"It was my mistake, I should've known..." I heard voices around me as I came back into reality, though it wasn't occurring to me who these people were. There was a harsh glare that nearly blinded me as I tried to open my eyes, forcing me to keep them shut as my body adjusted to the world around me. It almost made me feel like I was in a hospital.

I hated hospitals.

My body moved before my brain did, as I shot up and swung my arm out, whacking whoever was closest to my reach in the chest. I didn't know exactly if I was screaming or not, but my heart was pounding and my breathing felt I short. I didn't even know why, and that was the worst part about it.

"Kid, I'm here, I'm here." I heard my dad's voice as I felt arms wrap around me, but my brain wouldn't process it. Everything was telling me that I was in danger, and I didn't know how to tell my body that it was fine.

After what felt like an eternity, I started to notice my surroundings a bit more, including how bad I had been shaking. I regained control of my breathing, the haze that was the room around me finally turning into discernable shapes. Looking around, I saw my dad sitting next to me, looking at me with the kind of concern that normally meant extra therapy sessions. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but by the way I felt, I doubted that I was going to be able to convince him.

"How long, how long was I, I out for?" My voice sounded hoarse as I spoke, and my brain didn't really want to let me say what I wanted to say, as I stumbled over my words.

"Like, after I came in, ten seconds?" I looked over as I heard someone that was not my dad speak, and saw Adriana sitting on the floor near us.

"Uh, and why are you here?" While I really shouldn't have tried to get angry or anything, with my headache and all, but I was not happy with the fact that she was just suddenly there.

"Because I needed to talk to you, but now I guess we can talk at your house." Adriana crossed her arms, giving me a smirk that rivaled the ones from the popular girls in movies. I began to understand what wanting to smack the look off of someone's face felt like.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I'm busy." I purposely gave Adriana the fakest smile I could, before gently pushing my dad's arms off of me and standing up.

Big mistake. I had underestimated just how much energy had been sapped by my little episode, and as soon as I stood up, my legs buckled underneath me, and I started to fall back to my knees. And just who had to get up and catch me before I hit the ground?

Adriana.

"Okay Mr. Bandoni, I'm taking her to my cousin's car, see you later," she yelled as she dragged me out of the room, as if she wasn't currently kidnapping me in front of my own parent.

"Can you stop? Let go!" I tried pushing away from Adriana, but she held on and pulled me out of the studio and to an old, beat-up car, that for some reason was three or four different shades of red.

"Dee, Giovanna passed out, so we have to take her home." Adriana waved to the driver as she threw me in the car. I would've been a little more panicked, since I didn't know the driver, but I was too annoyed and in pain to worry about that small detail.

"Would've been nice if you asked my opinion first," I mumbled, curling up in the seat and leaning my pounding head against the headrest. While I wanted to throw myself out of the car, I didn't think Adriana or her cousin would appreciate it.

I kept my gaze out of the window as Adriana's cousin drove. It was only a few blocks, I could've walked it if I wanted to. Really was just a waste of gas. But, I didn't have much of a choice, as the trees and buildings rolled past me. Some of it didn't even look real, more like a movie. The way the few people that were out moved, the way the buildings stood. It made it seem like everything was perfect.

Meanwhile, I just passed out and was now stuck in a car with the girl that seemed certain to hate me for no good reason.

No one spoke in the car until it stopped in front of my apartment building, seeming to have no intention of staying there.

"Are you two sure you're okay by yourselves? I can stay if you want." Adriana's cousin turned around to face the two of us, her eyebrows hunched in either confusion or worry. Not sure which one would've been worse.

"I'm fine, I just need to take a nap." I glared quickly at Adriana as I spoke, to make sure she got the hint that I didn't want her company. I knew she understood, from the way she rolled her eyes, but she grabbed my arm as I took off my seatbelt anyway, giving me an obviously fake, gentle-looking smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's okay. Come on, Gi." She gave my arm a slight tug, and with my annoyance, I felt the flicker of my knife-aura around my hand. Adriana didn't seem to care, though, as the two of us walked into my apartment building, her hand still gripping my arm like she didn't trust me.

Of course, she still didn't trust me.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" As soon as we were inside and out of sight from Adriana's cousin, I yanked my arm out of her grip, glaring at her. "I don't need your help."

"It's called, making sure that my friend's friend doesn't go and kill herself before my friend can see her friend again?" I blinked my eyes a few times as she said that, trying to process what I just heard.

"What?" I stopped, but then realized that I was trying to engage in an actual conversation with her and shook my head, bolting to the stairs.

"What I'm saying is, Nadia's already been through so much, and you getting hurt is what will send her off of the edge." I could heard Adriana's footsteps coming up the stairs behind me, but I didn't turn around to look at her "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for her."

"Well, I'm perfectly fine, all alive and well. I haven't changed at all, and I think I'm handling myself just fine without you. So, just save my butt if I get kidnapped or something, and other than that," I stopped, turning to look at Adriana, "leave me alone."

"The Giovanna from six months ago wouldn't have confronted a member of the Brotherhood of Liberty during a demonstration. Or would have fought off an assassin." Adriana grabbed my arm again, nearly sending me into a faceplant with the stairs.

"How do you know about the assassin part? Like, you're talking about the Kondo sisters, right?"

"Word travels fast when you're in the group that I'm in." Adriana pulled her arm away, giving a sigh before pushing past me. "I'll be checking up on you later. Just, eat something, please."

I watched her walk up the stairs, her long, dark hair trailing behind her like a goddamn model. While at times I'd say that must've been a curse, to just have an aura that attracted attention of anyone who passed by, I couldn't help but envy her a little for it.

My self-depreciation ended, however, when I walked into my apartment, just to hear the phone ringing.

Great.

There was always a rule between me and my dad that, in hindsight, made absolutely zero sense, but it was a rule: whenever the phones rings, no matter who, you must answer. It was mainly because some of my dad's friends sometimes had to call from numbers not in our system, or hide their numbers, but it just got annoying sometimes, especially if you walked in and the phone was ringing.

I was a stickler for my dad's rules though, so I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid," it was Roopal, "was wondering if you were home. I just, had a question for you."

"And?" I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't a solicitor. Those were funny to mess with, if they were an actual person, and not a robot. But, Roopal wasn't the worst person to talk to.

"When was the last time you got to see Nadia?" Suspicious question, but I remembered how Nadia told me about how she was in contact with some of the Supervillains at the place she was staying at. Made me less suspicious for a moment, but then only made me more suspicious, when I began to think about it.

"Uh, maybe a month ago, or whatever? I don't know, Greenstein brought me." I started to pace around my apartment, since it was illegal in my mind to it while talking on the phone. "Why?"

"Well, first, I wanted to make sure Nadia wasn't sneaking out. Again. And second, I was wondering if you wanted to visit her again."

"Not now, I need a nap." I thought about also eating for a moment, but then I decided against it. Mostly because Adriana told me to.

"Of course not now, but maybe in, like, four days, kid. If you go there at five on, yeah, four days from now so, Thursday, Nadia should be able to get to the roof and talk to you." Now, if I were a normal human being, I may have questioned setting up a possibly illegal meeting over the phone, but I was a teenager, and according to Greenstein, therefore an idiot, so I didn't think about the possibility of getting killed or arrested.

"I'll be there."