After they had been supplied with money to stay at a hotel with, they stumbled in and rented a room with two beds. They had expected for the girls to share one and the boys to share the other: They, however, were sorely mistaken. The beds were small so the boys couldn't sleep on one together, forcing a girl to be paired up with a guy on each bed. As Artemis and Kris were around the same height -- Artemis was a few inches shorter than Kris, but with her boots she was a bit taller -- they had to share a bed and Lizzy shared one with Sam. A few hours past lights out, Artemis still couldn't sleep. She layed on her stomach, her head turned inwards towards Kris. Her patience was wearing out.

Kris had stolen most of the bed, sparing her little room. He was asleep, snoring with his arms and legs stretched out like a star. She turned over, trying to suppress her irritation. It finally snapped when Kris turned over, unconsciously laying his arm and leg on her. She decided to go with the best solution: smothering him to death with a pillow.

"Hey!" He hissed at her after pushing her off and getting up, trying to gain some air. "What was that for?!"

"You need to give me some blankets and bed room, thank you very much!" She hissed back, her golden-blonde hair reflecting the bright bathroom lights, giving her the illusion that she was glowing. He glared at her and made a Humph sound. A few minutes later, he had pressed his back against hers in his sleep. She stood up, her patience had snapped again. She chucked a pillow at his torso, making him curl inwards towards his stomach. Kris stared at her angrily and grumbled something under his breath, turning over and finally staying on his side. A while past that, Artemis was still awake. Her lips had curled into a small smile, she had recalled the past, remembering how they had met. Slowly, she drifted off into sleep.

~*~

At Veloci's orders, the man in the red and black suit had set the small green-blue eyed girl down in an empty room. "Amuse yourself," He stated. And with that, he left. She stared down at her small hands, a small smirk gaining control of her mouth. Not if I can help it, she thought. With a quick, fluid movement, she had unlocked the door and ran out into the hallway, trying to feed her desire to explore her new home. She wandered around, everyone too busy to notice the small girl. She came to a place with a large metal door. Not being able to read, she ignored the sign and opened it to find a black room with computers everywhere, surrounding a large cylinder in the middle of the room. She crept towards it, cautious and curious. Her small hands were pushed up against the glass, along with her face. She peered inside, trying to make out what it was. She made out the form of a boy with tan skin and black hair floating in the ooze. She smiled.

"Hello," she whispered to him. There was no response, the only noise in the room the monitor tracking the boy's heart beat with simple blips here and there. She traced a smiley face on the glass, trying to express anything at all to the boy suspended in ooze. "Hi!" She chirped happily. "My name is..." She paused, unsure of her name. But before she could finish, a woman in a lab coat marched into the room, pointing at her with a long, polished finger.

"Take her out of my sights," She snapped at the guards. They nodded and grabbed the little girl's arms, marching her away. As they were leaving, she looked past Miss Lab Coat and into the cylinder, watching the boy as long as possible before her gaze was forcibly blocked by a wall. Over the next few years, the guards would resort to anything they could to keep her locked in the room. But, somehow, she had always found her way out. They would find her each time talking to the boy. The scientists found it easy to ignore her, so they just let her stay. She never impeded their experiments; she just talked to him.

"Well, she's here again," the woman in the coat mumbled in irritation. The man next to her laughed.

"Why not let her be, Susan?" He chuckled, his wise eyes watching the girl's small frame tell stories to the cylinder. "Just let her have her fun."

The woman sighed. "I guess so. After all, she doesn't get any response or anything." She adjusted her thick rimmed glasses.

The man raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be so sure," he stated. She turned her head to him.

"Why?" She demanded, scared that the girl was harming her life's work.

He chuckled. "Listen to them." The woman quietly listened. The girl was currently telling a story of a dragon and a princess and a knight to him. The little girl was telling him about how the dragon stole the princess from the knight, so he went to get her back. Susan didn't hear anything else besides the heartbeat and the shuffling of papers. Something caught her mind. There was an irregular pattern in the heart rate monitor. She listened closely.

Every time the girl said something, it bleeped faster, just a small bit. Almost like it was... responding? She looked to the man beside her in shock. He smiled and nodded.

"She's breaking through to him," He concluded, leaning back and smiling. Susan tuned into the girl's conversation again.

"Wanna hear a joke?" She asked. The monitor beeped quickly twice. "Why doesn't the skeleton cross the road?" It beeped even quicker, but more high pitched, like it was asking a question. She grinned and giggled. "Because it has no guts!" She bursted into laughter, and the monitor joined in. "You know, you remind me of Father Christmas. You bring happiness."

After the girl had been taken away, Susan went up to the cylinder and inspected the boy. He seemed normal, suspended-in-air-and-everything normal. She caught a bit of movement in her vision and closely inspected his face. She gasped slightly.

The boy seemed to be smiling. No, he was smiling.

After a few months, an older boy with blue hair appeared on the scene. He joined the girl daily with her talking. He never talked -- except for the occasional comment. Susan watched them. Soon after that, the day came when the boy was finished. The girl and blue haired boy were banned and physically locked up to avoid impeding the process. Susan checked his vital signs and other important data. She was glad to know that he could speak. His voice was hoarse after being unused for so long. And, at first, she didn't hear him talking. She then looked up.

"What did you say?" she asked him, confused.

"I-I said that.." His face contorted in a struggle to get the words out. "... I want to see them-m." His gaze met hers, giving her a feeling of confusion and despair. She was unaware of where those feeling came from and wiped them away.

"Who's them?" She asked sweetly, not wanting to be nice to the kid. She had to, though, if she wanted to be paid.

"The girl with the multi-colored eyes and the bluenette." He stated. She looked at him in shock. He was picking English up and could speak as well as the blonde girl and blue-haired boy. Did he learn from them? She thought. It was possible. Unlikely, but possible.

"I don't know," she lied.

"You are lying," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. He was getting angry, she could tell that. Not wanting to anger the uncontrollable child, she opened up her walkie-talkie.

"Bring them in," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," was the reply. The boy smiled and began to kick his legs in excitement. When they arrived, he jumped up and hugged the girl. She stood shocked for a few seconds before resuming to hug him back. The blue haired boy walked over and hugged them both.

"Who are you?" The small girl asked. The black haired boy smirked, already developing a personality.

"Kris," He replied immediately.

Susan found this display of affection annoying.

"Break it up." She hissed. "Go on and talk," She figured that they were useful for one thing; seeing if he was functioning properly.

"My name's Artemis and this is Sam," She said, hugging Sam. He was tall enough where he was a full head taller than her. Kris felt a bit of irritation enter his heart. He was confused at this new emotion and quickly pushed it aside.

Days later, a new annoyance arrived. Susan was thoroughly fed up with children, and it bothered her that they brought in a new one. A shy girl with glasses and pigtails, which irritated her further. She didn't talk, but found each of them scary. The girl with blonde hair, however, seemed the safest option for her. She hid behind her and felt safe until Kris and Artemis had their first fight.

After their first fight, the quiet girl took to hiding behind the blue haired boy. He seemed relatively safe after a few weeks of observation, and he was much less likely to get mad enough to pick a fight with someone. Despite being much bigger than her, and much more intimidating. But for once, big and intimidating seemed safe.

~*~

"Artie, wake up!" Sang an annoyingly happy voice. She opened her eyes to see Kris standing above her smiling. She sharply inhaled in surprise and sat up quickly, making their heads collide. They curled up into their own positions and spots to groan in pain.

"Ow! You idiot!" She growled at him, her eyes turning red. She must have dreamed everything. Dreaming of the past, she corrected herself.

"I'm the idiot?" He shrieked in shock. "Who's the one to sit up so fast?!" He yelled.

"Shut up, you two!" Lizzy giggled.