Saying goodbye to Diego was one of the most painful things Isabel de la Rosa had to do. She could not fight him about it, which she was wont to do. How could she claim his life was more important than the rest of the world's future? It made her hypocritical, and she knew it. But she didn't have to admit it, out loud, to him. But goodbyes were foreign to her; Diego often up and left, without giving Isabel the opportunity to see him off. Maybe that was why, right now, this was difficult. Knowing he was leaving, knowing he might never come back, and having to resign herself to that fact. Isabel was not good at simply accepting things. Not if they weren't to her liking.
And this, most certainly, was not to her liking.
The only consolation factor was that she did not have to say goodbye alone. If this had happened months ago, when Marcela was still gone, and Isabel's psyche in shambles, she wouldn't have been able to make it through. That was a hard pill to swallow, knowing that the anchors of your life were limited by the people in it. Diego. Marcela. It felt like an exchange, and Isabel (surprisingly greedy, Isabel) wanted both. Why wasn't she allowed to have both?
She didn't say goodbye to Diego, not really. She stood silently, stoically, carefully reigned in, as she watched him. Seamlessly fitting in among the other listed "volunteers". She hated that word, this was their choice, but what choice was there? It infuriated her all over again. It shouldn't be Diego, it should be her. But Marcela, bless her sister, for knowing that Isabel was one step away from running into the group to pull Diego out. The hand in hers, squeezing tightly, was enough to keep her together. Isabel held fast, until the blue glow, and then... gone.
Something was immediately wrong. More than the group was missing. And the shift in the atmosphere and mood of her sister was palpable. Isabel had roughly a second to turn her attention on Marcela, to tell her not to jump to conclusions, before she was being dragged out of the Danger Room. There was only one other person that would pull that reaction out of her, and Isabel could only follow. Isabel was fast but Marcela was faster, and she lost hold of her around a corner, struggling to keep up.
Coming upon Marcela, the empty room; there was only one answer. Isabel was quick to step in before her sister could run away from her again.
"Marcela, look at me," Isabel said, her hands framing her sister's face, comforting but firm, much in the same way they used to when situations in the CML got to be too much, when they lost teammates, family, friends. When the government was getting too close. When Isabel had to remain strong in the wake of the world collapsing around them. "We will find her, but I need you to focus."
There was moe commotion behind them, as the reality of what just happened was hitting each person, one by one. Running in the hallway, someone coming out of their room, down stairs. It was not just Nikki, but everyone else was not who Marcela was thinking about. "Tell me, where else would she go, if not—" Isabel paused, not wanting to say it out loud. She reached for Marcela's hand and tugged her out of the room. "Come. She could not have gotten far if she is still here."