Author's Note: Sanctuary Bingo.
Prompt: Psych Worm

Henry raced down the stairs, yelling at Declan to hurry up or they would miss their target. Both men knew how vital their mission was; the consequences of failure were often discussed by the two men when things were calmer, less hectic. He could hear the Brit stomping down the stairs, the package clutched tightly in his hands as they both ran from the house and jumped into the car. Henry floored it as they raced down the quiet suburban roads, taking care not to cause any damage or injury as they headed for their target's currently known location. The last thing either of them wanted was to draw attention to their activities; knowledge of what they were doing would mean too many questions which couldn't be answered. Henry turned the car sharply, pulling into the virtually empty car park, the tyres skidding a little on the gravel as they came to a sharp stop. They both jumped out of the car and hurried off into the deserted park, the dawn light giving the area a slightly ethereal look.

.

Declan took careful aim and threw the object he had been carrying, knowing that Henry would catch it, while they both unobtrusively observed their target. Their activity had become something of a morning ritual, as they observed the person approximately one hundred metres away from them. The object Declan had thrown, an American football, flew through the air in a graceful arc and hit Henry square on the forehead. The two men stared at each other, their target forgotten, as the enormity of what had just happened sank in. Then the laughter began.

"What the hell was that?" Declan gasped, between fits of laughter that left him unable to stand up straight.

"Dude, I have no idea," Henry admitted, gasping for breath as tears of laughter ran down his cheeks.

"Are you ok?" a female voice asked. Both men looked up to see their target walking towards them, a look of concern on her face. "You took quite a nasty bump on the head."

"I'll be fine," Henry assured her with a smile, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm Kayleigh," she introduced herself, holding out her hand to Henry to help him to his feet.

"I'm Henry, and this is Declan," Henry replied, getting slowly to his feet.

"Nice to meet you," Declan said, smiling at Kayleigh as he helped Henry to a nearby bench and took a seat beside his friend.

"I've seen you guys before, and neither of you has ever missed a catch," she told them, crouching down a few feet away so she could see them both. "What changed today?"

"Dunno," Henry confessed, unsure as to whether he wanted to share the real reason. "Must have looked at the sun and got that glare thing you get."

"I get that all the time," she told him, her expression serious. "Only, it usually looks like a number eight and it's blue."

"Yeah, that's what this was," Henry agreed, glad he wasn't the only one.

"You should probably go home and get some rest," she told him, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she gave him a little wink. Rising to her feet once more, she blew them both a kiss and jogged off into the park, disappearing into the morning mist in a few moments. The guys looked at each other and grinned, like geeky teenage boys who had finally spoken to the popular girl at school. Having accomplished their mission, that of watching Kayleigh work out in her shorts and skimpy sports bra, they decided home was a good option right then.

.

As soon as they had arrived home, Henry had made his way slowly up to his room to rest. Neither had work that day, and both of them had agreed that it was probably best if Henry rested for the rest of the morning. Declan had just sat down with a fantasy novel he was half way through reading, when the doorbell rang. Annoyed at being disturbed, and concerned that Henry's rest might be disrupted, he got to his feet and hurried to the door, ready to tell whoever was there to go away. He was more than a little surprised when he opened the door to find Kayleigh standing on the doorstep, her face a mask of confusion and fear.

"Kayleigh..." Declan began, surprised to see her and curious as to how she had found their house.

"Declan, we need to leave, all of us," she told him, her tone urgent. "We're all in grave danger."

"What danger?" Henry asked sleepily, coming slowly down the stairs.

"None of this is real. We have to find a way out," she told them emphatically.

"We're all fine," Declan tried to reassure her.

"Have you been having the dreams? Where you're someone else?" she demanded, looking from one to the other and seeing the answer written on their faces. They both nodded slowly and she continued. "We are not who we are here. All of this, it's all fake. We have to find a way out, soon."

"Why, what happens if we don't?" Declan demanded, a sense of foreboding coming over him.

"We all die, that's what," Henry answered, his voice shaky as he looked at Kayleigh, who nodded in confirmation.

"So, how do we get out?" Declan asked, his hands shaking as he gripped the door to steady himself.

"I don't know, but we'll figure something out," she told them, walking into the entrance hall of the house as Declan closed the door behind her. They had a lot to discuss before they could figure out what they needed to do in order to escape and save themselves.

##

.

"How are they doing?" Helen asked, watching as the subjects were given another dose of sedatives.

"Their brainwaves are beginning to change," the doctor in charge told her, handing her the handheld monitor. "Whatever they're seeing in there, something has just changed and they're realising their world isn't real."

"Did we get them in time?" she wanted to know, desperate to save her friends.

"I think so," the doctor replied. "There seems to be very little in the way of physical damage to both Henry and Declan, so it didn't have time to digest much."

"And the succubus they were chasing? The one who got caught as well?" Will wanted to know, looking down at the tanks where the three lay.

"Her brain activity is normal. She knows the world isn't real and is probably helping convince the others," the doctor advised, his tone slightly sad.

"And the physical damage?" Helen demanded, hoping they could save the abnormal as well.

"The damage to her is far more extensive," the doctor admitted sadly. "She probably won't survive long once she wakes up. I'm sorry."

"As soon as she comes round, I want you to put her into stasis. We'll look after her at the Sanctuary," Helen told him, waiting for his nod of agreement before she turned her attention back to the three figures in the tanks. While her people showed little in the way of outward injury, the succubus who lay between them was not so lucky. She was covered in what appeared to be bruises, but which Helen knew to be areas where the psych worm which had attacked them had started to eat the poor creature. If the doctor was right, and the abnormal was helping her friends to escape the psych world relatively unharmed, then she owed it to her to try and save her too.