Alex didn't know how much time he had spent in the Bloodtox induced coma. But he knew it was long enough for him to wake up in a sterile, white cell that constantly dripped water on him and had a small stream of Bloodtox flowing through the air's ventilation system. Alex had grumbled when he first started to cough from the chemical, knowing that he was slowly being weakened. Whoever these people were, they had done some deep research into Gentek's or Blackwatch's highly classified files.
They knew how to keep the virus weak enough so he wouldn't be able to fight back. His extra biomass levels were dangerously low, and he didn't know how much longer he could last before he was diminished to a pile of primordial ooze. It was taking him all of his strength to keep his head up even now, and that scared him slightly. So, Alex was reduced to just sitting in the middle of a high-tech cell that seemed to be specifically designed to keep him at bay.
"I wonder if this is how Greene felt after all those years." Alex thought after sitting for a while. He tried, but failed, to ignore the droplets that would hit his head every second or so. With every drop, the virus screamed at him to leave this vile place. But he couldn't, he was trapped. "No, she didn't have water dripping on her constantly. She didn't feel this shitty."
It was as annoying as hell, not being able to do anything. Unbearable, too. Alex felt so weak and useless, like the humans he fed on.
"Well, you know what they say: you are what you eat." Alex muttered to himself, causing him to go into another coughing frenzy. He was trying to bring a brighter side to his situation, but failing horribly.
Alex spent at least an hour sulking in the drizzle, statuesque like, before his instincts had kicked in. Someone was watching him. Alex slowly looked up, only to see a woman staring at him in surprise. The woman was oddly dressed, as if she was here to rob a bank. The woman wore a pair of goggles and earphones on her head, her dark brown hair tied up into a messy ponytail. She had a small, light backpack on, and it looked like it was filled to the brim with gadgets and whatnots.
But what caught Alex's attention were the two guns in her hands. They looked small, but deadly and accurate. Both looked like they had been recently used. The other dead giveaway that she had fired those weapons was the small blood splatter that Alex could pick out on her black clothes.
Whoever this woman was, she was not with the men that captured Alex.
Alex nodded in acknowledgment, coughing slightly, knowing that the woman was surprised to see him here. That meant that she probably knew who he was, and very few know that. The woman seemed to be frozen in place with either fear of shock. Alex was positive now; this woman knew who he was. The two stared at each other, not knowing what the other was going to do. They shared their gaze for a second before something caught Alex's attention.
A group of armed guards was making their way to the woman, weapons ready. However, Alex's shift of his eyes was enough to give them away. The woman twisted around and didn't hesitate to let her trigger fingers happy. She looked like an expert, and Alex couldn't help but think of Cross a little.
The woman successfully killed the group of guards, only taking a bullet to the shoulder. She didn't look like she was that badly injured, but Alex knew that it would be enough to slow her down on whatever mission she was on. But still, she kept her confidence, and Alex had to respect that in a human. He had only seen that in a couple people. Like Desmond, the man he had fought.
Suddenly, he knew why she was here. It was a rescue mission.
The woman looked back at Alex, a little confused at why he would help her. But nonetheless, she nodded as gratitude. Alex couldn't help but smirk as she showed her thanks. Alex nodded back, and as a little gift, he decided to point her in the direction where he had seen the guards put Desmond. He didn't know why he was helping the woman, but he was for some odd reason.
The woman flashed him a smile of exhilaration before sprinting down the hall he had pointed to. They hadn't met before, but Alex already like this woman. She had a spark of curiosity and wouldn't hesitate to go looking for answers, even if that meant getting in trouble. It was sort of like himself, but not in an insane, murderous way.
Alex watched her disappear, and as soon as she was out of sight, he returned to sulking in the light drizzle. The virus was expecting to be stuck in the room forever, boredom killing him before the water or Bloodtox would. However, it wasn't long before the white lights that surrounded him were replaced with flashing red ones. And as that happened, the water system in the detention cell was shut off.
He looked up at the ceiling, shocked at first, and then relieved. Already, some of his strength was returning. Still, he didn't dare stand up, the Bloodtox was still weakening him and he didn't want to push his luck. But as he sat there, he wondered what could have caused such a sudden change in his cell?
As if on cue, the woman from earlier and Desmond ran passed his cell, looking very frantic. They had to stop to catch a breather and they didn't hesitate to ready their weapons. And they didn't notice that they were just twenty feet away from the virus and that he was well in hearing range.
"So, you just decided to bust me out, only to get both of us locked up." Desmond pointed out, clearly irritated at the situation. He frowned before raising his firearm and firing down the hallway. A small, stunted scream told Alex that the man had hit his target. "And most likely killed. Great job, Rebecca."
"Hey, you were the one that wanted to have a night off." The woman, Rebecca stated immaturely. She nudged Desmond in the gut as she reloaded her pistols. "It's not my fault that you were captured by Abstergo."
Abstergo. Alex made a mental note to research that name at a later date.
"Hey," Desmond started defensively. He didn't like Rebecca's smug tone of voice, especially in the situation that they were in. "None of that would have happened if Lucy and I didn't run into that Mercer creep. He's probably the reason why we were caught."
Alex couldn't help but smirk at the young man's ignorance. Desmond didn't have enough facts to start pointing fingers at people who could bite them off. Rebecca noticed that they were just in front of his cell and winked at the watching virus, catching him slightly off guard from her friendliness. She knew what he was thinking.
Scratch that; she wasn't like Cross, she was like Dana.
"Naw . . . I don't think it was him, Desmond." Rebecca stated before looking back at Desmond. Suddenly her eyes lit up as an idea sprouted in her head. Alex saw this and his curiosity grew. She quickly tightened her earphones as if she was listening to something very faint. "Hey Shaun, can you tell me the code that opens Cell 11-HU?"
"Why the hell do we need that?" Desmond asked, confused.
"Shut it, Desmond." Rebecca hushed the man as she listened. After a couple seconds, Rebecca nodded, pleased. "Thanks Shaun, I think I know a way out."
It didn't take long for Desmond to question her words. Something was off, and he just realized the familiar feeling. He spun around, finally taking in his surroundings. His eyes rested on Alex, and the virus watched as, once again, all the color in his face was drained. Just to add insult to injury, Alex smirked and stiffly waved at the man. The virus coughed a little bit before returning his gaze at the two humans.
"You can't be serious Rebecca. He almost killed me. Twice." Desmond stated, finally losing his temper. "And now you just want to let him out?"
"Well . . . yeah." Rebecca finally answered Desmond. She saw some guards and quickly pulled herself and Desmond out of their range of fire just as they started firing at them. They ducked behind the corner of Alex's cell, allowing them to still be in his hearing range. "Look at it this way: If he's in a holding cell, then why would he be working for Abstergo?"
"Probably because he's an insane fucker?" Desmond retorted, clearly irritated.
Alex couldn't take this anymore. Desmond was insulting him right in front of his face and it was really getting on his nerves. Alex stood up and walked towards the assassins, his eyes fierce and serious. The two humans didn't notice his advancement until he was just a couple feet away from them, just a glass panel separating them.
"I can hear you. And yes, I am a bit insane. Alex finally muttered as he glared at Desmond. Desmond flinched at Alex's voice and couldn't make eye contact with the virus. Alex coughed as he crossed his arms. "But believe me; I had nothing to do with this. I don't even know who these people are. I want out just as much as you do."
Desmond turned to look at the virus accusingly. To Alex, the younger man looked liked a pouting toddler, and he couldn't help but roll his ice blue eyes. Alex couldn't believe that he had found something interesting in Desmond; he was just a naive kid running around with a knife on his arm.
"So what? We just let you out and that's it?" Desmond pointed out, now on a temperamental rage parade. Rebecca just rolled her eyes and tried to kill the armed guards who were still shooting at them. "We unlock the door and you leave us to die?"
"I'll make a deal with you." Alex finally stated. He coughed again as the Bloodtox level was raised after a couple minutes of arguing. His whole body was screaming at him to do anything possible to get out of the room. "You unlock this door and I'll make sure that the three of us walk out of this building. Even if that means killing every son of a bitch in here."
"Deal." Rebecca agreed before Desmond could put in another word. She walked over to the panel and started plugging in the code that Shaun had given her a while ago. Desmond started to protest, but Rebecca cut him off before he could even begin. "Look, Desmond, if you haven't noticed we're not in a good position here. We're gonna need all the help we can get."
"She's a smart one, she is." Alex muttered, approving of her actions. Alex quickly glared at Desmond, who had continued to pout like a spoiled child. Desmond noticed that the virus was looking at him and softly grumbled something inaudible. "You could learn something from her."
Rebecca smirked a bit at Alex's remark, almost happy that she had gotten his approval. After a couple seconds, Alex's door slid open, and the virus quickly exited the room before the two could change their minds. Without hesitating, Alex took in a deep, Bloodtox free, breath of air before nodding as thanks. He left the two assassins behind as he turned around the corner, right in the line of fire from the remaining guards.
Alex was still very weak, and he needed biomass.
In front of the assassins' eyes, Alex transformed his entire right arm onto a tentacle-like whip. This also caught the guards' attentions and they finally decided that they weren't able to stand a chance against the man who had surpassed the military for several years. As a couple finally started to decide it wasn't worth it and started to run, Alex sprung into action.
Alex grabbed the nearest guard with his whip and quickly smacked him into the hallway's ceiling, then the tiled floor, and then back into the ceiling. The still living guard screamed in pain and terror as Alex flung the man into a nearby window. The window cracked under the force, but didn't break. It didn't take the man long to die from a snapped neck.
Alex returned his attention to the other remaining guards, who were frozen in shock from witnessing the virus in action. Alex sneered, his ice blue eyes gleaming with deadly lust, and he shot his whip arm forward, impaling a guard. Alex was still weak, and the Blacklight virus dragged his catch in, deciding to consume the poor man. As Desmond and Rebecca provided hesitant cover fire, Alex let his tentacles do their thing as they crept out of his body and ripped the man apart for nutrients.
"That's just sick." Alex heard Desmond mutter in a disgusted tone.
Suddenly, Alex felt rejuvenated. And just like all the other times, memories flooded through the virus. He dug through his newfound memories, looking for anything useful. Alex found something that looked promising and looked to see where Desmond and Rebecca were. The two assassins had tried to avoid Alex's disturbing act, but now that he was looking at them, they couldn't evade his gaze.
"Come on, I know where to go." Alex muttered. The two assassins didn't move at first, and it took Alex a second to realize that they didn't trust him when his hand was transformed. He rolled his eyes and quickly shifted his hand back to normal. Still, Rebecca and Desmond didn't move from their position, eyeing Alex carefully. Finally, Alex growled impatiently, "Are you coming or what?"
With that, Desmond huffed out a sigh and reloaded his gun. He glared at Alex before walking out of his cover with Rebecca. Once the virus was sure that the two were following him, he led them down the hallway. As if he was following an invisible map, Alex led the two assassins down the maze of hallways, brutally killing and consuming a couple guards along the way.
"So, how do you know where we're going?" Desmond asked as if he was trying to break the ice. He didn't like Alex's repulsive act of eating people, and he was really trying to keep his food in his stomach.
"Let's just say I have my ways." Alex muttered, stopping any further conversation on the subject.
Alex finally brought them to their destination, a locked stairway. Alex didn't hesitate to grab onto the locked handle and he practically ripped the object out of the metallic door. Actually, Alex practically ripped the door itself off of its hinges, and the door was only hanging by the bottom hinge.
Rebecca and Desmond took a step back when the virus displayed his power and watched in terrified amazement as he tossed the door aside like it was nothing but a piece of trash. Alex walked through the destroyed doorway and motioned the assassins to follow him, and after some hesitation, they did so.
"How high are we?" Alex asked Rebecca as he looked up and down the stairwell.
"We're on the 27th floor. This floor to the 23rd should be on lock down, according to our friends. After that, all the elevators should be open and operational." Rebecca told him after Shaun filled the woman in. "But that's where most of the guards probably are."
Alex nodded in agreement. He started the long descent down the stairs, quickly followed with Desmond. The men still harbored hostile feelings towards each other, but seemed to put their differences behind as they walked with each other like untrustworthy brothers. They heard a door below them bust open, and they instantly prepared for battle. Desmond flicked his hidden blade out and Alex's hands transformed into a pair of large claws.
"Here they come." Desmond stated out loud, raising his hidden blade up into an offensive position.
It didn't take long for the rush of Abstergo guards to reach them. This time, Desmond was the first to react as he stabbed the nearest guard in the chest and threw him over the railway. The dying man soon fell to his death, screaming the whole way there. Desmond didn't hesitate to attack a few others and fatally injure them as Rebecca covered him.
Alex let the man do his work as he jumped through the stairwell's hole and down a couple of flights to fight the men that were just entering the stairway. Alex was merciless in his attacks and he shredded the men to pieces, painting the walls an awful red color. The virus inside him squirmed with joy; it wanted, no, needed to taste the fresh blood. Alex couldn't repress the need and quickly consumed the man he was currently slashing apart.
"Alex?" Rebecca called for the man, as if to ask him if he was leaving them behind.
"Down here." Alex shouted up the stairwell, peering up to see that the two humans were looked down at him. "It's safe to come down."
Alex waited patiently as the assassins sprinted down the stairs. It didn't take them long to reach the virus and they quickly exited the stairwell, staring at the bloodstained walls. There weren't many guards, and Alex quickly deposed of the ones that were there, so the three looked around to find a safer escape than the stairwell. Alex quickly looked around for any hiding guards, his claws returning back to normal hands as he did so.
"So, where do we go from here?" Rebecca asked, looking at Alex as if he was the leader of this breakout.
Alex looked around his surroundings. The three had exited into an open hallway, which looked like a normal business floor complete with grey cubicles. Of course, there weren't any employees at this late at night, but that didn't mean that there weren't any guards using the cubicles as cover. There were large windows that opened down to the streets, and Alex peered down to see that they were still at least twenty stories high.
"Down." Was all Alex said.
"Down?" Desmond asked, confused.
Before Desmond could ask for an explanation, Alex's arm turned back into a deadly whip. Alex swiftly slammed his whip into a glass window, shattering it instantly. The assassins freaked out and ducked for cover, wondering if the man was turning against them.
Apparently, the glass on this floor wasn't as strong as the type up on the detention floor. As soon as the window shattered, the three were blasted with a cool, ruthless wind that burnt their faces.
Alex looked at Rebecca and Desmond and ran to them, picking them up with each arm. Desmond was going to resist but he couldn't get a word in when it felt like Alex was crushing the life out of them. Alex took a couple steps forward towards the window, and Desmond knew what the virus was planning. He was now utterly convinced that the man was insane.
"Hold on tight." Alex muttered as he jumped out of the window.
It was terrifying, but yet exhilarating for Desmond. He felt like he was back in the Animus performing the most dangerous leap of faith ever. But he didn't have any control over it, and he felt like his death was imminent. With no stack of hay around, he could only imagine his skeleton shattering on the cold asphalt.
But to Rebecca, this was the best thing since sliced bread. She had never experienced a leap of faith like Desmond, but she had spent most of her teenage years doing extreme sports. This was like a blast from the past, and she was enjoying it to the fullest.
It was only seconds later that they landed on the ground. The earth itself shook with the impact, and Desmond felt like his insides had been turned into liquid. It took him a minute to notice that Alex had formed a crater where he landed. All of this seemed surreal to him, and he once again questioned his own sanity.
Alex set both of them down as soon as they landed. Desmond bent forward as he tried to keep his food down. The three then stared at each other awkwardly. Alex stood casually, his shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets. Even in this casual pose, the man looked like a ruthless killer, a predator. They continued to stare at each other in silence before Rebecca remembered the danger that they were in.
"Thanks for the help, Alex." Rebecca stated as if she were addressing an old friend. "But we need to keep moving if we're going to escape. They'll probably have the whole building after us in a couple seconds."
Alex nodded, agreeing with the woman. Without a parting word, he turned around and started to walk away, saying nothing to them as he started to disappear down the street's shadows. The two assassins watched him vanish until he was barely visible. Alex quickly sprinted up a building once he was sure that he was at a safe distance away from whoever captured him.
Once on the roof, he gave one last parting glance at the building, remembering that it belonged to Abstergo. He forced himself to stop and think for a second. Abstergo had been prepared to take him in. They had Bloodtox in their possession for Christ's sake. And as far as Alex knew, Bloodtox had been banned a long time ago after the Outbreak. But they had it, and that meant that they knew about Gentek and what they did. They knew what few people did.
Abstergo knew about him.
And he had to find out why.
Even with his curiosity on Desmond deteriorating, he found himself wondering how the two humans fit in all of this. Hell, they knew more about Abstergo than he did.
That mean that they could tell him what he needed to know. They had information he needed. He was not going to lose them. No, not until he knew as much as they did.
With his mind made up, Alex turned around and headed back to Abstergo, where Rebecca and Desmond were most likely still trying to escape. He searched for them up on a rooftop until he finally caught sight of Desmond's white hoodie. The two were sprinting away from the building, but Desmond was easy to make out even in the dead of night.
Alex started to make his way to the two of them, where he would stalk them until he found out where they lived. But Alex's plan quickly changed when a car just in front of the two exploded into a large fireball, knocking the two of them off their feet. Alex watched in shock at the explosion; he hadn't expected it, and he knew that it could have killed the two humans easily.
Alex looked for Desmond and Rebecca hastily; if those two were dead, that meant that his searching would take a setback. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Desmond moving, a good if not obvious indication that he was still alive and kicking. After that, Alex quickly spotted Rebecca, who had been thrown back farther than Desmond had.
She was not moving.
Alex started to sprint.
Oh noes! That's not good, isn't it? Sorry for the late update, I just happened to find my schedule for the past week to be extremely busy, but now I'm back and will try to write/update even faster. But I just have to say that this and the next couple upcoming chapters were the most favorite ones to write, and I can't wait to upload them, but it'll be in a couple days. Sorry.
