A warm breeze reminded Aria of a calloused hand on her cheek. She had been so foolish, leaning into it when she knew that it wanted to wield her like a weapon. If it was just a momentary lapse in her judgment, if it was only brought on by the mess she'd been left by that storm, she wouldn't have been dwelling on it.

Aria wanted nothing more than to throw herself into the dirt and cry, but no matter how she felt, her eyes remained dry. Maybe she was no longer capable of it. Perhaps all her tears had been used up when she was strung up from that godforsaken tree.

Aria couldn't remember what it was like to cry when feeling upset. She couldn't recall the last time she had. Maybe she was never able to do it to begin with.

Exhaustion was heavy in her bones. Not for the first time, she wished she'd died ages ago. Living should not have been so tiring.

It wouldn't likely be better if she tried not to think about the cabin or the file or the occasional tingling in her limbs. What was done was done. There was nothing to be gained from wallowing. No use in clinging to the ruins of something that never existed to begin with. Though she knew this, she didn't have any strength to bother.

The wind tore through her like claws. She shuddered where she was, but could not bring herself to curl into herself for warmth.

Aria shut her eyes. If she woke, she resolved, she would go on.

Like always, Aria woke.

Like always, Aria went on

✗

Only one night went by before she had a realization.

It was a habit to lay low, to keep moving without garnering attention. What was stopping her from doing as she pleased? It's not like she had to use her abilities to cause a little chaos. Nobody would be on the immediate lookout for a siren unless the Elites leaked the information and they would likely keep her existence a closely guarded secret so she didn't fall prey to the other side.

It took little effort to steal some equipment - a tent, radio, and some matches. Aria found all of it in the back of a Hunter's van along with a terrified young woman around her age. The woman had fled without a word as soon as her legs were freed, nearly knocking down Aria in the process. It was understandable enough. After removing what she wanted, she punctured the tires and set the van on fire for good measure.

Setting a brick on the gas and letting it run would've achieved the same thing, but it didn't feel quite like enough when she thought about the blood on the carpet.

Klaus would appreciate it if he was around. The thought made her strangely sad. He'd never been anything but kind to her. It was difficult to think he might've been playing with her while also helping Eli with collecting information on her or even agreeing to hand her over to the Elites at some point. While Eli and Alex seemed to view the Elites as necessary or neutral, Klaus seemed to hate the organization altogether.

Aria set up camp in the middle of nowhere with her meager possessions. It was cold and miserable, but she was less nervous than she'd been when she was sleeping in the gym showers a while back. On most nights, at least. The ones with storms were more difficult.

Every day, she'd tune into that Enhanced radio station and wonder why the man's voice was so familiar. Word about a research facility conducting experiments using Enhanced blood.

Nothing indicated that any of the Enhanced in there were alive, but it was enough to light a spark.

I'm getting too good at this, Aria realized, when she found herself outside the building with a stolen van filled with gasoline.

There were only two guards in front of a chain-linked fence. They asked for her badge and she flashed one she'd pulled off of a Hunter. The guard who took it scanned it without really looking at her. It was lucky he didn't care much for his job - they looked nothing alike and Aria was fully prepared to brute force her way in.

Aria hung out in the van until the last few people left the building and the lights flicked off.

Committing arson was shockingly mundane work. She went around the building, dragging a little wagon behind her as she spilled one canister of gasoline after the other. The smell was starting to burn her nose.

Aria swung open the door to the last of a few freezers and couldn't help but stop. She's gone in expecting no living Enhanced, but she hadn't expected to see an egregious amount of her people mutilated.

"It seems they don't burn all of us as soon as we die," Aria said quietly. Her breath fogged before her - the only one breathing among a dozen bodies. When she managed to look away from one, her eyes would find their way to another. "They didn't let you rest. Even in death."

There was one on a metal table, young and sutured, limbs missing.

Aria swallowed, closing her eyes for a brief moment. It seemed wrong to see any of them like this. She let go of her wagon and searched the room, finding spare scrubs and threadbare blankets.

It was not wise of her to take her time in dressing them and covering those she could not find clothing for, but it felt wrong to rush it.

When Aria was done, she sat back on her heels for a moment and said a quiet prayer. She didn't know any of them or their beliefs - she couldn't even find documentation of their names - but she wasn't sure what else to do.

She was about to burn them, after all. She thought of the family she didn't have a chance to bury and all the Enhanced being burned to ashes at the hands of their killers and hoped that she was at least a little different from them.

"I'm sorry," she said, before rising back to her feet to finish what she came for.

Gasoline drenched their clothes and whatever else was left of them.

Maybe, hopefully, they would prefer this to what was being done to their bodies.

Aria left the freezer door open before she started a new trail of gasoline to the exit, leaving her wagon behind.

When she got out, she was as cold as she'd been in the freezer. She took off her glove and struck a match, throwing it into the mess she'd made.

Aria stood there for a while and watched to make sure it took. Windows shattered as it grew - glass falling to the ground like deadly drops of rain - and smoke was heavy in the air.

The flames reached out for the stars.

Aria stood in the glow, basking in the warmth that wrapped itself around her.

It truly was a lovely thing to watch the world burn.

✗

On her way out, Aria caught sight of the guards unconscious by the gates. She went still in the shadows, eyes darting around until they found a face she'd seen once before. He was looking around too, gun in hand.

She stepped from her hiding spot for him to see and he dropped his arm immediately, like he didn't consider her a threat to him.

"Did you do this?"

Ah, so that's why that radio station host sounded so familiar. She should have put that together earlier, even if they only met once.

"I did," she said, because there was no good reason to deny it.

Ian glanced around. "Are you alone?"

"No," she lied.

"Ah, that's good. Are you just about done here?"

"My friend's tying up loose ends nearby. We'll be fine after that. Why are you here?"

Ian smiled at that, reminding her a little of Klaus. "Doesn't matter. You beat me to it."

Aria nodded and moved to leave when he stopped her. "What do you want?" Aria asked tiredly.

Ian shrugged. "I want to work with you."

"You don't know the first thing about me."

"I saw you in that raid. I saw enough."

Aria didn't believe him. "You saw me doing something plenty of others were. Have you partnered up with any of them?"

"No."

"Well, why not?"

"They didn't save me."

Aria fixed him with a cold look that made him shift uneasily.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Absolutely not."

He sighed like the rejection was a burden. "I suppose it can't be helped since we don't know each other well. Won't you spend some time with me?"

"What makes you think that I can be trusted?"

"The extreme distrust you have for me," he answered. "Work with me."

"I do believe we just had this conversation, weatherboy."

He was shocked for a second, but he laughed. "Ah, if you know who I am, shouldn't you trust me a little more?"

"I know you have a hobby. That doesn't make you more or less trustworthy." Aria glanced back at the fire before meeting his eyes. "I won't work with you, but I have a request."

"Why should I do anything for you? What will I get out of it?"

"I don't know. We have the same goal. Isn't that enough, Ian?"

He grinned. "Will you work with me if I prove myself trustworthy?"

"No, I have no interest in working with anyone else at all. Besides, this is safer for both of us. We'll be less likely to lead the wrong sort to each other if we know less about each other."

"I'll try to win you over anyway." He hummed. "Will you give me some more of your time if I buy you some food? I'll feed your friend too."

"No, he doesn't like you. We wouldn't get anything done."

And though Ian hadn't agreed to anything just yet, Aria got the feeling she had found herself something of an ally.