Chase had been trying to avoid having this talk with Emily, but the universe had a habit of ignoring him.

After leaving Archie's workshop, Chase called a meeting in the central room of The Haven. If he was going to tell Emily about what he and Andre saw outside, he might as well have told the others.

Once everyone was settled in, Chase took his spot in front of them all.

Emily stood beside one of the couches, her dark eyes narrowed. Her girlfriend, the hydrokinetic Kai, was next to her. Everyone else had filled in the sofas, their eyes trained on their leader as they awaited his explanation.

"So," Victor said while sharpening his red blade with a smooth rock, "what do you need? I have work to do."

"You mean training by yourself for hours?" Emily replied dryly.

"I'm staying ready. You all are getting too comfortable."

Emily snorted. "It's been a year. If Atlas was going to find us here, they would've already."

Victor simply rolled his eyes and continued sharpening his sword.

"What did you want to talk to us about, Chase?" Kai asked him.

Uh oh.

He looked around at everyone's faces. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, they all looked relaxed. Almost as if they weren't fugitives hiding from the world.

They had no idea what happened earlier that morning. They had no idea that the place they made their home might've been ripped away from them in the next coming hours.

Chase rubbed the back of his neck as he prepared his response. All eyes were on him. He was used to the pressure; after all, he had been the leader of this team for three years and had also led his old group for two. Nerves rarely got the best of him.

But this was different. Their lives and freedom were potentially in jeopardy.

"Well?" Danai, one of the original members of the group, asked while tying her silver dreads into a bun atop her head. "Spit it out, Goldilocks."

"Right." He released a deep breath. "A Jaeger ship flew over the forest today during patrol."

The entire room felt like copious amounts of liquid nitrogen had seeped in through the cracks. Everyone stiffened in their seats, their eyes going wide upon registering the news Chase delivered. Most were afraid. A few seemed angry.

The only who hadn't reacted was Cassie—the last of the newcomers.

She remained in the corner of the room with her head bowed. Her hair, darker than the blackest night sky, curtained around her like the grim reaper's hood.

The thirteen-year-old rarely spoke. In fact, Chase couldn't remember the last time she said a word to him since they rescued her from an Atlas research facility. That particular mission had been the one that almost got them all killed.

He tried not to think about it often.

It was the first and only time he had experienced her abilities—and he still wasn't exactly sure what they were. Whatever Atlas did to her in that lab messed her up. Bad. He wasn't sure if she would ever recover. Not without intense therapy, of course.

And he was afraid they wouldn't be able to offer her that any time soon.

As the others began speaking amongst themselves about the Jaeger situation, he found himself fixating upon Cassie.

She lifted her head slightly, her silver eyes staring straight into his own. Even though she hadn't said a word, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

She was afraid.

They all were.

"When are we leaving?" Victor demanded as he shot up from the couch. He returned his blade to the sheath on his back. When Chase didn't give him an immediate reply, the black-haired Prime narrowed his sharp gaze at the boy. "We're not staying here another night."

"That's not your call to make."

"And it's yours?"

"I was voted leader—"

Victor snorted. "We voted?"

"You know, we didn't have to let you and your girlfriend come with us," Chase snapped. "You know where the door is if you don't like how things are run around here."

Silence filled the room like thick smoke. All eyes were on the two men as they glared squared off silently. Victor clenched his hands into fists at his sides. The muscles in his jaw pulsed like a heartbeat.

But he kept his mouth shut.

For that, Chase was thankful.

"We're not leaving," Emily said. "Look, we just started to make this place our home. Besides, I heard Chase and Archie talking in the workshop. Atlas might not even know we're here."

"Why else would they be in North Dakota?" Danai inquired, her tone skeptical. "Seems a little to coincidental to me."

"We're not running." Emily scowled. "I'm tired of running. Aren't you all?"

Everyone fell silent. Eyes dropped to floor.

It was a valid question. Chase had been asking himself the same thing ever since Atlas started hunting them down. But if they didn't want to end up in The Vault or some nefarious research facility like Cassie, then they had to do what it took to stay hidden.

He might not have agreed with Victor on most things, but he understood where the man was coming from.

Maybe Chase should've heeded his warnings.

Since the battle on Adak Island almost five years ago, Victor had been running from Atlas. He knew what it took to stay alive. To survive. He had been cut off from society—even more so than when he used to run with Kismet and Kane.

It made him paranoid. Antsy. Frantic.

Victor jabbed a finger at Emily. "Your naivety will get us all killed."

"If that means you dying, then it will be worth it."

The two of the glared at each other again for what must have been the tenth time that day. It wasn't even lunch time yet.

Sighing, Chase pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nothing has been decided yet. I have Archie looking into the situation for me. If anything changes or new information comes, you all will be the first to know. Only then will we make a decision—"

"Atlas could be preparing their attack right now," Victor pointed out. "We need to leave. Now."

"We're not doing that."

"You're making a mistake."

It's mine to make.

Chase's mouth twitched. While he understood his fear, he couldn't allow the man to continue questioning his authority—not in front of the others. Not only was it disrespectful, but it would only make the younger ones nervous.

And if he knew anything, it was to keep Cassie as calm as possible. No one understood the details of powers, but they knew not to get her riled up. She didn't have a full grasp on her abilities and there wasn't anyone suitable to help train her. If her fear or anger slipped out of control, it could spell the end for them all.

"Listen, we're staying put for now and that's final." Chase walked up to Victor and stopped a few inches away from his face. "Got it?"

Victor flinched toward him, but before things could escalate further, his girlfriend—Bella—intervened. She moved between the two tall men and placed her hand on Victor's chest.

"I think we should all calm down," she suggested. Her stern gaze was trained on her boyfriend, who didn't seem to be listening.

"I agree," Andre added. "No need to be at each other's throats. That's what the Jaeger's are for."

A few of the others chuckled at his joke. Some of the tension that had been building in the room began to deteriorate like the metal on bikes left out in the rain. Chase nodded at the big guy, thankful for his intervention.

Victor jabbed a finger at Chase. "You'll regret this." Then he vanished, leaving behind a cluster of red and black particles swirling in the air.

Chase scowled and turned away from the spot he had just been standing in.

"Anything else you need to tell us, oh fearless leader?" Emily's words were drenched in sarcasm.

He shot her a scathing look. "Meeting adjourned."

Without a second thought, he made his way to the tunnel that would lead him to his bedroom.

#

After the impromptu meeting, Chase found himself sitting alone on the cot in the room he shared with Andre and Archie. Though, Archie often opted to sleep in his lab.

They were fortunate that the bunker contained a plethora of spaces for his group to reside in. When he and his friends made the decision to defect from Atlas, it was never his intention to add more people into the fold.

But when Atlas started rounding up Primes across the world like they were criminals, even if they hadn't committed a crime, he knew they couldn't just sit back and watch. They weren't able to do much, but they were able to liberate a few dozen Primes during their trek across the Northwest region of America.

Three of them stuck with the group, bringing their ranks eight to twelve.

He wished he could do more. He wished he could've saved them all and brought an end to the tyranny started by President Crane.

His hand tightened around the metal frame of his bed. The metal bent in his fingers and he grimaced. He had already broken a cot on accident before. Best not to make the same mistake twice.

With a sigh, he stood up and paced around the small space.

Daggers of light filtered in through the tiny window on the wall across from him. The snow was beginning to come down in sheets now. It was a good thing he and Andre got out of the cold before it did.

His mind traveled back to the events of the morning.

What if Victor was right?

That Jaeger ship might have seen them. An attack could have been in the wings. If he didn't act quickly, they would be sitting ducks.

On the other hand, Emily was right.

The Haven had just started to feel like home. Isra and Kai had started the beginnings of a garden. Bella did her best to decorate the inside of the bunker with whatever had been left around the place when they first arrived. With the help of Emily, a set routine and schedule had been created for the entire group; they were all just starting to get used to it.

Did Chase really want to uproot everyone prematurely just because he was scared?

He froze.

Glancing down at his hands, he noticed they were trembling. And it wasn't because of the cold air slowly seeping into the room.

"You're afraid."

His heart jumped into his throat at the sound of Cassie's small, yet eerie, voice. Every word she spoke sent shivers down his spine. Turning slightly, he spotted her standing beneath the doorframe of his room. She blended in with the shadows, her pale face barely visibly. Still, her grey eyes pierced through the darkness and drilled straight into Chase's.

He nodded.

"I am."

There was no use lying to her. While he didn't know what her powers were exactly, he knew one facet of them involved telepathy. If he hid the truth from her, she would know. And after what she went through in that research facility, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

Cassie nodded back at him before flitting towards him like a shadow.

She sat beside him on the edge of his cot, her face pointed forward. Despite the lack of expression on her face, he could tell her mind was working. Her fingers twitched as she rested them on her lap.

Finally, she spoke again.

And what she said shook him to his core.

"Danger is coming."

Chase's powers allowed him to pick up cars like they weighed nothing and to stop bullets with his skin. But he couldn't see the future. Yet, he couldn't help but think Cassie was right. A shaky sigh left his lips as he nodded at her.

"I know."