Authors Note: Odd chapter, trying to summarize Degeneration without rehashing the movie entirely. Hopefully it works, and if you haven't seen it, see it. Onward!

I dont care, no I wouldn't dare
To fix the twist in you
You've shown me eventually what you'll do
I dont mind
I dont care
As long as you're here

Go ahead and tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same

And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
And do it all over again
It's all the same

- Sick Puppies, "All the Same"

^ Another anthem for this story, give it a listen

Present Day

His chest felt like it was on fire and he stares at the puddle of blood in the palm of his hand. Breathing was hard, it took effort to suck in air and it made his whole body feel weak. This would probably be how he would die some day. Old and frail, his damaged lungs finally giving out and drowning him. He coughs, grabbing a handful of kleenex and spitting more of his own blood in to it. The damage done to his body in 2004 was irreparable – nothing anybody could do. He didn't know about it at the time, it had been a while before this particular affliction had reared it's head. But this is what you get when you use a crude laser system to remove a parasite from your chest, with no training or any real idea how the machine worked or what the settings should be. It had done the job, neither he or Ashley had become slaves to a demented terrorist. But it had had a price.

Everything had a price. He'd learned that over the years. Even your best intentions came at a heavy cost.

His wife arrives behind him, bringing him a glass of water and two small tablets that would help him. The best the Government doctors could do for him, really. Short of giving him whole new lungs.

"Breathe.." she soothes, rubbing his back in gentle comfort as he takes the glass and swallows down the tablets. When he lowers the drink, blood swirls in the water, making both of them grimace. She breathes with him – she soothed the panic that threatened to rise when you couldn't get in a decent lungful of air. He closes his eyes, listening to her voice, pushing down the fear and focusing on his breath.

She got him through. She always did. She'd been a rock for him for years and he'd be lost without her.

"Is Daddy okay?" little Lily's voice asks cautiously behind them. His wife quickly turns her attention to the five year old, smiling gently.

"Just a cough, sweetpea, he'll be fine." She soothes his daughter too while he fights to get his voice back. He hated Lily seeing him like this, but his coughing echoed around the house, it was tough to hide. Lily didn't know what her father had done for a living for so many years. She didn't know about the things he'd seen, the battles he'd been through, or the damage it did to his body. She knew he had scars, she'd even asked him about some of them. He'd told her as gently as he could that her Daddy had to fight some bad guys a long time ago. She'd asked him if he meant 'like a superhero'. He told her he supposed so.

Her favorite Superhero was Spiderman. But she also really liked Wonder Woman. She even had the gauntlet and the headband and would sometimes run around the house pretending she was saving the world. It always made him smile – he could see her Mothers fire in her, always.

One day he'd explain. One day he'd tell her about the things he'd done. But five was too young a mind to blow with the details, for now, he was happy to let her think he used to work with Iron Man and Wolverine. That his scars came from fighting Loki and Ultron. It was fine. She was a child, she deserved to hold on to that innocence and that wonderful imagination as long as she could. Lord knows it was a luxury so many of them had had stripped away way too early.

The tablets begin to take effect, and he pushes his hair back from his face, looking at himself in the mirror. He breathes through his nose and out through his mouth, finally beginning to feel oxygen reach his lungs. He listens to the sound of his wife and his daughter in the bedroom, talking about what they were going to make for dinner. She wanted 'Basgetti'. Spaghetti to you and I, but Lily called it Basgetti. Stepmother and child reach an agreement on what to make, and he smiles to himself.

A smile that falters a little when he thinks about how close he came to becoming a father much earlier in his life. How old would that child be now, if it had made it? He'd have a son or daughter that was just entering adulthood themselves. It was strange to think about, and he did think about it, more often than he let on to anybody.

On the day that Claire told him she was pregnant, his life had changed. He'd walked in to a one man battle armed with frustration and anger and fear. He'd set it free on a whole village and island of people. It had fuelled him, spurred him on. If anything, knowing that everything was about to change had gotten him through it. He had to get home, he had to survive, he had to make it through this because she would need him. Because he wanted to be there for her. Because he wanted to meet their child.

Amidst the fear and the feeling that he wasn't ready, there had also been hope. Hope for that life he kinda craved but never admitted. The Leon that was just a small town Colorado kid, with dreams of family and home. Maybe having a child would change everything, maybe it would be his escape. The Government couldn't force him away for months at a time if he had responsibilities at home, surely? On the flight back to the USA, the thought of being a Dad, doing the things his own Father had done with him growing up, teaching and nurturing – it seemed appealing. It seemed peaceful. It seemed like his way back to a normal life.

He wanted it. He wasn't ready. But he wanted it.

Sometimes the life changing events don't happen dramatically, though. There's no storm, no warning, no battle or fight for your life. Sometimes the life changing moments happen quietly in the middle of the night – a whisper, nothing more.

Leon washes his own blood from the palm of his hand and watches as it swirls away down the drain. Sometimes the worst scars were the ones you got in silence. Scars of the heart. They seemed to hurt even more.

June 2nd, 2004

Leon hadn't seen Claire since Nevada. Since his fight with Chris and since she told him that they were over. That she wanted to move on with her life and carry their baby alone. She wanted to focus on school and work and maybe once she was done with that, they could reassess their situation. He couldn't hate her for it, not really. She was the sensible one out of maybe all of them, she was getting qualifications under her belt, actually building herself a future amidst all that had happened in their world. She still had faith in people being able to change everything. That she could be a part of that – a driving force, a healing soul. She was learning how to manage business and people, and she was also learning how to heal. She worked incredibly hard, it really was too much to throw away because they didn't use protection one night.

He couldn't hate her. He understood. But it was hard.

Ada had been a little thrown by the phonecall at the Savoy hotel. He'd emerged from the shower and she'd been sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him. An accusatory look of sorts, all folded arms and pursed lips. It was something of a surprise to find out the elusive Ada Wong was actually capable of being effected.

"What.. what's wrong?"

"Just took a very interesting phone call."

"Oh?"

"Hmm. Claire Redfield. She told me to tell you her first trimester scan is in two weeks time."

"... oh."

"You got her pregnant?"

"Uh. Yeah. It wasn't planned or anything it just kinda.."

"Accidents happen?"

"I guess."

"Children aren't accidents, Leon. They're a gift. You should go back to her."

"She doesn't want me."

"She will."

The mystery of Ada deepened. She'd seemed haunted in that conversation, like it had touched a nerve. A part of her she couldn't keep under her very well created mask. There was a living, breathing woman underneath the red lips and leather – and she was hurt by something. Maybe even driven by it.

He'd returned to the USA the next day, and he'd returned to duty a few days after that. He wouldn't hear from Ada again for quite some time.

It was strange seeing Ashley again, strange but good. He'd greeted her with a smile and a hug and she'd talked at a thousand words per second about everything she'd gone through since getting home. Asking if they had him in the same therapy as she was, and if he ever got pain in his chest too. At that point, he hadn't really. But he'd soon learn what she was talking about.

He accompanied the President and his family on a good will tour, their protector in the shadows. Settling in to his new role and doing it well. Getting used to the expensive hotels and private jets – even dressing in a suit. He discovered a black suit and a pair of sunglasses had a strange effect on women, they threw themselves at him more often than usual. I couldn't tell you he hated it, or that he turned it down. A single man now, he could do what he wanted.

He fucked the Australian Prime Ministers personal assistant in a stairwell.

He didn't make it to that first trimester scan. He was in Japan. But when he finally returned home, there was an envelope waiting for him with a photograph inside. It had made him stop and sink in to a chair at his kitchen table. Staring at the fuzzy picture, the perfect outline of a baby. His baby. He was a father. They were bringing a human in to the world. It had hit him in the heart and the soul and he'd called her immediately. A little surprised she actually answered, he asks her to tell him everything. Claire seemed heartened to know he was interested. Giving him her due date and all of the details so far. He marks that date down and vows to get the time off. He'd be there. He had to be.

It gave him renewed purpose. He had to save the world now because they were bringing a child in to it. It had also made him a little ancy, as much as his job was an amazing one and he could afford things like an actual car of his own – he felt like he should be doing more. Like his talents were being wasted looking out for a handful of very important people instead of the whole world. He'd brought it up to the President.

It had spurred on a whole new project. Something that would eventually become the Division of Security Operations, further down the road.

May had been a busy and interesting month. But then June 2nd arrived and once again, everything changed. Not in a big, dramatic way. But a quiet whisper in the dark. One that had left him feeling a little lost.

He was sound asleep, knocked out by a good few drinks and some really energetic sex. Face down on his bed, sheets barely covering his ass and the arm of the woman he'd bedded slung over his lower back. Her name was Kelly, she worked at the White House, a secretary that wore pencil skirts and blouses you could see her bra through. They'd made eyes at each other a while, then bumped in to each other at the gym. She had a yoga body, toned and tight and perfect. The tits were fake, but tasteful. She was sweet and funny, they actually hit it off pretty well. Maybe in another life he and Kelly could have been the perfect couple, they certainly looked the part. She was blonde and blue eyed and always perfectly manicured, she complimented him when she was on his arm and wearing a suit.

He didn't normally get drawn to blondes, but she had something about her. This was their fourth 'date', and the fifth time they'd fucked. It could have been something eventually, maybe.

His beeping phone wakes him up, bleary eyes opening. He reaches out instinctually, grasping it from the bedside table and looking at the time. 2.43am.

Claire.

He blinks, glancing at Kelly and then easing himself up. She makes a noise and turns, still asleep as he slips out of bed and pads naked out of the room. He draws the door up behind him and accepts the call.

"Claire?" he says quietly.

There's a quiet sigh on the other end of the line. She doesn't say anything for a moment, all he can hear is her breathing, then the tiniest sniffle.

"I'm here, talk to me." He murmurs, lifting a hand and scratching the back of his neck.

"Sorry it's late." her voice sounded thick with sadness and his heart sinks.

"It's fine. What's the matter?" it's a gentle question, coaxing.

"I lost the baby." She whispers it.

His hand stops scratching and he stands there, quietly frozen. A tangle of feelings knotting themselves inside. "W.. what happened?" He asks in a breath.

"I don't know. Just.. body decided it wasn't meant to be, I guess." He hears her sniff and her voice crack.

He sits down. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright." She sighs. "It just kinda happened. Cramps and then..." she trails off. He hears her get a tissue from a box.

He didn't know what to say.

"Doctor said its pretty common, like 20% of pregnancies end in it.."

"I'm sorry." He says sadly.

"Good news is you're off the hook." She says it with a small laugh and it's like a barb that digs in to his skin. He frowns, rubbing his forehead.

"I didn't wanna be off the hook."

"Well you are."

"Claire.." He runs his hand over his face, sighing heavily. He wasn't going to fight with her, not now. "Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?"

"No."

"I can come out, I'll tell work there's an emergency, take care of you for a while." He offers.

"I don't need taking care of." She almost snaps it. He closes his eyes. Forcing himself not to react. She was hurting – he felt the loss too, but for her he knew it was ten times worse, she actually had to go through it.

"Alright." He answers in a gentle tone. "Well let me know if you do need anything."

"I don't. I just.. need to get my life back." She responds through tears, and he nods. "I just thought you should know."

He's quiet, staring out of the window of his apartment.

"Bye, Leon." She whispers.

He swallows down a lump in his throat. "Bye, Claire."

Never had anything felt so completely final.

The line went dead and for a time he sits there still holding the phone to his ear, lost in his own thoughts. Eventually he lowers it, placing it carefully on the table. It was over, just like that. No more wondering about who they were bringing in to the world. No more plans, no more imagining himself throwing a ball with his son or learning how to braid his daughters hair. No more escape to a life more normal than this. Nothing. It was just over.

"Everything okay?" Kelly's voice breaks in to his melancholy and he blinks, swiping a hand over his face to get rid of the tear there, he clears his throat.

"Yeah." He answers quietly as she draws up behind him, moving her hands over his shoulders.

"Well come back to bed." She purrs.

"In a minute." He nods.

"I'll make it worth your while." She walks her fingers over his chest, leaning in and nipping at his ear.

"I just need some time."

"For what?" She kisses his neck.

He makes a face. "The love of my life just lost our baby." He says flatly, annoyed by her persistance. Kelly stops what she's doing. "Kinda not in the mood."

"The love of your life?" she questions indignantly.

He almost laughs. "That's the part of that statement you're concerned about?" he asks her.

"Well who is she?"

He rolls his eyes. "Her names Claire, and I've known her for years."

"You should have told me about her." She snaps.

"We're broken up."

"But she was having your baby."

"Was. Yeah." he finally turns to look up at the seemingly offended blonde. "Unbelievable."

"What?"

"Go home, Kelly. We're done here." He gets up and walks away from her, back in to his room where he puts on sweatpants and she swiftly follows him. Demanding to know what he meant by that.

It swiftly dissolves in to a nasty fight, and when he finally gets her out of his front door and locks it behind her, he leans his forehead against the wood. He vows that that's it, he's done with women. He's done trying to make them happy, of trying to build something somewhere that might last. A kind of numb cold settling in.

That was the night Leon detached, and stopped getting attached.

He worked. He drank. He survived.

He didn't see or hear from Claire for over a year.

November 2005

In that year, Leon became a different man. Having lost the only person he loved, and the hope she brought with her – the hope for a normal life that the pregnancy had brought about. He threw himself in to his work, in to honing himself in to the most efficient weapon he could be. When he wasn't working, he was in the gym, a strict new regiment of over two hours a day, shaping and sculpting his body. As the times changed, so did the forms of combat. He learned them all, it kept him busy. He barely slept thanks to the nightmares that plagued him and so he occupied his mind and his time with making himself better any way he could. He also worked alongside the President when it came to combating Bio Terror. He was the first person they turned to when they needed expert advice or strategy – it became pretty obvious to the President himself, that Leon's talents were wasted as personal security.

He remained under the charge of the White House, but became the savage blade they sent in when an outbreak occurred. When the odds were stacked. He taught Special Response Teams how to combat the undead, how to stay alive. He took pride in it.

Nothing else to live for.

He didn't have relationships or even attempt to have them. He'd pick up a girl in a bar and satisfy those urges and that would be that. No attachments, no getting close, no exchanging numbers or getting to know each other. He didn't want to think about the future or what could be. He lived firmly for the now, each day one at a time. It wasn't especially healthy, but it was incredibly effective. A lot of people were still alive because a detached Leon Kennedy rode in to town to save them. A war machine, built to end the threat of Bio Terror. That was his life.

On November 15th, 2005, he was sent to Harvardville in the wake of a terrorist attack. The T Virus unleashed on a plane and inside an airport. Someone looking to send a loud and scary message. It was nothing new to Leon, he'd been chasing and connecting the dots since Raccoon City. Another job, another city, another team to teach.

He'd never expected Claire to be there.

He'd never expected to have the armor he'd built around himself, cracked. But the one thing he'd never been able to switch off was his empathy. It was a good thing, it kept him from becoming the thing he'd always feared he might. Another soulless soldier like Krauser.

Angela was the kind of woman that drew him anyway. Beautiful, dark haired and deadly. The attraction had been instant. But as her story began to unfold in front of him, he felt that empathy tugging at him. Another life ruined by this plague, another family torn apart. He wanted to help her, get her the answers she needed, as well as put an end to this mess. As they swept the halls of the airport together, he saw the flash of cherry red hair and for a moment – thought he was imagining things. It couldn't be Claire, why would she be here?

But there she was.

There was no time to think about how to approach her or what to say. He yelled at her to 'get down' and took out the undead, crawling up behind her. The look in her eyes when he offered her his hand – haunted, surprised, familiar.

"Leon! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He says as he helps her to her feet. Their hands hold for a fraction longer than intended, their eyes steady on each other. Before the moments broken up by the arrival of Angela and the small team. Their hands part in tandem and Claire brushes herself off, catching Angela's eye – exactly the kind of woman Leon was drawn to. She instantly doesn't like her.

"There are more survivors?" Leon asks her, all business.

Claire nods. It was awkward, hard to look at him. "This way." She gestures. He doesn't walk beside her like he normally would, he walks a step behind her. Her stomach in knots now far worse than it had been with just the outbreak.

"So why are you here?" He asks her in a voice she didn't recognize. It was cold, far away. Leon's usual warmth had gone.

"I was coming to visit my niece." She explains.

Leon frowns. "She wasn't caught up in this, was she?"

"Afraid so, she's with the rest of the survivors." She looks back at him. He gives her a tight nod and they round a corner to the VIP lounge.

He kept his distance, there were no hugs and no time to catch up. No time for pleasantries or fights. They had to stay alive. Seeing her standing there in that VIP lounge, holding her young niece like a nurturing parent, stabbed him through the heart and made the first dent in that well structured armor he'd built. What could have been. She would have had the baby by now – their lives might have been so different.

As they begin on their escape route, they make the smallest of small talk. She tells him she'd finished college and was working full time for Terra Save. But as it turned out once they escaped the airport, it was Terra Save's actions that made the Harvardville situation all the worse. The look in her eyes as it dawned on her.. he had to say something. No matter what had happened between them, she didn't deserve to blame herself for something that simply wasn't her fault. So he'd taken her aside and offered what comfort he could. It was strange to be alone with her again. Strange and awkward, with so much unsaid between them that it hung in the air heavier than either of them could bear. She wondered what had become of him – it was like a light had gone out in him. A spirit crushed. Had she done that?

"You chose a path that your brother and I couldn't follow. You weren't wrong."

She looks up at him as he offers his words of reason and comfort. "Leon, thankyou." She says quietly and offers him a little smile. "You always seem to know what to say." She adds.

He looks down and away from her, checking his gun although he didn't need to. He didn't know what to say to her at all. There was so much, yet nothing that would come.

"How have you bee.." Her question is cut off by an explosion outside. Their world was never peaceful for long.

They'd gone their separate ways and he'd turned his attention to Angela, tracking down her brother. They worked well as a team, she drew strength from him and he knew it. He liked her, however much he tried to crush it down.

His path crossed with Claire's again, finding her injured inside the destroyed offices of the Will Pharma building.

"That's a nasty wound, we've got to get you out of here."

"I'm alright! Listen to me." She snaps as she swipes his hands away from her, like she couldn't bear for him to touch her. She explains what had happened and what she had seen, and eventually she allows him to help her and to the elevators.

"I'll call for a field medic to pick you up."

"I can handle it, stop worrying about me." She tells him off once again as they enter the lift. He quiets, pressing the button for the floor they needed.

That tension didn't seem to want to go away, and it tangled a knot inside him that they'd really never be the same again. He'd lost his best friend, as well as his love.

"Claire. Try not to get killed."

"Okay. Ditto."

And then she threw him a wink as they said their goodbyes and the elevator doors closed, a little smile, an echo of what they were.

It had thrown him. Was there hope for them?

Perhaps the chaos of emotions inside him had led to him forming a bond with Angela. He didn't know. All he knew was as they finally stood there in the wake of destroying her brother, he couldn't bring himself to let go of her hand. He'd wanted to kiss her, or say something. For a moment he'd wanted to feel again, let someone in. For a minute he'd wanted to hope again. Was he really ready to do that? The decision was made for him though, as his phone shattered the peace of the moment and he answered Hunnigans call. He didn't know that Claire had been watching it all on a security camera.

She'd watched him save the girl, watch him risk his life once again to keep someone else safe. He was still the hero she met back in Raccoon City. He was still Leon. Just a Leon that had had his heart smashed to pieces. Maybe she'd been wrong back then, maybe he really had wanted their baby. Maybe she'd pushed him away harder than she should have. In that moment she felt deep regret for the way she'd handled things. She'd watched him roll that woman out of the way of falling debris, and she'd felt a knot in her stomach as he lay over her, the two of them gathering their thoughts in the wake of such a close brush with death.

Jealous. She'd felt jealous. A feeling that had only gotten worse as the two of them rose and continued to hold hands. She'd watched and waited, holding her breath, willing him not to kiss this other woman.

"Don't do it, Leon. Don't." She murmurs at the screen.

She couldn't bear to see it and yet she couldn't look away. The sigh of relief she lets out when his phone rings and they pull apart – she could kiss whoever it was that had called him.

Harvardville had been strange for them both. More than a battleground in the ongoing war against Bio Terror. It had been a no man's land for their hearts. A melancholy reunion neither of them had expected but had perhaps come at just the right time in their lives. Seeing each other again after so long brought those scars to the surface. But they also realized that after over a year, those scars were just that. Old wounds, long since healed. Maybe it was time to build something new in their place.

Maybe.

Christmas Day, 2005

He didn't have the time off of work to go back to Colorado and spend Christmas with his Father. So instead he spent Christmas day alone. That was fine, he ate Chinese food and watched old movies, kicked back on his couch, giving himself a rare day off from the gym. Complete rest and relaxation. He was used to being on his own at this point, it was probably what was best for him. Lone wolf, it was kinda his thing.

He's mid way through Home Alone when there's a knock at his door. It makes him hesitate, nobody ever really visited him. He wasn't the most social guy out there, tended to keep to himself unless he was bringing a woman home. The soldier in him instantly thinks it might be a threat of some kind, but he tells himself off for that. This building had security, he was just being paranoid. So with that in mind he pushes himself up and pads bare chested to the door.

When he opens it, he has the surprise of his life.

"Claire.."

She stood there in a red leather jacket and black jeans and boots, her cherry hair up in a cute knot with falling curls that framed her face. And she wore a smile. She looked really.. really good.

"Hey." She says softly, presenting him with a bottle of expensive whiskey. "Figured, you showed up at my door a complete surprise often enough. It's my turn. Thought we could maybe.. bury the hatchet?"

His hand, which had been clutching the side of the door, slides down it and then reaches out to take the bottle. Stepping aside to let her in. "That sounds good." He smiles at her, a small nod of his head. She clutches her hands in front of herself and while it's awkward, it's like the tension of Harvardville has lifted. She steps inside and glances around as he closes the door behind her.

"How did you know I was even home?" he asks her as they drift over to the couch.

"I was going to head to Colorado, but I figured I better call your Dad first, make sure it was okay. He told me you couldn't get the time off." She explains, sitting down – more or less perching on the edge of the seat. He places the bottle down on the table.

"Yeah, back on duty at 6am." He sighs, sitting cautiously beside her.

"That sucks."

"President doesn't stop being the President, even over the Holidays."

"At least you got today off?" She shrugs, glancing at the TV. "Oh, I love this movie."

"I know." He laughs softly, "I remember."

She looks back at him, the pair of them gazing at one another for a moment. "Harvardville was kinda weird, huh." She says after a moment.

"Very." He nods.

"Did you ever go diving?"

He quirks an eyebrow, then shakes his head. "Nah, didn't even get her number."

"Oh." She nods. Inside, she was happy about that. "It all kinda.. made me realize how much I miss you." She says quietly, hesitantly.

He bites his lip, considering this for a moment. "I missed you too."

"Are you okay? You seemed.. really distant back there." She was concerned about him, she had been since he left on that chopper.

He shrugs. "Just treading water I guess."

"More awful missions?" she grimaces.

"Not really," he shakes his head. "I just lost my best friend."

Her lips down turn in to a sad frown and she sighs. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

She reaches out and gently covers his hand with hers, his thumb strokes over her knuckle. "Maybe we could start over?" She asks after a moment. "Back to friends. I really miss that."

He nods, giving her hand a little squeeze. "That'd be good." He murmurs.

They smile, and eventually they hug. It felt nice to have her back there, back in his arms. Even if they were just friends. Perhaps that was all he was ready for right now too.

She shares his Chinese food and they settle to watch their old Christmas movies. Home Alone, Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands. Awake in to the night. Eventually, she falls asleep with her head in his lap. He doesn't move her, happy to watch over her. Happy she was home.

July 4th, 2006

England

Ada opens her eyes, her breath coming in quick pants. She was naked. Her hands were cinched behind her back and the same rope was wrapped around her neck. She was sitting doubled over, leaning forward, that rope then wound around her ankles. If she moved so much as a fraction, it began to choke her. She had to keep perfectly still to keep from strangling herself.

Which is really not easy when someone pours scalding or freezing water over you.

"Who was he?"

She shivers. The last bucket had been freezing, her hair plastered to her cheeks and water droplets hung off the end of her nose. She couldn't move.

"We know you didn't do it alone, so give us a name and this ends."

"I did it alone." She answers.

"Impossible."

The next bucket is scorching hot. She wants to scream, her whole body flinches and she chokes. Stay still. Stay still. Don't move. She clenches her eyes shut as her skin blistered, crying through her teeth and forcing herself to stay steady. She could do this. She could get through this. She'd been through worse.

"We need to know who he was, and what he knows about us."

"Nobody. Nothing." She manages, her whole body was shaking and there was nothing she could do about it. Adrenaline keeping her alive, keeping her going.

"You can stop this, Ada."

"I did it alone." She repeats.

Another scalding bucket of water is poured slowly over her.

Her scream echoes down the halls.