Harold awoke, and immediately the hunt-pain returned. What had happened? Had he fallen asleep? No, that isn't possible, he hadn't slept in a long time, never even felt the need for in what must have been years. No, he hadn't gone to sleep. Had he been knocked out? He did a check, he had a bad injury on his side, but his immune system was destroying any foreign bacteria, and was already in the process of healing it, he couldn't find any leakage in the blood of his brain, nor any other sign of injury in his head, although he did briefly note the blood flow to his nose, broken, maybe one of the aliens had hit him in the nose and he hadn't noticed, but that was neither here nor there, why had he passed out? There was nothing in his body that would give any reason for him to do so. He tried to open his eyes, and found that he still couldn't see. He wasn't blind, his body would have a reaction to it, and there was nothing different in his eyes. He tried to move the rest of body, and found he could only move about a centimetre before it was stopped by something. Something was blocking his vision, and he was restrained. He'd been captured then. As he realized this, the Hunt-pain receded, and the combat stimulants increased in his blood stream, his muscled bunched in anticipation, his heart-rate increased, his pupils dilated, and his non-vital systems decreased, preparing his body even further for combat. With a quick heave he thrust his arms up, the bonds held, but he could feel it weaken, and he repeated the action. On the fourth heave, his arms sprung free. He moved his hands to his head, and tore the material from his face. Light flooded his eyes, briefly making him squint before his eyes adjusted. While his eyes adjusted, he tore the restraint from his head and legs. Freeing himself.

He sat up, and looked around. He was in a small room, bare metal walls, floor, and ceiling, there was nothing else in the room aside from the metal table he'd been strapped to. He got up, and turned, and saw that, behind him was a floor to ceiling mirror. Knowing it would take him hours, and serious damage to him, to break through any of the other walls, he moved the table to the side, moved to the other side of the room, and charged at the mirror.

Just as he was about to strike the mirror, he noticed a slight red sheen over it, and realized too late that it had some kind of force-field around it. He struck the barrier and rebounded, skidding back across the floor, before coming to rest just before he hit the far wall, his muscled convulsing from an electric discharge. The hunt-pain returned as he realized he wouldn't be fighting anything any time soon. He tried to grit his teeth against it, but do to the convulsions, he ended up biting off the tip of his tounge, there was a wash of blood in his mouth, with the coppery, metallic taste filling his mouth. He heard a hissing, and managed to force his neck to turn and look at the side of the ceiling, to see a greenish gas coming out. They were gassing him.

His head swam as the gas filled his lungs, the blood from his tounge slowed as the stims helped to block the injury, but the stims couldn't help with the gas, and was eventually thrown into unconsciousness.

The Commander saw Harold run into field, and winced as he saw him get launched back, and noticed the wash of red, presumably he'd bitten off his tounge. He gave the order and the chamber was flushed with Chloroform gas to knock him out, Shen moved in to treat his bitten tounge, and restrain him again, hopeful with stronger restraints this time. He knew he was being overly-cautious, but after what happened with Ryo, he was willing to do so. He had no way of knowing how Harold would react if he saw him, what he was capable of now, or if he was even still sane. The bio-scans they had done showed that he was using his psionic abilities to keep the combat stimulants they'd made back at X-COM permanently affecting his body. He'd somehow discovered how to prevent his body from absorbing the chemicals. Tygan hadn't been able to get any scans of his brain, all he got was a big purple blob on the inside of the skull, and had informed him that they had no way of knowing what kind of effect 20 years of permanent stimulants would affect a mind. He'd heard the reports from the soldiers on the ground, so he knew there must be something of the old Harold left, since he recognised the XCOM logo.

"Commader" came a voice from behind him. The Comander turned to see Alice standing there. He knew her, a good woman, a good leader.

"Yes. How can I help you?" He asked, as a panel in the wall of Harold's cell slid open, and Shen, wearing a gas mask, moved inside.

Alice looked behind him at Shen getting Harold back onto the table "Can I ask what it Is that you're planning on doing with him?"

She'd been the first one to see Harold, and had been against putting him in there, as she reasoned that he hadn't attacked them, but had attacked the ADVENT officer on sight. The Commander sighed "Well, I'd rather be on the side of caution. We're going to have to keep him in there, sedated, until we can find a way to make sure he wont rampage through the Avenger" he scratched the back of his head, on the scar where Tygan had removed the chip from his skull, a nervous tick he had unconsciously picked up.

"How are we going to know that if he's sedated?"

"I don't know"

"Then we're just going to keep him in there?"

"For now"

"But then what's the point of having him here? We need to figure out what he knows. If he really has been fighting ADVENT directly for 20 years he could know so much about their operation"

The Commander sighed again and rubbed his eyes, he'd barely slept since he'd been recovered. Commanding X-COM had been difficult enough, but commanding XCOM was something entirely different. "I don't know. But it's too dangerous. We have no idea how his mind has reacted to the stimulants, or what he is capable of, you say he killed that Officer with his bare hands, and it's head was little more than goo. So imagine what he could do if he got his hands on one of our swords, or a shotgun. No, it's too dangerous, I'd rather have us lose 1 potential soldier, than risk losing the entire Avenger"

"Sir. I know you were wounded by what Ryo did" Alice had earned her nickname 'Archive' for a reason, while others sat in groups and talked, played games, or worked out, she sat in her room and read through reports, this had earned her the position of the Commander's second in command, since she knew almost everything that had happened before the fall, and most things that had happened since, despite being only 28 herself. "But you need to trust again"

The Commander chuckled "You sound like a psychologist. All that reading must be paying off"

"Indeed" Alice replied "But don't chance the subject"

"Ah, foiled again" The Commander laughed "Your advice is invaluable to me Alice. But, I cannot allow Harold to roam the place as he see's fit. However, I will take some of your advice. I'll give Harold one more chance, we won't sedate him, and won't restrain him this time. If he doesn't react violently, we will go from there and see what we can do"

"Thank you Commander"

"No" The Commander said "Thank you Alice"

"What for?"

"For your advice. You are right. Harold was a great soldier, and could be even stronger now. He could be invaluable" he rubbed his eyes again, he felt like he was about to fall asleep where he stood

"Commander, when was the last time you slept"

The Commander smiled "I can sleep when I'm dead. But, again, you are right. We have some time. I should get some sleep. Cover for me?"

Alice smiled back "Of course"

Aya ducked back behind the wall, taking the knife from her boot, and holding it ready in a reverse grip, better for stabbing motions, and got ready. The ADVENT Trooper rounded the corner, and Aya drove the knife into it's neck, while putting a hand over it's mouth to prevent it making noise, and pulling it behind the wall with her. She ripped off the Troopers helmet, keeping her hand over it's mouth, and pulled the knife from it's neck, before driving it back into it's head, piercing it's brain and killing it. She wiped the knife on the aliens armour before sheathing it back into her boot. Checked that she didn't have any blood on her, and got back up, walking around the wall as if nothing had happened. She had learned a while ago that pretending that you belonged would invite others to believe it. It worked. Nobody bat an eye at the woman wearing a thick cloak with the hood pulled up to cover her face, it helped that it was raining, so many people looked similar to her. Only an ADVENT soldier would recognize her, and she had just disposed of the only one of in the area. So proceeded inside the store, and took down the hood. Even if the security camera got a look at her face, it would take them at least 10 minutes to get to the store, and by then, she'd be long gone. She checked the store, making sure there was nobody else inside, while making it seem like she was trying to find something.

"Looking for something?" the Shopkeeper called. He was a large man with greying hair and a handlebar moustache.

"Oh, yes" Aya replied, making her voice sound surprised, and approaching the man "I'm looking for, oh what's It called, it's kind of like-" she reached the counter, and whipped out a pistol "I am going to take some food and water. You will not press your alarm. I will be gone in 5 minutes, and you will never see me again" her voice in her usual monotone

The man put his hands up. The pistol had no ammunition in it of course, she had run out of that years ago, and had only once been challenged on the matter. They couldn't tell, and few shopkeepers would risk their lives over what 1 person can carry. She grabbed a bag, and, keeping one eye on the man, and with the pistol pointed at him, while she collected the food. She didn't pay attention to what food it was, just threw it in, she wasn't picky. She grabbed about a dozen bottles of water, and threw them in a second bag. "I apologise for the inconvenience" she said

The man didn't reply. Aya put the pistol back in her cloak, put up the hood, and went outside. Heading back to her 'home'. No doubt he'd be calling ADVENT, but there was almost over a million living in this city, and a woman, even one with a scar as obvious as hers, could easily blend back into the crowd if she knew what she was doing.

Aya climbed down the ladder into the basement she'd set up base in, and set the bags down on the floor, she took out the pistol, and threw it onto a table. She took out the knife, and placed it down next to the pistol. She got a bottle of water from the bag, and had a drink, before putting the bottle down on the table as well. She sat down on a chair, the only other piece of furniture in the room, and looked at the finger on her left hand. That damn trooper had bitten it, hard, hard enough to draw blood. It stung, but she'd taken a lot worse in her time in X-COM. She looked around the room, it was the same as when she left it, dimly lit by the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, the corners of the room still in shadow, a door on the far side of the room lead into the 'bedroom'. She checked her watch, 12:30. Past mid-night. And she'd have to move into the secure room before tomorrow. ADVENT would be searching the area, and she'd have to hide, she'd done this routine hundreds of times, and knew ADVENT's responses inside and out. The family that was letting her stay in their basement were Rebel sympathisers, and she didn't want to end up messing up their lives by her being stupid. She got out of the chair, and took the knife, gun, and supplies to the wall, and pressed the brick that slid out the hidden section, revealing a tiny area, about 5 feet square, meant to hide items, not people. It wasn't comfortable, but she had to make do. She put the bags in the back, and put the gun and knife in the bags, before she backed out of the 'room'. She went over to the 'bedroom'. Opening the door, and going inside. It was furnished just as much as the main area, with just 2 mattresses lying on the floor, one was occupied, as it always was.

She put 2 fingers on Maxim's neck. His pulse was light, like always, but it was still there. He'd woken up twice in 20 years. Each time, he had just screamed for a few seconds, then went back to this state, but every time he did that, ADVENT raided the place only an hour or 2 later. He was much the same as ever, although more aged then before, but she was as well, 20 years aged everyone. His hair was pure white, not from age, it hadn't been a gradual thing, the moment they'd appeared back at his apartment that day his hair had suddenly been pure white, like an albino. His eyes had changed as well, she gently peeled back his eyelid to check, and his eye was still the same as ever, but the iris was a purple colour now, again, it had changed the moment they had appeared at his apartment. He wasn't feverish, it wasn't an illness that made him like this, she had no idea what was doing it, but if she poured water into his mouth, he swallowed, and if she put food in his mouth he ate and swallowed as well. If she didn't know better she would think he was faking it. She picked him up, and carried him into the secret room. Then went back, and turned off all the lights, before going back in, and lying down next to him, pressing the button on the wall, and sealing the wall. She reached into the food bag, and took out the first thing her hand touched, opened the package and ate. Jerky. Not the worst thing she's ever grabbed out of the food bags. She ate it, then laid down and went to sleep, but not before she took the knife from the bag, and laid it down next to her.

William 'Hax' Wright, sat at his computer, absently typing away on the computer in front of him. Shen had a strong encryption on her GREMLIN 'Rover', and William had developed a habit of trying to hack into it, it's how he spent his down time. He'd been at the Avenger for over 3 months now, and had only managed to successfully hack Rover twice, both times he had just had it follow Shen around and give her shocks from it's stun weaponry until it's firewalls ejected him. It was fun, kept his hacking skills up, and it really annoyed Shen. He'd also had his own GREMLIN 'NoClip' hacked back by Shen twice as well, which did the same thing to him. It had become something of a game between them, her defences on her GREMILIN were a lot better, but she clearly wasn't as skilled at forceful hacking as he was. It was a battle of offence (William), vs. defence (Shen). He liked the game. Nobody else would do any kind of non-physical game against him, he knew hundreds of ways to cheat in games, and couldn't find games fun unless he did so. But he'd met someone to match him in Shen. He had something new planned for when he managed to hack into Rover again.

"Hey, Will" Ashley's voice came from his door.

"Yeah" William called, still focused on his hacking.

Ashley opened the door, and came inside. The latest edition to XCOM. Ashley 'Ash' Ashlie was tall man, over 6 foot, his left eye was green, his right eye was blue, heterochromia, it was a strange thing, but people had it. William had felt weird for the first few weeks whenever he'd looked at Ashley's eyes, it had just felt strange. But now, it was just another quirk of XCOM life. He'd shown up strangely. He'd just walked up to the Avenger when it was landed, introduced himself as 'Ashley Ash Ashlie', whenever anyone asked about his name, he just said that his parents had a strange sense of humour. He was a good sniper, and a nice enough guy, but William didn't really get to know anyone on board aside from the one's he went on missions with, he was too busy hacking, and they'd only been on a couple missions together so far, so he hadn't had a chance to get to know him, but also wasn't really interested in doing so. He didn't really do the social.

"Just wanted to see if you wanted to come play some soccer on the roof" Ash said, he had quite a thick American accent, probably from near Texas or something, William didn't know much about America. William turned, and saw him holding a football.

"I don't really do football"

"Neither do I. What about soccer though"

William sighed "It's football. We invented it, so we name it" William continued talking before Ash could argue "But! I'm also not a sport guy in any way, and I'm busy trying to hack Rover, so, if you wouldn't mid" He motioned at the door.

"You're no fun" Ash replied, but he closed the door and left.

William went back to his computer. Bloody jocks trying to get him to do sports.

Roman closed his diary "Not today" he said

"How can you always hear me coming?" Sean asked "Everyone else craps themselves when I come into the room behind them"

Roman got up, and turned to Sean "I have good ears" Sean was doing it almost daily. Whenever he wrote in his diary, Sean always tried to sneak a peak at what he was writing, and Roman always caught him.

"Why don't you let anyone look in there?"

"I like my privacy"

"Fine. See you in a few days"

Roman turned back around, and waited until he heard the door close before he opened his diary and continued writing.