Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Prototype universe. All characters are property of those who own Prototype. If anybody tries to gain money off of this franchise - be forewarned. Alex Mercer will find you, and you may find yourself sharing the fate of Karen Parker.


Title: Infectum.

Summary: Blacklight is back. Toby Knight and Alex Mercer team up to uncover the source of the viral flare - and ultimately end up revealing more secrets from Blackwatch. Armageddon is a lot closer than anyone thinks. . . M/M, slight AU. Continued from Sanctum.

Rating: M. Finally upgraded it!

Author's Notes: I really am sorry that this arrived so late. I was moving, and then I enrolled myself in University, and I'm jobhunting. Here's hoping that I find one soon - I've already applied to 25 - strike that, at this time, it is now 40 places and counting. Going to make a few callbacks pretty soon and hope somebody decides to adopt me. D:

Action. Because I thought there should be some. So this chapter is full of it. I hope. I like to call it actionless action - don't worry, Toby will be getting down and dirty pretty soon. Things are about to start wrapping up fairly quickly! Ducky isn't going to be able to be my beta until October, so that means I'm beta-less. If there are any mistakes, please feel free to tell me!

Also, I've noticed every now and then I'll get a favorite or a story alert. Starting to creep me out a little bit, man. People actually like this. Duky's is way better than my story - but you should see her threaten me. It's ridiculous. Ducky, I swear I will keep writing, just don't kill me. I should go check out the stats. I haven't done that in months!

ALSO ALSO, I want to write silly things on this based on Toby / Keres / Alex's relationship. It's that "Second fic" I was talking about. I don't think I'll put it here, because I dunno. I don't want to. Should I put it on Livejournal and include a link for you guys? Maybe suggest some sites for me, if you'd be so kind. They'd be crack fics to funny fics to d'aww to depressing - one such reference is in the chapter below! I'd love to put up the drabble so you guys can get it!

Warnings: Cursing, because no Marine in his own right cannot go through a mission and not say the word fuck. Dramatic plot twist (lol not really), and people dying. Because Infectum isn't Infectum unless Blackwatch troopers die grisly deaths. Also, italics. Because talking through a Blackwatch mask makes you speak in italics, haha.


UPDATE:

Those drabbles I was talking about? They can be located at:

All drabbles will be held under the title / tag:
On The Care And Parenting of Viruses.


It only hurts just once.
They're only broken bones.
Hide the hate inside.

"Unknown Soldier" - Breaking Benjamin


The apartment complex was nearly silent, save for the sounds of Toby getting dressed. They were situated two miles away from the Blackwatch base they indented to infiltrate, and Toby was really fucking glad about it. He'd been tired of sitting around, waiting for something to finally happen - he was a solider, and much as he loathed to admit it, war had been broiled into his blood.

Keres was wonderful company, and nice to talk to, but Toby knew that he was itching to do more than just sit around, work out, eat, and sleep.

Pulling on holsters, he made sure that every aspect of his disguise was spot on. It was Blackwatch, after all, and they'd know something was amiss if so much as one of their buckles weren't fastened correctly. So he took his time putting on the uniform, checking and double-checking every aspect of it.

A muted thumping noise grabbed his attention, and Toby turned, facing a torn and crumbling doorway, leading deeper into the building. A thigh holster rested against his leg, threatening to slip off if he moved. In the waning hours of the day, the shadows and darkness stretched into the room, lending the entryway a dark and ominous feel.

"No!" A man yelled, voice bordering on a scream, "Fuck you! You fucking-" More thumping noises punctuated every word.

They were fighting.

Toby stood there, unsure of whether or not he should go in and help. Keres seemed new to fights, but she was a virus - any damage she took, she could easily bounce back from. Alex had given her a pretty nasty wound when they first encountered each other, and she'd recovered. So Toby just opted to stand there and wait, one hand on a gun, ready to intervene if the need arose. I don't know if I'm glad, or I feel pity. . . Dangerous thoughts to tread on, and they were becoming more frequent. Keres wouldn't consume anybody unless he gave the go-ahead.

What would they do when Blackwatch left Manhattan?

Later.Thinking those dangerous thoughts later would be a good idea.

The soldier fell through the doorway, face first, taking Toby off guard. The gun was in his hands, and he trained it onto the soldier - who paid him no mind. The trooper was still for fractions of a second, and then he was thrashing, hands clawing and prying at the biomass that emerged from the darkness, and began to wrap around him. He tried to latch onto the rotting wood of the door frame, but not even that could save him.

The soldier's head tilted back as he tried to look for something that could aid him, and for a moment, they made eye contact. Toby stood there, imagining the man's face pulled into a hard expression of determination, or hatred. No tears. Blackwatch didn't have room for tears. You're not human, Toby thought, the world is a better place without you in it.

A thick strand of biomass wrapped around his throat and pulled. The wood gave way, and the man sped into the darkness, where several sharp, disgusting cracks echoed through the room. Calmly turning his attention back to the leg holster, Toby cinched it, and then gave himself another brief glance-over to make sure everything was in its place.

Seconds later, the soldier stumbled through the door, hands on his head, clutching at his temples.

"Keres?" Toby asked, hesitant to approach her. It was stupid, but he was weary about her lack of control - he didn't know how she'd react to back-to-back consumptions. And Blackwatch soldiers, no less.

The man's spine arched, a low moan leaving him as he collapsed onto his knees. Biomass began to swirl around his body, and then Keres was there, one hand dropping to the floor to support herself. Her face was contorted into an expression of concentration and pain, fingers digging into her scalp, her eyes flickering rapidly behind closed lids.

"Keres." Toby said again, louder, more concern bleeding into his voice.

Alex had told him once that the people he consumed - especially strong-willed ones - sometimes tried to take over. Sometimes, when he was weak, they almost succeeded. Like an extreme case of multiple personality disorder - but the virus helped keep the unruly memories in check.

Keres let out another moan, so Toby chose to take a few tentative steps towards her.

"Keres, answer me." He snapped, hoping the tone of his voice might help snap her out of it.

She shuddered, but looked at him and grimaced.

"I'm not. . . Used to it - god, there's so much in my head." She pitched forward, folding in on herself so she could sit on the floor and hold her head in her hands.

Toby had watched Alex consume one or two people. Normally Alex tore into them (which was always disturbing to watch), and then he collapsed onto his knees - but he only took seconds to snap out of it. He'd get up, shake his head, and then he was back to Mr. Brooding and Glaring. Keres seemed to have a much more difficult time. How often did they feed her? And what did they give her?

Shaking off his hesitation, Toby crossed the room and knelt beside her, resting a hand on her back. Scorching heat sank through his glove.

"You still up for this? We can call Alex to figure something out." He offered gently, a part of his mind groaning and complaining. There was a a chance she might say no - and, much as he didn't like to admit it, Toby liked missions.

"No," She mumbled, "I just. . . Need some time. So much to go through. . ."

Toby gave her back a light rub, unsure of how to proceed. Calling Alex might only serve to agitate her (or make her angry), and doing absolutely nothing just didn't appeal to him. So he decided to just sit with her, rub her back, and hope she got over her mental hurdle soon. It's weird, he thought, how close we've gotten in a couple weeks. But I like it. Closer than I can get to Mercer, I think. Sitting there and talking about emotions isn't our strong suit.

"How many did you have to consume?" He asked, hoping some conversation might help her.

"Four. . . One of them was a Commander, though." She said, voice sounding a little more steady.

"That'll come in handy, won't it?" He offered - and surprisingly, a small chuckle was his reply.

"Yeah. . . I feel better now." She said, sitting back up. Getting to his feet, he offered her a hand, which she took. Keres stood there a moment, raking fingers through disheveled blonde hair, and rubbed her temples again.

"Look on the bright side - you won't have to consume anybody for a while. That's a good thing, right?"

Keres mulled over that for a moment, and then nodded her head resignedly.

"I guess. . . I just don't like it. Knowing everything they've done, how they felt when they did it - but if it helps you, and keeps you safe, then I don't mind doing it, Toby."

Toby was steadily becoming used to Keres's protective ways - and he readily accepted them. Mercer preferred to keep him locked up in the apartment, where nothing bad could ever happen to him. And if Toby was being truthful with himself, he honest thought that Alex saw him as an object, sometimes, and not a person. But with Keres around, Alex relaxed his guard (if only slightly), knowing that another killer virus was in the vicinity.

Or, in Keres's case, one that would probably apologize if she murdered you.

And, unlike Alex, Toby could readily negotiate and deal with this one.

Keres was much more flexible when it came to what he wanted to do. He also knew that Keres would never lift a finger to hurt him - intentionally.

Giving her a pat on the shoulder, Toby moved back to his supply pile, and went about strapping the remaining knives and guns to his person. Blackwatch personnel were always armed to the teeth, although what a trench knife would do against a Hunter, Toby didn't know. Knowing Blackwatch, they'd probably place a bet against a Heavy and see who could take it down first with the knife. . .

"Toby. . . What do you think we'll find on the servers?" Keres asked, fiddling with her hoodie sleeves - a telltale sign she was nervous.

"I don't know," He answered honestly, "But if that message was anything to go by, then it's got to do with Pariah. Subject 002, right?"

"Yeah, that was the name they gave him."

"Then it means it'll be important for us to get it. Maybe something about you will be on there."

The entire reason why they were there. Blackwatch was making plans - and all of their attention had been diverted away from trying to recapture Keres, which was puzzling. In an effort to understand what was going on, Mercer had gone in and consumed soldiers, hoping to find out what was happening, but all he'd come up with was, "Blackwatch is currently redoubling efforts to ensure safety protocols were being followed."

. . . Which was vaguer than vague.

And then their laptop had come across and encrypted message detailing just where the information could be found.

Two servers, located in separate bases, roughly ten miles apart from each other. Alex had been all for getting the information himself, until he cracked open a few more minds and discovered the security protocols.

Both servers had to come online at the same time. If thirty seconds passed, and one of the servers didn't respond, the base would light up - which made it impossible for Mercer. While his stealth skills were unparallelled, he couldn't be in two places at once. The information was encrypted, too - with each half of it resting in both servers. Nobody could read the information without the other half. There were viral detectors - and, the servers were moved about in the server room every eight hours. They blended in among the countless stacks.

Only the technician responsible for their maintenance knew where they were - one of whom Keres had consumed earlier.

A one-man job was a no-go. But two teams?

Now, that sounded much better. And Toby was all for getting more action in.

He felt uneasy about it, though. The servers were located away from each other, with ridiculous protocols, and it reeked of a trap for Blackwatch to try and recapture Keres.

Hence their plan: hit up both bases at the same time. Keres had just had to consume Blackwatch techs to get a good grasp of their skill set. She had to hack their computers and viral detectors. Toby wasn't a slouch at getting into a computer or two, but for something as time-sensitive as this, they'd agreed to have Keres get the job done.

"I miss Pariah. . ." Keres said, shaking him out of this thoughts.

Flicking the safety off of the automatic that he carried, he was prepped and ready to go. Turning to Keres, he examined that forlorn expression - and though Toby wasn't an expert on matters of the heart, he had a strong sense that Keres and Pariah went deeper than 'friends.'

"You'll see him again," He said, "But in the meantime, we have an infiltration to carry out."

0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000000000

Toby made his stride short and brisk, and adopted a quick pace behind Keres, who had adopted the guise of a Tyler Darren.

All around them, Blackwatch soldiers were patrolling the base, caring for weapons, machinery, and ammunition stocks, and doing sweeps of the perimeter. For Toby, though, he felt tense, and his gut was knotted in a million places - it was like walking into the lion's den. But this lion was hypercritical of anything that entered. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides - one quick fuckup, and he'd be shot full of holes faster than he could blink.

He'd seen Mercer do something he called a patsy once.

It hadn't been pretty.

The pair of them looked like any patrol coming back into base - and indeed they were. Darren and his comrade had been two soldiers sent out to patrol the outer perimeter, with Darren scheduled to come back right then and now, so he could do scheduled maintenance on the viral detectors. Which made it perfect.

Approaching the checkpoint, Toby felt a brief moment of panic, which intensified as Keres stepped up to the sentry. A quick ID check - a flash of an ID card, which they'd lifted off of their victims - and she was in. Toby followed shortly after, half expecting the soldier to shoot him, but he was barely given a glance as the man waved him through. Calm down, Toby, he chided himself, being antsy is just going to make you fuck up.

"Okay, Toby," Keres said, her comm coming to life, "I need to go do the viral detectors now. Follow me to the first one - but I have to take care of the second alone. Look like you're patrolling the building, okay?"

"Got it," He responded, voice barely above a murmur, ". . . You sound so fucking weird right now."

Keres's voice - light, airy, feminine - was coming from the body of a muscled, male soldier. It was just wrong. Keres gave a little chuckle, but then peeled off to the left, where the viral detector was waiting on the backside of the building. Toby slowed down, taking his time to inspect the walls, the floor, and the alley as Keres walked right up to it, and then slipped behind it. She was quick, hands lifting up a panel so she could access the control panels, and then she was exposing the wires of the machine, and working on it.

It gave a little chirp, and then quieted.

Replacing the panel, she stood up, nodded at Toby, and then disappeared, heading for the second viral detector. Time for phase two.

Toby continued his walk down the alley, looking bored and attentive at the same time - any soldier on patrol duty could emphasize. Most boring job in the universe. Time slowed down, with soldiers passing him every now and then, and he prayed that Keres would finish up soon.

"Hey! Terrance - what the fuck are you doing down there?" A voice called, and Toby turned to find another pair of Blackwatch soldiers approaching him.

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

He didn't know them, but they knew Terrance. How the fuck can he tell him apart from the rest? Shit, fuck, what do I do, I don't know what rank he is-

"Terrance, you were scheduled for another patrol. What the hell are you doing?"

Toby opened his mouth, and then snapped it shut. He would not sound like Terrance. I'm going to die.

"Terrance? Why are you-"

Both soldiers stopped, and then snapped off a quick salute. Toby turned sharply around and scrambled to do the same.

A Blackwatch Commander stood before them, head turning between the three of them.

"Schedule changed, Fredrickson. If you read the notice board, you'd know that. Terrance doesn't answer to you. He answers to me. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Oh god, Keres, I love you so much right now.

Leisurely, she strode over to the pair, stopping in front of them and looking them up and down.

"Get your sorry asses back out on patrol. Or do I need to file an Incident Report sheet on why I shot your ass?"

"No sir!"

The two turned and ran, hightailing it out of the base. Keres turned back to him, and Toby stood at attention, still reeling at how weird it was. The Commander was a bulky man, with far too many muscles on his body, and it was just weird to see Keres as a man.

"Terrance, follow me. You and I have business in the base."

"Yes sir!"

Toby followed, relief pouring through him. His body was very nearly shaking from the almost tangibleness of it. Oh, god, if Keres hadn't been there, I would have been dead.He decided he was going to have to reward her somehow - letting her watch horror movies sounded like a good idea. After the Patch Man incident, he'd completely banned her from them. Horror movies and junk food for saving his ass. Best reward ever.

Stopping in front of the door leading into the base, Keres punched in the security code, and the door beeped, signalling it was unlocked. Opening it, Toby followed her inside. The inside of the Blackwatch base was just as crowded as the outside, with the newest threat being the Black Ops soldiers. The jumpiest of all the damn Blackwatch troops - witht he exception of the Heavy troopers.

Keeping close to Keres, the pair of them made it across the hangar bay and into the control room, which would lead them further into the base. The two soldiers inside the control center paid them no mind as they rapped on keyboards, and kept a constant vigil on the camera feeds. Entering the door in the back of the room, they were greeted by an empty hallway - one that would lead them straight into the server room.

Keres started down the hallway, and Toby followed - and was promptly shoved into a maintenance room at breakneck speeds. He stumbled and hit the wall behind him, and it took all of Toby's power not to bite out a sharp curse.

Keres was there, fingers flying over a handheld piece of Blackwatch tech, absorbed into her task.

"Sorry," She said, "There was only a couple seconds - for the blind spot. Looping the cameras now, give me another few seconds."

"Try to warn me next time, alright? You gave me a good bruise. . . Again."

She paused for a moment, giving him a glance.

"Sorry." She mumbled, depression weighing heavily over her voice.

Toby just about kicked himself for that one. What had happened wasn't her fault, and she didn't understand that she had to let those things go. He didn't hold her responsible for it. A moment later, and she stowed the personal terminal and signaled to follow her once more. Toby did, giving his arm a tentative rub before he made his spine straight and his posture relaxed, but rigid with attentiveness.

It was just another hallway down to the server room, but the had to make sure they didn't run into any more soldiers.

And surprisingly, they didn't.

The door guarding the server room was a simple 4-digit combination (which also changed every eight hours), and they were in. As Keres moved into the room, Toby shut the door behind them, and then took a deep breath of air as he tried to dispel some of the lingering tension.

"Halfway home." He said, voice eerily loud.

A whirl of biomass, and Keres was standing there again, nodding her head.

"Almost. Let's get everything ready and wait for Alex's signal."

He nodded, feeling much more comfortable now that she hadn't assumed some random, muscle-headed military disguise. Keres didn't seem to have trouble with flipping back and forth from man to woman, but Toby noticed that she seemed to prefer the female sex to anything. It just seemed to fit her - as being a man suited Alex. Keres walked past the rows of servers, and almost at random, picked on at waist-height.

"You sure that's the one?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry, Terrance," She snickered, "It's the one." She was focused on the server, plugging in a tiny keyboard and a flash drive.

"Bite me. . . Though I feel sorry for him. I got teased because of Knight, but Terrance? Talk about a rough childhood." He spoke, surveying the room.

Something on Keres's person beeped, and she nodded her head, beginning to type commands on the keyboard.

"This is actually kind of handy," She said, "I mean, the memories are bad, but the skills are kind of nice."

"A lot of people wish they had that ability."

"Mmm. . . Okay," She said, "The download is starting. We'll be done in about two minutes, okay? And then we can get out of here. . . This place makes my skin crawl." She said, giving a little shudder.

"You and me both. Let's hurry up and get back to the apartment."

Preforming another sweep of the room, Toby longed for the apartment. That's how all missions work, he thought bitterly, you really want to go on them, and as soon as you do, you wish you were home. With beer. Lots and lots of beer. Mark had always been there, too, to ask Toby how things had gone, if anything interesting had happened. . . Miss you, bro.

Keres made a little noise - something between a squeal of delight and a chuckle - and then she was dancing around in front of him, twirling the flash drive between her fingers.

"Here, Toby! All done. Why don't you keep it?"

She stretched it out to him, dangling the thumb drive from the chain it was attached to -

And the door opened.

Toby snatched the flash drive out of her hand, tucked it into one of his pockets, and trained his gun on the intruder - all in the span of five seconds. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and Toby felt his gut clenching up. Something wicked this way comes.

A Blackwatch soldier was there, wearing semi-casual BDU's, no helmet on, and a smile on his face. He had close-clipped brown hair, and a pair of green eyes that made Toby shudder. There was no limit to the wickedness and cruelty that was reflected there.

This soldier was bad fucking news.

"Oh, Seventeen. Not even a smile, or a hello? We're old friends. . . Or have you replaced me already?" He said, tone smug, head nodding to Toby.

Toby tried to fire on the man, but he moved, as if anticipating the attack. The bullets hit the servers harmlessly, and with astonishing speed, Jackson sped forward, nailing a solid kick right into Toby's gut, and sending the Marine sprawling onto the floor. Grimacing, Toby tried to get up to his feet, but he heard the sound of the door opening again, and soldiers were there, digging knees and elbows onto him and pinning him down.

Toby thrashed against them, but stilled when he realized it was useless. Through a gap in the tangle of arms and chests, Toby could see Jackson standing before Keres, who was looking between the two of them, shaking like a timid mouse, and gazing up at the man in fear.

"J-J-Ja-Jack-"

"Jackson, yes. I'm happy that you remembered my name, if nothing else. . . Who is your new friend, Seventeen?"

"Don't touch him!" She said, her tone a vicious snarl, but quickly tapering off as she flinched, as if expecting some kind of retaliation.

"Seventeen," Jackson said, his voice deadpan, "Are you not behaving? Do I have to go get the jacket?"

It was like he'd just mindfucked her. Keres's shaking redoubled, and she stumbled backwards a few steps, arms lifted as if to defend herself.

"No. No no no-"

"I will get the jacket, Seventeen. You've left me no other choice - just look at the mess you've made. You've killed a lot of innocent people. Not to mention my career. My superiors are not happy with me, Seventeen. How are you going to make it up to me?"

He took a step forward, pulling a knife from a sheath on his hip. Keres took a step backward, looking completely overcome with fear.

Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT. Move, Knight! Do something! Fuck, help her!He started to thrash again, hoping for just a bit of leverage, but the barrel of a gun was placed against his head.

"Don't move."

Toby stilled again, shooting the nastiest, most evil glare he could conjure at the man.

"Oh, you care for him, don't you, Seventeen? What would you do if I let that soldier pull the trigger? Does he care for you the same way, I wonder?"

Keres let out a sharp cry as Jackson lunged forward with the knife, and slashed open the right side of her cheek. Giving her no reprieve, Jackson repeated it again, and again, filleting her face more with every slash.

"Stop. No, please." She begged, collapsing against the wall, hands covering her face. Biomass poured out from between her fingers.

"It isn't enough, Seventeen. It will never be enough."

And then Jackson turned, nodding at one of the soldiers above him, who passed a gun to Jackson.

"How did you like that bullet I planted in your head, Seventeen? Right in between the eyes. I thought it was quite becoming of you." And with a savage blow, he brought the butt of the weapon down onto Keres's head. And then a second time. A third. Fourth.

Stepping back, Jackson took a deep breath of air, and turned back to the pile of soldiers on top of Toby.

"Do it. Bag the body afterwards."

The barrel pressed more solidly against his temple, and this time, Toby really did see his life flash before his eyes. There was nothing he could do - again. He was rendered powerless.

A soft mumble broke the silence, and Jackson helped up his hand, stalling Toby's execution.

"Speak up, Seventeen. I want to hear what you have to say."

Another mumble, incoherent and muffled.

Keres, please, I really need your help right now.

". . . don't know. . ." It was all Toby could make out, and it only served to irritate Jackson.

"Don't know what, Seventeen? Speak up! Do you have a voice at all?" Jackson snapped, bringing the gun butt down again.

Faster than he could catch, Keres caught it, fingers crushing it.

"I do have a voice! Fuck you!"

And she brought up her own foot and nailed Jackson in the gut, sending the man flying across the room. Yanking up a server, Keres threw it, nailing the men on top of Toby. They scrambled to train their weapons onto her, and Toby watched as several bullets riddled her body. Taking advantage of the confusion, Toby threw off the arms and bodies that covered him, and wrapped his hands around the head of the closest soldier next to him.

He twisted it, breaking the man's neck with a solid blow, and liberated his gun, shooting several more.

A klaxon began to sound off, and red lights flashed in the room. Soldiers scrambled to shoot Keres and Toby, and the Marine responded with equal hostility.

Another soldier next to him landed a solid punch into Toby's face, and he reeled backwards, feeling blood pulsing into his mouth. A knife flashed, and then they were on the floor, and Toby struggled to keep a hold of the man's wrists. The knife slowly began to inch closer to his throat, and Toby grit his teeth, pushing back.

Sharp claws wrapped around the man's head, and effortlessly lifted him off of his body.

"Don't fucking touch him!" Keres snapped, rage making every word carry a deadly edge.

And with brutal efficiancy, Keres ran her claws down the man's backside. Blood poured out of the gashes as he screamed and writhed in her grip - and in a move that baffled Toby, she set the man down. He staggered off, and then collapsed.

And then her body jerked as more bullets tore through her.

"Keres!" Toby cried, crawling forward to grab at her hoodie and tug her behind a server bank.

She laid there for a moment, shaking her head, but she appeared alright. Her face was fine, the biomass having knitted together earlier. Both of her eyes were glowing a bright, harsh red, and a expression unlike anything he'd ever seen before was on her face. Just as quickly, she jerked out of his hold, and launched herself at another soldier, taking him down the ground, claws raking over his stomach.

She started to eviscerate him, throwing bits of his body and chunks of his tac vest into the air.

Is this what it looks like when she loses control? Oh god, it's getting everywhere-

"Keres, we have to go! Keres! Keres!"

A loud, ear-shattering howl reverberated through the room moments later.

Despite the danger of their situation, Toby froze.

It was a fucking Hunter.

Men shouted orders, more soldiers filtered in the room - but it tore through all of them, tossing servers up into the air as it barreled through the ranks of men. Toby found himself shaking, and his side started to ache in pain as he remembered teeth clamping down, a head shaking him around like a rag doll-

Hands fell on him, and his first instinct was to kill whoever was trying to restrain him. He threw a strong, wicked punch right into their nose.

A blonde head snapped back with the force of the impact, and biomass started to leak out.

Keres. I just socked her in the face, shit, I'm sorry - fuck. No time. Gotta go.

He grabbed her hand, and yanked them both onto their feet. The Hunter let loose another roar as it fell onto the soldiers, and Toby couldn't help but look at it. It wasn't a healthy shade of red and pink, but a dark, devil-red, and it was covered in mottled black spots, and it looked wrong- but then they were at the door, and Toby shouldered it open.

Can't go out the entrance, fuck -

Keres released his hand, went over to the wall, and promptly set to work with her claws. Within seconds, she'd made a hole big enough for the pair of them to get through, and he grabbed her hand again, tugging the both of them outside.

Soldiers were everywhere. Running into the building, running to the hole in the wall. Toby picked up the gun and fired at a few of them, trying to think of a plan, hoping that some option would present itself - an arm circled around his waist, and he had no warning before he weight airborne.

They rocketed up into the air, and Toby had to battle against the urge to throw up - and then they were falling, Keres absorbing the brunt of the impact on the rooftop. A rough jolt shook him, but then she was off again, running at a speed that made everything a blur. She hopped from rooftop to rooftop, putting distance between her and the base, until finally she landed on the street.

Toby tugged at her arms, and she released him.

With seconds to spare, he tugged off the gasmask, bent over, and threw up.

His eyes watered and his nose burned, but a hot hand came to rest on his back.

"I'm sorry, Toby."

"Lil' warning next time." He groaned, bracing himself against a building.

"No. . . I'm sorry."

Wishing he had something to wash out his mouth with, Toby scrubbed at his tongue with the sleeve of his uniform. Giving himself a few more moments, he straightened and found Keres there, eye slowly fading back to blue, tears gathering in them.

"If I hadn't. . . But he was. . .-" She shook again, that fear flashing in her eyes, before she buried her face in her hands and cried.

He hated it when she cried. It made him feel awkward, because Toby didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do. You need to calm down, Keres. Now isn't the time for a freakout.Knowing that Blackwatch aerial drones could come at any moment, Toby hugged her, crushing her to him.

"It's okay. You can tell me about it when we get back to the apartment, okay? But we have to get there first. Pull yourself together. Then we'll talk."

She hugged him back, fingers digging into his vest, and then she nodded.

"Okay. . . Okay. L-Let's find a car. I don't think you want to freerun anymore."

His stomach rebelled at the thought.

"No. I don't."

They started to walk, Toby lagging behind slightly as the adrenaline began to wear off and the pain replaced it. Keres still looked like she was about to fall apart, but she kept it together, scrubbing at her eyes every now and then. It took well over ten minutes, but they finally found a car that was actually functional, and hotwired it. Toby drove, with Keres acting as protection detail - if anything tried to attack them, she'd be on it.

Toby knew he was absorbed in his thoughts, his body going on autopilot as he stared at the roads and drove, and Keres was much the same. The silence that settled over them was heavy, and the only piece of satisfaction Toby got was knowing that the mission had been successful.

Somewhat.

And the evidence of that was a flash drive that laid in his pocket.