Sapphire & Jasper

By: Aubrie1234

"You're sure this is the place?" Zak asked as they walked through town, "Remember the last time we came here?"

"I remember, which is why none of you are leaving my side and Doyle isn't allowed to get into another fight." Drew gave her brother a pointed look. Doyle ignored it.

"This is the place, but we're not there yet."

"That makes no sense." Doc said.

"If you'll just follow my lead, it'll make sense. We'll need to rent a car or two, though."

"It's out of town? Why didn't you say that before?" Doyle gave the other man a look.

"Do you think I want to attract attention at this point? Alex is in danger and I don't wanna bring anything else after him." The redhead took them to a car rental place and, as they got two cars, some of the townspeople came by and congratulated the Saturdays. Even though it had been a few years since the Owlman Incident, the people remembered them well and still loved them for their help in freeing the town. Even though they didn't get any special treatment, it felt nice to be praised like they were.

"Easy girl." Zon gave a disliked trill as she climbed inside the van, taking the backseat for her wings. She wasn't allowed to fly over as they drove, so as not to attract attention, which is why she disliked having to ride there. At least she'd be sharing the car with her two cryptid brothers and she knew Komodo wasn't made for sitting up for long periods of time, so at least she wouldn't be alone in her misery. Doc, who would be riding shotgun to Doyle's driving, helped her make her way into the back, "Be careful not to wreck the seats."

"Rawk!" said Zon. She didn't care if this was a rental or not, she was very displeased about this.

"Do you want us to go ahead?" Doyle turned at Drew's voice, blinking as if he had forgotten she was there.

"Ah, not yet. I can't just tell you where to go because it's really out of the way of the main road. Just trust me on this, okay?" Drew crossed her arms.

"Doyle, you sound like you don't know where this place is."

"It's not that, Drew, I'm only taking precautions." Doyle gave his sister a sardonic look, "And isn't this what you and Doc harped on me about? For not being careful?"

"Good point." she conceded, "We'll get in the car and follow after you start."

"Thanks, sis." Doyle knelt to the boys' level, "And keep out of trouble you two. This has to go off without a hitch, so no horseplay or anything. Understand?"

"Yes sir." They both nodded. Zak was a little nervous, as he'd not seen Doyle this serious before with the exception of when they had to fight Argost for the final time, and even then Doyle was more angry than serious. Francis knew how important this was and knew that getting Doyle angry was not a good thing. There were several instances on Doyle's file that proved he was a force to be reckoned with when pissed off and he doubted that anyone besides himself knew the extent Doyle would go to. It was not long after that that they were able to go, where Doc tried to observe where they were going from his spot in the passenger seat. They stayed on the main road for a while, going through another part of the town named Port Tallon before continuing into the countryside, then Doyle turned the van onto an old sideroad that looked like it hadn't been used in years, bumpy and cracked and almost blocked off but not quite. In the distance were some small buildings, entrances to old mines Doc supposed, but then he could see a large facility coming up at the end of the road and realized where they were.

"The old Sayle Enterprises Industrial Complex?" asked Doc, astonished as he turned to the ex-mercenary, "I thought this place closed years ago after the Stormbreakers were cancelled and Sayle died."

"It was, but this is where Alex's first mission started." Doyle stopped the van for a moment to go out and open the old gate doors before taking the car inside and parking outside the mansion, followed by Drew's car.

"What was Alex's first mission if it started here?" asked Drew, gazing up at the decrepit building.

"He said that, after his uncle died, he took his uncle's place to keep Sayle from endangering the world, but he never told me much about what went down." Doc's eyebrows shot up as Fisk helped Zon climb out of the van.

"But that's impossible!" he exclaimed, "Sayle died about the time as the Stormbreakers were cancelled and that was 19 years ago!"

"That can't be right." Doyle shook his head, "Alex said Sayle was still alive when he stopped him."

"Actually..." Francis seemed reluctant to talk, "There's much more to it than that. Doc is correct, Doyle. Alex stopped Sayle 19 years ago and stopped the Stormbreakers from creating havoc in the UK."

"But that means..." Doyle paled as he did the math in his head, "Alex was only 14 when he had his first mission." There was a small bang as Doyle leaned against the van for support and no one else felt much better at the revelation.

"MI6 blackmailed a 14-year-old into taking his uncle's place and stopping Sayle." Drew kicked a rock away from her in frustration, "I can't believe this! How could they be so callous about doing that?! He was only a little older than Zak!"

"Because they're ruthless, Ms. Saturday." said Francis, "Just like my previous employers."

"Then what was the whole story behind all this?" Doc asked, "I understand that there was a 'malfunction' with the computers and they were cancelled, but I never understood why."

"Originally, Alex's uncle, Ian Rider, was sent here to be a security guard and investigate the plant. Sayle figured out what he was doing and had him killed, and MI6 know about the Rider luck and how good they were at spying, so they set up events that caused Alex to play into their clutches and they blackmailed him into taking the mission. Essentially he came to the plant as a magazine contest winner and got to stay for a few days, in that time he discovering that Sayle, who had been bullied in his past by powerful people like the Prime Minister, had created a deadly plan to get back at his bullies. That plan was creating the Stormbreakers, powerful computers at the time, and giving them to every school in the UK. However, they were filled with a modified smallpox virus and would kill every schoolchild in the UK the second they were activated. Alex stopped all of this using gadgets and skills he had learned, leaving this place to become abandoned after Sayle's death at the hands of someone else." Francis explained, "And that was the first mission that made everyone in the spying community, including the Gray Men, so afraid of him. If he could stop a revenge-obsessed businessman with only his skills, his gadgets, his luck, and his wits, then he was a formidable opponent."

"And he did it another six times over the course of that same year." Doyle spoke up solemnly. They jumped when he slammed his fist against the side of the vehicle, creating a dent, "He told me that seven out of nine missions in a row happened the same year he started spying. I never realized his age at the time, but he went through a lot in that first year. Why did I not double-check on what he said when I had the chance? I understand he didn't tell me when they happened so that I wouldn't worry about him, but he can't just live life without a little help!" Doyle shook his head, "Let's go looking for him. If he's not here, then we're losing precious time. The longer he's gone, the less likely he'll be found alive. Jurassic, you can take to the skies with Miniman, see if you can find something from the air." Zon lowered slightly to allow Zak to climb on her back, as they hadn't brought along the glider, and then she took to the skies, "The rest of us need to split up into teams to search the place, being so big and all."

"Let's do teams of three, just to keep ourselves safe." Drew suggested, "As old as this place is, it's certainly not safe for just pairs of us to go looking." Komodo gave a small hiss as he joined Doyle's side as well as Francis, leaving Drew with Doc and Fisk, where Drew went on, "Let's all meet up at the airstrip if we don't find anything." And then they went off their separate ways to search for clues with the possibility of even finding Alex himself.

Thinking that Fisk would be more useful in the factories, Doyle and his group decided to investigate the mansion. They found an all-access keycard and, to their surprise, everything still had electricity, allowing them to investigate the rooms one at a time. They would all go in and Komodo would sniff around, trying to find anything while the humans searched with their eyes.

"...Doyle?" Francis spoke up hesitantly after a few minutes of searching. There were five floors to the mansion and so far, they hadn't moved up or found any other rooms besides bedrooms and the occasional bathroom or maintenance room.

"Yeah?"

"Why...why do you love Alex so much?" Doyle looked down at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You're willing to do everything and anything for him, even after all that's happened. Why?" Doyle paused for a moment, then put a hand on the boys shoulder.

"I can't explain why or how I love him, Francis, only that I do. Even after he left to deal with you and it took so many years for him to come back, I still loved him. You can't just make love go away, especially like what I have with Alex." Doyle shrugged, "Sure, he's a douche and an asshole sometimes, he's not always good, but he's Alex, he's human, and I'll love him no matter what." He looked away, letting go of Francis, "Even if it earns me heartbreak."

"But what if the relationship is toxic? What then?"

"I don't know. I'd still love him, but I don't know if I'd leave him or not. Besides, it's not toxic. I know that for certain. I spent a year alone with him, he's the best thing that happened to me. He saved my life and gave me another chance. I haven't wasted it, even if it's taken me awhile to smooth things out." Komodo gave a hiss, reminding them to keep moving. As they walked to the next room, Doyle continued, "We've also been through a lot together. He's given me a lot of things, I've given him a lot of things. There's nothing I would do to change any of it."

"You care too much." Francis surmised.

"Maybe, but it's our love that makes us able to stick together through stuff. Even when we get frustrated with each other, even if things happen like this, we can get through it because of love." Doyle pat Francis' shoulder, "Zak's already had a small taste of it with Wadi, I think. You'll learn about it too when you fall in love." The ex-agent couldn't see that happening but didn't say anything, following along as they checked out the rest of the floor. Just as they were about to head for the stairs, they discovered another maintenance room, but this time it included the main power grid, including the one for the factories. Thinking it would help the other team progress in their investigations, the factory grid was turned on, then they continued to the second floor.

"By the way, Francis," Doyle said, "why do you think this place didn't get sold after Sayle's death? It's a huge amount of land, it should be great to buy."

"There were auctions, but you couldn't buy a smaller piece of the land, seeing as it was all covered in Sayle's factory and mansion. And the cost to refurbish things was sky-high. It was also very expensive to get rid of the buildings." The green-haired boy gave a shrug, "It just wasn't profitable." Doyle nodded, then tried to open a door that he'd just unlocked with the keycard. However, it wouldn't budge. The doors opened inwards, into the rooms, so Doyle knew that something had to be on the other side that kept him from opening the door.

"Stay back, boys." He gestured, "Give me some room to open this." They did so, Francis moving to stand behind Komodo, who sniffed the air in suspicion. There was something on the other side of the door that didn't smell right, but he couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't until Doyle managed to crack open the door that he realized what it was and it made his nose wrinkle. Doyle also covered his face, as the smell was so strong.

"Good grief, was someone murdered in here?!" Doyle peeked inside, "I'll take that as a yes." Inside he could see splashes of dried blood and, though his mind shrieked at him not to go inside, he had to figure out the reason, "Francis, I don't care if you've seen this before, turn away."

"Don't need to tell me twice..." the boy muttered, doing so. He did look over his shoulder a little sometimes, the curiosity getting the better of him, and then he looked away again. When the gap was large enough, Doyle entered the room and he had to keep his face covered so as not to succumb to the smell, looking around. As he had glimpsed, the room had splashes of blood covering the walls, dried and indicating it had been there for a while. Being a bedroom, there was the bed, its tall posts stripped of the silk that had once concealed the sleeper, and lying on said bed was a body. It had been mutilated by large slashes, big enough to cleave a child in two and the window of the room was shattered. How had they not noticed that from the outside, unless it was on the side of the building they couldn't see? Doyle had seen dead bodies before and he never liked them, but he could contain his urge to be sick. He wondered if there was any ID and rifled through pockets, soon finding the card. It was a local man, one who used to live in Cornwall, in fact. It wasn't any of the townspeople he recognized, but it had been two years, he could be wrong. He looked around, trying to find any more clues, then looked up. He paled at what he saw.

"Komodo?" he called, "Doesn't this look familiar?" His voice wavered as the lizard entered the room, also looking up. Komodo gave a hissing roar of surprise and fear as well, prompting Francis to look as well. He tried avoiding looking at the rest of the room and looked up at the ceiling, finding a messy portrait of an owl-humanoid hybrid painted in blood. To Doyle and Komodo, it looked all too familiar.

"Looks like the Owlman isn't gone like we thought..."

Getting into Factory D wasn't hard, it was making their way through from factory to factory that was hard. In fact, their first obstacle wasn't too far from the front door, being one of the electronic doors that needed a keycard.

"Without any power, we're not getting past this door." Doc said, looking around at the small entrance area they found themselves in, "There has to be another way inside somehow." Drew studied the keycard panel for a moment, then turned to Fisk.

"Who says we need electricity?" she said, "Fisk, do you think you could rip off the cover of this?"

"Ezzuh buh!" He nodded, giving himself a proud beat on the chest before he managed to do it, revealing wires and a few flashing lights. It seemed that power was still circulating through the place and, with a few wires being placed elsewhere, Doc was able to get the door to unlock itself. They noted to keep an eye out for keycards in case they came into contact with other electronic doors that needed them as they ventured into the factory, where they found conveyor belts and unused parts.

"This was where the computers were built, I think." Doc said as they stepped into the area, "The computers were programmed and designed elsewhere. Maybe this was also where the virus was put into them."

"Had to be during construction, so you're probably right." Drew looked at the unfinished computers, "Doesn't make the reality of all this any less terrible, though. All of it just to get back at some old enemies and dragging children into it in the process? I hate to say this about a dead man, but I'm glad he's gone."

"His computers were revolutionary, but I have to agree." Doc shook his head, "No amount of revenge is worth that."

"Wra?" Fisk poked at one of the machines, then jumped and gave a yelp when it started moving as the lights snapped on. Everything came to life as the machines began building computers again, or at least going through the motions, and the humans had to duck to keep from getting their heads from being taken off their shoulders.

"What the-?!" Drew's jumpsuit was grabbed from behind by one of the machines.

"Drew!" Doc tried to grab her but she was taken out of reach too quickly. As she was dropped onto one of the conveyor belts, Doc had to dodge other machines grabbing at him. Activating his glove, he made short work of them as Drew dodged the jabbing machines tried to make at her. She stood on her feet and tried to run backwards, away from the machines, but she got nowhere with the opposing directions of the belt and her feet.

Why am I even doing this, I can just jump off! Drew thought before doing just that. Fisk was still yelping as he was chased by machines, who managed to grab small pieces of his fur.

"Get down!" Taking out her fire sword, it didn't take long to fry most everything in the place. Fisk and Doc, who had dived behind an overturned table, peeked out and blinked at the destruction. As one mechanical arm twitched, Drew stomped on it and it stopped. She was not in the mood for it today.

"Well, that was fun." Doc quipped, turning off his glove, "I wonder why the robots came on so suddenly."

"Maybe someone turned on the main power grid to the factory." Drew suggested, putting away her sword.

"A certain someone whose name starts with a D?" Doc suggested. Drew rolled her eyes.

"It could have been him for all we know." She looked around, "And it looks like I accidentally knocked down a door while frying everything in sight." The woman pointed to the heavy broken door and they looked down a staircase to find another door at the bottom, just as heavy as the one before it. In one swift move, Drew took out her sword again and blasted the door off its hinges, allowing them access to whatever was in the basement. Below was another area similar to the one above, only the machines weren't working and there was a huge hole in the wall, leading to a cave. It looked completely out of place, especially with the debris scattered around its entrance.

"I don't think that's supposed to be there." Doc mused.

"We should head back and get the others. We can't go alone." said Drew. Fisk was way ahead of them, already climbing back up the stairs.

"Ezzuh beh bezzuh buh..."

Both groups quickly headed to the airfield after their findings, also catching up with Zon and Zak when they landed. There was nothing to find on their part, but then Drew, Doc and Fisk described what they found and Doyle, Francis, and Komodo couldn't help but look a little sheepish.

"Yeah, turning the factory's power grid on was our fault." Doyle admitted, "We honestly thought it would help."

"Uh huh..." Drew jabbed her husband in the side to keep him from making any more unwanted comments, "Ow!" After that, the group described what they had found and the others certainly didn't like it.

"I thought we got rid of the Owlman!" Zak said, giving a shiver, "I saw what Doyle did to it myself! It was gone!"

"Then maybe this is a different Owlman. If anything, it could have a connection to the last one and might be out for revenge." Francis reasoned.

"And if it somehow figured out that Alex is part of our family, then no wonder it sent that letter on!" Doyle gave a growl, "We need to check out the old cave you found. This place is littered with old tin mines, so that's probably what you found and maybe where the Owlman is, along with Alex."

"Hold it!" Drew grabbed him before he could go running off, "We can't just charge in there again! Last time your recklessness almost got Zak killed! Do you want anyone here to end up the same way?!"

"Of course not!" Doyle snapped, "But Alex is in danger!"

"At least let us stay together so we'll have strength in numbers." Doc reasoned, "If this Owlman is out for revenge, it'll have a lot of tricks up its sleeve." Doyle glared at him silently but backed down, where they went to one of the cars before going back to the cave/mine shaft, grabbing some things they might need in the trek. Because of the size of the shaft and the instability it probably had, Fisk, Zon, and the boys were left behind, hoping that Drew, Doc, Doyle, and Komodo would be able to discover something and possibly stop the Owlman before things got worse.

They traveled downward in a slope with flashlights, the cave-like environment covered in water and slick as could be, causing them to careful move forward one step at a time. Eventually it came to a point where it shrunk to a small opening, and so Komodo crawled through. He quickly came back and stuck his head out, hissing, then began to dig at the entrance of the opening to make it bigger.

"What'd he say?" asked Doyle.

"He said there was an entrance to a larger cave down in the middle of the path, probably worn away by water." Doc said. Since they had spent so long with the cryptids, they'd learned to understand bits and pieces of what Komodo, Fisk, and Zon said sometimes. The humans helped the komodo dragon make the opening larger, allowing the humans to crawl through it themselves, and about halfway through crawling, there was an opening in the bottom of the path to a larger area, as Komodo had described. They dropped down from the opening and found themselves in a much larger cave, not at all a shaft because of the lack of wooden beams to hold it up. They'd landed in the middle of a path that went two directions and so they decided to split up to search both ways. Before they could separate, however, the cave shook slightly and the ground cracked, leaving it unstable.

"Great, we've found ourselves just short of a cave-in!" Doyle muttered.

"Step lightly and carefully, we don't want to get hurt or separated." Doc said. He was proven wrong as, first step they took, the ground gave way. They tried to hold onto each other as some fell, some didn't, and when things settled again they tried to get their bearings.

"Good lord, this whole cave system is probably very unstable thanks to the Owlman!" Doc exclaimed.

"Yeah, go ahead and say that and not check in on your brother-in-law or your cryptid son, why don't you?" Doyle's voice echoed up from a hole in the cave floor. It was mostly a straight drop with a slight if steep slide going nearly 30 feet down. It was a wonder how Doyle and Komodo, who had fallen down, only had a few scrapes and bruises. Komodo, having landed on Doyle's back, clung there and gave a nervous yip. Doyle managed to get him to climb off and set the large lizard on the floor.

"Are you both okay?" Drew called down.

"Just fine. Hand me my jetpack and grenades please." Drew did so.

"Do you think you can fly back up here? I wouldn't try it with the area so unstable." said Doc. Doyle looked around.

"Only way I see out is going down the rest of this tunnel. Alex might even be down this way!"

"No, don't you dare-" Doyle turned to look at Drew, a determined glint in his eyes, and ran off, "Doyle!" Komodo gave a small yelp before running after the man as fast as he could on his relatively stubby legs. He felt sort of like a babysitter as he tried to keep up with the redhead. Eventually he lost steam and had to come to a stop, panting. He tried to look around for Doyle's flashlight but didn't see it. As komodo dragons were made for hurting more in the daytime, his eyes weren't made for seeing in the dark. He did have one advantage on his side, however: His sense of smell. He flicked his tongue out, trying to pick up Doyle's scent or even something remotely familiar, and when he caught it, he began following it in the darkness, every step careful but urgent to catch up.

He embodies Leeroy Jenkins sometimes… thought the exasperated cryptid.

Doyle ran down the length of the tunnel, slipping and sliding at times but always righting himself before he could fall and then going full-speed again. He could be wrong, but there was this feeling that told him that Alex was just ahead. With his shoes pounding the rocky floor, he almost didn't hear the flapping until it was too late and when he did, he brought his flashlight up to shine right in the Owlman's face. It screeched, closing its eyes and Doyle ducked to the side. It crashed into the wall and screeched again and Doyle got to his feet. From the brief glimpse he had he knew it was a different Owlman, colored white and tan but with the same haunting, glowing red eyes. It also hated light, a bonus. If he could find it, he could use his thrusters on it to destroy it like he had with the last one.

When the flapping came close again, he lifted his flashlight, only for the Owlman to slash at his left arm, hurting and causing him to drop the flashlight. It also grabbed his jetpack, forcing Doyle to quickly take it off so as not to get carried away. He had his grenades, but he wondered what kind of use they'd be against an always-moving creature. They were still useful in their own way, though, so he took one off and threw it into the empty darkness. It lit up the room and gave a loud bang, letting Doyle get a brief glimpse of the area he was in. There was no pit like the last Owlman and there were stalagmites that he could hide behind, but that was about it. The light hadn't lasted long enough to allow him to look for the Owlman. And then he was knocked on his back as it hit him from behind and he cried out as its claws dug into his back. Suddenly he could see his flashlight, still lit and not far from him. He grabbed it and shine it up into the Owlman's face, causing the cryptid to screech again and try to cover its eyes from the light. Doyle had hoped it would make the cryptid get off him, but it looked like the Owlman had other ideas.

BANG. Doyle closed his eyes as a shower of blood sprayed on him and the now-dead Owlman toppled forward, thankfully letting go of his back. His ears ringing from the amplified sound, he tried to rub the blood out of his eyes and looked around. He knew exactly what had happened and knew it meant Alex was there, but where was he? Finally, he spotted the blond man, laying behind one of the stalagmites, and Doyle rushed over.

"Alex!" He crouched beside his boyfriend and grimaced at the sight from his flashlight. The blond was covered in gashes which oozed blood like water and his eyes were barely able to stay open. In his limp right hand was the pistol he'd used to save Doyle, glinting silver in the beam of light. Doyle took Alex into his arms and held the other close, ignoring his own pain as he put a hand on the blond's chest. He could barely feel the heartbeat, with it being so weak. He put the flashlight and Alex's pistol in his pockets for later, knowing Alex would be pissed at him if he forgot the weapon. It was a special thing to the blond and if Alex didn't survive, at least Doyle had a memento. He really didn't want to think about that, though.

"Stay with me now, I've got you!" Doyle got to his feet with Alex in his arms, "Komodo! Where are you?!"

"Doyle." With his ears still ringing a little, he almost didn't hear Alex. He looked down and could tell that Alex was looking at him, even in the darkness.

"I'm here, Al, I'm right here."

"Strawberry...put me down."

"What?! Are you crazy?! No!" Doyle looked around, trying to figure out where Komodo was and which way to get out of there the quickest.

"You know...I'm not gonna survive."

"Don't say that!" Doyle spoke, but his voice was weaker this time. He knew it too but didn't want to admit it. He couldn't handle losing Alex for good, especially not in front of his own eyes. Alex gave a weak laugh, coughing a bit as blood flecked through his lips in the darkness. At least he had the strength to cough, let alone talk, but it was fading fast.

"I love you."

"Alex..." Doyle whimpered, tears gathering in his eyes, "Please don't do this, don't leave me. I didn't just waste another month trying to find you for nothing!"

"I...don't have a choice." Alex sucked in a painful breath, trying to hold on yet resigned to his fate. Doyle let his tears fall freely, knowing this as well all too much.

"...One more kiss?" he asked quietly.

"Of course, love." Doyle leaned down and touched his lips to Alex's. He could taste the blood on his lips, slowly trickling down the side of the blond's face, and wished he could trade places with Alex. As long as it meant the Brit would live, the redhead would do it, no matter the cost.

They should have never come to England, especially Cornwall. Alex paid the price twice, and this time he wasn't going to survive. This wasn't about saving schoolchildren, it was about an angry cryptid who got his revenge.

Komodo didn't like the smell of blood that quickly filled the air, as that meant something bad went down, but he knew it had to go somewhere, and so he followed it. What he didn't expect was to be suddenly blinded by a soft orange glow coming from nowhere. He blinked and covered his eyes, trying to allow them to adjust, and suddenly felt himself filled with such a large amount of sorrow it almost made him stumble, even though it wasn't his own. He'd only felt this way when Zak had been using his cryptid powers, but he knew the boy hadn't come down here, so where was this surge coming from? He slowly ventured closer, peeking his head around a corner, and his jaw dropped at what he saw. Doyle stood there, Alex in his arms, and he was covered in the orange glow, giving it off like a giant light. Alex was glowing too, but differently, and Komodo could see the wounds on his body closing and healing up, which shouldn't be possible, yet it was happening before his eyes. He watched as Alex was completely healed up then jerked a little, raising a hand to Doyle's face, and upon touching caused the redhead to open his eyes. The second Doyle did so, the glow disappeared, leaving them in darkness again.

"What-? What did you do?" Alex hissed, "I felt myself getting better and that shouldn't be possible. I was dying."

"I-I don't know, but at least you're okay." Doyle buried his head in Alex's hair, "At least you're okay..." Things were silent for a moment, then Alex hugged Doyle.

"Yeah, at least I'm okay. Just-just put me down now." The bigger man did so and Alex, trying to get his balance again, almost stumbled. Komodo came over to them and gave a soft, non-threatening hiss, letting them know he was there.

"Finally!" Doyle gently nudged out with a foot and felt Komodo's side, "Let's get out of here, all of us. I've had enough adventure for a lifetime."

"I've had enough since I first started. This end is a long time coming." Alex murmured quietly.

"You ssssaid it." Komodo hissed.

Silence.

"You can talk?!" Doyle squeaked. If asked about it later, he would vehemently deny it, even as Alex and Komodo confirmed it.

"Just becaussse I hissss a lot doesssn't mean I can't..."

"Why am I even surprised anymore..." Alex leaned into Doyle's side and the other wrapped an arm around him, keeping him steady, "Please, let's just go." And so they did, Doyle using his flashlight and Komodo using his sense of smell to get back to the hole to lead them out, but not before grabbing Doyle's jetpack, just in case they needed to use it as an escape. And, for all that Alex leaned on Doyle, as they got closer and closer to leaving, Doyle leaned more and more on Alex, his injuries catching up with him as his adrenaline subsided. By the time they got back to the hole, Doyle was leaning greatly on Alex and wincing with every step, blood dripping from his arm and soaking the clothes on his back.

"Hey!" Alex called up, hoping that Drew and Doc were too worried over Doyle to go anywhere, and he was rewarded as a light was shined into his eyes.

"Alex?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" The blond grinned, "Do you think you could throw down a rope or something? I don't think we can make it up there as is." He wasn't surprised to find the object thrown down to them and he had Komodo climb up first. Finally, this nightmare (and the journey) had come to an end. He hoped it would stay at an end. But with what could happen next, how did he know?

Notes:

In the episode The Thousand Eyes of Ahuizotl, it's shown that Komodo can talk, but he probably just doesn't want to do it a lot, explained why his Monday counterpart has such eloquent speech and such.