Coming Undone

Chapter 18

By Pandora Black

Disclaimer: Consider yourself disclaimed.

Author's note: Ok, I admit, I suck at deadlines. This was sort of an involuntary hiatus. But I'm back and feeling frisky, so enjoy the madness! *Reposted to fix an oopsie*

Oct. 16, 2010

Sharp, piercing shrieks engulfed the silence that ruled the labyrinth only seconds before and the daily routine began again.

Brooklyn looked on from the solitary of his new cell, head cocked to one side, lips loosely parted, hypnotized by the miraculous transformation. Somewhere, deep in the twisted recesses of his bitter mind, he laughed maniacally at the sight of her suffering, though outwardly, he remained completely still and emotionless.

Her vibrant blue skin faded to a pale peach and her demonic wings receded into her back accompanied by the sickening opera of bones crushing into themselves. She shrunk to the ground into a pathetic heap of shuttering, weak flesh and as the show came to a close, Brooklyn couldn't resist the perfection of such an opportunity.

"Karma's a bitch."

"If that's the case..." She retorted with malice. "Then perhaps you should look in the mirror and ask yourself what atrocious sin it was that you are now paying for."

He sneared in reply, never letting on that he had in fact pleaded for the answer to that question on countless occasions.

"Maybe it's your way with people." A gruff and mildly annoying voice shattered the tension and replaced that with a simple contempt.

"Shut your deformed face before I make you swallow your own head." Brooklyn replied without so much as an upward glance.

"Deformed face?" The outcasted mutate mockingly repeated. "I'll take that as a compliment coming from you!"

Brooklyn sighed heavily and forced himself to his feet. He was well aware of the fact that his idiot cell mate was merely bored and seeking attention but, truth be told, he was reaching a nearly unbearable level of cabin fever himself. Patience was never one of his strong suits anyway.

He strode up to the clear acrylic wall that separated him from the beastly buffoon, who had pressed himself up against the Plexiglas and proceeded to make ridiculous faces and obscene gestures that were exaggerated by the invisible wall, and smirked.

Fang was too busy making an ass out of himself to foresee the fist speeding towards the glass - and his smothered face on the other side there of.

The impact verberated through, and was in fact enhanced by the glass. The brutal sting of a broken nose shot Fang back straight onto his tail bone, leaving only smeared streaks of blood slowly gliding down the wall in his wake.

He snorted and groaned while glaring through tear smudged eyes at the obvious winner of this round.

"Finished?" Brooklyn inquired. Fang's middle talon shot up to salute the victor in response. "Same to you, sunshine." Brooklyn quipped as he turned to slump himself back down on his bunk. He couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped his lungs when the lyrics to Stuck in the Middle With You suddenly popped into his head.

"If you two are quite finished with your little game of wits, Brooklyn, don't you suppose we should discus how we are going to get free?" Demona spat out irritably.

"We?" Brooklyn raised an eye ridge.

"Don't even start Demona." Elisa's stern, authorative voice abruptly ended the conversation before it had started.

"Elisa!" Brooklyn volted from his bed and pressed the entire length of his body up against the cell bars. This was the first time he'd laid eyes on her since his abduction and he was genuinely excited. So much so that he forgot himself in that moment. She knew him, the real him. She was his confidante and would never judge. Surely, if someone as twisted as Demona could understand his actions under such circumstances, she would too. "Elisa, let me outta here."

"I can't do that Brook. I'm sorry." She shook her head solemnly.

"Why?" He begged. Utter disbelief etched across his face.

"You know why." Her normal, unwavering tone gave way to a meek, shaky squeak of a sound. "Lexington."

"It was an accident!" Brooklyn cut her off in desperation. The hazy memory of Lexington calling his name in his custom built hospital room inside the eerie building. How could he not know it was his little brother trying to ease his terror. Even still, how could he do so much damage when he was only half conscious? But Lexington was alright, or at least, he would be. Brooklyn took a deep calming breath.

"If I could just talk to Lex..."

"Please don't make this harder then it already is." Elisa interrupted.

"What do you mean?" He blinked in confusion.

"I came here to say I... We all love you and we miss you so much."

"So let me out." He protested. "Let me come home, we can chock this whole wrong full imprisonment thing up to nerves."

Elisa smiled sadly at her friends attempt at levity, but the tears still flowed freely. "You don't understand." She continued. "Your test results came back. I wanted to come see you as soon as you were awake but, Goliath said they had to be sure first and..." Elisa became more hysterical with every word. Brooklyn had never seen her so vulnerable. His heart was breaking right along with hers and he still didn't know why.

He reached a sympathetic hand through the cell bars to try to comfort her, but she flinched at feeling his touch. Brooklyn's arm fell limp at her actions and he frowned deeply.

"Sorry." Elisa whispered as she composed herself once more. "I decided that I had to come here tonight, whether Goliath approved or not, to tell you how much you mean to us... While you can still understand what I'm saying... While you still know who I am." She sobbed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He forced the words breathlessly.

Elisa inhaled sharply. "Doctor Taylor says, according to the test results... You're dying... I mean..." She sighed in frustration. But Brooklyn had heard enough regardless.

"That's ridiculous, I've 'died' five times in the past year alone!" He wasn't exaggerating.

"Your brain is deteriorating." Elisa stated bluntly, cutting off his rant. "But your body is... It just won't stop! Brooklyn, you'll become one of them." She choked on her own voice and relapsed into a state of hysterics.

"One of them?" Brooklyn questioned. One of them repeated over and over in his mind like a mantra. Suddenly, realization shot through him like that of a bolt of lightning. And with that revelation, he knew he should feel fear, dread, depression. But none of the above even nagged at his emotional state. The rage, however, the ever present rage was right on cue.

The gleam that appeared in his eye at the sight of Elisa, faded into oblivion to be replaced by the demonic glare of the condemned. He paced his cell like a caged animal, lips tightly pursed, taloned fists clenched so tightly that blood dribbled from between his fingers.

"So, what then?" He growled. "You're just gonna leave me in here to rot!" His voice boomed. "Or are you just going to flat out fucking kill me to relieve your own suffering?"

Elisa sniffled and, against her better judgement, or perhaps, against her will, threw herself against the bars. "Oh god, please understand!" She wailed. "There's nothing more we can do. The experiments Sevarious conducted on you were just that; experiments. There's no way of knowing how to reverse the process when we don't know what the process was."

Despite his close friend's plea's, Brooklyn's defensive, infuriated stance remained unchanged. In fact, her feeble attempts at an explanation only served to fuel the fire burning inside him. Without giving it a second thought, his decision was made. He would not spend another minute of what was left of his bullshit life locked up and he sure as hell didn't survive this long to be taken out now.

Brooklyn lunged at Elisa swung his massive arm through the bars and around her torso, pinning her to him. He used his other hand to effectively silence her cries.

Elisa froze, shock paralyzed her body while she mentally cursed herself for allowing herself to be captured so effortlessly.

"That's quite a show of sorrow you're putting on, human." He snarled into her ear. "But frankly, I've seen enough. So if you're not going to help me, then you all can go to hell. I'll do it alone just like I have for the past five years. Now, for the last time, let me the fuck out!"

"How am I supposed to do that with you holding me here?" She mumbled from under his clawed hand.

"Brooklyn! No!" A phantom voice echoed through the halls.

"Excellent timing, Maggie." Brooklyn's praise was genuine yet ominous. Maggie's eyes grew wide with awe as she watched his hand move from Elisa's mouth to wrap around her neck in a menacing gesture. "Release the cell locks." He ordered casually.

"Maggie don..." Elisa gasped for air as Brooklyn's grip tightened around her throat.

"That was a warning." He growled then turned his attention back to the frightened mutate down the hall. "Move it!"

She did so without question, knowing what he was capable of. Though, even after what she'd seen at his side on Alcatraz, this was still a shock.

The locks released with a hiss, Demona leapt forth with a glee full smile etched across her normally miserable face. Fang bounded from his prison as well and took off at full speed. He had no interest in being around to see the outcome of this game.

Lastly, Brooklyn slowly made his way out of his cell, keeping a tight clutch hold of Elisa's hair. Once he'd cleared the bars, he thoughtlessly tossed her backwards into his hated cage and slammed the barred door shut.

Maggie collapsed to the floor, a whimpering mess as Brooklyn stared her down.

"Brooklyn, come with me." Demona ordered, distracting him only momentarily.

He stalked towards the cowering feline human cross and knelt down in front of her.

"Brooklyn, hurry! I can help you." Demona frantically barked.

"Just one second." He replied simply, lifting Maggie's chin to face him, tears streaking down her golden face. "Don't worry, you'll see me again real soon." His scarred lips brushed lightly against hers as he whispered his deadly promise, then traveled along her jaw line to just below her ear where he placed an almost tender kiss to seal his vow.

Demona urged Brooklyn to join her one last time. He fallowed her without further protest, leaving Maggie and Elisa alone with their thoughts.