A/N: HERE HERE HERE I UPDATED SORRY

Tam stared down at the still form of Keefe, thoughts flashing through his head.

You hate him Tam.

That's the way it's always been.

He's reckless, attention-seeking, and ugh, his hair.

You can't.

It's dangerous to care about people.

You know that.

You learned that the hard way.

He's betrayed you more than once.

You can't get hurt again.

But he's cold.

And you know how that feels.

So gingerly, Tam let Keefe hold him close, and closed his eyes, feeling the warmth pass from him to Keefe's frigid form, rubbing his hands to maintain the warmth.

And it was tolerable.

Rather shockingly tolerable.

Tam didn't really have a preferred temperature as most people might assume, and this was decently okay.

He wasn't a fan of being hot, nor being cold, but this.

It was ideal.

Even though, or maybe, BECAUSE of someone.

It caused Tam's brain to shudder, the part of him that wanted to hate Keefe so badly, so so SO badly, but he knew that if this kept up, he might not be able to.

It hurt him to see others hurting, but some people deserved it.

People that didn't deserve to be named, to be thought about.

Forcing the thought from his head, he focused upon generating friction to warm them up.

Then, another thought popped into his head.

Is this what Sophie and Biana were talking about? Spooning?

Holding back a gag, Tam forced his body to stay where it was, knowing that Sophie would kill him if he let Keefe die, and it was wise not to anger an Inflictor.

The important part is to keep him warm.

Or he'll die.

Which, to be honest, wouldn't be HORRIBLE, but...

Tam didn't let his thoughts linger anywhere else, focusing on the task in front of him.

It was a long 23 hours, shifting his body around to evenly warm Keefe, to keep the heat flowing, to not give up.

He was terrified of going to sleep, afraid of waking up to find a corpse next to him instead of an elf beside him.

So he didn't sleep.

When Keefe finally stirred, sleepily blinking, Tam was chewing on the inside of his lip, a habit he picked up at Exillium, tasting blood each time, the pain forcing him to stay in the reality he needed to be in.

"You're going to live. Good."

Keefe stared up at Tam, who stiffened at his gaze.

"What."

"You saved me."

"I had to. I didn't want to live with a corpse. Freezing cold."

Tam's skin was burning hot, and it was comforting for Keefe, who longed to snuggle up to him, but knew that any chance of goodwill with Tam would instantly disappear.

"I thought you hated me."

"I did. I still do. But I'm about to pass out, so goodnight. Don't do anything I would do."

Closing his eyes, Tam slumped over, having been awake for over a day without sleeping, trying to prevent someone from dying, which is really a stressful situation.

Tugging his cloak around him, Tam curled up into a ball, and Keefe watched, still half-asleep as Tam basically passed out.

"Don't do anything I would do. Tam would NOT cuddle with me, and he would try to ignore me, so I'm going to cuddle with him."

Sleepily, Keefe wrapped his cloak around himself and Tam, falling asleep.

His last fading thought tried to figure out what was wrong with the situation.

"Sophie?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She blinked her eyes, getting used to the darkness around her, but as soon as she moved her head, it hit a switch, turning on a blaring light.

"Well, look who's awake."

A familiar voice alerted Sophie that she was not alone in the room, but when she tried to look around, raising her torso, a sharp pain in her hands and legs kept her pressed down.

Biting her lip, Sophie refused to cry out, tasting blood.

"'Lane, she's awake."

"Excellent. Time to test the waters."

Unable to move, but able to hear movements around her, Sophie closed her eyes, focusing on the noises around her.

The rough scraping of wood upon stone echoed in the room, and quick steps approached where Sophie was laying.

"Make him move her."

The voice was harsh, and Sophie prepared to feel pain, clenching her entire body.

"Grady, Sophie's hurt. Help her get up from the bed. She might cry and scream, but you are helping her. She must sit up so you can give her the medicine that Edwin left for Sophie's pain. There are no sedatives, specially made for Sophie. You may have to Mesmer her."

Grady?

Knowing that she must not give in, Sophie refused to react to the name, this was not her father.

The Neverseen had control over him.

This was not her father.

But she had to look.

Cracking open her eyes, she saw Grady's face in the distance, smiling gently.

"Sophie. Here. I have something for you. Please, get up."

He was so close.

She just wanted to see his face again, that tenderness and her heart pounded, reaching for her adoptive father.

"Sophie. Get up."

Gritting her teeth, Sophie fought her instincts, knowing that it would hurt, so much.

But against her will, her body began to move, Grady's insistent voice calling her, forcing her body to move.

She bit back a scream, as sharp points pierced her forearms and calves, feeling the blood pool between the cuts, the warm trailing down her skin.

"Tell Sophie she can scream. Make her scream."

"Sophie, darling, it's okay. Daddy's here. You can scream."

The force of air behind her lips stayed there.

"Scream. It's okay. Scream."

Power was behind Grady's voice, and her lungs forced it from her, a whisper of a breath, Sophie refusing to draw in more air for anything else.

"Drink."

A cool object was placed against her lips, the mouth to a bottle, and her lips parted automatically, but Sophie could not close them.

The cool liquid came gurgling into her mouth, Sophie's tongue allowing entrance, though her mind screamed STOP.

She tasted Youth, with bitterness, and though her brain fought so terribly against it, she could not throw it back up.

"Sophie. Stop fighting it. Let it hurt."

And pain enveloped her, filling every space in her body, taking over her head and heart, throbbing with intense pain.

She screamed, thrashing against the restraints, drawing blood that streamed over her hands and feet, coloring them a dark red.

"Alina. Let go of your control. We'll see how strong your hold is on him. On the standby."

"Release."

Faintly in the recesses of her mind, Sophie felt a thump, followed by a hollow moaning, and a choked "So-phie."

But mid-sentence, the voice cut off, replaced with apathy.

Over and over again, each time the word was Sophie, getting more tired but angry.

"Alina. Hold."

"Grady, Sophie needs your help. Tell her to get up."

The voice was weak in it's reply, and close to the floor, but the meaning was strong.

"No. Stop breathing."

Three choking sounds and thumps later, and Sophie felt the burning pain recede, a crash and a moan, and there was a faint glow past her sight.

"SOPHIE."

A flash of coolness and refreshing water circled her wrists and toes.

"Go find Keefe and Tam. Follow the blinking lights. Hurry."

"Okay. Take care Dex."

Dex?

Was she found?

A/N: ACK! I UPDATED! SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG, UNMOTIVATED. THANK YOU FOR WAITING!!