-Ze-

Just... keep running. Don't listen, keep running. Holding my hands over my ears I continue to leap over large distances and immediately jump back when I find a soldier in the corner. They're surrounding me, they strategically planned me showing up there and being there for them to capture, Leo fucking sold me out for IRIS. Shaking my head I jump straight up finally after being unable to find a corner to hide in and not get shot and injured too much to continue running. Looking around I can't find a place to hide and fall back down only to continue running and jumping trying my best to avoid the countless bullets following me. Flinching when a bullet comes close enough to just graze at my cheek I hurry to jump away, with one hand firmly gripping onto the knife in my holster. Suddenly I hear the hum of an engine and look back finding a small jeep chasing after me, carefully around the trees but chasing behind me with purpose.

"Ze!" Nearly all of them shout, creating a chorus of the sound that makes me want to shut my ears and forget about all of this, hide back into my corner. But if I hide in a corner now I'm guaranteed to get shot and taken back to IRIS. Taking out my knife into my hand I stop running and duck down to slash the tires of the jeep and immediately jump away when bullets come flying towards me. Vaulting myself into some random direction I finally have distance on them, if it weren't for the bullet that managed to make contact from far away onto my leg and causing me to trip and fall, I could have made it. Stumbling forward after the pain comes to my leg I wince as I tumble on the rough floor and hold my hand over the wound. Forcing myself to crawl up and vault myself with the power of the other leg but find myself off balance and stumble forward when landing, only making my leg worse but it got some distance from the blood that fell. Jumping up I grab onto the nearest tree and hug onto the trunk as I help my legs get on a thick branch and take a deep breath of relief once my injured leg is stretched out on the branch. Glancing down at my own clothing I can't find anything really helpful unless I want to just rip off a chunk of my shirt.

"Ze!" At the familiar voice I feel nerves travel around in my stomach and I reach around my own shirt, ripping off a back piece to my shirt that is normally covered by the coat anyways and wrap it around my leg where the pain sources. "Ze!" I flinch again at the voice and cover my mouth with my hand and watch as several soldiers come running in this direction and continue to go on last the tree I'm residing in currently. I'm not a strong Hidden, I wouldn't be able to take on all of these humans if I tried, and I'm injured and don't know the way back to base from the frantic running in efforts to escape. Taking a deep breath I close my eyes and lean my head on the tree, trying to come up with the possibilities for where to go from here. Take shelter in some nearby town and go into hiding? It can work, it wouldn't be the first time I ran away to an unknown town and made a living there... is it? Somehow I feel like I have. Shaking my head I push the memory away.

"Ze?" A much calmer voice comes out and I glance down to the single sergeant walking forward, looking all around and suddenly looking up, his eyes analyzing the tree tops around him as I sit at a distance from him. He nearly walks past me to where the other soldiers were when he stops and looks back. "Ze? You out here somewhere?" He shouts out and I stay silent, watching as the man begins to wander, closer and closer towards me. My fingers dig into the branch underneath me as I watch the familiar man wander closer and closer to my tree.

"...Hey Ze, decide to be a monkey?" Gassy suddenly calls out. He knows. Immediately I grab a hold of the branch and swing down to the floor in attempt to sneak out without him noticing but I nearly forgot: my leg is injured. Stumbling down I wince at the pain in my leg and grab a hold of it before looking up, the bigger man right in front of me now. "You actually were around here, nice of you to show up." I stay silent and stare at the man as he kneels down in front of me, throwing his gun a few feet away from us and holds his hand out towards me. "Alright, now you do the same. It's not like you can do much in this situation. The soldiers would notice the dead sergeant and come right here for you." I stay silent, unable to resist and sigh, left without a choice now. Grabbing onto my knife I hesitate, considering just stabbing him now but... this is Gassy. I can't do that. Not after all of those... things.... Shaking it out of my head I throw the knife to the side.

"There you go. Grab my hand and tell me where you're hurt," he orders softly wit truly concerned eyes even though he can't see where I actually am at all. Slowly I hold my hand out, approaching his hand extremely slowly and trembling slightly in fear before I stop right before I can touch his hand. Suddenly he reaches out and grabs my hand, probably having sensed the awkward heat. Shocked at the sudden contact I attempt to let go and claim my hand back but he continues to hold on tightly and looks down at me, visible for him as he suddenly touches my perfectly fine leg. Awkwardly I drag his hand away and hesitate, looking at his eyes for a few moments, his eyes which are struggling and frustrated at trying to become able to see me and where exactly I'm hurt. Sighing, I lead his hand to the poorly wrapped makeshift bandage over my leg.

"Just got shot in the leg," I mutter, explaining the situation while feeling a bit embarrassed being cared for from the guy I was running away from a moment ago. Gassy looks up to me, seeming shocked at my voice before turning back down and keeps his hand over the wound before reaching back in his back pocket and hands me some real bandages and antibiotics before clicking somethings on his chest that looks like a walkie talkie.

"I got Ze. Everyone meet back up at the trucks," he says into the walkie talkie as I just remove the poorly made temporary bandage and wrap around the new one. This would be it, the perfect time to run away now that I know his soldiers are going to be focusing on meeting back up. I flinch as the antibiotics start working their magic mixed with the normal pain from the wound. Immediately Gasys holds onto my arm and looks to me seeming concerned. "Does it hurt? Can I help somehow?"

"I got it. I know how to do this much," I reassure but he still frowns, seeming worried. Staring at him for a longer time than I should have, I sigh and turn back down to my wound. "Why are you so worried about me? You know I don't even remember you, your face, your name, none of it," I lie causing him to flinch and looks up to me, his eyes slightly off from my actual face. But I can still see the hurt look on his face that causes me to hesitate, shocked by the sudden hurt expression and slightly hating myself for making him make that expression in the first place.

"I know. It doesn't change the fact you're hurt and I want to help you. Because, at one point, you were a really good friend of mine," Gassy says and sighs before looking to me with a gentle and understanding smile that makes me feel like an ass. I know we were more than just good friends, but I won't admit it or I'd just show him I've become a liar within the last two years. Looking back down at my leg I close my eyes for a good two seconds before finishing it up and digging my palms into the dirt and trying to pick myself up.

"Well, I'm your prisoner. Where do you want me to go?" I ask, picking myself up and wincing at the pressure put on my leg but refusing to say anything. This would also be a good time to outrun this man. Although it didn't turn out so well last time with my injured leg... and I clearly see the gun by his side... I shouldn't risk it.

"Here," Gassy says and holds his hand out to me causing me to stare at his hand. "I don't want you to run away. Come on, I don't want you out of my sight," Gassy orders and I just stare at his hand, a bit hesitant to take it. Suddenly he rolls his eyes and grabs out for me, grabbing my shoulder and he slides down reaching for my hand. When he finds my hand he stops for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something before looking back up to me. "You're scared. Don't be, you'll be safe with us. I promise. Even that Leonardo guy thought it would be safer for you to be with us, come on, Ze. It's time for you to get back home."

"We're going to the Hidden base? That wouldn't be wise for you," I say bitterly but he takes no humor in it at all, frowning and his grip on my hand tightening. I wince in pain and squeeze back just trying to be a good competition but he's obviously stronger than me, despite being a human. Then again I'm weak for a Hidden, I'd be weaker than the stronger humans. "Listen... human, I can take care of myself and Leo had no right to do this. Just let me go and neither of us get hurt, right?" Gassy stares at me as if judging whether I'm kidding or not before turning around without a word and pulling me with him, dragging me along as he ducks under the lower tree tops. I sigh in defeat, wishing I had better skills at influencing people before a voice comes from Gassy's walkie talkie.

"Gassy? Where the fuck are you? We're waiting for you," a familiar voice comes from the walkie talkie but Gassy doesn't say a word in return no matter how urgent the person sounded. "Gassy... I'm serious, respond. We're worried about you, you are alone with a Hidden."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, Diction," Gassy finally complains and his grasp on my hand finally loosens so I don't have to be in constant pain. "Just bringing him, I wanted to make sure he was patched up before coming. Go ahead and send the back up soldiers home, we already have him." I silently listen to the authority in his voice as he talks to his own boss and push away the memories that come up with it. Staring at the man in front of me my vision suddenly becomes blurry and something becomes fuzzy in my head. Shaking my head to snap myself out of it, I don't want to remember just yet. I just want to get rid of those memories, it's better if I don't remember. Suddenly, Gassy turns back to me before turning back again but that smallest amount of time he turned to check on me for the slightest moment makes me suddenly burn up feeling embarrassed. I wonder, does he still remember that promise he made with me, about always spending dawn with me? I only remember because it was one of the most memorable moments that came back to me, but to him who remembers everything and made new memories without me, I wonder if he even cares for me at all beyond just the Hidden he was ordered to capture.

"Why are you here?" Gassy suddenly asks the moment we enter a clearing and I peek around him to find a man I don't recognize at all. "I thought you were going on that research trip? What are you doing here?"

"What? And miss seeing Ze come back? Is this him?" the man says with a completely bright and smiling widely and looking towards me. Suddenly he pushes Gassy out of the way and holds out his hand to me with an expecting smile. "Hi! I'm the researcher who replaced you, I'm a big fan!" I hesitate before taking his hand with caution.

"Don't expect too much. He doesn't remember anything from his time here," Gassy warns the man but the man completely ignores Gassy and continues to remain focused on me with bright eyes. I didn't know I was that much of a researcher to have fans like this, I never expected myself to look into some great discoveries or anything.

"My name is Mark. Hey, did you ever look into that proposal research file you made about the special grenades you were designing?" I blink, searching through my own experiments. Gassy frowns towards us, seeming to dislike the fact we're speaking about something like this but I actually find it interesting. I've never met another researcher, besides Chilled technically but Chilled was never actually researching in his Hidden position. Suddenly a thought comes into my mind and I look up to Mark with the memory slowly surfacing.

"You mean the ones that shot out explosives between certain amounts of time?"

"Yes! You never finished the design or drew out the mechanics. I was curious if you ever had a copy of that just so we could possibly use those." I blank out, trying to remember if I ever actually wrote it down anywhere.

"I don't know. If it's not in the lab somewhere either Diction is holding files of it or I left it with Galm and the crew," I explain thoughtfully.

"Aw, you remember me?" a familiar voice calls out to me and I turn towards the larger man who smiles with a sense of familiarity in his eyes. It's Diction, the captain of IRIS and the one who the Hidden have been trying to take down for years by now, the indestructible IRIS base that we can never seem to break into. While I've seen his file before and gave his information to the Hidden, I also remember him personally talking to me every once in a while. Most of the time about tasks he had for me or worries he had for me, I remember this guy as my boss who, of course, bossed me around. Immediately I shake my head and shove the memories away into a deep corner and focus on the man. "So you do remember some names. Who else do you remember?"

"Nobody, it just slipped out," I lie and Diction clearly sees this lie right through despite being unable to see me. I see, this guy is pretty perceptive, he sees right through me despite being physically incapable of seeing me. But still, I have to play the amnesiac card I'm pulling now that I've decided to stick with it. If they know I don't remember anything, they can't ask any questions from me and they'll possibly just set me free when they see I'm no use to them at all. Then I could run away to some other town and make a living somewhere outside of this human Hidden bullshit. Just forget about it all, it wouldn't be the first time I completely run away from everything and try to make a new living and new friends somewhere else... is it? It feels like I've pulled something similar in the past. "I take it you're Diction then? What do you guys want with me? I don't remember anything and I'm not giving any information about the Hidden to you guys."

"We're just going to keep you, make sure you're protected and help you get memories back-"

"What if I don't want memories back? Just let me go if you plan on just protecting me, I don't need to be protected," I complain, pulling this card now despite feeling terrified in the inside. There is always the other possibility that when they see I'm useless and kill me right here. I'm afraid of what these humans will do to me and whether or not they'll plan to murder me.

"Let's talk about this back on base," Gassy suddenly interrupts, seeming distracted as he looks back at the trucks. "It isn't safe to stay out here. Be obedient and go with Diction, Ze. Mark, come with me, I'm taking you back to your research location," Gassy orders and I frown, watching as he turns his back towards me and Mark awkwardly looks back to me but follows the man with more authority. I watch them as the two leave and suddenly feel the urge to escape now while I can before I feel a pressure on my shoulder. Turning towards Diction who set a hand on my shoulder I notice he has a dangerous warning glint in his eyes like he expected me to dash away the moment Gassy left. Taking a deep breath and attempting to calm myself I turn towards Diction.

"So what about him? Do you remember him?" Diction asks, pointing towards Gassy who is busy leading Mark away and towards a car apart from the rest of the vehicles. I frown, feeling hesitant to say anything but Diction smiles knowingly and nudges me. "I won't tell him shit if you do remember. You're troubled, aren't you?"

"I don't remember any of you humans," I claim strongly but Diction just rolls his eyes and motions for me to follow him. Frowning, I follow him, peeking back towards Gassy who is looking behind him and pulling his car out carefully between the trees. I don't remember him. I'll just have to convince myself of that.

-Gassy-

"I wonder if he'll agree to take the visibility solution. I want to work with him and hear his thoughts, you think he'll agree to researching with me? Will Diction allow him to? He's a bit different than I imagined but then again he was invisible, he could definitely be different. I hope he'll show me a few things," Mark rambles on and on while I feel my head begin to ache with each second I silently listen to his fanboy rambling. I heard his voice clearly this time belonging to the man I used to love but he didn't say my name even once the entire time I had been with him and he came with us so reluctantly tot he last moment trying to get out of it. Although we have him now, he's within our possession now, I'm unsatisfied. I want him to remember, I want him to go back to being the normal Ze and cling onto me like usual but I may never get to see that adorable face ever again. Knowing this I feel myself tense up and become more afraid. I ran away from him by making this excuse I need to help Mark return but I'll have to see that invisible face again when I return to base and continue being tortured by the fact he remembers nothing while I remember everything and long for him to cling onto me and make that stupid obviously in love smile.

"Gassy?" I blink at the voice and glance over to Mark who looks to me with sad and worried eyes. "Are you... okay? It must be hard, you guys were good friends, right? I can't really do anything about it since I can't help him get his memories back, but if you talk to him enough I'm sure something will come back to him." I stay silent, not a fan of this positivity that may possibly be falsely given and Ze may never remember me again. But still, I sigh and park the car right by the large area with the other researchers that Mark decided to bring with him.

"I'll be fine, Mark. I'll try to talk with him and try my best to help him get his memories back. I'm sure he'll do all of the science he wants to, I doubt his love for that would ever leave him," I say a bit bitterly as I remember the bright and excited smile as he was working in the lab I may never see again. Sighing I turn towards Mark who looks to me with these sad eyes that make me want to hit him on the side of his head. "I'm fine. We have a lot of time to talk to Ze now that he's with us. For now, focus on your studies out here. He'll still be there in three days," I say and he nods, seeming reluctant but eventually climbs out of my car leaving me to myself and my own thoughts. The door to the passenger side shuts closed and I close my eyes now that I'm by myself in this car. I need to go back to base and see Ze, see what he's up to and what Diction will be planning to do with him. He'll probably be forced to stay at the base, and it's nearly impossible for him to leave because of all of the defenses anyways.

Starting up the car again I begin to head back to base and as I head over there I feel myself become more and more uneasy with my nerves coming back. I was a nervous wreck when I came with Diction to ambush him and Diction definitely saw through me, despite saying nothing about it. Then when I saw the blurs out in the opening and the voices... I think I could have had a mini panic attack right there seeing the one I've been dreaming of for the past two years. Ze, he... he really doesn't remember me at all. The lack of emotion or any kind of response after seeing me, I feel cold when I remember it and his lack of any sort of reaction at all or even my name coming out of his mouth, not once. Entering the base I nod to the front lady and walk into the base ignoring the excited chat from nearly everyone on the base. Calm down, Gassy. Just keep walking and head over to Diction's office to join in on the chat and talk seriously to Ze who is no longer my friend or lover. He is just a Hidden we have been hunting for for a while now, a man we've been trying to capture who doesn't know us at all.

"No, I don't remember anything at all." I flinch at Ze's voice at the other side of Diction's office door, sounding a bit annoyed since we've probably asked him many times by now. Taking a deep breath I open the door and Diction glances up to me while Ze is just a blur I can't see sitting at the chair in front of the desk. Glancing between him and Diction, I close the door behind me feeling a bit awkward while trying to resist saying anything in particular to this guy.

"Mark get back safely?" Diction asks and I silently nod, walking over and sitting at the chair beside Ze, trying to avoid any eye contact with the Hidden. "So, Ze, you really remember nothing? Not even the guy sitting right beside you?" Diction, you're just pouring salt all over my open wounds right now.

"N-No, I only know the things I've seen from the files, like I've told you. You're Diction, the captain of the base and this is a sergeant."

"Didn't you imply earlier that you didn't know I was Diction?" Ze becomes silent and I sigh, this is not going to get us anything other than the fact that Ze is lying to us which we should have expected form the moment we got him. "How about the research and file locations from earlier you were discussing with Mark? And the crew you were talking about? Nothing from even before IRIS?"

"I-... yeah, I've been studying and that got some memories about previous projects back to me. And with recalling those projects I remember some of the stuff around that-"

"Like people? Events? Your lies aren't piling up Ze, you've never been a good liar," Diction says and immediately Ze leans forward and I notice he's very uneasy right now.

"What exactly do you want to know?!" Ze suddenly outbursts, very unlike him from the calm he's been keeping up until now. Diction takes this as a victory and slightly smiles only irritating Ze more while I just watch the blur curiously, curious as to why he's so uneasy and tense.

"I want to know what you remember. And don't lie." Ze stays silent for a while, obviously calculating in his head what should and what shouldn't be told before falling back to his chair. "Don't lie, one more time and I'll force the cure on you," Diction teases and strangely Ze just snickers in response.

"I... remember more previous projects because I was studying them. I haven't looked into friends or such or made any effort to remember any of them. So that's why-" Ze stops suddenly when he notices Diction's aura becoming darker as he begins to sense Ze's lies. "...I-I remember a little bit. A few small things. Mainly just random things you guys have said to me. I know that Nanners was a traitor at some point and about Sudden Death and random stuff like that," Ze finally admits. Diction stares at him for a long time, judging whether or not to push for more or not before sighing and rolling back in his chair.

"Fine, I'll buy it for now. You're going to be staying in your old room here. Don't even try to escape, you know it's impossible." I slightly hear Ze gulp from beside me as he slowly gets up from his chair and begins to walk towards the exit before Diction stops him at the last second. "Oh, and Ze, welcome back to IRIS."