Dean

I wake up, the room only slightly light, letting me know it's still early in the morning. There's a weight lying on top of my chest, and I look down, seeing Ella lying on top of me, her head pressed on my chest. Her breathing is soft, and I can't help but smile as I put my arms around her body, holding her closer to me if it's even possible. She's not even heavy, and that reminds me of the weeks we've gone in the desert, the days we went just eating peanut butter and barely drinking. We both lost so much weight, and I'm just glad to be here where she can be fed, even if it isn't safe here. We have Hunter on our side, and that helps. We'll get to the bottom of this, and we'll come out strong. We're going to make it, we've made it this far.

I try not to laugh and wake up Ella, as I think of the way Hunter reacted last night after he caught Ella and me. He looked as if he was going to kill me, and I honestly think that he would if Ella hadn't got between the two of us. I can't believe that she can't see the way he looks at her, whether he's changed being here or not, he still has that pathetic glint in his eyes that he had in school. He's always wanted her, but she doesn't want him. No, she never was going to kiss him, but she was going to let me kiss her. I thought that she might have pushed me away, might have even cursed at me, but all she did was close her eyes. That simple gesture gave me so much hope, and I'll make sure we get through this, whatever this is. I want to be able to kiss her, to try that all over again, and actually succeed this time.

"Dean?" Carol asks as I look over and see her sitting up while rubbing her eyes. "How long have you been awake?" She asks, but her eyes aren't subtle as they gaze over the picture of me holding Ella. Really? She's still jealous after the way I've treated her? Can't she see that I have absolutely no positive feelings towards her at all?

"Just for a few moments," I sigh, trying not to be loud and wake up the girl that is sleeping so peaceful on me. I also don't want her to wake up and be glad that we were interrupted, be glad that we didn't kiss. I don't want that, I want her to regret that we didn't.

"Did you guys find out anything?" She asks as she sits on the edge of her bed, and turns her attention out the window. "Are we in danger?" In the few hours that I've had Ella in my arms, I've had my mind only on her, not even thinking about what we should do about this whole cross breeding idea.

"Sort of, it's hard to explain. We need to get Mark, then I'll let you guys know about what's going on." The look in her eyes, makes me almost want to tell her it's going to be okay, but I don't. I have no reason to be nice to her, to comfort her, I owe her absolutely nothing.

"Are we going to die?" She asks, and I shrug, just letting her get a bit more upset then she should. We're not going to die, we're going to get out of this, but she needs to feel an emotion besides selfishness for once.

"What? We might die and all you do is shrug?!" She squeals, and I try to calm her down, but the damage is already done, and Ella stirs, before sitting up.

"What's wrong with you?" She asks, her voice groggy as she looks over at Carol, showing how unimpressed she is with being woke up.

"He says we might die!" Carol screams, and I've had enough.

"Shut up! Do you want the Guards to hear you? We're not going to die, and I never even said that. You asked that and I shrugged, now go get Mark so I can explain it all to you both," I half snap, already wishing she'd shut up.

"You let me believe I was going to die!"

"Carol, please go get Mark, it's too early to argue, and do you guys really think it's smart to argue when we aren't safe anyway? We have to rely on each other, and this is how you treat one another? Aren't we over this childish behavior?" Ella rubs her temple, and I wish I hadn't let Carol believe we might die, no matter how much she deserved to feel like that.

Not a moment later, she leaves, and Ella climbs off of me, my body missing the feeling of hers almost immediately. "Why do you have to get her worked up? We need to work together, not get farther apart," she sighs, before leaning against the wall.

"She annoys me, Ella, I didn't want to tell her anything without Mark. I'm trying, but it's like her jealousy is overbearing, and I'm tired of it." I defend myself, even though I know I shouldn't push Carol any farther.

"So? Who cares what she is? We survive this, you'll never have to see her again. You can find a new family like we were going to in the beginning and move on. Soon, all of this will be nothing but a memory, we just need to get through all of this and figure it out."

"Is that what you want this to be?" I ask as I look out the window. "Nothing but a memory? Are you just going to find a new family, new humans to live among and forget about us? I thought you once said your kind wouldn't be as accepting of you, as mine would be of me. Does that not matter anymore?"

"What do you want me to do, Dean? You want me to stick around with the Norovians? The only Norovians that even like me are you and Mark, and sometimes I don't even think you do. You want me to feel like an outcasts among them? I would rather feel like an outcast among my own kind." I'm getting irritated, and I don't want to go back there, back where we fight and say things we shouldn't. I just don't want her to leave me, and I don't care how pitiful or desperate I sound.

"I don't want you to leave me, Ella, that's what I want you to do. To stay with me." The last part comes out in a whisper, but I can tell she heard it. Her brown eyes hold so much, so much hope and so much sadness. I want to take her sadness away, to show her that I'll never be that same person I was at school. I can't help but think of last night, when she was asking if I was in love with a human. She's the only human I've ever cared about, it's always been Ella, she's just never known it, and I've never showed it. I've been a douche bag to her, just to get her off of my mind. I've never hated her, not one day. I might have thought that I did, or even said that I did, but never have I really meant it.

She opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by Carol walking back in, Mark right behind her. "What did you guys find out?" He asks as he sits next to Carol on her bed, only for us to be interrupted again, by a guard bringing in Ella and Carol's breakfast.

I wait until he leaves and shuts the door, before I begin talking. "They want to create this super race," I say, breaking my promise with Hunter. He doesn't trust me anyway, and I'm not fond of lying in the first place, but I couldn't let Ella break that promise. They have this bond that I'm not sure I'll ever understand, a bond that I don't think Ella will ever have with me, and it gives me another reason to wish I was human. I want to be her best friend, the one she tells everything to, but I wasted all of that on years of arguments and teasing. I want to take it back, and I know it's going to haunt me for as long as I live.

"How exactly do they plan on doing that?" Mark asks, and I can tell he understands that whatever this is, isn't natural either.

"He wouldn't tell us, but he did say that they want to create a super race crossing a human and a Norovian, just didn't say how."

"Who told you?" Carol asks.

"Hunter," Ella speaks up. "He seen us last night."

"And he didn't tell you how this was going to work?" Mark questions.

"No, but what we do know is that it most likely won't end well, considering the fact that it is most definitely not in the natural way of breeding."

"But we're actually not in danger, right? They just want to create this super race, but if it doesn't work the first time, they'll let us go, wouldn't you say? I mean, they won't keep trying, right?" Carol asks, and Mark rolls his eyes.

"How are they supposed to know? He said it's all Hunter told him." Mark replies and Carol send him a glare, but he shrugs it off, and I try to keep from smiling.

Ella stands up off the bed, before taking a few pieces of sausage from the tray and eating them as she walks towards the door. "Where are you going?" Carol asks.

"To find Hunter. I'm going to get answers, and I know that he'll be more open to me when we're alone." The idea of the two of them alone, causes me to stiffen, and I have to tell myself that I have nothing to worry about. Ella isn't even mine anyway, and besides, she was going to kiss me not him. "I want to know all that I can about this experiment, I don't want to be in the dark about all of this."

"Do you really think he'll tell you more then he did last night?" I ask, hoping there's still a chance we can stop all of this before disaster happens. Nowhere in history has the attempts of a super race ever succeeded, nor has the results ever been good. History really does repeat itself on this Earth.

"I do," she promises, and the look in her eyes, could cause mountains to bow down to her with all of the determination she holds. She knows his weak spots, their shared memories, she'll get him to talk, I know she will.

She leaves without another word, and I already miss her. She keeps all of us together, she holds this crappy team that keeps wanting to crumble, strong, and when she leaves, it's as if that strength disappears.