This chapter makes a brief reference to my Richard backstory fic, How to Tame a Wolf, although it's not necessary to read that one to understand this.

The final man to enter the wonderland was a wild card, for he was fighter and mage and healer all at once, slipping between roles to become whatever he needed to be in any given situation.

"Are you sure about this, Richard? We don't know what's going to happen." The Director's worried voice came through clearly across the phone line.

Richard gazed at the prone figures of his fellow Crisis Agents, steely determination in his eyes.

"This has gone on for long enough. It ends here."

It started when Giorgio was captured on a mission gone wrong. The VSSE launched a frantic search for the missing agent, finally locating him a month after his disappearance.

However, their problems had only just begun. When Keith and Robert burst into the room where Giorgio was being held, they found him unconscious and strapped to a metal table. The younger agent was hooked up to a strange machine with wires, and a helmet–like device attached to the machine was clamped onto his head. There were similar devices throughout the room, all attached to the machine but mercifully devoid of other victims beside Giorgio.

Fortunately, the readings on the screens beside Giorgio indicated his heart was still beating, and he still had brain activity. But his emaciated state was worrying, and the odd surges in the readings alarmed the agents.

Robert searched through the computer in the room, trying to find some answers while Keith contacted HQ and reported what they'd found. Upon hearing about Giorgio's state, the Director instructed Alan and Wesley, who had been tracking down a different lead about Giorgio's disappearance, to join the senior agents and back them up. Until they knew whether they could safely move Giorgio, the agents would have to base their centre of operations where his body was.

At length, Robert discovered a file relating to the experiments being conducted in the facility. Though much of the information was missing or destroyed, it seemed that Giorgio was trapped in a virtual reality simulation of some sort. Attempting to remove him from the machine while his mind was still trapped was not an option, as it would render him braindead.

Although there was a failsafe in place in case the program needed to be abruptly shut down, nothing happened to Giorgio when Robert activated it, although the other helmets lost their glow and seemed to deactivate. It seemed that Giorgio's captors had messed with the kill switch before the agents arrived, isolating Giorgio's helmet and preventing it from being deactivated to prevent the agents from easily rescuing their colleague.

Then came the argument about what to do.

"We can't afford to wait," Keith insisted. "If he's been in this state for the whole month, he can't last much longer."

"While that may be true, there's no guarantee this is going to work," Robert retorted. "There's no point in risking yourself senselessly without knowing if you'll be able to bring him back."

Even as he spoke, he could see from the firm look in Keith's eyes that his partner wasn't going to take no for an answer.

As Keith moved to pick up one of the helmets, Robert stopped him.

"For goodness' sake, don't be an idiot," he snapped, picking up the helmet before Keith could grab it. "If I let you go in there to retrieve him, we'll probably be in even more trouble."

Keith's eyes widened. "Wait, you're planning on going in by yourself instead?"

Robert shot him a flat look. "Wasn't that what you were planning on doing in the first place?"

"Yeah, but…" Keith hesitated. "Why don't we both go in together, just in case?"

"Because I need you to keep an eye on me while I'm doing this, and shut it down if something happens," Robert replied.

Examining the helmet carefully, he pressed a couple of buttons on its side, reactivating its glow. After testing the kill switch again and being satisfied that the helmet could be shut down, Robert took hold of the helmet again.

"Robert… I…" Keith swallowed, looking uncertain, as though he regretted having suggested this in the first place.

"Don't make me pull rank on you," Robert gruffly cut him off.

Keith's eyes narrowed. "We're the same rank and you know it."

"Seeing as I'm older, and you lack basic common sense, I'd say I outrank you thoroughly." Robert smirked, before turning serious.

"Stay here and wait for backup to arrive. And for goodness' sake, don't do anything stupid while you're waiting."

Slowly, Keith nodded. "Be careful."

Returning his gaze, Robert placed the helmet on his own head, and the world went dark.

Keith didn't know whether it was minutes or hours later, but he was still alone when Robert's heart rate abruptly registered a massive spike.

"Robert!" Keith called in alarm. His partner's face was contorted in what might have been pain or rage, and Keith immediately bolted for the computer, trying to shut down the program before the older agent could hurt himself.

To his alarm, the computer let out an angry–sounding beep before locking itself down, preventing Keith from accessing it any further.

Shit… No!

Keith gritted his teeth, slamming a fist against the table in frustration.

As Keith looked at the unconscious agents, his gaze fell upon the unoccupied helmets beside them.

"Don't do anything stupid while you're waiting."

Robert's words echoed in Keith's ears as he stared at his partner's unconscious form, panic welling up in his throat. Robert's mouth was open in a wordless scream, and Keith was abruptly furious with himself. Why had he insisted on jumping the gun and trying to dive into the program to rescue Giorgio? If he hadn't spoken up with his thoughtless suggestion, Robert wouldn't have felt the need to step in and take Keith's place. Now both he and Giorgio were trapped, and it was Keith's fault.

If Robert were awake, he would be berating Keith for what he was considering. Rationally, Keith knew it was the height of foolishness. He'd already seen his partner become trapped in his attempt to reach Giorgio.

But the irrational part of his mind, the part which burned with guilt and worry as he looked at his friend's pain–filled face, took hold of him. Before he could have second thoughts, Keith slipped a helmet onto his own head, hoping he would get a chance to make things right.

A terrified cry rang out through the room, shattering the silence… but nobody was there to hear it.

Evan was technically not supposed to be involved in this. As Giorgio's partner, he was far too close to the situation, and the VSSE was afraid his judgement would be compromised.

But when he heard that Keith and Robert had found Giorgio, he had barged into the Director's office, begging to be allowed to help. It was bad enough that he couldn't stop Giorgio from being captured in the first place. Now, Giorgio was still suffering, and they expected him to sit back and let the other agents handle the situation?

Seeing the desperation in Evan's eyes, the Director had reluctantly agreed, knowing that nothing short of locking Evan away under armed guard would stop him.

Spurred on by his need to help Giorgio, Evan had reached the facility long before Alan and Wesley were due to arrive. Deciding the older agents would catch up to him when they reached, Evan had chosen to enter by himself, searching for any sign of his colleagues.

It hadn't taken him long to find himself in the room he was now standing in, staring in shock at the older agents' unconscious forms. They didn't react in the slightest when Evan began shaking them and calling their names in alarm, but each of the agents wore an expression of agony, making them look as though they were in pain even while unconscious.

Evan bit back a frustrated scream, scanning the room frantically. Though he had noticed the helmets attached to the machine, considering that the other people wearing them were in bad shape, doing the same would be a phenomenally terrible idea.

There was a computer in the corner of the room, but it merely flashed a series of error messages at him when he tried to interact with it.

With nothing else he could do at the moment, Evan turned back to look at the machine again.

Something else caught his attention instead.

"Giorgio?" Evan's eyes widened.

Though his partner was still unconscious, tears were streaming down his cheeks, and the agonised expression on his face had given way to terror.

"Gi! Can you hear me?" Evan ran to his partner's side. Giorgio's mouth was moving wordlessly, as though he was trying to say something, but no sound came out.

Evan grabbed hold of Giorgio's hand, squeezing tightly. "Gi, please wake up. I'm so sorry about everything. I wish I'd been faster… I should have stopped you from being taken."

After a moment, he realised his own face was wet with tears as well. Angrily, he reached up with a shaking hand, wiping them away.

As he looked at his (broken, terrified, crying) partner, whatever rationality Evan had left fled.

It was stupid and dangerous.

But Giorgio was hurting.

If there was even a remote chance that this could help ease Giorgio's torment, then Evan would gladly take the risk.

"Wait for me, Gi. I'm coming."

Despite their reputation as laidback pranksters, Alan and Wesley were still skilled Crisis Agents who were not lacking in common sense.

Their attempts to contact Keith and Robert on the way to meet up with the senior agents had been met with ominous silence. Likewise, Evan, who was supposed to be on his way to the facility as well, was out of contact.

So when they arrived at the facility and found their colleagues' unconscious bodies lying in the room, attached to a strange machine, the agents chose to call in to HQ instead and report the situation.

Within hours, the VSSE had sent a handful of scientists and intelligence officers to back them up and try to figure out what was going on. Fortunately, they managed to retrieve the surveillance footage for the room, which showed how the other agents had gotten into such a state.

Unfortunately, after the intelligence officers had succeeded in coaxing the computer back to life and began poring through the files within, the scientists had concluded that it was impossible to reach the agents externally. The only way to bring them out of the state they were in was for someone to enter the simulation and wake them from within.

However, considering three agents had already tried that and had somehow become trapped as well…

"There's no other way," Alan insisted. "If we don't do this, they're just going to stay sleeping forever."

"What makes you so sure you'll fare any different from them?" Christy asked sharply, lips pressed into a thin line. She had deliberately avoided looking at Keith and Robert the entire time, and the agents didn't comment on the way her hands shook slightly as she typed away on the computer.

"We'll go in together and watch each other's backs," Wesley responded. Though his tone was calm and he outwardly looked confident, there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes that he couldn't quite hide.

Christy let out an exasperated huff, but the agents knew her irritation wasn't directed at them.

"Make sure you stick together in there," she ordered, eyeing the agents with concern.

"Of course we will," Alan replied firmly.

The agents looked at each other for a moment.

As one, they pulled on the helmets, preparing to dive in after their fellow agents.

Bloodcurdling screams filled the air, accompanied by a chorus of frantic shouting.

"Hold him down!"

"Readings are surging out of control!"

Alan struggled against the intelligence officers who were pinning his arms back, stopping him from clawing at his throat, as he screamed incoherently, shrieking like a madman.

Beside him, Wesley's eyes were squeezed shut, face twisted in a rictus of terror.

And now, Richard was the VSSE's last hope for rescuing the other agents. The veteran agent had been hunting down the ringleaders involved in the case that had gotten Giorgio captured. When HQ got the call saying that Alan and Wesley were in trouble, Richard had quickly wrapped up his own assignment and headed straight to the facility.

"This has gone on long enough," Richard repeated when the Director didn't say anything. "We can't just leave them in this state."

The Director sighed. "Richard, please… Promise me you'll be careful. We don't know exactly what happened to the other agents to trap their minds in the simulation. Don't let yourself get caught too."

As Richard ended the call, he felt someone watching him. Turning, he met Rachel's worried gaze.

After the kidnapping incident where she had met Richard, Rachel had chosen to join the VSSE as a scientist, hoping to use her intelligence to help the VSSE make the world safer. Of course, it helped that she'd developed feelings for the agent who'd saved her. Though it hadn't always been easy, she and Richard had weathered the challenges in their way, turning their spark of mutual attraction into a solid relationship and taking it to the logical conclusion of becoming happily married.

"Rach…"

Rachel swallowed nervously, then looked Richard firmly in the eye. "Come back to me safely."

Richard pulled her into a hug, kissing her gently. "Always."

After a long moment, he reluctantly pulled away. With a final look at his wife, Richard pulled the helmet on.