Warning: Mention of attempted overdose ahead, not very serious, not on purpose.

"Shadowsan, please, I'm fine! Go to bed, I don't want to talk. You need to stop. Just leave me alone."

The ninja narrowed his eyes at her, the hurt evident in his dark gaze. "Of course, Carmen." He left swiftly, his robes swishing.

She sighed, tears filling her eyes.

I held her.

Ivy walked back into Carmen's room, a bowl of leftover clam chowder in her hand, a glass of milk in the other. She set them on the nightstand, then once again readjusted Carmen's oxygen mask. The thief was staring blankly at the wall, her face void of emotion and eyes dull. Ivy sighed, then sat and scooped Carmen into her lap, careful to not move the IV drip in her arm. Carmen had ripped it from her flesh when she woke up, but she still needed it.

Ivy closed her eyes and placed her chin in the auburn hair, her hand rubbing quiet circles into her friends scarred back. "I got some food for you, Carm," she whispered. "Your stomach has been empty for a while, so you'll just need to eat slowly."

"Not hungry," Carmen muttered stiffly, her words a bit muffled as they fogged up the
inside of the mask.

"You have to have something."

"I'm not hungry," she repeated, tone shifting.

Ivy dropped it, pulling the hood of her baggy red sweatshirt off of her head fully. "We'll see."

"Ivy, I don't feel like eating! Why don't you get that?!" Carmen snarled, pushing away from the red head and accidentally pulling the tube from her arm.

She winced, and Ivy quickly pressed a rag to the droplet of blood that formed. "Ok, I'm sorry, Carm. Deep breaths."

Her face crumbled, and she dropped it into her right hand, tears shaking her shoulders as she tore the mask from her mouth.

"Careful, you'll hurt yourself," Ivy said gently.

"I don't care."

"Carmen." Ivy knelt on the ground in front of her, repeating her name until the thief looked up at her, her eyes lined with silver.

"What?" Carmen spat bitterly.

Ivy's heart sank. She had already known that Carmen would be different after the torture she'd endured. Who wouldn't be? But she had never guessed that she would turn into this-this mess. She'd been awake for just over 24 hours, and she hadn't smiled once since when she first did.

It terrified her almost as much as the blood drenching Carmen's body had.

Ivy reached up and pressed her forehead to the young thief's, tears of her own warming her face as they slid down.

"She's gone," Carmen choked out. "I hated her and now she's gone because of me. I don't even feel bad. But my brain is screaming at me because I killed someone."

"I know," Ivy whispered.

"I wanted to die, Ivy." Her voice lowered to barely a whisper. "I was begging them to kill me. I didn't want to be... me anymore."

"I'm sorry." Ivy shook her head, wet marring her cheeks. She stood up and sat next to Carmen again. "Please, you have to keep the IV in, at least, if you don't eat."

The thief sighed, exhaustion clouding her gaze. She reached for the bowl, but her arm shook with the strain of using only one, and Ivy grabbed it for her.

"Have you tried to use your left arm at all yet?" she whispered.

"...yes."

Ivy paled.

The thief sighed, not talking further in order to down her soup. Like Ivy had warned, it was too much to suddenly have in her stomach all at once, and Carmen grimaced as she doubled over. "Ow."

"Yeah, ow." Ivy rubbed her eyes, then took the empty bowl and spoon and went to discard them in the kitchen. "There's milk in that cup, Carm."

Both Zack and Shadowsan were sitting at the table, and they looked up when she came in. "Have you asked her yet?" Zack inquired.

"No. I don't think she's ready."

Shadowsan placed his face in his hands. Carmen had snapped at him earlier when he'd tried to help her, and they had all decided to let Ivy tend to her. "Update on her arm?"

"I... don't think she can move it."

The light seemed to get sucked out of the room.

"Ivy?" Carmen called from her room, her voice laced with panic.

"I'm coming, Carm." The red head gave her brother a sad frown and went back to her friend.

Carmen felt herself relax when Ivy came back, her hands now empty of dishes. "Sorry," she muttered, wincing at the dark circles under her eyes. "I don't think I can... be alone right now."

"Of course." Ivy smiled and pulled a small pill bottle from the pocket of her blue sweatshirt. It had been a gift from Shadowsan, as was Carmen's. Zack and Player has each received a green one, both of different shades.

"I have a prescription?" Carmen stared at the bottle, suddenly angry.

Ivy nodded and handed it to her, letting her read the label.

The thief had to resist the urge to fling it across the room, and instead chose to slump into her pillows. "Figures," she muttered, running her finger down the label. Sighing, she fished a small handful of the white pills out and grabbed the glass of milk.

"You're only supposed to take half of one of those tonight, Carm," Ivy said, furrowing her brow.

"I know." She threw her head back and popped the capsules, swallowing them before Ivy could stop her, and downed the milk.

"Carmen!" Ivy yelped and hurried to take the bottle from her, which the thief happily handed over. "A half! That was several!"

"I know," Carmen repeated, glaring before throwing the blankets away to stand.

"Carmen, no, you need to rest-"

"I don't care," the thief growled, pushing past her and striding our of her room on surprisingly stable legs. The medicines label had said high doses of sleeping prescription as one of its descriptions-among other things she didn't care to think about-so she was eager to take more than technically allowed.

Being awake was painful.

"Wha- Carm?" Zack stood hurriedly, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Yeah, that's me," she muttered quietly, making her way to the couch. Ivy sat next to her, checking her temperature before grabbing a different cup and filling it with ice water.

Carmen accepted the cup with her right hand, giggling childishly as the cubes swished around.

"Did... she just giggle?" Shadowsan frowned.

"Yeah." Ivy scowled and put a cold cloth on the thief's forehead. "She took way too many of those pills instead of half of one, and I think she has a fever."

The ninja shot up at the mention of the medication, going to kneel in front of Carmen. "Carmen, I need you to look at me," he insisted, worry I'm his eyes.

Her pupils were slowly dilating as he watched, and he cursed before grabbing something from the bathroom.

"What wrong?" Ivy asked, tensing.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine. It wasn't that large of an overdose than, say, the entire bottle, and we won't have to go back to the hospital. I've dealt with this many a time at VILE." He then sighed. "Someone find me the first aid kit. Again."

Being high was... strange. Or was it even considered 'high?' That's not why I had taken them. I didn't really understand why I had, honestly.

I remember popping the pills, almost six of them right in front of Ivy.

My own actions made me feel sick. I wasn't suicidal, I hadn't been in a long time, at least not before the whole mess at the new VILE compound. But, then again, Coach Brunt has said they'd given me memories as well.

Who's to say they couldn't change they way I thought?

What I had said earlier was true. I definitely wasn't safe alone. Not until I figured out what VILE had done to my brain.

Heh.
Sorry.
This was kinda just a filler chapter.