~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After looking through most of the files and papers that Mitch could find, he was surprised and shocked by how much Jason knew about what was going on. He gritted his teeth together, frustrated. He wasn't frustrated at Jason or anything, he was frustrated with himself. Seeing all this work made him question what exactly has he done for anyone for the past five to six years besides just become an inconvenience. 'The Sky Army is nothing without Adam and even I will acknowledge that. Ian, Quentin, and Jason actually have done something while the rest of us have done nothing.' Mitch thought to himself has his hands clenched into fists against the table. 'All I have done is get captured and depend on Ian to save me...' Mitch's eyes soften as images flash through his mind. Images of chains, blood, and running...that's all he felt his life has revolved around for the past few years. His eyes stared at the map, biting on his bottom lip.

"You alright, General?" a voice asked behind him making him stiffen up for a moment. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Ross walking up beside him. Mitch looked away from the ex-captain, looking at the maps and papers.

"How did you end up here, Captain?" Mitch asked making Ross tense a bit. Ross cracked a small smile.

"Been a while since someone called me that," Ross said looking at the papers before he looked at Mitch. "Well, General Probst saved me from getting captured. I was getting chased and was injured, I happened to run into him and he helped me out. And now here I am." Mitch didn't look at him, Ross loses his smile, seeing the conflicted look across the General's face. "You know, you can't blame yourself for what happened to Adam. Not everything that goes wrong in the world is your fault..."

"I never said--" Ross leaned back against the table, resting his hands in his jacket pockets before he speaks.

"No, no you didn't" --Ross looked at Mitch-- "but you are thinking it," he said before he looks away, letting the silence fill the air for a few moments as memories flash through his mind. His expression drew darker for a moment before softening. "General Azdel attacked Zacan." Mitch stiffened up.

"When?"

"Two hours ago...He destroyed an entire district, killing 56 people and injuring 178. He was stopped by Master Philip Southam," Ross said. Mitch shakes his head, biting his bottom lip back. 'No...Seto detests using his magic like that. He hates injuring people and hates killing people even more with his magic.' Mitch thought to himself.

"Do we have a chance of saving Seto?" Mitch asked. Ross looked away, thinking.

"I don't know, his reputation is already damaged. So even if we do save him...I hate to think of how the world would treat him," Mitch nods, agreeing with him. He looked back at the papers, thinking to himself before finally speaking.

"Seto has a good heart, he always has. He takes things too hard...and this will destroy him," Mitch spoke before he looked back at Ross. "Was Phil okay?" Ross shook his head.

"No, I heard he was injured was stopping him," Ross spoke making Mitch bit his bottom lip back. 'Seto's a very powerful wizard, I'm not surprised at the amount dead and injured...but that high number will definitely haunt him if we are ever able to get him back,' he thought to himself. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard someone come down the steps making the two look towards the steps, seeing Jason.

"Ready to go back?" he asked.

Mitch nodded at Jason. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| *Timeskip* |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jason, Mitch, and the rest of the crew got to Ian's HQ, the recruits were shocked at the sight of them. Taking them almost as enemies at first until they saw Jason, Mitch, and Ross. The princess stuck close to Jason's side, for he wanted her to be close by his side. They stopped when Ant was in front of them, his arms crossed as he looked at them. Jason stared at Ant.

"Where's Ian?" Jason asked.

"Infirmary--"

Jason walked past Ant, his shoulder bumping into him making Ant take a step back for balance. Ant looked at Mitch as the others walked past.

"So nice of you to join us--"

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Ant," he snapped as he walked past the captain. Simone grabbed Jason's wrist subconsciously when she saw all the eyes on them. Jason's eyes looked at her, seeing how uncomfortable she was. His expression softens at her.

"You're alright, relax, Sid," Jason whispered to her. She nodded a bit, moving closer to Jason, her other hand gently grabbing his arm. Jason looked at the others, stopping near the entrance of the infirmary. "You all stay put, Ross, Sid, and Mitch are the only ones allowed inside--"

"And why is that?" Zek asked Jason. Jason's eyes looked at Zek.

"Because, John, you will open your big mouth and ruin everything. Since all of you idiots thought that kidnapping Mitch was such a grand idea, the Iron Crew is not looked at in a good light in the eyes of the Sky Army. So stay here," Jason snapped. Jason's eyes looked at the others, seeing they weren't opposing. Jason went through the doors; Simone still clung to his arm, Mitch and Ross following behind him.

In the infirmary, the regular chaos is seen, people laying in beds with injuries or illness and people tending to the sick and injured. Some of the beds were curtained off for privacy reasons while others were open. Jason and the others went to the back of the room, to the last of the curtained off beds. Jason pushed open one of the curtains, seeing Ty laying in the bed with Elise sitting at his bedside, her head resting in her arms on his bed. Though she picked her head up when she saw Jason.

"G-General Probst," she said making Jason tense slightly.

"Where's Ian?" Jason asked. She looked at the others, her eyes stopping on Ross. 'Captain Ross? But I heard he had died...' She thought before looking at Jason.

"With Master Phil, Alister is tending to his injuries beside Captain Max's bed," she said. Jason nods before he looked at Simone.

"Do you want to stay here--" Simone shakes her head at him.

"No, I'm staying with you," Simone mumbled to him clutching his arm. They left Ty's room, going past two beds and to another curtained off bed, hearing talking on the other side of the curtain. Jason hesitated, recognizing some of the voices. 'Damn, Jordan, Michael, and Sonja on here...' Jason thought before he pushed the curtain aside, walking in.

"How hard is it to keep track of an injured person?" Ian asked Jordan and Michael. He looked at Jason as he walked in. "Oh, thanks for gracing us with your presence Jason," Jason pulled out a device, tossing it towards Michael, who catches it.

"Thanks for letting me use that--"

"I didn't let you use it, you stole it," Michael said. Jason shrugged his shoulders. His eyes looked at Phil, who is sitting in a chair with Alister sat beside him, working on stitching a cut on the wizard's arm.

"Seto?" Jason questioned Phil. Phil nodded before he winced, his hand touched his head.

"Yeah, h-he got away but at least I stopped him from hurting anyone else. But damn he put up a fight," Phil groaned in pain. Jason looked at Ian.

"We need to talk, Ian," Jason said making Ian nod.

"Yes, we do. We need to talk about you disappearing--"

Jason shakes his head. "There is no point in talking about that since I'll disappear when I want to. But...I know what is going on with Seto and Ty," Jason spoke making Thomas look at him with a questioning look.

"How could you know?" he asked. Mitch stepped up beside Jason, speaking.

"He's telling the truth, Ian. What Jason told me makes...it makes a lot of sense as to what is happening right now," Mitch said. Ian stared at Mitch for a moment before looking at Jason.

"Alright, what's going on?" Ian asked him. Jason hesitated, he looked at everyone, or mostly at Ian and Mitch.

"There is no easy way in saying this so I'm just gonna say it" --Jason paused for a second before he thought of how of to break the news-- "Adam might be alive,"