"You went to face a bomber all by yourself??" Vanessa nearly shrieked. "Are you out of your mind? You literally just got out of the hospital like a few days ago and you're already being reckless?"

"I healed a long time ago. Plus the it gave a lot of information." I replied, pulling out another brick in the game of Stack that Max, Hugh and I were currently playing. I held my breath slightly, hoping that the stack wouldn't topple over. It didn't.

I turned to look back at Vanessa who was massaging her temple. "That is just like you. At least you didn't injure yourself again." She gave a sigh of resignation and sat herself down on one of the chairs around the round, glass table.

"From what you've told us, I'm starting to think that the family of suspects the Government had told us aren't actually the people behind these bombings." Max said, staring at Kyle's hand that was pulling out another block in the stack. It didn't fall.

"Unless your other thoughts are true." Kyle starts, leaning back against his chair. "What if the bomber you ran into was the father of the family and that the girl you met was just there to deter you."

"She seemed so genuine though." I muttered. The stack still didn't topple over after Max pulled out another block.

"So what are you going to do?" Vanessa asked, pouring a cup of juice for herself.

I paused. "I'll go back again to do more investigating." Before I could pick a block to remove, someone jolted the table and the entire stack came tumbling down.

"Alright! Who did that?" Max asked in a jokingly accusing tone. As Kyle and Max started to bicker, I stared at the table. There were six blocks that haven't collapsed yet. As the two continued their playful banter, the table shook as they banged their fist onto the table. One of the blocks fell. Four more followed. And the last one tittered slightly before toppling over as well.

"I'm going to get some sleep." I announced. I stood up and walked towards the stairs.

A variance of goodnights came from the three as I walked upstairs, my mind filled with thoughts. I let out a loud sigh as I changed into some more comfortable clothes and slipped into bed.

~*~

When you look at my Mother, you see an image of a perfect, high-class lady. When you meet my Mother, you think she is a hardworking lady, an angel on heaven - not capable of doing anything wrong or bad.

"Never judge anyone based on their appearances." Father used to say. When we still lived in Lunaris and he and I would drive around the city.

Whenever he told me that, it was usually because he and Mother were fighting again. And he told me that statement quite often. At least once every day. It became his catchphrase in my mind. When he told me this, I used to think to myself, does that mean you only married her because of her appearance?

But then I figured out myself that it was just how my Mother worked. She acted nice and angelic until she can get people close enough that they can't escape her when she reveals her true nature. It's what she did with Father. After they married, she met another guy who was very, very rich. Before you know it she was having an affair. I'm not quite sure if Father ever found out. I don't think I even remember what they were constantly arguing about.

And like that, my Mother turned from a Fairytale Queen to a Fairytale Villain in my mind.

~*~  

"Hey buddy, how you doing?" Max asked as he waved at Hugh as we walked into his hospital room.

"I'm getting there." Hugh replied with a slight shrug but a wide grin. "How are things with you guys?"

"We have a new mission." I said. Max and I came to visit Hugh. Max came to visit daily to help out with anything and the hospital was enroute to Sector 12 so I came with him.

"Is that so? Is that where you're heading after this?" Hugh asked.

I nodded, "I am. He's not." I pointed to Max.

Hugh hummed. I surveyed his bandages. His right arm was in a cast and so was his right leg, bandages covered most of the body parts that were visible and he had a bandage going around his forehead as well. This was my fault.

"Is something wrong?" Hugh asked with a concerned look. I shook my head.

"Nothing. I'm going to go now." I waved at Max and Hugh and left the room. I left my hoverboard at the front office of the hospital so I had to go to retrieve it. As I walked, I kept my head down, walking as fast as I could. That wasn't quite the best idea as I soon bumped into someone. The person grabbed onto my arms to stop me from falling.

"Sorry." I muttered, looking up to see who it was. Oh.

"Try looking forward while you're walking. You're guaranteed to bump into people less." Came the remark accompanied with an amused smile. Christopher. Helper person.

"You're here again?" I asked. I hadn't realized that he was still holding onto me and I took a big step to the side.

"Yeah, I'm homeschooled and this is the best way to get experience in the medical field." Christopher replied.

I blinked at him before facing the front. "I got to go."

I resumed my walk back to the front office. I heard Christopher call out from behind me, "Remember to look ahead and not at the ground!" I tsked at the comment and sped up my pace.

After I got my hoverboard back, I left the interior of the hospital and immediately started up the hoverboard when I got outside.

Cossette was laying on the roof of her building when I got there. This time, I landed my hoverboard on top of her building. As I descended, Cossette stared at me shell shocked.

"That is so cool!" That was the first thing she said to me as I got off the hoverboard. She gave me a wide smile, "Hello again, Amelia!" I nodded in greeting to her and set my hoverboard to camouflage mode. Cossette's jaw dropped again in surprise.

"I was right. You are magical! You can make things disappear! It's so amazing!" Cossette talked as if she were in a trance before snapping out of it with a loud gasp.

"Was this what you did yesterday to stop the second explosion? Did you make the bomb disappear? How did you do it? Do you think you can teach me this magic? Though I don't think I would make a very good magician I think it would still be a very cool thing to do and -"

I cut her off. "Breathe."

Cossette stared at me for a moment before laughing, "Oh yeah! Gotta remember to do that while I talk! Oh yeah, do you want to come with me? I'm going to one of the shelters that have been set up in Sector 12 for people who got injured in the recent explosions. I help out there when I can!"

I nodded. "Okay."

She grinned at me and held onto my hand, pulling me towards one corner of the roof. "There's a secret door here. It's how I get onto and off of the roof." She grunted slightly as she pulled the door upwards, leaving a large hole and a ladder beneath it. She dropped down the hole and gestured for me to follow. I shook my head and pointed to the side. She gave me a confused look but I put the door back in.

I don't want to just suddenly jump into her house. I approached the side, and like the day before, I jumped to another lower building before jumping back onto the ground.

"You just keep amazing me!" Cossette said as she ran towards me. She giggled and grabbed onto my hand again. "This way! All of the regular workers there know me already. I can just tell them you're my friend and they'll just let you help out. Now that I think about it, I think today is the day that some doctors from other Sectors' hospitals will be coming to help out as well. I wonder how many of them would be here. It's always super interesting to meet new people. My siblings sometimes come help too but they're staying home today."

"Siblings?" I asked.

"Mhmm. I have three siblings. Two little brothers, and one little sister. You saw my little sister yesterday! She's five years old. Her name is Mia! But we usually just call her Mia for short. She's actually really weak and get's sick a lot, plus she's the baby of the family so we all just constantly worry about her. She stays home a lot but she is also constantly picked on by the other kids who stay in Sector 12. I never know why they do it but they're just meanies who need to be punished."

"As for my two brothers, they're troublemakers. But very adorable troublemakers." Cossette giggled, "I must seem weird saying that, but they are my little brothers and their attempts to cause trouble usually end really badly. They're called Darriel and Jesse. I always thought that Jesse was a girl's name but since my brother has that name, I assume both genders can use that name."

"It makes me wonder if all names can be used for both genders. I mean, the only reason why we split names into feminine or masculine categories is because of all the expectations and things that have been set for both genders. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a guy being called a name like Rosalina, and a girl being called... Uhmm... John? Now that I think about it, it's more common to find a girl with a "masculine" name than a boy with a "feminine" name..."

I coughed slightly. Cossette blinked at me before gasping, both of her hands covering her mouth. "Oh whoops!!! I was rambling again and I went off topic didn't I?! Sorry!!"

I waved it off again. "Amelia do you have any siblings?" Cossette asked. I shook my head immediately and then paused. Do I consider the other syndicate members as my siblings? We are kind of like family now so I suppose they would be somewhat like my siblings?

I heard Cossette yelp before calling out my name, starting to say something. Before she got to say what she wanted to say, I bumped into something... or someone.

"You're looking forwards now, but maybe try not to zone out."

I nearly screamed mentally. What is he doing here? Christopher had caught me by the arms again but quickly let go this time.

"Are you one of the people helping out today?" I hear Cossette ask. Christopher nodded.

"Yeah. My dad works at one of the hospitals in Sector 3 and I just came along to help out." He then turned to me, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Syndicate stuff." I muttered, not looking at him. I heard Cossette hum and I turned to look her. She had a look on her face that suggested that she was analyzing something. She then broke out into a fit of giddy laughter. I stared at her as if she had grown antlers and was currently singing in different animal noises. Okay...

Cossette noticed the look I was giving her and slowly calmed herself down. She shook her head, "Come on, let's go see if we can help with anything."

Just as she was about to drag me inside, Christopher spoke up. "You can help me with the medical supplies."

"Sounds good!" Cossette replied immediately. I raised an eyebrow. "But I have horrible coordination so I won't join in on that. I'll go do what I usually do, help with setting up new places for more injured people to rest." Cossette continued. Why would you agree to do something if you're not even going to do it? I sighed. Might as well help out while I'm here.

Cossette waved goodbye before making her way towards one of the other helpers in the area.

"So..." Christopher started.

"Medical supplies?" I prompted. Christopher nodded and started to walk towards an area that had a lot of tables that were piled with different medical supplies.

"You're going to help me organize all this stuff." He said, making an exaggerated gesture with his arms. At least here, I can still keep an eye on Cossette. Christopher moved another table towards the center of the lineup of tables and began sorting out the pile.

"Just fix up the supply and then group them all together in piles on the plastic tray on the floor." He said. I nodded and went to stand next to him and started to work through the pile as well.

"Is this bombing thing your syndicate's mission?" Christopher asked in a quiet voice. I paused for a moment before I nodded.

"Then where's the rest of your group?"

"I'm here myself." I replied. "Investigating."

"Investigating? Did the government not give you any details or information?" Christopher paused for a moment to look at me while he asked me that question.

"They did. But I have my doubts."

He stayed silent before working again, "You don't trust the information they gave you?"

I shook my head slowly. "Gut instinct." Christopher hummed at that.

"Do you always trust your instincts?" I shrugged at that. I had cleared a small part of the pile and I saw a strange metallic structure. Frowning, I reached towards it.

"Wait stop!" Christopher tried to stop me but I had already touched it. It was burning hot. My arm recoiled back immediately and I cradled my right hand with my left. I contracted the muscles in my hand continuously trying to shake off the burning feeling.

Christopher grabbed the wrist of my burnt hand and dragged me towards the wall behind the tables. "What?" I asked.

"Hold on." He let go of me to bend down and open up a box. First aid kit? He took out a large moist towelette. "This is going to sting but it'll help with the burn."

He plastered it over my hand. I bit down on my tongue slightly to not feel the stinging as much. After he was satisfied with the towel, he took out a bottle of cream and rubbed it over the burn as well. He then wrapped it with some bandages.

While Christopher worked, I was amazed about how focused he was while he worked. He noticed the smallest of details and mistakes and fixed them immediately. When applying the towelette and the cream, his hands were forceful but soft at the same time. He would make a good doctor.

"There." He said, bringing me out of my observations.

"Thanks." I said, looking over my now bandaged hand. "You're good at this."

"You're welcome, and thanks. I suppose." Christopher replied, slightly rubbing the back of his neck. "The bandage is there to let the cream soak into your system. Make sure to remove the bandages in two hours and then let the burn breathe. Don't bandage it again after that."

I nodded. But what was that thing that I touched. And what was it doing under that pile?