Hidden

Three days later, and I'm still no closer to figuring anything concrete out about my mission team's history. Tara is in her own head more often than not even if she is kind, Ben channels all of his energy into making sure Marcus doesn't explode, and Oliver might as well have a sign tattooed on his forehead that says don't talk to me. Poor Nuri has been paired up with him, and he barely looks at her unless it's absolutely necessary.

Michael and I, on the other hand, have been paired up with each other. He's thrilled about it, but I keep thinking it's because they believe we are going to be the weak links in the chain. Or rather that I am going to be the weak link because of my age, so they might as well pair me with a non seasoned member of the mission team. The word expendable keeps circulating through my mind.

At least the routine has been familiar. We report to the training room, stretch together, spar, practice with various weapons, break for lunch, and in the afternoon, Marcus leads us in mission drills to work as a team. We haven't touched a course maze yet, but I'm itching for one just to prove my worth. Michael, Nuri, and I walk into the training room expecting more of the same for today, but our team isn't there. In their places are two people I've never seen before and Ryan.

I haven't seen him since he congratulated me in the tunnel and to see him unexpectedly like this is jarring. His facial expression doesn't help matters much either. Part of me wonders if he's always been this easy to read or if the muscle in his jaw jumping from the tension in his body is something no one else is noticing. Rick walks into the room from the same door he always uses at the back corner.

"Once a week you will meet with your special teams trainer. We've picked one out for each of you based on your skill set. Hargrove, you're with Donovan," everything else he says fades away into background noise. Ryan, never going to join a mission team, Donovan is going to train me. In what? Mission command?

Nuri's trainer takes her out the way Rick always comes in while Michael and his trainer leave through the regular entry door. Ryan stares at Rick accusingly until Rick looks away. Then Ryan angrily jerks his head at me in a motion to follow him before striding out of the room.

I hesitate long enough that I need to jog to catch up with him. When I do, I open my mouth, but he just shakes his head tightly. We walk through a series of corridors before reaching an unmarked door. He yanks the door open and stomps inside. I follow his lead and throw up my hands when I see the huge track in front of me. "All these theatrics for running?"

A series of chimes sound, and I turn to see Ryan messing with a control panel on the wall. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting the room ready." His voice sounds like it used to when we were in the education program. Gruff. Cold. Superior. I put the sting of hurt away. If this is how he wants to be, fine. I stand in silence waiting for him to finish whatever he's messing with. Before he does, he pins his gaze on me. For a second, I see something like regret, but it's gone in an instant. "When I finish with this, don't move."

Five synthetic beeps ring loud and clear through the room. When they do, I can't describe it, but I feel different. Lighter. Free. "I mean it, SS. Don't move." It's the familiar name after being a jerk that does it. Ryan doesn't get to tell me what to do. I'll move if I want to move. I lift a foot to walk over and tell him so, but I end up nose to nose with the door. There's no way. I was a good twenty steps into the room.

"Damn it, Samantha!" Ryan shouts into the cavernous area. His voice echoes around me. "You could have knocked yourself out cold. What about 'don't move' was so hard to understand?"

Adrenaline races through my system. The cool metal of the door is barely a centimeter from touching my nose, but I keep my feet rooted to the floor. I don't even risk turning my head to talk to him, "Ghee, I don't know. Maybe the part where I have been successfully 'moving' my entire life without issue. Maybe, just maybe, you could have told me why it wasn't a good idea to move before I did it, Ryan."

I hear the breath that he lets out in frustration, but it only fuels my fire, "This would be a good time to start training, trainer. What's happening to me?" My voice cracks. I can't help it. What just happened isn't anywhere close to okay, let alone normal.

"SS...I'm not...this wasn't supposed to be my job." Ryan's voice gets gradually closer to me. Whatever happened to me apparently isn't affecting him at all, "This room takes the barrier of the Sanctum away and allows us to use our skill set at its full potential. You and I are the only ones with this ability, but they were supposed to get someone else to teach you. They didn't tell me until this morning that they changed their minds and pulled me off mission command."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I try to follow but come up short. "What skill set? What are you talking about?"

"It's the shots everyone gets in the education program. They encourage reactions in certain people. We got a rare one."

"Okay," I say the word slowly and evenly. "Are you telling me that I'm a lady Quicksilver?" Images of dad's old comic books that Fin still has stashed in his room flit through my mind. Ryan huffs out what might be a laugh, but I don't look at him to confirm it. Just in case my neck moves as fast as my feet. Wait. "But you're okay. Am I faster than you?"

Ryan leans against the wall and slides closer to me, "I don't know which one of us is faster, SS. You're like a newborn deer at this point. Think of it as a new muscle. You have to learn how to train it. Then we can have a proper run." He leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek, "Sorry about earlier. I'm angry at them, not you."

"Why?"

He moves out of my eyeline again. "I went through hell when I trained." The next words out of his mouth are hushed, "I don't want to see you hurt, let alone be the one who puts you in a situation to be hurt. And you will be hurt, SS."

I try to control the fear at the resolute promise underneath his words. Staring at the door only makes it more of a forgone conclusion. I was close to getting my first taste of pain just by lifting my foot. "How badly were you hurt?"

"I broke so many bones that I got used to the pain. They scanned me after a session once and told me that I had cracked a rib. It didn't even register at the time. Look, I'm going to try to keep you safe, SS. But you have to listen to me. Can you do that?" Ryan reaches out and tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I can feel his hand on my skin and want so badly to lean into his touch.

Listening to Ryan, putting my trust in Ryan, caring about Ryan. It's all wrapped up together and outside of this training there's the fact that the Elders are injecting us with some kind of serum that makes us into something different, something other without even giving us a choice in it. How is that different from the implant that's being forced on people? "So they really inject everyone with this stuff?" I ask instead of answering his question.

He leans closer to my ear to answer me, "Not here, SS."

We're being monitored then. The thought of the Elders getting a free show on top of the rest of it has anger washing out the fear. "What's first?"