Quick note just to start things off. This is my first attempt at a horror story. It may not be the scariest, or the best by any means- but I tried. I'm going to keep author's notes at a minimum, and they're not going to be my usual bubbly ones. I don't want to take away from the story. I'm 4 chapters in, but I'm going to try and upload every day so you don't read it too fast. With that being said, enjoy.

Caveira stood at her room's window stirring her cup of tea. She stared into pitch black occasionally catching the grounds around Hereford when the flashes of lightening provided light. The thunder rolling through the clouds didn't break her concentration as she continued to stir her tea in her trance.

"Taina?" Bandit called out to her from her bed. She just continued to stare out into nothingness as she slowly swirled her spoon around in her cup. "Taina?" Bandit said again as he stood to walk over to her. Her eyelashes lightly fluttered although her eyes remained still. "Taina!?" he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

Caveira flinched- snapping out of whatever spell she was under. Her hand that stirred her tea stopped moving as she turned to face Bandit.

"You've been staring out the window and stirring your tea for ten minutes now. Are you alright?"

Caveira looked down at her tea in her cup. She took the spoon out to set it aside and take a sip. It was cold.

"I'm fine," she said softly as she looked down into her cup. Bandit studied her face for a moment before turning to lay back on her bed. She was lying, but if he called her on it she would just become disgruntled.

"Would you like to lie down with me?" he asked turning to prop himself up on his side.

Caveira looked back out into the darkness that shrouded their base. She placed her cup down on her desk and turned to slip into bed with Bandit. He pulled a blanket over the both of them as he pulled her to him. She nestled her face into his chest wrapping her arms around him. Bandit looked down at her to kiss the top of her head. He knew she hadn't been feeling well lately. She had been becoming sick off and on, but he was really beginning to worry about her. She would constantly stare out into space for extreme amounts of time without blinking. There would be times where she seemed to be watching someone move about the room but there was no one at the end of her gaze. He would even catch her whispering or talking to herself in Portuguese while she was alone. The thought that maybe her mental status was starting to show worried him. She had no psychological profile, and if anyone else paid enough attention- or even come across her while she was in one of her "trances"- a report could be made to Six that would guarantee her dismissal from Rainbow. All Bandit knew was that he couldn't let that happen. She meant everything to him, and a day in Rainbow without her would feel like a lifetime of loneliness.

Bandit stroked her hair as she began to whisper to herself in Portuguese. He had to strain his hearing to pick up what she was saying. It sounded like, "Pai, Filho, o Espírito (Father, son, the spirit)." Bandit was taken by surprise. She wasn't exactly a religious person, so hearing her pray to above was very unusual. Maybe it was part of her illness. She did have a fever and constant hot flashes after all. Those two things would be enough to make anyone in their line of work a little ways off from themselves. Caveira brought her hands up to cover her face. She seemed to shrink beneath Bandit as he lightly squeezed her. He could feel her skin become damp as she broke out in a cold sweat. Her muscles in her arms and shoulders occasionally quivered as he stroked her back. Her breathing was shallow and labored, almost in a wheeze.

"Taina, do you need to go see Doc?" Bandit asked her with his voice full of worry.

"No. I just need to sleep," she whispered. Bandit sighed as he held onto her. He could only hope that she got better by herself and soon. If she didn't- well, couldn't- he himself would probably have to say something to Six. Shaking the thought from his head, Bandit placed another kiss on top of Caveira's and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

Bandit's shivering woke him up in the wee hours of the morning. He opened his eyes to a less than dimly lit room. The sun hadn't even come close to cresting the horizon, and the clouds in the sky had an outline that was only visible if you focused hard enough. Still, it was just enough for Bandit to see that Caveira had opened the window to let in some air. "Dammit, Taina," Bandit grumbled as he stood to shut the window. He then realized that he had in fact woken up alone. She wasn't a morning, or even daytime person- so the odds that she was already starting her day were... Well, none. Her bathroom was empty though, so where could she have been? Bandit pulled on his jacket and started his way to the cafeteria. If he were going to play a game of hide-and-seek with her, he'd have to have some energy. He made his way down the flight of stairs to the ground floor and headed towards the doors to the cafeteria. The only sounds came from behind the service counter as the cooks were getting everything started for the morning. Bandit figured he'd have enough time to wait as he turned to sit at one of the tables before a lone figure at the furthest point of the room caught his eye. The sun had now come up just enough for him to see it was Caveira.

Bandit made his way over to her as quietly as possible to surprise her. She was staring out the window feeding on pineapple chunks from a Styrofoam cup. Bandit stopped to stand and watch her. A smile crept across his face as he did so. Pineapples were her favorite fruit, and she always made sure to eat some when she was feeling better from coming over her sickness. Bandit took long, slow steps as he continued to creep towards her. He was close enough now that he could start to wrap his arms around her. He held his breath and began to lower himself to catch her in his arms.

"Good morning, Dom," Caveira said popping another piece of pineapple into her mouth.

Bandit's arms and shoulders fell as disappoint took place of his happiness. "How did you know I was behind you?" he said taking the seat across from her.

"Because," she began popping another piece of pineapple in her mouth. Bandit eagerly waited for her to swallow so he could hear her answer. "The only person quieter than me is Vigil." Bandit slightly shrugged and nodded his head. She was right after all.

"I see you're feeling better."

Caveira nodded as she continued to watch the sunrise. She held the cup out towards Bandit and gave it a little shake.

"You want one?" Bandit reached in and took a small piece of pineapple.

"Thanks, Babe." Caveira turned to look at Bandit when the light became too much for her eyes.

"I hope you don't mind that I opened the window. I know it was nearly subzero this morning, but I was just so hot."

Bandit lifted a hand to shush her as he finally put the pineapple in his mouth. "I know. I just wish I had a warning before having to find you is all."

Caveira looked a bit guilty as she turned her focus down into her cup. "I'm running low on pineapples. I'll be right back," she said standing to walk to the service line. Bandit watched her walk away. He noticed a decent size bruise on her right elbow, but wrote it off as a bump from walking in the dark. She was feeling better, that's all that mattered right now. Caveira returned with two cups full of pineapple chunks now. She offered one to Bandit, but he respectfully declined.

"You enjoy yourself. You deserve it after these random onsets you've been having." Caveira stared at him for a moment before giving him a subtle nod of thanks. "When you're done here, you want to do some shooting?"

Caveira froze in the middle of putting a pineapple chunk in her mouth. She looked up at Bandit with a queer expression that morphed into delight. "I'd love to do some shooting with you."

Bandit placed his MP7 down to hit the button that pulled his target to him. He reached across the ledge and pulled it from its clamps. Caveira continued to fire her Luison in the next stall over.

"Scheisse," Bandit grumbled smacking the paper with the back of his hand.

"What's the matter?" Caveira asked peering around the corner.

"My aim is way off. I guess I shouldn't have been staying in the room so much."

Caveira laughed as she stepped over to study the paper that was riddled with bullet holes in the center of the chest and a few off-center the head. "I don't see how your aim was off," she said running her finger over the bullet holes.

"Chest-wise, not at all. I can't get head shots for shit. Those are the ones that really matter."

Caveira shook her head as she put the safety on her Luison and re-holstered it in her leg holster. "Well, looks like we need to do something to get you straightened out, don't we?" she said in a low and sultry voice as she grabbed his jacket to pull him to her. She tilted her head up and met his lips with hers in a deep hot kiss.

"Mmm, if you do anymore of that I just might get thrown further off," Bandit said as he broke away. Caveira gave him a low seductive laugh as she stepped away.

"Why don't we go back to my room and test your aim?" She grabbed Bandit's hand and turned away to leave the range before looking over her shoulder at Bandit with bedroom eyes. "Come on, Dominic. I want to see if you can hit my mark."

Caveira and Bandit started to leave the indoor range and head to her room when they came upon the other operators and a following of recruits rushing into the cafeteria.

"Hmm, I wonder what that's about," Bandit said as he turned his attention to the herd.

"Do you want to stop and see?" Caveira asked slowing her pace to a halt.

"I would, just to be nosy," Bandit said now pulling Caveira to the cafeteria.

Inside, a group of S.A.S. recruits were being surrounded and congratulated on completing their first supervised hostage extraction. Thatcher was shaking hands with each recruit, followed by Smoke, Mute, and Sledge.

"Ahh, the little bastards actually made it," Bandit said as he watched everyone celebrating.

"I hope so. What would the S.A.S. be doing with their time if they didn't?" Caveira asked looking over at Bandit.

"Hmm. You've got me there," he said shrugging. "Either way, it's not my ass on the line. Let's get back to work," he said making his way towards the exit. Caveira, against her own nature, obediently followed behind.

Caveira moaned deeply as she ran the nails of her right hand down Bandit's back and dug the fingertips of her left into his back. He was between her legs on top of her, slowly thrusting himself in and out of her. Her breath floating across his neck summoned goosebumps to ripple throughout his flesh. "Dominic," she lightly breathed into his ear as one of his hands slithered up her body to take its place on her throat, pressing lightly with dominance. Caveira's moans grew lighter as she felt herself nearing her climax. Her legs quivered as they wrapped around Bandit's. Her body was hot and damp with sweat as Bandit's pumps threatened to throw her into an orgasm. She tilted her head back ready to descend into euphoria when her body grew cold and rigid. Her chest felt heavy as if she were trying to hold her breath in the deepest part of the ocean despite her ability to breathe. She opened her eyes as she felt herself slip into panic. Her eyes met with the ceiling that slowly began to turn black as if it were finally starting to show years of stagnant water damage. The blackness spread out in branches, like veins becoming visible through skin.

Caveira shut her eyes tight trying her best to turn her focus back onto Bandit. She reopened her eyes to see what looked like skeletal fingers slowly emerge from the center of the stain. The walls seemed to grow taller around them as she stared at the spot on the ceiling. Caveira squeezed her eyes shut again lowering her face into the crook of Bandit's neck. She opened only one eye this time, and looked back up to see the hand still falling towards them. There were what looked like big drops of tar pooling around the arm that now slithered from the darkness. She shut her eye closed again burrowing her face into Bandit's neck as she felt deep waves run through her body. She cried out throwing her head back as she heard someone whispering her name in the back of her mind. Tainaaaaa! she heard inside her head again as she cried out once more. She could swear she heard her moans echoing as she opened her eyes to complete darkness. "Taina!"

Caveira's eyes snapped open to see Bandit's face above hers. She was hot, sweaty, and panting as much as he was. "Y-yeah?" she said placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you feeling well?" Bandit asked her pushing himself up. Caveira turned her focus onto the ceiling. It was normal. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Ah, yeah. Why?" she asked.

"You started crying right before you came, and when you did- you nearly ripped my flesh right off the bone," Bandit said turning for her to see the deep scratches she had left in his back and neck. She looked down at her nails to see the little bits and pieces of tissue still caught underneath them.

"I'm sorry. You were just really laying it on me is all," Caveira said with a short laugh.

"I'll say I was," Bandit said standing to pull his shirt on.

"I'm going to shower and catch up with the rest of the team, are you coming down as well?" Caveira nodded her head as she moved to stand.

"Good. I'll see you later then," he said giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Eu te amo (I love you)," he said with a short chuckle as he left. Caveira smiled shaking her head and waving as he walked down the hallway to go to his room. She closed her door and leaned heavily against it, closing her eyes and sliding to the floor. She thought about the images she had seen, and mulled over as many logical reasons she could have seen them mid sex. The only conclusion she could come to was that she was losing it. She knew she needed to gain control, and she needed it fast...