That was when the pencil did fly up from the table, and rocketed toward Simmons’ face, only to come to a dead halt with the point less than an inch from his eye as his breath caught. Glaring even more coldly at the older man, Sky growled “want me to move it again?”

“Sky!” Star exclaimed, moving her hand to his arm worriedly.

“Now, now, no need for threats” Simmons responded, his breath a bit short.

“Really? Cause I believe that was one you just delivered” Sky stated in the same growl.

Star let out a worried breath, and looked back at the pencil before mentally pulling it back down to the table. But before either of the teens could say more, Simmons spoke again, “looks like we found that trigger after all” but before the words left his mouth, both teens felt a syringe pierce their necks from behind.

Then the dreaded separation came, as the two now sedated teens were carted off to separate rooms. When the two awoke again, they didn’t know if the other was in the next room or in another lab altogether. And considering they were definitely now considered hostile subjects, or at least Sky was; the idea that they may not be near enough to each other to even use their powers now was more than a bit fear-inducing.

Both then had breakfast delivered to their rooms, wherever their rooms may even have been. About half an hour later, two men appeared back at Sky’s door where his breakfast was still practically untouched, and the two nameless faces in lab coats firmly instructed him to come along with them off to somewhere else now. The only reason he didn’t fight them is because he honestly had no idea where Star was, and he needed to know that; and not only for the sake of knowing if he would even be able to use any of his abilities at all.

When they finally set him back at the table across from Simmons, he looked around the room, his dark eyes searching for some sign of Star or hint of where she was. Simmons cleared his throat and spoke then, “don’t worry she’s safely tucked away in her room” he offered that assurance, though Sky was hardly assured.

“And where would that be?” Sky asked, still centering a cold gaze on his new nemesis.

“Elsewhere” was Simmons’ only answer, “and it’s not really something you need to worry about if you decide you’re going to be a little more cooperative now.”

“Let me know where she is, and maybe I’ll cooperate” Sky retorted.

“How about I meet you halfway?” Simmons suggested as he turned on a monitor hanging on the wall nearby. On the screen was Star sitting sullenly in a room similar to the one Sky had awoken in and being vigilantly watched by two more rather muscular ‘lab assistants.’

“And where’s that?” Sky asked.

“Not really pertinent, is it?” Simmons returned as Sky let out an annoyed breath, “where she is is safe, as long as you cooperate, anyway” he added again.

“Was that another threat?” Sky told him, hoping his words sounded more confident than he felt.

“Just an arrangement” Simmons refuted, though he was obviously tense over whether or not he should be expecting any more psychic attacks right then. Seeing that Sky’s only reaction so far was to prop his elbows on the table and rub at what was left of his dark makeup, Simmons continued, “so what else can you do, Sky? Is it just telekinesis or...?”

Sky scoffed, “I can make pencils and rapists fly through the air. I’m a wonder of the goddamn universe” he stated sarcastically, still resting his head in his hands as he clenched his fists around a few long strands that fell forward toward his face.

“Why are you making this so difficult, Sky? All we wanna know is what you really can do, and knowing why would be nice too.”

“Why do you care? Gonna try to make me into some kind of psychic weapon? Isn’t that what you government assholes usually do?” Sky bit back, still not looking up.

“I’m just a scientist, seeking knowledge” Simmons stated, forcing innocence to his tone.

“I didn’t realize they taught you to kidnap, confine, and threaten teenagers in scientist school” Sky muttered.

“So does the angsty smart-ass routine wear off if you’re not covered in black makeup and clothing?” Simmons retorted.

“What fucking reaction were you expecting when you kidnapped us and brought us here, exactly?” Sky shook his head in frustration.

“The point I’m making is, what do you think you’re gonna accomplish by fighting us every step? You’re just making things a lot harder than they need to be, for you and her both” he added as Sky glared up at him again.

“Was that another fucking threat?” Sky asked loudly.

“That really is a hair-trigger, isn’t it?” Simmons scoffed. When Sky did nothing but glare back at him across the table, Simmons cocked his head to the side, “what, no flying pencils this time?”

“Just tell me, what is the end goal here if it’s not some shady government psychic assassin shit?”

“Just wanna know what makes you tick, and how much you tick, exactly” Simmons offered.

“And then what?” Sky pressed, not being swayed from getting his answer that easily.

“TBD” was Simmons only answer, which just caused another glare.

“Well that just sounds peachy” Sky stated sarcastically, “gimme a pencil to move. Let’s get this show on the road.”

“I think we can go bigger. After all, you can make quarterbacks fly. Move the table” Simmons suggested.

Sky just sighed tiresomely and looked down at the table. Though, try as he might, nothing happened, which then gave him his answer about how close Star’s room may actually be to his current location. And on that thought, he tried to hold his composure. After all, his powers wouldn’t work without her being near him, and if his powers didn’t work, they may very well try to use Star to get them to work. Then, the only way he could help her would be by admitting to them their one weakness of needing that proximity to keep from being completely defenseless at all. Which ironically, they both were at that moment. There was no way to win this one, and on that thought, the terror finally set in.

After another several minutes of the table nor anything else in the room moving, Simmons clicked his tongue and shook his head at Sky, “still not cooperating, Sky?”

Simmons then let out a heavy sigh and hit another button on the remote he had used to turn on the monitor that showed Star’s room. Sky looked up at the monitor to see a red light flash behind her. Then the two men guarding her moved forward. One pulled her up from her bed by her hair and yanked her around to face the other man who slapped her hard across the face.

Sky stood, panicked and glared back at Simmons, “fucking stop!”

“Fucking cooperate” Simmons returned coolly.

Sky just let out a few more panicked and angry breaths as he looked back at the monitor where the two men still held her by the arms as she shook with sobs. “just let me see her, please” Sky begged.

“Wow you can go from anger to despair on a dime. Might be some deeper mental issues there” Simmons prodded as two men stood nearby, syringe waiting for Sky’s inevitable retaliation again.

“Please just let me see her; then I’ll do any fucking thing you want” Sky bit back tears.

“You’re seeing her now” Simmons told him smartly as he gestured to the monitor.

“Please” was all Sky could repeat.

Simmons shook his head, more than a little shocked that Sky hadn’t tried another psychic assault, and that was definitely a curiosity. But he was more eager to see if Sky would uphold his promise to cooperate fully if he could just be in the same room as his lover again; so he gave the order for them to bring Star to the lab.

Once she was finally brought in, Sky looked back at Simmons, “can I at least go talk to her?”

“I think I’ve met you more than halfway. She stays over there, with the guards. You stay here, and do any fucking thing I want” he told him with a slight mocking tone.

Sky and Star gave each other a sympathetic look across the room and Sky sat down again, hoping upon hope that ‘in the same room’ was close enough proximity now to make their powers work. Then, he would just have to decide if either of them really wanted to turn this into another bloodbath, or if there was any other possible means they could use to get out of this situation.

Sky spent the rest of the day moving objects and other psychic tricks while Star sadly watched, helping him silently, while her own brain tried to find some solution as well. By that afternoon, they were each mentally exhausted, but at least they had stopped any more physical attacks with their cooperation. Of course, Star’s cooperation was still unknown to Simmons and his team, but they both seemed to want to keep that card close to their chests.

Finally, as the hour struck four, Sky sighed, “I’ve been doing your little tricks for hours now. Can I please just go talk to Star?” he asked, his tone more than defeated at that point.

“She’s right across the fucking room” Simmons told him with a shake of his head, “god, you two act like you can’t function when you’re not right next....” his voice trailed off as he looked back at Star with narrowed eyes.

Sky swallowed a bit of a lump in his throat as Simmons started connecting those dots already, “please, I just wanna talk to her” he whispered.

“No no, this is interesting” Simmons stated as he looked between the two, “and it fits what was on the video, what the drunk girl on the cliff said, and what the girl who got raped said. You two have to be together, don’t you?” Simmons returned with a smile as he put it all together.

“I just wanted to talk to her” Sky tried to give nothing away, though his averted eyes made that difficult.

“And neither of you have birth certificates, or reliable blood tests, and you both just happened to be adopted by the same couple” he then smirked back at Sky, “and you couldn’t do a fucking thing when she wasn’t in the room. And you flipped when we gave her that little smack. You two really do have some weird psychic, supernatural bond going on, don’t you?”

“Just cause I wanna see if she’s ok after your goons beat on her?” Sky scoffed, though there was fear in his eyes that now this man really did know the secret to keeping them under control.

“Does it work the other way? Would she agree to do party tricks if we got a little rough with you?” Simmons asked with a slight chuckle.

“Imagine whatever you want. I agreed to all your shit today. That was the deal. Now I just wanna talk to my girl.”

Simmons just shook his head with another chuckle as he nodded to the guards behind Sky, who moved back at last and gestured for him to finally go and join Star at the far side of the room. Once Sky did make his way over to her, they immediately embraced and moved to kiss one another’s lips.

“What do you wanna do?” Sky asked her in a whisper, as her two guards were still rather close.

“What are you asking, exactly?” she asked him in the same whisper as they continued to hold one another close.

“We getting out of here like we got outta the other place, or...”

“Sky, they just slapped me. It’s not exactly the same as what those other pricks made us do, and for how long” she whispered.

“You can’t wanna stay here” Sky whispered back.

“No, but I also don’t wanna become... that... in two different lives now” she whispered sadly.

“Well then what else do you recommend here?” Sky asked her desperately.

“I just wish we could go back... I was really starting to like the second version of our lives, for a while anyway” she sniffled.

“Me too” he whispered as he kissed her again.

As their tongues entered one another’s mouths, both of them were immediately flooded with three years worth of memories in two different lives, racing through both their heads in reverse. Then they woke up, on a cliff, by a fallen tree.