The girl woke up slowly, her head was foggy from sleeping in that cool state of gray for so long. She sat up and blinked a few times finally focusing in on the body standing in front of her. Syd was leaned against the doorframe watching her. The girl squirmed under their gaze before Syd finally blinked. 

“You weren’t in blackness,” Syd finally said. 

“What?” The girl asked still groggy. 

“You weren’t in blackness when you slept.” Syd clarified. “That’s a good thing. It means their drugs are finally leaving your system.” 

The girl wrapped her arms around her torso. “But that means the withdrawals will start soon?” 

Syd nodded and came to sit at the edge of the bed. “They don’t last forever.” 

The girl chewed on her lip for a while before finally working up the courage to ask a question that had been toying in her mind. 

“I don’t know who you are,” Syd said before she could even get it out of her mouth. 

The girl stared at her. 

Syd made a face. “Sorry, I know it’s annoying to have someone in your head all the time, but sometimes its just easier for me to answer you this way.” Syd huffed out a sigh. “I can read your mind, I know every thought you think as quickly as it comes. I hear it when you think it. You couldn’t lie to me even if you wanted to, because I’d know.” They hesitated and glanced towards the front of the motor home. “I know its a massive invasion of privacy, and trust me that no one wishes I couldn’t hear your thoughts more than me. But I can only know what you know. If you don’t know who you are yet, neither do I. Does that make sense?” 

The girl just nodded. She had of course known that Syd could hear her every thought. But having it spelled out in no uncertain terms still made her uncomfortable. She glanced at Syd again, they weren’t looking at her, but the girl knew that didn’t matter. 

“Is it difficult?” She finally asked. “To hear everyone else all the time.” 

Syd brought a steady hand towards their head and tapped their temple twice. “It’s absolutely maddening.” They stood up after that. “Lilly is making eggs if you’re hungry.” 

Thora watched them walk back out and sit down at the table. Jer immediately turned to them and began chatting animatedly about something. Syd nodded and humored him by listening. Lilly laughed and joined in setting the large pan of eggs down before sprinkling cheese over top of them. She glanced over to the girl and nodded for her to join. The girl stood up and walked out, taking the seat next to Syd. 

“That’s irrelevant,” Jer was saying. “He’s not a telekinetic, he can manipulate all metal. What’s at the Earth’s core, Lil. Metal. He could bring down the entire world if he wanted.” 

The girl stared at all of them. “Marco?” She finally asked.

Jer turned immediately. “Oh no, we’re talking about a comic book. Have you ever heard of the X-men?” 

“Don’t ask stupid questions, Jer.” Marco said immediately. 

Jer just rolled his eyes and continued chattering on, filling the girl in on their conversation thus far. 

Syd scooped a plate of eggs and sat them down in front of the girl. She stared at them for a while before taking a fork and stabbing a piece with it, bringing it to her mouth.

“It is interesting though, when you think about it. The newbie has a point. You can manipulate anything Marco. You could probably manipulate the Earth’s core as well.” 

The girl chewed on the eggs and swallowed before staring down at them again. She started shaking before she realized and immediately crumbled at the pain in her chest. She couldn’t see, but she could feel hands at her shoulders and on her face. There were silent comforts at her ear that she couldn’t make out or understand. She cried out and tried to reel away from the hands touching her, but they stayed steadfast. 

“Take deep breaths. It will pass. You just need to breath.” the girl could hear someone whisper in front of her. Finally her vision began to clear. She expected to see Syd in front of her, their hands on her face. And was startled to see Marco instead, his hands on either side of her face. She glanced to her left to see Syd at her side, their arms wrapped around her shoulders. She looked back to Marco and watched as he slowly let her go and got back to his seat. 

“What just happened?” She asked, her throat hoarse. She glanced to the twins her were both eyeing her in silence. She saw Lilly let go of her brother’s arm. 

“You’re remembering.” Syd said. 

“But I still don’t remember anything.” The girl whispered. 

“It doesn’t always come back as tangible memories at first. Sometimes its this.” They gestured towards the girl. “Sometimes it’s something physical. It could have been brought on by the conversation, but most likely it was the eggs. You’ve had them before.” 

The girl looked down at the eggs again. She couldn’t remember having ever eaten eggs before, but the thought of them made her hands shake uncontrollably. Marco reached out and clasped her hands tightly in his. She looked at his hands covering hers then looked at him. She didn’t know why she had expected his face to be anything but dead, but when she saw his expression unchanging she looked back down quickly. 

“We need to get somewhere safe and out of view.” Syd said quickly jumping overtop of the girl as Lilly climbed out behind her brother and Marco. She planted herself in the drivers seat and started the engine. 

Syd looked towards Jer for a moment. His eyes were on Marco, clearly waiting for confirmation before he left. 

“I’m fine, go.” Marco said only giving Jer the smallest glance. Marco kept his hands wrapped tightly around the girls. 

Jer climbed over him before taking his seat next to his sister in the passengers side. He pulled the map open and began directing her. 

“Marco, take her to the back and shut the door. I’ll clean this up and be with you in a moment. Are you still hungry?” 

It took the girl a moment to realize she was being spoken to now. “Umm…” 

That seemed to suffice for Syd who grabbed the eggs from the table.

Marco pulled the girl up and practically dragged her by the hands into the back bedroom. He shut the door and led her to the bed. “Lay down.” He commanded. “Like this, that way if you seize you won’t drown in your vomit.” 

“What?” The girl said frantically. 

“Once it starts it doesn’t usually stop until all of your memories are back. Another wave of that panic will happen again. That last one was mild, sometimes they can get pretty bad.” 

The girl hadn’t thought that was mild at all. “No, no I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.” 

“You don’t have a choice. It’s going to happen whether you’re ready or not. Try not to clench your mouth or choke on your tongue.” 

The door opened and shut and Syd was there. “Has it started yet?”

Marco shook his head and ripped open a drawer pulling out ties. “Put your hands together, make sure it’s comfortable.” 

“What?” The girl was panicking, she could feel her heart rate quicken. 

“Look at me.” Marco commanded, his voice harsh. “You cannot panic. If you panic you will pass out like you did that first night, and that will make it so much worse. You need to calm down. I’m tying your hands together to stop you from hurting yourself.” 

The girl looked between the two of them. “We’ve been through this before. You need to trust us. We’re going to protect you, I promise.” Syd finally said.

The girl could feel tears catch at her eyes as she nodded and held her wrists out to Marco. He tied soft fabric around her wrists, it was tight, but not uncomfortable. 

The  pain did come, and the girl was glad they had tied her hands up then as she tried to rip her hair out and claw her way out of the binds. She couldn’t remember much besides the pain and their hands holding her down and Syd’s voice next to her ear counting the minutes for her. The girl didn’t know how long it had been or whether or not they were still driving, all she knew was the pain until she didn’t know anything at all. She wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep or how many days she continued in this same way. She’d wake up and they’d feed her and then the pain would begin again. She slept heavy when she did, always in gray. 

“How much longer,” she slurred at one point. “I can’t do anymore.” The girl whispered. 

“Grab the bag Marco,” Syd said and before the girl knew it she was being leaned forward as she threw up. 

“Is she going to be okay?” She heard one of the twins whisper. 

No one answered, which didn’t make the girl feel any better, because she also wondered if she’d survive this. She passed out again shortly after that. She didn’t know if she would wake up or how long it was before the first dream tore through her like a flood. It was of a woman, a beautiful woman with jet black hair trailing down her eyes and frantic brown eyes as she shoved the girl underneath the bed. 

“Hide Thora.” She whispered.