"For God's sake, Edward, I'm allowed to make them comfortable. It's the least I can do."

Vincent still had a shred of humanity left. That was interesting. This Edward guy called the shots; it was him who Vincent consulted with before delivering their sentence. Without Edward in the picture, he would be more reasonable. It made sense, Vincent must've been a mess after his wife died, and Edward played on his vulnerability to manipulate him into controlling Area 14. From the way they disposed of the Moorlanders, it seemed that they ran the place with an iron fist, punishing by death instead of trial. Perhaps that was all Edward, and not Vincent. Perhaps she would be able to talk to him a to persuade him to save his son. She rubbed her temples, trying to work the pain out of her body. Nothing had made her feel as weak as the seizure, and now was the time for strength a not weakness.

"I would love food and water," she said. "I feel very dehydrated." Vincent nodded. "And we... we really need a bucket of water or something to wash ourselves with," she added.

Vincent glanced to Edward before he spoke. "You can have all of those things." His eyes flickered over to Sebastian before he left.

Sebastian slumped against the bars. "He's never going to let us out."

"No," Angela agreed. "At least not with that Edward guy around."

"Aye, he's pullin' the strings all right," Ginge added. "Yer never gonnae get around yer da' with that guy hoverin' over his shoulder. An' ah dunnae like his weaselly little eyes. He's evil, ah know it." Ginge glared out into the hall.

Cam remained thoughtful for a while and then said, "They're comin' back with food an' water fer ye, Angie. De ye think ye'll be able te run?" He squeezed Angela's hand.

"I don't know."

Sebastian shook his head. "She's too weak. Face it. We're doomed." With a sudden burst of energy that made Angela jump, he punched the bars. "We're going to die." He punched the bars again. Ginge rose to her feet and pulled him back. Sebastian's eyes flashed with his old temper. At least he'd come out of his near catatonic state.

Footsteps sounded along the corridor. Vincent brought the food and water himself; he passed bread, a hunk of cheese, and a litre bottle of water through the bars. Cam took them and carried them to Angela. She'd never been so glad to see a bottle of water in her life, and drank it down greedily before wiping her mouth and passing it to the others.

"So this is it then?" Sebastian said. He scrambled to his feet and walked towards his dad. "You're going to kill us a four teenagers a to further your own career. You're going to kill the last family member you have." He laughed bitterly. "But then I always was a disappointment to you. We all were. Eve messed up, so you packed her off to the GEM. Who knows what they did with her. She's probably dead by now. So you're already a murderer." He stood right up to the bars, just inches away from Vincent. "And I was too weak, too emotional you always said. You called me a baby for crying when Eve left. A mummy's boy." He took a deep breath. "Then there's Mum. Someone for you to slap around and blame for everything. She was just some convenience for you, someone to take your shit out on. You never loved her."

"I loved your mother very much," Vincent said with a thickness in his throat.

"LIAR!" Sebastian shouted so loud Angela started. Her muscles clenched. "You lie." He hit the bars. "Why did I come back for you? Why? You're making me a murderer. You've forced me to put a death penalty on my friends and the girl that I love," Ginge sat up straight when she heard that, "because I came back for you."

Sebastian's face reddened and his body convulsed; almost like he was going into a seizure. He beat the prison bars and then staggered back, clutching at his hair. Angela realised that Sebastian was struggling with rage. In the Compound he'd been drugged by Dr Woods, pumped full of rage, and she had no idea whether it had altered him permanently.

"Sebastian, fight it," Angela shouted. "Fight it." She turned to Vincent. "When we were in Scotland your son was drugged by a mad man and made into a rage-filled monster. Sebastian was strong enough to fight through the drugs and save Mina from death. He stayed back and fought while the castle crumbled around him, almost dying. Your mummy's boy is a hero. And now you're going to kill him. You should be ashamed."

Sebastian fought back, taking deep breaths. Ginge stood by his side with her arms around him, soothing him back to being Sebastian again.

"I think you should go now," Angela said, forcing as much hatred into her voice as she could muster.

Vincent Cole backed away from the prison cell, his mouth flapping open and shut. He stared at his son as though he'd seen him for the very first time. Angela smiled as his footsteps disappeared down the corridor. Yes, there was definitely something left in that shell of a man.

25 * Daniel *

The walls closed in around him. He couldn't sit still any longer, so he paced around the enclosed space, longing for fresh air. He'd stretched out his jumper from worrying the sleeves and bitten his fingernails down to the quick. Why hadn't they left? Why were they still here?

Matthew, Jonathon and Des stood over a map stretched out on the round table. Daniel watched as they pointed to markers and discussed strategies whilst leaving him and the Freaks out of it. He desperately wanted to know their plans. On more than one occasion, he strode up to them and demanded to know what was going on, before Jonathon gave him a harsh glare.

He missed the sunlight. The basement offered little in the form of light or air. It smelled stale and mouldy, with the body odour of many people lingering in the air. At the Compound, you could escape by hanging out in the fields. He flexed the muscles in his arms; they felt weak after days of inactivity. Just like the rest of him. Here he was in the basement like an idiot whilst Anna drugged and brainwashed Mina. He was sick of it.

Daniel moved away from Jonathon and the others and joined Hiro on his bunk bed.

"Aren't you going to play with the other children?" Daniel asked. "Some of them are about your age."

Hiro wrinkled his nose. "I don't like children. Their thoughts are stupid."

"You know you're a kid too, right?" Daniel laughed, relieved to have a distraction from his claustrophobia. "What are they talking about?" He nodded over to Jonathon and the others. "Are they talking tactics?"

"They're studying a map of the GEM HQ," Hiro said. "And discussing which entrance to break through and where they can meet the insurgent. Des thinks that K might have a big task for him, so he's stalling."

Daniel swore under his breath. "I knew not to trust that guy." He thought about his vision and how he had to stop it a even if it meant going alone.

"You can't break into the Ministry on your own. Only Dale and Des can contact the insurgent, and there's no way you'd get inside by yourself."

Daniel leaned on his elbows and rested his chin on his hands. There had to be a way. Across the room Luce and Ali sat chatting. After a few days of recuperation he was up and about; not quite back to his best. Luce still changed his dressings every now and then. She was a curious girl who stared a lot. Her eyes held his for a second, and her face lit up. Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, but continued his conversation with Hiro. She creeped him out a bit.

"What about the guns?" Daniel asked. "Are they holding out on us? They can't keep using this weapon shortage excuse. We can make petrol bombs. We've still got ammunition left from the Compound."

"I don't know," Hiro said. "I think what he said was true about waiting for more from K, but I don't know if it's an excuse or not. He's not thinking about something a he keeps blocking it out. I don't know what it is."

"Okay," Daniel said. "Thanks Hiro."

"Do you miss her?" Hiro asked.

What kind of question was that? Did a flower miss the sunshine? Or a pen miss paper? "Of course I do."

"Me too," Hiro said, his features turning serious. "I've been trying something new."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been trying to think so much that Mina hears it in her mind."

Daniel leaned back to meet Hiro's eyes. "Is it working?"

"I don't know. I think sometimes I hear her thoughts," he said. "Even though she's too far away. I think I saw her dream the other night. There was a snake and it transformed into her mum."

"She must know something's wrong deep down. That's a good sign." Maybe Mina's doubt could stop the vision coming true. His heart surged with hope.

Kitty appeared silently next to their bunk in her annoying habit of sneaking around. "If you want to go and get her, you're making it really obvious."

"What?"

"If you want to sneak out."

Daniel shook his head. "I just want to know what's going on. We need to do something. Des hates me. He won't tell me anything."

"That's because you're always glaring at him," Kitty said. "You know, you're not very good at pretending, are you?"

"Why would I pretend? I don't like the guy."

"To get your own way. If you'd sucked up to him in the first place, maybe he'd be keeping you informed." Kitty placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.

She was right. Daniel sighed, knowing that he'd approached this all wrong; going about it like a bull in a china shop; head strong and without tact.

"Would you break out if we all went?" she asked in a hushed tone.

Mike came over. "What are you doing, Kit?"

Kitty glowered. "You know what. I'm getting Daniel on board. There is no way I'm sitting around here in this dingy basement for another second. I'm getting out and Daniel is coming with us."

Daniel felt the tension between them like an electrical charge. Kitty's face was flustered and scrunched up in annoyance. Mike's jaw had set; he didn't seem his usual relaxed self.

"No, we aren't. You've no idea what you're messing with, Kits. I grew up in London. I know what it's like for the Resistance, and I know how big the GEM is. You can't just break in. It doesn't work like that. I know you're frustrated butaa"

"This is just so typical of you," she snapped. "You're always telling me what to do; telling me you know best."

He squared up to her; his eyes flashing. "I'm trying to stop you getting killed."

"Guys, calm down, we can talk about this," Daniel tried to intervene.

"So you want to leave Mina in there to rot?" she replied, ignoring Daniel.

"Why not? She left us?" said Mike.

"Hey, she's being drugged." Daniel felt his feathers ruffled, and stood up to face Mike. He had a slight height advantage, although he'd never thought of Mike as an adversary before. "She can't help what's happening to her."

"Do you really think that? aCos if you do, you're stupider than you look," Mike said, running his fingers through his dishevelled hair. "You saw the way she was with her mother. She doesn't give a single crap about us anymore."

"That's not true!" Kitty's arms flailed as she spoke. "You've no idea what was going through her head."

Mike lifted his arms in exasperation. "No one ever does! That's the problem. We're always waiting around to see what Mina wants to do, when she just does whatever she wants." He sighed. "I know this all sounds harsh butaa"

"It sounds like you've given up on her," Daniel said. "Have you?"

Daniel met Mike's eyes and saw the answer for himself. Mike had given up on Mina. He'd already decided she was bad and not worth saving. If he told them about the vision they'd all give up.

"I can't believe you, Mike." Kitty shook her head in disbelief. "We're a family. We work together. Don't you remember how strong we were at the Compound?"

Daniel's temple throbbed and the room faded to black. He blinked in an attempt to force his eyes to focus. He knew the signs. A vision formed a ready to tear through his skull and plunge him into searing pain.

"Um, guys," he said.

"I remember how strong we were," Mike said. "I'm just not sure Mina remembers."

"Guys!" Daniel said, louder. He fell backwards and the vision ripped through his mind. Flashes of colour and movement played in his imagination, like a broken television screen. He called out in pain as the flashes faded, and his mind descended into darkness. Someone caught him as he fell.

"How are we doing?" A soft hand stroked his cheek. Fingers traced over his cheekbones.

Daniel immediately thought "Mina" and reached for that hand, pulling it to his mouthaa "Hey!"

Daniel's eyes snapped open. Luce stared down at him, her large blue eyes wide and amused.

"Oh," Daniel said. He tried to sit up, and pain exploded behind his eyes.

"Take it easy." She helped him back down onto the bed, plumping the pillows. "You had a bad fall and passed out."

"I had a vision," he said. "Someone get me my notebook. And something cold for my head."

"Already here, big guy." Luce placed a cold flannel on Daniel's forehead, which soothed some of the fire behind his eyes.

Hiro passed him his notebook. He cracked open the pages and flicked through to an empty leaf. He had many pages to skip; most filled with visions of Mina. They reminded him of the years before he met her, when all he'd known was her face. Somehow she'd kept him sane even then.

"Is that her?" Luce asked.

"Yes." Daniel found a blank page and began to trace the image in his mind.

"Hmm, she's pretty, I guess. If you like that sort of thing." Luce flicked her hair.

The sketch formed the backdrop of sky-scrapers and offices. He drew a wide street that he imagined would be filled with bustling black cabs and people going about their business on any other day. In his image it'd been covered in rubble and smoke, with bodies scattered on the ground.

Luce watched his pen move and gasped. "I know where that is. The tall building at the back belongs to the GEM. It isn't their main headquarters. It's a research facility." She bent over the drawing. "Some of those people, they are wearing Resistance masks. Whaawhat is this? Why are you drawing these people injured on the ground?"

"I saw it," Daniel said. "Before I fainted, I saw it happen."

A crowd gathered around Daniel, including Des and the others.

"What's going on here?" Des asked.

Dale hurried to Des' side. "I'm hearing reports of a Resistance attack."

Des snatched the notebook from Daniel's fingers. "Is this it?"

Dale's mouth flapped open. "Yes, how did youaa"

"He had a vision."

"It's probably Susannah, the old leader of this group. She went off the rails, started beheading GEMs until K pulled her out." Dale grimaced. "I know that place and it's right next to a school."

"What?" Daniel climbed unsteadily to his feet, ignoring his headache. "Let me get this straight. Firstly, the Resistance have beheaded people, and secondly, someone has bombed a building right by a school?" He glanced at Jonathon. He couldn't work with them anymore. He had to get Jonathon away from them. "What kind of people are you?"

Des held up his hands. "Now, calm down. We aren't like that. Susannah has a few loyal extremists, but she isn't one of us."

"Then why haven't you stopped her?" Daniel snapped. He hated Des then. He hated anyone who stood by and watched others get hurt. They were the lowest of the low, cowards.

"It's not that simple," Des said. "She moves around, taking over different Resistance groups. She's quite powerful and charismatic."

"Did you behead anyone when she ran this group?" Daniel asked Dale. He couldn't believe he was asking that question. He remembered the cell at the back of the room with a shiver.

"No. It was close though. Luckily the prisoner escaped." He spoke in quiet tones. "We lost a good member of the team because of her. A friend."

Daniel saw the remorse in Dale's eyes and decided not to go any further. "Right, well we'd better go and stop this," he bent low and picked up the drawing, "from happening."