"They're getting rid of the evidence... " I clarified. "With explosives? While we're still in here?"

Geez....some people can just not be trusted to handle their TNT responsibly...

Garmen seemed equally unimpressed.

"What did you do, Floid...?"

"Time to go, children!" Alan announced, hanging up on Garmen firmly as he strode towards us.

"Our window of opportunity is about to close."

Also... Explosions are a thing now...

In the next instant, Alan was at Vain's side, giving him a cheerful smile as his only warning before scooping us up, just as he had back in the ballroom.

I held onto Vain's jacket, managing to keep my feet under me even as he was swept off his own.

"Not this again." I groaned, nowhere near ready for another trip on the Floid express.

Vain scowled in agreement but knew just as well as I did that the only thing complaining would do is put Alan in a good mood.

Of course, the Evil creeper goes out of his way to traumatise us....that's his thing...

Resigned to his fate, Vain pressed me against his shirt front, securing me for the ride ahead without a single word.

"Stay with Nigel!" Alan called cheerfully to his brother, not sparing either boy a second glance as he took off at a sprint.

My hands clenched into Vain's jacket at the sudden burst of momentum, reluctantly grateful for the weight of his fingers at my back as we went from zero to full speed ahead.

Alan seemed to know exactly where he was going, navigating the hallways at a breakneck velocity.

At this rate, we would get to the computer in no time...

Which begged the question... Why the sudden urgency.

A moment ago, we had bee eating chocolate and chatting on the phone... But after the explosion, Alan was taking extreme measures to get us to where we needed to be now...

If it were anyone else, I would say it was a coincidence... But Alan didn't seem all that shocked by the explosion in the first place.

So if he knew it was coming... That means he had been waiting for it... No.

"Stalling..." I shoved myself up as much as possible, peering accusingly at the redhead past Vain's hand. "You lying scumbag! What are you up to!?"

Alan rolled his eyes at the hostility, about ready to dismiss the accusation.

"Nothing... "

"No." I snapped, voice sharper than even I expected. Alan sent me down a surprised glance, even slowing a little as I glared up at him.

I didn't care if now wasn't the time for an interrogation.

When stuff starts blowing up, I want answers.

"Robin, Apollo and Artemis are still down there somewhere," I said, expression grim. "So you are going to tell me what's going on, now."

He took a moment to absorb the demand, expression unreadable before he gave me a cheerful smile.

"I can't say for sure since I had nothing to do with it." He answered easily, taking a sharp left.

"But if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say someone doesn't want the Shrink Program getting their hands on some incriminating information."

That's when the second explosion went off, distant just like the first.

I gritted my teeth, sick with worry for the people we were leaving behind in the already unstable lab.

Strangely enough, I believed Alan when he said he wasn't responsible for the explosions... I even had a pretty good idea who was.

"Is that what Mr Mc'Valium and Linquesta are doing here?" I asked, eyes narrowing in distrust.

Alan continued to watch where he was going, expression blankly pleasant.

"One can only assume."

I knew better than to leave it at that.

Just because he isn't outright lying to me... Does not mean he is telling the entire truth.

"If you knew that they were going to do this, then you should have...!"

"Stopped them?" Alan answered mildly, but the subtle change in tone immediately had me on edge.

"Despite what you might think, I can't see future Maddison. All I can do is plan ahead, and this is simply a possibility I have accounted for."

"Then why did you make us wait....?!"

"Striking while my mother is otherwise preoccupied is... ideal. Besides, I have my own priorities. Our lives being one of them." We reached another staircase and Alan started climbing it, multiple stairs at a time.

"Even if the destruction of my mother's research didn't suit me, the risks involved in interfering with those gentlemen are too high."

"So you sent Apollo and Artemis after them," I said flatly, growing angrier by the second.

And Vain could sense it if the way his body tensed around me was any indication.

Alan scoffed at the accusations.

"Of course not... "

"Liar!" I shouted. "You predicted this, right? Even if you're not directly responsible, you knew what they would do if their fathers showed up and if you were truly against it, you would have done something. You set this up, Alan!"

Alan immediately shut up, his expression pinching slightly as he forced himself to remain silent against my anger.

"Maddison..." Vain warned softly, but I was having none of it.

"Damn it!" I slapped a frustrated hand against Vain's chest to shut him up."I know you're only doing what you think you have to, using the method you always have, but we're right here. You could have told us, and we could have made a decision on our own without being manipulated into it!"

I paused to take a breath, flinching when I realised that Alan was staring down at me.

Suddenly finding myself under the intimidating pressure of his gaze, my voice lowered into a grumble.

"Apollo's only fifteen. He's a baby...An evil baby, but still... And Artemis is just...a pure princess of sweetness..." Though there was no doubt in my mind that both of them could kick my ass any day of the week... "They shouldn't have to fight their Dad in the middle of all this! And you...!"

He waited patiently for me to finish, probably with a thousand counter-argument lined up.

"...shouldn't have to be the one making the ugly decisions all the time... " I looked away from the giant eyes peering down at me.

This is why we never got along.

The Damn idiot is always too busy thinking to actually listen to me.

"...I'm sick of being angry with you Alan...when you don't seem to appreciate the effort I put into my wrath at all... so stop going out of your way to be the bad guy all the time...."

I had very little idea of the burdens Alan had to carry. The guilt and responsibilities.

But I was willing to share them with him... And sometimes, even help him see that there were options besides being a complete tool.

After a moment of silence... Alan started running again.

"I'll keep that in mind." He mumbled.

It... Wasn't a complete rejection? Or a deflection...

Alan wasn't even smiling when he said it...

It was almost like, talking to an actual human being... and not an alien...

"Eww... I've changed my mind." I hid back under Vain's hand, fighting off revulsion. "Go back to the default settings or something. I have a hard enough time dealing with Alex's mood swings without you suddenly developing a conscience."

Alan stayed silent, but Vain sighed...his fingers curling tighter around me.

"I hate sharing." He muttered.

Alan chuckled softly.

... Ominously.

"Don't worry. As sweet as she is I prefer my coffee a little more bitter-"

"Put me down."

Unsafe. Suddenly, this feels very unsafe.

"Hmm, but then you wouldn't be able to keep up with me."

Point... I can barely picture Vain running at all, and when I do, it's so far-fetched a fantasy that there's an actual dragon in the background. And leg warmers.

"Just leave me behind."

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Alan tutted in disapproval.

"But I need you."

All sorts of internal alarms started going off, causing me to sit up.

"What for?" I demanded.

Alan smiled.

"If my Mother gains control of a satellite before we destroy her system... Our fates will depend entirely on her whim."

I bit my lip, forcing myself not to think about it. What she would do to us.

"She is insane," Alan said. "Obsessed with someone dead, and all that is left of him. She doesn't care about the Underground or their plans. Even her own research and safety are being put on the line to win Vain over."

He looked down at the pale boy in his arms.

"You are the only thing she isn't willing to break."

That... Did not sound good.

"...And you are?"

Willing to break him?

Alan didn't look at me.

"That would be telling."