Intermission:

"you've been gone 20 years Stick." Matt said

where was he those twenty years? sure, a lot of that time he was probably doing stuff with the war, fighting the Hand, but when he heard through one of his sources about a girl being experimented on showing signs of having those warrior genes he always needed more of, he needed to go for himself, so he went to the lab where she had been held and found the Hand had very nearly broken the girls will to live.

she was holding on by a thread when he arrived, so when he brought her to a warehouse she barely tried to fight him, simply begging him not to hurt her any more.

he wasn't surprised at her condition, he had seen worse, at least they hadn't been torturing her for information, if that had been the case he wouldn't have bothered, she would have been a lost cause, and he tried not to waste time on lost causes. It took almost two weeks to gain her trust and he began training her, she had great potential, her senses weren't as pronounced as he had thought, however, she could still learn to fight. And she did, she was swift at picking up moves and Stick found she was incredibly hyper-aware of her surroundings constantly.

after a bit of training he found he could rarely surprise her, this level of training was usually only achieved after months of training, however she was slower at learning moves, which set their training slower than Stick would have preferred, but they got there eventually, after almost five years training, Stick felt she was ready for anything.

he had learnt after training Matt, the harsher you were, the better, that way he wouldn't be thought of as a father figure and make the same mistake again.

One morning, 5 years after being free, at twelve years old, Sylvie woke up and he was gone, she was shocked, he had become the closest she had ever been to loving someone and he was gone.

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Lucas (Past)

Lucas woke up to the sound of the news coming from his radio, he groaned,

"I wish they would just play music!" he pressed the knob to switch it off when suddenly he was called into the living room.

As he walked unsteadily into the laungeroom, Lucas heard the news playing on the tv.

"Lucas listen to this!" his Mother exclaimed, turning it up a little bit so the voice was clearer,

'...the scientists are saying this new device could change someones life, the new bionic eye will help people who are blind to see things they never thought they would...' the news anchor was saying. Father walked in,

"The company rang and asked if you want to be a part of the trial, we discussed it and its up to you."

"I'd love it!" Lucas said "I'm gonna see! I cant believe it!" he laughed excitedly.

His parents had called the people back and told them he was willing to participate. His parents had been told the date they would see them to explain it in more detail. Father and Mother had been at the meeting for almost an hour while the scientists explained to them about it all.

Finally, it was over and they said they would operate the next day.

The next day, Lucas was sitting on the operating table while someone talked to him,

"Now all you need to remember is to turn it on or off blink twice in rapid succession & if you feel any pain when it first starts, turn it off straight away, it isnt good to pretend to play it down either, if you are in any discomfort at all, tell us."

"Okay." Lucas agreed, now that the time had almost come, he was scared.

"I'll put you under now." The doctor said when Lucas heard the scientist leave the room. Lucas felt a prick in his arm then got sleepy...

Lucas woke up and opened his eyes suddenly, he squeezed them shut again in surprise! everything was so bright and different he almost preferred the comfort of darkness. But, unable to resist, he slowly opened them a tiny bit, squinting at the glariness. He gasped, his heart beating wildly.

Lucas started to move, then froze, shutting his eyes again to the comforting blackness for a few seconds to calm down a bit,

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you wanted this He told himself firmly, opening them again cautiously, looking around in wonder, so many different shades! Brightness like he'd never known! Instead of the normal 'blackness' he could see lots of things but he had no idea what they were. Lucas looked around the 'room'.

So this is what a room looks like.. its smaller than I thought Lucas continued looking around, then he heard a quiet gasp, he turned his head, pinpointing the sound, he saw someone sitting beside him then suddenly they spoke,

"Lucas"

He recognised it as his mothers voice.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Its strange actually seeing everything" his voice was filled with wonder,

His mother laughed, "it would be!"

Lucas looked around again and he heard some people walking towards him.

"who are they?" Lucas asked his Mother,

"Who?" she asked looking where he pointed then she smiled

"Your senses are still better from when you needed them," she murmured as they walked into the room "Its your Dad and the doctor."

one of them walked up to Lucas, "how is your head, sore at all?" it was the scientists voice,

Lucas shrugged "Not really."

"Ok, thats good, you make sure you let me know."

then he walks away. Lucas' father comes up to him and gives him a hug "I'm glad it worked"

"me too" Lucas replies

Suddenly Lucas feels a stabbing pain in his head he winces then starts to get dizzy his parents notice it.

"DOCTOR! We need a Doctor!" they called Lucas hears running feet "quick! turn it off!" the doctors says urgently Lucas is confused for a minute then somewhere in the pain and fogginess as he feels hes going to pass out he remembers if you feel any pain blink twice quickly to turn it off the scientist had told him before leaving Lucas quickly blinked twice and everything went black... but he wasnt unconscious the pain was starting to fade but it was still there and he got really tired before he fell asleep.

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Sylvie (Present)

For several weeks Sylvie wandered about aimlessly, taking food here and there, careful not to get caught but slowly starving.

One cold October morning she woke up, 'I'm not alone' a shiver went up her back and she went rigid, her ears aching for any sound to tell her who or what was beside her,

"Hey, you right there?" it was a boy, sitting in front of her, she tried to establish how much of a threat he was, he was skinny, his his skin sliding across bare ribs with every breath, and though he sat confidently, the air vibrated slightly as he tensed, waiting for her reaction, she then noticed there was a scent of cold chicken in front of her,

"Is- that for me?" she asked hesitantly, her voice hoarse with disuse, normally she would have just taken it, but there was no guaranteeing her ability to run in her current state, he nodded, obviously oblivious of her inability to see it, but she found she didn't mind, he'd brought her food, though he was obviously hungry himself,

"Eat it slowly, ye don' wanna retch it all out straight'way." he relaxed now, his tension draining away, "I'm Jack."

"What do you want from me?" Sylvie asked instead of offering her name after she had eaten the meagre amount of chicken, Jack shrugged, a slight smirk on his face, admiration ringing from him,

"Was waitin' on ye to ask tha'," he stood up, reaching a hand as if to help her up, she hesitated then accepted, standing too, if a bit unsteadily, "I saw ye with the old fella, Stick, everyone know he a trainer, if he hung wit' you, 'e trained ye, I wan' you ta train meself in exchange fer me feeding ya."

Sylvie considered for a minute, she had lost meaning in her life and that was how she had hit the down road, it would be good to have a reason to keep on living again, plus, free food never hurt.

"Alright, its a deal, you provide food, I'll teach you all that he taught me,"

"I do 'ave but one rule," he held up a finger, "ye ne'er backstab me an I ne'er backstab you, an I aint talking about none knives or swords, ye get me?"

"Yea, sure, I get you." Sylvie nodded,

It took a few days for both of them to get into any shape for fighting, Sylvie would have normally been way fitter than she was and even Jack wasn't in any shape to be fighting.