-Ze-

"Welcome to America." Grabbing onto the strap of my bag tightly, I cautiously take each step down the plane slowly just glad I made it out of the air safely. Who knew that taking the plane could be terrifying? While I believe humans have no reason to be afraid, us Hidden should always be afraid near any piece of technology. Even if I apparently don't affect technology at all it doesn't help that I'm on a plane with two other Hidden who can very well affect the plane signals and crash and end our lives and like that the story would be over. As I make it to the ground I sigh in satisfaction I'm alive and glance back to watch Francis and Michael both laughing and walking down the steps as if they didn't just risk their lives by climbing into the huge chunk of technology that is amazingly able to fly in the sky and yet they're not a little shaken at all. I guess Hidden are used to taking risks like these all of the time, but this is my first time. I wonder if Leo felt like this when he first became a hidden. Come to think of it, I wonder when and why he became a Hidden to begin with?

"Steeveen, why'dja hafta get off all by yoself?" I narrow my eyes at the man behind me and just realize the smell of alcohol is basically emitting off of Francis. I didn't know they even had drinks in the plane, but from the looks of both Francis and Michael they're both taking very uneasy steps and stumbling onto each other. Maybe that's how they got through riding the plane without a single worry, because they're drunk as fuck. One of them stumbles towards me and I immediately back off causing them to fall onto the floor. Immediately I turn away from the two of them and walk away, immediately losing all previous respect I had for the two I thought were professionals at least. Hell, I'd probably be able to run away right now from the two drunkards, although I know well I won't get far before some Hidden or another would find me. It's not like I have anywhere else to go either. I just have to survive here with these two for two weeks before I return to Italy and relax with Leo again. Not exactly relax but at least I know how to live around him, and he hardly stinks of alcohol.

"You're the Hidden staying here for a couple weeks?" I turn towards the source of the voice and immediately the man coughs in what seems like shock and holds onto his stomach in his shock. I stare at the strange man who just seems to continue to die in front of me as he coughs his lungs out while the two drunkards stumble their way over to us.

"Chillled, wait, we hafta tell ya something," Francis slurs and drapes his arms over the poor confused guy's shoulders as he raises a hand up to his nose in disgust. I watch silently and turn away, still wondering if I can escape now while they're all distracted by the two drunkards. "If ya bleep one word to li'l steeve o'er there I'mma hafta kill ya," Francis says and giggles as he raises his knife towards the other Hidden's throat. "Or more like leonerder'll kill ya. If yer really on our side ya'll listen, right?" The man gulps underneath the knife and nods, slowly guiding Francis off of him and back to stumble backwards onto Michael.

"Yeah... yeah I got it. You could have given me a warning though," the man says with wide eyes and turns towards me with a smile. The first thing I notice on him is his dimples, and a great smile although there's something troubling about it. "Hey... uh, Steven, I'm Anthony. Call me Chilled." I stare at his dark eyes for a while before nodding and turning away. Was this the Hidden they wanted to introduce me to? I thought that it'd be another old guy since the elders are the only ones who can see other Hidden, at least that's what I was told but this guy seems to be able to look directly at me and see me in front of him, actually see my eyes and such. Hidden... are invisible, right? It isn't just some big joke that Leo somehow pulled right over my head? Maybe they just wanted me to be with someone else, around my age who can also see the Hidden. Can he use technology? I glance back at Chilled who seems troubled but looking back to the other two who came with me.

"Are you-..." I stop myself before I can ask any of my curiosities only gaining his attention. Leo will be mad if I learn more, if I become interested in a person other than him. Leo's existence has basically become a constant presence in the back of my head since I'm worrying for my own safety. "They only sent you? Are you supposed to take us to the base here?"

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't... expecting these guys to be this fucking wasted though," Chilled complains seeming irritated but the two just laugh at themselves and shake their heads.

"We can get there ouselfs, haf fun Steevie," Francis says and motions for us to go on. Suddenly Chilled grabs a hold of my arm and forces me at his pace as he vaults randomly in some direction. I blink in shock but turn around and match his pace as he pulls me through several empty meadows before we begin to enter a thick forest with trees surrounding us completely. Just as suddenly as he pulled me away he stops us and suddenly hugs me, his arms wrapped around me tightly and his breathing a bit rough. Surprised and extremely confused I just look down to him and hold a hand awkwardly a bit off his back while the other is just as awkward at my side.

"Um... Chilled? You, uh... alright?" I ask hesitantly. Is this guy... just really lonely or something? He pulls away from me so I can see his face and just with the view of his face right there something hurts in me. I've never seen a Hidden seem so sad before, or pained like this. The only Hidden I've seen, Leo and the two guys back by the plane, have all to some extent never shown any big sort of emotions like this I assumed we were all incapable.

"Fuck you, Ze. No, you know what? Fuck you and your Hidden ways. Where the fuck have you been?"

"Do I... Did I know you?" I ask hesitantly and immediately push him away and turn away from the man. This is why Francis wanted to introduce me to this guy, and why Leo didn't want to introduce me to this guy. This is a dangerous situation, I am not supposed to remember anything, or else Leo would get rid of me.

"Ze, don't you fucking run. What the fuck do you mean do you know me? Did you forget your own-"

"We should get going. People will get suspicious if we're too late," I mention and he looks at me like he cannot understand my words at all. I take a deep breath and look at him plainly. "I'd appreciate it if you don't make this more dangerous for both of us." Chilled blinks in confusion but then frowns, crossing his arms but sighs and waves his arm, motioning for me to follow him.

He seems... mad. But the way he's mad isn't straight out yelling at me mad but it's like he's disappointed, upset, salty. I'm surprised Leo let me go alone, considering everything he worked for regarding me can just crumble apart just like this. Eventually a large building is in the distance, seeming like an abandoned warehouse only there are plenty of Hidden standing along the wall there, all of their eyes darting towards us when we come into sight. Chilled walls slightly ahead of me while I feel a bit slower as I take in the surroundings. It's definitely warmer here, for now at least, with a different kind of trees surrounding the building all hiding the otherwise very noticeable building. The Hidden look to us very suspiciously and block our way in when Chilled approaches them but the way they look at us, it seems off. So it's true, regular Hidden can't see the others, it's only the elders, Chilled, and me who are the different ones.

"This is Chilled, and the new guy, Steven," Chilled explains and upon hearing his voice they instantly recognize Chilled and step aside. As Chilled walls inside the door nearly closes in my face as I try to follow him inside. He really is upset with me, although it isn't yelling upset anymore at least which makes me a bit glad. The fact he isn't even turning to face me is a bit relieving as well, I'm a bit afraid to look at his face after what happened in the forest. Honestly, I should report to Leo what happened if I stay true to my obedient ways as his pet. But then again, I don't want Chilled to get in trouble just for having known me in the past. Or maybe it was a mistake, it could have been an honest mistake... At least I hope it was.

"You'll only be staying here temporarily, and in that time I will be your partner. You just have to accompany me to the next mission then you're going to be sent somewhere else to another base without me. We'll stay in the same room," Chilled explains, motioning to a random room among the many we passed by. I open the door and slowly study the room that seems like it used to just be a storage room for this building that looks like an abandoned warehouse. Sighing I set my bag on the empty bed and glance back to Chilled, surprised to find him staring at me. "Do you really not remember me? How about the others? Max?"

"Sorry, but don't talk about it anymore. Unless you want to get in trouble," I answer and he frowns showing a clearly upset expression before sighing and leaning on the doorway.

"So you're telling me those fuckers brainwashed you and now you don't remember shit?" I blink in surprise at his harsh language towards the people he works with. Suddenly he slams his fist against the wall and turns away from me. "I'll get you help, Ze."

"Help? Do I nee-... Chilled, don't do anything risky. You know what'll happen if they catch you," I say when I realize just now that Chilled is revealing some traitory traits in front of me right now. He raises an eyebrow and smiles this big smile that I somehow find familiar.

"C'mon Ze, you should know I don't give a shit about whatever they're trying to threaten me with. Unless it involves one of my good friends, like you, I'd be a bit upset." I stare at him for a while before sighing and crossing my arms, feeling suddenly troubled. Especially now that I'm finding something strange and vaguely familiar in his smile. Leo was right, I should have no matter what, denied to be sent here because he definitely wanted to keep me away from remembering something like this. Most of the time I'm afraid of remembering for my own sake, whether it's being murdered by Leo or simply having a whole lot of bad memories. Plus, after being a bit emotionless after all of this time and seeing how pained this guy seems when he looks at me, I think it'd be better without emotions.

"Am I really important to you?" I mutter, conflicted suddenly after this guy is declaring such a thing. It's not like he knows me, who I am now. After all, it must have been years since I've seen this guy, if he's telling the truth anyways and he actually did know me. Chilled looks away from me when I ask the question, his eyes becoming dark for a second before his eyes focus on something in the hallway I can't see.

"Supervisor's calling me, just chill and make yourself at home," Chilled says suddenly stepping out of the doorway disappearing from sight. But before I get to actually relax he pops up at the doorway with a sort of strange expression. "But yeah, I mean, you were. If you'd like to believe me, we were best pals. Then some shit happened, but shit always happened and we were always together, besides that time you left. I dunno, somewhere in there shit got really fucking confusing, just trust me. We were best pals." I raise an eyebrow in doubt but he just laughs and waves it off before retreating, closing the door behind him and leaving me alone. It seems like I met a really strange character, but it makes me glad. Unlike everyone else I've met thus far he seems like the friendliest, and the funnest, even if being with him would prove to be problematic for me. I hope he doesn't get fired for something he'll pull. I feel like things would be a lot more fun with him hanging around. Somehow I'm liking and hating this trip to America at once.

-Gassy-

"Chilled hasn't written or visited at all," Diction randomly notes just as several bullets are shot through the air drowning out his voice. Glancing over at him I lower the ear protection I had covering my ears and lower my gun from the position pointing towards the paper far away.

"Yeah? Are you worried? You don't tell me every time you get a note, what's the usual time between notes?" I ask curiously, since it's rare that Diction actually worries for Chilled who always manages to pull through in the end. If it is a larger amount of time than usual then I'll be worried for sure, since I suspected they had something fishy going on. I highly doubt the Hidden took Chilled in without any suspicions of his loyalty considering he was working with us for quite a while before switching over, after his own boyfriend went through some shit as well. Yeah, the bosses from the Hidden must surely have never completely trusted Chilled from the start, so I wouldn't surprise if they're testing him now to check if he will stay with them when the situation comes to it. But the thing is, I don't know what they'd try to surprise him with off the battlefield.

"Usually at least every three days he leaves some sort of update to what he's been doing but it's already been a week. It makes me a bit anxious, I guess we really got so used to having a spy I'm a bit worried about when an attack is going to happen and we have no warning. After being so spoiled for so long it feels weird to be like we were before Chilled," Diction complains, firing a few shots all landing exactly where he wanted, three in the head and to in the chest. He must be frustrated without any sort of information or foreword on what the Hidden are working on now after having Chilled as a luxury now. It's bothering him more than me though, which is understandable since he was the one reading the notes while I never directly read the notes. Hell, I didn't even know how often he even places them at the usual spot. Although, it is a bit distressful to know our captain doesn't have his shit together unlike usual.

"Well, I guess you'll have to do it the old fashion style," I say with a shrug, gently letting the pistol in my hand fall onto the small table. "Research, have a team go to BRIN, look for hints or something like that. I doubt there's still Hidden there, there's hardly anything worth a cent in there now."

"That's what I was planning to do, but it takes too much damn time. Just don't tell Nanners we're worried about Chilled, he'll be out of sorts and I can't have any of us even a bit off guard."

"He's probably already the most worried about Chilled, from the moment he joined the Hidden," I mutter before sliding the ear protection back on and picking up the pistol. I know when I was the one who had a boyfriend out with the Hidden I was worried sick. Although it seems as if the situation is completely different, in reality, it's entirely the same. Both of them were being held by the Hidden and both of them have the condition that if they leave, they die. It's a contract you sign as soon as you decide to get friendly with a Hidden, Nanners and I both know that extremely well, being targets ourselves still. The only reason they likely avoided attacking us for so long is the manpower behind this base exceeds that of any other base, likely in the world. Taking a deep breath I take my shots and frown with the results as I hit the switch by my side to bring the papers to me and lower the ear protection.

"Well I can't have more than one sergeant off their guard. Gassy, how long is this going to last?" Diction asks, seeming sincerely worried for me but it only irritates me. Ripping off the paper and crumbling the results with my hands I toss it to the pile of the couple of sheets I've already used up today.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine on the battlefield and that's all that matters. If it were my guess, either KRIM or SIRE will be attacked next. I'm going to call them and make sure they're prepared enough for an attack, then I'm going home."

"You're going home today? It's about time, I was about to call child services, Jesus," Diction complains and I just roll my eyes as I toss the ear protection and other equipment back to the storage. "But seriously, Gassy. If you need me to go out and find that base and find Ze's dead body, I'll pull some strings if that'd help you get back to your groove." I hesitate, pausing from walking away but without a word I open the door and slam it behind me, with a bit more force than necessary. I'm just tired of everyone all going "Ze this" "Ze that" when I'm over here trying to forget. It doesn't help when everyone who wants you to forget just constantly remind you to forget. I make two steps before I notice someone in the distance and immediately turn around.

"Hey! I know you saw me!" the annoying voice calls out to me and before long I feel the arms charge towards me and wrap around me over my shoulders. I frown but hold the wrists to help steady the increasingly annoying presence in my life. "So what's up, Gassy? It's been a while since I've seen you. How's Elaine doing?"

"What are you doing?" I groan, turning to the overly excited woman with a card strung around her neck showing she is here with permission, much to my disappointment with her little camera in her hands ready to report. Ze's favorite little reporter much to my jealousy. There have been a few times where I found her trying to sneak into the base and immediately get kicked out when I encounter her. It's been a while since she's tried since there hasn't been much to report in the first place. I don't even know why she's here today to begin with but she follows me like a little puppy when I'm actually just trying to somehow lose her.

"I heard you started up that petition to bring Ze's innocence. It's going viral you know, it's becoming a huge debate and I think you're gonna do it. The majority is on your side, especially the nerds but you know," Alice giggles seeming more excited about it than I am. I nearly forgot I did that when it wasn't too long ago at all, but when Diction didn't report anything to me at all about it I didn't bother asking after making the attempts to forget about Ze. Diction probably didn't bother telling me shit to support that too, but here's Alice to do the complete opposite. "Aren't you excited? You were the one to start it. I was really happy when I saw you were the one that started it. 'Cause... it was, in the end, kind of your fault. And most definitely mine! Both of ours, I guess, but mostly you."

"Thanks. Glad to know you're on my side." Opening the door to my office I don't bother holding the door open for her but she still continues and follows behind me, closing the door behind her and taking a seat in front of my desk. Clicking through my PC I find the files I have on the bases nearby and quickly scribble down on a random paper on the table their captain's phone numbers and stare at the numbers and look up to Alice, making herself comfortable. "So... how long you gonna loiter on base?"

"I'm not loitering! I'm here on business, I've got questions for you-"

"Yes I started the petition to get Ze's innocence back because it's something that needs to be done. If anybody the people should trust the guy who everyone believed to be the one he wanted to frame. It's the simple truth that the little fucker was innocent, I'd know as one of the people who knew him best. Hell, you know too Alice, you were close to him as well. He's just a little slow at times and has terrible memory but he had an amazing mind but he didn't have the heart to do anything bad no matter the situation. Use any of those words to your advantage, I need to get to work," I complain, hoping it's enough to get her and everybody else out of my business but instead of leaving she sits there on the chair staring at me with shining eyes. Groaning I pull out my phone and nearly start dialing but Alice speaks up before I get to actually do my work and do my own business.

"Gassy... are you alright? Is it really bothering you after two years? I mean... I..." She hesitates when she notices my irritated expression but takes a deep breath and sighs, tears rimming her eyes as she pushes her hair back and looks away. "I guess I had more time to grieve than you did. You know I loved him as well, we have more in common compared to others when it comes to that. But, when I found out and the day they announced his official death I cried and didn't sleep that night. But you... hell you were probably here or on a mission. You never got to grieve, did you? Convince Diction to give you a break or something, plus, you have Elaine and she'll definitely bring a light to your life as well. But trust me, the night of crying really helps out. I promise. Well, I should go, I think I overstayed my welcome from that scary look on your face. I'll go talk to Diction then leave, I'll... see you later. Maybe I'll go visit you and Elaine someday, I think she'd really like that. That girl has always been attached to me, she's like my little sister so you better take care of her. Well, bye." Alice scurries to my door and disappears, leaving me staring blankly at the door.

She's become a lot more beautiful since that time I first met her. In the beginning she was like a little brat with a big crush on Ze, and that annoyed me a lot at first but as time went on and I noticed her getting serious the annoyance was lowering and the fear was increasing. The rumors that a girl gets more beautiful after loving must be true then, but that's what makes them scary. It's like they find out they need to advance in order to get what they want, but at the same time it's astonishing how amazing they can be. Alice has sure matured a lot more than I have from the past, already moving on so easily like this, unlike me. It makes me feel a bit guilty for just moping around without moving on while she's out there making a name for her new news company and even trying to get the truth out. But the most important truth: my own guilt in place of Ze's is something she hasn't tried to pull off yet. Which is strange, because just two years ago I was so certain that she hated my guts and would do it in a second. She did do it in a second, in fact. I guess... she really has matured. She'll most definitely get someone else in a second. Ze must be relieved about it too.