Alleya wanted to stay here with Theo. She didn't like to see him like this. She had always admired the gang leader, in a way. He was tough and grumpy at times, yes, but she could also see his passion toward the gang. She had seen him do some pretty courageous things for the gang, even risk his life. But he had always seemed untouchable. He was a damn good fighter, best she had ever seen. He was one that taught her to fight before she joined the gang.

Before a person joined the gang, they would spend a 2 week trial practice where they learned how to work with others and the lifestyle of a gang. Normally the trial would consist of a mentor and a group to oversee them. She had turned to the gang for protection more than shelter. She feared that her ex would find her. She didn't want to go back to her past life. Plus, she was very comfortable in Theo's gang. It took weeks of hard work proving herself and getting where she was now.

She still looked uncertain about leaving Theo. After all, he never gave up protecting her and mentoring her. Leaving him like this, well with Nicke, made her feel like she was abandoning him. She knew she was being silly and in a way, her new friend was right. She felt his hand go onto his shoulder, directing her attention fully to him. She hadn't expected the act of affection from him. He had seemed pretty against gestures like that, or at least that was her first impression of him. Maybe she was wrong or she was starting to rub off more on him.

So she sighed and put her arms up in mock surrender. As much as she hated to admit it, Nicke was right.

"I'll be back halfway through the night to trade places with you," She knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep so she didn't tell him to wake her up. There was no need to sugar coat it, he knew she wasn't going to sleep either,"Come get me as soon as he wakes up, if he does before I come back."

She reached out and brushed her hand against Theo's before turning to leave. She paused and looked back once. Surely he was going to be okay. She then stepped out and headed to see if Mitchie needed her. She wanted to check on things before laying down.

Mitchie didn't need anything from Alleya. The gang seemed to be finishing the night tasks together to make them quick. None of them had seemed seriously hurt. A few bloodied noses, a few knife cuts, and some were limping. The attacks hadn't weakened the gang's spirit or separated them. It instead had made it stronger. She helped clean out the restrooms and lied saying that Theo's had already been done, that he did it himself before he left. Once the chores were done, the gang ventured out together to wash their hands in a nearby pond. Some decided to bathe while they had the chance and protection of the large group. There was probably about 40 people total to the gang. She decided to bathe with them, they were all extremely comfortable with eachother. They were like one big family, united temporarily by the events that had happened.

Once done, everyone ended back together and went to sleep together. Except for a few volunteers to help the night gaurds out. They wanted to have extra protection in case another gang tried to do something. She sat in her sleeping space, her head resting on the wall. Eventually she did drift off to a very light sleep.

Throughout the rest of the night, Theo slept without too much of a problem. The only sign that gave away that the leader was alive was the occasional hand twitch or whimper. Sometimes he would squeeze Nike's hand very weakly too. It was as if was trying to come back to consciousness but fighting something invisible, that only existed in his mind.

Alleya did wake up just on time to switch places with Nike. She had woken up to the sound of footsteps next to her. When she looked up, she saw the people who volunteered to keep extra watch switching. That's what had woken her up. She stretched and stood up, figuring it was about time to switch with Nike. She waited for the extra help to switch before sneaking out of her spot and into Theo's room.

"Hey, it's me," She whispered as she came in. Her hair was still a little wet from the bath she had in the pond. She had changed clothes too, now wearing a pair of olive green sweatpants and a black longline sports bra, which in theory was just a cropped tanktop with built in padding. The outfit did show up the black and green bruise from where she got hit. Nothing she could do about it now.

Each gang member got new clothes to put on every week. As the weather got colder, they were also given a jacket. She didn't know how long it was supposed to last them. The smart ones, like herself, always picked dark colors to hide any dirt or stains.

She got closer and saw that Theo was still sleeping. Which might be a good or bad sign. But when she got closer, Theo's eyes suddenly jolted open and he tried sitting up. That only resorted in him gasping in pain. She jolted into action, helping him lay down and grabbing his other hand. His hand tightening around hers so tight it hurt.

"Theo?" She questioned, her wide eyes on him. His eyes were wide with fear. He seemed to relax as his gaze met hers. He slowly was becoming more and more aware to everything.

"Tell him to stop torturing me!" The leader pleaded to her. She was just more confused. She sat down next to him, unsure of what else to do. Who was he?

"My father! Make him stop!" tears formed in the leader's eyes and he struggled to sit up again. He couldn't make it though and somehow ended up with his head on her lap in the process,"Just make him stop!"

Alleya was too shocked to move or say anything.

She was a little panicked. Everything that had happened seemed to be resting heavily on her shoulders. She didn't know what to do or say to help Theo. She had never seen him look so helpless as he as he did here. She was more stunned and trying to process everything.

But she was lucky, Nike seemed to know what to do.

She was surprised to see how gentle and caring he was toward Theo. He seemed to know exactly what to say and how exactly to comfort the gang leader. She just watched Nike and Theo's reaction to it. There was definitely more to Nike than what met the eye.

________

It took many, many moments for Theo to calm down from his nightmares. Yeah, nightmares. That's what he said but really they were based on something real. Something that happened years ago.

When he was calming down, he became more aware of his surroundings and memories came flooding back to him. He remembered hearing something and then being ambushed...by so many gang members. There had to be 6 of them at least. Some of them were dead...some of them he had killed, having no other choice. But it didn't really matter, he still ended up, well, he still ended up getting burned and having his dignity stripped from him.

More of his dignity seemed to be stripped from him as he realized he had been crying into someone else's lap and someone else, a man, was comforting him. And they both had heard him, they both could figure out real quick one of his most prized secrets. He stayed there for many, many minutes, just thinking and processing everything.

Eventually he moved, this time sitting up successfully. Pain ripped through his muscles but he didn't want to embarrass himself any longer. But of course, there was another thing that just added onto the situation. He didn't have his clothes on, the gang had ripped them off of him and tossed them into the burn pile.

"Oh god," He finally expressed and said something a bit more intelligiant and less panicked as before. It was a reaction to everything but also the amount of pain he was in. His eyes shown that pain, he was unable to hide it from showing. He looked up at who was in the room. It was Alleya and the newbie...what was his name?

"Nike?" He questioned allowed and gave a faint nod to himself. That was right, memories from the bar rippled through his mind briefly,"I have a set of next week's clothes underneath the bed. Can you get them?"

He wasn't going to lie, his whole body was sore and each time he moved, it knocked the breath out of him and his muscles seemed to protest in each small movement he did. He was trying to not to let it show, although he had a feeling they both knew he was feeling his wounds. After all, high observation had been a personality quality through the two of them during their tests.

"Are they gone?" He questioned, his voice showing a bit of the pain he was in and his worry for his gang.

"Oh yes, Jasper came back from the bar and beat the last one with a rose bush branch while we were at the pond. Everyone's okay, a bit shaken up, but okay."

Theo closed his eyes and gave a sigh of relief at Alleya's statement and reassurace , his worry fading some. He would deal with the other gang later. He was sure he and his gang had reminded them that they weren't welcome here. At least for a while.

It wasn't the first time he had been beaten, it had just been a long time since he had been beaten to this degree. It would probably be a little while before he would be healed. He was just glad his gang was okay, the Rebels had appeared out of nowhere and harrassed him for what seemed like no reason.

He took the clothes as they were handed to him. For some reason, Nike's cheeks looked slightly red. He didn't decide to question it. He took the clothes and studied them. He didn't think he would be able to stand having a shirt on right now. He also wasn't too sure about being able to handle standing to put on anything. But he knew he wanted to. His skin prickled in embarrassment and a blush of his own appeared on his cheeks.

"Here, I'll help," Alleya had been studying him and had noticed the way he had been staring at his clothes. She stood up and held her hands out for Theo to take.

"No, no, I-I can..just give me a second-"

"Theo grab my hands now," She interrupted him with a stern tone. He couldn't help but look at her and arch an eyebrow. The tone of her voice reminded him of Flynn. Another quality the red-haired woman had with her. It was a bit disturbing that their personalities were almost a perfect match to each other. Sighing, he took her hands and stood up. He let out a few curses and once he had his balance, she let go of him to help him get dressed.

"Don't act like you've never done this for me before," She scolded him as she helped him. He was reminded of what happened her second week here. She had fallen off a cliff and sprained her ankle. She also got a concussion from the fall. He had taken care of her until she could walk. He had bathed her, braided her hair, and even dressed her. He had felt partially responsible, that's why he helped, even when she refused.

She wouldn't even let him help her with getting him dressed. Each time he went to, she would smack his hands away. He ended up just standing there, his arms crossed, and looking toward the window by the bed.

Once his bottom half was dressed, he moved to sit back down. He sat with his head against the headboard and closed his eyes. He wasn't sleeping though, just wanting to rest them. He grumbled his thanks to Alleya. He was okay with being shirtless, it would allow time for the burns to get air they needed to heal.

"What did the Rebels want?" He asked the two, hoping they had more information than he knew. He was greeted with silence and opened his eyes to find Alleya glanced down and running a thumb along her left wrist. Both her wrists were wrapped in gauze, he didn't noticed that before. He waited and then questioned again,"What happened?"

Theo frowned a little as he was met with silence from Alleya. Silence wasn't her strongest pursuit and definitely not something he had seen very often. If it wasn't a surious situation, he might have teased her about it. Instead, his gaze remained sharp and focused on finding the answer.

That's one thing about him, he always cared for the gang. He could ignore every ounce of pain in his body if the matter concerned his gang. They meant the world to him. He didn't know when, how, or where he developed such emotions for them or even how they went from Flynn's to his but they had. He would be damned if he was going to let anybody or any gang take that away from him. He had turned this group of low life criminals and the homeless into a family. His gang had something that others lacked and that was connection.

Nike ended up answering his question. His gaze didn't leave Alleya though. He was concerned for her. The woman reminded him so much of Flynn, it hurt. He knew Flynn would become silent each time she experienced something traumatizing. He wondered if Alleya also shared that. He did hear Nike and took in everything the man had said. He didn't answer right away, he was taking a few more extra minutes to process. To figure out what was next.

"Is that all?" he asked. Alleya was still rubbing her wrists. He reached out and stopped her by lightly touching her hand. She jumped and tore herself from Theo, moving toward his window.

"Don't touch me," She crossed her arms and he watched her lean her head against the window. Clearly something was wrong.

"Alleya," he pressed a little more, his voice trying to sound gentle but he couldn't master it. Not with how much pain he was in. It sounded more like a warning which was the opposite of what he wanted.

"He told me he would kill us one by one, starting with me, okay?!?" She raised her voice at him. He arched an eyebrow but didn't correct the behavior, as much as he felt the urge to. He knew when to watch his mouth. Also, what he heard was more disturbing.

"I want extra patrols and a buddy system. Nobody leaves base without an assigned buddy. I will announce buddies in the morning, they'll be designed to best fit," He paused and added,"He targeted you for some reason. Until I know that, I don't want you leaving my sight."

It was for her best interest. He couldn't risk losing her. He knew he only felt this way because she was so much like Flynn. He just couldn't...he couldn't deal with the pain of losing another part of Flynn again.

"That's unfair, Theo. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself," Alleya turned to him, anger in her eyes,"I don't need special protection from you or anybody!"

She spat on the floor next to his bed and angrily walked out, slamming the door so loud that it caused the walls of the room to tremble.