While in reality, it was less than a few hours, the waiting for their friends and family felt like days. When they got back to the HQ, Lainey immediately went to rush to the monitoring room to check for any updates, but at the moment she stepped inside the headquarters, she knew something bad had happened.

Chaos would probably be the best way to describe what was happening around her.

People she didn't recognize filled the building's halls, looking lost and desperate. She saw Shatter handing out blankets and pillows, somewhat trying to calm down the new refugees, but it didn't seem like he was doing a very good job at it.

"Woah, what happened here?" Lauren said once she and Andy joined Lainey's side, frowning at the crowded room.

"I have no idea, I'm going to find Sage," Lainey replied, wasting no time and leaving the siblings to find Sage. Just as Lainey hoped, she found her in the monitoring room, watching and manning the scanners.

"Sage, what's going on?" Lainey questioned the woman with the short hair. "Who are those people?"

"Refugees," Sage answered shortly, focusing her attention on the screens in front of her, "Seems like you really managed to piss off the Sentinel Service. They raided every place there were even suspected mutant sympathizers,"

That was not good.

Slightly starting to panic, Lainey brushed a hand through her hair, "Have you heard anything from Marcos or John?"

Just as Sage opened her mouth to answer, a familiar voice shouted, "Help! We need help!"

Along with Sage, Lainey ran out of the room and watched from over the railing as Sonya and Clarice were staggering into the headquarters, carrying Harry over their shoulders. Lainey covered her mouth with her hand with horror when she realized his shirt was completely soaked with blood.

In seconds, the brunette girl found herself rushing downstairs towards the three.

"Go get him a table, we need to lay him down," Lainey told Clarice as she grabbed hold of Harry's arm, instantly remembering what John and Marcos had done when Clarice had gotten sick and lost conscious. Nodding, Clarice harried to find a nearby table. Once they had place Harry on a table, Sonya took a clean piece of cloth and pressed it against his stomach, where his injury was.

People started to gather around the four, trying to see what all the noise was about, but they were held back by Sage.

"He was shot by the Sentinel Service," Sonya informed Lainey, putting more pressure against the bleeding wound.

"What about the others? Are they okay?" Lainey asked Sonya and Clarice.

"I think so," Clarice answered, "I saw Caitlin getting them out so they should be on their way here right now. Lorna and Reed are with them,"

Lainey let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, finally feeling somewhat relieved. She didn't know if anyone else was hurt, but at least they had gotten out of there. At least they managed to finally free Lorna and Reed from the Sentinel Service. All she could do now was to wait.

Harry groaned loudly as Sonya tried to calm him down, his condition obviously getting worse. Lainey winched visibly as Sonya grabbed another piece of cloth and revealed the wound again, feeling a shiver running down her spine as she saw the blood.

Sonya—noticing the look on Lainey's face—gave her a comforting, soft smile, "Go help the others. We got this,"

Lainey didn't argue and nodded, walking away to find Shatter and see if she could help the new fugitives. Andy and Lauren helped, too, by giving pillows and blankets to whoever was in need.

Lainey had never seen so many mutants in the headquarters. It seemed like anywhere she looked, she saw new and unfamiliar faces. She didn't know how long they could keep up with it, they barely had enough food and rooms for all of them. The Sentinel Service had hit them hard, but Lainey had no doubt that it could have happened sooner or later even if they hadn't gone with the plan to save their friends.

"Andy? Lauren?" A voice loudly called from the other side of the room, startling the three teens. Lainey stopped what she was doing and turned around to see Caitlin and a man standing right beside her. The very same man she hadn't managed to save from the warehouse—Reed Strucker.

Without hesitating, the siblings ran towards the dark-haired man, hugging him tightly. Lainey walked over to the group, slightly biting her lip. She could see Caitlin standing a few steps behinds them, tearing up at their family reunion.

"You okay?" Reed asked, pulling away from their hug so he could look at his kids.

"We were so worried," Lauren told him.

"We thought you..." Andy trailed off, not being able to finish the sentence. Reed pulled the two into a hug once again, reassuring them that he was okay now.

"I remember you from the warehouse," Reed suddenly said, looking at Lainey, "We didn't really meet properly,"

"Yeah, I don't think that being chased by deadly spider machines that belong to the Sentinel Service is a good method to get to know people," Lainey smiled at him and he chuckled in response. It was like the guilty Lainey had felt in the last few days completely vanished. He was here now and he was okay.

"Where's Lorna?" Lainey asked, looking at Caitlin, "And John and Marcos?"

"John went to find Sage once we arrived here, and Lorna and Marcos are dealing with a drone that Sentinel Services sent after us. They're leading it away from here," Caitlin answered, which caused Lainey to frown, feeling slightly worried after hearing that new piece of information. She just wanted them to be safe.

Upon seeing the unpleased look on the young brunette's face Reed immediately added, "Those two seem to know what they're doing. I'm sure they'll get here soon,"

Lainey couldn't help but nod in agreement, realizing that he was right.

"We should go downstairs, see how everyone else is doing," Caitlin suggested. Only then Lainey noticed the blood stain that spread around Reed's right knee, causing him to limp as he walked. Had the Sentinel Services done it? Was Lorna hurt as well? Lainey could feel the anxiety starting to creep in as she thought more and more about it. She couldn't even imagine what Reed and Lorna had to go through in the past few days.

As the five started to make their way to the crowded entrance floor, Lauren started to talk, "It's not just the thing with Dad. Sentinel Services shot Harry,"

"These people are in bad shape. I mean, they're doing everything they can." Andy said, looking over at the loud and confused people that overflooded the headquarters.

"Hey!" A voice yelled as they got downstairs, "What the hell? What do you think you're doing here?"

"Let's talk about this," Reed calmly told Fade, who approached him quickly, looking like the complete opposite of calm.

"We ain't got nothing to talk about!" Fade angrily declared and pushed Reed into the wall behind him.

"What's going on? Stop it!" Caitlin panicked, trying to reach out to help her husband but was stopped when Fade started to punch Reed and grabbed him by his throat.

"Dad!" Andy yelled as his father was being hit again.

"No, Dad!" Lauren cried out.

"You nearly got me killed," Fade said, still pushing the siblings' father against the wall. However, Reed didn't hold back anymore and started to fight back, defending himself. In a matter of a second, Fade used his abilities and disappeared into thin air, causing Reed to miss his target.

Lainey watched as Lauren grabbed her brother, preventing him from interfering the two adults. Reed was punched in the stomach and he grunted in pain, not really able to fight back. Clearly, it was not a fair fight. The two were suddenly broken up by John, who caught Fade's invisible fist mid-air, stopping him from hitting Reed.

"That's enough!" John exclaimed and Fade turned visible once again. Caitlin rushed to her husband's side, immediately going to support him, "What are you doing?" John asked Fade in a low voice, letting go of his hand.

"How about protecting us?" Fade answered, glaring at Reed, "Just so y'all know, last time I saw this son of a bitch, he was working for Sentinel Services."

There was a moment of silence in the entire headquarters as if they all had frozen in place at the man's words. Or maybe it was Lainey's mind that couldn't get over what she had just heard.

"What?" Lainey was the first to shatter the silence. She stared at Reed, not being able to believe what had just been revealed. She felt guilty for days for not being able to get him out of the warehouse and let him get caught by the Sentinel Service. Her friends and his family had risked their lives to break out him and Lorna. Was that all for nothing?

"Is he going to turn us in?"

"He's going to get us killed!"

"This place is not as safe as I thought,"

"What does it mean for us?"

Mutters and whispers filled the building. Like Lainey, everybody was trying to understand what's going on.

"Everyone, just calm down," John told the crowd. The mutters quieted down, but nobody seemed calm.

"Calm down? This dude's job was locking up people like us," Fade argued, pointing his figure at Reed.

"Just listen," Lauren stepped in, "My dad prosecuted mutants, okay? He did. When he found out about us, he stood up to Sentinel Services,"

"Yeah. By wearing a tracker into my bar," Fade told her in return. He obviously didn't trust Reed and didn't think it was a good idea to let him stay. A group of refugees gathered behind him, agreeing with him.

"Hey, back off my dad," Andy snapped, not happy with the way the man in front of him was treating his father.

"Andy," Reed finally said, "I was doing what I had to do to get back to my family. I realized I was wrong."

"And 'I'm sorry', that-that's it, right?" Fade scoffed at his words.

"All right. Hey, just hear him out!" John interfered, insisting on hearing Reed's side of the story. A loud scream from the room behind them tore through the air and grabbed everyone's attention. It was Harry, and his condition didn't seem to get any better.

"Okay, stop," Caitlin walked up to Fade, "There are injured people here. Why are we attacking each other?"

Reed pulled Caitlin slightly closer to him and lowered down his voice, "You go. You help them. Take Andy and Lauren with you. I-I'll work this out."

"But he's saying that..." Caitlin started to protest but stopped as Harry continued screaming.

"Caitlin, I need you in here now," Blink called from the other room, alerting everyone that Harry was getting worse. Caitlin turned around at Blink's direction but was pulled away as her husband grabbed her toward him once again.

"What he's saying is true," Reed confessed so quietly that only Lainey, Andy, Lauren and John who were only a few steps away from the pair could hear.

"What?" Caitlin frowned with disbelief.

"You go. I can handle this," Reed told her when Harry started groaning in pain again. Without saying a word, Caitlin and her kids rushed to help Harry, leaving Reed to deal with his situation.

"Lainey, can you go with them and keep me updated?" John asked and she nodded, quickly following Caitlin tracks. She wanted to stay, to understand what had happened back there with the convoy, but she trusted John and knew he'd let her know the moment things would clear up.

"What happened?" Caitlin immediately started to work up, trying her hair in a bun as she got closer to Harry and inspected his wound.

"He was shot. I don't know, it won't stop bleeding," Blink said, her hand holding the bandage against the wound. She quickly let the blonde woman take over.

"Hi. It's Harry, right?" Caitlin started, giving the man a comforting smile, "Harry, I need you to listen to me. I'm gonna take a look at your wound."

"It hurts," Harry choked up.

"I know. I need you to be strong for me." Caitlin lifted up the bandage, seeing that blood was still pouring out of the gunshot. She looked at Clarice and Lainey, "I need clean gauze. Towels will work, too. And painkillers. Dilaudid, fentanyl, even codeine, anything you can find."

"We should have at least some of it in one of the rooms upstairs," Lainey told her, hoping that the very few resources they had could help.

"Okay. I'll go get it," Clarice said and ran upstairs.

Determent to help Caitlin as much as she could, Lainey stuck by the nurse's side, watching her every movement. However, she also watched the two siblings, who were having a hushed conversation in a similar way to the conversation their parents just had. They looked worried and even slightly scared. Lainey was in the exact same situation.

Harry started to breathe heavily and Caitlin and Lainey quickly noticed it, "Kids, I need some help over here." Caitlin called, motioning towards the man on the table.

"Help with him?" Andy hesitatingly asked.

"Yes, Andy, with him. Come on. Let's put that Scout first aid badge to work," Caitlin urged the kids.

"Hey, keep your eyes open, alright?" Lainey told Harry when he started gasping.

Caitlin looked at Lainey, "Go on. Just talk to him and make sure he stays conscious."

Lainey nodded and glanced back at Harry, trying to think of what to say next. "You remember that time when I just turned 15 and celebrated my first birthday at the headquarters?"

With the little energy he had left, Harry weakly nodded at the brunette girl, instantly knowing what she was talking about.

Lainey took a small breath before she continued, "I was so sad and everyone tried to cheer me up but it didn't really work. Then later that night you snuck me outside to the roof and you told me to look at the stars. I'd never seen the bright light of the stars in the city, but in that night, I swear they were glowing."

As the teen told the story, she felt her vision getting slightly blurry, tears threatening to fall. However, she put on a brave face and didn't let them fell, refusing to show them her vulnerable side "You told me that only the darkest nights produced the brightest stars."

~~~~~

After Harry calmed down a little, Clarice got back with all the medical stuff she could find and handed them to Caitlin. Lainey noticed that the green-eyed woman seemed distracted and even slightly conflicted but Lainey quickly brushed it off, knowing there were more urgent things to deal with.

"Are there more I.V. bags?" Caitlin asked her son. The three teens tried to help as much as the could. Lainey watched over Harry, making sure he was awake, while Lauren kept applying pressure to Harry's wounds and Andy grabbed any medical supply his mother asked him to.

"You mean, those water things, or the yellow pee-looking ones?" Lainey frowned in disgust by Andy's reply but tried to focus on Harry again.

"Could you be any more gross?" Lauren told him.

"You really want to ask me that?" Andy smirked and Lauren groaned at his answer.

"Did you find any?" Lainey asked him.

"Um, I think we're out of both," Andy said, causing the other three to halt in their place. They were running out of their medical supply and with it the chances of Harry surviving were getting lower and lower, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"I'm not even sure more saline would help. We need actual blood," Caitlin told them, turning around to take clean gauze and handing it to Lauren, "Okay, here."

"Hey, I'm O negative. It's universal donor, right?" Andy suggested.

"Andy..." His mother looked at him, looking caught off guard.

"What, are you surprised I actually remember something from biology?" Andy tried to lighten up the mood but Lainey could tell he was serious about doing it.

"No." His mother quickly said.

"I am," Lauren told him, genuinely looking surprised.

"It could work, right?" Lainey looked at Caitlin for reassurance, "We're running out of options,"

"I can do it," Andy confidently said.

"Okay," Caitlin sighed, then rushed to get the equipment they needed, "Come here, put your sleeve up."

Andy did as he was told and stood close to the table, right next to Caitlin. The blonde woman began to get the stuff ready. "Okay. Lainey, hold this." Caitlin said, handing the brunet girl the IV bag that they would use for the transfusion. "Okay, you ready?" Caitlin asked her son.

"Yeah."

"Just take a deep breath. Stand there, don't move your arm. And gravity will do the rest." Caitlin instructed him, but after realizing her choice of words, she glanced quickly at Lainey, "You know what I mean,"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't bleed to death," Despite the situation, Lainey cracked a smile. However, even if it was a really lame attempt to lighten up the mode, Lainey frowned when Andy didn't say a thing. He didn't even look at her.

When Reed stepped into the room and asked Caitlin to talk to him for a minute, Lainey couldn't help but think about her relationship with the Strucker family. She couldn't bring herself to trust Reed, not after hearing what he did, but his family was a completely different story. She trusted them and that was enough for now.

As the transfusion continued, Lainey could see that Andy was getting dizzy. Suddenly he started wobbling slightly. Lainey was quick to react and grabbed his free arm, trying to support him. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Andy muttered, pulling away from her. It stung a bit when she realized the brown-eyed boy was avoiding her and she knew why.

"Look, I know you're mad at me," Lainey started, getting straight to the point, "And you have every right to be. I know it was wrong of me to say all those stuff, but we needed to save your dad and Lorna and it was the only way. Everything I said back on the roof, it was just to trigger your abilities. I never meant to hurt you but I have and I'm sorry."

When his dark brown eyes finally met hers, she could see the conflict in his eyes. He looked at her, really looked at her, as if he was trying to read her thought and see if she was telling the truth. He didn't say anything but he was letting down his guard.

Looking at him hopefully, Lainey held out her hand towards Andy, "Friends?"

Although Lauren didn't say anything, Lainey saw that the blond girl was watching them intensively, curious to see how things would end up. Lainey had a feeling that, unlike Andy, Lauren realized why Lainey had acted the way she did and would have done the same thing to save her father.

With a small smile, he raised up his unattached hand and shook her hand, "Friends."

After reconciling, the three focused back on Harry again. He was breathing heavily, sweat covering his forehead. Lauren sighed as she put more pressure on the wound. It didn't take long until Caitlin walked back into the room, concern was written all over her face. Andy noticed it right away.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. Caitlin didn't have time to answer because Harry suddenly began gasping, his body twisting in pain.

"You need to hold still!" Lauren panicked, grabbing Harry's shaking shoulders in an attempt to keep him still. Caitlin quickly raised up his blood-stained shirt, inspecting the condition of his wound.

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?" Lainey asked, feeling terrified for her friend's life.

"We're running out of time. We're gonna have to remove the bullet, okay?" Caitlin told them. Once Harry's body tremors decreased, she put on medical gloves and grabbed a scalpel in her right hand, ready to perform the surgery that would determine Harry's faith.

"Can you take the bullet out?" Andy asked his mother.

"I don't know. I-I-I'm not a surgeon. But we can't wait any longer. I'm just gonna have to take the chance." Caitlin explained, knowing that there was no other way.

"So, do I just stay hooked up to him or?" Andy said, raising his arm.

"If you can." Caitlin told him, "The bullet's lodged too deep. I'm going to have to make a midline incision. Lauren, just keep pressure on that entry wound. Ready?" Caitlin continued, guiding her daughter.

Lainey's breath hitched when Caitlin started to cut open the mid-line of his chest. Immediately the dark crimson liquid started flowing quickly as the scalpel went by. Caitlin lied down the scalpel once the cut was wide and deep enough and took tweezers.

"Okay. Okay," She calmly told herself as tried to take the bullet out with the tweezers. After a few moments, she pulled them out, revealing a small bloody bullet, "Got it."

"Badass." Andy grinned, looking proud of his mother.

However, the joy didn't last for long. Harry began gasping and shaking, the blood began pouring out of his wound even faster than before.

"Mom?" Lauren panicked.

"Caitlin, what-what's happening?" Lainey asked, fear-stricken. Something was seriously wrong.

"He's hemorrhaging," Caitlin frantically told them, "An artery must have—"

"It's not stopping!" Lauren exclaimed.

"It's I can't stop the blood. Not without a cross-clamp." Caitlin said, looking around helplessly.

"Do something, please!" Lainey started to freak out, "He's going to die if you don't—"

"Where's the artery?" Lauren interrupted the brunette girl and looked sharply at her mother. Among the four, Lauren was probably the only one who managed to put herself together.

"What?" Caitlin asked, baffled by her daughter's question.

"Show me."

"Lauren, I-I-I-I don't know—"

"Mom, show me!" Lauren demanded.

"There," Using her hands, Caitlin expanded the cut, giving her daughter a clearer view of the artery, "The bleeding's coming from that artery right there."

"Okay, stand back." Lauren warned, taking a step backward as well, "I'm gonna try to get pressure on it."

Lainey took a step back along with Andy, her heart racing. Unaware of her actions, Lainey grabbed ahold of Andy's hand.

As Lauren raised up her hands, one of her small shields appeared above Harry and she steadily guided it down and into of the wound. "I think... I think I got it. Can you sew him up?"

Caitlin let out a shaky breath and without wasting a second she took every medical supply that she needed, "Okay. Yeah. Okay, okay."

"Just hurry!" Lauren said, struggling to keep up.

"Okay. Hold it." She began to stitch the wound up. Lainey and Andy could only watch. "There, let me tighten. Okay, there."

Lauren's arms fell down to her sides as she finally let go. The four stared at Harry who lied unconscious on the table, his heavy breathing slowly became less and less erratic.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Lauren worriedly asked.

"I think so. I think he'll be all right. We did it." Caitlin said, a smile making its way to her face. They all smiled at each other, relieved at the news.

"So cool," Andy grinned, seeming amazed by what had just happened, "Dad's not going to believe this."

A mix between a sigh and a laugh escaped Lainey's lips. They had done it. Harry was going to be okay.

Andy looked down and Lainey followed his gaze. Both of their hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined. Only now noticing how tight she holding his hand, Lainey quickly pulled away and muttered a quick apology, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Nonetheless, she couldn't wipe that small smile off her face.

~~~

"Oh, my God, don't you ever scare us like that again!" Lainey exclaimed, hugging the pale-skinned woman. She was so glad to see that Lorna was back and safe at the Headquarters.

"Hey, try not to squash my girlfriend, I just got her back," Marcos joked, putting his arm around Lorna's waist in loving and protective manner. The look in his eyes told Lainey how much relieved and grateful he was to have his lover back.

"I'm fine, Marcos," Lorna grinned but rolled her eyes at him. Despite her words, Lainey noticed a few different things about Lorna. Her normally died hair was back to its natural green color. Her skin was slightly paler than usual. But the thing that drew her attention the most was that weird glint in the woman's hazel eyes.

"I heard that you finally got out and started to kick ass out there," Lorna looked at Lainey, her lips tugged upwards in a proud smirk.

"Yeah, still working on the 'kicking ass' part," Lainey told her, letting out a small sigh.

Lorna raised an eyebrow at the brunette's reply, her expression turning from smug to concerned. "Lainey, is everything okay?"

"I'm just trying to figure things up," Lainey truthfully answered, "Things like what happened today when we were trying to rescue you. My powers just stopped working... but it wasn't just me, the same thing happened to Lauren."

"It wasn't just you, it happened to all of us. Every mutant in the area was shut down," Marcos revealed to her.

"How is that even possible?" Lainey was beyond confused.

"It was Pulse," A familiar voice from behind her answered shortly. Lainey turned to see John who joined their side, standing next to her.

"But you said he died two years ago," Lainey said, not understanding how a dead person could have caused this whole mess. Unless...

"That's what I thought, too," John began, rolling his sleeves up and crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed deep in thought, "He's alive and he was working with the Sentinel Services. That's why we lost our powers."

"When we were on the way back, Marcos and I came across a roadblock that was set up by a Sentinel Service agent. The same agent who locked me up," Lorna told them, glancing at Marcos for a moment, "We took him to an abandoned warehouse. He wasn't really willing to give much information about Pulse so we called Clarice and Sonya."

Lainey nodded at his words, understanding that they called Sonya so she could use her abilities to manipulate memories on the agent they had caught.

"But we didn't have much time, Sentinel Services and Atlanta PD started invading the warehouse so we had to get out of there," Marcos continued, seeming troubled.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Lainey asked, looking at the three adults around her.

"Sonya is upstairs, she's gathering every piece of information she managed to find out," Marcos told them, crossing his arms in the same manner John had.

"I'll go get her," John decided. He was about to leave, but then stopped as if he just remembered something, "Did Reed Strucker come back already?"

Lorna nodded her head, "Yeah. Just saw him getting back a few minutes ago,"

"Good. He might be able to help," John added, walking towards the stairs to go and find Sonya and Reed.

Lainey pursed her lips, thinking for a moment before she made up her mind. "I think I should head back and help Sage and Shatter."

John nodded at her, accepting her decision to let them work on a plan on their own, while Lorna looked at her with surprise, one eyebrow raised up slightly, "You don't want to stay here? We could use your help,"

"There are still some new refugees that need to settle in and we're already short on manpower anyway. They need someone to guide and reassure them, especially after everything that happened to them today, and I'll try my best to do that." Lainey admitted, sending the green-haired woman a soft smile. As much as she wanted to help with the plan, she knew she was needed somewhere else. One of the most important values that held The Mutant Underground together was trust, so it was more than necessary to make the new mutants feel comfortable and safe.

"I'm sure you will," Lorna grinned and told her, not a single trace of hesitation in her voice.

Lorna believed in Lainey—She always had, and the teenager couldn't be more grateful for that. But once again, Lainey couldn't help but notice that reoccurring glint in the woman's eyes and her voice was slightly different when she spoke. It was almost motherly.

~~~

"There are some spare blankest I can get you, but anyone who can share will be helpful," Lainey explained as she handed a couple of pillows to a group of people. It wasn't a secret that there wasn't enough supply for everyone. Everything was rationed, shared equally between the people. It wasn't comfortable but it was necessary.

She let out a sigh as she walked away from the group, feeling exhausted from everything that happened. Things started to calm down, people began to settle in and help each other, but the teenager still couldn't give herself a minute of peace. The Sentinel Services, Pulse and her powers, they were all bugging her mind.

A sound of soft chuckles slightly quieted down her worried thoughts and she tilted her head toward the source of it.

In a nearby room, around a square wooden table, sat no other than the Strucker family. It was a bit dark, the red candles on the table provided most of the dull light in the room, but she could still see the family members smiling at each other. It didn't take her long to realize that she probably walked in as they were having some kind of family dinner.

It should have made her smile, feel a bit better that despite the circumstances and everything that they had to go through, that this family was finally back together. But instead, there was a longing ache in her chest.

"Hey," A voice said and Lainey turned to see Sonya standing next to her. Sonya glanced at the same direction Lainey had and then looked back at Lainey, "Is everything okay?"

Lainey still didn't forget how Sonya had refused to help her with her nightmares and memories. Lainey was just so frustrated and hurt by her. Not looking at the red-head woman properly, Lainey quickly muttered, "Yeah, sure,"

Not wanting to stay there any longer, Lainey simply walked away, ignoring the looks she got from Sonya and focused back at helping the refugees.

She wasn't aware of the concerned gaze of the brown-eyed teenager that caught her storming away.

~~~

The breeze blew gently and she felt the chilly wind touching her neck and face. It felt nice, relaxing and comforting in a way. She leaned forward and placed her elbows on the cool railing, trying to get an even closer look at the dark sky above her.

It was miraculously a cloudless night and the HQ was far enough from the bright lights of the city so Lainey was easily able to spot any tiny star that decorated the

It was so quiet, and not just because she was away from all the buzzing people in the headquarters, but because her restless thoughts seemingly disappeared. She felt so unbelievingly calm.

"I hope you're not planning on jumping or something," A voice said, startling Lainey which almost did get her to fall. She placed a hand over her chest and turned to see who interrupted her peaceful moment.

"Jeez, Andy, you scared me half to death," The girl told him, stepping away from the edge of the roof.

"Sorry, sorry. Won't do this again," He promised, raising his hands up in defense. He took a step forward, carefully climbing through the window to the roof. "Hey, isn't going to the roof is off-limits or something? What are you doing up here?"

"Yeah it's pretty much a forbidden area but I guess everyone is too busy with the refugees' crisis to notice," Lainey told him, nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders, "It's weird to see the headquarters so crowded and I just had to go and get some fresh air. What's your excuse?"

"Same thing, I guess," Andy answered, walking slowly toward Lainey.

"How's your dad doing?" Lainey softly asked him. Sage had told her how the Sentinel Services and Atlanta PD were coming closer to tracking down the location of the Underground but with the help of Reed and Fade, they had managed to lead them away.

"He's fine. My mom's busy treating his leg properly," Andy said and she nodded at him, remembering Reed's injury.

"That's good. I bet he needs rest after everything that happened today,"

"He's not the only one. You should get some rest too," The teen dark-eyed boy told her.

"I know," Lainey sighed, agreeing with him. She walked towards the wall of the roof and sat down, leaning on it. Andy quickly sat next to her.

"Those nightmares I get, they're not—they aren't just nightmares. They are memories," Lainey started to tell him. She didn't look at him, instead, she looked at the stars above. It was easier that way. "I used to get them a lot when I first got here. I was so scared and it took me a few good months to open up."

"What were you scared of?" She could tell by his voice that he hesitated before asking that question.

"Myself," She told him, "What I was. The things I could do,"

Tearing her gaze from the stars, Lainey picked up the courage and looked at the boy beside her. It was dark outside, most of the light coming from the moon and the dim street lamp not far away, but the two sat close enough to each other for Lainey to see his face. His eyes showed nothing but understanding and empathy, letting her know that he had to go through the same thing, too.

"I felt like a monster and—" Lainey stopped herself. She lowered her gaze, not able to look at Andy nor back at the stars. She just looked down.

"There's no way you could be a monster," Andy confidently said, with no hint of hesitation this time. Lainey furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes finding their way back to his brown ones.

"No offense, Andy, but there are things you don't know about me. I have secrets just like any other person here," Lainey replied, but it didn't seem to scare the boy's confidence away.

"I know you risked your life when you came to the warehouse to help me and my family, and when you didn't leave our side when we sneaked out to Uncle Danny's house. Not to mention that you were one of the few who wanted to help save my dad," Andy told her, grinning at her, "That sounds more like being a badass than a monster to me."

Lainey couldn't help but laugh at his words, smiling back at him and instantly feeling better.

"You give me too much credit," Lainey said, shaking her head.

"No, I don't!" Andy insisted.

"Well, I think you and your sister are pretty incredible, too," She told him, genuinely, "You guys are lucky to have each other."

"Yeah, that's definitely not what Lauren is going to think when she finds out I stole most of her pillows and the blankets," Andy admitted and chuckled nervously.

"Andy!" Lainey jokingly scolded him, "Stop being mean to your sister!"

The two couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Speaking of my family, I think my mom's looking for us," Andy said and Lainey stopped for a second only to realize that Caitlin really was calling their names, probably wondering where they had gone to. "We should go back inside before she finds us here."

Lainey nodded, agreeing with him. They climbed back through the window, leaving the roof empty once again.

"But seriously, your family love you and care about you so much." Lainey told him with a grin, as they made their way back.

"Some people here wish they could say the same about their family."

___________

I know, I know... I'm super late with this one! I'm so sorry for the long wait but I promise you I'm back! 

Sorry for all the notifications, I just had to edit a few things, nothing really major :)

Are you guys excited about the second season? I really want to know what you think!