A/N: I think I'll consider this the official halfway point, it took awhile for me to try and come up with a less-clunky intro for Andromeda, whose inspiration came from an old reviewer on here.

If you're out there in the world, hope all is well.

--

Lynn POV

I cried myself out until all I could do was whimper until I felt a strong set of arms wrap around my waist.

"Please don't cry Lynn," Michael whispered, pulling me up to a sitting position.

But I didn't stop, I couldn't.

"You…you don't w-want…" I cried. Michael pulled me in closer before I could finish. He eased my head down and kept his arms tightly around me, pulling me as close as he could to himself, just holding me. I could feel his chin resting on my head.

"I'm sorry," he was nearly pleading, "I was so angry…I didn't want anything to happen….not to you. Never to you." His hands smoothed my hair. I felt so…safe. "Please don't cry," I could tell he really meant it. We just sat there in silence, holding onto each other with Michael stroking my hair until I fell asleep dreaming of watching the snow a few years back.

—

Over the next few weeks, everything went back to some semblance of normal. Michael still shut down whenever Aaron came around, but gave me the space to talk to him, grudgingly.

Aaron would always try to put his hands on me, or put an arm around me, or get to close. He seemed to only grow more frustrated every time I shied away, uncomfortable.

"Hey," Aaron greeted warmly when I sat at the cafeteria table for breakfast, motioning for me to sit next to him. Something about that morning just felt..off...I was so nervous, I really didn't need his trying to touch me making me more uneasy. I needed surefire comfort, and I knew where I could find a safe bet. Aaron's eyes hardened when I settled next to Michael. Whatever; I was sitting right across from him. Michael eased beside me, though silent, it was comfortable for the most part.

As soon as we found our way outside, I realized that it was a big mistake; it seems that the bigger boy that Michael and I had fought with a few years back had gotten a lot bigger and had two friends even bigger than him.

"Aww, what's the matter? Your girlfriend break up with you?" he mocked. I could feel Michael stiffen,anger radiating off him. I spared a glance over at him, while his face was completely composed, his eyes were darker. Scarier. Before I could think to grab him, he lunged for the bigger boy, hands wrapped around his neck. I reached for him and instead caught the shirt of one of his friends while an alarm sounded.

The boy under Michael started thrash and make gasping sounds, trying to pull out of Michael's grip. His friend used my distraction to grab at me. I could feel my pulse in my ears. His hands tightened. The alarm kept blaring, some of the other patients were screaming. It was too much.

'Get him off! Get him off!' a voice in the back of my head screamed, I swung my arms until I was free, punching him in the head. He went down, only to come up again with a kick to Michael's side.

Michael doubled over, finally releasing the boy he was choking. The friends lunged for him but then it was like I was watching everything from somewhere else while I threw myself on top of him. This time he didn't go down, instead he pulled me from his back and slammed me against the large tree at the courtyard's center. I came back to reality while the air whooshed out of my lungs. I could hear Michael grab hold of his target again.

I glanced helplessly at Aaron, who watched with a relaxed grin, striding over and grabbing me by the chin,forcing my head back to look at him. "You had your chances," he shrugged, taking a step back to watch me kick to try and escape.

A set of pale hands yanked away the boy holding me, and I was aware of orderlies running over to us finally. Their owner tossed the boy aside. He was tall and maybe a little older with shaggy back hair and sharp amber eyes that looked…a bit vacant..too at ease for everything going on. The orderlies were busy trying to contain Michael to make a grab for any of us. The dark haired boy kicked whenever the grabber tried to stand. Aaron either took note of him or the orderlies and ran into another group of patients going inside.

"Are you alright? You're shaking." he asked quietly while I only felt halfway in control while I watched one of the white coated adults held Michael, shackled and– from the looks of his movements, drugged while the others hovered over the other boys, checking them over for injuries and keeping them from lashing back out. A nurse turned toward me but I put my hands up, trying to look as calm and 'non threatening' as possible.

Michael's eyes met mine and the black rescinded, if only a little.

"Yes...Thank you .." I breathed. He gave Michael a glance and a nod as well, and Michael didn't seem to react badly…was that good??

—

The fight resulted in Michael and two of the boys being put in isolation for awhile, and as for me and the dark haired boy, we had several more counseling sessions, and wound up in the same therapy group.

I learned his name was Revan, but insisted to be called Andromeda. He was put in Smith's Grove for 'violent behavior' and he wouldn't go into detail about anything beyond that.

"Y'know…the orderlies shouldn't have taken so long…that friend of yours must be pretty strong for a kid. Andromeda muttered when the counselors had stepped away for a break.

"Yeah…Michael can do a lot of things like that…" I nodded.

"Does he talk much? They talk about him like he's some sort of…y'know silent. They seem scared of him."

"He talks to me…but doesn't say much else to anyone else." I shrugged. "I don't think he dislikes you though."

"I'll keep that in mind."

—--

Third Person POV

Dr. Loomis sighed and rubbed his temples, while across from him Michael sat, silent and nearly motionless…again.

"You know Michael, I really wish you'd have something to say for today's…outburst."

He could hear a faint scratching of Michael's nails on the top of the desk…so this is what his patient would rather focus on…

" It's not the first time having you and Lynn together has caused something like this afternoon. I don't know why I'm bothering with group sessions when you don't speak in any of your sessions….if this behavior continues we might think it best to separate–"

There was a loud scraping sound of the feet of Michael's chair on the linoleum. He'd moved the chair several feet back, his fists clenched while his empty eyes locked with his doctor's. Even for eleven years old, Loomis found unnerving an understatement. He glanced down, trying to avert from those dark empty eyes to find the word 'NO' scratched into the surface of the desk.

Well. Previously he'd wanted some kind of reaction from his patient. Any kind of reaction to give the proof that Michael understood.

He understood alright. But was his only source of socialization safe….

—-

Lynn POV

They kept Michael in solitary for…a lot longer than they had before when he'd gotten into trouble before and it was actually frightening.

Had Iistened to him and stayed away from Aaron…maybe we wouldn't have gone outside, we wouldn't have run into those other kids. None of it.

It was my fault.

What if they never let him back out?

It would be my fault.

"You doing okay there Lynn?" I tensed when a set of hands landed on my arm.

I gasped, and then relaxed. It was Andromeda, sitting beside me in the recreation room. He moved slowly, prying my left hand from my right wrist, a few crescent impressions from my nails were left behind. A bit of red bubbled along their grooves.

"Yeah…Fine." I tried looking around the room again to get my bearings back from..wherever I'd been in my mind.

The recreation room. The ugly yellow painted walls. The book in my lap John had sent me. Andromeda's hand still holding onto mine, relaxed while I tried to stop (when had I started?) shaking.

"Don't look fine…" he muttered, finally letting go.

For whatever reason, his short remarks and mother-hen like attitude he'd begun regarding me with since that first session we had together on in group reminded me of John.

Like John, Andromeda was kind…he was sarcastic, but I could feel the safety. Maybe that's why, before I could stop myself I was telling him everything. The nightmares. The constant voice saying everything is my fault. The medication I've tried not to take because it makes me so tired. Michael. Aaron. Everything.

Years worth of therapy in Smith's Grove could not reach what this teenaged boy had managed in ten minutes.

Or maybe I'm just losing it even more than I had to get in here.

His eyes were looking past me now, to the window I presumed – when he finally spoke. "Sounds like Michael is really important to you. That's a good thing to have, and you can't beat yourself up about what he does. By the sound of it if something bad were to happen, he'd find a way to get back to you." He mused.

"But what if he doesn't – what if he–" there was a pair of arms that pulled around me from behind just then. Familiar arms, comforting. I gave a little yelp in surprise as Michael only leaned in closer. The nurse watching over us stood, only to relax when I let out a small laugh in relief.

"How much of that did you hear, then?" I tilted my head up to look at Michael. There wasn't a trace of his blank stare, just warmth in his eyes that let me know he'd heard enough. I could feel his lips close to my ear when he whispered.

"All of it…"

--

A/N 2: Any opinions on Halloween Ends out there?