*HEY GUYS, WELCOME BACK TO C&B! AND GUESS WHAT? THIS STORY HAS WON FIRST PLACE IN CreepyPasta_Awards' EYELESS JACK CATEGORY FOR THE SUMMER AWARDS. THAT. IS. AWESOME. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING IT WITH YOUR READING AND, MOST OF ALL, YOUR LOYALTY. ALSO, THANKS FOR BEING PATIENT THESE PAST FEW WEEKS. I KNOW I HAVEN'T BEEN SPOUTING OUT UPDATES WEEKLY LIKE I DID BEFORE. I'LL TRY TO GET BACK ON SCHEDULE. NOW, WHO IS UP FOR SOME QUESTIONS???

Questions!!:
-Which TV show was your favorite as a little kid? (Fuckin' Blue's Clues was the shit.)
-What would you put on your tombstone? ("It'd Be Fun, They Said.")

OKAY, ENJOY THE CHAPTER GUYS!*

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 41

Jeff's POV

I struggled to carry Elizabeth towards the hideout as I trudged and panted. My body ached, I was drenched in sweat and blood. Elizabeth is no better. She passed out not too long after she turned back to normal. The anxiety was too much for her. I wish I could just pass out too. I thought maybe I could get a bit of rest once I enter the hideout but I know that won't happen. I have to dress my wounds, dress Elizabeth's wounds, and worry over the fact that I didn't find Blueberry. I couldn't even if I wanted to keep searching. Police were flooding the city, people were in a panic, I'm on the verge of passing out, and my motorcycle was running on fumes just to get back to the hideout. Wherever that girl went, I hope she's okay.

I shakily turned the front door knob and shoved my way in. I didn't even get two steps in before falling over onto the floor. My breath was heavy and my vision wasn't too clear. I heard thudding footsteps and looked up to see Ben. One look at me and Elizabeth was enough to have him scrambling to help us up. I told him to help Elizabeth instead. He stared at me for a moment before hauling her over his shoulder and running into the hall. I started getting up from the floor but I only fell back down. Moving was so agonizing now. Although I was in pain I knew I needed to get up and try to make it to one of the rooms.

After a few tries I managed to stand up and limp my way into the hall. I made it into one of the open rooms and found Ben and Elizabeth. He left her on a bed and rushed towards me. "What the fuck happened? You both look like shit," he remarked. I frowned at him, muttering, "Oh gee, I didn't notice. How kind of you to tell me." After my sarcastic sentence I fell over but Ben caught me just in time. He helped me into a room next door and laid me down on the old bed that stood inside. "I'm gonna go get some stuff to help you guys," Ben said.

"You mean steal?"

"No," he said, a blush on his face. He rolled his eyes and added, "When I get back I'll fix you up."

"No," I groaned. Ben shot me a confused look. "No? The fuck you mean no?"

"Fix Elizabeth first," I told him.

"Dude, you look more fucked up than she does," he replied, "If I fix her first then your condition will worsen. You could die. She'll be fine. She's a friggin' tank, dude, have you not noticed?"

"Ben, please just tend to her wounds first," I mumbled.

"But-."

"Please." I stared at him and saw his expression go slack. We stared at each other for a few tense seconds until I saw the look of recognition in his red eyes. Then he pressed his lips into a line and nodded. Hesitantly he left my bedside and rushed out of the room. I turned my gaze to the speckled ceiling, trying my best to take my mind away from the pain. I slowly sat up and took my jacket off. After I threw it to the floor I reached for the hem of my shirt. When I tried taking it off, both of my arms burned with pain. I stopped and suppressed the shouting that had wanted to escape my mouth. Finally, I removed the shirt and took a look at my wounds. My upper arm was covered in blood and Elizabeth's bite mark was wide. This wound would need stitches. I checked the other wound on my shoulder and grimaced. This wound would also need stitches. It was pretty bad, even for a regular set of teeth.

I carefully placed myself back down onto the creaking bed and sighed. My eyes were glued to the ceiling and my mind zoned out. I started thinking about Elizabeth, how she screamed and sobbed, trembled and passed out in my arms. The saddened look in her unnatural eye haunted me. The black tears haunted me. Elizabeth haunted me. I could hear myself over and over saying the word that both brought me joy and sadness: Sunshine. Sunshine. Sunshine. Stop.

I bit my lip and relaxed my body until I ended up blacking out.

When I came to I found Ben dousing a rag in disinfectant. Then he started bringing it to the wound on my shoulder. "No, no, wait!!!," I shouted but I was too late. Searing pain shot through my shoulder as the disinfectant cleaned the wound. I screamed and said through gritted teeth, "You son of a bitch!!"

"Sorry," Ben said, not sounding apologetic at all.

Ben removed the rag and reached over to clean the bite mark on my right arm. I winced and growled when the pain hit. After a few grueling moments Ben removed the rag and put it aside. "It's a shame you woke up," he said.

"Wh-Why?" I croaked.

Ben picked up a curved needle and surgical thread.

"Oh, fuck me," I sighed.

I'm pretty sure all of Virginia could've heard me cursing out as Ben worked to stitch my wounds. Ben started snickering every now and then and I would yell at him.

When Ben was finished I was lying on the bed, trying to regain my breath from screaming so much. As Ben was cleaning off my wounds, I asked him, "Is Elizabeth okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. She's still unconscious, though. Don't know for how long."

"It's better that she rests," I murmured, "She went through a lot."

"Speaking of which," Ben started, "Care to enlighten me on some recent events?"

I groaned and mustered up an explanation. By the time I was done, Ben was already wrapping my injuries. "Damn," he muttered. Suddenly his red eyes went wide and he said, "Where the hell is Sheba, then?" I frowned and told him what happened. Afterwards, he gave me a wide-eyed look and said, "...Jack's going to murder the shit out of you.

"You don't think I--?"

"The shit out of you."

We stared at each other for a few seconds.

"You don't think I know that," I finished, "I'm going to have to tell him after this..."

"You're gonna need some Jesus."

"Shut up," I muttered.

"Hey, if you die, can I have your bike?"

I punched him in the throat and Ben choked, though the move was at the cost of shooting pain in my shoulder.

"Is Jack awake," I asked. Ben nodded as he held his neck. I started getting up from the bed but Ben pulled me back down. "He's not in the best mood right now," Ben rasped, "plus you should rest for a while."

"I need to break the news to him right now, Ben," I retorted.

"I'll tell him," he said. I stared at him. "Really?," I asked. He nodded. He got all of the medical supplies together and put them aside. I lied back down on the bed as Ben headed for the door. "I'll go check on Elizabeth, then see if Jack's okay too," he said, "Stay there and don't move around too much." Ben left and closed the door behind him. The room suddenly went silent and I gulped. My mind was now swimming with worried thoughts of Blueberry and Jack. Hopefully he doesn't freak out too much once Ben tells him.

After several minutes of peaceful quiet, it was brutally interrupted by a loud "WHAT?!". Shiiiiiiiiiit.

A loud ruckus came from one of the other rooms and I sat up on my bed, shoulders tense. I heard Ben's voice as he started saying a few words but he was cut off by a loud slam. It sounded like a door. Suddenly, the door to my room flung open and nearly flew off of its hinges. I jumped and looked to see Jack standing at the doorway. He sniffed the air for a moment, growled and stormed towards me. I scrambled back in my bed but I knew I was screwed either way. Then, unexpectantly, Jack fell to the floor, groaning and holding his thigh. I stared down at him, knowing his leg wasn't fully recovered yet.

"Told you you can't walk, Jack," Ben said, poking his head out in the doorway.

"Shut up," he growled and crawled along the floor. He reached up and clamped a hand onto the edge of my bed. I jumped and started scooting to the other side. "Jeff," he growled ominously, "come here!!"

"No," I said.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad."

"You seem pretty mad..."

He stifled a cold chuckle. "If I was mad, I would've just yelled at you! No, I'm furious." His voice changed and it suddenly went dark and terrifying. "That's why I'm going to break your skull wide open!!!"

"Aw fuck." I fell off of the bed just in time before Jack leaped onto it. My wounds screamed in pain from my sudden movement. Jack growled ferociously and jumped down to the floor. I scrambled up to my feet and headed for the door but I suddenly went falling forward. A heavy weight pinned me down and gray, bandaged hands grabbed onto my head. I was pulled back into an uncomfortable position that hurt my back while Jack growled in my ear. I tapped the floor, groaning, "Uncle!"

"You can't 'Uncle' this shit!!!" Jack snapped.

"Guys, calm down," Ben shouted and went to pull us apart. He struggled but eventually Jack and I were a few feet apart. I panted heavily while Jack growled like an animal. Ben held him at bay. "Okay," the blonde man started, "so, obviously...Jeff fucked up."

I glared at him.

Jack huffed and muttered, "That's an understatement..."

I gulped and clenched my fists. I spoke up, "Jack, I didn't mean to-."

"Shut it," he growled. He suddenly shoved past Ben and went for me. I didn't have enough time to get up and move. He grabbed onto my arm and pulled me up to my feet, only to ram me up against the wall. A nervous chuckle escaped my lips by accident but Jack didn't care for that. "You're going to find her," Jack hissed sternly, "That's not an option. This isn't even an order. This is the difference between keeping your head on your shoulders or having no head at all." He squeezed my arm tighter and I winced.

"I promise I'll get her back," I stammered.

I stared at Jack for a while, noting the sneer in his features. Finally, he let me go and backed away. He sighed and clamped a hand on his leg. "Great," he grumbled, "my leg hurts now..." He huffed. "I'm going back to bed.." He started limping out of the room and I listened to the sounds of his shuffling footsteps. Then, a door closed and that was that. Ben and I looked at each other, both equally horrified.

"Um," I started, "you said he was in a bad mood...?"

Ben nodded.

"Why?" I asked.

Ben chuckled dryly and said, "He needs to hunt again."

I gulped. "That explains a lot.."

"Yup," Ben said and started walking to the door. He leaned in close to me, saying, "Hopefully you don't end up on the menu." He gave a warm smile but that didn't help much. Ben walked out of the room, leaving me to lean on the wall. I stood there with a pounding heart and an aching head. I sighed, slowly and miserably sliding down the wall and onto the floor.

...

Crickets chirped outside as I sat on the porch, checking my bike. A lantern I borrowed from the living room sat beside me to give me light. I found the headlight of my motorcycle to be broken. The back tire was flat and one of the mirrors was cracked and bent out of shape. Other than that, everything else was fine. The engine was still in good shape and there was only minor scratches on the paint job. I hit my head against the side of the vehicle and groaned. Damn thing also needs gas...

I placed a hand on my bandaged shoulder and took in a deep breath. I had changed out of my clothes from before and put on a different pair that I had in my room. I turned my eyes down at the black helmet that sat next to me. The light from the lantern reflected off of its black surface. It was dusty and there were scratches on it too. But it would survive. I stared at it, knowing it was a gift from Blueberry. My guilt got heavier and I suppressed the urge to punch something.

Quiet footsteps were heard behind me and I turned around to see Ben. He took a seat next to me and tapped his fingers on his lap. After a few moments of silence, he said, "You okay there?" I gave him a look and he cleared his throat awkwardly. I sighed and leaned my elbows on my knees. "I feel like crap," I admitted tiredly.

"You look like it."

I gave Ben another look. He raised his hands up and said, "Well, it's true!"

"Please stop," I said. Ben crossed his arms and turned his chin up. I grabbed onto my helmet and held it on my lap. As I stared at it, I muttered, "If I had been a little more responsible, Blueberry might be home right now, with her parents, doing what nerdy, rich girls do."

Ben gave me a weird look.

I shrugged and added, "I don't friggin' know...! All I know is that I'm screwed if she's in danger, which she most likely is." I stared back down at my helmet, looking into my reflection in the visor. I remember telling her to trust me, that we would get Elizabeth back and return to the hideout without worry. She trusted me and now she's missing. I groaned loudly, placing my helmet next to me and throwing myself back onto the porch. I lay on my back, staring up at the old, worn, wood awning.

There was a couple of moments of silence before Ben spoke up and said, "I'm sure she's fine. This is Sheba we're talking about. The sassy, nice and smart girl that puts up with all of us. Plus she has Sam. If she's not okay then apparently up is down and no is yes." I managed a small chuckle. Ben looked down at me and added, "Also, it's not like you're searching for her all by yourself. You have me, and Jack, and Elizabeth. Well, ya know, if she's not unconscious and scary..."

"Is she doing okay?" I asked.

Ben nodded. "She might wake up soon. She's been tossing and turning in her bed. I've tried waking her up but then I realize that's a bad idea so I leave her alone." I roll my eyes and chuckle as Ben gives me a quirky grin. He goes quiet for a bit and the both of us just sit in silence again. "How is Jack," I ask.

"On his rag," Ben answered. "And, he's hungry."

"Are you going to get him food," I questioned.

"I'm going to have to," he replied, "He wants to hunt but he can't get up without falling over after one step. It's bad enough that he gets irritable when he's hungry. With Sheba gone he's like a storm surge of anger." Ben shivered for a moment.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with that," I said.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Besides, we've been through worse. Remember that one time back at the mansion when we drew dicks on his face in Sharpie while he slept?"

"Oh yeah! And he went a whole week like that and no one said a thing?"

"Everyone thought he just wanted dicks on his face," Ben chuckled.

"Yeah," I laughed, "a-and finally Slender told him and he got super pissed so he started hunting us down?"

"And, we both hid on the roof for three days until he calmed down," Ben cackled.

"He also trashed our rooms," I added.

Ben and I looked at each other, both laughing in unison, "Fuckin' worth it." We laughed for a good minute before calming down. Ben sighed and whispered, "Good times."

"Yeah," I sighed too. Ben scratched his head and said, "I wonder how everyone is doing..." I sat up from the porch and replied, "I'm sure they're fine." Ben nodded and managed a smile. I hid the sad look in my eyes from him.

"Well, I should probably head back inside and rest," I started.

"Y-Yeah," Ben agreed. I stood up and picked up the lantern from the porch. The both of us headed inside quietly. I turned off the lantern and put it back in its place in the living room. Once that was done I said my good night to Ben and left him in the living room. I walked down the hallway, entered my room and carefully set myself down on my bed. I groaned as my body ached and laid down to rest. "I'm too old for this shit," I, the twenty-one year old, groaned. I rested my head on my pillow and stared into the darkness. Soon enough I dozed off into sleep.

...

I was awoken by a horrible sound coming from outside. I grimaced, thinking that some sort of wild animal was dying outside. Aw man, I don't want to deal with that. The noise kept getting worse and I sat up in bed. Damn it must be really dying. What the hell happened?

Careful with my wounds, I slipped out of bed and left my room. I shuffled down the hall, bare feet paddling against the creaky floorboards. I entered the living room and went for the front door. Once I opened it the horrible noise got louder and I groaned. As soon as I stepped out my gaze went to the left and I gaped at what I saw. Ben was standing over Elizabeth, holding her hair as she leaned over and threw up onto the grass. The two of us made eye contact and I could see the utter repulsion on his face. I could only stare and listen to the sounds of Elizabeth practically hacking up her insides.

Stupidly, I peeked over Elizabeth and saw her throwing up dark, disgusting chunks. I gagged and quickly looked away. Ben probably has it worse. I looked at him and, of course, he still looked grossed out.

Elizabeth stopped throwing up for a moment and she kneeled on the ground, panting. Ben looked at her and started, "A-Are you done-?"

She interrupted him by throwing up again. "Okay, well shit," he muttered, looking wide-eyed. He looked at me and motioned for me to come over. I shook my head and he glared at me. Elizabeth just kept hurling. Very loudly, I may add. I decided to slowly back up through the front door. Ben spotted me and gestured for me to come back. Like before, I shook my head and kept backing up. He sighed and his shoulders slumped. I finally made it back inside and quietly shut the door. I don't think Elizabeth could've heard it with all of her noises.

After a few minutes of pacing around in the living room with the sweet noises of Elizabeth's retching outside, she gradually came to a stop. I was surprised yet relieved by the silence. There was a couple of footsteps until the front door opened and there stood Ben. He held the door open while Elizabeth staggered inside. She covered her mouth and had tired looking eyes. Her gaze was cast down as she completely ignored me and walked to her room. She closed the door quietly and that was it. I stared at the door for a moment, pondering why she was throwing up. Then I remember what she did yesterday, or more correctly, what she ate. Thinking about it still gives me shivers.

I felt a slap at the back of my head and I groaned. Frowning, I turned to see Ben. "What the hell was that for," I grumbled, rubbing my head.

He glared and replied, "That was for not helping me out earlier...!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, something!" he muttered.

I stifled a dry chuckle. "I don't think Elizabeth would want me around while she pukes. It's bad enough she doesn't like me."

"Well, I'm no different to her but I still helped her out like a girl friend at a college party, holding her hair back and shit," Ben remarked.

"Look, what's done is done," I stated, "She seems relatively fine now. You should bring her some water. She's probably dehydrated from all of her vomiting."

"You get it," he said, sounding like a child.

I frowned again. "I already told you she doesn't like me. I'm only going to upset her."

Ben stared at me with hard eyes for a moment before groaning and saying, "Fine. But, if she ends up getting rid of all of the gunk in her stomach through the backdoor, that's on you...!"

He paused for a moment and looked to the side. His eyebrows furrowed. Then he mumbled, "What's with the bubble..?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

"You don't see the bubble? With the number?"

I shook my head.

He seemed a bit confused for a moment but his expression dropped. "Whatever," he said, then made his way for the kitchen. I shrugged off the awkward moment.

I walked back into the hallway to head back into my room. I passed up Jack's room and slowly came to a stop. Staring at the door out of the corner of my eye, I contemplated whether I should see him or not. He isn't very happy with me right now. With a pounding heart, I knocked on the door. A pause of silence passed before a tired voice said, "Come in."

I listened and quietly opened the door a crack. I poked my head inside and saw Jack lying in bed, a pillow over his head. I took a step in and not a moment sooner, Jack lifted the pillow and said, "Is that you Jeff?" My subconscious wanted to tell him no but then who the hell else would I be? Fuckin' Madonna? "Y-Yeah," I murmured. He frowned and remarked, "No wonder..." He sniffed then put the pillow back onto his head. I felt awkward already but I still walked in. I closed the door quietly and cautiously made my way to his bedside. Even then I stayed two feet away.

"Um," I started, "how are you feeling?"

Jack suddenly threw the pillow at my face and it fell to the floor. "Fine," he muttered flatly. Yeah, right. Only he could make a pillow hurt.

"How's your leg," I asked, rubbing my face.

Jack exhaled and answered, "It's healing up well enough. My leg might've still been in bad shape if my healing process was average."

"Right," I commented.

"I just want to get off of this damn bed," he muttered. "Sick and tired of lying here, doing nothing, enduring my stupid hunger pains." On cue, his stomach growled and Jack groaned.

I stared at him for a moment. "If you want," I started, "I could, uh, get you something to eat..."

"No," he said, "It's fine. Besides, I know you don't do that kind of thing anymore."

"Yeah," I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck.

"But," Jack started, "what you could do for me right now is help me out of this shirt. It's too warm in here for me."

"Uh... Sure?" I was slightly taken aback.  I stepped closer to the bed as Jack sat up. I grabbed the hem of his shirt and started pulling up. He moved his arms out of the way but as I was pulling up the shirt somehow got stuck on his elbow. I tugged up but Jack groaned, "Ow." I frowned and moved his arm out of the way. One arm was free but the shirt was now caught on his head too. I sighed and helped Jack again but he wouldn't stop moving his other arm. "What the hell are you doing," I grumbled. He huffed and remarked, "What are you doing?"

"Hold still," I said. Jack did the opposite. I rolled my eyes and resisted face-palming myself. I pushed his arm out of the way but he kept moving it back. I groaned, "Quit moving..!"

"I'm trying to get my arm at a better angle."

"You're not doing shit!"

"Shut up," he grumbled. "You're the one that's not doing shit."

"Yes I am!" I argued.

"Not what I meant..."

I gaped at him, then frowned. "Really? You're gonna bring this up now?"

"Yes now."

"Right fucking now?"

"Yeah..!

"I'm changing your shirt, why is this relevant now?"

"Because you're still here not doing anything," Jack retorted. "And you have the audacity to start chatting with me like nothing happened, like you don't have something to do."

"I was being nice!" I protested.

"Your definition of nice must be flawed."

I grit my teeth. "If this is how you're going to be acting then maybe I shouldn't bring Ao back."

"You wouldn't dare," he growled.

"Try me," I hissed.

There was a pause of tense silence between us. I was feeling irritated though not mad. Jack, however, is probably pissed. I should've expected an argument.

Suddenly the door opened and in stepped Ben, saying, "Guys, I figured out a way to find Shebaaaaaa---ooooohmahgod. What are you two doing?!"

I craned my head to look at Ben as he held an appalled look on his face. I stared at him then look at Jack and I. Then I realized why Ben was weirded out. I'm still holding Jack's shirt up and looming over him. Quite suggestively. I quickly shot my head around and said, "This isn't what it looks like--."

"Oh god, there's another fucking bubble!," Ben hollered.

"What?" Jack and I said in unison.

"I'm outie," Ben said, throwing his hands in the air and leaving from the doorway. I stared at the open door and sighed heavily. Then I looked down at Jack, tugged off the shirt with one hard yank and slapped it in his face. Before he could tell me anything, I rushed out of the room to console a probably high-as-balls Ben.

...

"Let's get one thing straight," Ben was saying, "I wasn't high and have not been in a long time. Although now that you mention it--."

"Ben," I scolded.

"Sorry," he said. He leaned over the arm rest of the couch he was sitting on and pulled out a laptop. He rested the device in his hands and stared at it. "Where did you get that," I asked.

He looked at me. "Does this really surprise you...?"

We stared at each other for a while before I sighed and said, "No, not really." Ben smirked and opened the laptop. He patted the spot next to him before typing rapidly. I took a seat and watched him do whatever he was doing. "Alright," he started, eyes glued to the screen, "so I figured out how to find our missing proxy número dos."

I didn't get to reply as Ben kept talking. "You know how I can travel through devices, right?," he asked. He didn't give me time to answer, it was a rhetorical question. "Well," he added, "I thought maybe if I can find Ao's phone and travel through it I may be able to find her. Once that happens I can bring her back here safe and sound!"

"What if she's not near her phone?" I questioned.

Ben glanced at me. "She's a teenage girl with a social life. How will she not be near her phone?"

"Well, sorry I asked," I muttered.

"If she doesn't have her phone on her, I'm sure she won't be too far from it," Ben said, "The main thing here is that I will find her."

"Sounds good to me," I remarked, crossing my arms over my chest. I sat on the couch, watching Ben type away. The laptop screen had text flitting through it every second. I wondered how Ben would find Ao's phone this way. Then I decided not to question it. He's Ben. What other explanation is there?

"Done!" Ben exclaimed, which startled me. I held a hand to my chest as I leaned over to see what the laptop screen had. There was a grid map with one green dot a little off of the center of the screen. I pointed to it, asking, "What is that?"

Ben smirked, answering, "That's the signal of Ao's phone."

My chest felt less heavy as I smiled. "So, now you can travel through the signal and get her back?"

"Yup!"

"You're a fuckin' life saver," I said.

Ben smiled proudly and retorted, "Well, I am pretty aweso--." A short but prominent beep from the laptop interrupted him and the both of us stared at an empty grid. The green dot was gone. I don't think it was supposed to happen as Ben immediately typed away at the laptop. No matter what he did, the green dot wasn't showing up anymore. "No," he groaned, "what the hell? Where'd it go?"

"Why'd it disappear," I asked.

"The signal might've been jammed or gone completely dead, which means," Ben grumbled, "I can't travel."

I stared worriedly at the screen. "Oh."

"What's going on," a voice asked. Ben and I looked up to see Jack standing at the hallway entrance. He had a hand on the frame to keep himself standing straight, or standing at all. "We're trying to find Ao with her phone signal," Ben replied.

"How is that going?" Jack asked.

"Not good," I answered. Ben sighed roughly and muttered, "How the hell did the friggin' signal leave? Bunch o' bullshit. Doesn't make any damn sense..." He kept muttering to himself as he typed at the laptop

Jack carefully walked over to the other couch and sat on the nearest arm rest. "Why don't you figure out the exact location of the signal instead of trying to find the signal itself again," Jack suggested. Ben looked at him and scoffed, "That would work too.." I rolled my eyes as the blonde man went to work.

After a few moments of listening to the rapid tapping of laptop keys, Ben finally stopped. "Okay, I managed to pinpoint coordinates to where the signal used to be. It's just a guess though."

"That's good enough," I said.

"I'm going with you two," Jack suddenly stated. Ben and I looked at him then shared glances with each other. We knew full well why he shouldn't go. "Jack, I don't think that's a good idea," I retorted.

"You don't expect me to sit around here the entire time you guys are gone, do you?"

"Well," Ben murmured, "yeah. You did have a hole in your leg, bro."

"I'll be fine," Jack said.

"Look," I started, "we get that you want to come but you should--."

"I said, I'll be fine," Jack stated, using a heavier tone.

I gulped. "Okay," I mumbled hesitantly.

"Wait, who's going to take care of Elizabeth," Ben inquired. I cursed under my breath, realizing we do have to keep an eye on her, too. I shouldn't stay behind; not only will I inevitably piss her off but I need to find Ao, she was my responsibility in the first place. Obviously Jack doesn't want to stay and there's no point in arguing with him. Ben could stay but we need him for coordinates. I don't know how to figure out friggin' coordinates. I probably won't even remember them.

"You know, these walls aren't the thickest," a voice said. We all turned our heads to see Elizabeth. For some reason, I bolted up from the couch and faced her. She was holding her broken metal arm with her other hand. She still didn't look well. "What are you doing out of bed? You should get rest," I said.

She blew a strand of hair off of her face and muttered, "I'm fine." She looked at all three us, then said, "I'm coming too."

I stared at her and she stared back. "That's not a good idea," I told her.

"You're letting Jack go," she remarked.

"Yeah, but he's not the one that was a raging, blood-thirsty monster just yesterday," I said. Elizabeth frowned, clearly not taking my comment lightly. "Besides," I added, "what if we get into a mix up. We might have to fight. Your arm is broken. You're not in the best condition to--."

She suddenly jabbed my gut, grabbed my arm, pulled me against her back and then flipped me over. I fell to floor with a loud thud and forgot how to breathe for a split second. Elizabeth loomed over me and said, "Just because I lost an arm, it doesn't make me weaker." I wheezed and groaned, "O-Okay...you can come too...Just please help me up.."

Elizabeth grabbed my hand and helped me up to my feet. I staggered for a moment and regained my composure. I scoffed and asked, "Why do you want to come with us anyway?"

She gave a dry chuckle. "I'm not going to sit around and feel like crap. Besides, if Ao's in danger I'm not going to let someone else hurt her or even kill her. That's for me to do."

"Excuse you," Jack growled, pushing himself off of the arm rest. Elizabeth looked at him and stepped forward too. Jack continued, "You're not going to do anything to her."

"That's not up to you to decide," Elizabeth said bitterly.

"I don't care if it's up to me or the god damn president, she's mine and you're not going to hurt her," Jack growled.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and muttered, "Says who?"

"Says me," I stated loudly. The both of them turned their heads towards me but I didn't get discouraged. I pushed them away from each other and said, "Firstly, that girl doesn't deserve to be claimed like she's property. Second, no one is going to hurt her at all. We're going to bring her back home, safe and sound. And I emphasize we. If this plan is going to work then we're going to have to work as a team. No bickering, no complaining. If one of us fucks up, the whole plan is done. Plus, we're not just saving one life. Blue is important and we can't lose her. She's a proxy." I looked at Elizabeth, adding, "Whether we like it or not." She glared at me but said nothing.

"Where do the coordinates lead to, Ben," I asked, turning around.

Ben blinked at me like he was surprised and he typed on the computer. After a few moments of watching him type, he stopped and stared at the screen. "What's wrong," I asked him.

He furrowed his brow and said, "The location is in an organization building."

I frowned. Crap, if that's true then getting Ao back will be harder than we thought. "Which one?"

Ben paused for a moment and answered, "TIRACorp."

I sucked in a breath and sighed deeply. This is going to be a lot harder than we thought.

"Isn't that the place chock-full of scientists and engineers," Elizabeth mentioned.

"And high-tech security and police officers on every floor," Jack added.

I groaned and mentally cursed in frustration.

"Guys," Ben exclaimed, "aren't you forgetting that you've got the best hacker on the face of this Earth?" He gave a charismatic smile which relieved the tension in the room. "There's no security system that can scare me away."

"Then we should have no problems," Elizabeth remarked.

I was relieved but a part of me knew that something bad might happen while we're there. I pushed the thought to the furthest corner of my mind, hoping to not jinx myself before anything has even started.

"It's still morning," I said, "which means we have plenty of time to get ready. We leave tonight."

Ben suddenly whooped and fist pumped the air. Jack, Elizabeth and I turned to him. He had a wide smile on his face as he gleefully said, "We're doing a rescue mission!" I stifled a chuckle and breathed a light sigh.

...

I stared out of an old window, being careful with my bandages and wounds as I slipped my jacket on. It was clean and patched up now but it still looks worn in places. Groans and winces left my lips and the aching had me worried about how I'll perform tonight. If I can't handle putting on my jacket, how am I going to handle sneaking into a corporate building and, possibly, fighting?

"Yo," said a voice behind me and I turned to see Ben standing by the doorway. He looked different, normal, which meant he was wearing his chip. "Your bike is all fixed and full of gas, though I couldn't fix the paint job..."

"I'll worry about that later," I said. I grabbed my helmet from my bed and strode out of the room. Ben followed behind me and we both entered the living room. Elizabeth stood by the front door, looking impatient. She was geared up with her mask and eyepatch. The only difference is that her metal arm was now in a makeshift sling we used from old bedsheets.

"What took you so long? Were you putting makeup on," she teased and I laughed sarcastically. I opened the front door and we all walked out. Jack was sitting down by the porch, dressed for tonight, holding a hand against his injured leg. He turned to us, revealing his blue mask. "We're leaving," I stated and he moved to stand up. I caught him struggling for a moment but he managed to get on his feet. "Are you sure you want to do this," I asked him.

He nodded. "I'm fine. I've been through worse. One injured leg isn't going to kill me." I glanced down at his hand which still held tightly onto his leg. I hope he's right.

"Who's going with who?" I questioned. Everyone was silent. Elizabeth looked at Ben and Jack and then walked over to my side. I was pretty surprised by this. "I've seen how Ao gets after she travels with Ben," she started explaining, "I am not about to upset my stomach now of all times." I noticed a somewhat offended expression cross Ben's face.

"Looks like you're hitching a ride with me, Jack," Ben told the masked man. Jack turned to him and said, "Does it have to be you?" Another offended look crossed Ben's features. It was kind of hard for me to contain a chuckle. Jack sighed and held his arm out for Ben to grab. "See you two soon," the blonde said, and soon him and Jack were gone with a brief flash of light. I put my helmet on and hopped onto my motorcycle. Elizabeth sat in back of me and I waited for her to hold onto me. When she didn't, I turned my head and said, "Grab onto me."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"So you don't fall over while we're driving," I answered. She rolled her eye and slipped her arm under my left arm and gripped onto my chest. Her hand pressed against the wedding ring that hid under my shirt and my fingers tightened around the bike handles. She didn't seem to notice its shape.

"Better?," she asked.

"Yes," I responded. I started up the engine and it came to life with a loud growl. As the bike hummed, Elizabeth said, "You're nervous."

"What?" I said. "No I'm not."

"Yes, you are," she replied, "I can feel your heart beating quickly."

I gripped the handles tighter and said, "S-So, what if I am?"

She looked up at me, asking, "What are you nervous about?"

I gave her a look through my helmet visor but she couldn't see it. "We're going on a rescue mission, what more reason is there? Aren't you nervous?"

"No."

"Why?"

She gave me a sure look and said, "Because I know we're going to get Ao back, no matter what."

I looked into her bright blue eye, so full of determination and not showing the slightest amount of hesitance. My heart skipped a beat for a second and I could feel heat rush over my face. A lot of memories came rushing in all at once and all too suddenly. It left me short of breath for just a moment. In this situation, I'm glad I have the helmet on. I turned my head to face forward and I scoffed, "L-Let's go." I revved the engine once and drove forward towards town. I focused on the mission, hoping Blue would be at TIRACorp and that this mission would go without any faults. I shouldn't be doubtful though. Elizabeth is right. She may be different now but she's right. We're going to get Ao and Sam back. I'll make damn sure of it.