"Just like before?" I muse, Kalen's words bouncing around my head. "Before what?"

I walk back to the bench on the side of the room, keeping my arm as close to my body as possible, trying to stop it from moving too much. The pain has all but disappeared, but moving it seems to make it worse, so I opt to let it hang as I settle onto the wooden surface. I rummage around my bag with my good hang and fetch my towel and a water bottle. This is the first time I managed to best Kalen, and I let my earlier excitement resurface. I did it! I would high five myself but well, circumstances.

Kalen finally appears after ten long minutes of waiting, blue ice pack in hand. He spots me right away, rushing over to where I'm sitting and slowly putting the ice pack on my burn. I grimace, but the cold feels nice against my overheated skin.

"Thanks," I sigh, using my other hand to keep the ice pack in place. Our fingers brush as I go to grab it, and Kalen quickly retracts his hand, snaking it up to rake through his hair. Is that, red on his face? The burn must have affected me more than I thought, now I'm seeing things.

He grabs a water bottle from his own bag and pours it over his towel, placing the damp cloth over his head. He told me once before, when I asked him why he did that, that it helped him lower his core temperature. He sighs and buries his head in his hands, as we sit in silence.

"Hey," I say, putting down the ice pack and using my uninjured arm to place a hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore the way he flinches under my touch. "I don't blame you for what happened."

He doesn't answer, so I keep going.

"I know how much you struggle to control it. Heck I still have trouble getting my inner voice to cooperate. Just, don't beat yourself up over this okay? And don't worry, you won't manage to scare me off with a little red on my skin."

My last remark seems to hit home because a shuddering breath escapes his throat.

"It was my fault she left," He murmurs. His eyes meet mine, and I realize we aren't talking about the present anymore.

"Leila?"

He nods.

"Practicing just like we were now. The same thing happened,  except I was the one helping her up. She couldn't use her hand for a week."

He looks at his palm, probably remembering what happened all that time ago.

"Something changed after that day. Not just around me, with all of us. She wouldn't let any of us touch her, she didn't want to be in the same room as us. Eventually, she decided to leave the team."

I gasp. You could do that? Leave a team? Why would you though, when they were there to protect and support you?

"But," a grim smile makes its way to his lips. "No one wants a defector. And the only way to make it here is with a team."

Gray eyes meet mine.

"She left a year after the incident, and I haven't seen her since."

I wince, having expected the outcome.

"But that can't be right, it wasn't because of you Kalen, there must be some other reason."

The look he sends me makes the voice die in my throat. I look away, not able to maintain his intense stare. I hear him sigh.

"It was my fault, and I take full responsibility."

"That's a lie and you know it."

I whirl around to find Jayson standing at the training room entrance. He walks up to us, towering over Kalen, who remains seated.

"You know it wasn't your fault, we've told you that."

Kalen stands up and stares at Jayson, who meets his gaze. Some hidden message passes between them, and Kalen snorts and pushes past him, heaving his bag over his shoulder before he turns to leave. He pauses just in front of the double doors, hand placed on the Hydra symbol to keep it open.

"I'm sorry about your arm," he says to me, but I don't get a chance to say anything in return, as he disappears back into the hallway.

I look up at Jayson, who just stands there with a tortured look on his face. The bench creaks under his weight, as he sits down next to me.

"He thinks everything is always his fault," he says, hitting the wood beneath him.

He looks at me, not saying anything, and I lift an eyebrow, for some reason annoyed at his silence.

"So? What did happen to scare this Leila away?"

Jayson leans back, tilting his head up towards the ceiling.

"What he said was partly true," he starts. "She started acting weird after Kalen's mishap. But I had noticed something going on with her log before that."

He chews on his bottom lip. Teeth peeking out to nip at the pink skin.

"I caught her with my brother one afternoon."

I groan. Why is Jack always the one to cause trouble?

"You see, my brother has a very specific Gift," He points at his head. "He can manipulate someone's mind, make them see what he wants them to see. Show you your worst nightmares."

He sighs, rubbing his neck.

I wonder what it must be like for him, to have a brother that is constantly causing your friends misery. From the way he looks, he hates it. But I can see his misery behind those clear blue eyes. He loves his brother, and Jack keeps hurting him.

"I confronted Jack, and he told me what he had been doing. It was too late to stop him anyway. He had been feeding her lies, showing her scenes. Back then, we had so little training that our Gifts were always going haywire. I'll admit that we were dangerous, and so he used that to his advantage. He showed her images, us turning on each other. Hurting each other, hurting her."

A sad smile spreads across his face.

"She fought it at first, but imagine having those pictures, your friends torturing each other, in your head 24/7. She eventually couldn't take it."

He shakes his head.

"Kalen still thinks he caused the turning point that led to her leaving, but we all know who's really at fault."

I lean back on the bench, mimicking Jayson's position. Jack. Who is out with his team right now, completing what should have been our mission.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Jay, but your brother is kind of a jerk."

He laughs, but there is no humor in the sound.

"Yeah, I know."

His mouth is set in a hard line, probably waiting for my reaction. But I don't have anything to say. So Leila couldn't handle it, she let some bully get to her. Luckily, I knew how to deal with bullies, and I sure as hell wasn't going to crack under pressure.

"I'm sorry Jayson."

His eyebrows lift in confusion.

"Why are you sorry? None of it is your fault."

I know that, but that doesn't mean it makes me feel any better. These people, who took me in and treated me as one of them, had been through so much. There was so much I still need to learn about them, so much I need to do to help them be whole again.

I cover his hand with my own, feeling his muscles relax under my touch.

"I know, I'm still sorry. And don't worry," I say. "Unlike Leila, I'm not going anywhere."

His eyes search my own, and he smiles when he sees that I'm being completely serious. He opens his mouth to say something, when the doors to the training room bang open, a very upset looking Mara panting in the opening.

Jayson is up in a flash, rushing over to her, unconsciously leaning towards her to check her over. Hadn't they just been together?

"Mara, what's wrong?" He says.

Her eyes are shining with emotions, and I see a deep sadness etched into her features. For a second I worry it's about Kalen, but her answer puts my worry to ease.

"Jack's team just got back."

Oh, that's it? I mean sure, we hadn't heard from them in a while, but we knew they would be gone for a while. So why...

"They are at the common area with the rest of the trainees, we all need to be there, Christians orders," she sniffles, taking a deep breath to settle herself.

"Quinn is dead."