?: "Nnng...No...don't, please let us go...I don't...I don't..want to...die...AH!

.

.

.

Haa... Haa..

Just...Just a dream....

Just a...

damn.”

??: "Another Dream from the past?”

?: "Yeah, well...more like a nightmare.”

Deep breathing coupled with the smell of roasted coffee beans help alleviate his rise in anxiety, as a tulip-printed apron takes up his entire view.

?: "Here – it'll help relax your nerves.”

?: "I fail to see how coffee can help calm me down, but thanks. As always~”

?: "'Fail to' My ass. Stop being so unappreciative and drink. Doctor Labelle always snuck some for us to drink before she was fired. I could never calm down without it.”

?: "Labelle huh...I never trusted her, not even after her supposed 'suicide'. How do we know she didn't just run away from the scene, knowing that somehow, someway, she would get caught?”

?: "How could you not trust her when she SAVED us from death inside of that horrible place?! She SAVED so many children from them! If it wasn't for her we....we might've died when our families were..we would've been caught up in their indiscriminate ...killing! How could you-”

?: "Then why didn't she LITERALLY save us?! Sure she stopped them from killing us when she was still working there, but WHY didn't she bring us with her?! WHY did that place...ever hire her in the beginning?! WHY did she...only choose those kids to save... and... and leave us to experience that HELL?!!

Also why are you so sure those kids were even saved to begin with? They could have been ordered to follow her, you know? She could've been puttin' up an act! For all we-”

?: “Enough!

*Crash*

All you ever do lately is complain and complain some more! Don't you feel tired of ridiculing people? Doctor Labelle is a woman who saw first-hand the horrors in that place and regretted her actions for being a part of its madness!

I know that she would have brought *Sniff* us with her if she was able to!! I just know it...”

As one cries, the other contemplates his past behavior. Slowly, she wipes her tears and looks down, noticing the mess she made.

?: "...I...

...rraagh!

Fine! Dammit! I GET IT!! I...I'm sorry. It's just... all this time, dealing with people... it's been difficult, you know? Ever since then... back when we were forced to watch our families get... *sniff* get torn apart by those security bastards, Other people who promised to help us but instead turned us in after setting us up just so that they could get some extra food! The younger kids and us were all forced to make dysfunctional families in those frickin' cages! ...And for what? What do I..."

?: "...Leos I...

…

…

...I should... clean up the shards of glass from the plate I threw *sniff* hehe.”

Leos: "...You're right Rebeccah. Haah, I'll help.”

Rebeccah: "Heheh, thanks~ It's been nice, living together these past 2 years. I'm glad the Heroes set up a place for us to try and readjust. It's been... quiet. Peaceful, and quiet.”

Leos: "And lonely. Chuma and Fabian would've enjoyed this peace. ...”

His hands begin to shake as he mentions those two names. Two, forbidden names of which he's been reminded countless times not to say. Suddenly, the memories of their 'little' family of 6 came flooding back.

Doctor Labelle, a woman doctor who fled with hundreds of children to an unknown location before it was announced that she had, in fact, committed suicide, took two young adults from their 'family' while the other 4 were undergoing painful experiments on their bodies. That brought their family count down to four.

Rebeccah: "*Sniff* You know, hehe... The last conversation Chuma and I had was about the sky. We spent hours just...admiring the clouds past that horrible force field. We would comment about their different shapes... She would mention more about.. hehe, about her desire to eat pancakes one last time. Whenever we looked at the clouds... *Sniff* she'd find one that... *Sniff-Sniff* reminded her of pancakes... I'm sorry...*Sniff*..uuu...

UwAaaaahh..!”

Unable to repress her emotions any more – Rebeccah dropped the dustpan filled with tiny glass pieces and uncorked the screw that repressed her emotions inside of a mental bottle. She just couldn't stop crying, and each memory fueled her tears like a large flame demanding a consistent flow of nutrition to sustain itself and grow.

Leos: "2 years ago, just what was that? When that kid... the one around our age was... completely covered in blood. For some reason, we couldn't control our bodies and would keep walking towards him.”

Rebeccah: "Or we could have been walking to that Unforgivable Watts. Remember? It was Fabian who noticed... *sniff* sorry. I know that I shouldn't -”

Leos: "No, it's *sniff* it's okay. In all honesty, I'm having a tough time keeping it together myself. Continue if you feel up to it only. Don't force yourself...”

Rebeccah: "*Sniff* thanks. I'm alright now. *Sniff* *Sniff* Fabian would always cry over the slightest hint of pain, even when he had the sturdiest body. Chuma had to act like the older sister when she was only 8 *Sniff* hehe. Still, Fabian was the first to discover the professor's body, dead as dead could be: with two pointy things stuck inside his neck. Anybody able to count with their fingers could figure out that the blood-covered kid, possibly another test subject of his, managed to actually do away with him. We all almost felt like celebrating...if it wasn't...

If it wasn't for the first victims disappearing in their own screams. Fabian... *sniff* He once said that... that if he had to die, he would want it to be protecting us. And in a sense, it did work. His power covered over us, and our bodies stopped moving... If only it didn't have to trigger after Chuma's... I still remember her face, you know? Screaming for help as she disintegrated. *Sniff* He...I don't get why they both had to die! *Sob*"

Leos: "I... I don't think that we will ever find a good enough answer to that question Rebeccah. If I knew, heh, I would probably still be angry. Nobody should have to die. Was that, damned guy to blame? Or was it the Unforgivable Watts?! I just... I dunno.”

Rebeccah: “You know... that kid DID look about your height. Two years ago... he would've probably been about 10 or 11? Maybe you'll both wind up in the same class!”

Leos: "Don't scare me like that, and besides! You act like you're all that older than I am!”

Rebeccah: "That's because I AM! I'm four WHOLE years older than you, making me 17. Heheh~”

Leos: "Shutup. You're still a shortie for your age! ...Are you really not going to school though? The schools here all go up to 5 whole years. Maybe you'd get to enjoy a normal life out there, somewhere.”

Rebeccah: "I'm ok without it. I've just been hired for a job and this one looks like a keeper! The people there are all really nice, they even taught clumsy ol' me a few tips on how to brew better coffee! One of my coworkers there was telling me before I left that she was signing up for something called: 'Adult Education' classes and recommended it for me since I said that I never got to finish high school in the resume that I signed up with. I'm thinking of going for that, since it'll be easier for me, as a working woman with weekly shifts.”

Leos: "If... haah, if you're happy with that then you have my support! I... don't really remember much about my life from back in the days before our family drugging and kidnapping. I think my father wanted me to sign up for hero courses at a young age because of my talent brewing early on compared to most kids my age. Now though, after seeing all that... carnage. Everything that we witnessed...I can't even think about violence being an option. I think only 4 of us survivors were told we had to go back to school. I'm surprised they didn't ask you to go back like they did for me.”

Rebeccah: "Oh they did. At least, they tried~ hehe, I told them I was scared of anybody that wasn't my family, that's you...and that if I go I would just drop out the first chance I get~”

Leos: "Smart! I should've done something like that...”

Rebeccah: "It wouldn't have worked. Another girl saw what I was doing and said the exact same thing, but they turned her down saying she wasn't genuinely 'scared' of people like I was. I don't know, I think anybody who went through that mess woulda been traumatized by people. I guess not, though...”

Leos: "Do...you remember what you're past was like? You know... before the, umm the kidnappings?”

Rebeccah: "Hehe~ you don't hafta be so nervous around me with that topic. Still it's true that I recovered a little these last two years. I remembered I had a dog.”

Leos: "..........That's it?”

Rebeccah: “Mhm. I had named it Fluffy. If I get a new dog in the future, I plan on naming it Fluffy Jr.”

Leos: "...You know what? That's great. Awesome! When I get back after the first day of class I'll tell you all about my day, while we go out shopping for a new dog. You can take part of my governmental reimbursement money to help him out since yours and your paycheck will probably be paying for everything here.”

Rebeccah: "Thanks...I know that your money is nearly all going towards the tuition for that really expensive high school. Sheesh, would it kill those heroes to fund a more...PUBLIC school?! That would help cut down the costs!”

Leos: "Hahaha. Either way, it turns out there's only one school in these parts that allows me to help others while not fighting. I'll be entering 'Hero High' as a non-combatant member.”

Rebeccah: "Help people? Are you...sure you want to?”

Leos: "Can't help it. We aren't exactly allowed to leave this place because of all the 'experiments' Unforgivable Watts put us through. They're still studying us and giving our meds different dosages. That school is the only one with a program that closest resembles a 'normal' lifestyle. If I have to go to school, then it has to be there. Nowhere else is good enough.”

Rebeccah: "Will you be living in the dorms?”

Leos: "The Hero Society wants this, but I don't think I'll be there the whole time. I plan to spend the weekdays here and the weekends over there. They already agreed to it, The teachers that spoke to me about their dorms.”

Rebeccah: "Will you...be alright? Living by yourself, for once? There are other people there too, aren't there?”

Leos: "I'm fine, I'm fine! I have you here to support me, so I know I'm ready to face off against and tackle anything that comes my way. 'Sides... you can't be the ONLY one who's trying to move on with their life.”

Rebeccah: "Hehehe~ I got it you little man, you~ *Ruffles his hair* Come on. Let's go out for a change, to eat. My treat!”

Leos: "We'll pay half each!”

Rebeccah: "You're so stubborn! Hehe, fine fine~ Let's just go already!”

---