Never back down ( Rae)

[Theo Rory Sikes]

Theo grunted as he pulled his body up to the bar for the forty ninth time, muscles tensing as he held himself in place, chin touching the bar. "Forty nine" he shouted into the empty room before letting his body slowly move back down. He then lifted himself up for the final shot, raising himself again so he was nearly over the bar before letting go. Dropping down to his feet onto the mats below with a thud. Wiping the sweat from his brow he grabbed the bottle of water, sitting at the side of the room. Sure he had super strength, but why get lazy and not train? after all he could only get better.

The training rooms where his usual haunt, wanting to improve, wanting to become the best he could be. Beat the slimy villains back into their holes before the day was out. His routine usually lasted a few hours, involving every aspect of physical training, then going on in the evening to train with his fire ability. All the other people in the building thought his intense training was weird an unnecessary , but they were weak and frankly not deserving of their skills.

Jogging on the spot for a bit to release the tension in his muscles, Theo allowed himself to catch a breath before moving over to the treadmill. All traces of body fat had been completely converted to muscle since the experiment, and now he was at peak physical performance, feeling better that ever. Quickly moving up speeds to get to the fastest he set it for uphill, refusing to give himself an easy time.

[Rae Hunter]

Rae seemed to have the worst luck on this side of the planet. Shehad come down again to train or maybe just to hit something. There was another person down in the room already. She seemed to have the worst of luck and she really hated it. At least this time instead of finding a pathetic little girl she found someone who at least looked like they had been here a while.

As Rae walked in she noticed that the person had been here a while or he had had at least been here while she had still been here. It was Theo. Theo of all people. She counted herself lucky that she hadn't run into him yet. But her luck as stated before seemed to be horrible as of late. But Theo why did she have to run into him. She wondered if he hated her like he should. After all they had been dating and she had just picked up and left she had at least old him that she was leaving, but she also did it in a note after deciding to leave or well being blackmailed into leaving. Nobody knew about that though.

She wondered if there was still chemistry on his side. There was still chemistry on her side most definately. She could feel it. She still wanted to be with him. It was doing a number on her nerves maing her just want to reach out and touch him and kiss him. Though he probably did hate her and she would have to put those thoughts off indefinately.

What did she say though. She wasn't sure how she was going to say anything. She came here to train so maybe if she didn't say anything he wouldn't recognize her like Schatten hadn't. AS much as she was happy to be near him again it was also incredibly akward. She sighed went over to the punching bag and crabbing some gloves. She began to pound on it letting out her frustrations giving it a round house kick everyonce in a while. This was going to be an interesting day.

[Theo Rory Sikes]

Running hard and fast on the treadmill Theo didn't even slow the machine down to take a drink. He had been running for a long while , muscles starting to tire and become rubbery. But he wasn't going to stop yet, not when he could still feel some energy within him. After a while he heard someone on the punching bags which was behind the treadmills and so out of view. Mentally cursing whoever had decided to disturb him he ran faster, trying to ignore the sound. Everyone in the place knew that this was his training room, he was in their most of the day after all. Apparently telling some people 'politely' that they couldn't train when he was wasn't enough.

Eventually the heavy pounding noises from the bag became too much, each one grinding through his brain, not making him work properly. Cursing loudly he started bringing the treadmill down speeds ready to get off. If whoever it was hadn't left by his sudden shout, he would have some talking to do. When the treadmill eventually slowed down enough he got off, grabbing his towel that hung on the side bar. Sweaty from the workout he wiped his face before draping the towel around his neck.

Turning around he could only see the strangers back, seeing it was a woman he smirked, it was a rare occasion when you see a woman beating up the bag that much. Something must have ticked her off. Standing for a moment he rubbed his neck absently, before going over. "Why this room?" he asked walking up behind her, "There will be plenty of other free rooms, after all nobody else trains"

Impressed by her right hook Theo eventually moved in front of her. Stopping the bag by holding it, fully intending to intimidate her away. When he saw her face however that changed. "Rae?" he asked frowning, not believing who he saw.It had been a long time after all.

[Rae Hunter]

"Yeah were you expecting some girl who would go weak in the knees at just the site of you?" she asked breathing heavily. He hadn't changed at all then again it was only three months. How much could a perosn change after only three months. She kept punching the bag. He had super strength Theo could handle it. She could put a rather good bit of telekinetic force behind her punch and he would still be able to handle it.

Why didn't she just walk away. It was something that made sense. She could have avoided all of this. "Why should I go to another room. It wasn't like I was getting in your way. Maybe because this was closest to my room. Maybe I was meeting someone else here. Maybe I decided not to find another room because I still have feelings for you and it drives me crazy." With the last sentence she punched the bag with all of her might her anger letting in some telekinetic force behind it.

Rae sighed and walked away from the bag turning around putting her gloves down. She moved back to where her bag of stuff was sitting on a bench and she grabbed a water bottle. She opened it up and began to chug it so she wouldn't say something else that would totally embarass herself.

[Theo Rory Sikes]

The confused look on Theo's face soon turned to amusement the second she spoke her first sentence, attitude lacing every word. The attitude and spark that he used to love still their. As she continued hitting the bag he stayed put, keeping the bag steady from every punch easily. Listening to her rant he didnt say a word, waiting patiently for when she would shut up. Let him have a turn.

Her last admittance however shocked him, knocking his concentration so he barely managed to keep the bag steady when she hit it hard. Obviously using some of her telekinetic powers to power her hit. As she moved away he followed, a stupid grin now on his face. Sure he was still angry with her for leaving, furious in fact. But he couldn't help but be pleased now she was back.

As she began to chugg some water he figured it was the best time to speak, to actually get a word in without being interrupted. Deciding to ignore the comments on the room as it was now the last thing on his mind. Theo went straight to the point. "Still have feelings huh?" he asked with a smile, wiping at his face again with the towel. "If you still had feelings why did you leave? From what I saw we where happy. At least I was" serious now he leaned against the wall next to her, frowning. "And how do you tell me your going to leave? A bloody note, did you not think I deserved more than that?" as he spoke his voice began to rise, anger settling in the more his brain registered that she was there, that she was standing within arms reach.

[Rae Hunter]

Rae finished the waterbottle and sighed. Here was the anger that she was expecting and deserved. Well she did have an excuse but she couldn't tell him that. People got angry when you told people that you were being black mailed by them.

"I couldn't tell you," Rae said. "If I did I . . . " wouldn't have been able to lie to your face. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. "I wouldn't have been able to leave if I had said good bye. Besides you're not going to like the reason that I left. I left because of Kasey. I left to go find him. I didn't want you to think that I was choosing him over you because I wasn't it's just that he kept saying that he was going through the program and I couldn't let him do that and I went to find him and . . . . and it was too late. He went through with it but he wasn't one of the lucky ones his body rejected it and he died before I even got to see him, Theo. I had to stay away after that. I just couldn't come back here."

She was getting close to tears and she could feel that but she didn't want to show him that. It wasn't something that she wanted to do. She just wanted to leave but he deserved the explination more then anyone else here.

[Theo Rory Sikes]

Still resting all his weight onto his right arm, leaning on the wall, Theo remained frowning throughout her speech. Only softening at the end. Kasey was dead, he knew how much Kasey meant to her, although he hated that fact. The idea of loosing someone seemed cold and distant to him, never having gone through it himself. But he imagined it would be hard, very upsetting in fact. Seeing that she was nearly in tears only increased the opinion. Especially if he died so close to when she could have saved him, at the hands of a government that she served, that must have been pretty upsetting. Although he didn't want to he could feel the anger for her dying down, nearly disappearing.

"You could have talked to me" he eventually said sadly "I would have came with you, helped you through it. Heck if you asked I would have quit this programme" sighing he rubbed his forehead feeling the stress of the situation get to him. Seeing her nearly in tears didnt help, one side of him wanting to pull her into a hug the other wanting to shout at her before walking away.

[Rae Hunter]

"Stop being so wonderful," she yelled at him. "You're not making this make any more sense. You should hate me. You should want me out of your site. I hurt you just like everyone else hurt me. I left you. I didn't tell you where I was going. I didn't answer your calls. I didn't do anything when it came to you. I cut you out of my entire life. You should want me as far away from you as possible especialy since you're not the first person I saw when you should have been. You should have known above everyone else that I was back. I should have spent my first day back with you not Schatten. You should just hate me and you shouldn't want to hold me and tell me everything is all right and that I don't have to worry anymore."

"I couldn't have talked to you," Rae said after a while. "I couldn't. It's just so complicated. There was so much going on. There were so many factors and people involved. I wanted to stay though. I didn't want to leave I really didn't but I didn't have a choice. I wanted to stay with you though. You have no idea how much I wanted to say because of you."

[Theo Rory Sikes]

"Are you trying your best to rile me up as much as possible right now? Is that what you are trying to do? Because its working" Theo yelled after her outburst "I'm trying to understand here but to be frank nothings coming. One minute you are making me feel sorry for you, empathizing for you loosing Kasey and the next you are screaming at me because why? You cut me out of your life!!" feeling the blood flush to his face out of anger, Theo clenched his fist against the wall. Not the best person to deal with his emotions "Well I'm not taking responsibility for your stupid actions. You cut me out and yes you hurt me, you hurt me a lot. Is that what you want me to say? Huh!"

Listening to her mention that she had been back for a while he let himself lean back on the wall, back against the brick as he clenched his eyes in disbelief. Completely angry now, well he guessed its what he wanted to be like. "How long have you been back for?" speaking calmly he kept his eyes shut, blocking her out whilst breathing deeply. "Well how long? days, weeks, months. How long have you been here hiding from me." Shouting again he pushed himself of the wall, standing so he was directly facing her, wanting to see her every emotion. Wanting her to see his. "I don't understand you, what do you not think Ive been through enough? Want to add an extra few digs huh. Well go ahead" not caring if he looked like an idiot Theo raised his arms as if in invitation, welcoming more blows.

"this is all rubbish though, if you really wanted to stay with me you would have. Or do you not even trust me enough to let me help? Or would I have been too complicated!" Staring at her directly in the eyes Theo frowned deeply, jaw clenched. "Why are you hiding things from me? We used to trust each other with everything, and now" trailing off sudden realization hit him "Is Kasey even dead? or was that just an excuse too?" Knowing that he was being heartless he ignored it, needing to know.

[Rae Hunter]

"Yes that is exactly what I want from you!" she yelled back over him. 'Because that's what I deserve for being the coward that I was, but you don't understand it's so complicated I know you don't want to hear that but it's the truth. I can't tell you everything."

"I've been back for three days," Rae said softly. She wondered if that was too long for him. It probably was. "I didn't think that you would want me to see me. I was obviously right." She sighed when he put his arms up. She deserved every minute of this but that didn't mean that it got any easier to hear. "Don't," she said pushing his arms down softly. "If you think I want to intentionally hurt you then you really don't know me." Rae was just taking it all, but she couldn't take what he last said.

"Are you kidding me?" Rae asked yelling louder then she could remember. "Kasey was my best friend. The only person I trusted at the orphanage. He was there almost as long as I was. He's like my brother. You would love that wouldn't you. It would just give you the chance to walk away. Do you want to know the thing that influenced my descision the most? The fact that I was so stupid that I believed that you were actually in love with me when I left. That you actually cared about me. I left because I wanted to leave before I got left for the third time by someone that I loved. So tell me how long did you wait until officially hooked up with what's her name or wasn't it as good when there wasn't a threat of getting caught? Because according to Jace the you and your secret tramp were having some pretty hot and heavy nights."

[Theo Rory Sikes]

"Well then thats exactly what you've got off me!" he yelled back reaching if not surpassing her yells "Sure I don't understand if you don't tell me anything! And I don't see why you wouldn't to be honest, have I ever gave the impression that I am anything but trustworthy?" being one to value his own trustworthiness Theo was beginning to become incredibly offended by the secrecy.

"Three days? In seventy two hours you didn't even think of trying to come see me? I'm sure its pretty obvious that I wouldn't have left. And then why now, you obviously decided it was convenient to talk to me today for some reason. There was plenty of time to leave beforehand".

As she went to push his arms down he allowed it, missing the feel of her. Breathing heavily he bit his lip, not saying anything to answer her. She had hurt him, intentionally or not and he wasn't going to let her off so easily. When she started screaming though he began to feel bad, knowing that he shouldn't have said what he did, even if he was feeling pretty irrational right now.

"Ok I admit that was pretty dam harsh of me to say.... Sorry, but what am I supposed to think? you keep changing your tune practically every minute." Keeping quiet he took the rest of the rant, even though she was speaking rubbish. Or course he loved her and cared about her, but if she thought about what she was saying for more than a second she would know that. But the end part of her rant that he couldn't let slide. She had already took many digs on his trustworthiness and now she was calling him a cheater? hell was he standing for that.

"You have got to be kidding me... There is no way I am letting you come back from the blue and call me a cheater. Of course I haven't or wouldn't cheat on you, or anybody for that matter. Because I actually believe in relationships, not lusting after anything in a skirt." Stepping back a step he put his tongue against the side of his mouth in annoyance "I cant believe you would believe a slime ball like Jace over me! You know he is a good for nothing Idiot. So who did he say I was apparently sleeping with? Common tell all ,Im intrigued"

[Rae Hunter]

"It's not that I didn't want to find you," she tried to explain when he got angry that she had been here for three days. "It's just that other people found me first and I had been in 'debriefing for most of my first day. I had been trying to find you but I was scared to come and find you. I had been looking for you but then I just took a break in the rec room and Schatten found me and I spent so much time talking to him. I couldn't find you after I saw him. I looked but I wasn't going to use my telepathy to come find you. It's been so off lately I was afraid that I would hurt you like you were afraid in the beginning with your super strength." She new that she was rambling but she couldn't help it. She was going to answer all of his questions. All of the ones that he had.

"Rose," Rae said realizing how stupid she had been. But Jace had made such a strange argument and her telepathy was so off that day. She didn't have much of a choice to believe him. Theo and Rose always had seemed to be missing at the same time. Plus Rae's constant calling of Kasey trying to get him to stop wasn't exactly helping the relationship. "All the guys talk about her about how she's the gorgeous curvacious tan hot little thing that every guy wants to be with and she's always flirting with you even when you were with me and you know how much that would annoy me and then I hear the guys talking drunk always of course but that's when you can get the truth out of people sometimes that I'm just some pasty thin cold hearted bittch who does nothing but distract you and how I'm just using you because I talk to Schatten and Sam on a regular basis but we're just friends. That's all that's ever happened with the three of us, it's not the same when I see one of them. I see you and I can't breath I stop dead in my tracks. It's how it's always been with you. Even right now you make me feel like I can't stand on my own and that I'm just a silly little teenager with her first boyfriend and that nothing bad will ever happen, but something bad did happen and it's all my fault and . . . maybe I should just . . . "

Rae hadn't been paying attention to what she was doing and she had become rather close to Theo. Her one hand moved down to his and she was waiting to be pushed away like she deserved and how she expected him to react, but before he had softened so much. She didn't recognize the person in front of her. She wanted her Theo back and it killed her to see that she was the one who did this to him. She had forgotten her last thought completely.

"I'm so so sorry," Rae said hoping that he would believe that. She wasn't sure what Theo would do now that she had dared to get this close. She was somewhat scared not sure what he would and wouldn't do now.

[Theo Rory Sikes]

Theo didn't say anything in response to her ramble, not really thinking he had to. But the deep frown never left his face, wondering if there was any truth to her words. As soon as she mentioned Rose however he laughed "Rose? You kidding me right?" looking at the ceiling in disbelief for a moment before looking back at her he sighed "If Jace was going to make some crazy remarks up he could have least made them with someone I actually like, Rose is a cow and I have told you that many a time. I cant actually believe that you believed that. I mean when have you ever even seen me have more than a three minute conversation with the woman? Never mind do what you are accusing me of." Still completely in shock that she would accuse such a thing he barely listened to the rest of her talk, only catching certain parts. It seemed to him that she was more bothered about others opinions that he thought. He knew there was nothing going on between her and the weirdos she chose to hang out with, he doubted they would even have to guts to try anything with her anyway, even if they did feel something. So there was zero threat there, and she knew that he couldn't care less.

The end of her rant though caught his attention, stopping thinking he looked directly into her eyes, all his attention on what she was saying. She had come closer, without him even noticing and now it was getting even harder to not react to her presence. Letting her hold his hand he reacted, entwining his fingers with hers, an almost childlike motion. Moving even closer as she said sorry he sighed, knowing that really he should be making this harder for her. Not taking her back unless he got a full explanation, but he couldn't do that.

"Its ok..... your back now" for how long though, how long before she ran off again, hurt him again. Keeping his left hand holding hers he pulled the towel from around his neck with the other, throwing it away onto a nearby bench. If she ran again there would be no way he would take her back, despite how much he cared. Still a complete mix of emotions he didn't bother making the next move, just enjoying standing so close whilst he thought of what to say. "How long will you be back? Because if you are leaving again I don't think I can start a relationship, it will hurt too much so just tell me the truth k?" Theo then smiled realizing he was being presumptive "that is if we are trying again?"

[Rae Hunter]

Rae swallowed hard when Theo asked how long she was going to stay. "I have to leave very briefly in a week to go to Alabama," she said quietly. "I'm going home for my mother. I . . ." she swallowed again. "Want to bring you with me so that she can meet you." His next words made her extremely happy though. He wanted to try. He truley wanted to try again. A smile broke across her face and she flung his arms around Theo. It wasn't all that hard since he was only two inches taller then her.

"Thank you," she said softly before she pulled away from him a bit. She wasn't going to allow herself to kiss him she wasn't going to jump back into where they left off because that wasn't what he was saying. He was saying that he wanted to try again and that was totally different.

Rae was vaguely aware of the fact that she was crying, but it didn't really matter to her anymore. She was merely happy wit the the fact that he wasn't going to ignore her or loathe her entirely and that was something that she would take any day.

[Theo Rory Sikes]

As soon as Rae swallowed Theo could tell what was coming, already preparing himself to start screaming again. There was no way he was going to let her mess him about like this, biting his tongue however he managed to refrain shouting long enough for her to finish. Shocked yet happy about what she said he grinned "Sure sounds good to me, for how long?" He asked knowing despite everything he had said previously he couldn't go away for too long, something was brewing around town and he knew it. Although shocked by her sudden flinging of the arms he allowed it, moving his own to the comfortable place around her waist.

"Nothing to thank me for" he smiled deciding to put the past firmly behind them. Seeing she was crying he tried pulling her closer, never liking to see her sad.