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Candace had heard what Herryk had said and immediately she felt the need to talk to her. Nevada had slept with Tuck? She had cheated on Ro? It explained all of Ro's behavior. She had done that to Jerry, slept with another man, broken his heart. How had it gone down? Was Nevada remorseful? Did she not regret it? She needed to see her. Her Mists, they were hurting. Nevada and Ro, she cared about them.

She stopped at an open door and couldn't help but peek inside, wincing at the sight. This was Ro's room and it was a mess. A huge mess. He didn't seem to be in right now so she let herself in, quietly nudging things on the floor with her foot. She looked for some kind of indication of what had gone down. Had this been all Ro's doing? So upset and enraged this was how he handled it? She had told him to do this once, to take his anger out on his room.

Was this her fault?

At least his desk was in tact.

Candace frowned, her back to the door as she continued to wander through the room.

Candace lifted her head and looked over her shoulder at Ro, not at all startled by his arrival. She had known he would come eventually. "I got a bit tied up. I was about to, but work got the better of me. I've been approved as a trainer for the Mists, I can mentor those of you who wish it." But that was neither here nor there.

She was here for Ro, she would go find Nevada later.

"However, I did hear what happened...would you like to talk about it?"

Candace stayed in the middle of the room and just watched Ro move around to sit by the window, not saying a word, not offering any kind of physical comfort. She needed to know what had happened first. It all sounded so...familiar. It was like a stab at her own heart, the guilt from a year ago hitting her as a dull ache. She didn't tear Jerry apart, she had tried so desperately to get him to take her back, but she could see where Nevada was coming from already.

She still wanted to know Nevada's side of this.

"..She does not owe you anything simply for spending days with her in the pod room. I'm sorry, that may not be what you want to hear, but it is the truth," Candace said gently, no malice in her tone at all. She bent down to pick up the kicked lock pick set. "Are these hers?" She would return them if they were. "Perhaps it is for the best then. If she cannot feel for you want you want her to feel, she could have...broken your heart further down the line when things were more serious. You two could have continued along, you could have said 'I love you' and then scared her off that way, only she would be too worried of hurting you to break it off properly, and instead shatter your heart into a thousand tiny pieces and then walk all over those pieces until they were nothing but dust." The way Candace spoke was definitely bittersweet. She knew exactly what she was saying. She was describing what she had done to Jerry.

Candace looked down at the lock pick set until Ro admitted to using Sylvia on her, on an unarmed trainee outside of the training fields. She tensed. "Ro...you can't do that. Weapons are not to be summoned in the dorms like that, and especially to...Ro.." She frowned. Hearing that meant she would have to do something about that, didn't it? It...it was technically her job now.

She wasn't bringing him any comfort. This wasn't working.

Sighing quietly, Candace finally set the lock pick set down on Ro's desk and moved to sit beside him on the bed, rubbing his back in a gentle, comforting motion. "You have every right to be upset, Ro...but..may I suggest something? Let me tell you a story." She knew Ro's situation all too well.

She frowned. This was going to be hard. Candace hadn't spoken of this incident in detail for...well..ever. "The year before last, Jerry and I dated.." Holy s**t. Had it really been two years? Kind of. It had been a year since they had broken up...so..it kind of worked. Time flew by so quickly here. "Everything was okay at first. He had asked me on a date when we had been near death, and I thought he was adorable. He even gave his life for me. Red, the first time she became that monster, could have killed me with a breath of hot, icy fire...but Jerry covered me. He literally sacrificed himself to save hem, he died that day." Candace ruffled her hair with an unhappy noise. This was not a story she was exactly proud of. "After that, I felt almost obligated to be with him because of what he had done. But then I took Circe from Caelius, nearly killed him and Jordan...but for some reason I begged for him to forgive me. And I guess he did, I don't know. I think both of us were just...lonely. We dated for a few months, and it was clear he was head over heels for me even before then. The first time we had sex, he told me he loved me." Her voice had cracked slightly as she said that. "But what he didn't know was earlier that day I had gone to see Clarice and been intercepted by H. I hadn't meant for it to happen, but the doctor...he's.." She trailed off and just stared out the window, a helplessly fond smile replacing her frown.

The Doctor would always hold a special place in her heart.

"I had gone to seek treatment for my legs, they were a little worse for wear and being a trainee my shield wasn't exactly as great as it is now. H...I had hated him from the beginning. He was a lech, constantly hitting on me and calling me things like delectable and sweet. He wanted me before Jerry even knew who I was, and he annoyed me. But that day...it was different. He suddenly became desirable. He was this exotic man who I wanted to know inside and out. I wanted him, his body, his mind, and I thought...maybe if I gave myself to him I wouldn't have to hurt Jerry. It was clear Jerry felt awkward about intimacy, and he still does, so I thought maybe if I relieved the tension I was feeling with H I would feel better and I wouldn't chase off Jerry. Sweet, innocent, naive Jerry." And now she was really getting into the story. This was where it became relevant to Ro.

"But I slept with Jerry, and...and it was terrible. After that, I felt unwanted. He did everything he could to avoid being intimate. It made me want H more and more. H is intelligent, exotic, he offered me things that were just so..hot and he always knows exactly what to say to me. I wanted him, but I did my best to resist for as long as I could. 'Jerry,' I would remind myself. 'Think of Jerry. He loves you. This would destroy him'. But only if he knew...it became how long can I do this without him knowing." Candace rubbed her lips together, she couldn't bring herself to look at Ro. There was a hint of shame in the way she spoke now. "I tried, I tried so hard to make it work with Jerry...I could have tried more, though. Things were starting to get a little better. Regardless, I still spent the beginning of Valentine's day with H. I slept with him, and I loved it. I loved every minute of it. It was everything I'd hoped for and more...until Jerry arrived to ask H for something for our date later that night. He told me to stay the ******** away from him, smashed a bottle over H's head, and left. I hear he got hammered that night..but...I felt awful. I couldn't believe what I'd done. Fidelity is a huge thing for me, it's something I take very seriously. I still can't believe I did that to him. I tried to beg for his forgiveness, but I still said some terrible things to him. I think...I think he asked me for an explanation one day, and I gave it to him. I...I was kind of cruel..." Candace sighed.

This was both harder and easier to do than she thought it would be. "I said terrible, awful things to him, but I did it because...I care about him. I wanted his forgiveness, but I didn't want his forgiveness. It's hard to explain. He deserved better than me, he deserved a woman who could give him what I could never offer him. He loved me, but I could never love him as more than a friend. In the end I think it was better we split up when we did before things got too serious later down the road. I could have done something a lot worse than what I had." Jerry just did not have good luck with women.

"I want you to think about what she said. Really think about it, and then think about what you two had. Do her words match her actions? Could she not have said those things because she cares? Did you do something that scared her and you just didn't know it? I'm not saying you have to forgive her, I'm not saying you even have to like her anymore, I just want to know you're really looking at this from every possible angle. It may not look like it now, but you could possibly realize later...maybe this was for the best."

"Because it makes them hate you and not pine for you after. It helps them move on, to find someone better suited for them. It hurts, but they're not the only one hurting, it hurts to say just as much as it hurts to hear." Her smile was sad as she spoke, and Candace's voice stayed surprisingly level as she said this despite the slight shake of her hands.

His laughter was all the sign she needed. That story had been a mistake. She'd just lost Ro. She rubbed her face and sighed. "I guess. But it's not something I've ever been proud of. The point of that story was to show you it's not something that only hurts you." Candace frowned. "She could just be hiding it, she probably just doesn't want you to want her anymore. Cheating is disgusting, I feel very strongly about it."

And I would appreciate you not speaking to me like this.

Candace cleared her throat and sat up straight, looking Ro straight in the eye. She would not show him she was bothered by his tone, his words, the way he looked at her. She was a wall, impenetrable, unreadable.

A wall with cracks and holes that she covered with shiny objects.

"I want you to think, Ro. I want you to stay away from Nevada until I tell you it's okay to be near her, excluding missions where everyone is forced to be together. You will think, you will vent your frustrations in a healthy way. If you want someone to fight? I will fight you. If you want something to scream at? I will let you scream at me. But if I hear you've hurt someone again? I won't let that stand. I'm not taking her side, I'm not taking your side, but you're both in the same division and having the two of you like this is unacceptable." She would take a page from Aria's book. <******** deal with it.

She couldn't stand Ro looking at her like that. She had to shut down or she would get herself hurt.

Candace still felt the need to remind him, in case he had the temptation. The offer was also still there should Ro feel he needed it later. She didn't want him internalizing this and having meltdowns later.

"Oh, I'll stop you. I have half a mind to give you a punishment for what you've already done." On the one hand he had probably already learned his lesson, he seemed to feel bad enough about hitting Nevada as it was, but on the other what if he lost it again? "You have nothing to apologize to me for. I'm sorry I couldn't be better help to you." Candace stood.

She fixed her hair as she watched him. He looked very tired...and she did feel bad. Maybe sleep was something he needed. Candace stepped closer, putting an arm around Ro's shoulders. "Come here. Get some sleep, I'll even bring you food and some water later if you want."

Candace took the keys. She would just leave the door unlocked, she didn't know when she would be seeing Sylvia around. He looked...so pathetic. She never knew what to do around people like this, she just wanted to tell them to stop it. It hurt now but it would eventually stop hurting. It wasn't..it wasn't worth it. It was just a distraction. A waste of time.

But what if she did this to Dakota..?

No! No, she would not be doing this to Dakota. She wouldn't hurt him like this. She ********, Candace pulled the sheets out from under Ro so she could drape them over him and cover the young man. It was like tucking in an unhappy child. Ugh. Nonetheless she gave him a warm smile and pet his hair. "Sleep well, Ro. I'll come check on you in a few hours." Candace then gathered up the lock pick set, grabbed Ro's keys just in case, and headed out to go find Nevada.