Timothy grabbed some weapons and raised an eyebrow while he looked at me. "Ready?" he asked, and I nodded in confirmation while I grabbed my weapons. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"Well, we start rescuing the people that need help," I replied, "and make sure that the kids stay safe and alive."

"Are we killing any of the Addisans?" he asked, slowly hesitating while he stared at me from the corner of his eye. "Or..?" He trailed off and raised his eyebrow in question.

I pressed my lips into a thin line and hesitated, grabbing my weapon tighter. "If we need to," I replied, finally. I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "Do I like it, no, but there is no way we can let them live amongst us if they can't follow the rules."

Timothy nodded. "Can't we have them get sent back to their world?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

I shrugged and grimaced. "Don't know," I replied. "I wish I did, but I don't."

My stomach grumbled and growled, letting me know that I was hungry and needed to eat, and I couldn't help but grimace and close my eyes a little, not knowing if I would be able to eat or not.

"Are you ok?" Timothy asked while he furrowed his brows when he caught the look on my face. Concern flashed through his eyes, and he cocked his head and studied me. "What is it, Joy? What's wrong?"

I sighed and shook my head, my cheeks turning red. "I'm hungry," I admitted. "I wasn;t able to eat everything because it wasn't..." I trailed off and looked down while I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet.

Timothy hesitated but nodded while he furrowed his brows, and concern filled his eyes. "Do you want to see if there is something here before we go attack people?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I don't want you to get mad at me because you're hungry."

"Ya," I said and nodded while I placed my weapons around me before I walked back to my box. I started to look around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw something that I would be able to eat.

"Did you find something?" Timothy asked when he saw me relaxing slightly. He raised an eyebrow in question, biting back a small smirk. "Is that why you are relaxing?"

"Yes," I said and nodded while I grabbed the food. I hesitated while I looked at him, the food sitting in my hands. "Are you wanting to watch, or..?" I trailed off before I cleared my throat while I shifted on my feet, my cheeks turning a little red.

"It doesn't matter," Timothy admitted while he grew bashful, too. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "It doesn't bother me when you eat."

I narrowed my eyes and scowled while I studied him, seeing that he was telling the truth.

It didn't bother him that I was different...

I hesitated before I nodded. "Ok," I said while I grew relieved. I bit my lip and cleared my throat while I looked at my food, but I didn't eat it just yet.

Timothy bit back a scoff and rolled his eyes. "Would you just eat, Joy?" Timothy asked, scowling. "We're running out of time. We don't want anyone to die, right?" He raised an eyebrow in question.

I bit back a small huff before I slowly nodded and pursed my lips in annoyance. "Fine," I grumbled before I let my teeth lengthen until they were sharp. I opened the package and started to eat the food, and Timothy watched me with a soft smile on his face.

He creeps me out sometimes, I thought while I narrowed my eyes and looked at him while I ate.

"What?" Timothy asked and cocked his head while he studied me. Amusement filled his eyes, and he raised an eyebrow again. "Why are you narrowing your eyes at me while you are eating? Are you thinking about eating me?"

I finished my food and licked my lips, and a look of nervousness flashed through his eyes. "Very funny," I said and rolled my eyes. "You know that I don't eat humans, Timothy. I'm not going to eat you. I am creeped out by you sometimes, and this is one of those times."

He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "What? How?" he asked, shocked and amused. "How do I creep you out?"

"Because you are staring at me with soft eyes and such," I replied, "especially when I am eating something that is not considered normal. Do you have a crush on me or something like that?"

Timothy's eyes grew wide, and his cheeks grew red. "W-W-W-What?" he stuttered and shifted on his feet, his cheeks turning another shade of red. He looked away from me and cleared his throat. "What do you mean?" he asked and looked at me again. "I don't know what you are talking about, Joy."

I narrowed my eyes further and scowled, not believing him. "Do you have a crush on me?" I asked again.

He cleared his throat and didn't answer my question while he shifted on his feet and looked away from me, his cheeks turning red. "Let's just go ahead and go and get this stuff done. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of people to save and little time to do it."

I didn't respond and rolled my eyes but looked at my box one last time to make sure that I didn't need anything else before I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have everything that you need?" I asked, changing the subject, and he went over to his box and checked it out before he looked at me and nodded.

"Yes," he confirmed out loud and offered me a tight smile. "I have everything that I need."

I bit back a small sigh and grabbed one of my guns again. "Then, let's go," I said before I looked at Timothy to see that he was staring at me again with a soft smile on his face.

I rolled my eyes and scowled before I started to walk toward the doorway, not making a comment out of it and Timothy followed, having my back.

"Should we contact them and tell them that I am safe?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "We're going to need to find a way to get them here faster."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and weighed the pros and cons before I sighed and nodded in confirmation. "We might want to," I grumbled before I shifted the gun to the side and opened the flap on my arm, "especially since your cover was blown, and they could try to escape or kill the kids or something along those lines."

"Then let me have your gun so that you can do that," Timothy said and held out his hand, taking another step toward me. "I will have your back while you write the message and wait for a response."

I hesitated and narrowed my eyes a little before I handed him my gun, knowing full well that what he said was true.

He had my back in more ways than one...

Unlike other members of our age group at the Academy, Timothy was kind to me and hung out with me when I allowed him to and didn't bother me when he knew that I wanted space. He respected me and didn't care that I was a half-breed and someone that could kill him in a matter of seconds.

He didn't care about any of that and treated me as a human, something that I didn't understand because others our age, and older, didn't.

I shook my head and bit back a small scoff, breaking me from my thoughts and pursuing my lips in annoyance while I did what I was needing to do.

"Joy?" Timothy asked and furrowed his brows. There was a small frown on his face while he looked at me, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

Concern and sadness flashed through his eyes, and he cocked his head while he studied me, trying to see what I was hiding, and his frown grew deeper.

"What?" I asked when he didn't say anything else and raised an eyebrow in question. "What is it? What do you want?"

"Are you ok?" he asked, ignoring my brashness and raised an eyebrow in question, copying me. "You scoffed and shook your head as if you were fighting with some negative thoughts and trying to get them out of your mind."

I didn't reply and pressed my lips into a thin line, closing the flap and deciding that we could see what they had to say later.

I didn't want to have this conversation with him...

"Well?" Timothy asked and watched me stand, raising his eyebrow higher.

"It's nothing," I said coldly and held out my hand for my gun. "We can see what they have to say when we are in a different safe spot. I do think that it might be for the best for us to actually get things done rather than waiting for that response."

Timothy narrowed his eyes, but he didn't question me while he handed me my gun, knowing full well that I wouldn't answer his question. "I have your back," he said and bowed his head lower, offering me a small smile. "Whatever you need me to do, I will do it, no questions asked."

I grunted and nodded, taking my gun from him and made sure that it was ready before I looked at him. "Then let's get this done," I said.

And with that, I opened the door and slunk out with Timothy following close behind, deciding to go to the entrance and setting off my location there so that they would be able to enter the building and start getting the kids out and into safety.

I have your back, too, TImothy, I silently said and grabbed my gun tighter in my grasp, slinking through the hallway, scanning everything with my hard gaze and making sure that we were safe and alone. I will always have your back.

I promise...