"I don't think Erik is coming," Percy rolls her eyes, hoping Jamie will get the ball rolling and get this meeting over with. Beside her, June munches on a few finger foods that Jamie put out for the group and Percy can't help but purse her lips in disgust. She isn't a stranger to eating this late at night, but she isn't chowing down on home-made samosas when there might be a killer on the loose.

Jamie shakes his head, looking at the empty chair. Or chairs, he guesses. His apartment isn't big enough to comfortably fit eight people, so while he has pushed the table against the wall and put the chairs and the couch in more of an oval than a circle, people still aren't all sitting. Percy stands behind her chair, and Erik's is empty.

"Okay, well, who should start?" Jamie asks, trying to keep his cool. "Like, should it be me because I called the meeting? I called the meeting because of Wes and Hope, and Cara also. And also, me, but I think I should probably go last because what I am going to say sounds crazy, trust me."

Nobody fills the silence which follows Jamie's words, and the boy curses himself. Everybody here is way too introverted to get anything done, after all.

"I think we should start with the FBI," Eden offers, eyeing Jamie up. He isn't used to nervous rambling, just nervous silence. Looking around the room, he decides he is the biggest and strongest, which probably should make him the leader (that is, if he asked the football boys). "That's our biggest threat right now."

"They were bothering me at my job," Wesley pulls out the card from the officer, flashing it in front of their faces. "They had just come into the truck stop. I figured they were investigating the power outages."

"They asked me to come in for questioning tomorrow," Cara finally speaks up. The skin on her hands is dry from wringing them over and over and walking aimlessly for hours last night through the bitter cold as she tried, unsuccessfully, to clear her head. "I don't know if it's because they think I had something to do with Thea, or they figured out that the power outage came from the park, but there isn't much use wondering. Eden is my alibi. I told them I spent the night at his. If anybody asks, I've never met any of you."

"Shouldn't the cameras be an issue?" Wesley asks, leaning forward towards Cara. He is familiar enough with the police to know that lying is going to cause a problem. "That's how I got sent to juvie."

Cara ignores his comment. Now is not the time to worry about Wesley and violence, even though the thought crosses the back of her mind. She remembers her foster days, and she feels lucky she was adopted otherwise she might have gone to juvie too, at some point or another. She wonders if Wesley was a foster kid too. Regardless, she presses forward. "I doubt the cameras were recording, given the power outage."

"They might have footage of you entering the park," Wesley insists. His eyes scan the group, trying to find someone who has reacted to the juvie comment. As always, his eyes land on Jamie. The boy is averting Wes's eyes.

"The police have nothing," Hope says.

Cara turns to face her, her brows furrowed.

"My Dad's the prosecutor for this area," she tells the others as they look at her. "He left his files out last night."

Cara huffs a sigh of relief. She leans to the side, her body pressing against Eden on the tiny couch. While the gesture isn't supposed to invigorate him, he can't help the jolt he feels wherever her skin touches his.

Beside him, June leans forward and high-fives Wesley. "So, does this mean we are off the hook?"

"They are still going to interrogate me and Lee," Percy notes, looking down at the ginger. "It isn't over yet."

"What are you telling them?" Jamie asks. "And, why are they interrogating you guys? Do they know about us and the blast? I thought the police didn't have anything."

"Would you stop your fucking rambling?" Lee didn't mean for her voice to come out as hard as it did, but God, Jamie is so annoying sometimes. He literally will never shut up.

Percy rolls her eyes. If, out of everyone here, Lee is her ally, she knows she is going to end up in trouble. "We found Thea's body."

Cara blinks, leaning backwards. "Who is interrogating you? The police or the FBI?"

"Do you honestly think I would tell you?" Percy snaps at Cara. She hates goodie-two-shoes like Cara and Hope. At the moment, she doesn't even feel bad for her tone, nor for the look of shock which spreads across Cara's face. "For all I know, you guys put her up in a tree."

"Why would you come here if you thought we were killers?" Eden stands up, jolting Cara. He can feel himself getting angry, and he uses that anger to stand up to Percy. Maybe for the first time, he can feel how big he is. Maybe it's because Liam isn't here, or maybe it is because he is actually big, or maybe it's because Cara seems upset. Despite her smaller frame, Percy reminds him so much of Liam. He wishes more than anything to wipe the smug grin off her face.

Wesley groans, putting his face in his hands. He feels like he is watching a ping-pong game where both the players are terrible. No one is winning, and they are both causing a mess. "Both of you calm your tits and sit down. If I was a fucking killer, you'd both be dead and buried already for being so annoying. If Hope says the police have nothing, and if you asshats can cooperate, then we can get on to the more pressing issues."

"What could be more pressing than an FBI investigation?" Lee demands, rolling her eyes. Sometimes people need to fight out their issues, and Wesley's voice is literally grating her ears. "Somebody here could go to jail."

"I don't know? Maybe that Hope and I have a telepathic connection, and Jamie has discovered that he has the ability to heal his body from injury." Wesley decides that maybe he should go to a social worker to get help for his impulse control.

Jamie glares at Wesley. For the first time, he can feel anger building in his body. He reaches forward to take a sip of hot chocolate from his mug, his hands shaking.

From across the circle, June watches Lee make the same gesture. The girl's hands run over the mug, attempting to steal its warmth. June shakes her head at Wesley, who only shrugs. The air has been sucked out of the room now, thanks to him.

"So can I," June sighs. When she sees Jamie practically quaking in her chair, she lowers her eyes. The room feels so big, and she would rather be moving if everyone's eyes are going to be on her. She sucks up her pride and speaks. "As far as we have noticed, tiny cuts will heal within thirty seconds or so."

"My ankle," Eden offers, finally realizing that he is still standing. He sits down next to Cara, who pulls away from him. He feels his heart sink but only for a second, too distracted by this revelation to dwell on Cara. "I mean... I twisted it. So, you think that, umm, that my ankle healed because of that?"

June shrugs because she doesn't know if the healing extends to anything beyond cuts. Although, why wouldn't it? She'll need to do some future experimentation to figure it out.

The clock on the wall ticks by. Jamie's apartment feels darker even though the lighting hasn't changed. Hope wonders if that is their magic floating in the air. The feeling, the one which pulls her closer to the others is still here, but it is not a strong as she had imagined it would be. Perhaps that is because Erik is not here.

"So, what do we do now?" Eden asks, struggling to find words. Somebody has got to be the Liam here, and he guesses that it is him.

Cara still sits silently. Her brain is trying to register what they are saying, but she is a hundred percent sure that they are delusional. More than a hundred percent. She surely would have noticed if they were healing rapidly. That would mean that their cells would be rapidly regenerating, at a rate practically impossible.

"Show us," Percy steals the words from Cara's lips. Cara couldn't dare speak them because she couldn't bear watching someone get hurt. Being a doctor expressly means one should first do no harm, especially in the case of experimentation.

Percy doesn't care enough about the others.

"It still hurts," June says back.

Percy shrugs. She walks into the kitchen and rolls up her sleeves. June wonders if she is the only one who notices Percy's scars. Percy searches through the drawers until she finds matches.

"We haven't tried those yet," Jamie says, standing up. Wesley pulls him back down. The look of certainty on Percy's face is not one that he is willing to reckon with.

Percy doesn't look up to notice the scuffle. Instead, she lights the match and tips it upside-down so that the stick ignites. Hope feels like a moth to a flame. Though she doesn't want Percy to be burned, she can't help but wonder at the mysticism of it all. When Percy drops the match on her arm, Hope sucks in a breath.

The entire room winces. June catches it, and she is the only one who notices. Whatever psychic connection that is happening between Wes and Hope is happening between them all, she decides, but says nothing.

"Quit staring, princess," Percy rolls her eyes, trying to distract herself from the pain by teasing Hope.

Hope doesn't mind at all. She can imagine herself being called princess by Percy for the rest of her life, and what a perfect life that would be. Instead of her and Erik on a motorcycle, it is her and Percy, laughing with the wind in her hair. For the first time, Hope considers that she could be the good girl and still have something like a "bad boy".

Hope, finally, admits to herself that she is, in fact, a lesbian, and she has never felt more like a dream.

Lee just is frustrated that Percy stole the insult before she could.

Cara can't help herself anymore. She gets up and rounds behind Percy to take a look at the cut. Percy shrugs away from her and Cara lets her.

"You're braver than I could ever be," Cara says quietly, so only Percy can hear her.

The tips of Percy's ears turn red. She isn't used to being complimented by pretty girls. "Well, you're an idiot."

Cara just laughs, not tearing her eyes away from Percy's arm. She watches at the bright red mark recedes into Percy's dark skin. It is undoubtedly melting away. Okay, so maybe the others aren't delusional.

"Holy fucking shit," Percy's eyes are wide.

"This is wild, my dudes," June jokes, leaning back in her chair.

"Are we going to tell Erik?" Wes asks, looking to Jamie for an answer. "The kid's only in high school."

"I know him," Hope tells the others. "I'll tell him."

Cara sighs, moving away Percy and back into the kitchen. She crosses her arms over her chest, nodding slowly to herself. "Other than that, we shouldn't associate with each other until the police stop breathing down our necks. Until whatever is happening to us is resolved, we should probably lie low."

June scans the faces in the room to see who is agreeing with Cara. Percy and Lee are both stoic and share a knowing glance. If she were to bet, June would put money on the fact that they are going to see each other again. Hope can't take her eyes off Percy. Jamie and Wes look between each other before Jamie looks back down. June isn't envious of the look on Wes's face. She also decides from Eden's scanning eyes that he is going to try and see Cara.

As for June, she decides that she has always kept a low profile. That is, until now.

~~~

Erik is running his burning arm underwater. He can't escape the warm feeling in his stomach nor his arm, and he can hear Thea's voice in the back of his mind.

It wasn't you. It was Percy. You're alright, Erik.

~~~~~

Wow! I'm so excited! The gang is (almost) together now. Training for my job just ended, but now is the busy season. I'll try my best to post at least once a week, but we will see how school and the job go together.

Thank you all!