reader jabberjay is now my beta. Isn't she so nice? :D She has edited this, the last, and all soon to come chapters. Send her your thanks! As usual please review!

PS: Trust me I have not forgotten about Eden, it's just that Day is under a little stress. Trust me he will feel plenty of guilt when he realizes that he has no idea if he's alright. :D