"Hey,"

Tired. I'm tired. Let me sleep.

"Kitten, wake up."

... Kai?

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I saw the blonde haired and blue eyed man stand in front of me.

"Kai?" I let out quietly, trying to wake myself up.

"You're discharged," he said back to me, "I'm here to take you back."

"Where?" I asked, although I knew where it was.

"I.O. Academy."

I groaned. I really didn't want to. The school had no meaning to me anymore. Allison hasn't returned to school since the incident, or says the boys.

"I want to go back to the R.U." I let out all of a sudden.

Kai looked at me with an unreadable expression. He placed his hands inside his pant pockets and returned his gaze back on me.

"Do you?" he commented, raising his eyebrows slightly.

I nodded, "I need to report back anyway. The mission's taken a turn for the worst. The goal isn't the same anymore, and I've just reconnected with someone from my past. I need time to think about what I want to do, who I want to do it with, and who I need to look into. After a week of laying here with nothing to do but think about my next move, I've made up my mind."

Kai listened to me silently and nodded, gesturing for me to come. I was being discharged. With a final talk with some doctors, Kai dealt with some papers and soon took me out of the building.

_

We entered the same school we've been attending and walked into the boys' dorm. Soon, we were right outside of Liam's door. Kai typed in the passcode and the door swung slightly open. We entered and I closed the door behind us. I looked around Liam's room. It was still the same as I had remembered it.

"What class is he in right now?" I asked, going to check up on the baby. Cherish was fine and healthy. She was currently sleeping in her bed.

"Uh, Social Studies?" Kai answered, going to the bed and plopping himself down. He crossed his legs and looked back up to watch me.

"Lunch is next, then," I commented, trying to figure out his schedule.

"We could meet him on the roof," Kai stated, "Is that what you're suggesting?"

I turned to the man and smiled, "Yeah."

I went to wash up and decided to change into some comfortable clothing. Then I realized I had none.

"Kai..." I said carefully as I peeked my head out of the door.

"What," he dully replied, closing his eyes as he tried to rest on the bed.

"Do you know where Liam puts his clothes..." I asked bluntly, holding my breath. It was a weird question, and pretty awkward at that too.

"Why," Kai stated, opening his eyes and looking at me suspiciously.

"No no it's not like that," I reassured him, "I just don't have clothes."

"Oh," Kai answered, suddenly going back to his sleeping position.

Wait. Help me you jerk.

Before I was about to give up, I heard him say, "Cabinet, open drawer four, that's all of your clothes."

I frowned at his comment. What does he mean by 'all of your clothes.' I didn't have any clothes. Still puzzled, I followed his directions and opened that drawer.

My eyes widened a bit at some new clothes I found. This definitely wasn't here before. Did they... buy it for me?

My eyes found the edge of my neatly folded dark blue gown that I had worn a week ago and I took it out, frowning. These weren't my clothes, then.

"Kai, I think you remembered it wrong," I murmured unsure, turning to look at him from my squatting position. After he opened his eyes to look at what I meant, I held up the dress and stood up, walking towards him.

"This is Isla's," I stated, looking at it. The dress was now freshly washed and fixed at the rims. It looked just as new.

Kai raised his eyebrows amusingly at me, "Is that so?"

I tilted my head slightly at him, unsure of his tone and expression, "Yes?"

He chuckled, throwing me off guard.

"What," I pressed, a hint of a whine in my tone. I didn't like it when he knew something that I didn't.

"Last time I checked," Kai explained, placing his hands behind his head, "Isla doesn't live here."

"But," I started, getting confused. Wait, is the dress... for me? Liam bought it for me? But how? It was the dress that had gotten my attention at the mall, which he wasn't there at first.

Also...

"Hold up, how does he know my size?" I let out, suddenly addressing the uncertain truth.

"He saw the size on your sweater when he replaced it with his clothes for you to change into the first night you were here," Kai responded, "Or so I guess."

Ah. That makes sense.

"Why would he buy this for me though?" I asked more to myself than the man in the room with me, "He didn't want me to go to the party."

Kai sighed, "We all know you don't listen."

I pursed my lips together and quieted down. It's not that I don't listen... it's just I had a mission.

Which makes me not listen... okay I guess he was right.

Kai checked the time on his watch and he announced to me, "You should hurry and change if that's what you plan to do. His class's almost up."

I nodded quickly as I snapped out of my thoughts and grabbed a pair of clothes. I rushed into the bathroom and changed into something comfortable.

Kai took one look at me and nodded an okay, the both of us getting ready to leave.

_

I had texted Helene and Carlos on the way to come meet us on the school's rooftop at lunch. They needed to know what happened, and help me if that was possible.

Even though I wasn't as close to them as my enemies, Helene and Carlos were still on my team. And if I was to go back to the R.U. like I had planned, they were to follow me.

We made it to the roof after carefully maneuvering though the crowded cafeteria. I passed the milk carton crate and hesitated a bit before grabbing one strawberry milk and going to catch up to Kai.

"Seriously?" Kai quirked at me once we were up and had found a place to settle. I pushed away from the edge and looked down at the man who was leaning on the wall at my feet.

"What? I'm hungry," I mumbled back, continuing to drink my strawberry milk, "You're just jealous you didn't grab one on your way up too."

Kai quietly scoffed and told me to shut up.

Before I could argue back, I heard footsteps climbing up to the roof. Kai and I shared a quick glance before we turned our attention to the person arriving.

"Bennet, you know I have to write a ten page essay on the history of plants?" Liam complained, tossing his book bag up and skillfully landing on the roof.

"And it's all due tomo-" he stopped when he saw that Kai wasn't the only one on the roof.

Our eyes stayed on each other for a moment before he regained his breath and slowly came over.

"So you're back," his voice hits my ear as he passed me and leaned on the rails as well. I stayed still for a moment before I too turned around and faced the streets and cars below.

"Yeah," I piped.

"How long have you two been back?" Liam asked Kai as he leaned back and looked at his friend. Kai shrugged, "Couple of minutes before you were let out. I took her back to the room to change."

At the mention of changing, Liam raised his eyebrows at Kai and eyed him with a hint of suspicion.

"Bro, I'm not like you okay," Kai remarked back, slightly smirking as he closed his eyes.

Liam sighed and turned back to look at me, "You're wearing the clothes I bought you," he pointed out.

"About that," I started, shifting a bit in my position, "Thanks for getting them for me."

Liam smirked lightly, "The Jamie I know doesn't stop there."

I returned his cheeky smile, "You're right. Anyway, about that blue dress I found in your bathroom..." He watched me talk and ran a hand through his black hair, "What about it?"

"You seriously bought that for me?" I asked, turning to face him, "Be honest."

He chuckled, "Is it that hard to believe?"

"I'm just confused why," I stated truthfully, "Kai gave me a reason but I want to hear it from you."

"Annnd she doesn't listen to me," Kai muttered to himself silently on the ground. I ignored his comment.

"Didn't you want it," he teased lightly, looking me straight in the eyes.

I frowned slightly, "Well it's nice, but I couldn't afford it."

I wanted to know. He was being strange. He was doing things for me, even though he shouldn't be. He was making everything harder on me...

"Just accept it as a gift," he shrugged, looking away, "You looked nice in it."

At that I raised my eyebrows, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

Before I knew it, a small smile had appeared on my face. "You just complimented me," I let out.

"Never did."

"Carter."

"You have hearing problems."

I hit him on his shoulders and he let out a soft grunt, causing the both of us to laugh. I haven't laughed in a long time. It felt nice.

"Hey," I started, "... I need to ask a few questions before you have to go back to clas-"

Suddenly, we heard several footsteps climbing up to the roof and the three of us turned our heads towards it.

You could never be too careful. We didn't want some random student climbing up here for their free time and overhearing our conversations.

Helene's face popped up and then Carlos followed after her.

"What's going on here?" Helene asked, looking at Liam, Kai, and I just standing around being comfortable with each other.

"You were saying?" Liam teased, smirking at me to continue. I rolled my eyes at him, "You know what, I'll just continue when the whole crew's here."

It felt weird to say that. Two weeks ago, I was a lone agent working on a two-year long mission. Two weeks later, I had a crew that I talked to, fought with, and fought against.

"Who contacted Isla?" I asked, being nice to include her as well since the people who provided my sleeping space were acquaintances with her.

"Were we... supposed to?" Kai mumbled slowly, reaching for his phone. Liam raised his eyebrows, "She should be coming. She comes everyday."

At that I felt a strange feeling that ran through my body, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. My chest tightened unconsciously and I felt cold. I was always the one that came on the roof. But since I've been away for a week, Isla had quickly taken my place. My head unconsciously tilted away from everyone and I instead faced the bustling scene below.

Liam felt me shift around and turned to me, looking down at my silent form, "What's wrong?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at him, "N-nothing..."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"I said nothing," I pressed, avoiding his stare.

Isla came after this and when she got up to the top, she eyed Helene and Carlos suspiciously. "Who are these people?" She asked and turned to Liam.

"Who is she?" Helene asked me.

Liam, Kai, and I took a quiet glance at each other before mentally preparing ourselves for what was about to come.

It was story time.

_

"The moment you lost conscious the door bursted open and Allison came in," Liam explained.

We were all sitting on the roof with our legs crossed in a circle.

"Isla and I saw a dozen men dressed in black coming to charge at us," he continued.

"We were outnumbered and they managed to knock us out," Isla came in, "When we woke up we were in some sort of cell. I happened to be a good lock picker and got us out."

"We heard screaming coming from down the hall," Liam came in, glancing briefly at me.

"So that's what happened," I commented quietly, "I can tell the rest from here."

I told Helene and Carlos about the scene where I came in. Everything from seeing my father to Allison to piecing it together with my past. Then the escape and the car ride to the hospital.

"No wonder you were out so many days," Helene came in, "Liam and Kai wouldn't tell me anything besides, 'I fed your baby, she's sleeping.'" I held back a chuckle. It was nice of them to care for the child even though they had no relation to it.

"And now," I summed up, looking at everyone, "I want to go back."

"Back?" Carlos asked.

I nodded, "Back. I need to go back to the R.U. You guys in?"

I was talking to Helene and Carlos. It didn't matter to me much if they came along or not, but considering there was no point for them to be here, I figured they might as well.

"You're going back?" Liam questioned, suddenly staring at me.

My eyebrows arched a bit as I returned his gaze, "Yeah. This mission is far from over, but I need to finalize some things with the R.U." I stopped talking for a moment and let my eyes linger on the man before me for a while, "I guess this is goodbye."

There was a change in the atmosphere as things got quiet between all of us. Everyone was looking at everyone, but no one was looking at anyone. We were all lost in thought in some form or way. Suddenly, the academy's bell rang loudly from below and inside the building.

Lunch was over.

Isla began sitting up, but she paused when she saw that Liam had not moved. My eyes landed on the man, "Carter, the bell..."

"I know," he replied, eyeing the way back down from the roof dully, "I'm not going. I'm not a student at this school. None of us are. Allison had always been our target, and now that she doesn't show up, we have no purpose here."

I stayed quiet upon his words. He was right. I was glad he understood the situation as well as we all did. It really was time to move on from this place.

"We're leaving too," Kai spoke up distantly, getting up from the hard concrete. Liam followed him and so did Isla.

Helene and Carlos got up as well, and I followed suit.

We all took one final glance at each other and I finally found some words to say one last time.

"I... hope we never see each other again."

The wind blew swiftly against our expressionless faces and I avoided everyone's eyes. I meant what I had said. If we did see each other again, we were enemies once more. Everything that happened at I.O. would've been a past mission that we all shouldn't care about anymore.

They were out to find Allison. We were out to find Allison.

I hoped we never crossed paths again. How bloody would it be.

Because if Liam and I had met each other under different circumstances, one of us would've definitely been long gone.

_

[reading]