Pain shot through Claire's body as someone picked her up. She groaned and felt someone grab her hand.

"It'll be okay, Claire," someone said. Ivy. Claire tried to look over at her, but her arm screamed in pain.

Claire and the others were carried out of the lab and tossed into the back of a black van. Claire yelped as she hit the floor.

"Hey," Ivy shouted. "Watch it!"

Ivy was pushed inside. She landed next to Claire with a thud, and the doors slammed shut. Claire forced herself to sit up and looked over at the others. Spencer and Tyler were prying shockers off their legs.

Claire grimaced when she saw the burn mark on her arm.

"Here," Tyler said. Claire held out her arm and let Tyler place her hand next to the burn. Claire's skin glowed as the mark faded away.

"Thanks," Claire breathed as Tyler moved on to Spencer. 

Ivy folded her arms and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry guys. I wouldn't have gone in if I'd know these guys were there. I thought we'd be dealing with scientists and a few guards, not trained agents."

"Who are these people?" Claire asked.

Ivy sighed and leaned back against the van door. "I don't know. But we'll figure it out, and we'll escape."

They drove for about twenty minutes before the van came to a stop. There were a few seconds of tense silence before the doors were flung open.

One of the agents grabbed Claire and pulled her out. The cold tip of a gun pressed against her neck.

The man who'd chased them in Texas, who seemed to be in charge, walked over. "Put them in cells," he said. "Except her." He nodded at Ivy. "Take her to the interrogation room." After a moment, he pointed to Claire. "Her too. Put them in different rooms."

Agents dragged them across the parking lot and into the building. Ivy protested as Spencer and Tyler were taken down a different hallway. One of the agents pointed her gun at Claire, and Ivy fell quiet.

The agent holding Claire took her into a small room and handcuffed her to a table. Claire sat down in the plastic chair that was apparently for her and the agent disappeared, leaving her in silence.

Claire looked around the room. The walls were bare except for a large mirror to her right. Probably a one-way window. There was another, much more comfortable looking chair on the other side of the table.

The door opened and the man entered, holding some papers. He took off his sunglasses and sat down across from Claire.

Claire swallowed as he sifted through the pages. "Who are you?" she asked. "What is this place?"

"My name is Agent Leroy," the man said. "This is the Supernatural Control Institution."

SCI.

"What do you want with us?" Claire asked. "Why did you chase us in Texas?"

"I'll be asking the questions, Miss..." Agent Leroy flipped over a piece of paper. "Foster? You have a sister, correct?"

Claire remained silent. Leroy pulled out his gun and set it on the table, making Claire flinch. "Yes," she said. "I have a sister."

"And your powers are?"

"Telekinesis," Claire said.

"Why were you in D.C. when Scorpion attacked?"

Claire breathed a silent sigh of relief. He didn't know about her mind-reading abilities. "We were there to stop Scorpion from attacking the White House and kidnapping the president. That's all we're trying to do," she said. "Stop Scorpion."

"Really?" Leroy leaned in. "Have you heard of the Nightmare Kid."

Claire stiffened. "Yes."

"What do you know about him?"

"Not much."

"Tell the truth," Leroy said.

"I swear, I don't—"

Leroy pounded his fist on the table, making Claire jump. "Thanks to the Nightmare Kid, my partner will never be an agent again," he hissed. "I want to know exactly who he is."

Agent Dewitt. The name spilled from Leroy's head into Claire's. The woman who'd been with him in Texas.

"He's not one of us," Claire said. "He's not a Super."

"Then what is he?"

"I don't know. I swear."

Leroy clenched his fist and sat in silence for a few seconds. That's when Claire noticed the earpiece in his ear. Someone was talking to him. Trembling, Claire concentrated on Leroy's mind.

The president will shut us down if we don't get results. Get the information he wants, Leroy, not what you want.

"There are Supers working for Scorpion, correct?" Leroy asked.

Claire nodded. "Those ones call themselves Altered."

"Are there any other groups of you?"

Claire tensed, thinking of the Neutrals. "No," she said. She couldn't give away Ivy's brother.

"You're lying," Leroy growled.

"I'm not," Claire told him, her voice trembling. In a flash, Leroy had his gun pressed against her neck.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"I don't know," Claire said. He pressed the gun harder into her skin.

"Don't make me pull this trigger. I promise that a shot to the neck is much worse than a shot to the arm."

"Okay," Claire gasped. "They call themselves Neutrals." Well, she supposed Ivy had been the one to call them that, but it didn't really matter right now, did it?

"Where are they?"

"Texas. Near Houston."

The cold metal of the gun disappeared. Leroy stood up and left the room. As the door slammed shut, Claire sniffed and wiped the tears from her face.

About ten minutes later, a different agent came and escorted her to a cell. Claire breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the others.

"Claire." Spencer stood up. "Are you okay?"

Claire nodded as the door shut behind her. She threw a glance at the guards before speaking.

"Ivy," she said. "I'm so sorry, I told him about the Neutrals."

"It's okay," Ivy said. "We'll get out of here, and I'll call Ben and warn him."

Claire wasn't so sure, but she nodded. "Do you still have the phone?"

"Leroy took it. But..." Ivy pointed to her inner jacket pocket. She still had the chemical.

Claire crossed to the other side of the cell and sat down next to Spencer. Her gaze darted to Ivy, and she wondered if Leroy had been just as harsh during her interrogation.

Her mind responded to her question by reaching out for Ivy's thoughts. Claire tried to pull away, but not hard enough. Images flashed before her eyes.

Ivy was handcuffed to a table in a room identical to the one Claire had been in. Leroy entered and sat down across from her. Ivy lifted her chin and looked him in the eye.

"I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Agent Leroy."

Ivy remained quiet.

Leroy placed his gun on the table. "Since you are apparently unaffected by our shockers, I have a real gun here. Don't think I won't hesitate to shoot you."

Ivy looked at the gun, and Claire could sense the fear that coursed through her. "Is this even legal?" she asked, her voice strained. "What about my rights?"

"Rights are for humans. Which you are not."

Claire's eyes opened and her blood ran cold. SCI didn't see them as human? Sure, their DNA was different, but technically... Well... Were they human?

As she recovered, she realized the others were arguing.

"We shouldn't have gone into the lab," Spencer said.

"So this is all my fault?" Ivy asked.

Spencer ran a hand through his hair. "Ivy, listen, I know you were doing what you thought needed to be done, but... That's the kind of thing Summer would do. Breaking into the lab, I mean. Sometimes being headstrong pays off, but this time... I thought you would be more patient than that. Five more minutes and—"

"I know. I'm sorry."

Spencer's gaze flickered to Claire. She folded her arms, hoping he couldn't tell how tired she was. They needed to focus on getting out.

Spencer sighed. "And no offense, Tyler, but you really didn't help. The people at the lab did nothing wrong, but we broke their security cameras and windows."

"I know I was encouraging Ivy, but I really wanted to do something for once."

"I understand that," Spencer said. "You want to be a hero and take down Scorpion. But none of us are going to be of any help if we're dead."

Ivy curled her hand into a fist. "No," she said. "This is all my fault. I should have waited." Electricity appeared in her hands, running back and forth across her palm as she opened her hand.

"Is this about what happened to Summer?" Spencer asked.

Ivy closed her eyes.

"I stayed on the Fortuna because I had nowhere else to go," she finally said. "At least, at first. But I realized that maybe by helping you guys stop Scorpion, I could make up for what I've done."

"What do you mean?"

"Four fires, Spencer!" Ivy's eyes flew open. "Do you know how many people died? I killed them."

Claire gasped. "Ivy," she said, her voice weaker than she intended. "It wasn't your—"

"And then I almost let Summer die, too. I was right there. I could have stopped Terrence but I didn't. I froze."

Tyler folded her arms and looked up at the ceiling. "How do you think I feel? I have healing powers and I couldn't do a thing for her. Because I ran headfirst into a stupid situation and had to jump off a building to escape."

Claire frowned, wanting to know more, but Spencer spoke and interrupted her train of thought.

"Okay," he said. "So maybe we've all done some dumb things."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "What have you done, Spencer? You're the logical one. And I don't remember Claire getting anyone killed recently."

Claire frowned. She had the sudden feeling that she was forgetting something.

"Hey, no," Spencer said, before Claire could speak up. "You know Shane, Summer's cousin? After he died, I beat myself up for weeks because I was right there and I couldn't do anything. I know Summer was upset for much longer than that. But you know what we realized? We couldn't change anything. So stop whining, all of you. Ivy, stop trying to get things done like Summer did. We all have different ways of doing things and that's good. And Tyler, you'll get your chance to fight."

Ivy folded her arms and Tyler looked down at the ground. Claire could see the surprise on both of their faces.

"Now, don't make me lecture you guys again," Spencer said. "I want to be the fun parent, not the mean one."

"All right 'fun parent,'" Ivy said. "How do we get out of here?"

Spencer smiled. "Now we're talking. Before we do anything, you guys are going to get some sleep."

"What?" Ivy asked. Claire glanced at Spencer, trying to figure out if he was being serious.

"Oh please. Ivy, you've been tired all day. And I can see you nodding off, Claire."

Claire flushed. "I guess I'm pretty tired," she said.

"Yeah, and you're going to get some sleep. Looks like these guys are gonna leave us alone for a little while, anyway. We won't be able to escape if you can't keep your eyes open."

"Hey, don't even think about escaping!" a guard called from down the hall.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Hey, how about you shut up?" she called back.

"Ivy, please," Spencer said. "Yelling at the guards won't help. Sleep, then we'll worry about getting here." He laid down on his back. "They could've at least given us blankets, though."

Claire followed his lead. "What do you think SCI wants with us?" she asked as she closed her eyes. "If they work for the government, then they should be against Scorpion. We're on the same side."

"I don't know," Ivy murmured in reply. Claire waited for someone else to speak, but no one did. Sleep tugged at her mind, and she succumbed.

~

Sorry for the late update! I'm putting all the chapters in as drafts now so that I can update quicker. Thank you all so much for reading. I love seeing votes and comments <3