“I—I…” I trailed off, not sure how to answer. I blinked, staring at the scene us.

                John was lying passed out on the floor, his body curled up. Blood was smeared against his cheek, a few drops on the floor. He didn’t seem to be severely injured, just unconscious. The girl, Cassie, was curled up near him, whimpering slightly.

                She didn’t look so tough anymore.

                Sofia sat next to me, eyes wide in surprise. “I can’t believe…what are we going to do now?”

                “I…” I didn’t have an answer for her.

                She stood up slightly, examining the two in front of us. I followed her lead shakily, still in shock from the fight that had just happened.

                “We need to get out of here.” I said.

                She stared at me incredulously, “Are you insane?”

                “Sofia, we can’t stay around here for when John comes to.”

                “They’ll call the authorities and it’ll be my ass in trouble!”

                I frowned, “Do you really think they’ll call the authorities while John’s here? That’s a little risky…”

                Sofia shook her head, “You don’t get it. John clearly has some smarts if he managed to brainwash a girl. He’ll find an excuse as to why he’s on the Girls’ Side.”

                “Then we’ll just say I’m a DQ. Isn’t your sister with the authorities?”

                Sofia groaned, “She works with transportation! Cassie’s a Fed. Do you know what that is?”

                I shook my head hesitantly.

                “A Fed is short for federal. Does that help at all?” She prompted

                I felt my face flush, “Oh…”

                “Yeah” She said, annoyed, “Her story will override any that my sister could fabricate.”

                “How do you know she’s a Fed? She didn’t exactly say so…” I frowned, not wanting to believe she was. The look on Sofia’s face said otherwise.

                “Her wrist was marked.” Sofia lifted her own wrist to my eyes. I frowned, noticing a small dot in the shape of a plus sign.

                “What does that mean?”

                “That means I’m undetermined yet” Sofia frowned slightly, “Well, I knew what I was going to be, I just hadn’t finished schooling for it.”

                “What does this matter?” I asked, confused.

                Sofia groaned with annoyance, “Cassie had one on her wrist too. It was the Fed symbol.”

                I hesitated. This couldn’t be real. John hadn’t seriously found one of the more influential girls to brainwash. “Are you sure that was the symbol for a Fed?”

                Sofia nodded, staring off at the girl. Cassie didn’t appear to have the brute force required to be a federal agent for the FIA, which struck me as peculiar. Her body was curled into a ball, only a few inches away from John’s unconscious one. It almost appeared like she was slowly moving closer to him for comfort.

                “I’m positive.”

                I groaned, running a hand through my hair. I hissed slightly as I ran through. I pulled my hand back, noticing how a new patch of red stained my fingers.

                I had gotten cut on the head.

                Sofia took notice too, frowning. “You’re hand…”

                “I must’ve gotten cut.” I cringed slightly at the thought.

                She stood on her tip toes, pulling my head down to her height. I bent down so that she could inspect it. Sofia bit her lip slightly, taking a step away.

                “Is it bad?” I asked cautiously

                “It’s… it’s bloody, but it’s not big.” She said quietly “Does it hurt?”

                “Not really. I didn’t notice it until I touched it.”

                “I think you’ll be ok.” She gave me an encouraging smile before turning back to the two people before us.

                “What are we going to do with them?” I asked

                “We can’t just leave them here.” Sofia sighed, turning to face me once again. She gave me a look, which I could easily tell wasn’t good, “You know what we’re going to have to do, right?”

                “What?”

                “We’re going to have to take them away from here.”

                “We’re going to kidnap?!” I asked, appalled. I simply wanted to physically hurt John as much as I possibly could, not kidnap him.

                Sofia nodded, “We can’t risk them telling the authorities.”

                “But—”

                “I’ll get the girl if you get the boy.”

                “Are we just going to—”

                “Pretty much.” She looked at me regretfully before reaching down to the girl. She lowered her head down to Cassie’s ear whispering softly.

                She met my eyes, nodding towards John. I groaned silently before walking towards him. I knelt down, wrapping an arm around his waist.

                With a painful grunt, I hoisted him over my shoulder, stumbling back. I had underestimated his weight drastically. This guy had gotten heavy!

                I stumbled a few steps forward, before realizing I couldn’t go on like this. I dropped him back on the ground softly.

                He landed with a rather loud ‘thud’ though.

                Sofia shot me a look.

                I shrugged, “He’s heavy.”

                “You have to carry him there Clay,” Sofia nagged “I can’t leave the girl in the Craft; not after knowing what level of knowledge she has. She’s not trustworthy on her own. It seems like John’s the only one that can really control her.”

                “So….?”

                “That means you have to carry him there.”

                I groaned.

                ~*~

                It took a good half hour before we finally got both of them into the Craft. I had to carry John over my shoulder with no help from Sofia. It had to be one of the most difficult things I had done in the past few days.

                Sofia, on the other hand, got the easy road in this situation. As I walked away with John, Cassie followed on her own. Sofia stayed next to her, keeping her from attacking me. It was a miracle that we had managed to get back to the Craft at all.

                It was a miracle we hadn’t been noticed either.

                I dropped John down on the bench, sitting up right. Cassie scurried next to him, cuddling around his arm. Her eyes were squeezed tight as if she was trying to block out the scene around her. She was whispering an inaudible phrase repeatedly as she clung to John.

                Sofia met my eyes in confusion.

                She started the Craft up, waiting until we were a few feet off the ground before speaking again. I stood next to her as she pressed the buttons that maneuvered the machine.

                “Take these.” She said, pressing a 2 pairs of metal rods into my hand, each roughly two inches long. I frowned in confusion, “You need to cuff their hands together and then again to the bench.”

                “How do I….?” I had never seen these before.

                Sofia grabbed one of the rods, rolling it half way around. A small square was slightly off color from the rest of the gray rod. “Press this in between their wrists. I want you to lock Cassie’s to John’s and John’s to the bench.”

                “Where on the bench?” I asked, glancing back.

                “Underneath the side, there’s a pole that runs the whole way across. Just tap one end of the cuff to John’s and the other to the pole and press the button.”

                “Got it” I hoped.

                “Don’t mess up.”

                I felt the pressure. “Got it.”

                “Now go!” She said, waving me off with a hard look. I rolled my eyes at her, breaking into a smile at the end. She returned the smile quickly before focusing her attention back onto the screen before.

                I walked over to where John sat unconscious. He groaned once slightly, causing me to hesitate. I shook my head after a moment of silence, and began to do as Sofia had instructed, placing the rod in between his wrists. I moved his hands so one end of the rod touched each wrist before pressing the slightly off-color button.

                A bright green light flashed, blinding me before a moment. Neither seemed to notice as two neon green circles incased John’s wrists. I released the rod, taking a step back.

                I had never seen ones like this before.

                I repeated the same with Cassie, being forced to lock her hands around John’s arm. They would be stuck connected until Sophia told me how to release them, it appeared.

                I joined the two cuffs together nonetheless, and then to the bench.

                I stepped back, examining my masterpiece proudly. John grunted slightly once again, but it went ignored.

                Sophia turned around in her chair, smiling slightly with approval. I met her eyes with a grin.

                “I’ve never seen cuffs like these.” I commented.

                She grinned proudly “That’s because they’re incredibly rare.”

                I raised an eyebrow, impressed “Really? How’d you get them?”
                She smirked smugly “I know a girl.”

                “Illegal?”

                She brought a finger to her lips, smirking, “Shh. Don’t tell.”

                I couldn’t hold back a grin that spread across my lips. I laughed, walking over to her seat. Sofia looked up at me from her chair, laughing with me.

                “Can I drive for a little?” I asked

                She glanced at the screen, frowning slightly, “There really isn’t any driving involved. I set it to retrace our course here, taking out our little detour.”

                I felt a ping of guilt at the memory.

                She frowned, “I have to wonder where Zee went.”

                “I—I don’t know.” I lied,

                Sofia shook her head, clearing her thoughts, “But anyways, if you want I could let you control our altitude within a certain range…”

                I felt like a kid only allowed to play within his yard while all the neighbors were free to roam wherever. But nonetheless, I took the offer knowing it was the best I would get.

                “I’d love to.” I said.

                She rolled her eyes, typing in a few commands before standing up from the chair. I took a seat, leaving her to stand as we moved. She stayed by the chair, showing me which buttons to press to control the altitude.

                I pressed one, feeling the Craft tilt upwards slightly. I felt giddy like a kid as I pressed another and we tipped downwards.

                Sofia laughed, rolling her eyes.

                She let me mess around with the altitude as much as I wanted for a while. Every now and then John would let out a grunt, which caused both of us to freeze. Sophia would check on him, and every time he was still unconscious.

                After a while I found myself growing bored of changing our altitude. I yawned slightly, rubbing my eyes.

                Sophia smirked up from where she sat on the ground, “Is somebody tired?”

                “Just a little…” I admitted.

                “The chair reclines, you know.” She laughed slightly.

                “How…?”

                “Pull the arm rest up slightly.”

                I did as instructed and the back dropped to half of its original angle. I raised my eyes in surprise at how quick it reclined. I leaned back hesitantly, feeling much more comfortable.

                I could definitely sleep on this.

                Sophia laughed at me.

                I turned my head to face her, frowning slightly, “Here… I’ll just sleep on the ground or something.”

                “No, no.” She shook her head, “I’m fine; you stay there.”

                “Sophia…” I gave her a look.

                She returned my look with just as stern of one. “I’m fine, Clayton. You’re tired and that’s more comfortable than the ground is.”

                “So you take the ground! It’s your Craft after all.”

                “And you’re my guest.”

                “Just take the damned seat, Sophia!” I laughed, leaning over the arm rest to face her more. She stood up, her hands on her hips.

                “I’m not taking it. Just stay there.”

                “Then why are you standing up?” I asked, with a grin.

                She faltered for a moment, “Because… I don’t need a reason to stand!”

                I rolled my eyes, sitting up slightly, “Yeah, sure whatever—”

                “No, Clayton. You better stay in that seat.”

                “Who’s going to make me?” I raised an eyebrow daringly.

                “I am!”

                I laughed. Sophia blushed slightly, crossing her arms with annoyance. Yet I could see her holding back a grin that threatened to break free.

                I reached forward, wrapping my arm around her waist. I pulled her onto my lap, surprising her. Sophia gasped slightly, trying to get up.

                “We’ll share.” I whispered in her ear, pulling her to a more comfortable spot. I leaned back the whole way, pulling her back with me.

                “I don’t know if it’ll hold…”

                “Oh well.” I shrugged.

                Sophia giggled, leaning her head gently on my chest. She fidgeted slightly, trying to get into a more comfortable on my lap.

                I was reminded of when Ellie and I used to do this. I kept my arms around her waist, squeezing slightly. Sophia rested her hands atop my own, tucking her head underneath my chin.

                “Thanks Clay.” She whispered.

                “No problem Soph.” I smiled to myself.

                “Thanks for putting up with all the distractions on this.” She added.

                “What do you mean?” I frowned slightly, confused.

                “Well, Missy and Zee used to be incredibly close and by default so were we.” She explained. “I just can’t get it out of my mind as to how her mother is.”

                I hesitated, “Yeah, she’s pretty bad.”

                “I just wish I knew where Zee was. I want to give Missy some good news.” Sophia mumbled. “She’s been kind of down the last couple of years.”

                “Oh wow.” I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t comfortable with this topic. Especially knowing what I knew about Zee.

                Especially being the reason for her current… ‘condition’.

                Sophia sighed, “Sorry, it’s just been bugging me. I’ll shut up now.”

                “It’s alright.” I lied.

                “Thanks again.” She said quietly, nestling closer.

                I didn’t respond, staring off into space.

                Sophia fell asleep quickly on my lap, her breathing steadying out to an even pace. Sleep seemed to taunt me though. I felt exhausted and my eye lids were heavy, but I couldn’t seem to be able to find my Zen to fall asleep in.

                Someone cleared their through.

                Quietly, I turned the chair around to face our two prisoners.

                John sat, still bound by the cuffs, but awake.

                And one look from his face said he had heard the conversation about Zee.

                And he was definitely not going to let this go.

**********

How are you guys liking what's happening with Sophia& Clayton? :D