JP - What happened to Riley

Riley jumped at Klaire's his heart reaching "sorry I just needed some air and…….."

Tzeitel looked at Riley, her eyes brimming. “What happened? Who did this?”

"I'm fine Tzeitel" Riley lied " I just needed some air."

“You’re lying…I smell it.” Klaire said. “You promised never to lie, Riley…”

“I’m more convincing when I lie about being fine, right?” Tzeitel asked. “Something happened.”

Riley tried to control his breathing, he didn't want to do this but he wouldn't let it go. "I told you how he had a plan for you, me and James. Well for me he wanted a child with my powers. He had me collared and threw me in this water meta. I tried fighting back but then she drowned me, froze my kind limbs to the bed and then…"

Tzeitel’s face turned white. Canestone had restrained her so she could not fight back, or even move. She knew what Riley was describing. “Riley…” Tzeitel whispered.

Klaire instantly pulled Riley into a tight hug, understanding the horror he was going through. She had suffered her own fair share of rapes from soldiers and other metas they sent to her. “She’s….she’s gonna pay for this.” She whispered.

"You can't" Riley replied "River already caught her and she's pregnant. They made sure of it. They would heal me up and send me back to her. Esther was able to remove the carvings and marks and stuff but I can still feel them."

“Okay, okay,” Klaire said, pulling back and holding onto his arms. “Just breathe, Riley…slow, deep breaths, okay? You need to calm down or you’ll start panicking.”

Tzeitel began giving off calming pheromones.

She wanted to kill this evil bitch who hurt Riley, pregnant or not. In her mind she counted off the next nine months, setting a due date to murder the bitch. “We’re here for you, Riley.”

Riley scratched at his neck finding it hard to breathe "I just can't get rid of the feeling of guilt that I cheated on River or the fact I couldn't save Anastasia from Canestone. And to top it off I have another child on the way."

“You didn’t cheat on anyone. River would understand.” Tzeitel blinked. “Canestone… That’s what you’re calling Loreen now?”

“Is she going to be okay?” Klaire asked. “And Tzeitel’s right. River would understand. It’s not your fault, Riley.”

Riley sighed "She's not Loreen at least not the original I can see it in her eyes when I look at her I've seen Loreen plenty of times to know the difference. Anastasia is better Esther healed her but she's attached to the hip to me This is the longest I've been without her."

Breathing in pheromones He began to calm down "I just Don't know what to do I just want to get rid of the memories of how she feels how she sounds like I just want to be in control again."

Klaire looked at Tzeitel, her mind going to the system they used to erase their memories at times. “We’ll help you any way we can, Riley. I promise…” Though, she was still very concerned about James. She wanted to just run out of there and find him - save him.

“Leimomi helped me…” Tzeitel said softly, though she still struggled with what Riley was struggling with sometimes.

"Thanks but for now we need to focus on James I need the distraction" Riley whispered his body shaking.

“You’re shaking.” Tzeitel looked at Klaire.

“Maybe you should stay and look after Anastasia and River?” Klaire suggested. “Go see Leimomi about this. We’ll get James.”

"No" Riley snapped before calming down "Tzeitel still a Target and we know Canestone is not going to pass up using James to get you Klaire I'm not going to let him take and hurt any more of you if I had only gotten back sooner I could have gone with them and James wouldn't have been captured."

Tzeitel looked at Riley in disbelief. She could not see Klaire staying home while James was in danger, and Tzeitel was not going to stay behind when her best friend went.

"Please don't make me stay I need to watch your back" Riley said tears down his face "I can still fight."

“You need rest, Riley. You’ve been through hell.” Tzeitel said. “I… I slept for days after- afterwards.”

"I can rest later I'm not tired I'm fine…" Riley protested.

Tzeitel nervously scratched her arm and took Klaire’s hand. If Riley was less exhausted he would have noticed Tzeitel putting oil on Klaire’s hand. With Klaire immune, Tzeitel gave off powerful pheromones to knock Riley out.

Had Riley been in a clear state of mind it would have been able to use his powers to process it through his body. Eyes feeling heavy he looked at the two girls he considered family tears in his eyes as he fell asleep.

Tzeitel caught Riley. She felt guilty because she hated using her pheromones on her friends without their permission. She looked at Klaire.

“Don’t feel guilty. It had to be done.” Klaire said, staring at him. “He’d get himself killed if he went with us.”

Riley slumped in Tzeitel's arms completely unconscious. His head filling with nightmares.

“I’ll go get Esther,” Klaire said and went to find the woman, soon returning with her.

Esther gently touched Riley’s forehead to help him stay calm, even in his dreams. “It’s okay, Papa…”

Riley's body began to relax at Esther's touch.

Tzeitel knew it had to be done on one level, if Riley went out he would be hurt or even killed. But it made her feel sick to mess with someone’s autonomy so soon after being raped. She watched Riley guiltily, thinking Riley would have found a better way to stop her in the same situation.

“I’ll get him to River,” Esther told Tzeitel and Klaire. “Thank you.” She gave them both a respectful bow and used her power to carry Riley to the room he shared with River.

Klaire watched them in silence for a moment. “She’s matured a lot…”

Riley muttered in his sleep as Esther carried him.