Wednesday March, 2029

Ella's gaze snapped up to meet Daniel's waiting patiently for him to reveal what he knew.

"Great, what is it?" Michael demanded impatiently.

"His wife." He said simply.

Silence fell over them and Ella watched Daniel's face for any flicker of change in his emotion.

"His wife? What, he wants to rule the world and have his queen by his side?" Michael asked, his tone clipped in disbelief and annoyance.

Daniel nodded subtly, his eyebrows indicating more than his head in his confirmation of Michael's assumption, by raising high on his forehead. "It's the only reason I can think of that would make him return to Becket."

Michael pulled his lips between his teeth and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Seriously? You couldn't think of-"

"Well I didn't think about it, did I?"

"You didn't think at all!"

Daniel lifted slightly out of his chair, "You know what-"

"Enough! Both of you! What the hell is going on here?!" Ella shouted and stood just as quickly as both men had, ordering them to sit back down.

"I-"

"I don't want to hear it, Mike." She halted his oncoming excuse or apology, she didn't care which it was, with a raised hand to his face.

Awkward silence befell the cabin and the couple was still glancing leeringly at the three of them.

Irritated, Ella snapped her gaze to the side, still standing, and looked down at the couple. "You got something to say?" She barked, her eyes fluttering.

The woman immediately looked away, finding a spot on the window she could fixate on while the man challenged Ella's derisive attitude. "Perhaps I do."

"Then say it!"

He smiled at her pensively and pulled up the newspaper from his lap. Reading it silently, his face hidden behind the wall of paper.

Daniel looked up at her cautiously, "Hey-"

She pointed at him without looking, still giving the husband a petulant glare. "Shut up." She demanded before dropping her hand and turning to face Michael who was sat timidly in his seat, his shoulders slumped. "Move, I want to switch places."

"Yes, ma'am." He complied immediately, sliding over to sit beside the aisle so she could have the window seat.

Ella moved backwards, still staring down the couple - who was no longer looking at them – until she plopped down into the seat, crossing her leg over the knee of the other. "It doesn't matter when we got the information, we got it, and now we're going to Becket, Massachusetts. I don't want to hear any arguing over it. I don't want any whining. What I do want is cooperation."

She looked at both of them individually, waiting for their understanding and compliance. Michael was the first to assent, a simple nod and forced smile. Daniel rolled his eyes with his head, taking a deep breath through his nose before nodding slightly.

Ella knew he didn't want her there and he certainly didn't want Michael there but she was going to force the partnership until she got what she wanted. Justice.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Daniel announced suddenly and stood.

Instinctively, Michael stood as well, his hand to his hip holster.

"Oh, do I need an escort now too? Wanna watch me take a piss?" Daniel challenged, his eyes flicked in his emotion, from complacent to provoked. His chest out and chin pointed up.

Both men stared into one another's souls, icy blue meeting fierce green, a full display of their contention for alpha male status.

"Hey- hey!" Ella stood at their sides, looking up at both of them. "What the hell did I just say, huh?" She pushed on Michael's arm, in the direction of his seat. "Wha'd I say?"

Daniel pushed away from them both, pointing at Ella angrily, "Hey, I don't take orders from you, okay? I'm not part of your bullshit militia- and I'm not even happy with you sticking around! So why don't you just lay off, huh?" He barked and stalked out of the car, stumbling only slightly with vertigo from the moving train, hand over hand on the bench seat backs to keep his footing.

Ignoring the glances from the other passengers, Ella turned her attention away from the departing blond and looked to Michael, her arms crossed as they stood in the center of their small seating area. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem?" Michael looked at her flabbergasted, pointing back in the direction Daniel had left. "Don't you mean, 'what's his problem'?!"

"No, his problem is being an asshole. I know that. What I don't know is why you can't stop giving him a hard time."

He laughed bitterly, "You said it yourself, 'he's an asshole'-"

"Folks," the conductor came up beside them, dressed in a bright red uniform with gold embroideries, "You're disrupting the other passengers." he informed dutifully, a look of hesitation in his features as he looked down at their weapons.

"Sorry, sir." Ella apologized, raising a hand up, "We'll keep it down," she assured, nudging Michael in the back with her elbow.

Michael cleared his throat to cover the surprised sound he made at her contact, "Yea- yes, we'll be sure to be more respectful."

The conductor smiled, relieved, and tipped his castro hat. "Thank you, miss. Sir." He took his leave with a respectful nod.

They took their seat and Ella sighed exhaustively. "You provoked him." She stated plainly, continuing their conversation.

Confused, initially, Michael looked to her strangely before it dawned on him. "Well he's not exactly forthcoming, Ella... I get that you trust him-"

"I never said that I trusted him." Her brows furrowed painfully close together and her lips turned downward.

"Then why are you doing this?" Michael pivoted in his seat so that his back was to the aisle in order to look at her directly.

She sighed and looked away, watching the train pass by a desolate city. The cityscape destroyed, first by the bombs during The War and then by nature. The skyscrapers were crumbling or attempting to stay standing under the weight of growing trees and suffocating vines. The streets crumbled under growing grass and weeds, where cars once occupied space was now a grazing field for wildlife.

As she considered her response, Ella watched on as the sun dropped further in the sky and reflected off what remained of the glass in the highrises, refracting the light to shine into her eyes. She looked away and to the line of school buses that were abandoned on the side of the road, covered in dust and what grass grew from the top.

Her eyes shuttered as she watched as the nature city disappeared. The life that had been there, the destruction that occurred not so long ago, the war - all of its proofs were disappearing under natures effort to eradicate any evidence of human intervention. She was reminded of how little the world really wanted them there. How soon the world moved on from human intervention.

"Ella?"

Michael's voice cut into her musings of Earth and the war she'd begun.

"Ella, you okay?"

She looked back to him then down to the hand he had rested at her shoulder. "Yeah, Mike. I'm fine... What were you saying?"

"I asked, 'why are you doing this'- helping... insisting on helping him." He dropped his hand away but his eyes were still narrowed with concern. "We don't need to take him with us."

"Because," she sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor, "because I owe him."

Michael laughed, "Owe him? For what?"

"He got hurt because of me, I should have let him go but I made him come back to Sanctuary. Ari reacted, well, he overreacted." Ella looked up to the door to make sure Daniel wasn't back yet, "Mike, Ari tortured him... I don't understand why, but he did. For information Daniel doesn't have."

"Information Daniel says he doesn't have." Michael corrected. "Just like he said that he 'didn't know why Carver would go to Massachusetts'."

Ella sighed dejectedly, "You know what, I told you that you shouldn't come." She leaned forward and unzipped her jacket, pulling it off, balling it up, and stuffing it into the corner of her seat – between her and the wall of the cab.

"What was I supposed to do, let you go off with this joker?" Michael laughed and threw his hand out in the direction of the door.

She sighed and faced him fully, left leg under her, the other hanging over the side of the bench, "I get that you don't trust him, I don't either, but if you're going to come with me, I need you to trust me." She rested her hands in her lap after rolling up the sleeves of her great hoodie.

"Is there a question there? Because of course I trust you." He put his hand over hers, looking her in the eye.

Ella stilled her hand, tilting her head."And you'll stop picking fights?"

"Only if he stops withholding information." he replied with a smirk.

Daniel stepped up next to them and looked down at their hands, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes-" Michael started but stopped when Ella turned her hand under his and squeezed painfully around his fingers. "No."

The blonds gaze flitted between both of theirs before looking back down at their hands just as Ella released her grasp around Michael's fingers. "Uh-huh." he grunted, unconvinced.

Ella looked up to Daniel then dropped her gaze to his hand, "Let me look at your arm." she held out her hand to him.

After a moment of hesitation, Daniel dropped into the bench across from her and took off his jacket - wincing as he did so - revealing his sweat stained, blue t-shirt, the red hot brand in his skin, and the bruises around his wrists.

Michael instinctively winced, sucking a breath in through clenched teeth, "Shit, man."

The disfiguring mark was raised, red and discharging pus. Scar tissue formed around the markings. The brand was not the 'H' shape that hers was but a mere mess of straight lines as though created by a rod that was repeatedly placed over the same area. It was on the left arm, instead of the right. He was not branded to differentiate him from a replacement but for the soul purpose of maiming.

Her eyes fluttered slightly as she gently held his arm in both her hands, examining the wound. Biting the inside of her lip, she grabbed at her bag with one hand, the other still holding onto his arm – above the wound – carefully, "I need to dress this."

"Here? Now?" Daniel looked out to the aisle where the couple were sitting.

"Yeah-" she started then followed his gaze to the man and woman, "Hey, you got a problem with me tending to this man's wound?" she didn't give them time to respond before she continued, "Great, thanks, I appreciate your understanding."

The man stood, taking his wife's hand in his, and left, moving to another car.

Daniel laughed, "Is that all it took to get them to leave?"

Her hand came up further on his arm and she paused, her nose crinkling and brows pushing upward and together. "You're hot."

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice," he waggled his brows, a smirk playing at his lips as he glanced at Michael, who was twitching with the urge to throw down.

"No, you're-" she paused and brought the back of her hand to his forehead. "You're hot.. How are you feeling?"

His sarcastic flirting fell away, "I feel fine," he replied, his gaze meeting her concerned one.

"Any headaches?"

"Yeah, ever since I met you. Do you think there's a connection? What are you, a doctor now?" he asked and pulled his head away from her hand.

She dropped her hand to her side and grabbed at her bag, fishing blindly. "No, but I know some basic field- it doesn't matter." Ella dismissed when she felt what she was looking for. She wrapped her fingers around the cool metal and produced the military canteen. "Here, you need to stay hydrated."

Daniel sighed and grabbed at it, but no sooner did he take it did she force him down into the seat. "Hey," he protested instinctively but as she pulled his hand into her lap, sitting beside him, he stilled and watched her tend to his infected burn.

"I never should have let it go this long..." she muttered.

"It's not really a big deal." Daniel surprised her with his response. "I've had worse, honestly."

She arched her brow and looked up at him, her eyes set on reading his expression. He was passive but looking away as he opened the canteen. As he began to drink she began treating his arm.

O.o.O.o

Daniel looked over to Ella, her breathing even and heavy, snoring softly. Her gray sweatshirt, pinned between her head and the frosted window, served as her pillow. The ring around her necklace hung heavy at her chest, bouncing slightly with the vibrations of the train.

He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to control his emotional reaction at seeing her mused hair fall into her closed eyes, wanting to push it back behind her ear. His gaze followed the lines of her pouted lips before he glanced up to her eyes, watching them dance behind closed lids.

The conductor was making his way towards them, grabbing Daniel's attention. Reaching out to stop the man's quick pace, Daniel addressed him in a hushed tone. "Hey, you know about what time it is- how much longer we have," He glanced down to the etched name in the badge on his lapel, "George?"

He nodded subtly and spoke softly, "another hour or so until we're pulling up to Pine Hill, it's just past these woods here."

"Where are we?"

"The Big Indian Wilderness." He replied simply, offering a kind smile.

Daniel turned and looked out, passed Ella's head, to the large window. The trees and thick brush rushed by in a blur of brown and white. "Are we-" he turned back to continue questioning George but the white haired, bashful conductor had moved on.

He rolled his bottom lip against his teeth and shook his head in annoyance. Glancing back at Ella's sleeping form, he placed a careful hand to his wrapped forearm. The burn was wrapped thickly in clean gauze but it still burned from the antiseptic that Ella had spread atop it. Despite the constant burning sensation, he felt better knowing it was treated.

The car was quiet aside from the few quiet murmurs of other travelers and the steady chugging of the train. Tired, Daniel allowed his eyes to slide halfway closed and leaned back in his seat, holding his arm close to his chest.

"It still bothering you?" Michael's voice cut through the quiet in the cab, his voice gruff from sleep as he smacked his lips.

Daniel looked to him, his eyes still half closed. "Is it still- yes, Michael, it's 'still bothering me'." He replied irritantly, tilting his head and diverting his gaze from Ella.

"Alright, no need to get so defensive, Danny. Was just asking a question."

His eyes snapped to meet Michael's tired gaze. "It's Daniel." He corrected impatiently.

Michael huffed and shifted in his seat, moving to his side in an attempt to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. He propped his legs up on the seat across to him, resting his feet - crossed at the ankles - beside Daniels thigh.

Without much thought or hesitation, Daniel pushed Michael's socked feet off the bench so that they thudded painfully on the carpeted flooring of the car.

"Yo, cabron!" Michael sat up, fully awake, and scolded in a harsh whisper. "What the hell?"

"Your feet smell." Daniel replied callously, as though it negated any argument.

Both men froze when Ella groaned slightly, fidgeting in her sleep. "You better be careful." Michael warned in a soft whisper though his eyes were anything but gentle, his eyes no more than narrow slits.

"Are you threatening me?" Daniel replied just as softly.

"Yes. If anything happens to her, during this stupid quest of yours, I'll kill you." His voice was just above a whisper.

"I didn't ask her to come." He pointed out, leaning forward in his seat to meet Michael's gaze head on, his lips parted slightly.

Michael shook his head and leaned forward, "I don't care. I don't like you."

"Seems to be a lot of that going on," Daniel laughed, a bitter expression on his face despite the humored smirk.

Michael nodded solemnly and leaned back. "I'd tell you to get off the train and leave but I know that would just make her more determined, so we're stuck together."

"Says you."

"She'll track you down- or track down Carver and beat you to him. You'll be better off- we both will, if we just stick this out till the end. Then we can go our separate ways and never see each other again."

Daniel narrowed his eyes, glaring at Michael. When Michael finally turned away to get some more sleep, Daniel looked back to watch Ella. Her fair skin seemingly glowing in the high, noon sun. This was the first time he'd seen her not red with anger or flushed pink from the cold.

His eyes fluttered slightly, glancing nervously at Michael occasionally, despite the pull of sleep. He felt his face relax for the first time since meeting Ella. The soreness at his eyebrows from his constantly furrowed brows ebbed and he rubbed his fingers between his eyebrows, just above the bridge of his nose. His lips lifted from a deep frown to an impassive, peaceful line. The folded creases around his eyes relaxed and he felt a sigh of relief escape his lips.

Despite his relaxed body, he couldn't stop his mind from churning theories about Carver, Syndicate, or the Ousia. He remembered what Ella had said about military grade weapons in the hands of the Ousia and it worried him. What was the connection? Perhaps Carver was joining the Ousia, giving them the means to take out their mutual enemy- resilient humans. Then why would he be going to see Emma?

Michael shifted in his seat and kicked Daniel's leg as he turned over, causing Daniel to open his eyes suddenly. Annoyed, Daniel moved further away from Michael's reach and sat directly across from Ella. He crossed his arms against his chest and leaned into the corner, trying to get comfortable.

As his eyes slowly shuttered closed, his mind wandered in a different direction, in a more micro-level thought process. Ella and Michael. Was Ella really doing this for 'justice', he couldn't be sure. She was such a puzzle, distant but compassionate at the same time. He'd never met someone with such a wide spectrum of moral outlook. He realized in that moment that she knew more about him and his past than he knew about her. She didn't like being called anything but Bishop and she had a ring she wore around her necklace- that's what he knew.

His eyes slid open slightly, just enough to peek at the white gold ring. The diamond in the center sparkled in a rainbow of colors in the sun and he thought he could see more diamonds laid around it but he couldn't be sure. If he was honest, he didn't really care. It was the mystery of the ring itself he cared about- the mystery of the woman who wore it.

Daniel paused in his analysis of his relationship with her. What relationship? She forced her way into his life. He doesn't owe her shit. Let alone need to know about her past. For what point and purpose did he need to know anything about her outside of her ability to hold her own in a fight.

Sighing, he shifted in his seat, and huddled himself in the corner made up by the bench back and the wall of the train car. He rested his head on the window, relishing the cold glass against his heated temple. As sleep finally dragged him away, his eyes closed slowly. Watching as Ella's face dissipated with the closing darkness at the corner of his vision, Daniel allowed the train to lull him to sleep.