The next three days went by as normal for Anton. He went to work with no trouble then went to his room each night and read Flaviu's expedition books on what to take on an expedition and what not to take on an expedition. He had finally finished packing all the right requirements when a knock sounded on his door. He went to open it and saw Victoria standing there staring at her feet. 

"Victoria?" Anton asked worriedly. "What's wrong? He moved aside and motioned for her to come in. 

Victoria mumbled a thank you and sat on his bed. "I, uh, got back together with him."

"Who?" His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. 

Victoria looked up and sheepishly looked at him. "Darius."

Anton quickly sat down beside her. "Why?" He tried to search her face for an answer, but it remained emotionless. He couldn't help the pang of jealousy that went through his body. 

"Yesterday," she started. "While you were working, he came over to the woods when I was on a break. He started to ramble on saying he was sorry for his actions and how he had treated me. He told me that how he should have never acted that way and that he was a total jerk." The whole time she was talking, she kept her eyes glued onto the wall in front of her. Her eyes held no emotion. 

"What did you say to him?" Anton tried to control his emotions. He didn't want her to know that he was slightly jealous of Darius. He didn't even understand why he was feeling the way he was about this. 

Victoria shrugged, her eyes moving down to look at her lap. "I told him that he was right; he was a jerk and the other day made him look like an even bigger jackass." She then sighed before continuing. "Then, he started to talk about that day. He apologized and told me that he should never have been drinking in the first place. He started to say how he wanted me back – that he missed me. I then asked him about his girlfriend, and he told me the story of how they broke up." She turned her head to look at Anton. "He never wanted to break up with me."

Anton furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and asked, "Then why did he?"

"Because of his friends." She sighed and ran her hand over her face. "You see, he still loved me after my operation, but his friends didn't think it was a good idea for his reputation if he continued dating me, so he broke it off. The last few weeks of our relationship was when he started to drink. He never wanted to break up with me, and now he said he doesn't care what his friends think as long as he has me."

Victoria put her head in her heads. "He then asked me if he could take me out to the city and I, well, said yes."

Anton shook his head. "But this guy broke your heart. Why would you even think about getting back together with him?"

Victoria shook her head. "I don't know. When he was talking to me, I just felt like he was telling me the truth. I saw it in his eyes. Anton, I can detect when someone is lying. Nothing popped up telling me that he was lying or anything. He was telling the truth. I'm taking one last leap of faith, Anton, and I hope it stays." She gave him a small, hopeful smile. 

Anton faked a smile, hoping that she couldn't detect how fake it really was, and grabbed her hand. He gave it a small squeeze. "Well, if you're happy, then I'm happy for you." Victoria opened her mouth to say something when Anton stopped her. "I'm not lying, if that's what you were about to say. I am happy for you, and I hope your relationship lives long and prospers." He was completely lying. Jealousy dug into him so hard that it almost hurt. 

Victoria smiled wide at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. If she had detected his lie, she wasn't going to show it. "Thank you, Anton, for understanding."

Anton returned the hug and smiled. "Of course."

Victoria released him from her hold and stood up. "Just to let you know, you are the first person I told of this." She checked her watch. "Well, I've got to go get ready for work. I'll talk to you later." She waved goodbye before walking out of the door. 

Anton sat there on his bed staring at the door, feeling his smile fading by the second. Looking at his clock resting on the wall above his door, he decided it was time for him to get ready for work. He sighed as he stood up. 

He jumped in the shower before getting dressed in the all-white clothes and walked out the door. He briskly walked toward the lab. He wasn't going to be late, but he didn't want to risk the chance. When he opened the double doors, he found it empty. No one was in there. 

Strange, he thought to himself.

He walked through all of the rooms in the lab and still didn't find anyone. He started to feel afraid that he came to early, or everyone was given the day off and he wasn't told about it. 

Anton found himself standing in front of the door that leads to the animals. He wanted to go in, but he knew he would get in trouble if he did. He was only a washer right now. He wasn't allowed to go inside this door without supervision. Once he got promoted, he would then be able to walk through them without someone. Looking around the room and still not seeing anyone, he reached for the doorknob. 

"What are you doing?" a female voice snapped behind him. 

Anton jumped around to face the owner of the voice, placing his hands behind his back. It was the same woman from the receptionist desk. Her ginger hair fell straight to her chin. Her lips gave a slight curl at the sight of him jumping. She wore the same white clothes the day they met. 

"N-nothing!" Anton stammered. He gave her a wobbly smile. "Nothing at all."

The woman gripped her clipboard against her chest and walked closer to him. "I don't think we have officially introduced each other." She held out her hand. "My name's Laura. Laura Valduva."

Anton shook her hand. "Valduva? Is your brother, by any chance, Artur Valduva?"

Laura smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, he's my twin brother. Sadly," she added with a sparkle in her eyes. "Everyone automatically thinks that I'm as stuck up and mean as my brother, but I'm not." She laughed as she let go of his hand. "If only someone would actually get to know me." She looked around him. "What were you doing in front of the Morpher containment center?"

Anton quickly looked behind him. "Oh, nothing. I was just trying to find where everyone went." Which was part of the truth. 

Laura smiled again and motioned for him to follow her. "Everyone was given the day off to hear Mr. Arterberry's announcement." She turned on her heels and started to walk off toward the exit. "Someone was supposed to come and get you first thing this morning, but I can see that didn't happen. Just follow me."

Anton caught up to her. They walked through the hallways and down the elevators where the whole lab employees were standing around a raised platform. On the platform stood Flaviu talking out of a microphone. The press stood in front of him, taking pictures and videos of Flaviu. 

"What's he talking about?" Anton leaned over to whisper to Laura as they came to a stop on the outside of the crowd. 

"About his expedition that's coming up," she whispered back. "He's finally telling the world about it. Now, shush! He's talking."

Anton closed his mouth and listened to what Flaviu was telling the press and lab.

"People of today, I have decided – once again – to return to the jungle of Scoj Bren and locate another kind of Morpher. We know of about ten different species, but I know there's more out there." Flaviu flashed the press a proud smile while flashes of light tried to blind him as he stood there. "I will be taking five extraordinary young scientists who I hope in the future will continue what I started. The expedition will now take place in exactly one week."

Anton sucked in a breath. A week? He looked around for Victoria and found her standing the back of a group with Darius's arm wrapped around her. She looked back at him and gave him a worried expression. 

"At first, I thought the preparations to leave would take longer than I thought it would be," Flaviu continued. "But once everyone agreed to go and finished packing, the trip could begin. So it is with great honor that I declare the trip to begin a week from today." The blinding lights from the cameras flashed again and the people around the platform clapped enthusiastically and Flaviu smiled and turned to walk away. 

The owner of the lab climbed onto the platform. Anton forgot what his name was. The small, plump man raised his hands in the air and announced with a booming voice, "That is all. Please head back to where you belong." The flashes stopped, the cameras shut off, and everyone headed back to their rooms or labs. The press heading towards the flying vans. 

"Anton?" He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?" Laura asked beside him. 

Anton turned his head to look at her and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

"He's lying." Victoria and Darius walked up to them. Victoria tried to give him an encouraging smile. "It'll be all right, Anton. If Flaviu believes that you're ready for this, then you're ready for this. He wouldn't have asked you to go if he didn't think you could handle it."

"I'm fine," Anton stubbornly told them. "I'm just surprised that he made the expedition leave so soon now." He rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Like I said, Anton," Victoria calmly told him. "It'll be all right. You've already packed and you're ready for the trip. You'll be fine." She gave him a smile trying to calm his nerves. 

He nodded his head. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course, I am!" Victoria laughed.

"Well, well, well," a voice sneered behind them. They all turned around to see Artur standing there with his arms crossed and a sinister smile plastered across his face. "I heard that the new boy is coming on this trip. I hope he doesn't screw anything up." He chuckled. "Probably will."

"Shut your mouth, Artur," Laura scolded him. "Anton can take care of himself. It was too long ago that you were the new scientist cleaning beakers."

Artur threw his hands up in a mockingly surrender. "Oh, I'm sure he can. I know that Flaviu will give him easy tasks to do on this trip. Anton isn't a real scientist, anyway." He looked over at him and sneered. "We'll need someone to clean our tools."

Victoria stepped toward Artur, threatening to hit him when Darius grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "Anton's as much as a scientist as you are. Maybe even more of one."

Artur laughed. "Sure, robot, sure." He faked a yawn and walked away.

Victoria growled. "Someday I will bash his head in." She gave a sheepish look at Laura. "No offense, Laura."

Laura sighed and shook her head. "No offense taken. He's just a big jerk. I hope he'll grow out of it one day." She turned her attention back to Anton. "Anton, if he gives you any more trouble, you come and find me. I'll deal with him. When you're on that expedition, stay away from him, understand?"

Anton nodded. "I understand. I'll try. I have a feeling that he won't leave me alone."

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Hi, everyone! Sorry that this chapter is late. Sunday and Monday were chaos! LOL! But now it's here!

Please let me know what you think of this chapter!