It seems that waking up in strange places with no recollection of how she got there would be a reoccurring thing, at least this time she was in a comfortable bed and not over a corpse. Sitting up Taylor tried to recalled her last memories; Purity's scream, Lungs words, calling on her power and then drowning? That couldn't be right, they weren't anywhere near the Bay but that suffocating pressure was unforgettable. Another unsolved mystery then.

Getting out of the large bed Taylor noticed her state of dress, or rather her lack thereof. Who ever had rescued her from Lung had left her in her undergarments at least, she hoped this wouldn't be a reoccurring thing, her wardrobe couldn't take it. Walking past a full body mirror Taylor did a double take at the state of her appearance - that's not me – was her first thought. The woman in the mirror had subtle curves in all the right places, hips, waist and chest that Taylor never would. Her arms were filled out with a deceptive amount of muscle that only showed when tensed. All of the blemishes on her skins were gone too, the small moles that littered her arms, the small scar on her knee from learning to ride a bike, gone.

It was like someone had replaced her body with a barbie doll and Taylor hated it. Worst of all she couldn't express her hatred, all she managed was a pathetic hiccup that caught in her throat and a moistness in her eyes that didn't spill over. She hated that couldn't see herself in the mirror, she hated that her voice wasn't even her own, she hated that she couldn't express herself properly, she hated that she couldn't even remember everything since waking up in this twisted hell.

Deep breaths Taylor, deep breaths, she would get through this like always just one day at a time. Thinking clearly now she realized that most of her problems came from one root cause.

Sophia

She took her voice, body and emotions all when she pushed her into the locker. She had taken her best friend and twisted her into something she wasn't. She had killed Taylor in the locker because what she re-emerged as couldn't quite be human. The only good to come from this was the power Sophia had inadvertently given her. Maybe with her power she could fix things, Emma would be hers again and Sophia would be out of the picture. Yes, Taylor could see it now, Emma standing by her side and Sophia, well …

Taylor certainly wouldn't cry over her, even if she could.

But first, putting on clothes would be a good idea and thankfully there was a loose cotton shirt and sweatpants folded up on a dresser. Dressed for a lazy Sunday Taylor took to exploring the room a little more, a desk with an impressive amount of make up on display. A small walk-in wardrobe with all too many different shoes, Taylor didn't understand that, sneakers were much more practical. A cursory glance out of the window showed that she was in a high-rise apartment. Curiosity satisfied she made her way to the door, there were more doors on either side of her but Taylor could hear noise up ahead so that was where she went.

There was a boy - her age at a guess - watching TV when she approached, making her footsteps a little louder Taylor cleared her throat. His eyes were just like hers, not just the color but the detachment they held too. It was quite stunning and if the silence was any indication he thought so too.

"Uh…" Very eloquent Taylor, a great introduction truly.

"Hmmmm …" Wow he's just as good as you at this.

"Ahh …" Use your words Taylor, it's not that hard.

"So, ummm …" That's a start, kind of.

"I'm Taylor" Shut up me, I can use words too.

"Theo" I swear, you two could be poster children for social anxiety.

"Nice place you have here" Why am I even arguing with myself?

"It's Kayden's actually, and I suppose I should thank you" Because your slowly going crazy?

"For what? I haven't done anything" Just shut up already.

"You kept her safe and made sure she was able to come home, and plus your sort of infamous what with your display being posted pretty much everywhere" Now that she was able to think again, she started to question his words. A display?

"Oh, you're welcome. I was just" In the area? Looking for someone to help me? "happy to help." Close enough. "My display?" I was a bit stunned at the awe in his words.

Instead of replying Theo just reached for the remote and changed the channel. It was a news broadcast showing several different angles of a large shining silvery dragon that had been impaled on an even larger black and gold spike. It was quite an impressive sight, very picturesque, almost like someone had taken a scene from a fantasy book and made it real.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, anyways Kayden should be getting back soon and I think she'd appreciate lunch if you didn't mind helping?" The shyness from before was gone and replaced by a suave you man. Huh, an introvert with some natural charisma, you don't see that every day.

As it turns out Theo wasn't all that good in the kitchen, she had taken all but taken over the kitchen by the time their meal was finished. They had exchanged some small talk and Taylor had learned some interesting tidbits about him such as Purity or rather Kayden as he calls her, is his stepmother and she actually has a child - Aster – who is currently asleep in another room.

Taylor forgot that under the mask's capes were so human.

It was 12:28 when Kayden walked through the door, her appearance a far cry from last night, mascara running, smudged eyeliner, dishevelled hair. She looked the part of a grieving woman, the kind that Taylor would never be, not anymore, and she didn't know to resent the woman for doing something that she wanted to just a few hours ago or to give her a hug. Theo it seems bear her to the punch, he guided her to the couch where she started sobbing, meanwhile Taylor was left standing there looking like an uncaring freak.

And isn't that the truth.

…

AN: So I actually had the opposite of writers block when making this chapter, too many ideas. It was originally going to be a PRT interlude, but I scrapped that due to a lack of insight it would give, it would've boiled down to them not having all that much info, making a connection between Kaisers and Oni Lees bodies and a search starting for Taylor as the only unaccounted for person in the hospital. I had rewritten the start of this chapter due to a delightfully twisted scene I thought up between Tay and Emma. While I don't really have a schedule this one took way longer than I would've like, do you know how hard it is to have two socially awkward people talk to each other?

Rant over, I'll hopefully be quicker on the next part