We have it in our power to start the world over again.

-Thomas Paine

Burns

There is dust everywhere. My back hurts and my head throbs from the rocks that fell on me when I pushed Kelsey away.

I groan as I lift myself from her. Her eyes are closed and she's not moving, but I can hear her breathing. Slowly I sit up.

"Kelsey."

Only now I notice Will is trapped in with us, but for once I'm not his priority. He kneels down next to Kelsey and brushes the hair out of her face.

"Careful," I rasp, "she might have broken something."

He glances at me briefly, but doesn't comment. The muscles in his jaw are tense, but he sits back and refrains from touching her.

Suddenly we hear muffled voices from the other side of the wall. I move closer and call out. "Emma?!" I press my hand against the rock. "Kelsey is hurt! We need the Heal and Clean. You need to hurry!"

There's an answer from the other side, but it's barely audible. I repeat my words, but louder this time. If we can't hear them then they probably can't hear us either.

I sigh and lean back against the wall. We don't have the flashlight anymore and it's dark and musky in the tunnel.

"Why did you protect her?" Will breaks the silence. His voice is still cold while speaking to me, but he sounds curious.

I blink confused. "Those rocks would have crushed her," I answer.

He looks up at me now. "I know that," he says through his teeth, "I mean, why did you protect her?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I ask.

"It would be one less human for you to deal with."

"Yes," I say calmly, "that's true." I dot even bother defending myself. He has already made up his mind about me.

Will keeps watching me cautiously. I know the silver must be vibrant in my eyes in this darkness. I can see it reflect against the opposite wall. What is he afraid of? There's not much I can do to him. Or does he believe I can just jump out of this body and into his?

There's a sigh coming from Kelsey and Will and I both turn to her.

"Kels?" Will asks.

Kelsey stirs and her eyes flutter open.

"Careful," Will says, "are you hurt anywhere? Can you sit up?" He helps her into a sitting position, but she groans and vomits.

"Sorry," she mutters.

"That's okay. Don't worry about it. " His voice sounds completely different when he's talking to Kelsey.

"Maybe you should lie down again," I say carefully.

Will grits his teeth, but Kelsey offers a small smile. "Yeah," she whispers, "that might be a good idea." She slowly lowers herself to the ground again. "Thank you, Burns," she says, "for protecting me."

"Anytime," I nod.

Will takes off his shirt and places it underneath Kelsey's head to make her more comfortable. When his hand retreats it comes off red. "You're bleeding," he states.

"I must have hit my head," Kelsey says.

"I told Emma to bring medicine," I say, "once the others break us out of here, we can have it treated."

"We're not going to use that alien crap," Will growls.

"Will," Kelsey pleads, "please don't fight. Burns is not our enemy. He protected me. He just wants to help."

I bite my lip. I don't want them to argue. "We have to at least stop the bleeding," I say. I rip a strip of fabric from my shirt.

"Burns!" Kelsey protests, "your shirt!"

I cast her a faint smile. "Don't worry about it," I say, "I have another one." I move to bind her wound, but Will takes the fabric from my hands.

"I'll do it," he says stiffly.

"Sure," I nod. I sit back again and wince. My body still hurts. I wonder how the others are doing. Is Emma alright? The words Will spoke earlier make me uncomfortable. I've known from the start that Blake had an interest in Emma, but for Will to say something so crude... Does he really hate us that much?

"Hey," Kelsey's voice draws my attention, "don't look so worried. They'll get us out of here."

A weak smile is all I can offer. I look at Will. He's staying away from me as far as possible. I've heard about his story from the others. His fiancée was killed by Seekers. I imagine losing Emma. It's not that difficult. I almost did lose her after all. Of course he has Kelsey now, but he must still miss her.

"What?" Will growls at me. He seems uncomfortable.

"What was he name?" I ask.

"Excuse me?!" Will barks.

"Your fiancée," I clarify, "what was he name?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Will," Kelsey says softly, but he doesn't seem to hear her.

"Do you like rubbing it in?" he growls, "what your kind did to me? Do you enjoy reminding me that she's dead?!"

"No, of course not," I say. I shouldn't have asked. No matter what I say, he'll find an excuse to make me a monster.

"Will?!" there is a sudden shout from the other side of the barricade.

Will looks up. "Yeah! We're here!"

"Move back! We're going to try and break the wall down!"

Will walks up to Kelsey and helps her stand. Together the move further into the dark tunnel. I slowly rise and follow them. My body still protests. I'll have bruises for a while.

Kelsey's eyes go wide when she sees me. "Burns! Why didn't you say you were injured too?"

I smile at her. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing. Just a few scrapes and bruises."

"That's not just a bruise, Burns," she points at my side. The skin has already started to color purple. "You received that when you protected me, didn't you?"

"The most important thing is that you are safe," I say.

Will rolls his eyes. "Oh please."

"Ready?!" comes that call.

"Yeah!" Will shouts back.

There is a sound of rock being removed. It causes the tunnel to shake and one of the beams supporting the wall shifts.

"Careful!" I call and I pull Will out of harms way. The beam smacks against the ground and debris falls down with it.

Will gaps and stares at it. Then he looks at me. His expression is one of surprise, but for once he doesn't offer a comment.

I rub my shoulder. It hurts even more now.

A small opening appears where the tunnel had been blocked and we catch a glimpse of the others.

"Burns?" Emma's face appears in front of the opening.

"We're alright, Emma," I assure her.

"I've brought Clean and Heal," she says , "are you injured?"

"Kelsey has a head wound," I answer, "but that's easily fixed with this, thank you."

"You too, Burns," Kelsey's soft voice says.

"Don't worry." That's Nate. "We almost have the rocks removed and you'll be freed. Just hold on a little longer."

"Careful, Nate," Will has found his voice again, "the tunnel is unstable. One wrong move and it may collapse on us."

"We'll be careful," Nate assures us.

We stay in the center of the tunnel where we are less likely to get hit. Slowly but surely the opening gets bigger and the we are reunited.

Emma is the first to reach us. She looks me over with a concerned expression. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I look at her worried face and my body moves on its own despite the pain in my back and shoulder. My arms pull her in a tight embrace and I inhale her scent. "I'm just fine," I mutter in her hair.

"He's not fine," Kelsey interjects, "he got hurt when he protected me."

"It's nothing," I say, "Kelsey has a head wound. You should look at her first. I only have a bruise."

"We'll look at all three of you," Nate has joined us now too, "but when we're safely outside this tunnel." He looks at Kelsey and Will. "You two good to walk?"

"Yeah," Will nods. He has an arm around Kelsey and steers her towards the main tunnel. He casts me a thoughtful look when he passes me.

"You too, Burns," Nate says, "it's not safe here."

"Come," Emma takes my hand and pulls me with her, back to where we came from. As soon as we're in the main tunnel, she sits me down on a makeshift bench. "Where are you hurt?"

I sigh. "I think a rock hit my back," I admit. There's no point in denying it.

She helps me to take off my torn shirt and I hear her gaps when she sees my back. "Burns! You're bruised all over!"

I smile wryly. "I guess Heal and Clean won't be any use then."

"That's not funny," Emma tells me.

I turn and look at her. "I'll take some No Pain. Don't worry, Emma. A few bruises won't kill me."

Emma sighs and kissed me. "I'm glad you are alright."

I smile at her lovingly and my eyes catch Will over Emma's shoulder. He's sitting with Kelsey while Blake treats her wound. Will's eyes grow wide when he sees the wound vanish before his eyes like it was never there.
Nate is talking to Philip not far away. The are discussing what to do about the tunnel. It's clear this one can't be used, but there was the second tunnel too, the one we didn't get the chance to check.

"I think we've done enough exploring for one day," I hear Nate say.

"Maybe you need to change the set up," Philip suggests, "so we won't have a repeat of what happened today. If the two of them hadn't started a fight, this wouldn't have happened."

"No," Nate growls, "I don't run a daycare her. You all need to stop acting like children and learn to work together. There are only a few of us left. We need to put aside our differences or we won't need the aliens to overthrow us. We'll wipe ourselves out." He sighs. "Burns and Kelsey can take a break tomorrow, but the rest of the group will investigate the other tunnel. And not fighting this time."

No one dares to protest. Blake still looks guilty and Emma bites her lip.

Will's words sting in my mind again. No, I don't want to think about that.

"What is it?" Emma asks softly.

I shake my head. "Nothing. I'm just tired." My hand cups her cheek and my thumbs runs underneath her eye. How can someone be covered in sooth, dust and sweat and still be so beautiful?

I don't know what she sees on my face, but a deep blush appears on her cheeks.

"Okay, lovebirds," Nate smirks at us, "time to move. I think we can all use something to eat."

Now I'm blushing too and I can hear his laughter long after he's left the tunnel.

Carefully I stand up. When we turn to leave as well, Will is in our way. I hear the intake of Emma's breath, but he's not looking at us. He keeps his eyes averted.

"Will," I acknowledge him.

He stiffens a little and for a moment I think he's not going to say anything at all.

"Maria," he finally says, "her name was Maria."

And then he walks away, leaving both me and Emma baffled.