The woman didn't acknowledge the applause, she just walked, her shoulders squared in indifference.‘She lost nine men’, Kim thought, the number echoing in her mind. ‘Nine men. And she had nearly eighty under her command…’.‘IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE.’The scale of what Cross had accomplished was staggering. A massive, coordinated extraction operation in a hostile facility, and she had brought back the vast majority of her people. Kim felt a surge of awe so powerful it almost made her dizzy. She had seen Cross at her what could be dubbed her version of low, read: when things didn't seem to work out for her, especially concerning the investigation but now Kim could say that she had also seen her at her best. And this was the best.As she watched, Cross didn't stop to bask in the applause of the station, her face still that infuriating mask of indifference.She walked straight to Marcus, her eyes meeting his.Marcus let out a long, shuddering breath the moment she reached him. His whole body

(Back Three years ago - September 15th)After what felt like a small eternity, Saul made his return to the lab, feeling more grounded in his skin even as his eyes ached from all the tears he had shed.Pressing his card against the electronic unit, the metal door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the familiar insides of the lab once more. The air was thick with the smell of antiseptic and salt water, the familiar scent grounding him in the present. The lab was quiet, the only sounds the soft hum of equipment and the occasional click of a keyboard.Magnus was hunched over his laptop, his fingers flying across the keys, his face illuminated by the glow of the screen. His rumpled clothes were even more disheveled than before, his hair sticking up in odd directions and the dark circles carved deep beneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was probably true.Alex was standing next to him, his body angled toward Magnus's screen, his eyes scanning the data with an in

Magnus sputtered, his feet dragging on the floor and he placed his hands on Saul's, fingers scrabbling in the man's iron grip." Saul!” he shouted in protest."What the hell are you doing?" Saul snarled back in return, his voice low and dangerous. "You're fucking doing human testing? Without my approval? Without any oversight?! Are you mad?!"Magnus's face was pale, his eyes wide with fear. But there was something else there too, a flicker of defiance… that awful spark of the madness that drove him."Saul, listen to me-" he tried to speak but Saul interrupted him again."No." Saul's grip tightened instead, his knuckles turning white. "You listen to me. We agreed. No human testing until the research is complete. We agreed."Magnus swallowed, his throat bobbing in fear but his eyes had narrowed as well, defiance out for all to see. "The research is complete and the S-Factor is ready! It's been ready for weeks, and you know it." He hissed Saul shook his head, his voice cold. "It's not r

His team nodded, their movements quick and efficient. They spread out across the room, their hands working to secure the equipment, their voices low and tense. A man near the window was struggling with a strap that had come loose, his fingers fumbling with the buckle in his fear.Ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut, Saul left them to it and moved to the main console room.When he got there, he immediately moved to the systems, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He initiated a series of commands, the data drives disconnecting from the network with a series of soft clicks. He watched the progress bar crawl across the screen, willing it to move faster.It was then that he noticed something, a faint sound, barely audible over the roar of the storm and the chaos of the other room. It was the sound of footsteps, soft and careful, trying to be silent.Saul's eyes narrowed. Someone was following him.He didn't turn around. He didn't give any indication that he had noticed. Inste

“And you went along with him?!,” Saul cried, shaking the man, "How dare you?!”Aris's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. He looked terrified, like a man who had finally realized he had gone too far. His hands were gripping Saul's arms, his fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt." Forgive me,” he whispered, eyes imploring.Saul paused at that, his anger momentarily stifled by confusion, " What do you mean?”"Now!" Aris yelled out.Before Saul could react, something hit his arm.It was a sharp, stinging impact that sent a shockwave of numbness through his body.He looked down, his eyes widening as he saw the dart protruding from his forearm. A small, metal dart, its needle still embedded in his skin. He reached for it, his fingers fumbling, but they wouldn't obey him. His arm was going numb, the numbness spreading rapidly through his body, a cold tide that seemed to swallow him from the inside out."Wha-" he tried to say, but the word came out slurred and strange,