I'm warning you guys because I love all of you. There are possible triggering scenes and really brief intense moments. You all know you can PM me if you need to talk :)

Vic's POV

I was waiting outside the Sanctuary. Mike was circling off in the distance to keep an eye out on the mysterious Usual and Wynter. Jack sat beside me, quietly drawing in the dirt with the tip of a stick. I watched his sketch appear. It was a little heart that had a 'V' plus a 'W'. I used my shoe to step on it.

"Hey." He poked with the tip of the stick. I grinned and smeared the drawing even more.

"You hate it because it's true." He shot back. I shook my head and pulled my knees to my chest. It was lightly sprinkling outside. The grey clouds thundered heavily. I saw lightning flash in the distance. The rain was soothing and I loved to watch the lightning.

A sound cracked in the distance, a short, high noise. There wasn't any lightning. A wolf screamed in the distance.

"What was that?" Jack asked. I feared the worst. I thought that a Guardian had found us. Mike called out, a long warning sound.

"WYNTER!" Jack yelled. Mike called out to us again. Both of us leaped up and sprinted to where Mike was circling.He swooped over to me, hovering with nervous eyes that told me of danger. Jack kept running up the hill.

I followed him up. Out in the distance, about half a mile out by the rocks, I saw Wynter fall and the boy, Austin go to her. She jumped up as he neared her and sprinted away. Austin followed for a little before turning and running.

I had never felt such deep hate for a Usual. He had hurt my little sister.

I watched Wynter run away. She was limping badly until she fell and didn't get up. Jack sprinted over to her side and I followed. I called her name many times, not caring who heard. The houses were down a ways. They might hear if they payed attention. The thunder boomed like a looming cannon.

I stooped to her side, inspecting the wound. The blood was soaked on her green shirt and quickly splattering the dirt. Mike dropped the the earth and Shifted back.

"Take her back the the Sanctuary and inspect the bullet. If it was one of the special Guardian bullets....Well I don't know. I'll clean up." Mike said, motioning to the blood. With a swift nod, I left my brother. Jack jogged with me as we rushed back to the old house.

It seemed like forever when I had my little sister in my arms, the life bleeding out of her. The looked like it tore right through the muscle. It would be a nasty healing process. Jack held open the door as we stepped down the hidden stairs and into the open room.

"It's okay, Wyn. You'll be good as new in no time." I whispered to her. She moaned out in pain and her body was racked with shakes. Jack was our healer, the one we went to for all medical needs.

"Hand her to me." Jack commanded. I gently switched arms and held the door open to the back room where all our healing supplies were stashed. He laid her out on the table, moving to grab some bandages.

"Crap! We're out of numbing cream!" He cursed himself silently for forgetting it at the market. Wyn, her icy blue eyes shaded by the fluttering eyelids thrashed in pain.

"Hold her please!" Jack called to me as he riffled through the cabinets, tossing things on the counter. I moved over to Wyn's side. A gasp escaped her lips as the blood trickled off her arm.

"Vic! Please stop the pain. It hurts so much." She cried to me, tears on her face. I pulled up a chair, holding one arm and lightly stroking her cheek. It pained me to see her like this.

The thing about Wynter that I admired so much, was that she took the pain like it was the bite of a flea. She came home one time after chasing a Rogue down. Her arm was broken and she told me it was nothing, but I knew it was hurting her. Wyn just sat down and Jack has to drag her back to the healing room so he could set her arm properly. The entire time she complained that she was thirsty, not about her arm.

"It's okay, Wyn. Jack's going to make it better." I told her. Her blue eyes were pools of pain as Jack came to her side on the table. Jack looked apologetic, knowing she would endure so much more pain trying to get the bullet out without anything to numb the area. I could hear Mike rush downstairs and through the open door.

"Help your brother hold her." Jack commanded. Mike put his hand on her shoulders, steadying her as Jack got a pair of tweezers, getting ready to pull the bullet out.

I never wanted to hear to sound of Wynter screaming in pain again.

She cried for Jack to stop. The poor girl asked for him to just let it be, to let her bleed out. Mike had to use his whole weight to hold down her shoulders. But something that Wynter said made my heart shatter into a million pieces. She insisted this to the healer.

Wynter begged Jack to let her die.

"Jack, please stop. Just let me die. Kill me, please! End the pain!" Her voice cried out as sobs shook her body. Jack didn't stop, but let the grieving drops fall from his eye.

"I don't want to live with this! Let me be finished with it! Jack, STOP!" She screamed out for him. Jack pulled out the bullet, finally ending the digging around in her muscles.

"Vic, please make it stop." She murmured. Tears were all in our eyes. Wynter stopped her shaking around. My hand shook violently as she finally calmed down.

"It's okay, little sis. Your fine now." I whispered to her. Jack threw the ammo on the counter with the bloody tweezers. Mike handed him a few pills.

"Wynter, you gotta take these." Jack murmured. Wynter looked up, a little dazed at the two pills but was unable to reach them. I pushed my arm under her head, moving her light body up to Jack's pills and cup of water. She downed them and fell back on the table. Mike looked as tired as she was. He had changed forms more times today than us.

"Mike, you can go sleep. Take a nap or something." I suggested. Without a second word, my little brother trudged to the bedroom and flopped on his covers.

"Sleeping pills?" I asked Jack. He nodded and started to stitch the gash and put cream in the open wound. Although we were granted fast healing, this injury would need a little help. Wynter looked at me sleepily, squeezing my hand gently. I wiped the tears away, memories of what she wanted.

"Vic, I'm tired." She complained. I smiled, glad to have the old Wynter back.

"You'll be asleep soon." I promised her. She nodded. Jack finally ended his wrapping. I scooped little Wyn into my arms, taking her off the disgusting table while Jack cleaned up. Mike was sound asleep, even though it was only six in the evening.

Although Wynter was sound asleep by the time I pulled back the blue covers and tucked her into bed, I stayed up, sitting next to her and tenderly stroking the loose strands of hair that covered her injured shoulder.

It freaked me out beyond belief that Wynter would ever say what she did when Jack was trying to get the wound fixed. It left my stomach hollow and twisted in knots. They left empty echoes in my head.

Somewhere along the line I had fallen asleep. Jack woke me up, shaking my shoulder gently. The clock read 10:58 P.M. Yawning, I followed him out. My friend handed me a bottle of beer. Gladly, I took a swig of the cooling liquid.

"What she said..." He started out. I nodded and closed my eyes. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Vic, you know her best. She hasn't been very depressed lately, expect for yesterday. Has she been very down?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"Nah. Just today she seemed so happy. I don't know what set her off today." I replied honestly. Jack gulped down his beer and tossed the bottle.

"Do you think she'll try anything?" He asked with a lump in my throat. His highlighted hair even looked droopy tonight, after what happened.

"I don't think so, but I don't want to take the chance. Honestly, I have no clue what set her off, or if she was even herself when she was yelling." I whispered. The room sat in utter silence.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I tossed my bottle after I was finished. My brain was a little fuzzy, but I wasn't drunk.

"She's might've not known what she was saying. With all the blood loss, she could've been hallucinating, imaging things, anything." I responded. Jack took this into consideration.

"True, but I don't want to take any chances. The pill is supposed to wear off in about six hours, so that'll give us a little time. I might try to wake up early and check on her." Jack answered before heading off to bed. I nodded, staring at the granite counter for a moment before following back in.

Curling into my own bed, I closed my eyes and tried not to think about what had happened.

Notes