One moment, I was standing in the doorway, dripping water on the floor, smiling weakly at Liam. 

The next, I was shoved up against the opposite wall, with a gun pressed to my stomach, and a hand pressed against my windpipe.  

My eyes were wide, and all I could do was stare in shock. "What... what are you doing, Liam?" I choked on my words, struggling to get air in through my lungs. 

His amber eyes glared fiercely into mine. My heart was beating so loudly, I was sure that he could hear it. "What are you doing here, Bentley?" 

"Liam, what are you doing? Leave her alone!" Taylor came flying out of the room, and pulled him away from me. I gasped, doubling over, coughing. Well, crap. I wasn't exactly expecting a warm welcome, but this wasn't what I had in mind either. 

The others slowly approached the doorway, but Lydia was the only who actually left the room and came to stand by me. "Are you okay, Ben?" She gently rubbed circles against my wet back, and I nodded, coughing. 

"I'm fine." I stared sadly at the place where Taylor was talking lowly with Liam, who was glaring at me under lowered lids. 

Lydia followed my gaze and sighed. "I'm sorry about that. We've had trouble, and Liam's really on edge, not trusting anyone." 

I nodded again, understanding, even if a pang went through my heart. Then Lydia's words caught up to me, and I frowned. "What else has happened?" 

Lydia hesitated, glancing at Max and Jake. I slowly brought my gaze up to meet their eyes, and wasn't surprised at what I found there. Distrust. "Uh, you know what? Let's get you changed into dry clothes first. Do you want to borrow some of mine?" 

I dragged my eyes away from Jake and shook my head, holding up my backpack that had fallen off when Liam had pushed me. "No, thanks. I have some in here." At her skeptical look, I added, "It's waterproof." 

"Okay, then." Leading me past the boys, I kept my head down until we reached the bathroom. "You might want to take a warm shower first," Lydia said, gazing at me with concern. 

"Okay. Thanks, Lydia," I tried to smile reassuringly, but it probably came out more like a grimace. 

Shutting the door after Lydia left, I put my bag down and undressed. Turning the shower on, I let the hot pellets of water bombard my skin as I stood there, staring blankly at the wall. 

They didn't trust me. Well, Taylor and Lydia did, but the guys didn't. I guess they heard about what had happened to Jeremy, then. I thought back to when I talked to him, the first night after we'd met. We were sitting at the edge of the pool, talking about our agencies. He had jumped up to go rescue Kara from being tackled by Tom. I huffed out a small laugh at the memory. He had always been the leader of those three. And now he was dead. Because of me. 

It seemed like everyone who was knew me, or was close to me, got hurt. Maybe it was a mistake coming to my old teammates for help. But whether I liked it or not, they were the only ones left who I could trust. 

Finishing my shower, I toweled myself off, and grabbed my suit and undergarments from the backpack. Hey, it's good to always be prepared. 

After getting dressed, I was just in the middle of pulling up the zipper on my suit when the door opened. Jake stood there. I quickly pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, heart pounding. I turned around to face him, and immediately began to panic at his narrowed eyes. 

Stepping forward into the bathroom, he pointed at my now zipped up back. "What was that? Between your shoulder blades?"

My heart dropped into my stomach. He saw the brand. He saw the brand. My face blanched, but inside I was slightly relieved that he only saw that, and not the metal slots that my wings came in and out of. 

I calmly began to pack my things up, avoiding his gaze. "Oh, that. It's a tattoo." I was lying, and it killed me to do it, especially now that he didn't trust me, but I couldn't tell him the truth. That would lead to more questions, ones that I was not prepared to tell. 

His brow furrowed, and he leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. He, too, was dressed in a suit, similar to mine. "You didn't have a tattoo the last time I saw you." 

I pursed my lips, leveling my gaze at him, hoisting the backpack onto my shoulder. "The last time you saw me was three years ago, Jake. A lot can happen in three years." Isn't that the truth.

He kept his eyes narrowed warily at me, but thankfully let the subject drop. Or so I thought. "The Bentley Waters I know wouldn't get a tattoo, especially one as bizarre as angel wings."

I sucked in a deep breath and shouldered past him. "Well, the Bentley that you knew is dead, then, Jake."

---

It was half an hour later, and my old teammates had just finished telling me what they had found out. It was confirmed. Jeremy was dead. Kara and Tom were okay though, just sporting a few bumps and bruises. They apparently knew that Henry was a traitor; had known since they had escaped from the cell three years ago. I was the only one who had been kept in the dark, because they thought that I might have been working with them. 

Max stood up from where he was sitting, running a hand through his short, light brown hair. "So, the plan is to go back to our Agency. Once there, we will figure out this mess that we are now in." He turned to me. The thing that saddened me the most was the thought that my own brother had thought that I would work with the same people who had turned me into what I now was. A monster. But now they trusted me. Or at least, so they had said. 

"Ben, do you need to go retrieve your things from somewhere? Extra clothes, weapons-" I cut with off in a dull tone of voice. 

"No. They came to my house, too." I met Jake's eyes, then quickly looked away. "That's where I went after I fl- ran away from you guys. But they found me." I shrugged. "It's probably destroyed now." My house, the one place where I truly felt safe, was now gone. 

Taylor's brown eyes widened. "Oh, Ben, I'm so sorry!"

I shrugged again. "There's nothing to be done." Standing up, I avoided everyone's gaze. "I'll be in the car." Grabbing my backpack, I quickly fled the room and left the hotel out the back door. Spotting the car, I quickly climbed inside the passenger seat in the front, resting my head back against the headrest. What was wrong with me? Things are just going downhill, and I was not acting like myself. My old confidence, my fire, everything was gone. The only thing left was a deep, never ending quiet. 

The others soon came and climbed into the car, throwing their things into the trunk. I'd kept my backpack with me; I never knew when I might need it. 

The others were silent, shooting furtive gazes at me out of the corner of their eyes. Soon we were on our way, and the quiet that descended upon the car matched the one in my mind. 

---

About six hours later, we pulled up to I.B.O.A.. The tall, sleek, dark grey metallic building towered over me as I stepped out of the car. The others were already walking towards the thick glass doors, and I jogged to catch up with them. 

Once inside, we all stood there, my friends proudly showing me the lobby of the Agency that they had built together. Standing there, watching them smile proudly at each other and greeting the agents, I stopped dead in my tracks, the full force of the blow finally hitting me. They had moved on. I had remembered them every day, thinking about what ifs, and what could have been's, and they'd thought about me, but they'd moved on. I was stuck in the past, and they were living in the present.

My heart weighed down in my chest, as I realized that I was always going to be the odd one out, I was always going to be alone. They'd all had each other, but I was by myself. I alone truly knew the horrors that the scientists could bring upon a person, and I couldn't contaminate them with that. I couldn't do that to them. I didn't belong here, in this bright, beautiful place in the present.

By this time my friends were on the other side of the room, not noticing that I hadn't continued on the journey with them. Jake was talking to a pretty young Agent, who, a  moment before, had had her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. I watched them go sadly, fading out of sight, and then turned on my heel, heading to the one place where I could truly be alone in this huge place. The rooftop. 

---

I was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, overlooking the bright city lights that were flaring up as the night descended, when I heard him come up from the door and sit down beside me. 

We just sat in silence, and I could feel his gaze burning on the side of my face.

"Who is she?" I asked, still staring out ahead, not daring to look at the man sitting next to me.

"Who?" When I didn't answer, he let out a shaky breath. "Oh." Clearing his throat, Jake sat up straighter. "That is Mia. She's a trainee, and she can get a little... overexcited, sometimes." 

Silence crept back in as I digested this information. My frizzing hair was covering my face, and I didn't push it aside, not wanting my expression to be seen. 

"But that's not what this is about, is it?" Jake turned fully towards me, and I finally looked at him, meeting his light brown eyes. Lights illuminated them perfectly, letting the gold and warm tones seep through.

"No," I whispered. His hand reached up and pushed my hair behind my ear, lingering there before falling back down to his side. 

I stared at his hand, feeling an unbearable sadness seeping through me. We used to be so close. We were in a relationship together. Now... I just didn't know anymore. 

"I'm a monster," I whispered, closing my eyes. I opened them when I felt Jake's hand resting on top of my own. 

"Ben, no, you're not." Jake looked at me intently. 

I shook my head. "No, I am. You don't understand," I looked at him pleadingly, "I don't know who I am anymore, and it's like my thoughts aren't even mine."

"Ben." Jake turned me so I was facing him again. "Where'd that girl go who used to be up for anything? The one who was so brave that she took her teammates place, not wanting her to be hurt? It's okay, Ben. Just let it all go. Don't let it weigh you down anymore." 

I stared back out at the landscape, hardly feeling the cold wind that was whipping against my face. "That's the thing," I whispered. "I learned to lock it all up in my head, because even I don't want to hear the thoughts that are plaguing my mind." I flinched as a tear slid down my cheek. "I want to get away from myself," I rasped, my voice hoarse. "And it's the worst feeling in the whole wide world." 

"Ben. You are not a monster, you-"

"No!" I stood up backing away from Jake. "You don't understand, Jake. I am! You want proof? I'll show you proof." My heart was beating wildly as I closed my eyes,  backing towards the edge of the building. 

"Ben, stop walking. You're too close-" My foot hit thin air. 

Release.

The wind tore through my hair and thrashed around my as the familiar sound of metal clicking and forming a shape greeted me. Once they were fully released, I beated them wildly, until I was back on the roof, standing in front of Jake. 

My chest shook from the silent tears that were coming down as he stared at me.  Whatever ways that I had imagined showing him my wings, this was not it. I stood there, wings fully out behind me, glinting in the night sky.

"Ben," Jake breathed, staring at me with wide eyes. "What happened to you?" 

I stared blankly at him, tears coursing down my cheeks. "They made me into a monster, Jake. I'm not even fully human anymore."