It was dark, and Joel had left suddenly with Aaron, for reasons Leo didn't understand - he didn't particularly care, either, unless it would somehow affect him or Braken.

He was up on the roof now, unable to sleep. His body begged for rest, but he couldn't relax. He didn't like this place. Besides, every time he closed his eyes, he saw someone burning, or felt Howell's tight, possessive hands. No, he'd stopped sleeping after that.

Now, his nights were mostly passed by staring - staring at anything. For now, it was the stars. He'd missed seeing the stars. They were so beautiful up there, shining brightly. No one was close to them, and yet they were part of something far bigger than themselves. He wanted to be a star.

He shivered in the chilly wind, and formed a ball of warm fire in his hand, holding it close in an effort to warm up. Words to an old song filled his mind, and he began to sing softly to himself.

"My shadow is my only friend,
Only one on whom I can depend.
He travels in every step I take,
Never condemns me for my mistakes.
He can see the pain the lives in me."

"That's pretty," someone said, and Leo jumped. The owner of the voice poked his head above the roof edge, revealing dark eyes and bright blue hair. "Hey. Can't sleep, either?"

"Is this your spot?" Leo asked quickly, starting to stand up. "I'll leave, then. Sorry."

"No, you can stay." The stranger's expression was hard to read. "As long as you don't mind me being up here with you."

Leo started to move, but then hesitated. "Alright," he said slowly, relighting the fire in his palm.

"You're Tristam, right?"

He glanced over. "Yeah."

"Is it ... Leo. That's your name." The stranger smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you, Leo. I'm Sky." He held out his hand, and Leo awkwardly shook it.

"Are you an Unnatural?" he asked softly.

"Gifted, yeah." Sky nodded and looked up at the stars.

"Let me guess," Leo said, rather cynically, "something to do with air or the sky."

Sky laughed. "No, actually, though that'd be nice. My Gift is controlling the water." He rested his hand on a patch of ice on the roof, and it slowly traveled up his arm and formed into little shapes. "I can't change the phases, though. If it's ice, it'll stay ice."

"That's cool," Leo muttered, returning his gaze to the camp below.

The stranger next to him remained silent, playing with the ice as if it was a soft ball of dough. Leo glanced over at him multiple times. Why was someone so comfortable around him so soon? Nobody was like that. Everyone had seen him in the games. They knew how deadly he was. The only one who didn't seem to care was Braken, and he'd fit in at the Refuge almost instantly. Why was it that the silent boy could get along with others easier than he could? It was infuriating.

He hated being mad at Braken. After all, the younger Unnatural could tell almost instantly when he was, and it wasn't his fault. Deep down, Leo knew it was his own. It was his own fault.

Leo glanced over at Sky again, only to meet the other's gaze awkwardly and blush in embarrassment. "So where'd you come from?" he asked, not necessarily because he wanted to know, but he felt he needed to say something.

"Same place as everyone. Broken families and shattered dreams. And you - you're from the games."

You're from the games. He was from the games. He'd let the games take him. He'd submitted to them, to Howell, and let them shape who he was. Braken, on the other hand, wasn't "from the games." He was his own person. He never let anything stop him. Leo wished he could be like that.

He wished he could wipe them out. Take out every last human being on the planet for taking him like that, for torturing him and abusing him and assaulting him for their own entertainment. They were so worried about the Unnaturals becoming monsters that they become monsters themselves.

"Why don't you do something?" he suddenly demanded, the words spilling out of his lips before he could stop them.

"What?" Sky asked curiously.

"You've got a camp full of Unnaturals. Why don't you do something? With this many people, we could destroy the games. We could ..." Leo threw his arms out in exasperation, shouting up to the sky. "We could kill every last one of them! We could make a world free from those murderous humans and live in peace and prosperity! Why don't you do something?"

Sky frowned, his expression troubled. "Leo, I don't think you know -"

"Know what?" He started to laugh, his voice hard as steel. "You've never been in those games! You have no idea what they're like! You've been living a paradise compared to me! You've never been kidnapped off the street for having a power you were born with and forced into a cage for animals to be treated like an object. You've never lived seven years of your life half in fear of death and pain and half in anticipation, praying that they'll finally kill you. You've never been dragged helplessly out of that cage and tied to a bed to be left to the mercy of a sick, perverted man as he slashes your face and bruises your body, and laughs while doing it. You've never been worried about your best friend who can't even talk but has been through a worse hell than you have, so worried that you can't sleep and you can't eat and you can't do anything but think about everything you've ever done wrong, wondering why everyone hates you for something you were born with. It - it tears you down, and ... and ..."

And suddenly, he couldn't go on.

He was sobbing now, finally letting out the pain and the terror that had been building up for days and days on end. He couldn't take it anymore. He felt humiliated - just like the day Joel had called him pathetic for ending up chained naked to the wall. This time, his physical body wasn't naked, his soul was. He'd crumbled under the pressure in front of a complete stranger, and he was humiliated.

Sky didn't say anything. Instead, he scooted over and wrapped his arms around him. For some reason, Leo didn't stiffen. He wasn't afraid. This wasn't forceful, or angry, or possessive. This was kind and gentle, one broken boy to another, and Leo found himself sharing secrets even Braken didn't know.

"I want to die everyday," Leo whispered, his exhausted body shaking with sobs. "But I can't. I can't leave Braken here alone. And now it looks like he's got Joel. He's got all of you, and I'm alone."

"You've got me," Sky said, surprising him.

"I just met you," he protested.

"And I can tell, we're going to be friends for a long time. I've got you, Leo. I won't let you go."

Leo paused, searching for the words. "Thank you," he finally said.

He'd expected a speech, words of comfort, something Joel would say, but instead, he'd gotten a hug and a promise, two of the most touching things he'd ever experienced. This was much more comforting than Joel's attempts to fix the problem. Sometimes, he just needed to cry to someone and feel their arms around him, telling him they'd always be there. Hearing it for the first time was different than feeling it written on his wrist. It was different than seeing those hand signs. Voices were voices, and that couldn't change. Nothing would replace that voice.

Before he knew it, they were sharing stories and jokes, laughing together, and, suddenly, Leo felt comfortable. He hadn't felt comfortable in a long time. It was a nice change. The stars didn't feel so lonely anymore. He finally had someone to talk to, to hold a conversation that wasn't a struggle. He loved Braken, of course, but it was so hard to have a conversation with him. The words were broken and choppy, and when he wrote, he went too fast and he sometimes misspelled words that made it difficult to understand. Talking with Sky was different. It was somehow fulfilling, like he'd filled a part of his empty soul with someone else's words. He didn't hurt so much anymore.

"It's getting late," Sky commented, looking up at the stars.

"I think it's getting early," Leo said, pointing toward the east, where the haze above the city was turning grey as the sun rose. Sky laughed, and Leo's heart soared. He'd never made someone laugh before - not like this. Braken giggled sometimes, but again, his thoughts repeated. This was different.

"We should get some sleep," Sky said, and instantly, Leo tensed up. "Hey, don't worry. It'll be light, see?" The other Unnatural tipped his head toward the sunrise. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark when it's light outside. Come on, you can share my space. There's plenty of room. You won't even have to brush against me if you turn over. I know how much you hate touching people."

"It's okay. I'll be fine," Leo muttered, dropping his gaze back down to the alley camp below. Why was it so hard to get over those stupid nightmares? Why couldn't he just be a normal guy, like everyone else?

"Come on," Sky said, motioning for him to follow anyway. "It's not a problem, really."

Leo followed reluctantly as he climbed down and crept quietly through the mass of blankets. Every once in a while, one would shift as a person turned over in their sleep, but mostly, they remained still.

Sky led him to the middle off to the side, where there was a crude blanket tent propped up on a few boxes. "Here," he said, pushing a curtain out of the way. "I'll even stay out here if you want."

"That's okay," Leo mumbled, poking his head in. It was actually quite small, but it had a sort of homey feel to it. He climbed in and sat down, his knees against his chest as Sky followed after him.

"Lay down." Sky rested his back against the wall and patted the floor next to him.

Slowly, Leo curled up on the ground, watching Sky carefully out of the corner of his eye, but as soon as he got comfortable, his eyelids began to droop, and he yawned, drifting into a peaceful sleep, free from the pain and the nightmares. It was the first time he'd slept without feeling hands or fire or pain in his dreams, and he found himself smiling in the dark of his sleep.