Quinlan found the Professor deciphering the Lumen, and approached him. He stood there for awhile before Setrakian finally looked up, "Is there something I can help you with Mister Quinlan?"

With his deep almost inhuman voice he asked, "Have you heard of any successful cures?"

Professor Setrakian looked at Quinlan with a blank expression and when he spoke he could hear his annoyance as he hated to be bothered while working on the Lumen. "No, they have successfully found a way to use the white to prolong life but there are no know records of a successful cure. Why?"

"I wished to know, thank you Professor." The Professor watched as Quinlan walked away, he wondered what had suddenly peaked his interest to ask for this information. He knew that Quinlan was much like him in this respect, he had been fighting this fight for so long nothing else mattered and if he felt it did then it was usually something of great importance.

Hours had passed and night had fallen. Quinlan came out of his room and spotted Lianna asleep on the couch. As he walked by he spotted the scars on her back, he knelt down to take a closer look. Her scars were deeper than his, and almost uncontrollably he felt his heart ache for her. He knew what it was like to be chained and whipped like an animal. His eyes soon fell on the burn scars around her wrists and again a uncontrollable ache plagued his heart. For so long he thought he was the only person to know what it felt like to be feared by humanity. Yet here before him was proof he was not the only one who had suffered by the hands of humans. As he stared at her wrist by her head he failed to see her other arm shoot up to hold a dagger to his throat.

For only a moment they locked eyes. And he suddenly realized her beauty. Her long brown hair draped around her shoulder and her hazel eyes stared back at him. She possessed a natural beauty, it was captivating to him. When this moment passed he backed away and repeatedly said, "I am sorry...I am so sorry." He threw his hands up in surrender as he backed away collecting his coat and weapons. He needed fresh air.

This whole time she watched as he slowly back away, she was also entranced by his features. It was not necessarily that he was the most attractive man she had seen. Yet she found him striking and unusual. She wanted to tell him it was ok as he apologized but she was unable to form any words. When he left she put the dagger away and laid back down, and with him on her mind she laid there in silence. Listening to the heartbeats of the sleeping humans.

Quinlan took the fire escape up to the roof of the building. He tried to think of other things but Lianna's face kept creeping back up in his mind. He wanted desperately to talk to her. He wondered about so many things. What else had happened in her thousand years of life? He simply wanted to know all of the details of her life. He thought about her scars and what she had told Gus, he became angry. How could someone hurt something...someone so beautiful? He was not sure why he cared but one thing was certain his need to talk to her only grew as he paced thinking of only her. He looked up to the night sky and cursed the nuclear winter as he wished to see the beauty of the stars again.

As Quinlan entered back into the building he heard Lianna and Gus in the armory. They were whispering as they cleaned the weapons they had brought back. He heard his name and knew that she was most likely telling Gus about their first encounter. Quinlan closed his eyes tight as embarrassment flooded his body, why did you have to stare? He approached the armory and as he turned the corner Gus and Lianna both looked up from their activities.

"Speak of the devil, Lianna, this is Quinlan. Quinlan, this is Lianna." He laughed as he nudged Lianna with his shoulder and smiled at her. Her cheeks flushed with color, and for some reason almost a tenge of jealousy filled Quinlan...almost.

Lianna reached her hand out, "nice to meet you." She held her hand their for a moment before bringing it down, "ok...not one for hand shakes I get it." She smiled again, and Quinlan knew she truly meant it there was no animosity behind her words. "We are just cleaning the weapons we gathered earlier, would you like to help?"

Quinlan nodded and said, "No, thank you. I need to go look over the Professors notes in a minute. Lianna", he paused, "would you mind if I ask you a few questions?" She smiled and nodded and continued cleaning. "...In private?"

Her mind flashed to their first encounter as she slept on the couch. "No, I am sorry we have a lot of work still to do here. Perhaps some other time." She was not sure she wanted to be alone with him. Gus had told her enough about Quinlan that she was slightly unsure how she felt about being alone with him. He intrigued her and that scared her. She had not been intrigued by a man in this manor until her husband and not again since him. Quinlan simply nodded as he turned and left the armory.

When Gus thought he left, and could no longer hear he turned to Lianna and asked, "will you answer me some questions?" She smiled and nodded so he continued, "alright...where to begin? Ah yes! So how did you come to find yourself in...Simon..right?" She nodded, "How did you find yourself in his experiment?"

"It was not uncommon for armies to come through small villages. Often killing the men or forcing them to fight. Then the woman where often dragged from their beds until every soldier had his way with her." She paused as shame washed over her but Gus could see the fire in her still. "This is what happened to me and then I was taken prisoner for close to three weeks until they sold me to Simon. I sat in a cell for close to three months. When he finally came for me...parts of me hoped I would die. But when I awoke it was like I had been reborn. Simon soon became the closest thing I had to a family..."

"Damn...and the cure worked? How?"

"To be honest I do not know he was never able to replicate the procedure. I have a journal of his notes, but like I said I was test subject 118 and there were many to come after me. Simon had lost hope and believed his success was the act of God, not science."

Their conversation continued for many hours. As they worked on cleaning the weapons. Quinlan sat in just the other room reading over the Lumen notes. He tried not to listen but found it next to impossible not to. As Gus and Lianna talked, Quinlan's respect for her grew. He knew that she was special, and he hoped that someone could show her that. He found himself feeling jealous over the conversations Gus shared with her. Parts of him wished she would share them with him, as he could relate to her story so much more than any mortal. But for now, he sat alone in his dimly lit room and listened to her soft voice as she talked to Gus.