Summary: A tip off leads Magnus and her staff to raid a bunker, allegedly full of abnormals being used for experimentation, but how far will either side go to defend what is theirs?
Set: After my previous Sanctuary fic, Freedom, which is itself a sequel to my fic, Monster. I may post a summary as a one-shot.
Spoilers: Sanctuary for all` (obviously), maybe `Kush`, definitely `The Five`, `Revelations` (both), `End of Nights` (both), `Eulogy`, `Haunted`, my fics `Monster` and "Freedom".
Genres: Adventure/Thriller.
Rating: Fairly strong T for bloody violence, infliction and effects and fairly graphic medical descriptions. As an episode, a 15, not much worse than Nubbins.
Disclaimer: This world belongs to the genii Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler.
It's been a long time, I know, but I'm back. Thanks for sticking with me.
Magnus blinked, raising her pistol and looking around. To her left, Ashley and Kate did the same. It was almost pitch black in the bunker, the only light came from LED panels every ten feet or so on both sides of the corridor. Magnus nodded at Ashley, who disappeared, momentarily drowning the LEDs with fiery light. A second later, she was back, holding Henry with one hand, Will with the other.
"We recon first." Magnus hissed. "No forcing doors. Check perimeter, ways in, ways out, and find out how accurate our intel was."
"Was pretty clear." Kate whispered back. "Bunker, experimentation on abnormals." Magnus didn't respond.
"Henry, hold position. Everyone else, move out." Henry dropped to a crouch. Ashley and Kate began to advance down the corridor, each covering the other's movement.
They hadn't taken five steps before light burst on either side of them, revealing what had looked like solid walls to be glass panels, transparent as the light came up behind them. Cells, stark and sterile looking, were revealed on either side of the corridor, maybe ten feet long and six deep. In each of the nearest ones, a humanoid form lay on the metal grille floor, motionless, bloody on one side.
"Are they-" Will began.
"Yes." Magnus interrupted quietly. "Sasquatch. We check perimeter, them get them out. We can't leave them here." She finished, noting the raw marks from rope burns, scarring their wrists and ankles, neck of one. She felt cold inside as she began to follow Will down the corridor, in the opposite direction to Ashley and Kate.
More cells lit as they passed them. Abnormals, mostly humanoid, lay unconscious or drew back at the light, backed in to corners, eyes wide in fear, fists raised, or just whimpered and curled up. Will cursed softly.
"They've all go abuse written all over them, not even starting on the rope burns, bruises, cuts-"
A klaxon sounded. Blast doors slammed down a few yards ahead of Magnus and Will.
"Mum?" Ashley shouted over the alarm, which was ringing through the corridor.
"Start getting them out!" They might only have minutes. Ashley ran back and fired four shots in to the glass at the front of a Sasquatch's cage. It didn't stir. How badly was it injured? Ashley glanced at Kate then both kicked the glass, high and hard. An area maybe five feet across shattered. The sound was almost drowned by a voice blasting from what seemed to be all direcrions.
"Intruder alert! Five armed hostiles, cat. C, level two." Ashley bolted through the hole and vanished in a flash of fire, taking the Sasquatch with her. Two gunshots cracked down the corridor. Magnus ran for the now empty cage, where the Sasquatch had been, returning fire. Henry, Will and Kate followed her. Ashely reappeared.
"What did I miss?"
"We're under fire. Keep going." Magnus shouted back, trusting Ashley would have the sense to leave it before her stamina gave out. Ashley nodded again and reappeared in the opposite cage, then teleported out with another Sasquatch. The lone gunman opposing them seemed to retreat.
"One against four." Will said. "Not good-"
"Warning!" The PA system blared. "Security protocol five activated in cat. C, level two. Repeat: protocol five activated in cat. C, level two."
"What the hell does that mean?" Henry asked.
"Something bad." Kate provided, looking around.
Ashley returned in a flash of fire.
"Why is it so quiet?"
"We don't know." Magnus said quietly. Ashley shrugged and teleported in to another cage, then away again.
In the time before Ashley returned, Magnus noticed something about Henry. He'd been sitting still for about two minutes, but he was breathing as if he'd just been running.
"Henry, give me your hand." She said, breathily.
"Why?" He panted, extending his left hand to her. Magnus dug two fingers in to his wrist, looking at the second hand on her watch.
"A hundred and twenty-two. It should be slower than that by now, shouldn't it?"
"Magnus?" Will pressed.
"I don't know."
"Magnus, it's not just him." Will said, panting heavily now. "What is this?" Ashley reappeared. Almost at once, her breathing began to accelerate.
"Take those two now." Magnus ordered, pointing at Will and Henry. Ashley obeyed and disappeared again. Kate was gasping for breath now. Looking out in to other cages, Magnus could see the same symptoms repeated. Abnormals ran to and fro in panic, beating at the glass. Ashley returned and reached for Magnus's wrist. Magnus shook her head and pointed to another cage. Ashley obeyed.
"Don't hold your breath." Magnus panted, looking at Kate.
"Gassing us."
"Asphyxiant, not toxin. Kills by preventing oxygen uptake. Hold your breath, kill you faster." Kate raised a shaking hand to her head. Somewhere, an abnormal began to scream. Ashley reappeared, holding an oxygen cylinder and mask, which she threw to Magnus, who caught it and opened the valve. She pressed the mask to Kate's face. Kate drew breath desperately. Magnus's hands were shaking, her head was spinning. She pulled the mask back to her own face, drew the life-giving gas deep in to her lungs, quenching the fire there, calming her own, reeling vision. This was only a small cylinder. It would buy the two of them five minutes at most. Ashley had gone. Abnormals everywhere seemed to be screaming, roaring, shouting. Magnus gave the mask back to Kate, feeling the fire in her chest start to burn again. They couldn't keep this up. Ashley reappeared. She began to gasp at once this time. She didn't seem to care. She gritted her teeth and disappeared again. The screaming of the abnormals was dying out. Black spots were obscuring Magnus's vision. Fire flashed beside her. She felt a hand on her arm. She was pulled in to the void.
Magnus hit the floor hard, a different floor. Air, cook, oxygenated air rushed in to her burning chest. Her vision began to settle. Voices, male mostly shouted around her. Two called her by name. Yellow light, pale stone walls, beds lining the room. Infirmary. It was the infirmary. Still gasping, Magnus rolled over and raised her head.
"Need the defibrillator over here!" Will shouted.
"One more shot with this one." Bigfoot called back, then I give up." Will was kneeling on a bed, doing CPR on an abnormal, Henry was bagging another. She had to help. She pushed herself to hands and knees, the pain in her chest subsiding. She had to help.
o0o0o0o
Three hours later, the chaos was over. They'd retrieved six abnormals, two Sasquatch, four unknowns, only one of which didn't look human. The first Sasquatch had died within minutes from blood loss, the other was in septic shock, critical but stable for the moment. One of the human-looking ones seemed to be slowly succumbing to some sort of neurotoxin. He either wouldn't or couldn't speak and was staggering about with a fixed, sardonic grin which reminded Magnus more of tetanus than anything else. They'd given him antiserum and left him in a darkened room, not knowing what else to do, haematology hadn't given them any clues. Another apparently human abnormal had been dead on arrival from asphyxiation, or something else that didn't leave an gross physiological or anatomical marks. The last had backed herself in to a corner of the infirmary and had eventually been carried out, whimpering, by Bigfoot. She'd settled a bit since then, but Magnus and Will agreed that she'd need his help more than hers. The one that didn't look human or Sasquatch was vaguely reptilian shaped and behaviour wise, blood tests pending. It had curled in to a ball snarling when approached.
"Magnus?" Will knocked twice on the door of her office. She looked up from the monitor, which showed CCTV footage of all four surviving newcomers.
"Will."
"How are they doing?"
"Variously. The Sasquatch is still stable. She's young, so I'm hoping she'll heal quickly. The reptile has started exploring, and urinating on the walls."
"Making himself at home?"
"It would seem so. If that's what he needs to do to feel comfortable, I'm willing to tolerate that. It's the other two I'm worried about."
"The human looking ones?"
"Yes. I don't know what more I can do for the male, bug the way he is, I doubt he'll last the night." Will sighed.
"We tried, Magnus."
Please review, particularly nitpicks.