Thanks to Alanna99 and I-love-moony for being such frequent reviewers. Love you guys. You make my day. Here's the next chappie! Hang in there, it's almost the end.

Chapter 36

Doug was disappointed and furious. He'd known many of these men and it was disgusting to see them act like animals. Sure, some of them talked about what they would do to a shewolf if they caught one. But they were just locker jokes. Everyone knew that the goal of the operation was the most important thing--not dehumanizing the enemy. He'd always abided by these rules. And he'd thought they did to--until now.

Lucky for Leigh, the commander wasn't in the mood to fool around. He snapped at his men, telling them to behave properly.

You never know how you'll react until you're faced with a situation, Doug thought bitterly. These are not my friends anymore. They're not. He hadn't realized how much he'd distanced himself from his old world until now. There was no going back. And more importantly, he didn't want to.

Leigh shot him a glance and he sent her a faint smile that said 'well, this is it.'

And it really was it. They were now standing only a few feet in front of Rollson's office. A few of the 'wolf hunters moved out of the way as they were forced forward. They let out little protest. There wasn't much they could do at the moment. The enemy far outweighed them. But then Doug knew this was the case--right from the beginning. He was actually surprised that there weren't more of them. He only counted out about three dozen men. There should have been twice that many--or more.

One of the men rapped his knuckles loudly against the door. The sirens had stopped a long time ago, but Doug's ears were still ringing. If he could see himself in a mirror, he probably would have seen dried blood. He knew both his eardrums had burst earlier. The noise had been defeaning. He wondered how Rollson's men had handled it. They probably had some professional earmuffs handy.

The door swung open to reveal a man in his early forties, scratching at his beard with a contemplative hand. When he caught sight of Doug, his features turned down in disappointment. Doug only stared back darkly, refusing to look down. After a moment, Rollson sighed and stepped back, the door moving even further inward.

"Well done," he remarked shortly to his men. He didn't seem to be in the mood for pleasantries. Then he commanded. "Rigby, Anderson, bring them in here. Everyone else, back to your posts."

There was a chorus of groans. One man spoke up. "But we wanted to see what you do with them."

Rollson closed his eyes and rubbing them with a weary hand. He held up his other hand, waving it downward. The protests died. "Now," he said, opening his eyes once more. "The whole affair will be on video tape and you will be able to access it later. Now go to your posts."

Rollson's voice was far from loud or angry, but it had an air of command that Doug had always admired. The men--and a few women--made no more protests and moved off down the halls in different directions. Within moments, the crowd had dispersed.

They were pushed into the office roughly.

Rollson moved around his desk and took a seat. He picked up a small remote and pointed in the direction of the display cases. They began to moved apart as if placed on rollers. Doug's eyes widened when he caught sight of the depression in the wall behind. There, conveniently placed were two handcuff-like apparatuses, that were mounted to a steel plate on the wall.

Once they were secured, there would be no getting out. He took a surreptitious glance at his watch. They had little more than four minutes and the seconds were ticking down a lot quicker than he would have liked. But it was all worth it, if he could take down Rollson. He had to stop him from hurting anyone else.

But Doug wasn't going to consign himself to death without a fight. And he sure and heck wasn't going to let the same fate happen to Leigh if he could help it. Now that the men had dispersed, they had a better chance at escape.

He sent a quick glance at Leigh, knowing she'd understand. With a quick twist he ripped himself from his captors grasp. His hands were bound, but he could still work with this situations. He kicked upward, driving his foot into Rigby's nose. The man flew back a few feet from the force of the blow. He might have flown farther if he hadn't connected with the wall behind him, creating an earsplitting crack.

A quick glance at Leigh told him that she had also managed to wriggle from her captor's grasp.

Before they could run for it, there was a defeaning boom. Leigh toppled forward with a neat round hole in the back of her skull. And then blood began to pool. He hurried to her side, wishing he could pull her up into his arms and carry her away from here. But the cords holding his wrists prevented him from doing so.

He cried in frustration as he fumbled to pick her up somehow.

Anderson slammed the door shut. The lock clicked of it's own accord, barring them within the room. Doug turned around to face Rollson with fury burning in his eyes, his breath coming out in quick pants.

"Anderson," Rollson said, giving the man a significant glance. He didn't even deign a glance in Doug's direction.

Anderson gripped him from behind and shoved him in the direction of the wall. Doug stumbled forward, managing to catch himself with his practiced reflexes. He was turned roughly, and he felt the cool metal clasping his arms. He heard the click as the handcuffs closed completely about his wrists.

He had a horrible vantage point of Leigh from this wall. He could see the blood matting in her dark hair. She stirred slowly, groaning. He let out a breath of relief, even though they'd be dying soon anyway. She was propelled to her feet by an impatient jerk and shoved next to Doug. There was a resounding click as her arms were also encircled.

"I thought as much," Rollson mentioned from his seat at the desk. He hadn't moved once. He was observing Leigh as she was looking about the room blearily. "TryptoKeri, isn't it? Such amazing stuff. But it will wear off eventually."

He lifted up a gun he was holding. One of the newer technologies that he revelled in. It was the same type of gun Doug had used on that billionaire--the one that shot out millions of nearly microscopic needles all in one single second.

"And you can be sure I won't miss."

Doug growled at the comment. He looked at Leigh to see her reaction. She was still too out of it to worry to much about Rollson's threat.

"Touch her and I'll kill you," Doug stated.

"Now I really don't think you're in that kind of position at the moment, Doug," Rollson said calmly, looking up at him. There was a certain disappointment in his features. "It's really too bad. You were one of the best at my disposal. I had great plans for you."

Doug didn't deign a reply.

"Come now," Rollson said, leaning forward. "Why didn't you bring anyone else. Did you really think you could take on this whole base alone with that piece of pond scum?"

Doug shrugged.

"They're like rodents, Doug," Rollson continued, getting to his feet. "Preying off all the good in our lives. They take away every good thing until you are left with nothing but your hatred and your revenge. They did it to me. They did it to you. Why are you turning from everything you have ever fought for? Everything you've ever believed in?"

"Maybe because everything I ever thought was wrong," Doug replied bluntly, straining against the cuffs. It was no use. Even if he had wolf strength, he would not have been able to break free.

"You don't actually believe that, do you Doug? You know their evil," Rollson said taking another step forward and emphasized the point by placing a hand on Doug's chest. "You know it. Here."

Doug shook his head vehemently. "Don't you get it? We were wrong. We were all wrong. They're people just like we are. They have feeling and emotions and wants just like we do. Sure, there are evil wolfs. But there are evil humans. Would you wipe out an entire race for the sake of a few evil people."

Rollson's face turned hard. "You've been deceived."

"I haven't," Doug shook his head. "I've seen into a wolf mind and I know the truth."

Rollson looked at him, swallowing sickly. He trembled slightly. Doug couldn't tell if the trembling was brought on by fury or something else. He whispered on a breath of air. "That's heresy."

"No," Doug shook his head, trying to explain. "It's like skydiving. It's like letting go of all your reservations and just enjoying the ride. Humans should be like this. If they could only see into each other's minds--if they could only feel the pain they were inflicting upon others. There would be no war. There would be no hatred anymore, because everyone would understand."

His words didn't bring out the reaction in Rollson that he had expected. Rollson let out and angry cry and gripped the front Doug's shirt, shaking him back and forth. Then he dumped his suit jacket to the floor. He tore his shirt away, the buttons popping down the front. He bared his neck for Doug to see.

Doug felt a roiling sickness as he caught sight of the gash marks running from just below the collar mark almost too his shoulder. They were clearly wolf teeth marks. There was no mistaking. Doug felt a wave of dizziness. And the wolf hadn't even given him enough serum to allow him to heal.

"I've born this mark," Rollson said through tight lips. "For twelve years. Do you want to know who gave it to me? Sidney Torrison. Does the name ring a bell?"

"My mother," Doug replied in a resigned voice.

"Yes, the same man that killed your mother," Rollson replied. "Or had you forgotten? He let me see his mind out of pure spite. I know what it's like Doug. It was full of evil and malice. He wanted to make me suffer--he wanted to make every human suffer. And he didn't even have a real motive. He just wanted to kill for the enjoyment of it. He got some sick pleasure to see others tortured. That is what a wolf is. You are the one who has been deceived."

For a moment he was tempted to believe Rollson. Everything from his past screamed at him, telling him to believe Rollson. His very upbringing was so ingrained in this belief. He felt himself shudder in indecision.

I can't keep changing sides! He thought, furious with himself. And furious with everyone who was trying to convince him either way.

He took a deep breath and looked over at Leigh who was watching him. She looked so calm for what had befallen them, as if she were resigned to death. She gave him a small smile, and her eyes told him that she knew what was going through his mind. There were no secrets between them.

There was a moment of clarity then. Leigh wasn't evil. She couldn't be if she wanted to.

"I love you," she mouthed. "No matter what happens."

Even if he turned on her. But he would never do that--could never.

He turned back to Rollson. "I'm sorry you had a bad experience. But I know the truth."

Rollson was breathing hard, but he had calmed himself somewhat. He shrugged coldly. "So be it."

He turned back to his desk and sat down. "It will all be at an end soon."

"Sooner than you think," Doug muttered under his breath. Too too soon for his liking. He bet they had no more than two minutes left...if even that much time.

"I'll keep you alive," Rollson informed Doug. "For a while, anyway. I want you to see when I kill her," he nodded cruelly to Leigh. "I may even keep you alive long enough to find out what happens at the hotel. Did you notice my staff was a little short today?"

Doug felt his stomach drop from under him.

"As you can see, the world doesn't stop while you're planning. They left shortly before you arrived. In fact, the attack should start within about twenty minutes. I don't suppose you have any more reserves of TryptoKeri, do you? Your group must be running low."

Leigh, who had been silent until now, let out a snarled protest.

Doug swallowed, shaking his head. "Don't do this," he said, nearly pleading with the man. But Rollson was beyond being reasoned with. "Do you really want to murder that many innocent people? Do you want their lives on your head?"

"Do I want to kill a bunch of unfeeling beasts?" Rollson returned with an indifferent smile, but his eyes were tinged with sick glee. "Of course I do. Someday our world will be rid of their kind and we can live without fear."

Doug sighed, closing his eyes. He could see imprints of the room against his closed lashes. How had he failed so miserably? How had things gone so wrong?

Something nudged into his shoulder. He opened his eyes. It was Leigh's shoulder, brushing his. It was the only real comfort she could offer him. She whispered. "It's not your fault."

He only shook his head helplessly. He smiled slightly at her. They were going to die in a minute. Probably less.

"I love you," he mouth back in return to her earlier statement.

And then something slammed against the door to Rollson's office.

And the bomb explodes and they all die. The end. Just joking! (Just so you know, this is not the end!)