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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Once they finally stopped at a small door again, Kevin let Nick inside. It was a small room with a kitchen on one side and a living area. In one other corner was a computer panel.

“Is this where you live now?” Nick asked.

“Yes. We have a safe place here. We don't worry about being attacked. See, we moved underground so we are not vulnerable.” Kevin explained calmly. He watched Nick with narrowed eyes, observing him.

“It's amazing. I thought everyone was dead.”

“Anyone above ground was killed in the last attacks on our planet. The ones who didn't get out in time died. You and Brian were one of the few who tried to get away but Sienna attacked as you fled the atmosphere. You don't remember?”

Nick was silent for a moment, his brain fuzzy. Everything he tried to remember didn't come to him at all. The only thing he could remember was the island and the time he and Brian spent there, happy and peaceful. There was no war. It was just the two of them. He suddenly missed Brian very much.

“We could be happy again…if we went home.”

Nick shook the voice away. It sounded strange and foreign.

“No, I just remember us leaving after the attack on New Year's Eve.”

Kevin nodded. He sat down in a chair, thinking. This was working out better than he anticipated.

“He was supposed to teach you about your powers but he chose to run. That's when you were attacked.”

Nick looked at the floor, remembering the argument about his powers.

“Everything you've said to me since I woke up is a lie, isn't it?”

He felt himself get angry all over again and Kevin noticed his ears turning a little pink. Anger was great. Anger was welcome. He wanted Nick to trust him and making him distrust Brian was the first thing on his agenda.

“Are you alright? Perhaps you're hungry.”

Nick agreed silently, he had not eaten since they'd found the food rations at the spaceport so a meal sounded wonderful. He followed Kevin, the whole time feeling a sense of dread and not knowing why.

You know in your heart you made a mistake by leaving, don't you?

The nagging voice wouldn't leave Nick alone as Kevin gave him a little tour of the village. It seemed like a nice set up, everyone looked friendly but there was something off about it that kept bugging him.


“Kevin, if Sienna waged war on Earth like you said, how hasn't she found you here yet?”

Kevin stopped and Nick didn't notice his face go pale for a moment before he turned around. He quickly came up with a lie. Well, not a whole lie…but something he hoped would stall Nick from asking any more questions.

You need to get out of here. Find me….bring me home, Nick. I just want to go home…far away where they can't hurt us anymore. Take me home…

Blinking, Nick was surprised at the new voice in his head. It was Brian, faint but urgently pleading him to get away. Nick shook it off. It had to be his imagination. Besides, Brian had said home didn't exist and it was destroyed, wasn't it? How could he even hear him, Brian said their powers only worked when they were together. Unless he had figured out how to use his without Brian….but if he could read minds wouldn't he be able to read what Kevin was thinking? Staring at the dark haired man in front of him, he tried to concentrate but nothing happened. Maybe his power wasn't telepathy. He wished he knew more.

“Sienna can't find us because we have the best technology available here. We have made this place unplottable and heavily guarded. There's no way she would ever find it unless someone told her.”

Nick nodded but before he could say anything else the door burst open.

“Kevin, I need to speak with you. Something has happened.”

**********************
Brian ran as the lasers came at him, he ducked and ran as fast as he could. His heart was pounding and he tried to clear his thoughts, empty his mind so he could think clearly…but the sudden excitement and danger prevented that. A mixture of fear and dread washed over him. He'd found the abandoned city but as soon as he neared the large building he'd been fired at. He couldn't see his attackers although he tried to sense them. His powers just were not working. The stress he was under, and the fact he didn't have Nick prevented it.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, ducking behind a wall that looked like it was on the verge of crumbling.

“He's over here!” someone shouted. Brian ran again but was getting tired, too tired to keep running. Now that he had an idea about where Nick was, he had to figure out how to get to him. He actually was pretty fast and not having trouble outrunning the men chasing him until he tripped, his laser gun flying from his grip. He skidded on the pavement and felt his face get cut. It stung against the gravel.

“Please don't kill me…” Brian begged, on his back and looking up at them.

“You don't have to worry about that. You're coming with us, someone is eager to see you.” the man sneered as Brian felt himself being lifted up by his arms. They restrained him and he went without much struggle, knowing he would be hurt further if he tried. There had to be a way to get away from them.

“I don't care how badly Sienna wants me, leave Nick alone.” Brian said to the group of men surrounding him as they walked.

“Sienna doesn't want you. She has what she wants.”

Brian's heart almost skipped a beat in fear, that meant Nick was in danger. There was nothing he could do but put his head down and keep walking. Praying silently that they would get through this as blood trickled from the open wound on his face.

He was led into a building, where identification was needed through a thumbprint and keypad, down a long dark hallway and through another door. His heart sank. This is where the humans were hiding. Sienna must have found them, but how could she when they were hidden so well?

“Where are you taking me?” Brian asked as they walked through the village. People looked at him but nobody acknowledged the guards or him at all. It was like they weren't there. He was led to a house, with another plain door.

Suddenly Brian felt sick, fear was crippling him. Darkness surrounding his body, he felt his knees give. He heard faint screaming, an echo of Nick's cries before he fell. He felt his heart beating faster and faster as if he were dunked into cold water, then the world went black.

“Someone help him!”

He hoped he didn't wake up to find out what had happened.