Hi everyone! Here with an update (finally)--it's extra long, I think, to make up from my lack of updates. I know I suck, but hear with me here guys--summer is here, and I might be able to update more often now!!!!

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We got out of there after that.

Escaping wasn't nearly as hard as I had anticipated--the Evos must've been especially overconfident, because the entrances and exits weren't being guarded. Jax, Xander and I practically walked out the front door. Well, I guess it was the side door in the kitchen that was constantly opening and closing, but still--it was almost too easy. I questioned it as we were escaping, looking for anything suspicious, but there wasn't anything. As far as I could tell, it wasn't a trap.

The Evos just hadn't expected anyone to be stupid enough to come back.

Somehow, it didn't feel right to jump around in celebration, yelling, Ha! We showed you! We're that dumb after all! It didn't have the right ring to it.

The engine gave us a bit more trouble when it started--it turned over twice, and the whole ride back there was a faint bitter smell and loud noises of protest--but it started on the third try, and we were off. Jax drove, I called shotgun, and Xander sprawled out in the back seat, fast asleep. It was a long drive, so neither of us protested. Besides, the kid had gone through a lot--he deserved some rest.

Maybe an hour in, Jax spoke for the first time.

"I'm sorry for being so mean. I just... I've had a lot of people lie to me, Violet. And it always ends badly."

I let out a soft sigh. "I know. I know that I shouldn't have lied, and I know that it hurt everyone, and that it was wrong... But what would you have done in my position? Knowing that your family had been killed for having these secrets, having friends for the first time in forever, and then getting involved again... What would you have done, Jax?"

"Lied. Of course I would've lied. But Violet... You didn't just lie about the Wrobel. You lied about yourself, about your family, about where you come from... You have to understand, for us, finding out that everything we knew about you was wrong was more than just a shock. It changed the way we saw you--the way we saw everything."

"Can you forgive me?" I asked quietly, regretting the words as soon as they were out. I didn't deserve forgiveness, and no matter how she answered, it was going to hurt. I should've left the words buried, but it was too late now.

She glanced at me quickly, let the faintest flash of a bittersweet smile cross her face. "Of course. It's what friends do."

I started to tear up and turned away, only to hear someone ask, "Are we there yet?"

I jumped about a mile in the air, swearing loudly. "Xander, I didn't know you were awake!"

"That's because I'm stealthy. Like a ninja," he informed me, deadpan.

I held back a laugh. "We're about an hour away now. Do you want to get some more sleep?"

"No," he said, "I'm fine now. Were you and that nice lady fighting?"

"My name is Jax. And yes, we were fighting, but we're done now," Jax said, smiling.

"Good," he announced. "Fighting is stupid."

Jax and I shared a glance, grinning.

"Yes, Xander," I said, "Yes it is."

***

    We pulled into the driveway, all talking and laughing and then laughing some more, and it actually took us five minutes to realize that we were here and everyone was lined up outside, their jaws hanging open.

    The look of utter disbelief on their faces only made us burst into another round of giggles.

    "What's so funny?" Sofia asked uncertainly, watching as we stumbled out of the car.

    "Everything," I snorted. It was true in a way they wouldn't understand until they began to laugh--when you're facing so much pressure, so much stress all the time, laughter was cherished. It was a release mechanism. And once you started, you just couldn't seem to stop.

    Alex watched us curiously, while Aretha just looked relieved to see we hadn't murdered each other.

Sofia, however, was the first to see Xander.

"AH!" she screamed. "STOWAWAY! HE KNOWS TOO MUCH!"

Xander screamed too, jumping into the air, and upon seeing a teenage girl cower from a puny ten-year-old boy, Alex and Aretha burst into laughter, too.

I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "Guys... This is Xander, Maddie's little brother. He helped us find our way around."

It still took us the better part of the night to settle down.

***

"Okay, I'm officially beyond confused--I'm, like, super-dooper-ultra-can't-find-your-

way-around-in-the-dark-confused," Sofia said.

    "How does finding your way around in the dark have anything to do with reading a diagram or understanding a scientific file?"

    "It doesn't. That's my point," she said, looking smug.

    We were sprawled out on the living room floor, trying to make sense of all the technical jargon decorating all the papers scattered around us, and evidently, it was going better for some than for others.

    "Which part, exactly, are you confused on?" Aretha asked.

    "All of it! The part where none of this makes any sense!" Sofia exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. I winced as papers drifted down behind her.

    There was an awkward moment, followed by a meek, "Oops. Sorry 'bout that."

    "Look, what do you want to know?" Jax asked, stretching.

    Sofia took a deep breath.  "Is this thing a bomb, or something else? How does it work? What will it do to the Evos, and how many will it effect? I just... I don't get it."

    "Don't take my word for this," I began, sitting up slightly, "Because I don't know if I understand this right, but here's what I think: This thing? It isn't a bomb--well, not exactly. It's a chemical weapon. Probably airborne, but... well, I don't know, exactly. It'll affect anyone it spreads to, but here's the really important part: if we can get this thing around a lot of Evos at the same time, then it'll affect all of them--hopefully something nasty."

    "Hopefully?" Alex questioned. "I'd feel much more confident if this was more than 'hopefully'."

    "So would I," I admitted. "But I think we can safely assume that it's dangerous, and that means it'll probably do a fair amount of damage to the Evos."

    "Actually, guys, I think I might've just figured this one out," Aretha said, jumping up, her eyes alight. "I think we can give the Evos their emotions back."