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There was some clamoring, yelling, movement.

A lot had been happening. It was hard to tell what as the renegade members scrambled to enact jumping bases again before the place was swarming with SIU soldiers.

"I'm going to ******** kill Ree!"

"Kate, prepare something, we need more time."

"Can I eat him?"

"God damn, look at his face..."

"How are you feeling? Come.. rest your head on my lap."

"Are you sure about all this? I can try, but it's going to take a lot of concentration."

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Tri had been set up in one of the spare bedroom of a large house with the furniture pushed against one of the walls, the new base, just far enough to allow Moira to move with them, placing a flag on the old hideout to signal for Lucian when he came back... if he came back. They still weren't sure what happened to him, and whether he was the one that teleported or if it had been Mara, though they assumed Lucy had done so and needed more time to situate himself from a newer ability. They had removed his collar and force fed his unconscious body soup made by Kate to completely halt his abilities for one hour after he woke up. Hopefully that would be enough time to question him.

Blaise had been healing Tri's wounds as per Zaku's orders, doing her best about his face. She watched him carefully for any signs of waking up as she was the closest one to him. Having tied his arms tightly behind his back, sitting in a chair and had tied his legs to the chair. Finally, tying a rope carefully around his chest to keep his wings down.

Zaku was pacing a bit, his bare chest wrapped in gauze to cover the wound from his gem, still not completely healed, but enough to stop the bleeding. He was lucky to be alive with where the bullet hit. Something he hadn't entirely forgiven Cordelia for as she sat in a chair across the room, slumped a bit as though she were asleep, the cracks in her body slowly melding together over time as though time itself were reversing over her.

Michael was leaning against the wall next to the door of the bedroom, arms folded as he stared at the ground with annoyance.

"Hey, I think he's waking up.." Blaise announced as she kept healing him for now, watching him carefully. Zaku stopped and watched from where he stood, trying to figure out if Kate's food actually worked.

Michael waited for Tri to fully come to before pushing himself from the wall and walking toward him. "Welcome to my ultimate power, I've completely shut down your abilities.. every molecule of your magic is stopped. And you attacked me, so now I'm pissed. You're on thin ice, buddy." he bluffed, glaring at him. "We have half a mind to feed you to the shark, but Zaku insists that we talk. Like we tried to do in the first place. Until your traitor, Ree, plucked the damn Criel leader into the room and then murdered him in cold blood." he continued, arms folded as half-healed cuts lined his body.

"Enough." Zaku interjected, waving Michael to leave the room. The last thing he needed was for Michael to get worked up again. Sighing, he moved to kneel in front of him, a deeply concerned look on his face as he stared into Tri's eyes, pain hidden behind them. "Why did you let Ree betray Mara?... How could do that her?" he asked calmly, trying to understand what had even happened. He seemed to genuinely think that he and Ree had planned it all along to betray Mara. And without Lucian here to read his mind to confirm the truth, they would just have to make assumptions, question him, and hope for the best.

Blaise quirked an eyebrow as she continued to heal his wounds without interruption. "How rude.. you'd think he'd at least answer the question before asking his own." she retorted with a slight bit of agitation in her voice.

Zaku raised his hand to Blaise, signalling her to stop talking as his eyes never broke from Tri, watching him carefully as he could see the point in which he remembered what was happening. "Now that you seem to have a better grasp on what happened and what is going on, I'm going to ask you again. How could you just let Ree betray Mara? She was an innocent. What makes SIU better if they are willing to consciously kill an innocent human woman... Even we don't do that... Have you and your people have no boundaries?" He narrowed his eyes in anger. "Why did you and Ree set us up? What the ******** could be such a great reward to you to let her die just to frame us...." His eyes quickly softened in pain. He honestly had no idea that Michael had been spinning lies among the renegade group present in the house. Everyone was in on it now... except Zaku, who only understood the accusations placed by them, the false information that they hoped would push Zaku towards a more radical stance against humans. However, the accusations only concerned Zaku further. Was this how far they had fallen? He had to know how this could happen, why was this happening... and try to figure out how to fix that too. He kept his gaze with Tri. "We have Mara too. Though, we will be protecting her now, since it seems her own adoptees were only out to end her short existence anyway. Now answer my questions." he demanded, almost reflexively trying to use his ability, but that would do no good as his powers would be gone for at least three days as a result from the injuries he had sustained to his gem in the fight.

Zaku's face twinged in annoyance as Tri refused to answer the questions outright. His anger only touching the surface softly as he glared at Tri. Conspirator and accomplice it seemed. He wanted to retort with all the anger he had at this point over what had happened. Anger not just over what he had been assuming Tri and Ree did, but for his own team and how it almost cost a lot of them their lives. Including his own. He was letting the rage die down when Tri started into his own accusations. Calling him a hypocryte and blaming him for the start of this war. Zaku's eyes glinted with fierce outrage, ready to move, but someone else already was.

Blaise had stopped healing him suddenly, anger boiling over as she reached back to punch him where the remnants of the bruise was darkest. No words, just anger and a face full of fury. Inches from his face, something made her stop. A surprising feat honestly, as it was usually very hard to calm her down once she was mad. However, the interjection of Zaku's hand grabbing her arm and the scowl on his face, one that was fed up with the unpredictable actions of his team.

"Leave."

"But he-.."

He came to a stand, practically towering over her, too angry to let her contest him. "I. said. leave!" he commanded her.

She blinked, her face dropping into a frown as she hesitated then glimpse to Tri, concern still on her face then walked out of the room without another word.

As the door shut, Zaku turned to look at Tri. "I'm a hypocrite? Didn't try?! What the hell have I been doing for the last twenty years then? I guess I was just playing around twiddling my thumbs and blowing smoke up everyone's asses." his voice was stern, as he started into a vent, set off by Tri's words. "You know what I've bee doing? Being a damn idiot constantly risking my neck for other people to be heard. I've been a fool screaming about how we deserve more than nothing for years! Screaming until my lungs gave out, and even then I didn't stop moving. Fighting for two god damn decades to finally get even a remote chance at finding peace. Doing anything I could just to get there. That path isn't paved in gold, Tri. I've done my absolute best to keep the death to a minimum. No easy task, I assure you. I've waited for years with bated breath for this moment. And despite Mara being alarmingly compliant with the humans... I don't blame her. She's one of them, just doing her job as she's told, but she's different, isn't she? Don't think I don't have ears to the ground. But that doesn't matter to you, because you were so willing to throw her into their trap too. I take the blame that she was there in the first place, but we were also trying to protect her in case they did something to her. I wanted an audience and I was a ******** moron for thinking maybe... Just MAYBE, it wouldn't be a trap. Just a damn chance for peace. Finally. But now that's ruined. Because of Criel popping off at the mouth about that girl, threatening to kill us all. You know what that's called? It's called genocide and it's wrong! And I don't blame Michael for getting pissed. I was ******** pissed too. But we all deal with anger differently. And it could have been handled, had Ree not murdered him, had you both not tried to set us up. So, no, we didn't start this war. You did." he was fuming, ranting about how much of a bad situation this was. "So when you consider that you've been captured by the enemy team, you consider what your own people would have done to one of us had the shoe been on the other foot... you thank your lucky stars that our image is only just that, an image. Where, here I am just talking to you. ******** had you healed even. And your people are probably doing a whole hell of a lot worse things to others who don't even deserve it... So you remind me who the ******** hypocrite is. Because I'm looking at a wanted man too. So either you start cooperating and just ******** talk to me, or maybe we should leave you here for the military to find your sorry excuse for a double-crosser." he broke his gaze to turn and take a deep breath, moving over to pull a chair from the wall to position it in front a Tri and sit down. "I just want to know why you and Ree would do it... Didn't Mara mean anything to you?" he asked calmly, his eyes still angry but building into pain once again. He felt responsible, he didn't want it to turn out the way it did, but there was no turning back now. The fire of the war was too thick, fanning it was only going to cause a bigger force of destruction.

Zaku kept a stern gaze on him as Tri opened up and began to talk. Not exactly what he was wanting him to talk about, but the conversation would at least be of a topic that needed to be discussed. "Of course, I'm always in the same position as them. I'm the renegade's leader and as such I protect my people, I have their better interest. I hear their screams." he spoke in a low controlled voice. "I understand that. I know they will look out for their people."

"I wasn't there to make demands without compromise. Yet, we are so far down this bloody path, is there really anything I can give them now that won't either backfire in everyone's faces, or get nowhere. This is a delicate situation. I don't have all the answers, and I'm not perfect. I try new things, see what works and what doesn't. They are just the same, thus your existence in this whole mess." Zaku folded his arms, leaning back in the chair as he watched Tri, "Michael has a lot to lose, and hasn't had enough time to understand to control his emotions when pushed to the edge. And yes, I did egg him on, I'll admit that. But it was part of the plan... Get him angry, show how hot the fire burned within us, then bring it back. Calm him down. Show that even despite our anger, we are still people, that we have our moments but we also have tranquility and reasoning. Except that didn't work out when you both set us up and killed [Criel]. Though, I have to applaud you, didn't think your plan would have meshed so well with our to make us take the fall this hard. Truly a spectacle of deceit." he seemed unamused by the words Tri spoke. Just another person who missed the point, assumed about what he did and who he was. Calling them children, relating their tactics to that of a tantrum. "Really, because we were discussing compromise when that b*****d opened his mouth first about killing and making fun of a girl with a disability. It's a wonder he hadn't been assassinated ages ago. It really puts me at unease to know there are more people out there just like him."

"The reason I brought Michael was to make sure I had a way to leave had you all decided to just off me right then and there. I allowed Mara to bring two so she'd feel safe as well, noting the world leaders would find a way to make her some kind of martyr. Didn't expect you two to be in on it." he paused, his eyes flickering into agitation. "Quit talking about Michael like he's some kind of uncontrollable child. He's not. He may be rash, but you know what, I'm sure you'd do some pretty unpredictable things if pushed to the edge. So consider this... that rash idiot had changed our plans before the parley. He was concerned that Mara wouldn't make it out as a human if the world leaders tried to kill us all. He asked me if it was okay to not get me out, but rather teleport Mara out. Save her, weighing the options that the rest of us are Metas and have a better chance of surviving because of our abilities. Since it was our responsibility that she was there in the first place, putting her in that same danger we would try to protect her from." he divulged, leaning forward in the chair to stare directly at Tri.

"You sure do have a lot to say about how we should have done things for a complacent slave to the cruel world leaders. For someone who stayed ever so quiet when threats started hitting the fan. Are you really that broken down by them that you let it all happen? You would have just stood there and took it. Just like you let him insult your item like that snowglobe didn't mean anything to you." he focused on him, unmoving, and analyzing his expression. Was he a traitor or a victim, he couldn't tell.

"Michael didn't kill him. Despite his threat,... despite any of our threats, we are sensible people. Stupid, I know. But he wouldn't have killed him in front of everyone like that, because of what happens after that... well, you saw what that kind of thing does to Michael. With someone who's willing to stand up with threats so big, what makes you think he'd also reveal his greatest weakness to every world leader of Tretera. He may be able to teleport, but only those he touches. Else I wouldn't have almost died in the hospital. That would have played out a lot more differently." Zaku sighed and closed his eyes, trying to collect his next thoughts.

"The other one... Lucian does have an ability to teleport small objects to himself. I'll admit that. But his psionics aren't that strong. In fact, I was surprised he could even attempt to teleport himself, god knows where the hell he ended up... He likely used everything he had to make sure Mara got out." he opened his eyes, a glint of solemn thought as he folded his hands together to rest on his own face. "I lied to you about Mara. Honestly, we don't know where she or Lucian went. Like I said, Lucian does not have control over those abilities and we have yet to find either of them. So here's what I want to offer you... Help us find both of them, and I'll let you return or go or whatever it is that you want. We part ways. We just want to confirm that Mara is okay, and get back Lucian. Because at the end of the day, we are a family here."

"Also, the woman that caused the critical injuries to your face before I got here is in just the other room. She's a god damn amazonian... claimed she had to headbutt you because punching you would kill you immediately. Now, that girl is Lucian's sister. So, for both of our sakes, I'd like to get Lucian back before she figures out that he's missing.. possibly even taken by SIU. Considering that if Mara took him, and Moira finds out, she'd obliterate her in one punch, and I don't want that. So either you're a full on traitor and you help us then go about your way doing whatever assassin-ey things you and your accomplice do.... or you are a victim in all this as well, you help us and we let you and her reunite with her, help you both if you need it."

"You're right..." he spoke suddenly, pausing for more than a few moments, frowning as he let go of his anger. His words reached him on a deeper level for some reason, making him realize what he had been so conflicted about.

"I know that Michael's actions cost us the parley. And yes, Ree's actions didn't help, it was a poor move. But if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. You act like I'm the perfect leader, and I'll be the first to admit I'm not. Yet, they still look up to me. They want my dreams as bad as I do. I'm still fighting for something I've never experienced. Looking for a greener patch of land. Doesn't have to be the greenest, just anything that's better than nothing. I'm trying my best, and so are they. It's hard. But I don't see you trying to change things, so what room do you have to speak on it. You have great ideas. One's I could even use, but what had you done with that knowledge before talking with me just now. I'm not accusing, only asking. What we did at parley was a risk, but its necessary to make a choice to take that chance or nothing will ever change." Zaku sighed, coming to a stand as he looked away.

"I have my reasons for the things I do. And it may not seem like I control them well. Can you blame me? I'm responsible for an entire renegade. I have to be on top of everything. And do you know why I'm the leader?" he looked to Tri, "Because no matter what happens, I'm still fighting for peace. Even when the chips are down and the walls are crumbling in, I look to the sky and I still try to spread my wings, just hope that I can fly. So when something like this happens... a war begins to brew because of the actions of one of my subordinates, I'm still looking for how to make it towards peace. They are screaming for a war, they want the bloodshed and the downfall of the human race, and yet I still lull them, hoping I can keep them subdued for another day while I think of more ways to take the blame and make more moves to try to find another way for unity among the races. I know how to pick and choose my battles. I plan. I plan a lot. And a lot of those plans do not bear fruit. But I'm still here, and I'm still fighting."

He shook his head, placing his hands behind his back. "Maybe I am naive and innocent and stubborn... but isn't that why I'm the one in charge rather than someone just as bad as Criel who only amplifies the cries for warfare?" He came to sit back down, looking at him earnestly. "I will tell you right now, you will never find another person like me in the entire renegade.. maybe even in the world, who knows? Someone who's still moving towards something better not for himself, but for everyone." He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry that this seems like a mess. And I still can't even entirely trust you. You're not exactly cleared of the accusations of being a traitor of SIU and generally every city this side of Tretera. Even the renegade is wary of you. But we'll do what we can."

He snorted lightly at the last remark, "Hey, I never said I wanted you to join the renegade. There's a screening process, you know." he seemed to joke just a bit, before his face turned to a more thoughtful one, a light smile on his face as he leaned slightly forward to stare at Tri, making sure he had his attention. "Honestly, do what you want in the end. We just want Lucian. So whatever you decide to do after that, whether it's go back to SIU if they'll even take you, to go along your way, or to join the renegade.. that's all up to you. I can't make that choice for you. But I only hope... that your choice reflects your hopes... and not your fears."

Zaku listened intently to his words, slowly leaning back in the chair, a hand placed on his own chin as a slow smile crept onto his lips, a genuinely light-hearted one. He had a lot things to say, a lot that Zaku seemed more inclined to listen to, advise and words of critique it seemed. Something that surprised Zaku, but also filled him with a difference sense of hope. "It's honestly a shame you ended up on the other side... You have a lot of thought about you.. Maybe I was wrong about that. Would have liked to have a more logical person at my side." he then closed his eyes for a moment, waving his hand dismissively. "As surprising as this sounds, maybe I have been a bit... selfish. I'd honestly never been critiqued before, and certainly not like this. Never thought I'd be inviting such things."

He then began to frown, looking idly out the window, a small flicker of alarm and fear before it died back down within the glimpse he caught of Moira punching things outside. "The others probably never had to deal with such uncontrollable elements such as this." he spoke idly then looked to him, the smile returning on his face, "I'm fairly relieved to hear that you at least did something. Heck, sounds like you might have had more headway than even I." he sighed, "Things I wish I knew, I suppose. I almost feel bad..." he took a glance back to Cordelia then to Tri. "..I do feel bad.." he muttered quietly, enough for Tri to hear. He then looked to Tri in confusion than in sadness as he mentioned his surprise that the renegade hadn't replaced him yet. "I fear that every day." he answered calmly, looking away. He took a deep breath and looked away again, folding his arms in a relaxed position over his chest, wincing only lightly as his arm came close to his wound by accident. He quirked and eyebrow at Tri's remark about the screening process, his smile only growing. "If only you knew..." the remark in itself reminded him of someone, a flicker of a memory as he stared at Tri for a few moments like looking at the face of someone he deeply cared for a long time ago. His expression soft as he said nothing for a bit then forced his eyes to close. "..why? do you like strawberries?..." he asked, opening his eyes to look at him again, a smirk on his face as he said that he'd think about it. That was fine, he didn't need an answer, just wanted to keep moving towards his goals. Though, the thought surfaced that it would be nice to have Tri around with the way he thought about things. However, he still couldn't deny that he couldn't be trusted, though Zaku was beginning to feel something was a little odd about it all.

Zaku listened yet again, interested with what Tri had to say for some reason. Despite knowing everything that had happened earlier that day, it felt odd that he had expected to meet an entirely different person than whom he was talking to right now. He noted things that he said, trying his best to understand the other side of things. He couldn't just sit back and only look at one view of a situation, it was almost an obsession by now to understand, but only if the other party was willing to debate reasonably. Nothing like the parley where it just ended in threats and more animosity. He didn't particularly like that sort of thing, but he played the part well. He has his own goals about it, and he had the powers to enact it, being the kind of person who refused to just sit around if he had the power to change something.

"Don't have much else to lose?" he repeated in a low voice, trying to understand what he meant by it, only resulting in a slight frown on his face.

Strawberries were passable. Huh. A smirk grew back on his face. "Well, I guess if the time came, you'd pass the screening." he held back a laugh. Then he mentioned how could they trust him, and what would happen if Lucian came back. "Hmm.. don't know about trust. That's a hard one since you work for what I guess would be the enemy. Though, right now, we have a common goal.. so I guess that's where we can build the temporary trust." he paused to think on the second half. "I suppose let you go. There's no real reason to keep you hostage other than the notion that you're group might have our teammate hostage. Some might not like the idea, but that's not their call. They'll just deal with it, like they did with Mara and Hexxis before." He slid his eyes over to the window as Arno turned into that of a giant man shark and began to grapple Moira. He sighed a bit, but shook the idea. At least they weren't killing each other... not that he could really stop them if they were.

He looked to Tri and then smiled, "Hey, are you hungry? It's been quite a few hours and I'm sure Kate's got something ready by now..." he looked over to Cordelia, then back to Tri, a smile still on his face. "Hold that thought." Zaku moved to the door and left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Tri alone in the room with the supposedly sleeping girl.

The fire alarm went off for a few minutes before it died down and there were running footsteps in the hallway outside the room and some muffled talking. Some more shuffling then silence.

After a few minutes, the door opened again and Zaku came back into the room with some warm bread on a plate, closing the door behind him again as he moved to Tri with a smile. "This stuff is really good, you should try it." He showed the plate with four pieces of homemade bread on it. Zaku looked at the plate and then at Tri. "...hmmm.." he hummed lightly then set the plate on the empty chair in front of Tri then moved behind him to begin untying his hands. "Honestly, Kate's really good at cooking, she's pretty doting too when you get to know her." he was explaining idly as he finally undid his hands and then moved in front of him again. Picking up the plate, he offered some of the bread to Tri. "Take it, I promise you won't regret it." he smiled, "I tried to find strawberries, but I think Arno ate them all. Or Moira... I'm not entirely sure." he frowned for only a flicker of a moment in disappointment before laughing a bit to himself.