"You did what?"

I winced as Aaron shrieked. "I told you, I fought in the games. Then we ran here before I knew my old friend would betray us." I hated talking about Anna like that. She was only trying to help me. She just had the wrong idea.

"No, I mean you escaped with them? That's impossible! You're gonna be a legend!" He paused when we reached the back door to the alley. "This it? The thing you called it? Street fighters?"

"They're not street fighters. They're not on the street," I muttered, taking a deep breath. I was doing something extremely risky, and I hoped we wouldn't get caught doing it. I knocked softly on the door and stepped back, and a little panel slid open. That was new.

"What do you want?" a tired, familiar voice said, his Irish accent immediately recognizable.

"Eoin, where's Gus?" I asked.

He didn't answer. Instead, he slipped the slot shut. "Go away." His voice came muffled from behind the metal door.

"This is really important," I begged, knocking again.

"He's afraid," Aaron muttered behind me. "And angry. But mostly just sad."

"Eoin, please -"

The door burst open to reveal the fighter, fresh bruises covering his face. "Get out of here!" he shouted, pointing down the backstreet. His other arm was in a sling. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I - I don't understand." I backed up a little, my eyes wide in confusion. In addition to the purple bruises, I noticed two gashes across his cheek. One of them was still oozing blood.

"Gus is gone, alright? They took him last night. You turned him in. It's your fault he's gone!" His voice cracked and his eyes hardened. "In fact, they're still here. I should turn you in right now."

"Don't do that!" I said quickly, glancing at Aaron. "I'm sorry they took him. He revealed his Gift to save me. We'll get him back, somehow."

Eoin laughed coldly. "You barely broke out of there. There's no way you'll break back in and get back out."

"I'm sorry," I repeated, aching inside. Now Gus had to be part of their horrific games. He'd sacrificed himself to save me. "Is Varien here?"

"Yeah, upstairs. You'll be lucky to get through the hall. The Enforcers monitor this place constantly." He glanced behind him. "Wouldn't be surprised if they came right now."

"How bright is he?" I asked Aaron.

"Pretty dark, actually. Like I said, mostly just pale blues and reds," Aaron answered, shrugging. He didn't seem worried that we very well could be caught in a few minutes.

"What are you talking about?" Eoin demanded.

"You're just afraid," Aaron said softly. "You're afraid and sad, and you're not a bad person. You only care about your friend. About Gus."

"You're insane," he hissed.

"He's a Gifted - an Unnatural, too," I said. "He can see emotions and things like that. We'll tell you later. Please, I need to talk to Varien." I paused for a moment to think. "Come with us," I said softer, lowering my voice and glancing around to make sure we were alone.

"No," he said, backing up and shaking his head. He was definitely afraid now. I could see the nervous sweat on his forehead.

"It's a perfect place for you to settle down while we work things out. We'll find a way to get Gus back. I promise."

"No," he repeated, his eyes darting across the alley behind us, as if the Refs or the soldiers - the Enforcers, he called them - would spring out of nowhere. "I won't defect again. I can't live like this anymore."

"Defect again?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, I defected." Eoin continued to back up, his hand on the door to slam it in our faces. "And I won't do it again."

"There is no honor here," I said softly. "Come to Refuge, and you'll find a million ways to restore that honor."

"There is no more honor left in this world, " he snapped, emphasizing each word.

"Someone call for me?" Varien's voice came through the dark of the hallway.

"Yeah, he's definitely a Gifted," Aaron muttered. "And a bright one, at that."

"Bright as Leo?" I asked.

"No."

"Oh, Joel. You're back." Varien stared at me for a moment, his voice a monotone.

"We need your help," I finally said.

"You need my power," he corrected.

I hesitated. "Alright, yes, that too, but we need a fighter like you." Eoin snorted behind him, but I ignored it and dropped my voice lower. "I found a place full of Gifteds like you. With them, we're going to start a revolution. We're going to take down the games!"

"Excuse me, we're going to what?" Aaron said.

I waved my hand a little to brush him away. "You can help us, with your power, and without it. You're a fighter, even without your power. Come on. Please, help us."

Varien didn't look convinced. He stared at me like a raven with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Him," he finally said, pointing to Aaron. "What's his power?"

"I can see people's auras. I can see emotions, and character ..." Aaron said, his voice trailing off as Varien's glare hardened.

"He's already useless in a fight," the dark Unnatural said. "So are you, Joel. Your previous plan only led to another innocent boy getting hurt. So." He backed up to where Eoin was standing. "You can count me out."

"Wait!" I said quickly as the door began to shut. My mind was working overtime. I could almost smell the smoke as my thoughts overheated. "I have an idea. A good one."

The door slammed shut.

"That went well," Aaron commented.

"Shut up." I waved a hand at him again. "Guys?" I knocked on the door again. "Come on, it's a great idea."

Again, there was no answer.

"You didn't tell me you were planning to use us for a revolution," Aaron said softly behind me.

"I'm not using you, Aaron. Don't you guys want to be free? Besides, I won't force anyone to go." I tried to pry the little slot open, but it didn't budge.

"You're forcing them," he pointed out.

I paused and then stepped back. I guess I was forcing them.

Aaron put his hand on my shoulder. "You want to be a hero, don't you?"

I didn't answer.

"Around all these people with extraordinary Gifts, you want to be something, too." He paused. "I know that feeling. Sometimes, I wish I could do something amazing. I wish a had a useful Gift. But I had to tell myself that I'm not like those other guys. I'm not very smart when it comes to plans, and even though I can see people's emotions, I never know what to say. And you - well ... you are becoming some sort of dictator. You're becoming like those 'humans' you want to fight, just in a slightly different, less physically painful way."

I didn't know how to respond to that. The more he spoke, the more I realized the truth in his words. I wasn't a Gifted. I was a human, just like I'd told myself in those first few days I'd been in the games.

"Most of us at Refuge ... we're scared. You're not the first to break out of the games."

I turned to look at him in surprise. "I'm not?"

He shook his head. "No. Only singles made it out. That's why I was surprised you made it with three others. Some of us just got out in a far less ... destructive way. Far less public."

"Varien said they let us go."

"They probably did. They know there's a group of escaped Gifteds somewhere, they just don't know where. They probably wanted to track you." He chuckled a little. "Don't worry. We've taken some serious security measures. They won't find us. Normal humans can't see through the wall, thanks to a few illusionists. No one can find us."

I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was to jeopardize the rest of the Gifteds in Refuge. "What if I convinced them? Do they have family, friends in the games?"

"Most of them don't," Aaron said. "They've already lost their families." He paused and thought for a moment. "Actually, there's David. His half brother, Willem, was caught maybe three weeks ago. He's still holding onto hope."

"I hope he finds him," I said softly. I glanced back at the door and sighed. "I really am becoming one of them, aren't I? Just another human."

Aaron thought for a moment. "Yeah, a little. Not much, but a little."

"I'm sorry," I told the door.

Surprisingly, the slot opened again, and Eoin's dark eyes blinked at me. "Stay right there. I need to get something," he said.

Confused, I backed up a little and waited next to Aaron. "What do you think he's doing?" I asked.

Aaron just shrugged in response.

We only waited for a few minutes before the door opened again. Eoin held out a familiar teddy bear, one of its eyes missing and its ear torn off. "Gus wanted Braken to have this," he muttered. "Had a whole story to go with it. He never got a chance to give it to him. He wanted to apologize."

I gently took the teddy bear from him, feeling as if the emotions buried inside it had risen up and taken hold of me. Suddenly, my chest grew tight and I couldn't breathe. "What's ..." I whispered, but couldn't go on.

"It's from his parents," Eoin said, almost reverently. "It's the only thing he could take with him when they sent him away to keep him safe. There wasn't enough time to get anything else, and there wasn't enough money to send anyone with him."

"That's horrible," Aaron murmured. I couldn't speak.

"I'm sorry I can't help you," the fighter said. "But I can't spend the rest of my life hiding. I belong here. I can't give that up. Good luck."

"Thank you," I finally managed to say. "Stay safe."

"You, too." Eoin nodded at me once, and started to close the door.

"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" Varien grumbled, shoving the door open just wide enough to slip out. "Your sob story changed my mind."

"It wasn't really a story," Aaron said. "More like an intervention."

"Shut up before I change my mind again. So where are we going? Back to whatever you called it?"

"Refuge!" Aaron said cheerfully.

"First," I said, thinking of something. "I need to go to the store."

...

It took me way too long to convince them to go, and almost lost Varien on the way, but finally, they followed me to the convenience store. I always wondered why it was open at this hour, but now I was grateful.

I wandered to the clothes section and searched through a few things, unsatisfied with what I found.

"What the heck are you looking for?" Varien asked, rather coldly. Aaron yawned beside him, and I knew I needed to hurry for them.

"Braken wants something," I said.

"Here?" Varien raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Hang on, I think this will work." The skirt was long and pink, but I couldn't tell if it twirled, so, ignoring Varien's snide remark, I put it on over my jeans and spun around, feeling like a complete idiot. It twirled out majestically - at least, as majestically as I could make it - and I hoped Braken wouldn't feel stupid wearing it. This thing was rather expensive.

I pulled it off and we checked out, gaining a few questioning looks, and then walked back to Refuge. The sun was just peeking above the horizon when we got there, turning the black sky a pale grey. People were stirring as we walked through the mass of blankets. Varien didn't say anything, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was surprised.

I found Braken asleep in a bundle of blankets, near the mother and her baby. He looked up as I sat down next to him, and then his eyes widened and he pointed at the bear in my hand. GUS WONT BE HAPY, he wrote on my palm.

"He wanted you to have it," I said softly. "He's ... been captured."

Braken's eyes filled with pain and he put his hand up to cover his mouth.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "There was nothing we could do. Here." I handed him the bear, and he held it up close to his chest. I let him mourn for a moment in silence, and then I spoke again. "And I bought you this." I unfolded the skirt and his face lit up.

He grabbed it from me and scrambled to his feet, pulling it on over his pants. I could feel the warmth radiating from his smile as he smoothed it down and admired himself. He spun around once, let out a giggle, and spun again, laughing as the fabric swirled out around him. He spun around and around until he spun too fast and fell over on top of me, his eyes unfocused as he swayed, unbalanced.

"Glad you like it," I said.

He grinned back up at me and scrambled to his feet, signing his thanks and then stumbling away, no doubt to find Leo. He staggered into the wall and I laughed, amazing at his determination. Finally, it seemed I'd done something right. It was a nice change.

(Another quick AN - sorry this is getting really slow. It'll pick back up in a couple chapters, don't worry)