“I'm sorry things didn't go better in Los Angeles. Still no info on who is sending these hellspawn after us?"

"I don't think they're after us specifically. I think their tribe is making some kind of power play. I just . . . what was Robbie thinking?" she asked bitterly, standing up and staring out the car window. She saw her brother hobbling around the lower platform, chatting with some friends and showing off his scars.

"Why did you guys..."

"We didn't know he had left until it was too late. We followed his scent as soon as we realized he was being foolish." Talia stared at her friend pointedly.

"We wouldn't have gotten to him in time without..."

“Yeah, yeah. I know," Red grumbled. She sat down again.

“It's just supplies are running low and we almost got caught on our last scavenging party. I just wasn't prepared to deal with a new person right now."

“We help people," Talia reminded her, “and Jane needs our help more than most. She's fucked up Red, and I don't mean just physically. I got her talking today, and she's hurting inside."

Red wasn't made of stone, though she sometimes tried to pretend she was. And Talia sounded concerned.

"How bad?"

“Bad. As far as I can tell, her dad died when she was nine. Her mother was incapable of being alone and married the first guy she could. Jane's stepfather physically and sexually abused her until she was able to run away. Then the Hollywood ‘producers' and ‘directors' had their shot at her. Her mow ex-landlord was trying to extort sexual favors from her whenever she was short on rent money, and she actually sort of gave in once." Talia put her head in her hands.

"Red, every bit of physical contact she's had almost her whole life has caused her pain and/or humiliation. And she hasn't had any friends or family to turn to. Red, we can't turn her away."

Red sighed.

"We won't. Hopefully she'll have a useful Talent, but even if she doesn't, we'll let her stay."

Talia leaned over and gave her gorgeous friend a hug.

“I knew I could count on you."

“Do what you can to help her along, and you and Arthur need to let me know when she's physically able to manifest her Talent. And thanks for keeping me in check," Red said, a little embarrassed.

"No problem. Sometime I forget how much people ask of you, so I guess you're entitled to lose your head sometimes." Talia gave her friend a kiss on the cheek.

“But you might want to talk to Jane sometime. She might be a little more comfortable if you can convince her you don't hate her."

Red stomped her foot like a little girl.

"Talia, you KNOW that I suck at apologies."

“Practice makes perfect," Talia said.

Jane was sitting around the area of the platform where Arthur had worked on her the previous day. She had felt good enough to wander around a bit and no longer needed the wheel chair. She was even wearing some "real" clothes, namely baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

The underground station was fairly sizeable, and included two platforms, a number of offices and a lobby area. There were also ten subway cars trapped in the tunnel, and the tracks went for a pretty long distance in either direction. There were sub-tunnels and maintenance shafts that led to the surface, which is how the Strays got in and out of the Den.