Drake stopped and wrapped his arms around Drakine. "Don't lose yourself to hate." He breathed into her ear. "We'll take care of this." He said.

Storm walked away, feeling more sad than ever, feeling too awkward next to such love. He scanned the horizon, not knowing what to do.

Drakine rumbled something incoherent in Drake's shoulder as she buried her head against it. She closed her eyes tightly, low growling reverberating from deep in her throat.

Taylor took the eggs out of the pan and asked Luke to grab her some plates. While she waited for that, she took the bacon out of the microwave and grimaced as it burned her hands. She gritted her teeth, cursing to herself for not using an oven mitt and set the bacon on the table. She picked up her gl*censored* of milk and walked over to the table. She set the bacon down, still on it's microwave plate, and put her gla.ss. down. Then she went back to Luke to see if he had put the eggs on the plate.

_______________________

Drake hugged Drakine closer, stroking her back comfortingly. He leaned down and put his head in the crook of her neck.

Storm looked at the two. He examined the boy, Drake. Something about him brought back memories and he wasn't sure if they were happy or not. He looked at him one more time, but the thoughts had slipped away. He swore he could hear the patter of rain around them and the sound of thunder in the distance. He looked around. It was raining. He got up. "We'd better go before this storm sets in." Storm said. He could sense that it was going to get worse. He could feel the lightning sparking in the sky.

Drakine glanced up from Drake's shoulder. Her eyes were back to their normal black. "I always wanted to take on a storm. But the lightning is always to quick for me," she said, frowning slightly. "And I don't feel like getting a cold. That would be unfortunate for my fire abilities." Twisting slightly, to get out od Drake's hold, she let her fingers intertwine with his. "Lets go find the others," she told Drake, whispering softly.

Drakine smiled before she cast a glare over the shaking man. Her hair was now wetted down and hung heavily against her back. Her bangs hung in her eyes and when she looked through the strands, it gave her a more feirce appearance. "Let's go before anybody else spots us," Drakine said as she pulled Drake after her as she moved steathily towards were Storm was.

Drakine nodded and let go of Drake's hand. "We should follow her before she tells the other teachers," she said. She had been there longer than most, and knew what she was talking about. Shaking her head quickly, she let the water spray from her black hair before she followed Ms Dark.

Ms. Dark rounded the corner and entered the gym area. She looked back, but already knew they were following her. The presence of their minds clear in her head. She looked up at the wall of the gym, in the center of the floor, there was a small symbol. That of a dove. She looked down and pressed her hand onto the center of it. She mumbled "Ελπίδα." and the crack opened up, revealing a staircase. "Follow me." She said. Drake followed Ms. Dark down the p*censored*ageway, intrigued.

Ms. Dark walked down the winding flights of stairs and at the end, they opened up into a large room. The walls were bare, but there was a couch and a rug covering the stone flooring. Torches were lit on the walls and there was a door to the right of the room. Ms. Dark opened it and the group found themselves walking into a huge training field. It held many serious looking machines and targets for practice with who knows what. Obstacle courses dotted the campsite. Ms. Dark turned to face them. "I lead you here to a room not known by most. I hope you use it wisely." She said to them before walking back up the flight of stairs. When she reached the top, she said "Ελπίδα." again and it opened up.

Drake looked at Drakine, a smile creeping on his face. "Cool." Was all he could say. The man looked around in awe. Storm walked up to him. "Okay. Let's tie him up." He walked over to a training station and found some rope. He brought it back and tied the man's hands together. "Now what?" He asked the other two.

((Ελπίδα is the GREEK word for hope.))

Drakine's lips curved in an evil smile. "Lock him in a closet and block the door with somethng heavy," she said, glaring daggers at the man. Then she strode off to look at the different machines. The firelight from the torches made her eyes shine.

Drake gave the kid a skeptical glance, not sure whether to take Drakine seriously or not. He sighed, looking around the arena. He spotted a couple of metal chairs against the wall. He walked over and grabbed one, then walked back to Storm. "Okay, let's tie him up." The man glared at them, but Drake could see exhaustion dragging at him and the wounds on his side looked infected. "I'm going to die so i might as well tell you what i know. For one, i am a power also." He said. Drake stood, surprised. "I was captured and experimented on and eventually my powers grew stronger and expanded. i can do many different things now, but with some difficulty and more concentration because i haven't used them in a while. I can do the same as your friend Taylor can do. Her blood was injected into me with a fluid mixed in with it that i am not telling you about. That is going with me to the grave." He laughed. "So, what we've learned is that your powers can be transferred to other people, but most die. I was the first succesfull out of hundreds of thousands. I was special you see. Still, my powers grow." He wheezed a laugh. "I'm sure your friend can do many more things than she is showing now. She is more capable of anything you could imagine. That is, unless the poison doesn't kill her first. It can take years for the effects to take place, but you never know. Right now she is our second survivor. That is why we are so intent on finding you kids. We want your power, your skill, and your will. We will win whether you know this or not. I hope you perish and burn in the fiery pits of hell." He hissed before his head rolled forward and he blacked out. His wounds were still bleeding and they were infected, but Drake didn't care. He was looking at Storm now. Storm's face looked pained and distorted. Something about that face sparked in Drake's memory.

"What is your name?" He asked him. Storm looked up. "Storm." Drake stumbled back. "No. You can't be...you can't be my brother." Shock flashed across Storm's face and then disbelief and finally anger. "I remember what you did to me." He hissed. Drake stumbled over the words. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I was only twelve years old. Forgive me!" He said. Storm ran up to Drake and hugged him. "I'm never going to forgive you for that, but you are my brother." He said, sure of himself now.  Tears ran down Drake's cheeks and he hugged Storm.

Drakine glanced back to see Storm and Drake hugging. In a brotherly sort of way. Shrugging at their family love, she stopped in front of the targets. Keeping her eyes on the center of the target, she backed up a few paces as fire sparked on her palms. Tilting her head to one side, she brought up her arms as flames spiraled off her skin and formed a fire-like bow. Pulling one arm back, a fire arrow appeared, coming from her palm. The firelight shone against her skine, making her eyes and hair shine nearly white. Steadying her arm, she took aim.

"No," she said, her tone tight with concenration. Noticing Drake, look at the bleeding man, Drakine let loose fire arrow. Just as it was about to hit the target it curved and hit the man's wounded side; searing the skin and stopping the bleeding. With the scent of burnt flesh in the air, Drakine wrinkled her nose and let loos another arrow. This one hit the target and the flames swirled off the target.

"Then why did he talk like he was a mortal?" she asked, using her term for non-powered, as she lowered the fire bow before it disperesed. Drakine looked at him with slight confusion.

"Who knows?" Drake said. The man's head was still down, but Drake could see his steady breathing. "He said he needed to concentrate or something and i'm pretty sure he coouldn't do that with him in your talons." Drake laughed.

The man was in a trance, trying to reach his inner power. He knew they would just see him appear to be asleep.  He focused on his wounds. The burning feeling and while beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, the wounds were starting to heal. Slowly, almost so slowly, you wouldn't have even known they were healing, but they were.

Storm looked down at the man. When he saw his face the first thing he thought was Whoa, is this dude constipated or something? He shook his head, scattering those thoughts. Storm watched the man, but didn't notice that his wounds were scabbing up faster than usual and the rim on the outside was turning a slight pink.

Drakine growled with disgust. "My claws will be in him again. Soon," she said as she used her flames to make another fire bow.