Where am I?

Emilynn woke up in a daze. Images of that dark room crowded her mind. That very last instant that had been replaying in her head over and over nonstop returned to haunt her once again. Hiroto, bending over her. Saying something. A sharp pain in her arm, and suddenly her vision was swimming. Hiroto grinning wickedly as he backed away, watching her. The last thing she ever saw.

She whimpered, trying desperately to rid herself of the image. But there was nothing else. Everything was blank.

She reached her hands in front of her, searching. Empty, she let them fall. As they hit the bed beside her, she remembered where she was. Mikey's room. Relief surged through her as the rest of her memory flooded back to her. She was safe. Mikey was with her. Sad as it seemed, he was the only person she felt she could trust. He was the closest thing to a friend she had- the closest thing to anything, really. Who else was there?

She reached out beside her, grabbing onto the large blanket that was surrounding her. She brought it to her face in a scrunched ball. It smelled mostly of food and faintly of sweat, yet somehow it was oddly pleasant. Emilynn wondered if it was only because she was so used to the foul smell of living between two dumpsters, but decided that there actually was something pleasant about the blanket's smell. It had something close to an earthy quality to it that comforted her.

She lay still for a moment, trying to better place the scent. In her stillness she heard for the first time a light snoring coming from beneath her. She dropped the blanket from her face and propped herself upward slightly, listening. The snoring continued from somewhere on the ground.

"Hello?" She called softly. Her voice was hoarse. She coughed. The snoring person grunted and shifted in their sleep. The snoring continued.

"Mikey?" She said. Again, she was ignored. She sighed slightly to herself. She pulled her blanket away from her and found the edge of the bed, sliding herself off of it slowly. One of her feet landed on what she guessed was a food wrapper. It crinkled beneath her, making her flinch. She pushed it to the side before crouching and feeling her way across the littered floor towards the snoring.

After a moment one of her hands landed on something she decided was living and not just another piece of trash. Under her touch, the person tensed. The snoring cut off abruptly.

"Mikey?" She whispered.

"Woah," Mikey's voice mumbled groggily. "Hey, Lynn."

Mikey rolled towards her and squinted up at her. Her face seemed almost comically small peering down at him from between her massive clothing and her mountain of black hair. Her gaze was so set on his face that for a moment he was certain she could see him. His face flushed before realizing that it was impossible. If she had been able to see him, she wouldn't be anywhere near him. Nonetheless, when she smiled down at him a wave of heat rushed through him.

"Hi, Mikey," Lynn said quietly.

Mikey watched her hand, which withdrew itself from his arm and found its way to her hair. She twisted it mindlessly, her blind gaze remaining fixed eerily on Mikey's face, waiting.

Mikey sat up abruptly, looking at Lynn with shock. "Wait. Hold on." He paused a moment, taking a breath. "Lynn. Hi. You're awake. And on my floor. That's- uh... Well, wow. So- Uh, I mean, how're you feeling?"

Lynn's eyes drifted downward as her eyebrows drew together. She also realized just how absurd of a situation it was for her to be waking up in such a place after everything that had happened.

"Uh," She said. Her hands continued to twirl through her hair, distracting Mikey's gaze. She stared into the air silently for a while. "I'm... alright," She said in a small, absent voice.

"Lynn," Mikey said. He tapped the center of her forehead lightly, making her flinch and drop her hands. "Where are you right now?"

Lynn frowned. "What?"

Mikey laughed. "In your head. Looked like I lost you for a second there."

"Oh," Emilynn said. She smiled slightly, shrugging. "Nowhere. It just, uh, it's kinda killing me, actually. My head, I mean."

Mikey nodded to himself. "Don's got stuff for that. Do you need it? I could go get it. Or, uh, I could help you get it. If you want. If you want to go out of my room, I mean. It's, um. It's pretty messy in here."

Lynn shook her head. "No," She said. "Here's fine." She breathed out heavily, puffing her cheeks. "It kinda hurts to move," She admitted. "Besides," She said quickly, "This room is the nicest place I've had to stay in since..." She paused, considering it. "Well, a really long time."

Mikey looked around his room, noticing now all the dirty marks on his walls and the way none of his furniture seemed to fit correctly. He looked at the array of papers and wrappers and clothing that consumed his floor, and back at Emilynn. The idea of his room being so nice to her was completely alien to him. He wished in that moment that he could give her all of the nice things that most teenage girls get to have.

"I'll go get it," He offered. "How are you arms?" He reached out for one. They were bare from when Donnie rolled them up to look at them the night before. When he touched her, Emilynn jerked herself away with a gasp.

"Sorry," They both said at the same time.

"Sorry," Emilynn said again. "It's kind of hard. I just keep, um, I don't know. It's weird, I mean. It's- I mean, they're okay. My arms."

Mikey looked at the large bruises trailing down her neck sadly. "Yeah," He said. "It's cool, Lynn." He held back the urge to reach out for her again. "I'll get the stuff for your head. You okay here for a sec?"

Emilynn nodded.

"Okay," Mikey said, standing up. He looked down at her amid his dirty floor. "Do you want to go back on the bed? I could help."

Emilynn shook her head. "I think I'll just... sit for a second. My head..." She trailed off. Mikey watched her in concern.

"Okay," He said again. "I'll be right back." He walked to the door and stopped to look at her again. She seemed to nod faintly.

An instant after the door had closed behind him, Emilynn gasped, regretting letting him go."Mikey?" She called, as loudly as she could manage. A fit of coughs ensued. Mikey didn't come back. She felt blindly around the room, panic blossoming in her chest. Once again the image of Hiroto's sickening smile came to mind. She tried to push it away, but her vision was now an inescapable darkness, and his face kept returning. What if Mikey didn't come back? Her chest throbbed harshly with fear. She was alone. She didn't have any clue where she was. How would she save herself? She shivered, realizing how absolutely defenseless she was. They're going to come back for me, she thought. They're going to find me. Irrational images flooded her mind as the time dragged on. Where was Mikey? Emilynn hugged her knees, rocking herself back and forth in an attempt to distract herself. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest. Come back, she begged. She was terrified.

"Lynn?"

Mikey and Donnie were in the doorway. Lynn lifted her head from her knees with a gasp. Mikey saw her red face and rushed over to her.

"Lynn?" He asked again. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes shifted, staring wide-eyed into Mikey's throat. "Nothing," She whispered breathlessly. She released her legs and stretched them out. One of her feet bumped into Mikey. Mikey watched her doubtfully as Donatello stepped forward, examining Emilynn.

"Donnie's here," Mikey said by way of introduction as Donnie got close. He didn't press Emilynn for more information, for which she was relieved. Donnie saw Mikey's makeshift bed on the floor and looked at Mikey pointedly.

"I thought you were sleeping on the couch, Mikey," He said as he raised a brow. Mikey looked at his brother sheepishly.

"I didn't want her to get lonely," He said meekly. Donnie just rolled his eyes, sighing slightly.

"Right," He said, turning to Emilynn. He crouched down to be closer to her face, shuffling in beside Mikey. "How do you feel, Lynn?" He asked. His gaze was drawn to her hands as they ceaselessly fiddled with whatever they could get a hold on.

Emilynn blanched in front of Donatello. "Uh," She said. Her mouth opened and at first no sound came out, but then she was able to conjure up a small voice. "I'm- My, uh. My head hurts, mostly. It's hard to think." She added the last part in a rush after having a difficult time trying to phrase her simple statement. Donnie nodded thoughtfully. Mikey watched him sideways as he looked Emilynn over. Donnie felt his brother's gaze and made himself look at her injuries, only.

"I brought you some medicine," He said, looking down and fumbling through a small bag he had carried with him. "It should get rid of pretty much all the pain. It does make you kinda tired, though."

Emilynn scoffed slightly. "That won't be much of a change," she said quietly.

"It's fine," Donnie assured her. "It's beneficial to sleep a lot when not feeling well. Sleep helps cure practically anything."

"Except concussions," Mikey added. "Been there, done that."

"Except concussions." Donnie agreed. He finally found what he had been looking for in his bag. It was a small capsule full of little round pills. They were an odd blueish color. Donnie shook the bottle slightly and it rattled. "You just put these in your mouth. You don't have to swallow or anything."

Emilynn nodded and held out one of her hands to him. He shook a few out onto his hand first. "I'll give you two right now, because these ones aren't quite as strong as usual. I'm all out of the good batch, unfortunately." He sifted out two and poured them into Emilynn's small hand. His free hand hovered beside hers, ready to catch whatever she may drop. Her hand shook, but clasped tightly onto what he gave her. She hesitated slightly, contemplating the hazards of taking drugs from a stranger. Then she realized that the only thing she had left to lose was her massive headache, and tossed the pills into her mouth. Her face scrunched up as soon as they hit her tongue. Mikey snickered.

"Don't taste good?" He asked, grinning. She pursed her lips tightly and shook her head.

"Sorry," Donnie laughed, putting the bottle back in his bag. "I'm not the best with flavoring." `

"I was gonna warn you," Mikey told her, "but then I decided not to."

Emilynn made another face, this time not because of the taste. "Thanks, Mikey," She said grumpily. She hit her foot against his leg again, this time on purpose. He nudged her foot back.

"Dude, you can't blame me for not wanting to miss out on that face. You look like we fed you sewage or something."

"That wasn't what that was?"

"Hey," Donnie cut in jokingly. "I worked hard on those things."

Lynn laughed, but sobered herself. "Thanks, Donnie. I actually kinda feel better already."

Donnie flushed slightly at her use of his name, shrugging awkwardly and standing. "Yeah, no problem," he said. "It works pretty fast." He looked at Mikey. "You should probably get her back on the bed, she's going to get tired again rather quickly."

Mikey met his brother's eye and nodded once before looking back at Emilynn, who let out a massive yawn to emphasize Donnie's point.

"Yup," Lynn said. "More sleep it is." She pushed herself up from the ground, tottering slightly once she was standing. Both Mikey and Donnie instinctively lifted their arms to catch her as if expecting her to fall over. It was almost comical to see her standing between the two of them, who looked like they could easily be four times her size. The top of her head didn't even seem to make it to Mikey's shoulder.

Emilynn began trudging towards the bed, not bothering to wait for either of them to help her. Mikey and Donnie both hovered behind her anxiously as she made her way to the bedside and managed to lower herself onto it with a relatively small amount of fumbling.

"Ta da," She said. She spread her arms wide, smiling triumphantly. Her audience seemed to let out a collective breath of relief.

"Bravo," Mikey said, laughing tensely. Emilynn yawned again, pulling her legs onto the bed slowly.

"I believe it's time that we excuse ourselves, Mikey," Donnie said. Mikey looked at his brother with a confused face. He opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to change his mind.

"Right," He said curtly. He looked at Emilynn, who had taken on a panicked expression. His brow furrowed. "Okay," He said to Donnie, "I'll catch up with you. I gotta clean up my bed... and stuff." He gestured at the makeshift bed he had made on the floor, trying to give Donnie his most convincing smile. Donnie's brow lifted in a very unconvinced manner. His gaze flickered to Emilynn and back, and he sighed lightly to himself.

"Okay," He said. "Uh, sleep well, Emilynn." He waved at her, before realizing his mistake and dropping his hand.

"Thanks," Emilynn said in a shy voice, "Bye." She seemed like she was drifting off already. Her voice was once again in the foggy state it had been in the night before. Donnie looked around the room once more before silently leaving. Mikey watched Emilynn for a moment, before moving to his makeshift bed on the floor and beginning to slowly pick it up.

"Is he gone?" Emilynn whispered suddenly. The fogginess was gone from her voice. Mikey looked up at her with surprise.

"He is," he whispered back. A corner of his mouth slowly lifted. "I mean, I'm assuming by 'he' you mean Don. Because otherwise you totally just made things awkward between us."

Emilynn snapped her fingers."Shoot," she sighed. Mikey laughed. "Mikey?" She asked in a serious voice.

"Yes?" He replied in a terrible posh accent. Emilynn's mouth turned upward and she had to press her lips together tightly to resist from laughing.

"Sorry if this seems weird, but, um, is there any way you could stay with me? Uh... again?" She was twisting a piece of her hair into a tight swirl. Her smile fell and she looked down bashfully. "I just... don't want to be left alone."

Mikey grinned giddily, setting his blankets back on the ground slowly. "Uh, yeah, sure," He replied casually. "I mean, of course. You know I can't pass up my one-on-one Lynn talks."

Emilynn seemed relieved. She rolled her eyes slightly. "Right. How many of those have we had again? Like, two?"

"What?" Mikey asked incredulously. "It's been way more than two."

Emilynn lifted an eyebrow at him, silent.

"Oh, come on," Mikey whined. "I'm working on it, alright? But it's definitely been more than two."

Emilynn scoffed. "Okay, okay, fine. I believe you. Geez." Mikey flashed her a toothy grin that she could not see.

"Thank you," Mikey said , once again using his terribly un-posh posh impression, and this time Lynn couldn't help but laugh at him. He frowned, looking at her quizzically. "What?"

Lynn shook her head slightly, causing her hair to ripple. "Nothing," She said. Her shoulders shook as she laughed.

Mikey made a point of sighing in the most dramatic way possible. He stood up from his spot, leaving all the stuff from his temporary bed on the floor. "O-kay." He walked over to the dresser nearest to him and rummaged through it's contents. Seconds later his hands re-emerged holding a small cassette player, with a pair of clunky headphones already dangling off of it. He brought it over to Emilynn.

"Here," he said, putting it onto her lap gently. She tensed slightly, but was quick to recover. She picked up what he had put on her, a puzzled expression forming on her face.

"What is this?" She asked, exploring it with her hands.

"A tape player," Mikey responded. "Donnie's waiting for me. I'm pretty sure he wants me to leave you alone for a while, but I'll sneak away the second nobody's looking. This is just to keep you company for a couple minutes."

"Oh," Emilynn said, recalling the crazy panic she had felt the last time she had been left alone. Mikey noticed the distressed look on her face.

"Hey, I'll be as quick as I can, alright? You're nice and safe in my room." He leaned in a bit closer, cupping his hand to whisper in her ear: "I rigged the place with booby traps." Emilynn laughed softly. Mikey grinned. "I swear on my mother's life."

This seemed to win Emilynn over. "Yeah, okay," she said. She picked up the clunky headphones and put them on her head. Mikey liked how slightly ridiculous they looked on her.

"Nice," he commented. "The play is the first button. Uh, on the left." Despite his instruction, he reached over and pressed the button for her. Emilynn gasped as a man's loud voice pulsed into her ears. She had been expecting music, but the man was just speaking casually. "It's a book," Mikey explained.

Emilynn frowned and lifted one side of the headphones from her head. "What?"

"It's just reading. Sorry if it's lame. It's hard to come by many tapes in..." He paused for a second. "The, uh, city. Stores don't really sell them anymore." He cleared his throat. "Uh, let me restart it for you." He picked up the tape player from her lap and hit the 'rewind' button. Once it was finished, he returned it to her. She held it in both hands on her lap.

"Thanks," She said, lifting her head and trying to turn her eyes to where she thought he was. Mikey flinched slightly, put off once again by how much it looked like she really was looking at him. He flushed slightly.

"N-no problemo. I'll be right back, okay? You can always yell if you need me. Or uh, anyone." He shrugged quickly.

"Okay," Emilynn said, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Thanks," she said again. She tried to reach out to him, but missed completely. She blushed. Mikey shuffled towards her slightly.

"Try again?"

Emilynn reached her hand out meekly, much slower this time. Mikey held his hand out where she could find it, and her own small hand landed atop his knuckles awkwardly. She laughed, and squeezed the top of his hand slightly, knowing full well how odd of a gesture it was. She dropped her hand first. "Tell the stinky house full of males I say hi?" She wrinkled her nose.

"Absolutely." Mikey pushed the top of her headphones downward and they slid back down over her ears.

"Bye," she said, lifting her hand in a single wave.

"Bye," Mikey responded, unsure if she was able to hear him.

He walked out, and wandered through the house in search of everyone else. He found his brothers in the dojo, kneeling in a semicircle around Splinter. Everyone looked up upon his arrival. Apparently none of them had been very interested in what they had been doing. Or their minds had just been very sidetracked. Mikey walked over and kneeled, joining them.

"Good morning, Michelangelo." Splinter rested his hands on his folded knees, watching his son carefully.

"Morning, sensei," Mikey responded.

"How is she?" Splinter asked. Mikey looked between him and Donnie, getting the feeling that this conversation had already taken place without him.

"She's sleeping," Mikey lied. "She says hi, though." The way Splinter did not prod him for more information confirmed his theory. Leo sighed slightly from his spot on the ground.

"How long can one person sleep for? It's going to take forever before I can actually speak to her," He groused.

"Leonardo," Splinter said sternly. "Do you forget patience so easily?"

Leo sighed again and shook his head. "No, sensei. Sorry. It's just... strange."

"What is so strange?" Splinter asked in his low voice.

"I don't know. This whole situation is pretty unnerving. I just don't like that we don't know anything about her. Who is this stranger that we are keeping in our house?" Leo looked between his brothers. Raph made a disgusted noise in his throat.

"Will you just get over it?"

Everyone turned to watch Raph, who shook his head in annoyance. "I'm just sayin'. You've been mopin' around ever since she got here. It's just a normal chick, Leo. We're not gonna die if we let her sleep for a day. I mean, come on, it's not like we invited Karai to come live with us."

Leo glared at his brother. Donatello broke in.

"Besides, Leo. If you really want to know more about her, you could just ask Mikey. He seems to be rather well-acquainted with her."

The three brothers looked up to where Mikey had been kneeling, to find that he was no longer present. There was a collective groan from all of them. Leo looked at Splinter, who appeared to have returned to meditating, but had an oddly amused look on his face. "Are we just going to let him do this?"

Splinter chuckled softly, not opening his eyes. "For now."

Mikey decided to knock softly on the door before entering. He felt foolish for having to announce his presence in his own bedroom. When he stepped inside, Emilynn faced the door expectantly. Her eyes continued to stare blindly into the distance.

"I'm back," Mikey said pointlessly. Emilynn grinned, removing her headphones.

"Have you listened to this before?" She asked. She held up the tape player.

"The tape? Not really," Mikey said. "I thought it might be some kind of music when I found it."

"You bought it without knowing what it was?" Emilynn asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

"Oh," Mikey said quickly. "Yeah. I don't know. I just wanted to see if the thing still played, I guess."

Emilynn scoffed. "It's Charles Dickens," she said. "David Copperfield."

"Well one of those names sounds familiar," Mikey said. Emilynn laughed at him.

"David Copperfield is the name of the book," She explained. She toyed with the buttons on the tape player.

"Huh." Mikey stared thoughtfully at her thin fingers as they fiddled with the device mindlessly. "Does it sound any good?"

"I've read it before," Emilynn said with a shrug. "It's nothing spectacular."

Mikey guffawed. "You read Charles Dickens?"

Emilynn's forehead creased as she frowned at him. "I've read some. What's wrong with that?"

Mikey stared at her with a bewildered expression. She was clutching the tape player tightly against her chest, seemingly unaware of doing it. Her bottom lip jutted out slightly when she frowned. "Isn't he just, like... old?"

Emilynn snorted. "Well, he's dead."

"Exactly!" Mikey said. "Aren't his books just super boring grandma stuff?" Emilynn shrugged again.

"I'm sure lots of people think so."

"Wait a second." Mikey turned to face Emilynn full on. "Don't tell me you like to read grandma books."

Emilynn scoffed with exasperation. "I've read a couple, okay? They were alright. Big deal. Why? What kind of books do you prefer to read?"

Mikey shrugged, leaning backwards on the mattress and laying on his back. He turned his head to watch Emilynn. "I don't. Reading hurts my head. All those words all over the place." He made a frustrated sound within his throat. "I can't focus on just one at a time."

"Hmm." Emilynn pushed the cassette player towards him. "I think you need this more than I do."

Mikey pushed it back at her. "Uh, no thanks, dude. I'm still not a grandma."

"Fine." Emilynn put it back in her lap. She made a face at him.

"You like reading?" Mikey asked, smirking at her.

"Yes. I used to read all the time."

Mikey stopped, struck dumb by the way she said used to. He felt guilty for some reason. "You know," he said. "I'm actually pretty sure Donnie has some recorded books, if you ever want to listen to them. Those ones are definitely gonna be Grandma books, though. Don's a total loser when it comes to reading."

Emilynn seemed to enjoy that idea. "Okay. You're sure he'd be fine with it?"

"Yeah, sure."

Their conversation lapsed. Emilynn continued to toy with the buttons on the machine silently, as Mikey watched. For some reason he couldn't seem to take his eyes away from her hands. He was struck by how small they were, and how deathly thin her fingers seemed.

"Lynn."

Emilynn's hands paused. "Yeah?"

"Um," Mikey didn't know how to phrase his next question without seeming rude. "When was the last time you ate?"

Emilynn was silent for a while. She tried to think. Did they feed her while she was locked away in that room? They had to have given her something. She was in there for days. Just as she thought this, she became very inconveniently aware of the dizzying empty feeling in her stomach. She winced, wishing he hadn't reminded her.

She did recall a time that she had woken up to see Hiroto hovering over her, hastily unhooking her from what had looked like some sort of I.V.. She had been too dazed to consider what might have been inside of it. But that had to have been it. They had pumped the nutrients into her so she could hold out for just a little more of their torture. A shudder rippled through her body.

"Lynn," Mikey said. He had to restrain himself from reaching out to her.

"It's been a while," Lynn whispered vaguely. The last time she had gotten food was when she had met Casey and April in the pizza shop right before everything went south. Had she even been able to eat any of it? She couldn't remember.

Mikey saw the pained expression on her face and jumped up quickly. He ran to another one of his shelves, rummaging through all the miscellaneous stuff stacked precariously on it. When he returned to her he held a dented box of doughnuts in his hands. He grinned. "I knew I had these somewhere."

He threw the box onto the bed, flopping onto the bed after it. Emilynn's eyes were wide as the bed rocked. Her hands clenched tightly around the tape player she still held in her lap.

"Here," Mikey said. He gently took the tape player from her and replaced it with the box of doughnuts. Emilynn slowly felt around the box. When she managed to open the lid, she gasped.

"Is this..." She trailed off, reaching into the box. Mikey couldn't contain his grin as he watched the excitement fill her face. She lifted one of the donuts gingerly, a large smile spreading across her face as well. She took a deep breath, hesitating. White powder cascaded all over her lap. Mikey laughed.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited to get a doughnut," he said. Emilynn laughed sheepishly, her cheeks turning pink.

"I haven't had one of these in years," She said. She held the doughnut in her hands, more sugar falling all over her.

"Well, jeez, eat it already then," Mikey urged her. Her smile rose, but she did as he said. He took one for himself, doubting she noticed. He grimaced slightly, noting that they were rather stale. Emilynn didn't complain. She quickly finished the doughnut, dropping massive amounts of white powder all over herself and Mikey's bed. When she finished, her eyes roamed upwards in a vague motion, gleaming eagerly.

"Is there more?" She asked, already searching the box with her hands.

"Yeah, eat 'em all, man." Mikey held up his hands. "Just don't eat me afterwards, okay?" Emilynn screwed up her face in mock disgust.

"No thanks," she said through her mouthful.

Mikey shook his head, watching her incredulously. His bed was a complete mess at this point, but he didn't mind in the slightest. When she was finally satisfied, she laid back on the bed, slouching against the stone wall. She sighed, a lazy smile across her face. Mikey laughed.

"I should really feed you more often," he said.

"Really," she agreed. They both laughed weakly before falling silent. Mikey frowned to himself, guilt racking his mind.

"Lynn?" He asked in a quiet voice. Her smile fell.

"Yeah?"

"What happened to you?"

Lynn was silent, and Mikey watched her face as she struggled to think of a way to answer that question.

"W-what do you mean?" She whispered anxiously.

"The Shredder," Mikey said gently. A tremor washed through Emilynn's body at the name. "That man who took you...What did they do to you? Why did they do that?"

"Oh," Lynn breathed. She was silent for a long time. "The Shredder..." She trailed off, her face darkening. Mikey's heart jumped at the sight.

"I'm sorry," he said abruptly. "I'm an idiot. God, I'm so stupid." He was whispering angrily to himself now. "Lynn? It's fine. Forget I asked, okay?" He reached out and touched her forearm in an attempt at consolidation. She gasped loudly and pulled her arm back so quickly that her elbow cracked loudly against the wall behind her. She hissed in pain.

"Lynn!" Mikey cried. "Are you-"

"I'm tired," She blurted loudly, cutting him off. Mikey swallowed his tongue rapidly, his heart sinking. Emilynn's eyes were on her lap, hardly open. She shook her head roughly. "I-I'm sorry," she said ruefully. "I'm just tired... suddenly. The medicine..." She trailed off, her voice shaking slightly.

"Oh," Mikey said weakly. He started to get up from the bed. "Should I...?"

Emilynn's head snapped up, her wide eyes blindly settling somewhere near his chest. "No!" She cried. Mikey stopped. "No," she said again, sitting up and reaching for him, finding his arm. She clutched it tightly, and while still holding it with one hand, she managed to lay down on the bed. Her other hand sought for the blanket, and Mikey pulled it towards her reach silently, watching her in awe.

"Lynn?" He said quietly.

"Stay," she responded in a tiny voice.

Mikey looked at her hand, so absurdly small and painfully frail, holding onto his arm as if for dear life. An arm that could easily crush her fragile body if it desired. She had no clue what that arm was capable of. What he was capable of. Mikey looked at the shocking contrast between her porcelain skin and his own sadly. She didn't know a thing.

"Please, stay," she said softly.

"Okay," he whispered.

Hello, fans. Hello, the Few and the Many. It's been a while. I'm pretty crummy. I'm really sorry for those of you who have been waiting. Honestly, things have been really bad back at the Gracilynn HQ. Some pretty awful things have happened. The faculty room copier ran out of ink, for starters. That, among other things, of course. I'm only saying this because my anonymity on this website encourages my honesty out of its poorly heated hiding place, but I've been having a pretty rough time. Things are hard. Don't worry about me, though. I'm not going to do anything drastic. Writing's just been really tough lately. Sorry to load you guys up with so many sob stories all the time and pretend they're good enough excuses to make you wait so long for these bloody chapters. But anyways, I missed you kids, so I've made this fairly long chapter for yous. Tell me what you think, yes? It's truly lovely to hear from you. How are you, how are your pets? Jeez, I need to stop saying so much here and pretending you're actually interested. Bah. I'll be John Green one day, I swear. Phooey.