Remember to keep the comment section healthy! Consider this chapter a special chapter, it's going to have a couple of scenes, and it's going to be pretty long! Enjoy❤

Not edited properly, spot any typos or missing words, please be sure to let me know❤

Ivy

Despite still wearing Ethan's oversized sweater, I felt chills poking at my skin, sending waves of tiredness around my body. My eyes felt heavy, but I knew they weren't caused by the lack of sleep. I was just tired from having to have cried all day.

I tried calling him, multiple times, but he didn't respond. I knew I'd have to go see him, but then again, I wasn't sure of where he would be... What if he wasn't home? What if he was home but didn't even want to see me?

I've never felt so stupid... Ever.

I had spent half of the day at The Rebel-lions hub, just sitting and talking with Fiona and Jay, before they both left. I stayed until it was dark before returning to my sector and Base.

I didn't want to go to my apartment, no... The last thing I wanted was to be alone, cause that would only make me think more. I needed to distract myself. That was why I dragged my feet past my own apartment, towards Roman's.

Maybe we could work on this whole Inc business a little.

Roman had told me he had some new findings, but Malcolm kept telling him that he was threading on a thin line, and if the Institutes picks this up, there was no telling what they'd do.

I didn't want anyone to get hurt, most especially Roman... I got him into this, and I'm gonna get him out of it.

It's funny how someone you practically grew up with, but never talked to, becomes a very important part of your life in a span of a few months. I was glad he was smiling again, making more friends than he had on the outside. It was odd, no doubt, but I was happy, and it made me worry less about him.

When I reached his apartment door, I stopped. A frown drew down my brows when I noticed that it was slightly opened. I looked around the long passage way, seeing nobody around.

It was pretty late, due to the chilly weather, and dark starless sky, so I was pretty sure he was home... But why is his door opened?

I knocked gently, the door moving further open.

When I got no response, my heart started racing.

I pushed the door open even more, peeking into the small living room, to find it neat, but empty. I walked in gently, closing the door noiselessly behind me.

"Roman?" I called into the empty space, hoping he'd answer from the room, but I heard nothing... "Roman? Are you in there?"

The next sound I heard was a groan of distress.

Immediately and at alert, I rushed towards the direction of his room area, pushing the door open.

There he was, laying on his bed, his face laced with sweat, as he struggled to breathe.

My heart almost flew out of my chest as I rushed to his bed, climbing up the other side. "Roman!" I yelled, my voice wavering as his body shook in struggle.

I held his shoulders, trying to calm him. "Roman, wh-what's happening? What can I do?" I asked, feeling so helpless, as another batch of tears started flooding my cheeks. Fear gripping my bones and sending my soul into a journey without any route... "Roman please..." I broke down in sobs, my hand coming to his forehead, as I brushed his curly hair away, so I could feel his temperature.

It was high, so high that I took my hand off immediately.

"You're- you're gonna be fine okay? You're gonna be okay, just hang in there."

I quickly, got up from his bed and made my way to the kitchen, remembering the things my Mom did for me whenever I got a temperature. I just hope it worked for him.

When I got to his kitchen, I searched for any cloth I could use... I found the necessary things, and walked up to the mini fridge to get some ice and normal cold water.

After getting the ice, I was about to close the fridge when I saw a small familiar brown container.

I picked it up gently, my heart sinking.

I had seen it a few times at the Hub, and I've heard whispers of it... Gathering from what Code told me, the whispers, and Ethan's warning about staying away from it, I knew exactly what it was...

Roman was taking Lit.

* * *

My tears hadn't stopped falling, even when I noticed his temperature cooling down, and when his breathing came back to normal. I couldn't stop crying because this was all my fault, everything.

When he stirred a little, I was alert as I watched him begin to lift his eyes open.
A small groan escaped his throat as he raised his hand to the cold cloth resting on his forehead.

"Hey, easy." I said softly.

"What--" he stopped, his eyes coming down to land on mine. "Ivy?" He croaked out.

I wiped my tears, sniffing. "Hey." I took the cloth from his forehead as he began to sit up.

His eyes moved to his naked chest.

"You had a really high temperature." I explained, my eyes watching his every move. He looked really confused, trying to piece everything together.

I reached into the pocket of Ethan's sweater, bringing out the Lit container.  "I found this in your fridge." I informed, my eyes building up tears again.

When his eyes met the container, they widened, his confusion slipping off his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it.

I tried to take in a breath but it was shaky, as my tears found a way to my flushed cheeks again.

"Ivy-"

"Why Roman? If- if you were going through stuff, why didn't you come to me? All those times I asked you if you were okay, why- why didn't you just tell me? Why did you have to take Lit? You know better than anyone the effects this pill has... On- on humans... You could die Roman." A sob escaped me.

"I can explain, I just--"

I shot up from his bedside. "You don't have to explain anything Roman, this was all my fault, if- if I hadn't been so stupid to fuck up our lives like this- you wouldn't have even thought of doing this. I'm so sorry, Roman. I'm so sorry I did this to you."

"Hey," I didn't know when he got off the bed, but I felt him wrap his arms around me. "Stop Ivy, this isn't your fault. I'm the one who messed up."

I couldn't control my sobs as he stroked my hair.

"I didn't think... And I got carried away with everything... I- I just wanted to forget... This is the second time I've felt so close to dying... I promise I won't take it again."

"Please don't Roman, I can't- I can't lose you too." I didn't recognize my own voice.

"I won't, I promise... Just don't blame yourself like this."

We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, as I calmed down, sniffing and finding my voice.

"You scared me."

He sighed, I could hear the regret in it. "I know... And I'm sorry, Ivy. I promise it ends from today."

* * *

The light drops of rain did nothing to stop me and Roman from taking a walk on the dreadfully quiet street, the wind was chilly, and I was glad I'd gone back to my place to change into a thick black jacket and long black leather pants. "It's always so cold... Just like everyone in this sector." Roman voiced out.

"Not everyone... Some Rebels are actually tired of fighting for freedom." My voice disappeared into the night. "I have doubts, Roman... I have doubts that we won't be able to pull this off."

He looked over at me, giving me a strange look.

"What?" I asked with a brow raised.

"I'm just trying to make sure those words are coming from your mouth." He said, disbelieve lacing his tone.

I sighed, looking back ahead. "It just seems impossible, Roman. I'm just Ivy. What if I make a mistake, like I always do?"

"Hey." He stopped, coming to stand in front of me. "Yes, you're just Ivy... And you alone have managed to give hope to a thousand people, you've managed to raise a platform that can indeed change things. I'm proud of you, Ivy. I proud that I'm here with you, I'm proud of the difference we're going to make, together... Just two ordinary nerds from ICHS, saving the world." The smile that came on his face was contagious.

I laughed. "Yeah... The bright side is actually beautiful."

"It is, isn't it?" He grinned, putting his arm around my shoulder as we continued our walk. "Speaking of the Inc, I think I got some Intel on the mystery behind your connection with Ethan."

At the mention of his name, my heart squeezed.

"But in order to get the full details, we'll need to access some info from the Outside, and we can't do it from here."

I sighed. "So that's another dead end?"

"Not necessarily." Roman said, causing a small crease on my brows, as I moved to look up at him.

"What do you mean by not necessarily?"

"We can break out." He informed, making me stop.

I moved out of his hold to see the full look on his face. He looked really serious.

"Break out? That's impossible." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shook his head, a smile on his face. "It's not... There's actually a portal to the Outside, which never ever closes." He said.

"How- how do you know this? Where is it? How are you sure?" I threw the questions at him.

"Malcolm let it slip by mistake once. It's located in some tunnel at the Willing. All we just gotta do is find it and make our way outside."

I gulped, hope beginning to rush through me. "Are you sure? Are you- are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Only one way to find out." He grinned.

_

About Half an hour later, Roman rushed out of the WTR building at the willing.

"You're crazy! Crazier than I am." I let out breathlessly. "Why the hell did you do that?" I said as we both rushed down towards the direction of the Tunnel.

He grinned, pulling out the syringe from his pocket.

My eyes widened. "What the hell do you need LT wipe for?"

He managed a shrug. "You never know."

We made it past some guards, but I was confused on how we were going to make it into the tunnel with the two armed guards in front of it. "Yep, dead end." I said.

"Not exactly." Roman let out, looking around him for something.

He found a small stone, picking it up and throwing it straight at a metal can, causing the men to cock their guns.

"They're extra careful here, you see. One of them is gonna go check it out, the other one would stay, but his attention wouldn't be on his duty post."

I was about to counter it when one of the guards left his position, away from our view.

Roman picked up another stone and threw it at the same corner he had aimed for earlier.

"Seems like we've got company!" The other man yelled out from the corner, and just like that, the one who didn't leave, went rushing to his partner like an idiot.

I chuckled.

"Come on." Roman gripped my hand as we both made a run for it, straight into the tunnel.

I saw the familiar portal up ahead.

My heart lurched in my chest.

Roman let out a breath as we finally reached the portal... "You ready?" He asked.

I swallowed hard. "We've made it this far for me not to be ready."

He smiled, his grip tightening on my hand, as we both crossed through the portal.

_

Brooklyn NY

If felt like I was breathing in real oxygen.

When I inhaled, it reached so deep within me. I've never felt so alive.

Looking above me, I could see the beautiful stars lightening up the night sky, the moon shining and giving the night a blissful atmosphere.

It felt so beautiful... So beautiful to see streetlights, and people... So beautiful to hear the noise of busy cars flashing by like they'd never get to where they were going on time... It felt good to be back. 

"Welcome back to Brooklyn." Roman breathe out from beside me.

"I can't believe it... We're back!" I almost yelled.

"We're back, and I'm starving for some late night greasy food at Daisy's Diner." He grinned.

"Oh yeah," I smirked. "That's the stuff."

We both laughed.

"Where to first?" I asked.

"I need to get my laptop, so my house." He said.

"What are we gonna tell your parents?" I asked nervousness rushing through me. "We can't let anyone see us... That'd be trouble... Inc cops I can handle, but the NYPD? I don't think I'm there yet."

Roman chuckled. "Relax, we'll be extra careful, make sure we don't get seen."

"Okay... We start early, cause I'm starving also, and we can't be gone for too long."

He nodded. "Yeah, come on, let's go break into my house."

* * *

"Why the hell do you have a ladder leading up directly to your room?" I asked in a whisper, the neighbourhood quiet, that even if a pin dropped, it was enough to wake everyone.

"Secret rendezvous at night." He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Be serious."

He chuckled. "I don't use it that much, Kyle does, his room is next to my parents, and if he snuck in late at night, they'd know. So he uses my room." 

"Oh." I nodded.

We both climbed up the ladder into his room, the light was off when I finally got through the window. I could hear Roman's footsteps around the room, and in a short time, the light turned on.

Roman sighed. "They didn't move anything." He whispered.

I swallowed, my eyes moving around. "They're awaiting your return, I guess." I smiled at him. "I wonder how my house is doing? I imagine everything covered with white cloth... Or probably Uncle Jonathan would have sold it." I sighed.

"We can go check it out after we leave here.” Roman offered.

I shook my head. "I'd rather not... There's the laptop." I said, gesturing to his table.

"No, that's not it." He said, moving to his wardrobe, and pulling it open. He reached up to take a briefcase from the top shelf, dropping it on the bed.

I furrowed my brow, moving closer to where he stood, as I watched him put in some code before a click sound was heard.

He lifted the top half of the briefcase, showcasing another laptop, this one looked really new.

"Why do you have two laptops?" I asked.

"Well, one's for legal business, and the other, Illegal." He smiled.

I whisled. "Fear nerds."

"Yes, indeed." He gave a small bow.

Footsteps, calculative and heavy, reached our ears in no time.

"Oh my God." I let out. "We gotta-"

The door pulled open immediately, revealing Kyle.

A moment of silence passed as his eyes grew wide open in shock, his gaze moving from Roman to me, then back to Roman, and then to me again.

"Mo-"

I was quick to pull him into the room, my hand covering his mouth as I tackled him, the both of us falling to the ground while he struggled to fight away from my hold.

Roman was quick to bolt the door.

"Mmphmhmhgrr." He was trying to say something, but my hand holding tightly to his mouth, stopped him from speaking. My legs straddling him, kept him from moving too much.

"I'm gonna let you go now, promise you won't yell."

His eyes wide and determined didn't leave mine.

"Kyle, make this easier for yourself, we can talk this out like civilized adults."

His brows etched down in confusion, hesitating before giving a nod.

"If you try to yell, I'm gonna knock you out... Do you understand?"

He nodded.

Gently, I let go of him.

"Wha- wher- wh- what the fuck is going on?" He finally let out. "You both have been missing for months."

"Shhh." I shushed him.

"We gotta tie him up." Roman spoke up, causing Kyle to shoot him a surprised glance.

"What?"

Roman only shrugged.

I got up from Kyle, as he also got to his feet immediately. "Where the hell have you both been? You guys literally dissapeared after- after the news of Ivy parents."

I gulped. "It's a long story Kyle."

"Long story? The search for you both is still on going, we've been going crazy working with the cops, and going out of ourselves to find you both, and here you are, looking like..." His eyes scanned us from head to toe. "...like you joined some kinda secret organization."

I sighed. "Listen Kyle, it's really great to see you again, and we know that you guys were worried-"

"Worried?" His eyes moved to Roman's. "Mom's sick because of you... Dad doesn't even come home anymore, he's always out there, working himself off trying to find you."

My eyes moved to Romans' guilt was all I found there.

"Well I'm fine, so is Ivy... We're working to help people, and when we're done, we'll be back-"

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

"Kyle, relax, okay... A lot has happened, and we know one way or another, we hurt people we left behind, but you gotta understand that we had no choice, okay? We-- we had no control."

I've never seen anyone look this confused in my entire life.

"No control? Wha- how- I don't even know what to say right now."

An awkward silence passed.

"Roman and I have been okay, and- and well, about my parents, it was- was an accident."

Kyle's eyes tried to find some explanation to all this. "An accident? Tell me what's going on, better still, we go to the cops, and explain everythi-" he stopped, my eyes widening when I saw Roman emptying the content in the LTwipe syringe into his neck.

Kyle fell limply to the ground.

"What- why- what the hell did you do that for?" I whisper yelled.

"He was beginning to annoy me, and besides, he can't see us, remember?"

I sighed. "This is messed up Roman, your family-"

"Don't worry about them, Ivy. I'm sure they'll eventually be fine, and it's not as if I'm leaving forever."

"Still-"

"Ivy, we can't be out for too long, if you still wanna make it to Daisy's Diner, we gotta move." He said, blocking the subject. "I'll borrow some cash from Kyle." He smirked, raiding his brothers pocket.

I couldn't help but blame myself for this... It only made me wonder how my relatives are doing?

* * *

The Diner was packed as usual, chatters from people all around as we both settled in a booth, Roman was on the phone with some guy who was to send him some info on the details he needed to make the research.

"Sure, Thanks man." He said, before hanging up and placing the phone back on the table, opening his laptop.

"So?"

"He already sent it." Roman grinned.

I shook my head, a smile of amazement on my face. "You never seem to stop surprising me with your weird connections."

He gave a sly smirk. "Fear nerds."

He chuckled, typing away on his laptop.

"Welcome to Daisy's Diner, what can I help you folks with?" A blonde haired girl chirped up from our table.

Roman grinned. "Finally, I'll have two eggs with Hash please, make that two plates, for me alone, the lady will tell you what she's having."

My eyes widened as I chuckled, looking up at the girl. "Do you have chicken and waffles?"

"Yes we do! Would that be all?"

"Yeah."

"Okay... Two plates of two eggs and hash, and a plate of chicken and waffles, coming right up." She announced, moving away from our table.

It didn't take long for the food to come in... I dug in immediately, moaning at the taste of outside food. "Ugh, this is so good."

Roman agreed with a nod, as he ate, half of his attention on the screen of his laptop, half on the food.

"Okay... I'm in." He said after a while, squinting his eyes from behind his glasses. "As requested, the footage of the hospital CCTV camera from 18 years ago, is still available, I'm just gonna date it back to the time you and Ethan were there."

"You're hacked into their software right now?"

He nodded. "I'm using the line from the friend I called, so he just basically connected it to my line, so I can do whatever I want to do from over here."

I nodded.

He paused. "Hold on a sec." He sounded shocked.

"What?" I asked, leaning in.

"I'll just replay it back real quick." He said, his hand working on the laptop. "Here." He flipped it to my view. "Does she look familiar to you?"

I blinked, my heart dropping. "Glory?  She was- she was at the hospital?"

"Working as one of the nurses in charge of the NICU and the Nursery." He said, flipping the laptop back to his view before typing away, he stopped when he found what he was looking for. "Under the name, Agnes Scott."

I relaxed back on my seat. "What was she doing there? It's no mere coincidence that she worked there, exactly the time me and Ethan were there."

"It isn't."

"The only person with answers to this question, is Glory herself." I let out.

"Whoa, take a look at this." He said, turning the laptop to my view again.

My eyes scanned through the open document. "Wait-- she was assigned as a nanny for the Murray twins?"

He nodded. "It's said there that it was a two years agreement. Which means she left when they were both two years of age."

"There's something we're not getting, why Ethan? Is there some connection somewhere? I mean now I understand why she's basically obsessed." I said.

"Yeah, but the odd thing here is, the Inc dimension was already in existence before Ethan was born... What was Glory Curt looking for in an hospital on the outside, working as a nurse? And why was she a nanny to Ethan?"

There was more to this that met the eye... But what? What secret is Glory hiding, and what the hell does it have to do with Ethan?

___

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This was a super long update, hope you did enjoy it! I wanna hear your thoughts.

What do you think of their visit to the Outside? What was your favourite scene?

Do you live in Brooklyn NY, have you ever been to Daisy's diner?

What's your intake on Glory's secret? Why do you think she was so close to Ethan, even as a child?

How bad do you want to see Ethan on the next chapter? I'm so not ready for this conversation, are you?

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