****THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER, THERE IS ONE MORE AFTER THIS****

The bright lights and white walls are almost too much to bear. Voices, threats, and screams echo across my ears through the memories of my mind. Images flash before me of dark days and cold's grasp. Where everything was lost and broken, every scar on my body seems to burn at once with the memory of their origin. I haven't taken five steps before I'm shaking so bad that I can barely stand. I lean against one wall as my body and mind force me to recollect every scratch, bruise, and scar I ever received.

Aiden.

I push back against the onslaught that is my own mind.

Aiden.

Aiden.

Aiden.Aiden.AidenAidenAiden....his smell fills my nose and I recall our time together in the cabin; the scent of him, the smell of wood and pine. Safe haven. Aiden kissing my scars. Kissing my lips. My heart stills. My mind quiets. I take shaky breaths and I stand straight. I run my hand along my arm, feel the disfigurements. I will not fear their origin. Instead I will relish in what they have brought me.

The facility is a maze. With little to no discernment between hallways and turns I am soon lost and every sound I hear I jump, expecting a Handler or soldier to pop around a corner. I curse myself for not using the water to my advantage earlier. I could have moved silently through these halls and found Aiden before jumping head first into this maze. I hear a door shut up ahead. I grab the nearest door and push it open. I press my back to it and listen and footsteps pass a recede down the hall.

I let out a breath and look around. I'm in someone's living quarters. There is a bed which has been hastily made and clothes in a black hamper. I push he closet door aside and find myself face to face with crisp black suits. This room belongs to a Handler. I go back to the door and open it a crack, the hallway is clear. I go to the next door and open it, it's another room. This one belongs to a woman and a doctor no less. There are two white coats hanging in the closet. I grab one from off the hanger and pull it on. I hope people won't look too close, people tend to see what they expect to see and I hope that holds true in this place. I run my hand through my hair and look at myself in her mirror. It would be better if I had a pound of makeup concealing my face, but this will have to do.

I slip back into the hallway and follow voices whenever I hear them. Finally I start coming across a more active area. A few times there are guards escorting a prisoner somewhere. I look into their faces and I see a mixture of raw human instinct. It's the truest form of fight or flight. They are not blindfolded, they are simply scared and hurt and sometimes I see a spark of true fury. I want to reach out to them, help them. But I remember I am here for a man. I must find him first, what comes after, I do not know.

I turn down an empty hallway when someone calls out to me from the other end. He is a doctor, in a white coat like mine, I continue forward, towards him. I decide it's better than fleeing and looking guilty. "Excuse me-" He stops, I don't. I push him back into the room he's just come from and lock the door behind me. He backs against the nearest wall, eyes wide, face pale. "Oh my God." He says and I grab his collar pull him forward and slam him back against the wall. It's the same doctor that oversaw my experiments when I was here. The same face, the same voice, the same smell. "Oh my God."

"God is the least of your problems right now old man." I slam him against the wall again. I've never known such burning fury in the pit of my stomach.

"How...?" Any second now I expect him to pee his pants.

"Doesn't matter how, you're going to help me or so help me I'll put you in the hospital where you'll eat out of a tube for the rest of your life."

"Help you do what?" He's shaking all over.

"Where is Aiden?" I demand.

"Who?"

I slam his head against the wall so hard there is a small spot of blood when I pull him away. He looks like he wants to vomit. "Don't play stupid. He was their pet since he was a boy, I know you know him. Now tell me where to find him."

Only now do I notice we're not alone in the room. I let go of his collar and let him slip to the ground where he cowers like a whipped puppy. I walk over to the table and look at the girl who lies there, oblivious to the world. She has pale hair and pale skin and yet she is unblemished and perfect. I put my hand next to hers and marvel and the difference. Is this what I looked like when I came here? Untouched and innocent?

"Take her off whatever drugs you have her on, right now." I point to the IV in her arm. The doctor struggles to his feet and his hands fumble on the machine and IV before he manages to get it out of her arm. I reach across the table and grab his collar again. I bag holding the IV bursts and I hold it above my exposed hand, the doctor eyes it wearily. "Now, whether you like it or not, you're going to show me where they have Aiden." I push the IV against his skin, and travel through his mind.

I left both the doctor and the girl in the room unconscious. I'm pretty positive the girl will wake up before he does. I wish I could do more for her, but Aiden is my first priority. I have to find him, and thanks to the doctor, I know exactly where they have him. And it's exactly the one place I wished never to lay eyes on again.

I follow the map from the doctors' mind and soon I stand before two double doors. I push them open with shaky breaths and a strong heart. The temperature drops immediately and the walls change to concrete and dim lighting. A soldier passes me, doesn't give me a second look. My eyes trail along the doors with silver plates and numbers. I'm not sure which cell I was given, and I don't care to find out. I walk until I come to a light metal door with a small window. How many times was I dragged through this door? I'm not sure I could ever count. I push it open of my own free will and step into the orgin of my scars. But this is also the place where I first laid eyes on Aiden. So there is a part of me that cannot hate it fully.

The door shuts behind me with a soft echo. I shiver and take a moment to steady myself, to resolve the turmoil. I look around the room and come to terms with everything that happened here and everything that may come to pass here. The room smells of blood, sweat, metal, and water. I have to swallow back the acid that burns in the back of my throat. Chains hang from the ceiling exactly as I remember, two stair cases leading up to three doors and a body hanging limp in a set of those chains. I do a double take. There is a man, strung up in chains, he's shirtless, jeans are dirty, bloody, hurt, Aiden.

I run, because I don't have the self control not to. I grab onto his hips and turn him to face me. "Aiden." I whisper his skin is hot under my hands. He's covers in blood and sweat and dirt. He looks terrible.

His eyes flicker open and he pulls his head up to look at me. I know his shoulders are on fire. I know his body is in pain. I've been there. I've done it and yet I still slap him across the face. The momentum causes him to swing, so I grab his hips again to stop him. He looks stunned and confused. I lean up and kiss him on the lips. They taste of blood.

"Adie?"

"No one pushes me off a fucking cliff without consequences do you understand me? The next time you try a stunt like that I'll freeze you to a tree and make you wish you were never born."

"Adie...what are you doing here?" He's not processing things fast enough, so I pull water from the troughs along the wall and splash hit over his face. It brings him to life a little bit and he shakes his head and blinks a few times.

"You're really here, Aide why?"

"Why do you think?"

He closes his eyes. "Get out of here, please Adie, run."

"Never again." I tell him.

Clapping. I spin, I shield Aiden with my body and watch and a man in a crisp black suit descends the stairs on the left. Ten soldiers stand with guns pointed at me from the balcony. The door from which I entered swings open, I hear heavy footfalls. I don't even bother to turn around.

Mr. Handler slowly makes his way down each step. He's relishing in the moment. I pull off the white coat and throw it aside. My vision flips but I keep my eyes on Mr. Handler, I discreetly pull the water from the troughs and over the floor. "Aiden, it seems you owe me a hundred dollars for loosing this little bet. But I won't hold you to it, I know you don't have any money." He smiles, but there is no warmth. My world is collapsing and rebuilding only to collapse again. Adrenaline pulses through my veins and while I am filled with fury there is a deep rooted fear that holds my feet to the ground.

He is just a man. I remind myself. He is just a man.

Just a man.

My scars begin to burn again, the memories bubbling just under their surface.

Just a man.

"Let him go," I say it strong and clear and my voice reverberates around the room. I am surprised at my own assuredness.

"I think not."

"You don't want to fight me, trust me, you'll lose this time."

"You're sure of that? I notice the water spilling over the troughs Adie, I'm not blind. You think you can win this fight with the water that you so dearly love, but you're wrong. We are stronger than you."

"Liar, without your tranquilizers, without your drugs you are powerless."

"I saw the news, I heard you were shot."

"I was."

"Tell me Adie, did it hurt?"

"Yes."

"And yet they didn't use water to hurt you. You see, there are other forces in this world Adie beside your precious water. Sure, fight us, you might take me out, maybe even a few of my men, but you will fall, because deep down I still control your mind. And that child...is the most powerful weapon of all."

"Bullshit, you don't control anything. You didn't control me before, you don't control me now. You'll never control me because my strength doesn't come solely from the water like you believe. It comes from the memories of my parents and what they believed in, what they died fighting for. It comes from Aiden and all the other Misfits, it comes from ordinary people who actually have souls and see me for who I am; a human being with a gift." I take a deep breath, refusing to be deterred when I've come so far. "And so help me I'll die right here right now if it means I die free. I'll die fighting for what my parent believed in, what I believe in. That someone can have the courage to stand up against their fears and make a better world for themselves. That being a Misfit doesn't mean one isn't human."

I'm breathing hard, the water spills across the floor like a miniature flood. I'm ready for the moment, ready to protect Aiden, ready to fight. Maybe Mr. Handler is right, maybe I'll only get a few of them before they kills us, but I trust the water, I trust myself. I have to believe in something and right now I hold onto the truths that continue to invade my mind.

I am a Misfit. I am in love with a boy. I have the courage.

Gears grind and moan and Aiden groans behind me. I spin only to find that he's moving away from me. I look to the ceiling, the chain are attached to a device that is moving Aiden to the other side of the room, towards the line of guards with guns. "No!" I the water rise from the ground it freezes the mechanism where it stops halfway across the room.

"Adie!" Aiden shouts and I turn just in time to meet a bullet from Mr. Handler's gun. It hits my shoulder and I wheel backwards as the world slows and the ground greets my body.

My voice isn't strong enough. I'm crying. I'm screaming for help and yet no one comes. Help. Please help. My mother's face looks down at me, without emotion, without any trace of emotion. I'm scared, so scared. Please help. Help.

"NO!" A familiar voice is yelling, full of rage and sorrow. He sounds like an animal and yet his large hands are far gentler and soothing than any I could have wish for. Father. I quiet and look into his face. Brown eyes and long dark, wild hair. "Shh..." He holds me close to his chest. He kneels by my mother, she still hasn't moved. My father's body shakes as he touches her face, smearing red across her cheek. He's shaking all over and yet I feel utterly safe and perfect in his arms.

"Over here, we found them, over here!"

Loud shouts and louder noises fill my ears and I am afraid again. I scream and my father tightens his grip and stands to his feet. He walks into a river and when he turns back around my mother is still lying on the rocky shore of the river. Lights and silhouettes of men fill the trees around us. But before they break through the trees the water raises around us, cocooning us in a bubble of ice. The outside world looks distorted through its lens so I look at my father. He's looking straight into my eyes. He kneels in the water, feel its cool embrace through my blanket and clothes. Tears stream down his face, he's still shaking.

"My sweet River, this is my last gift to you. May this memory come to you, when you need it the most-" He chokes on his words and continues slowly through his tears, "-may it give you some kind of strength and hope. I'm sorry...sorry that we couldn't give you more." His tears fall onto my face, "But we loved you kid, the time we had with you, we wouldn't trade it for the world." He kisses my forehead, my cheek, "I love you. Be strong, never fear the water River, and don't ever fear it. Find strength in it, but most of all find strength in you. You will discover you are capable of things unheard of, your mother and I tried to spread this discovery, but now it's up to you." He kisses me again, "Never give up River. Never, they may try to strip you of your identity; they will make life hard, but never give up. Don't ever stop fighting for what you love." He places me in the water; he lets me go and stands up. His face gets further away, but the water holds me as if I were its own child. "I love you." The water carries me away as the glass bubble shatters; the world is full of shouting, full of fire, full of noise.

I open my eyes and roll to my feet. I look at my shoulder, just a graze but it's bleeding like I've been shot six times. Mr. Handler is walking towards Aiden, a gun in one hand, a knife in the other. "Handler!" I shout as loud as I can. He's just feet away from Aiden. He turns to look at me. "You missed," I say pulling water off the ground until it pools around my hands. I look like my father.

"I thought I shot you," he says smoothly.

"Not well enough, apparently."

"My mistake," He turns slightly, looks at the knife in his hand then smiles. "I'll finish you in just a moment." He brings the knife up and moves towards Aiden.

"NO!" I reach my hand out, grabbing across the room reaching for Aiden. I watch the knife slowly descend towards Aiden's exposed chest. Something deep inside of me reaches across the space, a power as strong as the ocean; silver ignites my vision and fills the room. "STOP!" I feel the knife as if it were in my own hand, so I drop it.

I watch the knife fall from Mr. Handlers hand as if it were on fire. He doesn't move, the knife stays on the ground. My heart is in my ears and the world is silver. The entire world is silver. Water, the world is made of water. I've been blind, so very blind. I see it in the air. Feel it inside of my own body. I feel it in the sweat coming off the soldiers' forehead; I feel it inside of Mr. Handler. I feel it inside of Mr. Handler...

You will discover you are capable of things unheard of.

I feel his skin as if I were wearing it, only when I move it's my skin that moves, but in my mind, when I take a step back, he does also. "Sir?" The soldiers are confused, they stand in their lines with their guns raised, but they aren't sure of their orders.

I breathe deep; the water is in all of them. The water is in all of us. We are water. I control water. I control myself. I control them. I am wearing a dozen different skins. I drop the guns. I step back and I don't say a word. They stand like frozen puppets along the wall. I pull the water from the troughs and I wrap it around their bodies. I close my fist and the water freezes them in place. I drop Mr. Handler's gun, it clatters to the floor and he takes another step back. The water rises from the ground, wraps around his body and freezes him in a cold prison. I drop to my knees and the world is full of color once more. Everyone starts shouting at once, disoriented, and scared they look to Mr. Handler who is cursing and yelling, his face is red and he strains against the ice that will not break.

I get back to my feet, my body shakes as I step towards the middle of the room. My heart is crashing against my chest. I pass Mr. Handler without a glance. I reach up and unchain Aiden's hands; he leans heavily only as his weight transfers back to his legs. His blood smears on my shirt but I kiss him gently on the lips.

"What did you do?" He asks.

"I don't know." And I laugh, because I don't know what else to do, because I'm afraid of myself, afraid of the satisfaction of controlling another human being. I turn to Mr. Handler, he's still sputter curses. "Shut your mouth," I say firmly, "Because I'm no listening to it anymore." And to my surprise, he does. He just gaps at me like a fish out of the water.

"You can hunt us, you can send whoever the hell you want after us but you will never catch us. Mark my words and remember them carefully, I will kill you if I see your face again. I'm going to bring this facility to its knees, and then I'm going to walk away. I'm going to live my life as I choose it because I have that right. You've spent your life controlling others, well tell me, how did it feel to be the one controlled?"

"How?" He asks, fear laces his voice, as it should, I'd be afraid if I were in his shoes.

I smile. My parent's voices and faces fill my head, "They called me a river, but I was born in the ocean." Aiden and I walk slowly to the door, Mr. Handler shouts at our backs, demanding explanations, demanding to be set loose. We don't turn around. We walk out the door and allow it to close behind us. We won't ever look back.