I found myself counting heartbeats as I entered the office building. The overall city ambience was the only sound, and believe me when I say anything is better than dead silence. Dead silence can be a nightmare.

The office building had been evacuated the night before, which meant the only movement we should be registering is that of ourselves, Jenzi, and his androids. Going right back into Marine mode was slightly difficult, if you want me to be honest with you. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've done anything like this?

Almost a month. And it wouldn't be that way if I didn't stupidly run into a lab full of silver flowers.

Speaking of the little devils, Hudson and I were thankfully equipped with gas masks, just in case Jenzi had any (living or dead) on hand. Part of me doesn't think that wearing a gas mask will prevent me from sinking into panic if I see one, not to mention I hated the amplified sound of me breathing.

I gestured for Hudson to get behind me as we came to a corner somewhere on the fourth floor. If there was going to be any shooting, I refused to let him get hurt before me. Seeing everything was clear, I started moving forward. The hallway perpendicular to us was lined with windows that offered a stunning panoramic view of D.C. The deep red and pink of the sunrise was making a number of thoughts prod at my brain, one of them being, "You want to have views like this when you move on and get your own place with Vasquez."

Damn right, I do.

An open door led us to a large room full of cubicles. Through my earpiece, I heard Vasquez say, "You two still have four floors to go until you reach the jammer."

"Can't we use an elevator?" Hudson asked.

"The elevators are down. Besides, you could use the stairs after having two pizza slices last night."

"Good one, sweetheart," I said.

"That's really not funny, man," Hudson muttered. Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into a cubicle.

"What the hell are you-"

"Shh! Don't move, and don't speak, man!" he hissed.

I heard someone walking into the room, and a beam of light was waving slightly. We crouched under the desk, and watched an android walk by without glancing in. The android stopped near the door we came in, and said into a radio, "The tracker stated there was movement on this floor. I'm not seeing anything. Shall I activate the heartbeat sweeper?"

A voice over the radio replied, "Affirmative."

"What should we do, Drake?" Hudson whispered.

"Get off this fucking floor." I peered out of the cubicle, seeing the android still standing by the doorway. "Come on, quickly!" I shoved Hudson out, yanking on him as we jogged toward a second door. It was really tempting to just shoot the android, but I knew that was probably going to reveal us to the whole building.

"There're the stairs, man," Hudson said as we rounded another corner. "Aw, shit!"

We saw another android's boots appear in the stairwell, and began frantically searching for a place to hide. Hudson dove into a small closet, while I spotted an open window. It seemed crazy, but what choice did I have?

Thank God I didn't have a smartgun. I could easily put the pulse rifle over my shoulder with its strap, and crawl out the window onto the ledge. Putting myself in the space between two windows, I realized I was literally an inch away from potentially falling to my death, and that was something I didn't want. I took a deep breath, feeling in control of my thoughts for once. That didn't mean I wasn't thinking about some of the horrible things that've happened over the last several days; I was thinking about them in the past tense.

The feeling of being in control felt like a godsend, a complete miracle. I felt like I was at peace. It was probably a result of forcing myself to go back into a military mindset, but it was putting my brain back on a rigid path.

At the same time, I knew it wasn't possible, or healthy, to be in this mindset all the time. This was the mindset that had me suppress the emotions that could get me killed, and if they stayed suppressed for too long, they could send me into a tailspin of depression and violent outbursts. I speak from experience.

I'm not entirely sure how long I was out on the ledge. Eventually, one of the windows opened, and Hudson said, "Drake! Come on, it's clear."

We headed upstairs as quietly as possible. Another issue we had with the gas masks was that they were partially restricting our peripheral vision, and we were trying to rely on our hearing to make sure nothing was sneaking up on us. At least Hudson's hearing was better than mine.

When we finally found the jammer, I could see why the people in the office building didn't notice it was there until they were alerted by the USCM. It was in a maintenance closet full of old equipment the janitors don't use anymore. Behind dusty vacuums and buckets that were starting to grow mold was a machine the size of a school desk, sporting an antenna.

"Judging by the looks of this thing, I bet you can use it to hijack any tool you want in the hospital across the street," Hudson said.

"What should we do? Toss it out the window?" I asked.

"No. You stand by the door, and I'll see what I can do." Hudson set his pulse rifle on the floor as he knelt by the jammer, then took his backpack from his shoulders. He pulled out a small toolbox, and set to work removing some of the side panels of the jammer. "Piece of cake, man, piece of cake," he said. "We'll be outta here in-hello, what's this?" He picked up a pair of wire cutters. "There! No more power. No more cooling system. And . . . no more connection to the outside world."

"That's it? Just cut a few wires and we're golden?"

"Sure looks like it, man. Although, if they have a backup-" Hudson cut off the antenna, "now it won't work."

"Something's telling me this shouldn't have been easy."

"What? You wanted it to be hard?"

"No-"

"Then quit your bitching and let's get the fuck outta here."

I stuck my head out of the doorway, and saw yet another android approaching. "We can't. There's someone coming."

"Get in here and close the door, man!"

I guess closing the door was a big mistake, because the damn thing couldn't close quietly. Just as Hudson and I were hiding behind the dusty vacuums, the door opened, and the android was looking around the room with a flashlight and heartbeat sensor.

"I think the jammer may've been compromised, sir," the android said. "These intruders are in this room . . . hiding somewhere." He looked at the machine. "Yes, the jammer has indeed been damaged. A side panel is off, and several wires have been cut, along with the antenna."

I heard Jenzi's voice through the radio. "When you find the intruders, shoot them, and shoot to kill."

"Yes, sir."

Abruptly standing, Hudson fired several rounds into the android's head. White fluid exploded from it, splattering all over the grimy walls of the room. The android shook violently as it collapsed, more fluid pooling beneath it. Hudson grabbed my arm. "Let's get outta here, man!"

Stealth was out of the question now. Every android in the building was now a hostile, and we had to shoot them before they shot us. Leaving mangled bodies and trails of white liquid in our wakes, we ran down to the lobby. Five or six androids had barricaded themselves behind the front desk, and pointing handguns at us. Shoving Hudson behind a large plant, I began spraying bullets into the desk each time an android poked his head over to shoot at us. I knew I hit something each time I heard a wet pop, but the sound I didn't want to hear was a click.

Hudson pushed me behind the plant so I could reload, and I got a good look at why he's one of the best riflemen we have. At least every other shot he fired was followed by the sound of an android's head exploding, and the pool of white fluid on the floor got bigger by the second. "All this milk and no fucking corn flakes to have with it," Hudson said. He cursed under his breath when a door burst open with three more androids behind it. "Drake, you reloaded yet?!"

Staying in a crouched position, I looked around the plant, aiming the rifle at one of the androids before filling his body with fresh bullets. It was at that moment that I had a bit of a brainfart, and nearly forgot that androids can be shot up and still function; if you want it disabled, you blow its head off.

For the moment, it appeared that Jenzi was going to throw every android he had our way until we were overwhelmed or we destroyed them all, but around ten minutes into the fray, the androids stopped. They all lowered their weapons, and stared at us, expecting us to do the same. I looked at Hudson, who simply took his finger off the trigger.

Jenzi pushed past some of the androids in order to see exactly who these intruders were. He threw his own pulse rifle over his shoulder before glaring at us. "Drake," he said. "I should've known you were going to do whatever you could to protect Hicks."

"This is about more than just Hicks," I replied. "What kind of sick bastard tries to encourage a man to kill himself?"

"What kind of sick bastard keeps living a completely empty life, being dictated by his pathetic emotions all the time? You, that's who!"

"Don't give me this garbage again. Besides, me and Hudson were having fun mowing your minions down. Your jammer is down, and your plan to kill Hicks failed. Why don't you just come with us peacefully, and keep yourself from getting the death penalty?"

"Why're you so keen on protecting Hicks, anyway?"

"Well, for one thing, it's got nothing to do with sucking his dick, like you said it was when we met yesterday. I've been angry with Hicks before, don't get me wrong. I've been bottling up emotions for a long time, and there are times where I don't know how to feel. It's a go-to response for me to just push people away and let my problems fester until they explode. Hicks took notice of the fact that I'm not very sociable, I'm moody and irritable, and that I simply look depressed. I pushed him away the first time he tried to reach out to me, and I accused his intentions of being false. I didn't think he wanted to care about me as an individual, simply because he didn't take the time to get to know me when we first met. It's been a few years since I was attached to that unit, and we still don't fully know each other. I assumed that he was just saying something because my behavior was effecting the entire unit, and I was tired of being seen as a puzzle piece rather than a person. It took some time before I realized that I was wrong, and it was just me beating myself up. I needed someone who'd just listen. Hicks was offering that, and I wasn't taking it."

"What made you see that? Magic?"

"No. Just digging around my own head." I tilted my head a little, looking Jenzi in the eye. "Does that sound too silly to you?"

Jenzi didn't react right away. He folded his arms over his chest, and looked at the floor. Eventually, he regained eye contact with me, and shook his head slightly. "No. At this point, though . . . it's impossible for me to do so. You just got lucky."

"Maybe. It's not too late for you to change. You're young; maybe the USCM will have a little mercy on you, and you'll only get twenty years in prison. That still gives you a lot of time to change and renew yourself. Give Hicks another chance. Do you have any idea what he's going through right now?"

"Is he suffering?"

"Yeah." I felt like that was a dumb question.

A devilish smile crossed Jenzi's face. "If I can't kill him, then I've at least achieved something. Not to mention-" Jenzi reached into his vest, pulling out the stasis tube containing a silver flower, "this can be permanently damaging to one's mind, as I've seen with you, Drake."

The metallic petals glinted in the early-morning sunlight spilling through the windows. I've never seen the flower in light before, only darkness. But, that didn't stop the onslaught of horrible memories from crashing down on me. Again, I heard shattering glass, choking, panicking, raspy breathing. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time, but I felt locked down as I thought of myself holding my chest and struggling to breathe, like in all my nightmares. Somehow, I was still aware of Hudson crouching next to me, and my thoughts began turning to the day I dragged him out of that abandoned building. Involuntarily, I dropped my rifle, and pulled Hudson into a tight hug. I know we were both wearing gas masks, but I was still moaning, "Not again . . . not again," and sobbing while holding Hudson.

Jenzi continued to smile. "It's insanely easy to reduce you to a blubbering mess, it's amazing you're still a Marine."

Hudson glared at him. "Drake is one of the best Marines I know, man."

"In what universe?"

"This one. He's a human being, that's why. He knows his strong points and weak points. Being traumatized hasn't stopped him from saving me and Hicks from that flower. He's gone through hell and back, and he doesn't want anyone else to do the same. If he was a crappy Marine, he woulda turned tail at the sight of that thing, but he's mustered some pretty incredible courage in the face of absolute shit. He's got his bad points, that's for sure, but I think he's a good guy overall. Hell, when we become civilians one day, I wouldn't mind going out and having a beer with him."

"You're just babying him."

"Why don't you go piss on a sock and put it in your mouth? Take your damn daisy and leave Drake the fuck alone."

Jenzi stepped closer with the flower. "Take off your mask, Drake. I want to see you act brave." Right above him, a ceiling panel was smashed in two, and a large white shape plunged down on top of Jenzi. He screamed in terror when he saw the shape was a snarling, masked Annexer, wearing a necklace of bones. The stasis tube dropped on the floor, and rolled over to me and Hudson.

I gripped Hudson tighter, prompting him to say, "It's OK, man, it didn't break. Even if it did, we're protected. It's OK."

Jenzi was likely about to tell his androids to shoot Ursa Major, but the Polar Annexer pinned Jenzi's head down by wrapping his paw around the rogue Marine's neck. A split-second later, Ursa Major swiped his claws across Jenzi's chest. Blood sprayed on the floor and the Annexer's white uniform, and Jenzi was howling in pain.

I guess Ursa Major somehow knew that the USCM wanted Jenzi alive, so he didn't do any further damage. With Jenzi incapacitated, Ursa Major stepped off him, and approached me and Hudson. He glanced at the stasis tube, but didn't touch it.

"I think he's trying to tell you something, man," Hudson said. "You can get Jenzi and bring him out to Russell."

"You do it," I replied. "I can't . . . I can't . . . g-go near . . ."

"Yes, you can. It's in a tube, and you're wearing a mask. It's OK, man. If anything happens, I'm right here."

Ursa Major nodded.

Hudson helped me stand, and I found myself shivering uncontrollably. When I looked at the flower, I was enveloped in the memories once more, and grabbed Hudson. "I can't do it. Let me go!"

"Stop looking at it, man." Hudson kept pushing me towards Jenzi, and made me face forward. "Don't look at it."

I suddenly felt like a band was strapped around my lungs and slowly crushing them. I was dizzy and certain I was going to collapse.

"Almost there, man, it's OK. Couple more steps."

I managed to step past the flower despite an overwhelming desire to hunch in on myself and scream. The flower was behind me, and I was standing in front of Jenzi. I was still shuddering, but I felt more in control of my actions, so I bent down and lifted up Jenzi. "Give me the cuffs," I said.

Hudson pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his backpack, and snapped them on Jenzi's wrists. "You did good, man," he said to me.

I took a breath, not feeling the tightness around my chest. Ursa Major was looking at me, and the short flick of his tail told me that he was impressed with what I had done. Of course, others are going to say that me facing my fear and not running away is a big accomplishment, but I don't feel that; I just walked by a silver flower in a stasis tube. How is that impressive?

As we brought Jenzi outside to Russell's vehicle, I decided I would tell this story to everyone I knew individually, just to hear their reasons for why it should be considered impressive for me.

Question: Out of each person who has accompanied Drake, who do you think will provide the best reasoning for why this should be considered an accomplishment? Hudson, Hicks, or Vasquez?

Author's Note: I'm impressed I was able to keep this plot point going for more than eight pages. I'm actually happy with how this turned out, not to mention we got see some action with the pulse rifle (sorry, Drake, you'll get your smartgun back, I promise).

Should I start doing shorter stories alongside the main series? Maybe based on prompts, or a really short fluffy piece following Drake and Vasquez (date-night fails, perhaps)? I feel like stuff like that would clear the mental sewage from my brain and help the main series flow better, but I don't want to do it if no one's going to read it.