Noah was feeling ill. Not the kind of 'ill' he was used to, with his brain acting up and confusing reality. No, he was feeling physically ill, like he was about to throw up whatever remnants were inside of him. His head was thumping, he felt hot, and he wondered if he had caught some kind of flu or bug. It was the last thing he needed with everything else going on. Maybe he had been working himself too hard, stressing too much.
A lance of pain caused Noah to lean against the wall, panting. What was going on? It felt like there was something inside of him trying to wrench its way out.
"He's hurting!"
"I know, but we need to warn him!"
Noah winced at the voices. He looked around the corridor, confused. These weren't voices he recognised.
"I've got connection – there's a reason I do this in dreams!"
"Stop complaining and let him know!"
The corridor seemed to stretch out for eternity, disappearing into the distance, lost in shadows. This wasn't right. Strangely, Noah felt like he had just stumbled into a dream. He held up his hand in front of him as if to check he was still there. He was. As he moved his hand down, Noah stopped. In front of him stood a shadow – a pure shadow, no body at all. Yet Noah could make out some detail. There were strange stripes of glowing pink running through what could have been hair. The shadow was feminine and short and did not seem familiar to him at all. Noah blinked, confused, and again that feeling he had before in his dreams, that feeling of knowing it wasn't real yet not doing anything about it, permeated his mind.
"Noah, can you hear me, Noah?"
"I-I can…" Noah felt a lance of pain in his head again, so sharp it made him bend over. He felt like he was ready to throw up the pain was so bad.
"It'll subside! I just need you to listen to me, it's going to happen quickly, lots will happen at once. I can't show you the visions. The List is going to happen either way, she is hungry and sees an opportunity in your future. Don't lose track of the List. You need to—"
A hand clasped his shoulder and instantly Noah was dragged back, the shadow gone and the corridor ending in the door like he expected. Whirling around, pale and exhausted, Noah came face to face with the worried expression on Robyn.
"Noah! You look horrible, what's wrong? No, what's wrong is that I've lost my camera, it's gone, I can't find it! I was investigating the books like I said I would and I just finished and I went to grab my camera and its gone, Noah!" Noah opened his mouth to reply but instantly closed it again. The nausea was strong. "I can't be without my camera, Noah, I just can't, I need it, it was given to me by my brother," Robyn was trying to control her breathing. "Can you help me find it?"
Noah raised his head and slowly nodded, the nausea slowly but surely fading away. "In the library?"
"Yeah, maybe someone picked it up or handed it in, let's go, let's go!"
It became clear that Paulie, or rather Invidia as he was calling himself under that mask, was no threat even with the knife in his hand. It had happened so quickly that Conner had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Paulie had been the first one to approach from the trio made up of himself, Pigritia (although Conner knew who she really was) and the ever-silent foreboding Irae. As soon as Paulie had moved forward, it was Rhino who stood out to greet him.
Paulie immediately went to stab Rhino but Conner saw that Paulie had no skill in the art of the knife at all. The angle was all wrong and even if Paulie had hit he would do minimal damage.
Rhino was not going to let Paulie hit.
In two strides, the massive Rhino was face-to-face with Paulie. Paulie swung and Rhino used his left hand to grab Paulie's wrist. He jerked it sharply and immediately Paulie was disarmed, the knife falling amongst the grass. With his right hand Rhino reached up, grabbed the mask on his face, and tore it completely free from the straps that held it there. Rhino threw the mask behind him and Conner got a good look at Paulie's shocked, scared face, a complete far cry from the cocky look he had when murdering Imogen Banks. That look was quickly wiped away when Rhino clocked Paulie so hard in the nose he dropped like a bag of bricks into the grass.
Irae and Pigritia looked to each other. Irae nodded and made to move towards Rhino, being the closest to matching the massive soldier's frame. Conner hated the DSI – or rather the DHP – but he was finding a certain glee in watching what was happening from his spot behind them. Rhino dropped to one knee and Wasp used that knee to push off and jump straight towards Irae, clearly throwing the bigger masked sin off-guard. With the balance and grace of a ballerina Wasp landed with her left foot on Irae's left shoulder, drew back her right foot and kicked Irae's in the side of the head like it was a football. Wasp immediately hopped back off to stand beside Rhino, who had stood back up, as Irae dropped to both knees, clutching the side of his head, but still conscious.
Rhino and Wasp did not speak. They both looked to Pigritia, whose eyes behind her mask were wide.
"Every fool knows not to take on the combat squad of the DSI," Conner called out. He was certainly one for the power of words and the combat squad were famous for their lack of it. So if Rhino and Wasp weren't going to grate at the sins' nerves with words, then he would happily make up for it.
Irae climbed back to his feet, one hand still clutching the side of his head, while the other held Conner's own knife tightly. He had to wonder how they had managed to break into the box that contained them. The DHP had ensured they were put in an unopenable box that was nigh-on near impossible to break. Conner had certainly tried to open it himself to no success.
"Get up!" Pigritia said down to her feet, where Paulie let out a groan. When the orderly got to his feet, it was clear that his nose was broken, blood spilling out over his lips.
"What the fuck was that!" Paulie moaned, his words sodden with blood.
"What do we do?" Irae asked, speaking for the first time. Just like with the other masks, his voice was modulated but even with the modulation Conner could tell it was deep. He saw movement next to him and Conner saw John reach into the grass and pull up the mask that Paulie had worn. John inspected it and silently held up the inside to Conner – showing off some kind of intricate device that must have been the cause of modulation.
"We stick to the plan," Pigritia said.
"Do we have to use the knives!?" Paulie moaned.
"We stick to the plan!" Pigritia repeated, pissed off. Her eyes behind the masks glanced up for a single moment – a moment that Conner caught easily. He wasn't certain what that glance was. Following her gaze, he only saw the top of the trees and the wall far off in the distance.
"FUCK!" Paulie roared, spitting blood everywhere. Together, he and Irae rushed Wasp and Rhino and Conner exchanged a glance with John.
"They're fucked," Conner said with a shrug.
"Yes," John simply said in reply. Despite their first meeting going tremendously badly, Conner had found himself impressed with John. Impressed with the way he moved, the way he talked, the way he held himself. Conner knew of Bridge – in fact, was quite the big fan of his music – and meeting him in person was not a disappointment. The question that Conner needed answered as soon as possible was how in the world did he know about uncle Freddie?
Irae had gone for Rhino and Paulie's target was Wasp. For Paulie, it was a done deal as soon as he got in range of the small woman. He was waving his fists around like a rookie, not even bothering to try and pick up the knife he had dropped. Wasp immediately stepped to the side of a flailed fist, tripped him with a flick of her foot, and let Paulie drop hard to his back. Paulie gasped in pain but the gasp was quickly stifled as Wasp pressed her foot on his throat, gently putting pressure on his throat. Conner had to admire the ruthlessness of it all. He himself had been face to face with the combat squad and found himself at the wrong end of a combat boot. It was a humbling experience to realise that no matter what expectations you may have of the department, their combat squad was far superior to any day-to-day fighter.
Conner watched Irae throw a much more trained punch than Paulie, right towards Rhino's gut. Intelligent – to fight a big man, hit him in the biggest target. However a simple punch was not going to worry Rhino. With surprising agility for such a big man, he rotated on his heel to avoid the blow and immediately brought his knee up into Irae's stomach. To Irae's credit, he managed to grab a hold of Rhino's knee, keeping it clutched towards him. Irae pushed forward and muscled Rhino backwards. Despite being slightly smaller than Rhino, Irae seemed to have more strength on him, and he swiftly stabbed the knife towards Rhino's belly.
Rhino grabbed the wrist of Irae that held the knife and twisted – the same move he used on Paulie. Only Irae kept his hold on the weapon, and dropped his hips while still holding Rhino's leg in an attempt to knock him off balance. Rhino simply dropped his own hips to match the leverage and spiked his head forward. Like the charge of his namesake, Rhino's headbutt put Conner's own to shame. His forehead crashed into Irae's mask and immediately shattered the plastic into tiny pieces.
Marcus Morris reared his head back in pain and Conner had to sigh to himself. People like Marcus simply were not interesting to him. Like Paulie, he was simply cannon fodder. Marcus was a simple server of food in the cafeteria, nothing more than a glorified dinner lady.
The big man clutched his face from where some of the shards had cut into his skin and Rhino pushed his forearm into Marcus Morris' neck and pushed him straight to the ground, putting his full force onto Marcus' throat and chest, pinning the man to the ground.
With two down, that only left the much more interesting one. Conner's eyes moved to Pigritia and he saw that the masked sin was already taking action. She was moving towards Rhino, knife raised as if to pierce his back. From her right Wasp took her foot off of Paulie to intercept. Rhino made no movement. Conner had to admire the teamwork from Rhino and Wasp. He had seen it before. They trusted each other implicitly with no wasted movement.
When Wasp moved to reach out for the arm holding the knife, Conner's eyes widened a little bit. Some instinct went through his body, some animalistic knowledge that something that was going simply was about to get very complicated.
Pigritia let go of her knife deliberately just as Wasp's thin fingers wrapped around her forearm. Conner watched his own knife glint as it rotated a full 360 degrees before Pigritia's other hand whipped lightning fast from below both women, grabbing the knife and plunged it straight into Wasp's thigh.
To her credit, Wasp did not scream or cry out in pain, merely grunted as the long blade slid all the way through the meat of her thigh, the tip emerging from the other end, covered in crimson. Pigritia immediately let go of the knife and thrust an elbow into the off-balance soldier's stomach. The impact was swift and harsh and Wasp bent over straight into a knee that shattered the left lens of her goggles.
In the split second from stab to knee, Rhino had risen from Marcus' prone form and reached for the much smaller Pigritia. Pigritia showed no fear, her eyes analytical from behind her mask. She immediately struck Rhino in the ribs with a punch, her form twisted into that of a professional boxer. A punch to the right spot could down even the biggest man but Rhino merely grunted, flinching only the smallest amount. That flinch was all Pigritia needed as she threw another expertly formed punch into the other side of Rhino's ribs. With swiftness that belied even her diminutive appearance, Pigritia avoided the response from Rhino's arm as it swung right over her. From her position crouched, Pigritia pulled the blade from Wasp's thigh with again expertly trained precision and the knife flicked as she moved it through the air.
It sunk right into Rhino's side.
Immediately the big man backed away from Pigritia, panting. Her swiftness came to a stop as Pigritia took perhaps a second to look at Rhino and then at Wasp. For a fraction her mask focused directly on Conner.
Pigritia then turned and sprinted into the treeline.
For a moment all was silent as Rhino put pressure around the blade pierced deep into his side. He panted as he put his back against the tree. Wasp was clutching her head from the surprise combat ability that Pigritia displayed.
A hand clapped Conner on the back and Conner looked up at John, who was looking down at him.
"Go get her, Shepherd. Quick!"
John's face was surprisingly resolute and Conner had to remember what he knew of what happened when John, Ollie, and Imogen were kidnapped. He had been told how they had targeted Conner, and how Pigritia had injured him. John had a grudge with Pigritia.
"Fine by me," Conner breathed, feeling an old adrenaline rush into his body. Ever since he had missed the mask who had taken Ollie, he had been itching to get back at the masks. Paulie and Marcus were both down for the count amidst the grass, but that wasn't enough. Conner wanted all seven heads at his feet.
Conner made it five steps before Wasp suddenly reached out and grasped his arm with a tight grip. Her other hand was pressed on the open wound that had pierced through her thigh. Nevertheless her one visible eye behind her broken lens was firm. "Shepherd. Capture her. No more." Conner stared into those eyes and the deal he had made those short months ago came back stark.
"If we are to place you at Hearthome, then you must abide by our rules. Conner Shepherd, your crimes before the Apocalypse are paramount to the death penalty. Your actions during the Apocalypse have earned you your life but that is all. You have proven yourself capable of holding back your urges. I fought for your life, Conner, so I need you to obey my every word without protest. You are my soldier now, whether you like it or not. Perhaps, in thirty or forty years, I deem you have sufficiently proven your ability to live amongst others, and as long as you attend regular sessions without incident with doctors, then perhaps you will leave Hearthome and be able to spend what remains of your life a free man."
Conner glared at the woman. He had been cuffed to a chair by both wrists and ankles. His mouth had been bound. The wounds all across his body were still fresh, oozing blood so that it almost seemed as if he were covered in crimson. His hair was slick and stuck to his skull. He looked as if he had gone to hell and back again – which perhaps wasn't so far from the truth at all. The woman looked at him with an expression that could shatter the hardest stone.
"This is your one and only chance. You will be watched. You will be tracked. You will be analysed. If I deem you taking any action that puts others lives in danger – even simply striking out in anger – then I will put you down as the rabid dog everybody thinks you are. This is my charity, Conner, and all the risks that come with it I shall bear on my shoulders. You battled for the sake of humanity and the Department of Supernatural Investigation understands this. I will give you amenities that other patients do not have. Your knives will be placed in an impenetrable box and placed within your room as a reminder of who you used to be. It is a test. Those knives are there so you can fight your urges and to prove to me that you do not need knives to be a productive member of society. None will ever call you a hero like the others but it is at least within my power to reward you with your life. Do not waste it. Remember, there are none to mourn your death."
Conner pulled his arm away from Wasp and for a moment looked up at the scars that criss-crossed every visible part of his skin. Mementos of the unearthly deeds he had done. Even after what he did, even after all he had achieved, he was never placed on the same pedestal as the other heroes of the Apocalypse. He was not the rogue agent turned redeemer Harold Kelly. He was not the fierce descendant of Death himself like Paige Calloway. He was not the immortal Jade Skysong. He was not the valiant Rose Milano or the courageous Zeina Morcos. He was not the saviour Naomi Collado. He was not the shining light that was Ruby Ascot.
No, he was Conner Shepherd, the child killer, the murderer, the ripper. The man who kills. The villain. There were no positive connotations for Conner and there never would be, even if the whole world knew what had happened those months ago, after the dead had risen and the horseman had rode the world to bring about their apocalypse.
Conner did not need that validation. He did not need to be a hero like the rest of those do-gooders.
There was only one thing that Conner wanted, even if he were to die old and grey in Hearthome.
"I will not kill," he said quietly to Wasp, matching her hard glare. "That is what I owe myself." With that he immediately disappeared into the treeline like a wolf, bounding between each and every tree on Pigritia's trail.