This time, Anna didn't check me, and she didn't wrap Braken up again, either. She said that she was letting his wounds air out, and then she put the white creamy stuff all across his back, gently rubbing it into his gashes. At this point, Braken passed out again, nearly falling off of his chair, and Leo carefully lifted him up and set him down on the floor. He stayed by his side, running his fingers through his friend's shoulder-length messy hair as he lay there, his breathing no longer steady. It was rough and pained, and that scared me.

I sat down on the couch, watching them sorrowfully. I had thought he was getting better, but when Anna had taken the bloody bandages off, I'd realized how bad it actually was. Braken was good at hiding his pain, and I felt horrible. I wished I could've seen it earlier, last night when he was stumbling around in the dark.

"What if he gets worse?" Leo asked softly. "What are we going to do?"

"We need money," I said, already regretting what I was going to say. "That's why we're here. I can make some money, then when we need to leave, or if we need to take him to the hospital, we can pay for it."

"You're going to fight," Varien said.

Leo snorted a laugh. "You won't win."

"I can try," I said defensively.

"You don't win, you don't get paid," Eoin said softly. Again, I'd forgotten that he and Gus were still here. They were good at melting into the shadows and avoiding being seen.

"I'll get better," I insisted.

"You don't understand," Gus said. "You don't win, you don't fight for at least two weeks. That means you've got to win first-try without getting hurt if you have any hope of getting away from us soon."

My heart sunk as my plan was crushed to pieces. Even so, I wasn't going to give up. I had to show them that I was doing everything I could. Maybe I'd find that little smidgen of luck again.

"I'm still going to try," I said, and all four of them sighed.

"They'll find you that way," Anna said. "They have their ways."

"I know, and that's where the next part comes in," I said, smiling a little. "We - me, Braken, Leo, and Varien - need a hair cut."

"No," Varien said instantly.

"What's that gonna -" Gus started.

"If you change your hair, people have a harder time recognizing you." I turned to Anna again. "I know you know someone who can get this done for us."

"Joel ..." she said regretfully.

"Please," I said, meeting her eyes, but she dropped her gaze.

"Joel, you know I can't. I can't get caught up in your mess. Not again."

"But I made it up to you, didn't I?"

She gave me a sly smile, sliding up to the couch as slippery as silk. "I guess you did." She snaked her arm around my shoulders, and I wrapped my hand around her waist, pulling her close.

"Come on, do it for me," I said, smiling.

"Alright," she murmured. "But only if you make it up to me."

"Forget making up, why don't you GET A ROOM AND MAKE OUT ALREADY?" Gus shrieked.

I started to laugh, and Anna tipped her head up, her lips brushing mine as she spoke. "Shall we?"

"Not right now," I whispered back, letting myself smile again. It had been a long time since Anna and I had had any real privacy, and although I missed her for countless other things besides her kiss, I had to admit, she was a good kisser.

"Alright." She pulled back and stood up. "I'll get you guys an appointment with Laura. She'll probably get you in this afternoon."

"You're the best, Anna," I said.

"Of course I am. You deserve nothing but the best." She tossed a beautiful smile over her shoulder and opened the door. "Stay here today. Your fight, Joel, will be tonight."

...

Braken woke up a few hours before we left, enough time for him to recover a little as we wrapped him up and for me to fill him in. He thought my idea would work, and even thought it sounded fun. Leo didn't share the same opinion. Varien vanished into the hallway before I could talk to him.

I'd never met Laura before, but she was nice and promised to keep our visit a secret, and for that, I was grateful. I didn't want my plan to be ruined because she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"What are you guys looking for?" she asked. "Cut, dye, something else?"

"Leo, you're first." I sat him down in the chair and he stiffened, his fingers tight around the armrests. "Cut off about ... three or four centimeters. And then ..." I paused again, studying him. "How about blond? As light as you can get it."

"No," Leo said immediately.

"Why not?"

"Do I look like a blond to you?" he snapped.

"That's the point," I said, turning to Braken while Laura began to wash Leo's hair, ignoring his small noise of discomfort. "How 'bout you? What do you want to do?"

I didn't get an answer, because Braken was too busy staring at everything, his blue eyes wide in amazement. He wandered over to the shelves full of product and struggled to open a bottle with his bandaged hands.

"Braken, what are you doing?" I asked, gently taking it from him.

He just looked up at me in wonder. It was kind of fascinating, watching him look at everything with such interest, but it also left a sad feeling in my heart, knowing that he'd never seen any of this before. It was all so common, and yet, he had no idea.

He took a limping step and then froze, staring into the mirror on the wall. He moved a little closer, and then a little closer, and then raised his hand up. Sure enough, his reflection copied his movement, and he jumped back in fear. He quickly turned to me for help, pointing at the mirror.

"That's you," I said. "That's what you look like."

He looked into it again and his eyes widened. He touched the bruises around his eyes, and a sad expression came over his face. He brushed his bandaged fingers over the pale white scars, the most prominent being the one over his lip and the line across his nose, and then put the corner of his bandage in his mouth and chewed it nervously. He carefully touched the glass, and then his eyes hardened, starting to fill up with tears, and he glared at himself, with anger, sorrow, and shame.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

He just shook his head and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Don't you like seeing yourself?"

He shook his head again and covered his face with his hands. I tried to say something to comfort him, but he wouldn't listen. He just turned his back to the mirror and kept his hands up in front of his face in shame, as if he didn't want me looking at him, either.

A moment passed, and then he left the mirror, wandering as if to distract himself. I followed him as he wandered over to a poster, and then stopped as he pointed at the bright blue boarder, turning back to me with that childish grin on his face, though I could still see that sadness hidden in his expression.

"That color?" I asked in surprise, and he nodded. "Uh ... I don't think that's a good idea."

He frowned, and I could almost hear the question. Why not?

"We're trying to blend in, not stick out like a highlighter." I watched him grow confused again and sighed. "We don't want to glow," I said. "You'll draw attention to yourself."

He made a small noise that almost sounded like a sullen "oh." He was disappointed.

"We can do darker," Laura called to us. "And maybe just the tips, if he really wants it. There's plenty of people who have colorful hair like that."

I sighed again. "Alright, fine. Sound good?"

Braken nodded again with a smile, and I smiled back. Watching his face light up made me feel happy inside, like nothing really mattered, so long as he was smiling.

"Don't touch those!" Leo suddenly shrieked, jerking in his chair. We both looked over to see what the problem was.

"I have to take them out so that the color is even," Laura said patiently.

"No. Don't touch them," he demanded.

"Leo, what's wrong?" I asked.

"She's going to take out my braids," he said, his voice cracking. Braken shook his head wildly, his shoulder-length hair hitting me in the face.

"Leave them," I said, rubbing my nose. "They're special."

Laura frowned, but didn't say anything.

Bleaching Leo's black hair took longer than I thought, though she moved on to Braken while it was setting. She tipped his head back into the wash tub and he giggled as she soaked his hair.

"May I ask what the heck you guys were doing?" she asked as she washed Braken's hair with foamy bubbles. He looked more relaxed than I'd ever seen him, letting out sighs of relief as her fingers combed through his tangles.

"We're ..." I glanced as Leo, though he seemed to be occupied with glaring at his reflection. "We're refugees," I finally said. "From out East."

"The war's that bad?" she murmured.

I nodded and sighed. I wasn't really lying when I said we were refugees. I was, in a sense. My family had moved from our home in England years ago to get away from the spreading war in Europe, fearing that if we didn't, we'd end up being forced out or evacuated. I missed home, and being on the other side of the world was hard sometimes, but at least I could speak English, and at least I'd had my family. Many of the other war refugees didn't have either.

"British, right?" Laura said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Your accent gives it away."

"Yeah," I said softly.

Leo was staring at me now, the scabbing slashes across his face sending shivers down my spine. I wondered if he'd heard about the wars, or if he'd even heard someone talk like I did. The other Unnaturals in the games rarely spoke to each other, and it was hard to hear from inside the cages.

"Sorry to hear it," Laura said. "I hope you guys can go home someday."

At last, all three of us were finished. I had had my hair trimmed and bleached on top, and finally, it wasn't constantly in my eyes. Leo's was significantly shorter and a pale blond, and I almost didn't recognize him when he came up to me. Braken still wanted his long, so Laura had made it look nicer, cutting it so it brushed his neck and his side bangs fell over one of his eyes. She'd dyed those a deep blue, almost matching his eye color, but kept the rest his natural brown. He looked so pleased with himself, smirking and pointing at the blue in his hair.

"Yes, I know, I told you not to," I said, laughing a little. "You know what? It fits you."

"Be careful out there, okay?" Laura said as we left.

We walked in silence for a moment. "How are you feeling?" Leo finally asked Braken softly, as if he didn't want me to hear.

Braken tried to sign something, but with his bandaged hands, he couldn't do much. He tried again, but quickly became frustrated and shook his hands in anger. He found the knotted bandage on his left hand and grabbed it with his teeth, as he was unable to get a grip on it with his fingers, tugging on it until it loosened and he was able to pull the bandage away.

"Braken, don't -" I started, but he turned away from me and yanked it off, even as it stuck to his hand.

The sight made my stomach turn. At last, it was no longer bleeding, but the blisters were crusted over with blackish red scabs and dried blood. He flexed his fingers and made a fist, and some of the scabs flaked off and drifted to the ground. He poked his palm with his other hand, winced, and then grabbed Leo's wrist, as if proving to us it didn't hurt.

Leo immediately flinched away from him, and then quickly apologized. "It just ... feels gross," he muttered.

Braken gave him a look that broke my heart, and again, I could almost hear him speak as he signed something slowly. You don't want to touch me anymore?

"No, I just ..." Leo glanced at me, as if for support. "I'm sorry, I ... it'll get better. You'll heal, won't he?" He looked at me again, the first time he actually hadn't glared at me for a few days.

"Of course he will," I said, but deep down, I didn't believe it. I'd seen burns never quite heal, and I thought that maybe his hands would stay rough and mangled his whole life.

Braken noticed my look and seemed to read my mind, ducking his head and sticking his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"How's your back doing? Does it feel better?" Leo asked, trying to steer the subject away from his hands.

Braken just nodded and sighed a little. Neither of us believed him. We could both see the pained and stiffened way he walked. Leo tried to offer him some support, but he just pushed him away.

It was dark when we got back to Anna's place. People were still trickling in through the front doors, though we went around back again. Just before we entered, I pulled Braken off to the side. I could feel Leo's glare burning into my back, but I ignored him.

"Why are you afraid of Anna?" I asked softly.

Braken immediately dropped his gaze, his shoulders pulling in. He ran his tongue over his top lip, over the pale white scar there, and then he shrugged a little and quickly made a few signs.

"He says he recognizes her eyes," Leo said behind me.

"From where? The games?"

He shook his head no, biting his lip nervously. He signed something else, slowly and hesitantly, and Leo started to interpret. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't get the first part. The second - he says she has the eyes of a murderer."

Anna? "You're ... you're sure?" I asked in surprise and anger.

He nodded without hesitation, and then pushed me out of the way and followed Leo into the building. I couldn't bring myself to move, so I stayed where I was for another few minutes, thinking about Anna and what Braken had said.

When I finally pulled myself together enough to go up, I found Anna was waiting for me in the room, pacing back and forth. She looked up as I walked in, and said, "I don't think this is a good idea, Joel."

"What else am I supposed to do?" I asked her, almost defensively.

"I don't know," she sighed. "You're up in ten. Head down to the basement level. They'll fill you in."

"Thanks," I said, leaving the room again. I glanced back in time to see Leo whisper something to Anna, and then shrugged. It was probably nothing.