When the doors slid open again, I slowly lifted myself off the floor, one hand braced behind me on the wall of the elevator, the other wiping at my face. I stepped out of the elevator and sighed as the doors shut behind me. When I looked before me...I froze.

What floor was this? I couldn't recognise this floor. Had I pressed the wrong digit? I turned around to press the digit that would summon the elevator, but the digit didn't seem to be working. My brows furrowed and I dropped my hand. I turned around, tucking my hair behind my ears.

I seriously don't want to be attacked or kidnapped again, please. A brief period of nothing happening would be great, thanks.

As I took a single step, a door to the farthest corner opened and I froze. Was someone coming out? When no one stepped out, I waited to see if the door would close. That didn't happen either. I sighed. Was I supposed to enter that room?

Did I want to enter that room?

I was contemplating all this, when someone stepped out of the room and leant against the threshold. I practically jumped out of my skin with surprise when it happened, it was only when I noticed who it was, did my heart beat start settling back to normal. I pressed a hand to my heart and let out another sigh.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked him, lifting my eyes to glare at him.

"No, I'm actually trying to save you." he said, taking a few steps out of the room and towards me.

I straightened, meeting his deep maroon eyes.

"How did you escape?" I asked him.

"The asshole who attacked you, walked into the room I was imprisoned in like he owned it and helped me escape."

"Why did you take his help? I'm already finding it hard to prove your sort-of innocence to Rafe, and you just keep adding to the your list of values!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I had to go." Ace said, his own stance mirroring mine.

I rolled my eyes, dropping my hands, "Let me guess, you had to go because..." I pretended to think about it and snapped my fingers, "It was a way to save our lives?"

Ace frowned, "I should have left you to die," he said, turning to walk towards the still open door, "Could have saved myself from having to listen to all your attitude."

I rolled my eyes and made stuck my tongue at him behind his back, but followed him.

He stepped in and shut the door behind him. This room was much like Rafe's Gigantor room. At the thought of his name, a slice of pain slid its way back into my heart, and I rubbed at the place near my heart absently.

Ace watched me silently, "So I take it he told you?" he asked finally after a few minutes of silence.

"What gave it away?" I asked, sarcastically, because I knew I had to look like something one of their Hovers had dragged behind through the rain.

Ace just shrugged, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He looked so much better. His wounds had healed beautifully and there were only very pale marks left of the injuries to prove they had ever existed.

"Rafe went through a rough phase."

I bristled, "Kylee is dying." I pointed out, "Dying. As in she can never come back from this."

Ace held out his hands, "His father approved Freze's mission without anyone's knowledge. He told you this."

"How do you know?" I asked, suspicious.

Ace scratched the back of his head, "I may have orchestrated a part of the kidnap today-"

Before he was done speaking, I was already looking for something to throw at him. But the annoying thing about the C'Riel, is that the damn race never left things lying around. What ever did lie around was heavy and pointless to use without causing harm to oneself, that is.

"Have you lost your mind!?" I said, my voice raising above his and cutting him off. Ace had backed away, his hands still raised before him.

"Hear me out!" He said.

"I did that the first time and see where it got me!" I yelled, splaying my hands to indicate the situation I was in.

Ace paused at that, then held up one finger, "Technically, in comparison to how things could have been, you are doing quite well."

There was a data pad lying on a desk to my right. I picked it up and tossed it at him.

"I trusted you! I trusted both of you!" I screamed, my eyes tearing up again, "You've torn apart my trust. Tossed it aside like it means nothing!"

"We have kept you alive!" Ace said, his own voice raising as he straightened from having ducked to escape my data pad assault.

"Right...by lying to me? Having me kidnapped? Almost killed-"

"I am the one that sent the C'Riel that translocated the both of you. And I made sure that he gave Rafe two pairs so that you can escape from there!"

"Why send us in the first place?" I asked, crossing my hands across my chest.

"Because he is acting as a double agent." a very familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned slowly, my gaze meeting Rafe's as he walked into the room and came to stand beside me. I swallowed, stepping away from the both of them.

"You were in on this?" I asked him, my gaze narrowing.

"It was his plan." Ace said, taking a step forward to stand beside his best friend.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. I just felt really tired...as if every bit of me had given up. I needed some time. But I didn't have that luxury, so I straightened my shoulders and looked up.

"What was the plan?" I asked, my eyes shifting between the both of them, not actually wanting to look at either of them, but not really having a choice.

"Let us sit down." Rafe said, stepping closer.

I held my hand up, "I'm fine, thanks." I said. Rafe's eyes narrowed, but he didn't step away.

"Rafe believed me when I told him that I would never send anyone to attack you." Ace said, pushing his fingers through his hair once.

"So...the imprisonment...having me come to you and your conversation with me...asking me for help? Lies?" I asked, practically having no reaction left in me to give them.

"Plans." Rafe corrected softly.

I change my statement. I still had reactions left. Anger lashed at me.

I glared at him, "Sure, move me around like a coin on a board."

"We had no choice," Ace said, "We realised that there was someone actually targeting you and they thought I was on their side."

I thought about it. "They told the C'Riel that attacked me that you were the one that employed him?"

Rafe nodded then held up two fingers, "And we realised there might be two reasons the actual employer made that move. One, the he wanted to stay hidden and even if the attacker was caught, only Ace's name will come out-which will cause conflict between us but no other issue, or two-"

Ace stepped forwarded and completed the sentence, "They actually thought I wanted to kill you and decided to recruit me."

"Our initial plan had been to have Ace speak to the attacker to find out clues about who was actually behind all this. But the more we tried, the faster doors closed around us. So we decided to-"

"Make the employer come to you instead." I finished, letting out a breath.

They nodded in unison and I tossed them both unamused looks.

"So that's why you'll pretended as if your bromance was over and Ace was locked up and beaten-"

Ace held up a finger, stopping me, "Not that I know what a...a bromance is, but I was never really beaten."

I narrowed my eyes, then jerked my chin at his still healing face, "Then what's all this?"

Ace practically puffed his chest out, "I believe the word is called, in human terms, make up."

I stared at him.

"Make up?" I asked, disbelief colouring my tone and my face. Probably some outrage too.

Ace and Rafe shared a look, which for the life of me I would have never been able to guess what they were thinking, had they not said what they did next.

They said, at the same time, "Cosmetics."

Then, Rafe continued, "I believe it is what human women use when they want to look-"

I scoffed in outrage, "I know what make-up is!" I snapped.

Ace shifted uncomfortably, "Well, you had a very blank expression on your face," then he shares another look with his best friend, "And you are not typically from a very well...endowed region of Earth. So we thought-"

I walked out of the room, stomping all the way to the elevator. The two idiots followed quietly. I heard Ace murmur something to Rafe and Rafe shushing him in response.

I heard sounds of what seemed like someone hitting the other, but the second I turned, they both had innocent expressions on their faces. I looked at them suspiciously, but when neither caved, I just sighed.

"I'm hungry. I'm going to eat." I said, turning and stepping into the elevator.

"Well, I am supposed to be in hiding. So, I will just..." Ace said, trailing off and turning slowly and heading back to his room.

Rafe stepped into the elevator, while I trained my gaze to the wall before me as the elevator doors shut. My thoughts took me to Kylee. I needed to eat, but I also needed to see her. Caught up in these thoughts, I was so shocked when Rafe suddenly slid before me, that I jerked my eyes up to clash gazes with him.

He didn't say a word, seeming content to just look at me, as he leaned back against the wall behind him and stretching one foot forward to brush mine. I looked down before looking back at him, my eyebrows inching upwards a little.

But he didn't make a sound. I could barely even hear him breathe in the closed space. His eyelids had drooped slightly, covering eyes that were more amber now than before. Our gazes stayed this way, locked, as seconds passed, making me feel like hours had gone by. When the elevator came to a stop and I realised the doors were going to open and Rafe wasn't leaning away, my arm shot out to catch hold of his elbow, pulling him away from the doors the exact second that they opened. He came forward easily, pressing one hand to the wall behind me and caging me in.

His eyes flicked between the both of mine, his breath brushing my cheeks. Then, to my surprise, he leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine for four seconds, before turning and walking away, saying, "You go see Kylee, I will bring something for you to eat."

As the doors closed, I stayed staring at them, hating myself a little.

It took me another few seconds to realise that the elevator wasn't moving. I let out a breath, leaning forward to press the digit that would lead me to the floor that the Health Centre was at. I twisted my fingers together as the elevator came to a smooth stop and ran out of the elevator, heading straight into the room and looking around when I couldn't find Kylee in the bed I had left her in. I stopped the first nurse I saw and asked her where Kylee was.

She threw me a sympathetic look and pointed to the wall saying that they had taken Kylee into a more intensive care unit when she stopped being able to breathe on her own. I started to the room, but the nurse stopped me saying that no one but the doctor was allowed in. I practically busted a vein when she said that.

"Someone needs to be there with her!" I exclaimed, ignoring the other nurses that tossed a glance at me and exchanged looks with one another, "You can't expect me to just leave her th-"

"Ms. Hills, that is enough." A familiar voice said and I turned and looked at Dr. Stevens as he walked towards me, dismissing the two nurses that come to help the first one in stopping me from going anywhere. They all tossed me wary looks before letting go of my arms, that I hadn't even realised they were holding, and stepped away, picking up their trays and heading wherever they had been originally.

I stepped towards Dr. Stevens, "I need to get in there. I have to be there-"

"What you have to do, is give her some peace and quiet. She's in a lot of pain-"

"You don't understand, I have to go-"

"One more word and you will not be allowed inside here again." he said, his voice sharp.

I immediately shut up, biting my lip against the words that threatened to slip through. I saw the dark circles below his eyes and the tight set of his mouth and for the first time, he really looked his age. He looked tired...and resigned. And it made me regret raising my voice at him.

"Why can't I go in?" I asked, softly.

His own stance gentled and he practically slumped, "Because I would rather you remember her as she was when you last saw her." he said.

I swallowed, "What do you mean?" I asked.

Dr. Stevens just shook his head, "We had to put her under. She was in tremendous pain. I think she was poisoned. Her bones," his voice cracked and I winced, "Her bones look like they have acid poured on them."

I sucked in a breath, my stomach clenching in grief. "The baby?" I whispered.

Dr. Stevens shook his head, "The baby's vitals are strong...But..." he stopped talking, rubbing a hand down his face.

"But what?" I asked, my voice threatening to break.

"But the foetus isn't moving."

I don't remember much of what happened after that. I just remember walking away. I didn't even know where I was until I was already there. I plopped down on Rafe's bed, clutching my knees to my chest. At that second, something inside me broke and sobs wrecked out of me so forcefully that they crushed my lungs on the way out, constricted my breathing and squeezed my heart. I felt Ryx's soothing heartbeat at my back two seconds later as he sidled upto me, but my crying didn't stop and I didn't feel better.

Only when familiar hands picked me off the bed and wrapped me in them, did my lungs expand, letting in much needed air. I flexed the fingers that I had curled into his suit and lifted my hands to wrap them around his neck, pushing myself into him because somehow, the closer I was to him, the further I went from grief.

I let out a shuddering breath into his neck and I felt like talking. I felt like telling him what I was feeling.

"They wouldn't let me see her," I mumbled, leaning back to look at him. His fingers were brushing the tears away from my cheeks, but they were still falling.

I sniffed, but continued, "He said that," my voice caught and I swallowed twice before I could talk, "He said that her bones were-"

My voice caught and I couldn't complete the sentence. My eyes fell shut and I pressed my face into his chest, sobs escaping my lips again. His hands, pushed on my hair that had fallen forward and stuck to my face. He pulled my head back and when he didn't do anything else, I opened my eyes. He shook his head slowly, still holding my head, as his thumbs wiped away my tears again.

"The poison that I said Freze fed her," he said, softly, tucking my hair behind my ears, "The final stages of the poison is taking effect."

"She's going to die isn't she?" I whispered.

Rafe nodded slowly, his eyes filled with regret.

I sniffed, "An antidote..?"

"We never had a reason to create one as we are immune to its effects." Rafe said so softly that his words barely left his lips.

"How long will it take to create one?" My words were coming out with lots of gaps in-between as my lungs tried to drag in air.

"Longer than she has." he said.

I dropped my head, my hands fisting on his thighs, "If we had started as soon as we found out-"

"It still would not have been enough." Rafe said, "We would have had to study the effects of the poison on her body which is usually a fifteen hour observation period, before a prototype of the antidote is created. It has to be tested, remade and tested again until perfected. And we do not know how it will affect her pregnancy."

I started shaking my head, this shouldn't have happened. This shouldn't have happened. I didn't realise I was saying it out loud until I coughed. Breathing had started to become difficult again.

"She made me do something once," I confessed, sniffing, "She came up to me randomly and asked me to speak to you when you were with your friends."

Rafe's brows furrowed and I let out a small laugh, "Yeah," I said, "I didn't get it either."

Then, I sobered down.

"Maybe it was because of Freze," I murmured, "Maybe he wasn't treating her right...and she wanted to check if..."

I let out a breath, "I don't know."

"She must have wanted to check if all C'Riel men brush off their love interests when they are in a crowd."

I scrunched my nose, "That sounds absurd." I said.

"Freze is absurd." Rafe said simply.

I almost laughed, before I realised just who we were talking about.

"What are we going to do about him?" I asked.

Rafe tilted his head lower, meeting my eyes "For us to be able to do anything, we need to first increase the importance of Humans in our society," he said, "For that to happen, we need to let them know that Humans are capable of surrendering."

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"Every couple that surrenders, uploads their information on the database."

I blinked, "Like declaring that we're...together?" I asked.

He nodded, "But ours is going to take time." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they are going to test us." he said.

I sucked in a breath, "What the hell for?" I snapped.

"To check if we are lying." he said gently, "Because the declaration we are going to make with our truth can quite possibly change the course of the future. And they are not going to take that lightly. There are going to be some laws that are going to need alteration."

I took sometime to take that in. Then, I nodded, "And then what?" I asked.

Rafe's expression emptied of all gentleness into one of fierce anger.

"Then, we find Freze." he said.

"When the child is born," I said when deliberately, because it just had to be a when and not an if, "He doesn't get to come within fifty feet of it."

Rafe nodded his head, letting me know he understood.

I kept quiet for sometime, before I continued the conversation we'd been having before with Ace.

"Have we found the employer yet?" I asked.

Rafe shook his head, "Seems that they do not trust Ace completely yet. And what happened with the kidnapping is only going to strengthen the distrust." he said, frustration etching lines near his mouth.

"Because we managed to escape?" I asked.

"With technology that he created. Something that has not even been released for utilisation yet, because it is still under testing. But Ace did what he could with the little time he had. It was a big risk that we took. I just hope it pays off."

I thought about it, "But it could make sense that you were able to get hold of that kind of tech. I mean, given who your father is and the kind of hold he has in society. Also, you were sort of going into battle, allegedly, to find Ace." I said.

"We are just hoping that is enough for the employer to believe that we escaped on our own."

A sudden fear struck my heart, "Is Ace safe?" I asked.

Rafe's lips thinned, "I have eyes on him almost always."

That sure as hell wasn't a yes.

"Please, let's not do this." I said, "It's too risky. There are too many holes in the plan."

"Try telling that to Ace." Rafe said, sounding like he was thinking along the same lines.

"He said it was your plan." I said.

"Most of it." he admitted and I could see just how much it bothered him that his friend stood in the front line of defence while we stood in the inner most circle, protected and safe.

Something had been bothering me for awhile now...and if this was true, then it tipped the balance of everything I had been thinking about him.

"You said..." But my breath caught when his eyes came to mine, stealing the abilities of my lungs to draw in air.

I took a deep breath and tried again.

"You said, that Ace calling me to the room he was imprisoned in and talking about wanting to escape and needing my help was...a ruse?" I said, ending the statement unintentionally as a question.

Rafe nodded, "Yes. We kept a close watch on the software that was linked to the cameras and knew the second that it had been broken into."

"So that they could watch Ace beg me for help at the cost of something that you hold very dear to you." I lifted my lashes considering him.

He kept quiet, and it almost confirmed my suspicions.

"You let him-for show-bargain his safety with your secret." I said, before shaking my head, "No, you made him do that didn't you?"

Rafe's expression didn't change neither did his lips move. The quieter he went, the closer I realised I was to the truth.

"In fact, you knew that he needn't have said anything else to me other than wanting help and I would have done it because he was my friend-more than that, actually, he was your best friend-and that was incentive enough for me to help him. But you took it one step further, you made him talk about the Operation."

Rafe spoke, his words coming out slowly, as if that way I wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying or not, "It would make his desperation more real." he said, "He was ready to give up on me to get out of there."

I continued to look at him, acting as if he never spoke.

"You wanted me to find out, didn't you?"

Rafe looked away, his jaw clenching. "How could I ever want you to find out something like that?"

I went to my knees, then, "Because no matter what you say about how those three words don't mean anything to you, they do. And, you wanted to know if I could say it even after knowing the part of you that even you hated."

Rafe just shook his head as if I was being absurd. I caught his chin, turning his face so that his eyes met mine.

"For all that you say about those three words, it's hard for you to say them isn't it?" I asked, "They bare your soul, don't they? Make you feel like you're standing without any of your façades before someone who has total and absolute control over you? Like the very core of who you are, something that is fiercely protected inside you, is suddenly on display to someone who can quiet easily burn you down to nothing."

Rafe stayed silent, his eyes flashing in the dark of the room.

"Prove I'm not right then," I said, responding to the challenge in his eyes, "Say them to me."

"Can you?" He asked me, his hands lifting to encircle my wrist with his fingers, "I am possibly the reason your friend is dying. I am possibly the reason that her child may or may not survive. I am possibly the reason that-"

I lurched forward, ripping my hand out of his hold and pressing my lips to his. I knotted my fingers in his hair and let go of the inhibitions I had inside me that told me that this is how I must be and let myself be the way I was. I let my love be the way it was. I leaned back a little and whispered fiercely against his lips, "I love you. You've broken my heart a million times today, but when I'm with you, it's whole again."

This time, he funnelled his hands into my hair and the force of his kiss was so much that I fell back onto the bed. The desperation behind his kiss had him letting me take his whole weight. But despite it, I didn't feel smothered. I felt revered when he lifted his lips off mine to mutter a fierce, "Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," I said, pushing the strands of his hair off his forehead and away from his eyes, "There's nothing to forgive."

"Can you still love me, if I tell you I would do all this over again, if I had even the semblance of a chance of meeting you?" he asks me.

"I can, I do, I have and I will." I said.

He came back to me then, drawing me into his love and drowning me in it.

And for a few minutes, I let myself be taken over by him. I let myself be.

Because in another few minutes, we had to pick ourselves up. And we would go redeem his world.

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Sorry if you find typos guys. <3 Love ya'll. Was this a late update? I can't even tell, things have been so rushed and busy lately, I haven't really had time to breathe.

Until, next time! The song is Until you by Shayne Ward. Loved this one. *sniff*