Axel Lerate's Story

Liesel

So she was right, it was memory loss. She decided to make a mental note of that, it could prove useful in the future. But soon enough, Hallie freaked out too much and left at the memory of the meeting they were supposed to have in the auditorium. Liesel knew they were supposed to go there eventually, but she wasn't sure if it was now.

"Everyone please conjugate in the auditorium, our meeting will begin now. Thank you," the happy voice said, echoing through the building.

Deciding to get ready she took her feet out of the water and into the steamy air. She moved back into the locker room with her basket and changed back into her clothes. Remembering the guy from before she went back into the hotsprings and glanced at the boy. Either he was new, or was here before and just didn't go to the mission. "Hey," Liesel called over to the boy, walking closer to him. "Do you know where the auditorium is? If so do you mind taking me there?" She asked.

Adrien

At the sound of the announcements Adrien sighed, he didn't get to finish all of his food but he dealt with it, albeit regrettably. "Well, lets go," Adrien beckoned, eating one last piece of food. He waited for everyone else to get up before going and smiled, glad they were all still alive after the mission.

Axel nodded, standing to reveal his almost naked body, then wondered how those doves that had just flew off even got in here.
"Sure I do, just learned where it was yesterday," he said, drying himself off with a quick shake, then reaching for his clothes with a tentacle of aura. As he put on his pants, he rolled up his left stump so he could more easily see the prosthetic he was making for it. The purple tentacle he'd created flowed over his leg, forming his usual running blade, he always hated making a "realistic" leg, they never looked as cool. A few seconds later, he was fully dressed, and made a purple flower appear in his teeth with his aura.
"Name's Axel Lerate. Just got here three days ago from Belmont Academy. C'mon, the meeting'll start without us, and then where will we be?"
Axel smiled for good measure, then proceeded to walk down the hall, waiting for Liesel to catch up.
"So, you were able to tell Hallie lost her memory too?" he asked, looking at her. He'd known the second she hadn't treated him like a spook, and Liesel? Well, there was a good CHANCE(Not apologizing for the pun.) that she would fall to the same trick Hallie had: The art of presumption. If someone acts like they know what you did, you'll be more likely to confess if you actually did it.

Liesel

Liesel rose an eyebrow in confusion as Axel rose from the water of the hot springs, it was apparent that this guy wasn't exactly the most modest guy, but then again not many were, and she was pretty used to it from where she was from. Liesel tied her wet hair into a pony tail as Axel shook to dry himself off and got dressed. Liesel noticed he was missing a leg, definitely a possible advantage to use later. It seemed his power had something to do with energy manipulation of some sort...

Liesel kept a soft smile on her face as she followed Axel, "I'm Liesel Engel, I'm an affiliate of Psy Prep's," she said, walking beside Axel. Liesel eyed Axel strangely when he talked about Hallie's missing memory, she wondered how he even knew about it, but disregarded those thoughts, thinking more heavily on how to respond. She decided to go with the truth, "I guess," Liesel said with a small shrug, stuff was easy to find out in a school of psychics.

Eventually they made it to the door of the auditorium and entered, giving a slight wave to Mikhail and Zara, and James and Hallie, she took a seat in the middle of the room. It was a dangerous spot, pretty much everyone would be able to gauge her reactions, but she was pretty sure she could take it. April or the Germans had to get here fast before all of her advantages wore off. She decided by the end of the meeting she'd find out what was taking them so long. She turned to Axel and smiled, leaving a seat open for him.

Zoe

Zoe got up out of the table, beginning to walk slightly faster towards the two boys once she was beckoned by Chandler. Soon getting into range to hear a bit of their conversation. "We don't need them to give us any gold stars with my powers," Adrien jokingly responded. Zoe was slightly surprised to feel her arm taken again, and was feeling a bit happy, but realized Chandler was going to teleport them to the auditorium or something. But she enjoyed the closeness while it lasted. "I agree," Adrien said in response to blaming the teacher, "She pretty much abandoned us," Adrien fussed.

Chandler

With as much energy as he thought he had, he knew teleporting wasn't an option. Immediately his hand slid down Zoe's arm and took her hand, squeezing it firmly with a smile. If he couldn't do that, then he was going to head to the auditorium the only other way he wanted to.

He wondered where his sudden feelings came from, from the mission? Having a room together? Finally opening up to each other? Chandler had had flings before, he was a teenage boy that girls for some reason liked. And he had serious feelings for others before that never amounted to more than alcohol induced emotions. He was neither drinking nor going along with strange proposals to date. It was new.

He laughed and nodded to Adrien. "She did. So yeah, that's my story."

Heading down the hallway, wondering at what point 'old Danny boy and Arian would pop back to join them, Chandler happily tapped Zoe on the nose. His energy was mounting to nearly hyper and he sadly noticed his lack of clothing again. He felt weightless.

Reaching the auditorium, he noticed how far apart everyone was sitting and opted to lead his group closer to the center so he could see everyone. He waved to Zara, Mikhail seemingly busy with his phone. Then to James and Hallie. His eyes paused however on Liesel, wondering whether he wanted her locked up or if her acting as "student" was okay. Sitting with Zoe beside him, he sighed a little, stretching his arms over his head, elbows popping, trying to ignore anything that would bring him down.

He noticed another figure, the black clad dude. What was his name? "Axel?" he called, grinning. "Where'd you run off to?"


James

Most of the others arrived. His phone buzzed and he smiled, seeing Zara's name.

I think Hal's comin arnd...ish
if we're not given horrible detentions agn, then im pretty sure itll just be boring stuff we can tune out. like high school.

Facing Hallie, he noticed she had folded her arms and was slumped further down in her seat. "You okay?" he asked, not sure if he should touch her or not.

"I need to talk to Mikhail," she whispered, not sounding confident at all.

Zoe

Zoe was surprised when they didn't teleport, and instead Chandler held her hand. She kept her hand held in his, feeling herself grow warmer. She wondered what had gotten into him, and her for that matter. She knew she had stupid, abnormally girly feelings in the past when looked at in hindsight, but this was different, something about Chandler was different from the others. She had a nagging feeling, a pessimistic voice that kept telling her that he was just playing with her emotions and her heart. But, maybe that's what made him different, she wasn't afraid that he'd toy with her, she didn't feel like something dangerous around him.

She was broken out of her thoughts again when he tapped her on the nose, guessing this was what the whole 'butterflies in your stomach' phrase meant, Zoe smiled back, there were so many feelings going through her head she wasn't sure which one to hold on to.

However, when they got to the auditorium she made sure she tried and calmed herself down, in respect to what was going on with Hallie, and focused on just a feeling of belonging, her favorite one out of the mix. She relaxed in her seat next to Chandler, making sure she didn't stare.

Adrien

Upon entering Adrien was happy to see familiar faces-and a new one! He overheard Chandler say his name was Axel. Adrien came in closer to the group. "Hey I'm Adrien," he said smiling. He wondered when this new student even got here, and began reminiscing of when Danny and Chandler first came here. He also noticed Liesel and gave a smile and a wave to her as well. She waved back to him as well as saying hello to Chandler and Zoe.

Zara

Zara rolled her eyes at the ish, hand still mid-wave to Chandler. well THATs good...ish. im sure misha will be happy to hear tht...ish

Zara snorted when she read the last part of James's text. Like high school? which kind, mine or urs? :P she texted back, if it wus mine wed all b in srs trble. then again i didnt exactly go to a rl hs...which u alredy kno :P

It was hardly a school, now that she thought about it. They were taught things just so they weren't stupid and could 'fit in' with the others whenever they needed to assimilate. It was actually quite similar to how things were here. She wondered, if she had gone to a regular high school, would there be more of a difference? Surely American high schools couldn't be like Psy Prep.

"Do you still have your Black Widow hoodie?" Mikhail asked randomly, eyes still trained on his phone screen.

"Somewhere," Zara said. After thinking a bit more, she nodded, "Yes. It's in the bottom drawer in my dorm."

Mikhail nodded slightly, the faint star wars music intermingling with the angry birds theme.

"Why?" she asked, poking at his own Spiderman hoodie, "Feeling lonesome, being the only friendly superhero around here?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering." As Zara waited to see if there was more to that statement, he finally added, "I want to go to Universal Studios again."

Zara thought about this. "We could probably do it. Maybe for spring break. The airplane tickets will be cheaper, that's for sure. Yeah, that'd be loads of fun!"

Mikhail was quiet, and Zara rolled her eyes. Kicking at his bigger foot to pop it off the seat in front of him, she slumped into her seat, propping her own feet on the seat in front. "When's this assembly going to start?" she complained loudly, "I'm a very busy woman, people!"

Zara

She laughed when she saw the text, and looked over to where James was. She stuck her tongue out at him before texting furiously: As a srs person n busy woman, i resent that comment ;P

She watched Hallie and James as she waited for him to get her text. They were talking about something, but she couldn't hear all the way over here. It didn't look too serious.

Mikhail

The "busy woman" comment brought a smile to his face, as he tried to imagine Zara in a business suit answering calls and running around the place. Definitely didn't match.

He heard her laughing next to him, even though nothing was said, and figured she was still texting. Most likely James or Trick. Who else would she be texting? Maybe Chandler. Or Danny.

In the middle of destroying the death star, his phone buzzed. Pausing the game, he tapped the screen again to view the message.

His eyes widened, and a strange noise emitted from his throat. Zara noticed, and immediately began asking: "What? What's wrong?"

Eyes flashing over to Hallie, he muttered in Polish: "She wants to talk to me."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she said, as if it was obvious, turning back to face front and opened her browser, "Unless you don't want to talk to her. You could always play harder to get, like you typically do. You know--" She continued babbling about various seduction techniques, but Mikhail stopped listening. He just stared at those five words.

Of course he wanted to talk! He didn't even care what about. But should he be so eager? And what if it was about something serious.

He closed his eyes, taking a breath, calming himself down again. Three weeks ago, this would have been so much easier. Opening his eyes, he texted back: sure. when? now or later? He hit reply and leaned back, waiting pensively for her reply.

Axel puffed his cheeks out at Liesel's no-fun response, but decided against responding, as the meeting was about to start, and he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention. He was just about to find some excuse to leave so he wouldn't have to sit still, when he heard one of the other guys call his name. If Hallie'd been paying attention to Axel, she would have noticed the briefest flicker of agitation, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared, his mental guard back up and strong.
"Well, lake water isn't the best for washing up, so I went to the hot spring. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Adrien. I've already met your roommate, she's a good person. Although it HAS raised the question as to why the rooms are so freely co-ed."

Daniel

Danny grinned ruefully, remarking "Well now you're just teasing me." Despite what sounded like a grumble, he was obviously still in a good mood and set off down the hallway still holding Arian's hand. And only partly because he had to in order to keep her in stopped time with him. Under the surface he was a bit uneasy, though. Maybe he was wrong about the second-hand pot thing or maybe it hadn't kicked in yet, but either way he wasn't feeling any better about it. And he just didn't know what to talk about right now. Supposedly people were easy to talk to when high, but he wasn't finding that to be the case.

It was almost a relief when they got to the auditorium. Still smiling and hiding his unease well (a very well-honed skill) he promptly returned them to real time, allowing them to wait for everyone else to arrive. Maybe they should have set off a little bit later, though. The auditorium was a bit dull. But just as it seemed like they might start making out again to pass the time, people started filing in at last, ruining what could have been a beautiful moment.

For the most part he just watched the new arrivals, but one thing caught his attention. There, walking in next to Axel, was Liesel, who was not supposed to be walking free at all. In fact he thought he and Chandler were in agreement that the school be informed of her traitor status and advised to lock her up until they could decide what to do with her (his suggestion involved a day's worth of supplies, a parachute and an airplane flying over the wilds of Russia) thus making her current, non-incarcerated and apparently unguarded state somewhat confusing. "Excuse me," he said to Arian, walking away, the smile wiped off his face and replaced with a scowl, "I need to take care of something."

He didn't bother to timeshift this time. He just strode across the room and stood behind Liesel, wearing his irritation plainly on his face. She was talking to Hallie and Axel now - one of whom hadn't been on the mission, the other had lost her memory, meaning neither recognized the threat. "I wasn't aware she was walking free," he said, discarding the greetings this time, though he did nod politely to Hallie. "You two may not want to hang out with this one. She's kind of a bitch."

Axel frowned at Danny, turning away from his conversation with Adrien and Chandler to give him a jagged stare that could chill a polar bear.
"I believe I am allowed to be the judge of that. Your words and her actions are two different things, and my eyes are the only thing I trust nowadays. However-" he said, his irises turning a light purple with his pupils following in a darker shade, "Should she betray the trust I'm giving her right now, then she'd better pray for a fast escape route, because there will be nothing that she will fear more in this world than I." As he spoke, his mental barrier dropped completely, and if anyone bothered to look, there would be only be one thing. Intent. But almost as soon as he picked up the sudden stoic attitude, he dropped it to return to his normal way of acting, his eyes clear of the purple they had possessed. He then smiled and half-bowed to Arien.
"And I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, miss. I am Axel Lerate, I used to have a sister named Deese(DEE-seh), but she married into the Lecter family and we never heard from her after their family dinner." His mental guard was still down, but his mind was just as empty as it had been before, a shell with a small child running around inside, seeing what it could do.

James

He curled away from her, batting the crystal in an attempt to make it calm down again. "It's nothing," he assured, turning away from her and stuffing the crystal under his shirt. "Everything's fine, Zara."

Catching the scene with Danny, Liesel and some black clad guy, James tried to divert her attention. "Who's he? Do we know him? Let's go introduce ourselves..."

Taking her hand, he led the way over to the others. Chandler was holding Zoe's hand which was a development that intrigued him. Why couldn't his crystal focus on mundane things such as the beginnings of new flings or relationships? He would much rather have information on this new guy as well, but as he concentrated, little turned up.

"James," he offered his hand to the new guy, a little suspicious.


Chandler

"The longer we wait, the more I want to bail," he sighed, glancing to the entrance. "Isn't there like a twenty minute rule or something? Teacher doesn't show, no class? Though I suppose it's an assembly...not a class...but we should only give them like five minutes then to figure themselves out and sort everything. Right?"

He knew he was talking quickly, and a lot. But he was bored. And actually wanted to train instead of sit around here. Free days sounded so dull. Why couldn't they meet in the gym today instead?

Aware that he still held Zoe's hand, he faced her with a smile, wondering how she was doing. Everyone seemed to crowd into the middle of the auditorium and she had been very quiet. "I know you're usual quiet, but you're okay. Right?" Hastily, he let go of her hand, not even sure if she liked that. "I don't mean to be...uh...so...forward? Yes!" He switched to a British accent. "I don't intend to be so forward, m'lady. Please accept my apologies." As best as he could, he bowed in his seat, grinning brightly.


Hallie

Physical contact. Physical contact. Physical contact.

As soon as Mikhail let go, she inhaled roughly, holding her chest and replaying everything he had said. It was obvious what he had been trying to do, keep his words low enough so the supposed cameras wouldn't hear him. Hallie was glad that he already had information. She had most likely helped him retrieve it weeks prior now that she thought about it. It seemed like her anyway.

His touch was too much in that moment however. She had been off guard, thinking about the school and its motives, trying to put together any semblance of reasoning behind all of them being there.

Wavelength stronger with the contact, it wormed its way under her skin and she felt everything. Desperation, sparks of hope, the stress of remaining calm. Tears rimmed her bottom eye lids and she wiped them away quickly, the pain melting into her own emotions. "I'm sorry," she breathed, turning away. She meant the words for so many reasons. She didn't want to cry in front of him. She didn't want him to feel that way at all from something she had done. "I didn't...mean to..."

Stepping away from him helped and she caught an even breath, chest still tight as if wrapped up with rubber bands. She sniffed and lifted her head to see his eyes. How could she not believe him? Those eyes revealed everything...yet she ignored it all...

"We can...talk later..." she suggested, motioning to the auditorium doors. "Let's...head back in."

Folding her arms over her chest, she tried to erase the emotions spinning in her mind, trying to keep them at bay. All Mikhail wanted was to touch her, hold her, kiss her again. And if she didn't escape soon, she would have the same exact feelings for him. That's not what she wanted. She wanted a clear head. She wanted to figure things out. She wanted to...

Stopping in step, she turned around quickly, mind exploding with images. They weren't hers. Or were they? She couldn't see anything straight-on, as if her mind's eye kept looking away, not wanting to see what was before it. But she could sense it. Him. Mikhail. He was there somewhere, locked up, not showing his face.

Hallie's lip trembled. She wanted to believe it was real. But she couldn't. She couldn't be sure.

Hurrying back inside, hand over her mouth, she found a seat in the farthest corner from everyone else, silent tears falling from frustration, longing and utter confusion.

Zara

Wow. Way to avoid suspicion. Not.

Zara was far from convinced, but she followed after him, humoring him really, to meet the new guy. She had heard this guy earlier, and so far she wasn't impressed. Crossing her arms, her mouth made a tight line, both from James and this new guy.

"Zara Rodski," she said, "I'm Polish, remember that. Otherwise you'll get punched in the face like this guy over here," she nudged James with her elbow, smirking.

Mikhail

Oh, shit.

Shit shit shit.

Hallie looked as if she was about to cry, even though no tears fell. He nodded and followed her back. Zara and James had moved to the center of the auditorium, probably to talk to the new guy, but Mikhail just returned to his seat. He glanced briefly to the opposite side, where Hallie looked even more upset. Crap crap crap crap.

What did he do? He offered to help her...why was she crying? Had he gone too far? Stepped over boundaries...he did touch her. He didn't know if touch amplified her power or not. Maybe he was just too close? Were his emotions that bad?

Hurriedly, he pulled out his phone and texted her: hey, dont cry plz. nothings your fault, so dont feel bad or anything

He didn't actually know if that was the problem or not, but it was worth a shot. He just didn't want her to cry.

i'll get you the info and leave you alone asap, k? just plz dont cry. i dont like seeing girls crying, much less you :(

That sound all right, he thought. That way she wouldn't think he was only asking her not to cry because they were in a relationship. Even if they weren't, he would probably have sent the same text.

He hit send and leaned back, facing forward. After a minute, he texted her again: btw, sorry about wat happened in the hallway. it wont happen again. promise.

Liesel

Liesel was in shock after she heard Daniel behind her, and wondered when he even got there. Luckily, Axel wasn't exactly swayed by Daniel's words, but his suspicion in her obviously rose. "I believe we'll figure out whether or not I'm walking free during this meeting, as I promised in the mission," Liesel said calmly to Daniel. She then turned to Axel, "Thank you for giving me your trust, but I understand why Daniel is still suspicious of me, my partner in the mission went rogue, but I certainly did not," Liesel finished. When she was done she sighed silently.

Zoe

Things were getting crowded around them, something Zoe didn't exactly like, at all. But she calmed herself down by just ignoring it by listening to what Chandler was saying and focusing on their hands intertwined. It actually helped, she wasn't over thinking things, or panicking over the amount of people around them and what they were saying. She was just calm.

Eventually she was brought back to reality when Chandler asked if she was okay. "Uh...yeah, I'm fine," she said, now realizing that Danny and Arian were here as well. She felt his hand slip away and her stomach dropped. He apologized for being too forward and soon went to a jokey British accent and apologized again with a bow and a smile. Zoe smiled, though she was upset about him taking his hand away, she was glad that he did it because he wasn't sure if she was okay with it. "It's okay...I really didn't mind."

Before anything else could be said a brunette teacher came out along with Ms. Cortez. Ms. Cortez took a seat on the stage while the new teacher went to the podium. When she opened her mouth it was clear that she was the happy voice from the loudspeakers. "Hello everyone, I'm sure you all tried your best at the mission and that's super. However, you did somewhat fail, just a teensy bit," the teacher said, still smiling. "Would anyone like to explain what happened during the mission?" She asked, a smile still plastered on her face.

Mikhail

Mikhail had to force himself not to text back with more worried abbreviations. She's fine, she's fine, he kept telling himself, she said she's fine.

Leaning back, he propped his feet up on the chair in front of him, waiting for Zara to return. Seriously, how long did they have to wait for this?

He scrolled through his apps, not exactly in the mood for angry birds anymore. He settled on Snake, and dragged the growing green line across the screen. How do you like them apples? he thought, grinning slightly at his own joke. He wasn't even sure if they were apples...snakes didn't eat apples, right?

He slouched further down in his chair, the back of his shirt riding up against the stiff fabric as he continued playing. He used only one thumb, his gloved hand squished up against his face. He was reminded of where exactly his flash drive was and made a mental note to warn Hallie before taking his pinkie off. Maybe he'd just take her computer, boot up the files in his room, and return it afterwards? Minimal contact there.

Maybe he should have touched her with his gloved hand. Would that have any effect? He didn't notice the teachers walking up, and when the happy voice started talking, he jumped slightly, causing the green line to ram into the wall. Scowling, he pocketed the phone and crossed his arms as Zara returned, James in tow.

Zara

FINALLY.

The teacher started talking before the new kid could properly introduce himself (or maybe he did, but Zara just hadn't listened). She hadn't seen this woman before...maybe she was new?

Would anyone like to explain what happened during the mission?

Zara raised her hand, but started talking regardless, "Gee, I'd love to, but unfortunately I can't because I got drugged and can't remember any of it! But I'm pretty sure I was drugged by one of the agents we were supposed to be rescuing."

She would have said more, but Mikhail suddenly started talking, voice serious and brow set low. "Did you know who the two agents were beforehand?" he asked the teacher, "Did you do any background checks or the sort? And if you did, why did you still send us out, with so little training considering?"

Axel was just about to greet the two that had come to meet him, and was absolutely thrilled that there was another Polish person(He was part Polish and part Hungarian gypsy on his mother's side.), but then he heard a voice that sounded familiar, yet new, and felt a need to shut up and listen. As the meeting began and he sat down next to Liesel, letting his words be said through his aura in small cursive in front of her, yet out of the sight of the teacher.
"Like I said, as long as what you're saying is true, I'll do my best to support you. But please don't lie to me. I'm not someone who takes that sort of thing well." He kept his attention facing forward, but the look on his face was enough to tell he wasn't joking. As he continued to watch straight ahead, he did the same thing for James and Zara by sneaking the aura through the shadows until it was in front of them, only his words were a bit less threatening.
"I'm Axel, but we really should meet up after this for a proper introduction, sound good?" It was straining Axel to push his aura that far length-wise, but dammit, he wasn't going to use abbreviations today!

James

He craned his neck over towards Axel, seeing a strained expression, but obviously one of friendliness. But what the hell was his ability? He gave a nod to the black clad fellow, unsure what else to do. Hand to his crystal, he wondered if now was a good time to scry some information on him, know what he was up against...

No, wait. Why would he even think that? James shook his head, releasing the crystal and settling back in his chair. If he wanted to find out more about Axel, he would ask him questions, face to face, to try to steal the information without his say so. James guiltily remembered using his ability on everyone here and wondered just how much he relied on the blue thing. It was his only connection to his power, and it did help him out, but was he becoming too attached to an ability? Too reliant?

He would wait and talk with Axel face to face and ignore anything the crystal tried to tell him. Within reason. The blue rock could be pushy at times.

Zoe

Zoe was happy to feel Chandler's hand again. She just listened on to what the teachers were saying, deciding against speaking up about what happened during the mission. She didn't want to run the risk of punishment. She laughed silently at what Chandler said. "She is pretty odd isn't she?" She whispered back. She wanted to get out of this meeting, it wasn't like she was gonna participate anyways.

Liesel

Liesel nodded to Axel, "Don't worry, I'm not lying," she said, her mouth curving into a small smile. She wondered how this assembly was going to turn out for her and hoped that she wouldn't be put under too strong surveillance. Even if she didn't get put under strong surveillance she was sure Daniel would take matters into his own hands. She listened onto the teachers and students, still hoping luck would be on her side.

"I apologize, but we didn't have time to run background checks on the two agents. We got a distress signal from one of our affiliates stating they needed protection until they could be picked up, and we had to give them that," the teacher stated. "We apologize for any injuries you suffered," she stated to James. Aggravation was clear on Ms. Cortez's face as she moved up to the podium, moving the other teacher out of the way. "We're not here to listen to you complain about how you got hurt during the mission, what we want to know is what exactly happened. So why don't you elaborate on this whole drugging thing?" She asked angrily.

Mikhail

Mikhail glanced at Zara, and whispered in Polish, "Do you want to tell them?"

Zara was waving away some sort of smoky thing in front of her, "I don't remember any of it. You say," she replied back.

Mikhail nodded, and looked at James, "Feel free to jump in whenever you want," he said, reverting back to English.

"What is there to elaborate?" he asked, now addressing the teacher, "One of the agents jumped Zara, injected Oxycontin in her, and was probably planning and injecting more if we stayed longer. This so-called friendly agent also attacked us multiple times. James nearly died, Chandler was psychically incapacitated, and Hallie lost her memory because of her! If it wasn't for Liesel, all of us might not even be here right now. This is probably one of the most dangerous missions I've..."

he caught himself, barely. Zara's eyes went wide, but she relaxed as he continued talking.

"I can think of," he corrected, "And all of us are under 18. Even from the beginning, Hallie and Arian got shot. What would possess administration to send us out on a mission that would have been difficult for highly trained adults?"

Zara

"Oh, so now we were abandoned?" Zara exclaimed, "You sent one teacher to help out--how many of us were there...--Nine students on an incredibly dangerous mission? Where is this teacher? Why did she leave us behind?"

She was beginning to agree with James and Chandler. Maybe they should leave. After all, with the whole lot of them, there wouldn't be much to stand in their way. Sure, they screwed up the mission, but that was against people who were actively against them. The real world, only half of them would be actively against them....right?

Leaning towards Mikhail, she whispered, "What do you think? You think we should bust out of here? Prison break tonight, 2300 hours?"

Mikhail's arms were crossed, brow low, thinking. He shook his head, though, at her suggestion.

"What?" she hissed, "Why not?"

He just shook his head, "I'm not entirely keen on staying here, myself, but if we do plan on leaving, it should be done rationally, not because we're pissed off."

"Hmph," Zara huffed, sliding back into her seat. "Same difference."