Ela's boots hit softly against the concrete floor under her, echoing off the walls of the long, dark corridor. The lights are dimmed for the night, it's four in the morning so there's no surprise as to why. Her mind's been running on repeat for the past thirty minutes, starting when she woke up. She isn't sure how she slept so long, but she figures it's the depression.

Ela presses open the door to the stairs and immediately descends down four flights, her boots tapping harshly on each step. When she reaches the bottom of the facility, she then makes her way outside. With one swing of the doors, crisp air floods her senses and it feels fucking euphoric. She lets in a deep inhale, the cold filling her lungs, cleansing her of the old rooms they've provided.

The parking lot is large and empty, most of the operators left theirs at home as Rainbow funded any transportation, but two or three cars sit untouched at the very front. Above them, floodlights tower over her, shining a blinding light over the cars and the parking lot. Ela gazes up at the horizon, it's still dark out and probably will be for another several hours. Autumn always stretches the dark out long until the late hours of the morning, it's something Ela's always loved.

She takes a seat at a bench beside the entrance of the facility, pulling her pack of cigarettes from her pocket, but to her dismay, there's only one left. She curses a soft, "Fuck," but she still presses it into her lips, bringing her moss green lighter to the end of the cigarette. She inhales, sparking it and burning bright embers into the chemicals and tobacco packed in the wrapping, and immediately, a minty burn settles in her throat.

Her mind settles on her mother and her father first, mostly her father and all the shit she had to put up with growing up. The conversations that she would eavesdrop on. Her father in his study with his friends and coworkers bragging about Zofia's amazing skill and how "I'm sure she'll turn into an excellent predecessor for the family,"

"What about Ela? Is there any potential there? She seems sort of... distant. Maybe it's just me, I haven't talked to her."

Her father chuckles through his drink, "Ela... oh, well Ela is quite a different story. She got kicked out of that military school that I worked so hard to get her into. I spent so much of my money to get her there and she simply throws it away. I know the bullying is hard, but how hard is it really to not blow up on a kid? So, we're trying out a different school. If she'll show up."

"Why hasn't she been showing up?"

"Depression, anxiety, I guess. She just keeps complaining about how anxious she gets going to another military school, but she needs to toughen out about it. We get it, you're anxious, but please, just go. Deal with it. The world's tough, you know?"

"I get it, Jan, trust me I fucking get it." The friend laughs, harsh and dark, "Well at least one kid turned out right."

"At least we have Zofia."

Ela's staring intensely at the ground, her head blank, her worth diminished. She remembers that conversation way too well. She was only 18. She knew that she'd been the unfavored one, but it hurt to hear all of that from her father. It hurt to know she meant that little to him. To feel that disgusting, that worthless. She just wants to stop thinking.

Ela puffs again, filling her lungs yet again. The smoke escapes through her nose and out into the cool air as her head circles between Echo, her mom, and Dominic. She misses Dominic. A lot. She feels safe with him, she feels like the world just melts away and that she can tell him anything. She wants to feel safe somewhere with someone. She's so fucking lonely, but her trust issues tell her that nobody is worth trusting. Not even Dominic.

Ela's head turns sharply when she hears the door open and, to her surprise, it's Ying who walks out. Ela blinks away the tears prickling out as her eyes meet Ying's. Ying smiles, welcoming, before she makes her way over, waving.

"Hey," Ela says, scooting herself over to allow Ying a seat, "Good to see you."

"You, too," Ying smiles warmly, "What are you doing up at... four in the morning?"

Ela laughs weakly, "I've... got a lot on my mind. I couldn't sleep."

"I understand," Ying replies, eyeing Ela's cigarette.

"Do you want it?" Ela suggests, pressing it out toward Ying. Ying immediately shakes her head, though, raising her hand.

"No, I don't smoke, sorry."

"No problem." Ela didn't know that. "What are you doing up at four in the morning?"

"I've got stuff on my mind, too," Ying admits, "I'm sorry things were so awkward last time we talked, I wasn't expecting you to say hi and I didn't know what to say. I know it's been a long while since we last talked."

Ying looks Ela dead in the eye, sincerity apparent in her voice and her emotions. Ela blushes slightly at the dead honesty, "It's all okay, I promise. I get it."

"Do you know what you're doing now? That everything's over and done with? Are you going back to GROM?"

"Fuck no," Ela laughs, the idea of it just seems ridiculous at this point, "I have no clue. I want to go on another break from the military because it's just gotten unhealthy at this point and I'm not sure if I can keep going with it. It all just reminds me of my dad."

Ying nods, lowering her eyes, "I get it. I'm leaving SDU as soon as I can, I've already filed my request to leave."

"Really?" Ela's surprised, Ying's been working for SDU for years now, "How come?"

"I'm thinking about taking time to just... explore the world. I've always loved adventure and I've always been fascinated by how different parts of the world are like and all the things that I may never know about that's just normal for half the population." Ying seems passionate about it, Ela loves that passion she shows and the way her face lights up. She's charmed, just listening to it makes her want to follow.

"That's cool," Ela says, dreamily, her mind wandering to the idea of that.

"Yeah," Ying smiles, "Do you have any clue where you're going?"

"Nope," Ela sighs, "It's stressing me out, I want to do something other than the military. That's all I know, but I have hardly any skills outside of the military besides art."

"Have you considered being a graphic designer or something along those lines?" Ying suggests as Ela puts out her cigarette and presses it back into her empty cigarette pack.

"Not yet, but it's not the worst idea," Ela replies, thinking about it thoroughly, "Thank you for the suggestion. It... means a lot."

"Always," Ying says, a smile tugging at her lips. She lowers her eyes to her hands.

"Listen," Ela pauses, unsure of how to phrase the question in a way that isn't confrontational, "I... wanted to ask why we stopped talking. I thought we were friends for a while, and maybe it was me, but I just... Wanted to know. For closure."

Ying's fingers go to her lips, biting anxiously at the nail. She has to think about it for a bit, summon the words from deep in her heart before she finally says to Ela, "I think I was scared. You kept making all these jokes, stuff that I'm not super used to. You kept... flirting with me in a way? And it wasn't a bad thing, I'd assumed it was just jokes, but it made me somewhat uncomfortable because I'd never really considered a girl to be like that to me."

Ela immediately blushes, guilt filling her, "I'm sorry, I should have asked to make sure that sort of stuff was okay, I know it-"

"Relax, it's alright, I'm not upset at all." Ying waves her hand in a sign of dismissal, "If anything, I'm sort of grateful for it."

"What for?"

"I realized that maybe I'm not..." She trails off for a moment before she finally picks up again, "I'm not only attracted to men. It just... made me think about it much harder and where I see my sexuality and I realized that men aren't the only option. I grew up in a place where it's not considered normal to be bisexual or transgender or gay or anything like that. I just assumed that I was straight because that's the only option my parents gave me."

Ying licks her lips and looks back up at Ela, slightly anxious for her reaction. Ela just smiles, "That's great, Ying! I'm proud of you for figuring that out."

"Thanks," Ying can't help but smile softly, "Thank you for unintentionally helping me figure it out."

Ela lets out a breath of air from her nose, "Anytime."

They sit there in silence for a long while after that, Ela's feeling a bit better about everything even though nothing's been fixed. Her anxiety has gone down. They just rest there, side by side, staring at the horizon and the trees that scatter the parking lot and the squirrels sprinting across telephone wires. Everything feels okay and peaceful at that moment.

Eventually, around six or seven, Ying rises from her seat and bids Ela a soft farewell before entering the doors to the facility, leaving Ela alone again.