Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

Joelee paused outside of the main doors of the apartment, the painted glass concealing the inside from normal eyes but despite her weariness she could tell that someone was just inside the door.

"Sam, you're going to have to move." She sighed as the rising sun illuminated the vast array of colors that marked the glass, her eyes squinting as she resisted the urge to sneeze from the sudden flash of light in her vision.

Another sigh escaped her lips as she realized that Sam was asleep, the soft snoring within making that much apparent. Joelee grabbed the door handle opposite of the side that Sam was sleeping on, gently pushing it open but Sam sat up rather quickly as she stepped inside.

"Where's Kai?" Sam asked in a groggy voice, Joelee immediately flinching as she swallowed heavily to try and ease the lump that was forming in her throat.

"He took him. But I'll get him back." Sam's eyes widened as they stood rather quickly, fists clenched as they struggled to form coherent words before they finally gave up even trying to form a sentence that Joelee could understand.

"You let a giant rock with an attitude take the person that I needed to confess my feelings to before I explode?" Sam blurted out at a rapid pace but Joelee seemed to understand as she simply shook her head, deciding to put the feelings thing on the back burner until she calmed Sam down a bit.

"It wasn't Obsidian. I don't know who this guy is but he was really powerful. He threw me off of a roof with his mind. He has telekinesis like Killian does but... He seems a lot more trained... And a lot more powerful." Joelee rubbed at her eyes, head pounding as her mind raced over the events of last night.

They'd searched until the sun started to come up. She'd eventually had to send Killian home around midnight as he almost got his tires stolen right out from under him as he slept in the back of the van. The walk home was hard as she had to use the rooftops her whole way there, eventually turning back to normal and removing her masks to climb down the fire escape of the apartment. But every single window and door aside from the front door was locked... So front door was the only choice she had.

"Why take him!? I get he's incredibly handsome but... He's just a innocent smol bean." Sam's eyes watered as they stared at Joelee who slowly ran a hand through her hair, releasing a soft sigh as she once again shook her head.

"He knew both of our names. He said we looked a lot less dead than he remembered... So maybe he's from The Monarch. He may have been told everyone who escaped died? I'm not sure. But I'll find out. I'm going to talk to Killian about looking into missing person reports about a person who matches this new guy's description. But I WILL find Kai. We're devoting all of our time to finding him. Obsidian even said we'd put finding his imposter on hold until we find Kai. I won't stop until we do." Joelee assured them as she began to limp towards the elevators, Sam following rather quickly behind her despite the fact that Joelee wasn't exactly moving anywhere close to as fast as she normally did.

"You look a little rougher than you did last night. So I believe you. But I'm going with you tonight. No exceptions." Joelee opened her mouth to argue but Sam began to sprint past her, aggressively pushing the elevator button as they glared intently at Joelee.

"Or we can fight and I make you walk on a leash in wolf form if I win." Sam continued as Joelee limped over to stand beside them, visibly hesitating as she seemed to debate whether or not Sam would actually make her do that if they won.

"Knowing you... I do not doubt that you would do that... So I'll agree if you promise not to cause a scene or do something to compromise your own or my identity. I don't trust Obsidian enough for him to know who I am. Not yet... Maybe I never will. But that's the terms. And stay close to me. I don't want to lose you to." Joelee limped into the elevator as the doors slid open, Sam following as quickly as they could before shoving past Joelee so that they could press the button before her.

"I like pushing buttons." Sam stuck their tongue out at Joelee who rolled her eyes but said nothing as Sam seemed to think over what she has said.

"I agree. But did you just admit you're scared of losing me?" Sam grinned as they wiggled their eyebrows at their shorter friend who heaved a loud sigh.

"I don't want to lose anyone. You've all been through too much to have to suffer anymore. It's my job to make sure you all are safe. Which is why we're going to find Kai as soon as possible." Joelee grabbed the handrail as the elevator shuddered to a stop, the doors sliding open to reveal Killian who was sleeping at his desk, snoring quietly from where he lay slumped over in his desk chair, head laying on his desk while the computer screen remained on.

"I really hope he fell asleep while he was working." Sam wrinkled their nose in disgust as the two approached him, Sam lingering back so that they wouldn't see something that they didn't want to see.

Joelee gave no reply as she leaned over Killian's shoulder to examine the news article he had been reading before he fell asleep.

Obsidian spotted with new mysterious, masked, villainess?

"That picture looks oddly romantic, Joe. Should I be concerned?" Sam taunted as they examined as the photo of Obsidian holding Skinwalker bridal style as they gazed into each other's eyes.

"He saved me from becoming a street pancake." Joelee deadpanned in a soft tone, her mind raving as she wondered just who had managed to snap a picture of them from that close up. It was a ridiculously good picture, almost like the engagement photos she'd seen on her social media of all of her previous, non church camp friends.

"Still looks romantic. Should Artemis and Killian be jealous?" Sam wiggled their eyebrows as Joelee gave them a look, cheeks flaring red as she leaned one hand on the desk behind Killian's head.

"Why would either of them be jealous?" Joelee scoffed as she turned her attention onto Killian who mumbled something in his sleep before going silent, a smile appearing on the edge of her lips as she brushed his curls away from his mouth so he would stop breathing them in.

"Because Artemis has a huge crush on you and Killian has been in love with you for years now. Literally like the same amount of time that you had a crush on him, he's had one on you." Sam rolled their eyes as they crossed their arms over their chest, watching Joelee's movements with a look of disgust.

"I haven't had a crush on Killian in like five years. Plus, there's no way he likes me like that. Artemis definitely doesn't either. Yes, she's cute but she's way out of my league. Killian isn't really a love person, anyway. He's literally never been in love. Let alone with me. Don't joke like that." Joelee scolded which caused Sam to release a sound that sounded like a mixture of a huff and a snort at the same time, throwing up their hands in exasperation.

"Okay, well don't say I didn't warn you. I cannot tell who will probably confess their feelings first, but they both do like you." Sam muttered before they kicked Killian's desk, causing the male to sit straight up, smacking against Joelee's chest as he did which caused her to stumble back in shock.

"I didn't do it!" Killian exclaimed before his face flared red as he glanced from Joelee to Sam before turning his gaze back to Joelee.

"Wait, what time is it?" Killian deadpanned as he scratched the back of his neck rather nervously, not wanting to think about how he'd literally just slammed his head into Joelee's-

"It's six! In the morning!" Joelee yelled just a bit too loudly before she awkwardly cleared her throat as she realized they were both staring at her now.

"Kai is missing. I need your help to find a missing person. Someone who matches the description of the guy who took him." Joelee muttered as she sat on the edge of Killian's desk, watching him as he stretched before leaning forward to clear the article.

"Okay. Just so you know, this may take awhile." Killian nodded urgently as he began to type frantically on the keyboard, eyes seeming to glaze over as his fingers moved at lightning speed.

"The sooner, the better. I need to tell him how I feel. And if he dies, so help me I will make everyones lives even more miserable than they already are." Sam grabbed a chair before slamming it down behind Killian, the male jumping in surprise but they ignored him as they took a seat before leaning unnecessarily close to him and Joelee.

"I thought you were already doing that. You can make it even worse?" Killian deadpanned as he allowed Joelee to type in a description of the man she was looking for.

"That's not even my final form, Simon." Sam said in a low voice as Killian's voice paled, the male immediately turning back to the computer as he frantically began to try and narrow down the search as quickly as possible.

He did not want to see what Sam considered to be their final form... And he really didn't want Kai to die either. But he especially didn't want Sam to bother him even more than they already did when Kai was away at work. If he was gone all the time?

Killian shuddered in fear as he tried to push his thoughts aside, taking out his sketch pad to sketch what Joelee was describing so they could narrow the mysterious person down easier. They would find them... No matter what.

_-*-_

"Hey. Wake up. You've slept long enough." Kai groaned quietly as an unfamiliar voice echoed through his ears, his head throbbing painfully as though he had been hit with something rather hard... Oh... Wait.

Kai slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the blinding light that the male was shining into his eyes.

"Well you definitely have a concussion. I'd take you to the hospital if I actually cared... But... I don't. So... I guess just... Don't die? Not yet." The male smirked as he patted the top of Kai's head, the male wincing as he struggled to remember what exactly he could about what had happened the night before.

He remembered feeling stuck... Like he could see what was happening and think but he couldn't move or fight back. He remembered trying to call for help over his headset when the male had let him down... But the sharp pain in told him exactly why he hadn't been able to.

Kai moved to rub his head, only to realize his arms were restrained by tight, leather straps. Panic filled his veins as he began to look around rather frantically, pulling against his restraints to no avail as they only rubbed painfully on his wrists.

He didn't know where he was but he knew that there was no way what this man had planned for him was good so it didn't particularly matter WHERE he was. All he knew was he wasn't in The Monarch... That much was obvious by how dirty the rather small room was.

It did look like a laboratory with beakers full of strange liquids and a large array of machines, Kai stiffening as his gaze landed on an IV bag that sat next to his bed. His eyes followed the line of blue liquid to where the needle had been stuck into his forearm, but it was now bleeding from where he had jostled around in his struggle.

"What is that?" Kai choked out before a flurry of coughs escaped his chest, head pounding just as painfully as his throat was now.

He was definitely dehydrated... That much he could tell by how he felt. He'd felt this way before on a mission around a year ago... So whatever was in the bag definitely wasn't helping with his dehydration.

"Oh, since before I left I've been trying to recreate the Cronus serum but unfortunately it hasn't worked quite yet. I would've been able to replicate it if I had someone with enough injections to study but unfortunately I'm like one or two away from having enough to synthesize... And there's no way for me to get close enough to Alaric to even try. Plus, Joe is dead so... Here we are. I gotta do this the hard way." The male released a dramatic sigh as he pressed a button, Kai gritting his teeth as electricity shot through his body, the raven haired male now noticing the wires attached to his head which definitely didn't help the intense pain that had already been crushing through his brain.

"Why?" Kai choked out after the male released the button, his face moving as if he were arching his eyebrows though the face paint covered any eyebrows the male might've had.

"I'm a businessman, Mister Phoenix. The Boss made quite a bit of money selling a diluted version of the serum that only gave people minor powers... Just think how much I could make if I sold this version of The Boss the serum from my realm. I won't give him the powerful version but I'll make it more powerful than the crap he sold in my realm. More money that way." The male's blinding white grin spread as he spoke, his dark eyes boring into Kai as he seemed to study him for a reaction.

"The Boss in your realm? What are you talking about?" Kai blinked slowly as he tried to process what the male was saying, but the painful throbbing throughout his body was distracting him from fully paying attention.

"Ah, forgot to mention that little snippet. Welcome to my realm, Kai. The most disgusting place in the universe." The male sneered as he moved to grab a remote off of the table, pushing a button that began to lift the around them to reveal a sky that seemed to be completely covered in dark gray, almost black, storm clouds.

Kai gazed around in confusion, craning his neck to see that the buildings around the one they were in seemed to be crumbling or completely destroyed by now.

"It still looks like New York to me." Kai deadpanned which caused the male to release a laugh before he pressed the button again, sending the sheet metal back over the windows before he set the remote down again.

"It is. But this is my realm now, baby. I'd say get used to it but you won't have time to explore it after you help me finish this serum." The male turned to his computer, typing something in at a lightning fast speed while Kai struggled to loosen the restraints.

"Who are you?" Kai finally snapped after he realized whatever was in the serum was slowly zapping at his energy, his breathing coming out in short puffs as he struggled to stay awake.

"Hm? Ah, that is the question, isn't it? Who am I? Honestly? I ask myself that every day." The male seemed sad now as he spoke, voice faraway as though Kai's question had sparked something deep inside of him.

"I don't remember who I was before everything else happened. Not fully. I don't think I can ever become that person again. Maybe if she was still here I'd actually have a chance but... I don't think she'd be the same either. Not after what she did." Kai huffed at the male's monologue, wishing he hadn't even asked that question in the first place to save himself the mental pain of having to listen to this person's tragic backstory.

"That's not what I meant, stupid." Kai finally snapped which caused the male to turn to him, eyes no longer full of sadness as instead he wore a rather wide grin.

"If you wanted to know my name, you should've been specific." The male stuck his tongue out at Kai before releasing a low chuckle as he stood, making his way over to the sink as he began to wash his face.

"Okay, then. What's your NAME?" Kai groaned, wishing the male would just kill him now and get it over with. At least then he wouldn't have to play the backup character in this man's story.

"I've had many names in my time..." Kai sighed as he realized his question had just sparked more to the man's speech, Kai now struggling again in his restraints as he began to slowly move his wrists back and forth within the restraints to loosen them.

"That's what she used to say, you know. So I'm kind of stealing her creepy saying right now. She'd say it before she burned a whole rebel camp to the ground. But in all honesty it's the truth. I went by a lot of names." The male continued as he began to try his face with a black towel, curls now dangling in his face which Kai had yet to see without the paint.

As the male discarded the towel to the side, Kai's face went pale as his eyes widened in recognition.

"Killian?" Kai whispered as his blood seemed to run cold. It was definitely him. The male was significantly more pale and his eyes... Including his sclera were a deep shade of black... But it was definitely him.

"That was a name I went by long ago, yes. But now I'm only known as one thing..." The male walked forward before hesitating just in front of Kai, leaning forward before he tightened the straps even more.

"The Witch Doctor." He whispered as his iris flashed white, a large grin appearing on his face as Kai stared back at him in fear.

_-*-_

Four Days Later.

"You're not taking me out to kill me this time, are you? That'd be a bummer." Nala joked which caused Connor to sigh in annoyance as he felt her eyelashes brushing against his palms, realizing her promise not to peek was just a lie.

"If I wanted to kill you, Nala..." Connor paused as he grabbed her hand, twirling her around to face him before he pinned her against a tree, placing one hand on the tree beside her head as he leaned close to her.

"I would've done it already." He continued in a low voice as she gazed up at him through her lashes, face flushing red as she swallowed rather heavily.

"Not going to lie, this is kind of hot." Nala said as she stared into his deep brown eyes, Connor flicking his gaze to her heart shaped lips before he could even think about what she would assume by him doing so.

"We're here." Connor moved away from her, letting his hands fall to his side as he watched her place her hands over her heart, a disappointed look on her face but she said nothing as she began to gaze around them. Her green eyes widened as her lips parted in shock, hands raising to cover her mouth now as she slowly turned around to examine every little detail around them.

"Are we outside?" Nala asked breathlessly, eyes watering as tilted her head as if you listen closer to the sound of birds chirping overhead. The scent of fresh grass and flowers wafted through the air around them as a breeze picked up, causing the flowers and branches of the tree to sway back and forth.

"No. I'm good but not that good." Connor pointed to the ceiling, Nala turning her attention to the roof overhead which caused her face to immediately fall. The speakers and overhead lights making the green room seem too real for its own good, so he could understand why she thought that they had escaped.

"I guess I just thought... Never mind..." Nala sighed as she sat next to the bed of sunflowers, running her fingers over the petals as she gazed at them with a faraway look in her eyes.

"You said you'd enjoy a picnic... So... I stole some snacks from Doctor Banner's office." Connor sat on the grass beside her, studying her reaction but she didn't even acknowledge him as she gently plucked a petal, holding it in her palms as she examined it closely.

Connor sighed quietly as he began to dig through his pockets, pulling a few granola bars out which he set next to her before pulling out a small box of raisins.

"Do you care about me at all?" Her question wasn't shocking to him... He'd heard it a billion times before but something about her tone made his heart twinge in pain. He gently set the cartons of chocolate milk down before he leaned back, studying her face as he thought over a proper response.

Every other time he would've just said the same thing but lately... Well... He'd be lying if he said he felt absolutely nothing for her.

"Let me guess... Nala, you know better than that. I can't feeeeeel anything." Nala scoffed as tears began to roll down her cheeks, her brunette hair billowing around her as she stared intently at the petal in her palms.

"I do." Nala's head shot up as she stared at him in shock, letting the petal drop from her hands as it blew away in the wind.

"What did you just say?" Nala whispered as she leaned forward onto her knees, placing her palms in front of her as she leaned close to Connor, searching his expression with those big green eyes that Connor couldn't stop thinking about.

"I do care about you, Nala. I shouldn't be able to but I do. Which is dangerous, but... I don't mind feeling this way. It's just scary to me because now that I can feel something... I'm scared of losing it again." Connor admitted after a moment, his heart pounding roughly as he watched her eyes sparkle with tears once again.

"Do you remember me?" She asked tentatively, placing her hand on his which he didn't pull away from... Not this time.

"What should I remember, Nala? Please tell me. I feel like I'm constantly missing a piece of myself... Physically I am of course which I can learn to live with but I can't handle missing a piece of my mind... My soul. Help me remember. What do I need to remember?" Connor whispered as he leaned closer to her, inches away now as she gazed up at him breathlessly.

"Us. Remember us. Remember me. Remember this..." Nala leaned forward as she pressed her lips to his, the male's eyes widening before he relaxed against her, placing his hands on her hips as he pulled her closer.

"I love you." Nala whispered against his lips but she gave no time to reply as she pushed him onto his back, deepening the kiss as her hands slid up his chest.

"Ooookaaaayyyyy, well. I'm going to let him enjoy this but I feel like I should step out." Killian's face was bright red as he cleared his throat awkwardly, turning his attention to Joelee who was also now beet red.

"Nah. This is the only enjoyment I've felt for four days. At least someone can enjoy their love life." Sam grumbled from where they sat on Killian's desk, angrily shoving popcorn into their mouth as they watched the screen intently.

"I don't see how he can enjoy his love life considering he has no idea what happened to her or where she is... But... Okay." Killian shrugged as he moved past Sam, grabbing a small wrench as he began to mess with whatever he was building now.

"What is that?" Joelee questioned as she leaned heavily against the wall, blue eyes watching Killian's every move as he worked on an old compass.

"Okay, so I believe I mentioned before but your suits have trackers. The night that Kai disappeared, so did his signal. So I'm making a stronger signal tracker so that we can potentially find him. He may not even be in this state anymore so I'm making it super powerful just in case that guy has him somewhere... Remote." Killian said slowly, not looking up at her as he spoke, he couldn't look her in the eye with what was happening on the screen going on behind them.

"That's smart. As soon as it's done we'll go looking for him." Joelee nodded, trying desperately to ignore the sounds coming from behind them while Sam seemed fully transfixed on the screen.

"Considering your leg and rib healed already then I'm assuming you'll be out all night again?" Killian kept his tone low and void of emotion, focusing his mind completely on the task on hand in an attempt to stop her from reading his mind.

"Yeah. Why? You have a hot date?" Joelee teased as she crossed her arms over her chest, walking closer to peer over his shoulder so that she could see what he was doing from a flower view.

"No. But I don't want to stay here all night again. I want to go with you and help you look." Joelee frowned as Killian spoke, straightening her stance as she released a soft sigh. She pulled at her lower lip with her teeth as she thought over whether or not it was a good idea to introduce yet another hero to the public so soon.

They'd already marked herself, Sam, and Obsidian as villains considering they hadn't found the real culprit behind the murders quite yet. She really didn't want the public to think that they were outnumbered... Even though they were. Humans did very stupid things when faced with the unknown.

The only reason Obsidian hadn't been taken down was because they were doing their part in keeping the crime levels down... Plus ever since that night, there'd been a dramatic decline of meta sightings around town.

Reports seemed to be torn between making all metas out to be monsters, to not all metas were bad. The woman she had saved on her first day as a hero seemed to be fighting tooth and nail to only report on the positive things that Skinwalker and Obsidian were doing, which she was incredibly thankful for.

"We can't introduce more heroes yet, Killian. Not yet. Plus... You do need more practice. We all do. I couldn't live with myself if any of you got hurt. Which is why when we get Kai back... He and Sam will be staying here until they get some more training in." Joelee hesitated as she mentally prepared herself before she placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as he seemed to relax beneath her hold.

"That's not fair! I've been doing good!" Sam argued as they whipped around to face Joelee, sticking their lower lip out in a pout before they crossed their arms over their chest.

"You literally crushed a some point guy's arm just by grabbing him to stop him from running." Joelee deadpanned which caused Sam to huff in annoyance, wrinkling their nose as they glared at Joelee defiantly.

"So?" Joelee stared back at Sam, completely dumbfounded by Sam's question but she quickly shook it off as she placed a sassy hand on her hip before narrowing her eyes at Sam.

"We don't crush people's arms unless they deserve it." Joelee warned which made Sam sigh loudly, leaning back on their hands as they looked up at the ceiling now.

"He deserved it. Robbing old people is just wrong." Joelee pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache throbbing through her head as she debated the proper way to answer.

"Yes. It's wrong. But he was unarmed and literally was trying to leave after the old people scared him off." Joelee muttered, not bothering to look at Sam who snickered at her words.

"He was unarmed in two ways when I was done with him." Joelee threw up her hands in exasperation as Killian released a loud laugh before slapping his hand over his mouth.

"Compass is done." Killian murmured as he sheepishly handed the device to Joelee who immediately grabbed it from him, giving the male a warning look that basically scolded him for egging Sam on.

"Go get ready. We're going now." Joelee ordered which caused Sam to immediately roll off of the desk before they bolted upstairs, leaving Joelee to walk after them with an annoyed expression.

"Thank you, Killian!" Joelee yelled over her shoulder as she began to make her way upstairs, the dull throb of her leg being the only reminder that her bones had literally been shattered a mere five days ago.

"Call me if you need me! I fixed the radio in your mask so just call my name if you need me!" Killian called after her but she gave no reply as she continued up the stairs, examining the compass closely as she began to mess with the dials to figure out how to use it.

Killian sighed as he grabbed the popcorn bucket off of his desk, wheeling closer to Connor as he leaned back to watch the screen now.

Connor's memory seemed to be a memory within a memory now, that much Killian could tell by how Connor was slipping in and out of reality with Nala.

It was like he was getting flashed of his past... Experiences with Nala. But as they time went it, the memories began to grow less related to the situation he was going through and more to his actual past with her.

"Don't forget me again." Nala whispered as she propped her head up on her elbow, gazing at him through her messy hair as he released a soft sigh.

"I don't have control over that. I wish I did. But... I'll do my best to make sure you get out of here. We'll go together. Run away. Somewhere they'll never find us." Connor pulled her close to his bare chest, tucking his face into her hair as she began to trace circles into his chest.

"What exactly do you remember?" Her voice was slightly muffled but he heard her just find as he leaned his head back, his eyes closing as he focused on what exactly he could remember.

"I remember... Well... Us doing this in the past. I remember us holding hands in a park like this one... We were eating together... There was ducks in the pond. But... That's all I remember." Connor opened his eyes as he gazed down at her, noticing she was looking up at him now with a disappointed expression.

"What were we?" Connor asked which only made her face fall even more, the woman sitting up as she grabbed her shirt before holding it to her chest.

"This was in 2015... You'd fallen off of The Monarch's radar after you were allowed to visit home. I was there for school... We met outside a bookstore after you almost got hit by a car. You moved away for a job opportunity and we kept in contact..." Nala paused as she pulled the shirt over her head, letting it settle around her before she continued.

"We ended up moving in with each other after I got my degree... We'd been kind of doing the online dating thing for about six months... And I needed to move where you lived in New York for business purposes. You already had a roommate at that time named Oscar so I was completely fine with moving in since it was technically us getting a place together..." Nala paused as she released a soft sigh before she began to pull on her gray sweatpants, Connor quickly buttoning his pants before he sat up to face her better.

"Then about a year later... You took me to a church camp to formally introduce me to your family and friends as your girlfriend. That day... You disappeared. As did most of your friends." Nala sat once again as she tucked her legs up against her chest, seeming to gage Connor's reaction as she spoke.

"Who disappeared? I don't have any living family." Connor sounded extremely confused which made Nala's face fall once again in disappointment.

"That's what they program you to think. But once a year they allow you to return to your family after wiping your memories of The Monarch. They think you have an amazing job as a full time financial advisor here. But your family is alive. They allowed me to stay for awhile while we looked for all of you... Every single day we searched." Nala inhaled slowly before she let out her breath in a loud huff, closing her eyes now as she crossed her arms around her legs.

"You came back a year later with no idea what had happened. You said you had to run back to work and that your aunt blamed you for everyone disappearing... Oscar and I were so mad but then what you started telling us just didn't make sense. So we started investigating and found out The Monarch was involved with a lot of shady stuff that they never seemed to get in trouble for. We were going to bring it to the media and reveal that they potentially may be involved with human experimentation. Then in the night... Two days before we were submit the evidence... July 23rd of 2017 they found us. All of us. Oscar and I escaped but..." Nala stopped as she opened her eyes again, swallowing heavily as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I couldn't leave you. So I went back for you but they... They'd already reset your programming. I went willing though... I've been waiting every day for you. We go through this constantly. Every few months you find me and we fall in love again but then they send you away and you come back a robot again." Nala looked away as Connor crept forward on his hands and knees, kneeling in front of her as he gently took her face between his palms.

"You're here because of me?" Connor's voice wavered as he gently brushed away her tears, her reflection in her eyes showing that he too was crying.

"I love you. I needed to be somewhere where I could stay close and help you remember. Plus... I'm gathering information for Oscar." Nala whispered as she gave a small, secretive smile, but the hurt was still there in her beautiful green eyes.

"Tomorrow night. We're getting out of here. Do you understand?" Connor murmured as he stared intently into her eyes, the woman giving a slow nod before Connor pressed his lips to hers.

The memory seemed to blur while Killian sniffled, wiping at his tears as he waited for the metaphorical puzzle pieces to click together in Connor's head so the memory would continue but the sound of a baby crying made Killian immediately made him jump to his feet.

"The heck is that?" Axle's voice grumbled as he walked down a long, white padded hallway with Connor following close behind.

The memory became as Connor began to struggle, mumbling under his breath but Killian couldn't tell what he was saying as he focused on turning off the television. Killian set down his popcorn before turning off the machine, gently beginning to unhook Connor who immediately opened his eyes with a loud gasp.

"Nala?" Connor looked around with wide eyes, face full of confusion for a moment but as his eyes landed on Killian, he seemed to settle down.

"Right... Just a memory." Connor waited as Killian finished unhooking him before he slid to the edge of the cot, placing his head in his hands as he released a soft sigh.

"I know, I know. You'll find her, bro. I'll help you." Killian assured but Connor gave no reply as he seemed to be thinking about something else now, nervously rubbing his face before he sat up to look at Killian.

"That was a baby." Connor whispered, his face now incredibly pale as he stared at Killian who looked confused for a moment before he finally realized what Connor was implying.

"Oh... Do you... Do you think it's yours?" Killian asked rather awkwardly, not fully knowing how to help in this particular situation.

"I don't know." Connor stared at Killian, tears running down his cheeks now as Killian moved to gently pull the male into a hug.

"We'll find her. And we'll find your maybe baby. I promise." Killian whispered, the laboratory around them eerily silent for once, aside from Connor's soft sobs. Killian allowed his own tears to fall as he squeezed Connor tighter, both men feeling the helplessness and pain of loving someone who wasn't there... Both figuratively and literally...