A pair of girls were waiting for Klaus when he pulled up instead of just the one. Eli ushered Aria into the car and practically hissed at Klaus to go straight home before disappearing into the street.

Klaus didn't have any objections. His time had been spent running out on an empty trail just outside the city. It silenced the overwhelming noise in his head, but it made his stomach growl.

Aria smelled faintly of the lavender hand soap in their bathroom and it made him realize he reeked of sweat. He glanced her way at a red light. If it bothered her, she did a good job of hiding it. She kept looking outside the window with her hands pressed against her knees, nails digging into the fabric of her pants.

"Did Eli frighten you?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong?"

Aria took a moment to answer. "Just thinking."

"About?"

She turned her attention away from the outside world and onto him. "Did you ever think about running? When it was early?"

"No. Things weren't as bad for me as they were for the rest of you. I'm different."

"Ah," she said knowingly, "you must be the Chosen One."

Klaus couldn't help but snort. "What gave it away?"

Aria was getting more comfortable. She slumped back in her seat and stopped digging her fingers into her clothes, turning her head to grin at him. "Everything. Are you hiding a lightning-shaped scar by any chance?"

"Maybe."

For the second time that day, Klaus waited for her to press for more answers. She didn't. Part of him wished she did so he wouldn't feel like he was lying. There was an odd twinge of guilt whenever he remembered that morning, the way Aria referred to him as someone like her. He didn't suffer the same way she did in that place. He didn't come out with scars like the ones she had. He didn't have to struggle to hide and survive on his own for months. The difference ate at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't you want to know why things were different?"

"Not really my business, is it? I figure you'll tell me if you feel comfortable enough one day."

"I could be dangerous or something."

"I pulled the trigger on you yesterday and you still helped me after. You're no threat. Do you want to tell me?"

Klaus hesitated. "Yeah."

"So tell me. If you're ready."

"I wasn't born like you guys. But they thought I was a good candidate for what the government wanted. Soldiers, I guess. They didn't come for me for about a year or two after you. It was calm when they did. It's not like I could say no, so I tried cooperating. I was one of their lab rats. They'd take what they learned from slicing you guys up and use it to try and make normal people Enhanced."

"Did it work on you?"

He nodded. "Eventually. But not in the way they wanted. They didn't know it worked at all until I ran. Neither did I."

Aria was quiet.

"It's easier for us compared to you guys. It's not as bad."

"I doubt that."

"It was," Klaus told her. "Completely different from the things they do to those that were born Enhanced. They're easier on the lab rats. For the sake of their experiment."

"Suffering isn't a contest. You were coerced into it. They did things you didn't want. We're all the same that way."

Alex told Klaus something similar once after they watched someone get shot down for resisting. It made Klaus sick to his stomach. The boy was younger and smaller than Klaus, but they'd still inflicted violence, something that had been absent during his own taking.

Klaus thought that they'd both think differently if they'd seen themselves.

✘

Klaus decided to cook. It wasn't a good day by any means, but he was on his feet and out of bed. That was more than he could manage some days. Keeping busy would take his mind off things he did in the morning.

Klaus was working while Aria watched. His temples throbbed without mercy. He tried ignoring it the way he chose to ignore every other terrible thing. Aria sat quietly, occasionally handing him something he needed without him asking. Neither of them seemed to mind the silence between them. It was the same sort of peacefulness as they shared that morning.

The noodles were already boiling by the time Alex came home and barrelled into the kitchen. "I come bearing love and dumplings!"

"Feed me," Klaus demanded.

There was rustling while Alex pulled the container out of a plastic bag. He came over and Klaus dropped his mouth open. Alex shoved a dumpling in. It was still warm. Good. It eased Klaus's hunger.

Aria smiled shyly from the counter when Alex stood in front of her to offer one. "Thank you."

Alex didn't nag at her for sitting on the counter as he always did with Klaus. He jabbed Klaus's side instead. "At least someone has manners."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "I'll poison your food."

Alex drew back. "Crank."

Klaus ignored that.

Alex turned his attention to Aria, regaling her with exaggerated tales of his misadventures. Klaus didn't bother correcting him when he embellished, tuning him out instead. It was easy. He was always good at getting lost in his own head.

BANG.

Klaus snapped back to the present, painfully aware of his worsening headache.

Alex was picking their metal fruit basket off the floor. "They don't seem to like us much," he was saying. "It's safer to assume they hate us than it is to think that they're one of the good ones."

"Maybe they don't all hate us," Aria insisted. "I have a hard time believing everyone would be eager to turn us in if they knew what those facilities were like. What if someone made the footage public? They have cameras on everyone. Constantly. They must keep it all somewhere."

The excitement that was creeping into Aria's voice made Klaus's nerves itch. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, his head sang. "It could help," Klaus broke in cautiously. "But someone would need to know where they keep them and need a way to get them out. It's too risky."

"But it's doable!"

Klaus shrugged. "Maybe. But even if we-"

"Someone," she corrected, as if she had no intention about doing it herself.

"Even if someone released that footage, there's no guarantee it would do anything. The truth is people hate us. They're scared of us. So they hurt us so we can't hurt them."

"If they see it though, it might make them question it. People don't know what happens there. Just rumors."

Klaus stirred the sauce. "Alex, can you drain the pasta? The sauce is ready."

Alex took the pot to the sink. "It's been attempted before."

This was news to Klaus. The Elites kept things secretive, even from each other. It wasn't something Klaus minded - knowing less made it easier to sleep. He didn't bother asking about things he wasn't involved in, but this made him pause. "Then why-"

"Twice by the Elites. They died before they could get out," Alex said.

"Third time's the charm!" Aria said cheerfully.

Klaus waved his wooden spoon at Aria. "No."

"What's the alternative?"

"What we've been doing," Alex told her. "Elites are infiltrating the facilities. Once we have enough people everywhere, we handle it."

"How long will that take?"

"I don't know. But it's going to work."

"Patience is a virtue and all that," Klaus offered.

"I want to help."

Alex returned with the drained pasta, dumping into the sauce. "Eventually. Right now you need to heal. We can discuss it after if you're still interested."

"And you're helping," Klaus added, a cheshire grin making its way onto his face. "You're my sous chef!"

Aria tilted her head. "If I tell you to stick your head into that pot, would you do it?"

Alex clapped his hand against Klaus's back. "Only one way to find out!"

"Anything for you," Klaus said, still grinning.

Aria scrunched her nose and Klaus decided he liked teasing her.

Eli didn't get home until Klaus was ready for a second helping of pasta. She joined them at the table and fixed Klaus with the same glare she did the time he got into a fistfight with some officers. "Are you insane?"

Klaus filled his plate with more food. "Probably a little bit."

"Why would you take her outside? Into the city of all places? Do you know how many people could have seen her?"

"I asked him to," Aria piped up.

Alex sighed. "Can you two fight outside?"

Eli pointed a finger at Klaus with narrowed eyes. "She could have ended up right back into another facility. She could have gotten caught if they still had people watching her house. It would've been your fault."

"I asked him to take me!" Aria said again, louder this time. "And I've been fine on my own for months. None of you have to worry."

"I'm talking to him," Eli snapped.

Klaus ignored the pounding of his head. He kept his gaze on his plate, worried that meeting Eli's eyes would only make him think of what he did that morning. "She's right."

Eli took a deep breath. "Do you want her dead? Or worse?"

Klaus's head was just about ready to explode. It was getting to be too much. He wanted to storm to his room like an angry teenager, but his appetite wasn't sated yet. He stabbed as much pasta with his fork as he could and stuffed it all in his mouth with a satisfied sound.

"Look at me!"

Klaus finally did. "What in he-"

Alex stood. "Stop shouting!"

Klaus's voice died in his throat.

Eli hung her head, taking another slow breath. "We'll talk about this later."

Alex sat and continued to eat, although not nearly as excited as before.

The silence was tense, only broken by the occasional fork scraping across a plate. It stretched on until everyone was full and Alex ushered Aria away, saying something too quiet for Klaus to catch.

"My head hurts," Klaus said. He didn't bother elaborating. She would understand that he couldn't take more without getting upset.

Eli didn't shout, but despite how quietly she spoke, her tone betrayed her frustration. "It was a bad idea, Klaus."

"It's already been done. What do you want me to do?"

"Say you won't do it again."

"Eli, she's been fine for months. She knows how to stay safe. You can't keep her locked up here."

Eli set her jaw. "We can't risk it. The Siren's too dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Aria. Her name is Aria. And she'll be fine."

"Tell me you'll keep her here or I tell Knox about her right now."

"You can't do that!"

"I will! I can't risk her being used against us just because you're too soft."

Klaus glowered. He wanted to call her bluff, but he knew she wasn't lying. She would drag Aria straight to the Elites for the sake of the greater good.

"Fine. I won't take her to the city."

Eli nodded. "That's all I ask. I'm sorry for yelling." She reached across the table, dropping a hand over his. "Don't leave yet. We have more to discuss while Alex is doing... whatever."

"Doting," Klaus suggested.

Eli leaned back, dropping her hand into her lap. "Alex mentioned it doesn't seem like she can control it."

"Don't think she can. She wouldn't have gotten shot if she could. Or made me screw off when she was scared yesterday."

"You know we could easily fix things if she could though, right?"

Klaus swallowed and picked at his thumb. "I don't like where you're going with this."

"It's for her own good."

Alex's voice came from the hall before he even made it to the table. "It's so you can use her."

Eli shrugged, waiting for the other to sit before continuing. "Two birds, one stone. And she says she wants to help."

"She doesn't know what that means."

Eli laughed with wild eyes. "She'd probably kill everyone with her bare hands if she could. She's mad and she's willing."

"This is manipulative," Klaus said. "Isn't it?

Alex rubbed his temples, like the nature of the conversation was causing him physical pain. "I don't like it."

"It doesn't matter if you like it," Eli said. "She can speed the whole thing up. New recruits, more moles. There's a reason everyone lost it when the Sir - Iqbal- escaped."

Klaus threw Alex a look of desperation. "This isn't right."

"Is what they did to you right?" Eli demanded. "They're probably doing it to more kids right now since they lost you."

The corner of Klaus's thumb bled.

"This is war. We can't play nice. Morals have no say in this fight."

"Does she have a say?" Alex crossed his arms. "He didn't!"

"I'll handle Knox! She's a secret right now, alright? Once we know she can control it, she can make sure they both have a say. Klaus, you'll never even have to work for the Elites again if that's what you want! She'll just need to say a few words. This is a good thing."

The war would end sooner. There would be no more blood on his hands. No more living in fear. No more kids being dragged out of their homes.

Klaus went to bed with the world on his shoulders. He dreamt that the weight crushed him.