The next day

    Everyone was discharged from the infirmary the next morning and Everyone decided that they need to see their families to tell them that they are alive. Ester hugged her family with her good arm and nodded at them,

    "Return home as soon as you feel like it. Quin be careful,"

    They all got into the jet and left. Shadis smiled as he waved at them, telling them to stay in touch with him. Ester smiled warmly when the plane landed. She wasn't allowed to run because of the gash on her shin so she got a taxi to drop her off. She walked into the apartment and immediately hugged her mom who was in shock about seeing her alive.

    "Oh my god...Ester,"

    "I'm okay mom...I'm okay,"

    Maria smiled and looked her over, frowning slightly at her arm,

    "Are you alright?"

    Ester nodded and smiled,

    "Yes,"

    Maria smiled,

    "You should go and see Mass...he was crushed,"

    Ester nodded,

    "Yeah, Be right back,"

    Ester rushed to the tennis club and walked inside. She was surprised when she didn't see anyone as soon as she entered. She walked out to the rose garden, she felt a change in atmosphere when she got closer and saw her staff friends. She looked and saw her brother looking down. Ester smiled sadly and immediately wanted to run over to him. she decided to just screw her gash on her leg and she ran to the rose garden and inside,

    "MASS!"

    Massimo felt his heart stop when he heard her. He turned around to see his twin sister running to him with her arm in a sling. He opened his arms and she ran into his open arms. Massimo wrapped his arms around her as he stood there shocked. He put his head down on her shoulder and cried. Michela smiled,

    "I missed you,"

    Massimo frowned,

    "I...I thought I lost you,"

    Ester smiled,

    "You aren't getting rid of me that easily,"

    Massimo chuckled and let go of her. He took in her appearance and smiled sadly at her,

    "Please don't do that again,"

    Ester smirked,

    "Not my intention to do that,"

    Massimo smiled and stepped to the side and Lee immediately ran into her open arm,

    "Oh my god, please don't do that again,"

    Ester chuckled. Everyone hugged her, Justin was last up and he hugged her tightly and she smiled into the hug. Justin sighed,

    "Don't do anything stupid like that ever again,"

    Ester smiled,

    "No promises,"

    Derrick smiled slightly,

    "I don't think your commanding officer likes me at all,"

    Ester laughed loudly at his statement,

    "Oh yeah, he mentioned you, people sometimes grow on him though,"

    Derrick blushed lightly and shrugged Lee smirked,

    "You should teach Derrick some manners, he's really slacking on them,"

    Ester laughed and smirked at Derrick,

    "How many pushups can you do?"

    Derrick shrugged,

    "Like fifty in a few minutes,"

    Ester burst into laughter and wiped away an invisible tear,

    "Nah, he wouldn't survive the regular punishments,"

    Now everyone was curious, Justin tilted his head,

    "What punishments?"

    Ester smirked,

    "Shadis was strict with us sometimes, so whenever I spoke out against him...which did happen a good amount... the usual punishment was one hundred push-ups, sometimes he would have someone on your back and if he did, then it would only be sixty push-ups. If it was hot out, thirty laps around the compound,"

    Everyone looked at her in shock. Ester shrugged nonchalantly,

    "I got used to it after a while,"

    That was when Ester heard a panting noise from someone running, she felt like she recognized the sound and immediately turned and saw Liam sprinting toward them. Liam skidded to a halt and did a salute at Michela,

    "Commander Randor,"

    Ester nodded and saluted back at him,

    "Cadet Diason, what is it?"

    Liam settled down and straightened himself out,

    "Soldier Rodriguez has requested that you come to get him, he is unable to do so by himself from what I was told and requested you to come as soon as possible,"

    Ester nodded, Liam handed her a letter,

    "Officer Shadis gave me this to give to you, it explains everything,"

    Ester nodded and opened the letter:

Ester, Quin sent a message to me saying that his sister is leaving back to New York but when he tried to tell her that he was going with her, his parents told her that they wanted to spend time with him. As we both know, that could mean abuse just as he was younger. Please go collect Quin, I'm worried about what his father could do to him especially with his ankle,

    Officer Shadis

    Ester immediately frowned in worry,

    "We have to go immediately, is the jet ready?"

    Liam frowned slightly at her obvious worry and nodded,

    "Yes Ma'am,"

    Ester nodded. She turned to Massimo and smiled gently,

    "I gotta get going...I'll be back either tonight or tomorrow, Quin needs help,"

    Massimo sighed but nodded in understanding,

    "Alright, stay safe this time,"

    Ester smirked and ruffled Liam's hair,

    "I'll be fine, tell that to this idiot,"

    Liam pouted and slapped her hand away from his hair,

    "Hey! I'm almost top of my class now,"

    Ester smirked and teased,

    "Only cuz of me kid...now let's get going. We are on a rescue mission,"

    Liam smiled and nodded. Ester waved goodbye to her friends before the two started running again. Justin frowned slightly and turned to Massimo,

    "Who is the kid?"

    Massimo shrugged,

    "No idea, apparently Cadet Diason,"

    Justin nodded slowly and Lee smirked and leaned towards him,

    "Someone Jealous?"

    Justin frowned and shook his head,

    "No,"

    Lee smirked knowingly and nodded,

    "Sure,"

With Ester and Liam

    Ester finally got to the jet and the two sat down inside. Ester looked at Liam,

    "What do you know about the situation?"

    Liam shrugged,

    "Not much...I'm guessing you know everything, especially cuz of the letter,"

    Ester smiled a tight small smile at him,

    "Yeah...let's just say that Quin has a reason to not like going home,"

    Liam nodded slightly and frowned.

With Quin

    Quin held his breath as another hit was given to him. His father was punishing him. It wasn't something he couldn't handle, but he already damaged his ankle so that's why he just couldn't fight back...he froze up once they started. His dad was smirking,

    "You should have stayed dead you useless piece of junk! No one cares about you or wants you!"

    Quin stayed quiet, knowing if he spoke back that he would be punished worse. He was slowly feeling faint but knew that if he passed out, it would only get worse. He can't keep track of time, it feels like hours. His ribs were hurting him...he was in pain everywhere. That was when he heard a noise: A knock. Mr. Rodriguez smirked,

    "Stay down Quin,"

    He left the room and Quin sat down and sighed.

With Ester

    Ester wanted to leave Liam in the jet but the boy wouldn't stay, claiming that Ester still was injured so he should go with her. She knocked and fell back into her soldier's stance. Mr. Rodriguez answered the door and narrowed his eyes at her,

    "Hello? What do you want?"

    Ester nodded at him,

    "Hello Mister Rodriguez, is Quin in there? My name is Commander Ester Randor of the Blazing Dragons Squad, I need to talk to him,"

    Rodriguez glared at her,

    "Sorry, but no. He left not too long ago to get some supplies for me, I'll let him know that you asked for him,"

    Ester stuck out her foot to prevent him from shutting the door,

    "Sir, it is very important,"

    Rodriguez glared at her,

    "Leave me alone, he is not here."

    Ester nodded slightly,

    "Understood...have a nice day sir,"

    Ester left with Liam following her closely. When she knew that Mister Rodriguez was gone, she turned to Liam,

    "We gotta break-in,"

    Liam looked at her in shock,

    "What?! But Quin isn't there!"

    Ester sighed and shook her head,

    "Oh, he's in there all right. Which is why I'm going to plan D,"

    Liam was now lost but knew to trust the commander,

    "Alright,"

    Ester smiled slightly at him,

    "Now follow me. Quin said that there is a secret way inside for when he would sneak out,"

    Liam was now completely confused but nodded. Ester looked around before lifting a few branches to reveal a secret passage. She jumped down inside quickly followed by Liam. Ester followed the path and soon they had to crawl. Ester grunted a few times because it was not painless for her arm. She then came upon an air duct and nodded at Liam before whispering,

    "I think this is the room, let's wait a minute before we jump down."

    Liam nodded,

    "Okay,"

    They waiting a minute before Michela heard it: A crack of a whip and grunts. She immediately forgot about her plan and opened it up and jumped down. Liam yelled out in shock at her spontaneous decision. Ester ran into the room and saw a horrific sight: Her best friend Quin was shirtless and bleeding with his father standing above him with a whip about to hit him again with it. She immediately acted on instinct and yelled out in rage and tackled the older man to the floor. He yelled out in shock and saw that it was Ester. He glared,

    "You bitch!"

    He managed to get her with his whip on her cheek and somehow managed to shove her to the floor. That was when Liam tackled him and punched him in the face,

    "How dare you do that?!"

    Liam knocked him out and got up and immediately helped Ester up. Ester turned to the weak Quin and ran up to him,

    "Oh, Canon...I'm sorry we took so long,"

    She held his head on her lap as he smiled weakly,

    "You got here Flare, that's what counts,"

    Ester sighed and looked at Liam,

    "Help me carry him to the jet, we gotta get him to Jesse,"

    Liam, still shocked, nodded and the two soldiers carried the unconscious man to the jet. Ester sighed as she plopped down onto the chair as they took off. Liam walked up to her with a small medical kit, he smiled gently at her,

    "Can I help you?"

    Ester smiled kindly at him,

    "Sure kid,"

    Liam nodded and sat next to her as he wiped her slightly bleeding cheek. He finished and nodded,

    "All done,"

    Ester nodded,

    "Thanks, Liam,"

    Liam sat down across from her,

    "Why did you do it?"

    Ester tilted her head at the question. Liam frowned slightly,

    "Like, why did you take the hits for Quin? Why do you care so much? How did you know about his father? Why help so many people? Why join the army?"

    Ester smiled gently at the curious boy,

    "I joined the army for my twin brother, I couldn't bear to think about losing him. Quin and I became close in training with the squad too. This squad is my family, we know everything about each other, Quin was really quiet at first, flinched at every high five, I was the first to notice that it must have been abuse. He wasn't too keen on admitting it at first but eventually, he admitted that his father abused him. I told Shadis just in case we were sent home too early and Quin had to see his father again. I would take any hit for my team. I love them all and I know they would do the same for me,"

    Liam nodded in admiration,

    "Do you think I will get a team like yours?"

    Ester smirked and shrugged,

    "Not like mine, but yeah I do. You will find your family in the army too Liam,"

    Liam smiled and hugged her,

    "Thanks, Mo...umm Commander Randor,"

    Ester smiled gently and hugged him back,

    "Never be afraid to speak up kiddo,"

    Liam smiled brightly at her. Ester nodded at him,

    "So what's your story kid?"

    Liam sighed and slouched down in his seat slightly,

    "Eh. I don't really have much of a family. Grew up in foster care. I never knew my biological family, I guess I never will. So I joined the army cuz I just needed to get away from everything,"

    Ester smiled sadly and nodded at him,

    "It's fine...you have a place with us if anything,"

    Liam looked at her, hope in his eyes,

    "Really??"

    Ester smiled and nodded,

    "Yeah, for sure. Everyone on my team likes you by now Diason, you grew on us,"

    Liam smiled,

    "Thanks for giving me another chance,"

    Ester chuckled and smirked,

    "What can I say? Trouble makers grow on me,"

    Liam laughed. He looked at her again,

    "Hey, um...so we have like a week off coming up soon cuz Shadis said that we deserve a week off to spend with our families because we been working so hard...can I come over and spend it with all of you?"

    Ester smiled and nodded,

    "Of course you can,"

    Liam smiled and nodded,

    "Thanks,"

    Ester nodded and smiled gently at him as he slowly fell asleep.

At the Base

    Ester and Liam ran into the medical tent with Quin. Ester looked around,

    "Jesse!"

    Said woman looked over and gasped at the site of Quin. Jesse ran over to them and led them to a bed,

    "What happened?"

    Ester winced,

    "He was home with his dad,"

    Jesse immediately understood and sighed sadly as she started treating Quin,

    "He doesn't look too bad, his back is the worst but other than bandaging his whole torso, he should be fine. His face will have a black and blue bruise on it for a day but he seems to be doing better than the last time. You got him in time Flare. Now let me see your arm,"

    Ester nodded and sat down in a chair. Jesse took off the sling and saw that the bruising settled down slightly, she looked at Ester face and the cut and nodded,

    "Alright, everything seems fine, the arm will take another week or so to heal fully, you should stay the night with Quin. Liam, you should go back to your quarters for the night and come back in the morning,"

    Liam looked at Ester and she smiled and nodded, he left. Jesse smirked and turned to Ester,

    "That kid really likes you,"

    Michela chuckled,

    "Yeah, he does,"

    Jesse smiled,

    "So when are you gonna go on a date with someone?"

    Ester coughed and looked at her in shock,

    "W-what?!"

    Jesse smirked,

    "Oh don't play so innocent, so many guys would DIE to date you M,"

    Ester shrugged,

    "I wouldn't say thaaaat,"

    Jesse smirked,

    "Oh really?"

    Ester blushed,

    "Yeah,"

    Jesse smirked,

    "So if I tell you, that if I announce that you are looking for someone to date, no one will go to you to ask you out?"

    Ester glared,

    "Yes, what are you saying?"

    Jesse smirked,

    "Challenge accepted,"

    Ester's eyes widened,

    "Jess!"

    Jesse smirked and shrugged,

    "Get some sleep twerp,"

    Ester sighed and laid down.