Running Bear

They let Joey and Troye out the very next day. The two were so hungry and practically hanging off one another throughout the grueling exercise.

And they passed the other group in the hallway. Fit, well-fed, laughing. Compared to the other two- ribs visible, eyes haughty, and barely standing- they looked like kings. Of course, Tyler and Shane's eyes lit up when they passed the two. Tyler's hair was dyed a suspiciously bright pink, but other than that everyone was without makeup or anything else.

"Ty!" Troye called, coughing a bit.

"Don't speak," A guard growled, equally to Troye and Tyler, "You are below him- and you are above him. You do not communicate."

Tyler's face fell and his hair turned a dull blue color, and Troye figured out what Tyler's power was. There was just one question he had.

Where was Connor?

He was sure he'd be outside, where the guards had taken Troye and Joey, but he wasn't there. They got lunch, which was amazing, and after that they got to spar.

"Go!" Brant yelled, the man to fight Troye springing into action.

"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho! Jericho! Jericho!" Troye sang, the man pouncing weakly onto the other, but still with enough force to knock the wind out of Troye. Maybe with a bit more time, Troye would've been a more-than-adequate fighter, but he was at best average, especially without his strength.

"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho!" Troye's voice was hoarse and off-key, but there, "And the walls came tumbling down!"

The man fell to the floor, unconscious.

Troye would sleep in the same hallway as his friends.

Joey was meant to fight their very best, a girl with auburn hair and green eyes. He had super-speed, so dodging her punches was easy. However, it was draining to move his fists at a rate which blurred his hands. He landed a few good blows before she got him in a choke-hold, and he was left to try to force her out of the ring. He fell down on his back and used a technicality to win- he moved backwards until her head was all the way out of the ring. Then he used what was left of his power to push her off of him and over the line- winning.

Joey smiled and Troye helped him stand up.

Ben clapped for them and led them to their dorms.

"What happened to Connor?" Troye rasped.

"I don't know," Ben said honestly. Nobody had informed him.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow." Joey shrugged, limping into his room.

.o0o.

Troye woke up with a sore side and a bruised back. He stretched as the guard pounded on his door, and he walked outside.

Tyler was waiting for him.

Tyler engulfed him in a hug, and Troye was smiling brightly.

He stepped back and looked around for more familiar faces. There was Dan and Phil and Louise and Mark- but no Connor.

"Hey, where's Connor?" Troye asked, smile fading as he realized that nobody else was smiling. Joey stood next to Shane, who looked down at his feet.

"Dead," The word was barely audible from Tyler's mouth, but it was enough to make Troye dissolve into tears, crying against Tyler's shirt.

"He saved me." Phil said, "I owe him so much that I'll never be able to give him."

Don't make a 'kinky' joke, now is not the time.

"I-" Troye tried to say something, but couldn't, "I-"

"Twenty laps, ladies! My daughters are having a meltdown and I had to get up early!" Brant yelled. Everyone started sprinting, staying with one person in particular- except Louise, who was running by herself.

"You poor things," She said after they were done running. They were the only ones who were panting, and Louise stood next to them and held her hand to Troye's side. He let out a yelp before his side went blissfully numb. Joey did the same when Louise healed him.

"There'll be another fight tonight, right?" Joey asked.

"Maybe," Dan shrugged, "I was one of the first ones out here. We didn't fight for a few weeks." He glanced at Shane and Tyler. The three stood closely together wherever they went- almost as closely as Dan and Phil. Troye knew what they'd gone through had been almost worse than what he'd gone through- hunger and pain, physical and emotional exertion like no other.

Maybe JK Rowling was right. Maybe when you go through some things with people, there was no way you could come out of it and not be friends.

The horrible thing about the Compound was that everyone acted like it was okay.

And that the YouTubers were starting to believe it.

.o0o.

That night, there was a fight. The ring of dirt was drawn and two or four fighters were placed inside of it. Troye and Tyler would fight together, of course. Tyler's ability had improved greatly, with heavy exercise (okay, so Troye might have been checking him out. Sue him.).

When Brant blew the whistle, Tyler and the two fighters sprang into action. Troye wasn't the strongest he could be- of course not, he'd been locked in a room for way too long- but Tyler threw a punch and knocked one of the opponents straight out of the ring in one blow.

"Holy fuck," Troye yelped, dodging a punch from the other opponent, before coming to his senses. He began to sing in an ethereal voice, entrancing the man.

"Kiss me on the mouth and set me free, sing me like a choir, I can be the subject of your dreams, your sickening desire," Troye stepped closer to the man, singing softly. Once he was mere centimeters away, he gently pushed the man back until he was outside of the circle, a stark difference to Tyler's violent fighting style.

"That was amazing!" Tyler said, hugging Troye, "You have got to teach me how to do that."

"I wish I'd figured out how to do that before," Troye rolled his eyes, "They figured it out before I did and had a gag in my mouth before you could say 'Suburbia'." He chuckled at his joke.

"Well, let's watch," Tyler said, turning around just in time to see Dan get roundhouse kicked in the face.

Again.

Really.

"Why do they always aim for the jaw?" Dan asked breathlessly as he shifted it around and Phil took care of their opponents.

"No clue," Phil said, "Need a hand?" The kick had sent Dan sprawling onto the ground.

"Nah, I think Imma just stay here," Dan groaned, disappearing into shadow. The show was a spectacle of bright light- courtesy of Phil- and their other opponent attempting to fight a shadow. It was quite funny.

Of course, Dan and Phil won their fight. Watching Ian and Anthony fight was mostly Anthony annoying their opponents while Ian pretended to be a Jedi. Louise pulled the same trick where she made her opponent weaker until they were too weak to move, then lifting them out of the ring to be healed. Mark and Jon were an interesting combination of Jon using flying dirt particles to blind their opponents while Mark called upon the nearby desert creatures to make them flee in terror (bugs are creepy, and those horned toads are mean). Hannah made quick work of simply lifting them off the ground and throwing them out, and Ingrid was happy just standing there, subtly making it rain in the waiting section of the opposition and chuckling.

"Wonderful!" Brant yelled, taking his group inside. Troye barely caught the looks of absolute horror on their faces.

.o0o.

The next day they all advanced to Level Five and were allowed to room with their partners due to them being 'special'. Their rooms actually had actual beds, which almost seemed too soft, and they had their own showers with soap and shaving razors. Troye couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Louise, who didn't have a partner, but Ben told them that they were considering pairing her with Hannah and Ingrid- which might be a little awkward.

It was the point where it was almost okay.

Almost.

.o0o.

That night there was no fighting, just training with Ben, who was still supportive ("Two more Levels and you'll be equal to me!"). During their breaks, they looked at the stars.

Dan and Phil were laying next to each other, and Dan grabbed Phil's hand. Phil looked at Dan, who contentedly sighed.

"See? This class is good." Dan said, remembering a few weeks ago. It was silent except for the quiet murmur of the voices of their peers- they'd almost quit calling themselves YouTubers- and the chirp of animals.

"Y'know, the 'sounds of nature' are just animals screaming, trying to get laid." Phil said, giggling. Dan joined in, and the two just laid there and laughed, wrapped in the same bubble of peace that Dan had been with Tyler and Shane the first night.

"Not even a covert government agency can separate Dan and Phil!" Dan said in mock pride a while later, "Bffls forever!" He and Phil laughed some more. They just laid there after that, not needing to talk.

"Like I'm ever leaving you alone again," Phil said. Dan made a noise of assent and moved closer to Phil.

"Never," Dan agreed, staring at the stars.

"Look!" Phil said, pointing, "I'm sure that star's part of a constellation!"

"I'm sure it is, Phil," Dan sighed affectionately, mentally adding you spork after it. What he couldn't hear was Ben, Tyler, and Troye observing them.

"So, they're a couple, right?" Ben asked curiously.

"Nobody knows." Tyler answered. Troye nodded along with Tyler.

"Are you two a couple?" Ben asked another question.

"Uh- oh- no," Troye blushed. Tyler laughed at Troye's awkwardness.

"What about them?" Ben pointed to Hannah and Ingrid, who were sitting so closely that they could have been one human being.

"Yes." Tyler was sure about this. As if to prove his point, Hannah and Ingrid kissed.

"I'm happy for them," Ben sighed, "The reason I'm here in the first place... it's not pretty." He didn't seem ready to share.

"Back to practice?" Tyler suggested, moving back to the punching bags and helping Troye to punch correctly. Ben walked back with them, blue eyes glimmering with tears in the cheap heated lamps.

.o0o.

Dan figured out how to block a roundhouse kick that night, thank God.

.o0o.

He and Phil didn't even bother sleeping in separate beds. Phil would never admit to anybody- especially Dan- that he'd been having nightmares that, thankfully, went away when he knew Dan was safe. They enjoyed the human touch after being denied it for so long.

They enjoyed having someone to talk to, instead of the room's usual oppressive silence and darkness. They created galaxies in their spare time- which was plentiful without their sitting down classes- with Dan's shadows and Phil's light.

They were content.

Until the next two fighting days- a month later.