Defied Reality - 21. Chapter 21: Losses

Scout let go of Baily and slightly stepped in front of him. "Okay, hold on...first of all, we agreed to a unity."

Dallas stared at Scout with such an intensity that none had ever seen before. "Right, we did. That was because Taylor saved my life and nothing else. As far as Tess is concerned, she has always been cool."

"Then why were you guys following after them again?" Scout asked.

Glenn looked at Scout and then over towards the twins. "We were trying to catch them to tell them that Jordan is wanted for murder."

Trent shot his gaze at Glenn. "What?! Murder?"

"Yeah, that little fight she had, it killed Avery, the head trauma from where she hit the table. The girl apparently isn't aware of her own strength, that, or she actually meant to do it." Glenn explained.

Trent sighed. "My god.." He looked up at the ceiling.

Dallas kept his gaze focused on Scout. "This is different, you're family...and I can't have this for a family!" He pointed at the couple. "What the hell, man?! You have so much fucking potential and you're going to throw it away by being a f..."

Taylor stepped in between Scout and Dallas. "Hey!" He interrupted him. "Look, I don't intend to hold this over your head...that would be wrong. But I saved your life, we're all a group and we need to respect each other."

Dallas stared at Taylor. "This is family affairs! It steps out of the boundaries of that meeting!" He then shoved Taylor aside and stepped closer to Scout. "Tell me this is a mistake!" He slowly shook his head. "Say it now!"

Scout shook his head. "I can't...and I won't."

Dallas balled his hand up into a fist and brought his arm back and around in a swift motion to punch Scout, only he ducked beneath Dallas' fist and then grabbed his wrist with one hand and his upper arm with another and swung him around and kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing into one of the mirrors, glass shattering everywhere.

Baily's eyes widen and he took a step back.

Dallas fell to the floor, the wind knocked out of him, not believing that his own cousin would betray him. He looked up at Scout and coughed, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees.

Trent spun around and Taylor looked up when they heard the shattering sound and Cole continued to watch on as Glenn ran over and helped Dallas up.

"So that's it then?" Dallas glared at him and then looked over at Baily. "You won't be there to protect him all the time, you know that."

Taylor glanced at Baily, wondering why he was always so passive about his powers, or better yet, the fact that he never used them at all. Maybe he thought by denying his supernatural half, it might grant him a second chance back to Heaven.

"You can't have it both ways, Dallas." Scout frowned. "The very guy that saved your life won't have it. How can you honor that and then do people harm for being just like him?" Scout asked.

"I've honored what he did, I've left them alone, but if I piss them off and he decides to go from former savior to attempted killer, well...then he falls right in line with Trent." Dallas said.

"We should go." Glenn said. "I mean...we're kind of surrounded by...people who could kill us, ya know?"

Cole grinned and walked further into the bathroom and looked around. "And these are the days of our lives!" He started clapping. "I tell you what..." He grabbed Glenn by the back of the shirt and yanked him back towards his chest.

Glenn gasped as he was yanked back and his eyes widened in fear and he tried to pull and yank himself away from Cole.

"Why don't we stop acting like this is drama class..." He reached out a hand and a shard of glass flew into his hand and he put it to Glenn's throat. "..and just work this out real nice and quick."

Trent looked at Cole. "Long time...no see." He tilted his head to the side. "You're going to let him go, you wouldn't risk how Tess would feel about it."

Cole grinned at Trent. "Why would I care? She dumped me because she just wants to shut everyone out...as if that is going to help her feel any better." His eyes then narrowed on Baily. "For what his kind did to her."

Scout eyed the piece of glass, just wanting the danger to be gone and suddenly the shard shattered in Cole's hand into hundreds of tiny pieces that fell to the floor. His eyes widened, knowing he had done it.

Cole watched his improvised weapon get destroyed and then he pushed Glenn away and he stumbled forward and grabbed a sink to keep himself from falling.

"Ouch..." Cole looked at his bloody hand where little cuts had been left all over his fingers and palm. He looked at the twins. "Now which one of you did that?" He asked, unknowing about Scout.

The twins remained silent.

Dallas closed his eyes. "Would you just go the fuck away?!" He looked at Cole. "This is our business!"

Cole frowned. "I think...it was they're business. I think you have business issues...the kind where you can't help but get into everyone else's." Cole wiped at his hand with a paper towel from the dispenser. He grinned. "Hope you don't major in that...because I see you doing big time for fraud, digging into everyone else's business and not tending to your own." He quietly laughed, finding his analogy amusing.

"Dallas...don't." Taylor said, staring at Cole cautiously.

Dallas started to walk towards Cole and then stopped at Taylor's words, his tone a warning in it's self.

"Dallas...do." Cole looked at him. "I mean, we were all apart of the same group once, we were all friends."

Dallas closed his eyes, trying to hold back his tongue, but he couldn't, he wasn't the type. "Yeah, until you lowered yourself to freaks like Felix."

He stared at Dallas. "I went the way I wanted, but...I think I'm in a better place now." He looked at the twins. "It's odd...I feel like a completely different person, better, higher, stronger."

"Just leave, go...there isn't anything for you here." Taylor stared at Cole. "Go before you get hurt."

"Whatever, I was just curious." Cole turned around and headed for the exit and pushed through the door and left the restroom.

Scout watched Cole leave and then his eyes trailed over towards Dallas. "Can we just let this go?"

Dallas frowned. "For now.." He pointed at Scout. "But this...it's not forgotten." He looked at Glenn and nodded for him to follow and the two guys left the bathroom.

Taylor sighed. "Just when I thought things would be better..."

Scout looked at the mess. "Think I can fix it? I did shatter the glass in Cole's hand."

Trent waved a hand and nodded. "Just want it...close your eyes...will it fixed."

Scout took a deep breath and closed his eyes and then his forehead tensed in concentration as he started imagining it in his head. The glass slowly levitated off the floor and then suddenly flew up and over the mirror as the pieces ever so quickly sealed together, solidifying into a single piece again. His eyes opened and he looked at the floor and then over to the mirror.

"I did it." Scout smiled.

"Getting control and learning abilities is always exciting." Taylor nodded.

Dallas and Glenn power walked down the hall way and rounded a corner only to stumble and stop when they saw Cole leaning against the wall.

"You know...Tess would hate your behavior...and you talk about her as if she'd be down with you." Cole then stuck his arm out and threw a stream of fire that consumed Dallas and disintegrated him.

Glenn's eyes widened in horror as Dallas' screams were muffled as if the flames were some kind of semi-sound proof room. He then stumbled back and looked at Cole.

Cole smiled at Glenn and brought his finger up to his lips. "Shh...don't want to end up like your boss, bitch boy."

What Cole didn't know was that Simon saw the whole thing at the end of the hallway as he was coming out of the committee room. He watched Glenn turn around and run towards the parking lot and he quickly pulled back into the committee room and locked the door before Cole could turn around and see him as he left.

Tess stands outside on her balcony and rather than looking at the ocean view as most do, her eyes were turned down towards the ground below, elbows rested on the railing and hands clasped together, the sea breeze about the only thing that was soothing to her at this point, her thoughts were a different story.

"Tess!" Zaine called out, lightly knocking on the door.

She closed her eyes and let out a briefly held breath and pushed away from her lean on the railing and wiped her eyes and walked into her room. "Just a minute!" She called out, leaving the door to the deck open as she did a lot of the time.

She made it to the front door and opened it. "Hi." She said, barely able to put on any sort of smile at the moment, but the hint of one appeared.

"Hey." Zaine smiled and walked in as Tess stepped aside. "I just..." He turned around. "I wanted to check on you after...well, after lunch happened."

Tess nodded. "Well, I found out psycho Simon made a wallpaper of pictures out of me. His student committee office, ya know?" She paused. "You wouldn't. Well, it's kind of like...students kind of moderating students, premature business acting..." She shook her head.

"Wallpaper of pictures?" Zaine asked.

"Right, wallpaper, like he had hundreds...maybe thousands of pictures of me all over the walls, he had been following me and taking them...and I didn't know it." She leaned a shoulder into the wall. "I tore it all down, well as much as I could...then I just got so upset with everything..." Tess whimpered.

Zaine frowned and stepped closer to Tess. "I'm...sorry." He then took a step even closer and with great hesitation, he lifted his arms and brought them around her, moving in for the hug. There was a seconds delay before his arms finally pulled in and touched her.

Tess knew Zaine was nervous, she knew that he was new to all of this human stuff and that he was just trying. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she closed her eyes, leaning the side of her face against his chest. "It's okay...you're doing everything right." She said, only for a second letting a grin out and a brief and quiet laugh escaped before she sighed and her fingers cling to the back of the neck of his shirt.

Zaine let her go a moment later. "So where are your parents?"

Tess waved him on as she walked into the living room. "At work...and then my dad has one of those business parties and my mom will have to attend." She sat back on the couch. "You know, be the trophy wife." She laughed softly.

"Trophy wife?" Zaine sat in one of the chairs.

"Oh, it just means she has to be pretty on his arm so everyone sees what a great catch he got for a girl." Tess grinned. "Kind of silly, I wouldn't do that for any guy." Her grin faded and she looked towards the window. "Though one could argue I was...in the future, if I got married and just wanted to go for fun, no one would know my true intentions unless they bothered to ask."

"That sounds...silly." Zaine said. "I mean...I just..I don't know why someone would do that."

"There are a lot of silly things about this world." She looked over at Zaine.

"Like what else?" Zaine smiled.

"Like...high school reunions ten years later to see who succeeded and who failed in life." Tess started laughing. "Or...working your whole life to obtain everything when really...you're just going to leave with nothing but yourself."

"But...that's to make you happy now, so how is that silly?"

"Maybe it's not." She shrugged. "Dress codes are silly, I mean there are pictures in Sex Ed books of what's under them..." Her grin returned. "And I guess...cash still existing is silly, everyone uses cards now. More importantly, if cash didn't exist, killers would always leave a paper trail."

"Commercials are silly, no one watches them or cares, especially with the invention of DVR's...I record everything I'm going to watch, so I never have to sit through a commercial." She continued. "Wedding dresses are silly, you're only going to wear it once. I'd rather just buy a gorgeous dress that would be nice for many and varied occasions."

Zaine and Tess looked up when they heard another knock on the door.

"Damn, I'm popular today." Tess looked towards the hall. "Come in!" She called out.

The door opened and shut and the twins turned and rushed into the living room. "Good, Zaine, you're here." Trent said.

"Is he that obvious, if he's not at home, he's here?" Tess grabbed a pen and chewed on the end of it.

"Kind of." Trent said.

Zaine looked at the brothers. "What is it?"

"We...kind of need help, some super strength help, the kind that you have." Taylor said.

Zaine looked at Tess. "Will you be okay?"

Tess nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine, go ahead." She smiled briefly.

Zaine got up and followed the brothers to head out, Scout had waited in his car down below.

Tess gets up and walks into the hallway and waves a hand, locking the door and then she heads down the hall and into her room, heading for her closet. She opens the door and walks inside and lowers down to her knees in front of The Arc.

"How the hell do we figure it out now..." Tess opened it and her eyes widened as she saw papers laying on top of the tablets and she grabbed the papers and looked over them, not only were they translations, but also personal instructions that Gage had left for them.

Scout ran after the twins, by now the sun had set and night had fallen as they traveled the moonlit beach to the edge of the ocean, the twins stopped right where the waves rolled in so they wouldn't get their shoes wet.

"So...uh...what do I do?" Scout puts on the necklace. "I got to admit...I hope I don't get trapped there...or they kidnap me and hold me prisoner. Do I see any space? Am I shot up through the air? Can we go without oxygen?"

Taylor grinned, wanting to laugh at Scout's anxiety.

Trent looked over at Scout. "None of that happens, it's more like...uh...being a surfer and the wave rolls over on you and then BAM!" He clapped his hands in Scout's face, just to play with his anxiety. "You're there."

Scout slightly jumped back at the hand clap and his eyes widened. "Okay...so a wave rolls over me...and I'm there? How does that go?"

Taylor looked at Scout. "It's the Bermuda Triangle, now we can't tell you how the whole thing works or why ships and planes disappear or where they go." He looked at Trent. "I don't think we bothered to ask, did we?"

Trent shook his head. "Thing is, Scout, you aren't deep enough in it for it to do anything to you, I mean...you only go chest high so the necklace can touch the water, so I guess...uh...the edges of the triangle are well controlled by them. You can ask them what happens to the planes and the ships...if you want."

Trent patted Scout on the shoulder. "Just make your top priorities what they need to be, they won't trap you, really...they don't want us there, not more than to visit the place once..then they send you back and you end up washed on the beach here."

Scout had thrown his shirt, shoes, and jeans off and onto the sand, wearing black swimming trunks beneath. "That's comforting." He said as he stepped forward and dipped his feet into the water.

"Just go...chest level." Taylor found a large rock, big enough to sit on and he climbed onto it, Trent then sat beside him and quietly laughed. "He's...usually more confident."

Scout went out into the water until his necklace touched the water and began to glow as it started to float and the water around him suddenly began to glow green. His eyes widened and he turned around, looking back at the twins who seemed to be chatting their time away.

Scout took a deep breath and suddenly more metal bars formed on his necklace, creating a three dimensional pyramid that filled with a bluish glow, the black string that made up the necklace then ripped away from his neck and flew up and floated above him. Apparently it worked differently for a single traveler.

Beams of blue light shot out from the bottom of the pyramid and surrounded him and then the inside of the pyramid's color changed to white and the metal of it turned into light before the bottom square floated down around him and the shape that surrounded him solidified in a flash of white light before everything simply vanished.

Trent's eyebrows lifted. "That was different..."

"Must work differently for single people." Taylor looked thoughtful. "Come to think of it, if we knew of a fourth, our necklaces could of made a correct pyramid. Kind of surprised it still worked."

"We might not have had to connect them." Trent looked at Taylor. "They may have worked independently, but because of how we did it, that was how it interacted with us."

"Yeah, okay...I'll just order a pizza." Tess stared into the mirror in her bathroom and dropped the empty bottle of sleeping pills in the sink, the glass that had once been filled with water sat on the vanity, all of the water having been consumed. "Bye, mom." She hung up and laid her cell phone next to the glass and grabbed the knife that laid on the other side of the sink.

Tess walked over and turned on her IPod that sat in the cradle of a stereo on a white table next to the vanity. She walked towards the tub and reached over and turned the water off. She stepped inside, clothes still on.

She lowers down in the tub, tears staining her face and she placed the knife to one of her wrists and closed her eyes, applying pressure before then roughly slashing her wrist, a loud cry escapes and she opened her eyes, looking at it and she began to sob in pain and horror. She takes the knife into her other hand and closes her eyes.

The knife is applied to her left wrist and pressure is applied, her face grimaced in pain as she roughly slashed that second wrist. She opened her eyes, blood dripping down her arms, her eyes widened and she dropped the bloody knife and it landed on the floor beside the tub. Nervous breaths were taken between soft cries as she yanked her arms down and the blood began to fill the water.

"I'm sorry...but I can't let this baby be born..." Her eyes shut tight and she cried, not wanting to die, Brighton had no right to rob her life from her. She cried as hard as she could, her arms crossing over her chest and she sunk lower in the tub and a gasp was drawn in, she began to grow more quiet, her vision blurred by the tears and soon enough the hazy feeling of the sleeping pills started to take over.

Simon ran to the front door and started knocking on it. "Tess?!" He called out. "Look I know you're freaked, but you need to hear what I saw! It's important! Really important!" He stood back, not getting a response. "Tess?! Are you there?!" He knocked on the door louder and then sighed. "Guess not."

Simon had already tried the twins, no one was there either. He walked back to the elevator and the doors slid open and he stepped on just as Jordan rushed out, Simon had never met her, but he had seen her. "She's uh...not home."

"Or avoiding you, freak! Zaine told me what you did!" Jordan looked at Simon as he hit the button for the ground level and the doors slid shut. She then banged on the door. "Tess?! It's okay, the little freak is gone!"

Jordan waited and then looked around, a bit jumpy, knowing she was wanted. Finally she spun around and kicked the door open and ran inside, hearing music playing from Tess' room, though it was faint. She turned and swung the door shut and ran down the hall and into her room. "Tess?" She called out.

Jordan walked through the darkened bedroom towards the softly lit bathroom. She stepped into the bathroom and then eyed the sink. Her eyes widened and then she looked towards the tub, seeing Tess unconscious, the tub filled with bloody water. "Tess!" She screamed and dived down beside the tub and grabbed her by the shoulders, seeing her wrists slit.

"Oh my..." Jordan's eyes widen and she reached up, checking for a pulse.

Scout suddenly feels air all around him, as if he had been pulled and lifted from the water and once the flash ended, he found himself standing at the steps of a grand white stone plateau with grand doors at the top with golden wings for door handles. His eyebrows lifted and he walked up the steps and then stopped at the top.

"This looks more like heaven's gate." Scout looked around. "I wonder what happens if you go somewhere else..." He looked around at the forestry and then grabbed one of the handles, he expected the door to be heavy, just by the size and thickness of it, but with a small tug, it was almost like one of those doors that glided along as it was pulled open, like semi-automatic.

Scout walked in and the door then automatically shut behind him, his sight was treated by a round room with smaller more mundane doors all around it, the white stone continued through out and the ceiling was like a huge dome with dimly lit day light, as if it had been tinted, yet the window panels at the top of the dome were crystal clear. He then looked at the fountain in the middle and walked closer to it.

"So where's the robed people they talked about, walking around?" Scout said in a joking tone of mockery.

"And so he lives." A voice spoke up from behind Scout.

"Ask...and you shall receive." He mumbled and turned around, seeing an older looking man with short and curly salt and pepper shaded hair with a matching goatee as he lowered the hood of his robe.

"What did we miss?" The man asked.

"I didn't die...I came close...and then the generator kicked in." Scout explained. "And listen, I'm not getting thrown back at Earth until I've discussed some things. I know..the point is to come and see...and go, but I have concerns." He paused. "Is this all they got to see? This room? Because that hardly explains this place to them."

The older man chuckled. "Very persistent. I do admit that they were not allowed to see as much as they should of been, but the twins father had been the one that dealt with them. He is rather strict on the rules after being one of the ones to break them, his punishment has made him angry." He held up a finger. "Though it's not really a punishment. It's our rule never to return to Earth, and we took that ability from him, stripped him of it."

"So, you can do that? Strip abilities?" Scout asked.

"Well, we took his key, I guess using the word ability was rather incorrect."

"What about Gage?" Scout asked.

"Oh, his key was taken as well...and he would currently be receiving punishment as the others, we ruled against it as he did provide translations for the tablets, something they might of never figured out, he trained them, he served a good purpose."

Scout nodded and his eyes closed for a moment. "So...I think..I have this ability that...makes people who would naturally be attracted to me...forcefully attracted." He looked up. "I guess, I don't know...I just...my boyfriend...he loves me, honestly. However, when I am around, his feelings get amplified...and it turns to like...worship or something."

"And you're very confused." The man nodded and stepped closer. "Tell me more?"

Scout nodded. "Well, when I go away, he still loves me, but it scares him...how much and how deeply he felt or feels when I am actually with him. I mean...it seems like a useful power, but...if I can't selectively use it...I don't want it."

"That's strange." The man grinned. "That power...most want it."

"Yeah, if you're an egotistical jerk off that wants to be called a God." Scout shook his head. "Can you take it away?"

The man placed his hands on Scout's shoulders and closed his eyes.

Scout looked around.

"It's gone." The man said.

"No glow? No flash? That's it?"

The man grinned and shook his head.

"Now...there's no backwards side effect? Like the complete opposite?" Scout asked.

"Oh no, you are just normally attractive to who would normally be attractive to you, no heightened feelings or mind alterations...nothing."

He nodded and then looked around. "So...do I get to see the place?"

"There's nothing to see." The man grinned.

Trent kissed Taylor deeply and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Taylor lightly eased back and laid on the large rock as Trent shifted half way on top of him, Taylor's arms wrapped around Trent's neck.

Trent ran a hand up Taylor's chest, beneath his shirt and then broke the kiss and moved down and licked his neck and left a kiss there. "I want to get you home so bad..."

Taylor's eyes opened and he grinned and looked up at the night sky, one arm pulling back and his hand drifted over Trent's shoulder and down his arm. "I know the feeling." He said, his hand moved to capture Trent's chin in his fingers and he brought him up and slowly kissed him. "I'm aroused...and I bet you are too."

Trent grinned. "Always with you. That's why...at home...I don't bother to wear anything but briefs, jeans are...torture." He said, the last bit through clenched teeth as he shuddered, just thinking about being free and letting go with Taylor.

Taylor grinned and brushed his finger tips across Trent's face, his own body shuddered and trembled right after, feeling Trent's frustration. "We should stop...just because..." He took a deep breath. "We're going to be tortured by the time he gets back."

"Don't have to be." Trent said, lust filled his eyes.

Taylor looked around. "What if someone comes?" He laughed softly. "We're not the only ones that come to the beach at night. Or even worse, he'll come back, right in the middle."

"You get on my nerves." Trent grinned. "You want us so bad, make me want you so bad, yet you are always the logical one."

"Well...I promise..." Taylor toyed with Trent's shirt. "We'll go home, forget about all the craziness...and create our own mess."

"I'll hold you to it." Trent grinned and sat up and Taylor pushed himself to sit up and they found Scout suddenly on the beach.

"Damn it! That old man!" Scout got up on his knees.

"What happened?" Taylor asked.

"Well, he took that awful power away, supposedly, there were no glows and flashes, just the flash that put me back here...face first in the sand!"

Trent grinned, trying to contain his laughter.

"I was very firm with him too!" He stood up and looked at himself. "Now sand is stuck all over me! I asked him to show me around and he tells me there's nothing to see. Okay, yeah, you just got a big old planet full of nothing! I wonder what I'd find if I just ran into the woods and went off and away from your big steps!" Scout walked over and snatched his clothes up.

Taylor laughed. "We told you."

"Well, I did at least find out that Gage got his key taken from him too, so you won't be seeing him again. But he did get immunity from the laws because he did such good work! Even translated some tablets!" Scout yanked his jeans on.

"Translated the tablets?" Trent quickly slid off the rock. "We have to go." He turned and looked at Taylor.

"I need to find a shower somewhere!" Scout finished getting dressed and shivered as he walked over to the brothers.

Taylor sighed. "So much for our wonderful night." He looked at Trent. "If he left translations, they are probably in The Arc...where they will be safe."

"Lets just get home..." He looked at Scout. "You can get your shower..." He looked at Taylor. "I just want to take a look...and then I promise our night."

Taylor nods. "Okay, that sounds fair."

Trent smiled. "You look stubborn." He took Taylor's hand and the trio began to walk up the beach to the parking area.

Jordan was running through the crowd when Jackson saw her cut down an alley, he looked over at his computer to see the year book photo they had to use of her in the data base. He looked back up and realized it was the same girl. He pressed down on the accelerator and spun the wheel as he chased her into the alley.

Jordan saw the head lights and looked behind her, seeing the car, knowing it was chasing her. She then looked up and bent her knees, jumping up as she grabbed the ladder of a fire escape, letting the car fly under her before the ladder slid down and she let go and landed on the ground again, behind the car.

Jackson slammed on the breaks and shoved the gear into park and swung the door open and stumbled out. "Wait!" He called out.

Jordan turned to run back in the direction that she had come in, but stopped short and looked back at him, not making a move, ready to take off at the slightest sign of trouble.

"I'm not after you!" Jackson headed towards her, holding both hands up level with his head, slowly approaching her. "Tess trusts me..." He nodded his head slightly off to the side. "Mildly...but, she does."

Jordan's eyes shifted to the side, thinking carefully and then she turned to stand straight towards him and crossed her arms. "What do you want then? I didn't mean to kill that girl."

"I'm sure you didn't...you pushed her at a table...normally that doesn't kill people." Jackson stopped once he was at a reasonable distance, close enough to talk, but without getting into her personal space. "How did it happen?"

"I used more force than I should of." Jordan frowned. "It was an accident, and the government has no one but themselves to blame when they decided to take me and Zaine away as children and experiment on us...humans were not meant to be like us."

"Well, how about you come home with me? I can keep you safe, at least for now, no one has to know that you're there." Jackson then reached out a hand. "It would be the last place anyone would suspect."

Jordan looked down at his hand. "Okay...but I'm not taking your hand, Prince Charming." Jordan stepped closer and lightly pushed him towards the car, she then balled up her fist and slammed it into the top of the trunk, denting it. "Just remember that mark...if you think of betraying me."

Jackson's eyes widened as he watched her dent the top of his trunk. "Well, obviously a jail cell wouldn't hold you."

Jordan grinned. "The only containment that could hold me is titanium...as my bones were laced in titanium, my hands and my feet, anyway. I'm pretty sure we would of gotten a rib upgrade too...but we chose to take our chance at freedom instead...the night of the operation."

"Wait...you were at the Condo operation?" Jackson asked.

"We were intended to be super soldiers." She shook her head and walked around to the passenger side of the car.

"Uh..." Jackson raised a hand. "That's my laptop area...you'll have to sit in the back...unfortunately."

Jordan's eyebrows lifted. "Oh..." She nodded and headed to the back passenger side and opened the door, climbing in and shutting it.

Jackson sighed and climbed into the drivers side. "I'm going to make one stop to get something for you and then..." He looked back at her. "I'll get you something to eat too."

Jordan nodded. "Just don't betray me..."

Scout follows the twins down the hallway and Trent's walking picks up as he sees cops everywhere and he heads for Tess' Condo and his eyes widened. "What happened?"

Taylor moves around Trent and they watched paramedics roll Tess' body out on a stretcher, however they couldn't see her because she was covered from head to toe with a sheet.

Scout looked up and saw Austin and Ava speaking with another investigator and Ava cried and sobbed loudly.

"I don't understand! She couldn't have done this to herself! She was happy...she...I spoke to her on the phone...she was going to order a pizza." Ava cried out loudly and fell into Austin's arms.

"There was sign of forced entry...so we will investigate this, however...there was an anonymous call reporting this." The investigator looked at Austin who seemed shocked but was holding it together for the sake of dealing with the situation.

Taylor's mouth fell open and he fell back against the wall and slid down to the floor, his eyes burned with the tears that wanted to escape. "She...she's dead?"

Trent lowered to the floor and pulled Taylor into his arms and watched the paramedics take Tess into the elevator.

Scout frowned, watching the doors slide shut and then he looked down.

"Why....why would she..." Taylor shut his eyes and started crying as he fell into his brothers embrace. "Why would she...I don't understand!"

Trent looked down. "She...didn't want the baby to be born..." He mumbled, enough for Taylor and Scout to hear, but not any louder.

"We could of found a way..." Taylor said, trying to contain himself and then he buried his face against Trent's chest and shook and trembled as he sobbed.

Trent kissed the top of Taylor's head, like Austin, trying to be the strong one. He looked up at Scout. "Help me get him inside." He said, handing Scout the key and then he pulled Taylor up and lead him inside after Scout opened the door and shut it behind them.

Taylor stumbled away from Trent and fell down onto the couch and opened his eyes and then he looked around. "It was always...the three of us."

Scout frowned, having only really known Tess for a short time, he laid the key on the table beside the couch and wrapped his arms around himself. "Is it okay if I..?" He pointed towards the hall with his thumb. "It seems like the worst thing to ask...I just feel..."

Trent looked at Scout, completely understanding. "Go." He said, watching Scout head down the hall. He then sat next to Taylor and took a deep breath, his own tears silently fell down his face.

Taylor sniffled and looked up. "The Arc...we have to get to it before...before her parents find it."

Trent's eyes widened. "The police, they probably already looked in her closet, they will wonder what she is doing with something like that." He pushed himself to stand up. "They would have taken it for sure."

Taylor looked down and leaned sideways against the back of the couch. "Maybe Jackson can help...he has before."

Trent looked at Taylor. "That man has never helped us, just sucked at his job for us. If they have it...there is no way he will steal it out of evidence, if he does, they will know it was him. You have to sign your name, then there is a camera. Besides, a single person can't even carry it. And they might have not even taken it to evidence, they could of taken it anywhere. It's clearly a suicide, they just do a little investigation to make sure it wasn't staged."

Taylor looked up at Trent. "What do you mean?"

"Like did a killer...kill her and make it look like suicide. An autopsy will clear that up." Trent said.

"Well, if they did put it...in evidence..." Taylor wiped at his eyes, still sniffling. "I can freeze the room before we go in, no one has to sign their name and the camera won't see anything."

"Trust me, if they took it, I doubt they put it in evidence." Trent sat down. "In fact...if the translations are in there..." He trailed off.

"You think they would send it to the white house?" Taylor asked.

"Most definitely." Trent nodded.

"I can't deal with that again." Taylor brought his hands up to his face.

Scout walked back into the living room and looked at Taylor. "Is he okay?"

"Not really." Trent looked up. "Do you think you can control your power? The one that got you into Baily's bathroom? We're going to really need it..."

"Without Tess..." Taylor mumbled.

Trent took hold of Taylor's hand. "We need you to check and see if The Arc is still in her closet, it'll look like a big gold treasure chest."

"I could try...but the police could still be working right now, her parents could be in her room...it's risky." Scout said.

Trent looked at Scout and then his eyes lowered to Taylor, he could sense his feelings, knowing he couldn't handle doing anything right now. "It can wait, I just hope I'm not making a mistake."

Taylor leaned down and laid his head in Trent's lap and closed his eyes.

"You can uh...stay if you want. Which ever room is empty. I don't think Jordan would be here right now...and Zaine is either asleep or...out roaming." Trent rubbed Taylor's head in comfort.

"Thanks." Scout nodded and turned around and headed back down the hall, feeling tense and awkward about the whole situation.

Tina leaned against the soda machine, sending off another text when she looked up and spotted Glenn walking by in the crowd. "Glenn!" She reached out and yanked him by the short sleeve of his shirt, barely catching him, but it was enough to grab his attention.

Glenn turned towards Tina and his eyebrows lifted. "Yeah?"

"Where is Dallas? Like...you're never without him, much less your own person." Tina waved her phone. "I've called, left text messages, nothing."

"Not my own person?" Glenn pointed at his own chest.

Tina frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Do I really have to tell you? Firstly, ask yourself, do you even know what to do with yourself without him? Aside from just drifting through the day aimlessly."

Glenn took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, you got a point." He looked over at her phone and slowly shook his head. "Something horrible happened, Tina. It was...really horrible. I...I thought I could handle this whole supernatural thing...but now, I feel alone with it...and just freaked out."

Tina's eyes widen. "You sound scared to death. My God, what happened?"

Glenn stepped closer. "First...Jordan killed Avery when she fought her in the lunch room. She is wanted for murder...and we were following the twins to tell them. Well, Dallas found Scout in the restroom with Baily, they were kissing and Dallas freaked, he was pissed, shocked, upset, everyone started arguing, Scout threw him at the mirror. Then Cole was there...put a piece of glass to my throat...until it just...busted into like...crumbs."

Tina nodded. "Go on..."

"The argument ended, Cole had left shortly before, but he was waiting down another hall outside...and..." Glenn looked down. "He killed Dallas, burned him into nothing...and then basically told me not to tell anyone."

Tina pressed the top of her phone to her lips and slowly nodded. "The fear...I can feel...anything else..." She shook her head. "And I feel guilty, but he made me feel like an object...so, now here I am, finding out he's dead and...I...feel nothing. Just guilt for feeling nothing else."

"Well, I wasn't exactly crying a river. I was just scared and..." Glenn looked down. "Lets just admit it, he was a jerk, a total jack ass..." He looked up at Tina. "I'm not going to say I was all team incest...but, I guess...if I just...made my own choices, I just would of looked the other way."

Tina looked up at him. "And now?"

Glenn looked up at her. "Well, Trent likely would of killed me next, so I guess in a sense, Taylor saved me too." He shrugged. "Now knowing them, I guess they aren't so bad. I just..I have to try to understand there is a side of them...a part of them...that isn't like us, what might be horrid to us could be perfectly normal to them and vice versa."

Tina slowly nodded. "See? You see who you are when he's not here to slap you in the stomach or punch you in the shoulder to whip you into command?" She frowned. "Not saying I'm glad he's dead..." She shook her head. "I just feel horrible for...not feeling horrible."

Glenn nodded. "Well, I figure, we're going to have to tell them about Cole, and...once he knows, it would be nice to have some protection. Aside from that, Scout turned out to be one of them, and...I always liked him, the few times we got to hang out alone, when he could be at least a little more expressive." He shrugged. "I guess...I'm just trying to find all the reasons I can to...not turn away, to accept...without just...saying it's cool." He shook his head. "In my mind, it's easier that way."

Tina slowly nodded as he rambled. "You're confusing, well, just that you ramble. If finding all kinds of alternative reasons helps you deal, then all the power to you. I'll be here...and Scout is still one of us too, he's the same person he has always been, just that we know a couple of more things about him." She reached out for his hand.

Glenn looked up and managed a small smile and then took her hand. "How do you do it? Make it okay in your head?"

"The twins?" Tina asked and when Glenn nodded, she went on. "I just have always believed that love is love." She looked off thoughtfully. "They are partially alien, their nature is going to be slightly different than ours, what may be the most unnatural thing to us, it might be so natural to them, that to deny it, might feel wrong. They might look at us and believe we perform our weddings wrong."

Tina grinned and quietly laughed. "I'm running off the top of my head here. What I'm really trying to say here is...look past what it is to us...and realize what it is to them and understand that they are not us. Get it?"

Glenn's eyebrows lifted as Tina tried, in a seemingly desperate attempt, to put it into some kind of perspective for him. "I...uh...think that could work for me." He grinned and then followed Tina, hand in hand as she lead him off down the hall.