This is the sequel to Defenders. Make sure to read that first!

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Having friends was the oddest thing.

I couldn't remember what it was like to have friends, to be completely honest. The last time I had ever been to school was in the sixth grade, and I couldn't even remember any of the names of the kids I had spoken to back then.

Some nights, since we shared a room, Kristie and I would just stay up and talk about the weirdest things. I would talk about what it was like to be locked in a room for five years, and she would talk about what it was like to not remember her past. Sometimes we would gossip about the boys on our team, sometimes we would talk about Hank and Nay, and sometimes we would just talk about Redrum. She was an airhead, but she was easily becoming one of my closer friends.

We hadn't fought Redrum for weeks, since the time they had kidnapped Kristie. We hadn't been on any missions after that either; we just trained to make sure that we were strong enough for whenever Malicius and Lynx decided to strike again. Surprisingly, Aiden didn't complain about this. After almost losing Kristie, he must have realized that being at our strongest was more important than just going out and fighting.

And then there were the boys on my team. Aiden was still completely devoted to Kristie, Anthony still didn't mind that he was left out most of the time, and Dex was just as confusing as always.

Dex was the weirdest of them all to be friends with, really. It didn't have anything to do with him, but everything to do with me. Whenever I was close to him, my stomach would twist and I felt like I couldn't breathe. His face would turn red and I would hear his breath catch in his throat. I just didn't get it.

Hank and Nay seemed to notice how I was feeling, and I wasn't so sure how they felt about it. They didn't exactly seem the happiest, but they didn't try to do anything to keep us away from each other, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

For some reason, Nay wanted to talk to each of us separately. I couldn't help but feel a little nervous about this, because I had absolutely no reason what she would want to talk about with us by ourselves.

My foot tapped against the empty hallway floor, echoing all throughout the room. I had been waiting for what felt like hours, though it really had only been a few minutes.

When Nay said she wanted to talk to each of us individually, none of us knew what she had in store for us. In the weeks since our last fight with Malicius and Lynx, we had been training together to become even stronger. Were we now going to be training on our own?

First, she wanted to talk to Aiden. He wasn't in there for very long, but when he finally came out and it was Anthony's turn to go in, he wouldn't tell me what had happened when I asked him. That only made me grow even more nervous.

After Anthony, it was Kristie. Even my nerdy friend wouldn't tell me what happened, so I assumed that it was something horrible. Maybe once Kristie came out, I could crack her and she'd tell me everything that had gone on inside the conference room.

But I couldn't, and she kept her mouth shut. Dex went in after she did, and I thought I was going to die if I had to wait much longer. Why did I have to go last? The team name started with my initial!

And now I was the only one in the hallway, my other teammates having left after their turn was over. So I just continued to tap, tap, tap my foot away until the door beside me finally opened and Dex stepped out.

I stood up, eager to get this done and over with. If all my friends had been able to survive it, then it couldn't have been all that bad. None of them were sweaty or breathing heavily, so it wasn't any type of physical exercise.

"Have a fun time in there," Dex grumbled, bumping past me unhappily. "Nay told me I can't tell you what happened, but it's incredibly boring and kind of uncomfortable, depending on what you have to say."

I bit the inside of my lip. How long was I going to be in here for, and what was I going to be doing? Would it be too late to turn around and just run?

When Nay's hand was suddenly on my shoulder, I knew it was too late. I was stuck and there was no turning back now, no matter how much I wanted to. Nay led me into the room, and the door shut behind me. I gulped.

"Good morning, Violet," my mentor smiled at me, and I forced a smile back at her. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine," I answered simply, though I wasn't sure if that was really the truth or not.

Nay seemed to sense my anxiety, and she smiled at me once again. This did not make me feel any better, and she could see this as well.

"I'd just like to ask you a few questions, that's all," she explained, though I was afraid that something was going to jump out and attack me at any moment. "All you have to do is just sit down and relax."

I looked over at the two seats placed across from each other. Nay made her way over and sat in one of them, and I assumed I was supposed to sit in the other. I really didn't want to, but I did so anyway.

"Well, first things first," Nay began, and I grew stiff. "How are you enjoying your time at the DAU, Violet?"

I didn't know exactly what I was supposed to say to her, so I didn't answer right away. I was definitely enjoying this a lot more than I had when I first joined. I had to be kidnapped to join in the beginning, and I nearly jumped out of the RV to try to get back to my foster home, even though the DAU was much better than that house had ever been.

"It's fun," I answered honestly. "Kind of scary when we go out to fight, but when we're here... it's fun. Now that my teammates are my friends and we get along most of the time, it's a lot better than it used to be. I like my teammates a lot. I'm glad we're friends now."

I didn't like to think about how it used to be when I refused to call them my friends. I had been in denial for so long and I didn't want to get attached to them. Because everyone I had ever been attached to before had been taken away from me. My parents, my past foster families... I would get attached, and then they would be taken away.

Nay smiled, as if knowing what I was thinking about just by the look on my face. "Your parents would be very proud of you."

I frowned at the thought of my parents. The reason they had died was because they fought in the DAU. But then it was also the reason why they had met, so I guess it wasn't all bad.

I wanted to ask her about my parents, but I didn't even know if she knew anything about them. And even if she did, I didn't know if she'd give me any answers. There were a lot of things I was wondering about that she just wouldn't give me the answer to. I was either going to have to be patient or somehow find out by myself.

"What purpose do you think you and your friends serve on this team?" Nay now questioned, and I didn't know why she would be asking me a question like this, but I didn't say anything about that. Was this how the questioning was going to start? "Hank and I have been wondering how you all feel about each other and we've finally decided to ask you guys about it."

"Aiden's the leader," I started, as if that wasn't completely obvious. "He's alright as a leader, but sometimes he can be really... overbearing and ridiculous. But that's his part in the team. He's the leader."

Nay nodded, but said nothing and allowed me to continue on. 

"Kristie is obviously the looks of the group," I said now, remembering my beautiful teammate and how I had been so jealous of her. "Not that I look completely disgusting or anything, but everyone's attention does go to her before it goes to me. But that doesn't really bother me as much as it used to. That's just how she contributes to the group."

Nay only continued nodding. I wished she said something do it didn't feel like I was talking to myself, but I knew that wasn't about to happen.

"Anthony is the brains," I continued. "He's probably the smartest person I have ever met. But sometimes I feel kind of bad for him because he gets left out. Aiden always wants to be with Kristie, and then Dex and I always seem to be together, so Anthony's kind of just... there. But he's so smart that he's able to be by himself and be even better than all of us combined. He's a hell of a lot smarter than the rest of us out together."

Nay stopped nodding now, and I thought he was going to say something. But she didn't; she only stopped so she could listen even better to what I said about my next teammate.

"Dex is an intimidator," I finally informed her. "He can be really scary when he wants to be. He can scare our opponents really well. But then, he can be so nice and soft, like a teddy bear. I don't understand how he can switch from one thing to another. One moment he's a real bear, and then one moment he's a teddy bear. But he really only acts that way in front of me. With other people, he's still rough and tough. He's intimidating. He brings fear to or opponents. So that's his role on our team."

I now stopped talking, since I was done explaining all of my teammates. I expected Nay to speak, but she didn't. So we just sat there for a few moments in silence.

"And you?" she asked me now, finally speaking up so I wasn't the only one talking.

"Me?" I looked around, even though no one else was in the room with us. "What about me?"

Nay frowned, but not because she was disappointed or upset with me. "What do you think is your purpose on this team?"

My purpose? Did I even have one? I tried to think of some reason I would be put on this team, but nothing came to my mind at all. Did I even have a purpose?

"I don't know," I answered honestly after what felt like hours. "Aiden is the leader, Kristie is the looks, Anthony is the brains, Dex is the intimidator, and I'm... I don't know."

I now turned in my seat so my legs dangled over the arm rest. Nay didn't scold me and tell me to stop, so I knew that it was alright. She could tell that this conversation was bothering me anyway.

"What about your relationship with your teammates?" she asked me now, obviously wanting to change the subject. "How is it with them? I know you didn't exactly like being on a team originally, and I know you didn't like your teammates. But how is it now?"

I told her the truth when I simply said, "Things are good. A lot better than how they were at first."

"That's good." Nay nodded and folded her hands in her lap. "What about your teammates specifically? Is there anything about each other them that you want to talk about? I know you've had some problems with Aiden in the past, and even Kristie and Dex."

I didn't understand why she was asking me all of these questions, but I didn't complain. I was sure there was a reason, and if I asked, I didn't think Nay would even tell me the answer. There were a lot of things I didn't know.

"Aiden's alright," I shrugged, not able to think of anything else to really say about him. "Sometimes he can get on my nerves, but... he's alright, I guess. He really likes Kristie, and sometimes it seems like she's the only person he really cares about. Especially the time she got kidnapped a couple weeks ago. But I guess that's how people act when it comes to the person they like."

Nay sat there and thought about this. That had not been a fun time between Aiden and me. He thought I had been the reason Kristie was kidnapped, so he yelled at me and made me feel horrible. I was just glad that he had apologized for it once everything had gone well.

"I didn't like Kristie at first," I explained honestly now, knowing Nay was really the only person who I could say all of this to without the fear of anyone else finding out. "I was jealous of her because she was so beautiful. She's still beautiful. And she's not the smartest tool in the shed, which made my dislike for her grow even more. But for some reason, she always really liked me, and treated me like her friend. It was only a matter of time before I realized that I did view her as a friend."

I didn't like that Nay wasn't responding to what I had to say. She was just listening, and it wasn't something I was used to. When you were on a team with the four teenagers I was with, you rarely ever had someone just listening to you without having something to say back.

"Anthony's nice," I continued, breaking the silence that Nay was giving. "There's not much I can really say about him, to be completely honest. He kind of likes to keep to himself. He's so smart that sometimes he comes off as kind of a know-it-all, but I don't think he means to. I still feel really bad for him because he gets left out most of the time because of Aiden with Kristie and Dex with me. I try to include him, but it doesn't always work out very well."

Nay only nodded and continued to say nothing. I waited for her to ask the next question, but when she said nothing else, I assumed this questioning session was over. Was I allowed to leave now?

Nay seemed to grow confused before she finally said, "And Dex?"

"What?" I blinked, not understanding.

"Dex," Nay repeated. "Your relationship with Dex."

I still didn't understand. "What about it?"

"It's just that you explained your relationship with the rest of the members on your team, but not Dex," she informed me now, and I just stared at her because I hadn't realized I hadn't mentioned Dex. I had totally forgotten about him.

"Dex and I are..." I bit down on my lip when I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to say to her. I had no answer. "Dex and I are... friends."

Nay seemed surprised by my short answer, but didn't press on. I was very thankful for that, because I wouldn't have been able to elaborate if she had asked me to.

"Alright, last question," she finally concluded, and I let out a relieved sigh. I didn't know how many more questions I would be able to answer before I got completely uncomfortable with this. "When was the last time you've been to school?"

I was not expecting this question, since it was so different from the rest of them and had absolutely nothing to do with anything. "Sixth grade," I answered anyway, since this was the easiest out of all the questions to answer.

My mentor seemed shocked by this. "That's... a long time ago."

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Alright," she finally sighed, waving me toward the door. "You can go now. That's all I wanted to ask you."

I didn't really understand how any of this was important, but I wasn't going to ask because I was allowed to leave. I got up from my seat and made a beeline toward the door.

When I opened the door and stepped out into the hall, I immediately rammed right into someone. I took a step back and clasped my hand over my nose, since it had just bashed into someone's chest.

I looked up to see that I had run into Dex, and that hard-to-breathe feeling immediately came back. That really needed to stop.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice sounding nasally since I was still covering my nose. "Were you waiting out here for me?"

Dex smirked at my voice. "I just thought it would be unfair if you had to wait the entire time for everyone to finish while everyone else didn't have to wait at all."

"Thanks," I thanked him, rubbing my nose one last time before letting go of it. "That was really nice of you to do."

Dex merely shrugged. "I try."

"Well, I'm glad you're here, Dex," Nay informed him as she exited the room and made her way into the hallway. "Now it'll be easier to get you all together. Hank and I have something very important to discuss with you."

"Something important?" I found myself biting the inside of my cheek. "What is it?"

She turned away from me and toward the meeting room down the hall. "It concerns your next mission."

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I'm so excited for this story. :) It's going to be so much better than Defenders!

I'm still accepting covers, if you'd like to make one. :)

And hopefully this can be my Watty Awards 2014 entry, since I couldn't enter Defenders into the 2013 Watty Awards... But that's a long way away from now!

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D