If I had the chance to run, and I really thought I could have made it, I wouldn't have gone home to Chicago from Bellefonte. I imagine in a crisis like this, the first people contacted are parents. I wouldn't want to drag them into this. It wasn't their fault I have these abilities, and I’d hardly want any harm to come to them just because of who I am. It was easier not to run. It was easier to give in. Thankfully, at the time, I had nine years with this ability. I knew how to control it well enough not to use it, even under clear duress.

I did tell them what I could do. Immediately. No hesitation. They looked… Inspired. Perhaps that's why I wasn't killed on sight. It was also probably beneficial that I've always been quiet. And polite. I've always been nice, and smart enough to know that being anything less is a death sentence.

I remember that more than anything I missed the ability to read. Books are heavy luxuries in camps; that means there were none.

Why would I resist? Life in the camps was barely living. Assuming people would band together was… Foolish. Fending for themselves was primary; survival of the fittest, apparently. That camaraderie people often spoke about - that bond we were all supposed to naturally have - was nothing. If you're in the way, you're out of the way.

But people were plucked from the mess. They were considered traitors, ironically, despite all the horrible things everyone was doing in those camps. But they were people deemed most useful.

She didn't even know me, I don’t think. Not well. But when she left, it was so sad. That was what made me think of changing. Anything had to be better than settling.

It took so long to get noticed. Maybe I was always a person of interest because of the unique subset of my abilities. That's what I used to think. I felt no loyalty to the people who had been so cutthroat in the camps. The Guardians pulled me from hell and gave me purpose, no matter how harsh it seemed.

It took effort to convince her I was worthwhile. Loyalty sounds like a messy sell when you're giving it off the back of your own people. A foot in the door was all I needed, and that's what Eve graciously gave me.

Most people would feel awful for using their abilities to capture their own kind. I don't think a lot of people consider how hard it is to lie to me. It's difficult to conceal a majority of feelings this way. People are absolutely liars; it's an easy trait to be known for. But being good at it doesn't always mean you're getting out of it.

Mutants feel a particular kind of fear. It's special. Scary. Completely unique. And that's what makes it easy to trace.

I suppose it's interesting how different people are when they're the ones trying to survive.

SENSORIAL LINK / EMPATHIC MASOCHISM
Bellamy has the ability to create a empathic bond between herself and another individual. As such, any emotional turmoil she might face or inflict on herself is projected and shared between herself and her chosen party. A connection is made through basic empathy; registering someone's current emotional state and forcing herself to feel the same to some degree. Bellamy also has the ability to inflict pain on others by inflicting it on herself directly. Every attack dealt to Bellamy is directly inflicted back to her chosen party, hit for hit.

LIMITATIONS
The primary limitation involved with both abilities is that of the strength Bellamy has for herself. There is a limit to whatever psychological and physical damage she herself can take. While this is heightened by extended use and time with such a skill, she is still only human. She also needs to know the person she is trying to connect with; if she has never seen or met them before, there's no way for her to make a connection. Each ability also only works on one person at a time. Because both abilities require a kind of mental link, anyone with a psychic shielding ability has the means to block attempts to use either.

Great care has to be taken with such a predominantly taxing physical ability in that any damage caused to herself isn't something she can't come back from. For example, breaking her own arm to break someone else's arm takes the same amount of time to heal; there is no regenerative healing factors associated with the ability she has.

SIDE-EFFECTS
Both abilities work well in tandem and as such have very similar side effects. Because a great deal of focus is taken to use the two, it is a highly exhausting ability to put into practice. Disorientation is a high factor to consider; spending too much time emotionally linked with an individual blurs the lines between consciousness and the shared feelings.

The largest side effect for both abilities is that if the individual Bellamy is connected with dies, she also dies.