The blue hue left by the moon continued to light their way as Gerard and Frank followed Brendon to their destination. Gerard kept close to Brendon, though Frank trailed behind. Gerard squeezed his hand in reassurance, but Frank didn't reciprocate.

"So, what's everyone's status?" Gerard asked Brendon.

"The rose pest was injured and is still recovering. Your brother has been a mix of stressed and pissed. Hayley, Joe, and Andy have been gathering supplies. Tyler is acting medic and Josh has been a scout alongside yours truly." Brendon recounted.

"Jon and Hals?" Gerard frowned, "What about them?"

Brendon's pace slowed. He seemed reluctant to speak. "Missing." He finally shared as he picked his pace back up.

Gerard felt his heart sink. Those two had been out on a mission at the same time he was being captured by the Force. "No word?"

"Not unless you saw them wherever the Force took you." Brendon said, looking over his shoulder while keeping his pace.

Gerard didn't respond. He hadn't checked any other cells during his escape. He didn't consider that some of his own could have also been captured on their own mission. He wanted to kick himself for being so careless.

Brendon lead them into a thick nesting of trees. They were so tight knit that the light of the moon was cut off completely with only narrow spaces between trunks. Brendon easily slipped through, but Gerard and Frank struggled a bit before making it through.

Brendon leaned against one of the trunks while he waited for them. Once they were through, he pushed himself upright. "I should get your brother." He addressed Gerard, "Do either of you need medical attention before he kills you?"

"It only gets funnier the more you say it." Gerard rolled his eyes, "Just point me to Tyler and come and get me when Mikey's ready."

Brendon nodded. "Follow along the hugging trees until it spits you out." He pointed to a thin path that weaved into further darkness. "I'll alert you brother to your arrival."

Gerard barely managed to get a 'thank you' out before Brendon was beginning to ascend a tree. He quickly vanished into the treetop, leaving Gerard and Frank alone. They stood still for a moment before Gerard sighed. "Come on, Frank."

Frank squeezed his hand as they began to navigate the small path Brendon had directed them to. The space only allowed for shorter steps, so their movement was slow.

"I don't think we had anyone come in at the same time you did." Frank spoke softly as Gerard attempted to lift his leg over a taller obstacle.

"Hu?"

"Your missing friends." Once Gerard made it over the obstacle, Frank clasped his free hand on top of the one that held onto Gerard's. He kept his head down as he attempted the same maneuver in the dark. "You were the only one that came in that day. That's how they marketed it, at least. Rebel leader caught, having given up to the Force." His foot caught on the obstacle, causing him to fall forward. Gerard managed to keep him from fully hitting the ground by pulling Frank towards him, causing himself to fall back as well. For Gerard, the narrow trees caught his fall.

"Hang on." Gerard grunted as he willed his magic to help him push Frank back up to his feet. It whined within him, struggling to follow his request. It was wearing out after all of its usage throughout the day.

It took a bit longer than he would have liked, but Frank was soon lifted to his feet just in front of Gerard. He looked back at Gerard with wide eyes before leaning forward and extending his hand to Gerard. "If that makes it any better at all, I don't think they're there."

Gerard nodded before taking Frank's hand. "Yea, thanks." There was still no telling where they might be, but at least it seemed like they weren't in a similar position he had been in. He managed to get back to his feet with Frank's help.

Not far ahead, moonlight was breaking through the darkness. "I think that's what we're looking for." Gerard relayed as they slowly pushed towards it. The trees began to part as they got closer, opening into a field of clovers dotted with flowers of blues and yellows. As Gerard took a step into the clovers, his foot sunk deeper than he thought it would. The clovers swallowed him nearly up to his knee. "Careful, Frank."

Gerard held Frank back as he scanned over the clover field. Small star bugs drifted lazily through the air, casting small circles of light underneath them. Not far from where the path had spit them out was a makeshift shelter made of larger leaves and extended tree limbs. Gerard gestured to it before beginning to move towards it, letting himself sink down into the clovers a bit during the trek. As he approached the shelter, soft humming and snores could be heard.

"Hello?" Gerard called out.

There was a rustling from the shelter. A few seconds later, a face popped out wearing a look of confusion. The eyes widened when he saw who was approaching. "Gerard!" The head retracted before a boy wearing a coat of muted green clovers popped out, rushing to Gerard and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "I can't believe it! You're back!"

"Hey, Tyler." Gerard hugged him back, "Believe it. I even brought a friend."

Tyler pulled away from the hug. He shifted to look at who Gerard meant. Gerard turned around to see that Frank had held back at the edge of the clovers. "Hey, it's okay. Come on."

"Who's that?" Tyler asked as Frank nervously stepped into the clovers.

"This is Frank." Gerard said as Frank slowly made his way over to them. "He's a bit... complicated but, since you're apparently acting medic, I thought you'd be the best person for him to meet first. Besides Brendon."

"Did he net you again?"

"Again?" Frank had made it through the clovers, though he sunk a bit lower than Gerard had.

"Hey, that is not important." Gerard pointed between the two of them, "What is important is introductions."

Tyler nodded, "Yes, sir." He turned to Frank and offered a smile. "I'm Tyler. I'm usually the first one to be tasked to first aid so I always keep clovers close to me."

"Clovers?" Frank's eyes briefly trailed over the field he stood in, "Is that what these are?"

Brief confusion crossed over Tyler's face. "Yes. They have a bit of a healing property, as well as luck to boost a more favorable outcome." He stepped into the clovers and plucked one. Once it was free of the stem, the clover's color shifted from a vibrant green to a muted green with accents of red to its under leaf. He held it out to Frank. "For you. As a welcoming present and wish of good fortune."

Frank hesitated to take the small plant being held out to him. Gerard wished he could know what was going through his head when he finally accepted the gift with a soft 'thank you' and introduction of his name.

Tyler nodded before looking back to Gerard. "Would you like to come inside? There's plenty of room."

"Yes, please. It's been a long few days of travel." Gerard turned to Frank to make sure he was coming as well. Frank was nodding, though he seemed to be paying more attention to the clover he had been given. His head shot up at Gerard's light touch on his arm, eyes wide. "Let's rest."

Frank nodded and stepped forward, following Tyler into the shelter. Gerard sighed before following. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain where Frank came from when the question would come up. He was sure Tyler already had questions. How was he going to explain any of it? Maybe they should have stayed at the cork tree longer to try and figure it all out... Unfortunately, they didn't. Now they were at his home. Gerard moved up to the shelter and slipped past the leaf that blocked the entrance.

The interior of the shelter was bright. Bubbles of star bugs hug in the air, illuminating the space. Clovers still covered the ground, but they didn't stand as tall as they did outside. They just popped out of the ground over most of the floor, until you reached one of the corners of the space, where the clovers cascaded as high as the ceiling creating a dark space where a figure could be seen resting. Frank and Tyler had settled beside the taller clovers, with Tyler peeking into the darker space. Gerard moved to sit on Frank's other side, which seemed to bring an ease to the darker haired boy.

Tyler sat upright, brushing the clover stems that followed him back to their place. "Ryan will be happy to see you too, once he wakes up."

"Is he alright?" Gerard asked, "Was he the only one injured that day?"

"The only one injured enough to not bounce quickly back." Tyler nodded as he tapped his left shoulder and right thigh. "Two hits. He's doing well though."

"What was he hit with?" Frank asked, shrinking back slightly as he did so. Gerard grabbed hold of his hand, encouraging his magic that still clung to Frank's skin to sooth any severe emotions that may have been trying to surface. Frank's eyelids lowered a fraction with Gerard's action and his body seemed to relax.

"A Force weapon that I'm not sure we've seen before." Tyler frowned. "It left white veins around the wounds that took a few days to go away."

"That does sound new." Gerard looked toward the figure consumed in the clovers. He wished he could get a first hand report, or even ask Frank without the worry of something like what happened earlier transpiring. He tried to think if he heard his captors mention anything like that during his transport, but he had been too focused on making sure they thought he was the only rebel in the area to focus on. "Did it affect him in any abnormal way?"

Tyler shook his head. "Fairly similar to any other Force weapon wound. He's still having a bit of a hard time walking on the leg, but his arm is just a little more than sore now." He shifted his gaze to Frank, "Is he okay?"

Frank's head was down and his eyes unfocused. His body seemed relaxed, but ready to fall in any direction a slight breeze may push him.

Gerard swore silently, pulling his magic away from him. Frank inhaled a quick breath before falling towards Gerard. Gerard caught him against his chest just as Frank's eyes shut.

"What did you do to him?" Tyler crawled to sit in front of them before reaching out to hold the back of his hand against Frank's forehead. "Is he always so pale or has he been losing color?"

"Tyler it's... complicated." Gerard finally settled on. He gently repositioned Frank so that he could lower him to the clover covered floor. He looked to Frank's stomach, making sure it rose and fell at an even pace. "He's... a bit complicated."

"I can't help if I don't know what's going on." Tyler crawled to the opposite corner of the room and pulled one of the clovers from his coat. He brought it to his lips and blew against it softly before bringing it down to the ground. He pressed his palm against it, pushing it down. "Grow for me?" He asked, shutting his eyes as he did so.

Slowly, the clovers began to rise. Over the course of a few minutes, the clovers mimicked what the other corner of the room looked like with towering clovers. Tyler pulled his hand back, sweat dripping from his face. "Bring him here."

"I could have helped." Gerard carefully picked Frank up and made his way to the risen clovers. "You know it's a lot for you."

"It's all I can do to help." Tyler avoided Gerard's eye as he helped maneuver Frank into the darker space. "Not having you around made me realize I should really be working on my tolerance more.

"What if you hurt yourself?" Gerard turned to him once Frank was safely resting, "I don't plan on leaving like that again."

"You can't plan for things like that." Tyler finally turned back to look at him. "Gerard, you're one of the last ones with true magic. I just got a trickle from those that left me. Everyone else here is empty. Without you, it's just me. Even if it kills me, I have to be able to step up in someway in your absence."

Tears wielded in Gerard's eyes. "I'm sorry." He swiped at the tears as they threatened to fall. "I shouldn't have put you in that position. I was just doing what I thought would get the others out safest." He sighed, "Ryan still got hurt and I know I left everyone worried, especially Mikey."

"Have you seen him yet?" Tyler asked as he attempted to wipe some of the sweat on his face away with his arm.

Gerard shook his head. "Brendon sent us here first. He was going to alert Mikey."

"I think you'll need one of these too, then." He pulled a clover from the ground and held it out to Gerard. A small smile teased his lips. "He was pretty pissed when he realized you influenced him to retreat."

Gerard took the clover and looked down at it. It had turned to that same faded green that Tyler wore with red details underneath. "You haven't had to use it too much, have you?" He held his free hand out to Tyler.

Tyler took it with the shake of his head. His magic barely registered against Gerard's. "Mostly to help Ryan recover. A bit of reaching out to the trees. Nothing I can't handle."

Gerard nodded. His magic was still tired, but it met with the small spark Tyler had all the same. He could feel it breath a little bit more life into it, causing Tyler to sit a bit taller.

"Oh, wow." A brief flash of pink crossed over Tyler's eyes. "I know it hasn't been that long, but I still forgot what that felt like."

"Hopefully it helps make up for the time I've been gone." Gerard smiled as his magic retracted back. He pulled his hand away from Tyler's and rested it in his lap. He looked towards Frank.

Frank appeared to be sleeping soundly. Thee were no wisps rising from him and no signs of the dark tear streaks reappearing. Gerard hoped it would stay that way throughout the night.

"Are you going to tell me where you found him?" Tyler asked, pulling Gerard's eyes away from Frank and back to him.

Gerard sighed. "I'm not sure you'd believe me if I did tell you."

Before either boy could speak again, the leaf that made for the entrance to the shelter was moved to the side. Brendon leaned in, eyes trailing over the space until he found Gerard. "He's ready to see you, sir."

"Your friend is safe here." Tyler patted the ground, bringing the clovers slightly higher.

Gerard nodded, feeling a nervousness bubble within him. His brother was not going to be happy with him. He looked up to address Brendon, composing himself as the leader he was supposed to be. "Well, I guess you'd better take me to him and wish me luck."