I'm going to be pretty busy tomorrow, so I'm not sure I'll be able to update.

I'll do my best and update when I get the chance.

Thirteen's POV

"How?!" Both Chase and Cody sputter. Their eyes wide in shock as they stare at Lily who waggles her fingers at them.

"Struck a deal with the devil to get a life extension," Lily replies with a wide smile, popping her lollipop back into her mouth. "Gotta fill the quota of souls I promised him. Wanna be my next two victims?"

Both boys take an automatic step back, away from her. She grins wider and her eyes sparkle with her devilish mischief.

"Lily." I groan. "You're not helping." She smiles at me.

"Since you guys clearly need to talk I'm going to go find some poor defenseless civilian to terrorize. Later losers." She says as she begins to skip off down the hallway.

Both Chase and Cody watch her go as if they're seeing a ghost before turning towards me. I can't really decipher the looks on their faces.

"You told us she was dead." Cody finally says and I let out a sigh, leaning my weight on my crutches. "Since that's obviously not the case, where's she been all these years?"

"Beyond that," Chase cuts in. "Does Ryder know she's alive?"

I shake my head. "No, Ryder doesn't know she's alive," I respond to Chase.

"Why?"

I let out a resigned sigh. "I just...I never felt the need to tell him when..." I trail off.

"When, what?" Cody questions.

I run a hand through my hair before I continue. "She was in a coma these past four years." I finally mutter. "I didn't feel like giving her parents, and Ryder, false hope." I shake my head. "The doctors told me she wasn't going to wake up. Kept telling me to pull the plug. To let her die."

I shrug and look at the ground to keep from looking at their expressions. "Call me selfish but I didn't want her parents or Ryder making the call to finally pull the plug and end her life...so I never told them. I never told them she'd survived being shot by Garrett, and I never told them she had slipped into a coma."

"So that's why you disappeared for those three days." Cody states and I nod.

"Zero called to tell me she woke up. I couldn't not come to see her, not after...not after everything's that's happened."

"Well, then I guess there's only one thing left to do."

"What's that?"

"Make sure her and Devin never meet."

***

Poke.

"An-Lily, stop that. Let her sleep."

Poke.

"Seriously she's exhausted."

"I need her to yell at Zero for me."

Poke.

"Can't you yell at him yourself?"

Poke.

"Not this time. It has to do with the mental state he thinks I'm in."

Poke.

"You mean your obvious brain damage?"

"You can't get brain damage from three gunshot wounds to your chest."

Poke.

"You couldn't even remember what team you're on."

"I'm not on any team genius. In case you've forgotten, they're dead. So no, I don't know what team I'm on."

Poke.

"Leave her alone."

I catch her wrist in mine before she can poke me again. Her hand shoots out on reflex and her fist makes contact with the side of my face.

"Ow!" I hand rubs at my already bruised jaw. "Lily!"

She doesn't even look sorry. "Oh good, you're awake." She chirps. "I need a list."

I groan. "What this time?"

"TV shows."

I groan again and bury my face in my hands. "You do realize I hardly ever watch TV right?"

"Fine. How about music then." I shoot her a look from behind my fingers. "Oh come on. I've missed four glorious years of one of my remaining nine lives. I need to know what I've missed out on."

"Google it."

She pokes me in the arm. "Zero won't clear me for duty." She whines, putting a pout on her face.

"Gee I wonder why," Chase mutters sarcastically.

"I need you to yell at him and get him to clear me for duty."

"Of course you do," I mumble into my hands. "Fine, I'll yell at him or whatever."

Lily's out of the room faster than humanly possible. I'm not sure where she goes...until she comes barging back into the room ten minutes later, dragging Zero behind her.

"Thirteen..." She whines before crinkling her nose up in disgust. "That's going to take some getting us to. I'm not sure I want to call you that."

"Zero." I greet him in a tone that leaves no room for any argument.

He grumbles something under his breath before waving his hand at me in a dismissive manner. "I'll get her badge to her by tomorrow." He says simply and Lily jumps for joy.

"Yes! In your face suckers! I'm back!" She does a little victory dance as Zero leaves the room.

"Have you called Ryder yet?" I ask her and she stops dancing.

"Nope. I figured I'd call while you were present. I mean how funny do think this conversation will be? I can already hear him cussing you out." She says gleefully and I glare at her.

"You haven't even tried calling him?"

"Yeah, I tried." She says as she twirls a strand of hot pink hair around on her finger. "FBI said he's off on assignment. Not even they know where he is at the moment. He hasn't checked in with his supervisors in a few days. If it weren't Ryder, I'd be worried."

I just nod and lean back in my hospital bed. I feel her poking me again.

"What is it this time?"

"I'm bored." She announces like it's the most important thing in the world.

"And I'm trying to rest."

"Oh please you've survived worse than this and you never went to a hospital for it." She retorts. "You only ever had Garrett stitch you up and wrap up your wounds." I shake my head at her trying to get her to shut up but she just keeps going.

"I mean come on, you probably wouldn't even have half your scars if you'd just gone to the hospital. Like that one time, you got captured and tortured. You had the nastiest looking whip marks running across your lower back, blood everywhere. Garrett wouldn't leave your bedside and catered to your every need till you got better. And that other time, when he took a bullet for you-"

"Lily." I cut her off firmly. "Shut up."

This girl has no filter. Never has and never will.

But the weight of her words have already settled, and Cody's already walked out of the room and into the hallway. Lily watches him leave with a confused expression on her face.

"Did I say something wrong?" She questions innocently, her head tilting to the side to reveal the childlike obliviousness.

I shake my head and say nothing else before throwing my legs over the edge of the bed and sliding off. I don't bother to grab my crutches, and instead limp slightly towards the door. I open it and step out into the hallway. Cody stands a few feet away, back to me, hands on his head.

"You knew we dated," I state simply. He just nods but doesn't turn around. "I don't see what the problem is."

He lets out a sigh but still doesn't turn to face me. "There's not a problem it's just..."

"Just what Cody?" I question, taking small steps towards him till I'm standing directly behind him. He finally turns to face me.

"I just never thought of him as anything more than a psychotic murder." He mumbles. "I never thought about him being an actual normal person until now. About how much you obviously meant to him...about how much he meant to you."

"You're right," I admit. "He meant a great deal to me, but do you ever wonder what the worst part about all this is for me?"

"What?"

"He still cares. Somewhere in that sick, twisted mind of his he still cares."

"So do you." He mutters so lowly I'm not sure I heard him properly.

I shake my head. "I don't care about Garrett. Not anymore."

"That's not what your eyes said when Lily was talking about him."

"Maybe I'm just remembering the boy I use to love...and maybe I'm wishing there was a way to save him, rather than kill him."

Cody just nods, but there's this faraway look in his eyes. I close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tightly as if he's afraid to let go.

"I'm not going anywhere," I mumble into his chest. His lips brush against my forehead.

"I'm holding you to that."

"Oh, I get it now. You guys are a couple." Lily speaks up, making her presence known. "I'll try my best to make sure to throw in Garrett's name in every future conversation from here on out, alright?"

I groan and bury my face in further in Cody's chest. "Why is it you have to make everything difficult?"

"Oh please this is mild for me and you know it." She says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "And quite frankly I'm mega pissed at you for not telling me you have a boyfriend...no matter though. I now have leverage to guilt trip you with."

She laughs evilly and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She squeals before running over to us and jumping on Cody's back. "Piggyback ride my minion, and you better do as I say cause one word from me to your girlfriend and you'll be out at the curb with yesterday's trash."

Cody gives me a look as if to ask me if this girl's for real and I just smile and give him a little wave. Suddenly Lily lets out a screech as a nurse comes around the corner.

"Miss Marshal!" The nurse shouts at her and Lily's off Cody's back in two seconds flat and off running down the hall.

"You'll never catch me you bloodsucking fiend!" She shouts as the nurse chases after her.

Cody gives me a questioning look. "Is Marshal actually her last name? I thought she's Ryder's sister."

"Half-sister technically," I reply. "Same mother different father. Ryder's parent's split up when he was young and his mother remarried, that's where Lily comes in. Ryder's dad remarried too, but it was much later."

"That girl is the craziest, most violent person I've ever met."

"As she's already pointed out, this is mild for her...that includes the violence."

"She can do worse than that?"

I just nod. "Usually there's not enough body pieces left to identify her victims."

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