As I have been under the influence of a lot of very colorful-and very powerful-cold medication the past few days, I had to cut this chapter short.

Some answers, but those pesky questions keep surfacing too…

####

"And?"

David wrapped the stethoscope around his neck. Although he'd never admit it, it wasn't the major breakthroughs or the OR stints, but the simple feel of the stethoscope that always made him feel connected to medicine. "And, dear brother, we have a problem because we're going to have to get her out of here. Someone's going to miss her sooner or later…"

Leo, in absence of anything better to mangle, was busy twisting a spare stethoscope. "I doubt it. Ryan was apparently a little preoccupied last night. That's why I -"

"Why what, Leo? Why you did the one thing I told you not to?"

"David, we don't have time for this now-"

Unbelievable.

"Well, we're gonna have to make time, because do you think when she wakes up this time - with me, no less - that I can feed her the it was all a dream excuse again?"

"You said she might forget."

The memory of his own New Year's Eve encounter flashed through his mind. Angie Hubbard, in her medical-induced fog, giving him a kiss on the lips before abruptly drifting back into said fog. The gift of forgetting might be in short supply today.

"We don't know. That's the point. We don't know what will happen when she wakes up, which is exactly why she needs to be here."

And exactly why Greenlee shouldn't be there.

"She passed out so quickly, and I was in such a hurry to get her here, I didn't really -" Leo peered for the millionth time in the room's lone window, a two-inch slit. "Can I….can I see her?"

Sighing, David handed his brother the keycard. He followed closely behind because someone had to maintain a bit of professionalism here….as much professionalism as could be garnered in an underground lab, anyway.

When they'd been in this exact position before, David had given his brother the time alone, but he'd still heard every word, thanks to a well-placed listening device. He didn't experience the expected pangs of jealousy and envy then. He'd come to realize long ago that in his search for a kindred spirit – in Greenlee, in so many others, he'd ultimately just crushed his own. And in the process, he had lost one of the only people he could ever call something approximating a friend. It was a familiar tale.

David had emerged from his well-orchestrated eavesdropping session with one absolute certainty, however. No, two. One: his brother was still madly in love with Greenlee. And, two: the feeling was very much mutual.

Although no speeches or parting words were exchanged this time - although the only sound in the room was Leo's hand softly brushing his ex-wife's hair - David knew the same held true now.

He touched his brother's shoulder. "Leo, I really need to perform some more tests."

Leo's hand moved away with visible hesitation. He nodded. "Honesty, David."

David smiled, and since his brother's back was still turned, it wasn't his usual smirk. "Always. For you, anyway."

"You have an idea of what…this is." He motioned to the unconscious woman on the table. "And it's not good."

David extricated himself from the shadows and stood beside his brother. Honesty deserved light after all, right? "Do you remember after you…returned?"

Leo raised his eyebrows, getting the meaning. "Honestly, not much."

David bit his lip, considered measuring his words. Then through the measuring cup out. "I'm not really surprised, but you know it was, shall we say difficult for a while. The treatments aren't conventional and they aren't always pleasant. Many of the patients have experienced a rather unpredictable spectrum of side effects…"

#

"Confusion, regression…"

Get away. Get away with that smile.

Don't hear you. Don't wanna hear you.

Can't.

Get me out. They're planning something. They'll fool. Did something to my head.

Did something to me.

Who's there? Whose shadow?

No, go away! Get that thing away!

Don't touch.

Girl?

Warm. Don't go.

Kathy?

My Kathy. My little girl.

Tad. Tad. Tad...my anchor.

My together forever.

My family.

I can't - I won't lose them.

#

"Blackouts…"

He might've written it off as particularly 'spirited' night at the pub. Maybe a little brush-up with the liquid courage in Vegas. Being roused by the uniquely pungent taste and smell of a mud puddle was a distant, but not novel experience.

When said puddle was nestled under a giant oak swing, however, then perhaps it was time to reevaluate one's meanderings the night before. What he would be evaluating aside from the razor-shark stake behind his eye was another matter, however.

Zach grasped the seat of his sons' swing, which did nothing but send his already topsy-turvy world around for another few twirls. He forced in breaths that felt like acid poured over his muscles.

Muscles that had not known a quiet night, if their ache was any indication. Despite his present state, each fiber in his body still crawled with a hundred invisible ants…fire ants.

He pushed against the pole and dragged himself up, forcing the damp coolness of the metal against his head. Slowly, the icy slivers pierced through the milky haze, allowing a clear image entrance. A snapshot, but never a snapshot. A branded, in-living-color, vibrant memory consisting of three figures. His world.

As always, she was his fuel.

He had only one goal in mind. Get to her.

And when he focused on that far-away point, when he stumbled through the door, she was there, swallowed by that fluffy, decidedly un-come-hither robe that still drove him crazy.

"Zach, thank God! Where -"

And when he crashed into her waiting arms, the softness still amazed him.

Her hands….

Such a lovely, beautiful contrast to his hard veins, his cracked knuckles…each crack painted by a faint red.

Faint to almost anyone…

Except him: the one who knew too well the prices paid with bounties of blood.

#

"And intense head pain."

"So this is just side effects? She'll be okay, like the rest of us are?"

David really wished for that measuring cup back now. "Leo, my work wasn't subject to the typical clinical trials. That would've taken years, decades….and very likely all of you would be in the ground right now. But, I haven't had the opportunity to assess long-term effects, because – well, we'll get into that later. My point is, the cerebral effects, they…"

"Fill in the blank, David. Or is that what you're telling me? You've got nothing to fill it with? I didn't risk taking her to the hospital because I was afraid of being seen, but because I had faith in you!" Leo grabbed his collar, released it just as quickly. His hand hovered instead, over Greenlee.

"I'm sorry," he breathed. "What now?"

David shook his head. It would seem later had to be now. "There might be a way to figure this thing out, but -"

One of the few voices that could ever stop him – or his brother – in their tracks. And it was surprisingly strong. Aware. "Leo…"

This time, no fainting into the arms. This time, Greenlee grabbed her presumed dead husband's arms like the bulldog she was.

Like she would never let go.