Jax (Male P.O.V) 

Date: October 2, 2238

"I still don't think..." Nova said before falling quiet when I opened my dorm door. She and Troy watched me from their position beside our desks as I carried my basket full of freshly clean laundry inside. Neither of them so much as uttered a word, leaving an awkward silence to settle over the room.

Growing increasingly worried with each passing second, I set the basket at the foot of my bed and turned to face them. "Um...Did I interrupt something?"

"Not really. No. But uh..." Troy scratched his cheek, glancing briefly at Nova. "We need your help with something."

"Okayyy," I said, purposely elongating the word. "What is it?"

He doesn't answer me straight away as he goes to shut the door before returning to Nova's side. "Can you pull up the footage I recorded with your glasses so we can see it?" he asked, slipping the glasses from his pocket.

Wait, had he had them all this time and just watched me tear up our room searching for them?

I immediately crossed over to him and attempted to take them, but he snatched his hand back. "Did you have them this whole time?!"

"No-" he started, but Nova interrupted him.

"Nina actually had them as well as your hat..." her eyes shifted to the worn cap on Troy's head. "And I told Stacy I would return them."

"Oh, I forgot I asked her to hold them." I run my hand down my face. "And thank you for bringing them back. If not, I would be." I mimic the motion of slicing my neck with my thumb. "Dead."

They exchanged confused glances, but before they could ask the questions burning in their eyes, I clapped my hands together, smiling gleefully. "So, what did you record?"

Neither answered me in the time it took to sit at my desk and boot up my computer.

I spun around to face them. "Are you gonna answer me?" I questioned, lightly chuckling.

Troy sighed, removed my hat from his head, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Jax, we don't want to involve you any more than we already are. So is there any way you can just pull up the footage and maybe leave the room while we watch it?"

"No way! If you're in trouble, I'm going to help you!" I shot forward in my seat, my tone firm. "You've always had my back. Always! Without question. So now it's my time to have yours."

"Fine," he huffed, tossing my hat on my bed. "But don't blame me later if things go bad. Alright?"

I gave one resolute nod of my head. "So what is it?"

He handed me the glasses. "Just pull it up, and we can watch it together. Let you see for yourself."

"Alright, but it'll take a minute or two to upload. The battery's dead, and the memory's full. I'm honestly surprised you were able to record anything."

"What do you mean?" Nova asked, uncertainty flashing across her face.

"Nothing," I shrugged half-heartedly. "Just that I was recording all day since the beginning of the event."

Her eyes grow wide. "What?! Are you sure you recorded it, Troy?"

"Ye-yeah." he swallowed before muttering under his breath. "Fuck I hope so."

"We'll see in a moment once the footage finishes uploading," I said, a pang of regret rising in my stomach at the doubt I'd caused.

A moment later, a chipper ping from my computer speakers pushes the feeling aside.

"Is it done?" Nova asked, rolling Troy's desk chair over to my side.

"Yeah, should I play the last five or ten minutes?"

"Yep, that should be good," Troy answered, dropping onto my bed.

What kind of trouble did these two involve themselves in? My finger hovered over the mouse, dreading what I would see. Judging from their actions, I could tell it could be catastrophic. But I meant every word I'd told Troy. I would always have his back, even though I was apprehensive about the situation.

Inhaling deeply, I pressed the play button and leaned back in my chair. Nothing happened. We just sat in silence, staring at our reflections on the screen.

Nova arched an eyebrow in my direction. "Are you sure you pressed play?"

"It's been a minute, Jax," Troy leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Why is the screen still black?"

"I have no idea." I lazily shrugged one shoulder and reached for the mouse. "Let me fast forward a bit."

After jumping the video ahead, a flash of white appeared across the screen until it focused on a blurry guy standing in the middle of a white hallway.

I turned up the volume as the guy spoke. "You don't have a choice. Either you do it or else."

"Fine, fine. What if they start asking questions?" Someone outside the camera frame said.

The guy stalked forward, approaching the other man. But before he could answer the question, the video stopped freezing the man mid-motion.

"W-w-what happened, Jax?" The springs in my bed squeaked as Troy leaped to his feet.

My eyes were fixated on the screen, willing the footage to continue and hoping there was more, but the image remained the same.

"That's all. I'm sorry." The apology fell from my lips, trying to soothe the disappointment I could hear in his voice as I turned to look at him.

"Urgh!" He growled, burying his face in his palms. "Jax, why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."

I shrugged again. "Reflex."

He hummed.

"Do you want to tell me the rest?" I cautiously asked.

"Yeah, that guy says he will "take care" of anyone that asks questions," Nova answered, pointing at the guy on screen.

I swallowed at the words, take care. Everyone knew what those words meant in this context. There was no need to elaborate.

Troy slowly lifted his head and looked back at the screen. "Do either of you recognize him?"

"From his side profile?!" Nova questioned. "The guy never fully faces the camera, Troy."

"Exactly. We're looking for a white male with beady eyes, dark low-cut hair, and an average build that supposedly likes to make threats." I snarkily said, earning a sharp glare from Troy.

"He's right, Troy. And the other guy never steps past the doorway."

"I know he's right," Troy muttered, his gaze softening as he looked at her.

Wow. I hid my smile behind my hand at the sudden change in demeanor.

"Oh, yeah, Jax." Troy turned back to me. "It also sounded like he was trying to get the other guy to do something he didn't want to do."

"So, are we trying to find this guy and help him?"

"Yeah. And we need to figure out if there's any connection between him and Mary."

"Mary? Who's that?"

"The student... or erh, the mutant that attacked Ms. Jacob's."

My mouth falls slightly open. "She's a student here?!"

"Yeah."

"H-h-how did she become a mutant, then?"

"We don't know, Jax. That's what we need to figure out too."

"That should be easy. Let's just ask her roommate and retrace her last moments leading up to the event."

"We would, but we don't know her last name."

"Can't we just ask around?" I directed my question towards Nova since she had remained silent throughout my previous questions letting Troy answer me.

I could tell she had some reservations about doing this, and I didn't blame her since we all had something to lose by doing this if things went wrong.

"This is a small school." I continued. "And gossip travels fast. So someone must know."

"Yeah, but that can also be a bad thing." She said, "If people find out you're asking questions, it could bring trouble right back to you."

"So how do we go about getting that information, then?"

Creases formed across Troy's brow as he appeared deeply in thought. "If we can get access to student records, that should help us narrow it down."

"Okay, wait, wait, wait. We? I never said I would help play detective." Nova stood up and went over to the door. But just as she neared it, she turned back. "And besides, let's say you do find out that information. Then what?"

"Whatever we have to. I can't just let this go, Nova." Troy stalked towards her, trapping her between the closed door and his body. A soft gasp escaped her parted lips as she looked up at him with wide-blown eyes. "We need to work together. If we don't, then who will?"

"You and Jax can figure this out." Her voice came out low as she reached for the handle.

"No! We need you to." Troy grabbed her shoulders, holding her in place. His touch firm but far from punishing. "Listen, this is what we've trained for. Every single day. Anybody in this school would kill for this chance, and you're just going to pass it up?"

"Yes!"

"What about clearing my name? Are you just going to forget that?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she looked off to the side.

Troy lightly cupped her cheeks, turning her face back to him. "I need you to do this with me. I don't trust anyone else. Only you."

The sting of his words compelled me to ask if that included me, but before I could, he continued.

"So, are you in or out?" He asked as they stared deeply into each other's eyes, probably forgetting I was there.

I looked away from them, trying to give them a monocle of privacy, but the room wasn't that large. Troy was right. We needed her. But I got the feeling that Troy wasn't just talking about watching his back.

"Uh... um, should I just leave you two alone?" I fanned my face trying to cool my body from the sudden rise in room temperature.

Even a blind man could see the barely-restrained chemistry coming from them.

"Maybe..." Nova said.

Maybe? I quickly spun around in my chair to look at them. My chair squeaked, protesting the sudden movement. Realizing she wasn't speaking to me, the rapid pace of my heart slowed.

"Troy, I'm waiting for you to tell me you have an actual plan, and you're not just chasing after them because you have a death wish."

"I don't have a death wish. And I can't just ignore this and live my life as if this never happened."

"Okay." She licked her lips, sidestepped around him before returning to her seat. "I'm in."

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