Cole glances at the transformer. "Hey, Zeke, I think I found it."

"Alright. Now, somehow the militia managed to isolate that transformer from the rest of them over at Ascension Parish," Zeke explains and it gives Cole an idea.

"Maybe I could bridge this one onto the next one."

Zeke keeps silent and Cole takes it as his cue to try.

Putting one hand in the transformer, and the other towards the second, he summons a Tesla Missile and directs it towards the second transformer.

He feels it hit its target.
"Zeke, I got the next transformer going."

"Good. Get on over to it pronto. It'll take a while for the voltage to build, and the militia are sure to try and shut that thing down before the relays reset the condenser."

Cole scoffs at his friend's choice of words.
"Really?"

"Hey, man," Zeke chuckles. "You went to college prep, I took shop classes. Who's the dummy now?"

Zeke couldn't see when Cole rolled his eyes.
"Any reply from Brookstone," he asks after a moment of silence.

Cole spot the next transformer in the distance.
He sighs. "Nope. It's like she's gone off the grid."

"Well, you're about to do the same. Keep me updated," Zeke says before checking out of the call.

Cole nods to himself as he lands next to the second transformer.

Sparks fly as he reaches out for it. And as soon as he connect to it, a huge rush of energy flows through him.

It makes him feel... good.

"Hey, Cole. I picked up some militia chatter on my squawk box. They are riled up, and headed straight for you," Zeke fills in, only moments after Cole's electrical connection.

In the distance, through continuous burst of static electricity, he can hear the militia approaching, all shouting orders.

Feeling heavily energized, he raised his sparked arms and readies his attacks.

The power that fills him also fills the thirst of being off the grid; and the power level only got greater the longer he stayed connected to the transformer.

He was ready to take down some militia, his anticipation rising with each step closing in.

He grinned and shot his first bolt at the men rounded the corner and falling into his sight. He continued to sent bolts, feeling the energy percent of the transformer rise.

A rock wall suddenly got in the way of him, just as he threw an electric grenade, and he had to jump away from the explosion.

More rock surrounded him and the transformer, keeping any militia weapons away from them.

He could clearly see when all of the walls shot outward, taking down the nearby men; but there was no sight of the Bender.

Oh, and the irony was real when she landed a few feet away, slumped and panting slightly.
"Sorry, I'm late," she apologizes, but Cole catches the way she failed to bring any sort of emotion to her words.

Thought the midst of more men on their way, Cole couldn't help the second of worry he felt for Y/n when he saw her blank face.

She was in new, but similar clothes. Her skin was cleaned up and she had a bandaid over the bullet graze on her cheek.

That small moment Cole let himself get caught up was enough for him to forget the feeling of the transformer starting up.

He only realized what was happening after his powerful high left him — and threw the rest of the militia, and well as Y/n, a good distance away.

The Bender had a painful landed and rolled a few times before she stopped and curled into herself, the pain flaring.

She groaned and wheezed, biting at her lip as a slick joke came out.
"Cole, if you want to kill me, just say it," she says, grinning through gritted teeth.

Cole stammered.
"I-I... I didn't think that through," he sighed and looked around at the dead militia and struggling conduit.

"Zeke, man, we have a problem," Cole spoke into his phone without another spare moment of gazing.

Y/n pulled herself up slowly, gaining her balance back.

"What is it, brother," Zeke asked back.

Cole hesitated. "Brookstone, uh... the blast needed to complete the transformer start-up takes out all nearby militia..."

"Yeah?"
"...it also took out Y/n."

Zeke sucks in a breath and Cole is quick to follow up before his friend can think the worst.
"She's fine! I'd just rather if she wasn't affected. How do we avoid that?"

"Oh, man," Zeke's sigh can be heard by Y/n as she moves closer to Cole, wiping the dirt off her pants.
"I didn't think that could happen."

There was silence from Zeke's end of the phone.
"Zeke?"

"Hang on, man. I'll think of something, just start getting the next transformer up."

"You okay," Cole asked to Y/n as Zeke left the call. He placed himself next to the electrical box.

With a roll of her shoulders and a blank faced glance, she answered. "Yeah."

He nods and takes a moment to connect to the third transformer with a second Tesla Missile.

He beckoned the Bender after him as he started for the third transformers location.

"How's Kuo," Y/n asked into her phone, moving after Cole stiffly.

"Hey Brookstone, it's good to hear from you," Zeke greeted and Cole also waited for an update on the agent. "It's weird. Her skin's as cold as a dead man's balloon. If I wasn't watching her breathe, I'd swear she was dead."

Cole winced to himself, throwing a concerned look at Brookstone, who had paled slightly.
He could tell Y/n was just as worried for Kuo's well-being as he was.

He watched her click off of the call, so she missed when Zeke joined back with more information. "I think I have a way to protect Y/n from the blast."

"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Zeke echoed. "Try rerouting your electricity."

Cole's eyebrows furrowed and he looked down at his fingers, sparking them up. "Like with my hands?"

"Yeah, man. Aim them away from her."

Spotting the transformer and he and Y/n came up to it, he nodded even if Zeke couldn't see it. "Alright, I'll tell you how it goes."

"Good luck, brother."

He feels the same rush fill him as he connects to the transformer.

It's not long before Militia show up, and he and Y/n get to work keeping them at bay.

The mix of her rock and his electricity work surprisingly well together. The mix so smoothly while  being dangerously catastrophic.

He admires the concentration that melts away the empty look she's had since she arrived at the second transformer.

He then winces, picturing her body thrown by the electrical explosion.
That won't happen again.

This time, when he feels the power percent reach maximum, he shoots his hands out -- down and away from the Bender.

He smiles prematurely.

Fully believing in his ability to direct the electricity away from Y/n, he aims for the oncoming Militia, missing the way Brookstone tenses up and flinches away from him.

Oh, how it went so wrong.

Overestimating the power of the blow, it sent the Militia flying... along with Y/n. He had to wait for the dust to settle before he could run to her side and help her up.

He could hear her curse, annoyed at the pain of her second hard landing.

Cole felt guilty, eyeing the cuts and bruises that scattered along her exposed skin. "I didn't-"
Her hand goes up, and it silences him. "Let's just get this over with."

He gulps before nodding and targeting the final missile towards the last transformer.

The second he confirms to the Bender that the fourth transformer is ready for a start-up, she leaves him behind with a word.

He sighs and follows in her quick footsteps, connecting Zeke to the call. "Zeke, this can't happen again," he says, staring at the back of Y/n's torn shirt. "It's bad."

"Man, this is going to sound stupid, but," Zeke chuckles almost incredulously. "Keep physical contact with her as you redirect the electricity. If we're lucky, it'll go right through her."

"You want me to hug her," Cole asks, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

He watched Y/n stumbled and went to reach for her, but she recovered before he could help. She grunted, shaking her head as she sped up.

"I know how it sounds, but if that doesn't work, nothing will."

Cole can only hope his friend is right as he leaves the call, coming up on the last transformer. As he connects to it, he doesn't fail to notice the way Y/n keeps a larger distance.

Once again, the Militia come. He and Brookstone work diligently to keep them away.

Cole keeps the rising energy level at the back of his head.

It gets higher.
And higher.
And higher.
Till, finally...

"Y/n, hug me!"

That causes an eruption of surprise as you whip around to face him. 
"What?!"

"Trust me," he urges, feeling the energy hit its limit, and he couldn't do anything to stop it.
"Come here!"

In a whirlwind of hesitation, Y/n throws herself into Cole, engulfing his torso in her arms and digging her head into his chest.

His arms shoot out, just in time for the energy to release. Cole felt Y/n's arms tense around him, and her body become rigid against his.

A shiver goes up his spine when he realizes his blasts must've hurt more than she was expressing.

After a few crackle and bursts of his power, everything settles down and its almost silent.

There's a sense of fright that Cole feels when Y/n's arms fall from his back, and for a beat, he's worried she'd gone unconscious.

But she steps back from the close proximity, face wide in surprise. "It worked she says with a breath of relief. "Holy shit."

There's faint hum that fills the air when the lights around them turn on, and Cole can't help but feel proud of the work of him and Y/n as the city comes to life.

"We did it," he says, wanting to laugh.

He goes to share a smile with her, but it drops when all he gets back is a flat-lined grin from Y/n. She looks more upset than before.

Cole has trouble processing the next few minutes as she disappears within them.

"Oh, man, she seems really unsettled," Zeke says through the phone, as if he could feel the off-put vibes Y/n radiated. "I wonder what's going through her head."

"Nothing good, I assure," Cole responds, running a hand over his head and shaking out the large amounts of adrenaline he built up. "Well, I'm still amped up, so you got anything for me Zeke?"

"Those Militia goose steppers just kidnapped a girl from the slums -- in broad daylight. You should find her. You'll look like a stud, get a bunch of converts to your fan club."

Cole doesn't hesitate to head for the new coordinates.