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It was around 2 am at The Elgen Compound located in Taiwan. At the moment, three out of seven members of the Electronclan were crammed into some stuffy vent. Nichelle had successfully found Michael, although being rewarded with a hand around her throat, and had informed him in on her plan. Soon after, they located Ostin in a cell down the hall from his, blabbering random facts to himself.At the moment Michael was melting the bolts on one of the vent covers. "Okay, we're good", he informed placing the cover beside him, leaping down,"come on Ni". Michael caught her lower half, helping her to the ground, she immediately removed his hands. "I'm not some damsel, I can't help myself", she sneered moving to look out the door, radiating her darkness against his glow,"And who the hell is Ni?!"The two boys shared a look, Ostin shaking head mentally telling him to let it go."Shit", Nichelle cursed shutting the door again"What is it?" , Michael asked helping Ostin onto his feet, "There's some guard out there", she explained,"What do we do now? " they all looked back at each other, exchanging worried looks. They were doomed if they were caught, but they were now sitting ducks."We- We're..... We're gonna find a vent to the main hallway and get out there to break out the others", he suggested helping Ostin back up in the shute,"Nichelle, distract him for as long as possible", Michael gave the orders, it all coming together in his head in that moment. As full proof as his fresh-outta-the-box plan was, the girl still had a problem,"And how the hell do I do that?", she whispered back, heart suddenly racing, realising how fucking stupid this whole plan was, and she came up with it!Michael looked around around, trying to figure something out, but the wheels just weren't turning,"Uh.....Um...C- come up with something, just keep him busy", he offered climbing up into the vent. Nichelle shook her head in response before remembering he couldn't see her anyways."I ca-"I don't care!", the boy whispered harshly," just do something and get him away from here", Michael ordered closing the grid, before she could argue further. Listening to the shushed shuffling in the metal box, Nichelle groaned and opened the door, stepping out the closet.Immediately a new voice filled the silence,"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!", possibly the guard ordered from far behind her. She wanted to flip him off, but she thought against it, and stopped,"N- Now put your hands in the air!"The goth girl snorted before she spoke, dropping her hands,"Last I checked eagles don't take orders from captains",she sneered, turning round and couldn't help the smirk that graced her lips at his fear. 'Oh how I missed this' Nichelle rolled her eyes as he fumbled over his words."I- I....I'm sorry, ma'am. What are you doing down here?"Nichelle mentally face palmed, she needed to buy the others sometime. She was gonna have to raise the heat, desperate times call for desperate measures. Michael owed her BIG time. "Actually, I was looking for you, handsome."The guard look baffled at her advance, turning red,"Um uh, I don't think so, there's rules against this kinda thing", he mumbled, scratching his hair, or lack their of. The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes softly,"You don't always follow the rules do you?", she asked innocently twirling a finger through her wild hair. She never really tried to seduce someone before, but she was throwing herself out there; hopefully he'll take the bait. Speaking of, he had froze for a bit, thinking about what she said,"No, not really I suppose...""Good, so maybe we can have some fun?", Nichelle suggested, giving him a the fakest smile I could muster. "So...what time are you done here?", I asked innocently, leaning up against the wall, propping my leg up. Out the corner of my eye, I caught him looking at my exposed skin and I shot him a wink. 'God, the people here a so pathetic. The pigs'He seemed hesitant at first, wondering if this was one of Dr. Hatch's test, but pushed the thought aside. 'Oh you have no idea' The guard took a shaky breath and turning red at her fitting,"Uh uh..in-"Behind her, she heard a shuffle and immense jumped, covering his mouth. "Wait! D- did you hear that?",The guard gave her a quizzical look shaking his head removing her hand. Nichelle let her face show nothing but pure terror, making the mans blood run cold,"I- it's Hatch! He's looking for me. If he finds me with you we're both goners"She was putting forward her best acting skills, looking completely mortified of Hatch and he looked the same,"Come in the closet quick!", she suggested, dragging him in behind her, in hopes of trying to make as much noise as possible in case the other come down the hall.Officer Stupid didn't notice this. For some one so evil and cautious, Hatch hired some morons. Said moron was all in her personal space," Aha, 7 minutes in heaven, hm?", he leaned in kissing her ear.Nichelle literally gagged at the thought of him, turning away, putting her hand in his face, making his hands retract much to her joy,"What happened? S' Hatch coming?", the guard asked lowly straining to listen for any sound.The reverse glow wanted to laugh at him, he was so scared he probably wet it pants. "No", Nichelle replied, pushed him away rudely, "I just changed my mind, sorry",she said it with a sour fake smile and went over to the door and opened it, to check if Michael and the others were out.She began her fake search, until she felt a larger hand roughly cup her backside making her curse. Nichelle growled to herself,"Or you deaf! I said- "she spun around to face him only to have his hand wrapped around her throat. 'Choked twice in one hour, it must be my lucky day', note the mental sarcasm,"Le- let me g- go", she ordered with a hardest glare she could muster. Who the hell was he to put his hands on her?The guard for some reason didn't look effected at all unless you count the spotted teeth smile he gave her,"Or what, sweetheart? I'm not one of you little glows.... you can't do shit", he promised shaking his head side with a sadistic look in his eyes."Y- your gonna be in so much trou-", her threat was ended by his grip tightening. Nichelle held her menacing stare, but she couldn't ignore the tingling numbness that began surrounding her brain"What are you gonna do, tell Hatch?", his laugh was fake, almost forced,"I'll just tell him you ran off", he whispered closing the distance between them, words now low and dreary,"He won't think twice about looking for your body in the rat bowl", the man chuckled pushing back a few strands of her wild hair.Nichelle growled at his assault, she was really getting sick of this shit, "You wish!", she kicked him in the balls and tried to make a run for it, only for him to grab her hair."A- AAH!!!!"The guard forced her back, giving her hair another sharp tug," Wrong move baby," he used his strength over her and forced her on top of the heater, wedging himself between her legs,"bet you extra tight", Nichelle continued trying to force him away, trying to close her legs but he scratch down her inner thigh.When he finally looked up at her, his faced showed nothing but insincerity,"Well, what's wrong? Thought you came down here just for me?", his mocking laugh filled her ears before moving down her neck,"don't worry I'll be gentle", Nichelle shrieked as his teeth savagely bit into the pale skin of her neck. The older man only laughed, tightening his hand as she gasps for air.She couldn't believe this was happening and she couldn't do anything. Her eyes started to water as she began to hyperventilate, fighting for air."Tsk, tsk", he wiped away her tears as if he was the greatest gentleman,"can't have you passing out now, sugar....wanna here you scream and cry", he punctuated, licking the shell of her ear.Nichelle whimpered out at the the innuendo, shaking her head at him with pleading eyes. It only served to make him chuckle, but he loosened his hold.The electric kid took in a gulp of air, like it was water in the desert, and in the same breath screamed,"H- HELP! PL- PLE-", she screeched out her plea in a harsh voice, before she was cut off again by his grip suddenly tightening once again."Shut up you little bitch!", he cursed, his rough palm making contact with her cheek while on the verge of crushing her wind pipe. Nichelle winced, tears flowing harder at the stinging pain across her face. She tried to loosen his hold, but she was getting weaker, her hands falling limp at her sides.The man took a step back, undoing his pants with his free hand, while keeping a grip on her neck, "I'm gonna enjoy this", he promised to himself pushing his belt and pants down his knees, hitting the floor with a click.Nichelle whimpered softly, trying to mutter enough energy to fight back, but she couldn't. When she felt his hand ripping her shirt open she panicked, her eyes immediately flooded with tear,"M- Mi- Mi" she used her limited amount of air to call for Michael or anyone, but you could barely hear her. Nichelle coughed as he lifted her up abit to undo her shortsAs he had her hung in the air made it twice as hard for her to breath. She wanted to cry out for him to stop or something, anything, push him away and pull up her pants. She couldn't believe this was happening to her and all she could think about was how Hatch lied to her. She wasn't a queen, goddess, or a eagle and she wasn't untouchable. Far from it, she was the same as everyone else, maybe even below them.As her eyes began to roll to the back of her head, her world going dark around here. The brunette allowed consciousness to slip away; forcing herself to accept the inevitable nightmare to come. 'He's gonna rape me. I'm gonna be raped and then killed. I hope Michael and the others find Taylor and escape. Will they look for me? They'll probably think I ran away like he said. No good traitor...............'"NICHELLE!"Suddenly Nichelle heard a scream, followed by a crash and a shout of her name. The pressure on her throat disappeared. Nichelle gasped for air, a loud sob leaving her lips as the lights of the hallway came back on, peaking into the dim space. She curled in on herself immediately, only stared at Jack and Ian, turning to find the guard face down on the dirty floor, twitching slightly while Michael stood over him.Michael turned his attention away,"Nitchelle are you okay?!", words laced with worry as he tried to help her stand only for her to flinch. He saw the purplish red bruises on her paper pale neck. He didn't know if it was from him or the guard. The pang in his chest did not go unnoticed."I- I saw everything.... I- I- I'm so sorry", Ian admitted as if it was his fault. Like his gift wasn't a blessing in this case. He was also a bit shaken up, watching his teammate get attack while he sat defenseless in a separate place.Jack, carefully reached out to help her stand, she was still shaking, but took the offered hand. "Are you good to go? Do we need to stop?" Although they've had their ups and downs, they didn't wanna keep going if she was hurt, well any worse.Nichelle wrapped her arms around herself, covering her neck and shaking her head,"W- we need to s- save Ta- Taylor",her voice was rough and scratchy, even dry. She was trying to fix her shirt, to cover herself, but it was too ripped."Here"The eldest took off the elgen shirt, putting it around her. She gave him an understanding look, struggling to button it up with her trembling fingers. Suddenly the unconscious man groaned from the floor, making her jump.The other lightening child snapped his head back to him, fists balled,"Ian take her and make sure the camera's are still down, Nitchelle caused a power outage, but we have no idea how far or if they're back up. We'll be behind you", although he spoke to him, he was distant, to used on there catch.Ian nodded looking between the three men before getting the girl, "I saw everything since you got to Michael's room", he admitted, head hanging low as put her arm around his neck. "W- we can talk later?"Although she couldn't see his eyes, she still found his trusting gaze. She nodded and they walked out leaving the two with their own devices. Jack couldn't help but watch her limp out the room with sigh, looking back at a pacing Michael,"Michael I already know what your thinking""This was all my fault. If I hadn't have told her to distract that guard this wouldn't have happened. If Ian hadn't warned us who knows what could've happened?!", his blood began to boil, stomach turning in on itself. First they lost Wade, now this? All because he wanted to played Justice League and save their parents and a world that wanted them dead.Jack took a deep breath, he could see the wheels turning in his head in all the wrong ways. "No one knew this would happen, it's not your fault", he offered placing a supported hand on his shoulder.Michael only pushed him away,"Who's fault is it huh?", he snapped at the older boy. "I knew I shouldn't have brought her. She was the enemy gone rogue, a torture machine for Christ's sake! What did I look like bringing her here!?" Michael felt horrible, Nichelle was more than likely gonna be traumatised by this and if he just left her at that Taco Bell she would be okay, or at least safe. The more he thought about it, electricity crackled between his fingers."It doesn't matter how bad she was or who she was before. Keep in mind half our team, wanted to kill us in Pasadena." Jack countered watching the sparks in his fists, before he continued"You don't regret bringing her, in fact you saw something in her long before we left for Peru. You knew she was good, her mind had just been poisoned by Hatch and you were the only one who didn't give up on her. She even brought us here too save Taylor so don't you dare say you regret her!""B- ba- baby?"At that moment the calm resilient speaking Jack left, replaced immediately with a scowl and a hard kick in the older mans back,"Baby? Baby's not here, pal", he informed forcing the man onto his back so he could look up at him.The newly conscious mans eyes strained adjusting to the darkness, until he noticed the faint glow radiating off the other teen. "V- Vey! It- it's....it's you!", he exclaimed trying to reach for his utility belt, only for Michael to magnify him to the heater making it impossible to move.The latter squatted in front of him looking the man straight in the eyes,"So you like little girls huh?", there was no room for reply as he punched him,"bet you felt so fucking powerful choking the life out of Nitchelle?," Jack's words sharp as he leaned in to his face,"liked watching her squirm?"The guard shook his head frantically at his accusations,"She seduced me!!!!!", he exasperated, trying to jump at the two, but it was a failure.Jack wasn't taking that for a fucking second, snatching him up by his roots and yanking him up, just like he had done to Nichelle. "She told you to stop, but I guess you don't like to hear no...or maybe you do?", his face reflected such anger and disgust, you would think he was talking to Hatch.The guard took a deep breath glaring at the two boys,"Why...why do you care??Sh- she's just some traitorous bitch!", he sneered, spitting overflowing blood from his mouth.At that point Michael stepped in with a growl sending him a shock. "That 'traitor bitch' is our family and you hurt her!", he was on him in seconds giving him punch after punch. How could you say such horrible things about someone and do something like that?,"do you get a kick out of raping kids?", he punched him in the nose,"she's 15 you sick bastard! I'll make you feel worse than you ever made her! Hatch or that damn bowl have nothing on me!", he swore, throughout every punch, the image of her bruises fresh in his mind.Her ripped clothing.His pants around his ankles.The tears in her eyes."You Elgen piece of shit!"His fit of rage lasted a couple more moments before, he was pulled off of the pedophile,"Vey that's enough", his words were panicked yet demanding making the younger boy snap out of attack mode. Jack wasn't wrong, he had looked back at his work to find him groaning out in pain, blood covering his face and some of his clothes along with Michael's fist and most of his torso.He had started crying apparently, wiping the tears away, smeared blood now covering his cheeks. He had to idea what happened it was as if he blacked out, he never got violent like this,"Y- yeah", he agreed looking over the severely bruised body one last time,"let's go save the others."
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All the teens were back back at the safe house relaxing. They had successfully saved the Jade Dragon and the Elecroclan and were now laying low until the next mission. Michael, Ostin and Jack were upstairs coming up with a game plan to stop Hatch and his eagles once and for all. "Since Hatch knows we're on to him, it's no question he's gonna heighten security at all his plants. He's not gonna let want happened in Taiwan happen again so we're gonna need to be cautious"Michael nodded, eyes focused intently on the blueprints before him. "Okay, and if we end up separating we should split into to groups. Zeus, Taylor and Jack will lead, and I'll -" , he didn't finish his sentence, the lights suddenly flashing off. "What the hell?" , Jack muttered looking at the bulb before it came back on, 10 times brighter than before, only to glitch back off.They looked at one another and back at flickering lights, "The powers on the fritz", Ostin questioned, flinching as the lightbulb in the closet burst.The hairs on the back of Jack's neck stood at attention, surveying the scene before him, as if this was familiar to him. He looked back at the other boy in clarification ,"last time this happened..."He didn't have to finish his thought before Michael was on his feet, Jack and Ostin, following in suit,"Nitchelle", he exclaimed running over to the door. The second they reached for the knob, the door was thrown open, to reveal of panicked MacKenzie, "Y- you guys come quick!" , She begged running back down the hall, the others following close behind.They run into the kitchen to find a small crowd already gathering, as the human heater pointed at the island ,"Sh- she was cooking and c- collapsed...now she's just shaking and crying", She explained looking down at Nichelle.She was flat on her back, eyes rolled back as tears streamed down her face. Her hands shaking as she clawed at the air around her, mouth wide open as if silently screaming, tongue no where to be seen."WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"Ostin shoved his way through the teens, studying the shaking girl, "She's having a seizure", he explained frantically,"their usually caused by epilepsy, but she hasn't had them before. Non-epileptic events are often caused by a reflex asystole due to increased vagal responsiveness. She's having a partial seizure", he finished.The oldest took the chance and kneeled next to the girl, and looked up at Michael,"Come on, let's get her up", Jack instructed carefully scooping her up only for her to lurches away,"sh, it's okay", He soothed putting her on the table, pushing her hair off her face to reveal her bruise. The marks now a faded greenish brown. "Abi, can you help her"The blonde guy shifted through the group, hesitating before reaching out to touch her. After a moment, She frowned eyes screwed shut, "I- I don't feel anything.....", Abigail announced, shaking her head pulling away ,"I can't help her""A tonic-clonic seizure is painless on a physical level, but disastrous on a mental one. She probably doesn't even know she's having one", Ostin added, holding one of her eyes open before letting go,"Taylor, do you think you could get in her mind and reboot her, maybe it will stop the seizure"All attention was on the brunette, and she placed the ice pack in the counter, running over to her side,"M- maybe, but I've never done it before", she admitted brushing back a strand of Nichelle's dark hair, causing her to jerk, the lights flickering on and off once againStill, she crunched down over her head, shaky hands ghosting over her scalp, "Hey Nichelle" , she whispered softly , "I- its me, Taylor...I'm here to help you, okay?" , with that warning she placed her hands on her temples.Taylor head fell back as her eyes rolled back, teeth gritting. Michael fought back the urge to help her seeing as Nichelle had stopped shaking. They were dead like still until Taylor fell back, taking a breath.When Taylor jumped back, Nichelle's eyes suddenly shot open as she gasped to breath, pushing herself away from the mind reader only to fall back onto Jack, prompting the same reaction. "She's back!" , the genius cheered, "Great job, Taylor!", he applauded only to find her standing completely still, head in her hands."You", Taylor whimpered, lifting her head, looking past the others to the dark girl,"Y- you were the connection I felt at the compound" That was all she said before she broke down in tears, confusion stamped across everyone's faces before she spoke again, "W- why didn't you say anything?", she asked aloud to the still shaking girl.Everyone was confused, but it was Zeus who took the bait,"What are you guys talking about?" Nobody responded, Taylor just continued to ball her eyes out repeatedly apologizing to the girl, "I- I-.... I'm- I'm so sorry!" Still, no one spoke, confusion and worry written across most faces while others were covered in guilt.Nichelle only curled in on herself even more of that was possible, shrugging off the worry,"I- It's not that big a deal", she mumbled avoiding her gaze.Taylor frowned, before anyone knew it she reached out a pulled open her shirt, revealing her bruises. "That not is a big deal?! Look at it! ", she demanded glaring at the markings. The room practically froze over at the sight of the bruises, looking almost black against her skin.The older girl's eyes became the size of saucers, reaching down to close her shirt, looking at the ground. She didn't wanna meet their gaze; the shame, disgust, the pity. They probably thought she had it comingMichael, having decided this hand gone too far, stepped to the boasting brunette, "Taylor..... calm down -"She only jerked away from him, "No! she saved my life, all of us, and all she got in return was trauma. It's not fair. I felt it, I felt all of it, the pain t- the fear", she suddenly spun around to her boyfriend,"Where were you?" ,her voice went like a vice. Michael was thrown off at her interrogation ,"I... "He's response wasn't as fast as she wanted it to be,"Where were you when he attacked her?", Taylor repeated glaring through him with dark eye, "Where were you when she was being suffocated? When he beat her! Where were you!" ,she was a match being doused in gasoline and Michael was a piece of paper.At that moment, Jack stepped between the two teens, "WE were freeing Ian! We couldn't help help!" , he explained trying to defend the younger boy, but whatever was thrown and Michael was not directed at the juvenile. "What happened to Semper Fi?! We protext each other and all that?!""Ian Is family too! ""So is she!", She got back aggressively,"That doesn't mean it doesn't matter! All three of you knew what happened and didn't say a word!" , Taylor scolded, sending pointed glares to the witnesses."It wasn't our place to!""You could've stopped it instead you let her get tortured, shot and almost raped!". . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .Suddenly they all groaned holding their heads, whimpers of pain leaving their lips. They all struggled to turn to the dark haired girl.Nichelle was now holding herself rocking back and forth,"S- stop j- just s- st- stop", she looked up tears pooling in her eyes.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was around midnight at the ranch and everyone was asleep. well, everyone but a certain vampire girl with wild streaked hair. Nichelle had just gotten out of the shower, when she heard someone knock on her door. She chose not to answer it, she wasn't in the mood for one a Vey's ('welcome to the team!') speeches or the ('don't try to double cross us or else') from the others. She wished whoever it was would leave. She groaned to herself as the knocking continued ,"I'm coming". What she didn't expect when she opened the door, was for Jack to be leaning up against her door frame. "Did I interrupt something?" , he asked trying not to stare at the towel instead, looking at the bags under her eyes. Nichelle shrugged, suddenly growing little self conscious, curling in on herself, "Nah, it's cool", she shrugged, for anyone else she would slam the door in their face, but instead she opened the door wider inviting him inside. Nichelle sat on her bed, "So what's up? " He was the last person she expected to see, mainly because she was still too embarrassed to be around him. She had kissed him and he was with Abigail. Yes, she didn't know at the time, but she was still guilty. To make matters worse, the others saw it. Nichelle just knew they were judging her. It was the best of the moment, she was bleeding out, and he had basically saved her life. He was the first person to be kind to her after her 'betrayal'. Speaking of Jack, she noticed he was acting kinda weird, quietly shuffling into her room. He rested himself against a close wall, running a hand through his short hair, "I...uh...I just came around to check on you...uh y- you know, after the mission?" "Well as you can see, I'm perfectly fine" He looked as if he wanted to respond, but decided against it. Not like she cares away....cause she didn't. Nichelle brushed back a stray strand of hair, tension building in the worst possible ways, "So.....You gonna just stand there all night?" As embarrassed as he was, Jack found comfort in her usually snarky attitude, remembering how she was at the compound when she was shot, her body sinking beneath the water. He shook the thoughts away, she was (here now) and that all that matters. "Well that's good to know, so....I'm going hit the sack" Nichelle didn't respond as expected, and he turned to leave. As he grasped the door knob there was a scream. ("Ah shit!" He halted immediately turning to the whimpering girl holding her arm, "Nichelle, are you okay?", He asked rushing to her aid,"Where-" Before he could take another step, she put her arm up defensively, halting his approach, "I'm f- fine",taking a shaky breath," I uhh just forgot about my shoulder, still abit sore". As calm as she seemed, Nichelle could feel the tears collecting behind her eyes. Still, she refused to cry, she was to good for that. "Do I need to get Michael? Abigail?", Jack asked as if he wasn't already moving to the door, when she just shrugged, "No, no need to wake them up for nothing", it wasn't that serious anyway. She could just sleep it off and she'll be fine in the morning. The delinquent only raised a bushy eyebrow as she haphazardly wiped the blood away, "what do you mean?", He continued to look at the seeping wound. Nichelle just stared at him, as if not expecting him to ask. After a moment of staring blankly back and forth, the electric girl sighed, "I mean I don't wanna waste their time! It's nothing", she mumbled throwing her hair back from where it fell in her face. Nichelle acted as it it was just that simple, like he would shrug off his unwarranted concern and go back to his own room. Needless to say, she has disappointed per usual. Jack just crossed his arms over his chest, making no move to leave anytime soon, "I'm not leaving". She rolled her eyes at his overbearing behavior, "I said I'm fi-" "Bullshit, your bleeding" He pointed accusingly at her arm as the blood was now trailing down her arm stained her white towel. Nichelle only reaction was to cover her arm as best she could, "I- it's nothing", her voice is low, it could've been menacing if she had on her usual snarl. God, she wished she had Taylors power so she could just reboot him and throw him out. To her dismay, Jack wouldn't give up, now leading her to the bed. "Let me look at it", he insisted sitting down next to her, but he was sure to leave space between themselves. She knew this was a losing battle, giving him one final pity stare, slowly removing her red stained hand to reveal her freshly open gash, blood flowing freely over her tattoo and down her arm. The older boy sighed looking at the wound. It was bad, not hospital bad, but it could get infected and she could go into shock. A part of him wondered what else she had been hiding, but he ignored it, reaching out only to recoil like she was scolding hot. "Can I?" She didn't respond, just look at him for a split second before looking away, nodding. She flinched as his callous fingers touch her skin. He studied the wound again, the black ink swirled with scarlet red. After a while, he spoke, "Gonna need to get the kit", he informed standing up,"I'll be right back" ************* When he came back she was sitting right where he left her. She had put on clothes, a big tank top with her hair in a messy bun, probably because of her one arm. She had attempted to clean the blood from the looks of it, her towel now a pinkish color. As Jack closed the door, it shut with a (creak) and a (click) signalling his arrival. Nichelle's head shot up immediately, before relaxing back onto the bed spread. "You came back....?" Neither knew the proper reaction to that, Jack just her up the white box, "U- uh, got tha' media- mediocre kit", he groaned at his slip up,"Medical,that's....that's what I meant". Jack decided to sit down before he embarrassed himself further. They were both silent as Jack tended to her wound. The only words were the occasional hiss and flinch followed by apologies. Once finished, Jack pulled back to admire his dressing skills, he's getting better at that point. "Alrighty then", Jack announced clapping his hands together, cringing as blood and alcohol splattered on his chin. He grabbed a leftover wet wipe, wiping it away. He laughed at himself before looking over to find her doing the same, "You're good as new" The awkwardness immediately returned "I'd say thank you, but I've said way to many times as it is", she admitted sheepishly, looking up at him and oh was that a mistake. Jack's eyes were already trained and hers and it's was as if he was caught in the act. Jack's gaze shifted back and forth from her eyes to her lips and leaned in. Before their lips could meet, she turned away,"Wh- what about Abigail?", her voice was timid, sincere. People always assume Nichelle doesn't care about anyone else, only herself and how it will benefit her. That might have been true one time but not now, the goth girl had grown to care about the other kids. They had saved her, from the streets, from Hatch. They could've left her at that Taco Bell, killed her when they met up at the prison, or left her to bleed to death in the bottom of that river, but they didn't. For the first time, she had a real family and she didn't wanna do anything to ruin it. Even if Abigail still hated her guts, she wasn't going to return the favor. Meanwhile, the latter seemed to shrink at the question, a sigh leaving his lips before running a hand through his hair. "She....she wasn't who I thought she was. Ya know?", he looked at her with tired eyes. "After how she treated you" "I told you, it wasn't a big deal, I deserve-" Before she could voice her complaint, Jack grabbed her unwounded arm, looking her directly in her green eyes,"No you don't!", his voice was soft, yet forceful,"Your one of us whether you like it or not", he tore his gaze away, licking his lip,"a- and she's kinda into Ian.... I was just the fall back guy" That was not what Nichelle had expected. She thought that Abigail and Jack we're really in love, that's why she fell back when she found out they were together. "I'm sorry....i- if it helps anything, I think she's a fucking idiot", she admitted, a soft blush covering her cheeks, but Jack didn't notice. Jack only shrugged, dismissing the conversation ,"I'm not upset about it, no one wants a broken guy to fix", his words were soaked in defeat that sent a ache through her body. Jack was one of the best guys she ever met and he did deserve better. She struggled to say the words out loud, but forced them out,"I- I would.... o- on- only if they'd help to put me back together too", Nichelle struggled to say the words out loud, freezing before hesitantly reaching for his hand,"or. . . .we can be broken together" He didn't expect her touch, but gave her hand a gentle squeeze, smiling in response before sighing,"it's not gonna be easy", Jack wasn't gonna lie to her. It was hard to trust people and he often had violent fits of anger. He didn't wanna fuck up and hurt someone he cared about. That made Nichelle scoff rolling her eyes at him,"Did you forget? We took down half of an homicidal egomaniac dictator's companies and are now worldwide fugitives on the run?", she explained and bit her lip with a smirks, "I'm ready for a challenge...... you up for it, Jackie Boy, or are you scared?", she mocked raising him a challenging brow. "Now that's the Nichelle I know!" The brunette sent her a playful glare, before abruptly pulling the petite girl onto his lap, his chest pressed firmly against hers. Nichelle's voice hitched as she looked at him, eyes flickering with (something), but she couldn't hide her growing smile. "Your on, gothball" ------------------------- It was around 8 o' clock when Michael came down stairs for breakfast to find his girlfriend, Taylor, leaning on the kitchen island. "Hey, Taylor", he greeted kissing her on her forehead,"Got any plans for today?" "....." There was no response, as if she hadn't heard him. He put down his glass, waving his hand in front of her eyes,"Um Taylor-". She finally responded to him, turning to him with her finger raised to her lip," Ssh!", before her attention was focused once again. Michael was more than a little confused as to what was going on. Taylor turned back to him again, making the boy close his mouth, only for her to raised a a pointed hand,"Look", she whispered harshly towards the little window between the kitchen and the living room. In the further corner of the living room, Nichelle was apparently sleeping.....inbetween Jack's legs? While he was laying back against the arm of the couch, with her back against his chest with her eyes closed tight, his arms wrapped around her. Suddenly the lights flickered off on a nearby lamp only to come back on in a blinding burst of light,"Did I do it?", she peered through her closed eyes. The older boy pulled back from her neck,"For a few seconds, yeah?", he answered, pulling her hair back, "Now quit it, I'm trying to sleep here", Jack scolded pulling her higher into his lap.