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Inside the building, figures huddled around a monitor as Tara's figure moved about on screen. "There she is. Right where I left her." A shadowed hand gestured towards the screen unnecessarily and was immediately shoved out of the way.

"You idiot! Why did you leave her out there?!?"

"I-I thought..."

"No, no you didn't think. If you HAD thought about anything, you wouldn't have left her out there! Now, fix your mistake or I'll have your head for this! Or worse!"

There was a chill that seemed to settle on the room with the mere utterance of those words. All present understood that seemingly simple threat and they looked at the accused with pity.

"I promise! I won't make another mistake! Forgive me!"

"We'll see. Now, go! You have work to do."

A crash and the sound of scrambling feet punctuated the poor fool's hasty departure. Calmly reclining in a chair and gazing at the monitor, the shadowed figure smiled, murmuring, "Much better. Now, let's give our little friend, Tara, a warm welcome..."

The poor fool from the building ceased his headlong rush into the woods, pausing to try and gain control of his heart rate and breathing again. I gotta' calm down. I can't screw up again...I can't...the doc...he'll... Shuddering, he pushed that thought aside before the panic could rise again. Taking a deep breath, he plunged forward, pushing thick foliage out of his way.

Some minutes later, he froze, nearly stumbling over the girl in his haste. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, miss," he said hurriedly, eyes wide. "Are you okay?" He looked genuinely concerned as he crouched nearby, though not closely enough to seem threatening to the girl.

He smiled reassuringly, though his thoughts were anything but. My, quite the hostile one, isn't she? This should be interesting...and a bit of a challenge.

"A long way from home, I think it's safe to assume." He chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. He'd been meaning to get that cut, but kept forgetting. Right, the girl. "And I meant, is your head okay? You seem to be in pain," he frowned, tempted to reach for her, but thought better of it. "You're on a small island owned by CRONUS, a privately-funded research facility. Invents medicines and stuff like that, ya' know?" He glanced at her head again, wondering if she might have more serious injuries than she let on. "I could take you to the main lab. We can get you doctored up and see what we can do about getting you back home. Where is 'home,' by the way?"

"That's a shame," he frowned, standing as well. He brushed down his clothes before straightening up and it became obvious that he was wearing a uniform of sorts. Something like what one would expect to see on a night security guard. Nothing fancy, but clean cut.

"Well, at the very least, I hope you'll let us help you get back to the mainland. You can choose what you'd like to do after that." He smiled warmly, gesturing in the direction he'd just come from with a sweeping arm motion and a slight bow. "I'd be more than happy to escort you to the main lab. It's no problem at all, miss." In fact, you'd be doing me a favor, he thought to himself, smiling all the while.

"I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. You may call me Hayden."

If Hayden took notice of the bandages or thought anything about them, he made no outward sign of it. He simply kept smiling. Keep them off guard. Always appear friendly and helpful. His training echoed through his head and he followed his instructions to the letter. His very life depended on it. And more.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tara. Please, watch your step. There are some tricky roots through here on your left." He held some limbs out of her way, guiding her towards the main lab building. It wasn't far and they'd be there within minutes.

The silence began to feel a little awkward, so he decided to start up another conversation to keep her talking...maybe. She didn't seem like the talkative type though. "So, what is it you do with your free time, Miss Tara?"

He kicked a fallen limb off out of the way, clearing the path as well as he could for her. She didn't seem especially delicate or anything, but he thought he'd make the effort to be helpful. She looked like she could take care of herself if she needed to. He wondered a little about the bandages though. Those couldn't be recent, could they? She didn't seem to feel awkward about them like most people with a recent injury would. In fact, she acted like they weren't even there.

"Not far. You can't miss it," Hayden assured her with a chuckle. "There's only one small cluster of buildings on the whole island, and the largest of them is the main lab. They'll have a phone we can use to call you a ship to the mainland. You'll be out of here in no time."

He smiled back at her, running his hands through his hair again. He really needed to get that cut. "In fact, the lab should be within sight any minute now." He turned back, pushing forward through the foliage. The sooner he got her there, the sooner he'd be safe.