Nic reluctantly let Laurel help. Once he was mostly dry he went back to the helm to drive them back.

"Nic... Why are you do on edge?" she asked quietly as they started back.

"... Because my gut is telling me to be," Nic replied.

Laurel swallowed a little, "... Your... gut?" she replied quietly, not liking the sound of that.

Nic didn't say anything more as he took them back to the resort.

Laurel was hesitant to get off the boat, Nic's words making her uneasy.

After Nic got off the boat, he waited for Laurel to follow.

Finally Laurel did, stepping up beside Nic.

Nic started walking back to the rooms, seeing how far he was going to get.

He didn't get far. Rosen cut him off as soon as he stepped inside, "We need to talk to you," he stated, all of yesterday's banter gone. For once, Rosen looked terribly serious.

Laurel blinked, since when did Rosen talked to Nic?

Rosen glanced at Laurel, "Raven's looking for you," he told her, "You should run along." Laurel frowned.

Nic reacted to Rosen normally, like the other day had never happened. He looked at Laurel and nodded, trying to let her know it was alright.

Laurel didn't like it, that was pretty clear. But after a moment she hugged Nic and then went to find Raven.

Raven was hanging out with Frei. Nic waited for Rosen to continue.

Laurel stopped in the doorway, "You wanted to see me?" she asked. She seemed a little on edge.

--

So Rosen led Nic off down the hallway and eventually opened to a conference room. Inside was a rainbow of hair, all the neonates minus Kale were present and didn't look pleased as they're eyes focused on Nic.

"Hey Laurel," Raven told her with a smile. "Wanna join us?"

--

Nic did a surprisingly good job of ignoring all the stares as he entered the room quietly.

"Not really," Laurel replied, looking back over her shoulder and out the door. Frei looked away from her, it looked like she'd been told something.

--

"Take a seat, Dominic," Wolfe said calmly.

"... Alright," Raven said before turning to Frei. "We'll hang out some more later, okay?" he told her as he messed up Frei's hair.

--

Nic said nothing as he took a seat, remaining as emotionless as always.

Frei frowned but slowly stood. She left quietly, slipping past Laurel. Laurel looked like she wanted to leave as well, "So what do you want?"

--

Wolfe paused for a long moment, "Firstly, I must apologize," he said simply and the other neonates looked at him strangely, a little surprise flashing across their faces. "Raven made a bet that you were Bi, and I took it. I sent Rosen to check but he broke my order and took it too far. For that, I must apologize." Rosen shrugged a little.

"Uh..." Raven said, not expecting Laurel to be in such an uptight mood. "Well, there's an awesome place I just found that I'd like to show you." He did his best to be relaxed and excited, hoping it would wear off on Laurel.

--

Nic didn't have any physical reaction to Wolfe's words, still waiting quietly.

Laurel glanced back at Raven, "Um... maybe some other time," she murmured, "I'm... right now I'm a little worried about Nic."

--

Wolfe slowly folded his hands, "Is there anything you'd like to tell us, Dominic?" he asked, calmness dropping from his face as a hardness set in.

"Why?" Raven asked as he motioned for Laurel to come in.

--

Nic said nothing.

Laurel hesitated but finally stepped a little further inside, "He said that he figured Wolfe had some questions to ask him... and he was acting strangely. I didn't... want to leave him but Rosen said you were looking for me."

--

"Is David your brother?" Wolfe questioned.

"... Don't worry about him," Raven tried to tell Laurel. "He can handle whatever Wolfe throws at him.

--

Nic was silent for a short moment before replying calmly, "I had a little brother named David."

Laurel paused, "He's... He's not..." but then she stopped, she'd promised Nic. She couldn't say anything about his mental stability or his brain. Instead she cussed a little, she wouldn't let anyone twist his brain more. He was so tired today, so worn out. That was her fault, dragging him to that club... she suddenly turned and bolted out the door, whatever Wolfe had to say could wait.

--

"And is this David the same David you spoke of with Rosen?" Wolfe inquired next, voice growing tighter.

"Laurel?" Raven called after her before getting up and going after Laurel.

--

Nic paused for a short moment again before replying in the same tone, "Yes."

Laurel ran down the halls, trying to find the group.

--

The other neonates looked away, disgusted. Wolfe's eyes iced over completely, "Most people... might not care about your past in the bedroom. But you've stumbled onto a group who have a past written with incest... and will not tolerate it," he voice had grown deadly.

Raven continued to run after Laurel.

--

Nic said nothing, keeping his calm demeanor.

Laurel kept going, her panic kept building. Something was wrong, why was Raven chasing her?

--

"Get out," Snow spat when Wolfe fell silent, "Get away from us. We won't let you defile Laurel further."

"Please slow down," Raven told her. "Talk to me."

--

Nic's eyes grew darker at Snow's words. "The only defiling that has happened recently has been Rosen defiling me," he replied as an angry edge came into his voice.

"No!" Laurel shouted, "Something's happening!"

--

Rosen seemed to take offense to that but Snow beat him to it, "You were more than defiled before our Rosen got to you," she spat back.

"You'd done it enough times before to be good at it," he added, getting angry himself.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

--

"I will not justify myself to you," Nic spat at them as he became angrier. "I loved David, and I will not tolerate anyone trying to sully what we had!"

Laurel didn't answer.

--

The neonates fell silent, someone had opened the door. Frei stepped inside and Wolfe motioned her to come over to him with a sigh. Frei's blank eyes stared at Nic, "You had an incestuous relationship with your brother?" she clarified. All the neonates except Wolfe shifted uncomfortably.

"What's happened?" Raven repeated again, getting short on breath.

--

Nic's anger slowly started to fade as Frei entered. He waited a short moment for Frei to get comfortable before repeating in a more even tempered voice. "We loved each other," Nic clarified, not saying anything more.

"I don't know!" Laurel shouted before hitting a dead end and cursing.

--

Frei nodded, "They are very protective," she told Nic as she glanced at Wolfe and the others, "Incest is a taboo word here. In runs... deeply in my family." The cold, blank voice coming from the tiny teen was as unsettling as ever. "You must leave, I will not let you have Laurel."

Raven sighed as he kept going after Laurel, but at a slower pace.

--

Frei didn't unsettle Nic too much. He didn't back down. "If I leave, Laurel is coming with me," he announced. "I promised I would not leave without her, and I won't break that promise."

Laurel was slowing down as well. This place was so huge...

--

"If you're worried about breaking that promise... We'll make you disappear instead, you don't stand a chance against us. As soon as Laurel hears what you've done, she won't go after you," Snow stated.

"You going to make another bet?" Nic asked, directing the question more to Wolfe than to Snow. "If I 'disappear' I will not stop until I get back to Laurel. And if truly don't want to hear from me again, you better put a bullet between my eyes right now."

Wolfe was silent for a long moment, "Do you not think something is wrong with your brain?" he asked Nic, eyes piercing.

Nic's temper flared darkly for a few moments like when Rosen had prodded him about David. But after a little more time he managed to at least get a grasp on it. "I loved David, and I did everything in my power to make him happy," he snapped. "And he loved me back. I did nothing wrong."

Wolfe pondered that for a long moment. He looked like he might respond but the door burst open.

"What... the terra is going on?" Laruel demanded, out of breath.

"I told you to lock the door," Snow muttered to Rosen.