|A/N| Greetings and salutations, my beautiful readers!

I swear the last bit has loads of meaning. It becomes important later, so take notes (or don't, that's fine too). Also, Antonio's ailment is not so out-of-nowhere as it may seem. That's all I can say~

Anyways! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

February 10, 2016

Santander, Spain

Antonio woke up to the bitter smell of antiseptic and medicine, along with the sound of beeping mixing with the gentle rhythm of rain against the window. Forcing his eyes open, he let a small groan escape his mouth before his mind sped up a bit more. Everything hurt, from the top of his head to the tip of his toes; his vision was fuzzy as well, like he was looking through steamy glass; and there was a large blank spot in his memory, right after the coffee shop...

Wait. Antonio frowned, trying to summon the strength to sit up as to take in his surroundings more. Why was he in the hospital? What had happened? Why...why couldn't he remember?

Struggling slightly in the unfamiliar hospital bed, the frame groaning as he did so, Antonio kicked off the covers. He barely registered the door to his room opening, an immediate panic settling in his smoke-filled mind. Armando? Where was Armando? His breathing was ragged. Arms were suddenly holding him down. Antonio was frightened, so frightened. What was going on?

"Sh, little brother. I'm here. Stop struggling."

The hands grasping his arms left. A warmth enveloped Antonio's own left hand, squeezing in gentle reassurance, as Armando's other hand ruffled Antonio's hair. He was smiling gently, eyes a little red around the edges, and his own brown hair was messy and unkempt. Antonio blinked at his brother, before wondering how long he had been in this bed. Armando didn't really like getting very messy, unless he was worried; then his appearance tumbled down the drain.

Without letting go of Antonio's hand, Armando grabbed one of the plastic hospital chairs a few inches away from the bed and sat down. The collection of nurses that must have come into the room (so they must've been what was holding him down...) with the Portuguese man quickly took Antonio's vitals, before rushing out so that the two brothers could have their privacy. A brief silence followed.

"...Hey." Antonio finally whispered, swallowing the nervousness he felt brewing in his chest.

Armando closed his eyes, sighing gently as his shoulders slumped. "Hey. I'm glad to see you're awake..." He replied, eyes flickering everywhere as if he were anticipating someone to jump out at them. "You were out for two days."

"What?"

Opening his eyes, Armando looked Antonio dead-on, a frown replacing his previous relieved smile. He seemed mad, mood changing so quickly Antonio jumped. Why...? "You were out for two days, Toni. Do you know how worried I was? I mean, yeah, you were frustrated at me, but..." Armando shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, clearly trying to calm his frazzled nerves. "Why did you do it? That's all I want to know."

"Do...what?" Antonio asked, furrowing his eyebrows together and pouting, trying to remember. That space in his memory wasn't completely blank anymore, but it was still indiscernible; just a collection of fractured images and snippets of memory, having no rhyme or reason to the way they were arranged.

It was like a jigsaw puzzle; one that was missing a few pieces and without the box's finished diagram.

"The poison, Antonio. I just thought it was blood-loss from that damn rose, but then the doctors ran some tests and..." Another shake of the head. Armando seemed to be grasping for straws about now and Antonio could practically see the stress weighing on his brother. "They all said that you had a high concentration of some kind of poison in your system. You're really lucky that it wasn't enough to kill you instantly, just incapacitate you."

Poison...? Antonio just blinked, his eyes heavy and his head suddenly feeling light. The fuzzy snapshots suddenly burst into focus, making him wince slightly; the rose, the blood, the awful pain of it. But, there was no poison in his memories. "I didn't drink any poison, Armando...h-honest..."

"Then tell me how it got into your stomach."

"I don't know...But I'm...sorry?"

Apologize. That's all he could do right now.

"Alright..." Armando sighed, looking at his little brother. Despite how much he tried to hide it, Antonio was barely keeping his eyes open; his blinks slow and getting closer to just staying shut.

"Just...rest. I'm going to go get cleaned up and come back later to check you out of here." Standing up and grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair (when did that get there?), Armando made his way to the door, taking one final look at Antonio. "Don't think this conversation is over, though, Toni. We're going to talk about this sooner or later."

The door closed, leaving Antonio alone with his heart monitor and the rain drizzling outside. His thoughts were still too jumbled to be very good company.

Another person opened up the door before Antonio's eyes could close. Nothing really brought his attention to her, but she seemed to force his eyes onto her anyways. She had a medical facemask over her mouth, her long black hair tied up into a bun, eyes that glinted brown underneath the room's fluorescent lighting. She wasn't very outstanding; just the basic nurse who no one really remembered after their hospital trip.

Antonio gave her a tired wave (hey, he should still be polite) before sleep grabbed him, coddling him in reassuring arms. The heart monitor set out a calming tempo, making him feel secure.

.

90245 adjusted their facemask, trying to make it so that it covered as much of their features as possible. They couldn't stop fidgeting, despite how much training they had gone through so that they didn't do so. A cold cylinder pressed against their thigh as they walked into their target's room, reminding them of the mission. The Boss' voice echoed through their head.

"Fernández-Carriedo, Antonio. Suspected botanokinetic. A possible danger. We just need DNA samples for now 90245; no need to use your...specialty for this assignment."

There he was. 90245 steeled their nerves, shuffling over to the man's bedside. He waved at them, although they suspected him to be too sleepy to really care about some random nurse, before his eyes closed and soft snores filled the room. They felt themselves nodding, knowing that if the man was asleep it would be easier to complete their mission, before grabbing the empty IV bag from its hook and replacing it with a fresh one.

They would have to quick. The older brother said that he was just getting cleaned up, but they knew that he only planned on a quick change of clothes. There was no time to waste, then.

Extracting the syringe from their pocket, they stepped closer to the sleeping patient. Fernández-Carriedo looked peaceful, a soft smile stretched over his face and his eyes already flickering in REM sleep. They suddenly felt hesitant, thoughts beginning to fill their head. How long had it been since they were allowed to dream? Much less smile? The syringe lowered the more they thought. They barely remembered anything before the Boss...

Did they want to take those small joys away from someone so...young?

What were they wondering about? They shook their head, a few strands of hair falling from their bun. It was just a small blood sample; nothing more, nothing less. There was no time for useless questions, they had a job to complete. Raising the syringe again, they started to examine the man's arm for a good vein. Their eyes alighted on one almost instantly, the blue standing out amongst the tanned skin. Perfect.

Gently putting down the man's arm so that the vein faced upwards, they took the cap off of the syringe, emptying all of the air from it quickly. No time. No time. No...

The door slammed open. The air outside picked up. Everything in their body came to a standstill. Not good, not good, not good. The world was in overdrive. An unnatural heat pooled around their neck, letting them know the new person's identity as the smell of searing flesh filling their nose. They choked out a cry, staring at the sleeping brunette on the bed with blurring vision.

Not fast enough...

Footsteps filled their ears with a rhythm like a funeral drum, the fire dancing on their neck growing fiercer. Helius grabbed their bun, throwing them away from Antonio and against the wall, a barrier of heat trapping them inside of a small capsule. 90245 stared at their new-found opponent, feeling helpless and small. They didn't want to fight...But he looked like he expected one. The air around the Unnatural was wavering like the horizon in a desert, his eyes lit up like light bulbs and teeth bared in a snarl.

"Did you think I wouldn't be ready for one of you?" Helius asked, taking a step forward. 90245 couldn't say anything. Helius continued, "I may not be in the loop with the 'Illusionist' anymore, but I still get regular updates from him. And he said that your damn organization was back." He spat out that one word like it was poison, making 90245 shudder.

Of course, they should had known. The Illusionist kept every Unnatural alerted to odd events taking place.

With five more steps, the man was towering over them, not even bothered by the ring of heat. Helius actually seemed to be seconds away from bursting into flames himself, eyes glowing completely yellow now. The rain outside was a practical hurricane. They were surprised that the windows hadn't burst into a flurry of knife-like shards yet.

"Now, I'm wondering if you're worth keeping alive." A trail of flame slowly curled its way up Helius' arm like a snake. "Or if I should just let your death be classified as 'spontaneous combustion.' Tell me, which one seems like the better option?"

What do you want from me...? 90245 asked, letting their voice echo around Helius' conscious while they dropped their head. There was no way that he would let them go free without them giving him something. Anything he wanted, they would give; he knew that. The Boss was not going to be happy with them, anyway. They had failed their mission. Whatever it is, I will give it to you.

Helius smiled, the expression horribly cold, and let the heat dissipate along with the flames dancing on his arm. He offered a hand to them, but they just scrambled to their feet. Smile disappearing in a flash, Helius let his hand fall to his side. The hurricane outside became a drizzle. "I want to know all that you can tell me."

A sudden, odd desperation filled 90245, dancing through their veins and making sure that they were consumed by it. They had spent so long protecting both The Boss and his secrets; it was their only function by now. It was instinctual to keep it safe. They were nothing more than a puppet, drained of freewill and their own life...Now was a chance to break from that man's shackles...

Fine...I'll tell you everything I am able to. But, I need you to promise me something once the deed is done.

Helius raised an eyebrow, clearly weighting his options, before giving a stiff nod. Perfect.

Without a pause, 90245 dropped to their knees. They ignored the cool hospital floor, their hands splayed out as they squeezed their eyes shut. Flashes of colors filled their vision, images that they drew from every part of their mind. As quickly as they appeared, the flashes melted away into blank spots of memory; deleted like a picture from a camera. Helius suddenly gasped as more and more images faded, letting them know that their power was working.

Finally, nearly everything in their memory was gone except for some age-old scraps, floating around in Helius' own conscious. They fell on their side, the other Unnatural right after them. 90245 opened grey eyes, watching as Helius opened his own green ones. He was twitchy, like he had been overcharged, but he would be fine. 90245 knew that th-no, she wouldn't be...

Drawing on the last of her strength, 90245 sent her request to Helius. I want you to...Kill me. Please...

Helius blinked at her, eyes round as he sat up. His movements jerky and uncoordinated, tears ran down his face. After a few swift moments, he raised a hand; a small blue flame sprung up, hovering calmly over his palm. "Are..." He swallowed. She was surprised at how...mellow he was when not in a defensive rage. She almost chuckled. Helius steeled his nerves and tried again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Her lips quivered, unused to feeling words float over them. She had forgotten what her own voice sounded like. "My whole adult life has been hell on earth...You must be able to tell from those...memories." He didn't have to nod for her to know it was true. His eyes matched the ones that she had seen in the mirror for so long: Distant, tortured, scared. A fleeting moment of guilt hit her, but she brushed it off quickly. "I just need...release."

That convinced him. Shuffling over to her, Helius nodded, like he was assuring her that it would be fine. She wished to do the same for him, but the well of strength left in her was comparable to a riverbank during a drought. Empty. The flame dancing in Helius' hand grew larger as he put his hand closer to her chest, before she could feel the cold of it touching her heart.

Everything in her was draining away, leaving her nothing more than a desert void of life. Helius' worried face peered over her, but she did something...odd.

For the first time in a long while, 90245—no, that wasn't her name anymore was it? What was it again...Hue? She really didn't remember much—smiled. She dropped her head, no longer able to keep it up. The worry on Helius' face was quickly replaced by shock, that being the last thing Hue was able to see before everything faded to a warm, black cocoon.

At least she was able to help Helius...He would need it...