AN: The first thing I've written in ages. It's a Zack introspective piece.
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
Zack Addy was by no means perfect, though his intellect adequately made up for what he lacked in other areas, such as interpersonal relationships and the ability to read people's body language. In so many ways he was younger than his years, but with an otherworldly knowledge of everything that seemed rationally acceptable to know, it didn't seem to matter.
His heart was hidden away, carefully shut in a box and stuck on a shelf in the back, gathering dust. To him, assimilation wasn't pertinent, acceptance just seemed completely beyond his grasp. He had felt the vague breeze of compassion from Jack Hodgins, his best friend, but he was not the man's first priority. Dr. Brennan cared, but, as with Jack, had other priorities that didn't include him in the way he wished it would. He was no ones first priority.
For a moment he was still, forcing sudden emotions that burst to the surface carefully back into exile, licking his lips as he glanced out the door of the section of the lab. Hodgins was at his desk, compiling something into his computer. He picked up a small canister, carefully adding tricyclic acetone peroxide to the container, his heart thumping erratically. Zack set it down back where it was previously; he knew Hodgins would not suspect anything.
The substance would be perfect for what he needed, as long as what needed to be done was done quickly. He watched it, flexing his fingers slightly. He knew what would happen to whoever conducted the experiment, but it would be enough to draw everyone's attention away from his Master. His Master's first priority was him, now. Zack was something extremely important in someone's life, though expendable. He was always reminded how expendable he was.
He shook that thought out of his mind, waiting for Hodgins to come back so Jack could put his hands, vulnerable, into the gloves, though thankfully the rest of his body would be protected behind the thick plastic. Hands could be sacrificed, as long as a life was not.
Again, Zack felt the swell of tears in his eyes, as Jack made his way over to the room.
Suddenly, he was met with a choice. An important, terrifying choice. Rationally unacceptable, but human nature, sometimes subconsciously, could not be changed. His heart felt close to bursting as he grabbed the face shield, terrified of what was going to happen to him. It was an indisputable part of the mind, dedicated to endorphins and serotonin, a piece of Zack Addy that loved Jack Hodgins more than he would care to admit.
Too much time had passed since the peroxide had been poured. Too much time. He flexed his fingers again. He knew precisely how much damage was going to be done. But it wasn't going to be done to Jack.
The taking of one life was the only damage to the world that he would be responsible for.