As Sophie continued to fall, she began to ponder a few things. For starters, how would she even begin to search for Nathan? If he was with the LDPD and Nathan had told her specifically not to go to them, then surely, she should heed his advice and stay as far away as humanely possible... but they had Nathan now. And after all he had done for her, who would she be to just abandon him? Cheshire craned his head up towards her as if knowing what she was thinking.

  "You're pnning on going to the LDPD to get Nathan, aren't you?" He asked. He didn’t bother hiding the fact that he thought she was being foolish in his tone. Sophie frowned then nodded slowly, not bothering to lie about her pns.

  "Yes. I don’t really see that I have much of a choice really. He saved me so I should help him." She expined. Cheshire frowned as well as a cat that is known for smiling can.

  "You realize that those people were what Nathan was trying to stay away from, correct? And there was probably more of a reason to not go near those people than just the potential risk of being locked up?" He asked. Sophie nodded again slowly, but this time remained silent as she scanned the doors. Cheshire sighed.

  "And you pn to go anyways." He said, sounding exasperated. Sophie remained silent, attempting to figure out how she would know which door to travel through. She could see some symbols but couldn’t make them out at all. He watched her expression then sighed again, even more exasperated than he had been previously if it were at all possible. Which, with cats, is always possible.

  "Very well. I'm here to assist you in whatever path you choose, not question your decisions as difficult as that may be. And I will read the doors for you for now but soon you will have to learn for yourself." Cheshire said. Sophie looked over at him, furrowing her brows in confusion.

  "Reading the doors?" She asked. Cheshire nodded.

  "When you gain enough skill with your dream walking ability, then you'll be able to read information about the dreams that are on the other side of the doors. The most recent dreams will be seen in the main 'rabbit hole', as you refer to it, but older dreams still remain if you are able to go further back past these doors. You should only go to the recent dreams as the older ones tend to be not active anymore, but I know that some people have been able to access them in some way." He expined, "However, our focus right now is not to access the dreams of the past. It's to read the dreams of the present. If you look at one of these doors before us, you probably see nothing. But I can see the time the dream has been going on for and the estimated time of expiration. The estimated time is because anything can cause the one who is dreaming to wake up and thus the dream disintegrates so we can't know for sure when this mind will awake. Is this making sense?" He asked. Sophie nodded.

  "The doors have the approximate knowledge of how long the person should be dreaming for, but no one can know for sure what will happen in the outside world so no one can know for sure if something like a noise or accident will cause them to wake up from their dream. If the person isn't dreaming, then there can be no dream." Sophie responded. Cheshire nodded.

  "The doors also allow you to know the location of the one currently dreaming. That’s how Nathan has been able to get around, he knows exactly where the dream will allow him to exit. If we enter a dream and find the exit door, we can escape to the outside world. Or, likewise, there are exit doors within the rabbit hole if you're lucky enough to find one, they only seem to pass by as the ones you need so often. Nathan managed to get one to the outside world when you first met if you remember." Cheshire continued, pausing for a moment allowing Sophie to react. She simply nodded and Cheshire continued.

  "Well unless someone is able to call doors to them, you have to leave it to chance that one of those doors will appear before you. But you can still search from door to door to go further into the rabbit hole and search for your path out." Cheshire expined, " But I've gone on for too long. For now, take the door straight ahead. We'll use it to go further in."

  Sophie nodded and maneuvered her way to the door successfully. She grabbed the handle and swung herself and Cheshire in through the other side. They nded ft on the sand of a vast desert. The sun instantly felt as though it was scorching Sophie's skin, and the sand seemed to stretch on for miles. Cheshire fluffed himself back up.

  "I guess someone's being a little over-dramatic about a little thirst." He muttered, then trotted ahead, “Come along, Sophie, there's an oasis ahead with a door."

  Sophie followed the small ferret-catlike creature cautiously, not seeing anything for miles. Cheshire gnced up at her.

  "You can't see it because your mind isn't used to seeing doors. You're seeing things the way the one having the dream would. Once you can open your mind, you'll see it." Cheshire expined before pausing, tapping in mid-air.

  "Though not seeing might make this difficult. Grasp the air with your hand until you feel the handle." He ordered. Sophie nodded and felt around until she felt a cool, round knob. Cheshire nodded and she scooped him up, swinging both of them through the door. They were back in the rabbit hole. Cheshire grinned.

  "Great. We're almost there. I see a door that should lead us straight through the dream." Cheshire stated, pointing at another door. Sophie nodded, maneuvering towards that door and swinging the two of them through. This time they nded in a lush forest, with no exit as far as the eye could see. Cheshire picked himself up and trotted onwards. Sophie quickly stood up and followed behind him quietly, admiring her surroundings. Cheshire let out a sigh.

  "It's too bad we have to save that boy. We could have really made some progress with your training today." He mented, flicking his tail. Sophie frowned.

  "It would be kind of wrong to just leave him, don’t you think?" She asked. Cheshire shrugged.

  "You've never been to the headquarters. To be fair, I haven't either. But back to my previous question, don’t you think there would be a reason as to why Nathan was avoiding it?" He asked calmly. Sophie nodded slowly.

  "I do but... perhaps if we expin..." She began, but Cheshire's hair suddenly sprung up.

  "Sophie. Nathan said there is no expining to these people. I can tell you that much is true. These are the type of people who will attack and ask questions ter. Now I ask you again, are you really prepared to go in there?" Cheshire asked. Sophie paused and stared at her feet for a moment before she nodded quietly.

  "I owe Nathan a lot." She replied. Cheshire sighed before grinning his famous grin as they neared a tree with a door carved into its trunk.

  "Very well then, Sophie. I hope this isn't the st time I see you." He said, leaping onto her shoulders, "Open the door and you should be in the lobby of the headquarters."

  Sophie stared at the door and sucked a deep breath in before gripping the handle tightly in both hands and turning quickly, pushing her way in. She felt the breath escape her as she was suddenly in the middle of a very rge lobby. She gazed upon the rge, grey room. It looked too nice to be a police department, but then again, she supposed that the one funding them was putting in quite a bit of money. Large, comfy looking dark blue couches were off to the side, with a dark wood coffee table and potted pnts. People seemed to be hurrying back and forth, some wearing uniforms and some not, but none seemed to pay her any mind as she stood in this grand room, mouth agape. The cat-creature that was once Cheshire had now become the scarf she recognized. Taking another deep breath in, Sophie puffed up her chest and walked straight towards the receptionist desk where a man was working diligently. He gnced up at her.

  "How can the Lucidia Dream Police Department be of service to you today miss?" He asked. Sophie nodded.

  "I have a friend that I believe is here and I've come to retrieve him." She stated with more confidence than she felt. The man raised an eyebrow.

  "And do you have an appointment to pick up your friend" He asked, sneering as he said the word 'friend'. Sophie frowned.

  "I wasn't aware that I needed an appointment..." She said softly, her face falling. The man sighed, rolling his eyes.

  "Everyone needs an appointment to get anywhere in here. We're very busy people. Now why don't you run along. I'm sure the proper person will be by to pick up your friend soon." He said, sounding as bored as he looked. Sophie raised her eyebrows.

  "Proper person?" She asked. The man looked at her as though she was from another pnet.

  "You know, a parent? Family?" He asked before raising a finger zily in her direction, "Not you, in other words."

  Sophie frowned again, this time furrowing her brows. Before she could speak however, a girl appeared next to the receptionist.

  "That's enough tormenting our guest. Sophie, come this way." A familiar voice said. Sophie looked at the bronze skinned girl standing before her. She didn't recognize the face, but her voice was exactly like one she had heard before.

  "Kavi?" She asked. The girl smiled and nodded before shaking her short bck hair from her deep brown eyes... or eye. One of her eyes had paled and had a sharp scar running through the skin in a jagged vertical line. She was a bit shorter than Sophie, standing at approximately 5'6, though she was quite curvy compared to Sophie who had a bit more of a straight figure. Kavi was clothed in a white tank top and dark green pants, which Sophie assumed were part of the uniform.

  "Yes, I'm surprised you recognize me after only hearing my voice." Kavi excimed, holding out a hand with painted lic fingernails. Sophie gnced between the hand and her face for a moment, hesitating as she was unsure what to do.

  "Come this way, Sophie." Kavi said, reaching over and taking Sophie's hand. Her hand felt warm and gentle as she led her down to a door behind the receptionist's desk, one that Sophie had failed to notice amidst everything else.

  "Now, you don't need to worry Sophie, we haven't harmed a single hair on Nathan's body. We knew you'd be back to pick him up. But the boss will tell you more about that." She expined. Sophie nodded quietly as they came to an elevator, which the two of them then entered. Kavi reached over and hit floor 169. Sophie's mouth fell open before quickly shutting. Of course, she hadn't noticed how tall the building was. She had never seen the outside of it. Kavi grinned.

  "Yeah, the LDPD has 170 floors. We not only have the police department here, but multiple floors for the PL Industries bs as well." Kavi expined, "And we're going almost to the very top, to speak to the second in command here!"

  "The second in command?" Sophie replied, questioning Kavi. Kavi nodded.

  "Well, the big boss himself is usually saved for critical situations regarding both the LDPD and PL Industries, and the other second in command who used to be on floor 168 is for PL Industries only, though he was demoted and sent to the basement years ago due to an incident... So, you're meeting with Leo today." She expined, "and she will tell you what will need to be done in regard to Nathan."

  Sophie nodded as the elevator suddenly stopped and dinged, announcing that they had reached floor 169. Sophie stepped off and turned around to look at Kavi who remained in the elevator.

  "Just go ring the doorbell and she'll let you in. Sorry, this is as far as I go. But I'm sure you'll do just fine." Kavi said gently before the elevator doors shut and the sound of it returning to the main floor resonated through the small room Sophie was currently in. It was just a small hallway with a rge door at the end, and a single button next to it. Sophie sighed. She had made it this far. She was pretty certain no one was going to kill her just yet. She reached a finger up and pressed the doorbell defiantly. There was a moment before the door swung open to reveal a rge woman standing before her. She must have been over 6 feet tall, Sophie figured, and she was very muscur. Her long brown hair had lighter and darker streaks running through it and her eyes were covered in a pair of sungsses. Her jaw seemed well defined, and her lips were painted a deeper colour than her coffee-toned skin. She grinned, though seeing her smile didn't make Sophie feel any better.

  "Ah, you must be the case he was talking about. Come on in, we'll discuss what needs to be done in regard to the other one." Leo said. Her voice sounded a bit rough, though she seemed to be trying to make it sound sweeter than she actually did. Sophie nodded, entering the rge office. It seemed as though the office was the main room, but other rooms were connected. Sophie wasn't surprised. With one floor dedicated to one person, there must be more compartments to this office. Leo sat down at the desk, though everything seemed small in comparison to her. Sophie sat down in one of the chairs, which she was surprised wasn't too big for her. But she presumed that Leo must have normal sized clients that sat in these chairs. Leo sighed, picking up the papers and trying to read them, but she seemed to be straining to read them through her sungsses. She sighed, tearing them off to reveal vibrant green eyes, much more vibrant than Sophie had seen on any normal human being. But Sophie also realized that she did not know too many human beings so how would she know what was normal? As if sensing her uneasiness, Leo gnced over at her.

  "Caramel?" She asked, gesturing to the bowl of gold pstic-wrapped sweets in front of Sophie. Sophie gnced between Leo and the bowl before quietly reaching over to the bowl and grabbing one of the hard caramels. She awkwardly unraveled its wrapping and popped the candy into her mouth, sucking on it silently. She pced the wrapper in her pocket, making a mental note to dispose of it when she left. Leo took a few moments, reading the papers in front of her, before clearing her throat.

  "Alright, so here's the deal. We have a big job coming up that we don’t want to use our soldiers for. Our soldiers have been trained as such and can be great actors, but the target is smart, and we fear she’ll catch on to them sooner. We feel like if we send people who are essentially civilians, you might be able to gain her trust and be allowed into the Insomnia base they’re setting up. So, you’ll need to live over there for a while until you’ve gained her trust. We need to get both our target’s trust and stop the base from being established.” She expined

  Sophie paused for a moment, blinking silently.

  "So, what you're saying is, if Nathan and I can manage to trick your target into spilling her secrets, and betray her so she gets captured and stop this Insomnia organization’s pns, you’ll let us go, just like that… even though he’s a dreamer and is wanted by the LDPD?” She asked. Leo shrugged.

  "Well, it's not like your buddy can keep committing crimes. But if you two stay scott free, then yeah. We'll leave you alone forever and you can do whatever your heart's desire... well as long as it's legal, and you’re not funting your Dreamer status." She expined. Sophie raised her eyebrows.

  "Committing crimes?" She asked. Leo raised a single eyebrow before putting her papers down.

  "You mean he didn't tell you?" Leo asked. Sophie shook her head.

  "He just told me he does odd jobs... and someone else mentioned to me he had gotten into some sort of trouble before… but that’s it." Sophie expined. Leo shook her head and sighed.

  "Typical male." Leo snarled before pulling out a case file and handing it to Sophie. Sophie gently took it in her hands, staring at it. Nathan's name was on it... his st name too.

  "Nathan Coello..." Sophie read aloud. Leo reached across and pced a hand over Sophie's.

  "Look, sweetheart... I'm going to leave you to read this for a bit... If you don't want to go through with the pn, we can forget everything that happened. We're not after you, we're only after the bad guys here." Leo said gently. Sophie nodded; eyes unmoving from the mani-coloured envelope. She opened it gently, skipping the part about Nathan's family background. She figured that was his business. But she deserved to know what kind of a person she was trying to save... She read a few of the charges. Petty theft. Arson. Sophie frowned. These hardly made Nathan a really bad guy... they were nothing to sneeze at, but still. Then her eyes fell upon one charge that made her blood run cold. The st item on the page was written in big bold letters.

  AGGRAVATED MANSLAUGHTER.

  Sophie sat in the chair, unsure of what to do. Her heart pounded and she felt her blood run cold. Her hands trembled as she re-read the same words over and over again, though her mind couldn't seem to process the true meaning behind it. Nathan had a charge of aggravated mansughter. She tried to imagine Nathan even being capable of such a thing but no matter how she tried to imagine it, she couldn't see it. She closed her eyes and id her head on her p. She heard the door open.

  "Look, I know it seems bad... " Leo said gently, ying a hand on her back, "But really, we don't have to go through this whole ordeal with the target. You can just walk out, and we’ll have someone escort you back home..."

  Sophie's head suddenly snapped back up as she turned to face Leo, face wet with tears but a look of determination firm on her face. Leo retracted her hand in shock.

  "I'll do it." Sophie stated. Leo stood there for a moment, unsure of how to react.

  "You'll... go home?" She asked. Sophie shook her head violently.

  "No. I'll find your target. Nathan helped me so I still owe him. I'd have nowhere to go without him. Then, once we're done, I can ask him what happened. I'm sure there's a reason for this." Sophie expined Leo froze before rexing. Her eyes seemed to darken as she nodded.

  "I see. Sophie, I warn you. The target for the mission is a member of Insomnia and is highly unstable." Leo warned. Sophie nodded slowly.

  "That doesn't change my mind." Sophie replied. Leo sighed.

  "Very well. I did warn you. I'll send you down to floor 50. There you'll meet up with Nathan and our operative who will debrief you on exactly what will go down for this assignment. Remember, he’s only free if the mission successful." Leo asserted, leading Sophie back to the door. She handed Sophie another caramel from her pocket.

  "Be careful. This is the only person who's ever managed to escape us after being in our grasp." Leo warned, pressing the button for the elevator. Within moments an elevator had arrived, and Sophie climbed in. Leo reached around the entrance and pressed the button 50 so that it glowed a dim white. Leo stepped back as the doors began to close and Sophie felt the elevator begin to make its descent to the 50th floor. She sighed as she gnced around the four walls of the elevator. She presumed someone could feel decently custrophobic within this elevator and wondered if this was meant for just a few people at a time. Soon a ding interrupted her thoughts as the door opened wide to reveal what appeared to be an office floor with many cubicles. In front of her was another receptionist desk and some more of those comfy seats. Sophie took a step inside, looking around. A woman popped her head out from behind the receptionist's desk, looking a little frazzled.

  "Oh! Hi, can I help you?" She asked.

  "Hi, yes actually... I'm supposed to be meeting someone regarding an assignment?" Sophie asked. The woman looked her up and down.

  "You're not wearing your uniform... are you an enforcer?" She asked. Sophie blinked.

  "Um... not technically. But I made a deal with Leo and-" Sophie began but the woman waved her hand at her.

  "Oh yes, yes, you. The other two will be here momentarily. Kavi will also be joining you but only as backup. Can't trust those Insomnia bastards." The woman growled, then covered her mouth with one hand.

  "Sorry... I'm very passionate about my dislike for those guys I guess." She muttered.

  "Alesia, you should be careful with that mouth. You work in a government building." A voice called out from behind her. Sophie snapped her head to the direction of her voice to see Cole walking over with a bruised Nathan in cuffs. She felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw him.

  "Kavi said you didn't harm a hair on his head." Sophie mented. Cole raised an eyebrow, gncing over at Nathan.

  "Yeah. The st time she saw him we hadn't. But once your friend heard that you had come to get him, he flipped. Had to keep him under control. Sorry." Cole apologized in such a tone that said he wasn’t really sorry. Sophie narrowed her eyes at him.

  "So, you just beat him up? Because he was upset?" Sophie growled. Cole gnced over at her, looking irritated. It was then that Sophie could see a couple bruises on him as well.

  "No. I beat him up because he tried to fight me." Cole snarled, tossing Nathan towards Sophie. She caught him, then quickly tried to catch her bance as well. He then handed Sophie a key which she presumed to be the key for the handcuffs.

  "Go take him to the private washroom and clean him up. We'll meet back here in a few minutes and then I'll take you to my office to give you the lowdown." Cole ordered. Sophie nodded, gently taking Nathan's hand in hers and leading him into the washroom and turning on the light. It was just a small washroom. A toilet and sink. She gently flipped the lid of the toilet down and positioned Nathan to sit down on it. She took the key Cole had passed her and unlocked Nathan's handcuffs, pcing them on the sink counter. She grabbed some paper towel and dabbed at his lip, which had been split and caked in dried blood. Nathan winced but didn't turn to look at her.

  "I thought I wasn't going to see you again..." She said gently, moving some hair out of his face and gently dabbing at a cut on his forehead. Nathan hissed as he cringed.

  "You should’ve stuck with that thought and stayed away.” He grumbled. Sophie frowned.

  "I owe you a debt." She replied. Nathan gnced at her for a second then quickly looked away, chewing his lip a bit.

  "Sophie, that doesn't matter to me. You should have kept yourself safe." Nathan said. Sophie raised her eyebrows before grabbing a new piece of paper towel and pressing against Nathan's bck eye.

  "Well... I'm happy to see you're alive." Sophie said gently. Nathan suddenly reached out and pulled her towards him, his face against her stomach.

  "I'm so happy you're okay..." He said softly, his voice slightly muffled from Sophie's dress. Sophie stood there for a moment before pcing a hand on Nathan's head gently, rubbing his head.

  "I’m happy you’re okay too..." She said gently. Nathan sighed, releasing her after a few moments and standing up.

  “What happened? Where did you go?” He asked. Sophie looked down for a moment before looking back down at him.

  “I… I’m not sure if you’ll believe me but I went to the nightmare realm.” She muttered. Nathan’s eyes widened.

  “But… if you went to the nightmare realm you should be dead now… Not that I want you dead but… no one’s ever gone down there and come back” He expined. Sophie gnced away, crossing her arms tightly as a form of comfort to herself.

  “Nathan… I’m sorry but I don’t really want to talk about it just yet… Can you give me some time to process?” She asked. Nathan paused, then nodded as he let out a sigh.

  “I understand… I’m just so happy you’re okay Soph. Really and truly, I thought I’d never see you again and I couldn’t take that because I…“ He started, making eye contact with Sophie. Her face flushed as she stared straight into his eyes before Nathan broke the eye contact, looking at the floor.

  “You… you mean a lot to me, I mean. And I couldn’t stand the idea of never seeing you again… and you going back to Marigold…” He muttered. Sophie released her breath that she hadn’t even realized she was holding before smiling at him and giving him a hug.

  “You mean a lot to me too Nathan. I’m gd to see you too.” She whispered. Nathan smiled silently to himself as he wrapped his arms around her too. They sat like that for a while before Nathan suddenly cleared his throat and pulled away.

  "Anyways, as much as I wish we could just hide in here forever and not have to face whatever hell is waiting for us out there... we should get moving. There’s no running away now." Nathan stated. Sophie nodded. Nathan smiled as if to comfort her a bit and lead her out of the washroom. Cole stood there tapping his foot impatiently.

  "It took you long enough." He grumbled, "What were you two doing in there? Making out?"

  Sophie and Nathan both opened their mouths to protest, but Cole just held up a hand to stop them before turning around.

  "It doesn't matter. We've got a job to do. Follow me." He ordered. Nathan and Sophie exchanged gnces before following behind him quickly. He opened an office door, ushering them in before closing the door behind them. Sophie and Nathan sat down at the chairs in front of the desk while Cole leaned against his desk, pulling out a file from one of the drawers and pcing it in front of them.

  "The target is Bir Hatter. Once upon a time she was my partner here. She, Kavi… and I all worked on a team together. But when I was about 13, she escaped the Academy never to be seen again. She was a talented machinist and inventor so we would like her back. When she left, she took her test creation, a robot that could not only allow those without dream walking abilities to navigate the rabbit hole, but also warn of any inconsistencies or dangers within the dream before it was entered. We've seen some signs of her work come through in Insomnia's technology so we think she might be hiding out and providing them with the equipment and means to challenge the dream police around the world. But still nothing has surfaced that’s at the level as to what she was working on before she left. We have reason to believe that she's keeping these to herself for unknown reasons, but if these items were to fall into the wrong hands, then it could lead to many people getting hurt. Bir is considered extremely dangerous, so we will need to be careful.” Cole expined. The stern nature he suddenly had caught Sophie off guard. She had wondered how he was a top Dream enforcer before when they spoke, other than with sheer violence, but now she could see. There was an aura about him now that chilled Sophie to her core. He turned to look at Sophie for a moment before speaking again.

  “We’ve recently caught wind of Insomnia’s pns to establish a new link to another part of the world, in the outer wilds of Engnd, about 2 hours from London. The pn is to send you both in as tourists in London to befriend her and gain her trust to allow us an in to wherever she’s building this dream door, and hopefully a chance for her to put her walls down just enough that we can apprehend her and return her to the LDPD.” Cole continued. Sophie made a face and Nathan said nothing for a few moments.

  “Why isn’t someone from the LDPD doing this?” Nathan finally asked. Cole rolled his eyes; the personality Sophie had become accustomed to poking through a bit.

  “You both will have a different aura about you. Unfortunately, most of our enforcers are recognizable to each other on account of, you know, our mark.” Cole expined, casually fshing a small tattoo on his wrist.

  “So… our job is to gain her trust and then betray her?” Sophie asked. Cole shrugged, grabbing a few things from his drawers and putting them into a briefcase.

  “Sure. You can look at it that way.” He said rather cooly, “What does it matter? You won’t see her again after this.”

  Sophie and Nathan exchanged gnces. This was the only way Nathan could be free. And it’s not as if she owed this mysterious Bir Hatter person anything… Nathan suddenly spoke up.

  “If you bring her back this way,” Nathan asked, “Will she ever forgive you?”

  Cole paused for a moment, his eyes looking down at his desk as he stood frozen in thought. After a moment, he straightened up and looked Nathan in the eyes, his eyes darkening. Sophie felt her blood run cold as the room was filled with an intense atmosphere.

  “It doesn’t matter if she hates me for the rest of our lives. We need to bring her back here. There has been enough bloodshed from her hands, and she needs to be held accountable. Besides. The LDPD can’t afford to have her technology fall into the wrong hands. It could mean the end of the world as we know it. The safest thing for everyone, is if Bir is in custody.” Cole stated. He turned around, looking out the window.

  “The pn is well thought out. It’s a great pn. Everything will turn out the way it should be, by the order of the LDPD” he said, his voice sounding ft. It sounded like something he had repeated to himself over and over again until he had memorized it. He spun back around, looking at both of them. His usual cocky personality seemed to have returned.

  “Kavi and I will be close by, just so you both don’t run. We’ll also be pcing trackers on you once we get to the pne. You will be given proper equipment depending on what is needed. If you fail, you will both be marked and sent away as per the agreement. Nathan will be put on trial for his crimes, and Sophie you will be enlisted in the LDPD.” Cole expined, then picked up the folder he was looking at previously. He opened it, then handed a stapled document to each of them.

  “This is the information you’ll need to know about the target. Provided by myself from what I remember when she was here previously.” Cole stated, then headed towards the door.

  "Report to the lobby once you've finished looking over that profile. Then we'll head out." Cole ordered before continuing down the hallway. Sophie and Nathan exchanged gnces before opening up the folder. The first thing Sophie noticed was a picture of a younger looking girl, maybe 10 or 11 in the picture. She had long, wavy brown hair and two, different coloured eyes. One was a vibrant blue, a much deeper shade than Sophie’s… it almost looked like a small universe with the various shades within it. The other was a vibrant, deep green that looked like the leaves on a tree in the summer sun. She had a very doll-like look to her. Long, full eyeshes. Almost porcein looking skin. But she looked tired. And sad. Her ability was listed as 'dream taker'.

  "Nathan, what's a dream taker?" Sophie asked. Nathan looked over at her for a moment before speaking.

  "Oh. Well, it means she has the ability to take things out of the dream world and use it in real life. I'm going to guess that's partially why she was able to invent the sorts of things she did. But still... to take things of that detail out of the dream world... and to make them st forever... She'd have to be really strong. No other dream taker in history, as far as I know, can make items taken from the dream world st like that…" Nathan expined, his voice trailing off. He looked over at Sophie, his face looking a bit pale.

  "Sophie, I don't think you should go through with this. We really don't know what we're up against." Nathan said suddenly. Sophie smiled gently.

  "Nathan, I'm sure she's not as bad as we think. Just because her file reads one thing, doesn't mean we should judge her. After all, I didn't judge you." She reminded, suddenly standing up and exiting the room. Nathan's mouth dropped open as he rushed after Sophie who was now making her way to the elevator. She quickly pressed the down button as Nathan caught up to her, not saying anything until the doors for the elevator opened and allowed them to go in. Sophie hit the M button as the doors began to close.

  "What did you mean by that?" Nathan asked, his voice hushed. Sophie sighed.

  "Nathan, I spoke to one of the heads of the LDPD... and she showed me your file." Sophie expined, "Before when you told me you did little jobs for people... they weren't little were they?"

  Nathan paused for a moment, clenching his fists.

  "...Those bastards..." He muttered. Sophie turned to face him, grabbing his hand.

  "Nathan. I need you to be honest with me. Did you kill anyone?" She asked. Nathan stared into her eyes for a few moments, a look of panic crossing his face.

  "Yes. No. Kind of... but not intentionally." Nathan said quickly. Sophie sighed.

  "Nathan, the charge on your file says aggravated mansughter." She stated as the elevator dinged, releasing them into the lobby. As Sophie stepped off the elevator, Nathan quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  "Look. Sophie, if we get out of this, I'll expin everything, okay? I just… I really don’t want to talk about it now." Nathan hissed. Sophie looked back at him and paused a moment before nodding.

  “Very well, we can table this for now... I want to be able to trust you, Nathan... it’s just that I know practically nothing about you, and you don’t seem to want to share anything.” Sophie expined. Nathan sighed, hitting the elevator door just as Cole turned to look at them, shutting him from view. He turned to Sophie, pcing his hands on her shoulders.

  “I understand... I haven’t been the best outw buddy, haven’t I?” He asked, “And you’re absolutely in the right to ask for answers about something like this. This is just... it’s big. I mean... it’s not exactly something you’d introduce yourself with, right?”

  Sophie smiled a bit, in spite of herself.

  “No, I suppose not...” She said softly. Nathan nodded, pushing his hair out of his face, letting out a sigh as the doors opened again. Sophie began to exit, then turned to look at him for a moment.

  “I just think it’s rather unfair that you seem to know more about me than I do, and yet you won’t tell me... and you also won’t share anything about yourself... don’t you think that seems rather unfair?” She asked. Nathan said nothing in response, just averted his gaze. She turned back around, exiting the elevator.

  “As I’ve said before. You can wait to tell me things until you know exactly how to express them... but you can’t just not tell me things... That’s not fair...” She said softly, then stepped towards Cole who now looked rather annoyed, and Kavi standing next to him, both of them in their full uniforms. Kavi was packing some remaining gear into her bag, deconstructing a rifle and arranging it just so into a case. Kavi looked up and smiled at Nathan and Sophie as they approached.

  "My, my! What were you two naughty kids doing in that elevator?" Kavi taunted. Nathan and Sophie exchanged gnces then looked down at their hands, which were still entwined. Nathan quickly released her hand, withdrawing his arm and looking rather embarrassed. Cole smirked.

  "As long as I don't have to clean anything up after, I'm fine. Now come on you two. We have a pne to catch, and I don’t want to get in trouble for you both taking your sweet time.” Cole grumbled. He suddenly grabbed Nathan’s arm, spping a device over it, which wrapped around his wrist and locked firmly. Nathan gnced down, then back up to Cole.

  “Thanks for the jewelry?” Nathan asked. Cole rolled his eyes.

  “It’s a tracker, asshole.” Cole growled. Nathan shot him a look back as Kavi walked over, handing Sophie one of the bracelets. Sophie obediently put hers on, no questions asked.

  “Now, now boys. Now’s not the time to fight.” Kavi stated, then looked between Sophie and Nathan.

  “Now, remember! If you try to run, we will hunt you down and show you no mercy. That includes eliminating you if we see fit.” Kavi stated, waggling her finger back and forth as if she was scolding a child. It was rather unnerving, considering the fact that she had just threatened to murder them if they misbehaved which is something no proper parent would ever do to their child. Sophie and Nathan exchanged gnces as they followed behind them quietly as Sophie began to think again. She was doing this all for Nathan, but Nathan couldn’t even tell her about who he was... who exactly was she risking her life for?