-What You've Become-
I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one would ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)
I can't escape myself
(I can't escape myself)
So many times I've lied
(So many times I've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one would ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal I have become)
-Three Days Grace-Animal I Have Become-2006-
-NOAH-
It can't have been the Triad. They wouldn't have been this efficient. They want you to know what they've done. They want you to suffer. They like to leave their mark...so who could it have been? There was no sign of forced entry. I searched the apartment again but didn't see anything out of place. It looks like she had come home after the gala, showered, and ate. She must have gone to bed when she was taken.
As strong as she's become, she had to have been too tired to fight back; her guard might have been down, or she had been drugged. But...the way our window was warped, it had been done by someone with enhanced strength. I could even fit my hands in the grooves around it. The killer must be after her! But why? They kill someone who was working against us, only to come for her next?
I could think of only one person who might be able to make sense of all of this.
He picks up after a few rings, "H'lo?" Micro yawns.
"You already fell asleep, even though you're expecting us?" I frowned.
"Huh," he huffs. 'I guess I did. What's going on?"
"Erykah is missing," I toss out. "The person who killed Krista must have gotten to her because they tore through the window of our apartment, but there's no sign of forced entry!"
"I'm on my way to the safe house," Micro informs me, fully awake now. "I was afraid of this."
"What the hell do you mean?" I snarled. "What do you know?"
"She's been after Karl Malus," he sighs.
"Wait, what?" I demand. "Why?"
"Think about how passionate she is about protecting Powered people," Micro reminds me. "Malus has been conducting illegal experiments. This is right up her alley."
"...Why didn't you tell me?"
"She's been more than capable of handling herself," he replied, "and honestly, I didn't even know myself until I saw her on a camera. I didn't make any connection until tonight."
"I'm on my way," was all I gave him before I hung up.
I'm fucking furious, but for now, my priority is to get her home and put several bullets in that sick fuck. I called my brother.
"You haven't gotten comfortable, have you?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure I know what comfortable is anymore," he sighs. "Why, what's up?"
"Erykah is missing, and Micro believes that Malus might have something to do with it," I explain.
I hear a gun cock in the background.
"Give me five minutes," he assures me.
I armed myself to the teeth before heading out to meet him because I was going to make godamn sure to bleed the city red to get her back.
-FRANK-
"Erykah is missing?" I demand quietly. "What the hell do you mean she's missing?!"
I gently untangle myself from Lacey. "Start from the beginning," I instruct Noah.
"No sign of forced entry, but your window got fucked up?" I frowned. "That doesn't make se-that Powered killer...what if it's someone she knew? We gotta get to Micro! Maybe he's seen something-you're already on your way? All right, I'm heading out now."
I hung up and turned to Lacey, who was still asleep. I knew she would want to know about Erykah, but she also needed to sleep. She didn't even wake when the phone rang. I chose to leave her a note before I headed out. When I get to the safe house we've been given, Noah is pacing, Nathan is on the phone, and Micro looks grim.
"What's going on?" I asked them.
"Before we begin, I need to tell you about Erykah," Micro sighs. "I didn't think anything of it because she's been able to handle herself, but I should have brought it up, and I'm so sorry I didn't."
Noah looked as if he was going to pass out, but the look of pure fury in his eyes told me that he already knew what Micro had to say, and he wasn't happy about it.
"Micro, out with it," I urge him. "I haven't even told Red, she's knocked out. Come on."
"I've seen her on the CC cams around the last known location of Karl Malus," Micro reveals.
"You're thinking she was working on a story," I realized. "And one of his lab rats must be the killer."
"And he's after her," Noah croaks.
"Have you found her on camera yet?" Nathan asks. "I've got an APB out on Malus. I'd rather us handle the killer ourselves; less risk of losing a lot of cops."
I grab my twelve-gauge and cock it. "I don't give a fuck if it's powered, I'm gonna pump it full of lead." I shrug.
"Oh, God..." Micro gasps.
"What is it?" Noah asks as we gather around the screen.
It's Erykah...there are mangled bodies all over the alley...she's covered in blood, and she's stalking someone else.
"Wait, that's a Valhalla hideout," Nathan observed.
"What has she done?" Noah whispered.
"This was Malus," Micro insisted. "He must have done something to her. You know what he is."
"Why hasn't she said anything? To any of us?" Noah wonders.
"She might not know what she's doing," I clarify. "I've worked with Jessica Jones before. He experimented on her mother, and who knows how many others...a lot of them have ended up in the Raft or Ravencroft because they've been left so fucked up."
"...She's been on a rampage lately," Noah acknowledged. "Let's go get her."
"We'll talk about this later," I tell Micro as we leave.
*********************************************
When we get to the hideout, it's quiet. I had to switch to a tranq gun. We all did. It was better to knock her out, especially if she was not in control of herself. You think I wanna go home to Red and tell her that we killed her best friend?
"She went after Krista," Nathan murmurs as we fan out. "She must be looking for Russo."
"We all want a piece of him," I grunted. "I can't say that I blame her."
"She's not over the kidnapping," Noah brought up. "She doesn't like that he tried to claim Lacey, and I remember the day she read the articles about what he's had a hand in with your family, Frank. She's been out for blood even before I trained her."
"Stay on your toes," Nathan cautions us. "You weren't at the crime scene..."
"Shit," I swore as I came upon one of the bodies. "Noted..."
We cleared a few rooms before I heard a noise about ten feet in front of me. We run towards the sound and stop short.
Erykah was standing over the mangled corpse of Billy Russo. So she found him after all. I didn't feel anything other than regret that I wasn't the one to snuff him out and concerned because she was breathing like a wild animal. Whatever Malus has done, she wasn't herself.
"Erykah..." I called out.
She spun towards the sound and snarled at us. Her pupils were dilated to the point that they looked black. I train my weapon on her, and I motion for Noah to step forward.
"See if you can reach her," I suggest.
She hasn't tried to kill any of us yet. She's still in there somewhere, and if we could do this without hurting her, I would prefer it that way. I back away to let him try. He disarms as he walks toward her, his arms outstretched and palms up.
"Erykah...baby, it's me. It's us," he appeals to her. "Can you hear me?"
She cocks her head to the side as he approached her. Instinctively, she knew who he was, so that was a start. I tensed, not knowing what she'd do next. Then her eyes began to clear, and her stance wasn't defensive.
"Noah?" She whispered in a hoarse voice. "Where am I?"
"Ery-"
Noah barely had any time to catch her as she collapsed.
"What the hell-"
"-She's out cold," Noah murmurs, cutting Nathan off.
"I've gotta...I'm gonna call Homeland on this," Nathan decides. "They won't hold this against her as the NYPD would. We can't hide this, especially with it being Valhalla and Russo. Not only that-"
"-It'll force Rawlins and Schoonover to make a move," I realized. "They won't have a scapegoat anymore."
"She's freezing," Noah comments.
"Let's get her out of here," I agreed.
**************************************************
We take her back to the safe house, and Noah cleans her up and settles her into one of the beds. I checked my phone, and it was silent. My girl is still asleep. Unless she wakes up looking for me, I'm not waking her, not even for this.
I've calmed down some now that we've found her, but I'm still furious. Shit like this can get us killed. I could not understand why the fuck Micro kept this from us.
"Why?" was all I asked him.
"I honestly didn't think anything of it at the time," he admits. "His labs have been shut down, and he had been monitored. I'm not even sure how he was able to do this. I thought she was working on a story. I don't tell you every little thing the other person does, and it's not my job to be a babysitter or a spy! I can help protect them without invading their privacy! I've done that enough..."
"That's..." I sighed. "Look, I get that. I do, okay? But this sick fuck...people like him always find a way. She's proof. And now, we don't know what he's done. We don't know what she's become. What if she can't stop? Hm? She's not me; she's not Noah. This shit is going to tear her apart. Then it's gonna come down on Red, and that's another story entirely. Our girls are badasses, but this has gone south, and we gotta find a way to fix it. Fast."
With that, I head into the room with Noah, who hasn't left her side since we brought her back. Nathan was still out, handling things with Homeland Security.
"How is she doing?" I ask him.
"She hasn't woken up yet," he murmured. "It was right under our noses this whole time...we can't put it all on Micro."
"What do you mean by that?" I wonder.
"She has gotten so much stronger," he continued. "There's been something different about her. Colder. I mean, part of it has to do with the shit she's been through, but it's the way she handled it that should have alerted me. If anyone should have caught on, it should have been me."
"Nah, it's on all of us," I counter. "We can be pissed off for his part in it, but it falls on me, too. I've been wrapped up in my shit with Red, even as she kept telling me that she felt that something was wrong. We didn't think it was godamn human experiment shit, but we should have been paying closer attention."
"What do we do?" He whispers. "What can we do?"
"What others haven't been able to," I decide. "After we track down the son of a bitch and figure out what he's done, we fucking plant him."
-ERYKAH-
I rolled to my side with a groan, and to my relief, I saw a bucket. I don't know where the hell I am, but I feel like absolute shit. My head is pounding, and every muscle in my body is sore. The simple act of rolling over left me unable to roll back. This...is worse than last time...
Thankfully, the lights were dim because every sliver of light assaulted my vision, which had yet to clear. The last thing I remember was coming home...but I had blacked out before that, too. All I remember was the gala...and the alley. What the hell is going on with me?
At least I'm not outside this time. I'm clean and warm. My clothes smell like him. Maybe I sleepwalk? No, that doesn't explain the blood under my nails or the faint traces of it that I can smell now. The room spun dangerously, and I lost my food again. This is worse than the Spring Break Lacey I spent in Cabo.
Even though I felt like a broken rag doll, my senses hadn't dulled. I could hear Frank and Micro arguing about me. I could hear the coffee maker in another room. I also knew when the love of my life was about to walk into the room and wrap his arms around me.
"Noah..."
"Easy," he soothes me. "Are you able to sit up?"
"No..."
He adjusts some pillows, and the pounding in my skull eases a bit. He hands me something and a glass of water. To my relief, I can take both and keep them down.
"Where are we?" I mumble.
"Safehouse," he replied. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I was home...but I don't remember anything after the gala, either! I woke up in the alley and, for some reason, burned everything and went to bed. It...I felt like I had to," I admit.
"We know why," Noah answers angrily.
"You do?" I sighed.
"Malus did this," he spat. "And Frank and I are going to go deal with it."
"Wait..." But I felt like I was about to pass out again.
"Just get some rest," he assures me. "We're going to handle it."
I couldn't put up much of a fight. Whatever this was, I was fading out again, despite the panic I felt, knowing that while I didn't regret my reasons for taking the serum, I knew that he wouldn't look at me the same way again. I'm going to lose my friends.