Serena was having another one of those. Sleepless nights. Only this time, it wasn't so much nightmares, as simple insomnia. She just couldn't manage to get to sleep, she didn't know why, she didn't care.

Maybe it was due to all of the recent events and like, two of her best friends leaving her alone at the mansion.

She was a little bitter, she was also sleep deprived.

She walked the corridors in her sleeveless pajamas, and trousers. She was glad that the mansion corridors were always so warm at night, it seemed weird that the staff managed to accommodate all of the needs of so many students at once, especially when some of them had such different gifts.

She heard a scream. Oh great, more drama. Always with the drama.

Serena rushed towards the source of the scream, curious as to what would cause a person to react like that. Then she saw it. Tses, covered in blood and wounds. She stopped cold.

Serena bent down and drew a hand through her hair, pulling it behind her ear."Oh Tses, who did this to you?"

The haemokinetic quickly decided that this was not the time to be standing around doing nothing, she should get Tses to the infirmary. Serena noted how much blood there was, and grimaced. It was both a good thing, and a very very bad thing.

Bad, because blood loss could worsen Tses' condition, good. Because Serena could now carry Tses with little effort without causing her more pain.

She extended her hand out and slowly opened her palm facing Tses. The blood, both dried and new, floated around Tses and gently caressed her skin. Slowly she began to raise her arm, and Tses gently lifted up into the air. This was tricky, but Serena was quickly getting accustomed to carrying a person with their own blood. Another grim thought.

As she walked into the building, glowing blue, telekinetically carrying another person she spotted a senior from one of her classes, a teleporter. Who was busy getting a glass of water. He froze and looked directly at her. "Don't just stare. Wake up the Doc. Infirmary, now." she said calmly.

He was gone in a flash. Literally.

Within about 10 minutes, Serena had made her way to the infirmary, she walked in to see the lights, and the Doc in a dressing gown. He looked tired, yet very awake at the same time. "Good evening Seren- What happened to her?"

Serena stood, slowly wiping some of the sweat from her forehead. "I have no idea... Can you help her Doc?" She said, concern showing through her voice.

"I should be able to." He replied. "Set her down on that bed" he gestured to a nearby bed.

Serena nodded, and then proceeded to slowly lower Tses onto the bed. The Doc rushed over to tend to the woman's injuries.

"There should be a bottle of water in the top left cabinet, I know you're mutation puts quite a strain on you, drink it." He said, softly, yet firmly.

She nodded, popped open the bottle of water and took a slow pull of H20, While the Doctor got to work.

Tses remained unconscious for much of the reunion with Serena. It was probably a good thing she didn't wake up halfway through being carried by her own blood, but in the shape she was in, it wasn't as if she could do much. Still, the docprof had only gotten halfway through healing her face when the blond haired mutant stirred, saw a glowing hand near her face and screamed, fish lashing out in surprise.

DocProf, unusually spry for his age, managed to catch her by the wrist before the blow caught him in the nose. "Easy, no one's trying to hurt you. Looks like you already had quite the evening. I typically recommend against playing in the sewers..." He tried to smile reassuringly, but Tses stared up at him like an injured animal, heart racing in her throat. Her fist stayed clenched and panic kept her breath heavy.

"How the hell do you know--"

"When I heal I find out where injuries came from. Now just try and calm down."

Argumentative by nature, Tses tried to protest before dizziness took hold and she sank back into the bed, letting out a string of curse words with phrases like 'darn sewer monster' thrown in. She couldn't fight with her fists but she was still verbally attacking with her mouth. She thought she saw someone else out of the corner of her eyes, and turned her head slightly, trying to make out who was there. The green light along her arms flickered then faded again, energy waning and making even that passive power hard to manage. Docprof followed her gaze, and studied Serena for a moment.

"How are you feeling?" He asked carefully, pulling Tses' arm over so he could deal with it. The blond tried to listen for the voice, brain fuzzily picking out the familiar figure.

"....Serena?"

Serena finished drinking the water, and sat, arms crossed in the chair across from where Dr Prof was working. Her head was laying back, resting against the wall she was slowly absorbing some energy back into herself.

Using her mutation seriously drained Serena. It was a good thing she didn't push herself too hard... It was just the easiest way to carry Tses without making her condition any worse. Doc Prof certainly seemed like he had appreciated it.

Serena heard stiring. It could wait till Tses was actually conscious again.

"Easy, no one's trying to hurt you. Looks like you already had quite the evening. I typically recommend against playing in the sewers..."

That caught Serena's attention. She sat up quickly. Sewers? What had Tses gotten herself into this time...

As she mentioned a sewer monster. Serena quickly stood. Sylar? Why would he... Sylar wasn't a bully or anything, he was just a lonely kid who lived in the sewers, who had had bad experiences.

Serena quickly walked over to the Doctor and Tses when she called out to her, instantly shifting her body language back to the caring friend. "I'm here Tses, everything will be fine. Relax." The doc smiled gently as Serena's soothing voice responded to Tses.

Tses slowly dropped her guard a bit, enough DocProf was able to continue healing her arm. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, then looked over at Serena in confusion. "Where am I?" She finally remarked, trying to process the setting. She had been at the mansion, but never in the infirmary, and nothing here looked familiar. She hated doctors though, and her pulse started to race again as she glanced around, hoping she wasn't in some freaky mutant hospital.

"You're at the mansion. Although I'm afraid that's about as much as I can answer for you. How you got here, or who brought you..." He glanced at Serena, but she didn't seem fatigued enough to have carried Tses very far.

"I just... I was...gawwww I smell like the sewer still." She cringed and laid her head back, mind spinning with everything that was happening. "Din' figure we'd run into each other again soon. Certainly not like this." She murmured to the younger girl.

Serena smiled as the Doctor comforted Tses. Doc Prof was such a wonderful guy, it didn't matter to him whether it was morning, afternoon, evening, or some ungodly hour like this. He would smile, comfort and heal. Regardless of who it was who had sustained the injuries.

She leaned against a wall and listened. She was pretty tired despite everything. Serena had noted the strong smell, thankfully she didn't need to touch Tses... Dear god, she didn't use her mutation just to avoid sewer smell, did she?

Serena gave Tses a warm and friendly smile. "However strange it may sound due to the circumstances, I am very glad to be seeing you again. Tses." Even when tired Serena's voice and smile warmth.

Doc Prof cracked a smile.

Unfortunately, even after DocProf was done healing, the sewer smell was still going to be clinging to her grimed up clothing. Tses was eager to get out of it, but still felt dizzy and drained from blood loss.

"There's a guest room close by with a shower you can use. You might have to try asking around for some spare clothes though. You lost a lot of blood, I'd take it easy for a while if you can." The DocProf spoke with care. He saw enough in the memories while healing Tses to know she was not just the victim of this accident.

Tses nodded her head, and shifted into a sitting position. She felt dizzy, but moved slowly, figuring she could still make it without too much problem. As much as her ego hated it, using the shower here and borrowing clothes might be best. "Around me, I doubt the circumstances are ever going to seem normal now and days..." Things had changed since she ran into Serena last. She didn't feel like the same person. She felt emotionally as drained as she did physically now.

Serena was, surprisingly. Not having trouble holding herself together this evening. Most evenings she needed solitude, because at the moment, she was mad at so many people around her at the moment.

Thus why her reactions to things were more cynical and wry currently. However seeing Tses, even if it was because she was injured, was a good thing. Although Tses did seem a little different as well, not as... fierce.

Serena got up from leaning against the wall and unfolded her arms, moving a little closer to Tses. Bringing her a bottle of water. "Here, take this and sip some, it helps with that feeling of blood loss. Trust me. I've got experience." she said in a controlled tone.

While she waited for Tses to grab or reject the bottle she decided to ask what was on her mind. "You seem a little different. Other than whatever happened to cause the injury, is everything alright?"

Serena held out the water, and Tses slowly took it. There was still a resistance towards accepting the help, but the dizziness wasn't going to get better on it's own, and she'd have to try finding water anyway.

The question caused her to look up, and she shrugged. Her life was crappy and she had no one to blame but herself. All that was left was angry self-hatred at this point and a bad attitude. "Nothing's alright. Can't say anyone's to blame for it though." The DocProf moved to tidy things up on the other end of the room. Not that he needed to do much, but it gave the girl's a little space.

Serena knew what crappy felt like, in the period of a few months, her nightmares worsened, she managed to hurt one of her friends, lose her best friend and roommate, Lost another friend and injured another. Needless to say, she was feeling pretty worn out.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully things can improve for you a little soon." she said, forcing a smile.

Serena wondered what had been going on with Tses exactly. She hadn't always exactly known too many details about her life, other than she got into trouble occasionally. It hadn't really mattered too much to Serena, she practically owed Tses her life, even if Tses didn't feel like that.

She smiled to the girl again. "After your dizziness settles a little, I'll walk you to the guest room and ask around for some spare clothing for you." She said, warmly.

>>"Hopefully things can improve for you a little soon."

"Probably just wishful thinking there. But thanks for the thought." Tses finished off the water, watching Serena closely. Somehow, she wasn't acting quite the same either. It seemed neither of them was doing great lately. After sitting for a second, the dizziness started to settle and she pushed herself to her feet. She managed to stay up, so it was a start.

"You sure you should be trying to help? You aren't exactly doing great yourself." She wasn't the most observant person, but she could still see how tired Serena was.

Serena didn't stop Tses standing up. She did stay close though, ready to jump up and catch her if anything went wrong or if she felt dizzy again. She didn't though. That was a good sign, it meant the blood loss was probably less than 3 pints.

Serena smiled as Tses showed concern for her, it actually cheered her up a little. "Seriously Tses, I'm up at this hour almost every night due to... insomnia. So it's fine. I'll just get a cup of tea in a bit or something." She responded.

Serena was vaguely aware of the look of concern drifting to her from Doc Prof. Yeah. Probably not the best idea to mention your not sleeping condition that you don't want people to make a fuss over in front of the head of the mansion's medical staff.

Serena knew she should probably speak to somebody, maybe Gemma. But now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Come on, I'll show you where the guest room is." Serena felt a smile spread across her face. This time, it wasn't forced.

Tses was relieved she could walk on her own, although she felt her stubbornness was partially responsible for that. It may not have been the wisest thing to do, but her ego could only handle so much. As they walked, she was still careful about too much movement, and overly relieved to see the guest quarters. As much as she avoided the mansion, a shower and a place to sleep that wasn't a roof or a bench was missed.

"Never thought'd I'd be so glad to see a bed." She muttered to herself, hoping she could stay awake long enough to clean up at least.

"So you got a reason you're not sleeping?" She mused, glancing at Serena more closely.

Serena smiled as Tses looked happy about the bed. She leaned against the wall, feeling decidedly less tired, now that she had forced herself to get up and actually do some stuff.

She smiled awkwardly in response to Tses. And then just sighed. "Well, I guess I still have a lot of emotional baggage from stuff that has been going on over the last year. I'm kind of sick of people getting close to me vanishing and or dying." she said, somewhat hollowly.

"And I haven't really had slept well due to bad dreams since... Well, you know, my brother's murder." She added, somewhat darkly.

Serena was somewhat annoyed that Tses had picked tonight of all nights to come to the mansion injured, she was normally in such a better mood. Tonight was definitely one of her more... off nights.

"If you want to step into the shower and clean up a bit, I can go and find some clothes for you, and then maybe grab some food?" she smiled.

Serena was fairly open about the reasons for not sleeping, and Tses felt her brow furrow slightly as she considered the girl's statements. She had her own bad memories, but she never had much time to focus on them. Survival meant you pushed through what hurt you, but she didn't expect Serena to do the same. She was here at the mansion, she had people who should be able to help her through it. Ignoring it seemed silly when you were at a place like this, but maybe it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"Well, whatever is haunting you about that night, you really should try talking to someone or try working through it." She shrugged, then sifted through the drawers in the room casually. There wasn't much to be found, but it was a thief's habit she couldn't put aside so easily.

"And food might be nice. No promises how long I'll stay up though. I am several cups of blood lighter..." Heck, it might have been more than that... she didn't know how long she was bleeding before Serena got help. "But I'll jump in the shower, if you find some clothes you can probably toss them on the bed, I'll find them?" She said, then migrated towards the bathroom. She paused at the door, tried to think of something else to say. Maybe thank you, maybe 'glad to see you again'? Seemed like it'd all been said. She just migrated to find the safety of the shower in the end.

She was still rattled by everything she'd gone through the past few months, but in many ways, she was having just as much trouble working through it as Serena seemed to be with her own memories.

Serena smiled and nodded to Tses' comment. "Yeah. I'll grab the clothes and bring them in." Serena closed the door behind her, the soft wood closing with a small creak. Creaky doors were annoying, no matter who you were. It was just one of those things in life.

She went and found some spare clothes from one of the senior students which looked to be about Tses' size. She carefully slide back into the dark room and placed the clothes (Which were jeans, underwear and a long sleeved top) onto the bed.

She then carefully slunk out and proceeded to make herself a cup of tea and drank it slowly. She decided she would get a couple of hours sleep, but then she would need to find Sylar. She had some questions for him.

Serena crawled into bed, and then set her alarm. Why was nothing ever simple? There was always something, chaining her down.

Continued in