A/N: *sigh* I've been gone much, much too long! Sorry, folks, didn't mean to leave ya'll hanging like that. To make up for it, I'm posting two chapters right now. :)

If you've forgotten what's going on, you probably want to go back and reread some stuffs...

Jensen blinks his eyes a couple times before speaking. "What?"

"You stole the virus along with the files," the soldier says.

"Noooo. All I did was transfer data from the lab computer to the laptop, so unless the virus was in - ohhhh," he says as realization sets in. He looks to Cougar. "It wasn't in the brick. It was inside the computer."

"And that's all I know about it," the prisoner finishes, "so if you're done with me, I'd like to go now."

Pooch smiles. "Ha ha. Very funny." He takes the gag from Jensen and shoves it back in the guy's mouth.

Jensen, very much in his own head, jumps over to his computer. He talks to himself as he begins pulling up various programs. "Is it even possible? Of course it must be – I'm a living example…I wonder if I could…? No, it wouldn't work without a direct connection….But maybe if I…No, no, that'd be a mess. Why would I even think that?"

Clay squats down in front of him. "Wanna share with the class?"

Jensen stops typing and looks at him. "I have a virus."

"We already knew that."

"No, Clay. I have a virus. That I got from a computer." Clay lifts an eyebrow at him. "How are you guys not getting this? I literally have a computer virus in my brain."

Pooch steps forward. "Hold up. Are you saying you're infected with like that shit that we use Norton for?"

"Norton?" Jensen asks, scrunching up his face. "I would never use Norton. You can get around that in less than a heartbeat."

"Jensen. Focus on my words," Pooch says, leaning over him. "How did you, a human, get infected with a computer virus?"

He goes back to typing as he explains. "I'd say it happened when I stuck my–" he glances up at Aisha, "uh, when I plugged my headset into what I thought was the right port. Of course, it wasn't and in return for my screw-up, according to what I'm seeing here, it looks like I got an ear chock-full of nasty little-."

He suddenly stops speaking, his hands freezing above the keys and his mouth hanging open slightly on his last word. His eyes remain glued to the screen, but they are glassed over, not seeing anything.

"Jensen," Clay says, snapping his fingers in front the hacker's eyes. Nothing happens. "Jensen," he tries again, speaking louder and trying to shake the man out of his sudden catatonic state. He gets no response, and his back goes rigid as he hears the prisoner stifle a laugh behind him. With no warning, he spins around, swinging hard at the gagged man's jaw, instantly knocking him unconscious. "Asshole," he mutters under his breath.

"So….what do we do, now?" Pooch asks, also snapping his fingers in front of the hacker's eyes.

Clay wipes a hand down his face before answering. "Wait until he comes out of it. He's the only one that has any idea what's going on."

"What if he doesn't come out of it?" Aisha asks.

"-nanites," Jensen suddenly continues, picking up his ramblings exactly where he had left off. "Man, they're really doing a number on my system… Dammit, this isn't working. I need to hook back up to the net." He finally looks up at the faces of his teammates, who are all staring at him. "What?"

Clay shakes his head. "You're not going up in any tree."

"Okay…" Jensen drags out with confusion, completely unaware of what had just transpired. "I guess I could just not hack into the data files and hope with some chicken soup and a little TLC, the virus goes away on its own. Anyone volunteering for the TLC?" He waggles his eyebrows at Aisha with a cocky half grin.

"Fuck," Clay mumbles. "Cougar, take him up the damn tree and make sure his ass doesn't fall."

With a quick nod, Cougar stands and hauls Jensen to his feet. As they head out of the clearing, Jensen catches sight of the downed hostage. "When did he decide to take a nap?"

"Forget it," Cougar mumbles, leading the way to a suitable tree.

"Uh huh, uh huh, oh, that's interesting," Jensen mutters from his perch in the branches. Cougar raises an inquisitive eyebrow and tries to peer over the blonde's shoulder. Smiling, Jensen turns his computer to face the sniper, revealing the scorecards for several soccer games. Cougar glares at him.

"What? I had money on some of these," he says innocently before tapping a few keys, switching the screen back to a jumble of green-lettered coding. He works diligently at the keyboard for another forty-five minutes before he draws his hands away, resting them behind his head. "Aaaaaaaaaaaand…..bingo," he grins as a little ping, along with the 'Final Fantasy' victory music chimes from his laptop speakers. Information suddenly begins to fill the screen, his eyes scanning over the words almost as fast as they appear. "Holy shit," he breathes out, "I'm freakin' Robo Cop!"

Pooch shakes his head as Jensen stomps stiffly around in front of him, mimicking the sounds of robotic limbs moving on a suspension system. "Would you stop, you're not Robo Cop!" he finally spits out, getting annoyed.

"Half man, half machine," Jensen smiles, speaking with a deep voice.

"See, that's where you're wrong," Pooch argues. "Robo Cop actually is half machine. Having a bunch of tiny robots scrambling your brains doesn't make you a cyborg."

"Ah, but my whole system got rebooted to sync up with the robots, therefore making me more machine right now than human. I rest my case."

Aisha looks up. "Is that what happened in the river? You were 'rebooting?'"

"Yep. Shut down, rewired, and fired back up with super-human powers. It's actually pretty cool."

"It's not 'cool', Jensen," Clay snaps. "This is a virus. It wasn't made to create super-soldiers; it was made to hurt people. We need to figure out a way to get it out of you before it does any more damage."

"They," Jensen corrects. "Before they do more damage. I figure I've probably got at least a few hundred of the little bastards swimming around up here." He taps a finger to his forehead for emphasis.

"What are they supposed to do, anyway?" Pooch asks.

"According the files, they're supposed to attack the part of the brain controlling the nervous system. My fun little experience during the ambush?" he shudders, "That was just a taste of their program design. Unfortunately…or fortunately for me, I guess…" he shakes his head, "the prototypes weren't finished, yet. They got their orders but didn't get the map showing them where to execute."

"So what does that mean, exactly?" Clay asks.

Jensen heaves out an exaggerated sigh. "It means there's a bunch of little robots running around lost in my brain getting their little pinchers – I wonder if they actually have pinchers..."

"Focus, Jensen."

"Right, anyway, basically they're just trying to hardwire random systems left and right until they get a cease and desist order…or until I'm dead."

Pooch whistles. "Can't you just reprogram them or something?"

"I don't know," the hacker says with a shrug.

"You wanna try?" Clay says, twisting the question into an order.

Jensen shrugs again. "I dunno. Maybe. I guess."

"You guess? Do it, Jensen."

"Fiiine," he huffs out with another exaggerated sigh, plopping heavily onto the ground. He picks up a stick and pokes lightly at his computer with it.

"Is he moping?" Aisha asks.

"Pouting, more like it," Pooch frowns.

They watch as Jensen throws the stick and crosses his arms over his chest, glaring up at them. He kicks at a rock on the ground. Cougar watches the childish movements for a few seconds before shaking his head. "He's gone," he quietly states.

"Ya think?" Aisha snaps. "His fits are getting closer together, Clay-"

"You think I don't know that?" he snaps. She scowls at him, and he softens his own enraged features. "Sorry," he mumbles, hastily turning away from the group. He punches his fist into a tree, hard, before stepping further into the woods. Cougar silently gets up and follows. Jensen, for his part, sticks his tongue out at their backs.

"Think if we just shoot him in the leg, he'll snap out of it?" Aisha asks casually.

Jensen sticks his tongue out at her, too.

Clay is sitting on a fallen tree, arms resting on his legs in a slumped, defeated manner. He keeps his head bowed as Cougar slips down onto the tree beside him.

"I don't know how to deal with this," Clay admits. "If he was shot, I could patch him up. Kidnapped, I'd go through whoever it took to get him back. Hell, if he had a normal virus, I probably would just get him his damn chicken soup. This… I don't even know where to start. The only one who can fix it is him, and he's down the rabbit hole half the damn time." Cougar merely sits and listens, staring straight ahead into nothing as Clay continues. "We've been through a helluvalotta bullshit together. I don't want to lose him now, not like this."

"We won't," Cougar confidently murmurs before leaving his leader with his thoughts.

After a few minutes, Clay sucks in a deep breath and sits up straighter. "No, we won't," he repeats, then stands to make his way back to his team.