Pedro and Jamie were playing cards in the kitchen, Professor Chambers was in her study and Richard was attempting to take a nap in his room. All four of them, however, could still hear the verbal abuse Matt and Scott were hurling at each other in the living room. After running out of excuses to break up their arguments before it got physical, it became an unspoken agreement among them all to let them bicker and to only interfere when they started hitting each other.

"Looks like it'll be one of those days, Pedro."

The other male hummed his agreement. This argument always resulted in violence; it was about Matt's inability to trust Scott.

"Why can't you just accept that I want to help you?! Why are you so determined to make me the bad guy, huh?!"

"It's not like that! I'm pointing out facts! And don't say they're unfounded, because they've already proved they can control you when you were very nearly responsible for Senator Trelawney's death! If Jamie hadn't been there to stop you-!"

"Well he was there and he did stop me! It was a one-time thing! Just get over it! It's not like I've ever done anything to you!"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!! How do you know it was a one-time thing?! What's to say that if one of them walked through that door and ordered you to do something, you wouldn't obey them?!"

"Because I don't want to obey them!"

"Oh, so you did want to get Trelawney killed, is that what you're telling me?!"

"I WANTED THEM TO STOP ELECTROCUTING ME!!"

Silence rang through the whole house like a gong. Scott had never confided with them, not even Jamie, what had happened at Silent Creek and now, it seemed, he couldn't stand to keep it to himself any longer.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE?! THEY STRAPPED ME TO A METAL TABLE, ELECTROCUTED ME, PUMPED GOD KNOWS WHAT INTO MY VEINS, GAVE ME BEARLY ENOUGH FOOD AND WATER TO KEEP ME ALIVE – I WANTED IT TO END!!"

"So you wanted to kill a man so you could escape some pain?"

Crash! The sound of something heavy breaking and the thud of flesh on flesh told Pedro and Jamie it was time to intervene. They sprinted into the living room and took in their surroundings: Matt and Scott gripping each other's shirts with their fists raised, Matt spitting out blood from Scott's previous strike, the wooden coffee table in splinters on the floor. The other two boys ran forward, Pedro seizing Matt around his waist, Jamie grabbing both of his brothers arms from behind, and dragged them to different sides of the room, holding them back until they calmed down. When Scott refused to stop struggling after four minutes, Jamie called to Pedro, "I'm going to take him up to our room, okay?"

Pedro nodded his consent, not having any problems as Matt had stopped struggling almost as soon as he started. Jamie pushed Scott's arms back to his sides and wrapped his arms around both of them and his chest, pulling him out of the room with as much strength as he could muster. Once they were at their bedroom door, Jamie kicked it open, threw his twin inside and slammed the door closed, leaning heavily on the wood.

He opened his eyes and looked at his brother in the middle of the room, who, surprisingly, was not attempting to get passed his brother back out to beat Matt to a bloody pulp. Jamie peered closer to see his brothers face properly – and that's when he got very scared. Scott's eyes were wide and horrified. He kept twitching like he was being shocked, as he had been doing in his sleep for a while now. He was pale and sweaty and looked as if he were about to vomit.

Jamie moved towards him and gently pushed him down to sit on the bed. He continued to stare at the floor, not really seeing it. The younger twin was fighting against rising panic, not sure how to help. When Scott started shaking, he figured the only thing he could do was be there for his big brother; he folded his arms around Scott's quivering form, holding him close and stroking his back. The elder twin rested his head against the younger's shoulder and they sat in silence.

Jamie had no idea how long they were there, but it must have been a while, because the peaceful atmosphere in the room was broken by Professor Chambers shouting up the stairs, "Jamie! Scott! Dinner's ready!"

Jamie nudged his brother, who just shook his head. They may have been the Telepathic Twins, but they didn't need telepathy to understand each other. Jamie nodded and mumbled, "I'll be right back."

Jamie marched down the stairs quickly and into the dining room. Pedro and Matt were sitting together on one side, Professor Chambers was at the head of the table and Richard was directly opposite her; two places had been left empty for the brothers. Turning, they all looked at Jamie standing by himself.

"Thanks, but we'll go without tonight, okay?" Without waiting for the protests he knew were about to be hurled at him, Jamie walked back out the room and sprinted up the stairs to continue comforting his brother.

XXXXX

Matt lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He shouldn't have said it. He knew he shouldn't have said it and he regrets saying it, but he did say it. It was out of anger; it wasn't out of spite or an attempt to hurt Scott, but that's exactly what he had done. He now knows that Scott has been through Hell and back and he's sorry it had to happen to him, but the fact was he couldn't be trusted.

"Why am I the only one who sees we can't trust him?" He muttered aloud.

"Because what you think you see isn't there."

Matt bolted upright in bed and stared at Jamie, standing in the doorway in complete darkness. He hadn't even heard him open the door. Jamie turned on the light and closed the door, turning to glare at Matt ferociously. I thought his brother was the only one who could do that, Matt thought.

He sighed. "What is it, Jamie?"

"You know damn well what 'it' is."

Matt decided getting angry again would not help. "Look, Jamie, I'm sorry for what happened to your brother, I really am, but he cannot be trusted! That's a fact."

There was a pause. Then, "I guess you actually didn't know what 'it' was."

Matt's head jerked up in surprise. Jamie shifted uncomfortably before sitting on the end of Matt's bed as he tried to explain himself. "Matt, I know you don't trust him and I can understand how you would feel that way. I'm not asking for you to change your mind," Matt stared in shock, "I just want you to lay off with the arguments and the jibe's and shoving it in his face."

Matt frowned. "Shoving what in his face?"

"What do you think?!" Jamie snarled hotly. Matt leaned back, unaccustomed to Jamie's current attitude. "Scott's always tried to be a good person and then the Silent Creek thing happened and then when we come here, to where I thought he could get help and we'd be safe, you're constantly having arguments about how he's a liability and he can't be trusted. That's like a giant slap in the face to him."

Jamie jumped to his feet once more, unable to stay still in his anger, "How do you think it makes him feel? To know he might put all of us in danger? To know that he can't fight as well as he used to? To have a horrible feeling constantly gnawing away at him that they just might be able to control him again and make him hurt someone? Do you even care how he feels? Or are he and I just a means to an end to you?"

Jamie stopped his restless pacing and stalked to the door, opening it and stepping out, spilling light into the dark hallway. He turned and looked Matt in the eye, "You're a lot of things, Matt. But I never would've thought you could be that cruel." He stepped back and clicked off the light, shutting the door after him and leaving Matt in total darkness.

A/N: It's not over yet.