Defector

I prowl around the enclosed room like a caged up animal. He can't keep me in here any longer. Never longer than twenty-four hours. That was the rule set in place by Gabe. Time was up ten minutes ago yet I still remain trapped in the office and my patience is dwindling. I feel a growl starting deep in my throat before it erupts into a yell as I slam my palm against the door in rage. I give it a few more hits and a good kick before I back away aggravated. I'll kill him if I'm in here any longer.

At least I'm in the office unlike Phoe who I'm sure is still locked in the old closet Gabe formed into an "isolation room". It was more of a punishment room. He'd sentence people there when they were acting out or going against his orders. I spent more time in there than anyone else. I know he mostly made it so he could put me somewhere when he was done with my bullshit. Only difference is I would've been out by now.

I hear Quela talking to someone. She's not too far from the office so she's definitely in the plant somewhere. I hit the door a few more times to hopefully draw her attention to the fact I'm still trapped in the room and I want out. I give her two minutes to act, but when the door doesn't open, I know she has no say in the matter.

I yell in frustration picking up one of the chairs in the room. I aim it at the door and throw it forcefully. The door doesn't break, but a large dent is made on the back of it. The sound was loud enough to draw attention to the door which is unlocked within twenty seconds.

The door swings open as Drax stands with his arms folded.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"It's been over twenty-four hours. You can't keep me in here anymore." I take a step toward him, but he blocks the way out.

"Watch me." He smirks reaching for the doorknob to close it again. I'm going to kill him.

"Drax!" Hunter comes up from behind and shoves him out of the way. "Let him out." He looks to me and motions me out. I don't hesitate feeling relief as soon as I'm out of there. "I held my tongue long enough. Your wannabe Gabe bullshit ends now. You are not in charge around here."

"People listen to me more than either one of you." He retorts. "Plus Gabe left me in charge in his place. I have a letter in his writing which states so."

"I don't care what he wanted. I want you to give me the keys." Hunter reaches for his pocket, but he moves away. "Give me the keys." He demands, but Drax steps away.

The blood in my veins begins to boil and I see red. I grab a fistful of Drax's shirt and slam him into the wall behind me. He thrashes in my grasp as I thrust his back against the wall one, two, three times before latching onto his skull and slithering my arm securely around his neck.

"Give me the goddamn keys." I snarl feeling no remorse if he dies here. "That is an order. NOT a request." He reluctantly gives me the set as I shove him away from me.

I storm by Hunter as I jam key after key into the lock of the door to the small room. I finally find the right key and bust the door open. Phoe lazily lifts her head and looks in my direction. She's at the edge of her seat leaning across the table she's attached to. She appears exhausted, but her eyes almost light up at the sight of me. I cross the room in an attempt to find the correct key to disconnect her from the table. She stares at me in silence anticipating her freedom. We both hear a click and the iron around her wrists pop open.

Before I can react, she reaches up wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace. I take her in and it feels like the Phoe I remember is here. The moment is short lived when her stance changes. I look over my shoulder as Drax appears in the doorway with Hunter not too far behind him. His eyes widen as Phoe lunges toward him taking him to the ground with her. She punches his cheek until her own hand begins to bleed and Hunter pulls her off of him.

"You motherfucker!" She screams as Hunter drags her out of the room.

I walk over his body and lock him in the room. I follow quickly after to find Hunter has seated Phoe in the training room. He explains to her that even though her actions were justified, it was not the proper form of action to take. Even he knows the things he's saying are bullshit, but he has to be "fair" as he says. She sits in silence clutching her bleeding hand as if the pain is finally catching up to her. He sighs looking to me hoping I have a solution to this mess.

"I'll take her." Hunter hesitates as my suggestion. "She can't stay here, not while he's here. And someone's got to watch her." She looks up at me slightly hurt I don't fully trust her.

"I don't know about this." Hunter looks at Phoe then to me before he pulls me away to discuss this without her listening. "Who knows what she's capable of or if she's working for someone. She might hurt you." I snicker at the thought and brush past him.

"You're coming with me. Grab your stuff." She quietly rises and walks out of the room.

Hunter looks at me unsure about the whole situation, but allows Phoe to leave with me. She's quiet the whole ride which is unusual for her, well what I remember at least. She holds her hand while resting her tired head against the window staring out at the setting sun. I admire her every few minutes with glances in her direction, but she remains still and silent.

We pull up to the same house she abandoned two years ago which gets some reaction out of her. A ghost of smile is present on her lips as she tries her best to hide it from me. She follows me up the stairs and into the house, but she remains stuck in the entrance. I turn around and question her with a look to which she responds with an apology before following me into the living room.

Kyra leaps off the couch and nearly tackles her to the ground with excitement. I stand back in amazement as this is the most energy Kyra has had in years. Kyra follows her to the couch where Phoe makes herself comfortable. She rests her head on Phoe's lap and begins to lick her swollen hand. Phoe winces and jerks her hand away which Kyra takes an offense to and walks over to me.

"Do you want me to bandage it for you?" I ask noticing she won't look at me as she answers with a slight nod.

I have her follow me to my room where I have the first aid kit in my bathroom. She has a seat on my bed looking slightly uncomfortable about it. I kneel in front of her and begin to tend to her hand. She has cuts along the knuckles of her right hand which appear swollen and are beginning to bruise. I carefully clear away any blood, both fresh and dried, which stained her skin before gently applying healing cream along her wounds. She whimpers pulling her hand away from me. I whisper an apology to her as she slowly offers her hand back so I can continue. I wrap her hand with a bandage that covers her knuckles, palm, and the back of her hand. I tie it off and let her know she's all set. She utters a thank you before walking out of the room.

I stare at the empty space on my bed where she just was for a few seconds before following her out of the room. She runs her good hand through her hair still appearing uncomfortable.

"It's weird." She finally speaks. "Being here." She sighs still not looking at me. I search my head for something to say, but only come up with an apology. "It's not a bad weird." She responds. "I just feel," she hesitates before finishing her sentence, "safe?" She shrugs turning toward me with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." She awkwardly looks away. "I'm okay with the couch." She mentions it hoping to end the conversation and get me out of the room. I offer a smile.

"Sleep wherever you're comfortable." I call to Kyra so she follows me back down the hall to my room leaving a simple goodnight in the air between us.

Kyra curls up next to me on the bed resting her head on my legs. I stare at the ceiling in pure darkness contemplating the events of the past few days. She's back and she's here. I waited two years for this moment, but why am I not happy? Maybe because she's not the same? I hoped she would have been happy to be back here with me, but I feel it's just the opposite.

She looks pained almost like guilt is eating away at her, but what could she feel guilty about? Leaving? She mentioned she felt safe here. If she felt so safe, why did she leave? I would've kept her safe and I think deep down she knew that. I can't help but wonder what would've happened if she did stay and I hate to think of what happened to her while she was gone.

***

I would've slept through it if Kyra didn't jump off the bed.

She jerks suddenly moving the entire bed which startles me from my sleep. She waits a second before leaping off the bed and running down the hall. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion before rolling over and closing my eyes to drift back to sleep. Although, Kyra has other intentions as she rushes back in the room whimpering and pacing. I sigh asking for her to be quiet, but she gets louder. I pop up and eye her down questioning her reason for acting like this. She looks at me then runs out into the hall. I assume she has to go outside and groan as I drag myself out of bed.

She runs down the hall, but doesn't go to the door, instead she runs into the living room. My heart sinks into my stomach. Phoe. Is something wrong? Did she run off again? I rush into the room to find Phoe asleep on the couch. I turn my gaze to Kyra wondering why she dragged me out of bed for this, but that question answers itself when Phoe winces. Kyra watches her intently sitting down next to the couch. Phoe's head jerks to the side as a faint grunt exits from her throat. She's still clutching her hand even in her sleep. Her breathing is unsteady and worrisome to me. I debate whether or not to wake her up, but she does it herself. She shoots her body upward startling me and Kyra. She runs her hand through her hair and rubs the back of her neck.

"Did I wake you up?" She whispers as if she's worried she might disturb the rest of the sleeping world. I shake my head staring at her with nothing but concern. "My roommate used to get mad at me for it." She shrugs. "I don't think he would've ever understood." She leans forward, hugging her legs. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to --"

"Yes," she cuts me off, "I do." She sighs finally looking at me. "I shouldn't have left. I thought I was doing the right thing. I mean, it felt like the right thing to do. Get as far away from here as I could before Casandra could ruin the one thing in this world that made me happy, but in actuality I was the one that ruined it. I ruined everything we had." I pinch the bridge of my nose not wanting to have this conversation in the middle of the night. "Why am I here, Logan?" That question catches me off guard. "Why did you allow me in here after everything?"

I remain quiet for a minute thinking over my answer. Why did I? Everyone at The Tunnel is skeptical. She couldn't possibly have come back to actually help us. She showed up randomly. She has to have ulterior motives which we still need to figure out. The offer to kill Casandra couldn't be the only reason she decided to stay.

"I guess because," I shrug, "I want to trust you." I fold my arms across my chest.

"You really don't trust me?" She sounds hurt.

"Part of me does." I sigh. "We have history, you and I. I know you came back here for a reason," whatever it may be, "and I'd like to believe it was partially for me." She opens her mouth to speak, but I hold my hand up to her letting her know not to respond to that statement. "Are you going to be okay?" I ask drawing attention back to the reason we're all awake right now. She sighs heavily giving Kyra a pat on the head.

"Yeah." She offers a smile, but my ear twitches sensing the lie she just told. "I'm sorry I woke you up. It won't happen again." Another lie.

I don't call her out on it, in its place I mutter goodnight to her walking back down the hall to my room. Kyra doesn't follow me, instead she makes herself comfortable on the floor next to Phoe. I crawl into my now cool bed and begin to warm it back up.

Phoe is a mystery to me. Not too long ago she was brushing me off and now she confesses she never should've left? I rub my temples trying to work all of this out in my head. Maybe she finally gave up the fake attitude she was fronting and decided to just be herself again. Maybe she still trusts me enough to explain herself. If she still trusts me, then maybe I should be more open to her.

One thing I'm sure about regardless if it's good or bad is I'm not losing her again. I've lost her twice now and I'd be damned if I lost her a third time. I don't think I'd be able to take it. Whatever way I can make her stay for good this time, I'm going to try my hardest.