Day 45 - The Girls

"What's the first thing you'll do when you get back?" Fatin asked, looking at Hunter who was staring across the clearing at Toni and Shelby who were talking in hushed tones. 

"I don't know," Hunter muttered, her eyes narrowed a little as Shelby placed a soft hand on Toni's arm. Fatin followed her gaze, trying to hide her smile as she noticed the look on Hunter's face, but failing and chuckling instead. "What?"

"If looks could kill..."

"Sorry," Hunter murmured, realising that she had been glaring daggers at the two. She sighed, running a hand down one of the braids that Fatin had put her hair into, leaning back a little as she tried to relieve the tension in her body. "It's like, my biggest flaw. Even with Riley, when things were... bad, I was just always so possessive and jealous. Kind of thought I was over that, but seems I was just too busy focusing on survival and shark attacks and now..."

"Now things are a bit less stressful, you're thinking about them?" Fatin teased, but Hunter knew there was no malice behind it.

"Yeah, I guess," Hunter agreed, watching as the two stood up and started to head out of camp together. "I know Toni would never, and I trust Shelby... but I guess it's just that nagging thought in the back of my head. I always kind of knew Riley was cheating on me, so I think I'm just wired now to think it's always going to happen again."

"Wow, you're a bunch of joy today," Dot interrupted, sitting down beside them both. Fatin turned to look at her with a disappointed look, but Dot just ignored her as she turned back to Hunter. "Look, the last thing anyone has on their mind right now is the possibility of Toni cheating - and we both know how Shelby feels about that. One of the big man's biggest sins, and all that crap."

Hunter wasn't really sure how Shelby felt about anything anymore. Not since she'd watched her take that cross off and give it to Rachel like it was nothing. For their entire lives, Hunter had never seen Shelby without that goddam cross necklace - even when they went swimming together as children.

"What's the first thing you'll do when you get back, Dot?" Hunter deflected, throwing Fatin's original question at the girl. Dot looked ahead, almost blankly as the question caught her off guard.

It was kind of in that moment that Hunter realised that Dot was maybe the least fortunate out of them all. They'd spent so long talking bout the funerals that their friends and family would have planned for them, that Hunter had honestly forgotten for a moment that there wasn't anyone who could plan a funeral for Dot. She had no family. She was an outsider and a loner.

Hunter vowed in that moment that Dot would never feel alone once they got back home. Not again.

"Probably grab a burger," she said with a shrug. "A real one, you know? With actual meat and cheese and bread that isn't made from whatever the hell Leah's been experimenting with."

Hunter nodded, feeling a pang of guilt for bringing up a topic that clearly made Dot uncomfortable. She reached out and squeezed Dot's hand, a gesture that surprised both of them. Physical touch was still something Hunter struggled with, but in that moment, it felt right.

"Well, when we get back, you're coming home with me," Hunter declared, her voice leaving no room for argument. "My parents probably wouldn't even noticed and I'm sure Hudson wouldn't mind setting up the guest room."

The conversation lulled into a comfortable silence, broken only by the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore and the occasional bird call. Hunter's eyes drifted back to where Toni and Shelby had disappeared into the trees. She tried to push down the gnawing feeling in her gut, reminding herself that Toni loved her, that Shelby was just a friend.

"Well, as touching as this Hallmark moment is, I'm going to see if Rachel needs help with dinner. Last time she tried to cook, we almost lost another limb."

The three girls chuckled, all of them having different thoughts about what life would be like once they were off this island.

Once they were home.

____

Day 15 - The Boys

Hudson stood protectively in front of Josh, the smaller boy trying to peer around the muscular boy's body as Seth tried to scramble up from the ground, Ivan having just separated Kirin and Seth from their fight.

Riley was lurking just behind Seth and the look on his face told Hudson that he knew exactly why Kirin had launched himself into Seth as soon as the boy had placed a hand on Josh's shoulder upon their arrival back at camp.

"Look, can I... can I please explain now that I'm... now I'm no longer getting thrashed for no fucking reason?"

"No reason, my ass!" Kirin snarled back, his shoulder pressed against Hudson as he tried to block Seth's view of Josh. "He jacked off on him!"

Raf, Seth's little lapdog as always, came to the boy's defence straight away. Hudson was surprised that he didn't even take a second to process what he had just been accused of, and he wondered deep down if Raf knew that Seth was capable of such a thing and just hadn't consciously figured that out yet.

"Kirin, let him explain."

"There's not usually a rationale for sexual assault," Ivan replied, hands on his hips as his eyes travelled between Seth and Riley, who he had also caught on looked unsurprised by the statement. Almost as if he had known something.

"Come on, we... we don't know that's what happened!" Scotty snapped, Hudson and Kirin turning to look at him in frustration as Josh shrunk back a little at the disbelief that Raf and Scotty were putting out into the already tense atmosphere. 

"Let him talk!" Raf demanded, nudging Riley as if to encourage the larger boy to stick up for Seth too. Riley remained quiet.

"Look, Josh, he walked in on me when I was in the middle of... when I was... I was..." Seth started, spluttering his way through his carefully constructed lie. "I was jerking off, and then he was just standing there, and he saw me and... and that's it. And now somehow, it's getting scrambled."

Hudson glared at him, clenching his fists at his side as he tried to restrain himself from copying Kirin's past actions and launching himself at the boy.

"Dude, what the fuck?"

"Bullshit," Kirin snapped at the same time, turning to look at Josh with that fire still blazing in his eyes. "Lift up your shirt. Show 'em."

Hudson looked back at Josh, instantly seeing that the boy had no intention of taking his shirt off and showing everyone else.

"He's got, like, red all over," Kirin explained.

"It's like a friction burn," Hudson explained, his eyes trailing over to Riley with the same anger that Kirin's had. "Riley could confirm that that's what it looks like on someone's skin when you pin them down."

Riley baulked a little at that, everyone's eyes flickering between the boys as Hudson reigned himself back in, turning away from the group for a second and running hand through his hair. He didn't want to make this about Hunter - this was about Josh, who was shaking like a leaf behind him.

"Oh, what? Like that... like that's supposed to be some smoking gun?" Seth snapped, trying to gaslight them all. "Look, I mean, no offence, Josh, you literally break out in hives over everything."

"Why would Josh lie? Huh, why?"

"He's right," Ivan said, everyone turning to look at him. If there hadn't already been signs that things were crazy, Ivan agreeing with Kirin certainly would be one of them. "And if Kirin O'Connor is believing the victim, then... something obviously happened here."

Hudson didn't appreciate the shade towards Kirin, but he supposed he couldn't really talk after just having made his own snide remark about Riley. He kind of respected Ivan's commitment to his Kirin hatred, actually.

"I didn't do shit, for the record," Riley added in, crossing his arms as he noticed the way Hudson was still glaring at him from across the bonfire, "I saw what I assumed was Josh and Seth getting off together in the sand like a pair of gays and I walked away. I've done a lot of shit things in my life, but even I draw the line at this."

Hudson looked at him, his rage simmering on the surface. Ignoring the blatant homophobia that he knew Ivan would take care of himself, he felt his fists clench again. He knew that Riley had never touched Hunter non-consensually in that sort of way, but he wasn't sure if that was enough to believe the boy. He was an evil bastard, and Hudson was pretty sure that while Riley might have seen it and walked away - he definitely was more than aware of what had been happening to Josh.

But there was no way to prove that, and there was a bigger demon to fight right now.

"Okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Kirin, dude, I mean, you got, like, reasons to fuck with Seth. You've been in a dick measuring contest with him since day one," Scotty interrupted, trying to reason with them all. 

"You think I'd make up some sick lie about it?"

"And look, no offence Hudson," he continued, ignoring the way Kirin had moved towards him in anger, "but you've had it out for Riley from the day we got on that plane. And I know he had like a bad breakup with Hunter-"

Hudson snapped. He stormed forward, his large palms pushing on Scotty's shoulders as he sent the boy stumbling backwards.

"Take my sister's name out your fucking mouth!"

Ivan grabbed Hudson around the torso, dragging him back from Scotty and pushing him backwards towards Kirin and Josh. Hudson heaved, his eyes furious as he glared at the boy who was now standing with Ivan in between them, sweat on his forehead as he realised that he'd overstepped.

"Josh, I believe you," Bo said, knowing that his opinion would be the one thing that Scotty would listen to more than the rest of the boys.

"Okay, okay. Okay, this... this is getting out of hand!"

"He's not okay!" Bo yelled back, pointing at Josh with unshed tears beginning to pool in his eyes. Hudson wondered if any of them were okay - if this was really just about Josh. "Somebody... somebody did something to him."

"You say that like you're sure."

"I know that kind of scared when I see it."

As they continued to argue about the fate of Seth (and afterwards, Riley), Hudson wondered what Hunter was doing right now. 

He wondered if she was sitting at home, curled up in his bed like she did when they were little kids, or if she was leading search efforts to find them. He wondered if she was back at school, navigating the sad looks from everyone at the idea that not only her twin brother was on a plane that had crashed, but her ex-boyfriend too. He wondered if she had organised a memorial for them, if she'd been carrying around their house his old and tattered bear - Richie -  that he slept with every night (that only the Boyd twins knew about).

He wondered if things had been different, if there was a world where Hunter and Hudson Boyd never experienced trauma.

He liked to think so. That there was one universe out there somewhere, where the twins just got to be kids. Had parents that loved them. Didn't have abusive boyfriends or get stuck on islands after plane crashes.

Because nothing could be as bad as this.

_____

Day 45 - The Girls

"Hey Hunts," Leah called out, "how do you feel like living up to your name and going on the 'Hunt' for some food for us?"

"Very funny," Hunter replied, rolling her eyes as she went to stand up, wincing as she lost her footing and put pressure on her injured leg too quickly. Leah instantly frowned, alongside Dot who moved forward to steady her, holding Hunter's shoulder as she took a pained deep breath in. "Sorry, I just got up too quickly..."

"Shit, are you okay?"

Hunter looked over as Toni rushed into the clearing, dropping the branches that she'd been gathering with Shelby as she noticed Dot supporting the girl and her leg slightly raised in the air.

Hunter forced a smile, trying to mask the pain that was still radiating through her leg. 

"I'm fine, just stood up too fast. No big deal."

But Toni wasn't convinced. She moved closer, her brow furrowed with concern as she gently placed a hand on Hunter's arm. 

"Let me take a look at it."

Hunter hesitated, glancing around at the other girls watching them. She hated feeling weak or vulnerable, especially in front of everyone. But the throbbing in her leg was getting worse, and she knew Toni wouldn't let it go.

"Okay," she relented with a sigh.

Toni carefully helped her sit back down, then knelt to examine the wound on Hunter's calf. The shark bite had been healed over the past days since Hunter had started letting Dot re-dress it, but an angry red line still snaked across her skin. Toni's fingers ghosted over it, feather-light.

"It's pretty inflamed," she murmured, her dark eyes flickering up to meet Hunter's. "We should clean it again and change the bandage."

Hunter nodded, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest at Toni's gentle touch. She watched as Toni stood and went to grab their dwindling medical supplies.

"I can help," Shelby offered, stepping forward.

"It's fine, I've got it," Toni replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. Shelby's smile faltered slightly, but she nodded and stepped back.

Hunter looked between the two of them, confused on the sudden awkwardness that had seemingly appeared since they took their walk together. She looked over at Fatin who just shrugged, unsure what to say. She was confused too.

As Toni began carefully cleaning and redressing the wound, Hunter found herself studying Shelby. The blonde was watching them with an unreadable expression, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as if she was a kicked puppy. Hunter felt that familiar pang of jealousy, remembering how close Shelby and Toni had seemed earlier.

She shook her head slightly, pushing the thoughts away. Now wasn't the time for paranoia or pettiness.

"There," Toni said softly, securing the fresh bandage - their last fresh bandage, as Dot pointed out. "How's that feel?"

Hunter tested her weight on the leg, relieved to find the pain had subsided to a dull ache now that it was wrapped a bit tighter.

"Much better. Thanks, Toni."

Toni smiled, squeezing her hand. 

"Anytime. Just take it easy, okay? No hunting expeditions for you today."

"Doctor's orders," Dot chimed in with a grin.

Hunter rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. 

"Fine, fine. I'll stay put and be useless."

"You're never useless," Fatin said, bumping Hunter's shoulder playfully. "You're our morale officer. Keep our spirits up with that sunny disposition of yours."

The girls laughed, and Hunter felt some of the tension from earlier dissipate. As conversation shifted to plans for the day, she caught Toni's eye and mouthed a silent "thank you." Toni winked in response, Hunter's thoughts of jealousy now long forgotten as she smiled back.

She knew she was in love with Toni, but it was moments like this that reminded her just how down bad she really was for the ex-basketball player.

____

Current Day

"If you have something to say, just spit it out," Gretchen spoke as she stirred her coffee, turning around to look at Dean who was standing just staring at her from the other side of their file room. 

The man had seemed less and less confident about their actions and Gretchen was smart enough to know that he was their loose thread right now. She didn't think he was conspiring against her, Faber and the trial, but she also wouldn't cross that off her bingo card just yet.

"I'm just... confused," he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck as he sipped on his own coffee. "Does it not massively screw with the study results to tell them all that Hudson Boyd is dead?"

"Depends on what my hypothesis is," Gretchen replied, and Dean almost scoffed. It was a cop-out answer - she clearly had steered from her original plan and now was heavily regretting it. "We did say we wanted to see how they reacted to different events, and I feel Kirin's reaction versus Leah and Hunter's is a good indication of that."

"With all due respect-"

"I always find men love to say that before disrupting a woman-"

"-that still doesn't make sense. Of course they're all going to react different - Hunter's bond to Hudson is of course going to be different than Kirin's and Leah hasn't ever even met him, so of course she's going to also react differently."

Gretchen sighed, setting down her coffee mug with a sharp clink. She turned to face Dean fully, her eyes narrowing.

"You're right, Dean. It doesn't make sense. Is that what you want to hear?" Her tone was clipped, frustration evident. "The truth is, things have spiraled beyond our original parameters. We're in uncharted territory now, and we need to adapt to survive. Hmm, art imitating reality, I guess."

"So what's the real reason?" he pressed.

Gretchen was quiet for a long moment, her gaze distant. When she spoke again, her voice was softer.

"Hunter Boyd is the linchpin. She's the one holding both groups together, even separated as they are. Her relationship with Toni, her history with Shelby and Dot, her bond with Fatin... and of course, her connection to Hudson."

She paused, taking a sip of coffee before continuing.

"By severing that final tether to her old life, we push her to her limits. We see what she's truly capable of when everything is stripped away."

Dean frowned, processing this. "And the others? Kirin, Leah?"

"Collateral," Gretchen said simply. "Their reactions are data points, yes, but secondary to the main point that I'm trying to theorise here."

"Which is?"

"To break Hunter Boyd," Gretchen replied, her eyes glinting. "And then see how she puts herself back together. If she hadn't found out about the other island, none of this would be necessary. But now she was waiting for her brother to come save her, which puts the data for phase one all the way back to invalid. This way, we have a fresh slate."

Dean felt a chill run down his spine at her words. He'd known from the beginning that this experiment pushed ethical boundaries, but this felt like crossing a line.

"And if she doesn't?" he asked quietly. "Bounce back?"

Gretchen's smile was cold. "Then we'll have our answer about the resilience of the human spirit, won't we?"

She turned back to her work, effectively dismissing him. Dean stood there for a moment longer, his coffee cooling in his hands, wrestling with the implications of what he'd just heard.

As he finally turned to leave, he couldn't shake the feeling that they'd set something in motion that they wouldn't be able to control. And he wondered, not for the first time, if the cost of this knowledge would be too high.

The phone in his pocket felt heavy suddenly. The small idea at the back of his head about helping the girls... helping Leah...

He just hoped Leah used the phone for the right call.