-Gassy-

"What the fuck are you doing?" I blink in confusion towards the man seeming to focus on my every move as I walk into the office. He raises an eyebrow as if expecting an answer as I sit down at my usual chair across from his desk and lean onto the desk as I expect an explanation. When he just looks to me seeming a bit annoyed I glance over to his computer screen and realize exactly what he's talking about. Coughing awkwardly I look away from the screen and Diction, feeling a bit embarrassed from seeing the footage of Ze still standing where I left him just staring at the door with a deep red glow to his face.

"Gassy. What the fuck are you doing?" Diction asks again and this time I meet his eyes and he's a lot more direct. "You know this is risky. He... supposedly doesn't even remember you, why do you think you guys will turn out differently this time? You don't know when he'll decide he's had enough and want to go back to the Hidden base. He's unpredictable right now." I stay silent, listening carefully to his every word and agree with half of what he's saying. Diction looks at me for a while before sighing and turning towards the screen and pauses the footage where Ze just climbed back into bed seeming tired after everything that has happened. I stare at the frozen screen with Ze holding up the blankets and a blank stare looking at the bed. He's so lost, it makes me just want to go back and tell him how adorable he really is sometimes. I shake my head internally for already falling for him all over again in the matter of a few minutes when he broke down all of my walls in an instant after having worked so hard to build them up. "Max, are you even listening?"

"Not really. Well, I'm just going with the flow for now. Whatever happens to us in the future depends mainly on him, not like I can do anything about it. You should know, Diction, that terrible fucking feeling that there's only one person in this world you can love deeply like this." Diction frowns, clearly disliking my own feelings although even I admit it really fucking sucks. Because despite having plenty of others around me I always only focused on Ze even when the entire world thought he was dead. And when it happens for real... that'll crush me. The only thing I can do is hope that he feels just as strongly as I do. Suddenly the memory of him shutting the door around me comes back into my mind and I feel a little shiver. He... really did feel that way, and he got more aggressive as a Hidden. For the better. Otherwise I would have never done that to him if he didn't clearly show his emotions like did earlier but I couldn't help it after seeing that expression and his clear declaration of his feelings, even if he is terrible with saying anything directly, he's always been terrible at that kind of stuff. I've always been the one to have to initiate, from the very beginning of our relationship I always felt like I was the one with stronger feelings... that is... until I woke up one day and found out he did something equivalent to taking a bullet for me.

"Whatever you say. Anyways, you had him go into the lab and let him hide whatever he wanted. You knew that he wouldn't be guarded and try to hide it in his room because he doesn't know just how many cameras there were in that room. He thought you were being nice but you just wanted us to get more information on him," Diction mutters as he flips through the cameras and I remain silent. When he notices my silence he raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "What, you're feeling guilty now? You know he seemed pretty happy when you 'helped' him out, it's probably the reason he suddenly freaked out and old Ze came out for a bit," Diction mentions only worsening my guilt. Of course I didn't let him get whatever he wanted for his own good, I'm actually not the kind person Ze always thinks of me as even from before. Or maybe I was actually kinder before and I have changed a bit. Diction stops the film of the camera directed straight at the drawer he stuffed all of those things in. We have a hidden camera nearly every inch of that room, one directed at every drawer and I knew that even if he got what he needed there would be no where he could hide it. Diction zooms in on the objects be stuffed in the drawer under his bed and we both remain silent. "What is that? What kind of chemicals do they keep in those vials?" Diction asks clearly not having dealt with the people getting treated like I have. Then again he was really busy in that time while he ordered most of us to watch over the people getting treated with the cure.

"It's the cure," I explain and lean onto the desk more to investigate more. "For the Hidden. This could be... a part of the reason he's alive." Recalling the several conversations I've had with Mark about Ze being a Hidden and alive, the answer is right there, isn't it? "Just... show Mark. He'll have to research more into it. And now that Ze can't go into the lab he doesn't have to remain secretive about all of that research. It seems to be for the best to just confine Ze to his room."

"Yeah, we basically literally have him prisoner now... but we can't hold him like this for much longer," Diction mutters seeming a bit distracted by whatever is on his mind. "Tom can't hold off legal matter much longer and people are getting suspicious of our sudden advancements on our research with our inclusion of Ze here. Some people are starting rumors about Ze returning and not telling anybody and the moment someone comes to visit our base and see Ze's room in use we can't do anything. He legally has a right to leave our base, and the moment he returns to the Hidden to work for them he's back to being wanted. So you better convince him otherwise before it's too late." I nod slowly, expecting this to come up sooner or later, to be honest I thought it would have come up a lot sooner and he would have been out of here by now. Taking a deep breath I shake my head and sit back.

"I just barely got back together with him, and I'm pretty sure he's dead set on leaving," I mutter, clearly coming into terms with the fact that he doesn't want to be here. Ever since he first got here and still now I feel like if I have him the chance, he would just leave me alone here. That's why I'm always a bit panicking for the moment he finds a way to escape and he would completely be missing. If anybody can escape from this place, it'd most definitely be Ze who developed this place to begin with... and that fact kinda freaks me out.

"Well that's why you gotta fucking talk to him and talk some sense to him," Diction complains pretty loudly causing me to sign and smile.

"I know, I know I heard you the first time and don't worry, I'll be trying."

"Jesus that happy look on your face is gross to look at," Diction teases and I roll my eyes although he smiles, very contradictory to his words. "Well, I'm glad you got reunited with the guy you couldn't get over. But Jesus man, you're really tied down to him, not a single other person caught your eye when you thought he was dead. That's dedication man," Diction compliments while I just laugh bitterly. Its not like I wanted to become completely uninterested in anyone but Ze. I'm fucked if anything actually happens and everyone knows it. Suddenly a loud beeping sound rings from Diction's computer and both of us recognize the sound immediately. Diction stares at his computer screen for a while before shifting in his seat and clicks through a few programs.

"Well, seems we have a visitor."

-Ze-

I fucked up. Looking around my room wildly I keep spotting the tiniest cameras which weren't even at our disposal when I left here. Now that I have plenty of time just pacing around my room I decided to check it out and they're literally everywhere. From what I can gather they're all connected to the main one I immediately noticed, but I also noticed that the big one serves as a distraction from the tinier ones scattered around. They have cameras watching my every move which means they got a clear angle of just what I hid, and Gassy is probably looking at that footage right now. I was careless again. I've been making too many of these careless mistakes I'm going to end up giving myself completely away to these guys. From all of the comfort and such I've been living in for the past few days I've slowly been lifting my guard and it's fucking me in the end. Taking a deep breath I try to calm myself but I can't stop from pacing around my room like a wild man. I can't help it, I'm freaking out now that they've discovered an essential piece of what may be creating me.

Deciding to just sit down and calm down, I collapse onto my bed and groan into the sheets feeling a bit betrayed. Gassy... that fucker knew and he didn't say shit even after he noticed I was becoming emotional because he thought I was being nice. I'll bet that he's going to act like he doesn't know shit the next time we meet, they're all going to keep it from me that they probably know. Unless... I'm being paranoid and they didn't look at the cameras at all. Realizing this I lift my face from the sheets and start to gain a little bit of hope in the world that they didn't do anything deceiving like I thought they did. Slowly I pick myself up and off the bed and glance around to all of the cameras. They're tiny cameras, their quality can't be good, maybe even if they try they won't be able to see. But when the next attack of mine comes... I won't be in good shape with the cameras. Alright, I'll just assume that they didn't see it and continue to try to keep it a secret for now....

....

Damn, I'm bored. They didn't have to kick me out of the lab entirely just because I managed to plug in a bug into the system... okay maybe it was smart of them but there's absolutely nothing to do in this room but just sit and try to decide on my next action. Glancing around I reach out to my bathroom door just to explore some more out of pure boredom when the smallest sound echoes through the room. It's very faint and anybody else would have just ignored it but... there shouldn't be anything beeping in this technology free room. Glancing around I decide to sit on the ground and look underneath my bed, through the bedside drawers, even inside the dresser but I can't find where the sound came from. Suddenly realization hits me and I glance up to the camera, the small red light by the side now turned off. They... turned off the cameras? Why? I am a bit disappointed there wasn't a hidden laptop but I guess this is good for me. But... I'm suspicious... just as I think about it the door to my room opens and I glance over to the person entering.

"You're a fucking idiot," Minx says as she shuts the door behind her, confirming my thoughts that the camera was her doing. I tense up, nervous now that this person who might just attempt to assassinate me right now and here but she doesn't seem pissed, well more pissed than usual. "They didn't tell us. What did you do to get under house arrest like this?" she questions and I freeze up, feeling a bit guilty for fucking up my own escape.

"I-... I was planning to escape tomorrow but they found the bug I was planning to escape with. Sorry, I wasn't being carefu-"

"Why not? Leonardo told me you're always very careful, Ze was an idiot. Is this place finally getting to you? Are you starting to remember?" Damn, she's sharp. When I say nothing but just gulp she glares at nothing in particular and paces inside the room like I had been doing just a moment ago. Right, me and this woman have the same goal: to get me the hell out of here. Although I don't plan on joining the Hidden again, especially after remembering all I remember about them... I can... I can use her and her resources to get me out of here.

"You can't... attack this place or anything? If... if you can somehow get me a laptop, any laptop it doesn't even have to be connected to the database, I can activate that bug and you guys can make a sneak attac-"

"I'm not pulling a suicide mission," Minx shoots down my idea immediately without even sparing a thought to it. "Besides, they must be working on removing that thing right now. By the time I can even think about sneaking a laptop in here it'll probably be gone. Even if I send my best people here, I know this is the strongest base by far and we'll all die. Sorry Ze but your idea sucks," Minx says only hurting my own knowledge pride some more. She glances over at me with a thoughtful stare before shaking her head and begins pacing again. I don't... know what to say to her but I do know something's bothering me an awful lot. The way she... the way she said her people, any other regular Hidden spy wouldn't say all of the Hidden are their people. Minx isn't... an ordinary spy, is she? When I worked here she was highly regarded as well, a normal Hidden spy wouldn't be camping out at a human base for such a long time.

"How... how else can I leave then, if not hacking into the system? You have to give me a laptop eventually anyways if we want to find a way to get me the hell out of here," I explain and she stops pacing, frowning to the side but sighs in defeat, turning on her heels towards me.

"Fine, fine, I got it already. You don't have to baby about it so much, I'll sneak one in here... I think I'll get Chilled to get you out of here," Minx mentions suddenly causing me to widen my eyes in shock. She looks to me and shrugs, glancing back at the door with a strange expression. "He's a traitor, I've already known this for a long time. But he's the only Hidden of ours that can come in and out of here without getting shot at. Unless he wants to die for being a traitor, he'll listen to me when I order him to sneak you out." I stay silent, she's already known this for so long considering Chilled is always coming here and giving them information. He's probably still not in the best shape to visit considering when I left him... then again Hidden heal faster. I hope he's doing fine, and Leo, I'm not sure what he may be up to right now.

"He may not be here for a while though," I mention and she sighs, already having thought of this most likely. I stare at the woman for a while before sighing in return and turning away from her. "I guess I'll have to be here for a bit longer.... Do you think there's any way to forget or stop remembering?"

"Hell if I know. Hit your head on something? You're the smart guy here. Anyways, I should go, the camera will start up in a few minutes. I'll find a way to get you a laptop, hit your head on something and forget about what you've already remembered," Minx says as she turns away from me and opens the door out of my room leaving me just tired and watching after her. As the door closes I close my eyes as the beep of the camera sounds out again and I just feel lost and confused at the same time. I don't like thinking about working with the Hidden, but at the same time I don't like staying here as a prisoner unable to do shit. I'm running away, I made that decision weeks ago and it's a cowardly thing to do but I don't want to be here anymore.

Sitting on the ground I stare at the ground for any neat secrets like I have been doing for hours before Minx came in my room. I'm tired, I'm bored, I feel like just leaving the room and immediately get jumped when I leave just for the heck of it. Deciding that's a bad idea I fall back onto the floor and stare at the ceiling I recall pretty well. This place again, I lived here for barely around a year and yet I felt so attached to this place. I suppose the fault can go to Gassy, and Nanners and Chilled, and Minx and Ohm, and Sp00n. Jesus, did I really make that many friends here? Sighing I close my eyes and try to just stop worrying about everything. Chilled may take me out of here, I may find some sort of loophole, I have no idea what to do. Where will I even go when I leave? I don't have anywhere in particular I want to go if I leave. Maybe I should go home. The thought makes me open my eyes in realization I should probably go home. See mom, dad, my sister, just my family I used to constantly be with. It'll be a nice surprise for them.

They haven't even seen me since before the Hidden shit went down, yeah at the time when I was living with Elaine.... At the sudden realization I open my eyes and push myself upwards. Elaine, I haven't seen her in ages, I wonder what she's up to. And Alice, her and Alice. I wonder if Elaine still has that stupid crush on Alice... I wonder if Alice got over me and has another boyfriend now. I should ask Gassy-... but that would show that I remember a lot more than I would care to admit to him. Thinking about Elaine... I want to see her again. I did live with her, I felt like her older brother for a good amount of time and she basically idolized me for a good amount of time as well. It's been years, she must be nearly done with high school by now. I wonder if she grew any taller, or got prettier than she already was. Jesus, I really do feel like she was my younger sister all of that time but who can blame me, she was adorable and always hanging by my side.

Standing up I glance around my room but frown. If I remember correctly I know Gassy mentioned Elaine living with him so I can't see her if she's with Gassy all of the time. I don't want to ask Gassy to bring her here because then I would admit more memories... but it's Gassy, do I have to care whether or not he knows I remember...? I do, while one side of him is Gassy there's this other side of him that has nearly the same amount of power of the captain on this base and that's the side I'm afraid of. The Hidden instinct in me that hates human authorities. Walking around I enter my bathroom and glance around more, feeling the tiles as if there'd be a loose that that leads me to a tunnel out of here but... no, just in fantasy novels I guess. Glancing at the drawers underneath the sink I can probably fit in there. What if I just hide and they'd think I went missing and freak out providing me with a chance to escape? That would work, if they didn't have cameras all around my room clearly showing me heading into my bathroom which they would then thoroughly check.

"Ze?" The sudden voice causes me to immediately step back from the sink as if I was doing something bad and hit the back of my legs on the bath tub causing me to fall backwards into the empty bath tub. "Z...Ze?" I scramble up and glance over to the bathroom door that opens and Gassy appears seeming confused at first but bursts into laughter after seeing me.

"H-...Hey, you shocked me!" I shout in defense as I climb out of the bath tub and scramble onto my feet as Gassy just nods with a tearful smile. Suddenly a hand appears on his shoulder and he's pushed aside by an excited looking Chilled. Shocked I widen my eyes and immediately step back.

"What's so funny? Holy shit, Ze, did you get clumsier?" Chilled asks laughing but his smile fades when he sees my expression. "Hey... what's with the face? Aren't you glad to see me?" Immediately I shake the thoughts out of my head and smile happily but before I can say anything he grabs a hold of my shoulders. "What's with that smile? What's the matter? Is Gassy bullying you?"

"Hey-What?" Gassy snaps while Chilled just chuckles and glances back. As... as much as I'd like to get out of here, I don't want Chilled to be scared to death or have his life threatened in any way. Although I found it reasonable when I talked to Minx literally a few seconds ago... I've changed my mind. I don't want Chilled involved in this, at all. Chilled lets go of my shoulders and laughs at Gassy who seems irritated and offended while my mind goes through different kinds of possibilities. How... do I get Chilled to... get out of here? Staring at him I suddenly feel pain in my chest when I think about making him mad or try to get him out of here. When I think about Chilled... the last thing he would want to do is make me upset, and he forced me here because he thought it was best for me. So... he won't take me, he'll die... wouldn't he?

"Earth to Ze." I blink in surprise at the voice and focus on Chilled, his eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed in worry. I stare at him for a long time before sighing and nodding. I know what I have to do.

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I'm just a little out there," I reassure him but it doesn't seem to please him, or Gassy for that matter as I barely notice he's also looking very upset. "You know... me, always focusing on my own thing. What're you doing here anyways? How are you? Are your injuries fine by now?" Although he doesn't seem satisfied with my answer he nods with a cocky smile like usual and lifts the corner of his shirt showing the smooth skin.

"Yeah, despite everything, being a Hidden is fucking awesome when it comes to healing. Come to think of it, weren't you also injured?" I nod but pat my leg, now fully healed as well. Chilled sighs in relief and suddenly a strange look settles in his eyes as he observes me before he meets my eyes. "And your memories...? Anything?" The slightly desperate tone in his voice breaks my heart, and since I've already admitted everything to Gassy about remembering Chilled, I slowly nod.

"Yeah, I remember all about you-" before I can finish he suddenly hugs me causing me to blink in surprise and try to pull away but he seems surprisingly emotional by this. "Ch-Chilled? I don't remember everything, just... you, I guess...."

"Yeah? Well, I'm glad." He pulls away from me and has this stupid smile on his face that makes me suddenly feel... shocked, happy, sad, guilt. I wasn't expecting... him to be so happy about this, I mean, I know well just how much Chilled values his friends but I never expected him to be so... so happy from just knowing I remember. Maybe... should I tell Chilled... that I actually have all of my memories back? No, I have a mission to do, for Chilled's sake.

"It's not like I wanted to," I say and Chilled immediately freezes, seeming shocked by the sudden words. If things go like they have been... I think this will work. I just... have to get Chilled angry. "It's a bit unfortunate to be honest. I'd rather just forget about it and focus on my missions as a Hidden. But thankfully I remember my old science stuff, I can be useful for the Hidden now-" before I can finish continually shit on him by saying these harsh things I feel a force on my cheek. Chilled punched me, I wasn't... expecting that at all. His force caused me to stumble backwards and hold my cheek and lick at that area of my mouth definitely tasting blood. Chilled is strong, especially now as a Hidden and that was definitely not a gentle punch at all.

"Fuck you, Ze," Chilled says and I glance up to him and seeing his hurt expression causes my chest to tighten up and I immediately want to tell him I didn't mean any of what I just said but his expression makes me frozen. Not only is he fuming with anger but there is the hurt look in his eyes with tears rimming at his eyes and his entire posture screams at me that he has been extremely hurt by my words. "Not even Ze, Steven. I thought you were still the same Ze, just brainwashed. But this is beyond brainwash, you've turned into a sick person." Without another word he pushes past Gassy and leaves my room. Gassy seems shocked but looks back at me and frowns, taking a step forward but I flinch and grasp onto my chest in pain.

"Z-Ze, are you alright? Don't you need something for that?" Gassy asks, pointing to my cheek but I just shake my head and stumble back as the pain in my chest begins to spread and makes me feel colder. "Ze... what's wrong? Look at me-"

"Why are you still here?" I snap and knock his hand out of the way and look up to the man who seems unsettled but still surprisingly caring. "I just shit on ever remembering you again after crying about it earlier. Aren't you mad? Aren't you going to leave too?" Gassy frowns and reaches out to me again but I knock it out of the way. This time he frowns seeming annoyed and knocks my hand out of the way, forcefully grabbing onto my head and looks at my cheek surprisingly completely ignoring my words.

"What do you need for this? I don't want you to just ignore your own well being like usual. I'll go get some-" I grunt in pain and sink down on the wall causing Gassy to widen his eyes and kneels down beside me, grabbing a hold of my hand and rubbing his thumb on my palm gently. I stare at his hand silently and close my eyes, feeling very mentally exhausted. "I'll get you something from the lab, just tell me what you need." His voice sounds like he's panicking and worried for my sake. This guy... I guess he's always been the one to constantly worry for me.

"Gassy... why?" I ask, opening my eyes slowly, the burning pain in my chest slowly cooling down along with the rest of my body. Looking up at Gassy I find him seeming like he's on the verge of crying from his worry for me. I can't understand how he's feeling, worried about the asshole who just told off his best friend like that purposely making him angry. I can't understand... the look he's giving me, still caring about me while not understanding anything about me. Gassy is really... pitiful.

"Why? Because I love you, ass. And I believe in you, those weren't your true feelings." I stare at him for a long time before taking a deep breath as the coldness in my body begins to fade off and turn to something else. Gassy blinks in surprise and immediately gets up. "Hold on, I'll get you some more of the visibility solution-"

"I love you too," I mutter and he immediately stops before he can even turn around. I was wrong, Gassy isn't pitiful. He's fortunate, he can love somebody so purely and so strongly and he can make decisions to decide he will never not trust me. I'm envious of that kind of pure feeling but I can't, I'm a coward, after all. Getting up as my body returns to normal, only invisible this time now that the solution has faded but I grasp onto my chest. It was too much, I'll need to take the cure later.

"What did you say?" Gassy asks with wide eyes but I ignore him and pass by him, well almost before he grabs a hold of my wrist. "What the hell did you say?!" he shouts this time and I simply pull away from him and turn towards my room. I have to hurry. Quickly digging into the drawer underneath my bed I grab a handful of cures and stuff them in my pocket. "Ze, Ze where the hell are you?" Gassy demands with a shaky voice. Without a word I take a deep breath before dashing to my door and closing it forcefully behind me with only one thing in mind: I need to escape. Successfully. I can't let Chilled die because he refuses to take me back. I just can't.