The Broken Silence

by MangoKat

A massive misunderstanding causes several operatives to defect from V.I.L.E. Carmen must now protect them before they're hunted down and killed. As Team Red fight against V.I.L.E, they begin uncovering a disturbing web of mysteries involving kidnap and murder. Everything always seems to point back to a certain mime. Who is Mime Bomb, and why does everyone seem to want him dead?

43. Siren's Day Out

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The Broken Silence

Chapter 43

Siren's Day Out

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.

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"No!" Michael said angrily, "Like hell, Numa!"

Vess let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm perfectly fine now, and there's no reason for me to waste time in the medical ward."

"You almost died yesterday!" Michael snarled, "Actually...you did die! If it wasn't for Siren, you'd be cremated lawn fertilizer by now!"

Vess stared at Michael's stubborn expression and then let out another sigh. "I'm not sick, and I'm not injured. Lying here will accomplish nothing."

"Good!" Michael shot back, "Do nothing for a change!"

Vess could feel himself getting annoyed, itching to get back to his experiment. Other than a sore nose and a sore throat, he felt completely fine. Michael was currently seated on his bed, and was refusing to move no matter what Vess said.

"Alright, alright, you win," Vess told him.

Michael furrowed his brow. "Wait... really?"

Vess nodded. "I'll take it easy for another day."

Michael was instantly beaming. "Awesome, we can watch movies and just chill for the whole day!"

"Why don't you go get us lunch from the cafeteria?" Vess suggested.

Michael hopped off the bed. "Okay, I'll be right back!"

"Try to buy something healthy for a change!" Vess called after him.

"Okay," Michael said again, disappearing out of the medical ward.

Vess stared at the closed door for a few seconds and then slowly pulled the blankets aside so he could get up. Standing to his feet, he glanced around until he found his clothes neatly folded on the nearby table. Once he was dressed, he grabbed a few supplies, tossed them into a bag and then headed out the door.

He caught sight of his reflection in the glass of the door and he paused a moment, staring at his oddly coloured silver eyes. He had no idea how long the colour would last, but he knew it was ultimately harmless. Just a simple side-effect of the Volranium.

Vess continued on his way, and he headed for Siren's room having a feeling the other man was now in need of a doctor. When he opened the door, Terry jerked to attention, gave Vess a curt nod and got out of his seat to make room for him. Vess glanced down at Siren who was still in bed and then he glanced down at his watch with a frown. It was after one and Siren still wasn't up yet?

"Siren?" Vess demanded in a loud voice.

Siren slowly turned his head and then looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. Oh, he was awake.

"Numa, everything hurts and I'm dying…" Siren whined.

Vess rolled his eyes. "You used morphine to numb the pain when you were doing too much yesterday," he replied, "It's to be expected you're sore today. Roll over so I can check your stitches."

"Can't," Siren responded, "Dying."

Vess rolled his eyes again, and then impatiently reached down and rolled Siren onto his back who groaned in complaint. Vess ignored him and then lifted Siren's shirt, quickly seeing he'd torn several stitches.

"You did more damage to yourself," Vess informed him, "I have to fix these stitches or you'll get an infection. One second."

"You're going to stitch me up right here?!" Siren protested, "Without anesthetic?!"

"You'll survive," Vess said without interest, "Four little stitches and then you'll be fine."

"Like hell!" Siren snapped.

Siren was far too sore to even move, and he was actually quite surprised when Vess held out two pills towards him.

"What's that?"

"Painkillers," Vess informed him, "It should help numb you and get you back on your feet."

Siren struggled to move his arm to take the pills but couldn't seem to do it. His bruised body had seized up, and he grimaced and then gave up. Vess sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Open your mouth," he ordered.

Siren did as he was told and Vess shoved the two tablets in his mouth.

"Swallow," he ordered.

"No shit, Numa," Siren retorted, "I wasn't planning on just letting them melt in my mouth."

Vess didn't reply and began pulling various items out of his bag. "Terrence, I'm going to need you to hold him down."

Terry winced in sympathy, knowing how much this was going to hurt. Approaching the bed, he reached over and held Siren down at the shoulders, giving the other man an encouraging look. Vess disinfected the wounds and Siren squealed at the pain, but he couldn't move.

"Couldn't you give him a shot of something to freeze him?" Terry demanded.

"Not after all that morphine he took yesterday," Vess answered as he threaded a needle, "I have no idea how much he took, and I'm not going to risk him going into cardiac arrest."

"Wait, wait!" Siren protested as Vess began reaching towards him, "I'll chance the infection! I don't want the stitches!"

Vess ignored him and began the first stitch. Siren's reaction was immediate and he screamed and cried and struggled with all his might. Terry easily pinned him down, and Vess expertly repaired the stitches within just a few seconds. When he was done, he tied the stitches off, disinfected the area, and then covered them with bandages. Siren was still sobbing in pain, and Vess rolled his eyes at him.

"Honestly, Siren," he commented, "Sometimes I really wonder about you."

"Fuck you, Numa!" Siren retorted, taking a swing at him.

He missed and Vess didn't seem concerned. Siren wiped at his eyes, and then curled in on himself miserably.

Vess stared down at him for a few moments, and then rolled his eyes at the dramatics.

"Get up, and take a shower," Vess ordered, "Your bandages are waterproof, and the heat will help your sore muscles."

"I saved your life yesterday," Siren commented, giving Vess an angry look.

Vess frowned. "And?"

"Well...you owe me!" Siren challenged.

Vess paused. "Excuse me?"

"I saved your life and so you owe me!"

Vess narrowed his eyes. "Oh? And what is it you want?" he demanded, prepared to deny whatever it was he wanted.

Siren hesitated as he hadn't actually thought of anything yet. "I want my own laptop."

Vess raised a brow, not expecting such an insignificant request. "Why?"

"I'm tired of sharing yours, and I want one of my own."

"You've broken at least a dozen laptops," Vess pointed out.

"I promise I won't smash this one," Siren told him, "I'll be careful with it."

Vess narrowed his eyes as he considered the request. Siren had been using laptops within the lab for the last ten years, but he had a bad habit of losing his temper and destroying things. Vess had banned him from owning one of his own since last year, and it was obvious Siren was tired of using a borrowed laptop.

"Fine," Vess agreed, "I'll give you a laptop, but if you break it you'll never get another one. Ever."

"Okay," Siren said, surprised Vess had given in so easily.

Vess glanced towards Siren's bathroom and then approached to take a look. Everything was horribly basic, and it was the same sort of accommodations the guards were normally given. Siren had been in the same room ever since he arrived in the lab, and he probably should have been given a better room at some point.

Digging in his pocket, Vess pulled out his access card and pressed it against the shower's digital keypad. A menu screen popped up, and he entered his access code. He then went through the shower's settings thoughtfully. Siren was allowed 20 minutes of hot water per day. Doctors and the lead scientists were normally permitted an hour. An extended shower would help improve his condition, but V.I.L.E was extremely stingy when it came to costs. Vess considered it for a few moments, and then completely removed the restriction. Siren would be allowed as much hot water as he wanted.

Vess now considered his debt paid, and he left the bathroom. Siren gave him a questioning look, but Vess didn't explain himself.

"You need to get up and get moving or else it will just make things worse. I'll give you another painkiller at suppertime."

"I liked the morphine," Siren commented.

"I don't doubt it," Vess replied, "but you're not getting any more of it. The last thing I need is for you to get a drug addiction on top of everything else."

Siren let out a groan, feeling like his entire body was bruised. He really doubted a few ibuprofen were going to do the trick.

Vess turned to Terry. "Did the nurse feed him today?"

Terry nodded. "Breakfast and lunch."

"Did he give her a hard time?"

"He tried to, but he was too sore to fight her off." Terry explained, "The feeding tube still seems to be causing him discomfort."

"He'll be tender around the tube for another week or so."

"He's also still experiencing the belly pains every time he's fed. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Siren snapped, lashing out at Terry's leg.

Terry and Vess both ignored him.

"It will take time before he gets used to eating full meals again," Vess explained, "He's fine,"

"Says you," Siren grumbled.

"Make sure he gets up and is moving around within the hour," Vess ordered, packing up his bag, "If you need me, I'll be in my lab restarting my experiment."

They watched as Vess left the room, and Siren wiped at his eyes again and glared at the closed door. "Ungrateful ass," he muttered.

"Come on," Terry said, reaching towards him, "I'll help you up."

"No, leave me to die," Siren responded, pulling his blankets back over himself.

Terry pulled them off again. "No, if Vess thinks you need to start moving, then that's what you're going to do. I'm not going to let you hurt yourself any more than you already have."

Siren let out a long and irritated groan, and then looked up at him. "Fine."

Terry very gently reached down and helped Siren to his feet who was grimacing from the pain.

"Can you walk on your own?" he demanded.

Although Siren's entire body was stiff and sore, now that he was on his feet, he was able to support himself.

"Yeah," he told Terry.

Terry hovered over him just in case, and Siren hobbled across the room to dig out clean clothes out of his dresser. Picking out the loosest and baggiest clothing he owned, he then limped his way towards the bathroom.

"Do you need any help?" Terry asked, worried he'd fall.

Siren flashed him a glare over his shoulder. "I'm sure I can manage," he snapped.

"I was just worried you'd slip in the shower," Terry explained, "Your legs are still pretty wobbly."

Siren said nothing and simply entered the bathroom, closing the door after him. Turning on the shower so the water would warm up, he stripped down and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. His entire body was covered in bruises, stitches and scars, and Siren knew he looked like some sort of monstrous creation. Turning his eyes away from the mirror, he stepped into the water, immediately relaxing under the hot spray.

As was his custom, Siren washed and then just stood there waiting for the water to turn cold. Closing his eyes to enjoy the brief amount of hot water, he waited and then waited some more. Twenty minutes seemed to be taking a lot longer than usual, and after a while he opened his eyes in confusion. Glancing up at the showerhead, the hot water kept coming and coming, and he frowned in confusion. There was then a knock at the door.

"Siren?" Terry called through the door, "Are you alright in there?"

Siren didn't answer, still staring up at the showerhead.

"You've been in there for over an hour," Terry informed him, "Answer me so that I know you're alright."

An hour? He'd been in the shower for an hour? He was only allowed twenty minutes of hot water… Siren's eyes then widened. Vess! Vess had been fiddling around in his bathroom right before he took his shower.

"Siren?" Terry called into the bathroom, "Please answer me."

Siren said nothing, still staring at the showerhead thoughtfully.

"Answer or I'm coming in!" Terry warned.

Vess had been in his bathroom for several minutes and this must have been what he was doing.

"I'm coming in!" Terry announced.

Vess had removed the restriction on his hot water. Why would he do that? Vess didn't do nice things. It had to be a trick. Something wasn't right. Siren felt an odd confusion suddenly come over him, and he didn't even notice when Terry turned off the water and wrapped a towel around him.

"Siren?" Terry questioned.

Siren didn't answer.

Terry looked into his confused eyes, and realized Siren was starting to disassociate. This hadn't happened in weeks, and Terry had been hoping Siren was improving. Giving the smaller man a pitying look, he gently ushered him out of the tiny bathroom.

"Come on, let's get you dressed," he said softly.

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Siren remained in a confused state for several hours, but he hadn't gone violent, instead just clinging to Terry's arm silently. Terry had remained seated on Siren's bed the whole time, keeping an eye on the other man and hoping he wouldn't have to call Vess. When Siren finally snapped out of it, he didn't seem to remember anything, and he immediately snapped at Terry to get off his bed. Terry had done so without protest, and moved to the nearby chair, ignoring Siren's rant about personal space. Siren seemed incredibly agitated, more so than usual, and Terry wondered if this was caused by the disassociation.

When suppertime rolled around, Vess came with painkillers and a new laptop. He handed both to Siren, and then changed his bandages without hardly saying a word.

"Er...Dr. Vess?" Terry said a bit hesitantly.

Vess turned silver eyes to him, and Terry couldn't help but flinch back.

"What?" Vess demanded, "Did something happen?"

Terry shook his head, not wanting to tell him about Siren's 'off' moment. Vess would just further medicate Siren which he doubted would not help the other man in the long run. Siren needed professional help and in order for that, he needed to leave V.I.L.E. He would keep Siren's secrets, and hopefully the other man would be able to escape soon.

"I just wanted to remind you that I booked tomorrow off," Terry stated.

Vess furrowed his brow. He had forgotten about that, and he turned his gaze to Siren with a frown. What would he do with Siren while Terry had a day off?

"You'll need to cancel," Vess replied, "Due to everything that happened, I didn't have a chance to find someone to take your shift."

"Day off?" Siren demanded, "What for?"

"It's my anniversary," Terry replied, "My twentieth in fact."

"Ugh, marriage," Siren commented, reaching for the laptop, "Disgusting."

Terry rolled his eyes, and then glanced back to Vess. "I'm not willing to cancel on my wife," he said firmly, "There are dozens of guards in this building and there must be one who's capable of babysitting Siren for just one day."

"I don't need a fucking Kevin following me around everywhere," Siren snapped, "This is completely ridiculous and unnecessary. I'm fine on my own."

Vess didn't even dignify that with a response. He honestly didn't trust any of the other guards. He knew Terry would never hurt Siren, but the same couldn't be said for anyone else. Almost everyone in the lab hated Siren, and the guards were underpaid, bitter, and afraid of him. Vess didn't want to chance another guard until he was sure he could trust them.

Vess let out a deep and irritated sigh. "I suppose Siren will just have to spend the day with me then."

Siren pulled a face at that. "I'd rather just spend the day in my room if that's my only other alternative."

"No, I'm going to keep you where I can see you," Vess responded impatiently. "Get ready for work the usual time tomorrow."

"I'm still hurt!" Siren protested, "I should be taking a few sick days!"

"I don't care if you work or even if you sleep at your desk all day as long as you're within my sight," Vess replied, "I'll give you a couple painkillers in the morning and you should be fine to walk."

Siren heaved a sigh but knew there was no point in arguing. The only thing arguing would accomplish would be making Vess angry.

"Fine," he agreed sullenly.

Vess stared at him with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, but when Siren said nothing more, he accepted the answer, and then turned towards the door.

"Be dressed and ready by eight tomorrow," Vess stated as he opened the door, "And stop giving the nurse a hard time."

Siren rolled his eyes and didn't answer. The moment Vess was gone, Siren ripped into the laptop box and eagerly pulled it out.

"Nice," Siren commented, "It's one of the good ones. Vess must have been in a good mood for once."

The first thing Siren did was reach into his bedside drawer, pull out a small toolset and then began disassembling the laptop.

"What are you doing?" Terry asked.

"Taking out the tracer V.I.L.E puts in all their laptops," Siren responded, yanking out a tiny microchip, "Don't need anyone nosing into what I do with this laptop."

"Can't they trace what you do through the internet?"

Siren let out a snort. "Maybe if I was a moron. I'm going to be wiping all the software off and starting from scratch. Once I remove the sketchy programs V.I.L.E installed, I can easily fool the internet trace."

Terry didn't know much about technology, but he was still concerned. "Just be careful. If you get caught, there's nothing I can do to protect you."

Siren didn't answer, too busy with what he was doing. Terry watched as he reassembled the laptop and then turned it on to begin reprogramming it.

Terry glanced down at his watch and then over at Siren who was busy typing. "My shift is almost over, and then I'll have to lock you in your room until Vess lets you out tomorrow," he stated, "Do you feel alright?"

Siren made a noise which could have been a yes or a no, never once looking away from the screen. Terry watched him for a few minutes, and then suddenly Siren held out the power cord towards him.

"Plug that in for me," he ordered, still not looking up from the screen.

Terry rolled his eyes at the rude tone and took the cord and plugged it into the nearby outlet without a word. Just before Terry's shift was over, the nurse knocked on the door and entered with another feeding syringe for Siren. When she saw him sitting up and more active than before, she eyed him warily, and then approached the bed.

Siren didn't seem to notice her presence and she carefully moved his shirt aside, ready to jump back if he lashed out at her.

"Stop that," Siren said distractedly.

The nurse hesitated a moment then injected the syringe into the feeding tube as fast as she could. Siren let out a yelp of surprise and noticeably jumped, and he glanced down at the syringe in outrage. The nurse said nothing and simply fled out of the room before he could have a tantrum.

"Holy hell," Siren complained, "I really hate that woman."

"If you hate the feeding tube so much, you should start eating on your own," Terry pointed out, "Vess only did that because you were starving yourself."

"It's not my fault all the food here is disgusting," Siren retorted.

"The food here is pretty standard for any workplace," Terry replied, "Why don't you stick to salads and fruit if you don't like processed food?"

"I don't like salads and fruit," Siren stated.

"Well, then something else."

"I don't like food."

Terry rolled his eyes. "Well, then I don't know what to tell you," he replied, getting to his feet and giving a stretch. "I'm off now, and I'll see you on Saturday after my day off, alright?"

"If I manage to survive Vess' evil clutches," Siren said, turning his gaze back to the laptop.

"You survived working with him for the last ten years, and so I'm sure you can manage a day without me."

Siren made an unhappy sound in the back of his throat, but otherwise didn't answer. Terry rolled his eyes again, glad that he was going to have a completely Siren-free day tomorrow. He was looking forward to spending the day with his wife and kids and not having to worry about being stabbed at any moment by a mentally ill scientist.

As Terry headed for the door, he paused and then glanced back at Siren. "Don't take any chances with Vess," he advised, "He'd kill the both of us if he knew you were planning on running."

"I'm not stupid, Kevin," Siren snapped, "Go away, and leave me alone."

Terry sighed. "You're such a little shit," he commented, leaving the room.

Terry locked Siren's door from the outside, and then turned and headed down the hallway, already in a better mood.

Siren went back to reprogramming the computer, and worked for hours and hours as he made sure the laptop was completely untraceable by V.I.L.E. He finally finished setting everything up the way he wanted at 2am, and fell asleep sitting up with the laptop still on his lap.

When Vess entered his room at eight a.m sharp, he rolled his eyes at the sight of Siren sleeping in such an awkward position. Reaching down he picked up the laptop and then turned it around so he could see the screen. There was a paused YouTube video about Broadway musicals on the screen, and Vess immediately lost interest. Closing the laptop, he set it aside and he then gave Siren a hard shake.

"Hdfhg."

"I told you to be ready by eight," Vess said loudly, "Get up, and get dressed. I need to continue working on my experiment."

Siren groaned.

"You can sleep at your desk," Vess informed him, "Now get up."

Siren cracked open his eyes and then immediately glared up at Vess. He then glanced around until his eyes fell on his laptop. The fact Vess wasn't angry right now showed that the other man didn't look too closely at the laptop. Siren felt confident he could now use the laptop to aid in his escape.

"Here," Vess said, holding out two pills, "Now hurry up and get moving."

Siren popped the pills into his mouth and dry-swallowed them, and then slowly edged over so he could get up. Running a hand through his messy hair, he gave a very careful stretch and then reached down and picked up his laptop. To Vess' surprise, he then headed for the door without getting dressed.

"You're not even going to get cleaned up?" Vess demanded, looking at the baggy sweatpants and stretched out t-shirt the other man was wearing.

"I don't see why it matters," Siren responded, "Who do I have to impress?"

Vess let out a deep resigned sigh, and knew it wasn't worth arguing about it. If Siren wanted to walk around looking like a homeless person, then that was his business.

As they headed for the lab, Vess' mind was already on the experiment he'd started the night before. He felt optimistic about this newest attempt, and it was vastly improved over what he had tried with Crackle. Once this batch was complete, he would use a test subject to see how they reacted to it. He had an entire floor of failed experiments, and most of the test subjects were blind, deaf, or complete vegetables. A few had shown potential for a brief window, but the subjects always ended up getting sick or dying. Crackle was the first to survive, and although he wasn't perfect, it was a step in the right direction.

When they entered the lab, Vess immediately headed for his workstation as Siren went straight to the coffee station.

"Don't bother me today," Vess ordered, reaching for a stack of papers, "I don't care what you do, just leave me alone."

Siren said nothing and simply filled a large mug with coffee, and then took a seat at his desk, opening his laptop. Yawning tiredly, he opened his desk, grabbed his earbuds and then plugged them in. He opened Itunes which he had spent two hours on last night downloading music from the several dozen cds in his room.

Starting a playlist, he adjusted the volume, and then sang along with the music, ignoring the glower Vess shot his way. Taking a long gulp of coffee, he began testing the security on the V.I.L.E servers, looking for any weaknesses. The security had fifteen layers of encryption, but Siren saw the defenses were incredibly out of date. Hacking was a long and boring process, but Siren knew he had all day to work on it.

He began hacking into the V.I.L.E servers, and wormed his way through layer after layer of security. He wanted to see what sort of things V.I.L.E were up to, knowing it wasn't anything good. The nurse came by around nine with his breakfast, and Siren kicked and swore at her, but eventually he did allow her to do her job. After he said a few not-so polite words as she left the room, he went back to forcing his way through the security.

When he finally gained access to the servers, he began nosing through file after file, looking for any dirt he could use. He focused on failed missions and he quickly began seeing a pattern.

As he read document after document, one name kept appearing over and over again. Carmen Sandiego. Everywhere he looked there were mentions of this mysterious red girl, of her betrayal, and of her team that were fighting against V.I.L.E. Siren stared at his screen and cocked his head. Interesting… Who was Carmen Sandiego and who did she represent?

The deeper he dug, the more he began discovering about Carmen. He was surprised that a lot of operatives had defected to join her, but he couldn't seem to find the reason why. Shadowsan. Mime Bomb. El Topo. Le Chèvre. Tigress. Six operatives had been willing to risk their lives by betraying V.I.L.E.

Siren stared at the pictures of the six operatives, wanting to know what happened. He began digging deeper and then paused. Black Sheep. Carmen Sandiego was Black Sheep. He stared at the picture of a teenage Black Sheep beside the picture of her several years later. The last time he had seen Black Sheep was when she had accidentally shot him with some sort of weapon when he was at the academy. He still remembered the terrified look in her eyes as he screamed in agony from the severe burns, and the way the tears had streamed down her cheeks. He'd blacked out pretty fast after the accident, and he'd never seen her again.

Siren's recovery had been extremely slow, and extremely painful, but he knew most of that was V.I.L.E's fault. They were the ones who chose to have a small child in the academy, and they were the ones who chose to leave him with the scars instead of performing skin graft surgery. Even now, ten years later, the scars were still painful, but he had learned to live with it.

Siren glanced back to Carmen's picture, and then continued his search. Both he and Vess were so engrossed in their own work that when the nurse came to deliver his lunch, it took Siren by surprise and he lashed out at her by reflex, letting out an undignified yelp. The nurse always approached him with caution, and so she jumped back before his fist could make contact.

"SIREN!" Vess yelled from the other side of the lab, "What did I tell you about giving her a hard time?"

"She startled me!" Siren defended, "I didn't see her coming!"

Vess narrowed his eyes at him, but decided he had better things to do and went back to what he was doing without a further word. The nurse shot Vess a glare for not doing more than that, and then once again approached Siren. Siren watched her with the unfriendliest expression possible, and once she was done injecting him, he batted her away from him. He didn't actually touch her, but it was enough to cause her to quickly back away from him.

Siren then went back to what he was doing, too interested in Team Red to take any sort of break. He read about the millions of dollars they were stealing from V.I.L.E and their efforts were seriously starting to weaken the organization. He read about the attempts to thwart Team Red, and saw there was a report that detailed Vess shooting Carmen. She was presumed dead, but it had yet to be confirmed.

Siren then found dozens of files about Crackle and his team.

Siren remembered seeing an Australian operative several months ago at the lab, but he hadn't put too much thought into it. The man had been cocky and his personality rubbed Siren the wrong way. Siren had snarked at him a bit, and then avoided him as much as possible.

Siren frowned at what he read. It appeared Vess had been ordered to try the last batch of serum on Crackle, and it seemed to work. Siren scanned the dozens of pages of medical reports, and felt uneasy. Vess was close. He was so close to figuring everything out.

Siren studied the latest series of reports that were sent from Dr. Bellum just a few days ago and he saw that the serum had caused irreversible damage to Crackle's mind. The serum wasn't perfect, but it was the closest Vess had ever gotten. Vess was improving the serum with every experiment, and it wouldn't be long now. Siren glanced up from his screen and looked over at Vess who was completely focused on what he was doing. He couldn't let Vess succeed. He never should have saved Vess' life; he should have let Vess die.

Siren turned his attention to the team that Crackle had been assigned. It was extremely unusual for V.I.L.E to create a team like this, and he was curious about it. To his complete shock he saw that there were reports about the entire team defecting. Another eight operatives defected? That was fourteen operatives in total counting both teams. What was going on in V.I.L.E.? Siren pulled up the Team Crackle profile so he could take a look. Crackle. Dash Haber. Neal the Eel. Paper Star. Otterman. Moose Boy.

Siren froze as his gaze went to the next picture. His breath caught in his throat, and for just a moment it felt like time had slowed to a crawl. Double Trouble. Ten years was a long time, and he'd had little hope of ever seeing their faces again. Siren stared at the pictures of his brothers, and felt tears come to his eyes. They were alive. Somehow they had beaten the odds and lived to be in their thirties. V.I.L.E hadn't killed them, and they had graduated from the academy to become operatives. Reaching out a hand towards his screen, he stared at the scarred and older versions of his brothers, feeling completely overwhelmed. They were alive. He still had a family out there somewhere.

Siren stared at the pictures and felt a lump form in his throat. Where were they now? Were they happy? What happened after he was kidnapped? Why didn't they come to rescue him? Did they let him be taken? Did they even care? Did they even miss him?

Siren closed the laptop as his vision blurred, and then simply sat there sobbing into his hands.

His brothers were alive and that's all that mattered. He finally had something to look forward to in his life. He would find them, and he would have his family back.

"What the hell is your problem?" Vess demanded, glancing up at him, "What happened? Did you rip your stitches?"

Siren couldn't even answer him, too overwhelmed to do anything. A few seconds later, Vess was beside him checking his stitches, and making sure he wasn't feverish. When everything looked fine, he gave Siren an impatient look.

"What is it?" he demanded, "Why are you like this?"

Siren knew he couldn't tell Vess the real reason he was so upset and so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Every single dog in all eight Beethoven movies are dead now."

Vess' face went through several emotions, and then finally settled on exasperation. "Honestly, Siren, you are an absolute pest. I need to do a better job of medicating you. After this experiment, I'm going to start you on a new drug plan. Hopefully then we'll start to even out these emotional outbursts."

Siren responded with something not very polite, and Vess didn't dignify him with an answer. As Vess returned to his desk, Siren struggled to get himself under control, knowing Vess would become suspicious if he remained upset for too long. Wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, Siren knew he would have to resume his research on his brothers in private.

Vess glanced up at him, rolled his eyes, and then went back to work without comment. Siren would calm down and work on a different part of his escape plan instead. He still needed to know where he was, and what the nearby town was like. If he could just get away from Vess for a few hours, he could sneak out of the lab to memorize everything he could about the town. Siren had no access to a vehicle, and he was nervous about venturing out by himself.

"Where's MJ?" Siren asked.

"Probably still in bed," Vess replied disapprovingly.

Siren glanced at the time and saw it was now after two. "It's past two," he pointed out.

"Michael decided to take it upon himself to drink an entire bottle of wine by himself on an empty stomach at 3am." Vess replied with an annoyed expression on his face, "He deserves whatever hangover he wakes up with."

Siren knew that this would be the perfect day to get Michael to take him into town. Terry was off for the entire day, and so he wouldn't get the blame for letting him 'escape' if Vess realized he was gone. Vess would only have himself to blame for losing track of him. The only thing Siren needed to do was convince Michael to get up and go to town with him.

Standing up from his desk, Siren took a few steps towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Vess demanded, "You're staying here until I'm done working."

"I have to pee," Siren informed him.

"If you're not back in five minutes, I'm sending someone to find you," Vess warned.

Siren rolled his eyes, knowing very well Vess would get distracted with work the second he left. Siren was still incredibly sore, but it was a lot more tolerable than the day before, and he knew he'd have no problem walking around town. When Siren reached Vess and Michael's apartment, he tried the door but found it locked. Ringing the doorbell, he waited for a few seconds and then rang it again. When Michael still didn't answer the door, he then began ringing the doorbell repeatedly, knowing how loud and annoying it would be.

After five minutes of non-stop ringing, finally the door was finally thrown open by a frothing angry Michael wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Ring that fucking bell again and I will gouge out your eyes with my fingernails!" he snarled.

"Oh good, you're awake," Siren said innocently, "Get dressed, you're taking me to town."

Michael stared at him for a few seconds in silence, and then slammed the door in his face. Siren immediately rang the doorbell again. Michael threw the door open again, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and then raised a fist like he was going to hit him.

"If you drink a bit more, your hangover will go away," Siren said, covering his face just in case he was hit.

Michael paused. "...really?"

Siren nodded.

Michael's fist still hung in the air threateningly. "That seems like a lie."

"No, no, it's true!" Siren insisted, "Drink a bit and your headache will completely go away!"

Michael released him. "I drank the only liquor I had."

"Well, didn't you say there was a bar in town?" Siren commented, "We can go to town, get a few drinks and then explore a bit."

Michael stared down at him and then ran a hand through his hair to straighten it. "Does it have to be right this second?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You promised if I saved Numa's life you'd do this for me," Siren pointed out, "Are you going to go back on your word?"

Michael sneered at him and then slammed the door in his face for a second time. When Siren rang the doorbell again, Michael opened the door and then yanked him inside.

"Fine," Michael snapped, "But you have to wait while I get ready. If I take you to town, you're paying for my drinks and I have the right to pretend I don't know you if anyone sees us together."

Siren rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"You're lucky I need paint," Michael muttered, rubbing his aching head.

Siren raised a brow in question. "What do you need paint for?"

Michael turned a glare towards him. "Mind your own business, eunuch!"

Siren rolled his eyes and said nothing more.

"Sit on the couch and don't touch any of my shit," Michael ordered, heading for his bedroom.

The second he was gone, Siren glanced around and saw the apartment was as spotless as always. Michael didn't seem the sort to do household chores and so that meant Vess either cleaned up after working all day or Vess was using a private maid. Siren then furrowed his brow as a thought occurred to him. He'd been smashing and throwing things all over his room for years but yet it was always tidied up the next time he returned. He'd never seen anyone go in his room, but they must. He always had clean clothes and fresh towels, but he'd never really thought about it before. Did the cleaner purposely wait until Siren was away and then sneak in to do some cleaning?

Siren valued his privacy and this bothered him on a very deep level. Had this person nosed through all his belongings? They'd never tattled to Vess about all the contraband he had hidden in his room, and so he doubted they worked for Vess. Remembering how he and Braxton had pretty much destroyed Vess' apartment, he knew it would have been an incredible amount of work. He was surprised there had never been a complaint against him for the hundreds of times he'd smashed things.

Siren took a seat on the couch and when he heard Michael turn on the shower, he realized this was going to be a while. Grabbing the ps4 controller, he turned on the tv and then waited as it powered on. He played for about half an hour as he waited, and then the door suddenly opened. Siren looked up and saw Vess enter the apartment looking incredibly pissed off.

"Michael?" he called out, "Are you awake yet? Siren's gone missing."

"I'm right here," Siren informed him, causing Vess to jump in surprise.

Turning around, Vess stared at Siren who had made himself at home on his couch and then his eyes narrowed furiously. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" he demanded.

"Michael let me in," Siren replied.

"Michael let you in?" Vess repeated, tone skeptical.

When Siren nodded, Vess glanced around but Michael was nowhere to be seen.

"Michael?" Vess called out.

"What?" Michael responded, entering the room while drying his hair with a towel.

"Did you let Siren in?" Vess demanded.

"He invited me to play his ps4 with him," Siren answered, not trusting Michael to answer.

"Er...yeah," Michael agreed, "I figured I'd give you a break from his horribleness for a few hours."

Vess was immediately suspicious. "I didn't authorize this, and neither of you even bothered to mention it to me! I had to stop working to search for him!"

Siren shrugged. "Sorry."

Vess let out a deep sigh. It was incredibly tempting to get a bit of quiet in the lab, but he didn't especially trust Siren at the moment. He was still injured though and probably not much of a threat to Michael physically even if he disassociated. Vess looked from Siren to Michael and then back again.

"Siren is not to leave that couch for any reason unless you're escorting him," Vess ordered, "If he seems sick or in any way off, you're to call me immediately."

Michael rolled his eyes, and then continued drying his hair. Vess yanked the towel away from him.

"Tell me you understand," Vess ordered.

"Yes, Numa, the little shit-stain will be perfectly fine," Michael answered, "Did you see the lunch I made you in the fridge?"

"The one you made when you were blackout drunk?" Vess asked, raising a brow, "I'm surprised you can even remember that."

"Yeah, I made it just for you!" Michael told him, "It has all ten food groups!"

"Ten food groups…" Vess repeated, "Michael there aren't…"

Vess trailed off, figuring it wasn't worth it. Vess had seen the abomination in the fridge that morning, and he had no idea what it was supposed to be. It looked like Michael had stirred sugary breakfast cereal in with hamburger, pasta and several whole vegetables, and he had quietly disposed of it before leaving for work.

"I'll be working until eight or so," Vess told him, "Don't let Siren leave this apartment."

"I have to finish my hair," Michael said, rolling his eyes again and heading back for the bathroom, "See you later, Numa."

Vess turned his gaze to Siren who was busy pretending to be engrossed in the game. "Stay with Michael," he ordered.

"Fuck off, Numa," Siren replied, not taking his eyes from the screen.

Vess knew Siren and Michael had never had an issue before when they gamed together and had no reason to suspect today would be any different.

"I'll inform the nurse you're here, so don't give her a hard time."

"How long are you going to keep this tube in me?" Siren demanded.

"Until you prove you can be trusted to eat three meals a day," Vess replied indifferently.

"How many meals do you eat a day?" Siren challenged.

"Three," Vess replied, raising a brow.

"...oh."

"If Michael gets tired of having you around, don't give him a hard time about it," Vess instructed, heading for the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Siren answered, going back to his game.

The second Vess was gone, Siren tossed the controller aside and then hurried to find Michael. Michael was standing in front of the bathroom mirror putting gel in his hair, and when he saw Siren standing in the doorway, he shot him a scowl.

"I'm not ready yet!"

"Numa is gone, and so we should get to town and back as soon as possible."

Michael turned around and then slowly looked Siren up and down. "You're going to stick out in town like the weirdo you are," he pointed out, "The town is where all the guards live and they'll recognize you in a second."

Siren hadn't thought of that and glanced down at himself. "Well, then I'll disguise myself."

Michael let out a snort. "As what, one of Santa's dwarves? You're like three feet tall."

Siren crossed his arms defensively. "Actually, I'm five foot two, and for your information, Santa has ELVES, not dwarves."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Same difference."

"The Elves and Dwarves from Lord of the Rings would have something to say about that," Siren commented.

"Oh my god, you're such a nerd!" Michael complained, "I bet you speak that nerd language from that space show too!"

Siren raised a brow. "Klingon from Star Trek?" he guessed.

"Maybe?"

"Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam," Siren replied, turning to walk away.

"Oh my god…" Michael moaned, "I want to beat you up so bad!"

Siren said nothing, and simply stood out in the hallway to wait for Michael to finish. When Michael came out a few minutes later, he was dressed like he was going clubbing, and he grimaced at the sight of Siren.

"Why do you look like that?" he demanded, "You look like someone who sleeps under a bridge."

Siren wanted to say something really mean, but he bit his tongue knowing he had to play nice if he wanted Michael to take him to town.

"What if I dress as a Kevin?" Siren suggested.

"As a what? Oh right, the guards. You'd have to pretend to be a female guard since you're so tiny."

Siren knew where the spare guard uniforms were kept, and he motioned for Michael to follow him. They stepped out of the apartment, and to Siren's shock, Michael strode up to the nearby guard walking up the hall, and then shoved him to the ground. He then yanked the helmet from his head and began bashing the man's head against the floor before he had a chance to react. Siren simply watched in complete shock, and when the guard went limp, Michael glanced around to make sure no one saw and then dragged the guard into the apartment.

"There, now take his uniform," Michael ordered, "I'll find something to tie him up with."

As Michael walked off, Siren knelt down next to the guard and rolled him over. The man was still breathing and so Siren knew he'd likely be alright. He quickly stripped the man's uniform off, and knew it was going to be way too big on him. Michael returned with several bungee cords, and as the man was tied up, Siren put the uniform on, rolling up the sleeves and tucking the pantlegs into the boots. Tightening the belt to keep the pants up, he then put on the thick coat and zipped it all the way up. Lastly, he put on the helmet and tucked his hair up out of sight.

Michael glanced up at him and frowned. "Yeah, that should work," he commented, "People will just assume you're a woman."

"These clothes smell like B.O," Siren complained.

"You're just not used to manly scents since you're such a puss," Michael retorted, standing up, "Are you ready to go?"

Siren nodded. "If I'm paying for the drinks, I'll need to grab my V.I.L.E card out of my bedroom. I've never used it, so hopefully it still works."

Michael nodded. "Okay, we'll stop at your room, and then go out the South exit and take one of the vans."

Siren gave another nod as Michael began explaining how he had special permission to take any of the vehicles on the South side of the building. Siren took a long and deep breath, feeling anxious and a little bit afraid. He was leaving the lab for the first time in ten years, and he had no idea what was out there. Pushing aside his nervousness, he followed along behind Michael, ignoring everything he blathered about.

---

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

---

The moment they stepped outside, the cold hit them like a slap in the face, and Siren was immediately tempted to just go back inside. He'd never been good with the cold, and he began to shiver as he followed Michael across the parking lot. Michael was visibly shivering and he muttered to himself angrily about the weather. Siren glanced all around and saw the lab was surrounded by a concrete wall that must have been at least fifty feet tall. It seemed V.I.L.E had learned from the Volkov attack and ensured there would be no more surprise attacks.

Michael led him over to one of the several dozen black vans, and then began digging through his pocket. He pulled out his V.I.L.E card, laid it against the keypad of the van, and the doors immediately clicked open. Siren had never seen anything like this before and was fascinated.

"Get in," Michael ordered, "I'm driving."

Siren got in the passenger's side, and then watched as Michael inserted his card into a slot beside the steering wheel and the van started. Thankfully the heat began blasting into the van, and Siren relaxed, the cold a bit more bearable now. He put on his seatbelt, feeling incredibly nervous about leaving the lab, and he watched as Michael fiddled with the mirrors. Just a few seconds with the intense heaters melted the ice on the windshield, and Michael put on his seatbelt.

"Can you drive?" Michael asked him curiously, putting the van into gear.

Siren shook his head. "No. They tried to teach me at the academy, but I panicked and ended up running over someone."

Michael snorted in amusement. "Did you kill them?"

"No, it was just Coach Brunt and it did more damage to the car than to her. She would never let me behind the wheel of any vehicle after that."

"I'm surprised you could see over the steering wheel," Michael responded.

"I'm surprised you passed the written examination," Siren retorted.

"Fuck you, I did good on that!" Michael snapped, "I got a 75!"

"The pass is 80," Siren informed him.

Michael glanced over at him. "You serious?"

Siren nodded.

Michael frowned thoughtfully. "Huh... My father must have made them pass me… He was always doing shit like that. I'd get 90's on tests I didn't even do."

"I thought you dropped out of school?" Siren asked as the van slowly pulled out of the parking spot.

"I did," Michael confirmed, "School was just bullshit and I dropped out after 8th grade. It was pointless considering my father already had my entire life planned out for me. From the second I was born, he decided I was going to work for him."

There was a deep bitterness to Michael's words, and Siren knew better than to make a comment. Siren turned his gaze out the window and watched as they approached a massive gate guarded by four armed men.

"Dammit, why is security doubled today?" Michael wondered, "Normally there's only two!"

"Erm, Michael?" Siren questioned, "Are you sure you can get us through there?"

"Just stay quiet and let me handle it," Michael responded.

Michael slowed down to a stop in front of the gate and then rolled down his window. When the guard saw who it was driving, his exasperation was evident as he approached.

"Business?" he demanded.

"Fucking your wife," Michael responded, "Is she home today?"

The guard let out a sigh, and then glanced over at Siren. He seemed to be surprised to see anyone with Michael and he leaned through the window.

"And who is this?" he asked, "Lisa, is that you?"

Michael shoved the man's head out of the car. "Mind your own business, rent-a-cop! Just open the damn gate!"

"Some sort of important shipment is arriving this week for Dr. Vess and he asked security to be doubled. I need to verify the identity of each and every person coming and going out of the complex."

"I have special permission to come and go anytime I want!" Michael snapped, "It's cold and I want to roll my window up!"

"You'll be through in just a moment," the guard assured him, "Who's with you? I need to make note of it."

Michael let out an angry sigh. "Fine, yes, it's Lisa, now open the damn gate."

"Why is Lisa with you?" the guard asked in confusion.

"None of your business!"

The guard leaned back through the window. "Are you okay, Lisa?" he asked.

Siren nodded silently.

The guard hesitated. "Are you two dating?"

Michael let out an instant squawk of outrage. "Ew, of course not! Don't be so disgusting! I'm dating Dr. Vess! Lisa is just getting a ride into town with me. I don't even know this bitch!"

The guard relaxed and gave a nod. Turning to the other guards, he gave a thumb's up and they began opening the gate. He then turned back around and leaned in the window again.

"Um...Lisa, I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to come over tonight and watch the hockey game with me? I know you've turned me down a few times before, but this is going to be real casual with just a bunch of friends. We're going to have snacks and just enjoy the game. I swear I won't be creepy this time!"

Siren said nothing.

"How about it?" the guard asked hopefully, "Will you come over?"

Siren flashed the guard both middle fingers, and as Michael pulled away, the guard let out a disappointed sigh.

"Did she flip you off again?" another guard called over.

"Yeah..."

They didn't hear the rest of the conversation as they pulled through the gate onto the road beyond. Michael rolled his window back up, and Siren let out a breath of relief.

"So how far is the town?" Siren asked.

"Uhhh, like ten kilometres or so...I think. All I know is it's this way."

Siren rolled his eyes and simply looked out at the scenery silently. The landscape was completely flat and it was ice and snow as far as he could see. There were several V.I.L.E signal towers in the distance, but other than that, it was pretty barren. Hoping they wouldn't break down, Siren glanced at the gas gauge and saw there was only a quarter tank of gas left.

"Fill up that tank once we get to town," Siren ordered, "I'm not breaking down and freezing to death with you of all people."

"Why should I pay for gas?" Michael shot back, "It's V.I.L.E's car!"

Siren gave him a look of disbelief. "Seriously? Put gas in the damn car!"

"In about two seconds you're going to be walking!" Michael threatened, "Don't tell me what to do!"

Siren went quiet and made a mental note to check the gas gauge before getting back in the car on the way back. The town came within sight just a few minutes later and it was a lot bigger than Siren had anticipated. It was almost like a real town, and he could see about a hundred houses, and dozens of businesses.

"All of this is V.I.L.E owned?" Siren questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah, everyone who lives in the town either work at the lab or are the wives/husbands of those who do." Michael responded, "Absolutely everyone is V.I.L.E."

"What about the kids?" Siren asked with a frown.

"They attend some sort of early V.I.L.E academy that prepares them for the real academy when they're eighteen. I think it's a real school that teaches reading, writing and other shit, but like...more evil. The parents don't know this of course since most of them are just guards and their spouses. V.I.L.E is hoping to get superior recruits this way."

Siren felt completely disgusted. "Did Vess do this?" he demanded.

"Naw, this was all Professor Maelstrom," Michael responded, "He designed the school to corrupt the morals of the children and steer them towards a life of crime. It's hilariously messed up."

Siren went silent realizing that V.I.L.E truly was trying to create an army. Maelstrom was corrupting the schools and Vess was creating child soldiers. The world was going to become a horrible and scary place very soon, and Siren once again regretted saving Vess' life. He'd saved him for purely selfish reasons, but now he wasn't sure it was worth it.

"My head is killing me, so we're going to the bar first," Michael informed him, "I'm craving a nice whiskey."

"Isn't that an old man drink?" Siren demanded.

"What? No! Whiskey is awesome, and don't you dare badmouth it."

Siren rolled his eyes and simply turned his attention back out the window.

"It's snowing," Siren commented wistfully, watching as the flurries swirled around the air.

"Yeah, Numa said something about a storm coming this way so we can't stay long."

"I wasn't planning to," Siren responded, "We need to get back before he notices we're gone."

Michael pulled into a parking lot and Siren stared at the bar with a frown.

"The Greasy Anus," he read outloud, "Real high class establishment you chose, MJ."

"This place is awesome," Michael responded, "No one cares if I smoke weed inside and their music is kick-ass."

Michael yanked his V.I.L.E card out of the ignition slot and the van powered down. "Come on," he ordered, opening the door.

The air was even more bitter than just a few minutes before, and Siren quickly headed for the bar, just wanting to get inside out of the cold. The second he stepped inside, he was hit with cigarette smoke and loud rap music, and he grimaced. The bar was seedy and the people inside looked sketchy even by V.I.L.E's standards.

"Michael, are you sure-"

"Shh," Michael interrupted, "Don't act like a weirdo in here."

Siren followed behind Michael, not liking the atmosphere at all, and he just wanted to leave. They approached the bartender who rolled her eyes at the sight of Michael and she crossed her arms.

"I permanently banned you from this bar," she stated, looking ready for a fight.

Michael waved her off dismissively. "That was last week, and now I know better than to drink Juggernaut."

"You pissed on the pool table."

"And I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"No, actually you didn't."

"Well, you billed me for the table so that's pretty much the same thing, isn't it?"

The bartender let out a long and deep sigh, and then glanced to Siren. "No helmets allowed in the bar. If you want to be served, you need to take it off."

Siren didn't reply and Michael quickly stepped in front of him. "Just give us two Crown Vile whiskies on the rocks."

The bartender was now suspicious. "Why won't you remove your helmet?" she demanded.

Siren glanced towards the door, having a feeling this was not going to end well.

"Are you someone I've banned from my bar?" she snapped, "Lisa, is that you? You know you're not allowed in here anymore!"

Siren had no idea who this Lisa woman was, but clearly she was infamous among the dregs of V.I.L.E.

"None of your business who it is!" Michael retorted, "Just serve us!"

The bartender stared at Siren with narrowed eyes. "Take off that helmet or you two get nothing and I hit the alert button."

Michael glanced over at the large red alert button on the wall and he knew from experience that the second it was pressed, every guard in the area would swarm the bar. Michael let out a curse, knowing they were stuck.

"Take off the helmet," Michael told Siren.

Siren shook his head silently.

"You are not jeopardizing my whiskey!" Michael informed him, "Take off the damn helmet!"

Siren shook his head again, suddenly feeling like his life was in danger. Michael stared at him angrily for a moment and then reached out and yanked the helmet off him. Siren froze and then stared at the bartender and she seemed surprised.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I thought you were a woman!"

There was no recognition in her eyes, and Siren let out a breath of relief and relaxed. The bartender studied his face and then frowned.

"How old are you?" she demanded, "You don't look any older than seventeen or eighteen."

"I'm twenty-eight," Siren replied.

"I'm going to need to see some I.D," the bartender replied skeptically, "V.I.L.E doesn't allow liquor for anyone under twenty-five. It's a senior operative benefit."

Siren's gaze shifted to Michael who he knew was only twenty-two. Michael brandished a V.I.L.E I.D card which had his age as three years older. Siren didn't have an I.D card, and the only thing he had brought was his V.I.L.E debit card.

"I.D?" the bartender repeated, holding out her hand.

"...I don't have one."

The bartender rolled her eyes. "Look, kid, just because my bar is absolute shit doesn't mean I'm going to be breaking V.I.L.E rules. You'd better stick to soda."

"Okay," Siren responded, hating the fact he looked so young, "Pepsi, I guess…"

When Siren had been in highschool he'd looked about twelve years old, and he still had a babyface. It was embarrassing that at twenty-eight years old, he still couldn't order a drink without being I.D'ed.

Michael looked incredibly smug as he was served his whiskey, and Siren watched as the bartender dispensed soda into a tall glass. Siren wouldn't have wanted the whiskey anyway, but it was the principle of the matter. Unwrapping a straw, he stuck it into his glass.

"That will be 3 V.I.L.E bucks," the bartender informed them, holding out her hand.

"The nerd is paying for all drinks today," Michael informed her.

Siren handed over his card and she tapped it against her terminal to pay for the drinks. Her eyes widened when she saw how much was in his account and she turned to stare at him in surprise. Who was this? Was he the son of one of the V.I.L.E heads? Why did he have over twenty million dollars in his bank account? Was the card stolen? Was he even authorized to use it?

Siren took a sip of his soda and then immediately spit it back into the cup and gagged.

"Ugh, this is coke!" he snapped angrily, "I asked for Pepsi!"

"That's all I have," the bartender replied, handing his V.I.L.E card back.

Siren shoved the glass away from him and then glanced over at Michael who was now on his second whiskey.

"Okay, you had a drink, now let's get going," Siren said, glancing towards the door.

"I'm not going anywhere," Michael responded, "I'm going to sit here and enjoy my drinks, and then I'm going to the art store."

Siren frowned at him. "We don't have time to do both!"

Michael didn't seem concerned. "Then you go look around town and I'll stay here. I'll get good and drunk, and you can go do whatever it is you're here to do."

Siren let out an exasperated sigh, but he knew it was probably better if Michael wasn't there to watch his every move.

"Fine, I'll be back in like an hour or maybe two at the most," Siren said, standing up, "Don't leave me here."

Michael rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to leave you behind, nerd. Don't get lost and freeze to death or Numa will be pissed at me."

Siren put the helmet back on, and then turned towards the door. Glad to be leaving the sketchy bar, he stepped back out into the bitter cold and saw that it was now fully snowing. He'd have to make this quick or the driving would get bad pretty fast. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat, he began walking through the streets, memorizing the buildings and layout as he passed. Shivering from the cold, he knew he couldn't stay out for long and needed to see the entire town as fast as possible.

Siren's gaze fell on a tall tower in the middle of town, and wondered what it was. Knowing it would be a good vantage point, he headed for it, hoping he would be allowed inside. The tower appeared to be an air traffic control tower for the nearby landing strip, and he entered, just wanting to get out of the cold.

"Afternoon!" a guard greeted him in the lobby, "Chilly day outside, isn't it?"

Siren didn't answer and instead headed straight for the elevator.

"God you're such an ass, Lisa," the man muttered, "It wouldn't kill you to say 'hello'."

Siren said nothing and simply got on the elevator and hit the top floor button. As the elevator went up floor after floor, Siren hoped no one would question why he was here. Humming along with the elevator music, he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them up, hoping he wouldn't have to spend too long outside after this.

The elevator dinged and opened to the top floor and he was met with the sight of two guards seated at a control panel. They glanced over at him and then immediately waved.

"Oh, hey Lisa!" one of them greeted, "I didn't know you were working here today. Are you on patrol duty?"

Siren nodded and then approached the glass walls so he could peer out. Like predicted, he could now see the entire town, and he quickly memorized everything.

"It's been a really quiet day," one of the guard's informed him, "The storm is keeping most people inside. We had a bit of an issue with a plane trying to land a few minutes ago, and it had to be redirected to the next town over."

Siren stared at the snow outside, seeing that it was coming down even thicker than before. Turning his attention to the console the two guards sat at, he studied the maps and information on the screens seeing that they were 400 kilometres from the nearest town. Planes were obviously closely monitored and so that meant the only way to escape would be by car. He'd have to get a massive head start if he had to drive that far.

Siren didn't like the idea of trying to drive, but he really saw no other choice. There were no trains, no buses, and flying wasn't an option. He'd have to leave in the dead of night and hope he didn't crash when he stole a car. He'd have to find a way past the main gate, and also steal someone's V.I.L.E I.D card to operate the car with. Whoever Lisa was, she must be short and very slender like he was, and so perhaps he could pretend to be her when the time came?

"When does your shift end?" one of the guard's asked him, "You wanna grab a few drinks?"

Siren turned to walk away and the other guard shoved his partner. "Stop hitting on her. She gets hit on all the time and she doesn't like it!"

"Oh...I didn't mean it like that. Sorry, Lisa!"

Siren said nothing and entered the elevator, knowing he had to get back to the bar before the storm got any worse. As the elevator descended, he once again hummed along with the music, feeling a bit better about his escape plans. At least he now had an idea of what he had to work towards. Now that he had his own laptop, he could try to reach out to Volkov to see if they would be willing to help him. He had no idea if Volkov even still existed, and knew he still had a lot of research ahead of him.

Siren was shivering within seconds of being outside, and he hurried in the direction of the bar, the wind really starting to pick up. As he walked down the sidewalk, his gaze fell on a music store and he paused. Staring through the window, he could see hundreds of cds and records. Biting his lower lip, he debated for a few seconds and then entered the shop.

"We're going to be closing soon because of the weather!" the shop clerk called over to him.

Siren said nothing, already thumbing through the cds. He wasn't sure if he could get away with buying anything, but he still wanted to look. Once he was free from V.I.L.E he could buy as much music as he wanted. He looked over newer cds he'd never seen before, and he knew that now his online activity wasn't being tracked, he could look a few of these artists up. Siren went through shelf after shelf, memorizing names and cover art, and after a time he became aware of the clerk clearing her throat behind him. He paused and glanced over to her.

"I'm closing the store now," she informed him, "I've already stayed way longer than I was planning to. If you're buying anything, I can ring you up now."

Siren glanced at the cds he still hadn't looked through. "Not done yet," he commented, going back to what he was doing.

"Yes, you're done," the clerk said firmly, "The storm is getting too bad to remain open."

Siren ignored her, and so she approached and put a hand on his back. "Come on, I'm asking you to please come back another day."

"I only have one more shelf to look through," Siren commented, shrugging her hand off his back.

"No, you've been here for over two hours," the clerk informed him, "You can finish looking some other time."

"Two hours? I was not here for two hours!" Siren protested, "It's been like ten minutes!"

The clerk pointed towards the clock and Siren was shocked to see the time. He really had been there for over two hours. Oops. Michael was probably really pissed off by now, and he let out a sigh. The clerk then took him by the arm and began pushing him in the direction of the door.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" Siren snarled, trying to pull away.

The clerk tightened her grip and shoved him out the door. Siren stumbled in the snow, and then then spun to face her angrily, only to have the door closed in his face. Absolutely furious, he kicked the door hard.

"How dare you!" Siren yelled at the door, "It's unprofessional and rude to lay your hands on a customer! I was going to leave and you didn't need to throw me out the door!"

Siren kicked the door again, and the clerk pulled down the blinds. Siren huffed, and then turned to storm away.

"...Siren?" came a voice from behind him.

Siren froze, and then slowly turned around.

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Terry left the restaurant with his wife, and had his arm wrapped around her affectionately. They'd had a very relaxing and romantic early supper, and he was looking forward to going home to spend time with his kids. He looked down at his beautiful blonde-haired wife, and felt blessed by having her at his side. She smiled up at him in a soft and sweet fashion and he immediately leaned down to steal a kiss.

"The storm is really bad," his wife Lucy said worriedly, "I hope the boys are alright…"

"Eddy is twelve and he's capable of watching his brothers for an hour," Terry pointed out.

"What if the power went out?"

"Then I'm sure the generator would have kicked in. They're fine, Luce, and how often do you get to leave the house?"

Lucy frowned but then nodded her agreement. "You're right, I'm just being overprotective again…"

Terry kissed her cheek. "It's because you're a good mother," he assured her, "Now let's head home."

Lucy nodded, and she took his hand as they began heading down the street.

"It's really bitter today," Terry commented, "I hope the storm isn't too bad tonight. I'll have to close the storm shutters just in case."

As they walked along, all of a sudden, Terry heard a very familiar voice.

"Get your fucking hands off me!"

Terry froze and then looked over at the small figure that was thrown out of a nearby shop. He watched as the person kicked the shop door, and was clearly having a tantrum, and Lucy frowned up at him.

"Terry?" she questioned.

Terry let out a deep and resigned sigh. His one day off. He wasn't even allowed just one day away from this craziness.

"How dare you! It's unprofessional and rude to lay your hands on a customer! I was going to leave and you didn't need to throw me out the door!" Siren bellowed out.

Terry saw that Siren was dressed as a guard, and he immediately headed over to him, knowing Siren wasn't allowed out of the lab.

"Siren?" he questioned.

Siren immediately went quiet and then slowly turned around to face him, clearly knowing he'd just been caught.

"What are you doing here?" Terry demanded, angrily. "Can I even go one damn day without you getting into trouble?"

Siren said nothing for a moment and then adopted a thick Russian accent. "Sorry, you have me mistaken for someone else."

Terry yanked his helmet off, and then glowered down at him. Siren crossed his arms and looked away. Lucy approached and looked Siren up and down.

"Someone you know, Terry?" she questioned.

"This is Siren," he replied, feeling resigned.

Lucy's eyes widened. "The scientist you guard up at the lab?"

Terry nodded.

Terry had complained endlessly about Siren for months to the whole family, and so Lucy immediately looked him up and down again. He was very short and he had a sweet-looking face and large and innocent looking eyes, and she couldn't imagine him being as horrible as Terry had described.

"Hello," Lucy greeted, holding out her hand towards him.

Siren glared at her and didn't accept the hand.

"What are you doing here?" Terry demanded for the second time. "You know you're not allowed out of the lab! I thought Vess was supposed to be watching you!"

"Michael brought me to town," Siren said evasively.

"That is not at all reassuring!" Terry snapped, "Where's Michael? I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! You could have gotten hurt or lost! What if you had a confused moment and wandered out into the tundra?"

"I'm not a child, Kevin, and if I want to go to town, then I'll go to town!"

Lucy furrowed her brow. "Kevin?" she questioned.

Terry let out a sigh. "Long story, Luce, I'll explain later." He then turned his attention back to Siren. "Where's Michael?"

"Getting drunk at the Greasy Anus."

Terry sighed again. "Of course he is. Come on, I'm bringing you back to Michael so he can return you to the lab."

"Mind your own business, Kevin," Siren ordered, turning away, "I was never here."

Terry immediately caught him by the arm. "This is my business. Literally my entire job is keeping you safe, you little shit."

"Terry!" Lucy scolded, "That was really rude! There was no need of that! Look at how sweet he looks, don't be so mean to him!"

Terry gave her a flat look. "Just wait until he speaks and then you won't think he's so sweet."

Siren tried to shake Terry off, but the other man simply tightened his grip. Siren seemed to notice Lucy for the first time and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Oh, well I'm Lu-"

"Oh wait, I recognize you," Siren interrupted, "You're Kevin's Lucy."

Lucy cocked her head. "Kevin? My husband's name is Terry."

"Your cooking really sucks, and it tastes like poisoned vomit," Siren informed her.

Lucy was completely taken aback. "..wh-wha...? I beg your pardon?"

Terry rolled his eyes. "I warned you."

"Let go!" Siren ordered, yanking on his arm, "I'll go back to the lab."

"No, I will escort you until I'm sure you make it back safely," Terry responded, "Stop being difficult so you don't waste any more of my day off!"

Siren scowled at him but said nothing. Terry then glanced over at Lucy who was watching Siren with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"There's no point in you freezing your butt off, Luce, you head back to the house and I'll be along in a few minutes."

"No, I'll come along," she informed him, wanting to be nosy.

Lucy knew that Siren was the most valuable scientist in the lab, and she knew there had been several attempts at his life, but she was curious about him.

"Are you sure?" Terry asked worriedly, "It's freezing out here!"

"I'm fine," she responded, offering him a soft smile.

Terry gave a nod and they began walking, Siren being tugged along like a disobedient child. He was annoyed, but he honestly felt safer with Terry walking by his side and so he didn't put up too much of a protest. When they reached the bar, they saw it was closed and there were no cars in the parking lot. Terry peered in the window and saw it was empty and all the lights were turned off.

"There's no one here…" Terry said, frowning.

Siren paused and then his eyes widened. "That Irish bastard left me behind! He didn't even try to find me! That son of a bitch!"

Terry let out a low groan knowing that meant he would have to drive Siren back to the lab. He could see how hard Siren was shivering, and knew he was still recovering from his injuries.

"I'll have to call the lab to let Vess know you're safe with me. You'd better come back to my house to warm up before we head back."

"I'm going to kill Michael!" Siren vowed.

"You look half frozen," Lucy said sympathetically, "I'll make you some tea once we get to the house."

"I don't like tea."

"That's fine," she assured him, "What do you like?"

Siren hesitated, not expecting her kind and patient tone. "Does your house have hot chocolate?" he demanded.

Lucy smiled. "It does," she confirmed.

"The stuff in a tin?"

Lucy nodded.

Siren seemed to think about it for a moment and then to Terry's surprise, he returned the nod.

"I like hot chocolate…" he commented, "As long as it has exactly 3 marshmallows in it."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure I can manage that."

"Alright," Siren agreed, allowing Lucy to take him by the arm.

Terry simply shook his head. Lucy could probably charm a starving grizzly bear. He followed along behind them, and by the time they made it to his house three streets over, they were all freezing and covered in snow.

The wind was howling all around them, and they could barely see through the snow. Terry unlocked the door and they stumbled inside, glad to be out of the cold. As they removed their coats, two small boys ran to greet their parents. The boys looked to be about eight and six, and they were immediately curious about Siren.

When Terry was handed Siren's coat, he glanced at the inside and saw it belonged to one of the 2nd floor guards.

"How did you get Brian's uniform?" he demanded.

Siren simply shrugged, and Terry frowned in disapproval, having a feeling it was a story that shouldn't be told in front of his family.

"This is someone your daddy works with," Lucy explained to the youngest child, "He's going to stay here for a bit to warm up and then go home."

"Hi!" the six year old greeted Siren, "My name is Eric!"

"I don't care," Siren replied, earning a sharp elbow from Terry.

"Be nice!" Terry hissed at him, "This is my family!"

Siren rolled his eyes. After kicking off his stolen boots and rest of the uniform, Siren was left in his sloppy clothes and Terry frowned at him.

"Did you not get dressed today? Those are the same clothes you were wearing yesterday."

Siren didn't answer, glancing all around feeling uncertain and out of his depth. He wasn't used to socializing and this was too many people for his liking. Seeing his obvious discomfort and uncertainty, Lucy offered him a smile.

"Come on, the kitchen is this way," she instructed, taking him by the elbow.

Siren shot Terry a nervous look and so Terry followed along to keep an eye on things. If Siren showed even the slightest indication of disassociating, he would have to protect his family. He would never allow Siren to harm them, and he hoped Siren kept his right mind so he wouldn't have to defend them.

"You're so thin," Lucy commented in concern, "Have you been sick recently?"

"Siren has issues when it comes to food," Terry responded with a roll of his eyes, "He doesn't eat."

"Stop talking about me!" Siren snapped, "I'm fine!"

Lucy looked him over again and she was concerned. "I'm going to make you something to eat," she announced.

"No."

"It'll just be a waste, Luce, he won't eat it."

"Well, there must be something you like," Lucy said to him. "What kind of food do you like?"

"I'm not hungry and there's nothing I like," Siren responded, taking a seat at the table.

"Well, he liked your soup and he likes bologna," Terry commented, thinking of the two days they spent in the lab's basement.

"I don't have the ingredients to make the soup, but I can make you a sandwich if you like?" Lucy offered.

Siren wrinkled his nose and didn't answer.

"I'll make you one," Lucy announced.

"I'm just going to step outside the door to give my boss a call," Terry told her.

"Wait, no, don't tell him!" Siren said in a panic, "He's going to be so pissed about this!"

"Well, who's fault is that?" Terry shot back.

"Michael's."

"No, it's your fault for sneaking away the second you were out of my sight! I can't cover for you. He likely already knows."

Siren looked mutinous knowing Vess was going to go nuclear the moment he returned. He let out a curse, knowing this whole thing could have been avoided if Michael simply did what he promised. Terry left the room and suddenly Siren was surrounded by three children.

"Hi!" the little one said again, "I'm Eric!"

"You already said that," Siren pointed out.

"What's your name?" Eric demanded.

"Go away."

The eight year old hadn't said a word yet, and he seemed a little bit anxious about having Siren in the house. He was hugging his arms close to his chest and was rocking slightly, staring at Siren but carefully not making eye contact. The oldest boy was staring straight at Siren, taking in his messy and disheveled appearance in amusement.

"You look like a homeless person," he commented.

"Edward!" Lucy immediately scolded, "Don't be so rude! You apologize right this instant!"

Edward rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Sorry," he said, clearly not meaning it.

Lucy frowned in disapproval and then ushered the three children to take a seat.

"White or whole wheat bread, Siren?" Lucy asked, holding up two loaves.

"White."

"Your name is SIREN?" Edward teased, "Like those mermaids in old stories?"

"It's his workname, Edward, and you're still being rude. This company likes to use cute little nicknames for all their employees."

"You have no idea what V.I.L.E does, do you?" Siren demanded.

"Vaccine research of course," Lucy responded, "Vaccine Inter-global Limited Exports or V.I.L.E for short. I know you're the lead scientist who helps develop the new vaccines that have saved thousands of lives."

"...right," Siren responded.

"What's your real name?" Edward demanded, "Ariel?"

"You're about two seconds from being sent to your room," Lucy warned her son, "Stop being so rude to our guest!"

Lucy shook her head and went back to making the row of sandwiches.

"My name is Delano, or Del for short," Siren stated.

Edward immediately let out a snort. "You would have been better off with Ariel."

"Room!" Lucy said, turning to point.

"Aw, mum!" Edward whined.

"Now."

Edward got up from the table and then stomped his way to the other room with a foul look on his face. "I'm sorry, Delano, I really don't know what's up with him lately. Ever since we moved here, he's been getting worse and worse."

Siren thought back to Maelstrom's school and frowned, knowing the boy was likely already being corrupted. "He goes to the public school?"

Lucy nodded.

"Have you considered homeschooling?" Siren suggested.

"I've considered it, but the school here is supposed to be far superior education-wise. I also want him to socialize and make friends."

"Friends are overrated," Siren muttered.

"Mustard?" Lucy asked.

"Yes."

Lucy cut the first sandwich and then set it in front of Siren with a mug of hot chocolate. Siren immediately frowned down at the sandwich and then pushed it away.

"What?" Lucy questioned, "Is something wrong with it?"

"You cut it into squares instead of triangles," Siren stated like this was a completely reasonable thing to be upset about.

Lucy took this in stride and cut the next sandwich into triangles and then set it in front of him. Siren still looked unhappy about something and Lucy raised a brow in question.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"It has crusts."

Lucy turned to sandwich number three, sliced the crusts off and then cut it into triangles. She then set that one in front of Siren and gave the other two to her children. Siren stared long and hard at the sandwich but could find no fault with it. He lifted a piece of the bread, made sure there wasn't anything weird inside it, and then closed it again.

"Everything okay?" Lucy asked, only mildly annoyed.

Siren didn't answer and picked up a piece of the sandwich and took a tiny bite. Everything tasted acceptable, and so he took another bite. Lucy seemed pleased that he was eating, and then plated the last sandwich to bring to her oldest son.

When Terry returned a few moments later, he was surprised to see Siren was actually eating something.

"Vess is incredibly angry," Terry stated.

"When is he not?" Siren retorted.

"The storm is a complete whiteout and impossible to drive in. You'll have to spend the night and get a ride with me to work tomorrow. He was going to send a van to get you, but the driving was so bad that it crashed before even getting out of the gate. The safest thing for everyone is if you just stay here until the storm calms."

Terry didn't look very happy over this, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. Siren returned his frown, not really comfortable with this arrangement. He took a sip of his hot chocolate, and then looked around at the small family around him. Siren missed having a family and knew that somewhere out in the world his brothers were still alive and breathing. He'd find them, and then everything would finally be as it should.

Siren watched as Lucy put the meat back in the fridge and immediately saw how empty it was. He then glanced around the kitchen and saw there was very little food to be seen. Lucy placed the loaf of bread in an empty cupboard, and Siren looked down at his sandwich. Terry had told him money was tight for his family, but they were practically starving to death.

"Don't waste food," Terry scolded him, "Finish your supper."

Siren picked up the last piece of his sandwich and took a bite and it didn't escape his notice how the children weren't given full glasses of milk. An odd guilty feeling twisted in Siren's stomach knowing how much money he had in his V.I.L.E account. He had more money than he could ever spend, and Terry's family was barely surviving. Why did V.I.L.E pay their guards such low wages?

Siren finished his hot chocolate and then felt in his pocket for his V.I.L.E card. Would Terry accept it if he offered it to him? Siren had no bills, and he didn't really have any use for money. The moment he escaped, his account would be frozen and so the money was essentially just going to waste.

"Delano, come watch tv with me!" Eric begged, grabbing him by the hand.

"Eric, you leave him alone," Lucy scolded.

Siren hadn't watched tv since he'd been in highschool, and he was immediately interested. "You have tv?"

"Just basic cable," Terry responded, "Every V.I.L.E house comes with it."

Without a word, Siren got up from the table. "Show me," he ordered Eric.

"Okay!" Eric cried out excitedly.

Terry wasn't about to leave Siren alone with his children and so he quickly followed to keep an eye on things. Eric and Ethan took a seat on the couch and then reached for the tv remote. Siren immediately snatched it away so he could flip through the stations.

"Hey!" Ethan protested, this being the first thing he'd said. "I was going to watch channel 3!"

"Tough," Siren retorted, not taking his eyes from the screen, "I have seniority."

"Nuh huh!" Ethan responded, "That's not fair."

"Once again, tough."

Terry let out a sigh. "They're pretty much at the same maturity level," he commented to Lucy.

Siren shot him a withering look. Terry simply took a seat next to him on the couch and snatched the remote out of his hand. "My seniority beats your seniority," he stated, switching the station to something family friendly.

"I wish the cartoons were in English," Ethan complained, "I never know what's going on!"

"Learn Russian," Siren responded.

"It's too hard…" Ethan said, averting his eyes in embarrassment, "School is hard."

"Do you know Russian, Del?" Eric demanded excitedly.

"Of course I do," Siren answered, offended.

"Tell us what they're saying!" Eric begged, "Pleeeeease?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Siren didn't answer and simply slid down so he was slumped on the couch grumpily.

"He's just pretending, Eric, he doesn't really know Russian, it's too hard," Ethan announced with a sly smirk.

Siren snorted at the poor attempt to manipulate him. "Nice try."

"Aw," Ethan responded.

"Please, please, please, please, please?" Eric begged, turning pleading eyes to Siren, "If you tell us what they're saying, it will be just like you're telling us a story!"

Siren looked around at the family around him and didn't feel quite as angry as he normally did. No one here was going to hurt him, and he felt safe. He gave the children an over-exaggerated eye roll.

"Can you fly a dragon, Sir Popple? Oh yes, as a knight I've been flying since I was a boy!" Siren said in a bored tone of voice. "Will you take me flying? Of course I will, Princess Violet. Give me your hand and I will help you on Cinder's back!"

Terry was surprised at Siren's patience with the children, and wondered if it was because he was finally away from that terrible lab. After a while, Edward came out and joined them and they spent the next several hours simply watching cartoons as Siren translated. Terry suspected he was making up half of the dialogue but the children didn't seem to notice or care.

The power went out around ten and when the room was suddenly plunged into complete darkness, Siren let out an immediate screech of panic and latched himself onto Terry's arm with an iron grip. The generator began thumping and banging in the basement, and Siren yelled in absolute terror. Terry used the flashlight on his phone, and even then Siren was still shaking and crying in terror.

"What's wrong with him?" Edward demanded in amusement, "Look at him, he's crying!"

"No I'm not!" Siren snarled out, tightening his grip even more.

"Yes, you are! Oh my god!" Edward said, laughing.

"Edward, you've just earned yourself a weekend grounded!" Lucy scolded, "Go to bed and I better not hear another word from you!"

"He's scared of the dark," Terry explained to Lucy, "He has a really bad phobia."

Lucy nodded in understanding. "I'll go put the little ones to bed while you help him," she said, taking Ethan and Eric by the hands.

The generator made a horrible grinding noise and Siren let out another screech.

"Siren, calm down," Terry told him gently, "It's just the old generator trying to start. You're alright, you're safe here and nothing is going to hurt you."

Siren said nothing, and when Terry looked down at him, he saw that Siren had buried his face into his chest and was shaking in fear.

"Siren, can you hear me?" Terry demanded.

Siren said nothing.

"Siren, please answer me,"

When Siren was still silent, Terry reached down and tipped Siren's chin up so he could look in his eyes. Siren's eyes were once again full of confusion and fear, and Terry let out a curse. Knowing he couldn't let Siren out of his sight for even a moment like this, he slowly stood to his feet, pulling Siren with him. The generator was clearly not working, and the house was still in complete darkness. As he headed for the guest room, he met his wife in the hallway and she gave him a concerned look.

"What's wrong with Delano?" she whispered.

"Siren is severely mentally ill and the lights going out really frightened him," Terry explained, "I need to stay with him until he snaps out of it. He has moments of confusion, and he needs me to help get through it. I want you to lock the guest room from the outside and don't open it unless I tell you to."

Lucy nodded, her concern not fading. "Is he alright?"

Terry frowned down at Siren. "No, not really. He needs help that he can't get here, and so all I can do is help in the only way I can. Hopefully once he calms down, I'll call you to let me out."

Lucy gave another nod. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Lock all of the children's bedrooms, and lock yourself in our room. Siren can get violent when he's like this and I'm not taking any chances."

Terry opened the guest bedroom door and stepped inside, closing the door after him. He heard Lucy lock the door after him, and he walked towards the bed, pulling Siren with him. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he forced Siren to lay down, the man never once loosening his grip on his arm. Covering Siren with the blankets, Terry simply sat beside him quietly, keeping the flashlight on. Siren continued to shake in fear for over an hour, but eventually his gaze became drowsy and his grip began to loosen. As Siren fell asleep, Terry was concerned since Siren hadn't snapped out of it. He hoped these moments of confusion weren't getting worse, and he knew he couldn't leave him in the room by himself in case he woke up.

Settling himself down beside Siren on the bed, he checked him one last time and then turned off the flashlight. It took Terry a long time to relax, and when he finally began to drift off, Siren was still clinging to his arm.

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TBC