When Rowan walked into the medical room, Luke was sitting up in bed, rooting through his rucksack. The poor kid looked rough. He was sporting a rather large plaster on his cheek where the gash she'd seen earlier had been and his face was still fairly covered in mud despite Myra's efforts.

Rowan perched against the table next to the bed. He looked a little taken aback as he noticed her arrival and Rowan tried her best to appear friendly though that really wasn't one of her skills. She watched his eyes trail over her, flitting from her tight ponytail, to the black swirls on her neck, to her crisp dress shirt, to the leaves on her arm, and to the knife tucked into her belt.

His eyes widened a little at the sight of that.

"What's your name kid?" she asked, trying to distract him from the presence of her weapon. She already knew his name of course but it seemed like a good place to start the conversation.

"I already told the other woman."

"So?" Rowan snapped. Apparently, it wasn't going to be that simple.

Be nice.

Zetta's smooth voice echoed in Rowan's head and it pissed her off immensely. She held his gaze. He hesitated before finally murmuring something.

"Didn't quite get that."

"Luke. Luke Daniels," he murmured a little louder.

"I see," Rowan said, "interesting."

"What's interesting?" It was almost a snap. Rowan narrowed her eyes. She spoke to people sharply all the time but she disliked it when they returned the favour - it just felt unnecessary.

"What's interesting is that we've looked you up," she said, choosing to ignore his tone. " and from what we would gather you are the son of an incredibly high ranking man and have been living a comfortable life in the Eden Colony."

"So?"

Luke was definitely not as dumb as he was making himself out to be. Rowan assumed he was just trying to be a bit of an arse - as most children seemed to do. If it wasn't for her strict instructions of 'be nice' she may have gotten her knife out - or at the very least shouted at him.

"So," she said through slightly gritted teeth. "No one in their right mind would trade the Colony for this." She gestured to the peeling paint of the medical room. Luke just shrugged. "Not unless they had a good reason." Luke glanced up and she stared at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

Rowan clenched her jaw, inhaled sharply, and tried desperately to clear her head of the image of just slapping the kid across the face. Her patience was wearing extremely thin.

"I was going to ask whether you had a good reason or whether you were simply out of your mind but considering your lack of ability to hold a basic conversation I'm just going to put you down as plain stupid."

"Hey!"

Rowan just shrugged, smothering a small smile. Luke looked rather irritated and she was rather enjoying it.

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"I had an argument with my dad," Luke said, finally deciding to say more than two words. "Multiple actually - we argued all the time. He didn't agree with me, I didn't agree with him."

"What did you disagree on?"

"Lots of things, but mainly..." Luke trailed off and took a moment to swallow. "He didn't like who I am, never said it outright but he didn't agree with it. Refused to use my name or pronouns, always said I looked scruffy and ridiculous - especially when I cut my hair."

"Well, he sounds like a right prat." It wasn't surprising - most Eden Colonists were entitled pricks. She could only hope that they had saved Luke in time to stop him from becoming one too.

"Our last argument was the final straw. He said since I was nearly eighteen, if I wanted to be a man I had to join the force but I didn't want to. I don't agree with the way they operate or the things they get away with doing."

Rowan was slightly glad to find some common ground. "Lucky for you, neither do we."

"Who is 'we' exactly? And where am i?" he asked, clearly finally finding the courage to ask the questions that had been bothering him. "The other woman wouldn't tell me."

"Well, I guess since you've told me some truths." She leant back against the table and folded her arms. "We are R.A.I.G."

She watched his eyebrows furrow and his eyes flicker with panic. "The terrorist group?"

"We don't like that term, our fight isn't with innocent people, it's against the government and their associates. We are probably closer to a militia if you'd prefer."

"Is that any better?" Rowan just shrugged. She hated people's desire to name everything, not everything had an appropriate label and not everything needed one.

"As for where we are, this is a cluster of warehouses on the outside of town that have been abandoned for years." Rowan's finger gently traced the handle of her knife. "I'm trusting you won't reveal that location to anyone?"

Luke's eyes momentarily darted down to her fingers and then held her gaze. "Of course not."

He had some guts. She'd give him that.

"Well Luke," she said, her hand dropping away from her blade. "The way I see it, you have four options. Option one: we drop you back home to a father who it doesn't sound like you get on with very well."

Luke shot her a horrified look. Rowan smirked a little.

"Option two," she continued, "we can find a friend or someone you want to stay with and drop you there."

Luke had no response. Rowan didn't think he would. If he had had a friend in the Eden Colony he probably would have gone straight to them and the chances of him knowing anyone on the outside were very slim.

No one would choose to brave the main city unless they were desperate.

It seemed Luke had reached desperation.

"Option three: we just throw you out to the street and leave you to fend for yourself and you will most likely be dead in a maximum of four days."

"I could survive on my own," he muttered.

"Don't make me laugh," Rowan replied, she thought four days was being generous. "You managed to get knocked unconscious on what I'm assuming was one of your first days here."

"That was your fault," he protested.

"If you say so," she said with an arch of her eyebrow. "Option four: you stay here with us."

Luke looked up, mildly surprised.

"Stay here?"

"It seems to me that here could be exactly where you belong."

"Hiding in a dirty industrial estate?"

"Precisely." Rowan pretended she wasn't mildly offended - the building was actually alright since they'd gotten rid of the rats. And the damp wasn't too bad since it was august.

Luke went quiet for a moment.

"I'd like to stay here."

Rowan was honestly a little surprised. None of his options were especially good but staying was possibly the most dangerous one.

Well, that and dying on the streets.

She folded her arms on the end of the bed frame and made careful eye contact with him. "I need you to fully understand what you're getting yourself into Luke. This isn't some fucking holiday camp, what we do is dangerous and illegal. You stay here you need to pull your weight and that might involve putting your life on the line."

She didn't want to scare him -if she did she would've tried a lot harder- but he was young and naive, he needed to know what he was getting himself into.

"I'm okay with that," he replied quietly but with a small look of determination in his eyes that Rowan recognised and she knew that most of the others would too.

They'd all been too young and angry once.

Now they were just angry.

"Alright then," she said. Rowan held her hand out. "Welcome to R.A.I.G, Luke."