Nelson couldn't see Caroline—or anyone else. All that filled his head were floating chemical formulas, flashing and shifting in his mind—until— "Ah!" Out of nowhere, a huge hand grabbed him and yanked him right out of his mental lab. "Who the hell is this guy?!" Tyler's voice came out sharp and cold. Caroline, who'd been in the middle of rolling up Nelson's sleeves, suddenly froze. When she looked up, she saw Tyler standing there, completely composed but with his brows pulled together. His hand clamped around Nelson's collar like a steel grip. Nelson's face was already turning red—he could barely breathe. Once Nelson snapped out of his daze, he somehow whipped out a syringe full of glowing green liquid and tried to jab it straight into Tyler. In an instant, the whole room blew up into chaos. ... Five minutes later, everyone had finally cooled off enough to sit down. Caroline did her best to explain what had just happened—who Nelson was and why he was there. She also apologized to Tyler for not informing him in advance that she had brought someone over. Tyler just shook his head. "It's fine. I didn't tell you before I brought Denton either. No need to make a big deal out of it." Caroline gave him a small smile. "Thanks for being understanding." The word "thanks" made Tyler's eyebrow twitch, but he didn't say anything. For some reason, after everything that just went down, the way she stayed polite with him felt kind of awkward. He couldn't explain it, but a part of him wanted Caroline to treat him differently—like he wasn't just another teammate.It made no sense, and the more he thought about it, the more it annoyed him. Nelson, on the other hand, barely reacted. After realizing it was a teammate, he just said a slight "Oh." When he realized everyone was on the same side, he just muttered a lazy "Oh." Caroline noticed that Nelson didn't even glance at Tyler. Which was odd, since he'd always been super curious about mercenaries before. But knowing Nelson, she figured it was just one of his weird moods and let it slide. She told Tyler he could head back first, but he said he'd stay since a soldier was supposed to drop something off anyway. Caroline had just come back and looked wiped out, so he told her to get some rest. Caroline figured Tyler and Nelson had just had a little misunderstanding, so maybe giving them some time together would smooth things over. She decided to leave them to it. But the second she stepped out, the air between them turned painfully awkward. Neither said a word. Nelson's thought, I don't feel comfortable at all with this guy here. Tyler's thought, she rolled up his sleeves ... seriously? That evening, when Caroline showed up with dinner for Nelson, Tyler had already left. And somehow, in just half a day, Nelson had already cracked the mystery of the blue liquid. "This stuff looks like an enzyme," he explained, "but it's actually an energy compound extracted from mutant creatures. If I'm right, refining it further and using it on normal organisms could trigger mutations—including in humans." It made sense—this was probably what Building B had really been researching. Nelson added that if he handled the refining process himself, he could make the formula way purer. Caroline motioned to a few mutant corpses the soldiers had just dropped off. "Then start with these. See what happens." She was about to head out when Nelson's voice stopped her. "You should be careful with Tyler." Caroline stopped and turned around, seeing Nelson with a totally serious look on his face.She was about to tell him he'd gotten the wrong idea—Tyler might come off a little cold, but he was actually a dependable teammate. There was nothing sketchy about him, and she really hoped Nelson would trust him, too. But she was the one who got it wrong. "When you got close to me, his eyes were on you for about 0.2 seconds and on me for 0.3—he was definitely watching us. When he looked at me, the muscles around his eyes tightened, and the corners of his mouth dropped maybe a millimeter. That shows anger. When he looked at you, though, his breathing got uneven, his eyes softened, and he looked kind of helpless. So basically, he's jealous and a little frustrated that you haven't picked up on it. In short, the guy's into you. So, be careful." Nelson meant every word—because to him, anything involving love was just a total headache. You couldn't explain it with science, and he didn't understand it anyway. The last thing he wanted was for Caroline, someone he'd just started to really respect, to get caught up and hurt by something as messy as love.